Chicago Gameday XVIII: the aftermath!

[rvalle]

Thanks to Games Plus for hosting us once again. And to Buzz for jumping though the hoops to organize it.

Thanks to FCWesel for shanghaiing me into a Castles and Crusaders game (listed a DnD game). You are defiantly the best DM I've ever had that has given me a candy cane! And boy, I thought dwarves ale was bad but it has nothing on dwarven wine! Uggg... never again.


Thanks to HinterWelt for running the Nebuleon game AND for the book and dice! The doorway defiantly IS the best place to be!

I look forward to trying Squirrel Attack and make sure you get some of those Squirrel Attack board games into Games Plus!

Hmmm bacon....

rv

 

[Pbartender]

Thanks to my afternoon Dread gamers: Pbartender, Cerebral Paladin, and GreatLemur. Jenga as a resolution mechanic is just plain AWESOME. I'd love to see this run again, jsut to expose more people to its awesomeness.

I'm planning on it... Next time, I think I'll aim for a slightly longer scenario and perhaps a few more seats for players.

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

Re: more seats at the Dread game and a longer game: I think this would be a good thing in the future. I had lots of fun playing, and others could, too. But the other aspect of this was that with 3 players and a ~3 hour game, the question was really whether one PC would die. With 6 players and a 4+ hour game, you would be more likely to have the tower fall at the three-quarters point, with then lots of pulls and a return to the tension. And I think that would be to the good.

Re: other points: I think people are right that setting the date early but doing the table organizing later makes a lot of sense. I also think that we may want to do something to try to better fit the supply of games to the demand for players. I had fun running Dogs, but it clearly wasn't the world's most in-demand game (although that also had to do with cancellations). It would be a shame if there were players not getting to play in a game they want to, because it was squeezed out of the schedule by another game with an empty table. Assuming that there is another surge of GM supply, where more of us want to run than there is room for, it might make sense for GMs to toss out some possibilities, with players listing top choices, and then to schedule the in-demand games. That would also let GMs like me throw out a few suggestions and then run what the players want.

--Adam

 

[buzz]

Assuming that there is another surge of GM supply, where more of us want to run than there is room for, it might make sense for GMs to toss out some possibilities, with players listing top choices, and then to schedule the in-demand games. That would also let GMs like me throw out a few suggestions and then run what the players want.

I could certainly do some informal polling via the mailing list. I announce the date, potential volunteers let me know what they're thinking of running, and then I email the list for opinions. The downside is that we may get feedback from people who don't actually end up attending.

I suppose I could also put together some sort of general survey to get an idea of people's preferences. I.e., rather than specific to the planning of a given Gameday, ask about overall tastes. I'll give that some thought.

 

[Pbartender]

Adam...

Another problem you run into, especially with the indie games or "gimmick" games, is that the demand is there, but once the game's limited seating is filled up, those other potential players usually sign up for other games. If a player cancellation happens, you may not easily find a replacement.

It's something to consider, since the past precedent is to discourage "game hopping", which had been a big problem at one or two previous game days.

 

[GreatLemur]

Thanks to my Burning Wheel players: Nev the Deranged, Pbartender, GreatLemur, AstroCat, and petenik. I would have liked to have used the rules a little more proficiently than I did, but I think we all had a fun time nonetheless. I look forward to mixing BW with some old school D&D again at future Gamedays.

Oh, yeah. We were definitely slowed down a little bit by some system uncertainty, but on the whole it was a hell of a lot of fun. It's a cool system (if not an extremely intuitive one), the scenario concept was entirely awesome, and all the players really got into the whole thing. I loved our elaborate, traitorous plans, and I loved how they fell apart due to more backstabbing opportunism. I'd have loved to play more sessions of that scenario.

Re: more seats at the Dread game and a longer game: I think this would be a good thing in the future. I had lots of fun playing, and others could, too. But the other aspect of this was that with 3 players and a ~3 hour game, the question was really whether one PC would die. With 6 players and a 4+ hour game, you would be more likely to have the tower fall at the three-quarters point, with then lots of pulls and a return to the tension. And I think that would be to the good.

I think it ended at just about the perfect time, for my purposes, because Metra trains are excruciatingly infrequent, and I just managed to catch one home after the game.

But, yeah, I definitely would have been happy to play a longer scenario, because that was a hell of a lot of fun. And I just now realized another fun element of a Dread game where a player does finally topple the tower: Afterwards, when the tower is rebuilt and more stable, the surviving characters are free to succeed without too much risk, so they get a really great, narrativist-appropriate "avenge our fallen comrade" boost.

Dang, now I really feel like running a Dread one-shot for my regular group. That was a fun, fun game. Once again, Pbartender: Nice work.

I suppose I could also put together some sort of general survey to get an idea of people's preferences. I.e., rather than specific to the planning of a given Gameday, ask about overall tastes. I'll give that some thought.

That sounds worth a try. I'd love to see what kind of results that produces. Thinking of volunteering next time myself, in fact.

 

[Vyvyan Basterd]

Adam...

Another problem you run into, especially with the indie games or "gimmick" games, is that the demand is there, but once the game's limited seating is filled up, those other potential players usually sign up for other games. If a player cancellation happens, you may not easily find a replacement.

It's something to consider, since the past precedent is to discourage "game hopping", which had been a big problem at one or two previous game days.

Maybe "game hopping" should be allowed. It happens at the big cons. And while it can suck to lose players, I never took it personally when it happened. Besides, it might be best to reopen a spot at a table for someone who really wants it than to have a player at your table who wishes he was at another. I know its probably a matter of sparing feelings of others because this group is closely knit, but as GMs we need to realize that its the person's preference in game (either type or style) that is prompting them to switch, not a preference for the GM as a person.

My 2 cents, FWIW.

 

[buzz]

Maybe "game hopping" should be allowed.

While I have let people jump events at Gameday before (usually due to day-of crises), I don't think I'd want to make it a policy. Prepping an event is enough of an effort that I'd like volunteer GMs to have some expectation that, yes, they will have players.

Also, I'd worry that people would sign up for events they fully plan to ditch at a moment's notice should the event they really want open up.

I think it just boils down to minimizing cancellations. And, really, all that I can realistically do about that is emphasize that volunteers value their commitment to running their event. If they feel there is some doubt as to their ability to make time for Gameday, they should not volunteer. Hopefully, announcing the date early and planning a little later, as Floyd and Mark have suggested, will help, too.

Now, of course, we're only talking about gaming here. Obviously, our volunteers' and attendees' lives are far more important. In the end, everyone involved simply needs to be courteous and willing to roll with the punches.

 

[buzz]

Thinking of volunteering next time myself, in fact.

BOOYAH!

 

[Fenril Knight]

Thanks, Curt, Buzz, and all of the players! Much carnage and fun!

Hehe, I had a lot of fun ^^ Thanks also to Curt and Buzz, as well as Mark for putting up with my ill-conceived strategies >.> In case anyone wants to see a synopsis of what happened at our games...

Nathane (My Cleric), Alfie (TeamsterLW's Fighter/Rogue), and Gwynne(WilliamRonald's Rogue) got off the ship that was taking them south in a rowboat to head to Seahorn, since the Maddington Warship was approaching and we didn't want to get the captain of the ship we were on involved. We landed, were taken to see the Mayor of Seahorn, Ivan Ironfist(Keel Tings' Fighter) and his advisor known as "Q"(Pucky's Wizard). They didn't trust us and Nathane ended up showing his true hand that he was going to betray them for Maddington, which was his hometown. The three (Nathane, Alfie, and Gwynne) started a fight that messed up the city defense's plans for a little while although we all ended up dying with Alfie turning traitor. The Maddington forces got routed although a new monster appeared in the Longhouse that was the Town Hall of Seahorn. Desperate for help, the Mayor and his Advisor asked us (Via Speak with Dead scrolls) if we would help them if we resurrected. Alfie and Nathane said yes, but Gwynne said no (So William made a new Rogue).

We defeated the monster in the Longhouse (A Huge Earth Elemental), and we decided to go into the hole it created to find out what had led it to the town. After getting precariously close to drowning (Yet with the help of Nathane's Water Breathing spell), the new group (Nathane, Mayor Ivan Ironfist, Advisor "Q", Alfie, and the Rogue [can't remember his name]) found a cavern with a Dark Naga inside. Even though we were also ambushed by Drow, we managed to make short work of them. Continuing on, we found an underground forged tended by Duergar.

As we started heading towards them, two Colossal Spiders from a side passage also started heading for us, which the Rogue and Alfie began fighting. The rest of the group headed to the Forge, unknowing of the danger the other two were in. A Chain Lightning spell from Advisor "Q" took out a fair amount, but we had to fight the rest who had grown in size thanks to an inherent ability of the Duergar. At the same time, the Rogue had been ensnared by the Webbing of one of the spiders and had been bitten, soon to die as a result of the strength-damaging poison. As he was eaten, Alfie who had just killed some Duergar on his own tried to kill the spider for some of the gold the party had found earlier. Unfortunately, he was no match. As the Duergar fled, Nathane was also caught in the spiders Webbing, and only with the aid of Mayor Ironfist and Advisor "Q" was he able to be saved and also teleported back to Seahorn. During the course of the fight, the Mayor had been bitten by the spider and suffered from the poison. Nathane cured him of his poison, and for that the Mayor promoted him to High Priest of Seahorn. That is basically it in a nutshell ^^