I printed out Danger Patrol and brought it along to the "Car Wash" tonight, and actually got to run through a scene of it. Players were Dave VanDyke, Matt "Kub" Kubiak, and a fellow whose name I forget, I had just met him; he was a boardgamer but hadn't tried RPGs before. Robb and Jason had some important video games to play and couldn't be bothered; to be fair, that's kinda why they show up in the first place, not to play hippie games.
Dave and Kub chose randomly (semi-randomly -- Kub drew Alien Professor and I suggested he might want to swap Alien out cause it's kind of a DIY style) and we ended up with Max Powers the Psychic Professor, and Vance Granger, the Two-Fisted Explorer. (TODO: ask Dave the other player's name; it was mentioned once but it went right out of my sieve-like brain.) Our third player, the one who hadn't played RPGs before, chose a Robot Commando named THGHUS (pronounced "Thuggus").
I gave them the teaser, then asked for "Previously..." and we got some setup involving Max uncovering a Neptunian assassination plot, and THGHUS and Vance getting into some trouble with the Neptunians in a rescue plan that got complicated (somehow involving Vance and a Neptunian princess...)
So cards for all those things went out on the table. I explained that we were probably only going to do one scene tonight but all those were available for future scenes, or adding to the existing scene.
Following the suggestion in the rules I cut down the number of crimson apes by two since we had only three players -- TOTALLY unnecessary. "Three hits, no roll" powers are freaking BADASS, and they waded through the threats fairly quickly, even after I decided that the apes turned out to be six-hit threats after all, not three.
It only took two rounds.
First round: the Professor uses his telekinesis to remotely steer the damaged rocketcar to safety (Danger: he landed it on the only nearby surface -- a tanker of rocket fuel! -- safely). He also plugs into the currents controlling the malfunctioning traffic controller system using his gadgets and brings them back into sync. Two threats gone. Like that. (He got a second action because he used a power token for the first.)
Then THGHUS got out his hidden weaponry and lit up the immediately threatening ape, only wounding and angering it, and ending up with the ape hanging off of his robot body which was hanging from the fin of their rocket car by a damaged arm! (only Bashed, no major damage, but still, you could see sparks flying and stuff.)
Time for Vance. Vance is an Explorer, and knows a thing or two about crimson apes. He climbed down THGHUS's body to get eye to eye with the creature. After fending off some wicked blows by the ape, he hit it with a dominance attack -- essentially a staring and screaming contest, or something like that -- which forced it to acknowledge him as alpha. (He made him wear the Cone of Shame, if you will.) The now-docile ape climbed the poor robot's body and sat meekly in the vehicle, just as...
The one remaining ape, who'd been ignored all this turn, dropped onto the car and smacked poor Powers upside the head. (Reduced Hit!) Ape Two was pretty angry to see what had happened Ape One... after all, Ape Two had been the ORIGINAL Alpha. (Danger!)
The next turn though, that ape had no chance. Professor Powers came up with some rubber science about the metal implants in the backs of the apes' heads (which we hadn't noticed up till that point) and how they'd be adversely affected by the currents in the navigation system, which he'd already gotten under his control (3 free hits on an ally's attack for rubber science!). This added to Vance's two-fisted haymaker, so that just as he cold-cocked the ape, the thing's implant went haywire, sending it into a twitching frenzy and making it an easy target for THGHUS's weaponry.
We cut it off after one scene, though we briefly discussed what the interlude scenes would probably have been and where it would go from there.
Fun little game considering I had to do zero prep beyond what was done for me in the rules. There was no discernable difference in play experience between the experienced gamers and the complete newb, except for one point where he got a little caught up in scanning his powers list and it had to be pointed out that he could do anything he darn well pleased, what was on the sheet was just stuff he got an extra bonus for doing.
If I was going to do this again, well, I'd probably pile on the threats a bit more. But maybe the players just got lucky. Or maybe two turns was fine for an intro like this, and if they kept on going, they'd have felt the impact of the power tokens they'd spent pretty soon.
Anyway, yay! I got to run a game!
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Some Demons
I've been mulling around an idea for a Sorcerer game.
Inspiration: certain cartoons with humanoid demons and such in them. David Trampier's "Wormy," anything fantasy by Vaughn Bodé, James West, maybe in a more serious vein, old children's book illustrations (Arthur Rackham, Sidney Sime).
Demons (aka imps) are little projections of id-charged ectoplasm from another universe, who can be brought into ours via various ancient rituals. The rituals, and their names, are all old school and traditional -- magic circles, abracadabra, names from the Goetia, the whole nine yards. But the demons, once they're here, have quite modern tastes and attitudes. They tend to be a bunch of little vulgarians, perhaps with Needs for boozing or getting high, cult movies or gambling, sating themselves at all-night buffets, or what not. But of course they're bursting with arcane power.
I'm thinking of two different kinds of Sorcerers, primarily. The NPCs are going to include a bunch of pretentious sorcerous weenies, people you love to hate. A grim gothy sorcerer lord, an ancient bearded cultic badass, and so on. The PCs are going to be primarily ordinary schmucks who happen, by design or by accident, to have gotten access to the old traditions of sorcery and gotten involved with them. It'll be kind of like "play yourself as a sorcerer," but not literally yourself, just the sort of person you might know and hang out with if they were real.
So besides the contrast between the freaky old rituals and the down-to-earth imps would be accompanied by a contrast between the earthy demons and the annoying NPC sorcerers.
Anyway, I've been thinking about this for a while, and started doing a little demon concept art last night.
Inspiration: certain cartoons with humanoid demons and such in them. David Trampier's "Wormy," anything fantasy by Vaughn Bodé, James West, maybe in a more serious vein, old children's book illustrations (Arthur Rackham, Sidney Sime).
Demons (aka imps) are little projections of id-charged ectoplasm from another universe, who can be brought into ours via various ancient rituals. The rituals, and their names, are all old school and traditional -- magic circles, abracadabra, names from the Goetia, the whole nine yards. But the demons, once they're here, have quite modern tastes and attitudes. They tend to be a bunch of little vulgarians, perhaps with Needs for boozing or getting high, cult movies or gambling, sating themselves at all-night buffets, or what not. But of course they're bursting with arcane power.
I'm thinking of two different kinds of Sorcerers, primarily. The NPCs are going to include a bunch of pretentious sorcerous weenies, people you love to hate. A grim gothy sorcerer lord, an ancient bearded cultic badass, and so on. The PCs are going to be primarily ordinary schmucks who happen, by design or by accident, to have gotten access to the old traditions of sorcery and gotten involved with them. It'll be kind of like "play yourself as a sorcerer," but not literally yourself, just the sort of person you might know and hang out with if they were real.
So besides the contrast between the freaky old rituals and the down-to-earth imps would be accompanied by a contrast between the earthy demons and the annoying NPC sorcerers.
Anyway, I've been thinking about this for a while, and started doing a little demon concept art last night.
Blood Red
Do you like art depicting chicks in chainmail? Battle babes? Warrior women? Witches? Demonesses? Of course you do, so go and check out James West's newly revamped Blood Red Comics.
Sunday, July 05, 2009
S/Lay w/Me
I'm really looking forward to getting this game at GenCon this year:
[S/Lay w/Me] The back-story and earliest playtesting
[S/lay W/Me] The Lion, the Wretch, and the Woman
[S/Lay w/Me] the Lover and the liquids
[S/Lay w/Me] The back-story and earliest playtesting
[S/lay W/Me] The Lion, the Wretch, and the Woman
[S/Lay w/Me] the Lover and the liquids
Friday, July 03, 2009
Lady Blackbird - Session 2
The details of the Lady Blackbird game I ran last week are starting to get hazy, so I'd best try and get something written up.
We started with the gang arriving at Nightport and breaking up into several groups. Snargle stayed behind on the ship to work on some security issues. Kale took his mysterious package for delivery and payment. Lady Blackbird, Naomi, and Vance went to meet with August Cross, the information broker.
Kale rented a rickshaw and rode to the estate of Giovanni Canter to deliver the package. The man had no idea who he was, who Harwood was (Harwood was the guy who hired Kale to deliver the box back on Haven) or what was in the box. Upon opening it, a metallic, clockwork monkey was discovered. It came to life and killed Canter and his bodyguard with its razor sharp claws. Kale decided he wanted this monkey so he could examine it closer, and through some clever tactics, and a bit of luck, disabled it with some wire deftly inserted into a hole in the clockwork creature's chest. He quickly loaded it back into the box, emptied Canter's safe and dashed back to the waiting rickshaw. He decided to go to his favorite tavern and celebrate a bit before heading back to The Owl.
The Lady, Naomi and Vance met with Cross at his fancy office. It turned out, he didn't accept money, but only traded in secrets. He knew who all of them were, what with the bounty on them and all. He wanted to know how a Stormblood like Lady Blackbird had come to be intimate with a Fireblood like Uriah Flint. He had also demanded secrets from Naomi and Vance, and they agreed, though he told them he would gather his payment from them another time. They were in his debt. He wrote something on a sheet of paper, placed into an envelope and sealed it with wax. It would lead them to a man who knew how to navigate the Remnants and find Flint. After leaving, they started off to Vance's favorite tavern, when they were ambushed! The ambushers were all human, except for the large, trollish arm that grabbed Lady Blackbird from the shadows...
Snargle, back on The Owl, was busy setting traps and crawling around through the air ducts. He got a visitor: it was Violet! He was freaked out, but let her on board. She wanted to warn him that Noah was on the warpath. She told him he needed to get the rest of The Owl's crew together and get out of Nightport now! There was a lot of awkward conversation, and an even more awkward hug, and Violet left. Snargle ran around the ship, preparing for the worst. Then it arrived. Noah and his hired thugs showed up. Snargle cut all the lights on the ship and prepared himself. He got several of the thugs with his traps, and the others, he ambushed from the air ducts. In the end, it was just Noah, who was very jumpy at this point. Snargle lured him into the mess, and pushed him into the small, walk-in fridge, slammed and bolted the door. As Noah watched through the tiny window, Snargle changed his shape into something vaguely Noah-like. He walked out to the gangplank and looked down at the rest of Noah's men. Could he trick them?
The Lady, Naomi and Vance were surrounded. A Shadowblood troll had just grabbed Lady Blackbird and was dragging her back into the shadows. Vance used his Warpblood to teleport Lady Blackbird to safety (?) on the top of a nearby lamp-post. Naomi confronted the troll. She'd fought trolls before, and made quick work of him, pounding his skull into pulp. Kale stumbled across the scene, heading to the same tavern as the Captain. He grabbed the rickshaw from the rickshaw boy and ran to help the others. Lady Blackbird summoned up a strong wind to clear a path for Kale. She jumped down from the lamp-post and she and Naomi started running to the ship. Vance hopped in the back of the rickshaw and Kale grabbed ahold of it and started running. Vance laid down some suppressive fire to keep the thugs from following or getting too close.
They got back to the docks to find The Owl surrounded and Noah walking down from inside the ship. Snargle, pretending to be Noah, hoped that the Captain would not shoot him without asking questions first. Everyone got onto the ship and Vance walked up to Noah/Snargle and realized right away that it was Snargle... the goblin was not very good at making a perfect shape-shifting disguise, so his "Noah" had a goblin-ish skin tone and Snargle's yellow eyes. Noah/Snargle told the men to stand down. He was going to have a meeting with Captain Vance. The Owl closed up and took off.
Snargle quickly and snivelingly told Vance what had happened and begged not to be shot. Vance told him there'd be no shooting. At this point there were a couple of refreshment scenes, but I can't quite remember the particulars (maybe some of the players can pipe in and help me out.) There was some history set out between Vance and Noah having served together in the Imperial Navy. I also remember a nice little exchange. Kale was being cagey about what was in the box... he was loathe to tell anyone about the clockwork monkey until he had a chance to examine it.
Kale (to the Captain): I would never endanger the ship.
Snargle (sotto voce): What about the crew?
Vance let Noah out of the freezer and they had a nice talk where the Captain let Noah know he was their prisoner for the time being. Noah was not happy, but resigned to his fate. He was locked up in the extra berth.
The note from August Cross was opened. It contained a set of coordinates. Snargle looked at them and was concerned. They were up. Way up. Like, up near the edge of where the atmosphere was. He'd never flown so high before. The Owl could handle it, it was just... strange. He had no idea what could be up there. So up they went, through the cloud-deck and above it. Eventually, the clouds were far below them, and they saw something queer: stars. The sky above them was dark, and stars flickered. Everyone was glued to the portholes.
Then as they approached the coordinates, they saw something. A chunk of rock. On that chunk of rock: a lighthouse, with its light sweeping through the dark sky...
More to come after the next game in two weeks.
We started with the gang arriving at Nightport and breaking up into several groups. Snargle stayed behind on the ship to work on some security issues. Kale took his mysterious package for delivery and payment. Lady Blackbird, Naomi, and Vance went to meet with August Cross, the information broker.
Kale rented a rickshaw and rode to the estate of Giovanni Canter to deliver the package. The man had no idea who he was, who Harwood was (Harwood was the guy who hired Kale to deliver the box back on Haven) or what was in the box. Upon opening it, a metallic, clockwork monkey was discovered. It came to life and killed Canter and his bodyguard with its razor sharp claws. Kale decided he wanted this monkey so he could examine it closer, and through some clever tactics, and a bit of luck, disabled it with some wire deftly inserted into a hole in the clockwork creature's chest. He quickly loaded it back into the box, emptied Canter's safe and dashed back to the waiting rickshaw. He decided to go to his favorite tavern and celebrate a bit before heading back to The Owl.
The Lady, Naomi and Vance met with Cross at his fancy office. It turned out, he didn't accept money, but only traded in secrets. He knew who all of them were, what with the bounty on them and all. He wanted to know how a Stormblood like Lady Blackbird had come to be intimate with a Fireblood like Uriah Flint. He had also demanded secrets from Naomi and Vance, and they agreed, though he told them he would gather his payment from them another time. They were in his debt. He wrote something on a sheet of paper, placed into an envelope and sealed it with wax. It would lead them to a man who knew how to navigate the Remnants and find Flint. After leaving, they started off to Vance's favorite tavern, when they were ambushed! The ambushers were all human, except for the large, trollish arm that grabbed Lady Blackbird from the shadows...
Snargle, back on The Owl, was busy setting traps and crawling around through the air ducts. He got a visitor: it was Violet! He was freaked out, but let her on board. She wanted to warn him that Noah was on the warpath. She told him he needed to get the rest of The Owl's crew together and get out of Nightport now! There was a lot of awkward conversation, and an even more awkward hug, and Violet left. Snargle ran around the ship, preparing for the worst. Then it arrived. Noah and his hired thugs showed up. Snargle cut all the lights on the ship and prepared himself. He got several of the thugs with his traps, and the others, he ambushed from the air ducts. In the end, it was just Noah, who was very jumpy at this point. Snargle lured him into the mess, and pushed him into the small, walk-in fridge, slammed and bolted the door. As Noah watched through the tiny window, Snargle changed his shape into something vaguely Noah-like. He walked out to the gangplank and looked down at the rest of Noah's men. Could he trick them?
The Lady, Naomi and Vance were surrounded. A Shadowblood troll had just grabbed Lady Blackbird and was dragging her back into the shadows. Vance used his Warpblood to teleport Lady Blackbird to safety (?) on the top of a nearby lamp-post. Naomi confronted the troll. She'd fought trolls before, and made quick work of him, pounding his skull into pulp. Kale stumbled across the scene, heading to the same tavern as the Captain. He grabbed the rickshaw from the rickshaw boy and ran to help the others. Lady Blackbird summoned up a strong wind to clear a path for Kale. She jumped down from the lamp-post and she and Naomi started running to the ship. Vance hopped in the back of the rickshaw and Kale grabbed ahold of it and started running. Vance laid down some suppressive fire to keep the thugs from following or getting too close.
They got back to the docks to find The Owl surrounded and Noah walking down from inside the ship. Snargle, pretending to be Noah, hoped that the Captain would not shoot him without asking questions first. Everyone got onto the ship and Vance walked up to Noah/Snargle and realized right away that it was Snargle... the goblin was not very good at making a perfect shape-shifting disguise, so his "Noah" had a goblin-ish skin tone and Snargle's yellow eyes. Noah/Snargle told the men to stand down. He was going to have a meeting with Captain Vance. The Owl closed up and took off.
Snargle quickly and snivelingly told Vance what had happened and begged not to be shot. Vance told him there'd be no shooting. At this point there were a couple of refreshment scenes, but I can't quite remember the particulars (maybe some of the players can pipe in and help me out.) There was some history set out between Vance and Noah having served together in the Imperial Navy. I also remember a nice little exchange. Kale was being cagey about what was in the box... he was loathe to tell anyone about the clockwork monkey until he had a chance to examine it.
Kale (to the Captain): I would never endanger the ship.
Snargle (sotto voce): What about the crew?
Vance let Noah out of the freezer and they had a nice talk where the Captain let Noah know he was their prisoner for the time being. Noah was not happy, but resigned to his fate. He was locked up in the extra berth.
The note from August Cross was opened. It contained a set of coordinates. Snargle looked at them and was concerned. They were up. Way up. Like, up near the edge of where the atmosphere was. He'd never flown so high before. The Owl could handle it, it was just... strange. He had no idea what could be up there. So up they went, through the cloud-deck and above it. Eventually, the clouds were far below them, and they saw something queer: stars. The sky above them was dark, and stars flickered. Everyone was glued to the portholes.
Then as they approached the coordinates, they saw something. A chunk of rock. On that chunk of rock: a lighthouse, with its light sweeping through the dark sky...
More to come after the next game in two weeks.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Demons of Finlay
I really want to play in, or run, a game of Sorcerer for which which these are the illustrations.
Monday, June 08, 2009
Lady Blackbird - Session 1, Part 2
Lady Blackbird - Session 1, Part 2
We had taken a break and started up again with a refreshment scene. Captain Vance and Lady Blackbird were in the galley (with Naomi lurking nearby, keeping an eye on Cyrus) drinking some tea. There was polite palaver and some apologies. Eventually the rest of the crew joined them and they discussed the next step.
Fuel was still low. Snargle was pretty sure they wouldn't make it to Haven with what little they had. Kale suggested they try and contact Noah who was likely in the area. Snargle seemed a bit dubious. Noah, we discovered, what the captain of The Kestrel, another smuggling ship. He had a bit of history with Cyrus and The Owl. Most recently, The Owl had taken over a client from Noah, and a rather lucrative contract. When they had last met, at Nightport , there were words and blows exchanged, but as Cyrus pointed out "no one got shot". Snargle sent out a coded signal to The Kestrel, and they waited.
Eventually, they were contacted, by Violet, the pilot of The Kestrel (insert non-stop "Violet-the-pilot" comments here). It turned out that Snargle had a bit of a crush on Violet, and Paul really played the shy Snargle to the hilt. There was an awkward conversation between them until finally Cyrus showed up, got Noah on the wireless, and they got down to business. The Owl was hauling some spirits from Olympia, in particular several barrels of 120 year old brandy, and six bottles of Ambrosia wine. Cyrus was willing to trade those for some fuel. Noah seemed amicable to the trade and they agreed to rendezvous in a few hours.
(It wasn't until the drive home after the game that I realized we had a burgeoning, perhaps one-sided relationship between and goblin and human named Violet... where had I heard that before? Oh yeah, the sample characters from The Shadow of Yesterday. I swear, I didn't plan it. I just grabbed one of the names off the list. I think Snargle has a better chance than Oliphant though... at some point, I don't remember exactly when in the game, Violet agreed to meet up with Snargle someday, for a drink maybe.)
The Kestrel showed up and hovered next to The Owl and the ships lowered their gangways to each other, and the captains met outside. Cyrus noticed that Noah seemed to have more thugs/muscle on his ship than he'd had before and in fact brought three of them over to The Owl, which was sort of against the smuggler's code. They inspected the goods but Noah seem dissatisfied. He hinted that there needed to be more in their trade... he wanted the Lady Blackbird!
(I have to admit, I took this idea from Paul. He made an off-handed comment about how it would suck if there was a bounty out for Lady Blackbird. I thought to myself "it would suck indeed... for you guys!" So yeah, bounty on Lady Blackbird, and The Owl too I guess.)
Cyrus played dumb, and stalled, while Snargle, who'd been listening from the bridge, called Lady Blackbird and Naomi in their berth and warned them. The two snuck to the gun turret and crammed themselves in. Noah's thugs searched The Owl, finding some of the smuggling compartments, but they didn't find the women (they were not the sharpest of goons). Noah was not happy, but took the wine and brandy and left, but warned Cyrus that he'd be keeping on eye on him. Everyone on The Owl breathed a sigh of relief when The Kestrel flew off, after giving them their much needed fuel. Snargle said bye to Violet.
Finally, they made it to Haven. Lady Blackbird, Naomi, and Cyrus headed off to the Boarshead Tavern, where the Lady was to meet her contact, Silas Quinn. He told them that there had been some trouble in the Remnants, some sort of pirate civil war. Uriah Flint was there, but the way to his hold was hidden. He suggested that she travel to Nightport, and find a man named August Cross, who was an information broker. If anyone could help her, it was this man Cross.
In the meantime, Kale had been going to various shops, buying supplies for the ship; food, parts, and other necessities. He also met some of his underworld contacts and took a job. There was a box, locked, about four feet long, by two, by two. He was to deliver it to a certain person in Nightport and would be paid handsomely, and in fact, got a chunk of change upfront. Kale decided not to mention this job to the captain until they were on their way. I assume Snargle was daydreaming about Violet during this time. Actually, he was fiddling with the ship, but I'm sure daydreaming was involved.
The ship was en route to Nightport. It was night, and everyone was in bed. Snarlge was in his hammock-like bag in the cockpit, and was awakened by a blipping sound. There were ships on the sonar! Three of them, closing fast! He shouted over the com and everyone scrambled, dashing to the helm. The three ships were The Kestrel (naturally), The Raven, and The Sparrow (these last two ships were captained by associates of Noah).
Snargle hailed The Kestrel, and a rather apologetic Violet answered. Cyrus demanded to talk to Noah, but Violet said her captain had nothing to say, and cut the transmission. Cyrus ran to the turret, and prepared for battle. He targeted The Sparrow's bridge, and the 37mm blew a hole through it. The Sparrow started to sink, and Cyrus hailed Noah, saying if The Kestrel and Raven, didn't back off, they'd follow The Sparrow down to the Lower Depths. The ships backed off, and Noah again warned that he'd be keeping his eye on Cyrus. The two ships headed down to try and rescue The Sparrow. The Owl continued on its way to Nightport. That's where we wrapped things up for the night.
So later this month we're going to meet up again and see what happens when the gang gets to Nightport. Gotta say, it was a helluva fun game. Everyone really got a chance for their character to shine, and there was some crazy-cool action.
We had taken a break and started up again with a refreshment scene. Captain Vance and Lady Blackbird were in the galley (with Naomi lurking nearby, keeping an eye on Cyrus) drinking some tea. There was polite palaver and some apologies. Eventually the rest of the crew joined them and they discussed the next step.
Fuel was still low. Snargle was pretty sure they wouldn't make it to Haven with what little they had. Kale suggested they try and contact Noah who was likely in the area. Snargle seemed a bit dubious. Noah, we discovered, what the captain of The Kestrel, another smuggling ship. He had a bit of history with Cyrus and The Owl. Most recently, The Owl had taken over a client from Noah, and a rather lucrative contract. When they had last met, at Nightport , there were words and blows exchanged, but as Cyrus pointed out "no one got shot". Snargle sent out a coded signal to The Kestrel, and they waited.
Eventually, they were contacted, by Violet, the pilot of The Kestrel (insert non-stop "Violet-the-pilot" comments here). It turned out that Snargle had a bit of a crush on Violet, and Paul really played the shy Snargle to the hilt. There was an awkward conversation between them until finally Cyrus showed up, got Noah on the wireless, and they got down to business. The Owl was hauling some spirits from Olympia, in particular several barrels of 120 year old brandy, and six bottles of Ambrosia wine. Cyrus was willing to trade those for some fuel. Noah seemed amicable to the trade and they agreed to rendezvous in a few hours.
(It wasn't until the drive home after the game that I realized we had a burgeoning, perhaps one-sided relationship between and goblin and human named Violet... where had I heard that before? Oh yeah, the sample characters from The Shadow of Yesterday. I swear, I didn't plan it. I just grabbed one of the names off the list. I think Snargle has a better chance than Oliphant though... at some point, I don't remember exactly when in the game, Violet agreed to meet up with Snargle someday, for a drink maybe.)
The Kestrel showed up and hovered next to The Owl and the ships lowered their gangways to each other, and the captains met outside. Cyrus noticed that Noah seemed to have more thugs/muscle on his ship than he'd had before and in fact brought three of them over to The Owl, which was sort of against the smuggler's code. They inspected the goods but Noah seem dissatisfied. He hinted that there needed to be more in their trade... he wanted the Lady Blackbird!
(I have to admit, I took this idea from Paul. He made an off-handed comment about how it would suck if there was a bounty out for Lady Blackbird. I thought to myself "it would suck indeed... for you guys!" So yeah, bounty on Lady Blackbird, and The Owl too I guess.)
Cyrus played dumb, and stalled, while Snargle, who'd been listening from the bridge, called Lady Blackbird and Naomi in their berth and warned them. The two snuck to the gun turret and crammed themselves in. Noah's thugs searched The Owl, finding some of the smuggling compartments, but they didn't find the women (they were not the sharpest of goons). Noah was not happy, but took the wine and brandy and left, but warned Cyrus that he'd be keeping on eye on him. Everyone on The Owl breathed a sigh of relief when The Kestrel flew off, after giving them their much needed fuel. Snargle said bye to Violet.
Finally, they made it to Haven. Lady Blackbird, Naomi, and Cyrus headed off to the Boarshead Tavern, where the Lady was to meet her contact, Silas Quinn. He told them that there had been some trouble in the Remnants, some sort of pirate civil war. Uriah Flint was there, but the way to his hold was hidden. He suggested that she travel to Nightport, and find a man named August Cross, who was an information broker. If anyone could help her, it was this man Cross.
In the meantime, Kale had been going to various shops, buying supplies for the ship; food, parts, and other necessities. He also met some of his underworld contacts and took a job. There was a box, locked, about four feet long, by two, by two. He was to deliver it to a certain person in Nightport and would be paid handsomely, and in fact, got a chunk of change upfront. Kale decided not to mention this job to the captain until they were on their way. I assume Snargle was daydreaming about Violet during this time. Actually, he was fiddling with the ship, but I'm sure daydreaming was involved.
The ship was en route to Nightport. It was night, and everyone was in bed. Snarlge was in his hammock-like bag in the cockpit, and was awakened by a blipping sound. There were ships on the sonar! Three of them, closing fast! He shouted over the com and everyone scrambled, dashing to the helm. The three ships were The Kestrel (naturally), The Raven, and The Sparrow (these last two ships were captained by associates of Noah).
Snargle hailed The Kestrel, and a rather apologetic Violet answered. Cyrus demanded to talk to Noah, but Violet said her captain had nothing to say, and cut the transmission. Cyrus ran to the turret, and prepared for battle. He targeted The Sparrow's bridge, and the 37mm blew a hole through it. The Sparrow started to sink, and Cyrus hailed Noah, saying if The Kestrel and Raven, didn't back off, they'd follow The Sparrow down to the Lower Depths. The ships backed off, and Noah again warned that he'd be keeping his eye on Cyrus. The two ships headed down to try and rescue The Sparrow. The Owl continued on its way to Nightport. That's where we wrapped things up for the night.
So later this month we're going to meet up again and see what happens when the gang gets to Nightport. Gotta say, it was a helluva fun game. Everyone really got a chance for their character to shine, and there was some crazy-cool action.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Lady Blackbird - Session 1, Part 1
Last night I ran a session of Lady Blackbird. What follows is an account of the game.
I had five players, so all the roles were taken. Lady Blackbird was played by Randy, and really did a lot with her Stormblood abilities. Tammy played Naomi, and was scary. James took the roll of Captain Cyrus Vance, and played him with panache. Chris was the sneaky and clever Kale, and Paul was Snargle, and really brought the funny to the table.
They started out in the brig of The Hand of Sorrow, in cells with electrified bars, while two somewhat disinterested guard played cribbage nearby. Plans were hatched, and the cribbage playing of the guards was constantly criticized by Cyrus. Snargle changed his color to match the metal bulkhead. He then squeezed between the bars and jumped up to a steam-pipe that ran along the ceiling. He dropped down next to the control panel that electrified the cells and turned off the juice. Then many things happened at once.
Kale picked the lock of the cell he and the Captain were in, and Cyrus dashed out towards one of the guards. Naomi kicked the cell door off its hinges of the cell holding her and Lady Blackbird. She dashed out, grabbed one the guards and snapped his neck. Cyrus, using a length of chain from one of the bunks in the cell (Naomi was kind enough to tear the chain from the bunk for him earlier) rushed the other guard. Sadly, Snargle thought he was being helpful by tripping the guard, who fell at Cyrus' feet and under the chain's swing. The guard then gave the Captain ye-olde-groin-punch, and drew his rapier. He never go a chance to use it, since Naomi came up behind him and snapped *his* neck. Yikes.
The Captain hatched a plan of escape. Snargle and Kale would wear the guards jackets and be leading to their commanding officer. He knew a way up to the upper deck of The Hand of Sorrow that should be lightly patrolled. Kale was working on booby trapping the door to the brig, using some wire to electrify the door, when the communication panel in the room crackled, asking for Private Bell, now being played by Snargle. The goblin altered his voice and answered. He was told, by Captain Hollis, to prepare the prisoners for transportation. Troops would be sent down momentarily to escort them to interrogation. It was time to go!
Cutting through the galley, and down some nearly empty corridors, the group made their way up to the deck of The Hand of Sorrow About two hundred yards away was The Owl. Between them and their boat was a platoon of troops practicing marching drills. Behind them, another platoon doing fencing practice.
Lady Blackbird summoned up a bolt of lightning, and blasted a fuel depot on the other end of The Hand of Sorrow, hoping to cause enough of a distraction to let herself and the others slip unnoticed to The Owl . Well, the best laid plans... She indeed blew up the depot, but the lightning got a bit out of control and surged in all directions, with her at the epicenter. Not terribly subtle. Then an alarm went off. Prisoners had escaped! Uh-oh. Plan B was enacted : run like hell to The Owl!
Running and jumping over prone troops (with Naomi carrying the exhausted Lady Blackbird, and Cyrus hobbling along with his groin injury), they finally made it to the boat. The four men guarding The Owl prepared to do battle, but the Captain shot two of the men dead and ordered the other two to hook up a fuel line to The Owl, which was almost running on fumes before they were captured. As Snargle pulled The Owl away from the larger ship, the fuel hose disconnected and sprayed flammable liquid all over the deck of the Hand of Sorrow. A well placed ricochet shot by the Captain ignited it, and they were off!
Snargle dropped The Owl down underneath The Hand of Sorrow and set course back towards Haven. Then a dozen small blips appeared on short range sonar. Imperial Dragonflies! (I see the Dragonflies as being very similar to the "flaptors" from Miyazaki's "Castle in the Sky.")
The Dragonflies opened fire on The Owl. Kale modified the engine output to create a huge trail of black smoke, while Snargle tipped the nose of the boat down, diving towards the Lower Depths. The Captain manned the 37mm. Eventually, with The Owl skimming across the surface of the Lower Depths, the number of Dragonflies dropped to two (Lady Blackbird had joined the Captain in the cramped gun turret and had sent strong, short gusts of wind at the smaller craft, forcing them to fall back, or crash into each other). Cyrus was having an impossible time hitting the last two with the cannon. He pulled his two pistols out, and with Lady Blackbird's help, using her wind magic, he took out the last two Dragonflies.
Flush with victory, Cyrus turned to Lady Blackbird and kissed her on the cheek. She drew back and smacked him across the face, and climbed down from the gunnery turret in a huff...
OK, that's enough for now. More coming soon!
I had five players, so all the roles were taken. Lady Blackbird was played by Randy, and really did a lot with her Stormblood abilities. Tammy played Naomi, and was scary. James took the roll of Captain Cyrus Vance, and played him with panache. Chris was the sneaky and clever Kale, and Paul was Snargle, and really brought the funny to the table.
They started out in the brig of The Hand of Sorrow, in cells with electrified bars, while two somewhat disinterested guard played cribbage nearby. Plans were hatched, and the cribbage playing of the guards was constantly criticized by Cyrus. Snargle changed his color to match the metal bulkhead. He then squeezed between the bars and jumped up to a steam-pipe that ran along the ceiling. He dropped down next to the control panel that electrified the cells and turned off the juice. Then many things happened at once.
Kale picked the lock of the cell he and the Captain were in, and Cyrus dashed out towards one of the guards. Naomi kicked the cell door off its hinges of the cell holding her and Lady Blackbird. She dashed out, grabbed one the guards and snapped his neck. Cyrus, using a length of chain from one of the bunks in the cell (Naomi was kind enough to tear the chain from the bunk for him earlier) rushed the other guard. Sadly, Snargle thought he was being helpful by tripping the guard, who fell at Cyrus' feet and under the chain's swing. The guard then gave the Captain ye-olde-groin-punch, and drew his rapier. He never go a chance to use it, since Naomi came up behind him and snapped *his* neck. Yikes.
The Captain hatched a plan of escape. Snargle and Kale would wear the guards jackets and be leading to their commanding officer. He knew a way up to the upper deck of The Hand of Sorrow that should be lightly patrolled. Kale was working on booby trapping the door to the brig, using some wire to electrify the door, when the communication panel in the room crackled, asking for Private Bell, now being played by Snargle. The goblin altered his voice and answered. He was told, by Captain Hollis, to prepare the prisoners for transportation. Troops would be sent down momentarily to escort them to interrogation. It was time to go!
Cutting through the galley, and down some nearly empty corridors, the group made their way up to the deck of The Hand of Sorrow About two hundred yards away was The Owl. Between them and their boat was a platoon of troops practicing marching drills. Behind them, another platoon doing fencing practice.
Lady Blackbird summoned up a bolt of lightning, and blasted a fuel depot on the other end of The Hand of Sorrow, hoping to cause enough of a distraction to let herself and the others slip unnoticed to The Owl . Well, the best laid plans... She indeed blew up the depot, but the lightning got a bit out of control and surged in all directions, with her at the epicenter. Not terribly subtle. Then an alarm went off. Prisoners had escaped! Uh-oh. Plan B was enacted : run like hell to The Owl!
Running and jumping over prone troops (with Naomi carrying the exhausted Lady Blackbird, and Cyrus hobbling along with his groin injury), they finally made it to the boat. The four men guarding The Owl prepared to do battle, but the Captain shot two of the men dead and ordered the other two to hook up a fuel line to The Owl, which was almost running on fumes before they were captured. As Snargle pulled The Owl away from the larger ship, the fuel hose disconnected and sprayed flammable liquid all over the deck of the Hand of Sorrow. A well placed ricochet shot by the Captain ignited it, and they were off!
Snargle dropped The Owl down underneath The Hand of Sorrow and set course back towards Haven. Then a dozen small blips appeared on short range sonar. Imperial Dragonflies! (I see the Dragonflies as being very similar to the "flaptors" from Miyazaki's "Castle in the Sky.")
The Dragonflies opened fire on The Owl. Kale modified the engine output to create a huge trail of black smoke, while Snargle tipped the nose of the boat down, diving towards the Lower Depths. The Captain manned the 37mm. Eventually, with The Owl skimming across the surface of the Lower Depths, the number of Dragonflies dropped to two (Lady Blackbird had joined the Captain in the cramped gun turret and had sent strong, short gusts of wind at the smaller craft, forcing them to fall back, or crash into each other). Cyrus was having an impossible time hitting the last two with the cannon. He pulled his two pistols out, and with Lady Blackbird's help, using her wind magic, he took out the last two Dragonflies.
Flush with victory, Cyrus turned to Lady Blackbird and kissed her on the cheek. She drew back and smacked him across the face, and climbed down from the gunnery turret in a huff...
OK, that's enough for now. More coming soon!
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Arcus and the Eyes of Chaos
With Ed over this past weekend, another session of Barbarians of Lemuria was played. Another nice, short game, clocking it at about 2 1/2 hours.
Arcus Thaal had traveled to Oomis for a bit of trading (he is a merchant these days) and met up with his old friend and mentor, Tarune. Tarune, who had taught Arcus the trade years ago in Satarla, had retired to Oomis, and owned a rather nice manse in the heart of the city.
The two caught up, laughing about old times. Tarune said that he had a little job, and that it was fortuitous that Arcus had arrived in Oomis when he had; he needed someone he could trust. A client had hired Tarune to find the lost temple of Malfasgiar of the Eleven Eyes, the Lady of Chaos, and retrieve the 11 rubies that made up the eyes of her statue.
Arcus, along with the laconic guide, Larn, trekked into the Jungles of Qush on kroark-back. After a few days, they found the temple. Arcus entered via a crack in the domed roof, and all was going perfectly; he'd found the statue and the rubies, as well as an offering bowl filled with uncut black diamonds. Then the Grooth arrived...
They had ambushed Larn outside the temple and was dragging him into the temple. Arcus had scampered up the rope and was dangling near the ceiling. The leader of the Grooth noticed the Eyes of Malfasgiar missing and began shouting. He looked up and saw Arcus, who held up one of the Eyes for the brute to see, and with a wave and a smile, exited through the hole in the roof.
Arcus ran across the roof, towards the entrance. He had noticed a bunch of loose stones when he had climbed up earlier, and now pried them loose. As the Grooth ran out of the temple, he pelted them with stones, taking out over half of them. He then swung down into the temple, rapier in hand. He was outnumbered, but his swordplay was too much for the uncouth savages, and they were handily dispatched. Larn was merely unconscious, and when he came to, the he and Arcus quickly left the temple.
They returned to Oomis several days later. Tarune and Arcus celebrated far into the night. Eventually, Arcus stumbled off to bed, but he did not sleep long. He was awakened by Jalandra, Tarune's lovely slave girl. She seemed frightened. She was there to warn Arcus that her master was insane, and that he had sent an assassin to kill Arcus. As if on cue, the shuttered window smashed open and a man, dressed all in black, wielding a Kir, jumped in.
Arcus disarmed the assassin, but the man was nearly as deadly without his knife as with. Eventually Arcus got ahold of his rapier and stabbed the assassin through the heart. Jalandra quickly told Arcus that Tarune was in league with the Yellow Druid who secretly ruled the city, and that he was gripped by the Madness of Morgazzon. He was now performing some dark ritual with the Eyes of Malfasgiar. She begged Arcus to take her with him, away from house of madness
They dashed down the hall, and looked down from a balcony into Tarune's study. The man was standing in the center of a magic circle. Eleven of his servants were lying dead around him, and on the breast of each one was one of the Eyes. As Arcus and Jalandra watched, the bodies melted and warped, wrapping around the Eyes, and transforming into eye-tipped tentacles. Arcus tried to use magic of his own to plant the Kir he had taken from the slain assassin into Tarune's chest, but a tentacle of Malfasgiar swatted it aside. Cursing, Arcus jumped down off the balcony and started cutting and slashing his way towards Tarune. Finally, he stood just outside the magic circle, and his friend turned towards him, madness and hatred in his eyes. Arcus knew there was nothing he could do, other than slay his old friend, so he did.
The remaining tentacles burst into flames, catching the books and shelves and tapestries in the study on fire. Arcus grabbed one of the Eyes (figuring if somehow the other Eyes survived the fire, no one would be able to perform the ritual again) and climbed back up to Jalandra, and the two of the escaped into the pre-dawn.
Three days later, they were on the galley Arcus had chartered, in the Gulf of Satarla. Jalandra had a confession for Arcus; she was the daughter of King Keldon of Oomis. Her father was under the spell of the Yellow Druid Ilkthar. The Druid's staunchest ally, Tarune, had wanted her, so she was given to him. She wanted nothing more than to find a way to overthrow the Druid and save her father. Arcus said he would help her in any way he could. They sailed off towards Satarla...
So once again, Barbarians of Lemuia delivers the goods. Another fun little scenario. I was a little concerned that the combats, especially the fight with the Grooth would be too tough, but Ed played smart and sneaky so it worked out perfectly. I'll have to start scheming up the next game. I wonder if it should be Arcus trying to help Princess Jalandra save her father. Hmmm...
Arcus Thaal had traveled to Oomis for a bit of trading (he is a merchant these days) and met up with his old friend and mentor, Tarune. Tarune, who had taught Arcus the trade years ago in Satarla, had retired to Oomis, and owned a rather nice manse in the heart of the city.
The two caught up, laughing about old times. Tarune said that he had a little job, and that it was fortuitous that Arcus had arrived in Oomis when he had; he needed someone he could trust. A client had hired Tarune to find the lost temple of Malfasgiar of the Eleven Eyes, the Lady of Chaos, and retrieve the 11 rubies that made up the eyes of her statue.
Arcus, along with the laconic guide, Larn, trekked into the Jungles of Qush on kroark-back. After a few days, they found the temple. Arcus entered via a crack in the domed roof, and all was going perfectly; he'd found the statue and the rubies, as well as an offering bowl filled with uncut black diamonds. Then the Grooth arrived...
They had ambushed Larn outside the temple and was dragging him into the temple. Arcus had scampered up the rope and was dangling near the ceiling. The leader of the Grooth noticed the Eyes of Malfasgiar missing and began shouting. He looked up and saw Arcus, who held up one of the Eyes for the brute to see, and with a wave and a smile, exited through the hole in the roof.
Arcus ran across the roof, towards the entrance. He had noticed a bunch of loose stones when he had climbed up earlier, and now pried them loose. As the Grooth ran out of the temple, he pelted them with stones, taking out over half of them. He then swung down into the temple, rapier in hand. He was outnumbered, but his swordplay was too much for the uncouth savages, and they were handily dispatched. Larn was merely unconscious, and when he came to, the he and Arcus quickly left the temple.
They returned to Oomis several days later. Tarune and Arcus celebrated far into the night. Eventually, Arcus stumbled off to bed, but he did not sleep long. He was awakened by Jalandra, Tarune's lovely slave girl. She seemed frightened. She was there to warn Arcus that her master was insane, and that he had sent an assassin to kill Arcus. As if on cue, the shuttered window smashed open and a man, dressed all in black, wielding a Kir, jumped in.
Arcus disarmed the assassin, but the man was nearly as deadly without his knife as with. Eventually Arcus got ahold of his rapier and stabbed the assassin through the heart. Jalandra quickly told Arcus that Tarune was in league with the Yellow Druid who secretly ruled the city, and that he was gripped by the Madness of Morgazzon. He was now performing some dark ritual with the Eyes of Malfasgiar. She begged Arcus to take her with him, away from house of madness
They dashed down the hall, and looked down from a balcony into Tarune's study. The man was standing in the center of a magic circle. Eleven of his servants were lying dead around him, and on the breast of each one was one of the Eyes. As Arcus and Jalandra watched, the bodies melted and warped, wrapping around the Eyes, and transforming into eye-tipped tentacles. Arcus tried to use magic of his own to plant the Kir he had taken from the slain assassin into Tarune's chest, but a tentacle of Malfasgiar swatted it aside. Cursing, Arcus jumped down off the balcony and started cutting and slashing his way towards Tarune. Finally, he stood just outside the magic circle, and his friend turned towards him, madness and hatred in his eyes. Arcus knew there was nothing he could do, other than slay his old friend, so he did.
The remaining tentacles burst into flames, catching the books and shelves and tapestries in the study on fire. Arcus grabbed one of the Eyes (figuring if somehow the other Eyes survived the fire, no one would be able to perform the ritual again) and climbed back up to Jalandra, and the two of the escaped into the pre-dawn.
Three days later, they were on the galley Arcus had chartered, in the Gulf of Satarla. Jalandra had a confession for Arcus; she was the daughter of King Keldon of Oomis. Her father was under the spell of the Yellow Druid Ilkthar. The Druid's staunchest ally, Tarune, had wanted her, so she was given to him. She wanted nothing more than to find a way to overthrow the Druid and save her father. Arcus said he would help her in any way he could. They sailed off towards Satarla...
So once again, Barbarians of Lemuia delivers the goods. Another fun little scenario. I was a little concerned that the combats, especially the fight with the Grooth would be too tough, but Ed played smart and sneaky so it worked out perfectly. I'll have to start scheming up the next game. I wonder if it should be Arcus trying to help Princess Jalandra save her father. Hmmm...
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Flex Mentallo vs. Watchmen: Bet On The Muscles
(This is double-posted from my boring non-gaming blog here.)
A few months ago I happened upon a torrent of the comic _Flex Mentallo_ by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely. It's a mixed-up, trippy, postmodern superhero fable, twisted and kind of beautiful. I enjoyed it.
Not until reading this essay did I consider that it is also a kind of rebuttal of Watchmen, the Dark Knight, and all such Dark, Gritty Superhero Comics.
As Comics for Serious quotes:
I dig Watchmen, I do. I'm gonna have to go see that movie, despite the fact that I virtually never see any movies. But in the back of my mind is going to be Flex Mentallo, Man of Muscle Mystery.
The thing about Flex Mentallo is that acknowledges all the cynicism, it faces it squarely -- reading the endnotes in issues 2 and 4 gives as a history of the fictional Flex Mentallo comic as cynical and messed up as anyone could possibly come up with -- and it walks straight through it with a smile on its face and hope in its heart, to the other side.
I'm actually not a huge comics dude. I probably know multiple people who have literally read hundreds or thousands of times more comics than I have. I haven't ever written or drawn my own superhero comics, in the main, but I have come up with many superheroes, because one of the roleplaying games I played a lot as a kid was Villains and Vigilantes, one of the earliest superhero RPGs. And reading Flex Mentallo, and watching it name-drop dozens and dozens of nonce superheroes, gave me that feeling of the excitement of coming up with characters and villains for V&V and Champions back in the day. There's something special there, some kind of magic creating them.
I'm thinking of the self-consciously cheesy/retro game Jim and I ran in college, my character Phantom Fighter with the ability to phase out like Kitty Pride, and his martial arts telescoping staff/nunchuks... The Villainous Doctor Crime... and back much earlier, when I was in high school, maybe even middle school, my brother's streetwise martial artist, Archangel .... I remember getting out How To Draw Comics the Marvel Way from the library, and drawing endless heroes, animal-powered, semi-robotic, flying, diving, armored, armed, magical, mutant, scientific, alien, interdimensional.... All that stuff came back to me reading Flex Mentallo.
Maybe it's the traces of fever I think I still am running today, from the flu that won't go away. Or maybe there's really something there.
Who wants to play some V&V?
A few months ago I happened upon a torrent of the comic _Flex Mentallo_ by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely. It's a mixed-up, trippy, postmodern superhero fable, twisted and kind of beautiful. I enjoyed it.
Not until reading this essay did I consider that it is also a kind of rebuttal of Watchmen, the Dark Knight, and all such Dark, Gritty Superhero Comics.
As Comics for Serious quotes:
"Only a bitter little adolescent boy could confuse realism with pessimism."
-The Hoaxer
I dig Watchmen, I do. I'm gonna have to go see that movie, despite the fact that I virtually never see any movies. But in the back of my mind is going to be Flex Mentallo, Man of Muscle Mystery.
The thing about Flex Mentallo is that acknowledges all the cynicism, it faces it squarely -- reading the endnotes in issues 2 and 4 gives as a history of the fictional Flex Mentallo comic as cynical and messed up as anyone could possibly come up with -- and it walks straight through it with a smile on its face and hope in its heart, to the other side.
I'm actually not a huge comics dude. I probably know multiple people who have literally read hundreds or thousands of times more comics than I have. I haven't ever written or drawn my own superhero comics, in the main, but I have come up with many superheroes, because one of the roleplaying games I played a lot as a kid was Villains and Vigilantes, one of the earliest superhero RPGs. And reading Flex Mentallo, and watching it name-drop dozens and dozens of nonce superheroes, gave me that feeling of the excitement of coming up with characters and villains for V&V and Champions back in the day. There's something special there, some kind of magic creating them.
I'm thinking of the self-consciously cheesy/retro game Jim and I ran in college, my character Phantom Fighter with the ability to phase out like Kitty Pride, and his martial arts telescoping staff/nunchuks... The Villainous Doctor Crime... and back much earlier, when I was in high school, maybe even middle school, my brother's streetwise martial artist, Archangel .... I remember getting out How To Draw Comics the Marvel Way from the library, and drawing endless heroes, animal-powered, semi-robotic, flying, diving, armored, armed, magical, mutant, scientific, alien, interdimensional.... All that stuff came back to me reading Flex Mentallo.
Maybe it's the traces of fever I think I still am running today, from the flu that won't go away. Or maybe there's really something there.
Who wants to play some V&V?
Friday, February 06, 2009
Starving Artist Needs Gigs
Ed here. I need to look for sources of extra cash, and every little bit counts; illustrating the cover for Thy Vernal Chieftains was helpful and if there is anybody else out there who needs to buy some art, drop me a line. edheil at fastmail dot fm.
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