Tenkar's Tavern: When at a Con - Scheduled Games or Open Gaming?

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

When at a Con - Scheduled Games or Open Gaming?

I expect I'll do a bit of both at NTRPG Con, but I'm wondering if folks organize last minute games via social media.

My last con was GenCon in 93, and I don't recall any open gaming. Then again, that might be because I had stuff scheduled from 8 am to 12 am the first 3 days ;)

In any case, when you go to a con, how much gaming do you plan for in advance?

2 comments:

FlambeauxMarch 11, 2014 at 2:38 PM
For NTRPG Con, I sign up for the games I want to play. Then I hang out between games and just kibbitz. I've played some pick-up games and even run a few. But, for the most part, if I do non-stop gaming for four days I'm exhausted at the end of it and don't want to game for another couple of months...which is really hard on my kids.

So, for me, it's about pacing. And I play it by ear, the way I do any tempo changes in life. :D
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The Game MasterMarch 12, 2014 at 7:21 AM
Try for any game you are interested in, and if you don't get it, hang out in the open gaming area. Chances are that someone will come into the open gaming looking for people to play in such and such game as certain players did not show, even though they signed up for it.. Happened twice so far to me
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Why "Swords & Wizardry?"

Believe me when I say I have them all in dead tree format. I have OSRIC in full size, trade paperback and the Player's Guide. I have LL and the AEC (and somewhere OEC, but I can't find it at the moment). Obviously I have Basic Fantasy RPG. Actually, I have the whole available line in print. Way too much Castles & Crusades. We all know my love for the DCC RPG. I even have Dark Dungeons in print, the Delving Deeper boxed set, Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea. BOTH editions of LotFP's Weird Fantasy and some dead tree copies of the Greyhawk Grognards Adventures Dark & Deep

I am so deep in the OSR when I come up for breath it's for the OSR's cousin, Tunnels & Trolls

So, out of all that, why Swords & Wizardry? Why, when I have been running a AD&D 1e / OSRIC campaign in Rappan Athuk am I using Swords & Wizardry and it's variant, Crypts & Things, for the second campaign? (Actually, now running a S&W Complete campaign, soon to be with multiple groups)

Because the shit works.

It's easy for lapsed gamers to pick up and feel like they haven't lost a step. I can house rule it and it doesn't break. It plays so close to the AD&D of my youth and college years (S&W Complete especially) that it continually surprises me. Just much less rules hopping than I remember. (my God but I can run it nearly without the book)

I grab and pick and steal from just about all OSR and Original resources. They seem to fit into S&W with little fuss. It may be the same with LL and the rest, but for me the ease of use fit's my expectations with S&W.

Even the single saving throw. That took me longer to adjust to, but even that seems like a natural to me now. Don't ask me why, it just does. Maybe it's the simplicity of it. At 45 52, simplicity and flexibility while remaining true to the feel of the original is an OSR hat trick for me ;)

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Tuesday, March 11, 2014

When at a Con - Scheduled Games or Open Gaming?

2 comments:

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