Gen Con Day 2
The day kicked off with the Wotc / D&D Save My Game panel with Chris Sims and Greg Bilsland. Questions for this DMing seminar were very specific and 4E focused; it was fun to help field a fresh set of queries. We talked about the adjustments needed to run fun, fast combats for groups significantly exceeding the canonical five players. Different ways to tackle mass combat were floated, from running the walk-on soldiers as terrain features to treating them as skill challenges. Other topics included laying the groundwork for the players' selection of epic destinies and how to react when the party decides to camp out and rest in unlikely and dangerous places. The most archetypal question asked was the perennial “What to do about rules lawyers?” I suggested that you have to distinguish between the player who legitimately expects his crunchy bit to impact game events, and the guy who just likes to throw off the DM with his mastery of mechanics text. The trick of course with the second type is issue a quick provisional ruling, keep the game going, and then have the arguing phase at end of session.
Exhibit hall traffic was once again brisk. Thanks to everyone who stopped by to chat.
Shout-out wise, Paul Tevis' a penny for your thoughts has now essayed its long overdue emergence from ashcan status into a pleasantly distressing digest book. This is the game where all the players are amnesiac mental patients, and who you are is defined by what your fellow participants choose to remember about your past.
Gaming is not the only activity in Indianapolis.
View from my hotel window