Costumes and LARPs and Nerds, OH MY! Saturday at Megacon

Saturday: Hectic...I think that is the best word to describe this day. After oversleeping, passing the highway, getting lost, discovering that International Drive hates U-turns, and parking in the wrong concourse then having to take a bus to the right one we finally arrived at the convention. It was approximately 1 PM. Our meeting time for Paranoia LIVE was 11 AM. Oops. Already people were lining up for officer training which wasn't until 1:30 PM. As I prepped my station, 2 o'clock inched nearer and I became apprehensive. This was, after all, my first Paranoia LARP as a full fledged GM, with my own secret society and missions and everything.

Two o'clock arrived and the victims....I mean players....arrived as well. After a brief introduction by James they split up into the secret societies. As I went on to explain our overall plan for this year's game to the players, it struck me that I had no idea what the story line was all about. I was so confused. So, I explained as best I could and sent my little guys off to their teams.

The rest of the game was fairly uneventful. Several passersby decided that I looked good enough for a picture. Two teams brought me valentine's made at the lovely PLC. I managed to kill several players, including one whole team for forging their paperwork. Tsk tsk!

At last, after 3 hours or so of standing around, assigning missions, and collecting hydraulic screwdrivers, it was time for the final battle. I had little sense of what was going on though. The story line still eluded me. Finally, as the grenade slaughters wound down, the story arc made sense. I was losing. My secret society was on the brink of failure. I did what any respectable leader would do. I immediately accused Michael of cheating. I suppose it was one last ditch effort to win it for my team. Mischa and I, allied in our causes, tried to push our remaining survivors by finding them mutant powers and more grenades, but victory escaped us; FCCCP won the game.

Medals were handed out, as were prizes, to the winning teams and MVPs of each secret society. The best player of the game escaped with a copy of the Paranoia tabletop handbook. 'Twas a successful Paranoia LARP. HUZZAH!

After cleanup and such we scurried in the chilly weather to Red Lobster, where we waited for over an hour, but got a nice booth. The service sucked so I stole a plate. We returned to the con to attended the Cyberia Dance Party. Apparently dry-humping to moderately paced Asian techno music is quite the popular thing to do here.

Exhausted, we departed. My wallet felt no lighter as I didn't buy anything today either. I passed out comfortably at Justin's house, and anxiously awaited the final day of Megacon.