Sunday Afternoon Game Report - Airship Pirates Session 2
I had an enjoyable time yesterday afternoon with the Sunday afternoon gamers. The gaming group re-started (or should that be continued?) their game of the Abney Park's Airship Pirates post-apocalyptic steampunk rpg. Here's the session report for yesterday afternoon's game. You can read about the previous game session in this journal entry. Since this post is quite long, I've put it behind a cut for those who don't want to read about the roleplaying game campaigns that I'm running.
CHARACTERS
Sammie Thrush (Steven Ross) - Skyfolk Showman
Katherine (Kat) Zephyr (Tammy Powers) - Skyfolk Gadgeteer
March 13th, 2150 AD
The player characters begin on the Plenty's Folly Skyloft. The player characters are going about their normal daily activities, when they are approached by a jackbooted Council representative. He inquires as to their identities, and when these are confirmed, hands them each a sealed scroll. Upon opening the scrolls, Samuel Thrush and Katherine Zephyr learn that they've been selected in the First Flight lottery as part of this year's crop. As new Riters, they have 10 minutes to grab what they want and feel they might need and then report to the Northside docks and Mooring 14B.
Katherine Zephyr returns home, grabs some of what she considers to be personally important to her, takes one of the basic tool kits from the family's stocks (and leaves money so it can be replaced), writes a note to her family and one to her boyfriend, James Stratus. She heads out, racing for the docks, but not before grabbing one of her mother's sticky buns. Samuel Thrush races home and grabs his gear, writes a note to his parents, and then heads for the docks.
After some confusion at the docks, both Katherine and Samuel reach Mooring 14B out of breath. Katherine, who knows a little about such things, can't believe the condition of the airship at the mooring point. It's rudder is somewhat torn and cracked, there's not a lot of reinforcement and support in the hull structure, two of the airship's grappling hooks are missing, she's got tattered sails and looks rickety, has several holes in the hull that appear to have been patched, and is missing four of her broadside cannons! And there's no plank to get aboard the ship, but rather a rope bridge. Her spoken comment on the ship's condition made in general attracts the attention of a tall, blond, moustached man with a silver cutlass - the Captain of the ship, Marcus Dacewind! He tells them the airship is called the Tatterdemalion, and learns a bit about both Katherine and Samuel, and that they've both done their ritual Return to the Earth (she planted a tomato, he planted a pine seedling), and then has "Peg Leg" Davis take the two of them aboard. They discover this is also a test, as Peg Leg has them take the gaff swing aboard, rather than the rope bridge; both succeed in getting aboard, but Katherine is a bit too fancy about it. Taken to the berthing area, the cargo hold, they are shown the cots. There are already two women and five men present, the women claiming the bow/starboard area for themselves. Katherine joins them, and meets Katey Mulgrew, a scared 16-year old, and the muscular mid-20s Hannah Watts.
Samuel goes over to join the men, and one of them, Hannibal Lessard, calls him affectionately "Pooftah!", having recognised him as the younger son of the Flying Thrushes. He introduces himself, another fellow named Egon, and a third man by the name of Sario. The nickname starts to stick, as he introduces Samuel to everyone else by said nickname.
A woman enters the cargo hold and inquires as to the various characters' states. This is the First Mate, Caroline di Azza. She tells them that they've got ten minutes before 2 bells ringing will announce the assembly on the main deck. As more of the Riters come aboard, the player characters don't see any other familiar faces. Peg Leg Davis descends, and says that the first 20 who came aboard are being given hammocks, as it's getting too crowded for comfort and all the cots. A friend of Katherine's, Rowena Bluejay, sees her and the two renew their friendship. They're glad to have found each other, as it's good to have someone they know aboard. The two talk, and both admit that they are worried about Katey Mulgrew.
Hannibal asks Pooftah what his function aboard the ship will be, and Samuel says that he'll be pretty good in the rigging. "Along with half the rest of the Riters," points out Hannibal. They're interrupted by the ringing of two bells.
At the sound of the bells, there is a rush for the deck on the part of the Riters. The group assembles on deck without too much difficulty, though a couple of Riters are trampled on somewhat. First Mate di Azza gives the Riters "the talk". She tells them the name of the ship is the Tatterdemalion. She introduces the senior crew aboard the ship; sleeping on deck is fine, but at times the ship's height will require sleeping with a tether; there are to be no fires on the deck, other than what's required for the cannons; smoking on the ship is permitted; if one should light the ship on fire, the punishment is 40 lashes (and no medical treatment, Rowena informs Katherine, adding that Caroline di Azza is said to be a tough disciplinarian, but fair); and they'll be tested for both a physical/mental assessment and a skills assessment. Di Azza informs the Riters that the Tatterdemalion will depart in four hours, as the ship will be picking up their master trader and some 40 tons of cargo.
In the meantime, the Riters are to start by taking two laps of the ship's deck. Katherine gives Katey encouragement to finish the last 100 yards when Rowena points her out. When they've finished, Katey Mulgrew is exhausted, sweaty, and looks like she'll faint. Katherine notices that from high above, Captain Dacewind and First Mate di Azza are watching them all. After the exhausting laps, di Azza targets the top seven (including Katherine and Samuel) for weapons training.
As the Captain and di Azza turn away, the Riters begin to disperse. Di Azza turns back, and tells them that they were not dismissed. When various Riters react with "Yes, ma'am" and so forth, three merely say "Aye". The First Mate says that she will have respect and discipline aboard this ship, and the three are to be punished. Master Johnson, a big, burly Misbegotten (Neovictorian) comes on deck, and Katherine is able to perceive that he has a tail. He brings to bear a vicious whip and punishes the three offenders. Once their punishment is administered, the three are taken below decks. Di Azza reiterates that she *will* have discpline and respect on the Tatterdemalion... and then informs the Riters that Master Johnson is the ship's Master-At-Arms and their weapons instructor.
During the weapon skill assessement, Samuel is matched against Katherine. Their fight lasts 12 seconds, and she slashes him with the cutlass pretty badly [for 7 pips damage]. The other five Riters battle each other, with Petric Windstorm being matched against Master Johnson, who takes him in one round with a knife, slashing his wrist. When they are told the session is over and dismissed, Katherine, Samuel, and most of the others wipe off their cutlasses before replacing them in the rack. Two of the combatants don't, and Master Johnson chastises them.
As can be seen from the above write-up, the first actual play session of the new Sunday campaign of Abney Park's Airship Pirates went pretty well. This session introduced the player characters to each other and some of the rest of the crew of the Tatterdemalion, and put the characters through their paces a bit with a few rolls here and there to get them used to the mechanics of the system once more. It was a pretty good session, had some serious moments as well as humourous ones, and was overall pretty entertaining from my point of view.
It appeared that both
spross and Tammy had a good afternoon of gaming, and I thought things went relatively smoothly. One of the things that I hope with this game is that several of the NPCs in the game will become truly memorable for the players, remembered for years to come, but I really hope that both Tammy and SteveR have a good time with gaming in the world created by the songs of Abney Park.
As for me, I'm looking forward to running next week's game session. Should be fun! :)
CHARACTERS
Sammie Thrush (Steven Ross) - Skyfolk Showman
Katherine (Kat) Zephyr (Tammy Powers) - Skyfolk Gadgeteer
March 13th, 2150 AD
The player characters begin on the Plenty's Folly Skyloft. The player characters are going about their normal daily activities, when they are approached by a jackbooted Council representative. He inquires as to their identities, and when these are confirmed, hands them each a sealed scroll. Upon opening the scrolls, Samuel Thrush and Katherine Zephyr learn that they've been selected in the First Flight lottery as part of this year's crop. As new Riters, they have 10 minutes to grab what they want and feel they might need and then report to the Northside docks and Mooring 14B.
Katherine Zephyr returns home, grabs some of what she considers to be personally important to her, takes one of the basic tool kits from the family's stocks (and leaves money so it can be replaced), writes a note to her family and one to her boyfriend, James Stratus. She heads out, racing for the docks, but not before grabbing one of her mother's sticky buns. Samuel Thrush races home and grabs his gear, writes a note to his parents, and then heads for the docks.
After some confusion at the docks, both Katherine and Samuel reach Mooring 14B out of breath. Katherine, who knows a little about such things, can't believe the condition of the airship at the mooring point. It's rudder is somewhat torn and cracked, there's not a lot of reinforcement and support in the hull structure, two of the airship's grappling hooks are missing, she's got tattered sails and looks rickety, has several holes in the hull that appear to have been patched, and is missing four of her broadside cannons! And there's no plank to get aboard the ship, but rather a rope bridge. Her spoken comment on the ship's condition made in general attracts the attention of a tall, blond, moustached man with a silver cutlass - the Captain of the ship, Marcus Dacewind! He tells them the airship is called the Tatterdemalion, and learns a bit about both Katherine and Samuel, and that they've both done their ritual Return to the Earth (she planted a tomato, he planted a pine seedling), and then has "Peg Leg" Davis take the two of them aboard. They discover this is also a test, as Peg Leg has them take the gaff swing aboard, rather than the rope bridge; both succeed in getting aboard, but Katherine is a bit too fancy about it. Taken to the berthing area, the cargo hold, they are shown the cots. There are already two women and five men present, the women claiming the bow/starboard area for themselves. Katherine joins them, and meets Katey Mulgrew, a scared 16-year old, and the muscular mid-20s Hannah Watts.
Samuel goes over to join the men, and one of them, Hannibal Lessard, calls him affectionately "Pooftah!", having recognised him as the younger son of the Flying Thrushes. He introduces himself, another fellow named Egon, and a third man by the name of Sario. The nickname starts to stick, as he introduces Samuel to everyone else by said nickname.
A woman enters the cargo hold and inquires as to the various characters' states. This is the First Mate, Caroline di Azza. She tells them that they've got ten minutes before 2 bells ringing will announce the assembly on the main deck. As more of the Riters come aboard, the player characters don't see any other familiar faces. Peg Leg Davis descends, and says that the first 20 who came aboard are being given hammocks, as it's getting too crowded for comfort and all the cots. A friend of Katherine's, Rowena Bluejay, sees her and the two renew their friendship. They're glad to have found each other, as it's good to have someone they know aboard. The two talk, and both admit that they are worried about Katey Mulgrew.
Hannibal asks Pooftah what his function aboard the ship will be, and Samuel says that he'll be pretty good in the rigging. "Along with half the rest of the Riters," points out Hannibal. They're interrupted by the ringing of two bells.
At the sound of the bells, there is a rush for the deck on the part of the Riters. The group assembles on deck without too much difficulty, though a couple of Riters are trampled on somewhat. First Mate di Azza gives the Riters "the talk". She tells them the name of the ship is the Tatterdemalion. She introduces the senior crew aboard the ship; sleeping on deck is fine, but at times the ship's height will require sleeping with a tether; there are to be no fires on the deck, other than what's required for the cannons; smoking on the ship is permitted; if one should light the ship on fire, the punishment is 40 lashes (and no medical treatment, Rowena informs Katherine, adding that Caroline di Azza is said to be a tough disciplinarian, but fair); and they'll be tested for both a physical/mental assessment and a skills assessment. Di Azza informs the Riters that the Tatterdemalion will depart in four hours, as the ship will be picking up their master trader and some 40 tons of cargo.
In the meantime, the Riters are to start by taking two laps of the ship's deck. Katherine gives Katey encouragement to finish the last 100 yards when Rowena points her out. When they've finished, Katey Mulgrew is exhausted, sweaty, and looks like she'll faint. Katherine notices that from high above, Captain Dacewind and First Mate di Azza are watching them all. After the exhausting laps, di Azza targets the top seven (including Katherine and Samuel) for weapons training.
As the Captain and di Azza turn away, the Riters begin to disperse. Di Azza turns back, and tells them that they were not dismissed. When various Riters react with "Yes, ma'am" and so forth, three merely say "Aye". The First Mate says that she will have respect and discipline aboard this ship, and the three are to be punished. Master Johnson, a big, burly Misbegotten (Neovictorian) comes on deck, and Katherine is able to perceive that he has a tail. He brings to bear a vicious whip and punishes the three offenders. Once their punishment is administered, the three are taken below decks. Di Azza reiterates that she *will* have discpline and respect on the Tatterdemalion... and then informs the Riters that Master Johnson is the ship's Master-At-Arms and their weapons instructor.
During the weapon skill assessement, Samuel is matched against Katherine. Their fight lasts 12 seconds, and she slashes him with the cutlass pretty badly [for 7 pips damage]. The other five Riters battle each other, with Petric Windstorm being matched against Master Johnson, who takes him in one round with a knife, slashing his wrist. When they are told the session is over and dismissed, Katherine, Samuel, and most of the others wipe off their cutlasses before replacing them in the rack. Two of the combatants don't, and Master Johnson chastises them.
As can be seen from the above write-up, the first actual play session of the new Sunday campaign of Abney Park's Airship Pirates went pretty well. This session introduced the player characters to each other and some of the rest of the crew of the Tatterdemalion, and put the characters through their paces a bit with a few rolls here and there to get them used to the mechanics of the system once more. It was a pretty good session, had some serious moments as well as humourous ones, and was overall pretty entertaining from my point of view.
It appeared that both
spross and Tammy had a good afternoon of gaming, and I thought things went relatively smoothly. One of the things that I hope with this game is that several of the NPCs in the game will become truly memorable for the players, remembered for years to come, but I really hope that both Tammy and SteveR have a good time with gaming in the world created by the songs of Abney Park.As for me, I'm looking forward to running next week's game session. Should be fun! :)