One month left to DunDraCon. I'm still not too sure if I'll actually attend for any significant amount of time or just drop by for a bit. I might run a Sunday BattleTech game using the Icon System, the start of a campaign within a campaign that will integrate with the main plot of the Star Trek campaign. Friday is most likely a better night to run, but I don't like running a game out of the normal game night.

One of the most disturbing games -- and I hesitate to even mention this -- that I ever witnessed, even for a brief time, was a game titled "War of the Eibrab". There are a lot of games that have campaign specific titles, so I figured that Eibrab was some land in some fantasy game. This was like three or four years ago and I don't clearly remember the description of the game. Something is missing and it's up to the characters to find it.

Eric had a better idea of what it was, I think he talked to or knew the game- master. That was the game he used his priority sign-up on. Anyway, late at night and Sweet, Woo and I were hanging out. We decided to check up on Eric and the game, which was at the end of a hallway. When we got there people were spilling out into the hallway. Garish music played from inside and it was pretty loud.

As we squeezed into the room, something was going on. I only glimpsed a naked Barbie doll doing some unspeakable act with a horse before I turned around and left. Eibrab/Barbie, it makes sense now. It was some sort of Barbie-based adventure, although with decidedly adult-oriented puzzles. Eric had a lot of fun, but it's definitely not something I'd ever do.

What other interesting games have I seen? There was this one Champions adventure which was done in one of the meeting rooms. Most games are in hotel rooms, and not big hotel rooms either. Some special games, tournaments, are done in the hotel salons. So this Champions game was about some... thing that had been found on Antartica. A spaceship, unburied by a scientific team, who proceeded to lose contact with the rest of the world. The heroes are sent to investigate.

There were two or three different teams of heroes: US, Russia, maybe an alien team, although I think that was GM controlled. The cool things were the props. A diorama of the crash site, complete with with figures, some of kind of fog, and a War of the Worlds style flying combat droid. There was also mood music to enliven the atmosphere. Quite a well done production. Don't know how that one turned out.

One of the first games I saw at DunDraCon was this massive Warhammer 40K battle done in the back of one of the biggest salons. Nowadays that salon is used as one of the open gaming rooms, but back then it had a bar and food. Lots of space to eat and some space to play games. So this game had dozens of miniatures and we watched the guys playing while we got our food and ate. It was probably my first exposure to Warhammer, and a better one than many that I have seen since.

Another miniature game was some kind of Sky Galleons of Mars. Miniature pirate ships that can fly, so they were on these stands that you can grow and shrink to show the altitude. Several people playing, a couple of ships next to each other conducting boarding actions. There are other similar games. Fighter games and starship games, all made better with the 3-d treatment. And one of the main attractions to a convention, being able to play something that takes a lot of space, requires a lot of work to look good, and needs dedicated and enthusiastic players.

Some of these games are done every year, mostly the miniature-based games. Like a tradition, it's nice to see these staples and how they get a little better each year, from the little I see them. The convention is a good excuse to go and reminisce with old pals, to try out new things, to take a break from the bustle of life.