Tag: Kaiju
Date Night: Join the (Adventure) Party
Join the (Adventure) Party!
Written by Brandon Stettenbenz, Photography by Mike Pfaff
My wife has way more tabletop role-playing game (RPG) experience than I do. She played Dungeons & Dragons 2.5 and 3, but refused to play 4.0. Don’t ask me what the nuances are because I still don’t know, and I’m man enough to admit it. Although I played Dungeons & Dragons on Commodore 64 (it was older than me) and various level-based RPG video-games over the years, I never had the opportunity to play a pen-and-paper D20 game.
So when Ariel bought me my own set of rad dice, I promised her we’d find an RPG group. It’s hard to find 2-4 other people, a good dungeon master, and 3+ hours to play an RPG that works for everyone’s schedule. That’s why Slur Your Role, one of our awesome Nerd Louisville events, is a great opportunity for couples that want to game together. After all, many games (including all tabletop RPGs) require more than two to do battle.
In a similar vein, escape rooms are a great option for couples or small groups of friends who want to participate in fun activities together. Like tabletop RPGs, escape rooms require cooperation, communication, and problem-solving skills to complete the mission. Plus, unlike RPGs, escape rooms are typically timed, making them a perfect option for those who may not have several hours to devote to gaming. If you’re in the Fort Worth area, there are several escape room Fort Worth to choose from that offer a variety of themes and challenges, providing a unique and exciting experience for couples and friends alike.
Slur Your Role Tabletop Gaming (2nd & 4th Sundays)
Less of a traditional date than a social opportunity for couples, Slur Your Role is bi-weekly tabletop RPG event at Kaiju in Germantown (adjacent to both the Highlands and Old Louisville). Kaiju is a laid back bar themed in the giant monsters of its namesake. There are big Godzilla toys, as well as giant robots decorating the bar and kaiju artworks throughout. The nerdy decor helps you feel right at home with dice in one hand and a pint in the other.
Whether you want to fight dragons, survive the wasteland, or uncover the mysteries of the Elder Gods, Slur Your Role has you covered. Games are comfortable at 4-6 plus a game master and the three separate rooms keep it from feeling claustrophobic. Ariel and I have been in the D&D group thus far, playing a thief and a magic user respectively. We’ve survived catacombs and ogres, ghouls and monsters, with the help of fighters, paladins, and rogues. We’ve talked to (and robbed) wise, old men, and dodged the ire of a bandit mage. As I’m a n00b at D&D, I’d say it’s been tough but fair, and never boring. Converting all D&D games to 5th edition (with our recent Louisville “multiverse” initiative) gave adventurers more room to manipulate their fate with extended skills and experience potential. You can also use your characters in multiple games, even outside of Slur Your Role, instead of starting from scratch.
Sunday afternoons aren’t a popular time for a date, but there’s less of a bar crowd than Friday or Saturday nights, and nearly all the other patrons are there to game. So while you won’t be flirting and chatting the entire time, you also aren’t yelling over the jukebox and typical singles crowd. You’re also showing off your creativity and passion, which is nerd for “sexy”. So grab your crush or partner and sign on for an adventure that will challenge your collective nerd skills. You’ll build romantic rapport with your date and maybe even make some new friends.
All our welcome! The next Slur Your Role is this Sunday 7/10/2016. Adventuring is free, but the drinks aren’t. So bring your imagination, your date, and don’t forget to tip your bartender
Tips:
- Don’t try to hook-up your characters—other players might not enjoy your romantic sub-plot.
- You’re committing to several hours of interacting with other people—don’t flirt the whole time.
- Stick to your character, even if that means acting against your real-life date. But keep in mind, if their character gets killed, they probably won’t want to stick around and spectate.
- The Kentucky Taco Co. will be at Slur Your Role XII with food, so we got you covered for dinner.
- Above all, have fun and share it. And, remember the golden rule of gaming & romance: keep the competition light-hearted.
Slur Your Role: Tabletop Adventure Fueled by Imagination & Alcohol
The town of Izuz is a hive of scum and villainy renowned for its dangerous storms and treacherous streets. In a murky tavern crawling with thieves and worse, seven strangers sit together warily sipping ale, waiting to hear about a perilous job. They leer with distaste at the squat wizard who has gathered them: “Polk will be here–he offers a pile of gold for this task. Just wait a little longer.”
Polk arrives wearing the guise of a beggar and tells them that he requires a painting held by the merchant lord Yondow. Growing angry, he refuses to reveal the nature of the cruel painting: “Very well, half up front, and I’ll show you what the painting can do IF you bring it to me.”
The manse of Yondow is a mysterious spire rumored to be built like a fortress with vicious creatures and a small army to match its imposing shadow. None of our crew have ever set foot in the spire or laid eyes on the wealthy lord. Using underworld contacts, they plan to infiltrate the compound disguised as suppliers of wild boar for the feast, a tasteful alternative to the slavers supplying bodies for dark ritual…
Adventure awaits at Slur Your Role VIII, May 8th
The above was excerpted from the Dungeons and Dragons “Eldritch Isles” game at our last event. If you haven’t made it to Kaiju for Slur Your Role, you’re missing fantastic opportunities. From Conan cleaving a grotesquely obese necromancer in twain with a thunder axe, to chimeras, gangsters, elder gods and red-shirts, our diverse tabletop games are a raucous adventure.
Read on for Slur Your Role VIII previews from our game masters!
Dungeons and Dragons 5e multi-verse: Eldritch Isles
After catching fire to the hedge maze, killing the medusa-lion, splitting Yondo in half, and making your daring escape with the enchanted painting, False Chanterelle, you slip into the smog-filled, rain-slicked alleyways of Izuz. The painting is returned to Polk, who awards you the fee he promised. You take your ill-gotten gains and spend it lavishly on revelry (level up!). And, perhaps resupply or upgrade your equipment with what is left. Word spreads far and wide of an axe-wielding barbarian and his thieving friends willing to invade a sacred Festival of Flame in a wealthy merchant’s manse and steal a valuable artifact…
It’s but a few nights later when Polk returns to the Onyx Lamprey and offers a few daring adventurers a chance to see the magic of False Chanterelle for themselves. Polk invites you to his tower and after dining on roasted eel and strong wine, he leads you up to the highest chamber in his tower. Rain blows in from the window and he pulls the black covering, exposing the painting. Moonlight streaks in and touches False Chanterelle and suddenly the chained woman in the painting animates and turns to you, pleading for help.
“When you touch this painting, you will be transported inside it. If my research proves correct, somewhere in that painting there is a way into the Maze of the Blue Medusa. Perhaps the woman knows. Enter and bring me any art, curios, or items of interest and I will reward you with gold and jewels.
You won’t have much time in the maze… When the moon ceases striking the painting, you will be expelled and returned here. If you die… And, some of you probably will… you will be forever stuck inside.”
When we play again, the (un)fortunate souls at my table will be entering the Maze of the Blue Medusa. Good luck!
– Mike Pfaff
Deadlands Noir (Savage World rules)
New Orleans, 1935. Whoever called this “the Big Easy” sure got that one wrong. Things are tough all over. Honest work is hard to find, and even dishonest jobs are getting scarce. The one thing that’s not in short supply is trouble. From shady thugs to crooked cops to Mafia soldiers, there’s plenty of characters out there looking to give an honest Joe a hard time.
And that’s not the worst of it. There are stories going round about things that go bump in the night. Things you wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley on a darker night. And those stories aren’t just coming from rummies or saps who read that Epitaph rag.
Still, there are a few heroes left in the concrete jungle. Steely-eyed private dicks, fast-talking grifters, wild-eyed inventors, and shadowy hooligans still struggle against the encroaching darkness. With enough moxie—and more than a little luck—they might just be enough to turn the tide.
– James Sugrue
Star Trek / Cthulhu
Set Phasers for Ftagn!!
Dead Light is a Star Trek the old series mashup with the horror of the Cthulhu Mythos! Play Kirk, Spock, Bones or one of the other great Enterprise bridge crew as they investigate the mystery of deep space outpost 19. Some laughs, some drinking, some killing, and if we’re all lucky, Kirk will lose his shirt…AGAIN!!
Using classic call of cthulhu rules for ease of play.
-Matt McCloud
Achtung! Cthulu
I’ll be running “Three Kings,” the first mission in the Achtung! Cthulhu series. You play Allied spies and commandos fighting Nazis and Cthulhu in World War II. If your character survives, you can play her or him again in future missions. I ran this mission at ConGlomeration and it might have been the best one-shot adventure I’ve ever GMd. Written by Sarah Newton for Modiphius Games, converted to 7th Edition Call of Cthulhu. Achtung! Cthulhu link: http://www.modiphius.com/achtung-cthulhu.html.
-Andy B
Slur Your Role is open to anyone over 21. The event is free and walk-ins are welcome. Also, imbibing alcohol isn’t required, but please tip the bartender no matter what you order.
We highly encourage showing up right at 4 pm to secure your spot in the tabletop game of your preference. Check in at the front of the bar where we’ll be managing signups. RSVP on Facebook and join the conversation!