What Makes a Convention Game Great?

[ColonelHardisson]

PC, is there any way to see your actual notes for any given scenario you've run? I mean the outline and any stats you had there in front of you as you ran the game. I realize they might be handwritten or done in a personal shorthand, but if you could "clean up" and post an example, I'd find it invaluable.

 

[Psion]

Yup, every Spycraft game I've been in that required gearing up has been stalled for 2 hours of non-fun gameplay. It's my one beef with the system.

Well, 2.0's better, and in the game I ran at DC game day, gearing up went really smooth.

The games I ran at GenCon... not so smooth. Especially the first one.

 

[player 2]

Piratecat, what great info. I was just telling my SO that you needed to write a book on how to DM and then I find this post . . . Are you reading my mind?

Thank you for the patience during your game. As a fairly new player I appreciate the help. It was great to play a game that had so much "role" playing in it. That is what made the game memorable, I was able to play outside my comfort zone with understanding and helpful players. I think that is what a Con game should be about . . .stretching your limits while playing with friends.

 

[zoroaster100]

Piratecat, thanks so much for sharing these tips. While I don't plan on running a game at a Con, some of it is really good for DMing in general or even for player character creation. If you ever did publish a book on DMing advice, I'd be sure to buy it!

 

[KidCthulhu]

I'll jump in here too. Ditto to everything PC said, especially about characters. He and I once wrote a con game with 6 clerics of widely varying faiths and personalities. The game played itself! Plot, schmot.

I'll put in a plug for having a ticking clock. You don't need to shove players along, but you do need to know what is happening in the world and in the bad guy's plans. If they want to debate plans for hours, they can, but in the meantime the world is moving along. Surf the web for clues, talk to the sage all day, but the embassy is still getting attacked at 2 am, the ritual is still taking place at midnight. Know this, and you have the lever that moves everything else.

I'll also plug the "guy with a gun" theory. Always have a way to get the players back to the plot. The best way is to bring the danger to them. In a tournament game, the water should always be rising. They can debate strategy all they want, but if they don't start bailing, they'd better know how to swim.

I have a preference in Call of Cthulhu, at least, for hitting the party hard at first with something off-putting. It doesn't have to be big, but it has to shock them. A pool of blood where no blood should be. A rough and unpleasant encounter with an NPC, just something to shake them up enough to know that bad &#$@ is indeed going on. I like keeping my horror players just that little bit off balance. If they can't find their footing, the can't get bogged down.

Finally, remember the 4 rules of Con games:
1) You don't have time for this (whatever it is)
2) Keep it fast and keep it moving
3) Reward creativity and role playing
4) Less is more

 

[Piratecat]

PC, is there any way to see your actual notes for any given scenario you've run? I mean the outline and any stats you had there in front of you as you ran the game. I realize they might be handwritten or done in a personal shorthand, but if you could "clean up" and post an example, I'd find it invaluable.

You think! But you really wouldn't, because I keep most of this stuff in my head. My notes serve mostly to just remind me. I'm happy to scan them in, though. I'll see if I can do that tonight.

 

[MavrickWeirdo]

Ask Maverick Weirdo; the first time I ran it, it was pretty shaky. Playtesting answers pacing questions and shakes out iffy plotting.

Actually Piratecat's real talent is finding great players who can take his sketchy pregens and make something cool out of them

That whole "plan for a wide middle" just meant that our group, through clever strategy, managed to skip most of the combat & plot he had planned for the middle of the game. PC had to resort to feeding us info through television broadcasts.

Oh and SteveC, PC has been known to use the "7th player" trick as well.

And since when does M&M have "sanity check" rules?

(It was one of the best games I have ever been in.)

 

[ColonelHardisson]

You think! But you really wouldn't, because I keep most of this stuff in my head. My notes serve mostly to just remind me. I'm happy to scan them in, though. I'll see if I can do that tonight.

It would be interesting. Basically, I'd like to see a good example of a con adventure. Since you have a lot of insight and people rave about how you run adventures at cons (I almost said "con games" ), it would be cool to see one of your adventures. If you wrote everything down you keep in your head, it would be a good companion piece to your advice above. I think something like that would be a fantastic resource that could be posted as an article on EN World for those wanting to run games at cons.

 

[Psion]

Piratecat Is My Master Now.

(That'd be funnier in the right font...)

 

[GlassJaw]

<yoda voice>Awesome this thread is .</yoda>

I've played in a couple of PCat's games and he pretty much has the one-shot mastered.

Couple of other things I think about with regards to the one-shot:

- Depending on the game you are running, you may get some players that are playing in your game because they want to check out the rules and the system itself. If you are running system that isn't as widely known, you may have to consider the mechanics of the system moreso than you would otherwise. In this case, make the characters simple and iconic. List any special rules or abilities on the character sheets so there is no need for rulebooks. Also, allow for some time at the start of the session to go over the basics of the rules.

- Design your one-shot around cool locations or events. If you want to run something with pirates, think of some cool pirate encounters - maybe a ship-to-ship battle, an escape from a prison (complete with dungeon), or a race through the jungle to be the first to get to the buried treasure. Bottom line - give the players what they want!

- The illusion of choice. Some rail-roading is inevitable in a one-shot. Some may disagree with me but a one-shot isn't open-ended. It can't be. It has to have a fairly well-defined resolution. How the players get there, however, can be open (as PCat described). The players may end up at the final encounter no matter what they do but you should present the players with a few paths that can take to get there. An even better method is to present choices that may conflict with some of the characters' beliefs or personalities. This is a good way to encourage role-playing.