Another Clericon has come and gone and, as the two that came before, it was a big success; for an inclusive environment that feels small and welcoming, for great OSR games and engaged players, Clericon is hard to beat. As a bonus, Glen Williams is postcard perfect at this time of year, when it's alive with Fall colours. Father Aaron is a great host and an all-around good guy.
I ended up signing up to run 3 games this go-around. Here's a quick recap:
Sat morning: OSE
I ran 6 characters through a module I have run a bunch of times before, but never have I had a group that swats away every obstacle I present with such speed. A tough physical puzzle? Done. A combat encounter with skeletons? The first level cleric turned them all in the first round. Done. An even harder physical puzzle? This will stump them. No it won't: Done. An abstract word puzzle? Done. A fight with a living statue... there's only one way to avoid this combat. Oh you figured it out? Done. A gotcha moment at the end where a villain waits outside holding an NPC hostage? "I cast SLEEP." Aaaaaand: Done.
I honestly felt bad when it was over - as if I had cheated the players out of a rewarding combat moment when their characters might be at risk... but in the end, not a single hit point was lost. So weird.
Sat Evening: The Quiet Year
I love running this game because it requires no prep, and the pacing always works out. As with every time I have run it, the story got weird and had several moments of pure synergy. Of course, as with all Quiet Year games, everyone died at the end.
Sun Afternoon: Clay-o-Rama
This was the game I was looking forward to running the most - and the least. It's a stupid game (in the best way) by Zeb Cook. In it, you make a monster out of play dough, and then fight them. I only had 4 players, so the whole thing took just one hour. However, it was a heck of an hour, with a lot of laughs and a lot of photos snapped - I think this game is something I would really like to run again. It's too much fun to ignore.
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