3:16 Actual Play Session 1
Things kick off for 3:16: Carnage Amongst The Stars by Gregor Hutton with an attack on the Terran Asteroid Belt. The 3rd Army of the 16th Brigade sprung into action and quickly purged the mysterious alien virus from the computer core. In fact, pretty much everything was purged in a 5,000 mile radius. The whole crew enjoyed the setting aside from a few minor grumbles (“Mining robots? Really?” -Jen) and energy was high; everyone walked away with considerable excitement for next session.
Roles:
- Kevin was GM
- Jen played Tucker
- Rank: Trooper Rep: Seen the face of God FA: 7 NFA: 3
- Brandon played Miller
- Rank: Sergeant Rep: First time out. FA: 3 NFA: 7
- Dan Played Murphy
- Rank: Corporal Rep: Lawbringer (as in, Murphy’s Law) FA: 8 NFA: 2
- CJ Played Carson
- Rank: Trooper Rep: Easily Spooked FA: 6 NFA: 4
Relevant Links
- Mandelbrot
- “Mars” Asteroid Belt
- Johnny 5
- Deadspace
- Spooky Outhouse Survey
Crunchy Bits!
- Music by Mark Morgan from the soundtrack to Planescape: Torment
Podcast: |
Tags: 3:16, Box Ninja, Brandon, CJ, Dan, Gregor Hutton, Jen, Kevin
I’ll have to listen to this one once I’m finished with the Misspent Youth series. I’ve tried 3:16 and was really disappointed, so I’m curious where you found the fun in it.
Also, Planescape: Torment soundtrack? Friggin’ approved, man! I just finished playing that game a few days ago.
[…] Walking Eye 3:16 Actual Play Session 1 […]
Oh, listening to the start of this I was kinda struck by how “indie” the beginning seemed to want to be. It was all “Umm. You’re on a ship. Umm. Oh, what’s it like? Umm. What things do you have? Umm.” and I felt like it was a brainstorming session for the world or whatever. I think that can work fine, but only if someone grabs the bull by the horns and starts “living” in the world. “Hey, I grab the coffee from the machine and spit in it. Hey, Sarrrrge! Got your coffee.” “Why, thanks Gideon, that’s very kind of you.” “No problem, Sarge. Enjoy the coffee!”
Maybe it would have been better if as GM you’d just said _this_ is how it is (paint in broad strokes, even) and given the players a tighter vision to start with. Then let them grow into an already partly established world.
Anyway, looking forward to hearing more!
Oh, yeah, the universe is open to a gazillion interpretations from the book. I deliberately didn’t want to nail down too rigid a world view (like, religion or God is never mentioned in the book at all, or what people look like is never clearly shown). But it sounded like one of the players felt he was kinda in a vacuum at the start and it was easier for him to find his feet once he knew what the world around him was like.
I tend to just say the stuff from pages 6 and 7 (“Their whole mission” … “Paradise it reality” … “Recruiting Posters” “Suicide Booths” … “All characters in the 16th Brigade of the 3rd Army”) then create characters and frame them pretty strongly as GM into their Mission Briefing (or sleeping quarters).
The first session(s) are usually people finding their feet with the mechanics and fitting themselves into their characters shoes (or finding a new character to play).
Hey, it’s always fun hearing this stuff.
[…] Actual Play where this shutdown happens: The Walking Eye 3:16 Actual Play – Session 1 https://thewalkingeye.com/?p=322 ; (Start a 2:13) [15:37] Your character is not the sum of what they’ve done before. […]