On the 17th May 2023 we ran the third Pulp Alley gaming day at Geek Retreat in Harrogate. The theme of the day was Gothic Horror!

I resurrected a terrain board that I had made 20 years ago when I was writing the monthly terrain making column in Harbringer magazine, years before laser cutters and 3D printers had even been invented!!

The Frankenstein’s Laboratory scenario was adapted from David Phipps ‘The Lair of the Worm‘ which originally featured Vikings, Nordic Townsfolk and Monks and spooky happenings in the grounds of an Abbey.

We modified it for the smaller 2′ square terrain board by drawing scenario cards for clues & events if you were more than 4″ from another character when you activated.

The ‘Monster’ was pretty tough, 5D10 brawl, so it was never good when you drew the Lying in Wait (It’s behind you!) card.

In this game, eventually ‘Val the Vampire Slayer’ shows the monster the sharp end of ‘Mr Pointy’… moments after it had torn her Watcher to pieces.

An adaptation of ‘The Hijacker’s’ Scenario from the China Station Scenario book features a desperate chase with the good guys (and gals) in a Hansom Cab trying to catch up with a Horse drawn Hearse carrying Vampires in coffins!

This was an exciting game with various tactics deployed through out the day.

The Hansom Cab is just about to catch up and the brave heroes attempt to jump between the two moving vehicles!

This game was set in a deserted Abbey surrounded by creepy forests.

The scenario we used here was Scenario of the Month 38, ‘Devils Bargain’. Most of the characters are being entertained and eventually drugged and bound by there hosts leaving the leagues leaders to mount a rescue mission.

Dave brough a fantastic new scenario for us to try out that was based on the HP Lovecraft ‘Rats in the wall’ story.

The scenario reminded me a bit of the classic ‘Talisman’ board game. Characters needed to move around the outside areas, drawing encounter cards if areas were empty before moving to even more dangerous encounters with cannibal cultists in the inner passageways before getting to the encounter with the ‘big bad’ in the centre room.

I really enjoyed trying the scenario out. Looks like Val the Vampire Slayer is about to move into the crypt for the final show down!

The final board featured action in the grounds of a beautiful but deadly manor house grounds.

Looks like it was being plagued with lots of Zombies!

The day was a big success, most of us played three different games of Pulp Alley against different opponents using different scenarios. Previous Pulp Alley days had been themed around Space Opera and 1920’s-40’s Pulp action, which illustrates the flexibility and versatility of the Pulp Alley rules.

To find out more about Pulp Alley, take a look at my ‘What is Pulp Alley’ blog by clicking this link.