Game Book - ACNW 2018
Slot 6 - Sat 7 pm to 12 am
A Beacon in the Dark
Game Master
Louisa McGuinness, Seana McGuinness
Game may run late into the evening.
Description
The peace between Amber and Chaos is a tense and fragile affair, maintained in part by the embassies in each court. Now though, Amber’s embassy in Chaos has gone dark and the family members stationed there aren’t answering their Trumps. Maybe it’s nothing. Maybe they’re out partying, or sleeping off an epic bender, or otherwise just too busy to answer their goddamned Trumps. Maybe. But maybe not. Whatever’s going on down there, King Random needs it dealt with. Discreetly. Without causing another war.
Unfortunately, none of the Elders are welcome in Chaos, so that leaves their children. In this particular case, it leaves those of their children who have a good enough reason to take a trip to the Courts without drawing undue attention. The last thing the king wants is to let it be known that something is amiss with his official representatives. That means discretion is the watchword.
Someone needs to do something, and you’re someone. Congratulations.
Unfortunately, none of the Elders are welcome in Chaos, so that leaves their children. In this particular case, it leaves those of their children who have a good enough reason to take a trip to the Courts without drawing undue attention. The last thing the king wants is to let it be known that something is amiss with his official representatives. That means discretion is the watchword.
Someone needs to do something, and you’re someone. Congratulations.
Setting
The Courts of Chaos, a century or so after Patternfall.
Character & Player Instructions
Characters are younger Amberites who have a strong connection either to Chaos or to the Embassy, and a plausible reason to visit. Instructions and further information will be provided before the con.
Genre/Type
Mystery - Traditional Amber
Teen Friendly
Yes
Number of Players
4 - 6
Player Preference
Any
Players should contact the GM at 'Louisaenator@gmail dot com' prior to the convention.
Archie VS Guardians of the Galaxy and Friends
Game Master
Debra Rebel
Game may run late into the evening.
Description
Mashup crossover. You are one of the Archie Gang, and things are never going to be the same, in Riverdale. Can you get to the bottom of things and save Riverdale, again? Especially when some very different visitors drop in to town. Literally. [google ARCHIE VS for more of an idea...] Players are one of the Archie characters, who also part Amberite, and know about it. Some of the Guardians of the Galaxy come to play with a few others they know....(yes, Loki lives, and does anyone have a Groot dictionary?) This is NOT based on the TV show. Being offered in slot 6 AND slot 7, one or both will run, depending on response. If both run you do not have to be in both. May have adult content and language so not suitable for teens. Returning players have preference. If you are reading this from slot 7, slgn for slot 7 if you want to play in that one. Signing up here gets you into slot 6.
Setting
Riverdale, with the Archie Gang, in roughly parallel present time.
Character & Player Instructions
Characters are partly pre-generated, with room for personalization. Players become one of the Archie characters, who are also Amberites and are aware of this (children of the Elders-those are already chosen) Being offered in two slots and if both run you do not have to be in both. If only one runs and you signed up for the other, you can switch over if you want. Please contact GM if you are interested, characters will be assigned by first spoken for. Have two alternates.
Genre/Type
Humor / Spoof - Alternate Amber
Teen Friendly
No
Number of Players
2 - 8
Player Preference
Returning players have preference, new players welcome.
Players should contact the GM at 'debrebel@rocklore dot com' prior to the convention.
Armageddon
Game Master
Clint L. Whiteside
Game may run late into the evening.
Description
The dead rise, demons walk the earth, and worse is on the way. How will the modern world react to a biblical cataclysm? Is there a way to stop the flow of hell into the world before someone loses their nerve and pushes the button? Can a bizarre assortment of soldiers, monster hunters, religious scholars, and mythical beings come together and reset the doomsday clock?
Setting
Beirut, Lebanon in a world where magic exists, but almost everyone has been ignoring it very hard for centuries.
Character & Player Instructions
Pre-generated characters.
Genre/Type
Adventure / Heroic - Other; N/A
Teen Friendly
No
Number of Players
4 - 12
Player Preference
Any
Players need not contact the GM in advance of the convention
As Light Through Amber
Game Master
Pôl Jackson
Description
"Let opening roses knotted oaks adorn, And liquid amber drop from every thorn." -Alexander Pope
The first session of what I’d like to be a multi-session Amber campaign. We're aiming for the same tone as the books: at turns epic and prosaic, with plenty of time to explore complex family relationships. This campaign will have a loose, open-ended play style. Players will be expected to drive the plot through their actions.
We'll need good communication before this first session to nail down our setting and create characters. For future sessions, game homework will be strictly optional.
The first session of what I’d like to be a multi-session Amber campaign. We're aiming for the same tone as the books: at turns epic and prosaic, with plenty of time to explore complex family relationships. This campaign will have a loose, open-ended play style. Players will be expected to drive the plot through their actions.
We'll need good communication before this first session to nail down our setting and create characters. For future sessions, game homework will be strictly optional.
Setting
We have some options.
1. Traditional Amber, or alternate Amber? If people are interested, I have some nice background worked up on a dark faerie version of Amber, the Kingdom of Bramble. I'm fine with whatever y'all want to do.
2. Play the elders, or the children? We could create versions of the elder Amberites, perhaps in an alternate Amber where Brand's plot never got off the ground. Either an elders game or a children's game is fine with me.
3. Shadow Knight, or core rules only? We can incorporate the Merlin books into our campaign and use the Shadow Knight sourcebook, or pretend they never happened and stick with the core rules. I'm rather fond of the Merlin / Shadow Knight stuff myself, but I know that people have strong feelings about them.
1. Traditional Amber, or alternate Amber? If people are interested, I have some nice background worked up on a dark faerie version of Amber, the Kingdom of Bramble. I'm fine with whatever y'all want to do.
2. Play the elders, or the children? We could create versions of the elder Amberites, perhaps in an alternate Amber where Brand's plot never got off the ground. Either an elders game or a children's game is fine with me.
3. Shadow Knight, or core rules only? We can incorporate the Merlin books into our campaign and use the Shadow Knight sourcebook, or pretend they never happened and stick with the core rules. I'm rather fond of the Merlin / Shadow Knight stuff myself, but I know that people have strong feelings about them.
Character & Player Instructions
Whatever setting we choose, you have 100 points to build your character. No auction; put your points wherever you like. Notes:
* The Kingdom of Brambles, should we choose it as our setting, has its own set of stats and powers. They cost the same as the Amber versions, but are weirder and darker.
* We'll all collectively decide whether or not we're using Shadow Knight, so wait until there's group consensus before cracking it open.
* Good Stuff is a signal to me, the GM, that you want to be treated like a protagonist. You may be a flawed hero, but you're still a hero in this story. Bad Stuff is a flag that you want to be treated like a villain. You may be a sympathetic villain, but ultimately, you're the bad guy. Zero Stuff characters are just people, defined by their actions. There is no limit on Good Stuff or Bad Stuff, nor is there a point bank.
* Player contributions are most welcome. Let me know what you're willing to commit to, and I'll let you know how many points it's worth.
* No, you don't get Pattern for free.
* The Kingdom of Brambles, should we choose it as our setting, has its own set of stats and powers. They cost the same as the Amber versions, but are weirder and darker.
* We'll all collectively decide whether or not we're using Shadow Knight, so wait until there's group consensus before cracking it open.
* Good Stuff is a signal to me, the GM, that you want to be treated like a protagonist. You may be a flawed hero, but you're still a hero in this story. Bad Stuff is a flag that you want to be treated like a villain. You may be a sympathetic villain, but ultimately, you're the bad guy. Zero Stuff characters are just people, defined by their actions. There is no limit on Good Stuff or Bad Stuff, nor is there a point bank.
* Player contributions are most welcome. Let me know what you're willing to commit to, and I'll let you know how many points it's worth.
* No, you don't get Pattern for free.
Genre/Type
Adventure / Heroic - Traditional Amber
Teen Friendly
Yes
Number of Players
4 - 6
Player Preference
Any
Players should contact the GM at 'poljack@gmail dot com' prior to the convention.
Ashes and Gaslight - Mirrors
Game Master
Kai Ford
Game may run late into the evening.
Description
There is an uncomfortable truth to the world. For all the great, bright engines of steam that run the world, the ash they produce has to settle somewhere. For all the great gallantry of the Society members, the shadows they cast are deep and dark. There are things out there that claw and bite at the edges of the world. Forever looking for a handhold. You may never stand in the light, but you will stand between these things and it. Because if you won't, who will?
Setting
Set in the same world as Kai and Malcolm’s steampunk game, this game is intended to explore the darker aspects of that world. They often get great ideas that end up on the cutting room floor because they find them inappropriate for what they are doing there. This is a game for those ideas.
This game is a continuation of the game Kai ran last year. New players are welcome!
This game is a continuation of the game Kai ran last year. New players are welcome!
Character & Player Instructions
Characters will be those who have fallen into bad company, morally bankrupt scientists, practitioners of dark arts, those who have been altered by questionable scientific improvements, etc. Pre-gens will be provided. However, if you have an idea of the kind of character you want to play contact the GMs before the convention.
Genre/Type
Dark / Grim - Non - Amber
Teen Friendly
No
Number of Players
4 - 6
Player Preference
Returning players have preference, new players welcome.
Players need not contact the GM in advance of the convention
Aurellis - The Saturday Game
Game Master
Timothy Hart
Game may run late into the evening.
Description
In the game, 2011 has finally arrived. Catastrophic events towards the end of 2010 include the destruction of House Jesby in Thelbane, the destruction of Tir'na Nogth in Amber, and an attack on the United Nations Building on St. James, that resulted in the death of the Secretary General. Last year, various things got fixed, but no omelettes ever get made without breaking new eggs.
Lots of Vikings, and Daleks, and Demons, and the return of Ancient Beings from previous cycles of existence.
Nothing that unusual really :-)
Lots of Vikings, and Daleks, and Demons, and the return of Ancient Beings from previous cycles of existence.
Nothing that unusual really :-)
Setting
The real world with the usual Aurellis twists - Amber and Chaos are out there, damaged as they may be, along with a bunch of other places too, including worlds created by PCs.
Character & Player Instructions
New characters are generated by use of a character quiz before the con. Existing players may continue to play existing character or generate new ones as they wish.
Genre/Type
Other; N/A - Other; N/A
Teen Friendly
No
Number of Players
3 - 8
Player Preference
Returning players have preference, new players welcome.
Players should contact the GM at 'gm@aurellis dot org' prior to the convention.
Final Fantasy VII in Amber!
Game Master
Anne Hewner
Description
Calling all Final Fantasy 7 fans! What if…. Jenova was an Amberite? What if Mako is pure Pattern? Play a hero or a villain from any of the Final Fantasy SEVEN (VII) affiliated games. Find out how the story changes if one of Jenova’s relatives comes a calling. It is not necessary to know everything about the games, but some clear ideas about the world is probably a good idea.
Setting
Set in the Final Fantasy VII shadow of Amber multiverse.
Character & Player Instructions
Players will make Amber-like characters using Final Fantasy VII characters as character concepts. Generation will happen before con or you can choose from GM created pregens.
Genre/Type
Adventure / Heroic - Amber with a Twist
Teen Friendly
Yes
Number of Players
3 - 6
Player Preference
Any
Players should contact the GM at 'annehewner@gmail dot com' prior to the convention.
Lost in Amber
Game Master
Dawn Greenlee
Game may run late into the evening.
Description
Its your birthday, you come home and checked your mail. In it is a birthday card with a playing card of a castle courtyard.
Looking into it, you find yourself standing in a castle court, in fact the one on the playing card. ..I will start each of you at this point. Having arrived in the courtyard about the same time.
What happens after that .. that is what RP is all about :)
Looking into it, you find yourself standing in a castle court, in fact the one on the playing card. ..I will start each of you at this point. Having arrived in the courtyard about the same time.
What happens after that .. that is what RP is all about :)
Setting
Characters will arrive in the private courtyard of Castle Amber, its mid day summer time.
Character & Player Instructions
Please don't worry about stats (I use the basic 4 stats from the book), if you must, you can say, my psyche is higher than my warfare. Or things like -- I never gotten sick in my life. I won't have any kind of auction or such. But I will do some very basic ranking based on character physical description, skills, mental attitude, background and such.
I am more interested in skills, education, the character has. Background can be anything on Earth modern day (which means you really have to prove to me why you are toting around magic items or know magic). Its not impossible but -- a gift from a relative known or otherwise -- is not going to cut it.
Characters are 18 years old. I have no limits on genders, race, sexual orientation, etc for those of you that worry about this stuff. I don't. I want you to have fun.
If player wants to know your character's Amber parent before the game, please email me. I don't have any restrictions on Amber Prince/ss for character parent. And player can pick their characters' Amber parent. But characters don't know they are an Amberite.
Any questions feel free to email me. I will give 'extras' for those players that send me a photo of your character, a week before the game.
I am more interested in skills, education, the character has. Background can be anything on Earth modern day (which means you really have to prove to me why you are toting around magic items or know magic). Its not impossible but -- a gift from a relative known or otherwise -- is not going to cut it.
Characters are 18 years old. I have no limits on genders, race, sexual orientation, etc for those of you that worry about this stuff. I don't. I want you to have fun.
If player wants to know your character's Amber parent before the game, please email me. I don't have any restrictions on Amber Prince/ss for character parent. And player can pick their characters' Amber parent. But characters don't know they are an Amberite.
Any questions feel free to email me. I will give 'extras' for those players that send me a photo of your character, a week before the game.
Genre/Type
Other; N/A - Alternate Amber
Teen Friendly
No
Number of Players
3 - 6
Player Preference
Any
Players should contact the GM at 'moonryu@yahoo dot com' prior to the convention.
Monster Mavens (Monsterhearts/Monster of the Week)
Game Master
Mickey Schulz
Description
In a world overrun with Monsters, corporations begin sponsoring bands of Hunters. Equipped and advertised by managers and companies looking to cash in on setting up competent groups of Monsterhunters, these bands wear branded gear. The companies make them follow outrageous morality clauses touting the belief that only the pure can successfully Hunt, with strict rules about appearance and public behavior, in exchange for the best weapons money can buy, and easy travel. These bands of hunters are often single gender, photogenic, and at least moderately capable. At least they generally survive long enough to make their sponsors a fat sack of cash with merchandising, and again when they die as everything branded with their name becomes a collectable.
Beset by sleazy managers, uncaring corporate sponsors, and, oh yeah, the monsters you're supposed to hunt, you are the girls of Monster Mavens, one of the most popular Hunting bands out there.
Characters will all be variations on The Chosen from Monsterhearts, with some tweaking using Monster of the Week skins for a little help.
Beset by sleazy managers, uncaring corporate sponsors, and, oh yeah, the monsters you're supposed to hunt, you are the girls of Monster Mavens, one of the most popular Hunting bands out there.
Characters will all be variations on The Chosen from Monsterhearts, with some tweaking using Monster of the Week skins for a little help.
Setting
Fifteen minutes into the future, with Monsters.
Character & Player Instructions
I'm limiting this one because I don't know how well this idea is going to work, and I don't know if I'll be able to give it a test run before the convention.
Email me if you have an idea of what you'd like to be, and we can talk.
Email me if you have an idea of what you'd like to be, and we can talk.
Genre/Type
Adventure / Heroic - Other; N/A
Teen Friendly
No
Number of Players
4 - 5
Player Preference
Any
Players should contact the GM at 'mickey dot schulz@gmail dot com' prior to the convention.
Operation Overwhelm
Game Master
Cyrano Jones
Description
The Battle of Britain, such as it was, lasted two weeks. German forces crossed the Channel and took London, leaving Scotland to the Scots and turning Hitler's full attention to Russia. The third Reich currently spans the globe, settling into an uneasy peace with Hirohito's Eastern Empire. It is now 1962, and you are each part of an underground resistance that grew forth from the Free France movement. One of your members has uncovered, abandoned, some old Nazi research that hints at a power which might be acquired and used to crack the third Reich's spine.
Setting
Largely, Europe.
Character & Player Instructions
Think about what role your character might play, what languages they know, prepare to punch Nazis in the face.
Genre/Type
Dark / Grim - Non - Amber
Teen Friendly
No
Number of Players
4 - 8
Player Preference
Any
Players should contact the GM at 'cyranocyrano@gmail dot com' prior to the convention.
Pleasant Valley Sunday
Game Master
Thaddeus Rice
Game may run late into the evening.
Description
You are normal, everyday people working in a mid-sized town in Northern California with "Rows of houses that are all the same/ And no one seems to care". You work hard, and maybe, just maybe things aren't that great...but those pills Dr. Green gives you make things better. Some folks don't like that RileyPacific International employs most of the town and owns most of it, too, but it's a nice job, good pay, and a safe place to live. Yep, "Another pleasant valley Sunday/ Here in Status Symbol Land".
Is something wrong?
Will use a near-diceless variant of Over The Edge.
*This game will get dark and twisted. We will use yellow and red cards to make sure we don't go too far and really freak anyone out. But we will freak you out as much as you are comfortable with.
If things go well, this could be part of a 3-game "Monkee's Song Title" themed triptych.
Is something wrong?
Will use a near-diceless variant of Over The Edge.
*This game will get dark and twisted. We will use yellow and red cards to make sure we don't go too far and really freak anyone out. But we will freak you out as much as you are comfortable with.
If things go well, this could be part of a 3-game "Monkee's Song Title" themed triptych.
Setting
Pleasant Valley. What a great place to live...
Character & Player Instructions
Contact me before the game. You will devise a normal, everyday person who lives in a normal every day world. Then, I will begin destroying your happy existence.
Genre/Type
Horror - Non - Amber
Teen Friendly
No
Number of Players
3 - 5
Player Preference
Any
Players should contact the GM at 'thaddeusrice@gmail dot com' prior to the convention.
Resolution: No End In Sight
Game Master
Emma Sansone
Description
A disturbing number of people have gone silent, some have gone missing: Cap’n Jolee, the Doc, Adelaide, the Yu brothers, Seven Lark’s baby... Resolution and what remains of her crew now approach a station in the vicinity of Hera. Whether they find any answers may depend on how they choose to ask questions.
Setting
The Firefly ‘Verse, immediately after the end of the previous episode.
Character & Player Instructions
Big Damn Hero characters using modified ADRP rules. Contact me for details. Returning characters have the customary 5 Shiny Points to spend on becoming even Bigger Damn Heroes.
Genre/Type
Adventure / Heroic - Other; N/A
Teen Friendly
No
Number of Players
4 - 10
Player Preference
Returning players have preference, new players welcome.
Players should contact the GM at 'emma@campobianco dot com' prior to the convention.
Shadowworld: Crime Leagues
Game Master
Robert Haight
Description
Psionic humans take to the underworld in the criminal organizations of Italian, Russia and Jewish Mafia, the Chinese Triads, Japanese Yakuza and all comers to vie for control of the United States in the 1950s.
Setting
Setting: Based on the Shadowworld setting, based on the rules found at http://www.shadowworld.org/
Psionic ability is not a heritage of the privileged unless they have gone off to war or suffered terrible misfortune. It is much more common among the poorest classes struggling for survival. However psionic abilities remain largely unknown to the general population. Science pokes and prods at the concepts of psionics, but because few people come forward claiming psionic ability and because few scientists are willing to push people to their breaking points they have made essentially no progress on the topic.
Psionics are often drawn into the underworld because they have grown up on the street and their abilities give them a chance at a step up in life, they are combat veterans looking to stay in the profession or variously find that what they seek in life is not to be found in more reputable occupations and lifestyles.
Psionic ability is not a heritage of the privileged unless they have gone off to war or suffered terrible misfortune. It is much more common among the poorest classes struggling for survival. However psionic abilities remain largely unknown to the general population. Science pokes and prods at the concepts of psionics, but because few people come forward claiming psionic ability and because few scientists are willing to push people to their breaking points they have made essentially no progress on the topic.
Psionics are often drawn into the underworld because they have grown up on the street and their abilities give them a chance at a step up in life, they are combat veterans looking to stay in the profession or variously find that what they seek in life is not to be found in more reputable occupations and lifestyles.
Character & Player Instructions
Character Instructions: This game has the potential to turn historic and religious events sideways. Players who have difficulty separating their personal cultural or religious beliefs from those of their characters may find elements of this game disturbing and may wish to look elsewhere.
Genre/Type
Dark / Grim - Other; N/A
Teen Friendly
No
Number of Players
4 - 10
Player Preference
Any
Players need not contact the GM in advance of the convention
Stillwater - "There is nowhere here to hide, waiting for the Abyss Storm"
Game Master
Craig Johnson
Game may run late into the evening.
Description
Standing in the foyer of the Stillwater Hotel,
Suitcase in his hand looking for a bill,
There's an Abyss Storm coming and everyone's trying to get away
-
Stillwater
-
In ancient times, there was previously a ...
A doorway from the Great Stairs...
An island in the middle of the Abyss
-
Stillwater is a centre of trade, diplomacy, intrigue, political chicanery and criminal activity. An island in the inky blackness though connected to everything.
Why are you on Stillwater when the Great Storm comes? What will you do when the lights go out?
Suitcase in his hand looking for a bill,
There's an Abyss Storm coming and everyone's trying to get away
-
Stillwater
-
In ancient times, there was previously a ...
A doorway from the Great Stairs...
An island in the middle of the Abyss
-
Stillwater is a centre of trade, diplomacy, intrigue, political chicanery and criminal activity. An island in the inky blackness though connected to everything.
Why are you on Stillwater when the Great Storm comes? What will you do when the lights go out?
Setting
Back in the Time before the Creation of Chaos and Amber -
There was the island of Stillwater, a neutral pebble in the sea of Abyss, loosely part of the Abyss Empire, connected to the Great Stairs.
There was the island of Stillwater, a neutral pebble in the sea of Abyss, loosely part of the Abyss Empire, connected to the Great Stairs.
Character & Player Instructions
Characters may play the three sons of the Emperor - Swayville, Dworkin and Suhuy - who are still in Stillwater for their own different reasons. Other player characters are of Royal Blood (legitimate or not) including Bances Amblerash (ancestors of Chaos Houses) or someone new and have a purpose for being in Stillwater.
Characters will have 150 points to spend on Stats, Sorceries, Abyss powers and items. No Amber or Chaos powers as they do not exist. Players may come across the "Eyes of the Serpent".
This is a game where player characters may choose to work together and/or for their own best or worst interests. There is a disaster happening and the player characters will be impacted. A bit of Babylon 5 meets the Apocalypse set in the ancient past of the Abyss with a hint of Gossamer.
Characters will have 150 points to spend on Stats, Sorceries, Abyss powers and items. No Amber or Chaos powers as they do not exist. Players may come across the "Eyes of the Serpent".
This is a game where player characters may choose to work together and/or for their own best or worst interests. There is a disaster happening and the player characters will be impacted. A bit of Babylon 5 meets the Apocalypse set in the ancient past of the Abyss with a hint of Gossamer.
Genre/Type
Adventure / Heroic - Alternate Amber
Teen Friendly
No
Number of Players
3 - 10
Player Preference
Any
Players should contact the GM at 'calj@mts dot net' prior to the convention.
The Cagliostro Betrayal
Game Master
Darren Hennessey
Description
This is the season finale of a show you’ve never watched. It’s the last few chapters of a book you’ve never read. The conclusion to a campaign that never actually happened. That’s the conceit.
The year is 1789, April 23rd, a week before Walpurgisnacht. You and your trusted comrades have spent the last five long years chasing down the murderer of your friend, mentor and teacher, the Comte de Saint-Germain, and clues to his missing legacy of incalculable wealth and potent sorcery.
Your search has forged your friendships in fire and blood, and taken you all across Europe and Asia, from where you first found his body in Schleswig-Holstein at Eckernförde Castle to hidden temples, secret caves and tunnels, and tombs of emperors and monsters. You fought a sextet of furious Efreet in Oman at the cave of Majlis al Jinn, and later struck a dolorous blow to a Prussian Necromancer in Western Sambia. You almost went mad struggling against a Russian vampire and his terrible demonic mirror at Brusnitsyn Mansion in St. Petersburg, and in Japan you bargained for information with a Kitsune Queen and her Yokai Court in Aokigahara Forest, at the base of Mt. Fuji. You outwitted a Rakshasa and its army of bloodthirsty cannibal monkeys in the abandoned town of Bhangarh, Rajasthan, and freed over a hundred trapped spirits in a cursed Church in Oseno, Poland. Further clues lead you to Morocco, France and Sweden.
But on the fifth anniversary of Saint-Germain’s death, you all returned to honor him at his tomb in Eckernförde Castle. The murderer returned with you. They’d been excruciatingly careful, but arrogance and desperation caused them to accidentally reveal themselves to be one of your own trusted number. “Alessandro” Giuseppe Balsamo Cagliostro, a friend and valued colleague to each of you, attempted a dangerous ritual that would’ve extended his life by stealing yours, but luckily, he was discovered. He had murdered Saint-Germain, stolen the legacy, and used its secrets these past five years to track down and acquire hidden occult knowledge, precious books, and tools of power, all while travelling with you, ostensibly to help find the killer. Having been discovered, he fled using some unknown sorcery and left you all in a magical deathtrap. We begin with you trying to escape, heal your injuries, rally any allies you might still have, and track down your enemy to avenge Saint-Germain and thwart Cagliostro's plans.
Your stalwart coterie of Magicians are:
-= THE CON-ARTIST =-
* Dauphine Madeleine d’Anjou, the noted French adventuress, con-artist, expert thief, and one-time lover of St. Germain, is also the Mistress of the Spy Path. St. Germain recognized and encouraged Dauphine’s natural gifts for deception and intelligence gathering and fostered her magical education. Her spells deal with making people reveal their deepest desires and secrets, telepathy, opening locks, manipulating light and shadow (including turning invisible for a limited time), making daring escapes, and creating compelling illusions.
-= THE ALCHEMIST =-
* Baltesar Ortiz de Córdova is a fiery Andalusian alchemist and craftsmen who left Spain in exile after he murdered his older brother, Salvador, in a duel, the reason for which he has never explained. Baltesar is not only a gifted physician, but also a master of potions, poisons, curious elixirs with strange properties, and an expert crafter of magical tools and weapons. He travels with an impressive magical arsenal and is capable of creating new items as needed.
Baltesar holds the responsibility of Keeper of The Vault. The Vault, located in an underground reinforced bunker in Vienna, is a magically shielded repository for all the trophies, cursed objects and treasures too dangerous to carry around that one accumulates after five years of supernatural adventures. The Keeper is trusted with the only key (and Dauphine personally designed and enchanted the locks).
He also has expensive tastes in exquisite wines and fine food.
-= THE CHANNEL =-
* Koralia Panagiotis (Pan-ah-yoat-eez) is not merely an autodidact with a passion for languages, mathematics, and science, but also a revolutionary, and thanks to St. Germain’s tutelage, a chaos magician, who specializes in Aspecting the qualities of certain popular mythological beings. Her magic adopts the trappings, behaviors and methods of a specific god or goddess of her choosing, and she gains a sympathetic link that confers a reflection of their power as well as their weaknesses. So far, she’s Aspected the traits of five different gods, one at a time, each for a stretch of months or years.
-=THE HAUNTED SOLDIER =-
* Lord Gareth Meyrick, Captain of the Welsh 11th Light Dragoons, is an expert horseman, cartographer, soldier, and was a loyal friend of St. Germain. The Count went searching for his soul and brought Meyrick back from the dead after a bullet had ended his life on the battlefield. Now Gareth is cursed to see and hear ghosts everywhere. He actively avoids graveyards, but knows rituals to compel information from the dead, and when needed, awaken and rally the sleeping dead to answer his will. The more he uses his necromancy, the stronger it gets, and the less overall control he has over it. There are side effects, of course. His touch withers flowers and causes small animals to sicken and die so he wears gloves at all times.
-= THE LIVING LIBRARY =-
* Frau Hildegarde Gunda Jäger always had a voracious hunger for knowledge and read everything she could get her hands on. When her parents were assassinated by a rival in the German Royal Court, St. Germain spirited the girl away and adopted her. She regarded the old man like a kindly grandfather, and fell in love with his magnificent library. Unfortunately, one day she discovered a forbidden volume called the Incunabulae Vorata and reading it changed her, body and soul. It sparked an actual physical hunger to consume text, draining the contents of a book with her touch. Her appetite for knowledge has only grown over time, and due to an event in Vienna three years ago, she entered into a deal with a powerful demon that saved the lives of the group, but made her pay a terrible price.
She has a vast wealth of knowledge, natural and supernatural, at her disposal, and is able to summon lesser demons as allies and greater demons to bargain for favors. She’s also skilled in the creation of portals for travel to places natural an unnatural.
-= THE VOID =-
* Janusz Duszenko, the son of a Polish Count, was a violin prodigy that St. Germain tutored for several years in Kraków, starting when Janusz was 16. Over time, and through many lessons on meditation, Janusz discovered that he possessed a strange ability. He could leave his body and travel to distant places, far away from the Earth and into the depths of space. He delighted at the birth of stars, the all-consuming emptiness of black holes, and the explosion of a supernova, but he didn’t do so unobserved. The further he extended his senses, the more he drew the attention of The Void. The Void is both a place and a thing; it’s an impossibly old living darkness that spent far too long alone and asleep, and it’s entangled itself inexorably with Janusz. The Void manifests through Janusz, with his permission, and in exchange offers him assistance and protection. It can be uncommonly kind and compassionate, but also unspeakably cruel and malicious. Cagliostro cleverly framed Janusz for St. Germain’s murder early on, but evidence was discovered that cleared him and he was acquitted.
The year is 1789, April 23rd, a week before Walpurgisnacht. You and your trusted comrades have spent the last five long years chasing down the murderer of your friend, mentor and teacher, the Comte de Saint-Germain, and clues to his missing legacy of incalculable wealth and potent sorcery.
Your search has forged your friendships in fire and blood, and taken you all across Europe and Asia, from where you first found his body in Schleswig-Holstein at Eckernförde Castle to hidden temples, secret caves and tunnels, and tombs of emperors and monsters. You fought a sextet of furious Efreet in Oman at the cave of Majlis al Jinn, and later struck a dolorous blow to a Prussian Necromancer in Western Sambia. You almost went mad struggling against a Russian vampire and his terrible demonic mirror at Brusnitsyn Mansion in St. Petersburg, and in Japan you bargained for information with a Kitsune Queen and her Yokai Court in Aokigahara Forest, at the base of Mt. Fuji. You outwitted a Rakshasa and its army of bloodthirsty cannibal monkeys in the abandoned town of Bhangarh, Rajasthan, and freed over a hundred trapped spirits in a cursed Church in Oseno, Poland. Further clues lead you to Morocco, France and Sweden.
But on the fifth anniversary of Saint-Germain’s death, you all returned to honor him at his tomb in Eckernförde Castle. The murderer returned with you. They’d been excruciatingly careful, but arrogance and desperation caused them to accidentally reveal themselves to be one of your own trusted number. “Alessandro” Giuseppe Balsamo Cagliostro, a friend and valued colleague to each of you, attempted a dangerous ritual that would’ve extended his life by stealing yours, but luckily, he was discovered. He had murdered Saint-Germain, stolen the legacy, and used its secrets these past five years to track down and acquire hidden occult knowledge, precious books, and tools of power, all while travelling with you, ostensibly to help find the killer. Having been discovered, he fled using some unknown sorcery and left you all in a magical deathtrap. We begin with you trying to escape, heal your injuries, rally any allies you might still have, and track down your enemy to avenge Saint-Germain and thwart Cagliostro's plans.
Your stalwart coterie of Magicians are:
-= THE CON-ARTIST =-
* Dauphine Madeleine d’Anjou, the noted French adventuress, con-artist, expert thief, and one-time lover of St. Germain, is also the Mistress of the Spy Path. St. Germain recognized and encouraged Dauphine’s natural gifts for deception and intelligence gathering and fostered her magical education. Her spells deal with making people reveal their deepest desires and secrets, telepathy, opening locks, manipulating light and shadow (including turning invisible for a limited time), making daring escapes, and creating compelling illusions.
-= THE ALCHEMIST =-
* Baltesar Ortiz de Córdova is a fiery Andalusian alchemist and craftsmen who left Spain in exile after he murdered his older brother, Salvador, in a duel, the reason for which he has never explained. Baltesar is not only a gifted physician, but also a master of potions, poisons, curious elixirs with strange properties, and an expert crafter of magical tools and weapons. He travels with an impressive magical arsenal and is capable of creating new items as needed.
Baltesar holds the responsibility of Keeper of The Vault. The Vault, located in an underground reinforced bunker in Vienna, is a magically shielded repository for all the trophies, cursed objects and treasures too dangerous to carry around that one accumulates after five years of supernatural adventures. The Keeper is trusted with the only key (and Dauphine personally designed and enchanted the locks).
He also has expensive tastes in exquisite wines and fine food.
-= THE CHANNEL =-
* Koralia Panagiotis (Pan-ah-yoat-eez) is not merely an autodidact with a passion for languages, mathematics, and science, but also a revolutionary, and thanks to St. Germain’s tutelage, a chaos magician, who specializes in Aspecting the qualities of certain popular mythological beings. Her magic adopts the trappings, behaviors and methods of a specific god or goddess of her choosing, and she gains a sympathetic link that confers a reflection of their power as well as their weaknesses. So far, she’s Aspected the traits of five different gods, one at a time, each for a stretch of months or years.
-=THE HAUNTED SOLDIER =-
* Lord Gareth Meyrick, Captain of the Welsh 11th Light Dragoons, is an expert horseman, cartographer, soldier, and was a loyal friend of St. Germain. The Count went searching for his soul and brought Meyrick back from the dead after a bullet had ended his life on the battlefield. Now Gareth is cursed to see and hear ghosts everywhere. He actively avoids graveyards, but knows rituals to compel information from the dead, and when needed, awaken and rally the sleeping dead to answer his will. The more he uses his necromancy, the stronger it gets, and the less overall control he has over it. There are side effects, of course. His touch withers flowers and causes small animals to sicken and die so he wears gloves at all times.
-= THE LIVING LIBRARY =-
* Frau Hildegarde Gunda Jäger always had a voracious hunger for knowledge and read everything she could get her hands on. When her parents were assassinated by a rival in the German Royal Court, St. Germain spirited the girl away and adopted her. She regarded the old man like a kindly grandfather, and fell in love with his magnificent library. Unfortunately, one day she discovered a forbidden volume called the Incunabulae Vorata and reading it changed her, body and soul. It sparked an actual physical hunger to consume text, draining the contents of a book with her touch. Her appetite for knowledge has only grown over time, and due to an event in Vienna three years ago, she entered into a deal with a powerful demon that saved the lives of the group, but made her pay a terrible price.
She has a vast wealth of knowledge, natural and supernatural, at her disposal, and is able to summon lesser demons as allies and greater demons to bargain for favors. She’s also skilled in the creation of portals for travel to places natural an unnatural.
-= THE VOID =-
* Janusz Duszenko, the son of a Polish Count, was a violin prodigy that St. Germain tutored for several years in Kraków, starting when Janusz was 16. Over time, and through many lessons on meditation, Janusz discovered that he possessed a strange ability. He could leave his body and travel to distant places, far away from the Earth and into the depths of space. He delighted at the birth of stars, the all-consuming emptiness of black holes, and the explosion of a supernova, but he didn’t do so unobserved. The further he extended his senses, the more he drew the attention of The Void. The Void is both a place and a thing; it’s an impossibly old living darkness that spent far too long alone and asleep, and it’s entangled itself inexorably with Janusz. The Void manifests through Janusz, with his permission, and in exchange offers him assistance and protection. It can be uncommonly kind and compassionate, but also unspeakably cruel and malicious. Cagliostro cleverly framed Janusz for St. Germain’s murder early on, but evidence was discovered that cleared him and he was acquitted.
Setting
The Saint-Germain Legacy Campaign Frame for Mortal Coil, written by Kenneth Hite, using the Mortal Coil (Revised) RPG. This story takes place in 1789, five years since the death of St. Germain, after a massive series of life-threatening adventures across Europe and Asia in search of the killer. We begin as the coterie of magicians have just discovered that the identity of his killer was one of their own, Count Cagliostro. The heroes must deal with the fallout of Cagliostro’s betrayal and escape, as they marshal their resources to avenge Saint-Germain, and track down and defeat Cagliostro.
[http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/81857/The-SaintGermain-Legacy-A-Campaign-Frame-for-Mortal-Coil]
[http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/76433/Mortal-Coil-Revised?manufacturers_id=3019]
[http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/81857/The-SaintGermain-Legacy-A-Campaign-Frame-for-Mortal-Coil]
[http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/76433/Mortal-Coil-Revised?manufacturers_id=3019]
Character & Player Instructions
GM will contact players to provide a cheatsheet for the rules, help with customization of pre-gens if players are interested (not required), and answer any questions.
Genre/Type
Adventure / Heroic - Non - Amber
Teen Friendly
No
Number of Players
4 - 6
Player Preference
Any
Players should contact the GM at 'gameraspinning@gmail dot com' prior to the convention.
The Lone and Level Sands
Game Master
Simone Cooper, Penny Feltham
Game may run late into the evening.
Description
These are the New Worlds.
You and your companions are a team of Path Masters, travelers who can spot and traverse Shadow Paths. For the past several years you have lived and worked in the crossroads city of Cynosure, each for your own reasons--adventure, employment, to save your home. Over that time, you've heard rumors of a mysterious employer, one who demands incredible commitment from their people, but also provides incredible rewards: access to Jewel Ghosts; horses of Arden; weapons of allShadow; passkeys to the locked Realms of Faerie.
After many successful independent missions, you received Cynosure's fabled golden ticket, an invitation to the back room of a certain bar.
The bar is called Munden's, and the interview is with someone code-named OZYMANDIUS.
You and your companions are a team of Path Masters, travelers who can spot and traverse Shadow Paths. For the past several years you have lived and worked in the crossroads city of Cynosure, each for your own reasons--adventure, employment, to save your home. Over that time, you've heard rumors of a mysterious employer, one who demands incredible commitment from their people, but also provides incredible rewards: access to Jewel Ghosts; horses of Arden; weapons of allShadow; passkeys to the locked Realms of Faerie.
After many successful independent missions, you received Cynosure's fabled golden ticket, an invitation to the back room of a certain bar.
The bar is called Munden's, and the interview is with someone code-named OZYMANDIUS.
Setting
Cynosure: the shattered mirror of the Keep of Four Worlds, a crossroads of the many ShadowPaths. It is a hundred years after Patternfall and decades after the Veils fell from our eyes ...
Amber: the rose of creation, faded now that the shaping hands of the Pattern have lost their strength, but still considered the Father of all Shadow--a father who may yet be jealous of his lost power.
Chaos: a scattered but wealthy collection of realms well-positioned to take advantage of the changes wrought when the Pattern lost its sway, a hive of "scum and villainy," heroism, beauty, and danger.
Amber: the rose of creation, faded now that the shaping hands of the Pattern have lost their strength, but still considered the Father of all Shadow--a father who may yet be jealous of his lost power.
Chaos: a scattered but wealthy collection of realms well-positioned to take advantage of the changes wrought when the Pattern lost its sway, a hive of "scum and villainy," heroism, beauty, and danger.
Character & Player Instructions
Character Instructions: Customizable pre-generated characters will be provided. We will create your team's primary origin Shadow together before the con along with the idea of why making a big score now is important to you, and what your team seeks from OZYMANDIUS as its reward.
Communication exchange before the convention is essential but should be brief. Please DO NOT sign up if you cannot do this.
Communication exchange before the convention is essential but should be brief. Please DO NOT sign up if you cannot do this.
Genre/Type
Adventure / Heroic - Traditional Amber
Teen Friendly
No
Number of Players
4 - 10
Player Preference
Any
Players should contact the GM at 'simonepdx@gmail dot com' prior to the convention.
The Music Makers and the Dreamers of Dream
Game Master
Jeremy "Bolthy" Zimmerman
Game may run late into the evening.
Description
You already knew the world was a dark and weird place, but apparently you didn't know how dark or how weird. At least, not until you got kidnapped by a bunch of neon midgets and pastel talking animals. They took you to their leader, an inhuman thing that looked like the unholy love child of Willy Wonka, Tilda Swinton, and the Slender Man. It shoved a part of its soul in your chest and said you were drafted to protect caring, friendship, dreams, and a bunch of other saccharine crap.
Also, you're out of cigarettes. I mean, really? Really?!
Also, you're out of cigarettes. I mean, really? Really?!
Setting
A pocket universe called Wonderville, ruled over a mad monarch named the Smiling Dancer, within the larger Nobilis universe.
Character & Player Instructions
This game will use a stripped down version of the Nobilis rules. Player characters will be bitter and hardened people drafted into a cosmic war to protect the concepts of Colors, Caring, Flowers, Friendship, Dreams, and Dessert. The mortal aspect of the characters will be created by the players, while the Nobilis part of their characters will be mostly pre-generated. Players will choose the dominion they want to have power over, provided on a first-come/first-serve basis.
NOTE: This is not intended to be a feel good game where you re-capture your inner sense of child-like wonder. It will be a game about dealing with the darkness of humanity using a set of values you may not believe in. There will be an ongoing conversation about hard boundaries throughout the game, and probably some booze.
NOTE: This is not intended to be a feel good game where you re-capture your inner sense of child-like wonder. It will be a game about dealing with the darkness of humanity using a set of values you may not believe in. There will be an ongoing conversation about hard boundaries throughout the game, and probably some booze.
Genre/Type
Humor / Spoof - Other; N/A
Teen Friendly
No
Number of Players
3 - 6
Player Preference
Any
Players should contact the GM at 'bolthy@gmail dot com' prior to the convention.
The Quiet Year: Carpe Annum
Game Master
Chris Lightfoot
Description
Civilization has fallen. An isolated community struggles to survive – even thrive – in this post-apocalyptic world.
This is a shared narrative game, where players collectively explore the struggles of a group of survivors trying to rebuild after the collapse. It’s a game about community, resources, and difficult choices. It’s a story about abundancies and scarcities, discussions and conflicts, developments and discoveries. We record the story on an ever-evolving map, part symbolic, part literal cartography.
Players work together to create and steer this community, but also introduce problems and tensions. We don’t embody specific characters nor act out scenes. Instead, we represent currents of thought within the community. When we speak or take action, we might be representing a single person or a great many. We may represent fortune (good or bad) or the very forces of nature. We shape the community at every level.
If we allow ourselves to care about the fate of these people, the Quiet Year becomes a richer experience, and serves as a lens for understanding communities in conflict.
This is a shared narrative game, where players collectively explore the struggles of a group of survivors trying to rebuild after the collapse. It’s a game about community, resources, and difficult choices. It’s a story about abundancies and scarcities, discussions and conflicts, developments and discoveries. We record the story on an ever-evolving map, part symbolic, part literal cartography.
Players work together to create and steer this community, but also introduce problems and tensions. We don’t embody specific characters nor act out scenes. Instead, we represent currents of thought within the community. When we speak or take action, we might be representing a single person or a great many. We may represent fortune (good or bad) or the very forces of nature. We shape the community at every level.
If we allow ourselves to care about the fate of these people, the Quiet Year becomes a richer experience, and serves as a lens for understanding communities in conflict.
Setting
The game system is The Quiet Year by Avery Alder. More information is at http://buriedwithoutceremony.com/the-quiet-year, where the game is available as a PDF or in print format. I have a print copy of the game (with cards) that I’ll be bringing for us to use. I’ll also provide the paper and markers for our map.
Character & Player Instructions
You don’t need to know how to draw to play.
We'll spend about 15 minutes discussing the concept, and then dive right in. The simple rules can be learned as we play. Play goes around the table like a board game, so everyone gets an equal turn. How many turns make up each "season" of the year will be determined by the number of players.
We'll end the game at 11:00 pm.
We'll spend about 15 minutes discussing the concept, and then dive right in. The simple rules can be learned as we play. Play goes around the table like a board game, so everyone gets an equal turn. How many turns make up each "season" of the year will be determined by the number of players.
We'll end the game at 11:00 pm.
Genre/Type
Other; N/A - Non - Amber
Teen Friendly
No
Number of Players
3 - 7
Player Preference
Any
Players need not contact the GM in advance of the convention
Trumpgate TG-1
Game Master
Cort Odekirk
Description
As the members of the premier secret military team TG-1 you explore the recently discovered Trump Gate. Last season the Temple of the Ancient Forrester was discovered and the powerful creature released to wreak chaos upon the multiverse. Now other ancient forces rise to oppose the awoken Lords of the Gates, will they prove ally or foe as forces align and only TG-1 stands before the gods of legend and the good old USA.
Setting
Basically the universe of Stargate SG-1 but with a mysterious Amber twist.
Character & Player Instructions
Returning players will have no additional advantages other than knowledge gained in the previous episode. Will be an easy ramp up for new characters.
New players will create characters before the game including the following:
Name and short biography
4 standard Amber stats (WAR, PSY, END, STR) - 2 at Human rank, 1 at Chaos, 1 at Amber
Define the character's broad role in the team (e.g. Soldier, Scientist, Historian, etc.) This is TV, it doesn't have to make sense, the playtest included a surprisingly effective team cat.
Select 5 premier skills, preferable with at least a few supporting the character's role
Select 1 thing that makes the character interesting - "Alien from another world", "That sixth sense passed down from Grandma", "An amazing gift for understanding alien technology", "Amazing TV sexuality that only main characters can resist", etc. Keep it moderate, this is action/adventure, not a superhero show.
New players will create characters before the game including the following:
Name and short biography
4 standard Amber stats (WAR, PSY, END, STR) - 2 at Human rank, 1 at Chaos, 1 at Amber
Define the character's broad role in the team (e.g. Soldier, Scientist, Historian, etc.) This is TV, it doesn't have to make sense, the playtest included a surprisingly effective team cat.
Select 5 premier skills, preferable with at least a few supporting the character's role
Select 1 thing that makes the character interesting - "Alien from another world", "That sixth sense passed down from Grandma", "An amazing gift for understanding alien technology", "Amazing TV sexuality that only main characters can resist", etc. Keep it moderate, this is action/adventure, not a superhero show.
Genre/Type
Exploration - Amber with a Twist
Teen Friendly
Yes
Number of Players
4 - 6
Player Preference
Returning players have preference, new players welcome.
Players should contact the GM at 'cort dot odekirk@gmail dot com' prior to the convention.