Advice for running a con game

[lin_fusan]

Running a con game for the new Gamma World boxed set (so the 4th edition ruleset) in the end of May, so I'm looking for some advice.

What's a good pacing to aim for in a 5-hour game? Three fights with a little roleplaying in-between? Two fights (one lead -up and one "boss")?

Also ideas to avoid accidental TPKs due to bad rolls would be good too. Action points? Just hand bonus healing? Fudge rolls for my bad guys?

And any other advice would be welcome too!

 

[Numlock]

Well, a rule of thumb to prevent TPK is that characters should not die only because of bad rolls. As GM it's your responsibility to make sure of that, and keep it somewhat logical and realistic at the same time. Fudging your bad guys dice rolls, adjusting your DC's down, letting the cavalry arrive, let the bad guys make stupid decisions, allow the players to cheat (to some extend), encouraging the players to try and acquire bonuses (divine intervention, crazy moves, the works) and be generous with those bonuses.

If a player, or more than one, has such bad luck that it's funny, you shouldn't feel guilty for giving absurd, yet funny, advantages to that players, or players.

Example:

An Orc shoots a crossbow bolt at character 1, called Bob. The Orc rolls high enough and hits Bob. Bob's player had bad luck for the entire session and Bob is low on hitpoints. If Bob's player now rolls a very low number on Bob's defense roll, you should make something up so Bob doesn't get hurt. Assume Bob has 3 HP left.

GM: The Orc shoots, and he hits Bob. 5 damage. What do you do?
Bob's player: I try to block the bolt with my shield. I roll a ... 1 ... again
GM: Okay, you fail so badly at blocking you trip over your shield and fall. The bolt misses you.

If that is what it takes to make sure a character doesn't die of bad rolls alone, then do it. Of course if player's make stupid decisions, let their characters die.

 

[Zhaleskra]

I disagree: in a con game, especially if you're given a pregen, your character is disposable. To me, that's part of the point, you can "lose" without losing a character you're attached to. Especially in systems where combat is extremely deadly.

On the other end, be sure to give the players more help than you would running a regular game. Especially if you've only got a few hours to teach them the game and run them through your adventure.

 

[Jeff Wilder]

GM: The Orc shoots, and he hits Bob. 5 damage. What do you do?
Bob's player: I try to block the bolt with my shield. I roll a ... 1 ... again
GM: Okay, you fail so badly at blocking you trip over your shield and fall. The bolt misses you.

At that point I begin wondering how I can gracefully exit the table.

The key to avoiding TPKs is understanding basic probability. If you're using pregen PCs, this is trivial. All of the numbers are there for you and they can't change from week to week or session to session.

"Artin is +11 to attacks, Pil is +7 to attacks. (Singer is +4 to attacks, but he's a sorcerer, so discount him.) Hitting this monster should be simple for Artin, but chancier for Pil, so let's work things so the monster has an AC of 19. Artin is 65% to hit, 75% with a flank, and Pil is 45% and 55%."

And so on.

Balance before running, and then accept the randomness of the dice. That's what they're there for, and if ever there was a situation in which a player can have fun even though his PC died because of stupidly bad luck, a convention game with pregen PCs is it.

A long time ago, at GenCon, a friend and I got stuck in a game with a DM who would not let us die. Once we realized that, we began a competition between us to see (a) who could do the most ridiculous death-defying, stupid stuff, without (b) tipping our hand to the table that's what we were doing.

Fun (for us), but probably not what the DM intended when he gave the PCs plot immunity. (He won, BTW.)

 

[the Jester]

My primary advice for a five hour con game would be: Prepare for eight combats, six of which you can easily skip. That way if your group is fast and sassy, you have stuff to keep them occupied, while if they are new and uncertain of the game and slow, you don't have to cut the adventure off in the middle.

 

[Piratecat]

Here's my favorite thread for convention game, one-shot advice!

http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/171536-what-makes-convention-game-great.html

 

[OnlineDM]

Since you're talking about 4e Gamma World, I'd say that letting the PCs die can be half the fun! When I ran Gamma World for my friends, we agreed to suspend disbelief when it came to disposable characters. If a PC died in combat, a new mutant would come running in a round later (the player's new character).

You can just have a bunch of pre-gens on hand and let the player of the dead character pick a new one completely at random.

Also, have the power cards for the Gamma World powers from the books on hand (several people have put together nice-looking versions of these) and package them with the pre-gen character sheets. The cards made it much easier for players to remember what they could do aside from their alpha mutations and omega tech.

As for session content, I'd say that with a Gamma World combat mentality, you might get through four fights in five hours, but more than that would pretty much preclude the possibility of role playing.

Embrace the silly randomness of the game, and encourage the table to do the same!

 

[nedjer]

Con game - take guns and gangsters with you

 

[Wycen]

Do I get to play? You should do a practice run. Yeah.

My suggestion, completely unfounded in practical experience, do the 4 or 5 room dungeon thing. 2 or 3 fights is probably good for the 5 room dungeon ploy.

Don't worry about TPK's. Have a bank of characters ready. In fact, why not make the adventure occur inside a clone factory that is malfunctioning so you can make that part of the story. But don't let them roll new characters on the spot, that would take too much time.

So, when do we get to play? Hmmmm.

 

[scourger]

Well, I'm running Gamma World now and I've successfully played con games, so here's my advice on blending them.

1. Decide what story you want to tell. It can be something as simple as, "go and vanquish the badders (badger men) and hoops (bunny men) that are terrorizing the village." In this example, you have two encounters. All you have to do is set them.

2. Use minis to distinguish the PCs from the counters for foes. I'm using minis from various sources, but primarily D&D minis. For example, I have an owl bear mini that represents a giant hawkoid (or a hawkoid giant) PC. It is fun and easier to distinguish them on the tabletop.

3. Make the characters beforehand. You can find the pdf of the character sheet on the internet. The one that comes in the game box is great because it has all the information needed to play on it. Since the 2 origins give the first 2 stats at 18 & 16 respectively, the other stats are easy to just put 10s in. That way, you & everyone else needn't remember a bunch of other bonuses or penalties. And, let the mini determine the character type, equipment, etc. It is a lot easier to level up, too; if you want to start above 1st level (advisable since the game can be deadly). To really cut down your prep time, use the online character generator at WotC: click, print & play.

4. Give the powers with the character sheets. Someone suggested power cards that are available as fan-made on the internet. I like just color copying the pages from the book. But, don't give them copies of powers they don't have (cut those off).

5. Give out alpha mutation & omega tech cards, too. Although it is fun to draw for them in a regular game where you can wait around to get rid of something less useful in exchange for something more useful, why not go ahead and give them a couple of cool, useful cards right off the bat.

6. Build your alpha & omega decks for the characters and your adventure. Go ahead and exclude the ones that don't fit the game. Then, a random draw is pretty likely to deliver something cool & useful.

7. Play the game beforehand or listen to actual play podcasts. Fun & informative.

8. Use shortcuts at the table. I like to index cards for all the foes and traps printed and before me at the table. Luckily, the game book has the stats for the foes printed at just such sizes for the most part. (It's like the designers are genuises!). All I do is copy on card stock and cut them out. I save the monster description, too; so that the player who rolls highest with the appropriate skill gets to read the foe description out loud from that little card.

Another shortcut I use is for initiative. I deal cards as with Savage Worlds and countdown backwards from joker (+2 to all rolls) to deuce. Suits are in reverse alphabetical order. Each +4 to initiative is an extra card dealt to choose from. I just find it easier for me to track everyone with a card for initiative. Use whatever works for you.

9. Use maps. Some good ones come in the box.

10. Get prize support if you can. That really makes a con game fun. If you have the ego, give a "best play" award from you as DM.

Good luck and have fun.