nemomeme's slumberland - Dreamation 2008 - Overview

Having spent the prior week walking around Manhattan and hanging out with a friend, I was already pretty tired as the convention got underway.  I overslept on Saturday and missed an opportunity at a Swansong game run by Clinton R. Nixon which had a couple players I'd played with last year and with whom I really wanted to play again.  And then I opted out of the midnight Dirty Secrets game I'd also been looking forward to.

Still, including four playtests, I played in seven games:  Swashbucklers of the 7 Skies, Grey Ranks, Kingdom of Nothing, Criminal Element, Giants, Burning Wheel, and In a Wicked Age.  Each of the games was run by their creators, excepting the IAWA game which I understood was being developed as a post-apocalyptic setting hack for that game, a "Project Bearclaw."  I might have this wrong; I was checking out of my room and arrived at that game a bit late Sunday morning.

The S7S game had too many players in it (seven) for me to really get a good sense of the system.  By the time we got an overview of the world and had created characters we only had one or two opportunities for each of our characters to interact with the mechanics.

Kingdom of Nothing was just a game concept at the Dreamation designer panel last year.  All the characters in Kingdom of Nothing are homeless street people who've lost their past.  It's got a Gaiman/World of Darkness vibe that takes some inspiration from Don't Rest Your Head.  I played a sixty-something scrap-metal-collecting alcoholic named "Rattle" that was inspired by "Bubs" from The Wire.  It was really cool to see how much work its creator had put into it since the panel and he was really open to all of the playtesters thoughts on where it might need some work.  Based on his latest playtests, it looks like Jeff is going to tweak quite a few things, including stripping out entire subsystems of the game.

Both Swashbucklers of the 7 Skies and Kingdom of Nothing show a lot of promise.  I really like what I've seen of their settings and look forward to their completion.

Criminal Element and Giants were two other playtests I participated in.  Both of these seemed closer to finished and I would be surprised if they weren't available next GenCon.

Like the S7S playtest, Criminal Element might have benefited from one less person; after character and situation creation we again only had time for a very short scenario.  Criminal Element allows you to play characters in a heist film like Reservoir Dogs or Heat.  I had browsed a draft of the rules several weeks before, and had even contemplated running a game of it before I ultimately decided I wouldn't be running anything at Dreamation.  I played a larger-than-life wheelman named Parker inspired by one of the characters from the Jock/Diggle comic book, The Losers.  As in all heist films, things quickly went pear-shaped for our group.  Despite the abbreviated scenario, everyone seemed to have a good time - lots of laughs all around.  I *really* like the Blackjack inspired conflict resolution mechanic in this game - it is very fast, yet still has interesting risk/reward decisions and tension and matches the genre perfectly.  When it comes out, I expect to add this game to a stable of low/no prep games that I can have ready to run at any time along with Dust Devils, PTA, Contenders, Don't Rest Your Head, and maybe In a Wicked Age.

Giants might be another such game; the group collaboratively creates the situation they will play in together right before play.  Using pre-generated characters each of us named and added our giant character's community and other towns and geographical features to a blank map.  We then proceeded to stride across our new-sprung land, engaging in titanic struggles against an enigmatic foe known as Firebringer.  I enjoyed this game for the opportunity to play with Shane Jackson again (he was in three of my games last year), as well as to play with Fred Hicks and Rob Donoghue of Evil Hat, two of the three designers of my favorite game.  I met them last year but didn’t have the chance to play with them.  It was fun creating a map together, each of the players playing off of and adding to what the others had contributed.  Afterwards, I had a few ideas about some possible tweaks for the game, but preferred to listen to the geniuses of FATE offer their suggestions.  (Man, those guys can talk!)

The two heart-wrenching games of the convention were Grey Ranks and Burning Wheel.

Of all the games I’d signed up for, I was most anticipating the Grey Ranks session.  Follow the link for more information about it; I won’t dwell on the game much here.  I expect to find a way to play a three session arc of it sometime this year and post more about the game then.  It was extremely cool, but I especially felt the “pang of the one-shot” with this game.  By that I mean I’ve really begin to realize how much I prefer a game that goes for three or more sessions.  There was so much more to explore in the amazing characters and situation the players and the game system afforded, but no time or opportunity to do it.  The Polish child soldiers, Bear, Slaz, Mar, and the rest are lost portraits, frozen in time.  This was my favorite session of the convention as well as the session that makes me think conventions might not be for me.  I went to Dreamation last year and this year because I’ve had so few opportunities to play these small press games at all, much less on a regular basis.  I’m hoping this is starting to turn around with the development of the community of indie gamers here in Portland.

The Burning Wheel scenario, The Sacrifice, was equally poignant.  Each of the pre-generated characters’ beliefs is at odds such that a tragic end is almost inevitable.  I was glad for the opportunity to finally play Burning Wheel, one of the first small press games I ever purchased, but knew (and still know) that it’s not a system for me.  It just has too much “crunch” for my present tastes.  Its author, Luke Crane, is an energetic and talented game master who really projects his enthusiasm for his game and the hobby.  He went right for our characters’ hearts and throats and made us like it.

The Sunday morning game, In a Wicked Age/Project Bearclaw, was a little stilted and meandering.  We had rules questions and confusions.  I’ve read the rules three times and played it once and am still not quite sure how to play the thing.  The situation creating “Oracle” and the resolution mechanic at its heart are appealing enough for me to keep at it.  It could end up being an absolutely great game for me.  I think I’ll need to un-train myself from some of the stakes-setting instincts I’ve learned from similar games to play it correctly.

Even though the game was really bumpy, good players still made it fun.  John (jenskot) from the Mu game last year was there.  All the characters in this post-apocalyptic setting were interesting/funny.  I played a simple farmer named Loam Tilman with John played my blindly optimistic wife Emma, and Rob Donoghue playing a hard-nosed tin mine manager.  Kevin Allen Jr.’s accent and mannerisms for his collector/merchant character, Barnigut, had me in stitches, and there was a feckless charlatan inventor named Mr. Volts who somehow made good on his promises of creating a rain machine in the end.

So, I’m still not sure about conventions generally but this one has lots of neat people and talented role-players who are really bringing special qualities when they sit down to play.  At least as long as I have my good friend Eric in Manhattan, I don’t intend to miss out on Dreamation.