Fatemaster Friday - A Creepin' and A Crawlin'

[Kimberly]

Flu-tastic Friday Breachers!

I’m still on the mend from my brush with Plague, and it’s been a week of comfort seeking behavior for me. Favorite movies, comforting foods, my army of plush opossums guarding me… and looking back on my tabletop RPG roots. But before I chug along on the nostalgia train, let’s look at what @Shadowopal had to say about working with groups that have scheduling conflicts:

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When it does happen I use a mix of Obsidian portal for the players' journals, Realm Works for my world structure and notes and a camera over my tabletop for minis. I have been spending a lot of time on Realm Works organizing the Campaign. But the time spent definitely makes my life easier. I hope to wrap up the campaign input for the next few campaigns soon and move to Campaign Cartographer to start fleshing out the maps of Malifaux City and the other major landmarks to give me some adventure graphics.

Now, I don’t know about y’all, but one of my first RPG experiences was a good old fashioned dungeon crawl. Slogging through enemies and looking for loot is a part of many players’ experiences. It’s the gateway that fuels the dive into more settings and systems. Before you know it, you’re looking at strange, experimental systems, and in depth settings where you can ride a dinosaur. It’s truly a wild ride. Through the Breach released a dungeon crawl sort of adventure in Bubbling Up From Below, a harrowing journey through a sunken Guild ship that’s mysteriously resurfaced.

The Fated are hired by Lizzy McKinley for a salvage mission to the GSS Piranha, with the promise that they keep whatever valuables they fine or a cut on the salvage money. This leads to a grueling journey through the Bayou filled with rain, giant mosquitos, and deadly snakes. Upon finally arriving to the GSS Piranha, it’s bobs vertically in the water, making exploration of the vessel a challenge.

The bulk of the adventure is delving into the ship, dealing with the undead crew still roaming the ship, until finally reaching a strange and unnerving creature that is behind the Piranha’s sudden reappearance. While this adventure is rather linear, there are actions that the Fated may take that influence the final fight. There are also clues that can be found that give a background and explanation of what it happening, which is always satisfying for players to discover and tear into.

A great thing about Bubbling Up From Below is that it’s a wonderful change of pace; Through the Breach often has conspiracies, plots, sabotage and the like behind the veneer of a “routine job.” And while that’s loads of fun, sometimes you just want to get a group together and bash your characters’ way to victory. This adventure is perfect for that, while still giving enough exposition and atmosphere to keep players interested in the story.

Bubbling Up From Below is available for digital download on DriveThruRPG. Check it out here!

This week, tell me: What’s your favorite kind of adventure to run Fated through? Intrigue? Puzzle-solving? A good showdown?
 

[Vorzakk 2.0]

I try to run a decent variety, but I tend to favor mysteries for this particular setting. 

[WDeseron]

I prefer heists myself, but I’m a rogue at heart. The planning on both sides of the table feeds the creative needs of everyone involved. Then you get to run the execution and watch it all devolve into entropy. I find those cooperative moments of chaos can lead to new and entertaining story directions. 

[Steamtastic Vagabond]

My personal favourites are Call of Cthulhu  set in Malifaux, with the players taking the role of investigators investigating the strange.

[stump_chunkman]

I always prefer a good character driven who-Dunnit full of Dirty Dealings and Dastardly Deadbeats.

[Preposition_the_Noun]

I've only run a handful of games so far, enough to get each of my players their first destiny step.  So far it seems I'm best at what I consider to be straightforward adventures.  The players investigate and/or overcome obstacles to reach the source of antagonism then put an end to it with a climactic battle.  That's not to say I don't add in twists and turns with interesting characters, but I haven't really dabbled in other "genres" of adventures yet.

[Fekie]

Not played a game yet, but i intend to start a group with Legacy of Darkness, with some extra bits to introduce the group the the city of Malifaux.