Bidi’s World

It was with a great deal of will power, I went to my first gaming convention. I had never done such a thing before and knew of nobody into the hobby who could join me. After the great time I had at World Wide D&D Gaming Day though I was determined to make the best of it.

As it was, my worries were unfounded. Nerdcon 2007 was put on by the Clan of the Cave Nerds and ran Friday November 9th till Sunday November 11th. They are a gaming group that plays at Ancient Wonders in Tualatin on the second Saturday of every month. I was beside myself with the hospitality that greeted me there. My original intent was only to spend a few hours there on Saturday. Getting into a game of Munchkin or something simple seemed like a good start. In the end though, it was the longest and funnest two days I’ve had gaming since I was a kid. And that was a very long time ago.

It started out with me asking Ada, the event organizer, questions about the various games that were going on. The setting and system of Living Arcanis perked my interest and they had an introductory adventure planned for that Saturday. One of the other gamers there helped me get a character rolled up and gave me an introduction to the setting. It was at this point Bidimus of the Hinterlands, a ranger, was born.

The whole concept behind a “living” setting is interesting. Each session is somewhere between a “one off” and a full campaign setting. What that means is that when you sit down at the table to play you’re going to wrap up the plot for that adventure in only one or two sittings. You can also only take part in any given adventure once. As your character gains levels it will open up further adventures you can partake in.

In order for your characters to remain authentic there is a system of paperwork that gets attached to your character. One is a log that you use to track what adventures your character has been on and what they acquired in possessions and experience. This log is signed off by the GM that ran your table as proof of authenticity.

The other important piece of paperwork is the “cert”. Certifications are papers that document major events that occurred in Arcanis or even properties that were acquired. Some of my certs from the con included special abilities I gained that I could use at some point in a future adventure, favors I earned from prominent officials in the game world, and a few special items like a crossbow designed to shoot underwater unhindered. I also got a cert for a bow I had specially made at the Marketplace using some of the gold I earned during my adventures.

I was so enamored with the game after that first session I ended up taking Bidimus on more adventures that evening and also came back the next day to continue to play even more. My fellow players were really cool people as well and it was a pleasure to meet them. They ranged from a really nice young couple who were into all sorts of gaming to a teen age kid and his mother who apparently had been playing Living Arcanis for a few years. It was an incredible experience.

Our dungeon master (GM) for that first game, as luck would have it, was the same one for all the games I played that weekend. Herald did a superb job immersing us in the story line and keeping things moving smoothly. On the whole I joined in on 4 games that weekend. Bidimus is now a level 3 ranger.

The one thing I found difficult with Living Arcanis was dealing with the various religions and racial tensions. Not having been previously familiar with the setting it made it more than a little challenging. Herald did a great job stopping down from time to time to give brief history lessons though which made all the difference. The last game I played in was really hard for me to grasp though. I think in part, it was due to the fatigue of only getting four hours sleep that weekend. But it was also a much more cerebral adventure. There really was no combat to speak of and it was so much more heavy on Arcanis history and politics. That said, it was still enjoyable and my GM from World Wide D&D Gaming Day happened to be a member of our adventuring party which was fun too.

My only regret was not having enough time to play in all the Arcanis games I wanted to and also be able to try out some of the other games that were going on. There was Shadowrun, Spy Craft, and Witch Hunter to name a few. I’m now totally jazzed about the idea of going to another gaming convention. I’ve made new friends and discovered new games. I might even try to get in to one of the big ones next year such as Origins or Gencon. I’m totally hooked.

Huge thanks to the guys and gals from the Clan of the Cave Nerds that put on Nerdcon and a special thanks to my brothers and sisters in arms that joined me in my adventures for what has become a most remarkable weekend. Hopefully we’ll get to have more adventures in the future at the monthly gatherings at the game shop.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, November 17th, 2007 at 8:07 pm and is filed under Games. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.