Hey, all. I have a few questions as somebody who has done a fair bit of DMing, but never at a con. I've got a few specific questions, but any general advice would be stellar. My specific questions generally revolve around scheduling. What should I be keeping in mind when choosing my start time? Should I wait for some other events to get on the schedule, so that I don't sign up to DM at a time that an event I want to attend is happening? Is that even how that works, or do I need to submit my event before I'll get the chance to see the schedule? Like I said, any other advice is great. I'm very interested in DMing at GC, but this will also be the first gaming focused con I've attended, so I'm a little worried about diving in head first. Thanks in advance.
I've been to lots of cons (from Gen-Con to tiny local ones - this will be my first Gary-con too - but if this is your first con ever, I would personally recommend not GMing...just play and have a great time...get a feel for how con events run and flow...what you enjoy and don't...then GM next time with some experience in your pocket...just my opinion
I would say go ahead and GM but maybe not go overboard. As for event submission and scheduling around events you want it's a game of chicken. Either submit early and hope it turns out well, or wait and see how things play out and hope that your submitted events get accepted (not sure how picky the folks are). Another consideration is if you are shooting for a GM shirt. Start times is a personal matter. Myself, I run Circus Maximus (a total of 6 events this year) and had them at 8am each day plus a second game at noon on Sunday. The down side is that it's damn early for lots of folks. If you want to get you stuff out of the way quick and have time to play in other events then 10am is a safer bet. So, just submit the events you want. Maybe be less ambitious than you initially plan. Chose start times that give you more time to play, if that's what you want. The next big thing is to provide pre-gens. Make it as easy as possible for players to get up and going and in the game.
Since you won't see what time other events are starting until after the event list is finalized (unless you know what times particular GMs have chosen), there's really no good way to know right now when an awesome event is going to be in order to schedule your own. Every session I GM means I'm missing out on a game I wanted to play in, but I still sign up to GM, because there are so many awesome events, I'll get into another one instead. It's literally impossible to do everything you want to do anyway (unless you're very, very picky). I've found leaving evenings free gets me into most of the really cool stuff I want, though, so I tend to schedule my own games for the mornings.
I pick what works good for me as starting times and try to leave some gaps for playing or (just as important) some rest.
Keep in mind that Sundays are odd. Many players opt out and leave early, others just don't show after three prior days of gaming... So if you want to run a game on Sunday, keep in mind you may have far fewer players than expected. I recommend keeping it light, as mentioned prior, for your own enjoyment of the con. Get a good feel of it the first year, then come out gangbusters for your second. Having fun is the name of the game - that and remembering the man the con is named for!
Do as much prep as possible at home...make the pregens ready to go. Also, a page with a short description of each character is a nice idea for helping players choose.
The later in the day you start (Thursday through Friday), the more players you will get (player volume starts to taper off after 8 pm or so). 8 a.m. is a rough time to get a lot of interest, but if you have something niche, a really good hook, or are a known and desired quantity as a GM, it can work. Everything thins out on Sunday after the mad crush of Saturday. There are still lots of games going on, but nothing like the volume of the previous days. To get players, make sure your game has a solid hook. Your event description needs to have something about it that stands out. Sometimes the hook is simply the system involved. For example, board games. They are what they are. Older and rarely played RPGs that still have a hardcore group of nostalgic enthusiasts can attract players just by being on the schedule. It's tougher to get players for more popular RPG systems unless your event description stands out in some way. Pregens are a must. Some people will go on about how character generation is one of the best parts of the game and they don't want to skip that step, particularly with newer players. Those people are wrong. ;-) You want to get your players into the action ASAP. Ask yourself this: Which is more fun: adventuring or selecting starting gear for your 1st level dwarf based on your randomly rolled starting treasure amount? Yeah. That's what I thought. Start your adventure in media res -- i.e., right in the middle of the action. I ran an adventure a couple years ago where the players started out at their home base and had to travel to the area where things were going on. I had the players pick a route and decide where exactly to go first. The players quickly discussed and decided to go to the village (the obvious starting point). When they arrived, they discovered the village was under attack by werewolves. I ran the same adventure the following year. This time, I started by explaining the adventure hook, told them they had traveled to the village and arrived in the middle of a bunch of giant wolves eating the villagers, and asked what they were doing. The second way was much more compelling. The players were immediately thrust into excitement rather than a dull logistical exercise.
Dont forget to bring your finest Hawaiian Shirt and wear it on Saturday of the convention and be captured in the group Hawaiian photo taken just before the live Auction.
If you don't have a Hawaiian shirt, there will be official Gary Con Hawaiian shirts available for purchase... at least, there were last year. I'm assuming there will be more this year. I also have a BUNCH that are now far too large for me. I should bring them and give them away.
Lot of good advice here so far. Based on my experience: - schedule games when you want to run them and don't worry about trying to coordinate with games you might want from whatever of the game catalog has been made available before event submission ends (you might not even end up getting what you rearranged your schedule for) - early morning games draw the fewest people and the most no-shows, but probably have the most peaceful, quiet environment - bring pregens and bring extra pregens (rolling at table wastes too much time, though you will find a few people who like doing it) - you may have no shows, so be prepared to run your game with less than a full table - you may have walk-ups, so be prepared to handle the request (I do first-come/first-serve based on seat availability after all the scheduled people have arrived) - try to speak loud enough for your table to hear (the event rooms can be noisy), but not so loud that the table next door can't hear their own referee - don't be afraid to regulate players who may be excessively loud (to the detriment of nearby tables) or bossy (to the detriment of your other players) - consider starting the game in or very close to some sort of melee (I have found that that gets people invested in the game more quickly) - if someone's PC dies in the first two-thirds of the time slot through bad luck (and not intentionally reckless behavior), consider working them in again somehow (prisoner of some monsters [extra pregen], potion resurrection, etc) because it's just a convention game so who really cares - give everyone's ideas a chance even if you think they're kinda dumb (encourages outgoing behavior from a group of potentially self-concious strangers) - if your game is mapping intensive (not recommended to be honest), either be more willing than usual to help the mapper (so that the game doesn't bog down as you and the mapper go back and forth) or map it for them (on a battle mat, flow chart, whatever) - about half-way through, take a 10-20 minute break so people can stretch their legs, grab a drink, etc - don't forget to smile and laugh (pretty sure this is supposed to be fun!)
And to make it easier to be heard, sit at the longest side of any rectangular tables. You are the closest you can be to the largest number of players. I think usually GMs sit at the "head" of the table but that puts you the farthest away from the bulk of the players. At round tables you are at the best you can be. I think most of the RPG tables were at round tables this year but I can't recall correctly.
I think you're correct with the exception of the wargaming tables and the board room tables. The bulk of the tables (and certainly ALL the ones I played at) were round.
If so inclined, offer your GM a beverage of their choice as a small token of thanks for taking the time out to make your convention experience enjoyable.
