Friday Night Gaming: The Citadel, Bang!
October 24, 2008
The Citadel
The game wrapped up tonight with a satisfactory, if unexpected conclusion. See also, part two (I never wrote up part one).
Ameline, Henry, and Brian managed to outrun the Hounds (mostly due to low rolls from me) though Henry did get separated from the others. He then encountered another Opener, named Rikard, who took him first to Singapore and later to an African savannah. He told him how the Captain of the Guard was closing all the gates, meaning killing all the Openers. They were the last two. He gave Henry some advice on how to move between the world and the Citadel before leaving, always staying on the move so that the Hounds would not catch up to him. During this encounter, Henry also realized that normal people could not see Aspects of The Citadel, such as the giant spider legs growing out of Rikard's back.
Meanwhile, the other four met up at the Tower and noticed how portions of it were fading in and out, being replaced by a high-rise under construction, and then back again. After venturing inside, they saw glimpses of an unfinished hotel lobby. Nigel had the idea to jump into the hotel areas when they appeared. But then they made the leap (and all but he made their Essence rolls), Ameline, Brian, and Terry ended up on a Chicago work site and Ian was left alone. Soon after, the Magician walked in and opened a secret doorway that revealed the empty throne room. He explained how the lack of an Emperor was causing the collapse and that he could stop it if Nigel recovered the Key. As the Emperor, he would then be in need of a right-hand man....
Henry returned to the Tower and met up with Nigel before they both went to Chicago. The building swapping places with the Tower was the building Henry was working on. With the five of them together again, they decided to search for the Key and the Emperor in New York, where Nigel and Brian had encountered him. In the transition from Chicago to The Citadel to New York, they were followed by two Hounds, and they did battle in a New York park. During the fight, Terry discovered that he could use his shotgun, which shot blue flame as it had done when he first encountered a Hound. Nigel developed an Aspect, with mystic symbols appearing in his eyes, and he helped Brian jack a car. After dispatching the Hounds, they retired to Nigel's apartment.
Eventually, Brian lead them to the gate where he had picked up the Emperor. The gate was now closed and secured with a heavy chain (there was no lock). Ameline recognized the area beyond the gate as the Park, where she had met the Emperor and the Magician (during the first session). Brian realized that someone was missing/different. Brian (Robert) realized he was driving a different bus he had used on that fateful day. I then described a cut scene* which showed the Key lodged in the collection bin of the bus. This was a good a-ha moment for the players when they remembered me describing the homeless guy dropping something in the bin back in the first session.
They tracked down the bus, smashed the collection bin, and recovered the Key, all in plain view of the bus driver and his passengers. Terry (at Ameline's suggestion) pretended to take the other PCs hostage with shotgun in hand. Later, they tried to find the Emperor, but to no avail. Terry sent his crow in search mode (another cut scene showing the crow arrive next to a homeless man under a bridge), but he later became aware that crow died. Ameline realized that the Emperor was in a dual state of being/non-being and transforming into something else. After consulting the major tarot arcana, Zach intuited that the Emperor was becoming the Hermit. With this knowledge, Ameline was able to determine he was living under a bridge in Central Park. She also saw a replay of the scene of how the Captain of the Guard had attacked the Emperor, but he had gotten away and came to New York.
They had to decide who to give the Key to. The Citadel needed an Emperor or bad things would happen (like the walls between the world and The Citadel collapsing in a mystic cluster fuck). Needless to say, they were divided. Nigel wanted to give it to the Magician, but Ameline was against it. Her vision had shown the Magician leaving the Emperor's side just before the attack, so she suspected that he was complicit in the coup attempt. I think they didn't understand why the Emperor/Hermit had dropped the Key so were perhaps hesitant to give it back to him.
After much deliberation, Henry took action. He grabbed Brian (who was holding the key) and returned to the Citadel. Nigel and Ameline managed to follow after, but Terry didn't bother. Henry and Brian made it inside the Cathedral where they sought sanctuary. The doors closed behind them, leaving Nigel and Ameline, who were soon joined by the Magician, outside. Brian handed the key over to the Priestess, making her the new Emperor. She opened the doors and the Magician assumed his place as her right-hand man. Brian pledged his allegiance to the new Emperor and eventually so did Ameline. Nigel was given the option to become the Magician's apprentice and he took it. Back on Earth, Terry was beginning a long journey home to St. Louis, when the Hermit came up along side him. Terry's crow returned.
Analysis: I am pleased with how the story unfolded. I had to give them more insight and guidance at the end than I had wanted. I had no plans for how the PCs would find out about the Key and the Emperor/Hermit. I had hoped the players would come up with something inspired, but they didn't. I don't blame them. I used Ameline as the conduit of information because she had not developed any powers up to that point. I had originally envisioned that the PCs would form a cadre allied with the Emperor (whoever that turned out to be); I liked the way it turned out better. This last session, and especially the Key a-ha moment and the allegiance-making scenes, really brought the game to a satisfactory and enjoyable ending. For me, at least. I'm not sure how the players took it. They had fun, I think, but I have a feeling that I got more out of it than they did.
I'm glad I ran it, and I'm relieved to have the concept out of my head. I could turn it into a convention game, but I don't think I will, as I think there is too much opportunity for player frustration and confusion. I plan on taking a break running games for this group until at least DunDraCon, where I am running a space marine sceneario using Savage Worlds. I'm also thinking about Call of Cthulhu for Kublacon. I may playtest these games with the group, but I'm in no hurry to.
*: Brian (the player) made enough references to the cut scene that I'll never use cut scenes when he's playing ever again.
Bang!
This was one of the more unusual games of Bang! we have played. We had six players and all the expansions were in play. Ian, as Sheriff started, followed by Zach and Brian playing the Deputy and Renegade (I forget which was which). Robert, being as far away from the Sheriff as possible, attacked the Sheriff. Merwin followed suit and also played a card that forced us all to discard a card. Unfortunately, my unplayed Volcanic was taken from my hand.** With 3 Bang! cards (and I drew 2 more on my turn), I could have taken out the Sheriff on my turn. I was able to copy Robert's Slab the Killer power, so I knew Ian didn't have enough Missed cards to stop me. But it was not to be a quick win and so I just shot him once.
During the following rounds, the Outlaws seemed to have the advantage without the other three able to establish a foothold. Merwin was close to elimination throughout, but managed to hang on. Since the Outlaws were all revealed in the first round, there was little pussy-footing and deceptive play. We just gunned for the Sheriff, mostly ignoring the other two players. The card selection was on our side and having two Slabs helped too. The Sheriff was the first (and last) to be killed.
Using the High Noon and A fistful of Cards expansions added some weird moments to the game, but I'm not sure they really add much to the game besides the "something different happens this round" factor. Ian has said that he definitely prefers playing with them whereas Brian prefers to leave them out.
**: And I admit that I felt a strong urge to cheat to prevent this from happening. No one was paying attention to the card I was randomly discarding and could have pulled it off. But I didn't. But damn it was tempting just for that brief moment. After my turn, I was forced to discard two cards (I only had three bullets), and I discarded two Bangs to show how close the game came to a first-round win for the Outlaws.
The Citadel
The game wrapped up tonight with a satisfactory, if unexpected conclusion. See also, part two (I never wrote up part one).
Ameline, Henry, and Brian managed to outrun the Hounds (mostly due to low rolls from me) though Henry did get separated from the others. He then encountered another Opener, named Rikard, who took him first to Singapore and later to an African savannah. He told him how the Captain of the Guard was closing all the gates, meaning killing all the Openers. They were the last two. He gave Henry some advice on how to move between the world and the Citadel before leaving, always staying on the move so that the Hounds would not catch up to him. During this encounter, Henry also realized that normal people could not see Aspects of The Citadel, such as the giant spider legs growing out of Rikard's back.
Meanwhile, the other four met up at the Tower and noticed how portions of it were fading in and out, being replaced by a high-rise under construction, and then back again. After venturing inside, they saw glimpses of an unfinished hotel lobby. Nigel had the idea to jump into the hotel areas when they appeared. But then they made the leap (and all but he made their Essence rolls), Ameline, Brian, and Terry ended up on a Chicago work site and Ian was left alone. Soon after, the Magician walked in and opened a secret doorway that revealed the empty throne room. He explained how the lack of an Emperor was causing the collapse and that he could stop it if Nigel recovered the Key. As the Emperor, he would then be in need of a right-hand man....
Henry returned to the Tower and met up with Nigel before they both went to Chicago. The building swapping places with the Tower was the building Henry was working on. With the five of them together again, they decided to search for the Key and the Emperor in New York, where Nigel and Brian had encountered him. In the transition from Chicago to The Citadel to New York, they were followed by two Hounds, and they did battle in a New York park. During the fight, Terry discovered that he could use his shotgun, which shot blue flame as it had done when he first encountered a Hound. Nigel developed an Aspect, with mystic symbols appearing in his eyes, and he helped Brian jack a car. After dispatching the Hounds, they retired to Nigel's apartment.
Eventually, Brian lead them to the gate where he had picked up the Emperor. The gate was now closed and secured with a heavy chain (there was no lock). Ameline recognized the area beyond the gate as the Park, where she had met the Emperor and the Magician (during the first session). Brian realized that someone was missing/different. Brian (Robert) realized he was driving a different bus he had used on that fateful day. I then described a cut scene* which showed the Key lodged in the collection bin of the bus. This was a good a-ha moment for the players when they remembered me describing the homeless guy dropping something in the bin back in the first session.
They tracked down the bus, smashed the collection bin, and recovered the Key, all in plain view of the bus driver and his passengers. Terry (at Ameline's suggestion) pretended to take the other PCs hostage with shotgun in hand. Later, they tried to find the Emperor, but to no avail. Terry sent his crow in search mode (another cut scene showing the crow arrive next to a homeless man under a bridge), but he later became aware that crow died. Ameline realized that the Emperor was in a dual state of being/non-being and transforming into something else. After consulting the major tarot arcana, Zach intuited that the Emperor was becoming the Hermit. With this knowledge, Ameline was able to determine he was living under a bridge in Central Park. She also saw a replay of the scene of how the Captain of the Guard had attacked the Emperor, but he had gotten away and came to New York.
They had to decide who to give the Key to. The Citadel needed an Emperor or bad things would happen (like the walls between the world and The Citadel collapsing in a mystic cluster fuck). Needless to say, they were divided. Nigel wanted to give it to the Magician, but Ameline was against it. Her vision had shown the Magician leaving the Emperor's side just before the attack, so she suspected that he was complicit in the coup attempt. I think they didn't understand why the Emperor/Hermit had dropped the Key so were perhaps hesitant to give it back to him.
After much deliberation, Henry took action. He grabbed Brian (who was holding the key) and returned to the Citadel. Nigel and Ameline managed to follow after, but Terry didn't bother. Henry and Brian made it inside the Cathedral where they sought sanctuary. The doors closed behind them, leaving Nigel and Ameline, who were soon joined by the Magician, outside. Brian handed the key over to the Priestess, making her the new Emperor. She opened the doors and the Magician assumed his place as her right-hand man. Brian pledged his allegiance to the new Emperor and eventually so did Ameline. Nigel was given the option to become the Magician's apprentice and he took it. Back on Earth, Terry was beginning a long journey home to St. Louis, when the Hermit came up along side him. Terry's crow returned.
Analysis: I am pleased with how the story unfolded. I had to give them more insight and guidance at the end than I had wanted. I had no plans for how the PCs would find out about the Key and the Emperor/Hermit. I had hoped the players would come up with something inspired, but they didn't. I don't blame them. I used Ameline as the conduit of information because she had not developed any powers up to that point. I had originally envisioned that the PCs would form a cadre allied with the Emperor (whoever that turned out to be); I liked the way it turned out better. This last session, and especially the Key a-ha moment and the allegiance-making scenes, really brought the game to a satisfactory and enjoyable ending. For me, at least. I'm not sure how the players took it. They had fun, I think, but I have a feeling that I got more out of it than they did.
I'm glad I ran it, and I'm relieved to have the concept out of my head. I could turn it into a convention game, but I don't think I will, as I think there is too much opportunity for player frustration and confusion. I plan on taking a break running games for this group until at least DunDraCon, where I am running a space marine sceneario using Savage Worlds. I'm also thinking about Call of Cthulhu for Kublacon. I may playtest these games with the group, but I'm in no hurry to.
*: Brian (the player) made enough references to the cut scene that I'll never use cut scenes when he's playing ever again.
Bang!
This was one of the more unusual games of Bang! we have played. We had six players and all the expansions were in play. Ian, as Sheriff started, followed by Zach and Brian playing the Deputy and Renegade (I forget which was which). Robert, being as far away from the Sheriff as possible, attacked the Sheriff. Merwin followed suit and also played a card that forced us all to discard a card. Unfortunately, my unplayed Volcanic was taken from my hand.** With 3 Bang! cards (and I drew 2 more on my turn), I could have taken out the Sheriff on my turn. I was able to copy Robert's Slab the Killer power, so I knew Ian didn't have enough Missed cards to stop me. But it was not to be a quick win and so I just shot him once.
During the following rounds, the Outlaws seemed to have the advantage without the other three able to establish a foothold. Merwin was close to elimination throughout, but managed to hang on. Since the Outlaws were all revealed in the first round, there was little pussy-footing and deceptive play. We just gunned for the Sheriff, mostly ignoring the other two players. The card selection was on our side and having two Slabs helped too. The Sheriff was the first (and last) to be killed.
Using the High Noon and A fistful of Cards expansions added some weird moments to the game, but I'm not sure they really add much to the game besides the "something different happens this round" factor. Ian has said that he definitely prefers playing with them whereas Brian prefers to leave them out.
**: And I admit that I felt a strong urge to cheat to prevent this from happening. No one was paying attention to the card I was randomly discarding and could have pulled it off. But I didn't. But damn it was tempting just for that brief moment. After my turn, I was forced to discard two cards (I only had three bullets), and I discarded two Bangs to show how close the game came to a first-round win for the Outlaws.
Labels: Other Games, Roleplaying
posted by Patrick at 4:16 PM
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