My second day of Gen Con was kind of a blur.
In the morning, Peter and I had breakfast at Le Peep, a provincial cafe just a mile’s walk from the hotel. And walk we did. After the travails of the prior day, I was frankly astounded at my ability to keep up. On the way there, anyway… I was quietly grateful when Peter felt the need to rush out a bit quickly following breakfast, making for the hotel to grab the gear for his high noon festivities. I took the opportunity to mosey toward the convention center at my own pace, enjoying the morning air as I snapped photos of downtown Indianapolis.
Back at the convention center, I hit the dealer hall and made some more gift purchases I had been eying the day before. Mostly supporting artists and indie game designers. I ran a 12:00 game for Monte Cook Games with a fun group of players who, despite having to shout through the masks to make themselves heard in a noisy room, took to roleplaying their random group of dungeon delvers with enough personality and wit to quite simply amaze me at how efficiently they tackled the adventure scenario. It was a four-hour slot, and we were done in three.
Riding the high of a great game with folks who genuinely seemed to enjoy sitting down with a few strangers and pretending to be the best of friends for a few hours, I made arrangements to connect with Dan and we hit a nearby pub for a late lunch. Or early dinner. Whatever it was… the convention center food was pretty awful, so walking the extra two blocks seemed like a kindness to our bodies and our souls. Had a barbecue blue cheese burger, incidentally, that was a fascinating and very satisfying blend of flavors. Good stuff.
Our evening game was a Savage Worlds Victorian pulp adventure Peter has run at TsunamiCon previously, and this was my very first chance to sit at one of his gaming tables. I definitely enjoyed his thoughtful approach to getting characters involved in the story and his openness to creative – and sometimes tropey and hilarious – innovations from the players. It was the same group of participants from the night before, and we had a good time.
Friday at Gen Con was a much busier affair than the previous day, and the gaming hall was pretty packed. The space between tables kept it from feeling unsafe, but we also started noting a more lax stance amongst participants concerning the masking regulations, particularly when you could invoke the consideration of eating. We roleplayed through our masks, but many people seemed to adopt a sort of restaurant etiquette at the table – that is, despite the policies posted by the con, once sitting down masks seemed to be optional. Because the place was so crowded, this felt like a poor decision… I was imminently relieved that the table Peter had grabbed – the same as the night before – was somewhat remote and removed from much of the population. I could see that he was distracted by it while running the game, however, even to the point of mentioning my own dangling mask after I failed to put it back promptly following a pull from my soda.
And I think that’s what bothers me the most. While it feels like it is possible to make relatively safe decisions and avoid the majority of risky situations with a little conscientious care, we shouldn’t have to walk that edge while trying to enjoy our time at the convention. Though I am enjoying myself immensely, it casts a bit of a pall over much of the experience.
That being said, I am looking forward to whatever comes next.