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Reviews Tabletop Games

Gencon Oz: Sunday

Sunday is the final day of the con. You can see the toll it’s taking on the attendees. Not those casual walk-ins of course. I’ve been pretty tired, but the scheduling system at Gencon managed to give me plenty of rest time. I’m talking about those hardcore people that started play at 8 am and played straight until 11 pm for four days straight, practically ignoring the need for a proper meal and not getting the chance to visit the traders’ hall.

Into this subdued mood we wandered for our final game session. Space Vikings was a comedy action game using a “pillaged” version of original World of Darkness. We played a team of young vikings sent on our first raid with the instructions of “bring the ship back in one piece, bring lots of treasure, many tales (or was it chase lots of tail?), and don’t bring back syphilis”.

And we did it all in spades. The adventure started as our ship was picked up by a thrumming metal dragon (spaceship). We proceeded to loot, pillage, and rape (initially in that order). Throwing in as many puns and applying as much Viking logic to the high-tech surrounds of the UFO made for a lot of fun. One of the other players composed a saga which she declaimed upon our triumphant return home.

I was set to go to two panels after lunch, but my family turned up (a little unexpected) and it was an opportunity to spend time with my youngest siblings (something I haven’t really been able to do much of in the last few years) and to introduce them to tabletop gaming.

I had already played the release game for D&D4e, so was able to help explain what was going on and to suggest courses of action. They really enjoyed it and said that they would think about playing it if they had the gear. Despite the convention special on the books, I didn’t pick them up on the spot, figuring it would be better for them if I actually ran them through their first real game myself, showing them what the “role” part of role-playing actually is.

After that, we did a quick lap of the traders’ hall looking for last-minute specials, then went to the pub for drinks and dinner.