Winner and Websites

We have a winner in the IronDie steampunk wedding contest! It's Kieko!!! Congratulations on winning this fabulous purple D6!

Now, what should I have for the next contest?

Gen Con is fast approaching and before it hits I'll be taking a train into Chicago for a very fun weekend and a stay at a hostel. I'm so glad I can stay at such an inexpensive place and I've heard good reviews about it.

In the meantime I've been in demand doing work from home. A lot of it is for my last course as an IT student, so it's not paid. I've been building websites for several important departments at my school for an independent study credit. It's taken a lot of my time, but I've learned so much. Here's a screenshot of one of the sites in progress. I designed the banner.

Graphic design is a passion of mine, but in all the technical work I do, like coding, it usually gets pushed to the background.

I'm also designing logos and labels for someone else and have been making banners and Photoshop work for someone in trade.

Well I have some more work to do right now, so more later!

ENnies !

Don't forget to vote in the ENnies! Go here to vote now.

Dragon Chow Dice bags are up for an ENnie and I certainly hope Dragon Chow wins! I will be at the ENnies at Gen Con and I'm looking forward to it tremendously.

In other news the winner of the Iron Die contest will be announced later today.

Pathfinder: Carrion Crown

Our Carrion Crown game is on a break. We finished the first book and I have never been so satisfied by a gaming experience. It was perfect. In fact, the path we just finished The Haunting of Harrowstone is up for an ENnie. I hope it wins! Our gaming group will be at the ENnies again this year and I'm looking forward to it. Last year it was so much fun hearing from the RPG industry speakers and meeting some of the writers/creators of the products I love.

In the game I'm playing a Gnome Alchemist named Adaleet (she has several more names that she refuses to let me reveal here). Adaleet was drawn by my talented pirate friend Captain Balfour and this coloring was done by his co-Captain Crystal. When I described her I wanted her to sound as much like the Fourth Doctor as possible and I think Chris really got what I wanted!

Until our Pathfinder game starts up again we'll be playing a Dresden Files game. More details on that to come!

It's Been a Hard Year

As my lack of posts may indicate and the fact that I did not get to celebrate my one year blog anniversary it's been a bad few months. In February I had two consecutive gluten exposures that sent me to the hospital for a week and I've been ill off and on ever since. It's no secret that the name of this blog Chronic Geek comes from the fact that I have chronic illnesses, but it's something I try to leave out of the blog. I would rather be the Chronic Geek because I've been a fan of something since childhood, and well, that's part of the reason for the name too.

Since my health has worsened I have quit working and am doing the odd research assistance and web design work from home. I have also found out that I cannot get financial aid for the upcoming school year since I already have a Bachelor's and a Master's. This means I will not be in school for I.T. any longer.

Let's not be down though! Anyone who has read my entries knows that this blog is a positive space. For the most part I DO NOT do negative reviews and I promote people and businesses on here that are awesome.

My blog is back up and running now. I may not be able to get out a lot to do stuff, but I am going to Gen Con and I was able to get a hotel connected to the ICC so that I can easily go back and rest as necessary.

So, let's get to some posting. Thanks for listening!

Let's Shame some Beholders

Beholders are a nasty species of monster that over the years have spawned new variants and given many a player a terrifying experience.

Unique to the universe of Dungeons and Dragons, Beholders have stuck in the imaginations of several generations of gamers and show up in some interesting places.

Walking through the doors at Gen Con and being faced with this monstrosity was certainly a fun experience. This Beholder is captured, frozen in time and can't do a thing to the throngs of gamers who pose in front of the trapped beast all day and all night. It's a great punishment!

I scoured the magical land of the internet for other interpretations of this creature and found many cool pieces of art. Here are just a few of the things I found.




CAKE:

Ever wonder what one of these tastes like that? No, me neither. However, the lucky 14 year old Josh the Jouster (sorry strange teenager, I had to) got this super treat for his birthday. That's some cool parents.

You can see more 3D cakes of different varieties at the blog Just Cake.

CROCHET :

This little guy was separated from the Hive Mother and who knows what will happen if he is raised in captivity. Maybe he'll grow up to replace the trapped Gen Con Beholder?

This creature was made by relientKitten.







STEAMPUNK:


Instead of multiple eye-stalks this metal beasty has
some nasty looking implements like clamp claws and what looks like a small spinning saw.

In the right game setting this could make an interesting monster.

To read more about it check out the original article on Boing Boing.





I think we can safely agree that Beholders would hate everything about their images being used in such creative ways. There are even more sculptures out there in other mediums and of course some great artwork as well. Probably my favorite use of a Beholder is in Futurama. If you watch the special features on Bender's Game you can hear the creators of the show talk about that a little more in-depth.

Warcrafts!

I've been so busy with travel, conventions and work that I have not reviewed any comic books or played a minute of Warcraft in the past two weeks. However, I did reserve a copy of Cataclysm at Game Stop. The reason I reserved it there is because I enjoy standing in lines and waiting for new releases. That might sound odd, but it's true. Let me give you an early example: when I was young and Jurassic Park came out I camped out the theatre all afternoon and evening for it. I like the sense of anticipation that waiting in a physical space brings and I enjoy meeting people with similar interests. When Lich King came out I had a lot of fun waiting for midnight to hit.

Speaking of the Lich King I got to assist him in ICC (the aptly abbreviated Indiana Convention Center) against this joker during Gen Con:

I made a very quick costume to go around my Horde pauldron. The bloody hand print is from a dying night elf.

I told these ladies that I played Horde and then felt like a big jerk for saying it. Hehe.


Finally, I checked out the G33kmade booth and was delighted a million times to meet Kylee and Lesley the crafters of Luxury Lane Soap and Geek Soap respectively. It was so awesome meeting them and talking. I wish I could have hung out at their booth longer. As you can see Lesley is wearing a Horde shirt. Yay!

Complete Pathfinder Conversion

It's happened. I'm completely hooked and won over by the Pathfinder system. Yes, we've been playing our converted DnD to Pathfinder game for half a year now, but the Advanced Player's Guide that I picked up at Gen Con was the tipping point that sent me from admiration to adoration.

On the left you can see some of my recent acquisitions. Red Dragon Inn is not part of Pathfinder, but I included it here because I finally got a copy yesterday. My arch-nemesis Capt. Osmotic and I battled each other into a drunken stupour last night. So it was only in-game drinking... I did have a shot of vodka to celebrate though.

Below Red Dragon Inn you can see my recent Pathfinder buys. I bought the GM screen because Mr. Geek will be running game for me and I'm hoping to run something for a few friends in the future. I haven't GM'ed since Vampire.

Harrow deserves its own post. I will tell you right now that it's a very neat concept. Harrow is a divination deck to be used in campaigns. You can use it to tell fortunes that the GM can incorporate into the story or use it as a gambling deck during game time.

Finally, the Pathfinder Chronicles book focuses on the undead. I couldn't resist getting it. Paizo has some wonderful products coming out later this year and early next year, so stay tuned.

"I'm Here to Game"

Last Thursday I attended two seminars about women and gaming at Gen Con. The seminars at Gen Con were really one of the best aspects of being there. I don't often get to sit in with a group of people who know games and discuss issues inherent to the culture and,or process of gaming.

Girls Just Want to Get Their Game On

The panel for this seminar included women with a wide range of gaming experience. There was a panel member who works for Wizards of the Coast, a woman from Game Salute, All Games Considered, Married Gamers, and Geek's Dream Girl. They recorded the panel for Game Salute and handled the session as an open Q&A.

From this panel I learned that there's a trend for librarians to run RP's for kids. That's pretty exciting news for me. We heard stories ranging from playing Magic in the back of chemistry class to women feeling free to be ultra-violent in games to reduce stress in life. One interesting story came from a woman who played a female character back in the early days of D&D. During a session the DM brought out a male NPC who was from a culture that controlled women. From then on while this NPC was present her character was not allowed to look at him. Those are all the details I know, but wow, there is a lot to unpack with a story like that.

One last tidbit. I was excited to hear that the man sitting in front of me had written his dissertation on women, sexism and gaming.

Best Quote of the Seminar: "I'm here to Game".

Women in Gaming

I had to hurry to get to the next panel and was glad to see some friends had arrived as well. This panel again included women with a wide range of gaming experience. There was someone from Gaming Angels present, a PhD student, and several other professionals. My notes on this panel are a little patchier because we got there late enough that we had to sit in the back of a huge room and I couldn't always hear what was going on. (My hearing issue, not the fault of the staff).

This panel covered everything from gender issues in cross-play during LARPS to defining the hard core nature of those who play casual games.

Something that came up again and again was women being demanded to prove themselves both as competent gamers and even as women. Why do women have the burden of having to prove themselves to be as good or better at things? What makes men the default? These gender issues are not unique to games, but are prevalent in American culture.

Many women reported that Geek Culture was more accepting of people who are different than wider American culture. I was delighted to hear one panelist compare it to the Metal community. When I got into the metal scene I found the people to be the nicest people I had ever been around. Geek culture can be the same way.

This panel also discussed the phenomena of industries that look for gamers. One of the panelists had secured her position because of her experience with online gaming. The issues of management and technical skill that gaming takes can translate in the right industry to valuable skills as an employee.

Ultimately we seemed to agree that everyone had stereotypes that they needed to confront. I heard several women critiquing the appearance of other women and wondering how to relate to them. This is a hard issue. Hopefully, the internet and events like Gen Con are helping women connect with others. I argue that the internet is our greatest cultural potential for furthering true equality.

Conclusion

I hope panels like these happen again next year. It was eye-opening to hear from other people and get a variety of experiences and opinions discussed.

Gen Con Highlights Video

Here's some footage that I shot sort of documentary/news on the street style of Gen Con 2010. Mr. Geek is the camera person in most of the shots with me. Editing several hours of footage into ten minutes really does take some work! I'll be making some highlight videos of The Guild, Wil Wheaton, and The Ennies. There will also be some random clips that I put up that didn't make it into the mini-doc.

Enjoy!

Hearthstone Soap Contest Winner

Filmed live at Gen Con 2010! Thanks to those who entered. Many thanks to Geek Soap for the hearthstone! I met Lesley of Geek Soap and Kylee of Luxury Lane Soap at Gen Con and let me tell you these are two AWESOME girls. I had a lot of fun talking to them and wish that we could have hung out. My schedule kept me from the Tweet Up which was a shame, but they should know I super HEART them! I can't wait for us all to meet up again, hopefully soon.

The First of Many

Gen Con has been an eye-opening experience of complete awesomeness.

This coming week will feature write-ups on the various experiences I had at the Convention and what I learned. I want to share what came up in the seminars on Women in Gaming, the awesome round-table that I attended based on the book Things We Think About Games, the charm and hilarity of Wil Wheaton, and the witty banter of The Guild cast-members. There's so much.

It was so incredibly refreshing to go somewhere and just truly belong. I met a nice mix of wise-crackers that I could, err... crack with and friendly, interesting people to talk to about gaming. Naturally, being gamers the two sets often overlapped. The INT stats were maxed out! That was great.

Sunday morning is our last stop at ICC. Yes, our last raid on ICC IRL. I will sorely miss it.

Once I am back home I can upload all the photos and edit videos for everyone to enjoy.

Finally, there's one thing I know for sure. Gen Con has been one of the best experiences of my life and I am hooked. A true believer who will now make this pilgrimage every year possible has been born.

Gen Con: Fishnet Friday

Good news everyone! The fishnets have been out in force on the lovely men and women of Gen Con. Yes, I said men too and I'm happy to say it.

Here we have two lovely DC ladies, Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn posing yesterday for their fans. White fishnets! Thanks girls. I have to give props to all the people in costume who are willing to pose for photographs.

Well, that's all I have time for this morning. More updates to come. I have a full schedule to day including the nerdcore show tonight.

Gen Con: The Reckoning

Yesterday we spent many hours on the road traveling to Indianapolis. Our journey was mostly uneventful and spent listening to the Geek Nights podcast. We drove in a caravan of two cars and I referred to the lead car as our Tank. Our Tank was made of win and we got straight to the hotel after many hours.

From there we checked into our hotel, the La Quinta. We had requested a fridge and microwave in the room if possible and they delivered. I'm really grateful for that.

Finally, we reached the Convention Center and got in line for our badges. The line snaked around most of the place and getting to the end of it was fairly epic. Happily, the people running things did an excellent job and we got to our badges very quickly. Well, those of us who had badges that were actually printed out...

We went out for gluten-free pizza at Uno Chicago Grill where our waitress thought we were a band. Well, we were all basically wearing black t-shirts. The two guys in our group have long hair and Beth and I have black and pink/red hair. My husband actually is a metal guitarist...

On the drive back to the hotel we discussed bad gaming experiences and I accidentally coined a horrible new breakfast item "Fap Jacks". We fleshed out (if you will) a menu for our new ultra-x themed adult breakfast palace inspired by the many creepy stores we drove past.

While wandering around the hotel last night Beth and I ran into a guy who asked us if we were there for Gen Con. I think our video game shirts gave us away. In retrospect I wish I would have told him that I made my perception roll and that I knew he was there for the Con too.

Well, that's it for yesterday. I have a full schedule of stuff today. Have a good one!

The Gamers Before the Storm

In a few hours I will be heading out to Indianapolis on a long and debatably scenic drive. Before I begin to inundate my Twitter and possibly my Youtube and Flickr with as up to the minute as possible updates I thought I would recommend two blogs to you and also introduce my Gen Con group.

There are many, many excellent sites out there in the blogosphere and my link list contains a sampling of them. So check them out. If you are reading this and I haven't stopped by your blog let me know!

Please check out my Arch Nemesis Captain Osmotic Ricardo. He wrote an excellent piece reflecting on character death in games and it contains this brilliant line, "After much suffering (and 16 failed dice rolls)"... Although the Captain and I are arch enemies we find ourselves often matching wits in games, comic book stores, and in the realms of the Xbox Live Game Room. (I will defeat your Millipede score!). In all honesty despite his arching ways and his work for the Guild of Calamitous Intent, Captain Osmotic is incredibly knowledgeable about a lot of games and a lot of tech. He's a real peach.

Now let's talk about the folks attending Gen Con with me.

Check out the blog of Absolute Anne the lovely lady, er, Princess who will be driving us to Gen Con. Her blog is ablaze with sass and such. She also has a great piece up with advice about attending Conventions. Anne is a real doll. She is part of my DnD turned Pathfinder game and is the Junior Goddess of all things anime. You should see her manga collection. I've tried to break in several times to steal it and to do her dishes! (Not a euphemism, thanks). I'm looking forward to our time at Gen Con together.

If they had blogs I would recommend the blogs of my fellow gamer friends Beth and Ryan who will also be with us in Indy. They are very fun, awesome people with some mad table-top and WoW skills. Yes, that's right. All of us, including Anne, are in the same Guild on WoW.

Finally, I would also recommend my husband's blog if he had one. He is a brilliant and funny guy with years of Magic and White Wolf gaming under his belt. He's also in our WoW guild and we spend most of our times in a living paradise of gaming at home, playing metal on our guitars and enjoying our cats. It's really a dream come true.

Here's hoping we all have a great time at the Convention. If any readers are going I hope you also have a fantastic time and if you aren't going then bear with me as I gush on about it.

Cheers!

Gen Con : Tik Tok

The lyrics to this are hilarious.

Gen Con : The Fun Coverage

Going to Gen Con? Well, if you aren't then I hope to deliver some of the experience to you vicariously. I really enjoyed SDCC even though I wasn't there and I hope those not attending Gen Con might feel the same way. Hehe.

Gen Con is four days (and one night since stuff technically starts on the 4th) of gaming held in downtown Indianapolis. You buy a badge to attend and then get tickets to join games from Magic to Settlers of Catan to LARPing and everything else you can imagine. For example, one game that I wasn't in time to get tickets for is being run off of the DC Universe system but the world it is set in is the world of the Venture Brothers. Oh man, I wish I was in that game! I could end up killed by Bowie!

There are some huge name events that I am very excited about that I'll be writing about more in the future (*cough* FELICIA DAY *cough*).

Aside from the chances to game there will also be a zombie walk, costume contest and many opportunities to party.

Over at G33Kmade the folks have put up details about their booth #2732 which will include a wide variety of excellent items. I can't wait to check it out. G33Kmade is also hosting a Tweet Up which sounds like an excellent time.

If anyone has any tips for me about attending this Con let me know.

Con Dining: Beyond PB&J

After four days you will be tired of sandwiches....

SDCC is about to hit the west coast while all across the globe the convention schedule for fans of almost anything continues to grow with new events and old favorites.

In the heat of battling for exclusive items, attending seminars, meeting your idols, and taking it all in it's important to remember to eat. How does the savy attendee solve the dilemma of finding easily accessible food and yet also saving funds for that got-to-have collector item?

I have given this a lot of thought as this year some of my gaming BFF's and I will be attending GENCON. I don't want to spend the time and money tracking down restaurants compounded by the fact that I have to find gluten free and vegetarian fare for my dietary needs.

Let me introduce you to some foods that would make either good snacks or great meals for those on a budget. Even if your hotel room doesn't have a microwave almost all hotels have a microwave in the lobby. Your first step is to make sure you stay at a hotel with some kind of free breakfast as that will simplify some of your food needs.

SNACKS:

There are a lot of good meal bars that you could stash in a bag of holding or your Cthulhu waist pouch. Some good options that also happen to be gluten free, healthy, and taste pretty great are Soy Joy, Luna Bars, and Cliff Bars.

Cliff bars lead the pack as they have more calories than the others, a number of added vitamins, and are quite filling. Paired with an apple from your free hotel breakfast this would make a fast and healthy lunch between seminars.

Other good options would include trail mix, microwave popcorn, tortilla chips, and of course cookies (which for the gf person there are many options these days).


DINNER:

Here is the beyond PB&J, beyond ramen, part of the post. If your hotel room does not have a fridge it may seem like you are very limited in your food choices. However, a trip to an International Grocery, larger chain store, or a co-op/natural food store will yield amazing choices that are not perishable. These foods will give you a full complement of nutrition and even veggies.

First up on my recommended list are the meals by Tasty-Bite. They make items in the vegan range, gluten-free range, etc. Can you imagine after a long day coming back to your hotel room and fixing a fast, hot-meal of Indian food?! There are a lot of meals to choose from in this line and they cook in 1.5 minutes.

These meals can be paired with microwave rice such as Anne Chung's Rice Express for a full meal that you can share.

Other brands that make good non-perishable food that comes in gluten-free include Amy's Vegetarian Chili's and Soups (you'll need to bring a can-opener), Thai Kitchen, and A Taste of Thai.

Hell, if you bring a jar of pickled Japanese veggies it's even possible to make a passable and very cheap mountain of sushi to take back up to your hotel room with this kit. All you have to do is microwave the rice for the sushi.
BE EARTH-FRIENDLY:
Conventions, like any large gathering of people, tend to create a lot of waste. Be mindful of this. Ask about recycling at your hotel or at the convention center. If possible stash any plastic, cardboard, paper, or glass in your trunk to recycle when you get home. Bring your own water bottle and refill it and if you are microwaving food at your hotel consider bringing a small bowl from home and a knife/spoon or spork. You can wash it out in the hotel sink and re-use it each day instead of throwing away paper or plastic disposables.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
As you consider the type of convention, the means of travel, and the amenities of your lodgings decide ahead of time how much food you can bring and what type. At the very least bring along snacks and re-usable water bottle.

Let me know any other easy food options that have worked for you in the past or ones that you plan on trying.