I, along with about 60 others, attended a local old school gaming convention on Saturday: OZ ORC, the Australian Oldschool Roleplay Convention. It's the convention's second year and my first. It was a lot of fun, I met a lot of cool people, connected with the local scene in a way I hadn't previously, and of course, I played some games. I found myself on the younger end of the demographic, playing alongside those who experienced AD&D in the decade before I was born. I felt a nostalgia for a tradition I wasn't there to build as I saw the way others game align with the way I want to game.
Here's what I played. It's an odd selection and in a way I'm glad I was a little late to the signups because of how it turned out.
Game 1: Mork Ratta
A Mork Borg hack of the GM'S creation in which we formed a party of rats and entered a sewer that was randomly generated as we explored it. The game was one that the GM had put together as something to play in between campaigns or when the full crew didn't show up. We even played on the same map as previous players (complete with random doodles), choosing a new point to explore from.
Highlights were most of the party getting stuck in a cockroach trap because of a statistically improbable amount of natural 1s, and one of the PCs dying because they drank what turned out to be hair dye.
Intermission: Sorcery TCG
What? This isn't an RPG. Well, it certainly has the old school vibes, and it was at the convention (sort of).
During the first intermission I spotted what I thought was a friendly game of Magic: The Gathering. On closer inspection it turned out to be Sorcery: Contested Realm. A few months ago I had been looking for the Gothic precon decks so I could give the game a go, too no avail. I asked to sit in and spectate, to which one of the players offered their seat so I could try the game myself instead. It turns out this fellow runs learn-to-play events for the game so he was eager to get me involved.
He described the game briefly as Magic meets chess. By the end of the game I was surprised to learn how true that description is. Your cards move around on a 5x4 grid and your player’s avatar is a unit on the board. Coupled with the way the game ends (after hitting zero you don't die - but you can die next round by taking any damage to your avatar) you end up with a card game that sets up a board game which decides the winner.
It was fun. I like the current, slower pace of the game and I hope it has plans to retain that and fight the power creep long term. He gave me a small booster pack and an invitation to some future events. I wish I had the time and funds.
Game 2: Goat Quest 2
This was run by Konsumterra of Elfmaids and Octopi. It was another animal-based homebrew hack, described as "probably more like Castles & Crusades than anything else." We played as ancestors of the goats who were the PCs last year - some of those players returned for this year! We were blessed with sentience and tasked with protecting the village from the forces of Chaos, all without the villagers finding out.
We were told about the legend of a Chaos Goat and let loose on the town. Our first port of call was to go to a hamlet that was burned down by our ancestors for being cultists. We burned it down again, because there were cultists again.
The Holy Goat, the cleric stand-in, had the very creative ability of "Turn Shapeshifter". I'm going to have to steal that idea for a spell or something. It was very cool and saw multiple uses. It had the ability to not just drive them back, but alternately to force them to change forms!
Highlights of the game for me were being KO'd by an old lady after spectacularly jumping into her window and missing two attacks, and a Chaotic Evil woman warning us to watch out for her son. Her son is pictured above. Yes, he was the snake.
Game 3: The Veiled Vaults of the Onyx Queen (DCC funnel)
This was my first time being on the other end of a DCC game. My last several posts give away the fact that I've been on a major OD&D kick. I haven't been able to get the DCC table together for a good while so that campaign has stalled. This definitely reaffirmed my love for DCC.
Since this one was a module I don't want to spoil anything here. If you've played in this one, you likely know more or less what our game looked like. It's a good module and if you're umming and ahhing about getting it, it's a great opener into an urban game. I don't think you'll be disappointed.
Signing off
A good time was had by all. I'll be back for next year. Hell, maybe I can work up the courage to put myself down for running something. Now that would be an experience.
