Sunday Afternoon Game Report - Rivers of London: The Roleplaying Game, Session 2
Yesterday afternoon, the Sunday afternoon gaming group came out and continued their campaign of the Rivers of London: The Roleplaying Game game. You can read about the previous session by following the link. This post is somewhat long, so I've put it behind a cut so that folks who don't want to read any detailed rpg posts don't have to.
CHARACTERS
James Rourke (SteveR) - Police Constable
Emma Thorpe (Tammy) - Forensics Specialist, Practitioner
Game Date: Tuesday, April 12th, 2016
PC James Roarke and his partner, PC Halley Caton, arrive at the site of the Odham Walk estate. They note that there's a small crowd surrounding the main entrance to the building and the nearby Long Acre Road. They meet DS Stuart Woodrow, who tells them that a young child, Billy Sykes, disappeared two days ago, on Sunday the 10th. Woodrow tells them some of what the police know, but notes that there's "something off about the environment." He tells Roarke and Caton to reconnoiter the area, and perhaps talk to the people on Long Acre. See what they know, if anything. When asked, Woodrow says that Billy Sykes' father called in the missing child report. He tells them that there are only five PCs available, including them, as there have been two bodies found in Holborn that have called the other PCs from Charing Cross Station out. Woodrow tells them the other constables are Robert Smyth (out sick) and Priscilla Hollings, and Esai N'gombo and Steve Wendell.
PCs Roarke and Caton set about their recce, and note that the main entrance to the estate building in question on Long Acre is cordoned off. They note there are few people, that several presumably Police Community Support Officers (PCSO) are working the area, and that there are two reporters (one tabloid, one regular) in the crowd who seems out of their depth at the moment. Several troublemakers in the crowd behind the police tape are hassling the PCSOs working the area. Caton sees there are several shoppes at the ground level as well, some of whose owners are annoyed at the police presence and the cordoning off of the area, therefore preventing customer traffic. Caton notes there is a pub, several generic stores and shoppes and a barber on the Long Acre side of the building. Roarke takes the Endell Street side. He sees the abandoned, ruined, but not deserted [Demarest] office building on the right side of the street. Looking up, he sees the strange staircase section on the second floor of the Odham Walk estate. He also notes the presence of a British Transport Police officer. There are some five or so shoppes on the ground floor area here as well, one of them being Woolery's Confectionery Shoppe (established 1876). Moving around to Shelton Street, Roarke sees the entrance to the estate's underground parking lot. Meanwhile, on the Neal Street side of the building there are more shoppes on the ground floor, including McCurdy's Toys and Games (established 1950), but Caton is struck most by the second entrance to the apartment complex, a large, somewhat thick glass door accessible only with a keycard. She notes that she might have seen a shadow on the other side of the door, which she suspects might be a doorman.
Once they finish their recce, Roarke and Caton go around to the Neal side, and join DS Woodrow at his vehicle. The two police constables give DS Woodrow their report of their observations so far, and then Woodrow gives them the following brief about the case.
"Billy Sykes, aged: 7, disappeared the morning or the afternoon of April 10th [two days ago]. He was last seen by his sister, Lara, at 12:22pm that day (Lara was reported as being "very reliable"). Billy did not show up for tea. His parents were worried, but did not call the police. Neighbours and his father searched the area for evidence of foul play. The initial interviews were conducted by the original pair of police constables to arrive at the scene of the crime, PC [James] Fredericks and PC [Jack] March. One of the building residents, a Frank Waters of #21, reported "a suspicious character in the courtyard". He thought the character was smoking Pall Mall cigarettes. At 8:15am this morning, April 12th, the father Robert Sykes called the Met and informed them his child was missing. The police have started to set up the timeline on the board at the local resto (and will also be done at Charing Cross Police Station] that is being used as a base of operations."
Based on what PCs Roarke and Caton have observed so far, Woodrow suggests that people of interest include the two doormen(-cum-guards?) at the main and secondary entrances of the Odham Walk estate; the parking attendant of the building's underground parking lot; the British Transport Police officer(?); the proprietor and staff of both McCurdy's Toys and Games (established 1950) and Woolery's Confectionery Shoppe (established 1876); and the two reporters that were witnessed on Long Acre Street. Woodrow suggests that it also might be a good idea to question Mr. Frank Waters of #21 again.
Woodrow calls the other police officers on the scene on their Airwave radios, and arrange for them to meet at the main entrance of the Odham Walk estate building. The other three police constables meet up with PCs Roarke and Caton, and introductions are made all around. With PC Priscilla Hollings taking the lead, they agree to their inquiries to be made, and agree to meet up at the end of the day at Charing Cross Police Station. On gaining access to the building, they have a chat up with Robert Wilson, the doorman at the main entrance. He tells them he's saddened and worried about the Sykes boy, and takes them up to the 2nd floor and the Sykes residence at #28 off the courtyard there. Caton taps Roarke on the shoulder and tells him that there's already three evidence spots laid out, marked #1-3. [She succeeded at a Hard Observation check.] The evidence spots were obviously laid out by the original team that responded to the call; they'll need to check the official reports.
Making their way over to the Sykes residence at #28, they are greeted by Billy's mother, Sylvia, who answers the door. Showing their Warrant cards, she invites them in. Sylvia tells them that Billy's absence wasn't that unusual, and the family assumed that he'd gone to play with the Oduya family children from #30. On the Sunday, he'd usually stay over, but they learn that he never arrived at Thomas Oduya's. The two constables bring up the possibility that he might have played at the abandoned [Demarest] office building, on Endell Street, but both Sylvia and Robert Sykes (who joins them) dismiss that. The old office building isn't safe to play in, and they would not have wandered around there without permission. Robert tells them that one also has to have Covent Garden Council permission to even enter the building remains. Besides, if he had gone there, Billy would not have gone there alone. When asked, Robert says that on the day in question he spent much of it at the Farthing & Fife pub on Neal Street, watching football. He returned home at around 4pm; Tottenham Spurs won the game. On top of that, Robert Sykes says that no one, including the doorman, saw Billy leave the building. And if he had, it would have registered with a scan from the keycard device. They are joined by Lara, Billy's 6-year-old sister, who through her parents (because of legal issue talking to young children) tells them she saw the man in the courtyard. She says that he is black, wore a [Columbo style] trenchcoat, and was smoking. Having learned all they can for the moment, they thank the Sykes for talking to then, and leave the residence.
Back in the courtyard, Roarke and Caton approach the evidence spotters where PC Priscilla Hollings is keeping an eye on the evidence. She tells Roarke and Caton that she's surprised there's no evidence tape cordoning off the area, let alone no police officer on duty to keep an eye on things. Roarke and Caton ask her if it's alright if they take a look at the evidence, and she tells them it's fine but not to contaminate the scene "more than it already is". Approaching the evidence, they notice it's in the courtyard which is open to the sky, is rectangular with some geometric shapes to it, and is the courtyard area between units #28 and #32. There are three evidence spots, marked with the numbers #1, #2, and #3. Warily approaching the evidence markers, Roarke and Caton see the three difference items marked off.
#1 A Running sneaker - child size;
#2 A Confectioner chocolate packet [Vestigia: Cigarette smoke, taste of chocolate, hoof beats on cobblestone] - it bears a piece of chocolate and bears the Woolery's Confectioners logo on its label; and
#3 A Blood smear - dark spot discolourisation smear of reddish liquid.
As they look closer at the pieces of evidence, Roarke is shocked when he suddenly senses the vestigia surrounding the Confectioner's chocolate packet: the smell of cigarette smoke, the taste of chocolate, and the sound of hoof beats on cobblestone! [He succeeded at a Hard Sense Vestigia roll, but spent 5 Luck Points.] He reels backward, taken somewhat by surprise.
However, before Roarke can explain to Caton what happened, PC Esai N'gombo and PC Steve Wendell come running up to them, saying that they have a (huge) problem. There are two other children who've gone missing from the building in the last couple of weeks. Six weeks ago, Abigail Votumbé, age 8 of #43, disappeared. Three weeks before that, Morry Frankland, age 8 of #51, disappeared. And just three weeks ago, Ellie Barton, age 7 of #32, disappeared. They explain that based on what the families told me during their routine questions, all three cases were closed as no foul play was suspected. It was and is assumed that the kids ran off, as they are wont to do at that age. PC Caton merely look at the others and says, "but maybe they didn't run off..."
Sunday afternoon's session of the Rivers of London: The Roleplaying Game campaign went pretty well for the most part, the players starting to get involved with the case file and the mystery at hand. I say that but Tammy's forensic scientist wasn't involved in play at all this session, given the limitations the character has (which the rulebook goes into), but she seemed content to play Halley Caton, Steve's constable's partner. That doesn't mitigate the fact that I completely blew the start of the investigation in various ways, but I thought I salvaged the matter rather handily. Still, we'll see what happens when the case file is complete, but that aside I thought things went pretty well, especially the reveal at the end of the session. The players told me that they had a good time, and enjoyed the mystery that's going on, but feel a bit overwhelmed by everything that has to be done to solve the case.
Overall, it was a good session of the Rivers of London: The Roleplaying Game RPG, but I do have to sharpen up a few of my skills and do a bit better organising of the sequence of events that the players have to focus on with their investigators. In any event, I'm looking forward to the next session. :)
CHARACTERS
James Rourke (SteveR) - Police Constable
Emma Thorpe (Tammy) - Forensics Specialist, Practitioner
Game Date: Tuesday, April 12th, 2016
PC James Roarke and his partner, PC Halley Caton, arrive at the site of the Odham Walk estate. They note that there's a small crowd surrounding the main entrance to the building and the nearby Long Acre Road. They meet DS Stuart Woodrow, who tells them that a young child, Billy Sykes, disappeared two days ago, on Sunday the 10th. Woodrow tells them some of what the police know, but notes that there's "something off about the environment." He tells Roarke and Caton to reconnoiter the area, and perhaps talk to the people on Long Acre. See what they know, if anything. When asked, Woodrow says that Billy Sykes' father called in the missing child report. He tells them that there are only five PCs available, including them, as there have been two bodies found in Holborn that have called the other PCs from Charing Cross Station out. Woodrow tells them the other constables are Robert Smyth (out sick) and Priscilla Hollings, and Esai N'gombo and Steve Wendell.
PCs Roarke and Caton set about their recce, and note that the main entrance to the estate building in question on Long Acre is cordoned off. They note there are few people, that several presumably Police Community Support Officers (PCSO) are working the area, and that there are two reporters (one tabloid, one regular) in the crowd who seems out of their depth at the moment. Several troublemakers in the crowd behind the police tape are hassling the PCSOs working the area. Caton sees there are several shoppes at the ground level as well, some of whose owners are annoyed at the police presence and the cordoning off of the area, therefore preventing customer traffic. Caton notes there is a pub, several generic stores and shoppes and a barber on the Long Acre side of the building. Roarke takes the Endell Street side. He sees the abandoned, ruined, but not deserted [Demarest] office building on the right side of the street. Looking up, he sees the strange staircase section on the second floor of the Odham Walk estate. He also notes the presence of a British Transport Police officer. There are some five or so shoppes on the ground floor area here as well, one of them being Woolery's Confectionery Shoppe (established 1876). Moving around to Shelton Street, Roarke sees the entrance to the estate's underground parking lot. Meanwhile, on the Neal Street side of the building there are more shoppes on the ground floor, including McCurdy's Toys and Games (established 1950), but Caton is struck most by the second entrance to the apartment complex, a large, somewhat thick glass door accessible only with a keycard. She notes that she might have seen a shadow on the other side of the door, which she suspects might be a doorman.
Once they finish their recce, Roarke and Caton go around to the Neal side, and join DS Woodrow at his vehicle. The two police constables give DS Woodrow their report of their observations so far, and then Woodrow gives them the following brief about the case.
"Billy Sykes, aged: 7, disappeared the morning or the afternoon of April 10th [two days ago]. He was last seen by his sister, Lara, at 12:22pm that day (Lara was reported as being "very reliable"). Billy did not show up for tea. His parents were worried, but did not call the police. Neighbours and his father searched the area for evidence of foul play. The initial interviews were conducted by the original pair of police constables to arrive at the scene of the crime, PC [James] Fredericks and PC [Jack] March. One of the building residents, a Frank Waters of #21, reported "a suspicious character in the courtyard". He thought the character was smoking Pall Mall cigarettes. At 8:15am this morning, April 12th, the father Robert Sykes called the Met and informed them his child was missing. The police have started to set up the timeline on the board at the local resto (and will also be done at Charing Cross Police Station] that is being used as a base of operations."
Based on what PCs Roarke and Caton have observed so far, Woodrow suggests that people of interest include the two doormen(-cum-guards?) at the main and secondary entrances of the Odham Walk estate; the parking attendant of the building's underground parking lot; the British Transport Police officer(?); the proprietor and staff of both McCurdy's Toys and Games (established 1950) and Woolery's Confectionery Shoppe (established 1876); and the two reporters that were witnessed on Long Acre Street. Woodrow suggests that it also might be a good idea to question Mr. Frank Waters of #21 again.
Woodrow calls the other police officers on the scene on their Airwave radios, and arrange for them to meet at the main entrance of the Odham Walk estate building. The other three police constables meet up with PCs Roarke and Caton, and introductions are made all around. With PC Priscilla Hollings taking the lead, they agree to their inquiries to be made, and agree to meet up at the end of the day at Charing Cross Police Station. On gaining access to the building, they have a chat up with Robert Wilson, the doorman at the main entrance. He tells them he's saddened and worried about the Sykes boy, and takes them up to the 2nd floor and the Sykes residence at #28 off the courtyard there. Caton taps Roarke on the shoulder and tells him that there's already three evidence spots laid out, marked #1-3. [She succeeded at a Hard Observation check.] The evidence spots were obviously laid out by the original team that responded to the call; they'll need to check the official reports.
Making their way over to the Sykes residence at #28, they are greeted by Billy's mother, Sylvia, who answers the door. Showing their Warrant cards, she invites them in. Sylvia tells them that Billy's absence wasn't that unusual, and the family assumed that he'd gone to play with the Oduya family children from #30. On the Sunday, he'd usually stay over, but they learn that he never arrived at Thomas Oduya's. The two constables bring up the possibility that he might have played at the abandoned [Demarest] office building, on Endell Street, but both Sylvia and Robert Sykes (who joins them) dismiss that. The old office building isn't safe to play in, and they would not have wandered around there without permission. Robert tells them that one also has to have Covent Garden Council permission to even enter the building remains. Besides, if he had gone there, Billy would not have gone there alone. When asked, Robert says that on the day in question he spent much of it at the Farthing & Fife pub on Neal Street, watching football. He returned home at around 4pm; Tottenham Spurs won the game. On top of that, Robert Sykes says that no one, including the doorman, saw Billy leave the building. And if he had, it would have registered with a scan from the keycard device. They are joined by Lara, Billy's 6-year-old sister, who through her parents (because of legal issue talking to young children) tells them she saw the man in the courtyard. She says that he is black, wore a [Columbo style] trenchcoat, and was smoking. Having learned all they can for the moment, they thank the Sykes for talking to then, and leave the residence.
Back in the courtyard, Roarke and Caton approach the evidence spotters where PC Priscilla Hollings is keeping an eye on the evidence. She tells Roarke and Caton that she's surprised there's no evidence tape cordoning off the area, let alone no police officer on duty to keep an eye on things. Roarke and Caton ask her if it's alright if they take a look at the evidence, and she tells them it's fine but not to contaminate the scene "more than it already is". Approaching the evidence, they notice it's in the courtyard which is open to the sky, is rectangular with some geometric shapes to it, and is the courtyard area between units #28 and #32. There are three evidence spots, marked with the numbers #1, #2, and #3. Warily approaching the evidence markers, Roarke and Caton see the three difference items marked off.
#1 A Running sneaker - child size;
#2 A Confectioner chocolate packet [Vestigia: Cigarette smoke, taste of chocolate, hoof beats on cobblestone] - it bears a piece of chocolate and bears the Woolery's Confectioners logo on its label; and
#3 A Blood smear - dark spot discolourisation smear of reddish liquid.
As they look closer at the pieces of evidence, Roarke is shocked when he suddenly senses the vestigia surrounding the Confectioner's chocolate packet: the smell of cigarette smoke, the taste of chocolate, and the sound of hoof beats on cobblestone! [He succeeded at a Hard Sense Vestigia roll, but spent 5 Luck Points.] He reels backward, taken somewhat by surprise.
However, before Roarke can explain to Caton what happened, PC Esai N'gombo and PC Steve Wendell come running up to them, saying that they have a (huge) problem. There are two other children who've gone missing from the building in the last couple of weeks. Six weeks ago, Abigail Votumbé, age 8 of #43, disappeared. Three weeks before that, Morry Frankland, age 8 of #51, disappeared. And just three weeks ago, Ellie Barton, age 7 of #32, disappeared. They explain that based on what the families told me during their routine questions, all three cases were closed as no foul play was suspected. It was and is assumed that the kids ran off, as they are wont to do at that age. PC Caton merely look at the others and says, "but maybe they didn't run off..."
Sunday afternoon's session of the Rivers of London: The Roleplaying Game campaign went pretty well for the most part, the players starting to get involved with the case file and the mystery at hand. I say that but Tammy's forensic scientist wasn't involved in play at all this session, given the limitations the character has (which the rulebook goes into), but she seemed content to play Halley Caton, Steve's constable's partner. That doesn't mitigate the fact that I completely blew the start of the investigation in various ways, but I thought I salvaged the matter rather handily. Still, we'll see what happens when the case file is complete, but that aside I thought things went pretty well, especially the reveal at the end of the session. The players told me that they had a good time, and enjoyed the mystery that's going on, but feel a bit overwhelmed by everything that has to be done to solve the case.
Overall, it was a good session of the Rivers of London: The Roleplaying Game RPG, but I do have to sharpen up a few of my skills and do a bit better organising of the sequence of events that the players have to focus on with their investigators. In any event, I'm looking forward to the next session. :)