[Actual Play] Dial "C" for Chimp

[AlHazred]

So, my Pendragon campaign's been quiet lately, what with three of the four players not making it regularly; this wouldn't be so much of a problem, except for the fact that many times, I find out they're not showing within an hour of the start time of the game. As a result, I and the fourth player (who's unemployed, and therefore makes every game) have decided to do a Pulp Hero mini-campaign.

 

The germs of this mini-campaign are two-fold. On the one hand, I had a lot of material that never got used in my previous Vigilance League campaign. That one only lasted a year, and I developed a lot of my own materials since the actual Pulp Hero book wasn't out yet. I'd like to use that material, and some of it is really only appropriate in the Pulp era.

 

The second germ was a conversation I and the fourth player had, where we discussed Pulp gaming. He said he'd had trouble coming up with viable character concepts - originally he thought of an old one-eyed Western gunslinger, but the idea refused to gel. Next, he thought of a master spy, but thought the character was too bland. I said, "You need to punch it up in the Pulp mold." "How?" he replied. "Well," I said, "everything goes better with monkeys." And so, a new character is born: Walter Link, Chimp Spy. A German mad scientist impressed a master spy's mind onto the brain of a chimp; unfortunately for him, he chose a double agent, who wasted no time escaping. Now, he does occasional work for U.S. intelligence, while desperately searching for a way to "change back."

 

I can't wait to see how this goes...

[AlHazred]

Ep. 1.01 - "Braaaaains..."

 

Walter Link spends his evenings drinking and moping in a local speakeasy, the "Black Pearl," known to regulars as "Ham-Hands'" after its owner. He always leaves late, to avoid the other patrons, and hides himself with an enormous trenchcoat and wide-brimmed fedora.

 

Tonight, as he leaves, things are different. Three thugs with handguns try to nab him in the alley. In the shadows at the end, he sees one more shadow, hard to make out. The only thing he knows for sure is the guy wears a monocle (a nearby streetlight picked out its shine) and speaks in a German accent. "Take ze monkey," he orders. "Dead or alife."

 

I ran this as a straight combat. The chimp is SPD 4 (olympic level, or a little faster than your average chimp), the thugs all SPD 3. It's a firefight, so I use the generic Skilled Normal on page 346 of 5ER - 4 OCV (5 with the bonus from the gun), 10 BODY, 24 STUN, no armor, Luger P-08 automatics (1d6+1 damage). The chimp takes cover in the stairwell (the speakeasy's below street level), whips out his .45 and begins shooting - this surprises the thugs who had a hard time thinking of him as anything other than an ape. (Sure, the Villain explained that he was dangerous, but that didn't really sink in.)

 

Link gets in a lucky shot on one thug, winging him in his weapon arm. The other thugs scramble to take cover behind trash cans and empty boxes. The firefight lasts for a couple of turns. At one point, one of the other thugs turns to flee, and gets shot in the head - dead instantly. The last thug, seeing one dead and one cradling a wounded arm and about to pass out, runs to the shadowy figure for help. The figure stands unmoving as he approaches, then suddenly several things happen at once: the Villain disappears suddenly, there's a sharp sudden noise, and the thug shrieks and drops.

 

Link checks on the dead thugs. That last one lies with his head almost severed, an unnaturally clean cut. There's no sign of the shadowy Villain. Trying to get more info, Link drags the remaining unconscious thug to the rooftop of a nearby building and dangles him over the edge until he talks. He then coshes him and leaves him unconscious on the rooftop.

 

Link goes back to his apartment, and discovers that there seems to be someone inside it. (Link tends to come and go through the window, thanks to his amazing climbing ability; he spotted the end of a lit cigarette in the darkness.) He dives in and rolls, coming up with his gun in his hand. The visitor turns out to be a scientist, sent to him by his goverment contact.

 

The visitor claims that he used to be part of a secret project. Over the last week, several of the other former project members have turned up dead. One was found with his 500-pound oak desk crushing his head, alone in his locked office. The other's head was run over by a car while he was working on it - the car didn't currently have any engine in it. Link okays this, and lets the guy sleep on the floor of his living room.

 

Awakening in the night due to a noise, he goes into the living room to see his 300-pound couch about to drop on the sleeping guest's head. Thinking quickly, he tries to whip the guy out from under the object. He's partly successful; the visitor suffers only a glancing blow to the head. Link takes him to the hospital, where they tell him he'll be alright.

 

The following morning, he reads two news stories: one about two bodies matching the dead thugs' descriptions, found at the docks; and another about another body, matching the thug he left alive, found dead in a dumpster. Apparently, the Villain doesn't believe in leaving loose ends.

 

Link meets his government contact for breakfast at a diner. He tells him the story of last night, and the contact promises to check up on it. Meanwhile, he tells Link a little more about the secret project. Link does a little more digging and finds out that the last remaining member of the project team owns a building down by the waterfront.

 

Going there, Link finds the building in a run-down area that once was very prosperous. He tracks evidence of occupation to a storm door that leads to the basement. Sneaking in, he finds the last project member sitting on a cot, with a trunk acting as a coffee table, bearing an old, sputtering oil lamp.

 

The guy senses Link's presence. He draws a gun, and he and Link have a tete-a-tete, where the guy continues to go on and on about how "they" want his "lovely, lovely brain." Link successfully bluffs the guy, saying the government agents are on their way. The guy makes a soliloquy, turns the gun on himself ("They won't take me! They won't take my wonderful brain!"), and drops.

 

Link has a moment to think, "What the heck?" when suddenly, the head starts to crack open. Emerging is an enormous, green-glowing brain, with a large spine-tentacle attached. The brain starts picking Link up with its telekinetic strength and throw him around. He shoots it, but the bullets don't seem to have much effect. He manages to grab the oil lamp as he flies by, and throws it on the brain. The brain catches on fire, and begins panicking, flying around the room, ignoring Link. He escapes up the coal chute, just as the old timbers of the house catch on fire.

 

Link makes his report to his government contact. The whole thing is covered up - newspapers report on a mysterious fire which destroys an old tenement bulding by the waterfront.

[AlHazred]

Ep. 1.02 - "A Diplomatic Function, Some Wine, And Thou"

 

After Walter Link's last escapade, he went back to his contact to find out what he'd dug up. The contact, John E. LaChance, Chief Marshal, tells him that there's been reports of a German agent in the area lately, a certain Baron von Schreck. The agent was supposedly a Prussian noble who became an intelligence agent during the Great War. Near the end, he was wounded and disappeared from the public eye. Somewhat later, he was reported to again be active, but... different. Supposedly, he wore clothes covering every inch of his body except for his face, which was waxy and unmoving. He was active after that, only behind the scenes.

 

Link decides that it would be worth checking around the German Embassy. LaChance agrees to it. "I'll make it happen."

 

A few days later, he calls Link and tells him there's a diplomatic function in the embassy in a few days. LaChance has arranged for Link to attend under a false name. "But... I'm a chimp!" "Did I mention it's a masked ball?"

 

Link arrives and makes it in without arousing suspicion. Snooping around, he determines the layout of the place. There's a lounge, a ballroom, and a greenhouse on the ground floor; the rest of the first floor is restricted to embassy personnel. The second floor is mostly off-limits, but the minstrel gallery (the part of the second floor that's open to and overlooks the ballroom) is open to people - most of the people upstairs seem to be more interested in private conversations than dancing. There's a band, and the lounge is hosting gambling of various kinds. Outside, there's a garden and a hedge maze, well-lit and well-maintained.

 

Eventually he gambles with a Broadway actress, an operative he recognizes from his prior experience, and another man who seems like he might be involved in the spy trade for Germany. He tries to glean info, and manages to get the U.S. agent talking, but the German remains tight-lipped. The actress has a little more information. He impresses her ("That's a great costume you have there! You look almost exactly like a monkey!") and learns a little more about potential agents in the party; it seems that most of the men like talking to a pretty girl. He also learns that she hasn't seen anyone matching the description of the Baron.

 

He dances with the actress for a little while, scoping out the other guests. Eventually, he decides a couple of individuals are members of German intelligence, recognizing them from his former life. One of them eventually sneaks upstairs into a restricted part of the embassy. The others seem to be enjoying themselves in the party.

 

Unable to gain entrance to the restricted part of the embassy, Link goes outside and climbs up the side of the building. Checking rooms, he finds only one occupied one in the right area of the embassy. Listening at the window, he overhears some sort of deal going on. He gathers that the one individual (who sounds like the shadowy guy from the first session) is expecting something to arrive on the waterfront. A particular dock is mentioned, and Link is just overhearing the passphrase when he is interrupted by a shout from the ground.

 

"Don't worry kid, we'll get you down!" He looks down to see he has acquired a group of bystanders, some of whom are guards for the party. He climbs agilely up to the roof, manages to leap to another building, and escapes pursuit on the rooftops.

 

"Did I overhear it? Did I catch the passphrase?" "Find out next week, in the next exciting episode of Dial "C" for Chimp!" "You suck!"

[AlHazred]

Ep. 1.03 - "A Little Trouble By The Docks"

 

We started this one late, so I got to use a Pulp fiction trope.

 

"You come to. You seem to be shackled to a wooden table. Above you, see a huge rotating saw, spinning at high speed, attached to a jointed arm that recedes into the darkness. You are in the center of a circle of light, cast by a shaded bulb over the table; it's the only light in the room. Near the edge of the circle of light, you see three men. They look like thugs. Behind them, you see a shadowy figure. The light glints off of a monocle he wears over his left eye."

 

"I shout, 'What do you want?'"

 

"I vant you to die!" The figure turns and starts to climb the stairs to a doorway that glows with light. "Segment 12."

 

The player seemed to enjoy this beginning. The Villain left the warehouse, shutting the door behind him. (I described the shutting off of the outside light in dramatic terms to emphasize his precarious position.) He managed to contort himself out of two of his bonds surreptitiously (his foot-bonds - having an extra pair of hands helps, it seems). As the saw was about to cut him, he arched his body on the table, ripping out of his last two bonds, and leapt up to grasp the arm holding the saw up. Two of the thugs started shooting while the third approached, drawing a knife. I used the same stats for these thugs as for the previous group from Ep. 1.01.

 

Link managed to use the large saw blade as cover from the gun-toting guys, and tried to swing the saw blade across toward the other thug, scaring him. He failed his roll, and I ruled that the blade was now swinging wild. Link timed his next maneuver carefully. On the next swing of the saw, he leapt behind the table, drawing his gun in the process (the thugs had failed to search him when they caught him, another Pulp trope). The blade went wild, killing the blade-wielding thug, while Link sent some shots at the others. He made short work of them (two really good shots), but when he got to the top of the stairs, the Villain was gone. He went back and searched the thugs' bodies, finding little of interest save for a berthing ticket.

 

Gradually, Link remembered going to the pier he'd heard about, and giving what he thought was the passphrase; apparently, he'd heard it wrong. Moving in the direction of a streetlight, he met a prostitute, who told him about a guy she'd seen get in a cab a few minutes earlier. He paid her for the info, and called a cab of his own from a nearby phone booth.

 

While driving away, it occurred to him that the docks were nearby. It would be hours before he could find the cabbie who'd picked up the Villain; meanwhile, he could check out his previous lead. He snooped around the berth from the thug's ticket, and found a tramp steamer (think of the Venture from King Kong). Deciding to do a little B&E, he climbed up a mooring rope to the deck.

 

Exploring the empty ship, he found nothing particularly unusual. While on deck, he noted a shadow that moved, and whirled around, gun at the ready. His opponent was a great deal faster than the mooks he'd met before, and ranged around the battlefield with an odd, lanky gait. The enemy turned out to be an excellent shot, disarming Link by shooting the gun out of his hand. Link tried sliding over acrobatically to grab it, but ended up missing... and missing again. All while his opponent took shots at him, silenced shots that made almost-inaudible "phut" sounds.

 

Eventually, his opponent moved into the light, and Link was able to see an oddity. The creature before him looked like a man, but not with the all the right parts. His right arm was hugely-muscled, fading across his body to the left, which was puny and held a strangely-formed gun. It was apparently silenced, but had some extra attachments as well. His torso connected to very short legs, one of which was attached to his body at a right angle.

 

Disturbed by this strange opponent, and still interested in the still-unexplored cargo hold, he decided on something more acrobatic. He leapt for the gun, slid across the deck, grabbed onto the edge of the hatch into the cargo hold with his feet, and just let himself drop over the edge.

 

Inside the cargo hold, he saw the stereotypical mad scientist's lair. Large electrical apparatus sat quietly, surrounding a lab table that had large manacles attached to it. Also in the lab were a number of cages that contained animals, but very strange animals - they all looked to have melded parts, like from several different animals (e.g., a dog with the head of a horse, an alligator-headed lion, etc.) Continuing his drop until he was upside-down and hanging from the ceiling, Link came face-to-face with a man in a lab coat, standing on a catwalk. The scientist had wavy gray hair, coke-bottle glasses, and a very stern expression on his face.

 

"Hellooooo..."

[OddHat]

Re: [Actual Play] Dial "C" for Chimp

 

Well done and repped.

[AlHazred]

Re: [Actual Play] Dial "C" for Chimp

 

Well done and repped.

I enjoy it because I have absolutely no idea what every session is going to be about going in. It's being run entirely by the seat of my pants.

[Susano]

Re: Ep. 1.01 - "Braaaaains..."

 

Link has a moment to think' date=' "What the heck?" when suddenly, the head starts to crack open. Emerging is an enormous, green-glowing brain, with a large spine-tentacle attached. The brain starts picking Link up with its telekinetic strength and throw him around. He shoots it, but the bullets don't seem to have much effect. He manages to grab the oil lamp as he flies by, and throws it on the brain. The brain catches on fire, and begins panicking, flying around the room, ignoring Link. He escapes up the coal chute, just as the old timbers of the house catch on fire.[/quote']

 

Link! Call Lobster Johnson!!!

[cleireac]

Re: [Actual Play] Dial "C" for Chimp

 

You know, you could post it to the Campaign Writeup section at the Pulp Project 1557 wiki....

 

I'm always looking for stuff like this and folks to help edit....

 

Hank

[AlHazred]

Re: Ep. 1.01 - "Braaaaains..."

 

Link! Call Lobster Johnson!!!

He was out getting his business cards printed, and so was unavailable.

 

 

 

Okay, I'll admit, that episode was inspired by the 9 trade paperbacks of Hellboy I'd just finished earlier that day.

[Susano]

Re: Ep. 1.01 - "Braaaaains..."

 

He was out getting his business cards printed, and so was unavailable.

 

 

 

Okay, I'll admit, that episode was inspired by the 9 trade paperbacks of Hellboy I'd just finished earlier that day.

 

You don't say....

 

[AlHazred]

Re: [Actual Play] Dial "C" for Chimp

 

You know' date=' you could post it to the Campaign Writeup section at the Pulp Project 1557 wiki....

 

I'm always looking for stuff like this and folks to help edit....

Okay...

[cleireac]

Re: [Actual Play] Dial "C" for Chimp

 

Thanks!

 

I'm not sure if you want to show your player this, but Here is an interesting article on the eventual overthrow of the human race by apes.

 

Hank

[AlHazred]

Re: [Actual Play] Dial "C" for Chimp

 

For your delectation (and because it'll be at least another five days before there's an update on this thread) I present to you, Walter Link, Chimp Spy:

 

The Simian

15 STR 18 DEX 15 CON 13 BODY 18 INT

11 EGO 15 PRE 12 COM 5 PD 5 ED

4 SPD 6 REC 30 END 35 STUN

Abilities: Agile Feet: Extra Limbs (2), Inherent (+1/4) (6 Active Points); Bite: HKA 1 point (1/2d6 w/STR); Fringe Benefit: Federal Agent; Contact: John E. LaChance, Chief Marshal (Contact has significant Contacts of his own, Contact has very useful Skills or resources, Very Good relationship with Contact) 11-; Combat Luck (3 PD/3 ED); Environmental Movement (no penalties on narrow surfaces); Resistance (3 points); Acrobatics 13-; Acting 8-; AK: Germany 8-; AK: United States 11-; Breakfall 13-; Climbing 13-; Combat Driving 13-; Concealment 8-; Contortionist 13-; Conversation 12-; Criminology 13-; Cryptography 13-; Demolitions 13-; Disguise 8-; Forensic Medicine 13-; Forgery 13-; Gambling (Poker) 13-; High Society 12-; Interrogation 12-; KS: The Espionage World 13-; KS: The Military/Mercenary/Terrorist World 11-; Language: English (idiomatic; literate) (5 Active Points); Language: German (idiomatic; literate); Lipreading 13-; Lockpicking 13-; Mechanics 13-; Mimicry 13-; Oratory 12-; PS: Tradecraft 8-; Paramedics 8-; Persuasion 12-; Security Systems 13-; Seduction 8-; Shadowing 8-; Sleight Of Hand 13-; Stealth 13-; Streetwise 12-; Survival 13-; TF: Common Motorized Ground Vehicles, Two-Wheeled Motorized Ground Vehicles, Wheeled Military Vehicles; WF: Common Melee Weapons, Small Arms

 

100+ Disadvantages: Distinctive Features: Monkey In A Man's World (Concealable; Always Noticed and Causes Major Reaction; Detectable By Commonly-Used Senses); Hunted: German Agents 8- (Mo Pow, NCI, Capture/Kill); Hunted: U.S. Marshal's Service 8- (Mo Pow, NCI, Watching); Normal Characteristic Maxima; Psychological Limitation: Pulp Hero's Burden (Common, Strong); Psychological Limitation: Pulp Hero's Code (Common, Total); Social Limitation: Minority (talking chimp) (Very Frequently, Major)

[Zane_Marlowe]

Re: [Actual Play] Dial "C" for Chimp

 

Something of note: the CIA wasn't founded until after World War II, so you should change the fringe benefit if you want to match that up. Spies were basically military employees I think, but I'm not exactly sure. It wouldn't take much research to dig that up.

 

Also, I think the Gestapo is used for internal stuff in Germany. International stuff was handled by the SS, which sounds more fearsome to my ear anyway. Otherwise, I think this is a fantastically winsome idea!

[AlHazred]

Re: [Actual Play] Dial "C" for Chimp

 

Actually, I'd changed it on the character sheet to "Federal Agent" but forgot to do the same on my copy...

 

Also, the Gestapo reference in the Disads was changed on my GM copy to "German Agents" but again, I forgot to change the posting. Thanks for pointing them out!