Forge Midwest: The Rocking

Monday, April 10, 2006

Oh man. It was sooooo good. Mad props to Matt Snyder for putting together an awesome event.

UPDATE: Actual Play report for Stranger Things FM game is here:
http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?topic=19440.0

Freebooters actual play is here:
http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?topic=19447.0

Nine Worlds actual play:
http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?topic=19496.0

Highlights

• Hearing, "Are you making that game with the city tiles? It looks cool," many times. Damn that's a good feeling.
• Lots of booze and good chatting with everyone.
• Finally playing Galactic. So cool!
• Finally playing Nine Worlds. So cool!
• Andy K. He was a walking highlight reel (with hazel eyes).

Friday
Friday night was hang-out time. First, I spent some time with Matt Wilson and The Deuce, who I haven't seen in ages. It was so good to reconnect with them. Then I got to meet Matt S, Andy K, Ron, Luke, Keith, Thor, Paul Czege, Paul Tevis, and a bunch of other Forgies for the first time. They're wonderful folks. We hit several bars (they allow smoking in the midwest, the cretins) and much good chatting was had, along with lots of bourbon and Guinness.

Ron told me about his new spy game thing, which sounds very cool. Ron and I also talked for a long while about the Forge and this whole "new gaming thing" that is happening all around us. I don't always agree with everything Ron has to say, but it was nice to be able to connect with him as a fellow human being as opposed to words on a screen. The same goes for the other Forgies I met.

I also got to see a color-printout of Luke's secret project -- all 600 pages of it. It rocks. Wil, I'll tell you all about it at game night. Brandon, you're gonna love it.

Saturday
I woke up late-ish, and got down to the game rooms around 10. No hangover, though -- which was incredible considering that I had a cold and drank more the night before than I had in months.

I wandered around a bit, and it looked like most people were already playing. Matt Wilson was playing the new Dust Devils, and he gave me a thumbs-up from across the room. In the other room, I saw Ron chatting at a table with Andy K and some other folks, so I sat down. Ron fixed me with a look, and said, "So, where's Stranger Things? Can I make a character?" My heart swelled to three times its normal size, Grinch style.

I busted out the ST stuff, and people oohed and aahed over the map tiles. I gave Ron a sheet and we started going through character creation. He made this cool spy-master Stranger named Mustav. A little later, Matt W and Tim Kleinert finished their games and wandered over. They started making charcaters, too, along with Andy K. Ron pushed us to go ahead and play some scenes, so I got out four dream sheets, and we did full-on game prep for all four Strangers. We used the GM-full approach, where each player is the director for the player on their left. Once again, this worked very well, and we had time to play an intro scene for each Stranger.

Then it was time for lunch. The ST table went together, and we were joined by a couple that had found the Forge recently and were looking for the indie-rpg experience. It was good talking to them and getting their perspective.

After lunch, I played the new Dust Devils with Matt S. and SIX other players: Jason Blair, Jared, John Jenskot, Mayuran, Paul Tevis (who does an awesome Jayne impersonation), and Cav. Since we had seven players, we decided to take the seven deadly sins as our devils. I was Greed. Favorite moment: I got the final narration and everyone died in a big ol' shootout. It rocked. Also, Jared's corrupt mayor and his catch-phrase, "It is very hard to run a town..." He was Sloth, and the character managed to never get up from his chair for the whole story.

After Dust Devils, I ran my TSOY-based Freebooters one shot for Matt S., Matt W., Paul Tevis, and Andy K. We had a really good time, but I think the adventure needs some tweaking. It did produce the single coolest TSOY moment ever, though. I need to post actual play about that.

We grabbed dinner, and then I dived into a playtest of Galactic with Matt W., Daniel, and Sarah. We were all about to fall asleep, so we got off to a slow start. The game showed off much coolness, however, and by the end I was hungry for lots more. The game is fast and fun, but still has many layers to explore and dials to turn. It's gonna be so cool when it's done. Plus, I got to play Omar, the character attributed to me in the example text in the game. And yeah, he's just the right kind of character for me.

Sunday
I played Nine Worlds on Sunday with Matt S., Paul Tevis, Paul Czege, and Danielle. I have loved Nine Worlds from afar for a while, and it did not disappoint. Favorite moment: Paul's terrorist sucking up all the power in the aethership to teleport away at the last second. So cool. Also, my James Bond-type character hurling himself into the aether with a rocket pod in one hand and an arc-welder in the other.

(Nine Worlds is a seriously awesome game. It delivered in a big way. I know my group wants me to run TSOY next (and I will) but Nine Worlds is tempting me badly. You really, really should check it out.)

Then we all went for lunch and Luke and Thor tried to tempt me and Matt W. to move to New York (not a hard sell). After that, everyone had planes to catch and the event came to a close.

It was a huge success. The gaming and game-talk was awesome, and I feel like a made a few new friends. It's a shame that I can't see these people more often.

posted by John Harper at 9:37 PM