Dice on the Borderlands
A big thanks to Cris and Jo for hosting some very successful RPGing at Chepstow Castle. This is Dice on the Borderlands.
Glorious sun and blue skies saw 40-odd nerds pay their £10 toll and enter through the imposing wooden gates, traverse the crumbling ruins and ascend into the impressive Earl's Chamber.
Game 1 - Questworlds - The Black Smoke Isles
Six salty, sea dogs accompanied the wizened Aramor to islands that belched sulphur and whose inhabitants either worshipped or crucified all those who visited.
Suffice to say, there were mysteries to uncover and great big scary things to run away from. Excellently GM'd by the author himself, Ian Cooper and it wouldn't have been half as much fun without Jenny, Lloyd, Pookie, Gareth & Sam.
I am doubly intrigued by games like Sanction and Questworlds, in that there are lots of supporting adventures, and they seem like some of the RPG ideas I have could make it into print using these simple, challenge-based systems.
Game 2 - Swords of the Serpentine - Losing Face
Shenanigans down by the docks as the customers of The Fisherman's Hand tried to uncover the identity of a mysterious, faceless woman. The plot weaved and intertwined its way across Eversink. Monsters were encountered, bargained with, fought and ultimately bested. All in time to take in the year's hit show, Monstrous Love! Thanks to Ian (again), Steve, Jon and Pookie (once more), Robin & Simon.
Swords is fast moving into my top three of Gumshoe system games, an incredibly rich and detailed setting, some well thought through enhancements to the mechanics that allow for world building, narrative hooks and some fast paced combat. Super entertaining stuff.
PS: Pookie, do I get a credit for your upcoming Losing Face review?! Pookie’s written a few RPG reviews here.
After that time for chatter, food at Il Fiore and drinks, the wonderful Boat Inn down by the river was a picture as the sun set over the river, and we pondered what was in The Gloucester Hole opposite.
Sunday and fortified with an English Breakfast from the very convenient Castle View Hotel, our sore heads and limbs were marched steadily back up to the castle gates. We discussed our various heroic and disastrous dice rolls as we lounged in the sun.
Game 3 - RuneQuest Glorantha - Darkness at Runegate
Jim did an expert job of getting us started on both the rules and setting of a game that some can find overwhelming. As it was, we were dropped quickly into a murder mystery and with the gift of our gods and a firm thrust of a spear, I, Fabio, Cris, Steve and Tash got to the bottom of the murder, explosively disposing of the culprit and cleansing Runegate of its many virulent and deadly diseases at the same time.
Overall, a wonderful RPG weekend, the weather was stunning as was the location, and there was an excellent mix of gaming with familiar and unfamiliar folk, who were comprehensively lovely. Sessions were short, three hours, but I often find that focuses the mind on, say, a three-act scenario, and it honestly didn’t feel rushed in the games I was involved in.
A word of warning, the toilets are back down in the car park, so a quick five-minute jog there and back and given lunch and a break within each game, this didn’t cause a big hassle to me, though those with Access issues may want to negotiate more time with their GM.
Cris and Jo are excellent hosts and their relaxed demeanour saw any issues dealt with with the minimum of fuss, ensuring all had a good time. So a unique experience in such a fantastic site, and I’m hoping very much that the diaries will play ball so I can return in 2026.