A funny thing happened in Colombia...

Well, many funny things.

I started a new d20 Modern game with a new group. Today I ran the third session. It's set in the Colombia d20 setting.

The heroes are as follows:
Eric: detective and medic, Dedicated Hero 3.
Rock: arms manufacturer, Smart Hero 3. He can speak Spanish.
Alex: educated negotiator, Smart Hero 1/Charismatic Hero 2. He can speak Spanish.
Billy: police sniper, Fast Hero 1/Dedicated Hero 2.
Jon: criminal gunslinger, Fast Hero 3. Her ran away from a wealthy home to live a more exciting life.
Betty: police officer and martial artist, Strong Hero 1/Fast Hero 2. She is Hispanic and can speak Spanish.

They work for Valiant, a private detective and mercenary firm.

Background: the heroes were invited to Arauca, Colombia, a town of about 500 people, in order to assist a journalist named Emelda. She needed bodyguards so she could investigate oil pipeline pollution. Actually, she just wanted them to escort her long enough to rescue her husband Mark from terrorists via negotiation (he was kidnapped three weeks ago). The area around Arauca is too dangerous for a non-combatant, and she wouldn't hire locals for fear they might be connected to terrorists. The terrorists tried to kidnap her, but the heroes intervened. Jon ended up heavily injured - he stood in the middle of the church where the shootout occurred, drawing fire. Near the end he absorbed two shots and was staggered. They demanded more pay.

There were two big groups of terrorists in the area around Arauca; the FARC (no it's not an attempt to skip past the filter), who are left-wing terrorists, and the AUC, who are right-wing terrorists. Since the US destroyed the drug cartels, the drug factories, hitmen, enforcers, smugglers, and so forth joined the terrorist forces, which now make most of their money from the drug trade rather than from kidnappings. Still, kidnappings are big business. Oh yeah, each group of terrorists own about half the town. The heroes were really jumping into the fire here.

The heroes figured out the location of the FARC base (that was the group that kidnapped Mark and tried to kidnap Emelda). They also learned the name of the FARC leader, Zenon. Finally Rock built a pair of mini-mortars, using land mines as warheads. (The same land mines had inconvenienced the PCs before.) He rigged a shotgun to explode when a certain PC's cell phone was activated. So yes, there's going to be explosive components to the upcoming battle.

The heroes came up with big complicated plans. One was for Rock to set up his mini-mortars around the FARC's HQ (a big house on a steep bare hill, surrounded by coca plants). Alex would talk his way into the FARC house (along with Betty, who looked like a Colombian and knew martial arts) and try to find Mark while Rock rained destruction on the house and the other PCs attacked. Eventually they modified the plan slightly; Alex would arrange a trade with Zenon at a neutral location (I forget exactly what he would give up, but it would get him Mark) while the others would attack the FARC house while Zenon was away.

It almost worked. Unfortunately, Zenon was paranoid. He brought his bodyguard with him instead of brining Mark. He faced Alex, who had no backup and couldn't really fight; Alex found that talking to a politically motivated psycho wasn't easy. Yeah, he was screwed.

Zenon drove back to the FARC HQ, not knowing he was being covered by a sniper, a martial artist hiding in the coca plants, etc. The heroes knew that the trade hadn't been made, but weren't entirely sure what had gone wrong. (Alex didn't have the chance to call the PCs.)

So the PCs attack. Rock drops two mini-mortars into the FARC HQ, killing two terrorists having breakfast. The PCs discover that Zenon's bodyguard is really tough and quite able and willing to absorb lead for his boss. Zenon can speak English, and tells the PCs to stop attacking; he pulls out a tiny radio that acts as a detonator for the explosives around prison cells where he's holding Mark and four more prisoners! Uh oh!

Rock responds by pulling out his own version of the same device, calling it a deadman's switch, and says that if he lifts his finger more mini-mortars will fire! It's a Colombian stand-off! I was totally caught by surprise by this action. (Rock didn't actually have a detonator, nor did he have any more land mines that he could launch.) Trying to decide Zenon's actions, I was like a deer caught in headlights. Alex tries to negotiate despite being handcuffed and being held at gunpoint. He even tries to make Zenon look bad to his troops. Zenon believes more mini-rockets will fire (Rock only had two land mines available) but can't back down. He pulls Alex out of the van, plants his shotgun into Alex's back, attempts to trade Alex for peace (fails) and combat breaks out when an irritated Jon tries to shoot him (and hits the bodyguard). Zenon quickly discovers he was made a fool of when no more mini-mortars fire.

For some reason my group is cursed to roll low damage with firearms. The average damage with a 2d8 automatic rifle was probably only a 6, rather than a 9 ... and that's taking Point Blank Shot into account. A lot of rounds would pass. The bodyguard absorbed a lot of lead.

Alex pretended to faint, then at the right moment tried to trip Zenon (who was standing right over him). He failed. Zenon shot him. For once I rolled high damage, an 18! Alex flopped.

Rock absorbed a hail of gunfire from a heavy machine gun hidden in a tree house. He shouted "I want it!" and collapsed. No one would approach the house from that side, which meant no one could treat Rock's wounds. The bodyguard cut Betty down with a machete when she tried to jump on Zenon before Jon finally dropped him. (Jon kept Double Tapping the bodyguard, doing huge damage, yet the bodyguard had lots of hit points, DR, Remain Conscious ... he even got to make use of Concentration! Jon was stealing all the luck that should be stored in the damage dice.)

The heroes nearly all died (literally), but eventually prevailed. Unfortunately Rock, Betty and Alex had all dropped to the ground, bleeding in a coca field. Even worse, those were the only people who could speak Spanish! The terrorists wanted to surrender when Zenon was dropped by Eric's automatic rifle fire... but Zenon was the only terrorist who could speak English! Hoo boy! I lost control of the game for a minute there because I was laughing too hard.

Finally the severely beaten up heroes chased off the last terrorists, treated their injuries as best as they could, talked the guy out of the tree house, and rescued Mark. Inside they discovered evidence that the AUC was going to eliminate the FARC presence in the area by destroying Arauca. They could always rebuild a town. Ironically the PCs had just destroyed the local FARC HQ, making the attack on Arauca pointless. (Of course, they would have opposed the AUC anyway, seeing how right wing terrorists are just as bad as left wing terrorists.) The PCs found a way to contact the AUC and proposed a trade; Zenon, leader of the FARC, and his HQ, in return for not destroying Arauca. Being heavily injured, the PCs wouldn't put up much of a fight against an AUC force big enough to destroy a town of 500 people.

So that was my last game. Anyone else have any stories?
 

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I lived in Bogota' for a year back in the mid-80's, and I love the country. I've set several fun Spycraft games there, including an assault on a drug baron estate hidden near Leticia in the Amazon jungle.
 

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