Princetonians with vivid imaginations and a penchant for fantasy indulged their interests during a 46-hour role-playing marathon the weekend before spring break.
Their activities were part of the 32nd annual PrinceCon, a three-day convention featuring fantasy role-playing game sessions.
During the event, players created character personas, which they role-played in a fantasy universe throughout the weekend's activities.
Aaron Mulder '97, an alumnus who participated in the convention, described the weekend as a series of "tabletop" game sessions played using pencils, paper and dice to control the actions of players' characters.
Mulder also developed PrinceCon software, which is used to track participants during the convention.
Organized by the Princeton Simulation Games Union (SGU), the overall tournament was made up of several small game sessions, each of which involving five to eight people and lasting from four to eight hours, SGU president Owen Schaefer '08 explained. Schaefer is also a layout editor for The Daily Princetonian.
"The most games played is usually six to seven without sleep, but the average person plays four or five," Mulder said.
This year, 10 "game masters" supervised and participated in the game sessions with 40 other players, down from an average of around 100 players in past years, Schaefer said.
Mulder attributed the decrease to the ice storm that hit the area during the weekend PrinceCon was held.
Every year, SGU invents a different fantasy scenario for the event. This year's convention, titled "Falling Water," featured what Mulder called a fantasy universe divided by "forces of evil," requiring players to carry out various tasks such as finding evildoers and solving problems to reunite the imaginary world.
A thematic description on PrinceCon's website asked participants, "What if the world's mightiest heroes didn't save the day? Would the sun splinter into a thousand shards, the moon burst into pieces, and the earth crack open and break into fragments, with only the mighty River that once circled the world connecting them?"
Mulder said the convention universe's challenges require players to work together to achieve common objectives. "Everyone is working toward the same overall goals, and each player remains the same character throughout the weekend," he said. "This helps to maintain a sense of cohesion within the PrinceCon event."
Prizes were awarded during the event based on "strategies, tactics and role-playing."
Schaefer said that, for some, fantasy role-playing game sessions can be more appealing than more mainstream video gaming.
"These events are much more social then video games because you are playing them with friends," he said. "You're not isolated at home." The SGU has around 150 members, with around 15 who meet regularly every week, Mulder said.
Schaefer added that even though many video games permit multiple gamers to interact online, it is just not the same as being at a table with your friends. Plus, he said, "people just like role-playing games."
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