Pompeyfest
Apr. 21st, 2007 04:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
king_pellinorA few notes on last weekend's FnH fest.
Staying the night before with a couple of geology students was a classic of student stereotypes. I knew it was going to go well from when I rang to ask directions and they came to meet me: first words were "We've locked ourselves out"!. Luckily a quick trip through the broken cellar window, out the other side, up the ladder, prise a window open, and in: "it happens all the time" :-)
Once inside it was a classic student house. The kitchen was full of washing up (including picnic plates...). One chap's room was literally a foot deep in stuff (admittedly he was making lots of props for the fest, but still: I didn't realise there was a bed under there until he pointed it out. The bed I was lent (third housemate being away) had a gravy-covered plate under it. Washing all over the place. Masses and masses of RPG, comic and general gaming stuff all over. The spider tank that had to be moved because "my parents don't know I bought him". It was all I could do not to grin all the time :-D
As for the fest itself: great fun putting the Room of Doom together, even if the players entirely missed one wing. The first major plot bit was a priest spieling on for a bit, at which point drama would ensue. Unfortunately he'd said he could waffle for ten minutes but said the crucial phrase after 30 seconds, before the effects were ready - so I had to nip out OOC and prompt him, but that at least meant I had a good view of his heart being ripped out.
They took forever moving around in the Room, so that got a bit boring as a monster, but it soon livened up when I got to play a spidery thing and entangle everyone, only to be carefully anatomised once dead (they even laid me to rest :-) ).
The first adventure I was monstering was a Crystal Maze rip-off, for which I made up a tunnel full of strings with bells on (cannibalised from morris bell pads). It seemed pretty popular, though I think I made it a bit too difficult. The second was mostly just waves of monsters attacking the party, which was a nice back to basics change, followed by a wave of a single monster, the Balrog (TM), complete with huge sound effects and crashing music, and massed heat and flame effects on the players - I almost thought they'd be coming back with no kit left at all (some did rip off their burning robes :-) ). A good sound system really does add atmosphere.
The banquet in the evening went very nicely. I spent most of it serving out beer (onto some people's laps - the jugs were a bit erratic), then we had a big washing-up session, then we finished up every bottle we could find in rounds and rounds of toasts to anything we could think of. At that point memory pretty much stops, but I do have vague recollections of waltzing with anyone I could get hold of and then singing a few songs. I must get round to volunteering to sing at some fest banquets, and maybe take the Arthsoc tape along for dancing.
Next day was a big battle, which went fairly predictably in the players' favour, though we did press them very hard a few times.
Then simply ripping down all the stuff, washing and hoovering floors, handing over the site to the Scouts, and away. With intermittent effusive praises from the players, which is nice :-D
Staying the night before with a couple of geology students was a classic of student stereotypes. I knew it was going to go well from when I rang to ask directions and they came to meet me: first words were "We've locked ourselves out"!. Luckily a quick trip through the broken cellar window, out the other side, up the ladder, prise a window open, and in: "it happens all the time" :-)
Once inside it was a classic student house. The kitchen was full of washing up (including picnic plates...). One chap's room was literally a foot deep in stuff (admittedly he was making lots of props for the fest, but still: I didn't realise there was a bed under there until he pointed it out. The bed I was lent (third housemate being away) had a gravy-covered plate under it. Washing all over the place. Masses and masses of RPG, comic and general gaming stuff all over. The spider tank that had to be moved because "my parents don't know I bought him". It was all I could do not to grin all the time :-D
As for the fest itself: great fun putting the Room of Doom together, even if the players entirely missed one wing. The first major plot bit was a priest spieling on for a bit, at which point drama would ensue. Unfortunately he'd said he could waffle for ten minutes but said the crucial phrase after 30 seconds, before the effects were ready - so I had to nip out OOC and prompt him, but that at least meant I had a good view of his heart being ripped out.
They took forever moving around in the Room, so that got a bit boring as a monster, but it soon livened up when I got to play a spidery thing and entangle everyone, only to be carefully anatomised once dead (they even laid me to rest :-) ).
The first adventure I was monstering was a Crystal Maze rip-off, for which I made up a tunnel full of strings with bells on (cannibalised from morris bell pads). It seemed pretty popular, though I think I made it a bit too difficult. The second was mostly just waves of monsters attacking the party, which was a nice back to basics change, followed by a wave of a single monster, the Balrog (TM), complete with huge sound effects and crashing music, and massed heat and flame effects on the players - I almost thought they'd be coming back with no kit left at all (some did rip off their burning robes :-) ). A good sound system really does add atmosphere.
The banquet in the evening went very nicely. I spent most of it serving out beer (onto some people's laps - the jugs were a bit erratic), then we had a big washing-up session, then we finished up every bottle we could find in rounds and rounds of toasts to anything we could think of. At that point memory pretty much stops, but I do have vague recollections of waltzing with anyone I could get hold of and then singing a few songs. I must get round to volunteering to sing at some fest banquets, and maybe take the Arthsoc tape along for dancing.
Next day was a big battle, which went fairly predictably in the players' favour, though we did press them very hard a few times.
Then simply ripping down all the stuff, washing and hoovering floors, handing over the site to the Scouts, and away. With intermittent effusive praises from the players, which is nice :-D
