Movieweek 4 - Norwegian Marital Murder , Bicycle Thieves and Revenge

A tough week in which I needed as much distraction as possible.  Thankfully I have a NETFLIX subscription.

The Trip (2021) - 7/10

Aksel Hennie has been one of my favourite Norwegian actors ever since I watched the amazing Max Manus and the stupendous Headhunters.  He is one of the countries bankable stars and crops up from time to time in Hollywood blockbusters like The Cloverfield Paradox or The Martian when there is a need for a scandanavian character.

In this dark comedy he is paired with the equally talented Noomi Rapace as a married couple who are unhappy with the way their marriage and careers have panned out.  Their answer is to kill each other for the insurance money during a planned trip to a cabin in the fjords.  There I said it fjords. 

If you like Cohen brothers style black comedies like Fargo you will like this movie.  It is well put together and pacing is great, there are very few moments when something isn't happening on screen and immediate flashbacks establish the motives and set up for what just happened when new protagonists enter the stage.

This is a Norwegian language film dubbed into English which I think is a mistake as the nuances of Rapace and Hennie's performances are lost in the dubbed dialogue.  I would recommend watching this with subtitles. 

All in all an entertaining 2 hours with stunning scenery and a fun tale of marital strife which would make a great Fiasco playset.    

Riders of Justice (2020) - 7/10

A Danish revenge saga starring Mads Mikkelsen (Fantastic Beasts 3, Casino Royale, Polar) who is always entertaining in his strong silent type roles.  If you haven't seen Polar or Arctic you need to check them out.

Mads is Markus, a hardened soldier who returns from operations in the desert when his wife is killed in a tragic train accident and he needs to look after his daughter Mathilde.  Fellow survivor Otto, a statistics expert, thinks this was deliberate and, after the police dismiss his claims, he assembles a team of hackers and goes full detective to find out who organised the assassination.

The cast are excellent and in particular Andrea Heick Gadeberg who has the difficult job of playing Mathilde, who despite being quite broken herself, is the glue that holds all these broken people together.

The story is double edged as you follow the emotional ups and downs of a bunch of very broken characters whilst they try to keep their covert operation a secret from Mathilde and the police.  Gradually we learn how these characters got to where they are, their bonds, what dark secrets they are witholding and ultimately how they start to begin to heal by living this strange new familial existence.

When they get close to their objective, the tension ramps up considerably.  The final 30 minutes are utterly gripping and you really don't know who is going to survive.  For me the initial 20 minutes were a bit slow, but once Otto and Markus meet for the first time, it really picked up and I was hooked.  Well worth the price of admission.

Dragon Slayers - A Fantasy Fiasco! at Dragons Keep

A Fiasco! adventure at Dragons Keep using the Dragon Slayers playset by Logan Bonner.

This was the first time I'd run this playset and the session was run using discord but was bedevilled by a poor connectivity all round (Thanks internet!!)

 The Setup

RELATIONSHIP... CULTURE you worship the same God NEED... TO AMASS A HORDE To fund a private army	DERFAL Holy Champion of the Fell (Ryan)	RELATIONSHIP... FELLOWSHIP Leader / Wannabe Leader LOCATION... IN THE WILD The cave of visions
COHEN A Barbarian (Apo)	THE TILT Misplaced Passion	GRUFF BLOODAXE Capt. of Ironhold Dwarves (Mark)
RELATIONSHIP... MAGIC A Diabolist /  Sacrifice LOCATION... DUNGEON LOWER LEVEL The Dragons Lair	VARENA (Princess) 3rd daughter of King Varos of Zarozinia (Tony)	RELATIONSHIP... WAR "You Killed My Father" OBJECT... TROPHIES Ring on Mummy's finger

The Stuck Pig Inn

Our adventures begin the day after the party have returned from slaying the Dragon and retrieving the horde.  Everyone is nursing a serious hangover and Cohen is missing. 

We quickly establish that the tomn of Pissante is down to its last chicken and all the other livestock have been eaten by the dragon.   Gruff dealt the killing blow to the Dragon whilst being distracted by Princess Varena, that Cohen likes to drink from dog bowls and Derfal is a most pious holy champion.

We also learn that the heroes have not planned beyond amassing the Dragons Horde  

The Stuck Pig

On the Road Looking for the One-eyed Killer

 "Are we there yet?" says the princess.  "No!" says Cohen who is driving the cart through the dusty, desolate landscape.  The three men argue about if they are going the right way, exactly why they need to raise a private army and who is this one-eyed killer.  Up ahead a dust cloud signals an approaching traveller.  It is a dark robed figure riding a white horse.  They pull up their horses and engage in roadside conversation.

"I have been looking for you" says Cohen "I want to hire you and your army". 

"THEN YOU KNOW MY PRICE... 1 YEAR OF YOUR LIVES AND I WILL KILL ANYONE YOU DESIRE" says DEATH.  The heroes consider this bargain but Gruff demands to see a demonstration.

"I AM A SUPERNATURAL BEING WHO HOLDS POWER OVER LIFE AND DEATH, WELL MOSTLY DEATH BUT YOU CATCH MY DRIFT" and waves a boney finger in the general direction of the heroes.

Samuel the cart horse, who has been a trusty companion since they escaped the Castle of King Varos of Zarozina slumps to the ground dead.

Death on his horse Binky

On the Road to the Dragons Lair 

"Are we there yet" says princess Varena.  "No, but ask me again in another 5 minutes princess" replies Cohen.  Derfal wants to make sure that they all understand the plan for when the raid the dragon's lair.  "You guys hang back I'll take the lead, this dragon is mine"

"First time?" asks Gruff "It's usually a group thing, you never know what you will encounter and if you manage to kill the dragon you will want someone to witness your heroism.  I suggest we see how you get on in the upper levels and then decide our strategy then".

"Yes, we can have a workplace assessment.  It's a great opportunity to evaluate our performance, identify strengths and training opportunities for future growth and personal development." says Varena, "I don't know much about killing dragons but I had years of Royal Household Management Training at Mrs Hegemony's Princess Finishing School".

24 Hours after Meeting Death

"So what happened to your army?" asks Cohen.

"MUSICAL DIFFERENCES" replies Death in a dissapointed voice "WAR GETS DISTRACTED BY BAR FIGHTS, PESTILENCE SMELLS... AND FAMINE, WELL LETS JUST SAY THAT THE KEBAB SHOP OUTSIDE THE GIG DOES A BRISKER TRADE THAN THE VENUE.  ANYWAY, I'VE BEEN SOLO FOR A WHILE, I AM A FREE SPIRIT, I MEAN SUPERNATURAL ENTITY.  HELL WILL FREEZE OVER BEFORE WE REUNITE.

NOW ARE YOU GOING TO SIGN THE CONTRACT OR NOT?"

"We are a little unsure about the payment, can you go through it again" Gruff asks.

"IT'S PAINLESS, I JUST STEAL MOMENTS HERE AND THERE THROUGH YOUR LIFETIME.  I'VE ALREADY STOLEN 15 MINUTES OF PRINCESS VARENA'S LIFE AND NONE OF YOU EVEN NOTICED.  YOU HAVEN'T EVEN TOLD ME WHO YOU WANT KILLED?

Cohen proudly states "Oh that's easy, it's the man who killed Varena's fa..."

Varena's head bangs loudly on the side of the cart.  "SORRY TO INTTERUPT YOUR FLOW BUT I DON'T THINK YOU WANTED HER TO HEAR THAT"

"Now let's hold on a minute" blusters Gruff "As I recall it was a fair fight, a matter of honour infact.  You could even call it a duel.  Admittedly, I had to slay the entire palace guard, all the lords and ladies in waiting, a dozen minor nobles and even Varena's mother and two sisters to get to him, but he kept hiding behind everyone"

The Princesses Bed Chamber

From the sounds of the commotion in the Great Hall the Palace Guard are doing a fine job fending off the attackers.  Varena is shocked but excited when the Cohen bursts into the room demanding "Are you a Princess?", finally her dream of being kidnapped is coming true, just like Mrs Hegemony said it would.

"Aren't you a little scrawny for a barbarian, I expect princesses shouldn't be choosy.  Would you like me to struggle for you?" 

At that moment Derfal and a very bloodied Gruff burst in.  "Come on we've got to get out of here!" gasps Gruff.

"I'm all packed and ready to go just like it says in Chapter 57 - Kidnap Preparedness" says Varena, "Have you left a ransom note? I can help you write it Mr. Barbarian.  I'm only a 3rd Princess so you don't want to be greedy with your demands shall we say your weight in gold?  Perhaps we should ask for the Dwarf's weight in gold instead.  I would say 300 pounds of gold"

"250 pounds thank you, I've been watching my diet" retorts Gruff... gruffly.

"Right now let's be off" Varena exclaims and activates a secret door behind her bedroom mirror.  "This will take us into the poor quarter on the edge of the city near the gate"

In the Monastery of the Fell

Novice Derfal and Novice Cohen are in a debate about what Holy Day they are praying for.  It's the most holiest of holy Spot the Dog's Day.  The Master's most favourite companion "Blessed be his name".   Brother Dominic looks dissaprovingly at the pair "Sssssssshhhh".  

The Monks of the Fell Monstery 

Brother Kevin rolls his eyes and decries "Six months in the order and he hasn't even learned his Holy Days!  Forsooth Brother, I'm not sure this one will ever ascend beyond the rank of dogwalker"

At that moment time stands still and boney hands grip Cohen and Derfal's shoulders. 

"YOU ARE BOTH REQUIRED ELSEWHERE.  I THINK IT'S ABOUT TIME WE BLOW THIS POPSICLE STAND, DON'T YOU?"

The Getaway & Mrs Miggins Mead and Wine Shoppe

The gang of four come out of the tunnel into Slipshod Alley in the poor quarter.

"I feel the need, the need for mead" says Cohen "Where's the nearest Tavern?"  The Princess leads them to a small shop a couple of streets away.  "This should do nicely" and pushes the party through the doors of the off-licence.

Mrs Miggins recognises the Princess and bowing and scraping tells them that their order will be complimentary.  A barrel of mead and a case of Chateau Brigande are procured later and the unlikely bunch are heading out of the gate on a cart and horse with the Princess leading the escape on a small pony.

The Dungeon Upper Level and Goblins

The four heroes are lit only by the light of Derfal's single torch.  "Right now get behind me, I know what I'm doing, the exit is this way" he says lifting his torch high in the air to illuminate the massive gothic columns of a gothic hallway once home to som e long dead clan of dwarves.  His torch is promptly extinguished by a gold draught and the party fumble in the darkness for a flint. 

The torch sputters into life illuminating the horde of 20 goblins that now surreound them on all sides. 

Like a whirling dervish Gruff springs into action moving down goblin after goblin before they even have chance to strike.  The party stand in awe at his martial prowess.

Act Two

The Dragons Lair

The four heroes find the sleeping dragon and Derfal goes right up to it and pokes it in the snout with his sword.  The Dragon reflexively sneezes blowing the Holy Champion clean across the hall and into a huge pile of gold coins.  Gruff lets out a battle cry and launches a furious attack but is effortlessly batted away by the dragon as it wakes. 

"Who dares disturb my slumber" bellows the dragon in an impeccable English accent.  "I Cohen the Barbarian disturb your slumber" retorts the scrawny human drawing his cheese axe.  However, the Dragon looks past the barbarian and spies Verena.  "Well hello there, and who might this ravishing morsel be?".

The Dragon who seems to have a thing for Princesses

The dragon is clearly besotted with Verena who suggestively complains that it is very hot in here and begins to unbutton her blouse affording Gruff the opportunity to leap from the balcony above and behead the giant creature.

Removing the Horde

The crew pack all the gold they can carry and despite the princesses protestations fill her luggage with gold and gems and retreat out of the dragons lair.  As they retrace their steps through the upper dungeon level they pass a large pile of dead stirges from a previous encounter.  Gruff mutters "By the Gods I hate Stirges"

They pack the gold into the cart and head back to Pissante.

Death gathers his Army

Flash forward a couple of weeks and the party finally agree to refuse Death's contract.  Death accuses them of wasting his time and he summons his hosemen companions.  One by one they appear on the rode astride their hell steeds.  Each horse carries an instrument case, Famine carries a double bass, Pestilence a guitar and War's massive charger has a kettle drum on each side.

Death addresses his band mates.  "I HAD A WORD WITH SATAN AND HE SAID HE'D LOVE A SKI-ING TRIP"

In the Cave of Visions

Gruff has heard tell of a magical cave in the wilds known as the cave of visions.  Perhaps they will find out how to ressurect King Varos.  They don't have any difficulty finding the cave in fact it is clearly marked on the tourist map they purchased in a nearby village.  In the cave mouth is a tin bucket with the words "Admission 1 Gold Coin Each" scrawled on the side. 

Inside they are met by a blind old crone who leads them into a cave with a large underground lake.  SHe urges them to wade into the waters and to submerge themselves.  They do so and receive a shared vision of Pestilence wearing a copper ring playing the guitar in a seedy inn in Zarozinia called the Ramblin' Ruin.

Confronting the 4 Horsemen at the gig  the Rambling Ru inn 

The heroes find "The Deadalls" at the Ramblin' Ruin playing an improv jazz set to an empty audience.  As War begins his drum solo thee other 3 players step off the stage and join the heroes at the bar.  Cohen immediately approaches Pestilence and exclaims "Oh man, I'm your biggest fan.  You absolutely nailed it up there."  he grips the emaciated guitarist by the hand deftly swiping the ring from his bony fingers.  Pestilence barely has a moment "Wow, it's always a pleasure to meet my fans..." before he crumbles to dust.  

Cohen's three companions jaws drops as he puts the ring on his finger  "what's gotten your tongues?  and where did all these flies come from?"

Ressurrecting the King

In the Royal Crypt deep below the palace the four heroes stand over the sarcophagus of King Varos.  They jimmy open the lid and Cohen the Pestilent filled with the knowledge of all the Pestilence's which have gone before him instinctively knows how to use the ring.  He waves his hand over the corpse and King Varos gasps back to life.  His daughter hugs him dearly in a touching and delicate moment.

A bony hand touches Cohen on the shoulder.  "TIME TO GO PESTILENCE, WE'RE ON STAGE IN 10 MINUTES"

The Aftermath

Who knew that Pestilence Cohen could play guitar.  His stint with the band was short lived as before too long another hero looking to ressurect a loved one would take his place.

Derfal had only one mission in life which was to keep Cohen out of trouble.  With this gone his life never got back on track and he descended into a life of cheap booze, vagrancy and petty larceny before he was jailed for dog larceny.

No one knows what became of Gruff.  Perhaps he returned to the Dwarven Mountains.  His final words were before he faded into myth and legend heard on the wind "Well I'm going to have to call it a night lads, I'm bushed!!"

Verena lived a long and happy life succeeding her father as the Queen of Zarozinia after his death at a ripe old age.  She often talked of her adventures as mere strip of a girl and her brief encounter with...

... The Dragon Slayers.

The Cat With an Arseload of Diamonds

It's no secret that I am a big fan of Jason Morningstar's FIASCO RPG, so when my regular Friday game was postponed, I jumped at the chance to run my favourite indie RPG.

I chose the Gangster London playset by Graham Walmsley which takes its inspiration from the mockney gangster movies of Mr Guy Richie.

The Cast

Dan H - Gold Top the milkman and small time drug dealer who is a bit tasty.

Dan C - Sniffy friend and associate of Gold Top who likes to sample his own product a bit too much.

Tony B - Razor an old style gangster, uncle to Sniffy and into everything but drugs.

Steve T - Stir a disgraced former MP who shared a cell in Wormwood Scrubs with Razor.

Act One

Razor and Stir are in the Admiral Benbow pub discussing their next job, a heist of stolen diamonds from one of the Ukranian boys Frank the Wank.  Sniffy joins them from the bar with his associate Gold Top.  Stir says that Frank has some diamonds coming into the country in a couple of weeks from Amsterdam.  They are being smuggled inside a cat.  Gold Top is the only driver in the group as Stir's Rolls is in the garage, Sniffy is too young and Razor lost his years ago.  "Top of the line milk float, all the bells and whistles" says Gold Top beaming with pride.  Razor and Stir agree to make a visit to Frank's cats home to set up the deal.

Flash back to Sniffy and Gold Top out on their round.  First call of the day is Dodgy Greg an out of work actor who likes to spend his leisure time with Charlie.  Greg lives on the Jasmine Allen Estate, one of the rougher parts of the manor.  Whilst Greg pours out the milk revealing the bag of coke stuffed in the bottle, Sniffy spots a couple of young scrotes trying to nick some milk from the back of the float. They give chase and catch the two kids and give them a kicking.  Some passing cops spot the pair and arrest them.

Gold Top's story is that he's just an honest milkman and the two little milk stealing shits needed to be taught a lesson otherwise they'll end up a pair of right proper Krays.  Call it "preventative justice", you could say they were doing the Old Bill a favour.  The cops let them off with a caution and the pair are released from custody.  As they walk back to the milk float they spot an old lady stapling a picture of her lost cat to the tree.  Gold Top notices the REWARD GIVEN line and asks her how much?  The old lady says that Mr Tiddles is her only companion and means the world to her.  She would give them her life savings to have him returned.  Intrigued by the thought of a few grand in reward money the pair follow the old lady back to her bungalow.

Flash back to Stir in his car driving down the A11 after a Conservative party rally.  He's smashed out of his skull on cheap bubbly and it's 3am.  He barely notices the impact as his Azure Blue 1969 Silver Shadow ploughs into a Citroen 2CV running it off the road, through a fence, down an embankment and into a tree.  He pulls over to inspect the damage to his pride and joy.  Through the cloud of steam billowing out of the radiator a young wideboy looms. 

"Oi mate, ain't ya gonna see if the other car's alright?" says the man. "What other car?" says Stir.  The woman's cries of help can clearly be heard from the roadside.  The man starts down the embankment.  Stir pulls out his phone and calls his mechanic Double Bore Billy. 

"I'm in a spot of bother Billy, I've pranged the Rolls and run someone off the road.  Some stranger has called the rozzers on me, what should I do?".  Billy replies "get the car back to mine and we'll hide it whilst I can fix it but be quick about it."

Razor and Stir leave the pub and head over to The Princess Eugenie Home for Cats.  Frank opens the door.  "We've come about a cat Frank" says Razor.  Frank lets them in and they explain that they heard he was coming into posession of a rare cat.  A "Dutch Diamond" to be exact.  As a cat lover Razor is prepared to pay hansomely for a rare exotic breed like that.  The big Ukranian tells Razor that the cat will be here in two weeks and he better have the money or he will "chop off his balls".  As they leave the cat home Razor comments "Frank always did like his knives.  We better go over to Billy's and get some shooters"

Sniffy and Gold Top are invited into the old ladies house and she explains that Mr. Tiddles went out through the catflap in the kitchen a couple of days ago and she hasn't seen him since.  The kitchen door opens out onto a jungle of a garden with piles of old furniture and trash stacked haphazardly  throughout.  Barely visible at the bottom of the garden is a fence and behind it a row of cat cages.  Sniffy pops a pill and gives one to Gold Top.  The halucinogen kicks in fast and from the corner of his eye Gold Top sees a human sized Mr.Tiddles beckoning at him from the fence.  The mancat wears a top hat and slinks through a broken slat into the fence.  The pair follow and find themselves behind a row of cages stacked 3 high at the back of a cats home.  Creeping round the corner they spy a hairy brute in a butchers apron wielding a cleaver.  He brings the blade down onto a chopping block and a cats head rolls off onto the floor.  At that moment the trip wears off and Gold Top instantly recognises the head as that of the real Mr.Tiddles. They bolt back through the hole in the fence, back through the garden and kitchen and out into the street screaming "He's fucking dead!". 

The Tilt - Something precious is on fire

Act One

Flashback a few years Stir and Razor, known then as simply Jim McTavish, are enjoying one of life's few luxuries when in residence at HMP Wormwood Scrubs, a haircut from the prison barber "fingers" Mario.  Suddenly the top dog Grouty walks in and shouts at McTavish to get the hell out of his chair.  Two of Grouty's heavies start roughing up Mario.  Stir swiftly gets out of his chair and throws a few puches in Mario's defence.  Jim calmly tells Grouty to wait his turn.  As the ageing gangster rushes towards him, Jim leans forward looking for Mario's cut throat razor but all his hands can grab is an electric trimmer.  He launches himself at Grouty from the barbers chair like an olympic diver.  The razor's curly cord stretches to it's limit until, with a pop, the plug lets go and shoots across the room hitting Grouty between the eyes prongs first.  The big man slips and Jim lands on top of him, the cord wrapped around Grouty's neck.  Never one to miss an opportunity when it arises, Jim pulls on the cord with all his might until Grouty breathes his last.  The two thugs run out of the barbers and alert the screws.  Hearing the wardens rushing to give him a beating, Jim looks at Stir and says "I guess that makes me the Top Dog now?"  Stir says well you'll need a Top Dog nickname "how about Razor?"  They both laugh as the first of the truncheons comes smashing down on their faces.

Flash forward to the day before the job.  The gang of four meet in The Admiral Benbow and discuss the plan for the next day.  Razor and Stir will get the cat from Frank and hand off to Sniffy and Gold Top in the milk float in case they get chased.  They'll all meet up back at Razor's.

Sniffy looks at Gold Top with a smile, they will have plenty of time to get the diamonds out of the cat and give it to the little old lady.  Everybody wins.

After the meeting Stir takes a walk over to Billy's garage to check on the Rolls.  As he turns the corner he lurches back into cover.  Outside are 3 police cars and a van.  Billy is being led out of the garage in cuffs.  DCI Reagan confronts him saying:

"Billy, you've been a very naughty boy.  I don't like shooters on my manor and I especially don't like people who run old ladies off the road in their expensive motors.  Don't worry we'll find out who's car it is.  Carter lock em up, It's 3 in the afternoon and I need a pint!" 

Razor and Stir ring the bell at the Princess Eugenie Home for Cats.  The door is answered by Frank's right hand man a hulking hairy butcher known as Sergei.  He shows them into the waiting room and Frank walks in carrying a cat box containing a black and white cat and places it on the coffee table.  Stir puts a briefcase onto the table.  Frank tells Sergei to check the case.  Razor pulls out a double barrelled shortened shotgun from inside his jacket and tells Frank there's been a change of plan. 

Frank laughs and reveals a remote controlled hand trigger. "I said no funny business put the gun down or the cat goes boom!"

Razor pulls a trigger and Franks head dissapears, the trigger drops to the floor.  Sergei lunges for the trigger and Razor shoots his last round blowing Sergei's hand off.  Grabbing the cat Razor and Stir swiftly exit the cats home as Gold Top and Sniffy trundle past in the milk float.

Sniffy grabs the cat box from his uncle and the pair speed off down the road.  Looking at the cat he can't believe their luck.  The cat in the box looks just like Mr Tiddles.  This deserves a celebratory snort so he cuts a couple of lines of coke, one for him and one for Gold Top.

Gold Top should have heeded the warnings on the TV.  Never snort and drive at the same time.  As the coke hits the spot a little old lady walks out of the road in front of him.  He swerves left and mounts the pavement hitting a pile of earth from an ongoing street repair.  The milk float is launched into the air and crashes through the front door of the police station.  The catbox flies out of Sniffy's lap its door pings open sending the cat flying through the air.

DCI Reagan looks down at the scene of destruction that is the foyer of the Police Station.  Picking up a milk soaked baggie of coke he says

"Well if it ain't the honest milkmen and their cargo of contraband.  Carter, book these boys in.  It's 9:30 and I haven't had any breakfast!"

Outside, the old lady exclaims "Mr.Tiddles, I thought I'd lost you!" and picks up the cat who is licking up the torrent of milk flowing down the Police Station steps. 

 

The Aftermath

Things don't go too well for Sniffy and Gold Top.  It's their first time in prison and Gold Top is still haunted by the memory of the Mr Tiddles beheading.  They both descend into a pit of despair and despondency.

Razor returns to The Scrubs, his violent reputation preceding him and quickly resumes his position as Top Dog without any bloodshed.

The long arm of the law catches up with Stir and he goes down for a 5 year stretch for causing death by dangerous driving.  Whilst inside he discovers he has a talent for writing.  His first true crime novel is published a few years later.  The Cat With an Arseload of Diamonds.

Fiasco: The Sins of Anarchy's Sons

On Friday night I ran a FIASCO using the Sins of Anarchy's Sons playset created by Chris Groff and Rob Wakefield which is loosely based on the hit FX TV Show, Sons of Anarchy.  If you've not seen the show it's follows the exploits of an outlaw motorcycle club (the Sons of Anarchy MC) trying to keep their powderkeg of criminal activity from blowing up in their faces.

I've run FIASCO a couple of times before with varying degrees of success and decided to change things up for this session.

FIASCO by Bully Pulpit Games

This time I decided to be the "Director"

FIASCO is cinematic in concept and I've found that players can often struggle with closing a scene because they try to resolve all of the loose ends right there and then.  I've put this down to in part to their lack of experience with FIASCO but mostly because they all want to get in on the action and develop their own stories.  The role of the director is to look at the whole picture and shout "CUT!" when he spots a great cliff hanger, one liner or that the players are drifting from one scene into something else. 

As director I also get to play any NPCs which get created and through them drive the story in interesting ways, primarily to stop the players from having meatshields, but also to create conflict.

My players are very familiar with other RPGs which contain concepts of self preservation, character progression and achieving goals collaboratively.  FIASCO is about going to hell in a handbasket in the most messed up way possible and this is difficult for players to reconcile.  It really only works, If they manage to put away any silly notions that they're going to come out of this alive and start to selfishly concentrate on achieving their own NEEDS.

How it went

Here's the setup for friday's game (with TILTS)

Friday Night's Sins of Anarchy's Sons Setup (Click image to enlarge)

Mel Carver's high school friend Misty turns up at the Junkyard (which doubles as the MC's Clubhouse) claiming to be on the run from a Federal Taskforce Agent (Mario Marquez) who used her as an informant against the Colombian Cartel.  She wants the MC to kill the fed and destroy his list of informants and is willing to pay the club a lot of money in return.

Flashback to a couple of months ago when Spanner, Dice, Blanco and Bull are dismantling a stolen car that Bull and Blanco acquired.  Inside the door pockets of the Red Ford Taurus are 8 kilos of coke.  A heated debate ensues as to where they got the car from and how they're gonna turn the uncut coke into a huge amount of cash.

Flash forward to Blanco and Bull burying a teenage meth chef in the desert after having just shut down his laboratory.  His wallet has fallen on the ground and they discover he's Ernesto Marquez.

Bull and Blanco have set up a meet with Agent Marquez to buy the list of informants from him.  Marquez is receptive to this as he is trying to rebuild his life after his wife kicked him out, blaming him for the disappearance of their son Ernesto.  During the exchange muffled cries can be heard coming from the trunk of the agent's SUV.  For some unexplained reason a very pissed off Mel is being held captive in the trunk.  She manages to get free and stabs Marquez in the groin with a tyre iron, Bull and Blanco finish him off by shooting him in the head and they take his car and body to the Junkyard.

At the Junkyard the MC agree to meet with the colombians and give them Marquez's head as a gesture of good faith.  The rest of him gets put in a bath tub full of battery acid... (nice).  They also decide that Misty is too nice to hand over to the Cartel (particularly as she was very grateful to Arnie) who will end up killing her for being a narc and so Dice doctors the list of informants and removes her name.

Flashback to Puff and teenage Meth chef Ernesto in bed at Puff's house.  Bull calls asking Puff to come to the clubhouse to discuss how they're going to cut 8 kilos of coke and distribute it.  With hindsight this scene doesn't quite work in the timeline (as Ernesto should be dead) but nobody noticed at the time.

The MC members meet with the Colombian Cartel's representative General Garcia who is grateful to the MC for disposing of Agent Marquez.  He then asks them to help locate the people who stole his 8 kilos of coke for which he will pay them $250K.  As he departs in his Humvee he tells them that he will contact them in two weeks, if they haven't found the thieves he will kill them all.

Back at the clubhouse Puff, who still carries a torch for Bull, has just observed him getting freaky with Misty and so shoots her in the head from outside his window.  Bull throws the Misty onto the floor, grabs his gun and leaps through the window.  The back of the clubhouse is littered with junk and he ends up cutting his foot on something and giving up the chase.  Dice goes to look around outside and finds Puff's monagrammed derringer outside Bull's window.

Arnie calls a chapel meeting to decide what to do about the mexicans and Bull and Blanco decide that two of them have to be given up to the Cartel and it isn't going to be them.  Bull punches Arnie who then pulls his gun.  Dice tries to ring his FBI contact and relay the whole confrontation to him but in the fracas his phone is knocked from his hand and spins out onto the chapel tabel.  Everyone's eyes are transfixed by the phone as a voice crackles "Hello... This is Agent Johnson".  Arnie shoots Dice through the head.

Meanwhile Mel has taken Agent Marquez's SUV out of the junkyard to dispose of it when she is followed by a rival gang of mexican bikers intent on killing the taskforce agent for some reason.  She runs one of them off the road but the others open fire on the SUV causing her to veer into oncoming traffic and getting hit by a semi-trailer.  The SUV spins off the road and down an embankment.  Barely alive she is beginning to think about how to get herself out of the crumpled vehicle when the bikers turn up to finish the job.

Unfortunately we ran out of time to complete all the scenes, but as there were only white dice left in the pool everyone just took one.

Almost everyone survived the Aftermath but in typical FIASCO fashion most were "dead on the inside"  The final scene was Puff trying to hitch a ride down a lonesome desert highway with her life in tatters.

What I'll do differently next time

Character Generation - We usually manage to get about 3 hours of actual gaming done on a Friday night, character generation (in my experience) normally takes a group of 5 players (or 6 in this games case) about 50-60 minutes of dice rolling consulting charts and mulling options.  This leaves about 60 minutes for each act which means it's quite a push to get round the table four times and allocate all of a players dice.

I put this delay partly down to my players coming to the table burdened with other RPG experience, and partly the "picking" aspect of the games character gen, so next time I'm just going to give them the option of either rolling two dice (finding the result and then choosing which relationship card to write it on) or choosing one of the available pregenenerated setups.  I hope that this way we can reduce the prep time and get down to the enjoying the mayhem.

Roles with Conflict Built In - Even using all the presets, the players managed to engineer characters who all had some connection with the MC and were not in roles of direct conflict, for example no-one was playing a cop or other town luminary charged with shutting the club down.  This may have been a direct result of the playset's design and to be fair we didn't really need it to create a good enough game, but I felt it didn't reflect the feel of the show where the MC are beset on all sides by authority figures trying to crush them.  Hopefully future games (with different playsets) will result in PCs with roles which already have the conflict built in to them.

Did They Enjoy it? 

Only two of the players had any experience with FIASCO, and about half were familiar with the TV Show.  Despite this, everyone said that they'd had a good time, it was refreshing to play something totally different and would definitely play again.  It was by far the best FIASCO I've run so far and I can reccomend the playset to those gamers (and fans of the show) wanting to recreate their own little version of Charming.

2012 in Review and Some New Years Resolutions

Happy New Year to one and all. 

It's been a while since my last post here and I'd love to say it's because I've been busy creating new and interesting stuff or that my personal life has been one hectic social engagement after another, but I can't.  So in the spirit of New Year I intend to make some changes round here, but first we need to review 2012.

This Blog

Got 26,636 page views from 15,141 visits with the most popular content being:

1. Fantastic Locations: Mega City One (1495pv)
2. RPG Mapping Tools Part 1 - Dungeon Maps (1479pv)
3. Links to Free RPG Stuff (1096pv)
4. RPG Mapping Tools Part 2 - Battle Maps (1068)
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9. Papercraft Gaming: Sci-Fi Vehicles and Terrain (639pv)
10. A Fresh-ish look at Goblins (637pv)

In 2012 I wrote a total of 45 posts (which is pitiful really), and half that of 2011.  Some of this I put down to the shift in my viewing/posting habits from blogs to Google+, but to be honest I've just been so distracted.  New Years Resolution #1  is to go back to Writing at least 2 posts a week.

Roleplay Geek Publishing 

I managed to publish only 1 additional product this year, bringing the catalogue to a total of 8 products.  In order of popularity these are:

• Item Cards Set 0: Free Sample - 135 downloads   
• Paper Minis - Brain Vine and Fungaloid Lurkers - 87 downloads  
• Item Cards Set 2: Potions - 18 downloads   
• Sci-Fi Scenics - Set 1 - Hover Taxi and Hover Car - 18 downloads   
• Item Cards Set 1: Adventurer's Gear - 17  downloads
• Item Cards Set 3: Animals - 14  downloads
• GM Aids Set 1: Decision Deck - 10  downloads
• Paper Minis - Set 1: Animals - 7  downloads

Therefore New Years Resolution #2 is to get some of the things I've been working on out of the pending tray and into the catalogue.
 
Google+

Has become one of the most important sources of gamer news for me over the last 12 months and I see this continuing for the forseeable future.  The addition of communities has also seen an explosion of new contacts in the last few months and has resulted my eye being off the blogosphere.  New Years Resolution #3 is therefore to get my digital channels into some sort of order. 

Gaming Highlights

This years Dragonmeet was my only convention, and I've never seen it so busy.  I don't know if this marks a resurgence in interest in RPGs in the UK or as a reaction to the current economic slowdown, but you could barely move in the tradehalls.  It did give me the chance to play Fiasco for the first time and I absolutely loved it, rushing straight down to the trade hall to snap up my copy.  A big thanks to Fiasco's designer Jason Morningstar and the rest of the Google+ Fiasco community for making this my RPG of the year. 

I first saw Fiasco on Wil Wheaton's excellent boardgaming web TV show Tabletop which has become de rigueur viewing over the last 12 months.  If you like boardgames and haven't seen the show, you're missing out.  If there are any Game Publisher's listening, you need to help Wil and the Geek & Sundry Team to get this show renewed for another season.  I know it's responsible for me buying and recommending featured games as a result of watching.