[GameStorm 12 Report] Part Four - Dealer Room Swag

Psi Rat wants to devour your mind!

Taking a break from game reporting, I thought I'd mention that this year was a good year for purchases at GameStorm. The dealer room, though never huge, was back up to speed from last year and there was even a swap meet that featured some RPG stuff in addition to the usual board game stuff. I almost picked up an old, beat-up ccopy of the original Traveller boxed set, but resisted as I wasn't really in the market for Traveller. So, what did I buy?

My first purchase was a Star Frontiers - Alpha Dawn boxed set and three supplements. These I purchased from Spiff 'n' Swag, a newcomer to the con that I hope will return in future years. They specialize in used gaming goods and had more stuff than I could buy in one con. They even had a box of old Grenadier D&D figures and a complete box of what I believe is Swamp Denizens. I got the Star Frontiers lot for $40 which seemed fair as the lot was individually tagged at $50.

Spiff 'n' Swag tormented me with temptations of other stuff as well, including a Knight Hawks boxed set for Star Frontiers and some old Twilight 2000 supplments. I did visit them again to take advantage of a fun bit they had layed out. Gaming Grab Bag it said and all I could ID inside the plastic bag was a tattered copy of the AD&D Oriental Adventures book and right out front X1 Isle of Dread. With the whole bag being a good 6-8" thick and weighing a ton, I decided to drop the $10 and have some fun taking a chance. I am happy I did. Sure most of the stuff in the bag had obviously been loved near to death, but I got a few things I'd been looking for besides the OA and X1. The bag included a bunch of old characters and character sheets of players past as well as the following-

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  2 copies of the 1983 Dungeons & Dragon Dungeon Masters Rulebook
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  1 copy of the 1983 Dungeons & Dragons Players Manual
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  A coverless but otherwise intact 1981 Moldvay Basic Rulebook
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  A good copy of the 1981 Cook Expert Rulebook
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  2 Well-loved, tape-bound copies of the AD&D Player's Handbook (one belonged to a girl!)
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  Glossography book from the 1983 World of Greyhawk boxed set
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  The cover/maps from S3 Expedition the the Barrier Peaks
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  2nd Edition DM's screen
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  Map of the Sword Coast

From other dealers I picked up the odd creature at the top of the post. He is the "Psi Rat" sold by local company Bucephalus Games. I bought him for my 6-yr old daughter. I also picked up the Uncle Sam figure from Reaper's Chronoscope line to paint up as the undertaker for our Dustswallow Wild West project. I am sure it seems like blasphemy but his leaning pointing pose, gaunt appearance, tailed coat and top hat he seems all too right for the role.

Another cool purchase was Berangad Games' "Beast Hunters" RPG. If you haven't heard about this game it sounds very fun. What drew me to it was the cool concept of an RPG in a tribal setting where the heroes play tribal defenders, hunting monsters for glory and the protection of their people. What sold me on the game was co-author/creator Christian Griffen who was kind enough to talk to me about his creation which he is very passionate about.

As I was shopping for games I could play with my oldest daughter, this game really does appeal as it is designed with 2-player play in mind. It is a story-based game that uses a pretty cool system of situation resolution referred to as Negotiation. This is a system of bargaining where the Challenger (GM) and the Hunter (player) argue through several stages - Solution, Elaboration, Complication. This is ultimately a bit of a match of wits and guts between the players with penalties and bonuses to ech of them. The game also has a bit of a colaborative element to it as the Hunter determines what sort of game you are going to play. The Challenger then designs a challenge based on the budget he is given by the Hunter.

I am looking forward to giving this very intriging and unique sounding RPG a try as it feels very different from things I have played before. They have a pretty cool online presence and if you follow some of the threads you get some great insights on the game. Christian also mentioned a 1.5 add-on to the rules offering more exampleso fp lay to help cement the concept for those who might be having trouble grasping it.

Game on!

-Eli