"And now you're back, from outer space..." My Star Schlock / Fall In 2019 Convention Report

After months of preparation, (and years of procrastination) I finally ran my game Star Schlock at a convention. Having only played convention games, I wasn't quite sure what to expect when running one, but with advice from my pals Joe Procopio and Walt O'Hara and a spot donated by the HAWKS in their room I felt as prepared as I was going to be before taking the plunge into convention game mastering. 

I've run this scenario many times over the last few months, tweaking both the rules as well as the scenario itself to provide a balanced game that would give players plenty to do. It's essentially a zombie attack, one side playing the ravening hordes of undead and their alien masters, with the good guys trying to hold off the creeps long enough to evacuate innocent civilians and heroes on the last shuttle. In play testing, the horde of shambling dead won consistently, and while the good guys eked out a narrow victory in the final play test before the convention I was by no means sure those balanced results would play out with players who were completely unfamiliar with the rules.

Star Schlock: Final Preparations

Royal Astro Guards of the Federation race to secure a comms objective to send an evacuation signal to the populace before the undead moon zombies arrive.

I ran a final play test for the Star Schlock scenario I'm bringing to Fall In this weekend. The Federation good guys eked out a win, successfully blasting off and escaping the horde of Space Ghouls who overran the mining camp. I've found most players stumble through the first round or so, but have a good grasp with the basics by mid game. I think there are enough standard conventions that experienced wargamers can pick them up quickly enough, but there are some wrinkles that give players additional decision points each turn beyond "should I move and shoot or shoot and move?" I'm looking forward to running some fresh faces through the game to see if this is something people outside my local game groups would be interested in.

I also finalized the promotional prizes I'll be handing out to the winners of each scenario.

Even without knowing anything about the game, if this sort of thing pushes your buttons, Star Schlock might be up your alley. My Friday game is locked up but I believe there's a spot or two available in my Saturday game. Come roll some dice with me, or just stop by to check it out! See you there!

Guest Post - "In Deep Trouble" Dungeon Crawl

I was lucky enough to find a buddy in college whose outlook, interests and nerd obsessions fit seamlessly with mine. We roomed together in school and shared a series of crummy apartments after graduating, filling our free time with epic RPG games, Battletech, and the Star Wars CCG.

I kept close contact with him as he crossed the country to pursue a career in academia, and we've managed to get together once a year and roll some dice or tap some cards. He recently began working on RPG-like dungeon crawl game. I posted a few of his 'work in progress' pics to my twitter feed, but encouraged him to share more about his game to a blog. He balked at setting up one of his own, but took me up on my offer to host a post of his right here.

Check this out, I think it's pretty neat.