Informal discussion on what is involved with running that first game. Hints, suggestions, and no-no's. All ages, all experience levels welcome. Join the fun!
Explore the interaction of GM and RP gamers. Presentation of roleplaying styles, discussion of GM's that encourage role playing. All experience levels welcome.
What one thing is most important to running a good game? What one piece of advice would you give to a first time convention GM? What is the funniest thing that ever happened to your game? Open mic time at GenCon. Sign up early and reserve YOUR topic! E-mail gencon_gm_lightning@yahoo.com or go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GENCONGMLightning/ and sign up.
Good convention games create and sustain high energy. By improving preparation, communication, pacing and performance, a good game can become a great one. In this interactive seminar, we will share ideas for upping the ante on good games, facilitating role play and improving a game's focus. Come hear our thoughts, bring your own ideas, help us put them into practice and discuss what we see.
Games studies has become a serious topic in education literature, but face-to-face role play is still relatively unknown, compared with computer games in education. Why study games in education? Where are researchers finding learning in games?Last year, the primary topic was transferring knowledge. This year, the talk will focus on how role play creates social opportunities for learning.
Informal discussion on what is involved with running that first game. Hints, suggestions and no-no's. All ages, all experience levels welcome. Join the fun!
Explore the interaction of GM and RP gamers. Presentation of roleplaying styles, discussion of GMs that encourage roleplaying. All experience levels welcome.
Informal discussion on what is involved with running that first game. Hints, suggestions and no-no's. All ages, all experince levels welcome. Join the fun!
Explore the interaction of GM and RP gamers. Presentation of roleplaying styles, discussion of GM's that encourage role playing. All experience levels welcome.
Games provide many opportunities for learning, and role playing games are no exception. Role playing games, like mock trials, are already in our schools, but is there a place for other forms of RPG? Explore the current state of research with a long time RPG player and Games in Education researcher. A presentation followed by informal discussion.
Informal discussion on what is involved with running that first game. Hints, suggestions and no-no's. All ages, all experience levels welcome. Join the fun!
Informal discussion on what is involved with running that first game. Hints, suggestions and no-no's. All ages, all experience levels welcome. Join the fun!
Come join the current discussions in games studies with Dr. David Simkins. Talk about theories of fun, immersion, engagement, learning and games, ethics in games, and more.
Description:
The field of games studies has gained legitimacy. Come join the current discussions in games studies with Dr. David Simkins. Talk about theories of fun, immersion, engagement, learning and games, ethics in games, and more. This seminar is for those who wish to consider the deeper impact of role playing, create a more compelling game, or challenge yourself to add real significance to a role play.
Playing Safe: A Look at Gen Con's Updated Sexual Harassment Policy
Summary:
Five veteran Gen Con GMs discuss the updated policy and what it means for the gaming community.
Description:
Gen Con 2013 marks an updated harassment policy taking effect, and that's a good thing. Five veteran GMs talk about what that means for us, our players, and what we like (and don't) about the updated policy.
If you look for politics in role play or want to know what to avoid, join a conversation with Dr. David Simkins, professor & RP researcher, about what works & what doesn't.
Description:
Political RP may not be for everyone, but for those who enjoy it, it can be engaging, exciting, and deeply satisfying. It can also encourage anxiety, tension, and frustration between players. Join a conversation with David Simkins about the role of politics in role play. A long time LARP and tabletop game master, a professor of game development at the Rochester Institute of Technology's School of Interactive Games and Media, and the author of The Arts of LARP, David loves politics in his game, but hates game politics when they bleed into the rest of life. David will bring research, experience, and examples to a conversation about using politics as a focus for role play, and managing politics when they seep out of the game. Join the conversation, and bring your own thoughts and examples as well. The session will begin with a presentation and end with an informal conversation.
We learn through play, but as we get older we tend to change the way we learn through play. Join this discussion of design of playful learning in face to face RPGs.
Description:
We learn by playing. From an early age, play and learning are not only connected, they are the same thing. Games are fantastic spaces for facilitating learning, but as we get older we tend to change the way we learn through play. Join us as we discuss the effective design of playful learning in face to face role play. The informal seminar will be led by David Simkins, PhD and Professor of Game Design at Rochester Institute of Technology's School of Interactive Games and Media. Bring your thoughts and questions and join the conversation.
Informal discussion on what is involved with running that first game. Hints, suggestions and no-no's. All ages, all experience levels welcome. Join the fun!
Informal discussion on what is involved with running that first game. Hints, suggestions and no-no's. All ages, all experience levels welcome. Join the fun.
Engaging Quandary: Designing Complex, Meaningful Decisions For Role Play
Summary:
This seminar explores the design of character decisions in role play.
Description:
Join David Simkins, assistant professor of game design and development at Rochester Institute of Technology, for a talk on techniques in role play. Giving players complex, meaningful decisions can increase the sense of player agency, can heighten the tension and drama of a game, and can be used to express deeper themes through role play. This seminar explores the construction of decisions through digital, tabletop, and live-action role play. Using design theory, designed game structures, dramatic techniques, and case examples, we will explore some effective ways of developing meaningful decisions.
Informal discussion on what is involved with running that first game. Hints, suggestions & no-no's. All ages, all experience levels welcome. Join the fun!
Informal discussion on what is involved with running that first game. Hints, suggestions & no-no's. All ages, all experience levels welcome. Join the fun!
We RP for fun, so why does it sometimes feel like work? Why is there so often out-of-character drama in our role-playing groups? What can we do about it? Guided discussion with a RP researcher.
Description:
We RP for fun, so why does it sometimes feel like work? Why is there so often out-of-character drama in our role-playing groups? What can we do about it?
After over forty years of running and playing larp and tabletop campaigns, and now a professor researching both, I’ve noticed some patterns form in the the out-of-character drama that plagues role playing groups. This is a seminar for players and GMs alike. We will discuss some specifics issues that affect larp or tabletop campaign games, as well as more general problems that can affect either. We will even touch a bit on the overlapping drama in MMORPG guilds and other forms of collaborative play.
The format will include approximately 45 minutes of presentation followed by a guided discussion.
If kittens are worth 2 experience points, we can improve your game. We will explain how to reward the behavior you want & how to create NPCs worth talking to.
Description:
We will explain how to reward the behavior you want, how to discourage killing everything in sight, how to create NPCs worth talking to. We will talk about the 4 kinds of players and how to keep them all coming back for more. We will discuss how to get the lurker to take an active role, how to deal with the guy who thinks he should be part of every interaction, how to create heroes worth mourning. We will discuss dice and when not to use them.
Whether a player, GM, or host, games require management. How do we organize participation to encourage diversity, player agency, & a happy, healthy, inclusive game environment?
Description:
Most people play tabletop and larp RPGs to socialize with others, yet quite often our gaming groups come with undesired drama and unnecessary tension. Though we want to be open and welcoming to all players, sometimes personality clashes, or perhaps less clear factors, lead to discomfort and disenfranchisement of one or more players. Perhaps organizing role play should not require one to be a therapist, human resources manager, diversity trainer, and life skills coach. Nevertheless, we find ourselves in those roles sometimes. Last year we talked about dealing with toxic players. This year, let's expand the discussion to talk about how we can improve our games by improving the dynamics of our gaming communities. This session will begin with an introduction to the topics by Dr. David Simkins, experienced RPG organizer and scholar, followed by a moderated, open discussion.
Informal discussion on what is involved with running that first game. Hints, suggestions & no-no's. Join the fun!
Description:
Informal discussion on what is involved with running that first game. Hints, suggestions and no-no's. What do you do first? Game Master responsibilities, Player responsibilities. All ages, all experience levels welcome. Join the fun!