They tell me there was a Jimcon on the 3rd of October. They also say I was there. I don’t remember any of it, but if I was there this is what would have happened…
Eclipse
Our first game was “Eclipse”. A game we’re going to say is like a Twilight Imperium III Lite version. We started around 10:40 and by 11:00 Ben had committed his first cheat. There was some controversy as to where everyone sat. Ben prefers Evil Mike and I sit next to each other, thus guaranteeing we’d be at each other’s throats for most of the game. Instead Evil Mike sat between Owen and Ben, I was on the opposite side of the galaxy. It’s never good for Evil Mike and Owen to sit next to each other either.
In eclipse we each play a species that have their own strengths and weaknesses. Our goal is to earn victory points by exploring new star systems, researching technologies, and building spaceships for both discovery and warfare. The universe is a small place after all and it’s inevitable in this game that you’ll be fighting battles with the other players…scum that they are.
There are many dangers and great rewards when exploring new star systems. Evil Mike and Jim both found technologies that quickly enhanced their space ships into objects to be feared by the rest of us. Ben and Owen discovered supernovas near their home worlds. While filled with vast resources, they could explode at any moment. That moment for Ben happened on round 4. Likewise, Mike and Jim discovered an ancient Hive planet in between them. The Hive ships caused them a lot of trouble and resources as they defend their systems from them. I believe at one point Jim got tired of it all and went on the offensive against the Hive.
By round four, Evil Mike’s Cruisers were the scourge of the universe with a 6 armor rating and uber-cool plasma canons. Yet he lost in a fight against the evil ancient aliens. Owen and Mike turned out to be bad neighbors. Maybe that was because of a wormhole that also joined their two space realms. Nearly every round they fought to a standstill over the same star system. Since Owen had his own troubles with Mike, this left Evil Mike free to roam the universe. Besides aliens, Evil Mike also attacked Ben. Beneficent Ben, who hasn’t thought of attacking him? Ben was a little put out by it all.
On the last round everyone attacked their neighbor. Final round combat results:
Owen neutron bombed two of Mike’s territories worth 4 victory points. I attacked two of Jim’s territories and lost in both battles. Ben attacked two of Evil Mike’s territories and won one (Evil Mike’s home planet) worth 3 VP. Jim attacked Evil Mike at the central planet of the universe and lost. The final scores were mighty close. Owen won with 33 VPs. Evil Mike has 27. Ben had 24. Jim and I tied at 23 and Mike came in last with 21.
Solomon Kane Revolutionary War
Next Evil Mike ran us through a Solomon Kane game that takes place in the America’s during the revolutionary war. Our heroic adventurers meet George Washington at Fort Clinton. The Heroes had been having dreams of impending doom where Washington was at the center of it. To our surprise Washington was expecting us. He gave us a mission to rescue Ichabod Crane from the British held village of Sleepy Hollow. If I remember right, an English general by the name of Hodgson is possessed by one of the four horseman of the apocalypse. Either that or he is possessed by one of the horseman’s “agents”. Either way, he is one bloodthirsty general. Ichabod somehow plays a major part in the whole end-of-the-world scenario that is unfolding.
The heroes arrive at Sleepy Hollow just as a company of minute men are attacking the British in the square. We charged into the fray and fought to the doors of the governor’s mansion. Tonto (Owen) goes into a berserker rage and smashes through the front door of the mansion while Sheila the thief (Mike) unlocks the back door and sneaks into the cells in the basement
In the meantime Giselle (me), the comely gypsy, and Bar Willis (Jim), the marksman, are off to one side of the square shooting and fighting off charging redcoats. Behind Bar and Giselle two men burst out a building. They are locked in mortal combat, swords clashing. The outcome is swift. One is beheaded while the other is mortally wounded. The healer, Trevor ‘miracle max’ did a miraculous healing and resuscitated Ichabod. Upon returning to the living, Ichabod announces that his love, Katrina, has been kidnaped by redcoats. He will not leave Sleepy Hollow until she is rescued.
That evening the heroes begin tracking the kidnappers. Just as they arrive at the bridge that announce the entrance to Sleepy Hollow, a man on horseback attacks us. A man without a head! After a fierce fight skillfully executed by the heroes (well, maybe not) we defeat the horseman. Truth be told, it was mostly Nathaniel (Ron) that defeated the horseman.
We hear the sounds of many feet moving through the countryside and discover that the evil English general Hodgson has arrived with a plethora of troops. And he has Katrina held captive. His has set up canons on a ridge overlooking the town. We receive word that if Ichabod is not handed over to him, he will bombard the town.
The heroes leap into action. Some help evacuate the town. Tonto and Sheila silently climb the ridge to grab Katrina, while the rest of us stage a distraction. The plan quickly falls apart as a parley with the general goes south and one of our silent climbers rolls a critical failure.
We do not want to kill the general, but rather capture him if possible. Somehow, when all was said and done, we are able to do this and save Katrina. Truly, we are the unsung heroes of the revolution.
Savage Doctor Who
Saturday morning Owen ran us through a Savage Doctor Who game. The adventure continued where episode 1 left off… Hutch wakes up (Mike couldn’t make it last time, so he slept through it in the tour bus.) The Doctor invites us all to accompany him on a trip to Egypt. We all load into the TARDIS and in no time at all are standing in Egypt…a few thousand years ago it seems! It is baking hot – over 100 degrees, but it is a dry heat so we’re good.
Nearby is an oasis and a pyramid. The Doctor tells us to look around. We snoop around the pyramid. A large obelisk stands outside of the pyramid’s entrance. On it is an inscription: “Osiris loves you, Osiris welcomes you”. Written in English! Then the Doctor informs us that it’s actually in Egyptian, but that the TARDIS has translated it for us.
We approach the oasis and discover a village. After a tense moment we are welcomed into the village. We meet the village chief. The villagers are quite friendly and we mingle. It seems we know their language too! (Thanks TARDIS!) As it gets dark we see two moons in the sky. We begin to think that nothing is ever what it seems with this doctor fellow. None-the-less we enjoy ourselves. Our evening is interrupted by strange creatures, called Dagots, that emerge from the sand and attack the village. They look like scarab beetles, but are two feet long and have a poisonous bite! The doctor is bitten and falls unconscious. After the battle a celebration is held. It seems that the Dagots are a vital part of the villager’s diet. They get to eat fresh meat. (Dagots tastes like chicken.) Later that night, during the Celebration, a gong rings out three times. The villagers are even happier. Some will get to join Osiris! As a thank you, the chief insists we all take their place with the gods. The next morning, after little sleep, our hands are ceremoniously bound (loosely) with a golden cords. The gong rings out again and a door opens at the top of the pyramid. We climb the steps and enter a room that has no exits (other than the one we just entered.) We all remove our bonds and look around. The only door closes and the floor descends like an elevator. Electronic noises are heard. We arrive at a room with two sphinx statues. (Someone just had to touch one.) They are constructs and begin attacking us. After the sphinxes ravage several of us, Hutch is sure we are missing something. Wu Chan (Ron) then remembers the golden cords that bound us earlier. We bind our hands again (loosely) and the Sphinx stop attacking. Once this happens, a door opens. We follow the steps down to the bottom level. This level has several electronic consoles, two large metal “chambers”, and four pads on the floor. This is not Egyptian technology. As we look around the room, the pads on the floor light up and four men appear. They are actually more machine than flesh. We know these are Cybermen (Thanks again TARDIS!). A fight ensues. A couple of them are taken down, but two more appear. It’s a tough fight during which Wu Chan is mortally wounded. The TARDIS materializes and the Doctor emerges (fully recovered from his reaction to the Dagot poison). He is able to save Wu Chan by using one of the large metal “conversion” chambers. After making many adjustments, Wu Chan is placed in the chamber. When he emerges, he still has his own head, but has the body of a Cyberman. [It is likely that the Doctor will drop him off at a cyborg friendly planet to enjoy his retirement. Ron will have a new character next time.] Doctor explains: There are many pyramids dotted around the planet. The Cybermen are using the planet as a “farm”, ensuring a constant supply of humans that can be “upgraded” [This is the term they use when converting someone to a Cyberman.] He speculates that the original people were abducted from Earth thousands of years ago. He uses his sonic screwdriver to send a feedback pulse to the orbital relay station that causes it to explode thus ensuring that the Cybermen cannot return. Once again we are heroes!
Savage Conan
Following on the tails of Doctor Who was a Savage Conan game run by me.
On the road to Akbitana the heroes come across a large party of bandits attacking a wagon. Aquilonian guards are protecting the wagon as best they can, but many have fallen to the bandits. The heroes charge in, literally, and eventually overcome the bandits. The wagon’s owner Lortus, an Aquilonian merchant, is extremely grateful. He asks the heroes to accompany him to Akbitana where he can properly reward them. He gives each a purse filled with gold coins and throws a party in their honor. The heroes also meet Lortus’s Beautiful daughter Maeve who is mute and seems rather frail. While most of the heroes throw themselves wholeheartedly into the party, a few refrain from partaking. Amo (Evil Mike) searches Lortus’s large library and finds a tomb containing mystical knowledge. (I honestly can’t remember if Lortus gives him the tomb or if Amo steals it. Let’s say he steals it. J )
The next morning Lortus implores the heroes to accompany Maeve to an ancient Acheron temple in the mountains between Koth and Khauran. There the heroes hope to find a pool called the “Tears of Acheron” which will heal beautiful Maeve’s afflictions. The route through the mountains is arduous and at one point the heroes had to leave the wagons behind. They come to an ancient bridge spanning a bottomless chasm. They must cross one at a time for fear of the bridge crumbling beneath them. On the far side appears a demon spawned from the depths of ancient Archeon magic. It attacks them. The brave knight Karan charges the demon doing little to no damage against the foul creature. In return the demon strikes Koran with his massive pinchers, lifting him from the ground and opening him up like a can of sardines. Any other man would have died from such grievous wounds, but not Koran. He lay there in a pool of his own filth and blood, alive, but just barely. Gar the barbarian (Owen) quickly comes to his rescue and sunders the demon with a single blow of his mighty axe! It should be noted that Amo helped out by entangling the demon in sorcerous vines.
The heroes arrive at the ruins surrounding the ancient Acheron temple. A priest rashly commands them to kneel or leave. The priest believes that the large beasts his minions hold at bay will be enough to cower the heroes. (He obviously didn’t know who he was dealing with.) The beasts, known as lions, are released. The resulting battle was short and brutal. A intimidate from Amo and a headlong charge and beheading from Karan solved the problem of all the kneeling nonsense.
At the temple, the heroes solve the riddle of the barred door.
The heroes reach the room that contains the pool called the Tears of Acheron. Soon Maeve will be healed. Chop-Chop (Jim) tries to slide under a big heavy curtain only to pull it down on top of himself. There was much cursing (from Chop-Chop) and much laughing (from the rest of us). Khalim the Silent (Ron) and Gar (Owen) have a bit of a scuffle with a crazy dual-sword wielding Acheron leader. But it was Chop-Chop, now free of the deadly curtain, who rushes in and chop-chops him down.
Meanwhile Maeve enters the pool. Much mystical weirdness happens as the pool “heals” Maeve. It turns out she is not really the daughter of Lortus, but some vile changeling now imbued with the powers of Acheron. Amo suspected this. (He’s played in my games before.) Maeve calls forth the spirits of the long dead Acheronians who attack the heroes. During the fierce battle that followed, it was Chop-Chop who rushes in and kills the demon lady (formerly Maeve). I think Chop-chop could have completed this adventure without the extra baggage of the other heroes.
Sunday we played board games although there is no record of what games we played or who won them. We all had a great time though!
Thanks to Jim for hosting again. Thanks to Ben, Owen, and Ron for helping fill in the missing pieces of what happened that weekend. (Why is this sounding like we all went to Las Vegas?)
As usual, we’re already looking forward to the next JimCon in spring.
