Angel RPG
GM: Todd Furler Players: Kirsten Pietila -- Fred, a woman, genius and inventor, socially backward Eric Pietila -- Gunn, her boyfriend, former street gang leader Tara -- Cordelia, fashion aware, thinks she's in love with Groo, but actually in love with Angel Scott Reese -- Groo, the Grooselag, honorable warrior from another dimension, in love with Cordelia, whom he calls "My Princess", but beginning to realize that she was in love with Angel Jeff Town -- Angel, vampire with a soul, seeking redemption by creating Angel Investigation to help others. Me -- Connor, Angel's very troubled son. Drama Points: Awarded for cool or angstful roleplaying or to compensate for GM fiat
I was surprised to be able to get into this one, but Todd had a single opening. He was just finishing a quick summary of the events in the actual series leading up to the episode we would create. There were 7 characters available for play, and the only one he insisted be in play was Angel. The show is named after him, after all.
It took about a minute before Jeff agreed to take on the job. Angel just didn't seem to be anyone's favorite. Hm, I'd be more likely to want to play him in a Buffy game than in Angel. I think Avram put his finger on it when he said that, on Buffy, Angel is cool because we see him through Buffy's eyes, but on Angel, we see him through his own eyes. Regardless, Jeff did a really good job.
The rest of the players with tickets chose before I did, which was only fair. Kirsten and Tara wanted female characters. I found that a bit boggling, but I'm a bit strange. Outside of a larp, I tend to default to male characters. Net result was that they got what they wanted, and I got what I wanted.
Two characters were left for me to choose from: the empathic demon Loren and Angel's seriously psychologically messed up son Connor. Naturally, I went for the latter.
I like Loren, and, if someone had taken Connor, he'd have been my second choice. But, this episode was set immediately after Connor had discovered the body of his foster father, Holtz. Holtz had arranged for his henchwoman, Justine, to stab him in the neck with an ice pick to make it look like Angel had killed Holtz. Connor was convinced. It seemed to me that Connor really ought to be in the episode we were creating. Wesley, for those wondering, was not available as a PC. This was when none of the others were speaking to him. Connor actually wanted to thank Wesley for stealing him from Angel and giving him to Holtz. I considered having him try to do just that, but decided it didn't fit into the episode.
Todd ran this with as many of the television conventions as he could. He started with a fade in to the alley where Justine, Connor, and Holtz's body were. I think I kept this short; I know I tried to. I had an explanation on my sheet of what happened in the next "real" episode, i.e., the one that aired on tv. Connor decided to pretend he didn't know that Angel had killed Holtz, at least until he had a chance to avenge Holtz.
Justine: Let me know if you need my help.
Connor: Where will you be?
Justine: I'll be around.
Connor headed to the Hyperion, the hotel which served as the living quarters and base of operation for Angel and his friends. It occurs to me now that I could have had Connor stay separate. There was certainly no obligation to follow what would happen in the show. But, it was more inclusive and made better dramatic sense for Connor to return and play innocent.
Cordelia and Groo were at the Hyperion when Fred and Gunn ran in. They had been watching Connor so that Angel could have a private talk with Holtz, but Connor had overheard Fred and Gunn talking about this and had run off, eluding them and encountering the staged scene described above. Connor and Angel entered the scene as well, at player-determined times.
Angel told the others that Holtz had given custody of Connor to him and had written a letter for Connor. Angel was happy, having no reason to doubt Holtz or to guess the man's bizarre plan. Connor took the letter. It was indeed written by Holtz and confirmed Angel's story. Connor was unsurprised, figuring Angel had either tricked Holtz or forced him to write that letter. It was easy to convince Angel that his trick had worked.
The group now received a call for Angel Investigations, Angel's company devoted to helping people. The call came from a woman who ran a haunted house tourist attraction. Angel headed out with Conner, Cordelia, and Groo. Fred and Gunn stayed behind to do research, and spent much of the episode flipping pages and making phone calls to the others. I'm not sure how much of this was the players being at loose ends and how much it was trying to capture the feel of the show. In Primetime Adventures terms, they clearly had a screen presence of 1 for this episode.
The car, aka the Angelmobile, pulled up outside of the haunted house. Groo opened the door for Cordelia. The group went inside and saw tourists and news reporters, as well as a woman who told one of the staff that the people from Angel Investigations were to be brought directly to her and not given a chance to talk to anyone else. Connor found this suspicious, and he and Groo were both baffled about why anyone would want to make a haunted house a tourist attraction, rather than get rid of the ghosts haunting it.
Nevertheless, the group identified itself, Cordelia introducing first Angel, then Groo and the others to Vivienne, the woman who wanted to speak with them.
Vivienne: My ghosts are missing. I want you to find them.
Previously, the house belonged to Chastity Shillington, who married Norman Crokar. They had a daughter, Amanda. All were killed by Ben Steely, a rejected suitor of Chastity's. The ghosts of Crokar and Amanda, along with the ghost of Widow Drew, an earlier resident, haunted the place.
None of the 3 ghosts had been seen for the last couple of days, and Vivienne insisted that they were far too well behaved to do that voluntarily. Clearly, they had been ghostnapped, and she wanted them back.
Vivienne: They're my living.
Groo: But they're dead.
Vivienne: I suppose there's a certain irony there.
Vivienne stressed the need for discretion. She didn't want the reporters from the various rags learning about this. Cordelia tried to remind Groo of this when he stood on the open staircase leading up from the foyer and loudly called the names of the ghosts.
Groo's player came up with some lovely lines.
Groo: Yes, Angel makes mistakes.
And later:
Groo: My princess, could you introduce me first?
Cordelia: Groo, it's called "Angel Investigations", not "Grooselag Investigations".
Folks separated. Cordelia talked with Fred and Gunn on her cell phone until she realized she was being watched. She hung up quickly and discovered that the watcher was a cameraman from one of the news rags. She set about distracting him and pumping him for information while he set about photographing her.
Angel went through records and photos of recent visitors, finding one guy who wore sunglasses indoors and who seemed to be pressing himself against a wall in one photo. This was Eugene Rasmussen.
Connor went into Amanda's room and saw the little girl in the mirror, sitting on her bed. She wasn't visible in the room itself. Amanda explained that she'd hidden from whatever had gotten the other two ghosts. She'd heard them screaming, and then silence.
Connor (unconsciously clutching one of Amanda's dolls): Stay hidden for a while.
Amanda: Okay! (fades from the mirror)
Groo worried about his princess. Connor thought he might be able to use this to get Groo to break from Angel's sway. After all, Groo hadn't known Angel long. Connor tried to hint that Angel might not have Cordelia's best interests at heart. Indeed, Connor believed this. Alas, he only got as far as suggesting that, despite Angel's assurances, maybe Cordelia wasn't 100% safe on her own. Before he could hint that maybe Angel was deliberately keeping Cordelia away from Groo, Groo was running to find Cordelia.
Cordelia was posing for the photographer.
Photographer: Give me sexy! (click) Give me interesting! (click) Give me your phone number!
Groo (knocking him down): My princess will give you nothing!
Cordelia scolded him, and he repeated what he'd heard about rags and the photographer's paper.
Photographer: We are not a rag. We publish on glossy paper.
Groo apologized, and he and Cordelia joined Connor and Angel.
Cordelia: Angel! I'm glad to see you.
Groo (sadly): My princess is always glad to see you.
Todd: Scott, take a drama point.
Fred called Angel again, and Angel referred to some movie that neither he nor Fred knew the title of. They got off the phone, and Fred did more research.
Fred (to Gunn): Well, I just found something. And I finally realized what movie he was talking about.
The movie, as I had figured out at once, was Ghostbusters, and Fred had learned that Eugene Rasmussen was a ghost sipper, someone who ate ghosts to extend his life. She found Rasmussen's address, and the whole group drove there.
Scott: I get out and I don't open the door for Cordelia.
Cordelia opened the door on her own, giving Groo a funny look, but not commenting.
Angel posed as a would be customer, for Rasmussen also trapped ghosts and sold them for consumption. He talked about his ghost traps, chalked mazes in front of his house with pennies in the center. These caught ordinary wandering spirits, not especially tasty, and each extended one's lifespan by only a couple of weeks. Rasmussen bottled them, drinking some and selling others.
There were more potent ghosts, especially in genuinely haunted locations. Rasmussen hunted these, but did not sell them. He was asked what he did when he found one.
Rasmussen: I dine out.
He fetched a couple of labeled vials from a back room and brought them to Angel. Fred and Cordelia, who had secretly watched him select the vials, slipped into the back room and started examining them. Here and elsewhere, people spent time trying to find the two missing ghosts, or any older ghosts, but none were to be found. They had almost certainly been consumed by Rasmussen.
Connor was intrigued by the concept of ghost sipping, and tried to ask Rasmussen if it could be applied to vampires. Rasmussen gave him a blank look.
Angel (annoyed and attempting to maintain cover): If there -were- any such things as vampires.
Groo was disturbed that Angel was buying a ghost to consume, very much Not Getting the concept of a cover story. He understood that it extended the lifespan, but he pointed out that Angel was already an unaging vampire. Eventually, Angel bought a vial, and stayed talking to Rasmussen while everyone else drifted out.
Connor once again told Groo they should talk privately. Groo agreed and apologized to Cordelia for not having opened the car door for her. Amused, she said that she didn't need help and could open the door on her own.
A street person wandered into one of the chalk traps. Connor turned him around, trying to steer him out, and, when that didn't work, destroyed the ghost trap. The man vanished leaving only a wisp of fog.
Rasmussen (watching and / or sensing this): Damn.
Angel: What are you trying to do? That's not a ghost! That's a person!
Rasmussen: No, it's a ghost.
Angel was not mollified. After all, what Rasmussen was doing was wrong. And what about the souls? Rasmussen neither knew nor cared.
Angel's argument with Rasmussen escalated to the physical. Rasmussen used magic to toss Angel against a wall.
Todd: Jeff, take a drama point. In fact, everyone take a drama point.
The reason for this soon became clear. The others heard the noise of the fight and rushed back into the house, where Rasmussen had just cast another spell and run out of the room, escaping, by GM fiat, out the back door of the house. The drama points were compensation for that fiat.
Angel was on the floor.
Connor: Dad, are you all right? (Angel nods weakly) I can't leave you alone for a moment!
Hey, Connor didn't want anyone else killing Angel.
Angel: Where's Rasmussen?
Connor: He got away.
Folks regrouped, Connor destroying the ghost traps and Fred and Cordelia gathering all the vials, none of which were older than a couple of weeks.
Todd: Everyone take a ten minute break. Jeff, I want to talk to you privately for a minute.
Lisa (to herself): Uh oh.
When everyone was back from the break, the group started talking strategy. Gunn said he'd ask his former gang to look for Rasmussen. Angel wanted to send people to look for Amanda. Connor suggested he and Groo go, but Angel insisted that Groo and Fred go. Connor protested, but to no avail.
Todd ran a couple of scenes with Rasmussen wandering the streets followed by first one, then many people who looked like homeless street people, but who were really ghosts. Rasmussen threatened them, but could not harm them. They mocked him and talked like crazy street people, saying that he'd never amount to anything. They addressed him as Liam. This was Angel's original name, leading some of the players, including me, to conclude that Rasmussen and Angel had switched bodies.
Meanwhile, Fred and Gunn went back to the haunted house, searching for Amanda. They had no luck finding her.
Lisa: Hey, Connor told her to hide.
Groo had complained to Fred about not having a cell phone.
Groo: I asked Angel for a cell phone.
Fred: What did he say?
Groo: He asked me who I would call.
Fred: Well, Groo, who would you call?
Groo: My princess! And -- And -- I do not need a cell phone.
I asked Todd if Connor had a cell phone to call Justine with.
Todd: We never see him use a cell phone, so he doesn't.
Fair enough. Connor slipped off on his own and found Justine and asked her to talk to Groo. He and I had given up on being able to talk to Groo alone, so rather than bring him to Justine, Justine would find him.
Meanwhile, Cordelia pointed out that she had a ghost of her own, phantom Dennis. Perhaps he would be willing to play bait for the ghost sipper. Cordelia and Angel went to Cordelia's apartment to ask Dennis. Dennis threw a pillow at Angel.
Angel: I don't think he likes the idea.
Cordelia tried to convince him, but he just threw the other pillow at Angel. Angel gave up the idea. Sitting on the couch with Cordelia, he began to talk at least semi romantically to her. Then, Fred called to report that she and Groo had not found Amanda. Angel told her where he and Cordelia were.
Fred: Angel and Cordelia went to Cordelia's apartment to plan.
Groo: Why does Angel suddenly need to go to Cordelia's apartment to plan?
He drove to Cordelia's apartment fast enough to frighten Fred. Nevertheless, Fred was the first into the apartment. Angel and Cordelia were sitting on the couch, like friends, not lovers. Fred took in the pillows strewn all over the room.
Fred: What were you guys doing?
Groo took in the scene and left the building, missing Cordelia's explanation about her idea of using Dennis as bait, and Dennis' vehement objection.
Meanwhile, Connor and Gunn returned to the Hyperion, both startled that the others weren't there. It was an oddly comic moment.
Outside Cordelia's apartment, Justine called to Groo to warn him about Angel.
Groo: Angel saves people.
Justine: I know at least one person Angel didn't save.
Justine told him the lie about how Angel killed Holtz.
Groo: Does Connor know?
Justin: Oh yes.
Groo: Oh dear.
Justine faded into the night. Folks drove back to the Hyperion. Fred and Cordelia headed inside. Gunn and Connor were there already. Someone from Gunn's gang called to tell him that Rasmussen had been spotted in company of a gaggle of street folk / ghosts. Gunn headed out in the pick up truck.
Meanwhile, Groo decided to have it out with Angel.
Angel (talking about Cordelia): You're a lucky man.
Groo: Angel, we must talk. I do not like that you were buying ghosts from Rasmussen.
Angel: You don't?
Groo: No. (Angel shrugs) I am not finished. Why did you kill Holtz?
Angel: Why did I kill Holtz? I suppose because it was fun. (grins)
Groo got out of the car, disgusted. Angel came up behind him and attacked him with a sword. Groo, not surprised, turned and blocked with his own sword. He disarmed Angel, but did not attack.
Cordelia, Fred, and Connor came out to see Groo with his sword out and Angel's sword flying through the air.
Cordelia: Groo! What are you doing?
Angel: He attacked me for no reason!
Groo (stricken): My princess! I just disarmed him!
I think Connor drew his own pointy object to back Groo up. Angel grabbed Fred and ordered everyone to lower their weapons. They did. He sunk his teeth into Fred's neck.
After a deep drink, he tossed Fred aside and ran into the Hyperion, pursued by Connor. Groo followed, while Cordelia tended to Fred.
Gunn found Rasmussen surrounded by street people / ghosts and manhandled him into the truck. He drove to where Fred and Cordelia were, rushing over to Fred, who was beginning to recover.
Inside the Hyperion, Connor and Angel faced off.
Angel (grinning): Do you think you're ready to take on your old man?
Connor: I was going to ask Rasmussen if he could do to vampires what he did to ghosts. But, you know... (grins) I like it better this way.
And the fight was on. Connor was very good, but Angel was a lot better.
Lisa (philosophically): Well, the show is called Angel, not Connor.
Nevertheless, Todd was emphatic that Connor should not look incompetent, and helped improve my descriptions. Groo did not feel that it was right to interfere directly in the fight between father and son, but he did help even the odds at one point, I think tossing something at Angel to buy Connor time to get to his feet.
Outside, Rasmussen explained that he'd thought Angel was a ghost and had tried to eat him. Unfortunately, he'd gotten Angel's soul caught in his throat. This meant that Rasmussen could not eat ghosts and that Angel was currently the soulless, amoral Angelus!
Fred and Cordelia hastily gathered the elements for a potion to make Rasmussen vomit up the soul, which would then return to Angel. Gunn rushed into the room where Angelus and Connor were fighting.
Groo (putting out a hand to stop Gunn): This is between father and son.
Gunn quickly explained the situation, and Groo agreed that they had to keep Connor and Angel from killing each other. Gunn, still annoyed that Connor had run off last episode, grabbed for him and tried to punch him. Connor evaded his attack, but Groo pushed the weapons cabinet on top of both Angel and Connor. Both were partially trapped, Angel more than Connor.
Rasmussen drank the finished potion and vomited forth the soul. Groo saw it return to Angel. Connor did not.
Groo: It was Angelus! He did not have a soul!
Connor: I know that!
Groo: I mean he now has a soul --
And Connor stabbed Angel. Angel hit back, knocking Connor unconscious, but making sure not to kill his son.
Cordelia came into the room and rushed over to Angel. Groo, stricken anew, left the room.
Kirsten: Fred makes sure that Rasmussen is still there.
Todd: Take a drama point because he's gone.
We'd considered having Cordelia notice Groo's reaction or having Connor regain consciousness, but decided against it. The camera pulled back, showing Angel looking at his unconscious son, Cordelia tending Angel, and Groo walking away, realizing that Cordelia was in love with Angel.
Todd said that he normally had people vote for best player, but in this case, as everyone except me had come as a close knit group, he'd decide by fiat. He said that we'd all been good, and gave the award to Scott, who I think would have won if there'd been a vote. I would have voted for him. Groo isn't hard to play, I think, but he's hard to play well, and Scott did an excellent job. He didn't overshadow anyone, and he had us going, "Aw!" in sympathy for poor Groo.
