Fight On! #9

(Full disclosure, as well as providing some artwork for this issue, I've also submitted an article; I've written up this scenario, converted to the X-Plorers rpg, because it's more old-school than Rogue Trader is. That's only a tiny part of the magazine though, so there's something for everyone!)

When you're down to your last hit point, your last spell, the last charge on your laser pistol - what now? Fight On! Issue #9 is here, stampeding out of the gate with adventures big and small, a city-state, races, classes, monsters, spells, tricks, traps, tables, rules options, random encounters, NPCs, and a motherlode of mighty miscellaneous mysteries to give your game a boost! Dedicated to Paul Jaquays, this issue features contributions from Jeff Rients, Sang Lee, Tavis Allison, Kelvin Green, Geoffrey McKinney, Patrick Farley, Zak S., Erik Battle, James Quigley, Mark Allen, Jennifer Weigel, Gabor Lux, Peter Schmidt Jensen, Ed Heil, Paul Fini, Raven Daegmorgan, Eric Minton, Allen Varney, Baz Blatt, Geoffrey O. Dale, Jerry Stratton, Chris Robert, Calithena, Jeff Talanian, and many, many more!

Don't get caught without the old school's newest resources - check it out at http://www.lulu.com/product/11474062 ! From now until the end of June, Issue #9 will be available at a discount price of just $9!


But that's not all - our entire back inventory is on sale as well! Fill out your collection or pick up that special article you've been wondering about, at rock-bottom prices:

Issue 1 is $6.50, down from $6.99.
Issues 2, 5, 7, and 8 are $8.50, down from $9.99
Issues 3, 4, and 6 are $9.50, down from $9.99

Finally, and ONLY for this month, our unique June 2010 editions of the two Fight On! compendia are available in hardback. $40 apiece, each of these covers a full year of Fight On! (issues 1-4 and 5-8) under a single cover. Unique collector's items clocking in at around 400 pages each, these are great buys for those who prefer the format, wish to start from the beginning, or just want to have a cool and unique thing that nobody else does. You can see them here:

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The sale only lasts until June 30, so pick 'em up while you can! The TOC for issue 9 is as follows:

Top of the Class (various)…………….…………………3
Bird-Men of Hyperborea (Jeffrey P. Talanian)………...…8
Knights & Knaves (SilverFish)…………………………..9
Spellslingers for Hire (James A. Smith)…………………11
The City-State of Khosura, Part I (Gabor Lux)....………12
Inter-Session Events (J.E. Badelaire)……………….…..24
Purchasing Potions (Eric Minton)……………………...25
The Hobgoblin God’s Crown (James Quigley)…………27
In My World… (Calithena)…………………………….40
Den of Villainy (Antii Hulkonnen)……………………..43
Education of a Magic User (Douglas Cox)……………...44
GBH (Peter Schmidt Jensen)…………………………...45
The Singing Cave (Mark J. Allen)………………………46
The Contemptible Cube of Quazar (Johnson & Lynk)…47
New Jersey After The “Big Whoops” (Adam Thornton).48
Creepies & Crawlies (Zak S.)…………………………...49
Ten Dooms of the Icy Wastes (Chris Robert)………….52
The Yellow Forest (Jerry Stratton)……………………...58
Tables for Fables (Age of Fable)……………………….63
Post-Apocalyptic Crafting (Lawson Reilly)……………..64
Dungeon Modules: Riverwalk (Geoffrey O. Dale)……...65
Two Tribes (Kelvin Green)…………………………….69
The Temple of Thek (Baz Blatt)………………………..73
Random’s Assortment (Random, Jensen, and Ant)……..77
Caves of the Beast Mistress (Tavis Allison)…………….79
Interview w/ Paul Jaquays (Ciro Sacco & Allen Varney)..90
The Darkness Beneath (Jeff Rients)……………………96
Merlyn’s Mystical Mirror (McKinney & Pookie)………104
The End of the World (Del Beaudry)…………………109
Witches of N’Kai (Caleb Jensen)……………………...113
Grognard’s Grimoire (Eric Minton)…………………...114
Artifacts, Adjuncts, & Oddments (Reed & Barber)……115
Front Cover by Raven Daegmorgan. Back cover by Mark Allen. Fight On! logo by Jeff Rients. Interior art by Paul Fini (3), Black Blade Publishing (black-blade-publishing. com: 5,35), Troll and Toad (trollandtoad.com: 6), Ian Baggley (8), Ed Heil (9,65), Peter Schmidt Jensen (10,33,45,103), Bronze Age Miniatuers (bronzeagemin.com, 11), Gabor Lux (12,13,15,17,19), Jennifer Weigel (25,26), Mark Allen (marjasall.com, 27,32,37,46,49,50,51), Alex Schröder (27,29,66), Robert S. Conley (batintheattic.com: 31,96), Steve Robertson (36), James Quigley (37), Erik C. Battle (38,41,68,75,97,101), Stefan Poag (39), Antii Hulkonnen (43), Douglas Cox (44), Jimm Johnson & Jeff Lynk (47), Adam Thornton (48), Zak S. (51), Patrick Farley (53), Kesher (55), Geoffrey McKinney (56), DEI Games (deigames.com: 57), Kelvin Green (59,70,71,72,102), Wikimedia Commons (60), William Buckland (62), Steve aka Bat (62), Age of Fable (63), Lawson Reilly (64,65), Spellbook Games (spellbookgames.com: 67), Anthony Stiller (77, 78), Tavis & Javi Allison (81), Sang Lee (82,83,84,85), Sean Elliott (89), Otherworld Miniatures (otherworld.me. uk: 91), Jeff Rients (99), Kevin Mayle (100), Rjad (104), Christopher Cale & Co. (107), karenswhimsy.com (108), William Miller (111), Robert D. Reed (115), Lee Barber (116, Knights & Knaves logo, Creepies & Crawlies logo).

Fight on!

The Scabbard and the Sword: Session 3

STARRING:

Bill as Brutus "Sten" Stentor, Lithium's Sound Technician

Jack as Joseph, the Hobo-Rat

Lisa as Five (now known as Two), Creepy Death Obsessed Darkling

Game Mastered by Krzyś

Release Date: 12th June 2010

---

About halfway to the Freehold's main Hollow, Lithium got a call from her agent reminding her of the upcoming gig. She had to go back to her place and make sure she's ready for it or else her contract would be in ruins. Thus only three changelings arrived at the Hollow to meet with the Winter Queen.

They found Ninian in the throne room playing chess. Sten approached her and began a lengthy monologue on what happened and what they found out. While he was giving the speech, with appropriate sound effects, the Queen motioned him to sit down on the other side of the chessboard.

"Your turn," she placed a pawn two spaces forward after Sten reached the point of the story that was a few minutes behind the present. Never having played this game before, Sten moved the pawn the Queen had placed back to its starting position.

"So you found the Privateers' hiding place," she contemplated Sten's move, trying to decipher his strategy. "Can I see the stew?"
"No!" Two tried to protect her own with her body. The Queen flicked her wrist in the air and the stew began to float through the air over to her. Two quickly slurped it all in, visibly annoying the Queen.
"Have you told this to anyone else?" she turned back to Sten.
"No," he mirrored the Queen's move after she move a bishop closer to the centre of the board.
"I would like to ask you not to tell about this to anyone else," she said after looking at his and Joseph's Mantles.
Joseph and Two agreed nearly straight away. Sten on the other hand hesitated.
"What will we do now?" he asked.
"The best thing we can do at this point... Hide," she nodded to her own words.
The changelings were dismissed.

Although Sten did mention that the Ogre was expecting his buddies to arrive with a new changeling during the witching hour, the Winter Queen didn't like their idea of trying to go and save a lost cause. Since they were told to hide, they decided the best place to hide was next to that cottage that they found in the Hedge.

On their way there, they stopped at the train station to gather some Glamour. Joseph stepped in the way of an office worker who was trying to catch a train. He tried to sell him the Big Issue and didn't take no as an answer. Even when the man took the magazine out of his hands and threw it on the ground, he simply picked it up and asked if he wants to buy it. Meanwhile Two was talking to a mother with a child, getting dangerously close to her baby and talking to it in a very creepy way. Unfortunately, this reminded her of how she was taken to Arcadia as a young child. The Darkling lost her mind, she fell to the ground shouting and screaming. Sten was pacing back and forth, trying to decide what to do when the Railway Police started to walk towards them. Joseph made a quick escape.

The police helped Two get up and escorted her and Sten out of the premises. They offered to call the ambulance but Two was regaining her hold on sanity. They went to the alley with the Trod. Joseph jumped out of the sewers and the three were back together before they entered the Hedge.

This time they stayed on the path. Luckily, Two noticed a string going over the Trod before either had a chance to fall into the trap. She put her arm over it so the other two changelings had no problems going over without triggering it.

When they finally reached the cottage, Joseph climbed a tree, Sten hid behind it while Two went off to have a peek inside. She saw the stew cooking above a blue flame, the Ogre they met having a nap and a couple of big bags. When she told them what she saw, they waited for the rest to arrive. Somewhere after the witching hour, they saw four changelings coming this way somewhere from the opposite way than the one they came. There was a man made out of ice, with a frozen nose and a colourful T-shirt with palm trees all over it, an Arctic fox and two chain-mail wearing Wizened with swords hanging from their belts.

After they entered the cottage, Two went off to take another look inside. She heard the Elemental shouting at the Ogre and saying something about the Goblin Market and a scabbard before she was noticed. As quickly as possible, she ran off and climbed a tree. The changelings went after her but didn't see where she went. Two felt safe until she noticed the Beast sniffing the ground. She tried to get her jacket off and threw it away as a distraction, but due to her frail body, she fell face down on the ground.

Seeing the events taking a turn for the worse. Sten charged in with a battle cry that he quickly wrapped around himself while Joseph started to jump from tree to tree. He made it in time to fall onto the head of the Ogre before he crushed Two under his fists. While Joseph was ripping the Ogre's face out of him and fending off another Beast, Sten engaged in single combat with the other Elemental who was now wrapped in cold and ice. Unable to grab a hold of the rat, the fox started to bite Two.

As the battle progressed, Two was slashed from behind while Sten heard a swooping sound of metal and the clanking of armour before he weaved out of the way. The two Wizened stepped out of their hiding places with their swords drawn.

The Ogre didn't took long before he fell down, barely managing to break any of Joseph's bones. The rat jumped off, with the Ogre's eye in hand and took the Wizened off Two's shoulder. He put his fist into the changeling's mouth, letting him have a taste of the Ogre's eye.

Sten momentarily took his attention off the two changelings he was facing and threw a shout at the fox's ears. This gave Two an excellent opportunity to first stab him in the eyes, then seize his muzzle so he bit his own tongue and finally biting his nose off.

It's only when they realised the battle between the Elementals ended with Sten being turned into a block of ice and shattering into a million pieces that they were overwhelmed. Two started to run, she shouted for Joseph to follow but he was too far gone into rage to take note of anything other than the next kill. The ice changelings closed down on him.

---

Bonus Material: Storyteller's Commentary

Stella and Daisy couldn't make it to this session. They said something about real life but I didn't quite understood what they meant. We at first thought we wouldn't roleplay and set up a board game when Bill showed up and we had three players! Enough to run something!

This session was odd. At first it started off with a lot of laughing and joking around until I asked for a break because the laughing was just too much. Unfortunately, I later realised that because of all the humour I forgot to put in a plot hook I've been keeping for the initial scene. No matter, I can put it back in at the next scene, it's not like this is the first thing this happens.

The scene at the train station was interesting. The players were basically trying to get some Glamour. It is a resources that they spend to use their special changeling powers (Blessings and Contracts). One way of getting it is through instilling emotions into people and feeding off them.

The problems started when they entered the Hedge. After the first trap I decided to skip the others since I wanted to get to the Goblin Market scene before the session ended but that didn't work out so well. I thought that upon seeing more than half as many people who are way better armed than the player group is, they'd try and not engage them in direct combat. Especially since I did say at the beginning that World of Darkness combat is lethal.

Instead of running away into safety or at least using surgical strikes and misdirection they decided to go for direct combat against impossible odds. I ended up killing two player characters (including one I really liked) which I despise with my whole being so much that I couldn't get myself to write this summary until now. I had to take Sunday off roleplaying just to calm myself down.

I think I know what mistake I made. I gave people too much room to take the story where they want but that's just falling flat. Right now I think I'll speed things up and aim to finish this game in the next 3 sessions.

PS: I'll explain the Courts with the next session summary since it looks like that one will be way more political than this one got a chance to be.

Hourglass of the Silver Sands: Session 3

STARRING:

Joanna as Mara, Travelling Monk
Jon C as Spectre, Sorcerer Supreme
Jules as Whisper, Master Thief
Bill as Isandlwana, Travelling Matchmaker

Game Mastered by Krzyś

Release Date: ???

---

Faced with obvious danger, the Lawgivers prepared themselves to fight. Mare drew her bow, ready to strike at the demon the moment it put on enough flesh to pierce through it while Whisper used the opportunity of everyone being distracted to step into the shadows. Confident in his ability not to be seen, he readied his swords and silently came closer to the demon. His skill in staying out of sight was so great that even Whisper himself didn't notice his own feet underneath him. When he tried to make the final step, he tripped over his own legs and fell down on the floor. The demon looked down on what lied next to its toes and tried crushing him with his pincers.

Spectre managed to pull the Hidden Sun out of harm's way before the pincer came down on his spine. It caught his arm but this did not seem to impede Shadow's ability to fight. Spectre quickly began to conjure a sword that could strike spirits in whatever form they would take while keeping an eye out for the other demons. As they were still dematerialised, he was the only one capable of seeing them and so he told his companions they have entered the ground floor.

Mara fired not one but three arrows in the span of time that it takes for a man to blink. Each carried a tiny spark of righteousness with it, enough to burn away the flesh of any unholy creature. As their battle raged, Isandlwana looked from the top of the building but saw no threats. There were two men firing at her but their precision was not worth her attention. Hearing Spectre's words, she bayonet to lever open the shutter of another window, jumped down onto the top of the swinging shutter, and swung into the room. Just in time to deliver the final blow with a blast from her firewand.

The demon vaporised, its body and soul gone. Yet Spectre informed told the other Solars that two more were rising up from beneath the floor. Although they couldn't see them, they were guided by the Twilight's insight and positioned themselves well enough to be ready when the demons took on a material form.

The room they were now in was brightly lit thanks to Mara's and Specter's anima blazing with the light of the Unconquered Sun. It was obviously much harder to conceal oneself when you're standing next to a Chosen of the Sun and perhaps this was why when Whisper struck with his blades from the shadow cast by a demon, the creature stepped forward and made the otherwise deadly wound shallow.

Not wanting to set fire to friend as well as foe, Isandlwana aimed at the demon not fighting Whisper. She recalled a story about a scorpion who stung itself to death after being caught in a circle of fire so she decided to test that theory. In the time a mortal gunslinger would shoot and reload his weapon, the Quicksilver Falcon had already shot four times, encircling her target in flames. It staggered, blazing but it didn't look like it would commit suicide any time soon.

Mara fired her arrows at the demon facing Whisper. Thanks to her extraordinary skills the arrows pierced through the demon's hide but not enough to go all the way through and hit the Night Caste standing behind it. The demon screamed in agony as the righteous fury of the Unconquered Sun burned it from within. Before it could succumb to its demise, Spectre chopped its head off with his newly conjured sword.

Outside, three more demons waited. Strangely enough, the townsfolk seemed to be on the side of the demons. The humans tried shooting at the Exalts who came too close to the windows. After noticing the Exalts stood their ground, two came forward to set the building ablaze. Whisper hurried to the ground floor and with a well placed thrust his blade went right through the wooden wall and into one of the assailants on the other side. The other one aimed his flamepiece at the resulted hole the moment the blade went back but the Dagger of Heaven was already gone.

Mara and Isandlwana fired at the demons from their positions on the first-floor while Spectre was shaping another spell. This time he summoned a bird composed wholly of flame. It flew through the window and up into the air. It quickly noticed its victim in the form of a demon in the middle of the street and flew down like a blazing comet on it. The demon jumped to the side, dodging a direct hit but even so, the bird exploded upon impact with the ground. Half the street was an inferno now. Some thugs were caught in the blast, as was the demon and the remaining arsonist. Even the sand itself was being consumed by the flames. Isandlwana made a quick look through the room and found a bottle of spirit that she then threw at a demon not caught by Spectre's spell. The bottle shattered somewhere on the ground.

The singed demon crushed through what remained of the front door. It found nothing on the first floor because Whisper has already made his exit out the back. He turned left and ran into a narrow alley. He saw some snipers on the rooftop so he jumped up and off the walls on both sides until he landed between them. Shocked by this sudden appearance, they both aimed their weapons at him and fired. Due to Whisper's body bending in impossible angles, they hit each other and were out of the picture without the Night Caste having to do anything.

The other three Exalts came down the stairs and got rid of the last remaining demon with their combined powers. Mara leapt through the air and caught the demon's tail with her fighting chain while Spectre and Isandlwana finished it off with their respective weapons. All they needed to do now is to interrogate the mayor while fending off frenzied attacks from half the population of the town.

---

Bonus Material: Storyteller's Commentary

This was a full on combat session. I never had this long a combat before. I'm quite glad I used a battle-mat for it because I sure wouldn't be able to keep track of what's going on otherwise. It doesn't help that my mind works on abstractions and I have difficulty imagining exact measurements so having squares as movement markers was a great boon and it made Athletics Charms that bit more useful.

I was very, very happy when the players realised that being Solars they don't have to worry about destroying everything in sight. They had to worry about keeping enough intact to have something to work with later on. Yes, all that carnage described above was caused by their attempts not to annihilate the surrounding region. Jon made sure that his spell wouldn't hit any more buildings... and I dare not mention the round square controversy we had! (oh wait, I just did!)

A little bit about the setting now. Exalted is a fairly standard fantasy setting when it comes to the level of commonly used technology. In the South, however, people do have access to guns (flamepiece) and riffles (firewand). The main difference is that these weapons don't fire bullets, they fire... well... fire.

The anima mentioned above is the result of an Exalted using their supernatural powers. The more they use them, the more they begin to shine with the light of their patron! In case of Solars, they become walking lightbulbs, filling the surrounding area with all the shades of the sun.

The Scabbard and the Sword: Session 2

STARRING:

Bill as Brutus "Sten" Stentor, Lithium's Sound Technician

Daisy as Zero, Reclusive Alchemist

Jack as Joseph, the Hobo-Rat

Lisa as Seven (now known as Five), Creepy Death Obsessed Darkling

Stella as Lithium-Morphian, Famous Singer

Game Mastered by Krzyś

Release Date: 5th June 2010

---

Before the day had a chance to end, the group went to the alley that Fiddler told them about. In front of the passage to the Hedge they were met by a very dirty rat changeling. He tried to sell them the latest Big Issue. Five came closer to him and started to inhale the smell of sewers that emanated from him. He told them his name was Joseph and that he can't let anyone pass. Sten managed to convince him that they have a pass but first they need to enter the Hedge before he can see it.

The Trod was opened through a door leading to a unused pub. Whilst opening, Sten made appropriate door-opening noises. He then showed a piece of paper to Joseph which he accepted as a confirmation of them being allowed to go look at the Trod and where it led. The part of the Hedge closest to the real world looked like the empty pub with a serious overgrowth problem. The more they went through the layer of mud, beer cans and broken bottles the more the Hedge looked like something between a swamp and a jungle. Sten continued making noises of wild animals. At some point Five decided to pitch her own finger on a thorn. When she was done enjoying the sensation of flowing blood, she told the rest she feels there's a Goblin Tree nearby. They all decided to leave the path and look for it.

After nearly an hour of going through the Hedge and getting themselves cut on the many thorns, they came to the conclusion they have no idea where the Goblin Tree could be. They tried going back onto the Trod but even though Joseph was extremely sure they arrived at the exact same spot where they left, the Trod was gone.

"RUN!" Joseph shouted. They all followed his lead until they hear Lithium's scream. A Briarwolf has pinned the Fairest to the ground and was about to bite her head off. They all stopped running and ganged up on the hobgoblin. Joseph kicked it in the groin. Zero pierced its side with her sword cane. Sten covered himself in Lithium's screams. Five tried to poke the beast and managed to stick her finger in its nose on the second try. Under the onslaught of this many changelings, the Briarwolf changed its strategy and threw Five into the air. Her arm landed between the beast's fangs. Joseph jumped and tried to gauge its eyes out but only managed to scratch the back of its neck open. The final blow came from Zero's sword-cane. She hit it in the chest and pulled its heart out.

Ignoring the fact she nearly lost an arm. Five suggested they leave this place before the rest of the pack gets here. They started running, following Joseph, the fastest of the group. Their run was stopped by the sight of a cottage in the middle of the Hedge. A blue flame cast shadows from inside. Joseph went to knock on the front door but before his fingers could touch the wooden door, a net sprang up from under his feet. Next thing he knew he was up in the air. A large man with patches of white fur over his body came out of the cottage. Lithium quickly changed herself to look more like the Ogre. She told him she was his long lost brother. The family reunion went extremely well.

The Ogre was happy to see the brother he didn't know he had. He asked if the changelings who were with him were for the lady-boss but Lithium said they were here to help him find his way through the Hedge. "Joseph, Joseph" Five stood right under the caught Beast. While he plainly started to bite his way through the net. The Ogre offered his brother some stew that he's been cooking for the rest of his Motley but Lithium declined. Five on the other hand was very interested in it so the Ogre went back to get her a takeaway. When he returned with a bowl of warm stew, Joseph was already out of the net. The Ogre was friendly enough to show them the way to the nearest Trod. When they were once again on the path, Five cut her finger on a thorn again to check if they should go left or right. On the left she sensed a crossroads with other Trods while the right led out of the Hedge.

On their way there, Sten was eerily silent while Zero tried to make Five give her the stew. She managed to barter a piece of meat from the Darkling before they reached the same alleyway they used to enter the Hedge. Zero quickly ran of to her laboratory to analyse the meat slice while the rest tried to agree on what to do next.

After a short discussion, they decided to report their findings to the Winter Queen.

---

Bonus Material: Storyteller's Commentary

This session went a lot better than the last one. I did plan on having a combat session but I didn't think it would be with a Hobgoblin. When Lisa said they would go look for the Goblin Tree, I allowed them to make a team effort roll of finding it and they failed. Then they failed the roll to find their way back onto the Trod so to speed things up I had a Briarwolf try eating them. The combat I planned for when they'd arrive at the cottage but since it already happened, I didn't make that be the default. I was very impressed with Stella's idea of turning into the long lost brother of the Ogre and fooling him into being friendly. Fortunately, Ogre's aren't that good when it comes to Composure rolls so at least that attempt succeeded.

I don't think I've ever saw this many failed rolls during a game. How can you not roll an 8-10 on ONE DIE when you're rolling EIGHT is beyond me but it happens. It will be interesting to see what happens next since technically, the players are running blind right now.

Five and Sten were the most exciting characters this session. I hope I did manage to mention their weirdness and odd behaviour in the write-up. That's pretty much what changelings are like. Spending time in Arcadia really screws your mind, body and soul. I should give them some extra experience points just for that.

And now a little bit about the terms used here. The Hedge is place where time and space don't follow the same rules as the real world. That's why Trods are so useful since they do connect two of the same points between the Hedge. It's also good to know where you're going when the Hedge is home to many strange creatures, known as Hobgoblins, whose motivation to catch changelings ranges from eating them to being their best friend for ever and ever! In the Hedge you can also find Goblin Trees. These are special plants that give Goblin Fruits. A Goblin Fruit can be pretty much anything. From an apple that has bullets in it to a cranberry that makes you hallucinate like you were on LSD... but the hallucinations are real. Some Goblin Fruits are benevolent, they can give you Glamour or cause your wounds to melt away. Unfortunately, you won't know what they do until you bite into them.

I also started to use synonyms for character names. Every changeling has a Seeming, it describes the type of changeling that they are. The Seemings: Beast (Joseph, Sophie), Darkling (Five), Elemental (Sten), Fairest (Lithium), Ogre and Wizened (Zero). I'll probably mention Courts in the next session summary.

The Ministry of Blades : The Pyramids of Hertfordshire, episode 5

Curruthers meets an old colleague; Prentiss pulls the plug.

Played

3rd June 2010.

Dramatis Personae

Lady Antonia deVore - a Heavily-armed Aristocrat.
Miss Constantina Spit - a Rebellious Debutante.
Captain Benson Curruthers - a Military Policeman.
Jack Prentiss - a Dodgy Pedestrian.
Miss April Sharpe - a Self-taught Inventor.
Rodney Marsh - a Partially-reformed Thief.
Mr Chester - a Foreign Gentleman of the Scientific Persuasion.
Jackson - an old Associate of Curruthers.
Two Anonymous Scientists.
A Sceptical Commandant.
A number of Heavily-armed ‘Gamekeepers’.
A large number of Shambling Corpses.

Plot

After the night's exertions, the team headed for the darkened lounge of the Inn and several members consumed a stiff brandy (at least three in Marsh's case). They prised Marsh's discoveries out of him and decided that they would visit the mysterious camp in person the following day, making no secret of their true authority.

They hired some riding horses and, after much deliberation over the best route, led them by the known forest trail over the ridge. They hit a well-packed gravel road to the north-east of the camp at around 1 pm and, surmising that it led to the camp, followed it to the south and west. Marsh followed them separately though the woods, acting as a kind of back-up.

After ten minutes of travel, they encountered a border-style checkpoint and were hailed by a man dressed in tweeds, armed with what appeared to be a very large double-barrelled shotgun. Curruthers immediately assumed an air of authority and demand access in the name of the Ministry. The man looked confused, but asked them to wait while he headed inside a hut by the side of the road. The heroes could hear him talking to someone whose voice couldn't be heard. A moment later, another man in tweeds poked his head out of the door and, this time, Curruthers recognised him instantly as Jackson, a Colour Sergeant he had known in India. They exchanged some pleasantries while the one-sided conversation in the hut continued, then Jackson returned to the hut and joined that conversation. After a minute or so, he returned, saying that the ‘Commandant’ had agreed to see them.

He accompanied them along the mile or so to the camp, which was revealed in daylight to be quite a defensive structure. A long earth ramp led to the main gate of the facility on the central rise, broken only by a makeshift drawbridge. A twenty-foot high guard tower containing two guards with a machine gun overlooked the main approaches and the bushes around the edge of the rise provided natural crenellations hiding snipers.

Watching from the woods, Marsh saw them cross the ‘moat′ and follow their guide into what appeared to be a guardhouse. Jackson asked them to wait while he fetched the Commandant.

The Commandant turned out to be a traditionalist type who immediately began to butt horns with Curruthers, pointing out that the project was a top secret operation of the War Office and that the Ministry (which seemed to know about) had no authority there. After much argument, he agreed to show them the experiments, on the basis that they were nearly completed anyway.

They were led to the open square at the centre of the camp, situated between four prefabricated structures, one of which appeared to contain a steam-powered electrical generator, and containing a tall mast, linked by cables to the powerhouse and the building opposite. Knocking on the door of that building, the Commandant entered and returned, accompanied by a short, moustached man, who he introduced as Mr Chester. Chester turned out to be Hungarian, judging from his accent, but was soon persuaded to explain how they were experimenting with broadcasting electrical power through the æther to vehicles and other devices.

This was then demonstrated as the generator was started up, causing hairs to rise on everyone, before one of his companions drove an electric vehicle out from behind one of the buildings. Miss Sharpe discussed the theory with Chester, putting forward the theory that the broadcast electricity was responsible for animating the zombies; both Chester and the Commandant rejected the idea as impossible and refused to consider the idea.

The Commandant now informed them that they would not be allowed to leave until the final experiments were finished and locked them in what appeared to be a barracks. The group immediately began looking for a way out, checking the floor, door and windows.

Outside the camp, Marsh became aware of movement around him and spotted numerous zombies shambling towards the camp. He panicked, transformed, after a brief stutter, into a rat and bolted for the camp.

Inside the barracks, the team were preparing to break the door down, when they became aware of gunfire, increasing in volume and rate of fire, and soon accompanied by the chatter of the tower-mounted machine gun. A number of screams were also heard and it became apparent that the guards were being overwhelmed. They renewed their efforts with repeated charges, then Curruthers bust the door open and was nearly flattened by a walking corpse. As he battled for his life, aided by Lady Antonia, the others tried to figure out how to shut down the electrical broadcast. Around them, the guards were attempting to hold a perimeter against the shambling attackers.

Prentiss sprinted for the powerhouse, bursting through the door, then ducking at the last moment to avoid losing his head to a shovel wielded by a panicking stoker. Marsh arrived behind the zombie fighting Curruthers, returned to human form and nearly decapitating it, followed up by bowing ironically to his combat trainer. Lady Antonia decided to try and help the guards while Miss Sharpe powered up her weapon and aimed it at the top of the mast, soaking it in a stream of corrosive liquid. Miss Spit followed Prentiss into the powerhouse, arriving just in time to see him pull a thick cable out of the steam-powered dynamo, causing a massive shower of sparks which made up for the lights going out.

The dynamo sped up, its whine rapidly rising in pitch, until the building exploded in a shower of flames and shrapnel…

Notes

Ooh! A cliff-hanger!

Will Prentiss and Miss Spit survive the explosion? Has Marsh finally taunted Curruthers one too many times? Did Miss Sharpe really understand anything Mr Chester said? What will happen if Lady Antonia gets her hands on a really big gun?

Find out in the next thrilling instalment of…

The Pyramids of Buckinghamshire!

The Scabbard and the Sword: Session 1

STARRING:

Bill as Brutus "Sten" Stentor, Lithium's Sound Technician

Daisy as Zero, Reclusive Alchemist

Lisa as Seven, Creepy Death Obsessed Darkling

Matt as Sophie Juliet White, Bunny

Stella as Lithium-Morphian, Famous Singer

Game Mastered by Krzyś

Release Date: ???

---

It is December 2009 and Brighton is suffering from the worst winter ever. While the Winter Court is proud of their season's prowess, it is making life difficult for everyone involved. Roads are full of snow to the extent driving is dangerous, the trains are delayed a lot more than usual and if heating breaks down in an office, it is easier to just go home and start buying cheap food.

Due to the severe weather conditions on the day, Lithium's gig was cancelled and she stayed in her flat for the day. At about midnight she heard knocking on her window. As strange as it was, having someone knock on the window on the second floor, she ignored it. A moment later said window was smashed with a piece of ice.

The gig cancellation also affected Sten who decided to have a walk down the beach. He was very enamoured with the sounds the waves did when they swept and melted the snow lying on the sand. He took his time throwing rocks at the wave breakers. At one point a wrinkly mad changeling jumped out and shouted him down for giving him a bump on the head. A few words of apology later, he went off to continue his sound making somewhere else. Sten didn't go far before screams of the changeling reached him. He came back to find the changeling's living place ravaged by ice and with a newly open Trod into the Hedge.

Seven was hanging around in her studio flat when she heard knocking on the door. Naturally she went to open it and was surprised to find a Trod going through the corridor. The Darkling felt a cold presence behind her and knew immediately she was in grave danger. Without giving it much thought she burst out of her flat and into the Hedge. Keeping to the path she seemed to have lost her assailant until she stumbled onto something. The next thing she knew she was in some large room with other changelings everywhere. They tried to get her up but she refused the offer of help. Later on she would hear that she ended up in a Spring party. Some time before she arrived, the lights went out and chaos erupted. When everything was over, some guests went missing while a newly opened Trod into the Hedge was discovered. No one noticed Seven wasn't invited.

Meanwhile Sophie enjoyed an evening on the beach with her boyfriend, Dave. They were lying down on the snow and kissing each other when something pulled the love of Sophie's life into the sea. She grabbed his hand and they were pulled in together. Her struggle to pull them both out of the ice cold waters ended with her letting go and saving herself. She looked at the waves and saw a figure in the distance, a woman in a white dress standing on the water. The woman was gone with the next blink.

Zero's routine was shattered with a knock on the door. It was a puppy changeling by the name of Fiddler, a fellow member of the Iron Spear. He told Zero that the Green Knight, the Summer King, needs something analysed. It was a piece of unmelting ice that was found on the scene where a changeling was supposedly kidnapped. Fiddler couldn't tell anything more since he had to run.

After rumours spread of changelings disappearing all over Brighton, the Winter Queen decided to call the whole Freehold in. The court held place in a Hollow with the entrance within an abandoned building close to the railways going out of Brighton Station. In order to enter, a changeling had to walk in through the door frame on the second floor and go back through it without turning or looking.

During the meeting, Ninian, the Winter Queen, tried to calm the Freehold down. She had hoped that whatever Zero found out would put everyone at peace. Unfortunately, she mainly said that the piece of ice was created by making a contract with Ice. The Freehold was quick to jump to the conclusion that a True Fae is working to bring all of them back to Arcadia. A heated discussion erupted where blame was thrown at each Court and their respective leaders. Either due to being bored with the bickering or deciding taking action is best; Lithium, Sten and Seven decided to help Zero investigate further into the matter. They went to find Fiddler. He told them where the place the piece of ice was found was and that there would be a guard but they just had to tell him they were on orders from the Summer King to look into the Trod's appearance.

---

I have to honestly say that this session was probably the worst I ever had. At one point of the game I just broke badly enough that I wanted to just walk out of the room and not come back. Instead I looked through my Magic cards as a distraction of sorts.

The unexpected arrival of three more players technically brought the game up to 11 players though 3 were absent from this session. Before the second one started two players bowed down and another two decided they won't be playing so we went down to 6, which is a better number. Due to 2 players leaving, I decided to edit the session summary to reflect only the currently active participants.

My plan for this session was to give each player a piece of the puzzle as to what is going on. I wasn't too pleased with it. I think we either had too much out-of-game distractions or I am way too subtle for my own good.

Looking over this summary I think I should say a few things about the world of Changeling The Lost. Changelings are people who have been kidnapped by the True Fae, taken to Arcadia and changed into something not-fully-human. Some were changed into animals, others into scenery while others were just servants. Some times a changeling escapes and goes back to the real world but they will never be human again, they will forever have the features of what they were in Arcadia.

In order to better protect themselves from the True Fae taking them back, they organise themselves into four Courts based on seasons. Each Court has a King or Queen who rules the Court and the Freehold during one fourth of the year. The Freehold is a term used to describe all changeling of a city/region.

The Hedge is what divides Arcadia from the real world. A Trod is a safe path through the Hedge while a Hollow is a piece of the Hedge that has been crafted into a safe place. The Hedge is not a nice place... the second session shows the players why.

The Ministry of Blades : The Pyramids of Hertfordshire, episode 4

Marsh dodges a bullet; April puts the boot in.

Played

20^th May 2010.

Dramatis Personae

Lady Antonia deVore - a Heavily-armed Aristocrat.
Miss Constantina Spit - a Rebellious Debutante.
Captain Benson Curruthers - a Military Policeman.
Jack Prentiss - a Dodgy Pedestrian.
Miss April Sharpe - a Self-taught Inventor.
Rodney Marsh - a Partially-reformed Thief.
A Cynical Landlord.
Two Shambling Corpses.
A Panicked Rifleman.
Several Less-panicked Riflemen.
Three Bushy-moustached Scientists.

Plot

Following their visit to the Manor, the team deliberated their next move over dinner, eventually deciding to try to locate and scout the camp in the forest that evening. Grabbing copious supplies of tea to keep them awake, they armed themselves and headed out into the gathering fog. Prentiss took the lead with his ground-eating pace, but Lady Antonia had to prevent him drifting off the faint path; in the meantime, Marsh's attempts to move quietly parallel to the group combined with his lack of wilderness skills led to him trailing them by quite a distance. They arrived at the ridge after darkness fell completely, settling down to wait for a few hours while Marsh scouted out the camp location.

Around midnight, they saw the lights appear over the valley, manifesting in several locations within the cloud before swirling together. There was no obvious source, but the effects were clearly centred on the camp. They could also feel the vibrations in the ground start up as they appeared. Curruthers tried to get a good look at the camp using his binoculars, but nearly blinded himself despite his best efforts. With nothing else happening, Curruthers and Prentiss both attempted to get some sleep.

Marsh arrived at the camp, which was situated on a small plateau, surrounded by a 10-foot bank, and followed the perimeter around, taking the occasional peek over the bank to survey the area. Noting the bright lights emanating from the camp itself, he was extra careful, but his second attempt was nearly his last: he was looking almost directly down the muzzle of an elephant rifle held by a well-hidden sentry. Luckily he was not spotted and was able to drop out of sight.

Back on the ridge, Miss Spit became aware that the surrounding woods were very quiet, then heard crashing noises in the fog. She quickly warned Lady Antonia and Miss Sharpe, then woke Prentiss and Curruthers to wait for the visitor. After a few minutes of watching, Miss Spit became impatient and used a spell to illuminate the area below the ridge and clear the fog, revealing a zombie.

At first, they hoped it was going to ignore them, and wander past, but to their chagrin, it began to climb the slope. Lady Antonia prepared to shoot it, but Curruthers reminded her that the shot would be heard across the valley, so she lobbed a rock at it instead, failing to do any damage. Several attempts were made to prevent it succssfully cimbing the slope, but it demonstrated dogged persistence, taking a swipe at Miss Spit as it arrived, but she had cast another spell to disguise her location so that it missed. Lady Antonia tripped it up, with some effort, and Curruthers pinned it to the ground with his sword. It continued to try and hit them, but they pounded it with rocks and batons (Prentiss sitting on its leg) and, eventually, April connected with a steel toe-cap and caved the side of its skull in.

It stopped moving.

In the valley, Marsh continued to silently skirt the camp, then stepped on a twig, causing a loud crack. This was immediately followed by a deafening blast and something whistled past about five feet away, while the lights went out. Thinking the shot was aimed at him, Marsh panicked and ran for the trees, while more bullets whizzed past him. He turned into a rat, then realised he was not the target as he saw several zombies heading towards the camp. The sentries were destroying them quite effectively with their large-calibre rifles, so Marsh decided to take advantage of the confusion and sneaked up onto the plateau, changing back to human to scout the camp itself.

As the lights came back on, he noted a central fenced-off area, containing two barracks buildings or offices, a steam-powered electric generator, some kind of laboratory and the mast. Standing in the central square were several soldiers and three gentlemen who appeated to be scientists by their dress. Marsh decided discretion was the better part of valour and, having memorised the layout, he returned to the ridge, where his colleagues, a little worried after the gunfire, were waiting for him.

Notes

I find zombies and fog always go well together… It took a while to take down the lone zombie - bad die rolls seem to cause lots of problems in this game, but it was nice to see Constantina's magic finally getting an outing.

For the Emperor! (and Charity!)

I wouldn't normally use the group blog for selling something, but this is in a good cause.

In celebration of the upcoming Deathwatch Space Marine rpg and the new Storm Wardens Space Marine chapter introduced within, a group of gaming bloggers are putting together a complete Storm Wardens army for the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop wargame, and then are giving it away in a charity raffle.

To enter, just go to this post and donate as much as you like, via Paypal. $1 gets you one raffle ticket, you can buy as many as you like, and all proceeds go to Doctors Without Borders.

These guys, and this competition, are in no way affiliated with the Brighton Gamers group, or myself, but I thought it was a good project, and one worth mentioning to others.

Rogue Trader Session 15: Part 15 of a 1-Part Limited Series

Characters:

Aphesius Alesaunder, zealous yet charming missionary of the Imperial Cult. (Manoj A)
Mordecai the Cautious, twin-hellpistol-wielding weapons monkey, sent to the newly-acquired Thunderhammer to make sure all is shipshape, since David was off buying a car or something. (David)
Maximillius XVIII, tough-as-nails tech-priest from a death world. (Ben F)
Octavius Sol, seneschal and quartermaster. (Stuart F)
Triptych, mutant navigator and his harem. (Ric R, playing from Manchester, via Skype)

---

As a group, we had decided that we'd had fun with Rogue Trader, but that it was perhaps time for a change. With plenty of plot threads still to finish, we decided to call this the end of the first "season", to use US TV terminology, and revisit the game later in the year. In the meantime, there was the small matter of the infestation of the walking dead at Jameson's Hollow.

It was a bit of an experimental session, with the group entering the twenty-first century by using Skype to have Ric join us for the finale, and in that spirit, I designed a little mini-game to handle the battle against the undead hordes. Running it as a series of fights would have been a grind, and we'd already done a big battle on the bridge of the Thunderhammer, so I didn't want to go over old ground in our last session.

Instead, I designed a modified exploration challenge. There were three known groups of survivors on the station, and each group would be at 50% strength by the time the players got to them; this survival rate would be modified up or down by 10% depending on the results of five skill rolls per group. If the players went after one group at a time, any failures would also count against the other two groups, but if they went after all three groups, they would have to split the party. Any skill could be used in the challenge, as long as the player could come up with a good in-context reason, or even better, narrate the skill use.

Ben burned a fate point in order to rescue the third group without having to make a test, then the team split, with the priest and the militant going after the second group, while the rest of the team went after the first lot. Through some clever tactical nous, some stealth, and a bit of shooting, the two teams got to their destinations, discovering hundreds of exhausted people, shivering in the dark. Aphesius and Mordecai found that many of their group were injured, which slowed down the evacuation, which in turn led to more of the Risen catching up with them; they had a choice between letting the dead pick of the stragglers, or stopping each time to fight off the attackers, and in a rare moment of altruism from the priest, they did the latter.

Over at the other side of the void station, the rest of the team found their group of survivors apparently held hostage by the former astropath of Jameson's Hollow, now quite dead, but still somehow in control of his psychic abilities. A short battle followed in which the dead psyker was killed once more, his death unleashing a torrent of warp energies which twisted reality in the immediate vicinity, plunging the area into unnatural darkness, and allowing some daemonic presence through just enough to whisper blasphemous secrets directly into the minds of the explorers.

Even so, the explorers returned victorious, rescuing the vast majority of the survivors before turning their new chemical weapon on the station, melting the dead inside as they did the crew of the Thunderhammer. As a result of their success, they were able to negotiate an exclusive deal with the authorities, barring any Rogue Traders other than themselves and Moullierre from using the station's facilities.

They then headed to their holdings in the Mianded system, to fill out their crew and get some shore leave, before returning to pick up Moullierre and her alien husband; both Aphesius and Sol attempted to charm Moullierre, hoping to gain some kind of advantage, but the canny Trader got the better of both of them. The party then headed to the Soangre system, where the Eldar had told them they would find a way for him to contact his people. Sure enough, suspended in space at the mid point between the system's binary stars was a shimmering portal, something Triptych knew was akin to a Warp tunnel, but at the same time not. It was also far too small for either of the explorers' starships, but would accommodate a shuttle. Their xeno prisoner indicated that this portal would lead them to their destination, and with considerable reluctance, the team got in a shuttle with the Eldar, with Moullierre and some hand-picked troops in the other, and headed for the portal.

As Triptych, at the helm, guided their craft through the unnatural passage in space-time, their vox units crackled into life, with a message from the Banshee bridge crew alerting them to the presence of other starships in the system. Before they could respond, their momentum carried their shuttlecraft through the portal and into the unknown.

Which is where we left it. Perhaps we will return one day to discover what's on the other side of the portal, and perhaps not; there is always a hint of sadness when a campaign comes to a close, but we got fifteen sessions out of what was only supposed to be a one-shot, so I can't complain.

The Ministry of Blades : The Pyramids of Hertfordshire, episode 3

Antonia visits the Manor; Curruthers sends a telegram.

Played

6th May 2010.

Dramatis Personae

Lady Antonia deVore - a Heavily-armed Aristocrat.
Miss Constantina Spit - a Rebellious Debutante.
Captain Benson Curruthers - a Military Policeman.
Jack Prentiss - a Dodgy Pedestrian.
Miss April Sharpe - a Self-taught Inventor.
Rodney Marsh - a Partially-reformed Thief.
Sir Upton Scudamore - a Self-made Eccentric.
Villiers - a Butler of Few Words.
Madamoiselle Melissa D'Arqué - a Governess.
Alice and Peter - Sir Upton's Grandchildren.
Assorted Cooks, Grooms, Groundsmen and Navvies.

Plot

While Miss Sharpe attempted to figure out what had gone wrong with her weapon, Prentiss began to poke through the remains of the formerly-animated mummy. Upon receiving a nasty acid burn, he began poking more carefully, uncovered four bronze statuettes and a number of small clay tablets, all of which he pocketed for later examination.

The group decided that they had done enough for one night and Captain Curruthers confidently led them back towards the Inn. They realised they were lost as they crested a rise, emerging from the trees to gain a moonlit view of their surroundings. The village lay behind them, Avery Manor and its pyramid to their right, and a small, but brightly lit, clearing to the north. Using binoculars, they could see signs of arc floodlights, temporary buildings and a tall mast of some description. Taking their bearings and noting the position of the clearing, they tried again to get back to their beds.

In the meantime, Lady Antonia tried to wake the church verger but had no success, despite pelting his window with gravel. Giving up, she returned to the graveyard and found the group had left. Following them, she discovered the remains of the mummy, then tracked the team up the hill, where they finally reunited.

They returned to the Inn at about four in the morning and got some sleep, before discussing their next steps over breakfast. While Miss Sharpe began repairing her weapon, the remainder of the team set out to try and locate the clearing in daylight. They had little trouble, but as they approached, they were confronted by a hunting-tweeds—clad gamekeeper, armed with a shotgun, who informed them it was private land and asked them to leave immediately. Curruthers noticed odd movements in locations where he would have placed hidden sentries; noting that the gamekeeper seemed familiar, he decided it was advisable to leave. Suspecting some kind of secret government research installation, Curruthers sent a telegram to the Ministry upon their return to ask if they were aware of any such thing.

In the meantime, the team decided a visit to the Manor to investigate the pyramid and its eccentric builder was in order. Using their existing disguise as a group of upper- and middle-class occult enthusiasts, they sent Prentiss, in the guise of a servant, to request permission to visit. Upon arrival, Prentiss encountered the butler, Villiers, then returned with an invitation. The visiting party consisted of Lady Antonia, Curruthers and Miss Spit, with Prentiss as the driver and Miss Sharpe as maid to the ladies. Marsh was to sneak onto the grounds to explore the pyramid building site.

Sir Upton Scudamore turned out to be an aging railway tycoon, working-class in origin, but made a Baronet for his services to the country. He was very welcoming and only too willing to give the ‘enthusiasts’ a personal tour of his extensive Egyptian collection, while describing his interest. Remarking that he was now retired and that his son, Charles, ran the company, Sir Upton explained that he was planning his funeral, hence the pyramid; he didn't believe in any of this nonsense about mystical pyramid powers, just liked the idea of being buried in a pyramid. He was somewhat annoyed about the theft of his latest mummy from the outbuilding where it was being stored while its display case was completed. Prentiss and Miss Sharpe were invited to wait below stairs and took the opportunity to talk to the servants; they found that they knew little more than anyone else about the goings-on in the area, maintaining that Sir Upton was good boss, if a little eccentric.

The team eagerly accepted when their host offered them a tour of the pyramid site and, given the distance, they travelled over by carriage. On the way out through the front doors, they were introduced to Sir Upton's grandchildren and their French governess, Madamoiselle D'Arqué. Marsh had successfully infiltrated the pyramid site, skulking betwen piles of building materials and rubble, but was unable to discover anything more unusual than a pyramid being built on a 19th century English estate. The rest of the team also came to the conclusion that this was just an architectural folly. Casual conversation revealed that Sir Upton knew nothing of the facility in the clearing, even though it was his land.

Discussing what they had learned as they returned to the Hangman's Dance, the group's suspicions turned to Sir Upton's son. They found an answer to their earlier telegram to the Ministry, saying there was no government installation in the area, and sent a further enquiry for more information on Charles Scudamore.

Notes

With the missing players back in town, this session was mostly talk, concentrating on a hitherto ignored branch of the investigation.

Rogue Trader Session 14: Death by Pointy Stick

Characters:

Aphesius Alesaunder, zealous yet charming missionary of the Imperial Cult. (Manoj A)
Mordecai the Cautious, twin-hellpistol wielding weapons monkey, sent to the newly-acquired Thunderhammer to make sure all is shipshape, since David was off buying a car or something. (David)
Maximillius XVIII, tough-as-nails tech-priest from a death world. (Ben F)
Octavius Sol, seneschal and quartermaster. (Stuart F)
Triptych, mutant navigator and his harem. (Ric R)

---

This is quite a long one. We played for an extra hour, but barely any of it was scripted, as the players spent most of their time pursuing their own schemes. They're also a cautious lot who like to cover every eventuality before they take action, so there's always lots of planning and dealing going on at the table, and I don't have to do anything except listen. This game has been easy, and a lot of fun, to GM for that reason.

The duel of honour between Octavius Sol and Imperial Commander Ernst Kruger would begin at 06:00 hours, and already there was a palpable buzz aboard the ragtag fleet of refugee vessels surrounding the Risen-infested void station of Jameson's Hollow. While Sol busied himself with practising his mêlée skills, the rest of the gang set about stacking the odds in favour of their seneschal. Maximillius created a small hidden poison dispenser which would attach to Sol's spear; the hope was that since it was a weapon of xeno design, such an addition would be difficult to spot. He also met up with some of the Banshee's underdeck scum and purchased a cheap home-made version of the combat drug Frenzon, just to give Sol a further edge in the fight.

Meanwhile, the priest studied the rules of a formal duel and also tried to uncover any particular weaknesses Kruger might have, and which they could exploit. It was discovered that the Commander was a solid, even boring, man, devoted to military service, but with a strong sense of honour; it was this stability which led to him being assigned to the frontier outpost in the first place. He was also discovered to be an orphan, adopted into the Kruger family, but Alesaunder did not have the time to turn up any more on this line of enquiry. As one last action, the priest made it clear to Kruger's men that any attempt to interfere in the duel would not be appreciated, and that he had two starships bristling with weapons with which to make the point, if necessary.

The hour of the duel arrived, and the explorers arrived at the makeshift arena constructed within one of Moullierre's vessel's cargo holds to discover a sizeable crowd. A twenty metre square area at the centre was roped off, and the audience sat around this on barrels, cargo crates and anything else they could find. Another area was roped off for the assembled dignitaries and nobles; present was their own Trader Locke, Aurelie Moullierre the host, and Kruger's second-in-command, Augustus Schtolnik. Zarak was not present, and Triptych discovered that the suspected Inquisitor had been found dead in his room on Moullierre's vessel earlier that morning, a victim of poison.

(This poison was created by the explorator and administered by the seneschal, at the very same dinner at which Sol and Kruger had the argument which led to the duel. Triptych was not aware of this plan, however, and Ric played his reaction as genuine shock and surprise.)

Alesaunder accompanied his cousin Sol to the ring, and used his considerable social skills to not only whip Sol up into a frenzy, but to also distract and demoralise Kruger; Sol was already under the effects of Frenzon as well as the still-unknown influence of the alien spear, so the players hoped that they'd done enough, as the odds were very much in favour of the military man. Alas, Kruger fumbled his roll to resist the taunting, which changed everything.



Sol, in a murderous rage charged the Commander, who seemed to just stand there with a look of confusion on his face. The first blow was but a scratch, shaving off a slice of Kruger's ear, but a second pierced his thigh, blood welling from the savage wound. Watching from behind the rope barrier, Alesaunder was surprised to discover one of the red-robed figures from his dream standing beside him, apparently enjoying the duel; a discussion followed, in which the figure made another offer of power and immortality to the priest, mentioning that Aphesius was of particular interest to them, as the explorator and navigator were barely human, and that Sol "belonged to another".

Meanwhile, Triptych was scanning the crowd with his Warp eye, on the look out for baleful energies, and spotted the hooded figure talking to the priest. Recognising the figure from the description Aphesius had given him of the dream, Triptych pushed his way through the crowd to tell Moullierre that there was a Warp entity on her vessel.

Sol jabbed again at Kruger, who again failed to put up a solid defence, and this time the alien weapon sunk into the muscles at the Commander's shoulder, rendering his left arm useless. Sol felt some force empowering him, something other than the combat drugs, something which seemed to fill him with energy and in a blur of speed he made a second attack, once more to Kruger's leg, this time shearing the limb completely. The crowd gasped in surprise as the military man fell to the ground and blood gushed all over the deck. Triptych shuddered as he saw his seneschal surrounded by blasphemous xeno energies no one else could see.

The red-robed figure was overjoyed by this display of violence, which perhaps contributed to Alesaunder once more rejecting the offer. With a shrug, the figure claimed that he had "other options", walked into the middle of the expanding pool of Kruger's blood, and with a salute to the priest, sank into the pool as if it had real depth. Meanwhile, the Commander had begun twitching, but before anything could be done to prevent his rise from the dead, Sol screamed that same unnatural scream the explorers had heard on the bridge of the Thunderhammer and brought the spear down through Kruger's chest and into the deck plating underneath, with a shower of eldritch red sparks. Those who were present at the spear's discovery couldn't help but note the similarities.

Shocked by this series of events, the crowd dispersed, and the explorers warily approached the howling seneschal with an eye to calming him down. Many minutes later, Sol came to his senses, with little memory of the duel, but a feeling of elation flooding through every fibre of his being.

After a brief detour to see for themselves whether Zarak was indeed dead, the explorers returned to their ongoing plan to turn the situation at Jameson's Hollow to their advantage, offering to clear the station of the Risen in exchange for exclusive access to the station's facilities. Kruger had not been keen on this suggestion, seeing it as dishonourable at best and blackmail at worst, but with him out of the way, the team hoped that Schtolnik would prove more open to the plan. He did, although it seemed more through weariness than anything else, and so the explorers moved forward with the next stage, which was to find out more about the Risen before they attempted to rescue the survivors still on the station.

To do this, they met again with the Eldar held captive in a secret part of Moullierre's vessel. He again repeated his offer to go to his people and ask for assistance, in return for his freedom from his prison. Although they still did not trust the alien, the explorers felt that he was their only option to find out a way to stop the undead plague, and so tentatively agreed, on the grounds that they would accompany him to his destination. They also convinced Moullierre to allow her husband's freedom, although she too insisted on accompanying them, albeit in their vessel, as she wasn't keen on her "in-laws" discovering her. With the bare bones of an agreement in place, the team decided to first rescue the survivors on the void station, and returned to their ship to formulate a plan.

The Ministry of Blades : The Case of the Jade Dragon (an Untold Tale of the Ministry), episode 2

Curruthers shoots a gangster; Prentiss uses his fists.

Played

22nd April 2010.

Dramatis Personae
Lady Antonia deVore - a Heavily-armed Aristocrat.
Captain Benson Curruthers - a Military Policeman.
Jack Prentiss - a Dodgy Pedestrian.
Rodney Marsh - a Partially-reformed Thief.
A Herculean Pugilist.
A Murderous Acrobat.
A Horde of Gangsters.

Plot

Having secured the warehouse, the team decided to try and get their prisoner and the crate back to the Ministry. Prentiss headed out of Limehouse at speed to locate a cart big enough to transport a two-ton lump of jade, while Marsh began wrapping the corpses in chains. He then got Curruthers to assist him in dumping the bodies in the river. In the process, they discovered that all the bodies, and their prisoner, sported elaborate and colourful tattoos, mostly of assorted mythological creatures; Marsh had only seen designs like this on teapots. Lady Antonia maintained a watch, while Marsh and Curruthers attempted to interrogate the prisoner, who turned out not to speak a word of English.

Prentiss returned a fretful hour later with a cart, a horse and their driver, a man he said could be trusted. They managed to get the crate onto the cart, after discovering a winch in the building, and began the trek back to Shaftesbury Avenue at a very slow pace (even a draft horse was having difficulty with the weight). It was now about two o'clock in the morning.

Things went well until they reached the edge of Limehouse, when they were suddenly ambushed by several large bands of gangsters. Lady Antonia managed to give the team enough warning to prepare weapons and a rather unequal battle began as they cut and blasted their way through the tide of thugs. Prentiss fought with his newly-acquired boathook from on top of the cart but, when the driver was knocked out, he jumped down to defend him. Spotting one of the gang leaders, a somewhat brawny fellow, moving towards him, he put the hook aside and they engaged in hand-to-hand combat. Meanwhile, Curruthers was also looking for any sign of a leader and, spotting another likely candidate, a piratical type with two exotic-looking knives in his belt, took a shot at him with little effect. Marsh decided discretion was the better part of valour and hid under the tarpaulin, with the intention of staying with the cart if the bad guys won. Lady Antonia mounted the carthorse and tried to get it to move but, discovering the press was too great, she used it as a shooting platform.

Prentiss engaged in a swift exchange of blows with his opponent, then put him down, breaking his nose as a number of the surrounding gangsters broke off their attack and fled, beginning a mass exodus. Curruthers' target recovered from the impact of the shot and somersaulted over the intervening crowd, stabbing the Captain quite badly. Marsh attempted to intervene but was unable to penetrate the villain's tough hide. Lady Antonia found it too difficult to assist and concentrated on clearing the thinning crowd ahead of the crows. It took Prentiss, who had stopped to check the driver was still alive, hitting Rain with his boathook to bring him down.

Once the dust had settled, the original prisoner and Prentiss' victim had disappeared with the crowd. They decided to concentrate on getting their new prisoner and the crate to the Ministry, where Rooke was very pleased to take charge of them.

Notes

The story continued this week, as flight disruption from the ash lofting from the Eyjafjallajökull volcano ensured that the tourists remained in Japan.

It was another fight, arranged using the mook rules from Adamant Entertainment's Thrilling Tales. Rather than give a specific number of opponents, I decided that the crowd would disperse after 30 of them were taken out (adjusting for the robustness of the players' defence) and that 1d4 of them would be able to attack each character in a round. It worked out in a fairly balanced fashion, but the two henchmen (also from Thrilling Tales) caused a few problems. The fight featured three jokers, leading to some spectacular die-rolling (notably Prentiss' KO of the first henchman and the second henchman's flying leap to attack Curruthers). It also featured the first use of another optional rule from Thrilling Tales, story declarations, which allow a character to spend a fate chip (benny) and request that something happens: in this case, Prentiss was still carrying his boathook from the previous battle, rather than having left it in the warehouse.

Rogue Trader Session 13: Come Dine With Me

Characters:

Aphesius Alesaunder, zealous yet charming missionary of the Imperial Cult. (Manoj A)
Mordecai the Cautious, twin-hellpistol wielding weapons monkey. (David)
Maximillius XVIII, tough-as-nails tech-priest from a death world. (Ben F)
Octavius Sol, seneschal and quartermaster. (Stuart F)
Triptych, mutant navigator and his harem. (Ric R)

Full house again!

---

On the battle bridge of the Thunderhammer, the explorers fought a horde of undead crew members, while a hulking figure they took to be the captain, Telemon Maul, waded through the mêlée towards Octavius Sol, having issued a formal challenge to the seneschal.

Perhaps it was decided that the dead have no need for honour, or perhaps the priest simply did not care, as he fought his way to Sol in order to aid his ally in the duel. Meanwhile, the rest of the team fought the massed dead, Maximillius swinging his power axe to and fro, lopping off limbs and heads as he went, and the Banshee's elite guardsmen turning their flamers on the shambling dead, their aim guided by their faith in the Emperor, as well as the commands of the battle-hardened Mordecai. The navigator Triptych fared less well, suffering a grievous wound as a lucky knife strike took him in the belly, spilling his innards across the deck. If it were not for Triptych's mutant healing abilities, he would have died there and then, lying amongst his own intestines.

(To run each of the zombies individually would have fried my brain, so I instead ran the mob as one creature with multiple attacks. It had 300 Wounds, and was capable of three attacks against each player-character per round; reduced to 200 Wounds, it would only be capable of two attacks, and once down to 100, it could only attack each character once per round. This was an experiment, but it worked out well, and I'll be using it again.)

Sol found himself struggling to harm his opponent, even with the strange spear he'd rescued from the Eldar ruins, but death seemed to have made the captain sluggish and clumsy, and his attacks went wide, allowing the seneschal and priest to wear him down, with Sol striking the final blow, an attack so brutal it split the captain in two; at this point Sol uttered an inhuman cry, chilling the bones of everyone present, and the seneschal wondered what kind of influence the alien weapon had over him.

Eventually the battle was won, and the explorers found themselves in control of the bridge, but there was still the pressing problem of the 95,000 dead crew members roaming the halls of the Thunderhammer. Checking the logs, Maximillius discovered that the ship's drives had suffered some kind of malfunction while in the Warp, flooding the vessel with deadly radiation, killing many, and allowing them to rise as the restless dead. Outnumbered, the survivors were picked off one by one, before making a final, and apparently futile, stand on the bridge. A number of plans for cleansing the ship were considered, and most rejected as being too impractical, until the explorers hit upon the idea of unleashing some kind of toxin which would destroy biological material. The tech-priest made some quick calculations and came up with a suitable formula and, making contact with his deputies aboard the Banshee, gave them the instructions to mass-produce the toxin. The process would take three days, which matched up well with the distance between the two starships. Now, all they could do was wait.

The Banshee arrived with the bio-weapon, as well as the news that the suspected Inquisitor Zarak had moved to the Rogue Trader Aurelie Moullierre's vessel, the Dark Filament; this concerned the explorers, as they suspected that Zarak was working against them in some way. That would have to wait, however, as they had a job to do. The Thunderhammer's life support systems were loaded with the toxin, and the ship was flooded with the deadly concoction; a day or so later, and the chemical had done its work, melting the dead crew into a greasy mulch. Maximillius vented the poison into space and recycled the ship's atmosphere, making it safe once more for the living, and the explorers set about transferring enough crew from their vessel to operate the massive battleship.

They sent a vox cast to the Dark Filament, informing those present that the Locke dynasty had claimed the Thunderhammer as salvage, and requesting a crisis meeting with Moullierre, Imperial Commander Kruger, and Inquisitor Zarak. A sumptuous banquet was prepared aboard the Banshee, and the dignitaries were made comfortable as talks began on how to deal with the undead menace. In the background, the explorers arranged to have refugees from the abandoned void station moved to the Thunderhammer to serve as temporary crew, and Sol had Zarak's meal poisoned with the same toxin used to deal with Flavion so many months ago, an act he kept secret from his fellows. It was perhaps a prescient move, as Zarak greeted the explorers with a smile, which further convinced them that he was up to something.

It seems that whenever the player-characters get into tense negotiations like this, everything goes wrong, and they start making enemies. Perhaps informing Kruger that they wanted control of his station in exchange for the release of their new bio-weapon was not the best tactic, as the noble became enraged with such double-dealing in a time of crisis and called the explorers' honour into question, which then enraged Octavius Sol, who called for a duel. Kruger agreed, and stormed out of the negotiations, returning to his temporary base aboard Moullierre's vessel. For her part, Moullierre seemed to be amused by all the testosterone floating about, but also asked the explorers if the rumours she'd heard about the alien ruins they'd discovered were true, and that they had explored an Eldar temple. When this was confirmed, she asked them to meet her aboard her own vessel at midnight, before returning to the feast.

After the meal, and with negotiations stalled, the explorers got in contact with Augustus Shtolnik, Kruger's second-in-command, to discuss the details of the duel. Shtolnik informed them that the fight would take place aboard the Dark Filament, and that it would be to the death, although they would be allowed to choose the weapon used. Perhaps under a xeno influence, Sol chose the spear, and went to his quarters to practise.

Leaving the seneschal to his training, the rest of the team headed over to the Dark Filament as requested, and suspecting a trap were surprised to find Moullierre waiting for them alone. She had each of them swear an oath of honour to not reveal what they would see aboard her vessel, and then led them through a warren of passages into the depths of the ship. There, hidden behind a number of secure doors, they were shown a single dirty cell in which was chained a humanoid figure, clearly malnourished and mistreated. As their eyes adjusted to the gloom in the unlit prison, they recognised the figure as one of the treacherous Eldar, and Moullierre introduced it as her husband, before leaving them alone.

The Eldar captive listened as the explorers explained what they had seen on Zeesol, and he confirmed that they had destroyed one of his people's temples. He also told them that the Eldar knew a thing or two about death, and that it sounded like the door between life and death had been opened, which was allowing the dead to return from beyond, hence the current plague. However, he also informed them that we was no expert on such matters, although he could find such experts. The price he gave for such aid was, of course, his freedom.

The Ministry of Blades : The Case of the Jade Dragon (an Untold Tale of the Ministry), episode 1

Marsh encounters a dragon, Prentiss swings a boathook.

Played

8th April 2010.

Dramatis Personae

* Lady Antonia deVore - a Heavily-armed Aristocrat.
* Captain Benson Curruthers - a Military Policeman.
* Jack Prentiss - a Dodgy Pedestrian.
* Rodney Marsh - a Partially-reformed Thief.
* Mr Erasmus Rooke - the Boss.
* A Mysterious Chinese Gentleman.
* Several Burly Guards.
* Eight Tong Gangsters.

Plot

A couple of weeks before dealing with the Highbury Horrror, the team (who had yet to encounter Miss Sharpe and Miss Spit) were assigned to watch the unloading of, identify and possibly secure, a package from a ship newly-arrived from the Orient. Although Mr Rooke seemed to know which ship and when and where it would dock, he was not forthcoming with the nature of the cargo.

Heading into Limehouse as night fell, the group quickly located the target dock and Marsh quietly broke into a neighbouring warehouse. They climbed the interior staircases and took up residence on the flat roof, from which they could watch the unloading of the Orient Star.

The ship was not long in arriving, and a number of Chinese dock workers appeared as it tied up at the wharf. Gangplanks were run out and a steam-powered crane brought into operation under the bright arc-lights of the dockyard. The team watched as thirty crates of varying sizes were removed from the hold, and also took note of the presence of a tall, elegant individual in Chinese dress watching from the bridge of the ship, flanked by heavyset guards. Marsh attempted to get closer to the ship, but was nearly spotted by the guards and had to leave rapidly. Eventually, the dock workers finished unloading the vessel, were paid and left, along with most of the guards and the observer. Prentiss decided to follow the observer, assuming he was some sort of boss, as he got into a carriage and was delivered to a luxurious hotel nearby.

When he rejoined them, the team crossed to the roof of the next warehouse, in which the goods were being stored, and descended to explore. They found the crates on the ground floor and while Lady Antonia kept watch, Prentiss began examining them, discovering a quantity of souvenirs, food and other trade goods.

Curruthers and Marsh checked out the office overlooking the ground floor and found a cabinet full of papers written in Chinese, of which some bore a mark also found on one of the crates being unloaded. Deciding this was significant, they returned to the floor and located that crate. Levering it open, they uncovered a statue of a Chinese dragon carved out of a single huge block of jade; as Marsh examined it, a pale replica, apparently made of mist, coalesced above it and struck at him, knocking him out. The others leapt in to help and Curruthers forced the lid back down on to it, just as the doors banged open and a gang of eight Chinamen ran in brandishing wicked-looking meat cleavers.

Battle began following a shouted challenge and the team shot half the attackers before they reached the crates. A confused meleé broke out, and the heroes prevailed, despite the attackers' spectacular high kicks. Marsh recovered in a timely fashion and used his rat amulet to sneak up behind one of the attackers, who had an injured Lady Antonia at his mercy. Wielding a boathook in an impressive fashion, Prentiss managed to force one to surrender (the others died of their injuries).

Notes

I ran this story because two of the players had the temerity to take a two week trip to Japan. The flashback story has no bearing on the current Pyramids of Hertfordshire storyline, but is more of a Marvel-style ‘untold story’. The plot itself reflects the kind of things these people do when they're not chasing vampires and is derived from the unused tong/underworld war plot I wanted to use in the Temple Vampire. This was intended to be a one off, but the Eyjafjallajökull volcano had other ideas…

Rogue Trader Session 12: Never Trust a Priest

Characters:

Aphesius Alesaunder, zealous yet charming missionary of the Imperial Cult. (Manoj A)
Mordecai the Cautious, newly-promoted weapons monkey. (David)
Maximillius XVIII, tough-as-nails technician from a death world. (Ben F)
Octavius Sol, seneschal and quartermaster. (Stuart F)
Triptych, mutant navigator and his harem. (Ric R)

Full house! Ding!

---

Aphesius and Mordecai stood above the bloody remnants of Telemachus Locke, the son and only heir of their Rogue Trader, but the guards they'd brought with them were busy subduing the cultists, and the cultists were busy being subdued, so no one else had yet discovered the cult leader's true identity. So they quickly hid the incriminating medallion, and turned a flamer on the corpse, proclaiming that such heretics should be burned, particularly as they'd not yet solved the problem of the rising dead. In order to deflect attention away from the cult leader, the priest ordered that the remaining cultists should also be executed, and with some reluctance, the guardsmen unleashed fiery death upon the restrained death cultists, most of whom accepted their demise in a state of religious ecstasy.

The cult leader's assistants were led away for interrogation, and through the application of violence (Mordecai) and weird psychic manipulation (Triptych) the team discovered that the cult was being led by someone they called the "boy king", and that he had come to them during that period when the Banshee was lost in the warp for two hundred days; the explorers wondered whether some malign daemonic influence may have infiltrated the ship during this time in the empyrean. They discovered more about the cult's beliefs, but could not pin them down as true heresy, as the cultists seemed to believe that they were worshipping the Emperor in his aspect as a being hovering on the border between life and death. At this point, Aphesius made an executive decision and declared the cult heretical, which just so happened to tie in nicely with his previous order to have them all burned to death.

There followed a sequence which touched my cynical GM's heart, as the players began conspiring against each other. This was a great bit of roleplaying, as the players were all aware of Telemachus' death, but only the characters of Mordecai and Aphesius knew, so they decided to keep the truth from their comrades. Aphesius went to Locke, spinning a tale the boy had not attended his spiritual lessons for a number of days, and the Rogue Trader tasked him with finding Telemachus, who'd undoubtedly just gone exploring in the lower decks again. Then the priest and the gunbunny began planning to arrange evidence to support their version of events.

During the night, Aphesius was woken by a knocking at his door, and answering, he found himself looking out on a vast plain of bleached white skulls stretching out as far as the eye could see, with foreboding black storm clouds boiling in the sky ahead. He attempted to return to bed, but found that the door was now behind him, and locked. Not only that, but he turned to find himself facing eight red-robed figures, who all spoke with a single voice, acknowledging his killing of their champion, and offering the priest the chance to take his place. Aphesius was briefly tempted, but his faith returned to him, and he uttered a prayer to the God-Emperor, which seemed to break the illusion, and he found himself back in his cabin, drenched in sweat.

The next morning, the priest mentioned his dream to his companions, and Triptych's long study of the esoteric meant that he found some elements of the dream familiar, but he could not quite place them. In the meantime, Aphesius arranged for Telemachus' medallion to be "discovered" in a service duct, and we had some more good roleplaying, as Ben, playing an explorator with a fanatical desire to uncover hidden truths, decided to investigate further, and found that the only person to go anywhere near the duct in recent times was the acolyte Aphesius had sent to "discover" the medallion. Already suspicious of the preacher, Maximillius kept his discovery to himself for the moment.

The group approached Locke and revealed that they had discovered a death cult aboard the ship, that it was probably a front for worship of the Ruinous Powers, and that the cult had likely killed Telemachus, although no body had been found. They gave Locke his son's medallion, and left the noble to his thoughts, turning the Banshee towards Jameson's Hollow in order to answer the distress signal they had received previously.

Arriving in-system, their auger arrays picked up a small flock of vessels in orbit around the void station, including the Dark Filament, the ship of Rogue Trader Aurelie Moullierre, with whom they had an alliance. They also detected the Thunderhammer, the vessel of the military minded Telemon Maul, hanging back at the edge of the system, apparently without power. They got in touch with the Dark Filament, and were surprised to have the call answered by Kruger, the commander of Jameson's Hollow. He revealed that the station had been abandoned due to the swarms of living dead, and that the survivors were packed into the vessels in orbit; the priority was overcrowding and resources, and Kruger requested that the Banshee help to lighten the load a little. The explorers were reluctant to let a bunch of refugees on board, and asked to speak to Moullierre, who seemed pleased to see them. Remembering how well she and Locke got on, the explorers suggested that she come on board the Banshee, in the hopes that she might be able to cheer up the distraught Trader. They also asked about the Thunderhammer, and discovered that no one else had noticed its presence; the explorers were immediately suspicious, and decided to check out Maul's vessel for themselves.

They sent the Banshee to meet up with Moullierre, and took a shuttle full of troops out to the Thunderhammer. Inching closer, they detected that the ship was active, but seemed to be on silent running, waiting for something. As they approached even closer, the cruiser's array of weapons came to life, and Triptych found himself having to weave the shuttle through a hell of plasma lances and explosive ordnance, a hair-raising few minutes, if the mutant navigator had hair of course. The shuttle docked with the vast ex-naval vessel at a point which Maximillius guessed was close to the command bridge. They found the corridors of the ship quiet and empty, and advanced carefully, getting to the bridge without challenge, that is until they opened the blast doors. Inside, milling about without apparent purpose, was a throng of walking corpses, all clad in flak armour, and wielding automatic weapons and monoknives, a shock to the explorers, who had expected to see more of the feral dead they'd encountered elsewhere. Slumped in the golden command throne at the centre of the bridge was an unmoving figure clad in the flak armour of an Imperial military officer, but the explorers had little time to pick out further details as the horde of dead surged to the attack.

The explorers and their soldiers opened fire, but a mêlée soon ensued, with the slashing and stabbing of monoknives met with close range pistol blasts and the bone-cracking thud of rifle butts. In all this, Sol and Mordecai attempted to pick off the figure in the command throne, but the mass of ornamentation and technology provided cover, and they could only score glancing hits. As the combat escalated, the figure rose from the throne with a painful slowness, smoke rising from the few hits which had been scored, and looked at each of the explorers, before turning to the sensechal. Raising its arm, the figure pointed its power maul at Sol and bowed its head, a gesture the seneschal recognised as a formal combat challenge. Then the figure began wading through the mêlée towards Octavius Sol.