What Makes a Convention Game Great?

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

I concur with Piratecat. I had a better feel for Francis than any other gameday character I've ever played, and it made a big difference in how I played the character, and how much I enjoyed it. Were it not for how I filled out the questionaire, *the* critical moment between Francis and the sniveling bootlick Corky would not have played out as it did.

At the moment, I'm struggling with the questionaire for the game I'm running at the end of the month. For the scenario, I need to find the right balance between stipulating enough of the character background for their presence to make sense, and leave enough room for the players to make the character their own. It's not as easy as it looks (or as Piratecat makes it seem)

 

[Piratecat]

Jody, shoot me a copy via email. Maybe I can help.

 

[Silver Moon]

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!

I remember that game - those characters were great! Unfortunately we were stuck with a DM who discouraged role playing and insisted that we had to get through every encounter - I would have been happier if we never left the first encounter.

PC's advice is great! Over the years I have learned considerably from him and KidCthulhu on how to do things right. The first Feng Shui game I ever ran (having only played it once before that) I did using primarily a short six-point 'How to Run Feng Shui' primer that PC gave me in advance and it was an overwhelming success - although PirateCat playing the Mr T "B.A. Baracas" character in it helped immensely (I still can't believe you shot the panda bear).

 

[Jeff Wilder]

I've run several games at GenCon (aside from games I've run officially, for the RPGA, the D&D Open, and the DCC Tournament), and the best ones had these three things in common:

(1) Every character had an immediate "hook" with at least two other characters. This past GenCon, I explicitly set out to create a group such that each PC had a good relationship with two others, and a strained relationship with one other, but it obviously doesn't need to be that formulaic. Two sub-points:

(a) At a convention game, "cliche" is not a bad word. The quicker and easier players can grasp their characters and the other characters, the quicker you get to the role-playing.

(b) It's very easy to overdo character backstory. In addition to the hooks mentioned above, all you really need to do is allude to one or two major events in the group's history, and let the players take it from there.

(2) Every PC had things in the adventure that only he or she can accomplish. Every DM knows that in a home campaign, we need to rotate the spotlight, but it's even more important -- and needs to be done more rapidly -- in a convention game.

(3) I wasn't afraid to go over the top in my portrayal of monsters and NPCs. In a home campaign, maintaining the kind of intensity I'm talking about here can, first, be very draining to the DM, and, second, eventually begins to border on the ridiculous. But that's a function of time, and there's no time for it to happen in a convention game. Shout, growl, snarl, hiss, thump the table ... any trick to make the experience more immediate and visceral. (Do keep in mind any other groups playing in the same environs, though.)

A fourth, more minor, key to success has been accessories. Miniatures for each pre-gen, a battlemat, pre-drawn encounter maps, and initiative tracker. If it can be carried easily, and it contributes to the quicker running of your home game, take it to the convention game.

 

[Kheti sa-Menik]

I haven't run a Con Game but have played in some at Gencon and local cons.
Honestly, I think there's a lot of luck involved.
I've played in NMC's games in 06 and 07 and he has it about perfect from the GM's perspective.
Preparation: It's obvious he knows the material inside and out since he wrote the modules and it shows.
Pacing: He kept the game moving along but it didn't feel like he did, it all seemed to flow naturally.
Good mix of problem solving, combat, and roleplaying.

But luck plays a part I think. NMC had some good players sit down at the table in my opinion. That contributed a lot toward success.

I played in a table of the Buffy RPG at GenCon 2006 and though the GM was very very good, we got a total tool at the table. It's Buffy..so a little levity is expected..sarcasm, jokes in the face of death, that kind of thing. I made a snide in-character comment about witches/wiccans/whatever and this guy turns to me in person and informs me matter of factly that he is a whatever-the-heck thing he is and shows me some wierd ring on his finger. I just shrugged and said no harm meant, we're all in good fun. But he kept at it and did similar things to other players. It was difficult for the GM to keep things moving while this chucklehead kept dragging everyone down.

My two cents..luck and a good GM who knows his material.

 

[Silver Moon]

..luck and a good GM who knows his material.

And even the 'knowing your material' part isn't essential - it helps, but a DM who can improvise can get by without it. More than once I was handed a convention module by the coordinator ten minutes before game time when the DM who had signed up to run it was a no-show. I would never let the players know that I was unprepared, instead stating that "I emphasize and encourage role playing" (which is very true) - and the role playing would then give me enough time to read at least one encounter ahead of where they were.

 

[barsoomcore]

Were it not for how I filled out the questionaire, *the* critical moment between Francis and the sniveling bootlick charming romantic Corky would not have played out as it did.

Sorry, just fixing up that little typo there.

And I'm in agreement with PC on the player-created characters -- there's no way a player would have TIME to absorb all the critical details on the sheet if it were just handed to them at the start of the session. Even assuming that the "buy-in" factor was a non-issue.

 

[Hypersmurf]

And I'm in agreement with PC on the player-created characters -- there's no way a player would have TIME to absorb all the critical details on the sheet if it were just handed to them at the start of the session. Even assuming that the "buy-in" factor was a non-issue.

Well, I'm not contrasting "Pregen vs questionnaire filled out ahead of time" like we did - I'm looking at "Pregen vs questionnaire handed out at the table"... for when you haven't had a chance to send questionnaires out early.

With players filling them in at the table, they have to read the questions, think about the answers, write the answers, and then the GM needs to absorb them all and check for inconsistencies. I figure that has to take more time that the players absorbing the details of a pregen - which the GM already knows contains consistent interactions with the other PCs.

For example, the local university gaming club has a game day in January. Based on how it worked this year, people get assigned to games ten minutes before a session starts... so if I wanted to run Dread, I'd have no opportunity for pre-session questionnaires. It would either have to be questionnaires within the session, or pregens.

-Hyp.

 

[nerfherder]

... by over a year.

Hmm... he was asking about 2007, whereas I was asking for 2008, so I'm first in line for next year.

Yeah, that's it

 

[Teflon Billy]

In all honesty, until I went to Gen Con and gamed with EN Worlders, Convention games were something I hated/made fun of.

I was serious earlier when I said that Piratecat at the helm was what made a convention game good, but he only narrowly edges out Psion, Rel, Kenson and Wil Upchurch.

I hear absolutely astonishing things about Barsoomcore's GM'ing skills, and I've seen nothing but praise for Crothian's ability to run Paranoia.

Seriously, with as much sheer awfulness as I associate with Convention gaming, I've never really come across anything like that from EN Worlders.

Treat this place as a resource.