Tag Archives: gaming

Gaming at WisCon

Are you interested in running a game at WisCon either in person or online? Let us know at gaming@wiscon.net or fill out this form to help us get you set up! If you’re not sure about your schedule yet, no worries! Gaming this year will be organized similarly to Spontaneous Programming, and we’ll have sign-ups during the con at the Gathering (for in person games) or on the WisCon Discord (for online games).

WisCONline: Programming & Events

Just as with in-person WisCon conventions, WisCon 44 will feature a variety of different programming types and events. This page gives information on how to access and participate in our various event types.

For the full schedule of programming during WisCon 44, see the full schedule grid or the list of program items with full descriptions.

Most video content for WisCONline will be available via YouTube. Links to YouTube streams and videos will be sent by email to all registered members, as well as posted to the WisCon Discord server. If you are registered and don’t receive the links, check your spam folder! If you still can’t find them, contact onlinecon@wiscon.net.

Panels

Live Panels will be streamed to the WisCon YouTube channel, but the panel itself will take place via private videoconference using the platform Jitsi; this video conference. (Each Jitsi room will also include a technical producer and someone providing captions, in case you’re wondering why there seem to be two silent participants on each panel!)

For each panel there will also be a dedicated channel on the WisCon Discord server (identified by the official panel hashtag). Discord will be the only forum in which you can ask questions during live panels; both comments and live chat on the YouTube streams have been disabled.

The Discord channel for each panel will be a space for parallel audience discussion, as well as a space to ask questions and submit comments. There will be an Online Chat Moderator who will relay questions from the Discord channel to the panel’s technical producer. The panel-specific channels will open for discussion shortly before the panel begins; the Online Chat Moderator will announce when questions and comments for the panel are open. If a stream fails or is unavailable, the panelists will congregate in the Discord channel for a live discussion in the chat.

After the panel livestream ends, we hope conversations will continue in text on the Discord server! Panelist are likely to join this discussion as well (assuming they weren’t already on Discord during the scheduled panel).

If you aren’t able to attend the panel at the scheduled time (or if you want to re-watch any of a panel that you did view live), it will be available to view on the WisCon YouTube channel until the end of the convention weekend (11:59 PM Central Time, Monday May 25).

For more information on audience participation in live panels, see our WisCon Guide to Discord.

Academic and Readings

Academic Programming and Readings at WisCon 44 will also be streamed on YouTube, but instead of streaming live they have all been pre-recorded. As with live panels, there will be dedicated discussion channels on Discord; presenters and authors will be available during the scheduled time for their presentation for live discussion and questions.

As with panels, these items will remain available to view until the end of the convention weekend (11:59 PM Central Time, Monday May 25).

Gaming

A number of Games have been scheduled for WisCONline. Details of the games available can be found in the convention program grid; signups will take place via the #sign-ups-and-troubleshooting channel on the WisCon Discord.

Virtual Reception (Thursday)
Opening Ceremonies (Friday)
& GOH Speech (Sunday)

Like Panels, Academic programming, and Readings, these events will all be available to watch via the WisCon YouTube channel. Links will be sent out by email to all registered members, as well as posted to Discord.

Gathering (Friday)

The Gathering at an in-person WisCon is an event at the beginning of the convention, where WisCon members come together in the hotel ballroom for a number of in-person activities.

For the online convention, a virtual Gathering will take place on Discord immediately after the Opening Ceremonies, across a number of activity-themed channels. Stop by to explore the Discord server and check in with both new and old WisCon friends!

If this is your first WisCon, check out the #first-time-at-wiscon channel on Discord during the Gathering to help get you oriented!

Otherwise Auction (Saturday)

The Otherwise Auction will take place online this year, hosted by auctioneer Sumana Harihareswara and live-captioned via CART. The auction will be streamed via YouTube, and you’ll be able to bid and converse using the live Discord chat.  Donations to WisCon can be made here. Content warning: a few jokes about the pandemic (facemasks & distancing).

The format of the auction will be slightly different this year. The Otherwise Motherboard has decided to use pass-the-hat challenges this year to raise money for the Carl Brandon Society and for WisCon, instead of raising money for Otherwise. For more information on the items available for auction, and the auction format, visit the Otherwise Award website.

Vid Party (Friday)

Details to be announced Friday!

Floomp Dance Party (Saturday)

The theme for this year’s Floomp dance party is ROBOTS, and it’s taking place this year in an all-new virtual format! It will take place across two virtual rooms: the Dance Floor and the Chill Space. Room links will be posted to the #floomp channel on the WisCon Discord server. There will be DJ sets streamed to YouTube during the party (links posted to #floomp), as well as a VJ set streamed for the duration of the party. For more information, see the public information sheet on Google Docs.

Spontaneous Programming + Meetups

What makes WisCon is its members. We hope that you will all find other ways to create spaces for discussion and community during the convention. The #meetups channel on the WisCon Discord is available to post invitations and notices for discussions on other platforms, whether these are purely social or are for spontaneous panels or roundtables. If you would like to set up a video call you are welcome to use any platform, but we have instructions on setting up a private room on Jitsi (the open-source and secure video conferencing system we are using for live panels at WisCONline).

There will be a Spontaneous Programming schedule posted as a Google Spreadsheet, linked on Discord, where you’re invited to share your plans for spontaneous panels, roundtables, or other events. You can use the channel #spontaneity to announce Spontaneous Programming items.

Safer Spaces

When we meet in person, WisCon maintains a designated space at the convention for people of color to dialogue freely and openly, known as the Safer Space for People of Color. In recent years it has been joined by two more safer spaces, one for people with disabilities, and one for trans and genderqueer members.

During the virtual WisCONline convention, we can’t replicate these physically closed spaces, but each Safer Space is developing plans for virtual alternatives and the Safer Spaces may run programming accessible only to their members.

For more information you can contact the Safer Spaces coordinators directly:

For more information about any of our programming items or events, you can contact the relevant WisCon department. For general inquiries about the online platforms and infrastructure, contact onlinecon@wiscon.net

WisCon is now accepting proposals for games!

Submit your games here by clicking the link, logging into your WisCon account, and selecting Gaming from the drop down menu. The deadline for proposing games is February 28th.

We have a slots available all day for two dedicated gaming rooms every day of the con, so don’t be shy about proposing games. We’re excited to see your game submissions, be they tabletop roleplaying, larp, board games, or, if you’ve got a way to make it work, video games! We also encourage you to submit games to the Teen Program at teenprograms@wiscon.net and Kids Program at kidsprograms@wiscon.net. You can submit to these tracks by following the link above and selecting them from the drop down menu.

If you’d like to propose a game but are out of ideas, or want help figuring out what of several options you want to offer, please reach out to gaming@wiscon.net and we’d love to work with you to find something you’d be excited about running.

Again, submit your games here by clicking the link and selecting Gaming from the drop down menu. 

Once you have submitted your game proposal you can expect an email from gaming@wiscon.net within the next couple days confirming that we received your submission and asking any follow up questions. After submissions close on February 28th a schedule will be created and sent out by early March so you will know your commitments when the call for panelists goes out.

WisCon is now accepting proposals for games!

Submit your games here by clicking the link, logging into your WisCon account, and selecting Gaming from the drop down menu. The deadline for proposing games is February 28th.

We have a few slots available all day for two dedicated gaming rooms every day of the con, so don’t be shy about proposing games. We’re excited to see your game submissions, be they tabletop roleplaying, larp, board games, or, if you’ve got a way to make it work, video games! We also encourage you to submit games to the Teen Program at teenprograms@wiscon.net and Kids Program at kidsprograms@wiscon.net. You can submit to these tracks by following the link above and selecting them from the drop down menu.

If you’d like to propose a game but are out of ideas, or want help figuring out what of several options you want to offer, please reach out to gaming@wiscon.net and we’d love to work with you to find something you’d be excited about running.

Again, submit your games here by clicking the link and selecting Gaming from the drop down menu.

Once you have submitted your game proposal you can expect an email from gaming@wiscon.net within the next couple days confirming that we received your submission and asking any follow up questions. After submissions close on February 28th a schedule will be created and sent out by early March so you will know your commitments when the call for panelists goes out.

WisCon 42 Gaming Update

Tom
Gaming

WisCon’s Gaming Department is gearing up for an awesome con!  Here’s what we have in store for gamers and the gaming-curious.

pile of board games
The Gaming table at the WisCon 40 Gathering.

Our Open Gaming Space will be open each evening from 8pm to 12am in the second floor lobby in front of the Dealers’ Room doors. We will teach and play a variety of modern games open to casual drop-in players. Most games will be suitable in theme and content for players of a variety of ages from children on up. New players are welcome and encouraged to join us! This year, we are excited to share new additions of Braille-marked accessibility kits to our collection, for the popular Pandemic and 7 Wonders board games, as well as a Braille RPG dice set that can be loaned out for scheduled (or impromptu) role-playing games.  We welcome you to bring games to share with fellow attendees, or to choose a game from our collection to play.

Reserving Seats

WisCon 40 Gaming sign
The Gaming sign-up / notice board at WisCon 40.

Reserve a seat to ensure a spot in one of our scheduled games! Reservations are not required, but they are recommended, especially for role-playing and storytelling games. Reserve a seat today by emailing us at gaming@wiscon.net. At the con, a board outside of the Dealers’ Room will feature that evening’s featured games along with sign-up space, or you can sign up at the Gaming table at the Gathering on Friday. Throughout the weekend, we will advertise games that are looking for players, so stay alert for posters, tweets, and whispers.

Scheduled Games at WC42

Sign

  • Participants: 3-6
  • When: Friday: 2:30-5:15 pm
  • Location: Room 641
  • Larp

Sign is a silent game about being understood.

In 1977 fifty deaf children from across Nicaragua were brought together to an experimental school to teach lip reading, but something far more remarkable happened. At this time in Nicaragua no sign language existed, so the children did the only thing they could — they created one. In Sign, players experience a small piece of their journey of struggling to be understood and finding ways to share what is important to them.

Sign is equally fun to play if you are new to games, you’ve never signed before, or you are fluent in a sign language.

Fiasco

  • Participants: 3-5
  • When: Friday: 6:30-9:30 pm
  • Location: Room 641
  • Roleplaying Game

Fiasco is a storytelling game inspired by cinematic tales of small-time capers gone disastrously wrong, with powerfully ambitious characters who lack impulse control. A game of big dreams and flawed execution, Fiasco is an award-winning, GM-less game for 3-5 players, designed to be played in a few hours with no preparation. During the game you will engineer and play out silly, disastrous situations, usually at the intersection of greed, fear, and passion. It’s like making your own Coen brothers movie, in about the same amount of time it’d take to watch one. This game is particularly welcoming for those new to role-playing games. Players will choose among several “playsets,” some of which are family-friendly, to create a story in a customized setting.

Juggernaut

  • Participants: 5-6
  • When: Friday: 10 pm-12 am
  • Location: Room 641
  • Larp

JUGGERNAUT IS NEVER WRONG

It is July third, 1950. The Korean War is eight days old. National Security Council Report 68 is sitting on Harry Truman’s desk, a grim outline of the Cold War that is to enfold the world for the next 40 years. Alan Turing’s paper “Computing Machinery and Intelligence” is circulating for review. Cinderella is a box office sensation.

And you have invented a computer that can see the future.

Employing cutting-edge Ward-Takahashi identity derivations outside their quantum-theoretical framework, JUGGERNAUT processes enormous data sets, ostensibly in the service of code-breaking once the technology is proven and refined. The unstable geniuses behind the math have reached some curious conclusions that only experimental evidence can confirm. By the numbers, JUGGERNAUT —given enough resources— should be able to crack ciphers before they are even invented.

JUGGERNAUT is a live-action game about free will that plays like a creepy Twilight Zone episode and requires almost no prep. Replay value is high and it is always weird and intense To play.

Dream Apart

  • Participants: 2-5
  • When: Saturday: 9-12 am
  • Location: Room 641
  • Roleplaying Game

GM-less, mechanics-light storygame set in a fantastical 19th century Eastern European Jewish village, based on Avery Alder’s Dream Askew.

Dream Apart gives us demons and wedding jesters; betrothals and pogroms; mystical ascensions and accusations of murder; rabbi’s daughters running away to be actresses or bandits or boy soldiers; the sounds of the shofar ringing through cramped and muddy streets, of cannon fire, of the wolf’s footfalls in the snowy pine forest; asking “What do you do next?”

In Dream Apart you play a Jew of the shtetl, a little mostly-Jewish market town in the Eastern European countryside. In the cities, the industrial revolution has begun. Prussia, Russia and the Hapsburgs have devoured the small countries between them. Surrounded by an often hostile Christendom, by wild forests in which anything might creep, and by the invisible creatures of the Unseen World — angels, demons, ghosts, and dybbuks — the Jews of the shtetl try to outwit or outlast those who would do us harm. We feud and reconcile, bargain and gossip, celebrate and mourn, and snatch a little joy and love while we can. Life in the shtetl is sweet as raisin pastries and bitter as horseradish: may it be the Divine Will that it endures another season…

Deep Forest

  • Participants: 2-5
  • When: Saturday: 1:00-5:15 pm
  • Location: Room 641
  • Roleplaying Game

In this map-drawing game you collectively explore the struggles of a community of monsters, trying to rebuild and heal after driving off the human occupiers. It’s a game about community, difficult choices, and decolonization. When you play, you make decisions about the community, decisions that get recorded on a map that is constantly evolving. Players work together to create and steer this community, but they also play devil’s advocate and introduce problems and tensions into the game.

Dread

  • Participants: 3-6
  • When: Saturday: 6:30-10:30 pm
  • Location: Room 641
  • Roleplaying Game

Dread is an elegant survival-horror game that runs on a very simple mechanic: Jenga! Pull a block to succeed, or refuse and fail— but when the tower falls, somebody dies. No dice needed. Game facilitator will provide all materials. 2 scenarios will be available, and players will choose which one to play based on interest. One is a classic AI space horror called Only the Food, the other is Stranger Dread (based on, guess what: Stranger Things). Warning: This is a horror game and characters will die! However, we will use safety mechanics such as the X card to avoid specific triggering topics.

Pokémon Go!

  • Participants: 1-100
  • When: Sunday: 10-11:15 am
  • Location: Meet in the hotel lobby
  • Video Game

Pokémon Go! is a fun Augmented Reality game in which players go out in the world and catch pokémon either alone or in a group! Urban areas such as the area around the convention hotel are excellent places to catch pokémon, battle gyms, and even join together to take on large raids.

I would like to bring a group of Pokémon-catching enthusiasts on a short expedition out and around the square near the capitol (bordered by Doty, Fairchild, Dayton, and Webster Streets at most, but probably staying right around the capitol itself). This is intended to be a social outing + game, so players should plan to come and chat about their favorite pokémon, what they need to complete their pokédex, etc.

The game is all ages, but as it involves leaving the premises of the WisCon hotel, children must bring their guardian with them.

Players should bring: comfortable walking shoes and/or any mobility aids, a device capable of playing Pokémon Go! and connecting to the network (or a friend willing to provide a hotspot), water, and sunscreen.

Accessibility: I intend to stick to sidewalks and will avoid any extremely difficult to maneuver areas (for instance, construction). The game does involve some movement and some standing/staying in one place to capture pokémon.

Group size: Although there is no theoretical limit to group size, I am hoping to recruit 1 or 2 other people to be potential “group leaders” just in case the group is extremely large. Although a very large (more than 20 people) will be good for a pokémon raid, it will result in logistic problems as we move around the square. If we have enough people to split into groups, I would like to send the groups in different directions so that we don’t clog the sidewalk.

Dialect – Mars Colony

  • Participants: 2-5
  • When: Sunday: 1:00-3:45 pm
  • Location: Room 641
  • Roleplaying Game

Have you ever wanted to create your own language for a creative project? In Dialect you can live that dream by building a unique vocabulary for a Mars colony. Dialect is a story game about a Mars colony that loses contact with Earth. Players tell the story of the colony and it’s dialect growing and changing without Earth’s influence. When contact with Earth is re-established, our story ends. This engaging and beautiful game is perfectly suited to first-time storytellers of any age.

Lovecraft Letter

  • Participants: 2-6
  • When: Sunday: 4:00-5:15 pm
  • Location: Tables outside the dealers room
  • Board Game

Lovecraft Letter is fast moving, quick to play card game, in which players seek out dark secrets, risking their very sanity. But not really. Lovecraft letter is a game of risk, deduction and luck that uses the award-winning love letter engine.

Individual games move very fast (as little as 10 minutes), so far more people than six can sign up and get a chance to play. Players can drop in and out throughout the time slot.

Distance

  • Participants: 3
  • When: Sunday: 6:30-10:30 pm
  • Location: Room 641
  • Larp

Since 1992, approximately 28,000 Danish soldiers have gone to war abroad. Distance is a scenario about some of their wives who were left at home. Jesper, Simon, and Kenneth are stationed in the Danish army in Afghanistan. They will be there for six months and all communication with their loved ones will take place through unstable telephone lines and bad internet connections. Meanwhile, Anne-Mette, Camilla, and Josephine take care of things at home. The three women have formed a support
group where they share their experiences.

Distance is a tragic story about how the three marriages are affected by the husbands’ absence. The scenario is played out through short stand-alone scenes showing highlights spread out over all six months. The story focuses on the wives and life at home. There are snapshots of busy days and anxious nights waiting for a phone call that never comes. There is awkward Skype sex and confrontations with judgmental friends. There are episodes of meeting new men, sometimes in the form of unwanted sexual advances, other times igniting new sparks of attraction.

Call for Gaming Proposals

WisCon is now accepting proposals for games!

You can submit games here. The deadline for proposing games is February 28th.

We have a slots available all day in a dedicated gaming room every day of the con, so don’t be shy about proposing games. We’re excited to see your game submissions, be they tabletop roleplaying, larp, board games, or, if you’ve got a way to make it work, video games! We also encourage you to submit games to the Teen Program at teenprograms@wiscon.net and Kids Program at kidsprograms@wiscon.net.

This year WisCon has a theme to help organize our focus. This year’s theme is: What Does Justice Demand?

Although the words “social justice” are bandied about within the WisCon community, geek/nerd spaces, as well as the mainstream, and many talk about and endeavor to work within this framework, what does it actually mean. How is social justice lived/embodied without becoming a buzzword? And how does this shape feminism and genre work (scifi, fantasy, horror, and others) both past and present?

If you’d like to propose a game but are out of ideas, or want help finding ways to address the theme, please reach out to gaming@wiscon.net, and we’d love to work with you to find something you’d be excited about running. You can also peruse these places for justice related games.

If you have a game idea that you’re excited about but you’re not sure if it fits the theme, don’t worry! The theme is meant as a tool for inspiration, not as a limit on creativity, and we will be happy to accept your submissions that explore ideas other than justice.

You can submit games here.

Once you have submitted your game proposal you can expect an email from gaming@wiscon.net within the next couple days confirming that we received your submission and asking any follow up questions. After submissions close on February 28th a schedule will be created and sent out by early March so you will know your commitments when the call for panelists goes out.

OPEN CALL FOR GAMES, Game Masters, and Gaming volunteers! Deadline — April 1!

SarahTops & Phredd
Gaming

WisCon Gaming is looking for board and card games, game facilitators, and gaming volunteers for WisCon 41! On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights, from 8pm to midnight, we will host board, storytelling, and role-playing games open to attendees. We are enthused to offer an alternative way to enjoy WisCon evenings in a (sometimes) quieter, more intimate setting… over dice and cards! Interested in playing with us? Read on.

Board and Card Games

WisCon provides several board and card games for attendees, but we also welcome attendees to bring new games to share!

Are you bringing a game you’d like to keep with you, but run at WisCon? Please fill out our online form with details of your proposal. If you’d like your game to be advertised on WisCon’s published schedule, submit the form before our April 1st deadline. Alternately, you are welcome to hang out in our board gaming space and run pick-up games at your leisure. The board gaming space will be located in the Dealers’ Room Lobby on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights from 8pm to midnight.

Are you bringing a game you’re offering to leave with Gaming through the course of the convention, for others to play at the public Gaming Space? Please email us at gaming@wiscon.net and provide a description of the game. We will take the best care we can with your game, but there is always risk in loaning games to a public gathering. We will be in touch to arrange logistics for the lending process.

Do you have a game you’d like to donate to WisCon? Please email us at gaming@wiscon.net. To make sure we have the storage space to accept your offering, please provide dimensions of the box or book, as well as the game’s condition. We are especially interested in family-friendly, kid-friendly games to round out our collection!

Do you have a game you’d like to see at WisCon? Please email us at gaming@wiscon.net and share a description of the game, how to find it, and if you’d like to play or run it should a copy be found. We are happy to put a call out for specific games attendees request.

Popular games tend to be those with simpler mechanics or rules and those that take one hour or less. Especially popular are family-friendly games, and we highly encourage all-ages game-playing in our public gaming space. Get in touch to share your ideas!

Game Masters and RPGs

WisCon is looking for people who want to run storytelling and role-playing games! Please fill out our online form if you’d like to run a tabletop RPG or LARP. To help us reserve space for your game, please submit your proposal before our April 1st deadline. (But do feel free to get in touch after; we may be able to cast a Location Spell.) Most games would run in 1-, 2-, and 4-hour time slots between the hours of 8pm and midnight on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights, and we are open to discussing alternatives.

WisCon is especially interested in games that fit well within the convention’s themes (e.g., feminism, identity politics, and social and cultural theory). Rules that are familiar or easy for new players to learn tend to be the most successful. We look forward to hearing more about your adventures!

Gaming Volunteers

WisCon needs Gaming volunteers! If you’d like to volunteer in the public Gaming Space greeting attendees and/or running games, or help with Gaming before the convention, please get in touch with gaming@wiscon.net.

Stay tuned for games we will be offering at WisCon 41, to be announced in April!

WisCon 40 — Gaming update!

SarahTops
Gaming

WisCon is weeks away! Are you ready to get your game on?

On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights, WisCon will offer role-playing, storytelling, and board gaming.

Board games will run each evening from 8pm to 12am in the second floor lobby in front of the Dealers’ Room doors. We will teach and play a variety of modern board games open to casual drop-in players. Most games will be suitable in theme and content for players of a variety of ages from teens and up, although they may not hold the attention of those 12 and younger. New players are welcome!  We are especially excited to welcome a team of volunteers from Madison’s own Pegasus Games, who are bringing an onslaught of new and popular board games.

Reserving Seats

Reserve a seat to ensure a spot in one of our games! Reservations are not required, but they are recommended, especially for role-playing and storytelling games. A board outside of the Dealers’ Room will feature that evening’s featured board games, along with board game sign-up space.

For role-playing and storytelling games, please sign up by contacting us at gaming@wiscon.net, or visit the Gaming table at the Gathering on Friday. Throughout the con, we will advertise games that are looking for players, so keep your eyes and ears peeled for posters, tweets, and whispers.

Game Scheduling

For board games, please refer to the board in front of the Dealers’ Room each afternoon for a list of proposed featured games for the evening.  We still have room for more!  If you would like to add a game you’re prepared to facilitate, please contact us at gaming@wiscon.net. Our board gaming space lends itself to multiple concurrent games, so the more, the merrier!  Please stop by any time between 8pm and 12am to see if new games are starting up soon, or start one yourself; board gaming is open to casual drop-ins.

For role-playing and storytelling games, please see below. If you’re planning to participate in a role-playing game, please arrive on time and consider reserving a spot by emailing us at gaming@wiscon.net.

Please note that more games may be added between now and the convention; visit the Gaming table at the Gathering or check the board in the Dealers’ Room Lobby for each evening’s offerings!

Board Games Available at WisCon 40

  • Bullfrogs
  • Chess
  • Chez Geek
  • Codenames
  • Coup
  • Cribbage
  • Dominoes
  • Galaxy Truckers
  • Knit Wit
  • Mansions of Madness
  • Pandemic
  • Playing Cards (jumbo face)
  • Resistance
  • Settlers of Catan
  • Sheriff of Nottingham
  • Telestrations
  • Ticket To Ride
  • … and many more!

Role-Playing Games at WisCon 40

Laser Kittens

  • facilitated by Megan Condis
  • Friday, 8pm-11pm
  • Conference 3

Welcome to the Knoll St School for Wayward Kittens! KSSWK is a big house where orphaned kittens are fostered until they are big enough to be adopted by their forever homes. To the humans, KSSWK is just an ordinary home where they take in kittens who need some love — but to the kittens, it’s like a school where you learn to be a real cat. As a student at KSSWK, you’ll go on exciting kitty adventures and learn important lessons about how to grow up into an awesome cat. Your most important lesson will be how to control your laser — a unique and powerful supernatural ability that the humans don’t know about!

Shemesh

  • facilitated by Jon Cole
  • Friday, 8pm-12am
  • Conference 4

Welcome to Shemesh — the city of light! Built over the remains of an old, rusted city, Shemesh is a utopia of innovation, sustainability, and peace. This diverse city draws most of its power from the sun. Rooftop gardens, solar panels, and luminescent moss provide a colorful and serene backdrop for city life. The most beautiful gems of Shemesh, however, are its inhabitants — the caring, beautiful, flawed people who live within its walls.

In Shemesh, players will work together to create and explore a Solarpunk utopia. Play will involve creating locations, characters, and examining how conflicts are resolved in utopia.

HeroQuest Glorantha

  • facilitated by Edgar “Gar” Francis
  • Sunday, 8pm-12am
  • Conference 3

Pavis is a city of a thousand stories. Your story begins with questions like: “Who killed your employer?,” “How can you stay one step ahead of the most feared swordswomen in the city?”, and “Who or what is the mysterious Purple Troll?”

“The Purple Troll” is an adventure for HeroQuest in Glorantha. No prior experience with HeroQuest or the world of Glorantha is necessary.

Open call for games, game masters, and gaming volunteers!

SarahTops
Gaming

WisCon Gaming is looking for tabletop games, game masters, and gaming volunteers for WisCon 40! On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights, from 8pm to midnight, we will host board, storytelling, and role-playing games open to convention members. We are enthused to offer an alternative way to enjoy WisCon evenings in a (sometimes) quieter, more intimate setting… over dice and cards! Interested in playing with us? Read on.

Games

WisCon needs games! Please email us at gaming@wiscon.net if you have a game or are interested in seeing a particular game at the table this year. Please answer the following questions as relevant to your offering or request:

Are you bringing a game you’d like to keep with you, but run in the public Gaming Space? Please share a description of the game and what night(s) you’d like to run it.

Are you bringing a game you’re offering to leave with Gaming through the course of the convention, for others to play at the public Gaming Space? Please provide a description of the game. We will take the best care we can with your game, but there is always risk in loaning games to a public gathering.

Do you have a game you’d like to donate to WisCon? To make sure we have the storage space to accept your offering, please provide dimensions of the box or book, as well as the game’s condition. We are also accepting dice, pencils, and other gaming supplies.

Do you have a game you’d like to see at WisCon? Please share a description of the game, how to find it, and if you’d like to play or run it should a copy be found. We are happy to put a call out for specific games attendees request!

Popular board games tend to be those with simpler mechanics or rules and those that take two hours or less. Get in touch to share your ideas!

Game Masters

WisCon is looking for people who want to run storytelling and role-playing games! Please email us at gaming@wiscon.net if you’d like to run a tabletop RPG or LARP. To help us reserve space for your game, please email us before our March 18 deadline. (But do feel free to get in touch after; we may be able to cast a Location Spell.) Some of the information we’d like from you includes:

  • a description of the game
  • how long the game will take
  • how many players you’ll need
  • evening(s) you’d like to run the game (Friday, Saturday, and/or Sunday)
  • any other logistics we should keep in mind to make the game happen

WisCon is especially interested in games that fit well within the convention’s themes (e.g., feminism, identity politics, and social and cultural theory). Rules that are familiar or easy for new players to learn tend to be the most successful. We look forward to hearing more about your adventures!

Gaming Volunteers

WisCon needs Gaming volunteers! If you’d like to volunteer in the public Gaming Space, and/or help with Gaming before the convention, please get in touch with gaming@wiscon.net. Let us know if there’s a particular game you’d like to play or help teach on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday evenings.

Stay tuned for games we will be offering at WisCon 40, to be announced in April!

Gaming

  • contact: gaming@wiscon.net
  • Deadline to propose a game:  April 1 (for pre-arranged games, but if inspiration strikes between then and the con, please feel free to email or offer it as Spontaneous Gaming during the con!)
Get your dice and character sheets ready — WisCon has gaming! Throughout the convention, WisCon offers role-playing, storytelling, and board gaming.

Board games available at-con (an incomplete list)

  • Table Top Games 7-in-1 Game Set: Chess, Checkers, Dominoes, Cribbage, Poker Dice, Backgammon, and Playing Cards
  • Telestrations 12-Player Party Pack
  • Standard Size Jumbo Face Playing Cards (4 decks)
  • Ticket to Ride
  • Settlers of Catan, Portable Edition

Propose a game

Game proposals can be submitted to the email above or to this Google form. We look forward to seeing your game submissions, be they tabletop roleplaying, larp, board games, or, if you’ve got a way to make it work, video games!

Once you have submitted your game proposal you can expect an email from gaming@wiscon.net within the next couple days confirming that we received your submission and asking any follow up questions.

Games at WisCon are accountable to the WisCon Code of Conduct. We encourage people to think about the well-being of their fellow players and facilitators while taking part in games! Some tools that might be helpful (originally curated for RPGs, but still useful for other games) can be found at the TTRPG Safety Toolkit.

Game scheduling

For games taking place in the dedicated gaming room, refer to the online schedule (link to come) or the physical schedule (located in the Open Gaming room) for which games are running and where. If you’re planning to participate please arrive on time, and consider reserving a spot by emailing us at the address at the top of the page.

The Open Gaming room is open throughout the con! Please stop by any time to see if new games are starting up soon, or start one yourself; board gaming in this space is open to casual drop-ins.

Reserving seats

Reserve a seat to ensure a spot in one of our games! Reservations are not required, but they are recommended, especially for role-playing and storytelling games.

For role-playing and storytelling games, please sign up by contacting us at gaming@wiscon.net, or visit the Gaming table at the Gathering on Friday. We advertise games that are looking for players throughout the con, so keep your eyes and ears peeled for posters, tweets, and whispers.

Open call for RPG participants!

Beth & Mathew
Gaming

We’re about a week away, so we’re opening up online signup for our RPG offerings. We have a very diverse lineup this year, including a workshop! Take a look and see if anything interests you.

  • If you see something you want to play, send gaming@wiscon.net an email with the subject “RPG signup request” and include in the body:
    • Your name as it appears on your WisCon badge
    • An email address (whether the same or different than the one you’re contacting us from) that we can pass along to the person in charge of the game, in case they need to contact you about anything
    • The specific game or game that you’re signing up for
  • We will reply to let you know whether you’re guaranteed a seat or on standby. If you’re on a standby list, drop by at game time to see if you can get a seat.
  • If you’re interested, but not certain if you’ll be able to play, please consider requesting a spot on the standby list, to start. This helps us gauge interest, but lets people who can commit to playing for sure get first chance at a spot at the table and reduces setup and confusion at game time.
  • We will end email registration Wednesday, May 20, at 11:59PM CDT. We’ll have a chance to sign up in-person at The Gathering and you can always just drop by at the beginning of the session to see if there are chairs available.

The games!

Friday

>  Friday 8:00PM-midnight
Bluebeard’s Bride (RPG Horror) – GM: Ajit George | 3-4 players | 18 and older only

Bluebeard’s Bride is a table-top horror RPG based on the original fairy tale. It is a one-shot game with replay value that uses modified Apocalypse World rules, is beginner friendly and easy to learn.

You play different aspects of Bluebeard’s wife; the Virgin, the Witch, the Mother, and many others as the bride attempts to resist the pull to enter Bluebeard’s secret room. The castle tests her sanity, and not every part of her will survive—if any part of her does at all. This game is dark, erotic, ethereal, and filled with creeping terror. It’s about the intricacies of feminine horror, and agency in the face of powerlessness. All materials will be provided by the GM.

>  Friday 8:00PM-midnight
LarpJam (Larp design) – Facilitator: Jon Cole | 5-16 Players | All ages

LarpJam is a workshop where participants create their very own larps (live action role-playing games) in a round-robin format. In a matter of hours people with no larp experience can create awesome, fully-playable larps or the seeds that future larps can spring from! This process folds creative invocation, constructive constraints, and peer feedback into one lightning-fast process. LarpJam is fun for anyone who can read and write, no experience is necessary. All materials are provided for 5-16 players.

Saturday

> Saturday 8:00PM-midnight
*Microscope – Facilitator: Tom Fendt | 3-4 players | All ages

A game of epic histories where you can zoom in and out on the bits you find most interesting. Microscope finds a way to make all players collaborate, even as it prevents players from directly coordinating. Your individual additions add up to a whole greater than the sum of the parts.

*Atlas – Facilitator: Tom Fendt | 3-4 players | All ages
A mapmaking game created by yours truly. This game treads the line between world building tool and roleplaying game. Atlas is a game where you collaboratively create a map with its own story to go along with it. What strange and interesting places will your group come up with? Play to find out!

*note that both of these games will be played in the same room and there may be multiple sessions.

> Saturday 8:00PM-10:30PM
Dream Apart: a storygame of the fantastic shtetl – Facilitator: Benjamin Rosenbaum | 3-5 players | 16+

A GM-less, collaborative, rules-light, historical fantasy storygame of sorcerers and scholars, midwives and matchmakers, soldiers and klezmers, dybbuks, gossip, pogroms, trolls, rebels, betrothals, demons, angels, blood libel, lusts, and secrets in an Eastern European Jewish shtetl, circa 1850. Dream Apart is inspired by Avery Mcdaldno’s Dream Askew. Where Dream Askew queers the post-apocalyptic genre, Dream Apart jews historical fantasy, reimagining fantastical Europe from the perspective of European history’s underdogs; like Askew it’s about otherness, resistance, strife, and survival, beyond the borders of a brutal dominant society.

Sunday

> Sunday 7:00PM-11:00PM
The Dooms that Came to Chaegrae – GM: Rachel Kronick | 3-5 players

The Tomb of Gemenos has loomed over the middle of Chaegrae for generations. All who have dared to enter, or even to approach too closely, have had horrible fates. But now, you and your motley friends have come to plumb the depths of the tomb. You are unafraid of the Tomb’s strange fates, because you already know how you will die. The Tomb is but the next step in your destiny.

A tabletop roleplaying game, using the Blade & Crown system (which I wrote). Themes of fate, destiny and the wrongs of history. No more than five players. No rules knowledge or materials required, though you may want to bring your lucky D10s!