Author Topic: Convention attendance - which cons?  (Read 6933 times)

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Offline NicholasHMCaldwell

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Convention attendance - which cons?
« on: July 05, 2009, 05:39:08 AM »
This is sparked by the "Interesting topic" thread.

Which conventions do you expect to attend between now and the end of 2010?

If you plan to attend any conventions, would you be willing to run a Rolemaster (any version) or a HARP scenario?

If you are willing to run a scenario, would you be running one of your own devising or would you be happy to run an "official" scenario or scenario series?

Best wishes,
Nicholas
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Publisher of Rolemaster, Spacemaster, Shadow World, Cyradon, HARP & HARP SF, and Cyberspace, with products available from www.drivethrurpg.com
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Offline ictus

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Re: Convention attendance - which cons?
« Reply #1 on: July 05, 2009, 07:41:31 AM »
also, What support material other than scenarios themselves would help or even encourage people to run convention games.

I'd like to see a series of how to play leaflets outlining the basics of play, what the numbers on the character sheet mean etc.

That way gamers unfamiliar with RM could easily start playing without big explanations or feeling left out. After all it's non RM players we want to encourage.



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Offline Ironmaul

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Re: Convention attendance - which cons?
« Reply #2 on: July 05, 2009, 04:15:50 PM »
Andrew makes a very good point. A short idiot's guide to Rolemaster leaflet would save time for a GM to prep his players on how things function. It would only need to accomodate for players and how to navigate thier characters through the basic game mechanics.

Offline Rasyr-Mjolnir

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Re: Convention attendance - which cons?
« Reply #3 on: July 05, 2009, 04:39:26 PM »
Andrew makes a very good point. A short idiot's guide to Rolemaster leaflet would save time for a GM to prep his players on how things function. It would only need to accomodate for players and how to navigate thier characters through the basic game mechanics.

If somebody wants to write something up for this, I will volunteer to PDF it (including some nice ICE art) during those little bits of free time that I have..

The key point is that somebody actually has to write it up...  :D

Offline Usdrothek

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Re: Convention attendance - which cons?
« Reply #4 on: July 05, 2009, 07:38:53 PM »
Im attending GenConOz 2009 and no doubt 2010 (Currently mid September) and perhaps Arcanacon (in OZ) in late January 2010.
 

I'm more than willing to run an adventure...I have the usual problem of not really enough time to write one up, so an "official" scenario looks appealing.

I'd love to run Rolemaster, but fear that even in a bigish Con (for OZ) we would struggle to get many players....but I would like to give it a try. The "first time" aspect of playing RM for someone who has never played anything but D&D is a little daunting for most.....but the "idiot's guide" mentioned above, given out ahead of time (if possible) seems a good idea. If players that have registered for a RM session at the con could download the "idiot's guide", that would help with minimising the "tuition time" inside the actual game session on the day.

Offline Ironmaul

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Re: Convention attendance - which cons?
« Reply #5 on: July 06, 2009, 02:31:00 AM »
Andrew makes a very good point. A short idiot's guide to Rolemaster leaflet would save time for a GM to prep his players on how things function. It would only need to accomodate for players and how to navigate thier characters through the basic game mechanics.

If somebody wants to write something up for this, I will volunteer to PDF it (including some nice ICE art) during those little bits of free time that I have..

The key point is that somebody actually has to write it up...  :D
Before one gets enthusiastic about writing the idiots guide, perhaps it would be prudent to establish what not to include. I can't see the need for detailing the difference in temporary and potential stats etc. in the initial stage. I've had one idea that you might want to play with; is to have certain areas highlighted in colour on the character sheet i.e. red for the hit point area, blue for weapon bonus, green for special skills etc. When the GM ask what a players specific skill bonus is he should be able to find it straight away on his character sheet. This idea might be to simple to some but whatever gets the job done. Like I've said before I've no experience at conventions, I'm just throwing ideas around.

Offline NicholasHMCaldwell

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Re: Convention attendance - which cons?
« Reply #6 on: July 06, 2009, 03:48:58 PM »
And to answer my own question:
I'm part-running Constitution this year (www.constitution-con.org.uk) and might be able to squeeze in a HARP(SF) game.

I'll undoubtedly be attending Dragonmeet in December (this and next year) and hopefully UK Games Expo in 2010. And more likely to be able to run a game or two at those. Which may or may not be "official" scenarios.

Best wishes,
Nicholas

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Publisher of Rolemaster, Spacemaster, Shadow World, Cyradon, HARP & HARP SF, and Cyberspace, with products available from www.drivethrurpg.com
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Offline SamwiseSeven

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Re: Convention attendance - which cons?
« Reply #7 on: July 06, 2009, 10:00:47 PM »
I do GASPcon in Pittsburgh every year, and I've done Chuck-A-Con as well (both in Pittsburgh). 

I'm running an adventure from the Guild Adventurer at GASPcon this year, and I will be running a HARP game using my Shadow Children setting idea at Chuck-A-Con this year as well.

Would I be willing to run official adventures in 2010, sure, but like I said, I stay close to home.

I keep meaning to do COScon, and SIBcon which are north of Pittsburgh, but I never get around to actually doing it.
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Offline Usdrothek

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Re: Convention attendance - which cons?
« Reply #8 on: July 06, 2009, 11:25:03 PM »
I've done Chuck-A-Con as well ......


Awesome con name!

Offline NicholasHMCaldwell

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Re: Convention attendance - which cons?
« Reply #9 on: July 09, 2009, 07:32:19 AM »
OK, we've got some probable presence in Pittsburgh-area cons, some in Australia, and some in the UK. Anyone else attending conventions - anyone hopeful of attending Origins or GenCon Indy next year? DragonCon?

Best wishes,
Nicholas
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Director, Iron Crown Enterprises Ltd
Publisher of Rolemaster, Spacemaster, Shadow World, Cyradon, HARP & HARP SF, and Cyberspace, with products available from www.drivethrurpg.com
Author: Mentalism Companion, GURPS Age of Napoleon, Construct Companion, College of Magics, HARP SF/HARP SF Xtreme

Offline Fenrhyl Wulfson

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Re: Convention attendance - which cons?
« Reply #10 on: July 10, 2009, 02:09:26 AM »
If I manage to find someone to host it, I'll set up a game for the "Monde du jeu" in Paris, in September.

Offline markc

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Re: Convention attendance - which cons?
« Reply #11 on: July 10, 2009, 02:34:56 PM »
 I will not be attending any cons this year and I do not expect to attend any next year either.

 1) a quick start guide would be very helpful IMO.
 2) Pre gen PC's are a must IMO
 3) A basics of combat would also be a must with maybe a small section of time at the beginning to let new players get used to parrying.

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Offline wilcoxon

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Re: Convention attendance - which cons?
« Reply #12 on: July 10, 2009, 03:57:49 PM »
I will be attending:
definite: GenCon 2009, Origins 2010
probable: Con of the North 2010, GenCon 2010, tiny local con (no name yet as far as I know) Halloween 2009

I would consider running an "official" con module for RM or HARP but (for the major cons) only if ICE is present.  Games without company representation in the exhibit hall get fewer players signing up plus, honestly, I feel somewhat burned by (new) ICE's handling of Silent Death so am not really willing to expend energy into promoting ICE games until there is demonstrable effort on ICE part.

Offline Ironmaul

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Re: Convention attendance - which cons?
« Reply #13 on: July 10, 2009, 07:23:43 PM »
Quote from: markc
3) A basics of combat would also be a must with maybe a small section of time at the beginning to let new players get used to parrying.
I'll keep it short. I do this every time I introduce a person to the game; two pre-made characters go head to head in an arena to the death. They get the idea of how lethal it is very quickly.

Offline NicholasHMCaldwell

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Re: Convention attendance - which cons?
« Reply #14 on: August 09, 2009, 06:45:37 AM »
Those of you interested in the Apprentices of the Guild initiative, get yourselves over to the TGC forums and make an account there. Then drop me an email at editor @ guildcompanion dot com with your TGC userid and we'll add you into the project workspace.

Best wishes,
Nicholas
Dr Nicholas HM Caldwell
Director, Iron Crown Enterprises Ltd
Publisher of Rolemaster, Spacemaster, Shadow World, Cyradon, HARP & HARP SF, and Cyberspace, with products available from www.drivethrurpg.com
Author: Mentalism Companion, GURPS Age of Napoleon, Construct Companion, College of Magics, HARP SF/HARP SF Xtreme

Offline Grinnen Baeritt

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Re: Convention attendance - which cons?
« Reply #15 on: August 09, 2009, 11:34:51 AM »
I will be attending(co-organising) both Conception 2010 (Jan 2010) and Indiecon 2009... (Nov 2009)

Both are run at the same site in the South of England.

In my experience, at cons it not so much a problem finding players...but finding the scenarios to suit. Con games are generally 3-4 hours long. With rolemaster that means 1-3 combats tops assuming all are experienced players.

I have run a few rolemaster games as convention scenario, all historical rather than fantasy (avoids spells..;))

To be able to run at either (which I am very willing to try) I'd need a scenario, pre-gens and some simplified charts (or at least those used in the scenario).

The most important thing is the Pre-gen character sheets... less is more and they need to be attractive, dump excess stats and skills... just present the important skills (and bonuses)... and defaults for the various skill groups (Which should double for attribute checks etcs). Should be able to manage to present the character on 2 x a4 sheets maximum including background, relationship with other characters etc.

Any more than that and your players will be spending longer trying to find the info than playing the games.

Offline SamwiseSeven

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Re: Convention attendance - which cons?
« Reply #16 on: September 11, 2009, 07:33:28 PM »
I sent you an email about the possibility of becoming an Apprentice.
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Offline NicholasHMCaldwell

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Re: Convention attendance - which cons?
« Reply #17 on: September 12, 2009, 09:24:03 AM »
I sent you an email about the possibility of becoming an Apprentice.

On holiday at moment with limited connectivity (had to spend a morning repairing a network). I have emailed our webmaster to get your account updated to be able to access the Apprentices thread.

Best wishes,
Nicholas
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Director, Iron Crown Enterprises Ltd
Publisher of Rolemaster, Spacemaster, Shadow World, Cyradon, HARP & HARP SF, and Cyberspace, with products available from www.drivethrurpg.com
Author: Mentalism Companion, GURPS Age of Napoleon, Construct Companion, College of Magics, HARP SF/HARP SF Xtreme

Offline Zhaleskra

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Re: Convention attendance - which cons?
« Reply #18 on: November 19, 2009, 08:43:17 AM »
Definite: U-Con 2010
Possible: Origins 2010

I had thought of making a HARP scenario for U-Con a year or so ago, but I only got through creating one and a half characters and not having my idea thought out enough. HARP might also work with some custom races for the furry conventions I attend, as the "three is enough" rule of special abilities is one of my favorite features of the game.
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Offline ReaperWolf

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Re: Convention attendance - which cons?
« Reply #19 on: December 30, 2010, 08:37:48 PM »
Winter War 2011 last weekend in January here in Champaign-Urbana Illinois.

At least one HARP event per day one of which may be in Shadow World.

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