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Date:
Friday, Saturday & Sunday
March 18-20, 2016
Location:
The Bernhard Center
1903 W Michigan Ave.
Kalamazoo, Michigan
Friday, Saturday & Sunday
East Ballroom
Time:
Friday
2:30 - Doors open, registration begins
3:00 - Slot 1
7:00 - Break
7:30 - Slot 2
11:30 - Doors close
Saturday
9:00 - Doors open, registration begins
10:00 - Slot 3
2:00 - Break
2:30 - Slot 4
6:30 - Break
7:00 - Slot 5
11:30 - Doors close
Sunday
10:30 - Doors open, registration begins
11:00 - Slot 6
3:00 - Break
3:30 - Slot 7
8:00 - Doors close
Player Fee:
All three days: $25.00
Sat. + one day: $20.00
Saturday only: $15.00
Fri./Sun. only: $10.00
All three days (WMU student): $10.00
Sat. + one day (WMU student): $7.00
Saturday only (WMU student): $5.00
Fri./Sun. only (WMU student): $3.00
Parking Fee:
Friday (Slot 1 only): $5.00
Saturday & Sunday: None
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This is a post-convention report on Marmalade Dog 21:
Marmalade Dog 21 took place last weekend (March 18-20) at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. It is a gaming convention that attracts ~300 gamers mostly from the west Michigan area, though we get some folks from mid-Michigan (around Lansing & Mt Pleasant) and northern Indiana/Chicago. While Pathfinder Society events represent one of the major draws for the weekend (we are given our own HQ table and allowed to separately handle our own event registration, unlike any other RPG), there are lots of other RPGs being played, including D&D 5th ed, Call of Cthulu, DCC, GURPS, Dresden Files, and Star Wars. The room also features about a dozen vendors, Battle Pods and Star Trek Artemis, plus board gaming and CCGs. It’s also a favored venue for local game developers to beta-test new games or try to introduce new games/ gaming items to the public.
For the weekend, we had 36 tables scheduled over 7 slots (5 of those tables represented a single run of Plunder & Peril, played in its entirety over the weekend). Of those 36 tables, 34 actually went off, and 2 tables were cancelled for insufficient players. One scheduled table in each slot was Core Campaign (“Core on Table 4”). We had 52 unique players sit at our tables throughout the weekend, the large majority of them multiple times. We gave away 6 new Pathfinder numbers to brand new players over the weekend. Last year we had 31 tables go off, 58 unique players and 9 new cards handed out, so we were approximately on par with previous years.
The table breakdown by slot was as follows:
Friday
Slot 1: 3/4 tables, 19 players
Slot 2: 5/5 tables, 25 players
Saturday
Slot 3: 5/5 tables. 29 players
Slot 4: 6/6 tables, 35 players
Slot 5: 5/6 tables, 26 players
Sunday
Slot 6: 5/5 tables, 26 players
Slot 7: 5/5 tables, 27 players
Total: 34/36 tables, 187 players (vs. 31/39 tables, 167 players in 2015; 155 players in 2014)
The tier breakdown was as follows:
Tier 1-2 & 1-5: 14/15 tables
Tier 3-7: 5/5 tables
Tier 5-9: 5/6 tables
Tier 7-11: 3/3 tables
Modules & Exclusives: 8/8 tables
Core Campaign: 6/7 tables
Overall, the PFS portion of the convention ran smoothly. We had no complaints or grievances come in to HQ from players or GMs, there were no administrative problems, and tables were all reported the same day they were played. At our HQ table we gave away blank character sheets, table tents, Inventory sheets, Faction Cards for Season 7, contacts for local PFS public gaming groups, and scenario tracking sheets. We also provided a full complement of all legal pre-gens for people to use and peruse.
All our GMs received a single GM boon for their efforts, and in addition the convention gave them free admittance on days they ran games. Also, all GMs at M-Dog were given free T-shirts by convention organizers. Each table was given a $10 Paizo gift certificate to roll off for, and all PFS players got a chance to take a free die from a Q-Workshop dice grab bag at every table in each slot (while they lasted). The gift certificates were received well. Players who received a new Pathfinder number were given a “Welcome to Pathfinder” boon. We had no Player Boons to give out this year, and some players did ask about that.
In previous years, M-Dog convention organizers had insisted on making all PFS game sign-ups on site the day of the game. This year we broke away from that, and had advanced registration for players through Warhorn, which we advertised through Facebook and other local gamer sites. People were still allowed to sign-up onsite as well, and we didn’t ever have to turn anyone away who wanted to play. People had complained in past years that they didn’t want to drive a long way to our convention, and then because of the vagaries and timing of onsite registration, perhaps miss out on what they really wanted to play. In addition, with our multi-part Plunder & Peril run, I wanted to make sure we had a stable group committed for the whole weekend. I anticipate that we will continue to use advance registration in the future — the system worked well, and made our process much more efficient and headache-free.
I’d like to give special recognition to my local Venture Agent Carrie Cosby, who GM’d Plunder & Peril for the weekend. Not only did she put in the time to prepare the module and hand-draw all the game maps, but she came in pirate costume each day, provided brownies for her players, and provided hand-made prizes for her players. Each player received a hand-made pirate tote bag with a logo she designed, and a handmade copper hippocampus mini that other minis could ride upon (which is a unique feature of the module). Players got to take these home as souvenirs of the event. The module was such a success that the players have asked Carrie to prepare and run the sanctioned content for Skull & Shackles, Tempest Rising a few months down the road, so their pirate characters can continue to adventure together, and this from a group that really had no ties to one another before the event started. This was Carrie’s first convention ever, and I couldn’t be more proud of her.