Friday First OWbN game. Marcus was in charge of Elysium (in his brother’s absence). The protection of Elysium had been extended to the Anarchs and Giovanni. Unfortunately, the Scourge had different ideas… The costuming was great. Here’s some examples of HOW great, including a nice shot of Marcus and his “daughter,” Grace, and the INCREDIBLE Nos Primogen, “Rhatt.”
CHAOS! FIGHTING! GUNFIRE! IN ELYSIUM! It was agreed by all involved that more drastic measures were required for the following evening. So, we made plans…
Saturday
After hitting the sack at 3 in the morning, we rose up at 9 and made our way back down to Gen-Con. savageplanet told us the con was all but dead. It was a typical LA convention turnout. His tale was confirmed by the fact that I walked right up to registration; there was no line.
Walking through the empty halls of the dealer’s room, I met up with Matt Forbeck (the nicest guy in the game industry), Louis Porter, Jr. (who was pimpin’ for Rpgnow in the most entertaining way), Mike Stack– I mean Pondsmith (damn it, sorry Mike!), Chris Pramas (who’s booth looks cooler every time I see him), Ken (Mr. GURPS) Hite, a whole slew of L5R fans (past and present), and a bunch of other people I just can’t remember at the moment. Sorry, guys. There was a ton of you. 🙂 latentblue joked about me really being famous. “Only in small circles, dear,” I assured her. I did not hit my 30 game goal, but I was only there for a day, really. I got to play Mr. Forbeck’s “Revenge of Dracula” game, the new Marvel CCG, and BREAK KEY!!! I also got to play Thomas Denmark’s VERY fun DUNGEONEER. Tom deserves all the success in the world with that one. Damn fine game, sir.
Looking at the timing of the Dracula game gave me a brilliant idea for CHILL 3e I’ll have to share with savageplanet and the boys.
On Saturday night, Part 2 of the OWbN game flared up. It was right next door to the 7th Sea LARP, which was kind of funny. As Marcus and his daughter Grace walked by, Marcus — with his famous voice — whispered to a group of them… “I’m sorry, but I think a sorte strega has wandered from your game to ours…” They all laughed, and latentblue said, “It’d be funnier if they knew who you were.”
“No,” Marcus told her. “It’s funnier that they don’t.”
Marcus and Johnny Silver (otherwise known as trekhead were part of an amazing discussion on art. Marcus sang. Silver understood. There was a moment. Bottom line on my buddy Jess: The shit he does is so subtle, it goes over most people’s heads. He doesn’t get enough props for the stuff he does. I lub him.
The Scourge continued to break Elysium, claiming he had the authority to do so from the Prince. Marcus said, “The Prince told me nothing of this, and I will maintain that it is untrue until the Prince himself tells me so.” The Scourge ignored that and continued to harass, threaten, and even harm Anarchs within Elysium.
Very slowly, very deliberately, Marcus threw down his hat… threw down his goggles… tore off his bandages… looked into the eyes of the Scourge and said:
“Bring it on.”
The throw-down began. Marcus’ nephew, Black Hat, was standing behind the Scourge with about eight heavy-hittin’ Anarchs who were just waiting for permission to hammer this guy.
(Quick note: the Scourge is an NPC, played by a visiting player. He rocked. Scary guy. So, I didn’t feel so bad about going for his throat. I’d never do this with another PC. Never.)
The fight didn’t go well. The Scourge kept winning every test, and the tests he lost he re-tested to success. Re-test with Awe. Re-test with Luck. Re-test with Brawl. Re-test with Firearms. The bastard had everything on his side, and we just couldn’t make a dent in him.
Then, at the beginning of the second round, with all of our efforts smashed, little Grace hit him with Quell.
She threw paper and he threw scissors.
“Re-test with Animal Ken,” she said, her noob voice shaking, and we all hoped he wouldn’t be able to cancel. He couldn’t.
She got rock, he got scissors. The crowd cheered, and little latentblue, hiding under her Grace veil, smiled. We’d won our first test against the bastard Scourge.
“Re-test with Willpower,” the Scourge said. You could feel the enthusiasm sink to our feet. The test came. She got scissors, he got paper. Again, the crowd cheered and you could see her beam under that shroud.
“Re-test with Awe,” the Scourge said. Once again, the enthusiasm flowed like syrum in June. The test came. She got rock, he got scissors. Another cheer.
“Re-test with Luck,” the Scourge said. And for a fourth time, our hopes sank. Grace stood her ground, more confident now, but less hopeful. He threw rock and she threw paper. The cheer was so loud, the 7th Sea players were peeking out to look.
Then, with a voice of tiny confidence, Marcus’ little daughter asked, “Got anything else?”
The Scourge shook his head, a smile on his face. “Nope. That’s it.”
The crowd cheered and I was proud like a poppa should be.
Everything turned around then. The second round did not go well for the Scourge, and he tried to make a break for it. When he tried to run, a visiting Ravnos hit him with Horrid Reality. He made his test. A tie. Comparison of Traits… not enough for the Scourge. He crumpled into a mess of twitching, pathetic Ventrue knight.
More chaos. The Anarchs breaking into the Prince’s private winery. Marcus loses his temper and scares the hell out of people.
More chaos. The Ventrue claim the body of the Scourge, claiming the Prince should deal with the matter. Marcus loses his temper at the Senschal, scaring the hell out him.
Lots and lots of fun. And, at the end, I got a little statue. Or, I should say, Marcus got a little statue. It was very kind.
So much more happened, but I’m already boring you with gamer war stories, so I’ll move on.
I drove everybody home and we were lucky I didn’t drive us off the road. It take so much to play Marcus… and I’d done it two days straight for fourteen hours. But, he got to sing a song for his daughter, got to be scary, and I got to be half-asleep on the way home. latentblue had to finish off the drive so I could sleep in the backseat. I hit the bed, my head hit the pillow, and my mind hit dreamland like a brick dropped from fifty miles up.
Sunday
There was debate of going to Gen-Con, but in the end, it was a quiet day in front of the television, just resting. My voice was thrashed. The Scab came home and we watched the remainder of the fourth season Sopranos. Gangster crack at it’s finest. Made a late dinner, hit the bed again, and woke up this morning… and got myself a gun. Got myself a gun. Got myself a gun.