M.A/C.C Alpha Test #4 (Session 5)

One of my friends is doing me a huge favor and running an alpha test of M.A/C.C for me so I can experience some of the stuff inside of it as a player. I'm using these reviews to both go over the session, as well as what I got out of it in relation to M.A/C.C itself.

First though, we have....The Cast

Archer McCullaine - An Irish cop in the fictional Massachusetts city of Croatoa. Archer just recently became a Detective in the Croatoa PD and is partnered with Detective Sergeant Charles Finley in the Homicide department. Unbeknownst to his partner, though known to his Grandfather who got him into the gig, at night Archer dons a mask and becomes the vigilante 'Bowman' (Hey, I didn't make it, and the player enjoys Kirby puns)

Arthur Leif - An 18 year old boy, and freshman in UMass Croatoa. Arthur's family moved to Croatoa over the summer after Arthur was the victim of some gang violence in their previous home city. The cause of that Gang Violence? Arthur wants to be a hero, and in the process of helping someone managed to royally piss off a gang.

Colin Mayhew - A 23 year old grad student from Essex England, Colin is looking to get through law school and has spent the last 5 years in the U.S.A. His life at present is fairly uninteresting, consisting of TA'ing a couple classes alongside the Grad class he is taking.

Gabriella Ricci - At 18 years old, Gabriella Ricci is the second oldest daughter or Arturo Ricci, a high level enforcer in the Bianchi Mafia syndicate. She is a freshman at UMass Croatoa where she is majored in Pre-Law and Political Sciences. When not in school, or playing Daddy's little princess, she sneaks out to underground fighting rings, and recently has found the thrill of taking on muggers to be a better kick.

Colin's player couldn't join us for this session, and rumor has it they may be dropping the game. (Sadness!)

The Session

The session started with Archer going into work in the morning and finding a note on his desk. Looking over the note he found it was signed with an interrobang, and mentioned that they should meet. The only problem with the note was that it meant someone had been in the Homicide department's locked and secured office while it was locked and secured. Checking the video cameras, he found they had been off for 20 minutes, and the code-punch on the door registered a correct code entry at exactly midnight. When Finley came into the office a bit later, he reported the findings (though not what the note said) and the code for the door was changed to try and resecure their office.

Cutting to Gabby and Arthur at school, Arthur passes in a school assignment that his partner didn't help at all with. The teacher agrees to not mark him down for a bad partner, but is most curious when the TA still gives the partner an A on the project. A demand to see the work reveals nothing was turned in, the girl was sleeping with the TA to get a better grade, and the girl ends up with an F and the TA is fired. Arthur's next partner for the next project is a much more active student, a pretty girl who wears glasses named Denise. A short talk later, and the two figure out what to do their project on.

The day however does not end there for Arthur. His last partner has a new boyfriend after all, and he's on the football team. She manages to convince her boyfriend (For easiness' sake Sean Sullivan is his name) that Arthur caused her to fail, and Sean goes to confront Arthur about it. Arthur brings up her sleeping with the TA, and Sean feels that Arthur is calling his girlfriend a whore. A situation that isn't helped when a near by Gabby points out that whores get paid, and thus are more respectable. Sean takes a swing at Arthur, and is promptly planted into the ground, where he decides the better of continuing the fight but vows to get revenge later.

For Gabriella the day 'begins' when she gets home from school. First dealing with Mara, where she shows some ability to control her little sister who seems to have Gabby wrapped around her little finger, by denying ice cream until after dinner. Followed by another date with Erik Bianchi. Erik brings her out to see his new acquisition, a warehouse just outside of town, that he has converted into a giant night club and underground fight ring. Gabby does her best to play arm candy and play along with Erik's whims, wanting him to let her close to find out more about Bianchi business. Ending the night by sleeping with the Mafia prince before heading back home.

The next night the party meets up, after Archer contacts them about the note left in his office. They agree to go to the meet and head over to where the note asks for it to be. There they meet a man claiming to be called Interrobang, he claims to know everything but has a hard time remembering it. Through his stutterings and ravings, only one solid piece of information that is important is recalled. They are not to trust "S", just who "S" is though is up for grabs. Arthur immediately thinks it means Sentinel. Gabby agrees it could be, but also points out that there is the Shinpai family as well. When asked about it, discreetly by Archer, Finley immediately thinks of Mayor Sullivan and Commissioner Scirocco. Adding in the Sylvester Corp and a Dr. Savannah and there are a lot of "S" people that the warning could be about. The group decides to not trust any of them for the time being, not that that is particularly hard to do.

A few days later (small jump) and Archer gets a break in his case on the murderer that he's been following since the beginning of the game. Finding at the least a version of the weapon when checking into a Sylvester corp holding, delivered by a Sylvester Corp rep, and not on the list of items the building claimed to have in their possession. Not a good thing when under investigation in any regard. The only complication being a federal agent also investigating the company for some reason, putting who will get to do what with the item in question. But if nothing else, Archer has a lead.

Saturday finds Gabriella and Arthur invited to a giant party at the Bianchi estate. Arthur brings Denise as a date, while Gabriella goes with Erik as hers. The party is held as a birthday party for the Bianchi's youngest son James, but also seems to be just a huge party in general. The mayor and commissioner are there, as are numerous other people in high esteem of the city. Many many witnesses of repute to claim exactly where the leader of this mafia family is at that exact moment.

It is at the party that Arthur finds out that Sean Sullivan is the son of the mayor. Recognizing Arthur in the crowd, Sean again tries to start a fight, and tired of it already Arthur decides to try and end it for a while. As Sean goes to throw his punch, Arthur hits directly between Sean's knuckles, shattering the man's hand. Further fighting is stopped with the arrival of several security types, and Sean is dragged off by his father. Arthur left immediately to regret his showing off as Mr. Bianchi praises him for his prowess and hints at the possibility of a coming job offer. Drawing the attention of a potential enemy is not the smartest thing he's ever done Arthur thinks.

For Gabriella the party is fun, she seems to be in her element moving around and checking on people. Many of the male members of her family (particularly her father and Uncle who run the family) seem to be upset as to something but will not talk to her. An attempt to find out from Erik is ended when he is pulled away for 'family business'. Still, she does win a small victory when Denise in an attempt to get under her skin claims to be dating Arthur, something to which Gabby responds oh so quietly, "Hurt him and I'll cut you" before wandering off to chat with family. Leaving Denise to tell Arthur that they are officially dating in her wake for fear of being cut by who she now recognizes is a Mafia princess.

While the party is going on, Bowman is on patrol. Leading him to the scene of an explosion and an attempted robbery. Acting quickly he takes down the four goons trying to rob the place, as well as a crooked cop who tries to free them before more police show up. The session ends with everyone going home at the end of the night, Arthur and Gabby from the party and Bowman from patrol.

thoughts

The session was mechanically light, but also good for the game. The importance of behind the mask living really can't be said for the system, though it is there. Though that also leaves not much to be spoken about. Where mechanics did come up, they worked fairly well and everyone seems to have a firm grasp on the system now. Which is good considering no one had ever seen it before a few weeks ago, and it is changing regularly as it works its way to a beta version.