Tag Archives: Conventions

RPGs

Near Misses – Thieves

Leave a comment

I had an idea for thieves picking pockets from an experience prior to my last game at UCON. The idea coalesced as I was in that dreamy, glad to be sleeping state before I woke up this morning. (I’m off all week; so I got to sleep in today to recover from both low quantity and quality of sleep the last few days.)

As I have mentioned in at least one other article, my Dad was a locksmith and I was drafted to help from the time I was about 13 until I went off to college. Dad gave me my own basic set of lock picks. I thought it would be fun to plop them down at a game, if I ended up running a thief.

I was getting stuff out of my bag, dice, paper, pen, pencil and other things so I wouldn’t have to keep rummaging in my bag during the game and slow things down. I was wearing many layers, including a jacket sort of like a hoody with out the hood. It has packets inside next to each outer pocket.

I put my picks in my pocket, or so I thought. I felt both sides of my hand feel fabric, so I thought it was in my pocket. I had just placed something else in that pocket and realized that I was about to drop it between my jacket and shirt instead of my pocket, so I corrected. I then checked and my picks weren’t there, so just as I was getting ready to bend down to get them, +Laura Rose Williams says, “Here, Larry, you dropped this,” as she hands it to me.

This morning in my dreamlike pre-wake state, this idea hit me, and I can just see a thief picking someone’s pockets and rolling 1 or 2 under what they need. So from now on, I will rule that a thief doing this, gets what they were after, or at least something, and they “pocket” it. Some kind soul will see them drop it and come up and give it to them in full view of all around. The “FUN!” will then ensue.

I did not play a thief as planned, +Laura Rose Williams wanted me to play a wizard along with her, which I did. So I got out my picks after the game to share what I was prepared to use as a prop.

RPGs

Getting Ready For UCon!

Leave a comment

I’m wrapping up things for work so I can eat supper and make final preparations to drive across the state tomorrow and meet up with some fellow OSR folks to get in some pre-con gaming and fellowship.

Adam of Dispatches from Kickassistan & Drink Spin Run and Tim Snider of Savage Afterworld are among them I will see tomorrow. I’m sure others will be in early, the con doesn’t start until Friday AM. I hope to connect with many others I know from the internets.

I set up so I can post here from my phone.

I may not do any posts while at the con, but I wanted the ability. Blippin tiny screens….

Whether you’re at a Con this weekend or not, game on!

RPGs

Registered For UCon

Leave a comment

Registration opened yesterday for UCon. It was a crazy busy day at work, so I wasn’t able to finish my registration until later. I was both worried and excited that the games I wanted to play might be sold out.

I am also running one session of Metamorphosis Alpha Saturday morning. I had reviewed my entry and asked for a clarification that it is 1st edition, since someone PM’d me about it. I have run two play tests of it via Roll20 & Google Hangouts. I just need to write up all my notes, and we should be ready for mayhem!

I then noticed that +Tim Snider’s Thundarr scenario for Mutant Future was at the same time as my MA game. (Have you ever felt like Charlie Brown when Lucy pulls the football away? Except this time, Charlie Brown managed to pull it away…. AUGGHH!!)  I messaged Tim since I could not find the time it was set for at Con On The Cob. I realized that I had not yet registered for it, and it’s only a few weeks away. Sad news for me, Tim’s only running it at UCon. My bad for not thinking to check.

Here’s my schedule copied and pasted from my registration email. they have my PayPal payment, so I should be all set. I added a note of who is running which games with their G+ page linked.

I’m looking forward to a good time!

  • FRI 9a – Dungeon Crawl Classics: Skymasters of the Puple Planey (4615, 4615) ($3.00 x1) $3.00 – Jim Wampler (I look forward to meeting Jim.)
  • FRI 1p – Dungeon Crawl Classics: Halls of the Minotaur (4592, 4592) ($3.00 x1) $3.00 – Laura Rose Williams (Her first time to GM at a con! Go Meat Dwarf! Also the first RPG for which I have had a woman GM.)
  • FRI 6p – OSR Discussion Panel: Old School City Scapes Roundtable Panel (4641, 4641) ($0.00 x1) $0.00
  • FRI 8p – Swords & Wizardry : Swords and Wizardry Invades Michigan–The Maze of Eternity (4859, 4859) ($4.50 x1) $4.50 – Bill Webb (My first time to play Swords & Wizardry, but it is so close to the original RPG. I look forward to meeting Bill.)
  • SAT 9a – Metamorphosis Alpha 1st ed. – Red Shirt Metamorphosis (4788) – Yours Truly
  • SAT 2p – Cryptworld: Wasted (4671, 4671) ($3.00 x1) $3.00 – +Tim Snyder (My first time to play Cryptworld.)
  • SAT 8p – Warriors of the Red Planet: Princess Zira & the Jungle Ruins (4469, 4469) ($3.00 x1) $3.00 – Brett Slocum (My first time to play Tekumal. I look forward to meeting  Brett.)
  • SUN 2p – Delving Deeper: In Search of the Unknowable (4445, 4445) ($3.00 x1) $3.00 – Adam Muszkiewicz (My first time to play Delving Deeper, but it is so close to the original OD&D, which I technically never played, the closest was Blue Box Basic.)

They finally sent out surveys about the Epsilon City Kickstarter add-ons. As I read the email explaining it, I take it that they will ship the things already in stock separately. So maybe I will have some of this stuff in time for UCon….

I’m getting the softcover of the MA Collector’s Edition, the poster sized deck plan, and Robots Among Us. Wish I could afford more.

#WardenCrew

RPGs

I Ran My First Game Online

Leave a comment

Friday night, from 8:00 to Midnight, EDT, I ran my first online game using Roll20 and Google Hangouts.

I have played over 330 hours using Roll20 and Hangouts. I have also run games of AD&D 1st Edition, Metamorphosis Alpha, Gamma World, and others. As with anything, the first time you encounter all the things you don’t know and try to make sense of it based on what you already know.

I am very much a visual learner. What is easy to pick up on with body language in a face to face game is lost online. While I used a Google Hangout, it was audio only. This was to minimize the number of windows on which I had to focus. This led to my biggest shortcoming as a GM online, missing the visual queues for player involvement. I realized after one player dropped out that I really need a player turn tracker that is implemented fairly and consistently so that each player has an equal share of time.

Two of my players in this session of six players were new to both RPG’s and online play of RPG’s. I was not as sensitive as I should be to their newness to the hobby and this method of play.

This session was a play test of a scenario that I developed for convention play for Metamorphosis Alpha at UCon in November, as I mentioned a few days ago. While I have pre-gens for the scenario, I did not enter them into Roll20. Instead, I let my players generate their characters to give them a sense of ownership. I had a short session with each player to generate their character, and make sure that the technical aspect of using Roll20 and Google Hangouts were worked out before the game. I think this helped with player buy-in, as well as helped us get a head start on building that initial acquaintance ahead of the session.

I learned from play that I crammed too much into the beginning of my scenario, and need to streamline things for the fast style of play that occurs in a convention game. I took a lot of short notes about different things to keep track of what worked or did not and what needs polish, revision, or removal.

At the end of the game, I solicited feedback, and there is interest in continuing the scenario.  In addition to Roll20, I created a private G+ Community for my Metamorphosis Alpha campaign. After the game, I created a poll, based on initial post game comments, to get an idea of when the group would like to play again. Most said that they would love to play next week. That is a great mood booster!

I had a blast! The players had buy-in to the scenario right away, and were engaged. I had a lot of hooks to get everyone involved from the start, with random rolls to mix things up, so that no two players would have the same story. I won’t go into detail, as I am running a second group through the scenario Saturday night. The second group are part of the gang from the Wednesday night AD&D Roll20 game I play in. It will be fun to interact with them in a different way and to see how our DM is as a player.

I was disappointed in myself for letting a couple of players sit quiet for a long time. It is the DM’s job to make sure each player is engaged. With an online game, it is especially important, since it is all too easy for one player to talk over other’s. It is the limit of the technology. I could set up one computer to display the hangout and watch which icons indicate who is speaking, but I find that I focus so much on the rolls, and my notes and maps, that I can’t even keep up with the chat comments players made.

I don’t feel too bad about missing side chats the players had going in chat right in front of me. It is that way in in-person games, but those more easily grab one’s attention. The solution is a system that allows each player a chance to speak. So whether I go by dexterity order, name order, order they show up on the screen, etc. It needs to be done fairly and consistently.

In addition to the poll for when to play again, I also put up a post on the campaign’s G+ community soliciting constructive criticism of my GMing of the session. I pointed out what I knew I needed to do better and what I felt I did well. I invited each player to contact me privately, if they so desired.

One player wrote publicly in response to my solicitation of feedback, “Well said! I can already tell that you are a GM/DM that I would recommend to anyone looking for a good old-school type of game. :)”

That comment alone is wonderful! I have a feeling of accomplishment.  I can’t help but compare myself to other DM.s/GM’s. There are some that I feel are so good that I feel I can never be that good. But when I actually get to play and get into a zone where things are happening in a good way, I know that I am at least a decent DM. I think I will dare to say I am a good one.

I stress too much on needing to be prepared. It does not take much to have enough for four hours of play. Once players are put in the middle of a situation, they go off in directions one could never anticipate.

I think I set the expectations clearly up front. I pointed out that this was my first time running an RPG online, and that this was the first game of Metamorphosis Alpha that I had ran in over 30 years. I did not mean it as an excuse, just to let them know I had a lot of new going on. In the end, other than the time allotment issues for each player, I think I did very well.

I used the theater of the mind style. I had a map of an area and players placed their tokens to indicate who was where. We also used it for marching order. There was another map I had to show them a big picture of the situation, but I did not use all the bells and whistles of working with maps and tokens that Roll20 has to offer. I am a free user, but if I end up with a regular game, I will definitely come up with the money for a subscription.

Some of my players run games on Roll20 and were able to help me get settings right. That was most appreciated!

I learned a lot about the online tools I chose, my scenario and where it needs improvement, myself and my abilities as a GM, and where I need to focus my energies to improve. I can’t wait for next week when the players and I tune in to see what happens next!

RPGs

Metamorphosis Alpha at UCon

4 Comments

I just submitted an event to run a session of Metamorphosis Alpha at UCon in November.

If you don’t plan to attend UCon, I am trying to get some play testers to make sure my planned content flows and that there is enough to fill four hours. I have a game scheduled for Friday, September 11, from 7:00 PM – Midnight Eastern. I use Roll20 and Google Hangouts. If possible, I would like to set a time to get characters created before then.

If you are interested in playing Friday, let me know, and I will send you an invite to the Hangout and the Roll20 campaign. I have one player lined up for Friday, and others who previously indicated interest. I need 5 more players, and can run it with two or more, but more is better.

With sufficient interest, I can run it again on Saturday. I will have room for six players.

My plan is to make this a regular campaign, but the more immediate need is to play test this scenario. I haven’t ran Metamorphosis Alpha or played it in over 30 years, so I need just a bit of a refresher before attempting this at a con.

RPGs

Michicon Follow Up

Leave a comment

Last Saturday I went to Michicon. It starts on Friday, but I was not able to get the day off. Note to self – Alert social secretary to be more on the ball next time. Oh, wait, that’s me….

I had heard of Michicon last year, but this is the first year I attended.

It was held at Oakland University on the NW side of the Detroit metro area. I had a late start and there was road construction that made it a challenge to get there, but I finally made it about 2:30 or so.

I found +Roy Snyder with his booth and spent money on a few items. I got a second pristine Tramp cover AD&D Player’s Handbook, and another Player’s Handbook with the Wizard cover for the table. I went ahead and got Legends and Lore. I realize it is the same content as the Dieties & Demigods – without Cthulhu & Melnibone, but I didn’t have one. I already had the PDF of Legends & Lore.

CAM00896

I also picked up Oriental Adventures. That is one that I keep thinking I have, but don’t. I lost my original with the water leak incident. I have it in PDF. I now have all of my original AD&D manuals from back in the 1980’s re-built. I know I said that before when I wrote about getting two Chulhu/Melnibone mythos Dieties & Demigods on the same day.

CAM00897

I have items I added to my PDF collection of manuals that I did not have back in the day. I have a hard copy of all the ones I have in PDF, except Manual of the Planes. I don’t need it, but want it for “completeness.” While I have Greyhawk Adventures in PDF and hard cover, I am not interested in the book for Forgotten Realms or others they may have.

Now the only D&D item I don’t have from my original collection is the Greyhawk Gazeteer. I was glad to get it in PDF, but I miss those gorgeous maps. Maybe someday.

I also got a GM screen for Metamorphosis Alpha, I finally gave it a through reading and I like what I see. One less excuse to not run a game.

CAM00900
CAM00901

The con was not well marked. The center where it was held was having remodeling and there was no food available on site. There were only vending machines for drinks. I chatted with Roy and bought stuff from him and got directions from Roy to the registration table. It turns out I came in the back entrance. It wrapped around and I came up the stairs that led to the game room, I just went in the door closest to the stairs – on the left. No outside signs and no inside signs. It is $10 for the day. Not a bad amount.

The big open room had maybe a half dozen vendors along two walls. The tables were numbered on the sign up sheet, but there were no numbers on the tables. Thankfully, I was there to play DCC, and +Jared Randal was running an open game 0 level funnel next to Roy’s tables. I dropped in and played all the way until the con closed. Jared ran a great game. The module was Sailors of the Starless Sea. I only lost one of my original five 0-levels. I ended with a full compliment of five, since we divvied up the characters of players who could not play the whole time. I had not played that one before. We used a d200 table of “special” items that each character got, and we had a blast using them in creative ways.

Finally, I won a door prize, a still sealed dice game of Walking Dead. I don’t play a lot of board games, so if I can’t sell it I plan to keep it sealed and see what I can get out of it in a few years.

CAM00898
RPGs

ConQuest in Kansas City

Leave a comment

I was going through some old game information and found a caricature of myself that I got at ConQuest 16. [I was looking for a science fiction book with information on different ships and ideas from science and TV shows and movies. I can see the cover in my mind, but don’t recall the name or author. I still can’t find it! I have moved and rearranged my home office several times over the years I have lived in this house, and didn’t find it in the box that I thought it HAD to be in…. The search continues….]

Me-ConQuest16
Me-ConQuest16

I did a search and ConQuest is still a thing and I just missed #46, so 30 years since I think was my last time there. I only went two, maybe three years in a row and that was it.

Ah, yes, from the About Page “annually on Memorial Day Weekend in Kansas City, MO.” Life happens and I forgot about the specifics, I even had trouble remembering the name of the con, until I stumbled upon this caricature. It’s on a clear sheet of plastic, like for an overhead projector. It even has a sheet of white “tissue” paper to make the image show up better.

I have family in the suburbs, where I grew up, so I might put this on the radar for next year. I might be able to go with some friends I went with back in high school/college.

In checking the site, it looks like there were no “official” OSR game slots. As I recall, gaming was not as big a deal for this con. They did have an AD&D tournament that I played in one year. I remember seeing a VHS bootleg showing the Enterprise being destroyed from The Search for Spock, before it was in theaters. It was just the explosion and not good quality. We went up to this one guy’s room who had it. He showed the first episode of Dr. Who, which was like 20 or 25 minutes, then shared this one bootleg. I remember being shocked by the destruction of the Enterprise, and thinking, they can’t do that, they wouldn’t destroy it? I don’t even remember how we found out about it, just striking up a conversation, I think. I always wondered how someone who knew a guy that knew a guy, who knew a guy with access to a guy who knew somebody or something. How many of these leaks were real leaks, and how many were pre-internet astroturfing? The world may never know….

RPGs

Gary Con Mentioned on Big Bang Theory

2 Comments

One spoiler {Original link to G+ I can’t get Internet Archive to archive.
https://plus.google.com/112306336634914614394/posts/YtBb1vtZdrq ] I didn’t mind was that Gary Con was mentioned on this week’s episode of Big Bang Theory. In general, I don’t like spoilers. My brother has recited movies in detail that I have not seen. A co-worker talked about the space dock scene in Galaxy Quest. I don’t have TV, so I watch programs online. I like that BBT mentions RPGs as part of the geek/nerd life. I find BBT funny because it is true. I have known people like that, and in some ways, I am people like that.

I missed Gary Con last year, and was very interested in going this year, but things have not worked out.  The closing of the local office and the transition to working at home was not expected, and I am tired from moving stuff from the office to home, moving stuff around in my home office, and sorting and moving stuff trying to find the best use of the space. I am glad it worked out to not be able to go. I am tired. I also am not too keen to travel in winter. Perhaps I can make Con on the Cob in October instead.

RPGs

Excellent Write Up On Marmalade Dog 20

1 Comment

+Adam Muszkiewicz has a great write up over on Dispatches from Kickassistan about the OSR track at Marmalade Dog 20. Adam’s a graduate of WMU so he brings a much different perspective on this con.

Adam and some of his long time friends and others joined in on my first time as a DM for a con. They were nice and didn’t get too crazy. I am thankful that they restrained themselves, for I think I would have easily been in the deep end of the pool with concrete galoshes if that’s they way they wanted it. That would not have been a bad thing. My reactions to that would have been worth the price of admission to everyone else. I am sure that I would have eventually recovered.

We had a blast in Adam’s DCC sessions, and I was reminded of the no-holds-barred craziness of the way we played in high school, oh so many decades ago. That “What is a box?/We don’t need no stinkin’ boxes.” style of play is an eleven on the dial. It’s on par with firing off a full magazine of a Thompson or a Sten gun; fun, exciting, and over way too soon!

I would gladly play in Adam’s DCC Ur-Hadad and with that crew in any other RPG.

I am so looking forward to next year!

I can’t wait for UCon in November!

RPGs

Collaborative Roleplaying

1 Comment

At Marmalade Dog this past weekend, I played in two sessions of DCC ran by Adam Muszkiewicz of Kickassistan. I went into some detail of how he ran the sessions in my post with a follow up on Marmalade Dog 20.

To sum up, he used the DCC rules and had us use a 3×5 index card. We rolled for our prior profession and our birth augur. We then went around the table and used those to pieces of information for different people to say why we were trying to get into Ur-Hadad. Then depending on our characters, we rolled our stats the first time we used them. For spell casters, we chose two spells and rolled for two spells. For random effects of spells that were generic, but could use some color, such as the memories of a dying god, Adam had a different person around the table explain what memories it was.

I believe that all roleplaying is collaborative. The DM/GM prepares some sort of setting, and sets the basic parameters, and the players buy into that and work with the DM to navigate the world. In my usual experience it is more one on one between each player and the DM or among the players as their characters.

However, this style of collaborative roleplaying involves the whole table in figuring out some piece of each character’s story. It is not in an invasive way that hampers or constrains the player, unless the player is not open to that style of play. Not having done that particular style of roleplay at the table, I was not sure I would like it. Having a DM, like Adam, who is very skilled in this style, and players willing to jump in the deep end, made for a very enjoyable time.

The use of the rules was minimal. Adam only had a huge number of dice and a notebook, and his phone to refer to the DCC app if he needed it. We relied on other players that brought their big fat hardcover DCC rule books. There was minimal consulting of the rules, usually only for spell casting, for the mercurial magic table and the specific effects of spells. Once spells were determined, we could have gotten by with the mercurial magic table and a copy of the effects of each spell among the players.

It was clear that Adam had a firm grasp of the rules. I could also tell that the basic mechanic of the DCC rules is one that makes it easy to jump in and play once you understand it. I think I picked it up well enough that it would make reading the rules come together that much faster. I do have a copy of the PDF that I picked up almost a year ago when it was available for one day for free or one day for PWYW, I forget which. I have not had time to read it, but I may do so now.

Adam is also comfortable with running a group of experienced gamers who know how to run with crazy ideas. We had a blast and much laughter. This is the kind of good time I remember from long ago when I started gaming with my brother and our friends. I don’t get to game with my original gang hardly ever, because I moved to Michigan, but I would gladly game with these folks!

I discussed this with Adam, mentioned that this style would only work with a DM that understands the rules thoroughly, or with a very simple ruleset.  Then we both said that Delving Deeper, by +Simon Bull, would be the rules to use. Adam mentioned his series on Delving Deeper, and I was able to tell him that his series convinced me to buy it. $5.00 for a physical set of rules, from Lulu via POD,that are basically OD&D with better organization and clarifications and table progressions that are consistent, such as for combat.

This could be done with any rule set with a DM versed in the rules and capable of improvising the whole thing, and players open to being creative. In the sessions that we played, it was mostly theater of the mind, with a crude map the first session so we understood how to move and rough locations. This style of play is fast with minimal consultation of the rules, and almost all of the by players for things related to spell casting.

Advanced preparation of the table for mercurial magic and then marking the location of each player’s spells on the first such session and copying them later would nearly eliminate the need to refer to the rules.

I liked playing this style of game, it was both entertaining to see the ideas of the others and fun overall. There was much laughing and kidding about the table. I would call this rule -1. Rule 0 is the DM/GM makes the rulings. Rule -1 is if you aren’t having fun, you’re doing it wrong.

I am not sure if I would be the best DM for such a style, but I think I could at least make it work. I definitely have to up my game in terms of off the wall ideas.

I did pretty good in our session on Saturday. Since my character had been struck by lightning, flaming hands and color spray looked like lightning. So each time I cast color spray, i did something different with the color. When the last time I used it I said it looks like plaid lightning, Adam paused for the briefest of seconds, and said something like, “Alright, that’s good!”

For this style of play, those who aren’t good with on the spot improvisation could use a notebook to record wild ideas for describing interesting things. For my wizard who has a new memory of a dying god each time he uses one spell, I am keeping track of each memory invented by the other players. It will be interesting if I ever get to play this character again to see what other off the wall ideas I or others can come up with.

This type of role playing with rules only for some basic structure is as close to the make believe type stuff we did as kids with cops & robbers, etc.  Although with this, we are adults who know it’s a game and don’t get made when someone says, “You missed!”