Sunday, June 26, 2011

Session 13 summary

Where our heroes escape and explore the mysterious Shining Temple...

Featuring:

- Dexx: Young thief, trying to leave behind his former life in the street gangs of the Boneyard to make a living scavenging out in the wasteland;

- Rhiannon: Vault 21 outcast, skilled engineer and adventurous spirit adjusting to life on the outside, with a mission to find her lost mother and retake her vault;

- Craig: Pacifist Super Mutant, seeking peace in a life of spirituality out in the desolate wastes; formidable hunter and medicinal healer;

Rhiannon found herself in a most unenviable situation. Dexx had just inexplicably collapsed to the ground, impossible to wake up from his deep slumber, and she alone remained to face the ever-growing throng of villagers that poured into the building. Quickly she grabbed Dexx’ pistol that had fallen at her feet and cautioned the approaching men, each of them brandishing a spear, to stay back. She was caught with her back against the wall: the only possible way out was the trapdoor in the corner of the wattle and daub building, though this could equally be a dead end. Asarum, the robed man who seemed to be the leader of the Keepers, checked the other villagers and promised Rhiannon that no harm would befall her and explained that they had not poisoned her friends, but merely sedated them as a precaution. He assured her that her friends would have the highest honor visited upon them: the blessing of the one they call the Resplendent One. Rhiannon put little stock in Asarum’s words, but was in no position to bargain. She demanded to keep her gun and never have her friends leave her sight while they were in the village. The hooded man agreed to these conditions, and two of the villagers started to drag the unconscious Dexx out of the building. As Rhiannon followed them out, one of the men clad in a long, brown robe suddenly stepped in front of her and barred the doorway, while four of the villagers came at her from all sides. Struggling to break free from their grip, Rhiannon was hit on the back of the head, and everything went black before her eyes…

Drifting in and out of consciousness for what seemed like days to their clouded minds, Dexx and Craig found themselves lying belly-down, bound hand and foot, in the center of the village. At one moment two of the Keepers came and searched them for any possession, taking everything they found, though they missed one of the knives Dexx had cleverly hidden away in one of the many pockets of his outfit. Dexx could hear the Keepers talking amongst themselves and learned they were to be taken up the mountain, to the temple, before a deep, dreamless sleep took hold of him again. Some time later, Craig briefly woke up as one of the robed men came to feed them a white paste he scooped up from a small wooden bowl, forcing it down both their throats. Too weak to resist, Craig too succumbed to sleep again.

The next morning they were rudely awakened by two of the robed men, striking them with the butt of their spears, ordering them to get up and start walking up the mountain. Three of the villagers stood ready to accompany them as well. The Keepers left the ties on Dexx and Craig, making it impossible for them to go any faster than a slow trot. The villagers took them by the arms and, half dragging them along, began to escort their captives up the mountain path, toward their temple, the large, pre-War structure shining in the early sunlight.

Meanwhile Rhiannon awoke in total darkness on a hard, rocky floor. Slowly she started to feel her way around the place, using the light from her PipBoy, and discovered she was in a small, natural cave. Along the walls of the cave she found a storage space containing baskets of dried fruits, some bags which held a sizeable amount of money and various knickknacks. More importantly however she came across some sturdy wooden crates branded with the Far Go Traders logo. The crates contained various mechanical parts and equipment, which might prove useful. Trying to come up with a plan, she explored the rest of the cave, now armed with a spanner. In the far corner she made quite an unappetizing discovery. A few heaps of moldy organic mass were spread across the cave floor. Prodding one of them with the spanner it immediately crumbled. Worryingly the thought came to her that the piles seemed to be vaguely humanoid in shape. At the other end of the cave she found some rough-hewn steps leading up, with a trapdoor at the top. By now a plan had fully formed, and she set to work creating a contraption from a small pneumatic pump and some power cells, in the hopes of blasting the trapdoor of its hinges.

By now Dexx and Craig were halfway up the mountain, the summit steadily approaching. Desperately trying to think of a plan, their minds were still too hazy to think straight, and they felt very feeble from the substance the Keepers had made them eat. Craig briefly considered jumping over the edge and taking two of their captors with them, but thought better of it. Deliverance came about rather unexpectedly, as suddenly they heard the reports of rifles firing from far above, up the side of the mountain, and one of the robed men holding Craig dropped to the ground, bleeding profusely. Craig took advantage of the confusion that followed to hit the deck, taking the villager holding him from the other side down with him. Dexx hunched over and threw himself to the side, where the path met the mountain wall. More shots were fired and the second Keeper took a hit as well and, dropping his spear and stumbling back, tumbled down over the edge. At the same time Craig had rolled over, using his weight to keep one of the remaining villagers pinned down. One of the other villagers, a young, rather dirty and ugly looking woman had followed Dexx’ example and hugged the cliffs, cowering as another barrage was unleashed and the third villager was shot down. The last of the men still alive managed to extricate himself from under Craig and made use of a lull in the firing to start running down the path, back toward the village. A final salvo followed, but missed the fleeing villager. When the shooting came to a halt, Craig and Dexx made use of the spears dropped by the Keepers to cut their bounds. The young woman meanwhile had remained in her hiding place, not daring to move a muscle, and begun to cry. Dexx used some of the rope to tie her up in turn. The woman, Iris, begged them to let her go, but they would have none of it and planned to drag her along up to the temple, as going back down to the village didn’t seem an option to them and they hoped to find Rhiannon there. Turning their attention to their mysterious saviors perched up high on the mountain side near the summit, they now recognized the shooters as their guides Al and Frank, who had stayed behind when the three of them had gone up to the village. The two young lads shouted down for the others to meet up with them at the end of the mountain path, near the spot where it came closest to the Keepers’ temple.

Having finished her jury-rigged device, Rhiannon decided to try and break out of the cave. She placed the contraption right underneath the trapdoor, quickly ran down the steps again in case the whole thing went terribly awry. But sure enough, the improvised pneumatic hammer blew the trapdoor wide open, sending it flying of its hinges. Her spanner at the ready, Rhiannon waited a few moments in case any guards came running down, but only one of the local women came, saw what had happened and ran off, shouting for help. Time being of the essence, Rhiannon ran up the steps and through the house, upon exiting which she noticed the woman had already caught the attention of a few of the village men. Rhiannon decided to make a run for it, across the open space of the center of the village, toward the wooden gate where the path leading up the mountain began. Quickly she dashed across, while three villagers ran to intercept her. Intimidating she pointed her PipBoy at them, warning them to back off or get shot by her laser. Her bluff worked masterfully on the technologically unadept men, causing to stop dead in their tracks. This bought Rhiannon enough time to make for the gate, while the villagers started following her again after some angry upbraiding from their leader. Rhiannon ran as fast as her legs could carry her up the path, but slowly the hardy villagers caught up with her. She decided her only option was to make a stand, even though she was only armed with a spanner; it would prove more than sufficient. The first of the men to catch up with her made a wild swing, missed and left Rhiannon the perfect opportunity to retaliate. Bringing the spanner down with all her might she shattered the villager’s collar bone and sent him staggering back, right into the gaping chasm next to the path. By now the second villager was harassing her, throwing a few good punches but unable to get her to lower her defense long enough to get a punishing blow in. Dodging his blows she was alert enough to notice the third villager approaching, stepping out of the way of his running tackle in the nick of time. With an underhand swing she swung the spanner in the villager’s unmentionables, making him drop to his knees gasping in pain. Trying to keep the third one of her, he managed to recover his senses and tried attacking Rhiannon in the back, but she swung around and cracked the man’s skull with a sickening crunch. Seeing both his friends fallen, the last villager tried to overcome her in his rage, but his wild, sloppy attacks only hastened the inevitable. Having dispatched the last of them, Rhiannon quickly continued her way up, hearing more villagers approaching in the distance.

Dexx and Craig had reunited with Al and Frank at the top of the mountain, along with their unwilling hostage Iris. The woman adamantly insisted they meant the outsiders no harm and that the Keepers were a peaceful community. After what had happened down in the village her words sounded hollow to them and Dexx, putting a knife to her throat, forced her to show them the way into the temple, as both of them now desired to have a few words with this Resplendent One. Al and Frank, the only ones with firearms, would remain outside, covering the approach to the summit from their advantageous vantage point. Iris led Dexx and Craig past rows of solar panels, some of which had been lowered and decorated as altars with bright paint and wreaths of flowers, toward the well-maintained greenhouse, in which they could now see a verdant jungle, almost reaching up to the roof of the enormous glass structure. She led them around the building and through two sets of double doors, and they emerged into a small clearing. The inside of the temple felt unbearably hot and humid and the air was alive with the sounds of untold insects and creatures. Past the small clearing the foliage became extremely thick, making the jungle nearly impossible to cross without the proper equipment. In the distance they could spy a giant tree close by, a hill and a cliff with a waterfall further down. Toward the edge of the jungle stood a defunct Mr. Handy, colorfully decorated like much of the place by the Keepers, which treated the Metal Wardens, as they called the robots, with a certain degree of reverence. Dexx decided it would be wise to check if there were any other entrances into the greenhouse first. Exiting the building, they were greeted to some good news as Al and Frank had spotted Rhiannon coming up the mountain, but their good cheer was quickly tempered as further down they could see a small group of villagers moving up the path as well. Dexx quickly ran around the temple, to his contentment finding no obvious alternate entrances. Rhiannon had meanwhile made her way up and met up with this rest of the group. They decided to wait there until the villagers had almost reached the summit, at which time Dexx shouted a warning to them to stay put or they would open fire. The small group of villagers, led by the Keeper Asarum, obeyed readily. The Keeper in return admonished them, forbidding them to enter the temple without having received the proper blessing first, and urged them to lay down their arms. Our heroes had little interest in Asarum’s words, and threatened to bring down the temple if the Keepers tried interfering or coming up the mountain. Grudgingly Asarum saw Dexx, Craig and Rhiannon leave, as the guides stayed behind to cover the approach.

As Craig and Dexx both felt the fatigue of their drug-induced unconsciousness and a gnawing hunger catching up with them, they made Iris show them the way toward the orchard where the Keepers got their food from. Rhiannon meanwhile, having given the disabled Mr. Handy unit a quick inspection, decided she could most likely get it going again with a little work and stayed behind to make the necessary repairs. Iris, seeing no alternative to obliging them, turned into one of the existing narrow paths leading through the trees, followed by Dexx and Craig. The trees and plants here occasionally blocked out the sunlight coming from above entirely, and Dexx and Craig had the unpleasant sensation that something or some one was moving in the trees around them. The fact that the Super Mutant discerned recent footsteps on the path did little to put their minds at ease. Iris deftly led them, and after following the twisting path for a while they reached a small grove, where a great many fruit trees grew at the edge of the forest. Craig picked up one of the baskets lying and started gathering the juicy green fruit, which Dexx first made Iris taste one of, just to be sure. As the sound of rushing water got stronger the farther they had gone into the jungle, they decided to continue down the path and draw some water from the river as well. By now they’d understood that the Keepers were entirely dependent on the temple for their basic needs, and as long as they kept them at bay, they could easily outlast them. So Iris guided them deeper into the jungle, down paths even she had not been allowed to travel by the initiated Keepers. On their way to the river they passed through another small clearing nestled between the trees, where some of the most succulent fruit they’d ever seen was growing on the branches. Dexx experienced an almost overpowering urge to grab some of it, but a wary Craig put a stop to it and dragged him along. The Super Mutant was ill at ease: despite being knowledgeable of most species of plants and wildlife in the wastes, everything he observed here was foreign to him, exotic marvels the likes of which he had never seen. What was more, the constant feeling of being watched by things in the trees only got worse. His suspicion turned out to be warranted, as while they were making their way through the dense jungle, all of a sudden a small group of giant mantises swooped down out of the trees. Dexx was caught off guard by the attack, as one of the mantises came out of the foliage on his left, and the creature mauled him fiercely as it jumped down on top of him.  Craig was ready for them however, dodging out of the way as they leapt on the path and with one fell sweeping blow crushed three of them. A fourth went for Iris, by the woman stood her ground as Craig rushed over to gore that one as well. The fight ended as suddenly as it had started, but Dexx had been gravely injured by the giant insects. As his pouch of healing herbs had been taken from him, Craig could do little more than bandage up the wounds as well as he could. Abandoning their quest for fresh water, they turned back to get Dexx out of the temple.

During this time Rhiannon had finished her repairs on the Mr. Handy unit, bypassing melted circuit plates with the expertise she had accumulated in her vault-dwelling days. Unfortunately the fuel tank had turned out to be empty, making its flamethrower unusable until they could find a source of fuel. She reprogrammed the robot, rechristened Mr. Floaty, to follow her along as she hurried to catch up with the others. On her own, she tried her best to make her way through the jungle, but along the path she took a wrong turn, leading her away from the direction the others had gone. Eventually she emerged on the southern edge of the greenhouse, where an array of power converters stood, connected to the rows of solar panels on the outside. She made a mental note of it as she made her way back and, as luck would have it, ran into the others as they were moving back to the entrance.

Dexx sat down to rest with Al and Frank, who remained vigilant at their post. While the others had been inside the temple, they had observed some of the villagers going down toward the village again, so now only three of them remained waiting on the mountain path. Concerned for the wellbeing of his friend, Craig decided they’d better try to find some clean water and if possible, some herbs or plants with medicinal use. With Iris as his guide and Rhiannon and her robot in tow, they entered the temple again and headed in the direction of a small creek Iris knew the location of. Again making their way through the tropical forest they passed along a great baobab tree, towering majestically above the other trees in the vicinity. Craig made sure to check if any of the villagers were near this Father Tree, as Iris called it, but to his satisfaction the surrounding area was empty.

As they continued eastward they passed a small patch of land where various strange, colorful plants and beautiful flowers were being cultivated in neat little rows, but none of them had healing properties according to Iris. Craig grabbed a bucket lying around and they carried on toward the water side. As they approached the mangrove swamp, they could see big flies the size of a man’s head lazily buzzing around, though the creatures seemed to have little interest in the travelers. The group reached the edge of the water without difficulty, where great gnarled mangrove trees stretched out their roots above the water, a quiet offshoot of the river that they could hear further ahead. Craig filled up the bucket and they returned to the second clearing, when the Super Mutant asked Iris to show them where the plants grow that the villagers use for their healing draughts. She said she only knew the general direction, but the woman took them down yet another path cleared through the jungle. After many more twists and turns the path rounded a small slope, covered in thick vegetation. From out of the brush there suddenly flew a couple of viciously sharp seed spikes the size of a hand. Craig, alert as ever, noticed the danger in time and dodged the spikes flung in his direction. To his surprise they came from a couple of tall plants that seemed to move entirely on their own, though rooted to the ground. He ran up the slope and with his mighty strength managed to break one of the plants’ stalk, causing the thing to stop twisting. Rhiannon followed his example and began wailing at another one of the strange plants with her spanner, while Mr. Floaty used his chainsaw arm to great effect on a third. The plant snapped under the barrage of blows from Rhiannon, but not before it wrapped two great leaves, both of which ended in long, nasty looking needles around her arm, injecting some irritating poison.

They continued along the path, passing by a small trail which according to Iris led to the abode of the "Old Ones", the temple's original inhabitants, before they reached a small vale at the foot of the hill they had spied from the entrance. Here some very large, squat red plants grew, the succulent leaves covered with a film of greenish moist. Craig cut off a handful of it, in hopes of using it to emulate the villagers draughts.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Location: The Shining Temple

- Major spoiler warning: players in my campaign please refrain from reading! -

Some info on my latest dungeon, which my players are still in the middle of exploring... I'll put up a PDF of the whole thing somewhere in the next weeks. :)

When Alexis Cranford, former CEO of General Atomics International, eccentric millionaire and impassioned conservationist, learned from his close personal friend, RobCo Industries CEO Robert Edwin House, that nuclear war loomed inevitably on the horizon, he immediately set to work. Using his government contacts he lobbied for an environmental preservation project similar to Project Safehouse, but to his frustration found himself repeatedly rebuffed in Washington. Convinced of the necessity of the project, Cranford ultimately invested his own considerable fortune to fund the construction of nine large, state-of-the-art greenhouses, designed to preserve thousands of the world’s rarest species of flora. Built secretly in remote locations spread across the United States, these entirely self-sufficient biospheres were to be Cranford’s legacy: his gift to a humbled human race when it emerged from the post-nuclear devastation and had to begin rebuilding its ravaged world.

But humanity never changes. In the years following the nuclear winter, of the seven biospheres that remained unscathed by the Great War, six soon fell prey to raiding gangs of survivors and scavengers looking for food, water and technology. Unbeknownst to the outside world, only Biosphere-08 was left untouched, nestled high in the mountains of California’s southern Sierra Nevada.

One and a half centuries later, you and your friends take on a job to look for a missing caravan of the Far Go Traders. The caravan was headed for the mountains north of Junktown, to conduct trade with a reclusive community known as the Keepers, rumoured to live at the foot of an ancient pre-War building…

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As you can probably guess the Biosphere or Shining Temple as the cult of Keepers call it, will feature plenty of mutated plants and spore creatures, but none as terrible as the mutant spore plant that has infected the Keepers into worshipping it as a god...


The Resplendent One (Wild Card)
St d8, Ag d6, Vi d8, Sm d6, Sp d6
Fighting d8, Shooting d10, Notice d6
Stationary, Toughness 8, Parry 6
Vine Lash: St+d6: The Resplendent One has 4 large, thorny vines (Toughness 5, Parry 5) which it can use to lash out
Spore Cloud: Special: The Resplendent One can shoot concentrated globs of spores. All characters in a Small Burst Templ must make a Vigor check and suffer following effects:
- Raise: Unaffected
- Success: The character temporarily enters a mild psychedelic state, all manner of noises and colors distracting him or her. The character suffers a -2 penalty to all actions on his or her next turn
- Failure: The spore cloud has a strong narcotic effect on the character, rendering him or her Shaken
- Critical Failure: The character’s metabolism violently reacts to the inhaled spores. He or she falls to the ground completely paralyzed (but conscious) for 3 rounds
Note: Wearing Power Armor or a gas mask negates the need for a roll, a wet cloth covering the face adds a +2 bonus
Imp. Frenzy
Weakness (Fire): The Resplendent One takes an additional 1d6 damage from fire-based attacks


Monday, June 13, 2011

Session 12 summary

Session 12, where our heroes land themselves in a dire predicament...

Featuring:

- Dexx: Young but experienced thief, hoping to start a new, prosperous life as a scavenger after having recently left behind the street gangs of the Angel’s Boneyard;

- Rhiannon: Vault 21 outcast, skilled engineer and adventurous spirit adjusting to life out in the wasteland;

Not ones to remain idle for too long, soon enough the party planned to leave the modern comforts of the Hub behind and set out on the road once again, though which undertaking that would be exactly remained unresolved for the moment. In the meantime Dexx took advantage of the opportunity to stock up on new scavenging supplies and made a visit to one of the local clinics with Rhiannon to receive some overdue treatment for the radiation poisoning that still afflicted them. While there they listened in on a radio broadcast announcing the upcoming celebrations in NCR Capitol in honor of New Reno joining the republic.

It was a notice of a different sort that caught their attention however. While making their way back through downtown they came across a board, advertising various odd jobs of the local trading companies. One of them called for any able-bodied adventurers to visit the Far Go Traders headquarters concerning a caravan that had gone missing some weeks ago. Dexx was intrigued and after a little convincing, persuaded Rhiannon and Craig to go and have a look before they left town. They made their way over to the spacious offices of the Far Go Traders, one of the major players in the caravaning business, and were shown to a man named Butch, who explained to them the situation. About five weeks ago one of their smaller caravans, a dozen men and women and a few heads of Brahmin, had left to conduct some trade with a tiny, reclusive community high up in the mountains, called the Keepers. The caravan had been expected back two weeks ago, but it had not yet returned and there was no sign of it to be found anywhere. The Traders offered a sizeable reward to anyone who could provide them with some conclusive, material evidence of what fate had befallen their caravaneers. Butch sketched them a rough map of the seldom traveled route and sent them on their way again.

The group considered a little search-and-rescue to be right up their alley and decided not to waste any time, which would play into the hand of competing teams, and set out the next morning. Dexx used the rest of the afternoon to gather some more information on the Keepers Butch mentioned. After some probing he learned another minor caravan company had done some business with them in the past, and was pointed in the direction of the Desert Trail Trading Group. The Group kept their small office in the Merchant district as well, so Dexx, Rhiannon and Craig decided to pay them a visit in the hopes of finding out more.

The kindly old man in charge was more than happy to help, though he couldn’t provide them with much more information either. He had heard the Keepers lived near an old, most likely pre-War building, few in numbers and generally friendly enough to outsiders, based on the Groups admittedly limited dealings with them. As Dexx proved interested, he’d arrange for two of his employees who had actually met with the Keepers to come by later that day. A few hours later our heroes thus returned to the Desert Trail office and had another chat with Al and Frank, the two young caravaneers. According to them the Keepers were some sort of cult, interested in trading technology and parts for rare pre-War items they most likely salvaged from the large complex up in the mountains. Additionally they always seemed to have exotic fresh produce on hand, much more than their small community needed. After Dexx told them about the missing caravan, the two did admit that the last time they had traded with the Keepers their reception had been a lot less amicable than the time before. As the lads seemed a decent sort, Dexx took them up on their offer to travel along with the party as guides, in return for a modest fee.

So the next morning Dexx, Craig and Rhiannon - Paul presumably sleeping off a hangover in one of the local bars - together with their two guides set off northwards. Traveling lightly they made good time, reaching Junktown in a matter of four day. Stopping only briefly, Dexx made use of their time there to question the local traders about the missing caravan. He found out that the caravan had indeed been seen passing through the town on the way north, but had not been seen afterwards. Confirmed in their suspicions that the caravan must have met their end somewhere in the mountains, they quickly got on the road again, continuing along the caravan route between the Hub and NCR. After another day of travel they left the trail however, as instead of passing around the mountains they had to start making their way up. With the path soon becoming more dangerous to navigate before disappearing altogether, they praised themselves lucky they had hired the experienced guides. They could now catch the first glimpses of a large construction of steel and glass, nestled in the mountainside, where according to Al and Frank the Keepers had made their home. Two more days were spent carefully making their way along narrow, precipitous ledges, avoiding treacherous drops and pitfalls toward the snowcapped peaks and the building in the distance, basking in the bright sunlight. The mountains up to this point had seemed wholly devoid of natural vegetation and wildlife, but nevertheless they took their precautions. Setting up camp that night, they posted watches to make sure no unpleasant surprises would befall them, as they hadn’t yet discounted possibility of the caravan having been attacked by raiders holed up in the mountains. The night passed peacefully however, and at dawn they began the final leg of the journey to the Keepers’ village.

The group had to make their way up the flank of the mountain even further, following barely distinguishable paths which their guides knew to find, making the ascent much faster than if the party had been left to their own devices, though still not without danger. They spent half a day in this fashion, until they reached a bend in the path snaking up, around which the Keepers’ settlement waited. Reaching their destination had proved easy enough, but now came to light their uncertainty on how to proceed. Dexx discerned that some further reconnaissance might be in order, as their guides couldn’t provide much useful information on the settlement itself, and proved unwilling to go any further. Securing himself to some length of rope, Dexx began to scale the cliffs. Though the dizzying drop did give him a moment’s pause, the side of the mountain was easy enough to climb for a man experienced in making his way through the crumbling skyscrapers of the Boneyard. Eventually he reached a narrow ledge which he could haul himself onto and get an unobstructed view of the settlement below. The village was little more than a collection of tents and hovels, built on a small plateau along the way up the mountain. One larger building could be seen, close to the fire pit at the center of the settlement. A wooden gate at the edge of the plateau barred the way sloping down. Dexx spied very little activity in the village, guessing that at most people lived there. He made his way down again, relaying what he had seen. The group considered their different options: infiltration, subterfuge or simply going up to the village and try talking to these people. Rhiannon, never one for endless debating, eventually took the decision to go up to the village gates and see what happened. Dexx and Craig would stay behind, out of sight, as well as the two guides, which offered to remain a while longer in case the party wanted to head back toward civilization afterwards.

As Rhiannon walked up to the village by herself, her approach must have been seen as the gates suddenly opened and three men walked out to meet her, a man clad in a long brown robe, and two men carrying spear, following a bit behind him. Rhiannon was slightly repulsed by the man who started addressing her. Red spots covered his face, his nose swollen and his eyes puffy and bloodshot. After gruffly demanding to know who she was and if she was alone, the hooded man was willing to answer Rhiannon’s questions. He claimed the caravan had indeed arrived some three weeks ago and had left again after they had traded, and that was the last they had seen of them. During the conversation Rhiannon mentioned she was a skilled engineer, which seemed to hit the right note. The robed man immediately became friendlier disposed, asking her and her friends up to their village, so she could check on some malfunctioning technology for them. Rhiannon agreed, went to get Dexx and Craig and the three of them were ushered in.

One of the men then showed Rhiannon to the large building, where her skills where needed. Craig and Dexx remained outside, talking to the man in the brown robe. He told them about the village while he searched through some baskets, containing plenty of exotic fruits neither of them had ever seen. The man offered each of them a red-yellowish fruit, which they gladly accepted and began to eat. Still wary however, Dexx had begun to edge toward the large building to check up on Rhiannon, when he could suddenly hear sounds coming from within. As he began to run over to the door, he began to notice his jaw becoming stiff, and a feeling of paralysis slowly spreading through his body. As he glanced backward he saw Craig had fallen to one knee, losing his balance and keeling over, while from all sides the villagers slowly started to flock toward them. As the adrenaline kicked in, Dexx ran over to the door, just in time to see Rhiannon being dragged off by three of the Keepers. One of them, brandishing a spear, let go of Rhiannon’s legs and charged back toward Dexx, who nimbly dodged the jab and shot the man at point blank range. Rhiannon managed to free an arm and grab her dagger, almost immediately planting in the chest of the woman trying to twist her arm. Meanwhile Dexx had drawn one of his knives and put an end to the third villager. As more villagers came pouring through the door, Dexx and Rhiannon ran toward the back of the dark rooms. The walls didn’t seem particularly sturdy, giving rise to the hope they could try and break through them, when they spied a trap door in the corner. At least five villagers had now followed them into the building, with more gathering outside. After the rush of battle the narcotic effect of the fruit suddenly took its full toll; as Dexx tried pointing his gun at them in warning, it fell out of his limp hand, before he too collapsed, leaving Rhiannon alone, dismayed… to be continued!

Friday, June 3, 2011

Additional creatures

Some stats for a couple of critters who'll make an appearance in my next dungeon:

Spore Carrier
St d8 Ag d8 Vi d8 Sm d4 Sp d6
Fighting d8, Notice d8, Stealth d8
Pace 7, Run d10, Toughness 7(1), Parry 6
Claws: St+d6
Armor +1: Leathery skin
Weakness (Fire): Spore Carriers take an additional 1d6 damage from fire-based attacks

Upon death: the Spore Carrier explodes. All characters in a Med Burst Templ must make an Agility check at -2, if unsuccessful, they take 2d6 damage.


Spore Plant
St d8 Ag d6 Vi d6 Sm d4 Sp d4
Fighting d8, Shooting d8, Notice d6
Stationary, Toughness 5, Parry 5
Bite: St+d6
Seed Spike: 5/10/20 2d4
Weakness (Fire): Spore Plants take an additional 1d6 damage from fire-based attacks