So I have [i]finally[/i] had the chance to run a game for my players, thanks to my wonderful parents graciously watching my children for a while. I chose to run Arenamontanus's "Red Red Red" since it seemed like a fairly straightforward introduction to the setting, as opposed to dropping them straight into the squiddly exsurgents. Here's the recap of the (short) first session:
We took a while to get started, due to a lack of time to prepare on my part (busy time at work + kids). I had to print off the players' character sheets, along with a bunch of stuff I didn't think about before the players arrived. Namely, the backside of the game master screen as a quick reference sheet for the players, and the hacking cheatsheet. Didn't end up mattering too much, as one of the players ended up being close to 15 minutes late anyway, and me needing to explain firewall and some aspects of the setting before we began. Meanwhile, my terribly slow cheapo printer chugged away at the sheets.
The characters:
[list]
[*]Zindra: Lost Scum megalomaniac sleeved in a Futura with striking looks who has invested heavily in social skills. Was very fun to play Remiel with this character in the group as this character is played by my wife, so hitting on her disgustingly doesn't bother me.
[*]Salazar: Original space colonist Criminal sleeved in a Slitheroid. High combat skills and an effective smuggler.
[*]DeNE: Lunar AGI sleeved in a swarmanoid. Very high computer skills, and considers himself a member of the reclaimer movement. Also the only character with a proper backstory. He was created by an Omnicor research group as a sort of saboteur AI to sic on Starware. It'll be interesting to see how that plays out.[/list]
Once we got started, I introduced them to the concept of mesh communications and simulspace by having "Proxy Behemoth" as I called him send them a link to a simulspace coded with Firewall identifiers. They had to find a safe spot to sit down so they didn't fall over, then joined the simulspace. Once in, they were greeted by a utterly generic man sitting in an utterly generic chair in an utterly generic office. He introduced himself as proxy Behemoth, gave the players their mission, the files from the ranger raid, and their contact, Remiel. The players contacted Remiel and joined him in the cafe after a bit of research on the raid. Oddly, they didn't think to research Remiel himself. I may have that come back to bite them later.
Once they arrived at the cafe, they immediately noticed the genuinely ugly corpulent man eating noodles at a table. Their entropics then popped up, identifying him as Remiel. While I munched on animal crackers, as noodles were unavailable(again lack of planning, noodles would have been great for this), the PCs and Remiel discussed heading into the zone. Remiel, in due course, recommended Gao Udoh as a guide to the zone. The players did do some research on Gao, and discovered that he is indeed a competent guide to the zone, and is also considered a weirdo. I think the players picked up that I was holding something back here; I need to work on my poker face.
Once they had met with Gao(uneventful), I had the players make a COG*3 roll to come up with the idea that they should have a look at the ranger raid site, and another to suggest that they should utilize the panopticon to do so. Their networking succeeded at finding an ecologist with satellite images of the raid site, and also succeeded at finding a media type(at -30!) with satellite images of Ebb 15. The players were curious why media types would have images of Ebb 15, so I had the media type say he was working on a documentary about the Fall. The players also managed to learn the general location of Koumei Gigante, despite the -30 to their criminal networking test.
After this, the players had Gao head to the raid site. During the trip, DeNE, who has chameleon skin, decided to find out what Gao had inside the rover, while the other two PCs distracted Gao. The player rolled extremely high on his infiltration check and managed to find all the interesting bits of equipment hidden in Gao's rover. This was the first time DeNE had left the hidden compartment in Salazar's body for the entire game. The players now think Gao is considered a weirdo because he's into BDSM.
Once at the raid site, the players got out to investigate. Gao stayed in the rover, watching for patrols, and also watching the players. DeNE left his hiding place for the second time, but again rolled higher on his infiltration than Gao's perception. DeNE, equipped with nanoscopic vision, then proceeded to inspect the site and discovered the remains of what were likely a conucopia machine and a few fabbers. He also found some strange completely inert nanoparticles. Having finished with the site, the PCs then traveled over to the abandoned containers, which were also empty, except for the same strange nanoparticles. Next they'll be heading to Ebb 15, in Gao's rover.
Thus ends session one.
Other notes:
WalMars is now apparently a thing. Additionally, Club Baby Seal is also a thing...
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Red Red Red after-session notes
Sat, 2012-11-17 23:26
#1
Decimator
Red Red Red after-session notes
Mon, 2012-11-19 19:19
#2
Arenamontanus
Cool! I love to hear how
Cool! I love to hear how things will go.
Muhahahahaha!!! If only... :-)
This is actually a useful lesson: when you try to hide something (especially if you are poker-face impaired), having something suitably dirty as an apparent secret is a good safeguard (as GM or clever NPC). Investigators will often think they have found the real secret, especially if it is decently blackmailable.
Love WalMars, I will have to use that!
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Mon, 2012-11-19 21:10
#3
savanah
Decimator wrote: I think the
Because of my total lack of any kind of poker face, my players got used to pick when I'm was hiding some info... Well, at least until I learned how to make the face I did while lying every time.
Sat, 2013-02-16 16:44
#4
Decimator
Session 2
Session two again started late, because people didn’t show up on time.
First, I took care of some information I had missed during the previous session. I told the players that Gao’s rover is pressurized, has a single-person airlock, and a large rear door that is not an airlock. I also told them Gao’s robots are active, and the pleasure pod is inhabited by Babydoll.
The players began their journey to Ebb 15 in Gao’s rover. On the way there, Zindra attempted to talk with Gao about his prior contracts. Despite her high persuasion skills, Gao wasn’t much interested in giving her information. Zindra then decided to chat with Babydoll, where she was far more successful. She learned that the last time Gao and Babydoll were in the zone they were taking someone to Arsia Mons, and they had never been to Ebb 15 before. Meanwhile, DeNE completely subverted the rover, easily beating Babydoll’s infosec checks. The rover now has a backdoor installed, but Gao, being paranoid, will do a security audit sometime soon as a matter of course. Salazar, for whatever reason, just hung out on the roof of the rover(with DeNE in his hidden compartment.)
Some time later, the players heard a loud pop and the rover started to shake and ground to a halt with a shredded tire. DeNE then noticed that a loud wireless signal was coming from the tire. Turns out the rover had run over a Line, and now it was calling for help. Gao got out of the rover, and DeNE revealed himself for the first time by pouring out of Salazar’s morph. With the fractal digits DeNE possesses, he was able to tear apart the Line. After doing so, he succeeded on a -30 hardware check to understand how the Line works and disable it. After pulling the remains of the Line out of the tire, he then placed a section of the Line on one of Gao’s begrudgingly given creepies, and turned it back on. The creepy headed off to the west, signalling the whole time. Meanwhile, Gao used his repair spray to fix the tire. This process took a couple hours, but only a couple headhunters came to investigate, which were easily dispatched by Salazar’s rifle. Any other bots were drawn off by the signaling line on the creepy. Finally, the tire was repaired, and the group was on their way again.
Eventually, the group reached Ebb 15. Gao decided to stay in the rover while the PCs headed inside. They definitely got the paranoid vibe when I described the erupted synthmorphs and the lack of heads. They wandered around cautiously for a while, cataloging the weird stuff they found. Then they found the elevator shaft.
DeNE has enhanced vision and a T-Ray emitter, so they didn’t get any nasty surprises from the diamond blades on the way down, and all 3 made it down without incident by cutting off the diamond blades with a piece of the disabled Line. After no small amount of freaking out when they discovered the nanospores on the diamond blade impaling the synth, they found the serial number.
After finding the serial number, the PCs proceeded deeper into the underground area, and discovered the active machinery. While they were discussing what to do, and whether and how to destroy it, Salazar rashly threw one of the diamond blades into the machinery. Unsurprisingly, this seriously damaged the machinery and attracted the unwanted attention of a fractal. The fractal ignored them, and immediately set about repairing the damage. However, it also broadcast an intruder alert which attracted additional fractals. The fractals confronted the PCs, and a firefight ensued. Fortunately for the PCs, Zindra carries what is most likely the best possible weapon against TITAN machines, a sprayer loaded with liquid thermite. The first fractal that confronted them did not manage to get close enough to land any blows, and the second arrival convinced the PCs to flee. I was mildly disappointed that I didn’t get the chance to spawn a baby fractal.
The second fractal pursued the PCs out of the complex, and Gao opened the rear door of his rover and the PCs escaped. In hindsight I’ve been kicking myself, as this would have been the perfect opportunity for Gao to betray and dominate. Now I’m going to have to come up with some other situation for that occurrence.
The group drove back towards Olympus unhindered, but recieved a message over the emergency mesh channels about an outbreak at the Shanpo-3 terraforming complex. The PCs couldn’t do anything about it, so they just kept driving toward Olympus. Eventually they got within mesh range, and that’s where we ended the session.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get them to commit to a course of action before they left. We were all quite tired. At some point, I need to get them together to decide on a course of action, so I can plan. I have not decided yet what the consequences of keeping a deactivated Line around might be, but I can see already that DeNE is the most likely character to do something foolish and doom the party.