Running Burning Wheel at Gameday this weekend reminded me that I have a tendency to try and cram complex, long-form games into four-hour one-shots. And I was just catching up on Paul Beakley’s post about his notes for running The One Ring, and, like a dog to kibble, I was immediately thinking about doing similar research so that maybe I could try running TOR at Gameday again someday. Which, of course, is insane.
What’s funny is that I am more than happy to play tight, simple, short-form games at cons, but when it comes to time for me to choose a game to run, I zip right past digestible options like Best Friends or Fiasco and go straight for “Oh, I’ll just read all 29 titles for GURPS Transhuman Space and condense it into a tight little con event.”
I am nuts.
Yes.
How did Burning Wheel go?
Bret Gillan It went well! I think it was the best one I’ve created so far. I’m going to do a full write-up in another post.
I have a theory about this. Do you like entertaining others and being in the spotlight?
Jesse Coombs I want to hear your theory but for the life of me I can’t disentangle those things.
Those words aren’t the best for describing it. Maybe “show off” is better? I mean this with the most positive of connotations.
I totally do this.
I read it that way too! I still can’t disentangle them. When I’m entertaining I’m also showing off. It’s about me but it’s also like look how deliriously player-centered I am.
look how deliriously player-centered I am.]]>
Why do you need to disentangle?
Because you ask “or.”
I did?
😛
Dude
Jesse Coombs I’m not sure how to answer that. I would not say that I like to show off or that I crave attention, but obviously I am human and so enjoy it if the players are having a good time and crediting me as the source. And I’m generally pretty quiet and retiring, so the chance to be in a position where I am in a position to speak and be heard doing something at which I am competent is one of the things I love about gaming.
But no way would I enjoy the spotlight if it meant that others were having a bad time.
I dunno. The simplest answer might just be that I tend to like “big” games, but my main outlet for them is the Gameday I organize, which is all one-shots. So I have to get my fix where I can.
There’s also the challenge of trying to distill a complex game into a one-shot experience. Can I find the essential bits that convey the game without overwhelming the players? Can I “sell” the game, or will it just seem intimidating?
Mark Delsing all these considerations are why I’m giving up on BW for convention play.
I’m starting to develop, like you, separate home and con game sets (and tastes).