#RPGaday Topic 14: Best Convention Purchase

Agemegos · 08-13-2014, 05:04 PM

I'm doing RPG-a-day in August, as promoted by Dave Chapman (Autocratik). This is Day 14 of 31.

Best Convention Purchase

I've never bought a convention. I don't even recollect ever buying a game or such at a convention. Australian cons aren't like (what I understand of) cons in the US; we have almost no RPG industry here, so they have almost no trade-show component (though I did once play in a promo game of Hunter Planet run by the designer, and I GMed in a lot of Tonio Loewald's promo games for ForeSight).

So I'm going to write about something completely different. None of the topics lined up for this exercise relates to setting. So I'm going to take advantage of this here lacuna by addressing the topic : "Favourite setting for RPGs".

Favourite Setting for RPGs

Now, I have designed a few detailed and robust settings in my time. One I can no longer GM since reading Nine Parts of Desire. The other I tend to gush about, quite a lot. Having been designed by me to suit my tastes, it suits my tastes pretty nicely. But (in what I hope is a surprise) it isn't actually my favourite RPG setting.

No, my favourite setting is the real world, with or without the addition of a conspiracy here and a wainscot fantasy there, a couple of horror elements, or a dash of technothriller sci-fi. This is because, as Ken Hite puts it, "If you're creating a setting for RPGs, start with Earth. It's by far the most interesting and best-researched of all RPG settings, under continuous playtest for thousands of years, and the maps alone put other game worlds to shame."

Even the madly various Vancian colonial societies of my SF setting FLAT BLACK are scarcely more exotic than some of the real or real-ish places I have set RPGs: Rome under Vespasian, mediaeval Japan, Southern France in 1123, the Rwandan headwaters of the Amazon, yeti-infested Tibet, Cyprus a month after the fall of Acre in 1291, St Louis in Prohibition, western Massachusetts in the Depression, the Wild West, on ranches on the Uruguayan pampas (with NAZI clone armies!), and so on at greater length than I can recall.

whswhs · 08-13-2014, 05:22 PM

I think maybe I bought GURPS Alternate Earths at a convention. That would be my top choice, I think. Though I may have gotten the Miskatonic University supplement for CoC at Comic-Con, and if so, it's a contender.

As for favorite setting, I think that's a tie between Glorantha and Transhuman Space. In both cases, there's all kinds of stuff, extending far beyond the limits of what I need to run a particular campaign; and in both cases it includes some really weird stuff that's there as much to explore the conceptual structure as to enable direct adventuring—I mean, no one is going to set out to slay the Crimson Bat!

Bill Stoddard

Agemegos · 08-13-2014, 05:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by whswhs

I mean, no one is going to set out to slay the Crimson Bat!

One of my RQIII characters was a Heorting Humakt-worshipper whose village had been utterly wiped out after a rebellion (while he was off on a stupid quest). He had been enslaved by dragon-newts, fought his way down the Janube through the Kingdoms of War, slowly made his way through Ralios from North to South, and returned home to Sartar by way of Holy Country, as a horse-trader, with everyone else in the party replacing at least one character. To say that by the time he got back to Pavis he was hard-bitten would be almost as much of an understatement as saying that he hated the Lunar Empire. He fell short of qualifying as a Sword of Humakt only by 2 percentage points in Orate. And he had a stockpile of twelve Sever Spirit spells.

I think he would have set out to kill the Crimson Bat. Sure, it can make the saves. But can it survive the loss of attribute CON from all those successful saves? And even if he couldn't do it, he would probably try.

simply Nathan · 08-13-2014, 11:46 PM

Never been to any convention of any sort at all ever and probably never will.

---

Favorite RPG setting? Not sure if it's Points of Light, Yrth, the implied non-setting of GURPS Dungeon Fantasy, or the world I'm personally building for campaigns I'm probably never going to run.

johndallman · 08-14-2014, 01:30 AM

I don't really remember what stuff I have bought at conventions, which makes it kind of hard to decide what was best.

My favourite setting is the real world, somewhat jazzed-up; I'm very much enjoying a Weird War II campaign at present. Infinite Worlds gives you a large supply of real worlds at different dates and with variations that can be small and interesting, if one is prepared to be a little restrained. I'm also fond of Glorantha, and of THS.

Agemegos · 08-14-2014, 02:06 AM

A friend of mine working this exercise on this FaceBook page avers that the best thing he has bought at RPGs cons is Guinness. I have to agree that he has a strong point.

RogerBW · 08-14-2014, 06:18 AM

I'm with John in that I don't really remember where I bought things. I almost certainly picked up the first edition of Shadowrun at a GenCon, though, and I got a lot of use out of that.

Favourite settings: ones with functioning complex things (societies, mostly, but tech and/or magic systems too).

Rocket Man · 08-14-2014, 01:39 PM

Having not yet been to a convention (yes, even with Denver ComiCon in my backyard), I can't answer the main question. As for the alternate? My favorite setting is whatever the GM has a passion for, because I find that passion becomes contagious.

If I'm looking for one to GM, I like one that is rich in detail, with not just hooks but color. The "Hudson City" of Hero Games has been that for me for a while now (with some personal modifications), with even the neighborhoods rendered in the level of detail that many products would give to a city itself.

I'm also fond of ones that are "the real world, plus," since it's quick and easy to draw out the level of color I want. One of the joys of playing In Nomine has been to take known places -- Madison, Wisc. for my original GM, or Boulder County, Colo. for me -- and make them into a proper battlefield for the War. The fact that I get to resurrect a couple of locations that are gone in the real-real world is a bonus.

Parody · 08-14-2014, 03:39 PM

I've been trying to remember cool things I've purchased at conventions, but I'm just not coming up with a really good one. I tend to see things at conventions and buy them locally later. It helps that we have a number of good stores here!

sir_pudding · 08-14-2014, 03:57 PM

I don't think I've ever bought an RPG at a con. Board games, yes. T-Shirts, always. Game accessories like dice, minis, and terrain, sure. An actual rpg or rpg supplement? No. My con-going economic ability has always coincided with access to FLGSes and mostly existed after the interwebs enabled game shopping (with probably a couple of early exceptions). If it's a book, in print, and I can't get it meaningfully signed at a con, then I'm not going to get it at an con.

08-13-2014, 05:04 PM	#1
Agemegos Join Date: May 2005 Location: Oz	#RPGaday Topic 14: Best Convention Purchase I'm doing RPG-a-day in August, as promoted by Dave Chapman (Autocratik). This is Day 14 of 31. Best Convention Purchase I've never bought a convention. I don't even recollect ever buying a game or such at a convention. Australian cons aren't like (what I understand of) cons in the US; we have almost no RPG industry here, so they have almost no trade-show component (though I did once play in a promo game of Hunter Planet run by the designer, and I GMed in a lot of Tonio Loewald's promo games for ForeSight). So I'm going to write about something completely different. None of the topics lined up for this exercise relates to setting. So I'm going to take advantage of this here lacuna by addressing the topic : "Favourite setting for RPGs". Favourite Setting for RPGs Now, I have designed a few detailed and robust settings in my time. One I can no longer GM since reading Nine Parts of Desire. The other I tend to gush about, quite a lot. Having been designed by me to suit my tastes, it suits my tastes pretty nicely. But (in what I hope is a surprise) it isn't actually my favourite RPG setting. No, my favourite setting is the real world, with or without the addition of a conspiracy here and a wainscot fantasy there, a couple of horror elements, or a dash of technothriller sci-fi. This is because, as Ken Hite puts it, "If you're creating a setting for RPGs, start with Earth. It's by far the most interesting and best-researched of all RPG settings, under continuous playtest for thousands of years, and the maps alone put other game worlds to shame." Even the madly various Vancian colonial societies of my SF setting FLAT BLACK are scarcely more exotic than some of the real or real-ish places I have set RPGs: Rome under Vespasian, mediaeval Japan, Southern France in 1123, the Rwandan headwaters of the Amazon, yeti-infested Tibet, Cyprus a month after the fall of Acre in 1291, St Louis in Prohibition, western Massachusetts in the Depression, the Wild West, on ranches on the Uruguayan pampas (with NAZI clone armies!), and so on at greater length than I can recall. __________________ Decay is inherent in all composite things. Nod head. Get treat. Last edited by Agemegos; 08-13-2014 at 09:50 PM.

08-13-2014, 05:22 PM	#2
whswhs Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Lawrence, KS	Re: #RPGaday Topic 14: Best Convention Purchase I think maybe I bought GURPS Alternate Earths at a convention. That would be my top choice, I think. Though I may have gotten the Miskatonic University supplement for CoC at Comic-Con, and if so, it's a contender. As for favorite setting, I think that's a tie between Glorantha and Transhuman Space. In both cases, there's all kinds of stuff, extending far beyond the limits of what I need to run a particular campaign; and in both cases it includes some really weird stuff that's there as much to explore the conceptual structure as to enable direct adventuring—I mean, no one is going to set out to slay the Crimson Bat! Bill Stoddard

08-13-2014, 11:46 PM	#4
simply Nathan formerly known as 'Kenneth Latrans' Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Wyoming, Michigan	Re: #RPGaday Topic 14: Best Convention Purchase Never been to any convention of any sort at all ever and probably never will. --- Favorite RPG setting? Not sure if it's Points of Light, Yrth, the implied non-setting of GURPS Dungeon Fantasy, or the world I'm personally building for campaigns I'm probably never going to run. __________________ Ba-weep granah wheep minibon. Wubba lubba dub dub.

08-14-2014, 01:30 AM	#5
johndallman Night Watchman Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Cambridge, UK	Re: #RPGaday Topic 14: Best Convention Purchase I don't really remember what stuff I have bought at conventions, which makes it kind of hard to decide what was best. My favourite setting is the real world, somewhat jazzed-up; I'm very much enjoying a Weird War II campaign at present. Infinite Worlds gives you a large supply of real worlds at different dates and with variations that can be small and interesting, if one is prepared to be a little restrained. I'm also fond of Glorantha, and of THS.

08-14-2014, 02:06 AM	#6
Agemegos Join Date: May 2005 Location: Oz	Re: #RPGaday Topic 14: Best Convention Purchase A friend of mine working this exercise on this FaceBook page avers that the best thing he has bought at RPGs cons is Guinness. I have to agree that he has a strong point. __________________ Decay is inherent in all composite things. Nod head. Get treat.

08-14-2014, 06:18 AM	#7
RogerBW Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: near London, UK	Re: #RPGaday Topic 14: Best Convention Purchase I'm with John in that I don't really remember where I bought things. I almost certainly picked up the first edition of Shadowrun at a GenCon, though, and I got a lot of use out of that. Favourite settings: ones with functioning complex things (societies, mostly, but tech and/or magic systems too). __________________ Podcast: Improvised Radio Theatre - With Dice Gaming stuff here: Tekeli-li! Blog; Webcomic Laager and Limehouse Buy things by me on Warehouse 23

08-14-2014, 01:39 PM	#8
Rocket Man Petitioner: Word of IN Filk Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Longmont, CO	Re: #RPGaday Topic 14: Best Convention Purchase Having not yet been to a convention (yes, even with Denver ComiCon in my backyard), I can't answer the main question. As for the alternate? My favorite setting is whatever the GM has a passion for, because I find that passion becomes contagious. If I'm looking for one to GM, I like one that is rich in detail, with not just hooks but color. The "Hudson City" of Hero Games has been that for me for a while now (with some personal modifications), with even the neighborhoods rendered in the level of detail that many products would give to a city itself. I'm also fond of ones that are "the real world, plus," since it's quick and easy to draw out the level of color I want. One of the joys of playing In Nomine has been to take known places -- Madison, Wisc. for my original GM, or Boulder County, Colo. for me -- and make them into a proper battlefield for the War. The fact that I get to resurrect a couple of locations that are gone in the real-real world is a bonus. __________________ “It's not railroading if you offer the PCs tickets and they stampede to the box office, waving their money. Metaphorically speaking” --Elizabeth McCoy, In Nomine Line Editor Author: "What Doesn't Kill Me Makes Me Stronger"

08-14-2014, 03:39 PM	#9
Parody Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Twin Cities, MN	Re: #RPGaday Topic 14: Best Convention Purchase I've been trying to remember cool things I've purchased at conventions, but I'm just not coming up with a really good one. I tend to see things at conventions and buy them locally later. It helps that we have a number of good stores here! __________________ Michael Miller St. Paul Area Road Knights ESG Labs - Convention Events

08-14-2014, 03:57 PM	#10
sir_pudding Wielder of Smart Pants Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Ventura CA	Re: #RPGaday Topic 14: Best Convention Purchase I don't think I've ever bought an RPG at a con. Board games, yes. T-Shirts, always. Game accessories like dice, minis, and terrain, sure. An actual rpg or rpg supplement? No. My con-going economic ability has always coincided with access to FLGSes and mostly existed after the interwebs enabled game shopping (with probably a couple of early exceptions). If it's a book, in print, and I can't get it meaningfully signed at a con, then I'm not going to get it at an con.