Conquord Convention Day 2

Conquord 2017 day two.

Of course, I'm one of those people who see the options on a hotel breakfast as a challenge rather than a range of different choices. Porridge. Fruit course. Full English. Topped off by a round of breakfast pastries. But even I couldn't manage to fit in a freshly cooked waffle! The waffle iron and batter dispenser were a new innovation for me and I wish I could have fitted one in.

Then a quick wander to the convention. If anything, people were even thinner on the ground than on Saturday.

We started the day with a game of Maschine Zeit offered by Dr Bob. Horror on a space station. Good background, good system. I liked it - and I don't say that very often. Basically you narrate a combination of your abilities to get the highest percentage possible and succeed by rolling under it. So if you're running away, you don't HAVE to add in your physical abilities, you can add in social abilities instead by throwing other people under the bus or because people would expect you to succeed. The more you roll under, the more bennies you get. Bennies have to be spent before the end of of the scene, speeding up the action and stopping the benny hoarding seen in some games. As you use abilities, you tick them off and, eventually, they degrade so you have to narrate other abilities instead. Nice system. Should work well.

The game was slowed by us having some "ponderers" who analysed the best combination of abilities before rolling to succeed. I'd've preferred a slightly more frenetic pace. But it was fun. We all had our own reasons going to the space station to find out what had happened to a missing film crew. I drew the wife searching for her missing husband but chose to twist it so she was going to check he was dead - so she could claim the insurance.

Lunchtime I confirmed that Tescos was really nearby and was able to grab a meal deal in record time.

After lunch another referee turned up who'd offered to run Delta Green. It was his first stab at being a convention referee so we wanted him to get a game and were ready to play but then another player turned up looking to play my Dr Who game so I got to referee for the third time in two days. Lucky me! (The Delta Green game still ran.)

This was the scenario I've been hawking around conventions for nigh on three years now. And it delivered again.

I had three players. One of them was the convention's organiser (Mark - an absolute hero) who chose to play a pregen - Silurian Warrior. The other two made Data - THE Data from Star Trek - and Tim Taylor. You know, the guy played by Tim Allen in the series "Home Improvement". The handyman presenter of "Tool Time". There's something about the ability to play "anyone from anywhere in time and space" that really sparks something in players.

Initially the players seemed a bit frustrated by the factional infighting on the planet they landed on. But once in space, things really took off. The climax had the Jh'duhn nuking the place from orbit (the only way to be sure), Data flying off with the only working jet pack (saving an NPC) and Tim Allen shoving a sonic screwdriver into the power pack of the bad guy's appropriated wheelchair - in order to make it rocket away from the explosion - only to make it go flying backwards. He'd obviously reversed the polarity.

This afternoon slot was a full four hours but I finished half an hour early and was able to make my way to my train in good time.

Bristol is a great setting for a games convention. And Mark and his associates are trying hard to offer a full convention rather than just a games day. They are wonderful people and deserve to succeed. It'd be great if this event grew.

However, none of the many local clubs turned up. They were all off playing their usual games elsewhere. I've noticed this before at other conventions. The local clubs just don't support their local conventions. And why should they? Why should they pay - no matter how small the entry fee - when they can get together with their usual group and play their usual game for free? What can a small local convention offer to lure them out?

I'm not sure I have the answer to that. Until we find one, I worry that conventions like Conquord will fail to grow as fast as we'd like.