Kapcon 23 Report
This Kapcon was unusual for a number of reasons:
1. Sam was organising it.
2. I was organising Adventure Squad.
3. I had scenarios for three different RPGs and they were sandboxy in nature.
So, I wasn't quite sure what to expect and I was relatively nervous as to whether it would be good Con or not. I needn't have worried though as it was probably one of my most uniformly positive Kapcons to date. Everything I planned for went to plan and a few things went exceptionally well.
The real highlights for me were:
1. My Double Cross game on Saturday. The playtest was a little shaky but the session proved to be much better. It wasn't the best game I ever ran, but I was pleased how it came together so well with only a little nudging and great player input. The same also goes for my Star Wars and Tenra Bansho Zero games to be honest
2. Adventure Squad and particularly my run of Golden Sky Stories. Laughing out loud with children for almost an hour was a wonderful experience.
3. Kapcon organisation. I was nervous for Sam but the Con this year really did seem to run very smoothly and I was very happy to be involved and help out where I could. I particularly enjoyed Kapcon post drinks, where the venue provided for nice food, drink and place to sit down and chill at the end of a long Con.
My abbreviated "game by game" report is:
Round 1 - Edge of the Empire: This was intended to be a low intensity, "open for all", first round scenario. Star Wars is about as broad an experience as D&D or Cthulhu, so there was very little to stop getting straight into play. I ended up with a great group of players (including a fantastic Jessica, who I had not played with before). I did find myself clock watching around the two hour mark but overall the session went well with a few moments that really shined.
Though the system is less suited to Con play, I am now familiar with the funky dice system and found that an even more liberal interpretation of the results ramped up the pulpy action of Star Wars quite nicely.
Round 2 - Double Cross: The playtest of this went well but didn't quite transition between the opening and ending as well as I would have liked. I also had two players I hadn't run with before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. The game starts with some random PC generation which can always go a bit haywire.
However, I needn't have worried. The opening random generation proved to be a great lead in to the players thinking about their PCs. The players all brought a variety of things to the table, from creepy alieness, stern maturity, fragile emotion to a preparedness to accept complication. It went very well and I am finding the system to be excellent at providing the kind of OTT superheroic action balanced by similarly OTT character drama.
Round 3 - Tenra Bansho Zero: TBZ is always a big call to get going but I had playtested this scenario twice before. The game went very well with Fraser owning the character whom most of the antagonism is centred around. This made it a harder game for the other players than previous runs, but they all responded to the call which amped up the drama too and provided some excellent scenes.
Round 4: I took this off to chill and prepare for Adventure Squad.
Round 5 - Adventure Squad: Man, I was nervous for this. People started turning up at 9am too, which meant that there was quite a long lead in to amplify that tension. Mike and I had taken a semi-GoD approach to the games, though we had decided to offer our "big guns" first. For Mike, this was Harry Potter, and he ended up with the older players (8 to 12; and all girls). I offered Star Wars and Hero Kids and ended up running Hero Kids for the two youngest players (5 to 6) and their older siblings.
The first 10 minutes was absolute chaos as the kids burst forth their energy. I could imagine it being quite disheartening for GMs who have not run for kids before as almost nothing seemed to stick in terms of a coherent RPG experience. However, with a little perseverance, things proceeded and improved remarkably. After the first run of over an hour, we had a break and then leapt into the second half of just under an hour. Both groups of players were keen to stick with their games.
Then there was the break. Colouring pencils and paper proved to be a great way to keep the young players busy but also able to rest their minds. I had a lot of black and white characters sheets that proved great for this purpose. Mike also ran a game of King of Tokyo.
Round 6 - Adventure Squad: Mike and I were both flagging at this point and a little wary of round two. Just under half the players had left, but we still had enough for two games. Though there was some initial interest in Mouse Guard, the group ended up splitting up between D&D run by Mike and Golden Sky Stories run by me. This time I had two girls of similar age (8-9) and the boy who was the remaining younger player (whose mum was also in the other game).
The game was magic. The genre and ideas proved very easy for the players and the no dice/just marbles system it uses was a dream. It lasted for just over an hour and I was laughing with the players through most of it. Its probably the first RPG for young players that I have run that I felt truly relaxed and not having to push the game forward.
At this point, we still had another half to go, and Mike and I were both tired. So, I ran Mice and Mystics for all the players and one parent. Though a little harder on the rules than an RPG, it didn't need any creativity from me. It proved a good success. I was surprised to see the young kids still focussed. I also found that by its end, I had started to understand the play style of all the kids who attended.
We finished with a prize giving and was glad to hear that some of the kids were considering running games next year. We'll see :) I feel like I have learned a lot for what to do for next year, though I will be switching my brain off Adventure Squad for a little while.
Round 7: I took this off to help clean up the venue. I was pleased to see a scrabble for Tenra Bansho Zero at the prize giving, as well as one of the parents who attended Adventure Squad taking Mermaid Adventures.
1. Sam was organising it.
2. I was organising Adventure Squad.
3. I had scenarios for three different RPGs and they were sandboxy in nature.
So, I wasn't quite sure what to expect and I was relatively nervous as to whether it would be good Con or not. I needn't have worried though as it was probably one of my most uniformly positive Kapcons to date. Everything I planned for went to plan and a few things went exceptionally well.
The real highlights for me were:
1. My Double Cross game on Saturday. The playtest was a little shaky but the session proved to be much better. It wasn't the best game I ever ran, but I was pleased how it came together so well with only a little nudging and great player input. The same also goes for my Star Wars and Tenra Bansho Zero games to be honest
2. Adventure Squad and particularly my run of Golden Sky Stories. Laughing out loud with children for almost an hour was a wonderful experience.
3. Kapcon organisation. I was nervous for Sam but the Con this year really did seem to run very smoothly and I was very happy to be involved and help out where I could. I particularly enjoyed Kapcon post drinks, where the venue provided for nice food, drink and place to sit down and chill at the end of a long Con.
My abbreviated "game by game" report is:
Round 1 - Edge of the Empire: This was intended to be a low intensity, "open for all", first round scenario. Star Wars is about as broad an experience as D&D or Cthulhu, so there was very little to stop getting straight into play. I ended up with a great group of players (including a fantastic Jessica, who I had not played with before). I did find myself clock watching around the two hour mark but overall the session went well with a few moments that really shined.
Though the system is less suited to Con play, I am now familiar with the funky dice system and found that an even more liberal interpretation of the results ramped up the pulpy action of Star Wars quite nicely.
Round 2 - Double Cross: The playtest of this went well but didn't quite transition between the opening and ending as well as I would have liked. I also had two players I hadn't run with before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. The game starts with some random PC generation which can always go a bit haywire.
However, I needn't have worried. The opening random generation proved to be a great lead in to the players thinking about their PCs. The players all brought a variety of things to the table, from creepy alieness, stern maturity, fragile emotion to a preparedness to accept complication. It went very well and I am finding the system to be excellent at providing the kind of OTT superheroic action balanced by similarly OTT character drama.
Round 3 - Tenra Bansho Zero: TBZ is always a big call to get going but I had playtested this scenario twice before. The game went very well with Fraser owning the character whom most of the antagonism is centred around. This made it a harder game for the other players than previous runs, but they all responded to the call which amped up the drama too and provided some excellent scenes.
Round 4: I took this off to chill and prepare for Adventure Squad.
Round 5 - Adventure Squad: Man, I was nervous for this. People started turning up at 9am too, which meant that there was quite a long lead in to amplify that tension. Mike and I had taken a semi-GoD approach to the games, though we had decided to offer our "big guns" first. For Mike, this was Harry Potter, and he ended up with the older players (8 to 12; and all girls). I offered Star Wars and Hero Kids and ended up running Hero Kids for the two youngest players (5 to 6) and their older siblings.
The first 10 minutes was absolute chaos as the kids burst forth their energy. I could imagine it being quite disheartening for GMs who have not run for kids before as almost nothing seemed to stick in terms of a coherent RPG experience. However, with a little perseverance, things proceeded and improved remarkably. After the first run of over an hour, we had a break and then leapt into the second half of just under an hour. Both groups of players were keen to stick with their games.
Then there was the break. Colouring pencils and paper proved to be a great way to keep the young players busy but also able to rest their minds. I had a lot of black and white characters sheets that proved great for this purpose. Mike also ran a game of King of Tokyo.
Round 6 - Adventure Squad: Mike and I were both flagging at this point and a little wary of round two. Just under half the players had left, but we still had enough for two games. Though there was some initial interest in Mouse Guard, the group ended up splitting up between D&D run by Mike and Golden Sky Stories run by me. This time I had two girls of similar age (8-9) and the boy who was the remaining younger player (whose mum was also in the other game).
The game was magic. The genre and ideas proved very easy for the players and the no dice/just marbles system it uses was a dream. It lasted for just over an hour and I was laughing with the players through most of it. Its probably the first RPG for young players that I have run that I felt truly relaxed and not having to push the game forward.
At this point, we still had another half to go, and Mike and I were both tired. So, I ran Mice and Mystics for all the players and one parent. Though a little harder on the rules than an RPG, it didn't need any creativity from me. It proved a good success. I was surprised to see the young kids still focussed. I also found that by its end, I had started to understand the play style of all the kids who attended.
We finished with a prize giving and was glad to hear that some of the kids were considering running games next year. We'll see :) I feel like I have learned a lot for what to do for next year, though I will be switching my brain off Adventure Squad for a little while.
Round 7: I took this off to help clean up the venue. I was pleased to see a scrabble for Tenra Bansho Zero at the prize giving, as well as one of the parents who attended Adventure Squad taking Mermaid Adventures.