By Mark Morrison
It’s Gen Con weekend, and the Chaosium crew are greeting old friends and making new ones at the main booth (511 in the exhibit hall), and in the Chaosium event room across the hall (ICC139). Games are happening all weekend.
Meanwhile, I’m at home in Australia, but that hasn’t stopped me from getting in the spirit. Last night I had an epic time introducing my weekly RPG group to RuneQuest as they drove a gang of Tusk Riders right out of Apple Lane and off into the backwoods.
For the rest of my Non Gen Con weekend I’ll be watching the Ennie Awards on stream, painting up a preview sample of Chalana Arroy healer Makarios from the forthcoming Rune Marked Miniatures (the detail in these 3D-printed resin models is superb), and losing hard no doubt to the final boss in the boardgame Gloomhaven Jaws of the Lion.
It all helps with the FOMO, but it’s not the same: I love a gaming convention. There’s a fantastic energy when people come together to run systems that they are passionate about. I’ve run some of the best sessions in my life for players I’ve only just met. Knowing that we are only going to play together like this once really makes me give it my best.
Con games are also the best way to playtest a scenario you are working on. You get to bounce your ideas off groups who think differently from your regular players, and their responses will either let you know you’re on the right track, or give you immediate ways to make it better. And, if you’re running the same scenario again that weekend, you can immediately iterate on those improvements.
My first ever Call of Cthulhu scenario “The Crack’d and Crook’d Manse” (recently revised and reprinted in Mountains of Madness) debuted at a convention, and it remains the one I’ve had the most comments on. Maybe that’s just because my old stuff is better than my new stuff, but I like to think of it as proof that robust convention playtesting really makes a scenario sing. (Or scream. We are talking about Call of Cthulhu here.)
What I particularly love is introducing people to a game system for the first time. When players realise just how passionate and dramatic Pendragon is versus any other fantasy roleplaying game, the story really takes flight. Running Age of Vikings at Chaosium Con Australia last month was equally brilliant when the players realised that they were living in the pages of an 11th century saga. And with the Great Pendragon Joust, I got to introduce eight people to Pendragon at the same time!
-- Mark Morrison running the Great Pendragon Joust at Chaosium Con Australia in June this year --
The best thing of all at Chaosium Con Australia was getting to say hello to friends I have been going to conventions with for 40 years. I wasn’t exaggerating when I say how much I love a con. As 1980s gamers it’s baked into our DNA. We lurched out of the misty bygones before online gaming and streaming, before social media or the first forums, so it really was the best way way to meet new folks and try new games.
I think that holds true today. If there’s a con in your area that you’ve yet to visit, consider giving it a try for a few hours and see if it’s to your liking. If you are writing Chaosium community content, that goes double!
The official slogan of Gen Con is that it’s the Best Four Days in Gaming™, but I reckon that anywhere that dice are rolled, stories happen and friendships formed is pretty damn good too.
It’s Gen Con weekend, and the Chaosium crew are greeting old friends and making new ones at the main booth (511 in the exhibit hall), and in the Chaosium event room across the hall (ICC139). Games are happening all weekend.
Con games are also the best way to playtest a scenario you are working on. You get to bounce your ideas off groups who think differently from your regular players, and their responses will either let you know you’re on the right track, or give you immediate ways to make it better. And, if you’re running the same scenario again that weekend, you can immediately iterate on those improvements.
My first ever Call of Cthulhu scenario “The Crack’d and Crook’d Manse” (recently revised and reprinted in Mountains of Madness) debuted at a convention, and it remains the one I’ve had the most comments on. Maybe that’s just because my old stuff is better than my new stuff, but I like to think of it as proof that robust convention playtesting really makes a scenario sing. (Or scream. We are talking about Call of Cthulhu here.)
What I particularly love is introducing people to a game system for the first time. When players realise just how passionate and dramatic Pendragon is versus any other fantasy roleplaying game, the story really takes flight. Running Age of Vikings at Chaosium Con Australia last month was equally brilliant when the players realised that they were living in the pages of an 11th century saga. And with the Great Pendragon Joust, I got to introduce eight people to Pendragon at the same time!
-- Mark Morrison running the Great Pendragon Joust at Chaosium Con Australia in June this year --
The best thing of all at Chaosium Con Australia was getting to say hello to friends I have been going to conventions with for 40 years. I wasn’t exaggerating when I say how much I love a con. As 1980s gamers it’s baked into our DNA. We lurched out of the misty bygones before online gaming and streaming, before social media or the first forums, so it really was the best way way to meet new folks and try new games.
I think that holds true today. If there’s a con in your area that you’ve yet to visit, consider giving it a try for a few hours and see if it’s to your liking. If you are writing Chaosium community content, that goes double!
The official slogan of Gen Con is that it’s the Best Four Days in Gaming™, but I reckon that anywhere that dice are rolled, stories happen and friendships formed is pretty damn good too.
