FG Con: Synopsis
Wow... Did I ever have fun! For my first time ever really breaking with tradition of playing games with my own group and reaching out and playing games with complete strangers, it was a great experience!
I was nervous at first, you know. That nagging feeling deep inside you wondering if this group will respond the way your normal group would, if they would have fun, even wondering if they could understand me... But it didn't take long before I was wrapped up in the event, and all those fears disappeared.
I was a little tentative this time, I only hosted one session, and I managed to get to a few events and participate. But the biggest thing for me, was that I was able meet some new players and a few of which joined me in some of my own games in the following weeks. But next time, I think I will try and host a few more games.
For me, there were several key factors as to why I enjoyed it so much.
- The way it was organized. There were a lot of volunteers who worked behind the scenes to make this such a great event!
- Obviously, Fantasy Grounds and SmiteWorks.. its pretty cool when a company will give free access to a program for a week to allow people to be a part of this..
- Being invited to be a part of a great group of people at The Society of Extraordinary Gamers. Another really well organized club! Cool thing about this group is that its well supported, AND there are people from all over the world.. What a resource of information and ideas!
- And lastly, it was full of people who just wanted to have fun. Awesome!
My Event: Weird Wars II: The Forgotten Beach
Now, lets talk about my event. So warning, spoilers ahead.
So, the basic concept of this game was during D Day, several companies were pulled off the assault at Omaha Beach to attack another beach called Atlas. The mission was cryptic and rushed. Hit the beach, secure an old french chapel in where several high ranking SS officers were recently spotted by French resistance.
The opening scene pretty much consisted of the guys in the Higgins Boats fighting off bouts of nausea as they were heading in. As they reached the beach, the squads jumped from the boats and landed in a hellish warzone of barbed wire, criss crossing fire, explosions, the works. One of the players, a medic did a fantastic job keeping the men alive. He also went well above my expectations and kept "Many" of the "Extra" squad members alive. Who's sole intention was to soak up bullets for the players.
Not long after being on the beach they all noticed strange sights, as ghostly images of fallen comrades started to appear which seemed like they then got hauled from the dying bodies inland towards the chapel. All at the same time, a thick fog bank was forming on the battlefield. After surviving the beach, they charged up to the gun emplacements while doing so, ran into the forming fog.
When they exited the other side of the fog, they found themselves in a barren, war torn no mans land. Sounds of battle on the beach seemed distant and far away. They found bodies in the mud,soldiers in uniforms from the first World War.
Not long after, they heard people running towards them, shapes in the mist.. So they opened up and fired only to discover they were US soldiers running towards the beach.. After making a couple of fear checks they recovered and kept moving, looking for the chapel.
During the journey inland they found an old trench system, which was more twisted and oddly designed, filled with barbed wire which seemed to reach out and grab at people passing by. They also found a person cowering in the mud, shaken scared and near insane. A German scientist who when interrogated explained how the SS paranormal divisions were doing experiments and was using a device called a Soul Magnet, which would collect the souls of people sacrificed to power a gate in which they could summon powerful entities. The one thing they didnt take into account was the day of the assault, the 1000's of people getting killed supercharged the gate and ripped a hole in the fabric between the dimensions.
They then came to the chapel which was twisted and warped. While being attacked from various hellish creatures the group entered into chapel and destroyed the soul magnet, causing the chapel to implode. People went running for cover, while several of the players could not escape in time and got sucked into the gate. The rest were able to get out and when they exited the fog, found themselves standing on the top of the bluffs overlooking the beach, on the day of the battle just moments before the initial waves of Higgins boats were to hit the shore.. and thats where the adventure ended.
Funny thing about this, is I screwed up the ending of the game. I had my notes, and there were 3 outcomes.. #1 they shut the gate and survive, #2 They shut the gate and die, #3 They do not shut the gate and all die. Outcomes were determined based on certain things that happened through out the game.
Final Thoughts
I messed up my notes at the very end, as we were about 20 mins over my allotted time of the game. What should have happened was this..
Remember the squad that the players mowed down? No one checked to see who they were. They just saw the patches on the arms and noticed it was people from the same company as the players. Now fast forward to the end, while the survivors were running from the imploding chapel. As they were running towards the beach, they would have seen a squad of soldiers in front of them who would have opened fired and killed them all. As they were laying on the ground I was suppose to describe that they were looking up at themselves standing above the now dying players.. In essence, they shot themselves. But oh well.
But, regardless, we all had some fun. I had learned a valuable lesson. Never under estimate the desire for players to keep "Extras" alive in squad based games.. There is power in numbers!
Looking forward to the next FG Con!
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