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Joeyzfr1
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Heart of Darkness GM tips wanted

Wed 02 Nov 2022, 01:01

I am planning on running the new adventure module of Alien soon. How does it compare to the rest in terms of time and suspense? 

Please share any tips you have as I am running it at an upcoming game convention. I always love to make the experience as good as I can for my players.

/R Joeyzfr1
 
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MutantFromMars
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Re: Heart of Darkness GM tips wanted

Mon 07 Nov 2022, 01:54

Since we're in the General section, I'm going to avoid spoilers.

I think its the least "conventional" of the three scenarios - Chariot of the Gods and Destroyer of Worlds are very much Alien stories, this one is a bit different, at least to my eyes, and feels a bit more like "The Expanse". A lot of the initial tension comes from the unusual nature of the adventure location, so I'd play up the sheer existential horror of the setting as the Cetorhina makes its approach (and remember that some characters may even have to medicate just to function there!)

Its also quite open ended in terms of how the players react to the scenario, so you need to have a good understanding of the parties involved, their agendas, etc for it to flow smoothly. Its much harder to flick through the book and wing it on this one....
 
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Fenhorn
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Re: Heart of Darkness GM tips wanted

Mon 07 Nov 2022, 02:17

If OP wants to, I can move this thread to the GM only section. Let me know.
“Thanks for noticin' me.” - Eeyore
 
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Joeyzfr1
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Re: Heart of Darkness GM tips wanted

Mon 07 Nov 2022, 21:27

You can move the thread or just post non spoilers from a players perspective.


Moderator Message: Moved.
 
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MutantFromMars
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Re: Heart of Darkness GM tips wanted

Tue 08 Nov 2022, 01:57

Ok, so now we're in safer waters, here's some observations (and remember, a chunk of these are personal opinions...)

The Characters
1. Hedenstrom and Lugar work best if their players have taken part in at least one of the earlier adventures. This isn't essential, but their agendas are tied to those stories. Having Lugar in play also gives the players a slightly easier time interacting with at least one of the Perfected.
2. If you don't have people to play ALL of the characters, I'd be tempted to not have both Navarre and Drabikowski in play, just one of them (and my choice would be Drabikowski in that instance).
3. If you have someone really into the roleplaying aspect of the game, give them Lark!
4. Remember these guys are a science team for the most part, so you're going to be wanting to engage with them on a scientific level. Be prepared to talk astrophysics and biochemistry, at least in pseudo-science game universe terms. Also, bear in mind that these are researchers and analysts, not marines, and two of them are not young!

General Stuff
1. If the players have played the earlier adventurers, you're going to want to make sure to have Clerke's Reports available to find.
2. Make sure everyone is aware of the situation between the UA, UPP (and the Three World Empire to a lesser extent). You kind of need it for Ironfish.
3. Use the NDDs! It adds to the tension.
4. I know there is an option to play the cat, but I think that would kill the atmosphere and personally I'd avoid it
 
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Angelman
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Re: Heart of Darkness GM tips wanted

Tue 08 Nov 2022, 14:00

Hey, y'all!

HoD is awsome but it can also be a bit challenging to run, so threads like this are very useful. I voiced some thoughts and analysis and personal plans for running HoD in another thread a few months ago (Heart of Darknes prep and GMing discussion), but that one sank into obscurity (probably since the box wasn't out yet). Instead of re-posting it all here, I'll just refrain a short summary and link to that thread (see below) in case some of you guys are interested in having a look at my thoughts on running that story (primarily an analysis on the characters).

Very short summary:
Priority characters, IMHO, are..

TOP TIER (=Characters important for the story)
Cpt. Lugar (central to set-up and backstory, plus she's perhaps the most proactive character in the set)
Prof. Hedenström (useful skillset and a walking plot engine)
Col.-Doc. Drabikowski (only important if you don't drop the Ironfist thing; you could drop that plot entirely, and Drabikowski & Navarre along with it, if you wanted to streamline HoD).

MID TIER (=Characters that would be very fun to play)
Sgt. Sajaad (huge roleplaying potential)
Dr. Lark (again, huge roleplaying potential)

LOW TIER (=Characters with little to work with)
Dr. Ejiri (a motivated good buy, but otherwise just a mission coordinator)
Prof. Navarre (he's there only to be a complication for Drabikowski, and as such, he's really an NPC)
Adrien the Cat (a novelty at best... if you're going to use the cat as a player character, you need to also give the cat something to do -- i.e. you need to write more story/events for them)

That's the basics, but there's a lot more in the other thread: https://forum.frialigan.se/viewtopic.php?t=9868

[/b]1. Hedenstrom and Lugar work best if their players have taken part in at least one of the earlier adventures. This isn't essential, but their agendas are tied to those stories. Having Lugar in play also gives the players a slightly easier time interacting with at least one of the Perfected.
That's a very good point, @MutantFromMars. I would almost go as far as to advise people to wait running HoD till after they've gamed through CotG and/or DoW. There's not a lot of connective tissue there, but what there is, is pretty great.

In my running of CotG, two Montero crewmembers survived and escaped with the Sotillo, +Lucas (Cham) managed to download himself into the Sotillo, and in the aftermath talk the players wanted them to go on and try to fight the Company and their vile Draconis Strain plots. When I ran DoW, the Sotillo crew (who -- since they were already anti-W-Y -- had joined forces with the Montero survivors at a self-serving/mercenary level) showed up there trying to spy on the Ariarcus goings-ons. Also in my story, Clayton escaped the Cronos on the VIP EEV with black goo in her luggage, and I worked it into the DoW backstory that this became Eckford's source of Black goo in that story. So there was a lot of connections there. When I run HoD, I have a backup-plan for additional replacement PCs, in that
--a) Lugar have been in contact with the Montero survivors who were seeking to investigate what went down at L1113 all those 75 years ago, and hired Lugar to smuggle them in (remember, Lugar flies regular freight runs to and fro the system), and
--b) those Montero survivors (Miller & Rye) lies in cryopod-storage somewhere on Erebos, ready to "thaw" as soon as we need additional, well-invested replacement PCs in the game... and coming full circle for the players, those characters, and the Draconis Strain campaign itself.
"And the rain sets in,
it's the Angelman.
I'm deranged".
--David Bowie, I'm Deranged
 
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_ArthurDallas_
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Re: Heart of Darkness GM tips wanted

Wed 09 Nov 2022, 16:19

Hi there,

Angelman I'm gonna read all your Heart Of Darkness stuff and come back to you.

I just bought Heart Of Darkness and I want to prep my game too.

I'm gonna come back here in a few days to give you what I'm planning to do with this scenario since it's the prequel to what's coming in the BUILD BETTER WORLDS colonist's book + space trucker's book, I don't know which focus it's gonna be. More adventures to come with this setting.

And MutantFromMars thanks for all the advices and suggestions.

I'll get back soon.
 
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Angelman
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Re: Heart of Darkness GM tips wanted

Wed 09 Nov 2022, 16:44

I'm gonna come back here in a few days to give you what I'm planning to do with this scenario
I'm looking forward to that! I won't actually run this cinematic for quite some time yet, seeing as we still got 3-4 missions left to do in Frontier War. And in any case, I would really like to see at least a pdf of Building Better Worlds and the campaign therein before running HoD, since I love to tie the stories togetter more than how they are presented. So, I'll gather and consider people's prep discussions for quite some time before launching into HoD, probably... :)
"And the rain sets in,
it's the Angelman.
I'm deranged".
--David Bowie, I'm Deranged
 
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_ArthurDallas_
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Re: Heart of Darkness GM tips wanted

Thu 10 Nov 2022, 16:50

folks of GARBLAG games do a roleplay (6 episodes) of the cinematic HEART OF DARKNESS
and it's pretty cool folks, you can get some tips there if you want ...

here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoKsi9M4RaI

I was looking for a play report but no one has done it yet.
 
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strangecoloursFL
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Re: Heart of Darkness GM tips wanted

Fri 11 Nov 2022, 11:59

I have watched through a few playthroughs on Youtube before running each of the cinematics, mostly to help me to get the story in a better context and to clarify uncertainties I have about the plot or how the action could unfold. It can also be good to get an idea of pacing (of combat, story, exposition, tension), the number of fatalities and how quickly players can realistically reach certain objectives, mostly so that I can better plan each session, and how many sessions there are likely to be for my group.

As well as Garblag (which was fun), I've also watched through OmegaOmTV's full playthrough https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmN5Ycf3z3I (using Voice Mod to amazing effect) and Noc Fenix https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifzSCsaQxH8. I do enjoy comparing different groups styles of play and interactions, and I'm really grateful that they do this.

Edit: adding Total Party Chills playthrough, they start the action back at Gateway station which is interesting as it allows a bit more time time to establish characters https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yCCzkd4j1M.
Last edited by strangecoloursFL on Sat 26 Nov 2022, 13:53, edited 2 times in total.

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