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Conception 2007

Updated 6th May 2007

So that's it for another year... (Mmm, another year, you say .... ?) as Conception 2007 is over and we all survived... well some survived, better then others.... 

A number of pictures where taken during the Con.  We also have a Con Report from Max, more to follow soon I hope (assuming we can remember what we did J).  We also have available for (new) download two of Max's very successful Cthulhu games, The Lunatics Have Taken Over The Asylum and Charlie Don’t Surf.

We also presented Cthulhu Certificates to those players that survived (and as its Cthulhu) or died in the various games we ran. You can see examples below.

Survived 183 KB                            Died 180 KB

We still have a number of certificates for the following players.

Keary Birch (Survived)
Alex Roberts (Died)
Laws Smith (Died)
David Ostridge (Died)
Cole Leadon (Died)
Steve Cook (Died)

So if any of the above would like their certificates, please contact us and we can sort out getting them to you.

Conception 2007 - It was the best of times... no ‘worst of’ times, just the best of times... by Max

And so it begins... after months of writing and planning, and much anticipation, the adventure is underway.

This year, I thought, I’d get there really early on Wednesday to get a flyer on the shopping, the sorting of the lodge, the sorting of the tables, and possibly the bar... excellent plan.

As part of this cunning masterpiece of planning engineering, I had to load the car Tuesday night. Not too much of challenge you’d imagine. But... bags were everywhere, stuff was everywhere, and stuff I needed wasn’t where it should have been, especially the scenarios and the lovely organised folders. God damn it! (I thought) how hard can this be!? And how come I need to take so much stuff for just four days!? Well, you want to be prepared and all don’t you, with the clothes (why do I kid myself I’ll need anything other than 6-7 black t’s?), the loo roll, the towels, the bring and buy, the rules, the scenarios, the map... not much at all really, should be a doddle.

Wednesday comes, dead early, in the car and… up up and away!
Then go home again and get wash bag with medicine in it: I’ll chance a lot of things but not those little life savers!  So... back in the car! Up up and... back in the house... wallet... money is always useful.  By this time, the little man standing at my door shouting "up up and away!" for me as I got in my car said, "just bugger off will you?"
So I did.

That early in the morning (I won’t tell you *how* early) I’m thinking the roads should be pretty damn clear and groovy.  And to my utter amazement, they were!  So the adventure began with some lovely sunrise views over sleepy, misty countryside with some excellent music. If there was ever an auspicious start to anything, this was it.  The south coast is a long way away, but since it’s where the con is held, I figured I should head there (Q: "Why do you rob banks?" A: "Cos that’s where the money is.")

The journey flew by.
Now when I got in the car, I had a bit of a sniffle, slight sore throat, some small, almost token coughs, but as I climb out of the car at Tescos near Highlcliffe, I’ve suddenly developed some murderous strain of the bird flu virus that is trying to drown me… I’m not having any of that!  Day Nurse, Beechams, weird nasal spray, it’s all good. It’s all expensive, and mind bending, but it’s all good.  Much shopping was bought, and a lesson for next year: cut back on food and so called ‘sensible’ stuff, that never actually gets eaten / drunk. Stick to the beer, spirits, cocktail sausages, big blue triangles, cheese straws and game ‘snack’ food.

Then on to the venue.
Naish Holiday Village, near Milton, near Highlciffe, near somewhere else. Bless them, love them, squeeze them. It’s a great site. Couple of drawbacks, like no on site shop or cash machine, but apart from that, great.  Booking in consisted of me wandering in and saying, "hello I’d like..." and some very helpful chaps saying, "yes of course! You’re Max Bantleman aren’t you?" I’m always nervous when people know me and me not them, but they weren’t after money, blood or the shirt off my back, which was nice, so we got on famously.  Booking in done and dusted (I did in fact have to part with some money… damn it!) I found the lodge.  As I wandered out of the door, the clouds parted in a piercing clear blue sky, a choir of Angels with trumpets gently played the hallelujah chorus as cherubs chanted, "hallelujah!", the lodge was about 20 yards from the main venue door way. This was just getting better and better.

In to the hall, sort out the Shadow Warriors tables, good spot, near the bar and everything, so, rude not to go to the bar then.  Beer wasn’t that expensive, but doubtless Tescos would see me through most of the con with their excellent Becks deals.  Quick sup and a meander and then I went and picked Whitt up from the station.  After about three minutes of insulting each other, it’s all back to normal, which actually is just insulting each other. Time disappears and it’s like it hasn’t been ‘x’ months (far too long).  Back to the venue. And what’s this!? People running games!? In the afternoon slot!!?
Yes they were.
And there was a good reason for it, which became apparent as Wednesday unfolded and the con got properly underway.
The thing was this.
More people were arriving early (on Weds) and planning to leave on Sunday afternoon. So more demand for games on Weds and a much more busy feel to the whole place. I ran a game Weds night and it was very good, everyone was dead keen and pleased to be gaming so early in the con. Hint for next year I feel, maybe run Weds afternoon and evening?

Must mention the lady who runs the jewellery stall that I forget the name of every year (Pagan Angel?), as well as being devastatingly beautiful, she has a son called Max. Now I’m called Max. So when I hear her speaking to Max, for the first time at every con, it always throws me (I have a terrible memory, they stole the character of Dory from Finding Nemo from me I say!). Especially as when the first thing I hear is “Max! Don’t!” I get paranoid. And Max is a Cthulhu player, and a good one, and played in a couple of my games. He’s not the small boy I remember him being either, but a strapping lad of some height: kids growing up, what do they think they’re playing at!

Any-hoo, pretty soon the Shadow Warriors (here after referred to as SW) appeared and there were yellow fleeces everywhere. Now I’m not fond of the term ‘machine like efficiency’, but the SW apply it to their con arrival and set up, as they do to the whole running of the con. A lot of hard work goes in to making it look this effortless, but as it looks effortless, I figure it’s fine to just mock and take the pith mercilessly...

The game I ran Wednesday night deserves special mention for complete and utter avoidance of the plot line. They were dedicated, driven people these Investigators. They were having no truck what-so-ever with that pesky story line and happily created a path of their own, not merely marching to the beat of a different drum, but, I believe, hearing the beat of a dragonfly’s wings, mistaking it for a drum, shooting it, and then beating anything they thought could be killed, skinned and turned in to a drum, and then marching to that. Call of Cthulhu Viet Nam: inevitable I hear you say...?

Wednesday night... did we play poker? We must have... Shirley... I’m sure we did, but I can’t actually remember the game… but if we did (as I suspect) I’m sure we gave the money (eventually) to Peter, as we usually do.  John apparently came up with a great plan, cunning in the extreme: give Peter the money before the con, that way it’s all taken care of. Strategy you say?. Gotta love it.  We really, really, really have to keep Mark and John well away from the iPod thingy. No really. I was lulled in to a false sense of security as it wasn’t Bill ‘bloody’ Bailey, only to be bludgeoned with the DJ-ing ‘skills’ of Marky ‘let’s not play a whole track’ Mark and Jo-Jo ‘Ramstein are gods’ John… why oh why oh why...

Thursday was a good day for breakfast and the 9am slot. Not for me obviously, sod that, I’ll run the 2pm slot. But no! I’d forgotten I was running the 9am slot! Ah well. It went very, very well, Cthulhu in an Asylum: what’s not to go very well? A Victorian Asylum. Brilliant. A really good group of players got in to the swing of it very quickly and a great game was had by all, with the inevitable accents and comedy moments.  I was running along side a table of John’s ‘Mislaid’ Cthulhu, and a lot of laughter could be heard from both tables, as well as much squelching of violence and screams from encounters.
12 very happy players.

We were a bit worried that there would be too much Cthulhu at Conception as the KoK were running a ‘tournament’, so we weren’t sure there were enough players to go round. But we needn’t have worried. What with the Portsmouth crew, what seemed like a ship full of them, and the regulars, we were never under manned for a game.  Ah… the Portsmouth crew… what can you say? What should be said? What should be left out? What must be left out due to the possibility of litigation?  Suffice to say that the ‘Portsmouth crew’, which consists of far too many for my small brain to remember, but largely Mick, Kelv, ‘J’ (Jamie), Al, Alex, Glenn, Callum, Arkangle. All the Portsmouth Guild of Role-Players (great club name!) bring an enthusiasm and energy to the table that enhances every game they play. Many thanks to them for adding to the atmosphere with the great role playing and characterisation.

Mick is a driven man, organising all and sundry and networking at an Olympic level, I’m sure his gaming suffered because of it but I’m sure he loves it really. Kelv is an excellent Cthulhu GM and I was lucky enough to play in one of his games, more, more we say!  The less said about the rum and toasting ‘the Dolphin’ the better I feel, suffice to say we did the old girl proud. 
("Yarr, the Dolphin!")

I had Thursday afternoon ‘off’, or so I thought, but as there was a great demand for a certain Cthulhu game, I ran a session, which was excellent and full of the stuff of gaming legend. The energy from the morning’s game carried through and was added to by the enthusiasm of all in the afternoon which meant that by evening I was full of adrenaline and raring to go!  Running con games gets the old adrenaline going. It’s stupid to deny it. I know all GM’s get this to some degree, and can certainly testify to the effects on all of us running games for the SW tables: we were all buzzing by Thursday night. Surely the perfect state of mind to play poker! And so we did. I’m sure this was the night that the Poker King (Peter) and the Young Gun Pretender (Whitt) took each other out early in the first game... hilarious... really... very funny... more of that please!

Friday morning, and Whitt was in full form for moaning like a moaning thing with a lot to moan about. Kids. No stamina. Except for moaning. Which they seem to have an endless capacity for. Endless. On and on and on…  Friday was run two games in a day-day. And by now the interest in all the SW games was extensive, all sheets getting filled within minutes of appearing. Part of what makes it all worthwhile at cons is the ego stroke of knowing people like playing in your games, and it’s fantastic that the quality of the SW games is properly appreciated. You can’t stop the Yellow. Both Cthulhu games on Friday were very intense, great role playing and some genuinely in depth characterisation and interaction. It’s not always easy to generate an atmosphere befitting the game in the main hall, but it was achieved in spades this year. Running in the lodge is certainly on the agenda for next year, maybe for one or two games, just to see and contrast, but it was good to have the ‘proper’ Cthulhu feel to the games in the main hall.

We had cunningly planned to cook some ‘real’ meals this year, which to be fair the SW do each year, but this year we’d ‘planned’ it so we each cooked on differing nights. Chilli, Spag Bol and a Malaysian Curry, very nice indeed (thanks Pam and Peter and to all for eating my spag bol with a minimum of complaint J ). Friday night I was buzzing from the games, well fed and now well watered on beer and various spirits, perfect timing for poker… not for me obviously, but perfectly timed for me to donate yet more mulla to Peter… I know the theory behind poker but am just not very good (read: spectacularly crap) at doing it. But I came second after a marathon session so got me stake back and was very pleased with myself.

Saturday was a big day. Which through a planning coup, I’d managed to leave largely free of games. So… I played in two! Brilliant! Got roped in to running one, which turned out to be just as excellent as the others and was a real pleasure anyway, so I did very, very well out of Saturday.  I seldom play as much as I should, but was lucky enough to get in to two very cool Cthulhu games. Thanks Kelv and John. Survival is for the sane. That’s my strategy and I’m sticking to it.

Saturday night was perhaps the heaviest night for toasting the Dolphin (Yarr! The Dolphin!) and I approached the evening meal and poker with a wee bit of a muddled brain. Interrupting a game of Descent which Peter, Whitt, Gerlad and Mark were playing (apologies chaps) with comments like "rubbish! Poker!" Very eloquent.  Peter wrapped the game early and then proceeded to go all in, mostly blind, in every game of poker in the following session. Balls of steel I say. Quick game too J.

Sunday Morning was more Cthulhu Pirates and the best session of that game of the con for exploration of the written story line, some great characters and a Cthulhu first-timer who ended up selling their soul to the crawling chaos and trying to take her shipmates with her, excellent stuff!  I was very hyped by the quality of the game and could easily have run in the afternoon, but for the dreaded raffle, which always prompts a quick exit. The raffle is for charity (mate) and raises a lot of money, and is a good chance to catch up, back slap, mingle and all that, but it’s not for me. Grumpy old me. But there ya go. I’d much rather the raffle was pushed to the evening, or conducted elsewhere, so we could game more. We shall see.
And there it was done!

It truly went by in the wink of an eye. Not quite real the way time passes that quickly.

Must say thanks to:
Whitt for the brilliant company, the moaning and the ‘lessons’ in poker: perhaps next year for the crown eh? Get PROJECT sorted you muppet!
Dennis (and Meg) for sharing the lodge, running the games and being an inspiration in general.
Gerald (organiser extraordinaire, Chief in Yellow), Peter (poker God, GM and Descent King), Mark (all rounder and great drinking buddy), Pam (the voice of reason and superb player), John (awesome GM and Cthulhu nut… he’s a particle physicist you know...).
To anyone who played in any of our SW games (especially mine J ) thank you! Hopefully the work you put in to the characters you become is rewarded by the games and the moments shared at the gaming table. (I’m still not sure there is supposed to be that much mirth in Cthulhu games!)

And so to bed. And planning next year. And maybe the con in between at the same venue, run by some of the same people. And remember... Yellow is the new black!

("You can’t stop the Yellow Mal...")

After our success at Conception 2005 and Conception 2006 Shadow Warriors are proud to announce that we will again be running events at Conception 2007, at the Naish Holiday Village near Christchurch in Dorset.  Conception runs from the afternoon of Wednesday 31st January until the evening of Sunday 4th February.  For more details click the link below.

We are happy to confirm we will be running the following games (Slots now confirmed)

TimeTable

Wednesday

Cthulhu - Viet Nam (RPG)
Slot 2: Wednesday 7pm - 11pm

Thursday

 Descent (Board Game)
Slot 3: Thursday 9am - 1pm

Cthulhu - Asylum (RPG)
Slot 3: Thursday 9am - 1pm

Cthulhu - Mislaid (RPG)
Slot 3: Thursday 9am - 1pm

SLA - Dogs of War (RPG)
Slot 4: Thursday 2pm - 6pm

Friday

 Descent (Board Game)
Slot 6: Friday 9am - 1pm

Cthulhu - Viet Nam (RPG)
Slot 6: Friday 9am - 1pm

Cthulhu - End of the Rainbow (RPG)
Slot 6: Friday 9am - 1pm

Settlers of Catan (Board Game)
Slot 7: Friday 2pm - 6pm

Cthulhu - Asylum (RPG)
Slot 7: Friday 2pm - 6pm

Cthulhu - Yellowstone (RPG)
Slot 7: Friday 2pm - 6pm

Saturday

 Descent (Board Game)
Slot 9: Saturday 9am - 1pm

Settlers of Catan (Board Game)
Slot 10: Saturday 2pm - 6pm

Cthulhu - End of the Rainbow (RPG)
Slot 10: Saturday 2pm - 6pm

Sunday

 Descent (Board Game)
Slot 12: Sunday 10am - 2pm

Cthulhu - Pirates! (RPG)
Slot 12: Sunday 10am - 2pm

To find out more about our Events at Conception 2007 click the link below

Boardgames

RPG's

Call of Cthulhu
Under A Black Flag (4-6 Pirates):  [top]
Slot 12: Sunday 10am - 2pm

Freedom! A life on the high seas, free from the dictates and laws of bondage of a realm that sees you as little more than a slave. Pirate they call you. And Pirate you are proud to be. But it would seem fate has a way of twisting things round. So here you are, on the brink of mutiny over the capture of some slaves, chased by the British and the Spanish, hunted even by some of your fellow Buccaneers, with harsh choices before you. And then there’s the recent sightings of the ‘Death Ship’: the islands of Turks & Caicos no longer offer the sanctuary they once did.

1720 Cthulhu scenario, 4-6 Investigators required: characters supplied.
(Any level of Cthulhu experience welcome.)

Please Note that this game is for Mature minded gamers only.

Call of Cthulhu by Gaslight  
The Lunatics Have Taken Over The Asylum (4-6 Inmates):  [top]  For more details on this scenario ** New **
Slot 3: Thursday 9am - 1pm
Slot 7: Friday 2pm - 6pm

You awaken to another day of misery and confusion, an inmate in the Oakengates Asylum. The prospect of further treatment at the hands of the cruel and uncaring staff terrifies you, yet there is no escape. For you the future is as bleak as the granite walls that you stare at day in, day out. There are others you call friends. All mad of course. You know you are the only really sane person in this horrific place. If only you could convince the Doctor. If only there as a way to make them listen to your tortured pleas, to make them stop, to let you out. But what hope is there... ?

1891 Cthulhu scenario, 4-6 Investigators required: characters supplied.
(Any level of Cthulhu experience welcome.)

Please Note that we ran this adventure at Shadow Con II and is intended for Mature minded gamers only.

Charlie Don’t Surf (4-6 Grunts):  [top]  For more details on this scenario ** New **
Slot 2: Wednesday 7pm - 11pm
Slot 6: Friday 9am - 1pm

May 10th 1969, the A Shau Valley near Hue, it’s been quiet... too quiet... the air is thick with the expectation of an attack from Charlie in response to operation Apache Snow. You and the remains of your squad from the 101st Airborne are out on deep recon, trying to get back to your base at Hill 937: ‘Hamburger Hill’. You come across two abandoned vill’s. Scouting the area you find something that changes your world. Makes you think that Charlie may be the least of your worries...

1969 Cthulhu scenario, 4-6 Investigators required: characters supplied.
(Any level of Cthulhu experience welcome.)

End of the Rainbow (4-6 players):  [top]
Slot 6: Friday 9am - 1pm
Slot 10: Saturday 2pm - 6pm

You have a bad feeling about this mission. How come your SEAL team is being led by a Navy officer old enough to be your father? And what is the spook from ONI - the Office of Naval Incompetence - doing here? Why are the 6 of you heading out towards the oddest looking fog bank you've ever seen? Why are the others muttering about Ghost ships and Time Travel? You have a bad feeling about this mission ...

End of the rainbow is a modern day Cthulhu adventure for up to 6 players. Pre generated characters supplied.

Mislaid (4-6 players):  [top]
Slot 3: Thursday 9am - 1pm

The last thing you remember was the stewardess checking your seatbelt was secure as you flew into turbulence over the Pacific Ocean. Then ... nothing. Now you're lying on the ground staring at the burning remains of the plane. Some of the other passengers seem to be moving, but most of them are just ... gone. An old man in rags is screaming at you, telling you to get up and move away. It will be dark soon, and then THEY will start to hunt.

Mislaid is a Modern day Cthulhu adventure for 6 players. Any similarity to a certain TV show is purely squamous. Pre generated characters supplied.

Please Note that we ran this adventure at Shadow Con II.

Yellowstone (4-6 players):  [top]
Slot 7: Friday 2pm - 6pm

It was supposed to be your last case before they promoted you to a desk job. A missing person case that had become a murder enquiry. A chance to enjoy some of America's finest scenery whilst catching a vicious murderer. Who said you can't mix business and pleasure?

Now here you are, stuck down a mine in the middle of an earthquake, your gun has jammed, the torch batteries are beginning to give out and there are Things out there in the darkness ... waiting.

Yellowstone is a modern day Cthulhu adventure for 6 players. Pre generated characters supplied.

SLA Industries.
Dogs of War (4-6 Ops)  [top]
Slot 4: Thursday 2pm - 6pm

Operatives required to investigate and report back. Deal with insurgents on premises and secure. SCL 9, contact Karm Dept, monitoring by Station Analysis. Consolidated bonus scheme 750c / Operative.

A SLA Industries scenario for a squad of 4-6 Operatives. (Pre-gens supplied.)

D&D 3.5 ** Cancelled ** 
Out Of The Frying Pan… (4-6 Adventurers) [top]  ** Cancelled **

** Unfortunately we will not be able to run this adventure at this years Conception**

Adventure, excitement, really wild things they said. A chance to serve the glory of the Goddess they said. Meilikki will bless and watch over you they said. And yet here you are on the sacrificial alter of Bane, about to be slaughtered like so many sheep to the dark God, your cunning plans having come to nought. Things couldn’t get much worse. But the day’s not over yet…

D&D 3.5 scenario, 4-6 Adventurers required: characters supplied. (Any level of D&D 3.5 experience welcome, novices preferred J.)

To see what we've planned for Conception 2008 
30th January - 3rd February 2008

CLICK HERE

All trademarks acknowledged.