My Games at Dragonmeet 2019

Dragonmeet 2019, Novotel London West, Hammersmith, London, UK ​Saturday 30th November 2019, 9.00am - Midnight https://www.dragonmeet.co.uk My games at Dragonmeet 2019 in London. https://www.dragonmeet.co.uk On Cloud Nine and Golden Sunshine Tales from the Loop RPG Saturday Morning slot. For up to seven players. Newbies welcome! There is a big celebration in Derby at the launch of the brand new Gauss Freighter “Cloud Nine”. It means a new class of Magnetrine Ship powered by a Gravitron reactors manufactured locally providing jobs and economic success. But when were strange echo spheres strategically placed on the vessel? Tags: Player-led, Sci-Fi (Alt-History), Nostalgia Play, No Pre-gens, Rules-lite, Newbie Friendly, Fria Ligan, Musical Accompaniment. ‘Three’s Company’ Alien RPG Saturday Afternoon slot. For up to seven players. Newbies welcome! Wey-Yu - In space, everyone has a job to do, a reason for working here. To the company your are an asset, a vital cog in the machine, a significant dollar value, an expenditure on a spreadsheet. Yet when we come in that is all forfeit. We are an expensive solution to that vital bottomline. Why are you making this so costly? Tags: 18+, Alien, Hidden Agendas, Horror, Player-Led, Pre-Gens, Sci-Fi, Spaceships with Ashtrays, Fria Ligan, Musical Accompaniment.

GrogMeet 2019 Con Report

GrogMeet 2019, Fan Boy Three, 25 Hilton St, Manchester. M1 1EL Friday 8th - Sunday 10th November 2019 https://thegrognardfiles.com/grogmeet-2019/ So I set off early from Derby on a crisp and foggy autumn morning. There was some confusion at the Railway Station as many northern trains were delayed or cancelled due to severe flooding in Yorkshire. I he a choice of going either via Stoke-on-Trent or Sheffield, I went for Sheffield and I am glad I did. I ended up being half an hour late, catching a later connection. I got to Fan Boy Three just as the games had already started. I like the set up at Fun Boy Three, the main level where the majority of the shop products were on display had five round tables for games. They were great tables (I have a thing about venue furniture) and were a perfect size for running RPGs. There was a ‘hidden’ staircase down to the lower level where they had the store’s game library and six more gaming tables set up, each made up of three good sized rectangular tables, making the tables pretty big; perfect again for RPGs. There was just a nice vibe to the place and the fact everyone was playing was nice. My first game was Tunnels and Trolls, ‘Paddy’s 13’. This was a great fun game! We were all playing Leprechauns that were double crossed by a wizard in the town of Sanctuary set in Thieves World. Now to be fair, he had hired us to steal this little gold idol, but he got us sent to prison on delivery and took the idol for himself. We all vowed revenge on release from prison so we plotted to steal back the idol and to embarrass the wizard in the process. What followed were some very silly plans to infiltrate the wizard’s house and steal back this idol, and any other valuables too. We all had the ‘Wink Wing’ teleport ability and incredible Dexterity (and very poor Strength) to our very small stature. My character’s speciality was thievery and a very heavy build. By pure luck we managed to not only gain access to the wizard’s house but also to succeed against the wizard’s might. We even impressed Jubal from the Vulgar Unicorn. The Tunnels and Trolls system works very well in it’s simplicity and helps to deliver a good game experience. Some very, very bad puns were delivered and silliness abound during the game but it was fun and very satisfying. A great starter the day. Credit goes to the wonderful GM and my fellow players. Lunch was spent at the local pub for a cooked meal and a swift pint before the afternoon session. I set up quickly for my afternoon game of Fria Ligan’s Alien ’Three’s Company’. I was allocated a table in the downstairs section, nicely in middle of the room. The tables were nicely spaced out so noise from one table didn’t affect to others. I had a total of seven players, all keen and raring to go. I quickly introduced the characters and let them make their choices, I also showed them how to open their foldout character agendas so that they could see their agendas for each act for later on in the game. I also had their agendas for each act split into two selections; their personal orders and allocations as part of Special Order #10015a, and their personal agenda. There would possibly be conflicting agendas for each character too! Mike, a player returning to role-playing after a long break, was playing Corporal Carlos Gould. Matthew was playing Lance Corporal Hernandez, the Smart Gun operator. Nick’s character was Senior Hirsch, here to help the squad, “Good Luck Guys!” Ty was playing Captain Decoud who was in charge of the squad. Dr Monygham was played by Johnny, here to act as a medic. Dan was playing Lieutenant Antonia Avellanos, second in command. And finally we had Pookie playing Lance Corporal Conrad Kurze, the tech guy with a Plasma Rifle in the 40W range. I then took them through the character sheets, describing how they Attributes and Skills work, more importantly how Stress works as well as the Buddy/Rival works too. I also issued a crib sheet with all their Talents described for them to check out as they play. I then introduced the scenario, in character, as either Captain Joseph Mitchell - Commander of the USS Ribiera, and Sergeant Major Montero. I wore my Weyland-Yutani cap backwards when I played the Sergeant Major and his accent went dodgy Mockney. Captain Mitchell I portrayed with a crisp British accent and I wore the WY cap properly. Of course at one point the players wanted answers from both characters at once so I was swapping my cap around like I was some comic turn! So the players got plenty of information up front as they did ask lots of questions and they also introduced some of their own plot points. Gould especially mentioned the fact his brother is possibly one of the hostages, first time that has happened during the start of the game after running three times before. They were also introduced to Guzman Bento, their pilot of the UD-4L Cheyenne Dropship that will be taking them down to planet-side. He is a bit gung-ho but the characters were confident in his abilities - mostly. A few of the PCs managed to smuggle a few grenades with them as they were gearing up but none were pushing for any other equipment to take with them. Now Gould was up to drive the M577 APC onto the Dropship, a Heavy Machinery roll, but his first roll failed (Heavy Machinery 2 + Strength 4 + APC bonus 2 = 8 dice). So this was the perfect opportunity to show how the Stress worked as the player wanted to Push his first roll so he gained a point of Stress, gained a extra Stress Dice to his roll, and rolled multiple sixes the second time around. So I described a bit of grinding metal as he tried to straighten the APC up but then he managed to drive up the ramp into the Dropship. The players were pushing the banter between themselves as they got to the planet-side. They had chosen to go for the main landing pad at the facility, and managed to avoid any of the booby traps. Hernandez operated the the turret of the APC to bring fire on the figures they spotted in the windows above the main airlock. They also used their Motion Trackers early on, I provided the sound effects from my iPad, and that showed them where the dissidents were. They even went after the movement that was trying to circle around them. After that they went in with extreme prejudice and dealt with the dissidents. Again I had the sound effects of the pulse rifles to play as well, that went down very well as that sound is very recognisable. The game progressed very well, with the PCs dealing with all the challenges presented. The banter between them continued but they were pushing their rolls and taking Stress early. When things started to go wrong the Stress for all the characters did grow quite fast. The moment that the Alien showed up you could hear a pin drop. I had an NECA Alien toy figurine 9” tall that I placed in the centre of the gaming table. It not only stopped the players around the table in their tracks, but the players on the other tables stopped to see it too I was told later on - it caught the attention of the con. The player versus player started near the end of the session, though I had hoped that the good Dr Monygham would have taken a few of the characters out when presented with the best opportunity. Though I did realise afterwards that I hadn’t told the players to go to Act III Agendas before the end of the scenario so that would have done some bearing. A great game with fantastic players, with some interesting actions at the end. Only a few of them survived but they were glorious deaths and fun was had by all the players. After the game sessions were over it was a short jaunt to Bar 21 in the city centre for after show drinks. That was a nice wind down after the day and it was nice to catch up with people and just talk nonsense about role playing games. I even had my photo taken with a Alien! With that I headed back home on some more delayed trains back to Derby, taking over three hours to get back. I would like to thank the organisers and the staff of Fan Boy Three for all their hard work, hospitality and service throughout the day. I’ll hopefully be back next year again! So a great day with the only downsides being the transportation on the day and the fact I failed to get a GrogMeet badge!

Alien RPG by Fria Ligan Unboxing

So my Alien RPG arrived today so here is the unboxing video. I hope you enjoy and feel free to ask any questions below. This was the Standard Bundle if you pre-ordered it in August 2019. Contents include the Core Rule Book, Chariot of the Gods scenario pack, GM Screen, Maps and Markers, Custom Card Deck, the Base Dice Set, and the Stress Dice set.

Alien Game at Ludorati Café Halloween Special

So I was invited to run my Alien RPG scenario, Three’s Company, at Ludorati Café on Thursday as part of their Halloween RPG event. I had ran this scenario before at Furnace and Spaghetti ConJunction earlier in the month and it had gone down well.
I was worried as there had been only one person expressing an interest in the game on social media.
I needn’t have worried as I had six players turning up to my table in the Cube at Ludorati Café. Two of the players hadn’t role played before so no pressure there then! I later learnt that they weren’t even familiar with the Alien franchise as they hadn’t seen the films before either.


The Cube at Ludorati Café set up for my Alien Game


I like playing in the Cube as not only can I put up images on the large TV screen via my Laptop, but I can play background music via the Bluetooth speakers. I had a Keynote presentation playing from my MacBook Pro with images of the base, characters, ships, etc that I could control from my iPhone, I had the Aliens OST playing from my iPhone through the speakers and I was referring to my notes, as well as taking notes, on my iPad Pro. It is a good set up.

I started by handing out the character sheets to allow the players to choose which one they wanted to play. I also showed them how to use the foldable Character Handouts, they were impressed with them!




The player characters are:
Dan had picked Lance Corporal Juan Hernandez the Smartgun Operator
Becky had chosen to play Dr Monygham, the Trauma and Cryogentic Specialist
Helen was playing Corporal Carlos Gould, the murderous soldier.
Lucy had gone for playing Lieutenant Antonia Avellanos, the second in command.
Miles chose to play Captain Martin Decoud, the Squad Leader.
Adam was playing Lance Corporal Conrad Kurze with his Plasma Rifle (in the 40W range).


Photo by Damon Mitchell


The mission is simple:
Special Order 10015A - LV-510 - Phoronis
Eliminate all hostiles with extreme prejudice. 
Capture the leaders of the resistance for questioning.
Rescue all the hostages especially the corporate executives in cryogenic sleep.
Minimise damage to corporate facilities that have significant dollar value.
All other considerations rescinded.


After the mission briefing on the USS Ribiera the players chose to take the more risky option of the plan, getting closer to the main target facility rather than the main landing pad. This did prove costly as they lost their transport after dust off.

They managed to deal with the resistance set against them, moving through the facility slowly but surely.

They used their Motion Trackers, I used the sound effects for that at the table that was well received, to track the movement of the miners. They discovered that most of their opposition was ahead of them, but some were moving through the facility on either side, trying to get past them or flank them. The group decided to move forward and attack the main group.
The round opened with rolling for initiative, 1d6 plus the Agility score of the character instead of drawing cards, the highest going first. It worked well and it ended up with one of the miners firing first, pelting the Captain with shotgun fire. His armour didn’t stop the shot, so he took damage. The Doctor then helped the Captain heal up with her Medkit. The Captain returned fire with his Pulse Rifle, I used the sound effects again, and he was able to take down the opposition.
The rest of the group took turns in attacking the miners, each shooting the miners, and taking a tally of their kills. Corporal Gould was very brutal, getting in close with his sawn-off shotgun to deal with the miners.  It ended with the last miner shouting out, with his dying breath, a message over his comms, “launch it, launch it now!”
But launch what?

After that the PCs managed to move through the facility to the control room, running afoul of a few traps along gathered way, but they managed to secure the facility. The rescued the hostages and captured the leader.
From there the tension built up and the PCs started taking Stress as things started going very wrong with the mission.

The funniest moment is when they were planning to getting everyone off the planet, working out how to fit the hostages into the different escape shuttles and ships. Of course no one is going to make it out alive!

When the Alien arrived things did get hectic, Corporal Gould tried to shoot it, but Dr Monygham (played by one of the new to role playing players) decided to take him out to protect the Alien. What followed was a tense battle as each player tried to out do the other. Of course it was a disaster but it was great fun for the players!


The Players with their character sheets


The player realise they are all going to die!


It was a great game and both the new to role playing players did very well, getting very involved in the planning and actual execution! It was a lot of fun.

My thanks goes to Damon at Ludorati Café for organising the Halloween special, there were quite a few great costumes on show by many of the visitors to the cafe, many of them playing games.
Also my thanks goes to all the staff at Ludorati Café for their hospitality and service.

[November Update] UK RPG Convention Listing

This is the November update for the UK RPG conventions for 2019 and far beyond. Each has a website (though a few have Facebook pages) for information and details. If you know of any that have been missed please mention them in the comments below. Please note, a few conventions have asked to be removed from this list. StabCon South Autumn 2019, DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Southampton, Bracken Pl, Chilworth, Southampton SO16 3RB Friday 1st - Sunday 3rd November 2019 https://m.facebook.com/StabconSouth/ GrogMeet 2019, Fan Boy Three, 25 Hilton St, Manchester. M1 1EL Friday 8th - Sunday 10th November 2019 https://thegrognardfiles.com/grogmeet-2019/ GBCon Winter 2019 Tabletop Gaming Day, Lopping Hall, 189 High Road, Loughton IG10 4LF Saturday 9th November 2019. 10:00am - 10:00pm https://www.facebook.com/gbconuk Dragonmeet 2019, Novotel London West, Hammersmith, London, UK ​Saturday 30th November 2019, 9.00am - Midnight https://www.dragonmeet.co.uk + Winter StabCon 2020, Britannia Hotel Stockport, Dialstone Ln, Stockport, SK2 6AG Friday 3rd - Sunday 5th January 2020 https://m.facebook.com/groups/21195645768 Northants Role Play Games Day #1, Manascrew (Game Shop) Chancery House, 52 Sheep St, Northampton, NN1 2LZ Saturday 12th January 2020, 10:00am to 6:00pm http://www.roleplayday.moonfruit.com/ HandyCon 7, Holiday Inn, Maidenhead, Manor Lane, Berkshire, Maidenhead, SL6 2RA Friday 17th - Sunday 19th January 2020 http://handycon.co.uk/ ConTingency 2020, Searles Leisure Resort, South Beach, Hunstanton, Norfolk. PE36 5BB
Wednesday 22nd - Monday 27th January 2020. http://www.con-tingency.uk/ Spaghetti ConJunction 4a, Geek Retreat, 38 The Priory Queensway, Birmingham. B4 7LA Saturday 8th February 2020, 10.00am - 7.30pm https://spaghetticonjunction.wordpress.com/ Dudley Bug Ball 2020, Station Hotel, Castle Hill, Dudley, DY1 4RA Saturday 22nd - Sunday 23rd February 2020 https://b-m.facebook.com/Dudley-Bug-Ball-Games-Convention-328010347608331/ Revelation 2020, Garrison Hotel, 635 Penistone Road, Sheffield, S6 2GB
Saturday 22nd - Sunday 23rd February 2020 http://revelationgames.org.uk/ AireCon 2020, Harrogate International Centre, King's Rd, Harrogate HG1 5LA Friday 13th - Sunday 15th March 2020 https://airecon.uk Concrete Cow 20, The Old Bath House, 205 Stratford Road, Wolverton, Milton Keynes MK12 5RL Saturday 14th March 2020, 9:00am - 11:00pm https://www.mk-rpg.org.uk/Concrete_Cow NormCon 2020, Entoyment Wargaming and Hobby Centre, Unit 2 Fleetsbridge Business Centre, Upton Road, Poole, Dorset BH17 7AF Friday 27th - Sunday 29th March 2020 https://www.facebook.com/normcon20xx/ StabCon South Spring 2020, DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Southampton, Bracken Pl, Chilworth, Southampton SO16 3RB Friday 27th - Sunday 29th March 2020 https://m.facebook.com/StabconSouth/ Seven Hills 2020, Garrison Hotel, 635 Penistone Road, Sheffield, S6 2GB Saturday 4th - Sunday 5th April 2020 http://7hills.org.uk/ North Star 2020, Garrison Hotel, 635 Penistone Road, Sheffield, S6 2GB Saturday 9th - Sunday 10th May 2020 http://www.northstarcon.org.uk/ Mega Charity Games Day for Mind 2020, The Core, 32 Foley Trading Estate, Herefordshire, HR1 2SF Saturday 16th May 2020, 11:00am - 11:00pm https://m.facebook.com/events/459922967890974 UK Games Expo 2020, NEC, North Ave, Marston Green, Birmingham B40 1NT & Hilton, Pendigo Way, Marston Green, Birmingham B40 1PP Friday 29th - Sunday 31st May 2020 http://www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk Continuum 2020, John Foster Hall, Manor Road, Leicester, LE2 2LG
Friday 7th - Monday 10th August 2020 http://continuumconvention.co.uk/ FeatherCon 2020, Featherstone Castle, Hall Bank, Northumberland NE49 0JG Friday 28th - Monday 31sr August 2020 https://www.facebook.com/groups/485003805271383/ Wyntercon VII, Eastbourne Sports Park, Ecat House, Cross Levels WY, Eastbourne, BN21 2UF Saturday 26th - Sunday 27th September 2020 https://www.wyntercon.org Furnace XV, Garrison Hotel, 635 Penistone Road, Sheffield, S6 2GB Saturday 10th - Sunday 11th October 2020 http://furnace.org.uk Continuum 2021, John Foster Hall, Manor Road, Leicester, LE2 2LG
Friday 6th - Monday 9th August 2021 http://continuumconvention.co.uk/ Continuum 2022, John Foster Hall, Manor Road, Leicester, LE2 2LG
Friday 5th - Monday 8th August 2022 http://continuumconvention.co.uk/