Friday, May 21st, 2009 - Part 2
After the Icarus exploded, the group goes back to ground level. Custer gets on the radio, trying to locate the mercenary he rescued and find out where he is.
“I’m at the site, looking for the boss,” Custer lands and begins walking around, using his optical imaging systems in his SAMAS to scan the rubble. Emergency personnel and equipment begins to arrive, and shortly a search and rescue operation is underway. “Dammit, this stuff isn’t supposed to happen! There were people in here, all types of people. Who’d want to blow up a building like that?”
“What’ll happen if the boss is dead?” asks Custer.
“Well, we’ll find the money and the company information in his safebox. You’ll get paid, don’t worry.”
“Hey, don’t worry about it. I don’t need it. You guy’s ‘ill need it more than me.”
“Well, I’ll let you know once we get things sorted here. If you can help, great.”
Maxwell and Veras are looking through the rubble too, trying to find any survivors, but as it gets later, Veras says they should be on their way to make the rendezvous.
They reach Riverfront Park Center early, in time to check things out. It appears what once was a park near the beach has become a bit of a shanty town. Some almost permanent buildings are interspersed amongst wooden buildings, where several people have taken up residence.
The group see two people leaning against one of the more permanent structures. One stands up and faces the other, and they turn away slightly from the three. They appear to exchange money for a small bag. “Hmm, not so different from Chi-town. Drugs are everywhere,” says Veras.
One of the guys walks away, and the other seems too absorbed in his new purchase to mind anyone or anything.
About half an hour later, a woman wearing a long coat walks by, flanked by two men wearing casual clothes but not appearing casual at all. “Follow me,” she says, just after passing the group, without making eye contact with them at all. Veras shrugs, and follows the three of them, and Maxwell and Custer follow suit.
They approach the building with the druggie, who stands up, looks suddenly sober, and opens a concealed door for the woman. The three walk in, and the doorman winks at Veras and says, “After you.”
Once everyone is inside, he closes the door and takes a seat. The other two men have already seated themselves as well. The room appears to be far more technologically advanced inside then it’s meager outward appearance would suggest. There is a large screen on one wall, several chairs facing it, and a lift going to what is presumably a basement level.
“Thank you for coming, take a seat anywhere you’d like.” Custer moves to the corner of the room, staying in his SAMAS, which crowds the corner. Maxell and Veras take chairs next to each other.
“You might be wondering why we’ve asked you all here. We represent various…interested parties in the city. They are concerned about a growing problem that you might have seen already,” she begins
“There is a severe water shortage in the city. People are literally dying of thirst. The DB’s are faring a little bit better, but not by much. The mayor claimed that he didn’t know why there was a water shortage or rather that he wasn’t withholding water. It’s too late to ask him now, as he died just a few hours ago when the civil government building was destroyed, as I’m sure you know.
“It’s possible that less forgiving groups have already targeted him for the water problem. Word on the street was there was five million out there for his assassination.
“There is a desalinization plant not far from here,” and on the screen appear aerial photographs of an area west of the city, “and we want you to investigate. Find out what is happening to the water supply, and fix it if you can. You’ve come highly recommended for what you do, and we’re prepared to pay you in kind.”
“So, I assume we can’t just walk in, right?” asks Maxwell.
“That’s right. There are bottweilers and borgs at the very least. There is a laser security system to detect intrusion as well. What was once supposed to protect the water supply will hamper our investigation, but won’t make it impossible.”
Everyone seems to make up their mind, and all nod in agreement.
“We’ll need a place to repair our equipment and get new supplies,” adds Maxwell, as if an afterthough.
“Don’t worry, we’ll have anything you’ll need.”
Showing posts with label rifts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rifts. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
The problem with the Juice(r)
Friday, May 21st, 2009
The last thing that happened to the group is a building blew up in front of them, and Maxwell the CS Scout saw a juicer on top of the opposite building.
Custer had already flown away from the explosion, grabbing the mercenary next to him. Prior to the explosion, Veras had bolted away from the traveling group.
Maxwell gets on the radio right after he sees the figure on the building. “Juicer, opposite building rooftop!” Custer sets down the merc, and quickly flies up above the roof. When he gets there, he sees the juicer running from the rooftop edge towards the middle of the building, where a large sized jet pack is waiting.
“Juicer Icarus Flight System on the roof, I'm going to take it out.” Custer starts shooting his rail gun at the jet pack, but the juicer was closing quickly, so he fired a mini-missle at the rooftop, essentially vaporizing the roof, and causing the Icarus to drop through to the floor below.
Maxwell, continued to monitor the situation on the ground, while Veras rounded the corner of the block to get a better view of the situation. She starts pulls herself up to a fire escape on an apartment complex and begins climbing the stairs.
The juicer, seeing the explosion and the results, doesn't lose stride and jumps down into the hole at full speed. He quickly hides, and is out of view of Custer is his SAMAS suit. Just as Custer is about to get on the radio, he is blasted by the juicer's signature assassin rifle. He returns fire, and attempts to supress any further attacks, which is successful. The juicer attempts to dodge the laser shots, but is mostly unsuccessful, and loses ground trying to get to the Icarus. Just as he gets a lucky and jumps into the Icarus, he snags his foot and gets his head blasted away Custer.
“Victory to the proletariat, juicer down,” says Custer over the radio.
“Wait there, I'll be right up,” says Maxwell. He enters the building and begins climbing stairs. Inside, he sees that people have taken refuge inside, staying out of the sun. Most seem pale and have gaunt skin, but seem to mostly ignore Maxwell or give him a wide berth.
In the meantime, Veras has climbed to the roof of the building and is surveying the landscape. While she is doing that she gets another message:
“Good to see your alive. Meet at 0050 hours at Riverfront Park Center.”
A map appears along with the message, and shows the location roughly to the west.
“Bring your friends if you'd like.”
Custer begins inspecting the Icarus. It seemed badly damaged, and wouldn't have any specific information, so he begins looking at the juicer. His head was blown clean off by the laser, so his body was mostly intact. He had his laser rifle on him, but otherwise nothing else stood out. Maxwell gets up there fairly quickly, and helps Custer go through the equipment. They take everything of value, and then Maxell gets on the radio “Veras, why don't you get over here and take a look at this.”
Veras looks at the equipment, and makes a guess as to it's value. “I thing I might be able to find a buyer for something like this. Give me a second,” and she leaves the building.
Custer pulls out a portable music player, and pushes the play button on it out of curiosity.
“If everything goes as agreed upon, you'll get your five mil. Just remember, no survivors, and no witnesses. I don't want it traced back to you, or to me,” Custer hears from the small portable device. He pops out the disk, and begins examining it on his computer system. “I don't know where this came from, but it does kind of confirm he's our guy,” indicating the decapitated juicer.
Veras comes back with a guy in a black leather jacket and pants. 'Oh, I see what you mean...,” he trails off. “Well, this looks like juicer equipment to me. Not much demand in that, if you know what I mean. How much you want for it?”
“Two mil,” says Custer immediately, apparently pulling a number from nowhere but delivering it with authority and conviction.
“Two mil? I think half is more than fair. Look, it's got laser marks here, and here, and the generally scorching...”
“Okay, split the difference, one point five.”
“Well, the way I figure it, you can't fly this thing, or otherwise move it, or you would have done it and I wouldn't be here talking to you. What's to say I don't come back and take it when you leave?”
“It won't be here when you come back,” says Maxwell, hoisting his rifle.
“Right then, a mil, that's my final offer.”
“You got it on you?”
The man pulls out a card, about 2 inches by 3 inches, and a quarter inch think, solid black. “Yep.”
Maxwell takes the card and scans it with his computer. “1 million Bandito Arms credits,” his headset relays to him.
“Nice doing business with you,” he says, indicating to the others to make a quick exit. After descending two flights of stairs, they hear another explosion. “Damn juicers,” says Custer.
In other gaming news, I've pre-ordered HackMaster Basic. I'm actually quite excited, as it has a definite old school feel. Thought I've never played AD&D, I probably could have if I wasn't playing Palladium Fantasy instead. So, things that other gamers my age take for granted are in the game. Armor has damage reduction in addition to AC, weapons have speeds, and other awesomeness.
Also, we didn't game on Sunday so the next Kalamar game will be the 31st.
The last thing that happened to the group is a building blew up in front of them, and Maxwell the CS Scout saw a juicer on top of the opposite building.
Custer had already flown away from the explosion, grabbing the mercenary next to him. Prior to the explosion, Veras had bolted away from the traveling group.
Maxwell gets on the radio right after he sees the figure on the building. “Juicer, opposite building rooftop!” Custer sets down the merc, and quickly flies up above the roof. When he gets there, he sees the juicer running from the rooftop edge towards the middle of the building, where a large sized jet pack is waiting.
“Juicer Icarus Flight System on the roof, I'm going to take it out.” Custer starts shooting his rail gun at the jet pack, but the juicer was closing quickly, so he fired a mini-missle at the rooftop, essentially vaporizing the roof, and causing the Icarus to drop through to the floor below.
Maxwell, continued to monitor the situation on the ground, while Veras rounded the corner of the block to get a better view of the situation. She starts pulls herself up to a fire escape on an apartment complex and begins climbing the stairs.
The juicer, seeing the explosion and the results, doesn't lose stride and jumps down into the hole at full speed. He quickly hides, and is out of view of Custer is his SAMAS suit. Just as Custer is about to get on the radio, he is blasted by the juicer's signature assassin rifle. He returns fire, and attempts to supress any further attacks, which is successful. The juicer attempts to dodge the laser shots, but is mostly unsuccessful, and loses ground trying to get to the Icarus. Just as he gets a lucky and jumps into the Icarus, he snags his foot and gets his head blasted away Custer.
“Victory to the proletariat, juicer down,” says Custer over the radio.
“Wait there, I'll be right up,” says Maxwell. He enters the building and begins climbing stairs. Inside, he sees that people have taken refuge inside, staying out of the sun. Most seem pale and have gaunt skin, but seem to mostly ignore Maxwell or give him a wide berth.
In the meantime, Veras has climbed to the roof of the building and is surveying the landscape. While she is doing that she gets another message:
“Good to see your alive. Meet at 0050 hours at Riverfront Park Center.”
A map appears along with the message, and shows the location roughly to the west.
“Bring your friends if you'd like.”
Custer begins inspecting the Icarus. It seemed badly damaged, and wouldn't have any specific information, so he begins looking at the juicer. His head was blown clean off by the laser, so his body was mostly intact. He had his laser rifle on him, but otherwise nothing else stood out. Maxwell gets up there fairly quickly, and helps Custer go through the equipment. They take everything of value, and then Maxell gets on the radio “Veras, why don't you get over here and take a look at this.”
Veras looks at the equipment, and makes a guess as to it's value. “I thing I might be able to find a buyer for something like this. Give me a second,” and she leaves the building.
Custer pulls out a portable music player, and pushes the play button on it out of curiosity.
“If everything goes as agreed upon, you'll get your five mil. Just remember, no survivors, and no witnesses. I don't want it traced back to you, or to me,” Custer hears from the small portable device. He pops out the disk, and begins examining it on his computer system. “I don't know where this came from, but it does kind of confirm he's our guy,” indicating the decapitated juicer.
Veras comes back with a guy in a black leather jacket and pants. 'Oh, I see what you mean...,” he trails off. “Well, this looks like juicer equipment to me. Not much demand in that, if you know what I mean. How much you want for it?”
“Two mil,” says Custer immediately, apparently pulling a number from nowhere but delivering it with authority and conviction.
“Two mil? I think half is more than fair. Look, it's got laser marks here, and here, and the generally scorching...”
“Okay, split the difference, one point five.”
“Well, the way I figure it, you can't fly this thing, or otherwise move it, or you would have done it and I wouldn't be here talking to you. What's to say I don't come back and take it when you leave?”
“It won't be here when you come back,” says Maxwell, hoisting his rifle.
“Right then, a mil, that's my final offer.”
“You got it on you?”
The man pulls out a card, about 2 inches by 3 inches, and a quarter inch think, solid black. “Yep.”
Maxwell takes the card and scans it with his computer. “1 million Bandito Arms credits,” his headset relays to him.
“Nice doing business with you,” he says, indicating to the others to make a quick exit. After descending two flights of stairs, they hear another explosion. “Damn juicers,” says Custer.
In other gaming news, I've pre-ordered HackMaster Basic. I'm actually quite excited, as it has a definite old school feel. Thought I've never played AD&D, I probably could have if I wasn't playing Palladium Fantasy instead. So, things that other gamers my age take for granted are in the game. Armor has damage reduction in addition to AC, weapons have speeds, and other awesomeness.
Also, we didn't game on Sunday so the next Kalamar game will be the 31st.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Ships Cross in the Night
Friday, March 27th, 2009
On Friday, we returned to the RIFTS campaign that we had put on hold in order to get back to Palladium Fantasy.
We had left the protagonists attempting to leave by helicopter, when several passengers and crew collapsed to the ground. Apparently the pilot was affected as well, and the helicopter quickly descends and crashes from a height of 100 feet.
Two of the ‘armadillo skunk apes’ run up almost immediately after the helicopter crashes, trying to get in the main side door. Luckily, the rail gun mounted on the side took up some room, and Carter and Maxell were already situated on either side of the gun.
Carter used the rail gun attached to his SAMAS suit to begin shooting the one right in front of him, while Maxwell used his coalition laser rifle to blast the other. Veras grabbed a large laser rifle from an unconscious crew member, and one of the crew used the helicopters rail gun.
It didn’t take long to completely obliterate the slow moving creatures. After a few minutes of checking for damage from both the previous attack inside the cabin and the recent attack, the helicopter took off once again, heading toward Saint Didacus.
Upon arrival, Maxell checked his mission packet, and determined where he was to rendezvous. The crew of the helicopter said they would escort the civilians into the city proper and would also get the hazard pay for Carter.
They traveled for about three miles by foot, which only took about an hour or so. On the way, they didn’t see many people, but those they did exhibited common characteristics. Everyone seemed lethargic, with dark circles under their eyes. Their skin was tight and drawn, and their movement was subdued.
They eventually reached a street with two large buildings across from each other. One was a concrete, square building rising several dozen feet into the air, and the other was a conglomeration of structures connected to each other, with several landings on it.
As they walk into the main square, Veras gets a message on her PDA.
From: Mantis
To: Striker
Glad you could make it in such short notice. Get out of there, now.
Veras decides to continue on, following the road between the two buildings, launching into a fast run. This definitely gets Carter’s and Maxwell’s attention.
One of the crew turns to Carter and says “The boss is in here. I’ll take you in, and you can get your money.” At the same time as he is going toward the northern building, a man in a business suit walks outside and stops at the steps leading up to it. “Zig?”
“That’s me,” says Maxwell, recognizing his codename. The man in the suit begins to walk toward Maxwell, when suddenly there is a blast from the ground floor of the building he was in.
It seems to be a shaped blast, as it continues out of the building, blasting into the crew member, the man in the suit, and the civilians, essentially vaporizing them. Luckily Carter was in his SAMAS suit and Maxwell was in MDC armor and didn’t die in the blast.
Carter flies up into the air to avoid the majority of the blast, and Maxwell tumbled backwards with the blast, attempting to mitigate it.
Maxwell looked around, and saw on top of the other building a juicer with their signature assassin rifle starting right at him.
On Friday, we returned to the RIFTS campaign that we had put on hold in order to get back to Palladium Fantasy.
We had left the protagonists attempting to leave by helicopter, when several passengers and crew collapsed to the ground. Apparently the pilot was affected as well, and the helicopter quickly descends and crashes from a height of 100 feet.
Two of the ‘armadillo skunk apes’ run up almost immediately after the helicopter crashes, trying to get in the main side door. Luckily, the rail gun mounted on the side took up some room, and Carter and Maxell were already situated on either side of the gun.
Carter used the rail gun attached to his SAMAS suit to begin shooting the one right in front of him, while Maxwell used his coalition laser rifle to blast the other. Veras grabbed a large laser rifle from an unconscious crew member, and one of the crew used the helicopters rail gun.
It didn’t take long to completely obliterate the slow moving creatures. After a few minutes of checking for damage from both the previous attack inside the cabin and the recent attack, the helicopter took off once again, heading toward Saint Didacus.
Upon arrival, Maxell checked his mission packet, and determined where he was to rendezvous. The crew of the helicopter said they would escort the civilians into the city proper and would also get the hazard pay for Carter.
They traveled for about three miles by foot, which only took about an hour or so. On the way, they didn’t see many people, but those they did exhibited common characteristics. Everyone seemed lethargic, with dark circles under their eyes. Their skin was tight and drawn, and their movement was subdued.
They eventually reached a street with two large buildings across from each other. One was a concrete, square building rising several dozen feet into the air, and the other was a conglomeration of structures connected to each other, with several landings on it.
As they walk into the main square, Veras gets a message on her PDA.
From: Mantis
To: Striker
Glad you could make it in such short notice. Get out of there, now.
Veras decides to continue on, following the road between the two buildings, launching into a fast run. This definitely gets Carter’s and Maxwell’s attention.
One of the crew turns to Carter and says “The boss is in here. I’ll take you in, and you can get your money.” At the same time as he is going toward the northern building, a man in a business suit walks outside and stops at the steps leading up to it. “Zig?”
“That’s me,” says Maxwell, recognizing his codename. The man in the suit begins to walk toward Maxwell, when suddenly there is a blast from the ground floor of the building he was in.
It seems to be a shaped blast, as it continues out of the building, blasting into the crew member, the man in the suit, and the civilians, essentially vaporizing them. Luckily Carter was in his SAMAS suit and Maxwell was in MDC armor and didn’t die in the blast.
Carter flies up into the air to avoid the majority of the blast, and Maxwell tumbled backwards with the blast, attempting to mitigate it.
Maxwell looked around, and saw on top of the other building a juicer with their signature assassin rifle starting right at him.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Rifts Redux - Part II
...
So in Part I the helicopter the protagonists were in was forced to land due to D-Bee's attacking.
The helicopter has landed in an expansive, flat plain with grass reaching up to five feet high. It's been a dry winter up till now, and nothing has come by to tram down the grass. A small area surround the helicopter has been flattened by the force of the blades and civilians wanting to put distance between themselves and the carnage inside.
Veras, Carter, and Maxwell take in their surroundings. Carter, in his SAMAS suit flies up 50 feet to get a better vantage point of the land. He begins using his infrared and night vision bionic eye to check for any life forms or movement in the immediate area. Maxwell has his coalition armor on, and has his rifle shouldered, but remains alert.
Carter sees something in the distance, but can't make it out right away. He switches from infrared to night vision, and then seems something poking up out of the grass, about a quarter of a mile away. He zooms in, and sees a grotesque sight. Paralyzed with horror, he continues to hover, transfixed. What he sees is a group of about 10 humanoid sized creatures, with stubby hand appendages, loping along slowly but determinedly for the helicopter.
The creatures have the appearance of an armadillo walking upright, moving much faster than their size and girth would suggest. Carter takes aim with his pulse rifle and fires a few shots, while communiting with the crew on the helicopter by radio to get prepared to leave. After running out of energy in the pulse rifle, he switches to the rail gun which is permanently attached to the SAMAS.
"What is it? How many of them?" asks Maxwell on the radio.
"Hell if I know! Some armadillo skunk ape for all I know! I got one, but there's at least ten more."
"Can you see them on infrared?"
Carter switches to infrared. Click. "No." He switches back to nightvision. Click. Maxwell raises his rifle and prepares to take shots as soon as they clear the grass line. Veras, trying to get to higher ground, runs over to the helicopter and begins climbing a ladder to the top.
Carter shouts over his loudspeaker built into the SAMAS, "Get to the chopper!" He then gets on the radio. "There's too many. I don't think they can fly. Get up to 30 feet or so, and then gun 'em. Maxwell and Veras get on board, and shortly afterwards, Carter lands and runs in as well.
Just after the helicopter takes off a few feet, everyone looking north can see the creatures in the plain below. The creatures stop, apparently stymied, as several members of the crew and passengers as well slump down, looking pale and weakened. Veras looks weak as well, and has to grab onto the doorway handles to keep her balance.
====
We stopped there for the night. I asked what people thought about it so far. They said it was going well, and were getting acquainted or reaquainted with the combat and skill system of RIFTS. We'll probably play again after the new year, unless we play New Year's Eve.
On Christmas Day, we often play board games, so I expect to play Apples to Apples, Ticket to Ride, Cribbage, and Dominoes.
So in Part I the helicopter the protagonists were in was forced to land due to D-Bee's attacking.
The helicopter has landed in an expansive, flat plain with grass reaching up to five feet high. It's been a dry winter up till now, and nothing has come by to tram down the grass. A small area surround the helicopter has been flattened by the force of the blades and civilians wanting to put distance between themselves and the carnage inside.
Veras, Carter, and Maxwell take in their surroundings. Carter, in his SAMAS suit flies up 50 feet to get a better vantage point of the land. He begins using his infrared and night vision bionic eye to check for any life forms or movement in the immediate area. Maxwell has his coalition armor on, and has his rifle shouldered, but remains alert.
Carter sees something in the distance, but can't make it out right away. He switches from infrared to night vision, and then seems something poking up out of the grass, about a quarter of a mile away. He zooms in, and sees a grotesque sight. Paralyzed with horror, he continues to hover, transfixed. What he sees is a group of about 10 humanoid sized creatures, with stubby hand appendages, loping along slowly but determinedly for the helicopter.
The creatures have the appearance of an armadillo walking upright, moving much faster than their size and girth would suggest. Carter takes aim with his pulse rifle and fires a few shots, while communiting with the crew on the helicopter by radio to get prepared to leave. After running out of energy in the pulse rifle, he switches to the rail gun which is permanently attached to the SAMAS.
"What is it? How many of them?" asks Maxwell on the radio.
"Hell if I know! Some armadillo skunk ape for all I know! I got one, but there's at least ten more."
"Can you see them on infrared?"
Carter switches to infrared. Click. "No." He switches back to nightvision. Click. Maxwell raises his rifle and prepares to take shots as soon as they clear the grass line. Veras, trying to get to higher ground, runs over to the helicopter and begins climbing a ladder to the top.
Carter shouts over his loudspeaker built into the SAMAS, "Get to the chopper!" He then gets on the radio. "There's too many. I don't think they can fly. Get up to 30 feet or so, and then gun 'em. Maxwell and Veras get on board, and shortly afterwards, Carter lands and runs in as well.
Just after the helicopter takes off a few feet, everyone looking north can see the creatures in the plain below. The creatures stop, apparently stymied, as several members of the crew and passengers as well slump down, looking pale and weakened. Veras looks weak as well, and has to grab onto the doorway handles to keep her balance.
====
We stopped there for the night. I asked what people thought about it so far. They said it was going well, and were getting acquainted or reaquainted with the combat and skill system of RIFTS. We'll probably play again after the new year, unless we play New Year's Eve.
On Christmas Day, we often play board games, so I expect to play Apples to Apples, Ticket to Ride, Cribbage, and Dominoes.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Rifts Redux - Part I
Okay, we finally got around to playing! Real life seemed to get in the way, but after planning to run a game for three months, we finally got around to it.
My wife who normally games with us has had some difficulties, since our toddler seems to stay up later and she doesn't have much time. So, she isn't playing in this game which has me a little saddened, but life goes on.
So, I had a few ideas when we got started, and I had a wrong assumption, which made me have to reevaluate things. But first, and overview of the characters:
Maxwell is a CS Scout, which is essentially a Coalition version of the wilderness scout. Considering that this is the first time we've actually planned a campaign instead of a one shot, it's not fair to say he always plays Coalition, but I'll say it anyways. In a way, the game and setting kind of assumes Coalition involvement. So, it's okay.
Carter is a headhunter, which is essentially a mercenary. One of the things we found interesting after we started was that he starts with several e-clips, which is a great advantage in-game. He has some additional equipment which I’ll get into later.
Veras, aka Striker, is a city rat. This is where we get in an assumption on my part. I could have sworn she was a hacker, because she was talking about hackers starting with a laptop and desktop computer. However, she was only talking about what hackers start with, not that she was a hacker. Anyways, she’s more a thief/thug type.
So, we started with the three protagonists on their way to Saint Didacus. I decided in my world that North Americans had a great animosity towards Mexico and foreign countries. The only languages they tend to use are English and Latin. Therefore, more cities and landmarks have been translated into English or Latin. Therefore, San Diego, translates into the original Latin as Saint Didacus from Chi-town.
Maxwell is on a mission to locate General Anthony Gerald who is performing covert operations and has been out of radio communication for almost a week. It’s suspected that he has been attacked. Maxwell is supposed to provide support for General Gerald is required. Maxwell is to do this mission covertly and is to use an alias and was given about half a years wages in black market credits to establish a false persona.
Carter has heard that there are lucrative mercenary opportunities in the area. His mercenary company has loaned him a SAMAS suit and told him to go look for them. They have gotten him passage on a civilian transport to the area as an additional guard. Reduced travel fee and if they see combat he’ll get free travel and a hazard bonus.
Veras was recruited by an unknown agent for an infiltration and sabotage mission in the Saint Didacus area, and she has booked transport as well.
On the transport, which is a modified Westland Merlin HM 1 MK IV helicopter, are a variety of people including the PCs. Most are successful businessmen, who probably work either directly or indirectly with the Black Market. It’s been changed into a civilian transport with ample room. Only a few people are obviously armed.
One oddity is that there are several cats, perhaps a dozen on board, which seem to all belong to a tall, slender women sitting cross-legged in the corner of the main cabin.
Veras, the only one not being on active, or inactive, guard duty decided to watch the cats. As she was watching, one of the cats moved into a darker corner, and seemed to disappear. Looking closely, however, she could see a rough outline of where it was. As she watched, it changed shape from a small house cat to a larger cat, about the size of an ocelot. Then it prowled forward to a sleeping man, and leapt at his neck.
Before anyone could react, it had bitten into his neck and clawed at his chest. Just after that, one of the other cats suddenly changed into a 5’ tall, winged creature with a large prehensile tail and hideous face ran at another man and used it’s claws in a backhand manner to slice his chest open.
Maxwell and Carter opened fire on the larger creature, while trying to keep their eyes on the other creature. It seemed to relish the screams and terror of the man it had attacked, and was beginning to bite his face.
A few well placed shots by Carter with his pulse rifle took down the gargoyle type creature, and then the ocelot creature changed into a similar gargoyle type form. It began attacking Maxwell, who parried the blows with his gun. Veras made a few shots, but the pulse rifle seemed to have the best effect.
During the fight, the pilot began emergency landing procedures, as the firefight inside the helicopter could have caused a severe problem while in flight. Before landing however, the other creature had been killed.
Carter then points his gun at the cat lady and says, “How many more of them are there?”
She is obviously terrified, and is holding one of the cats to her chest and sobbing. “I don’t know what your talking about! How would I know!”
Veras began examining one, and declared it to be an Infiltrator, a creature common to the chi-town burbs. They take on the form of a common household animal, and then attack, trying to cause as much terror as possible, and that is what they feed on. Usually, it’s a suicide attempt because they can’t keep their urges under control long enough to attack and get away unscathed. However, they still cause several problems as they are quite prolific. “How many cats did you bring with you?”
“Eight…Fluffy? Mr. Wiskers?” As she begins calling out names, meows are heard from across the cabin, and cats begin to approach her and surround her.
By this time, the helicopter has landed, and the crew is checking for damage on both the interior and exterior.
Part II to follow!
My wife who normally games with us has had some difficulties, since our toddler seems to stay up later and she doesn't have much time. So, she isn't playing in this game which has me a little saddened, but life goes on.
So, I had a few ideas when we got started, and I had a wrong assumption, which made me have to reevaluate things. But first, and overview of the characters:
Maxwell is a CS Scout, which is essentially a Coalition version of the wilderness scout. Considering that this is the first time we've actually planned a campaign instead of a one shot, it's not fair to say he always plays Coalition, but I'll say it anyways. In a way, the game and setting kind of assumes Coalition involvement. So, it's okay.
Carter is a headhunter, which is essentially a mercenary. One of the things we found interesting after we started was that he starts with several e-clips, which is a great advantage in-game. He has some additional equipment which I’ll get into later.
Veras, aka Striker, is a city rat. This is where we get in an assumption on my part. I could have sworn she was a hacker, because she was talking about hackers starting with a laptop and desktop computer. However, she was only talking about what hackers start with, not that she was a hacker. Anyways, she’s more a thief/thug type.
So, we started with the three protagonists on their way to Saint Didacus. I decided in my world that North Americans had a great animosity towards Mexico and foreign countries. The only languages they tend to use are English and Latin. Therefore, more cities and landmarks have been translated into English or Latin. Therefore, San Diego, translates into the original Latin as Saint Didacus from Chi-town.
Maxwell is on a mission to locate General Anthony Gerald who is performing covert operations and has been out of radio communication for almost a week. It’s suspected that he has been attacked. Maxwell is supposed to provide support for General Gerald is required. Maxwell is to do this mission covertly and is to use an alias and was given about half a years wages in black market credits to establish a false persona.
Carter has heard that there are lucrative mercenary opportunities in the area. His mercenary company has loaned him a SAMAS suit and told him to go look for them. They have gotten him passage on a civilian transport to the area as an additional guard. Reduced travel fee and if they see combat he’ll get free travel and a hazard bonus.
Veras was recruited by an unknown agent for an infiltration and sabotage mission in the Saint Didacus area, and she has booked transport as well.
On the transport, which is a modified Westland Merlin HM 1 MK IV helicopter, are a variety of people including the PCs. Most are successful businessmen, who probably work either directly or indirectly with the Black Market. It’s been changed into a civilian transport with ample room. Only a few people are obviously armed.
One oddity is that there are several cats, perhaps a dozen on board, which seem to all belong to a tall, slender women sitting cross-legged in the corner of the main cabin.
Veras, the only one not being on active, or inactive, guard duty decided to watch the cats. As she was watching, one of the cats moved into a darker corner, and seemed to disappear. Looking closely, however, she could see a rough outline of where it was. As she watched, it changed shape from a small house cat to a larger cat, about the size of an ocelot. Then it prowled forward to a sleeping man, and leapt at his neck.
Before anyone could react, it had bitten into his neck and clawed at his chest. Just after that, one of the other cats suddenly changed into a 5’ tall, winged creature with a large prehensile tail and hideous face ran at another man and used it’s claws in a backhand manner to slice his chest open.
Maxwell and Carter opened fire on the larger creature, while trying to keep their eyes on the other creature. It seemed to relish the screams and terror of the man it had attacked, and was beginning to bite his face.
A few well placed shots by Carter with his pulse rifle took down the gargoyle type creature, and then the ocelot creature changed into a similar gargoyle type form. It began attacking Maxwell, who parried the blows with his gun. Veras made a few shots, but the pulse rifle seemed to have the best effect.
During the fight, the pilot began emergency landing procedures, as the firefight inside the helicopter could have caused a severe problem while in flight. Before landing however, the other creature had been killed.
Carter then points his gun at the cat lady and says, “How many more of them are there?”
She is obviously terrified, and is holding one of the cats to her chest and sobbing. “I don’t know what your talking about! How would I know!”
Veras began examining one, and declared it to be an Infiltrator, a creature common to the chi-town burbs. They take on the form of a common household animal, and then attack, trying to cause as much terror as possible, and that is what they feed on. Usually, it’s a suicide attempt because they can’t keep their urges under control long enough to attack and get away unscathed. However, they still cause several problems as they are quite prolific. “How many cats did you bring with you?”
“Eight…Fluffy? Mr. Wiskers?” As she begins calling out names, meows are heard from across the cabin, and cats begin to approach her and surround her.
By this time, the helicopter has landed, and the crew is checking for damage on both the interior and exterior.
Part II to follow!
Friday, October 31, 2008
Rifts
Okay, so we didn't actually game Rifts on Halloween like I thought we might. Here is what we did do:
I think we'll be playing again on the 21st. My wife and I decided that gaming every other week wasn't working out well, as we didn't have much time togeather. We'll see if we actually start Rifts or back to Palladium Fantasy then.
- Got the two tables set up. We have two tables. One is a very small breakfast nook type table with two leaves on the ends which can fold up and down. The other is a long and narrow folding table from Target. If you put them togeather, we have just about enough room for 5 people, and the gaming mat, books, or game board, depending on the game.
- Decided that KFC would be better than pizza tonight. I went and got it, and it turned out to be slightly more expensive, and they forgot chicken strips as my wife really loathes chicken with bones.
- Finished or mostly finished creating characters. As the GM, I was trying to help people make characters and fill out their character sheets. This was compounded by the fact that the rules do indeed contradict each other, even on the same page, same column, even same paragraph.
I think we'll be playing again on the 21st. My wife and I decided that gaming every other week wasn't working out well, as we didn't have much time togeather. We'll see if we actually start Rifts or back to Palladium Fantasy then.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
GMing a game of Rifts
So, I don't know why I decided to do this, but I'll be GMing a game of Rifts by Palladium Books. I offered to do it so that I could go back to playing my Elven Paladin in a Palladium Fantasy game, but the GM of that game has always wanted to play a Rifts game.
Honestly though, I don't care for sci-fi generally, or Rifts specifically. Also, the Palladium system, while it does have some good points, doesn't have good guidelines for treasure, and it quickly degenerates into 'how quickly can I kill you with my laz0r.'
We'll be creating characters next Friday. As a way of somewhat limiting crazy characters and cheating a I know at least one of the players is infamous for, I'll be supervising dice stat rolls. I'll also attempt to use the defunct Rifts Game Master Companion program.
Honestly though, I don't care for sci-fi generally, or Rifts specifically. Also, the Palladium system, while it does have some good points, doesn't have good guidelines for treasure, and it quickly degenerates into 'how quickly can I kill you with my laz0r.'
We'll be creating characters next Friday. As a way of somewhat limiting crazy characters and cheating a I know at least one of the players is infamous for, I'll be supervising dice stat rolls. I'll also attempt to use the defunct Rifts Game Master Companion program.
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