Warpcon
Encyclopedia
Warpcon is Cork's biggest gaming convention
, and Ireland's largest student-run gaming convention. It is run every year, during the last weekend of January, and is now after entering into its 21st year.
WARPS (the UCC Wargaming And Roleplaying Society) is the organiser of the event and has grown it from a small student event into one of the biggest conventions in the country.
Each year, there are dozens of RPGs
from a plethora of systems, CCGs
, Heroclix
, tabletop wargaming
, LARPS and more run each day of the weekend.
Warpcon also has a world renowned charity auction where all manner of things are sold, including
signed first-edition pre-launch books, slots to appear as drawn by John Kovalic
in a Steve Jackson Games
card game or in Dork Tower
, rare collectible cards, Jayne Cobb's hat (as worn by Adam Baldwin
from the hit tv show Firefly)
, and even the first ever My Little Cthulhu
toy and more are among the things sold in previous auctions.
Warpcon 16 was a joint winner, along with Gaelcon
, of the Diana Jones Award
for Excellence in Gaming for the charity auctions run each year. Warpcon is also famous for its Saturday night Club Warpcon event where the convention sells tickets to a private night club in Cork city.
During Warpcon weekend, on the lower grounds of University College Cork - National University of Ireland, Cork
, the UCC Medieval Renaissance society runs The Battle of the Flags event. The 'Flags', as it is commonly known is the 'rebated steel' medieval combat competition open to anyone who has fought or trained with the society previously. Though the rules change from year to year, up to twelve teams of up to eight fighters take each other on in a melee. The aim is to capture as many other teams flags as possible, by tagging each member of the opposing teams with 'kill shots'..
Each year there are a variety of special guests from a range of different backgrounds. Warpcon 17 saw the return of John Kovalic as one of Warpcon's esteemed guests, and also saw Gar Hanrahan, a Cork native GM who has recently begun working for Mongoose Publishing
as a dedicated scenario writer.
Warpcon 18 special guests included John Kovalic
and gameworkshop's Jervis Johnson
.
Warpcon 19 special guests included John Kovalic
and Stargate's David Nykl
.
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...
, and Ireland's largest student-run gaming convention. It is run every year, during the last weekend of January, and is now after entering into its 21st year.
WARPS (the UCC Wargaming And Roleplaying Society) is the organiser of the event and has grown it from a small student event into one of the biggest conventions in the country.
Each year, there are dozens of RPGs
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...
from a plethora of systems, CCGs
Collectible card game
thumb|Players and their decksA collectible card game , also called a trading card game or customizable card game, is a game played using specially designed sets of playing cards...
, Heroclix
HeroClix
HeroClix is a collectible miniatures game that uses the Clix system. Originally designed and produced by WizKids, it is now owned and marketed by NECA. Players construct teams of comic book heroes, villains, and other characters from popular video games such as Street Fighter, Gears of War, and Halo...
, tabletop wargaming
Wargaming
A wargame is a strategy game that deals with military operations of various types, real or fictional. Wargaming is the hobby dedicated to the play of such games, which can also be called conflict simulations, or consims for short. When used professionally to study warfare, it is generally known as...
, LARPS and more run each day of the weekend.
Warpcon also has a world renowned charity auction where all manner of things are sold, including
signed first-edition pre-launch books, slots to appear as drawn by John Kovalic
John Kovalic
John Kovalic is a cartoonist, illustrator, and writer.Kovalic is best known for his Dork Tower comic book, comic strip and webcomic, and other humorous work set in and about the fantasy role-playing game genre, such as The Unspeakable Oaf...
in a Steve Jackson Games
Steve Jackson Games
Steve Jackson Games is a game company, founded in 1980 by Steve Jackson, that creates and publishes role-playing, board, and card games, and the gaming magazine Pyramid.-History:...
card game or in Dork Tower
Dork Tower
Dork Tower is an online comic created, written and drawn by John Kovalic. It chronicles the lives of a group of geeks living in the fictional town of Mud Bay, Wisconsin. Mud Bay's design is strongly influenced by the author's home town of Madison, Wisconsin. Topics have included role-playing...
, rare collectible cards, Jayne Cobb's hat (as worn by Adam Baldwin
Adam Baldwin
Adam Baldwin is an American actor, known for his roles as Animal Mother in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket, Ricky Linderman in My Bodyguard, Knowle Rohrer in The X-Files, and Marcus Hamilton in Joss Whedon's Angel...
from the hit tv show Firefly)
Firefly (TV series)
Firefly is an American space western television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon, under his Mutant Enemy Productions label. Whedon served as executive producer, along with Tim Minear....
, and even the first ever My Little Cthulhu
Cthulhu
Cthulhu is a fictional character that first appeared in the short story "The Call of Cthulhu", published in the pulp magazine Weird Tales in 1928. The character was created by writer H. P...
toy and more are among the things sold in previous auctions.
Warpcon 16 was a joint winner, along with Gaelcon
Irish Games Association
The Irish Games Association is a non-profit body which is dedicated to promoting gaming in Ireland, by running, supporting, and publicising gaming events, while seeking to communicate and cooperate with others that do likewise....
, of the Diana Jones Award
Diana Jones Award
The Diana Jones Award is an annual award for "excellence in gaming". The award is unusual in two ways: first, it is not an award for a specific class of thing, but can be awarded to a person, product, publication, company, organization, event or trend – anything related to gaming; second, it does...
for Excellence in Gaming for the charity auctions run each year. Warpcon is also famous for its Saturday night Club Warpcon event where the convention sells tickets to a private night club in Cork city.
During Warpcon weekend, on the lower grounds of University College Cork - National University of Ireland, Cork
University College Cork - National University of Ireland, Cork
University College Cork is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland. The university is located in Cork....
, the UCC Medieval Renaissance society runs The Battle of the Flags event. The 'Flags', as it is commonly known is the 'rebated steel' medieval combat competition open to anyone who has fought or trained with the society previously. Though the rules change from year to year, up to twelve teams of up to eight fighters take each other on in a melee. The aim is to capture as many other teams flags as possible, by tagging each member of the opposing teams with 'kill shots'..
Each year there are a variety of special guests from a range of different backgrounds. Warpcon 17 saw the return of John Kovalic as one of Warpcon's esteemed guests, and also saw Gar Hanrahan, a Cork native GM who has recently begun working for Mongoose Publishing
Mongoose Publishing
Mongoose Publishing is a prolific British manufacturer of role-playing games, miniatures, and card games, actively publishing material since 2001...
as a dedicated scenario writer.
Warpcon 18 special guests included John Kovalic
John Kovalic
John Kovalic is a cartoonist, illustrator, and writer.Kovalic is best known for his Dork Tower comic book, comic strip and webcomic, and other humorous work set in and about the fantasy role-playing game genre, such as The Unspeakable Oaf...
and gameworkshop's Jervis Johnson
Jervis Johnson
Jervis Johnson is a game designer for Games Workshop.He is currently one of Game Workshop's long-term strategy managers, having previously been employed as head of its Specialist Games division.Jervis is credited with creating the following games:...
.
Warpcon 19 special guests included John Kovalic
John Kovalic
John Kovalic is a cartoonist, illustrator, and writer.Kovalic is best known for his Dork Tower comic book, comic strip and webcomic, and other humorous work set in and about the fantasy role-playing game genre, such as The Unspeakable Oaf...
and Stargate's David Nykl
David Nykl
David Nykl is a Czech Canadian actor of film, television, commercials and theater.After the Soviet invasion in 1968, he and his family left then-Communist Czechoslovakia for Canada...
.