View source for Coombe Hill

{| class="wikitable"
! width="13em" align=left|Game
<!-- Put the name of the game on the next line, prefixed with the | character -->
|The Secret of Coombe Hill
|-
! align=left|Storyguide
<!-- The name of the person running the game; the GM -->
|[[Andrew Oakley]]
|-
! align=left|Length
<!-- Approximate length, in hours; typically 2, 3 or 4 -->
|2 hours
|-
<!-- Ideal number of players; minimum - maximum -->
! align=left|Players
|18-25 (can be run with 12 with some loss of plot strands)
|-
! align=left|Suitability
<!-- Any special suitability for a particular House or experience -->
|Any
|-
! align=left|Prerequisities
<!-- Attributes the players or their characters MUST have, or the word None -->
<!-- e.g. "min. 1 Merinita in troupe" ; "no grogs" -->
|This game ideally requires 2 storyguides and an NPC "serpent" (puppeteer?). Note that this game uses custom cut-down rules based on ArM5, adapted for live play without dice.
|-
! align=left|Pre-rolled characters available?
<!-- The answer here should almost always be Yes -->
|Yes
|}

== Sign up ==

There is no need to sign up for this game; you will be presumed to be playing unless you indicate otherwise. Please fill in the freeform survey and you will be allocated a character in advance by email, otherwise you can turn up on the day and be allocated a character.

The '''only thing you need to read is your character sheet'''. For players with busy lives, short attention spans or who are just new to freeform games, the bare minimum you need to know has been condensed down to 3 bulletpoints at the top of your character sheet.

== Rules and play ==

* contains the game outline

A freeform is a variant of Live Action Role-playing (LARP) with '''no physical contact'''.

Coombe Hill is a '''very short game''', only 2 hours long. A more typical freeform or LARP would last a minimum of 4 hours, more typically 6-10. The main goal for this game is as an icebreaker for the convention.

This game uses a cut-down set of Ars Magica 5 rules, specifically adapted for live play without dice. You can [http://www.grandtribunal.org/misc/gt14-mopfair-rules.pdf download the rules here] but you '''do not need to read or learn these rules''' unless you are a storyguide (or love roleplaying game details). 

Note that '''powerful magic costs vis''' in the cut-down rule for this freeform

Now the event is over, you can download the entire pack of all character handouts, secrets, plot, rules, order of play etc from:

* [http://grandtribunal.org/misc/coombe-hill-freeform.zip http://grandtribunal.org/misc/coombe-hill-freeform.zip]

The game was created by [[Andrew Oakley]] and is public domain. You can copy, edit and adapt it without having to ask for permission, but a credit to GrandTribunal.org and Andrew Oakley would be nice.

== Puppet ==

We created a serpent puppet using duct pipe, such as [https://www.toolstation.com/shop/p16587 this available from ToolStation for &pound;6].