Session 19 – Bubble Bobble Bullshit

Dramatis Personae

+Linlin Kins as Umquat the Specialist
+Ronnie Whelan as Ronnina the Magic User
+Adventures of the Mind as Don Harper of Mars, the Specialist

Hirelings:

Klaus the Slave
Albert the Great
Henry Leichester
Sheniqua

Loot

Taking care of ASCII: 8,000 Credits.
Money from the various bins in the evidence locker: 1,208 credits.
3 robot heads, + various chips and gears that looked undamaged and reasonably useful: 480 credits.
TOTAL: 9688 credits, or 3229 credits/XP each.

Unsold loot

2 Shortbows + Quivers
A Lasorgun. (Too large to wield without a mount. Deals 2d6 damage. Charge packs can be purchased from The Internet for 100 credits.)
6 Doses of Space LSD
A vial of Marsmeth Crystals
A rusted syringe with a strange purple fluid inside of it.
The steel neckchain worn by Henry Leichester, identifying him as a member of the Leichester family of Horsers.

NPC Relationships

Henry Leichester: Died from severe burns while in service to the party.

Albert the Great: Had his resolve shaken by the death of Henry.

Klaus the Hero Slave: Enjoyed great success in battle, and was touched by the party’s reverence towards the fallen Henry. Umquat spent 1000 credits to bring Klaus up to be a level 1 fighter.

Sheniqua: Was freed by Ronnina, and taken on as Ronnina’s apprentice. Ronnina spent 1000 credits to bring Sheniqua up to be a level 1 Magic User.

Anna Blerkinman: Ambushed the party, finally ready to seek revenge for her husband’s death by the hands of the party way back in Session 4.

ASCII: She’s been with the Internet long enough to know that the moment she was captured, someone was given a “bring her back dead or alive” mission. She’s grateful the party chose the more difficult route of keeping her alive. She doesn’t know if she would have done the same.

Current Injuries

Ronnina is at 0 hit points, with 4 pain, and no remaining spells.
Don Harper was at 0 hit points, but used the party’s healing salve to improve his condition.

TO BE COMPLETELY CLEAR: If Ronnina takes even 1 point of damage, she will have to roll 5d6+1 on the Death and Dying table. The tables start to result in “death” if you roll ~20 or higher.

Haven Turn

Don Harper of Mars spends his second Haven Turn training Toughness. 1 more to go before it is unlocked.

Ronnina spends her first Haven Turn improving her Sleight of Hand from a 1 in 6 chance to a 2 in 6 chance. 1 more to go before it is unlocked.

Umquat spends her first haven turn learning Heal, improving it from a 1, to a 2 in 6 chance. 1 more to go before it is unlocked.

GUN AUCTION!: A Spandau went up for auction. Umquat spent 5,000 credits to acquire it.

The Spandau is a fast firing machine gun with poor accuracy. Each time it is fired it attacks everyone within a 10′ hit box. Those attacked must make a saving throw versus breath (with a bonus of +2 for every increment of 30′ away they are) If they fail their save, they take 1d6 damage. If they succeed, they take no damage.

The Spandau and its ammo box are separate encumbering items. Each time the Spandau is fired, roll 1d6. If a 1 is rolled, then the ammo box is almost depleted, and the weapon can only be fired once more before the gun is empty. Ammunition can be replenished by spending 50 credits at any Internet stronghold.

(Here’s what a Spandau looks like: http://s1.favim.com/orig/150410/a-german-spandau-mg-0815-machine-gun-captured-by-g-company-145th-infantry-34th-division-of-the-ohio-national-guard-at-mont-falcon-woods-meuse-argonne-offensive-sept-1918-Favim.com-2635700.jpg)

Highlights Recap

The party picked up where they left off, manning a lasorgun mounted to the floor that was too heavy to wield in their arms. Moving quickly, they turned it towards the door Ronnina had just been taken through. Don Harper and the hirelings remained behind the gun whilst Umquat moved to the door, stood beside it, and popped it open.

Don Harper immediately opened fire, dealing two rounds of damage to the Robot in the room beyond before the energy clip ran empty. Two Morality Police charged into the room from the way the party had come from, while two more used the doorway to the cell block as cover while they fired arrows into the room. (Fortunately, Umquat was on hand to prevent them from sniping freely).

The combat was long and bloody. Ronnina attempted to cast Magic Missile while in shackles, but the spell failed. Albert tried to grapple one of the bad guys so Klaus could more easily stab him, and succeeded. Eventually the party managed to kill everything that stood in their path, even the robot, who as it turned out was barely capable of anything more than being a spear-launching-bot. Couldn’t even reload itself by picking up spears from the ground.

The party released Ronnina, and then went about examining the other two cells. The first contained a dirty, scrubby looking young woman huddled against the back wall, the second contained a quartet of drunks.

Ignoring the drunk tank, the party asked the woman what her name was and why she was there. She introduced herself as Sheniqua, and said she was imprisoned because she found Bubble Bobble fucking boring. It’s unclear what she means by this, but given the religious importance of video games to the Techno Priests, it’s not too hard to speculate.

Ronnina offered to get Sheniqua out of here and give her a job, which piqued her interest. However, when asked to stick around and help the party fight their way through, she refused, insisting she was getting the hell out of this place. Understanding, Ronnina told her where she could meet them, and gave her 100 credits to get herself a meal and some fresh clothes.

Moving onward, there remained only two doors in the corridor. Both heavily reinforced. Don Harper moved in to listen at the first one, and heard a few people talking about being hungry and going to get lunch, as well as a crackly, staticy voice which sounded as though it was pursuing an interrogation. Thinking fast, the party managed to clean up the hallway, then hide themselves around a corner. A few minutes later, a pair emerged from the room DH had listened at. An older guy, and a fresh faced 15 year old who was probably new to the job. The party mercilessly cut both down.

Don Harper then used his Tinker skill to rig a small explosive out of the power pack from the lasorgun. It wouldn’t be very powerful, but that was fine. He popped open the door he’d been listening at, where there was a single man sitting at a console and looking through a one-way-mirror into an interrogation room. Don Harper tossed the bomb, and it landed right int the guy’s lap. It exploded, killing him.

Unfortunatley it also damaged the panel, which simultaneously opened the door to the interrogation room, and electrified the floor, causing immense damage to everyone inside: Two guards, a third robot, and ASCII, tied to a metal chair.

The party tried to deactivate the electricity, but the controls had been destroyed and their technical knowledge was insufficient to find a workaround. They flailed for an option, throwing a chair at the window, hurling spears at the men interrogating ASCII. Finally, Ronnina managed to construct a lasso, throw it around ASCII’s chair, and drag her to safety with the help of Henry Leichester.

Unfortunately, the robot in the interrogation chamber had been repaired much better than the previous one. It leaped through the glass, and charged at the party. They attempted to dog pile onto it, but were unable to subdue it. As a defensive measure, the robot began to heat its surface until it glowed red. Don Harper and Albert managed to leap away, but Ronnina caught fire and had to stop to roll on the ground. Worse yet, Henry Leichester, Horser of the Redstone Lords, had great swaths of his skin melt off. He fell to the ground screaming for long seconds before he finally died.

From there the battle was brief, but sorrowful. The robot was taken down, and ASCII was freed. She moved immediately to a room the players had not explored, where she used her lockpicking to get in the door and retrieve her revolver, and her teddy bear armor. She asked where Galens Brook was, and the party told her they didn’t know. Umquat expressed a desire to look for him, which ASCII seconded.

The party looted what they could from the evidence locker, then retreated with all speed. ASCII went on her way, and the party tried to return home.
Unfortunately, battered as they were, they were stopped by a woman in a wheelchair. She told the party she would make them pay for what they’d done to Clint Blerkinman. None of the party knew who she was talking about, which only made her more angry. She offered Don Harper a chance to leave, which he did not take, then injected herself with some concoction which allowed her to rise to her feet.

The encounter with Anna Blerkinman, (Clint’s wife) will be resolved next week. It will occur prior to the Haven turn, and so prior to any healing or gun acquisition.

And so ended July 2516 C.E.