Remember high school? All the angst, the drama, the rebellion, the gossip, the crushes, the homework, the exams, scholarships, careers, family obligations, fashion, music, and being very misunderstood?

It's no different when you're a student at Innsmouth High School. Well, all right, maybe it's a little different - maybe in other towns they don't go skinny dipping at Devil's Reef, maybe other teenagers don't have arranged marriages with Deep Ones to worry about and maybe other teenagers don't have to worry about how their gills look with the latest looks in Cosmo. But other than that, it's not much different being a teenager in a decaying town trapped in an ongoing alliance with a race of underwater monsters.

A group of ten friends are having a small party to celebrate their graduation - to reflect on the last few years, to talk about the future, and maybe resolve some of those unresolved feuds or unspoken crushes.

A comedy larp for ten players. As they say at Innsmouth High - it's only funny until someone gets sacrificed to Dagon. Then it's HILARIOUS.

Urban Shadows is an urban fantasy roleplaying game where you’ll play characters struggling to survive in a dark urban environment drowning in supernatural politics. The game focuses heavily on the gritty drama and tense violence that we see so often in works like The Dresden Files, Angel, Mortal Instruments, the PC Grant novels and World of Darkness.

The rules for Urban Shadows are based on Apocalypse World in which you play to find out what happens. The mechanics push the story forward toward exciting and unexpected ends; your actions are resolved with minimal rules and maximum drama. This session is intended to heavily utilise contributions from players to shape the story and the city that it takes place in.

NB: This was formerly "Handful of Dust" run by Luke Walker. The games are essentially the same, it's just a change in the GM.

Saturday afternoon was good. Teenagers were enjoying summer vacation, the working stiffs finally got a chance to unwind in the sun, there was a housewarming you were invited to near the beach.

But in the marshlands, something was awakening.

Saturday evening was very good. Tony jumped into the pool from the hotel roof, which was awesome. The burgers were ready on the grill. Everyone was having a good time. The car almost ran out of gas, but you got to the forecourt just in time. They liked the wine you picked out.

It was rising, though. It was heading for the inner city.

Saturday night was terrifying. Something was attacking the city. You think you saw it, for a brief second, three stories tall, wreathed in smoke. The National Guard was called in. The apartment building was evacuated. There was a fire at the gas station. There were these things, one of them got Tony, and... they...

You've wound up at the convenience store. You didn't intend to be here, but the door was open and you thought it was safer to be inside. Now you just need to make it until dawn, or until they kill that thing, or until someone comes to help.
All you know is that that creature is attracted to noises. A noise means that its prey is nearby. All you need to do is keep quiet until help gets here. Soon. Soon. Just a little longer. Please.

Project Neptune is an experimental horror game based on films like Cloverfield.


From: Monitoring (monitoring@laundry.gov.uk)
To: Investigations Duty Officer (investigations@laundry.gov.uk)
Date: Thursday, 5 June 2014 at 3:34pm
Subject: [PRIORITY: LOW] Public disturbance at US Embassy
Mailed-by: mailer-real-daemon.laundry.gov.uk
Signed-by: security-real-daemon.laundry.gov.uk

Probably a waste of time, but regs say you should send someone to check this out...

--
Monitoring report
Keywords: LOVECRAFT

Time: Thursday, 5 June 2014 at 11:28am
Location: 24 Grosvenor Square, London W1A 2LQ Map
Source: Metropolitan Police Service

Incident description: Police called to US Embassy to deal with reported public disturbance (trespass, threatening behaviour, racial harassment). Responding officer (WPC Nadia Laytham 265CD) reported suspect had left scene. According to embassy staff suspect gave name as Howard Phillips LOVECRAFT and claimed to be US citizen in need of consular assistance but had no supporting documentation. Suspect appeared confused, became abusive when questioned, and engaged in racially harassing and threatening behaviour before departing. Suspect described as tall, gaunt, thin-faced with dark hair and wearing sweatshirt and trackpants; may be mentally disturbed or UI. Refer social services if sighted.

You went to the circus already. It was great. Then you had to go home. That was bad. You stayed up really late so you can run away and see it again.

You will all play children up well past their bed times who have run off to see the circus. At night, the circus changes and danger approaches. But you really want to see the clowns before you go home. Also you have crazy powers brought on by your lack of sleep. Pretty cool, huh?

You are all members of a monstrous race. Maybe all the same, maybe some sort of crazy cross cultural group. Regardless the dirty sunloving butchers are muscling in on your territory. What are you going to do about it?

”…the cult of death and night, personified by the moon, whose white, implacable, frozen lips were appeased only by the warm blood that flowed upon her altars. They caught the blood in goblets as it ran from the stone grooves... they raised it aloft... and the goblets were swiftly drained in mid-air by the remote goddess, as if the sacrifice had proven acceptable.”
— Clark Ashton Smith: An Offering to the Moon

In the wake of Atlantis' fall beneath the waves, there is an antediluvian age filled with mysteries yet uncovered. A band of adventurers seek refuge from the Red Tyrant in a city lost in the mists. They are welcomed by the ruling dynasts with a great feast in the shadow of the Temple of the Moon. Will the fruits of the city be theirs, and will they survive long enough to enjoy them?

This is a traditional sword and sorcery scenario written by Xoth Publishing converted for use with Khepera's "Atlantis: the Second Age" (a re-envisioning of the classic "Arcanum" RPG). The PCs are classic pulp heroes facing impossible odds and supernatural foes in manner worthy of tales and songs.

Welcome back. Kapcon 23 is over and we are now working towards Kapcon 24 in 2015.

Kapcon 23 was a good year with several successful initiatives, including:

1. It saw the introduction of Adventure Squad, which caters for Kapcon’s younger players. We see the need for this growing in the future as many of our attendees register for that most gruelling and rewarding game of parenthood.
2. Kapcon’s Code of Conduct was formalised to allow for the organisers to act swiftly and with certainty on poor conduct and misbehaviour.

Overall, attendance continues to gradually decline, though this seems to be in line with the hobby throughout Wellington, due to the explosion of so many great other RPG events around the country.

The Kapcon organisation committee for 2015 is: Ellen Boucher and Sam Walker as lead organisers; Daniel Atkins, Norman Cates, Nick Cole, Malcolm Harbrow, Scott Kelly, and Russ Kale in support.

If you wish to contact the organisers for any reason, please send an email to: kapcon@gmail.com.

The Kapcon organisers have identified many matters that require attention for 2015, though the following matters are given of priority:

1. The organisers are to improve their communication with their attendees, starting with this annual statement. You can expect to see the same again at the start of each year. All Con related information throughout the year will be consolidated and posted on this site, with links to it on NZRaG and Facebook. Kapcon will also look to reduce its non-Con related notices.
2. Kapcon feedback is to be sent to Kapcon’s email address. Once received, it will be acknowledged and forwarded to the organisers for discussion. We don’t promise that every feedback will receive a substantive response, but if it is sent by email it will be heard and considered. Kapcon organisers will also be responding to feedback posted elsewhere, such as on Facebook or NZRaG discussions, with a suggestion that it be sent via email.
3. The practice of sending flyers throughout Wellington and around the country will be re-introduced.
4. Kapcon will continue to encourage GMs to run a wide variety of games. We will also be soliciting attendees’ game and genre interests later this year, as well as through registration. If you are not sure what to run, then consider contacting Kapcon by email for ideas. You can also expect to see us post up a list of SDC entries that seem especially suited to be picked up and run by GMs who may not have a game of their own design ready to run.

Thanks to all who attended Kapcon 23. We hope to see you all and others at Kapcon 24.

Want to know how Kapcon has been doing over the years? We've stuck our stats online via Google Drive.

Filming on the movie event of the year has begun. J.J. Abrams is executive producing and some big names have signed up to appear. After years of legal wrangling, delays and rewrites, production on the shocking true story of the brutal criminal gang that terrorised London for years is finally underway.
But tensions are running high among the cast and crew. Rumour has it that an actual member of the gang is on set as a consultant, and death threats have been received, advising in great detail exactly what will happen if production is not halted immediately. To keep everyone calm filming has been moved to a secret location and extra security added.
Lights, camera, action!