Autumn is the perfect season for fleeing in terror from a homicidal maniac in
Don't Look Back! from Black Site Studios.
Craig and I played the first scenario (in the first edition rulebook). It is a very straightforward "run across the board without getting killed" affair. Two factors made the scenario easier than intended: (1) we used a 3x3 rather than 4x4 play area and (2) I forgot the scenario rule that characters take 1 Terror Token per turn after leaving the starting quadrant. Nonetheless, the game was great fun with plenty of tense moments.
Alice, Denise, Holden, and Max were hanging out at the soda counter of the diner. Four stereotypical teenagers looking for something exciting to do on a Friday night. Max had scored some beer. Alice was going on and on about ouija boards. Holden's van had a full tank of gas. And Denise suggested partying in the abandoned house where those murders happened years ago.
Denise: You're not afraid are you, tough guy?
Max: N-no way! It's just ... that old place is a real dump.
Holden: Trespassing. Stupid idea, if you ask me.
Alice: C'mon, it'll be so cool. We could contact the beyond!
In a booth across the dining room, Deputy Sandy listened to the kids plan their evening from behind a copy of the local newspaper. The front page headline read "Town Remembers Unsolved Murders Ten Year Later". She folded the paper and watched the kids pile into Holden's van, shaking her head.
12 AM.
The kids were staring at each other over a tree stump, faces lit by the lantern Max snatched up when they bolted out of the abandoned house moments before.
Max: We should never have messed with that ouija board!
Alice: I thought ... it was just a game ...
Denise: Why won't any of these people answer their doors?
Holden: We have to get back to the van. It's the only way.
The kids needed to get from the top left corner of the play area to the bottom right, where they had parked the van in the driveway of the abandoned house.
In DLB, a character must make a Jump Scare Test if they pass within 2 inches of area terrain during their movement. We counted houses, bushes, and cars as area terrain for this purpose.
Holden jumped the fence of the side yard where the kids started to get into the road, away from any area terrain. Ironically, he triggered a Jump Scare when passing within 2 inches behind the blue car and triggered all the Fright Tokens to move toward him.
As a result, the other kids tried moving behind the house to avoid the Fright Tokens. Alice, Denise, and Max ended up moving pretty slowly because of Tap On The Shoulder results on the Jump Scare table. This result pulls the closest character into B2B with the active character, including pulling them back from where they just moved.
On Turn 3 (of 12), the Killer showed up. We randomly generated a Killer with damage reduction, regeneration, and a skill debuff aura. He appeared on a Fright Token in front of the abandoned house, appropriately enough. But his M.O. had him teleport within 6 inches of the most players, which ended up being between the houses across the street:
The first in a series of lucky rolls resulted in the Killer failing to hit his would-be victim Denise, who slipped away after Alice distracted him. Holden proceeded down the street and managed to hit the Killer with his shotgun through the picket fence after Denise scampered over.
Before Max could run away, a Jump Scare put the Killer right behind him. But this was also fortunate as it meant the Killer could not attack that turn.
On Max's next activation, he Stumbled Away without tripping and used a Cell Phone he had found on the first turn to summon Deputy Sandy between him and the Killer. The deputy apparently decided to keep a close eye on these youngsters tonight after overhearing them talking in the diner earlier.
The Killer dispatched Sandy immediately. Fortunately, none of the kids witnessed her grisly end and so avoided taking Terror Tokens. The kids sprinted down the street toward the van and, hopefully, safety. Alice investigated a Point of Interest on the front porch of one of the houses and found an Assault Rifle. But fighting this particular Killer did not feel like an effective plan. Better to flee.
Denise made it to the driveway of the abandoned house, while Holden covered them with his shotgun. Before Alice and Max could get there, the Killer appeared again but, on another lucky roll, did not make it B2B with Denise. Alice and Holden both shot at the Killer with little effect. Denise used her Cell Phone to summon ... Deputy Sandy!
In classic horror movie fashion, a character we thought was dead returned at the crucial and most dramatic moment. The Killer, again, immediately dispatched our brave intercessor (this time causing everyone but Max to take Terror Tokens) but Denise was able to use her other two actions to pass an Awareness Test to end the game.
With gunshots and screams echoing through the darkness and Denise frantically waving her hands on the side of the highway, it's no surprise that someone pulled off the road to investigate. Caught in the beams of the headlights, a huge masked figure stood over a prone and motionless body. The figure turned toward the car menacingly before taking a hesitant step backward, spinning on its heal, and sprinting off into the shadows faster than anything natural.
