Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Promethean Downtime

So, last night we got together and did the bookkeeping for Promethean. I gave the players 8 months of downtime, and told them they could earn 5 Experiences each by coming up with cool things their characters did over the break. They did not disappoint me.

Enoch: Advised the group that, since three of them had succumbed to Torment and all of them were coping with the loss of Skip (which they all had complicated feelings about), they should split for awhile and then meet back up in Denver later. Enoch, himself, followed Avalon, wanting to know more about this strange Promethean. He tailed her to Burning Man, and found himself feeling oddly paternal as she got to know Hector (see below), but stayed out of her notice (must have dampened his Azoth, now that I think of it). After that, Enoch headed toward Colorado. He picked up a copy of a book called Hank's Journal, a fictionalized account of this chronicle, and then received an angelic vision - he learned that his answer to the question ("What are the angels?") might damage the whole group's quest, since it wasn't what the angels were looking for. He traveled to Denver and met up with a Catholic priest named Father Sebastian Licavoli. He also met back up with Matt, there, who was at the Synod running some errands. Somewhere during all of this, he switched to the Refinement of Mercury.

Avalon: Left the group and hitched around, spent some time at a coffee shop where she spent days browsing Wikipedia (remember, she's eidetic, so she remembers everything she's learned). She eventually wound up at Burning Man, where she traded her crafts expertise for crash space and supplies. She studied the people there and made a friend (and probably lover) name Hector Diaz, who called himself "Agor" at Burning Man. She learned to make paper, learned how to weld, played Go, and danced at the pyre. She also picked up a handmade clock, but the guy who traded it to her mentioned that he made the frame, but not the workings. She then detoured through Las Vegas, where she hung out in casinos and met a drunk gambler. He told her stories of strange deaths and disappearances about a year back at a poker tournament (last story of this chronicle). Avalon switched back to Aurum before heading to Denver to meet up with the others.

Matt: Matt went to the wastes, in the desert close to Truth or Consequences, and then returned to the trailer park and his construction job. He worked that for a while, and then took a job as a groundskeeper for a monastery in the area. He got to know the monks, there, and eventually gave confession to one of them, revealing what he was and his affinity for angels. He traveled to the Synod, running errands, met up with Enoch and also spoke with Father Sebastian, and eventually realized he had to leave the monastery before his Wasteland destroyed it. He also got a tattoo on his left arm - the angelic mark he'd drawn on Trent McKean back here. He's staying on the Refinement of Lead.

Feather: She, took, went to the wastes. She found a mountaintop in a Navajo reservation and stayed there, far away from people, until the Torment bled off. And then she went in search of someone who could help her interpret the symbol in her hair. She eventually wound up at a synagogue in Denver, and talked to a rabbi named Samuel Benjamin, who told her it meant "sister." She learned about faith from him, and wound up converting to Judaism and attending Hebrew school with the children (she's always been good with kids). She left when she saw Disquiet start to creep in - the kids were getting possessive of her, and that's never a good sign. From there she made a pilgrimage up Pike's Peak, considering her place in the throng and the value of prayer and faith, and changed to the Refinement of Bronze. Somewhere in here, she also met the Tall Blue Man and told him at least some of her story.

Grimm: He went to the wastes, off into the desert, and spent much of his downtime alone in meditation. When he finally got too hungry for interaction, he left the desert, took the van, and drove east, looking for others of his kind. He saw a pack of werewolves in the desert, but chose not to interfere or make himself known (practicing his Refinement), and eventually ended up in Pennsylvania, where he saw a woman being attacked by a vampire on Christmas Eve. He shot it multiple times, but it kept coming, so he grappled with it and took its fangs as a trophy. The woman he saved, as it happens, was Justine Berry, an Erie cop who has already encountered vampires (Justine doesn't know it yet, but she's going to have an interesting spring, too). Grimm left her a number to contact him with, and headed back west. He's remaining on Copper, for the time being.

Monday, November 4, 2013

Night's Black Agents: Murder Prep

So we wound up doing some actual gaming last night, not just spending points. Ahoy!

The characters went to Bonn, Germany, and after some creative Digital Intrusion had a suite at a nice hotel. Hanover made contact with a contact in the BSI, name of Klaus Hinckel, to get some data on Renate Bauer (who is, recall, the BSI agent who took a meeting with Tasse CEO Simon Thibault and viewed the body of Vasily Avilov in Paris - she's a little too connected to the characters' activities). Hanover also asked Klaus to try and check up on what happened to Ivana Sisek, but that's for another session.

Klaus told Hanover that Renate had been promoted and effectively was the one that other agents answered to on the subject of money laundering. She had been to Paris lately, yes, but she'd taken vacation time to do it - it wasn't an official assignment. Klaus did some further digging and found out that Renate had taken personal time over the last few years to visit Paris, Croatia (specifically Osijek), Hungary (Budapest), and Russia...but never simply to go to Frankfurt, where her family lived.

Since Renate was a hacker and computer expert, the agents decided to have another go at tracing the money (they've done this before, but always get hung up around the Isle of Man). This time, Lockwood helped out with some Cryptography, and Hanover broke the codes - it was, indeed, Renate, funneling money from all over the Europe. It was coming in from sources the characters recognized (Russian mafia, Hy-Klass Escorts [which, Rousseau noted with some satisfaction, had taken a major hit of late], Tasse Medical) as well as some odd deposits from several banks in Budapest.

Digging into those a bit more, using Data Recovery and Electronic Surveillance, they found that the same well-dressed man made all the deposits. They investigated him, and found his name was Dr. Janos Sas - a staff doctor at a prison in Budapest. The accounts corresponded to inmates at the prison, and looking back, Hanover discovered that sometimes an account would close, corresponding to an inmate's release or death. Renate Bauer, it seems, was pretty deep in this - she was laundering the money for the conspiracy. Taking her out, then would put a major crimp in their finances...

...but, of course, it would also tip the characters' hand. Lockwood was enthusiastically in favor of killing Bauer, wanting to set something on fire and "set the rats running." Rousseau agreed, though perhaps for more altruistic reasons. Hanover and David, too, felt that this was a smart play, especially since the heat had cooled off, so it was a low-risk as it was ever going to get. Smith cautiously agreed, but stressed that they needed some intel first, so they knew how to approach this without it all going wrong.

That, then, is the current op - kill (or, maybe, kidnap and interrogate?) Renate Bauer, and learn her role in the conspiracy.

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Game Notes!

I'm running Night's Black Agents later today and Promethean tomorrow. Actually, in both cases, we might just be recapping what's already happened, spending XP and doing some stage-setting, but since I have ideas for both games, I should take some notes.


Better Angels!

Yesterday we (that is, the group that had, in the past, played Misspent Youth and Dresden Files) decided to start up a new game. We've been playing one-shots for a few months now; last one was A Tragedy in Five Acts, but I wanted to run something consistently, so here we are. We decided, after some consideration, on +Greg Stolze's demon-possessed supervillain game, Better Angels. I was a Kickstarter backer and I played in a sort of so-so game of it at GenCon (the "so-so" bit was in no way reflective of the game itself, I think), and the players were enthused by the premise, so we got to work.

All we did yesterday was make characters; I haven't read the book thoroughly, so I need to do that before I run it. The players were highly amused by the snippets I read them, the Cloven Hooves Aspect in particular. Here's what we came up with, character-wise:


  • Gary Greer (no supervillain name yet), possessed by Mammon of Avarice. A former track and field star who sold himself out for wealth, fame, and so on. Powers: Dominator Strike and Psychic Object. Aspect: Wings and Horned. 
  • Arvo Aulis Kurkinen, aka The Iceman, possessed by Nidhogg the Malice Striker. Finnish race car driver who was fired from his team and took up with the demon for revenge. His player has some ideas about doing Jigsaw-like things; giving people "tests" of their integrity or intelligence or something (but that are fairly stupid, not nearly on Jigsaw's level of GAH). Powers: Ineffable Defense, Wither. Aspect: Flame-Wreathed (blue and cold), Invisible. 
  • Livi (no last name given), aka Amber Alert, possessed by Glasya-Labolas. Livi is a little girl who just wanted to be bigger and tougher than her brothers. She got her wish. Powers: Animal form (komodo dragon), Terror. Aspects: Flame-wreathed, Giant. 
  • Willa Williams, aka Britannica, possessed by Baal. A fairly normal librarian who picked up the wrong book one day. Powers: Terror, Dead Ringer. Aspects: Cloven Hooves, Wings. 
So, one thing we noticed is that all of these people (except maybe Willa) accepted demonic possession, which changes the game just slightly. But I need to read the rest of it and get comfy with the mechanics, because the system for this game ties in with the themes of the game, rather than being a physics emulator (which is fine with me). I'm looking forward to it. Probably make my own character for the chargen project later today. 

Board Game: Chomp!

One more from last night.

The Game: Chomp!
The Publisher: Gamewright
Time: 20 minutes or so
Players: Me, Kai, Cael, +Michelle Lyons-McFarland, Gus


Game Play: You've got cards with various sea creatures on them. They're divided out evenly, then each turn everyone turns one up. You slap the lowest card on the food chain (sharks eat everything, seals eat everything but sharks, big fish eat everything but sharks and seals, etc.), and then collect everything lower than you. If someone gets an electric eel, it's a feeding frenzy and anything is fair game, if there's an octopus, then all cards are set aside and next turn, the winner takes them, too.

If all your cards get chomped, you're out. Game ends when two people are left (you count cards and highest total wins).

Opinions: It's a cute little kids' game, and it's complex enough that adults can play it and not get bored out of their minds, but simple enough that my five-year-old played and stayed engaged. The artwork is pretty and the seal picture looks demonic (Cael initially thought it was a sea monster). My only complaint is that, like similar games, one player can win a hand and stay in the game, dragging things out. But really, a five-player game only took about 20 minutes, so that's fine.

Keep it? Yes.

Board Game: Fury of Dracula

Yesterday we made characters for our next game (post coming soon!) and then had some time, so we ate ratatouille and played Fury of Dracula. One of my favorites, as you may know.


The Game: Fury of Dracula
The Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games
Time: Varies. It can end in as little as an hour. I've seen it take as much as five.
Players: Me, Gus , Mike, Rob, Jess

Game play: One player (me, in this case) plays Dracula. The other players control the Hunters (Lord Godalming, John Seward, Van Helsing, and Mina Harker). The board covers much of Europe (the Isles over to Constanta), and the Hunters pick where they start. Dracula then chooses what city he starts in, but the Hunters don't know that. The Hunters act in sequence, moving from city to city, searching for Dracula, and equipping themselves with item cards (weapons, horses, dogs, etc.) event cards (which can give them allies, hints and special abilities...but you draw them from the bottom of the deck, because some of them go to Dracula).

Dracula leaves a trail (you can see it at the top of the board), which fills with cards as he moves through Europe. If a Hunter finds his trail, they might discover an encounter he left behind for them (fog, minions, baby vampires, rats), but should be able to figure out where he's been and track him down. If they find Dracula, they fight! Hunters don't die; they can be defeated (which gives Dracula victory points) and Bitten, but then they get shipped to the hospital to recover.

Mike and Gus consider their impending doom.

Combat involves both parties picking from a hand of weapon cards (Dracula gets a bunch more, including Claws and Mesmerize, at night), and rolling a die. High roll wins and some effect happens, depending on who played what (stakes hurt!). Every time Dracula has a turn, the time marker advances, progressing through three turns of day and three of night. Every new dawn, Dracula gets a victory point and the Hunters get Resolve, which they can spend to do things like find Dracula.

The Hunters win by killing Dracula. Dracula wins by reaching six victory points. Dracula gets victory points by waiting (1 every dawn), defeating hunters, or having new vampires "mature" (they "fall off" the edge of the trail with no one finding and killing them).

Jess is unperturbed. Rob hides from the camera.

In this particular game, the Hunters drew Jonathan Harker as an ally early on, which I thought would be a problem (he reveals Dracula's sixth location card), but then I pulled an event card that let me move twice and push a baby vampire off the edge, netting me two easy victory points. And then I kicked Van Helsing's butt (though it was a close thing) and got two more, and at that point it was just a matter of waiting for the dawn. So I won, and Dracula triumphs again!

Opinions: I really like this game, but you need players who are interested and will stick with it. It requires patience and there's a certain degree of frustration, because if Dracula pulls Evasion (teleporting anywhere on the board), I've seen players give up. Likewise, there's a great deal of psychological warfare that goes on, because smart players can track your eye gaze and figure where you are on the map (there's actually a mini-map for Dracula to avoid this, but I find it hard to use). And, as mentioned, this game can take a few hours, so if you're playing it, settle in.

That said, I really enjoy it. I enjoy being Dracula a lot more than being the Hunters, but either's good.

Keep it? Yes.

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Movie #220: Gremlins 2: The New Batch

Gremlins 2: The New Batch is, obviously, the sequel to Gremlins, though it came out six years later. It stars some of the same cast (Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Dick Miller, Jackie Joseph, and Howie Mandell as the voice of Gizmo) and adds Christopher Lee, John Glover, Robert Picardo, Haviland Morris and Tony Randall as the voice of the "Brain Gremlin."

It's several years after the destruction in Kingston Falls, and in New York City, the real estate dealings of billionaire Donald Trump Daniel Clamp (Glover) have intruded upon the curio shop owned by Mr. Wing (Keye Luke). Clamp's slimy henchman Forster (Picardo) offers to buy the old man out; he refuses, but dies soon after, leaving Gizmo homeless.

Gizmo flees, but is captured and taken to a genetics lab in the massive Clamp Tower, home, among other things to the Clamp Cable Network. Billy (Galligan) and his fiancee Kate (Cates) now work there, Billy as an artist, Kate as a tour guide. Billy works under the hyper-stressed New York career exec Marla Bloodstone (Morris), and isn't anyone in particular until Clamp shows interest in his work.

Somewhere in here, Billy realizes that Gizmo is in the building, tracks him to the genetics lab run by the somewhat ghoulish Dr. Catheter (Lee), and frees him, but in a series of wacky missteps, Gizmo gets wet, one of the resulting mogwai gets brought home because Kate seriously doesn't pay attention, they all (minus Gizmo) eat after midnight, gremlins arise, get soaked, and take over the building. And Billy, Clamp, Kate and Marla have until nightfall to sort this out, or else the gremlins will be loosed upon New York!

Unlike the original, which starts cute and takes a hard left into horror with a side order of slapstick, Gremlins 2 starts out stupidly comic and satirical and never looks up. The gremlins are give much more in the way of personality, but it's mostly sight gags. They eat a bunch of genetic material in the lab and mutate; a bat gremlin injected with sunblock smashes through the wall leaving behind the Batman symbol and inadvertently brings Mr. Futterman (Miller) into the story. The motley crew manages to destroy the gremlins because one of them turned into living electricity and they use that to electrocute the rest.

But really, at this point, the storyline isn't important. The movie cheerfully breaks the fourth wall, bringing in Leonard Maltin to repeat his panning of Gremlins and then get immediately attacked by the little monsters. The body count is much lower (just Dr. Catheter, I think, the first victim of the electric gremlin), and the gremlins aren't vicious and evil so much as silly and obliquely threatening. The most menacing one gets turned into a half-spider, then shot and burned by Gizmo, wearing a Rambo-style headband and wielding a flaming arrow made from a white-out bottle. It's absurd.

And yet...the satire is at least partially on point, if you were around in the 90s. John Glover's Clamp is affable and reasonable - you'd never see the same character played that way now, since we now know that Wall Street rich guys are sociopathic monsters. Clamp, meanwhile, is friendly and a little childlike, and a bit too enthused about everything.

Actually, the support cast - Lee, Morris, Glover, and Robert Prosky as late-night horror host Grandpa Fred - are the best things about the movie. Galligan and Cates are just kind of bland and likable, but compare them with the intense commitment to the absurd that we got from the leads in, say, Airplane!, and you see where this movie falls down. For all that, it has some charm and some funny moments, and if you know the 90s and some movie history and don't try for a minute to take it seriously, it's actually pretty fun.

My grade: C
Rewatch value: Medium-high

Next up: Adam's Rib