Friday afternoon kicked off with the multi-table Call of Cthulhu scenario Gatsby and the Great Race, written by Paul Fricker. The game started as we introduced our characters, all being guests at a garden party hosted by the Great Gatsby himself, and enjoyed some champagne and idle chatter on the lawns of his mansion, listening to a horse race on a wireless set wheeled out by the butler.
At the conclusion of the race Gatsby seemed to be acting strangely, and then things took an extremely bizarre twist. I’ll not say too much more for fear of spoiling a unique experience if you should ever get the chance to play this at a convention, but I will not forget in a hurry my blindfolded journey to … somewhere else! Talking to players from other tables showed that everyone had experienced events differently with many theories of what was actually happening. Part traditional table top gaming and part LARP, it was by far one of the most chaotic and enjoyable gaming experiences of my life! Many thanks to everyone involved in co-ordinating and GMing this!
After a quick bite to eat and something to drink, my Friday night game was the free wheeling Spirit of ‘77 where an unlikely team of a gonzo journalist, a kung fu stuntman, a bionic glamour model, a good old boy driver and a military veteran found themselves driving a disco ambulance to an increasingly bizarre series of accidents and emergencies, competing with a rival crew, fighting off a chocolate covered robot gorilla and uncovering a diamond smuggling plot with a surgical twist. Many death defying stunts later, we somehow tied everything together with a final blast of Donna Summer. Cheers to Gav for his deadpan GMing on this one!
It was only a short walk from Whitworth Locke to the famous Lass O’Gowrie pub where there was much enjoyable chatter (and a couple of nice pints) until closing time. It was nice to put some faces to people that I’d only previously known online, which is one of the really nice things about an event like this. The games are really just the excuse to meet up with like minded people from near and far.
After a decent breakfast and two cups of strong black coffee at the hotel, I was ready for another taste of squamous horror with a run through of the Lightless Beacon GM’d by Tom. I played a lot of Call of Cthulhu back in the 80s (and still have my original boxed set) but it was good to get this introduction to the 7th edition rules. The scenario saw a disparate group being washed up on a small island after a ship wreck in a storm, investigating why the lighthouse there had mysteriously gone dark. Needless to say, things quickly turned spooky with the tension building to a suitably gruesome conclusion.
I switched venues to Fanboy 3 for the afternoon session, which was running a little late because of some amendments to the schedule. This game was run with the Liminal rules, set in 1966, where we were investigating the mysterious theft of the Jules Rimet trophy from a locked cabinet, supposedly under guard. GM Mark Willoughby introduced us to a wide range of NPCs, both real and fictional, with leads to chase down and a deadline to meet. Of course, there was a supernatural twist to proceedings with the showdown drawing from the real history of the case. It was especially enjoyable to interact with the Kray Twins, although now we owe them a very large favour! The original 1960’s street map of London and a miniature trophy were also nice touches, although I did wonder what the various shoppers wandering around made of our outrageous mix of cockney and Belgian accents.
Saturday night started with a fabulous meal with friends from our Tuesday night Dragonbane group and a final meetup with the Grogsquad at the Port Street Beer House for socialising and beer. Even though there was no music on, my watch was warning me of the volume levels in the room, and I was even more croaky than normal by the time we left. Fortunately I was able to get an earlier train home the next day and for once, everything ran to time!
All in all, an excellent weekend of gaming, overseen by Dirk the Dice of the Grognard Files, with good friends, good vittles and great games!
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