Running a Con
No I don't mean con as in con-man, I mean running a game at a convention. An acquaintance asked for some advice about running a con game. Suddenly I realized that I had advice to offer.
I've been running a few games at several cons a year since 2009. I could offer a lot of general GM advice, but I will try to keep things fairly con specific. First if you are thinking of running a con game you are officially awesome. Yes you. And when you run it you will be doubleplus awesome. It is a lot of fun, gets you out of your comfort zone, and let's you see how other people play.
On to the advice:
1. You don't always get a full table.
What's more sometimes you may not have enough players to run your session. This probably won't happen, but it does happen, so do be prepared for that.
2. Get a sense of the players familiarity with the RPG you are running.
Familiarity with both the game your running and RPG's in general. Chances are most folks will have played a few games of D&D, but don't take this for granted. You may be introducing someone to RPG's in general. (If there are new folks I would explain things at a very high level, then cover things as they come up.)
I recently had someone come to a game a little late. I assume they had played before -- don't assume. This fellow had never played any table top RPG. You need to react differently to such players then to experienced ones. I probably gave this fellow a bad impression of RPGs.
3. Be excited about the game you run!
Excitement is contagious. Stand up, sit down, wave your arms. Use evocative but concise language. If your gaming with someone who's first language is not english, be a little simpler in your descriptions.
4. Pacing and timing.
This is probably one of the trickiest things about running a con game. You have 4 hours and that's it. You want to be able to bring the story to a satisfying conclusion, and not run over time nor finish an hour early. As a player either an early finish or a 'no finish' can be very dissatisfying.
One of the best ways of dealing with this is to be flexible. Having several events or encounters that can happen but don't need to happen is one of the best approaches (and keeping an eye on the time, while having some conception of how long they'll take). Prodding people along (subtly and not so subtly) is also a useful tool. Don't let the players get distracted by things that are irrelevant. Have some role-playing moments where you can lengthen and shorten conversations.
I strongly recommend having a watch and placing it on the table in front of you to keep an eye on the time. This is less distracting for you then a phone, and less distracting for the players than you checking your wrist (even a simple action like this can break immersion).
5. Bring Dice, sheets, minis, pencils etc.
Don't assume anyone will have dice, minis, or a pencil and eraser. A few people might, but don't count on it. A number of the cons I have been to are listed ...
A number of the Con's that Compose Dream Games attends regularly are listed here.