thinking of running an Amber game at GenCon

[jibbajibba]

So I am thinking of running an Amber game at GenCon this year. I woudl liek to do it as a standard offering as oppose dto a pick up game as I knwo if I do that I will end up just runnign the game for the guys I go with or sitting at a table on my own for 3 hours.

Never ran a game at a con before can anyone offer any advice? I assume you need to get a game summary submitted pretty early and stuff?
What is the standard duration slot? Pregenned characters seem to be the ideal. I was thining about workign out a simple auction mechanic to select players to give the thing a bit of Amber feel as well as a sheet of background about why you hate all the other players since they pushed you off that bridge that time.

As it's a Con game I would break my golden rule and include the elders as it provides a common background for all players to contextualise the game.

[Rook]

I'll also be running an Amber game at Gencon in Indy this year!  I'll be going as part of my gaming group, the Dead Games Society--DGS for short--which is dedicated to the running of out-of-print roleplaying games at conventions.  Amber Diceless being my personal favorite, it's one of the one's I am most looking forward to running this year.  

My own event is based upon the play by post campaign I run over on RPol.com.  Just look for the Amber game entitled, Reflections of Amber.  In the first series by Zelazny, we know Oberon was somehow taken out of commission by the redheads (with some assistance by the Lords of Chaos), but we never learn just how he escaped.  Dara hints that she had something to do with it though.  My event has the players give the story Corwin could not tell, the story of Oberon's rescue.

Should be interesting.:hmm:

//www.dgsociety.com
We bring good games back to life!

[jibbajibba]

So this is a rough idea of the game I am about to submit for GenCon does it sound interesting enough ?

   
"Dealing in Lies"

System: Amber Diceless RPG – with partial power variants.

Plot Summary: A diplomatic mission to the Golden Circle state of Forentz is shaken by the death of it's monarch Duke Armondo. The worse of it is that all the evidence points to the assassin being Prince Gerard of Amber. Can the party prove Gerard's innocence before the privy council passes judgement at sunset?

Style: An action investigation, think Sherlock Holmes meets Bad Boys crossed of course with liberal helpings of Machiavelli.

Setting: Canon setting with Random as King in Amber and Merlin on the throne of Chaos

Duration: 5 hours

Players: 6

Notes: To capture the feel of Amber the players will bid for pre-gen characters based on their reputations. They will also bid of a range of other in game positions, items and benefits.

[Rook]

It sounds like it will be fun, I particularly like the idea on bidding for the pre-gens.  Power variants will be interesting, though they may take up more time to explain how they will work in the system.  You might consider a a reference print-out of your house-rules, handed out to the players at the start of the event to save time.

[jibbajibba]

It sounds like it will be fun, I particularly like the idea on bidding for the pre-gens.  Power variants will be interesting, though they may take up more time to explain how they will work in the system.  You might consider a a reference print-out of your house-rules, handed out to the players at the start of the event to save time.

Yeah I plan to do just that with a break down of each partial power on the Character sheets - well just what they can do with the power.

[finarvyn]

Your style will depend in part on the length of time for your game. The shorter the timeslot, the more you need to rely on PreGen characters.

What Erick did often was simplify the process so there weren't so many points to work with, and not so many powers to pick from. If it's an introductory game this may be key because players need to get the feel for the setting before they can really make selections for real. For an experienced game you can probably bypass this simplification and get people into a quick auction in a hurry.

The tricky thing for me is to come up with a storyline that is interesting yet can be resolved in under 4 hours, assuming a typical con game length.

[jibbajibba]

Your style will depend in part on the length of time for your game. The shorter the timeslot, the more you need to rely on PreGen characters.

What Erick did often was simplify the process so there weren't so many points to work with, and not so many powers to pick from. If it's an introductory game this may be key because players need to get the feel for the setting before they can really make selections for real. For an experienced game you can probably bypass this simplification and get people into a quick auction in a hurry.

The tricky thing for me is to come up with a storyline that is interesting yet can be resolved in under 4 hours, assuming a typical con game length.

I booked in a 5 hour slot. I will use pregens but as I noted I will auction off the characters basd on Reputation. So you might have 'Conrad the son of Gerrard was trained at the blade by Benedict and some say is closer in character to his uncle than his father.' or 'Drake is the son of Fiona, and the rumours suggest Lord Mandor of Chaos, although Fiona has never confirmed this. A skilled sorceror he is known as something of a schemer by those at court' (ie he has some bad stuff ).
So the characters will be like that and you will bid for who picks characters first. Then there are positions related to access to resources and you will bid for that and lastly there will be some sealed envelopes you can bid for. If you have any points left over you can add them to your stuff.
Hopefully I can complete all the auction in 30 mins but still keep the Amber feel.

[jibbajibba]

So I have submitted this and will be running it at Gen Con. No doubt to a table of 2 folks that can be bothered to walk to hall XXXX6.
If anyone will be at GenCon I look forward to meeting you

[finarvyn]

I'll probably be there, but not for long. My sister and I usually make a hit-n-run to visit a few of the booths and seminars and spend part of a day at GenCon then back to Chicago. We ususally don't hang around long enough to game.

[jibbajibba]

I'll probably be there, but not for long. My sister and I usually make a hit-n-run to visit a few of the booths and seminars and spend part of a day at GenCon then back to Chicago. We ususally don't hang around long enough to game.

That is one hell of a day trip mate.

[Rook]

I'll be there as part of the DGS gaming group.  I'm running 4 games during the official portion of the Con and another during our Wed. kick-off, DGS Old School Wednesday!