A "Trip" to Savagecon

One thing I had planned on doing during the Easter holidays was to go to Savagecon. Held in Redhill, this is one of the only UK-based conventions dedicated to the Savage Worlds role-playing system. I figured it would be a good opportunity to try out new settings and experience my favourite system as a player rather than a GM. After the quarantine led to the event being cancelled, the organisers decided to run a virtual convention via Discord and virtual tabletops such as Roll20 and Fantasy Grounds.

Session 1 - Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Jackets

Cockney accents and profanity were abound in the morning session hosted by Harrison Hunt (one of the principal organisers of Savagecon), running a gangster rpg called TuffGuys. An expansion of another game called Wiseguys by Eric Lamoureux, TuffGuys moves the setting from Las Vegas to London, and draws heavily from films like The Long Good Friday, Snatch, and Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels. 

The characters are members of The Holloway Firm, who come into contact with another organisation who are expanding on the Firm's territory. I assumed the role of "Crazy Dee", a football hooligan who does the occasional odd job for the Holloway Firm. 

Now, I don't actually follow football (which technically makes me a Stoke City fan, according to my flatmate's dad). As a quote on the character sheet identified Crazy Dee as a West Ham supporter, I ended up having a tab open with the Wikipedia article for West Ham so I could reference it. He was meant to be a brawler who mainly fights with his fists or improvised weapons, but I didn't get much opportunity to use that (the other heavy character went berserk during the main combat encounter, and pretty much wiped out the bulk of the enemies before I could close the distance). However, the GM (known in this setting as the Guv'nor) had decided that West Ham had won their last match, which gave me a free re-roll whenever I used my taunt skill. This ended up being used against several foes wielding sawn-off shotguns, with taunts so scathing they couldn't act.

This session was hosted on Roll20, but used physical die rolls. It looks like there are a fair few macros which need to be coded, and finding character sheets for the newer version of Savage Worlds can be tricky.

Session 2 - Devil Knows You're Dead

The second session was a setting call S.P.I.E.S, hosted by Owen Lean. This setting deals with all manner of occult and supernatural horror, combined with modern-day espionage. Forbidden tomes and bullet-proof tuxedos are abound in this one.

For the one-shot, the players are agents of the Supernatural and Paranormal International Espionage Service (S.P.I.E.S), an independent intelligence agency which deals with supernatural threats. My character, Destiny Tsang was a gunfighter from the American West, who ended up in the present day after a time warp. He was good at duel-wielding firearms, and also had a steel-rimmed cowboy hat.

This one was a lot more action-packed and cinematic (something Savage Worlds is built for), but I did end up wrapping up the story prematurely after shooting down the villain's helicopter with a six-shooter loaded with explosive bullets. Apparently the actual climax involved fighting a giant worm summoned in a ritual at the Giant's Causeway.

Like the previous session, this one was run on Roll20, but used macros for dice rolls and keeping track of resources. One thing I did like was the fact that the GM (or for this setting, the Director) had an "X-card" system in place; a card which anyone can anonymously play if they're not comfortable with campaign content or they think another player is being inappropriate. It's something I utilise in my own games, and a good way to make role-playing games more accommodating.

Session 3 - Trouble in Tripoli

The final session was Allen Wroe's pulp setting, Secret Files of Section D. This is another action-espionage one, which takes place in 1938. The players are members of a newly-established Section D branch of the British Secret Intelligence Service, dealing with unusual phenomena (similar to the S.P.I.E.S setting). This one definitely had a strong Raiders of the Lost Ark influence.

My character in this one was Franco Giovanni, a former associate of the Chicago Outfit who moved to England and became an independent consultant on organised crime for Scotland Yard before getting recruited by the SIS for missions in Italy or their colonies.

Unlike the other two settings, this game was hosted on Fantasy Grounds Unity. Unlike Roll20, which is browser-based, this one is software which needs to be installed. It took several attempts to connect to the game, and it seems to use a lot of processor power. Technical difficulties prevented the GM from sharing the battle-maps, so the climax of the game had to be done through theatre-of-the-mind and liberal use of the system's new "Quick Encounter" mechanics. Which was fine, because the climax of the game was spectacular. It's just a shame it wasn't so easy to utilise Franco's combat capabilities.

All-in-all, I had a lot of fun taking part in the sessions. I look forward to coming back next year, and taking part in more settings.