Warpcon is an annual

wargaming A normal wargame is a strategy game in which two or more players command opposing armed forces in a simulation of an armed conflict. Wargaming may be played for recreation, to train military officers in the art of strategic thinking, or to st ...

and roleplaying convention held at

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) () is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork (city), Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of three Queen's Universit ...

(UCC) in Cork, Ireland. As of 2010, the organisers reportedly described it as "Europe's largest student-run

gaming convention A gaming convention is a gathering 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 business days long, and often held at ...

". Beginning in 1990, it is run annually over a single weekend in January. Run by UCC's Wargaming And RolePlaying Society (WARPS), games played at Warpcon include

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out ...

s (RPGs) from several systems,

collectible card game A collectible card game (CCG), also called a trading card game (TCG) among other names, is a type of card game that mixes strategy game, strategic deck building elements with features of trading cards. The genre was introduced with ''Magic: The G ...

s (CCGs),

live action role-playing game A live action role-playing game (LARP) is a form of role-playing game where the participants physically portray their character (arts), characters.(Tychsen et al. 2006:255) "LARPs can be viewed as forming a distinct category of RPG because of ...

s (LARPs) and tabletop wargames. The 20th anniversary event, in 2010, reportedly hosted approximately 700 attendees.

History

First held in 1990/1991, the inaugural event was attended by 40 people in a single-room venue, growing to approximately 650 people by the time of the 2009 convention. In 2006, the ''

Diana Jones Award The Diana Jones Award is an annual award for "excellence in gaming". The original award was made from a burned book encased in lucite. The award is unusual in two ways: first, it is not an award for a specific class of thing, but can be awarded ...

for Excellence in Gaming'' was awarded to "Irish Game Convention Charity Auctions", including Gaelcon and Warpcon. In past years, Warpcon has invited writers, artists and other special guests to sign merchandise and occasionally run events such as games-making workshops. Previous attendees and guests have included John Kovalic, Steve Jackson, Gareth Hanrahan, Games Workshop's Jervis Johnson, and actor

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Events and features

At previous Warpcon conventions, a charity auction of collectibles and other items has been held on the Saturday night. Past auctions have included signed first-edition and pre-publication books, slots to appear as a character drawn by John Kovalic in card game, Jayne Cobb's hat (as worn in the TV show ''

Firefly The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, or glowworms for their conspicuous production ...

''), and the first ever " My Little Cthulhu" plush toy. In previous years various CCGs, from Magic: The Gathering to

Yu-Gi-Oh! is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kazuki Takahashi. It was serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' between September 1996 and March 2004, with its chapters collected in 38 volumes. The ...

, have been hosted at Warpcon. RPGs and LARPs from different systems are also run, with some based on the theme of that year's convention.

References

External links

* {{official, https://www.warpcon.ie/ Culture in Cork (city) Gaming conventions Annual events in Ireland 1991 establishments in Ireland Recurring events established in 1991