Hell on Earth Reloaded: Campaign Journal Session 5

Real World Date: May 7, 2016

Campaign World Date(s): July 21-24, 2097


The Posse

Jericho is an attractive gunslinger and former actor with a penchant for collecting antique and famous firearms. At some point in his wanderings across the Wasted West over the years, he encountered something truly horrific. Now, only a bottle of whiskey keeps that memory from driving him mad. Played by Jeremy.

Jet Li is a master of Kung Fu fighting with a signature "Ska-Doosh!" power. At some point during his wanderings across the atomic wastelands, he picked up a mutation and now his skin has a metallic sheen to it. Played by Heath.

Mad Max is a Harrowed road warrior with a motorcycle. He tangled with a supernatural horror at one point and is now paranoid about things that go bump in the night. Played by Justin.

Rick James is a scavenger of the Wasted West and Tom's friend. They knew each while serving overseas in the army.

Tituba is a stunningly beautiful witch and a descendent of Mina Devlin. Played by Miranda.

Tom has wandered the Wasted Waste for years working as a hired gun. Like some other members of the posse, he played too long in the radioactive sandbox and now has a mutation: he has aged prematurely. He has strangely wrinkled skin and unnatural looking gray hair. Played by Thomas.


Readin' the Sitch

The posse has accepted a mission from Ike Taylor the mayor of Junkyard, and Joan, head of the Church of the Atomic Revelation. They are to travel to Carson City, Nevada, to find a blind man named Alexander. Alexander is the last remaining spy for the Iron Alliance in Carson City. He has recently sent news that something big is going down and he needs help.

The posse is also looking for Jet's daughter, Sarah. Sarah is the Acid Queen and rides a black dragon named Spew. She is allied with the Black Knights, a group of former (some would say fallen) Templars who wear black tabards with red crosses.

The posse is in the steading of Jarrod's Landing and had just defeated the Rebel Reavers, a road gang. The wasters had also acquired a rocket launcher, but unfortunately no rockets for it.


The Tell

Slave Boy

• Having defeated the Rebel Reavers, the posse wandered back to the Red Garter Casino and Whorehouse. Tituba was suddenly confronted by her nemesis, Slave Boy. About 14 years old, Slave Boy had betrayed Tituba to Mercy, Tituba's sister and a powerful witch. Mercy wanted revenge and had put a price on Tituba's head. Tituba has been on the run ever since.


• Slave Boy had a gang of ruffians with him and they attacked Tituba, hoping to take her alive. Tituba managed to avoid capture and cast her fear spell. The gang broke and ran. The rest of the posse, hearing the commotion, investigated and ended up capturing Slave Boy.


• The posse drug their captive back to the Red Garter. Hijinks ensued. In the end, the posse let Slave Boy go with a stern warning. Tituba wrote a letter that Slave Boy was to deliver to Mercy.

The Toll Booth at Stone Tooth

• The Posse rolled out of Jarrod's Strip early in the morning. At the end of the day, they arrived at Stone Tooth, a small steading run by the Black Knights, who charged tolls for traffic travelling east and west on I-80.


• The posse opted to stay overnight in the steading and hoped to find info on Jet's daughter, Sarah, the Acid Queen. They talked with Sir Geoffrey, the Templar in charge of the stead. He told them that Nicholas Saxon, the head of the Black Knights lived in Silver Town. He would write them a letter of introduction. [Dusty played the "Spill the Beans" Adventure Card.]

Giant Rattler Attack

• The posse decided to put their mission to Carson City on hold. Instead, they headed north to try and find Sarah, the Acid Queen and her dragon, Spew. Along the way, a giant rattler, a snake over 100 yards long, attacked them. They escaped due to expert driving from Tom, in the truck, and Max, on his motorcycle.

A Riot in Silver Town

• The posse rolled into Silver Town and promptly started a riot (Heath rolled Snake Eyes on his Streetwise check. I offered the group two choices: 1) surrender and earn a Benny, or 2) get run out of town on rail sans all of their possessions. All of the PCs except Max surrendered. Justin said that Max was not with the posse when the rioting occurred.) [In retrospect, I should not have given the PCs a Benny for surrendering since the riot was a result of a Snake Eyes result. Oh well.]


• Max paid a small fee to obtain a certificate that proclaimed him as Solicitor for the Guilty. He would represent the rest of the posse at court.


• During the trial, Jet convinced Nicholas that the Acid Queen was actually his daughter, Sarah. The kung fu fighter produced a locket, damaged and partially melted, that held a photo of a young child. Nicholas reluctantly agreed to summon the Acid Queen and her dragon to determine the veracity of Jet's claim.

The Acid Queen and Her Dragon

• Nicholas and party assembled in the town square, an area large enough to hold a dragon. Nicholas ordered the Dragon Bell to be rung. Eventually, the posse saw a black speck appear in the sky. It grew larger as it approached and soon the party beheld a dragon on the wing with an armored figure on its back. The sight of an actual dragon terrified the entire posse. All except Jericho were able to steel their hearts and keep a stiff upper lip. Jericho, on the other had, was overcome with fear and tried to run. He was held in place due to being chained to the rest of the posse, so he instead started screaming and sobbing.


• The dragon landed in the town square and its rider, armored all in black, demanded to know why they been summoned. On bended knee, Nicholas told the rider that Jet claimed to be her father. Bravely, the kung fu fighter stepped forward and convinced the Acid Queen that he was indeed her father. The Acid Queen removed her helm and the posse saw a young girl, no more than 15 years old. The left side of her face was scarred.


• The Acid Queen ordered Jet released from the chain gang and the two took a walk out of earshot of anyone else. Sarah told Jet that Nicholas's version of justice demanded blood and that the posse members would be beheaded. She might be able to talk Nicholas into only cutting off everyone's hands.


• Jet asked if there was anything that the posse could do for her so that she could convince Nicholas not to sever limbs. Sarah proposed that the posse kill Joseph the Templar, head of the Temple of Swords. Joseph and Nicholas were bitter rivals. Killing the Templar would put the posse in Nicholas's good graces. Jet was reluctant to kill a stranger who had done them no wrong. Sarah found this puzzling. She had killed hundreds, possibly thousands, of people. Some were probably innocent. She felt no guilt.


• The two returned to the town square. Jet told the posse about Sarah's proposal and that he was reluctant to carry out the mission. The rest of the posse, however, was all up for murder. Sarah said that if the posse abandoned the mission, she and her dragon would hunt them down and kill them.


• Nicholas had opened an ornate box and taken out a large, double bladed axe. When he heard about the Acid Queen's proposed mission for the posse, he agreed. He sighed and muttered something about needing more souls before putting the axe away.

The Temple of Swords

• The next day, the posse headed north for the Temple of Swords, formerly Twin Falls, Idaho. They encountered a dust storm on the way, but skillful driving from Tom and Max got them through it unscathed.


• The Temple was located in a foundry. A single smoketack belched black smoke.


• The posse approached the Temple and demanded to talk to Joseph, stating that they had vital information about the Acid Queen and Sir Nicholas. Joseph agreed to talk with them and the party was escorted to a third floor conference room.


• Max promptly pulled out his shotgun and shot Joseph. The rest of the posse started firing and fighting as well. Joseph died and his bodyguards fled due Tituba's fear spell. However, the 200 Templars who manned the Temple of Swords mobilized and started heading in the direction of the posse.

The Chase

• The posse ran for their vehicles and fled south. Half a dozen Templar vehicles gave chase.


• The posse managed to get away, but they paid a heavy price: Tom, Tituba, and Jericho were all killed by small arms fire from the Templars.

And that's where we stopped for the night.

Vehicles

Vehicle	Spook Juice (in days)	Notes
Groot's Truck	4
Max's Motorcycle	0

 

XP

Answer the following questions. 1 XP is earned for every yes answer. Min of 1, Max of 3 XP per session.

Did we successfully complete a Mission, overcome a major NPC or monster; or scrounge up a big, fat pile of Scrap from the pre-Apocalypse world?	Yes. They killed Joseph the Templar.
Did we create a new Mission by learning something new and important about the world or a PC?	Yes. The party received a mission to killed Joseph the Templar.
Did we lower the Fear Level of an area?	No.

Answer the following question. -1 XP is earned if yes.

Did we help raise the Fear Level of an area?

Yes. The posse killed a leader of the Templars. That news will raise the Fear Level in the local area.

1 XP earned.

Jet Li earns 11 XP due to turning in the "The Hard Way" Adventure Card along with 10 Bennies.

Character	Old XP	XP Earned	New XP	Raisin' Hell
Groot	4	0	4	·         1 Mutation: arm like a gnarled tree branch (Brawny Edge) ·         1 Heart Attack ·         1 Scar: horrible, disfigured skull (-1 Charisma)
Jet Li	29	11	40	·         1 Mutation (VotWW): metallic sheen to skin (+1 die bump Vigor) ·         1 Memento
Martell	4	0	4
Max	29	1	30	·         Harrowed: death wound = hole in the stomach ·         Harrowed: Dominion = +4 ·         Paranoid (Yellow Hindrance, VotWW) ·         Mark of Fear (-1 Charisma)
Rick	0	1	1

 

The Roll of Fallen Wasters

Solomon	24	3	27	- Lame Hindrance (VotWW) - 1 Heart Attack	Session 4. Solomon died  when Jeremy rolled snake eyes when the Templar was in a Rad Patch. Jeremy then pulled a Two from the Mutation deck = instant death.
Jericho	26	1	27	Major Hindrance: Habit: Alcoholic (VotWW)	Session 5. Chased and shot at by angry Templars, Jericho was riddled with bullets and died. The posse had just killed Joseph, the leader of the Templars.
Tituba	16	1	17		Session 5. Chased and shot at by angry Templars, Tituba was riddled with bullets and died. The posse had just killed Joseph, the leader of the Templars.
Tom	23	1	24	1 Mutation: Elderly (VotWW)	Session 5. Chased and shot at by angry Templars, Tom was riddled with bullets and died. The posse had just killed Joseph, the leader of the Templars.