DundraCon 2007

         I had first gone to Dundracon in 2005. It was large but somehow did not make as good an impression on me as the other two major conventions local to the SF Bay Area: KublaCon and ConQuest. Thus I hadn't gone in 2006 and did not preregister or set up to run games in 2007. However, I determined that I did have time for it, so I registered at the con for 2007, but I only attended seminars and played in one event. In retrospect, I think this was a mistake. If I wanted to go, I should plan it and take the time. In particular, I would have liked to get into the Firefly LARP - but I didn't manage to get in.

         The events that I attended were:

• Seminars
• May I Take Your Coat

Seminars

     I attended several seminars at Dundracon. I had tried to get into the Firefly/Serenity Larp on Saturday at 10AM, but it was full with a long waiting list. I would have had to drive out on Friday evening to be signed up for it (which I hadn't). So I instead browsed the dealer's room, peaked in on some of the other games, and then attended some seminars. My fellow U of Chicago gamer Ken Hite was an invited guest, and he was talking at most of the ones I attended. I went to three full seminars, and glanced in on two others:

• "Designing an RPG from the ground up"
  A Saturday seminar panelled by Ken St. Andre and Ken Hite, which I only caught the last few minutes of. They were moving into questions of publishing and financing at the time.
• "LARPs - Running and Playing Q&A"
  A Saturday seminar panelled by Lori Priebe, Jennifer Brozek, Bill Howard, and Joe Parzanese. They decided to rearrange the room from having a panel table to just having a circle of chairs, and everyone introduced themselves - which was nice. They brought up a number of design issues, such as writing for varying numbers of players and more.
• "RPG Groups: Exploring the Social Contract"
  A Saturday seminar panelled by Bruce Harlick, Ken Hite, and Greg Stafford.
• "City Building"
  A Saturday seminar panelled by Anders Swenson, Michael Blum, and Ken Hite.
• "Gender in Genre"
  A Sunday seminar scheduled for panelists Kevin Andrew Murphy and "Frisbee", which had Ken Hite as well. I stopped in briefly since my game (see below) was across the hall and took a 15-minute break. Unfortunately, it was an entirely male panel and primarily male audience (I think only 1 women out of 15 or so). A number of people shared anecdotes about gender issues coming up in play, including discrimination and pregnancies.

Generally, there was an audience of 10 to 20 people for the seminar panels. I think at that number it was better served by sitting in a circle, as was done in the LARP panel. Something missing from the latter, though, was a formal procedure for making comments. For example, at Knutepunkt, there would generally be a moderator to make sure everyone got in their say. People would raise a finger or hand and a moderator would note them and made sure everyone got in a point. In all of these seminars, you had to jump in to say something from the audience.

"May I Take Your Coat"

         This was a slightly over-the-top zombie horror scenario by Catherine Klikoff using the All Flesh Must Be Eaten system, with pregenerated PCs. There were five players, which I thought was pretty good for an 8AM event -- Scott, Jessie, myself, and two others. The PCs were all cousins or siblings of the wealthy Calloway family of Louisiana. The PCs had character sheets and semi-generic types and backgrounds, defined by their professions: the Actor, the Senator, the Model, the Investor, and the Oil Tycoon. However, their gender, name, and many other details were left open. The players and their characters were:

• Brent played the Actor, whom he named Hamilton "The Ham" Calloway, a loud and as it turned out delusional action movie star.
• I played the Senator, whom I named Jeremiah Calloway, a self-professed "man of the people".
• Jessie played the Model, whom she named Ellen "Jasmine" Calloway.
• Scott played the Oil Tycoon, whom he named David Calloway -- the top dog who wore a black trenchcoat and arrived in a helicoptor.
• The last player played the Investor, whom he named Brad Calloway, a late-30s suit-wearing con-man.

The game started with a bunch of character-defining bits as we described our characters and how they arrived at the mansion for our aunt's 80th birthday party. Then we chatted a bit before dinner, and then there was a scene at dinner where everything suddenly went horrific.

         For me, there was a key bit in the introduction. At first, I had been picturing him as someone who fancies himself as a "man of the people" but is still full of upper-class priviledge and doesn't really understand. However, as he was arriving at the mansion, I improvised how he chatted up the butler, saying "So, James, how is your wife?" The GM responded with "I don't have a wife, sir, and my name is Sam."

         Now, in acting improv, that's a bit of a stumbling point. I accepted it, however, and at that point Jeremiah went from ignorant to being a complete hypocrit. It actually turned out interesting, because I played up his "good side" even more -- while in the end he turned out horribly evil.

         Avoiding too many spoilers, there came a point where zombies arose and we all ran. The Oil Tycoon David ended up letting the Investor Brad die during the escape. Naturally, Brad came back as a zombie and took his revenge upon David. The beautiful and vain pair, the Actor Hamilton and the Model Ellen, escaped wounded and rode off on horseback together. Jeremiah, however, ended up locked in the attic with the cousin Jane (whom he hated) together with a spellbook. Based on what they had learned, he reasoned that the only way to stop the zombies was to sacrifice someone to re-bind them. He chickened out at first, but as thing became more desperate, he felt that this was the only way and he killed her. The zombies were not stopped, but he did become immortal. He later escaped and slipped off in an SUV.

         It was interesting in that it involved messing with character in an unusual way. In retrospect, I think the improvised response showing him as a hypocrite in the introduction was key in setting up his ending as an evil manipulator who sacrificed his own cousin.

Original Thoughts

The original games which I was interested in from surveying the DunDraCon 2007 schedule were the following:

201 The Lady or the Paulag Cat?
Type: RPG 
System: Pendragon 
Saturday, 8:00 AM in 143 for 4 hours 
GM: Greg Stafford 
All characters provided by GM 
Power Level: Beginners Welcome, Mixed expected 
Designer of the Pendragon Game invites you to play. Your new knights
have a problem--the lady or the monster? No experience necessary. 


203 Stormy Weather
Type: RPG 
System: Cyberpunk 2020 
Saturday, 8:00 AM in 149 for 8 hours 
GM: Becky Thomas 
Characters may be provided by GM 
Power Level: 
Variations: minor house rules 
A Category 5 hurricane will hit Cabo San Lucas in 24 hours. The whole
area is being evacuated, residents and touristas. Your job is a little
counter-corporate espionage. The challenge: stay alive in the
hurricane, avoid the Federales and looters, AND bring back the stolen
data. 


209 Saturday Night Fevers
Type: RPG 
System: GURPS 3rd Edition 
Saturday, 8:00 AM in 161 for 10 hours 
GM: Cassandra L. Kyle 
All characters provided by GM 
Power Level: 
Variations: melee, movement, initiative 
They said it was just a flu going around . . . they lied.

Tales of Brightwood
Type: Demo 
System: Faery's Tale 
Saturday, 10:00 AM in Pleasanton room, table 1 for 2 hours 
          12:00 Noon in Pleasanton room, table 1 for 2 hours 
Sunday, 10:00 AM in Pleasanton room, table 1 for 2 hours 
        12:00 Noon in Pleasanton room, table 1 for 2 hours 
         2:00 PM in Pleasanton room, table 1 for 2 hours 
GM: Patrick Sweeney 
All characters provided by GM 
Power Level: Beginner 
Variations: Faeries provided, no minis needed 

241 The Name of the Game

Saturday 10:00 AM in room 570 for 6 hours and 15 players 
Genre: Firefly/Serenity LARP (A Gamer Geekus Production) 
Costuming Suggestions: Western/chinese costuming welcome. 
System: L.A.R.P.S. System 
GM: A Gamer Geekus Production (Dylan Gregory, Ryan Walton) 
Two salvage ships meet to argue over what appears as an abandoned
settler transport. A government ship joins and all of them discover
there's much more in the "empty" ship than meets the eye.  

No costumes necessary but if you plan to come in costume,
Western/Chinese would be welcome. This game is perfect for people who
have not participated in a LARP before. Very open to beginners.
KID FRIENDLY 

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504 May I Take Your Coat (A Good Omens Production)

Type: RPG 
System: All Flesh Must Be Eaten	
Sunday 8 AM in Room 151 for 6 hours 
Power Levels: Normal 
GM: Catherine Klikoff 
All characters provided by the GM 
Variations: some house rules 
What could be more fabulous than a dinner party with all the
relatives? Well, what's on the menu? If you aren't crafty, if you
aren't clever, it could be you. 


612 You Might Be Gods

Type: RPG 
System: GURPS 
Sunday, 4:00 PM in 154 for 8 hours 
GM: Donna Bashaw 
All characters provided by GM 
Power Level: GM Created 
Variations: mix 
You're young. Your first years in school were normal. Then your body
started changing and then you started hearing rumors about your real
parents and it wasn't good. 

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803 Summer Secrets

Type: RPG 
System: Changeling: The Dreaming 
Monday, 8:00 AM in 147 for 8 hours 
GM: Alisha Tuntland 
All characters provided by GM 
Power Level: 
Variations: Childlings in the 80's 

811 Two Evils Does Make a Right (Part 3)

Type: RPG 
System: 3rd and 3.5 edition D&D 
Monday, 8:00 AM in 161 for 8 hours 
GM: Margaret Anderson 
Players provide their own characters 
Power Level: Level 10, 100K gold pieces 
Variations: most allowed 
You do not need to play each adventure to be in any part of the
game. The World of Natesh in the war against Alexander a Half-Dragon
Lich in his attempt to become God.