Greetings, fellows!

I think about running a game of Desolation at the upcoming convention here in town. I know that some of you already ran a game session on a con and so I hope to get some tips here. I really try to spread the word of Desolation here in Germany.
The first question is, what kind of adventure I shall use. Are there any more official scenarios other than "A Few Good Men" in the core rulebook? I know there's one named "The Price of Admission", is there another way to get it beside buying the Desolation pdf (I prefer the good old book)? Are there any more?
And what shall I do about characters? Shall I take the twelve sample characters with me and let the players choose or would it be better to choose about five of them to make sure that it will be a balanced group and that every character fits into the adventure? I'm thankful for any tips.

I can provide some general tips and hope they're helpful.

Your biggest challenge is time. You have a limited window in which to introduce the game and and run them through the scenario. Pacing is critical. With this in mind:

First, whatever you run will need to be paced so that it can be wrapped up within the time frame. You can eiher use a very simple scenario ("defend the town from raiders") or have plot elements that can be inserted or removed as time permits. Also, make sure to allow time at the beginning to introduce the system and explain the rules. One of the things I like about the Ubiquity system is that I've been able to get players up to speed on the rules very quickly.

Second, pre-gen characters are a big help. A) you don't waste time vetting character concepts or correcting math errors, and B) you know the mix of character types ahead of time to make sure every player gets to participate. One trick I've used is to hand out pregens but not name them, thus giving the players something to make the characters their own.

As for available scenarios, maybe some of the other folks in these boards can help out in that regard. If worse comes to worse, look through some old runs from other fantasy RPGs and tweak them to fit in the world of Scondera. Or even go beyond the fantasy arena; I got to thinking the other day that the basic premise of Damnation Alley (a group of heroes trying to get critical medicine to a far-away post) would make a decent Desolation scenario.

Thanks for your post.

What do you think about the amount of pregenerated chars?

I generally plan for six players, but that's mostly out of personal preference (six is about the number I'm comfortable running for). I normally have eight characters pre-generated, though, so that all the players have some selection, and for those rare case when someone arrives at the last minute or brings a friend who just has to play too.

YMMV on the number, of course. I've run con games with as little as three players and with as many as eight. Just make sure each player gets a chance to be in the spotlight and contribute to the game in some way.

Thanks.

Hi Gilgamesh,

During con games, we usually aim for six players and bring seven character sheets for folks to choose from. We usually give them the option to play Denner, Esther, Krek, Lem, Menelaris, Sasha and Tarl from the core book. We plan to spend 15 or 20 minutes giving a brief overview of the setting and system, but wait to explain combat and magic during the first fight.

I'll gather up some resources and send your way. I think we should have a place on the site for a Con Kit download at some point -- but I'll PM with some files that might help in the meantime.

Thanks for that. Now I'm well prepared for any con game.
But I think I'll limit the number of players to five. I understand that you usually want to present the game to as much people as possible during a con but my experiences as a GM tell me that more than five players are quite hard to handle. Of course it depends on the group but with new people at a con I don't want to take the rist. Better a great game for less people than a moderate for more.
But thanks for you answer and you tips.

Hullo, Gilgamesh,



Spreading the word about the game is always a good thing! Glad to hear the word is hitting Germany and other parts of Europe.



I don't know whether Jamie, Matt, and the GMD folks have released any other scenarios for downloads and the like, but "A Few Good Men" out of the main rulebook is really an excellent scenario for the game, and is a pretty good convention scenario. I know that the folks at GMD might be kind enough to supply you with a copy of "The Price of Admission", but that's up to them.



Insofar as player characters for the demo game go, taking the 12 sample characters and letting the players choose from among them isn't a bad idea at all. I usually do this process for scenarios that I'm offering for the game, although I usually only allow for 6 players in any of the convention demos that I run of the game. To be honest, I find that more players than that can be a bit difficult for the GM to keep all the characters involved.

Anyway, I hope this helps. And if you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to ask. Thanks.

Hullo, Nestor,



Good advice, Nestor, as usual.

Btw, insofar as the Damnation Alley adaptation to DESOLATION, when you get that puppy done, I would love a copy please!!! Excellent scenario fodder that!