Day 26: Local Gaming Conventions

     I have mentioned several times about going to gaming conventions. Conventions are a great way to see a new city, sit in on some panels, meet celebrities, and play games, play games, play games! There are three local conventions that we attend SCARAB, ConCarolinas, and MACE. SCARAB is held in Columbia, SC and both ConCarolinas and MACE are at the University Hilton in Charlotte, NC.

      SCARAB is held every year over the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday. Last year was our first year attending SCARAB.  It is a small convention with about, I am totally guessing here, around 300 attendees. We had a wonderful time at Scarab! Travis started Pathfinder at Scarab and played his heart out! There were games/tournaments that you had to sign up for ahead of time.  There were also classes of knitting, jewelry making, and chain mail. I also liked the library of games. You could check out a game and try it out. SCARAB also had the freebies! Every few hours they would draw names for free games. They also had a swag bag! If you registered early you received a super swag bag. There was a drawstring knapsack filled with a book, large d20, card games, and more! The super swag bag was a great bonus to attending. This convention is gaining in popularity and it is moving to a new location in 2014. They have a facebook page and website so check them out if you live in the area.

     ConCarolinas is more of fan convention but there is gaming! There is always gaming! ConCarolinas is held the latter part of May. In 2014 it will be May 30-June 1. ConCarolinas is known as a sci-fi convention but they really welcome any fan! There are a lot of costumes and fun at ConCarolinas. The costumes range from sci-fi, steampunk, super heroes, to just about anything. ConCarolinas really has something for everyone there is gaming, guests of honor (2014 will be George R. R. Martin!), discussion panels, music events, and costume contests! They also have a great vendor hall! You can also see the Ghostbusters Mobile and Mystery Machine, like groovy man!

     MACE is held in November and will be the 15th-17th this year. Last year about 600 people attended. MACE is billed as The Carolinas' Best Gaming Con! Mace focuses on playing games! If there is ANY type of game you are interested in Mace has it! There are tournaments around the clock it seems like! Rooms and rooms of gaming! Mace is a great time to meet game designers and publishers! There is nothing like learning a game from the designer! There are also discussion panels and other events, but gaming takes center stage! The food area is called The Green Goblin and is a fun place to grab coffee, doughnuts, pizza, and other fast foods. Our boys have already asked about the Green Goblin. I am hoping the diceball machine lady is there again! That is another great thing about local conventions, the tradition and familiarity make them a very comfortable place to be and play games.

     Both ConCarolinas and MACE are community oriented and have charity events. They are also located in a great area. If your spouse doesn't game there are local shops and restaurants. There is also a great outdoor play area for young children. There is also a Kid Track area where children can play games. ConCarolinas and Mace definitely strive to be family oriented.

     Another thing conventions have in common that you may not think of is church services on Sunday morning of the convention. That will be our topic for chit chat tomorrow, Gaming and Christianity.

   

   

Day 25: Gaming Leads to Costuming

     In high school I made good grades in every class. Well every class but one, Home Economics. I thought how hard can it be to cook and sew? It was hard for me! I could barely thread the sewing machine. My sewing project was disastrous. I walked out of that class and forgot about sewing. I mean never to think of it again. Until...

     When we go to conventions there is one thing besides gaming that they have in common, costumes! Super heroes, pop culture characters, steampunk ladies and gents, and so many unique characters!  Do you like thinking of a costume for Halloween? Getting all the accessories and just right pieces is fun. Think of doing that all year! Voila! Cosplay! We have seen some amazing costumes! Suddenly I found myself daydreaming about costumes. Okay, I daydream a lot.

     We went to one convention this year and the whole family dressed up. There was no sewing involved but there was painting! Next year there will be sewing because I am getting a sewing machine for Christmas!  As much as I could not stand the thought of sewing in high school I am super excited about learning now! I can't wait to get my hands on a machine and attempt to whip up some costumes. It sounds like fun to me now, especially since there are self-threading machines! Maybe next year will be 31 days of sewing costumes!

Extra Life - How to Pledge to our team (and play some games with us)

As we said in Episode 25, we will be taking part in the Extra Life campaign this year at MACE and it is not beneath us to use opportunities like playing Eldritch Horror or game with Stephen Avery (designer of Nothing Personal) to help our contributions. Marty has the page set up, so if you want to reserve a spot at the table for $5 minimum, head over to Extra Life and click on the Donate Now link at the top, search for Rolling Dice page, and then click on the Donate Now button or follow this link. When donating, include your name and write a message saying which game you want to play Eldritch Sign (Nov 16th. 9am - 1pm) or Nothing Personal (Nov.16th 2:30-5:30)

If you are interested in being on our team, we would be more than happy to have you join us just go to our page and follow the instructions. Marty set a goal that might be a slight challenge being new to the podcast world and our first year doing Extra Life. Thanks in advance for your contributions.

In pictures:

Day 24: Gaming Leads to Writing

     I have mentioned our trip to GenCon several times. I am going to devote an entire post to GenCon next week because, yes, it was a game changer for us! (see what I did there?) Best trip EVER! The second year we went to GenCon we signed up for a family RPG. We played a Wilderness Kids RPG from the Hollow Earth system. It was a great game for all of us, age 9 through, ahem we won't say! :) When you have children with a seven year age difference it is hard to find something they both like. We discovered RPG's was the way to go!

     When we returned from our trip we started looking for Role Playing systems. We played Dungeons and Dragons, Savage Worlds, Iron Kingdoms, and Pathfinder. As we played different systems and campaigns our boys wanted to start writing their own campaigns. There are pre-written scenarios or open campaigns where you write your own story. Our boys have always enjoyed English class and do well writing papers, but it's not like they would wake up on Saturday morning and say "Oh, I can't wait to write to an essay today!" But honestly they do now say "I can't wait to write a new scenario". Adam has written an Iron Kingdoms scenario titled 'Merry Cryxmas'. We had a great time playing! It is now a Christmas tradition. We can't wait until December! He has also written and been Game Master for his friends. They would play more but senior year activities keep getting in the way!

     Adam isn't the only one writing. Travis, our middle schooler likes Pathfinder and has written scenarios for his group of friends. I love to see him sitting in the recliner just a writing away on the laptop. Travis is also the rules guru. His Christmas list is Pathfinder rule books!

     Our youngest son Brett is 10 years old. When he sees Adam or Travis writing he of course wants to be like them and will pull his writing notebook out and start a short story. I can't even count how many he has started but not finished. But, hey, he is writing.

     I think it is cool that just because we started playing a particular type of game as a family that they wanted to write just for fun. You really don't know what other interest might come from playing a game. Another reason to gather the family around the table and play! (or paint, or write!) Umm...I might pull out Brett's notebook and start something of my own!

   

Day 23: Gaming Leads to Painting

     I mentioned earlier in the month how gaming has sparked other interests for us as a family. It isn't just about playing our game once a week. Gaming has introduced us to new hobbies we never would have considered. Once you start playing games and try new games you find that you develop other interests. One hobby my family has started is painting.

     Now I NEVER would have thought that anyone in my family would have the desire to paint. They showed no interest in painting at all. They liked paint by numbers and watercolors when they were young but that is as far as it went. Now when they saw the game Warmachine by Privateer Press it was like a light shining down and heavenly music playing. It was Liz Lemon saying "I want to go to there"! They wanted that game bad! They wanted to collect figures and build their faction. They wanted to paint people! They jumped right in and studied types of paint and painting techniques. They spend hours painting small figures. It isn't just my family though. Our friends also paint miniatures. People who haven't thought about painting suddenly talk about shading, dry brushing, and washing. You see the goal isn't just to use the miniatures in the game, but to have the best looking faction! When they go to tournaments they enter their figures in painting contests then play the game. Special cases have been ordered to store their figures in. We also have a curio cabinet just for figures! Oh, and my son did win third place in a painting competition!

     We have also taken a painting class as a family at one of the conventions we went to. While I don't paint miniatures, mainly because I cannot keep my hand steady, I do like to paint waterguns, nerf guns, binoculars, etc.  for steampunk costumes! Three years ago I would have never thought of painting. Then my family started  and I thought if they can do it I can too! And guess what? We are doing more things as a family besides playing a game.

     It is exciting when young people try new things and discover hidden talents. That goes for grown ups too! Shake things up and try a little painting!

     PS...for those of you who have left comments, Marty and I have been trying to respond but for some reason it does not post. I am sorry! Mike, if you're still there, Eminent Domain is the way to go! It is not head to head warfare. That is just one way to acquire a planet. Your wife will like it!

Day 22: Why I Was Reluctant to Play Games

     This post is for those of you who may be strategy gamers but for some reason your significant other isn't. For years Marty played strategy games with his friends but I never joined in. Through the years I have been able to pinpoint specific reasons why I didn't game.Today I am going to tell you some of those reasons. Boy, I wish I had started sooner!

     Reason #1 - The length of some games. Some games are 2 or more hours. The thought of that used to stress me out. I would say that I didn't have time to play a game with him. I had too much to do. I was looking at it at the wrong way though. I would often say we don't talk enough, we need to go a date, etc. You know what couples say. Little did I know that gaming with your spouse for 2 hours is good communication time! We talk, laugh, work through situations in the game. Gaming is a great way to spend time with your spouse! Now it does help if everyone works to make sure that chores etc. are done!

     Reason #2 - Gamers are a secret clique with a secret language. I thought, "They don't want me to play because I don't know what they are talking about.". I was embarrassed to say that I had no idea what they were talking about! They would throw out terms while they were playing and I had no clue. Well, busted! Gamers WANT to tell you what  terms mean and want EVERYONE to play. Just ask! I have never been around a more open and welcoming group. No matter where I go local gaming clubs, local conventions, even national conventions, everyone is friendly and encouraging. As far as the secret language, everything is acronyms. It is too much to constantly say Role Playing Game or Analysis Paralysis (overthinking rules...I do not suffer from this) so RPG and AP are used. Just ask what the acronym means. There are no embarrassing questions in gaming.

     Reason #3 - I am not competitive. I would hear Marty and his friends constantly letting each other have it because somebody put a spell on somebody, took over territory, or fought over a planet. I am not competitive so that was not appealing. Solution, we started playing cooperative games. It just so happens that we really enjoy playing co-op games. I prefer games where I do not have to "attack" someone directly.

    Reason #4 - I didn't understand the rules! Sometimes I couldn't even concentrate when Marty was explaining the rules because it seemed like there were 100 steps and I would say forget it before we even started. For me, and maybe for some others, it is much easier to play a  practice round as we go through the rules. Skip trying to explain every detail and run through a round. Now that I have been playing a while I am better with the rules, but practice rounds are always good. A friend of mine says that the story is what grabs her. So instead of telling the steps of the game tell the story of the game. What are you trying to accomplish and what is needed to accomplish it.

    These are just a few things that may prevent someone from playing. Rolling Dice & Taking Names will post a podcast today and a friend of mine and I will be talking about some of these reasons and more. I want couples and families to game together and some of these ideas may help.Marty and I have shirts that say Couples Who Game Together Stay Together. So true, unless he tries to take my territory. :)

 

Episode 25: Invasion of the Body Snatchers

They're here...

This is our Halloween episode and we have the ladies returning to the show. I am not saying that their return is scary or the segment will give you nightmares, but the episode was released near Halloween thus it is our Halloween show. I am also not hinting that the title of the show is any reflection on marriage, just thought it would fit with the time of year, that is all. Now that those clarifications are out of the way, let's talk about the show.

MACE Convention activities, find out how to play Nothing Personal and Eldritch Horror is discussed. Casey and Vanessa (first appearance in Episode 11) give their thoughts on how to get your significant other involved in gaming and really do give some great advice. Marty and I discuss for our own benefit what is Spiel, Essen and the Spiel des jahres and the games we have looked into that will be at the show. We also have our Halloween 'At The Table' and the results from our request for you to send in your answers. Finally, if you haven't seen the post over at BGG, we got a new contest running, but it ends 10/25 @ 7pm, so act fast if you are interested in the prize.

A bit of whinning	2:20
MACE Convention	10:30
The Ladies	20:00
Back to the us	48:30
At the Table (Halloween)	53:15
Essen	57:30
RDTN Contest	01:13:30

Enjoy the show!



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