Social Deduction / Mild Horror / Peril

Cymera Festival is in full swing, but something odd is happening in the games hall. A cry goes out. A storyteller is dead and it can only mean one thing. A demon walks among you. It’s down to a plucky band of attendees to hunt the demon. Will good triumph or will impish evil succeed? 

Blood on the Clocktower is a social deduction game from The Pandemonium Institute.  Players are opposing teams of Good and Evil, overseen by a Storyteller. The goal of the game is to successfully deduce and execute the demons before they outnumber the townsfolk. Each player receives a token with their unique character. Good players share information to solve the mystery of who has the demon token, while evil players lie about who they are and what they know. Good wins if they can find and execute the demon during the ‘day’ phase. Evil wins by killing players in the ‘night’ phase, sowing distrust and evading detection until the final two players.

Games will be beginner friendly running the Trouble Brewing introductory script. Up to 15 players. All players will need to make a free account on botc.app, and have a microphone. Cameras will be optional. The session ID will be posted on the Cymera Festival Discord Games channel 30 mins before scheduled game play when the lobby will open.  

Game- System: https://bloodontheclocktower.com/

Content Warnings: Death, talk or murder/execution, the game mechanics can revolve around deceit and mistrust. Ages 12+

5 to 15 players

We will be asking everyone to use safety tools, at the very minimum the X-card at games played in our space and ask all who join us to familiarise themselves with our code of conduct and other policies to ensure a diverse, accessible and safe space for all.

Weird Science Fantasy

TRACK DOGS is an in-development weird Science Fantasy game about train pirates in an arboreal post apocalypse. At least that's how it goes above ground. In this "undergrounders" variant of the game things are quite different for you, the people of the tunnel tracks.
In "Down And Drowned And Never Found" a respected Witch of the underground city of Edgewhere has experienced a prophetic dream: A mysterious "angel" calls out from beneath the watery surface of the Great Groundwater, seemingly wanting to be discovered. Assemble your crew, strike out to the great cavern lake and hunt down this divine vision!

Game- System: TRACK DOGS

Content Warnings: Deep water and mild institutionally religious content.  Ages 12+

3 to 5 Players

We will be asking everyone to use safety tools, at the very minimum the X-card at games played in our space and ask all who join us to familiarise themselves with our code of conduct and other policies to ensure a diverse, accessible and safe space for all.

Exploration & survival in a fantasy medieval world.

Badly battered by the storm, your ship has anchored on a swampy coast rumoured to hold the haunted ruins of an ancient civilisation.  The crew hastily go ashore to cut timber for repairs and take on fresh water, but not all parties return. The captain asks you to set off to investigate at the earliest chance.

Game- System: Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition

Content Warnings: Combat violence, possible death/loss of characters, tailored to the group.  Age 12+

2 to 5 Players

We will be asking everyone to use safety tools, at the very minimum the X-card at games played in our space and ask all who join us to familiarise themselves with our code of conduct and other policies to ensure a diverse, accessible and safe space for all.

Join our experienced, board game loving host and choose together a game you want to play.

They will guide you through the setup and play ensuring a good time had by all!

We suggest asking them about Dune Imperium, Terraforming Mars or Wildlands if you fancy a genre themed game but feel free to browse and select together from our extensive Board Game Library courtesy of Blackwells Books

Game- TBC - Your choice!

Content Warnings: Game Choice Dependent - Players will have the opportunity to select games to suit

2 to 6 Players (game choice dependent)

We will be asking everyone to use safety tools, at the very minimum the X-card at games played in our space and ask all who join us to familiarise themselves with our code of conduct and other policies to ensure a diverse, accessible and safe space for all.

Writing a short story is very different to writing a scenario for a roleplaying game. This workshop aims to examine the differences and how to embed player agency in your scenarios. In addition, it will look at how to use historical events, locations, and people to inspire and construct entertaining and engaging plots, along with suggestions on how to get your work published. Participants are encouraged to bring along their ideas/works in progress for discussion. Please note our workshops do not have a free ticket option.

We will be asking everyone to use safety tools, at the very minimum the X-card at games played in our space and ask all who join us to familiarise themselves with our code of conduct and other policies to ensure a diverse, accessible and safe space for all.

Join our experienced, board game loving host and choose together a game you want to play.

They will guide you through the setup and play ensuring a good time had by all!

We suggest asking them about Dune Imperium, Terraforming Mars or Wildlands if you fancy a genre themed game but feel free to browse and select together from our extensive Board Game Library courtesy of Blackwells Books

Game- TBC - Your choice!

Content Warnings: Game Choice Dependent - Players will have the opportunity to select games to suit

2 to 6 Players (game choice dependent)

We will be asking everyone to use safety tools, at the very minimum the X-card at games played in our space and ask all who join us to familiarise themselves with our code of conduct and other policies to ensure a diverse, accessible and safe space for all.

The sun beats down on Highway 76, with abandoned cars peppering the road. Stubborn plant growth permeates the Colorado desert as it winds its slow way towards the ruins of Denver.

Rumours abound that small settlements have emerged in the former Rocky Mountain National Park region, and that is it safer than most. The Survivors have banded together in the hope of carving out their own small homestead in amongst the valleys, well away from the anarchy in the east. However, they are still several days’ walk away and must pass through the dangers of the Denver Metropolitan Area. Supplies are low. The group are aware that their chances of survival are diminishing.

While the group has been travelling along Highway 76, there have been limited opportunities for scavenging. They are out of food.

Game- System: Embers of Humanity

Content Warnings: Violence, Apocalyptic themes 16+

3 to 4 players

We will be asking everyone to use safety tools, at the very minimum the X-card at games played in our space and ask all who join us to familiarise themselves with our code of conduct and other policies to ensure a diverse, accessible and safe space for all.

Sleuth your way through Prohibition Era Arkham, as local magistrate Nathaniel Hargrove has died suddenly of natural causes, but his daughter believes there to be foul play with the local bootleggers!

Game- System: Call of Cthulhu

Content Warnings: Body Horror, Violence, Alcohol

3 to 5 players

We will be asking everyone to use safety tools, at the very minimum the X-card at games played in our space and ask all who join us to familiarise themselves with our code of conduct and other policies to ensure a diverse, accessible and safe space for all.

Out now from Rookery Publications is Dark Deeds a darkly humorous game of skullduggery and suspicion for 2 to 5 players, created by industry veterans Andy Chambers and Mark Gibbons available online via Modiphius or in-person at your FLGS.

Dark Deeds is a darkly humorous game of skullduggery and suspicion for 2 to 5 players, created by industry veterans Andy Chambers and Mark Gibbons.

In Dark Deeds, players take the role of malicious minions in service to a powerful, mysterious, and clearly villainous Patron. In the service of this dark power, minions must perform acts of thievery, violence, and betrayal, all whilst avoiding suspicious authorities, interfering do-gooders, and the machinations of their rivals. Rich rewards await the most successful minion, alongside horrific punishments for those who fail.

Are you the kind of malevolent minion the Patron needs? Team players need not apply.

This new edition features revised and rebalanced rules, extra cards, and plenty of deliciously dark art from Mark Gibbons.

Game- Dark Deeds

Content Warnings: Dark Deeds, dark powers, punishment, thievery, violence, and betrayal. 14+

2 to 5 Players

We will be asking everyone to use safety tools, at the very minimum the X-card at games played in our space and ask all who join us to familiarise themselves with our code of conduct and other policies to ensure a diverse, accessible and safe space for all.

Investigation & survival in a fantasy medieval world.

Lost in the wild marshes for weeks you’ve been swarmed by mosquitoes, bitten by leeches and harried by lizardfolk.   As night falls you take rest in a grove of trees when some strange creatures are seen lurking at the edge of your fire light...

Game- System: Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition

Content Warnings: Combat violence, possible death/loss of characters, tailored to the group.  Age 12+

3 to 5 players

We will be asking everyone to use safety tools, at the very minimum the X-card at games played in our space and ask all who join us to familiarise themselves with our code of conduct and other policies to ensure a diverse, accessible and safe space for all.

Have you always wanted to write for games but not sure where to start? Or perhaps you're a seasoned games writer looking for industry tools, tips and tricks to make your writing stand out? This workshop offers an in-depth and inspiring practical session for writers and creatives interested in writing for video games or incorporating elements of interactive narrative into their own work.

The topics we will cover include:

• How to start writing a game

• Branching narrative and interactive fiction

• Worldbuilding and environmental storytelling

• Crafting great dialogue and memorable characters

• Identifying your core story

• Games mechanics

• Writing tools, tips and tricks

• Industry advice

This workshop takes the form of a presentation, with plenty of group discussion, input, active writing and creative exercises to help put theory into practice. The aim is for participants to leave with an understanding of the fundamentals of video games writing, new ideas for potential games projects, and how to make those ideas a reality.

Your Workshop Leader

STARK HOLBORN is the author of The Factus Sequence, the Triggernometry series and the groundbreaking digital serial, Nunslinger. Stark's fiction has been nominated for the British Fantasy Awards, the BSFA Awards and the New Media Writing Prize. Alongside writing novels, Stark works as a games writer on BAFTA-award winning video games projects, and is currently lead writer on dystopian detective game, Shadows of Doubt, a contributing writer on cyberpunk slice of life sim, Nivalis, and a Visiting Lecturer in Narrative at Glasgow School of Art.

About the event:

 Running time: 105 minutes including breaks

Venue: Braid Room

 Tickets: £19.50 / £16 (plus 50p booking fee)

 The event will be take place in-person. Workshops are not recorded.

Find out more about ACCESS to our events here, and for information about TICKETS, click here.

Any other questions? Check out our FAQ.

‘Inside the Rookery’ join us live at Cymera as The Rookery host a special of their weekly RPG shindig.

Expect some lively chat and special birds of a feather joining our flock as we take a deep dive or should that be swoop into the ways and wynds of games in the company of our experts.

Hosted by The Rookery’s feathered flock

With special guests Lynne Hardy and Stuart Boon

About the event:

Running time: 60 minutes

This event is free to attend but spaces are limited. Arrive early to avoid disappointment.

This event takes place in person and is broadcasted via the Rookery live stream. We will have a QA at the end of the panel, we will take questions from the in person audience and from folks inline via the Cymera or Rookery Discords or social media feeds.

Who are The Rookery?

The Rookery are Andy Law, Andy Leask, Graeme Davis, Mark Gibbons, and Lindsay Law, five award-winning TTRPG professionals with over a century’s combined experience in the gaming industry. They not only host Inside the Rookery, but also run their own company, Rookery Publications. Out now from Rookery Publications is Dark Deeds a darkly humorous game of skullduggery and suspicion for 2 to 5 players, created by industry veterans Andy Chambers and Mark Gibbons available online via Modiphius or in-person at your FLGS.

Watch their previous livestreams on YouTube and Twitch and support Inside The Rookery on Patreon and find them on Bluesky

Social Deduction / Mild Horror / Peril

The Cymera festival is in full swing, but something odd is happening in the games hall. A cry goes out. A storyteller is dead and it can only mean one thing. A demon walks among you. It’s down to a plucky band of attendees to hunt the demon. Will good triumph or will impish evil succeed? 

Blood on the Clocktower is a social deduction game from The Pandemonium Institute.  Players are opposing teams of Good and Evil, overseen by a Storyteller. The goal of the game is to successfully deduce and execute the demons before they outnumber the townsfolk. Each player receives a token with their unique character. Good players share information to solve the mystery of who has the demon token, while evil players lie about who they are and what they know. Good wins if they can find and execute the demon during the ‘day’ phase. Evil wins by killing players in the ‘night’ phase, sowing distrust and evading detection until the final two players.

Games will be beginner friendly running the Trouble Brewing introductory script.

We encourage you to make a night of it! Come along to watch the Rookery and stay for the BotC! Get dressed up and have some fun! Costumes encouraged!

Game- System: https://bloodontheclocktower.com/

Content Warnings: Death, talk or murder/execution, the game mechanics can revolve around deceit and mistrust. Ages 12+

5 to 15 players

We will be asking everyone to use safety tools, at the very minimum the X-card at games played in our space and ask all who join us to familiarise themselves with our code of conduct and other policies to ensure a diverse, accessible and safe space for all.

Scotland has long been celebrated for its cultural distinctiveness: its people, landscape, history, folklore, and culture have been the basis of, or found representation in, an incredible number of novels, films, and games. This workshop will look at what makes Scotland's 'character' so unique and therefore so valuable to writers of fiction and games. We will explore how to bring Scotland alive in written work, focusing on lived experience and research as a means of achieving uniquely Scottish representations of places, people, and events, both historical and modern. And, in doing so, explore how we can use uniquely Scottish elements to enrich our fiction and games. As author of the multi-award-winning 'Shadows Over Scotland' sourcebook for the Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game and the novel 'This Dying Machine' set in post-war Glasgow, Stuart will share a trove of tips and tricks for researching and incorporating Scotland's rich history and culture into works of fiction. The workshop will call on a wide range of examples from different genres and media, but will also call on participants' experience and input throughout, seeking to make the workshop both practical and engaging. Please note our workshops do not have a free ticket option.

Infiltration & survival in a fantasy medieval world.

The wizard Kolmorn requires a service of you; an old enemy of his needs dealing with and you’re just the right people for the job.

Game- System: Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition

Content Warnings: Combat violence, possible death/loss of characters, tailored to the group.  Age 12+.

2 to 5 players

We will be asking everyone to use safety tools, at the very minimum the X-card at games played in our space and ask all who join us to familiarise themselves with our code of conduct and other policies to ensure a diverse, accessible and safe space for all.

Join our experienced board game loving host and choose together a game you want to play.

They will guide you through the setup and play ensuring a good time had by all!

We suggest asking them about Dune Imperium, Terraforming Mars or Wildlands if you fancy a genre themed game but feel free to browse and select together from our extensive Board Game Library courtesy of Blackwells Books

Game- TBC - Your choice!

Content Warnings: Game Choice Dependent - Players will have the opportunity to select games to suit

2 to 6 Players (game choice dependent)

We will be asking everyone to use safety tools, at the very minimum the X-card at games played in our space and ask all who join us to familiarise themselves with our code of conduct and other policies to ensure a diverse, accessible and safe space for all.

Games…. Choices…

A disperate group of friends want to play a roleplaying game and are stuck with choices.

How will they decide what system they are using and are other forces at play.

Game- System: Homebrew Ready to Roleplay system.

Content Warnings: Adult themes may occur. 

2 to 6 players

We will be asking everyone to use safety tools, at the very minimum the X-card at games played in our space and ask all who join us to familiarise themselves with our code of conduct and other policies to ensure a diverse, accessible and safe space for all.

Urban Fantasy

The Folly has been called in to investigate strange sightings of some sort of man-beast along Parkland Walk, a “linear nature reserve” running between Finsbury Park and Highgate in London. But what has its appearance to do with the strange rash of tags declaring “The goat-man is coming,” and is there any link to the urban myths that haunt the ghost station at Crouch End and its mysterious spriggan statue?

Game- System: Rivers of London: the Roleplaying Game

Content Warnings: Deals with loss of personal identity.  Age 12+.

2 to 4 players

We will be asking everyone to use safety tools, at the very minimum the X-card at games played in our space and ask all who join us to familiarise themselves with our code of conduct and other policies to ensure a diverse, accessible and safe space for all.

Analog Scifi, Abstract Strategy

A game of cosmic skysails and stellar influence, gifted to our ancestors by ancient travellers who sailed the stars on streams of sunlight. Playtest of the brand new game from Midnight Trading Co.

Game- System: Aster

Content Warnings: Mild Sci Fi Peril

2 to 3 players

We will be asking everyone to use safety tools, at the very minimum the X-card at games played in our space and ask all who join us to familiarise themselves with our code of conduct and other policies to ensure a diverse, accessible and safe space for all.

GM-less, diceless RPG.

The Family is a GM-less, diceless reverse horror rpg (slated for release soon) where players embody the conspiracy of villains at the heart of a horror or thriller movie ranging from The Wicker Man to Society to Hot Fuzz. The perfidious "Protagonist" has arrived on your property, and over a three-act structure players must thwart their intrusions, their investigations, and their eventual attempts to ESCAPE, EXPOSE or EXPUNGE the Family.

Game- System: The Family

Content Warnings: Sympathetic portrayal of violent villainy, and for group victimisation of a fictitious person.  Age 16+

3 to 6 Players including the Facilitator. Note that having the maximum of 6 players will place marginal restrictions on the type of game concept that can be played

We will be asking everyone to use safety tools, at the very minimum the X-card at games played in our space and ask all who join us to familiarise themselves with our code of conduct and other policies to ensure a diverse, accessible and safe space for all.

Join our experienced, board game loving host and choose together a game you want to play.

They will guide you through the setup and play ensuring a good time had by all!

We suggest asking them about Dune Imperium, Terraforming Mars or Wildlands if you fancy a genre themed game but feel free to browse and select together from our extensive Board Game Library courtesy of Blackwells Books

Game- TBC - Your choice!

Content Warnings: Game Choice Dependent - Players will have the opportunity to select games to suit

2 to 6 Players (game choice dependent)

We will be asking everyone to use safety tools, at the very minimum the X-card at games played in our space and ask all who join us to familiarise themselves with our code of conduct and other policies to ensure a diverse, accessible and safe space for all.

Analog Scifi, Abstract Strategy

A game of cosmic skysails and stellar influence, gifted to our ancestors by ancient travellers who sailed the stars on streams of sunlight. Playtest of the brand new game from Midnight Trading Co.

Game- System: Aster

Content Warnings: Mild Sci Fi Peril

2 to 3 players

We will be asking everyone to use safety tools, at the very minimum the X-card at games played in our space and ask all who join us to familiarise themselves with our code of conduct and other policies to ensure a diverse, accessible and safe space for all.

Horror

Sleuth your way through Prohibition Era Arkham, as local magistrate Nathaniel Hargrove has died suddenly of natural causes, but his daughter believes there to be foul play with the local bootleggers!

Game- System: Call of Cthulhu

Content Warnings: Body Horror, Violence, Alcohol.

2 to 5 players

We will be asking everyone to use safety tools, at the very minimum the X-card at games played in our space and ask all who join us to familiarise themselves with our code of conduct and other policies to ensure a diverse, accessible and safe space for all.

Folk Horror / Urban Fantasy

Spring is stirring and it is not just the flora and fauna that are awakening it seems like the fickle and the fae are too…

The eldritch grapevine is buzzing and everything seems to be going a wee bit doolally.

Who is leaving the hare head graffiti everywhere #BawdYoungTeam? In chalk in plain sight and in other signs for those that have The Sight…  Is the Worm Moon also being a Blood Moon stirring the cauldron?  Barely recovered from their Candlemas adventures up the Pentlands our intrepid crew need to brace themselves for the madcap mischief being unleased on the streets of Auld Reekie.

A playtest of ‘Worm Moons and Mad Hares and Mayhem Oh My!’ the next scenario of the Seasons of the Sun campaign as our intrepid, arcane adventurers investigate mysterious goings on in the streets and Seven Hills of Edinburgh.

Game- System: Liminal - https://modiphius.net/products/liminal-quickstart has a free copy of the Quickstart Guide

Content Warnings: Folk Horror, Eldritch happenings, Modern Life Ages 12+

2 to 5 players

We will be asking everyone to use safety tools, at the very minimum the X-card at games played in our space and ask all who join us to familiarise themselves with our code of conduct and other policies to ensure a diverse, accessible and safe space for all.

Political Military Sci-fi, Free-form, Chamber LARP

In the 30th Millennium, the Emperor of Earth genetically engineered 20 children to help him lead a Crusade across the galaxy - to bring lost humanity under the shadow of his rulership. But intervention by unknown powers led his children - the Primarchs - to be thrown through the warp to various other planets, where they grew up unaware of their heritage.

Thus, the Great Crusade gained a new purpose - as well as freeing humanity from the yoke of dominating aliens and superstitious religion, it would allow the Emperor to recover his children. It took 180 years, but eventually they were all reunited

However, sibling rivalry and violent differences of opinion on a number of subjects have led to growing factions and rifts between the Primarchs. Their Legions follow where their geneparents lead, and the Solar Auxilia regiments attached to each Legion are infected by association.

In an attempt to bring his family back together, the Emperor has summoned them all to the planet of Nikea, to discuss and settle the various divisive topics. In addition he plans to bestow the title of Warmaster on the one Primarch who will lead the Crusade after this; because the Emperor is going to return to Terra for the first time in decades."

Game-System: Custom Game System, set in the Warhammer 30k Horus Heresy universe

Content Warnings: This is Warhammer 30k and Primarchs… There are violent conflict, warcrimes and intolerance in the background and they may come up in discussion. Intra-family conflict. Grimdark.

8 - 18 players

We will be asking everyone to use safety tools, at the very minimum the X-card at games played in our space and ask all who join us to familiarise themselves with our code of conduct and other policies to ensure a diverse, accessible and safe space for all.

Investigative Horror

How would you react when the last person who'd ever use violence, turns violent? Something is very wrong with the coffee. Can the investigators unravel the mystery and confront a burgeoning sentience before it causes the city to tear itself apart?

Game- System: Call of Cthulhu

Content Warnings: Excessive Violence, Body Horror, Loss of Control, Murder, AI themes,  18+

2 to 4 players

We will be asking everyone to use safety tools, at the very minimum the X-card at games played in our space and ask all who join us to familiarise themselves with our code of conduct and other policies to ensure a diverse, accessible and safe space for all.