Ambercon 2008: goodbye and hello

The amazing community at Ambercon US in Detroit was once again in great form.

Agents of the Argent Rose: “City of Swords”
slot 1

The game was blurbed as a reversal of political control for the Corwin family, with Madame President being tossed out in favor of someone not of the family. PCs were asked (in various communication) to help make sure the transition was smooth and trouble-free.
The plot was more about the family and how it would deal with being pushed aside. How the personal side of ‘parenting France’ would change with the times and why such change had arrived in the ‘ideal realm’. We had a chance for a PC showcase.
The Players discovered that there were deeper problems. Corwin and Lorelei warred over a secret revealed between them and the PCs acted to discover the problems involved there. Amber’s King was heard from and Eric’s bloodline got involved with Grayswandir—all these issues new to the Argent cousins.
And some new cousins were revealed to good effect.
A fast romp opening the con.

First Time GMing: workshop
slot 2

‘First time’ GMing butterflies caught and examined !!
We had two folks sign up and one attend. The session was really quite fun and I’d do it again except there doesn’t really seem to be enough interest. Still… if we want more games at cons we need more GMs.
The time spent was very fun.

Who was that Masked Man?
slot 3
GM Linda Duncan

Shadow conflicts in movie genre form.
I picked up Felixarius in a Noir film setting and played out a story with a troubled woman singer against his jazz piano player with a broken heart. Very cool game. Nice character piece with Players I hadn’t gamed with before. (Always nice.)
Slot 4 – volunteer

Clandestine Chronicles of the Cobalt Charter
slot 5

The Cobalt Charter binds them in Blood.
‘Mission Impossible’ meets ‘Free Amazons of Shadow’, the game rocked and played action-packed this year. The problems brought to the Charter this year were complex and tricky and various. The challenges were big (bigger than the GM expected) but the group just played very high caliber throughout. Big sword fights. Big magic. Charter members captured by Evil and tortured, to be rescued by the reduced group.
New players joined up and did a good job.
A winning slot. Kudos to the group.

Volatile
slot 6
GM Madeline Ferwerda

You are the swashbuckling stalwarts of the skies, the captain and crew of a top-of-the-line Rebman airship, defending Her Majesty Queen Moire’s air trade network from all that would threaten it!
Pirates! Steampunk! Mad Science!
What’s not to like?
My first ever auction to create PCs at the con. Madeline used a modified ‘Pit of Vipers’ PC creation system that was entertaining and quick. We got into the story much faster than other auctions I’ve heard of at cons (auctions can take 3 hours to get characters done, sometimes the PCs are finished only an hour before the slot ends!)
Plenty of madcap sparks collaborating on invention and combat with Pirates. We skulked about, infiltrated pirates and did a lot of credit to the crew. I got to fight ninjas and carry on an affair with our spark officer.
Fun!

The Renegado
slot 7
GM Rachel Holmberg

a roleplaying game of pulp-style adventure, set in an alternate Renaissance
Small game and new system to absorb but quite rewarding. The GM really knew her stuff and it was easy to jump into the Renaissance framework she provided. Interesting ‘magic’ system.
Quite a classy bit of rpg… and I met some new Players here as well. I played a Pirate!

To Wed the Soft Cimmerian
slot 8

You will dare the Afanc Labyrinth of Mirrors and champion Rebma.
Prior reading of ‘Alyse through the Afanc Glass’ by Llewes Carroll is not required. Zelazny canon game.
Really complex puzzle game with lots of great PC moments. Incredible to watch a story with unique PCs wrestle with secrets and Rebma’s history on the fly. This game build was too challenging for a Sunday (last slot—everyone’s tired) game, but the Players absolutely nailed it despite all, bringing great pathos and daring to the never-a-dull-moment sequences.
I surprised the PCs a number of times… (go me!)
…managed the Very Important immersion in first hour of play that the families and connections between PCs reinforce the rituals and importance of the wedding
…not all Players realized they were getting wed to each other from the blurb
…some good horror moments, without creeping out the Players
…some great humor
…some excellent character moments and quotes not suitable for family TV
…very character driven gaming
but everyone (especially the happy GM) had a good time. I may plan more Rebma games, perhaps revisiting the ten Aoife of the Sapphire Throne.
Fantastic finish to the con.

Thanks to all that stopped by to say, “Hello.”