Concrete Cow 13 games

The following games will be offered at the Concrete Cow 13 convention on 9 March 2013. If you have something you'd like to offer, please email concrete-cow-owner@yahoogroups.com. See the Concrete Cow 12½ games page for what was on offer last time.

The Bit.ly link for this page is http://bit.ly/eiw4wQ.

Game Slots

To keep some sense of organisation about the day (ha!), this is the approximate timetable for the day.

Doors open	9.00am
Morning games	10.00am - 1.30pm
Afternoon games	2.30pm - 6.30pm
Evening games	7.30pm - 11.00pm
Close	11.00pm

Allocating games to players is by sign-up sheets on the day, on a first-come-first-served basis. You can download blank sign-up sheets as sign-up sheet (MS Word) or sign-up sheet (PDF).

Note that, depending on circumstances, not all of these games may run on the day.

Send us your game blurbs at concrete-cow-owner@yahoogroups.com and we'll put them here!

(Please add games in alphabetical order)

Blood & Water

This is a game heavily drawing it's inspiration from the TV series Being Human: it's about a small group of outcasts and monsters who find solace and acceptance with each other, but how far can their bonds of friendship be tested before they break? The mechanics push strong friendships into a central role, by assuming that as the defaullt state for all the PCs; drawing on these friendships makes you more likely to succeed at actions, but can put your friends at risk. You can reduce the risk to yourself by breaking your friendship with the one who is endangering you, but this makes you less likely to succeed at your own tasks.

GM: James Mullen

Players: 3 or 4

Slot: Evening

Burning Wheel

Dwarves Against the Apocalypse

A delicate peace exists between the dwarven colony of Gold Boots and the mages of the Scarlet Spires. The construction of their mighty towers on land long promised to the dwarven people and their dark experiments has split the dwarves, many want war but their prince fights for a lasting peace.

The military captain has a plan to convince his prince what must be done. The bomb. Foolproof.

GM: Totally Guy

Players: 4

Slot: Afternoon

Cthulhu Dark

The Way of all Flesh

Something is very wrong with the world. Public order is breaking down and there are regular outbreaks of rioting and looting. New religious movements are springing up to help people make sense of the chaos, but their leaders seem shrill and fanatical. Your sleep is filled with nightmares, and your days seem little better.

In one small neighbourhood in south east London, a group of friends try to give each other strength in these dark days. The people they love are acting strangely, and the atmosphere of the neighbourhood is becoming more bizarre by the day. There is still one ray of hope, though: the carnival will start soon.

GM: Scott Dorward

Players: 4

Slot: Evening

Discworld

Postponing the Apocralypse

As trade and civilisation spread across the Disc, everything flows to Ankh-Morpork - including the best-forgotten cults, half-baked theologies, and wild-eyed priesthoods of things that shouldn't be worshipped. It's at times like this that the Temple of the Small Gods needs a few good beings.

They've got you. You've been told that your team's job is to resolve theological contradictions, calm down cultists before they become crazed, and patch partial pantheons. Oh, and try not to annoy anyone too much in the process.

You reckon that you're up to the job - it's the other four team members you worry about. But hey, all you've got to do is keep a few ancient transcendent entities from trashing the Disc out of petulance. How hard can it be?

(A preview of the new edition of the Discworld RPG, due out later this year.)

GM: Phil Masters

Players: 5

Slot: Afternoon

Durance

On a remote planet far from civilization, the worst criminal scum from a dozen star systems have been dumped, charged with building new lives under the watchful eye of Authority. Within a brutal hierachy of savagery and servility, convicts and guards alike must make hard choices. Every colonist has their own code of conduct and their own aspirations - aspirations that invariably come at the expense of others. This dangerous new world is too small for everyone to succeed. Only the shrewdest, the toughest and the luckiest will get a chance to find out. Will you be among them?

UnGM: Ben "Wraithben" Cole

Additional players: 2-4

Slot: Evening

Fear Itself

The Seventh Circle

Since the dawn of time, mankind has searched for the answer to a question: what happens after death? Seizing any opportunity they can, TV network executives have found numerous ways to make money out of such a search. “The Other Side” is one of Channel 8’s most successful documentary shows. A small team visits supposedly haunted locations and films what happens there when they perform their investigation of the site over a couple of nights. The show has been praised for its scientific approach towards the exploration of supernatural phenomena, which of course they haven’t caught on tape yet. Now, as the second season is drawing to a close, the show has been presented with the chance to perform an investigation like no other they have performed to date...

GM: Matt Sanderson

Players: 4-6

Slot: Afternoon

Forsooth! LIVE!

(NB this one will need a bit of space and will likely be loud)

Forsooth! is a Shakespeare-themed story game in which we create a new play in the style of the great bard. Lovers, duels, fable, witchcraft and all of human emotion are at your disposal. If you love theatre, or literature, or being a complete ham for the amusement of yourself and others, this game is for you.

In Forsooth! LIVE! we'll be taking the game one step further and putting it on its feet! We'll keep the game at the core, but with a bit of larp, a bit of improv and few props, we'll breathe life into the pivotal moments by acting them out. So ideal players should be willing to throw themselves, literally, into their characters.

Author: Sam Liberty & Kevin Spak

UnGM: Epistolary Richard

Additional players: 3-8

Slot: Afternoon

Hot War

Picking the Bones (Cthulhu Mythos setting)

New England, 1938. The projects of the Works Progress Administration have provided employment for many of those left jobless by the Great Depression, building highways, public buildings and infrastructure across the country.

Now a small team from the WPA is assessing a new project. One old settlement on the Massachusetts coast is little more than a wreck, its buildings burned and reduced to rubble. Despite this, a number of people are living theree, in little more than a shanty town. If the team’s assessment is favourable, the WPA can help with this, clearing away the damage of the past and helping to restore Innsmouth to its former glory.

GM: Scott Dorward

Players: 4

Slot: Evening

InSpectres

Play revolves around new franchises of InSpectres inc., a multinational company specialising in supernatural investigations and exterminations. The tone of the game is a mix of Ghostbusters and Buffy, with the emphasis much more on comedy than horror. Where the game differs from most RPGs is that the results of all successful contests are decided by the players, making play unpredictable and very creative.

As the missions are short, you'll probably get through a couple of them in a slot.

GM: Rob Alexander

Additional players: 3-5

Slot: Morning or Evening

Intro to Indie / Story Game Demos

Sample a whole range of classic and cutting edge story games in a single session. There'll be 30 min demos of a variety of indie press GM-less games, some classics, some hot off the press. Players can step in or out of each demo as they desire. Specific games being demoed will be announced closer to the date to ensure there are some of the latest releases. If you're curious about story games or GM-less gaming and want to have a taste of what it's like, then this is a great place to start.

Games will include:

• A Taste for Murder
• Durance
• Fiasco
• Microscope
• Monsterhearts

unGM: Epistolary Richard

Players: Up to 6 players for any one demo

Slot: Morning

Monsterhearts

Mobsterhearts (Mafia Hack of Monsterhearts)

Ever wondered what it would be like to be a teenage monster - and also a member of the mob? Based on the Apocalypse World engine and its Monsterhearts offspring, Mobsterhearts is a narrative rpg game about the messy lives of teenage monsters when they're also mixed up in a life of organised crime. There's nothing the mob hates more than traitors and freaks; so to make it in the Family you'll have to succeed, stay loyal, and silence anyone who suspects your true nature until you can make it to be 'made'.

Mobsterhearts runs with the standard Monsterhearts skins and rules, but with additional mechanics and consequences if you're exposed for what you are. Be wary or be whacked!

GM: Epistolary Richard

Players: 2-3

Slot: Evening

Monsterhearts

Brad promised to take you to the homecoming dance. Now Brad is lying in your bed, naked, with his throat ripped out. You’re pretty sure he’s dead. If you’re lucky, he’ll stay that way.

One of your friends might help you get rid of the body. You’ve done the same for them often enough. Maybe Tyler has a use for the corpse in one of those creepy-ass rituals of his. On second thoughts, you remember what happened last time. Why is nothing ever simple?

But, of course, your real problem is: who’s going to take you to the dance now that you’ve eaten your boyfriend?

The game of teenage monsters and their messy lives.

GM: Scott Dorward

Players: 4

Slot: Afternoon

Mouse Guard

War Stories For Boys

Commando action in WWII Burma using the Mouse Guard system.

GM: Indie Pete

The Next Big Thing

This is a freeformish storytelling game of hard SF and human nature, set in the near future and focused on an important engineering prroject being spearheaded by a group of protagonists portrayed by the players. There is a light mechanical element that enables players to modify one another's actions and to settle disputes over possible outcomes, but the vast bulk of the game is about playing your characters in scenes with each other and with NPCs handled by the moderator.

GM: James Mullen

Players: 3 or 4

Slot: Afternoon

The One Ring

Random game from Gaz

Something random pulled from Evil Gaz's copious bag.

GM: "Evil" Gaz

Players: 4-6

Slot: Morning

Words of the Wise

The scenario takes place in the environs of Mirkwood. A group of travellers have wintered in Rhosgobel and have been invited on a hunt to welcome spring by some of the woodsmen from the area. Who knows what awaits them in the woods?

(This is a published introductory scenario, that will cover the basics of the system within one adventure)

GM: Ben "Wraithben" Cole

Players: 4-6

Slot: Afternoon

Project: Ninja Panda Taco

Try to take over the world! Supervillains compete to win the approval of a group of minions that will help carry out their three step plans to world conquest and beat their rivals.

UnGM: Totally Guy

Players: 3-5

Slot: Evening

The Quiet Year

A GM-less upbeat post-apocalyptic 'world creation' game with strict narrative choices and structured timeline where you generate a map to guide things. This sounds restrictive but it has had well received runs at Indie Meetup and Conception and is from Joe Mcdaldno writer of Monsterhearts, Perfect and Ribbon Drive.

"For a long time, we were at war with The Jackals. But now, we've driven them off, and we have this – a year of relative peace. One quiet year, with which to build our community up and learn once again how to work together. Come Winter, the Frost Shepherds will arrive and we might not survive beyond that. But we don’t know about that yet. What we know is that right now, in this moment, there is an opportunity to build something."

UnGM: Nick Reynolds

Ribbon Drive

Tags: Story telling, GMless, no conflict resolution, small scale stories about normal people, may contain adult themes, needs full player buy in.

Ribbon Drive excels at tight, gritty, testing social interaction between the characters in play. It is about creating a road trip where all of the meat is in the interaction between the characters and not so much about the outside world. This will not be an action adventure chase movie. The game is GMless with full shared narration and needs involved players who want to really explore the relationships between the characters in the car, during the game players will explore the possible future dreams of their characters and decide if they will ever be resolved.

The game is based around the mix tapes/CD's/playlists that you build for long road trips. Feel free to bring your own CD if you've made one (must be a normal CD I'm afraid, I won't have the technology to play playlists on MP3 players or MP3 CD's) but don't feel you have to, I will have plenty of premixed CDs with me.

If you want to make a CD, the suggested mix CD length is 40-80 minutes (i.e. at least 40 minutes and as much as you can fit on a 'normal' CD rather than an MP3 filled one.) From experience that's going to be between 16 and 21 songs. The CD should run with some sort of theme. i.e. Happy Relationships, Suicidal Tendancies, Coming Home, or whatever you fancy rather than just 'here's 20 songs that I like'. The latter could work, but it may make the game run more eclectically than it's intended to. You need to come prepared with a print out of the lyrics for the first two tracks on your CD. That's all the prep you need.

The game will probably fill the whole slot.

Un-GM: Mik Reed

Additional Players: 2-3

Slot: Morning

Marvel Super Heroes Adventure Game (SAGA)

Avengers Assembled: Red Skull At Night

As darkness falls a strange fog rolls into New York City; red as blood and deadly to all who come into contact with it, leaving each victim's face burned and twisted into a gruesome scarlet death-mask. Stranger still are the legions of silent Hydra soldiers who appear like ghosts out of the mist attacking seemingly random civilian targets. Now the Big Apple was only the first target as around the globe the toxic phantoms appear at night to destroy all before them only for the raids to abruptly end each morning, both fog and troops vanishing as the sun rises. As the casualties rise can Earth's Mightiest Heroes find the source of the attacks and the reason behind them? Has Johann Schmidt, the Red Skull, risen from the grave to plague humanity once more?

Set in the Marvel Cinema Universe as a sequel to Avengers Assemble this is a chance to play great Superhero action without having to worry about decades of Comic-Geek continuity.

GM: Matt Nixon

Sci-Fi Beta Kappa

Easter Parade

It's time for the Easter Parade. Yay! Floats, festivities, fun. Surprisingly, Alien House has been allowed to take part this year. So do some research about Terran Easter celebrations, put your thinking caps on and come up with a float that will be the pride of the college. What could possibly go wrong?

I will offer it both morning and afternoon.

GM: Leo M

Players: 3-6

Slot: Morning and Afternoon

Squadron UK

A game in every slot!

• British Superhero Role-playing
• Silver Age Superheroes
• Contemporary British Setting
• Brand new but classic-type game system

"I'm not going to tie myself to an exact scenario. I've got loads to choose from depending upon whether I get new players or a mix. Generally people get to make their own Heroes as part of each session because the character generation is so much bloody fun (though I do say so myself)."

GM: Simon Burley

Trail of Cthulhu

Cerulean Aureola

Early 1938, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt is planning a return visit to Clipperton Island in the eastern Pacific as part of a cruise around various islands known for their unusual wildlife. The White House is looking for a member of the academic community to join the cruise to complement their staff. The Miskatonic University, hoping to sway the offer in their favour, is planning a preliminary investigation of Clipperton to whet the Presidents appetite for more. A week sailing to a coral atoll, hundreds of miles of land, a few days to perform their survey, and a week back... Sounds simple enough.

GM: Matt Sanderson

Players: 4-6

Slot: Morning

World Of Darkness

Walking Corpses

It’s been two days since the world went to hell. Two days since the dead started to walk. Two days you've been huddled in this church in west Chicago hoping it was all a dream, hoping that your loved ones are safe. You've just heard over the radio about the 'Safe Zones' the government is setting up, but Rochester's 350 miles away, then the banging started at the door...

GM: Somva

Players: 6

Slot: Afternoon

Yggdrasill

Adventure with the heroes of the north.

Omens

It is a dark and stormy night; rain lashes down on Jarl Gandalv Ulfarson's hall. Thankfully you are gathered inside, though given the dark look on your Jarl's face that may not be so good. Maybe the worst of the Scandinavian weather would have been better...

The Jarl's son is due to get married and his betrothed is late. Guess who's getting volunteered to go find out what has become of her... any brave souls out there? For it's a dangerous world out there.

GM: Mark "Mist77"

Slot: Morning or Afternoon, depending what there is to play when Mark arrives.