Games of Spring 2024

The schedule of games being run in Spring 2024 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.

[2/17 Weekend] King's Council

GM: Tamasin Wohlers

It’s 1847, and the world is changing, technologically and socially, more rapidly than anyone can predict. The forces of Progress try to drag the world into the future, while the enemies of Progress try to hold the world back. Many people see great promise in the future, but many see this as a threat to the existing power structure. Fueled by this struggle, many see the opportunity to advance their own fortunes or crush those of their rivals.

Amidst all the changes, the nation of Ruritania is troubled. Famine and bankruptcy loom. The kingis weak and ineffectual, and both nobles and commoners alike see a chance for their classes to benefit. Political instability at home and abroad threatens society.

Change must be made, of course -- and it will come, though many stand against it. But it will be up to you to decide what change, and how quickly. What can you compromise on, where must you stand fast?

[2/24 Weekend] Book, Shrine, and Inker

GM: Alex Bean

Most people live their daily lives in ignorance of the truths that lie beyond the veil. You are not most people. Strange things have been happening more often lately... incursions from beyond, mysterious disappearances, and unexplainable visions. The barrier between worlds is thinning. You've all gathered here today, at the barrier's nexus, to try to fix it... or at least, that's what everyone is saying. Rumor has it that dark cults have infiltrated your gathering in order to sabotage the barrier to their own ominous ends... watch your back.

[3/2 Weekend] Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny

GMs: Jesse Ashcraft-Johnsons

[3/9 Weekend] There Can Only Be One

GMs: Bianca Hanly, Emily Liu, Daniel Xu, Daniel Villagran

Before you're ready, you're launched into the outer world. It could come at any time, bursting into your life with a wave of excitement. But, of course, you've always been ready.

All of your life you have trained for only one thing: to survive. And to make it to the end. There can be only one left standing to win the ultimate prize: a lifespan bordering immortality and power that your best scholars have exhausted themselves trying to describe. But even so, it's not as simple as every man for himself. Rumor has it that the journey is a treacherous one, requiring an assortment of skills and tenuous alliances. Not to mention the existence of far more personal friendships and rivalries, developed during your days in the Academy, potentially complicating matters.

Ah, the Academy, where the main intermingling occurs between the two towns of Wessex and Essex, aside of course from the occasional daring merchant or wandering circus. It’s a once-great center of learning and training constructed by the benevolent previous ruler Wancer of Wessex, complete with musical clocks and gilded walkways. But in recent times, since the start of the new King Richard’s rule in Bloody November, its glory has fallen into disrepair, and the schism between the increasingly wealthy Wessex down by the river, and the growing hopelessness of Essex in the inhospitable mountains above, has been festering painfully. Though these are all details of the life you all are leaving behind, it will no doubt plague you in your allegiances, conflicts, and betrayals, as you play your part in determining who is the last man surviving.

There can be Only One is a SIK game of combat, dick jokes, sabotage, and class warfare.

Trigger warning: dick jokes, innuendos, seriously the entire game is one big dick

[3/23 Weekend] A Single Silver Coin

GMs: Laura Boylan, Peter Litwack

A Single Silver Coin is a dark fantasy game about death, loss, love, faith, and regret. It follows the journey of several deceased souls as they travel to the afterlife, each one seeking admittance to eternal paradise. This game is not set on Earth and makes no explicit reference to any real world religion, but does include some fictionalized religious elements that are based on real world inspirations.

Note: This game explores issues related to suicide. While not all characters will have dealt with these issues personally, any character might find themselves involved in an emotional discussion of such issues. Players who would prefer to avoid discussing such things in character may wish to not sign up for this game. GMs are available to talk specifics.

[3/30 Weekend] All Bets Are Off

GMs: Dominic Perno, Thomas Costa

Welcome to the Casino de la Isla, a place where the wealthy and influential come for a night of revelry and indulgence. Tonight is shaping up to be more interesting than most. There’s whispers of crimes and crime lords, of secrets and schemes, and even of the legendary agent 007. But at the center of it all, lies a peculiar prize, a single, luxuriously ornate egg. When all these people and all these plots come crashing together, who will hit the jackpot, and who will end up going down in flames?

All Bets are Off is a one night game loosely based on James Bond. It'll be a less serious game, filled with conflict and plots. We're looking for a zamp, with plans to run the game later this semester, likely around late March or mid-April.

[4/6 Weekend] Tales of Dirtwater

GMs: Bianca Hanly, Emily Liu, Daniel Xu, Daniel Villagran

Welcome to the land of dirt water, a land of dirt and water. Here there is magic, llamas, dragons, and even French people. Usually nothing much happens here.

But something strange is going on…

People and non people from all over are gathered together in this bum of a town called Hort each for their own reasons.

Join us for Tales of Dirtwater, a high fantasy fever dream (emphasis on the high) of a game. In this world where anything is possible and many things don't make sense. Happy April Fools.

[4/20 Weekend] Outpost 9-5-7

GMs: Katherine O’Connor, Sally Guthrie, Jay Muchnij, Jesse Ashcraft-Johnson

You've been here on this godforsaken planet for months, working under conditions that are, frankly, nearly intolerable. You'd think that a group competent enough to get Cetaganda, Beta Colony, and the Lobachevski Institute working together would have at least invested in some decent housing for the researchers. But no, you’re working under ridiculously tight security, forced to watch reruns of Desert Hearts instead of seeing the new episodes.

Well, at least the work is interesting. The excavation of potentially authentic alien ruins – the first evidence of sentient alien life! – is unlocking whole new avenues of research. You're getting close to a breakthrough on your project, which is lucky, since your project leader has been really impatient lately. However, what’s more important is the impatience of your real employers.

…and you’re going to have to wrap things up much sooner than planned – there’s a Barrayaran warship inbound and you really don’t want to be here when they arrive.

Outpost 9-5-7 is a one-night game set in a universe very close to that of the Miles Vorkosigan series, by Lois McMaster Bujold.

[4/27 Weekend] Bad Apples

GMs: Tamasin Wohlers, Sharon Horowit-Hendler, Wren Steinbergh

Rim Sector 057, System BD4863, Unlicensed Station ‘Flotsam’ 23.10.2622 CE

Welcome to the space station they call Flotsam. You’ll probably leave the place alive and with all your money on you – probably. Technically, the entire place is an illegal squat, which means there’s no law enforcement, and nothing in the way of social services. If you want justice for a crime, about the best you can do is either convince or pay a drug lord to execute the offender. The United League of Nations and Planets doesn’t know about Flotsam, doesn’t care, or is paid to look the other way; nobody is certain. But word on the street is that something happened to change that, and now the government is coming, to round up a few dissidents, shut everything down, or just get a bigger payoff, no one really knows exactly. But the people here have other problems, human problems – trying to get your mom to quit this month’s addiction, learning that your boyfriend is cheating on you (and with a man, at that), or where the hell to hide those dead bodies. What’s one more complication to life in a place like this?

Bad Apples is a 3-4 hour game of murder, crime, intrigue, and family drama, set in a hard sci-fi setting. It’s a game of flawed people in bad situations, desperately trying to make the best of things, and maybe be better than they are. Sometimes they succeed. They call those people heroes. More often, they don’t. The words for those people aren’t as kind. But the best among them keep trying anyways. These are their stories.

Bad Apples can be a very dark game, though also hopeful. Content warnings include: violence, gangs, domestic abuse, child abuse, teens who have sex with older people, homophobia, adultery, dysfunctional families, religious zealotry, and substance abuse. If you have concerns, please don’t hesitate to talk to us about them. Combat will involve the use of nerf guns. Game includes rulesbrief, safety brief, and debrief. 18+ or GM permission.

To read two vignettes set on Flotsam in order to get a better feel for the atmoshpere of this game and some plot teasers, click here. Content warnings: Gang Violence, Substance Abuse, Violence, Domestic Abuse.

[5/4 Weekend] Moonrise

GMs: Silk Yu, Jensen Curtiss, Livia Zhang

[5/11 Weekend] Time Crunch

GMs: Jesse Ashcraft-Johnson, Dexter Chan

It was just another day in the lab at the secret paranormal research facility, until everything went terribly wrong. Something deep in the secure areas exploded, and unstable experiments throughout the facility breached containment and escaped. Chaos erupted as horrors beyond mortal comprehension attacked. You saw your lab-mates fall as you cowered and fled, until you too were chased down and rent limb from limb–

Only to wake up in the break room. You’re alive? Your co-worker is standing next to you saying something about their kids. You check your watch–it’s earlier that same day. Did you doze off? Some sort of weird déjà vu?

Then in the distance, you hear an explosion coming from deeper in the facility. The emergency alarm starts blaring. It’s happening again.

On 5/11, join the MIT Assassins’ Guild for Time Crunch, a high-action Nerf combat game about being stuck in a time loop. Fight your way through waves of paranormal creatures, to figure out what went wrong. Die horribly, and come back better prepared, until you can save the day.

[5/11 Weekend] Nerf Olympics

GMs: Diana Shklover, Eugeniya Artemova