Concrete Cow 11 games

The following games will be offered at the Concrete Cow 11 convention on 19 March 2011. If you have something you'd like to offer, please email concrete-cow-owner@yahoogroups.com. See the Concrete Cow 10.5 games page for what was on offer last time.

The Bit.ly link for this page is http://bit.ly/eiw4wQ.

Game Slots

To keep some sense of organisation about the day (ha!), this is the approximate timetable for the day.

Doors open	9.00am
Morning games	10.00am - 1.30pm
Afternoon games	2.30pm - 6.30pm
Evening games	7.30pm - 11.00pm
Close	11.00pm

At previous Concrete Cows, the morning slot often has an excess of games, the afternoon slot is OK, and the evening slot has very few. You may want to bear that in mind when you're deciding when to offer your game.

Allocating games to players is by sign-up sheets on the day, on a first-come-first-served basis. You can download blank sign-up sheets as sign-up sheet (MS Word) or sign-up sheet (PDF).

Note that, depending on circumstances, not all of these games may run on the day.

Send us your game blurbs at concrete-cow-owner@yahoogroups.com and we'll put them here!

(Please add games in alphabetical order)

Blue Planet

Things to do in Dyfedd When You're Genlifted

Long John prospecting and mining is the single most profitable and dangerous activity on Poseidon. Without the Long John xenosilicate ore, Earth’s biogenetics industry and the hope for immortality offered by the ore would crumble. The Incorporates and independent miners scour the seafloor for signs of the rare ore. The stakes are high, but the rewards are even greater.

Poseidon’s chief crime family, the Gorchoff Mafia syndicate, take a healthy interest in mining industry. They are a lot better at keeping tabs on independent miners than the Incorporates are. Miners hang around in bars and illegal drug dens run by the Gorchoffs. They’ve got their fingers on the pulse (and sometimes, round the throat) of the independent miners. When an indie hits it big, the Gorchoffs are sometimes in position to muscle in and demand a cut of any contract the indie makes with the Incorporates.

The Gorchoff family are the big fish, but there are a few smaller faster fish who are just as hungry.

Things to do in Dyfedd when you’re Genlifted is a nice simple trip through the criminal underside of Poseidon.

GM: Neil Smith (scenario written by Gareth Hanrahan)

Number of Players: 6

Cold City

Den Schlaf des Todes

Memo to All Reserve Police Agency Operatives:

Due to recent incidents resulting from the mishandling of hazardous biological materials, a number of training sessions have been scheduled to orient all RPA operatives in the correct procedures to follow when securing or transporting unknown chemicals or organisms. Attendance at this training is mandatory. Contact your superior officer to arrange attendance. Appropriate protective gear will be provided by your trainer, but the RPA takes no responsibility for any contamination, infection, physical injury or death which results from the training.

GM: James Mullen

Number of Players: 6

Slot: Morning

Call of Cthulhu / Delta Green

Reaping the Whirlwind

SaucerWatch thought it was a hoax. A video file that had been sent to them that graphically showed an alien abduction. They thought it was nothing more than a sick joke. Then the news reports came through that confirmed the death of the abductee shortly after the footage was taken. Suspecting it might no longer be a hoax, it couldn’t be ignored. A team of investigators have been dispatched to Burlington, Kansas to find out what really happened there and, if possible, prove to the world that humanity isn’t alone in the universe.

GM: Matt Sanderson

Number of Players: 4-6

Slot: Morning

Cthulhu Dark

Screams of the Children

A Gaslight Cthulhu scenario.

GM: Graham Walmsley

Dead of Night

Cold Iron War

The fortune of the fae has always been dependent on that of humans, whether they represent friends, foils or food. It was inevitable that as humans built their lives around cities, the fae would follow them there.

London has long been populated by the capricious, manipulative but largely benign Seelie Court, and the feral, predatory and monstrous Unseelie Court. Both have used glamours to infiltrate human society, usually to very different ends, and the two have lived, if not in harmony, at least in an uneasy truce.

Six months ago, everything changed. The Unseelie Court struck without warning, using an intelligence and cunning they had never revealed before, wiping out the leadership of their rivals in one bloody night. The Seelie survivors have been in hiding since, cowed and frightened.

Now a small group of Seelie survivors have discovered that there is a new Unseelie plan afoot, this time to take control of the world of men. With nowhere left to hide, has the time finally come to fight back?

This is a playtest of a modified version of Dead of Night, tailored for urban fantasy.

GM: Scott Dorward

Number of Players: 5

Dogs in the Vineyard

Virtue

Br Jonas is one of the sons of a Prophet and Elder. Last year, he went to the town of Virtue to court himself a wife. Something happened in the town, and he left without a wife and under a cloud. Now he's back, to oversee the construction of a new chapel.

You are all God's Watchdogs, members of The Order Set Apart for the Preservation of the Faith and the Faithful. You've been asked to visit Virtue, to make sure that nothing untoward will happen during Br Jonas's visit.

And nothing will.

Will it?

GM: Neil Smith

Number of Players: 4

Escape from Tentacle City

I'll run Escape from Tentacle City, which I gave a first try at IndieCon and have had some ideas on speeding up the initial generation process. With five of us it ran long and talking to the author she has agreed that 1 hour / player is a fair guess. So it'll probably be for three plus me.

It's a shared GM game where much like Remember Tomorrow the GMing rights move around the table so everyone does a bit. You play a number of characters who are all desperately trying to escape the ever-increasing Tentacle Apocalypse.

Un-GM: Mik

Number of Extra Players: 3

Slot: Morning

Escape from Thanatos!

Escape from Thanatos! is a Space Fantasy adventure where up to 5 intrepid players take on the role of Captain Talia Mercury and her companions aboard the Porpoise as it flees the Omegan Empire, which pursues them after their liberation of Prince Marcus Dunn. When the Porpoise and its crew crash lands on the dread planet of Thanatos, will they be able to escape and deliver Prince Marcus back to the Federation?

GM: Stuart

Number of players: 5

The Esoterrorists

Leaving the Building

Las Vegas, Modern Day. In the city of sin, a false alarm to the fire department uncovers a crime scene in the quiet suburbs. The news makes its way to the Ordo Veritatis who fear this could be the first sign of a problem about to return that they thought had been dealt with years before. Admidst a backdrop of serial murder, idol worship and obsession, rival Esoterrorist operations clashing head-on, the agents are about to be caught in the cross-fire. Caught in a trap... and they can't walk out...

GM: Matt Sanderson

Number of Players: 4-6

Slot: Afternoon

Hot War

Containment

It's late 1963, almost a year since the cold war turned hot. The bombs have devastated Britain, and the eldritch horrors of the British and Soviet twisted technology weapons programmes are loose. London may be the last city left in Europe, if not the world, and is teetering on the edge of catastrophe.

Since the destruction of Porton Down, the Kelworth Barrow bunker in Essex has been a key location in British experimental weapons research. Due to the continuing fight for control over the facility between the Ministry of War and the British Experimental Rocket Bureau, it has not had much oversight in the last few months, and the Special Situations Group has taken it upon itself to resolve the deadlock. A small team from the SSG has been dispatched to perform an audit. Between the hidden agendas of the team members, the threat of a new Soviet assault and the horrors hidden in the bunker itself, it should be a visit to remember if anyone survives to tell the tale.

GM: Scott Dorward

Number of Players: 4 (ages 18+)

In a Wicked Age

In this wicked age... ...Gods, demons and mortals contend with one another for power...Law and civilization are new, and no one is their master... A simple midwife can set in motion the downfall of tyrants and great empires... Your birth is not yours to choose, but your fate is what you make it.

GM: Indie Pete

Number of Players: 3-4

Jaws of the Six Serpents

The Curse of Karak-Azim

After a short but bloody battle, you and your forces have taken the city state of Gorran Charn, killing the sorcerer-king Karak-Azim and freeing the citizens from his foul clutches. Your control of the city is tenuous, though, as those loyal to the old king plot against you from the shadows. Sometimes it seems like you can't trust anyone, even your oldest allies and friends. Is this just the usual political manoeuvrings, or does the grasp of Karak-Azim reach even from beyond the grave?

GM: Scott Dorward

Number of Players: 5

Love in the Time of Seið

Love in the Time of Seið is a low-prep, quick playing story game. This game provides very strong situation and guidance. There are five tightly-interconnected characters, compelling locations and events, and everything you need to get to the good stuff immediately. In a Norse-themed fantasy kingdom on the brink of ruin, who will gain power and who will win love? What price will they pay, and what other plans does fate have in store?

Un-GM: Indie Pete

Number of Extra Players: 3-4

Narrative Pursuits

A group of brave adventurers in a fantasy world attempt to retrieve the Sword Of Truth from the Swamp Of Despair in order to free their people from the evil warlock Zhe'Mhat. Thieves in modern day USA plot to steal the world's most valuable diamond from the high security vault at the Smithsonian so that they can get the local Mafia boss off their back.

Narrative Pursuits is a game about a group of people trying to retrieve an item, and the journey they go on to achieve this. The group has an overarching goal they are outwardly pursuing together, whilst each member is actually secretly working towards their own personal ends.

This is a GM-Less, heavily narrative game and should take around two and a half hours to play.

This is a playtest, and so I would really appreciate feedback from players afterwards.

Un-GM: Ashley Griffiths

Number of Extra Players: 3-4

Pulp!

Terror of the Serpent Men!

The Terror of the Serpent Men! is a Pulp! adventure for up to 5 stalwart players to join Dan Dynamo and his friends as they battle the hideous Serpent Men from the Seventh Moon of Jupiter! Visit exotic locales from the Hidden City of Shan Gri La, where Zeno, last of the Atlanteans, keeps his secret knowledge to the Royal Palace on Venus where Princess Aphasia might beg from her mother, the Queen of Venus, aid for the perilous quest they embark upon. Fight the Hairless Apes, unmask the hidden servants of the Serpent Men, save the Earth!

GM: Stuart

Number of players: 5

Savage Worlds

Hunting Rome

Six men from the tribes north of Hadrians Wall are sent south. Mission, find and dispatch a Roman general. This is going to be a challenge in more ways than one.

GM: Mark

SLA Industries

Those Downtown Blues

Take a newly formed squad, fresh from Meny University onto the streets of downtown Mort.

As well trained, over-equipped investigators and killers you'll cut through SLA bureaucracy like a knife to obtain a selection of profitable Blue Print News missions. Selecting one will take you on a whistle stop tour from Mort Central to Downtown. Excitement and adventure await around every dark corner as you easily wipe out the enemies of SLA making Downtown safe for hard-working citizens.

Warning: BPNs may contain Swearing, Violence, Death, Horror, Gross stuff, Lies, Sedition, Serial Killers, Mutants, Cannibals & sick stuff.

Bring tissues.

GM: Whitt

Number of Players: 6

Society of Dreamers

The Society of Dreamers is a role-playing game about a little-known group that formed in Europe in the early 19th century. This group seems to have studied dream phenomena – specifically, they seem to have held the belief that there were autonomous life forms living in people’s dreams. The Society called these creatures mnemosites – dream eaters.

However, it seems that the Society may not have seen the mnemosites as a danger. Sources indicate that the members sought to find and understand mnemosites, using the scientific tools available in their times.

This is a GM-less RPG that can accommodate a total of 2 - 5 players. The game also involves rituals.

Un-GM: Piers

Slot: Evening

Time and Temp

Adventure awaits you in the exciting field of temporary staffing!

Time & Temp is a game of time travel and underemployment for 3 to 5 players.

Employed by Marigold Staffing and working at Browne Chronometric Engineering, Inc., you travel through the ages actualizing solutions for the anomalies and paradoxes that threaten all of existence. You are reality’s only line of defense in the war between the rigidity of causality and freewill. And your only reward is the hard earned satisfaction of a job well done (plus £6.50 an hour and a modest health package including comprehensive immunizations for history’s most prolific diseases).

Join now and help make anachronism a thing of the past! Travel back to 9th century Britain and assist King Alfred in his defeat of the Danes.

GM: Piers

Transhuman Space (GURPS)

Wrapped in Cellophane

The year is 2100. You’re very clear about that, although you’re a bit hazy about a lot of other stuff. You’ve just woken up – very suddenly – and you aren’t sure where you are.

But looking at what’s in front of your face, you do seem to be, well...

Wrapped in Cellophane.

This may be a bad way to start the day.

A story of bad decisions and fractured identities, set in the world of Transhuman Space (and using GURPS). Some mature themes and disturbing imagery – or maybe just some confusion.

GM: Phil Masters