So I've never been to a Con, though I will be at GenCon next month, and of course, I've never played Starfinder. But I'm signing up to GM Starfinder at GrandCon, a gaming convention in Grand Rapids Michigan in September. So far I have an introductory/character creation session and two Dead Suns 1 sessions scheduled (approval pending).
I suppose I'm posting this for a few reasons:
1) Gamers of the Midwest, come! The Con is September 15-17! If you can't make GenCon, this is a great "consolation con" opportunity. Not to mention if you don't get a chance to play between GenCon and GrandCon!
2) Help! I'm new! I don't know what to do! Seriously, anyone with Con GM experience, what do I need to know? What should I do to prep?
3) Paizo team - Do you have any kind of materials GM's can use to display at Con's? Posters and what not? If so, how can I get ahold of some?
2) Help! I'm new! I don't know what to do! Seriously, anyone with Con GM experience, what do I need to know? What should I do to prep?
A few things to keep in mind when DMing at a con:
1) It's LOUD. You are almost certainly in a room with a whole pile of other people all trying to be heard over each other. Make your peace with this because there's very little that can be done about it.
2) Keep your eye on the clock. You have a very limited amount of time to fit your game into. If the players are getting bogged down do what you need to do to get them moving, because nobody likes to get to the end of a slot and not finish the adventure. Things you can do to help this include pre-drawing maps (which I never do, but should), ending combat when it has become just an academic exercise, dropping not-so-subtle hints when people are stuck in some sort of mystery, and most importantly: Cutting Stuff Mercilessly. I know, there's all sorts of stuff in that pre-written adventure that seems important, but if you run out of time it won't matter that they really got all the detail out of that b-plot villain's motivations. For one of the D&D Adventurers' League 2 hour adventures from last season I ended up cutting like 1/3 of the plot points of the mystery and dropping hint after hint because otherwise you just couldn't fit it in. Everyone still had a good time.
3) Table management is as important as time management. Someone is going to want to argue with you about the rules. Don't let them. It doesn't matter if they're right, nobody's got time for the debate. Similarly, if one player is monopolizing the spotlight, bring others into focus. You want everyone to have a good time, not just that one spotlight hog.
4) People forget stuff. Bring extra dice, pencils, character sheets, note paper, etc.