NecronomiCon Providence 2019. Part I, Games

Last weekend, I participated in my second trip to the bi-annual event that is NecronomiCon Providence. To be quite honest, I had reservations. I had such a great time last time, that I worried the Con would not stand up to my expectations. Thankfully, I was wrong.

 Last time, I posted a post for each day, but this time, I'm breaking it down in terms of events I attended, starting with games. To be quite frank, I think for me, this time was much more centred around the games I wanted to play. I think I went to a lot less panels, and this was partly to do with how the games I really wanted to play were timed. I also think the games panels were a little more spread out in time and place this year, but more of that later.

I arrived later than I intended on Thursday evening, due to a GPS blip taking me through Boston at rush hour, but I did manage to join my table for Lovecraftesque before it was too late. The games was hosted by Matt Hawkes. I say hosted, as he was not the GM. For those that are in the know, Lovecraftesque is a "GM'less storytelling game of brooding cosmic horror". I had never played this game, but I really wanted to try it, so this was the only non-Call of Cthulhu game I scheduled for the weekend. It's a really interesting game, where we all play one character, and take turns in different roles, as GM player and Watchers (not the real titles). What this leads to is a real collaborative game, which in the game we played, led to a more real depiction of weird fiction/horror than any other game I have played. The fact that players are trying to weave together disparate elements that have been dropped throughout the game means some threads are left dangling and unexplained. Whats more, since we are all trying to bring them together, there is less of an expectation by players for everything to be explained. I don't think I'd play this one with my home group, but I enjoyed it a lot, and would play it again.

Day two, Friday, was the big games day, starting in the morning with "After Dark" with Lynne Hardy. This is a modern day game, based on a real life experience Lynne had at a local museum. I won't say any more, as this is an unpublished scenario but, like Scritch Scratch, it has British folk horror elements woven with the mythos. Unlike last time I played with Lynne, my character survived!

This was followed by the Extra Life Charity Event. This was one part I was worried would not live up to my expectations, especially since this year there were 2 Extra Life events, one on Friday and one on Saturday. I need not have worried. By the end of the game (and again, I was fortunate to make it to the end table) my cheeks hurt from smiling and laughing. A great event, which, miraculously, I survived to the end without a character death (although I was a ghoul at the end, which meant, I won, by eating all the other players).

The final game of Friday evening was the gaming event that is "Gatsby and the Great Race". This really is an event as much as it is a game. If you have not played in it, I really must advise you to play if you ever have the chance. Of course, this means finding it at a Con, as you need 15-20 players minimum. In terms of game, I think we had it figured out at the end, but since you are dependent on other people (in other rooms) doing the same, we all died in the end.

We did have a lot of fun doing so, and I got to play with a lot of great players. In the end, I played at tables with Edwin Nagy and Jen Martin at the helm.

Saturday was more sedate in terms of games, with the only game I was registered in being "The Black Orchard" with Mike Mason. Until I was writing this post, I had misread that title as the Black Orchid, which I'm kind of glad about, as it is less spoilery! Being at a table for a real game written and run by Mike (not just at Extra Life) was all I wanted it to be, and I was very glad that I was able to do so. The game was based in the Isle of Man, a little used location even for the British Isles, which have no lack of representation in the game.


Finally, Sunday had lots of games I wanted to play. I would have loved to have had another game of Cogs, Cakes and Cthulhu with Lynne, but you can't be two places at once. In the end I went for "A Mortal Harvest" a Cthulhu Invictus game with Oscar Rios at the helm. I was surprised to find this was another adventure with baked in British Folklore (my third of the con), as it turns out that Oscar is not only a Roman history buff, but also a Celtic folklore nerd. Who knew! Apparently, the next Cthulhu Invictus book that is in the pipeline is situated in the British Isles, and this adventure will be part of that book, along with other.

I really enjoyed the game, and was very pleased with the pregen that I got, and would take another look at the Invictus game in the Horror on the Orient Express game if I had access to the pile of Pregens Oscar was using for the game. Especially since there was an equal number of male and female investigators to chose from, as the one thing that put me off was my percieved inability to make a female Investigator for that one-shot.

So a great weekend of gaming. I think to the detriment of the rest of the Con in some ways, but since this is the most games I will play till the next Con in two years time, I feel no loss.

Adventurer tally:
Death: 3
Survival: 2
Unsure: 1 (Being a ghoul, is that living?)