tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4562546944242885901.post3790859251318806455..comments2024-03-23T03:14:12.457-04:00Comments on Raging Owlbear: GM 101: Con Game Lessons LearnedRaging Owlbearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10556804177905125874noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4562546944242885901.post-62664194486133061992019-04-26T21:51:04.362-04:002019-04-26T21:51:04.362-04:00I'm glad I'm not the only one who made thi...I'm glad I'm not the only one who made this mistake!<br /><br />My wife and I have been going to cons since shortly after we met, and the last few years she has been running games. This year I finally threw my hat into the ring... perhaps a little too far. For my first time ever as a con GM I ran three games of three different systems, Skyrealms of Jorune, Star Wars, and Hercules and Xena. Jorune and Star Wars I hadn't played since the 90s, and Herc & Xena I had never played (although it is based on the d6 system so it was pretty easy to pick up, actually).<br /><br />I started with Skyrealms of Jorune, a world and game I love, but haven't run since 1994-5. Like you, I should have spent more time re-familiarizing myself with the system. I thought the rules reference I wrote would make up for it, but nothing beats a playtest.<br /><br />Due to this mistake, the fight meant to introduce players to the system ended up eating about fifty percent of the playtime. When I ran this game back in the 90s I had one player, so never noticed that combat was long. The adorable clunkiness of the system times six players certainly ate up time.<br /><br />Like in your Paranoia game, player familiarity was also an issue. None of my players had played Jorune before, and due to a tech problem (thanks OneDrive!) I didn't get to show the intro PowerPoint I made. Consequently, my intro to the world consisted of a half-baked history lesson while I pointed at pretty pictures. It probably was not very engaging or even helpful in understanding the world.<br /><br />In the end, most of the adventure got thrown by the wayside due to time. While the younger players seemed to have fun (they got to fight sky pirates!), the older player who was really only interested in exploring a Skyrealm seemed disappointed because that was the part that got cut. I felt like a pretty lousy GM, even though most of the players seemed to have fun.<br /><br />In retrospect, I think that a game like Jorune isn't really suitable for Con play because it is super hard to get players into character, because as you alluded to, they have no frame of reference. At the same con my wife ran B5 and it went amazingly, even though neither of us had ever used the system (and it was SUPER clunky). I think this was because the players already knew the world, and could get into character a lot easier. They knew what roles they were playing. We spent 95% of the time roleplaying, so the system didn't matter, we were just living in the world. That wouldn't have been possible with random players sitting down at a table unless they were already familiar with the world.<br /><br />I think we sometimes forget how much the pervasiveness of the culture of D&D helps. Just about every roleplayer has a pretty idea what an archetypical halfling rogue is "supposed" to do, even if they've never played one before.<br /><br />This lesson was borne out when I ran Hercules & Xena and Star Wars the next day. Those games went a million times better than Jorune, I think because the players had a much easier time getting into character. Honestly, running the Herc & Xena game was the most fun I've had as a GM in years.<br /><br />This is a pretty long winded story, but mostly I wanted to say you're not the only one who made this mistake, so don't be so hard on yourself! And if you have some pop culture games/story ideas, those might work pretty good at a con to help players get into character quicker!Edward Mahoneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11610746538602445700noreply@blogger.com