After Big Bad Con (BBC) moved to Walnut Creek from Oakland, I didn't attend for a while. That said, the new venue is amazing and Sean Nittner has gotten BBC running like clockwork. It was a pleasure to play and run games there this year.
BBC is an indie RPG focused convention. Most indie games are short, so most time slots for games are 4 hours. Also a large number of indie game designers either introduce or play test their new games there.
RPGs are in private rooms. There's a large board game library and massive room for playing board games, separate group area for teen RPGs, separate group area for RPG Games on Demand, bathrooms are unisex, well stocked water dispensers are everywhere. The only thing I would have wished was more dealers in the dealer room and I wished End Game would bring and sell their used and discounted RPGs in the dealer room.
There's no shuffler for getting into games, but a staggered online signup system, so when you arrive, you already have your whole schedule on the back of your badge. But people still have bigger eyes than their stomach and sign up for games they don't show up for. So, if you didn't get in a game, you can still hope to crash a game and get an open seat. In every game I was in, I didn't see anybody being turned away from a game. At KublaCon, there were always a long line of crashers and sometimes 3 to 4 people would be turned away from a full game.
Overall, the best managed and run convention.
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The Murderer of Thomas Fell
System: Trail of Cthulhu
GM: Steven Drouin
5 Players: Morgan H., Dovi A., Ellen R., John C., Garth B. or Blane C.(one of these guys dropped out and John C. took their seat),
A man close to you — father, business partner, informant, friend — has gone missing. Following the trail of this missing man leads you on a startling and perilous GUMSHOE adventure. This game is packed with realia and media to make your gaming an awesome experience!
Game tags: Dark, Exploration, Horror, Mystery, Suspenseful
I played in Drouin's My Little Sister Wants You to Suffer at KublaCon this year and saw some of his props for this game, so this was my first choice of game for BBC.
Again an amazing amount of well done props and a good game. We all died in a TPK.
Game tags: Dark, Exploration, Horror, Mystery, Suspenseful
I played in Drouin's My Little Sister Wants You to Suffer at KublaCon this year and saw some of his props for this game, so this was my first choice of game for BBC.
Again an amazing amount of well done props and a good game. We all died in a TPK.
Fri Oct 12, 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Streamed RPGs: Advice We Wished We'd Received
Panel: Darcy Ross, DC, Aser Tolentino, James D'Amato, Lauren Bond
Streamed gaming, whether on Twitch or YouTube or elsewhere, combines gaming, acting, live performance, crowd-hyping, technical wrangling, and much more! In this panel, learn the top tips of what some fantastic streamers wish they knew when they were just starting out, and bring your questions!
Half about technical aspects like what microphones to use and software, the other half was about user engagement and acquisition. The main takeaway was you need good audio and good project management skills.
Streamed gaming, whether on Twitch or YouTube or elsewhere, combines gaming, acting, live performance, crowd-hyping, technical wrangling, and much more! In this panel, learn the top tips of what some fantastic streamers wish they knew when they were just starting out, and bring your questions!
Half about technical aspects like what microphones to use and software, the other half was about user engagement and acquisition. The main takeaway was you need good audio and good project management skills.
Newlywed Bride
System: Bluebeard's Bride
GM: Ken Davidson
4 Players: Michael P., Morgan H., Lily P., Jess C. (all players showed, no crashers)
Bluebeard’s Bride is an investigatory horror tabletop roleplaying game, written and designed by Whitney “Strix” Beltrán, Marissa Kelly, and Sarah Richardson, and based on the Bluebeard fairy tale.
In this game you and your friends explore Bluebeard’s home as the Bride, creating your own beautifully tragic version of the dark fairy tale. Investigate rooms, discover the truth of what happened, experience the nightmarish phantasmagoria of this broken place, and decide whether or not you are a faithful or disloyal bride.
Bluebeard’s Bride is Powered by the Apocalypse, the system used in Apocalypse World, Dungeon World, Monsterhearts, Masks, and more. It’s a simple system; when your character takes an action that fits a move, the move tells you what happens, or you roll two six-sided dice to find out. Since this is a horror game, we have modified it so that the majority of moves use no dice; this harkens back to telling ghost stories around the fire.
Bluebeard’s Bride produces adult feminine horror fiction like Crimson Peak, American Horror Story, or The Company of Wolves, making it fun for horror fans and dark fairy tale fans alike. And the Powered by the Apocalypse system gives Bluebeard’s Bride the strong, yet flexible system necessary to tell your own flavor of horror.
Game tags: Collaborative, Dark, Emotional, Exploration, Gore, Graphic Violence, Horror, Investigation, LGBTQ themes, Melancholy, Mystery, Potentially triggering*, Provocative, Serious, Sex and Sexuality
There was a lot of buzz about this game and the game book has amazing production value. I really wanted to try this game and find out what the buzz was about.
First, the traditional story of Bluebeard is told to the players.
The first two hours of the game was spent building the characters and the world. The players select various psyches/aspect of the only PC (the Bride of Bluebeard). Much like the game Everyone is John, each player takes turn controlling the single PC as she explores Bluebeard's castle.
The questionnaire on each aspect (mine was Witch. The others were Mother, Fatale, Virgin) aids in defining the Bride and her world. The first few questions are about her appearance and what the world expects of her (hair style, body shape, eyes, mouth shape, etc.). An example is: "What is your hairstyle?" "What does others rather have it be?" The later questions are about what she did to impress or be impressed by Bluebeard, so that he noticed her and married her.
Each aspect has a special Move (choose 1 out of 3). So a much more limited Playbook than Apocalypse World. When quiescent, the aspect can only do a limited number of Moves that are mainly observational or clue seeking. When active, the aspect has more Moves available such as fighting back or asking for help.
As the Bride explores each room, she has to decide if Bluebeard is as horrible as the rumors state (thumbs down) or whether he is just misunderstood (thumbs up). Before exiting a room, the Bride (active aspect) can make that decision (thumbs up, thumbs down) and explain her rationale. On a tally sheet, once 3 thumbs up or 3 thumbs down are selected, the game shifts to the denouement, the Final Room, and the game ends.
For me it was worth trying, but I left disappointed. It's like when someone tells you there's this free seminar and it will enable you to become a better person and you can learn self-actualization, better your coping skills, etc. and when you show up you find out you're at a Jehovah's Witness meeting. Yeah, it was sorta like that for me. More about this in the spoiler section.
The game did make me uncomfortable, but all for the wrong reasons.
GM: Ken Davidson
4 Players: Michael P., Morgan H., Lily P., Jess C. (all players showed, no crashers)
Bluebeard’s Bride is an investigatory horror tabletop roleplaying game, written and designed by Whitney “Strix” Beltrán, Marissa Kelly, and Sarah Richardson, and based on the Bluebeard fairy tale.
In this game you and your friends explore Bluebeard’s home as the Bride, creating your own beautifully tragic version of the dark fairy tale. Investigate rooms, discover the truth of what happened, experience the nightmarish phantasmagoria of this broken place, and decide whether or not you are a faithful or disloyal bride.
Bluebeard’s Bride is Powered by the Apocalypse, the system used in Apocalypse World, Dungeon World, Monsterhearts, Masks, and more. It’s a simple system; when your character takes an action that fits a move, the move tells you what happens, or you roll two six-sided dice to find out. Since this is a horror game, we have modified it so that the majority of moves use no dice; this harkens back to telling ghost stories around the fire.
Bluebeard’s Bride produces adult feminine horror fiction like Crimson Peak, American Horror Story, or The Company of Wolves, making it fun for horror fans and dark fairy tale fans alike. And the Powered by the Apocalypse system gives Bluebeard’s Bride the strong, yet flexible system necessary to tell your own flavor of horror.
Game tags: Collaborative, Dark, Emotional, Exploration, Gore, Graphic Violence, Horror, Investigation, LGBTQ themes, Melancholy, Mystery, Potentially triggering*, Provocative, Serious, Sex and Sexuality
There was a lot of buzz about this game and the game book has amazing production value. I really wanted to try this game and find out what the buzz was about.
First, the traditional story of Bluebeard is told to the players.
The first two hours of the game was spent building the characters and the world. The players select various psyches/aspect of the only PC (the Bride of Bluebeard). Much like the game Everyone is John, each player takes turn controlling the single PC as she explores Bluebeard's castle.
The questionnaire on each aspect (mine was Witch. The others were Mother, Fatale, Virgin) aids in defining the Bride and her world. The first few questions are about her appearance and what the world expects of her (hair style, body shape, eyes, mouth shape, etc.). An example is: "What is your hairstyle?" "What does others rather have it be?" The later questions are about what she did to impress or be impressed by Bluebeard, so that he noticed her and married her.
Each aspect has a special Move (choose 1 out of 3). So a much more limited Playbook than Apocalypse World. When quiescent, the aspect can only do a limited number of Moves that are mainly observational or clue seeking. When active, the aspect has more Moves available such as fighting back or asking for help.
As the Bride explores each room, she has to decide if Bluebeard is as horrible as the rumors state (thumbs down) or whether he is just misunderstood (thumbs up). Before exiting a room, the Bride (active aspect) can make that decision (thumbs up, thumbs down) and explain her rationale. On a tally sheet, once 3 thumbs up or 3 thumbs down are selected, the game shifts to the denouement, the Final Room, and the game ends.
For me it was worth trying, but I left disappointed. It's like when someone tells you there's this free seminar and it will enable you to become a better person and you can learn self-actualization, better your coping skills, etc. and when you show up you find out you're at a Jehovah's Witness meeting. Yeah, it was sorta like that for me. More about this in the spoiler section.
The game did make me uncomfortable, but all for the wrong reasons.
Sat Oct 13, 2:00 PM - 6:00 PMRusted Veins
System: Vampire: The Masquerade V5
GM: Morgan Hua
6 Players: Jason F., Michael G., Alexei R., Wesley G., Honda C., Dey (one person dropped out, one person added)
Setting: Gary, Indiana (a city in decline)
Coterie: Anarch Cell
Beneath the big two Princes of Gary, a rabble of anywhere between 10 and 20 Kindred populate Gary. There may be more, but nobody’s counting. Just like the kine of this domain, the lifespan of a Kindred inhabitant depends entirely on which of the city districts a vampire frequents, the businesses they influence, and the friends and enemies they make. Of the Kindred Embraced since Gary’s economic collapse, the number to survive or remain in Gary for longer than five years is in the single digits.
Tonight, this coterie held together loosely through a mixture of ideals, family connections, desperation, and a realization that anyone who goes it alone in Gary ends up dead, make their way to a drug deal in the dangerous industrial wasteland on the northern banks of the city. Few of these Kindred handle drugs as a vocation, but Zion runs his own crew of dealers, and has come into the stewardship of 30Gs worth of H just tonight. Under the instruction of his boss, he’s to deal this H away for a couple of bags full of cash, and then call the boss for further instruction. Specifically, Zion’s employer told him he would want a coterie watching his back, and not a mortal crew. Details beyond this are vague, other than the deal is to go down inside a closed Endron automobile manufacturing plant, with a bunch of Glen Park 45er gang members. Why they’d come to Zion for H is their business, but this is an unusual transaction.
Note: This is the V5 Alpha play test scenario, but I’ll be using the final V5 rules.
Game tags: Combat, Dark, Drama, Gore, Graphic Violence, Horror, Intrigue, Investigation, Modern, Play to find out, Player antagonism, Potentially triggering*, Serious
I play tested the pre-alpha and alpha version of this game and really enjoyed it. The final release of Vampire V5 streamlined some of the problems in the alpha releases.
What I liked about V5 was that it is a departure from the original Vampire game. When you're an immortal vampire with lots of power and wealth, and there's a Masquerade law that is enforced with capital punishment, there's not much a vampire can do other than underhanded politics to undermine other vampires in order to get more power. So, in the previous versions of Vampire, most games are about posing and politicking. A bit underwhelming. In V5, the 2nd Inquisition has shattered the Camarilla (council of vampire elders that help maintain the status quo and the Masquerade), so it's more or less a free for all, but vampires must still be careful because the 2nd Inquisition allied with governmental bodies are hunting down and terminating any vampires they find.
The game is still about betrayal and power, but also more about survival. There's more action in this version of Vampire. And if you get hungry, you might lash out and get a bit messy.
I've run this game before and liked the scenario, and I thought it would be minimal prep time as I needed to read the new rules, re-read the scenario, and just print out the character sheets. Well, after printing out the character sheets I found out that some Attributes were changed and so were some Skills. So, I had to convert the pre-gens and updating the PDFs took too much time (I gave up after doing one partially and it took 1/2 an hour), so I finally just filled out character sheets by hand.
I thought the game went well. What surprised me was that in an earlier run, some characters really stood out and did a lot of exceptional things, but in this run, those same characters seemed a bit less active and muted.
There was a fair bit of paranoia which was great. And lots of double crossing and combat. The world is a lot more darker and grittier.
GM: Morgan Hua
6 Players: Jason F., Michael G., Alexei R., Wesley G., Honda C., Dey (one person dropped out, one person added)
Setting: Gary, Indiana (a city in decline)
Coterie: Anarch Cell
Beneath the big two Princes of Gary, a rabble of anywhere between 10 and 20 Kindred populate Gary. There may be more, but nobody’s counting. Just like the kine of this domain, the lifespan of a Kindred inhabitant depends entirely on which of the city districts a vampire frequents, the businesses they influence, and the friends and enemies they make. Of the Kindred Embraced since Gary’s economic collapse, the number to survive or remain in Gary for longer than five years is in the single digits.
Tonight, this coterie held together loosely through a mixture of ideals, family connections, desperation, and a realization that anyone who goes it alone in Gary ends up dead, make their way to a drug deal in the dangerous industrial wasteland on the northern banks of the city. Few of these Kindred handle drugs as a vocation, but Zion runs his own crew of dealers, and has come into the stewardship of 30Gs worth of H just tonight. Under the instruction of his boss, he’s to deal this H away for a couple of bags full of cash, and then call the boss for further instruction. Specifically, Zion’s employer told him he would want a coterie watching his back, and not a mortal crew. Details beyond this are vague, other than the deal is to go down inside a closed Endron automobile manufacturing plant, with a bunch of Glen Park 45er gang members. Why they’d come to Zion for H is their business, but this is an unusual transaction.
Note: This is the V5 Alpha play test scenario, but I’ll be using the final V5 rules.
Game tags: Combat, Dark, Drama, Gore, Graphic Violence, Horror, Intrigue, Investigation, Modern, Play to find out, Player antagonism, Potentially triggering*, Serious
I play tested the pre-alpha and alpha version of this game and really enjoyed it. The final release of Vampire V5 streamlined some of the problems in the alpha releases.
What I liked about V5 was that it is a departure from the original Vampire game. When you're an immortal vampire with lots of power and wealth, and there's a Masquerade law that is enforced with capital punishment, there's not much a vampire can do other than underhanded politics to undermine other vampires in order to get more power. So, in the previous versions of Vampire, most games are about posing and politicking. A bit underwhelming. In V5, the 2nd Inquisition has shattered the Camarilla (council of vampire elders that help maintain the status quo and the Masquerade), so it's more or less a free for all, but vampires must still be careful because the 2nd Inquisition allied with governmental bodies are hunting down and terminating any vampires they find.
The game is still about betrayal and power, but also more about survival. There's more action in this version of Vampire. And if you get hungry, you might lash out and get a bit messy.
I've run this game before and liked the scenario, and I thought it would be minimal prep time as I needed to read the new rules, re-read the scenario, and just print out the character sheets. Well, after printing out the character sheets I found out that some Attributes were changed and so were some Skills. So, I had to convert the pre-gens and updating the PDFs took too much time (I gave up after doing one partially and it took 1/2 an hour), so I finally just filled out character sheets by hand.
I thought the game went well. What surprised me was that in an earlier run, some characters really stood out and did a lot of exceptional things, but in this run, those same characters seemed a bit less active and muted.
There was a fair bit of paranoia which was great. And lots of double crossing and combat. The world is a lot more darker and grittier.
Sat Oct 13, 8:00 PM - 12:00 AM
Up Country
System: The Fall of Delta Green (GUMSHOE)
GM: Aser Tolentino
6 Players: Joshua C., Kai H., Charles P., Jack Y., Keith P., Morgan H. (all players showed, no crashers)
At the height of US involvement in the Vietnam War, an artifact goes missing from a secret holding facility. Elsewhere, a Navy patrol boat has been reported overdue. These events are connected, but finding out how may cause agents to regret their decision to go up country.
Game tags: Combat, Dark, Drama, Horror, Intrigue, Investigation, Melancholy, Military, Modern, Mystery, Serious, Spy, Suspenseful
Aser is really seeped in Vietnam war lore. Gil T. is a better man than me. He went to Texas to get the vote out, so he yielded up his seat and I took it. I think Gil would have really geeked out in this game.
I enjoyed the game, but Josh and Jack had issues with the combat system. In retrospect, I agree with them. Trail of Cthulhu combat really is lacking. This really seems to mute the feel of danger, especially when modern weapons are very, very deadly.
I think the highlight of this game was the vivid details of the locations and the combat, I felt like we were In Country.
GM: Aser Tolentino
6 Players: Joshua C., Kai H., Charles P., Jack Y., Keith P., Morgan H. (all players showed, no crashers)
At the height of US involvement in the Vietnam War, an artifact goes missing from a secret holding facility. Elsewhere, a Navy patrol boat has been reported overdue. These events are connected, but finding out how may cause agents to regret their decision to go up country.
Game tags: Combat, Dark, Drama, Horror, Intrigue, Investigation, Melancholy, Military, Modern, Mystery, Serious, Spy, Suspenseful
Aser is really seeped in Vietnam war lore. Gil T. is a better man than me. He went to Texas to get the vote out, so he yielded up his seat and I took it. I think Gil would have really geeked out in this game.
I enjoyed the game, but Josh and Jack had issues with the combat system. In retrospect, I agree with them. Trail of Cthulhu combat really is lacking. This really seems to mute the feel of danger, especially when modern weapons are very, very deadly.
I think the highlight of this game was the vivid details of the locations and the combat, I felt like we were In Country.
The Box - An Object Discovery Game
System: The Box
GM: Rick Dean
6 Players: Julie F., Jennifer B., Vylar K., Amber, Morgan H. (two no shows, one crasher)
The Box is a GMless story game about trying to understand the true nature or purpose of an esoteric object you’ve just discovered. You and your friends will encounter a strange box, open it, explore its intricacies, and unlock the mysteries of its contents.
You will use cards to describe individual traits of the discovery as well as events at the scene. You will track your feelings toward the discovery as well, and the culmination of these collective feelings will help generate the climax and conclusion of your story.
If you enjoy exploration, intricacy, divination, surprise, or opening strange packages, this game is for you! Beginners and virtuosos welcome. We will play one of the pre-set scenarios based on the group’s preference. Each scenario has pre-set characters to play which can be customized on the fly if need be. Probably won’t last the full 4 hours but usually takes longer than 2 🙂
Game tags: Adventure, Collaborative, Exploration, Investigation, Mystery, Rotating authority Divination
I really enjoyed this game. This is a prototype of an unpublished game run by the designer. Rick picked a play set for us. The play set describes the setting and gives us various pre-gens to select from.
There are 4 phases of the game. We take turns describing various aspects of the box (based on cards drawn), then open it, then describe layers of packaging (based on cards drawn), then describe the final object (based on cards drawn). Once that's done, we get to agree on what the object really is and its purpose.
There's a scoring based on our impressions of the box, layers, and object. That gives us the object's theme which we use to determine its purpose, based on some of the earlier descriptions placed into various abstract categories (4 random categories drawn from a deck).
This game is more than just about the box and the object, its about the interactions between it and the PCs. So, a whole story is built around its discovery and investigation of its properties. The game is fresh and has lots of possibilities for replay.
6 Players: Julie F., Jennifer B., Vylar K., Amber, Morgan H. (two no shows, one crasher)
The Box is a GMless story game about trying to understand the true nature or purpose of an esoteric object you’ve just discovered. You and your friends will encounter a strange box, open it, explore its intricacies, and unlock the mysteries of its contents.
You will use cards to describe individual traits of the discovery as well as events at the scene. You will track your feelings toward the discovery as well, and the culmination of these collective feelings will help generate the climax and conclusion of your story.
If you enjoy exploration, intricacy, divination, surprise, or opening strange packages, this game is for you! Beginners and virtuosos welcome. We will play one of the pre-set scenarios based on the group’s preference. Each scenario has pre-set characters to play which can be customized on the fly if need be. Probably won’t last the full 4 hours but usually takes longer than 2 🙂
Game tags: Adventure, Collaborative, Exploration, Investigation, Mystery, Rotating authority Divination
I really enjoyed this game. This is a prototype of an unpublished game run by the designer. Rick picked a play set for us. The play set describes the setting and gives us various pre-gens to select from.
There are 4 phases of the game. We take turns describing various aspects of the box (based on cards drawn), then open it, then describe layers of packaging (based on cards drawn), then describe the final object (based on cards drawn). Once that's done, we get to agree on what the object really is and its purpose.
There's a scoring based on our impressions of the box, layers, and object. That gives us the object's theme which we use to determine its purpose, based on some of the earlier descriptions placed into various abstract categories (4 random categories drawn from a deck).
This game is more than just about the box and the object, its about the interactions between it and the PCs. So, a whole story is built around its discovery and investigation of its properties. The game is fresh and has lots of possibilities for replay.
Sun Oct 14, 2:00 PM - 8:00 PMAssault on Singularity Base
System: Cypher System
7 GMs: Matthulhu Steele, Ezra Denny, Jack Young, Shannon McNamara, Morgan Hua, Andy Hull, and Sean Phelan
36 Players: 6 players per table. 6 tables. (several no shows, some crashers)
An amazing multi-group gaming experience!
The Empress Tahali V, leader of the Grand Imperium, controls the galaxy with her countless legions of Imperium troopers clad in glistening silver armor marked with her griffon symbol. But a ragtag band of Rebels fights against the Imperium, their determination, bravery, and skill making up for their lack of numbers and supplies.
The Rebels have recently discovered that the Grand Imperium is creating a super weapon that can destroy an entire star system. Rebel spies have tracked a prototype of this superweapon to an Imperium base—called Singularity Base— on a remote swamp world. Your group is one of six Rebel teams attacking in a coordinated but desperate assault. Each team has its own objective, contributing toward the common goal of eliminating the superweapon prototype.
Assault on Singularity Base is a unique adventure that pits not one, but six groups of PCs against the Imperium forces, run as a mega-event with 36 players and seven GMs. This adventure debuted as the official GenCon 2016 Cypher System event. It plays similar to the last act of Rogue 1, using the Cypher System’s Rebel Galaxy setting.
Game tags: Adventure, Combat, Hijinx, Light, Play to find out, Sci-Fi, Serious Sci-Fi Action
Our third run of this game. Ezra had 2 players and I had 4, so we combined tables and gave our group two missions. Both our missions were pretty short, so it was a natural fit.
I really enjoyed running the game with Ezra and being able to sit out some of the game was a blessing since it was the last game of the convention and I was really tired. Ezra said the same thing.
We were also able to play off of each other which was fun and then NPCs can talk to each other without the GM sounding like a crazy street person talking to himself.
Team completed both missions and everyone survived.
An amazing multi-group gaming experience!
The Empress Tahali V, leader of the Grand Imperium, controls the galaxy with her countless legions of Imperium troopers clad in glistening silver armor marked with her griffon symbol. But a ragtag band of Rebels fights against the Imperium, their determination, bravery, and skill making up for their lack of numbers and supplies.
The Rebels have recently discovered that the Grand Imperium is creating a super weapon that can destroy an entire star system. Rebel spies have tracked a prototype of this superweapon to an Imperium base—called Singularity Base— on a remote swamp world. Your group is one of six Rebel teams attacking in a coordinated but desperate assault. Each team has its own objective, contributing toward the common goal of eliminating the superweapon prototype.
Assault on Singularity Base is a unique adventure that pits not one, but six groups of PCs against the Imperium forces, run as a mega-event with 36 players and seven GMs. This adventure debuted as the official GenCon 2016 Cypher System event. It plays similar to the last act of Rogue 1, using the Cypher System’s Rebel Galaxy setting.
Game tags: Adventure, Combat, Hijinx, Light, Play to find out, Sci-Fi, Serious Sci-Fi Action
Our third run of this game. Ezra had 2 players and I had 4, so we combined tables and gave our group two missions. Both our missions were pretty short, so it was a natural fit.
I really enjoyed running the game with Ezra and being able to sit out some of the game was a blessing since it was the last game of the convention and I was really tired. Ezra said the same thing.
We were also able to play off of each other which was fun and then NPCs can talk to each other without the GM sounding like a crazy street person talking to himself.
Team completed both missions and everyone survived.
