Friday Evening Game Report - Torg Eternity, Session 12
The Friday night gaming group continued play in their Living Land campaign of the Torg Eternity RPG on Friday, evening (the 12th of October). You can read about the previous session of the game by following the link. This post is somewhat long, so I've put it behind a cut for those who don't want to read about my roleplaying game campaigns.
CHARACTERS:
Melanie Franconi (KathyB) - Cat Burglar/Thief
Wendy Saltman (Angela) - Courier/Street Thief
Sandra Mitchell (Ellie) - Librarian/Magical Dabbler
Lucas Wells (Mark) - Businessman/Realm Runner
Andrew Quilling/Andar (Peter) - Transformed (Living Land) Athlete
May 1st, 2017
The player characters turn in his direction, and realize that these are the Storm Knights they’re looking for. Before they can inquire, Dacree says that he’s precognitive, and thus knew they were coming. Travis Ford, the leader of the Middletown Council, tells William White when he asks that they have not changed their minds, and will not allow them to take the “Earth reality maker” with them. Joanne Arveldis asks him how they would stop them if they just took it with them, to which Travis Ford replies, “We have our means”. Lucas Wells asks if that’s meant to be a threat, but the Middletown councilman merely smiles. Sandra Mitchell says that she’d like to see this device, which the Storm Knights call an eternity shard. Ford and the council are willing to allow them to see it, but warns them that he and the other Middletowners won’t let them take the device that is keeping the town safe. He assigns a couple of other townsfolk, a rough-and-tumble type named Gina Windrose and an edeinos named Ishtar, to accompany the characters. White, Arveldis and Dacree decide to go with them.
The group travels through part of Middletown, and arrives at what appears to be the building out of which the local newspaper, The Middletown Transcript, operates. The building is in very good condition, but it’s obviously seen better days. When asked by Wendy Saltman, Gina explains that the paper is the main publication for the Middletown, Odessa, and Townsend area. Or was. The first edition was printed on January 4th, 1868, and the community paper was published every Thursday. Still is, with some dedicated effort. Gina tells them that she was and is the current editor for the paper. She leads them into the newsroom to a cordoned off area, at which two guards, one human and one edeinos, stand. On a large, low display stand rests an old fashioned early typewriter, a cross between a piano and a kitchen table. Gina explains that it’s a Remington & Sons early typewriter from 1881 and was the first typewriter ever used in the building. Sandra notices that there is a red and blue sheen to the typebars of the machine [she makes a Reality roll with a total of 23]. All of the Storm Knights, player characters and the NPCs, can feel the Possibility energy radiating from the device. It radiates pure Core Earth reality.
Melanie Franconi notices that William White has a hand on his sidearm, and she moves over to him and warns him not to draw the weapon. He’s startled by her closeness, but says that they need to take the device back to Philadelphia. Melanie tells him that as a professor of archaeology, surely he doesn’t want to do this and deprive the people of Middletown of their “holy relic”. White tells her with a smile that he’s an archaeology professor, but that the typewriter isn’t a relic or artefact, not in the pure sense. And that he and the others have their orders. Gina informs the characters that they’ve seen it, and that’s enough; time to leave the building. The player characters acquiesce, but the other three Storm Knights are reluctant to depart the area. Lucas and Wendy convince them to accompany them [a successful Persuasion roll with two Willpower cards and a Possibility played], and the three reluctantly agree. As they make their way out of the building, Melanie says that perhaps the Storm Knights would be willing to tell them what happened after they left Philadelphia.
Joanne Arveldis agrees to this, saying that perhaps it will make the Storm Knights see reason, and the group adjourns to the local pub, The Blue River. Gina says that she has to get back to her work, and leaves them be. Over the course of a very good meal, White, Arveldis and Dacree tell the characters what happened, most of which the player characters know, merely adding that their “real” mission was the recovery of the eternity shard which they will give to the Delphi Council. Arveldis tells them the little that she knows of the Delphi Council, and pretty much convinces the player characters of the “goodness” of the Council and what it stands for. Andar disagrees with the others, saying that since they arrived at Philadelphia he’s seen and heard what agents of the Delphi Council are willing to do at the expense of the edeinos friendly to humans and the primitive tribes. The discussion reaches an impasse, but only Wendy sees the smiles that pass between the other three Storm Knights. With evening approaching, the various characters decide to call it a night, and the player Storm Knights head for their quarters at one of the local hotels for the night.
With their recent injuries healed over the next couple of days, the player Storm Knights begin to meet more people, human, primitive and edeinos, in the town, and try to learn as much about the three Delphi Council Storm Knights as they can. The townsfolk don’t know that much, but share what information they do have. After the three arrived in Middletown, they were rather coy about their purpose but once it became clear why they were in the town, they took on a much friendlier tone. The townsfolk, aside from some of the edeinos, realized they were trying to ingratiate themselves, but many of them fell under the sway of the former athlete, Joanne Arveldis. They attempted to put additional pressure on the Council and the other townsfolk to “dispose” of the eternity shard, but found that the townspeople were much sharper than they’d expected. Most in the town are suspicious of them still, but then again they admit that they still don’t trust the player Storm Knights either. Lucas tells Melanie that he thinks her skill set should be used to keep an eye on Arveldis and her friends. She replies that she doesn’t trust White more, but Sandra tells them that it’s Dacree who’s the dangerous one.
The next morning, the Storm Knights re going about their business, when the local church bell starts to ring... They are told that it’s the town’s alarm system. They’re under attack! The two groups of Storm Knights are recruited (well, begged) to help defend the town, and both groups of Storm Knights agree to do so. As most of the Middletown citizens seek shelter, the Storm Knights wade into the zone of chaos that is the site of combat between the Redjaws tribe attackers and the defenders of Middletown in a heavily vegetated area. Melanie gives as good as she gets, using her spear to take down one Redjaws attacker [she uses a Flurry card and a Possibility], though she takes a couple of wounds [2 Wounds, and 0 Shock]. Wendy uses her Bless spell and her Repel spell to good effect, helping Lucas out with the former while repelling several attacks from a Redjaws edeinos with the latter, while using her staff when all else fails. [She spends a Willpower, a Possibility, and an Action card during the fight.] Sandra is able to use her Bullet spell and a 9mm pistol to fend off and take down her edeinos opponent [though she spends two Willpower cards and 1 Possibility doing so]. Lucas takes down two edeinos with his Glock 9mm, and then decides to finish off another with his machete. However, he is wounded during the fighting [and takes 2 Wounds and 4 Shock damage]. Andar, despite the Core Earth reality, engages with four edeinos and is able to defeat them with his baseball bat (a new Louisville slugger that he finds in the town’s sports shoppe ruins). [He spends a Possibility, an Adrenalin card, two Action cards, and a Hero card.] He suffers some minor damage [4 Shock points]. As the fight goes on, the Storm Knights and the townsfolk militia defeats the Redjaws edeinos, but doesn’t pursue the survivors back into the Living Land jungle. It is Melanie who realizes there is no sign of the other three Storm Knights. She says there’s only one place they would possibly go.
Making their way to the Middletown Transcript building Melanie arrives first, and sees several downed guards around the building. She checks a couple of them, and finds they are not dead, merely unconscious. Lucas and the others arrive, and Melanie leads them around to the printing warehouse large doors. They see White, Arveldis, and Dacree with a horse and cart, preparing to enter the building. Lucas calls out, telling them to stop and not enter the building, but Arveldis says they must, that they have to retrieve the eternity shard. “Even if it means endangering everyone in Middletown?” asks Sandra. “Yes,” say White, “what’s one small town compared to winning the Possibility Wars?” At those words, Andar charges towards the three, and the fight is on!
Andar, remembering what Sandra had said about Dacree being the most dangerous, charges toward the shaman. Dacree blocks his attack with casual ease, and then drops a pouch to the ground, causing it to burst and filling the air with a dark brown smoke. Dacree and Andar are lost in it. White fires his shotgun at Lucas, striking him for a terrible injury, but the Storm Knight is able to negate some of the damage using a Possibility. White moves towards Lucas with his sword drawn, and the badly injured Storm Knight takes out his machete and prepares to fight the old-fashioned way. Melanie, Sandra and Wendy confront Arveldis, who tells them she won’t fight the player characters. White is wrong about stealing the eternity shard. And she rather likes Middletown, and has decided that she wants to stay and live there, to help the townspeople survive the encroaching Living Land. Andar is no match for the shaman Dacree, who emerges from the smoke with the unconscious Andar in his arms [who has taken 1 Wound and 10 Shock, after using his last three cards and a Possibility]. Dacree tells the Storm Knights that he agrees with Arveldis, and will not help White take the eternity shard from these people. Meanwhile, the fight between White and Lucas is evenly matched, with neither man giving ground, though it’s obvious that Lucas won’t last much longer due to his wounds. Both Arveldis and Dacree shout for White to stop.
Once the two combatants are separated, Arveldis and Sandra tell the others the situation. Neither team of Storm Knights will take the eternity shard back to Philadelphia, and while the player characters return to Philadelphia and their employer empty-handed in more ways than one, White and Dacree will travel into the Living Land, learning more about the invading reality, while Arveldis settles in Middletown. The player characters are to tell their employer that there was no sign of the three Storm Knights (perhaps they did die in the attack on their expedition?) and no sign of an eternity shard or anything else of import in the area. White asks why he should go along with these plans and Lucas, pointing his weapon at the archaeologist, says because otherwise they’ll have to kill him. White agrees, but he’s not happy about it, and there’s a look of mischief in his eyes. Before the player Storm Knights leave for Philadelphia, Travis Ford and the Council inform them that they’ll always be welcome in Middletown, and that they should consider the townsfolk their allies.
Some days later, the player Storm Knights return to Philadelphia. While their employer, Damian Rogers, is pleased to have Harper Thompson and the other survivors of the expedition and the Redjaws’ slave labour camp returned alive, he’s not all that happy about the rest of their report. As the characters are eating an evening meal after being de-briefed and having cleaned themselves up, Melanie tells Lucas and the others that Rogers didn’t believe them but he’s got no proof. She’s not sure what he’ll do, but he’ll definitely try something. It might be a good idea if the player characters make plans to leave the City of Brotherly Love and perhaps see what’s out there in the Living Land...
Friday night's game session of the Torg Eternity RPG was highly enjoyable, and a fun time. Part of that for me was the social company but also the fact that the Friday night group hadn't gamed in a few weeks. The players had a good time of it, and really enjoyed the interaction between the player characters and the NPCs, as well as the resolution of the plot (which I may have glossed over a bit above). Peter told me that he really enjoyed the game session and has rather liked playing RPGs again. I mentioned that I'm happy he's joined the group, and Peter told me and the others that he hopes we'll be gaming for years to come.
On a sad note, this was the last session of Torg Eternity that the Friday night group will play for a while. The players are enjoying the game, but want to jump back into fantasy roleplaying, and are looking forward to playing Capharnaüm - The Tales of the Dragon-Marked when we game again in two weeks. Health and weather permitting, of course.
So it was a great session to end the scenario on, and complete the 3-month run of the game for now.
Looking forward to Arabian Nights fantasy in two weeks. :)
CHARACTERS:
Melanie Franconi (KathyB) - Cat Burglar/Thief
Wendy Saltman (Angela) - Courier/Street Thief
Sandra Mitchell (Ellie) - Librarian/Magical Dabbler
Lucas Wells (Mark) - Businessman/Realm Runner
Andrew Quilling/Andar (Peter) - Transformed (Living Land) Athlete
May 1st, 2017
The player characters turn in his direction, and realize that these are the Storm Knights they’re looking for. Before they can inquire, Dacree says that he’s precognitive, and thus knew they were coming. Travis Ford, the leader of the Middletown Council, tells William White when he asks that they have not changed their minds, and will not allow them to take the “Earth reality maker” with them. Joanne Arveldis asks him how they would stop them if they just took it with them, to which Travis Ford replies, “We have our means”. Lucas Wells asks if that’s meant to be a threat, but the Middletown councilman merely smiles. Sandra Mitchell says that she’d like to see this device, which the Storm Knights call an eternity shard. Ford and the council are willing to allow them to see it, but warns them that he and the other Middletowners won’t let them take the device that is keeping the town safe. He assigns a couple of other townsfolk, a rough-and-tumble type named Gina Windrose and an edeinos named Ishtar, to accompany the characters. White, Arveldis and Dacree decide to go with them.
The group travels through part of Middletown, and arrives at what appears to be the building out of which the local newspaper, The Middletown Transcript, operates. The building is in very good condition, but it’s obviously seen better days. When asked by Wendy Saltman, Gina explains that the paper is the main publication for the Middletown, Odessa, and Townsend area. Or was. The first edition was printed on January 4th, 1868, and the community paper was published every Thursday. Still is, with some dedicated effort. Gina tells them that she was and is the current editor for the paper. She leads them into the newsroom to a cordoned off area, at which two guards, one human and one edeinos, stand. On a large, low display stand rests an old fashioned early typewriter, a cross between a piano and a kitchen table. Gina explains that it’s a Remington & Sons early typewriter from 1881 and was the first typewriter ever used in the building. Sandra notices that there is a red and blue sheen to the typebars of the machine [she makes a Reality roll with a total of 23]. All of the Storm Knights, player characters and the NPCs, can feel the Possibility energy radiating from the device. It radiates pure Core Earth reality.
Melanie Franconi notices that William White has a hand on his sidearm, and she moves over to him and warns him not to draw the weapon. He’s startled by her closeness, but says that they need to take the device back to Philadelphia. Melanie tells him that as a professor of archaeology, surely he doesn’t want to do this and deprive the people of Middletown of their “holy relic”. White tells her with a smile that he’s an archaeology professor, but that the typewriter isn’t a relic or artefact, not in the pure sense. And that he and the others have their orders. Gina informs the characters that they’ve seen it, and that’s enough; time to leave the building. The player characters acquiesce, but the other three Storm Knights are reluctant to depart the area. Lucas and Wendy convince them to accompany them [a successful Persuasion roll with two Willpower cards and a Possibility played], and the three reluctantly agree. As they make their way out of the building, Melanie says that perhaps the Storm Knights would be willing to tell them what happened after they left Philadelphia.
Joanne Arveldis agrees to this, saying that perhaps it will make the Storm Knights see reason, and the group adjourns to the local pub, The Blue River. Gina says that she has to get back to her work, and leaves them be. Over the course of a very good meal, White, Arveldis and Dacree tell the characters what happened, most of which the player characters know, merely adding that their “real” mission was the recovery of the eternity shard which they will give to the Delphi Council. Arveldis tells them the little that she knows of the Delphi Council, and pretty much convinces the player characters of the “goodness” of the Council and what it stands for. Andar disagrees with the others, saying that since they arrived at Philadelphia he’s seen and heard what agents of the Delphi Council are willing to do at the expense of the edeinos friendly to humans and the primitive tribes. The discussion reaches an impasse, but only Wendy sees the smiles that pass between the other three Storm Knights. With evening approaching, the various characters decide to call it a night, and the player Storm Knights head for their quarters at one of the local hotels for the night.
With their recent injuries healed over the next couple of days, the player Storm Knights begin to meet more people, human, primitive and edeinos, in the town, and try to learn as much about the three Delphi Council Storm Knights as they can. The townsfolk don’t know that much, but share what information they do have. After the three arrived in Middletown, they were rather coy about their purpose but once it became clear why they were in the town, they took on a much friendlier tone. The townsfolk, aside from some of the edeinos, realized they were trying to ingratiate themselves, but many of them fell under the sway of the former athlete, Joanne Arveldis. They attempted to put additional pressure on the Council and the other townsfolk to “dispose” of the eternity shard, but found that the townspeople were much sharper than they’d expected. Most in the town are suspicious of them still, but then again they admit that they still don’t trust the player Storm Knights either. Lucas tells Melanie that he thinks her skill set should be used to keep an eye on Arveldis and her friends. She replies that she doesn’t trust White more, but Sandra tells them that it’s Dacree who’s the dangerous one.
The next morning, the Storm Knights re going about their business, when the local church bell starts to ring... They are told that it’s the town’s alarm system. They’re under attack! The two groups of Storm Knights are recruited (well, begged) to help defend the town, and both groups of Storm Knights agree to do so. As most of the Middletown citizens seek shelter, the Storm Knights wade into the zone of chaos that is the site of combat between the Redjaws tribe attackers and the defenders of Middletown in a heavily vegetated area. Melanie gives as good as she gets, using her spear to take down one Redjaws attacker [she uses a Flurry card and a Possibility], though she takes a couple of wounds [2 Wounds, and 0 Shock]. Wendy uses her Bless spell and her Repel spell to good effect, helping Lucas out with the former while repelling several attacks from a Redjaws edeinos with the latter, while using her staff when all else fails. [She spends a Willpower, a Possibility, and an Action card during the fight.] Sandra is able to use her Bullet spell and a 9mm pistol to fend off and take down her edeinos opponent [though she spends two Willpower cards and 1 Possibility doing so]. Lucas takes down two edeinos with his Glock 9mm, and then decides to finish off another with his machete. However, he is wounded during the fighting [and takes 2 Wounds and 4 Shock damage]. Andar, despite the Core Earth reality, engages with four edeinos and is able to defeat them with his baseball bat (a new Louisville slugger that he finds in the town’s sports shoppe ruins). [He spends a Possibility, an Adrenalin card, two Action cards, and a Hero card.] He suffers some minor damage [4 Shock points]. As the fight goes on, the Storm Knights and the townsfolk militia defeats the Redjaws edeinos, but doesn’t pursue the survivors back into the Living Land jungle. It is Melanie who realizes there is no sign of the other three Storm Knights. She says there’s only one place they would possibly go.
Making their way to the Middletown Transcript building Melanie arrives first, and sees several downed guards around the building. She checks a couple of them, and finds they are not dead, merely unconscious. Lucas and the others arrive, and Melanie leads them around to the printing warehouse large doors. They see White, Arveldis, and Dacree with a horse and cart, preparing to enter the building. Lucas calls out, telling them to stop and not enter the building, but Arveldis says they must, that they have to retrieve the eternity shard. “Even if it means endangering everyone in Middletown?” asks Sandra. “Yes,” say White, “what’s one small town compared to winning the Possibility Wars?” At those words, Andar charges towards the three, and the fight is on!
Andar, remembering what Sandra had said about Dacree being the most dangerous, charges toward the shaman. Dacree blocks his attack with casual ease, and then drops a pouch to the ground, causing it to burst and filling the air with a dark brown smoke. Dacree and Andar are lost in it. White fires his shotgun at Lucas, striking him for a terrible injury, but the Storm Knight is able to negate some of the damage using a Possibility. White moves towards Lucas with his sword drawn, and the badly injured Storm Knight takes out his machete and prepares to fight the old-fashioned way. Melanie, Sandra and Wendy confront Arveldis, who tells them she won’t fight the player characters. White is wrong about stealing the eternity shard. And she rather likes Middletown, and has decided that she wants to stay and live there, to help the townspeople survive the encroaching Living Land. Andar is no match for the shaman Dacree, who emerges from the smoke with the unconscious Andar in his arms [who has taken 1 Wound and 10 Shock, after using his last three cards and a Possibility]. Dacree tells the Storm Knights that he agrees with Arveldis, and will not help White take the eternity shard from these people. Meanwhile, the fight between White and Lucas is evenly matched, with neither man giving ground, though it’s obvious that Lucas won’t last much longer due to his wounds. Both Arveldis and Dacree shout for White to stop.
Once the two combatants are separated, Arveldis and Sandra tell the others the situation. Neither team of Storm Knights will take the eternity shard back to Philadelphia, and while the player characters return to Philadelphia and their employer empty-handed in more ways than one, White and Dacree will travel into the Living Land, learning more about the invading reality, while Arveldis settles in Middletown. The player characters are to tell their employer that there was no sign of the three Storm Knights (perhaps they did die in the attack on their expedition?) and no sign of an eternity shard or anything else of import in the area. White asks why he should go along with these plans and Lucas, pointing his weapon at the archaeologist, says because otherwise they’ll have to kill him. White agrees, but he’s not happy about it, and there’s a look of mischief in his eyes. Before the player Storm Knights leave for Philadelphia, Travis Ford and the Council inform them that they’ll always be welcome in Middletown, and that they should consider the townsfolk their allies.
Some days later, the player Storm Knights return to Philadelphia. While their employer, Damian Rogers, is pleased to have Harper Thompson and the other survivors of the expedition and the Redjaws’ slave labour camp returned alive, he’s not all that happy about the rest of their report. As the characters are eating an evening meal after being de-briefed and having cleaned themselves up, Melanie tells Lucas and the others that Rogers didn’t believe them but he’s got no proof. She’s not sure what he’ll do, but he’ll definitely try something. It might be a good idea if the player characters make plans to leave the City of Brotherly Love and perhaps see what’s out there in the Living Land...
Friday night's game session of the Torg Eternity RPG was highly enjoyable, and a fun time. Part of that for me was the social company but also the fact that the Friday night group hadn't gamed in a few weeks. The players had a good time of it, and really enjoyed the interaction between the player characters and the NPCs, as well as the resolution of the plot (which I may have glossed over a bit above). Peter told me that he really enjoyed the game session and has rather liked playing RPGs again. I mentioned that I'm happy he's joined the group, and Peter told me and the others that he hopes we'll be gaming for years to come.
On a sad note, this was the last session of Torg Eternity that the Friday night group will play for a while. The players are enjoying the game, but want to jump back into fantasy roleplaying, and are looking forward to playing Capharnaüm - The Tales of the Dragon-Marked when we game again in two weeks. Health and weather permitting, of course.
So it was a great session to end the scenario on, and complete the 3-month run of the game for now.
Looking forward to Arabian Nights fantasy in two weeks. :)