KantCon: 7th Sea
By Cape Rust
After my random (albeit epic) encounter with Chris Perrin, it was time for him to run his Mecha Game and time for me to find that empty chair at a gaming table I spoke of in our last episode. Entering the main hall was a full frontal assault to my gamer senses. Tables occupied by people who share the same passions that I do, combined with just the right amount of vendors and a table full of amazing baked goods, I was a happy panda.
I did a lap around the room, kind of like looking over the entire buffet before you dig in. I was not surprised by the amount of usual suspects I saw on my initial room recon. There were a few people who were engaged in full or partial Cosplay, and of course there were several portly men (like myself) with varying degrees of facial hair. Thankfully KantCon wasn’t the sausage fest that some geek events turn into; there was a great mix of male and female, young and old gamers to create that sweet spot of variety. Chris Perrin’s Mecha game was in fact full and for a few minutes I was worried that I would have to play voyeur during this time slot. I guess that covering a Convention, that is really what I should have done, but the gamer over-rode those silly thoughts with much quickness. On the tail end of my counterclockwise route through the room I found a table with a blessed few seats left open. There was a 7th Sea GM shield. I have played several versions of 7th Sea so I figured the combination of 7th Sea and an empty seat were a winner.
I asked if there were any open seats and Rob Edwards, who was running the game, told me to grab a seat. As the 2-6 P.M. game slot began, all of the chairs at the table had filled up and my, what a motley crew we were: men, women, young and old. For the young lady sitting next to me this was her first RP ever. The anticipation in her eyes reminded me why gaming matters. We engaged in some small talk at the table and Rob our GM listened, getting a feel for the type of people we were and which characters might be good for us to play. I was given the Irish (type) mad bomber. Our virgin gamer was not happy with the Snooty French (type) character so I traded with her. I was just happy to be at the table and I wanted to contribute to a good session for a new player.
Turns out our characters were criminals who were duped into a “simple” recovery mission. Our target was a cruel man who was despised by all; as you can guess by my use of quotation marks, the mission was far from simple. When it was all said and done bombs had been used, in-game booze had been consumed, guards had been duped and most importantly fun was had by all. I enjoyed my time as a snooty, arrogant, foppish gun toting snob. Rob did a great job running the game and there were several times when we went dice-less and the rule of cool reigned supreme!