DragonCon 2015: The Last Dragon(con)

Bet you thought I forgot to do this write-up, huh! Well...yeah, I totally did. Ahem. Let's go.

So, I haven't been to DragonCon in a lot of years. The last year I went, I think, was 2003, so that was a good long while ago. This year, I went with Michelle  and someone else, and there were a whole bunch of people at the con that I knew, but did not see.

We flew down, and my brother had originally planned on picking us up, but we were running late, so we took the train instead. That was a good decision, because the train is exempt from the fucking horrendous Atlanta traffic. Also, we made some train-buddies!

Pictured here.

We had dinner with my brother and sister-in-law and my nephew, and then wandered down the block to get our badges. All in all it was a lot of walking, and then standing in line.

Which would become a theme.

But on the way back, we saw a Ferris wheel!

So there's that.

Then the next day, we had a game in the morning! Which...kinda began one of my first frustrations. Gaming is the unwanted stepchild of DragonCon, you see, so the game slots start at 9AM, but the bus doesn't start running until 9 or 10, meaning if you're staying offsite (which we were, even if only by about a half mile) you're walking. So we walked.

We did make the game on time, though. It was a Savage Worlds conversion of Conspiracy X. I played a priest with former ties to the Mafia, and we were investigating alien activity in this little town in the Grand Canyon.

Let's fight some reptoids!

It was a good time. The conversion was solid, and the scenario was arranged such that characters who weren't overtly fighty (like the one I was playing) had some investigation/face kinds of things to do before the combat sections. The GM paced it well, too. My Grade: A

From there, we decided to go get lunch, and then hit the dealer's room(s).

When you've got 70,000 people in your town spending money, you welcome them.

Michelle ponders her options. 

Getting into the dealer's room required standing in another damn line, down the block. Yay. But once inside, we found lots of interesting costumes, and some storefronts that Michelle and Chey enjoyed. No one was selling RPGs, so I wasn't really so interested (I have enough t-shirts, and I don't want a corset).

ALL HAIL THE GLOW CLOUD.

This does not do the dealer's room justice. 

After shopping, we headed back to the hotel. I saw some kids playing in the fountain in Olympic park, which is always cool.

I almost joined them; it was hot as balls.

That night, I had a game to run for some Chill backers! They'd made up their characters and given me an HQ to work with in Mobile, Alabama. I used Siris, the ancient ghost (it's in Chill, go look it up), and they all almost died at the end, but made good use of the "flip the tokens to live" thing.

DARK PICTURE for a DARK GAME.

Saturday! I had to get up and run Chill again, actually. I ran Good Fences Make Good Neighbors, and had a decent group; they had fun, seemed to enjoy the characters and the scenario. I forgot to take their pictures, but hey.

Meanwhile, Michelle was running her Clue version of A Tragedy in Five Acts. Three of her players were dressed as Hell's Grannies, which is pretty awesome by itself.

Make tea, not love. 

Directly after that game, I played in a Games on Demand game. Now, GoD works very differently at DragonCon than at other cons, because the Games-of-Thrones-esque leadership of the con is afraid of GoD and doesn't understand it. So we signed up for a session, sat down, and the GM gave us a menu of games. We whittled it down to a couple of choices, and wound up picking Little Fears.

Now, I like Little Fears. We talked a little about similar games, and I mentioned World of Darkness: Innocents, and the GM said (before I finished my sentence), "Yeah, that was really derivative of Little Fears," so I got to say, "I developed it. And no, it's not derivative, it's using a similar premise, which is not the same thing." And then he admitted he hadn't actually read it, so yeah.

Anyway, we wound up with eight players in the game. Two of them got up and left, with no preamble or explanation, about 3/4 of the way through, which sucked. The game itself was...OK. We were in a cul-de-sac, then all appeared in Closetland, but wound up wandering from house to house getting nasty things done to us, until finally one of us (Cheyenne's character) escaped just in time to get hit by a bus.

Honestly, it was a little uncomfortable. The game was presented as "little kids being afraid," which is fine, but at no point was Closetland or the Boogeyman ever mentioned, and certainly not the possibility of real harm coming to the characters. I have a thing about kids being harmed, and I misread the GM on the subject, or else I'd have asked that we play something else. Also, there was no way that we could have gotten the scenario "right." There were no clues as to how we should proceed, no leading questions, and the hints we did get were blatantly false. So, it was fun at the beginning, but by the end it was less "horror game" and more "character abuse," and I wasn't feeling it. My Grade: C-

This was after the other two players fucked off.

And then on the way out, I saw a Deadpool dance party.

All those red things are Deadpool.

And then I went back to the hotel, and saw some Warboys waiting for the bus.

If there's a more perfect metaphor for DragonCon, I don't know it.

And then dinner, after which we saw a thundering herd of football fans coming down the hill toward us.

We fled.

And then Michelle and I hunkered down in the room and bought Inside Out on pay-per-view, and stayed in, and it was glorious.

Finally, Sunday. We had decided that DragonCon had very little else to offer us, so we went to the aquarium instead.

Anybody know what kind of fish this is?

OTTEROTTEROTTER

The severed heads of Bertie and Bippy, or something. 

OTTEROTTEROTTER

Michelle, Cheyenne, and the Starfish Woman.

And then we flew home. What I have determined about DragonCon is that it was fun when I was 10 years younger and easily able to walk miles, tolerate the heat, and stay up late. Now, I much prefer Origins and GenCon, which have much less of all of those things. But it was a good time, and I'm glad I went at least this once more.

Character Creation: Little Fears - Nightmare Edition

I'd say "let's make a kid," but that means something else.

The Game: Little Fears: Nightmare Edition
The Publisher: FunSized Games
Degree of Familiarity: None with this edition, some with Little Fears, and a considerable amount with child-based horror games.
Books Required: Just the one.

Oh, and Michelle is right here along with me. Expect character cross-contamination. :)

Anyway, Little Fears and World of Darkness: Innocents share a lot of themes and so on, but, y'know, they're both about playing kids in a horror setting. One big difference is that in Little Fears, kids can do magic and even give monsters weaknesses simply by Belief.

So, the first step is concept. Michelle and I decided that our characters are 8. We were in the same second grade classroom last year, but this year we're getting split up. This is a big deal for my character because he likes Rachel's freckles.

Strictly speaking, he has a crush, but he doesn't really see it that way. He just gets all fluttery when he gets to sit next to Rachel in class. (My character's name is Hunter.) He wants to be in her class, or have her back in his with Ms. Williams.

I could pick a Concept from the list, but eh. I think I have a sense of Hunter. Let's do Abilities!

I get my age in points (8), and I get a free point in each one, so I put an extra into each one, and then a third point in Think, Speak and Care.

For my Good Quality, I say "I can Fight well when Rachel is in trouble." For the Bad, "It's hard for me to Speak when adults raise their voices."

My Belief is 5, because it's 13-age, my Wits is 7 (Think + 4). My Spirit starts at 10.

Now, Qualities! I get one main one at +2, and then two related ones at +3, and then my choice of two +1 or one +2. So for the main one, I take "I am the teacher's pet." For the relateds, then, I'll take "My teacher trusts me" and "I know the school inside and out."

And then for my other Qualities, I take "I'm good at roller blading" and "I have an honest face." I picture Hunter as a pretty serious kids.

Then I get two negative Qualities (the book says three, but the sheet and the example indicate otherwise). I take "I don't get jokes" - Hunter doesn't have much of a sense of humor. And then I also take "I have asthma." Makes sense for Hunter.

7 Health (Care + 4). And then on to Stuff!

I get 5 points of Stuff, which then has effects. I take a valentine from Rachel (two points) which lets me always find her, and reduces damage from Monsters by one (bolstered by the power of awkward crushes). I take my awesome roller blades (+1 Move, duh). I take my inhaler (+1 Think, as using it gives me time to collect my thoughts). And finally I have an unsharpened pencil that Ms. Williams gave me. When I carry it, I'm braver (monsters have -1 Scare).

Right, now on to the questionnaire side of things.

• My best friend is... Rachel. No question.
  
• The one grown-up I can trust is... Ms. Williams. She might not always believe the weird stories, but she doesn't shut me down, either.
  
• Once I lost... my homework folder.
  
• It was special because... it had all the stickers and notes from my teacher from the whole year.
  
• The one place monsters can't get me is... the bench outside the movie theater (because cops drive by a lot).
  
• The one thing monsters can't touch is... my textbooks (because they belong to the school).
  
• I don't go near... the high school.
  
• ...because... big kids don't look out when they're driving.
  
• My biggest fear is... Rachel and I growing apart (even at this age, Hunter has friends that he used to be close to and now isn't).
  
• The thing I like least about myself is... I tattle on other kids sometimes.
  
• The thing that always gets me into trouble is... I try to help kids with their work when I should be doing mine.
  
• When I get scared I... reach out and start pushing at what's scaring me.
• My family: Hunter lives with his parents and his little brother, Taylor (5 years old). Taylor just started kindergarten and is reading already. Hunter didn't start reading well until the middle of first grade. They don't have any pets because his mom is allergic to animals, but they might get a dog if they can find one that's hyper-allergic or something.
• And finally, a secret. Normally this gets written on a scrap of paper and only the GM sees it, but since I haven't got a GM, I'll just put it here: Hunter lost Rachel's necklace. He picked it up after gym class and thought he'd give it to her later as a joke (making her think she lost it)...and then he really lost it. He's never told her and he's completely mortified about it.

Character Creation: Little Fears

Well, it's earlier than I usually start working on this, but I'm kinda fried from writing Mage: Eww! Put it Back! all day, and I'd like to take my child to the playground.

He is, however, napping at present, and as any dad out there knows, you don't disturb the nap.

That in mind, I'll do today's chargen, and then go to the park. Which is appropriate, because today's game is:

The Game: Little Fears
The publisher: Key 20, originally, but their site is gone
Degree of familiarity: Some. I read it and ran a one-shot back in Atlanta, but I haven't played it or done anything with it since. In fact, I've studiously avoided reading it for about a year now because of my work on World of Darkness: Innocents.
Books required: Just the Little Fears book.

 
Little Fears is focused on children battling creatures from Closetland, and uses a questionnaire style character creation system. I really like the character sheet in the book, but I can't find it online and the one I got off RPGSheets isn't as cool. C'est la vie.

Anyway, as I work with kids, I'm going to make a character that would attend the school where I treat. I'll try and refrain from editorializing about the state of education in this country.

The first section asks me (my character) to talk about himself. OK, then.

What's your name?

My character's name is Luis Collazo (ko-YAH-zo, for those who don't speak Spanish). He's Puerto Rican, moved here when he was just a baby and grew up with his parents and siblings.

What do your friends call you?

They just call him "Luis." Sometimes kids call him "Tarto" because he stutters (tartamudez is Spanish for stuttering), but not his friends. Not often, anyway.

How old are you?

Fourth grade, so we'll say he's 10.

Are you a boy or a girl?

Boy. Duh.

How tall are you? How much do you weigh

Luis is tall for his age; call it 4'10''. He's skinny, though - 65lbs.

What color hair/eyes do you have?

There's a chart for this, strangely. Given his ethnicity, though, it makes sense for Luis to have brown eyes and dark brown/black hair.

Who are your friends?

This would be where other PCs would be listed, perhaps, but since I'm doing this solo, I'll say that Luis hangs out with Juan (his age) and Dylan (a year younger). Sometimes they'll skip school and play video games at Dylan's house, since his parents are never there.

Who is your best friend?

Luis like Juan better, partially because they can talk to each other in Spanish, and partially because Dylan acts like a baby sometimes.

Which adult can you always talk to?

The school nurse is a nice lady named Elaine. She can tell when Luis is just fooling around and when he's really upset, and while Luis gets mad when she sends him back to class when he's fooling around, secretly he's glad she can tell the difference.

What do you want to be when you grow up? Why?

Luis wants to go into the Army like his older brother. His brother looks really cool in his uniform, and he's got all this great stories about being overseas and shooting guns and stuff.

Who is your favorite person?

His brother. He just wishes he got to see him more. His brother's name is Esteban.

What is the most special thing you own? Why is it special?

Luis hangs onto a photo of himself and his brother. He had it laminated at school and keeps it in his pocket.

What is your biggest fear?

Luis is afraid that his stutter is never going to go away and he'll never be able to talk to people without sounding "retarded." He's also afraid that his brother's going to get shot, but that fear is vague - he knows it's possible, but hasn't really connected to the fact that his brother is at war.

What do you do do when you get scared?

Luis clutches his brother's picture and prays the Hail Mary when he gets really scared.

What do you do to protect yourself from monsters?

Luis' brother left a box of bullets in the house, and Luis stole a few. He doesn't have a gun, but he clutches the bullets tight. He might throw them if he got scared enough.

What is your homelife like?

Luis lives with his parents, two sisters and his younger brother. There's always someone at the house - friends, cousins, aunts, uncles - all hours of the night. Luis shares a room with his younger brother (Miguel, age 7) and they get along, but they never really bonded like Luis did with Esteban. His parents treat him nicely - they even bought him an Xbox 360 for Christmas!

Stats

OK, now I get to determine my five Stats. I get six Playaround Points (PaPs) to buy Stats and Qualities with, so let's start out with Stats. They all start at 2, and I can lower them to gain extra PaPs.

Smarts: 1
Muscle: 2
Hands: 4
Feet: 5
Spirit: 3

After that, I have 1 point left. My Soul starts at 10, my Fear at 0 and my Innocence at 4 (because Luis is 10 years old). I don't see a need to change any of that. Now for Qualities.

These cost 1 point each, but negative Qualities can give me points. I'll start by picking out some positive ones and balance it out later.

Things I Like About Me:

I'm Athletic
I'm Courageous
I'm Fleet of Foot
I have an Honest Face
I'm Multilingual

I didn't take "I have an older friend" because Esteban's in Iraq. OK, that means I need to take four negative Qualities to balance this out.

Things I don't like about me:

I'm the Class Clown (Luis doesn't talk out in class, but he does make trouble)
I'm Curious
I'm on Medication (ADHD. He needs it)
I have a Speech Impediment (moderate to severe dysfluency; partial word repetitions, syllable repetitions, secondary characteristics including...what? This is what I do!).

And that's everything for character creation, other than stuff. Apart from the photo of his brother, Luis carries a bullet (but not in his pockets at school - that's against the rules! OK, so not usually at school). He wears a pair of sneakers that costs entirely too much, but his shirt and pants are threadbare hand-me-downs. He brags about his Xbox, but of course doesn't carry it around.

And I think that's it. I'll be honest - I know this kid, and lots more like him. And I really wish I could make parenting classes mandatory. Anyway, if someone were to run Little Fears set in an urban environment, I'd happily play Luis. 

OK, good to go. I'm not going to have much time tomorrow, so if I do a character, it'll be for a really short system. Making really short characters. Short-lived characters.

Say it with me, people.

ALL HAIL KING TORG!