Solo Tabletop Actual Play – Little Town Part Three

Little Town
Designed & Written by Gustavo Coelho

You can purchase this game here.

Read part two here. 

For this second chapter, I decided to pick a character introduced in the last session and continue the story from their perspective. The one I settled on is Richard Robertson, the father of Liza, the girl who is currently in a coma after being struck by a car after she ran wildly out of the Twin Rivers State Park late one night. I knew he had secrets when I introduced him last session but didn’t flesh them out until this one. Rolling on the book’s table told me he had two, and I tied them both to his profession as a psychiatrist: 1) he’s currently having an affair with Lucy Hayward, one of his patients, and 2) he’s become an addict, and because this takes place in 1996, his drug of choice is OxyContin which had been seen as a miracle narcotic upon its release in 1995. Being an incredibly flawed & complicated character is more interesting to play than some perfect golden boy type.

Scene 1 – Time Limit 8
Location: City Hall, Morning
Scene Event roll: Roll on the Investigation Progress table
Investigation Progress roll: You notice someone talking about the Case. Roll “Defy Danger” to try to eavesdrop: if you succeed, roll a Rumor.”

Richard walks through Bright Hills City Hall to renew his business license with papers in hand. His mind is buzzing with many things: his crumbling marriage, his daughter’s condition, his secret affair, his growing dependency on the pills, and the guilt associated with it all. He’s pulled out of his thoughts as he passes the reception desk in the front lobby. Douglas, the Talbot’s Department Store manager, is leaning on the desk chatting with the receptionist. Richard stops to tie his shoe and casually eavesdrops.

(Defy Danger + Presence – Strong Hit.)

(Roll for Rumor: An underground tunnel under the Town Hall connects the current Town to the original Town.)

“She was probably in those tunnels shooting up dope or sumthin’,” Douglas says in a half-whisper. “You know how these kids are. Not like when we were growin’ up.”

“Mmmhmm,” the receptionist responds. “You have got *that* right.” She briefly touches the cross necklace she’s wearing.

“They should brick up both ends one a’these nights while all the children are down there.” Douglas laughs cruelly. “I bet that’d get them off the smack right quick.” The receptionist joins in with his nasty laugh.

Richard straightens up and steps over, grabbing Douglas on the shoulder. “Exactly; who are you talking about, Douglas?”

The other man’s back stiffens for a moment, and he turns around; both Douglas and the receptionist are shocked for a moment. Richard watches as the department store manager’s face melts into a look of spite. 

“I think you know exactly who I was talkin’ a-bout, ‘Doc.’ How are those pills treatin’ ya these days?” Douglas shines his smugness at Richard, who sinks a little and backs away. The rumors of his addiction are getting around, likely because of that blabbermouth at the pharmacy. 

Richard catches his reflection in the glass of the door as he exits. Dark circles ring his eyes, and their white are branched with bloodshot veins. While Douglas’ words sting because of a lot of the truth in them, Richard also wonders if he isn’t right that the tunnels are real and have something to do with what has happened.

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Scene 2 – Time Limit 7
Location: Motel (outside city limits), Night
Scene Event roll: Roll on the Investigation Progress table
Investigation Progress roll: You see a suspect at the Location. If you wish (and need) to follow them, roll “On Someone’s Tail.”

Richard finishes buttoning up his dress shirt as Lucy still lays in bed. He asked her to meet him at the EZ Motor Lodge outside of town. It’s autumn, so few people stay here like there would be during the summer when campers flock to the nearby state park. The man at the counter keeps to himself so Richard doesn’t have to worry about rumors.

There’s minimal talk between Richard and Lucy. He can feel the weight of her wanting to say something, to make a declaration. He can project a wall that stops her, though. But this makes the room feel like a pit of quicksand; pulling them under, he moves a little quicker to head home. “You’ll call me when you get home?” Lucy asks. Richard mumbles a noise in the affirmative. 

A movement a few yards outside the front window. The curtains are slightly parted, and Richard steps forward to get a better look. He spots Alex Reynolds, Liza’s boyfriend, sliding into the front seat of his car. There’s someone in the passenger’s seat, but over half the lights are burnt out, and Richard can’t discern any details. He immediately wonders why Alex would be so far out of the city this late at night and at the motor lodge. Shoes slip on quickly; Richard kisses Lucy ‘goodbye’ on the forehead and gets into his car as he watches Alex take a left and drive back towards Bright Hills.

(On Someone’s Tail – rolled 3 – a Miss)

Richard has never tailed someone before and tries to hang back to avoid being noticed. Momentary panic rises, and he goes a little faster, hoping this doesn’t appear strange if Alex even notices him at all. The road becomes curvier, and Richard tries to keep up but eventually loses sight of Alex after they go down a gravel path. Richard stops, turning up his headlights and peering into the darkness. A sudden knock on the driver’s window makes him jump. Alex stands with his arms crossed, and Richard rolls down his window.

“Why were you following me, Mr. Robertson?”

(Sweet Talk – rolled an 8 – Weak Hit)

“Is that you, Alex?” Richard feigns surprise. “I was just coming home from a conference in Nashville. I must have lost my concentration and just followed whoever was in front of me.” He smiles and chuckles to try and cut the tension.

Alex doesn’t let it show if he believes him. “Sorry for the confusion,” he tells Richard. Walks back to his car, the gravel crunching under his Reeboks, and gets back in the car. Richard sees the dome light come on, hoping he can glimpse the passenger, but the shadow of the woods obscures them. Richard has to back out first, and once they are on the main road, Alex peels off, and Richard decides to let him go rather than risk further suspicion.

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Scene 3 – Time Limit 6
Location: Talbot’s Department Store, Afternoon
Scene Event roll: Roll on the Random Event table – Draw a Single Event card
Investigation Progress roll: You get the news that a suspect has been murdered

Richard forgot to call Lucy when he got home last night and was greeted by an angry message on his office answering machine when he woke up. Now he’s attempting to patch things up so shallowly, even he will admit that. He’s looking over the selection at the perfume counter in Talbot’s, trying to remember Lucy’s scent to find a match. Liza’s friend, Lily, walks over the counter, her Talbot’s name tag displaying her name. Richard remembers their awkward encounter when she stopped by the other day, but there is no tension; Lily smiles at him in a welcoming way.

Her behavior becomes strange, sultry & seductive if Richard had to put a label on it. It’s off-putting from a teenage girl and his daughter’s best friend. Richard tries to ignore it and redirects the conversation to her thoughts on the various perfumes for sale. Richard asks her about the last time she saw Lily and if she noticed anything that might explain what happened.

(Interrogate – rolled a 3 – Miss)

Lily begins changing the subject now, preferring to discuss the perfume selection. They are interrupted by Douglas, who has a grave look. He briefly acknowledges Richard before gently placing a hand on Lily’s shoulder. 

“Oh honey,” he begins. “You know how my sister works at the high school, right? Well, she just texted me now… it’s so terrible. They found Alex Reynolds in his car a few hours after school let out. He wasn’t breathing. So terrible.”

Lily’s sultry demeanor melts, but not into the sadness and tears Richard would have expected. She becomes very neutral and cold. Nodding her head as Douglas blubbers on. Richard excuses himself, internally reeling from the news of his daughter’s boyfriend overdosing in the school parking lot. Somehow he makes his way to his car and drives back home. Thoughts of the previous night’s encounter and the stranger in Alex’s car linger with him.

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Scene 4 – Time Limit 7
Location: Bright Hills Police Department, Afternoon
Scene Event roll: no roll

Richard is the unofficial official psychiatrist for the men & women in Bright Hills PD, so the next day, he visits under the guise of checking in with Sheriff Moore about the officers. He’s told to wait in Moore’s office, and as he does, Richard scans the room for anything that might hint if they know more than they let on about Liza or Alex’s death.

(Investigate – rolled an 8 – Weak Hit)

(Clue: A note. Someone prevents me from taking the message.)

Richard notices a handwritten note sitting on a folder on Moore’s desk. Craning his neck, Richard sees the note is from Lily to Alex. There are brown stains that Richard thinks may be dried blood. Sheriff Moore enters before he can read its contents, and the psych feigns just waiting to speak to him.

Moore says he’s glad Richard came in and starts discussing the Alex Reynolds investigation. Moore explains that they are casting a wide net regarding suspects and that he has put Richard on that list. The sheriff clarifies that this is because of Liza & Alex’s connection and her current state, “Some people might think the girl’s father blamed the boyfriend and did something to him. But don’t worry too much about it, Richard, just something we have to check off the list.” Richard learns that Alex’s cause of death has been determined, an overdose of OxyContin.

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Scene 5 – Time Limit 8
Location: Frost Memorial Hospital, Night
Scene Event roll: no roll

Richard sits at Liza’s bedside, machine beeping, and humming as they monitor her life signs. The doctor said she’s very stable, and they can’t determine why she is still in a coma. Everything indicates that Liza could wake up at any moment. Richard holds her hand in his, still so small. A sense of guilt washes over him, admitting to himself that he hadn’t been paying enough attention to her. It was easy to take a kid like Liza for granted, she was someone you never really had to worry about, probably having her life more figured out at seventeen than he had at any point in his life.

What if he had tried to pick her up when she closed at the Tip Top Diner? She wouldn’t be here in this hospital bed if he had. But no, he was too busy fucking around with Lucy and popping pills to forget the world. He lets the tears come, joining the chorus of the machines. Heavy sobs, chest heaving with them, whispered apologies to his daughter, hoping she could hear and feel the sincerity.

Richard mulls over the things that have happened recently: Liza’s accident, the hospital fire, seeing Alex at the motel, Lily’s strange behavior at the store, and Alex’s death. He can feel something is changing about Bright Hills, but maybe it’s been this way forever; he’s just seeing it for the first time. Life feels so broken, and Richard realizes he can’t imagine the future anymore, just a series of days he exists inside, chained to the next. He tells himself he must tell Lucy it’s over, and the pills must stop. A squeeze of Liza’s hand and Richard heads back home.

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Scene 6 – Time Limit 8
Location: Rosemont Cemetery, Morning
Scene Event roll: Draw a danger card
Danger: You realize you are being followed. Return this card to the pile and shuffle.

Richard didn’t attend Alex’s funeral. He knew there was talk of his possible involvement, just like Sheriff Moore said, people speculating that the distraught father of Liza may have done something to her boyfriend. He does stop by a few days later to visit Alex’s grave and pay his respects. He doesn’t believe the boy had anything to do with what has happened to his daughter and imagines Alex’s parents are probably reeling in a way he can only imagine. He stands there looking at the freshly turned earth, a headstone not yet installed but soon, wishing he could have asked Alex more questions.

The hair stands on the back of his neck, and Richard feels eyes on him. There’s a figure standing near a cluster of trees. Too far away for him to say for sure who it is.

(Intimidate – rolled a 7 – Weak Hit)

Richard is tired of feeling like he’s scrambling to understand what is happening and aggressively approaches the figure. He confronts them only to find it’s Lily. She grins, which makes his stomach flop, and fear floods his body. “You don’t have to worry, Mr. Robertson. It’s lovely of you, visiting Alex’s grave and all.”

“Why are you here, Lily?” Richard demands. 

She looks to the ground, mulling over his question but not losing that grin. “I just love seeing what you get up to.”

Lily steps forward and touches his chest. Richard shoves her hand away.

“Don’t you worry, Mr. Robertson. I won’t tell anyone about the bottle of Oxys hidden in Alex’s closet. You know, Liza seemed to be very good at sneaking them out of your stash without you ever noticing.” Lily turns back toward her family car, parked by the curb. Richard stands in stunned silence. Was he talking to Lily or someone else?

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Scene 7 – Time Limit 9
Location: Robertson Home, Night, Rain pouring down
Scene Event roll: Draw a danger card
Danger: A criminal has escaped from the psychiatric hospital. Roll a secondary Case.

Richard didn’t come home immediately; he only had one patient and rescheduled for next week. He just needed to drive. For some reason, he stayed away from the west side of town, wanting to keep his distance from Twin Rivers. When he pulls up to his house, a storm has rolled in, and rain is pouring down. Lucy Hayward’s car is parked on the street; he can see her sitting inside. Richard also notes his wife’s car is in the driveway, and the lights are on inside the house. He pulls into the driveway and then runs to Lucy’s car getting in the passenger’s seat, drenched from the rain in just a few seconds.

“What the hell are you doing here, Lucy?” he asks. 

Lucy scoffs. “Hello to you too, asshole.”

“You know this is self-destructive behavior. What are you doing right now?” Richard speaks up.

Lucy casts a glare at him. “Oh, no, you’re my psychiatrist. Funny how you switch hats whenever it’s convenient to you.”

(Sweet Talk – rolled a 10 – Strong Hit)

Richard takes a breath. “I’m sorry, Lucy. I just…things have been extra difficult these last couple of days. I am sorry that I have been in touch. That was not fair to you.”

Her glare softens.

“I don’t think now is the correct time to have this conversation. We will find time this week to talk about…us and what we’re doing. I need to go inside, get cleaned up, and finish my day. You do, too, okay?”

Lucy accepts. “Fine. I will call you tomorrow morning. Get out of the car.”

Richard acquiesces, and Lucy drives off. Instead of going inside, he enters his office in the apartment around the back of the house. He pours a drink and sits down in the darkness. The sound of the rain patters against the roof. He switches on the television. After a few minutes of commercials, News Channel 5 at 10pm comes back on. Chris Clark, the anchor, begins a story about an escape at Moccasin Creek Mental Institution for the Criminally Insane earlier this evening. An inmate named John Taylor Williams got outside the institution’s grounds after a door was left unlocked. The story continues that Williams was sent to Moccasin Creek five years ago after he murdered his mother. The public is advised to stay away from Williams if they see him (an image of the man is flashed up on the screen) and to immediately notify authorities if they see him.

Richard sits in stunned silence before getting up and going to his filing cabinets. He pulls out a folder labeled “Williams, Jonathan Taylor” and sets it down on his desk, taking another sip, unsure whether to open it yet and remember what happened all those years ago.

Cut to the storm raging in the Twin Rivers woods. Williams is pushing through the brush, stumbling once and getting up caked in mud. He’s wearing his clothes from the institution, which are not meant for these conditions. Williams pushes through some bushes and emerges into a clearing, stopping in his tracks. Yards away is a cabin with a light on in the window. He grew up in this area and doesn’t remember anything about a cabin in the park. 

Williams approaches and finds the door unlocked. He finds it warm and dry inside; a fire crackles in the fireplace. But someone else is here already. A person sits in a rocking chair by the fire. They stop rocking and turn to face their visitor. It is the strange woman who warned Lily outside the school, still dressed in her clothing from a long time ago.

“You look a-fright, John Taylor. Come sit by the fire, dry off. We have so much to talk about.”

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So, if you read this far, what do you think? Should I continue this series using the Little Town tabletop RPG? Let me know in the comments.