Games 23
Here's some of what was on offer at Concrete Cow 23.
Morning Games (10am-1.30pm)
Belly of the Beast
In this WW1 horror survival adventure, a squad of soldiers must get a secret weapon to the front. If they succeed, humanity may yet continue. Failure might be the end of man's reign!
System: Never Going Home
GM: Jim McCarthy
Number of players: 4
Notes: Probably a PG 13 age limit. I will have safety tools and pre-gens.
If Looks Could Kill
You agree to pay off a debt with some casual labour and security for a wealthy merchant, Rutger Reuter. You meet at the docks to find your patron and what you can only imagine will be one of the river’s finest vessels…it must be the one behind the piece of junk that the foppish gentleman is waving at you from!
Investigation/Roleplay > Combat in this one
System: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4E
GM: Patrick Dale
Number of players: 6
Notes: Pre-gens provided; some graphic horror and violence
Hidden Depths
2022
A trans girl and her diving instructor prepare to explore the Chapelton Reservoir to investigate the disappearance of her older brother years previously.
1962
A grown son attempts to fly the cosy nest his mother has made for them in the quaint village of Chapelton after his father's disappearance.
Four characters, two timezones, one eerie mystery that connects them all.
System: PBTA
GM: James Mullen
Number of players: 4
Notes: Kitchen sink drama, gender transitioning, unsettling horror, death
Honey Heist
It's Honeycon 2023. You are going to undertake the greatest heist the world has ever seen! Two things- One:You have a complex plan that requires precise timing. Two: You are a GODDAMN BEAR! (in a hat)
Honey heist has a rulebook consisting of 2 pages, one for bear creation (player page), one for scenario creation (DM page). I'll be rolling up the scenario at the table as the players are creating characters, so I have no idea what we'll be doing :)
System: Honey Heist
GM: John Holton
Number of players: Sleuth max of 3d3 ideally but, I haven't planned anything else, why plan how many players can attend.
Notes: Bears wear hats in this game, so feel free to bring a hat, in fact, it's encouraged.
Thieves in Heaven
After the crew's ship gets hit in the black by some debris from the Unification Wars, the crew is left stranded in Heaven City (Angel, Kalidasa System); where their presence in a frontier town undergoing gentrification may uncover secrets as black as space...
System: Cortex Plus (Firefly)
GM: Alexander
Number of players: 5
Notes: This a campaign depicting illness, corporate abuse and violence.
Afternoon Games (2.30pm-6.30pm)
A Walk in the Park
You and your hiking group have been training hard, and you’re ready for your first challenge walk: The Moorland Mastery, organised by popular outdoor adventure and motivational speaker Lucien Burke. Fifty miles across the Peak District, and twenty-four hours to complete it. No problem. Compared to the military training exercises some of you have taken part in, this is going to be a walk in the park.
System: Kult: Divinity Lost
GM: Sue Savage
Number of players: 4
Notes: 18+. This is a mature horror game with themes including body horror, drugs, mental illness, amnesia and kidnapping. Safety tools will be used.
League of Extraordinary Gen X
The year is 197X and strange goings on in the quaint English village of Milbury are beyond the scope of any ordinary kind of investigation. The British Government hastily assembles a team of remarkable individuals to deal with the matter quickly & quietly, but this team of eccentrics might not be the most reliable.
Composed of an eclectic collection of 1970s British telefantasy protagonists, this is a nostalgia-packed mash-up of memories of days-gone-by that never were.
System: Shiver
GM: James Mullen
Number of players: 4
Notes: Supernatural, sci-fi, horror, mystery, 1970s nostalgia, self-aware parody
House of Spell Cards
You are government whips for the ruling Alliance Party in the kingdom of Avuntis with a majority of 2. Tonight the crucial vote on the Orcish Emancipation bill giving full right to orcs and halve orcs across the kingdom will be held. However, you have just received news from Alliance Party chief whip Thorgrim Helderheck that 2 of you MP’s are missing. You have been summoned to the Whips office to meet with Thorgrim to discuss this crisis. Our adventure begins just as you are about to open the door ……
System: D&D 5e
GM: Rory Megginson
Number of players: 5
Notes: Mixture of Combat, puzzle and investigation. The best one shot you will ever play inspired by the catholic emancipation bill and HS2.
Stranger New Worlds
Exploration and intrigue in the Spelljammer universe, out in the strange reaches of Phlogiston. Random culture and character generation, Oracles determine action as your characters seek out new life, new civilisations.
System: Ironsworn Starforged
GM: Robin Poole
Number of players: 5
Notes: Inbuilt Safety tools
Evening Games (7.30pm-11pm)
A Winter Haunting
“For most, Christmas is a time of good cheer and merrymaking, and the sight of decorations and the smell of mulled wine brings joy and delight. But I find that after one particular Christmas I find it harder to take joy in such things. In particular I shudder at the sight of…but no. I shall begin at the beginning, when my good friend Sir Frederick Carmichael invited me to spend Christmas with him at his new home…”
It’s December 1905 and Freddy Carmichael has gathered a small group of friends for a few days of partridge shooting and other genteel pursuits at his new home of Alderley Hall. But neither Freddy nor his friends have any idea what terrors the next few days have in store.
An Edwardian ghost story in the style of M. R. James.
System: Cthulhu Dark
GM: Sue Savage
Number of players: 3
Notes: 16+. Themes include illness and bereavement. Safety tools will be used.
Lamp Posts In Bloom
A warm summer evening in Middle England,
Old friends gather for a barbecue and drinks,
Secrets will be Uncovered
Betrayals will be laid bare
Innocent People will die
And the lamp posts will come into bloom.
Scenario by Scott Dorward
System: Call of Cthulhu
GM: Robin Poole
Number of players: 5
Notes: Psychological Horror, PvP elements