July 16, 2017: LibertyCon Report

Chattanooga is a great city, and I always have a good time at LibertyCon. This one, number XXX, was no exception. I ran demos of three unpublished games and they all went well. I also played Ogre and Munchkin - I won my Ogre games but got beaten like a drum at Munchkin. So it goes.

And I had dinner with Jason "PK" Levine, who lives nearby, and we ate great sushi and schemed about upcoming GURPS releases.

But I don't pay my own way to LC just to do business and demo games. I also get to socialize, meet other pros, and generally have more "fan" experience than I normally get at a convention. I attended the Baen Books dinner, rekindled some old acquaintances, and met some new people. I got to see a lot of programming, including Dr. Stephanie Osborn's entertaining and scary report on the New Madrid fault system (midcontinent and just as ominous as San Andreas – look it up). I toured the parties. And I got to spend some time chatting with two of my favorite authors, David Weber and John Ringo (who was Literary GoH).

The charity auction is always a highlight of LC. This year two Munchkin card appearances went for $800 each, benefitting the Hatcher Foundation, which fights childhood cancer.

If a fun Chattanooga event sounds like your cup of tea, watch their site at libertycon.org. The date and location for the 2018 event are not set, but when they are, it's likely to sell out even faster than this one did.

-- Steve Jackson