Curiouser and Curiouser

So, I started off panicked on Thursday because elenuial had informed me that he'd likely be unable to attend. This was a bit hard to swallow, as I was a) headed out the door, b) really looking forward to him being there and c) now running a game alone.

But I got a call from him on Friday night letting me know that he had escaped the clutches of the Grad School monster, and I swung by Saturday morning to pick him up and check on the wee beastie.

( Thursday Thing )
( Princess of Norland )
( Identity Crisis )
( Better off Dead )
( Other Other All-Batman Game )

Now I am home and don't know what to do with myself these days. Wedding planning, I guess. And get ready for Larpercalia, of course.

But for now, con crash. And watching Elsa try to figure out the new puzzle I got her. Four hours so far - best $5 I ever spent.

Mah shhedulz:

Friday night: The Princess of Norland, for now. Might swap out to one of zapf's games, since the meta aspect seems really interesting.

Saturday Morning: Intrigue Beneath the Waves

Saturday Afternoon: Galaxy Comics Presents: Identity Crisis

Saturday Night: GMing Better Off Dead

Sunday Morning: Currently signed up for Other Other All-Batman game, but may drop. Or maybe play Speed Dating. I don't know - getting up early on Sunday isn't usually my thing.

So, elenuial and I are looking for roomies for Intercon K. Preferably for the Thursday Thing, too.

Anyone looking?

I should bid my game for Intercon K.

But it needs a name. Something John Hughes-themed?

[Poll #1546704]

My players rock my world.

That's the summary of this game.

But if you want more details, sure! Without spoiling too much:

- Players going to their room for Excedrin were mistaken for their characters fleeing justice and assaulted in the hallway by nearly the entire game xD
- Happy endings
- Sad endings
- Powers used for good
- Powers used for awesome
- Handlers fighting with their E-phos
- E-phos fighting with themselves
- Gay mexican standoffs
- Impassioned speeches
- True love
- Fake love
- A lot of inconvenient switching
- Mad dashes to keep people in control
- Taking a minute to take the napkin away from the dog, who was having a shred-things party
- Collars and forehead stamps
- "You made me swear up and down to be fully clothed! I am. You weren't more specific than that!"
- Teenagers being teenagers
- Small rodents
- Me breaking at least half a dozen times and laughing so hard my ribs cramped

Feel free to add more. Please do. We'd love to hear about it. Feel free to be spoilery in the comments if need be.

I think what really made this game was the cast. All of my players were absolutely amazing and went so far for their characters that I was really turned on as a storyteller. There were a lot of tears shed by half a dozen characters, a lot of heartfelt silences, and a lot of character breakthroughs. People are e-mailing me telling me that they're still coming down from their character's headspace, which is awesome and a huge surprise. I didn't think that this game would have as much of an impact as it did.

Also, one thing I'm definitely going to explore in my next game is production and presentation. It was amazing how much of a difference the collars and forehead stickers made. It was a stark physical reminder that you weren't talking to a human, and a lot of people said that those two things really changed how they, as a player, saw the other characters, which is what I was hoping for. It's a huge tone-setter, and something I really want to tweak in the future. I think this is something very much up elenuial's alley, and this game was very heavy with collaboration. It proved that we could work together and have something come out well (as well as not kill one another), so next time, we might want to work on a more setting-immersive game.

100+ picture slideshow, as well as a few random samples from the first 50 or so, below the cut:

( Again with the grainy photos! My camera hates the Radisson. )

There were a few plots that didn't happen, and I've learned my lesson about relying on players to set certain things off, and those hitches have been fixed. And we added a lot of impromptu things, and we're rewriting certain characters to change their focus quite a bit more.

Other than that, we've had pretty positive feedback and players were still talking to me about it for days afterward. And swapping character sheets. =)

If we do run this again, it'll probably be in the fall, probably at Brandeis. And again, casting will be absolutely crucial. Probably wanting another runtime GM, too.

Also, since people really seemed to love the world and the concept, I'm toying with the idea of turning it into a campaign. Maybe. I've never written one of those bad boys before.

Any thoughts on re-running? As in, requests and whatnot? Thoughts on it as a campaign?

Also, I will soon be posting a poll for you guys to help me decide what game I'll be writing/running next year. There are a bunch of ideas bouncing around in my head, and I need to freaking pick one.

Seriously, folks.

As glad as I am that y'all really enjoyed Leash and saw fit to tell either LJ or myself so, the game would've been utter crap without elenuial. Why is the praise I'm getting not equally his?

Credit where it's due, ladies and gents. Please.

elenuial and I need roomies for Intercon. Anyone not yet booked or already booked and have a bed free?

Okay, so here's my list so far. Nothing's jumped out at me yet as far as "ZOMG must play!" so I'm rather apathetic in my choices right now.

Friday night:
Already played in Story Wars. Tam Lim looks interesting, and I'm a sucker for Grimm tales. Also, Redemption looks promising.

Saturday Morning:
I'm guessing Limbo for this one. I've already played in Supervillain, and the others just don't jump out at me.

Saturday Afternoon:
I get the feeling that I'll be playing in Life at the Securemarket. Dog talks it up a storm, and a game's bound to be fun if the writer's that into it. =) I'd like to see what he came up with.

Saturday Evening:
Running Leash. HOLY CRAP SO MANY PEOPLE WANT TO PLAY IN MY GAME. It makes me so happy. ;_; If you do want to play in it, I'd suggest signing up in the first round, because I know of at least 50 people who have explicitly said that they want to sign up.

Sunday:
Ehh, thinking of just chilling. No games really jump out at me. AND I like my sleep.

Anything anyone want to sway me on? I'll likely sign up for games that I know other people I know and like will be playing in.

Bit the first: New hair! Just in time for warm weather. A few inches shorter than I'd dared to cut it before, too. Now it's in this neat little pointed bob that hits my hairline in back. I really like it - and am planning to go dark red at some point in May. I've been told that red with blue eyes (especially with really light blues like mine) looks good, so we'll see how it ends up.
( Picture under the cut. )
What do you think? Too short? Go for red?

Bit the second: Like Putting a Leash on a Rocket Launcher is officially on the roster for Intercon J. And I have the whole character map already set up, as well as every character named and gender-ed. I refuse to last-minute like I did with Martha's last year. Also, this game'll be a little smaller, so those who want to play will probably have to sign up as early as possible.

Bit the third: People are awesome. zombie_dog's party last night was a lot of fun, and I got to chill with a lot of people I don't get to see very often. Also, I got to see buddhagrrl and jingsaw's new place, and it excites me to no end knowing that they'll be 15 minutes away from now on. Or rather, from soon on. =)

Bit the fourth: New pictures of Bowie being cute. As always. He's getting big, too - and growing into his adult patterns. He was also very zoomy and prowly today, so we let him take out his energy exploring the blankets as elenuial and I curled up to watch House. He keeps trying to crawl into clear plastic buckets in an attempt to procure a mouse from me, which is very cute, but ultimately gets him nowhere.
e: "Snake wants a brownie."
h: "He doesn't want a brownie. The tupperware just looks like his feeding tank. He's hungry."
e: "Hungry for brownies."
( Snake cuteness! )

And that's enough for now, I think.

(Doesn't Bowie look more grown-up? I think he's getting handsome. =))

Typical Intercon recap.

( Lots to read and see below the cut! )

So, that was my Intercon. I have months and months to decide whether or not to run a game next year, but I think that I've garnered myself a little GM cred this time around. =)