Phoenix Congames

[Unrepentant]

I will be running OotS: The Adventure Game at Phoenix Congames (http://www.conevents.com/page/phx/main.asp), Thursday night June 14 at 7:00 p.m. Partially this is to bolster interest in the event and, more specifically, my table that night, but mostly I'm posting to ask those of you who have run this game in convention settings before for any advice you may have or what pitfalls I should watch for. The plan is to run the short game, although it may be for 6 players, as I have a four hour window in which to run the game. I specifically selected my time slot so as to not have to worry too much about running over however.

[apegamer]

Ah, this is great! And an opportunity to remind folks that if you're running games at conventions to let me know. I'll add the events to our website and put your name down for APE Demo Monkey points to put toward APE and other OOTS products. AND, it can qualify you for playtesting OOTS expansions.

And this doesn't just need to be at conventions. If you set up events to run the game at stores or schools, that can count, too.

As for instructions for demoing the game, I'll put something up on the website before this weekend. I've demoed the game hundreds of times now and have a few tips & tricks. 4 hours is a good amount of time for the session. Gives you time to set up and explain the rules before playing.

[apegamer]

Here are some simple tips you can use when demo'ing the Order of the Stick game.


Try to allocate 4 hours. This is a comfortable amount of time for setup and rules explanation, and doesn't cause the game to go too long.

I always allow players to choose the character they most want to play - randomly determining who chooses first in case there's an argument.

Explain just the basics before starting, as explained below.


Explaining Cards
Start with an explanation of Shticks, and have players select three of the four red-bordered ones. Before they select them, explain the difference between Battle Shticks and other shticks. This includes a discussion of Attack, Defense and Range values, as well as an explanation of Shtick results (it is important to explain that not all Shticks defeat enemies.)

Next give an explanation of the cards in players' Battle Hands. Explain Screw This cards first, as they're the easiest, then Monster cards.

When explaining Monster cards, discuss the Attack and Defense values first. This leads to a discussion of the basics of combat. I tend to leave talk of Range until later. Finally, discuss XP, Loot and monster effects. I also leave talk of Support until later.

After going through a basic combat example, bring in the concept of giving Loot for assistance.

Then give a quick explanation of the victory conditions, including a brief discussion of Xykon's Lair, the collapse and adding up Bragging Points.

Pretty much all of the other rules can be explained as players get the groove. One other thing to talk about after a few turns is the balance between giving loot for assistance, trading it for Shticks and keeping it for Bragging Points.

Closing the Game
Watch the clock When there's about 45 minutes left, players should have already started thinking about heading down to Xykon's Lair. If no one seems to be moving in that direction, gently nudge them, reminding them of the time.

[Unrepentant]

Unfortunately I had already left for con when you posted this, but this is pretty close to what I did. I did make a few house rules:

* When drawing new schticks, you draw two schticks, select one and put the other on the bottom. Thematically inappropriate, but for a con it really works well, because a lot of the joy in this game is seeing more cards and laughing at them.

* You may earn a new schtick at any time EXCEPT during your turn or when involved in a PvP fight. I do this to give people at the table something to do when it's not their turn. It was very well received.

Overall, the game was very successful and I would be happy to run it again. It was really popular and the table filled up. I do want to get the time down a bit. It seems like after about 3 1/2 hours, it loses a lot of it's fun factor, so I want the game to end right about there.