Friday 27 June 2008

Cover of 'Hearts In Glorantha' Issue 1.

So this is the cover I have done for Newt for the first issue of 'Hearts In Glorantha'.

I am pleased with it, especially the letters in the main title as they are my own design from many years ago. I hope to make them into a proper font once I have found a font making software package for the mac.

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I am by the way the un-official Art Director for HiG so I will be producing more artwork and trying to source new artists for the future issues.

Tuesday 24 June 2008

Freeform Games at Continuum 2008

0 Continuum 2008. John Foster Hall, Leicester University. UK.
Friday 1st - Monday 4th August 2008.
http://www.continuum.uk.net


To all freeform fans,

The Continuum Freeform sign up has gone live today 24th June 2008.
There are six games (one running twice) for you to play in.

http://grahamrobinson.com/freeforms

1) BEST OF THE WURST
"It is Friday the 13th of November 1942. You are in Occupied Brittany, in the sleepy town of Quimper, near Brest.

In the Castle Quimper Hotel, a Sausage-tasting competition is being arranged, ably supported by eminent Charcutières and the hotel staff.
There is a buzz in the air, as a very important guest is anticipated by all present."

BASIC INFORMATION
A Game for 9 Players
Saturday 10am-12pm
Entrance Fee £2.00

2) CARRY ON AT CAMP DAVID
Carry on at Camp David is set at Camp David, the US President's official rural retreat. President David Nixody has broken off trade negotiations to hold a reception in honour of astronaut Buzz Leapyear who is to be presented with the Congressional Medal of Honor. It is a relaxed, informal occasion, and the speeches are expected to be kept short.

BASIC INFORMATION
Number of players: 18 (5 female, 11 male, 2 gender-neutral)
Saturday 8pm-11pm
Entrance Fee £2.00

3) DIAMOND GEEZERS
"The Millennium Dome was raided earlier today by an intrepid armed gang, who used a JCB to break in and steal the De Beers diamonds worth an estimated 220 million pounds. They escaped by speedboat up the Thames."

"If you have any information as to their whereabouts call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111."

The governor Mr Jackson told you to come to meet him early at the lock up, because you're the only one he trusts, but when you got there he was brown bread. Who killed him, who will take over the gang, and most importantly where's the bloody loot?

From the same stable as Farewell Father Ted this short and potentially rather silly game gives you the chance to release your inner East London Gangster.

Game Duration 1 and 1/2 hours, a must for people wishing to try this hobby.

BASIC INFORMATION
This game requires 6 Males and 3 Female players
Sunday 10am-12pm
Entrance Fee £2

4) EVIL HIGH PRIEST II
Tired of goody-two-shoes investigators thwarting your plans to bring on a New Dark Age? Get annoyed when smarmy so-called "heroes" break up your sacrificial rites? No more! Because it's time for EVIL HIGH PRIEST – the LARP where you are the enemy! The stars are right! The spheres clash as horror looms. Humanity is doomed.

All players are awful horrible villains attending the final Grand Conventicle to determine Earth's fate. Play Wilbur Whateley, the High Priest of Leng, the Shoggoth, or Great Cthulhu himself in a darkly humorous game of the Old One's final triumph!

A Game for 31 Players
Duration 6 Hours
1-7pm on Saturday
Entrance Fee £5.00

5) MURDER AT THE GREYDOG INN
The Greydog Inn is heaving. Couples flirt, warriors boast, merchants barter, Lunars and Orlanthi glower at each other over their mead.
Just another typical night. But death walks the darkness, and foul murder is uncovered. The clan honour has been tarnished, and the guilty must be found before the killer strikes again...

"Murder at the Greydog Inn" is a 16 player, 3 hour freeform for 16 players. Written by Graham Robinson.

This event is running twice.
Saturday 9am-12pm
Sunday 9.30am-12.30pm
Entrance Fee £2

6) SURVIVORS OF THE NARONIC
February 11, 1893. In the freezing waters of the mid-Atlantic, the survivors of the SS Naronic await their fate. Despite its being less than a year old, their vessel has sunk in mysterious circumstances. The occupants of its lifeboats have little chance of lasting the night.

The survivors will be rescued, but by a craft thought destroyed and a Captain believed dead. The legend who claims to be 'no man' has saved them for now, but has set course for an erupting volcano.

Sped beneath the seas in a marvel of modern engineering, the SS Naronic's passengers and crew will find themselves in an extraordinary adventure that takes them to an outpost of a vanished civilisation...and perhaps beyond.

Survivors of the Naronic is a rip-roaring game of Victorian adventure and intrigue set in a universe slightly more interesting than our own. The game is inspired by the works of Jules Verne, Maurice Leblanc and others.

In our more mundane world, the Naronic was carrying a crew of cattlemen. In this reality, however, its passengers are European luminaries: Scientists, Celebrities, Scoundrels and Heroes. All have their secret goals and agendas. There will be Bartitsu.

The game last 3-4 Hours approximately.
24 Players
Sunday 2pm-6pm
Entrance Fee £5

All games can be signed up at http://grahamrobinson.com/freeforms

Please note GM's will inform you of receipt of your sign up. They will be casting in a couple of weeks, you will be notified if you are in a game at that point. Only people who have registered to come to the Convention can sign up for Freeforms, please do not waste time registering for games if you are not registered.

Fees are payable on arrival at Continuum and will be added to you bill.

Wild,Wild,Wild,Wild West Freeform

Please note this is a closed game, invitation only which has been sanctioned as by the Committee as part of the wedding celebrations of Jeff Richard and Claudia Loroff. All invites have been issued. There are no places remaining. Please do not contact Jeff or the Committee about this event, unless you have a personal invite. We know this may annoy some guests, but these are special circumstances agreed by committee.

Friday 13 June 2008

Me as Doc Cochran

So I am only playing one game at Continuum 2008, "It's a Wild, Wild, Wild, Wild West", as I will be too busy to do anything else as I will be helping running the convention.

I will be playing Doc Cochran from Deadwood, the HBO series and I am looking forward to it.

Finally got my costume together, just need to get hold of a black silk tie.



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Brad Dourif as Doc Cochran.




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Me as Doc Cochran.




Doc Cochran
Full Length pic.

Sunday 8 June 2008

Second batch of Mead on the way!

So I bottled the first batch from the last week and sampled a few. As it was fermenting for just over eight weeks it does taste strong though still sweet.
Had a glass the other night and I was a little bit squiffy.

I have done another batch and this time I will only leave fermenting for six weeks before bottling it so hopefully it will remain sweet.

Some process as last time though I used an apple and grape juice and teh zest and juice of a lime instead.
I may get a third batch on the go next week as well.

I should have a few bottles left for Continuum in August from the first batch still if I can keep my wife from it!

Wednesday 4 June 2008

Contributions sought for Continuum 2008 Programme Book?

0 Continuum 2008. John Foster Hall [also known as New Hall], Leicester University. UK.
Friday 1st - Monday 4th August 2008.
http://www.continuum.uk.net

Continuum 2008 is a three day convention for 250+ attendees held in a modern conference centre at the University of Leicester Halls of Residence, Oadby, Leicester, UK.
Call of Cthulhu, HeroQuest, RuneQuest, BRP, Savage Worlds, Indie games, and plenty of other game systems will be played at this convention.

A colour Convention Book will be produced and given free to all attendees on arrival.
As well as information on the convention, venue and games programmes there will be articles on gaming and role-playing.

We are looking for contributions for this year's Convention Book, whether it is artwork, maps, articles, non-player characters, scenarios, encounters, gaming or GMing advice, settings, stories or anything else you can think of.

We can not pay you but all contributors will receive the heartfelt thanks from the Continuum Committee, the joy of seeing their work in print and a free copy of the Con Book.

All copyright of any material we use in the book remains the authors or artists, so you can use it again elsewhere.

If you can send all submissions to darransims AT googlemail DOT com.

Thank you for your time.

Tuesday 3 June 2008

Up & coming RPG Conventions 2008/2009.

So here is the update of RPG conventions that are confirmed and upcoming.

0 Q-CON XV Queen’s University, Belfast, Ireland.
Friday 27th - Sunday 29th June 2008.
http://www.q-con.org.uk/

0 Continuum 2008. John Foster Hall [also known as New Hall], Leicester University. UK.
Friday 1st - Monday 4th August 2008.
http://www.continuum.uk.net

0 Grand Tribunal 2008. Venue ??, Cheltenham, England
Friday 15th - Saturday 16th August 2008.
http://gt08.ekkaia.org/page/About

0 Gen Con UK 2008. University of Reading, Berkshire. UK.
Thursday 28th – Sunday 31st August 2008.
http://www.horsemenevents.com/

0 Confess 2008. Venue ??, Sligo, Ireland.
Friday 26th - Saturday 27th September 2008.
http://www.flatearthsoc.com

0 CONcrete Cow '08½. Old Bath House, Wolverton, Milton Keynes, UK.
Saturday 27th September 2008.
http://www.mk-rpg.org.uk/Concrete_Cow

0 Ludicrus '08. Kesgrave Conference Centre, Ipswich, UK.
Saturday 27th - Sunday 28th September 2008.
http://www.ludicrus.co.uk

0 GamesFest 2008. The Victoria Hall, Tring, UK
Saturday 4th October 2008.
http://www.gamesfest.co.uk/

0 Furnace 2008. The Garrison Hotel, Sheffield. UK
Saturday 18th - Sunday 19th October 2008.
http://www.rpgfurnace.com/

0 Spiel 2008. Messe Essen, Essen, Germany.
Thursday 23rd - Sunday 26th October 2008.
http://www.merz-verlag.com/spiel/e000.php4

0 Gaelcon 2008. Clontarf Castle, Dublin, Ireland.
Saturday 25th - Monday 27th October 2008.
http://www.gaelcon.com/

0 Game '08. New Century House, Manchester, UK.
Saturday 1st - Sunday 2nd November 2008.
http://www.game08.eu/

0 Indiecon ‘08. Holbourne, Naish, Christchurch, Dorset, UK.
Friday 7th - Monday 10th November 2008.
http://www.indiecon.net/

0 Bizarre Consequences. Holbourne, Naish, Christchurch, Dorset, UK.
Thursday 20th - Sunday 23th November 2008.
http://www.consequences.org.uk

0 Dragonmeet 2008. Kensington Town Hall, London, UK.
Saturday 29th November 2008.
http://www.dragonmeet.com/

0 Conception 2009. Naish Holiday Village, Highcliffe, Christchurch, Dorset, UK.
Wednesday 28th January - Sunday 1st February 2009.
http://www.conceptionuk.org/

0 Tentacles 2009. Castle Stahleck, Bacharach, Germany.
Friday 28th May - Monday 1st June 2009.
http://www.tentacles-convention.de/

0 UK GAME EXPO 2009. The Clarendon Suites, Stirling Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, UK.
Saturday 30th - Sunday 31st May 2009.
http://www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk

0 Constitution 2009. New Hall, Cambridge, UK.
Friday 31st July - Sunday 2nd August 2009.
http://www.constitution-con.org.uk/

Monday 2 June 2008

[Actual Play]HeroQuest: Air & Motion podcast

I have recorded my HeroQuest Air & Motion game from Sunday 27th April 2008.

The first part of that session is up on my website in the form of a podcast.

HeroQuest: Air & Motion Session 1 part 1

Worth having a listen?

Part 2 will be posted up about this time next week.