Scheduled Games
Patrol!
Saturday Nights, 8-11:00pm, 36-115
Travel to strange new classrooms. Meet interesting, unusual people, and kill them! Patrol is a high-action game of live combat with rubber-dart guns. Shoot your friends, then watch out as they try to take their revenge.
Synchronicity
January 20th-29th (10-day game)
GMs: Jason Gonsalves, Carrie Keach, Jacky Chang,
Dexter Chan, Ash Turza, Ekaterina Kuznetsova
In every age of human civilization, there exists a city whose story is the story of that age: Babylon, Changan, Rome, Kyoto, London. This is the story of New York.
Present day, present time. Hours away from a three day lockdown, the city is on edge. Here, at the centre of the modern world, everything is about to change.
Coming in IAP 2012, Synchronicity is an experimental tenday of society, culture, personal choice, and information control written by Dexter Chan, Jacky Chang, Jason Gonsalves, Carrie Keach, Ekaterina Kuznetsova, and Ash Turza.
Sky No Longer Blue
weekend of 2/10 (one-night game)
GMs: Laura Boylan, Peter Litwack, Rory Talk
A research and salvage vessel becomes mysteriously stranded in a dangerous area, the crew is afflicted with some sort of memory loss, there appear to be several stowaways and someone is already dead. Sky No Longer Blue is a game of amnesia, paranoia and betrayal set in a post-apocalyptic future.
Crisis at Castle Candy
weekend of 2/17 (one-night game)
GMs: Beth Baniszewski, Kim Beder, Dennis
Perepelitsa, Nicholas Harrington
Candyland is crumbling. The King has been missing for a month now, and it is always dark outside. The most important residents of Candyland have gathered at the castle to crown a successor, but upon entering, the doors slammed shut, trapping everyone inside. But maybe there is hope - the Candy Kids have returned! Crisis at Castle Candy is a four hour long mystery-horror game inspired by the Milton Bradley boardgame Candyland.
Time Cataclysm
weekend of 2/17 (one-night game)
GMs: Andrew Hyer, Ceres Lee, Steven Valdez, Adam
Yedidia
You were living a perfectly ordinary life, when suddenly you found yourself in the middle of a strange forest, filled with strange trees and the ruins of strange buildings. Where ever you are, the sun is now high in the sky, and you hear noises all around you. Suddenly, you hear a shout, and see a scientist run through the thickets, chased by a gigantic dinosaur.
Wherever and whenever you are, here be dinosaurs that reign supreme. There's no telling how you came to be here, but you hope you'll find a way home. Either way, you still need to survive in this strange and mysterious place.
Welcome to Time Cataclysm, a one night where you aren't the top of the food chain, but rather, quite near the bottom.
Murder on the Starlight Express
weekend of 2/24 (one-night game)
Written by: Jen Catelli, Charles Hope, David Oh, Francis Zane
Runtime GMs: Charles Hope, Ken Clary, Andrew Menard
Do you want to play the First One Night Ever? A game that over 200 of your previous guildmembers have played? Then sign up for Starlight! It's older than the Grandmaster! Back from the dead with ancient GMs!
Oh, you want to know what it's about?
Well, the original blurb said:
"Captain, I think I've found something!"
"What is it, Officer?"
"I think it's the Science Officer, sir..."
"So, what's the big deal?"
"Well, he's dead, sir...."
"Oh bloody hell..."
Welcome to "Murder on the Starlight Express", a six hour, experimental [for its time] murder mystery assassin game. You can be one of ten crewmen trapped onboard the Freighter Gabriel, on course from Ceti Alpha 6 to Epsilon Eridani 4, with a murderer (or two) trapped on board. It's the classic whodonit, but in assassin style, where the criminals can shoot back, and maybe even shoot first.
Perchance to Dream
weekend of 3/2 (one-night game)
GMs: Brogan King, Cat Thu Nguyen Huu, Victoria Vega, Daniel Whalen
A baby's cry, lost and abandoned. A scream. The crack of breaking glass. Then silence.
Drip. Drip. Drip. A rhythmic sound that needles at your brain.
A growl, the scent of death. Pain. Darkness. Gone. You wake up.
This hallway is covered in a thick layer of dirt. You cough as it gets on your skin and in your lungs. You see one of those dolls that give you the willies. Casually, you reach up to brush some spider webs aside... but they won't brush away. They cling. A spider the size of a fist lands on your shoulder... and crawls into your hair. A horrible creaking sound echoes around you.There's something odd about this hallway, but what? It's tickling the back of your mind. You can't figure it out, and that makes you a bit crazy.
The wind picks up, a slow crescendo to a screeching howl. It starts like a whisper, but ends in a soul-rending shriek. As you turn and look, you see... nothing. Just empty fog and mist. Mists pour out from the walls. There are faces in the mist, human and ... inhuman. The faces are just tricks of light and shadow.
There is something important -- the reason why you are here. But what is it?
Power Ballad: Total Eclipse of the Eternal Flame
weekend of 3/9 (one-night game)
GMs: Matt "Halftime" Peairs, Kim Beder, Beth Baniszewski
The year is 1989, and tonight is the night of the big high school dance! It doesn't matter whether you're the head cheerleader or president of the math club, whether the posters on your bedroom wall are of The Bangles or The Cure, or whether your goal is to finally ask out your crush or just to avoid getting stuffed into a locker (again)--whoever you are, you just know that this is going to be your night!
Tonight, romance will blossom, bitter rivalries will resurface, and all manner of moves will be busted. Better stock up on hairspray and start practicing your moonwalk, because tonight we're gonna party like it's 1989!
(This is a party game with a focus on role-playing and having fun in character. There will be a large number of high-shtick, low-plot roles available for those who just want to party.)
So You Want to Be a GM
weekend of 3/9 (seminar)
By: Ariel Segall, Kevin Riggle, with assistance from Andrew Menard
So You Want to Be a GM is an experimental lecture-style class designed to teach new and inexperienced GMs key skills for writing Guild games. There is no One Right Way to write a game, so we won't be teaching one, and since this is an overview class, we will only have a short time to talk about some very complicated topics. However, we aim to provide enough of a toolbox for new GMs to feel comfortable writing even complicated and unusual games, and to know where to find more help if they want it. The focus will be on basics, including how to get started writing a game, how to create and balance plots, selection and design of mechanics, and balancing of economies, along with practical topics such as how to sanity check your game, how to run a mechanics test, and things you'll want to keep in mind when preparing to run. This class should be equally useful to people who want to go off and write a game straightaway, and people who plan to participate in more organized activities such as Guild Camp.
This class is not intended for experienced GMs, unless there's an area of gamewriting you're not comfortable with; while you're certainly welcome to attend, we plan on limiting the kibbitzing to breaks in order to keep the lectures focused.
COSMIC Cities
weekend of 3/16 (one-night game)
GMs: Shawn Westerdale, Kendra Beckler, Jesse Wooton, Steven Valdez
The year is 3066. The place, Japan. A large portion of civilization now lives entirely in giant skyscrapers three miles high, where the only transportation to the ground (or other towers) is a long, tedious elevator ride, monopolized by the Lifts "R" Us corporation. However, a new era is dawning. Trams between the towers are being unveiled and you are there for the grand opening. Conveniently, there is also an internet convention happening on-site. Everyone who is anyone on the internet will be there. Bad ideas, internet identity fraud, monopolistic corporations, physics, sex, religion, engineering, and a great feast will abound in the COSMIC Cities.
The Ides of March
weekend of 3/16 (seminar)
Organizer: Ken Clary
Ides is a somewhat-annual seminar on game writing. There will be GM panelists speaking on various topics, with audience discussion. GMs and players, new and old, experienced and prospective, are all welcome. No RSVPs necessary.
Babylon 5: The Garments of Vengeance
weekend of 4/13 (three-day game)
Written by: Tom Giordano, Charles Hope, Kate Mahoney, Mike
Person, Dan Winship, with additional runtime GMing provided by Laura Baldwin
and Jay Muchnij
It was the dawn of the third age of mankind, ten years after the Earth/Minbari war.
The Babylon Project was a dream given form. Its goal: to prevent another war by creating a place where humans and aliens could work out their differences peacefully. It's a port of call - home away from home for diplomats, hustlers, entrepreneurs, and wanderers. Humans and aliens wrapped in two million, five hundred thousand tons of spinning metal, all alone in the night. It can be a dangerous place, but it's our last best hope for peace.
This is the story of the last of the Babylon stations. The year is 2258. The name of the place is Babylon 5.
Announcer: A terrorist attack ...
[shot of ships firing on a ship of previously-unseen-alien origin]
Announcer: ...results in a deadly first contact.
[shot of previously-unseen alien]
Alien: We will find the ones responsible for this act, if we have to
tear this station apart to do it!
[cut to crowd, seated]
Announcer: And an attempt on an Ambassador's life ...
Assassin: [standing up and pulling out PPG] Earth First!
[cut to Kosh]
Kosh: Incorrect! [beam of light shoots from headpiece, hitting
something offscreen]
Announcer: ...leads to the discovery of a plot that could plunge the
entire galaxy into war!
[cut to shot of a figure in shadows, speaking to a Narn on a
vidscreen]
Narn: We will proceed as planned! The weapons shipment is on its way.
Be there to receive it!
Announcer: Now, with the Advisory Council rushing to finish the budget
before the end of the fiscal year...
[cut to Council Chamber, where Sinclair, Delenn, G'Kar, and Londo are
engaged in a heated debate]
Announcer: ...and Ivanova trying to prevent a station-wide worker's
strike...
[cut to Ivanova, in the middle of fifteen things, all of them
annoying]
Announcer: ...it's up to Garibaldi to weed out the conspirators
before it's too late!
[cut to Garibaldi and security guys sneaking down corridor with PPGs
drawn]
Announcer: ...on an all-new Babylon 5!
The Murder of Jefferson Douglass
weekend of 4/27 (one-night game)
GMs: Jonathan Chapman, Alex Gurany, Edward Z. Yang
An elusive venture capitalist has invited you to his private island for a hunting expedition. But this no normal hunting expedition: he has promised you that the creatures that you will find on this island will be ones that you have never seen before in your life. Unforgettable, legendary creatures.
But not one day into your stay at this island was the host found brutally murdered; killed by a knife in his study. Now, mystery swirls about his mansion: who killed Mr. Douglass, in the study, with the dagger? Who will be the one to inherit his vast (mis)fortune? And on this island of legendary creatures, not everything is as it seems... the hunters turn into the hunted.
an even more dangerous game
Spring Guild Meeting
weekend of 4/27
Officer reports! Food! Elections! Other
business!
It's your opportunity to backstab other players for once!
Slouching Towards Bedlam
weekend of 5/4 (one-night game)
GMs: Jesse Ashcraft-Johnson, Will Kalb, and Kim Baldauf
Bethlehem Royal Hospital has been your home and prison for the past few years. The rhythms of daily life in the madhouse have been maybe a comfort, or maybe a curse. Either way, you've grown accustomed to your incarceration here.
But recently, the asylum has been disturbed by strange happenings. Irregular rumblings in the basements, ethereal figures half-glimpsed in the corners of tired eyes, a hard-to-place miasma of uneasiness settling over the other inmates.
Even the staff seems perturbed, and their distraction has made it much easier to move freely through the asylum. Now may be your chance to make your move. All the plans and schemes you've concocted can finally be put into action. They don't understand. You're not crazy. You're the only one who isn't crazy!
High Fantasy
weekend of 5/11 (one-night game)
GMs: Laura McKnight, Katherine O'Connor
In the days that came before any living being can remember, there was no Court, and the faeries, elves, and dwarves constantly warred with eachother. During this period, the night of Forseti was always a night of chaos, because from dusk to dawn, the natural magic of the world would increase, and each magical race would use this to power ever stronger attacks on the other species. Eventually, the destruction grew to be too much, and the three species came together and created the Forseti Peace Pact, creating the Court which has ruled over it ever since. It is also said that that night was the very first Party. Once per century, the mysterious Host has thrown a Forseti celebration so spectacular it has come to be known simply as the Party. And once per century, members of all the species have come together to leave the politics and bickering behind for one night (well, mostly) in exchange for magic, love, and drugs. While the events that traspire at each Party have been known to change the course of the Court for the next century to come, such thoughts of repercussions are best left for tomorrow. Tonight, we party.
X-Games
weekend of 5/18 (multiple games)
Organizer: Ekaterina Kuznetsova
X-Games is several hours of experimental and/or silly hour-long games written by various GMs. Current roll call includes ponies, dwarf fortress and republicans. Want to run something? Email x-games@mit.edu to sign up. (Want to play? There will be mail later.)
Upcoming Games
These are games that are planning on running in the near future, to the best of our knowledge, but aren't scheduled yet. If you think your game should be here but isn't (or vice versa), send mail to the High Council.
Escape From Lego Castle
(one-night SIK game)
GMs: Cassie Huang, Telmo Correa
You didn't really believe Mrs. Frizzle when she said that something horrible would happen if the class kept losing bits and pieces of the classroon LEGO collection. After all, you're not in kindergarden anymore, and who would believe something about LEGOs disappearing into other dimensions and summoning up evil overlords? That was until someone managed to lose the last handful of legos somewhere in the classroom this morning. One minute you were standing around an empty LEGO bucket, and the next you were in some dungeon made entirely out of LEGOs. You're pretty sure you're not in Mrs. Frizzle's classroom anymore. All you have is this pile of odd LEGOs on the floor, but it seems that LEGOs have strange properties here.
Biggs and Wedge: Bitches in Space
(one-night game)
GMs: Ken Clary, Cassie Huang, Will Lowenthal,
Jim Waldrop
Biggs and Wedge have taken the ship out for a spin while Cid is off doing important things. A stoner/roadtrip movie shoved into a Final Fantasy setting, Bitches in Space is an action-comedy one-night set in the Esperville universe (a sequel to Yielding Stone and Revenant Storm).
Dresden Files: Feuer Regen
(three-day game)
GMs: Stephanie Paige, Eli Stickgold, Christian Ternus, Yelena
Tsitkin,
Benjamin Lehnert, Jacky Chang
The Thousand-Year Reich stands on the brink of defeat. The once-proud city of Dresden is scarred by Allied bombings and weary of war. Shadows lurk in bombed-out buildings. Scavengers pick amongst rubble-strewn streets, hoping to salvage their possessions. Laborers and office workers queue in the streets in the hope of scant rations. Above the city, dark clouds gather, signs of a storm to come.
In Marisa Vogler's Cabaret, the sound of thunder rattles the windows, briefly interrupting the evening's performance. High-ranking Wehrmacht officials glance at the darkened windows, then turn back to their drinks.
A candle casts flickering light on a dusty library table, covered with writings in an unknown script.
Amidst the debris of a ruined cathedral, inhuman shadows play across the wall. A crucifix drops from a limp, bloody hand.
In a lantern-lit sewer beneath the city, a hooded figure hands a parcel to a group of furtive men. Nodding, they disappear into the darkness.
In a fire-scarred forest outside the city, unearthly lights play amidst the trees. The wind seems to whisper in a nameless tongue.
Lightning flashes in the skies above Dresden as the rain begins to fall.
Dresden Files: Feuer Regen is a three-day game set in 1945 Dresden, in Jim Butcher's Dresden Files universe.
Harry Potter Year 7: The Battle of Hogwarts
(three-day game)
GMs: Jake Beal, Elizabeth Krueger, Andrew Menard, Emily Rosser, Ariel
Segall, Paul Weaver
The Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry has been under siege for months. Voldemort and his Death Eaters control the Ministry of Magic and have spread terror throughout magical Britain. However, the wizarding world is in increasing turmoil, making even Voldemort and his steady conquest appear to be yesterday's news. House elves all over Britain are vanishing or revolting against their masters. Squibs have gained full use of wizarding powers, giving fuel to the Ministry's magic-theft propaganda and Muggleborn crackdown. Gellert Grindelwald, scourge of Europe half a century ago, has escaped his tower, and golems bearing his symbol have been spotted in Switzerland.
The wizarding world is in chaos, and all of the rumors place Hogwarts at the front and center of the trouble. The time for preparation is over; the battle begins now.
Harry Potter Year 7: The Battle of Hogwarts is a three-day game with periods of high action, set several months after the events of HP7: Hogwarts Under Siege (the 2011 IAP ten-day). All events of the ten-day are canonical; if you are only familiar with the books or movies, this should be considered a seriously alternate universe game.
Diplomatic Immunity
(one-night game)
GMs: Mark Seifter
You are cordially invited to attend the social event of the season:
The Atreides-Tyndarea Wedding
Who: Ammon Atreides and Princess Lynestra Tyndarea
Where: The Atreides Estate in the Lyradar Sphere
When: One hundred Rowaini days hence
Respondez Sil Vous Plait
Lord Aeus Atreides
Plaza de la Corporacion
(one-night game)
GMs: Telmo Correa, Hubert Hwang, Victoria Vega, Jim Waldrop
In the wake of the Omnibank collapse that left corporations reeling all around the world, the G4 is gearing up for a major meeting. Ares Global Logistics Cartel is primed to announce the development of a new rapid-cloning / brain-transfer technology that will revolutionize its quasi-governmental and basic societal infrastructure products. The other members of the G4 (The Wuxing/Walton Collective, Canonical Networks, and The Teradyne Conglomerate) are readying themselves to bargain for licensing rights -- gotta keep those high-ranking executives alive, after all -- and the price will be steep.
Outside, the 99% are gathering from all corners of the globe to protest the continued accumulation of wealth in the hands of a few multinational (as much as that term means anything nowadays) corporations. Twenty thousand protesters have gathered at the Plaza de la Corporación to express their outrage, and among them walks a man who almost seems to glow in the light of the smoggy sunset...
Plaza de la Corporación is a one-night, five-hour game written by Telmo Correa, Hubert Hwang, Victoria Vega, and Jim Waldrop. There will be parts for those who like action, and parts for those who prefer negotiation, and of course for the range in between.
This schedule is also available as a google calendar: xml, ical, html.