On the Friday night of Gen Con Indy, I had the good fortune to run what turned out to be a very intense game of Cold City for an excellent group of players, made up of Paula Dempsey, Tim Kleinert, Steve Dempsey, Joshua Newman and Rob McDougall.

It must be said that this game touched upon and used themes which I wasn’t expecting to encounter in an after hours game a Gen Con, including themes of the Holocaust, repentance and the drug trade.

Characters

The characters were a fairly unusual and interesting group.

Margaret Parry (Paula Dempsey): Well, well-groomed and impeccably spoken British translator passing messages back to Buckingham Palace and on a mission to find the American Colonel she dated during the war.

Lee Jacobson (Tim Kleinert): Black marketeer and dealer in illicit wares, Jacobson is on a mission to become top dog in the expanding drugs trade, using his position in the RPA to achieve this.

Freidrich Baum (Joshua Newman): Former Waffen SS officer who discovered he was part-Jewish and is now, through the RPA, attempting to undo some of the wrong he has done. Also trying to find his last living Jewish relative and make peace with him.

Marcel Laplace (Steve Dempsey): One of the last defenders of Berlin, Laplace was a fervent anti-Communist and member of the ‘Charlegmane’ SS Division. Now despises both Germany and the USSR.

Leor Barinov (Rob McDougall): A propagandist during the war, briefly a journalist, now sent to work for the RPA as punishment for his curiosity. Is determined to destroy all evidence of the strange technology but also gain the power to express himself as he sees fit.

Something that I was initially taken aback by was the choice to have two former members of the Waffen SS as characters. When writing Cold City, this was the kind of situation that I had been very wary of, hence the inclusion of the section entitled ‘Contentious Issues’ in the book, which addresses the possibility of themes involving Nazism and Stalinism appearing in Cold City. This game hit upon many of things including in that particular part of the game and really brought home to me some of the particular advice I offered there. In particular, the game moved me out of a zone of “I’m never having X Stuff in any game I ever run” to a position of “That was stuff I would never have deliberately brought in, but in the end provided an experience which everyone took something away from.”

The Game Itself
Having established what the players wanted from the game (including the capture of a former scientist, the ‘big bad’ of the game), there followed a short briefing session by the Rt. Hon. Myles Wright, British representative on the RPA Directorate Committee. He immediately started displaying his biases towards the various nations, some humorous, some cynical and things began to kick off.

I won’t go through the game in exhaustive detail, but will pick out a few salient points and scenes that I feel should be highlighted.

The character of Lee Jacobson saw other peoples trust in him drop like a stone almost from the outset. His interest only in himself and desire to be a drug kingpin (not to mention the actions taken in game to further this ambition), caused the other characters to start rapidly ceasing to trust him on any level, despite the assistance he rendered at several points.

The arrest of the scientist, an event provoked by Jacobson and Laplace, lead not to a lack of action and story (as I may have initially feared), but a very good plotline and eventual ending to the story. The arrest served to introduce new NPC characters to create conflict with and drive the story forward. In retrospect, calling for the arrest by the Volkspolizei of the scientist was an excellent call on the part of the players.

At one point during a conflict, Rob (playing Barinov, the Soviet) rolled a superlative success in a conflict (the conflict was that he was attempting to get the Red Air Force to bomb the police building that the scientist  was being held in). Rob, noticing that such a success allowed him to go beyond his initial stakes, asserted that yes, the building would be bombed but the bomb would go right through the roof, several floors and explode right in the cell that the scientist was being held in. This was to prove to be a point of order later on.

The confrontation between Baum and Inspektor Gruber, the Volkspolizei officer who arrested the scientist. This proved to be a very emotionally charged scene, as I had previously (away from the gaming table), mentioned to Joshua that Gruber was his former commanding officer in the Waffen SS. The scene played out very well, with harsh words being said on both sides.

The scene where Baum and Gruber meet the scientist (Dr Kunz) and the rest of the RPA group enter the building and make their way to, firstly, Grubers office and them to the cell, also proved to be highly satisfying but also containing some very intense moments. Laplace, Parry and Jacobson searched the desk of Inspektor Gruber, with Jacobson finding an old cigar box containing medals, an SS dagger, a few rounds of ammunition and various bric-a-brac. Meanwhile Baum was confronting Kunz (whom it was revealed was also Jewish but who had experimented on Baums last living Jewish relative) and taking his final action against the still unrepentant Gruber, eventually killing Gruber and hustling Kunz from the cell as a bomb, dropped by a fast moving Yakovlev fighter-bomber (called up previously by Barinov), detonates in the cell.

The final coda to the game, was the meeting between Baum and his last Jewish relative, still alive in a science bunker somewhere outside of Berlin.

I realise my memory of various aspects of the game is incomplete, I’m hoping the players will pitch in and fill in the gaps or add cool, moments of their own such as Barinovs ‘brain smoke’ moment in the briefing room! It has taken me a while to write up this AP, due to the nature of the themes touched up and the difficulty in putting many things down in paper as regards this.

Conclusions

This particular game of Cold City was far more intense and disturbing that I could have imagined. However, I feel it was handled very well by all around the table, which mad for a game which, if not exactly ‘fun’, was a highly satisfying role-playing experience.

As far as my own part in the game goes, I feel that I the very strong stories promoted by a couple of the characters Hidden Agendas were latched onto too easily by me, to the detriment of the other characters. Although the story as a whole worked out very well, I should have taken greater account of all the Hidden Agendas, rather than placing the focus on a handful. Admittedly, in a short after-hours game, this isn’t so easy, but it’s a note for the future.

I must thank the players for taking part in the game, particularly for their comments after the game.

Cheers
Malcolm

As an additional thought that I should have put in my initial post: I would describe this as a very atypical Cold City game, all in all. Cold City is a game of hidden agendas, trust and monster hunting. In the case of this particular game, the monsters were not hideous experimental horrors or things from another dimension, but people. Which was what, perhaps, made it so horrifying.

Cheers
Malcolm

Malcolm, that game was hot. I'll remember it well and fondly.

I wouldn't be surprised, though, if you get fairly frequent APs where the definition of "monster" is more monstrous than zombies.

Encountering the brain-in-a-jar-on-a-gorilla-robot-body is more potent if he  doesn't know the war's ended and has been cowering in the sewers and eating people for fear of the bombs and soldiers.

Or the Hitler Youth whose body is horribly mutated into a slavering flesh machine and is now all of sixteen years old and is in love with the girl he can see out the prison window.

Or, really, as in our game, the monster was a guy who had done horrible things against humanity, his own conscience, and his own people.

That AP write-up was hot, what a game! I ordered my copy of the game a few days ago, and cannot wait to check it out. I'm curious what kind of flags exist in the game, and from the AP I picked up a couple of things that remind me of The Mountain Witch (Trust and the resolution system).

Malcom, as the GM, how do you stat up the 'big bad', how much prep work goes into getting a game running is what I'm after?

TTFN,

Yoki

Joshua wrote: Malcolm, that game was hot. I'll remember it well and fondly.

I wouldn't be surprised, though, if you get fairly frequent APs where the definition of "monster" is more monstrous than zombies.

Encountering the brain-in-a-jar-on-a-gorilla-robot-body is more potent if he  doesn't know the war's ended and has been cowering in the sewers and eating people for fear of the bombs and soldiers.

Or the Hitler Youth whose body is horribly mutated into a slavering flesh machine and is now all of sixteen years old and is in love with the girl he can see out the prison window.

Or, really, as in our game, the monster was a guy who had done horrible things against humanity, his own conscience, and his own people.

Yokiboy wrote:
That AP write-up was hot, what a game! I ordered my copy of the game a few days ago, and cannot wait to check it out. I'm curious what kind of flags exist in the game, and from the AP I picked up a couple of things that remind me of The Mountain Witch (Trust and the resolution system).

Malcom, as the GM, how do you stat up the 'big bad', how much prep work goes into getting a game running is what I'm after?

Malcolm wrote: I wouldn't plot a game of CC too tightly (the same goes for almost any game), as there is the extreme likelihood that it will go off in unexpected and interesting directions (exactly what happened int his particular game). However, within the pages of the book, there is guidance for the GM on structuring games, what to think about (ethical/moral dilemmas, hidden agendas, opposition and so forth) and the consideration of a whole variety of other factors.

Yokiboy wrote:

Malcolm wrote: I wouldn't plot a game of CC too tightly (the same goes for almost any game), as there is the extreme likelihood that it will go off in unexpected and interesting directions (exactly what happened int his particular game). However, within the pages of the book, there is guidance for the GM on structuring games, what to think about (ethical/moral dilemmas, hidden agendas, opposition and so forth) and the consideration of a whole variety of other factors.

Thanks Malcolm, it sounds like I will enjoy this game as much as I thought (now if it would only show up in my mailbox already).

I have come to the conclusion that my favorite kind of game comes with an air-tight situation to start from, like in Contenders, Polaris, DitV, Piledrivers & Powerbombs, Lacuna Part 1, and The Farm to mention but a few, where you can just jump straight in and start gaming. I hope that Cold City will fill this same niche for me, but as I don't exclusively love those type of games I will surely enjoy it regardless.

That "Hitler Youth" Joshua brought up is sure to figure into my play of Cold City at some point - shudder...

TTFN,

Yoki

As Marcel I really enjoyed this game too, it was one of several very good games I played at GC.

Whilst I wrote the scenario in the book, I really liked your approach, Malc, to creating the scenario by asking us what kind of things we wanted in the game, and then giving them to us.

There were a couple of stand out scenes for me. The first was in the library where, whilst Margaret was chatting up the librarian, Baum was murdering the CIA agent out the back and daubing his blood on the wall in a ritual to expunge him from history. When Josh did that, I think we realised that the gloves were off and we could really push the envelope.

The others were in the prison as Baum confronted his former colleague and then the prison cell drama.

You got a few minor details wrong, Marcel blamed Nazi sorcerers for what happened in the bunker and was seeking retribution from them. He also found a shrivelled heart in Gruber's desk, presumably Baum's although Marcel wouldn't know that.

GB wrote:
As Marcel I really enjoyed this game too, it was one of several very good games I played at GC.

Whilst I wrote the scenario in the book, I really liked your approach, Malc, to creating the scenario by asking us what kind of things we wanted in the game, and then giving them to us.

There were a couple of stand out scenes for me. The first was in the library where, whilst Margaret was chatting up the librarian, Baum was murdering the CIA agent out the back and daubing his blood on the wall in a ritual to expunge him from history. When Josh did that, I think we realised that the gloves were off and we could really push the envelope.

The others were in the prison as Baum confronted his former colleague and then the prison cell drama.

You got a few minor details wrong, Marcel blamed Nazi sorcerers for what happened in the bunker and was seeking retribution from them. He also found a shrivelled heart in Gruber's desk, presumably Baum's although Marcel wouldn't know that.

This was my best roleplaying of the Con (though to be fair, it was also one of the few full games I played).  I'm glad you posted on it, Malcolm, and I'm sorry it took me so long to catch up with you and comment.

First, I only wish my last name were something cool like McDougal.  It's Bowell.  Pronounced--despite logic, history and linguistic probabilities--as "bowl".

I thought it was interesting that Tim totally did not game the trust system.  He was willing to let his character be loathed by everyone.  That was awesome.

My favorite moment of the game was when they found the box that Baum's heart was in.  I'm also proud I suggested it.  I don't know why I whispered it to you though.  That was fucking odd of me.

Baum was killing people left and right with very little compunction.  I thought it was both amazing and horrifying.  One of the people he killed, we got some blueprints that he had bled on.  There were bits of brain.  My character infused them into a candle and did a little alchemy so that when we inhaled its vapors, we would know everything he knew.

What was really cool is how Joshua was giving me stuff to feed off of.  Right from the start when he said he wanted to have a clockwork heart, that said to me, "Okay, this is where the weirdness level is."  Then he kills a guy with the stakes being "they won't find him," and I suggest that he kills him so good, he kills the guy's memory and no one will remember he was here.  Joshua takes that up a level and has him draw these symbols on the walls.  That's what gave me the brain smoke idea.

Another cool thing:  Tim's American was constantly mispronouncing the "foreigners'" names.

Ack! That's totally shocking that I got your name wrong! I was utterly convinced, despite no evidence to back this up, that your second name was McDougall. Don't ask me where I got this from. Sorry, I'll remember that in future.

Tim's character did end up being loathed by pretty much the rest of the group, despite the fact that he was the one who was, when all was taken into account, was merely engaging in some pocket lining and black-market maneuvering. Unlike some other characters whom I could mention, who were engaging in all sorts of horrific activities.

The 'brain incense' scene was way out of left field, totally unexpected and very cool. If somewhat disturbing. As I've said before, it was fascinating that people really leaped on to the occult aspects of the game with a great deal of fervour and really ran with them. I'd be interested to know if this was something you got from the game right from the very start? Was there anything that particularly took you in this direction (other than the players feeding off the weird ideas that everyone was coming up with)?

And the shrivelled heart was a great piece of thinking, really added to the atmosphere of horror.

Cheers
Malcolm

My occult stuff was entirely grooving off what Joshua did.  If my memory serves, this is how I got so weird:

1) Joshua, during chargen, says "I have a clockwork heart."

2) Joshua wins stakes with massive success levels.  He wants a suggestion on how to take advantage of that.  I suggest that as an authorial thing, people forget about the guy too.  Not that the killing was magical, or anything after it was, but as The Guy with Narrative Control Now, Joshua should say, "And also they forget about this agent."  Joshua decided to make this a magical forgetting (and by the way he wrote a symbol on the wall so that when there was renovation or something and the symbol was marred, the guy would be remembered).

3) Grooving off that, I decide to do brain incense and to suggest that it's the heart in the box later on.

You know, I thought your name was MacDougal, too.

Who the hell is Rob MacDougal? And what did you do with his body?

I didn't know the shriveled heart thing was your idea, Rob. It was great.

So Baum was some sort of tool of rival Nazi factions, I take it. Gnarly.

Joshua wrote:
You know, I thought your name was MacDougal, too.

Who the hell is Rob MacDougal? And what did you do with his body?

What I like most is that the top hits are this thread, where we're calling you by the wrong name.

Yeah, Malcolm, I'd really like to thank you for stepping up for what could have been a difficult conflict between us as friends. I think we came out as better ones, though.

Hi, everybody. My name's Rob MacDougall (note spelling - Mac, two Ls - if you google that spelling you'll see my weird history weblog and more actual references to me, although I am not "one of Canada's most recognized sports artists"). I occasionally post here, at Story Games, and at the 20x20 Room, I post a fair bit of gaming stuff on my LiveJournal, and I lurk a lot, although I've been without a regular gaming group since I left Boston last year (anybody reading this in Southwestern Ontario?) I wish I'd been at GenCon, and I wish I'd been in this game, but alas I was not.

I now return you to your regular Actual Play post.

Rob MacDougall

Joshua wrote:
What I like most is that the top hits are this thread, where we're calling you by the wrong name.

Yeah, Malcolm, I'd really like to thank you for stepping up for what could have been a difficult conflict between us as friends. I think we came out as better ones, though.

Rob wrote:
Hi, everybody. My name's Rob MacDougall (note spelling - Mac, two Ls - if you google that spelling you'll see my weird history weblog and more actual references to me, although I am not "one of Canada's most recognized sports artists"). I occasionally post here, at Story Games, and at the 20x20 Room, I post a fair bit of gaming stuff on my LiveJournal, and I lurk a lot, although I've been without a regular gaming group since I left Boston last year (anybody reading this in Southwestern Ontario?) I wish I'd been at GenCon, and I wish I'd been in this game, but alas I was not.

I now return you to your regular Actual Play post.

Rob MacDougall

Malcolm wrote: As the game progressed, I was genuinely concerned about the subject matter we were dealing with, but everyone handled very well, something I am very thankful for. I'm also very thankful for your words after the game, which allayed much of my concern about the language and subjects used and for which I am very grateful.

Joshua wrote:

Malcolm wrote: As the game progressed, I was genuinely concerned about the subject matter we were dealing with, but everyone handled very well, something I am very thankful for. I'm also very thankful for your words after the game, which allayed much of my concern about the language and subjects used and for which I am very grateful.

I'm not sure silly accents count as a "language"....

What were your specific concerns? I'm totally cool with talking about this here; I wasn't at all uncomfortable during the game.

I can see that concern, and I think it speaks well of you that you were even worried about it.  That said, you weren't playing it as a mustache-twirling villain spouting puns about the Holocaust, you were playing it as cold, vicious political doubletalk.  So instead of laughter, it was fucking chilling.  Which it should have been.  That line really stuck with me (obviously).

I'ad agree with that. I think if we're playing post-Nazi monster hunters then we should probably expect references to the Nazis. I think by only portraying them as comedy Indiana Jones villains that we'd doing the game and each other a disservice.

One other thing that did strike me during the game is the very different level at which players set their stakes, from the "I'll ask the police to investigate" to the "I'll wipe him from existence". It seems to me that Josh and I weren't exactly playing on the same scale.

Was this a problem for you Malc as the GM?

Well to be fair the "wipe him from existence" weren't the stakes.  The stakes were just to hide evidence of the murder.  It was the extreme success that had him narrate wiping him from people's memories.

GB wrote:
I'ad agree with that. I think if we're playing post-Nazi monster hunters then we should probably expect references to the Nazis. I think by only portraying them as comedy Indiana Jones villains that we'd doing the game and each other a disservice.

One other thing that did strike me during the game is the very different level at which players set their stakes, from the "I'll ask the police to investigate" to the "I'll wipe him from existence". It seems to me that Josh and I weren't exactly playing on the same scale.

Was this a problem for you Malc as the GM?

Malcolm wrote: However, if it were the case that a player or players were continually changing stakes outwith the strictures of the superlative success mechanic, then this would concern me and I would take it in hand during the game. This having been said, if, even within the confines of the mechanics, such actions are a source of annoyance for other players, then I would of course take that into account as well.

Are for "taking it into account", how would you propose to do that given the narrative freedom that the game implies?

This sounds similar to the McGuffin problem that I encountered where for about 4 contests in a row the players introduced new things into the game. I found that to preserve some kind of narrative sanity and avoid bloat I started to limit the extent of narrative freedom to things more directly related to the contest at hand and its participants. This went down OK with the players who were, to a certain extent, exploring the limits of their freedom in the context of the playtest.

This all seems rather related to the discussions going on here (Just A Cool Dogs scene) and on Storygames (which is blocked for me at work) about the scope of pre-stake narratives, stake setting and such things.

CC is a game where going beyond the original stakes is expressly permitted, in fact encouraged so there's always a need for some kind of either concensus view or GM veto - something that Brennan talks about in Mortal Coil rulebook (although I can't remember what he calls it). I don't think it's rocket science though.