Northeast Wars X

A few episodes back on All Games Considered, host Mags the Axe began a discussion on the hows and whys of running a game at a convention. While Mags’ background is that of a roleplayer, much of what her advice is broadly applicable to all kinds of games. The Le Havre enthusiast and Warhammer tournament organizer both have to deal with no-show players, fitting into established time slots, explaining rules to newcomers and all that. Plus, All Games Considered is an all around entertaining show; give it a try.

The series spans three segments:

• Episode 99: know your convention’s format and plan accordingly.
• Episode 102: structuring your game for the convention environment.
• Episode 103: scheduling and advertising your game, GM niceties.

With episode 103, the hosts announced that the Mags the Axe School of Game Mastering will become a recurring segment, so keep an eye on future episodes as the various faculty members elaborate on weighty topics.

For Northeast Wars IX, Doug Duprey, host of Design & Conquer, part of the Online Gaming Radio network, recorded during the Saturday afternoon gaming slot. In addition to that on-the-spot material, Doug also got the chance to speak with the guests of honor, artist Melissa Benson and RPG designer Steve Kenson.

To listen to the episode, visit the Design & Conquer page, scroll down to the entry for Monday, April 16th, and click the “Download this episode” link.

Still not sure about the finer points of running a convention game? The podcast Fear the Boot recently posted an episode all about different takes and methods of customizing your game for a convention setting. Moreover, they recorded the episode live at the close of their own convention, Fear the Con, so you can hear from GMs themselves coming fresh from their experiences that weekend.

Once you’ve listened to that sage advice, hustle over to the Event Submission page. We’re taking events right up to April 3rd, and there’s still time to get into the official convention book.

We’re very pleased to welcome back Doug Duprey, host of Design & Conquer on Online Gaming Radio, to Northeast Wars. Last year, Doug provided live coverage of the convention from the ground as it happened. You can check out the pictures Doug took of the Resurrection here.

This year, Doug will provide the same level of live coverage, talking to guests and conventioneers as they catch a break between gaming slots. When you see him around the hotel this April, say hi!