Game Statehttps://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AkoHhfle2FRXdHYyYkhSNUx4NzhNcnZDWkI5b19XaXcPrologueCaptain Oleg Eelspeaker strained against the wheel. As the largest of the crew at 42 inches high, Oleg often steered the Red November
during turbulence. Today, his barrel-chested physique served the crew well as he righted the submarine.
Wiping the sweat from his brow, Oleg turned to Nikolai Barnaclescraper. "Progress report, Comrade," he demanded.
The lanky seaman unceremoniously dropped an empty fire extinguisher. His wide eyes bulged comically against a backdrop of soot. Releasing a puff of smoke from his lungs, he replied, "Fire is contained. Another fire reported on level 2. Two compartments are now filled with water. Reactor is dangerously hot. Also, Leonid Squidrider is passed out in the engine room."
Sneering, Oleg spat, "I always knew that son-of-an-elf couldn't hold his liquor." A thump interrupted him, muffled by the several inches of steel separating the compartments of the sub. He looked at the door and then nodded to Nikolai. The seaman gingerly approached the door and turned the handle several times. The door flew open, unleashing a wall of water cascading over the two gnomes. The limp body of Timur Sharktickler floated by Oleg .As he struggled to keep his footing, the captain kept one hand on the wheel and grabbed Timur with the other.
The gnomes found themselves neck-deep in water. The Pneumo-matic Door Press (tm) hissed shut and locked into place. The surrounding bulkhead buckled under the weight of the ocean, and the door groaned in protest as the metal twisted around it. Timur coughed water into Oleg's face as he regained consciousness.
"Wonder what else could go wrong," muttered Oleg. As if the universe felt obliged to sadistically reply, the submarine rocked suddenly from a great impact. Nikolai trudged through the water to the porthole. He scrambled toward Oleg, his face pale.
"S-s-s-sir," he stammered, "K-k-k-kraken starboard."
Cursing the ancestors of his enemies, Oleg pointed to the aqualung swaying from its hook. "You better take care of it, Barnaclescraper. I still have to guide this boat to the Mother Land."
Nikolai silently pointed to himself with an incredulous, inquisitive look, but he obeyed his captain. He slipped the breathing apparatus over his head, giving him a comical appearance. Once the device was strapped on, the gnome waddled through the water toward the exterior hatch. Oleg barked out his name.
As Nikolai turned to address his captain, Oleg tossed a harpoon gun at him. He clumsily caught the heavy armament and staggered backward from the force. Oleg pulled a flask from his pocket and took a hard swig from it. "Be sure to shoot the bastard in the eye. I hear they don't like that."Any nautical inaccuracies can be chalked up to gnomish engineering and not author ignorance.
What is Red November?Red November is a cooperative game where the players assume roles as gnomes on a doomed submarine. The whole thing is falling apart, and you must survive long enough for the submarine to get to rescue. Everyone wins if the submarine survives, and everyone loses if everyone dies or the submarine is destroyed (which results in the former). Alternatively, someone could turn on the others at the last moment and abandon ship before it's destroyed. In this case, the coward wins if the submarine is destroyed, and he loses if the submarine makes it to the end.
How is the game played?This is a quasi-simultaneous mode of play where we track each player's position on the countdown. Moving from one part of the submarine to another takes time, and performing an action takes time. The more time you take, the more disasters are likely to happen. Then we move on to the person with the most remaining minutes and perform his turn. If you document all of the events, you may end up with weird time-warp effects like a gnome pumping out water before the compartment even springs a leak. Think of the submarine as being part TARDIS if you want.
How does this work in forum play?There are no secret hands. Die rolls and card flips are handled by me. Information will be presented in a Google Docs spreadsheet, including a crude map of the submarine (prototype forthcoming). As each card comes up, I'll be sure to include explanations of what they do. In order to ensure that players understand the consequences of their actions and to keep me honest, players should post their actions along with how much time they think elapses. One thing you don't want to do is to calculate that something would take you 6 minutes but be surprised that it's really 8 minutes.
This looks too hard. Count me out.The 1st-edition rulebook is pretty abstruse. I've been playing this game for years, and I only recently found out I've been doing two things wrong. You can look up rules summaries on
BGG. Those are much nicer to read.
One thing about
Red November is that it is reactionary. If nothing is going wrong, then you can be proactive by searching for items. For most of the game, however, you'll have a smorgasbord of disasters to fix. You won't even need to read much beyond the player aid. Where there may be some confusion, other players can give advice (they want to survive too!).
How many players does it take?Red November can take up to eight players. The game can still happen with fewer players.
I have a burning sensation when I urinateWhy are you telling me this? Go see a doctor.
Current player list:Qvist
Galzria
Theorel
Jorbles
Tables
Lekkit
Kuildeous
Poll
Author
Topic: Red November - Gnomes survived well done! (Read 42639 times)