My Friday Night Campaign

[JohnK]

Hullo, folks,

I didn't really know where to place this post, as there is no forum section for actually discussing the current campaign that one is running and all that. Perhaps the C7 Moderators will post up a new section for this purpose, and move this post here.

Last night I began my Friday night DW: AiTaS campaign, with the character generation process. You can read about it in my blog here:

jkahane.livejournal.com/345309.html

but I will repost here:

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The Friday night group created their player characters for the new Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space roleplaying game (see this blog entry for visuals of the boxed set) last night, and what a great evening it turned out to be. The party consists of a team of United Nations Intelligence Taskforce (UNIT) operatives that undertake special missions. The player characters are definitely an interesting mix and all, for certain. Kathy is playing Gayle Tarrant, a thief and professional criminal who was recruited to work for UNIT by a mysterious contact that she has, a Professor Chronos. SteveB is playing Sergeant Edward Blake, a UNIT marksman, and the weapons specialist of the group. Nick is playing David Anderson III, a British blueblood type who is an expert at scouting and recce work, but with a penchant for blowing things up. Tom is playing the mysterious Thomas Magnuson, an English Boer war soldier that the characters will take into their unit because he has become somewhat time lost. And finally, Joanne is playing Kelasa ("Kelly") Vostune, a 26th century technician from a space station (she got the idea from seeing Zoe Heriot in one of our outings of the series). Ellie is playing Edwina (Winnie) Tarrant, Gayle's *daughter* whom she doesn't remember having! Lots of fun so far, and all sorts of excellent stuff going on.

The players gave me a bit of a hard time with some of character generation stuff, joking with me about the whole being blind in one eye thing and the fact that since my vision was blurry they could take advantage of me in character creation and I would never know! I ran the group last night through some samples of combat after finishing character generation, and a quick bit to introduce Kelasa to the gaming group (there will be a more detailed flashback about their meeting her at some point down the line for sure!). The group rather liked the game mechanics, the Story Points especially (I used poker chips for those), and the way that combat works. SteveB and Tom were a bit miffed that they kept going consistently last in combat, but that's very representative of Doctor Who overall, and the two lads had a terrific time of it.

Overall, I had a wonderful time last night, and I'm looking forward to continuing the game next week for sure.

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Anyway, that's the session from the game. More session reports will appear on my blog as they are played, and I look forward to comments, thoughts, and ideas from folks here to add to the campaign. Thanks for reading!

[Kit]

Thanks for posting this.

[JohnK]

Hullo, Kit,

Jan 8, 2010 21:12:22 GMT Kit said:

Thanks for posting this.

You're welcome. The continuing exploits of the team will be appearing both here and on my blog.

As a matter of fact, we're on coffee break right now with the game, and have another hour's play to go before tonight's session ends. So far, so good. Quite entertaining.

[zebaroth]

sounds good to me

[JohnK]

Hullo, folks,

Yes, I know, I have been remiss in posting up the material from the game sessions of the Friday night group. My excuse is that I was busy with other stuff, such as Real Life(tm), and a few other DW: AiTaS game projects. But here without further ado is...


GHOSTS IN THE MACHINE

by John M. Kahane

Episode One


May 25th, 2002

The city of London, in the great nation of England.

The day starts off pretty mundanely. Gayle Tarrant, a thief and professional criminal recruited to UNIT by a mysterious figure known as Professor Chronotis, has her hands full with her current boyfriend, Kirk, who has just moved into her house the last couple of days. Edward Blake, a sergeant with UNIT specializing in weapons and a crack shot, begins his day with a visit to his ailing mother in a nursing home. She regales him with tales of his sister, Marsha's, exploits as a member of the peace corps. David Anderson III, a British blueblood and demolitions expert, is berated by his immediate superior, Colonel Jefferson Williams, for his latest experiments working on a new type of demolition charge - one that literally blew up in his face. Thomas Magnuson, a Swedish [he was English as per the original post here, but the player changed a few minor things after the first session based on his historical research into the character] Boer soldier who has become a member of UNIT since being lost in time, is in the West End working on his socializing skills at a posh eatery. It's not working out. Kelasa "Kelly" Vostune, a space station technician from the 26th Century, is having difficulty explaining to her roommate, another UNIT tech Sandra Harker, one of the basic principles of mechanical engineering from when she comes.

As their regular work day commences and once the player characters report for daily duty, they are summoned by their immediate superior, Colonel Jefferson Williams. Williams tells them that they have just been assigned to a strange case - a security firm has reported difficulties with strange apparitions, disappearing employees, and other odd behaviour over the last several weeks. As the player characters prepare to head out, under Sgt. Edward Blake's command, they do some research and learn more about the security company, Nordstrom Securities, that they will be looking into. While Gayle Tarrant has no experience with them personally, she tells the others that they have a division that makes security and surveillance equipment and materiels, and they are state-of-the-art and top notch in their field.

When the team arrives at Nordstrom Security, Edward Blake finds the place in chaos. Another surveillance technician, Harper, has disappeared. He worked at the building late the night before, but no one saw him leave and no one saw him return that morning. The head of Security for Nordstrom, Eric Hale, is not happy about having the UNIT people there, but Blake tells him that the Powers That Be want him and his team there, and thus they shall remain. Several of the Nordstrom staff express relief at the fact that the UNIT personnel are there, and say they'll "get to the bottom of the weird and creepy stuff going on."

The rest of the player characters scatter through the complex following leads. Meanwhile, Kelasa and Edward are able to get Hale to let them talk to his boss, and the two have a difficult time finagling the Nordstrom people into letting them access their security and surveillance camera systems, as this seems to be where the main crutch of the problem is. Blake is able to convince the Nordstrom higher ups, much against Hale's wishes, to let them gain access to the main security and surveillance cameras. He starts to tell them where they can go, but is interrupted by a message on the office intercom that informs him of trouble down on the basement level. Hale says he doesn't want them with him, but is told by Blake that if there's trouble, he wants to be there.

Elsewhere, Gayle Tarrant wanders around through the coffee room and near the water coolers, and listens in as people talk. She hears some conversations about the state of affairs at Nordstrom, and befriends Ellen Halvors, a young secretary. Halvors tells her that the company has had a great many problems over the last few weeks, and the employees are terrified. She leads Gayle over to one of the surveillance cameras, and Gayle sees the camera spark. The sparks fly from the camera, and while Gayle is able to dodge them, she is horrified as the sparks arc around Ellen Halvors, and she vanishes in a yellow, afterglow-like effect. Sparks continue to arc from surveillance camera, continuing to try to follow Gayle...

David Anderson III and Thomas Magnuson decide to do a bit of a recce of the Nordstrom building, and head out to scout the lay of the land. Anderson sees several signs of scorching on the floors of the lower levels of the building, but can't determine what made the marks. Their search eventually leads him deep into the bowels of the building, on the sub-basement levels, where David and Thomas find two employees, a security man and a technician, lying dead on the floor. There are several of the scorch marks in the area. When they try to radio up to Blake, they find that there is nothing but static on their walkie-talkies. Much against Thomas's better judgement, the two decide to follow the strange scorch marks. As the two round a corner, they find themselves facing a large set of heavy steel and concrete doors, from which orange and yellow sparks creep and crawl. A nearby surveillance camera on the wall turns to follow them as they look around a little bit. Neither notices as sparks start to build on the camera, so intent are they on the two doors...

TO BE CONTINUED

[kaemaril]

Great stuff, JK!

[Null and Void]

Very nice, indeed. Sounds like a lot of interesting stuff going on...

[JohnK]

Hullo, Kaemaril,

Jan 16, 2010 17:48:34 GMT @kaemaril said:

Great stuff, JK!

Thanks. Gaming group had a terrific time indeed, and the players said that they enjoyed the mystery that I was setting up. They were really annoyed that I stopped the game when I did (we'd played close to four hours and a bit), but knew all about the Classic Who cliffhanger moments, and thought I did a great job with that. Now if I can keep this up for the rest of the campaign. ::crossing fingers::

[JohnK]

Hullo, Null and Void,

Jan 16, 2010 18:24:05 GMT Null and Void said:

Very nice, indeed. Sounds like a lot of interesting stuff going on...

Yep, all sorts of stuff going on in the game, much of it interesting enough to players to keep them wanting more!

One of the things I'm trying to avoid doing is "laying pipe", an old expression for inserting plot elements that are part of a storyline unconnected to the one going on, for future adventures. Not so much for a story arc and all, as for just leading to certain things. Trying to keep the scenarios self-contained, but we'll see how this evolves as I run the game.

[kaemaril]

Jan 16, 2010 23:18:51 GMT JohnK said:

They were really annoyed that I stopped the game when I did (we'd played close to four hours and a bit)

I am envious - I only get to game at the local game club, which is guaranteed three hours max (before we have to leave the building).

Four hours? Luxury! ;D

[JohnK]

Hullo, Kaemaril,

Jan 17, 2010 0:00:48 GMT @kaemaril said:

Jan 16, 2010 23:18:51 GMT JohnK said:

They were really annoyed that I stopped the game when I did (we'd played close to four hours and a bit)

I am envious - I only get to game at the local game club, which is guaranteed three hours max (before we have to leave the building).

Four hours? Luxury! ;D

hehe That's nothing. The second session went a bit longer than that, one of the joys and advantages of gaming on a Friday night, where one can game a bit later into the night as the mood suits the gaming group. So far, they're having a blast. Almost finished transferring the second session from paper to computer file, so will have that up as soon as I can. Gotta get ready to run the Sunday group session of the game today.

[kaemaril]

Jan 17, 2010 15:38:49 GMT JohnK said:

Hullo, Kaemaril,

Jan 17, 2010 0:00:48 GMT @kaemaril said:

I am envious - I only get to game at the local game club, which is guaranteed three hours max (before we have to leave the building).

Four hours? Luxury! ;D

hehe That's nothing. The second session went a bit longer than that, one of the joys and advantages of gaming on a Friday night, where one can game a bit later into the night as the mood suits the gaming group.

If you're trying to make me feel better, it's not helping

On the bright side, when it comes to adventure design I have a slight edge when it comes to planning. I know how long each adventure must last: Either nine hours or twenty four hours

[JohnK]

Hullo, Kaemaril,

Jan 17, 2010 15:45:10 GMT @kaemaril said:

If you're trying to make me feel better, it's not helping

Not trying to do anything of the sort, mate.

Jan 17, 2010 15:45:10 GMT @kaemaril said:

On the bright side, when it comes to adventure design I have a slight edge when it comes to planning. I know how long each adventure must last: Either nine hours or twenty four hours

Those are heckishly long episodes then, eh?

I haven't got quite the feel for how this is going to work out yet in terms of the scenarios I design. With DW: AiTaS, I think I prefer to run the adventures free-form, based on the plot concepts and outlines like those found at the back of the adventure book. (That's the format I wrote up for "Ghosts in the Machine", and it seems to be working well so far.)

[kaemaril]

Jan 17, 2010 15:52:50 GMT JohnK said:

Those are heckishly long episodes then, eh?

My game club runs 'long games' in chunks of eight weeks, with a three week break in between where pick-up games, one-offs etc can be run.

So it's eight weeks, one three-hour session in each week, for a 'long block', or twenty-four hours in total.

That's way too much plot for my liking, so I tend to break my games down episodically, with each 'episode' lasting three weeks. This is nine weeks, but I use one of the three weeks as 'spill over', so I tend to run nine-week games but in fact each one is three mini-games ... I've run 'seasons' of Mutants & Masterminds and Star Trek (TNG, LUG) this way successfully and I'm hoping to do the same with DW.

I plan on four lots of three episodes, with each ep being three weeks - nine hours of plot. It ought to work out. Just

[Null and Void]

Jan 16, 2010 23:21:18 GMT JohnK said:

Hullo, Null and Void,

Jan 16, 2010 18:24:05 GMT Null and Void said:

Very nice, indeed. Sounds like a lot of interesting stuff going on...

Yep, all sorts of stuff going on in the game, much of it interesting enough to players to keep them wanting more!

One of the things I'm trying to avoid doing is "laying pipe", an old expression for inserting plot elements that are part of a storyline unconnected to the one going on, for future adventures. Not so much for a story arc and all, as for just leading to certain things. Trying to keep the scenarios self-contained, but we'll see how this evolves as I run the game.

I know I'm going to attempt to keep mine as self contained as possible. We'll see how THAT goes as well. I'm not very good at the 'story arc' thing yet, or at least have not forthis game. I may have one subtle, SUBTLE 'Bad Wolf' reference in the final 'season finale'. So subtle in fact I can guarantee no one will catch it in my group. So, I guess that makes it more of an in-joke for me.

[JohnK]

Hullo, Kaemaril,

Ah, now I understand what you meant about the episodes and their length. Makes sense in that context completely to me now.

[JohnK]

Hullo, Null and Void,

Part of my problem is that I know I'm not very good at doing the story arc sort of thing, but I suspect it also stems from the type of game that one is running. One of the reasons I'm not doing the story arc in my DW: AiTaS campaign (but may do so in the PBeM game) is that I prefer to run the game Classic Who style. Call me an old fogey if you like.

I just don't know if I can keep coming up with a cliffhanger at the end of every game session!

[JohnK]

Hullo, folks,

As promised, here is the write-up on Friday nights second game session of my current DW: AiTaS game. Enjoy!


GHOSTS IN THE MACHINE

by John M. Kahane

Episode Two

Gayle Tarrant continues to dodge attempts by the surveillance cameras to hit her with the orange and yellow sparks, but these dim to insignificance when the lights go out and are replaced by the emergency lighting. She quickly turns and sees that the majority of the employees still present are cowering under their desks. She goes over to one of the desks, and she and its occupant, Dennis Wade, discuss some of the strange events that have occurred at Nordstrom the last few weeks. She learns that these events began several weeks ago, right after a fierce thunderstorm that shook the city one Tuesday evening. Wade tells her that what's just happened isn't that unusual of late, but he's worried about what might have happened to Ellen Halvors.

As Edward Blake and Kelasa Vostune head for the lower levels accompanied by several of Nordstrom personnel, Eric Hale, and two of his security guards, and Anna Johns, David Whitaker's secretary, the lights all flash and blink out in the Nordstrom building, and the emergency lighting cuts in. Edward and Kelasa are somewhat surprised to see several ghostly figures appear in the pale red light, but only Edward catches the fact that they emanate from one of the security cameras after it seemed to...spark. The two ghostly figures nearest them appear to be in agony, but then vanish as quickly as they appeared. Anna Johns tells them that she must immediately go to the power systems room, and find out what is going on. Eric Hale decides that he has to go with her, and tells Edward Blake that he and Kelasa are on their own, but they can take the two security guards with them. Blake says that he's a member of UNIT, they're not afraid of any camera afterimages.

Down in the sub-basement, a last minute warning by Thomas Magnuson allows David Anderson III to dodge out of the way of the orange and yellow sparks. The two are about to beat a hasty retreat when the steel doors partially open of their own accord, and a voice seems to resonate in the hallway... "Free us, help us!" At that moment, the power fades and the emergency lighting comes on. There is an orange and yellow glow from the doors. The two decide discretion is the better part of valour, and start to make their way back to where they found the bodies of the two Nordstrom employees.

As they reach the two bodies, Edward and Kelasa arrive on the scene with the two security guards. One of the security guards tries to get through to Eric Hale while the UNIT personnel bring each other up to date, but fails to do so. The UNIT personnel are taken by surprise when the nearby surveillance camera activates, and they watch as the two security guards are engulfed by orange and yellow sparks and disappear in an afterglow fashion, like an afterimage on a film strip. It is Blake who makes the decision that they need to transport the bodies of the two dead Nordstrom employees over to the elevators. Once they enter the elevator, which is on emergency power as well, the UNIT staffers walkie talkies start to function properly again.

The power in the building and the lighting return to normal, and the UNIT people talk to each other and meet up outside the power control room. Eric Hale and two other people emerge from the room, to tell them that the situation is back to normal and "everything is under control". Blake begs to disagree with him on the subject, and says that he knows, he feels, there's something unusual going on in the Nordstrom building. When he tells Hale about the two personnel who vanished in the afterimage effect, Hale seems to react rather nonchalantly about the matter. Hale says that the two dead men will be taken to the Infirmary, and the care of Dr. Marion Harper. Anna Johns tells Blake that while they are in the Nordstrom building, they must take their orders from Eric Hale - he is the Chief of Security after all. Blake says that he'll see about that, and he intends to talk to his UNIT superiors. Anna Johns agrees to give the UNIT personnel a conference room with full access to work out of in the meanwhile, much to Eric Hale's disaproval.

Anna and two security personnel escort them to the conference room, and Edward Blake tells Kelasa to make the arrangements to bring in the equipment she needs. In the meantime, Blake suggests to Anna that the company evacuate the building of as many people as they can, and she agrees to do so. Blake gets in touch with his superiors at UNIT HQ in London, and is told that Eric Hale does take priority, as he is serving the best interests of the Nordstrom people. He is told, however, that depending on how the situation evolves, he may take "appropriate" action.

Anna Johns is good as her word, and she returns to tell them that Hale has set in motion the evacuation of the building. She says that it will take time, at least several hours, as key systems must also be shut down. Once the UNIT group is set up in the conference room, the five player characters, talk about what has happened to this point. They talk about Eric Hale, his attitude about their presence there, his nonchalance about the dead men, and several other aspects of the unsavoury business. Kelasa says that all the events seem to have one common thread - the orange and yellow sparks that seem to be emanating from the cameras and surveillance equipment. Blake says that whatever's going on, it's down in the sub-basement. Eric Hale enters the room to tell Blake and his people that the two dead men are now in the Infirmary. Blake wants to see them, and have his people go over them, but Hale says that he won't permit that, as they're not actually dead - they appear to be comatose. It will have to wait. Blake is adamant on this point, and insists that he and Kelasa go and check the personnel out [since Kelasa has an advanced 26th Century scanner that can be used for the purpose of an evaluation of the personnel's condition]. Hale is forced to acquiesce to his desires, but says that he will have to get back to the evacuation of the building shortly. While Hale prepares to take him to the infirmary, Edward gives his orders to the others.

Edward Blake, Kelasa Vostune, Eric Hale, and two other Nordstrom personnel reach the the Infirmary to find that it looks like a disaster place. The doctor, Marion Harper, is unconscious. When Blake tries to touch her, he receives an electric shock. Running the scanner over her, Kelasa says that she has suffered some kind of neural shock, but that she'll be all right. Much to Hale's annoyance, the two injured Nordstrom employees are not present. Blakes notes there is evidence of the scorch marks, the same type of scorch marks he saw down on the sub-basement level.

Elsewhere, the other player characters go about carrying out Blake's orders. Gayle Tarrant decides to talk to Dennis Wade and see what she can charm out of him. The office worker is still present in the office area, and is receptive to her, but is seemingly terrified of Eric Hale, although he does say that during the period immediately after the thunderstorm several weeks earlier, Hale and some of the technical staff were extremely secretive about something. She talks to several others still present, and they confirm this.

Much against Thomas Magnuson's advice, David Anderson and the Swede descend back to the same sub-level where they found the two bodies, and do a bit more recce. They find themselves facing the same heavy set of steel and concrete doors, but there is no light or energy radiating out from inside. They are approached by a pair of Nordstrom security guards, who ask them what they're doing there. The pair of Nordstrom guards are adamant that they cannot investigate the lab that lies through the steel doors, and are highly evasive about what lies in the laboratory; Thomas perceives that it is their fear of Eric Hale that is preventing them from telling the characters anything. They head back upstairs for the Infirmary after talking to Blake over their walkie talkies, and he tells them of the disappearance of the two men from the Infirmary.

While they wait for the return of the others in the Infirmary, Edward Blake and Kelasa Vostune wonder what has happened to the bodies of the technician and security guard. They are joined by Gayle, who says that she has something to tell them, but then she sees Hale and says that it will wait.

The group hears a shuffling sound from behind them. They turn, to be confronted by the two dead personnel, the scorch marks still visible on their hands and their faces. "You did this to us," a voice echoes from each of their mouths, as they point at Eric Hale. "You did this! Please... please help us...free us!" The eyes of the two dead men hold swirling orange and yellow patterns as they regard the player characters, lurching ever closer.

TO BE CONTINUED

[JohnK]

Hullo, folks,

Yes, I know, been a bit lax in posting the third session of the Friday night UNIT game campaign. I'm also stealing a technique from Null and Void's repertoire (see the end of the episode write-up). Anyway, here it is. Enjoy!


GHOSTS IN THE MACHINE

by John M. Kahane

Episode Three

Edward Blake, Kelasa Vostune, and Gayle Tarrant are shocked and surprised by what they hear, but this quickly changes to action as Eric Hale seemingly loses control, screaming that they're lying. He opens fire on the technician and the security guard, as they continue to chant all the time, begging for help and freedom. The two Nordstrom workers go down under the fire of Hale's weapon, and Hale only stops firing when he is tackled by Edward Blake. The two Nordstrom security guards return the bodies to the Infirmary, but Marion Harper pronounces them dead. They were very much alive, but have died of their gunshot wounds.

Meanwhile, Blake wants to take Eric Hale into custody, but is prevented from doing so when, in a burst of strength, Hale breaks free. He goes into the Infirmary, to check up on the state of the two Nordstrom employees, and to seek some medication. Blake takes Gayle aside, while Kelasa inquires of Marion Harper if she can be of assistance. The other woman is glad that she has volunteered. Meanwhile, Blake learns of Gayle's talk with Dennis Wade, and learns of Hale's odd behaviour immediately after the thunderstorm several weeks past. David Anderson III and Thomas Magnuson rejoin their UNIT team mates, and are briefed on what has occurred.

Several of the surveillance cameras and televisions in the infirmary area come to life, and show the images of several of the dead and/or missing personnel from Nordstrom. They appear to be holding out their hands to the viewers and pleading. When Edward Blake goes in search of Eric Hale, he learns from Marion Harper that Hale has left. Blake is furious, but decides to first get in touch with his superiors. He orders Kelasa to take David Anderson III, and check out the central surveillance center of the Nordstrom building. Gayle says she'll go with him and see what the UNIT bosses have to say. Thomas Magnuson says that he will go with them, as he wants to talk to Edward.

Kelasa and David reach the surveillance centre of the building, to find that the Chief Technician, Edwin Wintervane, won't let them into the centre without permission from David Whitaker. When they attempt to find Whitaker, they learn that no one has seen him during the course of the day. Kelasa worries it has something to do with the disappearance of personnel and their mysterious reappearance on surveillance cameras and monitors. The two head back for a chat with Edward about Wintervane's unwillingness to cooperate.

Blake, Gayle, and Magnuson return to their base of operations in the conference room assigned them by Hale, and Blake contacts his superiors at UNIT HQ in London. He is told that Nordstrom Worldwide is concerned with matters at the London office, and that he is to use whatever means necessary to get to the bottom of things. They are interrupted as Hale and several of his security guards arrive, and disarm them, telling them that Hale is taking charge, and the UNIT people are not wanted here. It is the timely arrival of Kelasa and David that turns the tide back in favour of the UNIT personnel, and Blake is able to convince Hale to get Wintervane to allow them access to the main surveillance rooms.

While Blake prepares to go down to the surveillance room and Kelasa gathers up her equipment, Magnuson takes Blake aside to talk. He tells Edward that there is something going on down on the second sub-basement level, as that's where the technician and the security guard were found. Blake dismisses their concerns for the moment, and tells the others that it's time they found out what was going on at Nordstrom. Blake does ask Hale what is down on Sub-Level Two, but Hale says that's where the power generation systems and equipment can be found.

The group arrives at the Nordstrom surveillance centre, and Hale gets Wintervane to allow the UNIT personnel inside. Blake tells Kelasa to check out the set-up, see what's what, and determine if there's anything unusual going on. All of the security monitors suddenly light up, and the images of various people appear on the screens. Blake recognizes the dead security guard and technician, and is told they are Hank Marshall and Wilma Federer. Gayle is shocked and surprised to see Ellen Halvors, the secretary that she talked with when the UNIT personnel first arrived, who disappeared in a shower of orange and yellow sparks! When the UNIT personnel question Wintervane and several of his technical experts, they learn that these "system glitches" have been occurring since the thunderstorm several weeks earlier. Gayle tells Blake that they are lying, and that Wintervane and the others are concealing something. Meanwhile, after her examination of the technical systems, Kelasa tells Blake that there's something strange going on here - there appears to be some sort of alien technology that has been fused or merged into the Nordstrom technology and surveillance systems.

Before Blake can ask her any more questions, Wintervane says that he has some other things to show Kelasa, but says that since the rest of the UNIT personnel are not technical staff, perhaps it would be best if they leave, pointing to the wires running all over the ceiling, walls, and floor, and the limited amount of space. Blake agrees, but tells David Anderson to stay with her as a precaution. David is miffed at this, seeing as how his knowledge of technical stuff is somewhat limited, but does as his superior requests. Blake, Gayle, and Thomas leave the surveillance centre and head for the elevators, but not before Gayle notices a sense of relief on Wintervane's face.

Back in the surveillance centre, Wintervane and several of his staff are helping Kelasa get to grips with some of the surveillance and security equipment there. Kelasa strips open a small unit, and is surprised to find alien technology there...and recalls seeing something like it at one time, but can't identify it. She continues to work, unaware that Wintervane is communicating with someone. Before she can do anything else, Wintervane says, "You have seen too much", and then he shoots her with a weapon of some sort, the electricity arcing through her body. She collapses to the ground, and before David Anderson can react, a second blast rings out from behind him, and David goes down in a heap as well. Both he and Kelasa have scorch marks on them. Wintervane says to Hale, "Now, we can proceed with our plans", and Hale replies that he'll take care of the rest of the UNIT personnel.

Meanwhile, Blake, Gayle, and Thomas are in the elevator, descending to the floor where their conference room is set up for them, when the elevator jerks to a halt. While they are a bit perturbed, the UNIT personnel are not overly alarmed - at least, not until the elevator begins to accelerate downwards. Eric Hale's voice comes over the loudspeaker, his tone somewhat icy. "You know too much, and you cannot interfere with our plans. I'm sorry that things must end this way, but we'll chalk it up to a terrible accident. Goodbye, Sergeant Blake!"

TO BE CONTINUED

Game Notes:

I have to say that using the GM Screen to run the game on the Sunday group was really worthwhile, and that I'm looking forward to doing so tonight as well on the Friday nighters. Will let folks know how that works out.

This last session involved the use of a lot of Story Points on the players' part for several things, but what's really neat is that the players have used the fiat concept to actually gain Story Points by hindering their own work and plans. A good example of this was early on in the Infirmary, when Gayle and Blake decided that it would be better if a) both the security guard and technician died of Hale's gunshots and b) that Hale would be able to get out of the Infirmary and avoid Blake's questioning as long as possible. Later on, the player playing David Anderson overcame the attack roll in the surveillance centre, and used his fiat to reduce his success to a failure and was taken down by the attack. Very cool stuff on the players' part.

Also notice that all the way through, the players have been avoiding another trip down to Sub-Level 2. They all know something's up down there, but have been stretching things out. Kind of neat, that. Furthermore, they've been deliberately throwing up obstacles to their own dealings with Eric Hale, much to my surprise and enjoyment. So far, the ride is pretty good.

[Null and Void]

Sounds good. I'm hoping my players will start to understand about the hinderance thing netting them story points... I'll have to remind them of that before the next session. This is really a learning process for them, and I don't think they've *quite* grasped it yet.

anyway... karma

[The Professor]

Sounds like your players are really getting the hang of it. I'm hoping as we continue, mine learn what sort of control they have over the story as well. I fear, though, that their time playing D&D constantly may dampen those hopes. Time will tell I guess.

And Ding for Karma

[Kit]

Thank you for sharing these.

This particular comment interest me greatly:

Jan 29, 2010 16:58:54 GMT JohnK said:

Hullo, folks,


This last session involved the use of a lot of Story Points on the players' part for several things, but what's really neat is that the players have used the fiat concept to actually gain Story Points by hindering their own work and plans. A good example of this was early on in the Infirmary, when Gayle and Blake decided that it would be better if a) both the security guard and technician died of Hale's gunshots and b) that Hale would be able to get out of the Infirmary and avoid Blake's questioning as long as possible. Later on, the player playing David Anderson overcame the attack roll in the surveillance centre, and used his fiat to reduce his success to a failure and was taken down by the attack. Very cool stuff on the players' part.

This is absolutely marvelous. I hope my groups will embrace this.

Thank you again sir.

[JohnK]

Hullo, Null and Void,

Jan 29, 2010 17:40:00 GMT Null and Void said:

Sounds good. I'm hoping my players will start to understand about the hinderance thing netting them story points... I'll have to remind them of that before the next session. This is really a learning process for them, and I don't think they've *quite* grasped it yet.

anyway... karma

One of the things that I did when going over the game with the players, and explaining the rules, was to give them a good idea of what Story Points are used for. These players had all played in my Hollow Earth Expedition game before, and had used Style Points there, but they aren't the same as Story Points. The use of hindering the characters and/or their story and gaining Story Points thereby was something they really liked early on, and I guess it stuck with them.

Thanks for the Karma, mate.

[JohnK]

Hullo, Professor,

Jan 29, 2010 18:53:12 GMT The Professor said:

Sounds like your players are really getting the hang of it. I'm hoping as we continue, mine learn what sort of control they have over the story as well. I fear, though, that their time playing D&D constantly may dampen those hopes. Time will tell I guess.

And Ding for Karma

Thanks for the Karma, good sir.

I don't know whether the D&D gaming experience will hinder or help them in this regard, but I do think that DW: AiTaS requires a slightly different thinking process as this game is somewhat different than what a lot of gamers might be used to. That said, it also presents a challenge for the GM, since the Story Point fiat element can change the plot of the story somewhat in a hurry. Thank Goddess I'm an adaptable GM! (Or at least I like to think I am!)

[JohnK]

Hullo, Kit,

Jan 29, 2010 20:44:43 GMT Kit said:

Thank you for sharing these.

You're more than welcome. To be honest, I'm having a grand time running the game, and the players are having a blast playing it. The players seem to be developing their personalities quite nicely as we continue to play, and I'm rather enjoying the hoops that they're putting me through as well.

Jan 29, 2010 20:44:43 GMT Kit said:

This particular comment interest me greatly:

Jan 29, 2010 16:58:54 GMT JohnK said:

Hullo, folks,

This last session involved the use of a lot of Story Points on the players' part for several things, but what's really neat is that the players have used the fiat concept to actually gain Story Points by hindering their own work and plans. A good example of this was early on in the Infirmary, when Gayle and Blake decided that it would be better if a) both the security guard and technician died of Hale's gunshots and b) that Hale would be able to get out of the Infirmary and avoid Blake's questioning as long as possible. Later on, the player playing David Anderson overcame the attack roll in the surveillance centre, and used his fiat to reduce his success to a failure and was taken down by the attack. Very cool stuff on the players' part.

This is absolutely marvelous. I hope my groups will embrace this.

Thank you again sir.

I have to admit to a bit of surprise on my part at how well the players have grasped some of these story concepts and ideas. Sure, they've played HEX and so are used to Style Points, but I'm running this almost episodically as a tv series, and they have an innate understanding of some of the elements here. It's fascinating to see in the players, and I'm glad of it, but it's harrowing at times for me as a GM, since I need to adjust on the fly.

[The Professor]

Jan 29, 2010 21:38:45 GMT JohnK said:

Hullo, Professor,
Thanks for the Karma, good sir.

I don't know whether the D&D gaming experience will hinder or help them in this regard, but I do think that DW: AiTaS requires a slightly different thinking process as this game is somewhat different than what a lot of gamers might be used to. That said, it also presents a challenge for the GM, since the Story Point fiat element can change the plot of the story somewhat in a hurry. Thank Goddess I'm an adaptable GM! (Or at least I like to think I am!)

Well, some of my players have played 7th Sea and Serenity, so they're somewhat use to 'drama dice' type mechanics. But the DW RPG offers a few new options I'm not sure they remember, or might even take advantage of. I just have a hard time imagining my own players hindering themselves to gain story points.

[JohnK]

Hullo, Professor,

Jan 29, 2010 22:16:40 GMT The Professor said:

Well, some of my players have played 7th Sea and Serenity, so they're somewhat use to 'drama dice' type mechanics. But the DW RPG offers a few new options I'm not sure they remember, or might even take advantage of. I just have a hard time imagining my own players hindering themselves to gain story points.

I think this is the major sticking point that some players will have with the game. Hindering your character is not something that is usually expected of player characters in a roleplaying game. While the mechanic for it in DW: AiTaS works very nicely (in my gaming experience with it so far), it may be difficult for some players to adjust and adapt to.

Ran the fourth session of the UNIT campaign last night. Will post it here soon as I transcribe to the computer.

[JohnK]

Hullo, folks,

Well, here is the finale to the first DW: AiTaS scenario that I ran on my Friday night gaming group. Four sessions/episodes it ran, and fun was had by all.

Ghosts in the Machine

by John M. Kahane

Episode Four

As the elevator plunges downward, Edward Blake, Gayle Tarrant, and Thomas Magnuson are thrown to the floor. Just as all seems hopeless, the elevator starts to slow, and then grinds to a halt. As the characters breathlessly recover, the surveillance camera sparks, and the phone rings. Blake painfully gets up and answers it. He hears the voice of Jason Harper, the first technician to have died during the original thunderstorm, who tells him that "we are sorry," and that "we have prevented he who found us from doing this bad thing." The elevator resumes normal function, and descends to the floor that is closest to its current location, where the doors slowly open. It tells the player characters to come to Sub-Level 2,
Junction 14. All will be revealed.

Elsewhere, Kelasa Vostune opens her eyes to find herself lying on a small cot in a storeroom. David Anderson III is lying on a cot nearby. Hauling herself up, Kelasa assesses the situation. It's not good. Waking David, the two look around and determine that his weapons have been taken, and they are both unarmed. She realises that she still has two items on her - an electronic tool from her tool kit, and a small hairclip that she usually wears*. It takes Kelasa just a few minutes to pick the lock of the door, and the two cautiously make their way into a hallway.

Blake, Gayle, and Thomas make their way down to Sub-Level 2, and are attacked by several of the Nordstrom security guards, using electronic guns of some sort. While Thomas takes a serious burn, the three are able to deal with the four security guards and make their way to Junction 14. Thomas notes the irony of the situation, as this is the junction where the steel and concrete doors near where the security guard and technician's bodies were found. The two surveillance cameras activate, and the player characters are horrified to see the images of Jason Harper and Ellen Halvors on the screens. Halvors and Harper explain to the three that they are trapped in the monitors and electrical systems, victims of the Usuangir, an alien race. The story emerges in full: the Usuangir arrived on Earth the night of the terrible thunderstorm, and their damaged vessel crashed and became trapped on the roof of the building. Wintervane and some of his technicians, at the behest of Eric Hale, helped the aliens into the electrical systems of the Nordstrom building, and then trapped them there, their minute space vessel being taken down to the sub-level and placed in the chamber behind the steel and concrete doors. Through a means they do not understand, Wintervane and Hale have obtained knowledge from them of certain "matter devices" that channel the ionic energy fields of the Usuangir. Literally prisoners in the building, the Usuangir have been causing the disappearances and deaths of individuals as they try to fight against Hale and Wintervane to win their freedom. The Usuangir literally beg for assistance through the images of Harper and Halvors, and Edward Blake says that they will do what they can to assist them. While the Usuangir admit that they can be harmful to humans, they merely wish to leave the planet with their technology and equipment, and see that Hale and Wintervane are "punished".

As Blake, Gayle, and Thomas make their way cautiously back to the conference room where their base of operations in the Nordstrom building is, they come upon Kelasa and David. The two groups exchange details of recent happenings, and then continue on to the conference room. They arrive there unimpeded, and Blake wonders whether this is due to the help of the Usuangir, or if there isn't something else distracting Hale and Wintervane. They gather what equipment they need, and Blake calls UNIT HQ in London and asks them for reinforcements. He is told that assistance is on the way.

The player characters depart for the surveillance centre of the building once more, Blake deciding they need to take the room and hold it, so that Kelasa can get a better idea of what's going on, and to determine if they can free some of the Nordstrom people trapped in the system. They manage to surprise the personnel there, and acquire three of the electroguns in the process. When the UNIT personnel take charge, several of the technical staff decide to switch sides, having had enough of Wintervane's high-and-mighty approach to matters, and Kelasa is able to get a decent explanation of how the technology works, and is able to take some guesses about the Usuangir and how they might be freed.

After several skirmishes with Nordstrom security personnel, the UNIT back-up force requested by Sergeant Blake arrives. The Nordstrom security personnel are no match for the UNIT soldiers, but the electroguns give them a bit of an advantage. Eventually, the UNIT personnel take over the complex, and make their way to the surveillance centre and the conference room that Blake has been using as his base of operations. Blake brings Colonel Sarah Claines up to speed, and a search begins to find Eric Hale.

After several hours work, Kelasa tells Blake that she may have figured out a way to free the Nordstrom employees trapped as ghosts in the machinery. Blake decides that it's time to go and confront the Usuangir directly, and leads the player characters down to Sub-Level 2, Junction 14, and the area where they are located. And they find that Hale and four of his security men are waiting for them. Hale is obviously not exactly sane any more, the bid for power that he has aspired to having been countered by the UNIT forces and the betrayal on the part of many of the Nordstrom personnel who were formerly loyal to him.

Hale tells the player characters that UNIT has interfered with his plans for power once too often, and that he intends to kill them once and for all. At that moment, the power goes out, the emergency lighting comes on, and Blake and the other player companions find themselves with the advantage as they begin a skirmish with the men. Blake goes after Hale personally, and the madness of the head of security of Nordstrom is all that gives him any chance against the military-trained Blake. David and Thomas give a good account of themselves against the four security guards, but Gayle takes a nasty wound from the electrogun, and Kelasa is intelligent enough to leave the physical combat to those who can handle it competently. She does hit the Nordstrom guard fighting with Gayle over the head, distracting him long enough for Gayle to deliver the knockout blow.

The arrival of the UNIT soldiers that were called in as back-up assures that the Nordstrom facility is under UNIT control, and Eric Hale and Edwin Wintervane are taken into UNIT custody. Meanwhile, Kelasa and the others manage to gain entrance to the Generator Room where Hale and Wintervane imprisoned the Usuangir. The aliens explain via the image of Jason Harper, who died during the the initial incident with the Usuangir, when Hale had them "captured" in an ionic interference net, after promising them assistance in repairing their craft and leaving the planet in exchange for technological information, that they did not mean to harm anyone, but they were desperate. They do not know if there is a means to return all those who have been "electronically stored" to corporeal form. Kelasa tells the Usuangir that there is a means of doing so, which she discovered while working in the surveillance centre, and something she remembered reading about in the files on UNIT's scientific advisor, The Doctor.

After many hours of work and travail, aided in large part by the Usuangir themselves, Kelasa and several of the UNIT technicals and some of the Nordstrom technical staff inform Colonel Claines and Sergeant Blake that they are ready to work some "scientific magic", and bring the ionized personnel back from their electronic form. The process seems to work fine, and the various Nordstrom personnel are brought back - minus their clothing - all appearing in the same locations where they vanished from. Kelasa explains that the process obviously needs some...refinement.

With some assistance from other UNIT technical staff, and the Usuangir themselves, Kelasa is able to finish the repairs to the Usuangir rhomboid ship. The Usuangir are able to transfer themselves back to the vessel, and appropriately enough, during a severe thunderstorm, the Usuangir depart the planet. Colonel Claines tells the UNIT team that the technology that remains at Nordstrom from the Usuangir will be removed to a UNIT facility for examination and possible R&D. The characters are told to report to UNIT HQ in London for debriefing.

Several days after the debriefing, Colonel Claines summons the UNIT personnel to her office. Claines says that Sergeant Blake and his team did a very good job in the Usuangir affair, and as a result they are being promoted to a position in the new UNIT efforts being set up - the Crash Teams (see the document pertaining to this on the GMS page at gmskarka.livejournal.com/540811.html)]. Blake is surprised when Claines tells him that this also comes with his promotion to Lieutenant. The team is told to take one week's leave before reporting back for duty. Claines promises them that things will
definitely be livening up for them.

THE END

* The player spent 2 Story Points to get these items.

[JohnK]

Hullo, folks,

Thought I would throw in a few game notes and observations.

First off, when we finished playing and I explained a few elements of the plot that the players asked me about, they commented that the scenario was really good in its execution of cutting back and forth between the groups of players. This is one of the things that I believe is central to Doctor Who, and is important to maintain when running the game.

The players all agreed that the DW: AiTaS rpg is one of the simplest game systems they've played, and that the system fits the tv series and the running of a game based on the series like a glove. Sure, there's a lot of player creativity (not to mention GM creativity) required, as telling the great story is made easier when the players and GM communicate well and have trust in one another, but it can be tough to get this going in the game. Not a lot of players will think in terms of hindering their characters to further the plot or make it go in a direction they believe is more suitable - and get Story Points out of it! But that's only part of it.

On the subject of Story Points, this is one area that needs to be discussed with the players before running the first game session. The uses of Story Points are not necessarily intuitive at times, and to be honest, as I said above, players don't tend to think in terms of hindering their characters or reducing their levels of successes (or changing a situation that's negative to a mildly positive one). Joanne's creativity of Kelasa's having a hairpin and one of her tools when she and her teammate were captured was great, at a low cost of 2 Story Points, and enabled the two characters to escape their makeshift prison. The Story Points mechanic is one that I really love, but it can be a headache for a GM who isn't necessarily prepared for it.

As folks may have seen, there was a bit more combat in the fourth episode of the scenario than might have been expected. This combat system is really a breeze, once one gets the hang of it, and the manner in which it simulates Doctor Who combat stuff to a "T" is just superb. After a mere handful of fight scenes over the first three episodes, the players got a handle on how these worked and made really short combat work for them, spending Story Points when they had to reduce damage and when they had to increase the number of dice being used for an action. When player characters need to fight, Story Points can be their best friends, but being smart and using one's wits in combat can be just as advantageous as several of the player characters found.

Last but not least, I should mention that the GM Screen is worth it's weight in gold. Having the tables present on the GM Screen and being able to access them without flipping through the book makes running the game so much easier, with very little flipping in the GM Guide. I heartily recommend using the GM Screen when running the game, folks.

If anyone has questions or thoughts or any comments on stuff, I'd be glad to hear them and address them, of course.

Next up is...well, that would be telling now, wouldn't it?

[Null and Void]

Well done, as always...

Concerning Story Points. My players are still getting the hang of them... they are extremely reluctant to hinder themselves. They also seem to believe that paying a single story point should allow them to succeed at anything.... they haven't quite grasped the 'levels of success' concept quite yet.

I'll detail more in my write up. But it looks like you had a good time with your game, with a lot of success. Well done and Karma...