And now we’re off to the races (although not the street races, that happens much later).
JAKE THE JACKAL IS HERE! One of my all-time favorite Art characters and – honestly – one of my all-time favorite FatT characters period. Jake instantly feels like a fully-fleshed out character, Art has a bunch of mannerisms and “flavor” ready to go, and he’s a fun, very physical presence. Probably overthinking it, but it’s interesting to contrast Jake (and Hadrian, etc.) with Uncle Nicky, who even now several arcs into Perpetua I still don’t really feel like I have a great handle on as a character. Things like backstory and motivations have been gestured to, but it’s still not really coming together for me. I like Nicky as a character and Art as a player (I think I honestly align pretty closely with Art when I’m playing games), so it’s not a big problem, but I find myself reflecting on it especially when there Nicky seems to be least fleshed-out of the PCs so far. Which was, again, thrown in sharper relief via Jake.
Also a great Ali character, with some hysterically funny moments of roleplaying as she tries to girlboss her way through things.
Sylvi really knocks it out of the park on this one too! Like Art with Jake, immediate strong characterization, leaning into the dice to tell parts of the story, and having some excellently timed comedic beats (like stealing the “World’s Greatest Dad” hat!).
Another duo of great Austin opening monologues featuring Hector Hu himself, who casts a long shadow over the remaining arcs of season 1. And Austin’s clearly having a blast playing Millennium Black.
Chip Directly and Cash4Coats is an all-timer of a bit, absolutely had to stifle some laughter at that one.
I also really like InSpectres as a system for the way it incorporates the limited cutaways, which allow for some hysterically funny moments that the players fully lean into.
And on an overall structural note, I really appreciate the way that this second arc complicates and deepens the overall narrative of Bluff City as a place, especially by introducing the magical/supernatural as almost a counterbalance to the generally grounded nature of the first arc.