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I am deeply saddened that I cannot manage to attend this year and I shall miss it greatly.
But that's no reason for myself and others that can't make it to be completely in the dark!

Come on in and share tales, tidbits, anecdotes, and fish stories from this year's Open House!

Funny joke?
Awesome game?
Cool moment?
Embarrassing moment?
Great swag?
Beer, caffeine, and/or sugar based insanity?

This is the place!

One short recollection:

During Kevin's opening comments tonight he opened things up for people to ask him questions. For a while people were asking about the status of various books and other products they were looking forward to; one guy asked "so where is Mechanoid Space?" Without missing a beat Kevin pointed up toward the sky, but what really made it funny was that at the exact same time about 1/3 of the audience did the exact same thing!

One other tidbit: there is a full wrack of new minis all ready to be purchased. Didn't get to look at all of them, but the few I did have time to peruse looked awesome! Kevin mentioned that they'd go on sale on the website after the Open House but we that are here get first crack at buying them (sorry, don't want to rub it in... well maybe just a little).

I'm at home working overtime rather than partying at the open house. However, I picked the hotel for my friends who did go. After a series of bad experiences we have decided never to go to the god awful convention hotel we have made a habit of hitting various hotel sites and always picking better hotels. This time around however the Hotel I picked is in the middle of a renovation, the Internet does not work, the AC cut out the phones are problematic.

And I don't have to deal with it.

Clocktower Hotel is fine. Staff is accomdating.

In Kevin's Aftermath game the whole table laughed when my 11 year old son had his character summon a water elemental to douse my character while he wa s making a speech to the townspeople. He made up for it later when he had the elemental force feed a Mute potion to the enemy sorcerer.

Also a lot of people have been enjoying the Rifts-based board game I brought.

Well, at least we have an observer involved in the situation.
Glad to hear things are going fun-ly!

Involved Observer wrote:In Kevin's Aftermath game the whole table laughed when my 11 year old son had his character summon a water elemental to douse my character while he wa s making a speech to the townspeople. He made up for it later when he had the elemental force feed a Mute potion to the enemy sorcerer.

Also a lot of people have been enjoying the Rifts-based board game I brought.

I have loved playing that board game have played it more that been in Rpg games if it ever comes out will be on my preorder list

Auction is going right now - fun to watch (& bid every now and then). The coolest so far was the upside down RUE the had a bidding war; went to $150.

I'm still recovering....2 days...2 hours of sleep between them....approx. 34 hours of gaming...met many great people....can't wait to do it again....

Highlights of the Open House for me (not there for the last day/Sunday):

- Bought a Glitter Boy mini! This is the first mini I've ever had, and I'm incredibly excited to have it!!!

- Played in one of Kevin's games - AWESOME!!!

- Got many, many compliments on the Rifts based board game (much of the credit belongs to my wonderful wife who made everthing look wonderful as well as being my chief play tester and all around sounding board). Still haven't gotten Kevin to play it, but I'm hopeful for the future!

- Got to meet Rex Bartold (hope I spelled it right), the genius behind PB's cool new website. He is awesome & nice, and a heck of a role player.

- Got to play a game with our good Hendrick. One of my favorite experiences of the weekend.

- The costume contest was great, and now I have another plaque to display at work!

- Brandon Aten was an awesome Game Master. Not only did he run an incredible game but he was able to integrate my 11 year old son into the game flawlessly. My wife and I were both totally impressed with how he treated our son, explaining things in a way that he could understand without being condescending or slowing the game for everyone else. Brandon is a master GM (and an awesome writer!).

My favorite part is where I did not have to deal with the awful combined stench of Brandon K Aten and Mike Mumah. They make soap out of rancid bacon and dead cats I swear.

Carmen Bellaire was soundly defeated by the magnificent eight on Saturday May 5, 2012

rat_bastard wrote:My favorite part is where I did not have to deal with the awful combined stench of Brandon K Aten and Mike Mumah. They make soap out of rancid bacon and dead cats I swear.

You can't live without our stink. We took synchronized deuces to your honor, sir.

Now that I've recovered I can comment on the Open House a bit more coherently.

First off...it's hands down the best gaming convention I've ever been to (I've been to a few).
The folks were great, the gaming was excellent (played in 5 games), the organization was stellar, the gamer stench was at an all-time low, the restrooms were fit for both man and beast and the food was both tasty and inexpensive. I am actually craving one of their hot dogs at this very moment...one piled high with ketchup, dijon mustard, relish and jalapeno's which for the most part fueled my weekend.

Gamewise I played in two BTS games (for some strange reason there were twice as many BTS games than RIFTS), a Dead Reign game, a PFRPG and a Nightbane game that overflowed past midnight to the hotel and on to 4am Sunday.

I ended up buying the new Dead Reign book, Rifter 44, a bag of goldfish crackers (which saved me from too much coffee indigestion) a couple of Diet Cokes and 3 or 4 hodogs....all of which came in around 40 bucks total. Quite reasonable and worth every farthing.


I only wish I had an alcohol fueled tale of woe and debacuery to tell, but alas I was stone sober both days.

"I put him in a sleeper hold to wake him up"

"You'd better, or else you'll have to deal with his salad"
and no i'm not going to explain either of those further

Baphomet wrote:


Later Friday night we played The Bungling Bros Dead rein game where we fought our way through a runaway train full of zombies. Zombies are really hard to kill when your armed with fists a cigarette lighter and a bad attitude, let me tell you. Hilarity and fun ensued.

Don't forget the guy with the boots throwing zombies to and fro.

Xavier72 wrote:I played in three games, ran four. I got some great feedback and compliments on the ones I ran; thanks to those who chatted with me afterward; I hope I have the opportunity to put suggestions to use. I don't play often (once a year if lucky) so I figured I'd just go nuts.
The 3 games I played in, run by Mark Oberle, "Mad Man" Mike and james Brown, all unique, well written and intriguing.

Thanks, but mine wasn't written. I didn't even have the stats for the aliens on paper until about half an hour before the Friday game. Which character did you play? The whole weekend was a bit of a blur for me, having only slept about 13 hours between Tuesday and Monday...

Xavier72 wrote:I played in three games, ran four. I got some great feedback and compliments on the ones I ran; thanks to those who chatted with me afterward; I hope I have the opportunity to put suggestions to use. I don't play often (once a year if lucky) so I figured I'd just go nuts.
The 3 games I played in, run by Mark Oberle, "Mad Man" Mike and james Brown, all unique, well written and intriguing.

Glad you enjoyed my game, thanks for playing!

I had a blast in Involved Observer's :Hie, Ho!" campaign. 2 teams of NGR Spec. Forces(6 soldiers in ea. team) attempting to sneak into a Gargoyle den and retreive a captured VIP (along w/ some other poor souls), hilarity ensued when our rolls started going south on us! One PC even fell flat on his face and attracted the attention of 3 Gargoyles which lead to his unfortunate demise.
Blue team (my team) made it out w/ only 1 casualty(out of 6 team members), one of our heavy weps. guys, White team lost all but their Medic, who luckily enough managed to save the VIP, thus making the mission an overall success.

Lightning Lord wrote:

kamikazzijoe wrote:"I put him in a sleeper hold to wake him up"

I totally was in that game, but due to my almost total lack of sleep, I can't exactly remember which one it was! Rifts Japan right?

Madman mike's second aliens game

Quotes from the first:

I don't know how they do it in Whales but here in America we read top to bottom left to right -Madmanmike FAIL!
What was your problem? I've been running around in crotchless chaps with no powers killing all these aliens and you've just been napping on the job. - other Mike

Have to say, my last game Sunday morning with James Brown was epic, if for only one reason. Two brackets of four missiles, a 12 and a nat 20. Rolled 4d6x10 damage twice. The first time, 120 points total. The nat 20? Rolled MAX DAMAGE. Yep, 24 out of a possible 24, for 480 points on the crit. 600 points total...from my V-SAM to the classic GB I was targeting. Best. Roll. EVER.

I guess that made up for all the fumbles I rolled on Scott's board game on VIP night (nine of them...ugh!).

Primus wrote:...I guess that made up for all the fumbles I rolled on Scott's board game on VIP night (nine of them...ugh!).

My goodness! Nine Fumbles? What did you do to offend the Fates, my friend?!?

Involved Observer wrote:

Primus wrote:...I guess that made up for all the fumbles I rolled on Scott's board game on VIP night (nine of them...ugh!).

My goodness! Nine Fumbles? What did you do to offend the Fates, my friend?!?

My dice suck. Seriously. Maybe I need more....