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About MerpCon
MerpCon 2005 Speech
MerpCon 2005 report part 1 (Chris Seeman's Review)
Thanks to everyone for coming to the 2005 MerpCon! It was a blast! Chris Seeman has written his review of the event so I've copied and pasted the text into this article.
MerpCon 2005 Logo
We will soon be adding photos and later on videos from the event.
Enjoy!
REPORT ON MERPCON 2005
by Chris Seeman
To the best of my knowledge, “MERPcon Northwest Inland 2005,” which took place last weekend in Spokane, Washington (July 29-31), was the first independently organized gaming convention exclusively dedicated to Middle-earth.
The numerical turnout (7 active participants) [Note that during Chris Seeman's Speech it was up to around 13] fell markedly short of the expected 30+ people who had initially RSVPed. Consequently, the original plan of running a traditional “elimination tournament” was abandoned in favor of a single, marathon game format.
The game itself, which took up part of Friday and all of Saturday and Sunday, was a great success. The setting was Númenor, just two weeks before its Downfall. The players took on the roles of Faithful Númenóreans or their allies seeking to escape the doomed island before D-Day. Starting from the region around Andúnië (on the western coast), the PCs had to make their way eastward to the Bay of Rómenna, there to join the ships of Elendil. Sounds easy; but since they are branded as rebels against the king, they are constantly having to dodge royal patrols, Sauronic minions, and hostile or at least unhelpful country-folk. Add to this the dearth of horses and provisions imposed by Ar-Pharazôn’s recently launched invasion of the Undying Lands, and you’ve got a perfect convention game scenario: a clear, unambiguous objective; danger and logistical challenges at every turn; and a hair’s breath timetable to generate and sustain suspense.
The pace of play was kept smooth by the coordination of Hawke Robinson (GM), Christopher Wade (designated game mechanics point-man), and myself (head NPC). Thomas Morwinsky’s 1” = 20 miles wall-map of Númenor (elegantly colorized by Hawke) served as a constant visual reminder for the players of how far they were from their objective at any given point in the game.
On Saturday we took a break from play for my “State of MERP” address, followed by Q&A. I gave a brief history of Middle-earth Roleplaying, provided commentary on some of the perennial game design issues involved with Tolkien’s mythology, and offered some forecasts about the future of our game in the absence of an officially licensed product line.
Whether or not this pilot episode succeeds in inspiring other independent MERPcons around the world, I do hope that other GMs will experiment with “Escape from Númenor” as a convention game. If Northwest Inland 2005 was its play-testing, then this scenario passed with flying colors.
Enjoy!
REPORT ON MERPCON 2005
by Chris Seeman
To the best of my knowledge, “MERPcon Northwest Inland 2005,” which took place last weekend in Spokane, Washington (July 29-31), was the first independently organized gaming convention exclusively dedicated to Middle-earth.
The numerical turnout (7 active participants) [Note that during Chris Seeman's Speech it was up to around 13] fell markedly short of the expected 30+ people who had initially RSVPed. Consequently, the original plan of running a traditional “elimination tournament” was abandoned in favor of a single, marathon game format.
The game itself, which took up part of Friday and all of Saturday and Sunday, was a great success. The setting was Númenor, just two weeks before its Downfall. The players took on the roles of Faithful Númenóreans or their allies seeking to escape the doomed island before D-Day. Starting from the region around Andúnië (on the western coast), the PCs had to make their way eastward to the Bay of Rómenna, there to join the ships of Elendil. Sounds easy; but since they are branded as rebels against the king, they are constantly having to dodge royal patrols, Sauronic minions, and hostile or at least unhelpful country-folk. Add to this the dearth of horses and provisions imposed by Ar-Pharazôn’s recently launched invasion of the Undying Lands, and you’ve got a perfect convention game scenario: a clear, unambiguous objective; danger and logistical challenges at every turn; and a hair’s breath timetable to generate and sustain suspense.
The pace of play was kept smooth by the coordination of Hawke Robinson (GM), Christopher Wade (designated game mechanics point-man), and myself (head NPC). Thomas Morwinsky’s 1” = 20 miles wall-map of Númenor (elegantly colorized by Hawke) served as a constant visual reminder for the players of how far they were from their objective at any given point in the game.
On Saturday we took a break from play for my “State of MERP” address, followed by Q&A. I gave a brief history of Middle-earth Roleplaying, provided commentary on some of the perennial game design issues involved with Tolkien’s mythology, and offered some forecasts about the future of our game in the absence of an officially licensed product line.
Whether or not this pilot episode succeeds in inspiring other independent MERPcons around the world, I do hope that other GMs will experiment with “Escape from Númenor” as a convention game. If Northwest Inland 2005 was its play-testing, then this scenario passed with flying colors.
