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Games played in 2005
Descriptions of the games we played on 2005. See the games we have played page for descriptions of more recent games.
22nd November 2005 to 15th January 2006
Shadows Over Wessex
A modern fantasy
Come to the sunny West Country where
- A serial killer stalks the great and the good of Bournemouth
- Ghosts of Romans, Saxons and Britains haunt the land and your dreams
- Someone spills fresh bulls blood every full moon in the darkness of the Cheddar show caves
- A computer company is run by Demons
- Tigers Burn Bright and Jerusalem was built
- A trading estate conceals the end of the universe
If that's not enough find out
- The case Lestrade solved that Holmes couldn't
- The real purpose of Babbage's Analytical Engine
- What really killed HP Lovecraft
All this and Angelic Fashion Designers, a less than human folk-rock band and plenty of monsters with tentacles. Comes with optional dungeon crawling for the retro types and War in Heaven for the conspiracy theorists.
The system used will depend on the tastes of the players.
Have a gawp at the Shadows over Wessex page for more info.
- Proposed by Ashley Munday
16 September - 25 October 2005 inclusive
Mythic Russia playtest
This will be a playtest campaign for the new RPG being written by Mark Galeotti of Firebird Productions. Because I want to get some decent coverage of the breadth of material that will be in the game, I'd like to run two four-week scenarios, probably with different characters in each. The first would be westward-facing and revolve around the realpolitik between Mother Russia, the Teutons, the Lithuanians, and the other 'Germans' (i.e. Europeans). The second would be eastward-facing and involve Mongols and the Sibyrsk peoples. I'd like this second half to be more magical and involve lots of trips to the various Otherworlds. In any case, the game will involve snow, vodka, rampaging Mongols, mysterious ikons, Baba Yaga, and the fate of the Third Rome.
This will be a playtest campaign, so I'll be after comments and they'll be passed back to Mark. It may be your chance to get a credit in the front of the book!
More details are on the Mythic Russia playtest page.
- Proposed by Neil Smith
Heaven and Earth
Twin Peaks the RPG with the serial numbers filed off, this is an occult/horror game set in small town America at the turn of the Millenium that is a focus for supernatual activity. Primarily an investigative game, it runs on a card-based system (rather than dice, which is nice, since dice have a tendancy to hate me).
- Proposed by Matt Sanderson
Down Town
Classic Pulp Adventure set in the 1930s, players take on the role of square jawed males or feisty females, playing such archetypes as explorers, journalists, aviators, detectives, professors, racing car drivers and so on. This is a setting rather than a storyline, so players will be free to follow their own paths and pick up on whatever 'trails' they find most interesting; adventure possibilities range from crime fighting vs. master villains in the city or exploring the ruins of lost civilisations beyond it. There is also a 'Factor Z', a twist that will become apparent very early on in the campaign, but which is in-keeping with the themes of classic pulp. The whole game uses the Savage Worlds system.
- Proposed by James Mullen
7 June - 26 July 2005 inclusive
The Thackeray T. Lambshead Clinic for the Treatment of Eccentric and Discredited Diseases
Medical investigation with tongue firmly in cheek, I'm currently looking at which rules set to run this setting under, but whatever it turns out to be, there will be a strong element of player-led storytelling, such as deciding which era to play in and determining the symptoms, causation and treatment for the diseases they uncover.
The Dust-Shrouded Sun
Millenia ago, the world was ruled by the cruel and terrible Anathema, man-gods of the Unconquered Sun. Their servants, the Dragon-Blooded, rose up and slayed the Anathema, bringing an age of peace and prosperity. During that time, the Wyld Hunt killed all the Anathema that erupted before they could bring harm to the world. Five years ago, the immortal Scarlet Empress died and her empire collapsed.
The power of the Unconquered Sun has reached into you and made you Anathema (or Solar Exalted). You have been drawn to your Anathema soul-mates for your mutual protection. Your destiny calls from the fire-blighted lands of the far south. Can you survive for long enough to shape the world to your will?
For Exalted (core rulebook only: no splats allowed).
- Neil Smith (GM)
- Richard B
- Louisa Djerbib
- Peter Gallagher
- Adam Link
Realm of Shadows - Call of Cthulhu
A campaign that I intend to pack in to 8 sessions with a combination of editing and pace setting. I hope that each session will have the pace of a one off rather than the usual slow build up of a long campaign. It's really the only practical way to do this at the club other than splitting it over 2 blocks.The game is set in 1940s USA. A doctor contacts you re the disappearance of his wife and (slightly deformed) child. From there things progress in ways I can't really go in to. Please don't look up the scenario for more info if you want to play it. It was published by Pagan Pub and is up to their usual high standard, I hope I can do it justice in 8 weeks. Characters will be pregen, though if anyone wants to gen their own they are welcome to with discussion with me - and I would encourage this.
Dogs in the Vineyard
God's Watchdogs patrol the towns of an old west that never was, guarding the souls of the Faithful, casting out demons and dispensing the justice of the King of Life, Reborn. With guns.
I've decided to offer this as a campaign game, as a few folks have expressed an interest in it.
22 March - 10 May 2005
Stand Alone Complex
- GM: Louisa Djerbib
- Players: Stephanie Gray, Kevin White, Sean McGuiness, Neil Smith, Stephen
- Summary: A cyberpunk-style game based on the anime series "Ghost in the Shell: Stand-Alone Complex", plus elements from the Ex Machina IOSHI setting.
- System: Tri-Stat dX (Ex Machina variant)
Asylum
- GM: James Mullen
- Players: Matt Sanderson (Lyndon Davenport), Mark Dewhurst (Jerome Johnson), Dave Brennan (Bob Smart), Jeffery Lay (Giuseppe Ramada), Richard (Nathaniel Horowitz)
- Summary: In the wake of a plane crash near LAX, a group of unconnected survivors find that their identities are being erased.
- System: Over the Edge
- Week 1 Week 2 Weeks 3 & 4 Weeks 5 & 6 Week 7 - Finale Prank
HeroQuest: The Antorling Clan
- GM: Ashley Munday
- Players: Jane Williams, Scott Dorward, Paul Fricker, Chris Brindley.
January - February 2005
Crumbling Land
- GM: Paul Fricker
- Players: Ashley Munday, Jeffery Lay, John Nash, Louisa Djerbib, Peter Trevor
- Cerych's journal
- Crumbling Land session 5
- Epilogue (GM Ashley Munday) as reliably told by Credo
Metahuman Police Department
- GM: James Hollywood
- Players: Dave Brennan, Mark Dewhurst, Sean McGuinness
- Session 1- Riot!
- Session 2- Electro-Magnetic Gorillas
- Session 3- Deal with the Devil
- Session 4- Consequences of Seduction
Danse de la Mort
- GM: Kevin White
- Players: Scott Dorward, Stephanie Gray, James Mullen, Neil Smith, Steve
- Introduction
- Session 1 - Mary's Childe
- Session 2 - Memories
- Session 3 - Fury
- Session 4 - Blood Money
- Session 5 - Meet the Parents
- Session 6 - Fluxus Quo
Note that if you intend to play in the White Wolf Vampire: The Requiem, do not read these sections (cept the introduction) as it will contain spoilers. Having said that it has become apparent that this the script presented by White Wolf was not up to the task so the ending in this saga, I feel confident, will give no clues as to what is really going on... especially since I don't know :)
Mixed
Game: Werewolves of Millers Hollow
Date Played: 9th August 2005
What Happened: We had up to 10 players for this tense & very different card game which involves a number of werewolves eating the villagers, all of whom are played by the players in the game. Sadly, on this occasion, the werewolves were victorious on both the games played, with only 1 werewolf being successfully lynched in total! Memorable moments included the suicide pact between the lovers taking place in the first round of the second game, so that was quickly whittled down from 10 to 7 players by the end of that round!
Game: Super Munchkin
Date Played: 9th August 2005
What Happened: Well, a 'quick' game ended up taking one and a half hours; the highlights were JamesMullen stripping in order to use a special rule that got him out of trouble (surely the other way around?) and Ashley stealing the power of the Gods with the most broken card ever to exist in any Munchkin game to date!
Game: Mall of Horror
Date Played: 1st November 2005
What Happened: Since this game was only released in the UK on this date, we may have been one of the first UK groups to play it... the concept is that the undead have risen to feast on the living, so each player takes charge of a team of 3 characters who hide in the shopping mall. All the key action takes place as a result of a vote, e.g. players vote on who gets to look for more equipment, who gets to be Security Chief (who has the advantage of being able to see where more zombies are about to appear before making a move) and, most crucially, when the zombies attack one of the locations on the board, the players with characters there vote on which one gets eaten! We ended up playing 3 games in a row: despite it saying '60 minutes' on the box, we got through our third game in only 30 minutes, because we were so used to the order of play by that point! It was thoroughly enjoyable and, when we finished our last game at 10.55, I'm sure several people were wondering if we could squeeze in another game of it...