Before I came to this place, it never really occurred to me that goats were edible. Now it seems that the few times we do get much meat, it's always some sort of sheep. Local herders far and wide across Azerbaijan. We get more stuff from as “nearby acquisition” than should be allowed in any modern army. If we could be called that anyway – most of our weapons are the same ones our grandfathers used thrifty-five years ago during the world war! You can get an AK-74 on the Chinese border, but we have PPSh submachineguns?
Someone knows we're here, and ships stuff constantly. Locked box cars and tankers full of unknown chemicals make their way to underground storage facilities. A pair of An-12s sit in one of the hangers, a half dozen Mi-8s sit in shelters not far from the runway. They rarely move, yet always seem stocked and ready for combat. BMD-1 infantry fighting vehicles are loaded in their retro-rocket cradles ready to be drooped into a fight, and two of the helicopters are equipped with rockets and napalm tanks. Yet this just a refueling stop airport, not home to a unit of desant nor air-transport. According to the official papers, we're just a border patrol and internal security unit – glorified riot police, subordinate to the KGB, not the army.
Pale scientist looking types occasionally bubble up from somewhere underneath the strip like an artisan spring. They wander around for a bit, sun their livid bodies, and then disappear into the siding where the trains go. I never see the trains leave. I wonder where the exit is.
Perhaps the direct opposites of the scientists are the odd soldiers we see around here. Not part of our group at least. Everyone of them has the stature and movement of an Olympic athlete – prime candidates for spetznaz troops. Yet a second glace makes it seem as if they are somewhere past dead. Their faces are usually dark – almost burned – black veins run close under the skin, eyes red, and every centimeter of their arms show injection scars. They sound like other soldiers, a few are even friendly on the rare chances the airport staff talk to them. Yet they also disappear into the train tunnel.
Overall, this is a pretty easy assignment. Its hot, but a dry heat. You're not going to get a promotion out of this, but you don't have to spit shine your boots daily either. Just keep in mind a few simple rules. Do not ask about what is on the trains. Do not ask what the numeral 2552 means. Do not ask about Biopreparat. And for gods sake – if anyone mentions the term “Manor House” avoid eye contact, do not speak, call attention to yourself, or volunteer!. Those who do go into the train tunnel.
Plenty of worse places to be than Azerbaijan. Very few quite as odd however.
Showing posts with label Alternative. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alternative. Show all posts
Monday, November 4, 2013
Friday, June 28, 2013
Orphan Tribes (Part One)
Being a camp counselor sounds like fun, at least if you have never been one. Fresh air, paid to work with kids, regular meals, simple hours. Ok, so they're simple meals, hours are regular, and the kids get fresh - but its not "work" work - right? If you're the camp cook keeping 400 people fed, its quite a lot of effort, and safety for that many people isn't easy either.
Yet the daily heroic efforts of our eighteen year old staff members is nothing compared to what awaits them after the zombies rise. Most of the children will no longer have a family to go home too. Where will the food come from? With boyscouts you're dealing with 14-18 year olds, though as to if ones with an independant streak and teen angst is any better than dealing with a younger crowd is a good question.
Actually, I don't have answers for what this would be like right now. It would certainly make an interesting scenario, depending on the camp.
The boyscout camp I attended had two shooting ranges, replete with a large number of .22 bold action rifles, 20 gauge shotguns, and bows. Not that you'd let the kids themselves hunt zeds, but four or five dozen guns on hand and a couple hundred rounds of ammo isn't a half bad stock. Food service came weekly, and the closest town was a small one about twenty miles away. (Wal-Mart arriving a few years ago was a major event.) There was a big lake in the middle of camp, and while there certainly wouldn't be much fish - water shouldn't be a problem, nor wood - give its in a Forrest and near an old tree farm. On the other hand, scouts stay in tents, so security would be a big problem if the walkers entered the property.
From what I recall, the child to adult ratio would be somewhere in the 10:1 to 20:1 range. While some would drive, most people come to the camp via bus - there would be no way to migrate the population without outside assistance.
Yet the daily heroic efforts of our eighteen year old staff members is nothing compared to what awaits them after the zombies rise. Most of the children will no longer have a family to go home too. Where will the food come from? With boyscouts you're dealing with 14-18 year olds, though as to if ones with an independant streak and teen angst is any better than dealing with a younger crowd is a good question.
Actually, I don't have answers for what this would be like right now. It would certainly make an interesting scenario, depending on the camp.
The boyscout camp I attended had two shooting ranges, replete with a large number of .22 bold action rifles, 20 gauge shotguns, and bows. Not that you'd let the kids themselves hunt zeds, but four or five dozen guns on hand and a couple hundred rounds of ammo isn't a half bad stock. Food service came weekly, and the closest town was a small one about twenty miles away. (Wal-Mart arriving a few years ago was a major event.) There was a big lake in the middle of camp, and while there certainly wouldn't be much fish - water shouldn't be a problem, nor wood - give its in a Forrest and near an old tree farm. On the other hand, scouts stay in tents, so security would be a big problem if the walkers entered the property.
From what I recall, the child to adult ratio would be somewhere in the 10:1 to 20:1 range. While some would drive, most people come to the camp via bus - there would be no way to migrate the population without outside assistance.
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Life 2.0 for Earth 3.1
Genius, is an idea that seems stupid at first, but turns out to change the world. Foolish, is when people think it is a good idea from the beginning.
If you're going to settle a new planet - you're going to bring along bulldozers, tractors, and plows - right? Of course to keep those running you need a supply of fuel, and numerous spare parts, and to quickly begin mining so you can produce ores needed to build replacements, and start with a colony ship big enough to haul around the hundreds of tons steel that make up these things...
Or you could do things the old way and use animals. Feed them with renewable grass, eat them when they break down, produce new ones by just leaving the old ones in a shed together... From the standpoint of mass and ship size, packing some frozen embryos with some artificial wombs, and they take less space than one bulldozer - much less a fleet of dozers and spare parts!
Now you could say there is a bit of a problem with transplanting life like this - humans can put on clothes and adapt technology as they need - getting a spacesuit on a horse is a little more difficult. Most life forms have spent thousands of years adapting to earth, not the "rather like earth" or "just a bit survivable" or "well, at least its not hell or France" exo-solar landing locations.
Enter the brilliant idea "lets make some new organisms - bigger, and tougher, stronger, with eight cup-holders fuel injected V-8s!". B-movie mad scientists have led you astray. It doesn't work like that. We can't just make stuff whole cloth, we can only include other genes that happened to exist before and hope it all works together. They can't customize DNA more than that.
But they can work backwards through the chain of evolution, to prior animals, from other times, be it the ice age or earlier. Pack Mammoths for cold planets, Haast's Eagles for large pest control, Riding Elephant Birds. Restore what was lost, since at once point that goat was an Andrewsarchus, that turkey a Velociraptor.
And that in a nutshell, is why we are eighty parsecs from Earth and hiding in a cave from dinosaurs.
If you're going to settle a new planet - you're going to bring along bulldozers, tractors, and plows - right? Of course to keep those running you need a supply of fuel, and numerous spare parts, and to quickly begin mining so you can produce ores needed to build replacements, and start with a colony ship big enough to haul around the hundreds of tons steel that make up these things...
Or you could do things the old way and use animals. Feed them with renewable grass, eat them when they break down, produce new ones by just leaving the old ones in a shed together... From the standpoint of mass and ship size, packing some frozen embryos with some artificial wombs, and they take less space than one bulldozer - much less a fleet of dozers and spare parts!
Now you could say there is a bit of a problem with transplanting life like this - humans can put on clothes and adapt technology as they need - getting a spacesuit on a horse is a little more difficult. Most life forms have spent thousands of years adapting to earth, not the "rather like earth" or "just a bit survivable" or "well, at least its not hell or France" exo-solar landing locations.
Enter the brilliant idea "lets make some new organisms - bigger, and tougher, stronger, with eight cup-holders fuel injected V-8s!". B-movie mad scientists have led you astray. It doesn't work like that. We can't just make stuff whole cloth, we can only include other genes that happened to exist before and hope it all works together. They can't customize DNA more than that.
But they can work backwards through the chain of evolution, to prior animals, from other times, be it the ice age or earlier. Pack Mammoths for cold planets, Haast's Eagles for large pest control, Riding Elephant Birds. Restore what was lost, since at once point that goat was an Andrewsarchus, that turkey a Velociraptor.
And that in a nutshell, is why we are eighty parsecs from Earth and hiding in a cave from dinosaurs.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
I Want a New Drug
Notes on the ROM-ER-Zero Complex by T. Savini
I. Introduction
Some have opined that "Ghoul" is the fastest growing danger to health, safety, and security in this nation. I would say the some think to small - this may very well be an international threat of unforeseen proportions. Abastardized perverted illicit formulation of a widely available clinical compound, the famous Robin-Onkhet-Michael regeneration therapy drug, abuse rapidly leads to dependance, violent action, and disregard for the consequences.
II. The Robin-Onket-Michael Complex
The ROM Complex - when used properly - one of the greatest wonder-drugs mankind has developed, on par with aspirin, tetracycline, and artificial hormones. Without being overly technical - it sends all the bodies into overdrive and rapidly heals the subject - perhaps not as dramatic as the abilities of a certain Marvel Comics character, though that is the comparison often made - and none the less, impressive. This unexpected and unnatural level of activity has a great number of repercussions for the body - tumors, pustules, migraines, weakened blood-vessels, unexpected hormonal changes, general muscle pain, extreme hunger... Well, it has a lot of potential side effects, but is for all intensive purposes internal surgery in a bottle. Epi-pen injector actually.
Usually this mixed with other drugs that help limit the side effects by targeting areas of the body more specifically. ROM-CP patches up the cardiopulmonary system, CS is Cerebro-Spinal for back injuries, and the like. ER, or emergency room is the least controlled and is meant for multiple injuries at once, such as on the battlefield or after a major accident.
A further complex of drugs given a numerical value are also added to the mix. From one to six are anesthetics to keep the patient either sedated or even unconscious for ease of handling and easing of pain. Seven through zero on the other hand awake, aware, and out of shock - zero being especially potent and keeping soldiers ready for battle, despite grievous injuries.
III. Romero Effects
Romero - shorthand for ROM-ER-Zero is the most effective and distressing formulation we know of, meant for rapid healing and retention of combat effectiveness in dire situations. At least in theory, it goes from an organic epoxy injection to broad band healing in seconds, and in less than three minuets, can transform a soldier nearly dead from sever shrapnel woulds to the abdomen and thorax into a fearless combatant.
That is the problem though. The mix of drugs makes them hyper-sensitive, nearly immune to injury, and quite completely immune to pain, leading to extreme risk-taking and often berserk rage. Although still able to fight, the soldiers brothers in arms might prefer if they did not. Furthermore, the let-down afterwards is quite capable of killing the trooper anyway. Thus the Zero formulation is designed to last a minimum of seventy-two hours to ensure that the emergency has passed and there is time to get them to a proper hospital that can deal with both the drug's effects and lingering injury.
IV. Ghoul
A super-effective stimulant that can keep a person alert and partying for three days on end, while making them quite insulated from the bad choices they make by way of healing any injuries - and a sense of both power and invincibility due to steroidal and adrenal affects. Provided they can either cope with or don't care about the after-effects, ROMERO could be considered "One hell of a drug" for the simple chemical abuser. It the hands of someone who seeks to harm others, rather than just themselves, its seen as a pseudo super-serum, as almost no weapon available to police can stop a person injected with the stuff.
ROM is widely manufactured, both for paramedic and emergency room use, and for use in areas of the third world where surgery is difficult to come by. While we are not aware of any illicit manufacturing facilities, theft from ambulances and clinics is rapidly becoming a major problem for health care providers. If face, the threat or actual conduct of armed robbery is beginning to have a noticeable impact on response times for paramedics.
I. Introduction
Some have opined that "Ghoul" is the fastest growing danger to health, safety, and security in this nation. I would say the some think to small - this may very well be an international threat of unforeseen proportions. A
II. The Robin-Onket-Michael Complex
The ROM Complex - when used properly - one of the greatest wonder-drugs mankind has developed, on par with aspirin, tetracycline, and artificial hormones. Without being overly technical - it sends all the bodies into overdrive and rapidly heals the subject - perhaps not as dramatic as the abilities of a certain Marvel Comics character, though that is the comparison often made - and none the less, impressive. This unexpected and unnatural level of activity has a great number of repercussions for the body - tumors, pustules, migraines, weakened blood-vessels, unexpected hormonal changes, general muscle pain, extreme hunger... Well, it has a lot of potential side effects, but is for all intensive purposes internal surgery in a bottle. Epi-pen injector actually.
Usually this mixed with other drugs that help limit the side effects by targeting areas of the body more specifically. ROM-CP patches up the cardiopulmonary system, CS is Cerebro-Spinal for back injuries, and the like. ER, or emergency room is the least controlled and is meant for multiple injuries at once, such as on the battlefield or after a major accident.
A further complex of drugs given a numerical value are also added to the mix. From one to six are anesthetics to keep the patient either sedated or even unconscious for ease of handling and easing of pain. Seven through zero on the other hand awake, aware, and out of shock - zero being especially potent and keeping soldiers ready for battle, despite grievous injuries.
III. Romero Effects
Romero - shorthand for ROM-ER-Zero is the most effective and distressing formulation we know of, meant for rapid healing and retention of combat effectiveness in dire situations. At least in theory, it goes from an organic epoxy injection to broad band healing in seconds, and in less than three minuets, can transform a soldier nearly dead from sever shrapnel woulds to the abdomen and thorax into a fearless combatant.
That is the problem though. The mix of drugs makes them hyper-sensitive, nearly immune to injury, and quite completely immune to pain, leading to extreme risk-taking and often berserk rage. Although still able to fight, the soldiers brothers in arms might prefer if they did not. Furthermore, the let-down afterwards is quite capable of killing the trooper anyway. Thus the Zero formulation is designed to last a minimum of seventy-two hours to ensure that the emergency has passed and there is time to get them to a proper hospital that can deal with both the drug's effects and lingering injury.
IV. Ghoul
A super-effective stimulant that can keep a person alert and partying for three days on end, while making them quite insulated from the bad choices they make by way of healing any injuries - and a sense of both power and invincibility due to steroidal and adrenal affects. Provided they can either cope with or don't care about the after-effects, ROMERO could be considered "One hell of a drug" for the simple chemical abuser. It the hands of someone who seeks to harm others, rather than just themselves, its seen as a pseudo super-serum, as almost no weapon available to police can stop a person injected with the stuff.
ROM is widely manufactured, both for paramedic and emergency room use, and for use in areas of the third world where surgery is difficult to come by. While we are not aware of any illicit manufacturing facilities, theft from ambulances and clinics is rapidly becoming a major problem for health care providers. If face, the threat or actual conduct of armed robbery is beginning to have a noticeable impact on response times for paramedics.
Monday, May 13, 2013
Zombies Want Cake
Today I turn 30. I'm not exactly in the place I expected to be at this time, but then again I never really planned that far in advance anyway. If you're not going anywhere, why rush?
Since the Anarchy Zone takes place in 2055, that would make me seventy-two at the time, and not too likely to survive the hardships. Then again, I can't think of any time in my life I would do all that well in a zombie apocalypse. I've still tried to think of some ways to cope with it, and they're rather prosaic. Specifically:
Since the Anarchy Zone takes place in 2055, that would make me seventy-two at the time, and not too likely to survive the hardships. Then again, I can't think of any time in my life I would do all that well in a zombie apocalypse. I've still tried to think of some ways to cope with it, and they're rather prosaic. Specifically:
- The most important skill you can have is "dealing with A-holes gracefully" - just because other survivors have the knowledge or resources for survival, doesn't mean you will like them.
- Never stay somewhere with less than two exits
- Claw Hammer: No sharpening, no ammunition, built in crow bar, good leverage for breaking skulls, available everywhere - its the perfect tool.
- Use ear protection when operating firearms - hearing loss and the undead don't mix.
- Strength in numbers - it works for them, make it work for you.
- Don't forget your dice - keeping a positive attitude and escaping stress with games keeps everyone more alert and away from each other's throats.
- The undead are easy, its the living that cause problems.
- Zombie Movies are warnings, not instruction manuals. This goes double for video games.
- Take time to enjoy the view, when are you going to have this experience again?
- This too shall pass.
(Number Eleven would be - "Hey baby, lets repopulate the world" does not work as a pick-up line.)
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Dark Woods Week: Mr Saxon, Mr. Celt
Mr. Saxon
Fresh air, old growth trees, physical exorcise - they say nature does a body good. Damned lie, thats what it is - nature does terrible things to bodies, almost enough to make you glad they were dead first. You've had far too much experience with what the wilderness will do to bodies over the past few months.All the evidence says its just one careful and methodical person. If you could classify it as human - after dismembered body thirty five, its really hard to pin that title on the culprit.
The trail has gone cold as those women dug out of the ravine, and its really gotten to you. So bad, the boss had to force this vacation on you, suggested an old site out of state he recalled from his childhood. It is a nice enough place, but Hawaii wouldn't get this out of your head, much less here.
Strength 4
Quick 4
Tech 4
Wits 4
Range 3
Close Combat 3
Animus: 10
Lucidity: 8
Deadening: 8
Up-Rise: 8 (16 kg in backpack)
Pack: 8 (8 slots/48 kg on hand)
Investigation
Stunt Driving
SA: Rank/Society: Police Officer
Equipment of note:
Mr. Saxon has his back-up .38 revolver and a police radio in his civilian car, but as this is a vacation, most of his equipment is miles away in the station.
Mr. Celt
Heh, he,he, he Yes! Its so nice to take a vacation, to get your mind off of work. So many harlots, so little time, but for each the cleaver shall sing its song.Strength 3
Quick 5
Tech 5
Wits 2
Range 4
Close Combat 3
Animus:10
Lucidity: 7
Deadening: 5
Up-Rise: 8 ( kg in backpack)
Pack: 7 ( slots/ kg on hand)
Animal Handling
Pharmacology
SA: Surgeon
Equipment of note:
Lucky foot (not rabbit...), good machete, really good cleaver, naughty cleaver, doctor's scrubs, assorted medications, basic doctor's kit (stethoscope, small lights, blood pressure cuff), hemp rope,
Dark Woods Week: Alpha and Omega and Something Inbetween
Mr. A (Create your own Alias)
Mr. A is a kindly looking old man who smiles as he recounts the simple pleasures of his youth growing up on a farm. Then, with the very same smile, he can gouge out a man's eyes with his thumb.Win, lose, draw - bah! He is not the one who plays the games, or determines the winner of the great international games. Mr. A receives an order, someone dies, he returns for the next one. If the autocrats once claimed to be communist, and are now claiming to be democratic - they're still autocrats, and he still does the job. More of them are foreigners these days, but it goes in cycles.
Today, it is an officer from a foreign intelligence service. Perhaps he will like to hear about how Mr. A's grandson is graduating as an engineer before having a hammer shatter the skull. Maybe he will learn about granddaughter's wedding before the screwdriver punctures the aorta. It is a good day with much to be happy about!
Strength 6
Quick 3
Tech 4
Wits 2
Range 2
Close Combat 5
Animus: 11
Lucidity: 5
Deadening: 8
Up-Rise: 10 (60 kg in backpack)
Pack: 6 ( slots/12 kg on hand)
Wood Working
Negotiation
Special Ability: Martial Arts (+1 DR in close combat)
Equipment of note:
A well stocked tool chest is in the back of his seemingly beaten up truck, meticulously organized into the metric tools for fixing the Japanese made vehicle, and the Imperial measure tools for mutilating people. (Even individual sockets are lethal in his hands). There are some sundries like maps of the area, bottled water, pre-packed food, and a sharpened military entrenching tool as well. Unlike most fifteen year old trucks, inside the cab is almost factory fresh, a testament to MR. A's semi-neurotic desire for neat and tidy surroundings.
Mr. Z (Create your own Alias)
Cold war? We won! Terror? We're winning! Its great to be a new part of the old game of nations, especially now that it can all be solved. None of this old tech torture, cloak, and dagger stuff - you see what they're doing from space, confirm with drones, and then shut down their networks with a few mouse clicks. Real spies don't get dirty.There are some nuts out there, and it is more than a nine to five job. Indeed, you've been warned that there is a foreign agent around here, and a brutal one. These days it probably just means he doesn't want sugar in his coffee while talking about bribes, but it pays to be careful.
Strength 3
Quick 3
Tech 5
Wits 5
Range 4
Close Combat 2
Animus: 8
Lucidity: 8
Deadening: 8
Up-Rise: 8 (48 kg in backpack)
Pack: 10 ( 10slots/20 kg on hand)
Access (Free running and climbing)
Swimming and SCUBA
Investigation
Hacking
Equipment of note:
Mr. Z. is actually here for a camping trip, (who would have expected that) and has the necessary gear for rock climbing as well. He also has a small nine millimeter pistol an two reloads in a concealed holster.
Capricorn Five (Create your own Alias)
Spies, they're everywhere. Killing your cats, reading your e-mail, genetically modifying your food, and turning your boss against you. You might need a wheel chair to get around most of the time, thanks to that failed attempt to assassinate you (DUI - ha! You barely touched anything that night!) but no one is going to finish that job anytime soon.Out here in the woods, you've got cover from the satellites and no cell towers to scramble your thoughts. An no one ever notices your stockpile of gelignite and fuel oil. If they cross you, they'll learn about it in the worst way possible, but for now its all safe and legal.
Better yet, nothing much around here is electrical, so when the EMP shuts down the country, it will be like nothing happened to you.
But who are all these people showing up today? No one ever comes here, unless they have some ulterior motive. Sure, the old couple that runs this place are clean (that shifty eyed handyman on the other hand...) Do they know something about the plots and the plan to shut down the power grid? Perhaps they want your land and your supplies for the coming civil war. Well, its all yours, and they aren't going to get it!
Strength 2
Quick 2
Tech 6
Wits 6
Range 5
Close Combat 1
Animus: 6
Lucidity: 12
Deadening: 8
Up-Rise: 8 (48 kg in backpack)
Pack: 12 (12 slots/ 24kg on hand)
Organic Chemistry
Cooking
SA: Blasting and Explosives
Equipment of note:
Twenty sticks of dynamite, two .45 caliber handguns, a semi-automatic .22 rifle, a foil lined van with wheelchair lift, two year supply of slightly dented canned food, five year supply of toilet paper, HAM radio, old camera, proof Lee Harvey Oswald was innocent, thirty-seven teddy-bears.
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Dark Woods Week: Mr. Rook and Mr. Crow
Mr. Rook
Damn It! It was all going so well. A young wife you hate to be away from and a job to keep fulfilled - isn't that all anyone could want? Oh how life can be so cruel. You come home early once, with good news about a bonus, and find another man in your bed.
It is not the place for police to be involved in such affairs, it is a personal matter. We shall go to the woods, give the man a day or two to make his peace, and then make sure such a slight never happens again. Accidents do happen, after all.
Strength 3
Quick 3
Tech 6
Wits 6
Range 2
Close Combat 2
Animus: 8
Lucidity: 9
Deadening: 9
Up-Rise: 9 (45 kg in backpack)
Pack: 12 (12 slots/24 kg on hand)
Equipment of note:
Mr. Rook has recently purchased a .30-06 bolt action hunting rifle and a box of twenty bullets, though he is quite unfamiliar with its use. Despite the pretense of a camping trip, he has brought almost no other gear - if asked, its because the lodge should provide sufficient facilities.
Mr. Crow
Damn It! It was all going so well. A young wife to keep fulfilled, and a job her husband hates to be away from - isn't that all anyone could want?
Its great that Mr. Rook hasn't called the police, most people would take this rather personally. Instead he has offered to go on a trip to the woods, and who knows - maybe after a day or two we'll make our peace. Accidents happen, no slight intended - though this does have me a little worried.
Strength 6
Quick 6
Tech 3
Wits 3
Range 2
Close Combat 2
Animus: 14
Lucidity: 9
Deadening: 9
Up-Rise: 9
Pack : 6
Equipment of note:
Mr. Crow has recently acquired a 12 gauge pump action shotgun with two dozen slug rounds, as well as miscellaneous camping gear, (Tent, sleeping bag, portable stove, bug spray, matches) since his partner has graciously provided the ride suggested the place. Of course, the fact that Mr. Rook has forgotten to bring orange vests, and that rifles are not allowed in this part of the season is quite odd.
Use:
While all characters in the Dark Woods scenario come with equipment and a motive, the players should be allowed to come up with a physical description and demeanor themselves - after-all, what fun is an RPG if they don't have personal investment or creative control?
Monday, April 8, 2013
Dark Woods Week: Harriet's Outlook
Harriet's Outlook campgrounds has it all - ski slopes, hunting, white water rafting, nature trails, rock climbing, fine fishing lakes, and home cooked meals. The only thing its lacking is a fresh coat of paint. And staff. And fixtures built after 1972. And phone lines. And boats. And maintenance...
OK, time to be honest - Aside from the lodge, hotel, and the old house, there is pretty much nothing but old growth forest.
Harriet's Outlook was established in the late fifties/early sixties back to nature and camping boom. In its time, it was a very impressive place. However, it didn't always meet the bills and rarely kept apace with the times, and now it is staffed mostly by the indeterminately old Harriet, her equally ancient husband, Lawrence, and Scotty, the grandson of the original handyman. Since the land is now a national park, their buildings are grandfathered in, but any big changes would be a forest of paperwork to accommodate guests unlikely to visit.
Still they try their best, and every year they greet a select few guests who truly enjoy their seclusion. This time around, they have three couples seeking this out of the way destination, a church youth group, and a few things that would not exist in a merciful world.
OK, time to be honest - Aside from the lodge, hotel, and the old house, there is pretty much nothing but old growth forest.
Harriet's Outlook was established in the late fifties/early sixties back to nature and camping boom. In its time, it was a very impressive place. However, it didn't always meet the bills and rarely kept apace with the times, and now it is staffed mostly by the indeterminately old Harriet, her equally ancient husband, Lawrence, and Scotty, the grandson of the original handyman. Since the land is now a national park, their buildings are grandfathered in, but any big changes would be a forest of paperwork to accommodate guests unlikely to visit.
Still they try their best, and every year they greet a select few guests who truly enjoy their seclusion. This time around, they have three couples seeking this out of the way destination, a church youth group, and a few things that would not exist in a merciful world.
***
The Dark Woods is a horror scenario meant for one Game master and between two and seven players. Details of the NPCs and creatures will be released over the course of the week. Those interested in playing, may wish to avoid reading the blog entries for the next few days to avoid spoiling any of the surprises.
***
It all begins simple enough. All the characters have their reasons to go camping, when a bad storm washes out the old trails, stranding them at the main lodging of the campground.
There are four building of note in the main area. They are laid out in a rough pentagon - house to the north, and then the motel, the main road, the maintenance barn, and finally the lodge.
The Motel is your fairly standard double level L shaped series of tiny rooms. The floors are peeling linoleum, the hot water doesn't work, and there are no TVs since there is no reception this far out (Cellular service doesn't work either).
Next is the Hunting Lodge - more a very large converted barn, but what a conversion. Rustic on the outside, the interior boasts a hardwood dance floor, full length bar, TV lounge (Still no reception, but a large selection of VCR tapes), and through the back entrance - a studio for cleaning and mounting game. Lawrence can be found here most of the day, although he claims to not be able to mix anything more complicated than a bottle of beer, he does in fact prove to be a good bartender who can knock back white lightning like water.
Just about anything you could need can be found in the maintenance barn, or in the various lean-too structures built onto its sides. Finding it though, that is another issue. Over fifty years of broken equipment, obsolete parts, nonstandard tools, and even a few misplaced pieces of SCUBA gear is crammed into a space that leaves barely a single path through.
Compared to the rest, the house is in immaculate condition. Its an old greyish ranch style home, with a cellar containing home made preserves and a small moonshine still.
A ways farther back is what appears to be a log cabin with a steeple - an old church barely larger than the main house, well kept if a bit drafty.
Somewhere out there is a boathouse as well, provided it hasn't collapsed. The same goes for the warming shelter near the rusted ski lift, but that is far more than a long walk away.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
My Kind of Resort
Location: Redacted
Name: Redacted
Purpose: Level Three Testing
Although field tests provide an excellent proof of concept in the real world, far too many variables are in play for very accurate assessment of some program aspects. Furthermore, the task of isolation and clean-up afterwards is a non-negligible expense and can provide the occasional hazard if the tests - deviate. Hence a need to rely on controlled locations and conditions provided by specialized laboratories.
This location in particular is useful due to its warm setting and inviting atmosphere - though it is admittedly not the most isolated of locations. Fortunately, as a hotel, it is home to a population of transients, so it is unlikely that they have much familiarity the area, or that locals will notice their disappearance as anything other than routine.
I can't say I care for the decor of the main lobby - it reminds me a bit too much of the rather messy "coconut Grove" clean up operation a good while back, though I am one of the few staff old enough to remember that. Perhaps the more legitimate critique it looks cheap, like every other "tropical" theme bar festooned with plastic palm fronds and random pineapples.
Once you're checked it everything does markedly improve. To the left is the main hall, complete with stage, dancing, buffet, and second level bar overlooking everything, though just isolated enough to be quiet. There is an outdoor mezzanine, but the view is somewhat ruined by the structures containing most of the accommodation behind them. We're probably not going to do well trying to host weddings here but I suppose that is what happens when your hotel is designed by biologists instead of architects.
To the right is a few smaller rooms dedicated to activities - small movie theaters, meeting rooms, and an arcade. I approve of the last one - we don't have nearly enough of the younger demographics in our tests - though the selection might be a bit anachronistic. Do children really play pinball all that much these days? Nine of ten machines should be actual video games with a few analog machines, not vice versa. Also, that virtual robot twin stick game is unduly distracting the staff.
Yes, yes, I am griping about minutia. Do you expect anything less of me at this point? Allowing even small mistakes breed complacency, and that is hard something our operations can afford if we wish to remain on schedule.
At the very least, there isn't much to complain about with the rooms themselves. They are your very standard tessellating L-shaped hotel room, set back to back on on two story buildings, accessed by covered halls. If it weren't for the cheery setting and fairly plush amenities, it would seem like a fairly standard mom and pop motor lodge, but credit where it is due, as out of date as the arcade is, the rooms are very modern, and our agents have put their best foot forward in their masquerade as hotel staff. Paying them twice also probably helps, but the hotel does seem to be self-supporting so far as budget goes.
Room 101 contains a clever entrance to level B of the labs, whereas Level A is from a more discrete location near the boat house. Of course, you should already be quite familiar with the testing are layout - its quite similar to the one in Paris, though a bit reinforced after that accident with type "tree triple H" (Parasitic).
Testing is set to begin soon, though it will be starting slow with a surgical type to make sure everyone is properly up to date with SOP.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Red Keycard Blues Part One
Gotcha!
The gun gave a throaty roar, overpowering the soft gurgling as the creature collapsed to the ground. Flynn wasn't too sure what it was, just that it was like a shaved gorilla with a sharks maw, and it smelled worse than three day old road kill. That was easy enough to ignore though, the fact that a half-dozen rounds from a service pistol only served to piss it off - that was an issue. How fortunate the frantic chase had led them past a mutilated security guard, a shotgun lying close to where the man had fallen.
Chance of rolling 7 or 8 on a d8: 25%
Chance of not rolling a 7 or 8 on 3d8: 42%
Probability of one success on a d6 - one in three
Probability of complete failure to hit with three d6: 28%
Pattern for d4s: 50% and 12%
Why the boring math? Because super shotguns are fun. If you remember a certain game staring a space marine from 1993 or its 1994 sequel -you know what this means. If you don't, you are dead to me - as dead as pinkies, cacodemons, lost souls, and everything else is after a few shots with the BFG-9000...
Dead and Back is a framework for running a game. Most of the time its about survival horror, but that doesn't have to be the case. What matters is how the game master describes the situation, and how often the players are granted respite.
As the above figures show, a one NecroPoint creature has fairly little chance of surviving against an average character with a weapon appropriate to its SDI. As for creatures that are weak but small and hard to hit? Then you can use necrotic threshold to simulate that any weapon can hurt them, but a certain level of success is required to do so.
The base zombies would probably be about two SDI and one NP, Chain-gunners and standard demons same SDI and two NP. Lost souls also have one NP and one SDI, but a threshold of two, so they're really hard to hit.
Our next tier of opponents - like the cacodemon have a higher SDI, but a rocket will still demolish them in one hit, so its still just one or two NP.
Barrons, Cyberdemons, and the like are why there is an abomination category with speed tracks. These are the ones that take many hits, though their danger may vary. Knights have a low SDI, but are still bullet sponges, while their half mechanical counterparts have SDI high enough to take multiple hits from anti-tank weapons.
The gun gave a throaty roar, overpowering the soft gurgling as the creature collapsed to the ground. Flynn wasn't too sure what it was, just that it was like a shaved gorilla with a sharks maw, and it smelled worse than three day old road kill. That was easy enough to ignore though, the fact that a half-dozen rounds from a service pistol only served to piss it off - that was an issue. How fortunate the frantic chase had led them past a mutilated security guard, a shotgun lying close to where the man had fallen.
Chance of rolling 7 or 8 on a d8: 25%
Chance of not rolling a 7 or 8 on 3d8: 42%
Probability of one success on a d6 - one in three
Probability of complete failure to hit with three d6: 28%
Pattern for d4s: 50% and 12%
Why the boring math? Because super shotguns are fun. If you remember a certain game staring a space marine from 1993 or its 1994 sequel -you know what this means. If you don't, you are dead to me - as dead as pinkies, cacodemons, lost souls, and everything else is after a few shots with the BFG-9000...
Dead and Back is a framework for running a game. Most of the time its about survival horror, but that doesn't have to be the case. What matters is how the game master describes the situation, and how often the players are granted respite.
As the above figures show, a one NecroPoint creature has fairly little chance of surviving against an average character with a weapon appropriate to its SDI. As for creatures that are weak but small and hard to hit? Then you can use necrotic threshold to simulate that any weapon can hurt them, but a certain level of success is required to do so.
The base zombies would probably be about two SDI and one NP, Chain-gunners and standard demons same SDI and two NP. Lost souls also have one NP and one SDI, but a threshold of two, so they're really hard to hit.
Our next tier of opponents - like the cacodemon have a higher SDI, but a rocket will still demolish them in one hit, so its still just one or two NP.
Barrons, Cyberdemons, and the like are why there is an abomination category with speed tracks. These are the ones that take many hits, though their danger may vary. Knights have a low SDI, but are still bullet sponges, while their half mechanical counterparts have SDI high enough to take multiple hits from anti-tank weapons.
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Turkmenistan. Farm. Deployment 35.
The ground smelled of fresh earth, the scent of newly cut hay was heavy, the dew light. It was a good place. An honest place, worried of of harvest and kin, a world away from the insanity of our leaders and the other ones ready to kill us all over a matter of economics.
Too bad it was 5412-02021983-325-8889.
It would have been proper to simply have the man who let a level five hematvore escape shot. But this was odd, and too secret to bring before the usual justice system. We sent him in first instead, some up close and personal knowledge of what the creature could do. He probably did from the old training films, but Mr. Lvod would do worse with a combination of combat drugs and a twenty-centimeter trench knife.
Outside, there was little blood, at least not in a place where would see it easily. Perhaps in a row between fields, amongst the windbreaks branches, or by the duck pond - but we had built the level five infiltrators too well to expect anything blatant. Inside would be a different story. The creature would be going mad from the lack of support drugs, falling apart and unstable.
Theses simple people wouldn't be abusing the kind of drugs favored by Hollywood producers, nothing worse than vodka and kvass. Yet still, our creation would be tearing them apart to get some semblance of what it needed to prolong its existence. We could only hope this had gone on long enough that we would not have to do further clean-up.
Aside from our - volunteer - leader, it was all routine.
Too bad it was 5412-02021983-325-8889.
It would have been proper to simply have the man who let a level five hematvore escape shot. But this was odd, and too secret to bring before the usual justice system. We sent him in first instead, some up close and personal knowledge of what the creature could do. He probably did from the old training films, but Mr. Lvod would do worse with a combination of combat drugs and a twenty-centimeter trench knife.
Outside, there was little blood, at least not in a place where would see it easily. Perhaps in a row between fields, amongst the windbreaks branches, or by the duck pond - but we had built the level five infiltrators too well to expect anything blatant. Inside would be a different story. The creature would be going mad from the lack of support drugs, falling apart and unstable.
Theses simple people wouldn't be abusing the kind of drugs favored by Hollywood producers, nothing worse than vodka and kvass. Yet still, our creation would be tearing them apart to get some semblance of what it needed to prolong its existence. We could only hope this had gone on long enough that we would not have to do further clean-up.
Aside from our - volunteer - leader, it was all routine.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Alternate Setting: Necrotic Narcotics
A fan turned overhead, but its failing motor added only a squeal, rather than comfort, to the stale air. Serious men with automatic weapons and fancy suits did their best to ignore both the noise and heat. Their boss was sitting in a worn chair towards the center of the room, looking somewhat more comfortable in a open shirt and stylish khakis. Reflected in his silvered sunglasses was a magician wearing a top hat, white body paint, and little else.
"What you ask, is knowledge I have already granted another."
"I can pay you double whatever he is offering."
"No slave am I, I bare not the chains of money. What other offerings can you provide."
"Women, wine, protection."
"Protection?"
"Sure you don't think this shack is a good place to stay when making enemies in the cartels you don't support? That hill outside would let a half-decent sharp shooter put a bullet in every head with hardly a thought.
"And what good would that do them? My servants are well beyond needing their head, and the fetish is stored nowhere near here - without me, nothing keeps them at bay.
"So what do you want?"
"To Help."
Dead men tell no tales. They don't take a cut of the product, steal from the boss, or engage in side-business either. For that mater, what legal consequences can you levy at a walking corpse?
Drug runners the world over are turning to dark magic to augment their operations. Gangs are literally killing each other to get the secret - and produce more soldiers in the process.
Police departments are only beginning to get rumors of this action, and most dismiss it as just a new type of combat oriented designer drug or horror stories to scare enemies into submission.A select few special agents and renegade cops have figured out that it might be more, but for now, their support is limited. Even those who know its real have far to many questions left to effectively stop it. How did the cartels find this, how come magic is working at all?
What if the necromances themselves have an alternative motive? They already control death itself, and could have used these creatures for profit in many other ways - why this, and why now?
"What you ask, is knowledge I have already granted another."
"I can pay you double whatever he is offering."
"No slave am I, I bare not the chains of money. What other offerings can you provide."
"Women, wine, protection."
"Protection?"
"Sure you don't think this shack is a good place to stay when making enemies in the cartels you don't support? That hill outside would let a half-decent sharp shooter put a bullet in every head with hardly a thought.
"And what good would that do them? My servants are well beyond needing their head, and the fetish is stored nowhere near here - without me, nothing keeps them at bay.
"So what do you want?"
"To Help."
***
Dead men tell no tales. They don't take a cut of the product, steal from the boss, or engage in side-business either. For that mater, what legal consequences can you levy at a walking corpse?
Drug runners the world over are turning to dark magic to augment their operations. Gangs are literally killing each other to get the secret - and produce more soldiers in the process.
Police departments are only beginning to get rumors of this action, and most dismiss it as just a new type of combat oriented designer drug or horror stories to scare enemies into submission.A select few special agents and renegade cops have figured out that it might be more, but for now, their support is limited. Even those who know its real have far to many questions left to effectively stop it. How did the cartels find this, how come magic is working at all?
What if the necromances themselves have an alternative motive? They already control death itself, and could have used these creatures for profit in many other ways - why this, and why now?
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
So, What About... Magic?
The Anarchy Zones is based on hard science, well crunchy at least - it gets soggy if you leave it in milk too long. But not all horror settings are that way, and D&B is supposed to handle suspense in general, even if the blog is mostly for the AZ.
To keep things simple, there are three main concepts for the magic system. First, is to keep things simple - rather than adding another attribute or pool to look after, D&B magic uses the resources already on hand. Secondly, it is based on the idea that like affects like. And finally, magic is an extension of the caster.
These ideas are untested prototypes, so use at your own risk - then tell me about it.
The First and Second Ideas
Casting magic and fighting the will of the universe is fatiguing, so the basic currency of supernatural abilities is Deadening. However, like affects like, and if you want to affect a living thing - blood and Animus must be spent. Anything that is going to last more than a few moments is a mighty contest of the character's will against the universe, so spending lucidity increases the duration.
Magic tends to be at the same scale of its cater - so a magic attack is probably not going to destroy a tank, but an illusion will fool the crew. Attempts to use strength at a distance will simply mirror the magician's muscles. Lucidity can be spent to increase the power - but that is limited.
In more concrete terms, spending a point of deadening will let you affect some inanimate object at a distance, for a few seconds. Spending multiple points will add to the effect, but don't affect duration. To harm or heal a person, a point of animus is spent (wounding the caster) and with additional animus spent adding two extra dice to the roll. (Drawing from you own body is powerful stuff!) Either way, the effect occurs for only a short period of time - about a combat round. Lucidity can be spent to successively increase the duration by a factor of four. (10-40-160 (two min+) - 640 (ten min+) and so forth) At the tenth iteration, the effect simply becomes permanent, though the caster is probably gibbering insane by that point - since all of it needs to be spent at once.
Circles and wards have a place in this system as well. An area consecrated to the user, and set up symbolically of its purpose allows a magician to combine the attributes of multiple people. For example, a room set up to look a bit like a surgical theater with overhead lights, some metal trays, and something that looks like an anesthetic canister and the appropriate symbols would allow a medically inclined mage to preform healing spells drawing on the animus of others without loosing an excessive amount of blood after the first two patients. This combined effort ability also means that a coterie is the far more sane (literally and figuratively) way to permanently enchant an item.
The Third Idea
Although no relation to Anderi Shakharov's Third Idea (ie the Teller-Ulam device at the core of Hydrogen Bombs), it is a a great power not to be underestimated.
From a mechanics point of view, a characters attributes are the base skill for using a type of magic. Exerting force at a distance - use Strength, Wits is used to create an illusion use Wits, and Technique to preform surgery without tools.
Perhaps more important is the affect on role play. No two casters magic can take the same form, there is no generic "magic missile" or "cure light wounds". They can do the same thing but never the same way. Perhaps one person sings songs that command bones to heal and the other has little men jump from their hand to stitch the wounds together.
Practice
So for example, Dominic wants to make a lethal guardian to block an entrance-way. To harm living things, it takes animus, and since he wants this extra dangerous, he spends two instead of the only one required. Drawing from the depths of his will and sanity to fight the universe, he spends five lucidity to have it last for (10x4x4x4x4x4 =10,240 seconds/170 min) just under three hours. Being a big and physical guy, the apparition is formed from strength and appears as an angry poltergeist - light and motion banging about the corridor waiting for anyone to enter and be attacked by and attack equal to three dice of aim. (At d8 for human scale, since its a human casting.)
Gregory is trying to get a small passenger aircraft repaired quickly. He reaches for his guitar and sings a song about flight and freedom, the refrain begging the spirits of air to assist. Two others join hands and sing along. Spending a point of lucidity to work on the scale of the aircraft, he then borrows four more - two from the each of the others in the circle for more time, and two points of deadening. Little faeries spring into existence. They work together for about three hours (the same as Dominic's poltergeist, but with less drain on the individual) with a profeciency equal to Gregory's tech plus two. However, they need the proper parts to work with - actually wishing a replacement engine into existence would've taken at least twice as much lucidity.
To keep things simple, there are three main concepts for the magic system. First, is to keep things simple - rather than adding another attribute or pool to look after, D&B magic uses the resources already on hand. Secondly, it is based on the idea that like affects like. And finally, magic is an extension of the caster.
These ideas are untested prototypes, so use at your own risk - then tell me about it.
The First and Second Ideas
Casting magic and fighting the will of the universe is fatiguing, so the basic currency of supernatural abilities is Deadening. However, like affects like, and if you want to affect a living thing - blood and Animus must be spent. Anything that is going to last more than a few moments is a mighty contest of the character's will against the universe, so spending lucidity increases the duration.
Magic tends to be at the same scale of its cater - so a magic attack is probably not going to destroy a tank, but an illusion will fool the crew. Attempts to use strength at a distance will simply mirror the magician's muscles. Lucidity can be spent to increase the power - but that is limited.
In more concrete terms, spending a point of deadening will let you affect some inanimate object at a distance, for a few seconds. Spending multiple points will add to the effect, but don't affect duration. To harm or heal a person, a point of animus is spent (wounding the caster) and with additional animus spent adding two extra dice to the roll. (Drawing from you own body is powerful stuff!) Either way, the effect occurs for only a short period of time - about a combat round. Lucidity can be spent to successively increase the duration by a factor of four. (10-40-160 (two min+) - 640 (ten min+) and so forth) At the tenth iteration, the effect simply becomes permanent, though the caster is probably gibbering insane by that point - since all of it needs to be spent at once.
Circles and wards have a place in this system as well. An area consecrated to the user, and set up symbolically of its purpose allows a magician to combine the attributes of multiple people. For example, a room set up to look a bit like a surgical theater with overhead lights, some metal trays, and something that looks like an anesthetic canister and the appropriate symbols would allow a medically inclined mage to preform healing spells drawing on the animus of others without loosing an excessive amount of blood after the first two patients. This combined effort ability also means that a coterie is the far more sane (literally and figuratively) way to permanently enchant an item.
The Third Idea
Although no relation to Anderi Shakharov's Third Idea (ie the Teller-Ulam device at the core of Hydrogen Bombs), it is a a great power not to be underestimated.
From a mechanics point of view, a characters attributes are the base skill for using a type of magic. Exerting force at a distance - use Strength, Wits is used to create an illusion use Wits, and Technique to preform surgery without tools.
Perhaps more important is the affect on role play. No two casters magic can take the same form, there is no generic "magic missile" or "cure light wounds". They can do the same thing but never the same way. Perhaps one person sings songs that command bones to heal and the other has little men jump from their hand to stitch the wounds together.
Practice
So for example, Dominic wants to make a lethal guardian to block an entrance-way. To harm living things, it takes animus, and since he wants this extra dangerous, he spends two instead of the only one required. Drawing from the depths of his will and sanity to fight the universe, he spends five lucidity to have it last for (10x4x4x4x4x4 =10,240 seconds/170 min) just under three hours. Being a big and physical guy, the apparition is formed from strength and appears as an angry poltergeist - light and motion banging about the corridor waiting for anyone to enter and be attacked by and attack equal to three dice of aim. (At d8 for human scale, since its a human casting.)
Gregory is trying to get a small passenger aircraft repaired quickly. He reaches for his guitar and sings a song about flight and freedom, the refrain begging the spirits of air to assist. Two others join hands and sing along. Spending a point of lucidity to work on the scale of the aircraft, he then borrows four more - two from the each of the others in the circle for more time, and two points of deadening. Little faeries spring into existence. They work together for about three hours (the same as Dominic's poltergeist, but with less drain on the individual) with a profeciency equal to Gregory's tech plus two. However, they need the proper parts to work with - actually wishing a replacement engine into existence would've taken at least twice as much lucidity.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Green Flu Interpretation Part One
Open a new tab or window, and check out a music video on "The Escapist" called "The Dead Don't Shuffle". Bookmark that site while you're at it - many of the the other songs by this artist are good as well.
Back? Good. Fell psyched up about doing a zombie game? Even Better.
Shall we see what it takes to convert what you've just seen into Dead and Back?
The Left4Dead Wiki has more information for those who want to replicate this video game. Unofficially of course, I have no affiliation with Valve Software - though I do like their products.
Common Infected
Although numerous, the average Green Flu infected is only a minor challenge for the prepared. A few handgun bullets to the torso or a good swing with a melee weapon will take them down easily enough. These are an excellent example of a simple one Necropoint unnatural creature, with a low SDI.
Over confidence is dangerous, however, as the song points out, these are running and somewhat athletic creatures. It is not unknown for them to fall twenty feet and keep running when seeking prey.
Common Infected Stats:
Further complicating matters are the occasional uncommon types - people who succumbed to the plague while wearing protective gear. Simplest to replicate are former police officers and soldiers in anti-ballistic vests - simply raise the SDI to three or four to show how its harder to land a telling blow without armor piercing weapons. Government personnel in Haz-Mat suits are immune to fire, in addition to having a higher SDI than normal - three would suffice.
Special Infected:
Recreating the special infected takes a little more thought. As of yet, there is no point buy balance system for the abilities of creatures - without more feedback or time, its a bit unlikely. However, like all rules in an RPG, those are more guidelines than requirements, and a good GM can manage the game as they see fit.
The Boomer is a corpulent walking bomb. It spits a noxious bile that can partially incapacitate humans, and acts as a powerful attractant to bring on additional infected. Failing that, being killed at close range or falling from a large height will cause it to burst, releasing its noxious bile over a wide area. Its rather fragile and slow however, with the main threat coming from its ability to bring other creatures into ambush positions.
Boomer:
It definitely counts as an Abomination type of creature., rather like the anarchy zone's Type Three or Lambda. (Perhaps a little less dangerous without the built in technical upgrades seen in the latter though.)
Tank:
Back? Good. Fell psyched up about doing a zombie game? Even Better.
Shall we see what it takes to convert what you've just seen into Dead and Back?
The Left4Dead Wiki has more information for those who want to replicate this video game. Unofficially of course, I have no affiliation with Valve Software - though I do like their products.
Common Infected
Although numerous, the average Green Flu infected is only a minor challenge for the prepared. A few handgun bullets to the torso or a good swing with a melee weapon will take them down easily enough. These are an excellent example of a simple one Necropoint unnatural creature, with a low SDI.
Over confidence is dangerous, however, as the song points out, these are running and somewhat athletic creatures. It is not unknown for them to fall twenty feet and keep running when seeking prey.
Common Infected Stats:
- Stregnth: 3
- Tech: 2
- Quick: 2
- Wits: 1
- Close Combat: 3
- Ranged: 1
- SDI: 1
- NecroPoints: 1
- Speed: 7 (Human Jog)
Further complicating matters are the occasional uncommon types - people who succumbed to the plague while wearing protective gear. Simplest to replicate are former police officers and soldiers in anti-ballistic vests - simply raise the SDI to three or four to show how its harder to land a telling blow without armor piercing weapons. Government personnel in Haz-Mat suits are immune to fire, in addition to having a higher SDI than normal - three would suffice.
Special Infected:
Recreating the special infected takes a little more thought. As of yet, there is no point buy balance system for the abilities of creatures - without more feedback or time, its a bit unlikely. However, like all rules in an RPG, those are more guidelines than requirements, and a good GM can manage the game as they see fit.
The Boomer is a corpulent walking bomb. It spits a noxious bile that can partially incapacitate humans, and acts as a powerful attractant to bring on additional infected. Failing that, being killed at close range or falling from a large height will cause it to burst, releasing its noxious bile over a wide area. Its rather fragile and slow however, with the main threat coming from its ability to bring other creatures into ambush positions.
Boomer:
- Strength: 2
- Tech: 2
- Quick: 2
- Wits: 1
- Close Combat: 2
- Ranged: 1
- SDI: 2
- NecroPoints: 1
It definitely counts as an Abomination type of creature., rather like the anarchy zone's Type Three or Lambda. (Perhaps a little less dangerous without the built in technical upgrades seen in the latter though.)
Tank:
- Strength: 8
- Tech: 2
- Quick: 2
- Wits: 1
- Close Combat: 6
- Ranged: 2
- SDI: 4
- O O O
- O O O O
- O O O O
- O O O O
- Speed: 6, -1 per at half health
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Alternate D&B Setting: Unit 2552 Part Three
Creatures:
There are two main types of creatures produced by biopreparat. Chimeras are often (though not always) derived from non-human creatures and are built with semi-specific goals in mind. For example, an acid spitting cat like creature meant to sabotage military bases and equipment. The other type is Hematavores - former humans that have become vampire like creatures.
Hematavores are further split into five classifications:
Notably, none of the hematavores are notably superhuman. They don't feature armored skin, and can technically be killed without destroying the head. However, provided the right drugs (the ones used to control them - see below) they have a near infinite pain threshold and supply of adrenaline - a relentless type could probably run a marathon even after both legs were shot off at the knee.
Appearance:
A body needs to be mostly intact to be used for the hematavore process. They will usually be stitched up and clothed as needed, so the end result is a fairly normal looking person, though some might show heavy scarring depending on the end of their former life. Sadistic and Relentless types are the notable exceptions.
Sadistic types end up a bit larger, looking more like body builders, though often wires, tubes, or small boxes can be seen just under the skin - something is quite obviously wrong.
Relentless types have even more machinery sticking out of them, and large layers of subcutacious fat to sustain them - a ready to deply one appears quite corpulent. Meanwhile, one that has been operating in the field will be gaunt in most areas, with folds of skin hanging from others. At almost no point do they have what seems to be healthy proportions, but since they don't need to sleep - are often used at night when the enemy is less likely to notice.
Control
There are two main physical restrictions on the creatures produced by Biopreparat.
Hematavores drink blood - hence the name - but not necessarily for food. Despite the occasional off-the-wall attempt, no supernatural creatures have proven possible, and from a natural standpoint, very few things can subsist on blood alone. However, they are conditioned to need it as one of the
What they do actually require is certain types of drugs. The cellular regeneration rates of the creatures is limited without certain strong stimulants - limiting their capacity to repair damage. This also means that they should have a limited life span of a few months to years.Secondly, they need other chemicals to keep them from collapsing in pain and shock - a precaution that can limit some types to as little as two weeks of operation.
Unfortunately, many of the drugs were either already common ones adapted to other purposes, or have certain analogs more common than the actual type. A hematavore that can find a supply of cocaine, heroin, certain anti-depression medications, Attention Deficit Disorder treatments, PCP and a number of other possibilities, circumvents the main chemical controls.
Basic Hematavore Stats:
Before the additional surgeries, chemical augmentation,and training, all hematavores start with a simple template. Although such basic creatures could exist, they are not notably aggressive an a minimal threat.
*To clarify Necrotic Threshold - the creature ignores a number of otherwise successful hits, but otherwise loses NP like animus (though usually without slowing down).
For example, against an NT 2 SDI 2, NP 2 creature is attacked by a character with Ranged Attack 4 and an DR 3 weapon. 4d6 is rolled, and the result is 2,6,6,6 - three hits. However, the NT reduces this to only one success, meaning the stats are now NT2 SDI 2 NP 1.
Generally speaking, a high SDI means the creature in invulnerable to lesser weapons and a specific area must be destroyed. NT is usually coupled with low SDI, means it can be wounded, it just takes a lot of damage before dying.
No amount of rifle bullets will destroy a tank, but a hit to its weak armor on the rear with a man-portable rocket will ruin the vehicle. An airplane can be shot down with a machine-gun, but a lot of holes need to be made assuring vital systems are compromised.
There are two main types of creatures produced by biopreparat. Chimeras are often (though not always) derived from non-human creatures and are built with semi-specific goals in mind. For example, an acid spitting cat like creature meant to sabotage military bases and equipment. The other type is Hematavores - former humans that have become vampire like creatures.
Hematavores are further split into five classifications:
- Relentless: Zombie like, but fast, with high tolerance of pain
- Cunning: Focused on a single target, a hard to kill assassin
- Sadistic: Stronger, slower, and more likely to continually desecrate bodies than move on.
- Serial: Capable of attacks over the course of weeks or months with little resupply.
- Infiltrator: Capable of speach, thought, and disguise
Notably, none of the hematavores are notably superhuman. They don't feature armored skin, and can technically be killed without destroying the head. However, provided the right drugs (the ones used to control them - see below) they have a near infinite pain threshold and supply of adrenaline - a relentless type could probably run a marathon even after both legs were shot off at the knee.
Appearance:
A body needs to be mostly intact to be used for the hematavore process. They will usually be stitched up and clothed as needed, so the end result is a fairly normal looking person, though some might show heavy scarring depending on the end of their former life. Sadistic and Relentless types are the notable exceptions.
Sadistic types end up a bit larger, looking more like body builders, though often wires, tubes, or small boxes can be seen just under the skin - something is quite obviously wrong.
Relentless types have even more machinery sticking out of them, and large layers of subcutacious fat to sustain them - a ready to deply one appears quite corpulent. Meanwhile, one that has been operating in the field will be gaunt in most areas, with folds of skin hanging from others. At almost no point do they have what seems to be healthy proportions, but since they don't need to sleep - are often used at night when the enemy is less likely to notice.
Control
There are two main physical restrictions on the creatures produced by Biopreparat.
Hematavores drink blood - hence the name - but not necessarily for food. Despite the occasional off-the-wall attempt, no supernatural creatures have proven possible, and from a natural standpoint, very few things can subsist on blood alone. However, they are conditioned to need it as one of the
What they do actually require is certain types of drugs. The cellular regeneration rates of the creatures is limited without certain strong stimulants - limiting their capacity to repair damage. This also means that they should have a limited life span of a few months to years.Secondly, they need other chemicals to keep them from collapsing in pain and shock - a precaution that can limit some types to as little as two weeks of operation.
Unfortunately, many of the drugs were either already common ones adapted to other purposes, or have certain analogs more common than the actual type. A hematavore that can find a supply of cocaine, heroin, certain anti-depression medications, Attention Deficit Disorder treatments, PCP and a number of other possibilities, circumvents the main chemical controls.
Basic Hematavore Stats:
Before the additional surgeries, chemical augmentation,and training, all hematavores start with a simple template. Although such basic creatures could exist, they are not notably aggressive an a minimal threat.
- Stregnth: 3
- Tech: 2
- Quick: 2
- Wits: 1
- Close Combat: 3
- Ranged: 1
- SDI: 2
- Necrotic Threshold*: 2
- NecroPoints: 1
Relentless Type:
SDI increased to three, Quick to four, and two NP rather than one Cunning
Wits 2, Ranged 3Sadistic
Strength to Five, Close combat four, SDI threeSerial
Wit 2, NP 6, NT 2Infiltrator
Tech, quick, wits, ranged attack, and NP to three. Often smart enough to acquire body armor raising SDI as well. *To clarify Necrotic Threshold - the creature ignores a number of otherwise successful hits, but otherwise loses NP like animus (though usually without slowing down).
For example, against an NT 2 SDI 2, NP 2 creature is attacked by a character with Ranged Attack 4 and an DR 3 weapon. 4d6 is rolled, and the result is 2,6,6,6 - three hits. However, the NT reduces this to only one success, meaning the stats are now NT2 SDI 2 NP 1.
Generally speaking, a high SDI means the creature in invulnerable to lesser weapons and a specific area must be destroyed. NT is usually coupled with low SDI, means it can be wounded, it just takes a lot of damage before dying.
No amount of rifle bullets will destroy a tank, but a hit to its weak armor on the rear with a man-portable rocket will ruin the vehicle. An airplane can be shot down with a machine-gun, but a lot of holes need to be made assuring vital systems are compromised.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Alternate D&B Setting: Unit 2552 Part Two
Recruiting:
Unit Weaponry
Despite the connotations of being a special elite unit, 2552 is mostly equipped with an assortment of obsolescent weapons. Notably, the main weapon is not the AK-74, nor the older AKM, instead standard issue is the SKS carbine. Most of the creatures involved are not phased by suppressive fire or need to be hit accurately - making the semi-automatic rifle preferable.
Even older weapons have a place as well. The PPSh-41 submachinegun of world war two manufacture is greatly appreciated. It is small and maneuverable in tight confines, a 71 round drum magazine can provide lasting fire support. Furthermore, 7.62x25mm pistol ammunition delivers sufficient stopping power, while still reducing the risks of ricochet and over-penetration compared to rifle caliber weapons. Another consideration is that a few million are sitting in old warehouses, and no one is going to notice them diverted to black projects.
Another surprisingly old weapon is a TOZ manufactured copy of the Browning Auto-5 Shotgun. It is a robust weapon capable of quickly firing five sixteen gauge shotgun shells.
Handguns are a matter of individual preference. TT-33 pistols pistols are the most common side arm, as they share ammunition with the PPSh and are easy to acquire from overlooked stocks. The Nagant revolver with its silencer is also appreciated, as using guns in confined spaces can result in hearing loss, and in turn, inability to notice some enemies.
Although most of these weapons are twenty to forty years older than the uses, they are issued a great variety of custom ammunition types. This includes heavy subsonic rounds to protect hearing and bullets made from unusual materials or coated with special toxins for dealing with certain oddities.
Other Gear
Given their proximity to stores of dangerous compounds, it is not uncommon for the unit to operate in bio-chemical defense gear. Night vision gear, and other optical enhancements are given on a case by cases basis - however such equipment is rather rare in the soviet military at this time, so its unlikely to be granted.
The signature equipment of the group, however, is the "biological shield jacket". It appears to be the rather normal heavy canvas and wool winter coat issued to most soldiers. It is made from far more exotic materials though, and is impregnable to many types of acids and chemical weapons. Steel bars and mesh at strategic points protect the wearer from bites and claws, and though its bullet resistant to only small caliber rounds, the protection includes the entire torso down to just below the knees.A small glycol based cooling unit similar to those used by space walking cosmonauts makes the heavy coat bearable to wear in all conditions, and a drug injection system can keep a solider going for extended periods of time despite injury or exhaustion.
The unit is surprisingly well equipped with aircraft for rapid transport. This includes two dozen AN-2s, four an-26, a dozen Mi-8s, and three mammoth Mi-26 cargo helicopters. A number of these are specially equipped for either laying mines to prevent traffic into and out of zones of concern, as well as testing for chemical and biological contamination.
Operational Deployments
Standard deployment consists of sixteen to forty-eight man platoons, which are in turn broken down into four man kill teams. Weaponry varies depending on environment, but each team is usually given two SMGs, a shotgun, and a rifle, or two rifles and one each of the other weapons.
Most of the time, it is fairly simple. Animals or prisoners are released into a testing environment, followed shorty there-after by a batch of specimens. After 48 hours, the unit is sent in to sweep the facility and liquidate anything that remains.
Sometime involvement becomes more complicated when a potential pathogen or subject escapes. The unit is fully capable of tracking these things down, though outside their bunkers, there are no identifying insignia, and the members are encouraged to hide their faces at all times - usually with a gas mask.
Facilities:
Unit 2552 is highly mobile and spends most of its time in tents or en-route. Most testing is in fact confined to the central Asian republics, this is just a method to confuse oversight.
A few permanent facilities do exist, but they usually have the cover of a normal looking hospital, prison, or power plant. beneath are extensive reinforced concrete bunkers and laboratories. Most rooms are filled with double-walled stainless steel tanks containing unknown substances capable of wiping out cites. Others are dull blue administration areas and greenish living spaces. But there are also extra large arenas, some like old forests, some replicating towns or the inside of manufacturing plants, surrounded by cat-walks and bullet proof glass so that almost every centimeter can be watched.
Although it may seem counter-intuitive, 2552 does not look for cream of the crop recruits. That would be both too obvious to oversight, and those solders would be better for spetsnaz or naval infantry battalions anyway. Instead, selection seems almost random, covered by accidents that conveniently sideline troops with the right blood type, rh factors, and good grades in science or technical matters. From there, it is a forced reassignment on "medical duties", "special assignment" or "political relocation" to the main base in the central Asian republics.
Once there, training seems normal - except for an oddly large number of doctors on the sidelines, and a far earlier and more intensive introduction to NBC warfare techniques. After the first eight weeks of training, the injections start.
"Washout rate" at this point can be as high as 46%. Side affects can include loss of appetite, sudden necrosis and gangrene, mental instability, migraines, open sores, strange cravings, light sensitivity, chronic muscle aches, heart attacks, seizures, ringing in the ears, and gas. However,those who remain will have a notable advantage over those who have not received the serums. Their bones become fifty percent stronger than base-line, their low light vision improved, hearing slightly better, fatigue lessened, and reaction times slightly better than normal.
After this, the real training and introduction to the unit begins.
Unit Weaponry
Despite the connotations of being a special elite unit, 2552 is mostly equipped with an assortment of obsolescent weapons. Notably, the main weapon is not the AK-74, nor the older AKM, instead standard issue is the SKS carbine. Most of the creatures involved are not phased by suppressive fire or need to be hit accurately - making the semi-automatic rifle preferable.
Even older weapons have a place as well. The PPSh-41 submachinegun of world war two manufacture is greatly appreciated. It is small and maneuverable in tight confines, a 71 round drum magazine can provide lasting fire support. Furthermore, 7.62x25mm pistol ammunition delivers sufficient stopping power, while still reducing the risks of ricochet and over-penetration compared to rifle caliber weapons. Another consideration is that a few million are sitting in old warehouses, and no one is going to notice them diverted to black projects.
Another surprisingly old weapon is a TOZ manufactured copy of the Browning Auto-5 Shotgun. It is a robust weapon capable of quickly firing five sixteen gauge shotgun shells.
Handguns are a matter of individual preference. TT-33 pistols pistols are the most common side arm, as they share ammunition with the PPSh and are easy to acquire from overlooked stocks. The Nagant revolver with its silencer is also appreciated, as using guns in confined spaces can result in hearing loss, and in turn, inability to notice some enemies.
Although most of these weapons are twenty to forty years older than the uses, they are issued a great variety of custom ammunition types. This includes heavy subsonic rounds to protect hearing and bullets made from unusual materials or coated with special toxins for dealing with certain oddities.
Other Gear
Given their proximity to stores of dangerous compounds, it is not uncommon for the unit to operate in bio-chemical defense gear. Night vision gear, and other optical enhancements are given on a case by cases basis - however such equipment is rather rare in the soviet military at this time, so its unlikely to be granted.
The signature equipment of the group, however, is the "biological shield jacket". It appears to be the rather normal heavy canvas and wool winter coat issued to most soldiers. It is made from far more exotic materials though, and is impregnable to many types of acids and chemical weapons. Steel bars and mesh at strategic points protect the wearer from bites and claws, and though its bullet resistant to only small caliber rounds, the protection includes the entire torso down to just below the knees.A small glycol based cooling unit similar to those used by space walking cosmonauts makes the heavy coat bearable to wear in all conditions, and a drug injection system can keep a solider going for extended periods of time despite injury or exhaustion.
The unit is surprisingly well equipped with aircraft for rapid transport. This includes two dozen AN-2s, four an-26, a dozen Mi-8s, and three mammoth Mi-26 cargo helicopters. A number of these are specially equipped for either laying mines to prevent traffic into and out of zones of concern, as well as testing for chemical and biological contamination.
Operational Deployments
Standard deployment consists of sixteen to forty-eight man platoons, which are in turn broken down into four man kill teams. Weaponry varies depending on environment, but each team is usually given two SMGs, a shotgun, and a rifle, or two rifles and one each of the other weapons.
Most of the time, it is fairly simple. Animals or prisoners are released into a testing environment, followed shorty there-after by a batch of specimens. After 48 hours, the unit is sent in to sweep the facility and liquidate anything that remains.
Sometime involvement becomes more complicated when a potential pathogen or subject escapes. The unit is fully capable of tracking these things down, though outside their bunkers, there are no identifying insignia, and the members are encouraged to hide their faces at all times - usually with a gas mask.
Facilities:
Unit 2552 is highly mobile and spends most of its time in tents or en-route. Most testing is in fact confined to the central Asian republics, this is just a method to confuse oversight.
A few permanent facilities do exist, but they usually have the cover of a normal looking hospital, prison, or power plant. beneath are extensive reinforced concrete bunkers and laboratories. Most rooms are filled with double-walled stainless steel tanks containing unknown substances capable of wiping out cites. Others are dull blue administration areas and greenish living spaces. But there are also extra large arenas, some like old forests, some replicating towns or the inside of manufacturing plants, surrounded by cat-walks and bullet proof glass so that almost every centimeter can be watched.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Alternate D&B Setting: Border Unit 2552 Part One
Russia took horrible losses during the first world war, the Soviet Union took even worse during the second. After that, they were desperate to not see these events repeat. This went so far as to letting people starve so the money could be spent on nuclear bombs. Poorly tested aircraft were rushed into production - early MiG-19s lacked sufficient heat shielding between the engines and fuel tanks, leading to a few mid-air explosions.
Perhaps the brightest jewel in this crown of fear was Biopreparat. (Биопрепарат, "Biological substance preparation") Tens of thousands of scientists and workers preparing biological weapons.
What if they had gone father than just plague and pox? What if they really had been researching for a way to make super-soldiers or a method of putting those historic high casualty figures to good use?
That is where unit 2552 comes into play. Officially, it just another unit of border guards in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. Their mission is to assist KGB militsya (police) in controlling the flow of shipments and contraband into and out of the area - at least the traffic they aren't bribed to ignore. Members of the unit are also present to protect the military facilities, watch transfers of weapons grade material, and occasionally assist in readying the weapons.
The real purpose, is somehow more sinister yet. They are there to monitor the progress of even more secretive programs, and to eliminate any specimen or witnesses left at the conclusion of the test.
Of course, filling the warheads is still part of the mandate. After all, which is more likely - world war three, or a zombie outbreak in Tajikistan? Turkmenistan maybe...
There are two modes for the 2552 setting.
The first is in the late 1970s and early 80s when the USSR is still a superpower. Experiments are in full swing, as is the units funding, and recruitment. Dealing with defectors and spies is part of the job, as well as this month's abomination. Ideally, this means working in contained underground complexes, but as the sverdllovsk anthrax outbreak proved sometimes, things got out of hand.
A second version appears after the fall of the Soviet Union. With little paper trail to prove the unit exited, and Biopreparat largely dismantled, the former soldiers find themselves with little support. Many of the left over creatures are forgotten as well. Some are just the ones too dumb and hardy to die, others smart enough to avoid termination after multiple attempts. Beyond just hand picked soldiers, the possible players are government agents, news reporters, foreign intelligence, or simple citizens whose loved ones disappeared in the hills of Azerbaijan - all trying to cover up or investigate the last great secret of the Soviets.
Part two will deal with the equipment, operations, and adventures of Unit 2552.
Perhaps the brightest jewel in this crown of fear was Biopreparat. (Биопрепарат, "Biological substance preparation") Tens of thousands of scientists and workers preparing biological weapons.
What if they had gone father than just plague and pox? What if they really had been researching for a way to make super-soldiers or a method of putting those historic high casualty figures to good use?
That is where unit 2552 comes into play. Officially, it just another unit of border guards in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. Their mission is to assist KGB militsya (police) in controlling the flow of shipments and contraband into and out of the area - at least the traffic they aren't bribed to ignore. Members of the unit are also present to protect the military facilities, watch transfers of weapons grade material, and occasionally assist in readying the weapons.
The real purpose, is somehow more sinister yet. They are there to monitor the progress of even more secretive programs, and to eliminate any specimen or witnesses left at the conclusion of the test.
Of course, filling the warheads is still part of the mandate. After all, which is more likely - world war three, or a zombie outbreak in Tajikistan? Turkmenistan maybe...
There are two modes for the 2552 setting.
The first is in the late 1970s and early 80s when the USSR is still a superpower. Experiments are in full swing, as is the units funding, and recruitment. Dealing with defectors and spies is part of the job, as well as this month's abomination. Ideally, this means working in contained underground complexes, but as the sverdllovsk anthrax outbreak proved sometimes, things got out of hand.
A second version appears after the fall of the Soviet Union. With little paper trail to prove the unit exited, and Biopreparat largely dismantled, the former soldiers find themselves with little support. Many of the left over creatures are forgotten as well. Some are just the ones too dumb and hardy to die, others smart enough to avoid termination after multiple attempts. Beyond just hand picked soldiers, the possible players are government agents, news reporters, foreign intelligence, or simple citizens whose loved ones disappeared in the hills of Azerbaijan - all trying to cover up or investigate the last great secret of the Soviets.
Part two will deal with the equipment, operations, and adventures of Unit 2552.
Friday, June 24, 2011
New Tarterus
The planet seemed nice enough. Not that we would've had much choice if it wasn't. Colony ships aren't exactly equipped to turn around and go home. All that would cut into our already tightly managed mass allotment. Refuel in situ and build some propulsion lasers to send it back.
Some of our first exploration teams saw some life forms. Nothing responded, we were probably the only intelligent species for six parsecs in any direction. For that matter, the plant life seemed a bit more dangerous. Some of its apparently carnivorous and big enough to trap something human sized. Just because it doesn't eat you, don't think you can't eat it - a great deal of the stuff contains a variety of toxins - we've even found stuff containing nerotoxins like tabun. That stuff can kill you with micrograms.
Then they took a look at a few of the more interesting geological formations. That was a find - not geological at all. Cities. Partially buried, mostly overgrown, and long abandoned. A concern, bit hardly a problem.
Our troubles really began when the effort shifted into high gear. One of the shuttles crashed. So naturally - we set out to recover, investigate, and pay respects to our friends. Much to our surprise, they came out to greet us - mangled, burned, and hungry.
Someone overworked them-self - heart attack. Colony control noticed, and dispatched a medical team to recover the body. By the time they arrived, the worker was up and about again.
It seems we have set ourselves up on a planet where noting just stays dead. One with underground cities, jungles full of unknown predators, and hazardous plants.
We have neither the propulsion array or the pettawatts of power needed to leave, or even launch a message drone. It'll be years until another ship is scheduled to come this way. We're on our own with nothing but wits and fire.
The surface is getting too hostile. We're heading to the underground cities. Hopefully there will be clues there.
Whoever finds this - get out while you still can.
Some of our first exploration teams saw some life forms. Nothing responded, we were probably the only intelligent species for six parsecs in any direction. For that matter, the plant life seemed a bit more dangerous. Some of its apparently carnivorous and big enough to trap something human sized. Just because it doesn't eat you, don't think you can't eat it - a great deal of the stuff contains a variety of toxins - we've even found stuff containing nerotoxins like tabun. That stuff can kill you with micrograms.
Then they took a look at a few of the more interesting geological formations. That was a find - not geological at all. Cities. Partially buried, mostly overgrown, and long abandoned. A concern, bit hardly a problem.
Our troubles really began when the effort shifted into high gear. One of the shuttles crashed. So naturally - we set out to recover, investigate, and pay respects to our friends. Much to our surprise, they came out to greet us - mangled, burned, and hungry.
Someone overworked them-self - heart attack. Colony control noticed, and dispatched a medical team to recover the body. By the time they arrived, the worker was up and about again.
It seems we have set ourselves up on a planet where noting just stays dead. One with underground cities, jungles full of unknown predators, and hazardous plants.
We have neither the propulsion array or the pettawatts of power needed to leave, or even launch a message drone. It'll be years until another ship is scheduled to come this way. We're on our own with nothing but wits and fire.
The surface is getting too hostile. We're heading to the underground cities. Hopefully there will be clues there.
Whoever finds this - get out while you still can.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Lets Get Medieval
Ye brave souls seekth to slay thy foul abominations brought forth by the hands of the devil? More than goode steel be required for that. But, that be a goode start. Gather about this table yea, and each of you share a tale of how each in turn killth these unnatural beings before we set again to find the what evil lurks in Canterbury.
The Knight's Tail
A man's own skein is is good so that fistes do not harm overmuch - but a knife would put two of them on fair standing, and a mace or sworde overmatch. Barding of not unyeilding nature - goode boil'd leather or a shirt of iron rings doth incrse thy protection a level. A landowner's keep and the yield of many serfs may profvide Plates and helmet that are better yet. Yet even the proof-mark dent may not prove it resits all gonnes.
I doth see that few of you bear the maks of wearing armour before, but surely you will come to understand it doth drain your vigor. It will soon make ye weary, and hotte as a smith's forge almost.
The Wife of Bath
He doth unsheathed a mighty sword and run me through a fair number of times - least till the roster crowed. Then it return to its sheath, and his blade leave the scabbard, and off he went to find sinners, though I think he found none that day.
But many types of blades there are and other means to do those who asalt thee. A goode steel blade the length of your arm or more pehaps adds an extra throw to your chance of a telling hitte. Flailing chains or a mace can crush a man thru armour that woulde turn a blade. A bowe would lette you have the advantage of time, but not of strength, though I hear a crosse bow does split armour with surprising ease - though ye will have far fewer chances before the fiend is upon thy throat.
Doctor of Physic
Many fields have I seen, but the one of battle is be not one of them. But I have ridden wyde an far to claim goode herbs for the apothacary, and to let bloode and other humours. And I do tell you, that it is a matter of balenced acounting - much like said humours- that keeps a hos on its feet and you on its back.
Do not forget to let it graze and drink everyday, even if you must do without. Otherwise, its chance of going layme goes to perhaps the chance on knuckle-bone rolled in a game of haszurd.
The Game Master's Interjection:
Leather or Chain-mail armor will boost a character's SDI to Three, and Full Plate type of armor to Four. However, both of these old types of armor are more restrictive than a modern ballistic vest, and would be worse than useless against twentieth century weapons - they would probably shatter. As such, modern guns treat the armor as having one less SDI, while gaining an extra die of effect from the shrapnel.
A long sword adds a d6 rather than increasing damage rating, while a blunt weapon adds no extra dice, but does boast a DR of three against medieval armor. This does not necessarily apply to modern equipment.A crossbow has a DR three as well, but takes a whole turn to reload and draw.
Horses are mainly governed by scarcity rolls - d8 phased. Not feeding the animal will drop the die size. Attempting to gallop for an extended period of time or escape a threat through rough terrain requires a roll - as per usual, a failure will drop the quality - making the creature less willing to work, or perhaps even killing the poor animal if it drops below a d4.
The Knight's Tail
A man's own skein is is good so that fistes do not harm overmuch - but a knife would put two of them on fair standing, and a mace or sworde overmatch. Barding of not unyeilding nature - goode boil'd leather or a shirt of iron rings doth incrse thy protection a level. A landowner's keep and the yield of many serfs may profvide Plates and helmet that are better yet. Yet even the proof-mark dent may not prove it resits all gonnes.
I doth see that few of you bear the maks of wearing armour before, but surely you will come to understand it doth drain your vigor. It will soon make ye weary, and hotte as a smith's forge almost.
The Wife of Bath
He doth unsheathed a mighty sword and run me through a fair number of times - least till the roster crowed. Then it return to its sheath, and his blade leave the scabbard, and off he went to find sinners, though I think he found none that day.
But many types of blades there are and other means to do those who asalt thee. A goode steel blade the length of your arm or more pehaps adds an extra throw to your chance of a telling hitte. Flailing chains or a mace can crush a man thru armour that woulde turn a blade. A bowe would lette you have the advantage of time, but not of strength, though I hear a crosse bow does split armour with surprising ease - though ye will have far fewer chances before the fiend is upon thy throat.
Doctor of Physic
Many fields have I seen, but the one of battle is be not one of them. But I have ridden wyde an far to claim goode herbs for the apothacary, and to let bloode and other humours. And I do tell you, that it is a matter of balenced acounting - much like said humours- that keeps a hos on its feet and you on its back.
Do not forget to let it graze and drink everyday, even if you must do without. Otherwise, its chance of going layme goes to perhaps the chance on knuckle-bone rolled in a game of haszurd.
The Game Master's Interjection:
Leather or Chain-mail armor will boost a character's SDI to Three, and Full Plate type of armor to Four. However, both of these old types of armor are more restrictive than a modern ballistic vest, and would be worse than useless against twentieth century weapons - they would probably shatter. As such, modern guns treat the armor as having one less SDI, while gaining an extra die of effect from the shrapnel.
A long sword adds a d6 rather than increasing damage rating, while a blunt weapon adds no extra dice, but does boast a DR of three against medieval armor. This does not necessarily apply to modern equipment.A crossbow has a DR three as well, but takes a whole turn to reload and draw.
Horses are mainly governed by scarcity rolls - d8 phased. Not feeding the animal will drop the die size. Attempting to gallop for an extended period of time or escape a threat through rough terrain requires a roll - as per usual, a failure will drop the quality - making the creature less willing to work, or perhaps even killing the poor animal if it drops below a d4.
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