Furnace XVI, Garrison Hotel, 635 Penistone Road, Sheffield, S6 2GB
Saturday 9th - Sunday 10th October 2021
http://furnace.org.uk TLDR: I ran three different Fria Ligan games for a total of 13 players at Furnace XVI in Sheffield. A combination of fantastic games, mood lighting, great players, a well organised convention, and a smashing venue all helped it go so well.
So a few mishaps along the way with travelling to and from the convention venue in Hillsborough.
First off I decided to travel up early Saturday morning so I would have time to spare in setting up for my games. Plus the 07:11 train from Derby to Sheffield was really cheap.
Unfortunately, the London train departed from the same platform and same time as the Sheffield train due to it running late. I boarded the wrong train and ended up going in the opposite direction to where I should be heading. The conductor on the London train suggested that getting off at Leicester would be better for me due the number of trains departing from there, but unfortunately I would have to step off at the next stop (Loughborough) as I hadn’t got a ticket for the train I was on!
Fortunately there was a train leaving from Loughborough for Sheffield so I only ended up an hour late.
Returning to the Garrison Hotel was great after a long time away. Virtual conventions are fun but I did miss the face-to-face interaction of tabletop gaming. The Garrison hasn’t changed much, it is a lovely historic building - it was the gaol house for the Hillsborough barracks in the 19th century and still retains the gaol cells on some of the levels. I did recall that when we had a site visit to the venue before Furnace conventions started, that there were more gaol cells in use in the upper function room and the main bar as well. But a few were lost when they installed the lift. My morning and afternoon games were hosted in one of the gaol cells.
I set up for my games, this included put in an extension cable from the plug socket at the entrance end of the cell to the far end where I would be sitting at the head of the table as GM. I also had a couple of LED lights backlighting the rear wall and ceiling of the cell that I could control and dim from an app on my iPhone.
I also had an LED hurricane lantern that gave off a flickering flame effect. I think it set the mood and ambiance quite nicely. My first game was Vaesen RPG from Fria Ligan, it’s set in 19th Century Scandinavia and involves hunting and seeking mythical creatures of folklore. Playing the game in an historic and intimate setting was the perfect fit.
The Gaol Cell set for my Vaesen RPG game.
Of course I was dressed for the part as I was wearing a white dress shirt with a red Victorian style waistcoat.
I had four players, the most that can fit in comfortably in the cells, all keen to play. All the players have been in my games previously at past Furnace conventions or virtual ones at least and one of the players is in one of my Tales from the Loop campaigns I run on Roll20. So it was nice to have some familiar faces during my first game. They picked out their character archetypes ready for char-gen. We had a Vagabond (Simon ‘Free’ Fingers), a Hunter (Torin Linberg), a Private Detective (Henrik Markinan), and a Doctor (Pernilla Kögnigsmark), making up a nice mixed team.
I was worried about running Vaesen as I haven’t really ran historical style games, I have very rarely GM’d original Call of Cthulhu for example. Now of course I am very familiar with the mechanics of the Year Zero Engine, it is the game system of Tales from the Loop and Alien that I have been using over the last four years or so. It was obviously tailored to a 19th Century supernatural mystery setting in a mythical Scandinavia, so there were a few subtle differences and it would play out differently to my other games. I was also running a published scenario, ‘The Dance of Dreams’, the one at the back of the core rule book, that I don’t do often too as I usually run my own made up scenarios.
So we cracked on with the character generation and we had some very interesting characters made. They also became a good team as they worked out their relationships out with each other that did hinge on their roles too.
Char-gen was done in half an hour so we took a quick break for coffee as that had arrived at the bar area, then we returned to actually playing the game. I started with the PCs in the Society’s Castle, Torin and Simon were amazed at the grandeur but both Pernilla and Henrik were more concerned about the age and decay. It was raining outside so I had the sound effect of the rain playing, with the flickering of the warm lights, the players huddled in close.
They had received a message from a rival Private Detective, Olaus Klint, written on a flyer for a shadow play taking place at the Witch Cat Inn. That triggered a thorough investigation of the rival and a journey through the storm to meet this Olaus Klint to see what the mystery was (with lightning and thunder effects too).
What followed was an investigation into the mystery of the Witch Cat Inn, with the patrons being questioned, pieces of the puzzle coming together, some very casual breaking and entering, and some supernatural occurrences taking place. The final showdown was nerve racking as the PC’s battled with the revenant and his forces but it was a personal connection via emotional and logical reasoning (plus a hasty re-consecration of a grave) that ended the haunting.
By the end of the game I was certainly more comfortable with it, the setting was fun and I think I added a few macabre elements that enhanced the game. I did succeed with drip feeding the clues to the players as the game progressed, and the players did work out what was happening once the main clue was handed over.
It is unfortunate that the main clue, Nora’s Journal, is unreadable in it’s published version but fortunately they did include a transcript of it in the book that I had the foresight to print out also.
I must say that the maps and handouts are fantastic looking, despite the issue of Nora’s Journal, especially the map of the Witch Cat Inn. It did add to the game in a positive way. I did make NPC cards of all the characters at the inn, that helped the players (and myself) keep track of them during the game.
I normally struggle a little bit with published scenarios as I often forget an important element that usually defines the way the scenario plays out.
I was also intrigued in how this version of the Year Zero Engine played out. Most dice pools were smaller, usually around four or five dice with the largest being seven dice in total. There seemed to be more successes being rolled too. Not sure if it was the Vaesen dice I had or whether it was down to luck on the day. Only a few of pushed rolls were done and only a couple of characters had taken on any Conditions during play.
It was however a very satisfactory ending and the players were happy, plus we finished on time too.
It was great to play in the gaol cell as I often run games for larger group of players so I don’t get to play in the cells as you can only fit in four players and the GM comfortably. It certainly fit the historical setting very well and the lighting effects of the hurricane lamp and my other lighting did add to the mood and ambiance. It is such an intimate space to play in as the exterior noise is cancelled out by the thick stone and brick walls. You can only hear what is said or done in the cell making it all an intense gaming experience.
I then re-set for my next game, packing away the Vaesen stuff, putting out the Alien character sheets, handouts, folding agenda sheets, Alien dice, changing the mood lights to a pale blue, and getting it ready for my Fria Ligan’s Alien RPG game.
The same Gaol Cell set for my Alien RPG game.
Once the cell was set I headed off to Morrison’s due to the bar looking a bit busy with the home team football crowd in. Had a nice full English breakfast at Morrison’s Cafe and picked up some sweets and cold coffee for later.
I changed out of my Victorian garb I wore for my Vaesen game and put on my Weyland-Yutani T-shirt and cap on instead so I was dressed for my Alien game.
I was going to run a brand new scenario called ‘Adrenaline is the Best Medicine’ but due to being assaulted and injured at work on Thursday night, I was unable to finish my preparation in time. So I checked on who had signed up for the game and worked out that the players haven’t played my other scenario ‘Empty Vessels Make No Noise’. I adapted the character sheets and changed part of the scenario so that they would work better together.
The player characters were Ensign Justin the engineer, Rescue Technician Cooper, Medical Technician Peters, and Lieutenant Starck.
I had four players turn up nice and early for the game so got them to choose their characters. Again the players were familiar to me as they have played in my games before at other conventions.
I started by going through the character sheet layout and how the game system works. I covered the basic rules, what the skills mean, how dice rolling works, and what Stress does in game.
Then I started straight away with the briefing on the mission by Admiral Hollis.
U S Aerospace Command
Search & Rescue Order 10015
GL-537A - DELOS SYSTEM
Strange readings and troublesome activity have been reported in the Delos system. There is also a Distress Signal that is proving a hazard to all navigation beacons in that sector.
Investigate the area on arrival and track down the Distress Signal, silencing it and recover any data and/or launch a rescue mission.
Uphold all USAC protocols and standards, rescue as many personnel as you can, preserve life, and extend an handing hand to all.
Avoid causing a diplomatic incident but uphold and preserve USAC sovereignty, systems, and holdings.
Come home safe
Admiral Hollis
Straight after the briefing they climbed into cryogenic chambers on the Lewis & Clark for the jump into hyperspace to start their mission.
Of course they do find the source of the hazard to navigation and the location of the distress signal but that did seem to raise more questions than it answered. As they investigated further and they came across the titular empty vessel then the rescue mission began in earnest. Things started to get stressful as they explored and tried to help as the conditions worsened but fortunately the PCs managed to escape with the thinnest of margins.
This game worked really well especially when the Stress Points were being handed out. The tension was raising and of course the PCs were split up in different locations when things were seriously wrong. The agendas for the PCs weren’t set against each other as well; they were a team working together for the mission so that did go quite well.
A key part of my game set up in the gaol cell was a flashing hazard light I had tucked away in a little alcove in the wall. Once the alarms on the empty vessel were triggered, I started the hazard light flashing that gave a real sense of urgency to the whole cell!
The game finished on time again and the players went away happy.
With that I packed up everything of mine in the gaol cell and headed down to the Dungeon in the deepest parts of the Garrison Hotel.
The Dungeon is a larger conference room at the Garrison and usually accommodates three large gaming tables but this time there were only two tables, each at either end.
My table was a at the far end and I re-set the table with additional chairs, cleaned it, and set out my game. I put out seven place settings, seven character sheets with name tags. I spread the Character Archetypes out so that they could be read, put out my Principles of the Loop sign out, and all my Tales from the Loop dice too.
I turned my lights to orange and went off to get a drink.
The table in the Dungeon Room set for my Tales From The Loop game.
Now a weird thing was happening with the beer prices, I was ordering the same beer No.7 on hand pull, but the price would change each time. First it was £3.90 then it was £3.40. Next it went back up to £3.90 then they tried to charge me £5.00. I asked for a clarification and got charged, wait for it, £3.90. Fortunately I only bought a few drinks but I know a few other attendees raised the issue too.
Also one customer of the bar, not part of the convention, had a tactical combat knife attached to the back of his belt!
So managed to catch up with a few people on the upper gaol house level, having a chat about this and that. It was so nice to do, so familiar and yet so missed over the last few years.
I changed my Weyland-Yutani T-shirt to a more 80’s appropriate one for my next game, a Ghostbusters T-shirt!
So at seven thirty I headed back down to the Dungeon to start my next game. I was running Fria Ligan’s Tales from the Loop and it was my new scenario, one I’ve only ran twice before at UK Games Expo earlier in the year, ‘Timeslips and Sunken Ships’. I had seven players booked in but only five turned up. I had a player without a game ask earlier if he could join my game but someone convinced him to join another.
When I normally run my Tales from the Loop and Alien games I have plenty of handouts, maps, floor plans, NPC cards, PowerPoint presentations of images, and clever folding sheets. For this game I forego all that and just went with theatre of the mind. It seems to work well.
This Mystery is loosely based on the iconic 1970’s TV show ‘Timeslip’.
It is set in Norfolk in 1980 and the Kids are on holiday in the summer.
We got down to the task of character generation as the players picked their Character Archetypes. As two of the players are regulars in one of my on-line Tales from the Loop campaigns, I did convince them to take different archetypes to what they normally play. I started by going through the Principles of the Loop and introducing the fact that the Kids had to be related in some way to Frank and Jean Skinner, the main NPCs of the scenario. So two of the players decided to be Frank’s sons - then they realised that they had already picked the same age for their characters. So they went with being identical twins, first time I’ve had identical twins in my games though I’ve had non-identical twins a couple of times before. One of the other players also decided to be the niece of Jean Skinner, her mother would be Jean’s sister. The other two characters were then friends of those characters, with no direct connection to Frank nor Jean.
So we have the twins Nathan, the Troublemaker, and Damien, the Weirdo. Both are in right-out rebellion with their father, Frank, hence their archetypes. Their cousin is Jill, the Jock and she is the Kid most respected by Frank. Her friend from London is Felicia, the Bookworm, who was avoiding a stranger who was following her. And her ‘friend’ is her chess rival and American, Wyatt, the Computer Geek.
I informed them that they were on holiday in Norfolk during the summer of 1980. Frank was wanting to toughen them up by making them camp in tents on their own. The adults of course were staying at the Bull Hotel that was located next to the camp site. Hijinks ensued as the twins certainly didn’t want to share the same tent and no one wanted to share a tent with Wyatt either. Fortunately the girls, Jill and Felicia, were happy in their tent. So that started the game with a little bit of tension in the groups of Kids, perhaps something planned by Frank anyway.
So the Kids were keen to abandon the camp site and go exploring. Jill wanted to go rowing somewhere in a boat so they all went to the beach to find one. They didn’t find a paddle or rowing boat but they did spot a sunken wreak further out due to the low tide. Kids being Kids they all went out to explore the wreak. There was competition on who could get on there first. Jill the Jock tried to pull herself up at the tall prow but failed to reach the top. Damien waded deeper into the sea and entered the wreak via a large hole in the hull that lead directly into the hold. Jill pulled Wyatt over and used him as a step up and managed to not only get up but also pull Wyatt up as well (the player had failed her first Move roll so could roll again due to Wyatt assisting gaining an additional dice and got three successes). Nathan also climbed onto the wreak with ease.
So I have ran this scenario twice before and due to the open nature of the beginning the PCs always seem to go to different locations first. In my first game they discovered about the missing girl early and split the party to go to the library for information and check out the sunken shipwreck. In my second game the PCs explored the woods and discovered the bunkers and tunnels.
The Kids on the shipwreck Investigated the ship and Comprehended it was a German S-boat, a fast torpedo boat but it was missing it’s top deck that would of housed it’s torpedo tubes. They also discovered an old device/contraption that was corroded by the salt water but contained lenses and prisms.
That started them on the trail of the mystery and they decided to check out the abandoned Naval Research Station and explore it’s ruined huts. That lead them to broken laboratories, secret dead letter box, future technology, time barriers, a missing girl, German sailors, and an explosive climax.
One things I did like was the players working so hard, in character, to justify the weird ‘time echoes’ encounters they had during the beginning of the mystery. They were coming up with the most scientific reasoning, to the point of breaking credibility, of why they could either hear the drone of a squadron of propeller fighter planes or the sounds of goose-marching troops when none could possibly be seen.
The players again enjoying themselves as they got to change the course of human history. I finished the scenario on time so I said my goodbyes.
I packed up all my gear, caught a taxi to the railway station, and had the delight of watching my last train home to Derby get cancelled!
Fortunately the later train to Nottingham was diverted to drop passengers off at Chesterfield and Derby on the way so at least I got home, even if it meant being an hour late.
So that was my Furnace XVI, it was good to get to play in person though I did enjoy the virtual Furnace last year. I have tried to get to most though sometimes it falls on my wife’s birthday so I can’t chance that. I was glad I brought along the extra lighting for the gaol cell as it did enhance the mood and ambience. Yes, it is a bit gimmicky but the flame effect on my LED hurricane lamp did help create a spooky atmosphere. Though the roof over the veranda was gone that normally blocks off the daylight through the windows from outside, so it made the cells brighter than usual.
Thanks goes to Graham Spearing, Dom Mooney, and Elaine McCourt for to constantly delivering a great RPG convention yet again. Thanks goes to all my players for bringing their A game to my humble tables!
My next RPG convention will be A Gamers Gaming Getaway at Blackwells Adventure Centre in November all being well, then Dragonmeet in London in December.
