Timmy's Lair: Hell on Earth Reloaded

Showing posts with label Hell on Earth Reloaded. Show all posts

Saturday, July 23, 2016

On Player Agency, Murder Hoboism, and Campaign Premises

Our group has descended into murder hoboism. A couple of sessions ago, the posse rolled into Silver Town, headquarters of the Black Knights, an evil organization of fallen Templars. The Black Knights also had a black dragon, Spew, as an ally. Spew in turn was allied (or controlled or was controlled by) a human known only as the Acid Queen. This mysterious figure was clad in armor complete with a great helm and rode on the back of the dragon as it terrorized the land.

Based on the character backgrounds I had been given, I decided that the Acid Queen was actually Sarah Li, daughter of Jet Li the kung-fu fighter. During the session, Jet found out about his daughter being the Acid Queen, bringer of death and woe to an entire region of the campaign world. Then, Jet and the posse were captured by the Black Knights and sentenced to death. Just before they were to be executed, the posse convinced the Black Knights to summon the Acid Queen.

Jet and his daughter met. Sarah, the Acid Queen, was young, perhaps 15 years old. One side of her face and body were horribly scarred, perhaps by the dragon's acid. Sarah was not sympathetic to the posse's or her father’s plight. She did say, however that the leader of the Black Knights hated a Templar, Joseph, Marshall of the Temple of Swords. Perhaps if the party killed the Templar, the Black Knights would let the posse members live?

The posse knew that the Templars were working to restore civilization and trying to make the world a better place. Nevertheless, they agreed to kill Joseph to get out of their predicament with the Black Knights. If they failed in their mission, Sarah (a.k.a. the Acid Queen) and her dragon would hunt them down and turn them into steaming piles of goo.

The party drove to the Temple of Swords and promptly killed Joseph. In the ensuing combat, three posse members died. After the session, Jet Li’s player was so appalled by the actions of his fellow players that he retired Jet and created a new character.

After the session, I had a talk with the players and told them that they were on the verge of losing a role-playing game. They had made Hell on Earth even worse. The murder of Joseph the Templar would raise the local Fear Level. Their enemies were now stronger.

The players did not exactly show remorse, but they acknowledged the premise of the campaign world: that they were the good guys fighting against overwhelming evil. Their job was to fight tyranny and injustice, defeat monsters (human and otherwise) and drive back the darkness. Doing so would reduce the Fear Level in a certain area and make the world just a little bit better. This is what they had agreed to when we started the campaign.

It was this premise that influenced my thinking process during the session. I forced the PCs into a difficult situation and then hoped to watch them get out of it. What would they do with a dragon stalking them? This was not really supposed to be a situation were the posse was to make a difficult choice: should they kill a good man to save themselves?

So, we soldiered on for a couple of more sessions. One of the replacement characters had the Wanted Hindrance. We determined that she was wanted by the Law Dogs, another organization doing their best to rebuild civilization and make the world a better place. Her character was wanted by a particular NPC who had been a sheriff before the Boom.

During the last session, I had the posse roll up on a road block. A pack of Law Dogs was stopping traffic and searching for the wanted character. Then the wanted character saw the sheriff, the man who was after her. Naturally, the posse pulled their guns out and starting killing anything that moved. The sheriff and the other Law Dogs went down in a hail of lead.

Once again, I had a discussion with the players that they were losing at a role-playing game. The Fear Level would go up. Their enemies were now stronger. Their actions had cost them the possible aid of another organization. All this, because the players would not accept the premise of the campaign.

Just as before, my discussion with the player was based on the premise of the campaign. The PC's Wanted Hindrance was meant to provide some interesting role-playing and decision making situations. What would the posse do when confronted with a seemingly impossible situation?

During the next week, I was making plans for the next session. I was not certain how to proceed, as the PCs had burned so many bridges. They could continue forward and keep murdering people with reckless abandon. That would be boring, as their would be no justification or motivation to their actions beyond simple bloodlust. I could send legions of Templars and packs of Law Dogs after them, but that would just show the bankruptcy of the campaign premise.

So I decided to end the Hell on Earth campaign.

Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Hell on Earth Reloaded: Campaign Journal: Session 7

Hell on Earth Reloaded

Campaign Journal: Session 7

Real World Date: June 18, 2016

Campaign World Date(s): Aug 4-8 2097

The Posse

Groot is an expert driver and scavenges the atomic wastelands in a pickup truck. While scavenging a ruin somewhere in the Wasted West, he picked up a mutation. He now has an arm that looks like a gnarled tree branch. Played by Jacob.

8 of 9 is as syker and former US army soldier. Her powers have made her bald and obese. She has a massive crush on Rick. Played by Heath.

Freyja is a purple robed Doomsayer and follower of the Church of the Atomic Revelation. The Glow blessed her with bat ears and supernatural hearing. At some point in her journeys across the Wasted West she fought a demon who gouged out one of her eyes. Played by Jeremy.

Jackie is a two fisted gunslinger who is cursed with gremlins. Whenever she uses an electronic or mechanical object, including guns, evils spirits do their best to break and disable the device. Played by Thomas.

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. He is wanted by the Templars, dead or alive, for killing Joseph, one of their leaders. Played by Justin.

Sirena is a stunningly beautiful witch. Played by Miranda.

Readin' the Sitch

The posse is in the blasted remains of Carson City, Nevada. They are looking for a nuke, a missile built from before the Boom. The nuke is in the hands of the Cult of Doom. They obviously intend to use for some nefarious purpose.

The Tell

Chasing the Convoy of Doom

A large number of trucks and a semi rumbled past the posse. Strapped to the grill of the semi was Groot. The posse managed to free him but the convoy kept going. Groot informed the rest of the party that the semi was carrying the nuke and that the convoy was headed to Junkyard.

The posse snuck out of the Hotel Coronado and went in pursuit of the convoy.

The Death of Spew and the Capture of the Acid Queen

The posse ran the checkpoint at Stone Tooth. They gunned their engines and made a run for it. Then, out of the sky, the posse saw a speck in the sky, rapidly approaching them. The speck soon turned into a dragon, with an armored humanoid figure on its back. Everyone in the posse felt an overwhelming fear as the dragon landed in front of their vehicles. Everyone was able to steel their nerves, except Freyja, who screamed like a little girl and ran in terror.

After some discussion, the posse threw caution to the wind and attacked. Spew the black dragon died. The posse captured the Acid Queen.

[I totally misread a spell and the party killed Spew due my error. Oh well.]

And that's where we stopped for the night.

Vehicles

Vehicle	Spook Juice (in days)	Notes
Groot's Truck	2
Max's Motorcycle	2

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. The posse successfully intercepted the convoy carrying the nuke to Junkyard.
Did we create a new Mission by learning something new and important about the world or a PC?	Yes. The posse captured the Acid Queen, who is wanted in Junkyard. She says she was ensorcelled by Spew and is innocent.
Did we lower the Fear Level of an area?	Yes. The posse killed Spew the black dragon. For a little while, at least, the folks of the Wasted West can breathe a little easier.

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

Did we help raise the Fear Level of an area?

No.

3 XP earned.

Max only gets 1 because Justin arrived late and left early.

8 of 9 gains an Advance.

Freyja gains an Advance.

Groot gains an Advance.

Jackie gains an Advance.

Sirena gains an Advance.

Character	Old XP	XP Earned	New XP	Raisin' Hell
8 of 9	17	3	20
Alex	22	0	22	Bollixed (VotWW)
Freyja	24	3	27	One Eye (VotWW) Bat Ears (Mutation = Alertness Edge)
Groot	4	3	7	· 1 Mutation: arm like a gnarled tree branch (Brawny Edge) · 1 Heart Attack · 1 Scar: horrible, disfigured skull (-1 Charisma)
Jackie	24	3	27	Bollixed (VotWW)
Martell	4	0	4
Max	32	1	33	· Harrowed: death wound = hole in the stomach · Harrowed: Dominion = +4 · Paranoid (Yellow Hindrance, VotWW) · Mark of Fear (-1 Charisma)
Rick	3	0	3
Sirena	14	3	17

The Roll of Fallen Wasters

Character			XP	Raisin' Hell	Notes
Jet Li (retired)	40	0	40	· 1 Mutation (VotWW): metallic sheen to skin (+1 die bump Vigor) · 1 Memento (spent)	Jet Li retired after Session 5 due to disgust with the actions of Max's character.
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.
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.
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.

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Hell on Earth Reloaded: Campaign Journal: Session 6

Hell on Earth Reloaded

Campaign Journal: Session 6

Real World Date: May 21, 2016

Campaign World Date(s): Aug 1-4, 2097

The Posse

8 of 9 is as syker and former US army soldier. Her powers have made her bald and obese. She has a massive crush on Rick. Played by Heath.

Alex is a two fisted knife fighter who is cursed with gremlins. Whenever she uses an electronic or mechanical object, including guns, evils spirits do their best to break and disable the device. Played by Stephen.

Rick James is a former US army soldier. Now he is a thief and a scavenger of the Wasted West. He and 8 of 9 know each other from before the Boom. Played by Dusty.

Sirena is a stunningly beautiful witch. Played by Miranda.

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 ended up in Silver Town, headquarters of the Black Dragons, a group of former Templars with their agenda. In return for their lives, they agreed to kill Joseph, a Templar and head of the Temple of Swords, formerly Twin Falls, Idaho. The posse succeeded in killing Joseph, took his head, and then fled. The rest of the Templars gave chase. In the resulting bloodbath, Tituba, Jericho, and Tom died.

Jet told Max that killing Joseph the Templar was too much. The kung fu fighter never wanted to see the road warrior again. Jet Li walked off into the sunset.

The Tell

Silver Town

· Max and Rick rolled into Silver Town and presented Joseph's head as proof of the Posse's deed. They received a pardon from Nicholas Saxon, head of the Black Knights.

· Nicholas invited the pair to an execution. Max and Rick recognized some of the Wasters to be executed. They managed to free the condemned and the newly formed posse fled.

Finding Alexander

· The posse found Alexander, who was blind but seemed to have a sixth sense. He informed them that the Cult of Doom possessed a nuke from before the Doom. They were planning to use it for some nefarious purpose.

Street Fight

· The posse was stopped by a patrol led by a Doom Priestess. When it seemed that the priestess was about to discover who they were, the posse attacked. The posse killed the priestess, but some of her guards got away. Soon, the Cult of Doom was conducting a city wide manhunt for the posse.

· The posse managed to avoid capture in large part because Alex seduced a guard, Carl the Gator (a mutant whose skin resembled that of an alligator], and used him to divert attention away from the posse. [Stephen played the Love Interest Adventure Card.]

Sneaking into the Hotel Coronado

· The posse discovered that the nuke was in a hidden underground bunker underneath the Hotel Coronado. They disguised themselves as whores and chefs and snuck in.

Fighting the Walkin' Dead

· The posse eventually found the entrance to the underground bunker. The entrance was guarded by a mass of walking dead infected with the Glow.

· The posse emerged victorious after a tough combat. Then they head a rumbling sound from deeper inside the bunker and whatever was making the sound was getting closer . . . .