Chimerical Realm

What follows is an experiment in Solo Gaming, or at least an experiment for myself. I have run a few games in the past, but I wanted to try out a pre-published module. To see how it would be different from a normal game, how it would be the same, and what I can learn from it.  The end result is more of a "fan fiction" take on the concept, rather than a standard recap. Unlike a typical Solo Game, in which you play the character and allow a Emulator to take the roll of the Game Master, I decided to try a "PC Emulator."  The characters and their reactions were determined by random rolls, and the result was, for me at least, a fascinating story with plenty of unexpected twists and turns.  The module I choose was one of my all-time favorites , Alien Hunger.    The system used was Vampire: The Masquerade (1st Edition) . The Emulator I choose was Mythic . All characters not defined by the module were created using the Universal NPC Emulator . Names w...

My "PC Emulator" take on Alien Hunger has come to a close, and it's been an interesting ride. It didn't go quite the way I thought it would, but I think the game and story went better for that. First off, the core of the game was to experiment with the idea of using the Mythic Emulator to replicate PC's in a module. And I have to say it worked extremely well. Now, Alien Hunger is something of a "sandbox" module, which is a bit different. Sure, there are plots and threads and the like, but how the players approach and resolve each one is up to them, and can vary greatly troupe to troupe. In fact, in my play through, they pretty much skipped two of the three plotlines. And one really awesome sub-plot. If you've read along, you'll notice some 'red herrings' dropped into the recaps--during their second night ,  I mention the character of Tony, but he never shows up again. His role in the module is to be something of a mentor figure, to ex...

Night 11 To Live and Die Again Tuesday, November 17 th , 1992 They drive as far and as long as they can, heading north away from Denver, hoping to avoid all their problems and pursuers. As the stars began to fade, they seek shelter at a random roadside motel, just an anonymous dump where no one would look for them. The vampires take one room, sealing themselves away in the bathroom, while Zoe and Suzanne get their own. While the vampires were forced into their own paralyzed slumber, the mortals slept fitfully, and not for long.  Zoe gets up first, and begins feverishly going through the notes and logs that have been recovered. The answer to the mystery is in front of her, if only she can unravel it. But neither Prestor nor Liverman had any intention of writing for publication, it seems. Their notes are a mess, most barely legible and key elements of their research left out, clearly assuming anyone who read these would know what they had done. She goes through most of h...

Night 10 Confrontations & Answers Monday, November 16 th , 1992 Day On Monday morning, Zoe and Suzanne skip classes to focus on the tasks ahead of them. Rolling Mythic, I do get an Interrupt--NPC positive (The Coterie) Ruin Environment.  Nothing inspires me about this result, so I disregard it. The investigation takes most of the day, as they call various banks and government agencies, pretending again to be interns with the San Jose Mercury News. They are both working on this, but I have Zoe make the rolls, as she has the highest pools of either of them. Besides, Suzanne is increasingly distracted, obsessed with the dark world she has been exposed to and being "left behind."  First, they call around to banks and mortgage companies, trying to find out where Prestor came from, his previous addresses, and where his money originated. This is an Intelligence + Finance roll, base difficulty of 6. They “spend” three of Trent’s earlier successes, and reduce it t...

Night 9 Reprieve Sunday, November 15 th , 1992 Suzanne and Zoe spend the day pretending that everything is normal, having lunch with Lucas. Zoe does some preliminary research into the information that Trent left them, figuring out for herself who to call and what they need to figure out. Suzanne tries to help, but becomes morbidly fascinated with the potential mysterious deaths associated with vampires. She asks Zoe some vague questions about how such creatures could exist, and how they might have come about. Zoe has little to offer in the way of answers, and Suzanne soon finds herself delving into the folklore section of the university library Chaos Roll 10—nothing unusual happens. The coterie finally has an “off night”—they are decently fed, have nowhere to be and really nothing to do but kill time. Trent wants to do some more research, as much as he can, so he heads out to the nearby libraries while they’re still open. He had already done most of what he could have h...

Night 8 Plans and Alliances Saturday, November 14 th , 1992 Zoe and Suzanne can barely sleep. Their worst fears have been confirmed, and now they’ve made a deal with the very creatures that they had been hunting so recently. Both are freaked out and scared, both of what the coterie has done and of what they’ve become. However, both have a reason to follow the plan. Zoe desires to understand what, exactly, they’ve become, and how to use that knowledge. Suzanne wants both answers to what happened in the basement, why they were grabbed, why she was left as bait, and what she wasn’t “chosen.” They spend the day as if in a haze, mindlessly drifting around. Fortunately, it’s a Saturday on campus, and so everyone assumes they’re just hungover. Both will wait for the night, to see if or when the characters contact them. However, they did sneak into the Hospital, and are directly involved in the removal of two corpses. Do the cops think that they’re involved? They made a success...

Night 7 In the Land of the Dead Friday, November 13 th , 1992 Maya Maya awakens, and forces herself out of the shallow grave she had dug for herself.  Is anyone in the ruined house? It’s a ruined husk in the middle of nowhere, so the odds are “No Way.” I roll an Exceptional Yes! Who’s there? Imitate Friendship. She hears voices up ahead, a number of them. She creeps upstairs, quietly. Spending some of her precious remaining blood to heal her remaining wounds. She remains unnoticed as she peers into the remains of the house’s living room. Inside are three men, two of them acting almost aggressively relaxed. The third is more nervous, with his eyes darting into every shadow and corner. He kept asking when “he” would be there, and why wasn’t he there now. The other two dismiss his concerns, insisting that “he” will be there soon, and offering him beer or cigarettes. The nervous one takes a  cigarette, but declines the beer. At least, he tries to, until it is fo...