Things To Do At Gen Con - Food Truck Rally

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS POST IS FROM 2014. 

Food is always a fun challenge at any convention. The food in the hall is always expensive and usually not the best. One of the things that Gen Con has tried to do to help with that is to have rallies of area food trucks around the convention center during the show. Here is the schedule of times, locations and trucks for each day.

I'll say it, I'm a picky eater. Not in the way that a lot of picky eaters won't eat things, but more in that I'm not a big fan of greasy foods (although diners can still be my Kryptonite) and I don't really care much for bar food or the big chain restaurants. I like unique and interesting, and I like flavorful. Break out of the bonds of the usual convention junk food and give some of these places a try. I bet you might find them interesting.

I've also tried to track down the website and Twitter for as many of these as I could find. You can thank me at Gen Con by sharing your fancy french fries with me. I know that people have special dietary restrictions and quirks, so being able to get a look at the truck and their menu in advance should help out. Having grown up in Indiana, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that some of these trucks don't have a web presence.

Remember that the schedule is subject to change, but with all of this information, you should be able to track down food even if they end up not at Gen Con directly.

Also, check out the Roaming Hunger site. They seem to have a lot of information about area food trucks. This way you can plan things for yourself as well. The Roaming Hunger site also has tracking for food trucks, and it looks like they have an iPhone app as well.

Thursday August 14

11 am - 4 pm

Georgia St
Citizen Hash | Twitter
Nicey Treat | Twitter
Chef Dan's | Twitter
Scout's Treats | Twitter
Byrne's Grilled Pizza | Twitter
Gobble Gobble | Twitter
Gypsy Truck | Twitter
Big Guys BBQ | Facebook
R&R Extreme Wings | Twitter
Talkin Turkey | Twitter
Taste of the Caribbean | Twitter

Capitol Ave
Cutie Pies Pizza | Twitter
GiGi's Cupcakes | Twitter
Food For The Soul | Twitter
Groovy Guys Fries | Twitter
Big Ron's Bistro | Twitter
Tacos W/O Borders | Twitter
Simple & Good | Twitter
Taste of Memphis | Twitter
Ahh Burrito | Twitter
Soul Sista OTM | Twitter

5 pm - 11:30 pm

Georgia St
Spice Box | Twitter
Little Eataly | Twitter
Duos | Twitter
General American Donut Cpmpany | Twitter
Circle City Spuds | Twitter
Mac Genie | Twitter
SOT SOT | Twitter
The Flying Cupcake | Twitter
Da Blue Lagoon | Twitter
Taste of Heaven | Twitter
Hoosier Fat Daddy | Twitter

Capitol Ave
Serendipity | Twitter
Key's Gourmet Slider Station | Twitter
The NY Slice | Twitter
Dashboard Diner | Twitter
Nacho Mama | Twitter
Der Pretzel Wagen | Twitter
Scratchtruck | Twitter
Johnson's BBQ | Twitter
Sweet Jeanius | Twitter

Friday August 15

11 am - 4 pm

Georgia St
Spice Box
Groovy Guys Fries
Johnson's BBQ
Sweet Jeanius
Talkin Turkey
Natural Born Juicers
R&R Extreme Wings
Scratchtruck
Soul Sista OTM
Simple & Good
KG Slider Station
Big Guy's BBQ

Capitol Ave
Chef Dan's
Der Pretzel Wagon
SOT SOT
Circle City Spuds
The Flying Cupcake
Big Ron's Bistro
Da Blue Lagoon
Taste of Heaven

5 pm - 11:30 pm

Georgia St
Little Eataly
Nicey Treats
Duo
Heavenly Sweets
Serendipity
The NY Slice
Dhaba Indy
Gypsy Truck
GiGi's Cupcakes
Taste of the Caribbean
Taste of Memphis
Cutie Pies Pizza

Capitol Ave
Byrne's Grilled Pizza
Gobble Gobble
Mac Genie
Scout's Treats
Pierogi Love | Twitter
Rolin With Tha Roux | Twitter
General American
Hoosier Fat Daddy
AP Delicious Ribs | Twitter

Saturday August 16

11 am - 4 pm

Georgia St
Hoosier Fat Daddy
Groovy Guy Fries
AP Ribs
The Flying Cupcake
Gobble Gobble
KG Slider Station
Mac Genie
Dhaba Indy | Twitter
Cutie Pies Pizza
Big Ron's Bistro
Ahh Burrito

Capitol Ave
Circle City Spuds
Neighborhood Pizza
Little Eataly
Nicey Treats
R&R Extreme Wings
Serendipity
Spice Box
Da Blue Lagoon
Taste of Memphis
Gypsy Truck
Scout's Treats

5 pm - 11:30 pm

Georgia St
Nacho Mama
General American
GiGi's Cupcakes
Der Pretzel Wagen
Scratchtruck
Natural Born Juicers | Twitter
Talkin Turkey
SOT SOT
The NY Slice
Big Guys BBQ

Capitol Ave
Sweet Talk me
Rollin Wit Tha Roux
Heavenly Sweets
Johnson's BBQ
Soul Sista OTM
Taste of the Caribbean
Simple & Good
Tacos W/O Borders
Taste of Heaven

Sunday August 17

11 am - 5 pm

Georgia St
Nicey Treats
Hoosier Fat Daddy
Byrne's Grilled Pizza
Scout's Treats
Johnson's BBQ
Chef Dan's
Mac Genie
Soul Sista OTM
Ahh Burrito
Little Eataly
Sweet Jeanius

Capitol Ave
The NY Slice
The Flying Cupcake
Der Pretzel Wagen
Taste of the Caribbean
Heavenly Sweets
AP Ribs
Dhaba Indy
SOT SOT

Here is a basic map of downtown Indianapolis, to help you find where the places are.

Tampa Bay Comic Con

I went to the Sunday of Tampa Bay Comic Con yesterday and I had a really good time at the convention. I'm working up a more detailed piece about it for Bleeding Cool, but my initial impressions were really good ones. I saw some great cosplayers in some spectacular costumes, I got to meet some great local comic creators and I even was able to see my friend +Norbert Cartagena and his niece (who I now feel guilty that I don't remember her name). I also got to meet artist, writer and designer Jim Steranko and writer Nick Cuti (co-creator of the comic character E-Man with Joe Stanton!).

I had a really good time, and the show opened my eyes to a local community of comics creators that I admit that I didn't know about before now. However, I've got some great comics that I picked up at the convention to rectify that situation, and I got a lot of business cards and email addresses of publishers, writers and artists. I am very excited about this, and I am excited about the things that I will be getting to write about. Expect to start hearing more about all of this both here at the Dorkland! blog and over at Bleeding Cool as well.

I was also finally able to meet with Cullen Bunn face to face. We've talked before on Twitter, and I ran an interview with him here on the blog about being a gamer. He and I talked for a bit about comics and gaming, and how he might be going to Gen Con again this year. We can only hope.

More to come!

Meanwhile At The Bundle Of Holding - A One-Roll Engine

It is the last day for the One-Roll Engine Bundle of Holding. You're not familiar with the One-Roll Engine?

The One-Roll Engine (ORE) system resolves initiative, success/failure, and damage in one quick roll. Designed by Greg Stolze (Unknown Armies) and Dennis Detwiller (Delta Green), this d10 dice-pool system is fast and easy to learn, yet has enough crunch and options to satisfy veteran players and GMs. Though technically a generic system, ORE really shines in superheroic action. 

I'll say right now, that this probably isn't going to be a game for everyone, and that's all right. But with the One-Roll Engine, and its accompanying suite of games, you have a game that is tightly designed around a specific idea: gritty super-heroic action.

That's something that is a sort of holy grail for super-hero gamers. A lot of super-hero RPGs do an excellent job at the "higher end" of the super-hero spectrum, but a lot of these start to fall apart when you get to the "lower end" or more street level types of games. With Godlike, Dennis Detwiller and Greg Stolze changed this. I have the original edition of Godlike in my gaming collection and I've played it a few times. It did have some mechanical quirks to it, but those were outweighed by a system that did a good job of handling the previously unhandleable. (Yeah, I know that's a made up word. Sue me.)

If you haven't played Godlike, I can describe it as being akin in tone to the Liberty Files graphic novels put out by DC Comics. If you don't know what those are, then shame on you. After you check out the Bundle of Holding you need to track down these comics as well.

A lot of these kinks were ironed out with the more generic version of the rules from Godlike, released as the game Wild Talents. Designed from the basis of a number of hours and months of play of the engine of the rules, Wild Talents expanded the scope of the rules to handle super-heroic action in a number of different eras, outside of the World War II action of the original Godlike rules.

In addition to a fine-tuning of the rules, Wild Talents has some additional material that would be of interest to super-hero gamers. The book has valuable campaign creation/design material from super star game designer Kenneth Hite, If you feel that your skill as a game master isn't up to describing the world that you want to game in, the section and advice written by Hite will help you over that hill.

The bundle also includes settings and expansions for the One-Roll Engine's rules. eCollapse and Better Angels are built around some interesting setting ideas from Greg Stolze, the creator of the rules.

Also, if the One-Roll Engine isn't your thing, Godlike features a conversion of the super power rules from that game into a d20 structure. That conversion was done by a designer who's name you may have heard of: Mike Mearls. I've always been surprised that these rules never went viral into the open content landscape. They should have been a part of open gaming for a long time now.

If you're not a fan of super-heroes, there is also a fantasy game that you can find in the Bundle. Reign, also designed by Stolze, is a demonstration of how well the One-Roll Engine rules can be used as the backbone of a fantasy game. Reign also features one of the more interesting and unique fantasy probably since Greg Stafford's Glorantha.

The game may not be to the tastes of those who only want to play D&D and the derivatives thereof, but for those people looking for something different in their fantasy gaming, Reign just might be that game that they are looking for.

And in addition to getting some good gaming material in DRM-free PDF form, you are also doing a good thing. Ten percent of the monies raised by each Bundle goes to charities of the designer/publisher's choice. For this Bundle, the charities of choice are Doctors Without Borders and Action Against Hunger. Check this bundle out soon, because tonight will will be done.

The Last Few Days Of ENnies Voting

Voting for the ENnies Awards runs until July 30th. Please consider voting for Dorkland! in the Best Blog category. You don't even have to vote in every category in order to vote. Each vote for Dorkland! is greatly appreciated.

Some of our favorite posts, if you would like to see why we think you should vote for us:

• Constantine And Flash Pilots Leaked To The Internet
• Revised - Being Inclusive Doesn't Mean Including Hate
• A Dorkland Interview with Max Brooks
• Dorkland Interview With British Comics Force Pat Mills
• Drinking Quest: Trilogy Kickstarter Interview with Jason Anarchy
• The Shepherd Interview with Nathan Sage

That's just the tip of the iceberg. Nose around and check out the blog. We have also provided some (we think) cool free content for games that we like, like Fate Accelerated and Swords & Wizardry as well.

• SuperFAE: An Approach For Super-Heroes With Fate Accelerated
• More SuperFAE: Big Bang Comics
• Hey Rose, Hey Madder...Hunter Rose For Fate Accelerated
• Super-Soldiers And Super-Spies For Fate Accelerated
• Whitebox Classes: The Timelord
• Norse Mythology-Inspired Monsters For Swords & Wizardry
• Random Spellbooks For Swords & Wizardry

We hope you enjoy the tour and consider voting for us for the ENnies Awards in the Best Blog category.

Mapping The Multiverse

Maybe it is because I received a copy of the newly revised edition of the Supers! role-playing game in the mail today. Maybe it is because of the fact that Comic Con International: San Diego is going on and I am jealous of all of the comic-related news coming out of there.

I don't make a secret that I am a fan of Grant Morrison's work. I loved his Doom Patrol and Justice League runs more than is probably legal in a number of states. Moreso even than Warren Ellis and his Stormwatch/Authority run, I think that Morrison redefined the super-hero team book during his JLA run. So, today, at Comic Con, on the Multiversity panel (for Morrison's upcoming mini-series redefining the DC Comics Multiverse) they revealed maps of the Multiverse, according to Morrison's story.

What do these maps make me want to do? They make me want to run a super-hero game that runs across worlds and planes of existence. Something that kicks some major ass. On the panel Morrison said:

"It has a concordance of every earth, with who lives there and which superhero teams are there.  There is a big story there too with Kamandi and Batman,” Morrison added.  It will literally define each of the 52 universes explicitly while showing what is going on in each one.  It was inspired by an old issue of Jack Kirby‘s Kamandi where Kirby drew a map of the western hemisphere to show what has been happening in different places. 

 How can this be bad?

Bleeding Gen Con In Less Than A Month

So, it is less than a month until Gen Con now. I will be attending as media, both for the blog here, and for the Bleeding Cool website. Coverage will be split between here and there. Also attending will be Helen, another of the bloggers here, and Josh will be manning the Dorkland! offices and handling anything that doesn't require being at the convention. If you have a Kickstarter going on before or during the convention, send us a note via the contact form and I will put you in touch with Josh.

Expect a lot of pictures uploaded each day.

Updates to the blog, and pieces for Bleeding Cool, will be uploaded during lulls in the day and in the evenings, after we are back at the hotel. My Twitter and Google+ feeds will also be good places to find my most up to date pictures and postings. Following me on Twitter will get your best information on coverage of the convention and will point you towards articles as they are published.

With the roll out of the new edition of D&D happening leading up to Gen Con, this is going to be an exciting convention, and I already have started lining up people to talk with during the convention. If you can't be at Gen Con yourself, this blog is going to be a hub of information about the convention that you won't want to miss out on.

Also, if you haven't voted for your ENnies Awards choices, please head over to the site and give the Dorkland! blog your consideration. I feel that we provide a unique "service" here at the blog that others don't give you. Our mix of news, reviews, interviews and free gaming content is, in our opinion, some of the best that you're going to find among gaming blogs.

There's also a Fundrazr page to help offset some of the costs of our coverage of the convention. It isn't cheap going to a big convention, and every little bit helps.

The New Castles & Crusades Printing Arrived Today

Convention season also means review season. Between here at the blog and my writing for Bleeding Cool, that can mean a lot of stuff filtering through the Dorkland! offices this time of year. I already have a considerable slush pile of games to review and so much more good stuff keeps coming out from publishers.

With the craziness of Comic Con International going on over at Bleeding Cool, that leaves me with a little gap in gaming coverage to talk about over here. Plus I can write out incomplete thoughts and ideas about games over here that I can't address over there.

Today a review copy of the new 6th printing of Castles & Crusades came in the mail. I've always enjoyed Castles & Crusades and the work of Troll Lord Games. Well, except for Star Siege. That was a bit of a disappointment. If you think that C&C is just another old school retroclone, you really need to think again. This is a dynamic and streamlined fantasy gaming system powered by what they call The Siege Engine, which is basically a refinement of the core D20 mechanic from the third edition of Dungeons & Dragons. While it is close in spirit to older editions, it is really its own beast as well. If you're looking for a robust fantasy role-playing game that is streamlined in execution of its rules, you should check out Castles & Crusades. With new art and full color printing funded by a recent Kickstarter, this printing is the best version of the game to date.

Once I read and digest, my plan is to run an after hours game while at Gen Con and talk about it online here and there.

Gail Simone Tackles Dynamite's First Ever Female-Centric Crossover Event

July 21, 2014, Mt. Laurel, NJ:  Dynamite Entertainment is proud to announce an exciting new event series featuring the most iconic female characters published by Dynamite, as written by sensational comics scribe, Gail Simone.  Renowned for her deft handling of DC Comics' best-known and most powerful women (Batgirl, Wonder Woman, Birds of Prey), Simone will unite and celebrate the strong female characters of Dynamite's publishing line, including Red Sonja, Vampirella, Dejah Thoris, and more, in a series currently under a working title of The Women of Dynamite.

The heart of The Women of Dynamite is formed by the three bestselling heroines (or female triumvirate) of Dynamite's line as the central characters:  Red Sonja, Vampirella, and Dejah Thoris.  The "She-Devil with a Sword" known as Red Sonja, is fantasy fiction's most prominent female character, formerly a swashbuckling ally of the Robert E. Howard character, Conan.  Vampirella, originally a horror hostess in her self-titled magazine, evolved over her forty-five year history into a supernatural detective.  Finally, Dejah Thoris is the eponymous heroine of Edgar Rice Burroughs' original story featuring John Carter, A Princess of Mars, and an adventurous mainstay at Dynamite with the publication of such series as Warlord of Mars and Dejah of Mars.  Additional female characters from Dynamite's ten years of publishing will be included in the event.

"When I first spoke with Nick about working at Dynamite, he graciously offered my choice of a huge list of great characters, and I immediately chose a favorite, Red Sonja," says writer Gail Simone.  "But that meant leaving behind amazing characters I loved!  So doing this big, fun, noisy event book, full of action and fun and drama and sex and villainy, featuring some of the wildest female characters out there, that's just awesome.  Getting to work with some of the most talented female writers in the industry only makes it better!"

"After working so closely with Gail on Legends of Red Sonja, I am excited to see where we'll be going next with this epic character crossover," says Molly Mahan, Associate Editor of Dynamite. "The concept of a Women of Dynamite series has been something we've been circling around for a while now, but had to wait for the right concept and creators to come together to make the story as worthwhile as the concept. We are lucky to have Gail as the cornerstone on this project and I know we'll craft something that the fans and comics community will enjoy across demographics."

"Gail has been an absolute pleasure to work with," says Nick Barrucci, CEO and Publisher of Dynamite Entertainment. "The thought of bringing together the strongest female characters that Dynamite publishes into an event has been discussed for years, and we could not be happier that Gail is the creator who will tell this tale.  Her work on Red Sonja has been a delight, and as fans who read her work know, she has many tricks up her sleeve.  Gail is going to make this event huge!  Just wait until you see what she has in store for the rest of Dynamite's strong female characters."

Gail Simone first debuted on a Dynamite series with the 2013 launch of Red Sonja, an ongoing series which was met with immediate critical acclaim and an impressive sell-out of its 35,000-unit first printing.  She has committed to writing chores for Red Sonja through its eighteenth issue.  She also assembled a team of fiction's top female writers, well-respected professionals from the prose, fantasy gaming, and comic book worlds, for a collaborative project called Legends of Red Sonja, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the titular character.  She additionally will contribute a story to the upcoming Vampirella: Feary Tales miniseries.

Simone got her start in comics writing for Bongo Comics, home of The Simpsons. Soon after, she entered the traditional superhero comics genre with a run on Marvel Comics' Deadpool (later called Agent X). In recent years, Simone is best known for known for fan-favorite story arcs on DC Comics' Birds of Prey, Secret Six, Wonder Woman, and Batgirl.

The Women of Dynamite will be solicited in an upcoming Diamond Comic Distributors Previews catalog, the premiere source of merchandise for the comic book specialty market.  Comic book fans are encouraged to reserve copies of The Women of Dynamite with their local comic book retailers.  The Women of Dynamite will also be available for individual customer purchase through digital platforms courtesy of Comixology, iVerse, and Dark Horse Digital.

For art and more information, please visit: http://www.dynamite.com/.

About Dynamite Entertainment:
Dynamite was founded in 2004 and is home to several best-selling comic book titles and properties, including The Boys, The Shadow, Red Sonja, Warlord of Mars, Bionic Man, A Game of Thrones, and more.  Dynamite owns and controls an extensive library with over 3,000 characters (which includes the Harris Comics and Chaos Comics properties), such as Vampirella, Pantha, Evil Ernie, Smiley the Psychotic Button, Chastity, and Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt.  In addition to their critically-acclaimed titles and bestselling comics, Dynamite works with some of the most high profile creators in comics and entertainment, including Kevin Smith, Alex Ross, Neil Gaiman, Andy Diggle, John Cassaday, Garth Ennis, Jae Lee, Marc Guggenheim, Mike Carey, Jim Krueger, Greg Pak, Brett Matthews, Matt Wagner, Gail Simone, Steve Niles, James Robinson, and a host of up-and-coming new talent.  Dynamite is consistently ranked in the upper tiers of comic book publishers and several of their titles - including Alex Ross and Jim Krueger's Project Superpowers - have debuted in the Top Ten lists produced by Diamond Comics Distributors.  In 2005, Diamond awarded the company a GEM award for Best New Publisher and another GEM in 2006 for Comics Publisher of the Year (under 5%) and again in 2011.  The company has also been nominated for and won several industry awards, including the prestigious Harvey and Eisner Awards.

Revised - Being Inclusive Doesn't Mean Including Hate

The other day I wrote a post called "Inclusive Means Everyone" where I talked about some people having trouble with the new and inclusive language included in the Basic Rules PDF that Wizards of the Coast has put out for the new edition of Dungeons & Dragons.

I went on to say that those people who are bashing gays using this text don't have a place in this hobby. I was told (and you can see some of the comments that I quoted and the responses that my post received in the above link) that I was being a bigot for saying that, or that I was only saying it to "score brownie points."

I stand by what I said. This is the 21st century, if you're going to hate people because of who they love, or want to have sex with, or because they are a trans* person, or because of the color of their skin that makes you a bad person in my book and I don't want to game with you. I'm not saying this to impress anyone, or because I'm pressured to by some "agenda." I am saying this because this is what good people think.

If you are going to try to troll me for this, well...I'm not going to engage you. You aren't worth the time, and in fact I'll just say in advance that it is more than a little sad. Let me give you my response in advance to any potential trolls out there:

I wouldn't think that I would have to keep repeating myself on this subject, but some people can't seem to get it through their heads that the rest of the world has moved on about these things, and have embraced the differences in people. I don't want a hobby that is just full of all of the same people, because that wouldn't even reflect the gaming groups that I am lucky to have been a part of over my last 30+ years of being a gamer.

Yes, I do think that there is a group that should be excluded: those who spew hate. I'm not going to apologize for that.

Update: Since I know that not everyone will be able to see G+ comments generated by this post, I wanted to add a comment by +David Rollins (with his permission) to the post:

It's strange that people seem to think they have a right to hate. Like it's OK to hate some people and if we refuse to tolerate the presence of these haters they say we are just hating on them.

But hate is the exception to the rules we hold most dear. Freedom of speech or expression do not protect hate speech. Hate speech is still a crime.

RPGs cover a large area of ideas and concepts. There is room for nearly everyone here, but if you think it's OK to hate on people for who they are then there's no place for you at my table.

Munchkin? It's My Bag, Baby...

The nice folks at Steve Jackson Games sent one of their brand new Munchkin Messenger Bags to me this week. Interestingly, it is available through Amazon rather than the Steve Jackson Games people directly.

It isn't cheap, but Amazon Prime users will get the free shipping on it. In addition to a study and functional bag that can carry two Munchkin boxes you also get four exclusive Munchkin cards (which in fine Munchkin form must be used in the game in conjunction with the messenger bag) and a special, over-sized six-sided die. The bag will also carry pens, paper, and other sundry supplies.