eledonecirrhosa: Astronautilus - a nautilus with a space helmet (Default)
Had terrific fun at Worldcon. Managed to avoid catching Covid, possibly because I was too tired in the evenings (side effect of medication) to bother hanging about in the bars and instead just went back to the hotel around 9pm each evening.

The local train with an "all the trains you can eat" ticket for £5 for 5 days worked well. Apart from one night when there was a 45 minute gap between trains, so me and an American couple shared a taxi instead of standing in the rain. 

Things they could have done better... there was no physical newsletter. And no physical newsletter office. I know - I went looking for it to give them some news. Ops sent me to the Media Office, who sent me to Information, who tried to send me back to the Media Office, then found someone who thought it was only on Discord (at which point I thanked them and gave up).

Things I went to see/did:
- Dune the Musical (awesome)
- Policing the High Frontier
- The Science, Fiction and Ethics of Terraforming
- The Lost Wonders of Science Fiction
- What lines should we cross when writing fanfic?
- Vegetables in space (one of my favourite panels)
- Ancient cultures and context
- Playing with gender and gender expectations in SFF
- Copaganda and the Judge Dredd conundrum 
- The Expanse: greatest SF TV series of the 21st century
- SF as a tool to increase STEM uptake
- The many legs of SF - creepy crawlies in space
- Women in military SF (interesting, but they talked mostly about fantasy in a panel specifically named SF!)
- played in a 2 hour Traveller RPG session which was fun
- Chemistry in SF: cavorite, coaxium and other fictions
- All the world's boos depend on the beancounter: economics in SFF
- The myth of the wilderness
- Has science ruined science fiction?
- Going up: space elevators as highways to the stars
- Strong female leads who don't kick ass
- Dr Who fans meet-up
- went to the art show... and bought a couple of prints.
- spent remarkably little money in the dealers room... having to lug everything to Mum's then home on the train rather tempered my impulse to buy large and/or heavy things! 


eledonecirrhosa: Astronautilus - a nautilus with a space helmet (Default)

FICTION


1. The Green Man’s Silence by Juliet McKenna (urban fantasy). Number 3 in the series.
2. The Green Man’s Challenge by Juliet McKenna (urban fantasy). Number 4 in the series.
3. Irons in the Fire by Juliet McKenna (fantasy). Number 1 in the Lescari Revolution series.
4. Blood in the Water by Juliet McKenna (fantasy). Number 2 in the Lescari Revolution series.
5. Pine by Francine Toon (crime). Meh. Don’t get why it got rave reviews.
6. The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes (historical).
7. Green Valley by Louis Greenberg (science fiction/crime).
8. Skein Island by Aliya Whiteley (fantasy).
9. Beyond Recall by Gerald Seymour (thriller).
10. Darkship Thieves by Sarah Hoyt (science fiction/romance).
11. Haven by Adam Roberts (science fiction). The Aftermath vol 2.
12. Brumby Racer by Elyne Mitchell. One of the Colt From Snowy River series.
13. The Silver Brumby by Elyne Mitchell. Silver Brumby volume 1.
14. Pashterina’s Peacocks ed. By Danielle Lainton & Louise Coquio. Tributes to Storm Constantine. Made me cry in places.
15. The Horse & His Boy by C.S. Lewis (fantasy). Chronicles of Narnia
16. Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri (fantasy). Books of Ambha vol 1. Really enjoyed this. I love the magic system that is based on Indian classical dance.
17. Realm of Ash by Tasha Suri (fantasy). Books of Ambha vol 2.
18. The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri (fantasy). Burning Kingdoms vol 1.
19. Dark Water’s Embrace by Stephen Leigh (science fiction). I wanted to re-read this because it has aliens with 3 sexes and a human intersex protagonist.
20. Speaking Stones by by Stephen Leigh (science fiction). Sequel to Dark Water’s Embrace.
21. Storm Front by Jim Butcher (urban fantasy). Volume 1 of The Dresden Files.
22. Fool Moon by Jim Butcher (urban fantasy). Volume 2 of The Dresden Files.
23. Velocity Weapon by Megan E. O’Keefe (science fiction). The Protectorate vol 1.
24. Like a Boss by Adam Rakunas (science fiction). Windswept vol 2.
25. War of the Maps by Paul McAuley (science fiction).
26. Austral by Paul McAuley (science fiction). One of my favourite SF books this year.
27. Fomorian Brigade by James David Victor (military science fiction) Gene Soldiers vol 1.
28. Chercher La Femme by L. Timmel DuChamp (science fiction).
29. Fearless by Allen Stroud (military science fiction). Volume 1
30. The Apollo Murders by Chris Hadfield (crime/science fiction).
31. Mother Death by Karen Travis (science fiction). Nomad vol 2.
32. Abaddon’s Gate by James S.A. Corey (science fiction). Expanse Vol 3. A re-read.
33. Babylon’s Ashes by James S.A. Corey (science fiction). Expanse Vol 6.
34. Persepolis Rising by James S.A. Corey (science fiction). Expanse Vol 7.
35. Tiamat’s Wrath by James S.A. Corey (science fiction). Expanse Vol 8.
36. Leviathan Falls by James S.A. Corey (science fiction). Expanse Vol 9.
37. Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky (science fiction). A fun space opera. First in a series: Final Architects.
38. Eyes in the Void by Adrian Tchaikovsky (science fiction). Final Architects vol 2.
39. The Hyena & the Hawk by Adrian Tchaikovsky (fantasy). Third in the Echoes of the Fall series.
40. The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra by Vaseem Khan (crime). Baby Ganesh Agency vol 1.
41. The Perplexing Theft of the Jewel in the Crown by Vaseem Khan (crime). Baby Ganesh Agency vol 2.
42. Austral by Paul McAuley (science fiction).
43. Tenor Trouble by Philippa Sidle (mainstream). Doric Opera vol 2.
44. The Library of the Dead by T.L. Huchu (urban fantasy). I like the understated dystopia that this novel is set in. The book isn’t about overthrowing the dystopian government – that grimness is just backdrop. Edinburgh Nights vol 1.
45. Our Lady of Mysterious Ailments by T.L. Huchu (urban fantasy). Edinburgh Nights vol 2.
46. Cwen by Alice Albinia (mainstream with fantasy elements).
47. No Plan B by Lee Child & Andrew Child (thriller). Jack Reacher vol 27.
48. The Monster, The Mermaid & Dr Mengele by Ian Watson (fantasy).
49. Thin Air by Storm Constantine (sort of magical realism/urban fantasy).
50. Limit of Vision by Linda Nagata (science fiction).
51. Wither by Lauren Destefano (YA science fiction). First in the Chemical Garden series. Don’t think I’ll bother with the second one. Too many descriptions of posh frocks and not enough plot. Also it seems to be trying to set up a love triangle – bleaugh.
52. Cold Granite by Stuart MacBride (crime). Re-reading whilst on holiday. Logan McRae vol 1.
53. Dying Light by Stuart MacBride (crime). Logan McRae vol 2.
54. Dark Benediction by Walter M. Miller (science fiction). Anthology.
55. Ratlines by Stuart Neville (crime/historical).
56. Convergence by C.J. Cherryh (science fiction). Foreigner series vol 18.
57. Unreconciled by W. Michael Gear (science fiction). Donovan series vol 4.
58. Lightning Shell by W. Michael Gear & Kathleen O’Neal Gear (prehistorical). People of Cahokia series vol 5.
59. Atcode by David Wake (science fiction). Thinkersphere Vol 2.
60. The Best of World SF anthology edited by Lavie Tidhar (science fiction). Some fantastic stories in this, though a couple I’d classify as fantasy rather than science fiction.
61. Space Carrier Avalon by Glynn Stewart (military science fiction). Castle Federation vol 1.

NON-FICTION


1. Outlaw Ocean: Crime & Survival in the Last Untamed Frontier by Ian Urbina. Fascinating and horrifying in equal measure. Lots of ideas here for running the Blue Planet RPG when the next edition finally appears.
2. The Dinosaurs Rediscovered by Michael J. Benton. Good summary of the new discoveries of the last 20 years or so.
3. Tamed: Ten Species That Changed Our World by Alice Roberts
4. Mustangs: Return to the Wild by Hope Ryden
5. Wild Horses I Have Known by Hope Ryden
6. Rope, Twine & Net-Making by Anthony Sanctuary
7. The Glamour Boys by Chris Bryant.
8. The Idiot Brain by Dean Burnett.
9. None Bolder: The History of the 51st Highland Division in the Second World War by Richard Doherty
10. The Horse, The Wheel & Language: How Bronze Age Riders From the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World by David W. Anthony

GRAPHIC NOVELS


1. Gung-Ho by Von Kummont & Von Eckartsberg. Volume 1.
2. Out by Williams, Conrad & Lasko.
3. Brink book 2 by Dan Abnett & I.N.J. Culbard.
4. Pulp by Ed Brubaker & Sean Philips.

BOOKS I DIDN’T FINISH


1. Project 19: Crisis in the Desert by James Roscone. The foreword/set-up chapter was more interesting and better written than the actual novel.
2. Shadows of the Watching Star by William Sarabande (prehistorical). The First Americans series number, um, 7 or 8? I read about a half dozen of this series back in the 80s. But I’m no longer that person and will no longer tolerate “noble savage” characterisation and prehistoric people with “primitive” mindsets.

RPG BOOKS READ IN 2022


1. Haunted West RPG. This is obviously a labour of love and full of cool stuff. But because it is 800 pages long and weighs more than a rucksac of house bricks, it took me almost 5 months to get through it all. It has 4 different systems in it: crunchy ‘normal’ one; minimal crunch one; tactical miniatures combat one; and a PbtA hack.
2. Dune: Sand & Dust. First splatbook for Dune.
3. Coyote & Crow RPG. I bought a dead tree copy because the Kickstarter wouldn’t ship outside the USA.
4. Doctor Who RPG, 2nd ed.
5. Tartarus RPG.
6. The Silver Road RPG. Very minimalist.
7. Fluxfall Horizon RPG.
8. Terminator RPG. Haven’t finished reading this yet, because I got distracted by other RPGs which arrived later.
9. A|State RPG. Not sure I’ll ever run this, but it does a much better job of explaining how some of the Forged in the Dark mechanics work, then other FitD games do.
10. Maskwitches of Forgotten Doggerland RPG. Uses the Silver Road system, with some extra and setting-specific rules.
11. Dune: Agents of Dune. A campaign for Dune, set in an alternative timeline.
eledonecirrhosa: Astronautilus - a nautilus with a space helmet (Default)

FICTION


1. Alliance Rising by C.J. Cherryh & Jane Fancher (science fiction).
2. Downbelow Station by C.J. Cherryh (science fiction). I felt the need to re-read this after reading the new ‘prequel’, Alliance Rising. It is still a great book, but it is very noticeable now that the tech is paper printouts and paper ID documents instead of reading stuff on a screen.
3. The Farm by Joanne Ramos (science fiction).
4. Damnificados by J.J. Amaworo Wilson (mainstream/magical realism). This is lovely. Funny, poignant, political and with touches of magical realism now and then. It was an impulse buy at an Eastercon, and I’m so glad I did. The author doesn’t seem to have written any other novels, which is a shame.
5. Four Days to Veracruz by Owen West (thriller).
6. The Bear & the Serpent by Adrian Tchaikovsky (fantasy). Vol 2 of Echoes of the Fall.
7. Dogs of War by Adrian Tchaikovsky (science fiction). Loved this.
8. Cage of Souls by Adrian Tchaikovsky (science fiction). Curiously unengaging. Possibly a combination of the narrative structure and the fact the hero spends most of the book trying to avoid getting involved in anything?
9. Hidden Sun by Jaine Fenn (science fantasy). Vol 1 of the Shadowlands Duology.
10. Broken Shadows by Jaine Fenn (science fantasy). Vol 2 of the Shadowlands Duology. I’d like to read more in this setting.
11. The Last by Hanna Jameson (science fiction). The blurb on the book makes it sound like it is a serial killer picking off victims one by one. It is really not that at all! Nice portrait of people over-reacting and going a bit weird at the end of the world.
12. Special Purposes: First Strike Weapon by Gavin G. Smith (horror). The Soviet Union starts the zombie apocalypse in the 80s. Fun when its character stuff and a bit of action. Gets dull when it is page after page of zombie-killing.
13. Fluency by Jennifer Foehner Wells (science fiction). Confluence vol 1. Interesting in bits, nice ideas, but heroine too much of a Mary-Sue in other bits, and does that REALLY annoying romance trope of having the hero and heroine almost become a couple, then stop that story arc dead in the water so the author can spend the whole of the NEXT volume doing the will-they-won’t-they thing all over again. So I’m not going to read the next one!
14. Song of the Night by Zoe Burgess (fantasy/romance).
15. Rosewater by Tade Thompson (science fiction).
16. The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin (fantasy). Broken Earth vol 1. Reading too much sub-D&D, comparable to Tolkien at his most ripped-off, lost heirs to the kingdom, put me off fantasy for decades. It is books like this one which are proving to me that fantasy is actually worth reading. Lovely writing, interesting characters, doing stuff with timelines and narrative which I can’t mention for fear of spoilers. I finished it and immediately ordered the 2nd volume from the library. Then the library shut due to Covid-19, so I couldn’t pick it up! Oh noes!
17. The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin (fantasy). Broken Earth vol 2. Since I couldn’t get the library copy, I bought the second volume!
18. The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin (fantasy). Broken Earth vol 3.
19. Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey (science fiction). The Expanse volume 1. Re-read this in preparation for running some one-offs of The Expanse RPG.
20. Caliban’s War by by James S.A. Corey (science fiction). The Expanse volume 2. Ditto.
21. Scatterstones by Fiona Lane (science fantasy). Set in Storm Constantine’s Wraeththu Mythos universe.
22. Breathe My Shadow by Storm Constantine (science fantasy). A Wraeththu Mythos novel.
23. Blood, The Phoenix & A Rose by Storm Constantine. A Wraeththu Mythos novel.
24. Citizen Andri by Philippa Sidle (science fiction). Spaceforce Vol 3. Philippa complains that she’s had her title ‘Spaceforce’ gazumped by Donald Trump and now by the Netflix TV series, so she’ll have to re-brand the series.
25. The Voyage of the Basilisk by Marie Brennan (fantasy). Vol 3 of the Memoirs of Lady Trent.
26. In the Labyrinth of Drakes by Marie Brennan (fantasy). Vol 4 of the Memoirs of Lady Trent.
27. Within the Sanctuary of Wings by Marie Brennan (fantasy). Vol 5 of the Memoirs of Lady Trent.
28. Updraft by Fran Wilde (YA fantasy). Bone Universe Vol 1. Someone recommended this to me, but I almost gave up on it. Mainly because it does ‘Boot Camp’ TWICE in one fekking book. First the heroine is training to fly and be a trader’s apprentice, then, just when I’m going ‘Thank Grud that’s over, hopefully we’ll get to the plot now’, she gets sent off to start training to be in the ‘police/priesthood’.
29. Love Beyond Body, Space & Time: An Indigenous LGBT Sci-fi Anthology ed. by Hope Nicholson.
30. Starters by Lissa Price (YA science fiction/dystopia).
31. The War of the Worlds:The Anglo-Martian War of 1895 by Mike Brunton. A spoof military history book from Osprey.
32. American War by Omar El Akkad (science fiction).
33. People of the Canyons by Kathleen O’Neal Gear & W. Michael Gear (prehistorical).
34. Abandoned by W. Michael Gear (science fiction). Donovan vol 2.
35. Pariah by W. Michael Gear (science fiction). Donovan vol 3.
36. Act of Grace by Anna Krien (mainstream).
37. Dead Bad Things by Gary McMahon (horror/crime).
38. The Exile Waiting by Vonda McIntyre (science fiction). It’s been reprinted, with a short story set in the same universe.
39. Daughter of Kura by Debra Austin (prehistorical).
40. The Last Wave by Rick Vancey (YA science fiction). Vol 3 in the Fifth Wave series.
41. One of Us by Craig Dilouie (science fiction).
42. The Eagle & the Raven by Pauline Gedge (historical). Another book I recall being fantastic when I first read it, but on a re-read is just okay.
43. Stasi 77 by David Young (crime).
44. How Much of These Hills is Gold by C Pam Zhang (historical).
45. The Sentinel by Lee Child & Andrew Child (thriller). Jack Reacher vol 25
46. The Survivors by Kate Furnival (thriller). Was on the recommended shelf in the library. Set in a displaced persons camp in the aftermath of WW2. I’ll probably see if the library has her other books.
47. The Stone Circle by Elly Griffiths (crime). Enjoyed it but it is a sequel to another book I probably should have read first!
48. The Book of Koli by M.R. Carey (YA science fiction). First in a series.
49. Dune by Frank Herbert (science fiction). Re-read it after enjoying playing the quickstart version of the Dune RPG. Still enjoyable, but I’d forgotten (or not noticed) all the problematic bits, like Jessica being purchased as a sex slave for the Duke, and all the gay and bisexual characters are eeeeeevil. I wonder how they are going to deal with that in the new movie?
50. All That’s Dead by Stuart MacBride (crime).

NON-FICTION


1. Complete Guide to Acrylics by Lorena Kloosterboer.
2. Figments of Reality: The Evolution of the Curious Mind by Ian Stewart & Jack Cohen.
3. A Concise History of Sunnis & Shi’is by John McHugo.
4. The Price of Altruism: George Price & the Search for the Origins of Kindness by Oren Harman.
5. Insatiable: The Rise & Rise of the Greedocracy by Stuart Sim.
6. British Battle Tanks: Post-War Tanks 1946-2016 by Simon Dunstan.
7. Grimoire Dehara: Kaimana by Storm Constantine.
8. The Horse: A Biography of Our Noble Companion by Wendy Williams.
9. Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge.
10. Sisters in Arms: Female Warriors from Antiquity to the New Millennium by Julie Wheelwright.
11. The Happy Brain by Dean Burnett (neuroscience). Why isn’t some of this stuff common knowledge?

GRAPHIC NOVELS


1. The Terrible Elizabeth Dunn Against the Devils in Suits by Arabson.
2. The Nightly News by Jonathon Hickman
3. A Shadow Within: Evil in Fantasy & Science Fiction by Francesca T. Barbini (ed.)
4. Six Days: The Incredible Story of D-Day’s Lost Chapter by Robert Venditti, Kevin Maurer & Andrea Mutti.
5. Unnatural Selections by Gary Larson. Okay this isn’t exactly a graphic novel, but this is the best section to put it in…
6. Cows of Our Planet by Gary Larson.
7. The Far Side Gallery 3 by Gary Larson.
8. The Prehistory of the Far Side by Gary Larson.
9. Orphans 1: The Beginning by Recchioni & Mammucari (military science fiction). THIS is how you do Boot Camp – skip over it and then flashback to any bits of it which turn out to be relevant.
10. They Called Us Enemy by George Takei, Eisinger, Scott, Becker.
11. You Brought Me the Ocean by Sanchez & Marsh.
12. Love the Lion by Brremaud & Bertolucci
13. Orphans 2: Lies by Recchioni & Mammucari (military science fiction).
14. Orphans 3: Truth by Recchioni & Mammucari (military science fiction).
15. Orphans 4: Winners & Losers by Recchioni & Mammucari (military science fiction). Not sure if this is the end of the series, or if there will be another.
16. Snowpiercer Vol 3: Terminus by Bocquet & Rochette. Didn’t realise it was Vol 3, but it is a stand-alone story.

BOOKS I DIDN’T FINISH


1. Edges by Linda Nagata (science fiction). Inverted Frontier volume 1. I was fooled into buying this by that “volume 1”. It isn’t – it’s a sequel to another series. So it is written as if you know who these characters are (I didn’t), what their backstory and relationship is (I didn’t), and therefore care about it and them (I most certainly didn’t). So do I want to spend several hours reading about smug, irritating guy? Or find out if his relationship with famous but personality-free woman will rekindle on this dangerous mission? Nope, I don’t.
2. Invisible Ecologies by Rachel Armstrong (science fantasy). Nice writing, neat ideas. But the poetry chapters did nothing for me. And the prose chapters were all character portraits with very little actual plot. I wanted something with a bit more drive and grab for my lockdown reading.
3. Future Perfect by Katrina Mountfort (YA science fiction). Dystopian society where everyone has to be Body Perfect, must only be interested in shallow celebrity culture, and sex is banned. Started okay, but it lost me when the heroine – who has banged on about how no-one is allowed outside the city dome and how much she’d like to know what it is like out there – get sent outside with hunky romantic interest and hardly reacts at all to the experience because the landscape isn’t pretty. This is not the author being ironic or doing character development.
4. Metrophage by Richard Kadrey (cyberpunk). I kept this, so I obviously liked it back in the 80s when I originally read it. This time round I just didn’t care about anything that was happening or who it was happening to.
5. Wolf Wind by Jane Wade Scarlet (western). Plodding and with characters displaying sudden changes of opinion for no reason. One minute a person is saying “we must be kind to this poor boy” and the next they hate him.

RPG BOOKS READ IN 2020


Your Best Game Ever by Monty Cook
Kids on Bikes
Bite Marks
Hack the Planet
Scum & Villainy
Judge Dredd & the Worlds of 2000AD
Cortex Prime
Ghost Ops
Tribe 8 (re-read to run a campaign for the Tue group)
Paleomythic
Liminal
Android: Shadow of the Beanstalk
Alien
Legacy: Life Among the Ruins
Worlds of Legacy: Primal Pathways – worldbook for Legacy RPG
Cortex Prime – the very, very late kickstarter finally turned up
Mythic D6
Terra Oblivion - worldbook for Mythic D6 RPG
The Company - only just started reading this one.
eledonecirrhosa: Astronautilus - a nautilus with a space helmet (Default)
 There were quite a number of people at Concord Games Con last weekend who said things along the lines of I've just moved to Bristol and am having trouble finding an RPG group to play with. So here is a handy list!

If anyone knows of groups I have missed, or has more information on accessibility or costs, post a comment and I'll update the list. 

This is to help people identify resources to:

  •  Locate other roleplayers in Bristol (UK). 
  •  Find venues for roleplaying games in Bristol (UK).

 

FINDING PEOPLE TO PLAY RPGS WITH

The Bristol & Bath Meetup:

https://www.meetup.com/shadowrun-90/

If you are looking for a GM or to find other players, ask on the Discussions page.

The fortnightly RPG sessions held by Concord Convention at Bristol Independent Gaming (see below) are usually advertised through this meetup group – look at the Events page for some old ones.

RGPers social get togethers are also organised a few times a year through the Meetup – these are for chatting about games, getting to know people and asking if anyone knows of games with spaces.

 

Roleplayers in Bristol Facebook group

https://www.facebook.com/groups/33449242589/

 

Vanguard Wargaming Club

https://bristolvanguard.com/

They have a roleplaying games subsection on their discussion forums. See below for their venue, The Old Duke pub.

 

The Tavern RPG forum

https://gamingtavern.eu/index.php

This is national forum rather than local to Bristol. It has a ‘people and looking for a game’ subforum.

 

University of Bristol (Ubris) Gamesoc

https://www.bristolsu.org.uk/groups/gamesoc

https://www.facebook.com/groups/ubugamesoc/

A student society which plays RPGs, CCGs and boardgames at the Student Union on Queens Road in Clifton. They play on Saturdays and Sundays, during university term times. You have to be a student or have purchased a Student Union membership (associate membership) to join Gamesoc.

 

University of the West of England (UWE) Roleplay and Wargames Society

https://www.thestudentsunion.co.uk/soc/roleplay/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/uweraw/

 

Bristol Pathfinder Lodge

http://paizocon.co.uk/index.php/local-groups/127-pathfinder-lodge-bristol

Also does Starfinder.

Play at Excelsior Games (Bond Street, BS1 3LZ) and at the Famous Royal Navy Volunteer pub (King Street, BS1 4EF).  Costs £3 per session.

 

FINDING PLACES TO PLAY

St George Liberal Club, 134b Church Road, Bristol BS5 8HH (the building with the colourful mural on it).

https://www.facebook.com/stgeorgeliberalclub/

There are RPG groups playing at this social club on Monday evenings (the Monday Knights) and Tuesday evenings (yes, you guessed it, they are called the Tuesday Knights). The club opens at 19.00. It has a small bar. The gamers share the space with snooker players and cribbage players.

The deal is that you can try the social club out for a couple of weeks for free. After that, you have to get another member to ‘sponsor’ you, and you pay an annual membership of £7.  

Accessibility – there are 2 or 3 steps to get into the main social area/bar. The ladies toilet is up a narrow staircase. Bar staff say it is okay for women to use the gents downstairs – the female bar staff do that when they can’t be bothered to climb the stairs.

 

The Old Duke pub, King Street, Bristol BS1 4ER

http://www.theoldduke.co.uk/

The Old Duke is a jazz pub. Vanguard Wargames group have got their first floor function room booked out permanently, with large tables set up for wargaming. They are okay with roleplayers booking a table for an RPG game, and some groups play there regularly.

The deal is that you pay £2 per person into the collection tin. The pub doesn’t mind if you bring your own food or drink in, so long as you take all your rubbish away with you. There is an online booking system for tables. It is found here: https://bristolvanguard.com/the-old-duke/table-bookings/

Accessibility – the function room is upstairs, the toilets are downstairs. There is a step down then a step up to get to the ladies loo, which is small and cramped.

 

Bristol Independent Gaming (BIG) – 16 Clothier Road, Brislington, Bristol BS4 5PS

https://www.bristolindependentgaming.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/wargaming.bristol.independent.gaming/

This is a wargames venue and shop. They sell snacks, including bacon rolls and fruit.

The Concord Convention folks organise RPG games here every second Sunday. Keep an eye on the Bristol & Bath meetup group for details.

Accessibility – there is a ground floor gaming room, but that gets used for wargaming and CCG tournaments. The RPGs are played on the first floor. There is a unisex toilet on the first floor.

 

Excelsior Games – Bond Street, Bristol BS1 3LX

https://excelsiorgamesandcomics.co.uk/collections/rpgs

They have a games shop and a comic shop on the same street. RPGs are played in the first floor function room of the games shop on one evening a week. Possibly Tuesdays? 

Accessibility – the RPGs are played on the first floor.

 

Lincombe Barn Wargames Society  – at Downend Folkhouse, Overndale Road, Downend BS16 2RW

http://www.bristolwargaming.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/bristolwargaming/

They meet on Sunday afternoons, 3pm to 7pm, at the Folk House in Downend. There have been RPG campaigns played there in the past, but I don’t know if anyone is playing there now.

There is an annual membership fee and a weekly subscription fee to cover hire of the venue (including use of the kitchen). Free parking on site.

Accessibility – the big rooms are all on the ground floor, as are the toilets and kitchen. There are smaller rooms upstairs.

 

The Mana House – board games café on Whiteladies Road in Clifton, BS8 2NT

https://www.themanahouse.com/

Open noon to 11pm every day.

Cost to book a table – I don’t know. It doesn’t say on the website. You’ll have to book to find out!  

Accessibility – don’t know.

 

Chance’N’Counters – board games café on Christmas Steps, just off Centre, BS1 5BS

https://www.chanceandcounters.com/

Open 10am to 11pm (later at weekends).

Cost to hire a table is £5 per person for a 4 hour slot.

Accessibility – the tables in the back of the café are up a few steps, as are the toilets.

 

Replay Bristol – board games bar, Cheltenham Road, Bristol BS

https://replaybristol.co.uk/

Open 6pm to 10.30pm weekdays, plus during the day at the weekends.

Costs £3 per person for a 3 hour slot.

They run an After School Club on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3pm to 6pm.

 

Horfield Methodist Church – Churchways Avenue, Bristol BS7 8SN

http://www.horfieldmethodist.org.uk/

Are okay with RPGers or board gamers hiring their church halls.

They charge £25 per hour for the large hall and £11 to £17 per hour for the smaller rooms.

  

Bishopston Library

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/bishopston-library-games-evenings-tickets-88962064931?aff=erelexpmlt

Has a games evening for adults, 19.00 to 21.30 on some Mondays and Wednesdays. It only mentions board and card games, but you could ask if they have space for RPGs. £2 charge to help them buy more games. No need to book.

 

LEARNING TO PLAY

Rules of Play

https://rulesofplay.co.uk/pages/rules-of-play-bristol-board-games

This is a board games shop with a small selection of RPGs. They run ‘learn to play D&D’ sessions and other gaming events (some of the events are in Cardiff not Bristol).

https://rulesofplay.co.uk/pages/events

https://www.facebook.com/pg/rulesofplay/events/

 

GAMING CONVENTIONS

Concord

https://concordgamingconvention.com/

A weekend convention which happens annually in the last weekend of February. RPGs and boardgames. Signing up to play an RPG costs the price of your convention ticket plus an extra £4 per game. If you GM a game you get a reduction on your ticket price.

 

Roll Dice Gaming

They held a con in July 2019. Mainly wargames, but RPGs were mentioned.  I don’t know if there will be one in 2020.

 

Bristol Anime & Gaming Con

https://spring.bristolanimecon.com/

Not sure if they do RPGs. I guess they will be anime themed RPGs if they do!

eledonecirrhosa: Astronautilus - a nautilus with a space helmet (Default)
 Stabcon this year just hit the spot for me. I always enjoy it, but this year it de-stressed me nicely. 

Friday: I played the worker placement game Evil High Priest. Liked it a lot and may buy it. There was enough variety of stuff to do that I never felt I got stuck, or had to waste workers on pointless actions.

I then scooted off to run Vampire the Masquerade 5th ed. Only 2 players*, but that made little difference to the scenario. They steamed efficiently through the investigation, recruited some supernatural assistance and headed off for the big showdown. Lots of comments from one player about how he liked the new VTM5e system - hunger dice, 3 round combats and so on.

Saturday: In the morning, I ran Summerland 2nd ed, using the published Fire scenario. I was worried that the scenario was a bit rail-roady in places, so I'd added a few extra elements to diverge from the main thread, and I rolled with the flow and let the players invent a derelict Little Chef to pillage for supplies. While the 2nd ed system (Open d6) is far better than 1st ed, I'm not convinced it fits Summerland's mood. Twice Roger's character killed someone with one punch, which feels more martial arts/superhero genre than 'eerie post apocalypse with mystical elements'. 

In the afternoon I chatted with folk, but lack of sleep on the Friday night (too much caffeine, too much heat) meant I wilted mid afternoon and retreated to my room to grab an hour's sleep.

Saturday evening was the fantastic Valkyrie 9 adventure for The Cthulhu Hack, run by Simon Burley. We were all maintenance robots on a moonbase, wondering where all the humans had gone. This is hands down the most fun I've ever had in a Cthulhu adventure. 

Sunday: The morning session I ran United Earth Defence: You are the Resistance, with one no-show out of 5 players.**  I was worried that a resource based game mechanic (if you roll a dice it is spent) might be troublesome if the players didn't grok it and ran out of dice. However, they pounced on the opportunities to do tactical stuff and rack up bonuses before they rolled, so they made every spent dice count. Plus they scavenged for more supplies etc, to refresh some of their dice pools.

A lunchtime chat with one of my best friends, then I scooted off to play the military science fiction Operation Felix run by John Parr. I was the only player to turn up, so it ended up being a one on one game. I had a whole platoon to myself, so it played out as part RPG, part skirmish wargame, and was great fun.

I was staying the Sunday evening after the con was over, so I met up with Peter and we went to a local pub - the Puss in Boots - for an evening meal. Good food, nice staff and a nice chat about roleplaying, Ancient Greek mythology and a novel Peter is writing. 

I love Stabcon. The organisation is a well oiled machine. Michelle and Hammy who run it are lovely folks. A good pool of RPG players and a metric ton of boardgames to play if none of the RPGs take my fancy. The hotel delivers pub food with very generous portions to your gaming table and the staff are all great. 


*Lack of players seemed to be a feature of this year's Summer Stabcon - several RPG games with few or no players. Perhaps fewer RPGers are coming? I think it clashed with Volcon, so that might be a reason.

** No-one had signed up in the reserve slot, which again makes me think there were fewer RPGers than normal at Stabcon. 


eledonecirrhosa: Astronautilus - a nautilus with a space helmet (Default)
 The second North Star Con was even better fun than the first. Cool games and a nice, friendly bunch of people to play them with. 

SATURDAY GAMES
The first game I played was The LEGO Way Home (Traveller), run by Richard. We were a bunch of Lego minifigs on an Imperial Scoutship, stuck in the middle of nowhere because my forgetful character had lost the jump tapes. Shenanigans ensued as we (mostly incompetently) tried to find the tapes, deal with a Sith Lord, and argued what to do about a black hole, a black monolith and a crashed DeLorian. It was delightfully silly.

Slot 2 was my first ever game of Genesys Android. I'd been put off buying this because of the need for funky dice. However, it is a nice system, and the mechanic where you can hand any advantages you've rolled onto the next player as bonus dice is a cool one. The GM was John Ossoway and the scenario (Frozen Assets) was a cyberpunk investigation into the death of an investment banker and where millions of missing credits have gone. Lots of nice twists and turns, which kept our suspicions shifting from suspect to suspect. I'd certainly be up for playing more of this system and setting.

The evening slot was Beyond Neptune (Ghost Ship), run by Dr Mitch, about the uploaded consciousnesses of dead people being used to run a spaceship on a 40 year voyage to investigate an anomaly in the Kuiper Belt. Dr Mitch kept apologising for the slow pace of the game, but I felt it was perfectly paced for a bunch of tired people who wanted to debate various actions and various game mechanics (how many dice from our pool to spend on task X or task Y). Intriguing plot, nice mechanics of using character memories for re-rolls and 'damage' being your character becoming less and less connected to humanity and your past. A good choice for a con game. 

SUNDAY GAMES
In the morning I ran Doctor Who, using my UNIT Cold War Afghanistan scenario. This time Sir Humphrey Appleby and Sarah Jane Smith were the crack diplomatic team who dealt with Soviets, the CIA, alien technology and trying to prevent World War Three. 

The afternoon was a playtest of 3rd edition Blue Planet, run by Dom. The scenario (Trouble in Paradise) will be included in the re-boot of Blue Planet. The system is similar to BP 2nd ed (roll 1 or more d10 and try to get under a target number), but had a re-roll mechanic and a lot of contacts/social stuff which I don't remember from 2nd ed, plus Fate-style descriptive tags which came into play during combat. There are also 'Tracks' - your connection to family, organisations, etc. However, since the pre-gens are all starter characters, those were all set to zero and had no in-game effect. 

The scenario was entertaining, though I think we ended up being slightly more murderous than the Russian Mafia thugs we were up against. Dom kept things moving along nicely when we bogged down in debate about the next part of our Cunning Plan. After the game we suggested that it would be useful to have what your Initiative roll is written on the character sheet, suggested that some of the skill trees were clear and useful, while others were a bit vague as to what the hell you could use them for (e.g. Warrant Officer), and seemed more like character background than actual skills. I was also puzzled there was no social stat, since Psyche seems to be more about Willpower than the usual charisma or social status type stats. 

Since I own all of  Blue Planet 1st ed and 2nd ed, I will no doubt also buy 3rd ed! :-)
eledonecirrhosa: Astronautilus - a nautilus with a space helmet (Default)
Cross-posting a re-edited and expanded version from UK Roleplayers...

Cold And Dark Roleplaying game: a science fiction horror game from Modiphius/Wicked World Games
Did some pre-gens and ran a one off. Overall a decent game, but with some minor speed bumps (see below). I think my regular Monday group would like this game, and I'll run a tweaked version of the scenario at Summer Stabcon.

THE RULEBOOK
Pro: Atmospheric art.
Con: Bit too much boobplate for my liking, and there is one topless woman. However, as she fits into the 'mad as a sackful of stoats' category, with an axe-murderer vibe, it can sort of be forgiven. Sort of. Funny how it is never menopausal women with saggy tits who appear topless in RPG rulebooks?!

Pro: Generally a good layout. A few typos and a couple of things I'm putting down to translation errors. The in-game fiction is well-written and actually interesting! Bonus!
Con: They slacked off and went to the movies on the day they were supposed to be cross-referencing or making a decent index. For instance there is stuff you need know for combat in the skills chapter (what strategy does) and in the Health chapter (what a critical hit does). And it took me ages to find out where they’d hidden the base Durability stat for armour – it’s in the Gear chapter, but NOT as a stat for the different types of armour, or in the descriptions of the different designs of armoured suit. As a result of all this I’ve been pencilling in the margins and on the index, and have post-it notes scattered throughout the book to help me find all the stuff I need. Plus I did some cheat sheets.

Pro: Nice spread of character templates from social types to techy types to shooty, stabby types. There are even two different kinds of engineer, and a xeno-archaeologist. Character gen is simple points spend until...
Con: ...you get to the bit about all the gear and gadgets your environment suit (COG) contains. That requires constant flipping to and fro in the rulebook and would be a nightmare if you have lots of players and only one copy of the book. I’ll be racing to photocopy those pages if I ever run a campaign of Cold & Dark.

Neutral: Not sure why they decided to have so many stats (aptitudes) – there are 8. I was perpetually confused by the difference between Quickness and Reaction. Quickness is only for physical stuff (basically it is dexterity), whereas Reaction can be a speedy physical or mental response. But given that Gut Feeling (hunches and instinct) covers that speedy mental stuff and is also used for movie style crazy stunts or risk taking (e.g. Gut feeling + Driving would pretty much be the only skill used in a Fast & Furious movie), then I think Reaction is a bit superfluous. The other stats are Attention, Brains, Brawn, Clout and Cool.

Con: They really, really like their TLAs (three letter acronyms) in this rulebook. Thank grud there’s a glossary, as I was losing track at times of all the diseases, corporations, organisations and technobabble. One of my players asked why he had a skill in Greater London Council (GLC)! That’s Ghost Line Calculation, or as we mortals know it, hyperspace navigation.

GAME MECHANIC
Pro: I like the core mechanic – it’s simple and has some nice twists. It’s a d8 dice pool system with 7 and 8 as a success. 1 success lets you do the thing you intended. Extra successes are amazingly worthwhile in combat (extra damage) or in time critical tasks (cracking the safe before the security guy turns up) but don’t really do anything in most other situations. There are 2 mechanisms for an automatic success – spending a story point (called a Save point) or having a dice pool of 7 or more in a non-stress situation.

Pro: Cold & Dark also gets over the buckets of dice problem that many dice pool games have, by saying you never roll more than 8 dice, no matter what your pool size is. So if you have 10d8 in your pool, you roll 8 of them and the 9th and 10th dice count as two extra successes if you make the dice roll. I really like that mechanic.

SKILL ROLLS IN ACTUAL PLAY
Pro: No-one failed a non-combat dice roll in my trial scenario. Even Brian, whose dice traditionally hate him and do their best to fumble in every game he plays. If the PC is doing the thing they are good at (e.g. the medic is doing first aid), they’ll likely have about 6 (or more) dice in their pool and the probability of rolling a fail is small. If they do fail, then they have 3 Save points to spend to retcon the failures. Or they can spend the save point in advance and not even bother rolling, and instead narrate how they succeeded. On top of this, every character template has a skill which you’ll get bonuses for and which you cannot botch.

I’m totally happy with the above. But one of my players (not Brian) was complaining that he’d never failed a roll! It takes all sorts, I suppose!

Neutral: The never failing thing also applied to Cool rolls, which are the sanity mechanic, earning you first Cold points, then Dark points. The rules read as if the game should be constantly chipping away at your stiff upper lip (Cold), and eventually tip you over into paranoia and delusions (Dark). However, since:
(a) All it takes to make the roll is a single success,
(b) Mr Average will have a dice pool of 4d8, and
(c) Your character can get Cold points back by spending 5 minutes in a safe place...
...then I think this must be a campaign thing, not a CoC going stark raving bonkers in a 3 hour, one-off, con-game thing. For con-games I might house rule that you roll against Cool, not against Cool x 2, as is normal for an attribute roll.

As a side note, a large source of sanity rolls in my scenario was when one of the players decided to systematically murder everyone in the colony on the grounds that they might be infected with chestburster type aliens… despite the fact that the Medic had a tricorder/scanner which could instantly prove the NPCs were/weren’t infected!

COMBAT
Pro: Is quick and fun. We only did really did firearms combat in the scenario I ran, with a smidgen of alien creatures pouncing on people. It did become clear that the standard stats for NPC human beings makes them waaaaaaay tougher than some of the alien gribbly things. Mainly because they have oodles of hit points (14 + Brawn score, so Mrs Average is 16), and take no dice penalties until they’ve taken 8 points of damage. Some of the gribblies, wolves and big cats only have 12 hit points, and most of the PCs take dice penalties at 6 points of damage. I guess the critical hit rule – you can do an instant kill if you do 10+ damage in one hit – is the way they get around slowly whittling down the HP. Some of the gribblies have the special ability that they are immune to critical hits.

So if it had come down to a knife fight or bar-room brawl, I think combat would be more of a grind. It certainly took several shots with a pistol to kill unarmoured NPCs. If you want to kill the Queen Alien from Aliens, bring anti-tank weapons with you!

Con: One discovery was that it doesn’t take much armour to render most pistols and knives (almost) useless. This is because of the damage mechanic – getting 1 success does base damage (e.g. 2 for a wimpy pistol, 4 or 5 for a heavy pistol), and then each extra success would add +1 or +2 to that. So the marine PC who had armour value of 5 requires 6 damage to actually hurt. That means you need 5 successes with a wimpy pistol. Since the marine’s defence subtracts from the attacker’s dice pool, Mr Wimpy Pistol Owner needs a minimum dice pool of 7 to damage the marine… and in reality the probabilities mean that Mr Wimpy Pistol requires 10+ in their dice pool. My players quickly switched to fully automatic and using unfeasibly large amounts of explosives!