Revelation 2019 by Nigel Clarke

Revelation 2019

This was the third Revelation which is one of the weekend cons that run at the Garrison Hotel in Sheffield several times a year. Revelation, Seven Hills, North Star, Longcon and Furnace round out the list (although there's a PFS con that uses the hotel for a con as well). Revelation focuses on Powered by the Apocalypse games.

As usual there was a varied selection of games and about 40 attendees. Things start around 10 am on Saturday although there is always a group in the bar Friday evening to start the con off on the right note of sociability.

Games slots are 10 to 2pm, 2.30 to 6.30 and 8 till midnight on Saturday. Sunday slots are 10 to 2pm and 2:30 to 6:30. All the games were pre-booked through the good graces of Elaine, the Games Czarina, so there was none of the scrum to sign up that characterises some other conventions.

As the con is laser focused on PBtA games most if not all of the attendees know the basic mechanics of the system and it's only variants or odd differences that need explaining and that cuts down on explanation time at the start of a game.

I ran two games and played in a double slot game. Saturday afternoon I ran Vagabonds of Dyfed a mashup of PBtA mechanics and OSR style D&D and used the Dark Sun style city of Dortoka as the setting. Seemed to work pretty well and another GM ran the core game in two further slots.

Saturday evening I ran a game of Cartel. Much mayhem happened in the city of Durango Mexico and drugs were moved towards the US but foot soldiers died as did civilians in droves due to the gang war between the player's Cartel and Los Zetas. Again loads of great roleplay and a lot of fun.

Sunday I signed up for a double slot game of Legacy with the Generation Ship supplement. The game uses Families to play at the higher level of intrigue and politicking and individuals to play at the character level. This led to a bit of confusion when switching from high level to low level play.

The game played out as a sort of Metamorphosis Alpha and was loads of fun but for a con game I think I'd go with pregenned Families and allow the players to choose playbooks to ensure things got to the action quickly. A double slot allowed us the luxury of going through the whole Family and PC character gen stuff.

I left at about 5:15 to catch a train home and the con wrapped up an hour or so later. The date for should be February 2020 I'll be booking a spot for one of the friendliest gaming cons about.

Congestion Games Day II - a report by Darran Sims

Congleton Games Day II
Saturday 23rd February 2019
https://mugandgameblog.wordpress.com

Set off nice and early from Derby on the train taking in the misty landscape from the train window as I crossed counties. I got to Congleton with no issues and arrived in pleasant sunshine.
With a short hop in a taxi to the venue due to my broken leg still healing, I got there with the Games Day in full flow. The venue was a church community hall, stone built with modern amenities, and accessed through the graveyard. I was greeted warmly on arrival at the reception desk and offered help and assistance in joining games.
There were over forty people in attendance in the church hall with seven full tables of roleplaying games, board games, and war games taking place. More people arrived during the afternoon too so it was nice and busy.
They also had a huge board game library of new games and a Bring & Buy stall too.

As my game wasn’t taking place until the afternoon I joined in a board game based on the film ‘The Thing’. There were seven players for an intense game of trying to survive in the Antarctic Outpost with an alien thing infecting the human crew. I managed to remain human throughout but the things were able to beat us. It was a fun game to play so I hope to try it again soon.

Next I set up my Tales from the Loop game, Atomic Butterflies and Feral Buddleia. I had six players signed up but only four players showed up, two being a father with his young son. He was the youngest player I have ever had at my gaming table.

I started straight away with character generation and we got some cracking characters.
We had young Joe Thompson, a Hick with a German Shepard called Dave as a companion and a love of New Order’s ‘Blue Monday’.
His older brother was Tucker Thompson, a Troublemaker armed with a sharp knife and constantly plays Gary Numan’s ‘Cars’.
Next up was the Weirdo called Ratty, carrying his pet rat Stubs, who rocks out to ‘Touch’ by Daft Punk.
Last but not least is the Computer Geek, Maximilian Smyth, who listens to AC/DC ‘TNT’ as he codes his computer.
Their Hideout was an old barn with a cellar on Stocker Flats Farm with electrical power for a TV and multiple computers. There were comics, board games, magazines scattered around and a nice supply of cigarettes and alcohol.

The game started with scenes from home life and the Thompson Brothers were doing their chores and collecting hens eggs. They noticed two of the laying chickens had escaped out of the chicken coop and were nowhere to be found. Joe fixed the hole in the chicken wire whilst Tucker followed the tracks of the two chickens. The chickens were gone, escaped beyond the farm boundaries so they could only hope they return of their own volition.
Ratty wasn’t at home but instead was with his friend, Simon the Conspiracy Theorist, who was tending his ‘tomato plants’ and mumbling about missing pets, Government vans, and thunderstorms.
Max was at home on his own, emptying the food cupboards to fill his back pack full up of sweets, crisps, and bottles of Coca Cola before heading out to the Hideout.

The Kids has no real plans so headed to the ‘Meadow’ to play. The ‘Meadow’ is waste ground near the Loop Facility that was destined to be a housing development but the Government stopped the works. Trenches were dug for the utilities and the foundations before the work stopped so the whole area has been left fallow, overgrown with weeds and summer flowers. It’s ideal to play in and out of the trenches, games like War, British Bulldog, Hide and Seek, Kick the Can, and the like.

As the Kids investigate the area they discover strange contraptions, lots of little bones, an absence of animal life, unusual tracks, and stories of missing pets.
When the Winfields, a family of school bullies, arrive on the scene then things heat up and the adventure continues.

It is the first time I have ran this game that the players chose not to seek the help of their ‘cool’ science teacher, but instead got the help from the annoying school swot, Specky Neubert. It is also the first time the Kids used the Atomic Butterflies *against* the Feral Buddleia, that was a nice touch to get rid of both issues in one fell swoop!

This was a great game, the father and son team playing brothers was sweet to behold and the rest of the players were creative and also did a great job keeping the content clean for the young player.

The Games Day was great too. The new venue works very well. The kitchen with flowing coffee, cake and chilli con carne was a marvellous too. The attendance for a con held in a provincial town was high, better than some big city conventions that have been running for years.
Well done to the organisers and the volunteers for such a great convention day. Let’s hope that they continue for years to come.

#mugandgame
#TalesfromtheLoop
#RPGConventions
#conreport

The Dudley Bug Ball

Dudley Bug Ball

TLDR: a small convention punching above it's weight. Massive range of activities on offer. Incredibly friendly.

There's a history to The Dudley Bug Ball. Apparently it used to run regularly a decade or so ago, successfully - progressing to the Birmingham Hilton before even Expo got there. Then it petered out.

I knew nothing about all this (though I may have visited one with my son when he was going up). So when the comeback was announced, I didn't know what to expect. I was torn because it was on the same date as the wonderful ConQuord in Bristol.

But given that it was nearer and cheaper, and one of the organisers personally approached me about coming, I opted to give it a go. Rather than offer games in the organised TTRPG track, I enquired if my "Choose Your Adventure" set up of one hour introductory adventures would be appropriate and was told it would be. As is typical for UK conventions, they had plenty of Referees willing to offer games.

Dudley Bug Ball is a one-day convention in a Big hotel in Dudley in the West Midlands. I'd call it an extended one-day convention because it was timed to run from 10:00am to 11:00pm. (More on that later.)

As I live in Birmingham, I could have travelled to and from the event in a day but that would have meant leaving before the official end time of the event (as I said,  more on that later) and I wanted to give it my full support. So I booked into the hotel where the event was due to take place for the Saturday evening. £25 for the night. (Actually I visit a lot of places and had accrued some points with my booking web-site and got the room for £4.) That was so cheap that I decided to book in Friday night as well. I had a lot to carry on public transport - my Demo set up and Role Play Relief books to sell - and travelling at leisure Friday afternoon meant I'd be fresh for the big day.

I travelled by train and taxi as the fastest option. But in hindsight, bus might have been better. The hotel isn't right by a train station and buses go straight to the hotel.

It's been a few decades since I've visited Dudley. The Hotel was near the famous Zoo. Alas from the outside it seems to have fallen on hard times. I'm sure there are nicer,  more modern parts of Dudley but the bit the hotel and zoo are in seems to have been abandoned in a cul-de-sac of history. Let's just say that if you were filming a post apocalyptic Mad-Max type film, you wouldn't be short of backdrops or locations to shoot in.

The Hotel itself is massive. As I'd expected from the dirt cheap price tag, it was a typical "faded glory" place that must have had a great hey-day in the mid 20th century. Peeling paint but some glorious architectural features. However, it's far less run down than most establishments of its ilk because of the wonderful friendly staff. And it's busy busy busy with event after event. Dudley Bug Ball was just one of several it was hosting that weekend.

(The Friday evening I arrived it was hosting a Psychic Fair. The Hotel Facebook page announced that one of the mediums attending had been replaced due to "unforeseen circumstances"! True story.)

One of the organisers booked a table for us at a famous nearby "Pie Factory" where we enjoyed good company, Black Country ales and various forms of comfort food. Then back to the Hotel for more socialising and drinks in the hotel bar.

I paid extra for breakfast the following morning. Inexpensive and generally of the standard you'd expect - though there were a couple of touches that again showed the staff were trying to exceed the hotel's limitations. (The sprigs of Parsley on the sausages and bacon trays was a bit odd, but the fresh strawberries and raspberries in the fruit course were a bonus.)

The convention itself was based around a vaulted banqueting hall, adjacent to the hotel bar. The convention offered:

- traders (mostly indie/unusual publishers, artists, etc.)
- Demonstration games (board games, pathfinder, 5th Ed, general TTRPGs)
- A full range of TTRPGs in three organised slots across the day*
- Bring and buy
- Raffle

In other words, it was a full and proper CONVENTION in every meaning of the word - rather than being just a "Games Day".

In addition most (I think all) attendees got a free figure of "Duggley" the convention Icon - a nice touch.

* though some were pre-advertised, games were signed up for on the day at a table at one end of the main hall. The organisers had prepared sheets for pre-advertised games but people were free to offer games on the day. Games took place in nearby smaller rooms away from the hall. I didn't take part in any of this but think they were the usual 3-4 hour slots and people seemed to have a good time. (Though the planned third slot didn't materialise. See below.)

In fact, the TTRPGs were so popular that, when they were on, the main hall went a bit quiet. During those times there was a lot of networking amongst the traders and game demonstrators.

For myself, I ran three one-hour demonstrations across the day. Two were my standard The Black Hack version of The Delian Tomb to introduce newbies to "D&D". In both cases I had a couple of young people new to the hobby rounded out by one or two Grognards who seemed to really enjoy holding themselves in check to help the newbies enjoy themselves. The demo delivered as always.

The third of these was a steampunk adventure "The Great Airship Robbery" with three Grognards new to the genre/system. They managed to shoot down the captured airship in the channel before it got to France but were blasted out of the sky as they descended to finish it off, ending up in a French prison. Great fun!

I'd call it a 50% hit rate for the day. I got to run several games but could have run more.

I was flattered to be asked to call the raffle. I seem to be developing a reputation for getting through them quickly. As usual companies had been extremely generous and there were loads of great prizes worth an inestimable value.

Before the raffle two awards were given out (voted for by attendees) - for best independent published game and best demonstration game.  There was one for best Cosplay but there had been none evident on the day.

There was also a speech which explained why the convention had been brought back on this date in honour of the organisers' son. This was nicely handled and life-affirming rather than maudlin.

After the raffle, all of the traders left and so did most of the attendees. Amongst the people left, there wasn't any interest in putting together one last TTRPG. So the day ended with some drinking and socialising in the bar.

And this is what alway seems to happen at "extended game days" in my experience. (Concrete Cow, Dragonmeet et al.) Unless attendees are very local, then travelling down early, attending morning and afternoon and travelling back up at night is far more cost effective than staying for the evening session and paying for a hotel room for the night.

I'm merely making an observation, not making a value judgement. It would be nice if something could be offered on Sunday morning, but that would involve a whole new level of expense and organisation. So I don't have any suggestions to make.

For me though, that sort of sums up Dudley Bug Ball. The organisers came back with huge plans and delivered a well organised convention with a full programme of activities. On the day there were, I believe, fewer than  70 attendees so things looked at bit sparse at times. But the convention covered its costs and delivered over £500 to a very worthwhile charity. (More when the spare "Duggley" figures are sold). And even if people spent a significant minority of their time networking with friends old and new, rather than gaming, everyone enjoyed themselves. The whole event had a friendly atmosphere. So, by any measure, it was a success and I'm pleased to say it will happen again next year.

What I will say is that in its current form the convention has massive capacity for expansion. It could easily cope with double the number of attendees without changing a single thing or offering any more activities. And they'd have a great day out. But Dudley seems to me to be a little bit out of gate way for many casual convention attendees. So I'm not sure where we're going to find them from.

I hope we DO find them though, because Dudley Bug Ball is a proper old-school convention that deserves to succeed.

SCJ3a - another great day out

TLDR: small, friendly, relaxed "decide what you want to do on the day" event in Central Birmingham. Nice.

Spaghetti ConJunction is a sweet little games day in central Birmingham which I  was lucky enough to set up with James Mullen and Matthew "Pookie" Pook. We offer two days per year at Geek Retreat in Central Birmingham - one in February and one in October. I believe that our "a" day in February is the first non-residential TTRPG con in the country each year.

This one was 3a. (In our third year already?) Prior to the event Pookie does a superb job of posting press releases and I had some fliers printed. We invite people to submit games they intend to offer but nothing is decided until the day itself. There is no prebooking.

I, myself, planned to offer a scenario from the "Role Play Relief" books - which had just become available - and a 13th Doctor adventure. However, as the day neared, I came down with quite a nasty infection in my larynx and - come the day - decided not to referee unless absolutely necessary.

The three amigos met at a bistro round the corner for breakfast and a chat. We don't actually chat much except at SCJ and maybe Concrete Cow. Checked social media and swapped messages with a few attendees. Just before start time - 10:00am - we went to Geek Retreat. As always the proprietor was on his way and there was a crowd waiting outside - I'd say about 2/3 for SCJ and 1/3 Geek Retreat regulars. Door was opened about 10:01 and it was a mad dash upstairs - the whole top floor is ours for the day - to get started. I sat at a table and just started taking money (£3 for a ticket, £1 for raffle tickets). By the time that mad blur was over, we were ready to start. There were about 30 people present and 8 games on offer. Some people bring preprinted sign up sheets but about half were hand-written on the day using a pile we provided. I didn't need to offer a game.

I felt able to do the intros, but it turned out to be a nice blend of the three of us chipping in.

Signups are organised. Newbies get first dibs. Then the numbers from 0-9 are drawn in order. If you have an entry ticket ending in that digit you get to sign up. The order is reversed in the afternoon to make it fair.

Most games filled with 3-6 players. One didn't get any and one only gained one sign up - so that referee and those players swapped to other games. The Dr Who referee kindly agreed to run with two players and take in any late arrivals.

Maze and Minotaurs, Dr Who, Is it a plane? (running a Zootopia scenario), Dungeon Crawl Classics, 5th Ed and something Runequesty with Trolls.

I didn't feel well enough to play and sat at the desk for the morning, sorting my social media, folding raffle tickets, chatting with the proprietor and people during breaks etc. There was one late arrival who I introduced to the Dr Who game.

Everything seemed to go smoothly with a steady flow of food being brought to the table by staff. With the morning slot running from 10:30 to 2:30 it's best to eat your lunch (usually a burger or toasted ciabatta) at your table.

Games wrapped up 2:00pm-2:30pm. We put out the raffle prizes. 17 total with the total retail value probably being worth more than the entire convention. Pookie has some extremely generous contacts in the hobby.

I ran the raffle very quickly. Unfortunately I failed to time it exactly,  but we all agreed it was under 3 minutes to get all 17 prizes drawn and claimed. So that's a rate of 10 seconds per item.

(Beat that Grogmeet!)

There didn't seem to be quite as many afternoon games offered and  there had been a couple of late arrivals swelling the numbers. So the Dr Who and IIAP/Zootopia games were offered for a second time.

Both filled. As for the rest there were a LOT of games which ended up with two players. I've never seen that before. There was a bit of horse trading and I think we ended up with six games -

Dr Who, IIAP, Inspectres, Lovecraftesque, 5th and something OSR.  I decided to join in the Lovecraftesque game, taking the table from 3 to 4 players. The game was fine - better than Fiasco, not as good as Intrepid. I'm not a huge fan of "wicker man" type pre doomed horror. But we had a fun and eclectic table. The guy offering it was doing it as his first time facilitating a game at a convention. We had another player only used to die-based TTRPGs. Another who was new to the country from Italy - at the convention to practice his English. And me.

The game wrapped up after two hours with a satisfying ending that I wouldn't have predicted from the outset.

I felt a bit better and offered to run a short 13th Doctor adventure to fill the time. As none of them were familiar with the new Doctor, they chose to play the three companions with the Dr being mysteriously ill. They were searching for some medical tech to help her - in an edited version of that usual Dr Who scenario I've been running for 5 years (it won't die!) They found a really high tech medical device which could cure all human ills, put the Doctor in and - yup - Cyber Doctor! Great fun.

Though games were due to run until 7:30 they seemed to wrap up from 6:30 onwards - though the 5th Ed game ran until the end.

SCJ is always pot luck for us. We don't know how many people will turn up on the day and what games will be offered or will turn out to be popular. It's a "suck it and see" event. And all the better for that.

I'm happy with the 30-40 size we had this time but am also happy we've got capacity  to increase in size if we get a rush one day. It's in a good location, well timed in the year. There's a small hard core who seem to always come and always many new faces. But though the people might change, the type of people that attend are always the same. Calm, friendly, fun, relaxed. It's just a nice way to spend the day. Thanks guys!

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!