Post by Eternally Lost Zeppo on Mar 4, 2010 9:57:17 GMT
Episode 1: Last Exit Before Hell
CELESTIAL INTERVENTION AGENCY
SURVEILLANCE REPORT #2010/182-101
Author: Turrilusttonyerisatbur
I want it put on the record that I think the Explorer should be decommissioned and detained for conduct unbecoming of a time lord, and his band of misfits sent back to their various homes. Except for that creature of Davros', I recommend it be purged. With extreme prejudice. In Rassilon's name, how do we know that thing won't turn on us at the first opportunity?
Of course, you won't listen, not so long as you can use the whole sorry lot of them. Well, on your own heads be it. But anyway, on to the report.
After encountering a fissure in the space-time vortex, the Explorer and his 'team' landed in what would appear to have been a psychically generated pocket dimension formed inside the Void.
It seems some human entrepreneur - one Victor Walker - wasn't quite ready to die, so he had some of his people build a machine out of salvaged Desicoid technology. The purpose of the device being to boost his psychic potential to the point where he no longer required a physical form.
It worked. Somewhat. The machine exploded, transforming Walker and his head scientist into beings of pure thought. It also cracked open a fissure in the fabric of space and time, which the two of them got propelled into and trapped in the Void.
Walker was able to subconsciously construct a facsimile of the Earth continent known as the United States in his own time. This facsimile was named the Unified Commonwealth. This world was like a mirror of Walker's own disturbed mind, corrupt and twisted.
Laughland, it seems, realised what had happened and wanted out. He did his best, but it wasn't good enough. Eventually he decided just to go looking for Walker and put an end to things personally.
This is where the Explorer and his companions came in. They got on Laughland's trail, figured out what was going on and followed him to the hospital where Walker was being kept, comatose from some accident or other.
They talked Laughland down, and refined his research to reverse the original experiment. Walker's projected world was therefore deconstructed. It didn't reverse the explosion that killed all of the researchers, however.
After breaking free of the Void, the Explorer then saw fit to leave Walker in a hospital in his home city of Chicago, and left Laughland in his land of England with a substantial sum of local currency. I'll point out - though I know you'll ignore me anyway - that these two men were missing according to the original recorded version of history.
It seems they also acquired a 'refugee' of sorts from Walker's world. A policewoman named Kathy Yates. Don't ask me how she survived the reversal process. Data from the Observer's scans indicates that the residents of that world weren't entirely constructs. Further analysis of the data suggests they may have been sentient. No reliable intelligence on this as yet, but I recommend the girl be monitored closely for the time being.
---
Though this was originally supposed to be a stand-alone test game, it has now become episode one of a planned 'season' of eight episodes.
The characters are as follows:
The Explorer - Time lord, searching for safety after a nightmarish regeneration experience.
The Observer - Time lord, dedicated to observing all of space and time.
'Jo' - Xenomorph, 'failed' genetic experiment by Davros. The failure being that it was sentient and peaceful. Able to disguise self using a 'pheromone cloak'.
P-T - Cyborg. Not terribly clear on the background of this guy.
These characters are subject to some changes, due to some overlapping of specialisations, the addtion of a new player, and the fact that two time lords in the party was felt to be one too many by the players. Also, as this is going to be a proper campaign, they can flesh their characters' backgrounds out a bit more. I'll post the characters' sheets once they're finalised.
Overall, the players enjoyed the session. There were quite a few things I could have done better, and I can't say I was terribly thrilled with how the players resolved the situation, but all things considered, it went quite well.
Some Things To Improve Upon
- I need to lay down better plot hooks in future. The dead body obviously didn't work as expected, seeing as how the players ignored it completely.
- When splitting the party up, sometimes I end up focusing on one group for too long, and waiting too long before letting them regroup. Need to try and avoid that in future.
- Story point usage. I need to pay better attention to the costs of story points effects. Some things the players did with their story points they got away with cheap. Especially having Yates - an NPC - survive the reversal of the experiment. That, I think, was rather too generous of me.
- I can't help feeling that I failed to communicate clearly enough that the people in Walker's world were more than just figments of his imagination, but partially constructed out of 'souls' that already existed in the Void. They were actually sentient, basically, and have now been damned to eternity in the Void. That said, I'm not sure what more I could have done to make this apparent, beyond bluntly stating it.
- I hadn't had much time to read over the rules before the game, so I ended up glossing over some aspects of the system, such as chases. I need to have a good read of the GM's guide and familiarise myself with the system a bit more.
Next Time on Doctor Who: The Explorer's Log - 'Shanghai'd'
CELESTIAL INTERVENTION AGENCY
SURVEILLANCE REPORT #2010/182-101
Author: Turrilusttonyerisatbur
I want it put on the record that I think the Explorer should be decommissioned and detained for conduct unbecoming of a time lord, and his band of misfits sent back to their various homes. Except for that creature of Davros', I recommend it be purged. With extreme prejudice. In Rassilon's name, how do we know that thing won't turn on us at the first opportunity?
Of course, you won't listen, not so long as you can use the whole sorry lot of them. Well, on your own heads be it. But anyway, on to the report.
After encountering a fissure in the space-time vortex, the Explorer and his 'team' landed in what would appear to have been a psychically generated pocket dimension formed inside the Void.
It seems some human entrepreneur - one Victor Walker - wasn't quite ready to die, so he had some of his people build a machine out of salvaged Desicoid technology. The purpose of the device being to boost his psychic potential to the point where he no longer required a physical form.
It worked. Somewhat. The machine exploded, transforming Walker and his head scientist into beings of pure thought. It also cracked open a fissure in the fabric of space and time, which the two of them got propelled into and trapped in the Void.
Walker was able to subconsciously construct a facsimile of the Earth continent known as the United States in his own time. This facsimile was named the Unified Commonwealth. This world was like a mirror of Walker's own disturbed mind, corrupt and twisted.
Laughland, it seems, realised what had happened and wanted out. He did his best, but it wasn't good enough. Eventually he decided just to go looking for Walker and put an end to things personally.
This is where the Explorer and his companions came in. They got on Laughland's trail, figured out what was going on and followed him to the hospital where Walker was being kept, comatose from some accident or other.
They talked Laughland down, and refined his research to reverse the original experiment. Walker's projected world was therefore deconstructed. It didn't reverse the explosion that killed all of the researchers, however.
After breaking free of the Void, the Explorer then saw fit to leave Walker in a hospital in his home city of Chicago, and left Laughland in his land of England with a substantial sum of local currency. I'll point out - though I know you'll ignore me anyway - that these two men were missing according to the original recorded version of history.
It seems they also acquired a 'refugee' of sorts from Walker's world. A policewoman named Kathy Yates. Don't ask me how she survived the reversal process. Data from the Observer's scans indicates that the residents of that world weren't entirely constructs. Further analysis of the data suggests they may have been sentient. No reliable intelligence on this as yet, but I recommend the girl be monitored closely for the time being.
---
Though this was originally supposed to be a stand-alone test game, it has now become episode one of a planned 'season' of eight episodes.
The characters are as follows:
The Explorer - Time lord, searching for safety after a nightmarish regeneration experience.
The Observer - Time lord, dedicated to observing all of space and time.
'Jo' - Xenomorph, 'failed' genetic experiment by Davros. The failure being that it was sentient and peaceful. Able to disguise self using a 'pheromone cloak'.
P-T - Cyborg. Not terribly clear on the background of this guy.
These characters are subject to some changes, due to some overlapping of specialisations, the addtion of a new player, and the fact that two time lords in the party was felt to be one too many by the players. Also, as this is going to be a proper campaign, they can flesh their characters' backgrounds out a bit more. I'll post the characters' sheets once they're finalised.
Overall, the players enjoyed the session. There were quite a few things I could have done better, and I can't say I was terribly thrilled with how the players resolved the situation, but all things considered, it went quite well.
Some Things To Improve Upon
- I need to lay down better plot hooks in future. The dead body obviously didn't work as expected, seeing as how the players ignored it completely.
- When splitting the party up, sometimes I end up focusing on one group for too long, and waiting too long before letting them regroup. Need to try and avoid that in future.
- Story point usage. I need to pay better attention to the costs of story points effects. Some things the players did with their story points they got away with cheap. Especially having Yates - an NPC - survive the reversal of the experiment. That, I think, was rather too generous of me.
- I can't help feeling that I failed to communicate clearly enough that the people in Walker's world were more than just figments of his imagination, but partially constructed out of 'souls' that already existed in the Void. They were actually sentient, basically, and have now been damned to eternity in the Void. That said, I'm not sure what more I could have done to make this apparent, beyond bluntly stating it.
- I hadn't had much time to read over the rules before the game, so I ended up glossing over some aspects of the system, such as chases. I need to have a good read of the GM's guide and familiarise myself with the system a bit more.
Next Time on Doctor Who: The Explorer's Log - 'Shanghai'd'
