fromthegreytavern

[fromthegreytavern]

Una Vez en Durango: Cartel Campaign Diary Part 0

CW: references to weaponry, drug trafficking, law enforcement, violence

Background

I have been wanting to run Cartel for ages. I'm not sure that I have ever read, ran, or played a game that so effectively uses its mechanics to not only push the story forward in new and interesting ways but also to give the MC and players all the tools they need to engage with a new setting and perhaps even a new genre.

Speaking of a new genre, Cartel is a narcofiction RPG, plain and simple. The player characters find themselves in the year 2007 in the city of Victoria de Durango, Durango, MX, a vibrant city both filled with and surrounded by interesting locations (54 of which come included in the location deck!). This setting allows for a rich open world with plenty of inspiration to pull from, but also plenty of gaps to fill in during play, and the early 2000's setting means that all of your favorite Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul tropes are on the table -- no flip phone is safe from being angrily snapped in half after being used as a burner phone!

Like any Powered by the Apocalypse game, the game mechanics are meant to be reactive, with rolls being called for as the triggers described in the moves occur in play and this game's set of moves very easily covers many of the actions that unfortunate souls caught in La Guerra Antidrogas would find themselves doing often such as "justifying their behavior", "straining their finances", or, my personal favorite, "getting fucking shot" (I know how that sounds but it's just a really well-written move).

In addition, these mechanics tell you what kind of game this is: a melodrama about the complicated and messy lives of those who are unlucky and/or foolish enough to find themselves caught up in the Drug War. This differs greatly from the procedural, heist-based gameplay of games like Blades in the Dark. This game isn't interested in how El Narco's crew managed to take down a rival gang's warehouse. Cartel is much more interested in how the grizzled Sicario that led the op is going to explain to his Esposa why he came home at 3 AM with clothes covered in blood and a hastily stitched knife wound, or how the Polizeta is going to explain to his partner where the giant bag of cash in the trunk came from.

But enough about the game itself! Let's get to the good stuff!

The Setup

I am running this campaign for two very good friends of mine who are helping me practice running the game. I normally prefer a minimum of 3 players in my games, and honestly, the game is designed for around 4, but these two are great players with a great dynamic and I knew they'd be up to the task!

We began with a brief discussion about what the game is and what it isn't, much like what you see above. We've played games together many times in the past, so instead of a detailed discussion of player safety, we opted for a reminder that safety tools are there to be used and that though this is a game that handles difficult subject matter, our comfort comes first. If you decide to run or play Cartel in the future, I highly recommend a thorough discussion of lines and veils as it is very easy for things to get dark and gritty fast in this game! It works as intended!

The Characters

After a bit of discussion, my players landed on the El Narco and La Sicaria playbooks. A perfect match for a two-person game! One of my favorite storylines in television is the relationship between Mike Ehrmantraut and Gustavo Fring in both Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul so I am more than excited to see how these two characters' relationship evolves.

Our Narco is named Alfonso de la Rosa aka "El Fénix." De la Rosa is a sensible, practical man that puts business before anything else, except perhaps his family and his ambition. He received his plaza from the Sinaloa Cartel after methodically chipping away at the territory of his predecessor who is now enjoying a peaceful convalescence in a local retirement home -- and before you ask, no, he doesn't have a bell and he is in excellent health for his age. Alfonso promised the cartel big things: bigger profits, smaller losses, secure passage for their product across the border, and even more valuable than that, a secure, high-volume facility on the US side of the border. His secret weapon to accomplish these lofty promises? His trucking company: El Presidente Camionaje. His company already sends hundreds of trucks across the border every month, what's a little extra cargo ¿sabes?

In Cartel you primarily gain XP by acting according to tus llaves -- your keys, which are principles that guide your character in moments of uncertainty. Alfonso's keys are Familia and Paranoia which means that he's going to be testing his employees' loyalty and protecting his family by any means necessary; however, should he not follow these principles and let preventable harm come to his family, or should he expose a betrayal, he'll clear these keys, finding new principles to guide him and gaining an advancement a la vez.

El Narco is a special playbook. Unlike the others, he doesn't get many additional moves after character creation, but the ones he does have are powerful and make up core parts of the game.

The first of these is La Plaza, a move that defines what Alfonso's operation looks like and what its problems are. These details help create the starting situation of the campaign and give me as the MC plenty of ammunition to make sure no one gets too comfortable -- it's a war after all.

Alfonso's Plaza is based around his trucking business and reflects his all-business attitude. He has halcones along all of his smuggling routes giving him greater control over his territory and a reputation for brutality meaning that anyone estúpido enough to cross him better have good insurance. Mechanically this lets him use a different stat to pressure someone into following along with his wishes. As a businessman, Alfonso plans for the future, which is why instead of having to deal with untrained pendejos as his enforcers, he has a crew with military training, matones bien cabrones. Because most of his money goes into the business, Alfonso lives a modest but stable lifestyle, with some luxuries, but it's no hacienda. He doesn't mind though, Alfonso enjoys his privacy, which is why he also chose to be anonymous, reducing his heat stat to 0.

Of course, that's not to say he lives la vida perfecta, everyone's got problems, and the more power he gains, the more problems he'll have. Like any criminal enterprise, Alfonso has problems with los federales. Though generally well-behaved (so long as they receive their compensation), los federales can't have narcos conducting business in the open, so he'll have to be careful. To make things worse, there's a mole in the operation (maybe Alfonso's paranoia isn't so loco after all)! This means he's got problems, and he doesn't even know with whom! Could be los federales, but with all his activity near the border he may be dealing with something far worse: los gringos. Lastly, things haven't been running so smoothly lately and word on the street is that there's a new gang in town looking to seize control of the city. Pretty soon it'll be an all-out war, guerra en las calles güey, and that's bad for business.

That brings us to our second player character Tiburón Tejada, El Sicario. La Sicaria is a playbook all about the conflicts that surround the messy business of wetwork. Not only that, the Sicarix that you make left the business once, but now they're back. Must not be muy inteligente ¿no? Tiburón left the business after his former employer got sloppy. He's careful, antisocial, and all business, with a distinct lack of moral fiber to rival Anton Chigurh. Besides, if you don't have friends, no one can stab you in the back ¿sabes? In fact, that's how he's survived this long. His work is his life. No friends, no family, no drama. Only joking there's still plenty of drama, but you'll have to wait til the Session 1 diary for that chisme.

Tiburon's llaves are Indomitable and Duty, meaning that he'll get XP whenever he completes assignments for el jefe or when he proves just how much of a diablo he is by taking on his enemies outmanned and outgunned. He can clear these keys by surrendering to his enemies or by making a move against the goals of his employer, Alfonso. For his moves, Tiburón has been in the game for a long time, he's as savage as they come, knows how to read a tense situation, and despite not getting out much, he's got a bit of a reputation. Everyone knows to keep an eye out for tiburones in the water -- and that they can smell blood a mile away.

Any half-decent Sicario knows that preparation is key and that there's a right tool for every job. He's got tracking devices, a police scanner, and a silencer, as well as body armor, and his signature weapons include a sniper rifle, shotgun, submachine gun, and a fireman's axe. I can't wait to see how he uses that.

The Ties that Bind: Enlaces

Between the two characters' llaves and El Narco's problemas we already have quite the game, but we're not quite done yet. Cartel is a game about messy, complicated relationships that divide the player characters and push them into conflict, so let's talk about our supporting cast.

Z-36: Alfonso's contact with the Sinaloa Cartel. A casual, clean-cut ranchero who always comes to visit with a smile on his face and cigarros y tequila in hand, but this güey is ex-special forces and doesn't tolerate tardiness, so Alfonso better pay his dues -- and live up to his promesas.

Gabriel Santiago de la Rosa Molina: Known colloquially as el Hijo or el Principito, Gabriel is Alfonso's son. He's young and hungry to prove himself, but so far has been stuck driving trucks to the border. Once upon a time, he fucked up, bad, but thankfully Tiburón was there to help him clean up the mess -- and keep it a secret from his papá.

Yenifer Molina Castro: Known as la Reina among the enforcers, she's Alfonso's wife. She also happens to be a veterinarian at la Veterinaria "Fido", who ends up patching up as many wounded narcos as she does family pets. She is extremely put together, never a hair out of place, but with a youthful energy that is one of the few sources of joy in Alfonso's life.

Alberto "Beto" Francisco: He's a lower-level lieutenant that handles Alfonso's local dealers. He's super charming and genuine and lights up a room. Unfortunately for him, his take keeps coming up short and Alfonso is sure he's up to something.

Ramón el Bautista: He used to run things in Durango, but not anymore, not after Alfonso took it from him. But he's reached the point in his life that few narcos ever reach: retirement. He's content to live out the rest of his days in his retirement home, watching his novelas, but that doesn't mean his familia feels the same...

Wrap-up

So that brings us to the end of Session 0! With plenty of pieces on the board and loose threads to pull these characters are under high pressure and things are about to explode! Next time we'll recap the first session and talk some more about this fantastic game.

I hope that you have enjoyed this entry! If you would like to take a look at any of the things mentioned in this blog links are below, and if you have any questions or comments drop them in the ask section! Until next time, I leave you with a song! ¡Cuídense y hasta luego!

Links

Cartel Victoria de Durango, Durango, MX Powered by the Apocalypse Blades in the Dark Anton Chigurh

[fromthegreytavern]

Hello! Welcome to From the Grey Tavern.

I’m going to be using this blog to create campaign diaries for the games I run, as I have time to do so (woo dissertation writing!). This will include narrative summaries of each session with the addition of commentary about the process and planning of each game.

Also as a note, this is a bilingual blog! Both English and Spanish will be used, but you’ll mostly see Spanish when I’m running games that lend themselves to it like Cartel by Magpie Games or Nahual by Smoking Mirror Productions.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy these humble tales From the Grey Tavern!