In July 2010, three of us played a little Don't Rest Your Head on a long car ride. Mechanically, this worked very well, as there's not much overhead. I used a cup to hold and roll the mini-dice I created previously. I GMed from the back seat. I didn't have a preset story and just planned to improvise.
My two players created some very interesting characters.
Brett: John Hannigan
Surface: Homeless war vet: scraggly, scars, limpy, quiet. 15 years since the war. Has a shopping cart. Carries a book from/by sister Laura (about 28 years old) which he also uses as a sort of journal. It has old letters stuck in among the pages.
Beneath: Memory is slipping away. Feels vague guilt over the death of his brother Tom (fled?). Laura's letters stopped coming recently.
Insomnia: Nightmares about Tom's face. Sees bright/flashing lights while awake. Recently saw a "nice lady" too.
Path/Goal: Find Laura and explain (to her?) about Tom.
Just Happened: A bright light while crossing the street, now shopping cart is gone. Only book remains.
Exhaustion talent: Heightened Senses
Madness talent: Draw something in his book and it becomes real
Respones: 1 fight, 2 flight.
Becky: Eli Fox
Surface: Upper-middle class white architect. Attractive in his business suit. Early 40s. Drives into city for the week. Works long hours. Married for 8 years. (Wife?) married young.
Beneath: Distrusts wife. Has been drinking a lot and has a coke habit. Wants to kill wife and lover. Bought a gun recently.
Insomnia: Walked in on wife and another man (a stranger).
Path/Goal: Revenge and closure on infidelity
Just happened: Hit someone with his car, and ran, taking his gun with him.
Exhaustion talent: Persuasive/smooth-talking
Madness talent: Endurance/resistance/strength
Responses: 2 fight, 1 flight
I was impressed by these characters, but I found it hard to bring them together. They started separately, after Eli crashed through John's shopping cart. John followed a wandering PaperBoy into an old gas-lit subway entrance. Eli got picked up one of Tock's clockwork patrolmen.
Improvising as I went, I had a very hard time bringing these two characters back together. Even after a long roadside break and some pondering, the story never really picked up again. I had some ideas that Eli would get involved with the Ladies-in-Hating--probably through one that looked like his wife--and possibly dealing with Mother When. Mother When would also work for John's story of loss--possibly reached through lost Mad City children and the Finishing School. I also had some interesting custom nightmare thoughts for John: a War Monger and a number of Leaf Tenants (play on the word Lieutenants, in light of the British pronunciation, "leaving", and tenements.) that burn in horrible conflagrations. This would somehow tie into John's war experience.
But these ideas never really picked up steam. I eventually got Eli and John together using a previously conceived nightmare/local of my own design: Benjamin "Button" Bridges, who runs a small warehouse of buttons, each imbued with a different memory or dream experience. As I recall [it's been over a year now], Tock's men came knocking on the warehouse door and John and Eli fled. I think things ended there, because I hadn't yet managed to give them a solid hook to tie them together and drive them into a story.
The main reason I'm blogging all of this now is as a reminder to myself of the agony of improvised GMing. I still think I had some rich characters, willing players, and some decent general ideas here. But I just couldn't pull it all together in time on the fly. Any GM-improvising system/tool should help with this sort of problem: not just generating ideas, but pulling them together too.
Another lesson is a variation on that old chestnut: "Never split the party." In this case, I think starting with the party together and firm goal would have helped a lot. Bouncing narration back and forth between two storylines sucks.
Showing posts with label session. Show all posts
Showing posts with label session. Show all posts
Monday, August 15, 2011
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Zilch's first alpha test
Just finished the first Zilch play-test. Played with B. online using OpenRPG, so it doesn't quite capture the full experience, but it probably tested the mechanics well enough.
B. created a character named Max, a human cleric (Death) / fighter: 11♦ 9♥ 10♣ 6♠. Max knows 1 rune (since we were focusing on the combat system): E.
To provide a little backdrop, I used my rough-draft/in-progress fantasy-western setting, Columbia. Max is trying to break into the underground bloodsport competitions in New York City. He approaches a tavern keeper at the Frog and Bean to sponsor him in the local tavern fights, which Max has heard is the first step into the illegal bloodsports.
As an audition, Max spars with the Frog and Bean's bouncer, Anders. This was a basic trading of blows, with Max's magic saving the day, bringing Anders to his knees.
The first fight of the actual competition didn't go quite so well, though it was very close. Max managed to blind his opponent with some kicked sand, though Max was caught in a flailing grapple in the same move. Although Max escaped the eventual pin, he lost consciousness before he could deal the last 2HPs of damage to his opponent.
The fights were a bit tedious... but then such turn-based trading of blows usually is. Overall, things were pretty balanced--Max held his own and dodged well enough, considering his paltry 6♠ was up against some 10 and 11 ♣. The Threatened mechanic worked pretty nicely, I think (as an alternative to numeric penalties).
B had some good minor suggestions, such as call stance and draw a domino, but don't actually reveal all the dominoes until everyone has called their stance. Also considered some sort of cleave/extra attack option for the fighter.
As GM, I often found myself waiting for B. to roll... when no roll was required! The dominoes were already on the table. With practice, the mental math will probably go a little faster.
While it probably went about 2x as fast as an equivalent D&D combat, it still had the same tedious turn-based feel. I guess that can be a good thing or bad, depending on your game preferences. I think my part of my DMing angst comes from a need to generally work on my DMing skills, rather than the underlying gaming system.
We'll see where Zilch goes from here...
B. created a character named Max, a human cleric (Death) / fighter: 11♦ 9♥ 10♣ 6♠. Max knows 1 rune (since we were focusing on the combat system): E.
To provide a little backdrop, I used my rough-draft/in-progress fantasy-western setting, Columbia. Max is trying to break into the underground bloodsport competitions in New York City. He approaches a tavern keeper at the Frog and Bean to sponsor him in the local tavern fights, which Max has heard is the first step into the illegal bloodsports.
As an audition, Max spars with the Frog and Bean's bouncer, Anders. This was a basic trading of blows, with Max's magic saving the day, bringing Anders to his knees.
The first fight of the actual competition didn't go quite so well, though it was very close. Max managed to blind his opponent with some kicked sand, though Max was caught in a flailing grapple in the same move. Although Max escaped the eventual pin, he lost consciousness before he could deal the last 2HPs of damage to his opponent.
The fights were a bit tedious... but then such turn-based trading of blows usually is. Overall, things were pretty balanced--Max held his own and dodged well enough, considering his paltry 6♠ was up against some 10 and 11 ♣. The Threatened mechanic worked pretty nicely, I think (as an alternative to numeric penalties).
B had some good minor suggestions, such as call stance and draw a domino, but don't actually reveal all the dominoes until everyone has called their stance. Also considered some sort of cleave/extra attack option for the fighter.
As GM, I often found myself waiting for B. to roll... when no roll was required! The dominoes were already on the table. With practice, the mental math will probably go a little faster.
While it probably went about 2x as fast as an equivalent D&D combat, it still had the same tedious turn-based feel. I guess that can be a good thing or bad, depending on your game preferences. I think my part of my DMing angst comes from a need to generally work on my DMing skills, rather than the underlying gaming system.
We'll see where Zilch goes from here...
Monday, October 19, 2009
z20/Omri: Shroom
Got in some more of The Amazing Escapades of Omri Buckle & Co. this evening. Omri had a bit of a mishap (no GM karma point expenditure required after all: S. missed the Reflex save DC by 1 point), met Shroom the goblin, and made it back to her party again.
In related news, I've been poking at z20 combat actions this weekend. I was flipping through my True20 books (Blue Rose and Mutants & Masterminds) and started thinking how all these different systems really have the same set of actions you can perform in combat: grapple, disarm, charge, etc. Even my work a couple months ago on a Zludge version of Dark Heresy has most of the same actions. So I decided I should compile my own list with simple, standardized rules to use across all these systems. This list is currently in z20, though I think the same list will end up in Zludge Prime eventually.
S. and I also went looking for some colored pipe-cleaners this weekend, but no luck at Office Depot. I have a little condition-tracking idea, but I'll share that another time...
In related news, I've been poking at z20 combat actions this weekend. I was flipping through my True20 books (Blue Rose and Mutants & Masterminds) and started thinking how all these different systems really have the same set of actions you can perform in combat: grapple, disarm, charge, etc. Even my work a couple months ago on a Zludge version of Dark Heresy has most of the same actions. So I decided I should compile my own list with simple, standardized rules to use across all these systems. This list is currently in z20, though I think the same list will end up in Zludge Prime eventually.
S. and I also went looking for some colored pipe-cleaners this weekend, but no luck at Office Depot. I have a little condition-tracking idea, but I'll share that another time...
Sunday, September 20, 2009
z20/Omri: Death of Myrksog
After a 3 month break, S. and I got in another Omri session today. Omri and party managed to find and slay Myrksog the bugbear; details appended to the "Myrksog" section of The Amazing Escapades of Omri Buckle & Co.
We played using z20, which is what I quietly renamed mini20 to earlier this week (thus effectively reviving that old obsession). I had drawn up some crude character sheets a couple weeks ago. They worked well, though I need more room for gear and maybe less room for tracking spell effects. I still haven't found the best way to track spell effects--how much the GM should track and how much the player should be responsible for, and how to note it in either case.
We played a little more than 2 hours, which is quite a bit longer than our normal goal of 1 hour, but it seemed to move along pretty well.
As usual, I forgot a few details here and there--such as the miss chance for shadowy light, especially when characters without lowlight vision moved away from the torch-lit area. But that's pretty minor.
I used poker chips to track hit points and spell points and that worked nicely.
z20 grapple rules worked well--there was a significant amount of grappling happening, all without GM pain! S. also used the "Heroic Exertion" rule that I came up with just a day or two ago in order to turn a failure into a success on the last blow against Myrksog. This made for a much better story (rather than trying to chase Myrksog down into some tunnel, and maybe even seeing him get away). The exertion also left me with a karma point, which I already have plans for. (Bwahhahahaha! <--Evil GM laugh.)
A couple z20 alpha test notes for myself: While I really like being able to choose from the whole spell list, it does means spellcasters can do almost anything. I think more specialist spells would be a good way to encourage focus/customization. Imposing limits on spell selection would mean more rules (so I'd rather not do it), but I may still give it some thought. The number of spells cast felt about right though.
There were some other d20 features lost in the adaptation. For instance, without feats, Jimmy doesn't have Rapid Reload anymore and now takes a turn to reload his crossbow. Also, Solomon Jack isn't very "bardy" in terms of game mechanics. Again, not sure what I want to do about that.
Not having to track squares and attacks-of-opportunity was nice. Overall, z20 flows pretty well, though it still takes a pretty hefty amount of time just adding up various modifiers. (Admittedly, there were 9 combatants involved.) I don't think I'll make any changes on any of those until after a few more game sessions.
Overall, a great evening--fun story and good feelings for the z20 game system. Maybe soon I'll be able to successfully end this 2 year obsession with streamlining d20!
We played using z20, which is what I quietly renamed mini20 to earlier this week (thus effectively reviving that old obsession). I had drawn up some crude character sheets a couple weeks ago. They worked well, though I need more room for gear and maybe less room for tracking spell effects. I still haven't found the best way to track spell effects--how much the GM should track and how much the player should be responsible for, and how to note it in either case.
We played a little more than 2 hours, which is quite a bit longer than our normal goal of 1 hour, but it seemed to move along pretty well.
As usual, I forgot a few details here and there--such as the miss chance for shadowy light, especially when characters without lowlight vision moved away from the torch-lit area. But that's pretty minor.
I used poker chips to track hit points and spell points and that worked nicely.
z20 grapple rules worked well--there was a significant amount of grappling happening, all without GM pain! S. also used the "Heroic Exertion" rule that I came up with just a day or two ago in order to turn a failure into a success on the last blow against Myrksog. This made for a much better story (rather than trying to chase Myrksog down into some tunnel, and maybe even seeing him get away). The exertion also left me with a karma point, which I already have plans for. (Bwahhahahaha! <--Evil GM laugh.)
A couple z20 alpha test notes for myself: While I really like being able to choose from the whole spell list, it does means spellcasters can do almost anything. I think more specialist spells would be a good way to encourage focus/customization. Imposing limits on spell selection would mean more rules (so I'd rather not do it), but I may still give it some thought. The number of spells cast felt about right though.
There were some other d20 features lost in the adaptation. For instance, without feats, Jimmy doesn't have Rapid Reload anymore and now takes a turn to reload his crossbow. Also, Solomon Jack isn't very "bardy" in terms of game mechanics. Again, not sure what I want to do about that.
Not having to track squares and attacks-of-opportunity was nice. Overall, z20 flows pretty well, though it still takes a pretty hefty amount of time just adding up various modifiers. (Admittedly, there were 9 combatants involved.) I don't think I'll make any changes on any of those until after a few more game sessions.
Overall, a great evening--fun story and good feelings for the z20 game system. Maybe soon I'll be able to successfully end this 2 year obsession with streamlining d20!
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Omri: Myrksog
In the spirit of getting back into the game, S. and I played a bit of my new d20house form of D&D today. It had been 1 week short of a year since our last session!
For session details, check out the "Myrksog" section of The Amazing Escapades of Omri Buckle & Co.
It went well mechanically. The new damage mechanic (the most obvious d20house change) was pretty smooth. My new DM screen worked well, especially when combined with more intelligent use of the SRD's spell index and monster index pages. Chess pieces still make great cheap miniatures.
Story-wise, there were a couple minor snags--mainly, how to balance the power of social manipulation with combat? For example, Jack charmed the lead hobgoblin and told a good story about having an important prisoner... but I couldn't decide whether this should be enough to let the party pass the whole encounter. (Of course, this still may have worked out interestingly since they would have had to come back this way later.) But, if I wasn't going to let them bypass all the guards with it, it seemed something useful still should come of it so that there's at least some value to trying tact before steel.
First, I rolled a contest between the charmed hobgoblin and the orc to see if the orc could talk some sense into his companion: that this rabble shouldn't be allowed into the inner sanctum without Myrksog's express approval. Turns out the orc won. But even in this case, there was some benefit to the charm: it got rid of the hobgoblin. Sadly, this backfired slightly, since this logically left the party locked outside without any lock-picking skills! Turns out the standard DC of 25 to break down a barred door was just barely in range (with a bit of magical aid), so it all worked out decently enough.
So, in retrospect, I think I played it pretty well. And, as a personal note for the future, a spell and a successful skill check should be enough to bypass an encounter, especially if those creatures are still available to serve later as monster re-enforcements (and now behind the party besides!).
For session details, check out the "Myrksog" section of The Amazing Escapades of Omri Buckle & Co.
It went well mechanically. The new damage mechanic (the most obvious d20house change) was pretty smooth. My new DM screen worked well, especially when combined with more intelligent use of the SRD's spell index and monster index pages. Chess pieces still make great cheap miniatures.
Story-wise, there were a couple minor snags--mainly, how to balance the power of social manipulation with combat? For example, Jack charmed the lead hobgoblin and told a good story about having an important prisoner... but I couldn't decide whether this should be enough to let the party pass the whole encounter. (Of course, this still may have worked out interestingly since they would have had to come back this way later.) But, if I wasn't going to let them bypass all the guards with it, it seemed something useful still should come of it so that there's at least some value to trying tact before steel.
First, I rolled a contest between the charmed hobgoblin and the orc to see if the orc could talk some sense into his companion: that this rabble shouldn't be allowed into the inner sanctum without Myrksog's express approval. Turns out the orc won. But even in this case, there was some benefit to the charm: it got rid of the hobgoblin. Sadly, this backfired slightly, since this logically left the party locked outside without any lock-picking skills! Turns out the standard DC of 25 to break down a barred door was just barely in range (with a bit of magical aid), so it all worked out decently enough.
So, in retrospect, I think I played it pretty well. And, as a personal note for the future, a spell and a successful skill check should be enough to bypass an encounter, especially if those creatures are still available to serve later as monster re-enforcements (and now behind the party besides!).
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Fluffy: Alpha-testing notes 1
The recent God's Dogs game went pretty well. Observations:
- Combat can be pretty deadly when damage is based on degree of success: one good blow and it's all over. (While not actually physical combat, the contest of wills with Castigation is basically the same mechanic.) So maybe tone back how DoS determines damage? (At least with the static defense factor mechanic I'm currently considering, ordinary combat will only have a 3dF range of variability, rather than 6dF, which will limit the possible DoS.) I'm going to wait to decide on this though, because actually the only combat was of +2 vs -1, so it should not be surprising that 3 dmg was dealt. I perhaps should have made the demon a 0, rather than -1....
- There are surprisingly few rolls with this kind of story-based roleplaying. It's weird after coming off D&D, where the object is to get into the next battle so you can start rolling again. Half the rolls didn't really need any variation on them. Checking is certainly a good idea (and one I need to get more comfortable with as GM--but it's just so exciting to hit a chance to roll!), and I wouldn't mind eventually trying fully diceless.
- The skill set was pretty good--even in only the few rolls made, it was a pretty evenly used: Speed, Will, Social, Magic, Knowledge.
- What I still see a strong need for is some roleplaying character aids. The "Extras" section of Fluffy is still unwritten. What I'd like to see here is a more objective and point-based way to earn plot points. I'm going to have a closer look at Fate 3.0/Spirit of the Century's aspects and True20's Blue Rose's conviction mechanic.
- I need to get God's Dogs and Fluffy finished so I really know how the magic and combat systems work!
- Fluffy certainly needs more testing.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Fluffy: God's Dogs (B; vol 1)
About a month ago (early May), B. and I talked about reviving his world of Tor-Lomlin using a different rule system. Fluffy seemed like a possibility, so I've been doing some overhauling and clarifying of the system. (I hadn't really touched it in over a year.) I also created the God's Dogs setting for some alpha-testing gameplay. (Both Fluffy and God's Dogs should hopefully be publicly posted soon.) Here's how our first game today went down:
B's character is Patrick Callahan, a young farmer-turned-friar working for the demon-hunting Order of the Holy Faith in early 17th century Ireland. Patrick's immediate superior, Father Havishant, has received a letter forwarded from a friend of his (Father O'Malley). This letter, originally penned by a young priest named Sean O'Keegan, comes from the remote French Isles of Galleon in the south Atlantic. O'Keegan believes a man in his congregation there has been possessed by a demon and seeks advice or aid. Since his prize student Finnegan is otherwise engaged, Havishant decides to send Patrick to deal with the case, as Havishant believes he's ready to handle a simple, contained case like this one.
Booking passage aboard the Sanguine Tide, Patrick arrives at the main village of San Galleon. Like a tarnished bauble, the Isles of Galleon have been passed back and forth between the powers of Europe: discovered by the Portuguese, conquered by the Spanish, a hideout for English pirates, and currently claimed by the French. The barren crags of the isles have collected various settlers like so much driftwood left behind by these successive waves of Europeans.
The Tide drops anchor in the harbor. Once ashore, Patrick pauses to chat up the harbor master, learning a bit about the recent winter storms and the girl (Maria Luz) that stands at the end of the seawall, awaiting in vain for the return of her fisherman beau. Patrick then continues through town to the church with his letter of introduction to the local parish priest: Padre Joachim del Gabana. Patrick meets the young O'Keegan at the church, who leads him to the back courtyard to del Gabana's small but well-appointed home.
Though oddly impressed by Patrick, the Padre insists that no demons infest his parish. The case is not supernatural. Rather, a farmer--prideful and a bit isolated--was driven to drink and madness by a series of misfortunes, culminating in the murder of his wife. Though usually not so extreme, cases of such seasonal madness is not unheard of during the bleak winter months in tiny, isolated Galleon. It is clear from the looks del Gabana gives O'Keegan that the two have debated the issue before, and the Padre is not happy his underling has now involved others in the case.
Patrick still requests to see the farmer (Allahn). So after a short repast, he, O'Keegan, and del Gabana head to the French military outpost, where Commissionaire Jacques Du Font sends a private with them to unlock one of the stone storage sheds out back. Within, Allahn lies bound and shackled, wearing a strange dented metal plate strapped to his forehead. The function of this plate becomes obvious when he begins to mutter and smash and scrape his forehead against the wall.
Patrick, in a moment of keen insight, notices some subtle presence behind the blurred eyes of the inmate. Patrick questions the man, who only mutters such nonsense as "he cometh he cometh he cometh..." O'Keegan admits he has also spoken the name of Azabel in the past--which is not the name of anyone in town. The name of a demon perhaps, but not one Patrick is familiar with.
In a rather sudden moment of clarity, Allahn begins to complain of the pain in his head, of the burning on his brow, claiming that the two priest have come to torture him in the past. Requesting the assistance of his two companions, Patrick removes the protective device, revealing a rune of Binding bloodily etched onto the man's forehead. O'Keegan guiltily admits that he did this--a tip given to him in the past by Father O'Malley for cases of suspected demons possession. Allahn suddenly manages to roll free of the men and struggles to scrape away the skin of his forehead against the rough stone of the shed walls. Patrick hastily sketches a Circle of Exorcism, which succeeds easily as the rune of Binding is scraped away: a black mist rises from Allahn, assuming an short, twisted gobliny form with glowing red eyes. While the other two men step back in hesitation, Patrick leaps forward, shouting the Litany of Castigation and thrusting his glowing hand into the demonic form. The Castigation is extreme: the form explodes with a scream into wispy tendrils, which quickly disperse.
Allahn is largely comatose. Patrick calls for the military doctor and has Allahn moved to a different cell for observation. O'Keegan's eyes sparkle from the excitement and the vindicating proof of demon possession; Padre del Gabana is subdued, apparently deeply disturbed by the presence of such tangible evil among members of his flock.
B's character is Patrick Callahan, a young farmer-turned-friar working for the demon-hunting Order of the Holy Faith in early 17th century Ireland. Patrick's immediate superior, Father Havishant, has received a letter forwarded from a friend of his (Father O'Malley). This letter, originally penned by a young priest named Sean O'Keegan, comes from the remote French Isles of Galleon in the south Atlantic. O'Keegan believes a man in his congregation there has been possessed by a demon and seeks advice or aid. Since his prize student Finnegan is otherwise engaged, Havishant decides to send Patrick to deal with the case, as Havishant believes he's ready to handle a simple, contained case like this one.
Booking passage aboard the Sanguine Tide, Patrick arrives at the main village of San Galleon. Like a tarnished bauble, the Isles of Galleon have been passed back and forth between the powers of Europe: discovered by the Portuguese, conquered by the Spanish, a hideout for English pirates, and currently claimed by the French. The barren crags of the isles have collected various settlers like so much driftwood left behind by these successive waves of Europeans.
The Tide drops anchor in the harbor. Once ashore, Patrick pauses to chat up the harbor master, learning a bit about the recent winter storms and the girl (Maria Luz) that stands at the end of the seawall, awaiting in vain for the return of her fisherman beau. Patrick then continues through town to the church with his letter of introduction to the local parish priest: Padre Joachim del Gabana. Patrick meets the young O'Keegan at the church, who leads him to the back courtyard to del Gabana's small but well-appointed home.
Though oddly impressed by Patrick, the Padre insists that no demons infest his parish. The case is not supernatural. Rather, a farmer--prideful and a bit isolated--was driven to drink and madness by a series of misfortunes, culminating in the murder of his wife. Though usually not so extreme, cases of such seasonal madness is not unheard of during the bleak winter months in tiny, isolated Galleon. It is clear from the looks del Gabana gives O'Keegan that the two have debated the issue before, and the Padre is not happy his underling has now involved others in the case.
Patrick still requests to see the farmer (Allahn). So after a short repast, he, O'Keegan, and del Gabana head to the French military outpost, where Commissionaire Jacques Du Font sends a private with them to unlock one of the stone storage sheds out back. Within, Allahn lies bound and shackled, wearing a strange dented metal plate strapped to his forehead. The function of this plate becomes obvious when he begins to mutter and smash and scrape his forehead against the wall.
Patrick, in a moment of keen insight, notices some subtle presence behind the blurred eyes of the inmate. Patrick questions the man, who only mutters such nonsense as "he cometh he cometh he cometh..." O'Keegan admits he has also spoken the name of Azabel in the past--which is not the name of anyone in town. The name of a demon perhaps, but not one Patrick is familiar with.
In a rather sudden moment of clarity, Allahn begins to complain of the pain in his head, of the burning on his brow, claiming that the two priest have come to torture him in the past. Requesting the assistance of his two companions, Patrick removes the protective device, revealing a rune of Binding bloodily etched onto the man's forehead. O'Keegan guiltily admits that he did this--a tip given to him in the past by Father O'Malley for cases of suspected demons possession. Allahn suddenly manages to roll free of the men and struggles to scrape away the skin of his forehead against the rough stone of the shed walls. Patrick hastily sketches a Circle of Exorcism, which succeeds easily as the rune of Binding is scraped away: a black mist rises from Allahn, assuming an short, twisted gobliny form with glowing red eyes. While the other two men step back in hesitation, Patrick leaps forward, shouting the Litany of Castigation and thrusting his glowing hand into the demonic form. The Castigation is extreme: the form explodes with a scream into wispy tendrils, which quickly disperse.
Allahn is largely comatose. Patrick calls for the military doctor and has Allahn moved to a different cell for observation. O'Keegan's eyes sparkle from the excitement and the vindicating proof of demon possession; Padre del Gabana is subdued, apparently deeply disturbed by the presence of such tangible evil among members of his flock.
Monday, April 6, 2009
D&D: Tellurian Tales (vol 11)
Sadly, it had been almost 2 years since I posted a volume of my main Tellurian Tales line. After being inspired by a post over at Head Injury Theater about spending more time posting excuses about not posting than actually doing something productive, I decided after my afternoon nap to do something about it. Yay!
Lately, Tellurian Tales has involved simply slogging through a long dungeon. Running this solo, now that I'm comfortable with the D&D rules, is not quite as exciting as it once was. Also, I've moved on to hacking on Zludge rules as my primary form of entertainment, rather than building D&D characters that need a story to shine in. I guess this partly explains why it's been 2 years.
I'm looking forward to the end of the current story cycle. I'd like to dust all the characters off while I level them up and (as already planned) break the party into smaller groups for more story-focused adventures. I'll probably leave things running as D&D though. The characters I have (some of whom haven't even entered the story yet) represent countless hours pouring over D&D rule books and supplements, squeezing out the max advantage from combining diverse feats and prestige classes. Seems a shame to lose all that history by switching to Drudge. Also, it's a good idea to keep one foot in d20 while I contemplate translating it to Drudge.
Besides, I already have plans to alpha-test Drudge with Ailithorn, and I'm currently toying with a Western D&D setting for beta-testing games (with either S., B., or even a gaming group). I'm also wondering about a Zludge adaptation of Dark Heresy...
Time's at a premium though, so we'll see how it goes. I really need to focus...
Oh, and the slowest point in this evening's game was the pause to determine whether a ranged touch attack counts as a simple or natural weapon. My conclusion: No. Which makes sense if you think of it as just an attack and not a weapon. But there's confounding issues such as unarmed attacks sometimes being equivalent to simple weapons and the ability to take Weapon Focus for magical rays.
Lately, Tellurian Tales has involved simply slogging through a long dungeon. Running this solo, now that I'm comfortable with the D&D rules, is not quite as exciting as it once was. Also, I've moved on to hacking on Zludge rules as my primary form of entertainment, rather than building D&D characters that need a story to shine in. I guess this partly explains why it's been 2 years.
I'm looking forward to the end of the current story cycle. I'd like to dust all the characters off while I level them up and (as already planned) break the party into smaller groups for more story-focused adventures. I'll probably leave things running as D&D though. The characters I have (some of whom haven't even entered the story yet) represent countless hours pouring over D&D rule books and supplements, squeezing out the max advantage from combining diverse feats and prestige classes. Seems a shame to lose all that history by switching to Drudge. Also, it's a good idea to keep one foot in d20 while I contemplate translating it to Drudge.
Besides, I already have plans to alpha-test Drudge with Ailithorn, and I'm currently toying with a Western D&D setting for beta-testing games (with either S., B., or even a gaming group). I'm also wondering about a Zludge adaptation of Dark Heresy...
Time's at a premium though, so we'll see how it goes. I really need to focus...
Oh, and the slowest point in this evening's game was the pause to determine whether a ranged touch attack counts as a simple or natural weapon. My conclusion: No. Which makes sense if you think of it as just an attack and not a weapon. But there's confounding issues such as unarmed attacks sometimes being equivalent to simple weapons and the ability to take Weapon Focus for magical rays.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Dynamo/Fluffy: Lily and Will
Last weekend, S. and I tried out Dynamo, which is a mechanic I've been working on for co-GMing. It's still rather tenuous at the moment, but we tried alpha testing it anyway.
For the gaming system, we used Fluffy, which also needs some testing.
Dynamo (pre-game): On Saturday, while strolling around town, we hashed out the general setting, which was basically film noir, but with slightly updated fashion and Hong Kong action style gunfights and vaguely Lovecraft-like occult powers at work in the background.
On Sunday, we came up with a list of motifs: scenes and elements that captured our desired genre and tone. Our list:
-obscure dying last words
-"damsel" in distress
-all a lie?
-PI gets roughed up
-PI gets dragged in by the cops
-PI offered a bribe
+a dusty, ominous tome
-connection to the decadent element and/or seedier part of town
-tangible evidence of evil (but evidence lost by end of tale)
+a disturbing figurine
+a shoot out
-the good bad guy
+betrayal
-no penalty for shooting a pistol in each hand
-an extra gun somewhere
The +s are those motifs we've used so far (see below). The last couple are almost aspect-like--an idea I want to work on more. It'd be nice to have "themes": general/story aspects you could invoke for a plot point. So, here, any character could spend a plot point to fire two guns without a penalty or to whip out another gun.
Fluffy (char creation): +6 attribute points to spend across 8 attributes. 1 attribute point can be traded in for 4 skill points. A skill or attribute can be reduced to raise another. Later, once the game has started, you can spend a plot point to add a rank in an unbought skill (+1) or to add quirk/hook and invoke it. (We haven't used this last rule yet though.)
LILY McNESSA (S.'s character)
Combat +2
Health: +1
STR: +0
DEX: +1
PERC: +0
KNOW: +0
APPL: +2
SOC: +0
[S.'s didn't bother buying specific skills.]
--Honor (sees things through)
--Doesn't smoke or drink, but has a Tootsie-Pop addiction.
--Weirdness/occult magnet.
Equipment: Beretta, boots, switch-blade, pentacle.
Background: Boxing gym father (died of heart-attack). Catholic maternal grandmother. Apprenticed to a detective, who was bumped off and she had to solve the case of his murder. Owns her own agency now.
WILL STANTON (my character)
Combat: +1 (Guns +3, Brawling -1, Defense +1)
Health: +1
STR: +0
DEX: +0
PERC: +0 (Taste/smell +1)
KNOW: +2 (Occult +4, Languages +3)
APPLIED: +0 (Forgery/docs +1)
SOCIAL: +0 (Disguise +2, Read Person +1)
[1 extra skill point left, which converts to an extra plot point.]
Quirks/Hooks:
--Not respected in occult field (too young; methods too hands-on)
--Needs glasses to read
--Protector of innocent
Equipment: pistol (auto) in shoulder holster, derringer.
Background: Works as office clerk for Lily, both to pay the bills and because occult occurrences seem to follow her.
Dynamo (the game): We then came up with an initial conflict/inciting incident: a job to recover a strange box. This quickly turned into the first scene, with S. taking the lead in narration.
We didn't pause to do the story sketching phase of Dynamo: determine possible conclusion(s) and map out a few NPCs and waypoint scenes along the way. It seemed obvious at first: the story ends when we solve the case. But, though it seems like it might have taken some of the mystery out of things, having a few waypoints added to the motif and character hooks list probably would have helped. Doing so still would have left all the specific details that need to be adlibbed.
We then traded the limelight/narrative control (represented by a large silver coin) after each scene. Scenes seemed to be naturally delimit themselves, and generally corresponded with locations (as I suspected they would).
Here's how the story progressed:
Stolen item job: box, with gold corners and inlay. [S]
--Client: officious/fastidious business man, paying 3x normal rate
--Stolen by hood/crime lord: Citizen Frank Valenti
--Lily knows one of Frank's men from father's gym: Rocko.
Go see Rocko [Z]
--Uncooperative; knows nothing of Frank's "ivory" interests
--Fresh pink scars on hands
--Suggests we talk to Richard Ontario, Frank's art dealer
Break into R.O.'s office [Z]
--Past the lobby security guard by using fire escape
--Odd shrunken head in desk drawer
--Frank's file of purchased: mummified infant+cat, cabinet of curiosities, grotesque Venus-like statue, death-mask of Mata Hari.
--Current file: large cargo (6'x6'x4') coming in from Ivory Coast.
--Invite to Frank's party.
About this point, we took a break. This was tiring work coming up with the whole story on the fly.
Dynamo discoveries: GMs probably won't want to keep the limelight, as I first thought--it's a lot of pressure. And so it should probably regularly pass back and forth in turn (unless someone wants to pay to keep it).
Also, there's probably no need to spend plot points to contribute to the story as a player. The narrating GM should still be able to deny a contribution, but we found that any input was welcome, as the narrating GM was usually willing to grasp at any straw. S. did a great job of contribution, producing most of the items in Frank's file of purchased artifacts. She also was always conscious of placing a good solid lead into the next scene, providing both the connection to Rocko and the party invite. Overall, we largely ignored the exchange of plot point chips in relation to narration control.
The incorporation mechanic worked well. For example, in the Rocko scene, I threw in the "ivory" comment and Rocko's scars in the hopes that this would come to mean something later. "ivory" became "Ivory Coast" in the next scene, and S. built on it again later (see below). This is now becoming a clear thread.
The original idea was to work in a motif whenever possible in order to earn a plot point. However, S. suggested placing the motifs into a hat and drawing one out each scene and then having to work it in. We ended up rolling a die to pick randomly--but with the same result. This was a good idea, as the added constraint actually made scene construction easier, rather than harder.
After our break, we returned to the game:
To Frank's party [S]
--Check out his museum, seeing most of his artifacts.
--See box... but Frank walks in with Rocko [betrayed!]
--Escorted out, back to party
Rival gang arrives (Oscar Calzone) and start shooting up the place [shoot out] [Z]
--Dash back to museum room in confusion [S.'s contribution]
Museum room again [S]
--Box is gone... but do find a [dusty tome]
--Will recognizes it as containing African hieroglyphs, from Ivory Coast region.
--Slip out the French windows with book while shootout rages and alarms blare.
Fluffy discoveries: We never actually rolled the dice during the whole session. I almost asked for a roll to pick the lock of R.O.'s office, but I wasn't really prepared to handle a failure, and in any case, a Good Applied(lockpicking) skill should have been sufficient for Lily to just check (Take 0) on the roll anyway. This suggests that Dynamo might work best with diceless games (though rolling is certainly possible for those who miss it).
Overall, a very fun session with some good design feedback.
For the gaming system, we used Fluffy, which also needs some testing.
Dynamo (pre-game): On Saturday, while strolling around town, we hashed out the general setting, which was basically film noir, but with slightly updated fashion and Hong Kong action style gunfights and vaguely Lovecraft-like occult powers at work in the background.
On Sunday, we came up with a list of motifs: scenes and elements that captured our desired genre and tone. Our list:
-obscure dying last words
-"damsel" in distress
-all a lie?
-PI gets roughed up
-PI gets dragged in by the cops
-PI offered a bribe
+a dusty, ominous tome
-connection to the decadent element and/or seedier part of town
-tangible evidence of evil (but evidence lost by end of tale)
+a disturbing figurine
+a shoot out
-the good bad guy
+betrayal
-no penalty for shooting a pistol in each hand
-an extra gun somewhere
The +s are those motifs we've used so far (see below). The last couple are almost aspect-like--an idea I want to work on more. It'd be nice to have "themes": general/story aspects you could invoke for a plot point. So, here, any character could spend a plot point to fire two guns without a penalty or to whip out another gun.
Fluffy (char creation): +6 attribute points to spend across 8 attributes. 1 attribute point can be traded in for 4 skill points. A skill or attribute can be reduced to raise another. Later, once the game has started, you can spend a plot point to add a rank in an unbought skill (+1) or to add quirk/hook and invoke it. (We haven't used this last rule yet though.)
LILY McNESSA (S.'s character)
Combat +2
Health: +1
STR: +0
DEX: +1
PERC: +0
KNOW: +0
APPL: +2
SOC: +0
[S.'s didn't bother buying specific skills.]
--Honor (sees things through)
--Doesn't smoke or drink, but has a Tootsie-Pop addiction.
--Weirdness/occult magnet.
Equipment: Beretta, boots, switch-blade, pentacle.
Background: Boxing gym father (died of heart-attack). Catholic maternal grandmother. Apprenticed to a detective, who was bumped off and she had to solve the case of his murder. Owns her own agency now.
WILL STANTON (my character)
Combat: +1 (Guns +3, Brawling -1, Defense +1)
Health: +1
STR: +0
DEX: +0
PERC: +0 (Taste/smell +1)
KNOW: +2 (Occult +4, Languages +3)
APPLIED: +0 (Forgery/docs +1)
SOCIAL: +0 (Disguise +2, Read Person +1)
[1 extra skill point left, which converts to an extra plot point.]
Quirks/Hooks:
--Not respected in occult field (too young; methods too hands-on)
--Needs glasses to read
--Protector of innocent
Equipment: pistol (auto) in shoulder holster, derringer.
Background: Works as office clerk for Lily, both to pay the bills and because occult occurrences seem to follow her.
Dynamo (the game): We then came up with an initial conflict/inciting incident: a job to recover a strange box. This quickly turned into the first scene, with S. taking the lead in narration.
We didn't pause to do the story sketching phase of Dynamo: determine possible conclusion(s) and map out a few NPCs and waypoint scenes along the way. It seemed obvious at first: the story ends when we solve the case. But, though it seems like it might have taken some of the mystery out of things, having a few waypoints added to the motif and character hooks list probably would have helped. Doing so still would have left all the specific details that need to be adlibbed.
We then traded the limelight/narrative control (represented by a large silver coin) after each scene. Scenes seemed to be naturally delimit themselves, and generally corresponded with locations (as I suspected they would).
Here's how the story progressed:
Stolen item job: box, with gold corners and inlay. [S]
--Client: officious/fastidious business man, paying 3x normal rate
--Stolen by hood/crime lord: Citizen Frank Valenti
--Lily knows one of Frank's men from father's gym: Rocko.
Go see Rocko [Z]
--Uncooperative; knows nothing of Frank's "ivory" interests
--Fresh pink scars on hands
--Suggests we talk to Richard Ontario, Frank's art dealer
Break into R.O.'s office [Z]
--Past the lobby security guard by using fire escape
--Odd shrunken head in desk drawer
--Frank's file of purchased: mummified infant+cat, cabinet of curiosities, grotesque Venus-like statue, death-mask of Mata Hari.
--Current file: large cargo (6'x6'x4') coming in from Ivory Coast.
--Invite to Frank's party.
About this point, we took a break. This was tiring work coming up with the whole story on the fly.
Dynamo discoveries: GMs probably won't want to keep the limelight, as I first thought--it's a lot of pressure. And so it should probably regularly pass back and forth in turn (unless someone wants to pay to keep it).
Also, there's probably no need to spend plot points to contribute to the story as a player. The narrating GM should still be able to deny a contribution, but we found that any input was welcome, as the narrating GM was usually willing to grasp at any straw. S. did a great job of contribution, producing most of the items in Frank's file of purchased artifacts. She also was always conscious of placing a good solid lead into the next scene, providing both the connection to Rocko and the party invite. Overall, we largely ignored the exchange of plot point chips in relation to narration control.
The incorporation mechanic worked well. For example, in the Rocko scene, I threw in the "ivory" comment and Rocko's scars in the hopes that this would come to mean something later. "ivory" became "Ivory Coast" in the next scene, and S. built on it again later (see below). This is now becoming a clear thread.
The original idea was to work in a motif whenever possible in order to earn a plot point. However, S. suggested placing the motifs into a hat and drawing one out each scene and then having to work it in. We ended up rolling a die to pick randomly--but with the same result. This was a good idea, as the added constraint actually made scene construction easier, rather than harder.
After our break, we returned to the game:
To Frank's party [S]
--Check out his museum, seeing most of his artifacts.
--See box... but Frank walks in with Rocko [betrayed!]
--Escorted out, back to party
Rival gang arrives (Oscar Calzone) and start shooting up the place [shoot out] [Z]
--Dash back to museum room in confusion [S.'s contribution]
Museum room again [S]
--Box is gone... but do find a [dusty tome]
--Will recognizes it as containing African hieroglyphs, from Ivory Coast region.
--Slip out the French windows with book while shootout rages and alarms blare.
Fluffy discoveries: We never actually rolled the dice during the whole session. I almost asked for a roll to pick the lock of R.O.'s office, but I wasn't really prepared to handle a failure, and in any case, a Good Applied(lockpicking) skill should have been sufficient for Lily to just check (Take 0) on the roll anyway. This suggests that Dynamo might work best with diceless games (though rolling is certainly possible for those who miss it).
Overall, a very fun session with some good design feedback.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
D&D: Omri
Omri (S.) tried the assault on the goblin holdout again. It went very well, partly because the goblins couldn't roll worth a damn. (I don't usually use my yellow d20 for this reason, but it needed some love.) Omri was also well shielded and buffed with spells--she took out each foe with a single blow and wasn't even scratched in return! I remembered to consider NPC morale, and had a couple goblins surrender after witnessing the wholesale slaughter of their comrades by this suddenly-appearing avenging goddess. This turned out nicely, as the party was able to pump them for info but then had to spend a sleep spell and some rope to tie them up when they were done. (My original idea had been to use speak with dead if necessary.)
On gaming tools, that "battlegrid" overlay and chess pieces combo is working great. Beer and nuts made for nice DMing companions! I also didn't have my computer this time, which freed up some table space and made things a little more casual. It just meant I needed to copy down all the pertinent notes in the corner of the whiteboard before we started. I might try to do that again, though I have more info necessary for our next encounter: NPCs spell-lists and such.
On gaming tools, that "battlegrid" overlay and chess pieces combo is working great. Beer and nuts made for nice DMing companions! I also didn't have my computer this time, which freed up some table space and made things a little more casual. It just meant I needed to copy down all the pertinent notes in the corner of the whiteboard before we started. I might try to do that again, though I have more info necessary for our next encounter: NPCs spell-lists and such.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Drudge: Ailithorn (vol 1)
Well, I just "played" a bit of Ailithorn: Demon Hunter (a Tellurian tale), which is finally posted. I say "played" since, for this line, my focus has been a bit more on the writing (at least at this point) than the gaming. Also, Drudge is still currently in pieces, so I can't even say this is alpha testing. My second character--Sophie--isn't even fully rolled up yet.
That said, of the handful of attack rolls I have made so far, I have the following to note:
1) My black Fudge dice seem to roll low more often than they roll high.
2) Burning an aspect for a repeat roll (getting the same result again) sucks.
3) I may need to go back to drawing board (again) on converting D&D HD to Drudge, or at least give it a bit more thought. In D&D, that mane should have taken (on average) 1.5 crossbow hits. In Drudge, it will consistently take 3 one-handed hits. (Actually, more, since I wasn't bothering with its natural armor. Oops, and I also see now I forgot its Acidic Cloud death-throes, though I happened to get the general dissolving spirit right.)
4) Related to 3, I do miss that thrill of getting in a good solid hit for more damage. Though there's less rolling without damage rolls, Drudge is currently a bit more slogging in nature.
Nothing I want to change yet; just things to keep in mind.
That said, of the handful of attack rolls I have made so far, I have the following to note:
1) My black Fudge dice seem to roll low more often than they roll high.
2) Burning an aspect for a repeat roll (getting the same result again) sucks.
3) I may need to go back to drawing board (again) on converting D&D HD to Drudge, or at least give it a bit more thought. In D&D, that mane should have taken (on average) 1.5 crossbow hits. In Drudge, it will consistently take 3 one-handed hits. (Actually, more, since I wasn't bothering with its natural armor. Oops, and I also see now I forgot its Acidic Cloud death-throes, though I happened to get the general dissolving spirit right.)
4) Related to 3, I do miss that thrill of getting in a good solid hit for more damage. Though there's less rolling without damage rolls, Drudge is currently a bit more slogging in nature.
Nothing I want to change yet; just things to keep in mind.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
D&D: Omri, Cheap Battlegirds, and Player Caution
S. and I played a bit of D&D this weekend. We overlaid some clear Omnigrid quilting rulers over the white board for a quick battle grid, and then used some old chess pieces for miniatures. Worked out quite nicely! Normally I just use the white board, but it always takes an extra minute drawing the grid before each combat, and then I have to erase each character's mark before moving them to another square. There's just something quick and satisfying about miniatures... but also something a bit pricey when doing it right! The chess pieces were a nice compromise.
I was also reminded what a cautious player S. is. While taking out a goblin army outpost that had her party pinned down with crossbow fire, her character, Omri, burst out of invisibility within the enemy dugout and immediately decapitated an orc and a goblin. Half the remaining seven goblins in the room were still flatfooted, and the rest of her party was about 3 rounds away. Omri had both Shield and Sheild Other in effect, and I was envisioning an awesome cinematic bloodbath as Omri tore through the remaining goblins while her friends dashed in, their own crossbows and spells blazing. But S. chose to retreat rather than press her advantage! So now the entire scattered goblin army--not just this one outpost--knows they're coming.
But upon reflection, I think this retreat is not so surprising. For one, Omri--who had never seen either orc or bugbear before and failed her Knowledge check to identify the orc before her--thought that she may have killed the commander bugbear they were coming for. (And S. did a great job of staying in character even after I accidentally let slip that it was an orc.) Secondly, I may not have been clear as GM that the army had little outposts scattered around these mountain valleys, watching all the passes, that this was just one such outpost that could alert the others given a bit of time.
But most importantly, it's just a (nice) surprise to have a player that isn't unconsciously meta-gaming the whole time, that doesn't have a good idea of the challenge rating of the current encounter, and who's worried more about avoiding unnecessary combat than just killing everything that moves and nicking all its stuff. And, I must say, if it were me in Omri's place, I don't know if I'd stand my ground in a cramped dugout when seven armed and outraged goblins turned to stare at me! Overall, it was still an impressive hit-and-fade attack... marred slightly only the by the 3 crossbow bolts the party took in the back as they fled into the surrounding hills.
Anyway, it was just another lesson in that constant GM balancing-act: providing enough challenge that players have to be cautious, but not so much that they're afraid to just rush in--swords swinging--when the situation calls for it. I guess that's the trick: successfully conveying whether or not the situation calls for it.
I was also reminded what a cautious player S. is. While taking out a goblin army outpost that had her party pinned down with crossbow fire, her character, Omri, burst out of invisibility within the enemy dugout and immediately decapitated an orc and a goblin. Half the remaining seven goblins in the room were still flatfooted, and the rest of her party was about 3 rounds away. Omri had both Shield and Sheild Other in effect, and I was envisioning an awesome cinematic bloodbath as Omri tore through the remaining goblins while her friends dashed in, their own crossbows and spells blazing. But S. chose to retreat rather than press her advantage! So now the entire scattered goblin army--not just this one outpost--knows they're coming.
But upon reflection, I think this retreat is not so surprising. For one, Omri--who had never seen either orc or bugbear before and failed her Knowledge check to identify the orc before her--thought that she may have killed the commander bugbear they were coming for. (And S. did a great job of staying in character even after I accidentally let slip that it was an orc.) Secondly, I may not have been clear as GM that the army had little outposts scattered around these mountain valleys, watching all the passes, that this was just one such outpost that could alert the others given a bit of time.
But most importantly, it's just a (nice) surprise to have a player that isn't unconsciously meta-gaming the whole time, that doesn't have a good idea of the challenge rating of the current encounter, and who's worried more about avoiding unnecessary combat than just killing everything that moves and nicking all its stuff. And, I must say, if it were me in Omri's place, I don't know if I'd stand my ground in a cramped dugout when seven armed and outraged goblins turned to stare at me! Overall, it was still an impressive hit-and-fade attack... marred slightly only the by the 3 crossbow bolts the party took in the back as they fled into the surrounding hills.
Anyway, it was just another lesson in that constant GM balancing-act: providing enough challenge that players have to be cautious, but not so much that they're afraid to just rush in--swords swinging--when the situation calls for it. I guess that's the trick: successfully conveying whether or not the situation calls for it.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Huffy: Liza Jaeger
Date: 11 Apr 2008
Player: S.
This was our first attempt at Huffy. We played for about an hour, I'd say, as we walked from Kahala Mall, along the coast at the foot of Diamond Head, to my house. We were playing an Instant Game with the following details:
Setting: Fallen Civilization
Tone: Action/Adventure
Thing: Neutral Ground
Thing: Epic Heroes
Tech: Lost Technology (Now: Wheel. Then: Automobiles)
Place: Camping Out
Population: >10 million
Opposition: (Cruel) Kingpin
Action-Thing: Rescue (Giant) Secret Society
Action-OtherThing: Survive (Strong) Soldier
The population of this corner of the world is spread out in little woodland villages, living a primitive but comfortable existence. S.'s character, Elizabeth "Liza" Jaeger is the greatest hunter in the region. But it seems her family is in debt to the local Godfather figure, who calls in the debt by giving Liza a choice: go on a little "errand" for him, or else he'll marry her young, innocent sister Amelia.
The errand is to travel east over the mountains to find more "sigiled meshal". The kingpin shows her the piece of meshal he already has--a hard, silvery sheet bearing a strange sigil: a circle surrounded by three triangles [a chunk of metal bearing the radioactive symbol, in other words]. The man who brought this to the kingpin suffered sores and internal bleeding. Before he died he explained that the sigil is significant as an indication of the meshal's power to cause disease. The meshal is now stored in the kingpin's shed, a fair distance from any living area.
Liza seeks prophesy before she leaves on such a long journey. The local wise woman reads her tea leaves and says to beware the mountains and the Green Bear.
A couple days journey later, Liza reaches the foothills of the mountains. Ancient myth tells that giants live on the far side, and heroes of old fended them off so that the Villages could live in peace here in the forest.
Liza hears a scuffle nearby and interrupts a fight between three men. One is a warrior dressed like her, but the other two are large, bald, blubbery, and dressed in loincloths and war paint. One of the savages--already wounded--roars and charges Liza when she calls out, and she sinks him with an arrow. The warrior slays the other savage with a well-placed blow of his macuahuitl; he then brutally dispatches the other fallen savage. Liza notices the savages bear weapons crudely fashioned from chunks of meshal, though they lack sigils.
Introductions are exchanged. The warrior is named Albert, and is a member of the Order of Holy Redoubt, a martial monastic order that serve as sentinels and guardians of the mountains. Though they have not seen any giants in known memory, lately small groups of these savages have been coming across the desert wastelands beyond the mountains. They do not seem to speak, but violently attack other humans and, occasionally, each other.
Albert offers that Liza come to the monastery for the night. It proves to be under-staffed with only a handful of warriors who come in from their diverse posts and watches for dinner. Albert explains that the Villages very rarely tithe their sons to the Redoubt as they once did, and the order itself has largely been forgotten here in the wilderness. Liza overhears a hushed discussion of "the rogue" further down the table...
[Liza's details: Fighting +1, Strength +0, Grace +1, Knowledge +1, Perception +1, Social -1, Survival +3. Quirks: Blunt/Tactless; Honorable.]
Player: S.
This was our first attempt at Huffy. We played for about an hour, I'd say, as we walked from Kahala Mall, along the coast at the foot of Diamond Head, to my house. We were playing an Instant Game with the following details:
Setting: Fallen Civilization
Tone: Action/Adventure
Thing: Neutral Ground
Thing: Epic Heroes
Tech: Lost Technology (Now: Wheel. Then: Automobiles)
Place: Camping Out
Population: >10 million
Opposition: (Cruel) Kingpin
Action-Thing: Rescue (Giant) Secret Society
Action-OtherThing: Survive (Strong) Soldier
The population of this corner of the world is spread out in little woodland villages, living a primitive but comfortable existence. S.'s character, Elizabeth "Liza" Jaeger is the greatest hunter in the region. But it seems her family is in debt to the local Godfather figure, who calls in the debt by giving Liza a choice: go on a little "errand" for him, or else he'll marry her young, innocent sister Amelia.
The errand is to travel east over the mountains to find more "sigiled meshal". The kingpin shows her the piece of meshal he already has--a hard, silvery sheet bearing a strange sigil: a circle surrounded by three triangles [a chunk of metal bearing the radioactive symbol, in other words]. The man who brought this to the kingpin suffered sores and internal bleeding. Before he died he explained that the sigil is significant as an indication of the meshal's power to cause disease. The meshal is now stored in the kingpin's shed, a fair distance from any living area.
Liza seeks prophesy before she leaves on such a long journey. The local wise woman reads her tea leaves and says to beware the mountains and the Green Bear.
A couple days journey later, Liza reaches the foothills of the mountains. Ancient myth tells that giants live on the far side, and heroes of old fended them off so that the Villages could live in peace here in the forest.
Liza hears a scuffle nearby and interrupts a fight between three men. One is a warrior dressed like her, but the other two are large, bald, blubbery, and dressed in loincloths and war paint. One of the savages--already wounded--roars and charges Liza when she calls out, and she sinks him with an arrow. The warrior slays the other savage with a well-placed blow of his macuahuitl; he then brutally dispatches the other fallen savage. Liza notices the savages bear weapons crudely fashioned from chunks of meshal, though they lack sigils.
Introductions are exchanged. The warrior is named Albert, and is a member of the Order of Holy Redoubt, a martial monastic order that serve as sentinels and guardians of the mountains. Though they have not seen any giants in known memory, lately small groups of these savages have been coming across the desert wastelands beyond the mountains. They do not seem to speak, but violently attack other humans and, occasionally, each other.
Albert offers that Liza come to the monastery for the night. It proves to be under-staffed with only a handful of warriors who come in from their diverse posts and watches for dinner. Albert explains that the Villages very rarely tithe their sons to the Redoubt as they once did, and the order itself has largely been forgotten here in the wilderness. Liza overhears a hushed discussion of "the rogue" further down the table...
[Liza's details: Fighting +1, Strength +0, Grace +1, Knowledge +1, Perception +1, Social -1, Survival +3. Quirks: Blunt/Tactless; Honorable.]
Thursday, April 10, 2008
DRYH: Piper Fergesson
Date: 06 Apr 08
Player: S.
S's character was Piper Fergesson, a cop on leave after an "incident". She and her partner, Herb Banocheck, had a run-in with some nut with long grey hair. The nut ran at Piper and said, as if in recognition, "It's you!" He pushed her down and she bonked her head, losing consciousness. Witnesses report that the nut then shot Herb with a ball-and-blackpowder pistol, killing him. The nut apparently escaped in the ensuing commotion.
Piper is on leave now, but she can't seem to sleep. Recently, she seems to be noticing doors where she doesn't remember seeing any before. The action opens when she passes a woman in the lobby of her apartment building--a woman she recognizes as a former tenant that died!
[Character details: Exhaustion talent = Good reflexes/reaction time. Madness talent = Can summon/communicate with ghosts. Madness responses: All fight.]
Locked in her apartment, wondering if she's losing her mind, Piper hears a knock on the door. It's a Bobby policeman, asking her to accompany him down to "District 13" for questioning regarding the death of her partner, Banocheck. Curious, Piper follows him, even after she spots the large clockwork key protruding from his back. He takes her down the hallway a ways and through a janitor closet door to a busy city street. Looking back, they just came out the glass door of a candy store.
As they head down a busy and anachronistic street towards a metal archway bearing a large "13", someone in the crowd slips a bit of paper into Piper's hand. Reading it while the Bobby stops to talk to a Paper Boy, Piper sees "Don't go into District 13!". Taking this as her cue, she slips away from the Bobby and disappears into the crowd. She wanders through half-familiar streets and finds the Bizarre Bazaar.
[Here we paused for a nap and a break to get some storyline plotted, as I'd been just adlibbing this far--and most of that based on a vague memory of the example session in the first few pages of DRYH.]
A little someone catches up with her in the Bazaar. He looks like a blue stuffed dog in a trenchcoat with sort of tassel buttoned to the end of his snout. Introducing himself as Stitch the Snitch, he leads Piper to see "La Resistance!" Down into the sewers, through the borders of the Wax King's domain, and down to the upper edge of the Under-Where [hee hee]. La Resistance proves to be three individuals who bear a suspicious resemblance to some of Piper's childhood toys: a little "rag doll" girl, a "stuffed pig" named Anderleaf in a flowery waistcoat, and Barbie's friend Midge. They're currently having tea on a packing crate under a single naked lightbulb.
La Resistance explains to Piper that she can summon ghosts, as they themselves are not really here, but the ghosts of toys remembered. Something strange is going on regarding the death of Herb Banocheck, something that has Officer Tock and even the Tacksman interested. The description of the nut sounds like a Tweener they know named Mad Max. (Tweeners are neither Awake nor Sleeper, but trapped between the two worlds. You usually find Tweeners raving to themselves at bus stops in the City Slumbering.) With no further clues, they recommend Piper seek prophesy.
Stitch takes her to the surface again. He buys a paper from a Paper Boy and points out a small article regarding Piper's escape from the Bobby and that she is still wanted for questioning. He chuckles over how he "snitched" Piper away from the Bobby.
Stitch then leads her to Mama Fortuna. Piper's own mother made a living as a false medium and psychic, and so Piper recognizes a number of tricks of the trade. Mama gets nothing from the crystal ball, so she tries a Tarot reading. It's a strange deck, but she reveals the following: the King of Cups (the Wax King) is in opposition with the King of Blades (the Tacksman) over the City (Mad City and the City Slumbering, two sides of a coin). Beneath the City is the Page of Wands (Piper, newly Awake). Mirroring the Tacksman and Wax King's opposition, Piper is torn between the Horizon Walker (a major arcana card of a man with long grey hair and out-stretched arms; "He represents new awareness and knowledge," Mama says) on the one hand. On the other... Mama Fortuna draws the last card, but casts it and the deck aside, refusing to continue the reading.
Leaving Mama's, Piper finds that Stitch has disappeared. At a loss, she decides to try to find a way home. She heads to her neighborhood in this mirror city, looking for a door. Instead, she finds a couple Pin Head G-men waiting in her building lobby. She gives them the slip. In the fight, she finds her gun is gone... snitched by Stitch?
She tries to buy another paper, but the Paper Boys want Wax King coins, or else $20. One of the Boys, Johnny, recognizes her from the newsies, and so sells her a paper for an autographed $1. According to the paper, Piper is still wanted for questioning, though now they've called out the Needle Nose hounds.
Piper summons Anderleaf the pig, who daintily sniffs around her and announces that, yes, she's being tracked based on the scent of her gun, snitched by Stitch. So he recommends she buy a new one to replace it... then her old one won't be hers anymore.
Back at the Bizarre Bazaar she trades, in the shadows, a memory of freedom and rain in exchange for a gun... that proves to be a ball-and-blackpowder model. Johnny the Paper Boy runs up to her in the crowd, waving his autographed $1, gloating that it'll be worth even more now, look... a new article in the paper says that there is now a warrant out for Piper due to "possession of evidence".
A Needle Nose trots by then, on the trail of something... but passes her by.
Then a mob of Paper Boys hurry past, cursing the Horizon Walker for "taking a bum again." Dashing after the Boys, she sees that they are following some bum with long grey hair. His clothes are stuffed with old newspapers... slips of which are falling out behind him, leaving a trail of headlines from the future. Dashing in, pulling off the Boys before they can dismember him, Piper draws her new gun. As the bum turns, she grabs him and recognizes him as the nut that killed Herb. She cries out, "It's you!" and there is a sudden connection between them. She can see something reflected in his eyes... a Tarot card... the opposition that wouldn't be shown by Mama Fortuna... but as she struggles to dive further in, to make sense of the vision, she passes out.
She awakes in the Bazaar, surrounded by a crowd muttering "Horizon Walker". The bum and the Paper Boys are gone, but, in their place, is a crowd of Bobbies, Pin Heads, and Needle Noses, who quickly surround Piper and haul her into a paddywagon bound for District 13!
There, she is hustled to a courtroom for trial. The Tacksman and his Pin Heads are there as audience. So is Stitch the Snitch, who continues to sob, "I'm sorry! I couldn't help it--I'm a Snitch!" so loudly that he is eventually evicted from the room. The prosecution argues that Herb was killed by the Horizon Walker with a blackpowder gun. Piper is the Horizon Walker (huh?) and possessor of said gun. Chronology seems to hold no weight here. In her defense, Piper summons the spirit of Herb himself, who exonerates her by agreeing that it was the bum Mad Max who shot him.
The prosecution tries to shift tacks--while Piper may not have been directly responsible, she was indirectly to blame. In the moment when she faced her assailant, she was slow (when we know she can be so fast), she passively let her partner come to her rescue (when we know her to be so capable), she failed to see the supernatural at work (when she is (now?) so comfortable existence). With this speech, realization comes. It's true, there is/was opposition to the awareness that is the Horizon Walker... an image comes to mind of a little girl in the shadow of a woman in a shawl holding a crystal ball... the same woman that was on the card she saw in the eyes of the Horizon Walker... the Charlatan... her mother.
The tiny judge in the huge wig bangs his gavel and dismisses the case. Somewhere outside, the clocks are chiming Thirteen.
Conclusion. We played for about 2.5 hours, I'd guess, which is our longest gaming session to date in any system. It is also the first story we've every finished. (Yay!) There was certainly a strong story focus--we only rolled for "combat" and "summoning", and that only occurred about 6 or 7 times.
Some of the elements I was proud of: Tweeners, Stitch, the Under-Where, Anderleaf, the folding over of time with the HW encounter. Others were a little weak--particularly the whole Charlatan thing at the end. I was attempting to build on what S. had already established--Piper's mother--as a psychological topic for further investigation. In the City Slumbering, her mother's shadow still affects her--as the prosecution pointed out--leading to a level of cynicism and a tough cop exterior. Yet, in Mad City, she has in many ways achieved what her mother always pretended--she can actually channel the spirits of the dead. And the first unconscious use of that power was to summon the spirits of her childhood--symbols of girlhood and innocence. But all this probably makes way more sense here than it did during the session, where we were both getting tired and just trying to finish things up.
I wouldn't mind returning to this storyworld. I think of this session as the pilot episode for a TV show that may or may not get canceled...
Player: S.
S's character was Piper Fergesson, a cop on leave after an "incident". She and her partner, Herb Banocheck, had a run-in with some nut with long grey hair. The nut ran at Piper and said, as if in recognition, "It's you!" He pushed her down and she bonked her head, losing consciousness. Witnesses report that the nut then shot Herb with a ball-and-blackpowder pistol, killing him. The nut apparently escaped in the ensuing commotion.
Piper is on leave now, but she can't seem to sleep. Recently, she seems to be noticing doors where she doesn't remember seeing any before. The action opens when she passes a woman in the lobby of her apartment building--a woman she recognizes as a former tenant that died!
[Character details: Exhaustion talent = Good reflexes/reaction time. Madness talent = Can summon/communicate with ghosts. Madness responses: All fight.]
Locked in her apartment, wondering if she's losing her mind, Piper hears a knock on the door. It's a Bobby policeman, asking her to accompany him down to "District 13" for questioning regarding the death of her partner, Banocheck. Curious, Piper follows him, even after she spots the large clockwork key protruding from his back. He takes her down the hallway a ways and through a janitor closet door to a busy city street. Looking back, they just came out the glass door of a candy store.
As they head down a busy and anachronistic street towards a metal archway bearing a large "13", someone in the crowd slips a bit of paper into Piper's hand. Reading it while the Bobby stops to talk to a Paper Boy, Piper sees "Don't go into District 13!". Taking this as her cue, she slips away from the Bobby and disappears into the crowd. She wanders through half-familiar streets and finds the Bizarre Bazaar.
[Here we paused for a nap and a break to get some storyline plotted, as I'd been just adlibbing this far--and most of that based on a vague memory of the example session in the first few pages of DRYH.]
A little someone catches up with her in the Bazaar. He looks like a blue stuffed dog in a trenchcoat with sort of tassel buttoned to the end of his snout. Introducing himself as Stitch the Snitch, he leads Piper to see "La Resistance!" Down into the sewers, through the borders of the Wax King's domain, and down to the upper edge of the Under-Where [hee hee]. La Resistance proves to be three individuals who bear a suspicious resemblance to some of Piper's childhood toys: a little "rag doll" girl, a "stuffed pig" named Anderleaf in a flowery waistcoat, and Barbie's friend Midge. They're currently having tea on a packing crate under a single naked lightbulb.
La Resistance explains to Piper that she can summon ghosts, as they themselves are not really here, but the ghosts of toys remembered. Something strange is going on regarding the death of Herb Banocheck, something that has Officer Tock and even the Tacksman interested. The description of the nut sounds like a Tweener they know named Mad Max. (Tweeners are neither Awake nor Sleeper, but trapped between the two worlds. You usually find Tweeners raving to themselves at bus stops in the City Slumbering.) With no further clues, they recommend Piper seek prophesy.
Stitch takes her to the surface again. He buys a paper from a Paper Boy and points out a small article regarding Piper's escape from the Bobby and that she is still wanted for questioning. He chuckles over how he "snitched" Piper away from the Bobby.
Stitch then leads her to Mama Fortuna. Piper's own mother made a living as a false medium and psychic, and so Piper recognizes a number of tricks of the trade. Mama gets nothing from the crystal ball, so she tries a Tarot reading. It's a strange deck, but she reveals the following: the King of Cups (the Wax King) is in opposition with the King of Blades (the Tacksman) over the City (Mad City and the City Slumbering, two sides of a coin). Beneath the City is the Page of Wands (Piper, newly Awake). Mirroring the Tacksman and Wax King's opposition, Piper is torn between the Horizon Walker (a major arcana card of a man with long grey hair and out-stretched arms; "He represents new awareness and knowledge," Mama says) on the one hand. On the other... Mama Fortuna draws the last card, but casts it and the deck aside, refusing to continue the reading.
Leaving Mama's, Piper finds that Stitch has disappeared. At a loss, she decides to try to find a way home. She heads to her neighborhood in this mirror city, looking for a door. Instead, she finds a couple Pin Head G-men waiting in her building lobby. She gives them the slip. In the fight, she finds her gun is gone... snitched by Stitch?
She tries to buy another paper, but the Paper Boys want Wax King coins, or else $20. One of the Boys, Johnny, recognizes her from the newsies, and so sells her a paper for an autographed $1. According to the paper, Piper is still wanted for questioning, though now they've called out the Needle Nose hounds.
Piper summons Anderleaf the pig, who daintily sniffs around her and announces that, yes, she's being tracked based on the scent of her gun, snitched by Stitch. So he recommends she buy a new one to replace it... then her old one won't be hers anymore.
Back at the Bizarre Bazaar she trades, in the shadows, a memory of freedom and rain in exchange for a gun... that proves to be a ball-and-blackpowder model. Johnny the Paper Boy runs up to her in the crowd, waving his autographed $1, gloating that it'll be worth even more now, look... a new article in the paper says that there is now a warrant out for Piper due to "possession of evidence".
A Needle Nose trots by then, on the trail of something... but passes her by.
Then a mob of Paper Boys hurry past, cursing the Horizon Walker for "taking a bum again." Dashing after the Boys, she sees that they are following some bum with long grey hair. His clothes are stuffed with old newspapers... slips of which are falling out behind him, leaving a trail of headlines from the future. Dashing in, pulling off the Boys before they can dismember him, Piper draws her new gun. As the bum turns, she grabs him and recognizes him as the nut that killed Herb. She cries out, "It's you!" and there is a sudden connection between them. She can see something reflected in his eyes... a Tarot card... the opposition that wouldn't be shown by Mama Fortuna... but as she struggles to dive further in, to make sense of the vision, she passes out.
She awakes in the Bazaar, surrounded by a crowd muttering "Horizon Walker". The bum and the Paper Boys are gone, but, in their place, is a crowd of Bobbies, Pin Heads, and Needle Noses, who quickly surround Piper and haul her into a paddywagon bound for District 13!
There, she is hustled to a courtroom for trial. The Tacksman and his Pin Heads are there as audience. So is Stitch the Snitch, who continues to sob, "I'm sorry! I couldn't help it--I'm a Snitch!" so loudly that he is eventually evicted from the room. The prosecution argues that Herb was killed by the Horizon Walker with a blackpowder gun. Piper is the Horizon Walker (huh?) and possessor of said gun. Chronology seems to hold no weight here. In her defense, Piper summons the spirit of Herb himself, who exonerates her by agreeing that it was the bum Mad Max who shot him.
The prosecution tries to shift tacks--while Piper may not have been directly responsible, she was indirectly to blame. In the moment when she faced her assailant, she was slow (when we know she can be so fast), she passively let her partner come to her rescue (when we know her to be so capable), she failed to see the supernatural at work (when she is (now?) so comfortable existence). With this speech, realization comes. It's true, there is/was opposition to the awareness that is the Horizon Walker... an image comes to mind of a little girl in the shadow of a woman in a shawl holding a crystal ball... the same woman that was on the card she saw in the eyes of the Horizon Walker... the Charlatan... her mother.
The tiny judge in the huge wig bangs his gavel and dismisses the case. Somewhere outside, the clocks are chiming Thirteen.
Conclusion. We played for about 2.5 hours, I'd guess, which is our longest gaming session to date in any system. It is also the first story we've every finished. (Yay!) There was certainly a strong story focus--we only rolled for "combat" and "summoning", and that only occurred about 6 or 7 times.
Some of the elements I was proud of: Tweeners, Stitch, the Under-Where, Anderleaf, the folding over of time with the HW encounter. Others were a little weak--particularly the whole Charlatan thing at the end. I was attempting to build on what S. had already established--Piper's mother--as a psychological topic for further investigation. In the City Slumbering, her mother's shadow still affects her--as the prosecution pointed out--leading to a level of cynicism and a tough cop exterior. Yet, in Mad City, she has in many ways achieved what her mother always pretended--she can actually channel the spirits of the dead. And the first unconscious use of that power was to summon the spirits of her childhood--symbols of girlhood and innocence. But all this probably makes way more sense here than it did during the session, where we were both getting tired and just trying to finish things up.
I wouldn't mind returning to this storyworld. I think of this session as the pilot episode for a TV show that may or may not get canceled...
Fluff: Amaryllis, Post-apoc librarian
Date: 02 Mar 08
Player: S.
Together, S. & I came up with the basic world: post nuclear apocalypse in the Badlands of South Dakota. America is gone, though remnants of civilization are slowly regrouping in Sioux City IA, Albany NY, Sarasota FL, Seattle WA, Juneau AK, Cabo San Lucas MX, Rio BR. S.'s character, Amaryllis ("Rye"), is scouring the Badlands on her chopper, looking for books and remnants of civilization. Due to some strange effect of the fallout, gunpowder no longer works.
Rye needs gas. She encounters a blockade formed by a couple buses on the deserted highway, guarded by 3 men. Rather than give over her bike as "tax", she manages to power around the blockade. She takes a couple hits in the battle--one being a crossbow bolt in the leg as she flees. But she gave about as well as she got.
Pulling off the road to avoid pursuit, she meets a young boy named Sam who has been run off from the nearby town for being a "mutant" and a "devil-child". Apparently things seem to move around him. He explains the town is run by the Landlord, who lives up in the "Castle" overlooking the town. He's the only one would have gas.
The two lie low while the three guards from the road block return to town and gather a group of torch-bearers to scour the surrounding desert in the darkness. Rye hides her bike, and she and Sam approach the "Castle"--which proves to be a Quonset hut and another shed surrounded by a high fence.
After trying to figure out how to approach the building without alerting the kenneled guard dogs, Rye eventually attacks a lone guard. A second one comes running, but he is "magically" repelled by a cowering Sam. The original guard and Rye are both bloodied, though Rye puts a thrown dagger in the guard's back as he tries to run for reinforcements. Rye and Sam stumble towards the door of the Quonset hut while the formerly repelled guard begins to stir once more...
This was about 1.5 hours of play. We ended things here as we wanted to make it to a movie that day. S. thought things looked pretty bleak, and we haven't returned to this story since. Should we do so, here's the details:
Amaryllis: Good fighting, Bad strength, Okay grace, Okay know-how, Okay perception, Worse social, Okay survival.
Sam: Bad fighting, Bad strength, Okay grace, Bad know-how, Okay perception, Bad social, Okay survival, (Good psi).
Ideas: I'd thought of having an episodic campaign structure, where each session involves some need--gas, food, supplies, etc--that involves Rye in some local dispute or story. General prompters: muts and tards, a burnt cityscape with preserved convenience store, trail of previous survivors, a sheet trap, tard horde in the city, muts in the subway system.
Also, when we left things so bleak, I considered a world-jumping campaign idea. Perhaps when Sam and Rye pass through doorways together, they move to another world but with the same story--so a fantasy setting (Sam's a wizard), or Hyperborean (Rye is like Red Sonja), etc.
Player: S.
Together, S. & I came up with the basic world: post nuclear apocalypse in the Badlands of South Dakota. America is gone, though remnants of civilization are slowly regrouping in Sioux City IA, Albany NY, Sarasota FL, Seattle WA, Juneau AK, Cabo San Lucas MX, Rio BR. S.'s character, Amaryllis ("Rye"), is scouring the Badlands on her chopper, looking for books and remnants of civilization. Due to some strange effect of the fallout, gunpowder no longer works.
Rye needs gas. She encounters a blockade formed by a couple buses on the deserted highway, guarded by 3 men. Rather than give over her bike as "tax", she manages to power around the blockade. She takes a couple hits in the battle--one being a crossbow bolt in the leg as she flees. But she gave about as well as she got.
Pulling off the road to avoid pursuit, she meets a young boy named Sam who has been run off from the nearby town for being a "mutant" and a "devil-child". Apparently things seem to move around him. He explains the town is run by the Landlord, who lives up in the "Castle" overlooking the town. He's the only one would have gas.
The two lie low while the three guards from the road block return to town and gather a group of torch-bearers to scour the surrounding desert in the darkness. Rye hides her bike, and she and Sam approach the "Castle"--which proves to be a Quonset hut and another shed surrounded by a high fence.
After trying to figure out how to approach the building without alerting the kenneled guard dogs, Rye eventually attacks a lone guard. A second one comes running, but he is "magically" repelled by a cowering Sam. The original guard and Rye are both bloodied, though Rye puts a thrown dagger in the guard's back as he tries to run for reinforcements. Rye and Sam stumble towards the door of the Quonset hut while the formerly repelled guard begins to stir once more...
This was about 1.5 hours of play. We ended things here as we wanted to make it to a movie that day. S. thought things looked pretty bleak, and we haven't returned to this story since. Should we do so, here's the details:
Amaryllis: Good fighting, Bad strength, Okay grace, Okay know-how, Okay perception, Worse social, Okay survival.
Sam: Bad fighting, Bad strength, Okay grace, Bad know-how, Okay perception, Bad social, Okay survival, (Good psi).
Ideas: I'd thought of having an episodic campaign structure, where each session involves some need--gas, food, supplies, etc--that involves Rye in some local dispute or story. General prompters: muts and tards, a burnt cityscape with preserved convenience store, trail of previous survivors, a sheet trap, tard horde in the city, muts in the subway system.
Also, when we left things so bleak, I considered a world-jumping campaign idea. Perhaps when Sam and Rye pass through doorways together, they move to another world but with the same story--so a fantasy setting (Sam's a wizard), or Hyperborean (Rye is like Red Sonja), etc.
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