Dissonance In Harmony – A Fiasco Actual Play

photo credit: Rusty Tanton

Last week, I once again had the pleasure of taking part in a game of Fiasco.  If you’re not familiar with the game, it’s an rpg from Bully Pulpit Games.  You can read my original review over here.

One of the greatest things about last week’s games was that I had the opportunity to introduce Fiasco to some new people.  When I say new, I mean that 3 of the 4 people I was playing with had never played the game before, and at least one was completely new to role-playing games.  I also mean that I had only ever met one of them before I walked in to start the game.  It’s always exciting to share something new, especially something that I already love, with others and watch them become immersed in it.

EDIT: Check out this review of the session from one of the players.

If anybody in the Myrtle Beach, SC area is interested in playing Fiasco, leave me a comment and I’ll try to set something up.

We chose the “…in a nice southern town” playset, since we all live in a “nice southern town.”

Leave me a comment and let me know what you think about our little Fiasco.

Harmony

Frank Benton and Carl Langford grew up together in the small town of Harmony, Georgia.  During their time at Harmony High School, they became legends of the gridiron, bringing a Georgia State Championship trophy to their hometown.  Frank, the star quarterback, and his sure-handed and fleet-footed wide receiver Carl, came back to Harmony after college and founded Harmony Real Estate.  As local entrepreneurs, they were instrumental in bringing business and industry back to Harmony after the closing of the town’s textile mill.  There is even talk of a new interstate highway coming to town, due in no small part to the efforts of these two pillars of the local community.

Jim McDaniels, like many local boys, grew up in the shadows of the town’s two great football heroes.  His time at Harmony High School was marked with discord.  When he squeaked through his senior year and earned his diploma, Jim left Harmony for the big city with few prospects and soon found himself in the seedy world of the porn industry.  Jim used the money from his “acting” career to fund his studies at a technical institute and learned the plumbing trade.  He eventually married a frequent co-star and sex partner and the two retired from the sex trade and returned to Harmony.  Back in town, Jim became active as a deacon at the local church.  He revitalized the youth group, spearheaded the renovation of the church’s old building downtown and helped others who were dealing with difficult issues in life, such as addiction.  When the church’s long-time pastor retired, Jim assumed the position and began preaching to the congregation.

One of the troubled youths who found the church and its charismatic new preacher was the somewhat simple-minded Cliff Mashburn.  Cliff is the son of the mayor, but ran into trouble when his sex addiction and porn obession began to take over his life.  Jim found Cliff in his time of greatest need, after the death of his beloved grandmother, and helped him begin to turn his life around.  Cliff’s father, eager to see his son become something other than a disgrace to the family name, gave Cliff a job as a town building code inspector.

Cliff’s nephew Wally Smalls is the owner of Harmony Hardware & Supplies.  He’s older than his simple-minded uncle and also the executor of the will after the family’s revered matriarch recently passed away.  In order to increase everyone’s share of the inheritance, Wally contacts local real estate mogul and town football legend Carl Langford, who helps him invest the money in a large plot of land.  Carl tells Wally that the interstate is soon going to be constructed along the edge of this investment property and gives Wally a great deal on the undeveloped tract.

Discord

It turns out that Jim, the former porn star turned preacher and plumber, is taking exorbitant payments from Frank Benton to make sure that the properties targeted for purchase by Frank and Carl’s Harmony Real Estate contain plumbing that is not up to code.  This way, Frank and Carl can purchase the properties well below market value.  Jim is blackmailing Frank with some compromising photos to guarantee that the land he is purchasing for his new church building, the site of the old textile mill, is going to be right alongside the interstate.  Frank uses his influence with the planning commission to ensure that the new highway is built on a route that will take it right past the new church site.

Jim takes advantage of the town’s new building code inspector to make sure that he fulfills his deal with Frank.  In the process, he teaches Cliff some things about plumbing, particularly the importance of the “flux capacitor” and the use of PVC.  He also reassures Cliff that nobody will ever find his old porn collection, which Jim now holds in safe-keeping, to keep the young man away from the temptations of Satan.  He encourages Cliff to donate his share of the family’s estate to the church so that the new building can be raised to great heights to the glory of God.

Cliff visits his older nephew Wally at Harmony Hardware and inquires about the state of the family’s money.  He needs his share soon, so that it can be given to help build the new church.  Wally reassures his younger uncle that the money is safe and everyone will be receiving their checks soon.

On Wednesday night, everyone gathers at the church for prayer and Bible study, and to see and be seen.  Mrs. Sneagle has made some of her special treats for everyone, along with the best coffee in Harmony.  Wally confronts Carl about the shady real estate deal.  He knows that there is no chance in hell that the worthless bottomland he purchased from Carl is going to be anywhere near the new interstate and he demands that Carl return the family’s money.  After a brief interruption by Pastor Jim, Wally and Carl carry their conversation out to the parking lot, where Carl agrees to give the money back to Wally with interest if Wally will agree to take care of a little problem for him.  Carl tells Wally that Pastor Jim, in his duties as a plumber, is somehow siphoning off large amounts of money working on plumbing for the real estate company and Carl wants it to stop.  He pushes Wally to agree to kill Jim in exchange for the money.  As Cliff approaches the pair, he overhears Carl telling Wally to use a woodchipper or whatever means necessary.

Cacophony

The next day, Frank finalizes the deal to get the interstate to run next to the old mill site and promises Jim that the land is his if only he will turn over the incriminating pictures.  Carl enlightens Frank on the benefits of selling the land to a tax-paying entity, since the pair have been receiving graft from the tax proceeds on their property sales.  Jim makes the rounds inviting people to a potluck dinner at the church, where he will unveil the location of the church’s new building.

Carl persuades Cliff to keep an eye on Jim when he is out doing his building inspections and report the plumber’s activities back to him.  On an inspection visit, Cliff finds out from Jim that the church youth group is doing a girl’s ski trip in a few months and decides that he wants to go along as a “chaperone.”  When Jim tells him that Frank is going to chaperone the trip, Cliff decides to get in good with Frank so that he can go along and spend time in the mountains with the girls.

Cliff continues to pester Wally for his share of the family money.  Even Cliff’s father, the mayor, pays Wally a visit to inquire about the state of the funds.  Wally decides that the only way out is to take part in Carl’s plan and kill Jim.  He contacts the pastor/plumber and arranges to arrive early to help set up the church fellowship hall for the potluck dinner that night.

Carl tells Frank of his plan to kill of their plumber and make sure that whoever buys the old mill site is a tax-paying corporation that is going to pay top dollar for the land, not a tax-exempt charity.  He admits to Frank that he has been working with an upscale resort that wants to build on the property and turn Harmony into a tourist destination.  Frank agrees to create a distraction and start a fire in some vacant sale properties near the railroad tracks to keep people away from the church until Wally has had time to dispatch Jim and dispose of the body.

While on an inspection, Cliff meets some prospective buyers who start asking him questions about the condition of the building’s plumbing.  When Cliff mentions the building’s two 80-gallon flux capacitors, they laugh at him and call him a retard, because “everybody knows there’s no such thing in plumbing as a flux capacitor.”  Cliff realizes that Jim has duped him and he goes to confront the the man who took his porn collection away from him to “save his soul.”

When Cliff arrives at Jim’s house, interrupting a bondage session between Mr. & Mrs. McDaniels, Jim continues to patronize Cliff and play him like a fiddle.  Cliff becomes angry and pulls out a gun, shooting him in the back as he tries to run away.  Jim falls over the porch railing and lands on his head in his wife’s flower garden.  Cliff panics and loads Jim’s body into the trunk of his care.  The only person he can trust his is nephew Wally.

When Wally learns what Cliff has done, and that Jim’s wife is a potential witness, he instructs Wally to get rid of the body and tells him to meet him at the lake after he takes care of Mrs. McDaniels.  Wally then calls Cliff to meet him at the lake with his money because the deed has been done.

Frank goes to the abandoned buildings down by the tracks to start the diversionary fire.

Wally arrives at Jim’s house and finds the preacher’s former porn star wife still in bondage.  He takes care of her, in more ways than one, and loads the body into his trunk.

On his way to the lake, Cliff hears thumping inside his trunk and pulls over.  On inspecting the trunk, he finds that Jim is still alive and sees his chance at redemption.  He calls in an anonymous tip to the local police that a murderer is disposing of bodies down at the lake.

Resolution

An officer on a routine patrol downtown sees a flashlight inside an abandoned building down by the tracks and finds Frank setting fire to the place.  He arrests Frank for arson and calls the fire department.

When Carl arrives at the lake with the money, Wally lets him look in the trunk.  When he only sees the body of Jim’s wife in the trunk, he turns to Wally, who has a gun pointed at his head.  Wally shoots Carl in the head and loads his body into the trunk of the car.  As he is preparing to roll the car into the lake, the police arrive and he is arrested for two counts of murder.

Cliff learns that Jim is paralyzed and helpless and will need someone to care for him for the rest of his life.  He takes credit for saving Jim from Wally’s murderous rampage and agrees to take care of Jim.  He takes the helpless former plumber/preacher home, recovers his old porn collection, along with Jim’s bondage toys, and has lots of fun taking care of his new, helpless housemate.