Well, I've added to my Gen Con Report in the Gossip section, a little personal info on Hero Games President Darren Watts. I'm still working on my reviews of UMA, the new Bestiary, and Digital Hero issues 1 and 2, as well as several other products I picked up at the Con. Expect to see more over the next few weeks as I get my act together--I am also in the process of trying to finish several articles for the Haymaker and Rogue's Gallery APAs, as well as put finishing touches on submissions for Digital Hero.

Well, Gen Con 2002 is over. As I write this, I’m sitting in my hotel room waiting to hit the airport for the trip home. It’s been a busy four days. Theala spent way too much money on game material and wishes she could have spent more. There was just too much good stuff out there. Oh well, it all wouldn’t have fit in my suitcase anyway—I just about broke my back trying to lift it as it was. Of course, this is the last year Gen Con will be in Milwaukee. Next year it’s on to Indianapolis, and hopefully better accommodations. Supposedly the convention center is bigger, and they have more hotels downtown next to the center than the entire Milwaukee area. Or so Theala has been told. We’ll see. Got lucky this year with hotels: I was able to stay at the Howard Johnson’s downtown, three blocks from the Midwest Express Center (I still keep thinking of it as MECCA for some reason).

Of course, this is the first year Gen Con has been run by its current owner, former WoTC CEO Peter Adkison. There were some complaints from other gamers as far as how events were handled. The biggest complaint I heard was placement and scheduling of events. Tables were double booked, GMs weren’t showing up, games were moved or cancelled without notifying GMs or players were the biggest complaints I heard. Theala ran smack into this herself: paid six bucks to attend a workshop by Kij Johnson, went to the event to find Brom doing his slide show in that room. No sign on where my workshop had been moved. No staff to direct me. Then I had to argue at Event Registration for a refund because I didn’t get the ticket signed off. Annoying. And I wasn’t the only one who ran into this problem—another workshop got moved on a friend of mine who was lucky enough to be able to find it in time. The dealers I talked to didn’t seem to have any specific problems though, and my experience shopping was the usual gold mine of great stuff—better in fact than in past years.

Lots of new product out there, including the first Gen Con release from Hero Games in years: Champions: Superpowered Role-playing by long time favorite Hero author Aaron Allston. I’m still reading the copy I picked up at the con, and hope to have a review available soon. In addition to the latest addition to the Hero 5th Edition lineup (the fourth release this year), there were tons of new d20 products released, as well as a number of new games and products. Sword and Sorcery’s Scarred Lands is by far the best producer of fantasy material for Dungeons and Dragons at the current time, boasting long time TSR veterans Monte Cook and Bruce Cordell among their authors. Kenzer and Co.’s Kalamar setting will bear watching. It looks interesting, and I can’t wait for the Kalamar Atlas to be released. I’d been hoping to see it at the con, but the rep told me they’d had a setback in production. He assured me the wait (hopefully October) would be worth it: “it will look and feel just like a real world atlas, with that kind of detail,” he told me. If that’s true, that will make Kalamar an exciting product to buy. But then again, I love maps for maps sake.

Green Ronin was there, but Mutants and Masterminds wasn’t. Again, the release is expected this fall. They did have some sample character sheets that looked slick. They had a new d20 fantasy product, The Book of the Righteous by Aaron Loeb, which details the religions of their universe in a new and complete way—setting out complete theologies with a level of detail I have yet to see in any other product.

Tri Tac Games has their d20 version of Silver Age Sentinels out. If you can find the Deluxe edition and are willing to pay the $45 price tag, that version is the better buy if you intend on simply converting it to Hero System rules. The Deluxe edition is all color, and the chapters feature tabs that make referencing the volume quick and easy (Hey Steve!!! Hint! Hint! This would be a great thing to do with the 5th Ed rules when you do your next print run!). SAS also has a great history of the comic book industry, and a thorough explanation of what Silver Age comics mean, what it means to play a superhero in the genre, and why such characters are better than the dark and gritty edge characters that were all the rage a few years ago.

Of course, I mostly bought used game material. What? Why you ask? With all that great new stuff out there? Simple. My new hometown has a fairly decent game store (relatively speaking), and he keeps up with the d20 stuff, and GURPS stuff as well. So I can get it anytime. I bought used material (mostly Greyhawk) that I can’t find anywhere else, or bought obscure products from little known companies that I wouldn’t be able to get anywhere else. I’ll be talking about some of their products in a bit, since I found some gems I’d like to share with the Hero community. But let me change tracks for a few minutes and get back to talking about Hero Games, which is the real reason most of you probably read this.

OK. Usually Hero Games has an open meeting for Hero fans where the Hero Gurus discuss upcoming releases, plans, and answer general questions. That didn’t happen this year. For one thing, the company is still very small: only four full time employees (in case you didn’t know, they are Steve Long, Darren Watts, Andy Matthews, and Ben Seaman). Everyone but Ben was at the Con, and they spent pretty much the entire time at the Hero booth answering questions and selling product. Although they were helped out by one of the DOJ investors (long time Hero gamer and contributor to the Fantasy Hero Companion II) Morgan Hazel; there was still a lot of work for four people to do to hold a separate conference. There just wasn’t time, and as Steve told me, “We’ve already told folks what the production schedule is, so there’s nothing new to say.” It is likely the Hero Open Meeting will return next year. There was also no Hero Authors Meeting, since writing assignments for the current production year have already been made.

Fans didn’t seem to mind though. Steve made himself readily available to answer questions. Although some fans had complaints, everyone at the booth told me the new releases are being well received by the Hero community. Fans were anxious to talk to Steve or anyone associated with the new company, though. I got cornered by one fan who was a bit upset that the Champions book wasn’t available on Thursday. He didn’t quite get it when I tried to tell him I’m not officially a part of Hero Games (just a groupie, folks) and had a lot of questions that have already been answered on the Hero Games website.

The Champions book arrived early Friday, and sold briskly. I’m not sure they had any to take home with them. In addition, Aaron Allston was available on Saturday to sign copies. The Ultimate Martial Artist just about sold out. Also available were demo copies of the Champions Universe sourcebook (which is now at the printers), and the first two issues of Digital Hero. The new online periodical for Hero Games was thick with articles, and had a nice layout job by editor (former Haymaker! Coordinator) Dave Mattingly. Hopefully you’ll see my name in an upcoming issue <big wide grin>. Hero Games left the convention in the black, a strong showing for a company essentially dead in the water for the past five or so years.

Theala's Gossip is curently in production--I should have some industry gossip ready for you early next week (sorry folks, I got a real job, and I have to work this weekend). I'll also have my reviews of the Ultimate Martial Artist, 2nd ed and Hero System Bestiary ready by next week. My review of Aaron Allston's Champions: Super-Powered Role-playing is ready and waiting in the Reviews section.

Be A Hero!

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