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[NOTE: This is NOT the speech I would have made if I'd been in the room and then on the stage when Golden Goblin took the silver for Best Supplement. It's far too long and rambly. My actual speech would probably have been:
"Ohmighod! Wow. This makes the whole week of 'F*cking shields!' worth it all!"]
When Oscar told me we were up for an ENnie for the 7th Edition Guide to Cthulhu Invictus, hereinafter referred to as Invictus, my first reaction was: "What?"
My second was to agree that we weren't going to win, but it was amazingly great that we were nominated.
My third was to thank all the gods that we weren't up against The Fall of DELTA GREEN. It was up for Best Settings, Invictus for Best Supplement. This made sense, but either game could have been in either category.
Josh reminded me that there are silver ENnies, not just gold. I reckoned our odds as not good, but existent.
The ENnies were awarded Friday night, from 8-11. I was, of course, in a game from 6-10. This will not surprise anyone who has seen me prepare for Gen Con or heard me talk about my schedule. I go to game, shop, and talk to people.
Sure, I pay attention to the ENnies, but the only time I had actually been to the ceremony, sort of, was an accident. I was in a LARP that took place on the second floor of Union Station, in a room right next to the balcony. Getting everyone set up with characters took a long time. I went onto the balcony and realized that the ENnies were happening on the floor below and that I had a good view.
But I wasn't about to miss my game. It was Bluebeard's Legacy, the playset from Bluebeard's Bride where the PCs are not aspects of the bride, but aspects of the son. I wanted that game. I'd played the Dark Carnival setting. I'd seen playthroughs of the core setting. I found I had a hunger for the game that I have not yet entirely figured out how to describe. I needed to know more. I needed Bluebeard's Legacy. I needed to know how the tale twisted and changed when people played a boy.
And it was a very, very good game. The only thing that would have made it better is if we stuffed an hour into the middle, not so much to add extra stuff as to fully savor what was there. We threw questions at the Groundskeeper fast and thick, eventually agreed (mostly) to burn the manor down, and decided to save Bluebeard's hounds and hunt down Bad People with them.
And we talked a bit afterwards about what we had in mind for our aspects. I went to put the lottery ticket for the Magpie Games drawing into the dish, and was assured that I'd be contacted if I won anything.
I said that I'd already won, because I'd been at that gaming table.
The person I was talking to lit up like fireworks at Disney and said that was the best answer to that and told me to take a free D6. (Yep, I'm a gamer -- I think "D6" before "die".)
I went to the bathroom, as it's best to take the opportunity where possible. When I came out, talked a bit more with one of the players who is (I think) newly local to NY/NJ and told him about the Double Exposure conventions.
After that, I walked to Union Station, briskly, but did not run, as that really doesn't help. As I came in and grabbed a chair, the Gold for Best Supplement was announced for The Glorantha Sourcebook. This failed to surprise me. I listened to a speech both delighted and amused, pointing out the oddity of a book with no game mechanics in it being awarded Best Supplement.
I waited for the silver to be announced, then realized that, of course, silver comes before gold, figured we hadn't won, and settled in to enjoy the rest of the show and applaud when The Fall of DELTA Green won Best Setting. I pulled out my phone to text Oscar that I'd arrived, and saw he'd texted me a photo of the silver ENnie we'd just won. I had to stare at it for a moment or so, then texted: "what???"
Yep, I literally just missed it, as I explained via text, and slowly worked my way up front to join Oscar and Jeff Moeller.
I got to cheer for The Fall of DELTA Green and be surprised that Ken Hite and Shane Ivey didn't think it'd win either gold or silver. I grant it was up against strong competition; very, very strong competition. But I think Ken has been making his case over the years for the real world as the best setting ever. Certainly, it's one of the most challenging, but Ken being Ken, the book hands readers a solid guide to the 1960s from the point of view of both modern readers and the Agents they will play, paying attention to both the decade as a whole and how it changed over time, from the early to the mid- to the late 1960s. And on top of that, FoDG was translating the DELTA GREEN system into Gumshoe -- and getting it exactly right.
I know Oscar was sorry I missed the award and that he would have called me up to the stage. But I got a medal. I got into the big photo at the end. I eventually got a celebratory milkshake -- I don't generally drink at gaming conventions because I'm already fighting falling asleep during a game by this point in the convention. I'm here to game.
And I had come from a great game in the horror genre. It was exactly what I wanted to play and showed me exactly what I needed to learn. No small part of what makes me a good editor is that I am regularly playing and running games. I need that. I need to know what's going on at the table to have the big picture when I sit down to edit a book or a scenario. Sure, not all games are for me, but this one absolutely is.
And I made someone's day by saying that my prize in the Magpie room was my seat at the table. I stand by that.
Okay, maybe if I'd skipped the bathroom, I'd have made it to Union Station in time to see us win the silver. Maybe. But because I made that trip, I had that extra conversation with a player who did not know that the Double Exposure conventions are in his new back yard.
And I love stories, and this is a fine story. I regret nothing.
"Ohmighod! Wow. This makes the whole week of 'F*cking shields!' worth it all!"]
When Oscar told me we were up for an ENnie for the 7th Edition Guide to Cthulhu Invictus, hereinafter referred to as Invictus, my first reaction was: "What?"
My second was to agree that we weren't going to win, but it was amazingly great that we were nominated.
My third was to thank all the gods that we weren't up against The Fall of DELTA GREEN. It was up for Best Settings, Invictus for Best Supplement. This made sense, but either game could have been in either category.
Josh reminded me that there are silver ENnies, not just gold. I reckoned our odds as not good, but existent.
The ENnies were awarded Friday night, from 8-11. I was, of course, in a game from 6-10. This will not surprise anyone who has seen me prepare for Gen Con or heard me talk about my schedule. I go to game, shop, and talk to people.
Sure, I pay attention to the ENnies, but the only time I had actually been to the ceremony, sort of, was an accident. I was in a LARP that took place on the second floor of Union Station, in a room right next to the balcony. Getting everyone set up with characters took a long time. I went onto the balcony and realized that the ENnies were happening on the floor below and that I had a good view.
But I wasn't about to miss my game. It was Bluebeard's Legacy, the playset from Bluebeard's Bride where the PCs are not aspects of the bride, but aspects of the son. I wanted that game. I'd played the Dark Carnival setting. I'd seen playthroughs of the core setting. I found I had a hunger for the game that I have not yet entirely figured out how to describe. I needed to know more. I needed Bluebeard's Legacy. I needed to know how the tale twisted and changed when people played a boy.
And it was a very, very good game. The only thing that would have made it better is if we stuffed an hour into the middle, not so much to add extra stuff as to fully savor what was there. We threw questions at the Groundskeeper fast and thick, eventually agreed (mostly) to burn the manor down, and decided to save Bluebeard's hounds and hunt down Bad People with them.
And we talked a bit afterwards about what we had in mind for our aspects. I went to put the lottery ticket for the Magpie Games drawing into the dish, and was assured that I'd be contacted if I won anything.
I said that I'd already won, because I'd been at that gaming table.
The person I was talking to lit up like fireworks at Disney and said that was the best answer to that and told me to take a free D6. (Yep, I'm a gamer -- I think "D6" before "die".)
I went to the bathroom, as it's best to take the opportunity where possible. When I came out, talked a bit more with one of the players who is (I think) newly local to NY/NJ and told him about the Double Exposure conventions.
After that, I walked to Union Station, briskly, but did not run, as that really doesn't help. As I came in and grabbed a chair, the Gold for Best Supplement was announced for The Glorantha Sourcebook. This failed to surprise me. I listened to a speech both delighted and amused, pointing out the oddity of a book with no game mechanics in it being awarded Best Supplement.
I waited for the silver to be announced, then realized that, of course, silver comes before gold, figured we hadn't won, and settled in to enjoy the rest of the show and applaud when The Fall of DELTA Green won Best Setting. I pulled out my phone to text Oscar that I'd arrived, and saw he'd texted me a photo of the silver ENnie we'd just won. I had to stare at it for a moment or so, then texted: "what???"
Yep, I literally just missed it, as I explained via text, and slowly worked my way up front to join Oscar and Jeff Moeller.
I got to cheer for The Fall of DELTA Green and be surprised that Ken Hite and Shane Ivey didn't think it'd win either gold or silver. I grant it was up against strong competition; very, very strong competition. But I think Ken has been making his case over the years for the real world as the best setting ever. Certainly, it's one of the most challenging, but Ken being Ken, the book hands readers a solid guide to the 1960s from the point of view of both modern readers and the Agents they will play, paying attention to both the decade as a whole and how it changed over time, from the early to the mid- to the late 1960s. And on top of that, FoDG was translating the DELTA GREEN system into Gumshoe -- and getting it exactly right.
I know Oscar was sorry I missed the award and that he would have called me up to the stage. But I got a medal. I got into the big photo at the end. I eventually got a celebratory milkshake -- I don't generally drink at gaming conventions because I'm already fighting falling asleep during a game by this point in the convention. I'm here to game.
And I had come from a great game in the horror genre. It was exactly what I wanted to play and showed me exactly what I needed to learn. No small part of what makes me a good editor is that I am regularly playing and running games. I need that. I need to know what's going on at the table to have the big picture when I sit down to edit a book or a scenario. Sure, not all games are for me, but this one absolutely is.
And I made someone's day by saying that my prize in the Magpie room was my seat at the table. I stand by that.
Okay, maybe if I'd skipped the bathroom, I'd have made it to Union Station in time to see us win the silver. Maybe. But because I made that trip, I had that extra conversation with a player who did not know that the Double Exposure conventions are in his new back yard.
And I love stories, and this is a fine story. I regret nothing.
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