Post-Match Report
As a halfling once said, "Well, I'm back.". Back from Hunstanton, that is, after a few days gaming in Searles holiday park, at what continues to be my favourite convention. So, how'd it go?
As is usual, I trundled down the country from Edinburgh with friends and a car full of RPG gubbins. Despite the best efforts of the A1 to divert us all over Yorkshire, we made it down in one piece on Tuesday night and checked into the lodge, went for a sleep, and then it was time to play!
Wednesday was spent as follows:
* Morning Session - I ran Marvel Multiverse, using a slightly simplified version of the rules. My team of X-Men-and-Women gamely fought any manner of monsters, investigated mysteries, and saved Manhattan from being turned into "Dino City".
* Afternoon Session - I played Star Trek Adventures, where my main contribution to the plot was rolling appallingly at a crucial moment, botching my attempt to save the life of one of the other PCs. It wasn't all bad, as that gave the bereaved player a chance to see how easy it is to generate emergency PCs! A good session, though I was suffering from travel-lag, so not my most active participation.
* Evening Session - I ran The Wizard's Staff, the fantasy farce written by the good people at McGuffin & Co. Nonsense fun as usual, though by the end, I was running on fumes, so I opted for a long lie the next morning.
Thursday:
* Afternoon Session - I ran Doctor Who - my "Nowhere Men" adventure. My 4 players picked their PCs from the choice of 5, I strolled off to the loo, remembering as I did that the unselected 5th PC is critical to one bit of the adventure. Oops. Handily, despite my sabotage, the PCs successfully made their way through the scenario anyway. Hoorah!
* Evening Session - I played The Wildsea. A new game to me, with a rules system that seemed intimidating until we started playing, when all became clear(ish). A pretty good session, and a good introduction to how the game works.
Friday:
* Morning Session - I ran Matrons of Mystery, my "Repertory Theatre of Blood" mystery, where my quartet of little old ladies successfully deduced the murderer of a theatrical empresario. I've run better sessions, but it worked well enough - and
@MartinP and I have thoughts about tweaking the system to encourage early accusations, which will be interesting to try out.
* Afternoon Session - I played The Great Martian Tripod Race, one of Martin's Victorian Mars scenarios. I've played the scenario before, but that didn't really matter, as the scenario never plays the same way twice. Our plucky team of racers succeeded in getting our broken-down Tripod ready in time for the race, after a bit of vehicular purloining, a touch of forgery, and a spot of museum destruction. Good clean fun.
After taking Friday night off to get some dinner in the local pub, Saturday arrived:
* Morning Session - ran the "Nowhere Men" adventure again. This time, I cunningly arranged that the players would only have 4 PCs to pick from, thus making sure the "critical" PC was picked. Sadly, one player was ill, so I only had 3 players, who duly didn't pick THAT PC either. Yeargh. Handily, they found a different way to solve the mystery of the Nowhere Men. Which was nice.
* Afternoon Session - I played Die. The highlight of the con. The GM warned it would be all about "the feels", and she wasn't wrong. The concept of the game - you play people who are playing a game and end up IN the game (you know, Jumanji, basically) - meant we spent a lot of time building our "normal" characters, but this really paid off when we started playing. I had an absolute blast! We spent ages after the session finished talking about it, which meant I barely had time to wolf down dinner before it was time for-
* Evening Session - I ran Games Workshop's Judge Dredd, the classic "To Live And Die In Mega-City One". My three Judges did a great job of getting through the scenario (which I'd had to trim a bit as it's a BIG adventure!), and I've revised the rules a bit to make it a bit less "bang - missed! bang - missed!" than it used to be.
Sunday:
* Morning Session - the last session of the con, and a chance to play The One Ring - and enjoy Second Breakfast! A nice wee scenario, where our little group of hobbits went in search of, if not adventure, then certainly a bit of exploration. My character was not, it had to be said, good in a fight, but he and the rest of the gang survived to fight and feast another day.
After that, and after winning a prize in the raffle, it was time to head back to Scotland, ready for work the next day. One of these years, I'll remember to take the Monday off.
As ever, a great con, where, after seven years, I suppose I have to consider myself a regular! Roll on 2026.
