This weekend is my fall trek to the Akron area for Con on the Cob, a great local gaming convention. I go for the role playing, but there are board games and all sorts of other games going on. The con is famous for its kids activities, which usually include costume contests, art activities, movies, etc.
The Wild West LARP I ran last year went well, so this year I'll be running a LARP called Death on the Gambia. There's a lot more intrigue in this one than in the Wild West game. Very few people are actually who they seem, and there's a great lost book mechanic where every single character starts with a copy of Agatha Christie's Death On The Nile. Some are normal copies of the books, others have secret information written in them.
I've printed out old images of the cover for Death On The Nile, and will make covers for some hardbacks to take with me. So every person will be carrying around an actual book, and if someone wants to steal a book they'll have to be pretty tricky about it.
I'll also be running a normal tabletop role playing game. Rather than bring out more of my Call of Cthulhu scenarios, I decided to go for minimum preparation and turn it into a virtue. The players themsevels will decide what genre and theme the game will have, and I'll improvise a fun adventure for them.
Hopefully I'll also get a chance to play some games during the weekend!
Showing posts with label roleplaying. Show all posts
Showing posts with label roleplaying. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Gaming, Gaming, Gaming!
I spent part of last weekend at a gaming convention.
I normally go to this convention every year to run some games and to play in some games, but this year I had something else to do part of the weekend, so I was only able to run a couple of games.
One, Saturday night, was a Wild Western horror game. I got to the convention about 6pm on Saturday, and my game was at 8pm. They have signup sheets pasted on the walls, and I could see that only one person was signed up. I needed at least four people, and could take up to six. So things weren't looking good.
I spent an hour or so trying to convince people to play, only to have them go into other games. I also hadn't realized when I scheduled the game at 8pm that the convention was having a couple of parties at the same time. Only hardcore gamers pass up parties for gaming, so it definitely didn't look good.
I went down at about a quarter till eight, and saw three people signed up for the game. I could work with three. Unfortunately, those three never showed up!
While I was waiting for them, a group of people started eating at the table I was supposed to use for the game. I got to talking a bit with them, only to find out that they were big fans of the game system I was using to run the game. When 8pm came and went without the other players showing up, those six played in it instead.
So it all worked out.
The game Sunday was a straight Wild Western murder mystery game, no horror involved. I ended up with 12 people playing it it, which is a good number. We got started a bit late, and had to end early, so the game was a little rushed in spots, but I think everyone had a good time.
I was pretty beat by the time I got home Sunday, though!
I normally go to this convention every year to run some games and to play in some games, but this year I had something else to do part of the weekend, so I was only able to run a couple of games.
One, Saturday night, was a Wild Western horror game. I got to the convention about 6pm on Saturday, and my game was at 8pm. They have signup sheets pasted on the walls, and I could see that only one person was signed up. I needed at least four people, and could take up to six. So things weren't looking good.
I spent an hour or so trying to convince people to play, only to have them go into other games. I also hadn't realized when I scheduled the game at 8pm that the convention was having a couple of parties at the same time. Only hardcore gamers pass up parties for gaming, so it definitely didn't look good.
I went down at about a quarter till eight, and saw three people signed up for the game. I could work with three. Unfortunately, those three never showed up!
While I was waiting for them, a group of people started eating at the table I was supposed to use for the game. I got to talking a bit with them, only to find out that they were big fans of the game system I was using to run the game. When 8pm came and went without the other players showing up, those six played in it instead.
So it all worked out.
The game Sunday was a straight Wild Western murder mystery game, no horror involved. I ended up with 12 people playing it it, which is a good number. We got started a bit late, and had to end early, so the game was a little rushed in spots, but I think everyone had a good time.
I was pretty beat by the time I got home Sunday, though!
Monday, July 16, 2007
Origins Recap
It's been about a week since Origins, and I'm just about recovered.
I played a variety of roleplaying games, both tabletop and live action. The most fun of the live action games was a Wild West game that used rubber band guns as firearms. There was one section of the adventure where we had to do the traditional shootout storming bandits in the rocks that was a lot of fun. Rubber bands don't shoot straight, though!
The Osiris Sanction was another new live action game that put you as part of a team infiltrating a computer system in virtual reality. You had to avoid the guards, hack into computer systems, pick locks, disarm bombs, and the like. It was fun, although not quite what I'm used to in live action roleplaying games. In particular, it was entirely based on the mission, there wasn't any roleplaying about it.
I also played in a couple of Call of Cthulhu games, including one live action game. Those are always a lot of fun. I normally run Call of Cthulhu games, so it's fun to play in them at conventions. If you've never played, Call of Cthulhu games are basically like a cheesy horror film where you're the star. Your character will probably go insane by the end of the game, and might even get killed. The object isn't to avoid these outcomes, but to have fun playing in the horror genre.
Finally, I played in several Quick Ass Game System games. This is a nice light roleplaying system that is suitable for pretty much any genre. The Hex Games folks who run the games at Origins are guaranteed to show you a good time, and no experience is necessary. I always try to play in as many of their games as possible.
I had the hardest time finding anything to spend money on in the dealer's room this year, which is unusual. Normally it's hard for me to not come home laden with new board games. I went with a list of games I wanted to buy, and wasn't able to find any of them there! I finally had to resort to ordering them online after the convention.
If you're in the Ohio area, check out Origins next year. It's a great time, and plenty of the games welcome complete newcomers to roleplaying. There are also tons of board games to play, and free movies pretty much constantly throughout the convention.
I played a variety of roleplaying games, both tabletop and live action. The most fun of the live action games was a Wild West game that used rubber band guns as firearms. There was one section of the adventure where we had to do the traditional shootout storming bandits in the rocks that was a lot of fun. Rubber bands don't shoot straight, though!
The Osiris Sanction was another new live action game that put you as part of a team infiltrating a computer system in virtual reality. You had to avoid the guards, hack into computer systems, pick locks, disarm bombs, and the like. It was fun, although not quite what I'm used to in live action roleplaying games. In particular, it was entirely based on the mission, there wasn't any roleplaying about it.
I also played in a couple of Call of Cthulhu games, including one live action game. Those are always a lot of fun. I normally run Call of Cthulhu games, so it's fun to play in them at conventions. If you've never played, Call of Cthulhu games are basically like a cheesy horror film where you're the star. Your character will probably go insane by the end of the game, and might even get killed. The object isn't to avoid these outcomes, but to have fun playing in the horror genre.
Finally, I played in several Quick Ass Game System games. This is a nice light roleplaying system that is suitable for pretty much any genre. The Hex Games folks who run the games at Origins are guaranteed to show you a good time, and no experience is necessary. I always try to play in as many of their games as possible.
I had the hardest time finding anything to spend money on in the dealer's room this year, which is unusual. Normally it's hard for me to not come home laden with new board games. I went with a list of games I wanted to buy, and wasn't able to find any of them there! I finally had to resort to ordering them online after the convention.
If you're in the Ohio area, check out Origins next year. It's a great time, and plenty of the games welcome complete newcomers to roleplaying. There are also tons of board games to play, and free movies pretty much constantly throughout the convention.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Origins!
The Origins gaming convention is coming up very shortly.
For anyone who enjoys roleplaying, board gaming, card games, or pretty much any sort of game, Origins is a great place to spend three or four days playing old favorites and trying out new games. It's been our favorite summer vacation for years. Typically we're registered by January, and have our weekend gaming schedule set by May.
With a two year old in the house, we haven't even registered yet this year. We'll get there, but it's hard to say how much gaming we'll do. I do want Amelia to experience it this year, though. She loves to people watch, and a big gaming convention is great for people watching.
I'm sure we'll get some gaming in, too. It's a bit odd to be going to the convention and not have the schedule planned out in advance. We'll see what's available and what strikes our fancy, and go from there.
For anyone who enjoys roleplaying, board gaming, card games, or pretty much any sort of game, Origins is a great place to spend three or four days playing old favorites and trying out new games. It's been our favorite summer vacation for years. Typically we're registered by January, and have our weekend gaming schedule set by May.
With a two year old in the house, we haven't even registered yet this year. We'll get there, but it's hard to say how much gaming we'll do. I do want Amelia to experience it this year, though. She loves to people watch, and a big gaming convention is great for people watching.
I'm sure we'll get some gaming in, too. It's a bit odd to be going to the convention and not have the schedule planned out in advance. We'll see what's available and what strikes our fancy, and go from there.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Good Intentions & More Squidoo
As a college professor, typically during summer I spend until the first of August or so doing non-school related projects (e.g. I goof off). This summer, I have the best of intentions. I want to prepare all of my material for my fall classes before I goof off for the summer.
We'll see how it goes. I've had some excuses to slack off a bit recently, since I have to order textbooks to review and they haven't arrived yet. But I have one class I want to take a completely different approach with than in the past, so there will be a significant amount of work preparing for that one.
Another intention is that I don't spend the entire summer creating new Squidoo pages. I'm not sure how I'll do at that one. I've already, since the Roleplaying With Kids lens was nominated lens of the day, written a couple more (one on Murder Mystery Party Ideas, and one on a review of a particular murder mystery party scenario, Curse of the Pharoah).
And may I just say, "Holy crap!" I just went over to Squidoo to get the links for the lenses I mentioned above, and found that Roleplaying With Kids is now ranked #25 out of over 100,000 lenses.
This is a big deal, because the lens was ranked #2,184 before being named lens of the day. It jumped to #105, then to #57, and now to #25. I know that this sort of trend cannot continue, because the lens simply doesn't get the traffic needed to sustain a high ranking (not that many people care about roleplaying with kids). Right now it's riding the lens of the day traffic. In fact, that traffic has dropped off considerably, so I can only imagine that lens rank takes the traffic in the last 7 days into account (that's a statistic shown prominently in your Squidoo dashboard).
As soon as the lens of the day traffic drops off the end of the 7 day period, the lens will start falling in rank.
But it's really cool to have one that close to #1, even if it's more or less a fluke. I'll have to resist the urge to keep writing more in the hopes of getting another one up that high.
Just as soon as I finish off the murder mystery party reviews for the other three or four scenarios I've run. ;-)
We'll see how it goes. I've had some excuses to slack off a bit recently, since I have to order textbooks to review and they haven't arrived yet. But I have one class I want to take a completely different approach with than in the past, so there will be a significant amount of work preparing for that one.
Another intention is that I don't spend the entire summer creating new Squidoo pages. I'm not sure how I'll do at that one. I've already, since the Roleplaying With Kids lens was nominated lens of the day, written a couple more (one on Murder Mystery Party Ideas, and one on a review of a particular murder mystery party scenario, Curse of the Pharoah).
And may I just say, "Holy crap!" I just went over to Squidoo to get the links for the lenses I mentioned above, and found that Roleplaying With Kids is now ranked #25 out of over 100,000 lenses.
This is a big deal, because the lens was ranked #2,184 before being named lens of the day. It jumped to #105, then to #57, and now to #25. I know that this sort of trend cannot continue, because the lens simply doesn't get the traffic needed to sustain a high ranking (not that many people care about roleplaying with kids). Right now it's riding the lens of the day traffic. In fact, that traffic has dropped off considerably, so I can only imagine that lens rank takes the traffic in the last 7 days into account (that's a statistic shown prominently in your Squidoo dashboard).
As soon as the lens of the day traffic drops off the end of the 7 day period, the lens will start falling in rank.
But it's really cool to have one that close to #1, even if it's more or less a fluke. I'll have to resist the urge to keep writing more in the hopes of getting another one up that high.
Just as soon as I finish off the murder mystery party reviews for the other three or four scenarios I've run. ;-)
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