When it comes to nerd hobbies, the convention scene is bifurcated. There are local, volunteer-driven cons that put a lot of effort into building content from enthusiasts around the area. There are also the massive, national affairs that bring attention and revenue to their parents. Gaming cons moved quickly into the latter category, even if the initial efforts were modest; both GenCon and Origins came to prominence after their alignment with TSR and GAMA, respectively. And now there’s a massive leader in the corporate con sphere: Penny Arcade Expo, or PAX.
Continue reading My first corporate conventionTag Archives: PAX Unplugged
Things to See at PAX Unplugged 2025
PAX Unplugged 2025 is this weekend! Which you probably already know, on account of clicking on this article while you’re on your way there or already in Philly. Alas, I won’t be there this time around. I hear tell some other Cannibal Halflings will be there, though, and I don’t have to be present to Know Things Worth Your Time. Let’s go over some games for you to buy, some games for you to play, and some interesting events to check out.
Eight Years of Cannibal Halflings
80% of a decade down, and things are about to get decidedly enneadic around here! 2024 has certainly been one of the years of all time, but how did we do around here and what might the future hold?
Role-Playing Games in Psychotherapy: A Non-Therapist’s Review
While roleplaying games can certainly allow players to explore certain things and work through some stuff, an important axiom to remember is that your GM is not your therapist. Therapy is a serious business, and you shouldn’t be unloading your psychiatric needs on someone who is not trained to handle it (or try taking on those needs yourself, if you’re the GM), for their good and your own. Unless, one supposes, they were your therapist first, and are now running a game for you as part of your usual appointment. Such is the purpose behind Role-Playing Games in Psychotherapy: A Practitioner’s Guide by Daniel Hand.
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Tales of the RED: Hope Reborn – Cyberpunk RED Campaign Review
For decades of R. Talsorian Games’ Cyberpunk line (both in realspace since 1992 and in-universe since 2011), The Forlorn Hope’s been a bar where those Night City denizens who refuse to play by the Corporate rulebook go to unwind, connect, and reaffirm their humanity. But today (2024/2045), in the Time of the Red, The Forlorn Hope’s in trouble! Will this classic Night City institution die a whimpering death or survive and thrive, helping the next generation of cyberpunks navigate life on The Edge? Well in game that’s a question only you and your Crew can answer… but in the real, we’re going to be seeing how Tales from the RED: Hope Reborn can answer the same question!
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When The Walls Fall Review – Fallen Cities and Falling Dice
The ancient city was originally founded as a place of study; a great library was its first building, and it remained ever its heart. However, the city grew to form the core of an unspeakable ritual, powered by harnessing a long forgotten god. Eventually, its distant neighbors could not tolerate the ideas it was spreading, and they attacked. That was when the walls fell, leaving a ruined city with a defaced statue at its heart… and broken roads, spreading corruption, and fanatics of that forgotten god bleeding out of it into the countryside…
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Solitaire Storytelling: No-Tell Motel Pt. 1
Every night at the Stellar Motel is a menagerie of the human condition. From my place behind the desk and some plexiglass, I watch elites and lowlives rub elbows, get into fights, and fall into each other’s beds. Last night was different: one of our guests was murdered, and no one seems much interested in finding out who did it or why.
As part of my job as the overnight clerk of the ‘No-Tell Motel‘ I’m supposed to help maintain the privacy of the guests, but I’m also supposed to keep an eye on them. The cops aren’t going to bother much with this, but now we’ve only got fifteen regulars left, and I’m sure it had to be one of them that did the killing. I’m going to have to watch them all like a hawk, because I’ve only got one chance to get this right.
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A Brief PAX Unplugged 2024 Retrospective
I haven’t been able to attend every PAX Unplugged, but I was there at the start and as the convention circuit has grown back I’ve actually managed to chain a few of them together. In addition to noting as many familiar faces and games as I could manage for a middle-of-the-night article, I wanted to write about some of my own experiences now that the 2024 iteration is over to highlight a few things. Also, Aaron has been doing five-year retrospectives about Crowdfunding Carnival for a while now, so why not do a seven-year con one of my own?
Weekend Update: 12/7/2024
Welcome to the Cannibal Halfling Weekend Update! Start your weekend with a chunk of RPG news from the past week. We have the week’s top sellers, industry news stories, something from the archives, and discussions from elsewhere online.
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Cannibal Halfling’s Reviewed Games at PAX Unplugged 2024
Cannibal Halflings are once again haunting the halls of PAX Unplugged, and once again we’re seeing a lot of familiar faces (and games). There’s… so darn much, there’s no way I’ll cover everything we’ve even already looked at, never mind everything at Unplugged that is worth checking out, but hey, got to start somewhere, right?
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Cannibal Halfling Gaming 