(Potentially) Non-Lethal Scenario Idea for .45 Adventure

First off, let me begin by telling you why I put “potentially” in the title. It’s my opinion that there always has to be some risk or element of danger in the game or else players can just saunter along and keep trying until they succeed. An artificial time limit can be placed on the game, but that is sometimes hard to maintain, as events should dictate the game. Players should feel free to set a time limit if it makes sense for the scenario, though.

In the type of scenario I'm going to be discussing here, the players are trying to gather information. Certain people in the game have the information and the players need to find them and get them to “spill the beans.” For each bit of information they glean, there is some benefit in the next scenario. For the sake of this article, we’ll assume two players are using the standard 2’ x 2’ board and we’ll have 6 encounter markers, numbered 1 through 6. Each player places three of the markers, at least 6” from a table edge. Then players place their models at their starting points, each group on opposite sides of the board.

Once both players are set up, each player rolls a d6. That is the encounter marker they must go to first. This represents the starting information that the players have. Once a player learns who the marker represents, they can choose to question the Character or move on to try another. 

You should have two decks of Encounter cards. One deck represents the Character encountered and there should be six of these. The other deck is the Information they provide and that should have 9 cards.

Character Cards

Each of these six cards will have a Character’s name, which way their sympathies lie (hero or villain---which will be presented as a positive or negative modifier to gaining information), and special rules the character may have.

Information Cards
Information Cards can be whatever the scenario calls for; from additional aids in the next scenario or a trigger to move on to the next scenario. For the nine cards we have in our sample, three of them will be No Information to Give.

Getting Information
There are two ways to get information. The first is to convince, trick, or deceive the Character into giving up what it knows.  To get the information, the player must beat the Character being questioned in a comparative BR test. If the player loses, additional attempts can be made in subsequent turns. The second way to get information is to threaten and intimidate the Character into giving it up. If this method is used, the Character makes a GT test. If it fails, information is given up. If it passes, then it Calls for Help (see Call for Help below).

Pressed for Additional Information
If a Character gives up information, players can attempt to press for additional information. If they do this, they are leaning hard on the Character and attempts at subtlety are ignored. Characters that are Pressed for Information take a GT test at +1. If they fail, they give up more information and cannot be pressed for any more. If they pass then they Call for Help.

Call for Help
When a Character calls for help, the police, security, the club bouncers, etc. show up at the end of the turn to deal with the player’s models. Who shows up will be dictated by the scenario. The player can choose to fight it out with whoever arrives, but after a fight, any attempts at gaining information are always at -2 for the player. If the player loses the fight, then the scenario should call for penalties going into the next scenario (lost time getting bailed out of jail or thumbing a ride home after being dumped in the desert, etc.) If the player leaves quietly, then the scenario ends for them and they are intact with whatever information they gained already.

In Conclusion
Players do not need to set up games that are only information gathering. The ideas presented here can be used as part of a regular scenario in which one of the Encounter Markers is a person that needs to be questioned. At the same time, it could be fun to take a break from non-stop action to do a little sleuthing for facts about such an important case.