DROP

So we played DROP as a kind of warm-up game the other night. I think it took us an hour max.

"DROP is a high-level story-telling, roleplaying game of survival horror that plays in about 2 hours. While you will control your character's individual actions, DROP plays more like a group of writers weaving a movie plot around a table.

This is a game about building a story, one that will go very badly, all in a couple of hours. It's Fiasco crossed with...a heavy dose of Alien.

In DROP, the players are all crewmembers on a starship that arrives at a planet in trouble, and must drop to the surface, explore some large structure, then run like hell. The rules provide a simple framework for defining the characters and coming up with challenges for them to face."

I probably should have read these Session Logs before playing the game, but it was fun all the same:

http://brentnewhall.com/games/doku.php?id=games:drop

DROP

SESSION LOG

The Preparation: Crew

1. Tycho.  Navigator and experienced veteran, but oddly afraid of the dark.

2. Tynd.  Brave xeno-biologist, beautiful to behold, but extremely clumsy.

3. Liam.  Self-confident engineer who thinks he can fix anything but is mad at the world.

4. Mia.  Happy-go-lucky Imperial assassin but also a skilled geologist.

Risk Factor: Our destination, the planet Crucis Q-8. The planet has a breathable atmosphere but is subject to destructive acid rain storms.

The Arrival: Here We Go

1. Tycho arms himself from the ship’s locker but forgets to check the oxygen valve on his environmental suit.

2. Tynd picks up sampling gear but forgets to bring his morphine.

3. Liam equips his ablative armor like the professional he is.

4. Mia always has her knives and fixes her hair before a drop, but her hair product is highly flammable when combined with acid rain.

The drop will be accomplished using personal flight suits in order to arrive on planet quickly. Ship will descend slowly through the atmosphere on auto-pilot, arriving in time for crew departure.

Risk Factors: Environmental hazards and the presence of other humans—our enemies, the Carcossans.

The Drop: SNAFU

1. Tycho lands perfectly and rolls up with his sidearm drawn, like the professional he is.

2. Tynd lands face-first in a mushroom, breaking his fall but damaging the fungus and sending spores into the air!

3. Liam lands in a large, soft mud pit but still manages to break his arm!

4. Mia lands with knives in hand but accidentally slices into her environmental suit!

Risk Factors: Intelligent, indigenous enemies and continuing environmental hazards.

Exploration: What’s In Here

1. Tycho will explore the well-lit Central Archives.

2. Tynd will explore the Chapel of Mushroom Worship but when she sits down on a stone bench to contemplate the grandeur, realizes it’s not a chair at all—but a sacrificial altar…

3. Liam begins examining the glyphs that cover the walls.

4. Mia encounters a tribe of Mushroom Worshipers in the temple annex and slaughters them all but is pierced by a poison dart through the hole in her suit.

Risk Factors: Who will cause problems for the crew during their escape? The Carcossans!

ESCAPE:

1. Tycho runs very fast and shoots at pursuing Carcossans!

2. Tynd jumps up and flees very gracefully!

3. Liam realizes the glyphs point to dripping blood on the altar and discovers that a secret door will open once blood covers the plate. He cuts his own hand to produce blood but in his anger he cuts off his entire hand!

4. Mia is already on the run after assassinating the tribe and flees using an athletic system of sprinting and jumping.