GM: Todd Furler
Players: Noam Rosen, Sean Nittner, more KublaCon Players
System: Hollow Earth Expedition
Original Post: https://seannittner.com/kubla-2009-sunday-5242009/
I got into Todd’s second game, Whitfield vs. the Swarm. Here’s a funny bit. I was so excited to get in a game of Todd’s that I didn’t even read the game description. The way it was titled, I assumed it was a game set around a court case. HOW WRONG WAS I. First thing he says is “post apocalyptic action pulp”. Now we are talking. The game was a blast, but like his Buried Secrets game, he’s running it again at Gen Con so I’m not giving out any spoilers (or at least any that you wouldn’t find out in the first five minutes of playing).
I played Maggie Rodriquez, this tough girl who’s parents died and she lived alone. A scout and at home with nature she hunted for food and provided the settlement of Whitfield with supplies she could find, food she could spare and advance warning if cannibals were roving through. This time however, her scouting mission came back with the worst news of all. After 8 years of hiding from the bugs, they had finally found Whitfield, and we, a band of 14-15 year old kids had to do something about it!
What rocked
Todd’s presentation of an alien enemy was great. Complex , but utterly alien to us. The threat was persistent throughout the game, which was great. It kept the tension high.
We had some excellent players. In particular Patrick who played Chris the “utterly useless” kid who totally saved the day in the end, Noam who played Gary the bully who had a heart of gold and Michelle who played Beth the would-be doctor strangely connected to the back-story. I really loved our interactions; Patrick one the day several times with his well timed antics. My favorite line of mine: “When Chris starts screaming. THAT’S the signal!” As for the others, they had a some great ones, the Pastor’s son’s sermons in particular were fantastic.
Tons of wire-fu action. When Todd mentioned the game would be pulpy I immediately knew I wanted a character that could do some ass whopping, and while Maggie was by no means the most deadly of the group, she had enough spunk and know how to be lots of fun. As far as I could tell every player had a character they really enjoyed.
Balls to the wall Gary did it. He charged the swarm of bugs, managed to wade through them and faced off against a warrior. And then got his butt whooped. Just the same it was a blast to watch him try.
Our ending. Two Words. Kick Ass!
What could have been improved
The system (Hollowed Earth Expedition), unlike Unknown Armies is utterly un-remarkable. It’s sufficient, I suppose but in no way aided the story. Being able to accumulate “style” dice by following our flaws and motivation was cool, but that certainly isn’t something unique to the system. I think the game would have been better served with FATE, Wushu, or possibly Prime Time Adventures.
We had some confusion of two players trying to act at the same time and the fiction getting somewhat confusing. Todd navigated through it just fine but I did notice one player appearing frustrated as he didn’t feel his actions were being acknowledged at first. I think in the end it worked fine but it’s a good rule to remember as players not to step on each other’s fun.
It was late in the con and my attention was waning so I wasn’t really on the ball the entire time. Still had a blast but didn’t give it my all.
Here’s a picture of the group (sorry for the bad lighting):
