It’s time again for PAX Unplugged! I love this convention because it’s a bit more contained and focused than Gen Con. I see a ton of friends from across the country, especially my MonsterHearts, Gehenna Gaming family. There’s always new games to explore! I also love visiting the gorgeous Christmas scenery in Philly and going by Reading Terminal for some grub! Of course, it’s the found family of fun I love at PAX Unplugged but then there’s gaming, so much gaming…
Indeed, Gehenna Gaming will be there in a big way! They’ll be running a number of games including World of Darkness, Alice Is Missing, Liminal Horror, some Horror Dungeons & Dragons, and of course their new game Eldritch Automata! You ready to pilot your Automata, the gargantuan battle robots the ruined world is using to fight the horrors from beyond and those damn Angelic monsters trying to lord over all? You should. I will be! If you’re looking to try it, there’s some introductory level games but there’s other levels for one-shot fun as well. To play, you’ll need to go to the RPG corridor and sign up, which starts at 8 a.m. each day of the convention. Oh and when ready, you can actually preorder the book now here. You’ll know you’re in the right corridor of the convention center because…
Games on Demand is back and here to save your convention! Didn’t get into the game you wanted, come get in line. It’s not guaranteed to play the game you want as it’s first come, first serve, but gather a group and you can pretty much assure it if in line soon enough. Or just come try amazing games. These are the cool people who want to support your fun con, are new game makers, and just generally support this awesome community. The staff expects to see you by Friday morning at 10 a.m. when games open! Oh, but what games are available? Check out this amazing menu with scheduled times those games runners will be volunteering. Yes, reminder. Thank these awesome volunteers!
Amongst the Games on Demand folks will be the fabulous Natalie Pudim, running Six Space LARPS and her fine creation Warrenguard! You may recall me raving about it during my playtesting. It’s a ton of fun. One of my favorite aspects is the random pairing of the dragon you get. It creates various dynamics that’s just entertaining as heck. I also love the combo of FATE Accelerated and Belonging Outside Belonging rules too! Yes, Nat’s a friend so there’s bias, but I don’t talk about games I’m not truly investing in. She’s one of the GMs available Friday at 10 a.m. so start your convention off right with some dragon riding. You should also ask her what else she has flying around that brilliantly creative mind of hers…
And right on the heels of my last article – yes, of course that was planned – is 5th Conspiracy! Stephen Koontz (the creator) is running this modern, urban fantasy with some pre-gen characters and fabulous one-shot options. I played one last year and I was hooked! I’m loving our second season in the playtest we’re doing. Definitely stop by Friday afternoon (first game at 1 p.m.) and give it a try. Also if you happen to play and Kae makes her appearance, give her all the love because I wouldn’t have as eagerly discovered and met Stephen without her. However, like all fine games, I do believe inevitably I would’ve discovered it. It’s that good. Make what you want (y’know when not using pregens) and explore the game you want. In fact, if you want to get ahead, go check out the 5th Conspiracy resources to get a feel for some available pregens. I played Ash Rattlestilt the fae last PAX Unplugged!
Of course, Pathfinder and Starfinder will be well represented, including Starfinder2E playtesting. It’s not out yet (shh) but I got to play some Starfinder2E with a really fun Witchwarper and I’m excited for more. You’ll find Paizo at the Gaming Hall (56A in Hall D) and can also meet Liane Merciel, the author of the Godsrain novel! Get it signed! I’ll also note the wonderful Rue Dickey is doing a couple wonderful seminars including Accessible Adventures: Making TTRPGs Disability-Friendly and The Asexual Bard: Representation Beyond Tropes (13+), both with a panel of other folks. Glad to see such, especially when certain tropes like a randy bard are overdone. Also, love seeing Rue around the convention. There’s many fine guests visiting this year!
BREAKING NEWS last night the Impossible playtest was announced with two new mystically tied classes. The Runesmith and the Necromancer! The Necromancer will be a full occult prepared spellcaster who draws power from a durge (spelling?) rather than leveraging a spellbook. They’ll have undead thralls to do their bidding, to consume to regain Focus Points, or send off to explode in a burst of void energy. The Runesmith is not a caster, but more of a martial support mix who master runes. They trace runes onto themselves, allies, various items, or even enemies. They use the true names of runes, the depth of absolute power of those runes to activate them, possibly multiple at once. One example we saw is a rune that creates a mental illusion of a wall for protection or impacting an enemies movements. The playtest will begin officially on Monday, December 9th! However, those at PAX Unplugged will be able to pick up playtest pages and test at the convention!!! Check out the Twitch announcement for more info and Paizo.com for the details on Monday!
Speaking of many fine guests, that includes the cast of DesiQuest Live! Jasmine “ThatBronzeGirl” Bhullar leads a cast that includes folks from across gaming groups but with wonderful Indian representation. Anjali Bhimani, Rekha Shankar, Sandeep Parikh, and Omar Najam (who isn’t shown but is listed!) will all be there. I first saw Ms. Bhullar playing Beryl on Geek & Sundry’s Relic & Rarities and I adore their tough but fun attitude, and family-focused backstory. Jasmine’s also been a part of a number of other live events at PAX U for Wizards of the Coast a couple years ago and Oops All Himbos last year. Now, we’ll get to see her bring their game to the stage Sunday at 2 p.m. in the Main Theatre. Of note, this is a special story made for the convention (though I assume same characters) so don’t feel you need to have watched every episode to be able to enjoy the game. Go relish the amazing players acting and the story Jasmine weaves together for them! Updating to note Jasmine posted up her schedule on bsky.
Speaking of Oops All Himbos, they’re back yet again! Jay Foster no doubt has an exciting adventure in mind as the event notes the himbos and thembos will be solving problems and/or making them worse in Humblewood! We’ve got CriticalBard, Danny Quach, Jesse Jerdak, Johnny Stanton IV, Kyle Shire, and Sandeep Parikh joining too! Sandeep has played with them at Gen Con at least, but I haven’t seen him participate before so excited to see the addition. I consider all these folks big gaming sweethearts to our community, especially the vocal Mr. Jerdak and our Critter-beloved Mr. Shire – not that rest aren’t wonderful too – so I’m excited to see them all in action together Friday night at 10 p.m. at the Mothman. I think most of my crew of friends will be attending, so come by and say hi. I’ll be the 6’5” oaf cheering up front no doubt. Last year was pretty hilarious with Jasmine Bhullar featuring Beryl with tons of booty-shaking hilarity. Oh do we need more of that hilarious energy after this year. Updating this line to say I’m excited to see Anya Combs gift us with another musical number too as she posted her schedule up after I initially wrote this. There’s also a cast meet and greet though Kyle Shire won’t be there, because he, like myself he will be at…
The Daggerheart Critmas Story Live over in Camden, NJ. It’s not actually part of PAX Unplugged but like Gen Con past and over the course of this coming year, Critical Role is using various conventions to do one-shots. Here we’ll see the final rules of Daggerheart used for a modern story, where a bunch of teenagers find themselves enchanted? Changed? Possibly saving Christmas? You can watch their session 0 on youtube. I’ve said before that the energy at the game I got to see back in 2019 was utterly amazing. Everyone was so kind, excited, gifting snacks to each other, checking out cosplay, and when everyone sang the opening song the whole cast just erupted into tears. I love they’re branching out their gaming, building a larger community, and ready to change things up (through growth of their team) as they celebrate their 10 years next year. A few friends and I will be there to watch, and I love that it’s with a modern setting. That’ll nicely show off the rules after they used them for various one-shots in a fantasy world. I also love the MonsterHearts feels I’m picking up from the session 0. Flirting, chaos, and Christmas, along with some combat are bound to happen Saturday night.
Finally, I’m excited to stop by Dodecadonuts. It’s a custom crafting dice holder I spotted on Bluesky. They are literally donuts and I’d spotted Laura Bailey, of Critical Role fame, using one with her dice. Now I know where she got it! Do I want one? Yes. Do I maybe want to get some as gifts? Also yes. Oh and just a reminder nothing I ever write about is sponsored. Yes, some are friends like Natalie, but I only write about what I’m truly enjoying, excited about, or truly investing in so don’t want ya to think I’m pushing product. I love a kitschy dice holder and these donuts are awesome looking! I wonder if they have a glazed cruller… Just a note too, their site may be closed but that’s due to the team being on site at PAX U with their inventory so check out their insta too!.
I hope you’re investing in some gaming this weekend. Of course if you’re attending PAX Unplugged let me know and be sure to say hi if you spot me. I’ll be at these events and certainly at Games On Demand often, and always love meeting more of our Know Direction community. Let me know too what you’re seeing and definitely hit me up on the cool, new games you’re trying. Much love to all!
Investing In:
I wasn’t quite sure what to name my article series when I first started but the idea of showcasing or discussing things that make me excited, that I find new and interesting, or maybe I’m otherwise passionate about seemed to fit with the idea of Investing In something like the Pathfinder 2E mechanic. To use some magic items you have to give that little bit of yourself, which helps make these things even better. I like the metaphor of the community growing and being strengthened in the same way!
I also want to hear what you’re Investing In! Leave me a comment below about what games, modules, systems, products, people, live streams, etc you enjoy! You can also hit me up on social media as silentinfinity. I want to hear what excites you and what you’re passionate about. There’s so much wonderful content, people, groups (I could go on) in this community of ours that the more we invest in and share, the better it becomes!
Sources
Banner – PAX Unplugged 2024 logo
- Eldritch Automata book, Gehenna Gaming
- Games on Demand logo
- Warrenguard book, Luck of the Harbor
- 5th Conspiracy book cover, AED Publishing, Stephen Koontz, art by Mike Luard
- Pathfinder and Starfinder banner, Paizo
- DesiQuest promo banner, DesiQuest
- Oops All Himbos, PAX Unplugged schedule
- Critical Role Daggerheart Critmas banner, Critical Role
- Dodecadonuts banner from their Facebook page
