Team (tabletop) games
These are the most ancient and democratic form of roleplaying game. The table is optional but traditional. Some are system-based games, others systemless. But Chairman Morph guarantees that they're all good.
- Am I here? — by Michael Hitchens (1 session systemless, 5 players)
- The Disembodied Man — by Robbie and Stephanie Matthews (1 session systemless, 5 players)
- Familiar Times — by Ken Carcas (1 session D&D 3.5ed, 5 players)
- Kwaidan — by Philippa Hughes and John Hughes (1 session systemless, 5 players)
- The Last Action Heroes — by Dan L'Estrange (1 session system lite, 7 players)
- Last Man Standing — by Stuart Barrow (1 session systemless, 5 players)
- Platinum Angels — by David James and Nadina Geary (1 session Shadowrun, 5 players)
- Psi III — by Mike Walker (1 session systemless, 5 players)
- Starship Bridge Crew: Mission Clean Sweep — by Robert Cox (1 session systemless, 5 players)
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Am I here?
By Michael Hitchens
Five people in a white room
Three dressed as guests, two as servants
A body lies at their feet, the blood slowing creeping towards them
They can't remember why they are here
Or who they are
Or if the dead woman should mean anything to them at all
Memories are precious, so they say
Though sometimes there are things we want to forget
Things we've done, and had done to us
But what if we don't have the choice of what to remember and what to forget?
And when we remember, before the morning, all the people we have been
Which one will we be?
A 1 session systemless module for five players
By Michael Hitchens
Set in 1920s England
| Pheno ratings | ||
|---|---|---|
| Characterisation 5 | Genre 3 | Rules knowledge 0 |
| Story/plot 3 | Seriousness 4 | Advisory rating M (adult themes, sexual references, horror) |
The Disembodied Man
By Robbie and Stephanie Matthews
It's the height of Queen Victoria's reign. The sun never sets on the British Empire, and stage magicians are all the rage in London. Of all the stage magicians, the top of the heap is The Great Mundini. His illusions are the best, his stagecraft is second to none. All in all, things are looking pretty bright for The Great Mundini — and his assistants.
Then there was a newcomer on the scene: The Guru. For a while he threatened The Great Mundini's pre-eminence, thrilling audiences with his amazing trick, "The Disembodied Man". Making people vanish on-stage was old hat, but this was something else, something new.
After a great deal of study, The Great Mundini told his assistants that he'd worked out how the trick was done, and proceeded to demonstrate the trick in front of the cream of London society — but without telling his assistants how it was done.
The "Improved Disembodied Man" was a hit. Until the time the Prince of Wales volunteered to be 'disembodied'. And The Great Mundini failed to bring him back.
So now the heir to the most powerful throne in Europe is missing, and The Great Mundini is a guest at Her Majesty's Pleasure, being asked increasingly pointed questions.
It's up to his five top assistants to work out what happened, and how to fix it: To save their jobs, their boss's neck, and possibly even their own...
A Diptych game
The Inaugral Diptych is a new perpetual Pheno prize, comprising two linked comedy games, with an emphasis on light-hearted humour and whole-hearted silliness. With a trophy and everything!
| Pheno ratings | ||
|---|---|---|
| Characterisation 4 | Genre 4 | Rules knowledge 0 |
| Story/plot 3 | Seriousness 2 | Advisory rating probably M...ish |
Familiar Times
By Ken Carcas
The Familiar - the ' ...always there and dependable...' backbone to any successful Mage that has ever graced the ground We walk on. Without Us, the 'Masters' wouldn't know which direction to turn, come up with any idea worth listening to, or survive to see their next 'milk and cookie' snack time!"
So ... what happens when Us 5 Familiars, companions for 'Mages' who belong to a 'secret' multi-specialised group of freedom fighters, are stranded in the middle of nowhere after they hastily conceive
a hair-brained scheme and teleport without Us?"
We do the only sensible, sane, and life preserving thing We can ... We find them before their gallant and noble butts end up screwing Our situation beyond it's presently successful state ... and kill themselves.
This 1 session adventure uses the DnD 3.5ed rules. It is for 5 players of Familiar (Mage Companion) characters who must conduct a search and recsue mission to not only save their Masters from screwing 'their' still successful mission, but also their Masters lives and therefore securing their own continued existence.
Although the game does involve some combat, this is mostly a role-playing adventure. Players need to come to the table expecting more to role-play intelligent, cute, furry/feathered companions than combat.
Players need not have experience with the DnD 3.5ed system as the system will be explained to newbies as situations arise. Pre-made Character Sheets and Situation Blurbs can be provided on registration night or at the beginning of the gaming session. Don't forget your dice (just incase you need them).
| Pheno ratings | ||
|---|---|---|
| Characterisation 3 | Genre 3 | Rules knowledge 2 |
| Story/plot 3 | Seriousness 2.5 | Advisory rating M (contains violence) |
Kwaidan
Transformations of moonlight on snow
By Philippa and John Hughes
The greatest journey is the one that takes you home.
Tokugawa Japan. Shimotsuki, the month of frosts. Koyasan, the sacred mountain. Five pilgrims, five secrets, one impossible destination.
Storm wind on mountain
wander nameless traveller;
winter’s first snow.
An eternal tale of ghosts and lovers, shared with simplicity and restraint. Encounters with obake and yurei, blessings of the Pure Land, mysteries of the suffering heart.
A systemless kwaidan or weird tale for five storytellers, presented by Philippa & John Hughes. Tea will be served for the comfort of weary seekers.
Much much more background info
Please visit http://mythologic.info/kwaidan/ for further information and background, including the exceptionally useful article Turning Japanese: A Gamers Guide to Bluffing Your Way Through A Japanese Ghost Story.
| Pheno ratings | ||
|---|---|---|
| Characterisation 5 | Genre 4.5 (a basic knowledge of Japanese culture may be an advantage: watching anime or Ringu counts) | Rules knowledge 0 |
| Story/plot 4 | Seriousness 3.5 | Advisory rating MA (sexuality, adult concepts, mild horror, wasabe) |
The Last Action Heroes
By Dan L'Estrange
With the Gotham Tower under threat from some of the nastiest villians known to man, seven heroes are called to save the day. Powered by gut instinct, a preference for wanton destruction and an all out attitude to 'get the bad guy', these seven will stop at nothing to finish the job.
When bad guys threaten our way of life. When villians strike fear into the hearts of the normal guy. When killers bring death to the streets. There is only one cure:
The Last Action Heroes!
The Last Action Heroes is a game for seven heroes of the silver screen. With system light game mechanics, and over enthusiasic GM, it should be a romp to TAKE DOWN THE BAD GUYS.
| Pheno ratings | ||
|---|---|---|
| Characterisation Action Heroes! | Genre 1 | Rules knowledge 1 (system lite variant on ShadowRun) |
| Story/plot 1 | Seriousness 2 | Advisory rating PG |
Last Man Standing
By Stuart Barrow
"And she's got brains enough for two, which is the exact quantity the girl who marries you will need."
It began as a wheeze, and became a challenge, and, ultimately, a shining aspiration: the one among our number who could evade the blessed state of matrimony the longest would collect the pot, the cup, and the envy of his fellows.
There were five of us left, and five fellows less likely to wander into that sacred institution were not to be found in the annals of the Club, the Nation, or the Empire. We had suffered — Oh! how we had suffered! — by way of aunts, servants, misunderstandings, lasses of improbable resolve, villains, fathers, objects d'art, foes, rivals and so-called friends — but there we remained, bowed but unbroken, each determined to be the
Last Man Standing
But unseen, in the background, Fate was quietly slipping the lead into the boxing-glove...
A diptych game by Stuart Barrow, for five idle bachelors who intend to remain both.
A Diptych game
The Inaugral Diptych is a new perpetual Pheno prize, comprising two linked comedy games, with an emphasis on light-hearted humour and whole-hearted silliness. With a trophy and everything!
| Pheno ratings | ||
|---|---|---|
| Characterisation 4 | Genre 3 | Rules knowledge None, Sir! |
| Story/plot 3 | Seriousness 1 | Advisory rating PG |
Platinum Angels
By David James and Nadina Geary
Get Well Or Else...
Ask any ShadowRunner what the one bill they will never pay late, never skimp on or try to cheat, and they will all reply:
"My DocWagon Contract"
Those medical angels that will pick you up when you are down and bleeding, get you to safety and, for those on the Platinum Contract, even engage the enemy to ensure your safety.
It's a new moon tonight. That means the runners will be out in force. It's going to be a busy night.
Oh, did we mention it’s also New Year’s Eve?
A Shadowrun game for a five person DocWagon Platinum Team on call for the graveyard shift. It's only eight hours... after all, how much trouble can they possibly get into in just one night?
| Pheno ratings | ||
|---|---|---|
| Characterisation 4 | Genre 3 | Rules knowledge 2 (Shadowrun, but don't expect to roll lots of dice) |
| Story/plot 5 | Seriousness 3 | Advisory rating MA |
Psi III
By Mike Walker
If you gaze for long into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.
To save two worlds, four psychic teenagers and their mentor plunge into the depths of space. They are about to face an ultimate evil, capable of feeding on the group’s most terrible nightmares. But their personal failings may prove even more dangerous...
Fear is the greatest enemy.
A cathartic one session multiform for five players.
Psi is a story in three parts, and started as one of the Triptychs in 2003 It continued in 2004, and will finish in 2008. This session can be played on its own or as part of the concluding story.
In Memory of Aveline.
A Pegasus Unlimited Production. For queries, please contact me at kingtheseus <at> hotmail.com
| Pheno ratings | ||
|---|---|---|
| Characterisation 5 | Genre 3 | Rules knowledge 1 |
| Story/plot 3 | Seriousness 4 | Advisory rating M |
Starship Bridge Crew: Mission Clean Sweep
By Robert Cox, with Anneke Cox and Ellen 'Nell' Hungerford
You are captain and crew of the starship Bloodhound, a Raider class vessel. You have been entrusted with a secret mission, to infiltrate the Xingon Empire and retrieve the Federation of Independent Planets (FIP) top spy “Callan.” This involves a dangerous run through hostile space to a secret rendezvous point where the spy will be beamed aboard. Callan is carrying vital information to the security of the Federation of Independent Planets.
How will the crew of the Bloodhound react to this dangerous mission?
Recruitment begins Phenomenon 2008.
ENLIST NOW!!!
BRIDGE CREW is a computer assisted science fiction themed role-play game system that uses personal computers to simulate the functions of a starship bridge. The players form a crew which engage in various activities under the control of a GM. Crew stations include captain, Weapons officers, helm officer and others. When run at conventions it usually is a sort of blend of computer game and a LARP. You will spend about the first hour learning to use the software.
| Pheno ratings | ||
|---|---|---|
| Characterisation 3 | Genre 4-5 | Rules knowledge 0 - I/we teach all! |
| Story/plot 3 | Seriousness 2-4 | Advisory rating G or PG (players' option) |