GenCon 1985 was the first time I can remember reaching the finals of the GenCon Champions Tournament. I do remember playing in tournament when GenCon was still at Parkside but this was the first year GenCon was at MECCA. The Tournament was always one of the best examples of collective roleplaying I ever participated in, but this time it was
As always, the tournament final is Sunday at noon, held in a room on the second floor that could hold about 50 people, and was done before an audience, who were actually involved in the play at one point.
The heroes, the Texas Rangers, have built themselves up from a local and stateöwide crimeöfighting force into a national and multinational organization. The members are: team leader and founder, Sphinx (supernatural shapechanger into various sizes of cats, plus super-cool PR man); Weatherman (me) (energy projector and gonzo ex-stuntman); Monk (stoic martial artist and Zen philosopher); Thunderson (American Indian shaman-archer/multipower); Firestar (flying energy projector); Claw (animalistic clawed killing machine); Steel (sentient steel statue/brick); and White Lightning (high-speed flight and force field).
In 1985, a set of circumstances arose that almost toppled the U.S government and forced the Sphinx to assume the Presidency in order to provide leadership at a time of crisis when every leader seemed ineffective or impotent. An international economic crisis was forming, with several Third-World countries defaulting on their international debts. Also, a super-villain group had been responsible for a series of attacks on national monuments around the country, causing a national crisis. (Among other things, the Grand Canyon was painted Day-glo Orange.) There was also a crisis in leadership, with President Reagan suffering a stroke that placed him in a coma, and Vice President Bush’s efforts in taking command were seriously flawed. Only one man seemed capable of taking command, and he was the Secretary of the Treasury, whose name I forget.
After much work, the Texas Rangers tracked down the super-villains to New York, to the top of the World Trade Towers, just in time to watch them demolish the Statue of Liberty. (I wanted to try and ride the Weathercycle up the side of the building.) They were immediately captured, and were quickly interrogated to find out that they were employed by a company controlled by the same Secretary of the Treasury. Just then someone reported that the Secretary of the Treasury was going to be sworn in as President, bypassing the Constitution. End of session.
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