Wednesday 10 February 2016

5 Plot Points

Introduction

In my last piece, I mentioned that my friend Steve and his son had visited us last Saturday.  I've already described our Frostgrave game, but we also played a Pulp Alley scenario.  I'm not going to describe that yet (you'll just have to wait a while), but it involved Tarzan, Nazis, a deserted archaeologists' camp in the jungle and some pretty hostile wildlife!

This was our second ever game of Pulp Alley and after the first game (here), I felt that using bland, unnamed plastic chits for the objectives wasn't really getting properly into the spirit of things.  In the intervening weeks, I made some "proper" objective markers.  These are described below.


The Luggage


So, the scenario will be set at a deserted campsite.  Whose luggage is it?  Was he or she planning a secretive departure, unknown to their colleagues?  If so then what caused them to leave the luggage behind?  Is it full of banknotes, treasure maps or other incriminating evidence - or just dirty socks and other laundry?


The Radio


The camp had a radio for communicating with the outside world; the height of 1930s technology!  Was it used to relay secret messages to spies and saboteurs?  If the dials are still set then it might be possible to identify the last person to be sent a message; that would be a useful clue.  Perhaps there's a code book or some notes hidden inside the case?  It's got to be worth a look.


The Native


So, this man is hanging around the deserted campsite.  Does he know what happened to the archaeologists?  Did a swarm of army ants drive them off?  Perhaps he saw some group attack and capture the campers?  Perhaps he's a straggler from the group which captured them?  Does anyone speak his language, anyway?


The Journal


There's a leather-bound book lying in the grass near the campsite.  Was it dropped by one of the archaeologists?  It might have a wealth of clues as to what happened - but maybe it's in code?  Of course, it might just be poetry.


The Ancient Dagger


This is a particularly fine-looking knife, but it's a very unusual, perhaps somewhat archaic design.  Is this an artifact that the archaeologists found at a nearby site?  If so then it might point to an incredible lost civilisation.  Or perhaps it was dropped by an interloper - maybe it's some hidden cult's ritual dagger, mislaid in their haste to escape with more victims to sacrifice?  Hmm, I wonder if the ruby in the hilt is worth anything?


Conclusion


To see how we got on with these items and find out who won, who was eaten and who ran away, I'll tell you just this:

"Listen again next time for another exciting episode of The Adventures of Tarzan, Jungle Lord!"

27 comments:

  1. Excellent stuff Hugh. I'm a big fan of objective markers and they really do look the business imho. I'm certainly looking forward to seeing them in action, along with the Lord of the Jungle :-)

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    1. Thanks! I'll have to come up with more objective markers for other games as well, I think.

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  2. Good plot points C6, but I'm betting you aleady have a name or nickname for the native !

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    1. Ah, no - I hadn't even considered that he needed a name. Seems obvious though, so now I'm racking my brains for one...

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  3. They look triff Hugh, it reminds me to put together some for 7TV2e

    I'm with Joe - name for the native?

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    1. Hmm, I'll need to do some objectives for 7TV as well, won't I? No, I don't (yet) have a name for the native.

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  4. Cool objective markers! I like the looks of these, they are well done!

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    1. Thanks, N667. I'm quite pleased with these markers.

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  5. Nice work on those objective markers. :)

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    1. Again, thanks. I'll need to do more, but these first ones worked out well and were very easy to make.

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  6. They are far better than counters.

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    1. Even printed cardboard would have been better than the plain perspex disks I used in my first game!

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  7. The object markers do add to the atmosphere of the game. And what is more they look excellent

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    1. Proper markers do change the way the players think about them, don't they? I'm quite pleased with these - and they were very easy to make.

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  8. Very nice dude! Proper objective markers.

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    1. Thanks, Bob. I'm very glad I made them; it was well worth the effort!

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  9. Very nice and certainly add to the theme of the game.

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    1. Thanks, Lee. I can reuse some of these for other games, but I'll need a larger set of markers in the longer term, I think!

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  10. Great looking markers they really bring the game alive.
    Cheers
    Stu

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    1. Thanks, Stuart. These markers made a big difference to the tone of the game, I think!

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  11. They look great. And now I'm intrigued!

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    1. And that's how it should be, isn't it :-) ? First rule of pulp: leave them hanging!

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    2. Ha ha that sounds about right!

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  12. These are very clean plot points. They are well design, easy to see and well contrasted with the base design.

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    1. Thanks, Cedric. I wanted items that were obvious, in scale and suggestive.

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  13. Great post Colgar!!! Atmospheric backstory/plot to the markers.

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    1. Thanks! I think I'll have to make some more now :-) .

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