...and I watched the world burn.

Wednesday was the conclusion for my Esoterrorist one-shot adventure that lasted for ten and a half months.  +Chris C. and +Ken H explored the reality fragile world of Saegertown, Pennsylvania.  It started with a suicide of a high school student.  A high number of suicides in the area is an indicator that there is a problem with The Veil.

Along the way they encountered a conspiracy theorist psychic, a small town sheriff, a transvestite witch and his pizza shop owning sister, a professor of geomancy disguised as a nurse, a man who phased out of reality, and a little boy that the world forgot. 

They investigated several sites in the area where suicides and murders occurred.  And these sites were accompanied by arcane symbols and primitive magics.  Ley lines came into play, but when everything was said and done, the focus returned to the place where it all started, the Beckett House.

From the beginning the Beckett House was rife with activity.  Mysterious gateways, Ouija boards, visions of the past and demons filled these deteriorating walls.  Time and time again the investigators returned seeking answers, but often left with more questions.

In the end, they sacrificed themselves. Sacrificed the reality they knew.  In the end, they stood at the center as they watched the world burn.  And when there was nothing but the black ash that followed them throughout the adventure, they rebuilt.  They rebuilt a place that was very familiar, but very different from their own.  Now they were the anomalies of this reality and the gateway to oblivion. 

The End Begins

Well, it looks like after almost a year I will get to complete the Esoterrorist adventure I started at Con on the Cob last October.  After some time off, a job change and some tinkering with the laws of time and space, +Chris C. and +Ken H are going to resume their roles as investigators for AEGIS and complete the final chapter in the adventure.

After a bizarre road winding through rural Pennsylvania, investigating suicides, horrific murders, small town cults and encountering a 'thing' or two, the investigators find themselves standing at the front door of the Beckett House.  The place where it all began. 

So much has changed since then.

Friday Review: The Exoterrorists

Esoterrorists is a game I found at Origins last year.  I walked into the +Pelgrane Press Ltd booth and left all my money there.  I'd been looking for a system/game to run a supernatural themed campaign.  When the lady at the booth described Exoterrorists it sounded exactly what I was looking for.

I ran part of a session at the last Con on the Cob before most of us collapsed from exhaustion.  Long gone are the times when we could game all weekend with little to no sleep.  Even though we only got through a section of the adventure I was hooked.  The game lends itself to blending the supernatural elements with everyday stuff.  Which I continue to do.  Sometimes to the horror of my players. 

Esoterrorists uses the GUMSHOE system.  A system that isn't about finding the clues, the players always find the major clues, but what they do with them is the interesting part.  Why do they find all the clues?  First of all they are highly trained and know what to look for.  Second if they don't find the clues the adventures comes to a halt.  Some folks may think this is lame or a cheat, but in a procedural type game, it is a necessity.  Let me tell you, even when the players have all the clues in front of them, interpreting them is no easy task.  Especially when you are like me and throw in a couple extra pieces into the jigsaw puzzle. 

I've run a Wednesday night group.  The group is only two folks.  I wanted to keep it very small because this kind of game requires a low noise factor.  It allows for immediate tension.  An absolute to act.  There is no group to blend into.  You're it, on the front lines, dealing with forces that you can very little chance of defeating.  But there is a chance.  And if you can interpret the clues correctly, your chances slowly creep up.

The premise of the game is the players work for an agency that is fighting esoterrorists who are trying to tear down the walls of reality.  The players job is to patch the holes and make sure very few are affected.  It is very similar to the Men in Black movies in this way.  Ultra-secret organization trying to protect the world from the truth.

I've been very pleased on how has run.  I'm still not all that knowledgeable about the system, but I know enough to house-rule what I don't know.  The setting and situation are a nice break from the medieval fantasy settings.  The one thing I warn you about is it requires you to role-play.  Not just "I flirt with the girl" or "I'll intimidate him" and then roll.  Nope.  Well, I guess you could do it that way, but I would imagine that would be a watered down and unsatisfactory game experience. 

In a later post I want to do is one about placing clues.  How to edit your mystery.  How simple or difficult your mystery should be.  And how to develop small details which become so vital to the game.

The Door Slowly Opens...

I just finished a great session of Esoterrorists with +Chris C. and +Ken H.  These two have been investigating the suicide of a local teen-ager, Matthew Hunt.  The paranormal activity has increased.  The Beckett House is not giving up its secrets easily.

They've discovered Tom Beckett, a man who lost his wife and daughter in a car wreck, had a fascination for French, death poetry and Ouija boards.  While in the house they saw the residual event of Matthew Hunt hanging himself from the tree in from of the house.  With the assistance of an unidentified man veiled in a swirling smoke. 

It ended in Tom Beckett's bedroom.  His floor covered in Ouija boards carved into the hardwood floor.  The planchette (the term I couldn't remember during game) sitting in the exact center of the room.  Chris stood over the planchette, using the hanging rope to channel energy into his question.  One after the other went unanswered.  Until the last one.

In a dark spot of the room, a door slowly opens.


This is where we ended it for the night.  It was a lot of fun.

Esoterrorist Game Props

Over on Google+ I've been sharing some of the game props I've created for my Esoterrorist game.

I recently created the AEGIS handbooks to help the players understand the philosophy behind the organization they are working for.  And of course I couldn't miss an opportunity to make some look old and used in the field. 

The great thing about running a modern day adventure it the amount of material that is available the players can interact with.  There will be times during the adventure that the players may need to find information about a certain organization or event and they can use their computers to get that information.  I develop my adventures using real places, events, organizations and people (although  handful are an amalgamation of two or three people).  This grounds these fantastic and horrible events in a real setting.

"Is this real.  I'm finding all this stuff on-line."  This is what Rob Conley said during the first session.  Because the setting and events were tied in with real happenings its an easier sell to the players.  What also helps is I am using my local area as the setting so I know exactly what services are available.  What judges are kind and which ones are the hard asses.  Hell, I can tell them the price of gas from town to town if that suited the adventure.

I've got a few more props to create.  The cool thing about the game is I have no idea how they will get to where they are going, but I know they'll get there at some point or time and the significance of a clue they find could vary greatly depending on the timing of the find. 

Since we are playing on-line, delivery of props is tricky, but since I am no stranger to the post office and sending things out, I plan on sending my two players a case file, with stuff they've already discovered and sealed envelopes.  These sealed envelopes will contain clues not discovered yet.  Each will  be labeled with a letter.  And when they come across it during game they will be asked to open that envelope. 

Because of the intensity and heavy role-playing aspect of the game I think two players is good.  The larger the group the more noise involved and when I GM something like this I prefer to have as little of that as possible.  Plus, it keep the players more engaged in what's going on.  No one has a chance to slip into the background. 

I think we start next week.  I've forgotten already.  I'm a lousy GM.  I've got work to do on the game yet, but its a pleasure to do so. 

Ramblings at the Book Store and an NPC for Esoterrorists

Saturday night at the bookstore.  I know, the excitement and rowdiness cannot be contained between the bargain bookshelves.  Ivy and I are sitting at the cafe sipping on the latest holiday drinks.  She's already talking about decorating for Christmas.  She asked if it was cool and I told her to have a blast.  Call me when you can't reach something.  Which is often.

Progress has been made with some of the gaming list of things to do.  While the cold is still content with sitting in my face I've been able to get a Patreon done (Possum Stop from last post) and something we've dubber Secret Gaming Project #78.  It's a little different from Plan 9 from Outer Space.  The previous 77 secret gaming projects did not fail...well, not that they told me.

Either way progress is finally being made.  I cracked open my Manor 8 file last night and start poking around and getting excited about the next issue.

For listening to my random babbling of a Saturday night I offer you the Arthur Blambaust, someone you might find in one of my Esoterrorist games.

Arthur Blambaust was born and educated in Meadville, Pennsylvania.  He lived on the side of one of the two mountains.  The locals called it Pig Hill, a jumble of low income houses built on the sheer mountain side.  He grew up worrying about the 'pig people' that were rumored to live on the hill would kidnap him while he slept and boil him in a cauldron until his flesh slid from his bones.

He graduated near the top of his class in '87 and went to Edinboro University and doubled majored in psychology and photography.  He took a year off in '90 after having a nervous breakdown, his girlfriend left him and a month later his father committed suicide, hung himself in the garage.

After he graduated he moved back home and had a series of minimum wage jobs at grocery stores and fast food places.  Nearly two years after graduating he began working with the county.  The stress from investigating child abuse cases caused his first disassociation episode.  It was during this episode that he saw his first terror.  Terrors are what Arthur calls them.  Visages of demonic possession within people.  He sees the demons entwined with their victims.  Some are so infested with demonic entities that it causes Arthur to get sick to his stomach.

Arthur has been identified as a person of interest by AEGIS.  His ability would benefit the monitoring of demons.  However, his metal state is in question.  He is on medication for depression and anxiety. While the medications would not be a problem, of the intensity of the assigned cases could cause him to slip into a catatonic state.  Arthur does not adapt to change well.

Suggestion: Have an agent monitor Arthur.  He may be able to help us indirectly.  With the new information of a breach in the Membrane he may prove to be the best bloodhound we have.  We can use the system in place to manipulate where Arthur is sent and to give him added protection when needed.

Esoterrorist Game Coming Together

Here's a picture of what I've been working on today.

I've been working on the props, including large and small pictures, newspaper clippings, letters and a map.  I'll have some others to create, but what I'm working on now is the adventure structure.  It's built around scenes, loosely framed to give the players as much room to explore as they want and still have some frame of the adventure.  It's not a sandbox adventure, there is a beginning and an end, but there are several ways to get there. 

I plan on running this at Con on the Cob for the Monday Night crew.  An unscheduled time and place, we'll figure that out when we get there. 

Some of the things I still need to do is:

• Get a good grasp of the GUMSHOE system.  While I've played in a game using the system in the past that was a year, possibly two years ago now.  So I need to get some uninterrupted time to absorb it.
• Put the adventure down in scenes and timeline.  While the players will explore and wander some events happen regardless one way or another.  While the players may now have control of if it happens, they do have a lot to do with how it happens.
• Take my newly found knowledge of the GUMSHOE system and integrate what kind of ruling should happen in the scenes as a reminder.
• Finish off props. 

If it turns out well, I might do a free PDF release sans the props since I am Google ganking the photos and some other elements.  For a private game I don't have to worry about that.  Alright, off to get idea on paper.

A Hint of What's to Come

The Monday Night gaming crew I belong to are headed to Hudson, OH to frolic in the fantastic weirdness that is Con on the Cob.  I'm creating an Esoterrorist adventure.  I've been using templates and reading a couple of canned adventure to get the feel of them.  Here's a hint to my future players out there.  Good luck.

All Over the Place Weekend

I spent most of the weekend bouncing from one project to another.  I gave myself permission to do this since I finally sent the 7th issue of The Manor to my vicious editors. 

I have my map done for my next micro-adventure.  It turned out well I think.  I've titled it Crypt Hill for now.  I'll probably stick with it, but I have a couple of ideas I may play with for this map. 

I worked on a piece for the next Manor.  I may do a theme issue.

I worked on an adventure for the Esoterrorist game I want to run.  I'm using local sites, groups and lore mixed in with made up stuff.  This will give it a more authentic feel.  Plus, being a modern day type adventure I will know what resources the players would have available to them.

That's it for my weekend.  Tonight we play our third session of 5e and I hope we finally get into the cave.  The GM has been ruthless with his rolls.