*** Session 12 - Scene 1 (of 9) ***

A day after the destruction of the casino and the death of Billy Kilburn, Annie, Earl, Franklin, and Johnny are sitting around the cantina deciding what to do next when Squantum rides up in a flurry. Earl tells him he looks red but Earl thought he looked yellow the other day. Squantum says Earl still looks as stupid as ever.

Squantum then explains he rode off for help. Earl tells him he just rode off, and let Tex die. Squantum is surprised to hear about the death of one of his old war companions. Earl still feels he can hear Tex on the wind, though.

The Indian tells them the casino must have had a rough night. The others say very little. Squantum says at least they don’t need help any more.

Squantum also expresses optimism about the money they made that night. Franklin corrects him, saying pretty much all that money went to pay people off so they ended up breaking even. Squantum notes they were broke before. Franklin says that sounds about right; he notes there may be some people still looking for more money, too.

The Indian asks Earl how he let Hennessy do such a stupid thing, then corrects himself when he realizes who he is asking. Earl tells him to hold up since he’s the one who ran off; Earl also takes credit for the casino idea and doing all the “real work” in getting it going as well as keeping them all from getting into trouble. He does admit he can only do so much, and says it is a bad sign when he is the brains of the operation. Squantum agrees with him on that.

Squantum is happy when Hennessy explains that Billy Kilburn is dead. Franklin explains they still have the bull pen and that’s their main source of income. He says it is making good money, or so he assumes. Coltrane, trying to hide the fact he’s using almost as much opium as he is selling, says nothing.

They all then discuss what to do now. Earl claims he is going to make whiskey. Squantum is confused, as Earl is a miner, but the old man explains he has a small still up at his shack.

Hennessy is somewhat despondent, saying every plan they’ve had has blown up in their face. Squantum notes that is literally true in the last case. The Indian suggests they could go back to bounty hunting, but Franklin feels it would be easier just to kill everyone trying to extort money out of them.

Squantum’s next idea is to rob the bank. Earl suggests the train instead. Squantum asks how they can get the train schedule. Earl and the others mock the Indian, saying the station will have the schedule but he points out he was referring to the payroll schedule not the passenger schedule.

Earl suggests they could get the payroll schedule from the gruff lady at the bank, Ms. Horton. Squantum asks how, and Earl says they could just snoop through her desk. The Indian calls him stupid again.

Instead, Squantum suggests Coltrane goes undercover at the train station to get the information. As for the bank, Earl nominates Franklin to go apply for a job as he has experience working with money.

*** Session 12 - Scene 2 (of 9) ***

Around this time, Sheriff Magers walks into the cantina. Earl greets him loudly to indicate to the others to shut up about the robbery plans.

Magers reminds Earl and Coltrane they are still his deputies. He tells them he needs their help to recruit a new gunslinger into town so they can keep the law and order.

Earl expresses his confusion. Wade explains he wants them to head over to Bluestem and find a Negro gun for hire named Reno Jones. Earl asks the sheriff how he'll find the man, but the sheriff points out he's a black-skinned gunslinger and asks Earl how many of those he knows. Earl grumbles something about how if he knows one that's too many but agrees to perform the errand.

When asked what the offer is, the sheriff tells Earl to let him worry about that; he just wants the two of them to get the man back to him. He does offer they can do the job of fending off Mexican bandit attacks themselves, but Earl says he isn't interested (but is planning to patrol the train yards later).

Sheriff Magers then leaves them to it, saying he has to go deal with some silly girl who got bit by a pig and is threatening to try and ride it to show it who's boss.

Earl and Coltrane head off to Bluestem, along with the grumpy as usual Annie, while Franklin decides to go to the bank to try and get a job.

Squantum instead decides to get some help to build a shack for the bull pen where Coltrane can sell the dope. The Indian recruits a couple of laborers to help him use some of the remains of the casino to build the casino; against his better judgement, he hires a couple of the Mexicans from the cantina – Santiago and Matias.

The Indian takes some time to negotiate with the men. He wants to avoid paying them upfront (which they don't like) and tries to explain the concept of the "bull ride shack" (which they don't understand). He eventually gets the bartender to translate, though they still don't know what a bull ride shack is. Eventually, they get enough of an idea and Squantum gives them 20 pesos and sketches out the plans.

For the sign, Squantum calls it "Johnny Coltrane's Wild West Bull Rides". He paints a picture of Coltrane with a large mustache, trying to make him look like the entertainer and hero from the Indian Wars, Buffalo Bill Cody.

*** Session 12 - Scene 3 (of 9) ***

Meanwhile, over at the bank, Franklin walks in wearing his nice suit. He sees the two tellers and asks if Ms. Horton is in.

When asked what he is there to see her for, Franklin says he heard they were looking for someone with skills in accounting and he is there to offer his services. After a wait, Ms. Horton agrees to see him.

As he walks in, Horton immediately realizes who it is, saying, “Oh, it’s you again. What do you want this time?”

Franklin tries to win her over, saying it is delightful to see her again. He says he hopes this meeting will be mutually profitable for the two of them.

Susan is confused, saying she thought he was going to invest in a casino. Franklin says he has invested in a great many things which have all turned out well for him. Horton expresses surprise, as she thought he owned the casino that recently blew up. Franklin says he heard about such a casino but there is no reason to speak of it. The woman says that is what she thought.

Franklin continues, offering his services as an accountant as he heard she needed. Horton asks where he heard that, but he insists the word all around the region is she has the finest bank. He goes on to explain how he’s owned a casino and a profitable barber shop back East.  When Horton asks why he didn’t open a barber shop, he explains he didn’t wish to hurt the established local businessman.

Horton seems temporarily mollified, but notes she isn’t sure she needs an accountant. She says she is, however, in need of someone to perform collections on the bank’s accounts. When Franklin asks what kind of accounts, the woman explains there are several delinquent borrowers who used loans from the bank to build their homes; and either the money or the homes will need to be seized.

Not wanting to throw families out on the street, nor wanting to be working outside the bank offices, Franklin says it’s not really the work he excels at. Instead, he points out how one of the papers on her desk has an incorrect calculation on it.

Impressed, Horton says perhaps he does know what he’s talking about after all. Smiling wryly at the barber, she suggests they discuss the matter over dinner at the Cottonwood. Franklin begs off, saying he has another engagement.

Horton immediately cools to him, wishing him good day and saying to let her know if he wants the collections job. Franklin leaves, confident he made the right choice to avoid the odious spinster’s trap.

On the way out, Franklin notes the names of the tellers – Mr. Cavanaugh and the old, frail Mrs. Holicky. He notes Holicky seems very distracted.

*** Session 12 - Scene 4 (of 9) ***

Over in Bluestem, Earl, Coltrane, and Annie head into the village established by former slaves. Their fair skin makes them obvious outsiders, and people begin to stare. Earl believes the attention is due to his eye, and tells the others he is used to it.

Wanting to find a gathering place for the locals (as people are making themselves scarce as the three head into town), Earl listens for any sounds of singing (as he believes former slaves are wont to break out into song). It isn't long before he hears the sound of singing of a good old-fashioned Negro spiritual.

Following the sounds, they make their way to a nearby church. Though he isn't sure he'll find a gunslinger at a church, Earl says they should head in and ask around.

When they go inside, they find a White man as the preacher, though he sounds very much like a Negro in his sermon. It appears to be something about the Lord telling all the brothers they are free as he declared at the mountains of Jordan. None of the three have ever heard anything quite like it before.

The preacher notices the three and calls attention to them as guests. He praises the lord and invites them inside.

Another preacher, an older Negro man, takes the stage next. He gives his name as Deacon Frye and tells them all are welcome there. The preacher agrees, saying all men are free with Jesus.

The preacher asks the three what brings them to the church. Earl says it ain't Jesus. The preacher asks if it is one of the disciples, perhaps Mathew, Mark, or John. Earl says it is Reno that brings them there. The preacher says Reno is a brother but not a disciple; he invites them to sit down and enjoy the rest of the service and he'll talk to them after.

After completing the final hymn of "Amazing Grace" with the choir (which takes quite a bit longer than Earl was expecting), the preacher comes back over to Earl and the others waiting in the pews. He asks them why they are looking for Reno Jones.

Earl says they want to improve Reno's station in life if he get's Earl's drift. The preacher does not, so Earl explains the sheriff wants to offer Reno a position. The preacher is skeptical that the position would be at the end of a rope until Earl explains the whole situation, saying it is a legitimate offer. The preacher notes it is an offer by the corrupt sheriff of the crooked White town, which Earl agrees is an apt description.

The preacher explains Reno Jones is his brother. Earl says the man's sermon indicated he had a lot of brothers, but the preacher explains he is Jonas Jones, Reno's half-brother from another mother.

After saying the church needs additional funds to help the local village, Jonas offers to go negotiate on Reno's behalf with the sheriff. Jonas knows Reno is off trying to get men to take down Clay Riley, so he forms a plan in his mind to take the position on himself.

*** Session 12 - Scene 5 (of 9) ***

Back in Quebrada Cruz, Squantum looks with satisfaction at the shack he and the Mexicans put up. It has a fully working door and even a window for people to walk up to, and even has a second pen for a goat. For an extra 12 pesos, Squantum also has them put up an outhouse, where the door vent is in the shape of a bull.

The bull, named Rocky, roams the pen along with the goat (who Squantum has named after Tex) as Annie, Coltrane, and Earl walk by with Jonas. Coltrane is particularly surprised at the sign.

Squantum asks Earl who Jonas is, since he thought they were going for Reno Jones. Earl tells him to mind his own business. Earl then notices the sign, but misreads it as offering “mustache rides” as he is distracted by the picture.

Just then, Hatfield wanders by and gives his opinion on the new business. The man says he was sad to lose his job at the casino but “this place looks like a fun place too”. Squantum tells the man he may have a position for him, saying the bull and goat produce a lot of manure that needs tending to. Hatfield says that isn’t the position with Squantum he had in mind.

Squantum steps over closely to the man and tells him Mr. Hennessy might be interested in that sort of thing. Hatfield says he knows Hennessy likes cards but he thought Squantum did too. Squantum tells him Hennessy likes playing cards a lot and may even play with Hatfield’s deck. Hatfield notes he always likes playing with his own deck as it just feels more comfortable.

The Indian also says if Hatfield is lucky, he might be able to sip on Hennessy’s mint julip. Hatfield says he didn’t know the barber mixed up mint julips; saying he always figured the man for a strong whiskey type. Squantum agrees the man prefers his drinks stiff. Hatfield says the man may be a little rough for his taste.

After Hatfield leaves, Jonas asks if the Indian is a friend of theirs. Earl says he’s no friend of his. Coltrane offers they have worked together, and even answers in the affirmative when Jonas asks if he is a godly man. But, neither Squantum nor Jonas are in any hurry to talk to each other, so Jonas and the others decide to continue to the sheriff’s office.

*** Session 12 - Scene 6 (of 9) ***

They find the sheriff sitting behind his desk with his feet propped up. Earl greets him, but the sheriff wants to know who Jonas is, as he asked them to go get Reno Jones. Earl explains the man is Jonas Jones. Magers calls him an idiot, saying he got the wrong Jones and this one isn’t even the right color unless he’s an albino Negro.

Jonas tells the sheriff that all of God’s children are the same color. Wade says to Earl, “Oh, and he’s a simpleton too!”

Ignoring the insult, Jonas tells the sheriff he heard he could use some help. Earl offers the man says he is Reno Jones’ representative, and God’s. Jonas says “Praise the Lord!” and Magers realizes the man is a preacher. Jonas says he is a preacher but also does other things to make money.

Jonas says he does God’s work to get rid of the “bad people” around, saying the spirits of the Lord help guide him in these endeavors. Wade isn’t convinced and starts to ask about Reno, but realizes he can just hire Jonas. Jonas doesn’t want to be a deputy, however, as he insists that would put him under the domain of man rather than God. Wade agrees to hire him as a special contractor with a title of “Special Inquisitor of the Lord”.

After he’s sworn in, Jonas asks Magers if the Indian also works for him, saying the Lord told him something isn’t quite right with that boy. Magers explains he does not allow “Injuns” to work for him. Jonas agrees they are all savages. Wade tells Jonas if he sees Squantum frothing at the mouth or anything to just go ahead and put him down. Jonas agrees, saying God willing it will be sooner rather than later.

The sheriff then explains the larger problem lately has been gangs of men coming into town and shooting everyone. Jonas agrees that is bad. Magers tells him he’s responsible for stopping that, but offers his two deputies (Earl and Coltrane) for assistance. He also tells the “little missy” (Annie) that he can find her a position at the Sheriff’s Office or she can go out shooting with them. She just scowls at him.

Jonas asks which deputy is in charge. Magers has to think about it for a moment then decides it must be Earl. Jonas asks if it is because Earl has more experience and Magers reluctantly agrees. Earl, beaming, re-tells Coltrane he is in charge. Magers offers Earl once was almost elected sheriff himself, chuckling internally at the idea.

With that settled, Jonas tries to get the schedule of when things come into town so he can anticipate the next attack. Magers explains the attacks have been fairly random so no particular day is more dangerous than any other.

Jonas says he’ll take his cue off Earl then, saying he’s going to nickname him “Deacon”. Earl says he’s been called a lot of things in his day, but never that. Jonas also calls Coltrane “Choir Boy”, to which Earl points out the man is almost a castrato (after his encounter with Blood Feather’s men).

*** Session 12 - Scene 7 (of 9) ***

Jonas and the others wander around town so he can get a feel of the place. Hennessy is also moving around town, but putting up fliers for the new bull pen ride business. He includes a "free ride coupon" on the fliers he has printed up, and makes sure to put fliers on the homes of Cavanaugh and Holicky from the bank.

As Earl and his group pass by the livery, Mikhail rushes out telling them he's found a head in his stables. He drags Earl back to investigate.

In the stable, they see the badly decomposing head. Jonas can tell it is the head of a Mexican. Mick asks who would put a Mexican head in his stable.

Jonas asks about the rest of the body, but Mikhail says there is only a head. Earl says they need to take him down to the Sheriff's Office to talk. Mikhail says he knows nothing but Earl insists the whole thing is very suspicious.

Mikhail swears at Earl in Russian, but backs down when Earl refers to him as "resisting arrest". Jonas tells him not to worry, for if he is innocent his righteousness will allow God to set him free. Mick asks who Jonas is, and Earl explains he is a special contractor working for the city. Jonas reminds him he also works for the Lord.

As they take Mick out of the Livery, they run into Hennessy putting up more of his fliers. He notices the sack with the head-shape object being carried by Coltrane.

Franklin asks what is in the head-shaped sack. Mick says it is a head, explaining he gave the men head and now they arrest him. The barber isn't quite sure what to say to that.

As Jonas starts in on his flowery talk again and referring to Earl as Deacon, Hennessy asks Earl who the man is. Jonas gives his name and explains he is a "sheriff for the Lord" and helping the sheriff of this town. Hennessy isn't sure where to go from there but decides to accompany them back to the Sheriff's Office.

When they arrive, Magers notes they've multiplied again. Earl explains they had to call in some backup because of a dangerous situation, but Magers is confused because all they have is Mikhail from the livery.

Earl feels showing is better than telling, so he dumps out the contents of the sack on Magers' desk. Wade says "Tarnation!" and asks what the Mexican head is doing. Earl says it looks like it is decomposing.

Magers says it smells like two day old tacos after they come out the wrong end. Jonas offers that it is still better smelling than an Indian. Wade agrees the man has him there.

Earl then explains the head was found in the stables. Magers says that doesn't sound like Mikhail, and asks Mikhail if he would ever do such a thing. Mikhail agrees he would not, saying "I see head and thought I be good so I go give deputy head. I thought he'd be happy."

The one-eyed deputy offers it might not be much of a crime to behead a Mexican in this town anyway. Jonas asks if any of the locals are missing, but Earl dismisses the thought.

Sheriff Magers says it isn't worth looking into. He lets Mikhail go, after he pays the "improper Mexican head disposal fee" naturally. He tells Earl and the others to get back at it then.

*** Session 12 - Scene 8 (of 9) ***

Eventually, everyone ends up back at the shack. They go inside to talk privately.

Squantum asks Coltrane if he still has some product. Coltrane agrees he does. Squantum explains his plan is to have Coltrane ask people if they want the “special bull ride” then give them a small amount of opium mixed in with water after they get done. The Indian feels this method will help them establish their customer base.

Jonas asks if the water is special holy water. Squantum is still confused who Jonas is, saying he thought they went to get Reno. Jonas says he is Reno’s brother, but since the man isn’t Black Squantum doesn’t believe him; he says he is an Indian, not stupid. The two then exchange barbs on how dumb they believe the other is (with Squantum’s best shot being that Jonas must be related to Earl).

Squantum then asks Hennessy about his fliers. The barber explains he put them up all over town. Squantum says they should be ready for their “grand opening” then.

Attention then turns to Coltrane, who the Indian insists doesn’t look “Wild West” enough. Squantum shaves some fur off Tex (the goat) and glues on some fake eye brows and mustache to Coltrane so he will look more “authentic” as a wild west icon.

Since only two people show up in the afternoon due to the flier, Jonas decides to drum up business by preaching on the street about how “God is in the bull” and trying to drive people in carnival-barker style, promising the holy water will make everyone happy.

Jonas offers the business caters to all colors, saying the water will change their lives. He also offers goat rides for younger children. He then speaks in tongues. His unique brand of “bull ride revival” gets another half-dozen people interested from the street.

Earl takes the tickets at the ticket window while Coltrane gives the people rides. Annie is asleep on the floor in the back of the shack.

Squantum steps over to Hennessy and asks how his attempt to get a job at the bank went. Franklin explains he did not get a job.

Talking about the employees of the bank, Hennessy explains he gave tickets for bull rides. Squantum suggests a more direct method may be needed to remove one of the employees from the bank but Hennessy doesn’t want to be involved in any murders.

Despite all the hoopla, it turns out not a lot of people in town are all that interested in riding a bull so sales from the grand opening are rather modest. Jonas wonders if a traveling medicine show with the holy water might not be more effective, but bull riding is what the others wanted to go with so he decides he’ll go along with it.

*** Session 12 - Scene 9 (of 9) ***

A week passes and business grows slowly. It seems not many people in town enjoy both bull rides and opium. They do, however, manage to make thirteen dollars.

As they are counting the cash, Miguel shows up. He wants Pepe Silvia's cut of the profits. Squantum tries to argue with the Mexican that Pepe was only entitled to a cut of the casino money, but Miguel insists Silvia wants a cut of all money.

Earl signals the preacher. Jonas arrests the man for trying to extort a local business.

When Jonas takes him to the sheriff, Magers asks what the man is being arrested for. Jonas explains Miguel is trying to extort money from businesses in town, saying he personally heard him trying to extort money from the new holy water business. Magers refers to it as "that stupid bull riding thing the deputies are involved in."

Magers agrees they can't have extortion going on. He says that reminds him, and tells Jonas to tell the deputies they still need to get their new business license for their new business in town. Jonas says he can do that and asks how much it is. Magers gives the rate as ten dollars a week.

Jonas is happy the town is moving in the right direction with righteous people like the sheriff in charge. He then goes back to tell the others about the business license. They grumble a bit about the charge, which Jonas agrees sounds a little steep.

The preacher then heads around town asking the local business owners about extortion. One of them mistakes his question about Miguel to be about Magers, giving Jonas an inkling that perhaps the sheriff isn't as righteous as he thought.

Jonas heads back to the others and asks them about it. Hennessy says the sheriff and mayor are crooked. Jonas, very solemnly, says the Lord does not like that. He says something about needing to clean the town up then wanders away, lost in prayer.

The preacher heads back over to the Sheriff's Office. He tells Magers he is just checking back in, noticing Miguel is still in his cell.

Since no one else is around, Jonas goes for his gun. Wade notices him but Jonas is still able to draw his weapon first and shoots the sheriff in the leg.

Magers falls down. From the ground, he gets a shot off on Jonas, hitting the preacher in his leg. A second shot hits Jonas in the shoulder.

Despite his serious wounds, Jonas gets off another shot and hits the sheriff in his other leg and the chest. Magers slumps to the ground, dead.

Jonas props himself up and scoots over towards Miguel's cell. After firing off a series of shots, he eventually murders the man.

The preacher is in the middle of opening the cell to try and frame Miguel for the killing of the sheriff when a crowd of townspeople arrive. Jonas makes his claims, but the people don't appear to be listening.

Across town, while giving bull rides, news spreads about a lynch mob hanging someone up at the Sheriff's Office for killing the sheriff. Earl closes the business down for the night and heads up to investigate. By the time they get there, they discover the dead body of Jonas hanging from a tree next to the Sheriff's Office.

*** Session 12 - Session Notes ***

In some ways, this session was less of a mess than the last one and was very funny. In other ways, it suffered from the "zany syndrome", where the PCs start acting like cartoon characters and a majority of the session was spent on in and out of character sex jokes. Again, I really regret blowing up the casino.

The whole "Jonas Jones" thing was another of that player's usual problems - he'll talk about one character concept the previous session and/or through email that week so I'll plan one thing, but by the time he gets to the session for the week he's changed his mind and decided on a different character concept that is a lot harder to fit into the game. I'm not sure how his "preacher who will kill anyone he thinks is committing sin" was supposed to fit in well with the other PCs, but I had no qualms at all about having him lynched after he failed a luck roll during the murder of the sheriff and Miguel.

I'm not really sure where the story can go from here that doesn't have an ending similar to Butch Cassidy, The Wild Bunch, and/or the Magnificent Seven. With yet another sheriff dead, the cavalry will have to be called in. And with Miguel dead, Pepe Silvia's bandits will come in. Plus, Ma Kilburn has yet to respond to the deaths of her sons...

Anyway, other notes from the session:
* I was hoping the Squantum player was going to come up with a better story to explain his absence and give the campaign somewhere to go. He didn't, and the other PCs uncharacteristically didn't really care.

* The whole bank or train robbery aspect might have been exciting had it not been dropped a few minutes later.

* All the focus this session was around their incredibly dumb idea for the bull ride pen that sells opium. Some of the players think the idea is stupid and go along with it because it is funny. The others genuinely seem confused how it isn't a gold mine.

* I had the players draw up the plans for the bull pen shack, the sign, and the fliers. The whole "looks like Buffalo Bill" thing is a slight anachronism in that the more famous Wild West show of his takes place a few years from the time the campaign is set, but the drawing of the large mustache and related jokes (especially with the goat fur) were worth it.

* Hennessy being offered the job to throw orphans on the street was just to see if the player would do it. Not sure why he abandoned the idea of a bank job so easily, though. Even the other PCs were confused.

* Cavanaugh and Holicky are named after some co-workers of the Squantum player. One is retiring, causing him to have a hard time getting meetings set up with her (hence, the joke about her namesake being distracted).

* I let the Jonas player give a sermon. It was truly awful and nonsensical.

* Deacon Frye is Sherman Hemsley's character from the old TV show, Amen. Not sure any of the players caught that joke.

* For the final hymn, I brought up a YouTube video of a really slowly sung version of Amazing Graze.

* I brought up Clay Riley again since the PCs seem to be ignoring that open plot thread.

* The bull in the pen is named after Rocky Balboa based on a joke I don't recall. Naming the goat Tex was just to insult the player for getting his character killed.

* The piece of paper with the drawing of the sign on it was altered OOC to read "mustache rides" instead of "bull rides" as a joke.

* Hatfield showed up because someone made an OOC joke about it. Naturally he has no purpose here except to exchange poor double entendres.

* Similarly, the Mexican head showed back up because I was describing Jonas' walk through the town and the Earl player made a crack about the head still being at the livery.

* Mick's broken English led to a great many double entendres about "giving him head". Far more than are written here.

* I was actually the one who pointed out a traveling revival / medicine show would make a lot more money than bull riding.

* No one but the Jonas player understood him killing the sheriff. He was stunned when his plan to frame Miguel failed and I had him summarily hanged.

So, a couple of weeks ago we had session 13, and it proved just as unlucky as its number.

Sadly, it was the death of the campaign. I'm not going to bother writing up the notes for it (as it isn't worth my time) but the basics were:

I tried, I really did, to get the campaign back on track. The initial part was Earl negotiating with the mayor to become sheriff. But the Jonas player once again disrupted everything.

The Jonas player came back yet again with another new character concept than the one we discussed last time. This time a Mexican robber. He went out of his way to avoid participating with the other characters at first. Then, when Earl gets shot by Frese while announcing he is sheriff, he robs the character in plain sight and gets arrested. Then he refuses to talk to the other PCs not even giving his name. After that, I decided there was no point and had Pepe Silvia come in with an army of 100 bandits and kill them all, Wild Bunch style. It wasn't even all my idea, the Squantum player kept signaling me it was time to just kill them all and end up because clearly the game was a lost cause by then.

So, I'll be taking a little break. And when we resume with a new campaign, the Jonas player won't be invited back. Me, the Earl player, the Hennessy player, and the Squantum player are all tired of the way he derails the games every time things start to get moving. In this campaign, Crescent City, and Al-Qadim, he kept creating characters that were outsiders who wouldn't cooperate with the other PCs. Then, he refuses to buy into the base premise of the games (I'm still not sure he ever figured out Cthulhubusters was Mystery/Horror) and constantly takes our time and attention away from the story being developed because he does things that are inconsistent with what's happening in the campaign, totally throwing everyone out of the story being developed (I mean story as an emerging thing from immersing / interacting in the setting through character actions, not in the "story game" sense of artificially constructing a narrative from a third person POV). Not everything bad is his fault, and he does have some good moments, but the overall cost/benefit ratio of having him as a player is simply too low and his style of play is just too different from ours that it ends up being disruptive to the rest of us.

To plan is to announce I'm taking a break and simply not tell him when we go back to playing again. I know, I know, it's not the direct way to handle things. I manage an entire department of people for a living so I know better from a leadership POV, but then again I get paid to manage people because managing people (in general) is work. This is my leisure activity so I'm going to take the easy way out.

Quote from: jgants;953129....

To plan is to announce I'm taking a break and simply not tell him when we go back to playing again. I know, I know, it's not the direct way to handle things. I manage an entire department of people for a living so I know better from a leadership POV, but then again I get paid to manage people because managing people (in general) is work. This is my leisure activity so I'm going to take the easy way out.

Why feel bad jgants?  That players fun was in being an ass and making sure no one else had fun.  Life's to short for that bullshit, it's not like we are 13 anymore.  (I.m assuming you all are not teenagers)

Quote from: Xanther;953299Why feel bad jgants?  That players fun was in being an ass and making sure no one else had fun.  Life's to short for that bullshit, it's not like we are 13 anymore.  (I.m assuming you all are not teenagers)

That's an understatement.

I turned 40 last year, the two younger guys are in their mid-30's, two others are in their mid-40's, and the problematic player is in his mid-50's.

Anyhow, I have my new campaign starting up now - "Warlords of the Wastelands", a fantasy campaign using the Palladium Fantasy rules.

The thread for it is located here.

La Cruz Quebrada would be better unless the town was not actually founded by Spanish speakers but by gringos who wanted to give it a Spanish name for some reason.

Cool write-ups otherwise!

Edit: it is also a cool idea for a town name to give a feeling of foreboding.