Convention Etiquite and Tips, Origins, Gencon and beyond Options

[LurkerOutThere]

Alright first the disclaimer: These thoughts are my own, they don't represent anyone else especially not Catalyst, The CGL demo team or anything of that nature. Also this is something I'm just throwing together as I go so it's a smidge rambling.

Having said that I wanted to put out some lessons learned I've gotten as both a convention players and GM. Some of these are just courtesy things that people don't realize, some of these are shameless attempts to make my life easier. Some of them are helpful tips, and some are warnings on crimes against humanity.

Preparation and Cleanup:
1) Your mom doesn't run here, and even if she does she doesn't want to clean up after you. > I'm often on a time crunch and even when i'm not this one gets on my nerves more then most things. When you play at a gaming table please police up your own trash when you leave and if possible any other loose trash you see sitting around. A lot of our slots run back to back to back so the in-courteous people who leave their trash behind are really leaving it right int he next player space.

2) You should know the rules that apply to your character > I'd like to think my Shadowrun rules knowledge is better then most. But even having said that Shadowrun is a game of a host of interlocking sub systems with fiddly bits. So if i make a call from memory and you know it's wriong you have every right to call me on it (politely). Most people are pretty good on this when it works to their benefit but i do ask theyu also do it when it works to their detriment. What I saw someone do at last years Gencon and have since adapted for my own is making a cheat sheet of all the rules that affect my character on a regular basis including page references. This is especially important if your character tends to do obscure things like grappling, e-sensing. etc etc

3) Speed counts for a lot in combat > Similar to the above I strongly recommend folks pre-calculate their most commonly used action pools including a break out of where the dice bonus come from. This will save you having to hunt and peck on your character sheet.

Table Etiquette:
This is Shadowrun, not monopoly try not to monopolize the GM > Now personally when i GM I try and do a round robin style to make sure everyone's getting a chance to get in actions and such or when it comes to things like leg work I ask everyone to make their rolls and then I come around the table checking what folks got. Though having said that try to contain the need to get involved in every roll or action taking place at the table. I'll give a classic example big table, hacker is scanning and breaking into local wireless devices to pre-seed the area with surveillance . Face and street sam are talking to people for intel on the objective. While their doing that local corpsec starts to talk to them. Hacker wanted to get involved in that scene by sending a drone over/hacking corpsecs comlink etc. Even though the hacker could technicly get involved in that encounter I told them to cool it so face and sam could have their moment in the sun. If they'd failed I might have let their teammates come to their rescue but until then it was their play time.

Your character shoots people in the face for money, you can grab my attention if something is bothering you or you need it > The counter to the above question if there is something that your character needs to get involved in or you would have an insight on. Speak up. Part of the reason I go to a round robin is to give everyone a moment. But at bigger tables that moment takes a while to come around. if your one of those people that has a hard time inserting yourself into a conversation if nothing else raise your hand, that gets my attention.

General Etiquette:
If something is making you uncomfortable speak up > I'm going to set all joking aside for a moment. Shadowrun is a game of mature themes. While I strive for a PG rating at the table for con games, just by the nature of the setting, stuff creeps in. Likewise players might raise things to a level your not comfortable with. Speak up, even if you have to ask to talk to me privately, I an presumably most other GM's and players are willing to work with you.

Don't Cheat > Not much needs to be said here, if your life is going so horrible that you need to cheat at a tabletop game for validation I suggest you seek help. As a GM I cheat like crazy and I hate competition.

Show up to your event on time > I understand that events run long and things happen but as much as possible please try and get to events on time. This goes double for those playing with generics as those seats go to folks on a first come first serve basics. Similarly while those who bought tickets do have a guaranteed seat I don't not let someone play because your running behind generally speaking I hold game for 5-10 mins while everyone gets situated and I answer questions, but by that point I start to look around and get generic folks seated.

A word on generics > Traditionally at Gencon and Origins we sell 6 slots to each game, a seventh player can be taken at GM's discretion (most of us do) an eighth player can only be taken if all the pre-registered players are cool with it, which most are. So if you have a group of players you like to play with it really behooves you to preregister. Having said that even if you can't preregister you might try and show up anyway, we as GM's work awful hard not to turn people away.

Cleanliness > This has been beat to death in other places and honestly I haven't seen a problem amongst the shadowrun crowd but as a guy whose gone to big cons before it deserves a mention. Please shower, use soap, and deodorant liberally and toothpaste and breath mints as necissary. I've gotten to the point where I'm not shy of calling people on this as necessary if I have to take them aside. Save yourself the embarrassment, and if you are incapable of embarrassment on this issue stop coming out in public.