Fear the Con 4

Loooong entry here, related entirely to table-top gaming, so feel free to skip it if you're here for the Cr-48 babble.

Go here to read up about Fear the Con: Con Planner

I started gaming (tabletop roleplay gaming, specifically) in, I think, 1984. I've tried a lot of games, I've gamed with a very wide variety of people, and I've been to a few conventions. The best con, by far, is Fear the Con.

It was organized by the hosts of Fear the Boot, a gaming podcast that will be well known to any gamer who has even thought about listening to podcasts. I would travel far and pay big money to go to Fear the Con. Thankfully, it's held here in the St. Louis area, and the whole shebang only costs 25 bucks. That includes dinner the night before (Thursday, March 17th, 2011) at an event called World Wide Wing Night, and two full days of gaming (March 18th and 19th) with what I think must be the best group of gamers ever to congregate. Did I mention the free beer? Yes, free beer. No, seriously, free beer.

It's, like, stadium beer, but it's beer.

But this is a full-on gaming con -- all gaming, all the time. We game from 10:30 am to 11:30 pm.  As in, lots of groups gaming in a big room full of tables. Sign up ahead of time, or jump in if there's space, or make your own pick-up game.  There's other great stuff going on -- comedian Mikey Mason, a recording of the podcast, board games and card games, prizes for game masters, etc -- but we come to game. This is made easier by extraordinary table-side concessions -- great chili, carmelitas, burgers, fruit, etc -- at phenomenal prices. You can eat all day on 10 bucks or less, and never have to leave the gaming table.

(Much more after the break)

For a lot of gamers, gaming is exactly what they avoid at gaming cons. They don't want to get stuck in a small room with some fatbeard who smells like a fishery and can't stop being an ass. Rest assured, this is not that con. Sure, there are a few fatbeards running around (note to self: shave before con), but they don't generally smell, and almost everyone I have gamed with has been absolutely great - really and truly great! - gaming partners. ...And I don't have low standards, by any measure.

The attendees aren't con goers so much as family. Most of us know each other rather well, digitally, from being regulars at the podcast's forum. We care about each other and about making the con great for everyone. It's the most relaxed, friendly, open con I can imagine. We start with World Wide Wing Night, a rowdy, goofy, fun mess, and we're all buddies from then on.

What is truly odd is that, though this is a small con (maybe somewhere between 100 and 200?), it is still a national con, drawing attendees from Deleware to Texas to California, and even those oddball Canadians! The podcast reaches out worldwide, and we all gather in St. Louis. Believe it or not, past FTCs have been  such warm, welcome gatherings that the experience has changed lives in ways that cons can't normally do. It's family.

(The good family, the ones you hang out with on holidays, not the bad family you do penance to.)

Other details:

- kids are welcome; it's generally kid friendly, but don't be surprised at occasional cursing when the game gets hectic.  And, of course, the kid needs to be old/mature enough to be self-monitoring. The parent will be too busy gaming.

- there's a board game library, for those who are board game inclined. There are card crack events as well, though neither of these things is the central focus of the con.

- in some dark, fetid corners of the gaming world, women are second class citizens, if not simply chased off. This is not that part of the world. Sure, there will be far, far more men than women, but, from what I've seen, everyone is welcomed, respected, and encouraged to play.

- there is a hotel for the con, connected to the wing joint we go to on Thursday night. I don't know the details, because I live in the area, but you can get details from the con planner site.  Expect plenty of after-hours gaming.

- the podcast hosts actually do a week or so of meet-and-greet touristy events the week before the con, with folks arriving days early and going en masse to cultural and public venues, like visiting the St. Louis Arch and whatnot.

- free beer. Free as in free. Like, no charge. Soda, too.

So, if you game (or want to learn how in a friendly environment), get out here. IMO, there's no gaming-centric con better than this.