Now Presenting... FanX

(Guest Post by Spencer F)

Celebrities, fans, authors, creators... so much of the comic convention experience is the panels presented. Whenever I've described to others what I did at any convention, why I enjoy it so much, the panel programming is high on the list.

So this year for FanX I decided to experience panels from the other side of the stage. Early in June I submitted 5 panel suggestions in the hope that at least one would be accepted. Imagine my surprise and excitement a few weeks later when I was notified that 4 of them had been accepted! Now, I had assisted with occasional panels in the past, but going from assisting with ONE to planning and presenting FOUR in the same convention is quite the jump!

The programming committee wants panel submissions to be presentation-ready before submitting. I absolutely didn't do that, and it meant last-minute work the night before for each panel. Fortunately, the panels were spread out across the days, so we were able to take that time to discuss, prepare, and polish.

On Thursday I presented "One and Done: Legacy and Other Non-replayable Board Games" with my wife and a gaming friend. We talked about Pandemic Legacy, Risk Legacy, Seafall, the Unlock and Exit series of games, Gloomhaven, and several other titles. The thesis was simple: non-replayable board games are worth the cost and certainly worth playing. The turnout wasn't huge, but I think the audience enjoyed it, and we certainly did. 

That night we stayed up late prepping for two panels on Friday: "The Rise of Modern Board Gaming" and "Bluey: Taking Advice from a Cartoon Dog." There were five panelists for the first: those from One and Done along with my brother and another friend. Here I should have prepared better. I didn't have a good list of questions prepared and failed to turn it over to the audience earlier. I'll definitely learn from that in the future; either prepare a lot of my own questions or turn it to the audience earlier. I wish I had simply had the panelists introduce themselves, describe their credentials to present, then gone to the audience for discussion. Live and learn.

Luckily, we prepared well for the Bluey panel. There were over 300 attendees! This one was just my wife and I presenting and we had made really good slides. The intro and topic slides all matched the colors and font of the show, we had 20 printed bullet points, talked about several exemplary characters, and finished with some examples of parenting failures to remind us that the Heelers aren't perfect, then some audience comments. I was especially impressed by my wife presenting and speaking in this one, and the audience applauded when we finished. Someone even set up a tripod and filmed the entire presentation, which can be found on YouTube. We were actually 2 minutes late after going across the entire Salt Palace after the board game panel, so I accidentally skipped our own introduction as spouses and parents. Ah well, someone asked about our family during the audience comment time.

Finally, two friends and I presented "Grand Master Luke Skywalker" on Saturday. This was specifically about Luke from the old canon, the Expanded Universe or "Legends," as it is now known. We made it clear at the beginning that we were there to talk positively about that version of Luke and weren't there to talk about the Disney version at all. The audience wouldn't have it, though, and twice asked our opinion on Disney Luke. We tried our best to sidestep the questions and stay on topic, and also got hit with some really good questions and thoughts from the audience.

Coming out of this weekend was the most fulfilled experience I have had at a comic convention. Already the other panelists were talking about doing other panels next year. But I will know a lot better then how to prepare and run a successful panel. Some thoughts:

• Always give time to introduce all the panelists and explain the credentials. Especially because we are coming as fans, rather than true subject matter or industry experts, this is important;
• Know when to give the time to the audience;
• Prepare well before the night before;
• Strive to present something and in a way that you would want to attend;
• Remember that a convention is a place of joy, and you are part of that joy, so be happy, and have a wonderful time

Cosmere Deckbuilding Game

 

Artist: Katie Payne

It has recently been announced that Brandon Sanderson Cosmere creation is being made into a deckbuilding game by Brotherwise Games. As you are aware Brotherwise Games are well known for their Call to Adventure game. They have adapted the game for Stormlight Archive and Kingkiller Chronicles. Personally, I have not yet had the experience to play any of their games, but I approve of how they made some of my favorite books into board games.

In this post I will go over how I hope the Cosmere deckbuilding game will turn out and how it will probably turn out. This is all speculations I am a board/card game enthusiast and I have hopes.

I would like the Cosmere deckbuilding game to be played as a collectable card game (CCG) like Magic the Gathering or Pokémon but without the need to keep buying pack to get new cards. Don’t get me wrong, I believe the youth inside me would really appreciate opening a pack of Cosmere cards hoping to get Blackthorn, but my wallet and You Need a Budget life keeps reminding me I am broke and will forever be broke. Therefore, I would want CCG game mechanics without the collecting aspect. Luckily Brotherwise Games announced this to be a deckbuilding game not a CCG. I want the deckbuilding game to be a competition with my opponent and not a cooperation.

Artist: Guy Horsfall

So, I want multiple decks each representing one world and we can combine two or three worlds into one deck for a space battle if only two people were playing. If there were more than 3 people then each player would have their own world. One group can be Ghostbloods while the other team could be world hoppers, etc. You battle each other to determine which Shards are the strongest.

I would want the game mechanism to be like Magic the Gathering where instead of tapping lands for mana you must tap worlds for investiture to perform an ability or attack. The players represent one of the sixteen shards and when the players health is depleted then the opponent wins his shard and gains dominance over the Cosmere.

This is how I would like the game to turnout, but usually deckbuilding games are co-op. 

When I think of deckbuilding games, I think of Marvel Legendary. Where multiple players (or single player) face an enemy. Like in Legendary you would combine different decks which would represent  different worlds into one large deck. Each card in the deck would have a character that the player could buy or persuade to join World Hoppers to defeat one of the evil Shards. Each buyable character would be stronger than the base deck that the players gets, and they will have abilities to help make your personal deck stronger. As the players’ personal deck becomes strong enough and the team’s dynamics are right then they could defeat the Shard preventing it from taking over the Cosmere.

Artist: Uknown

I love Legendary, but I already own a fun copy of the game and I don’t need another game that is like it. I hope the deck building game will surprise me and I hope that it will be fun. Luckily, with the game expected to be released in November 2024, I have time to raise my funds for the release of the game. The game release date should be the same time that Stormlight 5. What release are you more exited for and why is it Stormlight 5?

Creator Spotlight: Pokémon TCG RPG

 

Do you wish that there was a Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) type RPG for Pokemon? Look no further, Joshua Webster a fellow geek can fix that itch.

This is an open access game that Josh has made, meaning that it is free for anyone that wants to play it. All you need is your Pokémon cards, dice, a willing dungeon master (DM), and download field maps that he has created. If finding a DM is difficult, Josh, hosts online sessions as well as in person sessions at the local library in Brigham City.

The game play is simple and fun combining the fun of the video games with traditional D&D gameplay, and a hint of magic the gathering. 

Custom Map to play on

Starting the Game

To begin a game the players will choose which type of trainer they want to be. There are many classes to choose from such as Bug Catcher, Sailor, Artist, Breeder, Generic Trainer, etc. Each has benefits and disadvantages. For example, Bug catchers would get catch bonus on grass type cards and bug Pokemon and all bug type Pokemon attacks get +10 damage, but if you have a fire cards or flying non bug in your team, your bug Pokemon loose attack advantage and abilities. For first time players it is recommended to play as a generic trainer who has not advantages, but also no weaknesses. 

Pokémon Crystal (Gold and Silver)

After creating your character, the next phase is to choose your starter Pokémon. You can choose any companion from the trading card game as long as it is a basic Pokémon and not a legendary. Who would you choose as your starter? From there you can explore the map searching for more Pokémon to add to your six-member party as well as your deck. You can fight gym leaders or team rocket. You can search for legendary Pokémon or catch them all. You can even join team rocket or create your own villainous organization and steal other players Pokémon which seems tempting to me. 

Battle and Evolution

 Pokémon TCG

In order to battle or evolve a Pokémon you must earn energy. Energy can be earned is various ways, such as battling wild Pokémon, Trainers, or doing nothing for a turn. With energy, that is given to individual Pokémon, you can tap it to fight other Pokémon (like Magic the gathering). the card will indicate how much energy is needed to use a certain attack. For example, it would take Charmander two energies to use Ember, or one energy to use scratch (See Above). Battles are turned based so you attack once, then your opponent will, etc. Once all energy is consumed you can do nothing for a turn to untap the used energy or perform a rollout attack which would inflict 20 damage to your opponent and inflicting your Pokémon for 10. If your Pokémon faints, then you turn the card over and the energy is lost, either going to the opponent or disappearing if it is a wild Pokémon. Luckily there is a Pokémon station to heal your Pokémon.

To catch a Pokémon you will have to damage the opposing Pokémon enough then depending on the type of pokéball you roll two dice. If the two dice are individually higher than the remaining HP of the Pokémon, you catch it, if not you have to try it again, 1 = 10 HP. Like the game throwing a pokéball takes up your turn. 

Pokémon Sword and Shield

Typically to evolve a Pokémon you must earn energy equal to the amount of HP that Pokémon has. 1 energy = 10 HP. So, to evolve Charmander I must discard 5 energies to evolve it to Charmeleon. Whatever energy is left stays on the Pokémon.

Storyline

It is really up to the DM to come up with a story, but the basic storyline is you enter a new town with your starter Pokémon and you need to prepare to face the gym leader. You won’t know the gym leaders type unless you face them or investigate the town. Everyone can go at their own pace and the difficulty will change depending how strong your Pokémon team becomes. There are many areas to explore with different types of Pokémon in each area. Many avenues to take in this adventure.

Conclusion

If you are interested in helping another Geek out and you love Pokémon reach out to Joshua he is more than happy to play the game he created. Also, Check out his Youtube channel, kickstarter, and website. He has published another game as well that is like if Mario Kart was a board game. All information about Joshua is posted below.

For downloadable documents (such as maps), here's the link to his Google Drive.