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ProCon 2004: Games
Live action games
Friday night
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Congress of Vienna
GMs: Ben Phillip, Paul Ewenstein, and Ion Yannopoulos
Website: Main
site (or)
Backup site
Plot:
It is the year of our lord eighteen hundred and fifteen. Godless
Frenchmen might tell you that it was year 23 of the new calendar, but
thankfully they and their abominable Emperor, the terrifying Napoleon
Bonaparte, have been defeated after long years of war.
Now the victorious powers of Europe have gathered
in Vienna to
enjoy the hospitality of the illustrious Emperor Francis I of Austria
to determine the new shape of Europe. This is to be a gathering which
will truly outshine any that Europe has ever seen. The Tsar and
Emperor of all the Russias, Alexander the First, savior of Christendom
will be there, and the King of Prussia, each of their assorted courts,
as well as representatives of the English Crown, masters of the sea and
financiers of the victory. So too will gather many of the lesser
powers of Europe, his Holiness the Pope, and even the Prince de
Talleyrand and the restored government of the Bourbon Kings of France.
Given that this is to be the greatest social event in living memory,
anyone who's anyone will be there, including the renowned composer
Beethoven who will give a special performance for the assembled
dignitaries.
Of course, in addition to the dazzling gaiety,
a great deal of
serious business needs to be conducted. The final treaty needs to
be
negotiated, and there are many outstanding issues to be worked out if
the peace of Europe is to last. The Holy Roman Empire has been
abolished and the future of Germany has to be determined. The Kingdom
of Poland may be recreated, but should it be? The future of France
remains in question as well; after its unfortunate attempt to conquer
all Europe, its status stands in doubt, and many clamor for
reparations.
Now, Napoleon rules over only Elba, but his tumultuous
passing
has changed Europe irrevocably. Sovereigns and ministers, generals and
courtesans, spies and cultists, scientists and artists, all must shape
the next century as best they can. Some see this Congress as a symbol
of the new Europe, a place where liberal ideas and fresh nationalism
will take center stage at last, while others see it as a chance for
rightful governments to reassert their leadership and strength.
What will become of Europe? Will it hold
strong to the old ways,
step forwards into a new age, or fall once again into war and chaos?
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Saturday night
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Assumption
GMs: Hillary King, Dan Parke, David Chapin
Website: http://www.daemonia.net/assumption
Plot:
A modified version of the system used in City in Shadow and Blue Moon
will be employed.
1940, Las Vegas The United States remains as yet uninvolved in the second world
war, but in Las Vegas, another kind of war is brewing. Since the murder of the
old King,
there has been no one to fill the role of the Fisher King and take
the psychic guardianship
of the West. But with Easter comes the turning of the
cycle, and the time has come to assume
the Kingship. The Jacks, the would-be
kings and gods, have come to Las Vegas to fight for
the throne-- and so have
the women hoping to assume the mantle of queenship. The battle
will be fought
with cards, and dice, in the casinos and gambling halls, because the power lies
in the Cards, and in the potent forces behind them. But that doesn't mean that
the contestants
won't stoop to other, more physical means of persuading a rival
to leave the Game. And in this
time of gathering power, others have made their
way to Las Vegas on quests of their own--
magicians, Egyptian sorcerors, ghost-hunters,
shapeshifters and spies, the power-hungry
and the desperate, lovers and losers,
the living and the dead. Some may be hoping to influence
the outcome of the
Game, others seeking power, knowledge, and immortality.
Assumption is based on the novels of Tim Powers. It's a magic realist
larp-- a sort of metaphysical
noir, if you will, where the physical and
the
metaphysical are very closely entwined. Knowledge of
Tim Powers' books
will be helpful, but is not necessary, as background information will
be
available
on the web. Knowledge of Poker, the Tarot, and other card
games
will also be helpful.
This larp is
based on concepts designed, created and copyrighted by
Powers,
but the game itself will be an original
product.
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Tabletop games
Tabletop games, Saturday morning
Pandora's Mistake
Young, Nubile Virgins meet
the Volcano of Doom
Tabletop games, Saturday afternoon
Heavy Fish
Ride the Train
Tabletop games, Sunday morning
Shadowrun
Young, Nubile Virgins meet
the Volcano of Doom (if sufficient interest)
Tabletop games, Sunday afternoon
Farm of the Durned III: Reap What Y'all Done Sowed
Games now alphabetical by GM name! How
innovative.
Farm Of The Durned III: Reap What Y'all Done Sowed
GM: Adam Kenney
Few years back, a yankee cousin o' the McGraw family done visited,
only t'stumble upon the dreaded Farmers' Almanomicon. She read o'
that thing like nobody's business, an' used the power she got t'oust
Granpaw from his place amongst the Great Old Folk. A little while
later, she left the family farm, and no one's heard of 'er since.
Problem is, the seasons ain't been right since that time. Winters're
cold an' long, and ever' Spring brings a plague o' unnaturally large
frogs. It's durn near impossible to grow anythin', and the McGraws
are gettin' sick of it. It's time t'venture forth and put a stop to
Th' Evil once'n fer all.
Farm Of The Durned is a light-hearted tabletop of pseudo-Lovecraftian
Midwestern horror. It uses a custom system, the majority of which
consists of rules for Drinkin'. This is the third and last time that
it has run at ProCon.
Young Nubile Virgins Meet the Volcano of Doom
GM: Adam Singer
The island is small, inhabited by a small tribe of only a few dozen families.
They work the fields during the day and tend the fires, recounting the Holy
Tales, at night. It is a peaceful life, separate from any other contact. None
ever leave the island save on short fishing expeditions and none ever arrive.
The only path of escape, it is said, is through the Volcano.
Every year, a handful of young, nubile candidates are selected to appease the
wrath of the Spirit of the Volcano. Every year, shortly after their fall from
the lip of the island's single mountain to its inner core, the island is
rocked with earthquakes to signal the end of the struggle and the Spirit's
delight in the sacrifice.
This year, you, the PCs, are the lucky few who have been chosen to give
yourselves to that solitary God to save your people from certain Doom. The
Village Shaman has just pushed you off the edge. Game start.
System is slightly modified WHEE (We Have to Eat Everything) introduced by
Adam Kenney with Carnivore.
Heavy Fish
GM: Ethan Gafford
For centuries, the Pearl Empire flourished beneath the waves, and the
shoguns of the great fish clans battled the predatory foulness of the
Drylands with honor and wisdom. But then came the dark times, when fish
were enslaved, trapped in a prison of nets they could neither see nor
touch, and raised in chains. Raised for death.
But now, all that is coming to an end. The secret histories have been
re-discovered by a few good fish, fish who have been hard at work. The
weapons have been built. The pilots have been chosen, and trained.
Now, it's payback time.
Heavy Fish is the final installment in the "Giant Fish" trilogy, which
began with "Legend of the Giant Fish" (L5R) and endured "Kelp" (Kult.) It
will, assuming I get my hands on a copy of it at some point, use the Heavy
Gear system (Silhouette,) which features an unnecessary number of giant
"mecha"-style killer robots. I think we all get the picture.
Pandora's Mistake
GM: Mackie Coard
Back from the daily grind. Tired from your many labors you jump onto the Internet
and load up your favorite site to spend some stamina, bid for a good item and
challenge some poor fool you’re pretty sure you can beat. Until something
happens and you’re not in Kansas anymore…
Opposing sides of reality, morality and destiny are at war. This game is targeted
at those who understand what the first paragraph is talking about. Pandora’s
Mistake is a ProCon one-shot that will use the diceless Nobilis system, in which
players control a powerful being called a noble, with dominion over an aspect
of reality such as Truth, Air, Love, or Stealth.
X/1999, an anime series, was one of my creative inspirations for this game.
Characters will be pre-generated and anywhere from 2-8 players are welcome.
If you’re interested please feel free to e-mail me at mcoard@aol.com so I can get a sense of who
may show up.
Ride the Train
GM: Nate Ford
In the dark future, the nations of Earth have been forced to abandon
independant motorized vehicles in favor of mass transportation. It is
simply impossible to support her economies without effective, large-scale
mass transportation. So, as the cities grow, so do the vast networks of
tubes, lines and rails. Crossings, hubs and terminals are everywhere, and
everyone uses them to go everywhere. They now form a labrynthine maze of
mythical proportion.
Very early one hopeful spring morning, a handful of passengers ride in a
nameless car attached to a nameless train on a nameless line coming from
somewhere and going into the city. This morning they will all remember
however long they live. This is the morning the War began.
This will be a frenetic one-shot run under the Hero system. Despite that,
player characters will not have super powers. There will be some 'source'
material provided at the session, but I encourage people to join who like
'filling in the gaps' during seamless play.
Shadowrun
GM: Nick Phillips
In the spring of 2004, in the dark cyberpunk world of
Shadowrun, the unaffiliated corporation Mitsuhama Heavy Industries
stands to win a coveted military contract to mass produce hovering
"aerobots" for the Japanese Self-Defense Forces (SDF). Each of the
three Japanese megacorps, Renraku (which owns Sony and invented
cyberware), Shiawase (the only megacorp to become a nuclear power),
and Seretech (which pioneered human cloning) has hired teams of
shadowrunner mercenaries to make sure that Mitsuhama either forfeits
the contract or merges with one of the megacorps. The financial
gangsters of the Sumiyoshi-gumi could hardly care less.
As members of this keizei ("economic") yakuza syndicate, you
and your "brothers" will conduct business-as-usual at next week's
shareholders' meeting. You have each purchased enough shares of
Mitsuhama to attend the annual meeting. While several shareholders
have bowed to the Sumiyoshi-gumi's blackmail attempts, one prominent
stockholder, Maeda Kenshou, remained defiant. Your mission is to
embarrass Maeda in public by revealing, in the most dramatic manner
possible, that he has been cuckolded by his wife, a lascivious
sumo-wrestler fan. This will send a strong message and ensure that
Japan's salarymen remain fearful of your syndicate's blackmail
threats. For accomplishing this task, your team will split a
¥1,000,000 reward.
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