KublaCon 2014

I attended KublaCon this time with my son Milo, and played a number of games together. The games I was in were:

Monster of the Week (Saturday 9AM)
Troubled Tides (Saturday 6PM)
Dresden Files: Demons and Prophets (Sunday 11AM)
Last Call (Sunday 6PM)

Monster of the Week

Game system	Monster of the Week	Start time:	SAT, 9:00 AM
Category	RPG	Duration	4 Hours
Event ID	---	Location	---
# of Players:	4	GM / Judge	John Kim
Description	....
C/E Rating	2/B Complexity = Average / Experience = Some

This was another run of one of my favored games. I played with players who were mostly ardent fans of Supernatural and Buffy, along with my son Milo. We jointly created the cast of characters and their initial situation. We settled on a small American town plagued by problems: Bath, Maine. The players and their characters were:

AJ played The Spooky, Dan Remington (a close parallel to Sam Winchester of Supernatural). He was the 17-year-old younger brother of Sean, about to graduate high school. He took The Big Whammy, Tune In, and Jinx as his Spooky moves. His relations were: Sean is his blood kin; Rose helped Dan control his powers; Cecil was recommended by Rose as his new mentor; and he and Tucker fought together. His highlighted stats were Cool and Weird.
Xander played The Wronged, Sean Remington (a close parallel to Dean Winchester of Supernatural). He was a car mechanic, the 25-year-old older brother of Dan, who lost his husband Johnny to demons years ago, and has since been fighting evil out of his garage. His relations were: Dan is his brother; Rose saw him go berserk; Cecil stood between him and what he wanted to know; Tucker helped him out at a critical point in revenge - holding him back from burning down a house. His highlighted stats were Sharp and Tough.
Yoshi as The Sidekick, Turner. He was an 18-year-old former classmate of Sean, now graduated and working at Dan's garage. His relations were: Sean is his hero who inspired him by saving car crash victims; he and Dan were old best friends; he and Cecil caught a cultist in a fight; he and Rose were romantically attracted.
Milo as The Expert, Cecil, a magical expert from England in his 30s who advised the group. His relations were: Dan is his student; Sean is his distant relation; Tucker helped him get a special item (a magical dagger); and Rose and he were both former members of an eldritch sect, now disbanded. His highlighted stats were Charm and Sharp.
Susanne as The Initiate, Rose. She was a 23-year-old representative of the Templars, born into the order. She was agile, tatooed, and dressed in archaic fashions. Her relations were: Sean and she had fought together against seeming unstoppable; Dan is described in prophecies she knew but not his role; Tucker is the subject of her longing glances; and Cecil was a member of the sect, now disbanded after the leader - Preacher Bob - was exposed as having been seduced by demons.

The hook we took was that high school graduation day was approaching for Dan. We started with a bit of action - fighting a hell hound in an alley near the auto shop. Following leads, they found that a friend of Dan's had been kidnapped. They split up to investigate - with some going to the local asylum, and others following tracks into the woods late at night. They met up in the woods, with creepy flapping sounds above them. They confronted the friend's family - and ended up fighting a cheerleader succubus (with hell hound backup) at the high school just outside the homecoming game.

This was a fun romp, with a lot of Supernatural references (and the gay subtext).

Troubled Tides

Game system	GM Fiat	Start time:	SAT, 6:00 PM
Category	LARP	Duration	5 Hours
Event ID	49001	Location	9041
# of Players:	20	GM / Judge	Lauren Avjean Joseph Parzanese
Description	Barimen Corp West Pacific Sea Lab A: May 24, 2014 After making a new discovery in the abyssal depths of the Pacific Ocean, a team of scientists must work together to save not only the sea lab's new discovery -- but also themselves. TROUPE:Parzanese
C/E Rating	1/A Complexity = Simple / Experience = None

This was a larp set in modern times at a deep undersea station in the Pacific. I played a lead scientist - Payton Myers, the lead seismologist. One structural feature of the game was that all of the lower-status characters - the interns - were the ones with supernatural information and/or powers, while the higher-status characters were generally mundane. I knew that the geologist intern (Vesper Milano) had shown me a supernatural portal in Panama that she said was a Gateway to the world of the fairies. However, I didn't have any particular supernatural knowledge or ability other than that.

As the plot turned out, we ended up confronting fae supernatural, with the help of an alien visitor.

Dresden Files: Demons and Prophets

Game system	GM Fiat	Start time:	SUN, 11:00 AM
Category	LARP	Duration	6 Hours
Event ID	79001	Location	9041
# of Players:	18	GM / Judge GM Assists	Jim Adlard Sean Shannon Joshua Adlard
Description	Access between the Never-Never has been blocked by person or persons unknown. This is a major event especially to supernatural creatures whose main power lies in their ability to travel between the world and the Never-Never. Most of the major supernatural powers have representatives at the portal including but not limited to both Fae Courts, the White Council, vampires and others. Yes, there are also some vanilla humans thrown into the mix. This story takes place after the book "The Summer Knight" which is the fourth book in the Dresden File series. This LARP is a mystery, and will take cooperative play to resolve. The only problem is that most of the characters want the mystery resolved in a way that makes them look good and their rivals look bad. The story has many levels so don't be surprised if your character is confused through most of the game.
C/E Rating	1/A Complexity = Simple / Experience = None

This was a larp pretty steeped in Dresden Files background. I played it with my son Milo. He was a White Council swordsman, while I was a bookseller who was secretly trying to summon the Great Old Ones into the world.

Last Call

Game system	GM Fiat	Start time:	SUN, 6:00 PM
Category	LARP	Duration	6 Hours
Event ID	89001	Location	Sandpble-D
# of Players:	25	GM / Judge	Dylan Gregory Aaron Lopez Michael Oppenheimer
Description	Welcome to the Last Call Saloon. It's a place where there's a seat for everyone and time seems to disappear. In fact, those who arrive find it hard to remember just how long they've been there. Some even say it feels like it's been an eternity. This game contains elements from various settings and genre's. TROUPE:Gamer Geekus
C/E Rating	2/A Complexity = Average / Experience = None

This was a biggish larp full of supernatural creatures including an archangel, people from alternate universes, and more. I played the demon Xerrarn, who had the difficult task of trying to get people to sell their souls without any special hooks into them. When you are obviously a demon, no one is going to sell their soul - especially since I didn't have any immediate wish-granting powers. Still, I did my best, and was an affable big horned demon of good cheer. The game used the device of a cage - where the room was sealed, with it unclear what was happening to the multiple realities outside the room.