Dread: The Wild Hunt

25 June 11, Saturday: 8 pm: Dread: The Wild Hunt

Overview

Dread is played with a jenga tower. When characters try to do something, players need to make one or more successful pulls. The GM explained that one could only use one hand to make a pull. You can switch off hands, but you can only use one hand at a time. You don't have to complete a pull. If you abort a pull, your character will not die, unless the tower falls. An elective pull will always do something. If it won't, the GM will tell you not to make that pull.

If a player knocks the tower down in a sacrifice play, that player's PC dies, but the PC succeeds in whatever it was he or she was trying to do. In a player vs player game, which this was not, players alternate pulls until someone gives or knocks the tower over.

After the tower falls, it is "retensioned". That is, it is set up again, but a certain number of pulls are required before play resumes based on the amount of game time that has passed and the number of dead PCs. This can lead to a domino effect of multiple PCs dying as one player after another knocks the tower down. 43 consecutive successful pulls were the most the GM had ever seen. He thought that at least 50 were possible.

Name badges, especially hanging ones (i.e., badges in badge holders hanging around one's neck, dangling down to the chest area) are PC killers, as they are likely to knock something down when they swing. As soon as the GM pointed this out, we all took ours off.

We were also told not to taunt other people while they were pulling. If you cause someone to knock tower down, your PC dies. If you bump table accidentally and you make it fall, even if it's not your turn, your PC dies. If your friend comes in and is loud, and the tower falls as a result, your PC dies. The GM would loosen up on those rules for PVP, e.g., in a bank heist scenario where no one could really trust each other, but this was not that kind of scenario.

The Pre-Game Situation

"The Wild Hunt" took place in late 1943 / early 1944. The PCs were members of a fairly elite squadron of USA soldiers. Their job was to fly low and jump behind enemy lines into France / Germany -- the Alsace-Lorraine area, I believe. This is a very dangerous thing to do, particularly at night, when they did it, along with a couple of other squadrons. As instructed, they took out howitzers and found a place to camp.

The PCs were from Squadron Alpha, and the only casualty from Alpha was the lieutenant. Bravo and Charlie had taken higher casualties, and only two men were left from each.

Our character sheets consisted of questionnaires with 13 questions, which, the GM said, would tell us everything we needed to know about our PC. He told us not to read ahead, and to assume that every question included "And why? And how?" The more one puts into this process, the more one gets out of it. The more one thinks of the PCs as people, the more one gives the GM to work with, the better it is.

And, there might be some questions that will contradict some of our earlier answers. For example, if in answer to an earlier question, you wrote "I'm a pacifist" and a later question asks, "Why did you kill those people?", you need to deal with that. You might write, "Well... I was lying when I said I was a pacifist." Or, you might write, "They weren't really people." Dehumanizing one's victims is all too common.

GM: Jason Pisano

Me: Rifleman, Joseph Charles Brontley, "JC" ("Jesus Christ!"). Rifleman, from the same town as Dino.

Morgan Hatfield: Medic, Molly Green, "Doc". The doctor. She wears an engagement ring and has an incredibly strong stomach.

Adam: Communications, Joseph Manton, "Freak" (for "Frequencies"). From Boston. His family's pissed that he isn't in banking. Lance: Grenadier, Mike Miller, "Dino". Has a dinosaur tooth which gave him his nickname. Big, stocky dude. His family lost their midwest farm after the father was killed. I have a note about Dino's maternal uncle, but can't read it.

???: Journalist, Peter Stefan Jacobs. "PSJ". From the East Coast. He and Freak are kindred souls

PSJ: Don't get anything on me, like mud or dirt.

???: Staff Sergeant (ranking guy), Percival Wenders. From the Midwest.

Wenders: First name is Percival. If I ever hear any of you call me that, you're dead. I didn't want this job, but I just got it.

Asked for the chain of command, he said that was first himself, then Dino, then JC, then Freak, then "fuck to journalist and the doctor", given that, at that point, things would be very bad indeed.

My Character Questionnaire

As instructed, I did not read ahead. Editorial comments in []s.

1. Why did you join the army? It was my job -- my duty to my country. I'm not a slacker or a coward. [Straightforward question. Not too hard to answer.]

2. When did you decide never to trust a stranger? [Oh boy. I thought about this, and asked myself, "Okay, am I really going there? Yes, yes, I am. Deep breath."]

When I was twelve, I went with a guy into a back alley -- he said he wanted to show me something special. He raped me. I never told anyone about it, just said I'd gotten into a fight with one of the gangs. But, I guess it's why I like being a rifleman. No one gets close. No one.

[And this made every other question harder to answer.]

GM (when I made a comment to that effect): Almost as if it were intended that way.

I'd just invented a guy who was broken, and this had to be important to all of the other answers. But, I didn't want it being the only important thing. I didn't want all of the other questions, whatever they were, to devolve into "See question #2 above".]

3. Where did you learn to shoot a bow? From my brother. We did some deerhunting. It was the closest to a gun anyone'd let me near. But, it's hard to carry that around with you all the time.

4. What is your favorite pastime? Reading the funny pages. It makes me laugh, and it's safe. I don't need to meet the writers. I can talk about them with people, even strangers, and they'll never know I'm on my guard.

5. How did it feel to kill someone for the first time? Good. Because I know I could now. I knew I could protect myself. I wasn't weak any more. It was a night drop -- not a shot, though. I cut his throat. Nothing personal, really -- he was just the enemy. And I didn't do anything disgusting, just a quick kill. But, bullets are better because they can't come close.

6. Which person influenced your life the most? [I wanted to avoid "See #2 above" here, even though it did influence how I answered.]

My father -- he taught me a man has to be strong. He can't take shit from anyone. I let him down once, even if he never knew, but I wasn't really a man then. When I killed for the first time, then I was a man. That's when I knew I was making him proud.

7. Why did you attack that group of civilians? [O...kay. We'd been warned about questions like this. And... yeah, this shouldn't be the same sort of answer as before. This shouldn't be something he's proud of, even if he's trying to make excuses.]

They were in the way. We had to clear the ground, and they would have warned the soldiers. It's not my fault they were there. Didn't anyone tell them there was a war on? Didn't anyone tell them not to talk to strangers?

8. How old were you when you learned to swim? [Okay. Didn't see that one coming from the others. Hm...]

Five. My Dad threw me in the water. Sink or swim, he said. He was right. You have to be strong. My brother cheered me on, said he knew I could do it. That's what family does for you. It makes you strong.

9. What did you see that makes you believe in ghosts?

The woman and their kids that I shot. I woke up and they were here, so sad. They didn't say anything, just cried. But it was their fault, not mine. They shouldn't have been there. I didn't tell anyone. They'd think I was crazy. But I saw them.

10. Who in the team do you trust implicitly? [Given the earlier parts, that would have to be someone he didn't consider a stranger. I asked where folks were from, and the sergeant and the grenadier were the ones from the midwest. I asked the grenadier's player if I should say we were from the same town. He was fine with that. I think he picked the town, which was fine with me. I didn't know the PCs' names yet.]

Grenadier -- we're both from Kansas City, so he isn't a stranger. Plus, grenades? You can _really_ keep them at a distance.

11. Where were you when your squad was attacked? In a tree, shooting. I was keeping them safe by killing the enemy. I always want high concealed ground. If the enemy doesn't see me, I can keep shooting, killing them, protecting my squad.

12. Where did you get your nickname? [I consulted with the other players on this and the next question.]

JC (occasionally "Jesus Christ" -- but that ain't _my_ fault -- I don't encourage it, and I didn't ask for it, but if I try + talk them out of it, you _know_ that won't work.

13. What is your name? [Yeah, that. Um. Fortunately, the previous question and the other players helped me out here.]

Joseph Charles Brontley

The Play Itself

It was the morning after the night drop. The lieutenant of Alpha was dead, but the others were alive. Only two members each from Bravo and Charlie had survived the drop.

The next step was to make sure that all the Howitzers were completely taken out before sending out the alert that the Allied planes could fly.

No Germans were anywhere near. Neither were the survivors of Bravo and Charlie.

Someone (having checked): Bravo's gone.

There were five or six sets of little footprints where Bravo was. At the sight where Charlie camped was a rifle, a boot, a bedroll, and a sidearm.

After some scouting and reconnaissance. the group moved to where the Howitzer was. They arrived at the clearing just as dawn was breaking, all six stopping for a moment, realizing how beautiful it was. Then, they noticed the remains of the Howitzer, totally rusted and covered in moss.

As they went to take a closer look, winged creatures burst from the Howitzer.

GM: Anyone who wants to shoot at them needs to make one pull. If you want to hold your fire, the group needs to make a total of three pulls.

Apparently, all other groups went meta at this point, reasoning, "If the GM is giving us a chance not to get into combat, we should take it." Our group? We all looked at the guy playing the Sarge.

Sgt. Wenders: Frag 'em!

Everyone made their pull and proceeded to do so. Doc was intrigued by the creatures, small humanoids with wings, and put one in one of the journalist's film canisters for study and dissection. I don't recall whether it was dead or alive. I think the latter?

Once the creatures had been dealt with, someone looked more closely at the howitzer. Very small flowers were growing inside it.

The group moved on. About two or three hours later, they heard the blast of a horn, like a hunting horn, and took cover. We successfully each made a pull so as not to break ranks, this being optional. The PCs stayed put, despite hearing Bowers of Charlie Company screaming for help.

Once whatever had happened to Bowers finished happening and passed by, the group continued.

Out of context game quotes:

Someone (about Dino, the grenadier): 2 extra grenades don't slow him down at all.

Someone else: His balls are bigger than that.

Someone: If he ran out of grenades, he could pull off his balls and throw them.

J.C. went ahead to scout and found a cottage with a small man. The man seemed friendly, willing to answer questions and bring the group to town to meet the queen. So, everyone regrouped and followed him.

Unfortunately, there were a few things they didn't realize. First, they owed the man for every question he answered. Second, he knew what they had been doing, down to capturing one of the winged creatures, and he told the queen, who was not amused. Third, the fairy queen and her subjects -- and the PCs had, at least, figured out that everyone around them was a fairy -- were disgusted by the violent humans who barely even recognized the beauty of the place they had stumbled on that dawn.

Sgt. Wenders (unimpressed): Frag 'em!

At this point, I forget some of the specific details, but generally, things did not go well. The group was outgunned, even if they had the guns and the fairies had swords. After all, the queen had magic.

She asked what they would do to people who invaded their own lands and acted as they had in hers. J.C., I think, noted that they hadn't realized they weren't in their own lands, which got, at best, scorn from the queen, as there were the old stories and the beauty of the fairy lands that should have clued them in. She also asked the doctor about the captured fairy, which I think was freed at this point, and the doctor apologized, and agreed that knowing what she knew now, she wouldn't have done what she did.

The queen was sympathetic to Freaks and PSJ, who she felt were misunderstood in their own world. To make amends, one of them, I forget whom, was required to give up one of his languages. I think whoever it was chose to give up German, the language of his enemies. Once the two men had made whatever amends they made, she told them that they shouldn't wear their true names on their uniforms in the land of fairy for all to see. Names gave one power, after all. The men pulled off their nametags.

I think Dino had impressed them or made amends with them, I forget exactly how. And the queen asked if any would speak for the doctor or the other two. I know at one point, she asked Sgt. Wenders something, probably about how he'd behave knowing what he knew, and whatever he said was honest and unwise. She raked him with her nails, seriously wounding him, and asked something similar of J.C.

J.C.: If I were in your place, I would have killed us already.

Queen: Fair enough. (rakes him as well.)

At this point, oddly, the situation was still salvageable, but Dino, who'd been home free, decided that this was enough negotiating, and he attacked. This surprised me, but the GM said later that it hadn't surprised him, and that he thought the player wanted more action in general and less negotiation. We suggested the player knock the tower down, doing the Noble Sacrifice play, which meant his character would die (or something equivalent), but he'd succeed in what he was trying to do.

The player liked this and knocked the tower down. Then, it was set up again, and the remaining players needed a total of 24 pulls between them. I did about half, and the others did their best. We almost made it.

When the tower fell over, the remaining four of us now needed to make 27 pulls, I think. By the time that failed, we needed 33 pulls, as more real time had passed, and we agreed that we just weren't going to make it. So, things moved into endgame.

Dino had impressed the queen with his martial prowess, and she offered him the option of either going home or remaining in her land, where he'd live like a king and could choose to send one of his companions home.

Dino: What if I die and send them _all_ home?

Queen: Then, they will all die miserably in the war.

Dino decided to live like a king and send Dr. Green home.

Green: No!

And with that, the PCs' fates were sealed and revealed.

Dino remained in the fairy realm, living like a king. PSJ stayed as well, but was treated less kindly.

Sgt. Wenders and J.C. were told that if they made it to the king's castle alive, he might send them home. Wenders was killed by the huntsmen of the Wild Hunt, actually trying to sacrifice himself for the others, despite previously feeling that he'd do whatever it took to get home alive, and everyone else could rot. J.C. almost made it, but the wolves killed him.

Queen (to Freak): Do you wish to die here or at home?

Freak: At home.

So, he was sent home. All went well for a time. Then, he got drunk and made the mistake of telling the story of what happened. He was institutionalized for insanity, in the 1940s, not a pleasant situation.

Nor was Dr. Green's fate any more pleasant.

GM: Your husband is not the man you thought he'd be. He is heavy with his hands, especially when drinks -- and he drinks all the time. And, eventually, you become just another battered woman who falls down the stairs to her death.

And with that, the game ended. The GM said he'd run it seven times, and there are about 15 different branches for the story.

He noted that when the Huntsman first appears, the PCs are not intended to fight him. If they do, it takes 8 pulls to kill him, and then 8 more to kill all the wolves. And, then, iirc, it needs to be done again for each of the wolves, as each becomes the huntsman in turn, but I'm not sure I have all of the details correct. My notes say: "3 pulls each, then huntsman -- but must always kill huntsman. If you can beat him -> immortal."

In other words, it is theoretically possible to defeat the huntsman and become immortal, but quite difficult, and no heroic sacrifice is possible for this.

I would have liked to take a copy of the scenario home, but I gather that it might be published. If so, I'd definitely be interested in purchasing it.

Morgan: Thank you for an excellent game of Call of Cthulhu!