Seeking Masters of the Game
SLIPPERY ROCK — Slippery RockCon returns in November after a one-year hiatus.
The convention took last year off while its beneficiary — the Slippery Rock Community Library — was moving to its new location at 465 N. Main St.
The three-day fundraising event for the library will be from Nov. 1 to 3 at Camp Bucoco, 150 Bucoco Lane.
People can attend Slippery RockCon for $25 for the whole weekend, and all money goes to the library.
Ron Rummell, the convention's coordinator, said organizers are excited to be back this year.
“It's an outlet for people to play board games, card games, tabletop role-playing games,” Rummell said. “Really, we're trying to reach an audience that is an under-served library audience.”
Rummell said the event will include more than 80 different games. He said the games will vary from Dungeons and Dragons to those created by locals.
“We have a lot of gamemasters who are submitting their own games,” he said.
He said there will also be multiple live-action role-playing games — including one that is essentially a Nerf-gun battle based on World War I — available to give people a more active experience.
“You're playing the part of a World War I soldier and fighting a Nerf battle across the camp,” Rummell said.
In addition to games, Rummell said there will be plenty of amateur and professional cosplayers showing off their homemade or purchased costumes.
Rummell said one event to which cosplayers should gravitate is the Cosplay Chopped event at 7 p.m. Nov. 1.
“The cosplayers are basically taking that concept, giving contestants a set time limit to build a costume out of set materials,” he said.
Rummell said there will a variety of entertainment outside of games and cosplay. He said the Outer Rim Praxeum, a group of people who fight with lightsabers from the “Star Wars” movie series, will return this year.
Karen Pierce, librarian for Slippery Rock Community Library, said she is looking forward to the lightsaber battles, as well as the How to Draw a Dragon panel by Ralph Masiello, a children's book author and illustrator.
Pierce said the library is hoping to make the convention one of its largest fundraisers, but it started out a few years ago as a way to reach young adults.
“Libraries aren't just about books anymore, and we have so much to offer,” Pierce said.
Pierce said the event is a good value for those who might not typically be able to afford conventions or for those taking part in these types of games for the first time.
“Coming to a small one is a lot of fun,” she said. “We do a lot of different things that reach out to different audiences.”
Pierce said the goal is to raise money, but also to offer young adults an opportunity to see that the new library offers many services.
She said space restrictions previously prevented the library from having a board game or tabletop gaming night.
“I want to make sure all of the different people in the community know that the library is diverse and we've got something for everybody,” Pierce said. “We didn't have a particular gaming night. Now that we're here, if I can find some people who want to come in and play games at the library, that is absolutely a possibility.”
