maxplaysgames (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} maxplaysgames) wrote,@ 2009-01-29 22:33:00 |
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VeriCon 2009 report
I am still sore from the festivities, and just had a very good time up in Cambridge this past weekend with the past and present members of the Harvard Radcliffe Science Fiction Association. Thanks to the con staff who helped me have so much fun!
Friday I arrived early enough to meet some of the folks setting up, help out a bit with the program book assembly and find out who was involved with what. They were kind enough to move my events around to allow me to participate in some events I was very much looking forward to, including the LARP that night.
The Tale and the Twilight, written by HRSFA alumni who have done a series of similar LARPs, told a tale of heroes seeking to marry the daughters of the sultan through gaining favor and telling stories. I missed the window to sign up as a player and instead got the opportunity to know more behind-the-scenes info as an NPC (the Captain of the Guard). The group contained all sorts and though the game ran long it was very fun. Each character had some special qualities, motives, interlocking agendas and ways to help or hinder others. I highly recommend trying one of these LARPs if you get the chance, I enjoyed the evening very much.
Saturday morning (most convention events start at 10 or 11 am, not too early) I finally realized my efforts to play Capture the Flag with Stuff (tm), another famous and exotic HRSFA standby. Imagine an indoor, three team game of Capture the Flag with magical wands, potions, belts and glyphs. We got a good turnout and diverse players, some experienced and other brand new like me. The two games wore me out and proved much more fun than any Capture the Flag game I've ever played. The items almost got confusing when a few were interacting at once, but the expert players and the judge made sure that we all had good instruction.
After coming down from the adrenaline high of running up and down stairs for two hours I found some food and then ran Go West, a one-shot Dogs in the Vineyard module adapted from a home campaign I ran. The secret agents of the United States Geological Survey put a stop to the strange tax evasion and the mysterious missing persons, almost suffering a casualty themselves. The big tough farm girl got in some trouble, but she was saved by the faith healer and monkey. A very fun session, all pretty new to the system but getting the hang of things quickly enough.
The Dogs game went longer than intended thanks to players getting into the story and helping craft a collaborative narrative that rocked. We ended as some other events were starting up for the evening, and so I got some food and settled down to play some Race for the Galaxy. My goal for the evening: experiment with the first expansion to the game, since I already loved Race. After a few games I concluded that the expansion cards are useful to fill out some gaps and the goals added provide very nifty incentives to motivate different styles of play. I know have my own expansion in the mail from boardsandbits.com.
Sunday's main event drew a big crowd as folks woke up and filtered in. MST3K focused on National Treasure 2 this year, a whopper of a film with enough mediocre acting and writing to provide much amusement. The script our three hosts had written kept us laughing, as did their clever (and minimalistic) sketches that helped fully mock the plot holes and weird leaps of logic. The movie was never better than in that crowded classroom.
Lunch with some friends, new and old, capped off my weekend and I got on a long Amtrak train back to the Have'. I am very glad my friends finally got me to go to VeriCon and I will be back next year to repeat the awesome events.
I am still sore from the festivities, and just had a very good time up in Cambridge this past weekend with the past and present members of the Harvard Radcliffe Science Fiction Association. Thanks to the con staff who helped me have so much fun!
Friday I arrived early enough to meet some of the folks setting up, help out a bit with the program book assembly and find out who was involved with what. They were kind enough to move my events around to allow me to participate in some events I was very much looking forward to, including the LARP that night.
The Tale and the Twilight, written by HRSFA alumni who have done a series of similar LARPs, told a tale of heroes seeking to marry the daughters of the sultan through gaining favor and telling stories. I missed the window to sign up as a player and instead got the opportunity to know more behind-the-scenes info as an NPC (the Captain of the Guard). The group contained all sorts and though the game ran long it was very fun. Each character had some special qualities, motives, interlocking agendas and ways to help or hinder others. I highly recommend trying one of these LARPs if you get the chance, I enjoyed the evening very much.
Saturday morning (most convention events start at 10 or 11 am, not too early) I finally realized my efforts to play Capture the Flag with Stuff (tm), another famous and exotic HRSFA standby. Imagine an indoor, three team game of Capture the Flag with magical wands, potions, belts and glyphs. We got a good turnout and diverse players, some experienced and other brand new like me. The two games wore me out and proved much more fun than any Capture the Flag game I've ever played. The items almost got confusing when a few were interacting at once, but the expert players and the judge made sure that we all had good instruction.
After coming down from the adrenaline high of running up and down stairs for two hours I found some food and then ran Go West, a one-shot Dogs in the Vineyard module adapted from a home campaign I ran. The secret agents of the United States Geological Survey put a stop to the strange tax evasion and the mysterious missing persons, almost suffering a casualty themselves. The big tough farm girl got in some trouble, but she was saved by the faith healer and monkey. A very fun session, all pretty new to the system but getting the hang of things quickly enough.
The Dogs game went longer than intended thanks to players getting into the story and helping craft a collaborative narrative that rocked. We ended as some other events were starting up for the evening, and so I got some food and settled down to play some Race for the Galaxy. My goal for the evening: experiment with the first expansion to the game, since I already loved Race. After a few games I concluded that the expansion cards are useful to fill out some gaps and the goals added provide very nifty incentives to motivate different styles of play. I know have my own expansion in the mail from boardsandbits.com.
Sunday's main event drew a big crowd as folks woke up and filtered in. MST3K focused on National Treasure 2 this year, a whopper of a film with enough mediocre acting and writing to provide much amusement. The script our three hosts had written kept us laughing, as did their clever (and minimalistic) sketches that helped fully mock the plot holes and weird leaps of logic. The movie was never better than in that crowded classroom.
Lunch with some friends, new and old, capped off my weekend and I got on a long Amtrak train back to the Have'. I am very glad my friends finally got me to go to VeriCon and I will be back next year to repeat the awesome events.
