Tabletop RPGs

By: Brad

In the post-apocalyptic world of “7th Extinction,” players navigate the remnants of a society reshaped by cataclysmic events caused by an alien invasion and mysterious breaches.

Dive deep below Earth’s surface to discover sprawling subterranean metropolises, where the last bastions of sentient beings – humans, aliens, and more – vie for survival and power.

Above ground, tempestuous storms and unpredictable dangers reign supreme. Breaches in reality open gateways to alternate Earths from other universes. But every decision can spell survival or doom, whether in the depths or on the surface.

Where the gritty desperation of Mad Max meets the vast cosmic intrigue of high Sci-Fi, “7th Extinction” offers an immersive experience that challenges the boundaries of roleplaying.

Do you have what it takes to thrive, or will you fall to the 7th Extinction? 

Player Capacity: 1 to 6.
System: 7th Extinction RPG.
System knowledge required: None, system will be taught during the session.
Rating: M.
Seriousness: Average (3/6).

By: Alexa and Amanda

Note from the Conquest team: This game is restricted to players aged 18 and over.

So, you think you have what it takes to join the prestigious Alumni of Alchemist University? Then you’d better prove yourself and pass your entrance exam!

You’ll need to correctly identify substances such as Dragon’s Blood, Frost Elemental Extract, and Pixie Tears from description alone, and then correctly combine them to produce the right results, and then decode the correct mixtures to use to create your final product!

Note, there is no system here, no dice, you’ll be physically handling and combining chemicals in real-time to produce the required results!

Accessibility note: Your GMs will be more than happy to assist with accessibility needs as required. We can be your hands if you need!

Player Capacity: 2 to 6.
System: 7th Extinction RPG.
System knowledge required: None. No system, or no system knowledge required.
Rating: PG. Physical handling of potentially caustic, acidic, or staining chemicals.
Seriousness: Not very (1/6).

By: Martin Plowman

Aura is a roleplaying game about psychic kids discovering their powers while navigating the perils of a deeply dystopian world.

In Aura you play teens with psychic Gifts growing up in the ‘Free’ City of Vaude, a metropolis of uncertain location controlled by the Directorate of Public Security, whose sole mission is to protect Vaude from psychic terrorists. Now, as your Gifts begin to emerge you must learn to control your newfound powers while uncovering the deeper mysteries of your world.

Will you be a feisty telekinetic, a powerful ESP sensitive, a devious empath or a tortured metacognitive? But take care! The smallest slip-up risks revealing your true identity to the Directorate.

Perfect for fans of Stranger Things or Stephen King, players will have a choice of pre-generated characters and different starter adventures. Be a part of the first public playtest of Aura!

Player Capacity: 3 to 5, can extend to 6.
System: Aura.
System knowledge required: None, system will be taught during the session.
Rating: PG. In Aura you play teenaged characters who may find themselves in situations of peril. Aura draws upon the long tradition in popular culture of plucky kid heroes who overcome the forces of evil through wits, courage and looking out for each other. Every attempt will be made to ensure that sessions of Aura at Conquest 2025 will be safe and inclusive for all players.
Seriousness: Average (3/6).

By: Kettle and Clock

Autostede: Neon Badlands is a synthwave meets punk rock journey across an unforgiving wasteland inspired by Zoids, Mad Max and Horizon: Zero Dawn.

You play as a Drover, the pilot of a badass mechanical animal, modified to be a death machine. Forever on the path to the next town, taking whatever jobs you can get and killing anyone who stands in your way.

You’re not alone, though. The other players are the few that have stuck with you through countless impossible odds. Will you all find somewhere to rest and create a new bastion of peace in the wilderness? Or will the road be another one of your companions, finding the joy of adventure and exploration and never giving it up. The choice is yours, together.

Player Capacity: 3 to 6.
System: Autostede.
System knowledge required: None, system will be taught during the session.
Rating: M. Violence, body horror, pet death, capitalism.
Seriousness: Moderate, but on the less serious side (2/6).

Scenario By: GriffinMuffin

Los Angeles 2037. Wallace Corp have created a monopoly on manufacturing synthetic lifeforms known as replicants to be labourers to fuel the economy in this system. The Replicant Detection Agency is needed again to ensure the corporations assests are protected. But as a Blade Runner, you also have a case to solve.

Inspired by the Blade Runner series of movies, comics and books, Free League have created this rulebook for a great TTRPG experience. Play the roleplaying game that investigates the powers of empathy, the fears that poison minds, and the burden of being human in inhumane times. Become a Blade Runner and take on a case in your own way using your character’s skillset. You can choose either to be a replicant or a human. The events of the Blade Runner RPG are set between the events of both Blade Runner movies. The gameplay is centered around solving the case – but it’s not always about the case. You can explore the rich themes of the Blade Runner universe and your character can get closer to what it means to be human. Combat is deadly – gunfights and brawls often means someone leaves in a body bag. In this session, you will play an adventure or ‘case file’ whereby the Game Runner and the unique dice pool system will lead you through a series of scenes with rich roleplay.

The city of Los Angeles can be unforgiving.  But you’ve got a job to do. Time to live. Or time to die.

Player Capacity: 4.
System: Free League.
System knowledge required: None.
Rating: MA 15+. Adult themes, violence, investigation noire, classism, dehumanisation.
Seriousness: Moderate, leaning toward serious (4/6).

By: Paddy

Trace the life of a living town over generations, etching his history in waymarkers, epitaphs and unreliable memories. See how its brief residents change the land and each other.

Through the good years, the hard years and those crushingly desperate times that leave only scars and ghosts, see what is built and the memorial it makes.

Player Capacity: 4.
System: Custom.
System knowledge required: None, system will be taught during the session.
Rating: PG. Grief, dilapidation, passage of time, character death.
Seriousness: Average (3/6).

Scenario by: Henry

Working for the council has it’s own set of challenges, but cleaning up an abandoned property is all in a day’s work. Or is it?

The suburb of Footscray is on the up and up. Originally isolated on the West bank of the Maribyrnong, to becoming the home of many news waves of migration, and now more people are moving in every day. So when the council identifies a property that both appears to be abandoned *and* doesn’t appear to have any title records, it’s definitely worth a look. You have worked for the council in various roles, but today you’ve been assigned to investigate the property at Leunig Place.

The Boy in the Backyard is a modern scenario for Call of Cthulhu set in Melbourne for 4 to 6 players.

Player Capacity: 6, best with 4 to 6.
System: Call of Cthulhu.
System knowledge required: Low. Knowledge of system will add to the game, but is not required.
Rating: MA 15+. Horror themes: kidnap, torture, blood and gore.
Seriousness: Moderate, leaning toward serious (2/6).

Presented By: Hexxelia

Three years have passed since the Last Great War came to its brutal end. The invading forces of Otherwhere were annihilated in an event the world barely understands—a highly classified operation whispered of only as the Electric Event. Whatever power was unleashed that day left more than a scar upon the land. It lingers, warping the earth and those who remain.

Faireland’s countryside lies in ruin, its people left to scrape by in the shadow of Newfaire—a city of blinding lights and ceaseless innovation, where progress marches on without them. The Primacy has promised to rebuild, but promises do not fill empty stomachs or ward off the creeping dread that settles over the valley. Yet, one place stands apart. Soldier’s Sanctuary, once a remote military outpost, now a thriving marketplace, pulses with unnatural light. No lines to Newfaire’s power grid, no known source of energy—yet its streets shimmer, its homes glow, and its people move through the night unafraid.
Perhaps they should be.

Something festers in the Sanctuary. Graves have been defiled, people are vanishing and now, a man has died in a manner so grotesque, so inexplicable, that your Circle has been summoned to uncover the truth.

The Circle of Decaying Starlight, a group weaved together by the threads of fate must journey to the Haven Hills, where shadows stretch long, and secrets run deep. The death of merchant Hercule Valdis is only the beginning. What you find may be the answer you seek… or your final reckoning.

Candela Obscura is a narrative-driven, investigative horror game set in an alternative gothic, early 20th-century-inspired world filled with supernatural threats and arcane mysteries. The world is morally grey with a happy ending not always possible.

Setting: Players take on the roles of members of Candela Obscura, a secret society investigating and fighting supernatural horrors in the city of Newfaire and beyond.

Themes: Mystery, horror, occult investigations, and secret organizations battling dark forces.

Mechanics: Focuses on collaborative storytelling, investigative gameplay, and resource management, with a simple d6 dice pool system.

Character Roles: Choose one out of ten archetypes that define your investigative and combat skills, allowing you to interact with eldritch threats and uncover hidden truths. Each archetype has a pre-generated backstory woven into the plot and custom artwork to help you visualize.

Player Capacity: 3 to 5.
System: Candela Obscura.
System knowledge required: None.
Rating: M.
Seriousness: On the serious side (5/6).

Scenario By: Megan L

On a bright day in Newfaire, we see a bustling suburb called Groundswell. This district is based in the coastal wetlands that frequently reveal previously buried portions of Oldfaire. Because of this, numerous zones are off-limits to the public for preservation purposes. It is also home to a nationally renowned outdoor marketplace that hosts goods worldwide. The presence of historical artefacts makes this district a popular tourist destination.

But as members of Candela Obscura, you’re not here for leisurely sightseeing. A precious Oldfairen artefact has gone missing, and it’s up to your circle to determine whether supernatural phenomena are behind it.

Player Capacity: 2 to 4.
System: Illuminated Worlds System.
System knowledge required: None, system will be taught during the session.
Rating: MA 15+. Horror, violence.
Seriousness: On the serious side (5/6).

By: The Ravensridge Emporium

Cartograph is a solo / multiplayer map-making RPG about journaling, exploration, worldbuilding, and resource management. The core rules are easy to learn, and facilitate the creation of a world map through a variety of prompts and tables. By the end of a game, you will have produced a map of an unknown world, complete with a journal that details those places. This is a great artefact to use as a homebrew setting for your DnD 5e campaign, or other fantasy systems.

Cartograph is played over a series of turns. Each turn, you will roll your pool of dice onto your map page. Then, you will fill in the details your cartographer can survey about the area based on these rolls. You’ll pick your next destination, travel there, and draw a playing card to generate a prompt which will give you a few questions to answer in your journal and some context for the location. Then, you’ll manage your resources, before starting the cycle again!

In group play, players will embody a company of cartographers collaboratively exploring an unknown land with a collective goal in mind. Players will collaborate on worldbuilding, draw and expand a world map, and manage resources together.

Player Capacity: 1 to 5, best with 4.
System: Cartograph.
System knowledge required: None, system will be taught during the session.
Rating: G. Mild colonialist theme.
Seriousness: Moderate, but on the less serious side (2/6)

Scenario By: Dragyn Jane – Heavy Metal Gamemaster

Hymgard, a dystopian world still rising from the ashes of Ragnarok: The great battle of the Aesir & Jotun. In the wake of this battle, the surviving gods claimed mighty citadels across this barren wasteland, creating shining bastions of peace and order. But, where there is light, shadows will always linger.

In Chains of Fenrir, players take the role of a band of local fixers in Tord, a small timber and farming village on the border of Alfheim and Midgard, just beyond the shadow of Gleipsfjall, the shattered peak.

In the last few weeks, multiple night raids have been reported from many of the townsfolk, and they are arriving with increasing frequency. Whispers from the townsfolk speak of dark superstition, an old evil returning to take its revenge on the gods. Can you uncover this mystery before the people descend into madness and chaos? Well make yourselves comfortable and let us begin.

Chains of Fenrir is a 3-6 player story based in the developing world of Hymgard, utilizing the AGE system. It runs in a fairly standard TTRPG fashion and is suitable for new and experienced players alike.

Player Capacity: 3 to 6.
System: Fantasy Age.
System knowledge required: None. No system, or no system knowledge required.
Rating: PG. Violence.
Seriousness: Moderate, leaning toward serious (4/6).

Presented By: DDA – Dungeons and Dragons Australia

A Level 1 home brew D&D 5E adventure (2014)

You hail from a tiny village called Dustbowl. The growing season hasn’t been kind and your community is in real danger of starvation. As the most competent and healthiest of the village, you and your allies have been tasked with travelling to the closest town to earn gold.

Taking your few possessions, and the bulk of the remaining food, you set out, for Greenacres. Upon arrival, you notice there is also a very conspicuous humanoid, sitting atop a merchant wagon, who is eyeing you all off with an excited expression on their face… As you peruse the job board, the mysterious merchant approaches you and offers you something to help you in your tasks.

Player Capacity: 3 to 5.
System: D&D 5E (2014).
System knowledge required: Low. Knowledge of system will add to the game, but is not required.
Rating: M. Specific warnings will vary depending on the DDA Scenario.
Seriousness: Average (3/6).

Scenario by: Anthanum

LBB traveller one shot. Rekindle (or discover) your love for adventure in the stars 1970’s style. Bring yourself, a pencil, some d6 dice and a retro future attitude!

Do you yearn for the days when TTRPGs were so new they didn’t include an experience system? Are you passionate about playing a system in which your character can die in character creation? Are you amazed by a system that creates 40 year old veterans with two whole skills? If so, then the original late seventies little black book Traveller is the game for you. Join and we’ll weave a story of political intrigue, adventure and heroism. A space opera on a grand scale with galaxy spanning impacts.

Come for the Opera but stay for the Blues, that old Star Trigger Blues.

Player Capacity: 4 to 7, best with 6.
System: Classic Traveller.
System knowledge required: Low. Knowledge of system will add to the game, but is not required.
Rating: PG. Classic character death, politics, planetary destruction, genocide, simulated violence.
Seriousness: Average (3/6)

By: Scarlet Song

A Cosy TTRPG about Critter Life by an Enchanted Wood
(That May or May Not be Filled with Magical Spirits)

You are a group of Cottage Core Critters, anthropomorphic animals who have gotten away from a busier life to a small town in the countryside. The breeze is fresh, the meadow flowers go golden in the sunset and you and your cosy commune of Cottage Core Critters are living their lives merrily, likely preparing to enter one of your small town’s many seasonal festivals or events. Everything should be fine, as long as the things that have been going oddly bump in the night or the weird lights at the edge of the horizon in the woods by your cute little town mean nothing…right?

Find out more about Scarlet Song at her website:
https://www.scarletsong.com.au

Player Capacity: 4 to 5.
System: Cottage Core Critters.
System knowledge required: None, system will be taught during the session.
Rating: PG. Potential for cartoon violence.
Seriousness: Not very (1/6).

By: Chris

1963
Take on the role of Agent recruits for a secret organisation where you investigate and neutralise alien threats.
In this incursion, you have to infiltrate a Military Base, uncover an alien artefact, and eliminate any alien threats you encounter while minimising human casualties.

963 – Fantasy Roleplaying in the Dark Ages
You are young adventurers looking to make a name for yourself at the dawn of the Holy Roman Empire. Investigate mysteries and fight other worldly beings.
You awake in a small village where you live or were travelling through. The village is already buzzing with excitement and dread – a worker from a local mine has travelled three days to get here, wounded and exhausted. “Knockers have attacked the mine!”
The town elders call upon you to go and investigate and free the mine.

Player Capacity: 2 to 6, best with 4.
System: Dark Era RPG.
System knowledge required: None, system will be taught during the session.
Rating: PG. Violence, combat, horror.
Seriousness: Average (3/6).

By: Nicole

At 2:13 pm on March 15th, 1839, the sun and stars were stolen from the sky, leaving behind only the endless Dark. As men of science and learned sages scrambled for an answer, things began to creep out of the Dark: creatures of horror and nightmare, creatures of our new reality. Worse still, sometimes those who spent time in the Dark came back different, wielding strange powers but lacking in their humanity.

You are a Venturer. Someone bold enough, crazy enough and desperate enough to leave the safety of the Great Lanterns that protect the towns and travel into the Dark. Every time you leave town, you risk your life and your very humanity…you know it, and you still do it.

Whatever it is you seek in this Dark world, at the end of the day, it all comes down to one question: What will you risk, to achieve your goals?

DARK VIGIL is a game of psychological horror and survival in a Victorian-Era world perpetually shrouded in an unsettling darkness of unknown provenance.

Player Capacity: 2 to 6.
System: Fractal System.
System knowledge required: None, system will be taught during the session.
Rating: M. Body horror, corruption.
Seriousness: Moderate, leaning toward serious (4/6).

Presented By: DDA – Dungeons and Dragons Australia

A Level 1 D&D 5E adventure (2014)

The worn, muddy road leads you around a bend revealing an iron fence. It’s rusted frame encloses a large 4 story house and a few other dilapidated sheds beside it. Next to the entrance of the fence, you notice a young boy and girl clinging to each other. The girl shouts to you asking for help! “Please, you have to help us! Our parents and baby brother still inside our house with the monster. Our parents managed to lock the monster in the basement but they haven’t made it out yet. Please help them!”

Can you tame the monster in the basement? Can you save their parents?

Player Capacity: 3 to 5.
System: D&D 5E (2014).
System knowledge required: Low. Knowledge of system will add to the game, but is not required.
Rating: M. Specific warnings will vary depending on the DDA Scenario.
Seriousness: Average (3/6).

Scenario By: Shaun Hately

Not everything that happens can happen in the open. Secrets need to be kept and sometimes dark deeds are the only way that good things can be made to happen. Or at least that is what you have been told.

Can darkness really be a source of light? If the shadows of light are black, what colour are the shadows of darkness?

A scenario for Dragon Warriors by Shaun Hately.

Shaun Hately is the co-author of the Dragon Warriors Players Guide, and the sourcebook Friends or Foes.

Player Capacity: 4 to 7.
System: Dragon Warriors.
System knowledge required: Low. Knowledge of system will add to the game, but is not required.
Rating: G.
Seriousness: Average (3/6).

By: Daniel Ryan

A few years ago you discovered a new impossible metal. Alloyed with other metals it seemed able to do many previously impossible things. After the first successful Anti-gravity test you named the new metal Cavorite.

Its been a hectic few years. A new company built around applications for Cavorite. Flying cars, room temperature superconductors, force fields, combating climate change, and you’re pretty sure the “superhero” the media are talking about is one of you.

The science team is increasingly worried that they can’t tell why it works or explain the implications of all the physical laws Cavorite is breaking. And now increasing reports of strange phenonema. Is there a connection between the use of Cavorite and the rain of blood last week?

The world is at a crossroads and with a near monopoly on the impossible metal the five of you may well determine the future of humanity.

A rules light sci-fi drama for 5 players

Previously ran at Phenomenon 2018.

Player Capacity: 4 to 5.
System: Earthbones.
System knowledge required: None. No system, or no system knowledge required.
Rating: PG. No specific warnings but it’s a sci-fi game and things get a bit weird for a G.
Seriousness: On the serious side (5/6).

By: Into the Weird Blue Yonder

What lies between the worlds of memories and dreams? Reality. The War. A bloody, unending conflict that has consumed the entire world over generations.

In Echoes of Yesterday, player characters will contend with the brutality of the trenches as they investigate corruption, secret weapons and the arcane horrors that lie just beyond human comprehension. The game features the World Between, a unique dark fantasy setting inspired by the First World War and manifestations of hope and grief. It combines a simple, intuitive d20 system with innovations that underscore stories of survival, desperation and hope.

But don’t worry about all that, soldier. Even if it’s the last thing we do, we’ll show those Imperial bastards what the Alliance is made of!

Player Capacity: 3 to 5.
System: d20.
System knowledge required: None, system will be taught during the session.
Rating: M. War, violence.
Seriousness: Moderate, leaning toward serious (4/6).

Presented By: Tom P

The year is 1943. Europe is in flames. You are a unit of crack vampire commandos with a single objective: Drink all of Adolf Hitler’s blood and fatally destabilise the Nazi war machine. Ultraviolent and extremely fast paced, you’ll be playing pre-generated vampires killing boatloads of Nazis, werewolves and occult horrors.

Despite all that this game cares a great deal about safe play and consent, and although it is silly, be aware of what you’re getting into.

Player Capacity: 2 to 4, can extend to 5.
System: Eat the Reich.
System knowledge required: None. No system, or no system knowledge required.
Rating: MA 15+. Death, violence, grievous injury to player characters and non-player characters, blood, vampirism, mental domination, guns, animated corpses, werewolves, occult magic, fascism, Nazis, and Adolf Hitler.
Seriousness: Completely silly (0/6).

Presented by: Masters of Alchemy

Fiasco is an award-winning tabletop game by Bully Pulpit Games, where players get together and engineer stupid, disastrous scenarios with outlandish consequences. It is the ideal game for people looking for a collaborative storytelling experience, where everyone works together to create a dark comedy story somewhere at the intersection of Lust, Greed and fear.

Fiasco is not about playing hero, or even surviving, it’s about high stakes and low impulse control through a crash course of tragedy. Players get together and play in their own Cohen Brothers style movie, all in the time it would take to sit down and watch one.

Player Capacity: 4.
System: Fiasco.
System knowledge required: None. No system, or no system knowledge required.
Rating: PG.
Seriousness: Average (3/6).

By: Into the Weird Blue Yonder

Cross the blazing red plains…

Ascend the howling white pillars…

Sink into the creeping black abyss…

Step into a world of fire and stone.

Fire & Stone is a minimalist roleplaying game of stone, sorcery and grim psychedelia. Inspired by real-life prehistory and animistic beliefs, it invites players to explore a world of strange creatures, frightful caves, and spirits that beckon from just beyond the unexplored horizon.

Based on the elegant ‘Knave’ ruleset, Fire & Stone prioritises speed, simplicity and immersion in a Stone Age that could have been.

Survival is far from guaranteed. May the Spirits bless your hunt.

Player Capacity: Best with 3 to 5.
System: Based on the rules from Knave by Ben Milton.
System knowledge required: None, system will be taught during the session.
Rating: M. Violence, as well as the potential for mild gore, horror and survival themes and drug use.
Seriousness: Moderate, leaning toward serious (4/6).

Presented By: DDA – Dungeons and Dragons Australia

A Level 2 D&D 5E adventure (2014)

You and your friends have been called out to the old mining town of Iron’s Bend by your Great Grandfather. 

His summons is strange, and describes tales of some odd happens in town. Screams from the woods, cloaked figures speaking to the clergy, a strange fog blanketing the town and no one seems to notice or acknowledge these events.  

He believes sinister forces are at work and needs your help to investigate and stop it. 

Do you have what it takes? 

Player Capacity: 3 to 5.
System: D&D 5E (2014).
System knowledge required: Low. Knowledge of system will add to the game, but is not required.
Rating: M. Specific warnings will vary depending on the DDA Scenario.
Seriousness: Average (3/6).

Scenario By: Feathery Falling

In the future of the Forgotten Realms – where every dungeon has been plundered and monolithic nations have been built by retired adventurers – the people long for those simpler times, where any one of them could rise out of the mould as adventurers. This is where the Ancestry Arena comes in, a gladiator’s ring broadcasted via enhanced Arcane Eyes to give the people the nostalgic violence their imaginations hunger for.

Try out my homebrew subclasses in a bombastic gladiatorial battle, navigating the arena’s politics and each combatant’s motivations, while bringing your own magic to these pre-made characters along the way!

Player Capacity: 4 to 6.
System: D&D 5e (2014).
System knowledge required: Moderate. Basic understanding of the system is recommended.
Rating: M. Violence, potentially gore, and performance enhancing drugs as a plot point.
Seriousness: Average (3/6).

By: Karl David Brown

Gulliver’s Trading Company is a roleplaying game of exploration of strange lands in the 18th century. It is based on the classic satirical novel Gulliver’s Travels.

In this unwritten sequel to Gulliver’s Travels, Gulliver’s son organizes trading expeditions to the remote countries described in his father’s book.

It’s 1733 and King George II of England wants a Brobdingragian frog for the menagerie at the Tower of London. Dare you risk a landing on the dangerous land of giants? Can you capture the huge beast?

Player Capacity: 2 to 4.
System: Gulliver’s Trading Company.
System knowledge required: None. No system, or no system knowledge required.
Rating: G. Live animal capture.
Seriousness: Not Very (1/6).

Scenario By: Shaun Hately

When autumn’s breath turns crisp and cold,
And twilight paints the hills in gold,
Beware the hour, for she shall tread,
The path long lost where whispers spread.

A maid once torn from hearth and kin,
By fate or force, by guilt or sin,
Shall rise again, her tale unspun,
Beneath the stars, where shadows run.
When willows weep and rivers sigh,

And ravens pierce the ashen sky,
Her voice, like wind, shall call her name,
Yet none shall know from whence she came.
A mark upon her pale, white hand,

A token borne from fairy land,
Shall speak of woe, of fire, of tears,
The curse she wears, the weight of years.
And on that eve, the village stands,

With bated breath and trembling hands,
To greet the girl, yet not the same—
A ghostly echo wrapped in flame.
Take heed, ye folk, when she draws near,

For time unravels truth and fear.
The lost shall come, as tales foretell,
And bring with her both grace and hell.

A scenario by Shaun Hately, for the Jewelspider RPG.

Jewelspider is the new roleplaying game from Dave Morris, author of Dragon Warriors, Blood Sword, and Fabled Lands, set in the Lands of Legend.

Player Capacity: 4 to 5.
System: Jewelspider.
System knowledge required: None. No system, or no system knowledge required
Rating: PG. Horror, children in potential peril.
Seriousness: Moderate, leaning toward serious (4/6).

Scenario By: Jane Routley

1923  Tropical North Queensland.

Four hydrologists have arrived to examine the swamp near Charles Nettlefold’s sugar plantation. 

But all is not well among the cane fields.  A ghost haunts the banks of the swamp luring passersby to their doom. And during the sultry tropical nights something deadly crawls out of the water and prowls the grounds of house.  

Player Capacity: 4.
System: Call of Cthulhu
System knowledge required: Low. Knowledge of system will add to the game, but is not required.
Rating: M. Medium horror.
Seriousness: Average (3/6)

Presented By: Stephanie

Iron Valley is a collaborative TTRPG inspired by games like Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley using the Ironsworn system. Take on the role of someone moving into a small community and starting their life anew. We will be creating the world and the town and its characters together. This is a game about living a cozy life with good company, one day at a time.

Player Capacity: 1 to 3.
System: Iron Valley (Hack of Ironsworn).
System knowledge required: None, system will be taught during the session.
Rating: G.
Seriousness: Moderate, but on the less serious side (2/6).

By: Beau Hillier

The omniverse is open for business, and you hold the skeleton key.

‘Jaunt’ is a lightweight, mostly-diceless roleplaying game about travelling between dimensions. You are a jaunter, and you can set your own goals in an omniverse of infinite possibilities.

With your companions and your jauntbox, you can hop between parallel worlds and alternate timelines with ease. What will you do with this ability? And will you attract the ire of the authorities that have tasked themselves with controlling unsanctioned jaunters?

‘Jaunt’ is a custom system with no prior knowledge required. The session will begin with a beginner module designed to teach the system during play, and pre-generated characters will be provided.

Player Capacity: 2 to 4, can extend to 5.
System: Jaunt.
System knowledge required: None, system will be taught during the session.
Rating: G.
Seriousness: Not Very (1/6).

By: Jonathan @V2Sgames

ONE OF YOU IS THE KING. The rest of you are either going to try to assassinate them or rat out the conspirators. Who can you trust? Who’ll be left standing? Who will be king?

The King’s Poisoner is a new pick-up-and-play tabletop roleplaying game of conspiracy & courtly intrigue for 3–8 players.

And this year:
WELCOME TO THE GREAT GAME. As well as individual games each day, this year will feature a 3.5-hour tournament-style event. Special offers will be available for entrants and prizes awarded to finalists!

Politics in the Empire is a bloody beast. Gossip & rumor fill its lungs to bursting, while it sniffs out promises or favors no one knew were there, especially their owners. Intrigue however, is what beats its callous heart. The High King maintains a grip on it for now, but that can’t last. Someone will try to wrest it from them, will it be you?

You’re a king, or an influential member of their court, in one of the kingdoms that make up this great Empire. You’re either going to try to assassinate the High King or rat out the conspirators and save them—if you can make it to their table. Who will you trust? What will you dare? Who will be the King of Kings!

The King’s Poisoner is a thrilling out-of-the-box tabletop roleplaying game of love, loyalty, ambition & murder. With no preparation and no game master, 3–8+ players can learn as they go, scheming unforgettable stories in 1-2 hours that will keep everyone guessing right to the very end!

Player Capacity: 2 to 8 per table. Best with 7 + facilitator.
System: The King’s Poisoner.
System knowledge required: None.
Rating: M. Themes include poison, intrigue, romance, regicide, and murder.
Seriousness: Moderate, but on the less serious side. (2/6).

By: Logan Timmins

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there lived the knights. Their armour gleamed in the noonday sun, their swords arched like dancers, and their shields stood firm like old, old trees. A knight’s life was simple. They had but one true task – adhere to the Oath. On any quest – adhere to the Oath. At home and abroad – adhere to the Oath.

But hark friends, sometimes one task is as difficult as many. For while a knight’s life may seem simple, truly it is not. Every tale of knights and their quests is troubling. Every tale of knights and their quests is full of strife. For when steel comes to steel, and mettle to mettle, a knight and their Oath are put to the test. And sometimes a clear task becomes very murky indeed.

A Knight’s Oath is a new game about rigidity, moral greys, and choosing who you want to be.

Player Capacity: 3 to 5.
System: Powered by the Apocalypse inspired.
System knowledge required: None, system will be taught during the session.
Rating: PG. Fantasy violence.
Seriousness: Moderate, leaning toward serious (4/6).

Presented By: DDA – Dungeons and Dragons Australia

A Level 2 D&D 5E adventure (2014)

The infamous Shadow Mage; a thief of otherworldly skill and talents has finally made a slip-up, and their location has been found. 

You and your companions are tasked by the retired guard captain to head to the thief’s lair and bring them to justice by any means necessary. 

Are you up to the challenge of storming the lair of a master criminal, without knowing what sort of riches may lay at the end?

Player Capacity: 3 to 5.
System: D&D 5E (2014).
System knowledge required: Low. Knowledge of system will add to the game, but is not required.
Rating: M. Specific warnings will vary depending on the DDA Scenario.
Seriousness: Average (3/6).

By: Lucienne Impala

Legend of the Hidden Folk is a fantasy roleplaying game, filled with magic and whimsy. You have been pulled into the world of the Hidden Folk, and tasked stopping the dreaded Shadowrealm from bleeding into their world and destroying it.

A rules lite, narrative heavy game, where you can choose to use the magic of the world, or the magic of human memory, to enact change in the world around you.

Player Capacity: 4.
System: Legend of the Hidden Folk.
System knowledge required: None, system will be taught during the session.
Rating: M. In the case of typical fae shenanigans.
Seriousness: Moderate, but on the less serious side (2/6).

Presented By: Anestis

You are a team in the Smertios Security Border Control division of the Consotium, stationed on Abnoab. One day is pretty much the same as any other: Security checks on people coming into Abnoab.

However, today you have been told that a Resistance unit is intending to land on Abnoab.

But let’s be honest, the big-wigs are always saying something of the sort, and the Open Tech security technology does its job well, and Opentech have spared no expense to lockdown this port.

So, just do your job and detain anyone who may be suspicious.

Just another day in the Consotium, right?

Player Capacity: 4 to 6.
System: ERA: The Consortium.
System knowledge required: None, system will be taught during the session.
Rating: PG. Violence.
Seriousness: Moderate, but on the less serious side (2/6).

Scenario By: JoeKano

It is the 41st Millennium. For the people of the Imperium of Man justice is represented by…well not a lot really, lets be honest. Their lives are grim and regimented and strict. To be a man in such times is to be one amongst untold billions. It is to live in the cruelest and most bloody regime imaginable.

This is the tale of those times. It is also a chance to begin anew, as you put aside your old life for the chance to start anew upon another world being repopulated by millions of millions of new colonists…

Player Capacity: 6.
System: Savage Worlds Adventure Edition SWADE.
System knowledge required: Low. Knowledge of system will add to the game, but is not required.
Rating: M. It is set in Grim Dark of Warhammer 40K.
Seriousness: Moderate, but on the less serious side (2/6).

Presented By: Stevie

The Melbourne Queer TTRPG Community is a place where queer players can hang out, play Micro TTRPGs designed by Australian queer designers, and find out more about the group.

Scheduled games this year will include:

Saltfish and Almanacs
Sell your wares on a seasonal journey full of wonder and self-discovery. Saltfish & Almanacs is a storytelling RPG about a merchant company embarking on their yearly journey through new and familiar places. You and your fellow merchants travel in different directions around the same route, experiencing life on the road and discovering the mark the others have made on their visit. As you buy and sell goods, you’ll craft your own story of discovery, love, passion, and what it means to be parted. How will your journey change you?
3-4 players. 3 hours to play.

Spaceship Q
You are a group of queer space merchants, specialising in package delivery across the galaxy. As you’re on your way home from your latest job, you receive a distress signal from a famous tour ship of drag performers. It looks like they need your help…
Uses the Lasers and Feelings system by John Harper.
3-6 players. 2-3 hours to play.

Casual games this year will include:

Fates Less Known
Fates Less Known is a cozy, no prep, duet Tarot-based TTRPG designed to tell love stories. In this game, one player takes on the role of the Seeker who is looking for their unique version of love, whether it be romantic, platonic, or something wonderfully different. They go to see the Oracle, a seer of the future things to come. Together, you will play through three evocative scenes, revealing the fates of these lovers.
2-players. 15-45 minutes to play.

Murder! Divining a Mystery
You are a detective, with an unusual tool to help you solve the unsolvable. Use your paper fortune teller to solve a murder. Deduce the motive and use the symbols on your fortune teller to solve the crime and bust the case wide open! Narrate the entire story using your fortune teller to guide you. Create a story as long or as short as you like!
2-6 players. 10-30 minutes to play.

Player Capacity: 2 to 6 (check each game).
System knowledge required: None.
Rating: PG. Games will contain queer themes.
Seriousness: Moderate, but on the less serious side (2/6).

Presented By: Jadedsynic

It’s 30 minutes before your night courses begin. Tonight is literature and poetry, with a side of exploring your new “Mortally Challenged” status. (Most people would just call you a monster.)

The problem is that you’re also pretty sure a werewolf ate your homework. Ms. Carnstein, tonight’s course convenor, has thrown people out of her course for less than late homework. It’s worse since it’s exam period, and worse still that she has a beef with the drama teacher, Ms. Talbot, whose class you have next. You could keep your head down and not triangulate yourself… but there’s fresh tea to spill, and you and your dorm mates are close enough to get first dibs.

With Monsterhearts, you only need to worry about two six-sided dice and whatever’s on the character sheet. That’s all you need to play this game about hormonal teenage monsters navigating school, their monster lives, and the odd disaster-queer romance.

Player Capacity: 4.
System: Monsterhearts 2E.
System knowledge required: Low. Knowledge of system will add to the game, but is not required.
Rating: M. Blood, horror themes, and abuse of teacher/student dynamics.
Seriousness: Average (3/6).

Scenario By: Jenny

*(Beginner-friendly – premade characters and reference sheets will be provided.)*

You are a cyberpunk—a desperate individual with valuable skills, willing to put your life on the line in exchange for cash, reputation, or leverage.

This mission focuses on obtaining Avalon International’s potential hover truck routes and looting a hover truck for everything inside. Avalon International is a monopoly controlling the manufacturing and distribution of everyday cyberware, as well as experimental cyberware that is sold to the highest bidder.

NEON CITY OVERDRIVE is a fast-paced RPG of cyberpunk action. With its focus on story and action, character creation is quick, and the rules are easy to learn. Create any kind of cyberpunk character you want and dive into the action within minutes. The game uses a simple and intuitive D6 dice pool system.

Player Capacity: 2 to 4.
System: Neon City Overdrive.
System knowledge required: None, system will be taught during the session.
Rating: M. Possible graphic descriptions of violence and crime.
Seriousness: Moderate, but on the less serious side (2/6).

By: GM Age

‘AGE OF ADVENTURE RPG’ is a one-page rules-light fantasy hack of the ‘Lasers & Feelings’ d6 dice pool system.

“You are a member of an adventuring party undertaking a dangerous and heroic quest in a world of magic, might and monsters! Be prepared for some old school fun as you dice with death in search of fortune and glory! So grab your pack, sharpen your sword and ready your spells. Now Onward To Adventure!”

There will be 36 pre-generated characters to choose from. https://bit.ly/3UouZIi
Each session will be a stand-alone adventure.
Returning players (characters) from last year welcome.

Game system info available on Itch.io:
https://adrian-young-games.itch.io/age-of-adventure-rpg

Player Capacity: 2 to 4.
System: Age of Adventure.
System knowledge required: None, system will be taught during the session.
Rating: PG. Potential character death.
Seriousness: Moderate, leaning toward serious (4/6).

By: ElastomeRPGs

A librarian casually walks through a construction zone as it collapses around her, confident in the predetermined knowledge that she will make it through safely. A young boy sneaks out from home, knowing that something dark is following him, and he can’t let it come close to the people he cares about. A teacher snaps from their trance at the desk heading their classroom, with only seconds to act before danger befalls the school.

Precogniscients. Those who have seen a great tragedy before it strikes. Those blessed with the ability to glimpse into the future and, if they’re reckless or brave enough, change it. A tragedy approaches, the Deadline is on the horizon and only your gift can hope to stop it.
See the future. Save the future.

Precogniscience (or simply Precog), is an improv-heavy tabletop role playing game where you and your friends take the role of average people who are suddenly struck with visions of a great calamity known as the Deadline. Along with this warning, you now bear strange powers of clairvoyance to predict the future between then and now. With this gift, the responsibility falls on you to put a stop to this event while balancing you daily life and commitments.

Player Capacity: 2 to 4, extending to 6.
System: Precogniscience.
System knowledge required: None. No system, or no system knowledge required.
Rating: G.
Seriousness: Moderate, but on the less serious side (2/6).

By: Steve Dee (Tinstar Games)

Players take the roles of fallen angels, trapped on earth now that the gates to heaven have closed forever. Powerful celestial items are scattered through human history, and the cold war between light and dark has turned into a mad arms race. Control the Relics and you control the world – but first, you must find them.

Player Capacity: 2 to 5, best with 4.
System: Fugue, Relics.
System knowledge required: None, system will be taught during the session.
Rating: M. Religion, supernatural themes.
Seriousness: Moderate, but on the less serious side (2/6).

Scenario by: Khaine

DEAD NO LONGER! The Drakon, long thought extinct by the Scalebane plague that was released upon the world centuries ago, have seemed to have re-appeared. For some of you, one manifested from the shadows before you, snatching the blue dragon you worked so hard to trap, and an ally who held the prison.

For others, the Town of Fulgrim was found to not only be a hideout for one of the many cults of the Lord of Oozes, but insead a township in his honour, and fought through the gates to bring them down.

Others still further explored the collapsed Lair, finding not only the Soul Prism of the Commandant of the Blue Order, but a darkness that calls out in sickly sweet tones, testing the fabrics of your soul.

What path do you now follow, adventurer? Does your journey continue as you hoped? Or do you find yourself upon a new path, with consequences awaiting you with baited breath?

Join me once again, delve further into the world of Tyrell, and discover what awaits you within the Lair of the Blue Order!

Part 1 was run at Conquest 2022, part 2 at Conquest 2023. Previous participation is not required for this game

Player Capacity: 5, can extend to 7.
System: Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition.
System knowledge required: Low. Knowledge of system will add to the game, but is not required.
Rating: PG. Violence, coarse language, slight horror themes.
Seriousness: Average (3/6).

Scenario By: Henry

The Dark Caribbean is a place of water, blood and death. Life is cheap but fortunes can be made. Maybe it was the Devil’s luck, maybe it was just fate, but a night of drink and cards in the wrong bar left you press ganged and on the Dauntless bound for Nassau. Looking back, that was the easy part of the journey…

Two days from port a storm struck, the Dauntless sank and now you are marooned on a jungle island somewhere in the Caribbean. And at night the dead are restless. There is an upside though: sticking up out of the sand is a skeletal arm. And at the end of the arm is a hand. And in the hand at the end of the arm poking out of the sand there is a map. Who knows where it will lead?

Pirate Borg is a game of pirates, treasure, and the undead built on the Mörk Borg ruleset. This introduction to the game will have you fight, drink, dig for buried treasure and try and escape a jungle island to the slightly more dangerous pirate capital of Nassau. Welcome to the Dark Caribbean!

Player Capacity: 6.
System: Pirate Borg.
System knowledge required: None, system will be taught during the session.
Rating: PG. Mild horror: zombie pirates, violence.
Seriousness: Not very (1/6).

Presented By: William Arnott

You are a dark elf. Your home, the towering city of Spire, was occupied by the high elves two hundred years ago.

Now, you have joined a secret organisation known as the Ministry, a paramilitary cult with a single aim – to overthrow the cruel high elves and restore the drow as the rightful rulers of the city.

Spire is a fantasy-punk RPG about rebellion, brutality and oppression. What – or who – will you sacrifice to achieve your aims? Will you evade the attention of the authorities, or end up shot in the street like so many before you?

Player Capacity: 3 to 5.
System: Spire: The City Must Fall.
System knowledge required: None, system will be taught during the session.
Rating: MA 15+. Fantasy racism, slavery, imperialism, colonialism, blood, corpses, violence, spiders, cannibalism, drugs.
Seriousness: Moderate, leaning toward serious (4/6).

By: Michael Coxon

Space opera sci fi setting far of in space and time. Be part of a crew of expert misfits as you solve mysteries, battle some extremely ugly aliens, and stop things crashing into planets. Very flexible skill-based rules system.

Play one of six one-shot adventures, sign up for a second session to play another!

1. Explore a previously lost spaceship for the cause of its demise.
2. Find out how and why a scientist on a remote station was murdered.
3. Steal something from one criminal gang for the benefit of another.
4. Find the lost, idiot heir of a Monarchrate Duke amid a fast-spinning disk of debris around a white dwarf star.
5. Escape from being stranded on a crashing space station.
6. Go back to the den of scum and villainy, a water logged habitat-town on a desolate world to get what was stolen from you.

Player Capacity: 3 to 8.
System: Striker.
System knowledge required: None.
Rating: M. Sci Fi horror, some violence.
Seriousness: Average (4/6).

 Scenario by: Daz

“Lovers, are you reaaaddyy to ruuumble?” an announcer calls out.

You squint as a spotlight turns on overhead and find yourself standing awkwardly on a pedestal facing the most gorgeous person you’ve ever seen. You can see the rest of your party are in similar positions in a circle around them, all as entranced by their beauty as you are.

“Folks, it’s looking like it’s going to be an intense first round here; will these lucky contestants find their Happily Ever After?”

–

Are you interested in telling queer stories? Do you want to destroy any injustices you come across with a sword, erotic tension, and just a little bit of awkward pining?

Then look no further than Thirsty Sword Lesbians, a Powered by the Apocalyse RPG where your party uses swords/magic/seduction to solve any problem you come across.

Player Capacity: 4 to 6.
System: Thirsty Sword Lesbians (Powered By The Apocalypse).
System knowledge required: None, system will be taught during the session.
Rating: PG.
Seriousness: Not very (1/6).

By: Kaylan

In a world where the strange intrudes upon the familiar and anyone could be more than just mundane, our players are tasked with preserving the balance between the supernatural and mortal worlds. This is a world where people vie for control through the use of politics and occult power. It’s a world where your local coffee shop could be run by a vampire, where the police might be under the thumb of wizards, where dangerous creatures hunt for prey in parks and demons make deals with the unwary.

These Wicked Streets is an urban fantasy tabletop role playing game of narrative permission. Abilities aren’t locked behind level ups – everything on your character sheet is available, if you’re willing to pay the price. This is a game where you’ll have to decide how far you’re willing to go – how much you’re willing to lean into your own darkest impulses – in order to achieve your goals.

Player Capacity: 2 to 4.
System: Powered by the Apocalypse.
System knowledge required: None, system will be taught during the session.
Rating: M. Not suitable for children. May contain violence, coarse language, sexual references, adult themes and/or drug use (depending on and negotiated at the table).
Seriousness: On the serious side (5/6).

By: Friends of The Table.

Those Who Dare is an immersive roleplaying game that transports players through pivotal moments in history, allowing them to embody daring characters with rich storytelling, smooth mechanics and approachable gameplay. 

The team will be rotating through different one-shot scenarios, to be announced soon. Watch this space!

Player Capacity: 2 to 6, best with 3 to 5.
System: Those Who Dare.
System knowledge required: None, system will be taught during the session.
Rating: PG. Combat, conflict, war scenes, medicinal drug use.
Seriousness: Average (3/6).

Scenario By: chrispychickin

Vaesen is a rules-light, Victorian era, investigation game that is easy to learn and allows players to guide the gothic narrative. As characters with “the sight” you will seek to identify and appease a supernatural entity that is causing grave concerns for a riverside community.

Our story takes us to Essex, in the year 1851 … where there is Trouble in Tilbury!

Player Capacity: 2 to 5.
System: Vaesen.
System knowledge required: None, system will be taught during the session.
Rating: PG. Mild gothic horror.
Seriousness: Average (3/6).

By: Stellarworks RPG

Bushrangers! Bolters! Duffers! Outlaws of all kinds.

Wild and Colonial is a table top adventure and places you in a fictionalized 1800s Australia where the law is brutal, people are tough and monsters lurk in the unexplored bushland. You’ll be playing the ‘Thunder’n Rail’ campaign, so gear up and get your gang ready because soon enough a train will come roaring down the tracks with enough wealth to set up for life.

Will you derail the locomotive? Hold the crew at gun point? Sneak or charm your way to the front carriage, or does the sunburnt new world have other plans for you? Guns, magic and loot await.

Player Capacity: 2 to 6.
System: D12 Dice System.
System knowledge required: None, system will be taught during the session.
Rating: M. This game contains descriptions of blood, violence, guns, and colonialism.
Seriousness: Not very (1/6).