Primarily from the core book, though half of the characters used Tagers from Vade Mecum. In the next session they'll also encounter some of the Dhohanoids from the compainion. The card based system is from Vade Mecum. It really was a composite.
The game began slow, simply because none of them have played it before (and I've never run it before) but once they understood the overall system and got used to the card based play they really got into it. Having a hand of cards gives the players the joy of having a fairly good idea of their success or failure before they take their actions. It also lets them employ a metagame strategy while keeping in their characters more than they do in D&D.
Because cards offer very clear uses of straights and doubles (something CthulhuTech characters need to succeed in their efforts) they had a better chance to rounding out. Cards also allow for flushes, which they used alot. Another major element was the Drama Points characters get. I handed out poker chips (each player got their own color) and when they used a point they handed in the chip. As Story Guide I played off the top of the desk, so I would deal myself however many cards I needed, face down and in the open, and then ask if the players wanted to spend points. If they did than they put their chip on the card they wanted to block. When everyone was done I turned over the unblocked cards and read the results, then revealed the blocked cards. The players got a personal thrill when their chip blocked a combo or turned the tide. Since players can spend points even on actions that don't directly include them this had everyone paying attention all the time.
And finally, despite all of this out of character thinking, they almost never talked to each other out of character. All the point spends and the card laying where done fast and without player/player meetings and discussions. In the last hour of the game we made dozens of actions in rapid succession (they where in a big fight), cards literally flying around the table as I dealt my own and replaced cards used by players. The players put their hands face up on the table as well so I could see what they had but also so they could see what each other had. I like'd the idea because it paints a visual of their character in the game.
A the character of a player with a strong hand is confident, the other characters can see it on their face and in their movements that they know their gonna succeed. Conversely when a player has no combos ready or alot of aces (which can cause critical failures) their character is worried and jumpy, unsure of themselves. It all flows quickly because of the visual elements and players go with it.
The setting itself is helpful since the game is high action and the characters are badasses from day one. Tagers shot laser, tear shit apart with their bear claws, and have superpowers like hearing radios with just their ears or seeing through walls or creating illusions of themselves or boiling people's blood in their veins. Every player in the game felt awesome and it made them confident. I felt good as GM describing the nasty, horrible things they had to fight and playing up the violence and action in everything that happened.
In the course of the first session they got to have a high speed shoot out, run a car off of a highway, curb stomp some wounded monsters, wreck a very nice car that they'd stolen, and get into a massive brawl over a traveling case that was so heavy they could bearly move it. We ended with the second wave of badguys advancing on half of the team while the others rush to help them. All of the players want to play again as soon as we can.
