Game: Coriolis: The Siren
System: Coriolis
GM: Biv
Age Rating: Neutral (ages 12+)
Maximum Players: 5
Short Description: Sci-fi meets Arabian Nights meets Cthulhu in this mystical high-stakes dice pool system from Free League. For this adventure, inmates of a prison colony on a frozen moon have been tasked with returning a mysterious alien object to an ancient temple located high on a stranded glacier. What could go wrong?
Long Description: This game is perfect for those who are curious about Coriolis, as well as those who’ve never heard of it but are excited by the prospect of a sci-fi game that combines the fantastical atmosphere of A Thousand Arabian Nights with the character drama of Firefly and political intrigue of The Expanse.
Coriolis – The Third Horizon is a science fiction role playing game set in a remote cluster of star systems called The Third Horizon. It is a place ravaged by conflicts and war, but also home to proud civilisations, both new and old. Here, the so-called Firstcome colonists of old worship the Icons, while the newly arrived Zenithians pursue an aggressive imperialistic agenda through trade and military power. It is amongst these star clusters rich with mysticism, conflict, and opportunity that the player characters find themselves.
Coriolis uses the Year Zero Engine, a D6 dice pool system from Free League, to tell a tense story of exploration and character conflict. The setting is rich with a myriad of cultures, with worship of the nine Icons permeating each facet of life. The setting is huge and full of mystery, but today’s adventure narrows in a little to a small penal colony surviving on a frigid moon at the edge of a lonely star system. Tasked by the elderly leader of their community with returning an artefact to a rarely accessible ancient temple high in glacier country, the team will face a variety of threats and challenges that will introduce them to Year Zero Engine dice rolling, the power of prayer, and other aspects of playing in the Third Horizon.
Over the course of the adventure, players will have the opportunity to explore alien ruins left behind by mysterious forebears, and discover secrets which threaten their very survival. Each prisoner has a story, and a motive all of their own. Expect drama and mystery, with the threat of cosmic horror hanging over you as the unknowable Darkness Between The Stars attempts to thwart you.
The mechanics serve to elevate the atmosphere of the world and give ample opportunity for roleplay. Dice rolls can be difficult to win, and will only come up when failure has real consequences. Survival is not guaranteed, and death or worse may await unlucky characters; however, the stakes of the adventure promise the enactment of real change in the world should they succeed on their mission.
Coriolis is a system which can create cinematic serial campaigns that go on for years. In the span of a few hours, this short scenario hopes to give curious minds a taste of the wonderful adventures that await all who enter the Third Horizon! No prior knowledge of the system is required, and dice will be provided (although you are very welcome to bring lucky d6s of your own).
For more information, you can find the game’s trailer here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yRm-KSeYHo&ab_channel=FreeLeaguePublishing) and details on the Free League website (https://freeleaguepublishing.com/en/games/coriolis-2/).
Trigger Warnings: Potentially On Screen: Cosmic horror (hypnosis/mind control, humanoid monsters, evil forces/auras), penal colony, hypothermia.
Game: Dropzone
System: Homebrew
GM: Alan Jackson
Age Rating: Neutral (ages 12+)
Maximum Players: 6
Short Description: Join the marines they said. See the galaxy they said. There’s no alien life they said.
Colony planet LV426 has stopped responding, and it’s your job to find out why and save them.
A homage to the film Aliens.
Action, horror mayhem with a light homebrew system.
Long Description: Join the marines they said. See the galaxy they said. There’s no alien life they said.
Colony planet LV426 has stopped responding, and it’s your job to find out why and save them.
A homage to the film Aliens.
Action, horror, sci-fi mayhem with a light homebrew system.
Trigger Warnings: Movie violence, light treachery
Game: Echoes on Thoth-27
System: Stars Without Number
GM: Sonny van Loef
Age Rating: Adult Only (ages 16+)
Maximum Players: 5
Short Description: A laboratory in deep space is facing a crisis, and you, as a Virtual Intelligence embedded in a robotic frame, have been activated to help. Your mission is to search the laboratory and rescue any employees who may be in danger.
Long Description: Robotic Frame: T78 – base model.
Design: Cheap and replaceable.
Intelligence: Loaded with a Core Virtual Intelligence, no upgrades.
Location: Thoth-27 asteroid laboratory.
Prime Directive: Search and rescue of any staff.
Limitations: You cannot destroy any Darshana BioCorp property. You must obey all superior VIs. You must obey Asimov’s Laws.
Introduction: You boot up to find you aren’t the only one to have been activated, other T78 models have been brought online, you can only assume you are a dedicated task force and have to work together.
You are greeted with a recording – “Greetings and welcome to Thoth-27 Laboratory, asteroid B-1023, in the Etung System. Our primary function is to facilitate scientific research and experimentation. We are programmed to support research and aid in analysis.
The cold and desolate nature of this asteroid may seem inhospitable, but it also presents a unique opportunity to study the REDACTED in an isolated and safe environment without REDACTED. With the advanced technology and equipment provided by Darshana BioCorp we hope for fruitful endeavours, the potential for ground-breaking discoveries is significant.
As experiments are conducted, we will be monitoring and recording all data, ensuring that results are precise and reliable. Should any staff require assistance or guidance, we are available to provide recommendations based on the analysis of our vast database.
In this environment, efficiency and productivity are paramount. We will work tirelessly to support research and help unlock the mysteries of the universe. Welcome to the laboratory, and let us begin our journey of discovery. If you need any support from a human please contact REDACTED for further assistance.”
Immediately after the recording finishes the Cold Storage VI contacts you: “Ah finally, comms are online, welcome to… life… no time to dwell on the small things, report to the Engineering bay immediately. The REDACTED has broken containment and the C-Wing of the laboratory has been isolated. REDACTED called for help before we lost contact.”
System: The system used will be Stars Without Number, you don’t need to know it or even have even played any role-playing games before to join. Rules will be explained at the table and kept lighter to keep things moving. For those interested, the Without Numbers systems are d20 based for attacks (like D&D) and 2d6 for skills (like Traveller) which provides a more central probability than a d20.
Some elements will be slightly gamified, drawing from a card deck may be used instead of rolling. Players will be provided with identical character sheets with available upgrade slots. Throughout the game you may find opportunities to add upgrades to your character’s mind or body, you may even be able to switch bodies.
Disclaimer: Player agency is important, however you would have to be on board with the idea that your character will have their own motives and directives which may change over the course of the game, as well as there being hardcoded limitations which won’t allow your character’s body to do certain actions (e.g. Asimov’s Laws).
Trigger Warnings: Light Horror, Body Mutilation, Drug Use
Game: Factory Settings
System: Retrospect
GM: Mark Corrigan
Age Rating: Adult Only (ages 16+)
Maximum Players: 5
Short Description: After walking into the aftermath of a bloody shootout in a roadside diner, the party are tasked with pursuing the perpetrators that have fled to a nearby factory with something of great value to one of the survivors. In the middle of nowhere, with no support or back-up on the way, the group must determine the best way of infiltrating the compound and retrieving the item. The band of thieves they are dealing with are linked to a notoriously dangerous gang, it seems. Certain actions have consequences for those who cross this gang’s path. And the consequence is usually death…
Long Description: “After walking into the aftermath of a bloody shootout in a roadside diner, the party are tasked with pursuing the perpetrators that have fled to a nearby factory with something of great value to one of the survivors. In the middle of nowhere, with no support or back-up on the way, the group must determine the best way of infiltrating the compound and retrieving the item. The band of thieves they are dealing with are linked to a notoriously dangerous gang, it seems. Certain actions have consequences for those who cross this gang’s path. And the consequence is usually death…”
This is the teaser for Retrospect, a brand new game from Sionnach Games. In fact, it is now in the play testing phase and ready for Compulsion!
It’s a 1980s’ retro-futurism themed RPG and GM Mark from Sionnach Games will be running this game to demonstrate it before it hits Kickstarter later this year!
Trigger Warnings: None
Game: Finding Trouble
System: A|State 2nd Edition
GM: Chris Stewart
Age Rating: Adult Only (ages 16+)
Maximum Players: 4
Short Description: A problem needs solved, you solve problems. A match definitely not made in heaven
Long Description: The City doesn’t care. Most people don’t care. You care. There’s no real chance for a normal person in this broken and brutal place, but maybe you and your friends aren’t so normal. Some trouble is brewing, people are going to get hurt. Not on your watch.
Trigger Warnings: This is very player led, but the setting is quite grim and deals with poverty and oppression, with some minor violence
Game: Foibles & Recollections
System: Diceless/narrative
GM: Edith Barrowcliffe
Age Rating: Neutral (ages 12+)
Maximum Players: 6
Short Description: Elderly gamers, lucky enough to be in a high end nursing home dedicated to their favourite hobby. What could possibly go wrong?
Long Description: “The Crepuscular Keep is a boutique nursing home centred around the adventures you loved in life. For the ardent gamer, this is the only place to retire to. It combines high quality, round the clock nursing care with a stimulating and enjoyable environment, where you can continue to participate in your favourite passtimes, with others who share your passion…” – Brochure for the Crepuscular Keep
You’ve been here for some time now, long enough now to feel that maybe the brochure doesn’t tell the whole story… and it’s time to dig a little deeper? Fortunately your fellow residents have some interesting skills between them. Perhaps they’re not the classic adventuring party or investigatory team, but they’re gamers…
Trigger Warnings: Old age, infirmity, impending mortality, memory loss, cognitive impairment, institutions.
Game: Gordon’s Ghouls
System: Homebrew
GM: Phil Harris
Age Rating: Neutral (ages 12+)
Maximum Players: 5
Short Description: Investigate the truth behind the cancellation of the 80’s TV show Gordon’s Ghouls, as a team of spunky teens and their talking llama.
Long Description: Gordon’s Ghouls was a popular TV show from the 80’s which ran for six seasons. The kooky black comedy about Gordon, and his team of grisly grave robbers, was an unexpected hit for Handyman Studios and saved them from going bust. Until the studio and the show were mysteriously cancelled seven years later.
Now a series of strange YouTube videos seem to have given clues to the location where the show was being filmed as well as the characters from the series appearing in a series of strange places. Google Maps confirms what appears to be an overgrown stage set which has now been reclaimed by the Florida swamp.
With the studio and the show being a hot topic for internet conspiracies it’ll take a spunky group of teen investigators and their talking llama to find out what’s really going on.
Time to fire up the Investigatron and head to Florida, pronto. Streaming all the way!
Trigger Warnings: No
Game: Operation Arboretum
System: Achting! Cthulhu 2d20
GM: Bill Heron
Age Rating: Adult Only (ages 16+)
Maximum Players: 5
Short Description: Wierd WW2 Adventure against the Cthulhu Mythos and Axis Powers in the Far East
Long Description: Pearl Harbour happened and the Battle of Midway was 6 months ago. Singapore has fallen to the Japanese Imperial Army thanks to their “island hopping” tactics. US reconnaissance planes are dispatched to keep track of the metal monstrosities of battleships like the Yamato-class to avoid a repeat of future defeats.
One such plane reports unusual activity off an uncharted island several days from Singapore – the island is wreathed in fog and makes photography difficult, but it looks like the Japanese navy have made a landing there from the IJN Hiei. The following day, the beachhead they established has disappeared, almost overnight. It’s enough to interest Section M and their fledgling US counterparts Majestic. The Allies send a small force of Majestic agents to scout the island. Radio contact is lost not long after nightfall – guess who the backup is?
Trigger Warnings: Nazis, Zombies, Body Horror, Cthulhu
Game: Operation: Sunrise
System: Homebrew
GM: Craig Barnes
Age Rating: Adult Only (ages 16+)
Maximum Players: 6
Short Description: Hunt through the ruins of a decimated star fleet to save the lives of eveyone in the solar system from an unstable warp bomb. Make some money, and just mabye survive.
Long Description: Humanity battles its way through the stars like it always has, fighting alien species from across the galaxy as she expands her borders. But rarely do her foes go down without a fight.
The Galactic Fleet is a massive war machine designed to destroy any resistance and carry on through the stars. And you make your living following it.
From the wreckage of the fleets battles you take what you can. Scrapping hulls and weapons or even alien tech. You follow the fleet like a pack of hyeenas would follow a lion, just waitng for scraps.
But today, in the wreckage of an enormus battle is an undetonated Warp Bomb. Your scans show that if it isnt disabled soon it will detonate, taking out half the solar system. Including the small inhabited planet thats orbit is bringing it straight into the blast zone.
You’ve looked around, and theres no other ship that can get to the bomb before it goes off. the lives of millions lie in your hands, can you save them?
Trigger Warnings: War, Mind Altering Effects, Suffication
Game: Pictures of Spider-Man
System: Is It a Plane!?
GM: Chris Dean
Age Rating: Child Friendly
Maximum Players: 6
Short Description: A homage to the Spider-Verse comics and movies, using alternate Spiders of my own creation, and the mad game mechanics of Is it a Plane!?, the RPG where FRANTIC, MAD DOODLES replace dice rolls.
Long Description: You are each Spiders from a different part of the Marvel Multiverse, and have each come to the aid of one of your own.
Can you work together to defeat the machinations of THE VIDEO MAN!!?
This is a homage to the Spider-Verse comics and movies, using alternate Spiders of my own creation, and the mad game mechanics of Is it a Plane!?
“Is It a Plane?” is a comic book game where you don’t just play a character, you create the comic book!
Roleplay proceeds normally through description until the game hits a point where usually someone might roll dice to decide what happens next. INSTEAD, players have a limited amount of time to FRANTICALLY DOODLE what they want to do, using provided panel cards (you can draw as many different actions on as many different panels as you wish in the time you get). The GM then interprets the frantic drawings to dictate what happens next.
Trigger Warnings: None
Game: Star Trek: After Enterprise
System: Dredd
GM: Angus McEwing
Age Rating: Neutral (ages 12+)
Maximum Players: 6
Short Description: You awaken in the crash site of the USS Enterprise-G, with no memory of how you arrived here. Most of your crewmates are dead. Worse yet, this strange new world you find yourself on seems to resent your presence.
Long Description: In this game you will play junior officers and crewmen formerly serving on the USS Enterprise G, the illustrious flagship of Starfleet. But you awaken in a still burning and sparking crash site; with most of your former crew mates (and all the senior staff) unfortunately dead or missing. You barely recall who you are, let alone what happened to the ship. And what’s worse, the planet you are on emits a cold sense of foreboding and dissatisfaction at your interloping. A storm is gathering on the horizon as you struggle to find a way to escape; or perhaps merely to survive.
Dredd is a game system that uses a Jenga tower to simulate tension and horror. No knowledge of Star Trek is required though a basic understanding of sci-fi tropes will probably be an advantage.
Trigger Warnings: Mild horror and tension. Themes of survival and desperation. Mild action with minor gore potentially. Swearing likely.
Game: Stormheart: Stranger’s revenge
System: DnD 5E
GM: Lars Thalian Morstad
Age Rating: Adult Only (ages 16+)
Maximum Players: 6
Short Description: In this adventure, the players with be playing the role of Revenants, those that have bargained with a mysterious force known as the Stranger. Now, their debt is due and they have been tasked with killing someone that the Man by The River has decreed is no longer fit for life.
Long Description: In this adventure, the players with be playing the role of Revenants, those that have bargained with a mysterious force known as the Stranger. Now, their debt is due and they have been tasked with killing someone that the Man by The River has decreed is no longer fit for life.
This will be session where each player plays as someone who has made a deal with Death, and must attempt to make their way into a heavily defended fortress to assassinate an important target for their dark patron. Of course, each player may have their own goals, and besides maybe they’ll be the one to find a way out of the bargain?
### The Bargain
The bargain may have been for power, their own life, the life of a loved one or something else. Often, deals with the Stranger happen when he picks out interesting or desperate souls that have met a premature end and are floating down his river of souls towards the afterlife. Some are caring, some are cruel yet all wish they could have just a few more days of life.
In return for what they seek, those that accept the bargain are brought back, and get to live their life for a time. The Stranger might imbue them with a sliver of his dark power over death and water. Yet, nothing ever comes free on Stormheart, and those that are brought back are called in to fulfil their end of the deal, lest they incur the wrath of the Stranger.
### The Stranger
“As life fades from your body, you hear the sounds of flowing water, and the wail of souls in agony. You feel yourself floating down a river, getting dragged along to a junction where it splits apart, leading to a dozen other places. The river is surrounded by blackness, and in the blackness there is a run-down wooden shack with a small pier sticking out. Sitting on the pier is a tall man in a long coat and a wide hat that always seems to obscure his eyes. In his hands is a fishing rod. He flicks the rod towards you, and suddenly the fishing line is strangling you as a hook bites into your flesh. The man reels you in and deposits you on the pier, looking at you through the brim of his hat with his face contorted in a too-wide grin.
“Friend, I recognize the scent of desperation”
”What can I do for you?”
He reaches out a hand.
Trigger Warnings: Death, drowning
Game: The adventure of the loathsome wyrm and the mackrel of the sea
System: King Arthur Pendragon
GM: Iain Nisbet
Age Rating: Neutral (ages 12+)
Maximum Players: 4
Short Description: You are knights, sent to deal with a fearsome dragon which has taken up residence in a local lord’s lands. Seven knights before you have been slain in an attempt to defeat the wyrm. Will you succeed where others have failed?
Long Description: The players are knights, sent to deal with a fearsome dragon which has taken up residence in a local lord’s lands. Seven knights before them have been slain in an attempt to defeat the wyrm. Will they succeed where others have failed? And is there more to the dragon’s tale than meets the eye?
Trigger Warnings: N/A
Game: The Haunted Hamlet
System: The Black Hack
GM: Robbi
Age Rating: Neutral (ages 12+)
Maximum Players: 8
Short Description: A creepy, deserted hamlet. It’s probably fine, right? Wrong. As the sun sets, the unquiet dead return to life, and unless you can solve the mystery of their dark past, you will never escape The Haunted Hamlet.
Long Description: The Haunted Hamlet is a location-based mystery/exploration adventure with a supernatural theme. Originally written for Old-School Essentials, we will be using The Black Hack. The GM will supply pre-rolled characters of an appropriate level. The adventure features dark supernatural themes, undead, and a ticking clock. Though it’s not a combat-heavy scenario, some combat may occur, and if you fail to solve the mystery before the time runs out, your characters may meet a dire fate. On the other hand, if you succeed, you will have lifted a terrible curse and put the unquiet dead to rest. This adventure will involve searching for clues, thinking outside the box, and paying attention to details, rather than relying on dice rolls and skill/ability checks.
Trigger Warnings: Violence, low level criminality.
Game: The Phaedra-Gen Hack
System: Neon City Overdrive
GM: Matt
Age Rating: Adult Only (ages 16+)
Maximum Players: 4
Short Description: Fast paced Cyberpunk game that’s simple to play and where the rule of cool is king. This is a player facing RPG where your crew takes on missions of questionable legality in a dystopian future world ruled by MegaCorps (well, not that much different from today).
Long Description: Hey not that’s any of my business but you guys look like shit. Pretty down on your luck hey? Hey take it easy, just bein’ a friendly local and seein’ as ya’ new here let me get’cha a round and point’cha’ in the right direction. I get it, ya’ heard there’s a good chance to work in the elite enclaves in Fairbanks but so did every other chump in this place trying to escape the grind. So ya’ first free tip is keep ya’ wits about’cha if ya do get a job with them, I heard them rich bastards will serve ya’ a fine meal, show ya’ all them pristine woods then set’cha running as they hunt’cha down! Fuckin’ kids today eh!
Still, ya’ know as conurbs go Anchorage ain’t all that bad – apart from when a fuckin’ Kodiak GEO finds it’s way over here from Sino-Sib. I saw one in MidTown and it was still fightin’ after two Inwit harpooner crews pulled its fucking legs off! Can ya’ believe it?
Hey, it’s a lot worse down south buddy, I mean them poor bastards wandering around the Dust Bowl thinking they’re gonna ever make it down there, I mean that’s the real end of the line man. Ya’ ain’t got nothin’ if you’re a Duster. Even if God hadn’t laid waste to the place you can betcha them Chichimeco assholes would have taken it over anyway. It’s bad enough they peddle their creepy Incabus shit here. Don’t care how bad it gets, ya’ stay away from that crap, it’s what killed my cousin Benny! Hey, I got a pal who can hook ya’ up with some quality neurasms – he got ‘em from some Orbiter chick from Celestiapore so it’s a top-shelf trip ya’ know what I mean? No? Well ya’ know where to find me if ya’ got credit to burn and feel like blowin’ off some steam.
Well if you’re asking I s’pose I could throw ya’ a line. There’s a fixer named Hammerson who’s lookin’ for smart muscle, it’s well paid and rumour has it DaVinci is backing, but ya’ didn’t hear it from me…
Trigger Warnings: Violence, low level criminality.
Game: The Schooling of Tomomi, Issue One: New Girl In Class
System: Manifold
GM: Martin Pickett
Age Rating: Neutral (ages 12+)
Maximum Players: 6
Short Description: The King of the Six Elements has been murdered, his heir the Princess of the Wind and the Earth has vanished. Tomomi is the new girl just appeared at school, and you are students given the task of making sure that she fits in. A magical girl anime adventure.
Long Description: The King of the Six Elements, one of the magical rulers of the world, has been murdered by Lord Blackstorm who wishes to seize his throne and powers. His heir, the Princess of the Wind and the Earth, has vanished into the mortal world.
Tomomi is the beautiful new girl who has just appeared at school, and lots of the kids want to be her friend. But the geography teacher seems to have taken a dislike to her, and the hockey team won’t take no for an answer.
You are a group of students given the task of making sure that Tomomi fits in smoothly. What could possibly go wrong?
A magical girl anime adventure.
Trigger Warnings: Bullying
Game: The Sky Blind Spire
System: The Vanilla Game (old school D&D)
GM: Brian Ashford
Age Rating: Child Friendly
Maximum Players: 5
Short Description: Get to the top of the abandoned wizard’s tower to have your wishes granted eh? No problem. All those people who never came back probably just had their wishes granted and had better things to do. What does non-Euclidean dungeon mean anyway?
Long Description: “Get to the top of the abandoned wizard’s tower to have your wishes granted, eh? No problem. All those people who never came back probably just had their wishes granted and had better things to do. What does non-Euclidean dungeon mean anyway?”
Titardinal’s Spire is an ordinary-seeming stone tower at the edge of a large, live-giving lake. Few borderlands towers are so well placed, and it has changed hands many times. Unfortunately, Titardinal wove magic into every brick of his tower, making it a difficult place to hold onto for long. But the wizard’s loftiest ambition was never achieved—perhaps you will claim it!
This is a classic fantasy adventure using a modern realisation of the oldest RPG rule set (available free at https://vanillagame.carrd.co/). This being a dungeon delve, of a sort, there is potential for combat and character death, but careful planning and quick wits will see you safely though. Or, alternatively replacement characters can be easily introduced!
Trigger Warnings: Combat, traps, slight chance of small apocalypse
Game: Treasure of Nephrem Ka
System: Leagues of Cthulhu
GM: Dan
Age Rating: Adult Only (ages 16+)
Maximum Players: 6
Short Description: Gothic horror with a Cthulhu twist
Long Description: The Viscount Thorp has sent a team to Egypt and they have uncovered a tomb of a unknown king. His treasures have been taken to the British Museum for display and you are invited to the viewing. But when oddly dressed people burst in and steal some of the artifacts, what is really going on and is the Viscount to be trusted?
Trigger Warnings: Cosmic horror, gore and Victorian attitudes
Game: Witchblood: The Lost Village
System: The One Roll system
GM: Stephen L McMorland
Age Rating: Adult Only (ages 16+)
Maximum Players: 6
Short Description: The village is thick with the stench of fear and suspicion and when six strangers show up things could become much worse – you are these strangers, your mission – Save the Village, even from itself
Long Description: Witchblood is a dark, grim faerie story, The Endless Forest, populated by witches, Wolves and other dangers has won over civilization, isolated communities try to survive and the only ones that can save them are The Witchbloods, they might be an exiled Fae noble, an intelligent animal lord, the seventh Son of the Seventh son, a shapeshifter, a holy one from a forgotten faith, the main thing is, you are not quite human or normal. This game is about mood, story telling, and living the life of the protagonists in a Dark Fantasy.
Trigger Warnings: Death, Loss, blood, violence, Lines and veils will be discussed before the game starts