Category: The Sprawl: Actual Play

So I MC’d my first game of the Sprawl. It was my first foray into the AW engine. Overall I think it worked, but I did have some hiccups, and a couple of questions regarding mission structure and clocks. Please critique me below, I’d like to run another session and get it running as smooth as possible for my players. So let me get into the AP.

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Characters:

Tower played by Caleb. He is a Driver from Pakistan. He’s a former military contractor who stole cyberwear from a big company and is now on the run. He is trying to save money to buy a data scrub, which can get some of these companies off his back.

Jinx played by Sarah. Jinx is a Fixer. She is the illegitimate daughter of a corporate figurehead. Her illegitimacy would never allow her to climb through the ranks, so now she hustles on the street, and has a grudge against her father’s big corporation.

Turner played by Mikey. Turner is a Soldier. He’s of mixed Japanese/European background. He was raised by his survivalist father, is a bit old-school, and now he works as a freelance merc for hire traveling the globe.

At this point I read a short prompt revealing that the game will take place in Johannesburg South Africa. I drop a couple of seeds to get the players thinking. I establish that Jo-burg is filled with companies that don’t produce much, but instead focus on banking/investing/financing. The city also is notable for its juxtaposition between technology and extreme poverty – with corp headquarters nestled right next to miles of shantytowns.

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Corporations:

VanderMaark Intl aka V-Mark: A small company struggling to survive after a split with it’s larger sister branch. They are patent trolls.

Vanderworks: The larger more successful sister branch of V-mark, they are real-estate tycoons building fancy enclosed communities for the rich.

SunTrust: An import/export brokerage firm.

Kumba Pharmaceuticals: A medical technology company who makes most of their profits on peddling street drugs. Their biggest drug is Zebra Stripe, an appetite suppressant. It’s also established that Jinx is the daughter of one of their executives.

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Getting the mission:

Jinx or fixer rolls to get the mission, she goes ahead and establishes a contact to do so. His name is Kanton, he’s a real-estate agent, and ends up being comic relief throughout. He says a guy named Mr. Johnson just moved to Jo Burg and is looking for free-lance workers to break into a V-Mark facility and steal something called HexaPro Ultra. Sarah’s roll lets her pick up some [intel]. Jinx finds out that HexaPro Ultra is a physical object of some sort, and that 10 years ago a hacker tried to go after it and was killed.

*As an MC, I kind of bumble around on how much of the mission I should outline at the start. I ended up creating a new contact for the group called ##!N aka The Source. It’s an online group modeled after Anonymous in many ways. They end up being my bailout card when I need to send info to the group and can’t think of a way to do so.

The mission outline is this:

Find out what HexaPro Ultra is

-Bypass V-Mark Security

-Steal the package

-Don’t Get Caught

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Legwork:

Jinx starts establishing some cool world building right out the gate. She says that Jo-Burg has very little O-Zone left, and lot of people live underground because its so hot. There is a lot of public transportation and subway tunnels and Jinx keeps a small safe house there. Jinx contacts Turner the soldier, they worked on a mission against Kumba Pharmaceuticals in the past where she undercut a sale and she knows she needs a soldier for this new mission. Turner contacts the driver; Tower. The two have history from running a mission together against SunTrust in the past – they deleted debt records stored on a server.

We have a collection of some cool visual scenes transpire. Turner gets the call as he is training mercs at a gun range. Tower meets up with the group on the tarmac of an airport as they roll out his vehicle from the back of a cargo plane, a Toyota Tiberius 4WD pick-up, an “illegal” truck since it runs on gas (which has now been outlawed). They all have drinks at a swanky bar called the Water Buffalo.

The soldier decides to declare a contact named M-Rap. He’s a programmer for VanderWorks, and would probably know where HexaPro Ultra is located, since both Vander-companies work in close relation. Its also established that Turner already owes this guy a favor.

Turner contacts M-Rap, its somewhat hard to get ahold of him because most corporate programmers are under high surveillance by their parent companies and are barely able to leave their corporate living facilities, it takes day almost but they set up a meet. They’ve only got about 5 minutes to talk at a local hospital. The soldier tries fast talking his contact, but doesn’t get the best roll. M-Rap will give him the info on HexaPro Ultra, but M-Rap wants out of his job. He also wants 3 cred to set up a new life. The soldier keeps trying to press him to lower the price, but I decide to make a move and have VanderWorks corporate security show up to pick up their lost-sheep of a programmer. I advance the legwork clock and the corp clock for Vanderworks, they now know something is fishy. Also M-Rap now wants 4 creds for the data – he got spooked by the whole ordeal.

The group decides they are going to get M-Rap out of his job by faking his death. Tower, the driver, rolls through the slums of Jo-Burg, scanning social media for a M-rap lookalike, and makes a good hit on his research roll. Turner and Tower find a guy that fits the bill standing at a bus stop dropping his kid off. I speed things up from here. They kidnap the man, take him to a landfill, shoot him, throw some of M-raps belongings on the body and light it on fire. The next scene has M-rap and his daughter getting taken to a Turner’s safe house. M-Rap gives them the info they need. HexaPro Ultra is kept at V-Mark’s Gold Site. It’s an outpost in the middle of nowhere away from the city.

The group drives out to the Gold Site to run some surveillance. They park outside the facility, and the driver deploys his drone to see their security looks like. He makes the appropriate move. The facility has a about 2 dozen guards, some storage containers that have heat signatures coming from them, and some drone detection counter measures. The counter measures catch his drone, and try to hijack it. It’s encrypted, which gives Tower enough time to fly it out of there and scramble away into the night. I advance the V-Mark corp clock, and the legwork clock. But they also get some [intel].

The group at this point is now debating. Turner thinks they should do more legwork, the others think they have done enough, and that the legwork is alerting their target too much, so its time for action. They hatch a quick plan: They will pose as V-Mark security inspectors on a surprise inspection; they will find HexaPro Ultra, and then steal it. Before they launch though, they’d like to get more info on security measures – especially when it comes to helping them pose as V-Mark employees.

I notice a bit of a problem emerging. Turner, the soldier, has a playbook that encourages him to be a leader. He actually can give people mechanical benefits if they follow his plans. However, the group starts trying to meta-game this. The other players have legit plans, many differing from the Soldier’s, but the nice +1 forward from acting under the Soldier’s planning move makes them fold under his influence many times. Likewise, they start debating over which plan to use, what’s the best way to go about this mission etc. Things begin bogging down. Sarah, playing our Fixer is also getting left out of a lot of the conversation. I explicitly have to tell them that their characters are working professionals and this game is about moving forward, being cool competent bad-asses, not hashing out too many details. I decide that I will limit the Soldier’s planning move to being used once during the legwork phase, and once during the action phase.

The group goes back to M-Rap, who is staying with his kid in Turner’s home. Jinx impresses him with her Reputation move, and fast talks him into looking into their security measures. Its not the greatest roll. He gives them half an answer: There are 3 types of employee verifications and doesn’t know which one they will be using on any given day. Jinx convinces him to hack into V-Mark to find out more info. Not a good roll. M-Rap hacks in, tells the group they are using security cards for the next 24 hours, but then he goes into a seizure after a Black ICE attack. A trace is ran, V-Mark corporate Tactical teams are on the way. The V-Mark, and Vanderworks Corp clocks and the legwork clocks advance.

The group runs out of the safe house right as a tactical team blows the door off the hinges, and tosses a flash bang in. The driver uses his neural connection to pull the truck around. As they get in the car and leave, they see V-Mark security teams grab M-Rap and his daughter. Turner tries to mix it up and shoot the daughter to get rid of a witness. He misses. They peel off as helicopters and corp trucks come after them. The player’s vehicle starts running out of gas. Jinx tries act under pressure to find a place for them to hide, not a great roll. She finds a garage, but it advances a couple of clocks.

At this moment I can move against the players. I’m thinking of having them run out of gas, but I feel that it may slow down the whole game. I simply bring it up to stress them out, but never act on it. One player, our fixer, seems to be getting tired. I decide to just advance a couple of clocks instead and move along.

Jinx decides to hit the street, she calls up Kanton her real-estate agent contact. She wants to know more about who hired them. Kanton says the guy’s name was Mr. Johnson, and he knows his location, since he sold him a new home.

The group pulls up to a brand new model neighborhood. They knock on the door to find Mr. Johnson, a young fuddy duddy business man who invites them in. Johnson goes to his bedroom to get dressed. His wife is a betty-homemaker looking woman that offers them lemonade, and she too goes to grab her husband in the bedroom. Jinx presses her ear against the door to listen to their conversation. They seem like a typical bickering couple arguing about uninvited guests. However the couple sneaks up behind the players and puts guns to their heads. The conversation in the bedroom was a distraction, neural comms being rerouted to bedroom speakers; it bought the couple enough time set up an ambush. Mr. Johnson and Jane are pissed, they are another group of free-lancers like the players, and the “Mr. Johnson scheme” is a cover identity. They call the group amateurs, say they probably have corps tailing them as they speak, and they need to get the package soon or it will be moved. They slide them a military crate that will “help in a jam”. They get some [gear], but also some clocks move up.

The players burn down the home. The sun is setting. They say its time to act.

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The Action Phase begins.

The group pulls up to the V-Mark Gold Site gates. They pose as security inspectors. They spend some [gear] to get the necessary ID cards, which in a flashback is revealed to have been given to them by the anonymous hacker-group ##!N. The security team leader, a gruff bald man with a heavy south African accent and tattoos under his eyes seems a bit suspicious but is convinced by the player’s con. He shows them HexaPro Ultra. It’s a baby elephant in a shipping container. The group hooks up the hitch to the truck, and drive out the gate with the trailer and elephant in tow. No one bats an eye.

At this point as an MC, I feel things seem to be going tooo smooth in the Action Phase. I decide to make a move to spice things up.

The players drive away from the Gold Site with the “package”. They look up into the night sky and notice a shadow flying over them, a low hum becoming more noticeable over time. Suddenly they see a door open up, it’s a black stealth helicopter following them. Inside is a team of soldiers. One solder launches a stun grenade at the player’s truck. It blinds Turner. Jinx, clad in power-suit and heels, decides to act under pressure and crawl to the back of the truck, she kicks open a crate, spends a [gear], and brings out a rocket launcher. She mixes it up, hits the chopper’s engineer with the rocket, but it makes a huge loud mess. The security members of Gold Site figure out they were duped, something is wrong, and they fire up a bunch of trucks and start barreling out to find the players.

Tower decides to stop the car. He wants to set up a quick ambush for the incoming goons. He detaches the trailer. Hides his truck in the brush. The other players hide as well. Tower burns some [gear] and reveals he has some land mines. He starts planting the landmines on the road. As he is acting under pressure, I get to make a move on him. He notices one of the approaching trucks has a sniper lining up a laser on Jinx’s chest and is about to take a shot. He has a choice, he can continue setting up the mines for a surprise ambush, or he can use his drone to save Jinx from getting capped by the sniper. He does the latter, loses the element of surprise – but saves Jinx’s life as his drone’s machine gun rips a bad guy in half. The rushing baddies flip on their spotlights and rush forward.

Tower finds himself standing in a field looking at a row of military trucks, all filled with baddies, gunning right at him. He mixes it up using his landmines, and it’s a perfect roll. Two trucks blow up, and flip right over him. A nice scene ripped from a great action movie.

Turner, the soldier, tries to use a missile launcher to take out another truck. He ends up getting shot, and takes 3 harm. The bullet enters in small, but the exit wound attempts to explode a couple of organs out of his body: bullets in the future suck, but he is alive – for now.

Jinx attempts to take out a driver, she does it, but not without allowing me to make a move. The bald V-Mark security director, starts taunting the players. He jumps out of his truck, walks to the trailer and leads out the little elephant. He puts a gun to the animal’s head, and threatens to shoot it, screaming and goading the players all along the way.

Jinx spends an [intel], she reveals she knows the man’s daughter Nala. That she has a man with a gun to her right now, and if he doesn’t fuck off – his daughter won’t make it to age 9. In shock, he drops his gun, and walks off into the night screaming how he never liked his job anyway.

Tower spends a [gear] for a first aid kit that he applies to Turner. After a mix mash of wound filling foam and painkillers – he’s stable. Jinx finds a guard trapped under a flipped truck. She puts a gun to his head and plays hardball. She wants to know why someone would want an elephant anyway. The guard says that this is the last African Elephant in existence, and his guess is that anyone with a stockpile of illegal ivory would want it dead – because it would make the ivory much more valuable if elephants are extinct. Jinx tries to do the same move again, and press him for more info about who specifically would do this, not a great roll. The guard reveals that he hit a silent-alarm to call for backup, and then bleeds out and dies.

The group makes off to the city with the elephant in tow. They don’t exactly know where to take it, but soon Mr. Johnson and Jane, decked out in military gear fly next to their truck in a chopper. They land on the middle of a city freeway, its about 3am in the morning. Jane jumps out, pulls a blood sample from the animal, and then shoots the elephant in the head with a shotgun. A handful of street hoodlum kids walk by and pet the dead elephant’s body – they’ve never seen an animal like that before. The crew rolls to get paid. They receive their money, but all the ruckus pushes a bunch of corporate clocks up. The players hear an array of different sirens flare up, each belonging to one of the private police entities who probably don’t like them much. Mr. Johnson says if they leave now – they can get a head start.

End.

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Notes/Questions:

-Did I run the game right?

-I’m still very confused on all the clocks. With the corporate clocks, I had some ideas about what would happen as they got closer to midnight, as I’d just really just up the ante with the baddies bearing down on them. But with the mission clock, what happens if legwork hits midnight? What about in the action phase? How often should clocks be hitting midnight in any given session or campaign?

-I had trouble chroming it up as much as I’d like. One player said she felt it lost the cyberpunk vibe a bit in the mid-portion of the session. Part of this was on purpose; I didn’t want to start with stuff being too high concept. But at the same time, I found myself struggling to keep the cyberpunk style up throughout the game. For instance, I had a hard time coming up with brands for everything. At first we had some luck: Toyota Tiberius a late-model gas vehicle, and one gun labeled the Colt Christian Commander, establishing that some American gun companies started marketing towards conservative religious groups. However towards the end, it seemed to be a smattering of generic masked swat teams, machine guns, helicopters, and rocket launchers. For real, like there were sooo many helicopters. How can I avoid this generic recycling of elements?

-What do I include in the mission parameters from the outset of the game? Can someone give me an example of his or her mission points? Do I give these parameters to the players right out the gate?

-This entire mission was made up on the fly, and sometimes it showed. As an MC, how much should I pre-plan beforehand? While a lot of it came together smoothly from improv (especially in the beginning), some of it was – a lil choppy to put together in late game. I never expected the players to search out for their employer and get info from them.

-I didn’t even involve directives. I told my players to circle a couple of directives, but not to get too detailed during character creation. I thought certain directives would emerge and could be detailed during play. But they just seemed to be forgotten.

-Experience. How are you guys doing it? During play? After/between sessions?

-How much legwork should the players go through? It seemed like they kept pushing legwork missions, but then the action phase just flying by so fast. I slowed it down by just throwing a complication at them. Was I right for doing that?

-When it comes to moves: How literal are you guys taking them? I understand the philosophy, and kind of understood conceptually what I should be doing at any given time. But as an MC, should I be pulling specific moves out from the list or going with my gut?

-I had to continuously remind my players that rolling low wasn’t an outright failure like in other games, that instead they can totally do what they want – but it just complicates stuff.

-I need to print-off and laminate a basic moves sheet for every player to reference.