D&D conventions

[doublejig2]

What 3 d&d conventions would you go to or are attending? Which ones are your favorites, if these are different?

[Desparil]

When I go to any at all, it's TotalCon. I'm sure there are others that are as good, maybe better, but they're not within convenient driving distance. But overall I see conventions as a fun diversion if I'm able to fit them into my schedule, not any kind of big deal. Once in a great while, I'll go out of my way to plan things out far in advance in order to coordinate a group of friends all going to one together, but the last time that happened was close to 10 years ago.

[Finarvyn]

(1) GaryCon (Lake Geneva, WI) in March is my favorite. 90 minutes from where I live, old school emphasis, nice people. Got the play Metamorphosis Alpha with James Ward there. I love to hang out with the Troll Lord and Goodman folks. Last year I manned Grodog's booth for a few minutes so that he could take a break, and actually was able to help customers with questions.

(2) I used to go to GenCon (Indianapolis, IN) in August but I haven't gone in years. I feel like the vibe of the con has changed a lot and is more cosplay and anime than I have interest in. My sister and I used to get up super early and drive the 3 hours to get in when the doors opened, shop for a while, then drive home. I liked it better in Milwaukee, and in Lake Geneva before that, as the convention was smaller and more D&D-focused.

(3) A local con called Opportunity Attacks (Lisle, IL) was run by a guy I know but vanished when Covid hit and hasn't gotten traction again yet. Very small convention taking up only a few rooms of a hotel, but a lot of the locals used to attend and I hope it gets going again because it was only 15 minutes from where I live.

[grodog]

I attend 2-4 cons most years:

- GaryCon, with Founders & Legends tacked on this year; I’ve attended every year from GC0 to present except GC1 (since Henry, who was born while I was attending Gary’s funeral, was only 1 yo at GC1 and was still quite a handful )
- North Texas RPGCon: attended all
- Virtual GreyhawkCon: attended all
- TsunamiCon: our local Wichita convention, which I’ve attended most of

D&D and conventions are nearly synonymous in my gaming life: my first con was in 1980 at Origins at Widener University when I was 10, when I first met Gary (although I didn’t recognize him at the time). The PA-NJ-MD corridor had a lot of regional cons BITD (including a GenCon East for two years), which really influenced my sense of the importance of cons.

It’s at cons that I’ve tried out the most new games and systems, from card/board/war games to miniatures, CCGs, and RPGs. They’re a great place to experiment and broaden your gaming horizons. This year at Founders & Legends I’ll finally play Divine Right for the first time, and will play Titan for the first time since I was a teenager.

And support your local cons—they’re the lifeblood of your local gaming communities!

Allan.