I’m off to Gen Con on Wednesday for my 43rd time in a row. It’s my favorite time of year, and I hope you can all join me there. It’s going to be packed with the Diana Jones Award ceremony, Marvel games and signings, an all-star slate of 50 Years of D&D panels, MCing the Costume Contest, and playing the Andrew Hackard Memorial Munchkin Game.
Here’s what I have planned for the show. Note that several of these events are sold out, and others might be soon. The seminars and panels are all free. Come out and join us for the fun!
Wednesday
- 9 PM: Hosting the Diana Jones Award ceremony. (This is an industry-only event, not open to the public.)
Thursday
- 10 AM: Matt Forbeck Presents: Deadpool Role-Plays the Marvel Universe. A 2-hour run through the first part of the new adventure for the Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game. SOLD OUT!
- 2 PM: New Books! New Games! New Love! Writer and host S.E. Lindberg asks Howard Andrew Jones, J. B. Garner, and me about the inspirations and challenges behind our new books, games, and works.
- 3 PM: Signing in the Marvel Room
- 4 PM: Catacombs & Comedians Presents Catacombs & Creators. Mirth meets myth. Dan Taylor, Dungeon Master of the live show featuring comedians playing Dungeons & Dragons on comedy club stages, will task Alex Kammer, Jim Zub, Zeb Cook, and me with playing as characters in the “Catacomediaverse” D&D setting. There will be audience participation and giveaways. Roll for hilarity!
Friday
- 10 AM: Matt Forbeck Presents: Deadpool Role-Plays the Marvel Universe. A 2-hour run through the first part of the new adventure for the Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game. SOLD OUT!
- 2 PM: Getting into Visual Writing: Comics, Cards, Graphic Novels, and Games. Join our panel of experts as they discuss how to get into the business of writing for visual media. Featuring Dedren Snead, Carlos Hernandez, Lucien Soulban, Toiya Kristen Finley, and me. SOLD OUT!
- 3 PM: Signing in the Marvel Room
- 4 PM: 50 Years Of D&D — Endless Quests. Rose Estes (the writer of many of the original Endless Quest books) — joins me (the writer of the latest Endless Quest books) to talk about the development of early D&D fiction.
- 5 PM: 50 Years Of D&D — Ravenloft. Join Tracy and Laura Hickman (the creators of Ravenloft), James Lowder (Ravenloft novelist), Anne Browne (Ravenloft writer), and me to discuss the scariest of the official D&D settings and how it first spawned. SOLD OUT!
- 6 PM: 50 Years Of D&D — History. Join Dungeons & Dragons historians Ben Riggs, David M. Ewalt, Jon Peterson, Mike Witwer, and me to discuss the history behind the design and development of D&D. SOLD OUT!
- 6 PM: Catacombs & Comedians Presents Catacombs & Creators. Mirth meets myth. Dan Taylor, Dungeon Master of the live show featuring comedians playing Dungeons & Dragons on comedy club stages, will task Jeff Richard, Chris O’Neill, Jesse Brady, and my son Marty Forbeck with playing as characters in the “Catacomediaverse” D&D setting. There will be audience participation and giveaways. Roll for hilarity!
- NOTE: I’m not in this one, but my son Marty is! It’s his first live play event!
Saturday
- 10 AM: Signing in the Marvel Room
- 11 AM: Autograph Session with Rose Estes, Jeff Grubb, Jeremy Bernstein, and Matt Forbeck. Rose and Jeff aren’t listed in the program for this, but Jeremy and I are bringing them along anyhow. Join us in the back of the exhibit hall!
- 12 PM: Matt Forbeck Presents: Deadpool Role-Plays the Marvel Universe. A 2-hour run through the first part of the new adventure for the Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game. SOLD OUT!
- 3 PM: Non-Fiction For, Not About Genre. Featuring Mikki Kendall, Alexander Bevier, James Lowder, and me.
- 4 PM: 38th Annual Gen Con Costume Contest. I’m MCing this for the fourth year in a row. Come see all the amazing cosplayers on the big stage!
- 4 PM: 50 Years Of D&D — Forgotten Realms. Join Ed Greenwood (the creator of the Forgotten Realms) and Forgotten Realms novelists Jeff Grubb and James Lowder to discuss how some of D&D‘s most legendary stories came to be. Hosted by Steven Schend. SOLD OUT!
- NOTE: I was going to host this, but it conflicts with the Costume Contest, so Steven Schend is stepping in for me.
- 5 PM: 50 Years Of D&D — Comics. Join D&D comic-book writers Ed Greenwood, Jeff Grubb, and Jim Zub, along with editor James Lowder, to talk about how D&D made the leap from collaborative storytelling to sequential storytelling. Hosted by Ben Riggs.
- NOTE: I was going to host this, but it conflicts with the Costume Contest, so Ben Riggs is stepping in for me.
- 6 PM: 50 Years Of D&D — Fiction. Join us for an all-star panel discussing D&D fiction throughout the years, featuring Rose Estes, Ed Greenwood, Jeff Grubb, James Lowder, and me.
Sunday
- 10 AM: Matt Forbeck Presents: Deadpool Role-Plays the Marvel Universe. A 2-hour run through the first part of the new adventure for the Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game. SOLD OUT!
- 12 PM: Signing in the Marvel Room
- 1 PM: Andrew Hackard Memorial Munchkin Game. Every Gen Con Sunday for a full decade, Andrew Hackard hosted a game of Munchkin for me and my kids at the Steve Jackson Games booth. While Andrew passed away in 2021, we continue the tradition in his memory by playing Munchkin every year at the show. Come join us as we stab each other in the back and laugh to close out this year’s Best Four Days in Gaming. Steve Jackson Games has donated loads of promos and prizes for the audience!
After that, I probably collapse in happy exhaustion — hopefully after I get home. Whew!
