Last week, I mentioned an event that I was going to at Stirling Castle. It was a Call of Cthulhu event that was put on as part of a series of events to celebrate historic Norwegian king, Harald Hardrada, or Harald III.
It was last night.
In the end, it was pretty tangentially connected to Hardrada, but no less an excellent event despite this.
The venue itself was fantastic, and one that’s quite personal to me. Although I now live in the Highlands, I grew up in Falkirk and Stirling, and did my undergraduate studies in Stirling. I competed in debating contests in Stirling Castle, attended other events, and my sister performed there.
It was a bit like coming home after a long absence.
The great hall remains… great. The walk to the castle remains… less great. It’s steep and uneven, but the real issues come when climbing the stairs into the car park and crossing said car park. Pitch black over uneven ground is tricky to navigate. This isn’t the fault of the event organisers, but may be something for people to consider in future, especially as the colder months roll in and the inevitable ice and snow arrive.
When we arrived, the sound director was regaling the hall with song. I couldn’t tell you what exactly, but it sounded liturgical.
Our host then took to the stage to outline the Viking in the Sun project and thank those who had contributed to the evening and the wider schedule of events. He spoke well, and with charm, though his thick accent had me a tad worried. I was picking up on most of what he was saying, but the acoustics of the hall and the slight shortcomings of the sound setup meant I wasn’t quite getting everything. Thankfully, he stepped aside and our GM had a more familiar accent.
The game was run by Mike Mason. Our players were, from left to right (skipping Mike in the middle), Michael O’brien, Nick Brooke, Jon Gracey, and Viv Eagan.
The story was set in, of course, Stirling Castle in 1541 and saw the players gather, in the presence of King James V, to resolve the feud between Clan MacDonald and Clan MacLeod. The player characters represented Clan MacLeod, with Michael and Viv representing nobility and Nick and Jon representing their priest and handmaiden, respectively.
From there, a number of strange occurrences occurred, mostly involving a series of unfortunate workmen floating into the air and having all of their blood leave their bodies.
The investigations got underway, with each character bringing something to the table. Michael’s headstrong noble was quick to use his pistol and he was quick shot, managing to fire off two rounds in a blisteringly swift 6 minutes, including reloading times. The scholarly presence of Nick’s priest brought an intellectual weight to proceedings with medical knowledge, exorcisms, and the occasional fart joke. He assured the audience these were the highest brow fart jokes that one could expect to find.
On the other side of our GM, Jon played the handmaiden who doubled as something of a sleuth, often driving the story forward and becoming increasingly important as the evening progressed. Finally, Viv’s character brought some scepticism and noble charm to the group, employing her powers of persuasion in circumstances where others (read: Michael) would have caused only chaos.
Performances were good across the board, and Mike ran the game expertly. He was a commanding presence and was good at projecting his voice throughout the great hall in spite of a sound system that was not always quite up to the job.
Of our players, Nick was my favourite. He performed his role as the possibly-inadequate priest very well. He offered his sage advice, provided some witty commentary on proceedings, and seemed the most ‘in-character’ of the players.
Michael was consistently funny and played his character well. His physicality, even in a chair behind a table, added to his character. He also did something I liked a lot. After the GM described a particularly harrowing experience for another player, he sought clarity on what the other players could see, and therefore what he could react to, thereby really understanding, and making explicit, the difference between player and character knowledge.
Jon seemed to have, of the players, the best handle on the rules. He also had the best luck in terms of rolls. I liked this, as it gave the impression of this quietly competent servant in the service of some rather incompetent nobles. His presence was quite muted at first, but he became more central to the group’s planning as the game progressed.
Viv had some strong scenes, particularly when she was tasked with securing access to an important artefact, but she was definitely the quietest of the players. I’m not quite sure why, but it could be that her personality is more reserved. It could also be that her character did not lend itself to some of the more action-oriented scenes. It was remarked by the GM (in good humour) that the group skipped much of the questioning of NPCs that he had expected, and at which Viv’s character would have excelled. It could also be that the menfolk had a lot to say, and she rarely saw a good opening to get a word in.
Towards the end, as the possibility of player character death rose, the cast turned more to the audience. They asked us about actions we would like to see, and we invariably picked the more violent of those options. “Wow, silence,” exclaimed one cast member when the audience was asked whether a character should be spared a gruesome death.
I had a fantastic evening. This was my first time attending a live actual play and, to be honest, it’s set the bar pretty high for future events.