Quick recap: What is AcadeCon?

AcadeCon is a 3 day convention in Dayton, Ohio where people get together and play RPG’s, board games, and generally just hang out.

Let me start out by saying that I had a blast at AcadeCon, every game that I played in, I had a ton of fun with, from the Dungeons & Dinosaurs where I played a dinosaur of a variety that I cannot pronounce, to fighting off assassins in ancient Egypt, to stop the release of an extended and recut addition where someone shot first who wasn’t supposed to have shot first. The only downside to it was that I wasn’t able to finish out the week strong as the lead-up to AcadeCon was busy and I didn’t get enough sleep and ended up being exhausted and feeling like crap the last day, so I didn’t get to play in a game by Shane (@Mundangerous) where I would have been playing some more normal D&D, and playing in another Star Wars game run by Chris from the Redemption Podcast.

Next, let me also say that I’m and extrovert, so I recharge and get energized being around people, which is great most of the time. I do need to do a better job of balancing that out, but more on that later (as in another post that I’ll put out in the next couple of weeks). So when I’m super excited about it, understand that it was a super high for me. If you want to know more about how an introvert dealt with AcadeCon, check out Kristen’s post (double posts today)!

This post is really going to be a highlight post, so let’s talk about some of them:

1. I got Metal Dice! Easy Roller Dice! They are really cool and copper/brass colored. They are also really heavy and fairly expensive, but did I say that they are really cool. I’m super happy with that purchase. That was about the first thing that we did while waiting for our first game to start. We also bought a die tray to help make it less noisy when we record and Kristen bought a dragon (not living) and some dice as well.
2. I ran a super awesome game. It was supposed to be a horror/suspense sort of game, but I found out quickly, that does not work. Without being able to control factors, like light, and people playing games around you, it’s kind of hard to set the mood. So I just went along with it (and along with having five people even though the last time I had checked there were only 2 signed up), and it ended up being a great name. The adventuring party called themselves the Shadow Hawks (or their defacto leader did), and it ended up being referred to as the Chartreuse Parrots or the Black Crows or so many other combinations.It was great, the players were really funny, and I killed off a character which was fun, right as the game wrapped up, so they weren’t sitting around. First time that I’ve managed to kill of a character.
3. The Nefertiti Overdrive game was something totally new. This is the game that was set in ancient Egypt. And instead of asking the GM (game master) “Can I do something” you describe what you are going to do, that determines how many dice you get to use, and then you roll to see what happens. It really helped some up with a ton of stuff on the fly and stretched my improv skills. It ended up being very epic, and the tension was high even though the combat speed was a little slow. But the mechanics are unique and they would be pretty easy to recreate again and could work really well in any setting.
4. I really want to run a Star Wars game now. We got to play in a Fantasy Flights Star Wars system, Force and Destiny to be exact. We were a team that had found out about someone name Lucas who was going to re-release some films, remastered and redone and we needed to stop that and keep the originals around. I played a Bothan who was really into stabbing people. For those of you who don’t know what Bothans are, in Star Wars the biggest thing that I know about them is that many Bothans died when getting them the information about the second Death Star. I’m going to write more in detail about this system and have plans for more podcasting around the Edge of the Empire system, so look for that.
5. Finally, all the people. They were really nice. Meeting so many people who I talk with on twitter is great and being able to put a face to names was a blast, many thanks to everyone there who made it so much fun. We are already planning on coming back next year.

6. 

That’s all I got room to write about today, but checkout some more and new articles that we will be putting up on the system and checkout The RPG Academy (@TheRPGAcademy & @TheCalebG). They do a ton of awesome podcasts, and are worth supporting with some listens and reviews, and maybe you can join us for a game in 2017 at AcadeCon!

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* For this article board games can mean card/dice games as well but not RPG’s.

7. Elder Signs

Why: Elder Signs has a theme that I really like. Lovecraft and his world of horror is very interesting. It takes some ideas from games like Arkham Horror, where you are trying to defeat a great old one, but it takes less thinking to play Elder Signs. As compared to high strategy and traveling through Arkham, you are just in the museum, and different scenarios happen which you need to roll various symbols on the dice. It combines enough strategy with luck though to keep it very interesting and moving. And one of my favorite parts is that fact that you play different unique characters.

6. Lord of the Rings: Board Game

Why: This is Lord of the Rings. You go through the parts of the story that everyone knows which are so great. And you play the characters that everyone knows, Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin, and Fatty Bolger. Yes, this is from prior to the movies. This is another game where I can play a unique character. And we have an expansion where someone can play the bad guys, which adds a new level of stress to a game that always makes you feel like you are doing well, and then all of a sudden you are within danger of losing.

5. Smallworld

Why: Smallworld if a world of slaughter and laughter. An area control game that mixes unique races and abilities, it s a blast to play. I really like the fact that with the different map sizes, the maps are never so large that you can just sit there, people will always be going after another player, and because it is so inherent in the game, And the combinations are great, dwarves who can fly, giants who pillage, or merchant elves, the game plays out differently every time.

4. Betrayal at House on the Hill

Why: It’s another horror based game and it is semi-cooperative. There will almost always be a traitor in the game, and there is always an end game. But who knows who it is going to be, and who knows what horrors the house will reveal. This game is good because, while there is a traitor, no one is actively playing against the group in the first part of the game. This means that you don’t end up with hurt feelings, and it is just a fun game.

3. Pandemic

Why: Another cooperative game, you can see what I play most often, where you are part of the CDC fighting against diseases that are spreading around the world. It is one of those games, like Lord of the Rings, where you feel like you are doing well, and then all of a sudden, things start to go poorly, and you don’t know what to do, and are scrambling to keep up. It’s a blast to play and one that I would highly recommend that people buy.

2. Pandemic Legacy

Why: A lot of it can be summed up with – see above. However, it is a Legacy game. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Legacy games, how it sets up is that whatever you do in previous games affects the board and how things will work in future games on the board. It also tells more of a story. So you gain more abilities, and there are other things to escalate and it is always stressful and a ton of fun.

1. Dead of Winter

Why: This game potentially has a hidden traitor, it has high stress situations as you look to feed your colony of survivors, keep the zombies from getting in, and complete an objective. The fact that their may or may not be a traitor means that it is questionable if someone is working against you. It is a subtle game, and a high stress game trying to figure out what is going on with helping the colony and trying to find the traitor.

What are some of your favorite board games, or your person Table Top Picks?

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Share questions, ideas for articles, or comments with us!

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