This post continues from Apoc western, our EABA game begun last spring and repeatedly interrupted since then – but we continue, now with regularized schedules and increasing momentum.

To review a bit, this is a bit of a retro-grim spin on the over-cartoonized “apocalypse restores the wild west” motif, set in an outlands town struggling to be civilized, called Dawnford. Our characters include Dr. Michael Beckett the secret mutant, Horace Humpford the sinister but maybe-not-evil drifter, Henry Britten the many-eyed mutant wasteland-dweller, Joseph Harrison the gunsmith, and Bob the acid-blisters mutant with no visible means of support who really didn’t intend to cause any trouble.

The general point is that we haven’t met the EABA learning curve as well as we might, mainly due to negotiating multiple summer schedules and playing a zillion other games. We’re definitely trying, but with sessions 4 and 5 (played before and after the Happening, respectively; and before that, 4 was isolated in a wave of student graduations), you can see the struggle between “two steps forward one step back” and its unfortunate vice versa.

For example, in session 4, Bob (Arvid’s character) was getting shut up in what passes for a cell in Dawnford. He tried to gain some sympathy and possibly open up an escape, but was reduced to 2d+1 due to multiple factors, against a target of 16 or 17 … so no chance. But we totally forgot abou the Fate rules, which permit extra dice, so he did have a small chance and we should have rolled. He also had a physical chance to overpower Thaddeus, by striking just as he came in the cell door … even although the latter was armed, experienced, and wary, Bob is a fierce physical specimen and the ordering rules are much like Sorcerer’s: the high roll, regardless of success, lands first. I didn’t disallow the action, and I think Arvid was only half-considering it, but listening to the dialogue, you can perceive that the accidental effect was to disallow it.

That’s the problem with a lagging learning curve: it’s easy to mistake a description of context for wink-wink encouragement or discouragement for a course of action.

Session 4

Here’s the Now I used going into it (it’s called “3” because I started them after the first session).

However, there is also good news: we are ardent for continuing to play, without exception. The situation is rife with psychological tension, sudden action, and multiple varying points of view, with really great characters.

I’ll add the following as soon as I can.

Session 5

Here’s the Now I worked up and brought to play.

I decided that we really needed to advance the learning curve, so I brought this summary of the social ranks, wealth ranks, and modifications for rolls (although I forgot the Experience modifier, which I’ll add).

I am playing, if I may say so, the meanest, most awful NPCs I can remember making up in a long time. Which is saying something. Here’s the summary as of finishing session 5, and I direct your attention to Jesh Hickey, Captain Dewey, and Zack Biggs.

Here’s some GM self-critique: I am very easily sucked into one character’s immediate activity when I’m trying to get a summary from everyone, one by one. I’ve noticed it in the Dark Sun Pool game too.

Session 6

This one is finally two steps forward + one back, for the system. Also, somehow, I totally forgot that the three guys in Sally’s shop were soldiers, not townsfolk, so they were a little weaker than they should have been.

We’ll have to review the Sorcerer-like pre-roll statement of actions, because I think a couple of people weren’t sure whether we were doing that or saying “new things” into the moment. Also, to my surprise while editing, I think I mistook the resolution outcomes for the final two punches for the damage outcomes, which should have been rolled separately.