Numenera - Tales of the Broken Mask - Session 9

Cover art by Reece Ambrose

The Sun Below: City on the Edge, Part 3

"Hey Jim, I have to give you credit for this, I've never seen a party so afraid to do anything since I ran a group through the Tomb of Horrors!" - Frank, just before the characters have dinner aboard the An Domorr.

Usually I end my play reports with a few quotes from our gaming sessions.  It's a great way to end a post, and shares some of the lighter, more memorable moments from our game.  It's also the place where my players get to see some of their feedback during a session.  Well last night, while running our third session of Dread Unicorn Games' The Sun Below: City on the Edge by John W. S. Marvin, a licensed adventure for Monte Cook Games' Numenera, we had an amazing time, and picked up some pretty great quotes... I just had to start this post with my favorite. 

I think injecting fear and terror into a campaign is rather difficult.  To be frank, I'm having a hard time doing it with my Tuesday night Another Sun Rises campaign.  My typical campaigns are light-hearted, and I prefer to have my players leave a session smiling because of the wild and crazy things that occur during the game.  If I come up with an original idea, it's usually a little outlandish and possibly cheesy.  I like to think that my average game, even those that are more serious in theme, has the tone of a great action comedy.  

Imagine my surprise last night while running my regular Numenera campaign, when my players suddenly feared for their characters during an evening when we didn't have one single combat encounter.   I don't want to spoil it yet, but it was game-master gold - the kind of session that you get to discuss year after year!

One additional note:  any and all artwork included in this post is straight out of the adventure and can be found on Dread Unicorn's website here. 

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
• Ralyx, a Mlox Jack who Throws with Deadly Accuracy, played by Marc

Non-Player Characters of Note

• Ennuan, an old associate of Chase who was an Aeon Priest and now belongs to the Three Swords 
• Mor-Klish, Slithik guardian
• Nyxie, Captain of the Grinder 
• Greln of the Garibaldi, Chief to he Garibaldi tribe
• Captain Klorsh,  Captain of the An Domorr
• Lebby, 11 year old crew

Summary

After braving the tunnels on the first level of the strange complex, surviving the encounter with Mor-Klish (now a follower of Chase Rombek) and the frigid ice trap, the party was licking its wounds.  There were two wide tunnels leading down into the depths of the Earth, and according to the slithik, these open tubes could carry users down as if they were standing on platforms.  Although each Unmasked Seeker took a few lumps during their previous endeavors, Chase Rombek was probably in the most pain, his body heaving still and mind pounding from vigorous usage of his esoteries.  But Ralyx, the party's Mlox Jack, had a simple solution for the Mystical Nano, and he pulled out a complex healing kit and prepared Chase for some holistic medicine. 

Ralyx bound Chase's wounds and applied salves to his temples before mentioning a "hot rock" therapy that he would perform.  Although Chase questioned the Mlox's need for this one last procedure, he went along with it anyway.  The Jack gathered several rocks from a corner, each relatively smooth and about the size of an orange, and placed them over a small fire.  Once heated, the rocks were positioned atop Chase's back.

That's when Chase Rombek felt teeth bite into his flesh.

Although the teeth didn't make it past his Ward esotery, the nano definitely felt the bite of a small creature.  Flipping over, Chase took a look at the strange little entity that rendered the rest of the party speechless.  A small, crablike creature with four legs and a humanoid face was glaring at Ralyx. 

"Why did you burn us!?" it demanded.

The creatures, calling themselves "Garibaldi", were led by their chef Greln.  Greln demanded reparations for his people, for the evil torments they endured at the hands of Mlox.  Glyquorg tried to be the voice of reason, and despite Ralyx continuing to taunt the Greln, they came to a deal.  The Garibaldi wanted money.  Cold, hard shins in their "pockets" (or wherever Garibaldi keep their coins and baubles) was their demand.  Despite some mockery, Greln insisted the funds could be used for useful equipment and furnishings for their homes.  Shrewd negotiations left the Garibaldi tribe with a handful of jink, and in return, Greln whispered a secret into his new friend Glyquorg's ear. 

After all that excitement it was time to use the platforms to travel lower into the complex.  Glyquorg was the first to scout the seemingly empty tube, but where his feet should have only touched air, they instead found a solid surface.  If someone were to step atop one of the open pits, they would be lowered down in relative safety.  Rather than take turns, the bounty hunters each looked at each other and jumped onto the open portion of the eastern tube together.  

(When you picture this scene in your head, you have to remember that the group was aiming for a 70's/80's movie freeze-frame.  Cuz that's how we role…play.)

For the first few moments the party descended slowly, but as they traveled further and further they picked up speed.  Soon they were free-falling, through open air past walls covered by luminous fungi, into a never ending pit below.  Nothing was blocking their path or obstructing their movement, at least not for the first minute.  But soon several large masses appeared below the characters.  Giant floating sky-jellyfish, ten feet across and fifty feet from body to tentacle hover slowly, looking for their next meal.  Glyquorg knew to dodge these beasts, as that was the secret Greln shared with the Exiled Jack, but the rest of the party just tried to glide past.  Only one member of the team, Ralyx, was snagged by a sky-jellyfish, but a swift swipe of Glyquorg's rapier kept the Mlox from becoming a meal.

Floater (sky-jellyfish according to this GM) courtesy of Dread Unicorn Games

At the bottom of the kilometers long tunnel, the velocity of the party slowed and they were all lowered into a small structure with a double door leading out.  Chase approached the door and used his power to see beyond the portal, revealing a massive airship on the other side, with an enormous sky-jellyfish for a gas-bag.  Ralyx carefully opened the door and started to approach the airship while remaining out of sight of a mustached blue man who sat on the deck reading a book.  Without even taking his eyes off of the book, and despite Ralyx being an expert at subterfuge, the blue man asked the Mlox why he was trying to be elusive.  Clearly the captain was a sharp-eyed gent.

The An Domorr, courtesy of Dread Unicorn Games

The man introduced himself as Captain Klorsh of the An Domorr, a magnificent vessel that could take the party down to the Praithian city of Urbamorr.  Captain Klorsh would accept no payment, and claimed that there were other vessels like his that would make the trip from this station down to the city on a regular rotation.  The bounty hunters were welcome to sit down and relax, although the captain seemed to have little regard for Chase's new slithik servant Mor-Klish. 

Immediately after their departure, the party was introduced to Lebby, a young girl (she claimed to be "11") that became immediately fascinated with her new passengers.  Lebby asked Chase what his favorite drink was, and proceeded to go below deck and return with a pot of hot tea with squid ink... just like the Mystical Nano drank as a child!  Lebby seemed to know intricate details about each of the characters, from their preferred foods to some of the events that they recently experienced.  Chase started to wonder if this prescient girl could possibly glean some information from what remained of Raa-em, the sentient moss that the nano still kept in a jar. 

When Lebby agreed to help restore some of Raa-em's mind and abilities, Chase followed the girl below deck.  Rather than being just another ship's compartment, this part of the An Domorr was a small forest, several hundred feet across with a river in the shape of a figure eight right in the middle.  Lebby took Raa-em and placed him near some stones.  Before Chase could react, the girl managed to grow that one small piece of moss into a form covering several stones, all of which hovered above the ground.  Lebby was now perched on a tree swing right next to the Stonebound Monk.  Chase tried to communicate with Raa-em, as he was interested in the secrets that the millenia old entity contained within its mind, but his former foe would have nothing of it.  If not for Lebby's interference, Raa-em would've tried to crush Chase's mind. 

Lebby offered Chase the opportunity to look into her River of Stars to maybe find some enlightenment.  When the nano looked down, he saw that the flowing waters by his feet were full of small little lights, miniature stars, and galaxies floating in the water.   It was impossibly beautiful.  Chase explained that he had hoped to get a better understanding of "magic" from Raa-em, to finally know if the Numenera was all just science or if there was indeed a mystical energy in the process.  Lebby coaxed Chase to drink from the waters and possibly expand his mind.

And so Chase Rombek drank deeply from the River of Stars.

Lebby called for the captain, and the two of them ended up carrying a comatose Chase back to the rest of the party.  The rest of the team was stunned, not only at the condition of their new friend, but by Lebby's announcement that dinner would be served soon in the lower chamber.  No one wanted to go.  Each bounty hunter looked at the other with fear and trepidation, but they didn't know if they could possibly refuse the offer.  Not from a godlike creature that seemed to have an absolute command of everything that happened aboard the An Domorr.  

"Can't we just eat up here?" mumbled Ralyx, before bowing to inevitability.

One by one the Unmasked Seekers descended the staircase into the forest below.  Although they were not aware of Raa-em's return, they also didn't see the floating pile of rocks anywhere in the chamber.  There was a table on one side of the figure-eight, covered in weird eats and delectables. 

The party sat and was served by floating metal orbs.  Even Chase was served, as the captain tied the nano to his chair, where he continued to drool and lightly moan.  Although their appetites were gone by this point, each member of the team carefully sipped their beverages and nibbled at bread while Lebby continued to talk and rant, often sharing tidbits from the characters' past.  The young girl even mentioned Tuctin and Tar, stating that they were safe, and had traveled on a ship much like the An Domorr just before the party arrived at the dock.  Eventually she asked if anyone wanted to get a better look at the River of Stars.  Ralyx seemed interested, and approached the bank, gazing in with his third eye.  But this didn't suit Lebby, she wanted the Mlox to be closer, so she kicked Ralyx in the rear, sending him into the glimmering waters.  The rest of the team immediately stood up... well... Chase didn't.  Jak ran to the edge and tried to use his bow to draw Ralyx in but this didn't work.  Fortunately, Glyquorg was a master at rope use, and he tied a small lasso and hurled it out to Jak.  The Mutant Glaive was pulled from the water, no worse for the wear but with a slight headache. 

Lebby was thrilled.  Oh, and Chase Rombek seemed to be awake finally!

Chase carefully looked around the room with a strange gaze.  He politely asked the Captain to untie him, which Klorsh did, and then announced that they would be in Urbamorr very soon.  Dinner wrapped up and the party of bounty hunters went back to the top deck, eager to get away from Lebby's little playhouse of psychological terrors. 

It only took a few more hours before the vessel reached the city of Urbamorr.  Above the airship was a sun... a bright orb that seemed to be painted on the "roof" of a massive subterranean tube.  This underground universe even had its own moon.  The city itself was carved into a cliffside, and the An Domorr carefully descended to a dock platform where the party could depart.  For Ralyx, Jak, and Glyquorg, the trip had been a nerve-wracking experience, and they were eager to find Tuctin and Tar, Ennuan's two grandchildren.

For Raa-em, the Stonebound Monk who had taken command of Chase Rombek's feeble human form, this was an opportunity to step out into the world once again... even if he was forced to travel with his former foes. 

Quotes

Jim (as Greln the Garibaldi):  "Why did you want to burn us!?" (in a proper British accent)
Marc:  "Holy crap!"

"Is it like a bag of angry cats or a bag of passive bunnies?" - Marc inquiring about Mor-Klish's bag of goodies.

"You need to have faith in the slithik!" - Frank had his trust in his pal Mor-Klish!

Andy to Jim the GM:  "Were the jellyfish some sort of defensive system?"
Jim the GM to Andy:  "You don't know what they were, they were weird, this is f**king Numenera."

"The price is right, and we've got nowhere else to go." - Marc on the An Domorr

Frank: "He's blue?  Is he Numenera?"
Marc:  "No he's Blue-menera!" 

"She brings you a baconator." - Craig commenting on Lebby looking a lot like "Wendy"… like… from the restaurant that makes Frosties.  

"Let's resurrect the pissed off mossy creature that we killed two adventures ago!" - Marc didn't like Frank's plan to have Lebby take a look at Raa-em.

"Well if there is a river downstairs, take me to the river." - Glyquorg quotes a billion year old song.

"And henceforth he shall forever be known as Chase Raa-embek." - Marc just kept 'em comin'.  

#TBT Savage Worlds - 2012 Clockwork Campaign - Session 2

More Steampunky Brew

In this week's Throwback Thursday post, we stick around with the Clockwork Campaign that I ran for Savage Worlds.  Actually we had thirteen sessions of this game, so I've got enough material to run right into 2015 with these write-ups!  So in this session I tried setting the groundwork for steampunk time-travel, which was supposed to be an underlying theme for the campaign.  Heck, the name of the campaign SCREAMS for some Stampunk Temporal Dynamism!  Unfortunately, we never were able to dig into it as much as I would've liked, but trying to explain how it all worked was pretty cool!  

Even though he didn't join the campaign, I have to tip my hat to my pal Brett.  When I was trying to brainstorm how time travel would work, Brett and I had an hour long conversation, discussing how Chronological and Kairological were different, and temporal ubiquity.  I kept most of the notes from our chat and they ended up here.  

So maybe Brett himself is the inspiration for the "Weird Doctor Kell!"

Session 2 - The Confounding Lectures of the Weird Doctor Kell

Journal Date

December 2nd, 1897

Cast

• Lady Selene Eva Thana - Eternal Noble - played by Melinda
• Inspector Robinson Gray - Idiot Savant Investigator - played by Randy
• Nigel Loring - Hunter/Adventurer/Explorer - played by Craig
• Fangzhi - Wudang Initiate - played by Frank

Notable NPC’s

Dr. Henry Kell, Dr. Stephen Addison

Plot Summary:  

After a leisurely breakfast at Thana Manor the party was off to Ravenswood College, about halfway between Epping and London.  Doctor Addison, an old friend of Lady Selene’s husband and also the current instructor of Robinson Gray, had arranged for a carriage ride, and wanted to tag along to hear all about the famed Jeweled Slate of Corvo.  The carriage ride wasn’t too long, only a couple hours, and en route Lady Selene told all about her ascension to nobility, along with the death of two of her husbands.  She didn’t give the cause of death for either, and no one really wanted to ask.

Once at Ravenswood College, a place of higher learning for mostly rich misfits, the characters were introduced to the South Wing of the school, where the real education was occurring.  Theoretical physics was Dr. Henry Kell’s specialty, but also taught at the school were classes about the occult, weird science, fringe theory, and other outside concepts.  The party fit right in.  Dr. Kell was discussing the “Tri-Natured Temporal Dynamism” theory that he had put together, in particular the state of “Temporal Ubiquity”.  You see, in Dr. Kell’s estimation, time could be manipulated in one of three ways.  The first nature, Kairological Mechanics, is based upon tethers between two points of time.  Chronological Mechanics was the theory (untested and unexperienced to date) of pure time travel through devices, akin to some popular fiction.  Temporal Ubiquity was the third nature, and it had to do with powerful beings that could perceive all of time at once.  

After being introduced to the party, Dr. Kell saw the slate and demanded that they experiment and research the object at once.  Everyone in the party joined in!  After a full day of testing, research in the library, manipulation of the object by a wudang master, and Lady Selene pulling information from every other professor in the college, the group was able to deduce the meaning of the device.  The Jeweled Slate of Corvo was an ancient “punch card” that could amazingly be placed in a modern day analytical engine to display coordinates based on the angle of the north pole during it’s millennia long rotation cycle.  Well, Dr. Kell had to take the slate to London at once!

Although he did not want them to tag along, Dr. Kell was convinced by the party to let them come, but vile darkness would strike while the party prepared for their trip.  Almost to the carriage, Robinson noticed that something was “amiss” but could not put his finger on the situation.  An assassin, from the shadowy organization known as Obscura, was waiting for the party by hanging below the carriage.  Two more assassins, one with an air powered silent rifle and another an observer masquerading as a student,   were also waiting.  Dr. Kell was dropped by the air rifle, which silently blasted his right shoulder just before he could enter the carriage with the Lady Thana.  Frantically, Fang and Nigel got the doctor out of the line of fire and into the carriage while Nigel tried to get a bead on the shooter.  Before Robinson could react, he realized that the assassin under the carriage had manacled his foot to the cart, and was waiting with a shot gun to give him what for.  Well Robinson wasn’t going to have that, so he dropped to a prone position and fired off three rounds, wounding the assassin but also spooking the horses.  Luckily, Lady Selene was able to get the horses under control.  Nigel was able to blast the shooter’s brains out, and the stealth assassin killed herself with a cyanide capsule.  The last assassin, an observer, ran off.  


After being healed by his friend, Dr. Addison, Dr. Kell insisted on continuing the trip to London.  Amongst the dim lights of the smoggy city, Dr. Kell’s analysis with the analytical engine proved incredible!  Not only could he calculate points of Karological Tethers, rifts in space-time connecting two time periods, he found that one existed right smack dab in the middle of Epping!  

Interludes:  

Lady Selene:  When Selene met her first husband and was married into nobility.  He went against his family to marry her.  That was a short courtship.  Luckily he introduced her to Lord Gordon Thana before passing.  That courtship took a bit longer. 

Quotes:

“Wait, wait... Melinda has a husband?” - Frank
“He’s deceased!” - Melinda

“So you had TWO husbands die?” - Fang shared his player’s confusion.  

“Fang is related to the emperor of China.” - Nigel to Lady Selene, wanting to get her to marry Fangzhi.

“Look at this fine engineering!” - Robinson Grey tried to look nonchalant whilst reviewing the weird situation surrounding the carriage without concerning the rest of the party.  

“Hey shnookums... I think it is in both of our best interests for you to untie me.” - Robinson Grey to the third Obscura woman.  

Another Sun Rises - A Cypher*Space Campaign - Session 3

Crimson b, viewed from apoapsis.  Image created with Universe Sandbox

Past Session Logs

• Another Sun Rises: Design Notes
• Session 1:  Periapsis 
• Session 2:  Perturbations

Apoapsis

"She cast her fragrance and her radiance over me.  I ought never to have run away from her… I ought to have guessed all the affection that lay behind her poor little stratagems.  Flowers are so inconsistent!  But I was too young to know how to love her..."

- The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Given that the last few hours were beginning to look rather bleak, for the crew of the Argos III's last remaining Remora, the sight of a full cargo bay was quite welcome.  One-hundred feet in diameter and twenty feet deep, the forward cargo bay was stacked with boxes, crates, and usable goods that lifted the spirits.  Since this chamber was only designed to outfit the utility craft for repair and rescue runs, the crew found vast quantities of the gear already discovered on board their Remora.  Of course this included thousands upon thousands of sealed MRE's - meals ready-to-eat.  Taking a brief break to satisfy their agonizing hunger, the four crewmembers discussed their next course of action.

• Dr. Bruce Exeter, Hard-Boiled* Savant who Works Medical Miracles, played by Andy

• Dr. Game Dijkstra, Learned Savant who Talks to Machines, played by Matt

• Karl Travers, Graceful Trooper who Blanks** played by Marc***

• Evart Crymouth, Stealthy Operative who Adapts to Any Environment played by Jeremy

*Hard-Boiled is out of Wits Alone, by Ryan Chaddock Games

**The player has chosen not to share his Focus with the party at this time

*** Karl Travers was NPC'd for this session

While nibbling on frozen fruit pockets and semi-heated soy-gel, Dr. Dijkstra took a look at some of the more technical pieces of equipment salvaged from the forward hold.  One piece of equipment, a portable orbital uplink unit, could facilitate communication between planets in a system, but Dr. Dijkstra had another plan.  With just a few modifications it could be redesigned to remotely hack into other parts of the Argos III, potentially bypassing GAIA.  So far the General Artificial Intelligence Assistant had been quite a thorn in the crew's side, sending defense drones to intercept the Remora and manually depressurize the craft's compartments.  GAIA interpreted the Remora as an EBE, an "Extraterrestrial Biological Entity", and was handling the crew and their ship as if they were dangerous boarders.  Dr. Dijkstra was the first to formulate that there was possibly an EBE on board the Remora, and took a look at his crew members.  Could it be one of them? The savant pushed it from his mind… 

...for now.

From inside the cargo bay Evart could look out onto Crimson b itself, the tiny ice dwarf that the Argos III was orbiting.  The miniature world appeared to have a reddish glow, as the light from the dwarf star Crimson weakly bathed the orb.  The Argos III's forward docking bay initially held three Remora craft, and although there were several guesses as to what had happened to the other two vessels, Evart wanted to know for sure.  The operative examined the rest of the forward cargo bay and got a good look at the other two Remora docking stations.  One was completely vacant, although  a long broken tether could be traced from the port out into space.  The other had the broken remnants of Remora 2 (the party's vessel was Remora 3).  Given the status of the rest of the bay, and Evart's understanding of shipboard operations, it looked like someone, or something, opened the forward cargo bay door while it was still completely pressurized.  This forced everything in the cargo bay out into space at an explosive rate of velocity.  Luckily for this particular crew, their tether held, and the Remora craft simply dangled out and away from the Argos III.

But the question remained: how did they get on the Remora?

All four crew members remembered going into stasis nearly a quarter-millennia ago, but their pods were located in a cargo chamber in one of the rotating wheels of the Argos III.  To create gravity, the Argos III spun three individual wheels, a main cargo wheel, a habitation wheel, and a hanger wheel.  Actually all three sections of the craft seemed to have power and were currently active.  But someone would have had to take the stasis pods out of one of the three rotating wheels and brought them to the Remora.

Dr. Exeter had a hunch that the dead body the crew found floating in the Remora would yield a few clues.  Although he only had rudimentary medical equipment, the good doctor was a skilled surgeon and was able to determine the cause of death.  Upon noticing the last name imprinted on the crumpled remains of the man's jumpsuit, Dr. Exeter remembered that the gentleman's full name was Blake McGavin, a member of the medical team who was a nurse.  McGavin died due to improper orthotic connections, drowning when his stasis pod filled with Bio Ice since he was unable to swallow the tube that would go down into his throat.  It seems like McGavin was rushed when trying to connect the devices.  Dr. Exeter further deduced that McGavin did not enter the stasis pod until it was moved to the Remora, and that the nurse probably was responsible for getting the crew on board the craft.

With full stomachs, Evart, Dr. Dijkstra, and Dr. Exeter continued to investigate the Argos III's forward cargo bay.  At the center of the bay was a transit tube station, a trio of shafts that ran the entire length of the Argos III.  Earlier Dr. Dijkstra noticed that the tubes were sealed off, most likely by GAIA, but there were three access panels that could easily be opened with a crowbar.  The pods that traveled in the transit tubes used mag-lev rails to move about, and there was a man sized gap on either side of each rail that could be accessed for maintenance and repair.  The only downside was that the rails would cause havoc for anyone carrying metal equipment - or like Dr. Dijkstra possessing cybernetic implants - who entered the tube.  Dr. Dijkstra was fairly certain that he could interfere with GAIA's connection to the tubes long enough for another member of the crew to crawl to the next section of the craft, the Main Hanger compartments in the forward most wheel.

Image courtesy of 0-hr art & technology

The trip was only 250 feet, but it would be done in the dark in cold conditions.  Evart volunteered and decided to keep his soft e-suit on for the journey.  As the operative worked his way towards the hanger, at the halfway mark the adjacent rail started to hum with power.  Dr. Dijkstra noticed that GAIA was trying to access the rail and possibly reenergize it, but the savant was able to slow GAIA's process.  It seemed like the AI unit had a complete awareness of everything happening within the Argos III at all times!  Evart moved faster, knowing that time was short, and eventually kicked his way out of the tube when he made it to the Hanger section.  It was unsettling to feel gravity on his legs and body again, but Evart didn't have time to remain uneasy.  As soon as the operative engaged the transit tube so that his fellow crewmembers could join him, Evart heard a hissing.

Something was coming!

The room into which Evart entered was a dark transit tube lobby.  Despite the lack of light, Evart's wetware enabled eyes easily navigated the compartment, and the operative got his bearings. To his left were exercise rooms and an auditorium for service personnel.  To his right were crew compartments, mostly for colonials and repair technicians.  If he moved forward, counter-clockwise through the Hanger wheel he would get to the exploration craft... but that direction was now blocked.  The sound, and smell, of burning filled the chamber, as a large hulking metal machine cut a hole through the doorway ahead.  It was a TC Magmid Unit, a mining robot designed to cut long paths into asteroids, moons, and rocky planets.  Careful to keep out of sight, and having little faith that his lowly crowbar would be of any use against the Magmid, Evart ran to the left towards the auditorium and waited for backup.

Aware of their teammates challenge via comm watch, both Dr. Dijkstra and Dr. Exeter were traveling in the transit pod towards the section of the Hanger where Evart was being hunted.  Although both savants wanted to help, they weren’t sure what they could actually use against a dangerous tunneling robot... their weapons consisted of small tools and a cutting torch.  When they got off the elevator, Dr. Exeter immediately ducked down and circled the transit tube shaft to flank the massive robot.  Dr. Exeter appeared right behind the machine, grabbed the base of the unit's neck and cut a wire that would erase the Magmid's most recent data input (memories).  The magmid shut down for a few minutes while GAIA tried to reestablish the connection.  Dr. Dijkstra pulled out his own tools and started to work on the "head' of the magmid, pulling the cutting beam off and saving it for later.  Evart joined his fellow crewmembers with his trusty crowbar and bashed the servos in both legs so that they were not functional.  The magmid would only be able to crawl, but the claws were still dangerous.

A few blasts from Dr. Dijkstra's electromagnetic onslaught unit ended the Magmid's artificial career permanently.  But the party groaned when the machine tipped over.  It was registered as TC Magmid "7".  There were at least six more units, possibly more, on board and at GAIA's disposal.  Dr. Dijkstra realized that he needed to cut GAIA's access to the the subsector of the Hanger wheel so that the team could get at least a short break.  Moving to one of the control panels, the savant started to hack GAIA's connection.  

Success! 

All cameras and sensors connecting the Argos III GAIA unit to that particular subsector were cut off.  The team moved into a lounge, gathered some Twinkies out of a vending machine, filled some water bottles and took a much needed break.

But Dr. Exeter's eyes caught something strange outside.  The dull reddish sun at the center of the system, Crimson, was starting to fade out.  Even though Crimson b's moon facing the opposite side of the craft, something was eclipsing the star.

Something.

Quotes

Exeter:  "Does that mean our being sent out in space wasn't intentional?"
Evart:  "I think it was very intentional, just not intentional in favor of us…" 

"Considering she made our GAIA snarky, I'm not sure how she'd respond." - Matt didn't know if he could charm the Argos III's AI unit.

"If we can pull you faster than the thing that is trying to eat you on the other side, it'll all be alright!" - Andy has this whole sci-fi campaign thing mastered.

"I gotta say, those first couple weeks were the best campaign in a ten-foot cube that I ever had!" - Andy being snarky… maybe he caught it from GAIA?

Thanks 

The rules for Another Sun Rises are based on Monte Cook Games' Numenera and The Strange, incredible RPG's in their own right, both of which I am absolutely in love with.  The Magmid can be found in the Numenera Bestiary, available right here either in print or as a PDF!

I will continue to share a link back to 0-hr art & technology.  Ryan Wolfe is a terrific artist, and I used his designs for the Remora, Argos III, and a few more.  All of his ships are available at DriveThruRPG, so I'd suggest you take a look if you are starting your own campaign in space!  

To build the Crimson star system, I used Universe Sandbox, a space simulator that allows you to create entire planetary systems and toy with everything from mass to orbital velocity.  You can pick up this amazing program on Steam, or check them out on their own website here.

The Strange - Eschatology Code - Epic 100th Blog Post!

More Awesomeness Than You Can Handle

This blog entry is fan-damn-tastic for two reasons:

First, it's my 100th entry since starting up the blog this past January.  100!  Initially I was just looking for a home for the adventure summaries that I write after every game.  More importantly I was searching for a way to share my post-game summaries with the players in my games.  But when I noticed that other folks would check out the summaries, complete strangers actually, I got excited and started putting more effort into the posts.  

So for those of you out there who have been reading this blog, thank you!  I really enjoy reading game summaries from other GM's, and have picked up some cool tricks and ideas over the years.  I can only hope that I've managed to give a few of you something, even just a tidbit that you can share at your own table!  

So the second reason this entry is great is because it comes right around the anniversary of successful Kickstarter of The Strange.  If you remember, this time last year many of us were watching Monte Cook Games' Kickstarter for The Strange finish up its last few days.  In the time since, I've had a chance to playtest the game, both as a player and a GM, meet new Cypher System fans, and even spend some time chatting with the creators at Gen Con 2014!

Obligatory scene of me meeting the circle of awesome: Shanna, Monte, and Bruce!

What better way to celebrate my 100th blog post than by playing The Strange?  

So over the last few weeks I started recruiting players for a run at Eschatology Code by Bruce Cordell.  I had the opportunity to run this adventure twice at Gen Con, and if you read my Once Upon a Gen Con blog post you'll remember that one of the sessions still stands today as one of my favorite games as a GM, creating one of my best memories from those four days.  But since Eschatology Code wasn't released to the general public, I wasn't able to share any details of the adventure.  

Until now!

Last month Monte Cook Games released Eschatology Code on their website, so now anyone could download the gaming goodness for their own table!  Immediately I started looking for a crack team of players to run through this adventure, and put the call out on Facebook.  While I've played a lot of The Strange online, I wanted to play this adventure in person.  Also, as a member of the MCG Asset Team, I wanted to share The Strange with some new players, and was thrilled that I wrangled four (Emily, Jeremy, Bobbie, and Ethan).  Along with two of my Cypher Veterans (MCGeniuses) Andy and Jen, we were going to have a great time!  

Andy, Bobbie, and Ethan planning

Cast of Characters

• Jonny "Flip" McDaniel, a Graceful Paradox who Solves Mysteries, played by Emily
• Jacqueline Dingo, a Skeptical Spinner who Solves Mysteries, played by Jen
• Arlo Coulton, a Sharp-Eyed Vector who Is Licensed to Carry, played by Jeremy
• Chuck Lannigan, a Stealthy Spinner who Operates Undercover, played by Andy
• Vanessa Torgue, a Tough Vector who Wields Two Weapons at Once, played by Bobbie
• Dr. Sybil Holloway, a Lucky Paradox who Conducts Weird Science, played by Ethan

Adventure Summary

<SPOILER WARNING>

If you've never played Eschatology Code, but believe that you may in the future, please do not read any further.  This is one of those adventures that you need to experience! 

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Okay, one last and final note before the summary starts.  Promise!

You are going to have to bare with me on this report - last night's game was crazy.  CRAZY!  At the beginning of the session I laid out all the cards on the table: my one session from Gen Con was so incredible that it would be very hard to come up with a more entertaining game, or that we'd have the same kind of outlandish hijinks.  Well for Emily, Jen, Jeremy, Andy, Bobbie, and Ethan my statement led to a full on "CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!"  Nothing about last night was what I expected, and it all happened so flipping fast that trying to keep track of the story was extremely difficult.  

But here goes…

*     *     *

Six agents of the Estate, a secret organization that monitors and defends Earth from the threats of the Strange and all its phenomena, were in flight from Seattle, Washington to Sioux Falls, South Dakota to investigate weird and unusual circumstances surrounding Father Foss of the All Souls Church of Deliverance.  The pastor had been performing miracles that would be impossible without the influence of the Strange or powers generated from other recursions.  The Estate feared that Father Foss had somehow come into possession of a quantum computer, capable of creating dangerous connections to the Strange and possibly allowing planetovores access to the Earth.  Further incriminating the good pastor, the September Project, a front for the Betrayer of Ardeyn, sold the War Code super soldier program to the All Souls Church of Deliverance.  This program provided special glasses that would grant users incredible abilities typically unavailable to those on Earth who were not already quickened to the dark energy network of the Strange.  

The flight was going well, drinks had been served and the flight attendants were collecting trash with just a half hour left in the trip.  That's when events started to devolve for the Estate Agents.  Vanessa and Jonny were looking outside the aircraft when they saw a single, hair covered "gremlin" on the wing tearing at the materials.  Vanessa told the rest of the team about what was going on, but noticed that Arlo was missing… apparently to the call of nature.  Dr. Sybil was confident she could deal with the threat, and Chuck believed that the captain needed to be notified.  While the stealthy spinner moved forward in the airplane's cabin, Dr. Sybil used her "shatter" revision to blast a piece of the aircraft's broken cord in the gremlin's face.  This bothered the gremlin, but didn't seem to stop him.

Unfortunately, using the revision power alerted two allies of gremlin that were already onboard the aircraft.  A pair of sunglasses wearing gentlemen, one in front of the party and one in the back stood up in a threatening manner.  Arlo had just passed Chuck after using the facilities and using his ability to find a flaw noticed that the glasses were war code enabled.  

These were SUPER SOLDIERS!

Jackie Dingo immediately stood up and pulled her bull whip.  She successfully slapped the glasses off of the face of one of the super soldiers, allowing Jonny, who was climbing across the rows toward the threat, the opportunity to start wrestling for the device.  Jackie would've further assisted Jonny but was tackled by a passenger who thought she was a terrorist.  Chuck managed to get into the cockpit and started telling the captain to land the plane, but the captain wasn't sure if he could land any sooner than the thirty minutes that it would take to get to Sioux Falls.  The threats would have to be dealt with in the air.  

When one of the super soldiers tried to blast Dr. Sybil with a bolt of lightning, Arlo realized that the threats needed to be neutralized through any means necessary.  For Arlo that meant guns.  The sharp-eyed vector pulled his pistol and shot the nearest threat in the head but missed the second.  Vanessa pulled her pair of batons and chose her first target: the stinky bystander that had tackled Jackie.  She knocked the man out with two hits and then turned towards the second super soldier.  Between the screaming passengers, who were still intervening with the Estate Agents, and the gremlin's activities outside, things were getting dicey on the 737.  As retaliation for Dr. Sybil's shatter attacks the gremlin pulled off one of the aircraft's flaps and started to ram the windows on the side of the plane.  Arlo pointed his gun at the head of the captain (no s##t!) and commanded him to bank the plane, but that didn't seem to have an affect on the supernatural creature.

Jackie, Vanessa, and Dr. Sybil were dealing with the last war code empowered super soldier face to face which allowed Chuck to sneak up behind the crazy spell caster.   Using sleight of hand, the stealthy spinner pulled the glasses from the man's face, and given the wounds he had already received he fell over dead.  

This left the incredibly dangerous gremlin who was ramming the side of the plane.  Jonny summoned forth the revision called "exception" and started to bend the laws of reality outside the aircraft.  When the first bird strike hit the gremlin, it was moderately perturbed.  When the seventh impaled his chest, the gremlin fell over and de-rezzed.  Chalk one up to exceptionally summoned crows!  

When the plane landed the team had a lot of explaining to do to the FBI.  Luckily they called an Estate "fixer", and between the reports of the team's two spinners, and a call from command, the FBI backed off and allowed the team to move on to the rest of their mission.  There was a church to infiltrate, and materials found in the super soldiers' carry on bags clearly connected them to Father Foss and the All Souls Church of Deliverance.

After a short jaunt in their rental mini-van, the team set up shop at the most well-equipped base of operations available to the Estate:  a Holiday Inn Express.  Taking up three rooms on the second floor, the agents settled in for a short lunch while Dr. Sybil took one of the sets of glasses apart and derived its abilities.  The war glasses would enable an ordinary person some pretty incredible "gifts", and even a quickened agent of the Estate could use the glasses to enhance their own powers and become more effective in combat.  The trade-off was that the user would be susceptible to the influences of the Betrayer.  

Father Foss still needed to be dealt with, and the party started to hatch a plan to infiltrate the All Souls Church of Deliverance.  

GM's Note:  Let me say now, this was the most convoluted plan that I've ever seen attempted in a role-playing game.  It also had the least room for error, which is why it failed so quickly requiring Andy to save the day.  We'll get to that in a second…

In a nutshell, here was the team's plan:

Jackie Dingo would masquerade as a nurse for a dying rich man who wanted to have last rites administered by the famous Father Foss.  Once the pastor would arrive at the site, Father Foss would be captured, questioned, and then someone would use Jonny's disguise hat cypher to take on the appearance of Father Foss and infiltrate the All Souls Church of Deliverance.  

Great plan right?

Here is how that very same plan fell apart:  

Jackie Dingo called and asked to speak with Father Foss, but stumbled when asked for her name.  She then stumbled again when asked about the name of the dying rich man and just managed to spout: Sir Georg Siegfried.  She made the dying man german, which would require accents and access to a language none of the agents spoke.  When Father Foss arrived, he found it strange that the dying rich man wanted to spend his last days in a Holiday Inn Express rather than a hospital, hospice center, or at home.  Jackie Dingo met Father Foss in the lobby, and answered that Sir Georg spent a lot of time traveling, which is why he wanted to die in that particular hotel.  Father Foss still went along with the request, but then brought three news teams claiming that he could possibly do something amazing to help the dying German, and wanted the miracle shared with the media.  When Father Foss, Jackie, and the three news teams went upstairs, they found Dr. Sybil standing outside of the hotel room, along with some hired muscle: both Arlo and Vanessa were standing outside and Vanessa insisted on having her police batons (a pair of tonfa) on display.  Dr. Sybil thanked Father Foss for arriving, and insisted that he go inside to meet Sir Georg by himself.  Vanessa then started "twirling the batons" in a rather uncomfortable fashion, which spooked Father Foss, causing him to back up and get lost in the crowd.  As Father Foss fled the Holiday Inn Express, he was followed back to the church by Chuck.  

Still hoping to get some attention, and maybe frame Father Foss for being a complete jerk by not seeing the dying man, Dr. Sybil allowed ABC news to come into the hotel room and meet "Sir Georg Siegfried."  Using Chuck's disguise kit, the party did a pretty great job making Jonny look like an old man.  Unfortunately, it would be Jonny's strange German accent and odd use of words that would change the story around…

… completely…

Jonny started by trying to speak broken english in a german accent, using german'sh words like "fazha" instead of father to try to make some kind of weird point.  When ABC news offered to put a translator on the phone, Jonny (who did not speak german) started quoting a german song he heard while pulling off his own glasses, saying fazha, and handing them to the reporter.  From this encounter ABC news started broadcasting that an ex-Nazi concentration camp guard was trying to meet Father Foss.  

The news team left and the mission would have been a bust, if Dr. Sybil hadn't received a text from the stealthy master of disguise Chuck Lannigan!  

Chuck was texting from inside the All Souls Church of Deliverance.  When he arrived at the church he started speaking with the media.  Apparently there was some kind of shindig going on inside the church, and from what Chuck could find out, there were at least fifty church members in attendance.  Chuck convinced the news that he was a member of the church, but that he was concerned about what was going on inside.  Chuck hinted at the church's motives being dangerous, and potentially cult-like, and agreed to sneak inside and possibly be an "inside man" for the KELOLand news, a local paper. 

The stealthy spinner was able to convince Sheila at the front door of the church that he was a member, and that she just didn't remember him.  Once allowed inside, Chuck partook in some casseroles and punch and did a quick case of the joint.  The parishioners were waiting for the end of the world, which according to Father Foss was supposed to happen that evening.  Father Foss was nowhere to be seen, however, as he was in the basement taking care of "arrangements."  The rest of the Estate team soon texted Chuck, telling him that they were outside with the rest of the media.  

A quick plan was tossed together using the disguise cypher.  Since Jackie Dingo had made contact with Father Foss directly, she could use the disguise cypher to make herself look and sound just like the pastor.  Jackie put the cypher on, and started proclaiming to all of the news journalists outside that he was the real Father Foss, and that an impostor attacked him at the local Holiday Inn Express and tried to take his place.  The news teams bought this, as did the church parishioners, who let Jackie and the rest of the Estate Agents into the building.  Jackie, as Father Foss, told the parishioners to leave the building so that she and her assistants could take care of the fake Father Foss in the basement.  The door to the church was closed and locked.  

It was time for a face-off!

Chuck had found the entrance to the basement, and told the rest of the party that the stairwell was actually a translation gate to Ardeyn, a fantasy recursion and home of the Betrayer.  Just walking down the steps would cause a person to translate into their Ardeyn form, and take on a new focus.  Once they were all ready for the change, the Estate Agents started walking down the steps into Father Foss' inner sanctum.  

Both Jackie Dingo and Dr. Sybil's forms changed into those of jackal headed Qephilim, a race native to Ardeyn with strange powers.  Arlo's gun was replaced with a bow, as he was now an amazing archer.  Chuck started channeling a mystical energy known as Sinfire.  Jonny turned entirely to stone, becoming a powerful golem.  Finally, for Vanessa nothing really changed except her clothes and her weapons, since Ardeyn was her home recursion.  

The chamber below was a temple in extraordinary flux.  One moment it was the basement of the All Souls Church of Deliverance - the next it was a temple sitting at the edge of the world overlooking a vast black sky.  Earth to Ardeyn, Ardeyn to Earth, the recursions were changing every few moments as the world was tearing itself apart.  At the center of the room was a giant machine, controlled by a war glasses wearing Father Foss, and behind both was a massive demonic form that everyone immediately recognized as the Betrayer!  In front of these were three gremlins that were slipping in and out of existence.  

The gremlins charged the party and attacked with claw and fist while the party started their assault.  Vanessa started twirling a pair of sabers, slicing and dicing at the smaller creatures before taking a charge at the Betrayer.  Father Foss remained a threat until his war glasses were ripped off of his face by Jackie's whip, and then fell to a combination of arrows and sinfire.  Arlo opened up with arrows also, but then switched over to a nasty radiation cypher that would incinerate two of the gremlins before the last would also get lit up by Chuck's sinfire.  

This left the Betrayer and the machine.  Using his ability to find a flaw, Arlo told the party that if the machine was destroyed, it would sever the connection to the Betrayer.  Jonny led the assault on the machine, opening with a corrosive explosion cypher while the rest of the team fired away.  But the Betrayer wasn't going to go down so easily, and began swinging a massive club at the party.  Each time he swung, multiple members were at risk of being battered, however this team of Estate Agents was far to clever to be struck by the hulking behemoth.  Focusing one last powerful blast in the form of an "exception" revision, Jonny destroyed the machine, thus severing the connection of the translation gate.

The Betrayer as banished from Earth!  

Quotes from the Table

Jeremy:  "I'm a sharp-eyed Vector…"
Ethan (whose character had been injured in training by Jeremy's):  "Not that sharp!"

I'm basically a dancing Benedict Cumberbatch! - Emily's translation of "Graceful Paradox who Solves Mysteries"

"Put zee glasses un." - Jonny pretending to be Sir Georg Siegfried, talking to ABC news.

"I just picture an obese middle aged girl with a Sailor Moon wig on." - Emily was trying to think about what would appeal most to Father Foss' singular tastes.  

The wife Jen, adorned in her "Qephilim Ears" tries spinning a tale

Our Thoughts

We had a great time running through this adventure last night, and I can't recommend this title enough, for either an experienced group of Estate Agents or to kick off a brand new campaign.  My favorite part about this adventure is that it opens with some fantastic action, but then becomes a sandbox adventure.  The players get to decide how to infiltrate the church, plan their own mission, and use everything at their disposal to take down Father Foss.  I've been through this adventure three times now, with three entirely different plans.  I'm sure if I ran it another dozen times, no two groups of Estate Agents would tackle the problem the same way.  

You can pick up Eschatology code either at DriveThruRPG or at Monte Cook Games' own website.  The adventure comes with six pre-generated characters - all you need is a copy of The Strange to play!  Get your copy now!