Played my first game of Pulp Alley last week, even though I’ve owned the rule set for the past 4 years or so. I roped my kids into playing with me. We played a variation of The Lost Keys scenario from the main rule book. The twist was to add a Red Herring reward card when attempting the main plot point. Successfully completing the main plot point followed by drawing the Red Herring card meant that your minor plot point was the wrong one.
The Premise:
Guy Steele and his fearless companions have travelled to Cambodia in search of an Atlantean artifact hidden in a jungle temple. Unluckily for them,the Cult of the Emerald Scorpion are seeking the same artifact.
Nerves of Steele!
Cult of the Emerald Scorpion
The Setup:
The temple entrance (major plot point) is locked with an intricate mechanism, the key for which is a special jewel. The jewel key is hidden somewhere within the environs of the temple (minor plot points) and must be located before entrance to the temple can be attempted. There are 4 jewels that may unlock the temple door located around the area: on top of the empty plinth, atop a statue in the temple courtyard, inside the eye of a golden idol buried in the jungle, and in the camp site of a previous expedition to the temple. This last expedition failed as the group were taken away by local authorities before they could attempt to access the temple. Only one of these jewels is the key.
The board
The empty plinth (top right hand corner)
The Statue (bottom right hand corner)
The buried idol (trees by the left hand side of the river)
Abandoned campsite (top left hand corner)
The Action:
Guy Steele and his companions had spread out and approached the temple area from different directions, moving to the areas the knew the different jewel keys were hidden. Unknown to them, the evil scorpion cult was doing the same thing. Guy himself was making his way towards the buried idol when a green robed cultist emerged from the undergrowth and fired a shotgun at him. Webley already in hand, he fired back and the cultist dropped to the ground with a loud grunt. It was then that he noticed another cultist making his way towards the same idol.
Behind him, Guy’s friend Major Neville Mallory took position near the abandoned camp site, ready with his rifle to provide cover fire if needed. Suddenly a shot rang out and Mallory felt a hot pain in his head. As the world went black he saw a cultist rise up, his green robe having acted as camouflage in the jungle growth.
With Mallory down the way was now open for the nefarious Scorpion Master to make his way towards the campsite and begin searching for the first jewel key.
Across the river in the temple complex Molly Delaney, Penny Steele and her faithful hound MacCumhaill made their way towards the statue, ready to climb it to reach the jewel at the top. A cultist rushed towards them in a vain attempt to stop them but he was no match for Molly’s quick trigger finger. It quickly became obvious that the cultist had been a distraction as a blast of electric blue energy slammed into Penny and knocked her off her feet.
Molly spun around to see 2 glowing blue eyes attached to a mechanical monster shaped like a scorpion. Its tail was raised and electrical sparks danced around the tip. A bark from MacCumhaill made her turn once more and she saw a similar beast with red eyes make its way towards the statue and begin to climb. MacCumhaill growled low and charged at the climbing scorpion, sinking his teeth into the robot’s tail and pulling it off the statue. He flung it from him and it crashed into the ground hard and stopped moving.
Back across the river Rory Campbell hoped to climb the empty plinth and retrieve the jewel from there but was interrupted by a large man robed in green charging through the jungle towards him. He lifted Morag and opened her up on full auto to try and stop the running man but it was to no avail. The Scorpion Master’s number 1 follower threw himself at Rory and began throwing fists. The tough Scot was no stranger to fist fighting though and gave as good as he got.
Meanwhile, Guy had made his way down to the buried idol and discovered a cultist lying unconscious on the ground. Apparently the man had not been able to bypass the booby trap hidden in the idol. Guy made short work of that and successfully pried the jewel from the eye socket. He decided to brave the peril of the fast moving river rather than trek all the way to the bridge around the bend as it was the fastest route to the temple. Jewel in hand he jumped into the water.
At the campsite the Scorpion Master was growing frustrated as he could not find the jewel. The archaeologists had hidden it well.
At the statue Penny recovered from being hit by the burst of electric energy and stood up. Seeing this, Molly took a calculated risk and ignored the robot scorpion. She jumped up on the statue’s base and began to climb as fast as she could, hoping to reach the top before the metal insect’s electro blast weapon had recharged. Her speed made her reckless and she lost her footing. With a short cry she fell to the ground and hit her head.
The scorpion took aim at Penny once more but its shot went wide. Penny moved to the statue and began to climb, taking care where to place her feet after Molly’s tumble to the ground. MacCumhaill stood guard at the statue’s base, ready to defend his mistress from the mechanical monster.
A triumphant scream echoed through the jungle as the Scorpion Master finally located the jewel in the camp. He quickly turned and ran towards the bridge, eager to get across the river and into the temple. His minion who had taken out Mallory followed behind him.
Guy made it safely across the river and quickly ran up the temple steps. Another booby trap triggered and 5 poison darts flew through the air towards Guy. Luckily for him Penny had given him a protective shirt which deflected the darts. He pressed his jewel into the slot by the door and nothing happened! With a frustrated yell he realized that this was not the right key.
His spirits quickly lifted as he saw his sister Penny making her way to the top of a statue in the temple courtyard looking for another option. As he watched she balanced precariously and reached for the jewel in the statue’s crown. He cried out in fear as he saw her tremble, worried that she was about to plummet to the earth below. Then he heard her shout in triumph as her fingers worked the jewel free and she began to make her way back down the carved stone. It was then that he noticed the man made scorpion beast waiting for her. He moved to intercept it as quickly as he could.
Seeing the young Steele girl with a key in hand motivated the Scorpion Master to take a more direct route to the temple he plunged into the waters of the river and willed himself to the other side. His minion following behind was not so lucky and lost his footing in the fast moving flow of water. He disappeared beneath the surface and did not come up. The Scorpion Master ignored the fate of his follower and continued on his path to the temple.
Penny made it safely to the ground and ran immediately for the temple steps. She flew past her brother, knowing instinctively that he was placing himself between her and the danger of the electric tail blaster of the scorpion bot. She heard a crash as he threw himself bodily onto the mechanical construct and began to lay into it with his fists and the butt of his pistol. Trusting that he could finish the job she continued on her way. She got to the top of the steps and place her jewel into the opening, hoping that this one would be the true key. Her hopes were dashed, another dud! She turned just in time to see the evil leader of the scorpion cult coming up the steps towards her...
Seeing the girl’s reaction, the Scorpion Master knew that her attempt had failed. He rammed his shoulder into her, knocking her out of his way. In triumph he placed his key into the hole, expecting the hear the grinding of gears as the door opened. After all, this was the jewel that the last expedition were going to use, it must be the right one. The resulting silence did not last long as the Scorpion Master screamed his anger into the air. The door remained firmly closed.
Number 1 emerged from the jungle, finally having laid the doughty Scotsman low. He came across the bridge and saw Guy Steele standing victorious over the wreckage of the last scorpion machine. He lowered his Thompson and opened fire its everything he had but missed his mark. He loaded another drum, ready to try again.
Noises from the surrounding jungle indicated a large group of people approaching the complex. The local authorities were coming back to protect the temple. The Scorpion Master cursed the fates that had denied him and ran off into the jungle, Number 1 dutifully following after him. The Steele’s quickly did the same.
The Wrap Up:
After 7 turns (one reward gave the ability to extend the game by one turn) no one was able to gain entrance to the temple so the game ended with no clear victor. We are playing a second game to continue the story line, AAR to come soon.
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April 23, 2024, 03:29:01 PM
April 17, 2014, 05:19:50 PM