Games played in 2018

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Block 5: 4 December 2018 – 5 February 2019

Dead of Winter

Continuation of Offical playtest. play testing a new campaign for Call of Cthulhu set in 1930s Russia. New players welcome should finish in 2 or 3 sessions.

If we finish early will run a short Cthulhu ivictus or Gaslight era game.

Game Details

  • System: Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition
  • Players: 3-5
  • GM: Matt Nott

The Court of the Raven King

In 1812, in the most ancient and auspiciously considered City of York, there existed a group of worthies whose task it was to make agreeable the wild and outrageous lords, ladies and louts of the underworlde. This council learned as they were could scarce be considered friends, that is to say that not one member could ever quite agree with another on any subject and were given over to find great pleasure in the discovery of new things to disagree upon.

Each had the wretched or esteemed fortune to have been chosen for their respective post by their peers in factions of the worlds spiritual and temporal. The Darkened company of the Praedator, The Folk of the Grey, The Magisters of the Arcane and the Ranks of the Warm blooded.

Theirs was a dangerous and naught envied task. To shew no fear before dragons, or to calm the unquiet dead or mayhaps to solve the strange matters that cause a faerie to quarrel with a wizard. But who else has the authority? None in all of Yorkshire it is said, and even less abroad.

I tell you this tale because, in the manner of a parlour game, you are cordially invited to take part in a recreation of their antics for mutual entertainment! I myself shall act as narrator in the game known as Urban Shadows with its unseemly modern elements removed. I invite a quartet of ladies and gentlemen from our esteemed role playing society to join me in the jape.

Game Details

  • GM : Robin Poole
  • System : Urban Shadows
  • Players : 4
  • Tags : Urban Fantasy, Horror, Napoleonic era, Viking Folk, Yorkshire Foklore Ungentlemanly Conduct, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrel, Monsters, Corsets and Curses

Return to the Islands of Purple-Haunted Putrescence

I first ran this two years ago. The players fell in love with a robot that could only make pistachio ice cream. They defeated a gang of lizard riding barbarians, taking the leader's penis and nailing it to a plaque on a pub wall (and programming it flop around and "sing" like those tacky singing bass things). They defeated a team of robotic ninjas and reprogrammed them into a singing barbershop quartet. They reset the world several times, and eventually broke reality after coming head to head with the writer of the campaign-setting in a bizarre fourth wall break.

It's tacky weird science-fantasy romp in a world filled with monkeys firing lazer pistols from the backs of pterodactyls, mad wizards enslaving anyone they can find, impossibly shaped heroes doing great feats of stupidity in the name of justice... just lots of silliness and gonzo humour. For visual inspiration, go YouTube "Heavy Metal 2000".

The plot/goal is "survive, as you fall-forward from one chaotic scene to the next". The erratic nature of the game would also suit players who are worried they can't make every week. As a note, I am starting a new job and as such there may be sessions I have to cancel but I will try and avoid this where possible.

Note: This has lots of mature (and immature) content, 18+.

Game Details

Horror on the Orient Express

Continued from the previous block.

MAN DIES THREE TIMES IN ONE NIGHT!

A puzzling headline begins a front-page article found in the Times of London. Three men, all identical in identification, were found dead in the same room of the Chelsea Arms Hotel. All were dispatched in a similar manner stabbed through the heart.

Then the home of a valued friend burns to the ground, severely injuring him in the process. An odd summons, a surreptitious meeting, and a thousand-mile journey begins on the legendary rail service carrying the investigators to Constantinople, the Gateway of the Orient.

Horror on the Orient Express is one of the legendary Call of Cthulhu campaigns. It contains up to nineteen adventures spanning several eras. The majority of the story takes place in the 1920s, with a number of optional scenarios occurring in different eras. The main campaign sees the investigators journey to Paris and thence to the ancient city of Constantinople. With luck, they also return home.

This adventure ran at the club some years ago, and took around 18 months to complete (without many of the optional modules). I don't expect players to have to commit to the whole campaign - as the story follows the rail route across Europe a player who misses part of the story can easily rejoin - if they don't mind missing out on the plot, of course!

Game details

  • Rules System: Call of Cthulhu 7th
  • Players: 4–6
  • GM: Amy Hewitt

Terra Incognita

Worse things happen at sea... This game is continuing from the current block, as we join the crew of the HMS Venture on their historic voyage of discovery. Returning Shipmates will naturally have priority.
“They stand before the rising tide, and in the bitter sway,
Light lamps to guide them home again, who’ve sailed so far away,
And watch and wait for those who’ve sailed beyond the sight of land.
And never now shall come again, to that familiar strand.”
— “Requiem for lost Mariners”

Since time immemorial the exotic cargoes of the Orient have been transported along the winding “silk roads”, a perilous route across five thousand miles of desert and wilderness, through a dozen petty kingdoms, and an empire where the use of magic is punishable by death.

The great trading houses of the Utter East have long offered a lucrative contract to any nation, guild, or merchant company who could chart a shorter maritime route. However, the western ocean has remained a perilous frontier. There has never been a reliable method of measuring longitude from the deck of a moving ship and so no one who set out on such a voyage has ever succeeded.

You are the officers and crew of the HMS Venture. For years you have patrolled the coast, dealing with smugglers, wreckers, and the occasional privateer. Now your nation’s wizards believe that they have solved the “longitude problem” and a crew is being assembled to sail beyond the edges of the map, to explore strange new lands, seek out new civilisations, and attempt the circumnavigation of the world.

Dare you embark on a mission of exploration the likes of which the world has never seen? After all… here there be dragons…

This will be a swashbuckling adventure of exploration on the high seas. I will have lots of maps, you will have a tall ship, and a star to steer by. Exactly what happens will depend on which course you chart, and how well you navigate. Expect to encounter; storms, pirates, islands, sea monsters, pirates, sextants, and probably more pirates. I suspect that this game will run for a couple of blocks. As tempting as "Around the World in Eightis Weeks" would have been as a title, it will take a bit longer.

Game Details

  • System: Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition.
  • Players: 2-6
  • GM: Alex Barrett
  • This game is running outside the club, to reduce pressure on the venue's space.

Hoard of the Dragon Queen

It started off in the town Greenest and it is under attack by mercenaries, kobalds and a dragon, they're murdering and robbing the townspeople, usual bad guy stuff.

The adventure has started but it's still in chapter 1.

We have a laugh and don't take it to seriously to be warned. The group also likes combat so I try and focus on that whilst still progressing with the story.

Spoilers ahead: Dragons will be featured and the main big bad group is the cult of the dragon which you will be following across the sword Coast trying to prevent an ancient ritual

Game Details

Block 4: 18 September – 6 November 2018

Scion - The Tides of Revelation

Welcome to The World, a modern universe like our own, people still post on Facebook, look thing up on google and travel around in cars, the one difference, in The World the old gods never went away, monotheism rose, the Pope still lives in the Vatican but equally the High priest of Athena still holds sacrifices at the Parthenon in Athens. The reason for this are Scions the children of the gods, half mortal and half divine, many of them exist, only a few of them ever learn of their heritage, and even less fulfil their destinies. The players will be the unacknowledged children of gods, not that they know that, who find themselves drawn to the small Californian town of Revelation where they will start to discover the truth of where they have come from and where possibly they may be going

Game Details

  • System: Scion
  • Players: 4-6
  • GM: Jon Carter

Horror on the Orient Express

Continued from the previous block.

MAN DIES THREE TIMES IN ONE NIGHT!

A puzzling headline begins a front-page article found in the Times of London. Three men, all identical in identification, were found dead in the same room of the Chelsea Arms Hotel. All were dispatched in a similar manner stabbed through the heart.

Then the home of a valued friend burns to the ground, severely injuring him in the process. An odd summons, a surreptitious meeting, and a thousand-mile journey begins on the legendary rail service carrying the investigators to Constantinople, the Gateway of the Orient.

Horror on the Orient Express is one of the legendary Call of Cthulhu campaigns. It contains up to nineteen adventures spanning several eras. The majority of the story takes place in the 1920s, with a number of optional scenarios occurring in different eras. The main campaign sees the investigators journey to Paris and thence to the ancient city of Constantinople. With luck, they also return home.

This adventure ran at the club some years ago, and took around 18 months to complete (without many of the optional modules). I don't expect players to have to commit to the whole campaign - as the story follows the rail route across Europe a player who misses part of the story can easily rejoin - if they don't mind missing out on the plot, of course!

Game details

  • Rules System: Call of Cthulhu 7th
  • Players: 4–6
  • GM: Amy Hewitt

Terra Incognita

Worse things happen at sea... This game is continuing from the current block, as we join the crew of the HMS Venture on their historic voyage of discovery. Returning Shipmates will naturally have priority.

“They stand before the rising tide, and in the bitter sway,

Light lamps to guide them home again, who’ve sailed so far away,

And watch and wait for those who’ve sailed beyond the sight of land.

And never now shall come again, to that familiar strand.”

“Requiem for lost Mariners”

Since time immemorial the exotic cargoes of the Orient have been transported along the winding “silk roads”, a perilous route across five thousand miles of desert and wilderness, through a dozen petty kingdoms, and an empire where the use of magic is punishable by death.

The great trading houses of the Utter East have long offered a lucrative contract to any nation, guild, or merchant company who could chart a shorter maritime route. However, the western ocean has remained a perilous frontier. There has never been a reliable method of measuring longitude from the deck of a moving ship and so no one who set out on such a voyage has ever succeeded.

You are the officers and crew of the HMS Venture. For years you have patrolled the coast, dealing with smugglers, wreckers, and the occasional privateer. Now your nation’s wizards believe that they have solved the “longitude problem” and a crew is being assembled to sail beyond the edges of the map, to explore strange new lands, seek out new civilisations, and attempt the circumnavigation of the world.

Dare you embark on a mission of exploration the likes of which the world has never seen? After all… here there be dragons…

This will be a swashbuckling adventure of exploration on the high seas. I will have lots of maps, you will have a tall ship, and a star to steer by. Exactly what happens will depend on which course you chart, and how well you navigate. Expect to encounter; storms, pirates, islands, sea monsters, pirates, sextants, and probably more pirates. I suspect that this game will run for a couple of blocks. As tempting as "Around the World in Eightis Weeks" would have been as a title, it will take a bit longer.

Game Details

  • System: Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition.
  • Players: 2-6
  • GM: Alex Barrett

Dragon's Hoard

“When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die.”

Even years after the fall of House Targaryen, their legacy is not forgotten. When a band of ruffians bound for the Wall seek shelter for the night, one of them reveals a secret that sparks a quest across Westeros and even the Narrow Sea to Braavos, seeking the clues to reveal the location of untold riches: part of the Targaryen treasury, spirited away in the final days of Robert's Rebellion! But our heroes are not the only ones seeking the lost dragon's hoard, and their rivals will stop at nothing to beat them to it and claim it for themselves. In the end will it be riches…or ruin?

Players will be a part of the same House, created during character creation. The Quickstart rules will give you an idea of how the system works, which can be found here: [1]

Warning: This could, on paper, span multiple blocks but we can review during the block if the preference is to have it run one block after the other, or to allow breaks between.

Game Details

  • System: A Song of Ice and Fire: Game of Thrones Edition
  • Players: 3-5
  • GM: Oli Palmer

Dead of Winter

Cant say much about this as I don't know the details myself. All I know is we will be play testing a new campaign for Call of Cthulhu set in 1930s Russia.

Game Details

  • System: Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition
  • Players: 3-5
  • GM: Matt Nott

Maze of the Blue Medusa

It's a D&D-style game

  • System: Lamenations of the Flame Princess
  • Players: up to 6
  • GM: Paul Fricker

The Watch

Winner of the most recent Indie RPG Game of the Year award

Four months ago, The Shadow attacked without warning, overwhelming the border clans with superior numbers and the unnatural strength of the Shadow-held. Accustomed to dealing with raiders, the border clans initially attempted to fight back, but the men of the clans were too susceptible to the call of the Shadow; during those early desperate battles, most men turned against the clans, swelling the ranks of the Shadow’s army.

The chaos that resulted almost shattered the clans. News of the Shadow created new feuds and fanned the flame of old hatreds. But ultimately, as the Shadow’s army pushed further and further into clan lands, clan divisions were set aside in the name of survival. It was clear that if the clans were to remain free of the Shadow’s taint, they would have to stand together.

You are a soldier of the Watch, tasked with defending the new border and reclaiming the land taken by the Shadow. You have lost so much in a short time—clan, custom, land, and loved ones—that it sometimes leaves you breathless. You stand together with your comrades-in-arms in defence of the people, but though the clans were dissolved the old fault lines are always there, just below the surface. The Shadow seeps into those fault lines, hoping to shatter the strength of the people once more.

Only women are in the Watch: the few surviving men are too valuable and too susceptible to risk in the fight.

This is a game of heroic people, stepping up to an unequal fight against an overwhelming supernatural enemy. The focus of the game will be on the spaces between missions, where people heal, recover, and let off steam after a mission, and prepare for the next one. Rivalries between Watch members, whether because of clan loyalty or purely personal, are never far from spilling over. The effects of the war are tracked by ratings in Harm, Camaraderie, Weariness, and Jaded; as PCs become Jaded, they become more powerful but more susceptible to the Shadow.

We'll define the details of the Shadow (and what it does to its victims) in the first session.

(Yes, it is a bit similar to Night Witches, but The Watch seems to have much better support for making the game interesting between the various missions. I have much higher hopes of this game going well.)

Same page description

  • Who prepares the story? The GM has an outline of a progressing series of Missions which will drive things forward. Within that structure, PCs and NPCs just do what seems right at that moment. This might or might not lead to a good story.
  • What can players contribute to the story/setting? Their character's thoughts, actions, and backstory, plus story bits when a Move requiers it.
  • The rules will be: followed, come what may.
  • Player characters are: expected to work together. Major conflicts might erupt and never see reconcilation.
  • How brutal is the game? Whenever I miss a roll – and sometimes even when I make it – I want the situation to escalate.
  • Doing the smartest thing for your character's survival: sometimes isn't as important as other choices.
  • After many sessions of play, during one session, a player decides to have her character side with an enemy. This is: a meaningful moment, powerful and an example of excellent play. It's also where the character becomes an NPC, right away or fairly soon.

Session writeups

Brief session writeups are on another page.

Game Details

  • System: The Watch (Powered by the Apocalypse)
  • Players: 3–5
  • GM: Neil Smith
  • Note: the game is likely to involve issues of gender and sexuality; exeryone's expected to handle it with maturity.

Untitled D&D

An improvised campaign of D&D 5e to cope with an influx of new members.

Game Details

Block 3: 3 July – 21 August 2018

Horror on the Orient Express

Continued from the previous block.

MAN DIES THREE TIMES IN ONE NIGHT!

A puzzling headline begins a front-page article found in the Times of London. Three men, all identical in identification, were found dead in the same room of the Chelsea Arms Hotel. All were dispatched in a similar manner stabbed through the heart.

Then the home of a valued friend burns to the ground, severely injuring him in the process. An odd summons, a surreptitious meeting, and a thousand-mile journey begins on the legendary rail service carrying the investigators to Constantinople, the Gateway of the Orient.

Horror on the Orient Express is one of the legendary Call of Cthulhu campaigns. It contains up to nineteen adventures spanning several eras. The majority of the story takes place in the 1920s, with a number of optional scenarios occurring in different eras. The main campaign sees the investigators journey to Paris and thence to the ancient city of Constantinople. With luck, they also return home.

This adventure ran at the club some years ago, and took around 18 months to complete (without many of the optional modules). I don't expect players to have to commit to the whole campaign - as the story follows the rail route across Europe a player who misses part of the story can easily rejoin - if they don't mind missing out on the plot, of course!

Game details

  • Rules System: Call of Cthulhu 7th
  • Players: 4–6
  • GM: Amy Hewitt

Terra Incognita

“They stand before the rising tide, and in the bitter sway,

Light lamps to guide them home again, who’ve sailed so far away,

And watch and wait for those who’ve sailed beyond the sight of land.

And never now shall come again, to that familiar strand.”

“Requiem for lost Mariners”

Since time immemorial the exotic cargoes of the Orient have been transported along the winding “silk roads”, a perilous route across five thousand miles of desert and wilderness, through a dozen petty kingdoms, and an empire where the use of magic is punishable by death.

The great trading houses of the Utter East have long offered a lucrative contract to any nation, guild, or merchant company who could chart a shorter maritime route. However, the western ocean has remained a perilous frontier. There has never been a reliable method of measuring longitude from the deck of a moving ship and so no one who set out on such a voyage has ever succeeded.

You are the officers and crew of the HMS Venture. For years you have patrolled the coast, dealing with smugglers, wreckers, and the occasional privateer. Now your nation’s wizards believe that they have solved the “longitude problem” and a crew is being assembled to sail beyond the edges of the map, to explore strange new lands, seek out new civilisations, and attempt the circumnavigation of the world.

Dare you embark on a mission of exploration the likes of which the world has never seen? After all… here there be dragons…

This will be a swashbuckling adventure of exploration on the high seas. I will have lots of maps, you will have a tall ship, and a star to steer by. Exactly what happens will depend on which course you chart, and how well you navigate. Expect to encounter; storms, pirates, islands, sea monsters, pirates, sextants, and probably more pirates. I suspect that this game will run for a couple of blocks. As tempting as "Around the World in Eightis Weeks" would have been as a title, it will take a bit longer.

Game Details

  • System: Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition.
  • Players: 2-6
  • GM: Alex Barrett

May You Live in Interesting Times

“Murder was in fact a fairly uncommon event in Ankh-Morpork, but there were a lot of suicides. Walking in the night-time alleyways of The Shades was suicide. Asking for a short in a dwarf bar was suicide. Saying 'Got rocks in your head?' to a troll was suicide. You could commit suicide very easily, if you weren't careful.”

You live in Ankh-Morpork, relatively fresh into your chosen career. A young wizard, an eager guardsman, a person of negotiable affection... the possibilities are endless in the city known as the Big Wahoonie! Meanwhile however, an old dear has opened up a small restaurant in the Shades; a sinister dark part of the city where curiosity didn't just kill the cat, it threw it in the river with lead weights tied to its feet. Theres a lot of drama revolving around this little eatery, and for some reason lots of people seem to want to involve you!

The system is crunchier than a very crunchy thing. In its essence however nearly every roll boils down to "roll 3d6 and try get under your skill number" so we'll work together to find a happy medium. Due to the depth of the system Im working under the assumption that while the planned adventures should wrap up in the 8 weeks I'd like to return to the Disc in future long blocks (though not consecutively, got to have a break!) so time spent in character creation will be worth it.

The setting is Terry Pratchett's book series Discworld: knowledge of the setting is not required but it would admittedly be helpful . Generally its a fantasy medieval setting with a few specific technological advancements, sprinkled with a dash of 'British humour' - its played light heatedly with plenty of dry humour and sarcasm. If you want a quick visual primer, please watch this trailer.

Game Details

  • System: Discworld GURPS 4e
  • Players: 4-6
  • GM: Oli Palmer

War of the Lords

The world seems so dark and unclear. Things start coming back to you. Your childhood, your life, your memories...

The last thing you remember is being in the middle of a big fight as part of the "War of the Lords" as it had been called by the citizens of the world.

You open your eyes, looking straight up into the sky. Everything is spinning as if a strong force has knocked you from your feet. Was it a spell you failed to dodge or an attack from something or someone ... ? You can't seem to recall. None of that matters now. Instinct kicks in and you rise to your feet, armor still weighing heavily on your body. Your eyes start to focus and you see your weapon at your feet. The sound of battle is still echoing around you.

You stand up straight and the first thing you notice is the wall of dirt surrounding you.

"I must've fallen into a ditch..."

The light of the moon illuminates a stone which appears to have some inscription. It's a tomb stone with your name on it! You scramble out of your grave but nearly fall back in as you see an army of Undead walking towards a hill just a stone's throw away. Atop the hill there is a man mounted on a horse, pointing his sword in the direction that the undead army is marching.

Why are the undead not attacking you? How did you not notice it before now? The stench of death eminates from your body...

"My god... I'm undead!"

I have run this campaign previously at the club for the longer standing members. So hopefully by rerunning it I will have learnt from the last time and I'm a better GM now I'm older and wiser.

Game Details

  • System: Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition.
  • Players: 4-6
  • GM: Andrew Terrell

Masks: A New Generation

A giant robot is smashing down Main Street Your best friend tried to kiss you Your mum thinks your grades need work Your mentor thinks your team is bringing you down Oh, and your costume is ripped! Just another day in Halycon City.

Masks is a Superhero roleplaying game, withe nonsense and ridiculousness. Focus is placed on heroes backgrounds and personalities, limitations and complications. This is aimed to be partly player led, with the stories being driven by the character's backstories.

Game Details

  • System: Masks
  • Number of players: 4-6
  • GM: Kieran Magill

Block 2: 17 April – 05 June 2018

Horror on the Orient Express

Continued from the previous block.

MAN DIES THREE TIMES IN ONE NIGHT!

A puzzling headline begins a front-page article found in the Times of London. Three men, all identical in identification, were found dead in the same room of the Chelsea Arms Hotel. All were dispatched in a similar manner stabbed through the heart.

Then the home of a valued friend burns to the ground, severely injuring him in the process. An odd summons, a surreptitious meeting, and a thousand-mile journey begins on the legendary rail service carrying the investigators to Constantinople, the Gateway of the Orient.

Horror on the Orient Express is one of the legendary Call of Cthulhu campaigns. It contains up to nineteen adventures spanning several eras. The majority of the story takes place in the 1920s, with a number of optional scenarios occurring in different eras. The main campaign sees the investigators journey to Paris and thence to the ancient city of Constantinople. With luck, they also return home.

This adventure ran at the club some years ago, and took around 18 months to complete (without many of the optional modules). I don't expect players to have to commit to the whole campaign - as the story follows the rail route across Europe a player who misses part of the story can easily rejoin - if they don't mind missing out on the plot, of course!

Game details

  • Rules System: Call of Cthulhu 7th
  • Players: 4–6
  • GM: Amy Hewitt

A Red and Pleasant Land

Some women, some men and most children know that dreams leak. A lifetime of thinking it that way in your sleep can make a drawer on a drafting table three or four inches wider on a side. But there are longer lives than ours. And longer dreams.

There is a Red King, and he is terrible and he is tall. He wears a red crown. The long red years have made him strange and he hides from the sun, sleeping, his strange dreams making unseen days stranger. Sleeping, he dreams of ruin and of distortion— of an Antiland, reversed and red. When he opens his red eyes in the red night there is his red land: it is inverted, rigid, and wrong.

There is a cruel Heart Queen: she is in a different castle and she is on a different mountain and she sleeps in a different wooden box but she is also hiding and dreaming. She dreams into being a world unending, unbeginning, with wonder and murder, disruption and unreason. And melancholy green gardens. And it is there now. And hers.

Their home is called Voivodja but it has other names now: The Land the Gods Refuse To See. Zeu Orb. Orb Dumnezeu. Isten Vak. The Place of Unreason.

Players will be entering this crazy land to rescue a girl called Alice, but how they choose to achieve this is up to them. The setting borrows heavily from the madness of Alice in Wonderland, twisted in its logic and sanity - this is not your typical fantasy mythical-europe setting. We will be using Lamentations of the Flame Princess for the system with one or two additional house rules in place. LotFP is an OSR title and as such the system is very easy to pick up - no previous experience required.

Game details

We Are A Justice Sandwich!

I am mighty! I have a glow you cannot see! I have a heart as big as the moon-as warm as bathwater! We are superheroes man, we don't have time to be charming! The boots of evil were made for walkin'! We know the big picture, friend. We know the score. We are a public service, not glamor boys! Not captains of industry, not makers of things. Keep your vulgar moneys, we are a justice sandwich-no toppings necessary! Living rooms of America, do you catch my drift? Do you dig?

Superhero nonsense inspired by The Tick comic books and cartoon - with only the most ridiculous heros and villains allowed. Canon characters from the series may make an appearance. Face Dinosaur Neil, Chairface Chippendale, The Breadmaster and Eastern Bloc Robot Cowboy.

Masks is a system that supports all manner of super powers, but focusses much on a heros background, limitations and complications during the action. The adventure will be player led to an extent, with villains and situations based on your characters own backstories and history.

Game Details

  • System: Masks
  • Number of Players : 3-5
  • GM: Robin Poole

Quest for the King II: Return of the King

You ventured down into the tunnels beneath the Mountains of Nuh into the treacherous depths of the Iron Mines, avoiding the Drow, tendrilous monsters, and rocky pitfalls in search of King Avamere of Spall. The Queen is dying of a mysterious illness, and treachery lies at the heart of Spall. You must return the King from the frontlines of war to root out the source of this disease!

The Last Story...

Leading his armies against invaders from the west, King Avamere of Spall has pushed further into enemy territory, and further away from home. Left to rule in his stead, Queen Orelia of Spall has been afflicted with a terrible illness that slowly ebbs her life away. As Knights of Spall, the Queen has ordered you to head west in search of the King's army - both to warn him of this evil plot, and to summon him home before it is too late.

Last known to be beyond the western border of Spall, the King's armies are weeks away following their trail of battle. In order to reach him in time you will need to take a more direct route, be it cutting across the Blackmire, striking fearlessly into the Mountains of Nuh, or treading lightly into the ancient Dwarfhold of Gardin. Will you be able to reach the King, and bring him home before it is too late?

Setting

The Quest for the King is in your hands! The party must decide their route through the world, deciding betweens routes that are fast but perilous, or safe but slow. All characters are sworn Knights of Spall with an oath of duty and honour to the land and its people. Along the way there will be trials beyond forging a path, testing your commitment to the King, and your commitment to the People.

Characters are 5th level, standard array, with any mundane starting equipment you desire. A half-page backstory and character avatar will provide further bonuses that may prove vital on your journey.

Details

Bequest of the Hummingbird

Summary:

The airship Hummingbird has crashed on the nearby sky island of Feniveer. Captain Jaro-Jan and his crew perished in the crash. Jaro-Jan had no family, and granted his crew legal ownership of The Hummingbird upon his death. As the crew of The Hummingbird also perished in the crash, now those named in their wills now have ownership of The Hummingbird. Your father/mother was a crew member of The Hummingbird and you now find yourself owning an airship. All you need to do is retrieve it from the crash site on Feniveer, repair it, and bring it home. Simple right?

Details

  • System: D&D 5e
  • Number of players 1+
  • GM: John Holton

The Lucani Gambit

The Principality of Lucani is in revolt, with armed gangs of peasants roving the streets of the capital, L’Aquila. Who is behind it? Is the Contarini family, treasury stuffed from commerce, making a play for the Crown? Is this a veiled attack on the principality by neighbouring Villanova? Is it just a peasant revolt? Are Castillian refugees agitating to stir things up? And how is the powerful Principality of Bernoulli positioning to take advantage of the turmoil?

As trusted agents of Prince Michele Lucani, you have been tasked to get to the bottom of things, and quell the revolt. Have at it!

Seventh Sea is a swashbuckling game of adventure. Expect daring stunts, chilling intrigue, passionate romace, and more thrills in this adventure. PC's are capital-H Heroes, baddies are capital-V Villains; there are few shades of grey. Much of game will be driven by player-authored Stories, together with the plots of various Villains involved with… the Lucani Gambit!

Same page description

  • Who prepares the story? The GM prepares an overall story and goals for their NPCs. The players prepare goals for their PCs. Everyone pursues their goals.
  • What can players contribute to the story/setting? Their character's thoughts, actions, and backstory, plus story bits when they spend a resource (such as whimsy cards or hero points) or define a Story for their PC.
  • The rules will be: followed, come what may.
  • Player characters are: expected to work together. Major conflicts might erupt but you'll patch them up given some time.
  • How brutal is the game? Whenever I miss a roll – and sometimes even when I make it – I want the situation to escalate.
  • Doing the smartest thing for your character's survival: generally isn't a concern or focus for this game.
  • After many sessions of play, during one session, a player decides to have her character side with an enemy. This is: only going to last until the other player characters find out and do something about it.

Game Details

  • System: 7th Sea (2ed)
  • Number of players 3–5
  • GM: Neil Smith

In the Shadow of the Pyramids

Saqqara, Egypt, 1932 AD:

A telegram from your most bitter rival has summoned you to the land of the pharaohs. You have always been drawn to the mysteries of Egypt, and so are eager to find out what Dr Schroder has uncovered beneath the sands, and why he would ask for your help.

Memphis, Egypt, 1797 BC:

The Pharaoh of Egypt has been assassinated. Was it a Canaanite spy, or a sinister conspiracy within the court itself? You are loyal servants of the crown, and it is your duty to find out who killed your monarch, and see that they pay for their crimes.

These two stories will weave together across the ages, as your actions in ancient Egypt influence your archaeological investigations in the 20th century. Dark forces are stirring beneath the sands of Egypt, and the fate of the world may soon be decided in the shadow of the pyramids…

Each player will portray two characters, in different periods of history. We will then alternate between their stories, as the modern characters learn more about events in the past.

Game Details

  • GM: Alex Barrett
  • System: Call of Cthulhu/ Cthulhu Invictus
  • Players: 3-6

Block 1: 30 January – 20 March 2018

Burnt Offerings

A continuation from the previous block.

After a tragic fire and spate of brutal murders, the people of Sandpoint eagerly anticipate the Swallowtail Festival to commemorate the consecration of the town’s new temple. At the height of the ceremony, disaster strikes!

In the days that follow, a sinister shadow settles over Sandpoint. Rumors of goblin armies and wrathful monsters in forgotten ruins have set the populace on edge. As Sandpoint’s newest heroes, the PCs must deal with treachery, goblins, and the rising threat of a forgotten empire whose cruel and despotic rulers might not be as dead as history records.

Game details

Death in Pavin

For decades, refugees have braved the treacherous Ice-Binder Mountains to Aldis, to escape the horrors of the Shadow-land of Kern. Three years ago, Jaellin, Queen of Aldis, assassinated the Lich-king of Kern to stop his latest war. Since then, many more have fled Kern, seeking sanctuary from Kern's descent into utter anarchy. They settle in Aldis's northern forests in the Pavin Weald.
But some of those who cross are not refugees, but agents of the Lich-king's lieutenants, aiming to bring down the noble and tolerant Kingdom of Aldis from the inside. You are all notable people in the town on Ennevan, on the frontier of the Pavin Weald and its forbidding forests. Your latest problem surrounds Izlisar Torran, daughter of Mayor Annian, who's run off with her boyfriend, the Kernish exile Yordithas, in fear of their lives from Annian.

This will be a player-led game. There will be a situation that unfolds around the characters, but each PC will have their own agenda, kicked off by something (written by the player) that overturns their personal status quo.

Blue Rose is a "romantic fantasy" game; as far as I can tell, "romantic fantasy" covers all of fantasy apart from the bits best described as "grimdark" and "murderhobo". It's a game where characters will have connections to other people, and those connections and communities are probably the most important feature of the characters.

Same page description

  • Who prepares the story? The players prepare long-term goals for their characters. But no-one plans anything. PCs and NPCs just do what seems right at that moment. This might or might not lead to a good story.
  • What can players contribute to the story/setting? Their character's thoughts, actions, and backstory; everything else is owned by the GM.
  • The rules will be: followed, come what may.
  • Player characters are: pursuing their own agendas. They might work together, they might work against each other.
  • How brutal is the game? Don't hurt my character without warning. Tell me what the consequences of failure could be and let me back out if I don't like it.
  • Doing the smartest thing for your character's survival: sometimes isn't as important as other choices.
  • After many sessions of play, during one session, a player decides to have her character side with an enemy. This is: a meaningful moment, powerful and an example of excellent play.

Game details

  • Rules System: Blue Rose
  • Players: 3–5
  • GM: Neil Smith

Horror on the Orient Express

MAN DIES THREE TIMES IN ONE NIGHT!

A puzzling headline begins a front-page article found in the Times of London. Three men, all identical in identification, were found dead in the same room of the Chelsea Arms Hotel. All were dispatched in a similar manner stabbed through the heart.

Then the home of a valued friend burns to the ground, severely injuring him in the process. An odd summons, a surreptitious meeting, and a thousand-mile journey begins on the legendary rail service carrying the investigators to Constantinople, the Gateway of the Orient.

Horror on the Orient Express is one of the legendary Call of Cthulhu campaigns. It contains up to nineteen adventures spanning several eras. The majority of the story takes place in the 1920s, with a number of optional scenarios occurring in different eras. The main campaign sees the investigators journey to Paris and thence to the ancient city of Constantinople. With luck, they also return home.

This adventure ran at the club some years ago, and took around 18 months to complete (without many of the optional modules). I don't expect players to have to commit to the whole campaign - as the story follows the rail route across Europe a player who misses part of the story can easily rejoin - if they don't mind missing out on the plot, of course!

Game details

  • Rules System: Call of Cthulhu 7th
  • Players: 4–6
  • Proposed by: Amy Hewitt

The Enemy Within

This is the classic Warhammer campaign. From humble beginnings, Adventurers will rise to encounter Princes and Dukes of the The Empire in an attempt to uncover corruption and betrayal — if they survive

And at the appointed time we shall rise from our secret places and throw down the towns and cities of The Empire. Our brethren shall pour forth from the forests to slay and burn. Chaos will cover the land and we, the chosen servants, shall be exalted in HIS eyes.
Hail to Tzeentch, Changer of the Ways - Njawrr'thakh 'Lzimbarr Tzeentch'
Excerpt from The Book of Transmutation

The Empire, greatest land in the Old World, is under attack, not from enemies on its borders but from within. Lurking within the tangled depths of the vast forests are mutants, beastmen and even the occasional dreaded Chaos Warrior. From time to time, these groups run amok, slaying and burning until their bestial appetites are sated with the blood and suffering of their victims. Mostly, though, they wait for the day when they shall pour out of the forests to burn the cities and claim The Empire for Chaos. According to various omens, that day is coming...

Game details

  • Rule System: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (2nd Edition)
  • Players: 4–6
  • GM: Paul W

USS ORION (NCC 5289)

These are the Voyages...

Orion.jpeg

Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Orion. Its mission: to seek out new life, and new civilisations, to boldly go where no-one has gone before!

Setting

Set between stardate 50893.5 (First Contact) and 56844.9 (Nemesis), players will take command of their very own starship. Each week will be one Star Trek episode, with a foe, challenge, or obstacle determined by the group. So long as it fits in the theme and world of Star Trek, it is fair game! Perhaps you want to make contact with a new species, encounter a hostile alien ship, or take a break in the holodeck.

The USS Orion (NCC 5289) is an Akira class Federation starship, freash off the production line at Utopia Planetia Fleet Yards. With a new ship comes a new crew, and there are sure to be many flaws and hitches to be ironed out during its shakedown cruise and maiden voyage.

Players will take command as senior officers.

System

DramaSystem is a highly narrative, character focused system that puts the players in control of what happens on screen! What happens, who it happens to, and how it ends, is all in the control of the group as you narrate your adventures through the alpha quadrant. It's not all easy sailing, however - the real drama comes from your interactions with other players and NPCs, each who have their own goals and desires.

Anyone interested in dipping their toes into a highly narrative, rules light system, should consider playing!

DramaSystem is heavily reliant on the players. If you feel you won't be able to attend most weeks reliably, please consider not signing up to play as it will impact the game negatively for the other players!

Game details

The Meat Trade

London, 1941.

The inevitable air raid has come early today and you've been caught on the hop. Public shelters are grim at the best of times, with no running water or lavatories, forcing you to bed down with a bunch of strangers. You can't choose who you're shut in with, and some sorts are stranger than others. No matter what you've been through so far, tonight will be one for the books.

Before the night is out, you'll have made new friends and powerful enemies, drawing you into a secret battle fought in the shadows for decades. The threats that lie under London's feet are at least as deadly as those falling from the skies.

This is an adaptation of one of the scenarios from the World War Cthulhu: London book, expanded to short campaign length. The investigators will be ordinary Londoners, trying to survive the Blitz.

Game details

  • Rule System: Call of Cthulhu 7th
  • Players: 4–6
  • GM: Scott Dorward

The Irony of Utopia

The city of Utopia stands as a bastion against the zombie apocalypse. we stand as one, we will not fall.
Well you stand over there and fight Protector, we will watch from behind this wall.

You will be playing as a new squad of Protectors, a paramilitary police force that serves as law enforcement, and armed response for a variety of missions.

Basic training was very cut throat, Protectors are well paid, and the perks are great, but you have already gone through that, the hard part is behind you, you graduated and were assigned to a squad, Team training was a test to see if you all could work together, and forget what you did to get to this point.

Zombie attack in The Burbs, Protectors are sent in. A salvage team is sent out into the waists, Protectors accompany them. something strange in the sewers eating random people, you bet your arse Protectors are sent down there to "deal" with it.

Game details

  • Rule System: World of Darkness
  • Players: 4+
  • GM: Venom
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