Nerdly Beach Party Spring 2014 Report

         This was Nerdly Beach Party gathering after a long break, organized by Joshua Bishop-Roby. I again attended with my son Milo (now 14). It was again at San Simeon State Park, as has usually been the case. This time we had twenty adults, one teen, and three small children.

Fri Night: Fiasco

The evening slot started late. I played in a game of Fiasco, with Morgan facilitating. We played the Vegas playset.

         I didn't record the full details on this, but it was about a set of gangsters including a gambler, a moll, and others. The action was a bit unexpected, especially with little gambling action despite the Vegas background.

Sat Morning: Pickup Games

Saturday morning we had a game of the "Forbidden Desert" board game with Prudence and Joshua, then went to the beach - where we saw a seal poke its head up just a few yards into the surf from us.

Sat Afternoon: Polaris

         The players and/or characters were:

• Sean as Fornax, the starsmith who had chained the demon Four Bird - whom we later decided was one of 12 sisters. Her unique aspects were "Lore of the Stars" and "Four Bird, Lord of Carrion". His Mistaken included Four Bird and Etzlitotek. Her New Moon includes Alinak (sister), Rischia (youngest sister), and Duke Indus (father). Her Full Moon included Duke Corvus (patron), Kallius (objecting brother), Cassandra, and Sextans (scarred knight).
• Myself as the Sirius the truth-teller. His unique aspects were "Rischia, Maiden of the Midmost Hall" and "Song of Truth". His Mistaken included Four Bird (who had killed his one true love Lady Lyra). His New Moon included Rischia (who loved him) and Duke Corvus (father). His Full Moon included Lady Lyra (now dead), Sir Sextans (scarred knight) and Kallius (objecting brother).
• Ed as Altair the scholar. His unique aspects were "Keeper of the Leftmost Museum" and "A Mysterious Disappearance". His Mistaken included Etzlitotec (maybe stole Altinak) and Four Bird (Fornax's steed who killed Lyra). His New Moon included Altinak (who disappeared from his study) and Rischia (muse whom he is in love with). His Full Moon included Sir Sextans (knight, scarred from fighting Four Bird).
• Jeff as Persius the reknowned champion in love with a demon princess. His unique aspects included "Etzlitotec, Princess of Spring" and "Reknowned Champion". His Mistaken included Etzlitotec. His New Moon included Rischia (the Beautiful), Duke Corvus (father), and Kallius (objecting brother). His Full Moon included Cassandra (scholar of the Mistaken) and Sextans (scarred knight).

In putting this together, we eventually decided that Persius the champion was betrothed to marry Rischia, the lady reknowned for her beauty - but she was in love with his younger brother Sirius, who had foresworn love in favor of truth. Rischia was the youngest of 12 daughters of Duke Indus including Fornax, renowned for her star metal smiting, and also of Altinak, the renowned huntress. Sirius and Persius were brothers - among the 12 sons of Duke Corvus. Altair the scholar was in love with Rischia, and was investigating the disappearance of her sister Altinak - for whom the top suspect was Etzlitotec (Persius' demon lover).

         We didn't get many scenes in, but at least it was sufficient for a taste of the game. During the betrothal, Kallius objected to the betrothal - and Sirius spoke out the uncomfortable truth of the love triangle. Fornax landed her winged demon steed on the museum and went underground to investigate her sister Altinak's disappearance, only to be ambushed by deadly flowers. Sirius confronted the chained demon Four Bird that he encountered by the museum.

cf. also Sean's post.

Sat Evening: Monster of the Week

I game-mastered a game of Monster of the Week, one of my favorite games. Collectively creating the set, we set our game in Mundaneville, Iowa - population 100. THe players and their characters were:

• Milo playing the Initiate, Jeff Reeus - a member of an ancient Iowan secret society. His connections: he knew that Jane was in the prophecies; and Bobby Mundane knew him but only his cover identity. He had Cool and Weird highlighted.
• Rustyn as the Wronged, Jane Killian (or "Killer Jane") - whose parents were eaten by werewolves in Mundaneville when she was 8 years old (13 years ago), after which she was fostered in the big city. Her connections: she respected Jeff's hard-earned knowledge, and is a relation of Bobby. She had Cool and Tough highlighted.
• Ed as the Mundane, Bobby Mundane - a friendly country boy and a relative of the town's founding family. His connections: he is a bit suspicious of Jane, and Jeff introduced him to monsters. He had Charm and Sharp highlighted.

         Other elements included elderly Sherriff Gwen, the mayor John Mundane and his wife Martha who run the general store, the cursed land dating back to ancient Iowan Indians, the biker bar on the edge of town ("Crazy Jack's"), and the Order of the Serpent's Tooth that opposed the AISS.

         We started in media res as werewolves attack Bobby's car. Jeff pulled up in his truck to the rescue, but they needed cover from Jane (The Wronged) who was just returning to town. They eventually found there was a biker gang - the Wild Dogs - who seemed like werewolves who were in town. They were being controlled (?) by an artifact called the Full Moon Pendant. Starting from the biker bar, eventually they tracked down the gang to a small house outside of town, and shot their way past the werewolf guards to confron the sorcerer with the pendant upstairs.

Conclusion

         This year's beach party was rather more social and less game-focused than previous ones, with a lot of activity by non-gaming children and partners. That's good for some things, but I hope that future one's have some more focused gaming time.