Day 1 of the 2026 Busan Con has come to a close. I didn't have any games in the morning, because I was thinking I'd either be too tired from my trip to the USA, or I'd want to go see The Mandalorian and Grogu. Well, M&G doesn't open until next Wednesday in Korea, but I was kinda tired. So it's a good thing I didn't sign up for any morning games.
I did show up early, and talked to some fellow gamers. After lunch, and a bit more chatting, my Missions & Mayhem game started. I had three players: Jonathan (who also goes by JB, but not the BX Blackrazor JB), McKayla, and Sterling. Sterling was playing his second ever session of an RPG, after his first during the morning session. I'd met Jonathan last fall and knew McKayla was there although I didn't get to talk to her then.
I'd sent them five pre-gen characters to choose from, and they all had one they liked decided. We spent some time going over the basics of the game, and they had some questions (including some that suggest improvements I could make to the game). When they were ready, I gave them the premise of the scenario I'd prepared (they were all psychics trapped in a government research facility, and suddenly their power-dampening collars all switched off -- Go!).
It played out very differently than when I ran the adventure with my regular group, which is no surprise. It's not a railroad adventure. Sterling, after it was done, even commented that it was a lot more open and less structured (narratively) than his morning game. There was investigation, there were crazy schemes, there was a bit of combat, there were attempts to manipulate, and of course plenty of use of the psychic powers.
The players weren't really in a situation where they could use the I Know a Guy rule (although they loved the concept!), but they did use the Gamble mechanic a lot. McKayla used five out of six ability scores to gamble along the way, and Jonathan and Sterling each used three (I think).
The psychic powers were useful, but definitely not overpowered at low level. They only had 2d4 rolls for activation, so only the lower two tiers of effect were possible without a gamble and a lucky throw...although McKayla pulled that one off.
The combat was also fun, as they didn't only swing and do damage. They used a combination of normal attacks, subdual unarmed strikes, psychic powers, and special maneuvers during the fight. That shows me the game can be dynamic in combat, not just roll to hit, roll for damage ad nauseam.
They did not escape from Facility 826 in the end, but the ending to the adventure they did get was satisfying (the 'bad guy' trying to recruit them into his psychic strike force), and the twist [no, not gonna tell you what it is] was a surprise but also made other things make sense to them. So that also went well.
The feedback from the players was positive. They thought the game was simple to explain, easy to understand the mechanics - especially after they started playing, and they liked how it fit together. They also liked how the mechanics seem to fit the mood of an action flick. Before the game started, talking to some other gamers, one guy mentioned that he didn't know of many modern era RPGs that weren't supernatural or zombie themed. He thought this was a good niche to fill.
I've got some good notes for more changes (streamlining) and I'll hopefully get those into the playtest document soon.
