You're excited to be the first research team to move into the new Salinger Building, but moving labs kind of sucks. It's tricky getting experiments to work in the new lab. There seem to be some teething problems with the building systems: lights flickering; brown-outs wreaking havoc with your sensitive equipment. You reckon the Megadairy corp lab on the top floor is hogging all the power. Their lights NEVER go out, even in the middle of the night. At least, not until the night of the blackout.

The sun has been blazing over Mesa Amarillo all day, and you have been out in it, trying to find the perfect spot to camp. You are out and away from it all for two nights - away from WiFi, away from traffic lights, away from rent payments and breaking news. It's been hours since you've seen a Starbucks. Out here, it's just you, your friends, the desert, and the blistering sun.

Only... there's something else out here, too. Out on the horizon. And whatever it is, it owns this desert.

It is 2010 and United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been trying to keep the peace for nearly 11 years. Now, the already fragile peace has been threatened by a reported massacre, suspected to have been carried out by a band of criminals known as the Knights of the Lord. A small group of UN specialists venture deep into the jungle of the Congo to investigate the suspected atrocity. What confronts them, however, is a much older and darker evil, buried and long forgotten in the Jungle.

EPOCH is a game of character-driven survival horror. The goal is to deliver a tense and scary experience in a single game session. EPOCH players are active participants in the creation of the game atmosphere and have complete control over the creation and ultimate fate of their character.

April 2013 in the sleepy town of Lost Creek, Missouri, the arrival of a stranger sets in motion a sequence of peculiar events. Maybe things are not as they seem, perhaps it is just a trick of the mind or possibly nothing…will happen.

Once again we have a heavy presence of EPOCH at KapCon. For those who haven't tried it, EPOCH is a cinematic survival horror rpg, strongly influenced by the indie-gaming paradigm, by long-time KapCon GM Dale Elvy. It has quick character generation, and a game structure which pushes the story in the arc of classic survival horror movies such as Alien and The Thing. Last year the EPOCH GM's racked up an impressive bodycount - over 60 characters as I recall (and yes, they kept score). This year... well, it's really up to you.

EPOCH games at KapCon 23 include:

March, 1941. As the German war-machine rolls on, Britain stands alone at the brink. In London and other major centres, the blitz rages and the country hold its breath and waits for the next attack. Though the threat of an imminent invasion may have passed, the country is still under siege, and many fear that it will on be a matter of time before the Nazis arrive.

All of this seems a lifetime away from the picturesque village of Blakely. Here the volunteers of Blakely Home Guard patrol the village and keep a watchful eye out for a German invasion as the country’s last line of defence. Events, however, will soon bring even greater horrors to Blakely and prove that heroes can be found in even the most unlikely of places.

EPOCH is a game of character-driven survival horror. The goal is to deliver a tense and scary experience in a single game session. EPOCH players are active participants in the creation of the game atmosphere and have complete control over the creation and ultimate fate of their characters.

What evil lurks in the near by high school, apart from teenagers of course, I have no idea. In part one of this double feature the weird and scary was unleashed, now your here to set things right. For those who are unfamiliar with these games they are both Apocalyse World hacks, the first with a focus on the more unhealthy aspects of teenage life and all the drama that entails. Think Jennifers Body, Teen Wolf, the Craft. The second game is more along the lines of Supernatural, Fringe and the X-Files.

The land of Alltopia has been ravaged after the disastrous battle of the Crystal Wall which guarded the south for eons. The Wall now lies shattered and no longer holds back the legions of gruesome monsters roaming the countryside. The undead armies of the Demon King Zolphus advance with each nightfall, laying waste to all they see. All civilisation will soon crumble, unless a band of yesterdays heroes can somehow find their way to the lofty peaks of Nightmare Mountain and confront Zolphus in his lair.

EPOCH is a game of character-driven survival horror. The goal is to deliver a tense and scary experience in a single game session. EPOCH players are active participants in the creation of the game atmosphere and have complete control over the creation and ultimate fate of their characters.

Live the messy, horrific and selfish life of a teenager...oh and be a monster too.
I will be directing a game of Monsterhearts. This will be followed up with Stefan Tyler running a session of Monster of the Week, where the hunters track down the and deal with the outcomes of the actions and decisions of the first game. For those who are unfamiliar with these games they are both Apocalyse World hacks, the first with a focus on the more unhealthy aspects of teenage life and all the drama that entails. Think Jennifers Body, Teen Wolf, the Craft. The second game is more along the lines of Supernatural, Fringe and the X-Files.

The haunted tales of the demons that inhabit Castle Shirasagi have kept people away for generations. As the cruel hand of the Shogun casts the shadow of unrest over the land, the Castle is visited once more by mortals.

This scenario is set in medieval Japan filled with fantastical elements from folklore. It tells a dark tale of horror, tragedy, heroism and romance which explores what happens when the inhabitants from two worlds that should never co-exist come together.

The characters use their swords, magic, love, loyalty, duty and intrigue as they struggle to survive the threats that besiege them from without, as well as that from the other characters, the people they care about and themselves.

The scenario is based on the Kabuki play called "Tenshu Monogatari". It uses the Tenra Bansho Zero system, which is a highly regarded Japanese RPG, recently translated into English.