Shores of Night

Horror and urban fantasy are probably my favourite genres for roleplaying, I cut my teeth on the hobby with Vampire the Masquerade back in 1994 and it was White Wolf’s games and Call of Cthulhu, that got me hooked. With the exception of a long running Warhammer Fantasy campaign I was involved in, my favourite games are almost invariably modern, set in the real world, or something like it, and fairly dark; with only a few diversions into history and different tones. I like the fact that they feel familiar, that they use the modern world as a template, which makes so many character options viable without punishing the players. Admittedly in White Wolf/Onyx Path games this often means clinging to some sort of outsider chic, but I don’t see that as a bug, so much as a feature. This isn’t to say that this type of game and the settings that are common to them don’t have their own problems, though. Nothing’s perfect and the nature of gaming can be restrictive in places; plots can boi...

A group of adventurers emerged from the dungeon under Heartstone Peak, hauling a dragon's head in their wake. They staggered up the stone steps that led into the complex, groaning at the weight. "Crom, whose stupid idea was it to drag this back," Griselda Dark-Mane growled, "Am I pulling this thing on my own." "Peace, Orc, we're doin' oor best." Malzack Morrdanson grunted, "M'bloody beard's trapped on a horn." "Keep pushing," Nyarli said, sweat pouring off her face. "Can we just get out of here, please? We can squabble on the way to get the reward."  The others grunted and kept pushing, periodically cursing the ill luck that had led them to have present the dragon's head as proof of their kill in order to receive the bounty King Julius had placed up on Sirrathil the Wyrm. Griselda's boot burst the doors open and with a cry, and a heave she hurled herself through the doors and the head half wa...

John Wyndham, author of many of the UK’s finest Science Fiction novels does not conjure up the image of a feminist in the popular imagination. His work is generally male orientated, his protagonists are usually professional, middle class men and he seldom addresses what we might consider female themes. Much of his work was created in the 1950s, often viewed as the decade that progress forgot, as the UK found its feet after World War Two and was forced to realise that its ambitions and horizons had shrunk. Set against the backdrop of the Cold War, of nuclear power and the advance of technology, his work largely deals with these themes at a domestic, suburban level. He has been described as ‘H.G. Wells with net curtains’ something that it is hard to dispute. His image is one of tweed jackets and pipes, a sort of benevolent paternalism; a common image to the 1950s in fact, even if Counter Culture started in 1956. He is also a conservative figure, who whilst he doesn’t really r...

It is election time in the UK, we limp like a rough beast towards polling day; at least half of us knuckling along in bewilderment as to what we are actually voting for, and how this General Election will affect us. Warning, this is neither fair, nor balanced and I'm feeling vitriolic. It may get a bit ranty. With good reason, it looks very much as if the political culture here has sort of gone to pot and, even as lines are drawn, activists martialled and the wording of policies nailed down it is hard not to feel as if the whole thing is a bit of a show; and one with little substance. There is not even a nice musical number to finish things off. Part of the problem is that, with fixed termed Parliaments now the norm, campaigning season has started early; arguably it started back last Summer, with the Scottish Independence referendum, sure it was a local affair but at the same time there was bound to be a knock on to May. It feels as if we have had over six months of politic...