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Saturday, October 28

Two products deserving a second look; England Upturn'd, and Clockwork & Cthulhu

... or how I was wrong about two great game products.
I chimed in to Bryce Lynch's review of England Upturn'd  and agreed with many of his points sited. Then I found myself returning to England Upturn'd again and again during my Clockwork & Cthulhu campaign. Not only that, but I mentioned in game I thought the Clockwork & Cthulhu sourcebook from Cakebread & Walton was "a bit thin" in game to my players. I need to reassess these two opinions in light of the milage I have gotten out of these products for my BRP Cthulhu &  Chivalry campaign. 


England Upturn'd by Barry Blatt is still an adventure I would not run whole cloth, but very rarely do I use an adventure as presented so this should not be taken as a knock. The module does provide information on the political divisions found within English society during the civil war. As a "Yank" I am not well versed in the scope and sweep of the English Civil War and I think most people running a period piece game will find the description of the different "sides" in this complex and consequential war useful. Barry puts in enough to run you initial adventure. After this if your game continues you will want to pick up some real history. No adventure is going to give you, nor should it, a comprehensive view of this conflict. I believe some of my initial frustration with England Upturn'd was mostly my perturbation realizing I had to do some of my own research to run my campaign to my satisfaction. But what these 128 pages gives you are useful disease and weather tables, laundry list of useful NPC's, plenty of plot hooks and enchanted items, useful locations and maps, and art which puts forth the absolute brutal nature of the times. As a PDF the value is met and exceeded.

Clockwork & Cthulhu, yes it only clocks in at 159 pages but there isn't a piece of this book I have not used. My first impression of the three scenarios was meh, but I have gotten so much milage out of just one of the scenarios it is kind of ridiculous. Same for the mythos, bestiary and factions chapter. When you have had to tape the book together and it becomes heavily tabbed and highlighted, well, I find this the operative definition of "utility".

At the end of the day these two publications have given my campaign game an essential framework which I and my players have been able to embellish with our own ideas and given us all a "believable" world in which to run around in burning warlocks and demons and such. So if you plan on running a sixteenth century English campaign I recommend these two books highly for the Game Master.

Sunday, October 15

Anthropomorphic USR AAR 3

Scheduled game of Clockwork & Cthulhu did not fire today so it was time for another edition of Yak n Ape with Anthropomorphic USR.

We started right where we stopped last time, with the PC's riding the subway out to the zoo. Willow, the candle maker they met on the subway, finally figured out the PC's were not human, but she stuck to her hippie values and offered to show them the way. The subway stop was a small station with few passengers and they were watching the late breaking Capitol City news. Some kind of explosion downtown, city wide blackout has occurred. Authorities are warning people to evacuate a specific area of Capitol Market, and the source of the explosion is unknown at this time.

The PC's quickly made themselves scarce and hurried down the night time streets of Royal Oaks to the zoo. They said goodbyes to Willow and scrambled onto the zoo grounds. They soon encountered the zoo's Big Game Vet Ava who was shocked to see her animals transformed so. She was sure Yak n Ape were two of the four animals stolen from her two weeks ago. The Yak exhibit was not so much being remodeled but the site of a crime scene investigation by Chrome and the Capitol City Police.

Ava takes blood and tries to push sedatives on them. She wants to knock the PC's out and call the authorities because she doesn't know what to do with talking walking genetically altered animals. The PC's are wise to such ploys so she eventually excuse herself and calls the cops.




Here the PC's get up and try to leave. Outside near the front of the gate two SUV's pull in disgorging locked and loaded dudes complete with ear mic and tactical assault weapons. Not heeding orders to stop the black ops agents light up the PC's with fire. But instead of bullets they are cut down by tranquilizer darts. They come to back in the vet's lab, but this time securely tied down. The PC's are unable to pass a successful test of strength to break free. Special Agent Scott Roger Scott is talking to an anxious Ava as his men load the PC's on board a van. The PC's are put under again after brief questioning and come to in a different facility being faced with Special Agent Scott again. He wants to know what the two of them have to do with the explosion downtown. Seems he has a small nuclear core meltdown under the streets of Capitol City same time these two clowns start choking cops in the subway tunnels. The PC's say yeah they know all about it. Saw the whole thing happen. This gets Scott excited. He is going to take the PC's back into the underground lab and show him where the meltdown occurred. He plans to get concrete pumped onto the leaking nuclear pile after the scene of the explosion is examined. He wants the city street paved over and traffice running within twenty four hours. Official line is a neglected gas main ruptured causing terrible underground destruction. Fortunately no loss of life had occurred due to the blast, but there where fatalities caused by the ensuing blackout.

The PC's are forced to suit up and enter the lab. After going over the complex it is apparent most of the on site hardware is cooked. CHROME science agents collect all the samples and data they can from the scene before the concrete pumping commences. Finding the burnt out nuclear hole is not too difficult. With the radiation signal and black pit and all. Scott was radioing in where to send the pumping truck when horrible tentacles reached out and attacked. A seething toxic genetic monstrosity, five tentacled in all, gropes for the ceiling above ripping stone and concrete in its slavering madness. Fifteen feet across with a gaping maw, it first grabs Yak but is unable to hang on. Yak sweeps the room with autofire after using his terrible powers of the mind to acquire the gun, but does not know how to operate a gun at all. CHROME agents have better luck and rip up the monster. Angered by the blinding poo of Ape the monster grabs Ape from the wall and swallows him whole. The Ape fights back and forces the beast to put back what it had just ate. A final blast from the agents and the beast lay dead.

The team was ordered to wrap it up and head back to CHROME HQ here in Capitol City. With the nuclear waste being buried it was time for Scott to try and get answers out of Yak n Ape and what he is actually looking at. The operation or perhaps the facility is referred to as “Central”. What it is and what it wants are two questoins Scott wants answers to. For their corporation he could promise safety to the PC's, safety from those who altered them. The PC's were skeptical about any offers of safety on their behalf and wanted to know if they could make a phone call. Scott agreed and Yak called Willow the hippie candle maker down to Chrome offices and corroborate his story. She was kind of shocked to hear from him, actually Yak was shocked I wanted to role play this, but yes I did so Willow would try and get down there during her lunch break. Here I called it because I did not know what should happen next. Feel free to offer suggestions which way the campaign should go. I like to offer various avenues players can choose from. Scott wants to run down Central, he has the PC's so starting a hunt for their target would be in order. Maybe that is enough for initial adventure material?


Saturday, October 14

Blade Runner Retro Post Saturday

Back in 2014 I was ruminating over my love affair with Blade Runner and the fact my love of my life doesn't like it at all. "Eighties movies just look so dated." she said after making her watch it. Well I didn't ruminate much. I just dropped the conversation and posted an essay I read on the film just to make sure I could say "I know what's real."

And watching Blade Runner 2049 this evening I was vindicated. Look I like smart people challenging me, sharpen my game, but I close down when you start talking like my dad or you throw shade on Blade Runner. "So what got you into Blade Runner in the first place?" she asked me three hours later after I gave the love of my life three to four outs on passing this three hour evening commitment. "I watched it." I replied. "It hit all the big notes of sci fi in film that never gets done." I said. There are other great sci fi movies. I love Close Encounters, Star Wars, Silent Running, etc. but Blade Runner are movies which treat me like I can get subtle storytelling.


Most Hollywood fare tells you how you need to think and feel about the work. Like a Pepsi ad here is your prefabbed experience. What I like about the original, and now it's sequel, is it is a major film that lets me run with the story and make a bunch of shit up that makes it "real" to me. Much like how a good TTRPG goes. Everyone has their own wild imagination going on at the table, none is more real than the other. Mutual respect. That is what I got when I was fourteen and what I got tonight.

I am pleased with the sequel because it has a ripping soundtrack, characters I know nothing about stand out deep and present against the backdrop of a life without meaning, and not much is explained, thank you. Just good literary thoughts painted on a canvas immediately relatable to me where I am and keeping me fascinated. The Blade Runner movies make me a better game master, nuff said.

Sunday, September 24

Tres Leches Fear & Loathing

Herein is the final chapter in this the first playtest of Fear & Loathing in Fat City for Fear & Loathing USR.

The next day found the PC's ripping it up on Horse Mountain and role played their way into losing Carol on the backside of the ski resort in gnarly out of bounds terrain. Peachy and the Dude followed her tracks out but got caught in an avalanche. Finally they reached a forest road where it looked like Ross got picked up on a snow mobile and was gone. This royally pissed the duo off and before they could decided what the hell was going on the headlights from a couple of more snowmobiles illuminated Dude and the Peach.

 
They were angling for a ride from the two strangers but when they pulled guns it became evident they weren't there to give our PC's a ride. A hilarious, accidental on cue “I thought you had the gun!” back and forth between Peach and the Dude allowed an initiative roll where Peach managed to draw the .32 they took off of Latin and get a shot off first. Dude went for the mad grapple on the other hired gun and managed to tie him up long enough for Peach to point the gun at him after blowing away hired gun #1. Hired gun #2 gave up at that point and the PC's were able to get the sordid details out of him. 

Seems Curtis Ross Sr. is running for sheriff and if it is found out his daughter has been living trans-gendered all these years, and recently underwent a sex change operation Curtis Ross, real estate magnate, would kiss his political career goodbye. He would also see Carol's sports franchise goes up in smoke overnight. Somehow Bishop, the Ross's managing editor, had come up with Carol's medical file. In good faith the eager journalist confronted Mr. Ross about having to release a story. That would affect his boss, and his employment. But you know, what are we going to do about this… ? Ross didn't get rich being indecisive. He stove in Bishop's face right before his daughter rolled into town. Of course this left Mr. Ross with the hassle of hiding his murderous act. I sure didn't know what the middle-aged millionaire should do.

When the PC's showed up and started being super helpful and all Ross decided the PC's had to go. Carol could see the wisdom in dad's thinking too. The PC's just know too damn much. Maybe take them out skiing? Get them into some technical terrain? Accidents happen in the backcountry all the time. Just to be sure have a couple of reliable hands keep an eye on things, tie up any loose ends.


The PC's were once again caught wondering what to do. “What do we care, what's in it for us?” they asked themselves and me. 

Good questions and one I didn't have a good answer for. Stalling for time I asked the PC's to go through the cast of characters they had encountered, or not, so far on the adventure. In a round about way we got to the Environmental Cowboy who lived in a mountain cabin not far from where they were at. He had come up in the narrative earlier. He was a trust-funding law school grad who was leading the charge to have Carol's televised alpine descent canceled. He has a court injunction until an environmental impact study can be completed. Carol says it is all just sexist bullshit. But either way he is a (m)NPC they haven't interacted with. The PC's commandeer the snow mobiles, take all the guns and leave hired gun #2 with his dead buddy on the snowy road determined to find Environmental Cowboy's remote cabin. Upon arriving they are greeted by barking dogs and Roger Kinrock, an independently wealthy and fiercely independent outdoors man.

This was the two and half hour mark and not only did I not have a handle on this NPC I did want to get some feedback from my players before we called it a night. I told them as much. It was kind of a shame. We had hit the perfect spot for the game's climax, but I confessed I didn't know which way I should go with Kinrock. Instead of forcing a poorly improved ending I wanted to use what time we had left to critique the rules, the adventure and our overall play.


Being awesome they agreed and provided a frank bull session on some of the fun and frustration to be had with a “modern” rpg campaign. The good news was the adventure delivered on genre expectations. The PC's felt it wasn't lack of interesting events popping off to engage, but wondering what was the next move was part of the role playing challenge. I was also concerned about how the inherent “off-color” content of the genre would play. Having sensitive real life topics such as racism, sexism, transphobia as mere plot elements in a game may generate play which inadvertently offends someone at the table. I only had to mention this as one of my initial concerns during this critique because I was fortunate enough to play the session with grown ups. The PC's were able to discuss content and play, as it came up, resolve any issues of what was appropriate for entertainment and what wasn't and the game moved on.

I really only brought it up so as to honor their excellent skills. Remember these two players had never met, let alone play this game with some clearly loaded content, and they breezed through it and kept the loose improve heavy game session on track.

So yeah I confessed I didn't know if I should go all horror, death trap in the woods with this guy, or he is for real and knows who they can trust in Fat City… and that I really wanted their thoughts on the matter. Having the guy turn into a mad serial killer would of worked for them it seems. They didn't think it would have been over the top. I don't know, I thought it was a little cliche. I can't remember all their good feedback. It was spot on, that I can tell you. I think they even resolved the Environmental Cowboy nicely for me. I can't remember. It was late. But Fear & Loathing USR delivers what it says on the tin, Player Approved!

Fear & Loathing (part deux)

The appearance of our second PC for the night's session couldn't have been better timed. Our Denver office employee and ameture boxer was at a loss for what he wanted to do next. This is where I find running a modern rpg session challenging. Creating outlandish encounters with normal, mundane ingredients. We have guidelines as established in the rules set, that the game is “for running games in the bizarre world of 1970’s Gonzo politics, drugs, sports, sex and violence...”, but what does that mean? With the major non-player characters ((m)NPC) I randomly rolled? 


So not an easy game to run or play. But Hippie Snowboard Dude (HSD) was all for doing something for Ms. Ross. Actually I don't know what their plan was, but they ended up at Ross's house who eagerly tasked the PC's with snatching some files from the Juggernaut's office. She even loaned them her 1970 Bronco, lousy wipers and all.


Their B&E on the newspaper went without a hitch. Mostly because HSD ignored a stranger trying the office door. Finishing the blunt and the mission the duo argue what to do with the file they took in front of the truck in the alley. Seems the dead ME had a file on Carol Ross's procedure which changed her from her original self; Curtis Ross Jr. Just as the PC's decided to take the info to Carol as she asked that slick hombre shows up again. This time with a gun. And he's asking for whatever they took from the office. Between the two of them they subdue their assailant with a brutal snowboard smash to the face and only one errant shot going off from the slick hombre's .32 pistol. They truss up slick hombre, throw him in the back of the truck and check his wallet. Chico Latin. They take him to the Ross residence and let Dad and Daughter know they picked someone up along the way. 

Here the players hashed out what was the best thing to do and provided some unique role playing opportunities, namely how to stay out of trouble and how much did the PC's really care what happened here in Fat City. The end result was they had a good way of dumping Chico Latin on the sherrif deputy outside and throw heaps of suspicion on this local drug dealing operator they beat hell out of. It was well explained so their ploy paid off. Except the cops were getting a different story of events from Latin so they wanted the PC's not to leave town. Not just yet. Carol Ross invited the PC's to stay over and go skiing in the morning.

(to be continued)


Fear & Loathing in Fat City

I consider running a “modern” rpg one of the genres I have the least experience in running in any satisfactory manner. I'm not even sure if I have a good grasp of reliable adventure design elements to ensure staying on genre “point” while handling this new type of setting. I created Fear & Loathing USR in an attempt to improve my modern role playing game mastering skills. Modern in this case means gonzo journalism an politics in early seventies America.


With your appropriately brief USR custom rules set and my initial untested adventure module Fear & Loathing in Fat City, two great gamers sat around the virtual table top with me and we gamed an insightful and rewarding session around tricky subject matter and highly improvisational plot hooks.

Peter arrived first and had a Fascist, an office worker and amateur boxer from Denver named Abel Peachy. His car broke down on the way to Fat City so he hitched a ride with Carol Ross, local celebrity athlete coming out of hiding to perform a controversial ascent up Capitol Peak. She wants to stop at her father's newspaper office to pick up some media tickets. She thinks it would be fun to come see Abel Peachy's performance at the Celebrity Fight Night. Maybe even find time to grab a drink at the Rank Elk before going in to the venue.

Peachy is frantically trying to figure out how he is going to fit in getting a drink with this delightful angel before he has to suit up for his fight when Carol lets out a hysterical scream. She has come across the body of James “Jim” Bishop, the young managing editor of the Fat City Juggernaut. He is lying out on the floor near a desk, his head stove in and bloody. The weapon, an editorial award Jim won back as an intern in college, is on the floor near the body stained with hair and blood.


With a call to the sheriff it isn't long before Peachy realizes he won't be making his fight and he won't be making any money for tonight's efforts. Around midnight he is finally released from questioning. Nothing left to do Peachy walks into the Rank Elk Inn and heads to the bar to watch TV and get a beer. Some slick looking hombre pesters Peachy with many questions on what was going on with the police over at the Juggernaut office and offered Peachy a ride so he could, obviously, keep on wheedling him for information. Peachy told him what he knew and the slick guy seemed satisfied and he let him out at his hotel.

The next morning Peachy was back at the Rank Elk trying to choke down breakfast and trying to think of what to do next when Bret the Hippie Snowboard dude comes on in and asks what is uuuuuuuup! Our second PC of the night has arrived!

(to be continued...)