CODCon Report
Yay! Seven slots of gaming in a six slot convention! (now edited to fix the errors/omissions caused by finishing the post at 2am while working -- not guaranteeing I got ALL the errors)
I'll have another blog post tomorrow, probably, but this one is the CODCon report -- while it's moderately fresh in my mind.
Friday:
Slot 0! Really, really slot 0, as it occurred immediately before slot 1 rather than days or weeks before the con. Matt, Ryan and I played VER 8-03 "Darkness is Unbound". This was done so that all four of us would be free to judge in slot 4, when we'd planned to play this. Also took the four of us out of the player pool that slot -- so the slot could require fewer judges. It was kind of an odd mod, but pretty interesting throughout. The end had a twist I was definitely not expecting. Who knew that .... well, that would be telling.
Slot 1! I judged VER 7-09 "Jinxed". A very fun mod, by one of the more fun authors. The players were all good, and I managed to kill the character of a player I really like. He took it fine. I'd tell you how I killed him (well, the mod killed him, I just rolled high), but again ... that would be telling. What I can say is that everyone thought it was hilarious.
Then I came home and hit a few hours of work (!!!!), since I got called just before slot 1. I got to bed at 3:30am.
Saturday:
Slot 2! I judged VER 7-08 "Race the Spirit's Lightning". Another fun mod co-written by the author of "Jinxed" mentioned above. The table included Kalen, Suzanne (another player I enjoy playing with), her daughter, and two players that I had in slot 1. As a spectator noted it was something that is rare to see - a table of 5 female players with 1 male. The mod tends to run long, and it did this time as well, but this is the third time I've run it so I'm getting better at pacing it. The climax wasn't quite as exciting as some of the times I've run this because one of the players here (Aisling - Suzanne's 9-year-old daughter) could outdo one of the bad guy's main tricks.
Slot 3! I PLAYED! Played VER 8-02 "Crypt Things". Played with Ryan and Matt again, Ryan and I with our Cuthbertines. I can't remember much about what we faced here other than the climax, which was major and has a lot of repercussions for my character (if only the end of the campaign wasn't approaching so rapidly). Ryan and I got to play off part of the Oath we'd previously taken -- we'll see if that comes up again or whether this was it. I'm guessing "again, but in a lesser way".
Slot 4! I judged VERS 7-03 "From Hextor With Love". It's much more of a freeform mod, better suited for home play (which it will never see, since it's a special). The problem here was with the players. Well, not so much with the individual players (or sets of players), but with the mix. Three of the players were tween boys, who just had way too much energy bouncing off each other. Two more players were a couple who I've judged before who are prone to anxiety attacks. And, of course, the boys just wound up triggering those attacks, and they had no idea they were doing it (or probably that anything was going on). I managed to get them through the module with some beating of the clue sticks near the end to help them get through successfully rather than having time called on them.
Went home. Had some follow-up to do from the previous night's work. About an hour's worth of work. Got to bed about 12:30.
Sunday:
Slot 5! I judged VER 7-05 "The Lion and the Dragon". Fun table. Challenging mod, but they were a bit overpowering APL 8 table (and the mod only goes to APL 8), so they managed to win outright. Hey, why is the XXXXXX cooler (and more deadly) at APL 6 (where I played) than at APL 8 (for these guys)?
Slot 6! I judged VER 7-06 "The Swan and the Crow". Direct sequel to the previous slot, and almost the same table - only one player changed. This time they played at APL 10, and at points they may have wished they could have stayed at APL 8! But, they were challenged and succeeded, which always makes for the best games.
Post Con: The family went out to California Pizza Kitchen. Then I crashed hard for about 9 hours.
And that was the weekend. Next post - what's been going on in Iowa, why I'm going back this weekend, and why I'm then going to Ottawa on Monday (not the one in Illinois, the one in Ontario).
I'll have another blog post tomorrow, probably, but this one is the CODCon report -- while it's moderately fresh in my mind.
Friday:
Slot 0! Really, really slot 0, as it occurred immediately before slot 1 rather than days or weeks before the con. Matt, Ryan and I played VER 8-03 "Darkness is Unbound". This was done so that all four of us would be free to judge in slot 4, when we'd planned to play this. Also took the four of us out of the player pool that slot -- so the slot could require fewer judges. It was kind of an odd mod, but pretty interesting throughout. The end had a twist I was definitely not expecting. Who knew that .... well, that would be telling.
Slot 1! I judged VER 7-09 "Jinxed". A very fun mod, by one of the more fun authors. The players were all good, and I managed to kill the character of a player I really like. He took it fine. I'd tell you how I killed him (well, the mod killed him, I just rolled high), but again ... that would be telling. What I can say is that everyone thought it was hilarious.
Then I came home and hit a few hours of work (!!!!), since I got called just before slot 1. I got to bed at 3:30am.
Saturday:
Slot 2! I judged VER 7-08 "Race the Spirit's Lightning". Another fun mod co-written by the author of "Jinxed" mentioned above. The table included Kalen, Suzanne (another player I enjoy playing with), her daughter, and two players that I had in slot 1. As a spectator noted it was something that is rare to see - a table of 5 female players with 1 male. The mod tends to run long, and it did this time as well, but this is the third time I've run it so I'm getting better at pacing it. The climax wasn't quite as exciting as some of the times I've run this because one of the players here (Aisling - Suzanne's 9-year-old daughter) could outdo one of the bad guy's main tricks.
Slot 3! I PLAYED! Played VER 8-02 "Crypt Things". Played with Ryan and Matt again, Ryan and I with our Cuthbertines. I can't remember much about what we faced here other than the climax, which was major and has a lot of repercussions for my character (if only the end of the campaign wasn't approaching so rapidly). Ryan and I got to play off part of the Oath we'd previously taken -- we'll see if that comes up again or whether this was it. I'm guessing "again, but in a lesser way".
Slot 4! I judged VERS 7-03 "From Hextor With Love". It's much more of a freeform mod, better suited for home play (which it will never see, since it's a special). The problem here was with the players. Well, not so much with the individual players (or sets of players), but with the mix. Three of the players were tween boys, who just had way too much energy bouncing off each other. Two more players were a couple who I've judged before who are prone to anxiety attacks. And, of course, the boys just wound up triggering those attacks, and they had no idea they were doing it (or probably that anything was going on). I managed to get them through the module with some beating of the clue sticks near the end to help them get through successfully rather than having time called on them.
Went home. Had some follow-up to do from the previous night's work. About an hour's worth of work. Got to bed about 12:30.
Sunday:
Slot 5! I judged VER 7-05 "The Lion and the Dragon". Fun table. Challenging mod, but they were a bit overpowering APL 8 table (and the mod only goes to APL 8), so they managed to win outright. Hey, why is the XXXXXX cooler (and more deadly) at APL 6 (where I played) than at APL 8 (for these guys)?
Slot 6! I judged VER 7-06 "The Swan and the Crow". Direct sequel to the previous slot, and almost the same table - only one player changed. This time they played at APL 10, and at points they may have wished they could have stayed at APL 8! But, they were challenged and succeeded, which always makes for the best games.
Post Con: The family went out to California Pizza Kitchen. Then I crashed hard for about 9 hours.
And that was the weekend. Next post - what's been going on in Iowa, why I'm going back this weekend, and why I'm then going to Ottawa on Monday (not the one in Illinois, the one in Ontario).
posted by TT at
4/15/2008 11:01:00 PM
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