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General Category => RPGs => : The Lost Carol August 12, 2015, 09:26:34 PM
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Please note, that as this is the Beta, these posts, including our resources, their characters, the Enclave, and the missions they run, are for 'educational' and entertainment purposes only. As the game is still a work in progress, any opinions about the game itself and the Profit System are moot. We can talk about the game itself once it lurches to life as a fully realized product.
We start play next Thursday, August 20th. Three Takers, in Missouri, against the Loss, against opposing forces, against the Casualties, living the new American Dream, to be in the Recession...
The Beta is going strong. Red Markets is coming. Get hype. HIT THE MUSIC!!!
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iTBzQY4OUk#)
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Their first three potential clients from Market made contracts. I'll include their full details once encountered and their spots exploited:
Client: "Beady", Local Drug Dealer.
Beady was just a normal stoner before the Crash, but facing life or death situations left and right to get to the Enclave, combined with not having the time to grab his stash, did wonders for his health. With his new found sobriety, he decided to use the drugs instead of be used, and sell them. While he's not the most profitable shop in town, he makes enough to get by. More than anything, he just wants to kick back, grow his small patch of weed and brew his small batch meth and watch the money roll in. If he needs takers to do some jobs for him, so be it.
Client Weak Spot: [REDACTED]
Client Soft Spot: [REDACTED]
Client Tough Spot: [REDACTED]
Client: Charlotte Drew, Businesswoman
Formerly the head of a major corporation in Missouri, Charlotte wouldn't let a little thing like the Crash get in the way of her business. She continues to facilitate with an iron fist, and works her people real hard. She's married to her work, and while her leadership skills are important in the office, she wouldn't survive outside. She'll work the Takers to the bone, but do a great job for her and you'll be well rewarded...
Client Weak Spot: [REDACTED]
Client Soft Spot: [REDACTED]
Client Tough Spot: [REDACTED]
Client: Connie Mercer, head of the Enclave's power committee.
Connie, as the head of the Enclave's power committee, is one of the most important people in the Enclave. She determines who and what gets power, and when. A former middle manager for Ameren Power Company, she does know what she's doing and does a great job running the power grid. A know it all, she thinks she knows what's best for everyone. She's usually right.
Usually.
Client Weak Spot: [REDACTED]
Client Soft Spot: [REDACTED]
Client Tough Spot: [REDACTED]
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CHARACTER BIO
Antonio Delgado was well on his way to being a career Cartel member. Growing up in Tijuana, Mexico, he started scamming tourists at the tender age of eleven. Selling weed and petty theft by thirteen. At sixteen he started driving illegals across the border, helping his friends and family pursue a better life in the states. Sure, there were probably Cartel drugs on board, but he knew better than to ask.
Then two young men in white shirts and ties came knocking on his family's door. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was the life preserver that Antonio didn't realize he needed. He was baptized immediately, quickly converting the rest of his family and renouncing his life of crime; a conversion story akin to the apostle Paul. A year later he was off to serve his own two-year mission in the United States. More specifically, the state of Missouri.
Then The Crash happened, and Antonio, stranger in a strange land, banded with other Mormons to survive. With Armageddon imminent, the faithful gathered near the microscopic town of Jameson, an area believed to be the first place that Christ would visit during the Second Coming.
When Jesus didn't show up, the enclave of Adam-ondi-Ahman was formed. Antonio's criminal background helped the settlement survive those first few years, whether it was dealing with raiders or safely navigating the salvaging of goods.
The apocalypse came and went, and with no Savior in sight Antonio's new goal became getting back home to Mexico. And to do that he needed bounty, which he sure as heck wasn't gonna get by singing hymns all day.
Still true to the faith, Antonio goes by the name Elder. It's on his name tag, so why change it now?
SPOTS
Weak Spot: Self-Martyr
Elder will take any opportunity to sacrifice his time and resources for the greater good, especially if everyone else is watching.
Soft Spot: Immigrant Spirit
Elder can't help but sympathize with those that leave family, friends, and the familiar for the chance at a better life.
Tough Spot: Still Faithful
+2 Self-Control, but CHA skills against non-believers automatically fail. Elder's faith has sustained him these past five years, but he wears his beliefs on his sleeve. Because of this atheists and most agnostics discredit anything he says.
DEPENDENTS
Jesse Yong is Elder's former missionary companion and best friend, who he brought along when he left Adam-ondi-Ahman. Jesse suffers from chronic kidney disease, so while he's still able to work, Elder's bounty is what keeps the medication and treatments coming.
CHARACTER SHEET https://www.dropbox.com/s/xfnx4s3gqty5lpd/Elder%2008-12-2015.pdf?dl=0 (https://www.dropbox.com/s/xfnx4s3gqty5lpd/Elder%2008-12-2015.pdf?dl=0)
DIRECTOR'S COMMENTARY
When I first started reading about Red Markets, one of my first ideas involved Mormon missionaries (raised Mormon, non-practicing). There are so many here in the States from other countries, and most of them would be stranded here after the Crash. Imagine being a 20 year old in a foreign country with no family or resources while trying to fight off zombies with your randomly assigned companion as your only friend. I can't wait to see how the concept works out, especially trying to adhere to religious dogma in the carrion economy.
The state of Missouri plays an important role in LDS history and, supposedly, the future. Missouri was the last state the young LDS church tried to settle before getting kicked out and sent to Utah in 1839. There is property in Missouri that the church owns called Adam-ondi-Ahman. It was supposedly the place that Adam and Eve lived after getting kicked out of the Garden of Eden. It's also believed that it's the first place Christ will visit during the Second Coming.
Please take all this info about the LDS church with a grain of salt. It has been about ten years since I've stepped inside a church and I'm sure I'm getting something wrong.
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That's a fantastic character concept. Unique, well written, and utilizing both the Red Markets lore and the lore of the land to craft a great character. You've just earned One (1) Bonus Bounty to use as you see fit.
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CHARACTER BIO
Mallory Smith grew up beyond lucky, with lots of privilege - and she knows it. From an upper-middle class family of professionals living on the East Coast, Mallory was a social butterfly who wouldn't let that get in between her and the academics she knew she needed to get into medical school after college. Out West for a summer internship when the Crash started, it's a good thing she'd been planning on an ER specialty in med school - that extra-curricular EMT and first aid training was probably what made the difference between that National Guard squad bringing her along on evac and leaving her behind with the other civvies they couldn't protect.
Five foot three, with black hair in a page-boy cut and green eyes, it didn't take long for the squad to start calling Mal 'Pixie' - to her eternal annoyance. But after 4 years and 7 months humping it across a third of the country, 'Pixie' has stuck. All of Pixie's kin made it through the Crash perfectly safe in the Recession - they've even reestablished contact since Pixie and crew made it to Missouri. It's just all of Pixie's kith in danger out here in the Loss: Sarge, Eliza, and Sheba.
SPOTS
Weak Spot: Optimistic
It's a tough, brutal world out there, but Pixie still cannot help believing that she can make it work out or initially giving people the benefit of the doubt.
Soft Spot: Social Justice
The world isn't fair, just means Pixie thinks we should be working to make it as fair as we can.
Tough Spot: Veteran Connections
+2 references available, even over cap, but someone's going to need a favor or a place for a wounded teammate to convalesce, i.e a new 'temporary' dependent
DEPENDENTS
Sarge and his canine partner Sheba are the only ones from the original squad left and that last run-in with raiders before they all made it to the Enclave resulted in some mobility issues. Pixie's well aware it's a miracle of damn-near biblical proportions that Sarge survived his left leg being amputated from mid-calf down and Sheba took a bad hit and fall to her back legs. At least moving into an Enclave has made keeping Eliza, their now six-year old rescue from the early days of the Crash, out of danger these past few months marginally easier...
CHARACTER SHEET https://www.dropbox.com/s/qy4o82s0woz71ko/Pixie.pdf?dl=0 (https://www.dropbox.com/s/qy4o82s0woz71ko/Pixie.pdf?dl=0)
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Awesome, Alethea! Great Character! I'll try to get mine finished up soon.
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@Alethea
Another great concept. It's also an interesting way of explaining away bad medicine rolls, she's got some training, but never fully got her studies and degree. Plus, if she knows she's got privilege, that might mean I'll have to make her check-check-check-check her privilege in game ;)! You've just earned One (1) Bonus Bounty to use as you see fit. This is going to be an interesting group of PCs; can't wait to see how this plays out!
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CHARACTER BIO
Vernon Delray was never a soldier, or even much of a hunter. He was just a gun geek. Ever since his grandpa gave him his first .22 for his 8th birthday, he just loved the things: the smell of gun oil and powder, the crack of the shot, the precision of aiming, the specs and stats that distinguished each model. Those beautiful, elegant tools.
So when his old man left him the family pool hall, Vernon did what seemed like the natural thing: he added on a gun shop. The sign said "Freebird Pool Snooker and Guns," named after Vern's favorite song. He never had much head for business, but luckily his wife Kat had plenty. She also had a caring and generous touch, and when they discovered their infertility she just said that it gave them a chance to share some love out. She was the one who pushed to adopt Davion, despite Vern's worries about how a black boy from St. Louis might be treated in the deep Ozarks.
They were getting along just fine, and then the Crash happened. The first time Vern had to shoot to kill was when Kat went Vector. He almost couldn't pull the trigger, but he did. The gun shop was stop #1 on the local militia's list of places to raid, and Vern joined up right away just to get away, and to get him and his boy some security. But they nicknamed him Freebird after his sign, so he can never quite forget what happened there.
He was making a pretty good name for himself in his outfit, until the "captain" decided he wanted an alliance with a neighboring group -- the Aryan Remnant. Things got nasty, and Freebird barely got him and his son out.
SPOTS
Weak Spot: Arrogant
Freebird tends to think that being an expert on one thing makes him an expert on everything. He's rarely without a semi-informed opinion, expressed with absolute confidence.
Soft Spot: Zero Intolerance
He hates racism, sexism, prejudice, and all that ignorant ass-backwards redneck bullshit.
Tough Spot: Former Raider
+2 to Intimidation, but no Persuasion, Sensitivity, or Leadership skills allowed.
Seems like everybody's heard of the Douglas County Avengers, especially now that they've gone Aryan. Most new folks he meets seem to assume that he's still with 'em. And that story of the day Freebird scored three vector headshots on one magazine seems to have gotten around, too.
DEPENDENTS
Davion's well-being is always priority #1. After what those goddamn Nazis did to his arm...well, Freebird'll have to teach the boy to shoot left-handed.
CHARACTER SHEET
https://www.dropbox.com/s/jh5t89vkeem12ei/Character%20Sheet%20-%20%20Freebird.pdf?dl=0
(https://www.dropbox.com/s/jh5t89vkeem12ei/Character%20Sheet%20-%20%20Freebird.pdf?dl=0) (NOTE: Soft Spot is not updated accurately. Stupid Adobe Reader wouldn't let me save the current version)
COMMENTS
My uncle and aunt actually did run a combination gun shop and pool hall for a while, down in the Ozarks. The sheriff and his buddies would come by sometimes to illegally play poker in the back room. At least they didn't also sell moonshine under the table. :)
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You've just earned One (1) Bonus Bounty to use as you see fit.
In that case, upgrading the First Aid Kit to be DHQS issued. Good news guys, I can actually check if you're infected before stabbing you with Supressin!
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Tough Spot: Former Raider
+2 to Intimidation, but no Persuasion, Sensitivity, or Leadership skills allowed.
Seems like everybody's heard of the Douglas County Avengers, especially now that they've gone Aryan. Most new folks he meets seem to assume that he's still with 'em. And that story of the day Freebird scored three vector headshots on one magazine seems to have gotten around, too.
No sensitivity?
(http://libertycitys.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/bold-strategy-cotton.jpg)
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Tough Spot: Former Raider
+2 to Intimidation, but no Persuasion, Sensitivity, or Leadership skills allowed.
Seems like everybody's heard of the Douglas County Avengers, especially now that they've gone Aryan. Most new folks he meets seem to assume that he's still with 'em. And that story of the day Freebird scored three vector headshots on one magazine seems to have gotten around, too.
No sensitivity?
It's from the list in the book! We'll see how it playtests. :) I hate to make predictions, but suspect that at some point in the campaign, I may find myself uttering the phase, "Swear to me."
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Tough Spot: Former Raider
+2 to Intimidation, but no Persuasion, Sensitivity, or Leadership skills allowed.
Seems like everybody's heard of the Douglas County Avengers, especially now that they've gone Aryan. Most new folks he meets seem to assume that he's still with 'em. And that story of the day Freebird scored three vector headshots on one magazine seems to have gotten around, too.
No sensitivity?
It's from the list in the book! We'll see how it playtests. :) I hate to make predictions, but suspect that at some point in the campaign, I may find myself uttering the phase, "Swear to me."
It is a bold strategy, but I love this plan! I'm excited to be a part of it! I think he'll be an interesting contrast to the other two characters. Bent but not broken by the Loss, versus two younger, more optimistic Takers... should be an interesting group! As with the others, You've just earned One (1) Bonus Bounty to use as you see fit.
BTW, unless that was also Adobe being Adobe, you do need your retirement plan.
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at some point in the campaign, I may find myself uttering the phase, "Swear to me."
At which point we will have to see if Pixie can restrain herself from Gibbs slapping Vernon, even if she does have to jump to reach that high.
Nice Harry Potter reference, btw Trinite.
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I just wanted to take some time to say that the outpouring of enthusiasm and support for the Beta I've seen on the forums is really heartening. Thank you all so much! I'm working on the game every spare moment; my only wish is that I could get it out to everyone sooner.
Thanks again...and keep it up!
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Thanks Caleb! Don't worry about time; it'll be ready when it's ready. Just keep making impressions on our next generation and try to enjoy the school year.
Well, for us, one of our number couldn't make it tonight, (which we knew, just haven't had time to post. I have to be upgrading my PC just before we start this...) so I thought I'd post some of the things that helped me prep the Market Fiat contracts.
Google is Your Friend
... No, really. Yes, I know that seems obvious, but if you're stumped and/or need inspiration, go to Google. Bust out some SEO and you'll be fine, like "Top Buisnesses in (STATE)" or "(GOODS) Production in (STATE)". Businesses LOVE to be name dropped and there are many best of lists that can help fill in scenario seeds. Google Images and Maps are also your friends for floor plans and maps to use as maps in game.
Know Your Tone
I had a sweet idea for a scenario, that was serious but with a heavy dose of wackedy schmackedy doo. Then, after talking with my players, I realized they wanted medium to medium heavy in terms of tone. Thus, I needed to tone down the scenario, which ended up with a setting shift that I think will make the scenario more fun while only making it a little silly. So don't plan a game with prat falls and pop culture references when they want serious with some darkness, or The Walking Dead mixed with The Wolf of Wall Street or Nightcrawler (2014 Film) so they can bleak while they bleak when that might be darker than they wanted to go.
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We just did Enclave Generation and our first round of Negotiation. It was a lot of fun. I don't have a lot of time, so I'll get the Negotiation write up written later, but for now, here's the Enclave the Reformers reside in:
ENCLAVE CREATION NOTES
1.Enclave Name
Village of Four Seasons
2.Location
A vacation town in Central Missouri, a peninsula where the Osage River meets the serpentine Lake of the Ozarks.
(http://www.landsat.com/street-map/missouri/village-of-four-seasons-mo-2976157.gif)
3.Defenses
Some of the Tourists brought a small amount of guns, which was used in the initial defense. Via land there's only one way in or out; State Route 54. Some of the townsfolk have formed a defense force. There's talk of building fencing around the water line, but that's a project with a timeframe of T-Minus Never; there's just too much land and too many smaller peninsulas. A group of house boats, both made of both Tourists and Latents live, defend the water from River Pirates and any casualties that try to make the trek to shore.
4.History
The Village of Four Seasons is an IRL village in Missouri, that has a lot of resorts and homes/vacation homes, as it is located on the Lake of the Ozarks. During the Crash any Casualties would have to go through the lone entrance to the Village. Once the region realized what was going on, refugees ran for the Village, with no Vectors in their wake. They created a wall along this choke point, and guard it with their meager weapons.
There are four major groups in town; the Landowners, people who owned vacation homes or businesses in Four Seasons, the Groundskeepers, the staff and workers of the businesses within Four Seasons, the Tourists, any other land based refugees, and the Skippers, the Latents and Refuges that own houseboats on the Lake of the Ozarks. The Landowners live in their houses, the Groundskeepers in their businesses, and the Refugees have set up in empty homes near the wall and tent cities the marina and with the house boats that swarmed the Village, the Latents and Tourist houseboat owners surround the peninsula and dock at the marina.
With all this protection, it's just the long haul of the apocalypse; survive, and don't get bitten.
5.Top Exports
Tele-Medicine: There are multiple medical centers just outside the area, meaning many doctors are Landowners. They provide Tele-Medicine to the whole of the Loss via Ubiq.
Livestock from nearby farms and deer herded from the National Parks for venison.
Fish from the lake. Fishing is one of the most popular recreations in the lake at present, so now they sustainably fish for survival.
Beer: Four Seasons is home to the Horseshoe Brewing Company (IRL The Horseshoe BEND Brewing Company,) which means that, by God, there's still some easily obtainable alcohol in this patch of the Loss, and everyone wants it.
6.Top Imports
Training Materials (Defense / Other): There aren't a whole lot of trained military in Four Seasons, so they need all the training they can get.
Vegetables / Agricultural: The area is very hilly, so they can't grow as easy as they could.
Fuel: Duh.
Firearms: Duh harder.
7.Competition
River Pirates
The Dredgers: A group that dredges the waterways for Casualties; both for their bounty and, you know, to get rid of them, other than the Skippers.
Jeff's City: See trinite's write up. Jefferson City, MO
Camdenton, MO; a city south of Four Seasons
8. Social Structure
Locals 'Landowners' VS Workers 'Groundskeepers' VS Refugees 'Tourists' VS Houseboat Latents & Refugees 'Skippers'
Elder Statesmen Landowners VS the Meritocratic / Skilled Tourists , Skippers, & Groundskeepers
Democracy / Meritocracy with social Elite as a Council
Economic Model: Minimum Income / Collectivist So long as everyone works, everyone gets at least enough income to survive. Due to the shape of the landmass, everyone needs to work together to ensure that this clean area stays that way. Definite small town mentality; including in wealthy / working class prejudices.
9.Neighborhoods
Landowners
Keep Their Homes
Tourists
Near Choke Point
Groundskeepers
Empty Houses / Businesses
Skippers
Throughout the Lake, docking at the marina on occasion
VIPlaces
Horseshoe Brewing Company
10.VIPs
Landowners Head
Doctor Wayne Hamilton (Of the Four Seasons Hamiltons), Head of the Regional Health System
Tourists Head
Master Sergeant Woody Mallory, Rebel from the Missouri National Guard
Groundskeepers Head
Carly Sweet, Hotel Manager, Four Seasons Lodge
The Skippers are a confederation and don't have an overt leader.
Horseshoe Bend Brewing Company Owners
Charles & Kristi Case
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Here is a link to Freebird's updated character sheet: https://www.dropbox.com/s/jh5t89vkeem12ei/Character%20Sheet%20-%20%20Freebird.pdf?dl=0 (https://www.dropbox.com/s/jh5t89vkeem12ei/Character%20Sheet%20-%20%20Freebird.pdf?dl=0)
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An update to Pixie's character sheet: budget for this job in parenthesis, 3 charges from the laptop have been used but haven't figured out how to get Preview to let me mark that yet - https://www.dropbox.com/s/wqumjsvdor5mwg7/Pixie%20post%20ep.%200.5.pdf?dl=0 (https://www.dropbox.com/s/wqumjsvdor5mwg7/Pixie%20post%20ep.%200.5.pdf?dl=0)
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Busy weekend and start of week. Much horrible, very monster, PHD in horribleness, etc.,
Market Ticker (GM Commentary) for Enclave Generation
I love our enclave. I think the players did a great job coming up with stuff, and there's a lot of ideas to be had for the Enclave. Google Maps is super helpful; we came up with Four Seasons after looking around the Lake of the Ozarks and finding the Village randomly.
I'd really been more thinking of one shots and market fiat / expecting scores, but now having the Enclave to play with helps set up the building blocks for the campaign.
Negotiation
After some roll play between the players and their dependents, we went into finding contracts and negotiating for one. The players managed to find two of the possible four, and ended up taking Connie Mercer's contract. They'll take a four leg journey to investigate the Little Pittsburg Mine in Lingo, MO, an abandoned coal mine and see whether or not there is still a viable-enough amount of coal to mine for use in Jeff's City. After hard fought back and forth with the tele-conferencing Connie, they managed to get Expenses for a full 70 Bounty!
(http://dnr.mo.gov/geology/geosrv/images/littlepitts03011890sm.jpg)
The actual map of the Little Pittsburg.
They managed to find all of Connie's spots and exploit them, but a few fails at the end (including a crit!) managed to prevent them from getting 100% Mark Up. Oh well, after setting their budgets (since I forgot to do that before they started the game,) they set off, and the game this Thursday will be the legs and the investigation of the mine. Just making sure there's coal.
(http://i.imgur.com/p3JbAnt.jpg)
Market Ticker
I'm glad we made it out of Negotiation OK. The players did well, and I think I managed to be the NPC and their sources well enough. The roll playing of dependents was also full of great roll play.
If you're playing online, things will go wrong. Just accept it and don't freak out. My computer alone crashed, kept muting me briefly, and did some weird echo thing where it was replaying my audio 45 seconds after I said it. Just work out the kinks as best you can and be thankful for players being good at roll play.
I had Connie mess up the name of the Reformers, then I kept doing it for the rest of the recording / post game. Maybe a little too good? lol
All in all, 'twas a blast. Can't wait for the contract to be done!
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Here's Elder's updated character sheet with budget:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/456r1jkaq75wo63/Elder%2008-26-2015.pdf?dl=0 (https://www.dropbox.com/s/456r1jkaq75wo63/Elder%2008-26-2015.pdf?dl=0)
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They survived! It was awesome!
MARKET FIAT CONTRACT ONE: Big Trouble in Little Pittsburg
Taking the road, our heroes opted to dip their toes into the legs and opted to go for leg one of four:
Leg d20 Encounter Table Roll 18: OMG PUPPIES
While travelling down the highway to get to Lingo, MO and the Little Pittsburg mine, the players came across a gaunt dog trotting down the highway. After being very cautious they let the dog approach and found a note that said "Can't go on. Please send food." They elected to put one Ration in and follow the dog. After rolling Awareness they came across the owner, Anton, and found the dog's name is Bruno. He was the last survivor of a wiped out Taker crew that was in St. Louis, trying to get ink from a location there. He was very testy about his injuries, and after some failures and successes managed to convince him to take a blood test. He was bitten, and is Latent. After they agreed to pick him up on their way back he, in gratitude, gave them a Lockpick Kit and a dose of Supressin ("I don't need it anymore...")
Market Ticker
You never realize what PCs will do. I hadn't actually written up Anton's story, but now they have a new NPC and a new Contract they can either worm their way into and / or make a score out of. Go with the flow.
Pregenerated Leg Text
18: Encounter - OMG PUPPIES: There's a Dog with an Assistant Dog's Harness with Camera Mount and ProGo on him jogging up the road. He's got a note in his collar. "Can't go on. Please send food." If they put a (1) Ration in the pack and leave the dog, they'll receive a Drone delivery in two legs / at the Enclave with a Lockpick Kit. If they follow the Dog, roll awareness.
Crit Success: They meet Anton, lone survivor of a Taker group returning from a failed mission. He's grateful for the help, and gives the Lockpick Kit and a Supressin ("I don't need that many anymore...") (And 50 Cal Bullets)
Success: As above. Only gives Lockpick Kit.
Failure: He's DOA. Roll Self-Control at the dead man and his mourning dog. Can take the Dog with a successful Profession: Animal Handler check. Has all above equipment, Attack Training, and Hardy Breed. Person taking Dog roll Sensitivity; you're taking the dead man's Dog. He has the Lockpick Kit, Supressin, an uncharged Hand Gun, and One Bounty.
Crit Failure: The dog sidles up to the sobbing man. Awareness check. He's living and has Latent look. Crit Success you recognize he's a Vector. Failing to notice means he snaps the Dog's neck and starts with the Apologies. Roll Self-Control, then initiative. Has above mentioned loot, Dog is available if alive.
NOTE: in living scenarios they can just up and kill Anton. Has all loot available, but Dog will attack.
After the intensity of the encounter they effectively said 'Fuck it' and spent the charges on Elder's truck to make it straight to the site.
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Then they arrived at the Mine. Outside, they saw the ATV left by Connie's people, as promised. Outside the mine was a windowless building with the door pulled off the hinges. Inside was a huge gout of blood covering the wall. After calming down they went inside, and tried to search. They didn't find much inside the Mine Office / Locker Room, but did find an open safe with Two Bounty, a handgun with half charge, and a diary. He indicates they were the Taker crew Frag, mentioning the members Marjorie, Gunge, and Wizard, with the author being named Turbo ( ;) ). He was on watch duty as, it turns out, they were the original crew sent to do this mission, which was three weeks ago. Despite the blood, there was no body, and there were drag marks leading into the mine. After collecting the things, and realizing the other two rooms in the building were just a bathroom and laundry room, they tentatively went inside the mine to search for coal.
Inside the mine, they took it slow and followed the drag marks. They went towards the air and escape shaft to confirm it was still viable, which it was. They then took the left, shorter fork, and went down the side tunnel. There, they saw their first Casualties at the very end of a coal-less tunnel. Electing to go down the other small side tunnel, where the drag marks led, they ran into a shocking site; a body stripped of most of the flesh, with claw marks along the chest that scrapped the bone. Using Pixie's med skills, she determined that the bite marks were consistent with only one eater, and that it was maybe an animal? Definitely not normal human.
They went up the other, longer side tunnel, and with Freebird barely succeeding in an awareness check he realized this tunnel was not structurally sound. Turning back, they went all the way up the main tunnel, passing a few more casualties and going off the written map. They found coal, and even some mined coal! Successful in their mission, they elected to fill up the flatbed of the ATV for coal to negotiate for some bonus Bounty and turned around to leave.
As they drove, the closer Casualties had stumbled into the tunnel out and were kind of unavoidable. With Freebird using Elder's silenced handgun and Elder using a steady foot, they managed to lure the Casualties backwards and kill all three in relative quiet. They looted the bodies. They only found another diary, but elected to read it outside of the mine. As they got closer out of the mine, Elder failed a Drive check and accelerated too fast.
That's when they heard the scream. (Another!) crit success from Pixie made her realize that wasn't human, or Casualty, or animal. Advising Elder to floor it, they sped down the tunnel, and behind them was an abomination. It was once a man. It was also once a Casualty. But as the black veins of the Blight spread, they all threaded around his limbs and head, giving him long, black, clawed feet, long, tri-clawed hands, and a long, almost mole like head. With some failed Self-Control checks by the non-drivers, they found their first Aberrant.
As Elder continued to succeed in Drive checks (with a Will thrown in), Freebird with his Rifle and Pixie with her Shotgun shot at the creature giving chase. Freebird used a ton of charges to OHKO the left leg, with the black veins fraying like rope and the fleshy bits exploding like... flesh, Pixie did some damage to the right leg. Going in for the kill, Freebird used a Called Shot to take out over half his chest HP in one hit, and Pixie did the rest. The beast fell.
After realizing evidence of an Aberrant would be worth a ton of bounty, Pixie was 'elected' to take it. They agreed that decapping it seemed like the best idea. After succeeding in her First-Aid Test (and making sure she had gloves on), she also had to roll Self-Control as the scalp of the human the Aberrant once was was visible as she splintered off the head. Now with a load of coal, an Aberrant head and before and after footage from Pixie's Laptop, the Reformers fled the Little Pittsburg, victory in hand. They picked up Anton and Bruno (where Anton barely made his self-control check,) and headed back for the Four Seasons, a job well done, the aftermath and post Contract info to be done next session as we had gone over.)
Market Ticker
I only had a brief bit of info written down for the Mine Office. Again, you don't always realize what you need 'til you're in game. That's why improv and Yes And-ing are so important.
The dead Taker crew may or may not be a reference to something. ;) Sorry, Caleb!
The below attachment is the Modded map of the Little Pittsburg. I divided it into 20 zones. I rolled once to determine where the body of Turbo would be, and once to determine where the Aberrant was. I rolled 17 for the body and 16 for the Aberrant. trinite BARELY made the Awareness check, or the chase scene might've been a bit longer and they might've said to hell with the Contract.
I came up with this Contract by rolling on the Market Fiat table and rolled energy, I tried to figure out what would be a good Contract. I searched "Energy Production in Missouri", and found this Department of Energy page, which indicated that Coal makes up a huge part of Missouri's energy, and is something that would still be used after the Crash.
http://www.eia.gov/state/?sid=MO (http://www.eia.gov/state/?sid=MO)
I then modified the search to "Coal Production in Missouri", which came up with this "Read More" site for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, which is actually a call to action article about asking for historic maps for ABANDONED UNDERGROUND COAL MINES.
http://dnr.mo.gov/geology/geosrv/coalminemaps.htm (http://dnr.mo.gov/geology/geosrv/coalminemaps.htm)
The phrase "Abandoned Underground Coal Mines" sung to me, and I had my answer. They even had the map I used in game, and with a name like "Little Pittsburg Coal Mine in Lingo, Missouri" I had no choice but to use it.
Next came the twist. At first I thought an earthquake to seal them in might be interesting, but the more I thought about it the more I realized that would be too railroady. I then wanted to include an Aberrant. I know the rules aren't as defined yet, so I hope I didn't take too much artistic license from Caleb, but based off of the description of the Blight I think I came up with what I hope is an acceptable inference of what they COULD be. I also find it hilarious that the RPPR crew keeps ignoring / failing to find the Aberrants, and not only did my players select the Contract with the Aberrant hiding in it, they found it AND killed it. ;D
We had so much fun. It was great, and I'm proud and glad of the fact that my players had fun. I was so nervous going in, and I did make mistakes (too many Awareness Tests, for one), but I did my best and it worked. I'll reserve greater detail for Caleb's eyes, but for you, the fans; Caleb's doing good. Red Markets was great! Can't wait for next session!
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I really liked the mission, and the map was an awesome find. I like your technique for randomly placing the encounters within the mine; it really fit with the procedurally-generated aesthetic of Red Markets. And it led to an exciting chase scene! Man, hearing those charges get marked off with the Hungry ATV sure made me nervous!
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After a mini-hiatus we were finally able to conclude Mission One and Start Mission Two!
When we last left our heroes Pixie ended up reading the journal she found in the mine and found suspicious information concerning the goings on in Jeff's City One member of the dead Taker crew, Wizard, was a plant by the Governor of Jeff's City, and seemed to know more than he wrote. She elected to share the information with her crew, and they elected to keep quiet for now. They negotiated with Dr. Wayne Hamilton (of the Four Seasons Hamiltons) to buy the Aberrant head. He offered Twleve (12) Bounty, and after a failed roll and no refresh of will 12 would be all they get. They also decided to off load the ATV, put kept the handgun as that was something Freebird wanted. They only were able to sell the ATV at half price rounded up, meaning Two Bounty (2), and after crit failing the coal they only got 4 Bounty instead of Eight ( 8 ). Connie was grateful for their work (perhaps showing it a little too much for her tastes,) and deposited the Bounty into their Ubiq accounts, a Contract well done.
Starting Mission Two was the vignettes. Elder took his friend Jesse out to a Venison steak dinner at the Brewery and discussed how they would leave the Loss, Pixie tried to teach her adopted daughter Eliza how to swim (and encountered a floating hand,) and Freebird taught his son Davion how to load cylinders (not the guns, just the cylinders.)
Our heroes knew about the job the Taker they encountered, Anton, had tried to complete, and it was a Sixty (60) Bounty job at Hazard Pay to recover ink for Jeff's City. They attempted to find other jobs, but Elder had to tap a reference to find one; the tech support guy of his old Enclave of Adam-ondi-Ahman (the techie is faithful but not the most knowledgeable of Mormonism.) Turns out the Brewery is looking for glass bottles and other brewing supplies to expand their rare business, and what better place to grab stuff then the Anheuser–Busch plant in St. Louis.
Since they'd already be going near St. Louis for Anton's job, they elected the bold strategy of completing Anton's job, and then scoping out the plant, either to take what they can and make a scarcity or just grab it and negotiate with the owners of the brewery.
They conversed with Anton about what he knew. His crew was Q Cell, consisting of himself, Anton/Quinton, his brother Jace/Quentin, friends Laura/Quark and Kyle/Quincy, and Anton's dog Bruno(with his own Taker name of Quiggly). They took the job from the Governor of Jeff's City, Jeff Carnavan. They learned that he wanted the ink to fill out paper documents used for the tolls and other city administration. They asked whey he needed bagged ink versus a supply of pens; Q Cell asked too, and were told that they needed the bagged ink to resupply printers, and with Jeff being a history buff the odds of him being crazy enough to use inkwells are high. Still, even with keeping records for the potential of interaction with the government to be made a settlement that much ink is suspicious.
The area is supposed to be relatively clear; while gangbangers and a cell of Freebird's old group Anton knew occupied St. Louis, because of the size of the city there's too much for the whole city to be taken by one faction; since the warehouse is on the outskirts, Q Cell didn't encounter much trouble from them... just the Dead Weather that brought in 40+ Casualties. While Jace had died on an earlier mission, Kyle was killed in the insanity, and Anton, Bruno, and Laura barricaded themselves in the Men's Room. While planning their exit, Laura started to make apologies, and bit Anton in the shoulder. He wounded but didn't kill her, and he and Bruno barely ducked and weaved their way out of the building and down the lonely road where they were found by the Reformers.
In addition to the 60 Bounty the Contract is worth, Anton had two requests for side quests; he'd pay them if they could Closure Kill Laura and Kyle, and in the Men's Room he dropped a backpack with some of his treasured belongings; bringing that back would pay as well. Thus, they went off; for sure doing Anton's job, and maybe swinging by the Anheuser–Busch plant for a Score.
This time they elected to take more legs; in addition, Pixie took the initiative to scout the map and saw that a Planned Parenthood clinic was located in Rolla (Rawl-Ah) as a mini-Score. This would being during leg two, which meant they did the first two. I rolled Roll Play: What Do You Miss Most About Normal Life? (Pixie: the banality of homework, Freebird: billiards, Elder: the beaches of home (Baja California)).
Leg two before Rolla meant they encountered some Downed Power Lines; they attempted to see if they were still live; while making an awareness check Pixie managed to see the fried corpse in the middle of them. Going around meant spending a charge of Elder's now hybridized truck.
Now in Rolla, they investigated the Planned Parenthood location. After using criminality to confirm that it wasn't broken into, they all made checks: Pixie found Three (3) Bounty's worth of IUDS, Freebird found Three (3) Bounty's worth of non-perishable medical supplies (nitrile gloves, band-aids, rubbing alcohol) which provided a bonus half-charge on Pixie's med-kit, and using Criminality Elder found a potential Score; the head of the clinic was in talks with a supplier to purchase some new mammogram machines and other medical devices prior to the Crash; if they could raid that business and their warehouse they could sell the machines to the doctors of the Four Seasons and make some Bounty.
With goods and a potential Score in their pocket, they opted for one more leg before the night ended. After rolling they encountered a Drone Farm; where giant combine/harvester drones tending the fields and normal drones tend the big drones, run by the Department of Agriculture, not the DHQS. Freebird wanted to scope it out and take Drone parts, whereas Elder and Pixie more reluctantly went to check. After finding two casualties near the door Freebird took them out with pistol shots. Elder running to look, he jimmied the lock with his new Lockpick Kit from Anton and they went inside while Pixie stayed in the truck. Freebird found a stack of solar panels, and grabbed two, each being worth Two (2) Bounty for a total of Four (4) Bounty. Elder elected to keep watch rather than grab more, and he didn't see the two Casualties that were attracted by the gunfire coming; but Pixie did. Using their athletics to kite the Casualties they managed to get the panels in the truck, themselves inside, and booked it to the warehouse. As they got a closer look, they saw a downed helicopter crashed in the parking lot, leaving a cliffhanger for next time (whenever it may be.)
All in all, another blast. We had some excellent role play, and was impressed by Pixie's initiative to come up with a mini score; perfect opportunity for Yes And. More legs meant more risks, but rolling a Role Play and an Obstacle meant little risk but no reward, whereas the Encounter was hella risky and only brought Four Bounty. Can't wait for our next session!
Market Ticker
That was a great idea for a mini score by Pixie; I did want to reward that initiative. I also tried to make a mix of rewards for successful rolls; not just cash, but a potential job as well. I had to be hella quick on my feet, but with great role play and ideas by my players it was fun to do so and I think I mostly succeeded. Without delving too deeply, also the economic vibe really starts to hit as you progress from effective one shot to campaign. Game's looking good!
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I thought you did a great job running the market, Greg.
Freebird thinks Pixie and Elder are wimps for not helping him grab more loot, and has vowed to keep the solar panels, put them on his house, get a fridge, and have cold beer.
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They survived yet another mission, by the skin of their teeth!
MARKET FIAT CONTRACT TWO: CRYING OVER SPILLED INK (STORYLINE MISSION ONE)
Upon their arrival at the warehouse, the scoped the place out. The downed helicopter held one occupant, the pilot who had been mangled in the crash. They also located Five (5) Casualties in the parking lot. They broke into the foyer and further into the office and shipping and receiving departments to locate the shipping manifest. What Pixie ended up finding was a stack of inventory sheets for each individual shipment, meaning she'd have to comb through them all to find the appropriate shipment and location in the warehouse, and anything else that would be of interest. She found three possible shipments, one of office supplies including pens, one of bags of ink, and one of cartridges of ink. As it was requested, they opted for the bags. They also located other interesting shipments, especially from gun supplier. While inside they could hear signs coming from inside the warehouse.
They came up with the brilliant idea of dead driving the outside casualties to remove them from the property, and checked the helicopter. Elder checked for hidden notes, and found a note saying "Go to St. Louis Metro Area Warehouse, Investigate", dated 11 days ago (which was four days removed from Mission One and nine days from when Q Cell attempted to get the ink,) on DHQS letterhead. Something is now truly amiss. After that discovery, they checked the box trucks to see if they were usable. One was, but they'd need to hotwire it. Freebird snuck inside and found that there were about Sixteen (16) Casualties still inside. By throwing something at a far away forklift to bring them to it, then knocking on the forklift next to the door, he managed to kite all the Casualties to him, allowing them to dead drive the 'remaining' Casualties and locate one of Anton's former Taker crew, Kyle, and kill him and document it for Anton's request.
Once inside they had to keep quiet, as they could still hear noise from the west side of the building, but easily located the bags of ink. After carefully loading them into Elder's truck, they opened up the box truck to fill it up with goodies. The men's room, where Anton, Laura, and Bruno held up before Anton and Bruno had to evacuate. They heard noise from the bathroom, and opened the door and shot Laura's Casualty. Inside they found Anton's Backpack and a gout of blood on the floor, indicating that Laura was the person who bit Anton.
While loading the guns and ammo they were near the conference room, and heard four voices. After Pixie succeeded she realized the voices were making Apologies, meaning Vectors. Despite Elder still wanting to check because he's a self-martyr who wants to help people, they left them alone and continued. They decided to keep getting stuff, especially because Pixie found a shipment from a robotics firm. Freebird then promptly crit-failed an athletics check, meaning he slipped on the concrete floor and generated enough noise to rile the Vectors.
While desperately trying to get up the Vectors (clothed in the black jumpsuits of the pilot; fellow DHQS agents?) began to tear down the door, one getting halfway stuck inside. Freebird took a shot, but only managed to hit the leg with his rifle. What ensued was a comedy of errors as everyone including the GM kept rolling for crap, thus meaning the heroes slowly ran to the trucks and Freebird barely made it out after the second Vector broke through. The Reformers escaped with their lives, both of Anton's sidequests completed, and a ton of guns and ammo to sell as they pondered whether or not to check out the Busch plant or to GTFO back to the Four Seasons.
Market Ticker
Another blast. Also more stuff to learn. The section in the offices dragged as I made Pixie roll to check all the desks instead of one master roll. Just need to remember when to streamline.
But still, so much fun. I made a full manifest of stuff for them to find, from the average (clothes, Starbucks paper products,) to the super useful (guns & ammo and robotics (RE Drones and Dronkeys)), to personal items hiding behind crits (Mormon paraphernalia, a billiard table, and prostheses), knowing they'd been rolling a lot of crit successes, especially Pixie. So, naturally, almost no one rolled crits, and the end was a comedy of errors of fails on all counts. And I continue having to give credit where credit is due; I've got some bright players. Dead driving all the Vectors never crossed my mind; just kiting them and grabbing and go. Dead Driving gets them all out, but might make you at greater risk for the Vectors.
Something I want to look at in most contracts are different aspects of the universe. The coal mine was more of a straight horror scenario, what with a monster and diaries. This is meant to be more or a treatise on greed; this could've easily been a Mr. JOLS if you had the right crew and loaded everything, but make too much noise and you rile the Vectors, causing them to break out of containment with upwards of four screaming Vectors raining down on you. This game is a treatise on economics, so why not make the horrors of capitalism a little more real?
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This was a really fun session, and I think the dice mechanics had a lot to do with that. We had a great plan for kiting the Casualties, and it worked smoothly because we managed to make the necessary spends to roll a bunch of successes. Then after we found the vectors, everything fell apart because we'd spent most of our Stamina on carrying boxes of stuff, and then we started rolling for crap. Just one or two more failed Athletics checks for me -- or one or two more successes for the Vectors -- and Freebird would have been history.
It occurs to me, just now, that we never bothered to look around for a dolly. That might have helped.
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It occurs to me, just now, that we never bothered to look around for a dolly. That might have helped.
::smacks own head:: gods damn it, yes, yes we should have done that thing.
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Honestly, I'm surprised you guys didn't hotwire the forklifts.
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Honestly, I'm surprised you guys didn't hotwire the forklifts.
Forklifts are loud.
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Maybe. I may or may not have thrown the Vectors at you. At least the person in the forklift would've had some protection. ;D
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Honestly, I'm surprised you guys didn't hotwire the forklifts.
Forklifts are loud.
Yeah, I briefly though of that, and figured it would be too loud. But hey, not louder than my yell when my ankle tendons started snapping.
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(http://forgifs.com/gallery/d/137460-5/Forklift-warehouse-collapse.gif?) (http://forgifs.com)
(http://forgifs.com/gallery/d/233021-2/Loading-fish-into-truck.gif?) (http://forgifs.com)
(http://forgifs.com/gallery/d/142985-3/Forklift_safety.gif?) (http://forgifs.com)
I'm glad we didn't try the forklifts.
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Well, our last session was more closure and start up, but we made it through to the start of mission three!
After leaving the warehouse, the Reformers needed to keep the box truck with the guns and ammo fueled. After failing a foresight roll, the crew used Pixie's laptop to locate a nearby gas station / rest stop off the highway. After arriving they searched the place. The crew was able to get the pumps working, but not before Freebird tripped and fell, hurting his arm and attracting the attention of Casualties. They blocked off the door, pumped their gas, and fled up to Jeff's City. While on their way Pixie decided to look into Anton's backpack. It contained a scrapbook filled with pictures and mementos of his old life and his Taker career, and three dog eared novels: Ethan Whitehead's counter-cultural classic Man Jesus with the Golden Arm, a bootleg copy of one of the numerous scripts of his unreleased second novel Altamira: End of the Line, and another bootleg novel that ties into the events of Altamira called The Lover in the Ice. ;D Realizing these were just his cherished possessions, she put everything back, but learned Anton's soft spot: Nostalgia
After crit failing a check Freebird ended up pissing off the guards into enforcing the toll although they were working for the Governor. Pixie was able to sell the ink, and she and Freebird were able to find buyers for the guns and ammo, a local Taker group called Mayhem, made up of their leader Teeth, Jan, Pepper, Animal, and Zoot. ;) It now being super late, they opted to spend the Bounty on a hotel, and returned to the Four Seasons, ending the session.
After vignettes (Elder and his dependent at the walls, Pixie talking with Sarge about her idea for a dog breeding service between their dog and Anton's, and Freebird and his son setting up his solar panels,) they met to plan their next mission. For their next mission Pixie opted to come up with a score. With numerous maker workshops around Missouri they could raid one of these numerous warehouses for 3D printers and their printing materials, or a prosthetic manufacturer for prostheses, imminently useful for the medicine based Enclave. Figuring the 3D printers could get more Bounty and could make prostheses, they opted for the former.
Pixie met with two of the leaders of the Enclave, Dr. Hamilton and Carly Sweet. They decided to go for it, and agreed to purchase whatever they could grab. Armed with the hope of a big score and the Box truck to haul a bunch of shit, they left.
They opted to try for all the legs. They lucked out as I rolled two Role Play Conversations: What was your childhood like and how did you make it to the Enclave in a row. Their last was the Pack of Presently Wild Dogs, which they easily avoided in their vehicles. They made it to the maker workshop, where we left things for the night as a late start and technical issues f'd up with our timing.
Market Ticker
I am learning all the time. Freebird should be totes dead. I shouldn't have been rolling for the Vectors at all, meaning that although Freebird did hobble the first Vector it still would've been moving fast enough to munch on a limb. In the bare least he'd be infected; with two doses of Supressin he might've made it if he wasn't devoured. I need to freshen up on combat.
As for this session, it was kind of refreshing. Although we haven't (and may not be able to) do a full session in one go it's nice to see this progression of the vignettes, to the planning and / or negotiation, to the adventure of the legs and site (when I don't roll all Role Play and or skipping lol), to the lull in getting the goods to the client.
The game also strikes a great balance in role play. You could make it a story telling game with longer vignettes and more interplay in the sites, or just straight combat. I like that we're getting to know our heroes and the world they live in. It seems like our stories can get pretty tense, which is something I love about the game (even though sometimes it's because I fuck up violently as the GM.) Both sites and the legs where they had action have had great tense moments, like the Aberrant chase in Mission One or the Drone Farm in the legs of Mission Two. It feels like they players are making choices and rolls that matter, which is what playing an RPG is all about.
I'm doing my best to not have Wackedy Schmackedy Doo, but if I can't then dammit I will have Easter Eggs! :) Just something to show my appreciation, and/or torment Caleb with what RPPR put him through. I wonder if I got any of the names they used for Mayhem and Frag?
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TLC, I expect the next Taker group we run into to consist of two Mormon Scientologists, a heavily-armed teenager, and his excessively permissive social worker.
I've been loving the game, though it seems my dice have taken a trip into Critical Failure Town recently. Still nothing compared to last year's playtest at Springfield GAME. :)
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All play and no recaps makes TLC a bad GM.
All play and no recaps makes TLC a bad GM.
All play and
no recaps makes
TLC a bad GM.
All play? And no recaps makes.
TLC. A bad GM?
SCORE 1: RAIDERS OF THE LOSS: ARCHIVISTS
After making it to the maker space the crew hopped in through the garage doors and searched the place. Making into the lounge they started to suspect people had been inhabiting the space, but they had their doubts (especially with Elder crit failing an awareness check). Once they started to clear the place Freebird succeeded in noticing that the fridge was stocked with food too fresh to be from prior tenants. After searching outside they spotted two people. They entered a tense round of negotiation, with Freebird trying to go around back to cover the rear and Elder and Pixie trying to calm down the people with a rifle and sub machine gun. After barely making it out without a gun fight, the pair agreed to stand down if the Reformers helped them clean out a library.
The pair were Archivists, a man named Rust and a woman named Violet. They talked as they drove, finding out more about the Archivist religion and discovering that the pair has been through quite the hell. At the library, they used more Dead Driving to clean out Casualties and then used guns to finish off the interior stragglers. They raided the library for anything useful, and the Archivists got the computers they wanted (also allowing us to make fun of Joel Osteen in the process,) and returned to the maker space.
Entering into more friendly negotiation, they managed to get the 3D Printers they needed along with a bunch of other goods, and the fridge which Freebird claimed, ending the previous session.
Which led us to tonight. Rather than forcing a long series of rolls to sell all the goods they brought, we abstracted it out to one final roll, where they succeeded and ended up making more Bounty than needed, a slight profit but enough to get Elder through his first Milestone. In the Vignettes Freebird's son Davion was upset that Freebird is focusing on getting excess goods (the solar panels, a fridge which he emphasized was 'for beer') for himself and not for Davion (he has dropped hints he'd like a game console if Freebird could find one), Elder and Jesse celebrated the milestone with the game console Elder thought to grab and Jesse revealed that he wanted to flee with Elder back to Baja California, which meant either getting a dialysis machine or a kidney transplant (much to the IRL shock and consternation of Alethea LOL), and Pixie and Anton took their dogs for a walk, with Anton saying if they could find some fencing of any sort they would be able to start breeding their dogs together as a side business.
While on the lookout for new jobs Pixie crit failed her search, which meant the Market got a -Rep for use in a future negotiation. The remaining searches located a job from the Governor and that Charlotte Drew was still searching for workers for an extermination job. Remembering the brewery's mission, Pixie was allowed a reroll and crit - succeeded, allowing her to know that the job was still fresh and also found out that the 'friendly' neighborhood drug dealer also wanted a job. After discussion they decided to go for Charlotte's job.
In negotiation they found it to be a 2 leg job to clean out a restaurant, as Charlotte is restaurateur, turning her old stores and abandoned ones into fort/restaurants in the Loss for weary travelers. With relatively short negotiation, they opted for full attack. While Freebird looked into competition, and got a crit success. Which was a godsend, as their competition was the Delta County Avengers, his former Raider group. Because it was him who found it and he crit succeeded he used his knowledge of the racists to get them effectively run out of town and eliminated them as future competition; but not from future encounters. The negotiation went well and they ended with Expenses and the hope of plenty of Bounty.
With 2 legs they opted to try the legs. The first leg they came upon an abandoned car. After crit failing his awareness it was found that a Vector inhabited the front seat. With his now silenced rifle Freebird was able to quietly cap him, and they searched the car. Elder found a console computer/entertainment system, and contemplated installing it in his truck (we'll need to stat that upgrade out if he agrees to it.) The second leg, Freebird spotted a glint of metal close by. They opted to drive closer, which meant the Raiders ran out and we rolled initiative. Freebird used all his ammo to called shot to the Raider's head, erasing it with his remaining charges and OHKOing the Raider. The other Raider was repeatedly shot, with his right leg and left arm being maimed (the leg sustained the most damage after Elder's reaction was to RUN HIM OVER.) Ending combat with an intimidation check by Freebird, Pixie opted to heal him out of Bleed Out and interogated him. He revealed (with pressure) that he was a member of the DCA, sent to attack the Reformers. Before Pixie could stop him to send a warning Freebird shot the man's wrist with his pistol, breaking it quite badly. Taking his helmet and his dead friend's rifle, the heroes left in silence after making multiple Threat tests and failing throughout combat and interrogation.
It didn't get better at the job site, as the coordinates led them to a strip mall, and they were greeted with this.
(http://ak-hdl.buzzfed.com/static/enhanced/terminal05/2012/9/21/14/enhanced-buzz-1332-1348252410-1.jpg)
Except the name is "Mega Playground."
They're sent to exterminate in a children's restaurant.
To Be Continued: MARKET FIAT CONTRACT THREE: A QUANTUM OF SOLACE
Market Ticker
With their Score I really wanted to test out negotiation outside of combat. The standoff with the Archivists was super intense and they were one fail away from initiating combat. That's something I wanted to do with combat; I wanted to test it, but I didn't want to railroad them into doing it. Because things went poorly I pulled the library side quest out of a preplanned contract to make up a side quest, and it seemed like it went well.
So naturally they drive up to the glinting metal LOL. I expected them to floor it or inspect more, but they drove straight to it, so I felt like I had to. The fight was slow due to reviewing combat, but got intense, with great role play by the players and some real close calls. They haven't taken damage yet the whole campaign, but now they're starting to take some serious Threat damage.
In their role play for the first vignette Davion mentioned he wanted a game console, and I had remembered as I made opportunities for Freebird to find them, and he kept missing them due to rolls or not fighting for them in the negotiation in the Score. That and how to best deal with Jesse's kidney condition is leading to some interesting places in the Vignettes.
As I spoiled to the players; in my initial write ups I was legit going to make this scenario in a Freddy Fazbear's, with the complication being Casualties in suits which meant a -1 to all attacks. After we agreed to no Wackedy Schmackedy Doo I dropped the One Afternoon At Freddy's aspect but kept in the concept of the mental trauma of cleaning out a kid's restaurant, and then remembering Discovery Zone keeps the interesting factor; you and they will need to wait 'til next week to see how it plays out.
Thus far the play test has been going well. I hope Caleb's getting a lot out of our play/messing up his rules/technical difficulties. It's been a blast! We're hoping to continue to play, finishing the campaign even through it'll likely stretch past the beta. Alethea is going to do an Eclipse Phase campaign (YAY) and trinite might pull together a Delta Green II campaign once the docs start rolling in from the Kickstarter.
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Playtest Update and Reminders
Hello everyone,
I’ll start by saying thank you. The amount of time and dedication you’ve spent reading, critiquing, and playing Red Markets is one of the most encouraging things to happen in my short game design career. I’m so grateful for everyone that’s taken the time to write up their sessions on the forums. It’s really great to see, and witnessing how you guys are interacting in-character online has given me a dozen more ideas for future products and features.
We are entering November, meaning there is little over a month left in the beta. I’m already compiling playtest reports and my own notes into a master change log. Here’s a reminder of the plan:
• Get all the playtests in by the Dec. 20th deadline
• Use Christmas break and (hopefully) snow days to do a massive revision of the rules text
• Run a second playtest campaign with the RPPR crew in late Winter/Spring to test the post-Beta revisions. Revise the book as I go and plan the Kickstarter campaign.
• Ross posts the first playtest campaign as we start playing the second, hopefully building up some hype.
• Kickstarter launches in early Summer, sometime after school lets out and man the comments section full time.
• If the book doesn’t fund: cry forever.
• If it does fund: do a jig. Perhaps even a “Carlton.”
• After my jig, distribute Beta 2 to backers.
• Complete the setting stuff, edit, layout, art, etc.
But all of this hinges upon you – the noble playtesters – turning in the playtest reports. I’ve noticed more participation in the game than I’ve received feedback…by a much larger margin than expected. I understand some of this is inevitable, and many of you are merely waiting to get more games under your belt in order to make an informed decision, but we are quickly approaching the point at which I need those reports back.
The audio is priceless, and listening to you guys play my game every day on the ride to work has deeply informed my revision plans already. But whenever possible, I still need as many detailed playtest surveys as I can get. The audio is great for in-depth analysis, but Red Markets is a big book in need of big changes. In short, I need breadth as well as depth, and while I can drop a hundred playtest reports on my office floor and collate revisions all at once, I can’t listen to a dozen AP’s simultaneously.
So as we enter the final month, that’s what I wanted to say. Thank you to everyone that’s reported in so far. For everyone else, thank you and PLEASE email in November if you have not reported in yet. I need all of you if I’m going to help make the game better.
My address is stokes353@gmail.com.
Happy taking,
Caleb
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Thoughts about the previous sessions:
Session 1 - I thought the "combat negotiation" scene worked great. It shows that the negotiation rules system is powerful and flexible enough to work in ways beyond its core intent. I feel like we as a crew are getting a little too good at managing casualty groups through the use of tactical retreating and driving to kite them. For dramatic purposes, we're going to need some more complications to prevent us from just using that trick every time. And I was surprised that the Score didn't pay off better, but that's the way the dice go.
Session 2 - This was a great roleplaying session for me. Freebird got into some dark and complex places. I had forgotten about Davion's video game system request in real life, so I decided that Freebird had totally forgotten about it, too. He definitely felt like he had let his son down. He's feeling pretty guilty, and I'd say he took that out on the injured raider later. He can be a pretty vengeful and ruthless guy, and his companions hadn't really seen that side of him before. It was pretty shocking for them. He suffered a lot more from that action than he'll admit, and if things go bad at this kiddie restaurant he could easily end up with a detachment Crack. He's certainly going to be looking hard for a video game for Davion.
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Our heroes (AGAIN) managed to avoid taking damage; but that doesn't mean they're not hurting...
MARKET FIAT CONTRACT THREE: A QUANTUM OF SOLACE
After arriving at the Mega Playground and a river of obscenities Pixie called Charlotte and made her come clean. Her daughter Angelica had been at the Mega Playground during the Crash and presumably died inside. Due to the Casualties and the mental trauma she couldn't bring herself to go inside, and couldn't think of a reason to drag Takers into it. Once she rebuilt her business she had been trying, but only the DCA would dare take the job, and she didn't want those racist nutbags anywhere near her daughter. She promised extra Bounty if they could find and confirm her daughter was truly dead.
Upon hanging up the team planned the best point of ingress. They elected to go to the back of the building. Seeing a ladder up to the roof, they checked showing that there was roof access to the playground section of the restaurant. They elected to wait, and start by going through the kitchen. After blocking off the way with dumpsters, Elder opened the door... to a wave of 20 Casualties.
Barely making it out, they spent a ton of ammo dropping the wave after finding they couldn't move the dumpsters again. Checking the corpses they found that a military unit had tried to take the restaurant as a safe house, retreated to the kitchen... and that was it. After clearing the kitchen, they checked the restrooms and then cleared out the restaurant floor, leaving only a few Casualties in the playground itself. While searching, they found one of the party rooms had a ton of dead piled inside, harming sanity. They went to the manager's office and found the final horror; gouts of ancient dried blood covering the walls. Pixie found a note in the manager's desk and became the victim of the first crack: the note implies the manager slit the throats of all the kids during the Crash rather than turn them into Casualties.
Faced with this knowledge, the team looked through the corpse pile and managed to find Angelica. Taking pictures (and confirming her throat was slit, likely meaning that she was never a Casualty,) they did one last sweep before leaving. While in the arcade, Freebird spotted a video game console that combined a bunch of older consoles and combo packs of classic games. One lockpick later and he had the thing to satisfy his son. As they were leaving they checked the shoe racks and found Angelica's backpack, with a picture of her family saying "I <3 Mommy". Grabbing it, the team left the Mega Playground, again victorious, but again worse for the wear. After Pixie gave Charlotte the backpack the grateful but hysterical woman gave them a bonus 15 Bounty and the team gained a one time use +1 rep and a permanent +1 for missions with Charlotte. Another notch in the belt, but how will Pixie react to this new found mental trauma?
MARKET TICKER
This was my toughest role playing yet. While I loved the concept and this got dark this could've gotten DAAARRRK super quick. One of the keys with horror in roleplaying it seems is a fearlessness to push boundaries yet knowing when to stop. I'm not necessarily one for trigger warnings (and this is not the place for that argument again,) but as one who has the privilege of not needing them this might be one to include it.
A lot of what happened between the two generations of groups in the Mega Playground was improved. Angelica's fate was sealed from the get go, but honestly the later group just came about in play, and since I knew the fate of the party during the crash I was able to connect it to the later group.
I think this idea did get executed fairly well. I was hoping for a last stand type fight in the top of the Mega Playground, but caution is the key to survival, and the Reformers are very tactically sound. I've been amping up my scares, so that means I need to amp up the physical threat. We'll see how it goes...
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This was a good jobsite. Once again, we managed to defuse most of the physical Casualty threat with our ultra-cautious tactical-kiting dungeon-crawl style of play. But there was no way to avoid the mental threats! And the whole story of the partially-cleared facility, and then the second survivor group getting taken out, was quite interesting.
I just had a thought: one thing that I think could be an interesting change of pace during a campaign would be a very LONG job, with not only multiple legs but also multiple jobsites (with separate sets of legs between each) to tell an extended story. Having no return to the enclave or payment until full completion would give far more weight to the burden of resource expenditure. For example, let's imagine hunting down a person in the Loss, bounty-hunter style. Go to one location to find information on where the target is, go to a second location to find him, then maybe chase the target as he flees to a third location. And then maybe encounter some more complications during the return trip.
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That'd be real interesting - have to be a heck of a payday to make it worth while to a Taker crew OR there'd have to be a plan to merchant it up between jobsites to in order to keep the crew going. But really interesting. I can see that sort of thing being necessary for mercy jobs in addition a bounty hunter job, seeing as Casualties do wander off.
Aaand now I have an idea for an entire Taker crew with this business model.....
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We got started with Mission 5;
After Teeth from Mayhem came back and returned the box truck safe and sound with Six (6) Bounty as payment; The Reformers got into their vignettes (Elder and Jesse passing out toys to kids at the Orphanarium and talking about Pixie's crack, Pixie and Sarge having a... Tasteful Fade To Black and afterwards talking about their names for once they reach the Recession, and Freebird giving the game console and games to Davion and buying a TV from Carly at the Four Seasons Lodge and also discussing making it to the Recession). Before they left, Pixie's Tough Spot was tapped, as Sarge was visited by Corporal Samuelsson, requesting shelter as he rolled into town.
The only jobs available were the job for the beer bottles from the Cases and the job from the Governor. After thinking they'd make more money from the Governor they elected for that route. They met him in Jeff's City and found their task; a candy company, "Tasty Treet Candy Company", had plenty of unrolled plastic that was used for making candy wrappers. These thick sheets would be ideal for tarps for the goods that come into Jeff's City via the river. After a short negotiation phase our heroes managed to get to 100% Mark Up, meaning a whopping Ninety Four (94) Bounty!
Before they left, Pixie asked for help from Jonas McCree, a librarian in the Four Seasons, who gave them a map of the Tasty Treet factory in exchange for Juicy Joes Jelly Buddies swag and/or the recipe and/or some leftover candies (they are pure sugar, after all). The Reformers elected to take all four legs; the first had them hunker down in the vehicles as a swarm of Locusts were chased by a swarm of DHQS Drones spraying pesticide. Pixie and Freebird took some stun as they inhaled a little bit, and then they had to book it as the bugs drew out a mass of 28 Casualties after a crit roll by the Market.
Their next leg was a bit easier, as they encountered the Trade Caravan Tigris, with the Trader Alan and Guards Rufus and Thelma. Freebird elected to purchase a Kevlar Vest, even though his fail made it worth Nine (9) Bounty instead of Six (6). Leaving their new acquaintances, they passed by a group of wild horses. With no one having animal training as a skill they tried to gauge interest in the location for cash, but only succeeded in getting likes for the photos and making a meme. The last leg had them encounter a toll bridge. The old coot manning it demanded One (1) Bounty per person, even after knowing they were on a mission from the Governor and that they didn't have to pay to get into Jeff's City. Freebird's Asshole-Ness Intimidation brought it down to 2, which Elder paid (so he could tap his spot).
Finally at the Tasty Treet, they were nervous to find that the building was powered and running. Freebird (again) dropped his binoculars and thought he saw a rifle barrel, but they couldn't find anyone on the first floor. The Reformers went in through the front and searched the offices. The main office offered a vault, and a desk which had documents that were scribbled on; "The Candyman is Love, All Hail the Candyman"... Elder opened the vault with his lockpick kit... which promptly set off the alarm. Scanning the vault, they found file cabinets that were sure to include the recipes, Ten (10) Bounty, a USB Stick, and a scrap of cloth covered, nay, dipped in what appeared to be old syrup or caramel. As they left the office they were chased by two men, one with a handgun and one with a fire axe, leading to a good cliffhanger for
MARKET FIAT CONTRACT FOUR: THE CANDYMAN (STORYLINE MISSION TWO)
MARKET TICKER
As I was racking my head trying to come up with new Contracts the central conceit of the Contract hit me as I was driving and I nearly ran off the road cackling in delight. I hope you do as well once it arrives.
Again, my players keep upping their game with role play. The vignettes were even better and the legs led to some good talk, especially during the Toll Bridge.
My chief concern thus far has been not being too killer GM with my Contracts. The Reformers are not combat heavy and generally lean toward the good side of the alignment chart, which restricts the Contracts I can throw their way. I can't really send them against a heavily armed group of Raiders or waist deep in Casualties. The extermination job and this are being used to kind of let me dip my toes into danger; I hope I'm doing it fairly, in an interesting fashion, and a way that does the game justice for Caleb's sake.
@Alethea and trinite:
Multi-Site Contracts seems like a very good idea. I've already come up with a concept that ties into a previously mentioned Contract by Caleb, and I have an idea for another.
You should go through the horrors of Branson at some point anyway... ;)
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You should go through the horrors of Branson at some point anyway... ;)
You son of a bitch. ;D
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You should go through the horrors of Branson at some point anyway... ;)
You son of a bitch. ;D
Well, Google Maps has given me enough of a hint to be afraid.
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Here's something I thought of that might make an interesting change to infection rolls: Have the Player roll the Black die, and the Market roll the red die. The player will have a semi-informed guess about how likely they are to have been infected, but no certain knowledge either way. Seems to me that this could simulate the details of the infectious incident (Black 1: bad bite near a major blood vessel; Black 10: maybe got some spit on me, but nothing seems to have broken the skin). And it could really play up the unique horror of the situation.
Anyway, that's pretty hardcore co-designer feedback, so take it or leave it, Caleb. :)
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Well, as we near the end of the Beta (but not the Reformers,) my players continue to valiantly NOT GET INTO COMBAT GODAMMIT JUST LET ME SHOOT AT YOU AND CAUSE YOU DAMAGE FOR FUCK'S SAKE :'(
MARKET FIAT CONTRACT FOUR: THE CANDYMAN (STORYLINE MISSION TWO) / MARKET FIAT CONTRACT FIVE: ANHEUSER–BUSCH, ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI
As our heroes entered combat with the men Freebird used his turn to use suppressing fire to force the man with the handgun into cover, and Elder used his gun to turn the leg of the axe-wielder into paste after also realizing more were on their way. Pixie tried to get them into negotiation and failed, but Freebird used intimidation, and barely got the men into Combat Negotiation.
With a tense three turns (as that was all the time until the reinforcements arrived) the heroes were barely able to agree to heal the man who was shot and talk about ways to work around this. Three more people came into the room. The quintet made up the cult of the Candyman; leader Millie, and Rigby, Will, Harold, and Burton. As Pixie healed Burton, she realized they all were Latent. Millie agreed to give up the plastic, but as recompense, they had to help clean out the Anheuser–Busch plant, as they needed sugar for the Candyman, as well as apologize to said Candyman. She insisted that Rigby and Will would accompany the group to ensure the job got done. They couldn't do it themselves because they knew the place was occupied by armed opponents and they were outclassed.
As they rode in the pick up, the Reformers conversed with the cultists. They learned that they were ex-Archivists who shacked up in the candy factory and were 'saved and protected' by the Candyman, and it appears that while all are loyal, some are a bit more... fanatical than others (Rigby was more lucid than Will, for example.) Also, the more they talked about the Candyman, the more nervous the Reformers got (how is he able to protect them? Why is it 'better if you're a Latent?')
At the Anheuser–Busch plant, Pixie and Elder stealthily rode up to the front after reviewing a map from the cult and tried to negotiate (AGAIN) with the occupants. As they started to talk they mentioned that they were the Reformers, the two of them, members of the Candyman Cult, and Freebird... which elicited screams of "Freebird?", a dead line, and shots fired. Pixie and Elder were able to flee to the truck and drive to a safe distance.
While looking into the occupants they found they were part of Freebird's former crew, the Douglas County Avengers, specifically Squad Pi: Patton, Powell, and Pickett. As they planned, Pixie video called Sarge to let them know they'd be late, and mentioned the cultists and the force in the plant. After name dropping Pickett Sarge recognized the names; Pickett (aka Loren Bristow) is a former Civil War reenactment actor who was ex-military. He said they might be able to negotiate with Patton and Powell (Patty and Gus), as they were members from before the white supremacists joined the Avengers, but in all likelihood Pickett is the driving force and will have to be dealt with, and also learned his soft spot.
Armed with information, the Reformers snuck in through the back. While testing the door they realized that it was booby trapped. Freebird walked back a string and realized that it was a keg rigged to be a battering ram that would swing through the open door. Critting while realizing that, he also saw the NEXT trap, a motion sensor that would loosen a rope attached to the ceiling... with a SMG. As the rope swung it would eventually tighten on the trigger and unleash spiraling death. By noticing it they were able to disable the trap, but while sneaking Freebird couldn't sneak enough, and was caught by Patton, which will initiate combat... in part two!
MARKET TICKER
When will my players enter combat? Hopefully this time *sigh* ;)
Honestly, I kinda like that we haven't been forced into going into combat; it helps show the different aspects of the game in that it is supposed to be a game about economics; that's why I came up with Combat Negotiation. Both times they've succeeded, but only by a slim margin; in this session they had three turns to get to Labor and stay there, and they just barely won the final leadership test to stay there and get out of combat. It helps add tension, and the other players are still able to help (by acting outside of combat or trying to discern how best to negotiate.) Plus, nothing is free; though I had to pull them out of my ass, the most frequent means of dealing with the problem generally would end up being helping with another problem; business and the holidays meant that I only had another contract planned, but it made sense, and if the Reformers play their cards right they can land two birds with one stone.
It was fun coming up with the traps; hope Caleb appreciates them! One is particularly nasty, but in a way unique to the setting that is another thing, like the Mega Playground. Trying, but interesting.
For me it's easier to visualize what's going on with the maps. I'm not using them in a tactical sense in that there's grids and forced movement; but as a visualization tool. I've been to candy factories but couldn't tell you where shit is. While residences and office spaces are easy to find it was a bitch to find the factories; the Tasty Treet is actually the original blueprint for the Dr. Pepper bottling plant and Anheuser–Busch plant is Languanita's bottling plant mixed with a brewpub. IMHO, it also adds to IMMERSION and makes sense in system; the game takes place in a facsimile of the real world, where such buildings exist, and by being able to show these maps to the players it's stuff they would find IRL if they were researching a place.
TLC can't help himself with Easter Eggs Part 10,833:
Pickett's real name is Loren (I actually fully spelled it out in game, but was tired, so sue me)
Millie: Milton Hershey
Rigby: William Wrigley I-IV
Will: ...y Wonka
Harold: Harry London (local candy company; famous for making Buckeye candies, recently merged with Fannie Mae (no, not that one))
Burton: Cadbury
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but while sneaking Freebird couldn't sneak enough
Just to clarify what this means, I failed three Stealth checks in a row, and then failed my Perception check to notice that I wasn't being stealthy. So I deserve whatever I get.
EDITED TO ADD: I love the candy cultists.
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Well, we finally had combat...
MARKET FIAT CONTRACT FOUR: THE CANDYMAN (STORYLINE MISSION TWO) / MARKET FIAT CONTRACT FIVE: ANHEUSER–BUSCH, ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI
Frankly, most of the episode was combat, so not too terribly much to report. I can do a play by play, but I need to re-listen to the episode for that. Highlights include;
-More limb destruction on the opponents
-The heroes being lucky they made their purchases; Pixie was shot in the head and would've been killed had she not had her helmet, and Freebird was shot in the chest; good thing he overpaid for that kevlar vest.
-After multiple turns the villains were wounded but not down, but a group of Casualties appeared. All being mortally wounded, our heroes left the villains to be eaten.
After coming back in, the Reformers and the two Candyman Cultists cleaned up the place, looting the bodies and checking for the rest of the traps (including Molotovs that Freebird set off and caught fire on, an oil slick, and a flashbang), and one very nasty bit of Quarentecture; Murderer's Row, which is essentially lining up an alley with tied up captives; by having this line there's a buffet line for the Casualties and plenty of noise and food to keep the Casualties at bay. Disgusted by this, Pixie took photos to further drive the DCA's rep in the toilet. Searching the upstairs and the bodies, the Reformers took a lot of great gear, a diary, and a bunch of Bounty, and left for the Tasty Treet with both the bottles and the sugar.
MARKET TICKER
Combat was interesting. The players did well, and nearly got themselves killed human v PC combat did fine, as I tried to use tactics to get the players to also act tactically. However, limbs getting mutilated made my choices few and far between, especially maimed legs meaning people couldn't escape and had no choice but to agro.
The Murderer's Row concept came to me as an example of 'evil' Quarentecture. For all the good that it does there's certainly ways of protecting from Casualties that are beyond acceptable; think kneecapping someone to make the zombies focus on them.
It's funny how the random encounters end up being so important; if they hadn't taken the helmets and Freebird hadn't bought the vest Pixie for sure would be dead and Freebird might be too with half his chest filled with killing damage; resist the urge to skip legs; they might save your life (... or take it.)
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MARKET FIAT CONTRACT FOUR: THE CANDYMAN (STORYLINE MISSION TWO) / MARKET FIAT CONTRACT FIVE: ANHEUSER–BUSCH, ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI
With their goods and evidence in tow, the Reformers returned to the Tasty Treet, hoping to avoid seeing the Candyman and taking all sorts of precautions, but in the end they had to go visit him to get the plastic. The Candyman, as they suspected, turned out to be an Aberrant that was boiled alive in melted sugar, making a horribly burned Aberrant with a thick, rotten caramel coating. Barely keeping it together, the heroes apologized, and were led to the plastic... which was in front of 9 dead Candymen. They grabbed the plastic and left without incident. After speaking with the leader of the Cult, Millie, they found that all 10 were former cultists, except for the original, and all willing. Their plans at documenting the horror now questionable, they kept the film but left for Jeff's City, where they turned in the plastic... and found they had more fake Bounty. After fulfilling their promises to their sources, they returned home.
They called the Cases to negotiate for the for the bottles. After some careful negotiation, they sold them and a bunch of the gear from the bottling plant, for an absurd 264 Bounty. That easily put all three Reformers past all their Retirement levels and ready for Mr. JOLS...
MARKET TICKER
Whoops.
I realized afterwards that I should used score mechanics for the sale of the bottles, not standard negotiation. That, along with the tricked out gear owned by the DCA members allowed for way too much Bounty for the Reformers. However, at the same time they did have to combine two contracts into one, and a few failed rolls and they're all dead. I'm a little disappointed the campaign will end early, but it's my fault not theirs.
I was also terrified because the main storyline... uh... still needs dealt with. I've sown enough seeds to not let it come to pass. However, I came up with a way to finish it, and even in a way that will fit their play style. We'll see after Mr. JOLS...
At times I feel like I have trouble keeping everything together, whether mixing up names or stuff like this, but more often than not that's my fault as the GM. I'm still getting used to the GM seat, but with the help of a good system and my players I'm glad that we're still having fun and I haven't ruined their time and/or Caleb's system.
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Just to be clear, we're having a great time and The Lost Carol is doing a great job playing the Market. This particular 2-fer mission definitely felt tense and dangerous to me, more so than most of the previous ones. Things could have broken really badly for us, but they didn't. I got super lucky with all the candy cultist horror, passing almost all the Self Control checks and taking very little mental damage. Freebird did better than his player did, I think. If I were to change anything on that front, I think certain Threat tests should have added difficulty to represent their particularly brutal nature.
When we got that grand total payoff, I thought for sure that the math was wrong. It was definitely not in the same ballpark as the previous few jobs. I'm thinking that the main issues were: (A) we did extremely well on negotiation for both jobs, maxing out the payoff for the bottle delivery after we'd already completed the mission; and (B) a huge portion of our income has come from finding and selling equipment.
(B) deserves a playtest note. I'm pretty sure that this particular issue will be common for many groups, and needs to be addressed in the rules.
We've houseruled a Networking test for selling gear: Success = sell for Upkeep value, Failure = sell half Upkeep, Crit Success = sell for double Upkeep (same price it would take to buy it new), Crit Failure = can't sell, must either keep or dump. We've been doing a single roll for the entire pile of stuff we want to sell each time for simplicity. This math might be a little high, I don't know. It can definitely be worth while to blow a Will point to upgrade to a crit and double the payout.
Whatever Caleb decides to do, I think the game's economy needs to expect players to supplement their income by raking in found gear. Takers gonna take (everything they find that isn't nailed down).
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Well, we had our last session (of the Beta).
After our heroes informed their loved ones of their massive bounty of Bounty, the Reformers met and came up with their Mr. JOLS. Using the Score mechanics, the team came up with Vertical Farming / Bioengineering/Gengineering equipment that was done by a startup in downtown KC. Many would love that gear, and should be useful. They successfully recruited Anton and Corporal Samuelsson to be redshirts NPCs that fight with them. After some additional rolls for guaranteed gear and intel, we left our heroes in stasis for what might be there biggest success, or darkest hour...
MARKET TICKER
The Score mechanics worked really well. While the 3D printers was free form we used the structured mechanics, which meant for some good ideas from the players, and the secret rolls with which I can screw them with.
We won't be meeting over holiday break, so we won't restart until likely the first or third week of January. We will finish Red Markets (as it's 1-3 sessions remaining,) and move onto new adventures, likely MAOCT, playtests of trinite's excellent Civil War scenarios, or other things (...Action Movie hack Slasher Flick? Hc Svnt Dracones One Shots? DG? Not-Fatale?) before we start an EP campaign.
But Red Markets has been a blast. I think even in beta form Caleb has come up with a wonderful system and I hope our playtest has been helpful. We can't wait to throw money at you and, say it with us, "BUY YOUR BOOK! BUY YOUR BOOK! BUY YOUR BOOK!"
Also thanks to my playtesters, trinite, Alethea, and smalltowncinema. They've been a great encouragement for a first time GM and have been excellent players; of course, I'll save the rest of my praise for after their fates have been sealed.
Hope you all have enjoyed. Once La Corbusier starts posting we'll start posting our APs. Mind the dust and warts; we're all new to this. Thanks again for following us.
Play me out, Perturbator.
! No longer available (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAM6mG6BWjw#)
Until next time!
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Seems like we've finally resolved our technical issues here at the end. It's been interesting to make this pretty sudden transition to the "endgame." Since the system doesn't emphasize mechanical character advancement(i.e. increasing stats and stuff), it's more up to the Market and players to develop the narrative so that it feels as though the campaign is approaching a climax. It's been a bit abrupt for us, since we managed to get such a redonkulous level of profit on our previous job. Still, I think we're all working together to make this last job feel suitably epic. We'll see how it plays out!
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the narrative is based on the retirement plan, not leveling up your character. Does hitting the milestones not feel like a story arc?
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the narrative is based on the retirement plan, not leveling up your character. Does hitting the milestones not feel like a story arc?
We kinda hit two milestones at once... and by kinda I mean totally did. And by we I mean everyone in the party at once. None of this some of the players saving towards their milestones while others pour everything into skill and gear improvements.
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the narrative is based on the retirement plan, not leveling up your character. Does hitting the milestones not feel like a story arc?
Since they essentially did two scores at once the made several McDuck's worth of Bounty. After paying everything they had enough pure profit to clear out their remaining retirement goals.
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the narrative is based on the retirement plan, not leveling up your character. Does hitting the milestones not feel like a story arc?
Since they essentially did two scores at once the made several McDuck's worth of Bounty. After paying everything they had enough pure profit to clear out their remaining retirement goals.
In fact, we made so much that if that had been the very first job we'd ever done, we still could have retired immediately. That wouldn't have been much of an "arc".
That's a good point though, Ross. I agree that the Milestone system helps a lot in developing a campaign arc, so long as the jobs are paying off at a rate that reasonably corresponds to the Milestone levels. This could have two failure states: too high payouts (like if our last job were the normal expected result), or too low payouts (like a maximum of 1-2 bounty per job, so that the Milestones become impossibly distant). If Milestones are benchmarked at 20 Bounty, I would expect that each job should payout somewhere between 5-10 Bounty per Taker in disposable profit, slightly adjusted according to the campaign's Boom or Bust tone. That puts each milestone at somewhere between 2 and 4 jobs to complete, which I would say is a good pace to make them feel like real accomplishments. And in general, our playtest has stuck pretty well to that pace until the last bit here. I don't think the system is broken; I do recommend that Caleb should make this expected campaign-pace clear in the written rules to help Markets avoid accidentally breaking the mechanics that help define the narrative arc.
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And we're back! We're back. Strike up the band.
! No longer available (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsL3NOuZ0As#)
MR. JOLS: [REDACTED]
After leaving the Four Seasons our heroes (after making some more purchases and checking up on research), with Corporal Samuelsson, Anton, and Bruno in tow, made their trek to the lab, Gregor Agriculturals. Elder's Criminality reminded him that they needed the plant growth devices, the research notes, and the repair manual. They proceeded to skip every leg except the mandatory one; in exchange for coming to sell them stuff, Tigris asked the Reformers to stop by a mini-mall and see if they could lock down any potential merch to sell. The mini-mall had a department store, a toy store, a Christian book store, an educational supply store, and a pool bar. They stopped in the department store, Christian book store, and pool hall, finding some food and tools (and Freebird taking an 8 ball for good luck), before realizing that another swarm of locusts being gassed by drones (with Casualties, no doubt nearby) was incoming. They elected to hide in the Starbucks in the department store, and also used it to secure the goods for Tigris before driving straight to Gregor.
Upon arriving, they cased the joint to check the entrances, and found a dusty but still sound building. They went in the rear service entrance, electing to have Anton and Bruno stay in the pick up truck as scouts. Inside, they looked around the labs, electing to go upstairs before checking the basement (where, thanks to Elder's research, they knew the vertical farming equipment was; at present, the devices are so heavy they can't be on roofs.) On the ground floor was meeting rooms, cubes for office workers, and the break room and cafeteria. The security station had a stun gun, and was quite robust for the company. Also, the phone list referenced everyone, and also had the personal numbers for the CEO, a man named Barry Valentine; Pixie had heard of him, but wasn't sure his deal beyond being a multi-PhD in Botany and Biology. The place seemed to be like any other Silicon Valley-ish start up; nice equipment, relaxing break room. In the break room were lots of obtuse technical manuals and journals on horticulture - and biology?
Before heading upstairs, Pixie got a call from Anton. A pickup truck drove by; a jacked up one with Truck Nutz (C). Anton tried to duck, but was sure the occupants saw them. Unsure of what to think, they pressed on. On the second floor were the labs and the server room. The server had to have all the research data and would be highly valuable regardless. In a conference room they found the research notes, and yet more references to biology in addition to horticulture. Perhaps it was for the super and / or unique plant's effects on human tissue? While exploring on this floor, they heard gun shots in the distance, confirmed by Anton.
Racing upstairs, they found that parts of the third floor had collapsed. Freebird and Samuelsson carefully went up the steps, and used their rifle scopes to scout. In the distance, the pickup truck, along with a second, was rounding up Casualties for a Dead Drive. There were over 20. They also had attached a flag to their truck: a Confederate flag. The Delta County Avengers! They must have caught up with our heroes after the events of the Anheuser-Busch plant. As our heroes fortified the doors and pulled the truck inside, they were ready for a fight. Will the Reformers survive the attack? What is in the basement? Will Pixie ever tell us what happened in Denver? Stay tuned!
MARKET TICKER
I'm glad we took awhile before I executed Mr. JOLS. In the interim we had a two part EP session to do Think Before Asking, as we were slated to have an absence, and then wanted to finish it. In the meantime I had the mission mulling in my head. By giving it time I was able to cut away the stuff that made it too complex or overly big. I think this was the best I could make it, and the players seemed to have fun. Some of the ideas I'm sad I cut, but I know they were necessary (RPPR cameos as a Payday Gang-like group, anyone?)
I was able to ratchet up the tension, much better than I did in the first contract. By making giving less rolls and allowing the players to explore it made it more nerve-wracking as they started to piece together what was going on here, and my approach for the DCA that more tense.
I'm surprised they skipped all the legs. I shouldn't be, since they knew this was Mr. JOLS, but sadly for them I included multiple clues that the DCA were coming. And a leg at an Archaeo-Bucks! :( I'll keep that one for later. I am aiming to attend GenCon, and am planning on having a one shot ready with pregens (The Reformers, Samuelsson, Anton & Bruno, and my created character NRG.)
We are working on getting the episodes ready for the Community AP site. smalltowncinema has done a phenomenal job recording Google Hangouts and cutting up the episodes for Caleb's (and our) use. He's working on tagging the episodes and getting them ready for posting; we're shooting for 1-2 episodes every 2 weeks, so we don't post everything faster than the Brutalist campaign does.
The time away did not make the game less fun or show any holes in it. We can't wait for the conclusion, and for the Kickstarter!
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It was a pretty exciting session, and withstanding a siege is definitely going to be a huge change of pace from our previous missions, where we were always the ones doing the breaking and entering.
TLC, you left out the part at the strip mall where I crit-failed my perception roll and broke my THIRD PAIR OF BINOCULARS IN THE CAMPAIGN GODDAMN IT
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TLC, you left out the part at the strip mall where I crit-failed my perception roll and broke my THIRD PAIR OF BINOCULARS IN THE CAMPAIGN GODDAMN IT
Oh yeah! I was piecing the session from memory and forgot the best part. 😄
I would make an argument that critfailing three separate checks for binoculars might make an argument against fragile, as you surely will never purchase binoculars again, but it's mostly an odds issue with uneven dice and not the mechanics fucking you over.
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TLC, you left out the part at the strip mall where I crit-failed my perception roll and broke my THIRD PAIR OF BINOCULARS IN THE CAMPAIGN GODDAMN IT
Oh yeah! I was piecing the session from memory and forgot the best part. 😄
I would make an argument that critfailing three separate checks for binoculars might make an argument against fragile, as you surely will never purchase binoculars again, but it's mostly an odds issue with uneven dice and not the mechanics fucking you over.
Oh, I think I like binoculars just fine the way they are, fragile and everything. It might make more thematic sense if they only broke if they were being used in a dangerous/action-type situation, or if they were repairable. Maybe you could houserule that a broken piece of equipment gets a repair roll, with success meaning that it can be fixed (for a cost) and failure meaning that it's totally trashed.
But That's kind of an edge case, and not something that I'd say would be worth revising the whole Fragile quality over (this is exactly how rules bloat gets started!). Right now the Rugged upgrade is certainly worth buying, though. I wish I'd thought of it before we started Mr. JOLS.*
*But not as much as I wish I'd thought of prepping a case of Molotov cocktails we could drop off the roof. I'll be asking to make some scavenging rolls at the start of next session...
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MR. JOLS: [REDACTED] PART TWO
This episode was purely combat. Our heroes made it out alive, but not unscathed. All three took some damage, as did Anton, but they made it out alive. Highlights:
The truck Deaddrove the Casualties towards the building. Our heroes recognized three Vectors and promptly took them out. As the DCA got closer, Freebird was able to recognize them, and learned that all five were leaders in the DCA: Abrams, Bradley, Eisenhower, Goodpaster, and MacArthur, with Bradley being the one who destroyed Davion's hand! Elder also realized, to his horror, that one of the trucks had a burned flag of his old Mormon enclave, Adam-ondi-Ahman.
They managed to take out one of the two pickups, and the DCA made it out on foot to break open doors. They managed to all but blast off Bradley's head, and realized that he was a Latent. After that they called shot'd his head and killed Bradley. After trading fire and injury, they used Bruno to 'Dead Run' the remaining Casualties away, and managed to inflict heavy damage on the truck and its occupants. As the four remaining DCA members attempted to flee after the driver got precariously close to bleeding out, Elder got one final shot and managed to destroy the truck, flipping it over in flames and killing everyone but Goodpaster.
Elder and Pixie ran out to the truck, Elder demanding to know what happened to Adam-ondi-Ahman. Apparently the DCA, kicked out of the Four Seasons and with their reputation ruined, decided to try to sack Adam-ondi-Ahman, but the presence of a couple of taker groups (Mayhem and the Archivists especially) drove them off and shattered the moral of the remainder of the DCA, leaving only the leaders to try to take their vengeance on the Reformers. After saying some Spanish and Hebrew, respectively, the heroes left Goodpaster to scream racist things as he burned to death in the wreckage, and our heroes regrouped to continue their search.
MARKET TICKER
This combat was amazing and amazingly fun. I'm glad I gave them some NPCs so we could get into some serious combat. They made it out pretty good, and destroyed their prime enemies.
The thing I enjoyed the most is having to come up with the opponents' tactics on the fly. It's fun when I'm playing myself, but it's also interesting to have to plan what these enemies would realistically do. After being heavily wounded they began to argue about fleeing, but vowed to keep fighting, to their deaths.
We have posted the first episode in the Community AP thread, and Ross moved the file so it should be uploaded any day now. We'll hopefully wrap up Mr. JOLS tomorrow and then we're one - three sessions away from the end. Stay tuned!
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It was fun. We're still using the beta rules straight as-written, so legs are still the primary form of armor. But the combat nonetheless felt dynamic and tactical. It was a good change of pace to be on the defensive rather than on the attack. And I felt that we worked a little bit harder to more fully employ the combat rules, using options like called shots and full offense to good effect. And I did get to scrounge together a Molotov and drop it on some zombies, which made me happy. :D
We had to improvise some rules for damaging vehicles, which I hope gets addressed in the final published rules. Sorry I sound like a broken record, but vehicles need their own section. Giving them Damage charges on one line and Fuel charges on another might be a good solution, and help make them more expensive to use too.
TLC, once we finish this job, I'll be very interested to discuss how the secret rolls during our Score design session influenced how you put together this job site. Assuming we survive whatever's down in the basement.
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Normally I let my thoughts on the session stew before I post the recap, but I have quite a few, so fuck it, we'll do it live:
MR. JOLS: BLOOD HARVEST PART THREE
After eliminating the DCA the heroes searched the third floor of Gregor Agriculturalists, where they found president Barry Valentine's office... with him dead in it. His diary indicated that something was in the basement, and he had a crisis of faith and ultimately took his life, with gun that had one last bullet. After loading up the box truck with everything valuable outside of what they came for, the Reformers and Samuelsson went to the basement.
At the guard kiosk they found a fully loaded Rifle and with a crit success Freebird found a hidden cellphone with one contact: Benjamin. Also on the phone was a pdf that had truncated maintenance plans for the vertical farming equipment, as well as a second model that was an enclosed tank. After checking the empty bathrooms they went into the main lab, which had the vertical farms... and to their horror (and Pixie's delight), containers that were growing organs. Hearts. Lungs. Intestines. As well as a final container that had a completed digestive system, fully functional. Freebird cracked and vomited his guts out before leaving the room. The others followed.
Once he regained his composure, they checked the other room in the outer hallway, which was the maintenance room, containing the maintenance records. Freebird then insisted he would be fine and ran into the grow lab, where he noticed black strands hanging from the ceiling. Elected to check the room opposite the side with the strands, they found a seed and stem cell library. As they elected what to do Pixie made the last Sensitivity check necessary to realize that Samuelsson was hiding something, and he came clean; he is a DHQS agent. His crew had been occasionally coming to Gregor to maintain the equipment and reverse engineer it so they could safely transport everything. He also knew that 'something' was in the waste room, but they left it to its devices.
The Reformers did not elect to do so, and used Freebird's Molotov and used the forklift to secure the door. After barely making his Athletics check, Freebird tossed the Molotov right into the hole leading to the offal / waste tank, and heard an inhuman roar. They moved the forklift in time and then fled the building, leaving the thing to its fate. In exchange, Samuelsson let them take 6 of the vertical farming tanks and the schematics for the organ growth tanks; combined would be more than enough Bounty to be a satisfactory Mr. JOLS. Samuelsson's CO, the aforementioned Benjamin, came back an confirmed the 'thing' was killed and that the building and tanks are fine.
In the aftermath (and during as well,) Samuelsson explained himself. His crew was taken off the Gregor job when it was discovered that Jeff Carnavan was printing fake Bounty. Samuelsson was implanted with the Reformers to study them (since while they had spent the fake Bounty their records were otherwise clean,) while the rest of the six person squad studied Jeff's City to locate where the ID printers might be located. The DHQS was split with how to deal with the situation. Samuelsson's bosses wanted to find a way to deal with Carnavan and / or disable his ability to print, another faction wanted to just sack Jeff's City and let God take care of the rest, and the final, horrible group wanted to devalue Missouri Bounty... which everyone else realized would eventually lose people's trust in Crash Bounty, rending it void, which would likely render Recession US currency void, and the whole economy of the present and former United States would collapse.
As they saw it, Jeff's main enforcers and scavengers of the materials were the DCA. By taking them out, Samuelsson sent a threat to Jeff, and he should be taken care of. The Reformers were shown two options; they could help Samuelsson's squad infiltrate the facility where Jeff was storing the Bounty printers and disable and/or destroy them, permanently rendering him incapable of printing fake IDs. They could also steal his legit Bounty and be truly made for life, and with no printers and no Bounty Jeff would be ruined and his collapse much more peaceful. Or if they just took the money and ran, they could, but without the DCA Jeff might have a more violent fall, especially once the nearby Enclaves realize what Jeff's doing. The fall of Jeff's City in this fashion might have consequences for the Four Seasons. After the additional prize of having the DHQS fly them back to the Recession, claiming they were 'survivors found in a bunker' (common parlance for personnel brought back by DHQS,) not only could the Reformers return to civilization, they could also have their full lives back. Both tempted and worried for their soon to be former home, the heroes elected for a second Just One Last Score...
MARKET TICKER
This session went very well, although there were certainly things that could have gone better. I did kind of shoehorn in the final boss (SPOILERS: it was an Aberrant called The Fisher of Men. Caleb didn't want corpse gestalts, so I made an organ gestalt. ;)), but the players agreed that although anti-climactic (since they beat it without fighting it,) it and the confrontation with Samuelsson were good as climaxes. Since they thought I was going to throw a final boss at them I thought I should, but my frustration were not knowing what Aberrants really are meant to be. The Fisher of Men used the black strands to move around and would attack with the organs, using bone marrow as armor. However, since it's covered in organs it was a glass cannon as general gunfire and especially actual fire would be effective against it. My only other thought was the strands in Bradley regrowing his head (as nothing but black strands and making an Aberrant like that,) but I knew especially with the Candyman I was likely stretching the limits on Aberrants in the setting. I didn't want to go too far, which I feel with the Fisher of Men I did. I love the concept, but wasn't 100% behind it because I didn't want to go to far off the reservation.
They also didn't fight him, but that's the thing with non linear narratives, but also a thing I like about role playing and investigation. They found all the clues that intimated something was down there, and using their trademark caution they came up with the plan to burn and leave on their own, and naturally chose the waste room to search last. Another issue is that I feel the batttle against the DCA could have been a successful climax on its own, but since we only play in two hour bursts I felt like a climax was needed in this episode as well. In a standard four hour session just the DCA might have sufficed. Also, they could have failed their rolls to make Samuelsson spill the beans, but Pixie made the first roll and used the Will she earned to make the second, which made him tell the truth. They could have made it out of the lab and not known about the DHQS plot against Jeff Carnavan. This was how I wanted the MR. JOLS to end, but in this way it might have been anti-climactic and kind of a low note.
With the MR. JOLS rolls, Pixie FAILED that it was Vertical Farming Equipment. I didn't know how to implement that fail, but it came with a later roll. Elder SUCCEEDED that it was in KC, so it was guaranteed to be there. Elder FAILED DHQS interest, and Freebird SUCCEEDED that they were interested in the bioengineering aspects. With these four rolls, my narrative was that it would be in KC. The vertical farming equipment is a prize, but the real prize is the organ growth tanks (the stem cells would be entered into a 3D printer in the top, which prints the organs. Since they are real organs they would grow, decay, and rot, which meant the bottoms had to be used to suck out the dead organs.) The DHQS was interested, but was no longer their primary objective due to the situation in Jeff's City.
Some of the rolls were contradicting (the fail on the vertical farming equipment but success on DHQS interest in bioengineering aspects, but failed that they were interested.) It made it hard to make all four rolls important, but I think I made it work.
I had to force it into the narrative, because I laid enough hints to not do anything, but not enough to satisfactorily do it at this stage of the game. My plot was that there was a mission in Branson that would have let them find the DCA HQ and given them more intel on Jeff's City. The plan was also that the DCA would just be rivals, and not intrinsic to the meta plot, but my failure and giving them too much Bounty after the last mission meant I wanted to wrap up the DCA in a bow since it's the faction they had the most experience with. Also using them was a satisfying Final Boss without demanding that they deal with the Jeff's City stuff; they could've just taken the money and ran. The stuff in Adam-ondi-Ahman was also thrown in because with both I wanted Elder and Freebird to have some sort of closure for their stories as we had set up some stuff in game. With Pixie I wasn't sure how to do it, as most of here meta plot was surrounding her relationship with Sarge and not with external factions. I feel bad and like I should have done more with her character, but I wasn't sure where to go.
However, it's one of the chief things I'm learning about GMing; my love of Whose Line is not in vain. Improv is key. They make too much money? Come up with a way to make it work! It might not be 100% what I or they want, but so long as it works and can be fun, that's the best I can do, and I shouldn't sweat my worries of "Is this stupid? Are they going to hate this?". Work on making a good narrative. It won't always work, but nothing ever does.
But ultimately, my players had fun, there was some narrative satisfaction, and in the end we will give the send off to the Red Markets Beta with my original concept; a 'storming' of Jeff's City. Will they stealth their way in? Charm their way in? Just use the DHQS and sack the place? (nah) We'll find out soon! Next time it's
RED MARKETS BETA: THE REFORMERS FINAL MISSION: LEGAL TENDER
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Episode one is live! Thanks again to smalltowncinema for all his hard work. Enjoy the ride!
http://community.roleplayingpublicradio.com/blog/2016/02/13/red-markets-beta-the-reformers-episode-01/ (http://community.roleplayingpublicradio.com/blog/2016/02/13/red-markets-beta-the-reformers-episode-01/)
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Episode 2 is live! Enjoy the show!
http://community.roleplayingpublicradio.com/blog/2016/02/23/red-markets-beta-the-reformers-episode-02/ (http://community.roleplayingpublicradio.com/blog/2016/02/23/red-markets-beta-the-reformers-episode-02/)
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SERIES FINALE PART ONE: LEGAL TENDER
After our heroes informed their loved ones of the plan they made their goodbyes and left the city to the helicopter that would evac them to the Recession. The loved ones (including the kids) were handed clipboards that had NDAs that were 50 pages long. Freebird made a successful sneak check to hide a gun on Davion, whereas Elder failed to hide one on Sarge. The gun was tossed in the luggage but not left behind. After a tense fly off hoping they made the right choice, the Reformers and the DHQS left for the Horseshoe Bend Brewing Company to plan in their side room.
The DHQS determined that the likely building housing the ID printers was the Truman Building across the street from the Governor's Mansion. The Truman Building was the former home of the DMV and was used as both a meeting place for the public and a HQ for the security squad. After doing research they agreed to pretend to be starting their Mr. JOLS of getting the vertical farming equipment for Jeff's City, and to pitch it to Connie Mercer first so that if things go pear shaped an appropriate person could take the fall. They left for Jeff's City, and spoke with her. Pixie critgted her Leadership check, so Connie fell hook, line, and sinker. She agreed to get Jeff in on the deal, and he gave them a tour of the building.
They rode an elevator up to the roof and found it had solar panels and was flat enough to hold a helicopter in case they needed an emergency getaway. Down to the sixth floor they found a keycarded room where the reader was recently added and a few armed guards. Elder successfully stole a guard's keycard. Down in the basement they were only shown the entry way, where one half is electrical and maintenance, and the other is closed off, rumored they heard to be a secret prison. They tried to get supplies out of Governor Carnavan; a fail meant only ammo and no guns or explosives.
Freed from the meeting, they met with References. Elder met with his old friend Julio, who confirmed there's a secret prison, which no one leaves (making the heroes afraid there's Casualties to dispose of the bodies), and that the security squad's HQ isn't always full up as it isn't their barracks. Freebird met with his friend who works the walls, and coerced him into giving him a brick of C4. Finally, Pixie made a new reference in Jessica, a maintenance worker at the Truman Building. Pixie got her drunk (on their shitty, piss-like beer) and Jessica spilled that the second floor has a torture/interrogation room, and that the sixth floor seems special, but she keeps her head down enough to not ask questions. Pixie took her home and swiped her keys and a keycard. With all their recon in tow, the Reformers asked for two DHQS to man the helicopter in case things go hot, and had Anton and Bruno man the pick up for another quick exit, leaving the three Reformers and three DHQS in addition to Corporal Samuelsson to give one last hurrah to save the city from itself and save the country from Jeff's City, as our campaign rushes to it's conclusion...
MARKET TICKER
This session Google Hangouts and/or my internet HATED me. I dropped like crazy.
This was an interesting and refreshing take on Red Markets. I'll mention it in the hacking thread but after this session and listening to the Drunk and Ugly's Leverage mini-campaign I think a heist hack of Red Markets could easily work. It was fun to see the players plan as I had the building set for their discovery. I hope they'll enjoy what I have in store.
It's also a good design challenge because I didn't want to necessarily make this a boss fight. This could easily be a siege, but I wanted to design it such that it is possible for them to stealth it and even leave the city with Jeff none the wiser... or they could go live and have to fight everyone as well as destroy the printers. We'll see how it goes! One more to the end!
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This planning session was super fun and really has me hyped for the big operation. I also have the added fun of being personally acquainted with the real-world building we're using for the assault. Can't wait.
Also, the final dependent vignettes were really touching. Freebird and Davion carved each others' names into the two 8-balls I found during the last mission, so that we can find each other again if we're separated in the Recession.
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This was an interesting and refreshing take on Red Markets. I'll mention it in the hacking thread but after this session and listening to the Drunk and Ugly's Leverage mini-campaign I think a heist hack of Red Markets could easily work.
Personally I was pulling from my Shadow Run experience – and that was high-quality grade bullshit I spun for that tour :D
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Episode 3 is live!
http://community.roleplayingpublicradio.com/blog/2016/03/04/red-markets-beta-the-reformers-episode-03/ (http://community.roleplayingpublicradio.com/blog/2016/03/04/red-markets-beta-the-reformers-episode-03/)
My (personal) apologies for the delay on the finale. My car broke down last Thursday and my mother had surgery this week and I'm helping take care of her. Shit happens. Depending on her needs we should be good for the finale next week. Trinite ran what sounded like a bitchin' COC game last night.
Also, alethea has been talking about her projects and also talks about her perspective on our games, both as a player and writer. Check it out!
http://www.laurabwrites.com/stuff/2016/2/28/scheduling-difficulties (http://www.laurabwrites.com/stuff/2016/2/28/scheduling-difficulties)
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Episode 4 is live!
http://community.roleplayingpublicradio.com/blog/2016/03/15/red-markets-beta-the-reformers-episode-04/ (http://community.roleplayingpublicradio.com/blog/2016/03/15/red-markets-beta-the-reformers-episode-04/)
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Series Finale! Hit the music!
http://youtu.be/CbYFdscgPOA (http://youtu.be/CbYFdscgPOA)
As our heroes entered the Truman Building, a failed stealth check meant they had to run into a side room to duck away from the patrols. Pixie 'luckily' found the torture - I mean, interrogation room, and self control checks were made. After the patrol left they ascended to the floor they estimated the printers were on.
In the DMV, they noticed that there were cameras overlooking the floor. Freebird went to look and scope out the room... only to crit fail his sneak check on the way back, walking right through the cameras. They had moments to act, and used a pincer tactic to take the patrol hostage. After that though, the rest of the crew came down, meaning combat started.
Again with much limb favoring, our heroes and the DHQS took out the guards. They did find the printer room, and used Freebird's C4 to blow it, only for the DHQS agent to have failed his initial explosives check. Once they ended combat by taking everyone hostage after sufficient damage, they reset the C4 and after destroying the printers (and taking some Bounty,) our heroes called in the helicopter and made a break for the roof.
However, Carnavan and the security force were outside waiting for them, meaning we had one last negotiation phase. On the final roll of the campaign, Pixie crit succeeded the second to last round while revealing that the Bounty printing scheme was putting not just their Enclave but the whole nation at risk. Enraged, his own security force went Brutus on his ass, ending Carnavan in an ultraviolent revolution as The Reformers fled to the wall.
The chopper landed in Burke Lakefront Airport in Cleveland, Ohio, a former VIP airport turned military base. After reviewing and signing the NDAs, which were airtight contracts ensuring that they could say nothing about their time in the Loss other than it was 'In a bunker with occasional trips out, and were found by the Heroic DHQS (C)', the Reformers and Anton (who was picked up outside of Jeff's City,) were taken to the Cleveland Clinic to ensure they were Blight free.
Anton obviously failed, and was given two choices, to go to Put In Bay, an island in Lake Erie (with lax security) or to become a DHQS agent. He opted for the freedom of being a DHQS agent, and left Bruno in Pixie's care as he was about to be a daddy.
The Reformers were given their families and their plane tickets, and made their goodbyes.
Elder and Jesse flew to Baja California, Mexico, safe but fully in the Cartels' control. Elder reunited in his family, and 'retired' into social work, ending with Elder and Jesse enjoying authentic Carnitas.
Freebird and Davion stayed on Cleveland, opening up his pool hall / gun shop. As father and son grew and enjoyed their peace, we leave them in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, at the Lynard Skynard exhibit, 'Freebird' playing in the background.
Pixie, Sarge, Eliza, Sheba, and Bruno flew to DC, where after meeting Pixie's parents, Sarge looked after the puppy raising business while Pixie was left back in school, enjoying the droning on of a biology professor.
As the sun sets on the once United States of America, a military man took over Jeff's City, leaving it's fate uncertain. But the Four Seasons is thriving, and our heroes retired in comfort, after surviving -
RED MARKETS BETA: THE REFORMERS IN: LEGAL TENDER
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MARKET TICKER
The finale was a blast. I wrote it such that they could have stealthed it... but no one had stealth. Once they got to the roof, I felt ending the campaign with Combat Negotiation was the right choice.
The inspiration for the campaign came from two sources; trinite's write up of Jeff's City as an Enclave, and one of my favorite B-52's songs, 'Legal Tender'. Using an economic crisis as the meta plot just feels natural to Red Markets.
After playing an 18 session campaign, while the rules will change for the final game, Red Markets stood up. It was a lot of fun to play and GM. While I made some mistakes (some bigger than others,) it was never the system's fault.
We will continue to play and post. We're gonna do trinite's Civil War scenarios before starting an EP campaign, and maybe a college hack of Monsterhearts. I really lucked out when I made the post to do a forum goer campaign. Alethea, Trinite, and smalltowncinema are excellent players and people, whom I'm glad to count as friends. Thanks again to Caleb; I can't wait to hold the book in my hands.
And you. Thanks for listening / reading along. In the immortal words of Jane Lynch "If you had half as much fun as I did, then I had twice as much fun as you." B-52's, roll the end credits!
http://youtu.be/mBRr_TqLDf4 (http://youtu.be/mBRr_TqLDf4)
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Ah, the forums are working for me again! Woo!
I thought this was an excellent conclusion to the campaign. We used all of the tricks and skills we'd learned throughout the previous sessions, including combat tactics and high-pressure negotiation. And in classic fashion, I failed a ton of Stealth rolls despite having the highest skill in the party.
The mission was satisfying, and the epilogue vignettes were solid endings to the characters' stories.
And now I'm looking forward to the Kickstarter, and eventually playing another campaign with the completed rules!
And who knows...maybe writing Red Markets: Black Death. ;)
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BTW, our links are down due to the Community AP Podcasts being shut down (hopefully not forever, but still a reality.) We're working on a solution in making our own site. Should be up within a week or two, and I'll post the new links. Sorry for any delays, but this has been quite a crazy few weeks, especially for Ross. Glad it seems we're behind the worst of it.
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Well, the Reformers crew now has our own website, and podcast! Technical Difficulties Gaming Podcast has Red Markets Beta: The Reformers, and more coming soon! Stop by to listen online, or listen on iTunes or Stitcher!
http://www.technicaldifficultiespod.com (http://www.technicaldifficultiespod.com)
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Well, the Reformers crew now has our own website, and podcast! Technical Difficulties Gaming Podcast has Red Markets Beta: The Reformers, and more coming soon! Stop by to listen online, or listen on iTunes!
http://www.technicaldifficultiespod.com (http://www.technicaldifficultiespod.com)
Subscribed
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Well, the Reformers crew now has our own website, and podcast! Technical Difficulties Gaming Podcast has Red Markets Beta: The Reformers, and more coming soon! Stop by to listen online, or listen on iTunes!
http://www.technicaldifficultiespod.com (http://www.technicaldifficultiespod.com)
Cool. Congrats. Subscribed.
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Congrats, and subscribed.
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Subscribed! Have been craving more Red Markets the way Casualties crave human flesh.
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Congrats! I'll definitely start giving this one a listen at work.
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Thanks, everybody! Fair warning: in a few of the early sessions we definitely lived up to our name. But more recently those problems have mostly been resolved.
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Thanks all! Hope you enjoy! Our next episodes will be up soon.
Unless the others want me to, I'll probably quit bumping this tread when the episodes go up.
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It should come as a shock to no one that I like analysis.
9 minutes into Episode 00. I'm really enjoying comparisons to other systems (Torchbearer, which I have not played) and how (later) you guys hone in on what needs to be clarified and is missing.
It's like a gaming Journal club. Good stuff dudes*
*West coaster using this as gender neutral.
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Just downloaded nr 8 and ran into some issues with the file. It comes across like the order of events is wrong. so I gat 1st 3rd, then the 3rd part and finally the 2nd. Is that just bad luck on my part or is the download file off?
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@Gorkamorka
Thank you for the heads up. We'll look into it.
And thanks to everyone who's been listening! We're humbled by the response.
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@Gorkamorka
Thank you for the heads up. We'll look into it.
And thanks to everyone who's been listening! We're humbled by the response.
check ot when there is about 55min left. That was where I got the second 3rd after the third 3rd.
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Oh good, I wasn't the only one who encountered that (was worried it might have been a download error or something like that on my end).
Yeah, I had the same thing; they get to the restaurant, get kind of inside and then it jumps to them spotting her backpack in the shoe check. For a while I thought maybe it was because of the trigger warning at the start, that you had moved the distressing content.
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We've reuploaded the audio. Seems like there was some form of a hiccup, whether through Hangouts or Youtube. We lost about 15 minutes of recording, but it's flavor text as they entered the Mega Playground (C), nothing plot vital was lost.
Huge thanks to Gorkamorka for letting us know. Thanks all for your patience!
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I have to say, the Mega Playground was the sort of twisted genius I wish I could pull off when I write stuff.
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Re: He Calls Me By The Thunder v3
Chekhov's Cannon! ;D
The nurse screaming at the character with echolalia = screaming in stereo
I love how Yithian Steve can't even read English yet still acts like a superior being.
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Re: He Calls Me By The Thunder v3
Chekhov's Cannon! ;D
The nurse screaming at the character with echolalia = screaming in stereo
I love how Yithian Steve can't even read English yet still acts like a superior being.
That echolalia bit was truly inspired.
And yeah, Yithian Steve is such a tool. :)
Hope you liked all the new developments since the original RPPR version!
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I have to say, the Mega Playground was the sort of twisted genius I wish I could pull off when I write stuff.
(http://www.memecreator.org/static/images/templates/9.jpg)
twisted genius
(https://imgflip.com/readImage?iid=19997715)
Is... is this what Caleb feels like when people complement him on the viciousness and moral choices of God's Teeth or A Very Through Murder?
(http://www.memecreator.org/static/images/templates/9.jpg)
Sweet, thanks!
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Re: He Calls Me By The Thunder v3
Chekhov's Cannon! ;D
The nurse screaming at the character with echolalia = screaming in stereo
I love how Yithian Steve can't even read English yet still acts like a superior being.
That echolalia bit was truly inspired.
And yeah, Yithian Steve is such a tool. :)
Hope you liked all the new developments since the original RPPR version!
Some suggestions! Refinement is an endless process:
-I may have mentioned this before but I have totally forgotten. I like giving the characters an injury with a mechanical disadvantage. It is logical and thematic with the Civil War. Secondly, it give the players an immediate sense of vulnerability, which is perfect for setting the mood of a horror game. Third the vulnerability creates an impetus for the characters to rely on each other (ie I only have one hand, you have two hands and we need two hands to use a shovel). Overall the random injury table strengthens the adventure significantly.
- Chekhov's cannon. If it is important that the cannon be investigated before the players make it to the plantation, I suggest moving the cannon adjacent to the road for easy access but clearly state the cannon is very stuck in the mud.
- Players in a rut. If the players start to feel frustrated or that they are running into arbitrary walls when initially trying to get the not-Evelyn to speak (or if the players get stuck in general) I suggest writing a minor side bar where you discuss using the african american spirituals to draw the players outside to the other clue locations, or have voices sound upstairs to draw the players to the gold clue location or have the mad union soldier start making noise by shooting randomly outside. You already did this in the podcast, but you might want to explicitly define these techniques when you write up the adventure.
- A plot hole? Correct me if I'm wrong on the following.
1.Yithians attempting to contact Evelyn in a dream.
2.Evelyn repeatedly draws varients of a SYMBOL trying to get it correct. This paper is found in Evelyn's room.
3.Yithians (in dream) tell Evelyn that writing the SYMBOL will complete the mind transference procedure. Evelyn notes this in her journal (found in room).
4.Late Evelyn's husband makes sonic wards on several wooden stakes by carving SYMBOL into the stakes and surrounding the plantation with them.
Is this correct? Or are there two different symbols, one that completes the Yithian mind transference, the other than creates a sonic ward.
If players get a hold of the sonic ward, creative investigators will try to replicate it so you should include stats for a sonic ward spell.
According to your narrative Evelyn's husband made SEVERAL of these sonic wards. Without totally losing his mind. So this to me suggests that the sonic ward does not cost Sanity (or costs a very limited amount to make several wards at once) but probably costs magic points per ward.
In general Call of Cthulhu spells that are broadly effective (flesh ward, Elder Sign) cost a decent amount of Sanity per use (iirc). So if the sonic ward is a spell that only costs magic points, it's effectiveness must be VERY limited. Alternately you could say that the first use of the sonic ward costs a set san loss (4 or something) and creation of subsequent wards by someone who knows the spell (lost the required san) only costs magic points.
These are all minor points. The adventure is very tight as it is!
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Thanks, Twisting H! Those are some good ideas.
I do think I need to work on the cannon a little bit. TD was the first group that didn't bother to examine it right off the bat. I am a bit concerned about how realistic it is for them to be able to extract it from the swamp without horses, so I may indicate that it's easier to move than it might appear.
Yes, the sounds are an excellent way for the GM to prompt the PCs to move around. And it makes sense; after all, the Thing wants them to find it. That would definitely be a good point to emphasize in the written version.
The symbol is actually not directly involved in the mind transfer at all. The Yithian taught Evelyn the symbol so that she could use it to start making wards, but it executed the mind transfer simply by gaining her permission to do so (she was too intellectually strong for him to be able to force it like they usually do). That might be slightly confusing to players, I don't know.
My concept for the symbol is that it's really just a piece of technology, not exactly a mythos spell. It might make sense to have it cost Sanity to inscribe the first time, though, as it becomes obvious that its effects are real.
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The symbol is actually not directly involved in the mind transfer at all. The Yithian taught Evelyn the symbol so that she could use it to start making wards, but it executed the mind transfer simply by gaining her permission to do so (she was too intellectually strong for him to be able to force it like they usually do). That might be slightly confusing to players, I don't know.
Ah that's right. Now I remember. The podcast was clear, just blame my listener memory for screwing up that point.
Cheers!
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The Red Markets Kickstarter is up!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/159466030/red-markets (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/159466030/red-markets)
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The Red Markets Kickstarter is up!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/159466030/red-markets (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/159466030/red-markets)
Woooooo! Backed!!
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MARKET FIAT CONTRACT FOUR: THE CANDYMAN (STORYLINE MISSION TWO) / MARKET FIAT CONTRACT FIVE: ANHEUSER–BUSCH, ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI
With their goods and evidence in tow, the Reformers returned to the Tasty Treet, hoping to avoid seeing the Candyman and taking all sorts of precautions, but in the end they had to go visit him to get the plastic. The Candyman, as they suspected, turned out to be an Aberrant that was boiled alive in melted sugar, making a horribly burned Aberrant with a thick, rotten caramel coating. Barely keeping it together, the heroes apologized, and were led to the plastic... which was in front of 9 dead Candymen. They grabbed the plastic and left without incident. After speaking with the leader of the Cult, Millie, they found that all 10 were former cultists, except for the original, and all willing. Their plans at documenting the horror now questionable, they kept the film but left for Jeff's City, where they turned in the plastic... and found they had more fake Bounty. After fulfilling their promises to their sources, they returned home.
They called the Cases to negotiate for the for the bottles. After some careful negotiation, they sold them and a bunch of the gear from the bottling plant, for an absurd 264 Bounty. That easily put all three Reformers past all their Retirement levels and ready for Mr. JOLS...
MARKET TICKER
Whoops.
I realized afterwards that I should used score mechanics for the sale of the bottles, not standard negotiation. That, along with the tricked out gear owned by the DCA members allowed for way too much Bounty for the Reformers. However, at the same time they did have to combine two contracts into one, and a few failed rolls and they're all dead. I'm a little disappointed the campaign will end early, but it's my fault not theirs.
I was also terrified because the main storyline... uh... still needs dealt with. I've sown enough seeds to not let it come to pass. However, I came up with a way to finish it, and even in a way that will fit their play style. We'll see after Mr. JOLS...
At times I feel like I have trouble keeping everything together, whether mixing up names or stuff like this, but more often than not that's my fault as the GM. I'm still getting used to the GM seat, but with the help of a good system and my players I'm glad that we're still having fun and I haven't ruined their time and/or Caleb's system.
OK. I NEED TO KNOW THIS. I will pay in bounty for the information.
What was on the USB drive they got from the candy man cult and gave to the archivist? It feels like it would be the reason for the cult.
If not, then as a separate question why is the cult there? What is driving them?
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@Gorkamorka
The USB drive held the CCTV footage of the Tasty Treet Candy Company during the crash, which included the death of the 'Patient Zero' Candyman.
The cultists were originally Archivists, and the sane ones still are. They went to the factory to obtain documents and recipes from the factory. As Archivists the cult were already on the edge when they encountered the Aberrant. Millie and the sane ones were stayed to protect their remaining friends and study both the Candyman and the transformation process as valuable Intel to give to the Archivists. They don't have much information as the crazy cultists won't let them dissect the dead Candymen, but the CCTV footage and what study they could make were in the USB drive.
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@Gorkamorka
The USB drive held the CCTV footage of the Tasty Treet Candy Company during the crash, which included the death of the 'Patient Zero' Candyman.
The cultists were originally Archivists, and the sane ones still are. They went to the factory to obtain documents and recipes from the factory. As Archivists the cult were already on the edge when they encountered the Aberrant. Millie and the sane ones were stayed to protect their remaining friends and study both the Candyman and the transformation process as valuable Intel to give to the Archivists. They don't have much information as the crazy cultists won't let them dissect the dead Candymen, but the CCTV footage and what study they could make were in the USB drive.
Thanks for the answer.
You managed to use the Candyman cult really well to scare your players, but from the comfort of my far away seat the whole thing makes no sense. OK it is a cult of crazies and maybe should not make sense, but bear with me. :-)
1. Why are all the cultist latents ? Because 15 latents in one group is a lot of latents. That's by my calculations 1500 bitten peoples worth. Given that no suppressant was used.
1b. Where they all latents to begin with?
1c. If not did they make themselves latent to serve/become the candyman?
2. Why are they revering the Candyman? Since he is mostly a living statue and not much else.
3. Why do they want to become the next candyman when the old one burnes out. (This is the big one)
3b. Is it a suicide cult that's just taking really long to burn of ?
3c. Are the cultist killing them self this way because they are latent and have given up on life?
4. What is the goal of the cult. Because it's an interesting cult, but seems rather aimless.
Sorry if I come of as negative, this is not meant that way. The cult worked really well in your game and I enjoyed listening to them. But from the comfort of my far away seat and hindsight they feel incomplete.
On a side note, it's good that the group did not end up in a firefight with the candyman cult. Because if you fight latents you have to kill them twice and the second time is harder then the first. I think that the group might TPKd themselves if that stand off in the factory had gone badly.
Thanks for the podcast. I am enjoying it.
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I'm not the GM, but I have some good guesses for some of these.
1) They could have deliberately taken Suppressin to become Latents....to become the Candyman.
3 and 4) Cults by their nature are usually full of ill-defined goals and apocalyptic. Look at the Branch Davidians as a prime example. Or the people in Jonestown.
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I'm not the GM, but I have some good guesses for some of these.
1) They could have deliberately taken Suppressin to become Latents....to become the Candyman.
12 bounty per dose * 15 cultists = 180 bounty. That's a lot of money for crazies to dig up.
3 and 4) Cults by their nature are usually full of ill-defined goals and apocalyptic. Look at the Branch Davidians as a prime example. Or the people in Jonestown.
Yes, but their self-destruction method is just so slow. It takes determination or a leader that makes his followers suicide one by one but not all in go and still keep control. It works, but that leader was not represented strongly in the recoding I was listening to. It makes for a nasty, nasty cult though.
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@Gorkamorka
No worries! For the Abberents and Cults I had to fill in a lot of gaps for what's been written thus far, and I know I took a leap of logic or two. i envisioned that some of the old Candymen were victims of Patient Zero prior to the Archivists, with half or less being Arvhivists. The insane Archvists worship the Candyman and seek to become it when close to death, and the same ones keep the insane ones complacent and not 'let's go spread His will! And by will I mean molten caramel!'
I'll fully admit that I'm still working out the bugs in my GM style. I'm still pleased with how the cult and Abberent turned out, and hopefully will do better in the future.
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@Gorkamorka
No worries! For the Abberents and Cults I had to fill in a lot of gaps for what's been written thus far, and I know I took a leap of logic or two. i envisioned that some of the old Candymen were victims of Patient Zero prior to the Archivists, with half or less being Arvhivists. The insane Archvists worship the Candyman and seek to become it when close to death, and the same ones keep the insane ones complacent and not 'let's go spread His will! And by will I mean molten caramel!'
I'll fully admit that I'm still working out the bugs in my GM style. I'm still pleased with how the cult and Abberent turned out, and hopefully will do better in the future.
As a player, the specific motivations and origins of the cultists didn't really really matter much to me. Freebird sure as heck didn't want to stick around long enough to try to understand them. I found them to be a very effective little horror scene; if we were going to use them as more central elements in the story -- for example, if our contract were to extract and deprogram a particular member -- then they would probably need a more thorough development. I can understand how the vaguer parts of their story could be more noticeable for a listener.
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@Gorkamorka
No worries! For the Abberents and Cults I had to fill in a lot of gaps for what's been written thus far, and I know I took a leap of logic or two. i envisioned that some of the old Candymen were victims of Patient Zero prior to the Archivists, with half or less being Arvhivists. The insane Archvists worship the Candyman and seek to become it when close to death, and the same ones keep the insane ones complacent and not 'let's go spread His will! And by will I mean molten caramel!'
I'll fully admit that I'm still working out the bugs in my GM style. I'm still pleased with how the cult and Abberent turned out, and hopefully will do better in the future.
As a player, the specific motivations and origins of the cultists didn't really really matter much to me. Freebird sure as heck didn't want to stick around long enough to try to understand them. I found them to be a very effective little horror scene; if we were going to use them as more central elements in the story -- for example, if our contract were to extract and deprogram a particular member -- then they would probably need a more thorough development. I can understand how the vaguer parts of their story could be more noticeable for a listener.
The candyman cult did without a doubt work in play. One could hear how the players didn't want to dig deeper. They were afraid, both of the knowledge and the mechanical trauma.
I think that if I was to use the candyman cult in play I would do the following.
There is a charismatic leader. He or she is crazy and feels that there needs to be a candyman for crasy reasons. But the leader is not willing to become the candyman. So the leader finds followers. The goal that gets imprinted into the followers is that to become the candyman is to reach nirvana. The idea of the candyman is sold to the followers as an omniscience aberant. But it's actually just a casualty stuck in caramel.
The followers are both norms and latents, but the latents are considered more holy as they can become the next candyman. So the goal of the latents is to live high on the toil of the normals until the leader says that they are ready for the next step in their journey and it's time for the latent to become the candyman. The goal of the norms is to toil for the cult and to find or earn enough to for a suppressant. Because that allows you to move up in the ranks of the faith. Truly desperate norms would be allowed to consume the caramelised flesh of one of the old candymen and infect themselves that way. If they become latent they rise in the ranks. If they become a vector they are killed (I assume the test would take place in a cage) and if they become immune they are "excommunicated". But the excommunicated are actually sold to the Crusaders for bounty and more suppressant.
So it's a really a slow burn suicide cult that has to constantly recruit new members to stop itself from burning out.
Frontal assault on the cult is extremely dangerous as latents have to be killed twice and the second time is even harder then the first time. Further more if things start to look desperate the leader will tell some normals to consume the flesh of the candyman with the goal of letting the attackers get stormed by the vectors that get created.
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I like that take on the cult. They'd make a very dangerous main antagonist in a job. Maybe the job is to extract and deprogram a particular member? So a shootout risks killing the paycheck.