Go-Play Ottawa

For those of you who don’t know it, Matt Snyder’s Dust Devils is an award-winning RPG, and a powerful engine for telling kick-ass western stories. It’s more Unforgiven than The Lone Ranger.

The Ranch on the Tree Line
Harry Mountjoy scraped and scrimped and bled to cobble together the means to buy the Circle Rock Ranch. He wore his fingers down to nubs to make a go of this inhospitable stretch of high-mountain land.

Last winter he died.

Can his widow keep the ranch? Will she drive off the crooked lawman who wants it for himself? Will Harry’s memory be enough to carry her family through the ordeal? What happens when old ghosts return to haunt the principals? What cost will be exacted?

A story of Greed, Lust, Pride, Cowardice and Violence.

-Darcy

So I wanted to start a column here detailing the design of “the Beast of Namgakksan” for our Go-Play Ottawa mini-con. Why? Two reasons. 1) To give people a good idea of what the game will be about. And 2) Just in case I don’t end up running it, someone might get some use out of it.

What I’ll be doing here is developing the characters and some of the conceits of the setting, rather than the adventure itself.

One thing I’m going to mention at the outset is that while all the characters are being designed as male, this does not mean that none could be female. If you have seen the movie “the Duelist,” you will see an example of a female Korean in the Choseon Dynasty era disguised as a male. Women would not have been allowed into the military or as party of a Righteous Army, but that does not mean that none entered the fight. If one wanted to play a female character, that character would have been disguised as a man. The other characters would be aware of this (it would be pretty hard to keep it a secret entirely in the close-quarters of military life).

Next, the characters.
-Fraser

Hey All

So I’m just wondering if there are any preferences for the location. I haven’t been able to contact with anyone live at Pinecrest Community Centre yet, but if we can get a meeting room at the “not for profit” and “meeting/program” rates, this would be very affordable. It is close to Baseline Rd (and therefore OC Transpo) and has ample parking.

Thoughts on location?
-Fraser

Hey, in case you hadn’t noticed it, I’ve posted a page of rules for the blog.

It’s not so much a list of rules as it is a list of opportunities to increase & improve your participation.
-Darcy

Over here, Fraser’s proposed a setting and situation for a Savage Worlds one-shot.

I just did some quick Wikipedia research.  This sounds like a hoot!

I wants me some Korean Ghost Story, dammit!  Neat!
-Darcy

So, let’s talk about what we’d like to see on the table(s)!

Myself, I’m in a western mood, and I’d like to run Dust Devils. I’ve got a pretty swanky one-shot scenario based loosely on themes from Once Upon a Time in the West.

I’m interested in trying out the new Warhammer 40k RPG, so it’d be great if a GM stepped up to run that sucker!

Lacuna is also a personal fave, so I’d totally be down with playing that bad boy again.
- Darcy

I want GPO to be a quarterly event.  I like the idea of ‘mixing it up’ with my local gamers every season.

I want to see the diversity of fun being had out there.

I also don’t want to cramp other folks’ style.  This means not scheduling against other events and giving them their space; it’s also about having a hope in hell of being noticed.

So, May’s out (CanGames), August’s out (GenCon).  If we want to kick this off this summer, we’re looking at either June or July.  My July’s typically busier, but I’m really interested in what the core ’round these parts thinks.  Let’s talk about scheduling!
-Darcy

“I have a dream…”

I want a venue for Go-Play Ottawa that’s central(ish), is friendly to all modes of transit (pedestrian, public & car), doesn’t scream “dank gamer dungeon”, and won’t cost an arm and a leg.

I was hoping to use a community room at a Your Independent Grocer or Great Canadian Superstore, because they’re bright, airy, have ample parking and oodles of food, snacks & drinks on site.  Unfortunately, they’re hella-expensive, unless you’re a registered charity, in which case, they’re free.

I’m thinking allying ourselves with the Ottawa Boys & Girls club.  I’m not particularly great at pitching this sort of stuff to unknown strangers.  Who wants to help?
-Darcy