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Characters At ~135 points
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The Cavalry Arrives Too Late
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Jon double checked the restraints on Hajarl, and then called out "MAN DOWN!", remembering
Zak up in the Zombie Apocalypse truck. The severly exhausted Jonas had Ebon get
his medical kit out of the van, and shuffled up to the front of the rig to treat
Zak and stabilize his condition.
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Miles had Dorothy continue to hold the light steady and periodically cast his stupor
spell on Rollo.
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Within a few minutes, Agent Pryce arrived with three hummer loads of tactical agents,
but it proved unecessary. Nevertheless the tactical team set up the perimeter and
road flares and locked the scene down.
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Agent Pryce was accompanied by another Hunter named Clark Dugard who had been at
the Section M facility dropping off a couple of ghoul corpses he had bagged and
had decided to tag along. Agent Pryce got the run down on the situation from Bregg,
and asked a few hard questions. But Jon's account was coherent and he was able to
respond acceptably to each question in turn. Agent Pryce was satisfied, and even
offered grudging praise.
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However when Agent Pryce saw that "the monster" Jon mentioned was in fact Rollo
Fjor, he was all like "...so...did you have any outside help on this?". The Agent
was a bit non-plussed that the rag tag team of young Hunters had managed to take
down a "do not attempt" Sanctioned target by themselves.
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Agent Pryce took charge, and commanded that Miles continue to sit on Rollo. Pryce
got all the people sorted into vehicles and left three agents behind to deal with
getting the Zombie Apocalypse tractor trailer repaired and out of the area.
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Compound Is So Negative, We Prefer Facility
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Rallying back at the compound, Agent Pryce ensconed Rollo, Miles, and "Agent Abernathy"
into a cell deep in the bowels of the facility, and then debriefed the rest of the
group in a holding area closer to ground level. Each of the Hunters was requested
to file their field reports.
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Agent Pryce clued the Hunters in on what a big deal the Kommer Aska are, and Rollo
specifically. The going bounty on him is $2,000,000, so the Hunters have quite a
paycheck coming to them once the money gets sorted out. They also pocketed some
"smaller change" for the zombies, and opening a new case file on both Zombie Daile
and Jimmy Hunt...and possibly a few grand for the captured Dwarf Hajarl.
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Agent Pryce and the Hunters then speculated on what the Kommer Aska were after and
how they were able to get in place to ambush the Hunters on such a short timeline.
Initially the group feared a leak within Section M, but Jonas reminded the group
that Zombie Daile had about five minutes of time unaccounted for between when she
fled the scene in the parking lot and the Hunters found her in the tool and die
factory. She may have contacted allies in that time window.
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During this time Ebon turned into raven form and slipped out, literally disappearing
and flying through the walls of the compound. The other Hunters either didn't notice
or were so used to Ebon doing weird stuff they barely batted an eye. Ebon proceeded
to instantly "fly" back to San Diego to check out Miles' home, and then Jonas' home
(and raid the fridge), and then flew back to take up position above the facility.
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After the debrief, Agent Pryce said that he needed to make some calls, but would
have to borrow Miles for at least 12 hours until a "specialist" could be brought
in from back east.
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Jon was not ok with leaving Miles behind, and insisted on staying at the facility
until Miles could leave, so Agent Pryce let him use a cell to bunk out in overnight.
Jon further requested to be taken down into the facility to confer with Miles before
committing to anything, which Agent Pryce allowed.
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Mindgames
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Several hours had passed in the interim, which Miles used to good effect. He laid
down heavy Hermetic wards around Rollo, and then used a mind probing spell to ferret
out deep knowledge about the Kommer Aska and the details of Rollo and how and why
he was sent to ambush the Hunters.
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Miles extracted a tremendous amount of information, but most immediately relevent
is the fact that Rollo was sent to recover Zombie Daile on the orders of "Helga
Arosdottir", the head priestess of Hela...the Norse goddess of Death...and a major
political power within the inner circle of the Kommer Aska. Presumably to recruit
the precocious young necromancer. The information as to where to find the Hunters
was gained from a "Norn", and Rollo was Gated in from Uppsala in Norway to be received
by a Kommer Aska cell of Dwarven bikers active in the area.
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GMs Note: Miles used a point of xp from this session to buy KS: Kommer Aska
(GEN). I answered as many of his questions as I could w/ the material I had already
worked up, and made an agreement with the player to provide more as time allows
me to write up the content.
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Miles also discovered that Rollo was briefed specifically on his presence and was
instructed to kill or capture Miles as a target of opportunity if the chance presented
itself. Apparently the Kommer Aska has not forgotten the role of Miles' grandfather
and greatgrandfather in destroying the Thule Society...and something else even deeper
about Evanaster that was overheard by Rollo but not understood.
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GMs Note: Miles was finally able to start using his toolbox of Wizardly Rotes
in this session, and also the player has really bought into the idea of the Hermetic
wards and has played that up to good effect.
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The New Plan
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Clark invited the Hunters to share his campground and a 36 pack of Bunnweizer Beer
nearby at Lake Elsinore, but the other Hunters passed. Jonas said he was going to
drive his van home. Ebon didn't say anything, but ultimately perched on a tree,
unwilling to abandon Miles.
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However, before everyone went to the winds, the group of Hunters (including Clark)
had a quick private conversation upstairs. Clark indicated that he was pals with
a Dwarven Hunter he had worked with several times in the past named Griz. According
to Clark, Griz is active up in the Mojave Desert area, and frequents a bar called
Hawgwaller's outside of Victorville.
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Victorville is a relatively short drive from Lake Elsinore and according to Clark,
in addition to being a Dwarf, Griz has connections among the regional bike gangs.
If anyone might know more about the Dwarven bike gang that was working with Rollo,
it would be Griz. The Hunters agreed to meet back at the facility the next day at
noon to run down this new lead.
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Jonas drove to his home in the more rural southern expanse of Escondido (close enough
to the 15 to allow convenience, rural enough to avoid nosy neighbors), and administered
his special brew of Immuno Suppressants just in time. He began to entertain serious thoughts
about developing a more portable pre-mix cure to avoid being tethered to a lab on
a daily basis.
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GMs Note: I briefly discussed allowing Jonas to develop an Alchemical Recipe
for a concoction he can carry in his Equipment Pool that can be used to quench his
Anathema Complication.
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Next Jonas racked some of the gear he'd acquired from the various encounters of
the day, most notably a shotgun and a heavy revolver. Finally he put the vials of
Dwarf and Troll blood, Zombie brains and fluids, and the amputated Troll's thumb
in specimen containers for future study. And finally, he went to bed.
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Agnes
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Miles' replacement, a bespectacled buttoned down older lady dressed like a 1950's
librarian calling herself Agnes, arrived around 6 am (though none of the Hunters
including the watchful Ebon saw her arrival). Agnes silently approved of Miles'
Hermetic wards, and asked him a few perfunctory questions. Exhausted by his long
evening, Miles did not have the energy to network with Agnes, and did not notice
her placing a small dweomer on him as he left the room to go get some sleep.
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Meet Griz
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The next day the Hunters regrouped as planned and headed out. Driving up to Victorville,
the group found Griz as expected, knocking back beers at Hawgwaller's. Clark chatted
his old pal up and then introduced him to the group. Griz liked the cut of Jon's
sails but found the other three Hunters to be less to his liking. Jon explained
their situation and described their assailants, but Griz didn't bite until Jon dropped
the name Hajarl.
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Griz asked a few clarifying questions to make sure they were talking about the same
guy, and then agreed that he knew the gang in question, and then asked how much
the information was worth to the Hunters. Jon had made the error of mentioning that
the group had just scored a $2,000,000 bounty; Griz asked for $50,000 for the information.
The group tried to negotiate with him, but Griz would not be moved.
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Having a side discussion, Jon finally agreed to pay the 50k out of his share as
the other three Hunters proved to be petty and greedy. Agent Pryce had given Jon
a banker's check for $38,000 for the clear cut payouts (Case Files on Hunt and Daile,
13 zombie corpses, Hajarl's capture), so he had some fluidity. Going back to Griz
he negotiated half up front, half on results which Griz agreed to. Jon went to a
nearby bank and cashed the check, returned and paid Griz his 25k up front, and the
lot of them saddled back up and got out on the road.
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Griz said he knew a couple of places where he thought the gang would most likely
be holed up; the first one a road house outside of Bakersfield. The Hunters drove
there, and after some discussion Griz and Clark went inside. The gang wasn't there,
but true to advertising, Griz knew some people and got a lead from a (mundane) biker.
Leaving the establishment, Griz delivered the information to the group that the
gang was most likely in Van Nuys.
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So, the posse headed out again, this time back south over the grapevine. Arriving
in Van Nuys, Griz led the Hunters into a sleazy industrial park off the freeway,
and a couple of converted bars within a half block of each other. Griz pulled up
at "Rawhide Sally's", and pointed out some custom choppers among a row parked in
front of the building as belonging to the gang. Jon recognized a couple of them,
confirming that they were in the right place.
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Recognize Us?
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Quickly coming up with a plan, Jon, Clark, and Griz entered the bar by the front
door while Jonas and Miles took up position outside it. Miles had taken the opportunity
in the long drive to memorize different Rotes, and quietly cast a couple of them
on himself preceding the teams entry. Characteristically, Ebon had simply disappeared
when no one was paying attention. He would presumably show up when the time was
right.
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The Dwarves noticed Griz, Jon, and Clark coming in the door, and a rather tall Dwarf
who Griz called "Goran" was angry that Griz had brought the two Hunters to his door.
Griz responded "three times over it don't repay what you deserve, you bastard".
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Meanwhile up front a few bikers who had been chatting on their bikes in front of
the bar noticed Jonas and Miles taking up position outside the door, and came over
belligerently to see why, but Jonas flashed his credentials and gaslighted them
with a quick talking patter of Health Inspectors and contaminated food and liquor.
The bikers were taken in by the story and fled.
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The mood in the bar got tense and the barkeep tried to get them to take it outside,
but the Dwarves threatened him back. The barkeep hurriedly shooed the other
patrons and the bar staff out a side fire door.
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While this was transpiring Clark wandered over to the pool tables and made a scene,
then drifted over to the bar and served himself some shots. Griz took up position
with his back to the corner nearest the front door.
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Jon proceeded to attempt to parley with the Dwarves and get them to give up the
information regarding their connection with the Kommer Aska, who paid them, and
so forth. However the Dwarves became increasingly agitated and refused to divulge
information about the Kommer Aska in increasingly strong terms. Finally Jon could
get nowhere and started to withdraw.
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Seeing how things were progressing from the door, Miles entered the bar and used
his newfound knowledge of the Kommer Aska to force a reaction from the Dwarves,
and directly asked about Helga Arosdottir. On hearing that name Goran became very
agitated and panicy. He pleaded with Miles to leave off on that subject, as he was
far more terrified of what Helga would do to all of them if he ratted her out. Clark
said the Dwarf should be more afraid of the Hunters in his face, but Goran said
"the worst you can do is kill me; Helga can do far worse than that."
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Miles continued to push Goran to rat out the Kommer Aska, and Goran finally blurted
"We are part of the Kommer Aska, you idiot!", and spewed some verbal abuse
which triggered Jon's anger and caused him to launch himself in a mighty bound at
the Dwarves.
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Not So Tough Without Your Troll!
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A pitched and frantic donnybrook erupted, with bullets, fists, and claws flying.
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As Jon leaped into the air, Clark's pistols seemed to magically appear in his hands,
his draw was so fast. Wasting no time Clark drilled both Aron and Ogmi, sending
both flying off their barstools to the floor. Aron was hit in the shoulder but was
basically ok. Ogmi was shot clean through the thigh, knicking the artery and leaving
him a bleeding out casualty in the first second of the fight.
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GMs Note: Clark used two points of luck to turn a miss into a hit, and then
rolled boxcars with his Lucky Damage Dice against Ogmi, inflicting a lot of damage
and reducing Ogmi to -1 Body.
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Jon attempted to shred various Dwarves but found their flinty iron-like skin to
be difficult for him to scratch through. Goran leaped up on the bar table for some
height and caved in Jon's head with a crowbar and left him flattened briefly but
Jon's regeneration caught up quickly. Still flat on his back, Jon kicked a table
leg out from under the table Goran was standing on, which set Miles up for an attack.
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Miles started off by lighting up several Dwarves with his pistol, but the bullets
bounced off their tough skin. Giving up on that, he leaped into the fray where it
became apparent that he had somehow acquired a tremendous amount of mass and corresponding
extra strength. He went toe to toe with Goran, and threw a magically powered uppercut
to the "vitals" that propeled the Dwarf straight up to the roof with a meaty crunch
and then dropped hard to the unforgiving concrete flooring...knockout!
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Bruid scrambled effectively and traded bullets with Clark across the bar, but Jonas
got himself set up for a running charge, and then plowed Bruid up and over onto
the bar to do a ground and pound. Though durable, Bruid could not withstand the
Ogrish punishment Jonas delivered and was knocked out.
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Brula got some distance from the table at the beginning of the firefight and proceeded
to trade shots with Griz and Clark, but drew Clarks ire in the process. Clark leaned
across the bar and got steady, then cooly shot Brula in the head from across the
room. The bullet entered through her ear, bounced around a bit, and exploded out
killing her instantly and sending her body flying against the wall where it slid
down into a crumpled heap.
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GMs Note: Clark rolled boxcars with his Lucky Damage Dice again against Brula,
on a head shot no less. It was instant death overkill. The players rejoiced; high
fives all around.
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Seeing Brula's execution, Goran getting nut-punched into unconsciousness, Bruid
being mauled by the suprisingly strong Jonas, and Ogmi bleeding out on the floor,
Aron dropped his pistol and said something to the effect of, "All right laddies,
good fight, good fight. I'll just be going now.". The Hunters were not amendable
to that and took him into custody.
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GMs Note: This was a good session. I basically just extended the Bjorn to
Ride Easy vignette from a 3 Act to a 5 Act play, with Act 4 being the roleplaying and investigation,
and Act 5 being the encounter with the Dwarves. I had almost no time to prepare
the game so I had to rely heavily on material in the can, and almost got caught
with my pants down when Miles whipped out his Thoughtprobe spell which I had forgotten
he had. Luckily I was able to contain the situation, with the players cooperation.
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Jon is effectively the team leader now; no one seems to want to challenge him on
that, defered to his command decisions, and let him take point with dealing with
Agent Pryce.
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Ebon reinforced his "just because you don't see him, doesn't mean he's not there"
role, though his information gathering ability was not taken advantage of by the
group. Rather than explicitly utilizing him to collect intel, the group prefered
to walk into things cold.
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After being the star of the last session, Jonas proved himself to be a reliable
asset in this session. He hit the marks and delivered his lines, held his weight
in the combat, and helped support the team in various small ways, up to and including
the use of his van.
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This was Miles' first session after a respec stemming from the group consensus last
session that he wasn't quite working. The character was definitely far more effective
this session, but ironically most of the abilities he was using were abilities he
already had before the respec. Regardless, the player was happy and the other players'
concerns were allayed and Miles is out of the dog house I think.
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Miles really cemented his position as the "esoteric information" role filler. In
fact, I kind of wanted to see Jonas push harder to contest with Miles for the "brains
of the operation" role. I keep trying to set these two on each other as they compete
for the same slot on a lot of levels, but the two players seem to be leery of inter
party strife.
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XP Awarded: We switched to the Shtick model before this session, except for
Clark who was a last minute addition to the group. I awared Clark 4 points for a
solid first adventure, and the group voted the player MVP, so a nice little haul.
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Miles was able to incorporate almost all of his Shticks and avoided his Anti-Shticks,
thus securing 5 xp for himself. The other characters hit most of their Shticks,
but some triggered Anti-Shticks.
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I'm slightly concerned about Jon's Shticks, as he is currently set up to get occasional
big rewards, but has some double jeopardy situations where if he fails at something
he gets almost nothing. We will likely tweak a bit.
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- Ebon: 4
- Jon: 3
- Miles: 5
- Jonas: 3.5
- Clark Dugard: 4 + 1 MVP
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