This Monday three of my friends and I got together for another evening of Rippers RPG. My friend Thomas who plays journalist Langdale Pike was unable to make it, so I decided that his character had urgent business to attend to at the newspaper and was therefore unable to join the other characters on their mission to find the missing young men.
When we ended the last session the characters had two leads to follow. The Kensington Occult Society in Holland Park and the missing Mark Fowler's best friend Ms. Alison Harcourt. The characters decided that a visit to the society was first on the agenda.
When they arrived the Indian manservant was naturally not the welcoming to Sgt. Baynes, Father Green and Dr. Trevelyan, but they were let in to the withdrawing room to wait for Lady Foxborough. After an hour they were still kept waiting and Sgt. Baynes decided that maybe the servants knew something. So he asked for the restrooms and was shown the servants quarters below. After doing his private business, Baynes found the cook and helper quite interested in why the police was in the house. The only useful information that Baynes got was that Thursday evenings (today) is when the society meets for their sessions.
Baynes returned to the other two characters in time for Lady Foxborough who arrived shortly thereafter. When presented with the case, she had no idea that Mark was missing and had expected him to arrive in the evening. Baynes asked about the other members, Lady Foxborough stressed that she expected privacy and discression to be on Baynes agenda, and would not give any names except that of Emma Chamberlain the member who had recommended Mark Fowler.
Lady Foxborough had to break of because of another appointment and the characters left the house. After a quick lunch the characters decided that their next port of call should be the residence of Ms. Alison Harcourt.
The characters called at the address in Eaton Square, and were eventually greeted by Ms. Harcourt father Col. Harcourt. After initial enquiries about what business the police could have with his daughter, Col. Harcourt called for his daughter to join them. The interview was somewhat stiff as it was clear that Alison knew more than she was willing to tell in front of his father. With no new clues, but the knowledge that Alison knew more, the characters left the house. But as they were standing outside, Dr. Trevelyan and Sgt. Baynes noticed Alison in the window writing "5 p.m." on the window glass.
As 4.30 p.m. the characters returned to Eaton Square. Just in time to see Col. Harcourt leave in a hansom cab. As the clock got closer to 5 p.m. the figure of Alison Harcourt left the building and started walking down the street. When she turned a corner she stopped to talk to the characters who had started to follow her. She had quite a bit of information to give them:
- Mark had met someone special and was falling in love with the person
- This happened little over a month ago
- When Mark would go to the society meetings, his parents thought he was spending time with Alison
- He would take cab at 7.30 p.m. from her house every Thursday.
- Mark is homosexual
- Finally Mark had written Alison a letter detailing a meeting with the special person on the Monday where he disappeared. They were supposed to meet in Hyde Park.
Alison was very worried about what had happened to her friend, so the characters thanked her for her help.
After a short rendevouz at the Albert Memorial in Hyde Park, the characters returned to Holland Park in order to get into positions so that they could see the members of the society as they arrived.
A real peasuper was creeping into the streets limited vision to only 5 yards. Sgt. Baynes got into a position close enough to hear what was being said as the hansom cabs arrived - 4 in all. The people who arrived were:
- Mr. Mortimer
- Sir Henry
- Mrs. Chamberlain
- Mrs. Morton
Father Green and Sgt. Baynes decided that perhaps they could see something from the garden, so they scaled the wall and snug closer to the house when they got over. In order to fully see the members Baynes moved even closer, to the point where he was right by the window. From here he could see the members sitting around a table, eyes closed and holding hands. Lady Foxborough was doing the talking, at first trying to communicate to her husband and then asking him if he had been joined by Mark. At that point Mr. Mortimer open his eyes and found himself staring right into the eyes of Baynes. He screamed "There is an intruder in the garden!"
Immediately both Father Green and Baynes legged into the neighbouring garden and hid. Just in time before the Foxborugh's garden was crawling with servants. Trevelyan hearing the noises from the garden decided to move down the street so that he would not be detected lurking about close by.
Eventually the characters gathered down the street and Baynes told of Mortimer opening his eyes at the mention of Mark's name.
The characters went into position again, this time to try and get the address that the members wanted the cab drivers to take them to. Mr. Mortimer's address the one they really wanted. Trevelyan also hired a cab so that they were able to follow Mortimer.
Baynes succeeded in getting the address and the characters set after the hansom cab with Mortimer. He got of at a flat in Bayswater. After staking out the place for a few hours the characters decided to return to the lodge.
Next morning the characters returned to the flat, only to find out through the landlady that James Mortimer had left for work - banking in the city - and would not return only around six in the evening.
The characters then tracked down Emma Chamberlain, and found out that she had met Mark at a bookstore and that she had found him to be a nice young gentleman. Other than that she could offer no other clues.
The good sergeant decided that perhaps a visit to the parents of the other two missing young men could give some information, so he sought them out. Both set of parents could however not shed any new light on the case.
At 6 p.m. the characters returned to Bayswater to seek out Mortimer. The interview was quick, but left Dr. Trevelyan convinced that Mortimer knew a lot more than he cared to reveal. Soon after the characters had left a hansom cab arrived for Mortimer. The characters followed in two other hansom cabs across London to Holborn, where Mortimer's cab made a brief stop at building before returning to Mayfair - the Brook's Street Gentlemen's Club. Father Green decided to jump of in Holborn to look around the building. Sgt. Baynes joined Trevelyan in one of the hansom cabs and followed Mortimer.
Father Green located the flat within the building that Mortimer had briefly visited and gained access by rampaging the door. Inside he found a three rooms, a small hall, a large bedroom and a small bathroom. A quick look around and the priest had located opium in the bathroom and a letter left on the bed. Green opened it and found it to read "Police on to me. Cannot do this anymore."
Then Green heard a key being inserted into the lock on the door! He hid in the bathroom, but the intruder could see the damage to the door, so he was prepared. The intruder jumped forward and a knife fight erupted. At first neither combatant managed to hit, but then Father Green made a decisive stab into the chin of the intruder, incapacitating him. A few moments later there was a knock on the door, and when Father Green opened he found a little old later standing outside asking what all the noise was about. Too late Green realized that the old lady had a kitchen knife in her hand. She initially missed and so did Green, but then the old lady scored a massive hit, incapacitating Father Green with one stab (no mean feat in Savage Worlds to do to a wild card). On the following check Ole, who played Father Green, managed to get Father Green to escape death, but had to roll a permanent injury and was unconscious for a number of hours. Ole rolled "Unmentionables", so for Father Green reproduction is no longer an option.
Back in Mayfair, Trevelyan found himself on the same street as his clinic and quickly decided that he could changed clothes at the clinic, head for the club and act it out as a potential new member. Sgt. Baynes kept an eye on the entrance to the club from outside.
Inside the club Trevelyan's bluff paid off and he was let into the club, where he quickly located Mortimer. The young banker was however having a trivial conversation about the financial markets. After about an hour Trevelyan left and joined Baynes.
When Mortimer left the two followed, but he only returned to the flat. Here Baynes got off and started another surveillance on Mortimer. Trevelyan returned to the lodge hoping to find Father Green there, but to no avail. He then decided to return to the last place he had seen the priest - the Holborn flat. Trevelyan managed to sneak inside and quickly saw that the floor had massive blood pools. Drawing his sword cane the doctor found Father Green lying in a pool of blood in the middle of the bedroom, another person watching over him. Trevelyan charged in and managed to incapacitate the intruder quickly. He tied him up and than started to use first aid on Father Green. He quickly realised that Green would need more extensive medical care, and dragged him into a cab. Trevelyan then used one of his connections within the London Medical Society and got Green to a surgeon who managed to stitch him up.
Knowing that he would need to act fast, he returned to the lodge, where luckily Sgt. Baynes had returned to. The two of them then rushed to the Holborn flat, where they found the intruder still unconscious. When he got around, Baynes started the interrogation learning nothing but the man's name Kincaid. Baynes then chose that more drastic measures where needed, so after a quick search he located the opium, andgot Trevelyan to administer it to Kincaid. Kincaid started to be a lot more easy get answers from and the characters learned that he worked for a Mr. Tanner, who paid him to take the drugged young men to a disused storage cellar in the St. Katherine's dock, and to clean up the flat as well, making it ready for it's next use. Sgt. Baynes arrested him and delivered at the police station.
Next morning Trevelyan and Baynes went to see Father Green. He was now awake but in bad shape. They told him about happened after he had passed out and that they now intended to confront Mortimer.
This being Saturday Baynes and Trevelyan found Mortimer at home and confronted him. After being convinced that he had never met Mr. Tanner and that their communications had been through letters. Mortimer was being blackmailed about his homosexuality and was order to participate in this horrendous scheme. Mortimer admitted that things had gone crazy and that what he was doing now was far worse than being exposed as a homosexual. Baynes arrested Mortimer and took him to the police station.
One final culprit had to found - Mr. Tanner, so Baynes and Trevelyan decided to go to St. Kateherine's dock. As they found the storage room and hideous scream came from inside. The characters decided that they needed back-up so they went to the local police station where Baynes managed to convince the desk sergeant that he needed help and got 6 constables armed with pistols.
Returning to the docks the group open the huge doors and almost stepped onto the corpse of an old man - torn to shreds. Death and decay was the next thing that met the characters as they found the corpses of three young men mutilated almost beyond recognition. Trevelyan used his psionic powers to sense that a great evil had recently been here and it left him wanting to get out fast. Who had killed Mr. Tanner and how that was the mystery that the characters were left with as the case of The Missing Men concluded.
----
A long session was over and it had again been a lot of fun to play. Only few moments of dread and horror, but a lot of investigating on behalf of the players. My players are really getting into their characters and are really enjoying the setting. I really wanted the adventure to show London, and some of upper classes and Victorian society and it's fascination with the occult. I had printed out a Victorian map of London, so that the players had an overview of the many streets names I threw at them and it seemed to work.
Friday, July 26, 2013
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
EotD - Skirmish report - Prisoner (Rescue)
This is the second game that Chris and I played yesterday. Chris had rolled Captured by the Enemy for his Downed Thrall, so we decided to try out the Rescue variant of the Prisoner scenario.
With the after game campaign management already done we line up as follows:
Nosferatu
Graf
w/two swords
Bat Form
Guardian
w/repeating rifle and sword
Thrall
w/sword and hunting rifle
Thrall
w/sword and shotgun
Supernatural Branch
Inspector
w/truncheon and heavy pistol
Sergeant
w/truncheon and light pistol
2 x Constable
w/truncheon and heavy pistol
Constable
w/truncheon, heavy pistol and hunting rifle
I deployed my peelers inside and just outside the middle building of the large center building. The inspector, sergeant and the constable with a hunting rifle just outside the building and my two remaining constables in base contact with the prisoner inside the building. Chris deployed his nosferatu as close as he could around the backyard area. He knew he had the choice of initiative for the first turn and hoped he could remove some of my peelers who were stationed outside before I got to act.
Turn 1 and a thrall started the turn by shooting and killing my constable outside the building. All other shots failed to wound my other peelers. A thrall charged my sergeant and the Graf transformed into Bat Form but did not move. When my turn arrived I started by moving my inspector and firing a shot at a thrall removing him from play. In the combat phase the thrall failed to wound my sergeant.
Turn 2 and I won the initiative. My inspector aimed and fired a shot towards the guardian, who was removed from play. Just like my game the last week, my inspector was on fire. I moved one of the constables from inside out in the open. Now it was the nosferatu to act, and the Graf flew over a building and landed close to my inspector, with only a wooden fence between them. The thrall in combat with my sergeant managed to take a wound of the sergeant.
Turn 3 started with the nosferatu having to make a Bravado check since they were down to 50% of their factions. The Graf made it, but the remaining thrall did not and was removed from play. Chris won the initiative and he decided that he Graf would be in a better position inside the building with the prisoner, so he flew inside the building. On my turn I then fired from my inspector, sergeant and my constable, but only managed to take a wound of the Graf. My constable guarding the prisoner could not get out since the Graf was guarding the doorway, so I moved him to the back of the building, hoping that would leave enough space for some of my other models to move inside.
When turn 4 arrive the Graf once again succeeded in his Bravado check, and Chris again won initiative. The Graf charged my constable. On my turn I could do nothing but move my sergeant inside and the others closer. There was however not space for my sergeant to charge the Graf. In the combat phase the Graf had no problems in killing my constable - the prisoner was now in the control of the Graf.
Turn 5 and another success for the Graf on his Bravado check. I won initiative, but felt locked down, since the prisoner completely blocked line of sight for me to shot at the Graf (the model was only on a 25 mm base and all other models on 30 mm.) and also not leaving enough space for me to get around to charge. My inspector and constable outside were also unable to see the Graf because of the prisoner, so I put them on Watch & Shoot. The Graf charged the sergeant (his base size being smaller allowed him enough space to do so. In the combat phase the sergeant perished.
Turn 6 started with both factions having to make Bravado checks, the Graf duly succeeded, but only my constable made the roll and my inspector was removed from play. Initiave went to me and I put the constable on Watch & Shoot, since I could not see the Graf from were I was standing. The Graf then flew out the window and my constable shot and wounded him, but he still had a wound left. The prisoner moved into base contact. Things were not looking that good for me, my inspector failing the Bravado check being the game changing point.
Turn 7 and another set of Bravado checks incredibly resulted in the Graf failing and my constable succeeding. On the initiative roll Chris won and the prisoner started to flee towards the board edge. I moved my constable after him, but he was still 2" ahead of me.
Turn 8 and I once again failed to win the initiative roll, and the prisoner got away. Think we forgot to roll Bravado check for my constable.
The game ended in a draw, and both of us agreed that while it had been a close encounter, the Bravado rules changed to much late in the game. Looking through the rules we found nothing about the need for a roll changing if the opposition also got down to 50% of its faction. It seems wrong that when Chris only had his Graf left and I had my inspector and a constable that I should make Bravado checks when the odds were still 2 to 1.
A good game nonetheless which we both enjoyed. Some rules I think we will house rule, such as always having to shot/charge the closest enemy. I think this rule can be exploited quite a bit, and I don't think the game will suffer from removing it. And I think the Bravado checks could be fine tuned as well.
With the after game campaign management already done we line up as follows:
Nosferatu
Graf
w/two swords
Bat Form
Guardian
w/repeating rifle and sword
Thrall
w/sword and hunting rifle
Thrall
w/sword and shotgun
Supernatural Branch
Inspector
w/truncheon and heavy pistol
Sergeant
w/truncheon and light pistol
2 x Constable
w/truncheon and heavy pistol
Constable
w/truncheon, heavy pistol and hunting rifle
I deployed my peelers inside and just outside the middle building of the large center building. The inspector, sergeant and the constable with a hunting rifle just outside the building and my two remaining constables in base contact with the prisoner inside the building. Chris deployed his nosferatu as close as he could around the backyard area. He knew he had the choice of initiative for the first turn and hoped he could remove some of my peelers who were stationed outside before I got to act.
Turn 1 and a thrall started the turn by shooting and killing my constable outside the building. All other shots failed to wound my other peelers. A thrall charged my sergeant and the Graf transformed into Bat Form but did not move. When my turn arrived I started by moving my inspector and firing a shot at a thrall removing him from play. In the combat phase the thrall failed to wound my sergeant.
Turn 2 and I won the initiative. My inspector aimed and fired a shot towards the guardian, who was removed from play. Just like my game the last week, my inspector was on fire. I moved one of the constables from inside out in the open. Now it was the nosferatu to act, and the Graf flew over a building and landed close to my inspector, with only a wooden fence between them. The thrall in combat with my sergeant managed to take a wound of the sergeant.
Turn 3 started with the nosferatu having to make a Bravado check since they were down to 50% of their factions. The Graf made it, but the remaining thrall did not and was removed from play. Chris won the initiative and he decided that he Graf would be in a better position inside the building with the prisoner, so he flew inside the building. On my turn I then fired from my inspector, sergeant and my constable, but only managed to take a wound of the Graf. My constable guarding the prisoner could not get out since the Graf was guarding the doorway, so I moved him to the back of the building, hoping that would leave enough space for some of my other models to move inside.
When turn 4 arrive the Graf once again succeeded in his Bravado check, and Chris again won initiative. The Graf charged my constable. On my turn I could do nothing but move my sergeant inside and the others closer. There was however not space for my sergeant to charge the Graf. In the combat phase the Graf had no problems in killing my constable - the prisoner was now in the control of the Graf.
Turn 5 and another success for the Graf on his Bravado check. I won initiative, but felt locked down, since the prisoner completely blocked line of sight for me to shot at the Graf (the model was only on a 25 mm base and all other models on 30 mm.) and also not leaving enough space for me to get around to charge. My inspector and constable outside were also unable to see the Graf because of the prisoner, so I put them on Watch & Shoot. The Graf charged the sergeant (his base size being smaller allowed him enough space to do so. In the combat phase the sergeant perished.
Turn 6 started with both factions having to make Bravado checks, the Graf duly succeeded, but only my constable made the roll and my inspector was removed from play. Initiave went to me and I put the constable on Watch & Shoot, since I could not see the Graf from were I was standing. The Graf then flew out the window and my constable shot and wounded him, but he still had a wound left. The prisoner moved into base contact. Things were not looking that good for me, my inspector failing the Bravado check being the game changing point.
Turn 7 and another set of Bravado checks incredibly resulted in the Graf failing and my constable succeeding. On the initiative roll Chris won and the prisoner started to flee towards the board edge. I moved my constable after him, but he was still 2" ahead of me.
Turn 8 and I once again failed to win the initiative roll, and the prisoner got away. Think we forgot to roll Bravado check for my constable.
The game ended in a draw, and both of us agreed that while it had been a close encounter, the Bravado rules changed to much late in the game. Looking through the rules we found nothing about the need for a roll changing if the opposition also got down to 50% of its faction. It seems wrong that when Chris only had his Graf left and I had my inspector and a constable that I should make Bravado checks when the odds were still 2 to 1.
A good game nonetheless which we both enjoyed. Some rules I think we will house rule, such as always having to shot/charge the closest enemy. I think this rule can be exploited quite a bit, and I don't think the game will suffer from removing it. And I think the Bravado checks could be fine tuned as well.
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
EotD - Skirmish report - Lost Artifact
My 7 year old daughter had a play date today with one of her girlfriends at her, so I figured I could arrange a game with my friend Chris. We had tried the introduction scenario and I was eager to show him the full rules, especially after my friend Jon and I had had a highly enjoyable game last Thursday.
When I asked my friend which faction he wanted to try he chose Nosferatu. This gave me a bit of a challenge in terms of getting figures that could represent his faction. In the end we used a Vampire Wars nosferatu as the Graf, a Malifaux convict gunslinger as Guardian (Chris wanted him armed with two heavy pistols and that mini has that), three Vampire Wars wolfen jaeger minis stood in as thralls.
I chose the Supernatural Branch again (as in my previous game I'm using the Gentlemen's Club rules for these).
We rolled for scenario and got Lost Artifact, and ended up with the following crews:
Nosferatu
Graf
w/two swords
Guardian
w/two heavy pistols
2 x Thrall
w/sword and hunting rifle
Thrall
w/sword and shotgun
Supernatural Branch
Inspector
w/truncheon and heavy pistol
Sergeant
w/truncheon and light pistol
3 x Constable
w/truncheon and heavy pistol
Constable
w/truncheon and hunting rifle
Chris won the roll for choosing day/night and of course chose night. We placed the 4 artifact markers that we had rolled. The placement allowed both of us to reach one of the markers in the first turn, so it could be a short game if we rolled high enough.
I won the initiative and started by moving my inspector into base contact with the closest marker, the roll was a 2, so no artifact here. The rest of my peelers move up spreading out across the dock area.
Chris then activated his nosferatu, and immediately moved his graf into base contact with the marker closest to him, he rolled a 9 and got the artifact at the first time asking. Since he was already in base contact with the board edge and only 8" from his deployment zone we knew it would be a short game as there was absolutely no way I could get the graf into line of sight. The guardian and thralls moved up and we decided to play on, Chris wanted to see if he could kill one of my peelers before he moved his graf to safety and victory.
Turn 2 and I won initiative again. Knowing I was fighting a lost cause I just moved forward my inspector and into line of sight of a thrall on watch and shoot and lost a wound when the thrall hit him. My own shot at a thrall hit and he went Down, but my sergeant missed his shot.
Now it was the nosferatu activated. The thrall who had removed a wound from my inspector fired again and hit again. The wound effects roll was Removed from Play - my inspector blown away. The graf then activated and moved the artifact into his deployment zone ending the game.
The game had only lasted for half an hour and that was a bit disappointing. Since we had plenty of time left we decided to try the campaign rules and try another scenario.
Chris got 35 shillings and I got 20 shillings.
After game campaign advancement
On the following campaign injury table I managed to roll 100 on the d100 roll - bloody hell my inspector had died. As the rules state two subordinates can be sacrificed in order for the leader to survive and I chose that option. Lady Luck certainly wasn't paying me any attention today.
Since the game had ended with one thrall on Down, Chris also rolled and got Captured by the Enemy. Since we had already decided that we had time for another game, Chris chose that we should play the Rescue option of the Prisoner scenario. Quite thematic in my mind, a thrall having been captured by the peelers with the nosferatu trying to get him back. Good stuff.
Continuing Chris went to the pawn broker and sold some equipment, before paying 20 shillings to roll once on the Skill list for his graf and once on the Attribute Improvement table for his guardian. He got Bat Form for his graf and 1 up on his Bravado for his guardian.
Chris bought some new equipment for his guardian and a thrall and spend another 5 shillings purchasing an influence.
Having only an inspector, sergeant and two constables left I decided to invest my shillings on a new constable and equipment for him.
During the after game campaign advancement my newish faction sheet proved to be quite useful as it provided a good overview. The game itself had been too short to really give of any impression of the scenario, but we both agreed that in the future the markers should also be 8" away from any table edge or perhaps a minimum distance from the center of the table. This should prevent the scenario from being to short, which is disappointing.
Next up, the nosferatu try to rescue the thrall from the peelers.
When I asked my friend which faction he wanted to try he chose Nosferatu. This gave me a bit of a challenge in terms of getting figures that could represent his faction. In the end we used a Vampire Wars nosferatu as the Graf, a Malifaux convict gunslinger as Guardian (Chris wanted him armed with two heavy pistols and that mini has that), three Vampire Wars wolfen jaeger minis stood in as thralls.
I chose the Supernatural Branch again (as in my previous game I'm using the Gentlemen's Club rules for these).
We rolled for scenario and got Lost Artifact, and ended up with the following crews:
Nosferatu
Graf
w/two swords
Guardian
w/two heavy pistols
2 x Thrall
w/sword and hunting rifle
Thrall
w/sword and shotgun
Supernatural Branch
Inspector
w/truncheon and heavy pistol
Sergeant
w/truncheon and light pistol
3 x Constable
w/truncheon and heavy pistol
Constable
w/truncheon and hunting rifle
Chris won the roll for choosing day/night and of course chose night. We placed the 4 artifact markers that we had rolled. The placement allowed both of us to reach one of the markers in the first turn, so it could be a short game if we rolled high enough.
I won the initiative and started by moving my inspector into base contact with the closest marker, the roll was a 2, so no artifact here. The rest of my peelers move up spreading out across the dock area.
Chris then activated his nosferatu, and immediately moved his graf into base contact with the marker closest to him, he rolled a 9 and got the artifact at the first time asking. Since he was already in base contact with the board edge and only 8" from his deployment zone we knew it would be a short game as there was absolutely no way I could get the graf into line of sight. The guardian and thralls moved up and we decided to play on, Chris wanted to see if he could kill one of my peelers before he moved his graf to safety and victory.
Now it was the nosferatu activated. The thrall who had removed a wound from my inspector fired again and hit again. The wound effects roll was Removed from Play - my inspector blown away. The graf then activated and moved the artifact into his deployment zone ending the game.
The game had only lasted for half an hour and that was a bit disappointing. Since we had plenty of time left we decided to try the campaign rules and try another scenario.
Chris got 35 shillings and I got 20 shillings.
After game campaign advancement
On the following campaign injury table I managed to roll 100 on the d100 roll - bloody hell my inspector had died. As the rules state two subordinates can be sacrificed in order for the leader to survive and I chose that option. Lady Luck certainly wasn't paying me any attention today.
Since the game had ended with one thrall on Down, Chris also rolled and got Captured by the Enemy. Since we had already decided that we had time for another game, Chris chose that we should play the Rescue option of the Prisoner scenario. Quite thematic in my mind, a thrall having been captured by the peelers with the nosferatu trying to get him back. Good stuff.
Continuing Chris went to the pawn broker and sold some equipment, before paying 20 shillings to roll once on the Skill list for his graf and once on the Attribute Improvement table for his guardian. He got Bat Form for his graf and 1 up on his Bravado for his guardian.
Chris bought some new equipment for his guardian and a thrall and spend another 5 shillings purchasing an influence.
Having only an inspector, sergeant and two constables left I decided to invest my shillings on a new constable and equipment for him.
During the after game campaign advancement my newish faction sheet proved to be quite useful as it provided a good overview. The game itself had been too short to really give of any impression of the scenario, but we both agreed that in the future the markers should also be 8" away from any table edge or perhaps a minimum distance from the center of the table. This should prevent the scenario from being to short, which is disappointing.
Next up, the nosferatu try to rescue the thrall from the peelers.
Saturday, July 13, 2013
Rippers: The Missing Men - session 1
My Rippers group and I got back together last night, for another evening of mystery/horror roleplaying. In the game almost a month and a half had gone by since the characters solved the murders in Lamport.
Due to the success, Sgt. Baynes was given permission to return to his native London to work and was made a detective sergeant working at Scotland Yard.
Dr. Trevelyan had spent the time recuperating from the horror, restoring his own sanity. Father Green had returned to the groups lodge on Commercial Street in Whitechapel, doing small jobs for his order. Finally Langdale Pike was able to catch up on his journalist work for his newspaper.
The adventure started of by Sgt. Baynes meeting Richard Fowler, an old friend of the family, for lunch in the West End. It soon became clear to Baynes that Fowler had invited him because he needed his help. It seemed that Fowler teenage son Mark had disappeared from the Fowler residence in Belgravia two nights ago. The police had been unable to provide any clues at to what has happened and now Fowler, while respectful of Baynes' colleagues, would like Baynes to look into the matter. Baynes is invited home to Fowler's residence in the evening, where the Fowler's will elaborate on what the know.
Baynes then spent the next couple of hours getting in touch with the rest of the group. Asking all of them for their help and to come to the Fowler residence in the evening. Having made sure that his friends would help him, Baynes then started to dig around Scotland Yard to find the police report that was made when Fowler reported his son missing the day before. Further investigations lead to the discovery of two cases of missing young men from the previous couple of months. The there was however no common thread to the cases besides the persons gone missing were all teenage men living in west London.
Once he had finished his article Langdale Pike had tried to see what he could dig up on Fowler in the newspaper archives, this did not amount to much except the fact that Fowler is a respected solicitor, and one of the Conservative Party's rising stars.
As the evening arrived the characters gathered outside the Fowler residence in Belgravia. Greeted by the butler Watkins the characters were lead into the withdrawing room where they were greeted by the Fowlers. The party learned that Mark Fowler is a quiet teenager, not many friends and only a girl Alison Harcourt can b considered a close friend. The teenager is devoted to his studies and his father hopes that he will become a successful solicitor in the future. The last person to see him was the butler Watkins who saw Mark retire to his room at around 8.20 p.m.. The next morning Mark was gone, his bed had not been slept in and the room bore no signs of anything wrong except Mark not being there.
The characters asked for permission to investigate Marks room, which they of course got. Searching the room Sgt. Baynes discovered that there had been no forced entrance through either the door or the window. Father Green discovered a number of occult books on the bookshelf, and when he open one of them a small note with the address 17 Holland Park fell out. Using his powers Dr. Trevelyan was able to locate an occult sign on the back of the bed's headstand - Father Green recognized it as an Elder Sign, used by ancient tribes to ward against the unknown horror of the world. Having searched the desk without discovering anything Langdale Pike started to investigate the bed and found a loose floorboard under the bed. Beneath the floorboard he found some candles, a box of matches and a mysterious effigy. When he picked it up he felt a sudden rush of evil, which he was able to repel though.
Dr. Trevelyan and Langdale Pike then proceeded to interview the entire household staff one by one. Trevelyan had been especially interested in the maid Hillary, since he to him looked to be in her early twenties but had been told that she had been part of the staff since the Fowlers purchased the house 29 years ago! To the rest of the group she appeared as a 50 year old. (Yes I got that from a certain horror TV series, that I knew none of my players had seen).
None of the other staff was able to shed much light on the matter of Mark disappearing. Trevelyan - again using his powers - found out that Hillary the maid was actually a ghost who had been shot 30 years ago, but decided that she could still serve the house and be loyal to the masters of the house, so when the Fowlers bought the house she made herself visible and offered her help. Hillary brought up the name of Alison Harcourt as the one person Mark would confined in.
In the meantime Sgt. Baynes and Father Green searched outside the house, looking for clues, but to no avail.
The characters then decided that they had learned all the could from the house. Before heading home to their lodge they decided to go around 17 Holland Park to see what kind of building it was. The found the house to be a large mansion, and Sgt. Baynes a bit curious decided to knock on the door to the house. A small brass plate on the door said "Foxborough". The door opened and a huge Indian man servant stood in the door. Baynes decided to intimidate the Indian, stating that he was on an official business looking into a missing young man. He succeeded in intimidating the man servant and learned that the house was that of Lady Foxborough and that she would be available after 9 a.m. the next morning.
After that the characters returned to the lodge in Commercial Street.
Next morning Pike got up early and headed for his newspaper to try and see what he could find on Harcourt and Foxborugh. He learned that Alison Harcourt's father is Colonel Royston Harcourt, a retired veteran from the Afghan War, and widower. Lady Foxborough lead the Kensington Occult Society a by invitation only group that has existed for five years, basically since Lord Foxborough died in 1887.
Father Green made the wise choice of handing over the mysterious effigy to his contact at St. Judes Church Father Larrimer, who would then deliver it to his order.
At this point we had to stop the game for the night. My wife's illness had gotten worse and I had to take her to the doctor.
It was a highly successful evening of play though, tons of investigation, not much horror, and a sort of return to civilization with London providing the background to the mystery. My players seem quite happy with the characters I created for them and seem to enjoy themselves as well.
Due to the success, Sgt. Baynes was given permission to return to his native London to work and was made a detective sergeant working at Scotland Yard.
Dr. Trevelyan had spent the time recuperating from the horror, restoring his own sanity. Father Green had returned to the groups lodge on Commercial Street in Whitechapel, doing small jobs for his order. Finally Langdale Pike was able to catch up on his journalist work for his newspaper.
The adventure started of by Sgt. Baynes meeting Richard Fowler, an old friend of the family, for lunch in the West End. It soon became clear to Baynes that Fowler had invited him because he needed his help. It seemed that Fowler teenage son Mark had disappeared from the Fowler residence in Belgravia two nights ago. The police had been unable to provide any clues at to what has happened and now Fowler, while respectful of Baynes' colleagues, would like Baynes to look into the matter. Baynes is invited home to Fowler's residence in the evening, where the Fowler's will elaborate on what the know.
Baynes then spent the next couple of hours getting in touch with the rest of the group. Asking all of them for their help and to come to the Fowler residence in the evening. Having made sure that his friends would help him, Baynes then started to dig around Scotland Yard to find the police report that was made when Fowler reported his son missing the day before. Further investigations lead to the discovery of two cases of missing young men from the previous couple of months. The there was however no common thread to the cases besides the persons gone missing were all teenage men living in west London.
Once he had finished his article Langdale Pike had tried to see what he could dig up on Fowler in the newspaper archives, this did not amount to much except the fact that Fowler is a respected solicitor, and one of the Conservative Party's rising stars.
As the evening arrived the characters gathered outside the Fowler residence in Belgravia. Greeted by the butler Watkins the characters were lead into the withdrawing room where they were greeted by the Fowlers. The party learned that Mark Fowler is a quiet teenager, not many friends and only a girl Alison Harcourt can b considered a close friend. The teenager is devoted to his studies and his father hopes that he will become a successful solicitor in the future. The last person to see him was the butler Watkins who saw Mark retire to his room at around 8.20 p.m.. The next morning Mark was gone, his bed had not been slept in and the room bore no signs of anything wrong except Mark not being there.
The characters asked for permission to investigate Marks room, which they of course got. Searching the room Sgt. Baynes discovered that there had been no forced entrance through either the door or the window. Father Green discovered a number of occult books on the bookshelf, and when he open one of them a small note with the address 17 Holland Park fell out. Using his powers Dr. Trevelyan was able to locate an occult sign on the back of the bed's headstand - Father Green recognized it as an Elder Sign, used by ancient tribes to ward against the unknown horror of the world. Having searched the desk without discovering anything Langdale Pike started to investigate the bed and found a loose floorboard under the bed. Beneath the floorboard he found some candles, a box of matches and a mysterious effigy. When he picked it up he felt a sudden rush of evil, which he was able to repel though.
Dr. Trevelyan and Langdale Pike then proceeded to interview the entire household staff one by one. Trevelyan had been especially interested in the maid Hillary, since he to him looked to be in her early twenties but had been told that she had been part of the staff since the Fowlers purchased the house 29 years ago! To the rest of the group she appeared as a 50 year old. (Yes I got that from a certain horror TV series, that I knew none of my players had seen).
None of the other staff was able to shed much light on the matter of Mark disappearing. Trevelyan - again using his powers - found out that Hillary the maid was actually a ghost who had been shot 30 years ago, but decided that she could still serve the house and be loyal to the masters of the house, so when the Fowlers bought the house she made herself visible and offered her help. Hillary brought up the name of Alison Harcourt as the one person Mark would confined in.
In the meantime Sgt. Baynes and Father Green searched outside the house, looking for clues, but to no avail.
The characters then decided that they had learned all the could from the house. Before heading home to their lodge they decided to go around 17 Holland Park to see what kind of building it was. The found the house to be a large mansion, and Sgt. Baynes a bit curious decided to knock on the door to the house. A small brass plate on the door said "Foxborough". The door opened and a huge Indian man servant stood in the door. Baynes decided to intimidate the Indian, stating that he was on an official business looking into a missing young man. He succeeded in intimidating the man servant and learned that the house was that of Lady Foxborough and that she would be available after 9 a.m. the next morning.
After that the characters returned to the lodge in Commercial Street.
Next morning Pike got up early and headed for his newspaper to try and see what he could find on Harcourt and Foxborugh. He learned that Alison Harcourt's father is Colonel Royston Harcourt, a retired veteran from the Afghan War, and widower. Lady Foxborough lead the Kensington Occult Society a by invitation only group that has existed for five years, basically since Lord Foxborough died in 1887.
Father Green made the wise choice of handing over the mysterious effigy to his contact at St. Judes Church Father Larrimer, who would then deliver it to his order.
At this point we had to stop the game for the night. My wife's illness had gotten worse and I had to take her to the doctor.
It was a highly successful evening of play though, tons of investigation, not much horror, and a sort of return to civilization with London providing the background to the mystery. My players seem quite happy with the characters I created for them and seem to enjoy themselves as well.
Friday, July 12, 2013
EotD - Skirmish Report - Fracas
Yesterday I had my first full game with my friend. It was his first experience with Empire of the Dead as well. The first hour we spent going through the rules, with me trying to remember everything, which I of course didn't.
I had brought along three factions, Supernatural Branch (using the Gentlemen's Club rules), Gentlemen's Club and Wolfen Jaeger.
My friend elected to try the Wolfen Jaeger and I chose the Supernatural Branch. We played the 150 shillings that the book recommend and ended up with the following:
Wolfen Jaegers
President
w/heavy pistol and sword
Vice-President
w/hunting rifle, heavy pistol and sword
Membership
w/hunting rifle, heavy pistol and sword
Membership
w/shotgun, heavy pistol and sword
2 x Wolfhounds
Supernatural Branch
Inspector
w/truncheon and heavy pistol
Sergeant
w/truncheon and heavy pistol
3 x Constable
w/truncheon and heavy pistol
I had brought along three factions, Supernatural Branch (using the Gentlemen's Club rules), Gentlemen's Club and Wolfen Jaeger.
My friend elected to try the Wolfen Jaeger and I chose the Supernatural Branch. We played the 150 shillings that the book recommend and ended up with the following:
Wolfen Jaegers
President
w/heavy pistol and sword
Vice-President
w/hunting rifle, heavy pistol and sword
Membership
w/hunting rifle, heavy pistol and sword
Membership
w/shotgun, heavy pistol and sword
2 x Wolfhounds
Supernatural Branch
Inspector
w/truncheon and heavy pistol
Sergeant
w/truncheon and heavy pistol
3 x Constable
w/truncheon and heavy pistol
Constable
w/truncheon and hunting rifle
We rolled for Day/Night, which I won. I chose day as I believe night would give us extra things to remember and this being our first game I thought we had enough rules to figure out.
We played on my London Docks board and deployed in opposite corners, the Wolfen Jaegers within a small yard and the Peelers on one of the piers in the dock area. The first two turns were uneventful as we moved our forces closer to each another, but I did get to try out the jump rules, as some of my peelers jumped across the canal.
Once turn 3 arrived we were close enough to start firing on each another. All shots fired did either not hit or the wound effects were either Flesh Wounds or Discombobulated results. My Sergeant did loose his first wound as jaeger fired his hunting rifle at him. A wolfhound then charged him, but neither of us were able to get a hit in the combat phase.
First kill came in turn 4, with the Wolfen Jaegers shooting one of my constables. At this time another wolfhound had charged another constable and my inspector had charged a jaeger before the Jaegers vice-president the charged him. At this time my dice decided to get lucky. First my constable killed the wolfhound and then my inspector brought the jaeger Down before killing the vice-president. Suddenly I was on course for victory.
Turn 5 and I moved my inspector towards the other end of the board to help out my sergeant, who had now been charged by the Jaeger's president. Through a miracle my sergeant survived the combat phase and with one of my constables having charged the Down jaeger I claimed another kill.
Turn 6 came and finally my sergeant managed to put down the wolfhound, my inspector got lucky and delivered a single death dealing shot to the last jaeger, leaving only the Jaeger's president alive. The Supernatural Branch had won.
Despite this being our first full game, the game really flowed. As the game got on I remember rules for specific situations that arose in the game, which I was quite pleased about - the rules had stuck after all.
While I enjoyed the introduction scenario that I had tried with another friend, this was the real deal. The full rules gave the game a lift and both of us agreed that it had been fun and that the rules fitted the setting and were incredibly easy to learn.
We spent around an hour discussing the game and the campaign rules, which seemed like something my friend also liked.
So with my first full game in the bag, I cannot wait for my next game.
Monday, July 8, 2013
Empire of the Dead - Faction sheet
Tomorrow I will hopefully have my first full game of Empire of the Dead. Having read through the rules twice I believe I have a firm grasp on them and can't wait to see them in action.
I have also looked into what factions I have minis for, so that I'm prepared for tomorrow's game. A gentleman's club, gentleman's club (Wolfen Jaeger afflilation) and Supernatural Branch (don't have the rules for that one, but can always function as another gentleman's club).
Afterwards I sat down and tried and make up the different crews, using a piece of paper to jot down the different cost of members and their equipment. That got me thinking though that for my friend it would not be that user-friendly. So how could I make it easier for him to have an overview of his crew members and their stats? One of the things that I liked about Malifaux were the small stat cards you would get with each miniature. It made it easy to get an overview of each model. Now if I could make something along those lines, it should be able to give a better overview of ones crew.
So I sat down and using Photoshop and the excellent Scribus programs I came up with this sheet. The logo I have used is the from Westwind Productions and they hold all the rights for it. Should anyone from Westwind Production not want me to use the logo in this way, I will immediately remove it from the sheet.
Download it here via GoogleDocs
I added small boxes so that it is easy to add any skills/arcane powers gained and notes if a character becomes unhinged, injured etc.
I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out. In the past I have almost always redone character sheets for the different rpgs that I have played so this only took me around 45 minutes to do. The amount of information on the sheet is nothing compared to a rpg character sheet, which normally takes me many hours to get right.
That's it for now, I hope I'll get to play tomorrow evening. If so I'll put up a battle report on here.
Please leave comments and critique if you like.
I have also looked into what factions I have minis for, so that I'm prepared for tomorrow's game. A gentleman's club, gentleman's club (Wolfen Jaeger afflilation) and Supernatural Branch (don't have the rules for that one, but can always function as another gentleman's club).
Afterwards I sat down and tried and make up the different crews, using a piece of paper to jot down the different cost of members and their equipment. That got me thinking though that for my friend it would not be that user-friendly. So how could I make it easier for him to have an overview of his crew members and their stats? One of the things that I liked about Malifaux were the small stat cards you would get with each miniature. It made it easy to get an overview of each model. Now if I could make something along those lines, it should be able to give a better overview of ones crew.
So I sat down and using Photoshop and the excellent Scribus programs I came up with this sheet. The logo I have used is the from Westwind Productions and they hold all the rights for it. Should anyone from Westwind Production not want me to use the logo in this way, I will immediately remove it from the sheet.
Download it here via GoogleDocs
I added small boxes so that it is easy to add any skills/arcane powers gained and notes if a character becomes unhinged, injured etc.
I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out. In the past I have almost always redone character sheets for the different rpgs that I have played so this only took me around 45 minutes to do. The amount of information on the sheet is nothing compared to a rpg character sheet, which normally takes me many hours to get right.
That's it for now, I hope I'll get to play tomorrow evening. If so I'll put up a battle report on here.
Please leave comments and critique if you like.
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Empire of the Dead - back in the fold
I'm easily swayed from one game to another, this I have known for a few years now. Today it happened again.
A friend of mine surprised me in the morning - he had just returned from a business trip to England and had come across the Empire of the Dead rulebook, he thought of me and bought it for me!
Empire of the Dead - by Westwind http://westwindproductions.co.uk/
So I have spent the entire day reading through the book and found myself slowly but surely coming back into the fold of the game again. The book has so much atmosphere that I wanted to make an order for the miniatures right away. Money this month is low once again, so that did not happen. Most of the things that I thought were a bit odd in the Quick Start rules were explained in detail.
While I was very impressed with In Her Majesty's Name, the thing that swayed me back to Empire of the Dead is the fact that it is Gothic Horror and has vampires and werewolves etc. As I wrote in my review of IHMN steam punk is not really my think, but I thought I could make it more gothic horror - I still think the rules are flexible enough to incorporate gothic horror. However the EotD rules are meant for gothic horror and the rules creates that atmosphere better than IHMN.
Of course I'm still to try the full rules in a game, but I have a very good feeling about them. I'm not ruling out playing IHMN at all, but my focus has switched to EotD again.
Let me finish this post by thanking Craig Cartmell (one of the authors of IHMN) who kindly put my blog on his official blog for IHMN.
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