[Gencon AAR] Part 7

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Tarsyn Outcomes

Bleeding Hearts
- Crimson survived the adventure
- 1/2 groups saved the Witching Tree

Conclusions

- I love GMing at Gencon. I haven't run since 2023 and it was really a fun experience.
- I love being the Overlord GM. Now this is a pleasure I keep all for me. I get to listen to all the chapters of an epic all at once. Plus, you never know what can happen.
- Great Crew of writers. The pool of writers is getting better and better all the time and their adventures really improve in scope and quality. I got them all FOE cups this year.
- Great Crew of GMs. None of this would be possible without my crew of Smurfs. They did fantastic! Especially dealing with my crazy antics and nerotic rantings.
- Have an AMA section. One thing I would like to do next year is a AMA: Ask-Me-Anything where players could ask me about the NPCs, the storyline, the novels, as the name implies... Anything FOE related.
- Must take GM pics esp after specials. That.
- Lucky to have a room-mom! Thanks to Chas for putting up with me through the con and jumping on tables and helping out. Yay! Mom!
- I am terrible at taking and ordering pictures of the con. That.

Next Year

The biggest question I have to decide upon: do we want to go to six tables next year?

Writing all this down already gives me some ideas for next year.

I threw a challenge to Bill already... to see whether it would spark his imagination...

I have ideas to shake up the formula again next year...

Friends

I met my friend Randy, who is also my GM in a Vampire: Dark Ages campaign he is writing. As a thank you, I make him a statue of my character, Isabeau de Montreval, a charming French (Brittany) noble...

[Gencon AAR] Part 6

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Ozaka Outcomes

A Stolen Daisho by Chris-K
- Heroes traveled the low road
- Azaki Sadaharu was saved

Fiends of Dreams by JP Chapleau
- The yokai was not fully released within Shiro Azaki
- The Child remains a strange point of focus... Who is (s)he?

Friends we make by JP Chapleau
- The Princesses sided with Lord Tetsukabe
- The Princesses received a magical sword for slaying the Oni hound
- Azaki Tsukiko insulted Lord Tetsukabe's character in open court
- Shiro Tetsukabe was damaged by Ozakan forces

Battle of Shiro Azaki by JP Chapleau
- Lord Azaki Taro was killed by foreign allies of the Amicho Clane
- Lady Sazame Tomoe, the earth shugenja was killed in the sewers beneath Shiro Azaki
- Lord Tetsukabe Masanori was killed by foreign allies of the Sazame Clan
- The head diplomat of the Kobochi forces, Sister Ayame, was killed in battle
- Lady Azaki escaped to safety
- Iwazaki Aguro, the water shugenja survived the battle
- The head diplomat of the Kobochi forces, Sister Ayame, was killed in battle
- Lord Azaki's horse was returned to the Azaki forces
- Part of the walls were blown up
- Despite losing the city, Sazame forces succeeded in withdrawing in good order.

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[Gencon AAR] Part 5

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Olympia Outcomes

Heart of Decisions by Bill-C
- The Heart of the Colossus was shattered by the heroes, preventing the Titans from recovering it.
- No doppelgangers were located.
- Paranoia ruled the day!

What the Titans Leave Behind By JP Chapleau (with Brandon-A)
- Mytenian forces made a deal with Bazros
- The mirror was brought back to Queen Kreomene
- Nerissa's correspondence with Kymaros and Pelagene were read and uncovered.
- No one dared to read the rune on the floor
- Timon was not roused

To Find and Enchantress by JP Chapleau
- No one went after the war chest, so it is still in possession of the Titanic forces
- Nerissa was captured
- War golems damaged the city before they got depowered. They are now frozen in the city
- Some war machines were damaged
- Heroes chose Ares' solution to deal with the Titans: have his dogs Deimos and Phobos devour parts of the Titans every morning to keep them from rising again
- Both Zeus and Hera made a surprise visit to Mytenia, rewarding those who praised them!

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[Gencon AAR] Part 4

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Akhamet Outcomes

The Mirror of Bast by Brandon-A and JP Chapleau
- Grom was brought back safely
- The mirror is now in the possession of Meketra at the temple of Bast
- The Queen-of-Cats is still at large

Sifting the Sands of Obscurity by Matt-A
- Adjet was not resurrected
- The Shroud was returned to its hiding place

River Run by JP Chapleau
- The Portal Sigil was depowered
- The lock doors were not repaired, leading to damage
- The Portal Sigil was depowered
- Neferhana was killed by the emerging nightcrawler

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[Gencon AAR] Part 3

Part 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Saturday

Just like that, we were already passed the halfway point.

I had a slot to run, but did not have players. So I got a "free" slot.

The day went fine. A lot of repeat customers from previous years, but also from within the con. A testament to the great work my GMs did. I got to be entertained this year again by listening to them wield they craft. I am always fascinated by how each GM has a different touch, a different flavor, which DOES change and alter with the table. I know many of you love to listen to the great podcasts, but I still maintain that the best work is done by normal people, doing their best and crafting stories with their players.

If you haven't, thank you GM(s) today.

Thank you, Randy! (who tolerates my antics in his Vampire: Dark Ages chronicle)

The evening was, to me, The Big One, the second Ozaka special, called The Battle of Shiro Azaki. With this one, I was planning to shake the status quo in Ozaka. Advance the plot and allow me to tell different stories that would really separate it form the situation in Olympia.

Sunday

Sunday... Always sad to see it come. It's always a strange day... Who will show up? This year, I kept the Akhamet Special River Run, the special I had to re-write from scratch after I wrote myself in a corner. The resulting adventure was much stronger, though my main fear was that it was overly ambitious with two distinct parts. Each could've been its own adventure. One with the Sobekites raising hell. And then the source of the problem, as Saggakara plots to destroy Ophara. Limited slots.

Despite everyone being really tired, there was a strong energy in the room.

In the end, we made several new converts to FOE games.

We did a quick pit stop to the dealer hall and it was time to drive back to Tennessee.

I don't remember much after that... Once home, I slept for... about 20 of the next hours. Took me three tries to get through WWE Smackdown.

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[Gencon AAR] Part 2

Part 1 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Thursday

I was excited to get there and start the show. Several new GMs would run for FOE this year, and I was curious to hear them run, and see their style, and where/how I could best use them in the future. Since they all came recommended by trusted people... Trusting Brandon had yielded good results so far, so I pushed my luck.

The games went off without a hitch, we adapted a few things and all was well in the world.

The evening had the first special set in Ozaka. A mix of social and politics called Friends we make had a number of unique elements I was trying:
- the GMs (including myself) had some mini-larp elements to pass rumors/ stories
- the adventure ended with each tables choosing which side of the coming battle they would pick: the Kobochi, or Sazame.

I think it went well enough and the players left in good spirits.

One day in the bag.

Friday

Friday, I had to run my first table since 2022 or 2023... I was pretty excited and I had practiced the voice of my main NPC until my wife told me to stop doing it. (I didn't, I just did it when she wasn't around.) I had a lot of fun running the game and seeing the choices and decisions weigh on the players. Especially when the Epilogue was read...

The afternoon was pretty light on ticket sales, but the tables that played had a great time.

The evening had the one Olympia special this year, To Find an Enchantress where the PCs had to deal with the rather troublesome enchantress who came up with a pretty good plan to confound the heroes.

I had a great time watching their faces, especially Rees' table that somehow pulled themselves from the brink using a bane spell. The Ancient War Golem had most of the table unconscious at one point! Bravo.

Bravo.

Now I have a story. The kind of things that can only happen at Gencon. During the event, I went to GM HQ (for some reason) and as I returned, just outside our room, a couple cosplaying as Zeus and Hera were eating. I approached them, asking for a picture. As we briefly talked, I told them that we were running a game in there dealing with the Greek gods. I asked them if they would like to appear in the game as their alter egos. They were both as excited as I was. We plotted a little surprise for the players (and GMs).

I introduced them briefly, they entered the room. The first table to praise/call their name immediately were fully healed. It was great to see the GMs going "WTF?"

Since they had to attend some other event, they left quickly. Another Gencon gem!

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