GM: Sean Nittner and others
Players: Others, living and dead
System: Ghost Court
Tagline: Ghost court is a game about ghosts, and people, and all the dumb ways that ghosts and people can’t get along.
The fact that I was not only playing in a game, but running a game at Big Bad Con says two things:
- The support I’ve gotten from our staff has been amazing. It was fantastic to host a con where so many thing went so well all on their own. Even when something went wrong (a finger smooshed, a table broken, a room left in disarray) the response was calm, cool, and collected. We did great!
- The game is ridiculously easy to run. And Ghost Court is. I mean, it’s so easy to run that halfway through the game Oscar Simmons caught me in the hall and asked “aren’t you in a game right now?” My response was “I’m running a game right now.” Pretty gosh darn awesome!
For folks who weren’t there to experience the hilarity, Ghost Court is a larp that emulates daytime court TV. People’s Court, Judge Judy, etc. It does so by giving two people a single card with their case (as plaintiff and defendant) and giving them each a minute to please their case before the judge, clerk, and bailiff. Because the cases are so masterfully written and because people know the parts to play, the whole thing fits together wonderfully.
Oh, and some of us are dead, and some of us are not. All the more fun to be had.
What rocked
I was a pretty good judge. People laughed. I got some good ghost puns in the mix. Overall, a solid B+ judge. Jennifer Miller, however, she was just amazing. She channeled the self assurance and moral authority of the best judges out there and delivered her sentences with sass. She was Judge Judy DisIncarnate!
I got to be judge, bailiff, audience member, and plaintiff. Not bad for a single session! I even had to be escorted out of the court for disorderly conduct, and that’s when I was the bailiff!
What could have improved
I wasn’t sure exactly when to end the game. I think we got through about 15 cases before we were all tuckered out. I opted to have one more case with Jennifer (judge Alex Miller presiding) and called that the end. Seemed like as good a way as any to wrap it up.
As soon as this game is out, I know a half dozen living and dead who will be snatching it up!
