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It's almost time for PAX! Last year was my first time at the show (PAX Cherry!) but this year I plan to be back with a vengence. For me, PAX is a chance to hang out until 3 in the morning and play games with a lot of like-minded folks, and play some games that I might otherwise not get around to playing. So what's on tap this year? I'm rolling in with a suitcase full of gaming goodness! Here's what is coming with me:

Living Forgotten Realms: I'm going to be playing in my first RPGA event while at PAX, and a buddy and I are signed up for a couple of different sessions. I've been running a game of D&D on-and-off for the last few years, but I haven't been on the player's side of the DM screen in almost 20 years. I'm realtively new to 4E, having just switched over about a month back, but I think I have a good enough handle on it for this kind of deal. Other than that, I have no idea what to expect from this format, but it should be a good time.




BattleLore: I picked this game up a good while back, but I haven't really had a chance to put through it's paces. It's a nice balance of board game and war game, with a slick card mechanic for orders and tactics and a simple dice mechanic for resolving combat. It really seems like a great "in between" game to play with friends who have some interest in pushing around little men, but not the patience or inclination for full-fledged miniature gaming. You can check out my first impression way back here.


Cutthroat Caverns: "Without teamwork, you will never survive. Without betrayal, you’ll never win." A simple card game that puts the players in the role of an adventuring party that has discovered the "Sacred Item of Unimaginable Marvel" - and of course, you each want it for your own. Unfortunately, nine monsters (randomly drawn from an encounter deck) stand between you and the exit to the dungeon. If you don't work as a team, you won't have the horsepower to make it out, but if you don't backstab the others at just the right moment, you can't claim the prize for yourself. It's straightforward screw-thy-neighbor gaming at it's best.


Infernal Contraption: This is a game I bought at PAX last year in the Privateer Press booth. It's definately a beer and pretzels affair, but is surprisingly fun to play. Another card game, this one has you trying to assemble an "infernal contraption" with the goal of forcing your opponent to consume all of his resources (cards) before you run out of cards yourself. This quickly became our go-to game inbetween events.






Battletech: An old favorite that I haven't played since I was a teenager. This is the granddaddy of big, stompy robot games, and is an interesting mix of board game, wargame and RPG. The game itself has had some rough years, passing from FASA to FanPro, and ultimately to Catalyst Games Labs. The good news is that Catalyst seems to be doing well by the series, and has put out a Introductory Boxed Set that is a great introduction to the game. (You you read my impressions the boxed set, along with my glowing fanboyism here)




And that's about it - and that should be plenty. I think it's going to be a great geek party - they have already sold out all of the three day passes (something like 75,000 passes!) and the daily passes are going fast.

9 days until PAX.

Labels: BattleTech, Board Games, Dungeons and Dragons, PAX, PAX09, RPGs