[Criminal Element] Buenos Aires: the Mendoza Job

[MPOSullivan]

I'd known about it for about a week.  My regular Tuesday night crew had become pretty irregular for a little while, so our regularly scheduled game of Nobilis had sort of fallen apart.  That was alright though because, instead of running Nobilis, I was going to get to run a couple of sessions Criminal Element.  I printed up the latest revision of the game and a couple of character sheets the night before the game, got together a couple packs of cards and a pile of poker chips and i was ready to go.

After the standard fifteen minutes of joking around and catching up, Dan said "Okay.  So, Criminal Element."  And then we opened it up.

I started off by telling the people in the room that hadn't played before precisely what the game was: an RPG that emulated heist and caper movies.  Or, if you prefer, it was about stealing things and flipping out. 

The first step was running through the Setup.  This is something that I've used for just about every session of CE that I've run, I'd just never actually codified it until I did the latest revision.  I'd realised, with the insitence of certain other people on this forum, that laying out how to make up a heist would be something that not everyone would know instinctivly.  These are the kinds of things that I overlook when I've been working on a project for too long. 

So, starting out with the first step of the Setup, we talked about style.  I said right up front that it was okay to reference movies and that I would actually encourage it.  I read a little list of movies that were inspirations for me when writing the game and we were off.  It was established pretty quickly that the game would be serious in tone, with the occasional bit of black humor allowed.  Neil was insitent that, if they were going to play crooks, he wanted it to be serious.  No jokes, no "maybe we're good guys".  None of that.  Everyone got behind that as well.  (My game notes even say, in really big letters "REAL CROOKS".)

For a moment people were talking about going for a weird setting, like an outer space colony, but i quickly interjected with "Well, this is your first session of CE.  Let's keep it grounded for now, then we'll get to the weird stuff later".  When the group nodded in agreement I let out a little sigh of relief. 

Dan piped up right then and said "The heist happens in Buenos Aires."  He didn't really know why it did, it just seemed proper to him.  I liked that immediately.  Most of my other games always wound up being in London, so being able to go south of the Equator really got me excited. 

The group then immediately started talking about the kind of caper it was going to be.  Someone suggested information which didn't go over to well.  The basics (money, gems, drugs) didn't fly too well either.  Then Dan brought up Art.  The group took a liking to it right there.  The group was talking about sculpture and paintings when I brought up the next step of the Setup.

"Okay, so we've got an idea of what the story's going to be like, but who are you guys playing in it?"  Dan said he had an image in his head, an idea for a computer hacker, security breaker kind of guy.  Early twenties, from some kind of scandanavian country.  He's the kid that wrote the DVD encryption hack from a little bit back.  And he also had a little bit of affection for properly placed explosives.

Neil says "I want to be the Idea Man... or Woman.  I want to be the person in control, that brought it all together."  Fine, that sounds cool to me.  He even used the term Idea Man on his own.  I'm so proud. 

Super Tarzan (yes, that's his nickname.  don't ask) says "I want to be a nimble guy, athletic."  Camden, my roommate and thus completely steeped in crime speak, says to ST "So, you want to be a second story man?"  After a bit of a definition was supplied he was completely onboard. 

As for Camden, he gets in his head an image of an ancient grifter, a guy who's been doing it since the fifties.  He loves art and that's what brought him into the racket.  That's also what firmed up that the item that was going to be stolen was some kind of art object.

Neil pipes up with "My character is an ex-CIA operative that had been blacklisted".  That's when the game changed completely.  Ideas were flying fast and furious. It was decided right there that Neil's character had assembled the team using what information she had dug up from the CIA before being unceromoniously booted out. 

I then asked the group some questions about their characters.  First up, why is your character involved in this?  Dan said that his character was simply bored.  he was hyper-intelligent and hyper at the same time and needed some kind of danger to keep him going.  ST said that his character came from a poor family living in Thailand, one that was made up mostly of younger sisters.  He felt a famial duty to make the money to keep his sisters from having to do some pretty unsavory shit.  Camden decided that his character felt like he was getting to old and that the younger generation was pushing him out of the game.  He was desperate to maintain his usefulness.  As for Neil, his character was out for revenge.  He was blacklisted for a reason and he was looking for a little payback against those people that had taken him out of the picture. 

Next up was talking about character weakness.  Dan decided that his character became board to easily and, to keep himself from getting bored he would create needlessly complex problems to solve.  Neil knew that his character was going to be someone that had trust issues; neither did he (or now a she, actually) trust anyone, but she had a hard time earning peoples' trust as well.  Camden said that his character was frail, but that wasn't exactly the kind of weakness I was asking after, that I was looking more for a character flaw.  Camden took another minute to mull it over while ST said that his character was very quick to anger.  He just had a hard time keeping it all bottled up. 

Camden looked like he needed a little while longer to think it over, so I moved on to the nect step in the Setup: The Caper.  I asked them exacty what they were stealing and where it was.  They had already decided that it was a piece of art and everyone agreed that it would be more interresting to have it in a private collection.  So who would own something like this?  I think it was Dan that said "Well, what about a drug dealer?"  I smiled. 

Camden said "Hey, what if it's a samurai sword that this guy owns that we're stealing?"  It was too cool.  A drug lord in South America with an ancient katana parcelled away in his private estate, and these guys were gunning for it.  Grand.

Then I hit them with the Heat.  I asked them to make up some of the oposition they would face in the ensuing caper.  I told them about those scenes in heist movies when all of the characters gather around the blueprints and say "This is when you come in and take out the alarm system, then you and I will swing in on suspension cables--". 

Dan said that ST's character should have to face up against a squad of mooks, all armed with machine guns.  That sounded cool to everyone involved.  I then suggested a little tweak to Camden's character to bring him more into the fold.  i asked him if hew was cool with his character being an aging Face, that way he could try and con his way onto the drug lord's good side and become an inside man for the crew.  He liked it and started reworking his thoughts right there.  Then Neil said "Ooh, what if Camden's character has a rival art lover/ crook that's trying to get in on this?"  Dan mentioned an aged man in a white suit and fedora and I spontaneously got images of Anthony Hopkins in my head.  It was in. 

Everyone said that Dan's character was going to have to blow up a wall somewhere inside of the compound without alerting the guards, as well as other security-related fun.  Then Neil and I started vibing.  I said "What if this drug dealer guy is somehow responsible for you getting kicked out of the CIA."  He smiled and it went back and forth.  Suddenly we had Luis Mendoza, a South American drug lord who was going to brought under American funding by Neil's character, a former CIA handler.  Then he double-crossed her and she was left out in the cold.  It's a couple of years later and she's just been able to set up the final steps of her revenge plot on him. 

Then it was time for character creation. I walked everyone through each step of character creation and rather than present that all here as it's just refining what went on above, i'll just write down the character sheets below.  I will talk about specific things within the characters.  Think of it as Director's Commentary.

Olaf (played by Dan)
Knack: Overly-complicated Breaking and Entry
Motive: Hackerdom Apotheosis (Dan wanted his character to crave recognition, but only for those things that were somehow wrong, or against something.  His character wants to be recognized, celebrated for his rebelion. )
Vice: Pandora Complex (Olaf just can't leave things alone.  He needs to fuss with stuff that he shouldn't and loves puching red, glowing buttons)
Traits: Sneaking/stealth (N), Spatial Relations (N), Planning (N), Science (E), Explosives/Demoltions (E), Security Hacking (M)
(Spatial Relations means that Olaf has an incredible sense of space and is hyper-aware of his surroundings.  He understands buildings and structures preternaturally.  He would have made for an amazing architect.)

Gregory Stepson (played by Camden)
Knack: the Art of the Con
Motive: Stay in the Game
Vice: I AM Better (Gregory is all about inferiority complexes.  He never feels good enough, like he's done enough.  It keeps him sharp, but it makes him dumb sometimes)
Knacks: Contacts (M), Bald-faced Lie (E), Love of Art (E), Sleight of Hand (N), Security (N), Silent Hobble (N)

Apichatang "Joe" Sucharittral (played by Super Tarzan)
Knack: Second Story Man
Motive: Family Needs $
Vice: Explosive Temper
Knacks: Mindfulness(N), Sneak (N), Sleight of Hand (N), Lock Pick (E), Pick Pocket (E), Acrobatics (M)
(mindfulness is his version of awareness.  he just has an open mind and knows what's going on around him.  a little bit of zen for the hell of it.)

Vanessa Nephew (played by Neil)
Knack: Wo-man with the Plan
Motive: Desire for Power
Vice: Suspicious
Traits: International Law (N), Firearms (N), Martial Arts (N), Languages (E), Backstory/False ID Knowledge (E), Information Gathering (M)
(backstory is an interresting Trait.  It gives Neil the ability to create false ID documents and even false identities all together)

After that we did everyone's Tools of the Trade.  Most everyone requested some fairly basic equipment.  Everyone except for Neil.  He wanted a couple of backdoor passcodes into US intelligence databases.  Nothing too pwerful, but just enough that he could pull some juicy info from them.  I mulled it over for a minute and then made him do an Acquisition Draw on it.  It was the first draw of the game so I walked everyone through it slowly.  Neil wound up with a five card flop, two cards up.  He bet one Drama Point on it against my three card flop with a nine showing.  We flipped and he showed a 21 to my 20.  He wound up with 13 DP even before the game began as well as one remaining CIA passcode. 

That's the first half of the first session down.  More tomorrow night.  All in all though, I have to say that I'm incredibly happy with the latest developments in the revision.  Giving the players that much defined impact on the creation of the game, even opening it up to have them create their own bad guys was a blast.  They had a lot of fun creating the caper and I had a blast working with them on it.  It feels like it's all actually coming together.  I'm getting a sense of momentum. 

Next up, stories in a bar and Swedes armed with .22s. 

Also, in case you're curious, follow the link to the game's site in my sig. 

[Ron Edwards]

Hey! What about the monologues?

Great Vices.

Best, Ron

[MPOSullivan]

It's raining outside and I've got a glass of iced tea at my side, so it's time for the second part of the first session.

The last step of character creation in Criminal Element is a narrative element (note the not-big-N) called "Telling Your Story".  Players go 'round the table, telling a story about their character's past while in character.  I often frame it as the PCs getting together over a couple of beers, talking about the bad old days.  TYS is something that I've used previously in other games, specifically with the gaming group that I grew up with, to great effect. 

Honestly, "Telling Your Story" is rough on players.  It's a bit like an improv scene; you're given a character with little development and asked to tell a story from his perspective that shines.  Most players that I've had the fortune to play with step right on up though and nail it out of the park.

So, I gave everyone the customary five minutes to string together some thoughts.  Then I went for the guy who had that look on is face, that unmistakable evil curve to the lips that says "I've got an idea".  That guy was Neil.

I'd prefer if each of the players would post their TYSs on their own, but the short of it was as follows:

Neil told the short, short version of why he was there.  He was recruited for the CIA out of college and rose through the ranks quickly.  A couple of people conspired though, as they always do, and Vanessa wound up out in the cold.  She'd been gone a couple of years, biding her time.  Now she was back.  The last line of Neil's TYS was "I got fucked, but now, I do the fucking." 

Dan was next up and told us about how his character was responsible for breaking up his parents' marriage.  The lengths a hacker will go through to do the cruel and unusual.  I think Dan had the hardest time with TYS as he likes to marinate a character for a little while before getting into the role.  He spent a little worry on minor things, like wondering what a Scandinavian accent would sound like and what not.  He seemed to get strong footing toward the end of his TYS.

Camden wound up telling two stories actually, but he was on a role, so I didn't mind it too much.  The first part was a description of his first meeting with his arch-foe, Maxwell Pike.  They were both in Europe during the war, Camden's character working the redball detail, going into dangerous places and getting shot at for the good of the Red, White and Blue.  After clearing a Nazi stronghold after the landing at Normandy, the US troops had discovered a large cache of art and antiquities.  Gregory had walked into that room and was studying a Fabrege Egg when Pike walked in.  Pike struck Gregory with the stock of his rifle and told him that these fine pieces of art were not meant for the likes of him.  Pike then left, taking enough valuables with him to start up his post-war art collector career. 

Camden followed that up with a turn-around on Pike and how he got the egg back.  In hindsight I think I would have preferred that he just tell the first story as it set up an old and very strong rivalry.  Cam was having fun though, and it is his character. 

ST used his TYS to tell us mostly stuff about the character that we had already learned from character creation.  The fun thing was though is that he used the TYS to find a strong voice for Joe.  He cursed a lot, spoke down to people.  He was dour, dismissive, and a bit prejudiced against white Americans.  It was more than a little fun. 

With the tall tales out of the way we only had about forty minutes left to play.  I mentioned capping the session there but it seemed no one would hear of it.  Neil suggested a quick little scene to introduce the rules and I acquiesced.  Not that I need much convincing. 

I picked up right where the TYS left off.  The PCs were all sitting around a small bar in Argentina.  The place caters to a certain kind of clientele: those that need a non-descriptor, safe place to meet up and talk about things.  It was practically a speakeasy, with dark polished wood and brass for every surface.  Paintings and photos covered the walls, likely concealing more than a couple of bulletholes.  Beer didn't come in bottles and the scotch was always a teenager. 

I opened with this: "Isn't it funny how the sound of a gunshot can suddenly make the volume of the rest of the world go down.  Even the tiniest little popcorn "pop" from a .22 can set a room to silence.  Conversations stop.  The sound peels back and reveals a terrible tranquility underneath.  Just like right now, with the little firecracker "bang" of the .22 in the Swede's hand as he fires it at Vanessa, missing, the bullet embedding itself in the thick wood of Joe's chair."

So there was a Swede, someone from Vanessa's past that she'd fucked over in her CIA days.  He had a little popgun, but his two bodyguards were much better armed. 

I opened up the first round right there, the PCs flatfooted and scrabbling, the Swede getting ready to take another shot.  I went around the table getting Intents from everyone.  Neil wanted to kick up the table for cover, Dan and Camden both wanted to rush behind the bar without drawing too much attention and ST wanted to get some sneak for some good skulking, stalking shadows.  My guys wanted to kill the woman.  And one was aiming at Joe "because he's a Chinaman."

"But I'm from fucking Thailand," says ST.

"I know that.  You think this thug knows that though?"

Everybody lays out their cards, putting together their best Blackjack hands.  The highest face up card goes first and, lo and behold, two of my NPCs flop Aces showing.  I look at the hands and declare their both going to be 11s and act first.  My first shot goes at Vanessa.  Her defense draw actually ties my hand, so the bullet embeds itself in the wood of the table just in front of Vanessa, throwing a couple of splinters up into her cheeks. 

The second shot goes against ST and beats him by five, meaning for a fairly sick amount of damage.  ST decides to spend five DPs and use the minor Shift "Kevlar" to ignore the damage.  At first he says the bullet goes flying off past him, then I tell him that Kevlar doesn't completely unwrite the action that just happened, it just adds previously unrevealed detail.  The bullet still hits you, but for some reason it doesn't do any damage.  I remind him of the butterfly knife tucked into his jacket, which he immediately declares takes the hit, sending the bullet off on a ricochet.

After that Vanessa gets the table kicked up into the air, Olaf and Gregory get behind the bar and Joe uses some expert jinking to confuse the thugs as to his position. 

Round two starts up and Vanessa's going to shoot a thug in the knee, Olaf's assembling a Molotov cocktail, Gregory wants to make a distraction and Joe is closing in on his target, the Swede, dinged-up butterfly knife in hand.  And my guys want to shoot everybody. 

ST flops an Ace and goes first.  Joe gets up right behind the Swede puts his blade against the guy's neck.  Joe whispers to the Swede that he should drop his .22 very carefully.  The Swede's hand shakes as he drops the pistol to the floor.  Right then is when things take a turn.

Neil flopped a Queen and acts next.  Vanessa pops up from behind the kicked-over table and does a mean 7 points of damage to a goon with only six Wounds.  He's out of the picture with one shot.  Then Dan acts next on his 10.  He lobs a Molotov over the bartop and hits the other goon right in the head with a Spread of six.  The guy immolates and starts screaming and running around the room. 

That's when Camden acts, on a 9.  He pops up from behind the bar and yells out "Look over here you crazy cracker motherfuckers!" to a room full of cowering Swede, gunshot-dead goon and goon on fire.  Then he curses and pours himself a brandy. 

After a good round of gut laughs that was the end of the first session.  Next one up is in two weeks.  I'm considering letting the players decide what the first scene should be, then I take over from there. 

I did run into a snag while running the combat.  All three of my NPCs had unresolved actions when actions were resolved against them that, in the case of two of them anyway, did enough damage to kill.  As the game is written right now the consequences of an action, including damage, happen after all characters have acted.  So the game feels like it would still let those characters act as damage isn't applied until the end of the Round.  I'm not sure how I feel about that.  Currently It gives characters the chance to pull off that one final action before dying, but doesn't Dramatic Shifting do the same thing?  It would seem to give initiative that much more power though if consequences were applied when the action was resolved, including any damage (or killing) that may result from the action.  This session I let the NPCs die when the action was resolved, not waiting until the end of the turn.  Would it be better to do it like this all of the time?  Or should I always hold consequences off until everyone has acted.  I'm kind of torn and could use some suggestions.

I also found that the PCs were quick to hunt down cover, even spending actions to scrabble behind it.  Right now the system doesn't reward for that kind of thinking but, the more that I think of it, the more it makes sense to me that it should.  I often see guys in heist movies running behind walls, duking under bars and tables, and standing against pillars in that ever-important quest for cover.  Hell, the entire last ten minutes of "the Way of the Gun" revolves around getting to cover. 

I'm thinking about adding an optional rule that gives characters one extra card on their defense draws if they have spent an action to get themselves behind cover.  Seems to emulate well and doesn't bog the game down with needless detail.  What do you guys think?

Outside of that, great session.  Lots of fun and people caught onto the system very quickly.  People even realized how important betting was right off the bat.  The players bet on almost every action they took.

[CMWeck]

It's easy to get caught up in the characters, whcih is why i guess my story was a bt long.. But that's not a bad thing...