Getting back to some semi-serious game-mastering was rather good for my soul. Here's my re-cap of the events, along with my thoughts from the "Green" notebook.
Thursday's scribble- "I bring in the Torpedo from Toledo and his cable TV show for three paranormal adventures. I hope BASHConners don't get jealous."
"Hunting Big Foot,"
A Stay Alive adventure, for Thursday morning.
Notes: Maybe it was because this was the first event ran but this was one good game. Great characterizations. The players playing the film crew got right into it. The locals got quirky as quickly as they read their PC sheets. The players actually succeeded at the scenarios objective, getting a clear and focused shot of a saquatch (that's BIG FOOT). I had to stay on top of the pacing, but the players jumped in on my prompting.
Afterthoughts: Probably my favorite game of the convention.
"The Keys to Christmas Place"
Rolling dice and hacking in the afternoon.
Notes: Why in the world did I ever put one of my darkest horror scenarios in the middle of the afternoon? I actually thought that I was doing a T&T scenario and had to double-check what I was running. True to my horror, one of the ticket-buyers brought his preteen kids to it.
Afterthoughts: This session helped increase my flexibility immensely. I turned it from pretty much a horrible detail porno into "a gory pulp story" according the father bringing his kids. Things working.
"The Horrible Fate of the Haunted House Hunters"
Rolling dice and hacking the day's end.
Notes: The original adventure, back for its third re-writing and sixth play group. Had a group of players that knew each other. Because of the party atmosphere, the first to acts where letting the Characters think that they were doing the writing. The third act was me pulling the rug out from underneath their feet. The scenario matrix works just fine. Dead Characters stuck around, even worked in a flashback.
Afterthoughts: A few players really enjoyed "the twists". If it went bad, I'd would've have a real bad night.
Friday's scribbling- "Ah yeah, boyee. It's experimental."
"The Goldfish Incident"
My Spacers game for 2015
Notes: Having left the old rules book at home, as well as not having the new stuff at least printed up, did not help this game. At least I had pre-gens. The least interested player at first turned out to be almost as big a fan of space opera as me.
Have a great start to the next episode already.
Afterthoughts: Totally have next Spacers episode soundly started based on this ending. 4 hours and 21 minutes. HAH! I'd like to think that we were indulging ourselves. This might be the real gem of this GenCon.
"The Wrong Moon"
Crawlspace shoot, 7-11pm.
Notes: Eight people at the table is a bit much for Crawl. I was tired and more than three players were less than enthused about being at the table. It was the players though that made this session end with a classic twist. The point of the scenario is to have the ISS avoid crashing into the Blind Spot (from "Party Nights") once something from Earth touches it, the end of the world begins. Having turned the character role "Astronaut's Love Interest" to "Astronaut's Parent" the player turned his Character into a failed, drunken father. The cultists working at the company, Space Z, found a way for him to not only get into space but be seen saving his son.
The ISS was able to avoid crashing into essentially the Spawn of Azathoth, but his father was coming right up behind him. He gave a wonderfully drunken speech as he would become the first man ever to land on an asteroid. And thus the End began...
Afterthoughts: Definitely working in the second launch into the scenario.
"Full Moon in Grimhaver"
Crawlspace at midnight.
Notes: Four people, five tickets. Nice and quick Hammer horror story. Got out before the room got too sweaty because the A/C clicks off at 11pm-- the time my game started.
Afterthoughts: Remember to bring copies of Crawlspace Gothic and the Crawl Clock visual aid next time.
Saturday's scribble-"Into the home stretch with easy ones."
"Yetis, Yet Again"
T&T adventure for this GenCon that afternoon.
Notes: Six players, four had played before. Newcomers friends with older players. My Tunnel-Hack charts made everything look easy. Spent a bit of time talking about non-RPG things, like local tax systems in Indianapolis and Cleveland. I loved the final scenes, killed like almost everyone.
Afterthoughts: Either I make it look too easy or I look like I don't know what I as doing. I was accused of making it up as I go along. My math values for the game were spot on.
"Close the Door"
Crawlspace shoot, 11pm-3am.
Notes: Forgot to bring decks of cards. Folks found card dealing apps on their phones, w/o Jokers though. The Boy, who was allowed to come with me, ran and bought some from hotel shop (STILL OPEN!!!). Eight players, working well together. The world, drunks and heat of the room, around us was making the game very hard.
Afterthoughts: GMs should not have to work this hard.
Sunday's scribble- "There's a fine line between art and camp and I crossed it a decade ago. Hope it goes easier today than last night."
"Easter Bunny, the Holy Day Horror"
Crawlspace the "brunch" shoot.
Notes: Seven players, three groups of father-son and the Boy. Plot moved along quickly, Grimhaver is getting very well defined in my mind. Players got right into their roles as locals and caught on to the rules rather easily.
Afterthoughts: None. Need to get this formatted and get some artwork.
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