Numenera - Tales of the Broken Mask - Session 4

The Stonebound Monk, Part 3

Characters

• Chase Rombek, a Mystical Nano who Sees Beyond, played by Frank
• Jak, a Mutant Glaive who Constantly Evolves, played by Craig
• Glyquorg, an Exiled Jack who Controls Animals, played by Andy
• Elehar, a Tough Glaive who Rages, played by Scott
• Ralyx, a Mlox Jack who Throws with Deadly Accuracy, played by Marc

Non-Player Characters of Note

• Khavi, Ex-Tribal Leader whose flesh was melded into a Hontri 

Summary

The trip from Nihliesh to the Ice Wall was just over two-hundred miles and fortunately for the determined bounty hunters of the Broken Mask, there were only twenty miles left in the trek.  It was morning, and for the last several days the team traversed a large plateau while journeying to the southern mountains.  Despite the common misconception that the Matheunis Cold Desert was a snow-covered landscape, the material that covered the plateau, while having the general consistency of snow, upon further examination was more like ground glass, ash, and drit.  When the winds picked up, the “desert snow” would blast the travelers, getting into their eyes and under their garments, causing terrible itching and discomfort.  It was a miracle that anyone could cross the Cold Desert even with the proper equipment. 

 

Of course, the fact that the party found a wandering Mlox carpenter just sitting by a failed campfire on the last morning of their trip was quite astounding.  The “man” (a Mlox is a mechanical brain encased in an organic body) was a jovial sort, good natured and quite affable, but he was terribly lost.  His name was Ralyx, and he explained that he was from somewhere in the Steadfast and that he was terrible with directions.  He was from Navarene… or Thaemor… actually he wasn’t sure about that last part.  After a brief discussion, the Unmasked Seekers agreed that having an extra set of hands in the group, especially those that were exceptionally skilled at woodcraft and throwing large objects, would be a good thing. 

Stretching out ahead of the party was their last twenty miles, but this would be their most difficult portion of the trek.  After descending from the southern edge of the plateau there was a long stretch leading right up to the base of the Ice Wall, and this stretch was completely flat, save for the crevasses that lined the frozen plain.  Fatoosh had warned the party to stay out of the crevasses, and from the long, carved caverns came wailing and moaning, “screams of the damned” that echoed across the plain.  Although the Unmasked Seekers hoped that the sounds were merely a natural occurrence, an acoustic effect, deep within their souls they knew this not to be the case.  “Something” was making these sounds… something living.  But the trip across the plain did not look at all comforting.  Every so often a horrible wind would blast across the flat surface, scouring all that lay in its path.  Knowing that the material on the ground, the desert snow, was already an irritating material when swept at a few dozen miles-per-hour, the thought of this substance being whipped at a hurricane force wind towards the party was absolutely terrifying.  Luckily, Fatoosh had crafted the special tents for the bounty hunters, and these devices would end up saving their lives. 

Slowly, the team guided their snowlopers across the plain, careful to keep an eye out for a squall.  It would only be an hour before the first unforgettable micro-gale would tear into the travelers.  Elehar, aware of the conditions of the Cold Desert, had an uncanny feeling of impending danger, and quickly dismounted before the storm hit, while Ralyx’s improved perception thanks to his third eye allowed him to see the blowing drit while it was still several hundred feet away.  Unfortunately Chase and Jak were not so lucky.  While the Mlox and Tough Glaive fell to the ground and started setting up their storm tent, the former Aeon Priest and Mutant turned to face the storm and were immediately blasted by shards of the desert snow.  The howling wind tore at their clothes and their skin, and after just a few moments, any flesh that was exposed was ripped away and added to the squall’s mass of material.  Chase was flung several dozen feet behind the rest of the party, the force of the wind lifting the nano as if he were a leaf.  Jak eventually set up their storm tent, and not wanting to be affected by the weather again, Chase used his personal environment field to protect himself while out in the open.  Both snowlopers tucked themselves into long, aerodynamic tubes, and faced the blasting wind.  Apparently these creatures were already used to this kind of storm. 

The Unmasked Seekers seemed to have this challenge licked until Elehar made a slight error in judgment.  Hoping to better secure the storm tent in which he and Ralyx were taking cover, the Tough Glaive tied one of the spikes off to the Mlox and not to the tent itself.  A whip of wind caught the tent at just the right angle, and the cover flew off into the sky.  At this point Chase was making his way towards his tent when he saw a terrifying sight.  Ralyx was lying on the ground, holding on with all of his might to a pair of fifty foot long ropes, each secured to the storm tent which was now flying like a kite. 

Attached to the storm tent kite was a certain glaive, blowing in the gale with a look of absolute glee on his face.  Despite being in terrible peril, this didn’t faze Elehar whatsoever; in fact, he was having a terrific time at first.  This was not the case for Ralyx.  The poor Mlox [whose player rolled two consecutive “2’s”] was screaming in agony, his bare arms outstretched into the wind while he tried desperately to hold on to storm tent and his fellow party member.  The squall tore much of the skin from both of his arms, at some points down to the bone.  Help came from out of nowhere, as Chase charged across the blowing sands and grabbed the ropes.  The nano and jack started pulling the glaive back to the ground, and once they succeeded the entire team returned to their former positions.  At the end of the storm the party quickly patched themselves up and continued on their quest.

Despite several more storms that would flare up, now that they knew what they were looking for the Unmasked Seekers were much better prepared.  Setting up their tents was a breeze, and since Chase’s personal environment field would function for a full twenty-eight hour day, the nano was in charge of securing the devices and their occupants to the ground.  By the end of the day the party was within a mile of the Ice Wall, and they got their first look of the structures that were near the Icebourne Monastery. 

The Ice Wall, a terrific mountain range that separated the south pole of the Ninth World from the Beyond, was over four-thousand feet high at this point in the range, and this staggering increase was initially at a near vertical slope.  The monastery was clearly visible; an opaque dome situated around fifteen hundred feet up the wall.  Just below the dome, at five hundred feet in elevation, were a series of pillars or obelisks.  At the base was an abandoned encampment.  As the party approached, Elehar recognized some of the banners surrounding the old camp as those of Khavi, leader of a rival tribe of southern nomads.  Khavi’s tribe splintered from Elehar’s, seeking the great “Sky Kings.”   She was charismatic but mad, and had a zealous following.  Still, entering the camp, it seemed like the tribe was nowhere to be found, and had vacated the camp roughly three months before.  There were a few trinkets and a hidden artifact amongst the abandoned encampment, but no bodies.  There were, however, thousands of bones that formed a path up from the camp towards the spires and monoliths five-hundred feet ahead.  Although the Ice Wall was nearly vertical when one reached the domed monastery, the first leg of the trip was at a difficult but manageable forty-five degrees.  And the bones formed the first path. 

Since it was late, the party set up camp and spent the night listening to the howling winds as they whipped across the mountain range.  The jagged structure of the Ice Wall protected the travelers from the terrible desert snows, and it was an uneventful evening.  But the morning brought a foreboding warning.  Ralyx was on the last watch, and he was admiring a planet in the sky: Venus.  The Mlox followed the wandering planet like the North Star, which is pretty much one of the reasons why he was always so terribly lost.  When a giant bird form, nearly fifty feet across, eclipsed the bright speck in the sky however, Ralyx freaked out.  He woke the rest of the team, but after several moments scanning the skies, the seasoned bounty hunters just shrugged and decided to break camp. 

Chase feared that walking on the bones would be a bad omen, and advised that the crew ascended through some of the rocky outcroppings.  Glyquorg, who had been quiet for much of the trek [GM’s note, Andy wasn’t able to make the game] was commanded to guard the snowlopers since they wouldn’t be able to travel off the path at such a severe grade.   When the Unmasked Seekers were close to the obelisks, they noticed that they were massive, several foot wide structures of rusted rebar that jutted out from the ground towards the sky.  Each of the dozen or so pieces was sheared off at the top, and ground at the base was covered with a mixture of rust and massive gobs of white avian feces. 

Chase wanted to examine the bases of the rebar obelisks, and moved between the structures.  The nano was pleased when he found a hidden passage that led into the face of the mountain, and was just about to open the doorway when a large shadow appeared in the sky.  Ralyx jumped for joy, thrilled that his machine mind hadn’t gone mad, as a pair of enormous Hontri, massive birds of prey capable of lifting a man right off the ground with their talons, appeared.  One of the birds landed on a piece of the rebar, and from its chest the party witnessed a horrifying sight.  A face, which Elehar believed to be Khavi, was sticking out of the bird’s feathery flesh, and a voice groaned with pleasure:

“Elehar, come join us… join the Sky Kings… it’s so nice in here.”  With that, the two birds began to swoop down upon a seemingly tasty lunch.

As Chase dodged one of the birds, running back to the party, Elehar and Ralyx acted fast.  The tough glaive struck the diving bird as it flew past, carving a large slice out of its wing.  Then the Mlox jack pulled a small, fleshy device that appeared to be a cross between a fruit and a spleen and lobbed it at the passing target.  When it exploded, the distress detonation forced the Hontri onto the ground, where it heaved relentlessly, gagging up its last several meals.  Within moments Elehar was charging up behind the beast, carving away with his greatsword while the poor monster could do little to defend itself.  Chase and Jak worked on the other bird-of-prey, the nano focusing onslaughts of fiery light towards the creature while Jak’s piercing arrows peppered the soaring hunter.  Neither of the birds were able to do much against the party.  The Unmasked Seekers decided that day to not be fused into the bodies of the Hontri, and slaughtered the flying creatures with little regard for the poor souls trapped therein. 

Quotes

"I think for this entire campaign, my goal is to follow Marc…" - Frank was already toying with Marc's character's issue with directions.

"He was trying to find someplace warm, and this is where he ended up… he just picked the wrong damn direction." - Marc explaining Ralyx's wayward travels. 

"We don't want to be the next ones moaning!" - Chase had no interest in the crevasses.


Jim (GM):  "Any order of watch?"
Marc:  "Andy has volunteered to stay up all night."

Ralyx:  "But the bird thing!"
Elehar:  "Keep an eye out for it."
Rakyx: *whisper* I've been keeping an eye out for it...

Savage Worlds - Deadlands Reloaded - Train Gobs

The Posse

• Gracie Law, Brash Journalist/Undercover Agent, played by Darcy 
• Lo Pan, Chinese Kung Fu Master, played by Craig 
• Plays With Fire, Indian Scout, played by Andy 
• Professor Cornelius Vandersmythe, Mad Scientist, played by Marc 
• Shady Doug Liveaux, Huckster, played by Jeremy 

Sometimes there are those tales that I reckon’ll just make yer skin crawl.  Well I tell ya, good reader, that this here is most likely gonna be one o’ those stories.  Once upon a time, in the disputed territory of Kansas, just outside of an out o’ the way town by the name of Dodge City, five dark and grim riders swept across the plains toward a steamin’ locomotive.  These riders, no good vagabonds and hired guns, had a single despicable purpose: a train robbery…

… but this ain't just any kinda train robbery.  This here pilferin’ expedition could have ramifications that would sweep across this entire Weird West of ours.  

Let me back up a minute… give you, dear reader, a bit more information about these downtrodden, murderous, thievin’ bastards ridin’ those horses and wieldin' doom and destruction.

A few days before this here train left Dodge City station, bound for that no good hell hole we like to call Denver, a shady Chinese man strolled into town lookin’ for the kinda folks willin’ to cause a ruckus.  Goin’ by the name of Lo Pan, this master of  kung fu, moo shu, wil poo fightin' (hell whatever they call it out in Shan Fan these days), well he was interested in takin’ down that Denver-bound steam-engine.  Somethin’ dark and sinister was attached to the rump of that train, a coal-grey “Caboose-from-Hell”.  And inside that caboose ridin’ across the West was the nefarious Professor Pain, well known in Kansas City as a deplorable scientist of ill-repute who had no inklin’ o’ trouble disectin’ all kinds of creatures, great and small… 

...or of the human-like-persuasion for that matter.  

Well Professor Pain had somethin’ of an … uh… “eh-pi-phoney”… yeah.  He had one of them recently, and the product of that “phoney” thing was greatly desired by a certain Chinese Warlord by the name of Kang.  This Kang was hell bent on overlordship of all that steamin’ pile o' Ghost Rock in the Maze, and he wanted to create some kind of super-army.  If he could get a hold of Professor Pain’s journal, maybe… just maybe…  he could create such a fightin’ force.  Of course, that’s where Lo Pan came in.  

Lo Pan needed some dirty-damn-deed-do’ers to take down Professor Pain, so he only enlisted the damn-dirtiest.  Plays With Fire was an Indian with a terrible disposition and a hankerin’ to shoot bastards in the leg for no good reason.  Despite his native adherences to some o’ the “Old Ways”, this Plays With Fire had a bit o’ fascination with all matters of devices technological.  “Shady’ Doug Liveaux was a card shark, gambler, and Huckster of some renown in the worst parts of the Confederacy… namely that sunkin’ pit o’ swamp gas “New Orleans.”  Lo Pan was also lucky indeed to make contact with one of Professor Pain’s former colleagues, the twistedly terrible Professor Cornelius Vandersmythe.  Professor Cornelius was eager to take down his former partner in Mad Science, and brought just the right tool for the job: an “electro-static-dischargin’-whoosey-whatsit-inator.”

He probably called it somethin’ else, but this is my damn story!

Finally, there was this annoyin’ little journalist that wanted to tag along, and for some reason Lo Pan agreed.  He said the story would help spread the tale o’ Kang’s power into the Disputed Territories.  I originally thought she was just there to make trouble, but changed my mind later after hearin’ the story.  You’ll see.  Oh yeah, her name was Gracie Law.  Ha… what a name!

So across the high plains those five filchers charged, eyes on that prized caboose-o-doom.  The damned thing was by far the creepiest coach I ever did see.  Like I said, coal-grey without a single window in sight.  No obvious way into the ominous structure either, although it seemed like anyone foolish enough could probably slip in from the car it was attached to.  And there were four hellish chimneys stickin' out o' the caboose's roof… each bellowed the white, spirit-laden howlin' smoke that could only mean that ghost rock was bein' burnt.  Rather than try to tackle that creepiest o' cabooses, Professor Cornelius rode alongside the ponderin' locomotive and whipped out his lightning-i-fied whoosey-whatsit.  One blast from that bastard of a contraption across the locomotive's path scared the bejesus out o' those engineers, and also managed to blow the shit out of a poor jackalope which just happened to be mindin' it's own infernal business on the side o' those rails.  

Hot damn, if those two engineers didn't stop that train right then and there!

Once the train came to a full and complete stop… which took all of about two minutes… Plays with Fire kicked his horse and galloped right up alongside the second coach o' the train.  Wait, let me clarify this a bit. Behind the locomotive were six cars, all gettin' pulled to that low-down scum suckin' town o' Denver.  From front to back you had the followin' order:

Coach Car, Another Damned Coach Car, First Class (Rich Bastards), Dining Car (Chow), Luggage, and finally that scary-as-all-hell Caboose-o'-Doom.  

Back to the story.

So like I was sayin', Plays with Fire was just about to jump on that second coach car when out of the compartment strolled this well armed guard sportin' a law-man's badge.  Shouldn't've been a surprise for the Indian scout, since he waited a damned two minutes to  start the heist.  Well that there guard started a'shootin' his pistol!  Lucky for Plays With Fire he had some backup.  That journalist-woman, Gracie Law, she wasn't about to take any tootin' from no law dog (at least not one from the damned Disputed Territories!)  That little lady rode up next to her partner-in-crime-and-such and whipped out her pinky-sized derringer.  Well one blast from that noisy-cricket of a gun walloped the poor guard somethin' fierce!  Down he went, smokin' hole right through his chest!  

But then the rest o' the guards from inside the train started a'shootin':  two from the front coach, and one remainin' in the second.  Gracie was hit and had to withdraw on horseback, while Plays With Fire jumped on that train and continued the heist.  Kickin' their respective thoroughbreds, Lo Pan and Professor Cornelius joined the fray.  Lo Pan jumped on the dining car, while Professor Cornelius hitched onto the back o' the locomotive.  The Professor commanded those two engineers to get off "his" train, and gave the official "this is a train robbery" kinda speech.  

Cuz it ain't a train robbery, unless its announced.  We may be lawless in the Weird West, but it ain't like we got no rules!

He shared his message o' potential death and destruction with the rest o' the passengers in the first coach car.  Well they were already pretty damned freaked out at that there time, since the gloomy scum-laden Huckster from Hell, Shady Doug Liveaux, commanded the forces of darkness themselves, in the forms of green ethereal tentacles, to suck the very life out o' those poor bastards guardin' the first coach car.  One died right on the spot, while the other followed suit not long after.  Meanwhile, one car back, Plays With Fire had just nailed a guard in the leg with an arrow while three more entered from first class.  Not wantin' to spend any time in front of a hangin' judge, Plays With Fire grabbed the first passenger he could find, and held him hostage.  It was a standoff!  

Now we can't forget about our friends Lo Pan and Gracie Law!  It wasn't like they were just standin' around doin' nothin' while all this here high-plains-griftin' was goin' down.  Lo Pan managed to enter the dinin' car only to be surprised by a truly horrifyin' sight!  A deputized desperado, possessin' a mighty girth and an equally mighty spaghetti stain adornin' his monstrous buttoned-down shirt, was standin' in the middle o' the aisle sportin' a mean lookin' sawn-off shotgun.  Gracie Law was a-peekin' through a window and instantly recognized this here law-man as Deputy Jasper Barrett, the deadliest man alive (in Dodge City) with a shotgun.  Lo Pan flung a knife at the deputy and then drew his sword and charged.  There was a clash o' steel and hard wood, and though the deputy missed with his first blast from his gun, he most likely wouldn't miss with a second.  

Well Shady Doug Liveaux wasn't about to let his Chinese boss fall to no scattergun-weildin' pig!  The huckster raced on horseback towards the dining car, and with a terrific leap vaulted off of his mount… right onto the ground.  Turns out Shady missed his mark by at least fifteen feet, but when he stood up, there was a fire burnin' in his eyes.  A wicked fire!  The huckster pulled his deck-o-cards and started drawin' with the spirits.  Soon, a massive tentacle, formed of green hell-fire and as ethereal as a foggy moonlight, arose from behind the deputy, and started a-twirlin'!  The misty tentacle bashed the back o' that law dog's head repeatedly, tippin' the odds in Lo Pan's favor.  

Plays With Fire's hostage plan wasn't turnin' out so well.  The three guards facin' off with the Indian were considerin' shootin' right through the hostage in order to settle accounts with the thievin' bastard.  That was about the time that Professor Cornelius showed up!  The mad scientist pulled his lightnin'-spewin' cannon and leveled it on those three poor sons-a-bitches.  When he pulled that trigger, two of the guards erupted into ash, coatin' that third poor bastard with a light sprinklin' o' powder that just moments before were his dear friends.  Well that poor man started a-screamin'… 

...and kept on screamin' until his death in 1920.  

The rest of coach and first class got off that damned train, while Plays With Fire and Professor Cornelius strolled on back to the dining car only to lock eyes with Deputy Barrett as he struggled with that moo shu fightin' Lo Pan.  Now five on one, the deputy resigned himself to death.  But it was a death that would not come, for the party o' thievin' and mischievous bastards weren't done with that fat law dog.  They demanded he unlock the storage compartment, which in turn would lead the entire team to the caboose from hell.  The deputy, at this point handcuffed by Gracie Law, reluctantly agreed with the terms.  He was untrussed and taken to the rear door of the dining car, which he unlocked.  

The dark chamber was full of luggage, all sorts and worth all kinds o' money!  Gracie Law quickly started searchin' the containers, while the rest of the posse took a look at the glowin' red door that would lead to the caboose-o-doom.  There was a hum comin' from that there direction, and the hum was ominous, bleak, and terrifyin'.  No matter, it didn't seem to faze Ms. Law, who continued to open containers with a jolly grin on her cheeks, until she came across one that stopped her cold.  Dead cold.  In one container, a simple box, all she found was a note.  And when she opened the note it read as such:

"I'm coming for YOU, Gracie Law.  I'm coming for YOU!" 

The meanin' o' this message was not clear, although Gracie would point out after further interviewin' that there was some kind of infernal creature huntin' her down at the time.  Another tale to tell, perhaps.  Well Ms. Law was pretty shaken by this note, so she bolted out of the train through the dining car only to see another crazy sight.  The caboose… or lack of caboose… was especially disconcerting.  Instead, next to the train tracks was a large hole, with ghost rock steam screamin' up towards the sky.  Gatherin' her fellow ne'er -do-wells, Ms. Law approached the big hole.  

About thirty or forty feet down the caboose was a-diggin' in a mad frenzy!  The new tunnel was at a relatively reasonable slope, and so the team approached the steamin' device, albeit with great caution.  There was a single door on the back of the caboose, but when touched, the party realized that this caboose weren't no ordinary caboose made o' wood n' iron.  Instead the coal-grey coatin' felt like skin, and the hinges bone.  Nonetheless, Shady Doug Liveaux was a true southern gentleman, and knocked on the skin coated car.  

"Go away!" screamed a voice from inside.  

Havin' grabbed Deputy Jasper's shotgun, Plays with Fire decided to knock in a different manner.  This of course left a big-ass hole in the back o' that fleshy caboose.  The evil professor had no choice but to let the posse in.  Plays With Fire, Professor Cornelius, and Lo Pan all followed Shady in enterin' the car, and were greeted with great kindness by the sinister lookin' mad scientist.  Gracie Law of course wasn't about to step inside the weird and unnerving creation, so she just waited outside and took account o' the situation with her pen and journal.  Asked about the device, Professor Pain insisted that it was not a machine at all.  The "beast" of a caboose was also not just any sort o' devilish creature, but  Professor Pain's own son!  He pointed out that the jars o' pink flesh adornin' the chamber were "gobs" o' cellular material that could create more of the madman's children.  

I don't know about you, but personally I found this part o' the story absolutely disgustin'.  

Professor Pain continued his own form of hospitality by offerin' the posse "coffee."  The brackish liquid was dispensed from a sort of metallic "nipple" that protruded from the side o' the caboose's interior.  Only Shady chose to drink of the bile-tastin' filth, but when he retched it was clear that this was all a clever distraction!  Professor Pain had poured that caboose-milk-coffee knowin' full well that a member o' the posse would drink, and then become violently ill!  While the rest of the team watched as Shady hurled chunks the size o' Memphis on that caboose's skin-carpeted floor, Professor Pain darted outside and demanded that his "son" consume his enemies!  

That was about the time that the caboose started to flood the compartment with some kind of stomach acid.  

From inside the caboose the team desperately tried to get themselves free.  There was a poppin' sound outside, almost like rapid gunfire, but it meant very little to the entombed quartet, about to become lunch for a ravenous caboose-o-doom.  At least Professor Cornelius still had his rifle of 'lectric blastery, which he pointed at the ceiling, or roof, or top… hell what in God's name do you call the top o' a livin' caboose anyway?!?  

Let's just say that Professor Cornelius pointed his device upwards and let loose!  Yee-haw, the top o' that monster exploded, and dirt, guts, bone, and all manners o' leavin's rained down atop those poor bastards locked inside.  When they finally made their way free, they found themselves a rightly strange scene.  Gracie Law, sportin' a fine gatling pistol, was lyin' on the ground not far from Professor Pain, who was also sprawled out in the dirt.  Professor Pain was pumped full o' lead, adorned with at least nine gunshot wounds... maybe more. Gracie herself was stabbed by some sort of bone-graft that grew from Professor Pain's wrist.  Ms. Law said it was poisoned, and that she had to defender herself, but assured the party that they were more than welcome to do whatever they wanted with Professor Pain's broken, but still a'breathin', body.  But Lo Pan wanted the professor's journal, was just about to pull it from the man's satchel...

And THAT's about the time that AGENT Law pulled her badge.  "Freeze outlaws!" Agent Law screamed, pointin' her machine pistol in their faces.  With a smirk she again told her former posse that they could do whatever they wanted with the professor….

… but SHE was leavin' with the journal, and all the bloody contents therein!

Notable Quotations and Comedic Statements

- Plays with Fire (Andy):  "So who wants to tie themselves to the tracks and play damsel in distress?"
- Gracie (Darcy):  "NOT IT!"

"Don't give me a lightning gun." - Marc's explanation at what happened to the whole infiltration part of the game

"Ladies and gentlemen this is a train robbery!  You have two options: you can get off this train and run for your life, or you can die!" - Prof. Cornelius was a master of words.  

"Girl's gotta protect herself…" - Gracie knew her way around a gun.  

"If you happen to have a journal, and are willing' to trade it with us, it'll save us a whole mess o time." - Shady tried to make a few shady dealings.  

"I must assume sir that you have copulated with a locomotive. On one had I do not approve, on the other hand I find the results absolutely fascinating!" - Prof. Cornelius wondered at how Professor Pain came to have created such a wonderful spawn.

"Freeze outlaws!" - Gracie Law

Dungeon Crawl Classics - The Portal Under the Stars - Playtest

That 70's Game

If you read my previous post about Dungeon Crawl Classics, you will know that I've been pretty stoked recently about giving this game a shot.  My wife, who loves theme parties, thought the idea of a game designed to invoke the feel of the early era of role-playing would be a perfect vehicle to throw a big kid-free, alcohol laden, RPG-filled, 70's party.  We would use Dungeon Crawl Classics as the game of choice, grab some great friends (new and old!) and enjoy a great romp through an old-school dungeon.  Great idea, Jen!  But despite the similarities between DCC and other OSR or OD&D retro-clones, I really wanted to give this game a test drive first before creating an event and inviting a ton of people.  

My wife was already onboard for this playtest, and my good friend and fellow 2014 Gen-Con'er Frank was willing to give the game a shot, but I would still need a couple more play testers.  So we drafted Carrie and Evie, my two oldest kids, who were both chomping at the bit to play again (they had played The Strange earlier in the day).  Jen and I had some doubts that the two could stay up as late as they would need to finish the adventure, but both girls assured us that they were good-to-go.  

To speed things along, since we were playing later in the evening, I made a stack of 0-Level characters using the fabulous (and free!) party generator from Purple Sorcerer Games.  I ended up printing twenty-four of the poor, low-hit point bastards equipped with pitchforks, sheep, cheese dip and other amazing items, and randomly dealt each player four "character cards." 

Our Party of Reaving Minions

Evie (my 8 year old daughter)

• Casey Rybak - Cutpurse
• Cutie - Mendicant
• Princess Bubblegum - Elven Forester
• Bunnyface - Dwarven Blacksmith

Jen (my wife)

• Zoltar - Fortune Teller
• Philippe de la Punxe - Woodcutter
• Ivy Stank - Dwarven Mushroom Farmer
• Venus - Merchant

Frank (friend and avid 1st Edition AD&D fan)

• Billibus the Grey - Tax Collector
• Bo - Trapper
• Annie - Orphan
• Chuck - Potato Farmer

Carrie (my 10 year old daughter)

• Carty McGee - Halfling Trader
• Iron ManU - Halfling Moneylender
• Cow Man Jr. - Dwarven Herder
• Steven Marteb - Gravedigger

The Portal Under the Stars

As a note for those of you not familiar with Dungeon Crawl Classics, "The Portal Under the Stars" is an introductory adventure in the back of the core book.  

Our glory-seeking and fool-hardy adventurers were assembled in the middle of the night outside of a stone portal adjacent to a large hill.  Only a few hours outside of the town of Zerlina's Rest, in the land of Tannryth, the band of adventurers had heard many tales about this stone structure through one of their fellow party members.  Old Man Roberts, owner of a local estate and client of Cow Man Jr, told the young dwarven pig herder that every fifty years, when an enchanted star rises in the east, this stone portal allows access to great treasure.  Sure enough, once the star appeared in the sky, there was a glow amidst the stones, and a path appeared before the team of sixteen explorers and two pack animals.  

The first hallway seemed simple enough.  Bo the trapper commanded Chuck the potato farmer to illuminate the corridor with his lantern.  At the far end of the hallway was a sturdy wooden door.  Bo rolled a rock down the hallway, and when it appeared free of traps, slowly stepped down the hall using a crowbar to tap on the stones ahead one by one.  At the door Princess Bubblegum moved forward and investigated the handle.  Noticing that there was indeed a locking mechanism, but that it was not engaged, the elven forester opened the door.  

The next room was small, only twenty by twenty-five feet, with another sturdy door opposite the entrance.  On the far wall from the entrance to the room there were four stone guard statues, two on either side of the door and each clutching a spear.  The statues were especially intimidating because they were holding the spears in a "throwing position."  Chuck had the perfect piece of equipment for this room: a sheep!  So the potato farmer shoved his beloved sheep into the room.  The animal moved ten feet in, turned to look back at it's master, and was skewered by a spear thrown by one of the guard statues.  Everyone in the party jumped!  There were three statues left with spears, and it was clear that they were good shots.  Philippe tossed a hunk of wood into the room, but that didn't work as a decoy for any more spears.  Princess Bubblegum scanned the hallway looking for a secret door, hoping for an alternate way around this Guardian Hall.  No luck.  

Steven Martab, the party's gravedigger, was not afraid of the room.  Believing that the sheep died because it entered the middle of the room, Steven got on his belly and started to crawl around the edge of the room.  He made it pretty far too, about fifteen feet before one of the guards lobbed a spear at the gravedigger, impaling him.  It took only a moment for Steven to bleed out.  The whole party put it's heads together to think of some kind of plan.  Someone had to go in the room and risk getting hit by a spear, so the team drew lots.  It would be Princess Bubblegum, the elf, who would enter the room.  While she was readying herself with Jharune, the elven deity, Princess Bubblegum's woodcutter friend Philippe used his grappling hook and some rope to drag the sheep back to the party.  

With grim determination on her face, Princess Bubblegum lifted the sheep corpse in front of herself as a shield and put a sack on her head so that she couldn't see the incoming spears.  Quickly the elf ran across the room, and managed to outrun a third spear!  Once on the far side of the room, Princess Bubblegum dropped the sheep and carefully snuck up next to the last armed statue, removing it's spear.  The rest of the party entered the room behind the elf.  Emboldened by her actions, Princess Bubblegum opted to investigate the next room.  Opening the door, the elf saw a much larger room with a door on each wall (four in total), and a large statue of a bearded spell caster in the center.  The statue was pointing towards the door.  Ivy Stank, mushroom farmer, moved into the room and decided to try and engage the statue.  She took a spear and fashioned an oil-soaked spearhead on the end.  Lighting the spearhead, Ivy threw it at the statue, but there was no effect.  The statue did seem to track the spear with it's finger as it weapon sailed through the air, but nothing happened.  Chuck then hoisted the dead sheep and threw it into the center of the room.  Again the statue tracked the flying corpse, but nothing else happened.  Princess Bubblegum figured the statue was not much of a threat so she entered the room to retrieve the dead sheep.  All around the edges of the room there were scorch marks as if previous explorers tried to set up campfires.  Princess Bubblegum decided to try the door to the east, but as soon as she came within five feet of the portal a cone of fire erupted from the statues finger.  The rest of the party watched in horror as Princess Bubblegum was incinerated right before their eyes.  

Realizing that the statue may have been guarding the doors, Bo threw Annie's rag doll towards one of the doors, and sure enough the statue lit it on fire.  But Zoltar had a plan deal with this fiery statue.  Grabbing Cutie's jar of congealed cheese dip the fortune teller approached the statue cautiously.  The statue twisted towards Zoltar but didn't react, since the fortune teller was careful not to approach a door.  Once at the statue, Zoltar took all of the sticky cheese dip and shoved it down the finger-hole of the statue.  Zoltar then returned to the door the party had used to enter the room and grabbed some of Philippe's wood.  The fortune teller threw the log towards one of the doors, but when the statue went to incinerate the object, the cheese-induced backup caused the arm to simply melt.  Success!  

The party moved to the far side of the room and opened the northern door.  There was a very large chamber, with a long pool in the middle and six slowly moving crystal forms lurking about the room.  Choosing to try one of the other doors before engaging the six crystal creatures, the party went back into the fire statue room and opened the door to the west.  After a short twenty foot hallway there was an entrance to the south, and at the center of a twenty by twenty foot room was a throne.  From behind the throne a great serpent appeared, an enormous snake with a horn coming out of it's head.  The snake announced itself as Ssisssuraaaaggg the Demon, and immediately launched itself into an attack!

Cutie the mendicant and Casey Ryback the cutpurse tried to reason with the snake as it darted towards the party but it was no use.  Cutie ended up pulling her club and swinging at the creature, but missed.  Zoltar also missed with a thrown dagger, Philippe missed with his axe, and Ivy missed with her shovel.  Poor Ivy Stank, the dwarven mushroom farmer, tried to step away from the serpent so that other party members could attack when the creature coiled up and bit deep into her leg.  The dwarf was dead within seconds!  The next line of adventurers were much more effective.  Bo struck home with his spear, Chuck stabbed the creature with his pitchfork, and Annie's club bashed Ssisssuraaaaggg's ribs, breaking several.  Ssisssuraaaaggg wasn't able to land any more bites on the party, and eventually Venus sunk her dagger into the head of the snake, killing it.  The demon turned into ash, with just it's horn remaining which Cutie picked up, hoping that it could help her if she would decide to become a great and powerful wizard.  

The throne room didn't have any other treasure, but there were hieroglyphics all along the walls telling a story about how visitors from the sky originally came to the structure, and made contact with a human.  There was a promise of the astral creatures returning some day, but it was no time soon, so the party left the throne room and took the easternmost door from the central fire statue chamber.  In this burial room were seven mounds of bones, carefully resting in seven alcoves.  Bo quickly closed the door and told the party that they were heading north.  

Back into the room with the pool, the party saw that there was a doorway on the opposing side of the long room.  Encircling the pool were the crystal creatures, resembling slow moving constructs, and pillars.  Venus the merchant felt that the fastest way to the opposing exit was to swim through the pool.  Jumping into the water, Venus moved to the other side of the pool and noticed that none of the crystal forms came near her.  The rest of the team jumped in after the merchant and made their way to the far end of the room.  Once exiting, it seemed that the only person the crystal constructs were interested in was Chuck, most likely since he had the lantern.  Before they could arrive, however, the team shuffled through the doorway and into a room with a magical gate.  The team moved through the gate with great expedience, hoping to bypass a fight with the crystal golems.

The next chamber seemed to be another hallway, but with maps on the floor and clay figures all about.  Nothing seemed to move, and the figures hadn't been moved in a long, long time.  After investigating the room, there was one door left at the end of the hall.  When the party opened this door they were struck by both awe and terror.  A massive room, fifty feet across and seventy feet long lay before the adventurers.  A forty by sixty foot pit was at the center of the room, eight feet deep.  In this pit were seventy clay soldiers armed with spears.  At the end of the hall was a large throne holding the weight of a massive clay warlord.  Atop the throne was a great glowing orb.  But as soon as the party started to enter the room all of the clay forms began to animate.  Annie the orphan quickly ran back and started to stomp the clay figures, but this did nothing.  A few of the characters took shots at the glowing orb, but that also did nothing.

Iron Man U and Carty McGee tried to distract the statues, now trying to leave the pit, by swinging a great ten-foot pole at them and making a ton of noise.  While this was going on, Billibus, Chuck, Venus, Philippe, Zoltar, and Casey Rybak ran down the hallway towards the warlord.  Since the clay soldiers were attacking with spears from inside the pit, Philippe, and Chuck, were both struck and killed by the warlord's minions.  The remaining adventurers slashed, stabbed, and bashed the warlord, who would in turn claim the lives of both Venus and Zoltar.  Cow Man Jr. and Annie continued to look for clues in the map room, but still couldn't find anything.  Cow Man Jr. peered outside of the room only to watch clay statues pierce and kill both Iron ManU and Carty McGee.  Fearing that the statues were about to leave the pit, suddenly Cow Man Jr. watched as all of the constructs fell to the ground.  Casey Ryback hit the warlord in the head with a dagger, destroying the construct general!  

The remaining eight adventurers rolled the rest of their dead into the pit with the clay statues, and entered the secret room behind the warlord's throne to claim their treasure.  

Huzzah!

Carrie was thrilled that Cow Man Jr. survived

Notable Quotes

"How big is this thing of cheese dip" - Jen in planning mode

"Is death contagious?" - Evie is still a bit new to old-school gaming.

"Is it naked?  Is it peeing?" - Evie wanted to know exactly what the statue looked like.

"I think we should send the sow in." - Frank really wanted to use Cow Man Jr.'s pig as bait.  

"I bet that cheese dip is pretty well congealed." - Jen finished her planning.

"Don't touch my pig!" - Carrie wasn't about to let go of her prized sow.  

"You know, Cutie survived a plague, don't let a snake eat you!" - Jen screams at her daughter, who was trying to parley with Ssisssuraaaaggg the Immortal Demon-Snake

In Memoriam 

• Steven Martab - Grave Digger - Spear thrown by a statue
• Princess Bubble-Gum - Elven Forester - Incinerated by a fire statue
• Ivy Stank - Dwarven Mushroom Farmer - Bit by a snake
• Phillipe de la Punxe - Woodcutter - Stabbed by a statue
• Chuck - Potato Farmer - Stabbed by a statue
• Iron ManU - Halfling Moneylender - Stabbed by a statue
• Carty McGee - Halfling Trader - Stabbed by a statue
• Zoltar - Fortune Teller - Stabbed by a statue  

The Strange - Dingo and the Cosmos - Session 2

Agent Dossiers

Arianna Cosmo - A Graceful Vector who Looks for Trouble

Crystal Cosmo - A Strange Paradox who Works the System

Jacqueline Dingo - A Skeptical Spinner who Solves Mysteries

Full dossiers available in our Session 1 summary

  

Carrie and Evie brought some "friends" to the game

The New Kid, Part Two

It was early in the afternoon and Agent Jackie Dingo, Crystal Cosmo, and Arianna Cosmo were sitting at a local Dunkin Donuts watching Anya devour her very first Pittsburgh Kreme.  During the car ride from the Cosmo girls' elementary school to the restaurant, Agent Dingo had a long talk with both Arianna and Crystal.  Realizing that the girls were both quickened, Dingo told the siblings that she was making them Junior Agents of "The Estate", an organization devoted to protecting Earth for the dangers of The Strange.  Agent Dingo also gave Arianna and Crystal a handful of cyphers, with a brief lesson on how to use them before they all went inside the restaurant.  Although they appeared to be just a bunch of gadgets, remote controls, and wristbands, Crystal fully understood the power of these devices through her incredible understanding of Strange phenomena.  Once they arrived at Dunkin Donuts, Agent Dingo had dismissed Agent Teddy Horton, ordering him to return to the bar and restaurant that he operated when not Secret Agenting.     

Agent Dingo hoped to get some more information out of little Anya, the girl from Ardeyn who somehow found her way to Earth.  Once stuffed full of donuts, having eaten two double-chocolate cake and the Pittsburgh Kreme, Anya started to talk about her terrible week.  A noble's daughter from the city of Shalmarn, the adventurous little Anya left the safety of her family's home to explore some of the ruins beneath the city.  While in the depths, she uncovered a strange group of individuals activating a rune covered frame.  To flee from the shadowy men, she ran through the frame and found herself in an odd building.  Anya left the structure, where there were "fields of stone" and "rows of machines."  Crystal and Arianna believed this to be a parking lot.  Agent Dingo knew that the inapposite gate which allowed Anya to come to Earth needed to be destroyed, but the girls insisted that their new friend be allowed to purchase some less conspicuous clothing.

That meant a trip to Target!

Once inside the store, Arianna and Crystal Cosmo were excited to show off some American fashion.  Taking the girl into the changing room, the Junior Agents let Anya try on different things while Agent Dingo watched for any threats.  It didn't take long for one to appear.  

A man dressed in black entered the Target and bypassed the shopping carts heading straight for the Estate Agents.  Dingo was about to approach the man when he pulled an odd-shapped sphere.  The man rolled the device in the direction of Agent Dingo, and when she tried to grab it, there was a flash.  Suddenly a large creature resembling a cross between a lobster and a fifteen foot wide spider was in the middle of the Target!  Due to her proximity to the cypher when it detonated, Agent Dingo was now on top of the great beast.  

A native of Ardeyn, Dingo recognized this creature as a Kray Drone.  But most of the Target shoppers had no idea why a mutant lobster was running amok in the kids clothing department, so the screaming began.  The Kray reached up with a claw and slashed at the skeptical spinner's legs, but it didn't notice that the two Junior Agents were planning their attack.  Crystal ordered Anya to stay hidden and then peered out of the dressing room, careful to stay out of view.  The Kray looked rather easy to hit, given the size of the target, so she pulled the Samsung remote control/ray emitter and gave the beast a blast of magnetic energy.  Arianna used the opportunity to charge the Kray with her bat, giving Agent Dingo the opportunity to get on the ground and pull her gun.  Unfortunately for the agent, her bullets had little effect on the creature's carapace.  

Surrounded by Estate Agents, the Kray Drone changed tactics.  Using it's ability to spin webs, the creature managed to quickly cocoon both Arianna and Dingo.  It was up to Crystal to lead the fight.  The strange paradox began using her "exception" revision, creating chaos amidst the area the Kray occupied.  First she knocked over a whole display of Doritos, and when the Kray was alerted, Crystal's player (Carrie) got some help from a crystal die:

The battle went smoothly from this point on.  Dingo got free and then cut the party's graceful vector loose.  Crystal's exception stunned the creature, so before it could launch anymore strands of sticky silk, the paradox pulled her Apple remote (a force ray emitter) and dropped the Kray Drone.  Agent Dingo quickly pulled the team together and ordered Arianna to pull out her phone.  

They needed to call a fixer.

Quotes

Anya:  "Where am I, where is this place?"
Arianna:  "You are at Dunkin Donuts…" 
Agent Dingo:  "… a land of sweet and savory foods."

"Do you like butterflies?" - Arianna's first question for Anya

"Rainbow!"
"Bunny!"
"Rainbow!"
"Bunny!"
- Carrie and Evie's shouting match over the design for Anya's shirt purchase.

"Call the fixer!" - Mommy

Dedicated Daddy-GM typing up some end-of-game notes

Numenera - Tales of the Broken Mask - Session 3

 

The Stonebound Monk, Part 2

Characters

• Chase Rombek, a Mystical Nano who Sees Beyond, played by Frank
• Jak, a Mutant Glaive who Constantly Evolves, played by Craig
• Glyquorg, an Exiled Jack who Controls Animals, played by Andy
• Elehar, a Tough Glaive who Rages, played by Scott

Non-Player Characters of Note

• Gurn-Ellohesh, Fixer for the Broken Mask
• Seskana Vaeshir, Matriarch of the Vaeshir family and widow of Bartrum
• Inkelli, Snowloper shepherd, ex-lover of Jak, mother-to-be of Jak Jr.
• Fatoosh the Wastewalker, a nomadic hunter and scout from Far Brohn

Summary

Gurn-Ellohesh didn't have much left to tell his new Unmasked Seekers of the Broken Mask.  They knew their mark and they knew their mission:

Capture the debtor Raa-em from the Icebourne Monastery on the Southern Wall and bring him (or her) back to Nihliesh and into the custody of the Vaeshir family. 

The lattimor fixer directed the bounty hunters to speak with the Vaeshir family if there were any details about Bartrum Vaeshir's relationship with Raa-em that would help them during their mission.  So without asking about payment details or any kind of equipment stipend that could have been useful when traversing two-hundred miles of frozen desert the party simply thanked Gurn-Ellohesh for the assignment.  Perhaps the party's lack of attention could be attributed to Chase Rombek's fascination with the strange location.  The nano had been pretty sure that the brightly lit white room was not located anywhere near Nihliesh, but couldn't determine any specific details.  No matter, the mystical ex-Aeon priest was just happy to be along for the ride.  Waving goodbye, all four Unmasked Seekers exited the strange white room. 

It did not take long for the party to find House Vaeshir's storefront on the Second Tier of Nihliesh.  Dealers of oddities and artifacts, the Vaeshir were very well connected within the Fahat.  Entering the glass covered store, the bounty hunters marveled at the number of wondrous pieces of the numenera on display all around them.  Each item seemed to be encased in the glass, rather than sitting on a shelf or hanging from a hook.  The Vaeshir shopkeeper offered to show the party some of the wares but the Unmasked stated that they were on a mission for the Broken Mask.  Within moments the Matriarch of the merchant house, Seskana Vaeshir, entered the store.  While she appreciated the opportunity to give the party information which could help in apprehending the debtor Raa-em, she seemed to doubt the abilities of the characters. 

Seskana revealed that while her family dealt commonly in the relatively stable oddity or artifact, her husband would occasionally deal in cyphers.  Much more unstable, and often seen as less valuable due to their specialized yet volatile nature, it was virtually impossible to keep cyphers in the storefront because of their possible interaction.  But Bartrum found someone, a monk near the Southern Wall (Raa-em), who must have wanted these items, because the records showed that Bartrum made multiple dealings over the past few years with this monk.  When Bartrum died recently, of natural causes with no possibility of foul play, Seskana discovered that Raa-em was in debt to the family, to the tune of 1,500 shins. 

The Matriarch sent several messengers to the Icebourne Monastery, but none returned.  The Vaeshir family does not play games, and that is why the Broken Mask was called upon to perform what they do best.  Knowing that they had a two-hundred mile trip, the party asked Seskana if she was going to outfit them for their mission.  The Matriarch seemed stunned, stating that they should have asked for this equipment from their fixer.  She did reveal to the party that Bartrum wore a lucky cloak whenever he would travel to the Southern Wall, and seemed willing to lend it out for this mission.  Later, Chase would discover that this cloak was an artifact that aided in strengthening the user's mind for a period of ten minutes at a time.

The Unmasked Seekers finished up with Seskana knowing that they needed equipment for their trip.  They would need food and supplies, and possibly even riding animals.  Unsure of how to reconnect with Gurn-Ellohesh, and knowing that the Vaeshir family wasn't going to cough up any shins, the party traveled back down to the First Tier of Nihliesh and met up at Bel's Bar and Coffins.  Chase informed Bel, his new friend and well-connected member of the Fahat, that the party didn't have the shins to put their excursion together, and asked for advice.  In a private meeting an hour later the plucky barkeep told the Unmasked Seekers that they should have asked for a stipend, which would have been basic protocol when meeting with the fixer, Gurn-Ellohesh.  Being new to the whole "bounty hunting scene", this slipped everyone's mind earlier.

Bel was happy to help set up her new bounty hunter friends with a few shins for their mission... for a price of course.  Bel told the party that they would most likely receive 35 shins a piece for their mission, and should have received a 20% stipend.  But for a fee of 5 shins each, payable at the end of their mission, Bel would front them 7 shins per person.  To this, the party agreed.  When asked about mounts, Bel claimed that purchasing snowlopers would be 30 shins each, but she could rent them through an intermediary for only 10 shins per beast.  So out of the 7 shins she was loaning, she took back 5.  The question of food and water came up, which Bel could also provide...

... which cost the Unmasked Seekers their last 2 shins. 

Although broke, at least characters had passes to re-enter the First Tier of Nihliesh whenever they wanted.  Taking the elevator back down to the surface below the once-mobile city, the party sought out the snowloper dealer Bel had discussed.  Glyquorg approached the female snowloper shepherd and asked about the two mounts she was preparing.  When the woman turned around, Jak's jaw dropped.  The shepherd was Inkelli, a bald, heavily tattooed pregnant woman who just happened to be the mutant glaive's ex-lover.  Glyquorg had to chuckle when he realized that the baby Inkelli was carrying must have been Jak's.  Inkelli scolded Jak, demanded to know where he had been for so many weeks, and why he hadn't returned to help with their encampment below Nihliesh.  Despite her unique appearance, Inkelli was a mutant "groupie" and did not possess any mutations to help her get access to Nihliesh.  Jak promised Inkelli that he would come back soon, but revealed where he and the rest of his team were headed.  Inkelli was distraught.  She stated that the Icebound Monastery was haunted, that many of the Cold Desert Nomads knew this, and that Jak shouldn't go.  Unfortunately the party didn't have any money left over for a guide which would've cost another 30-50 shins.  Inkelli did tell her ex-lover that the wasteland nomad Fatoosh was near one of the outdoor drinking establishments, and that he could possibly give the party some information to aid in their quest. 

Fatoosh's information was rather useful.  After Chase bought him a drink, the nomad discussed the path to the Icebound Monastery, revealing that the structure was attached to the side of the Southern Wall.  Rumors were that there were only two ways to get to the Southern Wall, to walk along the surface of the ice or to take the crevasse passages.  Fatoosh stated that the surface was far safer, despite the risk of severe storm, as there were abhumans who stalked the crevasses.  With the proper tents, the storms could be weathered, and Fatoosh knew how to make the tents.  The party had little to offer, but came up with the idea of lending the nomad a single pass to the First Tier of Nihliesh for the next few days.  When he was done resting in the city he could give the pass to Inkelli. 

Good trade! 

So the four adventuring bounty hunters of the Broken Mask set out for the icy Southern Wall.  For the first three days of their trek the travel was fairly easy, with few threats that the snowlopers could not outrun.  It wasn't until the end of the third day, when the snowlopers were out grazing on carrion that Glyquorg saw some threats in the distance.  Six reavers, mounted on three fast moving aneen were charging the bounty hunters while they were busy setting up camp.  These bandits were barely a threat.  A carefully aimed javelin from Glyquorg slew one of the aneen instantly, knocking both riders to the ground.  Jak drew his bow and let loose several arrows while Chase's onslaughts tore away at aneen flesh.  The raiders couldn't land a shot with their crossbows, and only managed to strike Glyquorg with a lance.  The murderous Unmasked Seekers laid waste to all six despicable reavers, and their incredibly valuable aneen...

..the latter of which were purposefully placed by a kind-hearted game-master who felt bad that the party's monetary woes and wanted to throw them a bone. 

Oh well.

Quotes

"Did you happen to ask about your gear before leaving your fixer?" - Seskana didn't know that her group of hired Broken Mask bounty hunters were the silent type. 

Jim (GM): "She's apparently pregnant."
Craig (Jak) <sarcastically>:  "...nice."

"We ain't ever comin' back to this town, we're OUT!" - Jak exclaimed to the party when they left Nihliesh, not interested in paying 9th World Child Support. 

Non-Player Cards

I've been playing around with Andreas Walters' Non-Player Cards for a few games now, having used them at our Romano's Pizza #GetOutAndGame function and during a Gen Con Numenera game.  These cards are system neutral, and perfect for your game table, especially if you are an improvisational game-master like me!  You can pre-order yours here:

https://nonplayercards.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders