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The Indie Dozen

System: medley of indie story games 

Game Master James 

Venue: Glanville Hall Wednesday night

Players: George, Graham W, Jo, Mark C, Michelle & Saif 

A medley of smaller-press story games. 

We'll hopefully try 

• Fiasco, 

• Dread, 

• In A Wicked Age, 

• Microscope and 

• some "London Indie Originals" like Small Things and Quest. 

There'll be an emphasis on experimentation and bold stories. 

Every game will be only 1-3 sessions. 

Players are welcome to bring and run/facilitate things they are excited about. If you know you'll be away for a bit (e.g. Xmas) this is ideal because we don't have a long-term narrative. 

THE INDIE DOZEN 

Rival Victorian ladies hunt orchids on a tropical island… 

…boisterous fairies invade a folk celebration… …

gap-year adventurers flee a voracious monster. 

We will explore these stories and many more together with indie story games!

I plan to bring a variety of story games for us to enjoy. 

These are a bit different to some of the games you may be used to: 

• Tend to be very focussed, with mechanics emphasising different things e.g. scene framing rather than task-resolution. 

• Both more and less structured 

• Often GM-less, with all players contributing equally to the action 

• Usually take 1-2 sessions, rather than a long-form campaign 

We’ll explore a variety of genres and moods, from tragedy through heartwarming to plain silliness! 

I aim to give everyone a bit of choice on what we play next, but here’s a flavour: 

• FIASCO: A game about ordinary people with big ambitions and poor impulse control. Emulates “caper gone wrong” films like Fargo and Blood Simple. One where it pays to “play to lose”! 

• DREAD: The horror game that uses jenga as its mechanic! When the tower falls, something terrible happens! 

• OUR LAST BEST HOPE: A desperate group of heroes try to avert disaster. References films like Armageddon and Sunshine 

• INTREPID: Map-drawing game where you can tell an epic story in 3 hours. 

• UMLAUT - GAME OF METAL: Rival metal bands competing to win the Battle of the Bands, complete with a card-game for gigs! 

• SMALL THINGS: Create cosy stories like The Borrowers about household objects protecting a home from Things Outside. 

• IN A WICKED AGE: Situation-driven sword and sorcery hijinks 

Everyone is welcome to pitch a game for a session or two, which would be especially useful for those Christmas weeks when people are often absent. If there’s something you’ve been wanting to try, bring it! 

Content warning: Depends on the game, but all have mechanics to deal with it. (edited)

One Tail of Two, Three and Four 

System: Warhammer Fantasy Role Play

Game Master Chris

Venue: Glanville Hall Wednesday night

Players: Dan C, David H, Freddie M, Jon K, Matt DLP & Will L

This is the second time running my custom campaign, tweaked for improvements, so bear that in mind when voting. It uses the main rule system available in the current edition of the book with no supplements. There are some mechanical and class creation tweaks that will be in place to smooth things out, depending on what and how people wish to start. Characters will all start at Level 0 and should be able to gain XP traction fairly swiftly throughout, although the system can be fairly brutal. Compared to last time the table-top element will be scaled back, but will use a battle mat. The system is a D100 implementation

The party meets in Altdorf, getting to know each other while staying in the same boarding house on the outskirts of the city. Tales of your history, adventures and ambitions are laid forth over a glass of mead or Bugmans XXXX each night. You had your own reasons for visiting and own reasons for travel, picking up odd jobs or continuing research and relaxation while you could. Collectively you decide that travelling to Nuln would be worth while as you hear that there is work down that way, and will provide a change of scenery. The rumours of evil forces assaulting the northern borders of Kislev have worked their way down to Altdorf already too, giving good reason to stick together safety along with a solid excuse of travelling further from the potential danger from straying marauders. After settling up business in Altdorf (realising you are short on coin), you manage to get passage on a merchants barge heading south to Nuln - offering protection to the Captain in exchange for the travel costs. For the most part the journey goes well, with several days of peace as the junk floats down river. One evening you set up camp beside the bank, tying the boat to a tree around the shore and set up bed rolls. The night is fairly restless, with more sounds of howling and less of owls hunting than you would normally expect. Never the less, collectively you manage to get to sleep under the light of the twin moons - Moorslieb and Manslieb.

While still under the effects of dark, dimly lit by pale green moonlight filtering through the tree tops, you are awoken to howls of laughter as great, weighted nets are cast over your bodies, entangling you. Your assailants, with their faces covered, are wafting around a nauseating smelling gas that makes you light headed. As unconsciousness takes you, the final sight of the barge captain letting lose from the bank and swiftly guiding the vessel to the safe canter of the river falls to your eyes. Blackness takes you as you are hauled and dragged away, red eyes piercing the gloom....