Title: Worm Moons and Mad Hares and Mayhem Oh My!
System: Liminal
GM: ABS
Age: Teen (ages 12+)
Genre: Folk Horror/Urban Fantasy
Tags: NA
Players: 2-5
Content warnings: Folk Horror, Eldritch happenings, Modern Life
Description: Spring is stirring and it is not just the flora and fauna that are awakening it seems like the fickle and the fae are too…
The eldritch grapevine is buzzing and everything seems to be going a wee bit doolally.
Who is leaving the hare head graffiti everywhere #BawdYoungTeam? In chalk in plain sight and in other signs for those that have The Sight… Is the Worm Moon also being a Blood Moon stirring the cauldron?
Barely recovered from their Candlemas adventures up the Pentlands our intrepid crew need to brace themselves for the madcap mischief being unleashed on the streets of Auld Reekie.
A playtest of ‘Worm Moons and Mad Hares and Mayhem Oh My!’ the next scenario of the Seasons of the Sun campaign as our intrepid, arcane adventurers investigate mysterious goings on in the streets and Seven Hills of Edinburgh.
Game- System: Liminal – https://modiphius.net/products/liminal-quickstart has a free copy of the Quickstart Guide
Title: Dropzone
System: Homebrew
GM: Alan Jackson
Age: Teen (ages 12+)
Genre: Action sci-fi horror
Tags: Rules Lite, GM’s Own System
Players: 4-7
Content warnings: Action movie violence, betrayal
Description: Join the marines! See the galaxy!
Colony planet LV-426 has stopped responding. Your mission is to go there and save the civilians
—
Join the marines they said, see the galaxy they said. One muddy, raining colony at a time. At least you get to play the hero sometimes.
Yet another grim colony planet has stopped responding. If they haven’t just bent the antenna it’ll be pirates like usual right? There’s no such thing as aliens is there? There’s been all sorts of stories, but command said it’s just locker room exaggeration. They don’t usually send a corpo along with us grunts though.
Sci-fi Action adventure horror, with lots of guns. Super light home brew system. Heavily inspired by the movie Aliens
Title: The Family
System: The Family
GM: Alexa MacBett
Age: Teen (ages 12+)
Genre: Reverse Horror
Tags: Rules Lite, Newbie Friendly, GM’s Own System
Players: 2-4
Content warnings: Horror, Playing as an evil being, Various types of “Bad End” (collaborative play dependent as to how gruesome/violent these are)
Description: The Family is a GMless, diceless game about embodying the villainous conspiracy at the heart of a horror movie. Players work together to establish their story’s tone and concept, their identities as individual villains, and the nature of the collaboratively controlled “Protagonist” who will serve as both opposition and victim. They will then over a three-act structure will reveal their evil natures and demonstrate their powers to truly terrorise- and eventually bring to a terrible end- the Protagonist.
Collaborative play (as well as sharing of the Protagonist role) is expected and required. Pacing in-game is controlled via the acquisition and expenditure of “tokens” that the Protagonist will also be trying to collect. Some basic familiarity with the source genre is expected, though players certainly need not be huge horror fans.
Title: Redshirts
System: Homebrew
GM: Ben McCallum
Age: Teen (ages 12+)
Genre: Galaxy Quest flavoured open world creativity toy, with a side of herding cats
Tags: Rules Lite, Newbie Friendly, GM’s Own System, Prior setting / system knowledge useful
Players: 3-5
Content warnings: None as set, but the game is almost entirely player led
Description: It’s the late 24th Century and all accross the Federation trillions of fans tune in every week to see their heroes on the Starship Enterprise save the day, bringing freedom and law to the wilds of undiscovered space. It’s what tells them that the Federation are the Good Guys (TM) and that their lives of debauched luxury are still serving a good cause, really!
Meanwhile on the Enterprise, Kirk is drunk (again), Spock is sulking because he forgot how the horsey thing moves and lost yet enother game of chess, Bones is starting to figure out that the extras he keps miraculously ‘saving’ might not actually be hurt at all, Scotty has lost his technobabble cheet sheet, nothing interesting is happening, and you only have 8 hours left to sort everything out before the latest episode goes live!
You are the Red Shirts. Starfleet’s elite cadre of expert spacefarers, tv extras, production assistants, script writers, and whatever else is needed in a pinch to make sure that an exciting, captivating episode goes live. The fate of the Federation depends on it!
Title: The Slug Prince
System: Offworlders
GM: Brian Ashford
Age: Child Friendly
Genre: Adventure Sci Fi
Tags: Rules Lite, Newbie Friendly
Players: 2-5
Content warnings: Some Saturday morning cartoon violence likely.
Description: The Bolen family space slugs are respected and/or feared throughout the galaxy. Like most royalty they value their heirs and their reputation above all. So when an heir goes missing, they need to find them before word gets out.
That’s where you come in. You own the family a favour and this is your chance to repay it. You have a couple of clues. An imperial prison seems to have a new space slug inmate, surely that’s no coincidence, but also a rival royal slug family are up to something and snooping around. Can you find the slug prince?
The Slug Prince will be run using the Offworlders rules which are light enough for anyone to join in. Also character generation is fast enough that we can start with everyone making the space adventurer they’ve always wanted to play.
Title: The Adventure of the Sword Tournament
System: Pendragon 6e
GM: David Allen
Age: Adult Only (ages 16+)
Genre: Arthurian chivalric romance
Tags: Newbie Friendly
Players: 3-8
Content warnings: Violence, romance [players need not engage with it but it will likely be present]
Description: The year is 510, and Britain is in turmoil. Uther Pendragon perished fifteen years ago, and in the interim raiders and opportunistic barons have been sending the land into a dismal mood. Knights from across the land and beyond it have come to the old Roman settlement of Londinium to fight in a New Years’ tournament and crown a new High King.
But stranger things are afoot in Londinium. The wizard Merlin is about, and the cathedral has become home to a mysterious sword driven into an anvil atop a stone. The land is on the precipice of a new era, and you will be there to witness its beginning.
This game will use the Starter Set of the classic Pendragon system for Arthurian fantasy, originally created by Greg Stafford. You play as young knights or knights-to-be, coming to Londinium for the big event to fight on the team of King Leodegrance of Cameliard. Over the course of the session, you’ll see how the year of 510 unfolds for your characters while learning a new RPG system. Those familiar with Pendragon are more than welcome too, but this scenario is generally aimed at those new to the system.
Pregenerated characters will be provided, as will dice, though additional d6s and d20s are welcome.
Title: Goblins in the City
System: Homebrew
GM: Jamie Prentice
Age: Child Friendly
Genre: Low fantasy goblins
Tags: Rules Lite, Newbie Friendly, GM’s Own System
Players: 2-5
Content warnings: Cartoon violence
Description: You are a small group of goblins. After falling asleep on watch and letting your camp be raided, Chief has ordered you to go into The City and steal all your stuff back. Any additional pranks and mayhem that happens along the way is a bonus.
This is a very rules light game that should be suitable for anyone, I’ll adjust the content to cater for the audience so it should be kid friendly.
Title: The Montonet Conspiracy
System: Dungeons & Dragons 5e
GM: Lucy Winters
Age: Adult Only (ages 16+)
Genre: Gothic horror
Tags: Newbie Friendly
Players: 3-4
Content warnings: Fantasy violence, gothic horror themes
Description: “The Montonet Conspiracy” is a short 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons gothic horror adventure for 3 or 4 (pre-generated) level 5 characters. Each has former ties to the Montonet family, a local duchy, and has been uncharacteristically invited to a reunion party by the duchess. There, they’re drawn into the mystery of why the family fell silent, and forced to decide how much they’re willing to do for their former relations. Expect vampires, werewolves, dark magic, murder-mystery, and *so* much blood.
Title: DIE: Total Party Kill
System: DIE
GM: Matt Maufe
Age: Adult Only (ages 16+)
Genre: Fantasy Horror
Tags: Rules Lite
Players: 3-5
Content warnings: Death, isolation
Description: DIE is a simple, roleplay-heavy, light-crunch game involving dysfunctional social groups being jumanji’d into an RPG world and having to confront their fears, hopes, and pasts before deciding whether to stay or leave.
You all used to play fantasy RPGs together as teenagers, until an awful session where the GM threw you into a killer dungeon and slaughtered the party. Now years down the line, you’re all back in town and the GM suggested a game. With mutual recrimination, both in and out of game, you’re surprised they asked. You’re perhaps even more surprised you all said yes.
Title: The Angel in the Machine
System: The Electric State
GM: Michael Paul O’Sullivan
Age: Adult Only (ages 16+)
Genre: Sci-Fi
Tags: Rules Lite, Newbie Friendly
Players: 3-5
Content warnings: Horror, Violence, Emotional intensity
Description: May is the time of dust. Gusts of wind rise and ebb through the haze, carrying huge sheets of dun-coloured dust that seethe and rustle across the landscape. It slithers across the ground, hissing among the creosote bushes and on until it piles up in billowing dunes and waves that wander unseen and grow in the constant static.
This is a game about a group of travelers heading out on a journey through a strange America in an alternate 1997. The ruins of gigantic battle drones litter the countryside, heaped together with the discarded trash of a high tech consumerist society in decline. The game is not about the goal but the journey – what the characters experience along the way and how it changes them. This is a game of exploration, of finding out who you are, who your friends are, and what you are willing to do when the world collapses around you.
Title: Claws: The Revengence
System: They Came From Beyond The Grave!
GM: Phil Edwards
Age: Adult Only (ages 16+)
Genre: 80s Slasher film, leaning more on tropes than horror
Tags: Rules Lite, Newbie Friendly
Players: 2-5
Content warnings: Horror/threat/dread, being hunted, potential body horror
Description: 1983 USA. Halloween. Small town in Maine, only famous for having a military base that closed down 30 years ago under suspicious circumstances. You and your friends are out getting some beers and snacks when you come across a group dressed up for Halloween. Those costumes are incredible! So realistic and they even smell fishy. Those are costumes, right? Right? Oh no…
While this is a spiritual sequel to Claws: Origins, it is completely stand-alone story.
Title: Dugs
System: Homebrew
GM: Phil Harris
Age: Adult Only (ages 16+)
Genre: Dogs
Tags: Rules Lite, Newbie Friendly, GM’s Own System
Players: 2-6
Content warnings: Themes of dogs and death
Description: Be part of the pack as you play a set of fantasy dogs who are set to feature in roleplaying games. Except all dogs know, their life expectancy is severely curtailed when it comes to tabletop roleplaying.
All assume the Alpha as you try and escape the authority of the God GM and the grid in an epic which will rival TRON (allegedly).
Title: A Council at Nikea [Warhammer Horus Heresy]
System: GM’s Own
GM: Roderick Easton
Age: Adult Only (ages 16+)
Genre: Sci-Fi, Politics, Family Drama
Tags: Rules Lite, GM’s Own System, Prior setting / system knowledge useful
Players: 8-18
Content warnings: Background war crimes. Parental abandonment
Description: This game takes place in the Warhammer 40,000 Horus Heresy setting. In the 30th Millennium the Emperor of Mankind has triumphantly led the Great Crusade from Terra out across the galaxy, bringing former human colonies into compliance with the new order. Along the way he has recovered his 18 children, the genetically engineered Primarchs, to lead the Space Marine Legions. It is a new start for humanity.
However, sibling rivalry and violent differences of opinion on a number of subjects have led to growing factions and rifts between the Primarchs. Their Legions, as ever, follow where their geneparents lead and the Imperial Army regiments are infected by association. In an attempt to bring his family back together, the Emperor has summoned them all to the planet of Nikea, to discuss and settle the various divisive topics. In addition, he plans to bestow the title of Warmaster on the one Primarch who will lead the Crusade after this, because the Emperor is going to return to Terra for the first time in decades, if not centuries.
Each player will take on the role of one of the Primarchs, vying to have their opinions validated by their father, The Emperor. They will have influence which they can use to sway the Imperial decision, but his plans are not always easily predictable. To maintain elements of secrecy and surprise, the loyalty (or otherwise) of the Primarchs will be determined randomly and secretly at the start of the game. Likewise, to represent his inscrutable planning, the Emperor’s decision making will have a certain random element added on top of the opinions of his Primarchs.
Title: Guest Ron Edwards runs Fantasy for Real
System: Fantasy for Real
GM: Ron Edwards
Age: Adult Only (ages 16+)
Genre: Fantasy
Tags: GM’s Own System
Players: 4-4
Content warnings: Magic that goes wonderfully wrong or terribly right
Description: It’s time for whimsical and irresponsible adventure inspired by picaresque fantasy fiction and underground comics. Expect magic that goes wonderfully wrong or terribly right.
Title: Five Minus One Equals Murder!
System: Mutant City Blues
GM: Simon Proctor
Age: Teen (ages 12+)
Genre: Super Human Murder Investigation
Tags: NA
Players: 4-6
Content warnings: Murder, some mentions of sex work.
Description: In the world of Mutant City Blues super humans have lived among us since 2015 with roughly 1 percent of the population spontaneously becoming heightened.
For a time in the city of Glasgow a group known as the Five fought super powered criminals in running battles. The called themselves heroes, many called them vigilantes. Still Chulainn, Irn Man, The Thistle, Third Wall and Sapphire were a force to be reckoned with during the turbulent times after the Sudden Mutation Event (SME).
Five years ago they disbanded, there are rumours of fights and tensions within the groups but nothing has been proven. It’s likely the creation of the Heightened Crime Investigation Unit (HCIU) was a catalyst for the teams dissolution.
You are all investigators for the HCIU and you’ve been sent to investigate the death of billionaire tech guru John Sinclair, owner of JS Research a cutting edge robotics research company.
Only there’s a link between this brilliant engineer and the Five, a link that may lead to more deaths.
Title: Red Mists: Swords against Sorcery
System: Some sort of OSR hack
GM: Stephen L McMorland
Age: Adult Only (ages 16+)
Genre: Sword and Sorcery/Fantasy
Tags: NA
Players: 3-5
Content warnings: Fantasy violence, we can discuss anything else that you might want to have a line or veil over it when you arrive at the table
Description: A rag tag band of thieves and ne’er-do-wells have heard tales of a lost temple, there is reputed to be mountains of gold inside it, but, none have ever returned as the Evil Sorcerer Tharsis Tang haunts there, do you dare to brave this peril to ste…er, acquire, vast wealth, enough to pay of your debts to the Thieves Guild, enough to reclaim your kingdom, enough to forge an empire even? If you like Old School style games with the kind of heroes Robert E Howard wrote about, then this is the game for you.