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I'm having major trouble writing anything worthwhile lately, and I guess this is my latest attempt. We'll see how it goes. I'm pretty much stuck at my desk all day when what I really want to be doing is taking a walk or going for a bike ride, or something. = /
Ran the first game of the Pymander, OR Mage game, which I've been thinking of as 'Episode 1 : Welcome to Pymander, OR.' I've really only got two players at the moment, which causes no real problems but may have me running a game with two primary characters and a host of people who only play when they're available. Since my intention is to include elements that are somewhat reminiscent of a console RPG in the vein of Persona and horror games like Fatal Frame, swapping party members may not be a bug, though, as long as we need to anyhow.
I asked for notes after the game, and got good reviews. The setup is always a little lame, but I feel like it worked, with a brief explanation of the city structure*, a visit with the one remaining archmage, and then a stop to a nearby haunted house. Hokey, right?
I talked about horror in rpgs a while ago, largely in conjunction with a three-game arc for Mage I ran in the Puget Sound. I tried to think of something that pushed a few of my own buttons, and what I came up with was an abyssal intrusion that may or may not have been an accident in this beat-up house with an underwater mortgage in what used to be a working class neighborhood.
Staying away from the really overt until the very end, it was this small, 1 floor house with a basement and attic patterned off of houses that I've lived or stayed at in the past. Almost every decoration was removed, and almost every reflective surface had been carefully and deliberately smashed. The basement had a series of mirrors that had been hung with the mirrored surface removed and smashed in a pile. A large circle of salt and iron oxide sat in the middle, but close observation indicated that someone had broken the circle - probably by smudging with a shoe. The power was out, even though some brief investigation indicated someone was actually paying the lease but walking about the house, it was pretty clear that the family wasn't around anymore. Only a family photo on a bookcase and a crayon picture on the fridge indicated that someone had actually lived there.
The picture? One smiling little girl next to an emotionless looking mother and brother. Off to the other side of the picture, the father stands with a large, toothy smile. His lips are red and his teeth are triangles. His eyes are just black circles. On the upper left hand of the picture, there's a lime-green sun, like she ran out of yellow crayon.
In the bathroom, a large full-wall mirror has been shattered but left where it was. In the empty room down the hall, the windows are boarded up carefully enough not to allow any outside light in. The door itself was stuck and required significant effort to pull open. Inside was mostly dust and piles of old clothing, revealed by flashlight, but in the middle, pulled off a stand, was a large, flat oval covered mostly in mildewed blanket. Only the glint of light off half-revealed glass indicated that it was a mirror - antique and likely of immense value.
Pulling the cover off filled the air with a cloud dust and mildew. While speculating on the value of the find, 'Mad Apple' Marie catches a glimpse of a shadowy figure in the hallway. The old Pole 'Counterclockwise' Subotka notices something a little more specific. A humanlike figure is standing at the end of the hallway. Its guise is hidden by an effect very similar to being back lit by existence, and only white, blurred eyes can be seen. Its arms and legs are too long, and when it strides down the hallway, it's suddenly halfway there. Both the mages spin around to see nothing at all. Mad Apple tries to sense Mind, and doesn't find anything - she finds what can only be described as a hole where Mind could be.
Poorly equipped to deal with what is probably an abyssal excursion, they did the next best thing - they hauled ass out the house. The attic creaked, the glass in the bathroom crumbled and squealed, and the television crackled and screamed as they ran past. The only reflective surface left un-shattered, its suddenly living screen depicted them running out even as they were doing so, as if viewed by camera, with the shadowy figure watching through the dining room opening.
They left the mirror.
* 5 wards, one for each tower, and affiliated with an order and cabal, then one ruling cabal.
Ran the first game of the Pymander, OR Mage game, which I've been thinking of as 'Episode 1 : Welcome to Pymander, OR.' I've really only got two players at the moment, which causes no real problems but may have me running a game with two primary characters and a host of people who only play when they're available. Since my intention is to include elements that are somewhat reminiscent of a console RPG in the vein of Persona and horror games like Fatal Frame, swapping party members may not be a bug, though, as long as we need to anyhow.
I asked for notes after the game, and got good reviews. The setup is always a little lame, but I feel like it worked, with a brief explanation of the city structure*, a visit with the one remaining archmage, and then a stop to a nearby haunted house. Hokey, right?
I talked about horror in rpgs a while ago, largely in conjunction with a three-game arc for Mage I ran in the Puget Sound. I tried to think of something that pushed a few of my own buttons, and what I came up with was an abyssal intrusion that may or may not have been an accident in this beat-up house with an underwater mortgage in what used to be a working class neighborhood.
Staying away from the really overt until the very end, it was this small, 1 floor house with a basement and attic patterned off of houses that I've lived or stayed at in the past. Almost every decoration was removed, and almost every reflective surface had been carefully and deliberately smashed. The basement had a series of mirrors that had been hung with the mirrored surface removed and smashed in a pile. A large circle of salt and iron oxide sat in the middle, but close observation indicated that someone had broken the circle - probably by smudging with a shoe. The power was out, even though some brief investigation indicated someone was actually paying the lease but walking about the house, it was pretty clear that the family wasn't around anymore. Only a family photo on a bookcase and a crayon picture on the fridge indicated that someone had actually lived there.
The picture? One smiling little girl next to an emotionless looking mother and brother. Off to the other side of the picture, the father stands with a large, toothy smile. His lips are red and his teeth are triangles. His eyes are just black circles. On the upper left hand of the picture, there's a lime-green sun, like she ran out of yellow crayon.
In the bathroom, a large full-wall mirror has been shattered but left where it was. In the empty room down the hall, the windows are boarded up carefully enough not to allow any outside light in. The door itself was stuck and required significant effort to pull open. Inside was mostly dust and piles of old clothing, revealed by flashlight, but in the middle, pulled off a stand, was a large, flat oval covered mostly in mildewed blanket. Only the glint of light off half-revealed glass indicated that it was a mirror - antique and likely of immense value.
Pulling the cover off filled the air with a cloud dust and mildew. While speculating on the value of the find, 'Mad Apple' Marie catches a glimpse of a shadowy figure in the hallway. The old Pole 'Counterclockwise' Subotka notices something a little more specific. A humanlike figure is standing at the end of the hallway. Its guise is hidden by an effect very similar to being back lit by existence, and only white, blurred eyes can be seen. Its arms and legs are too long, and when it strides down the hallway, it's suddenly halfway there. Both the mages spin around to see nothing at all. Mad Apple tries to sense Mind, and doesn't find anything - she finds what can only be described as a hole where Mind could be.
Poorly equipped to deal with what is probably an abyssal excursion, they did the next best thing - they hauled ass out the house. The attic creaked, the glass in the bathroom crumbled and squealed, and the television crackled and screamed as they ran past. The only reflective surface left un-shattered, its suddenly living screen depicted them running out even as they were doing so, as if viewed by camera, with the shadowy figure watching through the dining room opening.
They left the mirror.
* 5 wards, one for each tower, and affiliated with an order and cabal, then one ruling cabal.
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