Remembrance Day Gaming Afternoon

 Today is the day I remember all those I served with & those who served before giving the ultimate sacrifice...

With the ceremonies ended comes the time to reflect, have a drink, and to welcome friends into my home to spend the afternoon playing with some miniatures.

 

Several weeks ago I spoke with Bruce & asked if he would host a game of Pulp Alley for the Remembrance Day Gaming Afternoon. He was happy to & set about with planning his game. This is what he came up with using the Pulp Alley Rules.

The Pharoah's Orb of Al Matar
 This game pitted 6 factions vying to retrieve the Orb of Al Matar. There are 5 stone obelisk's carved by the ancients. their heiroglyph's offer important clues as to the location of the Orb of Al Matar. Their meaning are not always easy to decipher & many are booby trapped. In addition there are 4 statues dedicated to the ancient Gods of Evil. These are frightening & awful relics. Many a mortal has not survived an encounter with these icons with their sanity intact. But they too hold important clues to the whereabouts of the Pharoah's Orb of Matal. 

Below is the run down of the factions in play, with the information they were provided.

Iman Kehena & the Brotherhood of Matar (Chen) - For millenia, the Secret Brotherhood of Matar has protected the integrity of the ancients. Desecration of the tombs will bring down horrors & tribulations unknown to modern man. Just last month a team of foreigners breached the walls of the Al Matar Pyramid. They despoiled the tombs & removed artifacts. The fools even removed the Pharoah's Orb of Al Matar - one of the most powerful of all relics. Fortunately the Brotherhood intervened before the powers of the ancients was unleashed upon the world. We relieved Sir Walter Bradley of the Orb & returned it to the Keeper of the Secret. Now however, a palace servant brings news that Sheik Ali Wad intends to acquire the Orb for his own selfish uses. In the wrong hands the Orb would prove to be an awesome weapon of mass destruction. There is nothing in the learned texts about the capacity to control the power. Once released the power of the Orb could very well engulf the earth. The Orb MUST remain in Al Matar. Gathering your men, you are determined to protect the integrity of the holy sites & save humanity!

Special Gestapo Agent Stutgard & Stutruppen (Bob) - Otto Von Ossinger has returned from his expedition to Africa. He brings with him news that is, at once, both exciting & concerning. He & the English Archeologist Walter Bradley have discovered the Pharoah's Orb. Ancient texts tell stories of an Orb of such destructive power, that none can withstand it. Such a weapon could pave Germany's path back to it's rightful position of World Power. The bad news is that Ossinger did not bring the Orb with him to Germany. The Englishman absconded with the relic, before the fool Ossinger could secure it. Bradley has been taken care of however, as Ossinger was able to slip a slow-developing poison into his tea. Intimidated by the power of the artifact, Bradley returned it to the Secret Brotherhood sworn to protect it. You will lead a crack team of Strutruppen to recover this Orb for the Fatherland!

Holmes & the Company of Gentlemen Adventurers (Bruce) - Your brother, Mycroft Holmes, has summoned you to Whitehall. An old college chum of Mycroft's has returned from an archeological expedition in bad shape. Sir Walter Bradley was one of the leaders of the Bradley - Ossinger expedition to the Valley of the Pharoah's in Egypt. Last night, while giving a dissertation to the Royal Society, Sir Walter collapsed with an apparent seizure. he babbles about some Orb of dangerous & terrible power & rambles on about Germany's secret war plans. It's all the ravings of a mad-man, of course, but any mention of German war plans in the current International circumstances is bound to get the attentions of His Majesty's government. The intelligence establishment would like you & your colleagues to book passage to Al Matar, with the goal of ascertaining the validity of Sir Walter's claims.

Sheik Ali Wad & his Mercenaries (Jonathan) - Your Sheikdom is in peril! To the South, the Sudanese tribesmen are encroaching onto your grazing lands. To the West, the Desert Nomads make increasingly daring raids on your villages. And now from the North come the British & German scientific expeditions, cultural exchanges & even military manoeuvres. They say they come in peace & only hope for the advancement of science & humanity, but you do not trust them. The fact remains that your principality is being assaulted. you need a weapon of such destruction, that the foreigners will cringe at the thought of invading your lands. You have searched western writings looking for such an inspiration. The works of one Albert Einstein seem to hold some promise, but his theories are just that - theories. A practical weapon has not been developed yet. Then a wizened holy man approached you with a tale of such a weapon, from your own cultural library! The Pharoah's Orb -  a weapon of such destruction, that all armies dissolve before it. It sounds like superstitious nonsense, but Al Matar is so close & the cost to explore it would be so little. You gather a small retinue & march to Al Matar.

Lady Pinkerton & the Archeological Society (Craig) - It was with great excitement that you attended last evening's meeting at the Royal Society. Famed Archeologist, Sir Walter Bradley of the Bradley-Ossinger expedition, was to give a talk. It should have dove-tailed nicely with your own recent studies of Egyptology. Alas poor Sir Walter was almost incoherent, his mind seemingly so distracted -  then he collapsed with an apparent seizure. Before he did however, he mentioned several times, the discovery of the Pharoah's Orb of Al Matar. This relic has been mentioned several times in your readings of ancient manuscripts. You had always thought i was a meaningless myth -  a monument to the superstitions of the ancients. If the Orb truly exists... & you were the one to find it... You would be the toast of London. You must book passage to Al Matar immediately! Snively Owens, the famed Arachnidolioglist, has consented to join you. Porters & Scouts can be hired in Alexandria.

Captain Chard & the Desert Commando's (Terry) - Military Intelligence has been monitoring German wireless & telegraph messages for some time now. Within the past 24 hours, there has been a drastic increase in messaging from the Middle East. Although much of it is in code, constant reference has been made to a secret weapon -  an Orb of Destruction. Other analysis concludes that the Germans believe this 'secret weapon' could be a war winner, in any future conflict. When notified, our own foreign office remained silent on the subject. No discussion or direction was received from Whitehall, until this morning. A powerful bureaucrat - one Mycroft Holmes - phoned to tell military intelligence to 'cease & desist' all activity in regards to the recent discoveries. That snake, Holmes, is up to something & it's not his place to tell the military it's business. Captain, you will proceed to Alexandria, where you will rendevous with Lt Bromhead & a squad of his finest Commando's. From there you will proceed to Al Matar & see what all this German excitement is about!

So here was the results of today's fun!

 So as can be deduced, Bob won the day! He snatched the orb once both Watson & the Mummy felled one another. Once collected, it caused all others to make 3 successes on Cunning, or fall to the Power of the Orb. Quite simply this meant that only our Level 4 characters even got a roll. I didn't get all the scores written down, however victory points given were as follows;

Acquire the Orb of Al Matar         50xp
Solve an Icon of Evil                    30xp
Solve a Plot Point (Obelisk)          20xp
Eliminate a Lvl 4 Leader              40xp
Eliminate a Lvl 3 Sidekick            30xp
Eliminate a Lvl 1 Follower           10xp
Eliminate a Gang Member             4xp

Thanks again to Bruce for hosting today's event. I am sure everyone who participated had a good time!