Tag Archives: TTRPG

Gary Con 2022, Pt 1

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“Dice throwers and rock n rollers

We need you more than ever now

Shield bearers and denim wearers

We’ve got to play this story out”

Dice Throwers & Rock n’ Rollers, Gygax

I am planning to attend Gary Con 2022 this year. I will be playing 12 hours of games and running 24 hours of games. My schedule is as follows:

Thursday

0900 – Save Weird Tales! – Call of Cthulhu – Player

1400 – Hyperborea: Spirits of the Land –  AS&SH (2E) – Player

2000 – Vitacore 717 – Mothership – Player

Friday

0800 – Hive Of The Overmind – Mutant Crawl Classics (MCC) – GM

1400 – Reliquary of the Ancient Ones – Mutant Crawl Classics (MCC) – GM 

2000 – Carnage In The Casino – Mutant Crawl Classics (MCC) – GM

Saturday

0800 – Hive Of The Overmind – Mutant Crawl Classics (MCC) – GM

1400 – Reliquary of the Ancient Ones – Mutant Crawl Classics (MCC) – GM 

2000 – Carnage In The Casino – Mutant Crawl Classics (MCC) – GM

I’ll post a report on how the games went after the con. If you are a fan of the blog and are going to be at Gary Con 2022 please stop by and say “Hello”.

Pay To Play

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“Money changes everything”

Money Changes Everything – Cyndi Lauper

I confess I have, in a way, been paid to game master. This has happened at conventions (both physical and virtual) when I have been given items and swag and/or free memberships for my efforts as a game master. (But I have never been paid money directly to run a game.) So does that make me a professional game master? Or does it require direct payments of cash to a game master to make them a professional? I don’t know.

I confess I have also paid to play games. Usually at a convention (either physical or virtual) when they charge for individual events or via paying for a membership. I admit that when I pay for a game my expectations go up a bit, but I don’t necessarily assume I’m going to play with a “professional” game master. (Although, I have played with gaming professionals at conventions.)

Now normally, I wouldn’t even have thought about this, but when I decided to attend Roll20con, I discovered StartPlaying.Games. StartPlaying.Games is a site that allows “professional” game masters to market their game sessions and campaigns for money to potential players. Roll20con used StartPlaying.Games to manage its sessions. 

Now at a convention, I don’t mind paying for my sessions and I didn’t mind it at Roll20con either (especially when there is no membership fee), but I will say that the costs were a bit out of line with other conventions I attend. Normally, conventions, if they charge for individual events, run about a dollar or less an hour. StartPlaying.Games averages $18 for a 4-hour session which is more than $4 an hour. That is pricey for a one-shot or a campaign session. Even one offered by a so-called professional.

This all leads to what constitutes a professional game master. I’ve played with a lot of game masters most at no cost to me but my time. Most of them are pretty average. (I include myself in this category.) I expect a lot out a game master that calls themself a professional. And that bar is set by my friend Dave Coulson.

Dave Coulson is a gaming professional. He runs a small company called Cut To The Chase Games. Dave is the best game master I have ever played with. He writes great adventures. He knows how to manage a table of gamers and keep everyone involved. He brings life to all his NPCs with his acting skills. He is imaginative and knows when to apply the rules and when not to. He is all around a great game master.

So in the end I guess, I consider the whole idea of professional game masters kind of silly but if people want to charge for their games (outside of a convention) fine, but if you are going charge that game, it better be great.

Games I Want Run

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“Hear the stories fancy free.

Hear these tales of fantasy.

No real journeys, no real pain,

No understanding left to gain!”

The Circus At the End of the World – Abney Park

I own a hell of a lot of TTRPGs. I have many I’ve never played or run. I currently run Mutant Crawl Classics (MCC) and Viking Death Squad (or I will as soon as I get it going on my Discord server in a play-by-post format). And I play in D&D 5e, Call Of Cthulhu, and Delta Green campaigns. This is a short list of games I want to run (or play) when I get a chance.

Icons – Super Heroes

I picked up Icons a long time ago and have wanted to try it for a while. I’ve tried to get into a game of it at a con a few times but it has never pan out. I love superhero games but they are hard to balance. I ran and played a lot of Champions when I was younger and it was a lot of fun. I hope that Icons or Mutants & Masterminds can scratch that itch.

Mutants & Masterminds – Super Heroes

See my comments above.

Art of Wuxia – Kung Fu Fantasy

I love kung fu movies from China and Hong Kong. I love the fantasy of the east. I think it would be fun to run or play a game set in those stories and myths.

Paranoia – Science Fiction Comedy

I ran the 1st edition of Paranoia when I was a kid (ok, a teenager). I didn’t totally get it then, but I have a much better understanding of the game now and how to run it I have played it a few times now. I supported the Kickstarter for the latest edition and ended up with two copies of the game that are collecting dust. I look for to playing and running it again. Paranoia if done right will be fun, crazy, and mess with your head.

Weird Frontiers – Weird West

I discovered Weird Frontiers when it was still going by the name Dark Trails and was just about to go on Kickstarter. I supported it at a ridiculously high level. I’ve played it three times at conventions and have loved it. There is something fun about horror, especially cosmic horror, mixed with the wild west. Weird Frontiers is DCC (Dungeon Crawl Classics) compatible which is currently my favorite fantasy RPG. 

Mothership – Science Fiction Horror

Started as a way to play space truckers versus galactic horrors, Mothership is the original Alien rpg. I’ve played Mothership once and will play it again at the upcoming Gary Con 2022. It is fun and has great mechanics for handling the stress of the horrors of space.

Death Divers – Science Fiction Horror

A setting for the Heroic Dark system, Death Divers is described as The Expanse meets Doom. I supported Death Divers on Kickstarter. It looks awesome and I look forward to checking it out as either a player or game master.

SCP – Horror

A game about hunting for and helping to contain and protect anomalies and monsters. I liked the idea of it so I supported it on Kickstarter. I tried to get into a game of this a GameHole Con a couple years back but it didn’t work out. Looking forward to checking this game out. 

Alien – Science Fiction Horror

The official Alien franchise RPG. I played it once at a virtual con. It was a blast even though I got killed.

Hulks and Horrors – Science Fiction Horror

An interesting RPG set in an era after a great plague has wiped out most of the life in the galaxy filled with ruins of alien civilizations. I played Hulks and Horrors once at a convention. The GM was terrible as was the adventure, but I liked the system and concept.  

Barbarians of the Ruined Earth – Post-Apocalyptic Fantasy

I have to admit that I bought Barbarians of the Ruined Earth based on the cover art but it looks awesome. It is based on the world of Thundarr the Barbarian and looks like an epic post-apocalyptic fantasy game.

Cepheus Deluxe – Science Fiction

I picked this up recently because it was on sale on Drive Thru RPG. It looks like fun.