Convention GMing

[FeiLin]

I have a couple of questions regarding GMing at conventions:

1. Is there a fast way to figure out which of the 7 player times a player is with just a few questions, in conversation or a form or something else, but doable with complete strangers who sit down and will lose interest if they can't start playing within a few minutes?
2. What happens when said people behave completely irrationally or immorally for the game world's logic and start breaking laws they may or may not know exist, kill/rob people just for fun or profit, or are socially awkward?
3. How would you handle someone who insists on playing a certain player type but you realise a bit in they dont have the motivation to play? The example I have is a Tinkerer in a Dungeon Fantasy campaign who didnt realise there's a whole bunch of rules and items that need to be at least moderately familiar, so as not have me constantly answer "no, you cant put together a medical scanner with some string and a piece of wood, regardless of your skill level"... or just in generally expect me as GM to provide all the alternatives and just pick the best (while I'm still struggling as convention GM).

The underlying question is: how do you balance your own world building with the clash of new players in the context of a convention or similar?

[kdtipa]

I'm going to start with: Convention GMing is really difficult with GURPS for a number of reasons. To begin with, not many people are familiar with the rules of GURPS. There's a really high chance people interested in trying it won't know the rules.

My recommendation is to skip bringing your well defined and deep setting hoping that people will get engrossed in it. At a convention when giving players a fun new experience is the goal, I think you're better off with a super simple setting with a super simple story. Something with random people finding themselves needing to depend on each other in a strange situation and they have a goal like finding the radio to call for the coast guard to rescue them from the island they got stranded on. Make it "movie length". And definitely make a bunch of characters for the players to choose from so there's no character creation time.

To answer your questions more directly...
1) Fast way to figure out player styles?
I wouldn't start with a questionnaire. People aren't going to want to spend time filling out answers before they get to play. Just be clear that you're offering a chance to try out GURPS and that you're hoping everyone will have fun.
2) What happens when players behave poorly?
Politely ask the player to remember that other people are trying this out too, and let them know their behavior is impolite to everyone else at the table. If they're belligerent, I think you just ask them to leave the table.
3) Motivation in the face of lots of rules?
Don't do anything complex. Don't run a setting that has too much to learn for new players. Introducing people at a convention to a new system AND a new setting that includes things like magic and gadgeteering and whatever other extra stuff can be thrown in will definitely overload a person looking for a quick interesting experience. Stick with a setting you don't have to explain much for, like the real world, or maybe a setting like Harry Potter where most people will already understand the basic idea. The less a player has to learn from you the better. And the players will be playing premade characters anyway. There shouldn't be a lot of character depth, and you shouldn't try to impose significant behaviors on them with disadvantages... Giving a player alcoholism is too much for a convention game. I guess what I'm saying is that if you keep the characters simple enough; keep the setting simple enough; and keep your story simple enough... you shouldn't run into situations where the player wants to do something they can't do that ruins their motivation.
Final Question: World Building, New Players, and Convention Context?
I recommend not doing a lot of world building for a convention game. You'll be disappointed by how little all your work matters, and the players will be overwhelmed with all the stuff they have to remember. An introduction game set up for a convention should be as simple as possible with as much stuff familiar to the players already there.

As an additional thought...
I love world building. It's a great creative outlet. If you want to share your world with some players, I think a convention is a tough place to do it. A regular home game is good.

[Hide]

It is hard assessing whether somebody will quit or stay. But chances are they already know about RP in general, and that you sometimes have to wait until your turn comes.

1. In my experience, after you explain the very basics, you can involve your players very early if you give them character templates to choose from, and if you give them a couple of minutes to introduce themselves; it could be better if you design small introductory scenarios for each of your players or have them form teams (in your example 3 teams). It’s a drill, but that should take about 5 minutes per team. You could have them roll dice to decide their turns, then waiting would be more rational.
2. That depends entirely on your GM-style and the introduction you gave. Sometimes players want to break the setting’s rules of logic because they cannot do it in our reality; some think it is cathartic. If it does not break the “suspension of disbelief” then I can handle it within the setting. I remember there was a guy in a convention who wanted his PC to do cannibalism, just because, even if the world/setting did not encourage such actions; the GM had that player/character removed in a subtle way, don’t remember the details, but the PC died because of his actions.
3. In general, you have to talk with your players not only about the system; you have tell them about the setting and learn their expectations. This may screen-off players and ensure a better gaming, I believe. I also want to have fun as GM, so I often tell players they are expected to have team cohesion, respect hierarchy and be loyal to their patron. If they follow these “rules”, then they won’t have much trouble advancing further in the campaign. Otherwise, they are impeded; they won’t necessarily die, however.

[mook]

2) and 3) seem pretty well covered just in the usual "have an adult conversation" kind of way, but I think the issues of both 1) and the world building go away when you just... don't care lol.

I don't mean that in an obnoxious way, just that you can't please all the players all the time, so I find it easier to just bring and GM the game I want, and whoever shows up, shows up.

Making it very clear in the game blurb (assuming there is one, when the players pre-reg/look through the games) can go a long way towards attracting the kind of player the game is designed for. Here are some example from past GURPS convention games:

Beware the Boogeyman
When the sun sets and the children sleep, the Boogeyman tries to feed on their nightmares. Luckily, the children have you to protect them: a cat, a dog, an action figure, a toy dinosaur, and their imaginary friends (a furry monster and a unicorn). Can you successfully confront the Boogeyman and put an end to his reign of childhood terror? NO GURPS knowledge required.

Hare Today, Gone Tomorrow (Bunnies & Burrows)
An unfamiliar hare has arrived at the warren, beseeching the aid of the heroic rabbits who live there. Can you survive another perilous adventure into the world beyond the meadow? PCs are rabbits in the vein of Watership Down - they can speak with one another, have their own society, and even use (very) rudimentary tools. Adult players assumed, attentive children are welcome. No GURPS experience needed!

The Only Good Bug... (Starship Troopers)
As a member of the Mobile Infantry, your power armor is the pinnacle of the Terran Federation’s military might, transforming you and your fellow troopers into humanity’s greatest defense against the bugs.

An arsenal of cutting-edge ordnance; triple layers of composite armor; extended life support and environmental shielding. Will it be enough?

No GURPS experience required, just come and enjoy!


Those three descriptions attracted very different kinds of gamers, and if a hardcore combat fiend shows up for a Bunnies & Burrows game, I don't feel the need to accommodate too much.

Also note that all three explicitly call out the fact that it's completely open for those curious about GURPS. I don't believe GURPS is difficult to GM at cons -- I ask the players to describe what they want to do, then give them a target number to roll against and describe the effects. After a few turns of that, I start explaining more and more of the fiddly bits until/unless it's clear none of the players are there to learn the rules, but just want to play the story.

I have included a maneuver list and various kinds of basic GURPS explanation sheets in one-shots for years. Overwhelmingly, most players just don't read 'em and don't seem to care much. They want to be a starship trooper, or a bunny, or a toy dinosaur -- they don't care about the rules beyond the rudiments needed to follow what's going on.

Now, new GURPS GMs, on the other hand, will show up at the table and soak things up like a sponge, and I've spent many a fine hour after a game filling in all the blanks they care to learn. But that's pretty rare.

So, I guess my advice is:

1) Advertise the game for what it is, and let the players who dig that sort of thing find it.

2) If a player's disruptive, ask them to tone it down. If they refuse, ask them to leave. A couple of notes here: I have literally never once had to do this, so I may not be the best judge; also, the con I GM at doesn't charge per event, so if I ever did, I wouldn't have to deal with the hassle of "I want my money back"

3) I generally give a quick run-down of the available pre-gens before the players choose so they know what they're picking. "This is Oakroot. As far as bunnies go, he's a warrior, but remember he's still just a rabbit." Or, "This is Bob. He's a gadgeteer, but in the highly-cinematic MacGyver way, not the pulling random parts out of the air way." If there are still mismatched expectations, compromise as much as you can without breaking the adventure for everyone else?

Good luck!

[Black Leviathan]

1. Not sure if I read you right but if you're getting pelted with questions at convention games I'd suggest you prepare a 10 minute GURPS primer for folks who've never played before and tell experienced players you're going to do a quick tutorial if they want to run grab a drunk and game will start in 15 minutes so you can go over GURPS basics with new players and have 5 minutes for questions. If your'e still wrapping up when players get back that's probably good.

2. Generally if players act out at the table it's to get attention, deal with them briefly and focus on the players that are advancing the play and contributing positively. Once misbehavers see the attention going to players who are engaging with the game they'll naturally engage to receive that focus.

3. I don't do point-buy characters at conventions, even with templates. If I'm running GURPS I make pregens and I am to make them very basic and unconfusing so that if I've never played before I can pick up the character sheet and background and just go.

[AlexanderHowl]

Convention GMing is one of the few times where I advocate low CP characters in GURPS. A party of 50 CP adolescents trying to find their missing friend (think Stranger Things) is a perfectly acceptable convention party. The characters are 13 years old, their mandatory Patron (Parents; 12-) [20] balances out their mandatory Social Stigma (Minor) [-5] and Wealth (Poor) [-15], so they have another 75 CP in positive traits and another 25 CP in negative traits. There is only so much confusion people can have with that many traits.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by FeiLin

I have a couple of questions regarding GMing at conventions:
[LIST=1][*]Is there a fast way to figure out which of the 7 player times a player is with just a few questions, in conversation or a form or something else, but doable with complete strangers who sit down and will lose interest if they can't start playing within a few minutes?

I'm not sure which specific list of 7 you're talking about, but it doesn't really matter, the answer is still 'no'. The key is to start with a description that accurately describes the style and flavor of game you want to run, because that will tend to attract the player types you want, and to be adaptive.

Originally Posted by FeiLin

[*]What happens when said people behave completely irrationally or immorally for the game world's logic and start breaking laws they may or may not know exist, kill/rob people just for fun or profit, or are socially awkward?

Laws they have no reason to realize exist should probably not be present. Other than that, it's the same as any other disruptive behavior: tell them that they're being disruptive, and if they don't knock it off or at least keep it to a manageable level, eject them.

Originally Posted by FeiLin

[*]How would you handle someone who insists on playing a certain player type but you realise a bit in they dont have the motivation to play? The example I have is a Tinkerer in a Dungeon Fantasy campaign who didnt realise there's a whole bunch of rules and items that need to be at least moderately familiar, so as not have me constantly answer "no, you cant put together a medical scanner with some string and a piece of wood, regardless of your skill level"... or just in generally expect me as GM to provide all the alternatives and just pick the best (while I'm still struggling as convention GM).

The characters you generate for a convention game (always use pregenerated characters) should generally be straightforward to use and support a variety of play styles.

Originally Posted by FeiLin

The underlying question is: how do you balance your own world building with the clash of new players in the context of a convention or similar?

World building for a convention game should be extremely stripped down. Players aren't at a convention to explore some well rendered setting, they're there to play games.