"The Case of the Internecine Interception" Topic

The Case of the Internecine Interception game was run to great acclaim at Recon 2008 in Orlando, FL.

We had another outstanding turnout (16 players this time) and everyone seemed to have a great time.

The factions this time out were:

- The Evil Doctor Katana
- Doc Savage and the Fab Five
- The Doctor (Who) (and K-9, Romanna and Leela)
- Indiana Jones (with Shorty, Dad and some others)
- The Sky Captian (with Polly and Dex)
- Major Francesca "Frankie" Cooke and the HMRS Pegasus (or Ark Royal)
- The Black Swan Air Pirates
- The Red Skull Air Pirates
- The "Head" and his Robot Minions
- The US Rocket Corps
- The Rogue Rocket Corps
- Spy Smasher
- Blackhawk
- The Count and Countess Von Windenburg and their Zeppelin
- The Raketentruppen of the Vulture Legion

The game centered around the flying craft built by the mysterious "Head" that was beaming a ray at the earth. This mysterious red ray was causing all of the iron in what ever it touched to be converted into a gas that was then sucked up into the craft to use as power. As the craft was approaching Basin City (somewhere in New Jersey – I think) groups from around the world converged. Some wanted to destroy the device, some wanted to control it for their own sinister purposes.

In the end, a bunch of robots got fried, some rocket packs exploded (sometimes causing sympathetic explosions in other rocket packs), many extras (and some supporting cast) fell to their deaths (it was a looong way down) and a blimp got rammed by a Ford Trimotor.

The "Head" managed to escape in his escape pod after setting the self destruct device. The last turn of the game was reminiscent of the ending of the Mel Brooks movie Space Balls when everyone was scrambling to find their way off of the saucer.

You can see pictures of the game at:
pbase.com/alex757

Until next time….

Jim

The scenery and game could not have been better! (well, if you gave away the zeppelin and ships to the participants afterwards, it would have been a bit better ;) )

Y'all did a great job!

Thanks, Jim

Ok, which one of those guys is Smokey?

Wyatt

Look at the group photo . Maybe the guy in a Canes t shirt???

:)

I was expecting that, but I didn't see anything recognizable as a 'canes shirt.

Oh, and very well done on the game, Alex.

Wyatt

That's Smokeyroan in the back row wearing the aviator helmet and the insane grin. I'm just to the right of the young lady in the beret. I'm wearing the iconic "Doc Savage" torn white shirt.

I'd like to add that Chip and Jim put on the most outstanding pulp era games that I've ever had the pleasure to be a part of. Their level of commitment to the scenarios that they create always astonishes me. I try to get to Hurricon and Recon in Florida every chance that I get to join in the fun.

A brief recap of my Doc's)part of this of the adventure went like this:

Doc Savage stared into the sky at the most amazing sight that he and his five companions had ever seen. Appearing as if out of nowhere, a gigantic flying saucer slowly revolved a thousand feet above him casting a pulsating red light over the countryside. Sensing that the evil Dr. Kartana was somehow involved, he quickly summoned his team of Rennie, Johnny and Monk to disuss the situation. Ham and Long Tom had already jumped into the cockpits of their pair of always ready aircraft. It was decided that Ham and Long Tom would pilot the planes as closely to the saucer as possible where Doc and the rest would leap onto the attached landing platform.

The sky was a-buzz with the aircraft of several different factions, some allied with the US Government and some obviously there for their own selfish reasons, so Doc knew that he must work fast to find a way to enter the saucer and discover the source of the red light and determine the plans of the evil Dr. Katana!

As Doc's two planes approached Doc and Rennie climbed out onto the wings of one, while Monk and Johnny clambered onto the wings of the other. And at the precise moment that would allow the four adventurers to make the jump they simultaneously leaped into space. Three of them landed safely while Rennie barely caught the edge of the platform!

Doc rushed to the door of the spacecraft while Monk and Johnny ran to Rennie and heaved him up onto the platform, but they weren't the only ones who were near the saucer. Luckily an old ally, "Sky Captain" and his crew, had made a hairy landing in a P-40 Warhawk while Doc's two planes made a quick recon flying around the outside of the saucer.

Shaking hands and joining forces Doc and Sky Captain agreed to let Sky try to open the main door and keep the occupants busy while "The Man Of Bronze" scaled the outside of the saucer to another smaller opening. They were soon joined by Indiana Jones who offered to lend a hand. Doc gratefully accepted the assistance of the famous Indy as he knew that he would need all of the help that he could get!

Once Doc was secure on the platform adjacent to the other access door, he "Zip-wired" a cable to the rest of his team and Indy who quickly joined him. Unfortunately, Sky Captain had run into a swarm of robots. Doc wanted to help, but he knew that entry to the spacecraft was of the utmost importance and left Sky to handle the guardians. Then using his vast scientific knowledge Doc unscrambled the code to open the door.

Meanwhile, as Doc's two men piloted the planes around the side of the saucer they noticed an anomaly that shocked the two jaded adventurers. What appeared to be a telephone booth was attached to the side of the spacecraft. This could only mean that "Doctor Who" was on board and would certainly need assistance, so Ham immediately radio'd Doc with this new development.

On hearing that "Doctor Who" was nearby Doc Savage used the secret frequency that he and the doctor shared from a previous adventure and learned that he was on the ship trying to acquire a rare element. That was all of the information Doc needed and he rushed through the door tossing a smoke bomb which disabled the sensors of two waiting guardian robots.

Suddenly the lights dimmed inside the saucer and all of the robots stopped moving. "Commence countdown to destruction" was announced over the loudspeaker and the voice started "100…999…98…". There was no time to lose! Doc quickly surveyed the scene and spotted what appeared to be a large red glowing disk. Disregarding his own safety he pressed his hand to the glowing object which stopped the pulsing and turned it green! "This must be the secret element that Doctor Who and his consortium of scientists have been looking for" he thought, and carrying the disk he led his team through the maze of immobilized robots while the voice continued "79…78…77…"

"Hurry" Doctor Who cried! "Into the Tardis"

Doc and his men piled through the door into the Tardis and closed the door…and not a moment too soon. Within seconds they were sped away from the spacecraft as it exploded into space dust!

Wheew! That was a close one!

The Shadow

I would have loved to play that one! Great pics.

Brian

What an exciting write up! It was just like being there. Oh wait I was there. Doc was mistaken in only one regard. The evil mastermind was none other than Frederich von Draken, the world's leading expert in robotics, who, due to an unfortunate accident, was left with only a head and a hastily constructed robotic body. He now goes by the Monniker, "The Head".

My jaws and sides hurt for hours after from the laughter! When I used to do registration one of the highlights for me was when Chip brought the group into the registration area for the "debrief". ALWAYS enjoyed watching and was always envious! Having played now in the last few I can see it was only the tip of the iceberg!

I love Chip, Jim and Frank's attitude "dont let the rules get in the way of a good time" and that it certainly was.

One tip I can pass on now as a military trueism, dont stand near rocket packs when bullets are flying!

The "Shadow" WAS Doc Savage! Ron Eli couldn't have played the part and the look any better!

;)

So, which "main characters" bought it? I take it that Doc, Dr. Who and their cronies survived. What about Indy, Sky, Frankie, etc.?

All main characters always survive only to face peril at the hands, usually, of The Evil (formal first name, The Evil) Dr Katana in the next installment in true pulp fiction, 30s serials style! SOMEONE has to be around to foil the neferious plans for world conquest The Evil always is dreaming up. Now as to the always faithful sidekicks…………….

Yes, it ends badly for many sidekicks (especially the ones without detailed character sheets- "put them in front of your main characters" is my advice)

In what other game can you cram so many "guys with red shirts" into the cockpit of a P-40 to buffer your Sky Pilot and Dex figs???

;)

"My jaws and sides hurt for hours after from the laughter! When I used to do registration one of the highlights for me was when Chip brought the group into the registration area for the "debrief". ALWAYS enjoyed watching and was always envious! Having played now in the last few I can see it was only the tip of the iceberg!"

For those who have never played in one of Chip and Jim's games, the entire group of players always meets right after the game for the opportunity to tell the story of what happened to our character(s) or teams during the game. This is almost a necessity as the game itself is truly controlled chaos as 16 or so players are each on his own mission which become mini-game adventures in themselves. Doc, for instance, only interacted with about half of the characters at most. I would have no idea what happened to Spy Smasher and Blackhawk, or what the outcome of the conflict between what appeared to be rival Rocketmen groups on the opposite landing platform, or what happened to the Red Skull Air Pirates who allied with Doc's team and then ran when the stuff hit the fan! I recall that one of the faction leaders asked Ham and Long Tom, who were part of Doc's team, to fly their airplanes into the zeppelin controlled by the evil(?) Windenburgs to try to destroy it, but one of the other characters managed to crash his plane into it before Doc's guys got off the deck of the Pegasus. …and I had no idea who that character was! I can tell you this though, it was a beautiful sight to see the Zep with smoke spewing out of it and an airplane sticking out of it's side!

The debriefing was incredibly funny as usual with every player getting his chance to relate his or her adventure with a very receptive audience of fellow players laughing and applauding. Let me tell you something…there were some damned funny people at Recon! and nobody seemed very shy. For example, the guy, yes I said the *guy*, who played "Frankie Cook" wore an eye patch and shoved some cotton under his shirt to simulate a huge pair of "you know whats" as he told his story. I'm telling you, we were rolling on the floor! It's really impossible to describe what the debriefing is like though. I can only say that you have to try to be in one of Chip and Jim's games to find out.

"Doc was mistaken in only one regard. The evil mastermind was none other than Frederich von Draken, the world's leading expert in robotics, who, due to an unfortunate accident, was left with only a head and a hastily constructed robotic body. He now goes by the Monniker, "The Head"".

Doc is losing track of the storyline having missed the last two episodes. What happened to the evil Dr. Katana?

The Shadow (as "Doc Savage")

Excellent recount, Shadow!

When I was scanning the group shot, I did notice the guy in the back with the aviator hat and I recall thinking to myself, "well, if anyone in there is Smokey, its probably that guy."

Wyatt

Ed:

The Evil Dr. Katana was there, he was flying the smaller blimp, but he co-opted the work out this time hiring the Rogue Rocketeers to steal the qutonium from the flying saucer. Since the lad playing Dr. Katana couldn't pronounce qutonium and since Dr. Katana discovered the rare material, qutonium was renamed Bob.

That game is always a freaking zoo. And it always seems to work out some how.

I totally missed out on seeing that one!!

Jim, you must be the evil mastermind of scenery (that's really a compliment)! When my wife see's the future bill of all the ideas your scenery has hatched in my nugget she's gonna beat me to a pulp.

What rules were used on this one, guys?

I was the guy playing Frankie Cook. I'm the 'other' Chip. I just think Jim and Chip let me play just 'cause they like my name. Like Phil said, it's a zoo playing in their games. We have to have the debrief, just so we can see what happened on the other side of the table. I had no clue what was going on.

Just for the record, that was Frankie who crashed the Ford Trimotor into the Count's blimp and successfully escaped with one of her loyal minions with a jet pack. Yes, I had to roll for it (I love a game where you can describe something crazy like that and still have a chance to do it.)

Also if you look at Jim's pictures, he kept posing Frankie so her 'good' side was to the camera.

Lastly, the "lad" who played d'Evil Dr. Katana, is my son (ah, my son the doctor). And yes, I think my copious use of cotton for the debrief has scarred him for life – but he wants to play again at Hurricon. He says he's seen worse at school.

"Lastly, the "lad" who played d'Evil Dr. Katana, is my son (ah, my son the doctor). And yes, I think my copious use of cotton for the debrief has scarred him for life"

I remember you telling him that "what happens at Recon stays at Recon". LOL

I also remember one of the other players telling your son that your antics would be worth a car for him.

Another player, maybe you as I was sitting to your right, said that this was the "debrief" and that I didn't have to wear the shirt anymore and Chip yelled "NO…HE HAS TO WEAR THE SHIRT!" So, once associated with "Doc", always associatd with "Doc", I guess.

Anyway, this was absolutely the funniest "debrief" that I was ever in.