Monday, May 11, 2009

BattleTec is back at Gaelcon.

BattleTech is back at Gaelcon! This year marks the game’s 25th anniversary – making it the longest consistently published science fiction game, and we’ve got a series of events planned to satisfy everyone’s need for mechanical carnage.




Once per month between May and October, in association with the Dublin Games Guild and Models Inc we will be running a game from the Jihad Turning Points: Luthien campaign pack. This story-based campaign’s battles are well-suited to both introduce new players to the BattleTech game and universe and to highlight to integrated and scalable nature of the current ruleset to existing ones. This will cumulate in an epic battle at Gaelcon itself using the new Quickstrike rules designed to allow for quick battles while retaining the feel of the more detailed core game.





The first game takes place on Saturday May 16th, starting at 12PM in Models Inc, 65 Upper Dorset Street, Dublin 1.



Game 1: Traitor’s Kiss.

Dateline: 1st January 3068

The Draconis Combine has long stood on the values of Edo-period Japan. A ruling class of Samurai and nobility above the commoners, criminals and unproductives; with the elite MechWarriors of the Draconis Combine Mustered Soldery standing above them all. But Coordinator Theodore Kurita has been making progressive changes – allowing yakuza and women to fight in BattleMechs, allying with their age-old enemies against the Clans, and generally bettering the lot of the common man and woman. Standing against him is the Black Dragon Society – a shadowy cabal of conservative samurai who want to return to the good old days.



Taking advantage of the confusion following the breakup of the Second Star League and the fanatic of Word of Blake’s subsequent attacks on the Inner Sphere, the Black Dragons have decided to strike, daring to foment rebellion on the Black Pearl of Luthien – capital planet of the entire Draconis Combine. Rebel forces have captured the Voice of the Dragon compound, giving them control over the network that feeds the people news and propaganda, and now they move against the Imperial Palace itself. Standing in their way is a small number of the Coordinator’s Bodyguards and other loyal samurai.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Gaelcon GM Call

Hiya,

It's that time of year again. I've been recruited to be Gaelcon's GM Wrangler and I'm looking for volunteers.

However, it's possibly not as straight forward as usual. We're trying to promote new scenario writers but the problem that they are running into is that they don't always have a couple of names that they can put forward to run games on the day so what we want to do is get GM's together with Writers in advance of the con so that if possible they can get a copy of the scenario before the con starts.

This has the obvious benefit that GM's won't be handed scenarios just before running the games, which has been highlighted as an ongoing problem over the last couple of weeks on both the i-gaming yahoo group and on the livejournal community.

It will, also, be possible to volunteer on the day but we would like to have as many GMs lined up as possible before we open the doors.

So for those folks who are kind enough to volunteer in advance, we'd like the following information:

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Name:
Contact Email Address:

Are you planning to attend the entire con or just one/two days?

What systems are you comfortable GMing?
What systems can you GM in a pinch?

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If you want to volunteer, you can email me at deannawol[at]yahoo[dot]com
or private message me on livejournal at deannawol? If possible, can you please set the email subject as "GMing at Gaelcon" so that I don't miss your message.

All contact information will be kept private and don't worry, I won't be spamming you. :)


Thanks to all who volunteer,
Bon

Games Submissions Gaelcon 2009

Gaelcon is gearing up for it’s 21st year, and currently we’re looking for fantastic RPGs and LARPS that are up to the high standards that we have set in previous year - in fact forget that! We want games that will make previous years’ games look positively mediocre (a difficult challenge I know, but I am sure you are up to it). If you think that you are capable of writing a game that is up to our high standards please send us your submission.

This year we would like to run games that represent the dichotomy of the old and the new. Whichever side you want your game to represent (old, new or somewhere in between) is entirely up to you. If you’re interested in submitting a game, please send the details asked for below to us at: submissions@gaelcon.com.

The deadline for receipt of these submissions is May 31st. It may seem like a long time from now, but the sooner you get your submission in the better. Your final scenario should remain reasonably accurate to the submission but we accept that changes can occur during the writing process.

The deadline for receipt of completed submissions is the 30th September. We really would urge you to try and get your work done and finished by this date as it makes everyone’s life (yours included) much, much easier. Things are much more pleasant and enjoyable when you do not have the RPGs and LARPs coordinators hounding you for a game that you have promised but haven't delivered.

For our RPG writers, we will once again be running our Writer’s Award. Entry to the Writer’s Award is only applicable to those scenarios accepted by Gaelcon and which are completed and submitted before the 30th of September. Our Roleplaying Games Coordinators will be the judges, and their decision is final.

What we need from you:

1. A synopsis of Your Game.

What is your game about? What are the driving forces in it? What kind of plot line do you envision it having? What system (if any) is it for? Think of this as your sales pitch. Explain not only the plot, but try and give us an idea of what makes your idea different from everyone else’s.

2. 100 Word Promo for Program.

This blurb will be the public face of your game. Use it to entice players to play your scenario. There is an upper limit of 100 words for this, so you will have to think carefully about how to utilise it to best effect.

3. 50 Word Promo for Flyer.

Once the timetable has been finalised (i.e. after May 31st), Gaelcon releases a flyer which people can use to pre-book events. We will need a paragraph of no more than 50 words to promote your game in the flyer. Once again, bear in mind that those who are pre-booking will be influenced by your blurb, so think carefully about how to achieve maximum impact!

4. Contact Details.

Name, email address and phone number. If you have MSN/Yahoo IM/Googlechat, that you are willing to provide, we would love to get that too.



5. GMs.

You will need to include the names and contact details of two other people who are willing to GM your game over the weekend. Gaelcon is always desperately short of GMs for games and people are often press ganged to GM at short notice. This doesn’t do the game you’ve worked so hard on any favours. Having GMs who’ve read the scenario and had the opportunity to prepare for the game can only make for a better game.

In general we run our tabletop games(RPGs) for 5 players, but on rare occasions that just doesn’t work out. If you feel that your game would work with an extra couple of bodies at each table, let us know.

For several reasons, we recommend that Larps have no more than 25 participants and no fewer than 12. This information is necessary though to ensure “big” games are not timetabled alongside each other.

We try to keep all our games running in or around the three hour mark, as it allows players to partake in the maximum number of games over the weekend (while keeping our GM team vaguely sane) . If you feel your game would benefit from a different length of slot, let us know how long and why. Please don’t rely on a longer slot when compiling your submission, as there is no guarantee that we will be able to fit you in.

Space and Special Requirements.

We need to know if your game needs control of lights, sound, etc. We cannot promise to meet these requirements but for now we need to know what those expenses/requirements may be.

Once you have put together your submission you can either email it to the RPG and LARP coordinators at: submissions@gaelcon.com

If you’re a fan of snail mail you can post it to: Gaelcon 2009, PO Box 4345, Dublin 1, Ireland.

All submissions should be posted in time to arrive not later than May 31st. Any queries should also be sent to the above addresses. We will get back to everybody who sends a submission to let them know that we’ve received it, and we will contact you to inform you if your game is running at Gaelcon shortly after the closing date.

Final scenarios for those games which are accepted will be set a deadline of 30th September 2009. The RPG co-ordinators regret that they cannot guarantee that games not submitted before the 30th of September deadline will be run.

Thanks in advance to everyone who takes the time to put in a proposal!

Graham Tormey

RPGs and LARPs Coordinator

Gaelcon 2009

Wargames at Gaelcon 2009

Gaelcon 2009 may be some months away, but the members of the Cabinet of Destruction (a group of dedicated wargamers) are already working on making sure the Miniatures games are the best they've ever been. And we need you! Gaelcon 2009's miniatures games events will present a never-seen-before degree of public interaction with the launch of our games questionnaire, giving you the chance to have your voice heard as to what games will be played in what format. all you have to do is download the form from The Gaelcon Website and either send it back by email to wargames@gaelcon.com or print it out and post it to Gaelcon, PO Box 4345, Dublin 1.

And to Sweeten the deal, if you fill out the form you'll be entered into a draw for free entry to one event at the con of your choice! All opinions will be gladly welcomed - we want to make Gaelcon 2009 the best one yet and with your help we can achieve that goal.

Gaelcon's new home.

Gaelcon has a new home just outside Dublin city center. This year we will be in the conference center of the D4hotels Ballsbridge Inn on Pembroke Road.
This is an excellent choice as we will have the conference center to ourselves for the weekend including over night for the running late, late night games and events and for those who will be staying up the on site pizza palour will be open until 2am.
So how do you get there and back again?

By bus:
The Dublin bus routes 10, 18, 4/A, 5 and 7/A all run down Pembroke road and catching them from the city center will generally have you arriving right outside in 10 minutes.
The 4/A and the 7/A share the same bus stop and can be got on O'Connell street or right beside T.C.D. How many gamers will you be able to spot on the bus ?
The air coach from Dublin Airport also stops at the back of the hotel for those flying in.

By train:
The nearest Dart station to Gaelcon is Lansdowne Road DART Station a mere 5 minute walk to the Hotel.

By foot:
It is a 20 minute walk from the Stephens Green shopping center to Gaelcon.
Please check out the web site www.Gaelcon.com for more information and for any queries please contact info@Gaelcon.com.
Looking forward to seeing you all in Gaelcon's new home October bank holiday weekend 2009.