Big Game Hunting: Dungeons & Dragons Encounters

by Rae

From October, Wednesday nights at Proud Lion are about to get a bit more adventurous! Starting 1st October, the shop will be open until 8pm every Wednesday, allowing us to invite players to join in for Dungeons & Dragons Encounters!

D&D Encounters is an ongoing event designed for casual play, allowing you to drop in and play whenever you like. Using pre-generated characters, players are able to take part in individual episodes that make up a larger adventure. While traditional D&D focuses on levelling up individual characters, in these adventures you will be building up a faction. The benefit of this is that, even if you miss a few weeks, you won't find yourself falling behind other players.

Each episode will run from 6:30pm to 8pm. As said above, we will be using pre-made characters, so please leave your custom characters at home for these events. Participation will be first-come, first-served. There are no sign up sheets, just turn up before the start time. More details can be found here on the Wizards Of The Coast store locator.

The adventure we will be featuring for the encounters will be Tyranny of Dragons! You and your companions will struggle against the Cult of the Dragon in their attempt to free the multi-headed dragon Tiamat from the Nine Hells!

See you in October!

Rae's obsession with dragons seems to be growing over time.

New Beginnings - Prometheus: Fire and Stone #1

by Matt Puddy

Back in the days of VHS videos and slightly less than strictly adhered to film certificate laws, I came across a film that changed my appreciation of science fiction forever – Aliens. I quickly followed it up by finding and watching the original and then over the coming (I’m sad to say this) decades I have followed the Alien and Predator franchises in almost all forms of media including the games.

So now this week we have Prometheus: Fire and Stone. Following on from the renowned head-scratcher of a film (for both its setup and amazement at why one person couldn’t run sideways in the face of a crashing spaceship), the comic takes up almost where it left off and stays in canon.

Paul Tobin’s story opens prior to the Prometheus film, with a probe scouring an apparently dead planet only to see it smashed under foot of one of the Engineers. Skipping forward 129 years to a point not long after Aliens, scientific curiosity has once again got the better of mankind. Following up on the probe’s findings - and also the reports of a crashed and more importantly salvageable craft - a team are led to LV-233 with everything being chronicled by filmmaker Clara Atkinson.

After a brief introduction to all of the crew, and some of their peculiarities, the party heads down to the surface. Things are not right almost from the very beginning. What was considered a barren desert planet has a thriving jungle ecosystem, contrary to what should be there. Strange creatures and insects aside they continue their foraging in search of the ship. Stranger sights are still afoot, but eventually they find their prize - a completely intact ship, apparently from the ill-fated LV-426 (Hadley’s Hope). But they have no idea what is waiting inside for them. As the reader though, you can see exactly what lies behind door number one. A dormant but deadly batch of xenomorphs.

The story has a very familiar feel to it, and is written in a similar style to Alien and Aliens. There are a few scenes which could have been transplanted from either film; for example the meet and greet, which has overtones of both the dinner scene from Alien and the military briefing in Aliens.

From a scripting point of view the story is easy to read and flows throughout through the narrative lens of the filmmaker. What I did notice though is that this is almost an optical illusion, seeing as it doesn’t actually cover that much, although what it does it does well.

Artistically, Juan Ferreyra’s work is quite good. There is a gritty differential to the camera feed and equally a huge diverse appearance in the jungle. He also has a clear skill for new phylum in the xenobiology depictions. I liked his work overall but did feel that occasionally there could have been some more definition and detail as some of the frames were a little soft for my liking.

Overall this is exactly what I would have expected from a Dark Horse title continuing their good run with the Aliens and Predator franchises. I will caveat that by repeating I am a big fan of the films, books, comics and games (yes, even Colonial Marines) and so this was an easy choice for me.

For any other fans this is also a sure win, with three linked miniseries ready to bloom across all of the other brands.

Matt Puddy is looking forward to the new BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Good Omens.

Big Game Hunting Live - Shadowrun: Crossfire and Cash 'N Guns

by Rae

It's time for Big Game Hunting Live! This is a monthly gaming event that takes place on the second Saturday of every month. Players will get a chance to learn and play featured games all day long. This month we're featuring two completely different games - the co-operative deck-building cyberpunk game, Shadowrun: Crossifre and the competitive party game, Cash N Guns.

Shadowrun: Crossfire is a deck-building game in one of the most popular game settings of all time. Crossing cyberpunk with fantasy and plunging players into a world dominated by ruthless megacorporations, Crossfire gives players the chance to dive into the world’s shadows to see if they can survive. They’ll have weapons, spells, contacts, and gear to help them out, and they’re going to need those resources. If they play their cards right, though, they’ll do more than survive—they’ll become legends.

In Cash ‘n Guns, players will point foam pistols at each other and try to intimidate their opponents into letting them have the largest share of the loot from the big heist. Bullets speak louder than words and the bravest crooks enjoy the most money – but only if they live long enough to spend it!

During the day, there will be two main gaming sessions, from 10:30am until 1:30pm, and 2:00pm until 5pm. Both games will be available to try, though it's worth noting that Cash N Guns requires at least 4 players. Whether you're a seasoned player or need to brush up on the rules, drop in and have a game with us! If you've never played before and would like to give it a try, feel free to pop in, and we'll show you the ropes.

See you Saturday 13th September!

All participants will receive a voucher that entitles them to 10% off either of the games featured on the day. If an item is not in stock, we may be able to order it for you on request.

Rae can't wait for the weekend!

BGHL Games Night: Calling All Game Designers!

by Rae

As board game enthusiasts, it has come to our attention that we have a fair few designers in the area! 

We've spoken to several people who have games they've created, but are in need of testers to play through them. On Saturday 13th September, we want to bring together game designers and potential beta testers. Creators are invited to bring their designs for open play at our Big Game Hunting Live Games Night, hosted at the Cheltenham Boston Tea Party.

To make this event possible, we do ask a few things of designers. If you have a game beta you would like to bring, please send a direct email to shop@proudlion.co.uk and provide us with the working title of your game and a brief description of the gameplay. Initial prototypes are perfectly acceptable, but the game must be fully playable! Please make sure you have tested your game yourself before the night.

We also have one thing to ask of test players. Any player testing a beta game will be asked to sign a simple non-disclosure agreement (NDA). This will be in place purely to prevent details of the game designs from becoming publicised and to protect the designers' creations. Please note this only applies to people involved in testing, and there is no obligation to be involved!

Feel free to email us directly at shop@proudlion.co.uk if you have any questions.

Rae is looking forward to seeing the games created by local minds!