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Sunday 26 January 2014

Preview: New Hope City PI (Part 3)

Following on from Part 1 and Part 2 of my preview, my PI has found he must return to the scene of the crime and try and locate security footage of the vehicle theft.


It is now day time in a busy area of town. I have to get to the parking garage at the opposite end of the table. Between me and there, lie 4 PEFs and a line of sight obscuring building. The PEFs are evenly distributed, so I opt to go left, round the front of the building.

This is now a great example of how things don't go well...


The first PEF resolves as police, just the usual security, not Stormtroopers. Fine I think, no problem. I pass my interaction check and they leave me be. But no, not so simple. I almost forgot that Police will automatically assess you for suspicious behaviour. The Law Level for that time of day and the fact that it is an important area of town (this is my own modifier based on those given in the game) mean they easily roll more successes (in this case meaning 1-3 on a die) than I do (using the table for suspicious behaviour). First, they check me for warrants. I have not committed any crimes so they don't arrest me, but they will now question me about why I am there and what I am doing. Probably they are extra vigilant following recent vehicle thefts!

[An aside before continuing. THW games use a core mechanic of 'passing' dice. You have a target number, often your REP, and roll (usually) two dice. Each one that scores the target number or less counts as 'passed'. So you normally can pass with 0, 1 or 2 dice for varying degrees of effect. For example, a REP 4 character rolls a 5 and a 2. The 5 is higher than his rep, so fails. The 2 is equal to or lower, so passes. He counts as 'Passed 1d6' for whatever check he was making.]

I use the "Investigation and Arrest" table to find out what happens. I roll two dice against my REP of 5, so need 5 or less. They roll against a Level 2 crime rating, needing 2 or less. I roll badly, 3 and 6, so I pass with 1 die. They roll well, 1 and 2, so they pass with 2. A difference of 1 die in favour of the police mean they take me in for some proper questioning. This is bad. I could potentially go to jail for a crime I didn't commit!

Fortunately, a quick roll on the 'Questioning' table goes in my favour and they drop the case against me. This is a relief as I really didn't want to end up in court! On the downside, they did haul me off the streets while I was trying to carry out my investigation. This wastes time and now I have to return to the place during a different time of day, which can have a knock on effect depending on where you are. I'm fortunate in that the timer doesn't start ticking until I find the first clue and the Factory District is fairly stable in terms of it's law level. But still, it was a close shave I didn't need.


I head back and try again. I quickly encounter a mechanic, but to no effect, so we both carry on our way. The next encounter is a bit more risky.


PEFs move around the table during the game. One went into a nearby building, so I decided to go that way round, hoping it wouldn't come out again. Not so lucky, it jumps out and surprises me. Worse, I find out it is a gang member. Fortunately my People skill, which is used in these interactions, is higher than his resulting in a better outcome when I roll the dice. He isn't interested in me and I quickly move on.



Approaching the side entrance of the car park I encounter a medic. Would have been nice to get him on my side for future, but he's too busy with whatever he's up to. I enter the car park and quickly find the security footage I am after. Heading off the table, I check for another travel encounter and end the scenario.

Great, I've found my first clue which is good, but now the clock starts ticking. I check what I need to do next... another clue. What fits my story? I see someone in a mask steal the vehicle, but the footage also shows a landspeeder slowly moving around the lot. Maybe casing the joint? I'm going to check that out. Research shows it is likely to be near a bar in the commercial district. I don't really have much choice but to head of immediately due to the time constraints. This is what I meant before about the knock on effect of being hauled off for questioning by the police. The area I am heading to has a Law Level of 3 during the day, but now I am heading there in the 'Late' part of the day it drops to 2. There are fewer PEFs (3), but a much higher chance of more appearing out of nowhere and surprising me. So because of the inconvenience earlier I may be in for a rougher ride now.

This game is interesting in how it can throw unexpected occurrences at you and how they can have a knock on effect for future encounters. 'Wargamers' may be dismayed at the lack of actual conflict so far, but that is more than covered by games using the core 5150 rules. This expansion is all about the investigation, the story around it and what happens to you along the way. Sure, the deeper I get into things the more dangerous it will become, certainly when I start to question possible suspects. But for now it has thrown up a few surprises and tense moments, really making it feel like an investigation game rather than a skirmish wargame with a PI theme.

12 comments:

  1. An interesting story - I can see how you would get involved in it. Can you clarify how you decide what is on the security footage? In previous posts you say the rules are comprehensive but is it down to the level of 'someone in a mask steals a vehicle' or 'landspeeder moving slowly round the lot'?

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    1. After the scenario I had to roll to see if the next clue was another object or a 'person of interest'. The result was an object. Tables determined where it was to be found (in this case a bar in they commercial/recreation district), but the details are up to the player. So the type of clue affects the objective of the next game and the rule-determined location affects the law level and number of potential people encountered.

      So you can basically see it as everything that makes an actual difference to the game is covered by the rules, the 'flavour' is created by the player.

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  2. Just had a catch up. Good reading so far and I like how the story is unfolding. I'd be very tempted to have a crack with this sort of thing in 15mm. Shall look forward to the next post indeed!

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    1. Thanks Simon! I think that stories never seem so good to the author's eye, so I'm pleased you're enjoying it.

      You may have seen my 15mm reports for The Department. I think I'd be using the same figures if I wasn't taking this opportunity to get out my Star Wars collection and perhaps link this to my planned campaign for that. Plus I prefer any campaign in urban environments to be in 15mm as I wouldn't be able to store all the buildings in 28mm!

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  3. Sounds like a very interesting system. The tense atmosphere you described (never quite knowing where the next enemy/encounter will be) is exactly what any great game should aspire to replicate......real life!

    Sometimes too much "blam! blam!" in a game can be at the expense of good storytelling.

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    1. I think you are spot on! I like games from Two Hour Wargames mainly for that reason, and the fact they work wonderfully solo. That said, I think playing this game with a friend, where you can take the role of detective and sidekick and have both of you working on how the story unfolds would be pretty ace!

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  4. Most interesting :-) ; I'm waiting eagerly for the next instalment!

    I think that you need to invest a certain amount of imagination into this in order to get the best out of the story, right? It's much better to be going after "security tapes" than after a "level 2 clue" (or whatever the game calls it).

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    1. I don't think you need too much. Just enough to string them together. And if you get confused with it all you could just say the clues come to a dead end and the next one is a new lead you find. Whatever you feel helps the story.

      If you really wanted, you could probably ignore it all together and just call them all 'clues'. It won't break the game. But less exciting that way perhaps, and you'll probably feel less invested in solving the crime!

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  5. This is a great way to use a great set of rules, very enjoyable, thank you

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    1. Pleased you enjoyed it. I'm planning in more posts like this before the rules are properly published, so keep an eye out!

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  6. I've just read through the 3 parts so far published and enjoyed the story line. As an owner of a (so far unused) copy of 5150 New Hope City, it has prompted me to give that a trial, and if I enjoy that, maybe I'll look at this expansion. Thanks very much!

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    1. Sorry for the late reply. 5150 has been updated now. I've only seen a draft copy but it looks great. As does the revised NHCPI, but I don't know if it is compatible with the old version.

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