SwanCon 17: July 1991 PR – PARSEC

Pages 12 through 15 of the SwanCon 17 July 1991 progress report are a detailed presentation on ‘PARSEC – The Perth and Regional Simulation Entertainments Convention’. This post attempts to transcribe the text, and summarise the visual elements, which might get Rather Long. Page 13 contains Part I of the ‘Dreamers in the Net’ touting will be in a separate post, as will Part II, which features in November 1991 progress report. All typos and most formatting idiosyncrasies faithfully transcribed, but we draw the line at all caps; we’ve replaced those with genuine heading styles.


p12

At SwanCon 17 gaming will feature 24-hour access to a large, single venue in the Main Programming Facility (ie. not a Hotel Suite), and will have organised, exclusive use of the Main Programming rooms for the period from 10:00pm through 8:00am. We’ll have programmed items throughout the daylight hours and a number of “gaming” events which will appeal to a wider-than-normal audience.

A strong possibility exists, at this stage, that there will be a Gaming Guest for SwanCon 17. Paul Kidd, game designer (and “Furry Fandom” afficionado) will quite possibly attend the Con. Nothing is definite at this stage, but we’re hoping.

Panels, Presentations and Discussions –

See Conference Programme. Note that all such events will be “Anecdote Free” (except The Anecdote Panel), and anyone who forgets this rule will be gonged.

Tournaments, Competitions & Demonstrations –

There will be three Major tournaments (Roleplaying-related) and several Minor competitions (principally board-game related). Prizes are under negotiation.

The “Rail Baron” Tournament
To the left of the text advertising this tournament there is a line drawing of a train in rather odd perspective
This long-running, highly regarded event will occur again next year and will hold a prominent place at PARSEC. The perpetual trophy, that Amazing, Magical Growing Train, will be awarded to the winner, providing it can be found in time! Anyone knowing the whereabouts of this important part of WA Fannish tradition, please contact the committee.

Ancients Wargaming Demonstration
The Napoleonic Wargaming Society will be holding a demonstration session of Ancients Wargaming. This is sure to be fascinating and informative.

Miniature Figure Painting Competition
We will be holding a Figure Painting Competition and display at SwanCon 17. Categories will include Fantasy (single), Fantasy (Group), SF (Single), SF (Group) and Best Overall. Details and prizes in later Progress Reports, but start painting now!

The “Warhammer 40,000” Tournament
This ever-popular game of a strong and distant future will be featured prominently at SwanCon 17. Please Note: this will be a strictly Bring Your Own Figures event.

The “Star-Fleet Battles” Tournament
To the right of this section, is a solid silhouette of a Klingon Bird of Prey, all of 2cm across
This tournament, now three years old and growing ever more popular, will be held again in 1992. A shield with the winner’s name inscribed and some monetary prize yet to be determined will be awarded to the winner.


p13 – this consists entirely of information on ‘Dreamers in the Net’, which will be featured in a future post


p14 – The majority of this page is taken up by a black rectangle with text and line drawings in relief. Text includes:

In the tradition of Indiana Jones & Errol Flynn and Tim Powers’ “on Stranger Tides” comes …

PARSEC and The Festival of the Imagination present
Blood Magic
A LACE & STEEL Adventure

The Seventeenth Century Will Never Be The Same

Blood Magic is a Fantasy roleplaying tournament adventure for a group of Five experienced players
Based on the Lace & Steel system designed by Paul Kidd.

This white-on-black text (and some more nearly unreadably small below) surrounds a rapier with the basket hilt at the top of the image and the point nearly to the bottom of the space; this is crossed by a many petalled rose with leaf and long stem

The last 3-4cm of the page have

“BLOOD MAGIC”
Written for the Featured System “LACE & STEEL”, Blood Magic will be a fabulous romp through the world of 1610, from Eastern Europe to the New World, with the fell of Tim Powers’ On Stranger Tides and all the courtly intrigue you could want.

The Tournament will require organised groups of 4-6 players, and may be partially games-mastered by its inventor, Paul Kidd (see above).


p15 – starts continuing on with the details from page 12

“The Tendered Tournament”
The third role-playing tournament to be run at the convention will use the “Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, Second Edition” rules, and will use a module designed by the winner of a design competition open to all Australians. The competition will be promoted as widely as possible throughout the country and closes on Friday October 4, 1991. The winner will receive a $50.00 cash prize, have his or her module used as the Official AD&D Tournament Module at the Con, and will be awarded free membership to help “DM” the module. Guidelines as follows:

System: Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, Second Edition. (Some slight deviation from these rules is acceptable, but must be exhaustively explained in the “Notes to the DM” section).
Characters: Party of 5-7, of 4th to 7th level (your choice on exact figures). Characters must be pre-generated and included in the module.
Time: Two sessions of 4-5 hours (the sessions must be clearly distinct and self-contained – suitable for Tournament Play).
Presentation: Texts must be typed or printed with wide margins. Availability in computer form (IBM, Macintosh, Amiga) is an advantage. All maps must be provided in a form which is usable without modification; neat and well-ruled with wide margins; preferably with all writing, labelling etc. on a separate sheet or overlay.
Style: Emphasis on thinking and roleplaying is encouraged, but past-paced and enjoyable play is essential

All manuscripts etc. must be include Name, Address, Phone Number, and Age, and must be disposable (ie. no submission will be returned). The Con reserves the right not to award a prize (in which case we’ll have to design the module ourselves!)

FREEFORM: Shadows on the Sun –

Murder, mayhem and mystery in the Court of the Sun King. Based on the works of Alexander Dumas, this Freeform will last for five hours and will be an intense total-involvement event testing wit, organisation, deductive skill and role-playing ability. Participants will probably be costumed. Freeforms are a new feature of SwanCons, similar to Live Rolesplaying, which has been around for many years. SwanCon 16 featured a new style, brought to us from the Sydney Conventions: The Freeform. Emphasis is on acting, self-motivation and autonomous effort. It’s fun, highly involving and a perfect way to “get away from it all” at a Con. Try it at 17.

Beer and Pretzels

Because programmed gaming events can be a bore at times, because variety is the spice of life, because the social events might not live up to their promise, and just because you feel like it, the Convention will offer facilities for casual gaming in a semi-organised environment. Thus: “Beer and Pretzels”. Every night of the Convention, half of the Main Gaming Area in the convention facility will be devoted to casual gaming with nibbles and drinks available at very reasonable prices. Games to be made available will include:

Shogun, Cosmic Encounter, Titan, Blood Bowl, Diplomacy

The Sunday Night of “Beer and Pretzels” will be a theme evening; “Silly Old Games”. It will feature demonstration games of such ancient and hoary classics as “Boot Hill” “Metamorphosis Alpha”, “Tunnels and Trolls” etc.

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