Infernal Growth #2 Post-Session writeup

Second session follows immediately after the first. We were able to go a lot longer, this time, and really get to try out the combat system.against Deiter, who quite nearly killed a few of the Cutters.

As usual, spoilers ahead for the module Internal Growth. I'm running it in the system it was built for, Incunabuli.

 

***

The Cast:

 

- Olaf Olivier of Sorelle, body snatcher. Wants to Get in and Get Out.

 

- Finnegan Fisk of Fror, Firlish Ironmonger. Allegedly cursed by the Other (I keep forgetting to invoke said curse. Immediately lost interest in the assignment when he realized it wasn't the Other, specifically.

 

- Lee Linch of Long Eave, Disorderly, butterfingers. Surrendered her pistolette at Finnegan after he pointed out that she wasn't even qualified to use it.

 

- Aiden Cutler, New on the Scene, Was late enjoying a full Firlish Breakfast

- Padre Faustino Calderon Capard, Algoran Priest/Sir Not-Appearing-in-this-Film. (His player watched Wicked part 1 instead of joining us for this expedition.

***

When last we left off, the gang was licking their wounds in the dining room. the Padre went out for a laudanum break and Aiden Cutler sauntered in. Aiden voted to go downstairs, which broke the tie regarding the up or down question.

On the way down the staircase to the first level, Olaf spotted the trapped stair and Finnegan poked it with his horseshoe, but in the dim light failed to spy the tripwire. He proclaimed it safe to step on, which meant that Lee Linch was the unlucky customer who received the Kilkamessus vagus exposure. This was merely the start of a series of unfortunate events for our dear Cutters. 

 

 All but one of the doors on the first floor were locked tight. Lee Linch attempted to pick two of them, to no avail, but Aiden found the hoarhead candy in the rubber jacket and decided to try on the goggles, and finding he liked them, kept them. Olaf started down the stairs, but finding them too dark for comfort, sent Finnegan Fisk to fetch one of the lanterns from the second-floor kitchen.

 

I rolled poorly when it came to the random encounters, and so the cutters were completely unhindered.

 

Finnegan was able to grab one of the lanterns, while avoiding the pelican, and sprinted back as fast as he could, meaning that the cutters could make it down to the basement with at least a smidgen of light. Olaf, Finnegan and Aiden chose to check out the basement while Lee fiddled with the locks upstairs, because everyone loves splitting the party.

 

On the way down, Olaf paused to ogle the Pilomisis aerugo growing alongside where the banister might be, and once in the basement, she, Finnegan and Aiden wasted no time beelining for Dieter, and (perhaps correctly) judged him (and perhaps the good professor Manx) to be a compulsive onanist from his mutterings. Their attempts to bully the massive ragman into surrendering to the constabulary with racially charged epithets went about as well as could be expected, and Dieter, after missing with his first attacks, nearly killed Finnegan in the second round, fracturing his right arm and causing the ironmonger to fall unconscious with his cloud of poison spores. Olaf ran upstairs to grab Lee as Aiden stabbed Dieter repeatedly, and I rolled a flat d12 per turn that the heat lamp was tipped over to represent the risk of a sudden fire. 

 

The Cutler remained the main source of damage for the rest of the fight. Dieter was surrounded, and though the clouds of poison spores were a deterrent, these cutters are a fairly suicidal bunch. Dieter had barely made it to the stairs when he was on the brink of death, though as I'm writing this now, I realize that I was forgetting to roll for shock when he reached his maluses, but regardless (at 18 stress!), the big man began to beg for his life. The cutters were struck by a sort of pity, and let him go afterwards, and join the random encounter table.

 

The nest feels a little emptier, now

 

 

Afterwards, with everyone very banged up, and hoping for stitches, the gang retreated back up to the kitchen in search of food. Olaf Olivier, correctly assuming that the giant bird must also have giant eggs, chucked her bottle of chloroform at the pelican, hitting it straight in the chest, while dosing it with more than enough to render the bird unconscious. She stole an egg, and realizing that nobody had checked under the platter, decided to be the person who would. She opened it up, and was surprised by the cheese which then proceeded to knock her in the chest with enough force to get a knock out in one round, which is where we ended our session.

The Gang ends this session in the same room as last time, but much more poorly off.

 

***

Two sessions in a week is essentially unheard of, in my games. I assume the other shoe will drop soon and I'll find it impossible to get two people in a room together until after January, but we'll have to see.

 

Coming back in the morning to review this, I have a laundry list of mistakes I made while running the game. That's to be expected, I've never run this system before, and probably my biggest flaw as a GM is that my notes suck, so it's good to have writeups like this, done immediately after to give me a little boost to the memory-bits.

Kilkamessus

Kilkamess

Infernal Growth #1 Post-Session Writeup

Originally, I wrote this just for the Incunabuli subreddit, but giving half a thought, might as well put this on the blog, too. 

Incunabuli is a fantastic system. I love every bit of it, and Benton's writing is beautiful and haunting and atmospheric in a way that I wish I had the words to describe. 

Short review/play by play of my group's antics follows, spoilers for the Venture Infernal Growth ahead.

***

A few days ago I commented that I was about to run Internal Growth for my group, and I remember being asked for an update after we finished. So here goes:

We only finished one floor of the dungeon before we ran out of time (we're not fast gamers), but everyone pretty unanimously decided that we'd like to continue it later. I, for one, am really excited to see how the system handles longer-form games. The growth of characters is really baked in in an interesting way that I haven't really seen before. Well, it's kinda like Call of Cthulhu, but I like how it's applied to a more "dungeon-gamey" ruleset.

Anyways! Cast of the adventure included:

- Olaf Olivier of Sorelle, body snatcher. Perhaps the cutter most concerned with getting in and out alive. Chose to keep the extra 2P the adventure grants cutters instead of buying more gear.

- Finnegan Fisk of Fror, Firlish Ironmonger. Stands strong against Aveth and the Other, completely lacking in Taste, Exhaustion, and Faith alike. Really enjoyed being Cursed.

- Lee Linch of Long Eave, Human Disorderly. Good-looking, well kept, courageous to the point of foolhardiness and very quick on the draw.

- Padre Faustino Calderon Capard, Alagoran Priest. Only 20 years old and on his first venture, but already phthisic with consumption and overuse of laudanum. Also an alcoholic, but that doesn't stop him from trying to convert his fellows.

***

The gang chose to ignore the police and start with the front door, figuring that the class disparities between the two of them were too wide to bother with small talk beyond the traditional "Pig/Cutter" call and response. The Padre pushed it open, and the crew spread out into the Spore Parlor.  Finnegan grabbed one of the tanks of Kerosene and Lee the ceremonial helmet Professor Manx had earned in his studies while the Padre pondered the taxonomy tree of fungi.

The gang tossed around the idea of burning the house down and calling it a day, but decided to keep that plan on the backburner, just in case things got out of hand. Mint, whose first name I decided was Regenald, overheard the discussion from the next room and timidly asked who these strangers who they were and where was Manx. Olaf pressured him for a puff of the hookah and Lee informed the mouse that he was in grave danger and must leave immediately, leading to Mint's arrest.

The group moved into the dining room, examining the delicacies on display (only Olaf partook), but avoiding the Cheese in the platter. I guess they suspected that something horrible lay there and chose to not risk the trap. Padre Faustino examined the berries on the vine in the corner, splitting them between everyone before he and Finnegan searched the kitchen. The cutters took a brunch break, and the Padre gave himself communion, then drank a little of the wheat alcohol on the side.

Finnegan took the lead after lunch, walking up the back door and tearing off the note, revealing the giant pelican nesting outside. The cutters quibbled over the best course of action for two turns, and eventually, as the argument grew louder and louder, the mighty bird made their decision for them, breaking through the door and striking at the crew. 

Luckily for them, Finnegan and Lee (whose words had slipped from whisper to shout in the first place) were able to dodge the pelican's first strike. The rest of the group fled back, past the kitchen and into the dining room. Lee pulled out her pistolette and fired, but the gun jammed and misfired, so the crew fled, and barricaded themselves in the dining room, which is where we ended our session.

The cutters courageously cower in the dining room after fleeing certain death by Greater Holm Sea Pelican

***

I don't know if I'll write up another one of these for the next session. Looking back, we didn't do very much. We had several technical difficulties that really ate into our time and previously had to delay this session for several days, but there was a nearly universal agreement that we'd continue the dungeon in more spontaneous sessions later. I had an amazing time running this system, and my players enjoyed it, too. 

It hangs nicely in the balance of crunchy and open-ended, and the setting ties very nicely together with the ruleset, resulting in a rich, distinct flavor that's not too unlike a well-aged wine... Or cheese, in this case.