Session Three was the last one I'm running rules as written. The players all said they had fun, but hated the system. They identified the skill system as a sore spot, and I agree with them. I'll try and think of a way to streamline things without robbing the people who chose classes based on their skills (Athletics being the big one).
- Kaldron, Homeless Antifa Nazi Killer & Hunter of the Elusive “Lichtler” (Criminal, Level 2)
- Cobb "jury-rigged immortality is still immortality" Taylor (Doctor, Level 1)
- Lionel Lemoyne, Scion of Dead Aristocracy, Seeker of Strange Cults (Bodyguard, Level 1)
- Tristan Vedhart, Babyfaced "Artist" & Fast Talking Runner (Explorer, Level 1)
Faced with the job offers I prepared at the end of the last session, the players decided to start with the library robbery. Hooks the Stevedore met them at a union office on Harbor Island and pitched them the offer: a copy of the Catalogue of the Stygian Library in exchange for a cool thousand dollars. The location of their prize: an occult library in the Southeast corner of the map. Without a car, they took a bus to the entrance at Vinculum and descended into the underworld.
The storm drain South (thankfully was disused and unflooded by the rain) was filled with rats, who swarmed in greater numbers and got closer and closer to the occultists as they progressed. The beasts scattered when Kaldron produced a molotov, implying a greater intelligence than mere animal instinct guiding the creatures.
The tunnel opened into a cave system. The group steered clear of the murky pool filled with cave lobsters, instead electing to cross a large chamber filled with azure blue water. To help the less athletically inclined members of the group, Tristan used climbing gear to set up pitons and cables for the crossing. He got it all set up, then fell into the water. Something whispered to him amid the blue crusted skeletons at the bottom of the pool, asking him who he was, where he was, why there were skulls everywhere. He was ensorcelled and couldn't even think about leaving, let alone find his way up.
Kaldron and Lionel tied a rope to Kaldron, who leaped into the pool and grabbed Tristan. They hauled him out just before he began drowning. Cobb treated him for lung damage and he immediately demanded to be thrown back under the water. Then a voice hailed them from the far side of the pond.
A cave crawling chthonicist came climbing out of the darkness on the other side of the chamber, crossing along the wall like it was a floor. He warned them about the dangers of the pool (too late) and that the next room was even worse - a vast pool of acid. He suggested that if they were headed for the library (which he just came from) they should use the entrance from the club beneath the Blood For Sex.
(The chthonicist appeared on the random encounter table after they spent so long trying to cross the room. Sometimes random encounters are helpful!)
The gang took his advice and turned back to Vinculum. In the home stretch, Kaldron spotted a creature pretending to be a log under the arch of the storm drain. He told the rest of the group it was a "mimic", then threw a molotov at it. Tristan tazed it as it came out of the outlet, and Kaldron beheaded it with the magic axe from the goblin market. He took the head, while Lionel carried the body, and they returned to the club. They donated the aligator's head to the taxidermy wall in the back, while the aligator corpse went in the dumpster.
The barkeep at the Blood For Sex was even more impressed with the occultists. Word was out that they'd released a trio of paradox beasts into the underground on the West side. When it came to spreading terror, it didn't get any better than that. He was happy to let them into the underground club below.
At 3:00 in the afternoon, the underground club was sparsely attended. A group of unknown individuals sat drinking on the couches. The occultists asked them which way the Library was, and the unknown faction directed them South. The group unbarred the door and entered the mine tunnels.
Their first roadblock was a mound of trash, leaned up against one wall of the tunnel. Cobb, Lionel and Tristan slipped by without incident, but it grabbed Kaldron when he got close. A trash golem! He struggled free of its grasp and the group chopped it to bits before it could strike them (Tristan discovered that his taser actually healed it). Kaldron surmised that the being's plastic bag "stomach" was filled with empty bottles, and it was trying to grab the molotovs off his belt.
At the entrance to the minds, the trio were accosted by a skeletal figure, clad in a suit of plates. He was accompanied by a man and a woman, both wearing coveralls over fine clothing. All three were wearing Sunflowers. The Death Knight asked who they were and what they were doing in the dungeon. The woman shouted that these were the goons that fucked up the Mausoleum. The group debated who should try to hit the armored skeleton with Kaldron's blessed bat. Tired of their bickering, Cobb grabbed the bat, struck the skeleton ineffectually on the gorget, and was clobbered in return. Rather than take another blow from the Death Knight's longsword, he played dead. Challenge answered, the skeleton asked the group if the accusations against them were true. Tristan convinced him that they weren't. The other Sunflowers insisted he was lying, but the Death Knight would have none of it. After all, no cowardly defiler of tombs would have stepped forth so boldly to challenge them. He led his party onward and left the occultists in peace.
(Nobody from the first game was playing tonight, but I didn't want the group's negative reputation with the Sunflowers to go to waste, so I gave them a charm roll to see if they could beat the rap. They succeeded)
The first thing they ran into in the mine was a large gallery filled with bones. They noticed the cave barnacle on the ceiling before they came within reach of its tendrils. Kaldron shot at it ineffectualy, creating an incredible din that echoed through the mine. The gunshots attracted a strange spirit of the mine, which shrieked at them to immediately cease fire for risk of a cave in. Kaldron poked it with his bat and it recoiled in pain, throwing a bucket at him telekinetically. He struck it down with a single blow, dispelling the spirit.
They knocked at the door in the next room, and an assistant librarian answered them. He let them in after they deposited their weapons in the receptacle. There were two vested men in the vestibule, who didn't seem to notice the occultists. The assistant took the group to the library, which was occupied by an occult librarian and a strange living lamp. She offered them the chance to browse the stacks and read the tomes in the adjacent reading room, but warned against taking the books off the shelves without consulting her first. Kaldron asked for a copy of Wonders of Urth and Sky as a distraction, while Tristan searched for the book they were actually after. In the reading room, a hypnotist pored over a book from the stacks, guarded by two more of the vested, emotionless men.
Cobb decided to create a distraction by removing a book from the shelf. The living lamp immediately flashed its bulb at him, and all four of the hypnotized men tackled him to the floor. Tristan used this as a cover to grab the Stygian Library off the shelf while the librarian remonstrated with Cobb - he was welcome to read the books if he ASKED her to remove them from the shelves for him!
The group pretended to browse and read until enough time had passed that they could leave unsuspiciously. The assistant librarian searched them, but couldn't find the book under Tristan's coat. They were home free, if they could make it back to the surface. The passage back to Blood For Sex was uneventful, save an additional molotov expended clearing out some gross bugs swarming in the tunnel. In the basement dance hall, a group of Fairy Knights had joined the unknown faction for a drink. Kaldron tried to remonstrate with them, but was rebuffed. The fairies weren't happy with him releasing the chaos beasts into the sewer, attracting outside attention. They informed him in no uncertain terms that they'd be phoning in a tip to the third party which had assumed responsibility for the cleanup.
But, that was a problem for another day. The gang caught a bus down to Harbor Island and dropped the book off with the night guy, who promised to arrange payment tomorrow with Hooks. Nothing interesting happened that night, and the group woke up the next day, ready to continue adventuring.
The storm drain South (thankfully was disused and unflooded by the rain) was filled with rats, who swarmed in greater numbers and got closer and closer to the occultists as they progressed. The beasts scattered when Kaldron produced a molotov, implying a greater intelligence than mere animal instinct guiding the creatures.
The tunnel opened into a cave system. The group steered clear of the murky pool filled with cave lobsters, instead electing to cross a large chamber filled with azure blue water. To help the less athletically inclined members of the group, Tristan used climbing gear to set up pitons and cables for the crossing. He got it all set up, then fell into the water. Something whispered to him amid the blue crusted skeletons at the bottom of the pool, asking him who he was, where he was, why there were skulls everywhere. He was ensorcelled and couldn't even think about leaving, let alone find his way up.
Kaldron and Lionel tied a rope to Kaldron, who leaped into the pool and grabbed Tristan. They hauled him out just before he began drowning. Cobb treated him for lung damage and he immediately demanded to be thrown back under the water. Then a voice hailed them from the far side of the pond.
A cave crawling chthonicist came climbing out of the darkness on the other side of the chamber, crossing along the wall like it was a floor. He warned them about the dangers of the pool (too late) and that the next room was even worse - a vast pool of acid. He suggested that if they were headed for the library (which he just came from) they should use the entrance from the club beneath the Blood For Sex.
(The chthonicist appeared on the random encounter table after they spent so long trying to cross the room. Sometimes random encounters are helpful!)
The gang took his advice and turned back to Vinculum. In the home stretch, Kaldron spotted a creature pretending to be a log under the arch of the storm drain. He told the rest of the group it was a "mimic", then threw a molotov at it. Tristan tazed it as it came out of the outlet, and Kaldron beheaded it with the magic axe from the goblin market. He took the head, while Lionel carried the body, and they returned to the club. They donated the aligator's head to the taxidermy wall in the back, while the aligator corpse went in the dumpster.
The barkeep at the Blood For Sex was even more impressed with the occultists. Word was out that they'd released a trio of paradox beasts into the underground on the West side. When it came to spreading terror, it didn't get any better than that. He was happy to let them into the underground club below.
At 3:00 in the afternoon, the underground club was sparsely attended. A group of unknown individuals sat drinking on the couches. The occultists asked them which way the Library was, and the unknown faction directed them South. The group unbarred the door and entered the mine tunnels.
Their first roadblock was a mound of trash, leaned up against one wall of the tunnel. Cobb, Lionel and Tristan slipped by without incident, but it grabbed Kaldron when he got close. A trash golem! He struggled free of its grasp and the group chopped it to bits before it could strike them (Tristan discovered that his taser actually healed it). Kaldron surmised that the being's plastic bag "stomach" was filled with empty bottles, and it was trying to grab the molotovs off his belt.
At the entrance to the minds, the trio were accosted by a skeletal figure, clad in a suit of plates. He was accompanied by a man and a woman, both wearing coveralls over fine clothing. All three were wearing Sunflowers. The Death Knight asked who they were and what they were doing in the dungeon. The woman shouted that these were the goons that fucked up the Mausoleum. The group debated who should try to hit the armored skeleton with Kaldron's blessed bat. Tired of their bickering, Cobb grabbed the bat, struck the skeleton ineffectually on the gorget, and was clobbered in return. Rather than take another blow from the Death Knight's longsword, he played dead. Challenge answered, the skeleton asked the group if the accusations against them were true. Tristan convinced him that they weren't. The other Sunflowers insisted he was lying, but the Death Knight would have none of it. After all, no cowardly defiler of tombs would have stepped forth so boldly to challenge them. He led his party onward and left the occultists in peace.
(Nobody from the first game was playing tonight, but I didn't want the group's negative reputation with the Sunflowers to go to waste, so I gave them a charm roll to see if they could beat the rap. They succeeded)
The first thing they ran into in the mine was a large gallery filled with bones. They noticed the cave barnacle on the ceiling before they came within reach of its tendrils. Kaldron shot at it ineffectualy, creating an incredible din that echoed through the mine. The gunshots attracted a strange spirit of the mine, which shrieked at them to immediately cease fire for risk of a cave in. Kaldron poked it with his bat and it recoiled in pain, throwing a bucket at him telekinetically. He struck it down with a single blow, dispelling the spirit.
They knocked at the door in the next room, and an assistant librarian answered them. He let them in after they deposited their weapons in the receptacle. There were two vested men in the vestibule, who didn't seem to notice the occultists. The assistant took the group to the library, which was occupied by an occult librarian and a strange living lamp. She offered them the chance to browse the stacks and read the tomes in the adjacent reading room, but warned against taking the books off the shelves without consulting her first. Kaldron asked for a copy of Wonders of Urth and Sky as a distraction, while Tristan searched for the book they were actually after. In the reading room, a hypnotist pored over a book from the stacks, guarded by two more of the vested, emotionless men.
Cobb decided to create a distraction by removing a book from the shelf. The living lamp immediately flashed its bulb at him, and all four of the hypnotized men tackled him to the floor. Tristan used this as a cover to grab the Stygian Library off the shelf while the librarian remonstrated with Cobb - he was welcome to read the books if he ASKED her to remove them from the shelves for him!
The group pretended to browse and read until enough time had passed that they could leave unsuspiciously. The assistant librarian searched them, but couldn't find the book under Tristan's coat. They were home free, if they could make it back to the surface. The passage back to Blood For Sex was uneventful, save an additional molotov expended clearing out some gross bugs swarming in the tunnel. In the basement dance hall, a group of Fairy Knights had joined the unknown faction for a drink. Kaldron tried to remonstrate with them, but was rebuffed. The fairies weren't happy with him releasing the chaos beasts into the sewer, attracting outside attention. They informed him in no uncertain terms that they'd be phoning in a tip to the third party which had assumed responsibility for the cleanup.
But, that was a problem for another day. The gang caught a bus down to Harbor Island and dropped the book off with the night guy, who promised to arrange payment tomorrow with Hooks. Nothing interesting happened that night, and the group woke up the next day, ready to continue adventuring.
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