The Forge Archives

It was SteveCon VII last weekend and in the first four hour slot we played Carry on up the Ring, which is something only thirty-something Brits would really appreciate. We finished in about two hours so I said I'd run MLwM until the end of the slot. And this is what happened.

I had done some prep, I had a list of names, actually all the Eton boys who died in WWI, and this was used to add some atmosphere.

My Life with HeadMaster
Mr Preen is the Head of Wimbush, a public school nestling in the Gloucester countryside near the village of Crumpney Magna. The school is a dark gothic place where is always seems to rain, especially if a cricket match has been planned. Think Tom Brown's Schooldays without the fun.

As this was to be a short game, Fear was set at 2 and Reason at 3: although the Beak is strong, there are rules too. I also gave everyone one point of love.

Locations were:
- The School
- The Cricket Pavilion, haunt of Soames the satanist groundsman.
- The Tuck Shop
- The Infirmary where Matron Blake spends her days.
- The Village with its Pub.

The Innocents were:
- Pardoe, an angelic boy
- Pierre, the confused French assistant.

The PCs were:
Inker - Argonaut
SL:1 W:2
MT: Can hear conversations from 500 yds except when they are in the library.
LT: Smells of cheese except between 4 and 8pm. It's hormonal.
Connections:
Wilkins the caretaker (1), likes to hear gossip.
Mrs Minchkin the cheesemaker (0), has cheese!

Biggs - Robinson
SL:3 W:0
MT: A criminal genius, except round masters
LT: Must obey authority, except when committing a crime.
Connections:
Pardoe (1) who he wants to corrupt.
Soames (0) who fences what he steals.

Wiggins - Ottoman
SL:0 W:3
MT: Can use ritual black magic except on true believers
LT: Only Satanists believe what he says.
Connections:
Soames (0) with whom he cavorts
Susan (1) the master's daughter who he fancies.

Arbuthnot - Merovingian
SL:2 W:1
MT: Has keys to all the doors except the infirmary
LT: Stammers except when drunk.
Connections:
Jenny the barmaid who slips him beer.
Pierre the French Assistant (1) as they cannot understand each other.

The boys are all prefects at the school, in the houses next to their names. The head wants the school to perform well when the Inspectors arrive. He also has a picture of his now deceased parents and he wants to prove himself to them.

The playing of the rolls was excellent throughout with much fun had by me. The boys were promised canings several times.

Round 1
Inker is sent to warn Dwyer off an impending Tuck Shop Raid. His smell is enough to dissuade the poor lad. (SL+1)
Biggs is sent to spy on Pierre's room. He sends him on a fools errand to the Pavilion and finds some pornography - Pierre is French and sees no harm in this (SL+1)
Wiggins has to escort Susan to the village to buy some writing paper. He takes her to the Tea Shop but some rough boys are hanging around outside. He catches their reflections in a tea-spoon ans paralyzes them. He also buys Susan some flowers with some coppers stolen from the ruffians (L+1, SL+1)
Arbuthnot is sent to spy on Soames whom the Master does not trust. Arbuthnot steals some gin from the drinks cabinet in the pavilion and discovers Soames performing some dark ritual with chickens. (SL+1)

Round 2
Inker goes to find Wilkins the Caretaker. He has caught a rat in a drain. Inker gets in the drain and chases out the rat. (L+1)
Biggs has to read the French books to the Master who derives some perverse pleasure from them (SL+1 ->HR)
Pierre has turned up at the Pavilion and has been captured by Soames. Wiggins feeds him the rest of the gin to make him forget (L+1).
Arbuthnot goes to see Jenny and helps her with beer barrels but she is called away by the masters who have come to the pub for lucnh (a draw)

Round 3
Inker returns to the Head in a filthy state and is sent to see Matron who destroys his clothes, but he does get clean (SL+1)
HR: Beelzebub himself, freed by all the Satanic Rituals sends two imps to cause mischief in the school. They are imps of Rebellion and Stroppiness abd are called Rock and Roll.
Wiggins is sent to get Arbuthnot back from the pub. He casts a spell on him to make him lighter than air but Arbuthnot floats to the ceiling and clobbers Wiggins with a large piece of wood. (W+1)
Arbuthnot is sent to fetch Soames. He enlists the help of Smithers, the Rugby prop forward and Soames is caught in some nets and hauled back. Arbuthnot must clutch something heavy or be blown around by the wind. (SL+1)

Round 4
Inker has nothing to wear except a small towel. He is sent to find clothing and steals some form another boy (SL+1)
Biggs has the pornography and uses it to teach French to Pardoe (L+1)
Wiggins entertains Susan who is possessed by Rock. She wants to burn the school down but Wiggins forces the demon out (L+1).
Arbuthnot has to stop Soames from using evil magics on him and succeeds, clobbering him with his trusty stick (SL+1 -> HR)

Round 5
A uniform has gone missing and Inker is sent to apprehend the culprit. He picks on Pardoe and persuades him to come to the Head, against the opposition of Biggs (SL+1)
Biggs then persuades Pardoe to let him take his place (L+1)
Wiggins forces Rock to possess Smithers, so he can free Soames, but then he takes a shine to Susan (draw)
HR: The masters return in a drunken haze from the pub and set fire to the school, Matron is overcome by fumes and the library goes up.

Round 6
Biggs is taken for a caning. Inker is ordered to remove the books Biggs has put down his trousers and does so (SL+1)
Biggs is ordered to bend over for his caning but refuses. It's the end game.

Endgame
Preen loses it and strangles Biggs. Everyone pitches in. Wiggins turns up with Susan who is horrified by her father's brutality. Inker attempts to distract Preen with the pornography.

The Inspectors turn up to evacuate the school and find the sorry scene. Biggs is killed by Preen who drags Inker off into the flames. Arbuthnot chucks his stick into the fire, but then floats off to the heavens. Only Wiggins is left to look after Susan and start a new life.

Quote from: GB Stevein the first four hour slot we played Carry on up the Ring

Ye gods, I can only imagine. Now it's got me thinking of converting old TV shows: The Baddies, Are You Being Severed?, and so forth.

... Ab Slab....

Chris Lehrich

Of course Keeping Up Appearances is already a My Life with Master situation...