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| Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 | 4:27 pm
[kshandr]
 |
Hey look! Scenario-writing competition!
Hey everyone! Over at IrishGaming.Com we're running a competition this weekend to find a top-notch "writes-RPG-scenarios-under-pressure" games designer! On Friday evening (at 8pm) we'll be releasing a scenario genre and a couple of key words on the site. We're asking you (yes, YOU!) to write us an RPG scenario in that genre including the key words we specify. Our entries will be independantly judged and we'll be handing the winner €50! Full rules are here - How hard could it be? It's like NaNoWriMo only shorter! And you could win stuff! Nick. Current Mood:  excitedCurrent Music: Weather Girls - It's Raining Men | | Monday, June 15th, 2009 | 1:41 pm
[gaelcon]
 |
Battle Tech Game 2:Bullet in the Blue Sky, Sat 20th June.
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 rule set 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 second game takes place on Saturday June 20th, starting at 12PM in Models Inc, 65 Upper Dorset Street, Dublin 1.  Game 2:Bullet in the Blue Sky Dateline: 18 July 3069 18 months have passed since the battle at the Imperial Palace. The battle for Luthien has devolved into a three-way brawl thanks to the arrival of Word Of Blake - the technology-worshipping zealots who have sown chaos, confusion and devastation across the Inner Sphere! Luthien Armour Works - the largest 'Mech factory in the Draconis Combine lies in ruins, blasted from within by nuclear bombs set by parties unknown. The forces still loyal to the Coordinator now camp on the edge of the radiation-blasted facility, awaiting their chance to push back. The Black Dragons, wanting to press their advantage have decided to attack the loyalist positions en masse, but have made one critical mistake - their path has lead them right into a Word of Blake salvage team... This game will be played on a set of maps created specifically for the scenario, representing the nuked ruins of Luthien Armour Works, and will use the new Radiological toxic environment rules to represent the sheer danger facing the combatants. | | Saturday, June 13th, 2009 | 11:34 am
[gaelcon]
|
Gaelcon's Horrible
Gaelcon is putting on a stage version of Dr. Horrible's singalong blog. We are holding open casting calls on Monday the 15th in the Mercantile bar on Dame Street at 7pm. Please have a 30sec monologue ready as well as being able to sing 30secs of the song of your choice. These should show off your ability so ranting the first part of brand new day, though impressive, isn't going to show us how well you can sing. The songs will be the instrumental versions which can be found here http://moseslei.net/drhorrible.html if you want to practice with them. This is open to everyone and anyone so feel free to distribute the details to anyone and everyone who you think would be interested. | | Friday, May 22nd, 2009 | 4:05 pm
[theadydal]
 |
Game Writing Workshop
Just a reminder that the Game Writing Workshop will, as previously mentioned, be taking place tomorrow, Saturday, 23rd of May! Location: Newport Cafe Bar, Paul Street, Cork City Centre (Across the Square from Other Realms - or where Rebel Alliance takes place every Monday night, if you're more familiar with that! It's very central - less than 10 minutes walk from the bus station, and less than 15 from the train station.) Beginning Time: 12:30/13:00 Ending Time: 17:30 (There will be breaks during the day!) For those who will be staying around in Cork for the evening there will be drinks in the Mardyke (again, 10 minutes walk away), where Club Warpcon has recently been located, and there will also be the possibility of Pool, bowling, air hockey and other such madness in the same location. Come along! If you've never written a game before, or if you've written hundreds - we'd love to see you there! If you've written scenarios, maybe bring one or two along with you! Hope to see you there! | | Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 | 2:00 am
[gaelcon]
|
BattleTech returns to 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. | | Monday, May 11th, 2009 | 10:53 am
[kshandr]
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Scout Camping Sites...
Question: With the exception of Larch Hill (which I know the status of), has anyone ever investigated the possibility of running a LARP in tents at any of the Irish scouting facilities? (Cross-posted to my own journal. Sorry for people who see this more than once.) | | Monday, May 4th, 2009 | 6:29 pm
[anarchygnr]
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RPGs at Q-Con XVI [26-28 June 2009]
Hey Folks, Q-Con XVI is only two months away, and we're putting together our gaming schedule from the many submissions we have had for this year's con. RPGs at Q-Con have continued to grow over the last few years, with the Dragonslayers, RPGA and Belfast's TableTopNorth providing a wide and varied collection of games each year. With increasing attendance from southern gamers, we have also had more and more games submitted from yourselves and it's been fantastic! :D We are always interested in more submissions from across Ireland, so this is an announcement that we are still taking submissions for RPGs, and as always, will be until just before the convention. Concessions are available on the day for GMs who go that little extra mile and run a game in 2+ slots. As always, you can have as many chocolate bars and drinks you can swallow! Here's a little explanation of our structure: RPGs at Q-Con fall in to two groups - Competition and Participation. Competition Games are usually about 3-5 tables in size and require the writer to either provide us with a full copy of the scenario in advance, so we can hunt down GMs, or to pull together a team of his/her own GMs. These games will have a charge of £1 to enter, and prizes will be provided by the Dragonslayers. Participation Games are one table in size, and make up the majority of Q-Con games. It allows the GM to run a game without having to do the extra work of writing the entire scenario or finding fellow GM to run it. The only work required is to give a description of the game, ensure that it meets our content guidelines and then to run the game! These games are always free, and allow new systems to be demonstrated and new players to get into role playing. Current Mood: geeky | | Friday, April 24th, 2009 | 6:04 pm
[cujovaltone]
 |
The History of Irish Gaming Reprise
Just reminding folk of the previous post with this title. As I said , please have a look for flyers/booklets/any info you may have. Feel free to email scans or said info to me at jackothemorn@yahoo.co.uk , or upload to the listed sites. Thanks. At the very least if you have a look at www.irishgamingwiki.com you may see mistakes you can correct or voids you can fill. All info appreciated. | | Tuesday, April 21st, 2009 | 10:32 pm
[saoili]
 |
Games day in aid of YTC this Saturday
This Saturday (April 25th) there's a games day in the Blue Room in the student's center in UCD from 2pm to 6pm. It's three euro in, in aid of YTC, a self funded youth theater company based in temple bar. Your three quid gets you four hours of gaming and the piece of mind that you're helping a good cause! There's also a raffle on the day with some cool prizes. For those of you that have met her, Laura Bowler (the girl that smacked Colm at his last Gaelcon charity auction) is a member of YTC and is organising this games day. | | Sunday, April 19th, 2009 | 4:26 am
[cujovaltone]
|
The History of Irish Gaming
Hello all. Like myself, many of you may be watching the current concerted effort going on over on the www.irishgamingwiki.com to catalogue the history of Irish gaming. So far many people have contributed, both there and to www.irishgaming.com. So a general plea to all who may have further information, please have a look in your attics/houses/etc for old convention brochures/survival guides/flyers/etc and if possible scan and forward the info to either of these sites. Up until now these items were considered as souvenirs or ephemera but after roughly 30 years of irish gaming conventions, and an even longer existence of gaming clubs/societies, they are no longer ephemera but actual documentation of the history of our hobby in this country. So, if any can help, please do so. | | Friday, April 17th, 2009 | 5:46 pm
[deannawol]
 |
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: --- 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?--- 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 p.s. If you know of anywhere else where I should post this message, please don't hesitate to contact me to let me know. Also, if anyone feels that it would be useful to repost this anywhere, please do. We want to get this out to as many people as possible. | | Wednesday, April 15th, 2009 | 1:03 pm
[theadydal]
|
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. | 9:31 am
[sir_didymus]
 |
Pre-registration for Q-Con XVI is now open!
Q-Con is the annual Gaming Convention hosted by Dragonslayers, the Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) Gaming and Anime Society. This year sees Q-Con enter its sixteenth year and we will be taking over the entire QUB Students’ Union for a weekend of gaming and anime fun, from the 26-28 June 2009! Q-Con will feature a wide selection of games and events over the convention weekend, with Role-playing Games, Board Games, LARPs, War Games, Collectable Card Games, Console Games, PC LAN, Anime Screenings, Cosplay, Special Events, Special Guests and much more! Big events to watch out for: Rock Band Live on Stage, and Games Workshop's 'Field of Blood' Warhammer tournaments. REGISTRATION INFORMATION For those who pre-register a full weekend ticket for Q-Con will cost just £10/€12. Accommodation is available for just £17/€20 per night. Availability is limited, so pre-register early to avoid disappointment. SPECIAL OFFER: Pre-register before 12 June 2009 and you will be entered into a prize draw with the chance to win an X-Box 360! For registration/accommodation forms, information on all our games and events or if you would like to run games at Q-Con XVI then please visit our website for full details: www.q-con.org.uk Chris McWatters Q-Con XVI Publicity Officer info@q-con.org.uk | www.q-con.org.uk 26-28 June 2009 |QUB Students' Union | | Thursday, April 2nd, 2009 | 12:48 pm
[natural20]
 |
| 12:33 am
[theadydal]
|
Did you read our April fools' page? It is mean as sin.
It was an April Fools' Joke! Gaelcon is bigger and stronger than ever. Don't believe me? Come inside our site and take a look! I'd like to appologise to everyone upset or hurt by this joke, but I'm honestly not a good enough person. This has been hilarious. Thanks everyone who believed me. Everyone else? You are a cynical, cold person and I am ashamed of you..... The full site, with a proper address from this years Gaelcon's con director is up for your reading pleasure at www.gaelcon.com | | Wednesday, April 1st, 2009 | 12:30 am
[theadydal]
|
GAELCON 2009 CANCELLED
Index
GAELCON 2009 CANCELLED
I am sorry to inform you all that Gaelcon has been canceled due to the economic circumstances we find ourselves in.
I have, for the last three months, been privileged to be the con director Gaelcon 21. During that time I've had little time to myself but in all honesty I've loved being part of this committee. They have all been positive and diligent in getting their respective departments ready for the con. I honestly believe that this year would have been spectacular.
The problems have been around since my inception as con director. Moving to a larger, more central location brought with it financial burdens as did the new merchandise we'd planned.
There have also been some personal issues which have made everything a struggle when it comes to organising things and trying to go to other conventions to promote Gaelcon. These all pale however in comparison to the trouble caused by the simple fact of the recession we find ourselves in. Trade, sponsorship, attendance, even shirt prices have been affected
In the past Gaelcon has seemed to me to be the unmissable event of the gaming calendar. I met many of my closest friends at Gaelcon in Croke Park and renew acquaintances there that I meet nowhere else.
I remember some of the troubles surmounted by other con directors and I have to admit feeling humbled. Between us the committee has tried to think of any and every way out of this problem.
I'm sorry. We couldn't.
Gaelcon is cancelled until further notice and I'm so sorry.
Andrew
www.gaelcon.com
info@gaelcon.com
| | Tuesday, March 31st, 2009 | 1:21 pm
[theadydal]
|
| | Wednesday, March 11th, 2009 | 1:49 pm
[theadydal]
|
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.[/quote] http://www.d4hotels.com/ballsbridge_inn.htmlhttp://www.dublinbus.ie/http://www.iarnrodeireann.ie/dart/your_journey/maps_and_zones.asp | 12:32 pm
[bloggergundam]
 |
Two queries about RPGs at cons.
I would like to know when it became acceptable for a con to accept, advertise, and run RPG scenarios that they cannot or will not provide the GMs with rulebooks for. You don't see Cons running Wargames without terrain, or CCGs without judges and prize support, so why is it ok to put the entire onus of the often-finicky rules of an RPG on the GM and the players? I'd also like to know when it became acceptable to write Bait-and-Switch Blurbs, that imply an RPG scenario is about X, drawing in players interested in X, then revealing in the scenario itself that that was just a smokescreen, that the scenario is actually about Z, which is totally more awesome and plot-twisty than boring old X, completely ignoring the fact that many of the players only signed up because they wanted X. | | Friday, February 6th, 2009 | 10:36 am
[fizzingwhizzby]
 |
Gaelcon 2009 - Game Submissions.
Hello People, 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 2009. 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 |
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