I’ve just received the latest draft of the Grand Strategy ruleset from Dillon, so that’s been updated in the GS section of the BoD page. If you’re going to be in the Grand Strategy, you may want to check up on the changes.

In order to set the right tone, we encourage you to get into character, and, more importantly, to get into costume. How much are we going to encourage you? The Buckets of Dice subcommittee is dedicating one of their prizes to the winner of the BODGSCC. Dress nice and you may just walk home with a shiny new RPG or board game.

Here’s the rules: the theme is pretty fluid, as long as it’s suitably science-fiction. Weapons (fake or not) are discouraged. Dillon Burke, the Master of Ceremonies for Sun & Starship, will be the judge of best costume.

If you have any questions, please contact us at: bod@saga.org.nz

Exclamation mark!

I have been given special permission by The Computer to run a short campaign of Paranoia (2nd ed) on Thursdays at our regular Saga meeting, starting on the 12th of April with I am looking for 4-5 players.

Paranoia is a world of fun and excitement, not fear and ignorance at all (such rumours are treason, punishable by summary execution) The Computer says so. Doubting The Computer is treason. All citizens of Alpha Complex are treated to a life of mandatory happiness and are relieved of all the pressures and hard decisions of life in the old reckoning by their friend The Computer, who provides for all their needs. Even the pressures to reproduce are removed by perfect cloning technology which almost never produces mutants, which is convenient given that being a mutant is treason, yet another gift bestowed by the benevolence of The Computer.

Player characters are ‘troubleshooters,’ whose job it is, mostly, to find trouble and shoot it. The Computer, in its wisdom, provides a red laser pistol to assist with this. Being a mutant or a member of a secret society is Treason (obviously if The Computer or other player characters discover that you are both of these you would be summarily executed; failure to report treason is treason).

You will also be sent on fun missions with high chances of promotion and no chance of failure, unless commie traitors prevent success, since the wise Computer would never send troubleshooters on a mission which they would be unable to complete. Would you doubt The Computer?

If you have a game running that Tuesday, you may wish to re-locate.

SAGA and the University of Canterbury Science Fiction Society present Avengers Private Screening + Food + Games + stuff. Rock on up from 5pm for gaming and dinner (read: pizza), then accompany us to our own private screening of Avengers on the big screen.

Attendance limited to SAGA/Sci-Fi Soc members, cover charge $15. For more info, see Facebook.

We encourage you to bring along a gold coin donation to the club, and we’ll be running the SAGA Inc. Fruit Initiative once again.

SI-FI

SI-FI, or the Saga Inc. Fruit Initiative, is a simple scheme to get our young and growing gamers eating healthier. If you want to see people eating healthier, pledge some money (every bit helps) to SI-FI before the event and see that glowing cash get turned into healthy, ripe fruit. Every cent pledged to SI-FI will be put into buying fruity snacks for our gamers, offered free to all attendees. A little fruit goes a long way!

You can pledge money to SI-FI by:

• Emailing sifi@saga.org.nz with your name and the amount you wish to pledge.
• Posting on the event wall on Facebook.
• Getting a SAGA committee member to record your details.

You can get your money to SAGA by giving the cash to one of the above-linked Committee members.

Games for Minicon

GMs! Minicon is a great chance to try out that system or scenario you’ve been wanting to run! Got a system you haven’t had the chance to play yet? Run it as a one-off without the usual pressure of a convention slot! Got an adventure you’re making for Buckets of Dice in June? Test it here! There are never too many GMs, so come along with your game and make Minicon awesome.

If you’re on Facebook, make sure you join up on the event to receive more news as it comes.

There are undergraduates on campus, University staff are drinking more, and all those couches you see on the side of the road around Ilam have disappeared, which can only mean one thing: term has started! As is usual, SAGA Inc. is starting off the year with a number of events to get our new members settled in to the club as a whole. Here’s a lineup of what we have planned:

Board games and barbecue

Saturday February 25

Come along to our place from 1pm for a round of board gaming followed by various charred meats at 5pm. Vegetarian and gluten-free options available. For more information, contact promotions.

SAGA Inc. Intro Nights

Tuesday February 28, Thursday March 1

KH07 and KH08, Kirkwood Village

Our first official booking of the year is reserved for introductions. Get to know the committee, and partake in some of the games that SAGA has to offer. If you’re thinking of running a campaign this year, this is the best time to advertise it and recruit new players.

Intro nights officially start at 6pm, but I imagine we’ll actually be introducing ourselves and setting things up around 6:30pm. If you turn up early on the Tuesday, we’ll rope you into our Special General Meeting to decide on a Quartermaster for the year! How exciting is that?