Week 1: Welcome back

Welcome back everybody.  Hope you've all had a good summer.

Not much for the diary this week - we're mainly running events for the freshers.  However, Socials are starting up again, so please come along and make the new freshers welcome.

Thursday 20:00 - Social in Derwent Bar

The big news is Autumn Convention:

From 7pm on Friday the 10th Oct, to midnight Sunday the 12th Oct.

Convention will be headquartered in James (G/001, G/002, G/010, G/013) and we have access to some rooms in Wentworth for spill-over.

If there are any events you want to run during the Convention, please get in touch.

Board Game Review: The Red Dragon Inn

James Lees is our Abnormal Member for Board Games. Today he reviews one of the games in the society hoard: The Red Dragon Inn.

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The Red Dragon Inn has a very fun premise. You are all adventurers returned from a long, hard quest so you decide to go for a drink at (you guessed it) The Red Dragon Inn! However, being adventurers, it isn’t long until drinking is turned into a competition.

The object of the game is very simple: be the last person still standing! Drink your opponents under the table, or have them run out of money so that they get kicked out of the bar. To drink them under the table their fortitude counter and alcohol counter must meet.

At the end of each of your turns you must drink (so long as there is a drink card on your board, which unless you’re playing against gibbons there almost always is) and whilst the drinks have a number of potential abilities the most common is an increase in your alcohol content. However, by using cards that you obtain at the beginning of each turn you can force others to drink, make others lose fortitude or even avoid a drink. There’s far more strategy then there first appears to be with alliances being swiftly made and then broken again.

The game has a fantastic feel and aesthetic and despite the lack of lore you get an excellent idea of its many colourful characters from the card titles alone. Some of my personal favourites include "No More Chainmail Bikini Jokes" and "I’m not That kind of priestess"

It’s a fantastic game that can be played over and over (and yes, it can be played as a great drinking game - I have tested this myself). It’s also a game with loads of expansion packs. Whilst I’ve not yet had the pleasure of trying any of these out, so as soon as I track them down (and I’m led to believe that somebody in the society has them) I know what I’m playing!

Wargaming on Campus: 12th July

Hi guys,

On the 12th July the plan is to gather some people together to play games of Necromunda. If you'd be interested in playing, then feel free to come along.

If Necromunda's not your thing but there are other wargames you own and want to run/play, then we'll probably have some space if you want to bring them along. We've got W/035 C, D and E booked from midday to midnight.

Hope to see you there!

Dave
Abnormal Member for Wargames

New LARP: The Fall and Rise of Impact

The Impact refs have released their player's guide.

Starting at the beginning of the 2014/15 academic year, The Fall and Rise of Impact will be replacing Age of Iron as the new biweekly campus LARP.


At the dawn of a new age, Humanity teeters precariously upon the edge of extinction - yet even in this darkest hour, a light of hope shines forth with the promise of peace and a chance to build a better world. Impact shall rise again.

Impact is the last of the great cities; A refugee ark-turned-stronghold that has narrowly escaped the mysterious fate of its counterparts, finding itself hurled through the empyrean void between worlds and stranded on the shores of a hostile land populated by strange creatures. As all that remains of a vast civilisation that had lived in peace and stability for centuries, the people of Impact have had to get their hands dirty and adjust to a life that is anything but peaceful, convenient and comfortable.

Colloquially renamed to commemorate humanity’s spectacular entry into the world coined as Sanctuary ten years ago, Impact has found itself drawn into a conflict it never asked for against a powerful and numerous foe: The formidable Thari of the Eternal Kingdom of Hyrathia. Along a contested border, skirmishes have flared up into a devastating four year war which has bled both sides dry and left humanity’s last city with precious few Obliterator war constructs with which to defend itself.

Humanity does not stand alone, however. Joined together into a formal Confederation of mutual support and respect, the various insectoid Sarengid hives and plant-like Kurekin tribes allied with Impact seek to defend their mutual interests and work together to survive in a savage and brutal world. Caught between the Hyrathian front lines on one side and the nightmarish forest of Kure on the other, with dwindling resources and a population exhausted from years of war, Impact has just established the experimental Envoy initiative - a team of diplomats, explorers and troubleshooters drawn from across the Confederacy and tasked with doing whatever they feel is necessary to ensure survival. 

Check out their their website and the forums for updates.

The new website

If you've tried to visit the society website recently, then you'll find that it's gone, and you're being redirected here! Do not be afraid, for this is the new website for York SF&F.

You can still visit the old website if you yearn to remember the good old days, but remember that it's no longer being updated. All new updates will be posted here, on this blog.

Our proud Abnormal Members have been drafted in to keep you up to date with what is happening in those strange parts of the society you may not frequent. You'll also find the regular society news and updates posted each week.

If you've got any content that you want to share - a campaign you're recruiting players for, a new LARP system that you want to advertise, or something you think the rest of the society would like to see - then contact the webmaster. Together we can make this site both useful and awesome.

Dave
(Webmaster)

Week 10: Last chance to shine

Timetable

Monday 19:00 - Magic the Gathering in the Peter Lee Dining Room, Wentworth
Monday 20:00 - Boardgames in James SCR
Wednesday 19:00 - Age of Iron in V/119, V/122, V/V123   (last meeting before the big summer event)
Thursday 19:00 - End of Term Meal at El Piano
Thursday 20:00 - Social in Derwent Bar
Saturday 12:00 - Mordheim in V/119 + V/122

Thus ends the term. Hope you had a great time, and see you next year. For those here over the summer, there will still be stuff going on, including Necromunda on Saturdays, and events for Age of Iron, Vampire and Empire. Please see the forums for more details.

I know it may seem like a long time away, but we'd like to get stuff organised for the Fresher's Convention well in advance, if possible. Please contact us if you would be willing to run games or introductions to things that will be running throughout the year.

If you've booked to come to the meal, and can't make it, please let us know ASAP, or else everyone else will be left to cover your bill.

Week 9: Special Guest Edition

Hey cool cats, this weeks email comes to you from a slightly sleepy Presidential Jon 5:

Timetable

Monday 19:00 - Magic the Gathering in the Peter Lee Dining Room, Wentworth
Monday 20:00 - Boardgames in James SCR
Wednesday 19:00 - Age of Iron in DL/002, DL/003 and DL/006
Thursday 13:00 - Society Picnic! (see below)
Thursday 20:00 - Social in Derwent Bar
Sunday 12:30 - Age of Iron in D/L/047

Other stuff (important!)

Society Picnic

Fancy a chilled out lunch in the sun with other SF&Fers? Come along to the patch of land next to the carpark behind the library (known to some as the LARP field) on Thursday this week at 13:00 for a picnic! (If people want directions meet me at Vanbrugh Stalls at 13:00 instead)

If everyone brings some food for themselves and some stuff they would be willing to share that would be peachy, also maybe blankets to sit on and other kinds of picnic-y things. It should be fun!

End of Year Meal

The plan is to go to El Piano for a meal on Thursday evening next week, please email in as soon as possible if you'd like to come. I'll be booking stuff on Thursday at some point, so that's your deadline!

Money-conscious people should note that the night should cost around £15, but this will get us some rooms to ourselves and a whole load of awesome food.



Most Important thing of all: Here's a short video of a cat singing along to rock music that everyone should see.

Have a fantastic week!

Jon5