Gen Con has released their event schedule for 2009, and all of the Catalyst Game Labs sponsored Shadowrun events are included in the mix. (Event registration opens up on Sunday, 4/19/2009!)

This year, we were lucky enough to be able to schedule over 100 tables of events for the convention. Even better, all of our Shadowrun games are taking place in a single hotel - the Hyatt (and most of the events are even all in the same room). So that our dedicated Shadowrunners know what’s going down when, we thought it might be useful to offer this handy guide to Shadowrun events.

Catalyst Game Labs Shadowrun Events for Gen Con Indy 2009 (760KB)
For those who want to participate in the Shadowrun Missions scenario, don’t forget that the first of the New York Missions PDFs is now available for free from BattleCorps and DriveThruRPG

The background sourcebook on Manhattan is also available from both sites:
The Rotten Apple Manhattan at BattleCorps
The Rotten Apple Manhattan at DriveThruRPG
Finally, for those who want to give their team a little bit of practice before they hit the 2009 Tournament, the 2008 Tournament is available from both sites as well:
Bad Moon Rising in the East at BattleCorps
Bad Moon Rising in the East at DriveThruRPG
If you’re still on the fence about attending, we do have a few slots left for gamemasters at Gen Con (and at Origins too). Consider dropping a line to gmvolunteer@live.com. We’ll be happy to hook you up with a few benefits and endless tables of appreciative players.

Great Dunkle's ghost thats a drekload of events.

Congrats to all of those who live east of the Rockies and have cash for travel, or east of the Mississippi and can scrounge through Lake Geneva Con.

Please use spoiler tags for those of us who may play the same events months later.


BlueMax
/Where is the Lake Geneva in Indy anyway?

I'd like to take the opportunity to pimp the Scramble event. It's a Missions event that is half table-top, half LARP, and REALLY FRICKIN' HUGE this year. Sign up; it's like eight bucks, which is way cheap for what you'll be getting.

Whew, at least I don't feel so bad about being a left coaster now.

Thanks Aaron!

BlueMax
/half kidding
//half not

I suspect you'd feel less less bad if you'd played the Scramble. =i)

Hey, I'm going to make it, and I'm a 'left coaster.' Although I suspect I'll be at the booth the majority of the time. Anyone making it to GenCon, stop by and say 'hi.' Don't worry, you'll be able to recognize me...

Now, hey, when do they start talking about the official dumpshock meet-and-greet??? Bull? Caine Hazen? Anyone?

I believe you have more invested, or riding on or something the exact words escape me, in showing up than I. Going will surely be fun and exciting but outside of the budget allowed. Its hard for me to swing money/time off for Conventions in Los Angeles
Have fun.

BlueMax
/who got to play a wonderful FASA sponsored Shadowrun event in 1991
// though the poor guy then sent out had a conniption fit that not all of his games had players
/// someone should have told him ORCCON never had more than 4500 attendees.

Good question. Dunno yet... Since the schedule is up, that will help.

I'm committed to GMing again this year, so that's gonna be a drain on my free time this year. So we'll have to work it around that, the SR events, any freelancer?CGL meetinsg you guys have going on, etc...

I'll echo this. I'm one of the first ones to mock LARP events, but the Scramble was a blast last year.

And Aaron (And anyone else going to the Scramble), keep poking Caine_Hazen. We've got something special up would sleeves for his costume for this year, but you need to keep on him so he'll actually get it put together in time

Not this year... it is SLIGHTLY more than a coast problem for us... but I remember something about a pixie costume?

Heh. No.

That's John little fantasy, and it scares me as much, if not more, than it possibly does you.

THis was our costuming this year (Caine, Redjack, and Me, from left to right)

I have some plans to tweak the costume this year, but that's more or less what I'll be running with again.

*MY* pixie idea was actually to have a 12" GI Joe doll (Sorry, the 12" figures will always be dolls. The 3 3/4" are action figures though!) that sat on my shoulder, done up like a Shadowrunner with Pixie Wings. The doll would be my core character, while *I* would be the characters 6 Loyalty Bodyguard/Manservent contact.

John wants to see me in a tutu and fairy wings for some sick reason.

Bull

Creepy... watch your back.

I'll be stopping by on my 10,000 mile summer trip on the motorcycle.

Carl

Just wanted to give a heads up -- event registration is live. Many events have already sold out, many more are very close to selling out. If you're planning on playing Shadowrun at GenCon, now would be a really good time to register.

Looks like I'll be in attendance. Doesn't look good for me playing in any of the official stuff for various reasons (mostly that games during slots I could make are sold out ), but I'll be around.

People occasionally don't show up (The Fools!), but what's really cool is the Mission GMs will often accept a couple extra people at a table to accommodate demand. I think the table average was actually over 6 for Origins and Gencon last year. We also try to have a spare floater GM or two to run extra tables!

So even if you don't get prereg for a sold out event, don't be afraid to stop by. The Catalyst Demo Team will do everything it can to get you in a game!

True enough. This is the first year I've actually bought tickets for games.

Okay, it's the first year I've actually looked at the event catalog before boots on the ground Indy.

I'll have a couple of Shadowruns done up for some geurilla gaming, but no idea when/where those'll happen.

Myself and some friends were lucky enough to get into one of the Author's games. Anyone else able to get tickets for that?

Hey all, I just realized I don't see a "What's up with Catalyst" session for this year? I can't find one on the Gen Con site either. Is this an oversight, or is there really no Q&A session?

Thanks

I don't think this is set in stone, but a little bird whispered this tentative schedule in my ear:

Eclipse Phase Seminar
08/15/2009 12:00:00 PM

Classic Battletech Seminar
08/16/2009 12:00:00 PM

Shadowrun Seminar
08/15/2009 01:00:00 PM

Cthulutech Seminar
08/15/2009 02:00:00 PM

What's up with Catalyst Game Labs?
08/15/2009 12:00:00 PM

What about Degensis?(spelling may be incorrect)

Best. Question. Ever. I just pulled my QSR off the shelf and reread them the other day. They'd already have my money for the core book if they'd just put it out.

My guess (completely unofficial I don't know shit about this game except that it looks awesome) is that it's hung up in either licensing or translation somewhere.

Those who speak German are hopefully aware of this link.

What's the likelihood of getting into a Shadowrun game with generics?

Depends on the game. Scramble's usually a good bet; we had 38 out of 36 last year. I doubt we'll be filling up 72 seats this year, which means there will likely be room.

I'm interested in what the "Something Completely Different" game is......

Oh, and for those who do go to GenCon, I formally request pictures. Especially of all swag scored.

We basically run a four different types of games:

1. One-shots: a basic outline of a game is given to the GMs and the GMs are then requried to flesh that out into a 4 hour session for the table. Pregenerated characters are usuall provided by the GMs.
2. Mission Events: events are complete for the GMs and these are BYOC (bring your own character) events.
3. Scramble: the 50% larp, 50% table-top game that lasts for eight hours with a break for food and sanity.
4. Tournament: two 4-hour sessions on two nights where many tables all play the same game and the GMs judge them.

I don't remember whether "Something Completely Different" is one of the new Missions events or if it's a One-Shot, but depending on which it is, the above should help you figure out what to expect.

It's one of the Missions events.