Loyal Citizens, you are called to action by your friend the Computer. A mission of the utmost importance, critical to the very safety of [ERROR: INSUFFICIENT CLEARANCE] itself!. You are instructed to report to meeting room [ERROR: LOCATION DELETED] for your orders.
The Computer reminds all loyal citizens to be alert for Commie or Mutant Treason, especially [SUBVERSIVE MATERIAL INTERCEPTED AND DELETED] which has been detected even among your fellow Troubleshooters.
Stay alert. Trust no-one. Keep your laser handy.
The rabbits of the Warren enjoyed a peaceful, contented existence -- until the coming of the Men and the Iron Way. Now the rabbits are trapped between the advancing devastation and the foxes’ dark and deadly woods. A small brave band sets out to seek the advice of a hermit seer -- but what will they find when they return, and what will be the cost of following the seer’s advice?
Ill-Fated is a game of contradictions. Everything is decided in advance, but it's entirely up to you how it plays out. The setting might be gritty noir, but you could also be nuns. And nobody wants to pull from the major arcana, just in case the ice cream truck shows up.
Ill-Fated is a kitchen-table-designed roleplaying game which takes Tarot cards as its primary mechanic. Three cards determine your character, and another four determine the game's setting. A number of the remaining cards are placed in the centre of the table - these are the game's plot. So, everything is already decided, in a way. What order you play the plot cards in, and where the game goes from there, is entirely up to you.
The most recent Ill-Fated game featured a group of teenagers traveling in a van to play in a Battle-of-the-Bands show at the Hard Rock Convent in St Petersburg, Florida. Things can get a bit out of hand.
Once again we have a heavy presence of EPOCH at KapCon. For those who haven't tried it, EPOCH is a cinematic survival horror rpg, strongly influenced by the indie-gaming paradigm, by long-time KapCon GM Dale Elvy. It has quick character generation, and a game structure which pushes the story in the arc of classic survival horror movies such as Alien and The Thing. Last year the EPOCH GM's racked up an impressive bodycount - over 60 characters as I recall (and yes, they kept score). This year... well, it's really up to you.
EPOCH games at KapCon 23 include:
You are Vikings! Conquerers of the North, followers of Odin, warriors, and you have just sailed across the sea with Thorkin the Tall to attack England!
Having crushed a small barony, you have been leave to do what your particular vikings does best - oust drunken Englishman from the pubs and tell them off for giving into the sin of alcohol! But can you do it without giving into the sin of drink yourself?
A silly apocalypse-world hack designed to maximize ridiculousness, slapstick, and as many opportunities for laughable accents.
Disclaimer: Any resemblances to Vikings living or dead is purely coincidental.
March, 1941. As the German war-machine rolls on, Britain stands alone at the brink. In London and other major centres, the blitz rages and the country hold its breath and waits for the next attack. Though the threat of an imminent invasion may have passed, the country is still under siege, and many fear that it will on be a matter of time before the Nazis arrive.
All of this seems a lifetime away from the picturesque village of Blakely. Here the volunteers of Blakely Home Guard patrol the village and keep a watchful eye out for a German invasion as the country’s last line of defence. Events, however, will soon bring even greater horrors to Blakely and prove that heroes can be found in even the most unlikely of places.
EPOCH is a game of character-driven survival horror. The goal is to deliver a tense and scary experience in a single game session. EPOCH players are active participants in the creation of the game atmosphere and have complete control over the creation and ultimate fate of their characters.
Two towns, both alike in dignity. In a small town somewhere, we set our scene. Two humans and their best friends meet their star crossed supernatural lovers. What happens next only you can say.
Silver Kiss of the Magical Twilight of the Full Moon, is every bad and good YA supernatural romance book condensed down into 3 hours of crazy fun. 8 people will enter, but no one knows what will come of it.
Chocolate instead of XP!
Player driven narrative!
Overly enthusiastic GMs!
The open road stretches out before you; a half-heard whisper of freedom in the wind. It’s time to escape the grind and stress of everyday life. You deserve a break after all, and where better then a picturesque mountain cabin with the people closest to you, far from all those modern pressures. As they say, sometimes it's about the journey, not the destination.
EPOCH is a game of character-driven survival horror. The goal is to deliver a tense and scary experience in a single game session. EPOCH players are active participants in the creation of the game atmosphere and have complete control over the creation and ultimate fate of their characters.
Exes, they're always trouble. Makes you wonder why you bother to get involved with anyone, ever. "Mendokusai." as Keiko the anesthetist would say "Too much trouble". This one for instance. There you were in the ER OR, and one of your exes gets wheeled in. Jared, the driver wheeling the gurney shrugs an apology. Your ex a real mess, just like always, and you sigh, and start reassembling him like you always used to.
Then you hear a gunshot from outside and an orderly falls thru the door into your OR, rudely followed by thugs with guns. It's about then that you lose control. Some people have no common sense. Haven't they heard this is YOUR OR, and you do not take kindly to breaches of hygiene protocol!
The fools wave their guns at you, demanding the body of your ex. Jared looks up at you and grins, knowing that look on your face. Keiko raises her eyebrows and, surreptitiously, turns up the oxygen. You start counting in time to the waltz on the OR's speakers. "1... 2... 3", and the first mook screams and clutches at the handle of the scalpel protruding from his eye-socket, the gun he was holding forgotten and falling to the floor....
Imagine the children in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. They visited a magical land, fought battles alongside talking animals and centaurs and won a war against a powerful and evil enemy. Then they returned home, no-one would believe them and they were back to war time rations and maths homework.
What does that feel like?
How do you live with the memories of what you saw?
Did Edmund drown his sorrows in alcohol and drugs, did Lucy vent her repressed rage by being violent towards her loving husband?
Did they end up in therapy?
The players in this game are all Clients in a real-world, modern day setting undergoing group therapy. They all have serious psychological disorders which are damaging them and those closest to them. Everyone has come to the therapy session as a final attempt to get their lives back on track.
The Clients have all repressed memories of a magical world that they visited often in their school summer holidays. Many things happened in that far away land and those repressed memories hold the key as to why the Clients have all self-destructed so spectacularly in the years since. Players will build up and create the memories of what happened in that world; uncover the events that scarred them and work to resolve them to allow each client to heal.