Contingency - 22nd - 26th January 2020 (20th-26th unofficially)

Contingency - 22nd - 26th January 2020 (20th-26th unofficially)

TLDR: The best, and most inclusive,  residential #TTRPG convention in the UK bar none. Not the easiest dates and locations to get to but, once you’re there, it’s Heaven on Earth.

WARNING - this is a very long and rambling report. I'll try to break it up with sub headings so you can skip to the bits you want.

INTRODUCTION 

As a rule I refuse to rate TTRPG conventions. Just because some suit me personally better than others is pretty irrelevant. ALL TTRPG conventions are great and exist only to bring joy into the world.

But I NEED to break that rule here. Contingency is something very very special.

There used to be a great couple of TTRPG conventions in Dorset. When they folded, a group of devotees of the larger con decided that they’d set up a replacement event to cover the same time of year - just as an interim “stop gap” until their favourite event could arise from the ashes. Hence the name - Contingency.

Through will, sheer hard work and (I suspect) personal investment, they’ve created an event with isn’t merely a worthy replacement for its predecessor, it even exceeds it. 

IMHO - of course.

The first event was three years ago. Despite trawling the length and breadth of the country - literally - for an appropriate location, the organisers found a good one - an out of season holiday camp. Unfortunately it wasn’t easily accessible for me, so I was  unable to go.

BEFORE THE EVENT

Contingency covers 5 days (officially). Unfortunately I am unable to book time off from work mid week in January, so I can only get there for the weekend. For past events I’d dash out of work asap Friday afternoon and climb onto the first available train. Normally I’d arrrive just in time to run a game in the Friday evening slot - 8:00pm.

For the 2nd event (last year) they found a different out of season holiday camp which I could - just! - make in time. As it turned out I was delayed (trains!) so my game had a late start.

When I made my plans for this year, I found out that the latest train timetable meant I wouldn't make it in time for the evening session Friday. (More evidence of the deteriorating train system in this country.) So I thought it wouldn't be cost effective to travel just for four games (three on Saturday and one on Sunday). So, reluctantly, I decided not to go. (This was a mistake.)

Then when the British rail system robbed me of another convention (Northampton Games Day) and having skipped StabCon this year, withdrawal symptoms kicked in and, at pretty much the last minute, I decided to go anyway. Despite my initial snub to them, the organisers sorted me out some accommodation and I found a good ticket deal via split ticketing. I THEN found out that this was due to my my Senior Citizen's railcard (ouch!) and a normal flexible ticket was about the same price and slightly shorter journey.

Facebook sorted me a invite to drop into a game halfway through on Friday night and I was able to email the signup sheets for my proposed games to the organisers for them to print and display at the appropriate time.

PLANNING - Accommodation and Games

Organisation for Contingency starts 12 months in advance. As I've said, it is at an out-of-season holiday camp. It is usually closed in January but this event gives them a reason to open and make money in their off time. It would be easy for the organisers to ask attendees to book directly with the site. However, instead, they manage all accommodation bookings themselves. In fact they micromanage them - and not in a bad way. They know - or know of - 90% of the attendees and personally ensure everyone gets the experience they want. 

Accommodation is "lodges" - sort of a step up from static caravans and chalets. Many (most?) attendees book in as soon as they are made available. There are some "Gold" standard lodges and - despite the higher or price - these book out very quickly.

If you have accumulated enough "GM tickets" from the previous year, you can get a whole lodge for free! Obviously no one referee can run enough games to earn sufficient tickets but a team of "Iron GMs" running games for the bulk of the 5 days of the convention can just about do it.

So people are keen to get their accommodation sorted early. 

Then there are the games submissions and bookings. Most of this is done via Facebook a bit nearer to the event. The games span all tastes, with the "big guns" (5th Ed D&D and Pathfinder) well represented. These games are usually booked in advance via the "WarHorn" booking system. This is also the convention where a smaller UK company, Shades of Vengeance - which punches well above its weight - runs multiple tables and many "special events" using its "Era" system. So this is the event to come to if you're a fan - either of that system or "special event/multi table" games.

 The alternative to WarHorn is the traditional system of signup sheets which are put up at the event itself a day or two before the proposed games. These are then called out at "muster".

You can even do a mixed economy. Putting your games up on WarHorn to allow people to prebook some of the spaces. Then the part filled sheets are printed and put for people to fill in the remaining spaces at the event. 

Needless to say this requires a lot of work on the part of the organisers and their volunteers.

RUN UP TO THE EVENT

But that's not the only fun in the run up to the event. At the risk of being POLITICALLY INCORRECT, I have to say this:

I know there are loads of people involved in organising Contingency but to me it seems that there are two key figures. Both women. I know that we're supposed to be gender blind these days. But to me what makes this Con so special is that fact that it is female led.  Contingency has the same stated values and intents of other cons. The same approach to inclusivity.  But it's like an event organised by your mum. But a mum that knows your hobby and what you need. It's just little things but they add up.

Here are a few examples

• it's not a hotel. The Lodges a very well appointed bit aren't supplied with towels. Knowing that many people will forget to pack towels - you normally don't need to when they go away - loads of cheap towels are bought in. These can be hired at the event for a nominal fee and at the end of the event are donated to charity.
• Similarly if anyone who has chosen to self cater at the event has any food left over at the end, they're encouraged to hand it in - again for charity donation. 
• GM reward tickets can buy Beer, but they can also be used to buy ice-cream.
• I have no evidence but I get the feeling that people who might feel marginalised or nervous about attending other large public conventions (and I'm including women here) would feel more comfortable and supported here.
• They buy cans  of deodorant placed for free use in all the public toilets.

All cons support their attendees. But Contingency does it pro-actively. There are regular posts reminding you about everything to do with the con, including advice on how to look after your physical and mental health and hygiene at the convention. Simple but effective. All of this creates an ethos.

Officially the convention run from Wednesday to Sunday. But the owners of the site allow people to occupy the lodges from Monday. So loads of people - including some of the organisers - arrive early and there are many informal events and games which take place during those first two days. And people post on Facebook about it.

So there are I am - at work - watching people I know having the time of their 

Iives for 5 days. Envy just doesn't describe the feeling.

My favourite posts in the run up to my travels were about ducks. This year there were a load of ducks on the site and the gamers sort of adopted them. The organisers ordered a load of duck food online and began selling it at the main desk. It's the little things.

FRIDAY NIGHT

I rushed out of work on Friday night and my planned timetable worked. In fact I caught an earlier connecting train - as it was delayed - and arrived at Kings Lynn station 20mins earlier than expected.

But the event isn't in Kings Lynn. It's in Hunstanton, which is miles away and doesn't have a train station. Online taxi quote sites rate the fare for the journey at £50. There are connecting buses but I suspect the journey is a long one. It's an issue.

Aware of this, the organisers get non-gaming family and friends to offer lifts from the station at £5 a pop. Even though I was arriving late on Friday and was the only one traveling, they arranged a lift for me with one of the organisers' dads. A chatty and personable man who gives lots of insights into the behind the scenes organisation of things and is clearly as proud as punch of his daughter. It's the little things.

There was a minor snaffu about exactly which lodge I was in but rather than wait for it to be sorted out, I checked that the sign up sheets for my games were up and went to find my game. It turns out that this was in a Lodge. I still went to the front desk to buy a ticket. These are £2 each and you hand them to the Referee for them to taxes for GM reward tickets. I was advised to buy a couple, which I did.

These game tickets are one of the conventions major resource streams. I think accommodation fees are passed directly to the Holiday Park, with nothing being taken out to cover the costs of running the actual event. And though there are traders present, there aren't that many. 

In the past there have been people who have organised games in their Lodges on a personal basis with friends. This was controversial as it effectively takes revenue from the event and it needs every penny if it's going to succeed and run again in future years.

I travelled to my friends Lodge and gave him my ticket.

The Lodges are amazing. Bright, clean, large, fully appointed. The ones I saw had two bedrooms - a double and two singles. Beds are slightly smaller than standard. A toilet room and a shower room. And a massive central area with kitchen, dining table and massive sofa. Perfect for gaming in. 

In fact the only minor issue was that the coffee table near the sofa is too small to play at so you have to sit up at the dining table to play rather than having a more relaxed sofa based game. There are also only six chairs.

The game was the new one based on the Alien film. It had already started but my traumatised scientist was found in a locker with no memory of what had happened to him. The game was great, run by a friend and experienced referee. I knew most of the other players. The table was stacked high with snacks and drinks and a bottle of particularly potent but delectable single malt with an admonition to help myself. The game was fun with enough in the system to tickle my designer's brain. Good and Bad.

In short, good for a one-off. You'd watch an Alien film, but not a whole TV series. 

When I still couldn't find MY lodge I was invited to bed down in my friend's one. Though all the bedrooms were full, the huge couch is perfect.

SATURDAY - my big day

I got up early, took a shower and set out to get breakfast, hopefully without disturbing anyone. Lodges are fully equipped for self catering and the best way to do breakfast - especially if you're there for the week - is to fix it in your lodge. However, the site's perfectly adequate buffet breakfast is only £7.50 and is available from 7am every day.

It needs to be. Morning games at Contingency start at 9:00am, so Muster is at 8:45. So things can be a bit of a rush in the morning, especially if you've made the mistake of being up late the night before. (With friends and whiskey it had been well past midnight before I'd settled down.)

After breakfast I went to the convention front desk (rather than the Camp front desk as I had the night before) to find that I'd actually been given a lodge all to myself after some attendees had left early. So I was finally able to unpack my bag and headed to Muster.

By this time, having only played half a game, I was feeling very happy. Contingency has such a welcoming atmosphere that you just unwind and feel relaxed all the time you're there. I can't describe it. 

And hour or so before each session, the sign up sheets are taken down. A team of volunteers transfer the details to envelopes. This is a highly labour intensive process. These envelopes are taken to the main atrium of the Park where the players and referees are waiting in a large crowd.

Muster is a holdover from that previous event I mentioned. In turn each game is shouted out along with the players' names. Then they and the Referee go to their table to play. Some horse trading takes pace with unfilled games and loose players at the end. It's inefficient and sometimes hard to hear but it's also an unmissable experience with lots of good natured banter. 

I'd checked the signup sheet when I'd arrived Friday night and had four players signed up. It was a 13th Doctor Dr Who adventure. Curiously, no one wanted to play Jodie herself. Graham is always the popular one.

So I was disappointed when it was announced that I only had two players. Two of the signups must have jumped ship. I was asked if I was able to run with two. From experience I've found that it is best to run with two as you usually pick up a couple of extra players anyway. 

As it turned out, only one of the signed players was present. So I waited around until the end of muster to see if I could pick up some players at the end. I didn't manage to so me and my one player shook hands and parted ways. 

I then wandered around looking for tables without many players asking if they had a space. I lucked into a charming two-table game Refereed by a married couple. Luckily I'd bought an extra gamers ticket the night before.

 I started off at the wife's table. The scenario presented was a town where Goblin raids had forced the Baron to secure all the local grain in his castle. We were give an hour and a shopping list and told to fortify this against a goblin raid. Traps, Guards etc. Basically, design the dungeon for the Referee. Nice trick.

It was just about then that the missing player from my Dr Who game turned up claiming he'd been at Muster all the time. A mystery......

The other players all seemed to be in their late teens or early twenties and related to the Referee (though they couldn't all have been sons). They were extremely enthusiastic so I did my best to step back. However, I couldn't help cutting through the analysis paralysis to keep us on track to meet the time schedule.

When we'd finished we swapped tables. The husband and more of the young people - including a younger sister - had been doing exactly the same but with the Goblin's lair. We were tasked with rescuing the Baron's kidnapped daughter. This is when I found out we were playing Pathfinder - though pretty much any fantasy #TTRPG would do.

We were given a choice of the standard official Pathfinder Pregens at 4th level. Initially I considered my usual one (Valerus the fighter. I've taken him to 3rd level before now) but another player chose the Barbarian. So I switched to Cleric but then noticed every pregen had healing potions. Eventually at the party's behest I. Ran the rogue.

If you're familiar with these pregens you'll know how horrendously optimised this character is. She's like a teenage boy's wet dream of what a rogue should be. Playing her wasn't easy again I tried to step back and not be a dick and show off my experience but I failed. Couldn't resist locating traps and then turning them against the monsters. Told the characters to stick with me so I could detect and then raised an eyebrow to them every time they ran off and got caught.

It was a romp and massive fun. All the time your mind is half on the other table wondering how your design was doing. At the end we had a debrief and swapped notes.

A simple idea but highly effective and engaging.

Lunch is about an hour. If you don't go back to your lodge, you can buy a bespoke filled roll for £3.50 or soup and a roll for £3. I had both. The roll was adequate and overfilled. The soup was uninspiring seeming to be mainly tinned tomatoes.

And meeting people and chatting of course.

At muster I found out I had a full table for my Steampunk game. The usual shennanigans with almost all the players buying into the conceits of the setting and the system. Except one.

It's wasn't as if he was unpleasant. He was just completely out of step with the system and the setting and the timing. Literally 15mins after scene was resolved he'd stop the game with a query and a complaint about it.

He also kindly explained to me during every comfort break and almost half an hour past the end of the game the flaws in my rule system and what I could and should do to fix it.

Up until now I've been very happy with my ability to read the psychology of a table and bring in every player. I must admit this encounter gave me a knock to my confidence and food for thought for future conventions. A learning experience.

I also broke my resolution not to drink alcohol during an afternoon game.

With this kind feedback, I was slow to start my evening meal in the restaurant. I took a basket of chicken strips and a basket of breaded haloumi with a side of chunky chips. I should have only taken one basket. The portions were generous.

The evening break is a generous one - one and half hours - but what with the extended feedback session, trading in my players game tickets for a GM ticket and opting for restaurant food, I was running late by the time I got to Muster.

My evening game was a run out for my simple Introductory D&D game which uses only d6. It was the simple introductory scenario which I intend to include in the rulebook. I had a table full of experienced Grognards. I even had the head honcho of Shades of Vengeance. He'd been running games, events and multi-tables for a week and his team had told him to take some time off. I actually felt honoured he'd chosen to play my game. With this table of players I knew my rules would get a good workout.

I expected these experienced players to destroy my simple adventure. Instead they tried to "epic" their way through it, without paying any attention to the hints, clues and foreshadowing. So before we knew it there they were face to face with the designed to be unbeatable big bad using ever trick they had to try to take it down. To their credit they actually managed to hurt it - something I thought impossible - before the first character fatality caused them to flee.

Of course after some rest, regrouping and planning, they came back and, this time, DID rinse the adventure.

As I'd expected the adventure didn't fill the whole slot and I was prepared to run a follow up. I offered the players the option to level up so they could see how the system worked. I then merely upgraded all the goblins to Orcs in my follow up game. This was a more open and epic adventure which they seemed to enjoy. They played well and avoided pushing "the big red button."

I used my GM ticket from the afternoon to buy (most of) a pint of beer during the game.

This session is timed to end at a sensible time, well before midnight, but we had a post game chat. Other games seemed set to play on into the early morning despite the loud and repeated ringing of the bar bell.

My new, personal, lodge was literally a minutes walk from the main entrance. I didn't even bother troubling either bedroom, just choosing to crash out on the couch again.

SUNDAY

Getting up in the morning was hard. As well as getting breakfast and getting ready for my morning game, I also had to pack for the journey home. I ended up getting a slightly lighter breakfast than my usual one. 

My morning game was full and we had great fun with a group of Mega-city Judges trying to escape the Cursed Earth whilst all the time trying to work out which one of their number was a traitor killing them off one by one.

During the game I used my GM ticket from the night before to buy some Diet Coke. And one of the organisers sought me out personally to ask what time I wanted a life back to the station. Personal service! It's the little things....

I opted for an earlier ride as I had no interest in the raffle. Attendees are very generous with prize donations and, even though they'd clearly streamlined the raffle procedures this year, I expected the raffle to be another marathon.

I left my game tickets with a friend with instructions that he could claim and use the GM ticket they earnt and caught my lift. This time I shared the car with a couple of younger people and we spent the time swapping our stories of the convention. I was pleased to hear from the young lady that this was her first con and she was keen to go to more. After warning her that NOTHING would equal her Contingency experience, I was able to point her in the direction of a couple of appropriate ones.

Naturally my journey home was awful - it being a Sunday, this being the UK and me being on trains (supposedly). Not the fault of contingency but the reason why I could only stay for Sunday morning.

When I got home there was a Facebook post from the main organiser - the "mum" - warning people about post event comedown and giving sensible advice about how to manage it with affecting your mental health. It's the little things.

IN SUMMARY

So I'd travelled miles and spent  significant money for just over a day's gaming and four and a half games. But it was worth every penny. The organisers, the attendees and the venue staff at the event are all just blooming overly people and everyone seems determined to make sure that YOU have a good time. It's supremely well organised and the venue is great. For a player of TTRPGs, it's like heaven of earth. Literally.

Clearly the way to do it, if you can, is to go for the whole week and self cater in your Lodge. This will give you the opportunity to offer or taken part in special events - multi-table events, campaigns within the con etc. Also to take rests between games and do other things. Walk along the beach, swim in the pool etc. 90% of the park's facilities are open.

But be careful. The convention has sensible "mum" timings which can conflict with the sensibilities of the "overgrown kids" who often attend. The morning games are at 9am with muster starting before that! The last games of the evening are due to end at 11:30. If you run over into the wee small hours every night, over seven days you're going to get exhausted.  Pace yourself. 

Clearly the word has gotten out. Aside from the people I met or who posted on Facebook for whom this was their first convention, I saw a lot of "faces" I know from the UK con scene who I didn't see last year. When an event is THIS good, it's going to grow. The organisers feel they have capacity for LARPs for example.

The organisers put themselves out to make sure everyone's having a good time and through use of labour intensive measures. I salute them for this but there will come a time when the attendance is so large that they'll have to step back and use more informal procedures just to survive. Though they'd never want it it wouldn't surprise me if at some point we saw accommodation booking bring handled directly by the holiday park and game bookings being entirely through WarHorn.

At the moment, though, as long as they're willing to burn themselves on the pyre of our enjoyment we're the impossible situation of being able to have our cake and eat it.

I'm a teacher. I already get 13 weeks holiday a year. It's practically and financially difficult - and morally reprehensible - for me to take a 14th off just to take part in a hedonistic week of gaming. But I'm already trying to work out how to do that just so I can do the full week of Contingency 2021.

Heaven of Earth. The best UK TTRPG covention, by far. HIGHLY recommended.

MY PERSONAL COSTS

Travel:

• Train         £50
• Lifts           £10

Accommodation - £95

Drinks (taking into account GM tickets and those bought by players) - c. £10

Food - £40

Game Tickets - £6

Total cost: £161

Cost per game (assuming 4.5 games) - £35.78

Cost per hour (18 hours of games)-  £8.95

WinterCon - 11th January 2020

WinterCon (GoPlay Manchester) - Fan Boy 3 Manchester - 11th January 2020

TLDR: excellent, friendly convention organised through Twitter at a superlative venue.

The In a world made up of Venn diagrams, WinterCon exists in the intersection of many:

- it is an outgrowth of on of the many "Go Play" franchises held monthly across the country.
- It is one of many small conventions now being held at the wonderful Fan Boy 3 store in Manchester
- It is one of the many small - what I call "pop-up" conventions - now being organised through Twitter
- It is the second convention in the UK called "WinterCon". Though, to be fair, the other is called "Wyntercon" (with a "y"). Both wonderful but don't get them muddled up. They are VERY different

The "Go Play" events have been on my radar for the best part of a decade. In fact when I was writing the series of paperback diaries that preceded this blog - I was constantly nagged by one of them (Go Play Leeds) to include them. To date I haven't, because they're regular single game slot local events. More like a club than a convention - wonderful as they are.

WinterCon was basically a special edition of a regular Go Play Manchester event which had two game slots in the day. This qualified it as a convention in my eyes, and also makes it cost effective to make the journey to Manchester.

GPM is held at a wonderful venue. Fan Boy 3 is more of a games store than a games cafe - its catering facilities being very limited. Its shelves hold reams upon reams of games and accessories and it's well worth a visit just to browse for special items. I'll admit even I was tempted to buy some #TTRPG terrain! This was my third visit. It is clearly run by gaming enthusiasts who know what their clientele want. (The have a vending machine full of MAGIC cards!) It is simply the best venue of its type that I have ever visited. Superb!

Across 2019 I saw several events being arranged purely through Twitter. Twitter is a far more seductive and intimate digital platform than, say FaceBook, blogs and websites. People really interact with and feel as though they "know"  each other. As such when somebody says they're thinking of running a convention, everyone in their circle piles in and encourages them. People who would never even think of going to conventions will attend these events. Because they feel safe with the people they already know and they can allay any fears by direct personal interaction with the organisers - and referees and other players -  in the run up to the event.

These events are usually micro-managed with players being personally allocated to games well in advance of the day. And this is what happened with WinterCon.

So I am on Twitter, saw the event proposed and threw my hat in the ring as referee. I already knew the venue, organiser and likely costs. I was accepted.

The thing about Twitter is you get to experience the run up to the events as much as the event, which is a pleasure in itself. The moment I particularly enjoyed was when the organiser was surprised at the level of interest. He'd been planning on it being an extension of GPM and hadn't factored in the additional interest from the twitterati. He expanded the number of tables and I was one of a chosen few allowed to offer two games - morning and afternoon. There were many, many excellent and well known Referees at the event and I was honestly honoured to be chosen.

I offered my standard Blakes 7 adventure. I also offered to run a Judge Dredd scenario, for the first time. Both used my Code of the Spacelanes rules - which are so easy to run at conventions and are basically like giving players a big bag of candy and just giving them permission to eat as much as they want.

Blakes 7 and Judge Dredd? Wow! I'm really current, up to the moment and tapping into the zeitgeist aren't I?

I'd had the idea for the Dredd scenario for years but never had a chance to offer it. A Manta Prowl Tank crew downed in the Cursed Earth being picked off one by one in a futuristic version of an Agatha Christie whodunnit.

As it was a one day, two slot event, preparation was easy. I just booked a train ticket and printed out the new Dredd character sheets.

The Dredd character sheets proved more difficult than I'd imagined. Finding appropriate images was hard - with the Big Man himself dominating image searches. I also found it difficult to differentiate between different Judge characters. Lawgiver, Intimidating, Judge cover the three main attributes of the game and would be a perfectly playable character.

I ended up just sticking the images on the sheets and left the players to fill in the details.

As the overall costs were going to be relatively cheap, I chose to pay the tiny bit extra for an open return than saving a bit by buying advance singles a few weeks in advance. I could also go a little bit later than my usual "stupid o'clock" which meant trains were running from my local station and they are a lot more reliable than the buses.

So getting packed and travelling was an absolute doddle. The train was a cross-city train which - unlike Virgin - has fully functioning free wireless. And load of attendees were tweeting as they travelled. Fun.

Fan Boy 3 is a short 5 min walk from the station. I'd got lost when trying to find it in the past but the combination of Apple Maps and my I-watch took me straight there. (I've finally found a use for the watch!)

I arrived at 9:50 and people were already waiting outside. FB3 opens at 10am on the dot. * We all flowed in. Within 10 mins the organiser was making his opening speech and we call found our tables. I already knew that my game had four players though I hadn't paid any attention to their names. Within minutes they were at my table and we'd started.

To be honest we were going before I'd had my usual 5 minutes to set up, so I felt a bit disorganised.

A quick chat discovered that all the players were fans of Dredd from "back in the day"  but none of them were super fans or followers of the modern more gritty take on the character. Phew!

They seemed happy with the blank but illustrated character sheets and pretty soon we had:

- Judge McCoy from the med-division. A glass cannon. Useless in conflicts but possibly the best Med-Judge in Mega-City One.
- Judge Scotty - a tek-Judge (do you see a theme here?) - actually a useless engineer but really good at blogging his way through life. (He was being played by a scouser who didn't even bother to change his accent.) His trusty spanner came in handy when his patter failed.
- Rookie Judge Crusher (REALLY!?). I forced the player to take the weakest possible spread of ability scores here.
- "First floor Reg" - the perp with a heart of gold. The locksmith and tech wizard who always seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

This game was a blast from the outset. Players at these sorts of semi-closed events feel comfortable and just want to have fun! It went a bit off track as they spent too much time in the crashed Tank before setting out across the Cursed Earth. Mainly because Scotty failed to salvage any useful gear and Crusher couldn't seem to avoid rolling 1's. After a critical failure trying to salvage power units from the tank's damaged Lawmasters set off their magazines, he was soon renamed Rookie "Error". But once they got going, thing went very fast as Crusher had managed to resurrect all the injured NPCs who were supposed to slow the group down. My favourite moment was when Reg's player rolled a double and used it to announce that Reg was actually an undercover Judge - a member of the "Wally Squad" - assessing the crew's performance!

The morning slot was a short 3 hours - 10:30 to 1:30 - but luckily the final conflict was resolved by negotiation and compromise rather than a shoot out.

You can buy sandwiches etc inside FB3 but their facilities are limited.* There are loads of pubs etc. nearby to eat at. (My players appeared to be going somewhere called "A pie and a pint".) However, I'm not keen on "unstructured socialising" and have developed a taste for Good Food. I've found a really nice kebab bistro hidden in a side alley just outside FB3 so I went there for a good meal, some craft cider and to catch up on my social media.

In the afternoon, my Blakes 7 game had only garnered one player. So I played in a game of TSR's "FASERIP" Marvel Superheroes. A personable and clever Referee (the organiser of the ConVergence convention - having Kang the Conqueror come back in time to harvest the potions of Kraven, Lizard and Mr Hyde). We were allowed to pick from a MASSIVE range of characters - we could have picked the core Avengers - but ended up with Cyclops, Wolverine, Beast and Captain Britain. Fun players. The guy channeling Wolverine was great, bub! I tried my best to embody Scott Somers' inner Boy Scout calling out orders that were just common sense.

But, by God,  what a clunky system! I know I have a history where its release undercut my own game back in the day, but the only thing fun about it were the characters and their emulation was pretty samey.

The convention ended at 6pm and most people went to the pub for a drink and more unstructured socialising. These events double as Twitter meet ups. However I chose to catch an early train home.

When I got home, I checked my travel arrangements for the convention I'd planned to go to on Sunday (Northants games day) only to find that replacement bus service meant I could no longer get to it on time. I was VERY annoyed. That's two conventions - Northants Games Day and Contingency - I'd been planning to go to which the British rail system had barred me from. The trains which got me to Contingency in 2019 no longer seem to exist in 2020. And it's still only January.

Anyway, back to WinterCon. A well organised, friendly, event with the option for quality social interaction - because of Twitter. At a superlative venue.

* I LOVE Fan Boy 3. I have two recommendations, though. They could do with buying a larger/faster/professional coffee machine. And, though they should stick strictly to their 10am opening times, the could do with letting convention organisers (only) in a bit earlier.

The highest standard of referees. Personable and experienced players who just want to have fun. Highly, highly, recommended.

If you're on Twitter.

My costs -

Entry £5. I got I for free as a Referee, so I won't count it in my personal total.

Travel £27.60 - including 30% off for senior citizens travel card (ouch!) Cheaper options available by buying advance singles.

Food/drink - 1 can at FB3 £1.50, 1 coffee at FB3 £2, lunch & cider at "Bab" c. £15 but well worth it.

Personal total: £46

Cost per game: £23
Cost per hour: £7.08

Chaosium Monthly Meet-up - 4th January 2020

I can’t get to every convention or event. And I don’t usually report on small local meet-ups. But my friend Matthew Pook - games reviewer extraordinaire  https://rlyehreviews.blogspot.com/  - attending this event and kindly let me copy his report:

“The UK calendar is filled with gaming events up and down the country, with nearly an event every weekend, and often multiple events taking place on the same weekend. Nevertheless, it was a surprise to start 2020 with a gaming event quite so early in the year—a claim which was previously held by Contingency and Spaghetti ConJunction—but the first of the Chaosium Monthly Meet-ups took place on January 4th at Dark Sphere. This is a cavernous games shop—both because of its size and it actually being underground—in Shepherds Bush, London. Primarily dedicated to war gaming and board games, the venue not only hosted Chaosium Monthly Meet-up #01 on the day, but an event for Armada, Fantasy Flight Games’ Star Wars battleship miniatures combat game. Plus other gamers were playing board games and card games.

Organised by Chaosium’s David Scott, there were five games run on the day. David Scott ran demonstration games of both King Arthur Pendragon and RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha; Ben Smith ran ‘When the Cut Fails’, an all-Morokanth HeroQuest adapted from Waha's Beast Quest taken from the Book of Drastic Solutions: Prax to RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha from Dissolution [CHECK]; and Jim Mozely ran ‘Darkness at Runegate’, an investigative scenario set in Runegate for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, twice.

The venue proved to be good. Although there was plenty going on, and the roleplaying being located at the back on three tables, the size of the shop meant that sound did not impede our play. So we could all hear each other. The venue’s facilities are decent, there is disabled access via escalators, and toilets. Dark Sphere sells cold snacks and drinks, but there is a coffee shop within two minutes’ walk and a supermarket within thirty seconds’ walk of the venue. Note that it mainly caters to war game and miniatures players, board game players, and CCG players, so it stocks very little in the way of roleplaying games. Hopefully this will change as the Chaosium Monthly Meet-ups grow in size, because it does mean that Dark Sphere is unlikely to make any money from us role players.

There were fifteen attendees. In the two games I played in, ‘When the Cut Fails’ and ‘Darkness at Runegate’, there was a good mix players—old hands familiar with RuneQuest II, but not RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha; those new to both Glorantha and RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha; and those familiar with RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha and just about familiar with Glorantha to know that they do not know a lot. (I am in the latter category.) Both scenarios over ran, but proved to be hugely enjoyable with some good roleplaying by everyone and big showdown set-pieces in which everyone got to be heroic and be useful. This is in the main because in convention games, players tend to splurge their characters’ Rune Points, but this in no way detracts from the play of a scenario. Surprisingly, I ended up playing a beclawed martial artist or brawler in both games purely by letting everyone else choose first! This meant that at times I was ripping off limb after limb.

Although the majority of the games at Chaosium Monthly Meet-up #01 were for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, this should not put off anyone planning to attend. Games are announced ahead of time and future events will include sessions for Call of Cthulhu, 7th Seas, and King Arthur Pendragon as well as RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha. My advice is to sign-up, plan ahead, and that way you will know what is on offer and can keep the travel costs down.”

Winter StabCon Fri 3rd Jan - Sun 5th Jan 2020

I always start my year with the wonderful StabCon.

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to make it this year. But I don’t want to miss it off my blog. I tried to convince someone to write a report for me but haven’t received one yet.

As usual it was at cheap hotel in Stockport. Well organised. Runs like a dream. Mainly board games but with a strong TTRPG track - especially once you’ve been there a couple of times and gotten your feet under the table. I was getting close to capacity a few years back but numbers were slightly down this time so if you fancy getting into this one, you should have few problems I highly recommend it.

One of the things I’m going to do on my blog this year is to give you details of how much conventions cost me to attend. Though this will vary depending upon where you live, hopefully the comparative figures will give you and idea of what kind of value there events offer.

As you know, I didn’t attend StabCon this year so this will be an estimate.

Return train fare from Birmingham under £30 for an open return. You can shave money off this by booking advance singles.

Two nights accommodation - booked through the convention - under £100 including breakfast. You can sometimes get these rooms cheaper through Hotel Booking sites especially if you leave it until the last minute. However, for the small saving I prefer to have it sorted by the con organisers. Seems impolite not to. And if you leave it too late to get the very best deals you run the risk of the hotel booking out.

Convention entry costs £15 for the weekend. Single days are available but why bother?

The special convention menu at the hotel is very reasonable. Two meals a day, less than £20 total. Free tea and coffee.

I didn’t get the cost of a pint of lager but I remember it being very cheap.

Factoring in taxis from the station, I’d guess my total costs would be a little over £200. Less than £240.

Over the weekend I can play 6 four hour games.

Cost per game £40.
Cost per hour £10.

LEEDS STEAMPUNK MARKET 7th/8th December 2019

LEEDS STEAMPUNK MARKET 7th/8th December 2019

As you know, over the past couple of years I’ve started to fill in my slate of convention-going by going to non-Gaming geek/nerd events. I offer to run short demonstration TTRPG scenarios to introduce people to this wonderful hobby

Some of my best and worst experiences have been at Steampunk conventions. Best because Steampunks are remarkably splendid people. It’s something they pride themselves on. Also, many Steampunks put a lot of effort into creating a Steampunk “persona” - which is not dissimilar to creating a TTRPG character. Worst because the events are rammed with things for them to do and many people simply don’t have time to sit down for a game.

And I’ve come to love the two worlds I run Steampunk games in. My own alt-Victorian British Commonwealth setting and Martin Pickett’s Victorian Colony of Mars.

A few weeks ago I was sent an email by the Organisers of the Leeds Steampunk market. I’d written to them previously offering games but their events had never matched a gap in my diary. This time, however, it slotted neatly into the pre-Christmas convention drought. (There’s never anything between Dragonmeet and the New Year.)

It wasn't addressed to me personally but was a general mailing. Rather than feeling slighted this actually pleased me. It meant that Steampunk organisers are now proactively thinking about offering games at their events. AND that they have a list of people to approach to offer them. Looks like we're going mainstream. (Steam-stream?)

For some reason the event wasn't actually in Leeds but had been moved to Castleford, a place I was completely unfamiliar with. I found cheap accommodation and booked a train. Luckily I could travel up Saturday morning and save paying for Friday night lodgings.

The event was a two day one but had nothing happening in the evening. As usual when this happens I looked around for a venue to offer a game in the evening if I could find players, but nothing leapt out at me. I did have one pub recommended to me, so I kept it in my back pocket just in case.

I did some minor promotion through the event's FaceBook page but - to be honest - most of my focus was on Dragonmeet and I didn't do as much as I usually do.

So I got up early Saturday morning and set off. Because I just can't trust the buses early Saturday morning in Birmingham, I got a taxi into the city. This got me to New Street station early enough to catch an earlier train. However, after I'd boarded, I checked my new route only to find it included a 46 minute walk between stations in Wakefield! I quickly got off and waited for my pre-arranged train.

Everything was fine until we got to Sheffield where I was due to change trains. Then -as it so often does - the UK train system imploded. For the longest time there were no trains out of Sheffield and - when there were - none seemed to go to Castleford. Luckily I was looked after by a very helpful young man won told me - eventually - to just get onto a train to Barnsley and to get off there to look for a connection to Castleford. After this safari around the North of England, I was over an hour and half late getting to the event.

But, and I can't stress this enough, because I'm a professional and build in buffer time I was still there before the event opened.

The venue was an old water mill. The biggest stone ground mill in the world? It's on a weir and the view out of the windows are stunning. It's been partially refurbished as a multi-use venue and is full of amazing spaces with oak beams, girders and many huge iron features. The games room was on the top floor but there was a lift. It was large, light and airy. A perfect place to play. I found most of the tables were already taken over by a young couple offering board games. I'd worked with them before at the Fantasticon SciFi convention.

There was also a table in the room reserved for the "Coffee Jousting". I was aware that many Steampunk Events had "Tea Duelling" but this was first experience of this version. Apparently Tea Duelling has evolved and there is now a National Governing body which only register victories from officially affiliated events. Hence this iteration, whose rules were totally totally different but just as complicated and were informed by the same ethos.

We waited. And waited. I'm used to things being slow at Steampunk events. In fact my morning spiel normally tells people to look around and come back to play a game when they want to rest their feet because we have the chairs!

However, this was even slower than usual. The event opened at 11:00 am but it was 11:48 before the first people even found the room and they didn't stay very long. We were on the top floor, it turned out, at the top of a secondary staircase. In fact when I popped out for a drink and something to eat (the Mill has an exceptional tea shop - and bar - attached to it) I couldn't find my way back our room. The door to our staircase was very obscure.

Eventually a family of three - mum, dad and son - accompanied by the son's friend, sat down to play. The dad was a TTRPG referee in his own right and I was mainly interested in showing his wife what the hobby was all about. We were joined by the son of one of the traders and I ran a game of the "The Occidental Express".

This is one of those scenarios which  started off as a title suggested by someone on an online forum which is rapidly developing a life of its own. Five huge Steam-liners joined together to make a single huge ocean train. What could possible go wrong?

Luckily the game was a hoot - literally. (I wasn't expecting the extremely vicious Owl that popped in to guest star.) The kids seemed more interested in robbing the casino than solving the mystery. The dad - who was like a hyperactive kid himself - went full noir private eye. Whilst the mum sighed, rolled her eyes, and did all the sensible stuff. The game coincided with the coffee jousting and may have been so loud that it interfered with that. But I didn't really care, I was having so much fun.

But that was literally the only game I ran all day. The board games seemed to get very little interest as well. Whilst tweeting about it, I was invited to an event in Leeds the following day and began to make arrangements to jump ship.

However, at the end of the day, and unprompted, the organisers moved us to a room on the main staircase lower down where we'd get more passing trade. So I decided to give the event another chance on Sunday.

Though I remembered to pack my Top Hat away, I forgot about the waistcoat and bow tie. So I checked into my accommodation (a "salt of the earth" type pub) and walked the streets of Castleford to an nearby ("salt of the earth") Fish Restaurant still wearing them! I must have looked a real sight!

Sunday morning was a revelation. The sub £30 room came with included continental breakfast - hot being a bit extra. I was considering buying the hot breakfast to fill up but the morning staff at the pub made the cold offering as good as anything you'd find in a four star hotel. The fruits looked individually polished.  I filled my boots and was VERY happy.

The Sunday room was smaller but busier. We got more passing trade. There was a close-up magician who was so good he made my brain hurt. I had to tell him to go away. What he was doing was literally impossible.

I ran three games of The Black Hack. Most of my clientele were children accompanied by a smaller number of adults. Some stayed on for more than one game. It was lucky I've now got three totally different demonstration scenarios. My favourite punter was a granny who was looking for a game to play with her grand-children at Christmas. Though I was able to show her the principles of TTRPGs, I wasn't able to recommend an out-of-the-box game which would do the job in the same way that Monopoly used to. I need to do some research there.

At the end of the day, I checked the trains and the system had imploded again. I set off a bit early on a wing and a prayer - heading in the wrong direction - via Leeds and managed to connect with a delayed train home. In fact I ended up getting home earlier than I'd planned.

This event was an end of the year poser for me. Going to conventions costs money, time and effort. I need to look at the costs and benefits. I ended up with four one hour games over a weekend, which I'd call a net loss. Sometimes - like when I ran games at The Town That Never Was Steampunk event - I'd call it a Loss Leader, making contacts and preparing the ground for a more successful year next year. However, before I do a Steampunk MARKET again (as opposed to a Convention) I think I'd have to insist on having a highly visible place near the front of the event.

I'd always recommend visiting a Steampunk event. They are lovely welcoming places full of splendid people. What ComiCons should be but too often aren't. But they aren't all set up to make the best use of somebody like me.

Dragonmeet 2019

Dragonmeet 2019 - Saturday 30th November - Hammersmith, London

TLDR - A massive pre-Christmas all-you-can eat buffet of a convention. Too much to fit into a single day. Whatever you’re looking for you’ll find it here.

Dragonmeet has been going for years. As the big analogue gaming event in the nation’s capital you’d expect it to be one of the country’s premiere events. Though it has always been good, it has had trouble in the past living up to it’s potential - in my humble opinion.

Recent years have seen an upturn with it moving to bigger and bigger venues and expanding its size and the breadth of what it offers. This hasn’t always been an easy process. Though the 2018 event was large and successful, the event outgrew traditional paper-based game booking systems, for example, with some unfortunate consequences.

But the current organisers pressed on. The same venue - a huge convention hotel in Hammersmith London - was used again but with far more space booked. The convention was advertised months in advance and referees were asked to submit games.

Though the convention caters for all manner of “analogue” (non-computer) games, this blog only concerns itself with #TTRPGS and these come in several different packages at Dragonmeet. There are living world games prebooked and organised by their respective societies. Traders selling and demonstrating their games - and all the new and latest games can be found here. Then there is a wonderful “Games on Demand Room” where you can drop in to play 2 hour games, with new games starting every hour. Of course there’s lots of open gaming space and people come and set up ad hoc games. Finally - and of most interest to me - there’s the organised track of 4 hour games.

For this latter we were asked to submit games months in advance. This always gives me some pause because I always worry that my tastes may change before the day. So I left it until the last minute - mere weeks before the day - and submitted a Steampunk game for the morning, a Star Trek Game for the afternoon and a quirky game based on a Channel 4 comedy series in the evening. My games were advertised on the web-site. I was a bit put out by the number and quality of other games on offer and wondered if I’d even get any players.

If you offer to run games, you get free entry to the convention - so it’s well worth offering to run one game session as you’re left with plenty of time to experience everything else.

Then, as the convention neared, the organisers announced they were introducing an electronic prebooking system for #TTRPGS. This is pretty typical to be honest. Dragonmeet is like an Iceberg with 90% of the work and preparation going on behind the scenes - out of sight. Things are only announced when they’re finalised. Often quite late in the day.

To prevent people booking games and then not turning up to play - a problem with pre-booking systems and some #TTRPG players - there was a nominal £2 charge per ticket - on top of entry to the convention - but this money was donated to charity.

Then we had the pre-convention fun of checking our games to see if we had any bookings. My Star Trek game booked out almost immediately. My Steampunk game was slower. My quirky evening game gained no traction, but I’d half expected that. (My evening game hadn’t run in 2018.)

Days before the event communications boosted at all levels. PDFs of the - impressive - programme were emailed to all attendees and Game Referees received clear instructions.

One of the drawbacks of Dragonmeet is that it is a full day in London near Christmas. If you want to stay to the end, you either need to be local or book overnight accommodation which is pretty expensive. (Though convenient, staying at the convention hotel is costly.) To be honest, I’d resigned myself to Dragonmeet being a one short one-day event for me - travelling down in the morning and back home later, missing the evening session, most years. But the British railway system spoilt even that, with me often being delayed by late trains. (This year there was an actual Train Strike on the day of the event!) Luckily in recent years and in return for a couple of favours I’ve had people kindly offer to put me up in London, so I can travel down Friday evening and back on Sunday - enjoying the whole Dragonmeet day.

If you can only get there for morning and afternoon sessions, the event is still amazing but if you CAN stay for the whole thing, it’s even better.

Hammersmith is easy to get to from anywhere in London. I heard of people booking cheaper accommodation elsewhere in the city and travelling to and from the con on public transport options they’d researched, so you don’t even have to stay particularly nearby. The nearby shopping precinct above the underground station has lots of great places to grab a bite to eat. 

Not having to rush down, I booked a cheaper train for Friday evening and had a pleasant and relaxed journey and pre-convention night with my acquaintances. I rose early Saturday morning, grabbed breakfast, bought some comestibles from a nearby supermarket and went to the venue well before opening time. As a Referee I was let in early and was able to find my gaming room and select and set up a table. From my point of view everything seemed well organised.

I had some time to browse the two trade halls and other offerings. This included the excellent programme - which includes #TTRPG scenarios and a Space Whale Game. Nome of these were needed but they were great inclusions.

I was surprised how many traders had seemed to leave setting up until the morning of the event. However, I suppose they also want to avoid the London accommodation costs and travel to and from the venue in a single day. It must be hard work for them (but profitable).

Apart from the two trade halls - which seem to sell everything anyone could want (and more) - and all the gaming I listed above, Dragonmeet also has a massive bring and buy area, an excellent  programme of seminars, a podcast zone - where listeners and broadcasters can meet - and is the big annual industry meet up. Anyone who is anyone is there - somewhere.

And this is another issue with the event - there’s simply too much for any one person to do. You have to carefully plan your day and - even then - you’ll probably have to miss out something you wanted to do. I don’t see how anyone could claim they’re not getting their money’s worth.

In a cunning bit of planning, doors open for #TTRPG players at 9:00am, aiming to have games starting by 9:30am. The trade halls don’t open until 10:00am. Thousands of people come to the convention and this smart idea staggers the opening, reducing the queues - a bit.

Any games which are fully prebooked or which have only once space left are considered full. Any games with two or more spaces spare have written sign-up sheets which punters can sign into on the day. These one the day sign ups are free.

This is the first year of the electronic pre-booking system and it is excellent. It certainly ameliorated all the issues with having hundreds of people trying to sign into games on the day. However, I hope in a future upgrade they’re able to produce more attractive on-the-day signup sheets. 

Gaming takes place in conference rooms on the floor above the trade halls. Tables in each room are left free so games don’t encroach on each other. In fact some referees chose to push tables together to make larger tables for their games. I like to keep my tables small and intimate. But they needed room for all the gaming bling they’d brought - which, I’ll admit, slightly intimidated me. I may need to up my game a bit in future years to compete.

As I’ve said, my first game was Steampunk. This was an expansion of a one hour demonstration which I’d taken round Steampunk conventions in 2019 which had begun to develop a mind of its own. Giant Drill, Hollow Earth, Dinosaurs. You know the kind of thing. Great players, great fun. Oddly for me I over-ran into lunchtime. However as the lunch break at Dragonmeet is now two hours that was no problem.

For lunch you have the option of eating in the hotel - expensive but high quality - nipping out to one of the nearby hostelries or snacking on your own smuggled in goodies. (Remember my visit to the Supermarket earlier on?)

I then had a full 90 minutes to tour the trade halls, chat to friends, visit the podcast zone etc. (I resisted the urge to tell them who I was and trying to get them to interview me.) This was enough time to remind me that my “thing” is refereeing games and all of the other convention stuff just doesn’t interest me. 

My afternoon Star Trek game was great. Players just turned up, picked their characters and we had a great time. Uhuru and Sulu were a bit more proactive than usual. Kirk seemed a bit bewildered. Scotty and Spock were both spot on. In fact Spock was so effective that I had great fun reining him in by having a female Vulcan scientist outranking him in every field and questioning his logic. (Of course she turned out to be a Romulan spy and revenge was sweet.)

The break between the afternoon and evening games was shorter than at lunchtime. The trade halls close in the evening and most people seem to leave then to go home or go out socialising in the big city. My plan was find a game which needed an extra player and join in.

For speed I chose to eat in the hotel. There was a buffet which was a bit pricey (£18) but was proper restaurant food and the gamer-friendly all you can pile on your plate idea appealed to me. I also enjoyed a pint of lager. Whilst hotel prices - £5 isn’t bad for London and is still cheaper than UK Games Expo. (Which being in Birmingham should be cheaper.)

I then waited around the signup sheets seeing which games needed a player. When there were a handful of us in the same boat I cheekily offered them a Steampunk game - and ended up with a 5 player game! I ran my classic Missing Dinosaur game and it delivered as always. Though this bunch didn’t choose to turn the mad scientist in to the authorities, instead electing to seize his crazy inventions for their own commercial ends. Great fun though.

Then back to my accommodation and an early journey home on Sunday.

Ten different people visiting Dragonmeet would have ten different days out, all good. The expansion in size and electronic booking system for games seem to have made it even better. On a personal note, finding ways to do the whole day cost effectively has transformed my approach to and view of the event. It’s more relaxed and less rushed.

It’s an essential part of most people’s calendar and one they look forward to. Though a great event to arrive at ad hoc, it’s best enjoyed with some careful and cunning pre-planning.