By Dixon Trimline
– Our personal destination is not always reached by way of accurate maps…
This series is an extremely subjective report about gaming conventions. Despite the temptation to be second person dictatorial (“You must, you should, you shall”), I’m going to keep this first person apologetic (“I did, I think, I was”), because I really can’t tell you what your convention time will or should be. In part 3, I consider running games at conventions. I’ve never been particularly [Read the article]
This series is an extremely subjective report about gaming conventions. Despite the temptation to be second person dictatorial (“You must, you should, you shall”), I’m going to keep this first person apologetic (“I did, I think, I was”), because I really can’t tell you what your convention time will or should be. In part 2, I explore playing at conventions. If anyone makes the mistake [Read the article]
This series is an extremely subjective report about gaming conventions. Despite the temptation to be second person dictatorial (“You must, you should, you shall”), I’m going to keep this first person apologetic (“I did, I think, I was”), because I really can’t tell you what your convention time will or should be. In part 1, I examine registering for conventions. One of my biggest flaws [Read the article]
Why I Play
In the earliest of the 1980s, as I approached the yawning abyss of adolescence, I discovered Basic Dungeons & Dragons, and it rang a note in me that I’d always been listening for. Here then was a game that would allow me to step outside myself, to be something great and heroic, to be someone valuable and significant, to be a person that was not [Read the article]
Con Games 2: Champions
Part 1 is here. Run by the convention organizer, this Champions RPG was set in the Marvel Universe, featuring X-Men tangling with Brotherhood mutants. The GM, a great big guy with sleepy eyes, split the eight participants into two groups (good and evil), then took each group aside and assigned the actual characters. Given the size of our group, he had wisely enlisted an associate [Read the article]
Con Games 1: Shadowrun
Note: A few years ago, I went to a gaming convention somewhere in Connecticut with my dear friend Dave, and had the opportunity to play a few games I’d never played before, which is why conventions exist. If you go to a convention and only play inside your comfort zone, you are totally missing out. In the Shadowrun game, I played Samson, an enormous rock-headed [Read the article]
Death Metal Gaming, Part 2
*This article was presented in two parts, with Part 1 describing the construction of the adventure and Part 2 providing a report of how the adventure played out.* PART 2 Realizing the players were relatively new to the game, I spent some time during the introduction explaining to them their characters, the foundational rules of the game, how combat runs, which one is the [Read the article]
Death Metal Gaming, Part 1
*This article will be presented in two parts, with Part 1 describing the construction of the adventure and Part 2 providing a report of how the adventure played out.* PART 1 When three members of a death metal band come looking for a 4E Dungeons & Dragons game, you’d better be ready to deliver. Sure, one of them was my son, but that didn’t leave [Read the article]
License to Rube
This is a hard world we find ourselves in, where everyone is looking to steal our money, screw us over, and make wee-wee on our hats. This is a world that hates and punishes naiveté, and loves and rewards cynicism and suspicion. Trust no one and fear everyone, strike before you’re struck, an extended hand conceals a blade, the arm around your back connects to [Read the article]