Wizards, warriors and miniatures

>>The second annual RoyalCon gathers
Montreal’s analog role-players under
one mighty tent

MINI G.I.S VS. MINI PANZERS: Flames of War

by ERIK LEIJON
photos by RACHEL GRANOFSKY

In a city where every fringe activity has a festival, it’s hard to believe role-playing games, of the card and board variety, have been so, until last year, horribly neglected. The second annual RoyalCon, a conference devoted to all things magical and fantastic, promises to again unite the segmented universe of Quebec gamers. Four hundred gamers, some in costume and some not, are expected to bring their lucky 12-sided dice to the Days Inn from September 14–16.

Event chair Christopher Hammock, 34, says he frequently wondered with his gamer friends why Montreal did not have a gaming convention when, as he says, “nearly every city in North America and Europe had a regular annual convention, including the much smaller Ottawa.” Although they developed a few theories, language issues being the most obvious one, Hammock figured no one from the gaming community had ever emerged as a game master among game masters (game master is a term describing the leader of the game who organizes the rules) to undertake such a project.

Role-playing games, especially those originating from rule books and guides, tend not to work without a common language among players. Last year, the RoyalCon team dealt with these linguistic barriers by dividing tables into English, French and bilingual, but according to Hammock, even that plan had some difficulties. In games where the game master was bilingual, unilingual English players and unilingual French players would be able to converse with the game master but not each other.

“Communication is a big thing for games like this,” says Hammock, who this year removed the bilingual tag for games. “It’s all about interaction between the characters and the players. Players have to describe how they react to situations in the stories.”

BIG WAR, SMALL GUNS: Flames of War player Marc Viau

La langue de E. Gary Gygax

Montreal-based Studio Mammouth publishes role-playing books in both languages, and one of the company’s founders, Julien Charest, says that since French books used to be considerably more expensive—because most were imported from France or the United States—French gamers have become accustomed to playing in English. “A lot of gamers, especially outside Montreal, learned English through role-playing games. It’s kind of sad because now they have a reflex to stick with English even though the selection and prices for French books is much better.” Charest translates the games himself, which keeps the process affordable. Another local company, Dream Pod 9, only releases their products in English, citing Quebec’s small market size.

Another shift in the gaming world is the rise of the LARP, the live-action role-playing game, where players dress up in full regalia and portray their characters instead of using boards or figurines. The most famous of the LARPs, or jeu de rôle de grandeur nature, would be the foam-weapon-wielding battlers on Mount Royal every Sunday. Hammock and RoyalCon are especially proud that for this weekend, eight different local groups will fight to the death, while fully costumed. “It took a neutral party to bring this together, otherwise had one group organized it themselves it would have been considered ‘their game,’” Hammock says. Each group has already selected their own fighters, although space will be available for smaller conflicts that develop where satisfaction is required.

Prior to starting RoyalCon, Hammock wasn’t entirely convinced LARPs deserved to be placed alongside the likes of gaming mainstays like Magic: The Gathering, Dungeons & Dragons and Warhammer. “I always thought it was more of a fringe, flaky-type of thing,” he says, adding that RoyalCon will hopefully entice those who shared his views to try a LARP as a lark or any other game they aren’t accustomed to.

BANG! BANG! BANG!:
Christopher Hammock (left) and friends play Ca$h ’n Gun$

Socializing and conquering

Playing in a social setting should also promise a lot of posturing from those who work endless hours on their miniature collections (miniatures are the small army pieces and characters needed for war games such as Warhammer). Since players will paint their miniatures in their own styles, a major point of pride in Warhammer is to have the most impressive fighting army and to look good while on the war path. Hammock compares it to a gearhead who works on a custom car and drives it around the block—Warhammer players want to meet other players and show off their design and combat skills. He hopes RoyalCon will encourage those who may have become too accustomed to their weekly Dungeons & Dragons session with the same clique to branch out and try new games—although he admits it can be difficult for long-time gamers to leave their self-imposed ruts.

“Last year, we had people who hadn’t been gaming for some time come out of the woodwork for the event and, in that respect, became re-activated gamers,” Hammock says. “We also had people who said they wouldn’t pay 20 bucks for something they could do for free with their friends. But this is something different, it’s more of a social event.”

To sign up, visit royalcon.ca.