(Shock) Hollow Bodies

[joepub]

Warning: This game session touched on child prostitution, rape and murder.

Me and my friend Spooner got to play a session of Shock.
I started by telling him about Issues and Shocks - reading out samples from the back of the book, describing them...

At first, what constituted a Shock and an Issue was confused, but as soon as it became clear he really got into filling the grid.
We did fill almost the entire grid - even though we knew most wouldn't get touched upon.

Our Issues: Evolution, Labour Disputes, Mechanization, Alcoholism, Perception of Reality.
Our Shocks: Space Travel, Human Mutation, Bodysnatchers, Alien Life.

It wasn't until after the Grid that we began talking about what the world is like. Maybe that's reverse order, but it worked for us - develop the backbone then flesh it out.

OUR PRAXIS: Voluntary/Forced. Hurt/Help.

We decided that we were in an age of galactic expansion. Space travel was entirely possible - but involved warp drives.

Alien contact had been made - when first contact was made, the human genetic pool began mutating as a result of contact. Somehow their presence affected human DNA much like radiation or other mutation-causing stuff might.

Spooner's character, Sid, was a result of said mutation. His Issue was Evolution and his Shock was Human Mutation.

Sid
Issue: Evolution
Shock: Human Mutation

Sid has the ability to replicate himself. As in, cause a new instance of himself to pop up - photocopy himself with all his memories and skills.

Features:
Self-manipulative
Leader
Abuse of Power

Links: Love

Story Goal: Absorb all current copies.

My character intersected Alcoholism and Bodysnatchers.

Atticus
Issue: Alcoholism
Shock: Bodysnatchers (people able to pilot others' bodies)

He gave control of his body over to Manipulators, in order to earn enough money to buy illegal alcohol. (prohibition exists on the planet of Empire.) He basically prostitutes out control of his own body in order to afford his addictions.

Features:
Self-destructive
Passage Feeder (mechanical device enabling mind/body control passage.)
Looking for the way out

Links: Roman Catholic Church.

Story Goal: Kill a man.

SID'S FIRST SCENE

Sid awakes in a cell, in the Establishment for Human Evolutionary Control.
He is quickly greeted by Agent Scepter (his antagonist.)

We establish that Agent Scepter has some emotional connection with Sid, but don't get into details yet.

Agent Scepter demands to know where the copies are, and how they can be captured. She states that he will be released and set free as soon as they capture and kill all his copies. (He currently can't copy because he is in a stasis chamber. As long as he is in a stasis chamber, or has a stasis guard on, he can't replicate.)

We decide that this is a conflict, already.

Agent Scepter's Intent is to find out the meeting location of Sid's copies.
Sid's Intent is to get Agent Scepter to agree to let him escort her to that location (with intent to escape her, of course).
They both win.

Sid tells her the exact location of his meeting place: Red Brick Block, New Vatican City, Empire, Harbinger System.
That location isn't on their mapping system, so Agent Scepter informs Sid that he will be escorting her to the location.

They, along with some guards, head to a dropship.
Sid gets in, and then Spooner informs me, "Sid decides to try and escape now. And take control of the ship."
I tell him, "It's a big ship, I don't think a single person can pilot it."
He smiles, and says, "Agent Scepter forgot to put a Stasis Guard on me."

Sid grins, and then replicates several copies. This means that there are now about eight or nine full-grown Sid copies, to only one Agent Scepter and two guards. They throw the guards and Agent Scepter out of the ship, and take it over.

Spooner narrates: Before closing the door, Sid turns to his ex-lover, Eve Scepter, and says, "I still love you." With that, he seals the ship door and takes off.

ATTICUS' FIRST SCENE

Atticus wakes up in a transport tube, hung over and tired. He is on his way to New Vatican City, to meet with Bishop Curn - who has hired his body for Manipulation (Body control.)
He doesn't remember last night, but knows that he feels horrible.
His eyes are blurry, and he can hardly see.

When the tube arrives, two robed guards wait to take him into the Bishop. Right before going into the Bishop's home, Atticus frantically tries to run away. They grab him. This is a conflict:
Atticus' stakes are that he avoids being Manipulated that day.
Bishop Curn's stakes are that I don't get away before he talks to me.
I lose and he wins - but I don't re-roll a Link because I'm satisfied with the results.

Bishop Curn starts out, "It seems that there has been a murder in New Mecca City. A few more will also be revealed in the next few days. That isn't to say that murder is evil, nor sodomy, nor any of the other sins that a body commits - that your body has committed."
"They aren't evil, but they are uncontrolled. Without control, man is no longer man. You must regain your control - you must repent for your wantonness."
"You will pay for your lack of control, if you do not repent. You will be crucified and you will suffer. Save yourself, by entrusting to us, and complying."

Atticus is scared and confused. He can do no more than mouth the word "comply".
He is shown to his quarters, and told that he will soon be given his chance for redemption - he will soon be controlled.
He collapses on the bed sobbing. He was a wreck before this all began.


SID'S SECOND SCENE

Sid is piloting the ship toward New Vatican City - the meeting place for him and his copies.
Where he can finally re-absorb them all and get over this huge mental exertion. (Even though he doesn't control his copies, they still tax his mind until they are re-absorbed.)

Suddenly, he notices three large ships closing in - one on either side and one behind.
They fire a few preliminary shots, but nothing too damaging.

The ship that closes in from behind makes a Forced Docking attempt. The ship is being piloted by Agent Scepter.
Sid's Intent is to hail Agent Scepter's ship, and make contact with her.

I lose, and the docking cables snap as they try to latch onto his ship.

Sid wins.
Sid opens up a video communication channel. "Hello Eve."
"Sid, we are giving you one final chance to voluntarily dock."
"Why?"
"If you don't, we will fire a mass Stasis Flood on your ship. It's unstable enough to severely hurt you."
"Are you alone?"
"...No, Sid. No, I'm not."
"Then I can't do that, Eve."

Eve orders her two escort ships to fire upon Sid's ship. Her Intent is that some of their missiles hit Sid's ship and render it immobile.

Sid's Intent is that his ship dodges at least some missiles, which in turn crash into the other escort ship - basically, they immobilize their own fleet accidentally.

Sid wins, Eve loses. He barrel rolls just in time for the missiles to fire past him, causing friendly fire casualties among Eve's fleet.
Sid's ship blasts toward New Vatican City.

ATTICUS' SECOND SCENE

A few days pass, and finally the Bishop takes his first Control of Atticus' body.
He decides to send Atticus as his messenger-puppet to meet with the officials in Teanne.
Teanne is basically the seedy, dark side of the planet. Where child prostitution and narcotics are legal.

Atticus is sent to Teanne as a diplomat - the Bishop narrates for him, controlling his body when necessary.
Atticus still has partial control, but mostly over the minor elements.

After the negotiations, Atticus is invited to partake in some special Teanne events. The Bishop gladly accepts.
Atticus' body is led to a place called The Garden.
Inside is a ring of chairs, and a cage containing a seven year old girl.

Atticus doesn't want to witness this, and tries to make himself pass out. He fights the control of the Passage Feeder, hoping that the elevated stress will cause him to pass out.
This is a conflict: Atticus fails, and the Bishop succeeds. When he succeeds, his Intent kicks in: He raises the level of control over Atticus, meaning Atticus loses ALL control over his own body.

He then procedes to raping the small girl. The circle of men rape her to death.
As he stares at the bloody body, he decides what he must do:
-he decides that he's going to get the Passage Feeder removed, and then he is going to kill the Bishop for making him do this.


SID'S FINAL SCENE

Sid lands in the New Vatican City, and procedes to the Red Brick Block.
This is an illegal pub, one of hte only ones in the city.
It is a seedy, underground place.

He sees all of his copies, and signals them to meet him in the back room - where they can absorb in privacy.
He opens the door to the back room, and Eve Scepter stands there with a gun pointed at his head.
She flicks the safety off. "Caught you," she whispers.

Sid's stakes are that he absorbs his copies.
Agent Scepter's stakes are that she kills Sid.

Sid wins, and Agent Scepter loses.
Sid absorbs all of his copies, and as a single being kicks her gun out of hand.
He pushes her against the wall, leaning in close. She is scared, and confused, and her passion flares up.
"I never stopped loving you, Eve. Even after you turned me in."
Her backup kicks in the front door at that point, and he turns to run.

<<end Sid's story>>


ATTICUS' FINAL SCENE

Atticus awakes in his private chamber in the Bishop's house.
He remembers little of last night, but does remember the image of the bloody little girl.

He needs to kill the Bishop, but first he needs to get his Passage Feeder removed.
He calls up and underground contact, and tell him he needs a surgeon.
The contact, Bobby, tells him to show up immediately.

Atticus goes to Bobby's office, and Bobby tells him he's found a backalley surgeon.
He begins to tell Atticus the address.

Spooner interrupts, "The Bishop wants to take control of Atticus, and interrupt this whole process."

We set stakes:
If Atticus wins, then he gets the address of the Surgeon (I didn't state that he gets the surgery successfully, though.)
If Bishop Curn wins, then he takes control of Atticus and kills someone - preventing Atticus' surgery. (not necessarily Bobby, though.)

So, I win.

Bobby gives Atticus the address. Atticus shows up at the Surgeon's house. He's let in.
Atticus feels the surge in his head, signifying that the Bishop just logged into his head.
He's logged in, but there are a few minutes before he can take control.

They stare at the TV for a moment, in shock, as the mews anchor broadcasts all the things that Atticus did last night - killed several high ranking officials, etc, etc.

Their jaws drop when they hear, "We are live with the police force that has tracked him down and has him surrounded. This arrest scene is live, and may get gruesome."

And they watch on the TV as the door is broken down. They turn around to see the door broken down, police swarming inside.
The surgeon bolts out the window, but Atticus' reflexes are slower.

The police are closing in on Atticus, about the handcuff him and bring him in.
Atticus realizes something - if he dies, with the Bishop still in his head, the Bishop dies too.
If he goes in peacefully, the Bishop can log out, and gets away with his crime spree scot free.

With that realization, he grabs one of the surgeon's drills. He lunges forward, swiping it across a police officer's neck.
The officer drops, dead. (Story Goal completed.)
The police squad bears down on him in a hail of gunfire.
He dies, but he dies knowing that the Bishop goes down with him - still trapped inside his body.

[Joshua A.C. Newman]

That's some gnarly shit, guys. Nicely done!

If you can get another person playing with you, you'll get to see Minutiæ in action, too. Not that you had any real problem with fleshing out your world.

How did it work to have totally disparate Shocks and Issues? When doing a short story length game, I usually like to have a single Shock with an Issue for each player to keep things focused, but it sounds like it went pretty well for you guys regardless

[Yokiboy]

That actual play story blew me away! I've been on the fence about Shock:, but it sounds like everything I've always wanted in a sci fi game. I am adding it to my already long want list.

What about story length, did the session feel forced, how long did it take? How are you able to determine the story length system-wise prior to playing?

TTFN,

Yoki

[Joshua A.C. Newman]

Yoki (sorry, I forgot your real name), story length is determined at the beginning of play. There's a pacing mechanism called "Credits" where the Antagonist has a diminishing number of resources to spend on the game. When they're out, the story's over. Since you can see it coming, you know how to push the game toward the conclusion at the culmination of the Story Goal.

Joe, how do you feel the Story Goals worked? It's unclear to me whether you killed the cop in a conflict, or if it was color within a larger conflict.

I'm interested in Joe's  answers to your specific questions about this game, and if you have more general questions, please feel free to start a topic over on the glyphpress forum.

[Yokiboy]

Yoki (sorry, I forgot your real name)

Oh Yoki has been my nickname for 12 years now, so it's fine. My full name is Joachim, but Yoki has proven a lot easier for my English speaking friends to pronounce.

story length is determined at the beginning of play. There's a pacing mechanism called "Credits" where the Antagonist has a diminishing number of resources to spend on the game. When they're out, the story's over. Since you can see it coming, you know how to push the game toward the conclusion at the culmination of the Story Goal.

That pacing mechanic sounds great, but you say it applies on the Antagonists side, care to explain?

TTFN,

Yoki

[Joshua A.C. Newman]

Yeah, sure: Antagonists are there to build conflict for the protagonist. When they run out of Credits, the story's ended. A Protag is there to make statements; the Antag is there to make trouble in a coherent way.

[joepub]

How did it work to have totally disparate Shocks and Issues? When doing a short story length game, I usually like to have a single Shock with an Issue for each player to keep things focused, but it sounds like it went pretty well for you guys regardless

Great.
As you can see, this weird theme emerged - bodies and identities being a seperate thing.
It was cool.

What about story length, did the session feel forced, how long did it take? How are you able to determine the story length system-wise prior to playing?

Credits automatically determine how long the story can go on. 12 credits for each antagonist lasted us 2 hours.

Session felt absolutely natural.
Declaring stakes for one of my conflicts (I had 3) was a bit forced.
But that was only because we weren't really sure if it was a conflict.

World creation got us unbelievably pumped up.
Laughing and yelling, "dude," with shocked expressions on our faces.

[Yokiboy]

Hi Joe,

Here I was thinking that I could skip Shock:, but this AP thread, and your answers to my questions have sold me completely on it. Thanks, I can't wait to try the world building parts myself.

I also appreciate Joshua's answers.

TTFN,

Yoki

[joepub]

Here I was thinking that I could skip Shock:, but this AP thread, and your answers to my questions have sold me completely on it. Thanks, I can't wait to try the world building parts myself.

There is only one game I've had more fun with, and that was The Princes' Kingdom.

Joe, how do you feel the Story Goals worked? It's unclear to me whether you killed the cop in a conflict, or if it was color within a larger conflict.

Spooner's (Sid's) story goal was achieved in exactly the way he wanted: Agent Scepter's stake of killing Sid was denied, and Sid got to absolve his copies.

My story goal was kill a man. I originally was going to kill the Bishop, then Spooner worked in this idea of the police busting in.
Killing the cop was my stake, I believe... but in the end, my "goal" was "kill this man, so that the others kill me. I die with the bishop inside me, and thus he dies too."

So in the end, I did kill the bishop. just indirrectly.

What about story length, did the session feel forced, how long did it take?

We had to take a cool down break after most scenes, because they got us so high energy.
Seriously, when Sid sealed the shuttle door and whispered "I still love you" to Scepter... and then launched off...
It was such an "OH MY GOD, TOO COOL!" moment.

Likewise, with the girl's rape scene, it was an "oh my god. we are fucking sick. I need to take some time and get that out of my head. OH MY GOD!"