Last Sunday was the Gen Con Events schedule sign-up. Gen Con has hundreds of gaming and non-gaming events to choose from. To ensure that there aren’t too many players at one table, events need to be pre-registered in advance by acquiring event tickets. The Event sign-up process can be a little stressful as the sign-up opens at a particular time and everyone is trying to acquire their tickets at once. While I thought I clicked the button fast enough, I was still the 1100th person in the queue. It took about an hour, but I was finally able to sign up for events. I wanted to share a preview of my schedule for Gen Con this year.

Before I go into this further, I wanted to share what I’m doing differently for Gen Con this year versus the first year I went. The first year I went to Gen Con, I signed up for so many things! While that seems fun, it was overwhelming. Instead, I only have two events per day with Thursday being the day where I signed up for three. There will be plenty of time to roam around the convention, take pictures, and take breaks to eat. I’m feeling good about my event schedule.

Non-Gaming Events

While Gen Con is a gaming convention, there are events that aren’t gaming-related. On Thursday, I signed up for the “Decoding Downtown Indy Walking Tour”. Walking is one of my favorite forms of exercise and while I have been to Indianapolis twice, I don’t know the city that well. I’m looking forward to the activity and getting to know Indianapolis more. The tour is an hour and a half which I think will be a perfect way to start the convention.

Another event that I’m considering, but didn’t sign up for is the 5k. On Friday morning, Gen Con hosts a 5k. One of the main reasons that’s holding me back is that I’m not a runner. I remember the feeling of being forced to run a mile in P.E. class and feeling humiliated that I couldn’t run the full mile. Running carries a lot of shame for me. If that’s the case, why am I considering the 5k? I think the 5k would feel like I’m reclaiming running and doing it because I enjoy it, not because I’m forced to. I’m still mulling this around, so I may sign up for it or I may not.

Gaming Events

I have five gaming-themed events on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. In chronological order, I will start with Thursday. I have two demos for Thursday. The first game is called Beer and Bread. Beer and Bread is a two-player game with each player trying to compete to brew the best beer and the best bread. I thought this game sounded so wholesome. Besides Beer and Bread, I am signed up for a demo of Distilled. Distilled is a one-five-player game about creating a distillery, upgrading it, and making craft cocktails. I’m not sure why I chose alcohol-themed board games to demo on Thursday, the theme was not intentional.

On Friday, I only signed up for one event called “The Beach Dolls Affair – Trail of Cthulhu 1st Edition” When I first started playing roleplaying games, I was introduced to Call of Cthulhu and loved it. I have no idea what I’m in for, but I’m looking forward to it.

Saturday will easily be my longest day. I am going to be in straight roleplaying games from 5:00 PM – 1:00 AM. The first three hours will be “Rise of the Separatists: Darkness Rising on Naboo!” which is using the Star Wars: Force and Destiny rules. It should be no surprise that I signed up for this. I’m a Star Wars prequel fan as I grew up with the movies when they came out. I haven’t played Force and Destiny yet, so I’m curious how this will be. After Star Wars, I signed up for “Survive – Vampire the Masquerade, 5th Edition” which is a story built around Vampire the Masquerade. It’s fitting because the first time I played Vampire the Masquerade was at Gen Con, so it will feel a little nostalgic to play a five-hour session on Saturday night.

On Sunday, I’m signed up for one event and that’s “Unlife as an Anarch – Vampire the Masquerade, 5th Edition” at 10:00 AM.

Now that the event registration has happened, it’s becoming more real that I’m going to Gen Con. I can’t wait for August!