Mountain of the Mad Marquis - Session 5

On day five of the dig, three adventurers left Ishizaka's shop to deal with some unfinished business on the upper floors of the dungeon.

• Al-Hafiz, Level 3 Fedayeen
• Ivaqirax Obus, Level 1 Mage
  
• Protesilaus Poliorcetes, Level 3 Acolyte

They brought Eric the Barbarian with them. Their first task was to shut off the smoke vent in the Vivisectionist Library that they opened on the first day of the excavation. This would enable Irene to re-establish smoke production in the Library, ensuring a steady supply of the drug. Protesilaus also wanted Irene to cultivate a yellow mold sample he took, for use as a biological weapon.

The group tried to use the secret hatch they discovered on the first day to get into the Library. It was visibly bulging and smoke was seeping out of the seams around it. Opening the hatch almost took Protesilaus' head off. A jet of superheated smoke came shooting out of the hatch, where it had been accumulating for four days. The beam cut the limb off a nearby tree and the group decided to find another way down. Like the stairs.

Unknown Armies NPC - Fred Pike

 

Fred Pike was a heroin addict who died of a fentanyl overdose in a public bathroom at Seattle’s Pike Place Market. Thanks to a spell placed on the building complex by legendary urbanomancer Roosevelt Dime, he was immediately resurrected as the genius loci of the market, the tutelary spirit of the place. He replaced Marta Pike, the previous spirit of the place, when he died. She could have saved him, but she was fatally bored with her life and thought it would be a step up for Fred.

You're Not Alexander Masterpost

 

You're Not Alexander! is an Unknown Armies adventure set in the ruined city of Troy at the end of the Classical era. A group of hospitality workers in the Trojan tourist trap must save their friend from being sacrificed in a thousand year old bloodrite.

• Scenario Folder including player document, spell school and avatar paths.
• First Playtest Part 1
• First Playtest Part 2
• Second Playtest
  
• Music Post

You're Not Alexander! - Music Post

 

I only had a few for this one.

 

Unknown Armies NPC - Three Bear

 

A man must have a hobby. Three Bear’s hobby is killing powerful occult underworld figures and making Dipsomancy significant vessels out of their skulls. This makes him a lot of enemies, but also a Robin Hood figure for the enemies of his victims. You don’t get to the top without stepping on people, and those people are usually happy when you get your comeuppance. And Three Bear is generous with the spoils.

Mountain of the Mad Marquis - Prep For Session 5

GIANT BIRDS

Cortez the Orc says he saw a pair of giant birds flying over the mountain. Way bigger than the giant crows that live in the old keep. They were too high in the air to shoot, even with his rifle.

 

IRENE AND THE LAB

Irene the Vivisectionist may be lawful aligned now, but that won't stop her from getting the old lab up and running, if someone goes in there and shuts off the smog vent so she can actually work. It'll cost 1,000 silver pieces to get smoke production back online, granting a daily supply of dragon drugs.

ISHIZAKA'S GENTLY USED SPELLBOOKS

Ishizaka the Genie is selling gently used spellbooks at rock bottom prices. 1,000 silver pieces gets you a tome guaranteed to contain a single random spell, which you can add to your own spellbook for later memorization and casting. All sales are final.

THE MUTOIDS

Gowonry the Bear Headed Man has taught the Centipede Headed Woman the basics of reading and writing. Her name is Ai, but everyone just calls her Grit. 

THE STORY OF THE BERSERKERS

Eric's gang of Berserkers came to the Mountain of the Mad Marquis because a shaman told them it was going to give birth to a supreme evil that would leave the dungeon and inflict itself on the world. The Berserkers were trying to stop it by cleansing the dungeon of life.

 

Unknown Armies NPC - rudeMechanical

What would you do to visit another world? What price would you consider too high to get to the other side? To live in a place made from dreams and pure will? Would you feed it with your own blood?

 

Would you kill someone? 

 

Mountain of the Mad Marquis - Gods of the World

A handful of deities from the world of ANGUISHEDWIRES, The Manor of the Giant Arminius, and the Mountain of the Mad Marquis. If your character has at least one Soul Die, it might be fun to pick a God from this list. They don't have any special effects, yet...

Mountain of the Mad Marquis - Session 4

Day four of the Mountain of the Mad Marquis. The adventurers made good progress last time, and with the berserkers out of the way were ready to push forward and get the Duck Signet Ring from the tomb of the Mad Marquis so they could reach Level 3 of the dungeon.

This time, five adventurers showed up to dig into the dungeon.

• Al-Hafiz, Level 2 Fedayeen
• Jack Fatherd, Level 5 Survivor
• Laguna Tempest, Level 1 Warcaster
  
• Protesilaus Poliorcetes, Level 2 Acolyte
• Wakefield, Level 1 Burglar

They brought Eric the Barbarian along with them as an extra pair of hands to hold weapons and treasure. Several adventurers sported plate armor formerly worn by the skeletons, refurbished at Ishizaka's shop.

By Stepan Alekseev

The giant crows were back in the surface keep, watching Jack Fatherd to see if he would give them more treats. One of the beasts approached him and let him stroke its feathers. It dropped a shiny trinket for him: a small blade of prismatic obsidian, attached to a wooden hilt. He rewarded the bird with a silver coin.

The group descended the excavated stairs at the Southwest end of the old keep, and from there went down through the smashed floor in the Holy Mountain room to the Necropolis.

Mountain of the Mad Marquis - Session 3

Another day, another descent into the Mountain of the Mad Marquis. This time four adventurers left the camp to delve the ruins.

• Al-Hafiz, Level 1 Fedayeen
• Jack Fatherd, Level 5 Survivor
• Laguna Tempest, Level 1 Warcaster
  
• Protesilaus Poliorcetes, Level 1 Acolyte

They were accompanied by Gowonry and the centipede woman, two Mutoids recruited on a previous delve into the dungeon. Laguna had some boards to cross the broken bridge in the bone pit, and the group hoped to retrieve the duck signet ring from the Marquis' tomb so they could progress to the next level of the dungeon. They decided to go down the fast way, using the one tun barrel and the rope around the tree. They all hopped into the barrel and left the centipede woman on the surface to lower them into the pit. It was a risky move, with their combined weight she could just barely lower them into the pit without dropping them. She wouldn't be able to haul up more than a couple people at a time.

The gang saw before they got to the bottom that something wasn't right. The plants in the cemetery sinkhole were trampled and the doors of the makeshift inn were smashed open. Whoever wrecked the place went through the South door, and the gang followed their footsteps to see what was going on.

Temple of the Crying Buddha Masterpost

Temple of the Crying Buddha is an Unknown Armies oneshot inspired by a couple episodes of the 33.3 FM show. Players take the role of Imperial Japanese soldiers during the Rape of Nanking, sent to pillage an ancient temple full of dangerous secrets. A cheap trick, I know, setting the scenario during an atrocity to immediately grab the players' attention. Everyone will get what they deserve. 

• Scenario Folder including pregens and a new avatar path
  
• First Playtest
• Music Post

Mountain of the Mad Marquis - Session 2

The adventurers were not eager to spend two days hiking back to the nearest town, but they had treasure to sell and items they needed to purchase to improve their odds of survival. They descended the mountain along the old cart path, overgrown with trees and bushes.

 

An Orc came up the road, clad in garish armor, wearing rose colored glasses and carrying a muzzleloading rifle. He didn't make any special effort to stay hidden, nor did any of the mercenaries following him.

 

By me

The adventurers observed from stealth as Cortez the Orc placed an iron flask on the ground, waited about a minute expectantly, then gave it a kick. A cloud of smoke emitted from the vessel, resolving into a genie. The spirit theatrically fell on his hands in mid-air and vomited up a whole tent and market stall. Ishizaka's market was open for business.

The concept was simple. Ishizaka the Genie knew there was treasure in the dungeon, and he was the only person within a week's travel who had the capital to buy it all with currency. He'd take whatever the players brought up from the Mad Marquis' mansion, and they could use the coin they earned to buy supplies to bring up more treasure. And if they died, there would be more adventurers to take their place. All he had to do was wait, and sell useful items at market rates.

Two adventurers took him up on the deal.

• Laguna Tempest, Level 1 Warcaster
  
• Zigar Kneecapper, Level 1 Thug

They picked up rope, spikes, a hammer and a wax writing tablet for Gowonry the Mutoid, so that he could communicate more complex ideas than just "yes" and "no".

Then they went back to the ruined keep, for another crack at the Mountain of the Mad Marquis.

Unknown Armies NPC - Jamaldin

By Tim O'Brien

 

Jamaldin is a Neanderthal from the Caucasus. He escaped from a mountain game preserve where his tribe was selectively bred and hunted for thousands of years. He isn’t going back to help his tribe because he hates them. They were all cowards who never lifted a hand to fight the hunters who killed, skinned and ate them, but they eagerly ganged up to hurt him whenever they got the chance. He’s got a whole world to explore and he’s not going to waste a second thinking about people who don’t deserve his help.