Canon Puncture Game Blog

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

In game four, the players were sent after a woman who had poisoned her last three husbands. They tracked her down at The Cafe and Falconer asked Control for a limo and a nice suit. He had Purcell hide in the back and Draper act as the driver. Falconer drove up to The Cafe, hopped out and grabbed a table. He ordered a bottle of wine to send to the target and waited for her to smile at him. He then walked over, chatted her up and asked her to take a ride. She smiled and quickly agreed. Once she got close to the limo, Falconer shoved her in and they drove off. During the struggle, Purcell slapped a Lacuna device on her while Falconer looked back at The Cafe to see if anyone saw them. Then he spotted the same target walking out of a building to The Cafe. As the first target disappeared with a wail when the Lacuna activated, Falconer had Draper turn back around and head to The Cafe. The “second” target ran away from them and around a corner down the street. She ducked into an apartment building. They park and dash in. As Purcell opened the door to the lobby, a huge snake bit into her shoulder and threw her down. Draper and Falconer pursued the giant snake into the pitch black lobby to corner the beast. Falconer lost his Lacuna device and Draper attached his to the snake, but didn’t activate it. The snake tail whipped Draper and Falconer dove at the snake and set off the Lacuna device. As the device activated and the snake disappeared, the world seemed to swim for a second and the light from the open door slid across to another wall. Falconer helped Draper out of the lobby to the stoop where Purcell was lying, barely conscious. He then realized that something changed. Their car wasn’t out front and they weren’t on the same street. Falconer helped Purcell up and mostly carried her while also supporting Draper. The three stumbled through the streets of Blue City until Falconer reached a landline and helped them eject.

Back at The Company, Falconer’s mentor was waiting for him when they awoke on the slab. She informed the team that they have done well and will receive a small commendation and recommended that they clean up. All three agents were sweat-soaked and agreed. That’s when Falconer realized that everything is unisex, including the lockers. Draper headed straight into the showers. After some hesitation, Purcell entered as well, a towel covering her completely. She was obviously bashful around Falconer. Falconer played around in the locker room, not sure if he should enter the showers, but is cajoled into it by Draper who reminds him that they needs to hurry.

(This was my attempt to push some sexual tension between the two and to see how the player would react. He bit at the oddness of the situation, especially so soon after having almost watch her die. It was a fun RP moment.)

A small group of fellow employees had gathered for the team and Falconer’s mentor handed them small medals in appreciation for their efforts. Thus ended game four.

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Here are some thoughts about running the game.

* I found it hard to always have it raining. The rooftop scene felt like it should be just after a rain with this kind of hazy fog. The Cafe scene felt like it should take place just after a rain with the sun peeking out of the clouds. I kept these images in my head and neglected to describe the weather, but it was a mental challenge to keep it raining all the time.

* I completely forgot to use Static during the first game session. Heart rate was enough of a threat to keep the player in check since he was still learning the system. With a group of aggressive gamers, this could have been a problem. But that wasn’t the text, that was just me learning while running.

* I found myself fascinated with the idea that Lacuna just “makes people better”. I took the game to a conspiracy bent. The player also got the same vibe early on. When Purcell first explained that she felt something was wrong, the player rolled with it, telling the NPC she needs to keep quiet because they are watching. The diea that the upper management of The Company are all ex-cons cured by the Lacuna experience and now they’re proscribing the same treatment for every major criminal is fascinating Body Snatcher-type stuff.

* The interplay with Control was something I found interesting during the read of the book, but I rarely used it. I enjoyed the exploratory aspect of the game, having Control divorced form the agents for the majority of the game but always watching.

* I haven’t even hinted at the Spidermen, The War or “The Girl”. It hasn’t been necessary to add to the plot as is. In fact, Static hasn’t been necessary to limit or push the player. I’ve only used it once: when I had the room with the snake move about. It was a sufficient weird thing to have happen when the agents were down and almost out.

* The dream sequence where Purcell first talked to Falconer, revealed her name and some of the history of the Nasrudin Institute was this odd piece I threw in. I never explained how Purcell got into Falconer’s dream and he hasn’t pursued it yet. I plan on bringing this back into play. What if Purcell is The Girl? Hrm… maybe.

Last night, the CP crew and our new gaming buddy Mick Bradley (of The Game That May Be and The Game Master Show podcasts) completed a pitch session for a game of Primetime Adventures (PTA).  A pitch session is where the entire playgroup, players the GM (called the Producer) sit down and discuss the TV show they want to play (PTA is an RPG where the goal is to emulate a television show).

I wanted to be the Producer for the show and previously asked if it was cool.  We’d already pitched a show previously, but since time had passed and Mick wasn’t part of the original pitch, we scrapped the original pitch and started clean.

I decided to hang back during the initial stages of the the pitch to let the players make a show that grabbed them.  Interestingly enough, the group started off with sci-fi space opera like we did before, but this time I sat back and let them work through it.  The players moved on to other ideas, but kept thinking sci-fi during all but one (that other one was a supernatural modern take).  We went through five different show ideas with a few permutations on each. 

Mick and I were pushing for a Reece Cup show (his idea, my monicker): somethign where two different ideas are combined that you don’t normally see together.  An example is Firefly the TV show: Old West in space. 

The end result is pretty exciting:

• The setting is a kind of DMZ between a group of dfferent aliens that are on the brink of war between each other; space travel is common for these races and they all have territory nearby
• This DMZ was once a very important stop in a major trade route, but over time, a new faster route was devised that made this place a non-factor (imagine Route 66 in space)
• Due to changes in the importance of the DMZ, resources have been pulled back by each of the separate alien races and only a skeleton crew is left behind to manage the place
• Due to the decreased resources and the still viable route, lesser desirable traffic still comes through the DMZ
• The player characters are all diplomatic representatives of different races that are technically enemies of each other outside the DMZ
• They are charged with administrating the DMZ and while they aren’t police officers toting guns, they are responsible for making sure peace is kept
• The PCs have become friendly over their years and while they send back reports speaking ill of each other, it is actually an onging game they play to keep up appearances
• There is a desire by the entire group for the tension between the races to affect the DMZ

So yeah, I’m more hyped about this show than the food show, honestly.  During the character generation (which we didn’t quite complete during the meetup), I was able to create an opening sequence that I’m pretty interested in.  I can’t wait to see the players flesh out their PCs and to play next week.