We wrapped up “Season 1” of my Singapore Sprawl game over New Years (the finale ended up in a Mission Abort!), and…

We wrapped up “Season 1” of my Singapore Sprawl game over New Years (the finale ended up in a Mission Abort!), and…

We wrapped up “Season 1” of my Singapore Sprawl game over New Years (the finale ended up in a Mission Abort!), and we’re now unfolding Season 2. I’ve had some time to reflect on the game and am looking for some advice for further developing Singapore as a setting, because it poses some unusual challenges. I’m curious how other folks would handle these:

Singapore is a surveillance state, and the tech is only going to improve. Today, there are cameras everywhere! And China’s developing facial recognition tech that’s already frighteningly accurate. It’s something that we’ve been sweeping under the rug mostly, since the Clocks ensure some degree of safety for the PCs. But what would be a good way of handling this without requiring a Hacker to scrub surveillance data every mission? Or maybe we fold this into the options for Get Paid? I’ve also added an easter egg to one of the epistolary articles that surveillance footage is often circumstantial evidence because they are easy to tamper with.

Singapore is gun-free. The “regular” players have leaned heavily into a low key, low violence style of run, possibly because of cultural expectations. But as written, The Sprawl expects most people to have guns. Half the classes get automatic weapons as a starting option. So when the guns do come out, it’s often a bit jarring (“Hold on, are you sure you want to fire a 5-Harm canon at the hospital?” “Wait, I don’t think you would have gotten the Assault Rifle past the security at the supermarket, so what else do you have instead?”) My current thought on this is to have the city be divided roughly into zones, where certain firearms are permitted / won’t draw too much attention… possibly with firearms categorized by the Harm they inflict. So city center is 2-Harm or less, patrolled urban areas are 3-Harm, and most of the island is 4-Harm.

As a result of both of these, players are very hesitant to go on high risk / high profile runs. Runs that cause violent and damage in a public way suddenly stand out significantly, and feel very risky. And the game doesn’t provide any structure to make up for that risk. The payout for missions is usually about the same (3-5 XP, and 2x or 3x Stake in Cred). What are some tools people have used to sweeten the deal?

If you’re curious about the setting, we’ve been curating it here:

https://www.worldanvil.com/w/sg2048-andante

A creative write-up of our Halloween special, just in time for Halloween!

A creative write-up of our Halloween special, just in time for Halloween!

A creative write-up of our Halloween special, just in time for Halloween!

For some reason, though I advertized the session as the “Halloween special”, no one suspected it would suddenly turn into a horror game. The whimsical nature of the write-up doesn’t quite convey the atmosphere at the table.

https://www.worldanvil.com/w/sg2048-andante/a/episode-9-uncle-ah-kow-and-the-beanstalktxt-article

Hi everyone!

Hi everyone!

Hi everyone! The SG2048 “Living Sprawl” game has really been taking off for us. We’ve completed 8 episodes so far, and completed one “plot arc”. I’ve been cheating a bit and using the RSVPs to nudge the mission prep toward narratives that would most interest the players (rather than prepping missions completely blind to attending players), but I think the results have been quite good!

Anyways, I wanted to share not one, not two, but three mission reports. This time, all prepared by the players themselves:

https://www.worldanvil.com/w/sg2048-andante/a/episode-6-fiana-and-idra-an-esports-love-story-article

https://www.worldanvil.com/w/sg2048-andante/a/episode-7-day-trip-to-sentosa-article

https://www.worldanvil.com/w/sg2048-andante/a/episode-8-toyota-huawei-field-debrief-article

https://www.worldanvil.com/w/sg2048-andante/a/episode-6-fiana-and-idra-an-esports-love-story-article

A great talk at the Wild West Hackin’ Fest about physical penetration testing, aka How to Sneak into Place 101.

A great talk at the Wild West Hackin’ Fest about physical penetration testing, aka How to Sneak into Place 101.

A great talk at the Wild West Hackin’ Fest about physical penetration testing, aka How to Sneak into Place 101. Great tips for how to make your games more authentic!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnmcRTnTNC8

Hope I’m not spamming this group. I just can’t believe I just wrote this sentence in my prep…

Hope I’m not spamming this group. I just can’t believe I just wrote this sentence in my prep…

Hope I’m not spamming this group. I just can’t believe I just wrote this sentence in my prep…

(“They” refers to their exfiltration target.)

Edit: The 2300 clock tick is “Temasek calls their moms. They want to surrender.”

Last week, we had probably our highest exposure run.

Last week, we had probably our highest exposure run.

Last week, we had probably our highest exposure run. The mission was to extract a piece of military hardware that is being demoed at definitely-not-Blizzcon. The PCs had the option to do it quietly (and considered it for all of 2 minutes!), but opted for a dramatic (employer offered a bonus for something suitably flashy).

Lots of stuff going on behind the scenes. The players have caught on to the idea that it might have been the demo organizers who hired them in the first place, but they can’t be sure… and definitely don’t know why. Also only lampshaded here, but the team almost TPK’ed in an ambush by Boeing attack copters right at the end!

https://www.worldanvil.com/w/sg2048-andante/a/episode-5-v8-sugar-safe-after-attack-at-festival-article

I’ve been running my “West Marches style” Sprawl game for 4 sessions now.

I’ve been running my “West Marches style” Sprawl game for 4 sessions now.

I’ve been running my “West Marches style” Sprawl game for 4 sessions now. Here’s an AAR of our latest session, wherein our intrepid antiheros robbed an ambulance. Hope some of you get a kick out of it!

Edit: URL changed

https://www.worldanvil.com/w/sg2048-andante/a/episode-4-pfizer-trauma-team-debrief-article

Hi everyone, I wanted to share a “rolled” variant on the Declare a Contact move.

Hi everyone, I wanted to share a “rolled” variant on the Declare a Contact move.

Hi everyone, I wanted to share a “rolled” variant on the Declare a Contact move. I plan for it to formalize the range of contacts in my Sprawl game, and I’ve taken cues from circling up a contact from Burning Empires.

What do you all think? Is the balance between the number of boons and banes right? Do you think it covers contacts from your own games? Can you think of additional Boons and Banes to add to the list?

Full version here: https://www.gmbinder.com/share/-LK1tHR0T1Bxzjs-vRug

#######

Once per mission, you may declare a contact. Choose one Boon from the list below and roll 2d6. After the roll, you may pay Cred to improve your result, 1-for-1. You must always spend at least 1 Cred this way.

On a 6-: Choose one Bane.

On a 10-12: Choose one more Boon.

On a 13+: Choose two more Boons.

On any roll, you may choose to include one additional Boon and Bane.

##### Boons:

* *High Ranking*: They are in a position of power, leadership, or responsibility within their organization.

* *Skilled*: They possess an unusual skillset.

* *Talented*: They are especially talented at what they do.

* *Resourceful*: They have access to unusual resources.

* *Metropolitan*: They come from an unusual background.

* *Reliable*: They have no ulterior motives (or have an agenda that is clear to you).

* *Incognito*: They undertake tasks independent of the wishes of their employers.

* *Old Friend*: You’ve worked together before and they are amicably disposed to you.

##### Banes:

* *Bad Blood*: Maybe you’re rivals, maybe you’ve wronged them before, or maybe you owe them one. You know each other, and there’s bad blood between you. Tell us why.

* *Mercurial*: This person’s loyalties are in question, or are conflicted. The GM will decide if they have other loyalties, priorities, or agendas… and then not tell you about it. (Not compatible with Reliable)

* *Tough Times*: They’ve fallen on tough times. Maybe they’re on the run, owe a debt, or had some trouble with their employer. They won’t have access to all of their resources, but they’ll be desperate for help… from you or other parties.

* *Premium*: Their help doesn’t come cheap. Wherever applicable, consider the option “it costs extra” to be always selected.

https://www.gmbinder.com/share/-LK1tHR0T1Bxzjs-vRug

Quick question: Do Fixers get to pick different jobs their crew hits between every mission (for the Hustler move)?

Quick question: Do Fixers get to pick different jobs their crew hits between every mission (for the Hustler move)?

Quick question: Do Fixers get to pick different jobs their crew hits between every mission (for the Hustler move)? Or do they pick jobs once and that defines what their crews do, and it becomes a relatively immutable choice?