After Action Report: the Eggshell Campaign

Clancy · 03-11-2013, 03:07 PM

Contents

Contents, GM introduction, Dramatis Personae (this very post)
Prologue Session I
Prologue Session II
Prologue Session IIIa
Prologue Session IIIb
Session 1a: Alex Frolov's quarters
Session 1b: Acknowledgement and task request
Session 1c: Revealing
Session 2a: The Gift
Session 2b: Teambuilding
Session 3a: Managing the risks
Session 3b: Common math
Session 4a: Amanda La Shen
Session 4b: Awakening
Session 5: Arrival
Session 6a: Step Inside
Session 6b: Inhabitants
Session 7a: Second Contact, CSAF's Move
Session 7b: Going further
Session 8a: Diaries, Sanity and Good Will
Session 8b: The Countdown has began

GM introduction

Greetings!

As it had been mentioned already, I’m trying to run some THS story/sandbox. Vicky informed me about interested people who are willing to read the reports about GM’ing and playing in this setting.

Firstly about my experience. I’ll try to be as short as possible: 4 years ago (and still running this until now) I had been introduced to a game advertised as ‘cats in space with computers’. Our GM began to tell a story about a sophisticated swarm outbreak at ‘Vostok’ station, forcibly including all the earthlings in the ‘Hivemind’, International Blockade Fleet at the medium orbits... and we are tracing the origins of the swarm.

Then GM slowly faded out, and I (my character) had been painfully lost in the middle of the dead story. So year after the last session of the unfinished game I tried to finish this with all the alterations previous GM included in the world. For example there were almost no SAIs - only NAIs and LAIs.

Well, this had been achieved successfully, but due to some imminent failures and assumptions of an already ‘broken’ world (e.g. there were ‘psy’ traces) it became obvious: I need to run something much more canonical. Also, post-apoc + THS is a really bad combination anyway.

So, the current story, started less than a month ago, named Eggshell (this name has more than 2 layers of sense. Most obvious is this: dragons lay eggs :) but you may also think of how you perceive countless billions on Earth while progress and future really advanced by much, MUCH less people on the frontier. Contents and shell, something to evolve and grow...) is loosely tied to Duncanites, Earth orbit and something to find in the hollow but not-so-hostile outer space.

I had promised my party that in this story we will not need to visit Earth (at least according to the main plot requirements) and that we’ll be mostly in the Earth orbits (once again remember the name)..

But despite plot presence, it’ll be more sandbox than a railroad game, and in the worst case scenario they’ll just miss the final titles, that’s it. :)

Below you’ll find first session contents, transcribed by one of my players (many thanks!). Note this is personal intro, so he is alone here. Don't worry, party will come in shortly.

Hope it’ll be interesting to read, and due to my style of GMing your ideas and reactions are REALLY appreciated, I tend to forget obvious things to say, and very often a random conversation will ignite my insight. And yes, we have more than this one session already.

Dramatis Personæ

1. Richard Caine

Richard Caine, reasonably successful general-purpose social interface.

Mugshot: vaguely attractive but not particularly remarkable male in the late 20s; always sharp-dressed but not very original; carries a presence of great confidence, and yet clearly doesn’t take himself too seriously.

Dirtshot report:

Spoiler:

2. Cherry Hunter

Cherry Hunter, Caine’s personal secretary bioroid.

Mugshot: attractive girl in early 20s, with dark/red hair, and lips slightly redder than seems possible without artificial pigmentation; generally European face, but with a slight and perhaps even artificial hint of something Asian. Typically wears clothes carefully balancing in the middle of the formal, the comfortable, and the alluring. Almost perpetually cheerful and in good mood.

Dirtshot report:

Spoiler:

3. Komatsu Daiki

Duncanite teen prodigy of Japanese ancestry; shell and AI whiz.

Mugshot: An attractive, tall and slender oriental teen, most commonly dressed in convenient station-issue overalls. Rather adroit, and obviously well-adjusted to freefall. Commonly carries a can of cola or two in a pocket . . . or in hand.

Dirtshot info:

Spoiler:

4. Kitsos Laskaris

Kitsos Laskaris, linguist/interpreter in training and former grey-collar telereceptionist.

Mugshot: a European male in late teens, slightly below average height, but of a sturdy physique.

Dirtshot report:

Spoiler:

5. Igor Beregovoy

Igor Beregovoy, frontier-seeking cybertech.

Mugshot:

Dirtshot report:

Spoiler:

03-11-2013, 03:07 PM	#1
Clancy Join Date: Jan 2013	After Action Report: the Eggshell Campaign Contents Contents, GM introduction, Dramatis Personae (this very post) Prologue Session I Prologue Session II Prologue Session IIIa Prologue Session IIIb Session 1a: Alex Frolov's quarters Session 1b: Acknowledgement and task request Session 1c: Revealing Session 2a: The Gift Session 2b: Teambuilding Session 3a: Managing the risks Session 3b: Common math Session 4a: Amanda La Shen Session 4b: Awakening Session 5: Arrival Session 6a: Step Inside Session 6b: Inhabitants Session 7a: Second Contact, CSAF's Move Session 7b: Going further Session 8a: Diaries, Sanity and Good Will Session 8b: The Countdown has began GM introduction Greetings! As it had been mentioned already, I’m trying to run some THS story/sandbox. Vicky informed me about interested people who are willing to read the reports about GM’ing and playing in this setting. Firstly about my experience. I’ll try to be as short as possible: 4 years ago (and still running this until now) I had been introduced to a game advertised as ‘cats in space with computers’. Our GM began to tell a story about a sophisticated swarm outbreak at ‘Vostok’ station, forcibly including all the earthlings in the ‘Hivemind’, International Blockade Fleet at the medium orbits... and we are tracing the origins of the swarm. Then GM slowly faded out, and I (my character) had been painfully lost in the middle of the dead story. So year after the last session of the unfinished game I tried to finish this with all the alterations previous GM included in the world. For example there were almost no SAIs - only NAIs and LAIs. Well, this had been achieved successfully, but due to some imminent failures and assumptions of an already ‘broken’ world (e.g. there were ‘psy’ traces) it became obvious: I need to run something much more canonical. Also, post-apoc + THS is a really bad combination anyway. So, the current story, started less than a month ago, named Eggshell (this name has more than 2 layers of sense. Most obvious is this: dragons lay eggs :) but you may also think of how you perceive countless billions on Earth while progress and future really advanced by much, MUCH less people on the frontier. Contents and shell, something to evolve and grow...) is loosely tied to Duncanites, Earth orbit and something to find in the hollow but not-so-hostile outer space. I had promised my party that in this story we will not need to visit Earth (at least according to the main plot requirements) and that we’ll be mostly in the Earth orbits (once again remember the name).. But despite plot presence, it’ll be more sandbox than a railroad game, and in the worst case scenario they’ll just miss the final titles, that’s it. :) Below you’ll find first session contents, transcribed by one of my players (many thanks!). Note this is personal intro, so he is alone here. Don't worry, party will come in shortly. Hope it’ll be interesting to read, and due to my style of GMing your ideas and reactions are REALLY appreciated, I tend to forget obvious things to say, and very often a random conversation will ignite my insight. And yes, we have more than this one session already. Dramatis Personæ 1. Richard Caine Richard Caine, reasonably successful general-purpose social interface. Mugshot: vaguely attractive but not particularly remarkable male in the late 20s; always sharp-dressed but not very original; carries a presence of great confidence, and yet clearly doesn’t take himself too seriously. Dirtshot report: Spoiler: Works as a freelance negotiator, advocate, and social analyst (sometime including memetics). Is actually a honorary member of administrative/technical staff of New Guinea’s diplomatic corps, but rarely takes significant active part in international politics. Spent about two decades owned by Biotech Euphrates, and kept working for them some more after being freed; still on very good terms with the corporation. Has been seen opposing abolitionist movements, but in a somewhat roundabout way. Has a bioroid secretary bought from one of the Duncanite security corporations. Is actually a ghost, but prefers to neither advertise nor hide the fact. 2. Cherry Hunter Cherry Hunter, Caine’s personal secretary bioroid. Mugshot: attractive girl in early 20s, with dark/red hair, and lips slightly redder than seems possible without artificial pigmentation; generally European face, but with a slight and perhaps even artificial hint of something Asian. Typically wears clothes carefully balancing in the middle of the formal, the comfortable, and the alluring. Almost perpetually cheerful and in good mood. Dirtshot report: Spoiler: Richard Caine’s ever-loyal secretary. Fluent in many languages, and cultures too. Seems to have a usage history back to Duncanite security firms. Moderately hedonistic and yet diligent. Seems to enjoy serving under Caine’s leadership quite a lot. Treated well. Somewhat unusually, treats her station with great pride - will not tolerate any form of humiliation, whether by belittling her status and work, or by seeing her as a victim. 3. Komatsu Daiki Duncanite teen prodigy of Japanese ancestry; shell and AI whiz. Mugshot: An attractive, tall and slender oriental teen, most commonly dressed in convenient station-issue overalls. Rather adroit, and obviously well-adjusted to freefall. Commonly carries a can of cola or two in a pocket . . . or in hand. Dirtshot info: Spoiler: Known as a shell and computer whiz kid, with the appropriate certificates. Also proficient in light spaceship repair procedures. Seen enjoying assorted engineering projects. Always up to date as far as technology goes. Has a highly customised NAI that could perhaps be mistaken for a LAI; the AI has its own avatar in the shape of a small dragon. 4. Kitsos Laskaris Kitsos Laskaris, linguist/interpreter in training and former grey-collar telereceptionist. Mugshot: a European male in late teens, slightly below average height, but of a sturdy physique. Dirtshot report: Spoiler: A young fellow with an registered unconfirmed certificate in linguistics (i.e. an incomplete education), with a recent record of (by now severed) connection to an electronics hardware vendor of dubious legitimacy. Nothing criminal, but firmly in the grey area of law. If entry-exam results and classmates’ rumours are to be believed, displays cognitive and perceptive abilities rivalling (and possibly even exceeding) those of a Metanoia. No confirming genetic testing has been conducted, and other data suggest such a state of things to be unlikely (e.g. a family with a somewhat conservative stance on parahuman upgrades). 5. Igor Beregovoy Igor Beregovoy, frontier-seeking cybertech. Mugshot: Dirtshot report: Spoiler: A cybertechnician certified by a respected European university, with a particular emphasis on the breadth of experience concerning all sorts of AIs. Judging by university and work records, he had all the opportunities in the world to become a highly-paid specialist down in the Russian Federation, but decided instead to pursue the less glamorous and more demanding but also freer opportunities of the High Frontier. Last edited by Clancy; 09-02-2013 at 07:18 AM.