Not a Decepticon
Hero
My lat sessoon was blades in the dark and I found out this system is not good for running a "boss fight", even by using clock for villain (demon gangster) to not die in one shot, he still went down like a chump.
Describe your last RPG session in more than 5 words.
- Thread starter jdrakeh
- Start date
Golden Bee
The cool guy of online
Rafe’s Revenge 2: Sands of Time!
Bullets ripped through the library, coming in and going out. “Sssssh!” demanded Devika.(Please note that this is a long adventure, but I’m running off our GM’s actual notes! So you’ll be able to see below just how much action, detail and drama fits into a normal session.)
Late September, 1935.
Lillian may be safe, but for Rafe Lancaster, there is still a score to settle. Her kidnapper Krystal Wolf has yet to be found, and a contingent of the SS departed Germany with the aircraft of the future, Grendel’s Mother and its power source, the mysterious Agarthan Sphere in tow. Thanks to Ms. Lamb’s intel, they knew they were heading for the city of Cairo. The ZSS may finally have caught a break, facing their foe on familiar ground…though local allegiances shift just as much as the sands.
Rafe’s connections have placed him in the orbit of two prominent scholars, a charming Egyptian expert in history and metallurgy named Zumurrud Hamza and a handsome professor visiting from America named Dr. Henry Jones. Both have agreed to meet our heroes today at the El Fishawy cafe, located in the world famous Khan el Khalili bazaar. Both have also warned of a sharp uptick in Nazi wealth being thrown around the city these last few weeks. Likely the doing of a certain SS Brigadeführer named Lutz Stroman and his cronies. Though the man himself has yet to make a public debut, his influence alone has given pause to conducting any further correspondence - their contacts would rather meet in person to discuss matters any further…
This week, the group is full and rich. Devi is India’s richest girl. Kabir Rupert and Ivo Kochev are no slouches either. Only detective Zelda Saeki doesn’t have a full wallet for the Souk.
The group is in their finest white linen to meet their contact, Dr. Jones. A waiter with a crisp white waist apron shows the group to their table, where a party of three awaits their arrival.
First: a striking woman of Middle-Eastern bearing named Zumurrud Hamza. She’s a graduate of The Egyptian University’s department of history with a second Bachelor of Science within the field of metallurgy.
She introduces a lanky local young man of 15 years by the name of Asif al-Mahmoud, who is the faithful assistant to a figure reading an English-language newspaper. He lowers it, revealing a man in his late 50’s…Dr. Henry Jones (Senior!), professor of history at Princeton University. Devi is disappointed, having met Indiana Jones at Marshall College and being a fan. Dr. Jones Senior mollifies her by giving her the comic page. Ivo, on the other hand, is delighted.
After introductions, Dr. Jones gets down to business:
Rafe’s information seems to be true - there has been chatter amongst the city of Nazis throwing around a lot of cash, probably trying to buy influence. They are after something, and Jones thinks he knows what.
Zumurrud says it is a pristine late 13th-century longsword forged in Damascus steel, bearing the insignia of the Teutonic Order. Its provenance is likely that of a war trophy, brought back to Egypt from the former Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem after the conquest of Acre by the Mamluk Sultanate in 1291.
The sword is a featured lot at an auction today sponsored by Sotheby's of London. The auction is about 10 minutes away by motorcar at the ballroom of Shepheard's Hotel, one of the finest establishments not only in Cairo, but in all the world. (It’s Devi and Rafe’s favorite place!)
Dr. Jones explains that a blade matching its description is said to reveal the location of “The Mastaba of Blood”, the supposed burial place of Gundahar Der Unsterbliche, or “Gundahar The Immortal” and his 8 Retainers, collectively known as “Orden der Aufklärung”, or “Order of Enlightenment”. It is said that he still lives within, waiting to be released to resume his march of carnage! What the Nazis would want with him remains unknown, but nothing good would be a safe bet!
What’s known for certain is that Gundahar and his retainers fought at the siege of Acre in 1291 against the Mamluk Sultanate.
After the city fell, hard facts grow scarce, but it is said that he and his men survived and vowed revenge on the Sultan. For two years they cut a bloody swath through Muslim territories, razing towns and villages, sparing not women nor babes. Hunters and heavy horsemen were sent to dispatch them, but none ever returned. Rumors spread that Gundahar and his men were either blessed or cursed by God and thus could not be killed, hence his moniker.
The auction starts in an hour, so leaving after drinks would be prudent. However, after the first turn down the road, they are stopped a few cars back in gridlock traffic! It seems that a policeman has closed off the road, saying that a “burst water main" is reported, and that work crews have had to close the road for the next hour or so.
Devi tells Rafe to pull a reverse J-Turn, tugging a barricade over with her purse. He does, although someone else tries the same trick and takes off one of the Dusenberg’s mirrors! The fellow gets out of the car, but Kabir shouts the man down in Arabic, allowing the group to escape…
About three blocks, when they hit another roadblock. Zelda turns on the charm, and the policeman, who had never seen anyone Japanese before, is enamored and flirts with her! She awkwardly accepts a dinner invitation. The group takes back roads the rest of the way to the hotel. There, they tip a valet to deal with their hangar manager and have the mirror replaced. (If only there was a more convenient place to put mirrors then on the wheel wells of cars!)
The opulence of the hotel is breathtaking. Not only is it much cooler than the surrounding city, it features stained glass, Persian carpets, gardens, terraces, and great granite pillars resembling those of the Ancient Egyptian temples.
In the main ballroom, hundreds of lots of art and antiquities pass through the stage. The auctioneer, an Egyptian man in a crisp suit, calls out opening prices and accepts bids in flawless British English. The wealthy among the party procure paddles, and Devi has the doctor put in some bids for her on Renaissance jewelry.
(Meanwhile, Rafe calls Lancaster Industries’s Africa man, throwing up chaff to curtail Nazi surveillance. Zelda discovers that the water main story was a Nazi trap. Devi and Ivo bypass the auction security to get to lot 100, assessing the sword, and finding it to be a preserved artifact! The Hungarian is confused when she suggests that buying it would be easier than stealing it, but ultimately defers to her wishes. Not his money!)
The ballroom is busy. In addition to the ZSS, there are two other parties that seem very interested in the sword:
1. A blonde British woman in her late 30s called Mrs. Alice Walker and her valet. Her husband Charles collects antique arms. Fellow upper-class Briton Kabir makes some snide comments, discovering that the marriage is strained. His rudeness gets her flustered and eventually she dips out of the bidding.
2. A well-dressed merchant named Sadek El-Menyawy. There's no time to get the dirt on him, so Zelda and Devi play to the crowd. The rest of the room implies that Sadek has won enough, allowing Rafe to win without breaking the bank.
After the auction, Devi offers to potentially sell the sword back to Mrs. Walker. Alice is rude, which makes India’s richest girl lose her cool.
Now that they have the sword, Dr. Jones has an idea. The group heads over the western bank of the Nile to the Egyptian University. (Yes, that’s what they call it!)
The university is the closest place in the city with both a research library and… a glass blowing workshop?
Asif starts a fire for Zumurrud, who plunges the blade into the glory hole (yes, that’s what they call it!) of a 2000°F glass-blowing furnace. Her father collected 5 Teutonic swords, and Zumurrud had three, none of which proved to have anything special when tested in the furnace. But Ivo Kochev has a truly great mind for antiques: this one was the real deal!
Soon, a thin layer of silver that was otherwise imperceptible begins to glow and melts off the blade and into a collection pail beneath. The blade is pulled out and doused. Once cool, it reveals two lines of text written in German, which appears to be a riddle or a poem. There are also a series of Arabic numbers above and below the text.
Dr. Jones stammers that they’ve found it, the lost sword of The Order of Enlightenment! He then races upstairs towards the library and bids the party and Zumurrud to follow. Asif says that he will fetch the party some lunch, since they’ve been running around all day.
Zumurrud explains that Al-Ashraf Khalil, the Mamluk sultan who conquered Acre, was killed by assassins in northern Egypt during a bird-hunting expedition in December of 1293. They believe it was Gundahar and his retainers who did the deed, while to save face, the Sultanate blamed several emirs and had them executed as a cover story. Months later, in 1294, Gundahar and his retainers were captured and, thought unable to be killed, were buried alive with rats carrying black plague as to suffer for all eternity in this sepulcher known as the Mastaba of Blood. (Yes, that’s what they called it!)
Dr. Jones believes that the 8th retainer escaped capture, and recorded the location of the Mastaba of Blood onto the blade of his master, so that one day he and his followers can rise again and revenge themselves upon Cairo. The only reference to its existence were funds allocated by the Sultanate for the construction of a structure matching its description in 1293, before Gundahar’s capture, about 2800 years after the production of such monuments fell out of style in Egypt. However, it is believed that the government struck all other mentions of the structure, and no one has ever found a verifiable trace of the Mastaba of Blood. Except them, right now.
Dr. Jones theorizes that the knights could have been Crusaders who found and drank from the Holy Grail, but then turned to despair once the city of Acre fell, renouncing divinity in their quest for vengeance.
The poem reads:
The eggheads (Kabir, Ivo and Dr. Jones) put their heads together and crack the code. Rafe, meanwhile, leaves the room to examine a wall of donors. Amazing how far money went in Egypt compared to Marshall College…
The poem implies the Mastaba of Blood is on the eastern bank of the Nile river (a VERY odd place to build a burial monument, as it would sink!)
The numbers refer to the celestial readings from an astrolabe that would be seen in or around 1294, giving a fairly accurate location of where it should be, halfway between Cairo and Luxor (Thebes). Dr. Jones calls Asif for a celebratory drink. Asif doesn’t answer, but a familiar voice does:
The voice of Brigadeführer Lutz Stroman echoes through the room, as he and a brigade of 30 stormtroopers burst through the doors, machine guns drawn. One of them yells “Licht!” and several turn on flashlights aimed at Devi, preventing her mesmeric stare. With Stroman is “Mrs. Alice Walker” from the auction, who is revealed to be Standartenführer Trude Dollar. In addition to her Luger P08, she also holds a long-hafted chrome hammer inlaid with gems and etched with runes.
The Nazis demand they hand over the sword and the good doctor’s notebook, and their lives shall be spared. When asked, Stroman replies that it is necessary for the success of “Projekt Dämmerung” aka “Project Dawn”, which could position Germany as first among nations without need for any future conflict.
Rafe, having been completely ignored by the Nazis, pulls the circuit breaker.
A bunch of things happen in the next 10 seconds:
- Lutz Stroman shoots Zumurrud in the head.
- His muzzle flash gives his position away, and he’s shot from a sniper across the street.
- Zelda takes out her pistol, shooting out a succession of Nazi flashlights.
- Ivo grabs the sword and uses it to bash open a window.
Kabir begins Judo tossing übermenschen into bookcases. Devi guides Rafe, and then Dr. Jones, through the chaos. Everyone else slides down a palm tree to the first story. They hear a lorry horn ah-ooogah-ing, it’s Asif! He even brought them dinner to go (koshary - the national dish of Egypt, a blend of Indian, Italian, and Middle Eastern flavors). The group heads back to base, swerving to splatter a Nazi private on the sidewalk.
A few minutes later, the party hears the roar of engines, and sees a silver craft rise above the minarets! Grendel's Mother then flies off following the Nile, heading south!
The group takes the secret entrance to their Cairo base. Up through a hidden rock formation, into the lap of luxury.
Devi, hard to ruffle, wants to show her mentor Rafe the building she's commissioned. He has no time for that, calling in favors to get the best boat in the city, loaded for travel and fueled up within 30 minutes. Without much in terms of society connections or investigating any skills, she’s relegated to packing travel outfits.
***
The party soon discovers that they are being followed by an equally fast boat, but it is only occasionally in view. Binoculars reveal that there is a lone occupant: a feminine silhouette. They slow down to signal in semaphore for parlay, but whoever it is doesn’t want to talk.
Ahead, drinking and singing, are harpoon-wielding river pirates! Ivo, expert smuggler, points out huge papyrus rushes, large enough to hide their vehicle. The pirates pass, bellyaching about their lost payday. But the river isn’t exactly safe… because when the boat stands still, it’s boarded by an 11-foot crocodile! It snapped its jaws, almost taking Kabir’s hand. He begins to shift to Shizentai, when the creature looks behind him…
Two strange purple lights. Rafe throws his lunch bag in the water, and the creature gently turns around and heads towards it. Dr. Jones offers a verbose “wow”. By the time Devi’s mesmerism is over, the group’s boat is 80 yards downriver.
The PCs soon arrive at the Nazis' makeshift camp. Grendel's Mother can be seen in moonlight. About 40 heavily-armed troops are stationed around the craft, with a pair of battery-run floodlights set up, illuminating the area. Trude Dollar is performing some kind of ritual. The Agarthan Sphere raised in one hand and her long hammer in the other, she chants and begins chiming the stony sphere with the ritual tool, causing brief but bright blue flashes to appear on its surface. She then throws it into the air and slams it with her hammer…but upon impact, the sphere remains frozen in the air, and apparently unharmed. A beat later, blue-white lightning surges from it and into the Earth below. A moment later, the Sphere falls back into her grasp and the ground rumbles! The Mastaba of Blood EMERGES from the silt-laden banks of the Nile! The exterior is constructed of limestone & granite unusually rich in hematite, giving it a dark reddish hue (hence the name).
She and a large contingent of the soldiers head into the tomb.
Ivo becomes the desert night.
[So, a little discussion on Fate. In general, people have their best skill at +4. Devi has a stunt that gives her +2 instead of plus one when she helps, and the way we play, only one person can offer aid at a time. Eight is considered the top of the scale, epic success… Until Ivo rolls to sneak and gets a perfect +4 on the dice, for a total of epic +2.]
The group clears the camp. A brief investigation reveals that Krystal Wolf is being tracked by the SS, but they have no idea where she is. Zelda, upset at being outgunned in the library, makes sure to grab a machine gun.
Devi leads the group into the risen temple. Around the first corner is a statue of a Zabaniyah, a guardian of Hell and tormenter of the dead, rendered in terrifying form with stone, metal, real animal bones, preserved fur and scaly hide. The statue was designed to mentally assault foreigners, warning them away from the dangers within.
The trained burglar also detects a fallaway floor. The burial chamber itself was down a steep shaft. Rafe takes a moment to create an additional, sturdier climbing rope. Still masters of stealth, the group sneak up on the Nazis, who have reached the final chamber.
A sarcophagus of hematite is inscribed with prayers written in Arabic. Nearby, there are eight metal cages that contain the shriveled corpses of seven men…but one of them is empty! The corpses are motionless, though strangely well preserved and intact. There are the skeletal remains of rats everywhere. Foul air hangs in the chamber, which seems damp, but there is currently no pooling water within it.
The sarcophagus is opened, and it is seemingly filled to the brim with the twisted skeletons of more rats. Nazi Trude begins to speak an incantation, but suddenly, a withered arm juts forth from the rat bones in the sarcophagus, interrupting her! Pulling himself upright is the desiccated form of Gundahar the Immortal! He has a huge mop of black hair and piercing green eyes. Trude declares that German scientists will study this prime Aryan.…er…German specimen, and soon all of Deutschland will know his secrets, and the nation shall reign forever as an un-killable empire!
Gundahar begins sniffing the air, and simply replies “Nein”. Trude scoffs, and repeats that this shall be his greatest honor in his life, serving the Fuehrer’s will.
Suddenly, an echoing pair of footfalls is heard in the hall, descending. Emerging from the darkness, holding a medieval blade in one hand and a long clattering bundle in the other, is a very much alive Zumurrud!
During all of this, Devi and Kabir are arguing in Hindi about what cool line he’s going to say when they ambush the Nazis.
The dialogue continues:
The 7 other retainers begin to stir as well, breaking free from their bonds with renewed vitality!
Kabir appears, declaring “this tomb will be a tomb for you all!”, an insult so bad it deflates the moment.
Oh well. It’s enough of a distraction for Devi to grab the mystic hammer and magic sphere!
Gundahar corners Dr. Jones and Asif, who clutch each other in fear. Dr. Jones begins reciting the Lord’s Prayer. Gundahar sniffs at them, nods, then tells his retainers. “Spare these ones, they may prove useful.” Jones tells the PCs to get the sphere & run! Don’t worry, he will keep the boy safe!
The group, especially Zelda, go wild on the SS goons, shooting a bloody swath to the exit. The ratzis, obsessed with the artifacts, concentrate their fire on Devika! The young goddess dodges multiple hails of bullets, flying back through the maze with the help of master scoundrel Ivo!
Above ground, there’s an argument about whether the group should re-sink the temple. Devi is unwilling (and secretly unable) to use that power that way, especially if Dr. Jones is in danger. Knowing that the Sphere is essential to powering their escape vehicle, she takes the moment to chide Rafe for taking it from her plane in the first place.
Kabir took Devi’s side, but reminded her that this wasn’t the time or place to have the argument. Zelda reminded the group that they should make sure to pack their boat, so the Cairo haters wouldn’t have an escape vehicle.
Having rescued their objectives but abandoned their friends, the return flight was short and awkward. Before bed, Kabir noted that they had one incomplete objective: this entire time, they hadn’t seen Krystal Wolf. He put a coded but rude ad into the local papers and everyone got some well-deserved sleep.
The next morning, the group used their contacts to get the British army to raze whatever remained of the SS camp. The Brits were happy to have someone to blame for the university attack and water issues.
The newspaper letter tells Krystal to meet the group at high tea at Shepheard’s Hotel. A messenger boy gives them a strange note: two stick figures for a cirle. They tell the boy to respond “same time tomorrow.”
Rafe immediately suspects that someone has kidnapped Lilian. Because of the time difference, he has to stay up very late to call New York and check on her when she’s done with her Broadway show. She compliments his gallantry and for the first time, calls him a hero!
Devi, seeking a midnight snack, finds him downstairs. Seeing the phone and his expression, she deduces who he was calling, and the two make up.
The next day, Zelda seeks out more spies, and the group heads to the hotel.
But the person who shows up isn’t Krystal… It’s the immortal duo and one of their knights! Apparently being killed by the British didn’t take, and they were able to hitch a ride upriver. They want to trade the professor and his assistant for the sphere, so they can destroy the Sultan’s city.
The group employs a variety of debate strategies. Kabir tries some verbal cross-examination, but his witticism does nothing against the centuries-old Teuton. Devi focuses on the unnamed knight, asking “Which power now rules this world?” and forcing him to point towards her. Having displayed her power, she reminds the group that she already had the opportunity to embody Kali and bring about Krita Yuga. Destroying a city, in her mind, was vain and pointless, and she wouldn’t allow it.
Ivo played good cop, playing up the girl’s greed and instability.
Oddly enough, it was Rafe who made the moral argument! The reforming villain talked about the innocence of all the people, the amount of Christians in the city… he talked about how much research the group had had to do to even find out about the Knights. Everyone in the city was innocent and ignorant, and the Teutons were no longer bound to a creed outworn.
The group reconsidered their destructive plans, freeing Jones and Asif. After hundreds of years beneath the river, it was time for the Teutonic Knights to explore the world.
Epilogue:
Back at ZSS headquarters, Dr. Jones is pouring some celebratory drinks! He takes his “Chinese-style” chicken dumplings out of the oven. He turns to hand a plate to Asif, but the lad has yet to come down from his bath. Dr. Jones asks Rafe to go and retrieve the boy before he turns into a prune! Lancaster bristles, but the current errand boy is bathing…
Rafe knocks, and Asif replies that he is decent and may enter. Rafe sees “Asif” is dressed in a black tactical outfit, with a womanly figure. Half of “his” face is missing, revealed to be just a mask; a spill of shoulder length black hair cascading out on one side. This is Krystal Wolf, and she’s got a Luger. The group spent days looking for Krystal…when she was with them the entire time!
The spy speaks.
She says that her mission was to kill Stroman and capture or destroy the Agarthan Sphere. If she kills Rafe, her family gets clean food for a month. If she kills them all, they get to see the sun for the rest of their lives…but remain in a cage. Project Gemstone is now under the control of the SS, which she despises. She wants to make a deal.
She knows what the party accomplished at The Tumbler, and what they did for Pavel (AKA Agent Ruby). If the ZSS agrees to help her free her family, they will never see her again. There’s just one catch - they aren’t being held in Germany…they are being held underneath it…within The Hollow Earth!
Lancaster agrees and hurries to a phone. Screw the key, now that he has the boy’s address, he’s sending his security team to bust down the door!
Golden Bee
The cool guy of online
Two parter.
Trial of the cemetery!
You’d better lawyer up.
The gang is in Mexico City for the Day of the Dead. Tacito has brought Lala, Devika, JP Diamond, and Clara to help him deal with a mysterious contract. While buying churros, they notice someone sneaking by them… And after a little conversation, the observant Clara suspects him of being demonic.
Tacito’s contract is in a family tomb. The group finds the secret entrance, and finds the stranger is the opposing counsel for a demonic pact! Heroes of Christian and Mexican folklore form a jury as the heroes take on Satanic challenges. They need to pass three of five challenges, and unfortunately skip the one that’s a Lucha battle against the Four Horsemen (of the Apocalypse, not the one with Ric Flair, Tully Blanchard, and the Andersons.)
Instead of thanking the group, the soul they saved whispered to his other legal counsel then immediately ascended to Heaven.
I ran a mini session of an old favorite, and brought two new players into the fold of Fate Core. Joining Clara were Calvin Davino, mercenary for money, and Dr Hemmet Hazoul, tomb looting scumbag.
The adventure starts with an ambush on the Javary river in Peru. The DeSoto brothers want revenge on the party for previous buffoonery. They jump on deck and rob the players, threatening a dynamite attack if they’re disobeyed.
The group was happy to give up their minor treasures, but the DeSotos put their hands on Calvin's jacket, and he has the aspect "hands off the merchandise.” The adrenaline junkie waited until they boarded their escape vehicle, then leapt onto it, lit their dynamite with a cigarette, and with the help of Professor Hazoul, swung on a rope back to the original vessel. Combat averted, as the DeSotos tried to swim to shore ahead of the piranhas.
That's pretty much how the rest of the adventure went. Clara played the diplomat to anyone who spoke English. Hazoul repaired every broken tool they ran into, and Calvin raised his ginublade to anyone who said different.
The party thought they had the Phantom Jungle figured out though: mysterious people had been seen in gray uniforms, so the Nazis must be around. Imagine their shock when they crested a ridge to see, floating in a lagoon outside a hidden temple, a confederate ironclad!
Neo Confederates, psychically guided by their ancestors who had fled the Civil War, were trying to open an ancient pyramid.
The ironclad gave the group trouble. Clara, desperate for food after a seven-hour trek through the jungle, called upon the greycoats' hospitality, getting fed but locked in the captain's quarters. Hazoul tried the old trick of knocking a guy out and stealing his uniform (although this took multiple fate points and the help of Calvin to pull off). He used his disguise to sabotage the deck gun.
The confederates had both a hostage and a jetpack-wielding mercenary. Clara solved both problems at once, ripping the merc’s jetpack off and giving it to the hostage to flee with. Hazoul set off an explosion and the players fled the chaos into the temple. This is where the Turkish professor shined: with his architectural degree, he was able to build over the traps he couldn't flat out disable.
The problem came when they reached the final chamber, the one containing the undying psionic confederate. Empowered by ancient Quipu, he dealt with their disrespect by telekinetically breaking their weapons. None of the trio could even fake respect, so instead of a parlay, it was a psychic horror show.
Luckily, the group had used their grenades to trap the entrance. Someone tried to enter the temple, creating a loud enough distraction for the group to flee… then hide, and finally kill the godly Rebel with a combo of antique cannon and stone deadfall.
Of course, curiosity isn't so easily defeated. Skeptic Hazoul decided to touch the artifact, awakening six hours later with the ability to speak ancient Quechua. But woe to the group’s foes, for they proved the swifter!
![Phantom-Jungle-Title[1].jpg](https://www.enworld.org/attachments/phantom-jungle-title-1-jpg.414932/ "Phantom-Jungle-Title[1].jpg")
Trial of the cemetery!
You’d better lawyer up.
The gang is in Mexico City for the Day of the Dead. Tacito has brought Lala, Devika, JP Diamond, and Clara to help him deal with a mysterious contract. While buying churros, they notice someone sneaking by them… And after a little conversation, the observant Clara suspects him of being demonic.
Tacito’s contract is in a family tomb. The group finds the secret entrance, and finds the stranger is the opposing counsel for a demonic pact! Heroes of Christian and Mexican folklore form a jury as the heroes take on Satanic challenges. They need to pass three of five challenges, and unfortunately skip the one that’s a Lucha battle against the Four Horsemen (of the Apocalypse, not the one with Ric Flair, Tully Blanchard, and the Andersons.)
Instead of thanking the group, the soul they saved whispered to his other legal counsel then immediately ascended to Heaven.
The Phantom Jungle: Forth the Three Hunters! (By JC Connors)
With hope or without hope we will follow the trail of our enemies. And woe to them, if we prove the swifter! Forth the Three Hunters!I ran a mini session of an old favorite, and brought two new players into the fold of Fate Core. Joining Clara were Calvin Davino, mercenary for money, and Dr Hemmet Hazoul, tomb looting scumbag.
The adventure starts with an ambush on the Javary river in Peru. The DeSoto brothers want revenge on the party for previous buffoonery. They jump on deck and rob the players, threatening a dynamite attack if they’re disobeyed.
The group was happy to give up their minor treasures, but the DeSotos put their hands on Calvin's jacket, and he has the aspect "hands off the merchandise.” The adrenaline junkie waited until they boarded their escape vehicle, then leapt onto it, lit their dynamite with a cigarette, and with the help of Professor Hazoul, swung on a rope back to the original vessel. Combat averted, as the DeSotos tried to swim to shore ahead of the piranhas.
That's pretty much how the rest of the adventure went. Clara played the diplomat to anyone who spoke English. Hazoul repaired every broken tool they ran into, and Calvin raised his ginublade to anyone who said different.
The party thought they had the Phantom Jungle figured out though: mysterious people had been seen in gray uniforms, so the Nazis must be around. Imagine their shock when they crested a ridge to see, floating in a lagoon outside a hidden temple, a confederate ironclad!
Neo Confederates, psychically guided by their ancestors who had fled the Civil War, were trying to open an ancient pyramid.
The ironclad gave the group trouble. Clara, desperate for food after a seven-hour trek through the jungle, called upon the greycoats' hospitality, getting fed but locked in the captain's quarters. Hazoul tried the old trick of knocking a guy out and stealing his uniform (although this took multiple fate points and the help of Calvin to pull off). He used his disguise to sabotage the deck gun.
The confederates had both a hostage and a jetpack-wielding mercenary. Clara solved both problems at once, ripping the merc’s jetpack off and giving it to the hostage to flee with. Hazoul set off an explosion and the players fled the chaos into the temple. This is where the Turkish professor shined: with his architectural degree, he was able to build over the traps he couldn't flat out disable.
The problem came when they reached the final chamber, the one containing the undying psionic confederate. Empowered by ancient Quipu, he dealt with their disrespect by telekinetically breaking their weapons. None of the trio could even fake respect, so instead of a parlay, it was a psychic horror show.
Luckily, the group had used their grenades to trap the entrance. Someone tried to enter the temple, creating a loud enough distraction for the group to flee… then hide, and finally kill the godly Rebel with a combo of antique cannon and stone deadfall.
Of course, curiosity isn't so easily defeated. Skeptic Hazoul decided to touch the artifact, awakening six hours later with the ability to speak ancient Quechua. But woe to the group’s foes, for they proved the swifter!
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John Dallman
Hero
February 1941. The characters were in Chongquing, the temporary capital of Nationalist China. They were there escorting a delegation from the Indian National Congress, who were being shown just how vicious the Japanese war against China was. There was a faction of the INC that believed the Japanese statements about Pan-Asian unity and viewed them as potential liberators of India from the British. The PC's faction within the Indian police/intelligence system considers Indian independence from Britain inevitable, but conquest by Japan as disastrous.
The Nationalist Chinese agree with that, and were happy to show the INC why. However, their government is riddled with corruption and Japanese spies. One of those spies identified the PCs, based on a report from events in Hong Kong a few months earlier, and decided to kill these "dangerous British agents." They hired some local gangsters, dressed them up as local police, got the Japanese Army Air Force to stage an air raid and sent their fake policemen into the PCs' hotel's air raid shelter to "evacuate them to a place of greater safety." That turned into a shootout in the air raid shelter, when it became clear that the other hotel guests were also mostly armed and the fake police were badly outnumbered and significantly outgunned.
The real Chongquing police managed to round up the spy ring before anyone in the pay of the Japanese found a good excuse to stop them. The INC delegation will recommend to the party leadership that defence against Japan should be supported, provided the British don't start a war against Japan, which nobody considers plausible.
Yes, the Japanese intelligence services really were this bad in 1941. The job had no prestige and attracted no respect. Not that British intelligence in the East was a lot better, as will become clear later in 1941.
Golden Bee
The cool guy of online
On intelligence: https://www.nytimes.com/1974/05/09/archives/each-others-mail-essay.html
Weight Your Tournament!
The Gray Gargoyle vanished among the stalagmites, a metal cable wrapping around the lawyer’s shoulders. But with a great cry of strength, the Jade Jaguar broke the cord…
Crime! On a snowy evening in February, three figures gathered around an illegal machine. Detective Zelda Saeki, lawyer/boxer Tácito Uriel Velasco, and stuntwoman Lala Santinella, are in the break room, aiming for a high score in pinball. (Lala wins.)
Their boss, the 13-year-old millionaire Devika, is furious. Midas Security just scooped them on a contract, and sent a taunting telegram about it. She’s off to a Broadway show, but by the time she gets back, she expects the contract poached! Otherwise, no gambling for anybody!
Lala calls her contact at Midas, the underpaid secretary of their overnight answering service. All the woman is willing to give is an address over in Chinatown. The group takes the Duesenberg over. The spot’s a packed restaurant with an exclusively Chinese clientele. It has a secret though: it's a front for Chinese crime lord ‘The Ubiquitous Dragon’! The Dragon has multiple distinct corporeal forms. The New York one is susceptible to flattery, and the group is able to get a solid deal by the time dessert is served. (It's always useful to have a lawyer in your adventuring party!)
The Dragon:
***
A week later, the group has left frozen New York behind for a mysterious island near Macau. The security gig is to protect a combat tournament, one filled with unstable and arrogant fighters.
Oddly, there are only seven entrants, with the final one missing. Notable among the fighters: Lala's mentor the Gray Gargoyle, luchador El Principe del Inframundo, and General Saeki's chosen fighter (and Zelda's old crush), Yoji Sanada.
Also on the island is Tácito's brujo trainer. Rereading their contract, nothing prevents the boxer from also joining and taking the eighth spot… Which would put him against the Grey Gargoyle!
The group investigates the cast of fighters. Lala flirts with Baltimore's representative, “Big Man” Carcetti (first seen in The Demise of Dr. Enigma!). Carcetti’s looking past his first-round opponent, Hong Kong actress Cheng Xiu. This turns out to be a bad move, as during their opening bout, he takes a sai right through the chest! Tacito’s Jaguar senses goes off. Carcetti was actually killed from behind, by Tacito’s old nemesis… The light-bending Mr. Nowhere!
The group demands a pause in the tournament, to investigate. Mr. Nowhere was the eighth contestant… whose name was thrown out due to bureaucratic error. The Dragon, bored and debauched, gives the group permission to hunt and slay the interloper, as long as it's amusing.
Hoping to find a less open arena, the group found an ancient cavern with a glowing snake statue. The battles continued, with Lala stalking through the crowd, and eventually hearing breathing from an empty corner. She pointed to a spot…and Zelda began perforating the interloper! The holes in the suit, combined with blood, made Nowhere visible. Tacito and the Gray Gargoyle, who were battling to a standstill, called a timeout to fight the killer. Unfortunately, the masked vigilante kicked Mr. Nowhere off a cliff! The man landed five stories below with a wet squelch.
General Saeki asked an important question:
Tacito, who won his round via forfeit, returned to his beachside hut. Santinella and Saeki finally investigated their criminal hirer. There was a reason it was so easy to win the contract: The Dragon didn’t value safety on her island at all. She wanted strong people to die, so her terra-cotta warriors could turn their chi into power. Her many lives came at the expense of others!
Tacito and his brujo Leocadio sat watching the sunset, passing a jazz cigarette back and forth. Who knew when they were in a Mexican prison, they would eventually end up here? Their reverie was interrupted by the lawyer’s female coworkers. Lala insisted they needed to blow up the island, despite minimal skill in pyrotechnics. Zelda wanted to contact her father, if only for logistical support. Devi was mad that her lawyer was doing drugs.
Inside, the elder Saeki praised his daughter’s propriety. The Dragon was a threat to Japanese interests: he would be happy to follow any battle plans she laid out! Zelda realized another problem: there was no guarantee that there was only one copy of The Dragon on the island!
The group networked, teaming up with the trustworthy tournament members. Their investigation was solid, but the plan ran into issues while they were raiding a site of power. And escaping the island on a plane was even tougher… [Mechanically, it was a contest. In Fate, when you tie, the competition changes forms, sometimes massively!]
The story cut from Lala putting her hand on the throttle to putting her hand on a Bible. The group was back in New York, on trial for contract tampering.
Lala ignored the prosecutor’s argument, and won the crowd over by changing the topic. Didn’t Midas deal with Nazis? Wasn’t a German Zeppelin seen many months ago docked near Doc Midas’s office in the Empire State Building? Could anyone prove that this alleged “corporation” the ZSS had tampered with, which was housed in a now-shuttered Chinese food restaurant, was actually an entity?
Tacito delivered closing arguments, and the jury declared the group… not guilty! At the back of the room was a mysterious Chinese woman, who gave them an unnerving look before disappearing into the crowd.
Weight Your Tournament!
The Gray Gargoyle vanished among the stalagmites, a metal cable wrapping around the lawyer’s shoulders. But with a great cry of strength, the Jade Jaguar broke the cord…
Crime! On a snowy evening in February, three figures gathered around an illegal machine. Detective Zelda Saeki, lawyer/boxer Tácito Uriel Velasco, and stuntwoman Lala Santinella, are in the break room, aiming for a high score in pinball. (Lala wins.)
Their boss, the 13-year-old millionaire Devika, is furious. Midas Security just scooped them on a contract, and sent a taunting telegram about it. She’s off to a Broadway show, but by the time she gets back, she expects the contract poached! Otherwise, no gambling for anybody!
Lala calls her contact at Midas, the underpaid secretary of their overnight answering service. All the woman is willing to give is an address over in Chinatown. The group takes the Duesenberg over. The spot’s a packed restaurant with an exclusively Chinese clientele. It has a secret though: it's a front for Chinese crime lord ‘The Ubiquitous Dragon’! The Dragon has multiple distinct corporeal forms. The New York one is susceptible to flattery, and the group is able to get a solid deal by the time dessert is served. (It's always useful to have a lawyer in your adventuring party!)
The Dragon:
***
A week later, the group has left frozen New York behind for a mysterious island near Macau. The security gig is to protect a combat tournament, one filled with unstable and arrogant fighters.
Oddly, there are only seven entrants, with the final one missing. Notable among the fighters: Lala's mentor the Gray Gargoyle, luchador El Principe del Inframundo, and General Saeki's chosen fighter (and Zelda's old crush), Yoji Sanada.
Also on the island is Tácito's brujo trainer. Rereading their contract, nothing prevents the boxer from also joining and taking the eighth spot… Which would put him against the Grey Gargoyle!
The group investigates the cast of fighters. Lala flirts with Baltimore's representative, “Big Man” Carcetti (first seen in The Demise of Dr. Enigma!). Carcetti’s looking past his first-round opponent, Hong Kong actress Cheng Xiu. This turns out to be a bad move, as during their opening bout, he takes a sai right through the chest! Tacito’s Jaguar senses goes off. Carcetti was actually killed from behind, by Tacito’s old nemesis… The light-bending Mr. Nowhere!
The group demands a pause in the tournament, to investigate. Mr. Nowhere was the eighth contestant… whose name was thrown out due to bureaucratic error. The Dragon, bored and debauched, gives the group permission to hunt and slay the interloper, as long as it's amusing.
Hoping to find a less open arena, the group found an ancient cavern with a glowing snake statue. The battles continued, with Lala stalking through the crowd, and eventually hearing breathing from an empty corner. She pointed to a spot…and Zelda began perforating the interloper! The holes in the suit, combined with blood, made Nowhere visible. Tacito and the Gray Gargoyle, who were battling to a standstill, called a timeout to fight the killer. Unfortunately, the masked vigilante kicked Mr. Nowhere off a cliff! The man landed five stories below with a wet squelch.
General Saeki asked an important question:
Tacito, who won his round via forfeit, returned to his beachside hut. Santinella and Saeki finally investigated their criminal hirer. There was a reason it was so easy to win the contract: The Dragon didn’t value safety on her island at all. She wanted strong people to die, so her terra-cotta warriors could turn their chi into power. Her many lives came at the expense of others!
Tacito and his brujo Leocadio sat watching the sunset, passing a jazz cigarette back and forth. Who knew when they were in a Mexican prison, they would eventually end up here? Their reverie was interrupted by the lawyer’s female coworkers. Lala insisted they needed to blow up the island, despite minimal skill in pyrotechnics. Zelda wanted to contact her father, if only for logistical support. Devi was mad that her lawyer was doing drugs.
Outside his tent, Zelda conferred with her crush, Sanada. He admired her, sure, but as a devout follower of Miyamoto Musashi, his loyalty was to his blade and his nation.
Inside, the elder Saeki praised his daughter’s propriety. The Dragon was a threat to Japanese interests: he would be happy to follow any battle plans she laid out! Zelda realized another problem: there was no guarantee that there was only one copy of The Dragon on the island!
The group networked, teaming up with the trustworthy tournament members. Their investigation was solid, but the plan ran into issues while they were raiding a site of power. And escaping the island on a plane was even tougher… [Mechanically, it was a contest. In Fate, when you tie, the competition changes forms, sometimes massively!]
The story cut from Lala putting her hand on the throttle to putting her hand on a Bible. The group was back in New York, on trial for contract tampering.
Lala ignored the prosecutor’s argument, and won the crowd over by changing the topic. Didn’t Midas deal with Nazis? Wasn’t a German Zeppelin seen many months ago docked near Doc Midas’s office in the Empire State Building? Could anyone prove that this alleged “corporation” the ZSS had tampered with, which was housed in a now-shuttered Chinese food restaurant, was actually an entity?
Tacito delivered closing arguments, and the jury declared the group… not guilty! At the back of the room was a mysterious Chinese woman, who gave them an unnerving look before disappearing into the crowd.
Golden Bee
The cool guy of online
City of Smiles/Range War by Phillip Taterczynski
Clara wrestled the towering cossack to the ground, pinning him. Zelda grabbed a leg, trying not to get too close.
This was a two-part adventure, the first of which was based on actual history.
In the 1930s, Budapest had a wave of suicides. A local professor, Anton Jano, created the optimistic “Smile Club,” teaching people all the popular Hollywood smiles, to better fight adversity.
The pulp twist was that Professor Jano was doing this at the behest of white Russians, with hypnotism. Captain Ivanova’s superior, Colonel Dyshekov, had been caught investigating, and was tried in absentia by his enemies in the NKVD.
Those enemies didn't expect her to bring her country cousin Clara Tate, smuggler Ivan Kochev, or ace investigator Zelda Saeki. The captain tore through the Budapest underworld, intimidating everyone who stood in her way: Cossack soldiers, mind-washed stabbers, even the general of the white Russians himself. They confessed their crimes and/or willingly rejoined the Soviet system. That's the power of being inspirational, and being willing to use a bullwhip.
---
The second adventure left the dreary streets and took up the dusty trails. Kochev had inherited 600 acres from a long-lost uncle, 15 miles outside of Promise City, Oregon. Unfortunately, it was the most desired land in the state. Both the ranchers and the the shepherds were willing to kill for it. The climax came when the group, joined by Rafe Lancaster, was having an exclusive steak dinner at the Cattlemen's Club. Someone threw barrels of kerosene and a Molotov through the bottom-floor windows!
They evacuated, with Rafe and Ivo jumping out a second-floor window after the staircase collapsed. The quartet chased the masked horsemen through the city streets, with Zelda and Clara shooting like maniacs. Rafe was shot repeatedly, limping to the ground as Clara fought for the reins. Zelda put everything she had into shooting out the struts of a wagon-based Gatling gun, rendering it useless.
Nearby, Rafe fought for consciousness in the bushes. He’d live through the encounter, but the New York playboy was no Western hero.
Eventually, the two women killed enough of the pyromaniac shepherds. Clara demanded that the two sides end the range war, or else. With things settled, the only question was who Ivo would sell his extremely valuable ranch to. It turns out no one.
Clara wrestled the towering cossack to the ground, pinning him. Zelda grabbed a leg, trying not to get too close.
This was a two-part adventure, the first of which was based on actual history.
In the 1930s, Budapest had a wave of suicides. A local professor, Anton Jano, created the optimistic “Smile Club,” teaching people all the popular Hollywood smiles, to better fight adversity.
The pulp twist was that Professor Jano was doing this at the behest of white Russians, with hypnotism. Captain Ivanova’s superior, Colonel Dyshekov, had been caught investigating, and was tried in absentia by his enemies in the NKVD.
Those enemies didn't expect her to bring her country cousin Clara Tate, smuggler Ivan Kochev, or ace investigator Zelda Saeki. The captain tore through the Budapest underworld, intimidating everyone who stood in her way: Cossack soldiers, mind-washed stabbers, even the general of the white Russians himself. They confessed their crimes and/or willingly rejoined the Soviet system. That's the power of being inspirational, and being willing to use a bullwhip.
---
The second adventure left the dreary streets and took up the dusty trails. Kochev had inherited 600 acres from a long-lost uncle, 15 miles outside of Promise City, Oregon. Unfortunately, it was the most desired land in the state. Both the ranchers and the the shepherds were willing to kill for it. The climax came when the group, joined by Rafe Lancaster, was having an exclusive steak dinner at the Cattlemen's Club. Someone threw barrels of kerosene and a Molotov through the bottom-floor windows!
They evacuated, with Rafe and Ivo jumping out a second-floor window after the staircase collapsed. The quartet chased the masked horsemen through the city streets, with Zelda and Clara shooting like maniacs. Rafe was shot repeatedly, limping to the ground as Clara fought for the reins. Zelda put everything she had into shooting out the struts of a wagon-based Gatling gun, rendering it useless.
Nearby, Rafe fought for consciousness in the bushes. He’d live through the encounter, but the New York playboy was no Western hero.
Eventually, the two women killed enough of the pyromaniac shepherds. Clara demanded that the two sides end the range war, or else. With things settled, the only question was who Ivo would sell his extremely valuable ranch to. It turns out no one.
Celebrim
Legend
Tales of the Dogfish
Episode #9: Wings of Terror (Session #71)
ARRRGGGH!!!! Bit of a vent here.
The house Benelux hunters are still trying to capture the terrorist known as The Aguia before he disrupts the peaceful transition of power from the occupation forces of the Empire to the provisional Lafraian government. Acting on a tip from a local Bounty Hunter they had brought in to help on the investigation, the team knew that Aguia's supporters had declared that the Aguia would be attending the races being held in honor of the visiting Moff and other Imperial VIPs. These races would be held at the galactically renowned Lafra Pinnacles race course, considered one of the galaxies 50 most important racing venues, and would consist of a Pod Race held in the morning followed by the (more politically acceptable) Swoop race held in the afternoon. Racing fans from across the galaxy would be tuning in live to watch the 819th running of the Lafra Pinnacles Cup, a storied race which had not been held for various political reasons for 13 years owing to among other things Lafra's involvement with the Separatist Alliance and its resulting military occupation. The Empire for its part hoped that backing the races would help win over good will from the restive Lafraian population leading to incorporation of the planet in the New Order and a wave of Galactic investment from corporations and human colonists.
So the PCs arrive early at the race course, with its massive five kilometer long concourse and grand stand, a million race fans on hand, 28 racing teams both local and galactic and thousands of members of the galaxies various press corps and media groups (all being watched over carefully by ISB Agents to ensure nothing seditious is broadcast back to viewers at home) and everything watched over by both local security and a whole cohort of Imperial Troops - 1200 strong with AT-ST's, gunships, CIWS and SAM installations all discretely placed around the perimeter. In the are hundreds of camera droids and massive suspensor mounted holographic generators to support massive arial broadcast screens 500 meters across. The mood in the crowd is festive and the huge crowd is just chaos. There is seemingly no way you'd find one person, even one with supposedly distinctive scars in which a crowd.
But, it's not like the PC's don't have any clues. Early investigations exposed a possible link between the terrorist organization and a professional racing team on Lafra "The Most Handsome Fliers", and as it turns out the pilot for "The Most Handsome Fliers" - Slar Zark - is the Lafraian champion in both pod racing and swoop racing and is scheduled to participate in both races. The PC's knew that members of the racing team met at the bar the discovered to have terrorist links, and that one of the mechanics was close friends with the air truck driver who had been part of the caving club and whom had been the driver in the attempted truck bombing.
Yet for some reason, they had made only a cursory investigation of the racing teams' shop, having been deterred merely by the glowers of the gruff foreman and had never attempted to access their electronic records or interrogate any of their employees by any means. But now, surely, with the racing team here on site preparing to race in front of the Imperial VIPS, they'd conduct a more thorough investigation, poke around, ask questions and generally be a nuisance as is their general modus operandi. Especially when at least a couple of hunters were suspecting that, given The Aguia's known expertise as a swoop bike pilot, that perhaps he intended to participate in the contest, and that this particular venue - being a source of nationalist pride - was quite unlike the usual targets of his organization the corporate factories, hotels, and other infrastructure of the new colonial rulers of the planet. Some even reasoned that a Lafraian victor at the races would serve his purposes better than a terrorist attack, especially given that 90% of the fans present in the stands were Lafraians and the Lafraians almost religious devotion to sports and contests. This was a sacred event in their eyes, and probably not an appropriate venue for covert murder. So of course, you'd expect the PC's to follow their leads and instincts.
No of course not. That would be too rational and predictable. Instead, they limited their investigation to sweeping the course for explosives and verifying that the Lafraian pilots all matched the faces presented in the programs.
"Yep, that's Slar Zark alright. There is no Aguia here. I guess we'll just bet on the races go up to the lobby under the VIP boxes, and hang out with some storm troopers as they excitedly talk about the latest sporty civilian replusor lift craft."
I mean, they did win 80,000 credits by betting on Slar Zark to win the races (since he was 80:1 odds to win the swoop race) which is more than the Empire is paying them, so it wasn't exactly a loss for the hunters. But it was a very frustrating session for the GM as I spent the whole evening just narrating as they verified that indeed the Empire could do security on their own without their hand being held and then settled back to let me narrate all 20 laps of two races as they watched them on TV, minutes away from their own highly modified racing swoop bike which they had purchased and spent a day adding weaponry to so that they could chase the Aguia should they locate him, and minutes more away from the Imperial Gunship they had arrived in with its powerful anti-personal weaponry that could surely threaten or destroy even an agile racing swoop. No, they just watched him zip away at over 300 mph on TV after winning the race in dramatic fashion, while the crowd - having been informed through local social media that the Aguia was in the race during the last lap - chanted "Aguia, Aguia, Aguia" to the annoyance of the ISB censors who were forced to filter the crowd noise and stop camera coverage of the races winner.
Episode #9: Wings of Terror (Session #71)
ARRRGGGH!!!! Bit of a vent here.
The house Benelux hunters are still trying to capture the terrorist known as The Aguia before he disrupts the peaceful transition of power from the occupation forces of the Empire to the provisional Lafraian government. Acting on a tip from a local Bounty Hunter they had brought in to help on the investigation, the team knew that Aguia's supporters had declared that the Aguia would be attending the races being held in honor of the visiting Moff and other Imperial VIPs. These races would be held at the galactically renowned Lafra Pinnacles race course, considered one of the galaxies 50 most important racing venues, and would consist of a Pod Race held in the morning followed by the (more politically acceptable) Swoop race held in the afternoon. Racing fans from across the galaxy would be tuning in live to watch the 819th running of the Lafra Pinnacles Cup, a storied race which had not been held for various political reasons for 13 years owing to among other things Lafra's involvement with the Separatist Alliance and its resulting military occupation. The Empire for its part hoped that backing the races would help win over good will from the restive Lafraian population leading to incorporation of the planet in the New Order and a wave of Galactic investment from corporations and human colonists.
So the PCs arrive early at the race course, with its massive five kilometer long concourse and grand stand, a million race fans on hand, 28 racing teams both local and galactic and thousands of members of the galaxies various press corps and media groups (all being watched over carefully by ISB Agents to ensure nothing seditious is broadcast back to viewers at home) and everything watched over by both local security and a whole cohort of Imperial Troops - 1200 strong with AT-ST's, gunships, CIWS and SAM installations all discretely placed around the perimeter. In the are hundreds of camera droids and massive suspensor mounted holographic generators to support massive arial broadcast screens 500 meters across. The mood in the crowd is festive and the huge crowd is just chaos. There is seemingly no way you'd find one person, even one with supposedly distinctive scars in which a crowd.
But, it's not like the PC's don't have any clues. Early investigations exposed a possible link between the terrorist organization and a professional racing team on Lafra "The Most Handsome Fliers", and as it turns out the pilot for "The Most Handsome Fliers" - Slar Zark - is the Lafraian champion in both pod racing and swoop racing and is scheduled to participate in both races. The PC's knew that members of the racing team met at the bar the discovered to have terrorist links, and that one of the mechanics was close friends with the air truck driver who had been part of the caving club and whom had been the driver in the attempted truck bombing.
Yet for some reason, they had made only a cursory investigation of the racing teams' shop, having been deterred merely by the glowers of the gruff foreman and had never attempted to access their electronic records or interrogate any of their employees by any means. But now, surely, with the racing team here on site preparing to race in front of the Imperial VIPS, they'd conduct a more thorough investigation, poke around, ask questions and generally be a nuisance as is their general modus operandi. Especially when at least a couple of hunters were suspecting that, given The Aguia's known expertise as a swoop bike pilot, that perhaps he intended to participate in the contest, and that this particular venue - being a source of nationalist pride - was quite unlike the usual targets of his organization the corporate factories, hotels, and other infrastructure of the new colonial rulers of the planet. Some even reasoned that a Lafraian victor at the races would serve his purposes better than a terrorist attack, especially given that 90% of the fans present in the stands were Lafraians and the Lafraians almost religious devotion to sports and contests. This was a sacred event in their eyes, and probably not an appropriate venue for covert murder. So of course, you'd expect the PC's to follow their leads and instincts.
No of course not. That would be too rational and predictable. Instead, they limited their investigation to sweeping the course for explosives and verifying that the Lafraian pilots all matched the faces presented in the programs.
"Yep, that's Slar Zark alright. There is no Aguia here. I guess we'll just bet on the races go up to the lobby under the VIP boxes, and hang out with some storm troopers as they excitedly talk about the latest sporty civilian replusor lift craft."
I mean, they did win 80,000 credits by betting on Slar Zark to win the races (since he was 80:1 odds to win the swoop race) which is more than the Empire is paying them, so it wasn't exactly a loss for the hunters. But it was a very frustrating session for the GM as I spent the whole evening just narrating as they verified that indeed the Empire could do security on their own without their hand being held and then settled back to let me narrate all 20 laps of two races as they watched them on TV, minutes away from their own highly modified racing swoop bike which they had purchased and spent a day adding weaponry to so that they could chase the Aguia should they locate him, and minutes more away from the Imperial Gunship they had arrived in with its powerful anti-personal weaponry that could surely threaten or destroy even an agile racing swoop. No, they just watched him zip away at over 300 mph on TV after winning the race in dramatic fashion, while the crowd - having been informed through local social media that the Aguia was in the race during the last lap - chanted "Aguia, Aguia, Aguia" to the annoyance of the ISB censors who were forced to filter the crowd noise and stop camera coverage of the races winner.
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Golden Bee
The cool guy of online
Security Party!
Miss Horse held the bucking Tommy gun, eager to dissuade any idiot who dared follow!
(This adventure isn’t a module, yet it combines exciting content made by Mike B. Lee, who made Baron Korga, and JD Connors’s The Uncanny Curse of Sekhmet.)
Instead of crumbling masonry or hails of gunfire, the group had another problem this week… bounced paychecks! Devi was flummoxed that the bank was putting a hold on her funds. (Ancient?) Greek mercenary Elodee Grigorios nearly took the door down before Lala and Rafe Lancaster explained that the teenage millionaire wasn't a ripoff artist. In fact, along with Senegal's greatest detective Inspector Omar M’Tombe, they would head to the bank right now and get everything sorted out.
***
Unfortunately, the bank had just been robbed by four masked criminals known as the Zoo Crew. 110th St. became a race track as Mr. Panda put the pedal to the metal.
The Inspector tightened his coat against the New York cold, trying to aim the perfect shot. His attention was rattled when Elodee jumped from the Dusenberg to the robber's car! She immediately grabbed Mr. Tiger, and noticed that the robbers had a hostage!
Miss Horse laid down covering fire, keeping Lancaster pinned in his seat. Mr. Wolf noticed something strange and heavy in one of the money sacks… and threw it towards his pursuers. Turns out it was a primitive gel pack, and it splattered all over the Dusy’s windshield!
The cars slalomed through traffic, but the Inspector was able to get off one shot… rupturing the robbers’ fuel line. Without gasoline, the vehicle skidded to a stop, but the animals refused to be caged. Mr. Wolf threatened to blow the hostage’s brains out unless the gang could escape into the subway. The Inspector shot the pistol out of the thief’s hand and Elodee threw Mr. Tiger on top of him! With the police closing in, the rest of the group surrendered.
Turns out the paycheck problem was a result of a bunch of blackmail material. Italian OVRA agent (and Lala's childhood friend!) Stefani Nardozi was pissed about how Devi made all her money: the orphan had defeated and looted Skeet Skitshaw, who had looted five Italian banks. That money had come out of the pockets of everyday Italians.
(By the way, this argument was being held in the lap pool at the Waldorf Astoria.)
Stefani, to avoid any more federal investigation, told Lala that her bosses were holed up in their old hometown, Calcata, Italy.
But first, the Inspector (a new player) had to be brought up to speed.
Calcata was closed by the fascist government under the false pretense that the cliffside town was unstable. Rafe Lancaster said he was a geologist, and more importantly had a suitcase of money for the gate guards. Inside though, weren’t work-a-day fascist militiamen… It was the remnants of Baron Korga’s Black Legion!
Elodee wasn't just a pile of muscles though. The mythios moved through the ancient street without a sound, wincing at each clatter of the Inspector’s cane. There was light from the largest house in town, and inside, Korga's two greatest lieutenants, Oleg and Ulyana! The duo had created a surveillance hub where they thought they'd never be bothered. As the group argued whether they should handle this physically or socially, Oleg came around the corner, aiming his broom handle pistol into Elodee! Ulyana set off the alarm, bringing in all the previously avoided mercenaries.
This was a nail-biter of a fight. Oleg had an answer for all of Elodee’s tricks. Rafe was repeatedly pinned down by the soldiers of fortune. It was only when they changed dance partners did they succeed, with the Greek hero slashing through the Legion and the millionaire using shoddy wiring to electrify the brute.
Lancaster was able to save all the surveillance material before Ulyana could destroy it. The malefactors fled into the night, as the group poured over the data. It was for advanced weapons testing, for the benefit of Italian, Spanish and German purchasing agents… and the site of the test was the group’s Cairo base!
Our heroes sped like maniacs to the nearest phone, and their housekeeper confirmed it! In less than two days, all of Baron Korga’s remaining weaponry would be used to destroy their domicile and raid its esoteric armory!
The Inspector and Lala turned over every rock, and were able to get the details on Korga’s plans. Rafe took over the penthouse of the Mena House hotel. He worked connections, and although Governor Sir Harry Alexander couldn't delay the test, he would rally the people against it. (England was in a precarious situation and couldn't afford to piss off three vindictive governments.)
Grigorios, against advice of the housekeeper, decided to grab the jade mirror that summoned a star vampire. She was pretty sure she understood how it worked, even though Chinese was a "barbarian language."
The sun fell and the moon rose, and the sun ascended again. Our heroes took their positions: the Inspector with an array of weapons on the roof, Lala on her motorcycle, Rafe indoors, and the Greek warrior guarding the secret base entrance.
The soldiers had no warning about the extra-planar horror. It tore through their spirits like a chainsaw cutting through wet candles. Even Elodee, who was as strong in spirit as she was of muscle, felt fear as the creature wended through the cavern and disappeared, not back into its mirror. Oh well, a problem for later.
Lala ran distractions on her motorcycle, Rafe hurried to put together a new electrical trap, and the Inspector kept his position a secret, instead observing among the enemy who gave orders and who followed them.
The first wave of fighting was brutal, but our heroes survived. The next one would be very different.
Korga tried a full frontal assault, sending his invulnerable automatons to smash in the front of the base. He made sure to make grand proclamations to all the photographers in attendance, including Miss Leni Riefenstahl. (Lala, who meant to incite the crowd, was extremely distracted to see her former colleague, and the two began arguing loudly in front of the confused Egyptians.)
Rafe understood the robots, however. His electrical trap was designed to counter their every weakness. The tens of thousands he spent to collect the broken husks in New York paid off. [Through good rolls, burning up advantages, and spending Fate points, Lancaster one-shotted the second wave.]
It was time for the grand finale. The Baron himself arrived, in an electro-mechanical battle suit. Unluckily for him, the group knew his plans, and he was met at the front gate by Elodee.
The hero of legend defined herself as better than any man. The servos whirred and whined, proof of peerless mechanical genius.
On the roof, M’Tombe held back the assault by shooting exclusively officers. Chaos.
The two fought to a standstill… which was exactly what Lancaster wanted. He took out his tool kit, and began disassembling the armor while Korga was in it! The design was ingenious, almost sacreligious to destroy…but Rafe didn't care about that. He cared about protecting his friends. And with bullets flying all around him, the crowds yelling and cheering, he altered the resistance of the suit… maximizing energy flow while disabling the cooling system.
Elodee barely had time to detangle herself before Korga roasted alive! The haram smell, toasty flesh, wafted down the block.
Afterwards, Lala led the crowd. Under her suggestion, the oppressed of Cairo turned on the (fascist) foreign invaders. Devi and Rafe headed to the hotel to have ice cream and make up. The Inspector, feeling every one of his 62 years, took a nap on the couch.
Miss Horse held the bucking Tommy gun, eager to dissuade any idiot who dared follow!
(This adventure isn’t a module, yet it combines exciting content made by Mike B. Lee, who made Baron Korga, and JD Connors’s The Uncanny Curse of Sekhmet.)
Instead of crumbling masonry or hails of gunfire, the group had another problem this week… bounced paychecks! Devi was flummoxed that the bank was putting a hold on her funds. (Ancient?) Greek mercenary Elodee Grigorios nearly took the door down before Lala and Rafe Lancaster explained that the teenage millionaire wasn't a ripoff artist. In fact, along with Senegal's greatest detective Inspector Omar M’Tombe, they would head to the bank right now and get everything sorted out.
***
Unfortunately, the bank had just been robbed by four masked criminals known as the Zoo Crew. 110th St. became a race track as Mr. Panda put the pedal to the metal.
The Inspector tightened his coat against the New York cold, trying to aim the perfect shot. His attention was rattled when Elodee jumped from the Dusenberg to the robber's car! She immediately grabbed Mr. Tiger, and noticed that the robbers had a hostage!
Miss Horse laid down covering fire, keeping Lancaster pinned in his seat. Mr. Wolf noticed something strange and heavy in one of the money sacks… and threw it towards his pursuers. Turns out it was a primitive gel pack, and it splattered all over the Dusy’s windshield!
The cars slalomed through traffic, but the Inspector was able to get off one shot… rupturing the robbers’ fuel line. Without gasoline, the vehicle skidded to a stop, but the animals refused to be caged. Mr. Wolf threatened to blow the hostage’s brains out unless the gang could escape into the subway. The Inspector shot the pistol out of the thief’s hand and Elodee threw Mr. Tiger on top of him! With the police closing in, the rest of the group surrendered.
Turns out the paycheck problem was a result of a bunch of blackmail material. Italian OVRA agent (and Lala's childhood friend!) Stefani Nardozi was pissed about how Devi made all her money: the orphan had defeated and looted Skeet Skitshaw, who had looted five Italian banks. That money had come out of the pockets of everyday Italians.
(By the way, this argument was being held in the lap pool at the Waldorf Astoria.)
Stefani, to avoid any more federal investigation, told Lala that her bosses were holed up in their old hometown, Calcata, Italy.
But first, the Inspector (a new player) had to be brought up to speed.
Calcata was closed by the fascist government under the false pretense that the cliffside town was unstable. Rafe Lancaster said he was a geologist, and more importantly had a suitcase of money for the gate guards. Inside though, weren’t work-a-day fascist militiamen… It was the remnants of Baron Korga’s Black Legion!
Elodee wasn't just a pile of muscles though. The mythios moved through the ancient street without a sound, wincing at each clatter of the Inspector’s cane. There was light from the largest house in town, and inside, Korga's two greatest lieutenants, Oleg and Ulyana! The duo had created a surveillance hub where they thought they'd never be bothered. As the group argued whether they should handle this physically or socially, Oleg came around the corner, aiming his broom handle pistol into Elodee! Ulyana set off the alarm, bringing in all the previously avoided mercenaries.
This was a nail-biter of a fight. Oleg had an answer for all of Elodee’s tricks. Rafe was repeatedly pinned down by the soldiers of fortune. It was only when they changed dance partners did they succeed, with the Greek hero slashing through the Legion and the millionaire using shoddy wiring to electrify the brute.
Lancaster was able to save all the surveillance material before Ulyana could destroy it. The malefactors fled into the night, as the group poured over the data. It was for advanced weapons testing, for the benefit of Italian, Spanish and German purchasing agents… and the site of the test was the group’s Cairo base!
Our heroes sped like maniacs to the nearest phone, and their housekeeper confirmed it! In less than two days, all of Baron Korga’s remaining weaponry would be used to destroy their domicile and raid its esoteric armory!
The Inspector and Lala turned over every rock, and were able to get the details on Korga’s plans. Rafe took over the penthouse of the Mena House hotel. He worked connections, and although Governor Sir Harry Alexander couldn't delay the test, he would rally the people against it. (England was in a precarious situation and couldn't afford to piss off three vindictive governments.)
Grigorios, against advice of the housekeeper, decided to grab the jade mirror that summoned a star vampire. She was pretty sure she understood how it worked, even though Chinese was a "barbarian language."
The sun fell and the moon rose, and the sun ascended again. Our heroes took their positions: the Inspector with an array of weapons on the roof, Lala on her motorcycle, Rafe indoors, and the Greek warrior guarding the secret base entrance.
The soldiers had no warning about the extra-planar horror. It tore through their spirits like a chainsaw cutting through wet candles. Even Elodee, who was as strong in spirit as she was of muscle, felt fear as the creature wended through the cavern and disappeared, not back into its mirror. Oh well, a problem for later.
Lala ran distractions on her motorcycle, Rafe hurried to put together a new electrical trap, and the Inspector kept his position a secret, instead observing among the enemy who gave orders and who followed them.
The first wave of fighting was brutal, but our heroes survived. The next one would be very different.
Korga tried a full frontal assault, sending his invulnerable automatons to smash in the front of the base. He made sure to make grand proclamations to all the photographers in attendance, including Miss Leni Riefenstahl. (Lala, who meant to incite the crowd, was extremely distracted to see her former colleague, and the two began arguing loudly in front of the confused Egyptians.)
Rafe understood the robots, however. His electrical trap was designed to counter their every weakness. The tens of thousands he spent to collect the broken husks in New York paid off. [Through good rolls, burning up advantages, and spending Fate points, Lancaster one-shotted the second wave.]
It was time for the grand finale. The Baron himself arrived, in an electro-mechanical battle suit. Unluckily for him, the group knew his plans, and he was met at the front gate by Elodee.
The hero of legend defined herself as better than any man. The servos whirred and whined, proof of peerless mechanical genius.
On the roof, M’Tombe held back the assault by shooting exclusively officers. Chaos.
The two fought to a standstill… which was exactly what Lancaster wanted. He took out his tool kit, and began disassembling the armor while Korga was in it! The design was ingenious, almost sacreligious to destroy…but Rafe didn't care about that. He cared about protecting his friends. And with bullets flying all around him, the crowds yelling and cheering, he altered the resistance of the suit… maximizing energy flow while disabling the cooling system.
Elodee barely had time to detangle herself before Korga roasted alive! The haram smell, toasty flesh, wafted down the block.
Afterwards, Lala led the crowd. Under her suggestion, the oppressed of Cairo turned on the (fascist) foreign invaders. Devi and Rafe headed to the hotel to have ice cream and make up. The Inspector, feeling every one of his 62 years, took a nap on the couch.
John Dallman
Hero
We have returned to Avalon from Artemisia, where we prevented a war, to find that our home country of Landcentre is at war with the larger country of Greensward. Landcentre is doing quite well so far.
Since we weren't immediately asked to do anything, we decided to investigate a rather virulent fungus that has been attacking trees. Laythia, our half-Dryad ranger, who worships Aldrya, was keen on this, especially as it seemed to be being spread deliberately. We were able to eliminate some possible groups via Commune spells, but then we ran low on ideas which the druids tackling the fungus hadn't already tried.
Avalon has connections to many other DM's worlds, forming a kind of meta-campaign. Within that, there are some characters who are widely known for specialised expertise, so we consulted a PC who is known for expertise in botany and related subjects, including biological warfare. He was able to analyse the fungus in considerable detail. The news that it will need about five years of growth before it starts producing new spores was welcome; learning that it can feed on any kind of woody material, including live and dead trees, and treants, rather less so. He suggested a specialist detection magician (another PC) who might be able to tell us how far it had spread.
He could. Something like two-thirds of the continent is affected, and it's still being spread. With the plot on the map, it was clear that places where spores have been released form a grid, although not a terribly precise one, and it's being done with teleportation. It isn't being done by Greensward, given their lands are covered in it. There are at least three candidates for the group doing this. And this war is a bigger threat than the one with Greensward.
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John Dallman
Hero
Maybe it's just the way this group plays, but we keep finding scenarios where strange alien ships are infested with parasites. We get rid of them, and the ships go on their way.
The first was a bioship with parasitic worms, which seemed to be preventing its stutter-warp drive from operating.
Today's was a gigantic STL sleeper ship, with a slime-creature hiding in the conduits and eating the occasional passenger. This was not what was keeping the ship from continuing its voyage, but we killed the slime-creature while other parts of the expedition were mining the minerals the ship's maintenance robots needed to do its repairs. We did get something practical out of that: observations and spectroscopy of a working Bussard-style ramjet engine starting up inside a heliosphere and flying away. Humanity in the 2300 setting doesn't need that, but we'd very much like better fusion power plants.
The other scenarios so far have been evacuating a group of aliens from a base on their planet's moon to the planet, they having been trapped on the moon after a nuclear war, and talking to an alien cyber-intelligence that we decided to leave alone.
If some alien calls the expedition to account for their moral choices, we think we have a decent case.
It probably helps that the players have read at least as much SF as Mongoose's editorial people, and appear to know more astrophysics.
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