Campaign 2: The Gal Pals

Three misfits make enemies with a powerful inter-planetary military and have to balance capricious whims of faction leaders to defend their planet's standing neutrality.

Their Story

Act 1

At a Research Base orbiting Nisora, Jorie sought an interview and found a crime scene. With help from Atticus and Trey, she documented the deaths and brought an alien back to life, retreating back to the Nisoran city of Galendra. Pursuing them was Sergeant Major Lawrence Anders of the Perimeter Agency. He believed the alien, Bry, was a potential threat to humanity and wanted him to stand trial. And he would justify any means to achieve that end.

Act 2

Nisora's neutrality agreement with the Protectorate prevented Sgm. Anders from making the arrest, but not from establishing an office in Galendra to gather, or manufacture, evidence. If Sgm. Anders proved his case, it could be the end of Nisora's neutrality. As the Gal Pals, Jorie, Atticus, and Trey tried to rally local gangs to defend their planet's independence, but external forced fanned the flames of long-established rivalries, preventing cooperation. The Pals had to pick sides.

They chose to work with the Wyre Rats to destroy Cryptix and fight back against off-world influences, even when it meant destroying parts of the city. As they worked, they uncovered evidence that corporate magnate Cordelia Isoto used the virtual intelligences her company made as an interplanetary spy network. She wanted the Protectorate to take over and force a planetary government, so she could insert someone easy to manipulate in the highest position possible. Sgm. Anders' cruel sense of justice was the tool she was using for it.

Act 3

When Perimeter took Bry prisoner, the Pals faced trial to bring him home. Armed with evidence and counter-evidence, they proved on galactic broadcast that not all the accusations against them were true. They exposed Sgm. Anders' underhanded tactics and Cordelia's spy network. Refusing to accept this outcome, Anders faked his death to enact his own judgement, and to destroy Galendra for its sins. In the end, the Pals destroyed him.
Once the dust settled, Trey began work to rebuild the city and its alliances while Jorie opted to grow her own following nearby. The Gal Pals name continued on as a mercenary group run by Atticus and his wife. Though Nisora maintains its neutrality, it came at the cost of stability across the sector as more people question if the Protectorate is really protecting them.

Other Accomplishments

Exterminated a burrowbug infestation beneath Galendra.

Ended Norah Everdin's unethical psionics experimentation.

Disarmed a city-destroying bomb beneath Monhal.

Freed most of Galendra from the side-effects of addictive Cryptix drugs.

Freed child test subjects from the Emerald Legion's control.

GM Notes

Bringing along skills gained from the prior campaign, I set out to do something completely different: faction play in a city run by gangs. I created my own faction ruleset, a far simplified version than what's in the SWN rulebook with inspiration taken from other games like Blades in the Dark. The premise relied upon players who have opinions on what to do and whose characters have goals they want to accomplish.
Overall, I loved running this campaign, but it was incredibly hard. I needed to know NPCs' inner lives to provide the telepath with useful mind-reading insights. I needed to understand in-depth cause-and-effect to provide the precog useful visions of potential futures. Missions had to satisfy both the pacifist and the gun-enthusiast, and in a unique way each time. I needed the city to change and feel active, but not stress my players with how much was happening.
And of course, a week after this campaign ended, Cities Without Number was released, defining a whole bunch of rules that would have been incredibly useful to me had it existed two years earlier.

Things I practiced

There are so many things I learned and so many ways I want to improve for future campaigns, but a lot of those topics will be separate posts. The main GMing skills I needed for this campaign were ones I'd learned previously, but got a lot more practice with.

State your intentions

Whether for a campaign, session, scene, or oddly-specific question, understanding each other's goals is the best way to support each other to reach them. Ask players their intentions when they're not clear.

Expose your secrets

Any time PCs used their abilities to learn something, I gave them a meaningful answer. It was more rewarding for them, even if I had to change my plans or give them an unexpected answer.

Break your patterns

We all have tropes we fall back on, and it's important to be aware and not overuse them. I noted a few more throughout this campaign to add to my watch list to help diversify future campaigns.

Gal Pals logo by Rin Garnett

Player Characters

by AsnnnArt

by AsnnnArt

by AsnnnArt

Key Allies

by AsnnnArt

Nisoran

Mys. Yasmin Ada
K-Ra
Skullder
Angela
Islae

Other

Emil Gonzales
Austin Gonzales
Hester Navarro

Key Villains

Lawrence Anders
Elvira
Cordelia Isoto

Additional Information

Subplots

• Mine Your Business