North Star Online 2020 - Gaming Report

Tales from the Loop in action.

I ran two games at North Star, and didn't playing the rest of the slots, partly for family harmony and partly for some break time from the screen.

I'd originally planned to run 'The Recycled Boy' mystery from the new Tales from the Loop Starter Set (which I've talked about here and here), and vaguely had a second scenario from Mutant Year Zero: Elysium planned if needed. However, Handiwork Games announced a playtest of the new edition of A|STATE, an RPG which I've long loved. I signed up immediately and ran the game at the convention.

The A|STATE game was planned for Saturday evening, and the Tales from the Loop game for Sunday afternoon.

A|STATE is now built on the Forged in the Dark engine, so I frantically read Blades in the Dark for the first time in three years. I'd played this and read the alpha releases, but never the final book. There was quite a lot to assimilate, but fortunately I found another GM who was running it the coming Monday (Paul B) and he shared some of his preparation material. By the time that we got to the game, I was happy I could run, although a little daunted by the fact that one of the players - Declan - had run the game a lot. I decided the best approach was to be honest and co-opt hime for advice. he was great.

The playtest has some great artwork and four characters built to riff off each other. They end up on a mission to try and find some missing children who may have been pressed into child labour. The engine worked really well, and we came to a mostly positive ending. As well as Declan, Dr Moose, Dr Bob and Keary played. We had a whole range of experiences of A|STATE and of Blades in the Dark, but it all seemed to good and I would have loved to take this further and several of the players felt the same.

On reflection, there was a way I could have ended the game with better sting in the tale, but it still worked.

I foolishly forgot to get any screenshots of the game.

I used WebEx (which was rock solid) for audio-visuals and just screen shared when needed. I used some smart art to make danger clocks in Powerpoint which I could fill in as we played. I also extracted the images from the playtest deck so I could throw them up. The technology worked fine; the only issues were me clicking the wrong files!

Tales from the Loop is a game I've played and owned since the kickstarter. I'd bought the Starter Kit as a way in, and decided to take it out virtually. This time, I decided to use WebEx again with Roll20 for a VTT (virtual table top). I extracted the maps (had to screenshot and clip as they aren't separate) and loaded them up with fog-of-war in place. I added the characters in and also key handouts. I also added music - both the instrumental for the game and also the pop songs each kid liked. Roll20 lets you blend these it. Both platforms behaved, with Roll20 getting a few minor glitches, but nothing show stopping.

Relationship charts are useful.

Beyond reading the books and uploading the images, the main work I did was to prepare a relationship chart for the players and main NPC. This also included each child's pride, their age and their problem. This was a quick reference during the game.

 Midway through the game.

The GM screen was a useful reference, and the post it notes on the monitor are the principles of Tales from the Loop.

At the end of the game as the player's triumphed!

The interplay between characters was lovely and the ending very tense. Problem solved, the two girls (played by Lee and Roger) in the group decided who was going to be whose boyfriend, much to the bemusement of the boys (Dr Mitch and Pete. The 10 year old girl (Dr Moose) was happy with her new robot friend.

I really enjoyed the game; it was a joy to run, and the players really got into it. It was a magical experience which I'd love to do again. It hit the nail on the head. It does a good job of switching from personal scenes for each character to ones related to the mystery. Thanks to Dr Mitch, Dr Moose, Pete, Lee and Roger for a great game.

Overall, I had a blast at North Star Online. It was our 'Last, Best Hope' and it came through as billed. Which was a relief, as I helped to organise it.

1 June 2020