Back to the Pulps! – Noir Revolution: Pacific Star, Episode 2

This is bouncing back to the Fate Accelerated One-Shot I GMed back in 2013!  Though with considerably fewer players (three, rather than the seven[!] of the original game).

The characters for the game were: Trixie, the pilot, Number One Sun, the gangster, and Hamish, the operative.

Opening Scene: Shanghai, at night, the river where the Piggy (a PBY flying boat) is moored.  Trixie is coming back to check on something when she sees the light of a flashlight beam inside the plane.  Approaching cautiously, Trixie slips aboard only to be revealed in the flash from a camera taking pictures of the control panel!

At the same time Sun and Hamish are arguing on their way back from the Pacific Star offices and they notice that the warehouse guard has been knocked unconscious and the warehouse gate is slightly open.  Investigating, they find a gang of thugs heaving boxes aside looking for something.

(The two scenes play out simultaneously, cutting from one to another.) 

Noir Revolution: Pacific Star – Episode 1: Pilot/Shanghai Express (Actual Play)

Last night, having finished the cast, we finally sat down to play the Pacific Star one-shot using Fate Accelerated.

The scene open in media res with Sun Chan, Dr. Alabaster Oxford, Hamish Sinclair and the Old Man aboard a hurtling train under attack from three light biplane bombers, Sun Chan throwing open the window to blaze away at them with her chromed .45 pistol.  Cut to: the ‘Piggy’ (a PBY flying boat) spewing smoke from her port engine as Trixie banks the plane in a hard left as Lefty and Dr. Philmore Cornelius react to the ambush by two biplane fighters.

Roll opening credits with a jazzy soundtrack and then cut to The Monastery of the Serene Way, eight hours earlier. 

Noir Revolution: Pacific Star – Cast List

The current cast for the Noir Revolurion – Pacific Star campaign is:

Sun Chan “Number 1 Sun”, up and coming Chinese gangster and ally of Pacific Star, Taoist gunslinger and smooth operator.  (Played by L)

Dr. Philmore Cornelius, academic and master of meteorological magic.  His by the book personality conceals a sharp mind.  (Played by H)

Joseph E “Lefty” Marrone, Ace mechanic aboard the ‘Piggy‘ with a mechanical arm.  (Played by T2)

Dr. Alabaster Oxford, PhD. D.D. possibly the smartest man in the world and never one to allow moral concepts to stand in the way of science.  (Played by M)

Hamish Sinclair, acquisitions specialist for Pacifc Star Import-Export.   30ish, clean cut and well-dressed. His brogue and red-brown hair betray his family’s roots in the high-lands of Scotland, although he always wears his trademark 3-piece suit, and walks with a jade-inlaid cane (which conceals a lightning projector).  (Played by J)

Beatrice “Trixie” Washbourne, high flying daughter of a rum runner and pilot of the ‘Piggy’, a modified PBY prototype acquired by Pacific Star for her.  (Played by T1)

“Old Man”, former martial artist now curio shop owner, sells to Pacific Star and occasional works as an interpreter.  (Played by Z)

You can find photos for some of the cast, Shanghai in the 1930s, the ‘Piggy‘ and more on the Noir Revolution – Pacific Star pinterest board.

The first (and so far only) episode is here.

FAE One-Shot Framework: Noir Revolution – Pacific Star

Noir Revolution – Pacific Star

It is 1935 but not as you know it.  Magic rolled back into the world in a big way in 1929 causing the Stock Market to crash and ushering in the Great Depression.  Prohibition is over but the Mafia is still powerful.  Nazi scientists and brave archaeologists hunt occult artefacts.  The scientists of Tesladyne create electrically powered wonders.  Difference engines of the Imperial Babbage company crack complex mathematical problems and aid complex production lines.  While Zeppelins span the globe.

It is an era of change and an era of looming conflict . . . One that Pacific Star Import/Export intend to take advantage of.

Setting: The pulp 1930s by way of Shadowrun.  The game is simulating a TriV show within the Shadowrun universe.

False Prophecy and Hoaxes in RPGs

This morning I encountered an article of wikipedia on Drake’s Plate of Brass, a historical hoax, and it spiralled out into thoughts of prophecy in RPGs and the idea of deliberately false or hoaxed prophecy.

What better way to cement your religions place than to have a prophecy show that a member of your faith will save the King/City/Land at some indeterminate time in the future?  Or produce a prophecy that shows that is was because of your god(s) divine favor that the current ruler, rules, and that if the faith is not exalted, she or he (or it) will lose divine favor and fall from power?  What if they forgot that these prophecies are not real?

Equally, a rival faith might plant a hoax prophecy in an attempt to discredit or waste the resources of their enemies or encourage false prophecy to try and lure donations and worshippers away.  Even in a polytheistic setting, priests like to have nice things for their temple and status.

Though a prophecy does not even have to be false to cause problems, traditionally, prophecies are open to interpretation maybe they have just been misread all these years and only one mad scholar has figured out the truth?  Or they got recorded in the wrong order and the bad thing is much closer to happening than everyone thought.

What if a prophecy is inspiring a nation to hold fast against some evil and the characters find out it is all bunk.  Do they keep going along with it and try and force the prophecy to become real?  Do they go through the motions to keep up morale?  Or do they tell the truth?

Just some ideas for turning the traditional “fated heroes” trope on its head.

Edit:  And some thoughts about prophecy in the Sea of Stars.