Very Cinematic

[n107]

The last two games of LNoE that I played have really ended in quite an exciting, cinematic way. It was fun imagining how it was going down, even when I was losing. This is the reason why I bought the game. Sorry for the long post, but feel free to not read any of it.

Yesterday, I played the scenario "Burn 'em Out" with my random characters Becky, Father Joseph, Sheriff Anderson and Sally. We were lucky enough to have the gas station in play so once the gas can came out, Sally volunteered to stay there and refill the can when necessary. The survivors agreed with her idea since she proved to be quite able to defend herself in combat. The trio had a relatively easy time destroying the first spawn pit, but things started to go south on the way to the second. The can was too heavy and they were moving too slow. Father Joe took a bit of a beating on the way and the Sheriff couldn't seem to aim straight with his adrenaline pumping. Becky helped the priest as best as she could, but the zombies were beginning to swarm at the next spawn point and they had to make their move now or they'd lose their chance. Becky the nurse took up her shotgun and was aided by the sheriff as they helped clear a path for Joe. Once Becky's ammo ran out, she jumped into the fray and helped the old man of God.

Father Joe knew he was about to succeed but he knew something else; something far more sinister. He had been infected by the zombies and it would only be a matter of time before he became one of the undead. He bade the young nurse to leave him behind and finish the mission while he remained behind to buy time. His final prayers seemed to be answered as he was allowed to die without the infection taking over his body.

Meanwhile, Sally discovered her own bit of terrible news: the gas pump had gone dry! Now there was no quick way to refill the gas can for the final spawning pit. Sheriff Anderson and Becky ran off to ransack the local shops, looking for any explosives they could use for the job while Sally decided to stay at the gas station, certain she'd be able to find something useful. However, the sun was hanging low in the sky and it wouldn't be long before nightfall. That could only mean one thing: the zombies would come out en masse and overrun all of Woodinvalle. With the zombies on closing in, Becky and Anderson had no choice but to make a last ditch effort to run to the old barn out on the Sty farm. Sheriff Anderson knew that was where they'd find the final spawning pit and, with any luck, there would be some gas in the barn because of all the machinery. He held onto this hope while Becky continued her search, refusing to leave even with zombies getting closer and closer.

As the two survivors reached the barn, they saw the power go out and knew it'd be harder and more dangerous to get through it and complete their mission. Even worse, the sun was little more than an orange hue on the horizon by this point. Becky's final searches proved useless and, to her horror, she found herself engulfed in a swarm of the undead. Sheriff Anderson and Becky could hear her screams from across the town but they had no time to mourn, they had no time left for anything. Leaping into the barn, they rummaged around blindly as they heard the soft moans and shuffling feet of zombies elsewhere in the black room, almost close enough to touch. With mere seconds remaining before nightfall, all Becky could find was a chainsaw. Being a nurse, she knew the wounds she had sustained would not keep her upright for much longer. She handed off the tool to the sheriff as the zombies swarmed the pair. Sheriff Anderson didn't see Becky succumb to the feasting hoard in the dark but was well aware that she had died. In a final act of rage and with a primal scream, he brought the chainsaw to life with a deafening roar and spun around like a madman. His focused rage brought down every walking corpse that surrounded him, leaving the sheriff utterly alone as the sun vanished behind the horizon. He was the last survivor in all of Woodinvalle but, with the mission failed, that would certainly not last for long...



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Today I tried "Escape in the Truck" for a second time. I wasn't expecting much after my first attempt, but thought it'd be fun. My random heroes were Sally, Johnny, Det. Winters, and Jake Cartwright.

After the first few rounds, the Detective was lucky enough to find just what she was looking for: a can of gas. The truck was free of zombies so she thought this would be the best chance to fill it up so it was ready to go when someone found the keys. Sadly for her, it didn't take long before a wave of zombies closed in on the town center, almost as if they knew she was planning something with the truck. She understood that if she got to the truck, she'd be drowning in zombies before she even took the cap off of the tank. Just as she was cursing herself for being too slow, the sound of a shotgun blast broke the eerie stillness of the night. Looking past the truck, she noticed the drifter, Jake, had cleared out a path through a jungle of undead flesh.

Realizing that her chance would never get better than it was at the moment, Winters dashed to the vehicle, picking off a zombie along the way, and prepared to fill up the tank. Soon the two zombies she had been keeping an eye on closed in, but a third zombie she had not seen had also appeared from behind the old truck. This was more than she bargained for. They began clawing and biting at her but she managed to fend them off and get the tank filled. But now she needed to get away and fast. She was bleeding and felt weak, but there she couldn't rest until they found the keys to get out of town.

She yelled to Jake, telling him to help her look but he said he couldn't. For some reason he had to get to the hospital. She tried to warn him that it was nothing more than a zombie lair by now and, with the power cut, whatever he was looking for would likely never be found. Fortunately, she heard another voice call out. Johnny, the local high school quarter back was standing in the doorway of the gun shop. He said something about finding keys, but he got cut off by Sally screaming behind him when the lights of that shop also went out. Detective Winters managed to convince the drifter to follow her to the teenagers hiding in the gun shop. She assured him that they had the keys to escape and the would all need guns if they were going to get away in one piece, especially since she had just fired the last bullet in her revolver.

The Detective tried to rush in through the side door, but to her dismay it was locked. Jake had better luck as he went in through the front and met up with Johnny. While Sally felt around in the darkness and found and loaded a revolver, Johnny gave the preoccupied drifter the pump shotgun he had found on the rack. While this was happening, the bloodied Detective Winters was pounced on by a zombie that shambled up to her while she was distracted by the locked door. The zombie attacked fast and attacked hard, but fortunately one of the detectives earlier wounds was less severe than it looked and the new damage she took was not enough to bring down this tough lady. But weaponless and bleeding profusely, she knew that this was bound to be her last night on Earth.

As she realized her demise was soon at hand, she couldn't have been more surprised to see the zombies head explode. Young Sally had noticed the situation outside and got a lucky shot from the window of the darkened gun shop. Seeing such bravery from one so young, Winters could not allow those innocent teens to be cut down so early in life. Accepting her fate, she told the others she would distract the swarm of zombies at the truck and lure them away so they could escape. Ignoring their protests, she ran out to the town square.

Sure enough, seeing a free meal in the bloodied woman limping their way, three zombies scurried after her. They found that, though she was willing to bring herself into their grasping claws, she wasn't going to let them have their way with her. She shrugged off the uncoordinated attacks of the first and second zombies but wasn't fast enough for the third corpse slinking up from behind. The creature had her right where he wanted her, but the Rachelle Winters was no ordinary girl; she was a well trained police officer. Her instincts kicked in, and the zombie sunk his teeth into the grip of her flashlight instead of her flesh.

She didn't have much time to think about what to do next as the first two zombies had already recovered and were bearing down on her again. As she braced her weakened body for the next round of attacks, she was nearly knocked on her feet as the two walking corpses were blasted to pieces. Standing behind them with a satisfied grin on his face was Jake Cartwright and his still loaded shotgun. Winters let out a relieved laugh upon seeing the shady drifter, but then another voice drew her attention away. It was Johnny in the truck.

"Come on!" he yelled.

Without delay, the detective hobbled over to the waiting truck and dove into the back. She knew that Jake would hop in soon enough and then they'd make a quick stop at the gun store to pick up Sally before finally racing out of this town gone to hell.

[supervike]

What a great read!

This is what makes this games so appealling...the mechanics get lost because of the story!!!


Love it, more please!

[Sarku]

Where the hell was this a few weeks ago?

[n107]

Sárku Wrote:Where the hell was this a few weeks ago?

I've only had the game for a week!

[Canadian Pittbull]

Very good read "INDEED!" (in my best Lo Pan voice).

I love that bit of the game as well that when describing or posting a session report the game so easily transfers to a cinematic retelling. Which the game thematically and mechanically is trying to do anyways. At least that is how I see it anyways.

Great post n107!

[btf032]

Very interesting. No way I'd be able to think up this stuff.

Question: Do you act out this stuff while playing, or just think of it after you're through with the game?

Also, how many people do you play with?

[n107]

btf032 Wrote:Very interesting. No way I'd be able to think up this stuff.

Question: Do you act out this stuff while playing, or just think of it after you're through with the game?

Also, how many people do you play with?

I don't act anything out, I can just see it happening as if it were in a movie while it goes on in the game. Then when it's over, I feel like I just watched a short film. Though not every game has such an exciting cohesion like these two examples, I usually view all the sessions this way.

[Cymrusaint]

Brilliant. I've just ordered the game, and after reading this I can't wait for it to arrive. This is exactly how I hoped the game would be. Thanks for a brilliant insight.

[fallensaviour]

Fantastic stuff.
This is the reason I love the game as well.It has an immense cinematic feel to it!!!