An archaeological expedition from Cambridge is just finishing up for the day after a day surveying their new dig - an ancient burial mound.
Meanwhile, the members of a strange cult are donning their robes and, in one case, strapping on a flamethrower. Heretics are planning to despoil the burial place sacred to their cult, and they must all die. Preferably in flames.
But there are others in the woods this evening. Clearly soldiers, but of what nation? Does their presence have anything to do with the disappearance of three members of a farming family the previous week?
This was the set up for a pulp adventures game I played a week or so ago, involving the Duchess, the young Princess and our good friend Antonius, all of whom graciously agreed to play a game even though it isn't really their thing. The basic rules were Fear and Faith from Ganesha Games, the figures the pulp adventurers from Artizan Designs I've been painting up. I gave each of the three players specific victory conditions - eg the archaeologists just needed to escape, the cultists got points for killing them etc. Unbeknownst to them there was also a fourth group: werewolves controlled by me, who entered the game at a predetermined time and a randomly determined position.
Although we didn't finish the game it was a lot of fun. The archaeologists were hampered by a number of slow-moving elderly members of their party, but promptly left them behind while the sprightly ones ran for the board edge. Unluckily for them they ran straight into the werewolves when they appeared on the board, with predictably gruesome results.
The Fear and Faith mechanics work well, and certainly give a fun scenario-driven game.
