The Convention Game Gamble

 “Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”

— T. S. Eliot

Middle-earth 54mm miniatures game, with
player aid card and "burning" buildings.

I like running convention games; I’ve been hosting them for more than 30 years. These days they present one of the few opportunities I have to play games with a broader audience. Yet they usually require a great deal of investment...and risk. I’m preparing to run two events at an upcoming convention (Call to Arms in Williamsburg, VA) and I’m feeling the exhilarating excitement and anxious dread I typically experience beforehand. I love running these games, sharing my enthusiasm for a period, genre, and game system, often introducing newcomers to my particular corner of the hobby, and seeing where the combination of a given scenario and a diverse assemblage of players takes a game. But it also comes with a great deal of anxiety. Will I get many or any players? What kind of players will join? Will the game make a generally positive impression with attendees? These come on top of typical convention concerns like logistics regarding table size, hotel arrangements, scheduling accuracy, promotion (or lack thereof), and navigating an often overpacked gaming floor. It all emphasizes the gamble we take hosting games at conventions...often at our own expense.

Gaming Great Bridge IV: Playtesting Insights

 “Nine-tenths of tactics are certain, and taught in books: but the irrational tenth is like the kingfisher flashing across the pool, and that is the test of generals.”

— T. E. Lawrence

I’ve been spending time writing down the rules for processes discussed earlier, with an eye to producing both a rulebook for a board wargame and a streamlined player aid format of rules for the event where I expect to run the Battle of Great Bridge game demo. Once I had some firm rules down as a baseline for game play, I devised a gridded map, found some generic pieces to use, and started some self-play testing (with me taking turns running both sides), given my general lack of local players. I made a few adjustments, but overall it seems to deliver the experience I’d hoped to offer: basic rules with player choices, short play time, and all taking into account some historical considerations.

Game with Friends or Strangers?

 “There are no strangers here; only friends you haven't yet met.”

— William Butler Yeats

Friends with pizza, dice, games...
and an otherworldly stranger.

Recently someone on my social media feed asked if folks preferred gaming with friends or strangers. It’s an interesting question, with the answer often depending on our own gaming preferences, social circumstances, and personalities. I’ve been gaming more than 40 years and have done my share at tables with friends and strangers. Both experiences gave me headaches and drama...and both provided amazingly fulfilling moments. Each forced me to take a closer look at how we interact over roleplaying games as players and gamemasters, examining what worked and what didn’t, determining how best to prepare, and considering how what happens at the table — how we interact with each other — makes everyone feel.

Culling the Game Collection

 “Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.”

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

The West End Games Star Wars Roleplaying Game shelf.

I am a pack rat. I hate sorting through my stuff and deciding to get rid of any of it, whether to trade, donate, recycle, or trash. Especially books and games, which hold an almost sacred significance for me. But lately, for various reasons, I’ve found myself more closely examining books and games acquired over the years. Many still have sentimental meaning; many still provide a sense of wonder and joy when revisiting them; many remain relevant to my writing and game design interests as inspiration and reference material. Yet some, probably more than I’m willing to admit, do not. Their luster has faded, my interests have moved along, or I’ve kept them despite their never really having measured up to my expectations or needs. So this year I’ve reluctantly embarked on a campaign to cull my book and game collections...for which I have outlined a general rationale; nothing hard-and-fast, but some flexible conditions under which I’m willing to part with items in my collection.

Nouns & Scenario Design

 “It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.”

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

I’m enjoying a spate of adventure design and writing as I prepare a Pulp Egypt scenario for an upcoming convention game. I haven’t run a roleplaying game session in a while; it’s been a few years since I penned one (and that’s still not seen publication). But I’ve wanted to run a new Pulp Egypt adventure for a while and this idea had been percolating in the back of my head for a while. I’d thought of writing it as a D6 System solitaire adventure (much like Trapped in the Museum, but a bit longer), with the character pursuing a mystery around notable locations in Cairo, but I wasn’t ready for another fully involved programmed adventure. So when friends asked me to run something at this upcoming convention, I started putting ideas on the page. It all proved an opportunity to try something different with my scenario design and writing process.

History & RPG Settings

 “History is a set of lies agreed upon.”

— Napoleon Bonaparte

The author in Landsknecht
regalia sweating it out
at the VA Renfaire.

I began my adventure gaming hobby journey more than 40 years ago with fantasy roleplaying games, but along the way I’ve also cultivated a growing interest in historical wargames linked to my enthusiasm for various historical periods. I have, on occasion, tried to merge the two, setting roleplaying game adventures in historical periods. These entertainments used historical elements as a backdrop for more cinematic action where the player’s heroes had the freedom to go anywhere and do anything, often beyond the historical and cultural norms, a core concept roleplaying games pioneered in the field of play (as highlighted in Jon Peterson’s groundbreaking work Playing at the World, expressed as the idea that “anything can be attempted”). Certainly there’s room for occasional — and often one-shot — historical roleplaying game experiences where accuracy enhances an exploration of more serious intellectual and emotional themes. But more frequently historical accuracy plays second fiddle (at best) to roleplaying game expedients placing the focus on the characters and their actions (and consequences) in the context of an engaging plot. It’s using history as window dressing for an entertaining story. Historical settings can tap players’ enthusiasm for various periods and provide environments based in some commonly understood reality, they work best in roleplaying games when infused with fantastic elements.

Gaming Great Bridge III: Interaction Factors

 “Principles and rules are intended to provide a thinking man with a frame of reference.”

— Carl von Clausewitz

Painting by Glenn Moore depicting
the British attack on the American
breastworks at the Battle of Great Bridge.

Now I’ve transposed the historical battle to the game board, the real challenge begins: determining how players interact with pieces and the map to simulate the engagement. All while keeping my original parameters in mind. In my past talks about historical strategy games I summarized core game processes as “Move, Attack, Morale.” Relying on my earlier research, I set out to define when and how players would command their forces within the framework of a turn sequence...my first design choice challenge.