Sunday, October 16, 2022

Morgan's Miskatonic Repository Convention 2022 Adventures

 


Always a great lineup of free CoC games.

Signups and communications was provided by tabletop.events (TTE). TTE wasn't integrated with Discord. The problem is that people who signed up on TTE have their real names displayed and the only way to communicate with them is via TTE. TTE messages sometimes got filtered into Spam email folders. And on Discord, there's no way to find the corresponding Players or GMs. There were a lot of communication problems. Also if you get a ticket to a game after the GM has sent out his notification email, you'll have to ask the GM to resend any previous notifications.

The good news was that I initially signed up for 3 games. 2 games got cancelled. I found a replacement game. It got cancelled. Then found 3 open seats and wound up playing in 4 games. Crazy huh?

So, the signup system worked really well. It also prevented you from double booking. When I tried to signup for a replacement seat, I had to cancel out of the previous game. If the GM cancelled the game, you'd get a notification and you won't have to cancel out of that game.

One solution is to give each game its own thread in Discord, so GMs and Players can communicate.

Overall, a very enjoyable convention.

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10/15 Friday 10am-3pm (4 hour time slot ran over time by 1 hr)


Ipswich, Massachusetts. December 1922. Investigators follow a cryptic letter to a Colonial-era homestead-turned-hotel which floats more than a cultural past. Amid a foul odor and rumors of hauntings and a shipwreck, they barely tread water in the sea of secrets harbored at the Hart House.

Content Warning: controlling parents, mention of ritual sacrifice and adoption, implied rape of a man, and mention of indigenous peoples using antiquated terms.

GM: Jade Griffin (Megan Kellermeyer)
Players: Morgan Hua (Ruth-Anne the Farm Girl), WishMoon (George the Quarryman), giurdy (Anneliese Chadwick), styx2749 (Hyacinth Clarke the Librarian)

This game ran long by 1 hour. GM asked if it was ok for the players to stay longer.

I found the GM pacing for this game a little too slow for me. There were also some odd GM choices. I also have some issues with the scenario design.




10/14 Friday 3-9pm (4 hour time slot ran over time by 2 hrs)


In 1992 a son receives a letter, lost in the mail six years ago, from a father he does not remember. The letter speaks of the father's wish to reunite with his son, and share in newfound splendors the father has discovered. A few months later, the boy goes missing. Without your help, he may be forgotten from memory entirely.

Pregens provided.

CW: teenager (16+) endangerment

GM: your friend nate (Nathan Hughes)
Players: Morgan Hua (Rico Garcia - Rookie Cop), greywolf5465 (Jean Pinoit - Bad Cop), TheTim (Emma Conner - Detective), Rain of Terra (Martha Foster - Social Worker)

This game ran long by 2 hours, but it was worth it. GM asked if it was ok for the players to stay longer.

Not the most innovative of scenarios because other scenarios dealing with this Mythos deity generally go in the same direction, but I felt this scenario was very well done.

My favorite game of the convention. 




10/15 Saturday 11am-3pm


It's Saturday, June 14, 1980. Your crime scene team has been dispatched to Camp Shady Pines to investigate the bizarre deaths of the camp's counselors who had been preparing for the arrival of the campers next week. According to Shelly Peters, the sole survivor, the counselors were attacked and brutally hacked to death by a mysterious masked stranger. It's up to you and your team to find the truth, and fast, so the camp can open on time.

4 players, pre-gens provided

Content Warnings: Blood, gore, body horror, murder, harm to teenagers, possible PvP, possibly drowning

Note: this is an homage to slasher flicks, so be prepared to lean into the tropes!

GM: Rina (Rina Haenze)
Players: Morgan Hua (Det Walker), Andy R (Sgt LeRoy), Lorraine D (Dr Angela Jamison - ME Coroner), Lauren W (Elle Bronson - Lab Technician)

This was a fun game, definitely for slasher movie fans. I'd recommend it.

The crime and death scenes are gory and graphic as per slasher flicks, so sensitive people who can't stand explicit gore should not play this.

GM ran her own scenario which is always a treat. The scenario is slightly rough around the edges, but it has great promise. GM does voices and is definitely into acting for the camera, so depending on your taste, it may or may not be your cup of tea.

My 2nd favorite game of the convention.





10/16 Sunday 11-3pm


Summer 1978, the Miskatonic University announces a breakthrough in computer science: the CS-448 P3, called The Weasel. You are invited to attend a presentation of this ultramodern machine and conduct a test run to ascertain its extraordinary functionality. Symbols whizz across the screen. Wait! Is this a message? By whom? The printer goes haywire and spits out a string of strange words. Does The Weasel develops a life of its own?

GM: 10sidedfear (Philip G. Orth)
Players: Morgan Hua (as Prof Stan Coleman - civil engineer), plc5 (Philip C as Bob John Mellor - accountant), JohnLapoint (John L as Jeremy McIntosh & Justin L as Ed Chapman), dnice (Denice K as Anne - computers)

The scenario has some neat stuff, but it was the extra work done by the GM that improved this game from what it was. I loved the late 70s pictures and music. Sort of a blast from the past. Yeah, I grew up in that time period.

Game pacing was a bit slow in some spots, but overall, an ok game.




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