Season 9, Episodes 14-15 (Finale)

So here are the blurbs for the two final episodes of our ninth season (we played Episode 15 yesterday evening):

Episode 14: Thrall of the Rani

It is now time for Lady Penelope and Mortimus to return to N-Space and Avalon – with a prisoner (the Rani) and a potential ally (the War Chief). But the Rani has not played her last card yet. Imprisoned and helpless, Penelope and her companions must find a way to escape and free the regressed Tharils from the mysterious domination of the Rani…

Episode 15: The Trials of Time Lords

Lady Penelope has returned to Avalon – and now, the Rani and the War Chief must face the judgment of the new Lords of Time, with the Doctor acting as a reluctant supreme magistrate. One will be condemned, another will be spared – and a third one will sacrifice his life… Can past crimes be unwritten?  In the end, Time is the harshest judge of all. 

See you in a few temporal cycles for Season 10 of Lady Penelope's Odyssey!

Season 9, Episodes 11-13 + Season Update

So, we played Episode 13 yesterday evening - but it soon became evident (as I had more or less foreseen) that our Lords of E-Space sequence was not over yet, so we've decided to add a couple of episodes to this ninth season of Lady Penelope's Odyssey. And since we already did that for the previous season, it looks like each new season, from now on, will consist of fifteen episodes (as opposed to only thirteen) - which will allow me, as gamemaster, to always include at least one multi-episode story arc (not just the occasional two-parter but a sequence of three, four or even five directly-connected episodes) in each season.

Anyway, here are the blurbs for episodes 11-13. Episodes 12 and 13 formed a two-parter.

Episode 11: Keep of the Tharils

Long before the Time War, Lady Romana guided the Tharils on the paths of freedom and wisdom, making them the guardians of E-Space. As the War erupted, the Tharils began their long vigil, locked up in their cross-dimensional keep, waiting for a message from Gallifrey which never came. And now a new Time Lady is about to enter Warrior’s Gate…

Episode 12: Empire of the Three

As Tharil society wavers on the brink of civil war, the TARDIS takes Penelope and Mortimus to the Celestial Citadel, at the heart of the Empire of a Thousand Worlds which now rules over all E-Space. Here, they meet the young god-emperor Arius, his Mother (also known as the Rani) and his General (formerly known as the War Chief). To be continued…

Episode 13: Alea Jacta Est

Following her daring capture of the Rani, Lady Penelope returns to the Celestial Citadel to negotiate an unlikely but necessary status quo between the Tharils and the Empire of a Thousand Worlds. But how do you convince the godchild emperor of E-space and his Time Lord General to choose the way of peace and balance?  By improvising, of course!

Lastly, we've also agreed on a title for season 9: Time, Space & Beyond ("Beyond" as in E-space, alternate continuums etc.).   

Season 9, Episode 9-10

It's been more than three months since our last update - but it's now time to resume the ongoing story of the ninth season of Lady Penelope's Odyssey, with a two-parter set in an alternate 17th century which our Time Lady hadn't visited since season four...

Episode 9: Should Old Acquaintance be Forgot

The Time Lady decides to catch up with her dear friends Christopher Marlowe and Louise-Athénée, whom she has not seen in ages - three regenerations, actually. With a nostalgic Lord Ulysses at her side, Penelope returns to the alternate timeline of Reconquista and Lord of Misrule. A tale of absent friends and old acquaintances.  To be continued, of course.

Episode 10: The Banquet of Ashes
1606, Marlowe's alternate timeline. Penelope and her companions prepare to enter the secret vaults of the Vatican where their friend Louise-Athénée is imprisoned. Who is the mysterious Red Monk? Why is the heretic Giordano Bruno still alive? What sinister force manipulates the mind of Pope Victor IV?  A tale of secrets and lies, of old friends and old foes.

Like season eight, season nine will be given a title in restrospect (cannot think of one yet) - but can already be broken down into three distinct tiers of variable length:

First Tier: Travels with Trevark

Lady Penelope travels through space and time accompanied by the Neo-Time Lord-in-training Trevark, to help him complete his apprenticeship. 

9.01: City of Sighs
9.02: Tinker, Time Lord, Soldier, Spy
9.03: Days of Empire
9.04: "I am a Gallifreyan"
9.05: Last of the Mentors
9.06: Interesting Times

Second Tier: Returns & Reunions

Each of the following episode features the return of (or a reunion with) former companions of either the Doctor or Lady Penelope herself.

9.07: Stolen Pasts
9.08: Saving Zoe
9.09: Should Old Acquaintance be Forgot
9.10: The Banquet of Ashes


The third and final tier will be called (spoilers!) Lords of E-Space. See you soon on the other side of a CVE!

Bureau des Affaires Extraordinaires (2)

I will soon have the pleasure of launching the second season of my other DWAITAS campaign, Le Bureau des Affaires Extraordinaires, set in 1900 Paris (see this previous post for more details about the main characters and the historical background). 

Since we don’t get to play as often as with the one-on-one Lady Penelope’s Odyssey, I’ve decided that each season of the Bureau will comprise four episodes – think of it as a returning mini-series J. So here are the blurbs for the first season.

Season 1: Fin de Siècle

Le Bal des Ardents: All over Paris, people are going out in flames!  The agents of the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs investigate these mysterious spontaneous combustions – and end up uncovering a psychic alien infestation which could threaten the whole planet. Paris brûle-t-il?

Le Fantôme de l’Opéra: Mysterious phenomena are disrupting the rehearsals and performances at the glorious Opéra de Paris. Could there be a resident Phantom – just like in the famous-but-yet-unwritten novel?  Our heroes are sent to investigate, pour l’amour de l’art.

The Praetorians: Investigating Aunt Cordelia’s mysterious disappearance, our heroes uncover the mad schemes of the Baron d’Arcier, armaments magnate and personal enemy of Philippine – and face his invincible praetorian guard of Cybermen! Légion étrangère, indeed.

History In Motion: While the Parisian Universal Exhibition of 1900 is going in full swing, our heroes are trying to track down the partially cyber-converted Baron d’Arcier, now known as the Baron d’Acier. And they must act quickly, for History itself is hanging in the balance…

At the conclusion of this first season, the historical background of the campaign gave way to a full-blown continuum divergence, resulting in the following uchronia: after the Président de la République succumbed to a cardiac arrest, French government fell into the hands of Général de la Hire, after what was essentially a legal military coup and the Universal Exhibition came to an abrupt (and very symbolic) end. France now prepares itself to enter the new century under the auspices of war and steel. 

As for the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs (a government-sanctioned organization à la Torchwood), our heroes were first tempted to “go rogue” – but finally decided to stay on. Whatever the 20^th century holds in store, someone has to protect Paris (and the planet) from the unknown menaces of the Rift…  Not to mention the fact that Aunt Cordelia, their mentor from the future, has disappeared. Could she (and her whole timeline) have been erased from existence by the temporal divergence?

As they say in Torchwood: Everything Changes…

Season 9, Episode 8

Episode 8: Saving Zoe

Whatever happened to Zoe Heriot? Did she stay on Space Station W3? Did she survive Earth’s war against the Cybermen? Did she recover her stolen memories, like Jamie did?  Has her life been changed forever by the echoes of the Time War and the vicissitudes of History? Of course, the answers are never quite the ones you expect…

The ninth season of Lady Penelope's Odyssey is now taking a short break, before the final 4-5 episodes run... See you in a few weeks!

Season 9, Episodes 5-7

Lady Penelope's Odyssey goes on...

Episode 5: Last of the Mentors

The Myriad of Aldebaran: a bustling, cosmopolitan alliance of worlds, hundreds of intelligent species, a culture of ethno-diversity, fascinating business ethics… and no humans in sight for 900 years or so. Or at least this is how it should be… Can the Time Lady put history back on track and save the Myriad from the machinations of the Last Mentors?

Episode 6: Interesting Times

China, October 1901. In the wake of the Boxer Rebellion, Lady Penelope and Trev come to Peking to deliver a very important letter from Professor George Litefoot to a mysterious woman. A purely historical episode – with a lot of drama, some difficult decisions and a bit of danger too. A tale of troubled times, family affairs and unexpected futures.

Episode 7: Stolen Pasts

Her quest for time sensitives takes Penelope to the Scottish Highlands, twenty-one years after the Battle of Culloden. As secret plans are being hatched and old debts are about to be repaid, tragedy looms on the horizon for the last highlanders… A tale of changing times and erased memories, featuring the return of a very different Jamie McCrimmon.

Season 9, Episodes 1-4

I'm talking, of course, about the ninth season of Lady Penelope's Odyssey (what else?). No season title, yet - we'll see this once the season is over. If all goes according to plan, this season should be structured into three arcs of 4-5 episodes each. We've played episode 4 yesterday evening, completing the first arc. The common underlying theme of these episodes was continuity: dealing with memories, facing the consequences of past events and making new choices. One last note: the basic plot of episode 3 was inspired by the Torchwood audioplay Golden Age (but with different characters and consequences).

Episode 1: City of Sighs

Venice, July 1825 – a city of sighs and shadows, of bygone dreams and Byronic nostalgia… Who knows what terrible vision lurks beneath the dark waters of Venice? It is now time to look below the surface and behind the masks. A tale of two cities, of white masks and black stars, featuring the return of Lady Penelope’s oldest arch-enemies, the Porphyrs of Carcosa.

Episode 2: Tinker, Time Lord, Soldier, Spy

As Torchwood and UNIT are locked in a major crisis, Penelope crosses the path of Professor Andrea Millington, 22 years after their last, dramatic encounter – and the former pawn of Fenric is now following her own hidden agenda. A tale of loyalty, suspicion and cooperation. Featuring the third death and final sacrifice of Torchwood agent Yvonne Hartman.

Episode 3: Days of Empire

Her search for a time sensitive takes Lady Penelope to the city of New Delhi, where she soon discovers that the golden days of the colonial Raj have left some very living ghosts behind them. More than 90 years after its official demise, Torchwood India is still here – or is it?  For some, the empire never fell –and the present must pay the price for the past.

Episode 4: “I am a Gallifreyan”

Back on Avalon, Lady Penelope must deal with the consequences of the New Delhi Incident – including the traumatic regeneration (or is this a retro-generation?) of her current travelling companion, the Time-Lord-in-training known as Trevor. A tale about identity, empathy and change - oh, did I forget to mention the TARDIS’ ultimate secret?