Games held at conventions (con games) are important to the gaming field for a variety of reasons: it gives people a chance to testdrive a system without buying it, it gives people a chance to attract new gamers to their systems or game groups and it's the only time a lot of so-called "fatbeards" or "catpissmen" get to game because the local gamers don't deign them acceptable.

So given that con games are an important aspect of gaming they deserve more discussion then they've been getting on most game forums. They are a very specialized area of gaming that requires special planning and I'd like to do a roundtable discussion on them.

Anyone running, or trying to run, a con game faces 3 notable challaneges that don't usually occur in a campaign game:

1. You have a strictly limited time, ususally 4 hours or so to get the adventure done.

2. You have zero idea how many people are going to actually sign up and, more importantly, show up. Most con games are set for a max of 6 players in RPG events.

3. You can't be sure the players will know the system at all, or even have the correct dice.

Given these criteria, I would like to propose that this thread try to help con games go better with advice for both players and GMs.

First off, as a GM the things you can do to make a con game a success are:

1. For the love of ghawd, have pregen characters! Unless your game system has an incredibly fast and easy chargen process, like QAGS, pregen characters are a must. Also, using pregens ensures that the party will have the needed skills and abilities.

2. Be sure to use the 'lite' version of the rules. Streamline things for the benefit of players inexperienced with the system. Game companies can help with this by printing 'lite' versions of the rules if they want to, and they should as con games are an excellent source of new gamers for existing systems.

3. make sure the scenario has lots of wiggle room and such so it can be tailored to the time you have in case things go better or worse than anticipated.


As a player at a con game, try to:

1. Realize that a game like this involves some railroading, don't try to see how far you can take a side quest, take the GM's hint if he says "That's a dead end".

2. Bring at least the basic supplies, like pen, pencil, notepaper and as many dice as you can of various types.

3. Be on time, no one likes waiting for a late signup and wasting limited time.


As to other issues for a con game, what do people think of maps? They can look great but waste time, which is limited. Most con games don';t use maps, some do. How do most people feel about maps at con games?

Are there any other aspects, do's and don'ts you have regarding con games?

After being in some really abyssmal con games I've got a procedure and it may seem really odd or basic that some of these steps are in there but I've seen 'em left out.

1) Introduce myself, shake hands, introducing newcomers to the table to the people who I've met or know.

2) Let everyone know a bit about the game.

3) Tell everyone know that I don't know where this is going to end up, the adventure's in the air and we'll see where we go with it.  I've seen people get really tense when they think they are going outside of the railroad and I want them to know that they should be digging their spurs into the dragon's hide and goin' for it.

4) Play!