| | Subject: | Deadlands Update | | Time: | 08:57 pm |
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| We had dinner, you'll recall, and Jane shared with Nikolai her insane plans to armor-plate her steam-wagon and mount a fucking Gatling gun to the roof. Nikolai, deep though his pockets may be, blanched at this, and told her he'd chip in $1000, but she'd need to dig up the other grand. The discussion of buying an iron mine in the area came up, and Nikolai started to think that maybe there was merit in investing in portions of America.
We hit the hay. Well, Nikolai did. Jane stayed up doing plans for her armor, and Samson went to look at wanted posters and other such bounty-hunter type work. He found an advert looking for a missing boy, and flew over to the mine in bat-form to check it out. While there, he found an assembly melting down gold bars (stamped with the Union insignia, no less) and mixing it with chunks of rock. A laundering operation, no doubt.
Next morning, we convened for breakfast and Samson shared this news. We figured out what was going on - stolen gold, melted down, mixed with rock, equals "Hey, we just struck gold! And totally didn't steal it!" Samson had nicked a gold bar, and Jane tested it - 24K.
We went to the local paper and met James Dewey, editor in chief. Jane had his press working more efficiently in seconds, which endeared us to him. Nikolai asked him about gold theft, and he told us a story about how a shipment of gold meant to pay off a vicious Rebel general had gone missing. Sometimes people claimed to get a line on it, but no one had ever really found it. With that mystery solved, Nikolai asked him what he'd do with a $200 grant, and then told him to come to dinner tonight with some ideas.
Like I said, investments.
Then, out to the mines! Mr. Greeston is the iron mogul in the area (a nickel and a silver mine having closed down recently). We met his site operator, Mr. Smith, who answered some questions about the mining process and priced some iron sheeting for us (to use as armor). To Jane's disappointment, Nikolai didn't buy it - but that's because we're about to bust their criminal activity open. That ought to lower the price of the sheeting, or of the whole freaking mine.
But we'll find out next time. | comments: Leave a comment   |
| | Subject: | Deadlands update -Buffalo Stew | | Time: | 06:22 pm |
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| Last time, the group had run afoul of some folks who wanted to stuff Samson. We killed one, a few ran off, and we pressed the others into service, forcing them to write to Delacroix and tell him that the deed was done. And then we had to deliver said missive.
We headed into Denver, and checked into a hotel that apparently shows up in Deadwood, but as I haven't watched the show I couldn't say (and the name is escaping me at present). Nikolai sent our new slave to check us in, Samson went to a pawn shop and sold off the gems he found (where? can't recall). Jane went shopping and bought some kerosene and lamps; she has this crazy idea about putting lights on the steam-wagon.
Once checked in, Nikolai hit the poker tables and lost, but they're two-bit tables, so it wasn't a big deal. He was more interested in meeting people, anyway. The owner, John Booth (no, not that one) came up and chatted, did a shot of vodka, and gave Nikolai a cigar (glad-handing, they call this). Samson came in shortly thereafter, and a drunk idiot started harassing him (black, remember) until some of the security at the hotel showed the drunk into the street.
We had some dinner (buffalo stew) and mailed the letter. Waiting at the post office was a letter from Delilah, who told us that she had been experimenting with some of the weird artifacts that her uncle had left behind and nearly blown up part of her house in the process. She also said that according to the books she'd found, Denver was a convergence of mystical energy - a nexus, if you will. No wonder Delacroix's hanging out here.
So we're waiting, now, for Delacroix to answer our trap-letter. | | comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment |
| | Subject: | Deadlands Update (It's been a while!) | | Time: | 10:56 pm |
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| Last time we played was way back here, but Delilah's player has since left the group, sadly. So, we fast forwarded a bit, wound up in Dodge City long enough for her to inherit her big ol' estate complete with staff, got the baby set up with some caretakers (and Nikolai set up a trust for said orphan), and then the three of us moved on. This allows ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) ulaliya to return at some point, hopefully.
Anywho, after some time in Dodge, we started hearing rumors about some French guy in Denver building up an army of raised cadavers. Since that sounded a lot like a guy we already killed, we decided to head out and have a look. Jane had built her steam wagon, so we alternated using that and the horses drawing it. We made it near Denver (about a day's travel out) and camped (just after I treated everyone to a rendition of "Home On the Range" in a rousing Russian accent, for which I got a chip).
While sleeping, Samson, fortunately, kept watch. A big ol' puma attacked Nikolai in his sleep. That roused him (Nikolai's hard to wake up), and he tried to use Phantom Fingers to get the beast off him. That didn't work well, but Samson's hammer sure did. Nikolai shot at it, and then threw a soul blast that finished it off. We heard a roar in the distance, and horses approaching, as Samson used his magic to heal Nikolai up.
A man named Tater O'Boyle rode up asking if we were all right. He mentioned that there was a bounty on the big cat, as well as on its mate. He said he had a place for us to lodge for the night, and we rode to said place - turned out to be a taxidermist's. He set us up with rooms, and we crashed out.
During the night, a group of men accosted Samson in his bed and dragged him downstairs via a secret door. When he saw they meant to kill him, he turned into a squirrel and ran, but couldn't get the door open. Nikolai heard the noise and, realizing something was wrong, roused Jane.
Searching for the basement door, we found Tater blocking our way. Nikolai asked where Samson was, and Tater claimed not to know, but was clearly lying. Nikolai hit him with a Corporeal Twist that knocked his Vigor down to 1d4, and then whacked him with the flat of his sword. Jane, meanwhile, found the door and fired up her flamethrower.
She opened the door and saw the men looking for something, and we saw Samson's underthings lying in the floor. Realizing what had happened, Nikolai fired his pistol to give Samson some cover, and the squirrel ran up into his hat. He slammed the door and motioned to Jane to turn off the flamethrower, and then said loudly, "All right, burn them!" Screams came up from below.
Then, we roused the unconscious Tater and told him to listen to his friends screaming in pain (they weren't, only in fear, but he didn't know that). Nikolai demanded to know what was going on, and he said that they'd been commissioned to find and stuff a "unique man," but only Zeke, the Tanner, knew who the buyer was. Samson stayed with Tater and stood on a soft bit of his anatomy while Nikolai opened the basement door and told them to listen to the screams. It took some convincing, but we got Zeke to talk. Turns out the buyer was some French guy, who'd promised him $1000 for the job.
So Nikolai promised to pay him and not kill him or take his soul if he'd write the buyer and tell him the job was done. He cut the man's hand, saying, "Now I have your blood - don't try to hurt me or my friends" (and playing the "evil huckster" thing to the hilt). He did the same to Tater, and then told him what he'd like for breakfast the next morning.
Jane, it seems, wasn't thrilled about letting these men live. Nor was Samson, necessarily, but Nikolai still feels they're more useful alive at present. We'll see what happens next time. | | comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment |
| | Subject: | DeadLARP: Survival not guaranteed | | Time: | 01:24 pm |
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| Cowboys and Indians? You wish the problems were that simple.
Having fended off the most recent attacks Gommora is trying to restore order by establishing a government, but are people involved looking out for the town’s interest or their own? Come be a part of DeadLARP’s historic second year as the town decides it’s future by electing a mayor and town council. Will your vote be the deciding factor in the town’s eventual rise to success, or it’s ultimate demise? Will any of the 3 remaining founding members live to see either?
New characters welcomed!
DeadLARP is a Live-Action roleplaying system based on the award winning Savage Worlds rules, set in the Award winning Deadlands setting
Feel free to visit the website at: http://deadlands.omegawolfstudios.com/LARP/
or contact the Storytellers (James, Jason, Brian, and Pat) at DeadlandsLARP@gmail.com
Prologue August 30th, Episode 1 September 13th
Events occur every other Saturday in Seeyle Hall at Smith College, 7pm | | comments: 4 comments or Leave a comment |
| I thought I'd post this as something other than a reply so it is easier to find!
A few notes:
All files are in .pdf format
The Equipment list includes ammo and services (including hotels, alcohol and prostitutes!)
All prices are in U.S. dollars and are based on averages for the 1870's.
Some of the weapons are ficticious (such as the VonVolz weapons because they come from my campaign; also it added a little more variety) but most of them are REAL from the era.
I've spent many years running/playing Deadlands, and tweaking these lists in order to give my players the best experience I can. From their feedback and enjoyment, I think I have succeeded. Hope these help new and old hand GMs out there as well!
Feel free to email me with questions, comments, and ideas at tenthcrewmember@gmail.com
or just reply to this thread!
Expanded Mysterious Pasts: http://www.savefile.com/files/1617505
Player's non-weapon Equipment list: http://www.savefile.com/files/1617515
The Smokewagons, Boomers and more!: http://www.savefile.com/files/1617536
And here's a link to the whole section in case I add more stuff in the future!
http://www.savefile.com/projects/808551955 | | comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment |
| | Subject: | The range of power for weapons in RPGs. | | Time: | 05:57 am |
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|  This is something that I've had rolling around in my head for a while.
In any game system the weapons have a range of power. For example, in the Deadlands Player's Guide there are thirty-eight items in the Shootin' Irons table. Some are less powerful and some are more powerful. This is great. I think old guns are interesting, so having a wide variety of guns is a neat part of the game setting for me.
However, I suspect that most of those guns never get used. All of the guns are available right away when the players create their characters. Some guns are better suited for certain purposes, but some are just plain better than others. Nobody is going pick some crummy little pop gun when a better one is sitting right next to it, so every character in the game tends to walk around with the same three or four kinds of guns.
Actually, this is pretty realistic. New improvements for firearms developed rapidly in the late 1800s and as soon as a better gun hit the market a lot of people would rush out to buy it. Guns were like iPods in that way.
Still, I think in the game world it's kind of bland to see all of the characters walking around with the same equipment. Then there is another problem. Pretty soon the characters are going to want the chance to get better guns. Then you have to come up with more powerful guns that aren't in the rule book. Here Shane Hensley has created a whole range of weapons and instead of using them we end up inventing a whole bunch of new ones. Since Deadlands is a historically based game, the more you do this the more you lose the original flavor.
It seems like every game system has a certain power range. The power of the weapons is nicely balanced and there is room to move from the less powerful weapons to the more powerful ones, but it's easy to miss the sweet spot by starting right at the top of the range from day one.
What do you think about this? Have you ever experimented with restricting the more powerful items at the beginning of the game so that you have something to expand into? Do you leave the mundane weapons behind quickly and start handing out magical weapons early on? Are your games just so short that it isn't a problem?
I wonder if people who write games just accept that three quarters of the gear is going to be filler that no one ever uses. | | comments: 13 comments or Leave a comment |
| | Subject: | Deadlands Update | | Time: | 07:40 pm |
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| The characters spent a couple of weeks in New Orleans. Delilah visited with her mother, Jane worked on inventions, Nikolai visited brothels and took in the sights, and Samson hung around being large and black (seriously, I forget, Pam). We also discovered a note written by Delacroix that translated a strange tablet we found. It appeared to be a prophecy, and talked about "Apollyon" and monsters returning to Earth and so on. Not having any immediate context (beyond the fact that, y'know, Weird West and all), we set out in our wagon, drawn by horses, to Dodge City.
En route, in Oklahoma, Delilah noticed a dust storm a-coming. We set out in search of shelter and found what appeared to be an abandoned ranch. We searched the area and found horses in the stables, but sick and/or dying. We also found an empty crib...no people at all.
Nikolai and Delilah found a mine shaft, and heard a child crying at the bottom. Delilah started lowering herself on the platform. That was too slow for Nikolai, so he used Shadow Walk to teleport himself down...but hadn't brought light. Samson, whom you'll recall was a miner at one point, came down and brought us lights, and we started searching.
We didn't have to search long. Huge ticks the size of a man's head attacked. We made fairly short work of them, but we looked around and found corpses. The ticks had apparently killed everyone from the ranch...but we could still hear crying. We followed it, and found the Queen Tick holding the baby in one long tentacle.
We fought it, of course. Nikolai wound up unconscious from wounds, but Samson used his healing magic to wake the Russian up again, whereupon he hit the Queen with a Soul Blast. Delilah's bullets finished it off. Jane had already grabbed the child away from it and headed back for the entrance. Nikolai used Phantom Fingers to drag the unconscious Samson up from the mine (using magic takes it out of him, evidently).
And there we left it. We seem to have picked up a tiny addition to our group. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| | Subject: | Deadlands Update | | Time: | 03:55 pm |
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| Recall that last time, Samson had obtained a map of Delacroix's home, while Jane Masterson had built a little undead finger. We'd all be deputized by Marshall to take care of Delacroix (enemy spy and all), so we did a little digging around New Orleans.
Delilah went to public records and got the floor plans of the house. Samson rigged up some explosives packages. Jane made a canister of gas that would incapacitate anyone who breathed it (which we didn't wind up using). And Nikolai went to a local rich people's club and talked about Delacroix, trying to get a sense of how well he was regarded. He came away with the impression that all of the swells in New Orleans hated him, so we'd be in no real trouble for killing or capturing him (but then, I also went bust on the roll to assess the situation).
That night, Samson snuck in and planted the charges. We set them off, blowing small holes in his house and collapsing his porch, and then, eschewing stealth for visual effects, walked up to the front of the plantation.
Four of us. Jane Masterson, the mad scientist, wearing her flamethrower and an insane light in her eyes. Delilah Pride, a six shooter in each hand, brown hair flowing in the evening breeze. Nikolai Ivanovich Novy, wearing his family's sword, phantom cards faded into view in his hand. And behind us, the green, feral eyes of a black puma...Samson Wallace.
The necromancer's slaves ran for safety. His servants were trying to put out the fire, though a few ran for a nearby shed. Jane opened up with her flamethrower and one of the bodyguards fell screaming to the ground. Samson bolted off and sank his fangs into another. We heard whirring and clanking from behind the house.
Nikolai stayed back, casting his "Missed Me!" hex. Delilah shot one of the bodyguards, and Samson and Jane, having made short work of their foes, joined them. The thing making the weird noises, though, appeared - it was a mechanical man with a fleshy, human head. It raised an arm with a Gatling gun...
And I drew the goddamned black joker on the next initiative round. DAMMIT. Fortunately, that particular gun was empty (this wasn't docelboze being a softie, either; it was actually in his notes. We looked). So I got no action, but Delilah shot it in the head. That seemed to help, but it was still up. It raised another gun and shot Jane, though not seriously (a few chips later).
At this point, Delacroix himself, flanked by two zombies appeared. Jane let loose with her flamethrower, torched a zombie, and did some damage to the machine-man and Delacroix himself (who took an action to stop/drop/roll). The cyborg raised its gun to fire and the Marshall rolled entirely too well. I threw a couple of red chips into the pot, and took the Marshall aside.
Nikolai whispered to the manitou (he's a huckster, there's always a manitou about) that the spirit could use Nikolai's body for three hours at a later point if it would knock Jane to the ground.
Jane's legs spasmed. She fell. The bullets went harmlessly over her head.
Nikolai drew for his Soul Blast hex, from the Tarot deck. I drew five Major Arcana cards (meaning five wilds), so I decided they were the Eight of Spades, the Eight of Clubs, the Ace of Spades, the Ace of Clubs and the Jack of Diamonds (or, put another way, see my icon). Black hands grabbed Delacroix and pulled him into oblivion.
Delilah took shots at the cyborg, but the fire and the bullets weren't quite enough. Nikolai threw another Soul Blast (not nearly so potent), and it shut down. Good thing, too - Jane later found enough ghost rock in it to blow us all sky high, had it detonated.
We searched the place, quickly. Samson found some money, which he divvied up among the slaves. Nikolai found Delacroix's own spellbooks (apparently he was a huckster, though not much of one). Jane, of course, studied his workshop and we loaded his cyborg into a buggy for further examination. Delilah found jars of the reanimating fluid, which she took.
And we struck off for Dodge City. Delilah just inherited property there. Surely that'll be nice and peaceful.
Oh, do note: We're going to every other week for this game. matrexsvigil, the gal playing Samson, is running a Shadowrun game on the off weeks, which I'm going to chronicle over at (you guessed it) ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) shadowrun. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| | Subject: | NPC for Golden Fields | | Time: | 09:33 pm |
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| I found one of my original NPC's for the Golden Fields adventure. I've kept him as a recurring villain, even have a sound effect on my gaming computer to wig out the players when I play it. (Like Peter & the Wolf)
( And here he is ) | | comments: Leave a comment |
| | Subject: | Final chapters - Golden Fields | | Time: | 01:33 pm |
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| Chapter Four – Niwot’s Village
After the posse obtains the mask they’ll probably need a good sleep in a warm bed, Sven is glad to oblige. If they feel they need to return the mask to the Indian village immediately, there’re beds there too. Either way, the Posse is greeted by Shaman Niwot, “The spirits told me that you would succeed. You have my thanks and the thanks of my tribe. Please join us in celebration.”
While the celebration is going on, Niwot will explain that the mask is indeed a treasure map, it leads to the Golden Fields of Nihansan. (Nee-han-san) Unfortunately, they only know how to read the first clue of the map – the forehead. They know that to see the sun setting behind Pike’s Peak the same way that it is depicted on the mask, you must be at the entrance to The Garden of the Gods. (check out Wikipedia for descriptive help on the Garden) They do not know what the totem poles or the hash-marks are. They know that Nihansan is both a provider and trickster god and will tell this story to illustrate the point:
http://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Legends/TheTricksterKillstheChildren-Arapaho.html
*This is a real Arapaho legend. Please stress that point to your players as the fact that it is rather gory adds to the ambiance of the game.
The story is gruesome enough to cause a Guts check of 3 (fear level of 2 still applies here). After the story, Niwot will draw a spider in the dirt on the ground and study it for awhile mumbling to himself. Then he will ask the posse to find the treasure, “The spirits have told me that you have a better chance than any of our own braves.” Niwot will offer a guide who will take the Posse to the Garden of the Gods the next day if they are willing to find the treasure for the village. But for now, continue partying.
Garden of the Gods *Fear level 4 for any non-Indian characters. Fear level-2 for Indians.
It will take most of a day to get to the Garden of the Gods. The land is rough and as the posse gets closer the rocks seem to get sharper and the shadows deeper. The entrance to the gardens is a natural rock arch, when anyone crosses in, the temperature feels like it drops 20 degrees. The guide waits outside the arch and tells the party that there will be an hour before sunset begins. If they scout around the area (Search 7) they can find a plateau close to the middle of the gardens that has three totem poles.
Top down, the faces carved into the poles are:
Pole 1, facing North – eagle, wolf, bear, pig, man
Pole 2, facing Northeast – spider, coyote, bear, man, raven
Pole 3, facing Southwest – raven, wolf, bear, sun, snake
Searching the poles themselves (9) will reveal that all of the bears’ eyes are crystals and have holes drilled into the other sides of the totem poles.
Sunset
Hopefully the posse will figure out that they have to look through a totem pole during sunset. Which one? If asked and filled in, the guide will say, “Nihansan is the spider trickster God, and the sun sets in the west.”
Pole 2 is the correct pole, feel free to trap poles 1 and 3 or have odd/disturbing images be seen through them. Mess with the players if they look through all three poles while the sun sets. Whoever is looking through pole 2 while the sun starts setting will see a magnified view of a boulder, under a red-berry tree and next to a river. The boulder has a very large spider etched into it and is reflecting the sunlight.
Sunset takes a while, there’s enough time for everyone to have a look through the totem pole, or they can rush off to the rock. For all of the non-Indian party members: the longer they stay in the Garden of the Gods the more they feel like something is watching them. A fog rolls in from the mountains and closes over the party quickly as they make their way to the exit. Have them make cognition checks and tell the highest result that he hears voices moaning. Nimbleness checks all around and the lowest results trip and cut their knees on very sharp rocks (1d4 wind damage, no rollups). By the time they get to the exit they should be pretty freaked out, enough to warrant a Guts check (5). (don’t forget the fear levels)
If the guide in told of the rock/tree/river he will know exactly where to take the posse. Otherwise, have them make survival, tracking, area knowledge, etc... checks to find it.
Chapter Four - Nihansan’s Reward
The boulder/tree/river is the only feature in a very flat area. On close inspection, the boulder has quartz deposits running throughout that just happen to form a spider shape at a distance. It cannot be moved without extreme effort. The berry tree has bright red berries hanging very high over the river. A player could easily pluck a berry by standing on top of the boulder.
Any player that picks a berry feels an invisible pull into the river and is swept down and around a bend where the rest of the party cannot see them anymore. The river is much swifter than it should be. Have the player make a swim check (5) to stay above water. If they are swept underneath, make a vigor check (5) or take 1d6 wind damage from rocks and drowning. After the swimmer is whisked out of sight, s/he is pulled out onto a the riverbank. ONLY a person who has gone through the berry/swim process can see a hut with smoke coming out of it. Anyone who has not picked a berry and taken the dive cannot see the hut. (At this point, anyone who cannot remember the story that Niwot told can make a Smarts check (5) to remember what’s going on.)
The hut is abandoned, there is a bear-skin rug inside though. Hiding under the rug are prairie ticks (one for each posse member) and a staircase down.
Fight it out partners, don’t forget Guts checks for the Ticks and the fear level of 3. Use the standard prairie ticks from the Marshal’s handbook.
Assuming the posse wins, there is a stairway leading down under the rug. It leads to a wall of adobe that can easily be broken (Strength 5 or demolitions 3). More stairs lead down from the other side of the broken wall, but there are bumpots on the walls lighting the way. The stairs lead to an expansive chamber. There 8 sealed clay pots lining both walls, each pot has a symbol on it that can be interpreted as a pictogram of foodstuffs: oats, wheat, corn, and beans. One pot is broken and spoiled seed is sitting on the ground. The middle of the room is a long black slab that rises about two inches from the floor. The dominant feature is a huge statue on the far wall. It has two hands extended, palms open and facing up. On close inspection (Search 7) the jaw of the statue is hinged and looks like it could open. On the left wall over the pots is a bas relief of happy people planting seeds and gathering crops under ten suns. On the right wall is a painting of the statue holding something in each hand and a golden stream falling from its mouth into a larger cistern.
What the players need to do is put two matching pots in the hands of the statue; this will make the slab slide back to reveal an empty cistern. The jaw will open and seed will pour into the cistern and fill it with a magical form of the same seed that they used. (When planted, the land will yield bumper crops for 10 years of either Corn, Wheat, Beans, or oats – the Golden Fields are fields of crops that will feed the Indian village.) The cistern will then raise out of the floor with a grinding noise. It is heavy and will take at least three people to carry it up the stairs. When the party climbs back up the stairs it is night and they are not inside a hut. As the last person leaves the stairwell, it vanishes. The boulder, tree, and river are in front of them. The guide and any horses the party might have had, is sitting under the berry tree blowing on some grass to make a tune.
When the party returns to the village, Niwot welcomes them with open arms. “Nihansan is the trickster, and the provider. Thank you.” He offers to induct party members into the tribe as a reward. Anyone willing to take the flaw “Obligation – Family” will have Kemosabes as long as they are in Arapaho territory.
Bounty
Everyone who made it this far gets 1 Blue chip
Figuring out the statue – 1 red chip
Defeating a prairie tick – 1 red chip
First person to get a berry and fall in the river – 1 white chip
Anyone who figures out the connection between the story and what’s going on without making a Smarts roll – 1 red chip
Add a legend chip to the pot. | | comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment |
| | Subject: | Here's part 2 | | Time: | 07:03 pm | | Current Mood: | ![[mood icon]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/tired.gif) tired |
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| The Golden Fields
Chapter 1 – The mystery of the Mask
The Denver Museum of Natural History is opening its doors for the first time today. The posse has been invited and given VIP passes. There’s a big crowd waiting to get in, a 4-piece band playing oom-pah music, and of course, Herman Schlesinger (A portly man wearing white a linen suit and mopping his face with a handkerchief constantly) the museum’s curator waiting at the door to start things off. When the posse arrives the curator announces, “The last of the VIPs are here, it’s almost 10AM, let’s get some culture going folks!” He signals to a chinaman who lets off a string of firecrackers. (Sounds like an automatic rifle going off very close to where the party is standing in case anyone is skittish about such things.)
The curator gives the VIPs a private tour while the general public is allowed to roam free. The stairway leading to the upper exhibits is roped off until the VIP tour is done. The downstairs exhibits include: Denver and Colorado history, a fully assembled skeleton of a Thunder Lizard, American History (with a Union bent), and a mineral exhibit – the gold, silver, and ghost rock are well guarded. After a quick tour of the first floor exhibits, Herman rushes the VIPs to the second floor entrance. He seems almost giddy with anticipation to show off the exhibits upstairs. He will gladly tell anyone who asks, “The stuff on the first floor is good and educational, but the exhibits on the 2nd floor… Well, I’m proud of those. There’s an exhibit on all the new Sciences that have cropped up because of the ghost rock phenomenon, and a fantastic exhibit on the Natives here in Colorado. *giggle* I even have a special guest to talk about the main feature. He’s waiting for us so let’s please hurry. Oh, I ask you all, be respectful to my guest. Without his cooperation a lot of the Indian exhibits would not be possible.”
As Mr.Schlesinger removes the rope for the stairway several sounds come from upstairs:
Cog 3 – shouting
Cog 5 – breaking glass
Cog 9 – all of the above and a revving noise from outside the building and more breaking glass
An elderly Indian tumbles down the stairs. If anyone runs up the stairs they’ll see the backside of a man wearing a Confederate uniform jumping out of a window. (A search check (7) will find ripped pieces of the uniform and a distinct regimental button from the leg-cuff) On the ground outside is a Velocipede Bicycle (the revving sound) with a sidecar. The velocipede tears off down the street. There’s enough time for the first person up the stairs to get a shot off (if they want), but the shot will suffer several penalties (from the hip, elevation, target moving at 120mph, quick draw roll if gun isn’t already out, etc…)
Mr.Schlesinger comes up the stairs helping the Indian. He will do a quick scan of the room to see what is missing and tell the posse, “Oh no! The gold mask of Nihansan is missing.” The Indian will grumble something in Arapaho (general cussing for anyone who might speak it). The curator will explain that the mask was the focal point for the Arapaho exhibit that he got from a museum back East at great personal expense.
Why would anyone want to steal it:
It is made of gold. Legend says that it is a treasure map. It really pisses off the Indians. It could be used for black-mail or extortion with the Indians. It is invaluable.
Description of the mask:
Gold, about 20 pounds, pictures embossed on the face are supposed to be a treasure map. The forehead has the sun setting behind Pike’s Peak Mountain. Next to the eyes and on the nose are totem poles. There is no mouth hole, but where the mouth would be are several hash marks with squares on top. Vaguely resembles wheat for anyone with agricultural knowledge (or if anyone asks the Indian). The ears are stylized spiders.
The curator apologizes to the Indian (finally naming him) “Shaman Niwot” (nee-waht). Herman will ask the posse if they can possibly get it back for him, but Niwot will interrupt and say that Herman has broken his deal. The mask needs to be protected by the Arapaho people. Niwot will ask the posse to find it and return it to his tribe near Colorado City; he will go so far as to offer hospitality to the posse if they are ever in the vicinity of his tribe. (Yes, that’s foreshadowing)
Bounty
Anyone who manages to shoot the velocipede or the thief: 1 red chip
Stop and give aid to Niwot when he falls down the stairs: 1 white chip
Find the button: 1 white chip
Chapter Two - the Road to Colorado City
There are several ways for the posse to find out where to go to track down the thieves. If they captured Feydeaux alive they can interrogate him (he’s not been hung yet). The Velocipede is not a common vehicle, several people saw it in the streets and will give descriptions (maybe someone in S&R might know something about it). The Jackass Hangout is a hive of villainy and ill-repute, someone there should have some info. This area is really sleuthing and RP for the players. Failing all of that, there’s always the lazy Sheriff Grady, who knows something about everything. Anyway they get it, all signs point to the Livingston Gang who operate out of Colorado City, just 20 miles south of Denver. *History note – Colorado City eventually becomes Colorado Springs*
Livingston Gang info – Confederate rabble-rousers, thrown out of Kansas for inciting riots. Led by Maude (eldest sister, dabbles in Voodoo or Huckster, UGLY AS SIN), Little Jim (youngest brother, two-gun kid), Big Jim (eldest brother, mad scientist and speed freak, good with rifles) and their best friend Jones (walks around in a powersuit designed by Big Jim, solid muscle likes beating up people). Nowadays they rent themselves out to whoever can afford their services and isn’t a Northerner. *Always willing to negotiate a better deal, very prone to two-timing their bosses*
Colorado City info – This is really a conjunction of 2 towns and an Indian village separated by a river intersection (think a Y where the v is pointing east). New London is on the Eastern part of the river, no alcohol allowed, a temperance village. Colorado City is a rough-tough mining town - every vice is catered and encouraged – it is on the Southwest side of the river conjunction. The Arapaho village peacefully lives on the Northwest side and trades with the other two on a regular basis. The area has been hit with a pretty bad drought the last year, and farming has barely provided enough food for anyone. Mining’s a great job until you run out of food.
On the trip south a light rain pops up, just enough to make everyone wet and miserable. About half-way to Colorado City there is a tree with a body hanging from it. Scratched into the forehead (probably by a nail) are the words “Damn Yankee”, the wrists and ankles of the body have been slit and have bled out onto the ground where a Tumblebleed is drinking happily. After the Guts (5) checks are made, anyone with an Arcane Background can make an Academia Occult roll to know a few things about what they’re looking at:
5 – That’s a Tumblebleed
7 - but since it is wet and sated not an immediate threat
8 – Hangin’ Judges are rumored to hang a man and inscribe his crime on the forehead.
9 – Hangin’ Judges don’t come this far North,
11 - and they don’t slit wrists/ankles. In fact they stay really close to the Chisolm trail.
Let the posse deal with this however they want and draw their own conclusions. The truth is that the Livingston gang left this man as a message to Northerners and Maude noticed the Tumblebleed tracks so slit the wrists to add some grue to the gruesome.
Bounty
This is mostly an RP section, but feel free to award clever players for getting the information or dealing with the Tumblebleed. If there’s a Blessed in the party and he insists on giving the hanged man a decent burial he deserves a white chip.
Chapter Three – Colorado City
Colorado City is dirty, full of miners and criminals, and rather unfriendly to visitors. The road into town passes under a badly mended sign. Deputy Dagwood is sitting in a wooden folding chair under the sign and will casually stop the Posse as they enter town, “Pardon me folks, but I’m the deputized law here. I’ll need your weapons up front, or y’all can pay a gun tax.” (Anyone with knowledge or profession law (5) knows that this is a shakedown and he’s lieing through his teeth. Scrutinize (9) otherwise). If they call his bluff, they’ll earn a little respect; otherwise he’ll take their money/weapons and lead them into the center of town where people will laugh at them (everyone’s in on that joke).
There’s only one place that has a vacancy – Sven Johannson’s Swedish Pancake House Hotel and Salloon. Sven is probably the friendliest person in town; his establishment is clean and he is protective of his very beautiful red-headed stepchild Nessa. Inside the SPHH&S there’s a long bar, a dart board and a tenpin alley. The backwall of the tenpin alley is patched repeatedly with bits of wood, as if someone has thrown the ball through the wall a few times.
The main street also has a General Store, a money exchange, bank, floozy house, and several more bars. Off the main street are shanty towns where the miners live. Main Street ends in an old Spanish style mission cathedral, looks abandoned and in need of repair.
Information can be bought in this town, everyone knows someone who knows someone. Accurate information will cost more and be harder to find.
If he is filled in Sven will tell the posse that Jones comes in every week to play tenpins; Sven does not like Jones because Jones breaks up the place and picks fights and tries to pick up Nessa.
Deputy Dagwood, after a little coercion, will tell the posse that the Livingston gang lives in a better looking shanty behind the old church.
An old miner (who might have come from Denver and a certain Jackass bar) is desperate for a drink and knows that Big Jim likes making sneaky traps.
A Spanish Monk (down on his luck in a corner of one bar) knows that there have been unusual noises coming from under church, but knows for a fact that there isn’t a basement.
The General Store’s owner knows Little Jim because he sells him bubblegum and bullets on a regular basis. Big Jim special orders stuff like springs and screws - he usually pays cash too.
A Trackin’ (11) roll can find ruts that are about the right size for a Velocipede Bicycle that go to a better looking shanty behind the church.
Depending on how determined the crew might be, they could bump into Maude at one of the bars or Big Jim or Jones at the floozy house.
Swedish Pancake House Hotel & Salloon
Jones will come here in the evening for a few drinks and some tenpins. He doesn’t wear his power-suit when he comes here as it scares Nessa. He really likes her, but doesn’t have a clue when it comes to proper behaviour. Jones isn’t too bright and gets drunk easily. When he’s drunk he talks more than he should. The party can get the secret knock out of him for the gang’s hideout. If they make friends he’ll put in a good word with Maude and negotiations can begin for the mask.
Livingstons’ Hideout
The door will not open unless the secret knock is knocked. It isn’t “shave and a haircut”. There is a percussion tumbler built into the door knocker. There is a hydraulic wedge that forces the door closed until the tumbler triggers correctly. A Mad Scientist or someone with Engineering or Hydraulics will get a good lesson from studying the door structure. The only window is 1’ by 1’ and made of thick glass. There is a massive chimney and steam pouring out of it. Going in that way will hurt as the character gets steam burns and then lands in a boiler. Looking through the window will show a workshop. Search (9) through the window will see the remains of a lost-wax mold and gold pain on the floor.
If they know the secret knock, the door opens just wide enough for a thick person to slide in sideways – one at a time folks. Inside there is a clear/clean space around the (obviously) dining table. The rest of the room is cluttered with tinkering equipment and a workbench. The velocipede is clipped high on one wall; the spokes of the rear wheel are broken. Under the workbench (search 7 inside) are the remains of a lost-wax mold and gold pain on the floor. The mold looks like it could make a mask that fits the description of what the posse is looking for.
At first glance, there is something missing – beds. If the players search (5) around, they will find that when they close the front door and lock it, the floor pivots down and forms stairs. The basement extends from under the shanty to under the Church. In the basement is a Ghost Rock boiler, the beds, a steamer trunk (lockpickin’ 7), and the gang’s personal affects. In the steamer trunk is a cashbox ($250), the blueprints for the velocipede, and a brown bag decorated with bones and feathers (JuJu bag, knowledge Occult 7 unless there is a Houdoun, then Occult 3). If anyone takes anything out of the trunk without taking care of the JuJu bag, Maude automatically knows someone’s in her house. Blessed’s can say a Protection prayer over it, Hucksters with an appropriate hex can remove or deactivate it, Shamans can do a chant ritual to counteract it (Ritual rating based on Mien dice), and a Houdoun can remove it with an Occult 7 check.
The Posse can mince words and try to negotiate for the mask, but the Livingstons have already made two copies and will happily sell one of the fakes to them – unless the party knows about the fake and confronts them about it. Then of course there’s the direct route – a shoot out Posse against Gang. Maude will have the original and one fake on her. Scraping the inside of the mask quickly reveals the fake as the gold paint flakes off. Maude will tell the Posse that Jim Palmer hired the Livingstons in order to get the mask. He believes that the mask really is a map, and he believes that he can find the treasure. The gang has already palmed off one of the fake masks to the Arapaho tribe across the river in order to get extra money.
Bounty
Get the real mask – Blue chip
Sneak into the gang’s hideout – Red chip
Defeat the gang – 1 red chip each
*There are two more chapters after this. I'm still working on finding the NPCs, I'll include them as a separate post after I finish the adventure's details. | | comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment |
| | Subject: | Here's part 1 | | Time: | 03:25 pm |
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| A few words before I get to the meat of my adventure: The intro can be run as a one-off introductory game by itself. I used it to get my posse in good with the locals so that the narrative for the rest of the adventure flowed better. The intro can be skipped entirely and you can pick up at Chapter One. I include information about the indigenous tribes because I recommend at least on Injun in the party for the later parts of the game. All game terms are set for Deadlands Classic.
P.S. I’m having to type this up from memory as my notes got destroyed in a house-fire. I may be able to find the stats for the NPCs and will post them when I do, but if not, feel free to take the generalities and add your own specifics.
The Golden Fields
( The intro and setup behind this cut ) | | comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment |
| | Subject: | I'm switching names. | | Time: | 10:15 pm |
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| | Here is a quick administrative note. I created a new journal called Jason_01001101 a few years ago. I almost never use the MysteriousRhino journal anymore and it's kind of a pain to switch back and forth, so if you see the other name from now on, that is still me. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| | Subject: | 1st post | | Time: | 09:58 pm | | Current Mood: | ![[mood icon]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/confused.gif) curious |
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| | Howdy, I'm a new Marshal and was wondering if anyone would mind if I posted an adventure on here for critique and criticism. I've already run it once for my posse, but think that it might be good enough to share. Do any of y'all mind? | | comments: 4 comments or Leave a comment |
| | Subject: | Deadlands Update | | Time: | 04:25 pm |
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| OK, see, what happened was, we played Deadlands as usual last week, and I was so goddamned stressed because of school stuff that I didn't do the write-up on Friday. And then Saturday was graduation, and Sunday I had wonderful folks in from out of town, so here it is Monday.
I'll do my best.
We'd mopped up some of the bad guys last time, and the one we'd left alive wasn't talking. So Nikolai used his Fortune Teller hex to find information about this shadowy boss dude. He saw a man sitting on a throne, bleeding into two vats. The blood was then poured into a basin at the top of an Aztec step-temple, and a beautiful Mexican-looking woman rose up from the blood. And then everything sort of pulled back, and we were in a basement, and then out onto an old plantation. Curious.
The Marshall agreed to take the man into custody, and we blew up the building to keep the guns out of the South's hands. And then we kind of went our separate ways a bit.
Samson went and bought snappy new clothes. Reverend Daily went visiting churches and graveyards. Jane worked on a new contraption - a device that would analyze and detect undead matter. Nikolai wandered the streets of New Orleans, first with the Reverend, and then on his own. He visited a fortune teller and had his cards read, and learned that the bossman we'd talked about was Delacroix, the Frenchman we'd met on the boat. The woman who read his cards spat on the ground when Nikolai mentioned him, and Nikolai asked that when the tower (meaning Delacroix' house) fell, that the people of New Orleans (whom he'd later refer to as "peasants" - looking, he's nobility, what can I say?) help tear it down.
Delilah visited her mother, and had a telegram from her uncle's solicitor. Turns out she's inherited a house outside of Dodge City, KS, which sounds like a plot point to me! Once we finish with this, anyway.
We all got together the next day, and discovered that a chunk of flesh had fallen into Jane's jar of goop and animated itself. Reverend and Nikolai were extremely disturbed by this, but Jane was just intrigued. In any event, her device apparently worked.
Next session, I suppose we go after Delacroix. If there's anything I'm missing, other players, help me out. :) | | comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment |
| | Subject: | Deadlands Update | | Time: | 01:05 pm |
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| Look, we've been spoiling for a fight for a while.
Last session, recall that the good Reverend Daily was in "police" custody, but we'd found evidence that the Rangers weren't so much Rangers as imposters. Taking this evidence in hand, we stormed down to where Daily was being held, and Nikolai demanded his release. Finally, he did what he always does and bribed the guard to go away, freed the Reverend, and explained the situation to him. From there, we tromped down to the saloon, where Delilah was shakin' it for the Rangers (look! a distraction!).
We burst in and told them they were under citizen's arrest. Delilah whipped out her pistols and put them to the outlaw's heads. They never had a chance to react. We tied them up, and Nikolai went to explain things to the captain (who was definitely confused). The Reverend interrogated the Rangers until one of them slipped, saying that the "boss" was paying for the guns in the hold, and that his warehouse was in New Orleans (and gave a location).
Meanwhile, Nikolai took the captain to the hold and showed him the guns. Delilah noticed him fidgeting, and after pressing him he admitted that he'd looked the other way for these guys. Nikolai told him that he would back the captain in professing ignorant - he might look incompetent, but not criminal. The captain said he could live with that, and halted the crew unloading the crates of weapons.
We saddled up and headed for the warehouse. Samson slipped away and turned into a big, black dog, and scouted out the place. When we got there, the dog was waiting. We thought it was a guard (and Delilah, superstitious gal that she is, thought it was a bad omen), but it showed us inside the place. We looked around, and then heard a coach coming. We hid, and the dog scratched out the letters "SW" for Nikolai - showing that he was Samson. Nikolai, himself a huckster, was impressed and amazed, but not as fazed as, say, Delilah might have been.
The coach entered, and the Reverend stepped out and yelled to them to lay down arms. Jane brandished her flamethrower and told them to do the same. They didn't - they, in fact, attacked. They had the missing Marshall with them, and they immediately shot him. The battle was joined, Daily drawing their fire but not getting hit due to that armor of God miracle, Jane advancing to scare them, Delilah picking them off with her two-fisted gun-skills, Samson chewing off their limbs as a dog, and Nikolai...well.
He readied the soul blast spell. Remember, I draw from a Tarot deck, and any Major Arcana is a joker (but more than half do or could give me backlash, so it's risky as fuck). I drew the Emperor, and wound up with four "kings" (that's enough to liquefy a person, which is pretty much what happened). The backlash I rolled was damage to another posse member, and the manitou lashed out at the Reverend on its way past. "Careful, boy!" he yelled, but was unafraid - Veteran of the Weird West, and all. The man who was struck by the spell exploded, and the remaining survivor surrendered.
He wouldn't talk, claiming that death was better than what his boss would do to him. The Marshall, lucky SOB, wasn't dead; a picture frame in his vest had stopped the bullet. He was a Pinkerton, here tracking the smuggling runs.
Since the guy wouldn't talk, Nikolai used the Fortune Teller hex, and drew very well (no backlash, even). We'll see what that vision shows us next time. | | comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment |
| | Subject: | Deadlands Update | | Time: | 09:43 am |
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| newbis' wife's aunt's puppy fell into the strawberry patch or something, so he wasn't there. Which is too bad, because we could have used someone to perform an exorcism. But more on that later.
We were investigating major strangeness, you'll recall, including dead people who didn't leave bodies behind, just huge splotches of blood. As we were investigating, the captain approached and detained Reverend Daily, since someone had seen him throw a man overboard earlier (strawberry patch, puppy, etc.). So then we were four.
We searched the ship, and found dots of blood near the aft end, near the paddles, and also a bloody handprint. Jane made an imprint of the hand, and took a blood sample to check for "type" (this science, it confuses our 19th century minds!). She also took a sample of the "blood" in the bed upstairs. And about then, Samson showed up with a human head.
Seems he'd gone downstairs to bed down (I think) and had discovered the head in his bedroll. A porter had seen him, and now they were heading up, presumably to get the captain. Nikolai found them first, and wasted no time in providing an alibi for Samson (since, obviously, the porter was thinking that the black dude did it). Samson held up the head (but not without heaving his guts over the side of the ship), and Nikolai noted that the wounds hadn't been made with a sword or knife - something thicker, like an ax or tomahawk. Nikolai paid off the porter and took the head to Jane for further study.
She discovered that there was little or no blood in it, and that the beheading had apparently happened post-mortem. Also, there was some greenish gunk around the neck, where blood should be. Nikolai revealed his power as a huckster and used Fortune Teller on the head (getting a punch in the gut from Backlash in the meanwhile). He saw it lying in bed, then a man with a white shirt and black coat loom over, and then pressure at the neck, and then BEHEADED. Also, the man in question was Mr. Gable, who'd played cards with us earlier.
Nikolai brought up stories of the walking dead that he'd read in the Tombstone Epitaph, and Jane mentioned that Gable had only pretended to drink at the card game earlier. Evidently, he was Harrowed, but why was he sleeping in Mr. Skinner's bed? And why the beheading?
At this point, all of us were sleepy, so we crashed. Jane set up some experiments to run in her sleep, trying to check the composition of the green gunk, the blood from the railing, and the blood from the bed. Nikolai just crashed (Heavy Sleeper). Samson and Delilah found a box containing Gable's body, and a mason jar of red-green gunk. But they forgot to close the box again, and in the morning, the gunk was gone.
In the morning, the others woke Nikolai (which took some doing), and we had some breakfast. The saloon was abuzz with rumors that the Reverend had killed a man, which Nikolai contested hotly. The folks said that the "Rangers" had been claiming this, so Nikolai (after finishing breakfast) stomped right up to them and demanded an explanation.
The two Rangers smelled of sweet tobacco, and one, named Granos, was of Hispanic descent. Nikolai noted this, and gave them no crucial information (but did give them a truthful account of the Reverend's activities the night before, by way of alibi). He then assembled the others and they took coffee in Jane's quarters.
The tests revealed that the blood on the railing was human. The gunk was some odd chemical composition that Jane couldn't precisely identify, and the stuff in the bed shared qualities of blood, but was low in iron. Nikolai theorized that Gable, a Harrowed (who thus would have abnormal blood) had been beheaded in the bed, soaking it in blood - but why? Jane wondered if the blood hadn't been planted there. Delilah and Samson showed us the body, and Nikolai and Delilah left Jane and Samson to investigate. Nikolai had an idea.
With Delilah distracting the two Rangers in the bar, Nikolai, seated at the next table, used Fortune Teller on Granos. Again, Backlash struck (using Tarot cards makes for better hands, but man, this hurts), leaving his left arm useless for the next nine hours, but he succeeded with the hex. He saw Granos delivering the mason jar to a shadowy third party, off the boat. He also saw Granos putting his badge back on, and got a strong sense it was fake.
Leaving Delilah there to sweet talk the Rangers some more, Nikolai went back to Jane and Samson and, with them, broke into Granos' room. There, we found a bloodstained shirt and a ledger indicating that these folks are smuggling guns as well as corpses.
Next time, I suspect this will come to a head. We're just pulling into the Big Easy, after all. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| | Subject: | Deadlands: Session One | | Time: | 09:36 pm |
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| So, first, meet the characters:
- Nikolai Ivanovich Novy, played by me. Kolya is a huckster, but learned some of his magic from his grandmother. He can use Tarot as well as a Hoyle deck for his hexes, but that brings a serious chance of backlash (happened this session, in fact). Kolya is very rich, which offsets his strange accent and odd customs a little, and is in America seeing the sights.
- Reverend Ezra Daily, played by newbis. Fiery preacher from Illinois. Free Methodist, meaning that he doesn't hold with slavery. Carries a large cross, and is an eternal hero (gets flashes from, well, previous lives? One appears to be Martin Luther). Smokes cigars incessantly.
- Samson Wallace, played by matrexsvigil. Samson is a large black man, an expert in explosives, and was trapped down a mine after a cave-in. During that ordeal, he learned to speak with earth-spirits; call it a visionquest. His mother practiced voodoo, so he's got some affinity for that, too. Carries a hammer with the initials "JH" burned into it, but those initials didn't appear until after the cave-in.
- Delilah Pride, played by ulaliya. Cowgirl from Oklahoma, in Memphis catching the boat to visit her mama in New Orleans. Her mother is Baptist missionary, but Delilah isn't quite so devout (has the Randy Hindrance).
- Jane Masterson, played by hot493. Jane is a mad scientist. She already has burn scars from ghost rock on her face, and she has a custom-built flamethrower, for god's sake. She's also hard of hearing from multiple explosives too near her head. From New York City.
So our motley band met up on a riverboat bound from Memphis to New Orleans. The Reverend put his hat on the ground and tried preaching for some money, but it wasn't happening (bad roll). He managed to find Samson, and bought him a sasparilla while they chatted.
Delilah and Kolya met up in the saloon, meanwhile (Jane was there, too, playing blackjack). Kolya paid Delilah's way into the poker game in the back room, though she didn't hang on him long after that, since there were handsomer men about. Of the men in the back room, one was a French dandy (Delacroix), one was a Marshall, one was a huckster (we didn't learn that until later), and the other two (Skinner and Gable) were just gambling. We sat down to play, and Jane joined us shortly thereafter. Delilah noted that the huckster (Grissom, I think) was cheating - anyway, his cards were glowing, and pointed it out to Kolya.
Kolya, of course, knew what was happening, but didn't call him out just then. We took a break, and Koyla snapped his fingers for drinks, but no one snapped to attention (High Falutin', yes, and it's fun to play). Grumbling, he went out to the bar and saw Samson and the Reverend, and immediately assumed that Samson was a servant. When the Reverend clarified things, Koyla, embarrassed, offered to buy their way into the game. The Reverend declined to play, but agreed to come along and watch. Samson, initially offended by Koyla's actions but impressed that he'd been gallant enough to admit he was wrong, agreed.
Kolya got a big kick out of introducing Samson to Delilah, by the way.
The game continued, until Grissom caught himself some backlash and the cards scattered. Some grumbling around the table, but the Reverend (and Samson) took him out on the boat deck. The Revered was about ready to forgive and forget...and then something came over him and he threw the cheater overboard.
As the Reverend puzzled on that one, he smelled something cloying from below deck and heard two men plotting to rob Mr. Skinner. Killing him was even mentioned. They went back into the game (where we played a straight-up hand for Grissom's share of the pot, which Delacroix won), and Reverend told Skinner what we'd heard. He seemed unconcerned.
We headed for bed. Kolya used the Fortune Teller hex to see what lay in store for him on this trip. I used the Tarot deck. Now, any Major Arcana that come up are considered Jokers, but some of them cause backlash (read: I have a good chance of a good hand, but a good chance of utterly fucking myself, too). The Moon came up, which caused Kolya to see a manitou close up and make a roll on the Scart table. Terrified, he left his room and heard a terrible crash. He woke the Revered up for spiritual guidance (Kolya's a devout Russian Orthodox, of course), and told him of his vision.
The Revered assumed it was divine in origin (OK, so Kolya didn't tell him everything), and the two of them set off to find the source of the noise. They found it in a state room, just about the time Delilah (who'd been flirting shamelessly withe Marshall, but not getting anywhere) found us. Inside that room, we found the remains of someone on the bed. The room belonged to Skinner. Looks like he shouldn't have ignored our warning.
But really, was it him? The remains weren't recognizable, after all. We found a coded message, so Kolya sent someone to wake Jane, since she was obviously schooled in sciences and might be able to break it. Reverend went to wake up Samson and search the ship for Skinner. He found coffins in the hold, but they were empty.
In the room, we discovered that something had been taken - there was a circle on the floor where the dust had been disturbed. But what? A barrel? A safe? Jane translated the coded message, and it mentioned meeting a man named Terrill in New Orleans.
Next week, we'll see where that leads us. | | comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment |
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