Actual Play – Blue Gene – Alpha to Omega (2/9/2011)

Director: Leonard Balsera
Cast: Rich Rogers (Sloane), Scott White (Frank Hunter), Sean Nittner (Kevin “Cujo” Siddig)
System: PTA

This game started with some interesting plot advancement ideas. It wasn’t anyone’s spotlight episode, so instead we advanced the themes of the show. Gene sequencing as it effects society, police work, the fate of Curtis hunter, and all of our characters digging themselves deeper into trouble.

We also dove into a two plot approach. Frank and Sloane opened up doing police work, while Kevin was distracted by his personal affairs.

Plot A – The first re-sequencing project, who has been at large for years, show up with a vengeance. He knows he’s dying and he wants the cure from Franks’ dad Curtis Hunter. Wendel pretty much trounces Sloane and Frank at every turn, killing cops left right and center in the process. He exhibits not only the standard “super” human capabilities of a gene freak but in his time at large has also gained control of energy fields in his body and around him, taking his powers to a whole new level.

Plot B – Sophia has gotten in over her head and to pay off as mysterious Asian guy in a suit, she agrees to do one job but Siddig knows that if she goes at it alone, she is dead. Reluctantly he aids her, but when the gig goes down, there is a brutal fight and he kills many, many people to get them out of there alive.

Plots A and B eventually collide as Sloane figured out what Siddig did, wants to take him in but needs his capabilities to take down Wendell. Tension between Frank and his father escalate when Frank realizes that his father has had the cure for his own disease the entire time.

Frank, Sloane and Siddig have a giant showdown at the hospital trying to protect Curtis Hunter. Between the three of them, Wendell is defeated (and killed) but Siddig is brought into custody, not only for murder but for his obvious display of genetic re-sequencing. The cat is out of the bag for Cujo.

Thoughts on this game

I felt selfish at first creating a plot that wasn’t about one of the other PCs. I don’t like it when players create pet NPCs so they can interact only with the GM (director in this case) and so I wanted to make sure I wasn’t doing that. Lenny assured me it would be fine, and sure enough by the 2nd act we all started seeing ways to weave the two plots together, and it was great.

Since our characters are so “character drama” heavy, I think we added exactly what was needed for the show, an episode that was all about crime and the meta-story rather than any of our personal issues. It still touched on all of them (Sloane trying to keep things together, Frank trying to win over his dad, Siddig trying to keep his re-sequencing as secret) but we weren’t hammering on any of them to change this episode, which I felt added some texture to the show, making more “drama” than “melodrama”.

After the showdown, when the product was turned into the “mysterious Asian guy in a suit” Siddig was made an offer, to quit the police force and join this dude. Sophia, his girlfriend was ecstatic, this was her dream come true, but for Siddig that meant turning in his badge. It also meant probably evading a 17 count murder trial. Make a lot of money, get out of jail free, and please your girlfriend vs. doing the job. There are few times when I get to be justifiably self-righteous in a game, but this was one of them. I was so happy to tell the mysterious dude that I did this one job for Sophia, and after today he could consider himself an hunted man.

The game ended on a court trial, with 17 murder counts against Siddig, however that trial was commuted by a more pressing matter, which was the authorizing and legalizing of genetic re-sequencing for military and law enforcement purposes. Representing the case that re-sequencing (or “blueing”) should be authorized was Frank Hunter. Representing the opposition was the District Attorney Mallory Feliciano and Curtis Hunter. Yup, his dad! Bad ass.

Lenny’s depiction of the LT and all his “fuck you mother fuckers” seemed like the perfect release valve for the true title of this game “fucking fuckin fuck fuck fuck.”