Hi all,

I have recently been asked to run a Rogue Trader game at a local convention. Its only about a week and a half away, 4.5 hour slot. I've never run or played in a game at a convention before so I'm not really sure what to expect. I've been told it would be open to up to 6 players.

There are the no-brainers - I'll need my books, dice, an adventure, a group of pregen characters. What else? Any advice or tips from those more experienced on how to make the game run smoothly and make sure everyone has a good time?

It cannot be stressed enough that your pregens will need to have the relevant rules data on what they can do right on the character sheet. Type a short description with feats and special abilities right on there. With con games like all one shots in media res starts are a good option. Give them a little background on how they got there and then throw them right into the spaceborne swashbuckling action.

lurkeroutthere said:

I recommend you use the rules primers available with the demo quest. You can find those in the download section.

I would suggest to check out the existing old introduction adventures. They gave a shortened character sheet with picture, background and such. The simpler you make a prefab character sheet the better. Give the players some fun iconic gear as well. Then when you play, introduction, a little planning and investigation and then rapidly into the action.

Alternatively, you could use the old system West End Games used for introducing players into their adventures. The player script. This consists of letting you describe the situation and having the players describe the situation respond to it in scripted character dialogue. The script gives the details about the endeavor and the first obstacle they are facing at the moment. At the end of the script, the situation should be clear and the players are plunged straight into a problem that they need to solve.

I found this a wonderful tool and it is guaranteed to help your players find their voice and keep them interested for the introduction of the scenario.

Thank you all for the advice. Much appreciated!!

I'm pretty sure I'm going to be going with a modified version of Forsaken Bounty as the con game. Hopefully it goes well.

I'd advise you to have more information on the characters' backgrounds. You might give each character a line about how they relate to the other characters, who they trust, who they don't, who they owe favors to, etc. Someone mentioned throwing in some iconic gear. I concur. Gear oftimes defines characters in a sci-fi setting. Keep the scenario simple, but throw in a plot twist for a conclusion, something (maybe a dataslate) that promises to lead to an even greater, possibly epic, adventure…if they kept on playing, but sorry, time's up.