Neutral Grounds - Ran it! An Overview and some Cool moments

[Glendower]

Hey all,

I ran a one shot of the Neutral Grounds Casefile, which was a great time!  I had three players, who played Zack, Martin and Astra. 

We established that Zack dated Diane a year ago, but their relationship didn't go anywhere as Zack was too focused on his magical studies (Aspect: Ain't got time for love).  Diane rebounded with Eric, the abusive drug addict.

Astra had helped Diane break up her poisonous relationship with Eric, and even helped Eric kick his addiction (Aspect: Pillar of the Community).

Martin was currently secretly sleeping with Diane, a casual affair (Aspect: I don't believe in love anymore).

I think the key to Neutral Grounds is for the player characters to care about Diane.  If they don't, the entire casefile fails. We were careful to ensure that each person had a stake in saving her. In addition, Damocles Ravenborn was a kind of silly addition to the casefile, and I'm not really sure he makes any sense being in there. I played him up for laughs (the picture alone prevents anyone from taking him seriously) but the vampire jokes got old about 10 minutes into the game. Erik is the much more interesting Antagonist, and I played him up justifying his actions in the name of love, which in this case, was twisted to obsession.  "I'll make you love me" was an additional aspect I tossed onto him, to customize a bit. 

The overall theme was the open question regarding the strength of the love these characters had for one another, in spite of a Ghoul attack, the Rock demons and finally the climactic battle at the top of an old Fort.  Zack and Eric fought it out, and when Eric was encased in stone, he directed Diane to attempt to kill him.  Astra was given a moment where she realized she could have sacrificed a helpless Eric for his powers over the mind, but managed to resist it (a great Compel refusal!).

When Eric was finally taken out (punched in the face by an an Enraged Astra, which was great), Diane's mind was still locked away. Astra quickly deduced that "a kiss from true love will end the spell of obsession". With that revelation, I handed out two compels to Zack and Martin.

For Zack, I compelled "Aint' got time for love", and he realized, with some degree of horror, that he didn't have any fate left to counter!  He had to admit that though we was fond of Diane, he didn't truly love her.  The player was thrilled, it was a really neat way to show how awesome and terrifying zero fate points really is. 

For Martin, it was "I don't believe in Love anymore".  I tossed the fate out to ask the question, is it still true?  He had a handful of fate left over, and had the option to refuse the compel, to overcome his aspect, to kiss Diane and break the spell. 

We were all waiting to see what he'd do.  The player looked at the fate point, and says "I take her into my arms and kiss her, tenderly."  And then he takes the fate chip and says "Nothing happens".

I cut to Diane sitting in a mental hospital, quietly watching a blank television screen. Her eyes are blank, empty. 

Such wonderful, terrible sadness.

[Khalis231]

We were all waiting to see what he'd do.  The player looked at the fate point, and says "I take her into my arms and kiss her, tenderly."  And then he takes the fate chip and says "Nothing happens".

I cut to Diane sitting in a mental hospital, quietly watching a blank television screen. Her eyes are blank, empty. 

Such wonderful, terrible sadness.

Moments like these are what remind me why I roleplay. Kudos to your player, and to you for running the game.

[finnmckool]

Good call on the "Caring about Diane" part. I haven't run it yet, but I gotta disagree about Damocles. The key to him I think, is going to be making him seem silly at first, but you gotta work him to be a badass. I was already going to include him in my game, and this was going to be the preview so when he DID show up, the players would already know him. He'll be a nice red herring of a BBEG, and because he's so ridiculous, it'll be all the more galling when he keeps surviving, returning and occasionally handing them their asses. He'll be the red herring to Eric's dark magickery, but maybe a bit more involved later than they thought.

[ery13]

@Glendower that is an awesome game, I'm glad it worked out...although now I'm kind of sad for Diane...like really sad...and demand a Happy Ending!!!! haha.

and

Good call on the "Caring about Diane" part. I haven't run it yet, but I gotta disagree about Damocles. The key to him I think, is going to be making him seem silly at first, but you gotta work him to be a badass. I was already going to include him in my game, and this was going to be the preview so when he DID show up, the players would already know him. He'll be a nice red herring of a BBEG, and because he's so ridiculous, it'll be all the more galling when he keeps surviving, returning and occasionally handing them their asses. He'll be the red herring to Eric's dark magickery, but maybe a bit more involved later than they thought.

This seems like a great idea, especially if he somehow can get the players to do a few things for him before the big reveal!

[Glendower]

I do like the red herring in the casefile, but I wish it wasn't Damocles. Eric is a very dark character, and Damocles is like a kooky sideshow circus clown, which causes the overall theme to clash.   Since we have gunplay involved in the initial attack, they could have involved Lizard (from the Baltimore section of the "Your Story" book), which would have suggested gang violence and would have been a tighter fit to the overall tone of the Casefile. It would have worked especially well if Eric had Thralled some of Lizard's crew, because then it creates some interesting links and conflicts between the primary and secondary antagonists. 

Again, just looking at it in hindsight. I did use Damocles, and tried to get the players to think he was involved somehow.  Thing was, after Damocles made his big entrance, I just wasn't sure what else to do with him after he postured and threatened a bit.  The character, as a cartoony antagonist, really isn't all that interesting.  Lizard, I think, is the more compelling character of the Baltimore setting.

Good call on the "Caring about Diane" part. I haven't run it yet, but I gotta disagree about Damocles. The key to him I think, is going to be making him seem silly at first, but you gotta work him to be a badass. I was already going to include him in my game, and this was going to be the preview so when he DID show up, the players would already know him. He'll be a nice red herring of a BBEG, and because he's so ridiculous, it'll be all the more galling when he keeps surviving, returning and occasionally handing them their asses. He'll be the red herring to Eric's dark magickery, but maybe a bit more involved later than they thought.