[PTA] Lions at the Gate ep 4

[Storn]

This last week’s episode, I took pretty extensive notes during play.  In a format that I’m just gonna transcribe.  To refresh everyone’s memory of the cast, we have:

Producer:  Bret
Medea:  Judd
Rion Greenwhich:  Bob
Prometheus:  Jeff
Ulysses Station: me (Storn)

During the game, as we went around the table, I wrote down who’s scene it was and the gist of what was happening.  Keep in mind that this ep was Prometheus’s spotlight scene.  Here goes:

Bret/Producer:  Everyone.  Gangway to Prometheus’s Sub.  Medea, Rion and Ulysses want in on Prometheus’s projects, access to his sub.  Conflict resolves in Prometheus’s favor.  We don’t get an assistant in to “keep an eye” on Prometheus.

Jeff:  Tentacles wrap onto the sub.  Giant Tentacles.  Prometheus calls out; “If anyone wants a tour, now would be the time.”  However, Medea walks away, leaving Prometheus to his fate and the Giant Mutant Squid.  She convinces Ulysses to do the same.  Rion just watches from shore.  Pro manages to get a torpedo fired into the Squid, although it blows up the nose of the submarine by the proximity of the giant beastie.  Prometheus’s face is melted in the destruction.

Judd:  Medea wants Ulysses to probe Prometheus’s mind, maybe even “adjust” him.  Ulysses rebuffs her attempt, much anger erupts between the two of them.

Storn:  Flashback of finding the dying Amanda Doogin as festivities for fighting of the mutants (last ep) is all around.  Ulysses tries to use psychic surgery, but to no avail… he has the power, but not the knowledge.  Doogin dies in his arms.  A very drunk Hecate shows after he lays Doogin to rest.  She just grabs him, heedless of all the blood, and seduces him. 

Flash to present:  Ulysses summons Medea to the library having changed his mind.  Medical texts lie everywhere.  Ulysses will attempt to probe Prometheus if Medea will submit to Ulysses memories of Doogin’s death.  Medea agrees.  Of course, the scene with Hecate comes unbidden and Medea has to watch that too.

Bret:  Prometheus is recovering in a medical hut.  The town regards him as a Hero.  The giant squid had tentacles reaching into the town itself before it was slain.  Rion comes to visit and asks what in the world Prometheus wants.  Pro replies; “don’t want to live in THIS world.”  {absolutely rocking scene and dialogue between Pro and Rion here}

Bob:   None of the principals in the scene.  Gunfight at the tavern, everyone has guns.  Words are said, lead is thrown.  Justin, the guy bucking to be elder/mayor of the town over Rion is the one who fires first on a Parami.

Jeff:   Ulysses tries to probe Prometheus w/o the other’s knowledge.  Prometheus wins the conflict and detects the intrusion.  Ulysses is brutally honest about being sent to spy, implicating Medea and pointing out that Prometheus has rarely been honest with any of them… who can blame us for spying?  {This was a very hard scene to come to accord about what the conflict was about.  Much dithering.  Bret felt that the stakes of probing secretly was a bit weak.  But nothing better was suggested and went back to the orginal stakes.  The roleplaying after the conflict was done was absolutely top notch though.  Jeff and I were trading barbs and brutal honest like a duel of sledgehammers… great fun!  So go figure…}

Judd:   Flashback:  Young Prometheus is brought before the elders.  To determine if he could be groomed to be an elder like his mentor wants.  Prometheus is terrified by the prospect and chooses research over the responsibilities of Leadership.  Afterwards, he finds the submarine.

Storn:   Investigation of the Tavern shootings.  Hecate as Rion’s apprenctice, is brutal and vengeful.  Prometheus is tapped to compare ballistics when Ulysses’s psychic abilities don’t seem to include postcognition.  One Parami died.  A 14 yr. Old boy was killed by a stray bullet.  And Justin was wounded.

Bret:  Morgue situation.  Bernard, Prometheus, Rion.  Bernard wants to train the townsfolk on how to use guns.  Rion thinks that is how the apocalypse came to be.  Prometheus wants to convince Rion that the ‘slingers are a thing of the past.  Prometheus wins.  Rion surprises everyone and drops his guns and quits as ‘slinger and mayor.

Bob:  Rion gives Amanda Doogin’s guns to Hecate.  Cuts her loose. 

Jeff:   Prometheus and Medea on the sub.  He chastises her for the spying.  She fires back about trying to poison her people.  She then invites him to a victory feast of the the Giant Squid, her people believe in eating one’s foes.  He promises to attend, but will not eat the Squid, a calculated move to annoy and offend the Parami.

Judd:   The victory scene.  Hecate upstages everything, wearing Doogin’s guns.  Fearing the long awaited duel between mother and daughter for the cannibal throne has come, Ulysses tries to head it off.  Hecate drags Ulysses in front of her mother.  And tells them both that she is pregnant.  Medea is thrilled and says that the duel is to be postponed until after the birth.  Ulysses is a bit stunned by the news.  But when mother and daughter continue to growl at each other, Ulysses steps in the only way he think he can.

He asks for Hecate’s hand, for as husband, he can demand to stand in for Hecate.  Medea would have to fight him.  Hoping that situation would forestall Medea’s hand.  However, Hecate wins the conflict and tells Ulysses that she will not marry him.  Yet.

But Ulysses has shown a fire rarely seen and a resolve tempered by disgust of everyone around him.  Everything has conspired to put him front and center of all these people, to be some kind of leader.  Fine.  The stage is set for Ulysses’s spotlight ep next week.

Unfortunately, I didn't grab the notes for Next Week on.... but there was yet another Mutant attack in the works.  Ulysses psychic green aura playing a big part, but vague...

[Judd]

Every time Bret plays the NPC, Bernard, he just lights up.  That is what occurred to me again this week.  He lights up so much that it almost makes me want to produce a second season with me producing just so Bret can play Bernard as a PC.  Maybe we could rotate through and have everyone produce a season.

Or maybe we should just put this baby to bed.

Or perhaps Bret should produce if there is any producing to be done.  I dunno.

Tonight's the last episode and I'm really looking forward to having a full season in our belts, that'll be neat.

We've gotten better at coming up with Next Time On's.  During the first and second game we had 'em, they were a little too detailed but we've gotten really solid at coming up with scene bits that were vague but hard hitting.  We had only to follow Bret's lead on this, his Next Time On's are always rocking.

My only worry about this episode is that the character didn't come out significantly changed.  Or maybe he was but I didn't see his issue change, whereas for every other spotlight the character's POV was just rocked to the core.  I'm interested to hear Jeff's thoughts on how it worked for him.

There's a funny thing about spotlight episodes.  There's some ownership there, that session belongs to that player a little bit more than usual and its neat that it is right in the mechanics.  In other games, there are often sessions where we know we are going to hit important scenes for a character and its interesting to make up a show, a season and the screen presences on a chart and see the rhythm of the show.  I love how those numbers mean so much and yet leave so much left for us to do.

[Matt Wilson]

My only worry about this episode is that the character didn't come out significantly changed.  Or maybe he was but I didn't see his issue change, whereas for every other spotlight the character's POV was just rocked to the core.

I think a spotlight just has to lay bare the protagonist's issue. It doesn't have to be the moment of change. For example, I'd say "Jaynestown" is the spotlight, and the conclusion of "Ariel" is where the moment of change happens.

[Judd]

My only worry about this episode is that the character didn't come out significantly changed.  Or maybe he was but I didn't see his issue change, whereas for every other spotlight the character's POV was just rocked to the core.

I think a spotlight just has to lay bare the protagonist's issue. It doesn't have to be the moment of change. For example, I'd say "Jaynestown" is the spotlight, and the conclusion of "Ariel" is where the moment of change happens.

Yeah, funny, because I think we saw his big change in the next and last episode, nothing drastic but a real turn from his past villainy towards something almost noble.