Darran Sims

Here is a small Youtube presentation of the 'Sartar: Kingdom of Heroes'.

This is where my Supernatual HeroQuest games takes place tomorrow at Dragonmeet 2009.
I am in the Upper Foyer right near the lifts.
The game runs from 14:30 until 18:00.

Just who will survive at the end?
The Winchester Brothers? Bobby? Will Ruby get dusted? Will Bela get the loot?

So I have managed to sort out my uploading problems with my podcasts and it seems to be working.
So here is one from last year from Dragonmeet 2008.

This is the first in a series of special recordings from Dragonmeet 2008.
This was recorded at Dragonmeet 2008 at Kensington Town Hall, London, UK on Saturday 29th November 2008.
Ken Hite and Robin Laws talk about writing roleplaying games and their experiences in the roleplaying game industry and hobby. Insightful discussion as the panellist field questions from the audience.
Panellists were Robin Laws, and Ken Hite.

Running Time: 01:02:05.


Dragonmeet 2008: 'Robin & Ken on Roleplaying Games'

Dragonmeet 2008: 'Robin & Ken on Roleplaying Games' MP3 version

0 Dragonmeet 2009. Kensington Town Hall, London, UK.
Saturday 28th November 2009.
http://www.dragonmeet.co.uk/

This is the HeroQuest game I am running at Dragonmeet 2009.



'Cropcircles and Lights Out' by Darran Sims narrated by Darran Sims.
Supernatural: HeroQuest 2.0 adventure for 5 players.
Newcomers very welcome. Maturity preferred.
Based on the TV series.

"Police reports are coming in from Fulton County, Georgia of cars driving at night without their headlights on. When helpful members of the public flash their lights in courtesy to warn the drivers they become victims to the drivers.
All that seems to be left are the abandoned cars with their headlights smashed out. No trace of the occupants have been found. Forensic reports do confirm that the blood found in the broken headlights is canine, not human.
Are these incidents related to the gang tags found in the recent spate of crop circles that also plague the area?"

What another great convention!
It seems so short but sweet.
For the first time in a few years I didn't run two games back to back only running a single game in the morning slot only.
I spent most of the afternoon attending the seminars or catching up too briefly with people.

It was an early start with catching the 05:00 AM train to London but I was able to get to Kensington Town Hall without getting swamped in the crowds. Most of the traders got to the venue early so it didn't take long to get them all loaded into the main hall. Pushing a few trollies in and out is one of my ways of giving back to the con. Also stuffing the Goodie Bags with the programme books and other goodies was a big help.


The Main Trade Hall

I then set up my table, located on the upper floor in a little sealed off area, ready for my game. The sign-up sheet was filled in very fast as soon as the doors opened!

I ran the latest episode in my Serenity: HeroQuest saga titled 'Rocks and Hard Places'
It was the first time I had ran this episode and I hadn't really finalised the plot. I was hoping that the players themselves would direct where and when the action would take place as I would follow their lead more.
I started the game in Deadwood, just as in the HBO series of the same name as I think it would fit in the 'verse no problem. Channelling Al Swearengen proved to be a problem, possibly due to the early morning, and the start of the game floundered a bit. Also I did expect there to be a shoot-out in deadwood but the players [with one notable exception] seemed to want to avoid any violence at any cost.
There was a lot of role-playing in character which over-ran a little so I had to rush the ending a little. The addition plot points and distractions worked well with the players getting paranoid over the conspiracies. All the players were very surprised by the big reveal and manufactured their own surprise ending involving the whole crew leaving Johner behind to have a shootout with all the Feds at his insistence.
I did record this game so expect it soon to be podcast on One Man and His Dice.com.

I spent the afternoon attending the seminars.
I walked into John Wick's Seminar halfway through so I was unable to record that one. Very interesting and it seems I share similar GM style and theories. I will have to look up his 'Houses of the Blooded' as only then was it explained to me what it was about despite asking on a few forums.


John Wick

I then spent the next half hour wandering about the whole complex taking photos of the gaming groups. There were some fantastic looking games. The Phoenix Games club had a great looking Dungeon game in action, the Shadow Warriors had a Great War biplane battle game that just simply gorgeous, there was a very detailed Camelot diorama, a BattleStar Galactica board game that looked cool, and many more excellent models and games.

I then went to the Robin Laws and Kenneth Hite seminar that I did manage to record. It didn't have an overall theme, just an open Question & Answer session and didn't suffer for it. Some excellent questions were answered and there was some great discussion that was very interesting.


Robin Laws and Kenneth Hite

That was followed by a Guest of Honour free-for-all seminar. At first there was only Robin Laws and John Wick but then Kenneth Hite and James Wallis each joined later.
A great seminar that by accident seemed to focus on the fantastic work of Greg Stafford.
We also learnt how each guest started off into this hobby of ours with some funny results.
Again I managed to record this and it will be podcast on One Man and His Dice.com.


Kenneth Hite, Robin Laws, John Wick and James Wallis

So a very good convention where I got to catch up with a few people though unfortunately far too briefly and run a good game. I do have a few recordings that I hope to get up over the next couple of weeks.

More photos at:
Dragonmeet 2008 photo set on my Flickr Site

This is where my Serenity: HeroQuest game takes place between 10:30 - 14:00.

I have managed to be upgraded out of the basement!





A brand new episode [though the plot will resemble the others! lol] with a trip to Deadwood and a job in the 'verses biggest scrap yard.
I will also be recording the game for my One Man and His Dice podcasts as I will be hopefully have a room to myself.

0 Dragonmeet 2007. Kensington Town Hall, London, UK.
Saturday 1st December 2007.
http://dragonmeet.co.uk

These are my games that I am running at Dragonmeet 2007.

Serenity/FireFly: HeroQuest
These are games based on the series FireFly and the film Serenity by
Buffy's Joss Whedon. The player characters will be the crew of The
Betty from Alien: Resurrection; Joss Whedon's first stab at a misfit
crew of smugglers onboard an old, broken-down ship.



The first game, 'Echoes in the Black', has been run twenty times now
at various conventions and has always been over-subscribed.

The sequel, 'The Quick and the Dead', has only been run six times and
has now been extended with extra dilemmas.

The second sequel [or is that threequel?] debuted at Conception 2007
and has only been ran once. I am running it again especially for
Dragonmeet 2007. 'Dead Reckoning' is the third in the series of
Serenity:HeroQuest games and is completely brand new [though certain
parts of the plot my be similar to the other games!]. It still uses
the crew of The Betty but puts them in more perilous and immoral
situations. Included with more silly props!

Due to the popular demand of these games a seventh player character
has been added to all games. The games can be played in order to
experience the full epic narrative arc but each game is also complete
in itself and can be played as a one-off.

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Saturday 10:00 - 14:00
'Dead Reckoning' by Darran Sims narrated by Darran Sims.
Serenity: HeroQuest adventure for 7 players.
Newcomers very welcome. Maturity preferred.

"Feh Feh Pi Goh! This job should have been shiny!
Here we are floating in the black about to make a move on the 'verse's
easiest mark, a Research & Rescue vessel doing 'science' well away
from civilisation. The Guay Tuh Guay Nown patron said it would be like
taking candy from a baby. "Just don't use sensors as you approach," he
said, "use dead reckoning to get in close."
Not only have we just seen what they are actually doing the 'science'
on but we have just learnt who the Lao Buhn is who is bankrolling this
caper.
A certain Crime Lord with his own Skyplex and a very nasty rep.
Dead Reckoning indeed!"

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'We are the Boys?'
This is a new game based on a very popular TV series in the UK. This
will not only stretch my scenario writing ability and my GM style but
the HeroQuest games mechanic as well. Very much a 'beer & pretzel'
game played for some laughs. I hope that it goes well.



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Saturday 14:00 - 17:00
'We are the Boys?' by Darran Sims narrated by Darran Sims.
HeroQuest adventure for 6 players.
Newcomers very welcome. [im-]Maturity preferred.

It is the dark summer of 1940 and the storm clouds of war still hang
over Europe. Nazi Germany is poised to do Hitler's bidding and invade
this green and pleasant land. The Local Defence Volunteers will be the
last bastion of England when the invasion comes; if they fail then the
country will be under the Nazi jackboot and all freedom lost.
And where will the Nazi vanguard attack?
Walmington-on-Sea!

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