The Visitation of Loz: Concrete Cow 08, UK, 8 March

[Neil Smith]

Milton Keynes RPG Club are holding another of their games days on 8 March 2008. One of our Guests of Honour is Loz Whitaker, author of many RuneQuest/Hawkmoon/Elric/etc. books for Mongoose. Come along to Concrete Cow to play in some of his games! More details below.

WHO?
We're Milton Keynes RPG Club. Find out more about us at http://www.mk-rpg.org.uk.

WHEN?
Saturday 8 March 2008. Doors open at 9.00am, first games start at 10.00am. We'll finish at 11.00pm.

(We'll be doing another on 27 September 2008 at the same times.)

WHAT?
Any roleplaying or board game. You want to play it, bring it along and run it. Previously we've had on offer Amber, Call of Cthulhu, Cold City, Dogs in the Vineyard, GURPS Banestorm, Gwenthia, HeroQuest, Mythic Russia, Primetime Adventures, Savage Worlds, Tekumel, Transhuman Space, True20, Vampire, and some more that I've forgotten. Latest updates will be posted on our website.

A full list of games on offer is on the Concrete Cow games page.

WHO'LL BE THERE?
We have two excellent Guests of Honour: Mike Mason and Loz Whitaker

Mike Mason has been a great friend of Concrete Cow in the past, helping out behind the scenes. He's also the Manager of Black Industries (the RPG arm of Games Workshop) and the man behind the Kult of Keepers (that group of mad people who run games of Call of Cthulhu). He's currently working on Dark Heresy, the RPG set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. That'll be released in February 08, just in time for Concrete Cow 08! Mike will be chained to a table all day and forced to run games of Dark Heresy.

He's aiming to bring some GMs to run games of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay and Dark Heresy.

Loz Whitaker is an old friend of Concrete Cow. He's long been a leading light in the Hawkmoon/Eternal Champion community, is a major force behind the open-source world of Gwenthia, and organiser of the fabulous Continuum conventions. He also seems to be writing about half of Mongoose's current publishing output! He's the author of the Elric game and the Elric Companion. He's written the Games Master's Handbook and Land of the Samurai for RuneQuest, the Gloranthan supplements Dragonewts and Dara Happa Stirs, the Lurker's Guide to Starports for Babylon 5, Cimmeria for Conan, and Castle Brass for Hawkmoon. He'll be chained to a table and forced to run games all day, but he's complaining of being spoilt for choice of what to do!

Representatives of the Kult of Keepers will be in attendance so expect plenty of top quality Call of Cthulhu.

Many members of the Collective Endeavour, a coterie of UK Indie RPG designers, will be coming along too. That means you can expect all sorts of indie RPG goodness, if that's the sort of thing that floats your boat. Last time we had games of Cold City, Covenant, Dead of Night, and Primetime Adventures, but what will be happening this time is anyone's guess. See the Concrete Cow games page for news.

And, of course, there's all the fantastic games you'll bring along and run. If you let us know what you're planning to run, we'll put it on the Concrete Cow games page.

WHERE?

The Old Bath House, Wolverton, in the north-west corner of Milton Keynes. The full address is

The Old Bath House
205 Stratford Road
Wolverton
Milton Keynes
MK12 5RL

Maps are available on MK Web, Google Maps, and Streetmap.co.uk.

Directions for drivers are on the directions page.

Regular trains to Milton Keynes run from London Euston station. The nearest station to the con is Wolverton (one stop north of Milton Keynes Central), about five minutes' walk away.

HOW MUCH?
£5.00, payable on the door. This'll cover the cost of hiring the hall.

For more information, visit our Yahoo group or email concrete-cow-owner@yahoogroups.com

 

[Neil Smith]

Only about a month to go until Concrete Cow on 8 March in Milton Keynes. Here's a couple of updates.

Despite the news that Black Industries will be closing down soon, Mike Mason has confirmed that he'll be turning up as our Guest of Honour at Concrete Cow. He'll be bringing along some games of Dark Heresy. If you want to play in a Dark Heresy game with an employee of Black Industries, this could be your last chance.

The trader House Atreides will be along with all sorts of RPGs and stuff in an attempt to part you from your money.

Loz Whitaker, our other Guest of Honour, will be running a game of Planetary, a modern day superhero game.

Planetary - 21st Century Threads

2007 and it is a quiet time for The Planetary Foundation. Excavations continue into the secret history of the world but nothing has been heard of The Four for over two years. Whilst the multiverse is never safe, for the time being reality is unthreatened.

What's intriguing Elijah Snow and the Planetary Field Team (Jakita Wagner, The Drummer and new addition, Luther Arkwright) is the appearance in New York of four of the wealthiest individuals in the world: Gil Bates, creator of the Portals operating system; Warren Dining, Wall Street investor with an uncanny ability to predict the global economic markets; Ms Anna Hark, president of the Hark Corporation and Guardian of the Rising Sun; and Karl Albrecht, retail mogul known as 'All the World's Grocer'. Intel suggests that these four billionaires are gathering for some form of summit - but no one knows why or what the repercussions might be.

Planetary's job is to find out what these four disparate individuals need to discuss so urgently - and why have they arranged to arrive in New York in complete secrecy (so secret, that even the CIA, FBI and STORM are unaware of the conference)?

Planetary - 21st Century Threads is a scenario based on Warren Ellis's Planetary graphic novel series. Each character is possessed of superhuman capablities and, together, they are Archaeologists of the Impossible, delving into the secret history of the world in order to preserve both humanity and reality from threat. For those unfamiliar with the graphic novels, a summary can be found at http://home.earthlink.net/~rkkman/frames/. In essence, think League of Extraordinary Gentlemen meets The X-Files, Marvel and DC superhero universes, with Michael Moorcock and Neil Gaiman as the godparents. As this is a convention scenario, expect a few extra spins on the traditional Planetary themes, too.

The game system being used is Chaosium's Basic Roleplaying and the scenario is for up to 4 players.

Full details of Concrete Cow are on the Concrete Cow web page. If there's a game you want to offer, let me know and I'll put it on the Concrete Cow Games page.

The list of games on offer so far is:

• Best Friends: Damsels
• HeroQuest: Attack of the Wolfmen
• HeroQuest: The Peace Process
• Hollow Earth Expedition: Embrace of the Zombie
• Hollow Earth Expedition: Lair of the Golden Death
• InSpectres/Unspeakable
• Mythic Russia: Wood, Blood, and Snow
• Primetime Adventures
• Savage Worlds
• Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay

I look forward to seeing you all in Milton Keynes on 8 March. Doors open at 9.00am, games start at 10.00am.

See you then!

Neil.

 

[Neil Smith]

Less than two weeks to go before 8 March and the cornucopia of gaming delights that is Concrete Cow! Here are a couple of updates.

First, confirmation of the games being offered by our Guests of Honour:

Loz Whitaker, using Chaosium BR: Planetary - 21st Century Threads

A scenario based on Warren Ellis's 'Planetary' graphic novel series. Each character is possessed of superhuman capabilities and, together, they are Archaeologists of the Impossible, delving into the secret history of the world in order to preserve both humanity and reality from threat. In essence, think League of Extraordinary Gentlemen meets The X-Files, Marvel and DC superhero universes, with Michael Moorcock and Neil Gaiman as the godparents. As this is a convention scenario, expect a few extra spins on the traditional Planetary themes, too.

Mike Mason, using Call of Cthulhu: When the Wind Blows:

No Blurb. No Blurb. No Blurb. Dare to play?

Mike Mason, using Dark Heresy: The House of Dust & Ashes

As Acolytes of the Holy Inquisition, you will face many tests, many dangers and you may come to question just what you are fighting for; are you truly arm of the Emperor, or simply pawns in the great game? A Rogue Trader's estate brought to auction is just the thing to draw out all a cobweb of shadows and heresy, and you shall be there with the net to catch all.

Loz Whitaker, in Gwenthia: One Tree Hill

A scenario set in the shared world of Gwenthia, as showcased at previous Concrete Cows. The characters are the esteemed crew of 'Not Here, Not Now' - a rag-tag assortment of Tharuxi[1] ne'er do wells who have been living on the wrong side of the Tharuxi Code for just a little too long.
The scenario uses the Mongoose RuneQuest game engine as its base, coupled with unique rules for magic. The scenario is for up to six players and no prior knowledge of Gwenthia is required.
[*]Think Rastafarian steam-punk mechanics who always travel as a troupe and worship a myriad of highly potent alien ancestors, and you're on the right track...

Yes, Mike Mason will be at Concrete Cow as a Guest of Honour, despite the imminent closure of Black Industries. Come along if you want to grab one of the last few chances to play with official Black Industries staff, or just commiserate with him and buy him a pint.

Other games on offer are:

• Best Friends
• HeroQuest
• Hollow Earth Expedition
• InSpectres/Unspeakable
• Mythic Russia
• Primetime Adventures
• Savage Worlds
• Living Spycraft
• Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay

and all the great games you'll bring along and run! More details of the games are on the Concrete Cow games page. If you'll be offering a game, let me know and I'll put it on the website.

Look forward to seeing you all in sunny Milton Keynes on the 8th!

Neil.

 

[Neil Smith]

With not much time to go before 8 March, things are changing fast at Concrete Cow Central. An updated list of games on offer:

• Chaosium Basic Role Playing
• Call of Cthulhu
• Dark Heresy
• Gwenthia
• Best Friends
• Burning Wheel
• GURPS
• HeroQuest
• Hollow Earth Expedition
• InSpectres/Unspeakable
• Mythic Russia
• Primetime Adventures
• Savage Worlds
• Living Spycraft

In other news, the local branch of Games Workshop will be along, running the Warhammer 40,000 wargame. This is to add to the Dark Heresy fun that's going on too. Release your inner spiky bitz!

Neil.

 

[Neil Smith]

Alas, Mike Mason won't be running his Cthulhu game at Concrete Cow on Saturday. This is because his Dark Heresy game is go great he won't be able to run both games in one day! But he will be bringing along some unpublished Dark Heresy books and will be happy to chat about Dark Heresy and just about anything else.

See you Saturday!

Neil.

 

[Loz]

I'll be bringing along the manuscripts for 'Dara Happa Stirs' and 'Land of Samurai' as teaser peaks for the finished books, and happy to chat about these, and other RQ stuff that's on the way.

Loz

 

[Neil Smith]

I've just created a thread for Concrete Cow 08½. Hope to see you in Milton Keynes on 27 September,

Neil.