Sunday
Sunday afternoon was the GenCon Amber campaign. This started several years ago as a playtest for the Amber Diceless RP system, and has carried on since. My character, a né’er-do-well named Damarian, took this opportunity to take it easy, since he’d been in one situation or another for several days / weeks running. We played in a conference room at the Marc Plaza / Milwaukee Hilton, which Erick Wujcik arranged for us (don’t ask me how.)
There was no big game released this year: instead it was the year of the CCGs (collectable card games) with over 20 being released there. (The industry is due for a shakeout soon.) A number of the cards were by artist friends like Heather Bruton, Liz Danforth, Susan Van Camp, etc., so I hope they continue to sell well.
Best overall story: Nick Pollata is a very funny guy. (He stayed with me at Paul’s house at GenCon.) He co-wrote Illegal Aliens with Phil Foglio and is doing some extremely humorous stuff for TSR right now.
A few years ago he and some friends were driving to Baltimore for a convention. During the drive, Rob the driver began whistling the “Colonel Bogey March” (most people would recognize it from The Bridge Over the River Kwai).
Another guy, Rich, says “You know there’s words to that song.”
“Nah, you’re kidding.”
“No, there’s words to it.” and proceeds to sing them.
“Hitler, had only one big b*ll,
Goering, had two, but they were small.
Himmler, had something sim’lar,
And Goebbels had no b*lls at all.”
Apparently the song was popular during the war as an insult to the Germans, and that was the reason why the prisoners were whistling it. So everyone in the car started singing it, too.
When they got to Baltimore, they missed their exit, so they got off and drove around as they tried to figure out where they were. Finally someone pointed out a parking place and they pulled over to think of what to do next.
Nick looks out the window. “Guys,” he says, “look where we’re at.”
“What?”
“Look where we’re at.”
They were parked directly in front of the national headquarters of the US Nazi Party. It was a three story building with a two-story Nazi flag in front of it.
This, Nick explained later, was a classic movie moment. A moment so unlikely yet so perfect that it would be absolutely unbelievable in a movie.
Nick continues: “Gentlemen, God has given us the opportunity, and Rob and Rich the means. From the top: ah one, ah two, ah one, two, three, four …” And everyone in the car sang the song at the top of their lungs two or three times. It was then that a window opened up on the second or third floor, a head poked out, retreated, and the window slammed shut.
“Gentlemen,” said Nick, “I think its time we left.”
Our heroes peal out. When they finally reach the convention, they amaze everyone by walking in, singing “God Bless America.”
Best GenCon story: Carol Dodd, my good friend from the GenCon Amber game, was approached and harassed by someone promoting Redemption, the Christian collectable card game. Now Carol isn’t in to card games, but she was good natured enough to pass along the names of a couple of artists for when this company gets around to doing the supplement from the Book of the Mormon.
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