GenCon: IUPUI Events

IUPUI School of Informatics
IUPUI School of Informatics

My alma mater, Indiana University – Purdue University of Indianapolis, has invited Tracy Hickman (of Dragonlance & Ravenloft fame) to speak at the campus during GenCon. His presentation is on the critical role of storytelling in gaming, after which he will engage the audience in the roleplaying event, Killer Dinner (he usually hosts the Killer Breakfasts at GenCon).

Tracy will be at the School of Informatics (Informatics & Communication Complex) on Thursday, August 13th at 1900 hours. For non-students, tickets will be available for sale at the School of Informatics (really, the Media Arts & Science discipline) booth at GenCon Indy on that Thursday for $5 a seat. I’ll present the canned text at the end of the article.

Beyond getting tickets to hear Tracy speak and participate in the Killer Dinner, you should definitely check out the IUPUI booth at GenCon. I’ve had the priviledge of being able to keep tabs on what the students in my old discipline have been preparing, and I’m blown away by the hard work they’ve put into it.

First, be sure to participate in their Augmented Reality Game, which a certain GenCon Lifetime Industry Guest will be participating in. The stills I’ve seen of the Augmented Reality part of the game are outstanding.

The School of Informatics booth will also host samples of student work including some Flash games that I hear have been all the rage with fellow students and faculty and definitely have some intriguing gameplay concepts.

I’m also hoping that the sequential narrative students will be showing off some of their comic book work, because I have heard (and seen) some really good things coming out of the Advanced Sequential Narrative ccourse. The course is instructed by my former professor, Mat Powers, whose is also spearheading the GenCon activities. Keep up the excellent work!

Become a fan of gaming and storytelling in education by visiting their Facebook page.

About Tracy Hickman & Killer Dinner

Tracy Hickman:

In 1981, Tracy approached TSR, Inc., the makers of Dungeons and Dragons, with two role-playing games. TSR, Inc. saw the potential in Tracy’s creativity and offered him a job as a game designer. Through this connection, he has made a significant contribution to the way role-playing games have evolved.

While working at TSR, Inc., he teamed up with editor Margaret Weis where they wrote their first publication together, The Dragonlance Chronicles. Since that time, he has authored over 35 novels, many on the best-seller list, and has written over 15 role-playing games. Tracy is also the writer and co-designer (with wife, Laura Hickman) of Apogee of Fear, the first science-fiction movie filmed in space aboard the International Space Station in October 2008.

Welcome to Killer Dinner!

Tracy Hickman takes on all comers in an extreme version of his classic, wacky, no-holds-barred role-playing game, leading you down the path to CERTAIN DEATH as he masterfully engages you in his killer game! A rampaging gamemaster, relentless hordes of first-level characters facing certain death against monsters that will kill them on an initial roll alone … and show-stopping musical numbers (well, maybe), is what Killer Dinner is all about!

The rules are simple: you join seven other players on stage armed only with your pathetic, pre-generated first level character sheet against the worst Game Master you’ve ever faced. Your weakling warrior, meek magic-user, or all-thumbs thief immediately faces outrageous situations that spell CERTAIN DEATH.

Only three things will save you: if you do something extremely brave, or something extremely stupid – usually the same thing – or you do something extremely entertaining! As long as you keep the Killer Dungeon Master happy, you’ll live for another round! The moment your death is more entertaining than you are, your character dies and you are immediately replaced by the next player in line.

Remember, in this game, it’s not how long you live-for you will die-but how well you live that makes it fun! (Oh, and if you are expecting dinner, there is none!)

Want to read more about conventions? Check out this month’s well timed RPG Blog Carnival hosted by Chgowiz. Also, you can check out my other articles on GenCon.

Other GenCon Articles:

Listening to: Tesla – Psychotic Supper – Edison’s Medicine

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