Actual Play: Buffy - The Watch House

[Craig Oxbrow]

Seeing a good thing, the BBC have launched a spinoff of Buffy spinoff The Night Watch (website here (http://www.geocities.com/buffynightwatch/)) concerning another group of Watchers in training, set in King's College, Cambridge. After the unaired pilot (http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?threadid=81263) tested well but one of the cast departed, a new cast member was recruited and the pilot partially reshot...

Essentially, it's a variant on the TNW premise, Watchers in training (Prentices) and other interested parties at an Oxbridge university. I'll be using TNW as a sourcebook for ideas, but not for episode plotlines directly, so that a crossover is possible without dimensional travel.

Currently confirmed main cast:

Mekhi Phifer (http://www.imdb.com/gallery/ss/0298203/Ss/0298203/K3582-26.jpg?path=pgallery&path_key=Phifer,%20Mekhi) as Ziggy Roots, dispatched from Jamaica by Kendra's former Watcher Samuel Zabuto after seeing something, er, Watchery.

A young Lori Petty type as Millicent "Milli" Blackhurst, former star pupil of the Watchers' Academy who took a year out that lasted over two years, and came back with pink hair and a stud in her nose. Is this the extent of her rebelliousness? We'll see...

A purposely nondescript young actor as William Grove, former Hall Monitor of the Watchers' Academy. Socially uncomfortable and bookish. In some ways the ideal Watcher. Just not any of the ways that involve dealing with people.

A rather athletic and laddish type as Jack Stevenson, lock of the Cambridge freshers' rugby team and group Cordy.

Alfred Molina (http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hc&id=1800018903&cf=pg&photoid=470531&intl=us) as Michael Henry Escher, the group's Invigilator (Watcher trainer). Rather gruff so far. Will he warm to his charges, or remain distant?

[Craig Oxbrow]

Watch House 1.1 - Our Sword And Our Shield

We open on a shot of Cambridge by night, then three men in dark clothing watching another cross a road...
"Yes, he's doing it!" one of them whispers.
"Don't speak too soon," another growls.
"No, look, he's there!" the first points.
"Good," the second smiles, fangs gleaming. "It works. Now our hopes rest with him."
Across the road, the fourth man... the fourth vampire smirks as he passes a sign marking the boundary of pre-industrial Cambridge, and takes out a chain necklace to look at it - a splinter of stone and a glowing crystal. He heads further into town, finally reaching a small house. Opening the door with a lock taken out of an envelope, he heads inside. Waiting in the front room is a shortish, slight man with thinning hair, wearing a dark suit.
"So, proof enough?" he asks. The vampire nods.
"Yes. Now, what about these?"
"Oh, they'll open when you want them to," the smaller man says with a nod to the four coffins lying on the floor...

Credits to be inserted here. Theme: Ash, Evil Eye.

After the credits, a shot of King's College (http://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/chapel/gallery/) with a voiceover by Ziggy going over the touristy details... and a few that the Watchers have added. Founded in the 1440s, it has been a base for Watcher tutelage since a few decades later. The shot moves to Ziggy looking at a map, surrounded by tourists and fellow pre-Freshers' week freshers. Eventually, he finds the private office of Mr. Escher, and inside he hears metal clashing against metal. Knocking harder, he is greeted by Escher.
Escher: Mr. Routs?
Ziggy: Roots.
Escher: I see... Well, how is Mr. Mbotu?
Ziggy: Zabuto.
Escher: Good. Come in.

Inside, Ziggy is slightly perplexed to find William and Milli in fencing whites, Milli prodding William with her epee as he struggles to his feet.

Some rudeness follows:
Milli: You know what this is, right? Right?
Ziggy: So this is a special class then. Riiiight.
Milli: Perhaps not the one you're looking for.

This is interrupted by Escher somewhat wearily explaining that Mr. Zabuto is a well-respected Watcher, and then handily expositioning to Ziggy (and thus the audience) that the Watchers ensure that their main centres of tutelage (Oxford, Cambridge, Cologne) are safe to study in:

Escher: We are protected by a warding shield. It essentially grants the same protection to an area that the dwelling ward does to a home. Vampires and other "ungodly possessing demons" cannot enter within an area bounded by leylines marked by a series of standing stones. Now, the city has expanded past the boundaries since the Industrial Revolution, but we should be largely safe from the Watchers' main foes here..."

He then receives a phone call from the coroner at the city hospital. A body has been stolen.

Fade to black here, so that advertisements can be added when the Americans show the series.

[Craig Oxbrow]

We quickly establish that Ziggy hasn't sorted out a bus pass yet, and doesn't have exact change. Milli is good enough to front him the price of a ticket.

According to the preliminary report, the late Matthew Cobb was 18, in good health, and didn't have a mark on him. "The last seven bodies disappearing were stolen by med students... and the one before that by a Biology student... but since term hasn't started yet and the death was suspicious, I thought I'd better let you know."

Fearing the worst, Milli suspects Matthew could have left under his own power. Establishing that he was in one of the body drawers rather than on the examining table, she decides to test a theory.

Milli: Could you do me a favour?
Ziggy: No.
Milli: Go on.
Ziggy: What is it?
Milli: Get in the drawer.
Ziggy: I'll... think about it.
Milli: You owe me sixty pence.

It's quickly established that you can't easily get out of a drawer, as the coroner lets Ziggy out to stop him denting the metal as he kicks it ineffectually...

Milli: Were you trying?
Ziggy: Yes!

And so the class go to investigate the victim. Visiting Matthew's landlady under the pretence of needing a room - "It's just a single, I'm afraid" - they learn that he'd arrived a week early to settle in before starting a course, kept to himself...

Going over his personal effects at the pub after dark, they find that he didn't have anything unusual - no phone numbers with purposely vague descriptions suggesting drug dealers, for example - and what he looked like. Milli looks at the victim's bus pass... then looks up and sees him at the bar.

CUT!

[Craig Oxbrow]

Milli attempts to gain the others' attention by surreptitious elbowing and making an alarmed noise without opening her mouth.

Ziggy: Hey, quit it!
Milli: Bvv...
Ziggy: Huh?
Milli, nodding at the bar: Bvv! Bv-bv-bvbv-bvv-bvv!
Ziggy: Oh, I know that guy. Where from... (as Milli holds up the dead guy's bus pass) Ohh. That's...

Matthew, looking a little poorly but rather less than a corpse should be, chats with various already-in-town students including the freshers' rugby team. Apparently there's a house party tonight...

Meanwhile, our heroes discuss what to do in quiet hissed tones.

Milli: We should go and talk to him.
Ziggy: What do I say? "So, how is being dead?"

This quandary is resolved when one of the rugby freshers, one Jack Stevenson, heads out by himself to go to a cashpoint and Matthew follows him. Sneaking after, the Prentices watch Jack head into an alley - and be grabbed by clawlike hands!

Spending a Drama Point to have a stake in her bag, Milli rushes forwards, just as Jack throws the vampire Matthew over his shoulder and slams him against a wall. Milli dives to stake the snarling horror, but Ziggy pulls out a cross with less than perfect timing and repels the vampire away from the stake. Matthew growls and grabs Jack by the shoulder, trying to drag him away.

William dithers with a phial of holy water, Jack flails at Matthew, Ziggy holds his cross as far away from his body as possible and smacks Matthew with it, and Milli spots an opening and EEEYYYAAA WHOOMFF vampire scream and exploding effects.

Milli: Well, I guess they won't be getting their body back...

In the struggle, a key fell out of Vampire Matthew's pocket. It's for 37 Barns Street. The house where the party is happening, Jack dazedly confirms.

Jack: The rugby team's heading down there.

A vampire rugby team. That could be, like, a bad thing.

CUT!

[Craig Oxbrow]

Jack: So, uh, what happened with... uh...
Milli: Oh, we're, uh, the medieval staking society.
William: Yes.
Jack: Oh, okay.

Dragging Jack along with them to receive first aid for the nail marks in his shoulder, they had back to Escher's office to re-equip and inform him. He isn't there, so they confirm no sign of a struggle and re-equip anyway.
Milli gives Jack her mobile number, in case he was a specific rather than opportunistic target.

Milli (Attractiveness 2): This is for emergency use only.
Jack (Att 3 but not her type): Suuure.
Milli: This. Is. For. Emergency. Use. Only.

Collecting an axe, a short sword, more stakes, a heavier bottle of holy water and the like, the Prentices step out and prepare to do battle, leaving a message for Escher in hopes that he hasn't been kidnapped.

"Please call. Gone to 37 Barns Street. Matthew gone with the wind."

Arriving at 37 Barns, they find a seemingly abandoned detached house. Unlocking the door, they find darkness within.

Milli's player: Do the lights work?
Me: Are you reaching in to check?
Milli's player: That's a very Cthulhu question.

Overcoming her player's years of Cthulhu playing and GMing, Milli leads the team inside, eventually finding a hint of light and noise from under the stairs. Opening the basement, they come face to face with the vampire from the pre-credits sequence charging up at them, while they can hear screams from below.

Milli pushes forwards to try and stake him, Ziggy hides behind his cross and gets past, and William realises that he much prefers the academic side of being a Prentice to the vocational training.

Ziggy gets a good look at a basement full of earth and coffins, then returns his attention to the vampire as it lifts Milli off her feet with one hand around her throat. As well as choking her, this gives her a good view of the little glowing light around the monster's neck.

Ziggy empties a bottle of holy water down the vampire's back, and he convulses and steams. As he's distracted, Milli snags the necklace and pulls it off him.

The glowing crystal fades. The vampire looks at it, and at Milli, twitches... and then flies backwards. Ziggy has to duck as the vampire smashes into the floor above and explodes in a shower of dust.

Ziggy: What did you do?
Milli: I, uh...

As William elects to guard the door rather than going into the basement, Ziggy and Milli open the coffins with crosses and holy water at the ready, duly splashing three kidnapped freshers and a French tourist.

Student: I'm awake! What the hell happened?
Milli: Oh, uh, the rugby club. Some sorta prank. You know what they're like.
Student: Yeah. Bloody rugby club! Bastards!

Just then, Jack phones.

Jack: Yeah, um, just checking the number works. I don't need stitches apparently. So, are you at the party?
Milli: I think the party's been cancelled.
Jack: It's only like nine o' clock.
Milli: Yeah, well, it was dead shortly after we got there.

Next day, Escher taps a map of the city with blue lines drawn on marking the boundaries of the shield, and holds up the necklace.

Escher: It's a chip from one of the standing stones, bound to a portal crystal. It allows any barred demon to cross the shield. Then, he could sire vampires inside it safely. When you removed it, the barrier threw him towards the nearest boundary.
Milli: Splat.
Escher: Quite. What really concerns me is where he acquired it, because it seems we face a cult of vampires who know our secrets and how to strike at us inside our refuge... as well as the panoply of demons, creatures and magics not held back by the spell. Many of which will doubtless join an attack against us... This may be the gravest threat the Watchers' training has faced for decades, even centuries. But face it we must. The world is counting on us. The Slayer is our sword, but we are their shield.
Ziggy: Go to Britain, they said. Have a good time, they said. Learn safely, they said.
Escher, quietly: The Earth is doomed.

[Craig Oxbrow]

Next time on The Watch House:
Milli and William sitting at a freshers' fair stall.
Ziggy looking at a flat.
Jack looking bemused as half of the rugby offensive line slam into each other clumsily.
Ziggy looking at a different flat.
William glaring at a fresher couple in the library.
Milli trying to convince a girl that she wasn't making a pass at her boyfriend.
A drink being thrown in someone's face...
Which leads to a punch...
Which leads to an all-out bar brawl.
Escher V/O: The next episode of The Watch House is Envy. Sunday at Six.



And now the Actual Play bit:

Two of the players - our own Joe Dizzy, playing Ziggy, and David, playing William - knew the game beforehand, Cat (playing Milli) is on her second session and Jack's player was still adjusting his character after he was written in. Nobody had a hard time picking anything up.

I used the Drama Point for Dramatic Editing and two DPs for a retroactive Heroic Feat houserules, so fails became passes after rolling and Milli happened to have a stake in her bag and Ziggy had a cross. Indeed, Milli and Zig burned through three or four DPs apiece in the two shortish fights.

I borrowed the game setup page from TNW and let the players read it. This lead to Jack being a fellow student entirely out of the loop. We'll have to tie him in more closely, sooner rather than later, because having him occasionally sniping from the sidelines and being kidnapped like first season Cordelia doesn't give his player very much to do.

I also prepped a poster showing King's by night and a gallery of the college School of History, casting all the supervisors (Cambridge for "lecturers") and possibly dropping hints for later. Or possibly not. Anyway, I'll carry on and cast NPCs as I introduce them. Next week, lots of students... And I mean lots. I've already started...

[SteveD]

Damn. Now I know why some people find it hard to comment on TNW. Everything there is worth commenting on. Every joke is hilarious, the plot is cool, the images perfect. It's an episode I wish I could have seen from a show I wish was real.

Don't bring Jack in too quickly. A few contrived reasons for him to be there a small sacrifice to have an outsider type.

Was this online, as I thought Dizzy was German?

Steve

[Jeffwik]

Damn.

[Professor Phobos]

Nice work. We should organize some sort of League of Buffy Actual Play report writers, compare notes, or somesuch.

[Craig Oxbrow]

Originally posted by SteveD
Damn. Now I know why some people find it hard to comment on TNW. Everything there is worth commenting on. Every joke is hilarious, the plot is cool, the images perfect. It's an episode I wish I could have seen from a show I wish was real.
:eek:

I'll gladly take a bow, and lead the applause for my Cast.

Don't bring Jack in too quickly. A few contrived reasons for him to be there a small sacrifice to have an outsider type.
I don't plan to, but I'll have to find a fair few contrived reasons...

Was this online, as I thought Dizzy was German?
He's actually Greek raised in Germany, but he's in Edinburgh studying.

[colbabe]

Originally posted by Craig Oxbrow
Jack: Yeah, um, just checking the number works. I don't need stitches apparently. So, are you at the party?
Milli: I think the party's been cancelled.
Jack: It's only like nine o' clock.
Milli: Yeah, well, it was dead shortly after we got there.

I like it already. Hot damn, this is going to be a good show.

I also liked "gone with the wind" as Watcher Slang for "staked vampire". That sounds like it could have come from Eddie.

[Jody Macgregor]

Originally posted by Craig Oxbrow
I don't plan to, but I'll have to find a fair few contrived reasons...

Give him a cursed Rugby jersey.

[Mytholder]

If it's the game I'm thinking of, *waves at Cat*.

[morgue]

It is indeed that game.

*waves at Cat, and at Craig*

~`morgue, in awe of industry personage Gar

[Craig Oxbrow]

Gah. It's already being talked about by my players while they're elsewhere?

was she positive? :confused:

[Garry G]

Wow that's fucking great. I'm totally unable to be as organised as you lot. My games tend more towards the chaotic.

[Craig Oxbrow]

It just looks organised after the fact. I had three pages of printed material (one of them a poster) and one page of adventure stuff, of which 1/4 was the pre-credits teaser...

Thanks for the "great" bit though. :D

[Craig Oxbrow]

The Watch House 1.2: Envy

The Freshers' Fair for the whole university. Upwards of 5000 people coming and going.

For an idea of how many societies there are, look at the 2003 list here (http://www.cam.ac.uk/societies/).

And somewhere in the centre, the History Society. William and Milli manning it. William checks his watch and sighs. They've been on the stand for almost 38 minutes.

Milli: You know, if we're not careful, people will actually join.
William: Well, yes.
Milli: We could be more exciting.
William: I don't do exciting. I hang around with you while you do exciting.

They have, among other things, been told to keep an eye out for one Andrew Samson, a new student who is "in the know" for a reason that Escher neglected to explain fully. He duly turns up and asks to join, seeming very enthusiastic despite being a math student.

Milli: What do we do?
William: Get his money. Oh, and his student number.
Andy: Is anything happening?
William: We're the history society. Everything has pretty much happened.

They only realise it's him once he's wandered off again and they read his signature. So Milli heads off in pursuit, to William's consternation. She's here to present the image of a modern inclusive history society, something he isn't any use for.

Milli: I'm following him.
William: Getting details is good.
Milli: Or following.

So off she trots, leaving him alone armed only with some hastily photocopied flyers.

She doesn't find Andy, but she does see Timothy Wendell, president of the Latin Society, smile cheerily to the crowd he's gathered, gladhanding a bespectacled fresher with the skill of a seasoned society politician.

"Look at it this way - We find Latin all the time in our daily lives. Status. Status quo. Ergo is Latin for therefore. English is littered with Latin-isms. Look at Veni, Vidi, Vici. I came, I... uh... damn. It's on the tip of my tongue..."

"I saw, I conquered?" prompts the young man, adjusting his glasses.
"Yes! Damn it, why couldn't I remember that..."
The fresher shrugs lightly with a placid smile and turns to go.

Outside... he adjusts his glasses again, squints through them and sighs... then looks across at the archery society demonstration and narrows his eyes jealously, then heads off that way...

Credits!

[Craig Oxbrow]

Milli, wandering back, passes the fencing demonstration team as the coach complains "my arm's been cramped all day... can't hold a sword." She starts to form an opinion, and goes to check it.

Consulting the map of the societies' hall, she finds the French language society, after trying the French students' society, and confirms that they still know French.

Milli: Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?
French language guy suppresses a snicker.
Milli: So you know what that means?
French language guy: Yeah, that's, uh, what you tell girls.

Where's Ziggy in all this? Cut to Ziggy standing outside a tenement block with a "rooms for rent" sign, checking the street on the map... finding it's outside the shield... and leaving.

Milli wanders back, looking a tad puzzled. William looks up from his Times crossword.

Milli: Not a lot of takers?
William: We're rushed off our feet here. Do you know what this is? "Butterfly weather", three letters...

"Jake" (not his real name) a would-be musician that the Watchers in training know because he apparently has psychic visions, stops by and duly refuses to join the society.

Jake: So what do you get for the fee?
Milli: A flyer.
Jake: ...
Milli: It's a good flyer. Oh, and evening lectures, and a concession for museum trips. If you're not a student. Which you are.

Jake: I'll join your society if you come to my gig later.
William: What do you play?
Jake: Ironically progressive rock.

Andy returns, and this time Milli and William try to be more welcoming. This confuses him.

Milli: So, we see you're a mathematics student, so what's your interest in history?
Andy: I, uh, have a genuine interest in history.
Milli: So why are you interested in history? What in particular interests you?
Andy: Uh... Well, uh, if you don't learn from history you're doomed to repeat it?

As they try and decipher the meaning of this and thereby guess at Andy's significance to the Watchers' Council, they head off to practice:

Milli: You want to practice with me again, or have a chance against someone else?

The Brody is the main King's "undergraduate common room". It and the other three pubs on King Street are bustling tonight. And not just because the rugby club are camped out at the darts table. The freshers are enjoying the luxury of real ID allowing them to drink. "One hundred and eighty!" shouts a rather small woman, as a guy who doesn't look much like one of the rugby team (it is, in fact, the bespectacled fresher, now not bespectacled) removes the perfectly-places darts, smirks, and pats the startled and glowering rugby types on the shoulders.

That evening is the gig by Jake's band with no finalised name or lineup. Clare College Entertainments run a club every night in a basement space. The midweek and weekend nights are among the biggest on any campus in town.

Lush's Ladykillers fills the floor. A stylish young couple show off in the middle while a red-haired girl seethes silently at the nearest table.

And a dark-haired girl would appear to actually be checking William out...

But she's gone, perhaps behind a convenient nearby pillar, when Milli gets him to look.

At the bar, she happens to end up next to the ex-bespectacled fresher.

Milli: That was kinda odd with the Latin president losing it, wasn't it?
The Fresher: I guess some people just aren't good public speakers.
Milli: Yes, but he's never had a problem like that before. I guess you won't be joining the society then?
The Fresher: No, I learned all I need to know there...

Then a young woman shakes her head and puts up a hand to wave him off as he points over to the bar, and his shoulders slump... but there's a hint of a glare in his frown.

Cut for advertisements!

[Craig Oxbrow]

Jake's band takes the stage. They rank. Jake doesn't help by letting rip with a massive showoff guitar hero moment, then noticing the band are still here, rolling his eyes and storming off the stage.

William: This isn't progressive. I see no progress. Is loudness progress?

And in the audience, the fresher nods slightly, eyes narrowing...

Next day, our heroes are back in the societies fair. Milli is still looking around for further outbreaks of incompetence, and hears about the rugby team...

Coach Harrison (Steven Waddington (http://www.empireonline.co.uk/img/features/events/theparoleofficer/large9.jpg)): what the bloody hell kind of throw was that? It's supposed to go to his hands, not his ankle! Arse! Elbow! Not the same thing! Rrrr... let's try a snap forward. You should be able to manage that!

And so the offensive line set up. Shaking his head, the coach boots the ball - all five go for it - and slam into each other, collapsing in a heap.

Coach: You could bloody do this three days ago!

Milli: That's not exactly normal, is it?
William: It'll be a curse. Or they're just really uncoordinated.

Jake, meanwhile, overhears the head of the wine tasting society explaining why he's drinking water:

Wine Guy: I must have picked up Fresher Flu or something, I can't taste anything.
Jake: Well, you're drinking water...

Later on, as he wanders by, Milli asks if he's seen anything like that.

Jake: Yeah, the head of the wine society says he can't taste anything.
William: That doesn't surprise me. Have you seen some of the brands he likes?

William's wine snobbery aside, Milli is concerned.

Milli: Don't you think it's getting a bit weird?
William: Weird as in 'hit the books' weird?
Milli: I think it's weird.

The rugby freshers seem a tad subdued at the pub that night, for some reason.

Checking for Looky Girl prompts her to go and be Disappeary Girl.

Checking for Latin Guy reveals him striding up to the bar in a sharp black suit, being ignored by the same girl, and stomping off with a scowl.

And meanwhile:

What d'you mean that's it?
I mean that's it! I don't even know what I saw in you!

The female half of last night's coolest couple storms away from her brand-new ex, who glumly flicks at his now unruly hair, sticks his hands in his pockets, turns to go, and bangs his leg against a stool with a grunt...

CUT!

[Craig Oxbrow]

Next day, our heroes take a headcount of all the societies with this kind of problem.
The head of the Karate club has been having muscle cramps since Monday.
Same with two of the fencing team.
One of the best in the Chess Club now can't remember how a knight moves.
A guitarist who was thinking of forming a band complains "I've lost my muse... y'know?"
The Archery Society don't seem to have lost anyone directly, but one of the freshers who showed a lot of promise hasn't come back... "Who? I don't know, didn't get a name."

Milli: No sign of any problems with the acrobatics team.
Jake: You do acrobatics?
William: Her mother was a monkey.
Jake: That was mean.
Andy: Yeah man, that was low.
William: You should see her father...

They don't get chance to ask outside the societies hall, but there's also a mechanic in town who can't remember how to change a car's oil, and a gourmet chef who now burns cheese on toast.

Obviously, the thing to do is to go and see Mr. Escher. So, naturally, Milli decides the best tactic is to try and draw the suspects out with - a pub quiz!

Milli: A quiz. With prizes.
William : We don't have prizes.
Milli: Right. Uh... Jake, can you organise something?
Jake: Um... Like what?
Milli: Beer. Beer is a good prize.

Later, there is discussion of the plan between Milli and William.

William: What exactly are you planning?
Milli: Well, I figure either Jake stole his ability, or he's a good target.

Also, it's a history quiz, and the history society hasn't been hit by whatever it is yet. So this might draw whoever it is out. In the meantime, they go to Escher's office just in case their Watcher invigilator, a man with decades of learning and years of experience in this subject, might happen to have some insight on a supernatural occurrence...

They find Andy there. He and Escher appear to have been discussing something... which they stop discussing as they arrive.

Escher: So, let me see if I understand this. You think that someone is using magic to steal people's skills and knowledge?
Jake: Is that impossible?
Escher: Oh, it's quite possible... with magic, obviously. Let's consult our books."

Escher: Yes, here it is. Theft of the Blessing. Listed in the Libra Memoria. Now, I think we... yes.

So he unlocks the even more secure bookshelf of his hidden private library. Flick flick...

Escher: For the Theft of the Blessing, 'the caster must lay a hand upon the blessed one within twelve hours of the invocation and the sacrifice of the beast. Should you be among the blest and stolen, these words only must you say as you lay hand upon the thief: This offering was not rightly taken, and I will it back.'

Milli: We're going to draw them out. With the pub quiz. And our special guest historian.

She looks to Escher and grins enthusiastically. He raises an eyebrow, blinks, and carries on.

Escher: Well... it's probably someone consumed by envy. They want what they cannot have. And once you've taken something once, it must be tempting to take more... Anyway, we can find recent spell activity with a map and a plumbline.

So out comes the map and the plumbline and... dowsing takes a while... Because there are rather a lot of leads. By the time Milli's done noting locations with her pen, the map looks like it has measles.

Escher: Hmm. Well. Narrowing it down, I can spot at least three significant spellcasters.
Milli: And how many minor ones?
Escher: Well, a city with such a large population of intellectuals is bound to attract an unusual number of mystics...

Milli also, as an aside, asks Escher if he can spot mystical activity on people. He asks why.

Milli: Jake totally killed with a guitar solo the other night.
Escher: Really. Well, of course, I saw Hendrix at the Isle of Wight.
Milli: Who? I grew up listening to classical music, remember?

Meanwhile, the rugby team still suck a bunch of ass.
And our heroes head off to check out possible leads.

William: Animal sacrifice. You check out pet shops, I'll go to the science lab.
Milli: It's like eight o' clock.
William: And?
Milli: The pet shops will be shut.
William: Oh. Uh, look for ones with broken windows?

So Milli ignores his idea but he goes to the lab anyway, and finds that a delivery of mice was signed for by Illegible Squiggle That Looks Like A Couple Of Ms, and never handed in.

On being informed of this as she tries to organise the pub quiz in under thirty minutes, Milli's lip trembles...

Milli: Somebody killed mousies?

The rugby club lurk sulkily in one booth, jabbing thumbs at the dartboard.

Player 1: Get up an' play.
Player 2: You get up an' play!
Player 3: Let's get some drinks in, we'll feel better.
Player 4: Yeah, right, the last batch were like, poisoned or something. Why we can't walk straight...
Player 1: Look, just because you're bloody useless...

Milli, still both suspecting Jake and wanting to use him as bait in case she's wrong, asks his to hand out questionnaires.

Jake: I'm not dishin' out papers.
Milli: Well, then, you can be the compere.

And as Milli goes to hand out questionnaires, William spots Looky Girl pointing her out to a girl, who marches over as she gives one to a random guy...

Shouty Girl: You makin' a pass at him?
Milli: Uh... No?
Shouty Girl's Guy: No, I never even looked at her!
Shouty Girl: You did too!
Shouty Girl's Guy: Look, just cool off!
Shouty Girl: Why should I?
And Shouty Girl's Guy, getting riled, splashes his drink in her face.
And she punches him right on the jaw.

"FIGHT!" someone shouts. William can spot it's Looky Girl.
The glaring rugby clubbers look up, then at each other... and then Player 2 pounces at Player 1 with a snarl...

William points out Looky Girl, and so Milli speeds off to give chase. Andy, covering the exits, and Jake, still handing out flyers, both miss her disappearing act as well, but as it happens Jack spots and follows her.

William looks around as well... And then a hand lashes out from the phone booth behind him with a perfectly-executed karate chop to the neck.

And when he wakes up, he's tied to a chair. And gagged. And in the middle of a circle of candles.

And the formerly bespectacled fresher, now standing taller and looking with clearer eyes, smiles a winning smile.

The Fresher: You're awake. Oh, good. I'd hate for you to miss this...

CUT!

[Craig Oxbrow]

The Fresher: I suppose this is where I explain my evil plan.

William, being gagged, manages a shrug.

The Fresher: It's simple enough, really. You go through life with a little interest in magic, come to the university Crowley studied at... but I figured I wanted a bit more. And apart from that, I saw all these people, more successful, more skilled, better looking... having a lot more luck with women... I was jealous. And when I found the Blessing spell in the library at Trinity, well, I had to give it a shot. But, I admit, I got greedy. I've learned my lesson...

He grins evilly as he leans in.

The Fresher: You won't tell... will you?

As the rest of our heroes find William gone and rush outside, they're confronted by Looky Girl!

Looky Girl: You're the Watchers, right?
Milli: I, uh, ah... that is... uh...
Looky Girl: Your friend's been taken.

She closes her eyes, holds up a key, lets it spin, looks at it.

Looky Girl: Come on.

Looky Girl: I know you guys are Watchers, so I was just keeping an eye on you. Then this. I don't feel entirely happy having another mystic on campus, let alone someone who'll start draining powers...
Milli: So, are you a witch?
Looky Girl: Not as such. Just a dabbler really. I can cast from books pretty well.
Milli: What's your name?
Looky Girl: Hm? Oh, sorry. Emma.

And meanwhile, someone stalks after the four.

And meanwhile meanwhile, the Fresher reaches towards William...

The Fresher: Let's see what you know...

And William pitches backwards in his chair, landing with a painful thud.

And then the cavalry arrive! Hurrah!

As the group approaches the location, their shadow turns out to be Jack, who has decided to follow Emma because she's purty. With the coordination of a rugby player who's lost all his coordination, he smashes into the door of the Fresher's hideout and nearly topples down the stairs.

The Fresher snarls, slams his hand down on a candle and a jet of flame bursts from his other hand!

As William whimpers and struggles with his bonds, the Fresher picks up a rapier with an expert's flourish, Jack staggers forwards and the rest of the group rush through the smoking doorway. Milli leaps over the banister and grabs another sword from the lair's selection.

The Fresher: Oh, I am so taking that!

The group fan out, covering William's escape and Jack's uselessness, Milli discovering that the Fresher is now a significantly better swordfighter than she is as Emma tries to position herself behind him to cast a counterspell...

Andy throws a brick at the Fresher. He slices it in two without looking at it, before pressing his attack.

Jack tries for a bearhug from behind. The Fresher's muscles snap and ripple and he flings him off, now looking a bit Mr. Universal.

William gets free and moves to swing his chair at him, just as Milli forces him into a step back and Emma puts a hand on him.

Emma: These offerings were not rightly taken, and I will them back!

A WHOOSH and a flash of light, and the Fresher, now skinny again, falls to his knees and topples face down, eyes rolled back in his head and drooling. Then William hits him with the chair.

William, guiltily: He moved!
Emma: Because you hit him...

Jack duly regains his abilities, and is rather baffled as to his presence.

Emma: I suppose you'll have to report this to your teacher, won't you? You're very good with records, I hear.
Milli: Well, we don't have to mention you, if you'll agree to help us if... something like this comes up.
Emma: Sure.

And we close on the fallen mystic in a hospital coma ward.

Orderly 1: So, what happened to him?
Orderly 2: No idea. He came in like that. No prior history or signs of trauma.
Orderly 1: You think he'll ever wake up?
Orderly 2: Who knows?

And close on his eyes... as they roll back down and look around...

[Craig Oxbrow]

Next time on The Watch House:
Lightning over Cambridge.
A deserted manor house outside of town.
Milli flailing at something in the darkness with a burning torch.
Ziggy stepping into a darkened room, sniffing the air, and looking nervous.
William desperately flicking through a book.
Jake holding a door shut as something slams into it from the other side.
Andy tensing up and clenching his fists as he looks around and the darkness seems to move about him.
Escher V/O: The next episode of The Watch House is Get Out. Sunday at Six.

Actual Play bit

Because Buffy gives out much the same experience points as full Unisystem games, but has a significantly shorter list of significantly broader skills, each XP is more powerful. One of the players pointed this out, so I'll be chopping the XP system around a bit.

With two new players (both moderately familiar with the system and the setting) the group has become more varied - and gained its first mysterious secret. The arrivals did mean that we started a bit late and I had a bit of a tricky time working everyone in. Hopefully things will be a bit clearer next week.

[morgue]

Originally posted by Craig Oxbrow
Then a young woman shakes her head and puts up a hand to wave him off as he points over to the bar, and his shoulders slump... but there's a hint of a glare in his frown.

I got confused by this paragraph.

Cool account! Luv the French Society bit...

~`morgue

[Craig Oxbrow]

The Fresher (for it was he!) asked the girl for a drink. She waved him off. He duly looked disappointed... but a bit glary.

The French soc, and the pub quiz, are all Cat. Yay Cat!

[Joe Dizzy]

Sounds great. I'm looking forward to joining you all again next week.

[David Goodner]

Originally posted by Craig Oxbrow
Because Buffy gives out much the same experience points as full Unisystem games, but has a significantly shorter list of significantly broader skills, each XP is more powerful. One of the players pointed this out, so I'll be chopping the XP system around a bit.

No, Wait, stop!

Advancement is way, way more expensive in Buffy.

Everything is 2x desired (IIRC) stat. So, to increase your Get Medieval from 3 to 4 costs 8, whereas, to increase your Hand Weapon (Swords) from 3 to 4 only costs 4.

Attributes really feel the burn. In Full Uni, it's usually just 5 points to bump up a stat.

David G.

[Craig Oxbrow]

Yeah? oh. Hmm.

Let me consult my books...

[Professor Phobos]

Not only does that sound enjoyable, but I really like the premise behind it. Yoink.

[SteveD]

Perfection. I look forward to reading this series every week now.

[Craig Oxbrow]

Yikes. Pressure.

Also, Thank you. :D

[sasori]

Hey! That sounds like a cool game! Wish I was playing...


...Oh, hang on, I am! :D

"Jake"!

[Craig Oxbrow]

Gabba gabba hey! One of us!

[colbabe]

Yay! A player! :D Now I'm getting all nostalgic about how I joined RPG.Net after TNW started up... ah, the glory days...

Hey Craig, could you give us extended character info? Start off a new thread if there are spoilers for the players...

[Craig Oxbrow]

I can probably manage that...

[Craig Oxbrow]

Watch House 1.3: Get Out

Lawrence: Here we are.
Kelvin: Okay, Halloween, but are you sure this is a good idea?
Lawrence: It's perfect. What could be better than a party in a haunted house?
Kelvin: A party in a house that's supposed to be haunted but actually isn't?
Lawrence: Exactly!

This agreed, the two men return to the door of a large, lightless house. The first to speak looks around warily as the second unlocks the door... shoves against it... gets his friend to help... and finally the door bangs open and they both stagger inside.

Lawrence: See? The lighting works and everything.
He flicks a switch and a large, two-storey hall is dimly illuminated.
Lawrence: Pays to be the son of the top estate agent in the southeast.
Kelvin: Well, it's very...
Lawrence: Atmospheric?
Kelvin: Gloomy is what I was going for.
Lawrence: All the better. We don't need to decorate it. It's pre-spookied. And just think: looots of bedrooms.
Kelvin: With, uh, beds?
Lawrence: Fully furnished.
Kelvin: Right. Well... if it's so perfect... why hasn't your father been able to let it for the last six months?
Lawrence: Well, it's perfect for us. That doesn't mean it's perfect for, say, double income no kids yet. They tend not to want atmosphere...
Kelvin: And it being haunted is a bit too much atmosphere.
Lawrence: Precisely. But for us, haunted is just what we want...

And as he says this, one of the shadows in the corner behind him moves, ever-so-slightly... and then another... and another...

MEANWHILE...
Ziggy runs headlong through the streets, pursued by three snarling vampires.

Ziggy: Crap crap crap crap!

The first rakes a clawed hand through the air right behind him and then slams face-first into thin air. It ripples like steaming water as he staggers back, shaking his head and growling, confused...

Whiz thud EEYYYAAA as a crossbow bolt slams into him. "Jake" reloads as Andy covers Ziggy slowing down and wheezing.

Andy fires off a bolt, and the second vampire ducks, then turns to run again.

Jake bolts it too, the third flees and has to be chased.

Ziggy: Right... huhhh... next time... wait for my witty comment before you kill them... Ugh. I'm never running bait again.
Andy: I don't do the running thing. I do the hiding in a safe place thing.
Ziggy: Yeah, well, sending out the black guy to be bait, that's not good.
Jake: I'm an artist. I don't run.
Ziggy: Sure you do. You run from your landlord... women... their parents... their boyfriends...

Could he have found a flat any closer to the end of the shield? Sure, by about twelve feet.

Jake: Anyway... we have a party to go to tomorrow.

And that night, Jake receives his first Psychic Vision. Or Recurring Nightmare, possibly. But anyway, he sees darkness moving, coiling, spreading and lashing out...

Lightning over Cambridge, as if on cue, and then Credits!
(Hear a live version of the theme, Evil Eye by Ash, here! (http://www.ash-unofficial.com/mp3.htm))

[Craig Oxbrow]

And so, as Jake's hangers-on, some of our heroes attend the soiree held by Lawrence Pendleton and Kelvin Andrews, the first and second speakers from the precredits.

The place is busy, garbage are on the boombox, and assorted students mingle. Ziggy, feeling that Halloween requires a bit of showmanship, turns up in a suit, and attempts to impress the partygoers with his John Cleese impression. This extends to saying "Splendid!" quite loudly.

Emma Radcliffe we have already met, of course. Jake goes over to talk to her, after explaining who she is:

Jake: She's a wannabe witch. And she's not registered.
Ziggy: They register that kind of thing?
Andy: Yes, you do.
Ziggy: We do. Yes.

Francis, Barry, Tim and Freddy, of the freshers' rugby team, hanging out with Jack. Gits.

Ginny, Michelle, Nicole, Amanda and Naomi, sorta friendly. Andy realises he can't talk about anything except math, and so goes away and ponders an exit strategy.

Ziggy: This is a party. You're not supposed to plan on running and hiding. Unless it's one of those parties.
Andy: One of those parties?
Ziggy: I'll tell you when you're older.

So we get to see various people outside of class, get a sense of who likes who, hates who, whatevers who and so on...

And of course Lawrence brags and Kelvin whimpers about the place being haunted. Lawrence smiles amiably as he conducts a tour of the haunted mansion.

Lawrence: There's the basement. But you don't want to go down there.
Andy: No, we don't.
Emma: Why don't we?
Jake: Basement in a haunted house.
Lawrence: It's simply not done.

And then, to help underscore his point, the light goes out and the basement is flooded with darkness.

Emma: So, upstairs then.

Lawrence: Well, my father's been trying to lease out the house for six months now, and the previous owners only stayed for a month... and the owners before that for two... And so on. The house stands idle more often that not, as it has ever since the Thirties.
Andy: What happened in the Thirties?
Lawrence: Murder, old chap. Murder.

Everyone exchanges a knowing look. Jake, meanwhile, pauses as he steps onto a spot on the landing and shivers...

CUT!

[Craig Oxbrow]

Lawrence: Technically, the house still belongs to the ancestral owners, the Cranshaws, but none of them have set foot in here since 1936. That was the year that Morris Cranshaw, heir to the family estate, was murdered by his wife of six months on this very floor, before she hanged herself. Ghastly business... Bathroom, en suite, very nice. Guest bedroom, double... ah, sorry... Anyway, there are all kinds of rumours about the reasons, but all we know for sure is the result. Nobody has had the courage to live here for more than two months in the last sixty years. Indeed, few people have the guts to spend the night alone... all the more reason to spend it with friends, hm?

He adds that last remark with a sidelong smirk to Sophie as she passes, and sidesteps to intercept her and slide his arms around her shoulders.

Jake: Smooth line, man. Smooth line.
Sophie: Oh, I thought so.
Jake: So, which is the big haunted room?
Lawrence: Well, one of the bedrooms, of course. The, ah, master bedroom.

The slight pause indicates he's making that bit up, but the group go and look anyway, noting that the door is shut but there's nobody inside.

Lawrence: Hmm. Well, obviously someone wanted to "reserve" it.
Andy: Wishing you'd thought of that?
Lawrence: Yes...

There's a whole lot of nothing unusual there.

Jake: Okay, the flickery lights, nice touch, but you could have had something drop on us or something.
Lawrence: Yes, well, I didn't want to overdo it.

When they double-check with Kel, he confirms the following.

Kelvin: Well, yeah. That's the story. I don't know how much I'd believe Lawr, but still... place is creepy, isn't it?

Jake attracts the group's attention to the "cold spot" on the landing.

Jake: Shift your hand over here.
Ziggy: Wow. At one point it's right and then it's left. That's amazing, Jake, really.
Jake: So you're not getting anything?
Ziggy: Wait, just when you thought the lack of anything was scary, just then, it does nothing!
Jake: Okay, normally I'm right with the 'repeat until funny' trick but now you're just taking the piss.

And then Emma comes over and recoils from the cold spot as well. So the four of them discuss what there is to discuss. They conclude that there's a cold spot.

Ziggy: You pull my hand around and there's nothing.
Andy: Pretty much a lack of anything frightening. Bit disappointing for a Halloween party really.
Ziggy: You see all those girls over there?

Andy remains unwilling to talk to girls, so he goes to hide in the kitchen as the rest of our heroes go exploring.

Ziggy: He's going to the basement. He insists.
Jake: I don't remember insisting on anything.
Ziggy: Should we inform anyone of your passing?

Emma rolls her eyes and heads for the basement. Jake follows and Ziggy trails along behind.

Ziggy: It's mature this way, it doesn't look like he's trying to pick you up... you're not, are you?
Jake: Ah... I think we should go and look for torches, just in case.
Emma: Good idea.

CUT!

[Craig Oxbrow]

So they divert to the kitchen, where Andy greets them in triumph.

Andy: I found beer!
Ziggy: Where?
Andy: In the fridge. See?

The fridge light fizzles out.

Andy: I'm having issues with my fridge.

Jake finds a battery torch and checks it with the thoroughness of a Boy Scout. He checks the bulb, the batteries, the connectors. If something goes wrong with this torch, he'll know it's supernatural.

Ziggy: Satisfied? Okay then, you go first.
Jake: I think he's making sure I get used as bait this time.
Emma: You guys play bait a lot?
Jake: More than we'd like.

And so they descend into the gloom, with Ziggy standing by the door. And the lights go out.

Jake: Did you do that?
Ziggy: No.
Emma: Could you say you did?

Jake switches on the torch - and it goes out. Then comes back on as he swings it away from the centre of the basement. So he swings it back. On-off-on. He tries his cigarette lighter and that works fine... but he gets a strong feeling of being watched from the darkness.

Jake: Something watching - and not the right kind of watching.

They take stock.

Jake: So. Something downstairs that doesn't want to be seen... and maybe something in the fridge too. Hm. I've been in flats with fridges like that.
Ziggy: Well, it's something spooky. Which is appropriate.
Jake: Oh, now you're with me on the whole spooky thing.
Ziggy: Well, maybe it's just a random odd thing. But let's make sure nobody gets hurt anyway.
Andy: So keep an eye out, in case we see anything odd or hear any scream-
Scream from upstairs: GYAAAAH!
Andy: Or do we follow the screaming from upstairs?

CUT!

[Craig Oxbrow]

A minute ago...
Naomi leads Tim into one of several hotel-sized double rooms, and pauses to look up and around. Naomi: Cool...
Tim: Yeah, very cool.
He smiles and leans in to kiss her. He quickly pulls his top over his head and drops it on the floor, where the shadow pools... and slides under the bed as the couple drop onto it...

Tim struggles with Naomi's second button and she tries not to roll her eyes - when the bed shifts under them, bouncing an inch or two to the left. Tim unbalances and pitches face-first into Naomi's cleavage. She swats him on the head.

Naomi: Get off!
Tim: I didn't do it on purpose... The bloody bed moved.
Naomi: Oh yeah, pretty conveniently, wasn't -

And then it shifts again. And as Tim grabs the side, Naomi looks up and sees a black stain crawling up the wall and across the ceiling towards her...

So as our heroes rush up the stairs, Naomi runs out of the bedroom, clutching her top closed, quickly followed by the shirtless Tim. Nicole and Amanda for a defensive line around Naomi as he approaches.

Nicole: Did he...?
Naomi: No, he didn't. I just... gaaaahh...

She makes the universally-understood "creeped out" gesture of waving her hands around shakily and hunching her shoulders. And she makes a beeline for the door, Nicole and Amanda trailing after...

Barry: Oh, very smooth, Tim, very smooth. You're Don Juan, you really are.

Jake: Okay, this is bad.
Ziggy: I thought you wanted a Halloween scene.
Jake: So you've entirely reversed your position just to disagree with me?
Ziggy: Basically. I'm saying whatever pisses you off.

Jake looks in the room and sees nothing unusual... until the door slams shut behind him. Andy tries to pull it open on the other side. Eventually they realise they're pulling against each other, and the door opens. Of course, next time they look, the now-empty room is locked.

This puts something of a damper on proceedings, as Tim stalks out looking irritable and the rest of the rugby lads fall in, the various groups or girls and boys fragment and drift off... So our heroes go to see what Lawrence actually knows, as well as encouraging those remaining to depart.

Jake: Well, we could put an Aqua CD on.
Ziggy: Or Phil Collins.
Jake: That would sure make me run.
Emma: Yeah, but we don't want to make the ghost more angry.

Knocking on the door of the master bedroom, there is no answer. So they try the door, and Lawrence emerges holding his shirt closed. Behind him, Sophie pulls up the bed covers.

Lawrence: Don't you knock?
Ziggy: You didn't.
Lawrence: Fair point. What do you want?
Ziggy: Naomi just ran out screaming.
Lawrence: Well, obviously some people are more sensitive to the psychic aura of the house than others.
Jake: Riiight. Well, people are leaving anyway.
Lawrence: Damn.
Jake: No, that's good. In case there's actually something going on.
Lawrence: Something? Like what? Ghosts?
He smirks.
Jake: Like, er... somebody peed in the punch.
Ziggy: Like the rugby team.
Lawrence: Wouldn't put it past them. Blame the rugby team. Good. But, what, you want to evacuate?
Jake: Yes.
Emma: Say it's the ghosts.
Lawrence: Why?
Emma: They're leaving anyway, and this way it'll be memorable.

So Lawrence sighs and goes to button his shirt up. And, looking back, the group notice that all the empty rooms' doors are now shut and that the lights are dimming.

CUT!

[Craig Oxbrow]

So our heroes make sure they're the last out. By that point, the whole house is dark and all the doors except the exit are shut.

Ziggy: You think that's a sign?
Jake: I hadn't picked up on it.

And now they're all getting that feeling of being watched. Andy in particular grits his teeth as he glances around warily...

Andy: Well, we're in trouble if we want to get back in.
Ziggy: And we'd want to get back in why?
Andy: Well, we might. Maybe with a chainsaw?

Andy says that as they step out, and the door slams behind them.

Andy: Maybe we shouldn't mention that chainsaw bit.
Jake: It's that one step too far...

Andy: Well, we could knock and see if there's an answer.
Emma: And say what?
Jake: Trick or treat... Not what you want to ask a ghost.
Ziggy: Why not?
Emma: They tend to go for "trick".

Andy shoulder-barges the door, and yelps as it doesn't budge and his arm does.

Andy: just testing?

Obviously it's time to hit the books. With William and Milli having been off practising, Andy calls Escher. As it turns out, he's actually out on a Saturday night.

Andy: Hi, Mister Escher... We noticed some, uh, super things. We let a ghost lock us out...

And as he shuts his phone:

Andy: And how come you get to have a social life when every time we go to a club or a party a monster attacks us or something?

They ponder their options.

Jake: It's just not cricket, as you would say.
Ziggy: As who would say?
Jake: As you would say. If you're still doing that pretending to be English thing.
Ziggy: Ah. Er... Splendid...

Emma: Well, we're locked out and we hope we got everyone out... but if it wants one specific person... I wish I hadn't thought of that...

Making the rounds to ensure there's nobody banging on any of the windows, they pause at the backdoor and listen, and find that they can hear the darkness hissing...

Andy: Look in the keyhole. You know you want to...

CUT!

[Craig Oxbrow]

Emma decides to sneak off at this point, as Watchers are getting involved in an official capacity.

Emma: Call me if you need me, okay?

Milli is likewise indisposed but, sure enough, William is found in his room studying.

William: Yes, well, I wasn't invited to the scary party, was I?
Jake: Sure you were. You were just reading at the time. You nodded and went "uh-huh" and turned the page.
William: That means I'm not listening.
Ziggy: Well, uh, less sulking, more working.
William: I can sulk and work at the same time.
Jake: And you're damn fine at both.

And so William demonstrates his research-fu and his library access privileges.

It turns out that Morris Cranshaw actually died in 1955, of heart failure, in Bristol. But his young wife, Barbara, did indeed die in 1936, of "death by misadventure". Some kind of disagreement over the ownership of the house following the separation...

Ziggy: So we have a ghost who just doesn't let people into her house.
Jake: Well, we need to do something.
Ziggy: We do? We do. We watch. William, what do you think?
William: Well, I'd rather not have a haunted house with a ghost that can totally control it in town.

Ziggy: Is there a ritual we have to do? Like, dancing around? With sticks?
Jake: You're taking the Englishness thing too far if you start Morris dancing.
Andy: Well, what about an exorcism?
Jake: Where are we going to find a priest at half-eleven on Saturday night?
William: Midnight mass?
Ziggy: And won't we all die with exorcism?
Jake: That was just the movie.
Ziggy: Oh. Okay.
Jake: No, what we have to do is talk to her.

CUT!

[Craig Oxbrow]

So, obviously it might help if they had the keys. So they knock on Lawrence's door. No answer.

Ziggy: If you don't answer I'll start singing.
Jake: For God's sake answer!
Ziggy: How does Rule Britannia go?
Jake: I'm not telling you!
Ziggy: Fine. Always look on the bright side of life...

The door opens in a shot. Sophie, clad in a sheet and a scowl, looks around the door.

Sophie: YES?

Andy: (gulp)
Ziggy: Ah, we, ah...
Jake: That is...
Ziggy: We forgot something at the house. So could we get the key?

Lawrence is briefly visible, hiding his modesty with a pillow, as he quickly hands the keys over.

And so we return to the house. Midnight. Total silence and pitch darkness.

The key doesn't turn. So they knock. A low, dull knock echoes from within.

Ziggy: Do the talking thing.
Andy: I -
Ziggy: Not you.

Jake: Mrs. Cranshaw? We're here to help you.

And the door bangs open.

As Jake steps inside, the wave of darkness recedes like a time-lapse shot of low tide, until finally a column of darkness coalesces into the black shape of a woman standing on the cold spot, looking over the balcony.

CUT!

[Craig Oxbrow]

Jake: We know you died here.
A nod.
Jake: Were you murdered?
A shake of the head.
Jake: Oh. So why are you still here? Why can't you move on?
Barbara: this house is mine.
Jake: Right. Uh, so, do you just want to stay?
A shake of the head.
Jake: Well, what do you want? Revenge? Your husband's already dead.
Barbara: yes...
Jake: Did you...?
Barbara: no... but I would have liked to have seen it.
Jake: Well, what else?
Barbara: proof. this house is mine.
Jake: And then you can rest?
Barbara: I don't know, I've never been able to rest. but it might be something.
Jake: Okay. Proof. Like how?

The door to the study swings open and the lights come on.

Jake: Right...

And as he steps into the room, a drawer in the bureau flies open. Inside is a deed, dated June 1936, declaring the house belongs to Barbara Cranshaw (Mrs.).

As he steps back out, the landing is deserted. The door slams behind him as he leaves.

Closer perusal reveals the deed was signed by the firm of Pendleton and Associates. Pendleton...

Cut to Lawrence's door again.

A knock is greeted by the distinctive thud of a boot being thrown at the door.

Ziggy: God save our gracious Queen...
Lawrence: Piss off!

Lawrence appears at the door, holding up a pair of unbuttoned trousers.

Jake: We need you to get these deeds to your dad. There's been a mixup.
Lawrence: Good. Thank you. Bye.
Jake: It's important.
Lawrence: Right. Yes. Bye.
Ziggy: Do it as soon as possible, okay?
Lawrence: Yes. Bye.
Jake: Thanks.
Lawrence (slamming door): Bye.

And so out heroes withdraw. And as Jake gets into his digs... the lights don't work.

Jake: Aww noooo... what more can I do?

Mrs. Cranshaw's ghost sits on the edge of the post. A hint of a smile on her shadow-black features.

Barbara: I just thought you should know I'll be moving on now.

And the room fills with light, and Jake can just see Barbara clearly for a moment before she vanishes in a flash. He blinks, smiles weakly, slumps onto his bed and is soon in a deep, dreamless sleep.

Cut to the formerly haunted house, with the head of a large family taking down the "FOR SALE - SOLD" sign...

[Craig Oxbrow]

Next time on The Watch House:
Milli rolling to duck away from a clawed hand slashing over her head.
Escher loading a crossbow.
William filling a bag with holy water and garlic.
Emma hiding behind Jake as something looms out of the dark...
Andy narrowing his eyes and tensing up.
Ziggy grimacing...
Escher V/O: The next episode of The Watch House is Nocturne. Sunday at Six.

Actual Play bit

I was down three players this week. tpo William has withdrawn (leaving me with an NPC, since William is the norm for the setting from which the other PCs deviate) tpo Milli was away, and tpo Jack was struggling with a computer science problem. At the game table.

So this writeup is longer because I took more notes of the dialogue, because there was more dialogue, because there was less actual game. No Milli to chase after the vampire fleeing out of the shield, no William to bring his research materials to the haunted house...

We finished early, and this became the first episode centring on a specific character (Jake) by default as his player (hey Derek) had the scary vision and lead from the front from then on while Andy and Ziggy made snarky asides...

And how much XP do Qualities and Drawback removal cost? 1 for 1?

[SteveD]

I can't read all this right now, I'm paying for my net access. I'll try to read it tonight.

I'd say charge double, but one for one would work fine, too.

Drawbacks are pretty hard to remove, though. Forex, if you kill your adversary, you just get another one.

What's being changed?

Steve

[Craig Oxbrow]

Yeah, it's nine pages in Word here...

Jake's player noticed the psychic stuff in The Magic Box and decided he wanted Spirit Medium after the night he'd had, and to cut back on his smoking (and drop his Addiction by a point) in hopes of neatening himself up a bit.

[SteveD]

If it's retooling characters, it should be a free shift. I always allow my players some grace in this regard. EG John discovered after the pilot that he was a Clown. He asked if he could thus take Clown, I said yes.

But if it's getting over his nicotine addiction, you are completely within your rights to make him roleplay out every single agonising moment of the withdrawal from the world's most addictive narcotic.

That is to say, it's gotta be part of the plot.

Gaining psychic abilities should be likewise, and a one-for-one XP cost on top of that seems fine.

Steve

[colbabe]

Originally posted by SteveD
EG John discovered after the pilot that he was a Clown. He asked if he could thus take Clown, I said yes.

But if it's getting over his nicotine addiction, you are completely within your rights to make him roleplay out every single agonising moment of the withdrawal from the world's most addictive narcotic.

Not that John has one. I mean, really. Second-hand smoke from the pub is bad enough.

Craig, lovin' the stuff. Bring it on.

[SteveD]

Short and sweet. Simple concept, kept alive by excellence in dialogue throughout. I especially liked:

Ziggy: Basically. I'm saying whatever pisses you off.

How did you handle NPCs talking to each other? I can never do that. I just summarise instead.

Steve

[Craig Oxbrow]

I keep it to an absolute minimum. Emma made a few asides when other NPCs were talking, and avoided being in the same scene as NPCified William.

I had the Lawrence and Kelvin precredits bit worked out, and used the simple method of making Lawrence loud and well-spoken and Kelvin a lot more soft-spoken and reticent.

(About halfway through, I realised I was basing Lawrence's level on self-confidence on James Wallis.)

Likewise, there were all of five lines in the Naomi-Tim-Nicole scene.

And, of course, thanks. :D

[Joe Dizzy]

It was lots of fun, but then again I enjoy character interaction much more than solving any plot problems or beating up monsters.

Joe

[Craig Oxbrow]

Watch House 1.4: Nocturne

Previously on The Watch House:

Escher V/O: We are protected by a warding shield. Vampires and other "ungodly possessing demons" cannot enter within an area bounded by leylines marked by a series of standing stones...

We see a vampire slamming into the Shield, as if hitting a wall in mid-air, and staggering back.

Escher V/O: A Mr. Ziggy Roots. Sent to study with us after he witnessed too much at home...

We see Ziggy lying on grass at night, eyes wide in shock, looking up at something...

Escher V/O: Andrew Sampson...

We see Escher and Andy interrupted in the midst of a clearly tense discussion, falling silent.

Escher V/O: Keep an eye on him.

A shot of Andy tensing up, hands clenching and unclenching into fists, eyes narrowed.

Escher V/O: Jake here is apparently slightly precognitive and clairvoyant.

Jake wakes from a nightmare.

Escher V/O: He may prove useful.

Jake V/O: Emma's a wannabe witch.

Emma (Laura Fraser (http://www.miranda-richardson.com/laurafraser/lflaurfr34.jpg )) explaining: I'm not that powerful.

Emma lays a hand on the power thief and there's a blinding flash...

And finally a shot of a familiar middle-aged man meeting a vampire, showing no fear.

Middle-aged man: Proof enough that it works?

And a shot of the vampire holding up a small necklace containing a glowing gem and looking across at the library of King's College...

[Craig Oxbrow]

It's Sunday, November the First, the First Day of Winter, and Cambridge celebrates in traditional style. No, the drinking comes later. And the streaking too. And the idiots climbing the buildings. Instead, at ten King's begins the day's festivities with the ceremonial herding of the cattle.

Cattle?
Yes, cattle. The fields behind King's were given by the Crown to the college as pasture for no fewer than eight cows. Generally, these visiting cows only see the meadows during the holidays, in tourist season, but they sometimes visit for special occasions such as the first day of winter.

It being slightly crisp by Cambridge standards, Ziggy arrives with three layers on under his jacket, a hat, gloves and a scarf. No-one says anything.

He looks at the crowd on the stands, watching the time-honoured spectacle of all of eight cows being moved around a field.

Ziggy: You British are weird.

And the stipulation often leads to rustling by undergrads from other colleges, so the Queen has had to waive the reversion of the lands on several occasions. Andy finds the concept of rustling just for a prank especially puzzling.

Andy: Who'd steal a cow and not eat it?
Jake: Is there a lot of rustling where you come from?
Andy: Er... no.
Ziggy: I refer you to "you British are weird".
Jack: Well, what traditions do you have in Jamaica?
Ziggy: We sit on the beach and smoke, and watch bikini girls...
Jake: We British are weird...

And off our heroes meander to meet assorted individuals. Jake waves and heads over to see Emma.

Ziggy: Well, I could follow and cause trouble, but that wouldn't be very friendly.
Jake: No, it wouldn't.
Ziggy: So I won't.

And he follows anyway.

Today Emma has her hair tied back, sunglasses, and a vending cup of cola and straw, despite the supposedly inclement weather.

Jake: Aren't you cold?
Emma: Cold? This isn't cold.
Ziggy: Yes it is!
Emma: I'm Scottish. This is like September back home.
Now, see, if these were Highland cows they wouldn't have to go indoors in this weather. Also, cuter.
Ziggy: Cows? Cute?
Emma: Well, compared to these. They got the long shaggy hair and fringes and, uh...
Ziggy: Cows are cute?... You British are weird.

And they talk about cows and college and everything and nothing...

[Craig Oxbrow]

(Wow, this pre-credits is really long.)

And other people get up to other things too.
The last ice cream of the year - unless you buy some in town - sold next to the first roast chestnuts of the year - unless you had some already...

Ziggy tracks down Sophie (Jade Ball (http://www.livinginhope.com/stills/lih_cast_12.jpg)) among the stalls. Out of a general need to tempt fate? Who knows?

Ziggy: Y'know, the not just wearing a blanket look isn't that bad.

You can actually hear the look as he heads away... (See for yourself.)

Jake: You should maybe have gone with something about togas.
Ziggy: Y'know, maybe I'll go back in about five minutes with another line.
Emma: I'm sure she'll appreciate that.

The cows duly go back inside. There is applause, to Ziggy's further bafflement.

Ziggy: This is amazing. First they're in, then they're out, then they're in again! Now I understand why your country was the supreme power and the height of culture for centuries.
Jake: It's this or socialising with William in the library.

Andy, meanwhile, demonstrates his leet striking out with girls skill. We won't dwell, except to note his gloomy demeanour. In close-up.

We return to Jake, Emma, Ziggy and the passing Jack, as Em spots Rosalind Beckett (Rosamund Pike (www.tccandler.com/Rosamund_Pike_bw_HS.jpg)), daughter of the Earl of Hertfordshire and expected valedictorian of the College. If it had a "head girl" she'd be a shoe-in.

Emma: Don't look now, Rosalind's organising the winter Mingle and she probably didn't know you were a musician till Ginny and/or Nicole just reported it.
Jake: Winter Mingle?
Emma: End of term ball.
Ziggy: ... What's a term?
Jake: It's a kind of sea bird.
Ziggy: Right, I see...
Emma: Um...?
Ziggy: Really, I'm just giving you jumping-off points for jokes, you know?
Jake: We appreciate that.
Jack: You know how long it takes to come up with one-liners?
Ziggy: No, it takes long?
Jack: You've been working for half an hour on that one for Sophie.

Emma grins. And on the road across from the green, someone takes a photograph of her smiling.
And within an hour, a middle-aged man hands it, and a portfolio of other photographs, to a figure standing in the shadows of a windowless room. We see Jake next to Emma, Milli in profile at the Societies Fair, William loading a bag with books, Ziggy looking up at a sign pointing to the library, Andy nearly stepping out of shot, Escher walking to his car...

Middle-aged man: So, we will ensure that you can pass through the shield. And, in return...

A dark-nailed hand rifles through the selection of images, and pauses, tapping one with its index finger.

Scary voice: This one. We will do as you ask if you guarantee we can kill this one.
Middle-aged man: Well, there's no problem there. We have a deal. It's a pleasure doing business with you...

As all the players point at each other accusingly, roll credits!

[Craig Oxbrow]

Ziggy: That was almost a life-changing experience. Cows. Moving.
Jake: I'd think you'd have had more life than that.
Ziggy: I said almost...

And so there are silly but traditional activities from here to the pub. And in the pub too. Pennies are dropped into pints, rubber ducks are set free on the river, Jesus College has a display of near-nudity unbecoming its dignity, the ten-foot pillars lifting Sir Christopher Wren's library at Trinity off the ground is the site of an overly complex game of Tig... There is much, much to do and see.

Jake, meanwhile, ponders the practicalities of musicianship as Rosalind looms ever closer.

Jake: She didn't know I play? I should fire my publicist.
Emma: You have a publicist?
Jake: Well, no. I do it myself.
Emma: Ahh...

Rosalind: "Jake", right? I believe the air quotes are important?
Jake: Not really, no. Jake is fine.
Ziggy: We mostly call him "dude".
Rosalind: I see. Well, anyway. I understand that you have a band?
Jake: Not in so many words, at the moment. It's in a state of flux.
Rosalind: I see. I was just wondering if you might be able to fill a slot at the Mingle, so might you be able to, ah, de-flux by then?
Jake: Six weeks? Probably.
Rosalind: Oh, excellent. I look forward to seeing you then. And if you need rehearsal space I'd like to hear it, of course.

Jake: Guess I better find a band then...

Andy and Ziggy happen to meet William. Andy suggests the library, as it may be slightly warmer in there. Ziggy concurs. William mentions that he's currently researching one of the Trinity collections, and they head that way... only to find half of the freshers playing tig. William looks suspiciously at Andy.

William: Was that all planned or was it just luck?
Andy: It was just luck.
Ziggy: You should never say anything you've done was just luck. It was all planned.
Andy: It was all planned.
Ziggy: And if something's bad luck, it must be a conspiracy.

Ziggy wanders off to harass Jake and Emma some more, and finds them watching a flotilla of rubber ducks float down the river Cam.

Ziggy: Is there more "you British are weird"? I seem not to think rubber ducks are funny.
Jake: It's one of the basic forms of comedy. Juxtaposition of elements, things being out of context. And you're not drunk enough.
Ziggy: I'm just wondering who is releasing them, and for what purpose? I mean, what if there's some darker motive? Someone takes the rubber duck thing too far... maybe invests them with life?
Emma: Um...
Ziggy: Imagine an evil spirit in the form of a rubber duck. Now, see, that'd be funny.
Jake: I'm scared.
Emma: Let's get away from the river. And Ziggy.

Andy, following, decides to play saviour of ducks, and possibly also confirm a lack of evil spirits therein.

Andy: There's tig, and people are naked, and I'm sure this must all be significant in some way.
Emma: I think the cold's getting to him.

It being the last punt of the year, it's his only chance to commandeer a vessel and rescue the innocent bits of plastic. Sadly, the last punt of the year is also the first punt of his life and, as it turns out, it really is harder than it looks. He swims to shore, rubber ducks in hand. Nobody offers applause, let alone a towel. One of the girls rolls her eyes at his shiver-inducing antics. He can't win. Bedraggled and lovelorn, he suggests a nice, healing trip to the pub.

CUT!

[Craig Oxbrow]

Ziggy: Want a drink?
Jake: Yeah.
Ziggy: Bar's over there. Could you get me one too?
Emma: Good one. You've been using the time well. Honing.
Ziggy: Yeah, only took me five minutes!

Despite this cruel attack, Ziggy does at least help Jake carry the round.

Ziggy: So, you and Emma. Interesting.
Jake: What do you mean?
Ziggy: What do you think I mean?
Jake: She's a nice girl.
Ziggy: Yes, and...?
Jake: Yes.
Ziggy: You disappoint me.

Ziggy: Y'know I don't actually know that much about you.
Jake: Well, y'know, I'm studying music...
Ziggy: I'm just trying to make dumb jokes, and you block me with your serious answers.
Jake: What, you wanted this big talk about me and Emma.
Ziggy: Here you are trying to be 'meaningful' and make a 'connection'... Just go play naked tig.

Ziggy: At some point I'm gonna kick all yo' asses. Pick a number.
Andy: Seven.

Andy fights the jukebox, and eventually succeeds in persuading it to play some Bowie.

With Jake and Ziggy at loggerheads, Zig turns to Andy.

Ziggy: So, since he's not willing to tell me about his past, what about you? Tell me about his past.

Not actually knowing anything about Jake, Andy proceeds to talk about himself.

Andy: We have a mansion in Yorkshire.
Ziggy: A mansion?
Andy: It's a very small mansion. Really. You can call a small house in the country a mansion.
Emma: If you have land as well...
Andy: Er, what about you? All I really know about Jamaica is that you have an Olympic bobsleigh team.
Ziggy (deadpan): Why yes, Jamaica is exactly like you see in Cool Runnings.
Jake: I imagine you didn't try it. I'd hate to see how you deal with snow. I mean, you can't handle the weather like this.
Ziggy: In the pub? I can handle it.

Ziggy: So, why math?
Andy: I thought it'd be fun. My parents want me to lead the exciting life of an accountant in dad's firm.
Emma: So you're rebelling? You're going to be the wild man of maths?
Ziggy: Have some really radical statistical analysis named after you?

Meanwhile, a pair of hands emerge over the lip of the Clare College chapel roof, and a body hauls itself up. The head, silhouetted by the moon, turns to look from side to side, and then the climber carries on, and turns to shout behind him...
"C'mon, you wankers!" Behind him, two more undergraduates struggle up onto the roof.
"Why are we doing this again?"
"Because it's winter, and it'll be too dangerous to do it soon!"
"As opposed to just dangerous enough?"

Regardless, they run on, whooping, towards the chapel spire... until the first stops short.
"Oh, God..." he murmurs, and slumps backwards on the sloped roof as his legs give way, clambering up... and away from the body lying face down in the dip of the roof.

As our heroes head over to the Basement for The First Gig Of Winter, they hear sirens, go over, and see the fire service retrieving the body.

Her injuries suggest she was thrown up there. Two storeys. After she died of severe neck trauma. Puncture marks in the neck.

CUT!

[Craig Oxbrow]

Emma: I'd kind of like to go home now.
Jake: I'll walk you.

The group split up, with Andy and Ziggy heading for King's school of history in hopes of finding William and Escher.

Jack, who also saw the girl being brought down, goes off to prod people about this, and notices Andy and Ziggy being followed. He goes over to warn them... And since they've been rumbled, the following guys reveal themselves to be vampires and charge.

And meanwhile, Jake and Emma spot they're being followed and start running too.

Jake: Have you got any spells that could help?
Emma: Just a book caster, and I don't have my book in my bag...
Jake: Well, I've got a pencil...
Emma: See anywhere we can run to?

Ziggy: Over there!

In one of those clever tension-increasing jump cuts, we move back to the other chase, as Ziggy points to the Trinity College chapel and he, Andy and Jack rush in.

Andy: They can't come in here, right?
Ziggy: Actually, no, they can.
Andy: Buh?
Ziggy: But they don't like to.
Andy: Buh?!
Ziggy: And there are crosses, and maybe holy water.

As Andy ponders how reassuring that isn't, Ziggy makes a call.

Ziggy: Mr. Escher? We need your help. Really. Now.
Escher: What is it?
Ziggy: We're trapped in the Trinity chapel by two vampires who are inside the safe area, that safe one we were told was safe, and they've probably killed somebody already and they're right outside.
Escher: ... We're on our way.

Escher puts his phone down, goes to the weapons locker, pulls out a crossbow and loads it. He nods to William, who starts to load a sports bag with supplies...

Noticing that they haven't been attacked as they rifle the pews for Bibles with crosses on the front and Jack scoops some holy water into the communion cup, Andy and Ziggy look back to the threshold. The vampires stand there, snarling but not entering.

Andy: They're not coming in. That's goo...

And then a pair of blazing white eyes open, seven feet up, in the darkened doorway as their owner, something huge and dark, steps over the threshold.

Andy: ...d.

CUT!

[Craig Oxbrow]

Jake and Emma wheeze as they round a corner, their pursuers still gaining. As it happens, they're just along from the Trinity chapel too. Of course, they stop in mid-sprint as they spot the vampires lurking in the doorway... and the huge dark shape blocking it as it stalks in.

Ziggy, Andy, and Jack get a better view than they'd like of the seven-and-a-half-foot thing with slick purplish-black skin, glowing eyes, and jagged fangs and claws as it stomps towards them.

Jack: That'd be... a really... g-good... wingman...

Ziggy: Is... there... another exit?
Andy: How about we look?

Jack hits the demon with the communion cup full of holy water, then runs past screaming as it snarls at him while the water steams...

Ziggy: Oh good, you just made it angrier and bailed. Thanks, rugby guy...

Outside, Jake and Emma realise that they're about to be caught, and they can get a great view of the vampires guarding the chapel door... as they're illuminated by the headlights of an E-Type Jaguar swerving across the pavement and slamming into them!

Escher steps out of the driver's seat, readying a crossbow and making Watchers in general look that much cooler. William drags the bag of supplies out of the back seat, somewhat lessening the effect.

Inside, Jack runs for the side door and gets batted aside by a swipe of a massive clawed hand, slamming face-first into the wall and sliding down, unconscious. Andy hides behind the altar as Ziggy prepares for a last stand armed with an iron candelabrum...

Escher reloads and throws the crossbow to Jake, who catches it and fires. He misses the charging vampire's heart - as it grabs the other one to use its arm as a shield - but at least he slows it down and looks real manly doing it. Of course, he only had the one bolt, so they retreat as Escher and William advance.

Ziggy manages to prop the demon up and keep it just beyond arm's length... but the candle stand starts to buckle under its weight...

Andy curls up into a ball, sweating and shivering...

Escher, William, Jake and Emma falling back into the church full of monster, as Emma flings a bottle of holy water at one of the advancing vampires while William struggles to load a crossbow, about to be overwhelmed...

Ziggy is pinned as the demon swipes at the stand, trying to knock it aside.

Ziggy: I didn't know she was your daughter!
(DP time, oh yeah.)

Emma screams, and Andy's eyes are suddenly lit from within by an angry golden glow...

And then there's a monstrous howl as a different kind of seven-foot monster rises from behind the altar, Andy's body warping and growing as he charges, tearing out of his clothes.

To reveal... this (http://www.geocities.com/buffynightwatch/demon3.gif)!

CUT!

[Craig Oxbrow]

Vampire: What the FYAAARRR...

- as it's fatally distracted for a quick staking.

Andy charges, slamming the demon sideways away from Ziggy, gets clawed, claws back, and slams it into the pews, knocking three rows over, not all ten...

Jake: What is that thing?
Escher: I would have to get a clearer view of its eyes, but I'd say it's a Katokka Demon.
William: And the other thing?
Emma: You mean Andy?
William: I know what I mean.

Ziggy gets clear.

Ziggy: This is the part where we evacuate Tokyo!

The Katokka slashes the Andy-Thing across the chest twice as he grabs it and shoves it towards the font, charging after to slam its head into the water. It shrieks as the water scalds it, flails wildly and knocks him away, then lurches over and raises a claw for another strike...

William: Why aren't we shooting it?
Escher: You might hit Andrew.
William: And...?

Growling between laboured breaths, eyes narrowed by anger as well as pain, the Andy-Thing waits... and then strikes, tearing out the Katokka's throat with a savage bite.

The Katokka shatters, and the pieces of it flap like black leaves and dissolve as they hit the floor. Then Andy reverts to human form with a succession of shudders and spasms... and drops to the floor unconscious and bleeding.

He is duly helped, Ziggy giving him his jacket and Escher bringing out a blanket as Jake and Emma retrieve the semiconscious Jack, and everyone withdraws.

Ziggy, now out of danger, decides it's a good time to go into shock. Emma shivers and keeps Jake between her and the sleeping Andy. William glares straight ahead throughout the retreat.

Jake: So he's a... what?
Escher: A Manticore.
Jake: I thought those were just a Greek myth.
Escher: Unfortunately not.

William, riding shotgun, turns and glares at the invigilator, speaking in a low voice...

William: When were you going to tell us about this?

Escher glances at him, and drives on in silence.

And a little later, the middle-aged man sits behind a cherry wooden desk in a well-appointed office lined with books, looking through the file of photographs as there's a knock at the door.

Jenkins: Mr. Taylor?
Taylor: Come in, Jenkins. I take it you have news?
Jenkins: The secondary objective has failed with eighty percent casualties.
Taylor: Oh well, what about the primary?
Jenkins: No word as yet, but that's their group leader... One more thing, sir. We've established that Andrew Sampson definitely has inherited the Chetwynd-Talbot traits from his mother.
Taylor: Interesting... And that wasn't even the one they wanted.

He studies one of the photos for a moment, smirks, and then closes the file...

End Credits. Special thanks to RPGnet Tangency for research on some of Cambridge's freakier traditions. Grr! Arg!

[Craig Oxbrow]

Next time on The Watch House:
A coach drawn by four black horses emerging from the mist.
The Watch seated around a table, arguing. William points accusingly at Escher.
William: You should have bloody well told us!
A group of figures emerging from one of a caravan of four black coaches.
Andy sitting by himself, looking up at someone.
Andy: They hate me now, don't they?
The occupant of the head coach steps out, looks up at the lights of foggy Cambridge, and smiles as he places an undertaker's top hat on his head.
"This will do nicely," he says...
Escher V/O: The next episode of The Watch House is Wicked. Sunday at Six.

--

Actual Play bit:

I like the fact that, if split up, White Hats know to run away.

I don't like the fact that, if I'm down one player, my game is about half an hour shorter. :(

The shocking revelations would have been a tad more shocking if everyone at the table didn't know OOC...

[Joe Dizzy]

Originally posted by Craig Oxbrow
Ziggy: Really, I'm just giving you jumping-off points for jokes, you know?

That bit was actually supposed to be OOC. What with the guy who plays "Andy" complaining about his allegedly lacking ability to come up with witty one-liners, I thought I might try to give him something to work with.

(And failing almost as gloriously as with my own attempts at creating "teh funnay".)

The shocking revelations would have been a tad more shocking if everyone at the table didn't know OOC...

Or if a certain player wouldn't constantly comment on everybody else's "secrets" and compare stats and life points with other players.

Joe

[colbabe]

Hooray! Andy is one of the family!

[Craig Oxbrow]

Originally posted by Joe Dizzy
That bit was actually supposed to be OOC. What with the guy who plays "Andy" complaining about his allegedly lacking ability to come up with witty one-liners, I thought I might try to give him something to work with.

(And failing almost as gloriously as with my own attempts at creating "teh funnay".)
I figured... But it was funny in and of itself. There's probably a few more like that throughout.

[Craig Oxbrow]

Originally posted by colbabe
Hooray! Andy is one of the family!
Shouldn't that be "Bummer! Andy's cursed too!" there? :D

[colbabe]

Nah. John hasn't had much contact with the family since Christmas, just Eddie and his father. A little familial loneliness has set in.

[Burgonet]

Originally posted by colbabe
Nah. John hasn't had much contact with the family since Christmas, just Eddie and his father. A little familial loneliness has set in.

Fine. I'll just go the club. Again. By MYSELF!

Hmmphh!

:)

*dancing the Night Watch away Eddie*

[Burgonet]

Originally posted by Joe Dizzy

Or if a certain player wouldn't constantly comment on everybody else's "secrets" and compare stats and life points with other players.

Joe

Bad Player! The soap of secrets is only fun if the players remember that they themselves are also audience.

This is an important rule of playing Buffy, in my humility-is-for-other-people's experience.

I teed up some things with Colin for The Night Watch but would try to keep the actual specifics of the secret/revelation exactly that. It's more fun that way.

:)

[morgue]

Originally posted by Joe Dizzy
That bit was actually supposed to be OOC...

That was one of the best lines in the thing!

Ziggy is teh coolest.

I'm having trouble keeping track of who is a PC and who is an NPC in a given session, and I find it important to understand what's happening... Craig, for future write-ups, do you want to kick off by saying who's playing that day?

Loving reading this game.

~`morgue

[Craig Oxbrow]

This week:

Andy (Jamie, present)
Ziggy (Joe, present)
Jake (Derek, present)
Jack (Chris, present)

Milli (Cat, absent :( )
William (full-time NPC now, now a teaching assistant and liable to graduate and be written out at the end of the first season)

Thanks.

[dunlaing]

Maybe William can be the Doyle of your series? Or the Jesse, if you want to be old school?

[Craig Oxbrow]

Having him leave is less permanent (and mean) than having him die.

And this is the thread my players read. Shhh! :D

(Not that it hadn't occurred to them - William was high on their list of likely assassination targets. Poor old William.)

And that said, he isn't entirely safe... he may be hospitalised by a cloud of sentient gas in an elaborate homage to Scary Go Round (http://www.scarygoround.com/?date=20020604)...

[Craig Oxbrow]

Watch House 1.5: Wicked

Escher, the Watchers in training, Jake, Emma and Jack seated around the reading table in Escher's office, arguing. Andy and Jack are still bashed up, now bandaged. William points accusingly at Escher.

William: You should have bloody well told us!
Escher: I know the dangers of his condition well enough, and that was all that was required!
William: He isn't human!
Escher: On the contrary, the Manticore is quite human when not affected by the change. Which, in this case, he can control.
William: Can he? And we should believe you?
Escher: And what would you have had me do? Inform you that this ally is not to be trusted? Or simply remain silent on this, as you did with me regarding Miss Radcliffe here? Hm? I told you to watch him. Watch him you did. And now you know why.
William: What other secrets are you keeping?
Escher: The secrets I keep are for the good of the society as a whole. When you are in my place, you will understand that. I, in turn, understand your frustration. But in this world, secrets must be guarded...

Milli knocks on the door, carrying her bags from her weekend away.

Milli: Did you miss... me... what happened?
Escher: We had another breach in the shield.
Milli: What happened?
Escher: Several vampires circumvented the warding.
Milli: How? Isn't it supposed to keep supernatural creatures out?
Ziggy: Allegedly.
Emma: And Andy's a monster.
Milli: What?
Andy: Look, I'm not a monster...
Jake: Not all the time...
Milli: I was only gone two days...
Escher: Quite. One wonders what is coming next...

Meanwhile... a coach drawn by four black horses emerges from the mist. The grinding of wheels suggests more following it, and sure enough, three more pull up, forming a ragged circle, on the grass of a large field. On the side, we can make out a gaudy sign on the otherwise dark carriages. "Doctor Blake's Grand Carnivale of Wonders and Delights". Figures emerge from the coaches, swathed in dark coats, hats, gloves and mufflers. Only one stands out, the occupant of the first carriage. A tall, whip-thin man wearing a long back coat over a matching three-piece suit. He smiles slyly as he places an undertaker's top hat on his head, opens a pocket watch and then snaps it shut and looks up.
And all around him, the carnival is already in place.

Doctor Blake: Yes. This will do nicely.

CREDITS!

[Craig Oxbrow]

Theme: Ash, Evil Eye

The full moon over Cambridge, behind the tower of King's College Chapel (http://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/chapel/gallery/).

The Watch House

Mekhi Phifer (http://www.imdb.com/gallery/ss/0298203/Ss/0298203/K3582-26.jpg?path=pgallery&path_key=Phifer,%20Mekhi) as Ziggy Roots - looking around warily, wielding an unwieldy candleholder, flailing with a burning torch.

Sophia Myles (http://media.movieweb.com/gallery/633/uw_20.jpg) as Milli Blackhurst - fighting with a sword, throwing a stake, looking intense.

Mark Hamilton (http://www.amh-ash.freeserve.co.uk/pictures/markwave.jpg) as William Grove, seen slamming a book, looking forlorn, wielding a stake warily.

A vampire smacking into the Shield and being hit by a crossbow as he staggers back.

James McAvoy (http://www.jamesmcavoy.com/albums/album02/nd_3.sized.jpg) as "Jake" - elbowing a vampire in the face, clutching his head as a vision hits him, playing his guitar, standing with his shirt off for no good reason.

Hans Matheson (http://uhms.thathughsongirl.com/CIHeadshot.jpg) as Andy Sampson - looking confused, looking angry (http://uhms.thathughsongirl.com/ArtZhivago.jpg), looking glowy-eyed...

A half-glimpsed image of Andy's Manticore form, rearing up and howling at the moon.

Orlando Wells (http://www.tvtome.com/images/people/84/7/17-4500.jpg) as Jack Stevenson - shoulder-barging a door, giving Milli a boost, crashing into someone else and falling over

Laura Fraser (http://www.miranda-richardson.com/laurafraser/lflaurfr34.jpg ) as Emma Radcliffe - blasting the power thief, flicking desperately through a book, dancing, smirking.

Alfred Molina (http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hc&id=1800018903&cf=pg&photoid=470531&intl=us) as Michael Escher - looking around warily, taking off his glasses, loading a crossbow.

Vampires, demons, gravestones, skulls, sinister rituals, strange flashes of intense light, bodies being flung through the air, weird flappy dark things we haven't actually seen yet, the full moon again, and the show logo and the Watch loading up and striding purposely in slow-motion towards the camera...

Created by Oxbrow, Dizzy, Tobin, Windmill, Robertson, Prentice, Neil and Darlington

[Craig Oxbrow]

And we return to the Watch glowering at each other.

Milli: So...
Escher: So, a group of vampires entered the protected area, apparently targeting us.
Jake: They killed at least one person to feed.
Ziggy: Oh, yeah.
Emma: I think that's important.
Ziggy: Oh yes, important.

Milli looks askance at Jack.

Milli: Why is he here?
Emma: He got knocked out, we felt bad. I think.
Jack: I helped! At least I did something.
Ziggy: Yeah, made the demon mad and got unconscious.
Milli: There was a demon?
Escher: A Katokka. A physically manifested demon, a basic strongarm.
Andy: Which tried to kill Ziggy.
Ziggy: Just because I was in front of you.
Emma: And Andy killed by turning into a monster.
Andy: Look, will you...
Milli: I'm feeling a lot of aggression here.

More tense silence is finally broken by strategy talk.

Jake: We need to make sure there aren't any more in town.
Emma: *gulp*
Jake: So we step up patrols, look for places vampires hide.
Ziggy: We certainly need some strategy to make sure we don't get killed randomly.
Emma: So we only get killed specifically.

Jake: How about we all take turns as bait?
Ziggy: There's that word again.
Milli: Sure, um, where do we go wandering?
Ziggy: Stay in the shield, make sure it's clear.
Jake: that would make sense.
Ziggy: Right, let's not do that then.

Andy: It looks like they were after me or Ziggy
Jake: But two of them followed us.

He indicates himself and Emma, Milli arches an eyebrow.

Jake: I was walking her home after we saw the body.
Jack: Because she's no good in a fight at all.
Emma: Huh?
Jack: Anybody who can turn someone into a vegetable by patting him on the back... well, it'd be useful in the starting line.
Emma: I didn't do that to him, he did that to himself by misusing magic. I just reversed his spells, I didn't know about the feedback...

Milli: I think we're missing the main issue here... You were walking her home?
Jake: Uh, yeah, I...
Emma: Or that Andy's a monster! That's a big issue!
Andy: Let's not dwell...
Jake: That's hard to avoid.

Another uncomfortable pause.

Jake: I mean, it was pretty hairy.
Andy: Oh, good grief.
Ziggy: That was actually painful.
Jake: Um, yeah. Sorry.

Ziggy: Right, well, everybody should hit the books. So that's William and Milli.
Jack: And if there's a party we can all go to and be targets.
Jake: I don't think it's a good idea to run out there and shout "Hi, kill me!" until we know what's going on. We got lucky this time. Andy was a bit of a surprise to them...
Emma: Not just them.

Escher: So, yes, we need more information.
Milli: William, you're the expert, can you find something?
William, after long minutes of silent brooding: Oh, sure.
Milli: I can't believe that worked... Anyway, what do we know about this, er, Kalabala Demon?
Escher: You really have neglected your reading, haven't you?

Ziggy looks up from a book.

Ziggy: Hey, I just found that the two longest-serving porters in the college were both called Bob.
Jake: Oh, that's very helpful.
Ziggy: At least I'm looking. Belittle the man with ambitions...

CUT!

[Craig Oxbrow]

It carries on in this vein for over two weeks.

Ziggy: I spend all my days locked up in my room holding a cross and watching soaps. And I'm stating to like them.

Escher takes a few notes about Emma, gives her a form to fill in, and shrugs.

Emma: Somehow, I expected a lot worse.
Escher: Well, you do have to sign it in triplicate.

William uses research as an excuse to avoid Andy.

Andy: they hate me now, don't they?
Escher: Not all of them. But, I suppose, we have both lost their trust.

Jake drags Emma along when going out to see Andy, somewhat reluctantly. Milli comes along somewhat less reluctantly.

Milli: So, what do you eat?
Andy: Er, when?
Milli: Well, do you eat animals?
Andy: I'm not a vegetarian if that's what you mean. We eat, er, whatever.
Emma: That isn't exactly reassuring.

Pretty much the only thing the group does together at this point is patrol. This, rather pointedly, turns up nothing.

Ziggy: Usually there's something unusual. Nothing unusual? That's unusual.

Ziggy: We could try and check pubs and clubs.
Milli: So, your plan is to go to the pub every night.
Ziggy: It's dark and dingy, and people are out to meet people, and their inhibitions are lowered...
Jack: Even you could score.
Ziggy: I score more than your team does.
Jake: So what we should do is act like students.
Milli: Think you can manage that?
Jake: It's a stretch, alright, but I'll do what I can.

Milli: If we go clubbing most nights, that's going to cost a bit.

Andy points at Jack.

Andy: He can pay.
Jack: Er, why should I?
Andy: Saving your life and all.
Jake: Dragging your sorry ass out of danger.
Ziggy: After you made the demon mad.
Jack: I was helping...

The group discuss the practicalities of this plan.

Milli: How do we separate him from his cash... oh yeah. A fool and his money are soon parted.
(Drama Point and saucer of milk for Milli.)

Jack reads up on Slayers.

Jack: Uh... so, Milli isn't a Slayer then?
Milli: Uh, no.
Escher: Although she has trained alongside potential Slayers.
Emma: You have?
Escher: You didn't think she picked up all those combat skills in the circus, did you?

And meanwhile, flyers for Doctor Blake's Grand Carnivale of Wonders and Delights have begun to appear in the city, handed out by short men in heavy winter coats, hats, gloves and mufflers... with none of their bodies visible between their clothes except their shining eyes...

Jack: So, there's only one Slayer at a time? That isn't very fair. We could do with one. Can we make more?
Escher: One dies, another is called.
Jack: So, could we flatline her? And then revive her? Then we'd have two. Y'know, stop her heart...
Escher: And see how much she appreciates that.
Ziggy: No, no, it's valid... Jack, you go to California and ask the Slayer if you can try that...

Jake: Is it time to patrol yet? I really want to hit something.

That said, our heroes rise and head out, pausing to pick up the Cambridge Evening News...

"SECOND CHILD MISSING"

CUT!

[Craig Oxbrow]

Peter Lawson, 9, failed to return home from Cub Scouts last night, less than 24 hours after Dora Brant, a single mother, reported her daughter Rachel, 6, missing after going to play in the garden.

Milli: That's a bit... coincidental.
Jack: I think that's more of a police thing, surely.
Escher: Ah yes, protecting the world, not our job at all...

John Lawson works as a schoolteacher in the suburbs (outside the shield) and Mrs. Brant lives in the suburbs and works as a bedder (a housekeeper) at Girton College.

Once all of this has been gleaned, Escher makes a few calls, confirming that Mrs. Brant is at work. Although the rest of the staff are trying to make sure she takes it easy, she wants to keep busy.

Jake, meanwhile, keeps looking through the paper.

Jake: The lonely hearts, that's how they advertise.
Milli: How do you know?
Emma; Yeah, how do you know?
Jake: Uh, well, just a guess really.

The group discuss the possibilities of talking to Mrs. Brant. Ziggy looks at Milli.

Milli: Why do I have to be the one to talk to people?
Jack: Would you rather Ziggy did it?

William bravely volunteers, Jake and Emma going as backup... which is handy, as William utterly dries up.

Jake: We were sorry to hear.
Mrs. Brant: That's very kind of you.
Jake: I'm sure there are plenty of leads.
Mrs. Brant: So they tell me. But the first thing they checked didn't pan out at all. Didn't think it would though. She was excited about the circus coming to town but she wouldn't run away...

As they discuss their lack of knowledge of a circus coming to town on the way back, a flyer drifts on the wind and stops at their feet. Sure enough...

DOCTOR BLAKE'S GRAND CARNIVALE OF WONDERS AND DELIGHTS!
ACROBATS!
ANIMALS!
MAGIC!
MYSTERY!
DELIGHTS FOR YOUNG AND OLD!

And as he picks it up, Jake sees a flash of something dark scuttling across a ceiling and snarling at him...

CUT!

[Craig Oxbrow]

The news is duly shared.

Emma: This is a bit of a stretch, isn't it? A carnival?
Jake: I got a jolt from the flyer.
Andy: And, a circus? Hello? Clowns! Do you know how scary they are?

Milli, pondering the familiarity of the name, makes a call to the director of the circus school she attended in her year out.

Director: Ah yes. The name comes up every now and then, vanishes for years at a time. You know how civilians talk about circus people? That's how circus people talk about them...

Andy: You worked in a circus?... You weren't a clown, were you?
Milli: Acrobat. Why?
Andy: Er, nothing.
Emma: You're in no position to be scared of people's secrets.

Ziggy: Well, it's outside the shield. So, maybe... machineguns?
Jack: This is Britain, we can't carry machineguns here.
Ziggy: Let me explain to you the concept of 'irony'.

And so our heroes proceed to Doctor Blake's Grand Carnivale of Wonders and Delights. Emma decides not to come along.

Emma: Much as I'd like to come to a circus that might be full of monsters...

It's already overcast, and a little misty, as the Watch reach the Carnivale. The barker cackles as he waves them in.

Jake: Well, that was a nice laugh.
Milli: He wasn't laughing, he was cackling. That means he has an evil plan.
Ziggy: No, a real evil laugh is more like... bwahahahahahaaa!
Jack: Eep.

Ziggy: Hey, food! And... some kind of pink stuff that looks like packing foam.
Jake: That's candy floss.
Ziggy: Is it any good?
Jake: You don't need to sleep nights, do you?

Jake: So, we have acrobats and animals, magic and mystery...
Jack: Well, we have an acrobat and an animal.
Andy: Look, will you...
Jack: I'm just saying if we take this guy down, we could keep his stuff and start our own show. And Emma can do magic...
Jake: The kind of magic you find in a circus is, like, rabbits outta hats and stuff.
Jack: What kind of witch can't pull a rabbit out of a hat?
Jake: The real kind?

Jack: Should we split up?
Milli: Oh yes, let's do.
Ziggy: Yeah, you go that way, we'll go this way.

And yet, they split up anyway, to look around the creepy carnivale...

CUT!

[Craig Oxbrow]

The coconut shy would appear to be rigged, as is the way of such things.

Ziggy: Oh, bloody hell... Hey, I said bloody hell! I'm almost British!

Most of the group head for the Ghost Train, as one does in such situations. But Ziggy goes for...

Ziggy: The hall of mirrors. Anyone wanna come along and look at me from lots of angles?
Jake: Not high on my list.

Heading in by himself, he soon gets rather lost... and sees a fleeting glimpse of a dark figure in the mirror behind him... or one of them...

Meanwhile, the rest of the group are unimpressed by the ghost train's dusty skeletons and headless mannequins... until halfway around William recognises one figure, distinctly out of place. A gleaming greenish-black carapace, face full of mandibles, and six giant spidery legs ending in hooks.

William: That's a... Goliul Demon.
Milli: A real one?
Jake: I hope not.

The gang pile out of their car... noticing that the two hooded figures in the car in front have now vanished... as William checks his mobile phone reception inside the ride by calling in the expert.

William: Hello, Mr. Escher? What can you tell me about Goliul Demons?
Escher: What? Where are you?
William: We're in the ghost train.

Ziggy turns a corner, catches sight of the exit... and slams into a clear panel in between. Over his curses, he just makes out a snorting sound from somewhere inside the maze...

The group examine the model Goliul, determining that it is just a model rather than a stuffed or, indeed, live one... but clearly the work of someone who's seen the real thing.

Escher: The Gol