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GenCon was August 10th – 13th in 2006 and Zac and Amanda left for Indy on Wednesday August 9th. They had my I-Pass so they would not have to stop at the toll booths while going around Chicago. I knew that they were hitting bad traffic because I could log into I-Pass and see when they went thru the different toll areas. They left about 3 pm and it took 2 hours to get thru what should have taken only 1 hour. At about 8 pm our time 9 pm Indy time they arrived.
Zac was a little concerned when they arrived at 9 pm because he needed to get his badge and registration ended at 9 pm. However Jane Zoet with the auction had gotten a badge for him. Amanda and Zac were both going to work at the auction to help pay for the room and badge cost. They did not have a room for the first night so Amanda stayed in a room with Jane, Terry and Laural from the auction. Zac stayed with Frank Mentzer and Tim Carr and slept on the the floor. I was impressed because Frank had worked for TSR and I told Zac he should have had him sign something.
Thursday – 1st Day of the Convention
Both Amanda and Zac worked at the auction in the morning and played in the afternoon. They went thru the “True Dungeon”!! This is a 3D dungeon where a group has to solve puzzles and pearls in a series of rooms. The group that Zac & Amanda were in was the 12th group to go thru the “True Dungeon” and the 1st group to do Hardcore and the 1st group to find a trap door and figure out a riddle. Zac was a Barbarian and Amanda was a Druid. Most of their group made it to the last room and then they all died because they could not figure out the puzzle in that room. They both had a great time doing it.
 In the afternoon Zac played in a “Prey” (PC Game) tournament qualifier and went on to the next round. The prize for this tournament was a video card and a badge for GenCon next year. Zac had never played “Prey” before but has played a lot of other 1st person shooters.
When Zac & Amanda were going thru the exhibit area and saw Kevin Sorbo from Hercules. While they were in the exhibit area Zac came upon a booth that had some Fantasy Flight Games Silver Age games for $5 each. These games are normally $20 retail and maybe $14 online. He called and asked if I wanted any of them. There were some FFG Silver Age games that I would have liked that they did not have. I did have him get me up a couple of the games however. He got me “Wreckage”, “Quicksand” and “Senator”. In hindsight I should have had him get me a couple of others.
Friday – 2nd Day at the Convention
Again Zac and Amanda worked at the Auction in the morning. After that they were done working Zac was supposed to play in the Semi-Finals for the “Prey” tournament but they did not have enough players so he went on to the finals.
 In the evening Zac & Amanda played in a Call of Cthulhu “Lost in Space” role playing game. Zac was John Robinson the dad and Amanda was Judy Robinson one of the daughters. The guy who played the robot was really got into his role and had everybody in laughing during the event.
At the Collectable Games were at the auction that night and Zac bought the original “Arkham Horror” for $120 and “Darkworld – Dragonsgate” for $35. He also picked up a bunch of AVP cards for $11.
Saturday – 3rd Day at Convention
Zac & Amanda worked at the auction during the morning on Saturday. When they were done with working Zac had the PC “Prey” tournament finals and Amanda was going to go to the Costume Contest.
At the “Prey” PC Tournament, Zac won and got a ATI Radion X1900 XT Video card (about a $450 prize), a 4-Day badge for GenCon 2007 and a “Prey” PC Game. The X-Box 360 “Prey” Tournament Qualifier was next and Zac won in it so he was going to the semi finals.
 Meanwhile, Amanda went to the Costume contest but it was in a smaller room and you needed tickets (free) to get in and even then it was standing room only. A change from previous years was that you needed tickets for all of the free events this year.
Saturday night they played in a Zombies RPG Game where they were celebrities. It was “Zombies Attack the Oscars”. Zac’s character was “The Rock” and his skills were “People Eyebrow” and a BFG (Big F***** Gun). Amanda was Kate Beckinsale and here skills were ULTRA Violence and Jump from Heights. Amnda’s character was Kate Beckinsale and here skills were ULTRA Vilolence and Jump from Heights. During the course of the game Zac’s character “The Rock” was converted to Scientology by Tom Cruise. They had a fun time and it sounds like they will do this one again.
NOTE: I am going to try and get the character sheets they used and post them here.
Sunday – the last day
In the morning they had clean up to do for the Auction. They both liked working at the auction and I think Amanda is going to do it next year. I don’t think that Zac is going to work because he won the 4-Day pass in the “Prey” PC game tournament.
 Well, Zac continued his winning in the X-Box 360 “Prey” tournament and won the semi-finals and went on to win the Finals, winning him a X-Box 360 with a “Prey” skin. They made one last trip thru the exhibit hall after the tournament and Zac bought “Cults Across America”. This is a game where the players each have a cult and try to spread across America.
NOTE: Zac, Andrew and I played “Cults Across America” on September 6th at our house. I just managed to get enough Victory Points to win, just edging out Andrew who was sweeping across the country with his cult. Poor Zac came in 3rd.
 They loaded up all of their booty and drove back to WI. The trip was uneventful which is good and they did not hit any bad traffic in Chicago. They stopped by our house to show us what they all got and tell us everything that they did. Andrew and Lukas were drooling over the X-Box 360 that Zac won. Zac hooked up his 360 to the HD TV and we watched him play “Dead Rising”. It was one of those games that is enjoyable to watch somebody else play. They stayed the night and went back to their place on Monday.
Our plan is that we will go to GenCon 2007, next year as a family again. Zac informed us that the Comfort Inn that we stayed in was torn down so they could build the new Stadium. Now we are going to have to stay in one of the other hotels.
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