tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-681509622212079331.post4659536495995612264..comments2023-05-09T17:43:00.019+02:00Comments on The City of Iron: My first experience running a con gameGavin Normanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12362875699031245377noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-681509622212079331.post-75088844257933919262011-06-19T18:48:26.297+02:002011-06-19T18:48:26.297+02:00ps. I'll hopefully share a PDF of the adventur...ps. I'll hopefully share a PDF of the adventure I ran, as I thought it was a rather cool location. Just have to type up the hand-written notes...Gavin Normanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12362875699031245377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-681509622212079331.post-32923615874090935202011-06-19T18:47:22.977+02:002011-06-19T18:47:22.977+02:00Oh yes here's the very short character connect...Oh yes here's the very short character connections table I used (thought there probably wouldn't be more than 5 players!):<br /><br />1. You owe one of the other PCs a lot of money.<br />2. You have an on-going rivalry with one of the other PCs.<br />3. One of the other PCs is your parent / sibling.<br />4. You have a debt of honour to one of the other PCs, whom you hate.<br />5. You're a hired bodyguard of one of the other PCs.<br /><br />I just got the players to roll one each and to choose which of the other PCs it applied to.<br /><br />JB's <a href="http://bxblackrazor.blogspot.com/2010/08/give-me-reasonor-hundred.html" rel="nofollow">table of character connections</a> might provide inspiration as well.Gavin Normanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12362875699031245377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-681509622212079331.post-77125371469541260682011-06-19T18:42:37.527+02:002011-06-19T18:42:37.527+02:00It helps to remember everyone at the table is *try...<i>It helps to remember everyone at the table is *trying* to have fun so they're all on your side</i><br />That's an excellent way of putting it, and something which I hadn't quite conceptualized beforehand!<br /><br />Carter, I was hoping you might find some insight from this, remembering you had a similar experience coming up. Glad it was of help!<br /><br />The goal to recover an artifact sounds like it'd provide enough of a hook, I think. The goal in my game was clearly a time-limited opportunity to raid a location which probably contained a lot of valuable stuff, but somehow that didn't seem enough. I don't know, maybe it was just the way my players played it, but a few times one of them said (in character) things like: "I don't even know what we're doing in here!" or "I said we shouldn't have come in here!". Maybe I should have made it clearer that the place really <i>did</i> contain a lot of valuable stuff, or even a specific valuable thing -- not just the presumption of it! And it probably didn't help that the party got locked in with no way out very quickly! Haha.<br /><br />Norman, that's a really interesting idea to run the Caves of Chaos as a con game. It actually didn't even occur to me to be awarding XP, but I can really imagine a kind of fast-paced "make a raid then back to town, repeat" kind of style working well. Think I might have to try that next time, or maybe as a one-off day event for my usual group :)Gavin Normanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12362875699031245377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-681509622212079331.post-78377000099544582012011-06-19T17:18:06.206+02:002011-06-19T17:18:06.206+02:00P.S. I am running my first Con game in August, and...P.S. I am running my first Con game in August, and have already decided to embed a specific goal into the dungeon crawl, i.e., a specific artifact the group has been sent there to recover. Would that kind of strategy have solved your "plot" issue?Carter Soleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01286436801953647693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-681509622212079331.post-56168501844407533692011-06-19T17:16:01.089+02:002011-06-19T17:16:01.089+02:00THANKS for sharing this valuable advice. Could yo...THANKS for sharing this valuable advice. Could you possibly share your random table / list of PC connections? Also, how did you decide specifically to which other PC the PC was connected?Carter Soleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01286436801953647693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-681509622212079331.post-7271368552791136042011-06-19T16:21:06.591+02:002011-06-19T16:21:06.591+02:00Awesome and congrats. Excellent advice. I ran Ca...Awesome and congrats. Excellent advice. I ran Caves of Chaos which was first old school con game.<br /><br />It helps very much to run something you know, something you've run for home group. The all low stat guy I'd have challenged player to run. "Survive even with your handicaps. Be the comic relief."<br /><br />Con games pacing, fun fast and sloppy. I push, push, push. Frentic pace. Something is always happening either players are doing it or I'm doing it to them. If they need to rest/heal back at "town" handwave it "bam! you're healed, have new supplies, casters spells are restored. You're at bottom of entrance stairs, what do you do."<br /><br />Fast pace helps with "plot" motivation. They get sense of urgency / need to finish without knowing what. Other goals for dungeon crawl are get money and xp (re xp I generally award full party xp to each player. And typically characters raise a level or two during 4-8hr game.) I encourage you to give dungeon crawl another try.<br /><br /><br />Confidence/Fear is I believe one of the biggest hurdles. It helps to remember everyone at the table is *trying* to have fun so they're all on your side and help you when stuck and forgive you the minor hiccup.Norman J. Harman Jr.https://www.blogger.com/profile/01319655075997712313noreply@blogger.com