AoS Narrative is coming back big at the NOVA Open near Washington DC, from Sep 1st – 4th 2022.
Two big events for all your narrative needs in just under a month, finally, after two years of lockdown without NOVA!
The AoS Grand Narrative has been running since 2016, and has organized some of the biggest sieges in all the Age of Sigmar!
This year, Narrative Play is joined by Warcry as well, so there will be plenty of offerings by experienced teams of NEOs (Narrative Event Organizers)! We will cover the Warcry Narrative in a separate article.
There will be beautiful terrain, custom rules, and full on-hands Game Masters who will drive the story and help manage player’s requests for matchups and story effects.
This year, it’s all about the Realm of Beasts! So buckle up, and get ready to survive out there!
In the Age of Sigmar Grand Narrative 2022, “Be’lakor’s Gambit vs Gordrakk’s Kunnin’ “, the Fist of Gork is rallying the grand Waaagh of Destruction to attack the Eightpoints, and his Morky ally Gobsprakk is securing supplies in the region of Gork’s Grin (or is it Mork’s?) before stepping through a long-lost realmgate to the Allpoints. Be’lakor plans to stop them in their tracks, by disrupting the realmgate with his tried-and-tested methods and expanding the corruption of the land around it.
Players will join one of the three teams, bringing a 2000 pts army, and each army will have a custom monster warscroll that will be upgrade-able.
You can visit the region where the story will be taking place, on their WorldAnvil website HERE.
We chatted with the lead NEOs for the event, Matt Tucker (host of the Seriously Narrative podcast) and Justin Dement (who ran The Lost Archipelago online campaign), about what players can expect from it.
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Q: Please summarize the event for us, and what players can expect.
A: We established the setting of Gork’s Grin shortly after NOVA 2019 ended. Serendipitously the new lore happens to take place in Ghur. We wanted the story of our narrative to feel in sync with the more recent lore which is why Be’lakor and Gobsprakk/Gordrakk felt like good figure heads for the opposing sides.
Gordrakk is leading a Waaagh through the 8 Points gate located in Gork’s Grin, and Gobsprakk has been working with the denizens of the Grin to send aid through the giant realm gate. Many of the Order Factions gladly support this since it keeps the Greenskinz and the forces of Chaos busy. Be’lakor plans are far more mysterious, but it is clear that he plans to perform some sort of dark ritual on the 8 points gate and is seeking allies. Not all factions may support Be’lakor, but may be tempted to join his side in hopes of “influencing” the effects of his dark ritual.
There will be 14 tables at this event, each representing a single strategic geographic location that can be found on the Gork’s Grin World Map. Each table will have a custom-made battle plan tailored to the table’s setting. The results of the battles that take place will influence the overall outcome of the main plot. In addition these battles will have permanent and lasting effects to the world’s lore and history, these effects will carry over into future events.
Q: What Narrative innovations and special rules will you be deploying in this event? In good tradition of the Grand Narrative, where there is always a custom hobby component, this year there’s a special warscroll for a monster, right?
A: Most of the custom rules we have implemented will be listed in our thematic battle plans. We wanted the battles to feel thematic while retaining a fun strategic component. Some of our battle plans also utilize a risk/reward component where players can sacrifice their “victory points” in exchange for temporary buffs.
Each player has also been asked to build a custom monster that fits on a 120mm oval base. This monster will have a warscroll that is made using a slightly modified version of the Anvil of Apotheosis. We wanted players to have the opportunity to exercise their creativity in a way that would help bring the realm of beasts to life.
Q: How will the interaction with the map of Gork’s Grin work? Will players be able to explore or effect change in the locations somehow?
A: We have picked 15 main geographic locations to be featured in this event to be played across 14 tables. We chose diverse locations from our setting that could impact the overall story, and then built our terrain around those locations. During the event we will have a large poster sized map printed out for all to see Players will be able to have a major impact on these locations. After each battle, we may ask the players if there is anything that they would narratively like to do to affect that region and determine what happens.
Each day we will provide live story updates during the event for each location and the impact on the overall story. After the event, the articles for each location and the artwork for the world map will be updated on the Gork’s Grin wiki page to reflect the results of the battles.
Q: What kind of team dynamics and strategic actions will players be able to experience?
A: Players will form into 1 of 3 factions, one led by Gobsprakk, another by Be’lakor, and a third neutral faction. Players do not necessarily need to support their faction’s goals, but may wish to subtly use their faction to further their own narrative means. During battles, players will be able to try and send aid to other players within their own faction. Players may also uncover plot secrets that can be used to manipulate their own goals, or uncover the plot of their enemies.
Those who remain neutral will be able to move back and forth between the two main factions, gaining resources and selling secrets as they wish. In this way the GMs will try to plant seeds that allow players to shape the narrative within their own factions.
Q: What would you like to say to players out there, to motivate them to join future narrative events at the NOVA Open?
A: Our hope is to shape a continuous living narrative that is exciting for both new and returning players. In narrative the stakes are raised as each battle influences the next, while being given purpose by the surrounding story. We want this to be an environment that allows players to get creative and “think outside the battlemat.”
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Thank you, Justin and Matt!
We will be following the event online, so please post lots of pictures on social media!
You can find the Event Rules page here for more details and tickets:
– Age of Sigmar Grand Narrative 2022
– Gork’s Grin world anvil link
There might still be some tickets available, grab yours before it’s too late!!!
And if they happen to be all taken, sign up for the waitlist: there are always dropouts! (true story)
What do you think about this event?
Do you have any questions for the NEOs, and how they organize these events at big conventions?
Leave your comments below!
Narrative Event Organizer Network 