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For the month of October, I’m taking a break from my Blade Runner RPG campaign, “Shadow of the Waxwing Slain” to play some spooky games. Today, I’m playing Long Haul 1983 by SCP.
If you’re new here, check out the Table of Contents for other stuff I’ve written! Thanks!
“It’s 1983 and the world feels hollowed out.
Yesterday: Sirens cluttering the highways. CB chatter about a jetliner disappearance. Rumors of a plague.
Today: Radio silence. Fires on the horizon. Desolation.”
-Long Haul 1983
I’m in my truck, old but reliable. Doors locked, windows up, breathing stale air.
I look in the rear-view mirror and see myself. I notice
a sweat-stained headband.
It’s warm out today. Or maybe I’m sweating for another reason.
I’d finished a run yesterday, grabbed a meal at an all-night diner and slept on my mattress in the cab. This morning, I’d gotten up, same routine as every other day.
Took me awhile to notice.
There’s nobody around.
Nobody at all. Power is still on, lights on, gas pumps functional, but nobody there.
I think to myself,
This is just like my dream.
I shift in my seat, thinking. There’s somewhere I need to be. Someone I need to get to.
Someone who never stopped loving me.
I need to call them but first, I need to drive. I need to go as far as I can, as fast as I can.
A song keeps playing in my head…
“This may be the last time
Maybe my last time
I don’t know”
I start the engine.
It’s 1983, and I need to find a phone.
On the player sheet, I list 8 environments in whatever order makes sense to me.
Heat, Dust, Fog, Rain, Wind, Flood, Snow, Ice
I begin in Heat. That made sense to me since I’m wearing a sweat-stained headband.
My Destination is a very specific person in a very specific place. It’s my ex-wife, Sydney. We divorced recently because she couldn’t take my trucking lifestyle and the long times I was away.
I’ll be calling her, every day and leaving a message. She will never pick up the phone.
I might not make my destination, but I’ll drive, day after day until I can’t anymore.
I am Wounded. It’s minor but it will likely get worse. My Wound is my bad back, recently strained from the last job, picking up a heavy box.
The world is not entirely empty. There is a Threat. It will chase me and destroy me if it catches up. For now, I jot a single, short idea.
My Threat is a big black cloud on the horizon behind me that never seems to go away.
I choose either Body, Mind, or Rig to advance, making it easier to pass those checks. I randomly decide and get Body.
I begin with 4 Fate dice, which are d6’s that have 2 “-” signs, 2 “+” signs and 2 “_” sides. I roll and then put highest dice into slots. If the sum of the dice is negative, I fail. Anything else is a success. Every failure, I lose a die.
I make my first call.
I start the engine.
4dF = ++-- → ++ → Engine starts
The engine gives a reassuring grumble as it starts, like some great beast waking up.
Cards: 4 of Spades, King of Diamonds, 3 of Spades
As I come over the rise in a tall bridge, I see a beautiful lake spread out below me. The sun high in the air, light reflecting off the water…It reminds me of why I used to enjoy driving. Moments of beauty just like this.
But then the sky darkens, the sun dims. That black cloud had caught up, it was all I could see in the rear view and side mirrors. I feel a horrible drop in my gut and the life leeching out of me.
Mind Roll: ++_- = ++_ → Success
I push it aside, stomp on the accelerator and manage to get some distance away.
Later in the afternoon, I come across a car by the side of the road, boombox on its hood, playing a song. I slow down as I pass, the song unfamiliar but pleasant.
This is fun because this game comes with a soundtrack, so I choose one of the song options it gives me. I choose “Mornin” by Jarreau.
It’s got a nice, bouncy, jazzy beat, something about ‘friday morning’. Before long, the sound cuts out, as the boombox’s batteries die.
I keep on.
I could draw more cards to keep going but since I already drew 2 Roads (spades) cards, I check for Progress and transition to the next Environment: Dust. If I hadn’t gotten a road card, I might try to draw again in order to transition to the next environment and get closer to the destination.
I make my phone call.
I start the engine.
4dF = +___ → +_ → Engine Starts
The engine grumbles to life once more.
It’s dusty out. I can feel it on my skin, feel it in my nose.
I drive.
Cards: Q of Spades, Q of Hearts, 3 of Hearts
I see someone lying on the side of the road. What used to be someone. Their skin is pale, as if drained of life, mouth open, eyes wide and milky white. Otherwise, the body looks untouched.
I can tell this is the work of the cloud. I had felt its darkness pulling the life out of me before. Looking in the rear-view, the dark, billowing mass is still behind. Maybe there are other clouds, drifting ahead of me. I have to be careful, make sure I don’t run from the one just to drive into another. I keep going, trying to shake off a cold, dark feeling.
The feeling won’t shake but it changes, into a pulsating rhythm within my body, goosebumps on my arm. The cloud is close. After the corpse and now this…but in my rear-view, it’s still back a ways. Whatever it is, it can reach out. Invisible tentacles. Perhaps that’s how it’d gotten that body by the road. I shudder, shake my mind clear, put pedal to the floor and keep driving.
I come across a deer in the road, lying on its side, kicking its legs, unable to get up. I stop and get out, moving towards it. I notice its eyes are milky white. It kicks more frantically as I get closer and drag it off the road.
Body Roll: 4dF = ++__ → ++ → Success
I get it clear and back off before it can get me. It doesn’t make a sound and stops kicking, staring at me.
I get back in the truck and drive.
I don’t pull anymore cards since again, I drew a road card and transition to the next Environment: Fog.
I make a phone call.
I start the engine.
4dF = +--- → +- → Engine Starts
It starts without a hitch, a sound I’ve come to appreciate more and more.
Cards: 10 of Spades, 5 of Clubs, Jack of Clubs
Fog covers the land all around and makes it hard to see the dark cloud behind.
As I drive, it feels hushed, as if I’m driving through a ghostly landscape.
The fog clears a bit as the day goes on, revealing the flat plains all around. Empty and uninhabited. I don’t know the history as well as I should but I do know indigenous people once settled here, before they were forced off. Forced off is a light way to put it, I think to myself.
Genocide in the name of colonization.
I push off these thoughts for a time, as the truck goes into a steep, long climb.
The engine, for the first time on this run, gives a bit and groans.
The temperature needle rises.
Rig: 4dF = +_-- → +_- → Success
The truck responds, pushing over the hill and I pat the dash gently. “Good girl,” I whisper.
I come to a scenic overlook and pull off, cutting the engine to let it cool.
I grab a notebook and pen out of the glovebox. I used to use it to make notes about jobs. Now, I take the time to write something different.
I play the song “Blink” by Hiroshi Yoshimura and write until the song ends.
Sydney, I’m sorry I chose this life over you. It was the worst decision I ever made. I could have had so much more time with you. Months. I couldn’t live with the idea of staying in one place. It’s not something I ever did, really. A military brat as a kid, shuttled along to different places. never settled. Always felt right on the road. The road felt like home. Nowhere else ever did. well, until I met you. but I didn’t realize that until..until I lost it. You were home for me. I still thought I needed the road but all I needed was you. I’m coming for you. I’ll make it, I promise. I have to. If just to see you one more time. To hold you for a minute. I can make it. Please, forgive me for leaving
I will keep what I write, until I reach my destination.
I get back in the truck and start it. Coming down the hill, I slow down as I see wreckage and debris. It looks as if a hurricane has swept through, dropping the remnants of what was once an entire house onto the highway.
Within the debris, I catch sight of a black ooze, bubbling up and over in spots. What the hell is that?
Rig: 4dF = +++_ → +++ → Success
I keep driving.
I don’t draw anymore cards and transition to the next Environment: Rain
I make a phone call.
I start the engine.
4dF = +--- → +- → Engine starts
It rumbles to life.
I drive.
Cards: 3 of Clubs, 7 of Hearts, 2 of Clubs
Rains coming down real hard. Can’t hardly see a quarter mile in front of the truck and the sky is dark.
I can’t see the black cloud behind me. It could be right over me, could be the source of this storm.
It’s hard to keep it on the road and I feel a rising feeling of terror within me, hard to keep down.
Rig: 4dF = +++_ → +++ → Success
I manage, through sheer focus and concentration, to keep the truck steady and moving forward, hour after hour, until the rain lessens up a bit, the darkness receding.
It’s still drizzling but nothing I can’t handle. I spot the dark cloud behind me. Still behind me.
Loosening the grip on the steering wheel, I feel an old pain flare up in my wrist, a sprain that never did fully heal, always coming back if I twist it a certain way or hold it in a certain position.
I try to roll my hand gently to see if that helps.
I write the Injury down on my Player Sheet and make a Body Roll.
Body: 4dF = ++_- → ++ → Success
It doesn’t feel so bad and I continue.
As the day presses on, I can feel the truck purring and thriving, despite the weather. It feels good, responding to my touch, gripping the road, a well-oiled machine. I know I can rely on it and that feels good.
The next card is something I hold onto and can use to reroll a failed Rig roll in the future.
Since I didn’t draw a Road card, I won’t advance to the next Environment, so I draw another card instead of ending the day.
Card: 9 of Diamonds
As the sun sets, I keep pushing on, rain continuing to fall, headlights illuminating small pools in the dark gloom.
I should stop but I don’t.
I realize I’m talking to myself. “Keep on keepin’ on” I repeat, over and over, to myself, a phrase my dad used to say.
MIND: 4dF = +__- → +__ → Success
It makes me feel…motivated.
I keep driving into the night.
Draw another card: 7 of Diamonds
I find myself tired and growing weary. The fires along the horizon are brighter and harder to ignore in the dark of night and I find myself gazing at them, far, far away.
I see something in the smoke, a shape or form. Massive and incomprehensible, I cannot explain what it is I see.
MIND: 4dF = +++- → +++ → Success
I shake my head and turn away. I finally pull over for the night.
I make a phone call.
End of Part One
Character sheet so far:
No failures yet but I’m still not quite halfway through. The prompts are evocative and entertaining. I’m really enjoying this game. Recording myself was and is nerve-wracking but I’m not trying to do multiple takes or trying to write out what I’m going to say. I want to improv it a bit, and just see what comes naturally. I’m using Audacity because it’s free and the only thing I’m adding to the audio is a telephone filter. I’m also using a webcam microphone instead of a headset one because to me, it sounded more like a payphone.
Let me know what you think in the comments. This is the first time I’ve ever done audio so I’m curious what you all think. I could’ve just written out my phone calls but I think having to record myself is making it feel very different. I like the multimedia aspect and the audio record I’ll have at the end.
Part two coming soon! I don’t expect there to be too many parts, maybe three total depending on how the cards and dice come out.
As always, thanks for reading.
Love all of this! Really cool and creepy! Can’t wait for part two! Great job!
This was great! I love the format and the audio logs. I've been meaning to get into Solo RPGs, and this is a great reminder of why I should!