The Gen Con Diaries, Day One: When Cthulhu Comes a Calling
Ever wonder what it’s like to attend one of the biggest tabletop gaming conventions? Join me for an insider peek!
Held annually in Indianapolis, In, Gen Con is where gamers and fans come together to celebrate their love of all things gaming by participating in tournaments, exhibits, live shows, auctions and seminars.
A city called Gen Con
The first day of Gen Con was on the quetier side, as fans and exhibitors gather together to take Indianapolis by storm. My first stop was to hit up the exhibit floor and get your bearings. Or try to anyway, because holy mother there is a lot to see at Gen Con. Putting aside all the seminars and panels and games you can play, there’s also over 500 artists and creators coming together to show off their wares.
It’s table after table, hall after hall of pure visual gold and more cool merch than my poor wallet could handle…. and yes, of course I bought more dice. Because I have a problem, okay!
All Star Cthulhu
The one event I did catch on Gen Con night one, was Chaosium Presents: All-Star Cthulhu Live! This was a live game of Call of Cthulhu with some of the biggest names in tabletop gaming, including GM Mark Mirror, Harli Kane, Josephine McAdam, Noura Ibrahim and Luis Carazo for a night of horror and mystery.
I had never played Call of Cthulhu before, and so I’ll admit that I was a bit nervous that I’d be lost in the game, but luckily that was not the case at all. The system was very easy to follow along with and it didn’t get in the way of the storytelling (which can occasionally be a downside of some systems). And daaaannng was the storytelling fun to watch.
Mark Mirror set up a world of 1930’s mystery, where the tenants of a Rhode Island boarding house had to unravel the mystery behind the gruesome killing of one of their housemates. It was a fun, twisting adventure, filled with tangled motivations and fickle dice rolls. For me, Noura Ibrahim and Louis Carazo totally stole the show, though honorable mention goes to Josephine McAdam for when her character started losing those sanity points.
It’s a night that I’ll be talking about for the next few weeks… and probably draw me back to the Chaosium booth later today!
