Things Are About to Get Strange
We're rapidly closing in on the launch of the kickstarter for the Awfully Cheerful Engine! If you're as excited as we are but are fearful of missing the opening of the crowdfunding campaign, don't worry, we have you covered! Simply head on over to awfullycheerfulengine.com, click the 'Get Notified When We Launch' button, fill in your email address and hey presto! Easier than sliding along a tunnel lined with ectoplasm!
If you're wondering what this ACE! shenanigans is all about, we've been covering some of the game's features in other blog posts. We've also cast our wary eye over the first two adventures for the game: Spirits of Manhattan and Montana Drones. This week, it's time to pack your lunch and hop on your bike. Strange Science is coming to the town of Wilden Falls. Things are about to get weird.
Written by Dave Chapman, Strange Science is fun, pedal-fuelled romp that draws on all of the movies we've come to love that incorporate experimental science and strange goings on. As the book itself states: " We’re talking Weird Science, Real Genius, Back to the Future, My Science Project, Ghostbusters, and just a hint of Stranger Things and Twin Peaks". We think you'll agree that there's plenty of strangeness to draw upon there!
Following a similar format to our other ACE! installments, Strange Science opens by briefly introducing the setting and story line before taking a look at the types of Heroes players can expect to play. And this book makes no secret of the fact that the adventure revolves around a bunch of kids who might just be in over their heads. That's not to say the you couldn't create a stoic sheriff or inquisitive librarian to investigate the weird goings on. You totally can. If not, sit back and enjoy a chance to revisit your younger years!
As with all of our ACE! adventures, there are some new Role on offer for the players. They can opt to be a Brain and use their Karma to get some insight on something in the game, a Cheerleader who shares their Karma around, an Outsider who knows when someone is lying, a Protector who can throw themselves into harm's way, a Radio Presenter who can use their words to mesmerise, or a Tycoon who simply has loads of money. And if none of those fit, the players still have original options to choose from in the main rulebook.
Once again, so that you don't have to worry too much about Heroes if you'd like to get playing straightaway, we'll also be providing a handful of pregenerated characters. There's Oma Oates the Awkward Brain, Xavier Xiong the Cocky Athlete, Hollie Hodge the Sassy Cheerleader, Nova Norcross the Rebellious Oursider and Blanch Burdick the Shy Experiment. It almost seems like they should sign up for a Breakfast Club!
With the Heroes in play, it's then time to step into Wilden Falls and explore both the setting and adventure in more depth. There's a glorious map of the town to help with your orientation, plus a breakdown of each important location it lists. Then it's time for the strangeness to ensue!
Following suit with the other issues of ACE!, Strange Science is split into three acts that slowly build upon the weird events that begin occurring within Wilden Falls. Without revealing too many details to potential players of the game, the first act starts at the Heroes' school. Which could be the middle school or high school depending on which age your players have opted for their Heroes to be. Yes, even more choices! There's a new kid in the class named Steve Twentyseven who seems more than a little out of place. Soon after, one of the school's favourite teachers just walks off into the woods and disappears, then things start to get even stranger. More Steves start turning up and the whole town is soon under threat. Only some strange experimental device that thrusts the minds of those connected to it back into the past has any sort of hope of saving the day. Let's just hope they make it back to the future! (See what we did there!)
Check back in next week as we take a look at the final installment for this run of ACE! issues: Beam Me Up. And don't forget to sign up to be notified of the launch!
