Tate's Tragedy - Adventure 001. Mashup of Lovecraft's Revenge and my pulp rules.

Introduction

This is the first game I played with my spreadsheet driven version of Lovecraft’s Revenge. See this post for further details on the framework and rules.  Note this adventure only lasted a few scenes.

The Game - Tate's Tragedy

I was going to do the narrative for the scene followed by the spreadsheet output but putting the output between the scenes broke the narrative too much so have put it at the end for those interested. I didn’t copy all the stuff the spreadsheet generates as it has about 30 lines per scene.   I do a very brief summary of the generator at the end of each scene. I must be a frustrated writer as I could not help flesh out some of the scenes with additional narrative.

What I do like about Lovecraft's Revenge is there is no expectation you will reach the goal.  This game is no exception so don't read on.

Oh, and it is set in current time and also where I live – Brisbane Australia.

Opening Scene

Tate O’Neil had just finished his shift as security guard for the Queensland Museum.  It was after midnight and it had been a long day.

“After 10 years at the Museum and 30 years as a guard you would think I would be used to late nights,” he thought.

Today had been slightly different;  his mind had been restless as though he should know about something but could place it.  He had got a message from his mate Brownie for a drink at the Fox after work

“Why not?  And a bit of lubrication may get rid of this anxiety”.

The Fox was only a few hundred metres down the road but after half that distance he was certain he was being followed.  A young waitress was almost directly behind and after so long in the security game, he could just tell she was an amateur at it.  He let her follow for a little longer and then turn around with the intent of finding out why she was following him.

“Gotcha!” he exclaimed as he turned around and got up close. 

She seemed surprised by his actions but made no move to go.

“Why are you following me?” he forcefully asked.

Silence.

“Come on, why?”

“The Yith are crossing time again,” she said quietly, almost as if to herself.

“What?”

“The Yith are crossing time again,” she repeated.

Oh great, a fruit loop.  Just want I don’t need right now.

“Whatever”, he says, resigned that he wasn’t going to get his answer. “Just go away.”

And with that his turned around and headed to the pub.

Brownie was at the bar and was already a few beers in.  He didn’t look happy to see Tate.

“Hey, Tate.  No easy way to break it to you.  You know I still am in touch with Carmel…I know you haven’t talked to her in years, ever since she got caught up in that cult.”

“Yeah.”

“But I got a message from a friend of hers that she must be in trouble.  She hasn’t heard from Carmel for weeks.  She went out to Tara to trace down something or other and was supposed to come back.  But nothing.  She has dropped off the Earth.  No one seems to know where she is mate.  I know you still care.”

It was true.  Although Carmel has changed so much over the years and contact was minimal, he did still care.

“Ok, I’ll think I’ll take a few days off work and go and see if I can find out anything.”

Brownie gave a look of relief – his friend was not such a bad sort after all.

Spreadsheet

5 complications but only the last one real that was a Being Stalked task that was passed by Tate with YES + more so I assumed he knew he was being followed and got something about what might be going on. The goal is to search for a family member.  I have tried to add in a bunch of stuff  (e.g. cult) to tie into what may occur later one. The next scene was in the Outback so chose a town about 4 hours away (Tara).

Scene 1 – Tara

Tate drove to Tara the next day and was there by lunchtime.  He was always surprised on how dry everything was after a 4 hour drive inland.  The sunlight was stark, the landscape colour muted.  But beautiful in its way.

Tate asked around at the few shops and the bar but only one shopkeeper remembered Carmel and had no further info.  Tate rang Brownie over dinner.

“Mate, I haven’t found out much at all.”

“Well, Tate, I’ve been asking around here and it seems there is a farm she may have gone to – I have it about 20 k’s down Roaches Road. Maybe worth a look”

“Thanks mate, talk to you tomorrow.”

It was dark outside and Tate was not looking forward to driving at night with the chance of hitting a roo.  But better to drive there now than wait another day.  The drive was uneventful but slow as he stated checking gate signs after a while.  Finally he came across one with weird symbols all over it.  It was a possibility, what with Carmel being in a cult and all.

He went through the gate and onwards to the farmhouse.  No lights.  He went in the front door and started looking around.  It looked like no one had been here for ages.  He was in the kitchen when suddenly he heard a whoosh sound from the dining room.  Suddenly a long flame flicked into the room from the hallway. The house was on fire!  All Tate know is he had to get out of there.  He went back out the way he came but it was already hot and smoke filled.  He fell over in a faint and cut his arm badly on a side table.  He managed to stagger upright and get out the door.

The fire was still raging as he started back to his car.  With the house fire casting its flickering light over the nearby area, his eye was drawn to a bag lying nearby.  He retrieved it and looked through the contents but it did not make much sense – some shoes, clothes, a book. But there was a box and when opened has a pistol that had seen better days – so much so Tate doubted it would work. The pistol had marking scratched into its sides but Tate didn’t think much of them.

The book had Carmel’s name written in the front.  He was on the right track.  The book seemed to be one published by some cult or other.  He flicked through it and some sections were underlined but it didn’t make a lot of sense to him.  But tucked into the book as a bookmark was a brochure for Carnarvon Gorge. He did not have much else to go on so it looked like another long drive.  After some rest.

Spreadsheet

First complication was a Hazard - Fire/chemical/hazardous waste that was just passed.   Second complication is a special – Unexpected Advantage - that reduces the difficulty of the next task. The final challenge was Solve a puzzle difficultly 4 and Tate had none applicable skills. Difficulty  would be increased by 1 due to light wound from the fire, but reduced by 1 due to a complication reducing difficulty.  The related skill was ranged so made the solve a puzzle symbols on a pistol. Failed just (No, but) and assumed failed task so no clue (would have allowed another go on a zero).

Scene 2 – Carnarvon National Park

The next day once again saw Tate on the road.  An early start saw Tate he checked into a campsite at Carnarvon Gorge at lunch.  He had been to that same campsite with Carmel and his parents when they were just children. The sky was overcast and menacing as he began wandering the campsite asking if anyone new anything about Carmel.

Being followed in Brisbane had spooked him.  Tate was sure he was being followed again.  He caught glimpses of someone between caravans that seemed to be spying on him.  He began to stealthily move from place to place, trying to shake off the follower.  To no avail. Asking people if they could see the follower he got strong denials.

“They are all in on It,” he thought. “They must be.” Furtively he sneaked to the last few caravans but his wild look deterred anyone from wanting to tell him much.  He did get out of them to check an abandoned caravan round the back of the camp.

This caravan had seen better days and was unlocked.  He went inside and in a frenzy searched for anything that may give him a clue.  A woman had obviously lived in the caravan for a while and he found stuff that he knew Carmel liked.  Finally he stumbled upon a shopping bag with a bunch of maps, sheets and pictures.  It was Virgin Rock at Springsure!  The photos of the rock were covered in symbols, matching those on the pistol.
Tate raced back to his car and drove up the highway to Springsure, only a few hours away.

Spreadsheet

A failed complication of Imaged Trouble that required stealth.  The outcome of the failure I ruled was an insanity test (it makes sense with the imagined trouble).  Tate failed and so is slightly insane. The Solve a puzzle challenge takes place in an abandoned Lean-to (made it a caravan) with Contacts as the skill.  A pass.  But no idea on the Big Bad/Villain. There is a chance you cannot roll for recovery after a scene and this happened here so Tate remains slightly insane for the next scene.

Scene 3 – Springsure

In his crazed state Tate drove directly to Virgin Rock.  It was still daylight but with heavy clouds the air seemed tinted with malevolence. The face in the rock loomed larger as he got closer to the carpark. There was none else at the this tourist spot, it was too quiet and so the winding path up to the Rock assumed an overshadowing by an evil presence from all sides.  In Tate’s state barely noticed but something in his mind was still rational and he slowly and carefully made his way into the bush.  It was hot and humid with sweat stuck to his shirt as he made his way up the foul-like path.  The base of the rock face was a steep slope covered in light bush.  The face in the rock loomed menacingly above him. In his state it no longer looked natural and did look like the Virgin Mary, but no image had he ever seen had such a hateful look.   An overwhelming sense of dread penetrated into Tate’s mind.  He looked up just in time to see rocks tumbling down at him.  He ran but was not fast enough and the rocks broke bones and tore large gashes into his flesh as Tate lapsed into unconsciousness.

Spreadsheet

Location is the hills and the end challenge was a Rocky Outcrop so Virgin Rock was a good choice (I pick the real location based on the randomly generated location).  Complication was Cautiousness that Tate passed.  The challenged was Safety Endangered with Ranged as the skill.  Tate failed really badly (a dead result) but due to Tate’s high fortitude (willpower etc rolled into one – bit like the Two Hour Wargames Star Power).  I bumped this to badly hurt.  As he failed and this was the second failed clue, that is the end of the adventure.

End scene

Tate wakes up in a bed and sees a nurse hovering nearby.

“Where am I? What happened?” he asks.

“You’re in the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, you’ve been here for about a month.  You were in a bad way and were airlifted her and operated on a few times to save you.  You’re much better than when you first came in!”  She smiled.

“Thanks” he said quietly.

Tate was discharged two months later after some further operations.  He would always walk with a limp and his shoulder damage meant that his left arm had barely any strength and rotation.  He did manage to go back to work.  And Carmel.  He didn’t find her and was reticent to actively continue to search for her. Brownie did not bring her up in conversation again.

Spreadsheet

Nothing worse happens and Tate gets better.

Verdict

Woo-hoo! Loads of fun!  And the spreadsheet hung together without too much effort to use it, although I do need to add some notes so I remember how to run it!  I do like the framework and can see how I can modify it and apply it to Pulp adventures and replaying scenarios. So I could be on a winner.  I have already started another game with a different character.  We shall see how far I get with that one.  Interestingly enough, no horror in this at all and also only one complication encounter – there is about a 40% chance of an encounter for a complication.  Ah well.  Also, each of the three challenges in this adventure was solve a puzzle.  I thought it was not that unusual as there is a one-third chance and three in a row is not too bad.  But at the start of the next adventure I realised I had an error in the formula and the challenge was always going to be solve a puzzle 😊.  Fixed.  

Spreadsheet output for those interested

Opening Scene  spreadsheet output

     

Who	Tate ONEAL
Where	City
Start Darkness	2
Day/Night	Night
No. complications	5

Name	Tate ONEAL
Level	Hero
Race	Human
Attribute Rnd	2
Physical	3
Agility	3
Mind	2
Fortitude	3
No. of skills	3
Skills	Contacts Investigation Interaction
Job	Patroller
Sex	Male
Age	old (50-70)
Height	average
Interact	Caustic
Physical feature	Hard of hearing
Trait	Shows pictures of his children/relatives
Motivation	survival
Origin	high population slum
Problem	Was cast out of their home community for discovering corruption among the clan/tribe leadership
Job motivation	Idealistic about the job
Weapon	Pistol
Armour	none

                                                                                                         

Complication:

complication	Being Stalked/Hunted
type	encounter
complication	Being Stalked/Hunted
difficulty	3
type	r
task Physical	Survival
task Agility	Driver
task Mind	Awareness

                 

Encounter NPCs                                                                                                                                                     

Name	Meredith PONCE
Level	Random
Race	Human
Attribute Rnd	7
Physical	1
Agility	1
Mind	1
Fortitude	3
No. of skills	3
Skills	Interaction Interaction
Job	Hospitality
Sex	Female
Age	Young (< 21)
Height	average
Interact	Rude
Physical feature	Limb/hand replaced with prosthetic
Trait	Makes contstant references to popular culture
Motivation	glory
Origin	high-class
Problem	Living in the shadow of a heroic brother, wants nothing more than to do something important to make a name for themselves
Job motivation	Works for the party’s enemies.
Weapon	none
Armour	none

Complication result:

PC 1 +4 Yes and more                                                                                                                                                    

NPC 1 -4  No and more                   

 

Story Goals

Goal	Search for a Person
Details	Family
Clues	4
max failed clues	2

Scene 1 Tara

Darkness increase	1
Challenge type:	Solve a puzzle
Location	Outback
Travel Scene	No
Dream	No
Buy/Sell
Recruit	none
Day/Night	Night
No. Complications?	2

complication	Fire/chemical/hazardous waste
type	obstacle
complication	Fire/chemical/hazardous waste
difficulty	3
type	0
task Physical	Hostile Env
task Agility	Repair
task Mind	Trading

diff	result
1	YES but	Safe but light wound
-1	NO but	Fire still going

complication	Unexpected Advantage
type	special
complication	Unexpected Advantage
difficulty	reduce difficulty

challenge	Solve a puzzle
type	obstacle
complication	Solve a puzzle
difficulty	4
type	1
task Physical
task Agility	Ranged
task Mind	Awareness

Reduced difficulty offset by light wound

Skill/ NPC table	Ranged
PC/NPC number	1
OR level	4
Mods	0
Job affinity
total d (att +skill)	3
diff	-1
result	NO but

Outcome: did not solve the clue.  One clue failed attempt.

Scene 2 – Carnarvon National Park

Darkness increase	1
Challenge type:	Solve a puzzle
Location	Mountains
Travel Scene	No
Dream	No
Buy/Sell
Recruit	none
Day/Night	Day
No. Complications?	3

complication	Imagined Trouble
type	obstacle
complication	Imagined Trouble
difficulty	3
type	0
task Physical	Stealth
task Agility	0
task Mind	0

Skill/ NPC table	Stealth	NPC 1 cell
PC/NPC number	1	<npc #>
OR level		3
Mods	mods?	mods?
attribute	Physical	Physical
Job affinity
total d (att +skill)	3	3
diff	-2	2
result	NO	YES
	failed.  I will say a -3 is one point of insanity; -2 is a sanity test taken at -1

Difficulty
1	Darkness Level/3
PC number	OR Fortitude
1	0
0
no effect
actually -1 so 1 point of insanity

Complication?	Yes
If last one:	Abandoned Lean-to	Haunted	2

challenge	Solve a puzzle
type	obstacle
complication	Solve a puzzle
difficulty	1
type	1
task Physical	Hostile Env
task Agility	Contacts
task Mind

Skill/ NPC table	Contacts	NPC 1 cell
PC/NPC number	1	<npc #>
OR level		1
Mods	-1	mods?
attribute	Agility	Agility
Job affinity
total d (att +skill)	5	1
diff	1	-1
result	YES but	NO but
	Hooray.

Clue found!	1
Villan hinted?	No
Villan is…	No idea who is the Villan
Item:	No items
Post Scene
Recovery?	No recovery - straight to next scene

Scene 3 – Springsure

Darkness increase	1
Challenge type:	Solve a puzzle
Location	Hills
Travel Scene	No
Dream	No
Buy/Sell
Recruit	none
Day/Night	Day
No. Complications?	2

complication	Cautiousness
type	obstacle
complication	Cautiousness
difficulty	0
type	0
task Physical	Stealth
task Agility	0
task Mind	0

Skill/ NPC table	Stealth	NPC 1 cell
PC/NPC number	1	<npc #>
OR level		0
Mods	-1	mods?
attribute	Physical	Physical
Job affinity
total d (att +skill)	3	0
diff	2	-2
result	YES	NO

complication	Safety Endangered
type	obstacle
complication	Safety Endangered
difficulty	4
type	0
task Physical	Hostile Env
task Agility	Ranged
task Mind	0

Skill/ NPC table	Ranged	NPC 1 cell
PC/NPC number	1	<npc #>
OR level		4
Mods	-1	mods?
attribute	Agility	Agility
Job affinity
total d (att +skill)	3	4
diff	-4	4
result	No and more	YES and more

Oh dear.  Out of the Fight.

end of scene

And failed to find a clue.

Game ends.

Post scene

PC	1
fort successes	2
Emotional	Get better
Tired	Get better
Wounded	Get better
Sick	Get better
Insanity	Get better

Post Game
Successful end	N	<- change to Y or N
Deity appeared	N	<- change to Y or N
score	7
result	10+	Cataclysmic disaster: All take a melee task Vs current darkness level
	9	All characters take an insanity test
	8	Random character takes an insanity test
	7-	Story ends with no more adversity