A potted (and, hopefully, mostly accurate) History
There is a particular type of Role-player. They enjoy playing, enjoy going to events and wish there was an event near them. Some get together in small groups and set such events. Some brave souls decide to go it alone. Let’s call them Auteurs.
Setting up a simple little games day isn’t all that difficult. You find a venue and invite people to come and Referee games. The big thing is whether you can cope with the responsibility. Paying for the venue, hoping enough comes in from tickets to cover your costs. Keeping accounts. You rarely have to USE your Code of Conduct but you need to have one. And there’s always the fear that someone might do something silly. That’s why so few people end up putting on this sort of “boutique” TableTop RolePlaying convention. Those that do are Heroes - in my humble opinion.
About a decade ago - I don’t know the full story, I’m estimating - one of these brave souls popped his head up in Leamington Spa. He wanted to put on a little games day so he found a venue and invited a few people.
There are pubs everywhere called “The Bear and the Staff”. Apparently - I don’t know the full story - the phrase is particularly apposite in Leamington Spa. This was adapted to make it more “fantasy” and The Owlbear and the Wizard’s staff was born. I’ve even seen a short fantasy story purporting to explain the legend behind it.
For many reasons, the convention was lightning in a bottle.
Firstly, the Hero that organises it every year is personable, extremely hard-working, and makes simple, sensible decisions. The organisation looks extremely seamless. It is. But this must disguise a lot of work behind the scenes.
Secondly, Leamington Spa is central with good travel connections. Role-players from the North and South of the country can easily get there, making it a bit of a melting pot.
Finally, possibly because of its central location, it attracted a really high proportion of really good Referees. Maybe I’m biased because they’re people I’ve seen or interacted with on-line - but it seems to have a lot of “names” coming to offer games or - even - just to play.
Because of all this, the event has developed a very high reputation amongst people “in the know”. For many people it is the only games convention they visit in the year. It has grown in size and popularity over the years. It’s still a one-man show but I suspect it’s nearing 100 attendees and it now runs over three days.
My relationship with the convention
Before I took a break from convention-going, The Owlbear and The Wizard’s Staff was on the list of conventions that I attended. It was a bit of an old boys club. The venue closed at night and so going out for a meal and a drink was part of the whole thing. It’s one of the things that makes it so enjoyable for most people. It has a really strong and welcoming social side.
It’s pretty close to Birmingham, so I used catch a train down in the morning, play or Referee a couple of games, go for one drink in the evening and make my excuses.
As a “thank you” for Refereeing I’ve been given various items over the years. The ones I remember are:
- an actual figure of The Owlbear and The Wizards Staff and
- a pop-up Neoprene dice tray, which I still use to this day.
Upon my return to the convention scene, it was one of the first conventions I looked out for. I discovered two things.
Firstly, the event has now expanded to include games on Friday afternoon and Sunday morning.
Secondly, because it is so popular, all the games had already been organised - via Warhorn - months in advance. (Six months?) This is a convention people love so much, they’re desperate to get their feet under the table, so bookings open really early and fill up fast. People seem to want to enjoy their anticipation and planning for this event.
Luckily I was still able to book in to attend as a player. The attendance ticket is only £5! I payed mine via PayPal but I think other payment methods are available.
As I was only just beginning to attend conventions again - and this event was in a run of several weekends of conventions one after the other - I decided to skip the Friday and Sunday and just attend for Saturday. This meant I didn’t have to worry about finding accommodation - which would have put the costs up significantly.
There were no available slots for me to offer to Referee a game so I signed up to play in two - one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The games on offer, as you’ll have guessed from the clientele I’ve described, are varied, eclectic and of high quality. They seem to trend more towards “Chaosium” than D&D, but the variety of systems is excellent and I’m sure everyone would find several games they’d want to play. If there is an issue, it’s that the games book out on Warhorn very quickly. If you’re not quick, you’re left with a limited choice, as I was.
But even that limited choice of games is still excellent.
For “reasons”, I can no longer remember which morning game I signed into initially. However, my afternoon game was a different matter. Someone was running Golden Heroes - my first game as an author - in the afternoon and there was still a place left! The chance to play in a game I’ve written comes along so rarely and I hadn’t played or Refereed Golden Heroes in decades. Of course I signed up.
Nearer to the event, the game I’d signed up to in the morning folded and was removed from Warhorn but I was able to switch to one of the (two?) other games that still had a space in.
Then the organiser sent out a message saying more slots were available. (I don’t know why. I suspect there was a lot of interest in the event and he re-looked at the venue and found some more tables or space.) This included slots to offer to Referee a game! So I immediately offered to run a playtest of my horror game.
Alas, a week before the event, a message was sent to say that the Golden Heroes game was also not going to run. For a brief moment I considered stepping up to offer to supervise a scenario in that slot but all of my Golden Heroes books and paraphernalia are still shut away and I doubted I’d be able to find everything I needed in such a short time.
Luckily, one of the other players offered to Referee a game (Call of Cthulhu) so the table was able to stay together. This was better than six players all trying to find other games.
I also received a message from the organiser. He’d been personally monitoring the signups for every game and noticed that mine only had two players signed up. Out of concern for me he was enquiring if I wanted to cancel my game in time to find another one to play in. This kind of personal service and care is rare and welcome.
Long ago, I’d decided - following advice - to always run games at conventions if I get two I players signed up. We all prefer at least three players but it possible to Referee for two and I’ll always do that, now. So I didn’t cancel.
There was another Referee with only two players and, as the week passed, she cancelled her game and I acquired her two players, with a fifth one signing up nearer the time. I had a full table!
Normally, I’ve found I have to book train tickets well in advance and book specific trains in order to keep the costs to a reasonable level. But with Leamington Spa this wasn’t an issue. I even had a choice of either of Birmingham’s main train stations and was able to choose the cheaper one. I think this is because Leamington Spa is on routes to London from both of them.
The event
Because Leamington spa is so near, I could lie in until a reasonable hour and eat breakfast at home. The train journey was only about half an hour and was very comfortable. My iPhone became my personal SatNav and guided me as I walked to the venue in a little over 10 minutes. (Even though it did miss a short cut through an underpass next to the station.) The walk was lovely. Leamington Spa is a delightful town. Middle Class, Middle England at its most charming.
The convention is based at an Irish club. It takes over the larger Bar downstairs and a large, bright, convention room upstairs. Tables were already laid out and - much like Tabletop Scotland the week before - each on had a printed label on it with the name of game.
I was about an hour early. The organiser offers infinite coffee and biscuits and that there would be some Samosas available at lunchtime - all included in the ticket price. However, I wanted to stock up on snacks and water so I asked him if there was a local shop nearby. He directed me a nearby newsagent. Following the instructions - I thought - I walked along a fascinating little street full of bijoux eateries and other interesting little stores until I thought I found the newsagent and bought some supplies. It was only on the way back that I spotted I’d taken a wrong turn. The shop I’d been directed to was a lot nearer and more convenient to the event.
There is a little kitchen off from the main room downstairs - near where the ubiquitous (and wonderful) All Rolled Up were setting up their stall. Inside the kitchen was an urn, a massive catering tub of instant coffee, piles of biscuits and sets of catering utensils. A sensible set-up for providing infinite coffee and biscuits.
As I said, I had 5 players for my first game. The organiser apologised that my “Table” was actually made up of 6 small round tables shoved together. We were playing in the bar downstairs. I don’t use figures and maps so the slightly
unusual table set-up wasn’t an issue for me.
I knew several of my players from when I used to go to conventions before. Two were new to me. All of them we excellent, but one of the ones I didn’t know was an absolutely brilliant younger gentleman. Every time I misread a die roll or someone made a slight miscalculation, he corrected us. He was the only person to play the full width of my system - resolving his “plotline”to gain a bonus point. We were using pregenerated characters and he spotted an arithmetical error on one that he wasn’t even playing. At then end he politely made some suggestions which will improve the game and my future Refereeing.
In my opinion too many players are too “British” to give feedback - even when you’ve explicitly told them you’re playtesting a new game. People are polite and don’t want to offend.
I had some quick conversations with people I knew, either from previous conventions or on-line interactions. By the time I went to check all of the Samosas were gone. This was no problem because I’d bought a pastry and pie from the Newsagents.
There was a small pleasant outdoor area next to the bar by some water - a bit too small to be called a beer garden. I sat there to eat my lunch.
My afternoon game as in the upstairs conference room. It was the fill-in Call of Cthulhu scenario I’ve mentioned. It was called “Blackwater Creek”. It’s the professionally produced scenario bundled in with the (new?) Referee’s screen for the game. I played the ex-army boxer. Good Referee, Good Scenario. Excellent players. It was fun even if it did suffer from the gratuitously over-the-top unbeatable final scene designers and referees seem to think appropriate for this game. Personally I’d prefer if a couple of characters barely escaped with their lives as opposed to the ubiquitous “total party kill”.
I said my goodbyes and left. The great majority of attendees were, presumably, staying on for a second evening of socialising and a further game session Sunday morning.
Because it was so convenient for me I was back home in time for tea.
Summary
It is unsurprising that so many people hold The Owl Bear and The Wizard’s Staff i such high regard.
I’ve already eulogised the organiser but his hard work and light touch are exemplary. The venue is excellent. It attracts top-notch TableTop RolePlaying Referees. And it is ridiculously good value. (I can’t comment upon the relative cost of finding accommodation in Leamington Spa.)
Well worth getting your feet under the table with this one!
Cost calculations
(Be prepared for lots of exclamation marks!)
Attendance Ticket: £5. !!!!!
Return train ticket from Birmingham to Leamington Spa: £9.54
Hours played: 2 x 3.5 = 7
Cost per hour: £2.08. !!!!!
Cost of a pint of Lager…….. £3.60. !!!!!
I am reliably informed that the cost of a pint of Worthington’s Bitter was a mere £2.60 !!!!!
If I ever set up a convention again, I think I’ll be enquiring at my local Irish Clubs first!
