Friday 14 February 2014

ATZ (B Team-4): Little Lost Girl. Part 2

Introduction

A short while ago, I published Part 1 of "Little Lost Girl".  Since it was my wedding anniversary, I didn't have enough time to complete the story in a single sitting.  That was then, so here is the 2nd and final part of the battle report...

Bob's Friends?

Bob was jolted out of his bacon roll reverie by the sound of footsteps approaching from the far side of the nearest van.  He was just starting to be alarmed when 3 humans walked into view (Vincenzo, Mary and Timmy - all REP 4).  Their leader, a tall, fit-looking man in a brown suit, eyed Bob up warily.  "We heard shots" he said, calmly.  "Was that you?  I don't see any zeds around here..."
"Yes" replied the flustered tradesman.  "Er, no.  No - I haven't got a gun, see".
"Hey, don't sweat it" said Vincenzo.  "We're not trying to rob you or anything, OK?  Just looking out for ourselves.  You do know that noise seems to attract the Zs, don't you?"
"Sure, well of course".
"OK, then.  You take care".  With that, the 3 people started to walk away, in the direction of the restaurant.

"Er, no - I wouldn't go that way!" called Bob, as he realised which direction the newcomers had taken.  His warning came a little too late, though, as the family almost bumped into the zombies who were following the sounds of Ernie's and Sid's argument.

There was a sharp rattle of gunfire as both Vincenzo and Timmy opened up with automatic weapons.  Although they did kill 1 zombie and knocked down others, the remainder were upon them before they could do much.  Mary fled as the creatures approached and Timmy managed (just!) to fend off his attackers.  However, Vincenzo was quickly surrounded.

Timmy ran after Mary as soon as he could free himself from the attackers' clutches.  For a moment, it looked as if Vincenzo would also be able to get away...

...but the remaining zombies overwhelmed him and tore the big man apart in a frenzy.

Bob's Enemies

While the fight was going on behind him, Bob was faced with another pair of zombies that had been attracted by all the commotion.  Fortunately for the builder, there was only room for one of these to approach at once due to the narrow gaps between the cars in front of him.  Bob readied his hammer and waited for the first assailant to come into range.  To his complete surprise, his swing was perfectly timed to catch the zombie right in the middle of the skull; it went down hard and stopped moving.

He swung again and once more his hammer hit just the right spot, caving in the zombie's skull and sending it crashing to the ground.  "Huh" he muttered.  "They're not so tough.  It's all in the wrist.  Go, me!"

The snarling sounds of the zombies behind him, feasting on Vincenzo brought Bob back to the real world.  Quickly, he ran through the lines of abandoned cars and joined his friends in the gun shop.  Bob was just in time to see Sid charging across the floor and delivering an almighty blow to a zombie with his crossing sign.

Once the immediate threat was neutralised, the team looked around the shop.  Much of the merchandise was locked away in cabinets that they couldn't open, but Michelle took a hunting bow from a rack on the wall.  "I used to be quite good at archery in summer camp" she explained, looking slightly abashed.

Sid rummaged around behind the counter and came up with a bottle of antibiotic pills.  "I wonder why the owner kept them here, in the shop?" he mused.

"Lucy, where are you?" called Michelle, realising that the little girl was no longer in sight.  The child popped her head up from beneath the desk, grinning from ear to ear.  "Look what I found!" she exclaimed.  "It's a real knife!"  It was one of the biggest Bowie knives that any of the adults had ever seen (What are the odds?  Lucy drew the "Machete" card again from the reshuffled Risks and Rewards deck!).

The group moved to search the rooms above the shop.  They split up to investigate the separate rooms, but Lucy's father wasn't anywhere to be found.  Instead, two very heavily armed women (Emma and Jenny) were holed up in the apartment.  Politely, but very firmly, they asked the B-team to leave.

Sid and Ernie's bickering continued, until a zombie heard the noise and followed them up the stairs.  The two friends fell silent as they realised what they had done, then Ernie knocked the creature down and Sid finished it off by jamming his pole where it wasn't designed to go.

The street appeared to be empty as the party left "Bob's Bargain Bullets" (because all the zombies were wandering on the other side of the line of traffic and couldn't see the people).  They decided to move on to the adjacent book store, hoping to find Lucy's father there.

Alternate Ending (?!)

On the night of the game, I was going to finish at this point so as to have plenty of time to pack up.  The hall we hire is used by some dance group immediately after us and therefore we need to be out promptly.  Often we're a bit slow in halting the play; it usually takes longer to pack up than I have allowed!

However, this time the players remonstrated and pointed out that we had a few minutes more.  We played on for a little, but in a considerable hurry.  Rather than present photos of the action within the book shop (which is an "empty shell" build anyway), here's a quick summary:
  • Ground floor: 3 zombies.  1 shot by Michelle with her new bow, 2 others killed in melee.
  • Upper floor: 2 zombies (1 adult and 1 child).  Adult zombie dispatched, but the child infected both Ernie and Sid.  Lucy ran away screaming, pursued closely by Michelle and Bob.
So, here's a dilemma; one that I've never faced before.  I probably shouldn't have continued the game - we were in too much of a rush and mistakes were made.  I imagine that we played some rules wrong as well as some of the hasty tactics being flawed.  But the truth of is that we did play on.

Do I let the results stand (i.e. 2 party members zombified and the others fleeing - a failed mission), or should I only count up to where I had initially wanted to halt (where everyone was still alive and the mission was a minor success)?  What do you think?  Live or die?  The game length that was intended or what was actually played?

26 comments:

  1. I suggest a live, and restart where you originally designed. Maybe one of them had a foresight a-la Final Destination and will stop the other to continue

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    1. Yes, that could work: "Don't rush in there - I have a bad feeling about it!"

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  2. No alternate ending I'm still alive.LOL

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  3. Ouch, tough call.

    I would vote for the original stop, and forget the hasty play. Stay with the marginal victory, and start up without the book store portion. Normally I would vote for the "alternate" ending, but keep going from what you had, it will probably be best.

    I love the group, so it might be that i just want more stories before the inevitable end...

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    1. OK, that's 3 votes so far to save the group against 0 for keeping the hasty ending.

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  4. No pictures no proof of what happened :P

    Great part 2 shall look forward to the real part 3 not this hazy daydream of them being bitten.

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    1. Well, technically there were a few photos. I just didn't post them for all to see. Plausible deniability?

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  5. I see three options, Rewind-that was the actors doing some improve which did not make the final editing cut. Maybe it was a dream sequence!

    Pay on- yes it all happened and Zombies and Survival is both harsh and hard.

    OR Maybe the bites from a child were not deep enough. This can result in you running separate scenarios where they have to get to a Vets very quickly before the infection takes hold. In order to take some medicine......This might result in them being out of action for a scenario or two and make the others get food and water for the two wounded.

    If you want to keep it harsh and gritty you could say they could amputate the limbs involved which will lead to players to make a difficult choice.

    So as far as I am concerned there are still choices and you can still make it go any way you want.

    Another very good episode though and possibly a cliff hanger ending.

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    1. Interesting 3rd option - I hadn't considered doing something like that. Thanks for the ideas.

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  6. I agree no cctv evidence, no witnesses, no forensic. it never happened. Although maybe they feel a bit ill over their blood soaking and as a result an expedition to a hospital or Doctor's surgery for some more drugs to set their minds at rest.

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    1. That's 6-0 in favour of saving them, I think.

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  7. PS. Loved the story and the BATREP.

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  8. I'm of the opinion that if there are no photographs to corroborate the account then it didn't happen. So, continue the game from where it should have ended.

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    1. 7-0, then. I'd better "lose" the photos and plan for the shopping trip/search for relatives to continue :-) .

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  9. Before I even start commenting, I love the way you do your reports. The extra effort for the photos is really worth it and the story telling, really enjoyable. I tried that but I am not much of a writer :(.

    As for the question, I'd love to say let them die, life is cruel...if for nothing else, at least that'd be a point for the opposing opinion.

    But when I read the report, I was hoping you'd let them live. If nothing else, skirmish game is all about a group of people, so perhaps keeping them alive isn't too bad. Or at least not at this stage. I have to take not for my campaign - take some extra people so they can die in first couple of games :D

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    1. Thanks, Mathyoo. You're right - life is cruel! If it had just been one character dying I wouldn't have thought twice about it, but the group does matter. Ah, what to do?

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  10. I say back up and redo it. Being rushed is never good for gaming or clear thinking. Besides, it is just a game, so why be a slave to the "rules". Maybe the question to ask is which story do you prefer to tell?

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    1. Well, I certainly agree about wanting a good story! I'm just a little concerned about setting a precedent...

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  11. Aargghh, what a "dilemma", especially after their great adventure.
    Before you make up mind up as to the actual ending consider the follwoing:
    Do the players actually believe their characters are dead ?
    Even if the last moves were rushed would the outcome really have been any different? (given the same dice rolls)
    Were there rules that you ommitted or got so wrong that they would have had a detrimental effect on the outcome ? (Brown pants rule ?)
    For my two-pennerth I would go with the alternatetive outcome, but you wouldn't be the first I know to change outcomes. I know errors in a campaing can be backtracked fairly easily too (ones that seem detrimental seem to be ignored).
    Good luck with the decision making, but I'd make it logical rather than on votes. You don't want a precedence causing a future problem.
    Did Timmy and Mary survive ?(Who wouldn't want Timmy as a character with his auto fire weapon ?)

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    1. If I'm honest with myself, I don't think the result would have been different even if we hadn't rushed the final few turns. But I can't be sure...

      Yes, Timmy and Mary ran away without being injured. Who knows where they are now :-) ?

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  12. I really like Clint's idea of picking up with the guys bitten, but not knowing whether they're infected.

    First task: Rally the routers, then get those bitten guys off for a medical examination.

    I've never paid much attention to the deep-dive theory of zombie infection and prevention. It's always been a good excuse for the ultimate evil horde. That's always left me plenty of wiggle room to explain miracle recoveries, or indeed the guys who succumb to "mererly a scratch".

    So how about part 3: Gather the scattered remnants for a full speed cross-town mercy dash. Forget all that stuff you heard about hiding and staying quiet. You're 3 blocks from the medicentre, it's night-time, you can't afford to hang about, game on!!

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    1. You're right that the "science" behind zombie infection is extremely mutable to suit each particular story. Much more so than (say) for vampires or werewolves...

      Another vote for the 3rd option: infected but still alive, for now.

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  13. I like the idea of racing against the clock to find a cure for the infected characters.

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    1. That wasn't my preferred option, but it's growing on me! I'll need to think about this...

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