Friday morning I felt myself torn. I was scheduled for a Warhammer FRPG game with Jenn, and having played a different game with the same GM already she warned me I might not like his style. I could also decide to play the second half of the AD&D tournament from yesterday, which I had a reasonably good time at. Waffling between the two, I decided to stick with the plan and go to the Warhammer game.
I stand by my decision, even though the Warhammer game was not very good. The GM had basically written a long choose-your-own-adventure centered around a mysterious location which we were occasionally allowed to interact with, or at least ask for more detailed information about. I did have an amusing character, and some of the other players were very good, and I enjoyed the interplay we had. I tried at one point to push something into the game, but quickly realized it was moot and so sat back and enjoyed the train ride. However, the end was just unbearable. There we were, surrounded by the bad guys, and told that we could leave with our lives or die right now. It was only halfway into our time allotment, and we had had pretty much no action all game, so some players decided it was time to fight. The GM then narrated our forceful ejection from the building and the game ended. Sigh.
Ultimately I was glad to have a variety of experiences at GenCon, some good, and some bad. How am I to decide what it is I like and want more of if I don’t try everything? (Hmm, getting a little philosophical here.) Also, I didn’t mind having a game end early so I could have a little more time in the exhibition hall. Unfortunately, this game was not the worst of the con for me, but more on that later.
GMs like this really make me feel bad for players for whom this is their only gaming experience. I’d hate to think people turn away from the hobby thinking it isn’t very fun simply because they’re playing with a GM who really ought to just go and write a book already. I guess the only thing I can really do is get out there and run more stuff.
This picture, by the way, has nothing really to do with this game in particular. I saw this guy at some random point during my exhibit hall wanderings and just had to get a picture. Usually I hate it when people gum up the halls trying to get pictures of some doofus in a costume, but I just couldn’t resist. His costume seemed thematically appropriate to this post, so there you have it.
