Friday, January 21, 2011

JiffyCon Games, January 23, 2011



Sunday, January 23rd is nearly upon us. We look forward to seeing you at JiffyCon Northampton!

Sign up for both the morning and afternoon sessions will take place from 9 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. for each person immediately following their on-site payment of the entry fees. The first session starts at 9:30.

After you have arrived and paid, put your name down for one game in each slot. If the game you wanted is full, go with your second choice. Trust us -- all the games will be fun! You can only sign yourself up; your friends must do the same.

If you have last minute questions, you can email jiffycon at gmail dot com. We'll answer emails received up to Saturday evening, Jan 22.

* Two additional all-day pick-up activities have been added to the schedule:

--Miniatures painting with PETE!

Gamers of all ages are invited to join Modern Myths painting expert Pete Serio as he offers an all-day minis painting clinic. We'll provide paints, brushes, and sample miniatures for you to practice on, or bring your own and learn tricks and tips from an expert. Pete will also have terrain and scenery-building materials on hand for anyone interested in learning to build cheap and easy terrain pieces. Pete will be on hand all day, with a break for lunch. All ages are welcome!

--Zygote Game Demos with the Creator

Jim Cambias from local Western Mass. game company Zygote Games (http://www.zygotegames.com/) will be offering pickup card games of Bone Wars and Parasites Unleashed during your moments spent outside of other gaming activities. Itching for something to do? Talk to Jim!

* Thanks to the support of our friendly local gaming and comics store Modern Myths, we CAN accept credit cards (Visa or Mastercard) in addition to cash for on-site Registration payment.

* Unlike at some previous JiffyCons, lunch is NOT included in the Registration fee. This is partially so we can enjoy the full 1.5 hour lunch break in downtown Northampton, which offers many different restaurants, cafés and sandwich/pizza places for any palate and budget. We will provide a list of places to eat within the vicinity at the convention, but you can also Google Northampton to see just how many options there are.

GAMES OFFERED:

Adults Only (18+)
The Anthropophagy Society
The trials and tribulations of a secret society of cannibals in the tranquil hills of Western Massachusetts. Members gather on a regular basis to tap their collective resources for potential new members, to identify potential threats to their anonymity, and to discuss local gossip. Typical small town New England stuff, only tastier.
GM: Julia Ellingboe
Min. Players: 4
Max. Players: 6

Annalise
A game of Annalise. A story of pain, hunger and redemption (and vampires). In space.
GM: Kat Jones
Min. Players: 1
Max. Players: 4

Esoterrorists--the Profane Miracles
Jonathan Bentley, millionaire financier, has recently returned from the dead. Is it a simple hoax or something far more sinister? As members of Ordo Veritatas, it's up to you to track down the clues and get to the bottom of this mystery. If it's a hoax, expose it. If it's the work of Esoterrorists, shut it down and make everyone think it was a hoax. A game for 3-5 players who want to give the GUMSHOE system a spin.
GM: Tom Russell
Min. Players: 3
Max. Players: 5

In a Wicked Age
Intrigue, murder and wantonness in a fevered struggle for the heart (and wealth) of the land's greatest beauty. A pre-loaded scenario using the Blood and Sex oracles.
GM: Evan Torner
Min. Players: 3
Max. Players: 4

Introduction to Apocalypse World
We'll play through a full 'first session' of an Apocalypse World campaign, including character creation and world building, to give players a chance to experience Vincent Baker's new diceless-for-the-GM RPG of conflict and desire among the ruins of civilization.

No previous AW Play required, we'll teach rules and provide materials. 18 and up only, expect some adult themes, including sex and violence, to be encountered in play.
GM: Jim Crocker
Min. Players: 3
Max. Players: 5

Rock of Tahamat
YOU ARE ROCK OF TAHAMAAT, SPACE TYRANT.

Except the rest of you. The rest of you are women and men of the Kaliste, suffering under Rock of Tahamaat's despotic rule.
GM & Designer: Vincent Baker
Min. Players: 3
Max. Players: 5

Swords Without Master
Daring rogues, brawny warriors, dark magics, a sword & sorcery descendant of MonkeyDome. What's not to like?
GM & Designer: Epidiah Ravachol
Min. Players: 3
Max. Players: 4

Shock: Human Contact
300 years ago, the Academy pulled civilization from its last fall, a catastrophic war of tribal and religious conflict, where diseases and machines were the weapons and most often only victors.

The Academy has replaced scarcity of resources with abundance of thought, and has turned its eyes to the stars. It applies its powerful rationalist philosophy to focus the faculties of the mind to explore, to understand, and to use new understanding to improve the lives of all those within its reach.
...
Earth past contains many accounts some recorded in writing or video, some only discovered archaeologically of exoduses to the stars precipitated by sociopolitical shifts in the life of Earth.

For the last three centuries, the Academy has been recording the bubblings of civilization on distant stars. Sometimes, recording the reinvention of radio, sometimes the encrypted cacophony of information networks. And sometimes something most likely a signal, but offering no clue to its nature.

The time has come to say hello.
(Inspired by Iain M. Banks, Culture and Ursula K. Le Guin, Ekumen novels)
GM & Designer: Joshua A. C. Newman
Min. Players: 2
Max. Players: 3


Young Adult to Adult (16+)
The White Lotus
In-progress hack of Vincent Baker's Apocalypse World to play Avatar: The Last Airbender.
GM & Designer: Shreyas Sampat
Min. Players: 3
Max. Players: 5

Inevitable
Inevitable is a satirical board game of post-apocalyptic politics. It represents a hybrid of the chance-based pleasures of roll-and-move games, the wheeling and dealing of negotiation-based games, the drama and tension of collaborative beat-the-system games, and the narrative richness of character-driven role-playing games.

In a world ravaged by apocalypse, humanity lives under the rule of HappyCOM-9, an all-powerful yet badly confused computer overlord. As the champion of one of the twenty most powerful factions in the City, your goal is to seize power from HappyCOM-9 in a terrifying, bloody Election. In order to succeed, you will need to best your opponents, avoid HappyCOM-9's defenses and shock troops, weather the twists and turns of cruel fate, and, uh, not die. Or at least not die too often.
GM: Jeremy Bushnell
Min. Players: 3
Max. Players: 5

Slayer of Dragon RPG
Tell the story of heroes in a world gone wrong. Tell the story of heroes using their fists and feet to literally beat back the forces of evil. Tell the story of bodies flying over rails, off cliffs, and on fire. Tell the story of Slayer of Dragon RPG: Second Edition.

Now being played at select conventions near you.
GM & Designer: Grant Gigee
Min. Players: 2
Max. Players: 4

Misspent Youth
Misspent Youth is about friendship, rebellion, and kicking ass. In the game, you play 12- to 17-year-old kids in a future world screwed-up beyond recognition by The Authority. The Authority is a villain that you create together at the start of the series, played (in this case) by the game's creator, Robert Bohl. So much fun, the fun-meter chip implanted in you at birth will go off, and the Morality Police will come looking for you.

For this session, you will play with the designer, Robert Bohl, who will come prepared with at least one playset for his own game, but who also is into making up the world on the spot with you, whichever you prefer.
GM & Designer: Rob Bohl
Min. Players: 3
Max. Players: 4

Steve Jackson Games
Munckin, Munckin Bites, Frag, Zombie dice, and Cuthulu Dice.
GM: Thomas Putney
Min. Players: 3
Max. Players: 6

Time and Temp
Time & Temp is a role-playing game about temp workers being sent through time to fix problems.

Why use temp workers? Temp workers are historically insignificant, have little impact on anyone else, and can be replaced tomorrow by another nameless face and no one would question why. They make perfect anachronous agents!

What's the worse that could happen if you fail? Reality ends.
Together, let's make anachronism a thing of the past!
GM: Tresi
Min. Players: 2
Max. Players: 4

Ages 10+
Harry Potter: The Missing Students
Something is wrong at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, students have gone missing for hours, sometimes days at a time. When they return they have no memory of what happened.

The new headmaster, Albus Dumbledore is leading the investigation and he needs you to remember. What happened to you? Can you find a way to unlock your memory?
GM: Alysia Bartok
Minimum players: 3
Maximum players: 5

Psi Run
They took your past. You got away. They want you back. Run!

In this game, you play a person with two important conditions - superpowers and amnesia. All you really know is something happened, and you need to keep away from the people chasing you long enough to figure out what, as well as recover your identity.
GM & Designer: Meg Baker
Min. Players: 2
Max. Players: 5

The Ziporatic Catastrophe
Act first, think later, as you and your companion try to stop The Ziporactic Catastrophe. You and a set of pulp clichés are all that stand between freedom and Evil World Domination. Ancient Artifacts! Malignant Masterminds! Intrepid Investigators! Hirsute Henchmen!

The system for this zesty pulp adventure is Sprit of the Century (FATE). Fudge Dice, prefab characters to choose from, and everything else needed will be provided. Just bring your zaniness, enthusiasm, and two swinging fists. (Storyteller reserves right to change all the rules; homebrew content may be high.)
GM: Manfred Gabriel
Min. Players: 3
Max Players: 6


Games for all ages (7 and up)
Dread House
Are you brave enough to spend the night in a spooky haunted house? Six brave teen-agers dare each other to test their courage and face down the ghosts, werewolves, vampires and more that stalk the rooms of the house on the hill. Players pull blocks from a Jenga Tower for their characters to explore and brave out the haunts. A game great for kids and adults to play together. (Ages 7+ generally, but under 7 is welcome with a helping older player.)
GM & Designer: Emily Boss
Min. Players: 3
Max. Players: 6