The secret entrance to the tomb is somewhere in this South American jungle. Your team is prepared, each member slogging their way through the dense foliage. Still, you can’t help feeling that something isn’t right... maybe something is off with the other team members, or this expedition is more than it first seemed, or the secrets of the temple are just...
It must be the heat, surely....

‘Phase Shift’ is a systemless game about character interpretation, character interaction, character teamwork. As a player, you take on the role of a single character, and throughout the game will be challenged to re-interpret that character based on a ‘phase shifting’ setting, and interactions with the other members of your team.
The game is equal parts serious, fun, and a celebration of some of geekdom’s favourite genres!

It's the 80s and things are a lot more relaxed than they are now. The height of summer holidays and kids can run free without parents needing to know where they are at all times. It's your friends birthday and you have gathered together to have fun. Really what could go wrong, everyone knows there aren't really monsters out there.

Another trimester at VUW and everything's just damn *peachy*. The philosophy students are splitting hairs to try and get laid, biology professors are killing rats, your crush just walked through a concrete block the other day, scarves are the latest fashion (especially for pretty male first years), you've got three assignments due in the second week, your roommate has the weirdest collection of books you have ever seen in your entire life, you think your theatre lecturer is some kind of fae or something and there's been a string of weird suicides lately.

...wait, *what*?

All is not well at VUW's Halls of Residences, and for once, the fact that a devil is after your soul may be the least of your worries...

The armies of the north have broken before the Witch King's onslaught. Survivors and refugees flee south over the mountains. A few brave Paladins attempt to lead a defence of the pass through the mountains, arriving at the ruined fortress of Salang a few hours before the Witch King's scouts. Will the passion of the Paladins allow the refugees to escape, or will their sacrifice be in vain?

Things are coming together. We now have at least 11 excellent games - plus GoD - in each round. The larp has a blurb. The forms have been setup. So, we're ready to go. To give everyone a fair shot, registration will open at 8pm on Monday 15 October. Hopefully the server won't fall over beneath a mob of desperate gamers.

In the homebrew setting of Volentia, play as one of five 14th level characters contracted by the Church to find the location of a rumored gathering of heretics dubbed the Shadow Conclave. This gathering, should it succeed as planned, would unite the various heretical sects and pose a threat large enough to shake the foundations of the Empire. The adventure mixes roleplay with combat as players attempt to hunt down and exterminate the Conclave as either an emotionally scarred Paladin who has come to question whether his slaughtering of heretics is ethical, a zealous Inquisitor who enjoys his work perhaps a little too much, a noble-born Curatrix who struggles to keep the vows of her order of restrained monk-women, an elven Ranger who constantly battles against the prejudice humans have of other races while trying to hide his hate of them, and an acclaimed Wizard who despite her achievements still has not garnered the respect she desires because she is a woman. Will the Church's champions succeed in rescuing the Empire from perhaps the most dangerous threat it has ever faced? Or will their personal struggles inhibit their ability to complete the task set before them? Will they rise triumphant over the challenges they are to face? Or will they be cut down and forgotten to leave the Empire roiling in turmoil?

The Women's Institute of Hallows Hill is, in many ways, typical of its kind; it runs bake sales for good causes, organises volunteer groups, helps the local school with its Christmas pageant and is an essential part of the local community. This particular local community, however, is made up (almost entirely) of second tier supervillans and their families; the sort that, while they do well, can't quite scrape together enough for that volcano base. But Hallows Hill is a lovely area, with a good school for the kids and excellent local greengrocers. It's a little village that understands completely when you accidentally open a portal to hell in your back garden, or the deathbots go on a rampage down the local high street. The WI has encouraged and enabled a strong sense of community spirit among the villainous denizens.

But the Women's Institute is currently being torn apart by controversy. For the first time in its history, men are pressing to join. The community is divided. Angry letters have been written to the local newspaper. Sharp words have been exchanged in the fishmonger's. Letterboxes have been knocked over. Skeleton armies are being readied. Death Rays are being powered up.

To prevent Hallows Hill from becoming a smoking crater in the ground, the MP for Hallows Hill has arranged a meeting to work out a solution...with as few casualties as possible.

It's Midsommer Murders meets Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog meets Desperate Housewives.

Costuming: Light to medium, depending on the character.

In a moment of disorientation they are transported to a room with no doors, no windows and mirrors everywhere. The room is stocked with food, water and other necessities—all indications suggest that they will be there for a long time.

They are complete strangers, ordinary people with little common ground and less understanding of what has happened to them. With the passage of time, tension and dire imperatives, they will have to sift values and make answers to both each other and the shadows behind the glass.

This game deals with difficult choices and rough circumstances.

By Shifting Forest Storyworks

Mr O'Strate, the teacher behind last year's eerily realistic production of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', now has a group of students who've somehow managed to avoid hearing the horror stories about the last play he helmed. Now, with a dog-eared copy of 'Twelfth Night' under his arm, he's brought you all here for another rehearsal. Things are feeling weird, though. You've got the urge to find true love, cast old fears aside, and really get invested in your characters. Will Sir Toby sober up before dress rehearsal? Will Feste learn to play the ukulele? And will anybody be able to tell the twin brothers apart?
It's all happening tonight. And remember: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. Emphasis on the word 'thrust'.

Russ Kale wrote and ran 'Quick Bright Things' at Victoria University and Chimera in 2012. William Shakespeare wrote 'Macbeth' and accidentally spawned a number of teen comedies. Player advisory: this game will involve coarse language, sexual content and poor life choices.

Wellington 1919. In the wake of the Great War the dread Haitian 'Flu arrived in New Zealand. Tens of thousands died, if not from the 'flu itself then from the depravations of those who succumbed to the disease only to rise from the grave with an insatiable hunger for human flesh.

The Government responded by enacting curfews and rationing measures. The army set up safe zones guarded by machine guns and barbed wire where the living might continue with their business. Those who wander outside the safe zones risk being torn apart by the living dead.

Still one shouldn't let the fact that the dead are returning to life in contravention of the very laws of nature get one down. Many of the city's well-to-do are doing their best to carry on as if there wasn't an apocalypse on their doorstep. In this spirit of brave defiance Dr and Mrs Harry Young are holding a dinner party for a number of their closest friends.

Mansfield with Monsters has been written to celebrate the release of the book of the same name by Matthew and Debbie Cowens (http://www.steampress.co.nz/monsters.html). You don't have to have read the book to enjoy the LARP, but you might want to check it out anyway.