Fighting in the City

Slightly unusual AAR this one, because I have done two very similar reports. The first one I did (which is lower down) included quite a lot of the mechanics of the Pulp Alley rules, stuff about challenges, plot points, perils and so on. After I had finished I thought I would have preferred to do it as a straight adventure tale, so I edited it to remove the rule stuff and just tell it straight. I thought I would include both versions for those who would like to see how the Pulp Alley game works.

The Mean Streets

With the Master having got away with the key information from the encounter in the jungle, Diana had to continue her research and traveling. Eventually the clues and hints led her and the team to a small warehouse in the back streets of New York City. However the delay had enabled another group to get onto the same leads. Bertie Brooks-Smyth was the backer and chief gun of a safari group which had hunted across Africa, but during that time their wanderings had led them to forgotten temples and hidden sites with secrets that Bertie eventually resolved to unravel. And so it was that Bertie’s group turned up in the same obscure corner of the big city.

From the East - the target warehouse is just left of centre

From the south - the warehouse front and centre

 

From the south-east - the direction Bertie approached from

Diana's league arrived behind the white block of flats in the far corner

 The encounter took place in a mixture of warehouses, small factories, tenements and blocks of flats, separated by narrow streets and alleys. The crucial piece of paper was inside a safe on the upper floor of a small warehouse. The combination for the safe could found from four of the five policemen wandering the streets close by. One of the cops had a duff combination, and none of them would hand the information over easily. As well as the cops there were a number of disreputable bystanders wandering the area - Damon Runyon would have felt very much at home here.

Before setting off Diana used some of her wealth to buy Utility Belts for Gulab and Wally – these would help them with a variety of tasks. Bertie used his contacts to recruit an extra bit of muscle, a short but wide guy known only as Brawler.

As the action started Bertie and his companions approached from the south east corner, and Diana’s team from the north west – though because of consequences from a previous battle, Diana herself would arrive behind the others. Bertie’s team were especially nervous and crept forward slowly at first. Even so, Jim tripped clumsily on the kerb, slipped and fell, hitting his head and knocking himself out. The action had barely begun, and Bertie was down one follower.

At the far side Diana’s team were moving faster – Bud and Yvette got well around the corner, while Wally moved alone down the boundary street, and Gulab moved more slowly, wanting to ensure he would be in range of Diana when she arrived. Gulab had regarded himself as Diana’s personal bodyguard since she was a small girl.

Bertie's team advance - Reggie in the foreground, Milo and Brawler in the centre and Bertie with Jane far left

Lead members of Diana's team come round the corner into the main square. Officer Doyle is watching them approach

Wally on his own in the alley to the west

Officer Doyle was strolling down the road towards Yvette, and now he became suspicious and challenged her, but she used her cunning to persuade him that she was innocent of any evil intent. She attempted to pick the code out of the cop’s pocket, but was only able to get the paper half way out. Spotting this, Gulab now walked over to join them, talked his way into Doyle’s confidence, and was able to complete the extraction of the slip of paper - so Gulab now had the combination in his pocket.

Down on the south east side of the warehouse Bertie spotted a cop, O’Sullivan, near a bus shelter, and approached him. O’Sullivan was immediately suspicious, and swung his nightstick at Bertie, but he was able to duck – however he couldn’t grab the bit of paper with the combination. His daughter Jane joined them, but she took a nasty blow from the policeman, which knocked her down, though only temporarily.

Reggie was sneaking around a small block of flats, and now a cop walked up and challenged him, but Reggie talked his way out of it easily. Close to the factory in the north, a bystander called Eastside Ernie strolled past Diana, and she managed to persuade him to join her in cracking the safe – he assumed it was an “ordinary” robbery. Further over in a parallel alley Wally approached another cop – he too was able to talk convincingly and avoid trouble, but could not yet get the code out of the guardian of the law.

Yvette and Gulab talk to Doyle, while Bud approachs another cop in the foreground

Bertie and Jane have a more physical encounter with Office O'Sullivan

 Bertie, by contrast, was able to grab the paper from O’Sullivan, so he now had the crucial combination. And at the same time Reggie picked the pocket of the cop who had approached him, and also acquired the code. So now both teams had the information they needed to open the safe – but the two sides were about to come into direct contact.

Having walked away from Yvette and Gulab, Officer Doyle now spotted Eastside Ernie across the street. He must have been looking shifty, because the cop challenged him, knocked him down and took him into custody. The shortest ever career in a league, I suspect. Another cop tackled Bud, but the young man was easily strong enough to shrug him off. Wally was in the alley still engaged in a battle of wits with his cop when a car drove past. Having spent years on safari in Africa Wally was perhaps unfamiliar with modern traffic, and was nearly knocked down, but he dodged at the last minute. Cool as a cucumber he mustered all his cunning and persuaded the cop to let him have the combination to the safe.

The action now hotted up as both sides converged on the warehouse to try to be first to the safe. Yvette came around the side of the building and fired at Bertie, who was halfway across the open space, but he was much faster and shot her – she went down and out of the fight. Gulab now followed Yvette into the open, and also fired at Bertie – again the experienced hunter drew blood and Gulab took a wound, but he was tougher than Yvette and was still on his feet. Diana now appeared and she too fired at Bertie – this time he decided to dodge, in which he was successful. Now Reggie appeared around the building to the east, and fired at Diana, but she in turn dodged successfully, as she did twice more when Bertie and Jane fired at her. This left Diana and an injured Gulab defending the side door of the warehouse, with Bertie, Jane and Reggie surrounding them. All this firing was certain to be attracting unwanted attention, so there wasn’t going to be much time to crack the safe and extract the documents.

Bertie and Jane in the foreground, while Diana and Gulab guard the warehouse door

Wally and Brawler can be seen struggling top left, while Bud talks to a policeman top right

This view show Milo lurking unnoticed by the front of the warehouse while the action goes on around him

Bertie, who had faced many enemies more dangerous than these (and with more teeth) now took the first shot, firing at Gulab by the warehouse door, and scored a hit. Reggie also tried a shot, but Gulab dodged. Jane now moved forward and fired, but Gulab got a shot off simultaneously and both of them were hit and went down. Milo Milktoast, who had been lurking around the corner, now moved up and collected the piece of paper dropped by Gulab. Down the street Bertie’s hireling Brawler tackled Wally, but rather surprisingly it was the professor who came out on top in the fight and Brawler was left in the gutter.

Diana now fired at Milo, downing him, but she didn’t attempt to pick up the scrap of paper. Instead she went into the building to block the way for Wally, who had run in through the front door and up the stairs, ready to crack the safe. Bud also ran forward to block the side door, anything to delay Bertie’s team from interfering with Wally opening the safe. Jane, Gulab and Brawler were all able to stagger to their feet again, but Milo was knocked unconscious (or pretending to be so – he is braver than the butterflies he collects, but not by much).

Now police sirens could be heard in the distance – this would be the last chance for either side to grab the crown jewels. Bertie had the initiative to fire at Gulab, who was hit and went down. This left just Bud, a lowly follower, guarding the warehouse door. Reggie shot at him next, but surprisingly Bud avoided being hit, and shot Reggie in return, leaving him with a wound.

Now the action switched to the upper floor of the warehouse, where Wally moved to the safe, and used his utility belt to defuse the trap. But even with the combination the safe was tricky to open, and Wally made no progress. Next Diana came up the stairs to apply her cunning to the challenge, but she was only able to make limited progress. Perhaps a different combination might be needed. So Bud tried to collect the paper from where Milo had dropped it – but failed to find it. Brawler now rushed Bud, but in another unexpected result the heroic Bud scored with a left hook and it was Brawler who went down. Jane also had a go at collecting that combination, but she too failed. With squad cars sweeping into view, both sides faded into the shadows, and the documents stayed securely in the safe. So Diana and Bertie are both still looking for the key information that will lead them on to the next stage of their adventures.

The end. Diana and Wally are in the warehouse but cannot crack the safe, while Bud holds the doorway

And now the second version:

The Mean Streets

With the Master having got away with the key information from the encounter in the jungle, Diana had to continue her research and traveling. Eventually the clues and hints led her and the team to a small warehouse in the back streets of New York City. However the delay had enabled another group to get onto the same leads. Bertie Brooks-Smyth was the backer and chief gun of a safari group which had hunted across Africa, but during that time their wanderings had led them to forgotten temples and hidden sites with secrets that Bertie eventually resolved to unravel. And so it was that Bertie’s group turned up in the same obscure corner of the big city.

The terrain consisted of a mixture of warehouses, small factories, tenements and blocks of flats, separated by narrow streets and alleys. The crucial piece of paper was inside a safe on the upper floor of a small warehouse in the centre of the board. The combination for the safe could only be found from one of five policemen wandering the streets close by. These were the four minor plot points, plus one red herring – the major plot point was of course the paper in the safe. The major plot point could only be attempted by someone already carrying one of the minor points – a version of the Lost Keys scenario.

The policemen would move 6” in a random direction at the start of each turn. The area within 3” of them was an extreme peril, which would have to be passed before the minor plot point could be attempted. There were also four bystanders (two men and two women) wandering in a similar manner. Finally there were four vehicles driving around the streets at 12” per turn. If they passed a character who was standing in the street that was an extreme peril. And the road within 6” of the front of a vehicle was a perilous area.

Before the start Diana used her Wealth point plus a Gear point from last time to buy Utility Belts for Gulab and Wally – these allow them each to pass one peril in the game. Bertie’s team used the Call to Arms perk – Bertie rolled his Might and got two successes, and he used the points to recruit a level 2 Shooter.

As the action started Bertie and his companions approached from the south east corner, and Diana’s team from the north west – though because of consequences from the previous battle, Diana herself would not come on until turn 2. The pre-game events ruled that Diana would have an extra Fortune card to start with, while Bertie’s team, under the Reconnoitre event, could not attack, run or rush in turn 1.

Diana had the initiative, and asked Bertie to go first. When Jim came to move Diana played the Unseen Peril card on him. The challenge was Finesse, which he failed, and then he failed the resultant Health check. Thus, as a Level 1 Follower, he was not only down but out of the fight. The rest of Bertie’s team moved forward steadily. At the far side Diana’s team were able to move further – Bud and Yvette got well around the corner, while Wally moved alone down the boundary street, and Gulab moved more slowly, wanting to ensure he would be in range of Diana when she arrived.

In the random moves, a cop strolled close to Yvette, became suspicious and challenged her, but she used her Cunning to pass the peril. She then faced the challenge for the plot point – this was two Finesse successes (presumably she was attempting to pick the code out of the cop’s pocket). She was only able to get one pass, so now Gulab moved to join them. He also passed the peril, and then completed the challenge with another Finesse, so Gulab now had the first plot point in his pocket.

Down on the south east side of the warehouse Bertie spotted a cop near a bus shelter, and approached him. He avoided the peril, but could not pass the challenge. His daughter Jane joined them, but she failed the peril and took a hit, going down. Fortunately she passed her recovery check later. The rest of Bertie’s team moved forward with no further action.

Reggie was sneaking around a small block of flats, and now a cop walked up and challenged him, but Reggie passed the peril easily. Close to the factory in the north, a bystander strolled past Diana, and she managed to persuade him to join her league (level 2 brawler). On the east side Wally approached another cop – again he passed the peril but was unable to pass the challenge to get the plot point. Bertie, by contrast, was able to trick the code out of his cop, so he now had his plot point. And at the same time Reggie completed a challenge on the cop who had approached him, and also acquired a plot point. So at this juncture Bertie’s team were ahead by two plot points to one – but the two sides were about to come into direct contact.

In the random moves, a cop walked past the bystander who had joined Diana. He must have been looking shifty, because the cop challenged him, he failed the peril, took a hit which he did not save, and so he was Out. The shortest ever career in a league, I suspect. Another cop tackled Bud, who got two successes with Might, so was OK. One of the cars drove past Wally, who was in the road, but he was able to beat the peril. This was despite the fact that he was still engaged in a battle of wits with the cop – he scored another success with his Cunning and took the plot point, so it is now two each.

The action now hotted up as both sides converged on the warehouse to try to be first to the safe. Yvette came around the side of the building and fired at Bertie, who was halfway across the open space, but he was much faster and shot her – she went down and therefore out of the fight. Gulab now followed Yvette into the open, and also fired at Bertie – again the experienced hunter drew blood and Gulab took a wound, but as a sidekick he has two health levels and so was still on his feet. Diana now appeared and she too fired at Bertie – this time he decided to dodge, in which he was successful. Now Reggie appeared around the building to the east, and fired at Diana, but she in turn dodged successfully, as she did twice more when Bertie and Jane fired at her. This left Diana and an injured Gulab defending the side door of the warehouse, with Bertie, Jane and Reggie surrounding them. In the recovery phase Gulab restored his full health.

Nothing special happened in the random moves of cops, bystanders and motor traffic, so the two teams went at it again. Bertie now has the initiative, after clearly winning a fight with Yvette. He took the first shot, firing at Gulab by the warehouse door, and scored a hit. Reggie also tried a shot, but Gulab dodged. Jane now moved forward and fired, but Gulab got a shot off simultaneously and both of them were hit and went Down. Milo Milktoast, who had been lurking around the corner, now moved up and collected the plot point dropped by Gulab. Down the street Bertie’s backup Brawler tackled Wally, but rather surprisingly it was the professor who came out on top in the fight and the Brawler went Down.

Diana now fired at Milo, downing him, but she didn’t attempt to take the plot point. Instead she went into the building to block the way, because Wally had run in through the front door and up the stairs, ready to crack the safe next time. Bud also ran forward to block the side door, anything to delay Bertie’s team from interfering with Wally opening the safe. In the recovery phase Milo is Out, Jane, Gulab and Brawler recover.

Turn 6, and the police sirens could be heard in the distance – this would be the last turn unless someone extended the time, and intriguingly, the plot point which gave that option was the one now lying by the warehouse door, having been dropped by Milo. Could one side or the other retrieve it – and if they did, would they wish to extend the deadline?

Bertie had the initiative, and started by firing at Gulab, who was hit and went down. This left just Bud, a low level Follower, guarding the warehouse door. Reggie shot at him next, but surprisingly Bud avoided being hit, and shot Reggie in return, leaving him with a wound. As a result of this clear win, initiative passed to Diana.

Now the action switched to the upper floor of the warehouse, where Wally moved to the safe, and used his utility belt to defuse the trap. The plot point challenge was 2 Cunning, but Wally, with his 2d6, failed on both. Next Diana came up the stairs to apply her 3d10 to the challenge, but she was only able to score one success. Everything now hinged on extending the time limit – nobody else from either side could reach the safe this turn, but if they could get another try then Diana and Wally would surely be able to score one more success. So Bud tried to collect the plot point from where Milo had dropped it – but failed the challenge. Brawler now rushed Bud, but in another unexpected result the heroic Bud scored a hit and it was Brawler who went down. With the final move Jane also had a go at collecting that plot point, but she too failed, so the scenario ended with Diana in possession of one minor Point, Bertie having two, and the major Point left uncollected.

In the wrap-up, Yvette, Milo and Jim all had to test for Harrowing Escapes. Yvette and Milo were both captured, and both failed their challenges, so each side lost 1 Rep. Jim got Retreat and Regroup, and also failed his challenge, so Bertie’s team will start their next scenario short one Fortune card.

Another fun game, finely balanced both between the two sides, and also in terms of completing within the time limit – it came down to a couple of dice rolls. I was happy with the mechanism for random movement of the cops, bystanders and vehicles – in a solo game this adds a certain amount of the unpredictable. So Diana and Bertie are both still looking for the key information that will lead them on to the next stage of the adventure.