GameStorm 13

This year, I did more RPGS - mostly Savage Worlds. I am going to summarize each game and maybe eventually make each game more detailed with its own posting. With the exception of one game because I may get the source materials and run it for my own group and don't want to give anything away. Hmmmm.. maybe two.. heck, if you're reading this, you probably don't care about my random decision process, so here goes the Con report for this year!

Thursday - Didn't attend. I took the day off, but since I am traveling a lot, I decided to do some chore catch-up and since I convinced Meran to go to the Con this year, we spent time getting ready and packing stuff up.

Friday - Got there early, like 8:30 am, signed in and got my swag bag (a little light this year, but that's okay, I usually read the stuff then toss it, so less waste..) and started looking around the big board game room - and found a spot in Game Lab - the GameStorm game design / test play area. A couple of game buddies (Ben and KC) are involved with this, and KC (from SunRiver games) actually runs it every year, and Ben helps out. It's a great thing to have support for your fledgling game at a con. Anyway, I sat down at a game called "Murder Mansion".

Murder Mansion - Game Lab Prototype
I am lame and don't remember the guy's name who was the creator of this game, but I just might have to look out for it. He said it was only a week old, so it was new even for Game Lab standards. Anyway, the board reminded everyone of 'Clue', but the game is definitely not. Maybe Clue in reverse, but not really. Basically, you and the other players are running around the mansion killing people. Rooms have weapons, and specify what other weapons can be used in that room. You know who you are after, but you need to find them, get the weapon that matches the room they are in, and go do the deed. Three times in 6 hours - every 30 minutes is a turn. Then, at the end, you have to figure out who of your fellow players (also murderers) killed whom. It was fun. I left out a lot of detail since the game is still a prototype.

Savage Worlds - Marines vs. Zombies
Save the scientists from the mind drug taking over the people in the building. We managed to save the corporate executives and lawyers since we started at the top. Next time, it will have to be a ground entry.

Savage Worlds - Hyperdrive
Based on the BBC comedy of the same name. We ran up against the Shiny Red Robots, the Zorns (a clone race based on Jim Zorn). This was a game that was run for comedy's sake and it delivered. A good group made it fun and it was well done.

Spirit of the Century - The Final Frontier
A pulp action adventure with us as a superhero group called E.D.G.E. We were to track down the Jade Emperor who was building a secret base on the moon, but didn't make it due to time. We did manage to save a scientist's life, however.

This was also my first Spirit of the Century game. The game uses the 'Fate' system which is similar to Fudge in some respects, as it uses Fudge dice. I liked the system and how you can 'tag' aspects in the scene to better your chances to do something, but the same mechanism slowed combat down drastically. The GM was fantastic - very animated and active, and it is obvious he really digs the system. I personally wouldn't want to run this system but I'd play it again in certain circumstances.

Saturday - Meran and I stayed at the hotel and I was able to get up to get to my first game at 9am.

Savage Worlds - Hellride: A Line in the Bloodsand
My second year playing in Tim's Hellride series. This time we're back to take a peace offering to a fire elemental race in the desert, and to take a load of Boric Acid to the nuclear reactors in trouble in Japan. Nice plot line from real world events for a modern game. While on a peaceful mission, we try to talk our way past some trolls at a bridge, and after some misunderstandings, one of our trucks ends up in the crevasse. We finish off the trolls, and pull the truck out and continue on the way to the desert city, Brass. We arrive and manage to make the peace treaty happen, although it seems like we tried to fail. With the promise of a shipment of grenades, we also retrieve our POWs enslaved by them. We can now continue to Japan with our other shipment. The portal area is in an area of Bloodsand, a surface that sucks the blood from your body if you are touching it. We also notice an anthill nearby, one that houses giant ants, each the size of a Labrador Retriever. We activate the gate and get to Japan where there are ants in a line marking a food source. The line is leading to a nuclear reactor and we see the behemoth of a queen ant making its way to the reactor. Long story short, we manage to stop the Queen Ant from destroying the reactor.

Savage Worlds - Just When You Thought It Was Safe...
An odd multi-part dungeon that I may run for my group so I won't go into a lot of detail. Suffice it to say, it had a lot of twists, turns and false leads. This game took a lot of GM preparation; congrats, Ron, great game!

Sunday - One more night in the Hilton; I am glad I get a lot of free Hilton points from traveling for work!

Savage Worlds - Realms of Cthuhlu: The Witch of November
And though I thought Ron's game was great, this was awesome! The GM, Scott, took an event from history and put us through his twisted idea of what could have happened, if. Another great game that I may procure and run for my group. A hint: November, 1975, aboard the SS Edmund Fitzgerald.

It was Meran's first time at a Game convention, she attended a lot of the panel discussions and watched a few games, but didn't play anything. Somehow she had fun though; talking with game designers and getting ideas for some games she may run.

We picked up a few games, too:
Dixit
Cutthroats
a Delta Green book from Pagan Publishing
Dresden Files: Our World
and a few books from the mighty fine folks at Crucifiction Games: the Basic Rules, Book #1 and Book #2