Ok, Resistance event 1, The brief was we were the lowest of the low, doing the jobs that no one else would do, shovelling S**t or scraping algae those sort of things. You work a straight 27 days then get 3 days rest and relaxation. The event occurred during the three-day break and was set in an area of the city known as the "Traps" movement around the City is controlled by means of the Hubs and these can only be operated by trained people, you guessed it, no player is trained.

The church controls the City and they disseminate all news, most people can't read anyway. The church pays for their own knights and ensures they are well equipped and trained. Then you have the Inquisition, they train their soldiers even more highly and if they know your name you're probably not coming back.

Time in sees us lining up in two work crews in one of the tunnels under the fort (excellent location) ready to be lead to a central rest room/area. We arrive and are issued with our afternoon ration token, (the be all and end all of currency in Sanctuary City.)
The central rest room was run by a 'lady' called Nancy and her "friends" Billy and Carl, between them they could get you just about anything you wanted if you had enough ration tokens. On starting the game you have very few skills and only a few experience points but if you can find somebody with a skill you want they can train you. This isn't a simple matter of saying, "I can teach this skill if you have the exp....ok you have the skill."  But rather paying whatever fee the trainer set (usually an extortionate amount of ration tokens) then spending time in game practising before you gain the ability. For example two of us were learning to be healers and during the course of our study one of us stabbed himself with a needle repeatedly while the other sowed himself to a tablecloth! (We all make mistakes while learning.)

The atmosphere is dark and oppressive, those in charge have weapons and armour we had knives and some wore furs. They treat you like scum because you are scum and the laws of the City are brutal (see www.resistancelrp.com downloads for rules etc)

During the course of the event we were given the opportunity to earn bonus ration tokens by doing some extra work for various people. Like recapturing a "purge beast" (Very big Gribbly with teeth that kills) for the church, getting a book for the masters of some mysterious little man with bad eyeliner and then the thing that really put the downer on us, investigating a derelict area of the City for the church. We were sent through a Hub by an operator and arrived at an open area where two strange creatures that caused us to feel utter despair appeared to be guarding an odd cube carved with four faces. After much deliberation, a little blood shed and some head scratching the cube was activated and we were presented with an avatar of a god, in fact he said he was from the god of Hope and he wanted to pass on his learning to four people......um...time to leave me thinks or else we could become guests of the Inquisition.

We eventually returned from that place, having seen a pillar of black fire strike down and destroy the remnants of the old church, very closed mouthed, admitting nothing and fearing a death sentence. Well that was the beginning of the end for us as we realised that our area of the Traps had been declared a plague zone. The church response was to withdraw all their people and all the normal guards without giving any warning to the public (well we are the lowest of the low) and then releasing a number of purge beasts into the area. The beasts are immune to pretty much everything and just kill and eat whatever they find. This left us, the players trying to find out if any of the friends we had made could get us out. Some could, some couldn't and everyone else was on their own.

Good Points: 1.The City felt like a real place.

                  2.The site (Fort Widley, a Napolionic Fort squatting above Portsmouth) lent itself superbly to the event.

                  3.The Crew and DT worked incredibly hard and did a fantastic job.

                  4. The small player team, there were only 18 of us, and I understand that player numbers are going to be kept low to keep the oppressive atmosphere, we were outnumbered by the crew at this event and it felt like it.

                  5. The set locations, some areas were dressed above and beyond...like Big Toni's Den and the Crypts.

Bad Points: 1. Can't think of any off the top of my head

All in all it was an excellent first event with very few tweaks required. The DT and crew provided a dark and atmospheric setting that hit the nail on the head for me. The random arrests and questionings, the search for magic of any sort (which is outlawed) made it feel real. Combat is lethal and as there are only two qualified players who can stop you bleeding to death it is to be avoided if possible.

Can't wait for event 2 (25th-27thMay), hope to see you there!