Tabletop RPG Night w/ Side Quest Books & Games

Join us for an evening of tabletop RPGs to beat the winter blues! We have an exciting roster of festive facilitated and GM-less games, so snag a ticket for your adventure of choice, and we'll see you there!

ABOUT THE FACILITATED GAMES

Yazeba’s Bed and Breakfast is a whimsical and semi-cozy game, set in — you guessed it — a bed and breakfast. You’ll play as pre-created characters, the residents and guests of the B&B, who are all super unique and a little wild. This is considered a legacy game, where the story (called chapters) are contained to the time we play, but the choices we make as the characters impact future plays of the game.

Run by Jade

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Under the Autumn Strangely is a storytelling game of pastoral horror priming with anachronistic Americana set in a land that Never Was.

Inspired by "Over the Garden Wall" created by Patrick McHale, players collaboratively create a world uncanny and old. Codify and encourage tonal clash as the Three Roles meld whimsy, autumnal melancholy, and dread.

Take a wrong turn on a dusty road. Follow the sign past the red barn with peeling paint. Doubt your senses.

Get a little lost.

Welcome to the Never Was.

Run by Paula

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Damn the Man, Save the Music (https://turtlebun.itch.io/damntheman) brings us a game inspired by movies like Empire Records, Dazed & Confused, and other 90s cult classics. In this winter edition, you’ll play as a crew of store employees at the local record store. It’s the big holiday event with the washed up rocker making their big comeback event at YOUR STORE! Will you survive the day? Come find out as we dive into Damn the Man, Save the Music!

Run by Eric

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Punks Are Never Home Alone: A cyberpunk kids on bikes genre mashup holiday story set in the world of Android and for the Genesys RPG system.

In New Angeles, the biggest city in human history and home of the most powerful megacorps to ever exist, an unlikely crew of kids from vastly different walks of life are left on their own during the Festivale de Pase del Nino—a local Christmas celebration and parade. Little do they know that the Haas-Bioroid megacorp has sent Loss Prevention Agents to retrieve their self-aware AI toy pal, Dinosaurus, and the youthful crew being all by themselves at their “secret” hangout during the chaotic festivities is the perfect opportunity to bring this contract home. At the same time, little do the Loss Prevention Agents know that punk kids are never home alone.

Punks Are Never Home Alone is a story about community and kids learning that the family they build can be stronger even than the family they’re born into. This adventure presents a two-fold twist on Genesys gameplay as it introduces newly developed Kids on Bikes subgenre themed mechanics and talents from the still in progress splat, You Punk Kids!, while emphasizing collaborative worldbuilding as players create local NPCs during a “fort building” process. A selection of six pregens, including the self-aware toy, Dinosaurus, will be provided to choose from and players need only bring enthusiasm and imagination to the session. Vibe track: Community Love Song by Moon Bandits [https://open.spotify.com/track/6hzNofzayyRc1VnGHCzDaU?si=2ce9db79a2dd42b1]

Run by Micah

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ABOUT THE GM-LESS GAMES

The Quiet Year

The Quiet Year is a map game. You define the struggles of a community living after the collapse of civilization, and attempt to build something good within their quiet year. Every decision and every action is set against a backdrop of dwindling time and rising concern.

The game is played using a deck of cards – each of the 52 cards corresponds to a week during the quiet year. Each card triggers certain events – bringing bad news, good omens, project delays and sudden changes in luck. At the end of the quiet year, the Frost Shepherds will come, ending the game.

The Quiet Year occupies an interesting space – part roleplaying game, part cartographic poetry.

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For the Queen is a card-driven collaborative storytelling game that invites you to tell a dramatic narrative about a Queen’s journey with you, her companions. What will you learn about her (and yourself) along the way? And in the end, will you stand for or against her?

Get started by choosing your Queen from among 25 lavishly illustrated Queen cards—or create your own! Launch into gameplay in minutes with the guided Rules cards, then read and answer the Question cards to develop a world, your characters, and their relationships with each other and the Queen. Ultimately, answer the final question: when your Queen is attacked, do you defend her?

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ABOUT THE EVENT

• Games will get fully underway by 6:30, and will end around 9:30.
• Materials will be provided for all games.
• Parking around Union Square can be tough. Please take public transport if you're able — the Union Square T stop is less than 10 minutes away, and there are several bus stops near by. If you need to drive, there is paid parking on Somerville Ave until 8pm, at which point it's free.
• Upstairs at Bow is the second-floor event space at Bow Market in Union Square in Somerville. To get there, walk up the Bow Market driveway, go to the lobby past Rebel Rebel on your right, and go up either the elevator or the stairs. The entrance to Upstairs is to your right.
• Masks are optional, but please let us know and stay home if you're feeling unwell.
• Drinks are available from Nook, the bar associated with Upstairs. (Please do get a drink, alcoholic or otherwise! We have a minimum to meet!) Food from Bow Market vendors can be brought in.

Host or Publisher Side Quest Books & Games