Contingency is a tabletop role-play and board game convention, being held in Norfolk at a seaside resort in the off-season. Contingency 2023 runs from January 18th to 22nd. Each day there are 3 sessions, morning afternoon and evening, and I am there this year with some friends.
It works like this: The main cost is the accommodation. Booking at the resort during the con gets you access to the con, then for a nominal fee you can register as a player. The player fee is waived if you run some games. Anyone can run a game. Games with spaces are posted on a notice board, and you can sign up to any game with available space.
15 minutes before the slot starts, there is a “muster” where the organisers call each game and the players signed up. The organisers will then try to match any players who didn’t get a game with games that need players. It pays to know what kinds of games you like, but its also great to try new things. I like to play the weird indie and rules-light story led games, and play new things, but the more mainstream crunchy dice and combat games like D&D, Pathfinder and Traveller are also popular.
Today I played in three sessions. Dude Wheres’ My Evil Overlord (Goblins), Rest in Pieces, and Fiasco.
Dude Wheres My Evil Overlord
In Dude Wheres my Evil Overlord you play a goblin, or rather, you play a series of goblins, because goblins die a lot. Really, you play the horde, no individual goblin really matters. Not even the king Goblin. Goblins go through a lot of kings. The king got to wear a crown and order the horde around. The game is very free form and silly. All the skill checks asked us to get a 6 on a D6, but you can add points for skills and abilities. It was fun. We found our evil overlord.
Rest in Pieces
The second game I played was Rest in Pieces, an RPG inspired by the British 80s sitcom The Young Ones, with a Jenga base escalating skill-check mechanic.
I enjoyed the setting and characters, and the roleplaying group was a good one, but the mechanics didn’t really click for me.
Fiasco
https://www.board-game.co.uk/fiasco-2nd-edition-review/
Fiasco is a story telling game themed around Cohen Brothers movies. Fiasco was a huge inspiration for the creation of Getting Away With Murder, but it having had a 2nd edition was news to me, and learning that they had made some changes – such as replacing dice-and-tables with cards – that aligned with the direction we’d taken things, was interesting.
Fiasco was fun, and I game I recommend without reservations. The addition of the “Lets Not” safety mechanic is a good one. We suggest X-Card to GAWM players, but making it part of the rules and including a card for it seems like a good step.
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