CottageCon

Back in the halcyon days of November 2009, our merry band of friends retreated to a cottage in the English countryside, there to indulge our passions of good games, good food and good beer over the course of a long weekend.  The four days would also provide a perfect opportunity to renew our bonds of friendship, an important ritual as the demands of life* had significantly reduced the amount of free time on our hands, and thus our chances to meet regularly.   

*You know, the grown-up stuff like marriage, kids, jobs and mortgages.

That first weekend away for us all was such a tremendously magical time that we vowed to make it an annual event, and so CottageCon was born.

I don’t think any of us would have dared dream that we would reach our 11th consecutive year, and yet here we are.  Unfortunately there have been years where we have not all been present, although two of our party can lay claim to being at every CottageCon since 2009.  A special place is reserved in Gamer Heaven for Tim and Marcus.

The format of the weekend has remained largely unchanged, with the result that planning our schedule is a delightfully simple task, which is just as well given that it falls to me.  From CottageCon II we have given the weekend a name and sometimes a theme, which has governed our choice of games year on year.  As an example, CottageCon III (2011) took place in the twentieth anniversary year of Vampire The Masquerade, a game that had an enormous impact on us in 1991.  We decided that our weekend would therefore involve games of at least 20 years vintage, meaning that we enjoyed:

• Talisman (original version)
• Tunnels & Trolls
• Call of Cthulhu (first edition)
• Star Wars (D6 version)
• Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (first edition)
• Cyberpunk (original version set in 2013!)

With the exception of the above example, we have generally looked to try RPGs that we either haven’t played before, or have played rarely but enjoyed.  The inaugural CottageCon saw us playing:

• Sundered Skies powered by Savage Worlds
• Trail of Cthulhu (first time but a regular feature of nearly every year)
• All Flesh Must Be Eaten (played rarely but enjoyed)
• Hot War (first time but would become a regular feature for a handful of years)
• Mythic Russia

Mythic Russia was an enormous hit and I’ve been frequently nudged to run it again, which is more a testament to Mark Galeotti’s game than my abilities as a GM.

Anyway, enough rambling history, let’s spin forward to 2019 and the preparations for CCXI.

This year’s Con has the title ‘Terra Incognita’, largely because we have no theme connecting the games on offer.  We will return to a lovely place in Ingleton, which we have used for the past few years and have come to regard as our gamer home away from home.  Marcus and I will be picking up GM duties for the traditional 5 slots over the weekend:

• Slot 1 – Friday evening – Trail of Cthulhu (Marcus)
• Slot 2 – Saturday afternoon – Traveller (Marcus)
• Slot 3 – Saturday Night – RuneQuest (Me)
• Slot 4 – Sunday Afternoon – Hillfolk (Me)
• Slot 5 – Sunday evening – Zweihander (Me)

In addition we usually play a board-game on Friday afternoon, after a traditional lunch at a local hostelry.  This year will bring the Fury Of Dracula down upon our heads.  This session has proven a great way to set the mood for the whole weekend and help us decompress from regular life whilst donning our Game Heads.  Previous offerings have been Battlestar Galactica, Arkham Horror and Galaxy Trucker, amongst others.  It’s fair to say we all love board-games, but RPGs remain our true passion.

In amongst, and around this gaming madness we take turns in providing delicious meals, with the highlight being a Sunday dinner from Marcus, who has expended enough xp over the years to raise his cooking skill to 120%.  Tim makes an especially good green curry, whilst Robin’s mushrooms on toast (or the Funghi From Fleetwood) are quite legendary.  If nothing else, this is the best catered RPG convention anywhere in the world.  Added to the mix is always a fine selection of ale and whisky, just to ensure the correct levels of libation.

So, enough rambling, I need to prepare three games before the weekend of 8th November, plus next week’s session of The Dracula Dossier, plus Saturday’s session of D&D5 with Marcus and our two sons.  No rest for the wicked GM.

Game on.