Summer StabCon 2017 - Sunday

StabCon summer 2017 - Sunday

I've normally left StabCon at Sunday lunchtime in the past. But at winter StabCon I'd stayed in the afternoon to play the Trumpton RPG. So I felt like playing a game in the afternoon this time as well.

When I scanned the notice board Saturday night, however, I noticed several games on offer Sunday morning but nothing on offer for the afternoon. So I grabbed a blank sign up sheet and scribbled up a vague offering. 

When I checked Sunday morning only my friend (fan? Stalker?) who'd played in ALL my games that weekend had signed up. So I posted an invite on Facebook. (I may have posted in the Event rather than on the Page but I'm still quite new to Facebook.)

Breakfast was the same time Sunday as the rest of the week - 7am - so I had plenty of time to review/prepare my Star Wars game,  pack up and nip to the shop over the road for more cash.

Sunday morning is always my ongoing Star Wars campaign. This is played using my Manifold multi-genre rules. I have no idea where this came from. I ran a one off refight of The Force Awakens the year it came out (with original characters) and the players just keep coming back for more. 

This campaign is the main reason why - when forced to choose between StabCon and the magnificent LongCon in Sheffield - I chose attend StabCon.

The group has grown to 6 players but one of them was unable to attend. He was looking after some friends he'd invited to sample StabCon who'd decided to stay the whole weekend. (Another two fish hooked......)

So we had 5 characters - the Mandelorian Mercenary, the Albino Wookie, the not-a-Jedi, one of the two best pilots in the resistance and the force sensitive Twi'lek engineer. Because the last chapter had been too talky and cerebral, I wanted a more action packed episode. So, with the prior agreement of the players, I switched from the usual "theatre of the mind" style to full tactical - with figures and maps etc. I also wanted to playtest some recent refinements to the tactical rules.

As usual, the scenario didn't survive its encounter with the players. Instead of rescuing the ship being pursued by TIE fighters - and having determined that it didn't have a living pilot - they sat back and watched it being destroyed and the wreckage searched, only choosing to get involved by trailing the departing fighters.

 Then having located the New Order secret base, rather than doing the guerilla action sneaking in thing I expected, they tried to blag their way in. Great pilots in this team. Good fighters. Not so much the conmen. You've all seen The Force Awakens. Do the New Order strike you as the kind of people that'd give succour to a damaged ship stumbling on one of their secret installations?

Anyway, eventually they got in and combat was duly joined. If I'd known the players were going to bring such superb figures, I could've left my paltry offering at home and travelled lighter. (I later found out they had some superb terrain as well.)

All the new rules tweaks worked and produced a good battle with just enough tactical options for the players to enjoy. In fact, I forgot about a couple during play which would have given the players even more options.  I seem to have created a mid crunch RPG that's works well but is fractionally too crunchy for my current personal tastes as a player and referee. Interesting.

Anyway, it all came down to the last man standing but they managed to defeat the "not a Sith" whose powers were amplified by the ancient crystal unearthed by the New Order. Physically restraining their own force users - who also fell under its spell - they managed to smuggle it past the approaching New Order fleet and deliver it to "Top Men" in the resistance. Job done.

This is a superb group of players I love reffing for. Knowing the quality of the figures - passersby were stopping and staring - I'll make even better use of them next time. And that glorious Rancour figure WILL be making an appearance.

No-one signed up for my afternoon game so I paid my £15 to book my space at Winter StabCon and headed home.

My thoughts? It remains a great convention with, possibly, the nicest crowd of people of any I go to. And in the world of the Garrison cons and Concrete Cow that's saying a LOT.

My games are generally popular with Sunday morning and now, it seems, Saturday evening being a fixture. My Saturday morning fantasy game didn't run and I would have liked to game on Sunday afternoon. I guess if I want to run fantasy I should stick to The Black Hack. This is a very traditional crowd who like their D&D. Also for the slots which aren't "gimmes" (Saturday morning, Sunday afternoon) I should prepare "event" games - possibly based on quirky IPs  - and produce glossy A4 sign up sheets to actively promote them.

Small beans, though. Simply put I f*cking LOVE StabCon.