Post Furnace Thoughts

Furnace was excellent, but partial marred by a bad headache over the Saturday and into the morning of the Sunday. Sadly, this wasn't alcohol induced as I was driving both days – I suspect it was just general tiredness catching up with me. However, this was resolved through the wonders of modern chemistry, and by mid-Sunday afternoon I was back my normal self, if a little tired from the lack of sleep.

I had a really fun time, playing 5 different games (4 of them RPGs) over the weekend and getting to meet up with friends who I more usually hang out with virtually. The venue was superb including the cells – from the building's former role as a jailhouse for the garrison – which we used to game in. They were pretty close and intimate.

The five games I played were Iliade (a French card game set in the times of the Greek & Trojan wars), Burning Wheel (Graham's excellent take on Middle Earth with the system), Chaosium Basic Role Playing (Loz's demo of the excellent Gwenthia setting), Blake's Seven (run by Nathan, using a rare set of rules) and my own Traveller game. If you're interested in more detail than this, then have a look at my brief comments at The Tavern, which I wrote pretty soon after I got home. [Edit - these lost when the Tavern had a meltdown]

I'm hoping that I'll be allowed to go to this convention again next year! The organisers – Tom, Graham, Darren and Newt – deserve a lot of credit for making this a great gamer's con. Next year, Furnace will be on 20-21st October 2007 at the same venue.