[PTA] Over the Wall

[Wise One]

Having laid my hands on PTA a couple of months ago, I've finally got round to running a series through my university gaming society.  We've got five players (3 male, 2 female) with myself as producer, and we're aiming for pilot + five episodes, with a three hour session every Thursday evening.  So far, we've run through a two hour brainstorming session, and played through the pilot.

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The Players

- (S) is a bit of a nutter.  Loud, outgoing, and prone to extremes of enthusiasm and frustration, it's sometimes tricky to keep her focused on the issue at hand. 

- (A) is (S)'s close friend & housemate.  The two of them met last year through the gaming society, and are now living together.  But where (S) is a bit of an attention-whore, (A) is slightly more withdrawn, which makes it difficult to know whether or not she's enjoying herself.

- (M) was originally drawn into the game in the hope that he'd be able to emulate some kind of spin-off of Stargate SG-1, of which he is a massive fan.  Unfortunately for him, my lack of familiarity with the show's canon and the protestations of the other players meant that this was overruled fairly rapidly.  Initally somewhat detatched from gameplay, by the end of the pilot, he seemed to have 'clicked' with the show's concept.

- (D) and (T) really need to be taken as a single unit.  Best buds in real life, they really siezed on the opportunity to riff off each other's ideas and plot suggestions.  Initially, I was a little worried that they'd end up alienating the other players with their rampant enthusiasm but, as of yet, this doesn't seem to have happened.

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The Show:

The brainstorming session was a very interesting experience, from my point of view.  From my notes, we started off with the following list:

- existing franchise
- sense of isolation
- anti-authoritarian
- comic elements
- cold war - gritty?
- nifty tech / gadgetry
- plausibility
- industrial feel
- strong female characters
- deux ex machina
- random silliness
- soap opera

From here, someone threw in the idea of a post-apocalyptic setting, which everyone seemed to riff with.  We rejected the idea of a show where the characters were tech-salvagers, hunting for high-technology remnants in the desert backwaters of a world where the Cold War had turned hot.  Elements from this idea would, however, make it to the final show as we switched the setting to a large industrial city (best imagined as a random mixture of concrete tenement buildings, abandoned warehouses, run-down hovels, government watch-towers, and aging wind turbines) run by a shadowy, faceless, and militaristic government.  The City is encircled by a massive concrete wall, and there is nothing outside the City.  Technology is a mix of Victorian and Edwardian, with some limited higher-technology (one of our characters has a 1920s-style revolver).

Our characters, for one reason or another, want out. 

In recent weeks, rumours of food shortages and missing persons have fuelled an atmosphere of tension and mistrust, as - despite denials of the existence of any kind of crisis - the Directorate (the city's faceless, reactionary government)  has begun to intercept and interrogate seemingly innocent citizens.  Militia presence is at an all-time high as our protagonists begin to investigate the state of play, dodging the attentions of the law and confronting their own personal demons in the process.

With time (and food) running out, can our protagonists find a way to get themselves over the Wall?[/i]

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The Protagonists

(S) is playing Maya, a blacksmith.  Her father was recently apprehended by the Directorate.

- Edge: Apprentice Blacksmith
- Connection: Molly – mother figure / shopkeeper
- Connection: Alex
- Issue: Revenge (against the Directorate)
- Personal Set: The forge

(A) is playing Sarah, a widower.  Her inventor husband recently died in mysterious circumstances, and Sarah has dedicated herself to continuing his work.

- Edge: Gadgeteer
- Edge: Domestic Type
- Connection: Charlie – a loveable St. Bernard.
- Issue: Grief
- Personal Set: Her husband's workshop

(T) is playing Scott Adams, a low-level Directorate employee currently attempting to gather enough in the way of resources to flee the City.

- Edge: 'Gift of the Gab'
- Edge: Outsider – he's been outside the City in the past, and knows how to get people out
- Connection: Tony – underground barman and criminal type
- Issue: Temptation
- Personal Set: Tony's bar & its various backrooms

- (D) is playing George Adams, Scott's brother and fellow Directorate employee.

- Edge: Streetwise
- Connection: Mr. X – corrupt Directorate agent
- Connection: Mr. Wilkinson – trader and dealbroker
- Issue: Atonement
- Personal Set: Dark alleys

(M) is playing James, a disillusioned ex-government employee.

- Edge: Directorate
- Edge: Military Geek
- Connection: Militia Guard
- Issue: Obsessed with uncovering the Truth about the Directorate
- Personal Set: The living room of his accommodation

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(more to come)

[Wise One]

The Pilot

Our first session started a bit tentatively, with me trying to sound out the rules.  As a group, it was clear that the point of the pilot was get all the player characters together, and facing in the same direction, as it were.  The first couple of scenes were a bit unstable, as I probably tried to force conflict too rapidly, in an attempt to show the players how the conflict system functioned.

First, some general comments on the pilot:

- Although it may have started slowly, with some players relatively withdrawn, about an hour into the session, things started to click, as (T) and (D) suddenly jumped into character, and had an awesome argument, which earned them both plenty of fanmail.

- It took a while for the players to 'get' the fanmail mechanic, but - when they did - they were far from shy in using it.

- One thing that amazed me was how quickly the plot managed to acquire depth, with a complexity that was quite astounding.  Maguffins, intrigue, dodgy deals, and angst a-plenty!  It'll be interesting to see whether everyone (inc. myself) manages to keep track of what's going on.

- The mix of OOC and IC exchanges was quite interesting, and meant that everyone was able to take things as seriously (or not) as they wanted.  I found it interesting how, once (T) and (D) jumped into character, (M) was more than happy to follow.

- PTA, more than any other play experience that I've had, sparked some downright cool conflicts, dialogue and one-liners.

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General Synopsis:

Teaser: Young woman fleeing from some shadowy figures, occasionally glancing back.  Overhead shot of alleyway.  Woman's scream.

1) Maya (literally) bumps into Sarah at the City's main marketplace, causing her to spill the contents of her bag all over the street.  In helping Sarah pick her stuff up, Maya accidentally puts a blade that she's been working on into Sarah's bag.  The two go their seperate ways.  Going further into the market, Maya encounters a confrontation between a Militia guard and an elderly shopkeeper.  Things are on the verge of turning nasty, and Maya attempts to create a distraction in order to allow the shopkeeper to escape.  She does so, but not without getting herself into trouble.  As the guard turns to warn the old man before dealing with Maya, someone grabs her arm, and yanks her into a side-alley.  That someone is George.

2) George and Scott are at work, talking over their plans for escape.  Things are turning nasty in the City, and they know a way out.  George wants to convince Scott to take Maya on their last trip over the wall, something that Scott fears could compromise their attempt.  Scott holds his nerve, and refuses George's request outright.

3) In Tony's bar, Scott attempts to convince Tony to get someone to keep an eye on George, making sure that he isn't going to take anyone else on their final escape.  Tony says that he'll do it, for a price and, despite Scott's protestations, he ends up spending the majority of his remaining money (apart from that which he needs to mount the escape) on paying someone to follow his brother.

4) James, a senior work colleague of George and Scott, overheard their converation in Scene 2, and wants in.  He attempts to drop a note at George's desk, which reads "I can help", with a time and location for a meeting later that night.  The note ends up sandwiched beneath a pile of papers, and evades George's notice.

5) On her way home from the market, Sarah encounters the scene of the scream in the teaser.  The street is stained with blood, and she finds (and pockets) a small locket, which contains a photo of a young, blonde gentleman with a beard.  As she goes on her way, a mysterious figure steps out of the shadows.

6) Maya is at the forge, talking over her father's disappearance - in the light of the marketplace confrontation - with Molly.  Mucho angst, culminating in Maya throwing a hammer at the wall in frustration, just as Sarah opens the door.  Sarah ducks as the hammer sails over her head and out into the street, falling over and spilling the contents of her bag everywhere in the process.  Charlie, Sarah's dog, bounds over to harass Molly, and Maya goes to retrieve the hammer.  Whilst retrieving the hammer, Maya spots a shadowy figure on the other side of the street without being seen herslef.  It's the man from the locket.

7) Having returned the blade, Maya and Sarah are chatting in the forge, when George bursts in, shepherding Maya out into the backyard, where they argue about the planned escape.  George loses his temper, and insults Maya, who forces him back into the forge in order to avoid being overheard.  Sarah overhears.

Scott returns to George's office that evening, to root through his stuff and see whether there's any evidence of him trying to take anyone else on the mission.  In addition to a financial ledger showing that the pair have signficiantly less money thn Scott had anticipated, he fins James' note.  Assuming that the note was written by George, and intended for someone else, Scott decides to go to the rendezvous point and confront his brother.

9) Scott turns up to the night-time rendezvous and - having waiting for George to show - goes to talk to James, intending to tell him that they have no room for aiding others in their escape.  Thinking that Scott is George, James confronts him with an accusation of him being late.  Somewhat confused, George plays along, hoping to discourage James from coming, saying that their deal is off.  James is now confused, to his knowledge - there was no deal.  Nevertheless, he plays along, believing that this deal might allow him to get his foot in the door.  Scott bumps up the price in an attempt to scare James off.  James threatens to turn 'George' into the Militia if he isn't allowed in on the act.  Scott doesn't know whether or not he's bluffing.  Then George steps out of the shadows, having followed Scott.  The two brothers have a terse exchange in private, concerning finances and trickery, eventually agreeing to let James come, on the condition that he pays them a lot more than their normal price. 

The pilot ends with James pulling out a gun, and pointing it at George.  The audience sees, from James' viewpoint, that he is aiming at a man who is standing behind the brothers, but they don't know this.