[Churchofgaming] The Cog, January 2012

[lev at rpgreview.net]

The CoG : The Church of Gaming Newsletter, January 2012
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The Church of Gaming Newsletter has had several quiet months. OK, make
that over a year. But there's nothing like a new year to get things going.
It's almost like a resolution or something! Anyway, here's a month's worth
of activities and more.


Saturday January 7 : Star Voyager at ACMI : Exploring space on screen
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A very sound suggestion by Karl and Liz!

Journey through the fact and fiction of space exploration from Fritz Lang
to the moon landing, to Star Trek and Total Recall.

ACMI presents the world premiere of Star Voyager: Exploring  Space on
Screen, a major exhibition charting the history and future of
space exploration as experienced through the moving image.

>From early films by Fritz Lang and Georges Méliès, through to  footage of
the 1969 moon landing and recent films such as the Alien series, Moon and
Sunshine, the moving image has allowed us to experience what most of us
can only dream of.

Combining scientific and documentary footage with feature films  and video
artwork, the Star Voyager exhibition celebrates an enduring fascination
with space travel through the imaginations of artists,
scientists and astronauts.

Enjoy a rare opportunity to see real NASA artefacts used in space plus
film production materials, including costumes from Star Trek, AustinPowers
and Total Recall.

The exhibition also features an exciting new work, developed here in 
Melbourne, allowing visitors to explore the surface of Mars in 3D.

Meet at the ACMI Lounge at 11 am for 15min then will proceed to the exhibit.

ACMI Federation Square, Flinders Street, Melbourne
Full Price $16.50 Concession $12


Sunday January 8th and January 22nd : Pathfinder Planescape and Dark Heresy
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Two of our very successful mainstay games are both run by relative
newcomers at the CoG, Felix and Redmond respectively. Hooray!

For those unfamiliar, Planescape is the setting for the numerous planes of
existence in the D&D cosmology. In this particular setting the PCs have
soul gems which makes them unkillable in a sense, but also with some
additional quirks.

Dark Heresy is a gothic science fantasy game of Acolytes working for an
Inquisitor persecuting heretics and mutants. The worst heretics and
mutants of all are, of course, those that you find within.

Mailing list for Pathfinder Planescape:
http://rpgreview.net/mailman/listinfo/planescape_rpgreview.net
Mailing list for Dark Heresy: Coming soon!

Sunday January 15th and January 29th: Diaspora
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Diaspora combines hard science fiction with the narrativist FATE game
system. Karl has been running this very interesting scenario where the PCs
engage in subterfuge with and against each other in equal amounts as
respective solar systems conflict in technology, ideology and commerce.

Webpage for Diaspora: http://mimesisrpg.com/diaspora
Mailing list for Diaspora:
http://mimesisrpg.com/mailman/listinfo/diaspora_mimesisrpg.com

2pm, 110 Grey Street, East Melbourne


Current Date Unknown: GURPS Korea
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Over the New Year's break Michael ran a couple of excellent sessions of
GURPS Korea. Well, it's more like GURPS Koreans lost in China as the Han
Empire falls apart, but that's another matter. Point being that there is a
game, but without a definite time - as yet. Give Michael a "An nyoung" if
you want to join in.

Mailing List for GURPS Korean:
http://rpgreview.net/mailman/listinfo/gurps-korea_rpgreview.net

Current Date Unknown: RPG Review 13 and 14
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The next issue of RPG Review, a double issue concentrating (but not
exclusively) on a range of d20-related games and products is coming very
soon. A substantial delay has occurred whilst waiting for a short set of
interview questions to arrive - which were never completed even after
months. I am unlikely to say anything particulary kind about said
publisher for a while as a result.

There is still room for last-minute submissions; background stories for
campaigns, scenarios, reviews, anything of the sort. You can download back
issues as well, all located at:

http://rpgreview.net


Membership
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We encourage Church of Gaming attendees to become Associate Members of the
Melbourne Unitarian Church, a non-creedal fellowship. It helps justify our
presence and existence at said building :)

Membership is $5.50 per annum and forms will be available at CoG gatherings.