If you had 1 year to plan a weekend of gaming, what would you do?

[Wulf Ratbane]

I might still have 2 copies....I'll have to check.

Cool.

I discussed it with a few of the potential attendees today, and depending on how many people show up, what I'd like to do is some kind of "group play" where multiple adventuring parties are all experiencing the same thing, at the same time, although perhaps from different approaches. (I don't want to split up into multiple groups playing different games or adventures.)

So, for example, something like the Temple of Elemental Evil or Rappan Athuk, with lots of different entrances/approaches and lots of avenues of attack, with one central "home base" where people can go and switch tables/parties from time to time...

I basically need to figure out what to do if somebody's character bites it in Hour One of The Big Weekend.

Maybe some kind of tournament scoring system and a big prize for the best player(s)...

Still working the thoughts over... keep em coming if you got em.

 

[GlassJaw]

I basically need to figure out what to do if somebody's character bites it in Hour One of The Big Weekend.

There's always the "tied up in a burlap sack" method of introducing a new character.

The next room the party enters has - you guessed it - a burlap sack with the new PC in it.

Whether he (or she) is clothed or not is up to you. Maybe require the player to give you a roll.

 

[theUnbeliever]

We used to have gaming weekends that went something like this:
during the nights: a 3-part adventure, something scary because we were in the woods.
During the day: a Settlers of Catan tourny, one epic game of risk/ axis and allies and an unrelated RPG session of something fun (star wars, L5R)

If i had a year to plan I would definitely have bad ass maps for minis, synchronized A/V soundtrack and pictures, and a few special effects for the kiddies (we were playing CoC one time and I recorded my voice all creepy and hid speakers behind the couch the players were sitting on. Using a remote, i pressed play without them seeing and this creepy voice came out of nowhere from behind them and scared the CRAP out of them. my 6'5'' friend literally climbed into the lap of another man. it. was. epic.)

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

I discussed it with a few of the potential attendees today, and depending on how many people show up, what I'd like to do is some kind of "group play" where multiple adventuring parties are all experiencing the same thing, at the same time, although perhaps from different approaches. (I don't want to split up into multiple groups playing different games or adventures.)

Each group could have their own specific agenda and/or goal; heck each PC could have their own agenda/goal, which might not be immediately apparent. You could build in specific goals that are shared by PC's that are intentionally started off in different parties, such that the original parties will ideally split apart and recombine. Lots of potential for intrigue and parties potentially working against each other - or combining forces. I'm kind of reminded of A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny, where the characters are either looking to open a gate for the Old Ones, or the prevent the gate from being opened, but no one knows whose side anyone is on to start with (Jack the Ripper turns out to be a Closer, for instance).

I basically need to figure out what to do if somebody's character bites it in Hour One of The Big Weekend.

The easy answer is that new adventuring groups are arriving all the time; if you set up a "base camp" then they can easily join up after just a short while. You could set the game up so that every four hours of game time equalled one day of in-game time, and new PC's could join up (or create a whole new group).

I'd set up a set of simple PC-building parameters (possibly including randomly determined connections to other PC's - even those not in one's own party) so that new PC's could be built quickly.

 

[Umbran]

I discussed it with a few of the potential attendees today, and depending on how many people show up, what I'd like to do is some kind of "group play" where multiple adventuring parties are all experiencing the same thing, at the same time, although perhaps from different approaches. (I don't want to split up into multiple groups playing different games or adventures.)

I have done this sort of thing before, and it can be a lot of fun. My advice is to have some communication channel between the GMs during play. Players are very good at coming up with things that can have impact outside their immediate vicinity - and heaven forbid they decide to *try* to meet up within the dungeon! Radios are okay, but a laptop for each GM with an online chat rolling in it would be better.

with one central "home base" where people can go and switch tables/parties from time to time...

I basically need to figure out what to do if somebody's character bites it in Hour One of The Big Weekend.

Well, these two go together. Have a stack of pregen characters. When someone dies, you reinsert them at their home base. Possibly force them to switch tables when they do so, just to mix things up a bit. Or, maybe there's an NPC at Home Base who has raise/resurrection capabilities.

 

[RangerWickett]

Design a plot. Come up with pre-gens (or, since I've got a year, work with the players to design their characters). Assemble a soundtrack. Say to hell with minis or battle maps because I never liked those things anyway, but make sure to have clear mock-ups of any battle location so the players can have a clear idea of where they are.

Commission illustrations for prominent NPCs and monsters. Practice being in character for the various NPCs. Post my planned encounters online to ask for feedback so I can refine them. Anticipate ways to let each player shine with his or her own unique schtick.

Set up my computer and speakers and do a dry run of the soundtrack. I figure winamp, with a battle playlist, an ambient playlist, and maybe a few specific cues could work. Learn the hotkeys to load and play the music quickly.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

Practice being in character for the various NPCs.

Fortunately I already have "Surly Unhelpful Old Man" and "Surly Unhelpful Old Woman" down pat.

Although they use the same voice.

Which is mostly just my voice.

Only surly and unhelpful, which really lets me stretch my acting chops.

 

[Mythmere1]

I'd come up with numerous ideas and scrap each in turn, only to discover I have a few weeks left before the big weekend.

Yup. Me too.

 

[Thunderfoot]

You forgot to mention...

2 weeks out - Invite Weem to the game!

Thanks - believe it or not, I've actually thought this through BEFORE this question was asked... I just pulled out the old game plan...

I know, sad.