RPGaDay2024 Day 18 - Memorable Moment of Play

 

The next four days of RPGaDay questions are a progression of RPG memories, which cover a larger scope of time with each day:

• Memorable Moments of Play
• Sensational Session
• Amazing Adventure
• Classic Campaign

As always, I don't look or think ahead, but in this case, I had to put at least a *little* thought into what each represented relative to the others. (It's obvious when you write them down, but not when you just grab the next prompt off the list, and see something similar for the next day.)

Matrix Games

I think the most memorable moment, or at least one of my favorites to share, was in a game of Cthulhu on Campus using Hamster Press Matrix system, by Chris Engle. To clarify the story, I'll give a bit of background on how that system works.

Matrix games are designed to be very narrative and cinematic: Each stand-alone module sets out a scenario in a given genre, and players take roles within the story. A twist is that while the storytelling may be collaborative, the roles they choose may be very at odds with each other.

Action resolution is simple: It's all theatre of the mind, and if you describe an action, and nobody disagrees, then that's what happens. For example: if you say "I'm jumping onto the hood of the speeding car, then leaping over it" and nobody disagrees, then that's just what happens. On the other hand, if someone disagrees, then you each argue your case for why it would or wouldn't work. Then the GM determines the probability that it would work...and each person rolls off. The winning rolls determine which version of the narrative occurred. For example:

P1: "As the car speeds towards me, I jump onto the hood, and leap over it to safety." 

P2: "What? No. The car is driving at speed. You'd be squished like a bug."

P1: "Actually, I'm a trained athlete, I'm used to pressure situations and impressive physical acts."

P2: "Not against a 4000-pound vehicle traveling 40 mph. Again, squished like a bug."

GM: "Okay, that would be pretty hard, even for your skill. P1, your target is a 4; P2, your target is a 3.

Each player rolls 3d6, where their target number is a success. Most successes win and define the narrative.

Rolls: P1: {2,3,4}=one success   P2: {1,3,5}=2 successes

GM: It looks like it was too much for you. You end up leaping on the hood of the car, then being hit by the car and squashed like a bug. You take a leg injury for the rest of the game." (leg injury plays out narratively for future descriptions by P1, and in future difficulty rolls.)

The Story

The game was set on a campus, during a zombie invasion. The six characters were a variety of people you would find on the campus. One person was a football star, one was a science student, another person was an occultist; I was a librarian, and one person was "The Book of Ultimate Evil" (BoUE) and was the instigator of everything that was happening.

The GM laid out the initial settings, and things began to happen. A strange encounter with a disturbed student led to the first sighting of a "feasting" attack on another student. Conversions began to happen, and the students began to marshal their defenses.

The GM then began introducing more elements, and the BoUE began to start controlling the action. There began to be zombie groups walking around campus, and more active combats began to happen. Eventually, the football player was attacked, bitten, and converted. (He rolled badly to use his skills with avoiding and blocking to avoid the skills of a bunch of zombies who wanted to eat him.)

So now there was a high-end athlete who was a zombie, and doing the will of the BoUE. The player was still in control; he had just changed sides due to his being zombified.

At some point, during all of this, I had a revelation, and when my turn came, I announced that I was going across campus to my office. Then for 45 minutes of real-time while all this is going on, I'd use every action to get to my office, search it, find a piece of paper, and work my way back to where the action was.

I made it to the gym, where things were reaching their climax. The small number of remaining players who weren't on "Team Zombie" were barely holding out against the forces of evil, with the football player starting what would be a devastating assault on their position.

When my turn came around, I announced "I cast a spell of silence and sleeping on the Book of Ultimate Evil!"

The player who was playing the BoUE said "No way. You don't know magic. There's no way that you'd be able to cast something like that!"

With a smirk justified by spending 45 minutes setting up a pun, I responded "I agree that I don't really know magic--but I am a librarian, and if there's one thing I do know, it's book binding."

*dead silence at the table*

The player playing the BoUE dropped his head on the desk and waved a hand weakly in surrender.

Victory was achieved.