Great White Games/Pinnacle Entertainment Group

[drkrash]

Need some advice. Before I start, it's worth noting that last night, my players had other RL stuff on their mind AND their dice totally sucked. Now, with that in mind...

We're almost done with Chapter 2 Week 6 (spoilers).

Going into the week, my players had moderate ammunition, but everyone was suffering 2 levels of fatigue, which has a huge effect. When the dogs began chasing them, before they even reached the T-intersection, one of the characters, an overconfident hand-to-hamd fighter, decided to fight the dogs instead. The rest moved forward (one of them even outrunning the dogs by the chase rules) and I sprung the zombie horde.

I didn't wait until they were low on ammo; I had the boy open the door immediately, because my players were crestfallen at the sight of so many zombies. I played the zombies pretty inefficiently and the players got through the door...only to be caught in the net and surrounded. The two bennie award was honestly small consolation. It wasn't that they were just afraid of dying; it was a feeling of plot powerlessness.

So they meet and learn about the Russos and then the 24 shamblers try to kill them. A couple of them say, "screw these shamblers; we're going after the smart one and the boy." They grab Brandon Russo and try to use him to threaten "dad." I decided an undead general wouldn't care whether his son was alive or un-alive, and, given his plot importance, I had him run and I partially fudged his escape.

Meanwhile, in the main fight, Caitlin Murray is torn asunder and things are looking bad for the heroes in general. They have plenty of bennies, but are running low on ammo and are all out of morale. So I had Morrison and his men arrive and mop up the shamblers.

So this already creates the standard GM problem that NPCs have saved the PCs. My players don't care too much about that, but given everything else that was happening, it magnified the feeling that they were being carried along. Let me explain: my players actually don't care much about railroading for the sake of a fun story; but at the moment, they're feeling too powerless to even make a difference in the scene.

So they decide to trust Morrison if for no other reason than that they have no better option. And so they feel "captured" again (and they particularly complained that Samantha - Hillary in our game - was plot-captured for the third time last session).

We ended the session as the sprinters began to give chase, and we haven't gotten to the very cool first appearance of the Ragers. But I'm concerned that my players, with pretty much no ammo and two levels of fatigue, and a significant loss of morale, are not going to enjoy another run-and-gun sequence followed by a brutal horror sequence that they are not going to be able to contribute nearly as much as the NPC soldiers.

My players have made it clear that they are not interested in stopping, and they're really not bitching, but they did say that they're not having much fun at the moment and to me, that's a fail for a game. Any advice? Please?

[Jordan Peacock]

I really need to go back and review the chapters at this point, but here's the first thing I'd think of, since you've at least made it this far.

DISCLAIMER: SPOILERS FOLLOW. This thread by its nature is bound to contain them, so I'm not bothering with the "spoiler boxes."

I think this would be a great time to take the campaign off the rails for a bit, though the particulars really depend upon your group and what appeals to them. My own campaign took a bit of a detour, so my "Sanctuary" ended up in a very different incarnation. Still, I had some ideas of what we'd do if we made it this far, because I thought of Sanctuary as just too interesting for the heroes to essentially get swept in and then get swept right back out again by the wave of destruction that seems to follow the heroes wherever they go.

For the sake of brainstorming:

1) If you haven't done it yet, don't do the "Ragers on your tail" chase. You've just gotten through a chase, the PLAYERS have low morale, etc. The players need a breather. Let it be daylight when they head back into Sanctuary. We don't necessarily need gratuitous slaughter, left of right, of Sanctuary soldiers, for the sake of the heroes' rescue; it's not likely to make the players feel any better.

2) Get them into Sanctuary. Spend a while fleshing out the way it's set up. How would YOU set up a bulwark against the zombie hordes? Special attention should be paid to security systems that go beyond just what you'd need to ward off shamblers; there are more threats than the shufflers at this point, after all. Let them meet the folks in charge, let the heroes tell their story, and let the locals be reasonable folks. Make it clear that the heroes aren't "prisoners."

3) Let the players get a bit of a breather, but figure out some "encounters" while they're in a survivor settlement (assuming they don't immediately skip out). E.g.:

> If anyone gambles, there are some "high-stakes" games going on all the time. It could be a chance to gamble for some useful "luxury" items not regulated by the authorities.

> If anyone has Streetwise or a generally shady background, there might be a chance to find the rough equivalent of a "black market." Perhaps there are some items the heroes have acquired during their journeys (or are still holding onto from starting equipment) that have no practical value for use in zombie-survival, but which it makes sense that SOMEONE would be willing to give up several cans of SPAM, a nice pair of boots, and a thick leather jacket (counts as nominal Armor +0 vs. zombie bites to torso area) for. Or, spare parts for some broken-but-potentially-useful gizmo or tool the heroes might be carrying around in the vain hope of getting working agian.

> Did anyone hold onto hard cash, or waste time cleaning out cash registers during the early days of cross-country trekking in the campaign? Maybe there are some folks speculating that this is all going to "blow over," and will actually accept cash in exchange for various goods for sale - but at ridiculously inflated prices. This could be the first chance the PCs actually get to "go shopping" (and maybe the last). You'd just need to come up with a list of what sort of interesting items might be for sale that would be useful in a situation like this. Some players really enjoy that sort of thing.

> Kn (Computers), Kn (Electronics), Kn (Security Systems), Kn (Medicine), etc.: Maybe you've got someone in the group with a skill that hasn't gotten much use, because the power grid went down and civilization collapsed in general. Well, here there are generators running, since they're keeping frozen food stocks cold, they need to power the research labs, and keep communication lines open just in case the outside world tries to contact them. A character with tech skills could be of value here, either volunteering his skills (and getting some sort of interesting compensation), or else by sneaking and trying to "hack" into things to find out what's going on. It could be a chance for the character to get a little more background information on what's going on in the wider world. (And, of course, to learn about the Rager problem, if that hasn't come up already.)

4) Let the heroes recuperate. Communicate that while there's by no means any such thing as a safe place in the world, this is about as secure as they're going to find for now. The heroes get a chance to rest, make some Natural Healing rolls, recover some Fatigue. If anyone is carrying around broken equipment, perhaps they can contact someone willing to fix it.

5) This could be risky, but you could give a chance for the heroes to establish reasons to continue heading westward *eventually*. That is, do the heroes have any personal goals to fulfill, other than just being swept along by the campaign? Maybe they have family members they want to check on? If they HAVEN'T established any personal goals, then perhaps it'd be a good chance to have some NPCs ask them some questions about themselves, and give the players Bennies if they flesh out their character backgrounds a little more.

But more relevant to Sanctuary, perhaps there's a chance to make contact with the outside world. For instance, someone could make a Streetwise check to ask around about loved ones, and find out that, yes, they actually made it onto one of those planes evacuating out to the Citizen Relocation Zone in Colorado. Or, maybe the base actually has a channel to communicate with some of the other "sanctuaries," and after some calling in and asking around, someone in the group gets 5 minutes to talk with family at another center over a satellite phone.

This could run the risk of any characters involved, rather than establishing a hook to "get there eventually," decide to IMMEDIATELY hit the road and try to head west. Plus, it deviates a bit from WOTD as written. But it's just something that popped to mind. I did something similar in my version of WOTD when the heroes got to Jacksonville, and I had the city not IMMEDIATELY fall apart when they got there. (I prefer to let a little time pass between arriving and things falling apart, lest it seem the heroes are somehow just bringing bad karma with them wherever they go.)

6) Give the heroes a chance to make themselves useful while they recuperate a bit. Make it clear that they don't HAVE to stay here. They're just WELCOME to - but everyone needs to pull their weight, so this is a chance to find out what skills the heroes have that could be useful to others. Worst case, they can sign up to help with patrols (but, hey, they could get some soldier gear).

Instead of the heroes being the ones being evacuated while Ragers are tearing the soldiers apart left and right, you could have the heroes get a chance to go on a rescue mission, and THEY are the ones who are helping some refugees (perhaps even some familiar faces from the Estates) get to the safety of Sanctuary, while Ragers are tearing up NPC soldiers left and right. It's up to the heroes whether the refugees make it or not.

...

Incidentally, I would personally be inclined to skip the "scripted" doom of Hillary/Samantha, especially since Caitlin is already gone. The "plot armor" is gone at this point, but I see no reason why her survival would threaten the plotline. I'd only let her die if the heroes are negligent or blase about keeping her safe. (Plus, Ragers are scary enough - THEY CAN TEAR YOU IN HALF, and they aren't thwarted by simply climbing up onto the rooftop.) Of course, your mileage may vary.

Anyway, I guess the point here is that Sanctuary, to my mind, presents an opportunity to give the campaign a different feel for a bit. The PCs could get a "base of operations" to recuperate in, for a time, and then get a chance to take the initiative and go out and do some scavenging for goods, try to repair things, go on the offensive against zombies (with a bunch of heavily armed soldiers on their side), etc. You could even work in some of the WOTD "random encounters" that might have been missed in earlier Weeks, as things or people they run into within Sanctuary (there could still be the occasional "zombie incident" since people die every now and then), or outside of it. I'd also be influenced by whatever the players/PCs have for personal agendas (if any). This could be a chance to pursue that.

Eventually, Russo can make his big assault and Sanctuary can fall ... OR, you could take a different tact and have the PCs be part of a convoy that's being sent west toward the Citizen Relocation Zones. The plot could pretty much continue much as currently written, though some of the motivations of NPCs would need to be tweaked. (If Sanctuary falls, in that case, it'd be happening "off camera" some time after the heroes leave.)

Anyway, just brainstorming.
_________________

[ValhallaGH]

[drkrash]

Very helpful advice, thanks.

Jordan, when you began by suggesting going off script, I was at first tentative - one of the reasons I enjoy scripted stories like this is that I have almost no time to prepare for a game (and SW is an awesome low prep game system). But your ideas are not so much off script as "stretch this out here" and perhaps "delete this there." And I can work with that.

A lot of useful stuff here. My gears began turning while I was reading your responses.

[Lee_Szczepanik]

I am swamped today, but I'll send you a PM with some suggestions by the end of the weekend.
_________________
Lee F. Szczepanik, Jr.
Twitter: @Daring_News
http://www.daringentertain.com
Daring Entertainment Google+

[drkrash]

Hey, guys.

My next session is tomorrow night and I’m trying to figure out how to handle the events of weeks 7-9. This is what I’m thinking about and I’d love to get your input.

I forgot to mention in my initial post that the players captured Brandon Russo and have him (unconscious) as they run with Morrison back to Sanctuary.

I’m going to begin with the chase sequence through the sewer, but I’m going to make it very easy for them. They’ve had enough of these sewers. I’m going to skip the Rager attack and get them back to Sanctuary. The beginning of that will be the same, though I’m going to skip the sleep drug part and just let them sleep.

I will be introducing two NPCs to add some new drama to two of the PCs and I’m going to put the names of some missing family members on a sheet the soldiers have of people who have been relocated out west to give some new hope to married couple PCs (and to keep them moving in that direction).

For Week 7, Scene 2, I’m going to have Alexandro part of the base already rather than coming home. After all, they already have Brandon. I’ll have the attack occur, but instead of capturing kids, all the Ragers do is steal back Brandon. I am DEFINITELY not having Samantha captured again.

I can keep the sewer “rescue” sequence mostly the same, though the motive will be switched to re-capturing Brandon to lure Edward Russo out of hiding. The trail of clothes will be replaced with some other form of tracking. The final scene will not have zombie kids or Samantha being brutalized, but will instead either be a fighting retreat or a huge fight to re-capture Brandon.

Overall, I’m going to keep Samantha safe into Chapter 3.

What I don’t know about doing is the fall of Sanctuary. It’s not that my players mind big battle scenes, but I think they’re getting the impression that every place they land will eventually fall to a massive onslaught of zombies. I realize this is the last big fail like this until late into the prison sequence of Chapter 3, but still, I can’t help wondering if I should curb the big fight scenes. On the other hand, there is a reasonably good chance that they will still have Brandon Russo, which suggests running the sequence. I would really appreciate any thoughts on this.

Finally, if I do cut the fall of Sanctuary, what is a reasonable way that I can get Morrison, Alexandro, and some tanks out of Sanctuary to move on to the end of the chapter? If it is part of a planned evacuation, why are all the best combatants thrown into one group?

Any help?

[Jordan Peacock]

[drkrash]

Jordan,

So here's what happened. Short story: I think it was an effective break from the pace.

I simplified the sewer chase and had the soldiers take out most of the sprinters. I then skipped the Ragers.

When they arrived at Sanctuary, they were a little nervous about giving up weapons and having blood tests. But their spokesman, an army doctor, set their minds at ease. Sancturary learned that same guy was immune, but said nothing at the time (he himself already knew that he was immune - he's been bitten twice).

The two suspicious guys in our group stealthed around at night exploring Sanctuary, but nothing happened. When the doctor was reunited with his NPC wife and Samantha/Hilary, I also used Amanda Waller to explain that they may have record of their kids being relocated to Colorado (the couple was on vacation alone when the outbreak hit), but she'd need some time to look into it. I also introduced a couple new NPCs; one is working out well, the other less so.

With their permission, I let five days pass. At this point, most of the session was over and nothing truly "bad" had happened to them. For the player who was probably lowest in player morale, the session had the desired effect - he let himself relax and trusted that this situation was basically as good as it seemed to be. Two of my other three players continued to assume the worst, and while they weren't unhappy, I think they were ready for some action.

So that night, Amanda Waller returned with news of the doc's kids' names on a relocation list to Colorado, which gave them both reason to hope and reason to start thinking about moving on.

Then I had the Rager attack hit. They saw the Ragers for the first time and I ended the session. They were suitably freaked out.

My plan from here: the Rager attack is a distraction for the rescuing of Brandon Russo. My players may or may not want to go get him back again - they'll probably go. In that case, I run the sewer scenario basically as written. I doubt Brandon will survive. If they don't go, I haven't decided whether or not I'll have the NPCs succeed off-camera or not (or if it even matters).

In any case, UniMed will then reveal that they know they have two immune people in their group (I'm not going to play the exec like a dick though) and that they need to escort them to Colorado. The players will leave with the scripted caravan, but without the full assault on Sanctuary.

This whole story sequence will establish that at least one place they visited didn't end with chaos and death, and I suspect that that will be a valuable thing from a psychological level.

[Jordan Peacock]

[drkrash]

During the Rager attack, my players guessed that it was a diversion and stopped the Rager rescue of Brandon Russo. That eliminated the sewer sequence entirely.

At this point, the players wanted in to the Unimed building to demand answers. For the record, the details about why this building is so secretive are not adequately included in the text for my tastes. Obviously, they have secrets, but why aren't they making a good show of pretending to be transparent instead? As it is, I'm already having a hard time getting them to trust Alicia Stone. They've point blank asked her if the company is hiding anything and she outright lied, which is going to be really, really bad in Chapter 3. Not sure what to do about that, since ultimately Alicia is supposed to be one of their consistent allies going forward.

But I used Alicia as the Unimed mouthpiece and she was the one who said that they are going to caravan out to Colorado, which they started to do the next day.

As stated, I skipped the fall of Sanctuary scene. And because this was a planned caravan, not a hasty escape, I saw no need to run the raider camp sequence (and Caitlin and Jeff Murray are both dead already anyway).

So I skipped from about halfway through Week 7 through about halway through Week 11. That's one way to move the campaign along. I think it was for the best (and my players didn't seem to suspect I skipped anything), but part of me is saddened that I lost about 30 pages of prepared material (though, again, with Caitlin dead, Samantha safe, and Morrison not guilty about Sanctuary, a lot of that drama makes no sense).

Off to cannibals in an airport!

[Lee_Szczepanik]

I've run WoTD a few times with different groups, as I also do a campaign at a local game shop.

I've had it go according to script, I've had it derail pretty nicely. Both types have been a blast for me, to be honest. What I have found (and I am speaking as a GM, not the writer) is that I can usually take the skipped story elements, tweak them a bit, move "drama-x" over to a different NPC, and still go a head with the story.

Heck, one group skipped Sanctuary entirely. They met Morrison and Russo a different way. No biggie.

I've also run WoTD with completely different starting points other than the cruise ship, and run a very different Chapter One (so to speak), which is something I'll be publishing in 2012-- allowing GMs to really tailor their campaign as opposed to worrying about riding Week 1 to Week 52. We'll be releasing several adventure collections that take things in different directions, contain different styles of stories, and reveal different secrets about what's going on in the larger picture.

So, don't worry about going off the rails. Through 2012, those rails will be less defined anyway. Trust me when I say that War of the Dead is much more than just the current four chapters, and is growing throughout the next year.


(Note: the subscription model ends with WoTD: Chapter 4, and all future releases will be in normal book format.)
_________________
Lee F. Szczepanik, Jr.
Twitter: @Daring_News
http://www.daringentertain.com
Daring Entertainment Google+

[Jordan Peacock]

[DGMiller]

I was sad to see this thread end. I'm curious as to how things went for drkrash's game.

[Jordan Peacock]

[DGMiller]

[Lee_Szczepanik]

[DGMiller]

Lee,

I'm very sorry to hear about your health issues. I hope you take the time to take care of yourself and that those issues improve.

What I was talking about before was the "very different chapter 1." An alternate setup/alternate paths is very intriguing to me.

I'm still getting my ducks in a row for the start of my game about a month away (I tend to be very thorough).

D