So finally, it seems I may have actually got a weekly game. Hopefully this is not a sign of the impending apocalypse and things will continue in this vein...
At the moment we are playtesting my fantabulous Dragon vs Gun. DvG was originally written for the Ronnies waaay back in 2005. Since then it's been through several iterations and is getting dangerously close to a finished version. Not that anyone will buy it, but that's never stopped me before. The game's premise is a battle between chaos (the Dragon) and order (the Gun).
We've had two sessions so far, each time a member of the group down. Fortunately the genius design of DvG incorporates passing PCs around so missing people hasn't hampered play at all. Hopefully there will be a full house on Monday.
1st Session
In attendance were Gregor, Russ and yours truly. Gregor and Russ had met briefly prior to the game, but didn't really know each other. They soon bonded over their shared love of iphones (posers). Neither had played DvG before and I'd made some modifications since my last game at the tail end of 2008.
We opted to go for the default setting 'cos it's awesome. Expect an Ennies win in the future - for both pages of it.
Setting: Twin Valleys of Sun and Moon. The moon valley inhabitants are Dragon-kin, moon worshiping children of chaos. The Valley of the Sun natives are Slayers, rational humans observing the laws of science. There are also two neutral factions: the dualistic Reconcilers and uncaring Nihilists.
Anyways, in DvG each player controls multiple PCs. Two a piece is the norm but as we knew there would be four players when Matt we decided to create 3 PCs each. Oh incidentally the game is GMless because GMs are the devil. Each PC is aligned to one of the four factions and has a personal quest he is trying to achieve.
PCs
Joe
Klaw Pantang: Tiger-man shapeshifter. Dragon-kin. Quest – find a new homeland for the tribe.
Vygo: Vampire bounty hunter. Nihilist. Quest – bring abut the fall of house Vaxx.
Randolf Silvestre: Ex-con man and court magician. Slayer. Quest – win the hand of Lady Charlotte.
Gregor
Baron Kluge: Politicking junker. Reconciler. Quest – own all the lands.
Rodrigo de la Muerte: Swashbuckling fish-man. Dragon-kin. Quest – Become the most feared pirate of the lakes.
Vladimir: Firebrand revolutionary. Slayer. Quest – overthrow the King.
Russ
Dr von Drexel: Mad scientist. Slayer. Quest – destroy the moon.
Melesius: Phantasmagorical knight errant. Dragon-kin. Quest – slay the monsters of order.
Seth: Murderer. Nihilist. Quest – get a bodacious body count!
We got in two rounds of play (six scenes) in the first session. Not bad going in under four hours, nine PCs and two spotlight scenes each.
Prologue. These are introductory scenes which no other PCs can join. Intended to set things up for later. They can be quest scenes but none were in this case.
Scene 1.
Vygo fights off fire imps sent after him by the fearful duke Dulac. The vampire meets his associate Belladonna and receives a contract.
Scene 2.
Meleisius defeats some brigands and makes contact with a water nymph who informs him "The Monster's true name is Drexel."
Scene 3.
Rodrigo swims into duke Dulac's castle. The pirate convinces Dulac to provide him with a ship – on the understanding that Roderigo will hunt down Vygo.
2nd round.
Scene 4.
Klaw stands at the edge of his tribe's devastated homeland and swears to destroy the monster Drexel – revealing the Dr as his Quarry. The Tigerkin promptly get attacked by Drexel's minions, with Drexel revealing Klaw is his Quarry! Drexel gets the better of the first exchange and Glabro, Klaw's blood-brother is slain by a laser - the Slayers swiftly depart. The tiger-kin declare war on Drexel. Klaw visits the tribe's shaman and succeeds in his quest conflict. The spirits tell him to seek a new homeland near the lakes.
Scene 5.
Seth the murderer uses his ethereal form to infiltrate Dulac's castle (that chap needs better security). Dulac pledged to support Seth – if Seth would slay Vygo. Seth happily agreed – revealing Vygo as his Quarry. It transpires that Seth had already murdered Vygo - but Vygo returned as nosferatu. This really screwed up Seth's tally, not to mention his head…
Scene 6.
Baron Kluge welcomes home his fae wife. It was she who fed Melesius Drexel's name! The Baron then attends to his new guests – captured Tiger-kin including Klaw. Kluge frees them to show his good will and agrees to help them find a new homeland if they call a truce with Drexel. Klaw reluctantly agrees that the Baron can negotiate on his behalf and signs the papers put before him.
And that's where we left it after the first session.
Session 2
Submitted by JoE PrincE on Sat, 25/07/2009 - 22:49.
This session saw us missing a jet-lagged Gregor but with Matt back from London village. Simplest thing was for Matt to take over Gregor's Power Points and PCs. I made one rules tweak (well actually went back to the original rules) – Power Points must be used prior to a conflict roll, hence only one roll per conflict is made. This worked far better, adding both speed and tension. Interestingly there was a lot more in character roleplaying this session as we settled into the story and cast.
+ Randolf failed to impress Baron Kluge with his love poetry – apparently rhyming Charlotte with harlot is not the done thing....
+ Vladimir introduced Chritoff, his autistic adopted son and his plot to use the kid to blow up King Alfredo.
+ Von Drexel persuaded Randolf to aid him in destroying the moon. The two hatched a plan to build a great factory spewing forth noxious gases.
+ Randolf visits the King and gets approval for the factory – in the kings name! As Randolf leaves the park a small boy delivers a parcel to the king. The royal bodyguard spot the bomb just in time – the King is grievously wounded by the blast and Christoff imprisoned.
+ Vladimir enlists the Tiger-kin to break Christoff out of prison. Promising the boy will kill Drexel in exchange. The tigers slaughter the guards creating a full scale prison break.
+ Melesius arrives in Alfredostan and is caught up in the riots. The town militia fire on him but he easily kills them. Melesius happens upon the old tiger-kin shaman who tells him the truth about the water nymph. Melesius swore to punish Baron Kluge (revealed as his Quarry).
+ On his way Melisius encounters Vygo and they travel to Kluge's domain together. Kluge is not to be found at his residence. Vygo scales the walls and picks off the Baron's guards with a repeater crossbow, then opens the gate for Melesius to join the attack.
+ The Baron appears with his personal knights – entreating Melesius to parley. Melesius approaches and Kluge deploys his iron cannon against the knight. A furious battle follows with Melesius eventually gaining the upper hand. Kluge escapes in a rowing boat across the lakes.
+ Melesius travels to House Vaxx and convinces them to turn against their former patron Kluge.
+ It turns out Dulac was not Vygo's target – Kluge was! The vampire slays Kluge and his boatman. First kill to the Prince Wooo!
+ Drexel is in a quandary – with the death of Kluge (the only reconciler) the Doctor's research indicates the only ones who can help him achieve his quest are the tiger-kin! Drexel sets out in his zeppelin and dispatches his minion Peck to talk to Klaw. For a moment Klaw is torn – with Kluge's demise the only chance he has of finding a new homeland is co-operating with Drexel. Yet the memory of Glabro's death is still fresh. Klaw moves to attack Drexel & Peck, but help arrives from an unexpected quarter! Rodrigo springs from the zeppelin's cargo bay. The pirate declares his desire to best Klaw and prove his skill (revealing him as a quarry). Unprterbed, Klaw attacks Peck, but the combined forces are too much for him. He is wounded but as Drexel contemplates his options Klaw convinces Rodrigo that as Dragon-kin they must fight together against this mad man who would destroy the moon! Drexel retreats…
So there we have it. Hope that catches you up on the story Gregor! Sorry about killing the baron but y'know he was a politicking git.
We need to redistribute PCs (and PPs) next session. Now we're down to 2 PCs each things should move along nicely. I reckon the game will last another two or three sessions. THen we'll move onto something else - Good Morning Britain perhaps?
Apologies for the long winded AP - its for me as much as anyone. Any suggestions on how to improve it or questions about the game would be greatly appreciated.
JoE
Prince of Darkness Games
Rock N' Role-Play....