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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 4919867" data-attributes="member: 143">The d20 Modern modification to Neverwinter Nights is very deadly, with relatively low thresholds for massive-damage saves. I had to make a few adjustments to the base system in my beta run, to keep characters from going down in one shot (very X-COMesque, but not so fun in a role-playing game).  I also used a bleeding system that at least gave a fallen ally's companions a chance to stabilize a dying friend.  Even so, firefights could be pretty nasty.* * * * * Session 1 (April 14, 2008)Chapter 3“Hrrrr,” Buzz groaned.  He blinked and tried to get up, but everything spun around him. “Careful,” a voice said.  “Give it a minute.”Buzz thought that was good advice, and after a few seconds, the painful brightness and spinning feeling began to recede.  He looked up into the face of a stranger, a fit-looking man in his early thirties, clad in a dark coverall with a small red cross pinned to the lapel.  “You a doctor?” he asked.  “Yep,” the other man said.  “M.D. in Emergency Medicine from Harvard Medical School.  James Allen.  Nice to meet you.”Buzz took the man’s hand, accepting his help as he stood up.  They were still in the room from before, his other three companions watching him from a short distance away.  He glanced back at the crate, expecting to see it in pieces, but it was lying on its side near where it had been when he’d opened it, black marks visible around the lid.  “What happened?” he managed.“Flashbang,” Jane said.  “Looks like you got a full shot of it in the face,” Allen said, making sure that Buzz was steady before he let him go.  “You sure you’re all right?”“Yeah, I think so,” Buzz said.  His head certainly seemed to want to live up to his name, but at least the ringing was starting to recede more into the background.  Allen put several implements back into the satchel that hung from his shoulder.  He started toward the elevator, but Smith’s voice came over the speaker again, interrupting him.  “Better stick around, Doctor Allen,” the sergeant said.  “They might have need of your services again.”Vasily watched the exchange with a neutral look.  “No more boxes.  We open door.”The Russian led them down the steps.  The iron door at the bottom looked like it was about a million years old.  Catalina stepped forward, and ran practiced fingers along the jam, careful not to disturb anything.  “It’s been maintained recently.  Fresh grease on the runners.”Vasily took the handle and gave it a tug.  The door slid open, revealing a short hallway that opened onto a larger room beyond.  Smith’s voice followed them from the speaker.  “There’s some friends in the next room, they might not play friendly.”Vasily looked back at the others.  “Stay here,” he said.  He turned and made his way down the hallway. “It would seem that our Russian friend believes he can handle the world on his own,” Catalina commented. “Like hell,” Jane said, hefting the big rifle, slipping after him.  Vasily stepped warily into the room, which was about three times as long as it was wide, the far side deep in shadow where the light from the two flickering lamps in the ceiling failed to reach.  There was some scrap metal scattered about, trash that looked like it had been part of a large heating unit at some point.  The Russian turned as Jane entered the room behind him, frowning as the others came forward in her wake.  He opened his mouth to say something, but a deep metallic groan from the far side of the room drew his attention back around.  There was movement there; he lifted his rifle, drew off the safety in a practiced motion.  Behind him, the others were readying themselves as well.  But Vasily had never seen what came forward out of the darkness before.  As the figures entered the light, he could make out metallic outlines, humanoid shapes that were clearly nothing human. “Robots?” Catalina asked.  “Cool,” Buzz breathed.  Vasily didn’t share the sentiment.  He took aim at the nearer target, but before he could fire, he heard a hiss and felt something sting him in the gut.  He looked down to see a pair of wires there, just as he felt a surge of electrical energy that blazed through his body like a runaway fire, blasting him off his feet.</blockquote>

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