CoastalCon 2020 - Caverns, Crypts & Catacombs Public Debut

While it was a bit off my night schedule meaning I was a little out-of-whack, I stumbled down to CoastalCon 2020 in Beaufort, SC yesterday and managed to run two games of Caverns, Crypts & Catacombs - it's first "public" playtest.

CoastalCon is a new convention in its first year, but the venue was nice, good sized, and a decent flow of people.

I did the usual "set up a game and sit around for an hour or two" thing, and then three awesome dudes volunteered to give it a go.  I didn't take any pictures during the game (I never think to do that...for some reason).  Here are two pics I snapped between the games:

Game One:
At first I thought this might tank the interest as our group stumbled into an empty Tavern...and another empty chamber...and things were going "too well".  Then they ran into a Crone and a room filled with acid and it all went pear shaped from there.  While the party should have died about eight times they managed to squeak through each time, and luckily ended the Quest having survived and defeated Hygthumpus the Goblin King.

Designing a game based on random chambers, encounters, creatures and rewards is occasionally risky at something like a convention, where a player's first encounter may be their only encounter with a game!  I have considered in the past "pre plotting" cards and encounters to guarantee a balanced dungeon - but then I completely ignore that impulse and let chaos reign.  It worked out in this case...even the players picking up that I was suspicious of how easy it was going at first....

As with all playtest I found some stuff to fix, some underwhelming cards, some underwhelming creatures, some "how does this work?" questions that I didn't have an answer to, etc.

The best part was that, while CCC is a relatively complex game, I want players to be able to pick it up quickly (within two or three turns), and these guys were 100% on it within a few turns. 

Game Two:
After I ran across the unpaved parking lot for Firehouse Subs for lunch, I was sitting around waiting for another group to assemble.  I was close to calling it quits and packing up for the drive home, when two of the guys from the first game swung back around the table and decided to give it another shot!

This was awesome as they get to run different characters and they already knew the rules, so the game was far more quick and efficient.  It's awesome to see the game is easy to pick up and run with.  They had a much better go at the second dungeon, acquiring a Man-at-Arms (yes, "Tod"! returns!) and an Elemental (sacrificed...don't ask), etc.  This dungeon draw turned out to be more balanced and a bit easier - with no mega-deadly chambers encountered.

It all worked out well and we blazed through the second game - which is nice, as it highlights the ability for a group to play 2-3 games in an evening or afternoon easily if you feel like having a mini-campaign.

In Game Two we skipped a lot of the repeat encounters or rewards just so the players and I could see more diverse stuff in action.

Overall it was a good con, and I had fun.  Will definitely go again next year, maybe with a finished product!

PS: Stumbled upon a couple of pictures from the Con's facebook page: