Grand Tribunal 2026 Programme

Friday Evening

Friday Evening • From 6.30pm

The Widow in the Garden

Ars Magica • GM: CJ Romer • Up to 7 players

1220. The beautiful Covenant of Jardin lies in the heart of Occitania, surrounded by vineyards, troubadours and dangerous politics.

As the crusade against the Cathars tightens its grip upon the south, rumours of heresy and witchcraft threaten the studies, safety and lives of the magi.

The covenant faces dangers from every direction: crusaders, spies, faerie intrigues, divided loyalties and hidden enemies. When a mysterious widow arrives seeking sanctuary, events begin to spiral beyond anyone's control.

Can the magi evade discovery, uncover the truth behind the widow's arrival and survive the threats gathering both within Jardin's walls and beyond them?

A classic Ars Magica scenario of mystery, diplomacy, magical investigation and political intrigue set against the Albigensian Crusade.

Friday 6.30pm Ars Magica 1220 Up to 7 Players Investigation Political Intrigue

Brother, Why? Magical Marginalia

GM: Andrew Oakley • One to three hours • 3–6 players

You are a monk in a medieval scriptorium, painstakingly copying holy manuscripts. Unfortunately, somebody has been filling the margins with utterly ridiculous illustrations.

As the Abbot demands an explanation, you will need quick wits, shameless bluffing and a silver tongue to convince everyone that the impossible rabbit siege, sword-wielding snail or bewildered demon was someone else's fault.

Inspired by genuine medieval manuscript marginalia, Brother, Why? is a humorous social card game of storytelling and outrageous excuses. Andrew is presenting a special Ars Magica edition, set among monks in Quimper Cathedral during the events of his earlier game The Cathedral and the Bizarre.

The game may be played as a light, replayable one-to-two-hour session or expanded into a full three-hour scenario involving characters and magical mishaps from the original adventure.

Find out more about Brother, Why?

Friday 6.30pm 3–6 Players Replayable Comedy Social Game Beginner Friendly

A Ride with the Valkyrie

Ars Magica • GM: Håkon Gaut

It has been a few tough seasons out on the Isle of Man, and all the companions and grogs in this scenario have been more unlucky than most and are mostly out of favour with the magi.

So naturally they are chosen to perform the Covenant's seventh-yearly ritual, which is Very Important and, from what they have picked up, usually very boring.

It will involve Norse mythology, drinking, carousing (hopefully) and problematic “gods”.

This scenario has been run a few times before at Grand Tribunal and is mostly not suited for playing again.

Friday Night Ars Magica Isle of Man Norse Mythology Drinking & Carousing

Saturday

Saturday Morning • From 9.30am

Children of Avalon

Ars Magica • GM: Anna • 2–6 players

1276. The prosperous Covenant of Avalon has built its reputation on hospitality. Unfortunately, hospitality attracts visitors—and visitors rarely arrive without problems.

Avalon's younger magi are expected to earn their vis by helping a succession of desperate petitioners, solving strange magical dilemmas and ensuring their grateful guests eventually leave.

A light-hearted Ars Magica adventure about magical problem-solving, awkward visitors and the occasional impossible request.

This scenario was played once in 2026 but ran out of time. Returning players are very welcome to see how differently events unfold.

Saturday 9.30am Ars Magica 2–6 Players Light-hearted Returning Players Welcome

Fabula Romance – Midsummer Ball in Mural

Fabula Romanse • GM: Håkon Gaut

The high society and nobility are well into the Season now and Duchess Nuna Murcia has sent out the invitations for her Midsummer Ball. Rumours are flying about the guest list and some even claim there will be Foreign Nobility present.

The Duchess is also well known for her magnificent settings and her organisational abilities. The only cause for fear is all the rumours of what happens at Murcia Castle Celano at Midsummer Night. Probably just superstition, right?

Fabula Romanse is an unpublished spin-off from the published Norwegian RPG Fabula. It is the game where men are Gentlemen and women are Ladies, and Courtly Romance (and sometimes rowdy bush-frolicking) is the order of the day.

Highly player-driven gameplay with simple rules in a high-medieval-ish, low-magic fantasy setting.

Saturday Morning Fabula Romanse Courtly Romance Low Magic Player Driven

Kwaidan – Hungry Winter

Kyrie • 2–5 players • 3–4 hours

Kyrie brings back a home-made RPG of investigative horror set in Meiji-era Japan. In the newly colonised land of Hokkaido, winter is settling in, and while the locals do their best to prepare, something is stalking the village and carrying people off into the dark.

Can you track it down? Can you discover what is preying on these people? And can you survive it?

Saturday Morning 2–5 Players 3–4 Hours Investigative Horror Meiji-era Japan Hokkaido

Crossed Bones

GM: Andrew Oakley • Two to three hours • 2–5 players

A Dungeons & Dragons 5.5 (2024) adventure for level 1–2 players. Part of the One Shot Wonders series.

Players are tasked with investigating ghostly goings-on at an ancient battlefield.

Pregenerated characters are available, or you can bring your own level 1 or 2 character provided it uses only material from the SRD / Player's Handbook.

PG-certificate, mild Hallowe'en-style horror, suitable for ages 8+.

Saturday Morning 2–5 Players Ghost Themes Intrigue Battles Beginner Friendly

Saturday Afternoon

The King is Made of Glass!

Ars Magica • GM: Anna • 2–6 players

1396. King Charles VI of France has long believed himself to be made of glass. This time, however, it appears he truly is.

You shall be as your passion,
A fragile reflection,
Till her bones are returned.
They shall not strike,
They shall not reap.
Pilgrimages and penance
Shall not abate this state.

With England threatening to renew its claim to France, the kingdom cannot afford a monarch who might shatter at the slightest touch. Can the curse be broken before history itself is changed?

Any Ars Magica character is welcome within reason, although investigative talents may prove particularly useful. Pregenerated characters are available.

Duration: Approximately 3 hours.

Saturday Afternoon Ars Magica 2–6 Players Investigation Pregens Available

The Chanctonbury Horror

Conspiracy X, First Edition • GM: CJ Romer • 3–6 players

October 1994. During a spectacular meteor shower, the teenage son of a local Member of Parliament disappears while camping on Chanctonbury Ring in the South Downs.

That same night, Ministry of Defence radar stations detect an unexplained return over Sussex. While the tabloids scream “UFOs over Worthing!”, Whitehall quietly assembles an unusual team of experts to investigate before panic spreads.

As rumours of alien visitors, secret government projects and ancient mysteries collide, the investigators must discover what really happened on Chanctonbury Ring—and whether the truth is something humanity was ever meant to know.

A classic investigative conspiracy thriller using the original Conspiracy X roleplaying game, blending UFO folklore, government secrecy and supernatural horror.

Duration: Approximately 3 hours.

Conspiracy X 1994 UFOs Government Conspiracy Investigation

Respectfully dedicated to the memory of my fallen friends: The Truth is Out There.

On Her Majesty's Eldritch Service

Ars Magica • GM: Chris Barrett

A paranormal mystery investigation set in the Victorian era using the Ars Magica system.

Saturday Afternoon Ars Magica Victorian Era Paranormal Mystery Investigation

Saturday Night

Im Norden Nicht Neues

Ars Magica • GM: Leif Olav Jøsang • Saturday 8pm

1167. Lucius ex Guernicus, Sibylla ex Bjoernar and Aelius ex Verditius founded the Covenant of Pugnus Aquilonis—the Fist of the North.

Before their departure, they were granted rights to any vis sources along the entire Viken coast and across the lands to the west, all the way to the mountains. After a brief message by bird confirming that they had arrived safely in Tønsberg and established their first laboratory, all communication ceased.

It is therefore reasonable to assume that our brothers have been lost in the barbaric north.

It falls upon Quaestor Certus ex Guernicus and hoplite Michaelus ex Flambeau to get to the bottom of the mystery. Discover the fate of the lost magi and recover any information they gathered during their time there.

Characters: Certus ex Guernicus, Quaesitor; Michaelus ex Flambeau, Hoplite; Engelbrecht von Ulm, Knight; Gunther, Merchant, troubadour and Uncle Travelling Matt; Siegfried Seidsschnauder, Good Doggie; and Shield Grogs.

Saturday 8pm Ars Magica 1167 Mystery Hermetic Investigation Pregenerated Characters

Vampire: The Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition — Blood on the Mojave

Vampire: The Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition cover

GM: Kyrie Crawford

A group of vampire neonates are tasked with appeasing a sleeping Methuselah—and run into hurdle after hurdle.

Set beneath the desert night of the Mojave, this Vampire: The Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition scenario sends the characters into a dangerous tangle of ancient grudges, impossible demands and the sort of complications that only become worse after sunset.

Vampire: The Masquerade Horror Intrigue Ancient Vampires

Moonwashed College Halls

Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition • GM: CJ Romer

Brichester University, 1987. Five very different students—four of them in love with the same girl—are living in a hall of residence where none of them quite fits in.

When a macabre mystery begins to unfold around them, rivalries, obsessions and secrets threaten to drag them into something far worse than student drama.

A Call of Cthulhu scenario of isolation, desire and creeping horror.

Content note: Horror and adult themes.

Call of Cthulhu 7e 1987 Horror Adult Themes

A Highland March

Ars Magica • GM: Ewan

A murderer is on the loose.

Evander, formerly of House Tytalus, has killed his long-time rival Tullus ex Flambeau outside the protection of a Wizard's War. The facts are indisputable: he struck in broad daylight before multiple witnesses, then fled into the Scottish Highlands.

The Tribunal has met. Evander offered no defence and has been duly Marched.

Now a band of magi, companions and grogs has gathered to hunt him down and bring him to justice. But in the wild country beyond the reach of the Order, nothing is likely to be as simple as it first appears.

An Ars Magica adventure of pursuit, divided loyalties, Hermetic justice and danger in the Highlands.

Saturday Night Ars Magica Wizard's March Scottish Highlands Investigation Pursuit

Sunday

Sunday Morning • From 10am

The Garden of Love

An Ars Magica Freeform

GM: CJ Romer • Three hours • Up to 24 players

Summer, 1220. Deep in the vineyards of Occitania lies the Covenant of La Jardin, renowned for its beauty, hospitality, fine wine and mysterious Garden of Love.

Knights, troubadours, noble ladies, priests, merchants, magi and wanderers gather beneath the summer roses seeking friendship, patronage, romance, political allies or something more dangerous. Somewhere within the gardens lies a faerie realm said to reveal a visitor's Heart's Desire.

As the Albigensian Crusade threatens the County of Toulouse, old rivalries, forbidden romances, hidden loyalties and dangerous ambitions collide during one extraordinary morning.

No knowledge of Ars Magica, medieval history or the Albigensian Crusade is required. Characters will be cast with players' experience and preferences in mind. The game will be light-hearted, with an emphasis on conversation, intrigue, romance, comedy and a little magic.

Medieval or fantasy costume is warmly welcomed if practical or desired, but it is entirely optional.

Sunday 10am 24 Players Beginner Friendly Romance Comedy Intrigue Costume Optional

Sunday Afternoon • 1pm–5pm

Magical Kitties Save the Convention!

Magical Kitties Save the World • GM: CJ Romer • 2–6 players

The convention is under threat!

Sinister villains are plotting to unleash chaos and mayhem across Cheltenham, and only a team of magical cats can stop them. Use your extraordinary feline powers, outwit the forces of evil, rescue your humans and save Grand Tribunal before it is too late.

Based on the charming Atlas Games roleplaying game, this light-hearted adventure is perfect for families, younger players, complete beginners and anyone who enjoys heroic cats, outrageous villains and a healthy dose of humour.

Everyone is welcome. No previous roleplaying experience is needed.

Sunday Afternoon Family Friendly Atlas Games 2–6 Players 2–3 Hours Beginner Friendly

Ashes to Ashes

GM: Andrew Oakley • Two to three hours • 2–5 players

A Dungeons & Dragons 5.5 (2024) adventure for level 1–2 players. Part of the One Shot Wonders series.

Players must investigate and solve the fiery goings-on in a noble family crypt.

Pregenerated characters are available, or you can bring your own level 1 or 2 character provided it uses only material from the SRD / Player's Handbook.

PG-certificate, mild Hallowe'en-style horror, suitable for ages 8+.

Sunday Afternoon 2–5 Players Ghost Themes Intrigue Battles Beginner Friendly

Vampire: The Masquerade – Shanghai, 1938

Vampire: The Masquerade • GM: Kyrie Crawford • Up to 5 players • 3–4 hours

Shanghai, 1938. The Japanese occupation of the city has seen death and destruction. Now those Kindred in the foreign concessions find themselves against the clock as something terrible and unfathomable stirs beneath the rubble.

Sunday Afternoon Vampire: The Masquerade Shanghai 1938 Up to 5 Players 3–4 Hours Horror

A Foray Through Xanth

Fantasy Adventure • GM: Anna • 2–6 players

Welcome to Xanth, where shoes grow on trees, every human has a unique magical talent and centaurs insist that they possess no magic whatsoever.

You have a problem, and Good Magician Humfrey probably has the answer. Unfortunately, reaching him means crossing a jungle filled with animated objects, bizarre creatures, magical mischief and an alarming number of puns. Even after you arrive, Humfrey traditionally demands three challenges—and usually a fee—before dispensing his wisdom.

Characters are created quickly by choosing a unique magical talent, a professional skillset, a hobby or former interest and a personal weakness, using the Code of Steam and Steel rules.

Expect adventure, absurdity and a considerable risk of puns.

Duration: 3–4 hours.

Sunday Afternoon 2–6 Players Fantasy Comedy Quick Character Creation Puns