(Continued from part one)
Back to the ruins, to explore North for a good place to put the final MIB device. The ceiling of the next room was almost collapsed, sagging dangerously. A strange mist billowed in from the West. The Kimeras followed it to an abandoned cafeteria, filled with fog. They crossed the room to investigate the other exits, when Zeke spotted it on the ceiling.
A giant barnacle, the size of a van. Just... hovering there. Not the kind they'd seen in the mines, either. They gave it a wide berth as they crossed the room. The mist swirled and formed words floating in the air.
"TURN AROUND AND LEAVE"
The players asked who they were talking to. The letters turned into an arrow and pointed at the barnacle. They asked why it wanted them to leave.
"WE THREE WILL DEFEND OURSELVES"
They continued on their way, ignoring the creature's warnings. It slowly hovered toward them, dangling upside down, and they opened fire. It deflected most of their shots and got in a good whack with its forelimbs before Tristan split it open and killed it with his magic axe.
With the danger apparently gone, Zeke looted the room while Zach looked for a good place to place the device. A child sized amalgamation of vines swung into the room with murderous intent, and Tristan axed it out of the air before it could do any damage. Zach hid the sensor cluster. Zeke kept searching for treasure. The sensor beacon activated, completing the network.
(I rolled a D4 to see how many rounds it would take for the other beasts to arrive. I rolled high, which gave the players a generous margin to focus them down one at a time.)
Then time jumped forward. The Kimeras were sprawled on the ground, bruised and bleeding from multiple pincer wounds. A giant crab bleeding smoke from its carapace was grappling with an enormous, suited man in a ceramic mask. The man smartly deflected the creature's claw, and executed a flawless point shooting drill, putting two rounds into the beast with his pistol held at hip level.
It wasn't enough to kill the monster, or stop it from casting a spell. With a crackling sound, the masked man fizzled and disappeared. The players were left on their own against the giant crab.
(The crab was the deadliest paradox beast by far, with a 1/3 chance to cast "Time Stop" for free every turn. The Man in Black Paladin also has Time Stop in his spell roster, so I thought it would be cool for him to apport in once the last sensor was placed and cast it in response, doing battle while the rest of the world sat still.)
The crab tore through the Kimeras. It nearly tore out Devin's eye, severed Tristan's leg (the other one, this time) and mangled Zach's hand. The survivors hacked it to pieces, as they tend to do when something deals them horrible wounds.
Cobb and Zeke tended to the gang's wounds with medicine and magic. The sound of footsteps from the West put them on alert. Devin called out to the strangers, who responded with curiosity. The trio of shabbily dressed but well equipped dungeon explorers wanted to know what all the shooting was about. The Kimeras explained that they'd just cleaned out a monster nest. The trio were shocked that the creatures were nesting so close to one of their "routes". They wanted to know how the gang had got into the dungeon - if the Union had let them in. The Kimeras explained that they came through the sewers from the Blood For Sex. They asked if the strangers would let them out through whatever Union entrance they were talking about. The smugglers thought about it, but decided against showing the gang their secret dungeon exit. The Kimeras would have to walk back.
It was a long walk for a guy with a missing leg. The lair in the sewer was occupied by a sleeping cave bear. Tristan crept up on it and struck it with his axe.
(By RAW, losing a leg affects your Athletics, but not your Stealth. This seems silly, but in a game where skills are already so pitifully low I'm not interested in inflicting more penalties)
He dealt it an impressive wound, but failed to kill it. It responded by mauling the shit out of him, mangling his hand. He wisely played dead while the other Kimeras beat the bear down. Cobb added the bear pelt to his already huge pile of monster organs.
The hike out was brutal. Climbing ladders with mangled hands and missing feet. Swimming through sewage with open wounds. Everyone wished they'd convinced the smugglers to let them out through their secret exit. Better luck next time.
There were more smugglers in the VIP booth at the Blood For Sex when they got back. Tristan tried to establish a rapport, but couldn't get any information out of them. The Kimeras went up through the club and back out onto the mean streets of Coal City.
Devin wasn't feeling so good. Cobb quickly diagnosed the problem: he had the Black Death. Maybe it was all those rat bites. Everyone stood further away. Luckily, yersina pestis is treatable with antibiotics and dangerous super-science.
The busses were still running, despite the late hour and the destruction of the big bridge. The group got home without any trouble. Upside to carrying huge bags of weapons and magical creature organs, bleeding all over the seats and reeking of sewage and gore: the knife wielding crooks who infest Coal City at night don't want anything to do with you.
At Cobb's house in the suburbs, Devin was quickly incarcerated in the doctor's basement isolation room, to disrobe, shave and delouse himself. Cobb suited up for surgery and replaced his eye with one he recovered from the eyeball collector in a previous dungeon adventure. Whatever creature it came from, it gave Devin the ability to see electrical currents. Devin fixed up Zach and Tristan's hands, and Tristan finally accepted the alligator leg, rather than waiting for Cobb to find another human replacement. Cobb's mold was getting hungry, so he fed it one of the crab's claws. The mold recognized the taste of temporal magic, and Cobb realized too late that it might have had some spellcasting potential. Lucky, he still had the other claw. Finally, Devin asked Cobb if he could increase his intelligence. Cobb decided to experiment with increasing Devin's neuroplasticity via a dura mater graft from the black goat's splattered brains - rich in stem cells. It was a terrible idea, but it seemed to work - increasing Cobb's Intelligence with no visible ill effects.
Back to the ruins, to explore North for a good place to put the final MIB device. The ceiling of the next room was almost collapsed, sagging dangerously. A strange mist billowed in from the West. The Kimeras followed it to an abandoned cafeteria, filled with fog. They crossed the room to investigate the other exits, when Zeke spotted it on the ceiling.
A giant barnacle, the size of a van. Just... hovering there. Not the kind they'd seen in the mines, either. They gave it a wide berth as they crossed the room. The mist swirled and formed words floating in the air.
"TURN AROUND AND LEAVE"
The players asked who they were talking to. The letters turned into an arrow and pointed at the barnacle. They asked why it wanted them to leave.
"WE THREE WILL DEFEND OURSELVES"
They continued on their way, ignoring the creature's warnings. It slowly hovered toward them, dangling upside down, and they opened fire. It deflected most of their shots and got in a good whack with its forelimbs before Tristan split it open and killed it with his magic axe.
With the danger apparently gone, Zeke looted the room while Zach looked for a good place to place the device. A child sized amalgamation of vines swung into the room with murderous intent, and Tristan axed it out of the air before it could do any damage. Zach hid the sensor cluster. Zeke kept searching for treasure. The sensor beacon activated, completing the network.
(I rolled a D4 to see how many rounds it would take for the other beasts to arrive. I rolled high, which gave the players a generous margin to focus them down one at a time.)
Then time jumped forward. The Kimeras were sprawled on the ground, bruised and bleeding from multiple pincer wounds. A giant crab bleeding smoke from its carapace was grappling with an enormous, suited man in a ceramic mask. The man smartly deflected the creature's claw, and executed a flawless point shooting drill, putting two rounds into the beast with his pistol held at hip level.
RE: scale, the MIB is maybe 8 feet tall
It wasn't enough to kill the monster, or stop it from casting a spell. With a crackling sound, the masked man fizzled and disappeared. The players were left on their own against the giant crab.
(The crab was the deadliest paradox beast by far, with a 1/3 chance to cast "Time Stop" for free every turn. The Man in Black Paladin also has Time Stop in his spell roster, so I thought it would be cool for him to apport in once the last sensor was placed and cast it in response, doing battle while the rest of the world sat still.)
The crab tore through the Kimeras. It nearly tore out Devin's eye, severed Tristan's leg (the other one, this time) and mangled Zach's hand. The survivors hacked it to pieces, as they tend to do when something deals them horrible wounds.
Cobb and Zeke tended to the gang's wounds with medicine and magic. The sound of footsteps from the West put them on alert. Devin called out to the strangers, who responded with curiosity. The trio of shabbily dressed but well equipped dungeon explorers wanted to know what all the shooting was about. The Kimeras explained that they'd just cleaned out a monster nest. The trio were shocked that the creatures were nesting so close to one of their "routes". They wanted to know how the gang had got into the dungeon - if the Union had let them in. The Kimeras explained that they came through the sewers from the Blood For Sex. They asked if the strangers would let them out through whatever Union entrance they were talking about. The smugglers thought about it, but decided against showing the gang their secret dungeon exit. The Kimeras would have to walk back.
It was a long walk for a guy with a missing leg. The lair in the sewer was occupied by a sleeping cave bear. Tristan crept up on it and struck it with his axe.
(By RAW, losing a leg affects your Athletics, but not your Stealth. This seems silly, but in a game where skills are already so pitifully low I'm not interested in inflicting more penalties)
He dealt it an impressive wound, but failed to kill it. It responded by mauling the shit out of him, mangling his hand. He wisely played dead while the other Kimeras beat the bear down. Cobb added the bear pelt to his already huge pile of monster organs.
The hike out was brutal. Climbing ladders with mangled hands and missing feet. Swimming through sewage with open wounds. Everyone wished they'd convinced the smugglers to let them out through their secret exit. Better luck next time.
There were more smugglers in the VIP booth at the Blood For Sex when they got back. Tristan tried to establish a rapport, but couldn't get any information out of them. The Kimeras went up through the club and back out onto the mean streets of Coal City.
Devin wasn't feeling so good. Cobb quickly diagnosed the problem: he had the Black Death. Maybe it was all those rat bites. Everyone stood further away. Luckily, yersina pestis is treatable with antibiotics and dangerous super-science.
The busses were still running, despite the late hour and the destruction of the big bridge. The group got home without any trouble. Upside to carrying huge bags of weapons and magical creature organs, bleeding all over the seats and reeking of sewage and gore: the knife wielding crooks who infest Coal City at night don't want anything to do with you.
At Cobb's house in the suburbs, Devin was quickly incarcerated in the doctor's basement isolation room, to disrobe, shave and delouse himself. Cobb suited up for surgery and replaced his eye with one he recovered from the eyeball collector in a previous dungeon adventure. Whatever creature it came from, it gave Devin the ability to see electrical currents. Devin fixed up Zach and Tristan's hands, and Tristan finally accepted the alligator leg, rather than waiting for Cobb to find another human replacement. Cobb's mold was getting hungry, so he fed it one of the crab's claws. The mold recognized the taste of temporal magic, and Cobb realized too late that it might have had some spellcasting potential. Lucky, he still had the other claw. Finally, Devin asked Cobb if he could increase his intelligence. Cobb decided to experiment with increasing Devin's neuroplasticity via a dura mater graft from the black goat's splattered brains - rich in stem cells. It was a terrible idea, but it seemed to work - increasing Cobb's Intelligence with no visible ill effects.
The gang ended the day with beers and a bonfire in Cobb's back yard. Except for Devin, who watched through the window well of the basement isolation room. They didn't know how to contact the Men in Black, but weren't worried. With the sensors active, the MIBs would know what went on in the underworld, and appreciate a job well done.
At the end of the night, the underworld map looked like this.
Take everything I said last session about having a Doctor with the party and double it. As long as you avoid a certain density of damage, any injury is recoverable, so long as you have a cooler of spare parts. I'm ok with this - instead of inflicting permanent penalties that make the characters' already miserable chances of success worse, the characters become more and more disgusting as their bodies are gradually replaced with monster organs. The tough part is thinking of benefits and drawbacks to monster organs that are easy for the player and GM to remember, interesting, fun, not completely game breaking and not totally crippling. You have to enlist the players, both in helping you come up with effects, and reminding you when they come into play.
I didn't expect the MIB job to take three sessions, but I'm not bothered that it did. Dungeon crawling is dangerous business, with significant costs to getting in, getting out, and moving around underground. A single bad encounter can dramatically change the direction of a run. Plus, having the three sensors in different areas encouraged the gang to explore three places they'd never been before, and probably would never go on their own.
With the city going to hell and open warfare between magical factions in the streets, the consequences of the players' actions are going to catch up with them. A job for the MIBs clears their legal heat, but not the black marks they've run up with many of the dungeon inhabitants. Strategic collaboration with law enforcement is not a good look either. Future sessions will deal more with these elements. The next game will be set a week of in-world time after this one, resuming the usual pace. Which will give everyone whose injuries require physical therapy, and infectious diseases require a course of antibiotics, time to recover.
At the end of the night, the underworld map looked like this.
Take everything I said last session about having a Doctor with the party and double it. As long as you avoid a certain density of damage, any injury is recoverable, so long as you have a cooler of spare parts. I'm ok with this - instead of inflicting permanent penalties that make the characters' already miserable chances of success worse, the characters become more and more disgusting as their bodies are gradually replaced with monster organs. The tough part is thinking of benefits and drawbacks to monster organs that are easy for the player and GM to remember, interesting, fun, not completely game breaking and not totally crippling. You have to enlist the players, both in helping you come up with effects, and reminding you when they come into play.
I didn't expect the MIB job to take three sessions, but I'm not bothered that it did. Dungeon crawling is dangerous business, with significant costs to getting in, getting out, and moving around underground. A single bad encounter can dramatically change the direction of a run. Plus, having the three sensors in different areas encouraged the gang to explore three places they'd never been before, and probably would never go on their own.
With the city going to hell and open warfare between magical factions in the streets, the consequences of the players' actions are going to catch up with them. A job for the MIBs clears their legal heat, but not the black marks they've run up with many of the dungeon inhabitants. Strategic collaboration with law enforcement is not a good look either. Future sessions will deal more with these elements. The next game will be set a week of in-world time after this one, resuming the usual pace. Which will give everyone whose injuries require physical therapy, and infectious diseases require a course of antibiotics, time to recover.
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