Friday
Friday morning I prowled the dealer’s room again, looking for some of the older and rarer items, plus examining some of the artwork available in the dealer’s room. I found some early issues of a semi-professional gaming magazine named The Sorcerer’s Apprentice that a number of acquaintances worked for several years ago; it also published fiction by Tanith Lee, Roger Zelazny, and Karl Edward Wagner with artwork by artists like Victoria Poyser and George Barr.
I also played a demonstration game of Dream Park from R. Talsorian Games, based on the novels by Larry Niven and Steven Barnes. We played ten of the sample characters from the game book; our mission, with no option of not accepting it, was to save the 17th century Shogunate from the rampages of its most dangerous threat it had ever faced: Godzilla! A miniature was provided for everyone, including a walking model of the big lizard himself. We were able to win with an abundance of firepower and some bad rolls by the gamemaster with only two significant losses: a martial artist who got stomped by Godzilla while the character was floundering in the ocean and a warrior who fell from off of Godzilla’s back when Godzilla dove to the ground to squash some other characters who dodged out of the way in time. The game system in extremely easy to use and makes a very good convention game with a very cinematic flavor.
Friday evening Erick Wujcik and Phage Press hosted a conference and party at one of the local hotels for Amber gamemasters and players. A large number of the people were in attendance, asking questions about playing and running the game, and generally having a good time. This is where I first met Kimbo, the gamemaster for the GEnie Amber online game.
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