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GUMSHOE: Night's Black Agents - Tinker Tailor Vampire Die
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<blockquote data-quote="writernextdoor" data-source="post: 5843880" data-attributes="member: 6689303"><p>((GM Notes are in double parentheses)</p><p>[Mechanics are in braces]</p><p></p><p>((There is a rule I'm particularly fond of, and have been since I first discovered it -- (I'm paraphrasing here) 'If you get captured, you'll be given a chance to escape AND you'll find out information along the way'. This has always led me to wonder about how critical capture scenes are. We've all seen those bad tv-shows and awful movies where capture involves really corny and derivative scenes with spinning chairs and lights and implied threats. I didn't want to do that. But I did want to see what the party would do if confronted with it.))</p><p></p><p>After the most recent escapade, we decided to give the team two-weeks 'vacation' ((Our campaign follows more or less an actual calendar)) and this gave many of the injured and exhausted a chance to rest. It also gave the agents opportunities to do things other than the main plot ((all they had to do was email/text me details of what the character would do)). </p><p></p><p>Nick recuperated.</p><p>Rossini healed.</p><p>Anna brushed up on her reading [gained 1 point in Occult Studies]</p><p>Mike visited his wife's grave [Symbol].</p><p>Desdemona bought a small condo in a suburb [Solace].</p><p></p><p>Mace, well Mace wanted to track down The Man. And he fully planned to, asking Alice The Hacker to trace a possible lead [CORE CLUE] of a high-end business conference downtown in a hotel. Alice found Mace a room, but there wasn't enough time to build a strong enough cover to get him into the conference. He'd had to skulk/stalk the lobby and local bars to see what he could find. </p><p></p><p>Day 1 Mace collected "critical intel", which we mortals may recognize as the phone numbers of every waitress from the surrounding three bars. No one saw or heard any discussion of the conference at the hotel.</p><p></p><p>Night 1 Mace, after sleeping with Marigold (waitress #5 if you're keeping track), found out that she's supposed to pop out of a cake at the end of the conference - there's a birthday party planned for the Foreign Minister of Myanmar. </p><p></p><p>Night 1 Mace, on his way home from Marigold's place noticed he picked up a tail. He did his best to shake it [[attempted a car-versus-foot chase....Athletics and Human Terrain spends versus Driving spends until one side or the other reached a total of 10, or the scene warranted it - the driver never really stood a chance once Mace had a Lead greater than 2.] ((I need to revisit these mechanics, there was GREAT tension here, but mechanically and narratively all Mace needed was a corner and a traffic light to make this less a game-bit and more a story-element))</p><p></p><p>Night 1 In order to avoid the chase, Mace found Cynthia (waitress #2 from bar #2) and [without a Flirting spend ((she rolled a 1, he a 6))] and they got comfortable.</p><p></p><p>Day 2 Mace returned to his hotel room, showered, ordered breakfast.</p><p></p><p>And that's when it happened.</p><p></p><p>Room service doesn't come armed, right? And they don't normally kick in the door, do they?</p><p></p><p>Three men versus Mace. After hurling a bottle of holy water at them (something no man should be without), he figured at least 2 of them were human. The third, he had no idea, but that wasn't his fault - the third guy had the taser. </p><p></p><p>Mace dropped one [some very lucky rolls, no-spends] and then the other two were on him, and the tazer was as well.</p><p></p><p>He woke up in a shed, full of cheese and home-brewery gear. And every three hours for the next four days, he woke up when the lights went on, when the train rolled past and when they threw soup at him.</p><p></p><p>Warm and cold. With and without noodles.</p><p></p><p>[Mechanically, this was a 1 and 2 point reduction, then a 1 or 2 point refresh. And then genius struck -- An interrogation is a chase between the will of the captive and the needs of the interrogator. So it took some figuring out and tinkering with Stability and Healthy, but it was a smooth game play]</p><p></p><p>Mace didn't break. Not after the poison. Not after the countless episodes of Yo Gabba Gabba played on a loop. Not after some woman threatened to suck his blood out through his toes. </p><p></p><p>But he did see his chance to escape. About ten minutes before they would douse him in soup or rainwater, the doors unlock, as if by remote key toggle. If he timed it right, he could rush the door and escape on foot, or at least to some place he could manage help.</p><p></p><p>The guard didn't know what hit him [3-point Athletic spend + 2 point Hand-to-Hand + 1 point Diagnosis] and Mace managed to acquire a pair of shoes and an overcoat to make good his escape. </p><p></p><p>Turns out he was in a maintanence shed on the very back edge of an old high school. It wasn't abandoned, but very clearly run down. He slipped [Infiltration] into the cafeteria, then the library, and sent an email out to the team to alert them where they could meet him. </p><p></p><p>He managed to elude his pursuers long enough to shower, shave and hit on a few cheerleaders. ((Because when in doubt, Mace Hunter does everything)).</p><p></p><p>He rendezvous'd with Nick just as school let out. They returned to the scene of his capture, armed and ready for war. </p><p></p><p>But there was no war. Nick put a bullet in the guard before any alarms were raised or phone calls made. Mace scoured the room outside his cell for [CORE CLUEs] and found a list of local churches circled on a map, their locations connected by a red sharpie crucifix. The search also found a name "Dr Karen Elmont, Sisters of Mercy Hospital" along with equipment to duplicate her ID. </p><p></p><p>The team felt that this was a good time for Mace to...get checked out by a physician, and what better place than a hospital?</p><p></p><p>Next time....murdER in the ER.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="writernextdoor, post: 5843880, member: 6689303"] ((GM Notes are in double parentheses) [Mechanics are in braces] ((There is a rule I'm particularly fond of, and have been since I first discovered it -- (I'm paraphrasing here) 'If you get captured, you'll be given a chance to escape AND you'll find out information along the way'. This has always led me to wonder about how critical capture scenes are. We've all seen those bad tv-shows and awful movies where capture involves really corny and derivative scenes with spinning chairs and lights and implied threats. I didn't want to do that. But I did want to see what the party would do if confronted with it.)) After the most recent escapade, we decided to give the team two-weeks 'vacation' ((Our campaign follows more or less an actual calendar)) and this gave many of the injured and exhausted a chance to rest. It also gave the agents opportunities to do things other than the main plot ((all they had to do was email/text me details of what the character would do)). Nick recuperated. Rossini healed. Anna brushed up on her reading [gained 1 point in Occult Studies] Mike visited his wife's grave [Symbol]. Desdemona bought a small condo in a suburb [Solace]. Mace, well Mace wanted to track down The Man. And he fully planned to, asking Alice The Hacker to trace a possible lead [CORE CLUE] of a high-end business conference downtown in a hotel. Alice found Mace a room, but there wasn't enough time to build a strong enough cover to get him into the conference. He'd had to skulk/stalk the lobby and local bars to see what he could find. Day 1 Mace collected "critical intel", which we mortals may recognize as the phone numbers of every waitress from the surrounding three bars. No one saw or heard any discussion of the conference at the hotel. Night 1 Mace, after sleeping with Marigold (waitress #5 if you're keeping track), found out that she's supposed to pop out of a cake at the end of the conference - there's a birthday party planned for the Foreign Minister of Myanmar. Night 1 Mace, on his way home from Marigold's place noticed he picked up a tail. He did his best to shake it [[attempted a car-versus-foot chase....Athletics and Human Terrain spends versus Driving spends until one side or the other reached a total of 10, or the scene warranted it - the driver never really stood a chance once Mace had a Lead greater than 2.] ((I need to revisit these mechanics, there was GREAT tension here, but mechanically and narratively all Mace needed was a corner and a traffic light to make this less a game-bit and more a story-element)) Night 1 In order to avoid the chase, Mace found Cynthia (waitress #2 from bar #2) and [without a Flirting spend ((she rolled a 1, he a 6))] and they got comfortable. Day 2 Mace returned to his hotel room, showered, ordered breakfast. And that's when it happened. Room service doesn't come armed, right? And they don't normally kick in the door, do they? Three men versus Mace. After hurling a bottle of holy water at them (something no man should be without), he figured at least 2 of them were human. The third, he had no idea, but that wasn't his fault - the third guy had the taser. Mace dropped one [some very lucky rolls, no-spends] and then the other two were on him, and the tazer was as well. He woke up in a shed, full of cheese and home-brewery gear. And every three hours for the next four days, he woke up when the lights went on, when the train rolled past and when they threw soup at him. Warm and cold. With and without noodles. [Mechanically, this was a 1 and 2 point reduction, then a 1 or 2 point refresh. And then genius struck -- An interrogation is a chase between the will of the captive and the needs of the interrogator. So it took some figuring out and tinkering with Stability and Healthy, but it was a smooth game play] Mace didn't break. Not after the poison. Not after the countless episodes of Yo Gabba Gabba played on a loop. Not after some woman threatened to suck his blood out through his toes. But he did see his chance to escape. About ten minutes before they would douse him in soup or rainwater, the doors unlock, as if by remote key toggle. If he timed it right, he could rush the door and escape on foot, or at least to some place he could manage help. The guard didn't know what hit him [3-point Athletic spend + 2 point Hand-to-Hand + 1 point Diagnosis] and Mace managed to acquire a pair of shoes and an overcoat to make good his escape. Turns out he was in a maintanence shed on the very back edge of an old high school. It wasn't abandoned, but very clearly run down. He slipped [Infiltration] into the cafeteria, then the library, and sent an email out to the team to alert them where they could meet him. He managed to elude his pursuers long enough to shower, shave and hit on a few cheerleaders. ((Because when in doubt, Mace Hunter does everything)). He rendezvous'd with Nick just as school let out. They returned to the scene of his capture, armed and ready for war. But there was no war. Nick put a bullet in the guard before any alarms were raised or phone calls made. Mace scoured the room outside his cell for [CORE CLUEs] and found a list of local churches circled on a map, their locations connected by a red sharpie crucifix. The search also found a name "Dr Karen Elmont, Sisters of Mercy Hospital" along with equipment to duplicate her ID. The team felt that this was a good time for Mace to...get checked out by a physician, and what better place than a hospital? Next time....murdER in the ER. [/QUOTE]
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GUMSHOE: Night's Black Agents - Tinker Tailor Vampire Die
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