Conception 2004.
Wednesday 3rd to Sunday 7th March 2004 at Naish Holiday Village in Dorset,
UK.
So it is a month since we returned from Conception 2004 in [not so] sunny
Dorset. Follow MiB Newt and myself went to represent the MiB at a RPG
convention that hadn't had much MiB or HeroQuest coverage before. It was the
first time any of us had been to this convention and it was with some
trepidation that we went as it had had a bad review written about it.
It was a tough nut to crack being mostly 'Living campaigns' that were being
played and games run by the Wessex Gaming group. Also I had the wind
knocked out of my sails before we even got there that set me back a bit and
not in the right frame of mind to push HeroQuest upon the masses.
However we did have a very good time and both of us had full games on the
Friday night.
The holiday village was good, our chalet lodge was very nice and for the
price was very good. If it wasn't for the travel costs this would have been
a cheap con costing only £10 per day for accommodation.
There was plenty of space for gaming either in the main hall itself or in
the sprawling lounge rooms of the bars. [We chose to play in the bars].
Some of the games also take place in the chalets.
Most of the games seemed to be living campaigns and one or two DnD
'Classics'. Some LARP games also took place which is good to see although
they did take over one of the bars for a long time.
The other major presence was the 'Crimson Empire', an independently
published role-playing game, with demo games and a stall ran by the author
himself Chris Loizou. This man has a lot of enthusiasm for his game, which
is contagious, and he has been at most of the UK conventions over the last
year. His demo team are going from strength to strength, with each member
contributing to the game and the game world. Some very good lessons can be
learnt from him.
'A Hanging and a Hunting' Thursday 7pm-11pm.
Not many signed up for this game but I ran it anyway. Chris who had signed
up had played in one of our HeroQuest demos before at another convention and
had gone out afterward and brought the game. It went very well as he played
the character so well the scenario we were playing changed to another one
half way through just because of his character's background. So I ended up
playing the episode 'A Raid on Hellbreak' which went down a storm.
'The Dark Heart of the Dragon Lands' Friday 7pm-12midnight.
A full sign up for this game as I had seven players. These where all
'Crimson Empire' players involved with Chris Loizou's demo team [recognised
by the black sweat shirts embossed with said logo and artwork]. They wanted
to try something different and they certainly got it. They enjoyed the
episode and were trying to come up with answers to the mystery posed by the
scenario, and were freaked out by the Dragonewts when introduced. They were
keen to learn more about both the game system and the Gloranthan setting. A
very rewarding evening indeed.
Newt also ran a game on the Friday evening 'The Black Ziggurat' Friday
7pm-11pm and had a full sign-up as well and another the following day. 'Hot
Wok Flying Battalion vs. Undead Hopping Taxmen' Saturday 2pm-6pm was a game
I joined in on as a player as Newt only had a couple of sign-ups [and mine
had none]. A very funny game set in an almost ancient china background,
Kralori in Glorantha. I have never enjoyed attacking zombies so much while
flying around in a large magic wok. Very enjoyable and satisfying in a
'chop suey' style. Great for a one off and a good change of pace. The
players were again interested in the game and would be looking it up once at
home.
So Scheduled Games
Darran Sims MiB 3589 8 Hours (HeroQuest) 8 ISS points.
Newt Newport MiB 3871 8 Hours (HeroQuest) 8 ISS points.
Cheers,
DARRAN SIMS. MIB 3589.
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