Arcanacon 2010 - Day One
Flight down was uneventful, though delayed twenty minutes. Accommodation this year was a bit of a last minute thing and so is further from the con and a lot more basic than usual. On the other hand, two of us are sharing a room for $80 a night so you can't really complain about the price.
Arcanacon is at its usual location, though there is construction going on there that has changed the layout a bit. Rego went smoothly. Canteen seems to be working well too. The pies this year are a cut above the usual convention fare.
Played three games:
Walk on the Wild Side polarized our group, with two people enjoying it and two not. I was in the latter group, as - based on real events though it was - the plot was thin. The Cthulhu themes felt 'tacked on' as well, making fir an empty an unsatisfying session.
A Bavarian Investigation was a steampunk adventure using the Castle Falkenstein rules. It was quite good, though structurally very simple. The final encounter lacked 'oomph'. You have a flying steam-powered castle and there ought to be more explosions, crashes and derring-do, I think. We had fun, though.
Baxter was a Science Fiction game that remembered that SF ought to be about asking questions of people, not just laser guns and holodecks. I'm not convinced that the theme (racism) came out as clearly as intended, but it was a noble effort to do something with some depth and we had a pretty good group of players, too.
Arcanacon is at its usual location, though there is construction going on there that has changed the layout a bit. Rego went smoothly. Canteen seems to be working well too. The pies this year are a cut above the usual convention fare.
Played three games:
Walk on the Wild Side polarized our group, with two people enjoying it and two not. I was in the latter group, as - based on real events though it was - the plot was thin. The Cthulhu themes felt 'tacked on' as well, making fir an empty an unsatisfying session.
A Bavarian Investigation was a steampunk adventure using the Castle Falkenstein rules. It was quite good, though structurally very simple. The final encounter lacked 'oomph'. You have a flying steam-powered castle and there ought to be more explosions, crashes and derring-do, I think. We had fun, though.
Baxter was a Science Fiction game that remembered that SF ought to be about asking questions of people, not just laser guns and holodecks. I'm not convinced that the theme (racism) came out as clearly as intended, but it was a noble effort to do something with some depth and we had a pretty good group of players, too.