Wellington Anniversary Weekend January 23rd - 24th 2027

KapCon 2027

KapCon 2027 is on Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th of January. Monday 25th is a statutory holiday for Wellington workers and can be used for recovery.

The pandemic is still with us. Please check our Covid-19 policy before attending.

What is KapCon?

KapCon is a not-for-profit role-playing game convention run annually in Wellington, New Zealand, every January. Over a hundred people get together for a weekend of role-playing, in a diverse range of styles and systems. Over the weekend, more than 30 individual games are run, with volunteer GMs (or storytellers, narrators or facilitators) running games between one and six times over the course of the convention.

The Treasure of the Hideous One

Facilitator: 
Luke Walker

The aged and crumbling account of Fondalus as scribed by Tharakimeios may be the only surviving clue as to the fate of Colonel Rosentos's expedition and perhaps the resting place of the Essence-Orb of the Black Sage, which he is rumoured to have sought.

Now that scroll, like a map to hidden riches, lies in the hands of a small group. Did Rosentos find fabulous treasure or die in dark places? Did he betray his men to an evil sorcerer or did they share in his good fortune? Does the Essence-Orb reveal all knowledge that is asked of it, no matter how secret, or does it tell nothing but lies that lead to despair? The answers lie in wait for those willing to venture into the mists that shroud them.

The Treasure of the Hideous One is a classic Dungeons and Dragon wilderness adventure of exploration and adventure in which the player characters follow a century old tale in search of wondrous treasure.

System: 
Expert D&D

The Veiled Society

Facilitator: 
Luke Walker

Dawn's light reached through the window to shine on a veiled man. Below his tower window, the city folk slowly awoke eagerly anticipating the upcoming of Festival of Lucor. "Today is the day," he said to himself smiling, looking down at them. "The day I finally bring my plan into action!"

On a dusty road a few miles outside the city, a small group roused itself. With little ado, they packed their camp and set out on the road once more. The excitement tingled among them, for today they would reach the city of Specularum — the home of their new fortunes or maybe their ignominious fall!

The Veiled Society is a classic Dungeons and Dragon city adventure of action and mystery in which the player characters become involved in the power struggles of the city.

System: 
Basic D&D

Astroprisma

Facilitator: 
Luke Walker

The light of civilization has faded from this universe. The names of even the greatest galactic empires have vanished from common knowledge. Megacities the size of entire planets are now deserted. The last remnants of our species live scattered across a hundred star systems, spread apart and unable to communicate.

Conflicts of interest and fights over important resources like ancient tech have created an environment of hostility between distinct factions with different ideals and goals. The influence of these groups has increased over time, leading to constant friction and wars between those with opposing values. Some, driven by either conviction or necessity, have chosen to leave the safety of their settlements and explore the universe in search of bygone artifacts.

As a spacefarer, you are starting a journey through a new star system. You will explore planets, ancient ruins, forsaken cities, and other locations, uncovering the secrets of the Old World. Your decisions on who to side with and what paths to take will shape the fate of the system and your own future as you continue exploring the galaxy.

Astroprisma is a GMless retrofuturistic RPG in which the players work together, guided by its procedural ruleset, to tell a story of their own creation and build a unique spacefaring adventure.

System: 
Astroprisma

2026 wrapup

We are done and dusted for another year, thank you so much everyone for all you did to make it a great con, volunteers, GMs and players and all those who participate.

We had at least 157 come through this weekend, which is a solid turnout.

We had issues with the Massey parking. We have spoken to the school about some tickets already, but if you have received one and not already provided a photo to Scott, please send an email with a photo of the ticket to kapcon@gmail.com.

While Kapcon isn't about prizes and ranking it's nice to celebrate those that have contributed and made the con fun for people. Baz Clarke and his company Cold Robot Design has created multiple trophies for us to remember and celebrate some of these people. We don't have a trophy for every prize yet but it's a lovely new element. So with that lens:

Best overall GM: The GM that has run multiple games over the convention, been scored multiple times in at least 2 rounds and has the highest overall average: Mat 'Tigger' Brunton ran Western Cthulhu, Grind House Cthulhu and Regency Cthulhu that people enjoyed across the con. Congrats and thank you.

Best Single Game GM: This award goes to the GM that had the highest score in a single round (that is scored), and this can be very close but with some fantastic games of Brindlewood Bay, and Disney on Ice it goes to David Easley. Fantastic feedback on some fantastic games thank you.

Most nominations across the con: Nominations can be for great GMing or play, or just being a great person and helping others, and nominations are given by the other players and GMs. This year it went to Ciaran with consistent showing across the convention and multiple years. Always great to have you here.

James Plunket Memorial award for new GM: This award remembers one of our own who contributed a lot to Kapcon and is no longer with us. This celebrates a new GM to Kapcon who has done amazingly well. Evelyne Go ran a brilliant game of Aliens in the Pentagon. Hopefully we see you back GMing at Kapcon and other cons.

Jonathan Tailby Memorial award for new Player: This award remembers one of our own who contributed a lot to Kapcon and is no longer with us. This is based on nominations across the weekend and was a very close and this year went to Manuel Kolb, welcome to Kapcon Manuel.

The Kapcon organisers award is something that we give to someone who has contributed to the Con, made our jobs easier, or we have seen helping others. This year was a tough year to call, I had 4 people I was considering as you are all so great. This year the award went to Paul Wilson, who helped bringing stuff to Kapcon, setting up, helped with the desk and making sure Scott was eating, got milk and ice each day and ran multiple games across the convention and was helping people new to the con. Thank you for all you do Paul (and Cat <3 ).

The adventurers league award goes to a member or recent graduate from Adventure Squad. After discussion with the Facilitators there was one young attendee who helped the other children, helped the games run smoothly and will soon enter the General Population. Eleanor Fouhy impressed all with her energy and confidence yesterday.

The award for runner up GM, a GM that has run multiple games across the con goes to Baz for his Shadowdark games that were really well received. Baz who is no newbie to run multiple games at the con and brings plenty of experience and energy and the GM battle was very close this year. Thank you for your efforts Baz.

This is just a small sample of our attendees, but there were many amazing players and games. I saw nominations for high adventures, derring dos, sacrifices, laughter and horror. So thank you all.

Next start thinking about what exciting games that you want to bring and run next year ;).

Get out there support the other events out there:

And all the rest

Go and support the wonderful local game publishers in our community.

If you can support the Vendors that showed us some support:

If you need to reach out to anyone or want support for your games please reach out to us.

And most of all hopefully you all get a chance to relax and recover.

Dungeon Crawl

Facilitator: 
Seth Kenlon

I've got a DMG and a procedurally generated dungeon. Ready to crawl?

System: 
D&D5

The Black Gate is shut!

It is KapCon-eve-eve, and I have just closed the registration form. If you wish to register for KapCon, you will need to do it at the desk on Saturday morning.

It's a decent-sized con this year. A flood of late registrations this week has pushed us to at least 140 people, and we're once again stretching the limits of the building - and the GM pool - to cope. While there are still spaces in rounds one and two, there are also people who have not selected a game, so there might be some pressure in the first two rounds. We are still looking for surge protection games to cover these (especially round two), so if you can help, please log in and fill out the form, or contact the Games on Demand coordinator on Saturday morning.

We're also in the hardcopy pendumbra. Changes made now will be in the spreadsheet, but may not make it to the wall for Saturday morning. When we print round timetables for later rounds, everything should get sorted out however.

My work here is nearly done. Good luck, and enjoy the con!

Transfer Student

Facilitator: 
Bruno

Freedom Plaza is something new: a (super)hero training academy open to the public. Many of the attendees - including yourselves - are teenagers, for whom this takes the role of a high school.
Imagine: dealing with high school, but also dealing with unique super powers. At least you won't get bored.

Your group - Daybreak - has opted to take the new transfer student shopping. She is a Myrinian*, and this seems like a good way to introduce her to human culture.
If somehow a villain kidnaps her, you will feel obligated to put things right. Who am I kidding: of course a villain is going to capture her.

* Don't worry - we don't expect you to know these terms before playing!

System: 
Sentinel Comics RPG

Hot War

Facilitator: 
Morgue

*London. Winter. 1963. It is a year since the Cold War went hot. This was not just a nuclear war, as darker weapons with their roots in World War II's suffering and fringe science were deployed. Survival and re-building are all that matter now. But human nature and the breakdown of society mean that everyone has their own ambitions. Into this maelstrom steps a motley band of women and men tasked with the jobs too dirty or dangerous for anyone else. They have to deal with relationships, loves, hatred, and hidden agendas in a collapsing, ravaged, horror-strewn Britain.*

Hot War is a classic indie RPG returning this year in a new updated edition. This game will offer a preview of the revised rules.

System: 
Hot War

Shadowdark – Tomb of the Dusk Queen (One-Shot)

Facilitator: 
Tim Marwick

Beneath a colossal tree of golden leaves lies a forgotten burial mound - the Tomb of the Dusk Queen. Root-choked corridors, deathless guardians, and ancient tricks protect the queen’s treasures from those foolish or brave enough to intrude on her eternal rest.

This is a Shadowdark dungeon delve: light is precious, time is dangerous, and poor decisions are punished swiftly. Players must rely on caution, teamwork, and clever problem-solving to survive - brute force alone will not be enough.

Expect:
- Meaningful choices and environmental danger
- Lethal combat and deadly traps
- Exploration-driven play with strong old-school flavour

Characters are fragile. The dungeon is not.
Those who survive may leave with gold, glory… or something far stranger.

System: 
Shadowdark
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