Friday Night Game Report - Primeval RPG Session 3
It has actually been a while since I posted a game session report about my on-going roleplaying game campaigns. As noted elsewhere in my LiveJournal blog, I am currently running the two gaming groups through the Primeval RPG campaign. The Friday night gamers actually started their campaign back in February, when I first got the basic material for the game that I had been sent ready. Here's the second session of actual running the game from back on February 17th, 2011. You can read about the previous session of the game in this journal entry. This post may be somewhat long, but even if it's not, I've put it behind a cut so that folks who don't want to read any detailed rpg posts don't have to.
Friday, March 2nd, 2007 AD
David Bannister, Amanda Tarrascon, and the two police officers, followed by Jenny Hansford follow the sound of the screams and find the badly bleeding body of a teenager. David tries to do his best to save the teenage boy, while one of the police officers tries to question him. Jenny backs off, somewhat terrified of all the blood, and Amanda tries to calm her down, and is partially successful. Amanda looks around, trying to spot what attacked the teenager. She finds what appear to be tracks of some sort of lizard, but one that she can't identify.
As the creature charges towards Jessica, Robert grabs a large, broken branch [he paid a Story Point to find it], and swings it at the creature, striking it a glancing blow. Somewhat dazed, the creature backs away from them, eying them warily. Inquiring whether Jessica is all right, Robert keeps the creature at bay from the two of them with the branch, and eventually it moves off into the foliage. The two of them breathe a sigh of relief.
As Alexander Taylor, and his fellow soldiers including Donnegal and Hennessy, regard the shimmering, yellow-white circle of light (hereafter referred to as Anomalies), three shadowy figures emerge from it, and are revealed to be creatures similar to those encountered by the other player characters. Donnegal and Hennessy immediately open fire on the creatures, and manage to kill two of them, but the third escapes into the woods of Chelton Park. Taylor chastises the two of them for their rash actions, and they are quite sheepish. With a sigh, Taylor instructs two of the other men to follow him in pursuit of the creature, and orders Donnegal and Hennessy to stay at the site of the Anomaly and keep an eye on it. Hennessy asks what their orders are in the event of any other creatures coming out of the field of light, and he tells them to "contain them." As Taylor moves off, Hennessy asks Donnegal how they're supposed to do that.
Amanda tells David they need to follow the creature that left the tracks and determine what it is and stop it, her love of animals getting the better of her, but David and Jenny are not convinced of this. Amanda wheedles them somewhat, and the two reluctantly agree to go with her. The two of them head off in search of the creature once the police officers report in, and Jenny is forced to deal with the police on her own, but it is clear to them that she had nothing to do with the teenager's death. Jenny dissembles somewhat before them, but is forced to remain in the area.
Catching their breath, Jessica and Robert mull over the situation, and Jessica senses an even bigger story in this. Robert's natural curiosity gets the better of him, and he agrees to trail the animal (he refuses to call it a creature) though he isn't all that happy with Jessica coming with him, as the creature struck him as dangerous. He takes the branch to defend himself, and they move off in the direction the creature went.
Captain Taylor and his two men are having no problem tracking the creature, and eventually come upon it at a stream where it has stopped to drink. Before Taylor and his men can act, the creature senses them and races into the foliage. One of Taylor's men, Hill, spots something - the creature? - and shoots at it, Taylor chastising him, as two figures emerge from the vegetation - David and Amanda. The latter shouts at the soldier, telling him he almost hit her, but she calms down at the sight of the other two SAS men, and they answer Taylor's questions in a reasonable manner. David checks out Amanda, and makes sure she's not been hit. Taylor sees the advantage of having the medic (David) and the zoologist (Amanda) help him at the moment, and so is able to cajole him into working with him. They set off in search of the creature.
The police finish questioning Jenny, and tell her to move along and leave the area. She decides to head in the direction that she saw David and Amanda move off in, and slowly makes her way in the direction they headed. She spots what appears to be a small animal, but is surprised to find that it is some sort of dinosaur-like creature. Before she can react, it spots her and races into the vegetation. She doggedly pursues it. After some time, Jenny comes to the realisation that she's lost. However, she can make out what seems to be a yellowish white light, and decides that several people are out searching for the creature, so makes her way in that direction.
Jessica and Robert follow the creature's tracks, and find themselves approaching what appears to be a swirling circle of yellowish white glass shards. They encounter the two soldiers left by Captain Taylor there, Donnelly and Hennessy, who are somewhat nervous, and on edge. Jessica manages to calm them down somewhat, but the group is caught off guard when three of the creatures race past the characters, and directly into the circle of light!
Captain Taylor, David, Amanda, and the two SAS soldiers follow the creature, and Taylor realises that it has doubled back on them, and is heading back to the Anomaly. They arrive at the Anomaly just in time to see the creature they were chasing plunge into the light, past a surprised pair of soldiers and Jessica and Robert.
Jenny arrives at the strange luminescent portal, and is reunited with Amanda and David once more. They all watch as another of the creatures races through the Anomaly. Introductions are made all around, and as the player characters watch, the Anomaly pulses and fades, and then finally vanishes.
The player characters are escorted by Captain Taylor and his soldiers to one of the Home Office buildings in the city, where they are debriefed. None of the player characters have any idea of what they just encountered, although Jenny mentions that from what she saw of the creature, it might be a dinosaur of some sort. Amanda is forced to concur with her assessment, when it is brought up by Archibald Lowrie, the Home Office troubleshooter who deals with them. The player characters are all released, on condition that they do not discuss what happened in Chelton Park with anyone.
Some time later, Captain Alex Taylor is called into a conference with Archibald Lowrie and two other individuals, one male and one female. He is informed that a new taskforce may shortly be assembled under the purview of the Home Office. While Jessica Ransome and Jenny Hansford are considered non-essential personnel, he is advised that he and his men should be keeping an eye on Professor Tarrascon, Robert Harrington, and David Bannister...
And that was the wrap-up of the first Primeval RPG scenario that I ran. One of the more interesting elements of the game is what are called Exposure and Temporal Damage. I won't go into detail about what they are (unless someone asks about this in the Comments), but suffice it to say at the end of the scenario the characters have inflicted 2 points of Temporal Damage and 3 points of Exposure.
The players said to me at the time that they rather enjoyed their first experience with the Primeval RPG, and that the rules were simple enough and not all that difficult to get a handle on, though the changes in the use of Story Points between this game and Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space were just different enough to cause a few problems. Kathy pointed out that the players might have to remember in future to run when confronted with dinosaurs, as it's definitely not a Pulp adventure game. We all got a good laugh about that.
In any event, I'll post the material for the first session of the second adventure later this week when I have a bit of time. For now, I'm getting ready to head for school.
Friday, March 2nd, 2007 AD
David Bannister, Amanda Tarrascon, and the two police officers, followed by Jenny Hansford follow the sound of the screams and find the badly bleeding body of a teenager. David tries to do his best to save the teenage boy, while one of the police officers tries to question him. Jenny backs off, somewhat terrified of all the blood, and Amanda tries to calm her down, and is partially successful. Amanda looks around, trying to spot what attacked the teenager. She finds what appear to be tracks of some sort of lizard, but one that she can't identify.
As the creature charges towards Jessica, Robert grabs a large, broken branch [he paid a Story Point to find it], and swings it at the creature, striking it a glancing blow. Somewhat dazed, the creature backs away from them, eying them warily. Inquiring whether Jessica is all right, Robert keeps the creature at bay from the two of them with the branch, and eventually it moves off into the foliage. The two of them breathe a sigh of relief.
As Alexander Taylor, and his fellow soldiers including Donnegal and Hennessy, regard the shimmering, yellow-white circle of light (hereafter referred to as Anomalies), three shadowy figures emerge from it, and are revealed to be creatures similar to those encountered by the other player characters. Donnegal and Hennessy immediately open fire on the creatures, and manage to kill two of them, but the third escapes into the woods of Chelton Park. Taylor chastises the two of them for their rash actions, and they are quite sheepish. With a sigh, Taylor instructs two of the other men to follow him in pursuit of the creature, and orders Donnegal and Hennessy to stay at the site of the Anomaly and keep an eye on it. Hennessy asks what their orders are in the event of any other creatures coming out of the field of light, and he tells them to "contain them." As Taylor moves off, Hennessy asks Donnegal how they're supposed to do that.
Amanda tells David they need to follow the creature that left the tracks and determine what it is and stop it, her love of animals getting the better of her, but David and Jenny are not convinced of this. Amanda wheedles them somewhat, and the two reluctantly agree to go with her. The two of them head off in search of the creature once the police officers report in, and Jenny is forced to deal with the police on her own, but it is clear to them that she had nothing to do with the teenager's death. Jenny dissembles somewhat before them, but is forced to remain in the area.
Catching their breath, Jessica and Robert mull over the situation, and Jessica senses an even bigger story in this. Robert's natural curiosity gets the better of him, and he agrees to trail the animal (he refuses to call it a creature) though he isn't all that happy with Jessica coming with him, as the creature struck him as dangerous. He takes the branch to defend himself, and they move off in the direction the creature went.
Captain Taylor and his two men are having no problem tracking the creature, and eventually come upon it at a stream where it has stopped to drink. Before Taylor and his men can act, the creature senses them and races into the foliage. One of Taylor's men, Hill, spots something - the creature? - and shoots at it, Taylor chastising him, as two figures emerge from the vegetation - David and Amanda. The latter shouts at the soldier, telling him he almost hit her, but she calms down at the sight of the other two SAS men, and they answer Taylor's questions in a reasonable manner. David checks out Amanda, and makes sure she's not been hit. Taylor sees the advantage of having the medic (David) and the zoologist (Amanda) help him at the moment, and so is able to cajole him into working with him. They set off in search of the creature.
The police finish questioning Jenny, and tell her to move along and leave the area. She decides to head in the direction that she saw David and Amanda move off in, and slowly makes her way in the direction they headed. She spots what appears to be a small animal, but is surprised to find that it is some sort of dinosaur-like creature. Before she can react, it spots her and races into the vegetation. She doggedly pursues it. After some time, Jenny comes to the realisation that she's lost. However, she can make out what seems to be a yellowish white light, and decides that several people are out searching for the creature, so makes her way in that direction.
Jessica and Robert follow the creature's tracks, and find themselves approaching what appears to be a swirling circle of yellowish white glass shards. They encounter the two soldiers left by Captain Taylor there, Donnelly and Hennessy, who are somewhat nervous, and on edge. Jessica manages to calm them down somewhat, but the group is caught off guard when three of the creatures race past the characters, and directly into the circle of light!
Captain Taylor, David, Amanda, and the two SAS soldiers follow the creature, and Taylor realises that it has doubled back on them, and is heading back to the Anomaly. They arrive at the Anomaly just in time to see the creature they were chasing plunge into the light, past a surprised pair of soldiers and Jessica and Robert.
Jenny arrives at the strange luminescent portal, and is reunited with Amanda and David once more. They all watch as another of the creatures races through the Anomaly. Introductions are made all around, and as the player characters watch, the Anomaly pulses and fades, and then finally vanishes.
The player characters are escorted by Captain Taylor and his soldiers to one of the Home Office buildings in the city, where they are debriefed. None of the player characters have any idea of what they just encountered, although Jenny mentions that from what she saw of the creature, it might be a dinosaur of some sort. Amanda is forced to concur with her assessment, when it is brought up by Archibald Lowrie, the Home Office troubleshooter who deals with them. The player characters are all released, on condition that they do not discuss what happened in Chelton Park with anyone.
Some time later, Captain Alex Taylor is called into a conference with Archibald Lowrie and two other individuals, one male and one female. He is informed that a new taskforce may shortly be assembled under the purview of the Home Office. While Jessica Ransome and Jenny Hansford are considered non-essential personnel, he is advised that he and his men should be keeping an eye on Professor Tarrascon, Robert Harrington, and David Bannister...
And that was the wrap-up of the first Primeval RPG scenario that I ran. One of the more interesting elements of the game is what are called Exposure and Temporal Damage. I won't go into detail about what they are (unless someone asks about this in the Comments), but suffice it to say at the end of the scenario the characters have inflicted 2 points of Temporal Damage and 3 points of Exposure.
The players said to me at the time that they rather enjoyed their first experience with the Primeval RPG, and that the rules were simple enough and not all that difficult to get a handle on, though the changes in the use of Story Points between this game and Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space were just different enough to cause a few problems. Kathy pointed out that the players might have to remember in future to run when confronted with dinosaurs, as it's definitely not a Pulp adventure game. We all got a good laugh about that.
In any event, I'll post the material for the first session of the second adventure later this week when I have a bit of time. For now, I'm getting ready to head for school.