We’re back and we’re bursting with song, but more on that later. We’re also talking about conventions, and definitely not singing about them. That would be silly. Specifically, we’re talking about the UK roleplaying conventions we attend, with a focus on encouraging those of you who don’t already attend them to do so. Conventions are great social occasions, a good way to try new games and not filled with anywhere near as many weird people as you may fear.
Harmless convention-goers pictured for reference
We have limited ourselves to conventions that at least one of us has attended and that are still running, but this didn’t narrow things down much. This is a long episode. Apparently we spend a lot of our time sitting in hotels or holiday camps with dice in our hands.
Or, more usually, a White Russian.
The conventions we cover, along with links to the relevant websites, are:
- Conception
- Concrete Cow
- Conpulsion
- The National Student Roleplaying and Wargaming Championships (Student Nationals)
- Con-Quest
- UK Games Expo
- Continuum
- Furnace
- Wyntercon
- Indiecon
- Dragonmeet
- London Indie RPG Meetup
As we mention in the episode, Phil Masters publishes a calendar of upcoming RPG conventions, and this will fill in a lot of gaps in our rather incomplete list. We also mention that Neil Smith has published a how-to guide for running your own small Concrete Cow-style convention, so here it is.
And here’s one we prepared earlier.
Before you start listening, it’s only fair that we give you warning: we sing in this episode. You may well have seen or heard us mention our Patreon page for people who would like to help with our hosting costs. One of the rewards we (well, Paul) offered was that we would sing our thanks in the style of a barbershop quartet to anyone donating $5 per episode. The full horror of what this meant only sank in when two insanely generous people sponsored us at this level, and we realised that only one of us could even remotely carry a tune. After an hour of recording and much editing and mixing, we have come up with a version that minimises SAN loss. It’s at the end of the episode, so brace yourself when you hear it coming. Please don’t let this put you off donating!
“How bad can this be? Oh. Oh dear.”
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Google Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | TuneIn | Deezer | RSS | More
Some corrections as I listen:
For Conpulsion, if you GM a game, then you get free entry that day. e.g. you run 2 games, you get free entry. Cost is closer to £10 for the weekend if you pay in advance. Paying on the door costs £15.
Alternatively if you book in advance, and pay £15 (instead of 10) then you get a free t-shirt.
There are 5 RPG slots – 3 on the Saturday (morning, afternoon and evening though the evening tends to clash with the Auction and Parties0 and 2 on Sunday (morning and afternoon)
Thanks, Steve! Much appreciated! I was struggling to remember the details and I failed to find them online.
cheers for the review of wyntercon , as the show organizer it was nice to here your feedback.
I really enjoyed this comprehensive reporting of all the U.K. Gaming Conventions. But I especially loved my Shout Out and of course the Heavily Auto-Tuned harmonic singing….or rather chanting by the 3 of you. I believe a Great Old One was summoned in the process of your chanting.