4) To register for events on the opening day of Event Registration, you must have a valid Gen Con Indy 2013 badge in your account before May 19, 2013.

The Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo – also known as C2E2 – is a convention spanning the latest and greatest from the worlds of comics, movies, television, toys, anime, manga and video games. Bringing the best of popular culture to Downtown Chicago, C2E2’s show floor is packed with hundreds of exhibitors, panels and autograph sessions giving fans a chance to interact with their favorite creators and screening rooms featuring sneak peeks at films and television shows months before they hit either the big or small screen!

• Pre-Registration badge sales for opening week increased 41% percent year-over-year, and have surpassed 2011 badge sales by 74% year-over-year.
• Exhibit Hall booth space for Gen Con Indy 2013 has sold out, despite a 20,000 square footage increase in space this year.
• VIG packages, offered at $540, sold out within three minutes of the launch of Badge Pre-Registration at noon (Eastern) on January 27, 2013.
• Opening day hotel bookings jumped more than 17% from 2012, signaling an increase in those traveling to the show from outside the Indianapolis metropolitan area. Suburban hotel bookings also surged more than 378% year-over-year.
• Early event submission, which closes on February 8, 2013, has surpassed more than 2,700 separate events. Last year at this time, 1468 events had been submitted.

Talisman has gone through many iterations as well as companies. Bret’s customized version is a pleasure to play.  Each Realm has a distinctive feel that adds to game play. For more than 3 players this classic is definitely a stay at home evening of play with games extending over six hours with more than 6 players or playing multiple characters. In my opinion Bret’s  version is in serious contention for tournament play at an upcoming GenCon should DWD ever decide to REF.

PTG is looking forward to this years ChiTag. If you’ve never heard of it heres a bit from their website.

About the Chicago Toy & Game Group, Inc.

The Chicago Toy & Game group is a family of industry initiatives designed to encourage and promote the power and joy of invention in social, educational, and professional environments. The Chicago Toy & Game Group consists of:

• Chicago Toy & Game (ChiTAG) Fair: founded in 2003 – the largest toy and game fair in the U.S. open to public. ChiTAG brings together consumers, families, inventors, manufacturers, retailers, educators, hobbyists, and the media, at the start of the holiday season, to play, celebrate, discover, support, and promote the creation of toys and games.
• The International Toy & Game Inventor and Industry Conference (T&GCon): founded in 2008 – the industry’s original, preeminent, most comprehensive conference available to toy and game inventors and seasoned industry professionals from around the world.
• Toy and Game Inventor of the Year (TAGIE) Awards: founded in 2008 – an elegant and playful evening that honors and celebrates the history of and the people behind the playthings.
• Social Media @ Play Conference (SMAPCon):  founded in 2011 – a conference specifically for the toy / game industry given by experts who will show you how to navigate the new social media world, using proven case studies.
• The International Summit for Professional Inventors (I-SPI): founded in 2011 – an exclusive, invitation only conference for ProfessionalInventors.
• Play with Purpose Conference: founded in 2006 – an inspiring day of workshops to help educators develop their students’ cognitive abilities and inject energy into the learning process through applying games as part of their curriculum.
• Young Inventor Challenge: founded in 2007 – open to kids ages 6 – 18, participants create their own toy or game inventions to be judged by popular vote by The ChiTAG Fair attendees.
• Games for Educators Website and Newsletter: founded in 2005 – resource developed in partnership with Live Oaks Games provides educators, librarians and parents with the tools and trends to bring games into the classroom and homeschool curriculum.
• DiscoverGames.com: founded in 1998 – the world’s largest co-op of board game inventors.
• Chicago Toy and Game Foundation: founded in 2011 – philanthropic foundation supporting various children’s organizations.

I haven’t played a role playing game in about 5 or 6 years. Not because I didn’t want to, mainly because finding a regular group you can gel with isn’t easy. In my opinion a good role playing game is more about the group then the theme or system. When I was younger, playing mostly D&D and Shadowrun, I had a great group. My friend and roommate, at the time, Rich, had a  brother, Mike,  that worked at FASA as one of the developers of Shadowrun, his wife Sharon was one of the editors. They would host games fairly regularly and it was always a great time. The bonus being we would get to try out thing that might make it into the next expansion.

There are two factors that go into a good role playing session.

First, your GM has to know his stuff and by that, I mean the following: He has to be able to fluidly adjust to unexpected player choices and be able to steer players back on track without letting them know they are being guided. By knowing his stuff the GM can be flexible in the why a game system is setup and adjust the  player experience without being a rules lawyer. He has to be able to weave the scene without giving to much away and be willing to let players figure things out for themselves. He has to be a story teller. Our GM, Will, knows his stuff.

Second, the group must realize everyone is there for the same reason, to have a good time sharing the experience. While we may want our character/avatars to be all they can be, it’s not about them it’s about the group. Good players know how to help other players out and can take a good ribbing. A good sense of humor goes a long way. Good role playing is a lot like good improv.

Will, our GM, had the idea to put together a One Ring campaign that meets roughly twice a month until the release of  The Hobbit. He cleverly structured the game around regular players and drop-ins. Each session would last about 4 hours and would be a self contained chapter that contributes to an overarching storyline. So, if people were busy with other things and couldn’t make it, it was no problem, as well as if others wanted to drop in from time to time, again no problem.

Will gave us the option of having pre-generated characters or crafting our own. I opted for pre-gen, and let the fates decide. Marty and John took the time to truly craft their characters and that added a level of depth to the fellowship that was a bit lacking in my character. I’m still getting to know my character and hopfully will flesh him out over time. Paul and I played Wood Elves and and fate dice were against us for most of the session. I can’t count the number of time we each rolled the Eye of Sauron. Good times, good times… Just kidding, when it counted the Wood Elves  came through.

Will’s relaxed narrative style was excellent for crafting our fist adventure. Randy and Paul, from Quicksilver, brought great energy to their characters, particularly memorable was Randy’s take on his hobbit who’s level headed, down to earth approach was punctuated with moments of truly cinematic humor with bits of nail bitting suspense thrown in for good measure. Nathan’s character dealt out some truly gruesome moments during one of our run-ins with some thieving goblins. We all came through our adventure successfully, a bit worse for wear and bit more seasoned.

All in all, I’m digging the group. The One Ring has an interesting character development system and from what I can tell a fluid, story based, guided narrative, nuanced with dice.

It was a good way to spend a Sunday afternoon and I’m looking forward to our next chapter.