Would you play it in a bar? Would you, could you, in a car?

[tburke0]

So in less than 2 months we're headed out for GenCon. I'm looking forward to We Be Goblins! at Scotty's on Wednesday. This settles the first question.

Now the second. On the drive there, we have 4 players in the car with time (~12h) to kill. We're thinking to try a scenario-in-flight.

I'm thinking it would run a bit longer than usual, with one player somewhat distracted by the (long-boring-straight-highway) driving and the GM having to track all position, movement, AoO, etc. Without the common-grid reference on a central table, this would, by necessity, be a more cinematic game. But...

Would it be broken?
We're all up for it, but nobody knows what we're in for. Has anyone ever tried this? did it work?

Would it be legal? (PFS & State Trooper - wise)
"Sorry officer, I five-foot stepped into the other lane w/o signaling"

Any recommendations for a (+)cinematic / (-)grid-tactical scenario?

and no, the GM won't be driving.. (not while GMing in any event...)

If this does work out, next step would be RV-Con... :-D

Cheers!
Tom

[sanwah68]

Just a little thought, maybe a travel chess set would be able to be used as a tactical grid...you know, the ones where the chess men are magnetic. White for the good guys and black for the bad guys, you even have built in mooks and bosses!!

Otherwise, interesting idea. I have never tried to play in a car. I am assuming you are driving during the day, otherwise seeing your character sheets could be fun :)

[Jason S]

tburke0 wrote:

Would you play it in a bar? Would you, could you, in a car?

I do like them in a bar.

I do like them in car.
I do like them here or there.
I do like them anywhere.
I do like Pathfinder in a van.
I do like them, Burke-I-am.

[The Grandfather]

I strongly recomend the driver not playing along; his attention should be on the road for as long as he is driving. If you can manage switching now and then even the drivers can get to play some. Maybe the driver can have another player play his character in combat situations.

As far as PFS legal. There is no problem and it is OK if the GM reported credit for the driver as well, even though he might not have been involved in the entire scenario.

I think it is cool if you can make PFS work out in a car; maybe from now on those long drives can actually be fun!

[Athelis]

I've played many, many times in long car/van rides, usually to things like Gen Con. You might loose dice in the far reaches of the car seats, but it works pretty well. ;) We just 'winged' it without any sort of mat or grid - everyone just has to be reasonable!

[Doug Miles]

A really good sandbox/role-play scenario is PFS#24 "Decline of Glory". The combats are not too difficult and there are so many directions the party can decide to go in, especially if you have players that like to go 'off-script'.

[Shieldknight]

We've done this!

For combat we used small 1/2" diameter (Medium/Small) and 1" diameter (Large) colored magnets with a clipboard that we had glued a piece of tin to and covered with a 1/2" gridded laminated sheet. Works well, and the driver can participate if he/she is willing to glance at the board once in a while and has a good memory for "seeing" the pieces. (You could just use a metal clipboard instead.)

Outside of combat, the roleplaying was great. Confined space with little noise. We had a lot of fun and managed to get a couple of scenarios in before we even reached the con.

[Ceres Cato]

Athelis wrote:

I've played many, many times in long car/van rides, usually to things like Gen Con. You might loose dice in the far reaches of the car seats, but it works pretty well. ;) We just 'winged' it without any sort of mat or grid - everyone just has to be reasonable!

You could use a flat box or the lid of a shoebox for casting the dice. Maybe that would solve the problem of loosing them.

[Atrius]

I would suggest the GM use a laptop with d20Pro or Fantasy Grounds or any other virtual tabletop to keep track of the map, initiative and die rolls.

Also might want to make sure the person doing all the reading doesn't get car sick easily.

[Cpt_kirstov]

Atrius wrote:

I would suggest the GM use a laptop with d20Pro or Fantasy Grounds or any other virtual tabletop to keep track of the map, initiative and die rolls.

Also might want to make sure the person doing all the reading doesn't get car sick easily.

You can also get a $30 converter to allow the laptop to be plugged into the cars' AC jack, if you go this route

[Mortifier]

Would I play in a Bar? Come to think of it, that would be my preffered place to play! Assuming they have good beer and after giving they menu a look they do have some decent beers. I suggest 3 Floyds for West Coasters, and Stone for East Coasters. ;)

[godsDMit]

Id suggest an actual shoebox, instead of just the lid. Might take up more room, but gives a greater chance of containing the dice with the higher sides. Also, a map could be as simple as graph paper on a clip board.

[Shieldknight]

I use a round wooden candle holder I found at Wal-mart. Gives the dice a good sound when they hit.

[Jason S]

My suggestion is to play the scenario "Murder on the Throaty Mermaid", if you haven't yet. Lots of roleplay, hardly any combat.

And be careful! The driver shouldn't be that engaged in the game and he probably needs a break, so several drivers really helps.

Good luck and have fun.

[Dave the Barbarian]

I would leave the driver preferably out of the mix completely or worst case scenario, only provide verbal input on his character and have someone else cover all the details for him.

It sounds like a fun idea, but a distracted driver can lead to a deadly accident that would turn this into the worst idea ever. It is a fine line and I am sure the other drivers would appreciate it if you left your driver engaged with driving and not roleplaying.

Selfishly I would like to see your entire group make it safely to Gencon so we can all enjoy some PFS together.

Drive safe my gaming brothers!

[Stereofm]

I'll give you two words of advice from my own experience :

1 DON'T DRIVE AND GAME !!!!! NO. NOT EVER.
2 When you drive them home after the con, make sure they are sober enough to remain civil. Don't let them sing all along the way.

[tburke0]

We played among the mugs and plates.
We played along the interstates.
We played it here, we played it there.
It was the best ride anywhere!

Westbound "Decline of Glory" and eastbound "Assault on the Kingdom of The Impossible" made the 12+ hour trips breeze by. Our backseat GM had to improvise a few things including tactical maps on an 11x14 whiteboard, and I did miss one highway turnoff that was course corrected quickly... Overall the mods were great and worked very well in our limited setting. Thanks everyone for the suggestions!

I don't always drive to Gen Con, but when I do, I play PFS on the way... :)

[Odzmye]

tburke0 wrote:

Our backseat GM had to improvise a few things including tactical maps on an 11x14 whiteboard, and I did miss one highway turnoff that was course corrected quickly...

Glad you made is there and back again safely. I have played on long trips with friends/family, and have a few suggestions for next time.

1. As stated, research the module ahead of time to find one with a minimum of map required encounters. For PFS, this seem to be unavoidable, but a suggestion would be to print out small handouts which could be passed around (AVOIDING THE DRIVER). Alternately, I use a gridded wipe erase board with 1cm grid, and mark locations with symbols.

2. Use a dice container and minimize dice. We have access to scientific supplies, and have found that a 500ml media bottle has an opening wide enough to take dice, and the clear body allows you to 'shake and roll' without worrying about them falling under the seats. Also, 150ml flip top specimen containers work, are slightly quieter, but the plastic isn't as easy to read through in twilight hours.

3. REST OFTEN: We play only about 45 minutes at a time, and take 15-20 minutes break. That allows everyone to mull over things, as well as re-focus on the drive.

As a family, we have done this for about a year now (visiting our relatives involves a 2 hour one way weekly drive), and this has entertained both of our girls. My 8 yo has a non-registered Lvl3 Druid, and the 4 yo is the designated 'dice roller'.