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:
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.
