I recently ran a one-shot of The Troubleshooters - an alternative 1960s with campy evil shadow organisations and artwork inspired by the Franco-Belgian bédé. I have run a few one-shots of this in the past, and have generally had fun with them. This time, I picked the officially released Fabulous! quick-play scenario, available here, along with some others. I am not going to split out the experience of refereeing this as much as I do in the Dracula Dossier session reports. This will also act as something of a review of the quickplay scenario, which I feel has some issues to be aware of. Spoilers ahead, should you be interested in playing this for yourself.

From Here Be Spoilers

The players (D, J, and C) used one of the pregens each: Elektra, Yurika, and Paul, respectively. The pregens are pretty flavourful, so they got into things pretty quickly. The basic set-up was that Yurika had gotten contacted by a friend, Diana Steele, who is based in London. She had stumbled on something to do with the Fabulous Fantastics, Britain’s latest and greatest internationally renowned band. This was going to be a big scoop, but she was worried that she was in danger. If Yurika could come to London for a couple days, then it would certainly set Diana’s mind at ease.

There was a race coming up, so Elektra was about, and Paul happened to be around as well visiting a friend. They all agreed to meet up and see what they could do with Yurika to help her friend. The meeting was the next afternoon, at Happy Jack’s.

I really like how Troubleshooters does city write-ups. I know what is going on broadly in London from my ongoing Dracula Dossier game, but The Troubleshooters has a consistent format that works very well for a game: A few paragraphs of general information about the city, breakdown of languages (which makes sense for a globetrotting game like The Troubleshooters assumes), currency (more important for pre-decimal London, if money is important to your game) a list of how to get there (airports, major train stations, ferries, whatever), a list of a few places to stay (various hotels, normally), a list of things to do (tourist attractions, essentially). There are also some inspirational films and some basic statistics like the climate, a list of landmarks and elevation. This, along with a map, is definitely enough to riff on to make a sensible city come alive. Doing this for more cities, even in fantasy settings, would be really useful for running them, I think.

Meeting Diana

Happy Jack’s was a dive bar in a Soho basement, so they headed down the stairs which were plastered with posters and graffiti. The most prominent posters were for the Fabulous Fantastics, who would be doing a live show later that evening. The bouncer did not initially want to let them in, but dropping Diana’s name got them in with no trouble. (Having to roll here as the adventure suggests felt silly, especially since if the players fail Diana comes and tells the bouncer to let them in anyway. Why bother with this roll unless the PCs are doing something that would be likely to get them thrown out?) The bar was fairly empty, but there was a band on stage doing a sound check/rehearsal. They saw Diana in a booth immediately, and Elektra and Yurika headed over, while Paul made a detour past the bar for a couple of beers for the ladies. The bar was not selling any French wine, so he decided not to have anything himself. He also looked to see if anyone stood out, but no one appeared overly suspicious.

Diana told Yurika that she had been taking photos at a recent Fabulous Fantastics rehearsal, which proved that they were not who everyone thought they were. Something was going on at the rehearsal - the sound engineer’s office had been broken into and all the tapes had been stolen. Diana thought that she might be next, and had seen someone following her. They were non-descript, or at least she had not seen anything that would help the troubleshooters pick them out of a line-up, although Diana could. (It grates me immensely in fiction in general when someone meets a contact about something dangerous, but refuses to actually tell them anything. In this case, Diana needs to give the players enough to actually work with, not just say that she has a problem.) She said that she would take the troubleshooters to her flat, a few minutes walk away. She also gave them a spare key to the flat, and said that she had hidden the negatives in the flat, but did not want to say exactly where in public.

The troubleshooters split up a little here, with Yurika walking along with Diana, Paul heading a little way in front, and Elektra fetching her car and lurking in the distance. Just at one of the crossings, a van suddenly pulled up and three masked people jumped out, two of them grabbing Diana and starting to drag her back into the van (one putting a cloth over her face) and the third waving a pistol at Yurika, telling her to keep back. (According to the adventure as written, this is the end of the ambush, and the PCs will have no chance to do anything. Which is obviously just silly: if you want Diana to be kidnapped, do it before she even meets the group - her friend knowing her address and finding the place trashed and Diana missing would be perfectly viable and not subject the players to cut scene impotence. As you will see, I did things differently and let the PCs be heroic instead.) Elektra, apologising to her car, immediately went for the ram, hitting the right-hand side of the van and stopping the driver from pulling away. Paul, a little way off, started moving towards the scene. Yurika, using her judo training, promptly disarmed the gun-wielding kidnapper.

Paul leapt into the van, casually asking for a light for his cigarette. The two thugs there both tried to punch him, but he was able to dodge. Elektra went for the big wrench and prepared to go for the driver more directly. Yurika, with the gun, got onto the bonnet of the van, threatening the driver. At this, the thugs gave in. (I rolled to see how likely to resist the thugs were and rolled poorly. No need to drag this out.) Sirens were heard in the distance, so the agents grabbed the still unconscious Diana and dumped her in Elektra’s car. Since it is not a passenger car, Yurika and Paul legged it, with one of the thugs, to ask some questions in a nearby alleyway.

The most they got out of this thug was that the plan was already in motion, and that the Octopus would soon rule the world. (I generally do not have quick interrogation work very well, but for this sort of game, knowing that the Octopus is involved is a useful titbit, and better than asking for an alertness check to spot the number plate on the van was 0CT0PU5. If you want the players to know that the Octopus is involved, then just find a way to tell them. Even just saying that this has all the hallmarks of an Octopus operation is enough. More needless tasks hidden behind a die roll that is ultimately not interesting on a failure or a success.) Realising that they had as much as they could get, Paul and Yurika hustled over to Diana’s flat. There they found Elektra waiting in the corridor, Diana on a bench - the door to Diana’s flat open with some music from a radio coming out from inside. D had decided to wait for the others to get here before storming in.

Photographic Revelations

On entering, they found the flat had been quickly tossed: books on the floor, cushions in disarray, the desk swept clean. Obviously someone was looking for something. Diana was still out cold, so the group split up to check a few places: Yurika checked the bedroom, which Paul, as a gentleman (ha!) could not. He checked the bookshelf and desk. Elektra, in exchange for a story point, was pretty sure it was in the fridge. Paul found a box hidden on the top of the bookshelf, out of sight. Yurika found a scrap of paper under the bed. Elektra found a beer in the fridge. The box contained a handful of film negatives, while the paper was a handwritten note (in Diana’s writing) about ‘modulating the subwave’.

The group decided to see if they could develop any of the photos. Fortunately Yurika, as a journalist, knew somewhere not too far away, so they had a place to do it. (The adventure, for some inexplicable reason puts a secret development lab into Diana’s flat. OK, so if she is a serious photographer in the 1960s, she probably has the gear for developing her own photos. Why in the hell would this be a secret, hidden thing, as opposed to just another room? It feels like it is just there to have a skill test to find it. Having a nearby lab is a much more sensible solution, or possibly a photography club or something similar. Having a hidden lab specifically, makes me think that Diana is not merely a photographer/photojournalist, but someone more nefarious….) While Yurika and Paul went to do that, Elektra went to take advantage of the UK’s relatively new National Health, and get Diana somewhere safer, leaving them able to do things without needing to drag around an unconscious woman. Doing this, Elektra was tied up with a bunch of autograph hunters and questions that were steadily dodged. (This was a roll to see if there were any hitches. I used the ‘Media Darling’ feature, which is intended to be a means of giving plot hooks, as a reason why.)

In the meantime, Yurika and Paul developed some photos off the negatives, looking for anything strange in them. This was a success, and they noticed that the early photographs of the Fabulous Fantastics and later ones have the band looking slightly different. Not hugely so, but enough that if you were really looking, they might not be the same people. (DUN DUN DUN!) This pointed the players straight at something to do with the live broadcast of the Fabulous Fantastics concert that night. (As written, the players can fail this, in the worst case getting jumped by the doppelgangers. This last seems a weird tactic, given that presumably the Octopus would have more agents around in a major city like London. As well, they should be saved as valuable resources, not chasing people who might know about them. Maybe it is movie conventions, but still, a fight with minions seems better here. The cost of failing a roll here is needing to take more time to develop other photos, so there is already a consequence for failure, if you are working on a tight timeline of ‘show that night’. Otherwise? Just give it to them.)

Live From London

They had the venue and the time, and headed over directly. On arrival, the streets were pretty busy, everyone looking to at least listen from outside, if not able to get into the venue properly. Given that tickets are eye-wateringly expensive (The posters in the quickstart have a £400 ticket price, which one calculator suggests is about £7800 today. I found a poster for a Beatles concert in 1963. Tickets were 10/6 to 6/6, so much, much, much less: £10.30 to 6.30. That is about £200 to 120 today. This is an obvious thing to check if you are playing a historical game with players who know that inflation is a thing, even if it is just fluff in the background. This happened despite having a section on currency in the city write-up with names for coins and such!) the players spent some time thinking about how to get in. There was a back alley that was blocked off by some guards. A white double-decker tour bus was parked here, and possibly a glimpse of a TV van. Elektra spent a story point to know one of the security team, so that got them into the club proper. (This probably should have needed a roll or something, but using your story points should be impactful, so I figured it would get them inside at least.)

Once inside, they managed to get a confrontation with the Fabulous Fantastics. Various accusations were made, but the lead singer told them that it did not matter, and they were here to do a show, before calling security. The PCs ducked out of the back, just ahead, and Yurika immediately pegged the van as suspicious: it was not a van affiliated with any of the broadcasters that she knew. The sneaked up to the rear door, and Paul shot the box that had wires coming into it. The two technicians leapt at them, shout ‘Long Live the Octopus’. Elektra got into the driver’s seat and started reversing the vehicle out of the alleyway, Yurika hopping on as well. Paul ran for the tour bus and followed with that. (The players have already won at this point. The Octopus scheme requires the TV transmission from the van, so taking out the van (or even just cutting the cables) stops the transmission and foils the plan completely, at least for now. The adventure tries to force a chase scene through London in, but I will give some ideas for alternative endings in a bit.)

In the bus, he could hear concerning noises behind him, but being alone, was unable to do more than keep a nervous eye over his shoulder. Pulling over with the van (and the highly obvious tour bus) in a convenient alley, Paul immediately checked out the back of the bus. Elektra and Yurika had seen him waving and pointing backwards, and followed in as well. Trussed up in the back of the bus, they found the real Fabulous Fantastics! (These should probably either be in some secret bunker for brainwashing into Octopus agents, or a shallow grave, but y’know, whatever.) They were a little shaken, but not more than bruised. “Jumpin’” Jack Flash had fallen off one of the tour bus’ bunks and gotten a bit rattled around in the chase. They were aghast at the idea of being replaced by nefarious duplicates and wanted to be taken back. The PCs drove them back in the bus, leaving the TV van for now. Despite there being some guards, still in a state of disarray from the earlier gunshot and kerfuffle with the van, the Fabulous Fantastics were able to talk their way into confronting the nefarious doppelgangers.

They went into the club, while the PCs waited outside in ambush. A short time later, the crowd noise changed, lots of shouts were heard and a quartet of people ran out the back door. The PCs jumped on the doppelgangers, who surrendered quickly. (Another reaction roll type thing that went the way of the players, but we were also getting to the end of the session, so having the police show up in response to the earlier fuss (assuming that they are not around already for crowd control or something).) The real Fabulous Fantastics gave a great show, with the PCs having their grateful thanks.

Final Thoughts

Pretty linear adventure, over all: meet Diana, she gets kidnapped, the players find out what the Octopus is planning, they foil the plan, there is a dramatic chase through London, there is a climatic final fight at the Clock Tower at Parliament (which houses Big Ben and is now called the Elizabeth Tower). So, what would I write differently?

• Fewer pointless checks. The PCs must get into Happy Jack’s. The PCs must find out the plan to do something nefarious at the Fabulous Fantastics show. The Octopus has doppelgangers of the Fabulous Fantastics. The chase is pointless because “If the impostors win a lot of checks, it really doesn’t matter. If the characters win a lot of checks, feel free to cut the chase short and go straight from the last landmark to Parliament Square, where the chase will end, one way or the other. If the impostors win, they will leave the bus and force themselves into Big Ben.” If it does not really matter, why are you making players do it?! If the doppelgangers win, they can get away. Or they are much more ready for the PCs and have suits of armour stashed in the Clock Tower or something.
• The kidnapping should either happen off-screen (which is an option given: Diana goes to the loo before leaving Happy Jack’s and does not come back. I would not be surprised if one of the PCs accompanied her) or the PCs should be allowed to do something. Treating it as a cut scene just robs the PCs of a chance to be heroes. Just knocking Diana out, even if the fight goes the PCs way still drives home that Diana is being targeted, and gives them at least a bit of thinking about how to handle an unconscious friend.
• Have more Octopus minions bouncing around London.
  • Do the kidnapping with minions, not the doppelgangers - they are in charge (or at least too important to be performing a random kidnapping), not the ones doing the grunt work.
  • Use a few minions if you want to jump the PCs at Diana’s apartment. You can use the minions to drop information without needing to gas and kidnap the PCs - although offering a capture at the flat would work nicely if your players are willing to lean into that. (The Troubleshooters offers a bunch of storypoints if a PC is captured, so there is incentive.)
  • Maybe have the TV van crewed by a couple of Octopus minions, assuming that some of the security team are not also minions, which would make sense as well.
• Diana having a secret photography lab in her flat (as opposed to one in the open like a normal person would have) suggests that she is something special as well, not just a journalist: British spy, Soviet spy, some sort of anti-Octopus organisation vetting the PCs, even working for the Octopus in some way to entrap the PCs. This would be much more useful in a longer campaign, but is wasted in a one-shot, and not even hinted at in the quickplay. Just put a photography shop around the corner, or have the PCs interrupt the search and beat up some minions to get some answers.
• I am not really fond of the chase, but the mechanics for it would work well enough. Just have the PCs able to actually fail, please? If the chase is happening, then they have already disrupted the broadcast, at least for tonight. Which leads directly into:
• Tier the ending goals. Being able to fail some of these while still doing others would be possible as well if you do.
  1. Disrupt the broadcast. This is the ‘real’ win condition. Exactly what the broadcast does is not too important, but the Octopus is fond of mind control in other adventures, so it makes sense that that is what the broadcast will do. It could also just be subliminal advertising or something lessHonestly, just cutting the cables to the van will probably do enough to disrupt it, but cutting the power, chasing the doppelgangers away, causing a panic in the crowd, stealing some widget at the sound-board, anything like that should work….
  2. Unmask the doppelgangers. Give the people their real Fabulous Fantastics back. If not, maybe the band slowly begins to play “evil music” (and turns into something like Black Sabbath and similar bands a few years early).
  3. Capture the doppelgangers. Easy follow-up session if they escape. They could cause all sorts of trouble for the real ones if left to run around unimpeded.
  4. Save the Fabulous Fantastics. Easy follow-up session if the PCs miss them in the tour bus: they are taken to some hidden Octopus base for conversion to loyal Octopus minions, in concert (haha) with the doppelgangers, but some clue was left as to where that might be, so the PCs head off to do the job.

Overall, the basic spine of this quickplay is fine and just needs some minor tweaking. It can certainly act as a good jumping off point for a campaign, especially if not all four ‘win’ conditions are achieved. The names of the band and their doppelgangers are also excellent shout-outs that made me smile.