Games we have played

These are games we have played previously at the club.

Block 3: 16 July 2024 – 3 September 2024

Odyssey of the Dragonlords (continued)

Dramatic Pitch –

The Oath of Peace has ended. Titan of the Sea, Oceanfather Sydon and his cult is laying waste to the city of Mytros. Blood runs freely like rain, smoke covers the city sky blocking out the rays of sunshine, a mad Dragon rampages across city streets and the order of the dragonlords flees in front of adversity.

Will the Oracles Prophesied prevail? Or will the self proclaimed 'Destined' fall as the story of their Odyssey nears the end of the First Act?

NOTE: The game will follow the pre-published modules with homebrew elements and stories mixed in. Playable classes and races from other D&D publications welcome!

Game details

• (continued; Returning Players have priority)
• System: D&D 5e
• Players: 4–6
• Location: In Person
• Level: Starting at 14

Journeys through The Radiant Citadel (continued)

Halcyon, the fractured Dawn Incarnate, has tasked our band of eclectic adventurers, known as Owl Patrol, with gathering the scattered crystals of it's being, and return them to their full form. Having removed Tirras Brokenhorn, a large player in the criminal underbelly of the Radiant Citadel, Owl patrol now look to help appoint a potentially better replacement in Madame Samira Arah. Samira is aware of the group's quest to reunite Halcyon and, as the leader of the Guild of Jewellers, has access to the piece of Halcyon they require. She is willing to give the Bastite piece over to Owl Patrol, if they help her become one of Zinda's ruling elite, the Kings of Coin.

This could be the game for you if you like: Glittering night markets, undersea cities, angel-ruled city states, and a rich tapestry of stories in never-before-seen lands.

Game details

• GM: John Holton
• System: D&D 5e
• Players: 3-6 (with returning players having priority)
• Location: In person

Horror on the Orient Express (continued)

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

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

Thunderchild

At the turn of the 20th Century, the world came under attack by beings from another world, as Martian tripods scoured the surface of the Earth seeking to conquer humanity and take our home from us. The invaders fell to that simplest of organisms though, the bacteria, and thus England prevailed, but only just.

Six months after the defeat of the Martians, the rebuilding of London limps along, with different factions from the House of Lords to the Navy all squabbling over how best to distribute the meagre resources that can be scraped together. Into this conflict come the remnants of Martian technology, poorly understood devices of great power, scattered over the land with the fall of the Martians.

Stationed on the salvaged torpedo vessel Thunderchild, now moored on the banks of the Thames as a symbol of the rebirth project, your team is tasked with recovering those pieces of technology which have fallen into the wrong hands, in the hope that they can be used for the betterment of all. However, you have received secret orders from your previous employers or peers to the effect that the machinery can only be entrusted to them and their vision for London, England and the world!

The Hot War RPG is a game of trust, betrayal and monster hunting in post-apocalyptic London; Thunderchild relocates that story to London in the aftermath of The War of The Worlds. The PCs are members of factions like the nobility, industrialists, police, army, navy, universities or even Bohemians and anarchists, secretly, who are nominally working together to investigate, neutralise and retrieve instances of Martian technology being misused. Your PC will also have secret orders from their faction, however, that may require you to betray your comrades without being caught at it, as well as a personal agenda that could undermine everything.

Game details

• GM: James M
• System: Hot War (d10 dice pool system with opposed rolls, personalised traits and relationship mechanics)
• Players: 4 or 5 (New players welcome)
• Location: National Film & Sci-Fi Museum
• Contents: Post-Apocalypse, deprivation & suffering, secret missions, monster hunting & fighting, internal politics, betrayal & personal drama

Shadow Over Gloomshire

The coach rumbled forth on the old overgrown forest road, and the horses were galloping frantically as if trying to outrun the quickly encroaching darkness. The sounds were different here. The meditative hooting of owls, or the rustling in the trees from the wind, was nowhere to be heard. In fact, there were no sounds at all.

Nervously, you opened the crimson curtain and peered out of the tiny window. You saw nothing but the pine trees passing by and the violent silhouette of the horses in the lantern light. Then it struck you. The driver was nowhere to be seen. Panicked, you yelled for the coach to stop, banging on its ceiling, but it seemed oblivious to your distress. Dark thoughts entered your mind, and you realized you had to escape this furious race to the grave. You clenched your teeth and swung open the door, tumbling into the ditch below the road. The coach continued its mad dash, the sound of hooves against dirt abandoning you, along with your hope.

Cut and bruised, with thorns and poison ivy stuck everywhere, you dared a glance over the edge of the ditch. There was an old man, dressed in rags and covered in dirt, shoveling earth back on to a small mound. Lightning struck nearby, illuminating the whole scene and showing a moss-clad tombstone, and a skeleton in the man's wheelbarrow. He turned around and looked at you with milky eyes and a crooked smile. "Welcome to Gloomshire!"

Shadow over Gloomshire is an adventure for Dragonbane that revolves around the remote village of Gloomshire, located in a dark forest valley with a terrible history. It is written by Robin Fjärem who is known for The Frozen Temple of Glacier Peak and Salthaven among other works.

Much is awry in Gloomshire. Find out what the deal is with the mansion on the hill, shop for your very own tombstone at Odd Ends, or go treasure hunting in the graveyard. But no matter what, do not enter the temple!

Game details

• GM: Sue S
• System: Dragonbane
• Players: 3-5
• Location: in person
• Content: classic fantasy adventure, gothic horror

The Tales of Madahar

The kingdom of Madahar is a fairly decent place to live. The towns have hospitals, the elderly retire, and the children don't even start working the fields until 13! Unfortunately, just as night follows day, where sentient creatures reside war will ever follow. A war that has lasted for over a hundred years, waged against their neighbors which has left their border barren and desolate, with undead creatures created in this wasteland often wandering into the otherwise (relatively) peaceful border villages.

Recently there have been a worrying increase in the number of dangerous creatures, as a civil war between the humans and dwarves has led to desperate and risky manouvers on both sides. Something is stirring in the north, and there may be more than land and resources at stake.

But all this is great news for brand new adventurers, who travel to the various cities to attempt to make their fortunes, raiding ruins and killing monsters for coin and glory. One party in particular may find themselves with... less than glorious beginnings - but if they push through, they may find that they hold the fate of the entire kingdom, and maybe even the world, in their hands...

Or maybe they'll spend 8 weeks shopping. Who knows, I'm not a psychic.

Game details

• GM: George A
• System: D&D 5e
• Players: 4-7
• Location: In person
• Level: Starting between 1 and 3 depending on the players' preference

Block 2: 30 April 2024 – 18 June 2024

Odyssey of the Dragonlords (continued)

Dramatic Pitch – Thylea is a foreign land, set across a great expanse of ocean. Great Beasts wander her plains, and fey creatures haunt her woods. Centaur tribes war for control on the steppes, and reptilian savages battle across her islands. Settlers have struggled to survive on this land at the beginning, forever having to choose between appeasing the cruel Twin Titans or fighting a losing battle against the land’s natives. In time on Thylean shores arrived great champions of the old world, the Dragonlords! They heralded an upheaval and overthrew the Titans, and thus the Oath of Peace was forged and so followed 500 years of peace. The Oath of Peace is now coming undone and the Titans once again tighten their grip upon the mortals…

NOTE: The game will follow the pre-published modules with homebrew elements and stories mixed in. Playable classes and races from other D&D publications welcome!

Game details

• (continued; Returning Players have priority)
• System: D&D 5e
• Players: 4–6
• Location: In Person
• Level: Starting at 15

Journeys through The Radiant Citadel (continued)

Halcyon, the fractured Dawn Incarnate, has tasked our band of eclectic adventurers, known as Owl Patrol, with gathering the scattered crystals of it's being, and return them to their full form. Having removed Tirras Brokenhorn, a large player in the criminal underbelly of the Radiant Citadel, Owl patrol now look to help appoint a potentially better replacement in Madame Samira Arah. Samira is aware of the group's quest to reunite Halcyon and, as the leader of the Guild of Jewellers, has access to the piece of Halcyon they require. She is willing to give the Bastite piece over to Owl Patrol, if they help her become one of Zinda's ruling elite, the Kings of Coin.

This could be the game for you if you like: Glittering night markets, undersea cities, angel-ruled city states, and a rich tapestry of stories in never-before-seen lands.

Game details

• GM: John Holton
• System: 5e
• Players: 3-6 (with returning players having priority)
• Location: In person

Wicker Valley (continued)

Wicker Valley is a small rural town known for its festivals and charming B&B’s. On the outskirts of the Wicker Forest National Park, it sees a lot of hikers and nature enthusiasts year round. Of course, sometimes hikers don’t always make it out of that forest. Lately it seems nature has been a lot more dangerous.

Will you be a Hunter like the Winchester boys, a government agent like Mulder or Scully, or The Chosen One like Buffy. Because the monsters are real and someone needs to step up and protect the regular folks.

Game details

• System: Monster of the Week
• Players: 3-5
• GM: Heather
• Location: In Person

Talons of the Hawk

10,191 AG. The desert world of Arrakis. The only source of the spice that allows interstellar travel.

The Padishah Emperor has just transferred the fief of Arrakis from House Harkonnen to House Atreides. In the eternal power-plays of the Empire, House Harkonnen will do all it can to sabotage House Atreides' takeover of the planet and the spice mining.

Duke Leto Atreides has sent a detechment of elite agents to Arrakis, to prepare the ground in advance of the main Atreides mission. You have two weeks to root out Harkonnen spies and saboteurs, negotiate with smugglers and freelancers, and deal with the Fremen natives of the deep desert who are expecting their Madhi to arrive from the stars.

This will be a game of adventure-espionage and intrigue, drawing from both James Bond and John le Carré. Characters will have their own agendas, as well as the goals set by House Atreides.

Same page description

• Who prepares the story? The GM will provide a bunch of tasks; you'll have to juggle them, deciding which ones to address and which can wait. You'll also have your personal goals to drive the story.
• What can players contribute to the story/setting? Their character's thoughts, actions, and backstory, plus additional features of the world when they spend a resource (such as whimsy cards or hero points) or make certain kinds of rolls, subject to group approval.
• The rules (including agreed house rules) will be: followed, come what may.
• Player characters are: expected to work together. Major conflicts might erupt and never see reconciliation.
• How brutal is the game? What's at stake is clear in each conflict.
• 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: only going to last until the other player characters find out and do something about it.

Game details

• GM: Neil Smith
• System: Dune: Adventures in the Imperium (Modiphius 2d20 system)
• Players: 3-5
• Location: in person, masks preferred
• Safety tools: X-card, Lines & Veils

Tales of the Shadowguard

The queen of a small elven kingdom named Etira has called for heroes to assist them with a matter of diplomacy. You answered the call and have been chosen to form a Shadowguard for the princess Elwin and escort her across the realm to the neighbouring kingdom of Syl. The elven kingdom has been plagued for years with a necromantic crisis, and their resources are dwindling. It is vital that Elwin is successful in her task.

This is a homebrew adventure lasting a single long block with an episodic nature. It will require you to make a backstory for your character and some motivations (a paragraph is fine). While venturing through the cursed kingdom, the past will come creeping up on each of the chosen heroes, for better or for worse...

Game details

• GM: Nikki A
• System: D&D 5e
• Players: 3-6
• Location: In person
• Level: Starting at Level 3

Horror on the Orient Express (continued)

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

Block 1: 13 February 2024 – 2 April 2024

Odyssey of the Dragonlords (continued)

Dramatic Pitch – Thylea is a foreign land, set across a great expanse of ocean. Great Beasts wander her plains, and fey creatures haunt her woods. Centaur tribes war for control on the steppes, and reptilian savages battle across her islands. Settlers have struggled to survive on this land at the beginning, forever having to choose between appeasing the cruel Twin Titans or fighting a losing battle against the land’s natives. In time on Thylean shores arrived great champions of the old world, the Dragonlords! They heralded an upheaval and overthrew the Titans, and thus the Oath of Peace was forged and so followed 500 years of peace. The Oath of Peace is now coming undone and the Titans once again tighten their grip upon the mortals…

NOTE: The game will follow the pre-published modules with homebrew elements and stories mixed in. Playable classes and races from other D&D publications welcome!

Game details

• (continued; Returning Players have priority)
• System: D&D 5e
• Players: 4–6
• Location: In Person
• Level: Starting at 14

Journeys through The Radiant Citadel (continued)

Halcyon, the fractured Dawn Incarnate, has tasked our band of eclectic adventurers, known as Owl Patrol, with gathering the scattered crystals of it's being, and return them to their full form. Having removed Tirras Brokenhorn, a large player in the criminal underbelly of the Radiant Citadel, Owl patrol now look to help appoint a potentially better replacement in Madame Samira Arah. Samira is aware of the group's quest to reunite Halcyon and, as the leader of the Guild of Jewellers, has access to the piece of Halcyon they require. She is willing to give the Bastite piece over to Owl Patrol, if they help her become one of Zinda's ruling elite, the Kings of Coin.

This could be the game for you if you like: Glittering night markets, undersea cities, angel-ruled city states, and a rich tapestry of stories in never-before-seen lands.

Game details

• GM: John Holton
• System: 5e
• Players: 3-6 (with returning players having priority)
• Location: In person

Wicker Valley (continued)

Wicker Valley is a small rural town known for its festivals and charming B&B’s. On the outskirts of the Wicker Forest National Park, it sees a lot of hikers and nature enthusiasts year round. Of course, sometimes hikers don’t always make it out of that forest. Lately it seems nature has been a lot more dangerous.

Will you be a Hunter like the Winchester boys, a government agent like Mulder or Scully, or The Chosen One like Buffy. Because the monsters are real and someone needs to step up and protect the regular folks.

Game details

• System: Monster of the Week
• Players: 3-5
• GM: Heather
• Location: In Person

Urban Legends

Somewhere in London, there is a gate to the world of the fae, if you know the way to pass through it; as this is a potential security breach in the UK's borders, it is guarded day & night. As the whole thing is sodding useless and pointless, it is guarded by the dregs of the security service, the ones who can't be sacked outright but also aren't relied upon to do any real work.

Our tech doesn't work in the fae country and their magic doesn't work here, so the few sad exiles & immigrants from the Shining Realm who have settled in London are also the responsibility of those who guard the gate, as they pose almost no threat at all.

Then an impossible crime takes place in London and it looks like magic is involved; also there are whispers in the fae community of London of a secret cabal who have found a way to restore their magic. It's all dismissed as crap by the higher-ups at MI5, so the only ones with the time and interest to look into it are the operatives who no-one else listens to anyway.

Inspired by the Slow Horses TV series, this is a tale of down & out security agents taking up a mission that no-one else wants or believes in, while also navigating the tangled course of their own private lives

Game details

• System: Primetime Adventures (focus on character background & traits, episodic sessions that spotlight one particular PC at a time)
• Players: 4 or 5 (New players welcome)
• DM: James Mullen
• Location: National Film & Sci-Fi Museum
• Contents: Bad language, violence, sex & drug references, ethical questions

A Thousand Words

In the city of Everway, home to seventy gates to other worlds, a painting has been stolen from the home of a wealthy member of the Weaver family. No-one can remember what the painting looks like, but everyone who saw it knows what it made them remember.

In another world, in the realm of Black Base, a monastery attracts the spiritually lost, including a ghost. But the Duke of Black Base wants the monastery closed and everyone to leave.

Moving between worlds, the Order of the Silver Nail is on the trail of an absolver, a vampire that feeds on emotions.

Everway is a game based on images, symbols, and the logic of myths. Characters are powerful people, touched by magic, and have the ability to walk between worlds. Characters are defined by scores in four Elements (Air, Earth, Fire, and Water), their Powers, and, most importantly, their Virtue, Flaw, and Fate. We'll use tarot-like cards for resolution, interpreting the cards to guide our narration of what happens next.

This will be a character-led and character driven story. Each hero will have their own goals, their own struggles, and their own destiny. Each player will write a Kicker for their character, some recent event that's upturned their life and is compelling them into action. There's no "party" of player-heroes, but they'll all be tightly connected to the ongoing situation. As play progresses, the characters will intersect and interact.

You may want to look at the free Gateway book for a primer on the game and the setting.

Same page description

• Who prepares the story? 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, plus anything else that meets the group's approval and follows from their powers.
• The rules (including agreed house 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? What's at stake is clear in each conflict.
• 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

• GM: Neil Smith
• System: Everway
• Players: 3-5
• Location: in person, masks preferred
• Safety tools: X-card, Lines & Veils

Welcome to New Mossgrove

Evera Prime: A far flung outpost of humanity, where Mechs and futuristic tech once dominated society.

Now, the world is in ruins. The Machines violently turned against their creators. Though Humanity won, it was at a heavy price.

In the aftermath of the war, factions like the Archivists and Dreamers work together to rebuild Evera Prime. They reconnect communities through trade and mutual assistance, and scavenge the ruins of the old world in order to build a new future.

But dangers lurk everywhere. The spectre of the dark city casts a long and ominous shadow. Dormant Mechs are reactivating. There are even rumours that the corrupted AI, the Builder, continues to scheme and plot against humanity. Do you dare to dream?

Dreams and Machines Dreams and Machines is a recently arrived system from Modiphius. It is set in a post-apocalyptic world, where remains of old technology and big machines are to be found. Think "Horizon, Zero Dawn - the RPG, that didn't get the license". The players will play a group of explorers going out into the wild to try and find salvage or other valuable resources. The wilds are suitably dangerous...

I am entirely new to the system, but have run 2d20 games before. We will start with the starter set and then see where the story takes us. I do like to give space to character play and story telling over tactical battle map sessions.

Important note: there will be fewer sessions with no game on Feb 20th, Mar 5th and Mar 19th. If desired, we can move these sessions online, but that is subject to discussion.

Same page description

• Who prepares the story? The GM with plenty of sandboxy room for the players to take the story in new directions
• What can players contribute to the story/setting? Their character's thoughts, actions, and backstory, plus anything else that meets the group's approval and follows from their powers.
• The rules (including agreed house rules) will be: seen as guidelines and advice to help tell the story.
• Player characters are: pursuing their own agendas. They might work together, they might work against each other.
• How brutal is the game? It can be brutal and deadly, judging by other 2d20 games, but should be suitably heroic
• 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

• GM: Frank Graeff
• System: Dreams and Machines 2d20
• Players: 3-5
• Location: in person
• Safety tools: X-card, Lines & Veils

Horror on the Orient Express (continued)

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