Big Bad Con games – Expanded

An updated version of my game offerings for Big Bad Con, October 13-15. Let’s see if you can guess what my theme is…

Scheduled Events

Alas for the Awful Sea

A role-playing game created by Australians Hayley Gordon and Veronica Hendro at Storybrewers Roleplaying, thanks to a successful Kickstarter funding campaign.

The premise: It’s the 19th century and unnatural storms forced your vessel to seek refuge in a poor, troubled little coastal town. Expect intrigue, desperation, betrayal, and supernatural mysteries. The game system is a mean, unforgiving, stripped-down Powered by the Apocalypse.

You can see my game blurb in the schedule  here.

Tortuga 1667

Another successful Kickstarter baby, a card/board game created by Travis and Holly Hancock at Facade Games.

The premise: Two pirate ships, one Spanish galleon, and Tortuga Island between them. Treasure, mutineers, and divided loyalties. Up to nine players vie for the gold amid shifting alliances and tides in this social deduction game.

You can see my game blurb in the schedule here.

Salem 1692

Another social deduction card game from Travis and Holly Hancock at Facade Games. Because the Tortuga 1667 Kickstarter campaign was so successful, Facade games was able to launch a new printing of this game that has already been a success in the last couple of years.

The premise: Up to 12 people play witch hunters and inhabitants of Salem, Massachusetts, who must find the witches before being accused themselves! Much fun, paranoia, and religious extremism will be had by all.

You can see my game blurb in the schedule here.

Games On Demand

To the Temple of Doom! To Defeat the Ancient Evil!

A no-prep, mini-roleplaying game by Hayley Gordon and Veronica Hendro at Storybrewers Roleplaying, which they offer free for download.

I submitted this as part of the line-up I want to offer at Games on Demand. Participating game-masters each offer a choice of two or more games for walk-in players, typically run in two-hour time blocks.

The premise: Play archaeologists portrayed in the vein of action movies like the Indiana  Jones series, The Mummy, etc. An ancient evil stirs, waking deep within the bowels of an untouched temple.  An evil that will end the world as we know it. Only you and your fellow archeologists can examine the clues, unravel the mysteries, and uncover the method to subdue this terrible threat.  It’s reportedly very rare to finish a game without a few characters dead or at least cursed…

Loose Threads: A Fate World of Adventure

A lovely adventure for Fate Core by Tara Zuber, published by Evil Hat Productions. I was lucky enough to try it when Tara playtested it and I greatly enjoyed it. Now I’m offering it for Games on Demand.

The premise: You play a secondary character from a fairy tale, one that was forgotten by the heroes of the tale but has since managed to make a life for themselves helping others avoid being the collateral damage of a happy ending.  You and the rest of your Company break curses, retrieve stolen keepsakes and lost children, and chase ogres away.

The Quiet Year

A meditative, map-based story game by Avery Alder (Buried Without Ceremony).

The premise: You define the struggles of a post-apocalyptic community, and attempt to build something good within their quiet year. Every decision and every action is set against a backdrop of dwindling time and rising concern.

The game is played using a deck of cards – each of the 52 cards corresponds to a week during the quiet year. Each card triggers certain events – bringing bad news, good omens, project delays and sudden changes in luck. At the end of the quiet year, the Frost Shepherds will come, ending the game.

At the Stroke of Midnight

In 2015, Meguey created a series of eight seasonal wishing and fortune-telling games to see her patrons through the year; this was the final game in the series. It seems like a good subject for October!

The premise: The sun sinks in the sky, bringing long shadows and a wisp of cool air. In a handful of hours it will be midnight. The veil between the world of the living and the world of the dead is growing thinner with each passing moment. At midnight it will open, and those who are able to stand unshaken before the Beloved Dead will be allowed a boon. You and your friends set out for the graveyard, each eager to meet the Beloved Dead and ask a favor from those who have gone before.

The game is played with dice and looking for patterns, Yahtzee-style, that will allow you to influence the story.

 

 

Big Bad Con games

Yep, I posted games for Big Bad Con. Many short games, to be specific.

Alas for the Awful Sea

A role-playing game created by Australians Hayley Gordon and Veronica Hendro at Storybrewers Roleplaying, thanks to a successful Kickstarter funding campaign.

The premise: it’s the 19th century and unnatural storms forced your vessel to seek refuge in a poor, troubled little coastal town. Expect intrigue, desperation, betrayal, and supernatural mysteries. The game system is a mean, unforgiving, stripped-down Powered by the Apocalypse.

You can see my game blurb in the schedule  here.

Tortuga 1667

Another successful Kickstarter baby, a card/board game created by Travis and Holly Hancock at Facade Games.

The premise: two pirate ships, one Spanish galleon, and Tortuga Island between them. Treasure, mutineers, and divided loyalties. Up to nine players vie for the gold amid shifting alliances and tides in this social deduction game.

You can see my game blurb in the schedule here.

Salem 1692

Another social deduction card game from Travis and Holly Hancock at Facade Games.

Because the Tortuga 1667 Kickstarter campaign was so successful, Facade games was able to launch a new printing of this game that has already been a success in the last couple of years. Up to 12 people play witch hunters and inhabitants of Salem, Massachusetts, who must find the witches before being accused themselves! Much fun, paranoia, and religious extremism will be had by all.

You can see my game blurb in the schedule here.

To the Temple of Doom! To Defeat the Ancient Evil!

A no-prep, mini-roleplaying game by Hayley Gordon and Veronica Hendro at Storybrewers Roleplaying, which they offer free for download.

I submitted this as part of the line-up I want to offer at Games on Demand. Participating game-masters each offer a choice of two or more games for walk-in players, typically run in two-hour time blocks.

The premise: play archaeologists portrayed in the vein of action movies like the Indiana  Jones series, The Mummy, etc. An ancient evil stirs, waking deep within the bowels of an untouched temple.  An evil that will end the world as we know it. Only you and your fellow archeologists can examine the clues, unravel the mysteries, and uncover the method to subdue this terrible threat.  It’s reportedly very rare to finish a game without a few characters dead or at least cursed…

Loose Threads: A Fate World of Adventure

A lovely adventure for Fate Core by Tara Zuber, published by Evil Hat Productions. I was lucky enough to try it when Tara playtested it and I greatly enjoyed it. Now I’m offering it for Games on Demand.

The premise: you play a secondary character from a fairy tale, one that was forgotten by the heroes of the tale but has since managed to make a life for themselves helping others avoid being the collateral damage of a happy ending.  You and the rest of your Company break curses, retrieve stolen keepsakes and lost children, and chase ogres away.

I also listed half a dozen other games I could offer at Games on Demand, including Cat (Wicked Dead Games), Fate Accelerated (Evil Hat Productions), octaNe (Memento Mori Theatricks), PDQ in its various incarnations (Atomic Sock Monkey Games), Urchin (Clint Krause), etc.

 

 

Helping

nce upon a time last year, I took an online literature class on Fantasy and Science Fiction: The Human Mind, Our Modern World (it re-runs periodically and you might enjoy it too.) The first week’s reading assignment  was Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm’s Household Stories, and I ended up reading some Grimm stories I was less familiar—or even completely unfamiliar—with. As I mentioned last year, one particularly stuck with me, a short fable called The Death of the Hen.  Like a lot of fables it presents the amusing adventures of talking animals to present a moral lesson; but the lesson was not one I expected.

In short, it tells us that to be useful, help must be both timely and appropriate.  Help of the right kind withheld until the moment has passed is of no use; help given generously and promptly but of the wrong kind makes things worse.

• In the tale, the brook and the bride’s withholding of help delay their assistance until it is too late to save the hen; the result is the right kind of help, but too late.  But the hen was already choking and so is no worse off – she would have died without the help, she dies with it as well.
• The straw and coal’s help was well-intentioned and timely, but was of the wrong kind so it caused others to die who did not have to.
• The stone’s help was timely and of the right kind, but all the other “helpers” – wolf, bear, stag, lion, and all the beasts in the wood – overwhelm the help which the stone can provide, and so all are lost.

This has popped back to mind several times since I read it thanks to real-life examples, most recently this weekend when a friend needed help from many of us. I felt angered that the fable was being re-told in real time (though I think our hen is actually doing fine since we had more stones than brooks, lions, and straws.)

Dreaming of Fairyland

The Week 8 reading assignment for my online class on Fantasy and Science Fiction: The Human Mind, Our Modern World was Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles.

I first read this book when the 1979 BBC-NBC mini-series came out.  I remember exactly where I was won over: in the second chapter, “Ylla”, I read the following:

“Here’s your scarf.” He handed her a phial. “We haven’t gone anywhere in months.” […]

From the phial a liquid poured, turned to blue mist, settled about her neck, quivering.

I absolutely loved the image of that ephemeral scarf wrapping itself around the Martian Ylla’s shoulders.

Here is my 300-word essay. 

Pop Culture Wonderland

To go with my online class Fantasy and Science Fiction: The Human Mind, Our Modern World, I started a series of posts listing companion materials in pop culture, preferably ones that are a little forgotten, have not received the attention I think they deserve, or take an unusual angle.  All the better if they are available online, double-plus for free.

These are the ones I propose to accompany Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass.  A few are contributions of fellow students in the class which I particularly enjoyed.

• Works by Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) on Unz.org.
• Martin Gardner’s The Annotated Alice: The Definitive Edition, which someone lovingly hyperlinked so that readers can just click on the annotations.
• Melanie Bayley’s 2010 New York Times article, “Algebra in Wonderland.”
• Namesake, a webcomic by Megan Lavey-Heaton and Isabelle Mélançon featuring a lot of fantasy and fairy tales characters, but starting with Alice.
• Frank Beddor’s series, The Looking-Glass Wars, which includes three novels with a fourth planned, and a spinoff series of graphic novels illustrated by Ben Templesmith. A very interesting urban fantasy take on Carroll’s canon.
• Marco Chacon’s Wonderland tabletop role-playing game as a free PDF, using the equally free JAGS system for a crypto-dimensional brain-twister of a setting.
• Triple Ace Games’ Wonderland No More, another tabletop role-playing game but closer to the Carroll books, which uses the Savage Worlds system for a game of horror and dark humour.
• “Will You Walk a Little Faster” (a.k.a. “The Lobster Quadrille” or “The Mock Turtle’s Song”), set to jazz music by Gerardo Frisina and sung by Norma Winstone (lyrics).
• And of course, how could I not add Jefferson Airplane’s song “Chasing the White Rabbit“…

Pop Culture Grimm

To go with my online class Fantasy and Science Fiction: The Human Mind, Our Modern World, I started a series of posts listing companion materials in pop culture, preferably ones that are a little forgotten, have not received the attention I think they deserve, or take an unusual angle.  All the better if they are available online, double-plus for free.

These are the ones I propose to accompany Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm’s Household Stories:

Linda Medley’s graphic novel series, Castle Waiting, published by Fantagraphics Books.  Medley both writes and illustrates the book, which explores the secrets and connections of fairy-tale characters and weaves them into a gorgeous tapestry.  While she does not limit herself to Grimm characters, they are featured prominently.

I highly recommend the edition collected as hardcover books, it is pretty, durable, and worthy of the delightful tales inside.  The cast of  quirky and lovable characters keeps finding new ways to intrigue and reward the reader.

Andrea L. Peterson’s webcomic No Rest for the Wicked gleefully explores a number of fairy tales, mostly from the Grimm brothers but also from Charles Perrault and others: Puss in Boots, Hansel and Grethel, the Princess and the Pea, etc.  The characters are explored and retold in long story arcs that never fail to make me grin.

It’s one of my very favourite webcomics for its mix of storytelling, humour, darkness, surprises, and art experiments.  It’s updated at a slow rate, but it’s been on-going for a decade and is still coming up with fresh new ideas.

Bill Willingham’s graphic novel series Fables published under DC’s Vertigo imprint, especially those pencilled by Mark Buckingham.  I admit that in recent years the comic’s strength has waned a bit, but it pioneered the renaissance of retold fairy tales as dark (or at least gray-scale) urban fantasy which has now reached television in the guise of Once Upon A Time and Grimm.

The premise is that when the fairy tale lands were overrun by a dark enemy referred to only as The Adversary, creatures and characters from tales (“fables”) took refuge in our own world.  Many of them now have their haven in Fabletown, a little-known district of New York, as well as a location upstate known as “the Farm.”  We get to see how the likes of Snow White, Cinderella, King Cole, Little Boy Blue and the Big Bad Wolf have adapted to our world.

Once Upon a Time (Atlas Games): A storytelling card game that encourages creativity and collaborative play. One player is the Storyteller, and begins telling a story using the fairytale elements on her Story cards (e.g., “A Prince“, “Someone is lost“, “A wish is granted“), guiding the plot toward her Ending Card (e.g., “And they were never seen again.”) The other players use their own cards to interrupt her and become the new Storyteller. The winner is the first player to use all her Story Cards and play her Ending Card. The object of the game, though, isn’t just to win, but to have fun telling a story together. Even better, the publisher just issued a handbook on using the cards from the game for writing stories.

Seven Leagues (Malcontent Games): A role-playing game that uses a very light, unconstraining system created to support role-playing fairy tales, from the myths of Antiquity to modern urban fantasy. The text provides an excellent overview of the symbolism and structure of fairy tales. The system is based on narration and uses a twelve-sided die; it is simple enough for children as long as they can count and add, but the tone and theme are also appropriate for more serious themes and darker stories, including modern fantasy from magical realism to gothic urban magic. To learn more, you can read the detailed review I wrote a few years ago, including examples of play.

Faery’s Tale (Firefly Games): An interactive storytelling game, suitable for ages 6 and up, based on faery folklore. You play a pixie, brownie, sprite, or pooka, etc., in the enchanted forest of Brightwood in the land of fairy tales. You foil dark faery plots, rescue youngsters from giants, overthrow sorcerous tyrants, awaken princesses from their enchanted slumber, watch over faery godchildren, and have many other amazing adventures, happily ever after. Simple system using a narrative approach and six-sided dice. Tokens can be useful too.

The Zorcerer of Zo (Atomic Sock Monkey Press): Tailors face giants, enchanted queens dance with human peasants, talking creatures perform domestic duties, witches cast curses and fairies grant blessings. And all are seeking their Happily Ever After. The book contains very useful advice on how to run a role-playing game, including with children of various ages. The text takes the reader through every step of of campaign creation, from the initial little capsule description through setting design, actual play and final happily-ever-after. Simple system using a narrative approach and six-sided dice.

There are many more titles, but these three are good ones for practicing the interactive use of the symbols and trappings of fairy tales to create your own stories.

Read online: works by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm on Unz.org.

The Brothers Grimm’s “Household Stories”

The first week’s reading assignment for my online class on Fantasy and Science Fiction: The Human Mind, Our Modern World was Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm’s Household Stories, as translated by Lucy Crane and illustrated by her brother Walter Crane in 1882.  I found two complete versions online, the facsimile available on Open Library and the Project Gutenberg scan.

In addition, it looks like the English text of the very useful Grimm Stories online resource is preferentially from the Crane translation, although without the illustrations.  The latter is very nice, though, because it allows one to look at the translation side-by-side with the original German text (or with another language).

Anyhow, I had jotted down many pages of reading notes on the stories, but class participants are limited to between 270 and 320 words for their essays, so one has to narrow the focus considerably.  The intended reader is a fellow student who is both intelligent and attentive to the readings and to the course;  the essays must aim to enrich the reading of this peer.  This means we get to skip the preliminaries (such as title, author and summary of the work reviewed) and go directly to insights on the readings.

With so many and so varied stories, I had to skim to only a few since I wanted the space to support my statement by pointing to the works.  I concentrated on stories for which my notes converged on a single topic.  Here is the essay, using every one of my allotted 320 words: 

Review: Seven Leagues

(Cross-posted to RPG.net and Emerald City Gamefest.)

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of the PDF version of this game from the author and publisher, though I liked it enough to buy a print copy out of pocket.

Malcontent Games’ Seven Leagues is a charming, streamlined role-playing game intended to emulate fairy tales.