Anecdote Megathread

[Redroverone]

So I've been playing a Mutants and Masterminds campaign with my friend GMing. There are four players, and the GM was hoping for a more lighthearted campaign.

Then he let me make the homeless guy with an Illusion array (Affliction/Damage) and a couple of levels of Transform. He's not got the best grip on his imagination, and he hears the voice of his dead friend, but I must admit that turning the air around an opponent's head into three pounds of plastic DOES end fights quickly. As does an army of six foot long ants crawling from vents. Or a swarm of bees erupiting from under his hood.

[Jace911]

Just finished playing in a "The Play's The Thing" game run by Tomsawyer, in which we set aside the works of Shakespeare in favor of producing Star Wars: A New Hope.

I was the Lead playing both Obi-Wan Kenobi and Princess Leia, while the Villain played Darth Vader and Luke Skyalker and the Ham played Han Solo. Here is a complete list of our edits over the course of the play:

1. Princess Leia's actor hates CGI and can't get in character without physical effects. Stormtroopers proceed to board the Tantive IV and gun down the Rebels with cans of silly string.
2. Han Solo's actor thinks his character is somewhat underused and shoehorned into the plot, so he convinces the playwright to edit the script to that Han is one of Luke's friends on Tatooine who regularly visits him. Han appears in the scene where Uncle Ben and Luke buy C-3PO and R2D2.
3. Luke threatens the Jawas who tried to sell them a droid with a faulty motivator, and they give him R2 to placate him.
4. Leia's holographic message is replaced with a miniature cuckoo-clock Leia that pops out of R2's dome.
5. Obi-Wan Kenobi's actor has seen the light when it comes to CGI and insists that the Sand People be made to look more frightening in post. In the meantime the extras playing the Sand People will wear green morph suits.
6. Obi-Wan's home is full of Persian rugs because
7. Obi-Wan flat-out tells Luke that Darth Vader is his father when he gives him Anakin's lightsaber. "This was your father's. He killed like thirty kids with it before I hacked off his legs and threw him in a volcano."
8. While in the Mos Eisley cantina Luke starts a barfight brawl with the two alien thugs, which rages on in the background. Obi-Wan, Han, and Chewie negotiate passage on the Falcon while hiding underneath a table.
9. Obi-Wan pays Han by selling him C-3PO.
10. When confronted with the bounty hunter Greedo, Han solves his dispute with him by challenging him to a card game...specifically, Uno. The audience is treated to a dramatic shot of Han slowly reaching under the table to slip a "Draw Four" card from his pocket when Greedo isn't looking. "I've been looking forward to this for a long time," Greedo says. "I bet you have," Han smugly replies just before the Uno machine spits dozens of cards into Greedo's face.
11. While being interrogated by Darth Vader and Tarkin, Leia tries to convince them that the Rebel base is on Tatooine. They destroy Alderaan anyway, because "Tatooine is too remote to make an effective demonstration."
12.  Leia tries to attack Tarkin for destroying her homeworld, only for Darth Vader to chop off her left hand with his lightsaber!
13. Han rolls his eyes at Luke's performance with the training droid. "I call it luck," he says an instant before the remote shoots him in the crotch.
14. Obi-Wan's face darkens and he clutches his heart. "I feel a great disturbance in the Force..." *audible sounds of the actor passing gas* "As though a million voices suddenly cried out in terror..." *extended flatulence* "and were suddenly silenced."
15. Instead of hiding in smuggling compartments to avoid capture, the heroes conceal themselves within the false walls of the Millennium Falcon. From inside they observe the searching stormtroopers through large paintings of Chewie's family with holes where the eyes would be.
16. The dianoga in the garbage pit is replaced with Oscar the Grouch in order to satisfy advertising requirements.
17. While fleeing from the stormtroopers, Han runs into Obi-Wan and the two escape the stormtroopers together before running into Darth Vader.
18. Han quickdraws his weapon, but Vader blocks the silly string with his hand before yanking it away! Still, this distracts him enough for Obi-Wan to strike a killing blow and end the Sith Lord once and for all! With his dying breath Vader warns his old master "there is another..."
19. Luke and Leia arrive on the scene just in time to see Obi-Wan strike down Vader. Luke, who knows Vader is his father, screams "NOOOOOO!" and strikes Obi-Wan down in vengeance. Han and Leia escape the Death Star, but Luke remains to take his father's place in the Empire.
20. For the trench run scene the extras playing X-wing pilots must piggy-back ride stage hands in green morph suits so that they can be CGI'd into starfighters in post.
21. Han decides to stay and join the attack on the Death Star in the Millennium Falcon. Leia goes with him as a gunner, having received a prosthetic hand, and during the trench run she hears Obi-Wan urging her to use the Force. She takes the shot that destroys the Death Star, cementing her role as the story's new hero while Luke has already left to meet the Emperor on Coruscant and become the new Dark Lord.
22. Chewie gets a fucking medal in the awards ceremony.

Failed Edits:
--Leia stows away on the escape pod with 3PO and R2
--Obi-Wan bribes the stormtroopers in Mos Eisley to look the other way by giving them 3PO
--Obi-Wan lets Luke get the shit kicked out of him in the cantina
--The Death Star was to be represented on-stage with a huge water cannon, which would blast the audience when Alderaan was destroyed. This would generate authentic fear and tension during the final scene as the station is preparing to destroy the Rebel base.

[clockworkjoe]

that is an awesome way to run The Play's the Thing. Kudos sir!

[Tomsawyer]

Next I plan on running Empire Strikes Back

[Gorkamorka]

Just finished playing in a "The Play's The Thing" game run by Tomsawyer, in which we set aside the works of Shakespeare in favor of producing Star Wars: A New Hope.

I was the Lead playing both Obi-Wan Kenobi and Princess Leia, while the Villain played Darth Vader and Luke Skyalker and the Ham played Han Solo. Here is a complete list of our edits over the course of the play:

1. Princess Leia's actor hates CGI and can't get in character without physical effects. Stormtroopers proceed to board the Tantive IV and gun down the Rebels with cans of silly string.
2. Han Solo's actor thinks his character is somewhat underused and shoehorned into the plot, so he convinces the playwright to edit the script to that Han is one of Luke's friends on Tatooine who regularly visits him. Han appears in the scene where Uncle Ben and Luke buy C-3PO and R2D2.
3. Luke threatens the Jawas who tried to sell them a droid with a faulty motivator, and they give him R2 to placate him.
4. Leia's holographic message is replaced with a miniature cuckoo-clock Leia that pops out of R2's dome.
5. Obi-Wan Kenobi's actor has seen the light when it comes to CGI and insists that the Sand People be made to look more frightening in post. In the meantime the extras playing the Sand People will wear green morph suits.
6. Obi-Wan's home is full of Persian rugs because
7. Obi-Wan flat-out tells Luke that Darth Vader is his father when he gives him Anakin's lightsaber. "This was your father's. He killed like thirty kids with it before I hacked off his legs and threw him in a volcano."
8. While in the Mos Eisley cantina Luke starts a barfight brawl with the two alien thugs, which rages on in the background. Obi-Wan, Han, and Chewie negotiate passage on the Falcon while hiding underneath a table.
9. Obi-Wan pays Han by selling him C-3PO.
10. When confronted with the bounty hunter Greedo, Han solves his dispute with him by challenging him to a card game...specifically, Uno. The audience is treated to a dramatic shot of Han slowly reaching under the table to slip a "Draw Four" card from his pocket when Greedo isn't looking. "I've been looking forward to this for a long time," Greedo says. "I bet you have," Han smugly replies just before the Uno machine spits dozens of cards into Greedo's face.
11. While being interrogated by Darth Vader and Tarkin, Leia tries to convince them that the Rebel base is on Tatooine. They destroy Alderaan anyway, because "Tatooine is too remote to make an effective demonstration."
12.  Leia tries to attack Tarkin for destroying her homeworld, only for Darth Vader to chop off her left hand with his lightsaber!
13. Han rolls his eyes at Luke's performance with the training droid. "I call it luck," he says an instant before the remote shoots him in the crotch.
14. Obi-Wan's face darkens and he clutches his heart. "I feel a great disturbance in the Force..." *audible sounds of the actor passing gas* "As though a million voices suddenly cried out in terror..." *extended flatulence* "and were suddenly silenced."
15. Instead of hiding in smuggling compartments to avoid capture, the heroes conceal themselves within the false walls of the Millennium Falcon. From inside they observe the searching stormtroopers through large paintings of Chewie's family with holes where the eyes would be.
16. The dianoga in the garbage pit is replaced with Oscar the Grouch in order to satisfy advertising requirements.
17. While fleeing from the stormtroopers, Han runs into Obi-Wan and the two escape the stormtroopers together before running into Darth Vader.
18. Han quickdraws his weapon, but Vader blocks the silly string with his hand before yanking it away! Still, this distracts him enough for Obi-Wan to strike a killing blow and end the Sith Lord once and for all! With his dying breath Vader warns his old master "there is another..."
19. Luke and Leia arrive on the scene just in time to see Obi-Wan strike down Vader. Luke, who knows Vader is his father, screams "NOOOOOO!" and strikes Obi-Wan down in vengeance. Han and Leia escape the Death Star, but Luke remains to take his father's place in the Empire.
20. For the trench run scene the extras playing X-wing pilots must piggy-back ride stage hands in green morph suits so that they can be CGI'd into starfighters in post.
21. Han decides to stay and join the attack on the Death Star in the Millennium Falcon. Leia goes with him as a gunner, having received a prosthetic hand, and during the trench run she hears Obi-Wan urging her to use the Force. She takes the shot that destroys the Death Star, cementing her role as the story's new hero while Luke has already left to meet the Emperor on Coruscant and become the new Dark Lord.
22. Chewie gets a fucking medal in the awards ceremony.

Failed Edits:
--Leia stows away on the escape pod with 3PO and R2
--Obi-Wan bribes the stormtroopers in Mos Eisley to look the other way by giving them 3PO
--Obi-Wan lets Luke get the shit kicked out of him in the cantina
--The Death Star was to be represented on-stage with a huge water cannon, which would blast the audience when Alderaan was destroyed. This would generate authentic fear and tension during the final scene as the station is preparing to destroy the Rebel base.

I love the fact that Luke took up the darth mantel and Leia became the one handed Jedi.  Badass

[Lord_of_Apathy]

I've run a lot of characters over the years and most of them have had memorable deaths. Mostly because I am an impatient SOB and get myself into bad situations but as am not blessed with a group that plans to end a campaign once it has started death is the only real release.  What follows is my most recent and 2nd most memorable character death.

The other night  we were playing Rolemaster: Middle Earth. The rest of the party, led by a dwarven fighter whose player treats every single game like it's Shadowrun and despite being a plate wearing dwarf tries to stealth through almost everything, starts listening at doors to figure out what room to loot first. My barbarian character decided he would climb up the rope that led either down into a well or up to some unexplored room. I encounter some poor sap who went to the kitchen for a midnight snack and deal with him in short order. The rest of the group encounters  the barracks that the majority of bandits sleep in and proceed to wake them up while trying to approach the room silently and kill them.  Back in the kitchen boss bandit and his mistress show up disturbed my fight. My raging barbarian gets in a quite a few solid hits in against the boss bandit before succumbing to the poison on his blade. 3 of my 4 limbs are paralyzed, one leg is still maneuverable and I am bleeding like the proverbial stuck pig.  Still in a raging frenzy I say "I try and bite the bandit."  GM states make a roll. I roll the dice he consults the Bite Attack Chart for Rolemaster and tells me the bandit drops. Hilarity ensues briefly.  Sadly this character then died as a result of blood loss since none of the other PCs were surgeons able to suture closed a 6 hit per round wound. I was content in finding another epic death after all how often do you have the chance to bite someone to death? 

[sinanju]

Speaking of dwarves planning badly...in a GURPS Fantasy game once, one of the players (who tended to be somewhat obnoxious in real life in a "I know better than you about everything" kind of way) was playing a dwarf. In his typical fashion he'd acquired heavy armor and a potent axe and considered himself a real badass. The other PCs had encountered some goblins and gotten trounced--we'd run away rather than stay to fight and die. Obnoxious Dwarf (tm) had not been present for that encounter. He decided, for reasons best known to himself, to go out and confront the bad guys on his own, certain he could take them.

And one on one, he probably could have. But he encountered three. Two armed with spears and one with a crossbow. Run by a GM who was familiar with basic tactics and was as annoyed by the dwarf player as the rest of us. He warned the player (without declining subtlety) that he was not the unstoppable badass he thought he was, but was in over his head. The dwarf's player would have none of it. He charged into battle.

One of the goblins stabbed him in the foot through his unarmored leather boot, crippling his foot and reducing him to a hobbling movement. Then the two spearmen took up positions to either side of the crossbowman, using their spears to keep the dwarf at bay while the crossbowman slowly and carefully shot him near to death. He eventually blacked out and woke naked and badly injured, all his gear and gold gone.

Of course, the lesson HE drew from all of this was that the GM had cheated and/or been afraid to have the bad guys face him man to man. (Which was bizarre, given that our gaming group's ethos has always been "if it's a fair fight, you're doing something wrong." But the rest of us were highly entertained.

[SynapticError]

The first game system my friends and I really started playing together was Cthulhu Dark, and my friends each took turns GMing and really enjoyed themselves, but I never did due to my pathological fear of criticism.  Eventually, they got me to do it, and I had to come up with a campaign that would scare them but at the same time be funny.   They loved their black comedy.  So, I decided to have them be spin doctors for a powerful but relatively benign electronics corporation called ExecuTech, now unveiling a controversial but safe and effective nuclear power system.  (Yay, Azathoth!)  The first "spin" they were tasked with was that the cases could rupture and leak radiation, to get them in character.   That quickly devolved into them and their coworkers attempting to cover up or mitigate employee possessions, dimensional tears, temporal anomalies, and rogue creatures while holding onto their sanity and lives.

I called it "Mistakes were made", and it got up to 15 casualties before the game ended and was the first time I felt successful as a GM.

I can post highlights, but it might take a while, my friends really ran with the setting and left me corpsing more than once. 

[Jace911]

Just finished running a one-shot of Better Angels. The player characters were members of Triskaideka teaming up for one of their smaller heists in the Midwest city of Kirby, which used the same rules as chapter two of No Soul Left Behind. I told them they needed to gather four money units and gave them the choice between multiple smaller thefts or one big job of their design. They chose to hold the Kirby Dam hostage by threatening to turn the entire lake into Natty Ice with a demonic device that mimicked Alchemy.

This was easily the funniest game I've ever run or played in--I can say this with certainty because none of the previous games made me laugh so hard I lost my voice. I'll try to post a full write-up tomorrow but the highlight of the night was when Headless Headsman slipped into a janitor's closet to change into his black robes, only to be locked inside when the janitor noticed the door was slightly ajar.

[The Lost Carol]

While leaving my friendly neighborhood game store during my lunch break I saw an ad for a GM looking for group... For fucking Alpha Omega. "Come get some!" Underneath the contact info. Of all the games on After Hours that was the last game I'd expect to see in the wild. A sick part of me wants to respond to the ad just to see the game in action; that is, if it'll work.

[Alethea]

A sick part of me wants to respond to the ad just to see the game in action; that is, if it'll work.

Dooooo it! Think of the stories you'll be able to regale us with!

[Jace911]

So for last night's Better Angels game we had one veteran ORE player (Tomsawyer) and three newcomers. I printed out character sheets for Explosion Sound, Headless Headsman, PCG Squad, and Ro-Borg Cy-Man Man-Bot from No Soul Left Behind as pregens but I also offered to walk the newbies through character creation if they were willing. Two of them picked PCG Squad and Headless Headsman while the third rolled up his sleeves to create Doctor Dunwich, a Lovecraft-themed supervillain (Clairvoyance, Hanging Curse, Aqua Form, and Utmost Foulness). Tomsawyer managed to slip a Jojo reference past me and made King Crimson (That Hideous Strength, Crime-Time, Darkness Shrouded, and Cloven Hooves), for which he shall be punished later.

The premise of the game is that these four members of Triskaideka were meeting in the Midwest city of Kirby to plan one of their smaller heists--the ones they use to keep their names in the news and their demons entertained. I more or less gave them free reign to brainstorm their own heist by using the Supervillainy 101 section in No Soul Left Behind, and they decided to pull an armored car robbery as a tutorial and to get some quick Generosity for building Devilish Devices. Once they had their ill-gotten gains, they set to work designing their evil equipment:

The Ghost Piper - Perfect Crime Girls Squad
A bulky backpack mounted organ grinder that plays haunting but beautiful music when activated, giving the wearer the Impossible Beauty power. Because it was also finicky I ruled that it was gas-powered and had to be started with a ripcord like a leafblower, but sadly the player never rolled a 1 on activating it.

The Summoning Hat - King Crimson
A gaudy Ushanka hat which mimicked the Summon power; when the wearer held the open end at an object they wished to summon a spring-loaded glove would shoot out, grab the object, and pull it back in a heartbeat. If the wearer used it to change into costume the hat stretched down to cover their body before snapping back up to their head. It was also Palpably Evil (Hence the gaudy appearance) and Blatant (Spring made a loud "boi-oing!" sound)

The Means of Production - Doctor Dunwich
A blood-red tome named after Dunwich's demon, He Who Seizes The Means of Production, and contained nothing but quotes about communism and the evils of capitalism. Replicated the effects of the Dark Ritual power when read aloud, but it was also Palpably Evil and Easy to Disarm.

Natty Ice Cooler - Headless Headsman
The centerpiece of their plan to hold the dam hostage: a box resembling a cheap scifi prop which could mimic the Alchemy power. Although Headless Headsman was the device's creator he later realized that he had only three dice in Cunning Greed and so passed it over to King Crimson. It had Expensive Upkeep and required Rare Components (Shredded copies of Atlas Shrugged signed by Ayn Rand).

With these in hand they laid out their evil plot: they would hold the lake behind Kirby Dam hostage by threatening to unleash the power of the Natty Ice Cooler, turning the city's water supply into a light beer so disgusting only Satan himself could enjoy it. The Natty Ice Cooler actually didn't have the capacity to transform an entire lake--that would have been Cataclysmic--but they figured that if they demonstrated it on a smaller tank live on camera they could bluff it.

After a round of failed rolls King Crimson bargained for his demon to give him a Master Die for probably the most mundane task a mortal has ever demanded of a hellspawn: finding a tour date before their heist was scheduled to go off. In exchange he agreed to throw the statue of Jack Kirby, the city's founder, off the dam and into the lake. After taking a tour of the dam to case the place, the villains learned that there would be a small celebration in a few days commemorating the anniversary of the dam's completion--a perfect opportunity to stage their ransom. The PCG Squad chatted with Marie the tour guide so she could mimic her with Dead Ringer during the heist while Headless Headsman and Doctor Dunwich scoped the inside of the dam for places they could change into costume during the heist. Since they rolled zilch and 2x1 I told them they had the choice of a very conspicuous janitor's closet out in the open or the men's room.

When the day of the heist came the PCG Squad intercepted Marie in the bathroom. Although the tour guide was very startled to see four extra images of herself in the bathroom mirror, when the music from the Ghost Piper began she decided to take "her" own advice and went home early for the day. Marie, Marie, Marie, and Marie then had a montage scene where they dyed each other's hair, changed their clothes, applied various makeups, and did everything they could to differentiate themselves so they could individually infiltrate the next tour group without looking like identical twins. Prime Mary then met with the tour group in the lobby, deflecting questions about her conspicuous leafblower/organ grinder and ordering everyone present--tourists, staff, and reporters alike--to follow her to the dam's aquarium for a special surprise. Once they had left, King Crimson used the Summoning Hat to change into costume before hefting the statue of Jack Kirby, hauling it outside, and tipping it into the lake.

As this was happening Doctor Dunwich entered the men's room to activate Dark Ritual and change into his supervillain outfit. Unfortunately one of the stalls was occupied, and the man on the seat was very confused when someone walked into the stall and began bellowing quotes from Das Kapital. Out of spite Doctor Dunwich placed a Hanging Curse on the man forbidding him from getting up from the toilet seat unless he wanted to be violently ill, and then began changing into his costume while the man groaned uncomfortably in the stall. Meanwhile Headless Headsman managed to slip himself into the janitor's closet to change without incident and was playing Candy Crush on his phone while he waited for the signal.

Unfortunately, when Marie gestured dramatically to the janitor's closet and gave that signal Headless Headsman found that the janitor's closet had locked when he shut it behind him. This led to a long, awkward pause as the door to the janitor's closet shook and banged while muffled curses could be heard from the other side. Headless Headsman debated using Dominator Strike to simply blast the door down but decided that the shrapnel would endanger the hostages, and was about to activate his scissor-head to cut his way out when he realized he still had the Natty Ice Cooler and could turn the door into light beer--unfortunately as it turned out he had no idea how to activate the damned thing, which led to muffled exclamations of "There aren't any buttons on this fucking box!" Finally he gave up and resorted to activating Hell's Engine, sliding a Patient over to Cunning as the door was hacked to bits by his snapping scissor-head.

At this point the PCG Squad dropped their Dead Ringer disguise (Except for one, who still looked like Marie) and announced that Triskaideka had seized the Kirby Dam and everyone inside. They demanded that the mayor personally come down to negotiate the hostages release face to face, and to demonstrate they were serious King Crimson used the Natty Ice Cooler to turn all the water in the aquarium into light beer, which they then "forced" "Marie" to drink to confirm its disgusting nature for the viewers. As a show of good faith they "released" Marie, who went to the bathroom and changed back into the fourth PCG Squad member.

It didn't take long for the police to respond, arriving on the scene and setting up a perimeter on either end of the dam, but the PCG Squad was able to interfere with their setup by using Glory over the live broadcast to order viewers to send food for the hostages. This resulted in a huge traffic jam of pizza delivery vehicles, taco trucks, ice cream trucks, and various catering services jamming the streets behind the police cordon. SWAT members attempted to commandeer some of the vehicles to infiltrate the dam, but Doctor Dunwich was able to use Clairvoyance to see them coming and warned them against trying anything. Thanks to a Master Die from his demon (In exchange for a secret request) he was also able to spot a SWAT team preparing to breach the lower levels of the dam, and the supervillains decided instead of warning them off they would have Headless Headsman and King Crimson take them out to show the mayor their resolve.

Speaking of, the PCG Squad had rolled so well on their calling out of Mayor Peele (Thanks to Glory) that he not only showed up to the dam to negotiate, he insisted on doing so face to face as requested. The PCG Squad was then able to use a combination of the Ghost Piper and Glory to "invite" him inside, along with his guards and several SWAT members (After they disarmed and grabbed some pizza and bottled water for the hostages, of course). The PCG then set up a 60 Minutes-style interview using the Pox News camera crew in order to broadcast the negotiations to the entire city.

Down in the powerhouse, King Crimson and Headless Headsman got into position just as SWAT was preparing to breach the maintenance entrance. Between the two of them they took apart a six-man tactical team in two rounds, with only one man being critically injured by bolts of electricity and another suffering a skull fracture. The others got away with concussions and sprained wrists, and after surrendering they helped the two supervillains carry their injured comrades back up to the lobby where the negotiations with Mayor Peele were underway. The sight of a full SWAT team limping in front of two supervillains really sold Triskaideka's position, and between that and PCG Squad's already ludicrous social advantages they were able to talk the Mayor into offering up five Money Units (And a getaway helicopter). They released Peele and the injured SWAT team as another good faith gesture, and all seemed to be going well until SKY ARROW came crashing in through the roof.

What followed was a brief but extremely chaotic fight scene, mostly between Sky Arrow and Headless Headsman and King Crimson. I rejiggered Sky Arrow's stats to give him Armor and Carapace for that classic man of steel vibe, but the two of them slowly ground him down with width-5 attacks. PCG Squad tried to use the Ghost Piper to get him to surrender or at least slow him down but he went for her early on, recognizing a devilish device when he saw one, and smashed the organ grinder to bits. She still spent most of the fight using Glory and Devious Corruption to erode his Nurture and Insightful, mocking him for recklessly endangering hostages and giving the good old "we're not so different" speech. Finally, with King Crimson surrounded by darkness and Headless Headsman blasting him over and over Sky Arrow decided to try and bug out. He flew straight up in the air with King Crimson still on his back, intending to drop him from as high as he could, only for King Crimson to summon his entire costume and let go before he could get too high. Sky Arrow was forced to flee the scene from the air, clad in nothing but heart boxers as the mayor's helicopter approached with their 5 money units.

Just as I was narrating a shot of Triskaideka's helicopter flying across the lake and into the sunset, Doctor Dunwich (Still in shoggoth form from the fight with Sky Arrow) shoved Headless Headsman out of the cabin.

Just as the player gleefully revealed his demon had ordered him to betray one of them in exchange for the Master Die the Headless Headsman (Who was short on Patient and high on Cruelty) threw one last bolt of lightning at the helicopter as a parting "fuck you". Fortunately King Crimson was able to stop time, and since he had been touching both the money and a parachute (And since the PCG Squad had been touching his shoulder) the two of them were able to bail out before the lightning blew up the helicopter with Doctor Dunwich and the innocent pilot still inside. Headless Headsman watched in spiteful satisfaction as it did, only to double-take over and see King Crimson and PCG Squad touching down on the lakeside with all the money.

Shortly after he hit the water he was belly-flopped by a flaming shoggoth.

[Darnus]

Been playing a hard-lock TL10 traveller game with some friends for ~28 sessions. Semifinal session was where we infiltrated the big evil base to steal the mcguffin that would make the bad guy come after us [it's prototype anti-aging drugs that he's using to control his mob]

I'm playing the party face who was, at one point, a psuedo-fox-news reporter, and has basically devolved into a crazy paranoid wreck through the campaign proving his paranoia correct. My go-to lie when dealing with people has been 'GRR WE'RE A SPEC OPS TEAM GRR YOU DON'T HAVE CLASSIFICATION'
So we get onto the base through some basic lying [our ship works for the evil conspiracy, we've taken damage and had a dead space episode while shipping their drugs] and my character is running around barking orders which everyone is listening to because I have a total of +3/+4 to persuade with bonuses from various prep work and just general crazy-high skill level. I lie our way into copying their anti-aging drug [the ruse being that we're making sure it isn't contaminated] steal the BBEG's biometrics, steal the BBEG's location, etc, etc, etc. I'm running with the timid player who's like quietly reinforcing me and an NPC who has basically been indoctrinated by continuous shouting.
Essentially, my lie is that the researchers created a 'nanoplague' in accidentally fucking with the formula for the anti-aging drugs [I've been reading a lot of eclipse phase] which is convincing because I have a scientist telling me how to make it sound convincing whispering in my ear.
There is also the group of 2 OTHER pcs whose job it is to plant emergency c4 on life support [in case things go loud] and, more importantly, to cause a life support fluctuation to add to my lie--making it look like the station is being eroded by the nanoswarm. One of the PCs has come in from vacuum after tapping the station's communication system.
The PCs get in, roll to hide the c4.
Massive fail.
They basically leave it on a rolley chair.
They've also shot the two guards on duty at life support--and a patrol is coming back. So they have to leave the c4 before they can try to hide it again, and they pull the bodies into the deus ex ventilation system that the future guarantees.
Guards come in.
Guards see c4.
Before they can report it in, one of the two PCs loudly yells through the compromised communication system--that they didn't know was compromised--'STAY AWAY FROM THE LIFE SUPPORT ROOM! I AM HOLDING YOU HOSTAGE' before anyone can stop him. This gets the guards to stop.
Roll persuade [it functions as intimidation in traveller, weirdly]
Crit fail.
Guards yell things 'communication is compromised! what's going on? who is this?'
'I AM THE NANOSWARM'
*rolls persuade again*
minor success [discounting crazy high penalties for bullshit]
virtual skype table erupts in laughter, we blow the c4 and the life support, op goes belly up, but this is, surprisingly after we've done everything we need to do, so we all shoot/run our way to the ship and get away.

[CADmonkey]

I posted this anecdote in the God’s Teeth – God’s Breath– Episode 5 comments, but maybe I'll share it here too.

My first experience playing CoC was almost 20 years ago, but I can still distinctly remember this exchange in the middle of the game:

Keeper: And then a Byakhee bursts through the window!
Me: What’s a Byakhee?
Keeper: blinks
Keeper: It’s a Byakhee…
Me: stares
Me: I don’t know what that means, can’t you describe it?
Keeper: rolls eyes
Keeper: Can somebody help him out?
Other Player: sighs, opens the CoC book, flips through it, pushes it under my nose, points at Byakhee monster description
Other Player: Here!

Bit of background for that anecdote: My first time playing CoC was with an RPGA* group.  None of them had ever read any Lovercraft (I had read a book of his short stories) but they had memorized the Malleus Monstrorum and spell lists (like all good D&D grognards) and tended to bark nouns at each other in lieu of describing things.  There were similar incidents in other games because I wasn't into memorizing entire rulebooks.

*Back then, the RPGA put out scenarios for games other than D&D, including CoC and Shadowrun.