Indie RPG Explosion at Dreamation 2005

[Dregg]

A) When do you expect to arrive at the con and when do you expect to depart?
I will be there Friday Afternoon (3ish) and be leaving Sunday about 2-3pm

B) Will you be taking advantage of the crash space generously provided
by Double Exposure (four double beds if I understand correctly)?

Unless plans change between my wife and I about going to dreamtion together change, I will have my own room. If I go it alone I will need crash/storage space for my games.

C) What games, of those listed above, will you be willing and able to run for a 4-hour session? How many time slots will you be willing to run in?

Well I know Pulp Era of course, but I am not familiar with the others. I would love to learn how to run Sorcerer, but alas I do not own it. I have a copy of inspecters and OctaNe though... I was also going to run demos of my newest system called Twilight Cinema. I was planning to run at least 1 demo on Friday/ 3 demos on Sat. so 16 hours all together. I could run on sunday, but I will need some time to relax.

D) How interested would you be in participating in the forum on independent publishing? Hell yea! Count me in!

I can spend time at the booth as well, we should all work together in doing this as one big forge group... unified.
Vinnie and the DE folks are some of the greatest people and will bend over backwards to make sure each of us is taken care of. I say we won't regret this. Let me know what plans are being made as I want in on getting this set up. I will PM those who want it my home phone number for further talks.

[Dregg]

I am definitely interested in being there as well, and I have a number of different games to bring and hopefully run (mine and other folks from IPR). Michael, or folks from the con, let me know what info you need from me!

inthisstyle  I will PM you my home telephone number later, we should talk about Dreamation and definatly IPR

[Michael S. Miller]

Those people that I work for like me so much they've barely been letting me leave for the last several weeks. It hasn't left me much time to get this schedule together, but I finished the first draft this morning. http://incarnadine.indie-rpgs.com/draft01.gif

I want to stress that this is a WORKING draft. Nothing's set in stone yet. I welcome your feedback, complaints, etc.

In my experience of conventions of this size, the timeslots with the most attendance tend to be Friday evening, Saturday afternoon, and Saturday evening (although this does vary--unpredictably, as far as I can tell). I've labeled these as "Prime" on the schedule. If we run two games in each slot, that gives us six Prime slots. Coincidentally, there are six of us who are creator-GMs. I've given each of us one Prime slot.

At a convention of this size, one of the problems of running too many games at the same time is splitting the pool of interested players. I've tried to keep it down to two games per slot where possible (and definitely during Prime slots) for this reason.

A factor that will help us in this respect is the fact that there are so many of us. Even if a game gets only one or two players-off-the-street, the unoccupied GMs can sit in and play.

What I now need from each of you:

1) Approval of the schedule. This includes any wrangling, negotiating, slot-switching, threats or cries of anguish as necessary. If it's okay with you as it stands, then just say so.

2) Title of your event. What's the name of this particular scenario?

3) Event description. I've seen DoubleExposure print some pretty long event descriptions in their convention books, but let's not push it. Brevity is the soul of wit. Please include a URL.

We need to finish the above by Sunday, December 5, at the latest.

What happens next?

1) We argue over the schedule. But, just like the Lumpley Principle, we see that the argument is a method by which we agree on the schedule.

2) Once the schedule's finalized, Tony has graciously volunteered to author the web page. Thanks, Tony! We'll post it at http://incarnadine.indie-rpgs.com/ige.html

3) I'll contact Becca about getting all these events registered.

4) In the 2-3 weeks before the event (starting just after the 1st of the year), let's do some online promotion. I'm sorely lacking in online promotion skills, but I know that several of you have them in spades.

5) We descend on New Brunswick like a hurricane of gaming force!

[TonyLB]

I'm new this sort of group approach to a con.  So I need to ask the question that may be obvious to those who have done this before:  Are we trying to stretch the games we have to cover the minimum schedule we've committed to, or are we trying to fit the games we want to run into the maximum schedule we can attract players for?

Basically, I'd love to run more slots.  If we'd all love to run more slots, but there aren't enough players, or enough tables, or something, then this looks like a fair distribution, and that's cool.  But if running more slots would be helpful rather than greedy then, y'know, sign me up!

[Clinton R. Nixon]

What I now need from each of you:

1) Approval of the schedule. This includes any wrangling, negotiating, slot-switching, threats or cries of anguish as necessary. If it's okay with you as it stands, then just say so.

2) Title of your event. What's the name of this particular scenario?

3) Event description. I've seen DoubleExposure print some pretty long event descriptions in their convention books, but let's not push it. Brevity is the soul of wit. Please include a URL.

1) Nix the Donjon slot for me. I really can't run anything after midnight. If those slots at the top are open, I might take one for TSOY or Sorcerer.

2) Event titles and descriptions
The Mountain Witch - Blood Snow Falls
A group of samurai must travel far up a snowy and sacred mountain to find an ancient magician. Only together can they brave the terrors of the mountainside, but each must meet his dark fate alone. When everyone has an agenda, who can you trust? http://www.timfire.com/MountainWitch.html

The Shadow of Yesterday - Rat Moon Rising
Deep in the heart of Maldor, a group of soldiers has disappeared into the dark night. Two lords fight over a desolate, hilly land. And deep within its core, two terrifying beasts will find out who is the master and who is the servant. When the full moon rises, whose blood will be spilled, and whose blade will tear through fur? http://www.anvilwerks.com/tsoy/

[Tav_Behemoth]

Hi, all! Sorry I didn't see this thread earlier.

A) Sang and I are going to be at Dreamation beginning Friday afternoon and staying until Sunday post-close.

B) We're going to be driving to & from the con; no need to crash.

C) We registered a demo already:

Masters and Minions: Be The Monsters

>  Ready to walk on the wild side? Join a Horde of your fellow monsters
> and turn the tables on the namby-pamby defenders of Good.  Each round
> will be an all-new burst of fast, intense paladin-bashing action. Play
> in as many rounds as you like to earn experience for your character;
> whoever levels up the most by the end of Dreamation wins the grand
> prize. Premade monster characters will be provided, or if you already
> have the Masters and Minions Horde Books you can bring your own 12th
> level ashmalkin, minotaur, minotrice, maze mage, or infamous Bull
> Lord. If you were one of the PCs who got killed by this guy at DEXCON
> 7, here's your chance to be on the winning side of that enormous axe!

We set this up as a one-hour event, and requested that it run every 1.5 hours from the time the exhibitor's area closes until midnight on Friday and Saturday night. It hasn't appeared on the schedule yet, so we'll see how that translates into practice.

D) I'd be happy to appear on panels (and will have just done a bunch at Gen Con So Cal), if it's not too late.

I'd like to join forces in creating a gaming hurricane of cross-promotion, and perhaps glom into one big booth rather than trying to run a separate Behemoth3 booth (although our plan was to run games at night & be available to staff a booth while the exhibitor's area is open).

[lumpley]

I'm going to be there too, it turns out. I haven't done anything useful yet like register or think about when and how, but I'll be there. I'll need crash space.

-Vincent

[Michael S. Miller]

TONY:

I'm new this sort of group approach to a con.  So I need to ask the question that may be obvious to those who have done this before:  Are we trying to stretch the games we have to cover the minimum schedule we've committed to, or are we trying to fit the games we want to run into the maximum schedule we can attract players for?

The short answer: "we trying to fit the games we want to run into the maximum schedule we can attract players for"

The long answer: I understand your desire to run more slots, Tony. When I do these cons solo, I try to run a game in every slot I'm going to be awake for. We've got to keep in mind that they're expecting somewhere in the vicinity of 800 attendees. A good number of those are coming to play board games and won't look at anything that isn't a board game. Of those coming for RPGs, a decint-sized chunk of them are coming to play in RPGA sanctioned events an only RPGA games. Of those remaining, some will only play d20 (good for Behemoth3, not so good for the rest of us). My experience is that nonD&D events at these kinds of cons generally all draw on the same relatively small pool of players. Keep in mind that there will also be folks running nonD&D commercial games: GURPS, 7th Sea, CoC, and the like.

My fear with running as many slots as we can is that an interested player in any given timeslot will be presented with a wall of half a dozen GMs each expectantly saying "Play in my game." We could accomplish that by working alone. Just as the GenCon Forge booth doesn't work by each person only pushing their own game, this should allow us to present a united face to the attendees: "We each publish our own game, but we're each part of something larger. Play some of these games and we're sure you'll find something you like."

Also, limiting the number of slots that are running in each slot enables us to play in each other's games. That is good because it lets us speak more knowlegably about each others games (cross-promotion now and in the future is a great thing), and also remember that the most reliable customers for indie RPGs are other indie RPG designers.

[Tav_Behemoth]

Of those remaining, some will only play d20 (good for Behemoth3, not so good for the rest of us).

I'm eager & willing to serve as bait for those players and then draw them into  our tightly linked web of indieness! One implication might be that it's not a bad thing to have many B3 events, and that rather than trying to avoid them overlapping with other games, we should try to make sure that another indie event begins shortly after a B3 event lets out so we can funnel our players to that event.

One way we could do it is for Sang or I to DM a B3 event, establish rapport with the players, and then say "Hey, I'm going to go play in this cool game now, want to come along?" This way it's "let's do this!" rather than "you should do this," and folks get the kick of seeing someone they knew as a DM turn into a fellow player. Since Sang and I will both be available to run, one of us could be playing while the other is DMing, which would let us get first-hand experience with other folks' games -- I'm looking forward to it!

[Helvetian]

Thanks so much again Michael, for the help getting the track scheduled!

A few quick notes as I'm reading:

There won't be a separate exhibitors area, since we feel it can really limit how much exposure companies get to our attendees.  Yes, you could be in the dealers room if you like, but my plan is to put you out in the common area by the elevators, where you'll have constant walk-by traffic.  Yes, it does mean that when closing up for the night, you'll likely want to move your product.  You can certainly move it into the dealers room anytime you want though, rather than have to lug it back to the room.  The area I have planned for you is right between the elevators and the con suite.  Given the dealers room is on the other side of the elevators and over slightly, it isn't a long haul to move things. And we can certainly let you use our handtruck or volunteers for it if needed.

Also, you can find last year's Dreamation schedule at http://dexposure.com/d2003sched.html.  That page also shows you what information we include in our game listings, so we can get everything registered as smoothly as possible.  :-)

A quick note about the RPGA:  There won't be any at Dreamation.  WotC forgot that we emailed them 7 months ago with our dates, and their subsequent promise not to schedule Winter Fantasy to conflict with us.

Guess when Winter Fantasy is?  There are... some unhappy people.  So in order to keep the players and GMs from feeling conflicting over which to attend (many have been coming to our events for years and would feel badly about skipping us for Winter Fantasy given the circumstances), Vinny is dropping the RPGA track this year.  

Yes, it will obviously cut into our attendance some.  But nor will you be competing with them for attention.

Becca

[Michael S. Miller]

One way we could do it is for Sang or I to DM a B3 event, establish rapport with the players, and then say "Hey, I'm going to go play in this cool game now, want to come along?" This way it's "let's do this!" rather than "you should do this," and folks get the kick of seeing someone they knew as a DM turn into a fellow player. Since Sang and I will both be available to run, one of us could be playing while the other is DMing, which would let us get first-hand experience with other folks' games -- I'm looking forward to it!

This is a great idea, Tav! Let's make that happen. I'll ask Becca to include your already-registered stuff under the "Indie RPG Explosion rubric."

CLINTON:
No midnight Donjon? That's cool. Do you want to add another TSoY somewhere?

VINCENT:
Welcome aboard. That brings our total number of GMs (counting Tavis and Sang) to 10. (Possibly 11--Jared expressed interest in coming, then fled to Australia for a month, so I wasn't able to confirm anything.). That's one of us for every 80 convention attendees--that's roughly equivalent to having over 300 indie RPG folks at GenCon. Wow. I'm a bit concerned about over-saturation, but I'm also excited to have so much talent in one place.

Anyway, as for where to put you on the schedule, it's tough. As far as drawing power, DitV is the 800-pound gorilla (I've already lost convention players to a rumor of a Dogs game). Wherever it goes, it will draw players. I'm thinking about putting it in some of those nonPrime slots. How are you with midnight games? Let me know what you think.

BECCA:
Thanks for the info on Winter Fantasy. I hate explaining my game to someone for twenty minutes, getting them to the point where they're really excited to play, and have them ask "How many RPGA points is it worth?" When I tell them it isn't RPGA they look at me like I'm nuts and walk away. I hate that. Like fingernails on the chalkboard.

As I mentioned above, Behemoth3 and it's awesome Masters & Minions stuff can be considered part of the Explosion.

We don't have much as far as table display goes, so stowing it in the room when nobody's there won't be a problem.

The schedule isn't final yet. We've got some last-minute add-ons. I intend to have it finalized by December 5, latest.

[TonyLB]

Tav's suggestion is a solid one, and we should definitely go with it.  Any GM who runs a non-midnight game can then go and play in an indy game in the next session, and try to drag players with them.  That's what I plan to do, now that Tav's pointed out the tactic.

There is, however, one slight practical hurdle... there's that one-hour gap between sessions.  Now it's not (at all) hard to fill up an hour with folks just generally raving about roleplaying, but people also do meet friends, grab food, etc.  There is, in short, this desire to "go somewhere".

About the only thing I can think of that we could plan to help with that is that we can try to make our area a destination.  I'd be particularly happy if people were using it as a landmark... "Meet me at the Indy Explosion".  But I'm not at all sure how to do that.  Free food (my first, lame, idea) would (a) be ludicrously expensive and (b) attract too much of a crowd.

BECCA:  That actually leads to my other area of questions:  What is our physical layout, and how will it constrain what we can do without crossing the line from "exciting exhibit" to "general nuisance"?  Specifically:

[*]How much clearance around the exhibit is there before we start blocking traffic?  Which is mainly to figure out...
[*]How many people could we have hanging around before it becomes disruptive?[/list:u]It's wildly optimistic (I know) to think of a crowd of 20 gamers spontaneously gathering around a booth listening to, say, Vincent talk about the design of Dogs.  But it could happen, and if it's something to be avoided (because a crowd of twenty would cause a critical traffic jam, ticking off many con-goers) then we should be taking that into account.

MICHAEL:  Thanks for the clarification.  Now I can look forward to having some relative down-time with a clear conscience... the situation requires that I sit around, point folks to great games, and talk with all these legendary Forge-folks.  It's not laziness, it's the exigencies of the situation!

Also, earlier....

If you guys want to schedule a separate track with just a series of shorter demos, we could certainly do that.  Actually, it would help for scheduling who gets the small tables that I'll be setting around the public area for demos.

This strikes me as a great idea.  Michael, is that what the top (largely unoccupied) row in the schedule is for?

[Helvetian]

About the only thing I can think of that we could plan to help with that is that we can try to make our area a destination.  I'd be particularly happy if people were using it as a landmark... "Meet me at the Indy Explosion".  But I'm not at all sure how to do that.  Free food (my first, lame, idea) would (a) be ludicrously expensive and (b) attract too much of a crowd.

BECCA:  That actually leads to my other area of questions:  What is our physical layout, and how will it constrain what we can do without crossing the line from "exciting exhibit" to "general nuisance"?  Specifically:

[*]How much clearance around the exhibit is there before we start blocking traffic?  Which is mainly to figure out...
[*]How many people could we have hanging around before it becomes disruptive?[/list:u]It's wildly optimistic (I know) to think of a crowd of 20 gamers spontaneously gathering around a booth listening to, say, Vincent talk about the design of Dogs.  But it could happen, and if it's something to be avoided (because a crowd of twenty would cause a critical traffic jam, ticking off many con-goers) then we should be taking that into account.

On the free food point, unless the logistics are different this time you guys will be really near all the free food we're providing in the con suite.  If they move it, I'll likely be shifting you to ensure you're right along the path there.  Also, there will be lines forming as we prep the con suite for both Chocolate Heaven and Ice Cream Dreams.  So there will be people right by you guys, milling and then waiting their turn to go in.  Remember also that you'll be using one of the rooms we're providing you as party/gaming space, and we'll be seeding those events with munchies.  Anything in addition that you want to provide to personalize it/lure people up is more than cool by us.

Tony, you guys cannot become a general nuisance unless you really, really work at it.  And a big crowd surrounding you will not at all make you a nuisance.  Actually, it would delight me to no end.  Be loud, be exciting, sell the heck out of yourselves.  If you do manage to start really blocking traffic, someone will ask nicely to rein it in a bit.  If anyone asks you unnicely, you find me.  :-)

If you go to www.eastbrunswick.hilton.com, look under Groups & Meetings, then Facility Detail.  Under the Virtual Tour, you can see the Ballroom Level's floor plan.  You guys will be in the large, open area between the elevators and the Brunswick Rooms.  At DEXCON, Brunswick A was the Con Suite and Brunswick B was the videogame room.

[Matt Wilson]

Hey Mike:

Any 4-hour slot you assign me to will instead be 2 2-hour slots, please. I'll happily do Primetime + Pagoda or Inspectres + Uni, but no game for 4 hours straight.

Slots look okay except for Sunday 2-6. I'll be leaving early evening.

[Jared A. Sorensen]

It looks like I might be there. I need to talk with the Dreamation people.