So, confession time. Despite being the Head Organizer for RTR (and having been a brand promoter for D&D, Chaosium, Shadowrun, etc), I’ve never been to a proper Con. I’ve been to a few ‘full day of gaming’ events like the ones we host at RTR, but nothing with panels and vendors and gaming and all the other things that make a Con.
The reason is both simple and complex – crowds. I don’t do well with them. So even though close friends were off to PAX East or GenCon and would totally be there for me, I’ve always passed up the opportunity because the crowds outweighed the adventure that is a Con.
Surprisingly, COVID-19 changed that. With all of us stuck at home to help flatten the curve, the people over at Gehenna Gaming created VirtualHorror Con. Billed as the world’s first virtual horror TTRPG convention, they ran panels and live play streams on April 4th and 5th. And it was fantastic! I watched at least half of the panels, excited to see some old favorites and put faces to names I’ve known for years. It was a really great experience and I encourage everyone to head over, follow the links to their Twitch channel and watch a few. I’ll be writing about a few of my favorites over the next few weeks.
Now, true, my wallet got spared the damage of the Vendor Hall so maybe I’m not quite there yet. But we’re in a strange time. And Gehenna Gaming made the best of it. I’ll certainly be on the lookout for anything else they do.
And now I might even go to an In-Person Con once the captain turns off the seatbelt light and we’re free to move about the cabin…
