Anima Eidolon ep01 : Final Fantasy

12/07/2012
Anima Eidolon
Episode One
"Ogino Festival"
Final Fantasy RPG

So I've started a new campaign for my office mates at Indigo-Entertainment and given how much the gang loves video games, I decided this time to give them a taste of a role-playing game that was inspired by a video game.  The Final Fantasy RPG 3rd edition (which had Samuel Banner as the Lead developer) was available online for free (the joys of fan projects) and while it had many faults, it was a solid enough system that captured the feel of the game and yet allowed the fun of table top gaming.  While I knew I would have to consider creating both a "Limit Break" rule as well as a "Multi-Job-classing" rule for the game to be more fun for my group, such changes would simply be part of the process of tailoring the game for the players.  The fact that I have around seven players, with some loving Final Fantasy Tactics, some loving Final Fantasy 7, some having not played anything other Final Fantasy game except FF-X, I realized the best way to approach the game is to come up with a whole new world of their own to explore.

So, without further ado, allow me to present:

 Drawing inspiration from Studio Ghibli's Nausicaa, games such as Silver Star Story, as well as Final Fantasy itself, I crafted a whole new world with a whole new epic story.  The continent of Ikazamiya was on the verge of destruction under a man named Umbara, who had sought to destroy the world after the Goddess Athena ignored his attempts to win her affection.  Nine heroes from different parts of the world gathered and united their forces to bring down the vile Emperor, but the Emperor however had trapped them in an impasse.  After murdering the city of Shimamoto, Umbara had gathered the Necromantic energies into a vast orb, that upon his death would unleash the dark power all through-out the land.  Unable to act, Umbara triumphantly slew each hero - unaware that the Goddess Athena reached out  to the White Mage among the group.  "I shall allow you all a second chance," and with their permission, the Goddess drew out a portion of each hero's soul and kept it safe.  She then released it back into Ikazamiya, and new lives were born... lives that were to one day once again rise up to defeat the Dark Emperor.

Of course, in classic Final Fantasy style, I open the game session having all present players using versions of their characters that are armed with their Ultimate Weapons, and of levels high enough to use their best or most powerful Abilities.  But as the battle continues (and the players learn the combat system), Umbara begins to twist things to their favor.  And soon, each player experiences their powerful character die.  Athena reaches out and steals a part of their soul, and allows it to be reborn in various places in Ikazamiya.

Year pass.  The heroes all happen to gather at the City of Ogino for the start of its Year-Long Festival.  The characters in the game include:
Muegle Urth, a Moogle Fencer from Heian.
Blink, a Varg Swordmaster from Otoro.
Verden, a blind Ronso Geomancer from Potemkin.
Numumu, a Nu Mou White Mage of Athena.

Beorn Seru, a Viera Chemist from Heian.
Valyria Catali, a Hume Dark Knight.
Ho-Ku, a Taru Taru Summoner.

NPC:
Morris 
Moogle Mediator from Haku
Weapon of Choice:  Rifle
Personality:  Gruff and manipulative, Morris is a Moogle who understands the advantage of others thinking he's just a cute and cuddly face.  Always smoking when given the chance, Morris is a con-man at heart with a loyal heart.  Those who happen to gain his respect and trust find themselves allied with a Moogle who can sell ice to an eskimo and has no problems with embracing an advantage he is given.

The characters have a few mixed up initial meetings, with Muegle Urth befriending a cigar-totting Moogle who also tries to hire Beorn Seru to be a bodyguard, Blink and Verden and Numumu having a hilarious encounter with a pickpocket and a girl selling puppets, and eventually the group becoming split into two distinct ways:  Numumu finds himself among other White Mages of Athena and observed by the watchful gaze of the Mother Superior Duna.  While in a small Inn owned by an elderly hume, Blink convinces the woman to hire him as security, while Muegle and Beorn rent a room with the help of the cigar-totting Moogle's money.

Fireworks.  Everyone heads to windows, or steps outside to watch the show.  Lights and fire dance in the sky, while the technologically empowered soldiers of Ogino march the streets.  Everyone enjoys the show.  But Numumu senses something is wrong, and casts SIGHT.  What he sees in the sky bothers him:  Magical outlines of great floating things are in the sky beyond the fireworks.    And true enough, from what seems like the star-lit sky, great columns of light shine down and begin illuminating areas in Ogino.  From where each "spotlight" is trained, burning orbs are launched down, which shatter upon impact to reveal armed soldiers!

"An invasion," Mother Superior Duna tells Numumu, and the two withdraw as soldiers crash through the windows of the temple to attack them.  As Numumu prepares to retreat, the Mother Superior reveals her past as she uses the Sleepy Shuffle to knock out the persuers.

Back at the inn, the heroes fight the soldiers.  The battle goes pretty easy (with some hilarity when Verden insists in trying to attack with his Golem Bell even if his blindness causes all his attacks to sadly miss) with the soldiers being quickly dispatched.  But when a dune buggy careens down the road with four War Wolves attacking its driver, the heroes realize they best come to help.  On the passenger side, a princess seems to struggle to keep her crown on.

The battle takes a dangerous turn when a new type of enemy is launched from above: Silver Stilleto Serpents crash from the sky.   Heavily armored and evasive, their deadliness becomes more apparent when the heroes realize these things can self-destruct for a chance of creating more of themselves!  A battle against two serpents eventually upgrades into a battle against seven of them, and it is only when the "princess" calls upon Valefor to help does the battle turn in the heroes' favor.  Verden uses Geotrance to switch the terrain to register as a forest, and his Leaf Swirl quickly shifts things in their favor.  Beorn uses up practically all of his tonics, however, in the battle.  Blink taps into his inner rage, and unleashes his Limit Break, Braver, at the Serpents a few times.  Meugle poisons the other serpents to grant them an eventual edge.  After clearing the monsters, the heroes get to the buggy to hear the driver ask them to help the woman get to safety.  He mentions of secret tunnels under the city, with the fountains as entry points.  As he faints, the princess asks them to help carry her "Uncle Cid."  When the group realizes Ogino has no princess, the woman identifies herself as Akami, and claims to be the Princess of Dharma.

Beorn takes the wheel as the group drives off, hoping to find a way to the fountains.  But the enemies above track them and Beorn is forced to misdirect them while the others sneak into a basement doorway.  Inside, they encounter a young Tailor who reluctantly gives them information, and sells them some hats.  The group confronts Akami, and when Blink attempts to snatch her crown, it rips off along with her hair, revealing it to simply be a copper wire wig.  Beorns confronts Akmai's claims, stating Dharma has no royalty either, and Akami finally admits she was merely in disguise in hopes of visiting her uncle.  When Blink tries to take the three Summon Materia stones of her crown with him, she reveals her Job Class as she summons Reels that spin, and upon matching, blast the Swordmaster with Holy.  Akami, is a Gambler, it seems.

NPC:
Mother Superior Duna 
Hume White Mage/Dancer of Ogino
Weapon of Choice:  Staff
Personality:  Strict and focused, her devotion to Athena is undeniable.  However, she remains secretive regarding her past.   She has many connections, however, all over Ikazamiya - and in many of them, surprise tends to be the first reaction upon seeing her again.

The group travels in the alleyways, with stealth proving a success for the most part.  But eventually they are spotted and in the rush to evade, Meugle is separated from the rest.  The group reach a fountain, pull the switch, and descend underground.  Meugle is chased by another silver serpent and tries to escape by ducking into another alleyway.    But that alleyway instead has a gigantic monstrosity chasing after another soldier, who escapes death by slamming his palm against a six foot tall floating diamond:  a Save Point!  When the monster, having lost its prey, sees Meugle as the alternative thing to eat, Meugle leaps to the Save Point as well and vanishes.

Meugle finds himself in a place of light, sensing the many consciousnesses around him.  All are mentally aware in the Save Point it seems, and these are said to be indestructible features of the world.   The catch, however, is that those inside a Save Point cannot leave unless someone touches the gem and calls for their name.  Meugle realizes he may be stuck in here for a long time.

NPC:
Akami 
Hume Gambler of Dharma
Weapon of Choice:  Summon Materia
Personality:  Deceptive and quirky, Akami had been posing as a Princess of Dharma when the Heroes first met her in Ogino.  She has three Summon Materia with her (one of which contains Valefor) and clearly is very possessive of them.

Her uncle, Cid, is the General of Ogino.  Her ability to use magic is probably a habit of hers which he frowns upon, given Ogino's technological slant towards things.


The others descend below to find dozens of soldiers training their guns at them.  Forced to surrender, things even get worse when the soldiers mistake them for having attacking "General Cid."  The group considers how to talk their way out of things, but given some of them are from Heian, the very City that is believed to be behind the invasion, things might just be more grim than they prefer.

*

Limit Breaks
So yeah, I've incorporated Limit Breaks.  A good source of Limit Breaks is what was used for Final Fantasy 7.  I plan to have certain players use certain Limit Breaks.  Currently, I've revealed that Blink, the Swordmaste, will follow Cloud's Limit Break flow.  The system I decided to use is this simple:
1) Track every player character's damage received (prior to being reduced by Arm or  M.Arm)  Once this total reaches the PC's maximum hit points, the character is in Limit Break state.  (Yes, this does mean that unless the character heals some of the damage, he most likely gets KOed instead of Limit Breaks)
2) Once in Limit Break state, the player can activate the simplest Limit Break he has.  Later levels of Limit Breaks are unlocked at higher levels, and through various methods.  For example, some Limit Breaks unlock only after the first Limit Break has been used ten times.  Others might unlock depending on the location.  Or situation.    Or weapon equipped.
3) Limit Breaks can be unleashed rather than a usual action.  Most Limit Breaks are similar to Job abilities meant for higher levels.
4) If a player is KOed, touches a Save Point, Uses a Limit Break, or Levels Up, the Limit Break meter is reset to zero.

Multi-Job Classing Rules
For multi-job options, I plan to allow players to choose a second Job come Level Seven.  Once that happens, players now level up BOTH classes at the same time. However the first Job is clearly seven levels better than the second one.  This, however, also means the Attribute Maximum Caps of the character will change, with the player now having the highest caps for either Job used in the computation.  The new Job, however, will NOT get a new set of skill points to spend.  Only an additional affinity.  So players should spend new Skill Points to help empower their second Job.

Save Points
Save Points are the perfect excuse to deal with players who are not present for a game session.  In a Save Point, a character is indefinitely "safe" and can rejoin the game at a later time.  All need happen is another player to declare he is "loading" the saved player to join the game.

Likewise, characters can take an action to touch a Save Point to recover all lost Hit Points and Magic Points.  Save Points, however, are inert and cannot be used DURING a combat sequence, unless the player successfully Escapes first.

Save Points keep all contained souls in a One Space, meaning, a player can save in one city, and be "loaded" in another city provided another player does the loading.

Agenda e09 : Adventure - Aberrant - Aeon Trinity

12/09/2012
Agenda
Episode Nine
"Chances Are"

Adventure - Aberrant - Aeon Trinity

Romance is in the news.  Everyone is talking about the unexpected love story between Jennifer "Slider" Landers and Anthony "Quarterback" Towers.  Interviews left and right ask about their plans, their special moments, and their dreams.  But just as quickly as people celebrate their nova love team, they frown on the "Null Manifesto" that has been released by a group calling itself the Teragen.  Their leader, a man called Divis Mal, proclaims all Novas to be ABOVE human laws and concerns, and this of course sparks much fear.  Some believe it was in response to the Zurich Accord which was passed after Nova issues were brought to the lime light when both Portman and Towers considered running for office.

In Rayner Corporation, members of Project Utopia visit to demonstrate the use of Eufiber to replace the copper wire infrastructure that the internet is running upon.  Promising a 700% increase in efficiency, the group asks for Rayner to show support in the undertaking when they propose it to the government, with Utopia covering 95% of the expenses, and stating they simply plan to make "the information highway more effective.  How it is used is still up to the people."  Switchboard is concerned over this becoming simply a new avenue for crime.  It is bad enough Switchboard has been receiving junk emails though the day.  She calculates the sudden boom in the use of this "OpNet" can lead to law enforcement "trying to catch up" with crime.   She sees that if the OpNet were to be allowed, however, be it in China or any other company, that other company would have an unprecedent boost in its production adn economic strength.  Richard Rayner shoots down the idea of supporting the project, stating Utopia's lack of true foresight in the matter.  

On the drive home, Towers and Slider are harassed by another car.  As they try to amicably settle things, an accident instead happens and Towers carries one of those fatally injured to the nearest hospital.  In his absence, however, he fails to see the car that nearly strikes Slider.

Rayner gives Congressman Laurel a call, and learns that Utopia has not reached out to them regarding the OpNet idea.  He learns that the President is willing to speak with him, and he decides to pay them a visit.  Before he leaves, however, he gets into a discussion with Switchboard and Mary Rose about whether or not Rayner Corporation needs to do more.  And how important it is to follow the law and stay within its parameters.  Mary Rose vanishes again, but does blurt out something about this not being what was ideal.

Quarterback returns to see Team Tomorrow already assisting in the car crash area.  Slider and Quarterback decide to let them handle things, but as they make to leave, Persuader uses his domination powers to force Slider to stop.  Enraged, Quarterback throws a punch at the guy, and only through Caestus Pax' immense strength and speed does the punch get blocked.  In a five block radius, all glass shatters from the sound of the impact.  Pax calmly asks the Quarterback to just leave.

Rayner's meeting with the President introduces him to a Gabriel Melchior, who seems to be a religious leader of something called The Church of the Immanent Escheaton.  The President openly asks Rayner to consider supporting this next year's run for office, and admits that while he does not trust Novas, he does know Rayner is a very influential ally.  As Rayner considers things, he learns of what just happened in the freeway, and calls for a team meeting.

The meeting has Rayner talking to the others about the politics surrounding the corporation.  A call from Justin Laragione, the CEO of Project Utopia, had him thinking.  The call supposedly was to apologize for Utopians visiting him, when the OpNet project was not to be marketed to the U.S. at all.  Rayner still feels the call is all about smoke and mirrors and just thanks him for the time.  When the meeting covers Utopia and the fact that Portman plans to try to run AGAIN for President in 2008, Mary Rose (who has reappeared) admits that Project Utopia's roots are that of a Gentleman's club known as the Aeon Society for Gentlemen. Switchboard shares her grandmother was a member, and Rayner opts to have Switchboard, Quarterback and Mary Rose visit to find out more.

Back in the 1960s, Scarlet learns that Aeon Society for Gentlemen was being disbanded.  Even the Sleepwalker and the German have their bags backed.  The events of the World War had struck Max in some degree.   And the appearance of his "children" worry the others as well.  But Max insists the time of Aeon is over, and ushers them all to go.  Scarlet walks off, and sees Mary Rose leaving with Whitley Styles. The Sleepwalker hands his mask to the German, and vanishes into the shadows.  And the German bids Max a final goodbye, only to be told, "I know you are not him," by Max.  As Adolf removes his guise, Max admits he was aware of Adolf's desire to get the Gravity Chamber that his father, Nicklaus had Dixon build.  When Adolf admits Max is correct, Max reveals he is sitting on the chamber itself.  Power dies in New York, and suddenly the house is gone.  Gone in space.  Gone in time.

The three meet Candy, who appears to be far younger than her age should suggest.  Her beauty is still unmistakable, and her sassiness still fresh.  She flirts with Quarterback a bit, but there's no denying her sense of security as portions of her home have pressure sensors that activate laser-guided guns.  They discuss Aeon Society and Candy admits she is not sure what happened to the Mercers as time progressed.  Before they could discuss more, however, someone shoots her from outside the house.  With a head wound, Quarterback once again transforms into living steel, then carries her off to find the nearest hospital.  Switchboard uses her calculations to deduce where the assassin was, and then Transmits herself through the power cables to chase after him.  Mary Rose vanishes again, stress taking its toll on her.

The Quarterback brings Candy to the nearest hospital, who quickly rush to treat her at the Emergency Room.  He notices an eccentric old man with a walking stick approaching him, and the old man asks him for directions to "his wife."  Handling the Quarterback a jury-rigged phone, the old man thanks the Quarterback and heads into the hospital.  The Quarterback calls Rayner, and Switchboard, but neither answer.  He looks up at what everyone else outside the hospital are staring at, and sees a massive gray cloud just above the hospital.  He flies to try to approach it, but a special cannon discharges, and Quarterback is flung nearly five miles into the light woods in the distance.  As he tries to fly back in time, the cloud parts to reveal a massive sky fortress, and this breaks into five separate ships that float away.  He rushes to the Emergency Room and finds the empty bed where Candy had been left behind.  A sign on the wall "Thanks them for keeping his wife safe."  The message is signed M.D.

Switchboard brings the beat down on the assassin, whom he slams out of his motorcycle with a force field of electricity.  As she approaches him to check on his condition, the man discharges a pistol at the ground in front of him.  The bullet ricochet's off then slams into Switchboard's chest, which flings her backwards into her own force field.    Switch is knocked out herself, but before her eyes close, she sees the assassin remove the mask and reveal The German underneath.

Rayner receives a guest.  Floating outside his window is Caestus Pax, who asks him permission to step inside.  The two discuss things, with Pax at times asking Rayner if he realizes how important their decisions are in what is happening.  When Rayner admits he was wondering about incarceration of the Nova criminals they catch, he tries to Disrupt Pax' powers to demonstrate what he thinks the prisons will need.  This, instead, exposes a major secret of Team Tomorrow's strongest hero.  Where Pax stood is now an 11-year old boy by the name of Shelby Eisenfaust.  The boy admits he and Pax switch places, and when asked why they are trusting Rayner with this revelation, Pax admits to Rayner that he was sent from the future by "a Wizard" and that he is actually a Satisfactory Intelligence that was sent with some nanotech to change the past and save the future.  In the future, it seems, a horde of Aberrants are returning from a place called Eden.  And Pax was sent back in hopes of stopping Divis Mal from gaining followers.  The Wizard sent him back through "a Hole" and had hoped to make a difference.  Rayner, Pax admits, is a genetic link to The Wizard.

And in the far future,  Erik Langley and the German complete programming a data chip with the Satisfactory Intelligence.  They consider it the second to the last hope of stopping the fleet from destroying the Earth.  The German mentions he will shunt it through the Hole and if it doesn't work, then they have only the Inspired as the final chance.

Tethers : In Nomine

12/06/2012
Tethers
In Nomine

One shot game night and In Nomine was nominated to be the game.  I wanted to find a balance between something sorta having the lightness of Dogma but the darkness of a infernal game.  With only two players, I wanted to give this game a spin to make it feel a bit more interesting.  Half-way into character creation, with the two players being a Mercurian of Yves and a Lilim of Andrealphus, I realized how to give the game the kick I wanted.  The tricky part of a one-shot game is making the players feel invested in the roles and story very quickly, before you resolve it and end the game with a bang.

One player is Steve Neuman whose angelic name is actually Umadea.  The Mercurian is a Servitor of Yves, Umadea owns a tiny building which he uses as a gallery.  His interest in art is pretty high.   He has the Song of Charm (Corporeal, Ethereal, Celestial)  all at level 3.

The other player is Bobbi Goodyear whose angelic name is actually Enise. The Lilim is a Servitor of Andrealphus, and she has the Songs of Charm (Celestial) at level 3 and the Song of Healing (Corporal) at level 3.  She also has gained the Servitor Attunement called Dark Desire.

The story begins with Steve Neuman in his gallery as a man gives him an oil painting.  The figure shows a male figure painted within a series of concentric circles.  The painting looks like a man falling, or a man flying depending on how one views it.  Impressed with the work, Steve decides to feature the painting in his gallery.  When he asks the man what to call it, the man just shakes his head and decides to walk away.  Eventually, another person shows interest in the painting.  The woman steps towards the painting and asks to buy it.  As Neuman engages in small talk, the woman draws out her purse and hands him two thousand dollars.  For a painting which Neuman simply thought would be interesting to share, he was shocked to learn someone was willing to pay this much. Introducing himself, she takes his hand and tells him, "Lillie.  Lillie Langtrey."  But when they touched, Neuman got a glimpse of the woman's past and destiny, and realizes she is not human at all.  She is a Vampire.

Bobbi on the other hand stood on the stage with other exotic dancers and strippers.  She talks to the head of  club Glamourous, some guy named Tony about helping them out.  She recalls the events of hours ago, when she first bumped into Tony's companion, the tremendously hot guy named Sammy.  The two were kissing and flirting in some bar and eventually took their tongue dancing to the bedroom.  Sammy insisted on "finishing" only come morning after breakfast, an insistence which Bobbi found odd.  She repeatedly tried to get him to ask her to finish him off.  And after going back and forth on this for hours, both turn their heads to the sound of a sudden explosion in the Symphony.  They turned back to each other and realized, "You're.. Celestial!"  When the two finally revealed their Celestial forms, they realized they were both Lilim that served Andrealphus.  Sammy and Bobbi head off their separate ways, an action spurred when they notice pigeons gathering outside the window, worrying revealing their Celestial forms will grab the attention of other Celestials.  But somehow keep bumping into each other and the pigeons (though not necessarily the same ones.)  In the end, the two meet up at Glamourous, and consider making a deal to each other to be on a "truce" and not try to one up each other.  

Neuman hears the disturbance in the Symphony as well and takes a cab to go to the location.  There, he finds a man in a hat and trenchcoat staring at the same location.  As Neuman approaches, the man draws out a folded baton and warns him not to get too close.  Neuman explains they are here for the same reason, and soon draws out the man is Ishmael, a Servitor of Dreams.  Ishmael has been watching over children, and the death they all heard was that of a child being killed.  As they investigate they learn the child has been drained of blood.  Two holes are visible on her throat.  Ishmael hopes to find the person involved, and when Neuman mentions he knows of a vampire, Ishmael insists on visiting her to confront her about the murder.  Neuman, not a fan of violence, worriedly decides to bring him to Langtrey, using the address written in the business card she had given him.

Bobbi bumps into a stranger in her run away from the pigeons.  The man, well dressed and proper, was about to help her up, but his bodyguard steps forward and shoves Bobbi backwards.  "Cash!" the man repimands his goon, then reaches to help Bobbi up to her feet.  Thanks to Andrealphus' band attunement, Bobbi discovers that deep down, this man's deepest desire is to "Become Human Once Again."  Worried that she was in bigger trouble, she rushes off, and as she turns another corner, bumps into Sammy once again!  The two, amused at their luck, decide to stick together for now.

The cab ride is a quiet one.  Ishmael shares with Neuman that he has been watching over children through the years.  It becomes clear from Ishamel's stories that he has never encountered a demon face-to-face and that his feelings towards children are incredibly strong.  For an Elohim, Neuman worries if the angel's dissonance was growing.

Sammy and Bobbi, now at Glamorous throw each other knowing glances, and Sammy gives Bobbi the go signal to do whatever she wants with Tony.  Moving to his office, Bobbi very easily seduces Tony, extracting from him two Geas so easily by simply giving him a massive sexual performance with a metal baseball bat.  But just as Tony creams himself, Bobbi sees the flock of pigeons fluttering away from the bar next door, a four-storey place called the Haven.  She rushes out and goes to Sammy, and the two argue if either of them have lured a Kyriotate into the area.  But when they hear glass shattering outside, the two see that the upper level of Haven had shattered and a man was falling from the fourth floor.  The two realize the place was ripe for people who will "need help."  They both smile.

Neuman and Ishmael arrived at the Haven, showed the card to the goons keeping watch and soon were escorted upstairs to her office.  While there, however, Ishamel's tone quickly becomes aggressive and soon he draws his folded baton out.  Langtrey bares her fangs and allows her very Presence to grow.  Her appearance seems to grow more Majestic and intimidating.  But the powers do not seem to affect neither Ishmael nor Neuman at all.  Ishmael leaps forward and using the baton strikes Langtrey.  The single strike causes her arm to burst into flames.   In her panic, she moves faster than the eye can follow and flings Ishmael out of the window.  As Langtrey's goons rush into the scene, Neuman raises his hands to show he is unarmed, but the goons feel their actions emotionally ushered by Langtrey's words as she yells at them, "Kill him!"  As Neuman takes a few shots to the chest, he drops to the ground and launches the Ethereal Song of Charm too weaken the vampire.  Unfortunately, the song fails.

As Sammy snags tiny Geas promises from each person he "helps get out of the building," Bobbi finds a woman whose deepest desire is to "Have someone kill my husband."  As she considers doing it, she thinks of having Tony from Glamorous across the street kill him for her.  But in the ensuring commotion of getting him to do it, Sammy starts to chide Bobbi in replacing what she mistakes as quality over the quantity available for them.  As Bobbi tries to defend her choices, Sammy grabs hold of her and makes her answer strangely personal questions, among which included, "Why him?  Why did you ever leave your Mother for him?"  When Bobbi considers what's going on, she starts to realize that this Sammy in front of him is just a Vessel.  The true intelligence behind him was Lilith herself!   "Call him," Lilith growled at Bobbi, "Call that demon you serve.  I want to speak to him right now."

Neuman drops out of his physical state and manifests his Celestial Form.  His Vassal vanishes to safety.  Ishmael returns to the room and using his own songs, easily dispatches the goons.  Langtrey realizes what Neuman is when her Heightened Senses allows her to see Neuman's true Angelic form.  She cowers in fear and begs for mercy even as Ishmael closes in to punish her.  Neuman reminds Ishmael not to kill her, and Ishmael promises her that, "Immortal you may be, you still dream.  I swear to you, every single night your dreams shall have me visiting.  And you shall never forget what you have done to all the children you have killed."  When Neuman questions Ishmael if she is even the one who attacked the child, Ishmael asks back, "Does she not deserve to be punished still for other victims in the past?"  Neuman notices the pitch black stains that mark Ishmael's cheeks from his falling tears.  He opts not to question the Celestial and his growing Dissonance.  They leave.

Bobbi Invokes Andrealphus and he appears with a massive tonal boom in the Symphony.  Tony steps into view and Bobbi and Lilith (in Sammy) quickly realize Andrealphus has used the man as his Vassal.  "Just call me Uncle Andre," he smirks.  Lilith tells Bobbi to decide where he truly wishes to be, and winks at her when she motions to Andrealphus.   Bobbi realizes she still has a Geas upon Andrealphus' Vassal, and hopes that will be enough.  She asks him to let her go and he agrees, but not before unleashing a song so potent all within three blocks are overcome with a deadly ravenous need to have sex.  The human media calls it a terrorist attack.  Bobbi and Lilith stands within the fleshy uprising.  Lilith asks Bobbi if she truly wishes to be free, and Bobbi admits she just wants to enjoy the world more.  So Lilith grants one final gift.  For one year, Lilith hands Bobbi most of her power and distinctions, to the point most will look at her and see her AS Lilith.  "Enjoy the experience.  Freedom is a perspective."  Bobbi smiles and walks away, eager to see how far she can twist New York under her thumb.

The next evening.  Neuman finds the painter back in his gallery.  He brings in a new painting, which he realizes shows a woman grabbing her hair as she weeps bloody tears.  The woman's face matches that of Miss Langtrey.  When he asks the painter why he won't sell them for money, the painter tells him, "Perhaps they are meant to teach something instead.  What do you see?  Does it explain why I did not answer you when you called for me?"  Neuman recalls trying to Invoke Yves to help against Langtrey and his petition being ignored.  He realizes now the painter was Yves himself.  "But what is this supposed to do for me?"  Neuman asks.  Yves simply leaves and another man steps inside.  He combs his slick hair back and asks Neuman for the price of the new painting.  When Neuman turns, he realizes the man is a splitting image of the first painting.  And his interest to buy the second one intrigues him.  He soon admits he feels it fits perfectly with the other painting he has, one which was given to him by Lillie Langtrey.  Neuman realizes once again they were merely forces that allowed Fate and Destinies to find their mark.  He accepts the man's money and asks him for his name.

"Luna.  Julian Luna." 

And the he leaves with the painting in his hands.

*

Yes this game is in memory of Julian Luna.
Or rather, in memory of the late Mark Frankel.
We miss you.

Sophie : Changeling the Dreaming

12/02/2012
Sophie
Changeling the Dreaming

It isn't often that I get to be the player lately.  Although I've been anxious to try games like Fiasco and Mythic, which supposedly allow games that don't have a Storyteller/Game Master handling things, I haven't really had the chance to be the player in a game for a number of years.  This was a Sunday which had me home alone and two friends came over to try playing Lacuna.  Half an hour later, after aborting the mission due to intense heart palpitations and overwhelming levels of stress, the game closed with a not so happy ending.  Of the two players present, one had to head on home, leaving me and my good friend Mahar left wondering what to do next.  Lo and behold, Mahar offered to run me a game, and I was definitely excited to take a stab at it again.

The game was to be set in the modern day.  I decided to go for a concept I had peculating for some time in my head ever since I saw Skyfall and Notes on a Scandal:  I wanted to play a Boggan grump based on Dame Judi Dench.

Sophie Lessway was born.  Newly Chrysalised, Sophie was still deeply engaged by her mortal retirement that Kithain politics was boring and frustrating to her.  While she understood the importance of the Houses and the need for politics, she felt that she had devoted so much of her life to being of service to others that she wanted to embrace her old age as a chance to just be herself and do what she wanted to do.  From being a house helper during her younger years to pay for her medical studies (her parents had left her a large but not overwhelming inheritance), she eventually became a care giver, and from the kindness and devotion she showed one old woman, she ended up inheriting the woman's millions when she died.  Now wealthy and retired, Sophie purchased the Home that she moved into once she realized she needed assistance with some activities of daily living, and spent most of her days taking picnics, visiting libraries, or chatting up with strangers at her favorite cafe.

Little did she know her Chysalis from human to one of the changelings would affect her so deeply.  She adorned the gifts of the Arts, but greatly resented her innate ability to read the social dynamics of a gathering.  Knowing who hated whom and who lied to whom was a terrible ordeal she could not even close her eyes from seeing.  The frailty of needing to be of assistance to anyone who asked for help even made matters worse, making her feel once more trapped into the service of others.

Sophie finds herself having a visitor; a spunky young girl who annoys her and insults her, and ends the conversation by identifying herself as a messenger of the reigning nobleman in charge and that she was being requested to come "as you are."  Annoyed, Sophie searches through her old dresses and the staff hand her other old gowns and dresses that they have had through the years.  Uncertain which one to wear, she decides to head to the cafe to find her Dreamer, a young writer named Elmo, to get his opinion on the matter.

She finds him speaking with the messenger, who once more pushes the right buttons to rile her up.  The two verbally spar for a while, and once the young Satyr leaves, Sophie rants to Elmo about it, only to be rebuffed by Elmo's belief in the young lady's words that Sophie was her grand mother and that Sophie would naturally want to disassociate herself with her.  Hurt that Elmo would trust the young beautiful girl over her, Sophie walked out and decided to come up with her own dress to wear.  She visited a number of shops to buy the cloth and articles she needed, then spent the next few nights doing months worth of work to create a dress which she felt captured her identity.  The dress she crafted was like an onion, with various layers which depicted different instances in her life - from her time as a house helper, to the time she was a nurse, and eventually a final outfit which she felt was a good way to end any political or service-related discussion.  She then made arrangements at the home and with other friends, handling them post-dated checks if not envelops of cash to "handle affairs while I'm gone.  I have no clear idea when I am returning after all."

The night of the party came.  Sophie headed to the location listed in the invitation, which showed an old church in the center of their community.   She hands the church a huge donation, then slides into the confessional to take the necessary trod.  The trod leads her into the near dreaming, and there she finds the annoying young wilder waiting for her again.  Their banter is different how, as it seems many are making it clear how important a guest she is among the others present.  She eventually finds herself asked to step into a room that is populated mostly by the Sidhe, save for a single troll who laughs along with them.  When she tries to slip back out, she leans that the troll is the Baron of the location who had invited her over, and that he wanted to offer her a job.  Knowing most of the Sidhe were too preoccupied with their own trivial affairs, the Baron needed someone who had the keen mind to handle any changeling affairs that tip-toed towards mortal issues.  Sophie questioned if she is really suited for the job, and the Troll noble-man mused how among all the guests, she alone understood what was expected of their outfits.  "Show me the dresses then, that they do not go to waste."

Sophie presented each dress, telling him about her lives through the years as a servant, or as a care giver, and in the end, stripped away the final dress to reveal a pure white business suit underneath.  She pulled her collar closed tighter, then agreed to do the job even as the Troll threw some clearly seductive remarks her way.  Of course, she realized eventually, the Troll was of House Fiona.  And if she were lucky, Sophie would get through all these things with her sanity intact.

*

Not bad for a one shot.
I had hoped to have some fun with my Arts, or even just throw around some "This is the power of a massive collection force" but clearly, the two were not going to be in the game.   But man, that was fun.  I tried recording the audio of the game but afterwards, listening to it, I realized I could barely hear Mahar, the storyteller, 2) I had NO intentions of resharing what sounded like me doing a VERY VERY BAD JUDI DENCHI, 3) And lastly, I will need a proper microphone to do this better.

Anyway, keep the dice rolling folks!

Recruitment #04 : Lacuna Part I

12/02/2012
Recruitment #04
Lacuna Part I. The Creation of Mystery and the Girl from Blue City.

The fourth session was held a few hours after the third.  While I had originally hoped to have five players, the three others (from the first three sessions) realized they had to be fair and give time to the other storytellers in their lives.  So I ended up with two new players for this session.  As before, snacks and drinks were permitted with a bit of small talk before we started the session.  I used the same music as in the previous games to begin the game, and shifted the lights as before.  I realize now I love making the room during sessions in the Blue City look and feel different.  From the use of lights, incense, music, and props, the Blue City scenes should always feel surreal.  Or dark.  Or at least different.   And since I run this game in real time, at any point when interruptions or breaks are necessary (such as when my dog, Yoshi, makes a mess on the floor that needs to be cleaned up, or when someone knocks at the door), I switch out of Blue City mode, shift music to Control meeting, and turn back on the lights.

Agent Smith and Agent Kaufman were to be our new set of candidates.  Smith was trained by Senior Agent Chambers, and opted for the Caller technique.  Kaufman had the Contact technique.

Their mission was tricky:
1) Locate the Personality named Candy.
2) Identify her contact.
3) Locate her Shelter.
4) Acquire Device from Control.
5) Plant "Device" in her Shelter.
6) Exit via rooftop.
7) Eject.

Smith opened his eyes to find himself lying in a playground, with the swing set above his face.   He got up, headed for the street and quickly communicated with Control his whereabouts.  Kaufman had been chosen as Team Leader, and Smith was denied the mission parameters until Kaufman gave explicit permissions.  A man was lying by the see-saw.  Smith evaded his notice, headed down the road, and hoped to get information soon.

Kaufman in a room with a barred door, inside some building.  Using the nearby hammer to pry the board away, he realized his hands were calloused from using the hammer before.  He had no recollection of this.  Heading down, he saw two squirrels in the stairwell, that were arguing in a very humanistic manner.  Prying the nearby wall open with the hammer, he finds them filled with nuts.  He pulls a few out, but the squirrels seemingly come to a true before he could offer them.  He shoves them back.

Smith reaches a crossroad and notices the street he is on is "The Mission" and the cross streets are "Left" and "Right."  Calling Kaufman, Kaufman finally finds a hard line and calls Control.  He gets the mission parameters and tells Smith to head down the Right way.   Kaufman promises to catch up.    Smith notices at the far end of the street, a massive building called "The Cafe" awaits.  There, he meets the waiter up front who misindentifies him as "Ma'am."  When he corrects him, the waiter admits he thought he was "Candy" who loves to surprise them and wear disguises.  Smith realizes he's in the right place and asks to be brought to where Candy usually waits.   He decides to wing it and tells the cafe owner he is Candy, and convinces him he's just her in disguise.   The owner mentions that agents have been looking around for her and Smith tells the owner "she's" expecting an imposter to show up today.

On his way, Kaufman is intercepted by a patrol.  The cops are spidermen, and this fact unnerves the new recruit.  He leaps into a basement doorway and runs, hoping to evade the spidermen.  The corridor ends at a door, which Kaufman bashes open to reveal a wine cellar.   There, he breaks a few cases to delay the spidermen, and finds the locked passage leading out.  He starts slamming the hammer against it to breach the wood.

Smith sees Candy finally arrive on a red motorcycle, and she seems unsettled about something.  Smith keeps watch of her but nearly loses his cover when the waiter earlier nearly blurts something out.  Candy jangles her charm bracelet over the staff and they vanish, as if the were merely illusions.  Candy tells the customers to leave.  Smith heads out casually, pretending to be one of the customers.  Smith notices the charms in the bracelet increase in number.  Thunder rumbles overhead.

Kaufman slides up the hatch to find himself in a kitchen.  Grabbing the closest knife he can, he hears someone trying to follow up the hatch and slams the hammer down on a spiderman's head!  He quickly heads out of the kitchen and finds himself back in the street.  Smith contacts him and informs him Candy is in his vicinity.  Smith is still waiting to see who her contact is, but seems to think the Cafe itself is "the shelter."  Kaufman stays in the shadows and sees the Spiderman return to the car.  Bleeding from the forehead, the other spiderman approaches him to apologise.  The bleeding one instead grabs the other, then devours its head.  The wound begins to heal.  Kaufman quietly opts to sneak into the car and look for anything important while the Spiderman makes for the Cafe.  He finds a brown envelop and slides it under his arm.  He sadly finds nothing else.

Smith spies on Candy, who meets the Spiderman like a lover.  As the two share a long intimate kiss, Candy mentions something about having to move.  About things no longer being safe.  But as Candy heads to the roof deck once more, the Spiderman turns around and admits to the room that he knows "You are watching.."  Smith opts to act, flinging the heavy metal chair at the Spiderman.  The chaos eventually ends with the Spiderman brought down.

Kaufman feels his heart pounding as it starts to rain.  Frogs once again spill from the heavens, and they begin hopping alongside Kaufman, muttering, "Agent agent..." the whole time.  In the distance, cards are enroute as Kaufman senses the alert has been raised.  He heads up to join Smith.  Smith has just contacted Control to requisition for the device and the device turns out to be an old polaroid camera.  The two head to the roof, and Candy is easily dealt with.  Her charm bracelet is seems is the sanctuary, when the two realize the rain of frogs do not touch them when the charm bracelet is with them.  They take a photo of it, thinking its what they should do, and then opt to Eject before the other spidermen arrive.

*

Control thanks them for their assistance.  Control does admit that they were not successful in their mission.  Control however tells them such failures do happen, and that if they ever opt to attempt again, to contact her as soon as possible.      Kaufman wonders if he should tell the Smith, but he had peeked at the brown envelop and found it to be files on them.   Their pictures were on the pages.  As to what this meant, however, remained unclear as he could not make out the words.

*

This game wasn't as intense as the first three, but still had its moments.  A pity none of the original three nor the fourth player were present or they would have figured out the riddle of what exactly "static" is.  The game also featured a second time that a file contained interesting information that seemed to relate to the players themselves.   Time will tell when more answers will be revealed.

Soundtrack Suggestion: The Bone Collector - Craig Armstrong

The Bone Collector - Official Soundtrack
Composed by Craig Armstrong

I loved this movie.  Many of my friends were not big fans of this movie, but I loved it.  For those unfamiliar with the movie, it is about a quadriplegic homicide detective named Lincoln Rhyme who teams up with Amelia Donaghy, a police woman who isn't too keen on the partnership, to find a serial killer.  While Lincoln deals with the fact that he was looking forward to his assisted suicide, Amelia deals with haunting memories of her father's suicide, and there the two find a strength that helps them both succeed.  Set in New York City, many of the tracks I felt carried a nice thematic identity that one can connect easily to the location and even better used heart-stopping beats to build tension and fear: the perfect things a game master needs to enhance games set in the modern day.

The Soundtrack has 16 tracks in total, with tracks 1 and 16 being practically identical in most cases that you can use them as the signature theme for your game if you want.  Craig Armstrong does fantastic work in this soundtrack (and I will warn you, his website is so wonderful, you CAN use it to give music to your games on those nights you fail to bring you mp3 collection heheheh)

My personal favorites would have to be the following tracks:
Amelia's Song (Track 04) is a sad somber piece that speaks of hidden strength and sadness.  The strings work well with the piano to create a pained yet powerful piece.  The song can be used to enhance an introspective moment, or to signal the change when a character witnesses something so horrific and life-changing, the character makes a step in the right direction.

Walking the Grid (Track 06) is a haunting track that maintains a progressive pace which in the movie showed  Amelia carefully investigating a crime scene.  The music is tense, without being fast-paced, suggesting a great weight present in the scene that has yet to be fully perceived.  It can also be used to suggest a religious moment, given the use of voices to enhance the harmony.  In the last 46 seconds of the track, the tone shifts somewhat, suggesting something realized or seen.  You'd be surprised how effective this track can be used to add to a moment.  It definitely works best with Working the Evidence (Track 07) as the tone flows straight into something  more concrete and progressive (especially with the use of percussions).  Track 07 however ends with a powerful rise which carries the thematic sound of the title track, so some games might not work well with that.

Rhyme and Amelia's Theme (Track 09) sounds spiritual, with the use of faint voices that swirl between moments of strings and moments of piano keys.  One minute in, however, the song changes into an almost solo piano piece that is haunting and effective in building suspense.  I use this track a lot for character moments, like when a player confronts a betrayer, or when an npc admits to having failed.    This sad song works wonders.

The last four tracks, Pier Pressure (Track 12), Underground (Track 13), Final Confrontation (Track 14), and The City Awakens (Track 15) is a perfect sequence of tracks to use to end a game session with a climactic bang!  The build-up of the music from one song to the next is just pulse-pounding without becoming too loud that players won't hear each other.  The best part about these four tracks is how you can even loop 12 or 13 a number of times if you haven't hit that perfect moment to throw the dramatic big finish that 14 brings.   And Track 15 ushers it all into a complete ending, which can have a high or sad note all the same.

The Bone Collector OST track suggestions
WTF moment: Mackenzie (Track 10)
Introspective/calm moment: New York City (Track 01), Amelia's Song (Track 04)
Tense/mystery moment:  Prelude (Track 02), Walking the Grid (Track 06), Working the Evidence (Track 07)
Combat music: Rage Against Time (Track 05), Seizure (Track 08), Pier Pressure (Track 12), Underground (Track 13), Final Confrontation (Track 14), The City Awakens (Track 15)
Hopeful moment: Amelia's Song (Track 04), Rhyme and Amelia's Theme (Track 09), Amelia's Crisis (Track 11)
Drama/sad moment: Taxi Ride (Track 03), Amelia's Song (Track 04)

Best Used In: Games set in a modern, or post-apocalyptic setting. The music has too many touches that would be jarring in a medieval or fantasy game.  Absolutely works for games that have a mystery or investigative element.  Supernatural touches can also work with the soundtrack.  New York.  I cannot stress it further.  Dark games set in New York.

Recruitment #03 : Lacuna Part I

12/02/2012
Recruitment #03
Lacuna Part I. The Creation of Mystery and the Girl from Blue City

The third game session was held a day after the second one.  The same three players were in it again but this time, a fourth player decided to join the fun.  While they were all outside the gaming area, I decided to throw a new level of psychological horror into the game.  I printed out a bunch of new things to use in the game, then prepped the gaming area before any of them arrived.  A new house rule that I've grown fond of sticking to for Lacuna games was to approach EVERYTHING in real time.  The moment I had all the players done eating and with a drink ready, I would play my "Control talking to the Candidates/Debriefing Mystery Agents music" (This would be track 05 of The Devil's Advocate OST) and start talking to them as the Control officer who handles their case.  I introduced each Mystery Agent to the new Candidate A, and then guided Candidate A through the recruitment process.  While Candidate A made his rolls and marked down his choices, whenever any of the Mystery Agents would mention things outside their Clearance Level, I would stare at that person, show the fakest smile I can, and the GM in me would be dancing in joy as the player quickly reworded things as to not mention the contraband word.  ("I hope we don't see those spide... sp... spies... again..")

(This early though, I just want to say... I WISH I took pictures.  Darn.  I guess we were all so into the mood that none of us thought to take pictures.)

Once Candidate A was done, I formally introduced him (Agent Mason) to the three others (Agents Stringer, Currier and Harper).  Agent Mason had the luck of being trained by Senior Agent Chambers, and having chosen Caller as his Technique, the group quickly nominated him to be the Team Leader for this mission.  As always, I reminded them that they will begin their mission with their standard uniform, a black business suit and pants, white shirt, blue necktie, leather shoes, black sunglasses and the Lacuna device (I handed out to them the Heart Dials created by Travis Carr, which once again are a spectacular device to add to the game) then started playing the Inception OST (admittedly, track 01 "Half Remembered Dream" and track 02 "We Built Our Own World" are perfect for the transition to the Blue City), stood up, and then in time with the music, began killing the lights in the room, until the game area was in utter darkness save for my laptop screen.  I then turned on the small lamp we have that is set at the center of the table, to give just enough light for people to see their character records and their Lacuna dials, and started the tale.

Once again, the Mystery Agents discover their Injection did not go smoothly.  I open with Agent Mason, the new player, who finds himself in a twenty foot by twenty foot white room.  The room is empty of any other features save for a stool which he awakens to find himself sitting on, a flash light that has been placed two feet from his position, and a mark on the wall which is a tad hard to see given the lack of lights in the room.  Somehow, the white walls provide some semblance of illumination enough for the Agent to see somewhat.  But to see better, the flash light would be needed.  (I placed an actual flash light two feet from him on the table, then went to a far wall and turned over a piece of paper that had been taped there since the start of the game.  To see it better, he would have to use the flash light.)   Agent Mason called out to Control and Control answered.  It was the same female voice of Control in the past two missions.  Agent Mason quickly learned how to request for Intelligence and asked for the Mission Parameters.  They were as follows:

1) Locate the following Hostile Personalities: Aiza, Janus, Creed
2) Terminate Hostile Personalities.
3) Place Lacuna Device upon terminated Hostile Personality.
4) Engage Lacuna Device.

Agent Mason then reached out to the other Mystery Agents to get an idea where they were.

Agent Stringer was on a bench under a defective street light.  The light flickered on and off.  Agent Mason's voice reached him then, and he shared what he was seeing.   Before him, the silhouettes of numerous buildings stood.  Each building was around five or six stories tall, and longer than they were tall.  He stood up, walked towards the first building, and noticed two men in the shadows close by who were smoking.  Ignoring them, he walked up to the door and checked if it was locked.   Aware of the mission, Stringer decided to walk alongside the buildings and see if he can find any further clues.  When the smoking men called out to ask if he needed help, he chose to ignore them.

Agent Currier opened her eyes to find herself lying inside a wet bathtub.  The bathtub was still filled with balls of wet hair, which squished as she pushed herself up. She heard Agent Mason's voice in her ear as if she had a bluetooth headset on, and replied that she seemed to be inside a building.  As Mason gave her the mission details, someone outside the door to the bathroom she was in had heard her speaking and began calling out threateningly.  "Is there someone in my house?" the voice angrily cried out, "Get the frak out of my house!  Nobody sneaks into Janus' home.  I'm armed! I'll hurt you!"  Agent Currier realized she was in danger and opted to try to run out of the room if she could.  Force was not at her side, however, and as she ran, the (now Hostile) Personality in the room bashed her in the face with a frying pan.  Agent Mason realized Currier was in trouble and hoped someone could hurry to help her.

Agent Harper opened his eyes to find he was on the top of the building.  Clotheslines were all around.  Occasionally, the sound of something scurrying around could be heard.   He heard Mason's voice and quickly received the mission parameters.  Scouting around the rooftop, he could not find a way down from the outside.  He did see instead a car driving towards their location.  Turning back towards the shed on the roof, he pried open the door and began to head downstairs.  Hopefully, Agent Mason could give him Intel on where Agent Currier was in time.

Agent Mason shone the light to the wall and discovered what was painted on it:  An Eye.  As Agent Mason talked to Control about the situation, he asked if he could requisition items and have them sent to other Agents.  (Control said No.)  He then asked if Control could tell the nearest Agent how to get to Agent Currier.  (Control said No.)  Frustrated, he muttered about being trapped in a doorless and windowless room, and this grabs the woman's interest.  She asks Agent Mason how many eyes have appeared, and Agent Mason replies one (but as he talks, I stand up, walk to another side of the room and reveal a second eye that was hiding behind some stuff above the refrigerator).. then corrects that he can now see two.  This catches the Control's interest and she tells him to please hold.  Control forgets she is working with a Caller (having been the same one with the previous two missions who were solely dependent on Hard Lines) and she contacts higher levels of Clearance while forgetting Agent Mason can still hear her.  Mason overhears her identifying herself as Mythography Agent Kira and her request to be connected to Vice-Director Weller. She mentions, "The Eyes have manifest again sir.  And yes, two so far.  I see.  Five.  And the Agent is to Eject.  Confirmed.  I'll inform the Mystery Agent at once."  When she returns to contact Agent Mason, Mason cooly reveals to her he overheard her ("So Kira... how was your weekend?") and when she realizes she had broken clearance levels, he suggests to her to help them out or he'll report her mistake.

Agent Stringer sees the incoming car, and hides in one of the alleyways between buildings.  The red car parks in front of the building, and a woman in a bright yellow outfit steps down.  Her hair is tightly pressed against her head.  Her long legs shimmer in the darkness.  She walks straight to the building and ignores the smoking men who try to be friendly and greet her, "Hey Aiza."  Realizing she's the target, Agent Stringer quickly rushes to the door once Aiza slips inside, and uses his foot to keep it from closing and locking again. The smoking guys stare at him, but he ignores them and slides into the corridor.  An old-school elevator is clanking aloud, informing Stringer that Aiza had used it, and he watches the arrow eventually stop at the third level.  Stringer rushes up the stairs to find her.  In the corridor, the lights are all out save for light cast from one room that had left a door open.  He rushes towards it, ready to act.  Little did he know, Agent Harper was at this floor earlier, and saw Aiza step into her room, but he then received Mason's instructions on where to find Currier, and he headed back up one flight of stairs.

Agent Currier is hit a few more times and soon finds enough strength to push and shove the attacker backwards.  She hurries out into the corridor to discover it is pitch black.  She decides to stop, knowing while in the corridor, the attacker cannot see her.  (I then stood up, and killed even the lamp by the table, reducing the room to pitch back save for the light from my laptop, which I shielded with a brown envelop)  In the darkness, Agent Currier slowly backpedals.  I describe how the attacker emerges from the doorway with the steak knife, and then carefully scans the corridor for any sign of the intruder.  Then, steps out of the light and into the darkness as well!  Agent Currier gasps as she realizes they were both invisible to each other now!  She continues to back pedal slowly, hoping to reach the stairwell before the other found her.

Agent Harper hurries down and as Mason informs him of Agent Currier's location, he sees her backing out of darkness and pulls her into his arms.  The two have a moment of comfort, before they realize their fatal mistake:  being in the area where the light from the stairwell spills into the corridor makes them now both visible to the attacker.  She emerges from the darkness, screaming bloody murder with the knife in her hands.  The first stab misses Agent Currier, who ducks past the swing, then entangles herself around the attacker from behind to grapple her.  Agent Harper then pries the knife out of her hand.  As the woman struggles against Currier, Agent Harper then stabs the knife into the woman's throat.

Agent Mason tries to get Kira to explain what the room and eyes are.  Two more eyes have manifested (One was hidden behind a stack of books, this time opposite the side of the room where the refrigerator was.  The other was behind a small cloth poster that was hanging on the wall.  The effect was the eyes were "surrounding the player") and Mason was getting worried cause that was now four.  Kira explained the last Agent to report about the eyes had seen only up to five before he was KIA.  Mason fingers his Lacuna device, tempted to Eject, but tempted to see if he can learn more as well.  He asks Kira about the Requisition rules (this being his first mission) and asks if he can requisition a Bazooka, and (after succeeding his Access Logistics check) he is informed he has been given one.  He stands up and finds it behind him.  That moment, the fifth eye emerges (This was a massive eye print out I had taped on the top of a computer monitor.  So I swung it down to reveal it.)

Agent Stringer reaches the doorway and finds it left open.  On the floor, Aiza's body had been left behind like a second skin.  Whatever was inside Aiza, it seems, was now in the bathroom and could be heard moving inside.  Stringer sneaks into the room and grabs the nearest lampshade and the moment the thing steps out, bashes it in the face with it.  Then while it is down, turns the ruined lamp upside down to use the jagged part as a stabbing implement.

Agent Currier and Harper inform Mason (once he calls out to them to check on their status) that they have brought down one of the Targets and he quickly relates to them the next steps.  ("Just in case I don't make it out alive, you know the rest of the mission.")  For a moment Currier fears this means they have to stay in the Blue City.  But Harper quickly tells him to go to the nearest door, use the phone there to call Control and requisition for a Lacuna Device.  They are issued a Lacuna Device by Control who tells them, "You will find it in the small cabinet above the bathroom sink."  Harper sees the body wriggling, and from the back, tiny limbs tear out!  Like legs of a spider, the limbs reach out of the torn body of Janus and attempt to strangle Harper.  Harper's attempts to use the knife to break free fail as the knife is pulled by the thing away from Harper's hands, and a Spiderman's face emerges from the corpse!  Currier requisitions for a Machine Gun, and Control quickly delivers it, stating it is in the bath tub.  Currier grabs the weapon, shoves it against the monstrosity, and opens fire.  The Spiderman drops dead.  They slip the Lacuna device on the corpse, click the dial and watch it disappear.

Agent Mason sees two more eyes emerge. Even worse, the eyes have started to blink and follow Mason with their gaze.  (The sixth was a huge one I pasted behind a cabinet door.  I casually opened it while walking around the gaming area and the seventh was another Eye hidden among the shelves.  By this time, the other players were all gasping and struggling NOT to say a word.  They knew they could not comment, since it was not their scene, but it was clear they were all looking around the room for where more eyes could be, and clearly wanted to tell Agent Mason's player to Eject!) Agent Mason calls out to Control, but this time, a different MALE voice answers.  He quickly grasps that Control must have been monitoring the conversation and had Kira removed.  He informs Control that things are no longer safe, and that he will have to Eject, but Control is unable to answer and all Agent Mason hears is static.  (As this point, with the tension at its peak, I walk to the far side of the room, where we have a window.  I plug in the cord and flick the switch and lo and behold the final Eight eye appears.  I had taped Christmas lights on to the window in the shape of a massive eye.  In the darkness of the gaming area, the illuminated EYE pops into view and the dancing lights makes it all even more surreal.)  "Eye can see you," the Eye demands.  "Eye want to be free.  Eye demand you let me go.  Eye will not harm you.  Eye command you to leave your Lacuna device on the floor!"  Agent Mason fires the Bazooka at the eye, but after the explosion, the eye remains unharmed.  Feeling no other option exists, he Ejects.

Agent Stringer contacts Control and uses Access to requisition a second Lacuna device.  Control responds and sends him one, and as he shunts the Hostile Personality target away, hears the phone ring again.  He picks it up and a voice answers, "Ttttthis is c-c-c-c-control.  You are to leave your Lac-c-c-c-cuna Device on the floooooor."  He starts to feel something is wrong about this.  As he replaces the phone on the handset, he begins to hear more phones ringing in the same floor.  He realizes as he walks down the corridor the ringing sounds are "following him" as if phones within his vicinity are ringing once he's near.  He hurries down the stairs, feeling more certain it would be better NOT to answer any more.

Agent Currier feels her heart pounding, and tells Harper to find the last one.  Without their Team Leader, the group is worried things are falling apart.  Agent Harper contacts Control and requisitions for a deadlier weapon, and Control informs him the weapon is in the trunk of the car parked outside the building.  Agent Currier sits down to try and meditate before her heart bursts.  Agent Harper heads downstairs to find the weapon.  He hears the sound of ringing phones ahead of him, but they seem to stop on their own before he gets to them.

Agent Stringer rushes out of the building and wonders where to find the last target.  The smoking man asks him again if everything is okay, and it is then Stringer notices the second smoking man is actually "attached" to the first from the waist level.  The second smoking man tells the first, "Leave him alone, Creed.  Mind your own business."  And Creed tells the other guy, "Why don't you go away and leave me to handle this."  The second man detaches from creed and begins to crawl away.  Realizing he is the target, Stringer tries to bring Creed down.  But Creed, upon realizing Stringer is trying to kill him, reveals something unexpected:  "Don't shoot! I'm one of you!  I'm one of you!  I've been undercover! Don't shoot!"  While Stringer ponders on whether or not Creed's words can be trusted, Harper tears through the door and rushes to the car.  He breaks the window and pulls the switch to pop the truck.  He grabs the gun pieces and begins locking them together to use the weapon. "I've been undercover for months man.. years maybe.." Creed tries to explain, but Stringer isn't sure if he can trust him.  In the distance, cars are closing in.  Stringer suspects they are spidermen.    The sky rumbles and it begins to rain.  But what falls down are frogs.  And as the frogs hit the ground,  Harper yells at Stringer to drop down, opens fire, and blasts Creed away into mushy meat.

Agent Currier fails to settle her heart beat and heads down to help.  The two others drag the corpse with them towards the building, but know they don't have much time before the spidermen arrive.  The frogs that have fallen from the sky are now hopping alongside the Mystery Agents and instead of saying "ribbit" are saying, "Agent... agent..." as they leap.  The three gather in the door closest to the entrance and quickly bar the door.  Agent Harper feels his chest pounding as well and realizes none of them have an extra Lacuna Device.   As the spidermen surround the building and demand the Agents come out to surrender, Agent Harper and Agent Stringer activate their devices and Eject.  Agent Currier's Lacuna device fails to.

The Spidermen tear into the building.

Agent Currier tries her device a second time, but again it fails.
The sounds of trampling feet close in.

And as Agent Currier fears the worst, a blue girl appears and reaches for her hand.  Agent Currier stares at the luminescent child and takes her hand.  "Help me," she tells the child, sensing she is more than just a child in a dark spider-filled world.  And Agent Currier feels the light envelop her.

*
(I started once again Track 5 of The Devil's Advocate, walked across the room to switch all the lights on)

Debriefing goes well.  Control asks each of the Mystery Agents key questions on their mission, and all wisely opt NOT to give concrete answers on things that may be outside their Clearance levels.   Control sadly informs them having failed the mission, none of them will be receiving new Techniques at the start of their next mission.  She does commend them for all nearly reaching promotion.

Agent Mason recalls waking up from his Eject to find a kind old man sitting beside his bed. The man asks if Mason noticed anything strange, and admits that Mythography is sadly only clearance level Green.  "We are not allowed to enter the Blue City.  A pity, given the sights one can see."  He then intones carefully, "Eye, wonder if there were any interesting details you were supposed to note?  Interesting sights perhaps?  Numbers..."  Agent Mason decides to trust him and he slips the number Eight into his response.  As the man leaves, someone notices the man at the door and calls out to him.  "Vice-Director Pope, you aren't supposed to be there."  The doors close before he catches the Vice-Director's response.

And Agent Currier keeps to herself her own Ejection.  She once again opened her eyes far sooner than she should have.  She finds herself strapped to a metal bed, her body intruded by numerous plastic tubes and wires.  The two people handling her talk about how she has been "Successfully ejected.  All signs are nominal.  Heart beat is highly elevated by thankfully not too deep into the critical level."  She hears them talking about her as "Disturbing" and how "I probably would never be willing to do what they do."  Agent Currier drifted back into sleep and awoke to find herself already in the debriefing meeting.

And with that Control offered them donuts, suggested that since they had to abort the mission earlier than the expected three hours, they had some time to burn.  "A movie, yes?"  Control moved to the other side of the room and switched on the television screen.

(The players all stared at the television screen 

as it suddenly showed video of a human eye, 

blinking and looking about)

"Hmm," Control responded, as if seeing only static, "It doesn't seem to be working," and the image vanished.  "I guess the movie will have to wait.   Well then, Good night and til the next mission.

*

Given the weirdness of things, I'm sorely tempted to start explaining the logic behind them, but since my players love reading the blog posts too, I will have to save that for later posts.   Those curious who aren't in the game can feel free to message me and I'll be sure to privately explain why I've approach things a certain way.

Recruitment #02 : Lacuna Part I

12/01/2012
Recruitment #02
Lacuna Part I. The Creation of Mystery and the Girl from Blue City

The first game directly continued into the second session.  Both players had succeeded in the previous mission and so their characters gain a new Technique.   Neither had enough Commendation Points however to gain a new Talent.  The three settled down and prepared for another Dive into the Blue City.

(I shifted the music from elevator music to silence, then slowly raised the volume to a haunting low bass tone.  I then began killing the lights in the room one by one, until finally the only source of light was the screen of my laptop.)  The Mystery Agents were standing by the pier, and could hear the soft sound of water lapping against the wood.  Not that far away was a large building.  Neon lights upon its facade were in the shape of a woman that bent over every few seconds.  Glowing text spelled out "Red Light District."

A phone in front of the three Mystery Agents rang out.  Agent Springer, the Team Leader, learned from Control that the mission entailed locating and apprehending the Target Personality named Harrison Mason.  The target was said to be in the Red Light District.  And further instructions were to follow.  The three requested for Logistics; Agent Springer was able to receive a Pistol, Agent Currier failed to receive anything, while Agent Harper received a Uzi.  The three made their way to the Red Light District, keeping wary eyes open for any possible danger.  Then, in the darkness, headlights shone (I switched on a flashlight and trained it at the three players) and each quickly rolled Force to dodge out of the way and hide.  Unfortunately, Agent Currier failed to hide in time and the police car came to a stop directly behind her.  (Continued the scene with the flashlight at her face, to make it feel real.)  With the headlights trained at her, the police man inside rolled the window down and called out to her to stop.  Both Agent Springer and Agent Harper trained their guns at the car, ready to fire. Thankfully, both wisely opted to hold their fire.  Eventually, the police men left -- but not before the Agents realized one of the two policemen had inhuman features.

Arachnid features, to be more precise.

They joined the line in front of the building, and considered their options in finding their target.  Agent Currier was hoping to call Control, and tried befriending the Personality in front of them in the line, only to notice him pulling out a cellular phone and calling someone.  As she threw out some flirtatious lines to get his attention, he smiled back and agreed to lend his phone.  Before the two other Agents could notice, however, the man ducked into the building. Currier frustratingly chided the two for not grabbing Harrison that moment, and the three quickly made their way inside.  Amidst the chaos of  naked women with faceless heads (save for a gaping moist mouth) and other Personalities, it took barely ten minutes for the two to locate their target.  A total stranger approaches Agent Harper, and once again, this woman talks to him about asking him to "take her away".  Ignoring her, the group converges where Harrison Mason is, and with a forceful proclamation, join him at his table.  Harrison Mason realizes these people are Agents and tries to escape, but Agent Currier catches his motions, recognizes them, and pulls his right hand away from the left.  The target it seems has a Lacuna device as well.  Unlike theirs, his has become embedded in his flesh!  When they ask him how he has one, he ends up asking them instead how Control knows he's still here.  "I'm off the grid! I'm no longer on the Slab! How could they know I'm still here!?!"  Agent Stringer's gut feelings warn him of the presence of danger and a quick glance true enough reveals two Spider-men have entered the building.

Agent Harper contacts Control and learns the next mission step is to bring the target north to the Bridge, and not wanting to face the spiders, the three drag Mason with them towards the roof.  As they get there, they find a man waiting for them!  Dressed as well in a black suit and blue tie, the man identifies himself as Agent Granger (but is clearly not the Granger they recognize) and explains that Control sent him in as back-up.  Granger is a Caller, it seems, and is able to contact Control without needing a hard line.  They leap across a number of roof tops and move as quick as they can, but Agent Harper notices the spidermen emerge from the door they had come from as well.  "We need a faster way out," he tells them and Agent Granger smiles in response.  "Down here," he tells them, and the group looks down at an empty lot beside the building.  But Mason's struggles catch the attention of the spidermen, and they begin a more active pursuit!

On the empty lot is a military grade helicopter!  Granger steps inside and starts the engine while the rest clamber in.  Agent Harper, feeling his heart near bursting, puts on the ear muffs, locks himself onto the seat, and tries to meditate.  Agent Stringer takes charge of the machine gun and opens fire once one of the two chasing spidermen leaps out and tries to "snare" the helicopter.  The group takes to the air and finds a moment of solace as they make their journey to the Bridge, which they see in the Blue City to be a massive Bridge composed of gigantic letters that spell out "bridge"  that connects the Blue City to another city across the black bay.

Enroute however, the unexpected happens.  Agent Granger shoots Agent Currier from behind.  Currier Ejects, knowing it would be too dangerous to stay. Agents Stringer and Harper stare at the sudden traitor, who demands that Mason be handed to him.  Stringer backs off, moving to the rear of the helicopter, where he quickly requisitions for an axe.  Harper tries to negotiate with Granger, but Granger picks up on Harper's lies, informing him that he took training under Senior Instructor Snyder as well.  Harper realizes Granger too has the Judge Skill!  The helicopter lands at the Bridge and Granger mutters something about a group called the Mythography.  But knowing the spidermen were closing in, the mission was paramount.  Granger is struck down and mutters Omega before his body vanishes.  Harper and Stringer quickly drag Mason to the edge of the bridge and as per mission parameters they've just received, throw him into the black sea.  And just before the spiders arrive, the two Eject safely away from the Blue City.

*

Control meets with the three.  They all roughly share what they can of the mission, and this time, wisely choose what words they mention.  Not wanting to ruffle Control's feathers, the group make no mention of spidermen or of the words Granger had uttered.  But the biggest one who remains silent is Agent Currier.  When she was forced to Eject sooner, she found herself awaking far sooner than usual.  She overheard a conversation between two senior members of Control who mention things about Mythography and other things outside her clearance level.  Agent Currier decided to play unconscious and keep things to herself.

"Congratulations again on your successful mission.  I shall meet with you all again when Control requires your services.  Good day."