Last week I got together with my son Lewis, over Zoom to play some Pulp Alley, one of our long time favourite games. We have a second webcam mounted on the ceiling above the games table to easily allow miniatures gaming at a distance and it works surprisingly well. Our scenario was set in a dungeon, below a zombie infested ruined city. Our heroes are searching for an archaic, mystical tome, which is the major plot point. To counterbalance the single staircase leading into the dungeon, we made the four minor plot points secret entrances to the dungeon. They could be a magical device, or they could just be a secondary, secret entrance. We used bright yellow markers to make it easy for Lewis to see them over zoom. The number corresponded to a number underneath a plot point. Solve the plot point and characters in your league could be moved from the plot point to the marker within the dungeon. We had one zombie per 1′ square area, so nine in total. This was maybe a little excessive, but they were a new addition to our Dark Alleys range and I’d just finished painting them up and wanted to get them on the table. We made them Horror 3, so all apart from our leaders needed to take horror checks when attacking or activating within 12″ of them. Doors in the dungeon were locked, and possibly booby trapped so could only be opened after overcoming a peril.
Our leagues were based on Terry Pratchett’s Discworld / Unseen University, using models from the Sally 4th Guards, Guards range. Both of our leagues consisted of a Leader, two sidekicks and an ally. Lewis choose first and took The Bursar as his leader backed up by The Librarian and Lady Sybil with the pet baby dragon Err. I took Ridcully as my leader with Rincewind and Farbul Wuther as sidekicks and Igor as an ally.
We used dispersed set up, so characters could set up anywhere on the table (above ground) that was more than 6″ away from a minor plot point. My leader, Ridcully activated first and headed for the main staircase down. Now’t wrong with the direct approach.
Professor Wuther is ambushed by The Libraian on his way to investigate something glistening in the shadows. Unfortunately he is far better at mental struggles than physical ones and The Librarian gives him a good going over.
Ridcully is charged by a Zombie underground but elects to dodge, is successful, so manages to break contact so he can move off next time. Unfortunately Igor is not so lucky and when the zombie next activates, he is torn to pieces by it.
Lewis’s league, apart from The Librarian who is still slugging it out, head for the shiny treasure. First attempts at searching for the hidden key are unsuccessful, but eventually team work overcomes it and the portal to the dungeon dimension is opened.
On discovering where the portal leads, The Bursar leads the way and is immediately confronted by an angry zombie.
Somehow, some fancy footwork allows the whole gang to crowd into the room.
Meanwhile Ridcully has made it to the door of the large chamber where the ancient tomb is hidden. Rincewind had previously solved a minor plot point that had given information about the artefacts location, allowing an attempt to find it to be undertaken. Unfortunately, the locked door proved troublesome, and a number of attempts to unlock it had to be undertaken.
The delay in unlocking the door creates a bottleneck, as everyone moves up and has some advice to offer, until Lady Sybil and Err smell the zombies and run back the way they came in ‘Blind Panic’ after failing a Horror check.
Eventually Ridcully overcomes the locked door and heads straight to the writting desk where the book is believed to be. He fights of zombies, he overcomes the traps and other perils surrounding the desk, he overcomes the challenge of locating the volume just to find the eward was ‘It’s a red herring!’. The book was not there at all. A dice was rolled, the plot point was moved D8″ in a random direction, which just happened to be 3″ west, placing the book, thematically on the bookcase.
Unfortunately, all my characters had acted and Lewis’s had yet to go. The Librarian and The Bursar head to the bookcase, but are unsuccessful in locating the right book.
… but on the penultimate turn one of my characters managed to ‘clearly win a fight’ by causing a wound while not taking a wound, which made me ‘The Director’ for the final turn. Rincewind was not engaged in an ongoing combat so moved up to the bookcase, overcame the peril and plot point challenge to swipe the book…. and win the game.
As always with Pulp Alley, it was an exciting game, that could have gone either way right up to the final turn. We both had a lot of fun, which in my estimation is the most important thing.
At the end of the game Lady Sybil and her pet dragon Err, are heading back to the action after the Horror Deck forced them to run away.
Useful Links:
Diskworld / Unseen University Pulp Alley Character Card Download
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