The Day Itself! Playing the Mass in the Cauldron

 

Photos by @michaelcwiatrak_art

Well the day finally came! Yesterday we played The Mass in the Cauldron at Top Deck Games in West Philly. Ten players came with their freshest and stinkiest little greenskins (a flexible term, warbands included bears, cyborg orcs on nightmare beasts, cute hooded frog people, and some spectacular spider-riders) and clashed across four games of Cauldron, mutating, foraging, and finding fantastic relics along the way. I am still somewhat dazed after the event, but absolutely thrilled with how it all went. We had folks make the long journey from all over Philly and Jersey and the suburbs, and everyone stuck through all four games until the big finish! 

The calm before the storm

With ten players, we paired up in two games of two and two of three across the four boards. Thankfully Dellon (@whitetigertablecraft) though to add more treasure tokens for the boards with three players. I can only speak to the games that I played in (though I got tidbits from other players) but it really seemed that people were immersed and engaged in the whole undertaking right off the bat. The first game was designed to start a little more slowly, with rolls for special events only on Rounds 3 and 4, and a more generous selection of treasure tokens. Matt (@ierthling) brought his Frog Spam List (and very generously, frog minis for everyone he managed to turn into a frog) and did manage to turn my hero (Tuggles McSpink) into a frog and then kill him in the first game, though thankfully Tuggles made a Full Recovery after the game. 

Warbands started picking up mutations quickly, but as expected the Mass remained treacherous. I wrote a d12 check every time a model moved on the mass- after an initial move, the rule was just 'don't roll a 1'- but the rule added a lot of drama, as models would get quite high up on the Mass, and consequently face a lot of potential falling damage, if they rolled a 1... and this happened more than one might expect. I had my Beast (Wee Little Snax) and Troll (Dongle the Tongue) both fall off the Mass in Game 3. Snax died and dropped a treasure, which Dongle was happily able to grab in the aftermath. 

In Games 2 and 3, the Events started to really come into effect- sphincter-like holes opened in the Mass, swallowing up models and spitting them out mutated, or the whispering wind causing players to lose control of most of their warband for the rest of the game, or extra Creatures of the Mass emerging to defend it from the greedy invaders clambering all over it. Part of me wondered whether losing control of many characters was Not Fun for the folks who ran into it, but it seems everyone took it in stride. 

I also have to say I'm thrilled with how the custom Mutation, Foraging and Treasure tables played out. Players got very into foraging, finding tidbits like a Notorious Nugget (yum), a Throwable Hole, or a Hot Rock (read- radioactive) and Mass Moss. More of the sci-fi treasures started appearing- the Ray Gun, Jump Boots (which some characters had along with the Telekinesis mutation, making for a potent flying threat), or the Turbo Suction Device. 

Also huge thanks to Matt for being willing to do all the experience math and pair players- my brain was simply not up to the task after a few games of Cauldron! 

For the dramatic denouement, we paired all ten players into teams of two. Each team selected two models for the final game. We gathered around the highest board. From the mists of the Cauldron a strange building emerged- blue, tall, and covered with glowing signs for fast-food establishments. (If you go a little ways back on my IG, you'll recognize this building from my  Wanted! Reward 10,000 CR.  board (which is truly a spectacular game, go play it please)). 

Another day-of bit of brilliance was insisting on team names for the final game- we had Team Jump Boots, and Ray Liotta Fanboyz (both models had a Ray Gun) and a few other really great ones. The final game (Race for the Mushroom) was a struggle to get from ground level to the Interdimensional Mushroom token atop the Bizztro Eleganzza restaurant on the Mass. Since players had this very specific goal in mind, there was some strategic selection of models (biased toward speed, Jump Boots, and telekinesis)

The Mushroom atop the Bizztro

The game ended up delightfully unpredictable, with the Mass shaking off many of the models at one point, and three Autoturrets (one deployed by the bear mini) causing a variety of chaos. 

The bear deploys his Autoturret against a frog person

A spider rider clambers up the Bizztro. 

Eventually the spider rider reached the Mushroom, but failed his Brains check and was overwhelmed by the visions of the Mushroom. The Mass shook and lifted off, bearing the Bizztro into space. We paused to read off the dramatic conclusion: 

As the character’s mind struggles in the grasp of the Mushroom, they see a vision telling the story of the Mass. The Mass was lurking below the Cauldron for millennia, awaiting the moment to awaken and return to its star-brethren in the cosmos. It is one of thousands of vast cosmic beings which exist to ferry galactic fast-food establishments around the universe. Having lost its restaurant long ago in the mists of time, the Mass fell into a deep depression and fell into the Cauldron, while Bizztro Eleganzza blipped through time and space in search of its carrier. Sensing the Bizztro drawing near, the Mass awoke from its slumber. Guided by the Interdimensional Mushroom, the Bizztro returned to its rightful place. Now, it is time for the Mass to leave the Cauldron.

Playing in teams was a great way to wrap up the event (I was a husk of a person after three intense games)- thanks Matt for suggesting it. It was absolutely thrilling to see how engaged everyone was in the final game. 

The whole crew- note Jesse's Green Lung shirt (and James in a Castle Rat one too, hidden in back!)

I'm still processing the whole experience but it sure sounds like everyone had a lot of fun (I certainly did). I'm also thrilled to be part of a community of folks who'll get on board with spending an afternoon listening to my nonsense and engaging with this wild little narrative scenario I've dreamed up. Dellon and I are scheming about potentially publishing some of the scenario in future. The whole thing felt incredibly satisfying to do - having read and listened to a lot of info about narrative minis-based gaming, it was a thrill to just do it and have it succeed so well. Huge thanks to everyone who came out and played, and again to Matt for the brilliant editing and help moving the boards. I need to recover for a while, but I definitely want to do something like this again in future!

And now it's probably time to finish that scratch-built Ork Dreadnought I was working on back in June when I decided to put on this event.. that is, after I unpack and organize all the stuff from yesterday.... 

Thanks for reading and more soon!