Yesterday we played a long demo, two sessions (that I should have broken in three, probably), that managed to totally win me over to the game. Apart from a few doubts on the Bull I understood how the game avoids the “Emotional dartboard effect” of Influence and was delighted to see how well and smoothly the moves snowballed into an exciting and thematic fiction.
So… great gaming day.
We weaved some cosmic stuff, with a cult trying to resurrect a cosmic villain visually inspired by TV Flash’s Zoom whose soul was trapped in the Doomed and a nice Pact with the Devil thing going.
Since we have the awesome Luca Bonisoli at the table we also got some veeeeeery nice portraits.
You can admire Flare the Nova, young, sturdy, bent to be a TRUE hero, that was revealed to be the only one whom could stop the cult without summoning Zoom himself (and the Bull didn’t like that, since he was her rival… having to exalt an already powerful Nova to play on the Bull rivalry really excalated things!)
Hope was Alexandra Zanasi’s Doomed, the true vessel of Zoom but unwilling to wield the power. 17 years in age, about 33 in cynism, her very superhero name was Zoom’s last word: “You are my only hope”.
Creepy memory manipulation and “who watches the watchmen” effect apart her relationship with the Bull was a beutiful example of emotionally damaged people trying to cope (but she wanted to kiss the Beacon, so only bllood and tears could emerge).
Sarah rarely used her “Icy Glare” superhero name. Francesco Berni described her as a mix of Luke Cage (from Jessica Jones series) and Dumbing of Age Sarah. Calm, cynical, emotionally drained, liked to punch things instead of talking to them, but was a true team mum.
Lavinia Fantini’s Beacon Mist (real name Zoya) bordered on the manic pixie girl trope: superhero enthuxiast, daughter of a Bronze Age retired (and damaged) speedster, she had a lot of conflicts with her doting but protective parents and started to come at odds with the more cynical part of the team. When you steal your mother’s costume and start to phase around things get dangerous…
But she also managed to get really drunk, so yay
On the villain side we can admire The Invader: former Golden paragon, time displaced, mind controlled, punched and zapped hard.
So much patriotism, so much chin, so much racism.
Sara didn’t like him.
Last but not least, Mary: natural daughter of Zoom, Hope’s nemesis and on a mission to get back HER legacy. I actually think she got a point: nobody was doing anything to contrastate the cult, late Zoom’s power was needed and she was willing to wield it, if Hope couldn’t accept the same fate.
A nice turn of events was starting to show us that in all her angst Hope was actually jealous of her power and didn’t want to share…
As I said: nice game, nice drawings, excellent game ^^
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It’s been a while since I felt that an RPG nailed what I like most about superheroes! Great game!
Oh man, I need to run this…great write up!
Things I automatically archived for theoretical extra sessions:
– Hope and her family. Did her parents know about her supers? Her Doom? Her sanctuary? How they will react when Zoey’s mum will call them: “Do you know what they are doing?”
– Flare’s family. How are they? Let’s introduce his sister and discover something about her
– Mary has a lot of knowledge. They will need it. There will be a price.
– Zoya is Iranian and gender ambiguous. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia. Terrorist scare?
– The Cult is tied to Sarah’s origins. They start to kidnap and transform people.
– Flare’s powers start to influence people (waiting for him to use Worship?). How Sarah is going to react?
– If they get drunk enough will Hope really kiss Zoya? How will Sarah react?
– Zoya’s mother totally has to don her old costume and race in to save the kids. There will be a price.