Last weekend I took part in an old school meetup ran by +john yorio . I know John through some of my own games.He'd played in an "Unknown Armies" one-shot and one of my more unusual "Call of Cthulhu" sessions.
This game was Basic D&D with some Labyrinth Lord modifications. It was a one-shot, also one of the original modules. I couldn't resist the nostalgia and I love one-shot games in general.They're such a great way to get a taste for a game without investing too much in terms of characters and campaigns. Basic D&D was the first game I ever played back in the early 1980's. My next experience was with Advanced D&D 2nd Edition when I ran a Ravenloft campaign in the 1990's, and the only fantasy games I've played since returning to the hobby in recent years have been Dungeon World and Pathfinder.
There was a good turnout for the game. It took a few minutes to put some characters together (though pre-gens were readily available) and it was fun to see how basic and direct the game really was. You could be a Fighter,Magic User, Thief, Cleric, Dwarf, Elf or Halfling. I opted for the Dwarf, as I do enjoy head first characters.
It was a classic dungeon arrangement, with skeletons, goblins,an evil Cleric, hidden doors and traps. The action was fast and quickly resolved...but what was truly special was the headcount. My Dwarf was the first to die, my Halfling somehow made it. Some other players actually went through three...yes,three characters in what was probably a three hour session. The pre-gens came in handy!
All in all it was just simple fun. Everyone was into the game and the spirit of it. Thinking back to how I started running "Call of Cthulhu", I was really tapping into the same thing...giving players the chance to reconnect with an old classic that they hadn't played in years or missed out on first time around.This inspires me to dig out some of the others, like "Paranoia" and "Judge Dredd" (Games Workshop version). It also reminded me how much I love the one-shot/demo format, and I'm seriously thinking about making 2014 a year where I run a one-shot of a different game each month, alongside just one campaign. That would also be good preparation for my stint in "Games on Demand" at Dragoncon 2014...but that's another post :-)
+john yorio has another session lined up for next month and I'm looking forward to that one too. It's good to see the level of excitement around this and he runs the sessions well.
Hi Paul,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the shout out!
I'm really excited to see the way the old school gaming seems to be suddenly blossoming here.
If you run Paranoia, I will definitely try to get in on that. It's one of those games I always wanted to play but never had a chance to.
-John
Paul you have given me an idea. Scott has also talked to me about doing DragonCon Games on Demand next year. Maybe we could designate one weekend a month and hold a mini-Games on Demand at Gigabites (to help both of us get some reps in before DragonCon)?
ReplyDeleteJohn, you're welcome sir!
ReplyDeleteDrew, that's exactly where my mind is at. I do like doing my mini-campaigns and will continue to do one...but I'd rather use my other monthly session for Games on Demand at Giga. I know I can easily run CoC, Unknown Armies and My Life With Master one-shots..can do that in my sleep. I want to expand though to offer more at GoD. We'll discuss more!