2) I ran a game of Dust Devils using the Ronin variant rules (so it was a Feudal Japan setting, rather than the Wild West). It went fairly well except for the end (where I had some problems with closure). A link to the game plot can be found here.

The Duties the players picked worked really well together, even if they didn't know it when they were creating them. The player's key motivations were:

• To become recognised as a great bushi (ie samurai) - called Fame in the text.
• To follow the Christian God - called The Christian in the text.
• To have his father, the Daimyo, recognise him as son - called Unrecognised Son in the text.
• To reap revenge against the Daimyo for the death of his love; chief method was to kill the Daimyo's offspring - called Revenge in the text.

The players generally jumped headlong into the game. I played it more as a road movie than anything else, with plot threads being dangled by myself and sometimes created by the players. It should be recognised the group is more used to D&D than anything else, so the game may not have been as narrative as I would have liked, but it was a good start and I believe the players had fun.

It ended with Fame, having covertly stabbed the Christian in the back several times dropping all subtlety and killing him. Nen took a battering early and was lucky to last as long as he did, but he fell to Unrecognised Son. Unrecognised Son was then dispatched by Fame and in the closest of margins, Revenge beat out Fame to be the last man standing in a fairly bloody clearing.

It was something different. Would do things differently next time, but given I haven't been able to make the group recently and there are probably 4 campaigns waiting in the wings I might not be doing anything like this for a while.

Notes from the Real World    10/12/02

After a skim through the rules I could see a potential game rise up in front of me (which I cheezily called The Blood Hotel Of Death until I came up with The Last Resort which is also cheezy but more modern sounding). Doing the usual call around I found no-one had a game planned so I put my hand up. I've already done some discussion on how the game went here but in short it went very well. For interest's sake the notes I ran the game from are below:

Intro: Elyssian Fields is this year’s hottest snow resort. Designed like a snowflake it has attracted record crowds to the recently developed area, formerly the site of an abandoned whaling station. A long way from the closest city, its isolation and fashionable design have attracted the young and the rich to play. There are over 1000 guests staying at the Fields.

Backstory: Elyssian Field sits over the resting place of the Youka - Indian spirits who hate heat (and the living) and seek its destruction. They generally shy away from heat, but if they can make things colder they will. The Youka can possess people if they manage to enter their bloodstream… or if someone boosts their power.

Michael McCreedy (son of famed actor Zak McCreedy) is a bored little rich kid who is into playing "black wizard" games that keep other bored rich kids interested in him. This year he came to Elyssian Fields, played with a local legend of angry spirits and, hey presto, has unleased the zombie horde. He will live long enough to spit out his mistake and then get soundly eaten.

What the players can do: They can’t kill all the zombies (pretty much everyone else is a zombie) so they have to escape. Its too far to try and run on foot (too cold) and if they stay outside unprotected for too long they will freeze to death (plus the Youka like to lie in the snow and jump unsuspecting people). The alternatives are:

• Radio in for help… but who’s going to believe them. The radio is in a secured part of the Hotel, meaning the relevant key card needs to be found. Hopefully the signal will get through the blizzard…
• Escape via the deliver helicopter… that can only fit 4 people (6 at a squeeze). Plus who pilots it? It has fuel but hasn’t been primed for take-off on account of the blizzard.
• Drive to safety. The vehicles that have been left outside need a lot of time be prepped and dug out of snow banks. The vehicles in the protected area are drivable but you need the keys and to open the outside doors. Both are in separate secured areas. Someone has tried ramming the doors open but has only gotten themselves killed.
• If they come up with something else, I’ll think about it.

Skis: Skis add to a player’s zip when on the snow (+1D6 / + 2D6), but a failed zip roll (ie no successes) may mean they fall over.

The Zombies: Most of the people were out on the snow and were possessed by the Youka. There are a lot of zombies wandering around outside and some hide under the snow. Most of the hotel security staff went out to deal with early zombie reports and all got munched. These guys have the security key cards needed to get into secure areas of the hotel (ie all the useful bits).

The zombies will also go through any open doors they find and hang around anywhere cold (such as the cool room in the kitchen). They will smash and windows as they go to drop the temperature of the areas they are in. At the start of the game they are not inside the hotel, but are at Skiing Areas A & B and the Entertainment area.

Zombies appear as highly frostbitten people who shamble towards their victims. They shatter a little bit when they get hit. They must lose their heads to be killed properly. Zombies will shy away from fiery or hot objects.

Weapons: Ski equipment falls into the Sort-of Wimpy category.

The Kitchen in the hotel is full of Wimpy Weapons.

The Parking Area has two large weapons - tire irons.

The Hotel Security Room has guns and other large weapons.

The Entertainment area has axes and chainsaws from a local juggling show (Wicked Weapons)

Loading Area has a forklift and some large weapons in the form of crowbars.

Molotov cocktails (and other such hot items) serve as large or wicked weapons.

Numbers vary by number of players.

Don’t Forget:

• There’s a blizzard outside.
• Things are going dark outside
• The Youka smash the generators (accidentally, but anyway) so the lights will go out. This will cause all doors to go from electronically locked to secure mode (they unlock but don’t automatically open).

Go have a look at the rpg.net reviews - click on the reviews link, type in "Dead Meat" to the appropriate field and have a look at what others have said.