The Artificer's Aviary

RPG system: LARP
Participants: 11 players

By

Retford Moot A (2022), Retford Hotel, Retford, Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom

Megan Jones

Description

1887, in a fantastical world with some superficial similarities to Victorian London. The once-famous artificer houses who created intelligent Automata for the stage and travelling sideshows have fallen into disrepute following a terrible scandal. Meanwhile, a network of their discarded creations, known only as the Aviary, attack their creators from the shadows, and threaten to spill their secrets. Now, the government have announced their intention to ban the creation of intelligent Automata entirely. For the first time since its creation, the Aviary must meet in person. But there are more people at the meeting than are in the network… and fewer Automata than there should be.

The Artificer’s aviary is a steampunk game of interpersonal conflict, secrets and magic. The setting is aesthetically similar to Victorian London, but with significant differences in history, and an entirely different magic/theological system, reminiscent of Terry Pratchett’s Small Gods. This is a typical UK freeforms-style game, with pre-cast characters and no workshopping. There is a fair amount of reading pre-game (about 10 sides of A4 background, 10 sides of A4 character sheet).

Themes of necromancy (including human and animal sacrifice) are largely unavoidable in this game, so if this would bother you, this is not the game for you. This game also has no romance plots, so be aware if romance is an important part of your game.

Played at