Role Playing Games I Want to Play at GenCon

While I’m at GenCon I want to play the following role-playing games:

Without a plan, this is going to be a problem. So enter the plan: Offer to run games for people and in doing so see what doors open up.

Fiasco

I’m assuming Fiasco will be the easiest to organize a game with people. It is “is a Game Master (GM)-less game for 3-5 players, designed to be played in a few hours with six-sided dice and no preparation.” The plan for this is I’m going to need to create a button or badge saying “Interested in playing Fiasco? Ask me." Maybe I’d also want something for A Taste for Murder by Graham Walmsley, as it too is a GM-less game.

Lady Blackbird

I’m thinking that instead of playing this one, I’d like to offer to run this game for people at GenCon. For this game, the characters and situation are already pre-generated, so it is a matter of playing the scenario. The plan for this one is a bit more complicated than Fiasco. First, I’d probably want to run this once with friends before going to GenCon and running it for strangers. So I’m going to need to set aside some time for this. Second, much like Fiasco, I’ll likely need to advertise that I’m willing to run this game. So I’ll probably need a button or badge that says: “Want to play a game of Lady Blackbird? Let’s find a group, and I’ll run it."

Apocalypse World

This one is a bit more of a stretch than the previous two. First of all, I haven’t run it. So like Lady Blackbird, I’ll need to run a game of it first with friends so I’m ready to run something with strangers. Second, the game is apparently at it’s best 5 or so sessions into the campaign. So I can do one the following:

  • Run Blind-Blue and Hatchet City, a one-shot session that begins en media res and according to the author is set in what would be about the 5th session of a standard campaign.
  • Start a game out from the beginning and play to see what happens with the group.

Frankly, running Apocalypse World kind of scares me, as I’m not well versed in apocalyptic imagery/culture. But I might be able to fake it. For now, I think I’m going to place this game on the “Maybe I’ll run it” pile.

Dungeon World

Dungeon World is a Dungeons and Dragons inspired Apocalypse World system hack. It provides the very straight forward moves of Apocalypse World and tight constraints on character creation/definition. Like Apocalypse World, I haven’t run this game; However, unlike Apocalypse World, I have run Dungeon World’s genre before. So, if time permits, or if inspiration strikes, I’ll run a Dungeon World game. Obviously, if I’m ready to do this, I’ll need to advertise my willingness to run a game.

Mouse Guard

I don’t have any plans for running Luke Crane’s Mouse Guard at GenCon, instead I’d like to play in the game. I’ve run a handful of Burning Wheel sessions, and played in one Burning Wheel session, so I’d like to see how Mouse Guard plays out. As an added perk, I believe Mouse Guard’s shiny new box set will be available at Gen Con, so there might be some interest in running it. (Jenny, I have no plans on purchasing it).

Trail of Cthulhu

I have never played a Cthulhu mythos game, and there are plenty of them (below is a few that I’m aware of, there are more):

I’m most intrigued by Trail of Cthulhu as it uses the Gumshoe system which, according to the homepage “revolutionize[s] investigative scenarios, by ensuring that players are never deprived of the clues they need to move the story forward.”

Pendragon

I’ve read the rules to Pendragon 5.1 (and was a bit confused). I’ve read a good chunk of the Great Pendragon Campaign (a multi-generational epic campaign). I’ve been following Luke Crane’s twitter feed and seen an uptick in Pendragon references. And more importantly, I’ve heard that the Pendragon game simply gets the feel of the legend of King Arthur right. So given the high regard of the game, and my present confusion of the rules, I think a quick session would be awesome (of course the system shines when it is part of a long running campaign).