accomplishedCHARACTERS
Amanda Tarrascon (Kathy) – Zoologist
Jessica Ransome (Angela) – Ex-Diplomat
Harrison Williams (DavidM) – Tourist Guide
Olivia Hamilton (Ellie) – Precocious Young Girl
Captain James Harris (Mark) - SAS Soldier
Monday, November 12th, 2007
In the torch-lit darkness of the parking garage of Shrewe's Court Mall, Captain James Harris arrives where he left his men, to find two more dead, and two others badly wounded. James almost loses his temper, but reins himself in as he remember what Harrison told him earlier. He learns from [Teresa] Olsen and [John] Hawkins that they're able and willing, and after some minor injury treatment for wounds they've suffered, James tells them he has a plan. They need to find several decent-sized SUVs to make it work...
Down on Sub-Level B, Amanda Tarrascon, Jessica Ransome, Harrison Williams, and Olivia Hamilton debate their new plan. Amanda says that while they're dinosaurs, they're still animals with animal instincts. While they may not be herd-able, she thinks that with the right incentive or motivation, the creatures could be lured back into the Anomaly. Olivia asks about the creature on the other level, and Amanda tells her to take one problem at a time. The various characters head out, cautiously, searching for what they're looking for.
James and his SAS soldiers manage to find three moderate-sized, relatively manoeuverable SUVs, and drive them after the creature. While not intelligent, the creature is wily, and leads Harris and the soldiers a merry chase. [James has to spend 3 Story Points on his four Transport rolls.] Eventually, they manage to trap the dinosaur up against a wall blocked on three sides by the SUVs (all three of which have been somewhat damaged by the creature). James is pleased with himself, but is concerned that the creature seems somewhat stunned. It roars and bellows from time to time, but seems unable to escape from where the team Captain and his men have trapped it.
While Amanda and Harrison go in search of several vehicles, it is Olivia who turns up what the group is looking for - several packages with steaks and chicken, taken from several vehicles whose boots she's managed to unlock [she spends 2 Story Points to do so]. Amanda and Harrison return to the meeting point, where Jessica tells them the creatures aren't making an effort to leave the confines of the garage. Jessica says that she'll act as the decoy for the group, though Amanda worries about her as she knows she's been injured and isn't 100%.
Jessica takes some of the raw steak and chicken, and goes in search of her prey. [Since Jessica has the Fresh Meat Bad Trait, things should work out just fine...] She easily finds the first of the two creatures (or does it find her?), and leads the creature on a merry chase; as she reaches the Anomaly, she throws the meat through the portal at the last moment, dodging out of the way [spending a Story Point to do so], and the creature races past her through the Anomaly, in pursuit of the meat.
Meanwhile, Harrison, Amanda, and Olivia, have driven two of the SUVs, and are slowly but surely herding the second creature towards the Anomaly. It sees Jessica, and charges towards her [due to the Bad Trait], but she manages to lunge to the side, just as Harrison's SUV slams into the creature, knocking it through the Anomaly [he spent 3 Story Points to do so]! Both Harrison and Amanda drive their SUVs, and place them in a position to block the Anomaly off on either side [she spends a Story Point to do so]. The player characters are pretty pleased with themselves.
They congratulate themselves, and look on in horror as the Anomaly pulsates and then flickers and vanishes. After another few minutes, the lights in the parking garage flicker back to life, and the lift starts to move again. Amanda and Harrison look at each other in horror, as they realise what may have to happen with the creature on the other level.
Making their way to the other parking garage level, they see that James and his soldiers have managed to trap the creature quite effectively. Olivia blurts out that the Anomaly has vanished, and James demands of Harrison what he expects them to do with the creature now? Harrison tells him that's easy: he does't quite know how yet, but they're going to have to take the creature alive with them, and back to the Home Office. James is flabbergasted by this, but starts making a call back to the H.O., while Amanda makes some calls as well; Harrison gives her some pieces of advice during the process.
Some two days later, back at the Home Office, the characters, minus Olivia, are sitting and being debriefed by Archibald Lewis. Lewis says that between them, Amanda and Harrison came up with an excellent plan. The creature, which Amanda tells them is called a Dracorex according to the palaeontology database (and confirmed by Professor Nick Cutter) is secure at a warehouse nearby, semi-detached from the operations' base. It's as comfortable as can be, but Archibald says that he doesn't know what they're going to do with it. Amanda gives him several suggestions, and advises him not to harm the creature, if at all possible. The clean-up at Shrewe's Court Mall went as well as could be expected. but the cover story of several London zoo animals that escaped and rampaged through the area was widely accepted by the public. All that's left now is the physical clean-up of the parking garage, and what to do about a certain young lady...
At the Hamilton home, Eileen Hamilton greets Amanda and Harrison when they arrive at the house. Summoning Olivia, the two are met with huge hugs by the youngster. They tell Olivia and her mother that the Home Office has decided to put young Olivia on a small retainer to act as a "consultant" on matters pertaining to the creatures, but that neither of them can discuss this with anyone, and agree to sign the Official Secrets Act. Beaming with pride, Olivia is told that she'll be working closely with Amanda, and at times, Harrison. "Isn't it great, mum? We get to deal with dinosaurs! Real life dinosaurs!" Olivia exclaims. "Just wonderful," her mother says, somewhat aggrieved.
Last night's game session of the Primeval RPG was a lot of fun, had some good action, some terrific roleplaying, and was an excellent wrap-up to the current scenario. I thought the final session of the adventure went really well, and that the plot came to a conclusion largely based on the actions of the player characters and how they decided to handle the situation, working to their strengths. All of the players told me that they felt that this scenario went really well, and that the addition of Mark's character, Captain James Harris, worked out pretty well. Mark said that he enjoyed himself more than he thought he would in the game, and that the Primeval RPG game mechanics were really easy to learn and work with. The less said about Threat the better, though he admitted that it really is an effective psychological weapon.
Overall, a good night's worth of gaming, and a lot of fun. Nice way to wrap up the Primeval RPG adventure, and I'm looking forward to next week's gaming.