Humor is subjective.

Message:

I've been surprised at how many stupid Beatles puns the players get -- especially when most are under 30. My map is all systems with greek letters as the initials of Beatles Songs and the year the song was written. Thus Lambda Sigma Delta 1968 is Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (1968) while Omicron Gamma is "Octopus's Garden."

The "LSD" system is usually the one which tips the players off, and some of them have tried to figure out what song is referenced by what initials. Fun!

I keep the writing light. Not too much descriptive text. I pull that out of my butt, since I know the E-10 universe. It's more outlines.

Honesty this weekend Magical Kitties was the toughest run. Least familiar with it and it's more free form. Especially with Card Flip Cutlass I'm not worried too much about engaging all players because the action clock moves with each card and roll, so I know I'll be spotlighting player X any second now. The wife was there to keep me on track in MKStD and make sure I didn't neglect players. That's a fun system for kids. Like with the people here, Red, Conrad, Tony, Fred, Greg, Greg, etc... I don't think it's the system for that group, because we tend to be cutthroat, and ruthless, as we mercilessly kill our foes, and have no problem playing colonialist slaver bastards, and the more innocent style of Magical Kitties ain't us. But I'd run it yearly to entertain 12 year olds, and the system has pretty solid mechanics (but skewed towards player success). It was fun to break out of my comfort zone and run something different from what I normally do.

That said, I've yet (at Athventurecon) had an entire mission fall flat, but I've had a couple sessions with a player or three who it wasn't "clicking" with. I don't take it personally. I've played con games that weren't my thing. Even at Athventurecon I've had players things didn't hit with and who've told me they wouldn't play >system< again. Can't please everyone. I've entertained more than I've bored and that's the win.

Yours,