About Us

What is Good Omens? Good questions.

In short Good Omens is a group of Gamers who want to:

• Enhance the quality of convention games.
• Offer mutual aid, support, and critiquing to all its members.
• Enhance the variety of convention games.

In other words… The Good Omens group exists to provide high quality, well thought out role playing games of genres highly sought after but rarely run at Gaming conventions. These games include (but are not limited to) Buffy, Shadowrun, Mutants and Masterminds, In Nomine, Deadlands, All Flesh Must Be Eaten, 7th Sea, Spycraft, Call of Cthulhu, Mage, Werewolf, Vampire, Feng Shui and Storyboard.

Good Omens is also a network of convention Game Masters who work together and help support each other throughout the convention. It exists because a large group of us got really tired of seeing the exact same type of game being played over and over at every single Bay Area gaming convention that we went to. We decided to, instead of just complaining about it, to actually do something about it.

Our GMs’ Gaming Philosophies

Rich Taylor

1. GAMES SHOULD BE FUN: If this is not followed as the primary rule, everything else is for naught.

2. CHARACTERS SHOULD MAKE A DIFFERENCE: Too many convention games lead the players around by the nose. Games with set endings leave the players with little purpose in actually participating.

3. GAMES SHOULD NOT BE ‘DUMBED’ DOWN: Treating players in convention one-shots like they are the ‘special ed’ kids frequently violates rule #1, for both the GM and the players.

4. ALL CHARACTERS SHOULD BE EQUALLY VALUED: Not necessarily equal in power level. In some genres (super-hero games, Buffy, etc.) it goes against type to make all characters equal. But each character should still be equally important and have a useful role to fulfill.

5. JUST BECAUSE IT HASN’T BEEN DONE BEFORE DOESN’T MEAN IT SHOULDN’T BE DONE: Self explanatory.

6. THEREFORE, IT IS POSSIBLE TO RUN FUN, SMART, EXCITING GAMES, AND WE HAVE THE CAPABILITY TO DO THIS.

Mike Bogan

1. Games are meant for the mutual enjoyment of the GM and the players. As with any group activity, though one person usually takes the role of organizer, everyone is responsible for adding to the fun.

2. The Player Characters are the heroes/protagonists, while they shouldn’t be spoon fed, things should be slanted in their favor, or in other words Killer GMs or GMs who make things ultra-realistic to the point of being frustrating, suck.

3. Variety is the spice of life.

Shauna Ratliff

1. It’s all about entertainment.

Kevin Forbes

1. Have a GOOD TIME. If your not having fun then why are you playing? That is a rule that applies to both GMs and players.

2. Be prepared. I’m not saying have a 30 page script written out but in general, know where you start, know where you’re headed, and give some thought to how you might get from start to finish.

3. Be flexible. Nearly 100% guarantee that the players will come up with something you never imagined. Be prepared to shift things around so the players feel their characters are affecting things.

Matt Gaston

1. Make your own fun. Don’t expect the others to entertain you.

2. Let others have fun. Don’t hog all the attention (player), don’t hinder a character’s every move (GM).

3. Help others have fun. Support their efforts to make their own fun.

Erica Schmitt

1. Gaming should be fun.

2. Gaming is a consensual reality of sorts – the GM and players work together to create it. Though it’s the GM’s job to provide conflict, they are not the enemy of the players, nor players the enemy of the GM; they are allies.

3. Draw from what you know, and mix it up. The sci-fi movies you love might make for great jumping off points for horror or even fantasy games, today’s news may be fodder for tomorrow’s game.

4. It’s all fun and games, know when to leave things at the table.