Here is the next session of the
Primeval RPG campaign featuring the Friday night gaming group. This session dates back to January 11th, 2013. You can read about the previous session of the game in this
journal entry. This post is somewhat long, and I've put it behind a cut so that folks who don't want to read any detailed rpg posts don't have to.
Twentieth Session
Thursday, July 5th, 2007
...and as it lunges for the pair of them, Jessica (Angela) returns with one of the SAS soldiers, Bradley, who takes a shot at the creature. It wheels on him, and then races off into the trees. David (Nick) and Jenny (Joanne) are very grateful for the timely return of their PR representative, but she tells them it's a good thing that Bradley was there, as her ascerbic tongue wouldn't have accomplished much. Bradley answers his walkie-talkie call.
Harrison (David), Amanda (Kathy), and Alexander (Tom) hear the gunshot, and start to make a bit of haste back to where they left David and Jenny. Alexander radios his men, and learns from Bradley what has just occurred. He tells the soldier that they'll be with them as soon as possible. Amanda reminds Harrison and Alexander that they still need to find the Anomaly. Alexander says that he'll make that their next priority.
The two groups of player characters are reunited, and Amanda is relieved to find that Jenny is all right. David expresses his indignation that she's not worried about him, but Amanda reassures him that she was, but that he can take care of himself. The two groups bring each other up-to-date on what they encountered. Amanda confirms it's the same creature they encountered in Westbury. The group are interrupted by a small group of police and forensics personnel,escorted to them by Hennessy.
David is delighted to see the police forensic expert, Edward Ferne, whom they encountered in Chelton Park before. He's pleased to see them, but somewhat perturbed at the same time. Ferne confirms the attack was by claws of some sort, but says that the claw mark(s) is (are) much larger than the ones he encountered before. While they talk, Alexander is organising the group to go hunting the ceratopsid predator. He'll take Hennessy with him, and Amanda and Harrison. Jenny, Jessica, and David are better left out of this, as there may be some serious combat involved if the creature is hostile. Jenny and David are not pleased at this development, though Alexander and Jessica sense a bit of relief on their part, and call them out on it. Amanda points out that they still need to find the Anomaly, but Alexander says he hopes that the creature will lead them straight to the Anomaly. Without any more debate, Alexander assembles the team and they head out, Harrison tracking the ceratopsid predator with ease. Jenny, Jessica, and David look at each other. Since Edward Ferne and the police medical team have things under control, Jessica says that they need to find the Anomaly. They recruit Bradley (they learn his first name is Frank) to accompany them, since David points out that Alexander wouldn't him to let them wander off on their own.
Alexander, Amanda, Harrison, and Hennessy follow the tracks of the creature relatively easily. They determine that it is moving to the northeast, and will come to the edge of the park relatively soon. Alexander radios his SAS soldiers, and alerts them to the problem. However, Harrison finds that the creature veers back to the central bike paths area as they continue to follow its tracks. The characters increase their pace, abandoning caution and stealth. They come upon the ceratopsid rather unexpectedly, and it turns on them, and roars.
Jenny, Jessica, and David walk through the woodland setting of Chelton Park, the bemused Bradley accompanying them, and realise they have no clue as to how to find the Anomaly. Jessica says she has faith in Jenny and David, but the two don't feel the same way about things and are somewhat doubtful. As the group continues to walk at random, they stumble upon a small clearing - and find the Anomaly, its flickering shards serenely floating in its light-filled body. However, there are a couple of other small creatures there... creatures that the threesome recognise from their first encounter with dinosaurs in Chelton Park. As quietly as she can, Jenny gets in touch with the others to tell them what they've found.
As his walkie-talkie bursts into life, Alexander shuts it off, but too late - the ceratopsid has heard the static of the walkie-talkie as it activated. The creature lunges for the group of characters and Hennessy, and Amanda dives for cover, just escaping the jaws of the creature. It tries to get to Amanda, but she kicks it and it abandons the attempt for the moment, sensing other prey. Turning on the two SAS men... Alexander and Hennessy fire again at the monster, diverting its attention to them. This time, the ceratopsid predator moves off into the woods, visibly bleeding from its injuries. Amanda and Alexander breathe a sigh of relief, but Harrison tells them not to be so pleased. It'll likely be fleeing back to the Anomaly now... Tending to their minor wounds, Amanda says that they need to go after it, if the other three are able. When they nod, she finishes her ministrations and the four characters proceed to follow the bloody trail of the creature.
Back at the Anomaly, Jenny, David, Jessica, and Bradley hear what sounds to them like an agonised roar. The creatures near the Anomaly turn their heads at the sound, chirp/bark at each other, and then race through the Anomaly. David is immediately concerned, and as the ground begins to shake the massive form of the creature bursts into the area, almost striking Jenny as it passes so close to the player characters. As it passes them, Bradley raises his rifle to shoot it, but David stops him. The creature is obviously wounded, and makes its way rather ponderously to the Anomaly. Even as they watch both the ceratopsid predator and the time portal, the Anomaly starts to pulsate and as the predatory dinosaur makes its way through, the Anomaly starts to close; it finally vanishes in a small implosion once the dinosaur manages to get through.
In the early evening hours, the player characters assemble and meet in a conference room at the Home Office. Archibald Lowrie informs them that James Lester is pleased at how they handled matters in Chelton Park. Other than the biker who was found dead, confirmed killed by the ceratopsid predator, there was no loss of life. Amanda confirms that it was a Ceratosaurus, from the Jurassic, and a juvenile at that, similar to the creature that threatened them during their jaunt to Westbury. That seems to confirm that this Anomaly also opened to the Jurassic, possibly during the same time period as the one that opened in Westbury. Jessica tells them that the cover story, concocted in concert with Edward Ferne, is that an escaped local wildlife preserve creature killed the biker, but was contained and then put down by an by an animal control team. DI Wainright was most cooperative with the team, and Lowrie informs the player characters that a vacation is in order for them, as they've done rather well with the various creature incursions they've had to deal with. Amanda comments on the vacation, asking Lowrie if he thinks that there won't be any Anomalies during the time off...
Gaming last night with the Friday gaming group was enjoyable as usual. The players all showed up between 7:00 and 7:20 pm, and we played for around 5 hours or so, with a couple of breaks. The group continues to play the
Primeval RPG, and are having a good time with it. I won't go into details here, you can read the post, but it was an exciting and interesting game session with a good deal of roleplaying and character interaction, though they also had their hands full.
David and Kathy both commented on how enjoyable the
Primeval RPG remains, even after all these game sessions, because the easy-to-learn game mechanics and the basic structure of the game doesn't get in the way of good roleplaying. Nick actually summed things up nicely about half-way during one of the game breaks when he observed, "Well, we've got the running away part figured out!" and that drew a laugh from the rest of the players and Ellie (who was still awake at the time). Lots of fun.