It’s official: this March I’m headed to the the ninth annual WittCon, my college’s gaming convention that I ran/helped organize back in the day. Right now I’m slated to run two games, though I’m tempted to toss my name in the hat for the one-hour one-shots in the middle session to try out Nobilis, Burning Wheel, L5R, or some such. Here’s what on my plate (for sure):
Session 1:
Wedding Knight
Room: Shouvlin 203 (11:15am to 3:00pm)
GM: Katrina O.
Genre: Song of Ice and Fire
Players: 6
Ages: 16+
Description: A wedding should be a time of happiness and celebration, as two families come together in a union of love. That is, of course, unless the two families in question are noble houses of Westeros, and the wedding is supposed to end a long and bitter feud between them. Wedding Knight is a tale filled with intrigue, betrayal, and challenge for a Westeros noble house as they host the wedding party. Can your characters navigate the “happy occasion” and survive with their reputations, alliances, and their house intact?
Session 3:
Sasarindō
Room: Shouvlin 201 upper (8:15pm to Midnight)
GM: Kat O.
Genre: Blood and Honor
Players: 6
Ages: 16+
Description:
Once upon a time in Old Japan there were two Clans whose clash would end an Era. Borne out of their battles were the samurai themselves, replacing the bureaucracy of courtiers who had dominated Japanese politics for half a millennium. At the war’s end, the defeated clan drowned their entire house and Emperor at sea; the victors would found the Shogunate, though their line would not survive to claim the title. The proud, indeed, will not endure. Nothing gold can stay.Here is a dramatic reimagining of the Tale of the Heike, a true Tragedy in Old Japan, which centers on the resurgent and vengeful Minamoto clan, whose crest is the bamboo leaf and gentian flower, the Sasarindo. Assume command of the clan as Minomoto no Yoritomo, its cunning heir and leader, or his beautiful wife Masako, key to their political alliance with the Hojo. Or will you stand up to him as Yoshitsune, Yoritomo’s courageous general and antagonistic half-brother, or as Benkei, warrior monk and loyal retainer to Yoshitsune? Do you wish to play as one of the most famous woman warriors of Japan, the lady Gozen Tomoe, as lethal with as blade as her consort, Yoritomo’s uncle and general Yoshinaka, is with tactics?
Who will win, who will fall, and who will survive to see the Sasarindo to its former glory, or beyond?
