Turning the PAGE
This past week I was able to attend the Philadelphia Area Gaming Expo in Oaks, PA. The convention was a ton of fun, and I’ve got some reflections on my experience.
First. Kelsey Dionne is as kind and wonderdul in person as she is online. I arrived Thursday afternoon for the kickoff Cheesesteak Dinner. When she made eye contact with me Kelsey exclaimed, “Wes!” and stood up with a huge smile to welcome me. Kelsey had promised to donate a signed copy of Shadowdark for the Ecclesicon auction and she delivered right away, pulling out a box of books and adding her inscription. We chatted for a bit and she told me how sorry she was a sabbatical grant proposal I’d submitted hadn’t been accepted. The proposal was to write a game to help with some introspective spiritual development and Kelsey had agreed to help me out as a sounding board during the process. The fact she had remembered that it was me who had asked her, and not some random generic YouTuber, meant a lot. She also encouraged me to keep trying and not be discouraged. The whole weekend could have ended there because that short conversation was worth the drive by itself.
Second. I’ve learned that I need to not fill up my convention schedule with games. This is difficult to do because I’m the GM more times than not—a convention is sometimes the only time I get to play another role. It’s also difficult because conventions afford me opportunities to play games I may not have elsewhere. It is, however, a lesson I need to develop into a habit.
I’m good for two games a day, after that my energy level drops and I begin to seek the exit. On Friday I played Crown & Skull in the Morning, Savage Worlds in the afternoon, and Shadowdark at night. It left me with too little time to get interviews, no time to watch seminars, and less than zero time to sit down with folks and catch up. By the middle portion of Shadowdark, which is a system I love, I was ready to crash at the table!
My plan, moving forward, is to play one game in the morning or afternoon and a second game at night. That will leave me with a block of time where I can wander the expo hall, chat with friends, or sit in on a talk or two. It might seem unintuitive, but I think playing fewer games would help give me a more full convention experience.
Third. I was surprised by some of the games I played.
I expected to enjoy Crown & Skull because it’s the type of rules-lite game I’ve been into as of late. I did, indeed, find that game interesting—the attrition mechanics are very cool.
I was also, however, expecting to be smitten by Savage Worlds, because the system’s exploding dice and simple resolution seem so fun. But this might have been my least favorite system (though it was my second-favorite adventure) I played at PAGE.
Don’t get me wrong. I think Savage Worlds is a lot of fun, but there are so many rolls. In the end the number of rolls, combined with the exploding dice mechanic, creates a bit of a choke point during action scenes. During our session my character may have triggered a TPK (who knows how these things actually work), and it was clear early on that we were overmatched and there was no escape. Even so, it took the better part of 45 minutes for us all to all go down. It felt like it took too long.
I will play this game again in a heartbeat, and I would like to try to run it at some point, but my experience was not what I was expecting. The mechanics of Savage Worlds are simple, but the game is sneaky crunchy.
Shadowdark is a game I love, so having fun with that was not a shock. What was shocking, however, is how much I enjoyed playing Pathfinder 2e. Pretty much everything about Pathfinder is the opposite of what I’m looking for in a game at the moment. It boasts high modifiers, a lengthy skill list for checks, and lots of big rolls.
The Avenue Studios folks, however, made the game fun by alternating play styles during the session. The sixteen player group was split in two—half the group scouted the island we would need to raid later one, while the other half stayed in town a procured supplies, recruits, and information. After a time, the groups switched roles. We did this twice, and as we accumulated resources we were given the choice to use them during our scouting or save them for the main raid. Once we each had our turns with the setup we all joined together for a massive combat. Even with sixteen players, this was amazing.
I’m going to have to play Pathfinder 2e again so I can see if I really do enjoy the system’s setup, or if I was impressed with an excellent GMing team. At any rate, I suppose I’ll have to pick up the Pathfinder 2e books.
Fourth. EZd6 remains my favorite system for running one shots. A minor struggle I have with convention games and one shots is how they tend to be combat-focused. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of time to role-play because the action needs to proceed to the climatic battle.
EZd6, on the other hand, is such a fast system I have no qualms spend a half hour role-playing folks coming together before proceeding to the action. I’ve found this gives players space to figure out their take on the characters, and the players at my PAGE table seized this opportunity with a vengeance. I loved the takes they had the characters! The down and out hero returning to their podunk small town, for example, showed up hung over and crying for their mother. That was new!
Fifth, and final. I’ve come to enjoy going to conventions because I get to see people who have become friends. I don’t see them enough because I tend to over-book myself, but I do get to see them! The more conventions I attend, the more this privilege grows. New faces become familiar faces. Familiar faces become friendly faces. Friendly faces become friends. And it all happens because we like to sit around a table, make believe together, and roll dice to discover our characters’ fates. It’s an amazing experience. To my con friends, new and…less new (I’ve been attending conventions for about three years), thanks. I wish I could see you more!
#CrownSkull #DnD #DungeonsDragons #dungeonsAndDragons #EZd6 #gaming #GMing #PF2E #Review #RolePlayingGame #RPG #SavageWorlds #ShadowDark #TTRPG
