Games of Fall 2018

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The schedule of games being run in Fall 2018 under the auspices of the MIT Assassins' Guild is as follows.

Make sure that you are on the Assassins' Guild Mailing List to receive the application forms for these games.

Note: Not all of these games ran. Maybe we should remove the ones that didn't?

[9/15 Weekend] Long Ago and Far Away

GMs: Stephen Balzac, Aimee Yermish, Adira Balzac

Did you feel like wolves and dragons always got a bad rap? Think the princesses were too prissy? Ever wonder what to do with Djinn that's had a bit too much gin? Wanna see those evil viscounts and stepmothers get what's coming to them? Or maybe come out on top for a change? Join us for *Long Ago and Far Away*, a short LARP based in a world of fractured and intersecting fairy tales, where magic is real, the animals talk, and "happily ever after" isn't guaranteed.

[9/22 Weekend] Triple Blind

GM: cAPSLOCK

Tonight is a night for celebration! Tomorrow, our two countries, Fandonia and Freedonia, will finally sign a treaty ending years of rivalry and bloody war. For tonight, we celebrate with a diplomatic dinner at the Freedonian Embassy.

Of course, there are those that would rather see the treaty fail. Revolutionaries, looking to depose the Fandonian King. Freedonian’s Opposition Party, looking to force a new election and seize power. Any number of individuals with their own, competing interests. But no matter - this historic dinner, will shape the future of Freedonia and Fandonia for decades to come. With nine diplomats working towards a common goal, what could possibly go wrong?

Triple Blind is a 1-2 hour game for 9 players, with characters randomly distributed so that even the GM doesn’t know who has what allegiances

[9/29 Weekend] Singularity: The Transhuman Dating Show

GM: Eleanor Graham

Singularity! Humanity’s most popular dating show, where all our guests find that special someone (or something!) [Applause.] Broadcast to over ten planets across four realities, Singularity matches each lucky guest Star with three suitors and allows them to choose the one they feel will take them to the top of the world... and beyond.

Humankind has discovered the technology to surpass our previous form. No longer bound by the rules of humanity, we are able to craft ourselves anew. With our bodies expanded and identities altered, our sense of self can now linger in the space between abstraction and self-actualization. Humanity has become something else, something other.

No longer the narrow flock of fleshy humanoid we once were, you will instead find androids, human-esque constructs, abstract qualities such as Joy and Happiness made sentient, living next door to an ageless being with no face. Massive, living computer banks work side-by-side with quantum ghosts and electric skeletons. People change who and what they are according to infinite possibility.

With all our fantastic, impossible advancements, one fundamental aspect of humanity still eludes us:

Finding the one.

Singularity is a narrativist, minimal-rules LARP by Caitlynn Belle and Josh Jordan.

[10/6 Weekend] Tartarus

GM: twohlers

  • Trapped!*

In some of the deepest mining shafts on the planet, your team was extracting rare ores, and trying to stay out of the way of the Company researchers who had come down here to study who knows what. But now something has gone horribly wrong, and a cave in has happened, leaving one of your team dead, and several others injured and without their memories. It'll take hours to clear the rubble -- but the computer says you have at most three hours of air left.

This far down, some of the world's religions say demons live. Those sounds you hear are only the rocks settling, right?

  • Please note: this game will be conducted in low lighting conditions.

There will be many dark themes in the game including dealing with the aftermath of an accident in which a friend/loved one died, questions of who may be responsible for this, trauma in character backstory including death of parents, and the prospect of facing death away from your loved ones. A major theme of the game is human mortality, as well as issues of family, trust, and paranoia.*

[10/20 Weekend] Slouching Towards Bedlam

GMs: Jesse Ashcraft-Johnson, Will Kalb

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 for you 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!

Slouching Towards Bedlam is a game of insanity and madness. When everyone else is crazy, your own firm grip on reality is the only thing you have.

So. Tell me about your mother...

[10/27 Weekend] Neo Yokio: The LARP: The Anime!!

GMs: Mehitabel Glenhaber, Robert Rusch, Taylor Sims

"Neo Yokio is the greatest city in the world. It is the most populous urban agglomeration in North America. But its prestige does not merely stem from its size. From Bronx prefecture to the aquatic elegance of Battery Park, Neo Yokio is a diverse of labyrinth of cultural,architectural, and sartorial innovation. No wonder it plays host to many of the world’s most prestigious events, such as the Grand Prix and the Lacrosse World Cup.

Of course, whenever a city becomes the envy of the world, problems are bound to arise. In the 18th century, the first wave of demonic attacks wreaked havoc on Neo Yokio. From origins unknown, hateful creatures sought to ravage the city on a mass scale.

In a brilliant move, the mayor brought over magicians from the Old World, colloquially called ratcatchers, to exorcise the demons from the city. In exchange for citizenship, these magi used their powers to cleanse Neo Yokio. Many of their descendants are now part of Neo Yokio high society, adding to our rich cultural tapestry. Although demonic threats have been greatly minimized, you will still be subject to search and questioning at our discretion. Please have your documents ready, and welcome to Neo Yokio."

- Neo Yokio Board of Tourism, sponsored by Ralph Lauren

Based on the award winning anime by the lead singer of Vampire Weekend, starring Jaden Smith, comes an all new real-space collaborative simulation community theater experience… Neo Yokio: The LARP: The Anime!! ! Don't be hikikomori, come and play!

(No capitalisms were deconstructed in the making of this game)

[11/3 Weekend] Murder on the Starlight Express

GMs: Ken Clary, Charles Hope, Jayson Lynch

Do you want to play the First One-Night Ever? A game that over 200 of your previous guild members have played? Then sign up for Starlight! It's older than the entire High Council! Back from the dead!

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 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.

[11/10 Weekend] Midnight in Brooklyn

GM: Jesse Ashcraft-Johnson

Pack your messenger bags for the hippest after-party this side of Flushing Ave! Hobnob with a motley crew of mustache bloggers, home-brew sriracha bottlers, typewriter poets, gastropub foodies, philosophy majors, normcore plaid designers, and vintage zine curators. Our hosts will be serving up a locally-grown crop of underground DJs and ambient noise artists to kickstart the mumblepunk right out of your discerning eardrums. Browse our spread of locally-grown cheeses, cruelty-free microgreens, and artisanal hand-pulled taco trucks. Locavore, paleo and freegan options are available.

Midnight in Brooklyn is a low-plot, high-aesthetic party game of hipsters and irony. Characters will be hyper-specific examples of the hipster species, and players are encouraged to exaggerate and add to the character for maximum hilarity.

[11/24 Weekend] Here Lies the Abyss

GMs: Alcor Hilliard, Dalton Allan

And so is the Golden City blackened With each step you take in my Hall. Marvel at perfection, for it is fleeting. You have brought Sin to Heaven And doom upon all the world."

Before you invaded the Golden City and became the first darkspawn, you were the mage-lords who ruled the world. As the seven high priests of the gods of Tevinter and retainers and companions thereof, it is your collective task to determine a route to the gods' domain, who you will bring, what you will gain from it, and how you will preserve your nation in your absence. An over-expanded and war-torn Tevinter is losing faith in its dragon gods and thus losing support in you; it is up to you now to salvage what you can, if not bring the nation to an even greater position once you cross over.

Here Lies the Abyss is a 4-6 hour one night Guild game set in the Dragon Age universe. You do not need to be familiar with pre-existing Dragon Age plot or characters to play the game. It will be a small-gamespace game primarily centered around debate and the collective plot of how to advance your own goals while collecting the resources, personnel, and assistance to breach from the mortal world into the spirit world. There will be character depth and development and plenty of roleplaying; it will not simply be Resource Collection Board Game The Larp.

[12/1 Weekend] Fall Guild Meeting

GMs: The High Council

The Guild's semesterly meeting. There will be free food, some policy discussions, possibly some mastering, and free food. If you want the Guild to continue to exist and make good choices about how it works, you should show up to this meeting! And you should eat the free food.

[12/8 Weekend] Upton Manor

GMs: Alex Dehnert, Thomas Wohlers, Lily Chung, Naomi Hinchen

England, 1922.

At Upton Manor, home of the Earl of Moncreiff, the two branches of the family are poised to reconcile after a long and bitter feud. But when an unexpected death occurs, the mood quickly devolves from joy and merriment into suspicion and scheming, as blame is cast and everyone rushes to see how they can best turn the situation to their advantage, while still keeping up a proper facade of grief.

Upton Manor is a four hour game of intrigue, secrets, and romance, with a dash of murder thrown in. Though using the veneer of a murder mystery as a framing device, intrigue and character relationships take priority over the actual mystery, with most characters being far more interested in blaming their rivals or covering up any scandal than in actual investigation.

Content warnings: Drug, gambling, and other addictions, family rivalries which may involve murder, sexism, classism, infidelity, backstory involving torture (non-graphic). Please note this is a period piece and expectations of most of the characters regarding gender norms, sexuality, and class are fairly strict.