Niv Lova Solo Actual Play Part 1

Ivan sees some serious "stuff".

Write Firster is creating an RPG and has made the playtest link available for anyone interested in checking it out. ( Playtest Document Link ) I got very interested after reading through some of the rules and their first actual play.

I came up with a basic background: Ivan chose to be here. He lost family when the incident occurred five years ago in zone zero. He is looking for answers. 

Next I generated a location to get the story rolling. Generate Location: NPC: Rookie Scavenger, glasses, Code name Ghost real name Phillip. Oracle: Release. Guard. Trade. (Interpretation: Ghost is a potential contact that may know where a remnant is. Ivan has learned that Ghost may be held captive.) I use Docs mostly and created a Travel Timer (4). Direction: North.

It has been days since Ivan left Limbus in search of The Ghost. He hopes the information he bought is true, that this “Ghost” knows the location of a Remnant. Apparently, Ghost was most recently in a settlement called Last Hope.

Day 1. Cloudy. Not lost. POI: Abandoned Urban area, Small town with 5 main buildings: Fire Station. Nuclear Power Plant. Bus Station. Strip Mall. Laboratory. No Encounter today.

Ivan finally reaches the edge of a small town. It has a few standing buildings, most collapsed or burned out. It is early in the day and he may be able to scavenge here. He notes the massive half collapsed silos of the Nuclear Power plant on the far side of town.

Fire station. Again, using google docs, I made an Event/Room counter instead of drawing out the map of the building. 

Ivan cautiously heads over to a fire station. When he gets close, two feral looking dogs trot out of the broken sliding garage doors. Ivan slowly takes out his pack and offers some food which they gladly eat up.

Area 1: Enemy: d6 Feral Dogs. Reaction: Friendly. Oracle: Do they stay? Yes, and… (Extreme positive). Area 2: Stash. Area 3: Empty (Offices) scavenge. Area 4: Hazard: Mold.  

They jump and lick Ivan’s face and stick close as he makes his way into the garage. One truck lies sitting on deflated tires. He can see where the dogs have created a nice shelter here; even using old uniforms as a bed. In the corner there is a large locked steel storage container. Ivan does not find any keys here, but will search inside the building. Ivan pushes open the door to the interior. He needs to force it as it screeches on rusted hinges. It stays open and there is just enough light from some of the windows for Ivan to make out where he is. He checks 2 offices and finds 3 sets of keys. He takes them to try on the storage locker later.

Ivan heads upstairs and finds the kitchen area, needing to force the door open. It swing open fast and he stumbles in and chokes and coughs. He sees spores floating in the air in some rays of light from the far window. The dogs stay out and start barking. Ivan covers his mouth and backs away, noticing the sickly looking mold covering half of the room. He is able to pull the door shut behind him. (1 damage). He takes a moment to let the coughing pass and the dogs look on and give concerned whimpering sounds.

Area 5: Aberration. Fire. Near. Medium intensity.

First the dogs, then Ivan notices the other end of the hallway light up. Greenish fire is outlining the door, some flames curling out underneath. The fire dies back down and after 20 seconds seems to flare up. The door buckles and bends and then slams open sending green flames further out into the hall. The flames billow and move like they are breathing before receding again. Scorch marks are beginning to show on the walls and ceiling of the hallway. After 15 seconds they surge again. Ivan swore he saw what looks like a large eye in the flames; the pupil is not a circle, not human, not of any creature on earth. The flames die down again and Ivan thinks this is his chance to find a Remnant. He runs for it hoping to make it through whatever this is.

Pass the Aberration: Fail. Use Fortune point: Pass. Medium Remnant.

The green flames almost resemble tentacles as they swirl around him. A deep moaning heralds the final swell of flames and Ivan is left in a blackened and scorched room. There are broken tables and chairs… and a Remnant.

Remnant: Turning. Marble size. Abstract shape. Glass.

Ivan picks up the very small glass Remnant. It shifts, the irregular angles ever turning slowly, never holding the same shape. He concentrates on trying to activate it or make do something, but nothing happens except a vey small ache just behind his eyes. He will need to wait until tomorrow to try this again. He looks to the dogs who have now come into the room. Their ears up and heads tilted as they look back at Ivan. “What a find!” Ivan is bursting with excitement and the dogs, no longer strays, pick up on it.

There is nothing else worth searching for on this floor and they head back downstairs. Ivan notices one last room to the left they previously missed. Just as he is about to step through the doorway, he notices the thin wire running across, near the bottom. “Whoa!” The dogs stop, alert. Ivan backs away and clicks his tongue for the dogs to follow. He decides to not bother with that room and he leads the dogs back into the garage. Ivan pulls shut the door to keep the dogs from wandering back in. Next he tries the keys he found in the storage locker. It takes almost all the keys to finally find one that works. He finds 11 rounds of 7.62, rifle ammo. Won’t work in his revolver but could come in handy. He also finds a some heavy armour. It’s broken but he may be able to fix it up for use or perhaps trade.

Ivan notices the sun starting to go down, leaving strange colours in the sky, and decides to hunker down with the dogs on their bedding. As they are all eating he says “Well, I guess you two need names huh?” Are you brother and sister? How about Leto and Ghani? Do you like that?” They both bark and Ivan laughs. He thinks about how he hasn’t laughed in such a long time. Ivan curls his hand around the Remnant, feeling it shift and turn in his hand as he drifts off to sleep.

I decided to Roll with advantage on night encounter due to secure location. 2 XP. +6 HP.  Skill: Mad: Roll with advantage to Use a Remnant.

Notes:

I ended my first session here since quite a bit happened.

I may have missed a couple of rules here or there. Such as the bleeding status after the PC took damage from the spores. I also rolled on rection to the two feral dogs. They were meant to be an enemy, however I liked the unexpected turn of having them as companions.

I really liked having the Abandoned Urban Area as my first point of interest. There are excellent tables to quickly create the area and mechanics for exploring and scavenging in buildings.

Having an Aberration appear was exciting and the subsequent Remnant was also cool. I imagine the terrible event that took place in the setting to be related to Elder Gods somehow and tried to incorporate that into the Aberration.

I gave 2 XP because the session was very memorable. I chose more HP for better survivability and lucked out with a 5 (plus Vigor for 6). I chose Mad for a skill to help operate Remnants because I am hoping the one found this session will be useful!

I really like the setting and survivor/scavenger feel to the game and plan to explore more with my player character.