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<blockquote data-quote="Tony Vargas" data-source="post: 7464055" data-attributes="member: 996">&quot;Judge?&quot;&nbsp; They still call GM's 'judges' over there?&nbsp; I thought that was a 70s wargaming thing...?...sorry... anyway...&nbsp;It depends on the con, and I suppose varies regionally, so my experience may have no bearing, but cons often schedule at least some time between the end of one session and the start of another, so generally, just not going over time should keep you from having the problem of layers needing to leave early.&nbsp; More egregious is when the con schedules blocks that overlap, and a player signs up for or crashes your game, only to leave in the middle because he got into something else in a different time slot.And, yes, with only 4 hours, have pregens, start promptly, and avoid play modes that tend to get bogged down - don't present a lot of planning &amp; debating opportunities and don't pult player-solved puzzles between them and the action.&nbsp; Design your adventure to start fast (pregens are a must, IMHO), get to the action fast, have places where you can insert filler if need be, and a plausible 'cut to the chase' excuse if you're still bogged down in the final hour... If the players do get 'stuck,' don't let it stand for long, call for rolls, drop hints, have them attacked&nbsp; - keep it moving.&nbsp; &nbsp;Depending on the system, you can totally run for two or even one players.&nbsp; You could resort to old-school henchmen or running two characters (since you have the pregens right there) for systems where it's problematic not to have a minimum complement.&nbsp;IMX (and, again, it could be very different in your region), players sign up for oddball games to learn them, so emphasize that kind of intraductory experience.&nbsp; It's the one instance where you might want to go through character creation.&nbsp; Highlight the game's cool features, hit the important aspects of it's mechanics, etc... ...also, IMX, those are the kinds of games that don't fill up, so you may be running for a very small group, and that's not all bad, since you can give them more personal attention.&nbsp; &nbsp;You do need to be adaptable.&nbsp; It's logical to run a 'railroad' for instance, to keep the pacing quick and the game focused, but you never know what a table of strangers is going to want or latch onto.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Tony Vargas, post: 7464055, member: 996"] "Judge?" They still call GM's 'judges' over there? I thought that was a 70s wargaming thing...? ...sorry... anyway... It depends on the con, and I suppose varies regionally, so my experience may have no bearing, but cons often schedule at least some time between the end of one session and the start of another, so generally, just not going over time should keep you from having the problem of layers needing to leave early. More egregious is when the con schedules blocks that overlap, and a player signs up for or crashes your game, only to leave in the middle because he got into something else in a different time slot. And, yes, with only 4 hours, have pregens, start promptly, and avoid play modes that tend to get bogged down - don't present a lot of planning & debating opportunities and don't pult player-solved puzzles between them and the action. Design your adventure to start fast (pregens are a must, IMHO), get to the action fast, have places where you can insert filler if need be, and a plausible 'cut to the chase' excuse if you're still bogged down in the final hour... If the players do get 'stuck,' don't let it stand for long, call for rolls, drop hints, have them attacked - keep it moving. Depending on the system, you can totally run for two or even one players. You could resort to old-school henchmen or running two characters (since you have the pregens right there) for systems where it's problematic not to have a minimum complement. IMX (and, again, it could be very different in your region), players sign up for oddball games to learn them, so emphasize that kind of intraductory experience. It's the one instance where you might want to go through character creation. Highlight the game's cool features, hit the important aspects of it's mechanics, etc... ...also, IMX, those are the kinds of games that don't fill up, so you may be running for a very small group, and that's not all bad, since you can give them more personal attention. You do need to be adaptable. It's logical to run a 'railroad' for instance, to keep the pacing quick and the game focused, but you never know what a table of strangers is going to want or latch onto. [/QUOTE]

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