"Lessons learned from my first Historicon run!" Topic

Historicon 2015 Lessons Learned
1. Prep is everything. I could have been better prepared and well, I forgot some crucial items that made the first demo into a near disaster. The second went well because I did crash prep with Annie's help. No more of this. I want to be ready 30 days out from the convention from now on!

2. Looks of my table. My tables were fair to middling at best for the demo, and the second game while very good, could have been better. So, how do we fix this?

- More terrain (build it or buy, I am thinking build)
- Better storage arrangements (Preserve what I do have longer).
- Get rid of anything that doesn't contribute to the look I want.

3. Poise, I have to stop being nervous. I am good at this, really good, and I have proved it in the past as I used to run Battletech successfully, a lot. So, you have slain the Historicon beast, now, let's do it again, only better.

4. Organization, get a system and stick with it!

hang in there…I have run games at cons for 20+ years. I learn new things after each and every game.

SFC Retired

Here's some advice to new GMs and veterans: games need opportunities for decision making to be entertaining.

Allow Some Deployment Options: in one renaissance game the troops were deployed by the GM nearly within charge range. The players had no deploymeny input and only one maneuver option (hold or move forward once and enter a melee).

Employ Reasonable Troop Density: in a moderns game both forces deployed well within shooting range and the troops and tanks were so dense it looked like an ancients game. In one area there were 40 tanks literally massed hull to hull.

In several others it was a combination of the above: the GM set up troops, the players had zero input, and the troops were so dense and close nobody could maneuver. The players simply rolled dice and removed figures. Target choice wasn't even possible!There was no reason for the players to participate!

Sounds like you got it.

Xin

Fanboy, I've run games at cons since the late 70's.

ALWAYS make a list ! ALWAYS check it THREE TIMES !

And then you'll forget something, trust me.

DON'T worry about it. Make up an 'away' kit – extra
dice, a spare copy of the rules, adhesives, extra
measuring devices, note paper for spontaneous ideas,
etc.

For terrain ideas, go through the blogs and look at the
pix. Some great ideas there. Haunt Michaels and other
craft shops for 'stuff'. Dollar stores, too. And
Thrift shops. you'd be surprised what you can find.

We are light years away from pool table felts and
construction paper roads/fields (I still have mine !)
but you're right – everything can be improved upon.

Good luck with your future games !

Well, as they say "no plan survives contact with the enemy". So goes convention games.

Playtest your scenario. Run through your scenario a few times. Try doing weird things. Try with different players.

After you playtest the game, keep all the items required to play your game in one location or box. This way you are less likely to forget something.

I am always painting something, printing something, building something or changing something at the last minute. That is a recipe for disaster. Finish your project and get it all organized well before the con.

Have a nice looking game. Visual appeal is 90% what sells your game. Masking tape roads and unpainted figures don't cut it any more.

Try to set up your game as long as possible before your game starts. I find that if I am set up and ready to go, players walking around start to generate a buzz about the game due to the terrain or scenario. It also helps to ensure that the game is full and gives you a chance to chit-chat before the actual game begins. Finally, you will be mentally prepared and not rushing if you are set up and ready 30 minutes before game time.

Start your game on time. Be courteous to those players showing up and playing on time. Don't wait around 30 minutes for someone to finish their shopping run.

Know your rules. And enforce them. You are the GM. Don't be wishy-washy or led by the players (or worse be influenced by a rule know-it-all).

Be unbiased. Just because one team is about to lose those JagdTigers that took you 100 hours to build to a stupid play, don't change the rules to help them.

Don't start a force or reinforcement so far away from the action that they finally arrive at the end of the game. You will have some ed off participants if you do.

Start forces close. Players want to get into the action right away. No one really wants to have both sides moving for 3 hours and then finally get to fire with 10 minutes left in the game.

Be prepared for players doing some random thing that you did not expect: it happens all the time. And it could blow your entire scenario. Try to make small adjustments during the game to correct these random plays.

Be prepared for fewer than your required number of players showing up.

Be prepared for more than your required number of players showing up. You hate to turn away 1 or 2 extra players.

Be prepared for no players or only a single player showing up. It CAN happen and after running 100's of tournament games, it WILL happen. Sometimes they miss your game in the registration book. Sometimes your game is booked at the same time as the headline game that draws 100 participants. Maybe you are just running a scenario that no one was interested in. Don't take it too hard. Walk around and try to grab some players currently not playing and offer them a spot in your game. Yell out for players. Offer free beer.

Players will break things. Get used to it. Bring glue.

Bring lots of liquid. I always get dry in the mouth as I continually explain rules or chit-chat during the game.

Have a helper or two.

Ask the players to help clean up after the game. Some time slots are tight and the next GM may be waiting to set up. The easiest thing for players to do is to place like items in a pile for you. For example, grab all the tress and place them together. Or the lichen. Fences. You probably have a marked storage system for those things, so this will speed up the tear down.

Phrodon has hit the nail on the head so to speak.

Pre-Play your scenario several times … Make sure you can finish the game in the time allotted and that the scenario works.

A helper is very very important.

Expect the unexpected … It will happen.

Mike B

Agreed. Phrodon, has it.
Play testing is the best way to find out what will go wrong.

Looks like everyone has hit all the important things for preparing for game day at a con…I couldn't agree more. I would like to add one additional note; when you are play testing your scenario, take a picture of the table as how it should look with your phone. Come game day, you will have stress, and something as little as where does this building go and why do I have extra pieces of fence left over can freak anyone out. The picture will give you a real look of what the table should like with your stuff as oppose to a map/diagram in a book.

P.

Join the gmsn yahoo group. There are great ideas for game masters in the files section.

Joe

Some random ideas….

I have a Convention Supplies box with a list on the lid. I put extra supplies in there that have no other purpose. Markers, post-its, Zap A Gap, dice, etc.

Reinforcements: Don't give them to a player. Move them yourself, just have the players decide where they should go. You can give them to a player later either a late comer, or someone who is almost out of the fight.

Player aids: Critical. Make them nice. Use big fonts. Better two sides of the paper in 14 point than one side in 6 point type. Use pictures. Unit stat cards are great so they don't need to look up stuff – what's my AP rating again? Do this even with games that are well known (I do it for Flames of War).

You Are God: Have reinforcements or random events ready in case the scenario turns out more one sided than you planned. Nothing worse than a game that's over on turn 2….bring an extra platoon, gunship or Troll, whatever it takes..

Teach By Doing: Have two small forces in the middle of the table you run. While players move their forces have your two little units move and fight. This teaches the game better than droning on for an hour. Plus it lets the players get used to the sequence of play, how to move, etc.

Size.

The first mistake almost all first time GMs make is they get too ambitious, especially with their first convention games. It is also one of those things play testing usually doesnt point out. You play test yourself, or use a group of friends, and not only do you know each other and the rules, you have probably also worked out any issues or questions with the rules.

At a convention game, even if you were to specify only players experienced with the rules you will always run into the occasional dispute.

Smaller scenarios designed for say 2 – 2.5 hours seem to work pretty darn good in a 4 hour convention block. One thing many players, myself included, hate, unless strictly a game to learn the rules, is a scenario having to wrap up just when it is getting to the climax!

10 minutes of rules explanation is the most I can handle. I only learn by playing. If you begin a game with a 20 minute rules tutorial I am lost.

GO GO GO GO GO GO GO GO, speed is everything in a game. I have seen beautiful games set up and people sitting around chewing their arms off waiting to do something. Keep them guessing, make them think and keep it simple. Know the rules and be consistent with any on the fly changes, you are the boss so act like it.
I agree with running the game ahead of time with people not used to the set of rules you are using, it is always different than playing with the same guys who know the rules and playing with new players.
Lastly don't halfass the terrain, make it pretty or stay home.

i find now that i need to better organize my games. separate boxes for each adversary. but no plan last long upon contact. part of the learning process. enjoy!

Good points all, and I especially agree with redbanner and grossman.

Rules explanations should not be too long or overly windy. I played one game with 20 people, and the ref spent half an hour explaining the rules. Our collective eyes were all glazed over by the time he got to melees, and we absorbed nothing. Better he explained melees the first time we had one.

And like grossman says regarding speed: I came to play, not to fart around while you chat with your buddies. There are other things I could be doing, after all.