KapCon is a role-playing

Role-playing game

A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...

 convention held annually in Wellington

Wellington

Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...

, New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. It is one of the largest gaming convention

Gaming convention

A gaming convention is a gathering that centered on role-playing games, collectible card games, miniatures wargames, board games, video games, or other types of games. These conventions are typically two or three days long, and often held at either a university or in a convention center hotel...

s in New Zealand, and the longest running, having run every Wellington Anniversary Weekend (the weekend closest to January 22) since 1993. The con is small by international standards, attracting a little over a hundred people. The 2010 convention ran from January 23-24, 2010.

KapCon was originally an abbreviation of "Kapiti Convention", and was held in Paraparaumu

Paraparaumu

Paraparaumu is a town in the south-western North Island of New Zealand. It lies in the Kapiti Coast, 50 kilometres north of the nation's capital city, Wellington....

, an exurb of Wellington. In 1995 it moved to Wellington, repeatedly changing venues to deal with growth until finally finding a stable venue at Wellington High School in 2003.

The convention focuses on tabletop roleplaying, such as Call of Cthulhu

Call of Cthulhu (role-playing game)

Call of Cthulhu is a horror fiction role-playing game based on H. P. Lovecraft's story of the same name and the associated Cthulhu Mythos.The game, often abbreviated as CoC, is published by Chaosium.-Setting:...

 and Dungeons & Dragons

Dungeons & Dragons

Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...

, with a strong strand of systemless

Freeform role-playing game

Freeform role-playing games, also called freeforms, are a type of role-playing game which employ minimal or no rules. Instead, actions are adjudicated on the spot by the referee. There are also several variations, some of which lack a referee....

 and "indie" gaming

Indie role-playing game

An indie role-playing game is a role-playing game published outside of traditional, "mainstream" means. Varying definitions require that commercial, design, or conceptual elements of the game stay under the control of the creator, or that the game should just be produced outside of a corporate...

. Since 2001 it has also hosted a regular Live action role-playing game

Live action role-playing game

A live action role-playing game is a form of role-playing game where the participants physically act out their characters' actions. The players pursue goals within a fictional setting represented by the real world, while interacting with each other in character. The outcome of player actions may...

 and an annual Scenario Design Competition. It does not have guests of honour.

In 1995 FSpace Publications

FSpace Publications

FSpace Publications is a role-playing game publisher founded in 1991 under a different trading name until it rebranded in 1994. It is an active publisher of science fiction roleplaying products.-History:...

 debuted their FSpaceRPG at KapCon.

List of conventions

• 1993 KapCon '93 (Coastlands, Paraparaumu
  Paraparaumu
  Paraparaumu is a town in the south-western North Island of New Zealand. It lies in the Kapiti Coast, 50 kilometres north of the nation's capital city, Wellington....
  
  )
• 1994 KapCon '94 (Coastlands, Paraparaumu
  Paraparaumu
  Paraparaumu is a town in the south-western North Island of New Zealand. It lies in the Kapiti Coast, 50 kilometres north of the nation's capital city, Wellington....
  
  )
• 1995 KapCon '95 (Museum Hotel)
• 1996 KapCon '96 (Museum Hotel)
• 1997 KapCon '97 (Just On Willis Motel)
• 1998 KapCon '98 (Victoria University)
• 1999 KapCon '99 (Wellington Netball Clubrooms)
• 2000 KapCon IX (Turnbull House)
• 2001 KapCon X (Northland Community Hall)
• 2002 KapCon XI: The Eleventh Hour (Northland Community Hall)
• 2003 KapCon XII: The Twelfth Night (Wellington High School)
• 2004 KapCon XIII: I Know What You Roleplayed Last Summer (Wellington High School)
• 2005 KapCon XIV: The Big 10-4 (Wellington High School)
• 2006 KapCon XV: Rule Britannia (Wellington High School)
• 2007 KapCon XVI: Flight of the Hindenburg (Wellington High School)
• 2008 KapCon XVII: Random Encounters (Wellington High School)
• 2009 KapCon XVIII: Suitable For General Audiences (Wellington High School)
• 2010 KapCon XIX: N-n-n-n-n-Ninetee (Wellington High School)
• 2011 KapCon XX: Unnatural 20 (Wellington High School)

The change to roman numerals in 2000 led to an error in numbering which has since been perpetuated.

External links

• Official site
• Scenario Design Competition entries