Contingency 2019

Contingency  2019 report

TLDR: well organised longest residential convention in the UK finds the perfect venue. Absolute heaven. I cannot recommend it highly enough. If you want to GAME you really should come.

The story of Contingency is well known. When the beloved and late lamented Conception convention folded, many people bemoaned its demise. A tiny group of visionaries decided to do something about it and virtually willed a replacement into existence. The reason why Conception ceased was to do with changes in the venue and the difficulty of finding a replacement. The founders of Contingency scoured the country to find somewhere, anywhere, that could host a 5 day residential convention for hundreds of people in mid January. The venue they settled on was in the New Forest and difficult for some people to get to - myself included. So I was unable to attend the first two events.

This year they switched to a new venue, an out of season holiday camp in Hunstanton. This flexibility of thinking is a real strength of the organisers. They are willing to try anything, in any area of the country, to get a convention which works.

(Warning - I am going to be gushing in my praise throughout this report. I can't help it.)

The event officially runs from Wednesday to Sunday. However, as the lodges at the holiday camp are free all week, any bookings effectively cover Monday and Tuesday as well. Anyone booked in is free to attend from Monday if they wish. And, if they want, stay over Sunday night to check out Monday morning.

I, alas, cannot attend mid week. For Continuum I always rushed out of work on Friday evening  and boarded the first available train and, usually, made it just in time for the Friday evening game. Initially I thought the new venue was as inaccessible for me as the previous one again. (Missing the Friday night game makes the event unviable for me). But, with repeated number crunching, I managed to work out a route by which I could make it just in time -  8:00pm. A key element is that the convention organisers organise a car ferry from the nearest station - Kings Lynn - to the venue. They charge  £5 for a journey which would be over £20 in a taxi. Just on example of how the organisers bend over backwards for attendees. (Gush).

Though I was travelling alone, the organisers arranged a lodge share for me with a fellow referee I know. And booked me a gaming table for the weekend. (They are really keen to encourage Referees to attend.)

The cost of accommodation - which is self catering - is far cheaper than equivalent hotels.

Monday of the convention arrived. And people began posting pictures of people on Facebook arriving and gaming. I was frustrated and jealous. Wednesday arrived and the convention proper started and even more posts were put up showing a thriving convention where people were having a great time. I nearly exploded in envy.

It turned out that to clear the public gaming areas (bars) by midnight the evening session was timed to run from 7:30-11:30. And I couldn't get there before 8:00. So I sent in details of my Friday game and asked them to see if they could get players who were willing to wait for me.

Friday came and I ran for my train. There was a slight delay so I arrived at the venue well after 8:00pm. But signing in was a dream and I had three wonderful players who had been waiting patiently for me. I ran a great 13th Doctor scenario. (The conclusion featured a bit of dark satire on a recent real world tragedy. Not sure how I feel about that.) "My" table, like all the others in this main room, was the ubiquitous 6' circular job you get at many conventions. Not my favourite. Lighting slightly dark but livable. Lager £3.75 a pint.

As referee you collect in tickets and put them in an envelope. The envelope is individually labelled with each and every players name - transcribed from the sign up sheet. When you hand it in, you get a GMs voucher which you can spend at the bar or traders. It worth £3 at the bar but usually more at traders. (There were a handful of the usual traders present). The voucher is numbered, labelled with your name and recorded. The paperwork at this convention is meticulous.

I handed in my sign up sheets for my Saturday and Sunday games. Then I realised my mistake. Sign up sheets go up 24 hours in advance, so most people had already chosen their Saturday games. Mine were put up at the bottom of the relevant noticeboards, well below the eyeline, and didn't gather much interest. I should have submitted them before the event, possibly through WarHorn.

As an aside, the games on offer seem to be a happy blend of general TTRPGs, 5th Ed D&D (living world and stand-alone) and Pathfinder. There was a big "Era" presence which seemed very popular. Other events were also offered - LARPs, board games, an escape room etc.

At 11:00pm an organiser went around the tables quietly and politely reminding everyone that the games should be finished by 11:30. When my game ended, I found my way in the dark to my Lodge. The reception staff were incredibly helpful. The Lodge was in fact a caravan. Large, comfortable, well-appointed. I could have lived in it. The only thing it missed was a towels and tea towel so, for this convention, you had to bring your own. (There was a charity towel donation service where you can leave your towel at the end of the event).

The caravan was clearly empty so I explored it. Massive lounge and kitchen area. Two toilets, one with shower, three bedrooms - two twin and one double - with the last door I opened having an occupant I'd never met before! We said our hellos, agreed shower times for the morning and said goodnight.

For me, I overslept, waking at 8:00am with games starting at 9:00am. Games start with "muster" where the games and players are called out. As I'd expected, my game didn't have any players. However, I didn't discover this until the end. If it had been announced up front I could have jumped into a game with spaces. I wandered around trying to get into a couple of games I'd noted weren't full, but they had all been filled by the time I got to their tables.

However, part of these wanderings took me into the other gaming room - a brightly lit bar next to the restaurant. The buffet breakfast was still open and I succumbed to its charms. I spent the rest of the session stuffing my face and then networking with various people I knew. Amongst other things I found out that the pre convention two days, Monday and Tuesday, hadn't been as action packed as I'd inferred. Apparently you needed to prearrange to game with friends  - it's unlikely you'll pick up many casual games.

I did try posting on Facebook to see if anyone fancied  a short TTRPG but got no takers. I also checked with the main desk when the afternoon sign up sheets were taken down for transcribing onto envelopes. I checked the sheet for my afternoon game just before that time. As it was still empty, I pulled it down and transferred into Paul Baldowksi's "The Cthulhu Hack" game. I've been running it for a while. I thought I might as well find out how it's done properly.

I noticed I had one sign up for my evening game.

Stuffed from breakfast, lunch was chicken soup and a bread roll. Very nice soup, actually, let down by being served in a paper cup.

On my way to afternoon muster, I noted my evening game had five sign ups, a group of four having signed up together.

I found out that the game I'd signed up to wasn't actually The Cthulhu Hack but a new Sci Fi variant Paul was developing. We were droids waking up on a Moonbase with no memory of the last 24 hours. With our charging points destroyed and our power failing we had to find out what was going on, what had happened to the humans on the base and decide what to do about it. The central conceit - and ancillary extrapolations - were really neat and I don't want to give anything away. If he publishes this scenario I'd recommend you buy it.

I checked my signup sheet for the evening and had six players.

Tea was a chicken breast in a bun with cheese on and chips. The standard fare offered at the holiday camp was perfect for gamers. Though most of the facilities at the camp were closed there was also a takeaway booth outside selling pizzas etc. Of course if you're staying a long time, the most economic option would be to cook in your lodge.

Shortly before the sign up sheets were taken down, the group of four players crossed their names off leaving me with just two. (In fact there seemed to be quite a bit of "churning" with lots of people changing their minds between games.)

Despite my begging at muster, I failed to garner any more players but they both agreed to play anyway. As it was a small group, we decamped from the big round table in the darker room to a smaller rectangular one in the brightly lit bar. This game was a horror game - in fact the free scenario from the DragonMeet 2018 programme. (Thanks guys!) Darks deeds in 1930's London. (Filmed in Black and White, of course.) A gentleman adventurer, "Fleeting Glance" (not John Hannay, at all) and his young streetwise associate "Mikey". Two experienced players who were eating up the scenery. The best two player game I've ever refereed for.

At one point we pooled GM vouchers and bought a round of drinks for virtually nothing.

An hour before the end, a younger player walked past and asked if he could watch. Of course we let him join in. This introduced a femme fatale into the game which, with the young guy's enthusiasm, changed the energy at the table. Not in a bad way, just different.

At 11:00pm an organiser went around the tables quietly and politely reminding everyone that the games should be finished by 11:30. The young guy owned up - without prompting - to not having bought a ticket for the game but knew the organiser and promised to buy one ASAP.

Sunday morning I got up a bit earlier. The site advertises breakfast from 8:30 on its website but for the convention was offering it from 7:00am.  So I was able to stuff myself and set up for my morning game in good order.

This was a Blakes Seven scenario. Avon, Vila, Cally, Soolin, Dayna foiling a dastardly plot on Mars. Cally was played the best I've ever seen but everyone was into the game (despite a couple of players showing signs of tiredness after the week's gaming). Very in keeping with the mood of the series. I think I need to write and run more B7 adventures.

Lunch was a really really good value Sunday carvery and a great end to the convention for me. Then there was the charity raffle. I'm not a fan of these, as you know, and there were lots and lots and lots of great prizes. It went on for a bit. (One of the prizes was the "Alan Turing" edition of Monopoly! Go figure.)

By this time the convention had already banked £5,000 for charity. And more was expected. The return to this venue next year was announced, to much applause. The venue and the incredibly personable and helpful staff had been an absolute winner with everyone.

Whilst waiting for my lift to the station I tried to start this blog, but there was always an old friend to chat to in the bar.

My lift to the station was shared with two younger D&D players who'd been running "official" games for years at Conception and Contingency who I've never met before. We had a great chat.

It's not the fault of the the convention that - as usual - my Sunday journey home was long and arduous, featuring an extended section on a bus replacement service.

In summary.......

I don't rate conventions against each other. However, if I did, by some measures Contingency would clearly come out as the best convention in the country. If you want GAME for several days it's the place to be. The organisers bend over backwards to make your experience brilliant and the venue - especially the staff - is perfect.

IMHO the organisers work a bit TOO hard to ensure everyone has fun and don't always get the credit they deserve. I expect the convention to grow, and there is capacity for expansion at the site. But I hope they don't officially extend the whole thing to the full week. They work hard enough in the five main days as it is. Let the two day casual "precon" be its own thing.

I cannot recommend this convention highly enough. I will be back next year - for the weekend (grrrr). For several minutes I seriously considered giving up a week's salary to come here for the whole event. It's that good.

If you get to Contingency 2020, you should.

Winter StabCon 2019

Winter StabCon 2019

My convention going year started, as it always does, with my first visit to StabCon. If been writing and blogging about this wonderful convention for years so I'll keep the basics short. (If you want more details, simpler check back to earlier reports.)

- Stockport
- Residential -  inexpensive hotel
- Relatively cheap beer and cheap "gamers menu" specifically for the convention.
- Friday to Sunday
- 300 attendees, most board gamers but strong TTRPG track. 25%+ of the games on offer, I'd guess.
- Very free form organisation. TTRPG sign up sheets and noticeboard available but no official slots.
- Family atmosphere. Can be a bit intimidating at first, but once you're settled you feel right at home.

I have several prearranged games and events at StabCon now. Two things made this one a but different.

Firstly, I was on still holiday from work. This meant I could come down early on Friday and fit in an extra game in the afternoon. (Normally, I'm rushing from work and arrive just before the evening session.) I posted on FaceBook before the event to see if anyone else was there early and got skme interest in a "East End Bank Heist" game I offered.

The second difference was that I'd decided to try videoing some parts of my convention and post them on a YouTube channel, as a companion to my blog posts.  The YouTube channel is called RPGS4ALL. Please visit it, watch, subscribe, like comment etc.

So I arrived at lunchtime, a bit before the convention was due to start. Checked in and went to see if I could sign in to the convention early. There was a queue! People are desperate to get in and get gaming.

I ran my East End Heist Game, taking a video of my players before the event and interviewing one afterwards. In addition to the three players I'd prearranged with, we snagged a couple walking past. It was one half of that couple I interviewed after the game.

I've run this scenario a few times before and it usually involves complex planning and execution. This team were a more straightforward and managed the actually robbery really efficiently, so I was able to run the switch and bait ending which I'd always had prepared but not had a chance to use before. This game was a hoot. Dodgy accents and much adult humour.

I was very impressed by the professional manner of the player I interviewed after the game.

Throughout the game I'd kept myself topped up with the endless supply of free coffee which is always on hand at StabCon. But when the game ended, I enjoyed my first beer of the day (pint of lager £3.45) and ordered my tea. 12" "American Hot" pizza ordered at the bar and brought to the table. Under a tenner and enough for two people - I had trouble finishing it. Recommended.

Friday night I have lucked into playing in a Savage Worlds game run by a friend and excellent, personable and entertaining Referee. Prewar, Superpowered British Agents vs. Nazi plots. Indiana Jones meets The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. From Austria to Egypt we had high jinks foiling the development of a sonic super weapon, ending an a high speed chase across the desert to retrieve the plans.  We got to sample some of the new Savage Worlds rules. (Short response - swings and roundabouts IMHO.) Great fun.

I again for filmed (most of) the players before the game and interviewed one afterwards - at almost midnight. Again I was impressed with how well he came across. I uploaded the videos back in my room, so didn't get to sleep until the early hours.

Of course many people were still playing board games downstairs at that time.

By my standards I was running a bit late the following morning. Breakfast is included in the stay and - by the standard of cheap hotels is actually quite palatable.

I got to my first game on time. This was a session of "The d6 Hack" from the upcoming "Role Play Relief" books. The players were two mature couples who did not wish to introduce themselves on my YouTube channel, which is fine.

Basically this was just good old fashioned D&D just using d6's. I was a romp. There's a certain joy in playing with people who've played for years and use their experience to walk all over the dungeon. It was glorious to see.

One of the two ladies agreed to be interviewed after the game but after  a short amount of fascinating feed back, my phone ran out of memory. So I lost that interview.

I ordered fish and chips for lunch and checked the sign up sheet for my afternoon game. This was a 13th Doctor game.

In the run up to StabCon I'd had my usual panic about not getting signups for my games. So I'd prepared a 13th Doctor game because I thought it would garner interest. This backfired. All my other games filled out, but this one had only two players. I posted a quick plea on FaceBook but resigned myself to running a game for two players.

As it happened, I got talking to an old, old, old TTRPG acquaintance (like four decades old) and he joined in. One of my regular players responded to my Facebook plea, so we had a table of four. Great! One player played the Doctor, one played Graham but the other two chose to play "Guest Stars". A computer Hacker and a Pacifistic Space Pirate. Amazingly, none of them had ever played in my "standard" Dr Who scenario so I was able to trot that out and see how the new Doctor tackled it.

Halfway through the game a young man wandered past and started watching. We invited him to join it - though I had to work out how "Ryan" suddenly appeared on a planet halfway across the galaxy.

This game was glorious. Ryan coming up with Computer game type solutions and being chided by the Doctor. The Hacker trying to crash the systems whilst Graham found simpler "real world" solutions. Everyone lived! Peace was bought to the planet and even the "big bad" got a happy ending. (First time ever!)

In tried to interview the new player after the event. It seemed he'd just discovered StabCon and dropped in to look around. This was his first game, at the con, though he was a very experienced TTRPG player.

Despite me clearing loads of memory, my phone again failed partly through the video. But he lent me his phone and promised to forward me the video.

For my evening meal I had grilled chicken and chips.

Another thing I've lucked into at StabCon is offering a Horror game Saturday evening. Now I am NOT a natural horror referee (or player). I have written two good horror scenarios in my life. (But they are really, really good, I think.)  However, I've run them both at StabCon. Last time I ran a great scenario from "The Three Faces of the Wendigo" by Paul Baldowski.

This time I decided to offer a scenario which was given away FREE in the programme for the DragonMeet convention in December 2018. Classic 1930's Cthulhu-type adventure between the Wars in London. (I told the players it was being filmed in black and white.) A "not Miss Marple at all" type with her friends, servants and associates. We had a Russian mercenary and Oriental manservant who dodged all the unfortunate stereotypes and were played perfectly for 21st century sensibilities.

The scenario ran extremely well (thanks DragonMeet) but was more of a romp than being really scarey. I'd feared it may run short (it WAS a freebie after all) but in the end I had to rush the conclusion. Great fun with great players.

Again my phone messed up any videoing.

Sunday morning I have a regular Superhero campaign. This was the second chapter.

One of my players from the horror game the previous night. turned up with a proper video camera. Tripod and everything. So we we able to record an intro to the game, the players and their characters. Somehow being filmed "properly" made everyone nervous - me included.

 The Heroes' (retired) mentors were being framed for murder. The first session had ended with the characters apparently tracking down their mentors and being told told to mind their own business. Two had inveigled their way into the senior team's investigations and the rest had been left "tidying up", effectively splitting the party. (I'd also failed to keep detailed notes.)

This session started with a bang. The Heroes who'd been "left behind" turned up with another version of the senior team claiming their comrades had been tricked by a group of robot doubles. Imagine a "Justice League vs. Justice League" battle with the characters caught in the middle. When the pursuing characters side won, I informed them they'd been playing robot doubles themselves all to time and they'd just helped defeat and capture the real "Crusaders" and their own team-mates.

The robots then descended upon the real player characters - who were still busy packing boxes - and defeated them. Most of the Heroes were captured, of course, which was my plan all along. One teleported across the world to get help only to find the Superhero teams in America and Canada tied up with their own problems.

Of course, the evil villain behind the plot was revealed as being one of the player characters all along, who happened to be a robot himself. So he'd played an evil robot duplicate of a good robot at the start of the session, who actually turned out to be an evil robot halfway through, only to be revealed as a good robot reprogrammed by aliens by the end.

The final session was an escape from the "villain's" lair which culminated in "Elsa" (weather powers) using the bad guy's own force field to turn the entire building into a Snow Globe - revealing the secret hole in the field.

Of course the game ended with the Aliens - having brought down Superhero teams across the globe - choosing to invade.

Next time the heroes will have to free their reprogrammed colleague and somehow foil the invasion.

Lunch was the last of the sandwiches at the bar. The hotel seemed to be running out of stock. It being Sunday lunchtime this means they probably prepared just about the right amount for the convention.

As always, I immediately signed up for the next StabCon. Most people do. However, rather than staying for an afternoon game, I chose to depart. I'd had enough. In a good way. It had been another wonderful experience.

In case you're not clear. I LOVE this convention. It's like being part of a big family.

My takeaway from Winter StabCon 2019 is that I need to get my iPhone sorted out if I went to do a lot of videoing. But the players at the convention come out extremely well when I video them, so the channel seems to be a good idea.

Of course, when I got back to work the following week, all of my students had found about about my YouTube channel. THAT was an interesting experience!

Birmingham Central Roleplayers Club

I usually write about TTPRG conventions. But this post will be about another part of the hobby, a TTRPG club.

One of the truly great things about TTRPGs is the way you can play the same character over and over again and watch them grow and develop. This happens when you play a game repeatedly as part of a campaign. This is actually the default way to play TTTRPGs, with the "one off" games at games conventions being the exception rather than the norm.

Every week across the world hundreds of thousands - possibly millions - of people get together to play the next instalment of their TTRPG campaign.

I haven't actually been able to do this for a couple of decades.

Then the Birmingham Central Roleplayers club moved near to where I live. I'd tried to  attend it before but it was based in Ladywood in Birmingham which made it difficult for me to get back from at the end of the night. Now, however, it's in a Social Club in Selly Oak, a short bus ride from my house. So I started going.

The club has been running for years. I don't know how long. (I know I started a short lived club with a similar name back in the 80's - maybe this is a continuation?) It has dozens of members and is bigger than most conventions I attend. It's run by a small but enthusiastic and effective committee. Communication is via a Facebook page - whose usage seems spotty - and a website - which is in need of an update.  Mainly everything works by word of mouth. And works well.

As I said, it's now in a Social Club - what used to be a "working man's club" - in Selly Oak. As this is on one of the major arterial roads out of the city centre and right next to a railway station, it's easy to get to. The club is bright and completely appropriate for a TTRPG club. A couple of people have commented that, with the club being so busy, the acoustics can be a bit loud. But there is at least one side room, and I haven't personally noticed a problem.

Being a Social Club, the beer is cheap and the staff are incredibly friendly - a real bonus. It think it's a symbiotic relationship. The takings at the till on Thursday evenings must be quite significant.

Cleverly, I think , the club doesn't have an open structure. They break each year into 3 or 4 sessions and encourage referees to run limited duration campaigns that last c. 3 months. I started attending a few weeks before the end of one of these sessions and was easily able to fill my time running or playing in one-off games. There are a regular trickle of newbies and these usually seem to be able to find a place in an on-going group.

At the end of a session, referees are encouraged to finish their current campaigns and players are encouraged to sign up to new games. Some people enjoy the games they are in so much that they just carry on, and I suppose that's OK.

There's the mix-up week. Players are encouraged to sign up to new games. This is through sign up sheets like at conventions - except that you're committing several months of your life so it's a big decision. At the same time a big mix-up game is run designed to let the club members move around and play with a variety of different people. This is, of course, a very difficult - almost impossible - thing to set up. The one I witnessed used a very simple multi-genre system developed by one of the club committee members. Each table was a different world. After a bit of play, each world came under attack through multi-dimensional portals and characters were sucked between worlds to try and piece together - and defeat - a larger threat.

I played in a zombie apocalypse world and did my usual thing of focussing on achieving my character's individual goals rather than engaging with the larger storyline and spent a fun evening twatting zombies.

Them the new campaigns started. I offered a Steampunk one using my The Code Of Steam and Steel rules and Martin Pickett's marvellous Victorian Colony of Mars setting. I got 6 players, one of whom disappeared almost immediately with no explanation.

I knew none of the players previously - though a couple may have played in one of my one-off games. We had a couple of note-takers who really tried to engage with the system, a quiet player, an inventive player with a scientific mind (who successfully used Archimedes'  principle against me - kudos) and a typical student who'd only ever played "what you see is what you get" D&D types games. The narrative control elements of my game went to his head a bit and we had sweeping changes to the storylines. I think the players were a bit surprised, initially, how I went with these and embraced random changes to the plot.

"How does alcohol affect Martians?"
"I don't know. Let's make a random table and roll!"

The highlight was easily the moment when a player not only illustrated her own and her partner's characters - professional standard - but then was so enamoured of one scene that she produced a whole page of comic illustrating it. The first time
Martin and I had actually seen his cat-like Martians in the flesh.

It was a fun campaign and I learnt a lot about being a weekly Referee again - mainly about the crushing responsibility. If you have a referee who regularly runs games for you, treasure them and treat them well.

As you play each week a marvellous man comes around and collects £2 from each player. Not from the Referee though. We get to play for free.

I'd always intended to run the campaign within the club's recommended constraints. Campaigns were due to end at Christmas. Rather than a mix-up game, the club has a quiz session with a buffet laid on - and a seemingly endless tab at the bar - paid for from club funds. It's a real party event.

My group chose to play through the quiz and into the final, optional pre-Christmas, week. (The club was still busy.) I bought my whole group a round of drinks and drinks for the bar staff. (It cost roughly the same as three pints would at UK Games Expo.)

"Afternoon, Simon. Just wanted to say thank you for the sci-fi/steampunk campaign over the past three months or so and for managing an ending that had some drama and 'last minute' dice rolls. I liked the flexibility and simplicity of the mechanics.....

"I'd certainly play again, now I have regenerated limbs, and whether our travels take us across mars, or back to Earth, I'm sure the others would probably feel the same! Have a good holiday season and see you next year. Cheers, Paul."

I've chosen not to run a campaign in the next session but to play - I'm in a Savage World's "black powder - probably pirates" game for three months. I'm intending to offer to referee again in the summer, when I'll put in place everything I've learnt from this recent campaign.

I really love this club. The people - players and staff - are lovely. The venue is perfect. The club management is effective but unobtrusive, easily facilitating games and gamers' quirks. Most of all I love the structure where we get to play in extended games and encouraged to mix with other people and sample different systems. Yes the "I only play D&D 5th with people I know" die hards at present, but they're catered for as well.

I'm really glad they moved near me!

Conventions 2019 - Initial thoughts

I'm an awkward sod. 

1. I like to referee (with "like" being far too mild a word).
2. I only offer games I've written myself (with "The Black Hack" and "The Cthulhu Hack" being minor exemptions.)
3. I often can't confirm my attendance until the last minute and have great ideas for games to offer at the last minute too.
4. I don't enjoy playing anything other than TTRPGs. (This is also far too mild a statement).

So, though I like to go to lots of conventions I effectively self excuse myself through the above criteria or because they're on at the same time as other events I want to attend. I'm aware that there are loads of system specific conventions which are great (Revelation and all the Pathfinder ones) but I won't go to them - despite receiving the odd invitation.

I was going to list my conventions for 2019 when I had time to sit down and work out my diary but I can't resist getting involved in the on-line debate currently going on, so here's a quick stream of consciousness/memory list:

STABCON - my first convention of the year and an essential. There's also one in the summer I have to go to. You won't see this advertised anywhere. It's a residential weekend in a CHEAP hotel in Stockport, has been running for decades. It's at capacity. If you know about StabCon then you're a regular. If you don't then it isn't easy to break in but it's worth the effort. Though mainly a board game convention there is a strong RPG track and I have several regular ongoing games already booked in - even though there isn't a booking system.

CONTINGENCY - I'd kill to get there and keep number crunching over and over again in the hope of getting everything to add up. For the old Naish cons it's replaced I used to be able to dash out of work at 4pm on Friday and get there in time for a Friday night game. I can't do that for Contingency which makes it economically unviable. The costs aren't worth it for four game sessions. If you CAN get to Contingency easily , the reverse is true and you really should go.

SPAGHETTI CONJUNCTION - I can't believe our sweet little games day is into its 3rd year. Twice a year. Birmingham. Great people, good venue. Love it!

CONCRETE COW - SCJ's big brother. Twice a year in Milton Keynes. It's still the best one day games day on the circuit but with numbers dropping slightly and some of the "big names" no longer attending it's now a strong preference rather than an essential, sadly. 

CONPULSION - I used to love Conpulsion when it had three hour slots to create two hour gaps between so I could attend (and be on panels at!) non-gaming events. The uniqueness made it worth the horrendous travel an accommodation costs to Edinburgh. When they switched back to the standard "choose between games and seminars" approach in 2016 the convention lost some of its uniqueness. I couldn't go in 2017 and am seriously debating 2018. (Though I have received a "guest invite" email).

THE GARRISON CONS - 7Hills, Furnace, North Star. These are, of course, wonderful but I'm not sure the games I offer match the demographic. I'd love some advice on how make what I bring more appealing to the masses there. Again these have, sadly, moved into the strong preferences rather than being essentials.

LONGCON - I'd LOVE to support this. But I'm not sure I'm a long form referee. I know I'm not a long form player. And I'm even less likely to get players for my quirky offerings for a whole weekend. If it's on the same weekend as another event, it's very likely to get second billing.

THE DUDLEY BUG BALL - I really don't know how this is going to work out but it's worth try.

CONQUORD - they keep trying with this Bristol convention and their doggedness deserves our support. But it conflicts with Dudley Big Ball which is a far more economical option for me.

DEVCON - well organised convention in Chester. Sort of a professional version of Concrete Cow and SCJ. Again my quirky offerings don't match the demographic but I'll take a serious look at this one.

EXPO - 'nuff said, though I need to seriously plan what I'm going to do. The easy "Iron Referee" option means I could be missing out on something special

DRAGONMEET - is now finally the essential it should always have been.

WYNTERCON- this is mad. Hordes of ordinary punters queuing up to play the sort of short form games I offer - many coming for their annual  TTRPG fix. And I’m just one  member of a well run team! Essential.

AIRECON/ODDCON - though wildly different cons they fall into the same category for me. Successful cons and I’d love to support them but they’re mainly boardgame (other game) cons. The organisers seem to want to support TTRPGs but they don’t seem to be very successful there (by MY quirky criteria) as far as I can tell. The organisers earnestly want to offer TTRPGs but haven’t but specific strategies in place to encourage them to grow. I want to support these but need to see more.

DRAGONDAZE is in the same category but the organisers HAVE actively supported TTRPGs - through taking my advice (amongst other things). We now have the best venue in the Hall - apart from being right next to the PA. (PA’s are the enemy of TTRPGs.)

TABLETOP SCOTLAND - seems wonderful but expensive to attend for me.

TABLETOP in London - no. Not welcoming to TTRPGs. “You can pay US for you to run games for us.”

There’s also another one in Stockport I’d like to support. The name eludes  me ATM.

GROGMEET - sounds great (even if their raffle is a bit slow). But it’s overbooked and can I confirm early enough to get in as referee?

In fact that’s a REAL issue. Many cons I’d like to go to but by the time I can confirm the referee slots have gone - often stitched up internally behind the scenes. I have to try and read between the lines to identify local events where they don’t mind a couple of strangers turning up to bulk out the numbers but don’t really welcome strange referees.

I also go to non RPG conventions and my essentials for 2019 are:

ASYLUM - 100,000 Steampunks. 100,000! Deffo room for TTRPGs. I may even be looking for a wingman. 

My favourite report this year was the young lady who said she’d enjoyed racing teapots (radio controlled gizmos), Dinosaurs (two dozen Middle Aged men dressed as boar war redcoats on top with Bernie Clifton dinosaurs below) and Tripods (my game).

FANTASICON- wonderful SciFi convention with the best beer on the circuit where, apparently, I’m now an annual feature running live roleplays on stage!

I’m sure I’ve missed some off this list I’m going to or will be looking at (ReUnicon etc.) Apologies for any obvious ones I’ve missed.

It’s a wonderful life!

Dragonmeet 2018

TLDR: the premiere London gaming convention finally done properly. An impressive achievement and now an essential fixture in the calendar.

Dragonmeet is THE London Games Convention. It’s been running in one form or another for decades. It’s a no brainer that it should be a “must not miss” fixture on everyone’s TTRPG Convention calendar.

But, somehow, for me it hasn’t been in the past. 

Firstly it’s a one day event. And it’s in London, in the run-up to Christmas. Even though games run until midnight, if you’re not local then accommodation costs make it uneconomic to stay over in London for a night if there’s nothing happening on Sunday.

Secondly, I’ve had the impression in the past that the convention wasn’t as slickly organised as you’d expect from such a premiere event.

So in recent years I’d been travelling down Saturday morning, running two games and then travelling back up Saturday evening, skipping the evening game slot. This made it a satisfying and economically viable day out.

But in 2017 the failing British Train system meant that me and my mate were massively delayed missing our morning game.

So this year I chose to make it a one day event again but arranged to offer short “games on the hour” in the morning and a long game in the afternoon.

Shortly before the event I was contacted by one of the organisers - who I’ve known for years. He needed more games advertised in advance on the web-site (to attract punters). In return for me staying all day, offering three games, and being “room captain” for the RPG floor he said I could bunk in (literally) with the volunteer crew. So I agreed and submitted three games - along with, I hoped, exciting and engaging blurbs.

(I also submitted an article for the programme about Role Play Relief which was printed.)

Given this flexibility, I chose to try to make my trip as cheap as possibly and booked tickets on a slow train to London.

This meant, Friday night, I arrived just as the crew were finished setting up at the venue - Novotel hotel in Hammersmith - and was able to walk with them in a crowd to the accommodation. Perfect!

In the morning the convention opened for signing up for games at 09:00 with games starting at 09:30. The trade hall didn’t open until 10:00. This allowed a staggered start. This plus over staffing the reception meant punters got in with minimum queuing. Much better than previous years.

Sign up sheets for TTRPGs were on boards clearly labelled with the rooms they were in. So punters could go to the rooms at their convenience instead of having to wait for them to be announced at a “muster” (as in previous years). Another massive improvement. 

Unfortunately my morning game garnered no signups - well it got four but all then found other games and crossed their names off or switched. It was my demo of the “lite” rules from the “Role Play Relief” Book but with the limited space on the standard sign up sheets created and printed by the convention, none of this transferred over from the blurb.

Note to self and other prospective TTRPG referees - when submitting games for DM don’t rely on detail and length to grab punters. Short and exciting is best.

So no game but, as room captain, I had to hang around and help punters - which I did a lot of. Also lots of nice chats with people - including advising a professional company on how to promote their up-coming TTRPGs. And I got to watch a stunning 5th Ed Referee enthralling a table of children.

A volunteer from the front desk was sent up to relieve me for an hour so I could trawl the rest of the convention.

Now, as a Referee, DM gives me the option to run games. That’s what I want to do. I don’t need - or care about - the rest of it. But I was very very (very) impressed.

There were three floors - the bottom was the trade hall. This was packed with goodies as you’d expect. But I found the offerings to be particularly interesting and eclectic. Even I was tempted by a couple of items myself.

(“The Big Book of Maps” is amazing. I also visited the “All Rolled Up” stand. They usually have stuff I didn’t know I needed. Today it was “Dungeon Cards”).

The floor had its own bar.

If you like gaming bling you can spend the whole day in the trade hall.

Above trade hall was the general gaming area. Room after room after room of demos, drop in games and open gaming space. The Bring and Buy was there in a large open area - not a side room - and it was impressive and well run. 

There was also a room offering a full programme of seminars.

This floor also had its own bar.

This floor was a convention of its own. If you just wanted to play games, there was more than enough here to keep you occupied for the day.

I grabbed a programme from reception and headed back upstairs to the third floor - “my”floor - which houses room after room of TTRPGs.

I took up my Room Captain duties again and began reading through the glossy professional programme. As well as the article about RPR there are other contributions including a full and impressive “Horror” scenario that I may well run at some point.

Lunchtime came. This is a two hour break - another improvement - but a game in my room overran and I had to wait for it to wrap up. I nipped out to a nearby artisan sandwich bar for lunch rather than sampling hotel cuisine (and prices!)

Sign up sheets for the afternoon games went up halfway through lunchtime. Apparently their was a bit of a rush as some people were desperate to get into particular games

After lunch my East End gangster game was fully booked with 6 players. This was an absolute hoot. I went  for the players designing elements of the setting route. And it worked because they were all amazing. We were all in fits of laughter throughout. It was one of those “you had to be there” things. One of the best groups of players I’ve ever had. 

I was also bought a couple of pints of lager, which was nice.

I made sure to finish early to give my players time to get to the sign up sheets for the evening games.

Only an hour’s break for tea - so  went out again -  this time grabbing a takeaway pizza from the nearby Hammersmith station.

Again my evening game didn’t get any sign ups. Again my fault. I use my own (published and known but not famous) rules and based it on an obscure property (the 1962 TV scifi puppet series Fireball XL5.)  Note to self - many older punters at DM seem to look for specific games. If you can’t (or won’t) offer one of the “big” game systems, offer a well known IP.

However I arranged for someone to fill my room captain role and the wonderful “yellow shirts” told me there were a couple of spaces in a Star Wars game.

This was the referee’s own rule system - which I like. It was meticulously researched and used the canon characters in episode 9.1. This guy’s take on Star Wars was that it was “bickering in space” and he’s not wrong. 

The character sheets were like scratch cards and as the characters suffered consequences, lost hit points or levelled up you scratched off the relevant part. Consequences (personalised for each character) were usually deeply emotional events rather than physical ones.

Good system.

The other three players at the table were three older teenage girls/young women who were an absolute delight. They’d come to Dragonmeet and just thrown themselves into games without knowing what to expect and had had a ball. Their enthusiasm was infectious. 

We played Luke, Leia, Han and the droids (designed as a single character - nice touch). Everyone played their characters perfectly. 

The highspot was Han and Leia back to back surrounded by troopers, blasting away and having an emotional argument about when she hadn’t told him she was pregnant. Only Han was played by a teenager and Leia by a middle aged man (me) and it worked! I love this hobby.

There was time for a pint at the bar with mates - £4.60 not as bad as I’d  feared - and then back to the accommodation with the convention crew.

I felt a bit guilty accepting the free accommodation but I feel it was justified by all the work I did as room captain.

So for me this was: 

The. Best. Dragonmeet. Ever. 

(Despite only getting to referee one game.)

It’s moved from being one of the better events on the convention circuit to an essential.

But I was in with the convention crew. Is it worth it for a normal referee or punter?

I’d say YES! If you’re local, you’ve no excuse for not treating yourself to this wonderful experience. If you’re not, I’d suggest making it a day trip or booking a weekend’s accommodation and making DM the centre of a pre-Christmas weekend away. Come for the convention, stay for sight seeing or shopping.

At last - at last - Dragonmeet has got it right!

Haworth Steampunk Weekend 24th and 25th November

TLDR: Steampunk convention with little room for TTPRGs. Interesting experience, though.

Games conventions in the UK seem come in clumps. More and more there are weekends when some clash. There are other times when there aren't many on. I've not been able to commit to events a long time in advance this year, and this has exacerbated the situation for me.

So - having missed out on Grogmeet and the 24 hour RPG challenge - I found myself with a personal hiatus in November. Though I've not got a regular gaming group for the first time in decades, this still left me with withdrawal symptoms.

No problems, though. Because I've got my "Choose Your Adventure" set up I can visit SciFi and other conventions offering to run TTRPGs and introduce fellow nerds and geeks into our wonderful hobby.

So I wrote off  to various events. I received a very positive response from the Haworth Steampunk Weekend. This is a steampunk event up north in Bronte country (it's right next to the Bronte museum) with a local Steam train service. Though the organisers clearly had no idea what I was offering, and it was all very last minute, they promised to find me a table or two and invited me along.

It was a weekend event which started with a show on the Friday, followed by two days of events separated by a show on Saturday night. Fairly standard for Steampunk events. Of course I didn't want to attend the evening shows, so I wrote to various hostelries near the event to see if they'd let me run a game at one of their tables. I'd had some success running an evening game in the students' Union at the Asylum Steampunk convention.  To my surprise I got two very positive responses. (see below).

Naturally to save money I decided to travel up at stupid o'clock Saturday morning (about £50 on split ticketing) and stay one night in an inexpensive B&B (about £50 again).

Shortly before the event the organiser contacted me to tell me she'd found space for me one stage in the Village Hall Saturday afternoon, and in the Chapel on Sunday morning. Luckily not as a show, just as a place to play. I was also in the event brochure - sandwiched between a Ukulele Orchestra and some Steampunk dancers!

Despite a train strike, superb support from the staff at Leeds station - and reasonable taxi fares - meant I got to the venue in good time.

Keighley and Haworth are lovely with 1950's charm and sweeping Yorkshire scenary. The taxi even had to bobble down a cobblestone track to get to the village hall. 

The organiser had found me a trading table for the morning, but that only seated three people with no space for my banner. Despite some fascinating chats with people, I wasn't able to convince anyone to try a game. The ukulele group were superior though and I had a good time.

In the afternoon I took over the stage and did manage to cram two families (strangers to each other) together for a 6 player steampunk game - my usual "Evolution of Species". It was good fun. One dad asked for purchase details saying it was going "to be the family game this Christmas". One of the best feedback comments ever!

The event finished earlier than I'd expected to get the venue ready for the evening show. I hadn't managed to sign anyone up for an evening game but I decamped to my booked table anyway to apologise to the hostess, sample their food and ale and wait to see if anyone did turn up. (I'd promoted it on Facebook).

No one did turn up. But I'm glad I went. Firstly the centre of Howarth is amazing. Basically loads of great pubs separated by artisan stores (traditional sweet shops etc.) linked by a cobble street. The ideal Stag/Hen do setting. Secondly the pub I went to - The Kings Arms - was simply superb. I left my first ever review on Trip Adviser (5 stars). The service was superb, despite the place being crammed. And the food was superb. I just took the soup of the day (sage and onion) and daily special (liver and onions) - for ease - both were excellent. Thirdly a mother came in with her son and, in passing, said "are you the Gamesmaster? He's been raving about the game."

No-one did turn up so I got a taxi to my B&B which was clean and well managed and good value for the price. 

In the morning, I got a taxi to "the Chapel" and set up on stage. Again, there were lots of interesting conversations, but it was difficult to get people to sit down and play. This is typical. People come to a geek event to do whatever it is they've come to the event to do - in this case to browse the eclectic and fascinating Steampunk stands. Then they might try a game when they've exhausted everything else.

Eventually I got a couple I'd played with at Asylum onto stage to start a game and, once we'd started, the table filled. Again typical. Sit down with two people and other people join in.

It was "The Evolution of Species" again but with a different twist. This group was great at getting the drop on the bad guys and then having the dice betray them. Massive fun (as always). 

After the game I had to strip everything down to make way for the dancers. I decamped to the lounge but wasn't able to get anyone into an afternoon game.

So with taxis and food I invested the best part of £200 in travelling to Haworth Steampunk Weekend to referee two games for a total of about three hours. Was it worth it?

I think so. Firstly I hadn't realised how lovely this part of the world is. Secondly I really enjoyed my couple of hours in the Kings Arms. A GREAT pub. Thirdly I had a lot of interesting chats. 

And, of course, I thoroughly enjoyed the two games I played.

I have three take always. Firstly - and I'm not being negative here, just trying to be factual - this convention's demographic skewed older. The median age was in the sixties. The men, particularly, seemed set in their ways. They'll wear brass and goggles but sitting down to play make-believe seems a step too far. (Maybe they just can't sit down in those corsets and jet packs? I hadn't considered that.) I got more blunt "No's" before I'd gotten through two words of my spiel than at any other convention I've been to. But I LOVED it! In asking WHY they'd said "no" I discovered so much about their attitudes and experiences. I remain convinced, of course, that if they tried TTRPGs, they'd find out their assumptions are wrong.

Secondly, I need to work on that "spiel". I found I didn't have good standard elevator pitch explaining what TTRPGs were, why I was at the convention and why they should sit down and play. I found my story changing from person to person.

Thirdly, I'd forgotten to print my usual "Simon Burley TTRPG newsletter". It would have been good to have some business cards at least. For every blunt "no" I had someone who wanted to know more. I found myself writing contact or book details on scraps of paper or getting people to log onto "The Tavern" on their phones.

So, though things didn't go exactly as I'd hoped, they went better than they could have done.  I enjoyed myself and learnt a lot. I now have to decide if I want to come again next year. Will more advance notice and me getting familiar with events and events getting familiar with me allow interest to grow or not? Only time will tell.

A great event for Steampunks. Potential for TTRPGs. A work in progress?