Mug & Game Games Day 2022 Con Report
Mug & Game Games Day 2022, St John's Community Centre, Buxton Old Road, Congleton CW12 2ES
Saturday 24th September 2022, 10:00 - 18:00.
https://facebook.com/events/s/mug-game-games-day-2022/802463940924061/
So my day started with an early trip to the railway station. I was catching the direct 07:46 train to Crewe as there wasn’t a direct train to Congleton from Derby. I would then be picked up by my friend, Simon Bray in his car and be driven to Congleton, and the venue there. As the first game session didn’t start until 10:30 we had plenty of time.
It was a nice sunny day, perfect for going inside and playing games.
It was great to return to the venue, I haven’t been there since 2019, and I was warmly welcomed by the committee and club members. It was fantastic to see so many familiar faces.
The venue
The venue itself is a converted vicarage that has nicely been appointed to a church hall with a catering kitchen. For such a small building the hall is spacious and the kitchen with its serving hatch is large enough to accommodate a large function as this.
It also sits in a well tendered graveyard that looks lovely in the sunshine.
I was shown to my gaming table, identified by a large red meeple, all the gaming tables were labelled with different coloured meeples. They also had notepads, pencils and a couple of dice trays (with spare set of dice too) on the table too. That was a nice touch.
Me in my 19th Century attire.
I quickly got set up for my first game of Fria Ligan’s Vaesen “Those That Fight Alone”, a scenario of my own devising.
I set up my iPad Pro to display the Keynote presentation that had images on for the game scenario. I remotely controlled the presentation via my iPhone.
I also laid out all the Character Archetypes on the table, the ten from the core rule book and the new three from the Mythic Britain and Ireland book. I also put out blank character sheets with pencils in the place settings on the table as I knew I had five players pre-booked for the game.
Two of the players played in my previous Tales from the Loop game at the last Mug & Game Game Day in 2019. They were a father and son team. Of course the son was now a teenager and had grown quite tall!
The rest of the players arrived early and they all got to choosing their Character Archetypes. They quickly generated their characters.
We had a middle-aged Military Officer Frank Nordenflycht who had lost all his men to a giant’s attack. Young Viola Krabbe is a Vagabond who managed to survive a week inside a troll bag. The Academic Lars Blix was keen to chart the unknown, even though he had witnessed his partner being ripped apart by a giant. Young Egill Lindenberg is the Hunter who is obsessed with his rifle and staying in the dark woods. Old Father Victor Reynoldsson is the Priest of the group and has a leaning into devil worship (for academic reasons only, honest).
I started with the Six Principles of Vaesen that lays the foundation on which the game is played. It isn’t as impactful as the Principles of the Loop but it helps set the tone and atmosphere of the game.
I then took the players through the scenario structure, explaining that we start with an invitation, then there will be a preparation phase as the investigators will research and try to verify information before setting off on the mystery as well as gathering any weapons, gear, and equipment they think they need. This is where they will gain their Advantage; a bonus on a particular skill or situation that might occur during the mystery. Because I didn’t give the players any talents for their characters I said that they could use the Advantage a number of times during the game.
Once the preparations are done then they go on the journey to the site of the mystery. Then there’s the arrival at the site, then the investigation into the mystery can start proper. There is usually a big climax where the Investigators will have to conduct a ritual to banish or appease the Vaesen in question.
The mystery starts with the late delivery of a letter from Baron Gustaf Wilhelm Leuhusen. He believes that he is under a curse that has already taken the lives of three men and threatens his. The curse seems to appear as a cut on his left arm, one per night until there are nine. He currently has four on his arm, with a fifth due. The cuts aren’t deep or life threatening in themselves, just what the represent as they crisscross each other. The trouble is is the Baron’s letter was delayed by three days.
The Baron's Letter.
Our intrepid investigators head to speak to the Baron, he resides in a farmhouse on the University of Uppsala lands. The farmhouse is owned by the esteemed Swedish historian and poet, Professor Erik Gustaf Geijer, the poet that brought the word “Viking” into common parlance in the nineteenth century.
As they learn more details they see another cut, the ninth, slice on the Baron’s arm right in front of their eyes!
He is cursed!
What follows is a vigil to guard the Baron throughout the night, midnight burglary in the University stronghold, fighting off undead creatures in a tomb, breaking in to the Archbishop’s fortified palace to steal from his very hand, and coming under a volley of musket fire!
It ends with a confrontation in an ancient worship site and an appeal to the goddess herself.
The game went very well and the players came up with dramatic solutions and ideas to tackle the Vaesen they were dealing with.
The players in my Vaesen game.
With that we finished on time, ready for lunch.
I had a marvellous chilli con carne topped with plenty of cheddar cheese. Nice!
I then got my table set up for my next game Fria Ligan’s Alien RPG “Beauty is Not Only Skin Deep”.
I had two players pre-signed up for the game and I had another two players signed up on the day making a total of four players at the table.
I had laid out all seven of the cover sheets for the characters; the cover sheets had a large image of the character in their armour and carrying their primary weapon in the centre with a breakout of all their weapons and gear.
The only other details were their rank (all were Corporals), their specialty as a marine, and their surname. There was no other identity to the characters, no backstories, no first names, no faces (face masks as part of their armour), and no gender even. A blank canvas for the players to add their own ideas of character on.
The gaming table laid out ready for Alein RPG.
The players chose the following as player characters.
Corporal B. Childan - Smartgunner with the Armat Smartgun M56A2 and Smart Targeting Scope.
Corporal E. Tagomi - Marksman using the Armat M42A3 Sniper Rifle with Smart Targeting Scope X10 fitted with the A9 Sound Suppressor with underslung U7 Tac-shotgun.
Corporal W. I. Runciter - Heavy Weapons carrying the Armat M12 RPG Launcher with underslung U7 Tac-shotgun.
Corporal T. J. Taverner - Assault armed with the Armat XM99A Phased Plasma Pulse Rifle fitted with Smart Targeting Scope and underslung U7 Tac-shotgun.
With the PCs chosen I took the players through the introduction and then explained the cover, character and agenda sheets.
Introduction to the game
This game is set in the universe of the Alien films, using many of the elements and themes from them like the secret androids, colonial marines, the paranoia, the body horror, a relentless enemy stalking in the dark, and the painful death of the characters. The source material is primarily Alien, Aliens and the video games Colonial Marines, Fireteam, and Alien Isolation. Remember that the player characters are to suffer and panic and may even challenge and fight each other, but it is your player characters, not yourselves, that are in danger, facing the risks, seeking the rewards, and possibly having the memorable death.
So take the risks, charge in where angels fear to tread, and stare down the jaws of the alien.
We are going to operate on the premise that you start off as player characters working together as a party, as a military squad. However you will have conflicting agendas so the scenario will no doubt end with some, if not all, player verses player actions taking place. Some, if not all, of your characters will die before the final curtain. This is part of the how the game plays out.
I covered the character sheets with them and explained how the dice mechanics work. They have their name followed by their rank and specialty at the top of the first column. Under that are their two talents, they will give dice bonuses to certain actions and skills. Then we have their signature item that may help reduce stress when they think they’re safe. They can use that once per act. Underneath that is a list of all their weapons and gear.
Below that are their conditions which are freezing, dehydrated, starving, and Exhausted. Below that at the bottom of the column are their consumables; Air, Power, Water, and Food.
At the top of the second column are the tracker boxes for their Health, Stress, and Radiation. I told them to ignore them as I’ll be using casino chips to keep track of them, especially the Stress.
Below that are the four Attributes; Strength, Agility, Wits, and Empathy. Each Attribute has three Skills; Strength has Heavy Machinery for operating machines, airlocks, ground vehicles, Close Combat for fight with hand-to-hand weapons or unarmed, and Stamina for physical endurance and constitution. Agility is split into Mobility for athletics, stealth, and running, Ranged Combat for using firearms in combat, and Piloting for flying spaceships. Wits has Comtech for using computers and electronic devices, Observation for perception skills, and Survival for split second decision making in intense situations. Empathy has Command for issuing orders and leading a team, Manipulation is the fast talk, charm, lie skill, and finally Medical Aid is the ability to treat and heal injuries (none of the marines have this skill).
The cover sheets have the images and details of all the character’s armour, ammunition, gear and weapons they are carrying into the field. I mentioned to the players to pay attention to the bonuses each item gives them as the will be added to the Skill + Attribute + Talent bonus too.
The folding agenda sheets have that character’s objectives, personal mission, and individual assignments on. The first page covers Act I but the hidden pages will fold out to reveal the Act II and then the Act III agendas but I would show the players at the end of Act I how to fold them out. I also told the players to keep their agendas secret from the other players as this has the biggest impact on the game.
The game starts with the marines coming out of cryo on board the USS Rossumovi, a Conestoga-class Light Assault Starship in orbit of a classified planet that is also a top secret training facility.
Captain K. Čapek gives them their mission briefing.
All the marines are going on a live-ammo training mission as they have committed an infraction that has found them demoted to the rank of Corporal. The players have to come up with their own reason or crime to share at the end of Act I as a campfire story.
Now the Captain details their training mission. They are going to be dropped off on a remote island at a landing pad labelled LZ. They will proceed from the LZ through rough terrain and over the course of two days they will engage three waves of combat robots accompanied by Working Joes. Each wave of “toasters” with be significant tougher and more numerous. The toasters will be operated by the human technicians in the Barrier Complex but the robots and Working Joes will simulate independence. They will be firing non-lethal ordinance like flash-bangs, smoke grenades, beanbags, rubber bullets, and tracer rounds. Getting hit by a toaster will still hurt, hence the marines have been equipped with the finest armour and hard hitting ordinance of their own.
On destruction of all three waves of the toasters the marines will proceed to the EZ for evacuation via airlift.
They will be accompanied by Sergeant John McCarthy and a Bishop Android to monitor the marines and they will be evaluated on their combat prowess, resourcefulness, and survival skills.
So they make the drop to planet side and are left deposited on an old concrete landing pad adjoining a disused bunker. None of the marines are able to run a by-pass the locked blast door so the Sarge gets Bishop to do it instead. Not an auspicious start to the mission.
They move quickly through the bunker, they see that has been stripped of anything valuable, there’s just the bare concrete walls and a few flickering lights. The Sarge states that the Barrier Complex is similar but far much larger and occupied.
As they leave the bunker on the other side there’s just a dirt road winding it’s way through the trees and the rougher terrain.
Tagomi, as sniper, heads into the trees and disappears from sight due to his stealth web on his armour. He follows the road along the high ridge some distance ahead. Taverner, Childan, and Runciter keep to the road followed by the Sarge and Bishop a hundred metres back.
After several hours and trudging across the heavily forested landscape Tagomi observes movement ahead. He sees several robotic vehicles, essentially mobile weapon platforms, accompanied by three Working Joes androids. They are in a shallow valley that intersects the dirt road. It is a perfect place for an ambush for anything coming down the road but the ambushers are a little boxed in.
This must be the first wave of toasters!
Between them the squad decides to hit them fast and hit them hard. Tagomi and Taverner will take to the high ridge and take out the Working Joes first with their long-range weapons; Tagomi’s M42A3 Sniper Rifle and Taverner’s XM99A Plasma Rifle in the 40W range (just what you see, pal!).
Childan and Runciter would get in closer and use their sidearms, M39-10 SMGs with fitted A9 Sound Suppressors, instead of their louder primary weapons. They didn’t want to give away their positions to the toasters.
As the players had the drop on their enemy they went first and we didn’t draw any initiative cards.
They were rolling up to fifteen dice in their attacks; Skill + Attribute + Talent Bonus + Weapon bonus + Situational bonuses (height, range, and surprise). Their enemy had little armour, negated by the armour-piercing rounds, and were unaware of their whereabouts.
I represented the enemy robots with stacks of casino chips for each one. Seven for the Working Joes and eight for the toasters. Two of the toasters were armed with machine-guns firing tracer rounds, while the other three were launching flash-bangs and smoke grenades.
The first round had the marines dealing damage to all the enemy units due to the additional stunt results on the dice rolled.
For the second round I dealt out initiative cards and most of the players got to go before the toasters.
By the second volley and by the time the toasters could react, most were destroyed. The toasters couldn’t locate the marines to return fire so they tried to get out of the valley but were stuck.
By the start of the third round they were all destroyed, just smoking hunks of metal.
The Sarge was impressed and even Bishop remarked on the good grouping of the hits.
The Sarge declared that the first wave was destroyed and they should move out to high ground to camp. There’s a perfect place on top of the high hills that is protected by steep cliffs; the wheeled and tracked toasters can’t get up there and the Working Joes can’t climb for sh!t.
They camped out and shared stories, the players came up with the reasons for demotion. They were either striking a superior officer or refusing to follow questionable orders. However Childan’s story was about falling asleep during watch - something they were all going to do during the night, go on watch.
That was the end of Act I and the scenario really boils up then during Act II. The players had to make difficult decisions and were often at a loss of what to do. Of course I was handing out Stress Points out like sweets and the stakes were getting higher.
By the end of Act II it had turned into player versus player. There was a moment when all the players realised how their secret agendas were linked and it was glorious.
The final fight did draw out as each player was able to counter other players’ actions to some degree. I had the self destruct countdown playing on my iPhone as the players tried to scrabble to survive.
In the end it came to the final deal of the initiative cards to see who went first and the end result was a full nuclear meltdown and a containment breach.
A total party kill.
Nice.
The players loved it but it did seem we over-ran as all the other tables were cleared as the other games were finished, we were the last.
We packed all the handouts, dice, casino chips, and character sheets away and left the venue as it closed.
It was a good day. Mug and Game had 50 attendees and all the scheduled games were played. It was a good number as it felt busy but wasn’t too crowded. There was no issue with noise pollution, I could hear my players just fine at my table (I think they could hear me too with my Derby mumble).
The club members were very welcoming and took orders for coffee and food at the gaming table which was great. The coffee flowed.
The venue was nice, well lit and ventilated and the toilets were nice too!
The Mug & Game mug at Mug & Game Games Day - with coffee!
Hopefully there will be more Game Days organised soon.
My trip home on the direct train from Crewe to Derby was uneventful (except for the football fans out-of-tune singing) and I had a bit of my evening to relax once home too.
#mugandgame
#Vaesen
#alienrpg
#RPGConventions
#conreport
