Details of games for Owlbear 2019https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-owlbear-and-the-wizards-staff-ii-warwickshire-rpg-mini-con-tickets-55534516233?aff=ebdssbdestsearch
Morning session 10am-1.30pm
i) Name of session: Blessings Unheralded
GM: Matt Hayward @chimpy20
Max players: 5
System:WH40K Wrath and Glory
Pitch: “The Shrine World of Enoch is suffering from a mysterious plague. A group of heroes are sent to this disease-ridden planet to locate a missing friend. However, the search soon uncovers something far more deadly.”
ii) Name of session: Nightmare at 77,000 Feet
GM: Lee Neilson @leejneilson
Max players: 6
System: Spirit of 77
Session pitch: Hey there, all you boppers! Get ready for slam-bang action and high octane excitement with Spirit of 77 – the 1970’s pop culture RPG that turns up the volume and never slows down! Kung-fu tough guys, good old boy truckers, starry-eyed rockers and hardboiled sleuths, all jam-packed into one funky game system that’s Powered by the Apocalypse.
Nightmare at 77,000 Feet: On the way back from a thrilling adventure south of the border, our players find supernatural trouble aboard their plane! Fasten your seatbelts, everyone!
iii)Session name: Waiting for the Hurricane.
GM: Mat Gregory
System:Call of Cthulhu 7th Ed. (Pulp Cthulhu).
Max players: 4/5 players.
Pitch: It is the Labour day weekend of 1935, our Heroes find themselves in the Grand Hotel Key West enjoying a well earned rest. But all is not well a Hurricane has made landfall in Key West taking out the road to the mainland. Our plucky heroes hope to ride out the storm in the bar, but is this Hurricane the work of Mother Nature or are sinister forces at work?
Tune in to find out.
iv)Session name: Sunup- High Noon- Sundown
GM: Andrew Jones @dimbyd
Max Players: 5
System: Heroquest
Pitch: Join the first public playtest of new Heroquest/ Questworlds genre pack.
Think “True Grit” or the “Unforgiven” directed by Sergio Leonie (alternatively think Desperate Dan and Little Plum teaming up- this is a playtest after all). Perhaps you are last of a dying breed of gunslinger in a changing west or a youngster inspired by the talk of the “good old days”. Or a member of a First Nation, trying to avoid genocide or ever decreasing reservations. Guaranteed country and western free soundtrack.
v)Session name: Like Father, Like Son
GM: (name/twitter handle): Gaz Bowerbank (@the_smart_party)
Max Players: 5
System: Pendragon
Pitch:
The tourney approaches and young knights from far and wide begin preparations for their chance at glory. For half a dozen of the less glorious knights errant however, they must first attend the Lord’s wishes to gain his favour, travelling to the savage mountains across the western border and an ally who is beset with withering illness and who’s lands are rife with bandits. Could this be their chance to make a name for themselves just days before the tourney? Or will the ladies’ favours pass to other, more deserving knights, while these young men languish in ignominy at their failure?
vi) Name of Session: Dead Planet
GM: @doc_griffiths
Max players: 6
System: Mothership RPG
Pitch: Dead Planet is a planet crawl for the high-nerve sci-fi survival horror game. Play as marines, scientists, teamsters and androids as you navigate derelict space-craft, cannibal infested moon bases & mind-controlling monstrosities. In the tradition of Alien, The Thing & System Shock.
vii)Name of session: Beneath the Stones
GM: Paul Mitchener
Max number of players: 5
System:Liminal
Pitch: Near Hadrian’s Wall are the Mare and Foal Standing Stones- just two stones remaining of an ancient stone ring. Alas, property developers have moved in after a wave of protests, but they have given permission to a group of archaeologists before they begin construction work. But why were the protestors receiving money from the Jaeger family, the werewolf “royalty” of the country? And why is a known magician of the Council of Merlin part of the excavation team? And why are the locals now all having nightmares?
Time for a Crew of Liminals to get involved.
viii)Name of session: What Lies Beneath
GM: Adam RKitch
Max number of players: 6
System:XPd8
Pitch:
Your Empire Needs You
Contact has been lost with a small magical research facility on the world of Arazon, part of the Dolmari Empire. A communications team dispatched by the Empire to investigate has failed to return. Now, they’re sending in the big guns: you. Your Empire needs you. Will you heed the call and discover: What Lies Beneath?
What Lies Beneath is a fantasy game with a hint of horror for 4-6 players, using the XPd8 system.
—
XPd8 is a new game system with streamlined mechanics designed to make combat smooth and varied. The fast and fluid rules promote tactical thinking over repetitive mundane attacks. While combat is enhanced, other options are catered for and encouraged.
Advancement in XPd8 is fast. You may spend your well-earned XP as you earn it. Feel immediate progression as you unlock cool new abilities every time you play; even during a one-shot like this!
ix)Session name: TBC
GM: Kai, Wizard on the Wynd
Max Players: 5
System:TBC
Pitch: TBC.
x)Session name: Dungeon Crawl Classics – Enter The Dagon
GM: Andrew Delaney / @Andrew_D20
Max Players: 7
System: Dungeon Crawl Classics
Pitch:
The Isle of Dagon: to common folk, it presages death, pestilence, and woe. To warlocks, witches, and wizards, the isle offers a wealth of occult power, forbidden knowledge, and spells beyond the ken of mortal man. But before you can lay claim to the island’s secrets, first you have to survive its fabled spell duels — a series of death matches where only one caster may reign supreme.
Wizards and elves will be tested to the fullest of their abilities. To triumph, parties must also survive the machinations of the other contenders and their wicked retinues. For when vying for the title of Master of Dagon, and battling against some of the most powerful sorcerers to tread the Known Worlds, you will need every advantage you can glean. Will you and your companions sit passively by, awaiting whatever fate befalls you? Or will you take the fight to your foes?
And when your life — and those of your companions — hangs on the casting of a single spell, will you have the courage to accept Dagon’s challenge?
The time for questioning has passed. Black-sailed ships have come to ferry you and your companions to the fabled death matches. It is time to Enter the Dagon.
xi) Name of session:The Mad Queens Jewels, a Midderlands Adventure
GM: Neil Benson @nfbenson
Max players: 6
System: OSR (to be decided)
Session pitch: The Mad Queen, Elspeth IV, ruler of the Havenlands, loved by few, hated and feared by many is known to frequent the Goman baths in the town of Barth.
Obediah Cromwell, war hero, orator, commentator and secretly the leader of a band of revolutionaries wants to strike a blow against the evil monarch. Ideally he would like her head on a spike, but failing that he’d settle for the Crown Jewels which the Queen always travels with. At Barth security is tight, but…
… the minor settlement of Leaning Town, so named after it’s tilting buildings, has recently discovered a Gloomium infused healing spring and has opened the Leaning Town Spa. Cromwell has learned through his spies that Queen Elspeth is to visit the Spa soon, and as his best operatives you have been sent to Leaning Town to see if you can purloin the Queen’s prized gems.
xxii)Session name: Dungeons and Dragons Adventurers League (Scenario tbc)
GM: (name/twitter handle): Pete Griffith / @pedr
Max Players: 6 (7 if really necessary)
System: D&D 5e
Pitch: (max 250 words): If released in time, this will be the first Adventurers League adventure in the 2019 D&D storyline, which will be announced on May 17th (see http://dnd.wizards.com/dndlive2019 for details, and teaser art.) I’ll update this when the schedule is released.
xiii) Name of session: The Golden Idols
GM: Dan Connolly @dan_connolly
Max players: 5
System: D&D 5e
Pitch: “Congratulations! You’ve been selected! In recognition of your outstanding contributions to your church/cult/higher power (delete as applicable), the Ministry of the Greater Truth of the Osseous Host have awarded you a prestigious Golden Idol award! Your prize will be presented at the First Annual Ecumenical Symposium in Craghaven…”
A work conference and awards evening, that’s definitely not a scam, for 3rd-level heroes.
Afternoon session 2.30pm-6pm
xiv) Name of session: Where Shantaks Dare
GM: Blythy @sjamb7
Max players 6
System: Achtung! Cthulhu (Fate Core)
Pitch: January, 1944. As plans for the D-day landings gather pace, Section M, the intelligence agency charged with halting Nazi attempts to harness the occult, is leaking like a seive. A traitor is at work, giving the Nazis the upper hand for months. Sources indicate the identity of the traitor is known only to those in Schloss Adler, the supposedly impenetrable castle high in the Austrian alps. Your mission – get in there and uncover the traitor. And get out alive, of course!
A game based on the classic war movie Where Eagles Dare. A chance to pit Burton and Eastwood against the forces of Cthulhu.
xv) Name of session: Never mind the BuzzCoughs
GM: Dirk the Dice @theGROGNARDfile
Max players: 6
System: Vurt RPG Cypher System
Get feathered up and enter the Vurt space of Bolton: one of the wealthiest and most influential areas of Manchester, where you’ll find the most courageous feather-heads who have a taste of all the new feathers before they hit the other boroughs; Hybrids, Blacks and yellows, they’re all here and you’ll get to taste them.
Meet me in ‘The Man and Psyche’ as we adventure in futuristic Manchester created by Jeff Noon.
It’s a cyber-punk journey into dream-space with unusual characters and exotic encounters: it’s Numenera, with rain.
xvi)Name: Rocket Nazis from Dimension X!
GM: Jimbo Hawkins
Max players: 6
System:Masks A New Generation
Pitch: Welcome to Halcyon City, shining beacon of superheroism and progress! The City Of Tomorrow, Today! But when a gargantuan zeppelin appears in the sky and announces that Earth is now under the control of the Eternal Reich, Halcyon City becomes Earth’s first, last and only line of defence. Will you join the fight?
xvii)Name of session: Kung Fu Cops!
GM: Dave Aldridge
Max number of players: 6
System:Savage Worlds
Pitch: A dirty cop framed your squad and now every cop and every triad in Hong Kong is after you! Can you evade the machete-wielding hordes long enough to expose the rat who set you up? Savage Worlds has just the right crunch level for some fast, furious, hammer grabbing blade dodging wall running bone shattering leap kicking, fun! Expect near endless ranks of bloodthirsty mooks to try your moves on! Explosions, car chases and rooftop parkour or your money back! Don’t look at your character sheet! Look around you! Throw him through the window? That’s right, have a Benny! What, you have a gun? This is Kung Fu! Oh wait, empty is it? That’s right! Throw it away, get a Benny!
xviii)Name of session: 4e Sci-fi hack
GM: Phil Dicemechanic
Max number of players: 6
System: D&D 4th edition
Pitch:
**Sub-space broadcast, all channels**
**This is the USC Geiger to unidentified research vessel. Please respond within 7 cycles or we will exercise our rights as registered salvageers to board your vessel under starcode regulation 78/3.2. Please respond**
Nothing. Silence. The huge bulk floats at the outer edge of the system, listless and lightless, as black as the deep space that surrounds it.
“Commander, we’re reading emergency power only. Basic life support but no grav… Odd. Thermo scan shows nothing at all. Must be heavily shielded. Weird…”
The Commander looks around at her crew: experienced Salvageers every one; ex-military, battle-hardened; their eyes gleaming as they consider the lucrative prize before them.
“Suit up. By the numbers. Stake our claim, get it moving, go home. And remember, ship insurances pay out kilocreds for any living crew, so stay alert.”
Another day, another salvage. What could possibly go wrong…
xix)Title: The Guv’nor’s dead
GM: Carl Clare
System:Dresden Files (FATE)
Max players: 5
Pitch:
London 1975
People are dying, no obvious cause, no signs of violence, they just seem to stop breathing. The authorities are worried about an epidemic of unknown origin but all tests have been negative. The only connection between the victims seems to be a link to high level organised crime. As tensions rise the various organised crime gangs are tooling up and shootings are becoming common on the streets of London. The Flying Squad is becoming overzealous in response and are virtually a gang in their own right. A gang war is brewing and at the end of his tether, the Commissioner has called in the Arcane Crimes Squad for the lack of anything better to do.
You are members of the Arcane Crimes Squad of the Metropolitan Police: a specialist squad dealing with magical and supernatural crime. Made up of ‘consultants’ and misfits the unit is known as ‘The Tommys’. You know things are wrong when you are called in as the Commissioner would prefer you didn’t even exist……
xx)Name of session: Round the Bend
GM: Wayne Peters @wayne_peters
Max players: 6
System:D&D 5E
Session pitch:
The Wizard Severad has caught a group of Half Orcs thieving from his tower. In retribution he has shrunk them down to merely an inch tall and sent them down into the plumbing underneath his workshop to retrieve a lens for him. In return he will restore their size and set them free.
You are the Half Orcs and there are worse things in a wizard’s plumbing than food scraps! Good luck.
This is a scenario written for first edition AD&D for use as a competition game at GamesFair ’84. It appeared in Imagine Magazine #15 later that year and I have adapted it for 5th edition.
xxi)Session name: Acting Up In Lankhmar
GM: Bruce Cunnington/@M0RT75
Max number of players: 6
System: Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG (Lankhmar)
Pitch: Threatened by the Duke and his private guard, the performers of ‘The Fiascoes of Duke Hogfat’ need assistance to make it through their final performance. Will the play end with a standing ovation or will the Duke and his thugs bring down the house?
xxii) Session name: The Well of the Black Sun
GM: Steve Ray (@OrlanthR)
Max Players: 5
System: Dungeons and Dragons Fifth Edition
Pitch: (max 250 words):
“The Black Sun will devour you all!” The cry echoes across the splintered wooden walls of the seedy tavern known as the Falling Rod. Before anyone can react, the cloaked figure who shouted out from the doorway draws a razor-sharp dagger of black glass and slashes an unfortunate server across the throat. Pandemonium ensues as a number of other figures pull off hoods and cloaks, revealing scarred bodies painted with a single black circle in the centre of their chests, and tendrils of black snaking out across their shoulders and stomachs. Each of them draws a black dagger as their leaderdid, screaming as they attack the tavern’s surprised patrons!
Adventurers: what do you do?
An adventure for D&D 5e characters of third level, created using rules from the Player’s Handbook. Pregenerated characters will be provided, or you can bring your own third level character if you wish.
xxiii)Session name: The Plant-Master
GM: Cintain
Max Players: 6
System:Forbidden Lands hack (Forbidden Lands rules, homebrewed setting, no ‘standard’ fantasy races.)
Three hundred years ago, the combined armies of the Romi Nation and the Freeholds clashed against the defiling sorcerers commanded by the mysterious Lord of Blood. Their fell magics sucked the life from the very soil, withering plants and warping all creatures into vicious mockeries of life. Neither side prevailed. All died, leaving behind a parched desert overrun by monsters. It is said that somewhere in the depths of this Silt Wasteland, a rich oasis flourishes, wherein a vast treasure more valuable than gold is to be found.
You are survivors, descendants of those who were razed over by the armies of the War of Blood. Like your ancestors, you eke out a precarious existence in this land, hunting for water and avoiding hordes of lifeless monstrosities as well as horrible creatures warped by fell magics. It is said that somewhere, beyond the endless, trackless waste you call home, lies a vast expanse of water full of life, where food is plentiful and people live safe. The merchant caravan will take people there, for an exorbitant price. Yesterday, whilst foraging, you found a stranger half-dead in the silt. In his hand he clutched a map, drawn with drops of blood on a piece of leather. Before he died, he claimed it showed the way to the fabled oasis. If only you could get your hands on that legendary treasure, perhaps you could change your destiny?
xxiv)Session name: Night of Blood
GM: Joolz “Son_of_Albion” Hayley
Max Players: 5
System.Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4e
Pitch: The Nun, The Protagonist, The Ratcatcher, The Stevedore and The Outlaw, five strangers thrown together on a cramped, uncomfortable night time coach journey. Some running away from their destinies and others running headlong towards theirs.
Lightning crashes, the rain lashes down and the night is dark and full of imagined terrors. The forest’s twisted trees almost seem to be closing in on and over the poorly constructed, rain sodden road. Unearthly howls can now be heard above the din of the buffeting wind and rain, all the while coming closer and closer.
Can our unlikely heroes survive this night of blood?
xxv)Session: To Badly Go
GM: Glenn Berry
Max Players: 5
System: Star Trek Adventures
Pitch: The Crew of the USS Starbuck, registry number NX 3041 are thrown into turmoil when the ship violently crashes out of warp drive.
xxvi)Session name: TBC – HeroQuest Glorantha
GM: Ian Cooper
Max Players: 5
System:Heroquest Glorantha
Pitch: TBC – initial thoughts: * More Jonstown Crime Capers with the Night Watch * An otherside heroquest, the Virtue Stars *!Something set among the Black Horse Troop
