Canon Puncture Game Blog

The following AP was originally posted on www.storygames.com under the thread “Lacuna: Falconer Chronicles”.

I don’t know many gamers locally since I moved to FL. One guy I befriended said he used to play D&D and then Legend of the Five Rings 1st edition but hadn’t played in several years. It turned out we both have Wednesdays off, so I asked if he’d like to play a game. He agreed and chose Lacuna from the few options I offered (Inspectres, Lacuna and Dead Inside).

So, in my Lone Wolf Lacuna game, the PC used to work in Green before he became a Mystery Agent. The player rolled an older man (in his forties) and the name of Agent Falconer. He decided Falconer enjoyed working for The Company because he doesn’t dream when he sleeps. He also told me that Falconer is a bit of a bore and spends his time off watching movies listed in a Movie Review book he’d bought.

In game one, we began with his first dive into Blue City. He was sent with an experienced lead agent (Draper) and a young agent who seemed to have been in Blue City before (Purcell). They were sent after a suspected rapist. Control directed them to The Park and they found him hiding in a copse of trees. Falconer asked Purcell to distract the target while Draper and Falconer snuck up on him. Once they got up to the chubby fellow and attacked, a serpentine skeletal monster ripped out of him and attacked back. Since the player had only read the first section, he was freaked. He managed to slap the Lacuna device on the target and activated it. Target disappeared in a whiff of black smoke and the mission was over.

In game two, I started in media res. The same team (Falconer, Draper and Purcell) were chasing an ape-like monster across the rooftops of Blue City. Purcell was on the streets riding a scooter and moved into the office building where the ape had entered from the roof. Falconer entered the building and after searching a few floors, he came into a room where the ape was talking to Purcell… and she was listening. He overheard a bit of the conversation. The ape was berating Purcell, asking her if she thought she was doing any good, if she ever thought about what the Lacuna device really does. Falconer tried to sneak in, but the ape heard him. The two got into a scuffle and Falconer hit him with the Lacuna device, activated it, and the mission was over. Falconer began asking Purcell if she was okay. He asked her what they were talking about. Purcell put on a pair of shades, said it was nothing, and winked out (ejected).

(This was the first time I used Purcell’s youth as a tool to see what the player saw in her. His concern for her was this odd mix of fatherly concern based on their age difference, and a bit of a different kind of compassion. I quickly decided to push this from time to time.)

A few nights later, Falconer found himself riding in the back of a Model T Ford driving in the countryside. He looked at the driver and realized it was Purcell. He greeted Purcell and she corrected him, telling him her name was really Jane. Falconer blinked, thought for a moment, and told her his name was Jeff. Jane-Purcell started asking Jeff-Falconer if he’d ever thought about what happens to people “treated” by the Lacuna device, how they disappeared and came out “cured”, placid and happy. She revealed that the Nasrudin Institute used convicts for their Blue City tests and that these same convicts were “cured” and now they run The Company. Jeff-Falconer advised Jane-Purcell that she needed to keep this quiet so they could look into it further.

(This was an interesting response from the player. Instead of rallying with Purcell or trying to talk her out of it, he immediately agreed with her and moved to control the situation. Since this was our first few games together, I was surprised by this reaction.)