1905: The New Century Campaign

[Trebuchet]

Re: 1905: The New Century Campaign

 

As the player of "the unassuming yet confident Chinese ascetic" I can only say "Yay!

[Blackjack]

Re: 1905: The New Century Campaign

 

The cowboy strode confidently off the gangplank. He touched the brim of his hat in silent salute to the young messers Katanga and Englehorn as he passed them. He took a deep breath, inhaling the innumberable aromas of the busy seaport and then exhaling with a quiet, satisfied sigh. His steel-gray eyes scanned the bustling throng as he adjusted the string tie around his neck. He then fell into step behind Flashman.

 

/OOC:

Great intro, Chuck! I'm looking forward to the game.

[Trebuchet]

Re: 1905: The New Century Campaign

 

Zhang Kwan surveyed the bustling port before him, and was again astounded at how different new places could be. While the air was already hot, it wasn't as uncomfortably muggy as Calcutta had been, where their vessel had stopped to take on provisions and fuel. Of course, Calcutta still had plenty of vegetation; here in Alexandria green seemed liked a mere afterthought. As far as his eye could see from the deck of their steamship Alexandria was a melange of white and tan and beige buildings, accented by the occasional dusty palm tree. Anything less similar to the lush greens of his native Zhangzhou Province in southeast China was difficult to imagine.

 

He picked up his meager belongings, carried in a battered second-hand grip, and bowed politely to the two young men standing nearby, but he didn't speak. His friend Lt. Flashman and he had decided early that no one outside their select group was to know Kwan both spoke and understood English, so Kwan always spoke only to Flashman in Cantonese, and Flashman always replied in same. Kwan moved easily down the gangplank to the stone pier with all the grace nearly fifty years of martial arts training could bestow, and for the first time in his fifty-five years stood on a new continent. He followed Flashman and the American - cowboy, was that the correct term? - down the bustling Alexandria street.

[El Tripon]

Re: 1905: The New Century Campaign

 

Oh I say, Bravo. Well done old chap. Written as well as I or cousin Winny could have done. And, those two chaps did show a bit of promise. Care for a spot of tea?

[Trebuchet]

Re: 1905: The New Century Campaign

 

We had our first adventure of The New Century Campaign yesterday and we had a blast! Our intrepid band of five stalwart adventurers are searching for the lost burial site of Alexander the Great (supposedly, in real world legend, somewhere in Egypt). Alexandria! Street urchins! Ambushes! Gypsies! Deserts and mountains! Black-clad assassins (the original Sunni Muslim ones; not those cheap imitators from Japan)! A lost valley! By the end of the game session we'd found something, but we don't know if it's Alexander's tomb or something else. Did I mention we had a blast?

 

Hopefully Mentor, as GM, will publish a full synopsis of the scenario soon.

[El Tripon]

Re: 1905: The New Century Campaign

 

You forgot the copious amounts of cameos. Kananga and friend, Bennie Gabor, etc. And, I concur an absolute blast!!

[Mentor]

Re: 1905: The New Century Campaign

 

ALEXANDRIA SOJOURN

 

"My friends, I am your guide sent by Mr. Kostarakis to show you to his home."

 

This from a smiling teen wearing the traditional white robe and red fez. Perhaps fiteen years of age portly and curly haired, the open face of the youth spoke in a somewhat obseqeous and servile tone that Flashman was less than comfortable with.

 

Appearing from the shadows was a scrawny youth with a scraggly growth vainly trying to impersonate a moustache. His voice seemed to emanate entirely from his nasal passages as he countered, "Don't listen to this fool, masters. It is I whom Mr. Kostarakis has engaged to guide your esteemed selves. These locals never tire of waylaying foreigners and causing them mischief. I am a Rom, what you would call a Gypsy, and have a special knowledge of such things."

 

"Indeed?" replied the Czech gentleman called Kubas.

 

Snapping his fingers the rodent visaged older teen summoned two filthy urchins who with rusry knives chased the chubby fifteen year old away. Giving each of the street rats one of the lowest denomination of the near valuless local curency, the weasel faced youth sent them on their way.

 

"My name is Benny. We will be going to the foreign quarter, so step carefully around the rubble."

 

The foreign quarter of Alexandria was still rebuilding after having been shelled by the British in order to force the capitulatin of the city and ultimately all of Egypt. After a seeming eternity negotiating the warrens of junk and rubble, the intrepid adventurers found themselves in a dead end.

 

Roger Flashman turned to his guide to query, "Say there, Benny..." only to find him slinking off. Movement in the shadowy hills of masonry and lumber became human shaped forms. A score of tattered feral adolescents seemed eager to close with our heroes.

 

Flashman calmly drew his saber, Kubas his own as well and Master Kwan assumed the tiger stance, all of which caused the thugs to pause. The street gang then blanched and froze as the American, Harrison, drew his Colt Peacemaker and the bowlered Englishman Basil drew his Webley.

 

In perfect Arabic, Roger threatened, "You have no chance of surviving this encounter. None." As quickly as they appeared, the lupine pack of Egyptian street boys faded into the city.

 

Just then the sweating Arab boy from the docks caught up with the heroes and puffing out his surety, "I am still here my friends. Salah never fails to complete a contract. I told you that I would guide you to your destination."

 

Grasping the rat faced traitor by the scruff of his shirt, Kubas smiled and asked, "And what shall we do about you Benny?". The Romani youth turned white as a sheet and began to shake as the nobly dressed Eastern European fop asked his question in flawless Romani.

 

TO BE CONTINUED

[st barbara]

Re: 1905: The New Century Campaign

 

Very good ! I just love the "tips of the hat" to those pulp movies that we all know.

[Trebuchet]

Re: 1905: The New Century Campaign

 

Mentor is pretty good at that sort of thing, isn't he?

 

We finished the adventure last weekend. I'm sure Mentor will be posting additional material in the near future as he works on the writeup.

 

I'll be running the next one; which will take our stalwart band of heroes to another part of the Middle East.

[OddHat]

Re: 1905: The New Century Campaign

 

Always a pleasure to read these, and looking forward to more.

[Trebuchet]

Re: 1905: The New Century Campaign

 

Always a pleasure to read these' date=' and looking forward to more. [/quote']I really look forward to them too, and I was there for the adventure! This last entry was pretty much a exact description of how that scene played out, including Benny's terror when he realized one of our party members is also a Gypsy.

[Trebuchet]

Re: 1905: The New Century Campaign

 

Master Kwan updated:

 

[b]Zhang Kwan - Master Kwan[/b]

[b][u]VAL[/u]   [u]CHA[/u]   [u]Cost[/u]   [u]Total[/u]   [u]Roll[/u]      [u]Notes[/u][/b]
10    STR      0   10      11-       HTH Damage 2d6  END [1]
20    DEX     30   20      13-       OCV 7 DCV 7
15    CON     10   15      12-
12    BODY     4   12      11-
13    INT      3   13      12-       PER Roll 12-
11    EGO      2   11      11-       ECV: 4
10    PRE      0   10      11-       PRE Attack: 2d6
10    COM      0   10      11-
7     PD       2    7                7 PD (3 rPD)
6     ED       0    6                6 ED (3 rED)
4     SPD     10    4                Phases:  3, 6, 9, 12
6     REC      2    6
30    END      0   30
25    STUN     0   25
7     RUN      2    7"                END [1]
2     SWIM     0    2"                END [1]
4     LEAP     2    4"                4" forward, 2" upward

[b]CHA Cost: 67[/b]


[b][u]Cost[/u]   [u]MARTIAL ARTS[/u][/b]
     White Crane Kung Fu
5 1) Steal the Fish (Disarming Throw):  1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +0 DCV, Grab Weapon, 25 STR to take weapon away; Target Falls
3 2) Twist the Reeds (Martial Grab):  1/2 Phase, -1 OCV, -1 DCV, Grab Two Limbs, 30 STR for holding on
4 3) Brush of a Feather (Nerve Strike):  1/2 Phase, -1 OCV, +1 DCV, 3d6 NND
3 4) Search the Rushes (Legsweep):  1/2 Phase, +2 OCV, -1 DCV, 5d6 Strike, Target Falls
3 5) Crane's Beak (Basic Strike):  1/2 Phase, +1 OCV, +0 DCV, 6d6 Strike
4 6) Swallow the Frog (Martial Block):  1/2 Phase, +2 OCV, +2 DCV, Block, Abort
4 7) Evade the Snake (Martial Dodge):  1/2 Phase, -- OCV, +5 DCV, Dodge, Affects All Attacks, Abort
4 8) Weapon Elements:  Blades, Empty Hand, Staffs, Sticks & Clubs, Three-Section Staff
8 9) +2 HTH Damage Class(es)

[b]MARTIAL ARTS Cost: 38[/b]

[b][u]Cost[/u]   [u]SKILLS[/u][/b]
3      Analyze:  Style 12-
3      Paramedics 12-
4      WF:  Common Martial Arts Melee Weapons, Common Melee Weapons
6      +2 with Kung Fu

3      Scholar
0      1)  KS: Chinese Healing (2 Active Points)) 11-
1      2)  KS: Chinese History (2 Active Points) 11-
1      3)  KS: Chinese Philosophy (2 Active Points) 11-
1      4)  KS: Shaolin Kung Fu (2 Active Points) 11-

0      PS: Calligraphy (Familiarity) 8-
2      PS: Cooking 11-
3      Acrobatics 13-
3      Breakfall 13-
3      Contortionist 13-
3      Sleight Of Hand 13-
3      Stealth 13-
0      Language:  Cantonese (Native) (4 Active Points)
1      Language:  Mandarin (basic conversation)
2      Language:  English (fluent conversation)


[b]SKILLS Cost: 42[/b]


[b][u]Cost[/u]   [u]TALENTS[/u][/b]
6      Combat Luck (3 PD/3 ED)

[b]TALENTS Cost: 6[/b]
[b][u]Value[/u]  [u]DISADVANTAGES[/u][/b]
20     Psych. Lim.:  Code vs Killing (Common, Total)
20     Psych. Lim.:  Protects Innocents (Common, Total)
10     Distinctive Features:  Shaolin Monk (Concealable; Noticed and Recognizable; Detectable By Commonly-Used Senses)
15     Hunted:  Chinese Empress 8- (Mo Pow, NCI, Limited Geographical Area, Harshly Punish)
10     Vow of Poverty:  Destitute

[b]DISADVANTAGES Points: 75[/b]

Base Pts: 75
Exp Required: 0
Total Exp Available: 3
Exp Unspent: 0
Total Character Cost: 153

 

Background:Born in 1850 in Fujian Province in a small village near Zhangzhou, Zhang Kwan joined the Zhangzhou Shaolin temple at age 6. Although Kwan has no problems with foreigners, a small number of his students participated in the 1900 Boxer Rebellion, and for this reason his temple was destroyed by the Empress' armies by order of the European victors. Kwan was the only Shaolin survivor of his monastery, having gone to Peking to unsuccessfully plead with his students to abandon the use of violence. After the destruction of the temple, Kwan decided to petition the authorities for permission to reopen the temple and traveled to Peking to present his case. It was here, struggling to raise funds, that he met Lt. Flashman, and the two became friends when the British officer sought training in Chinese fencing. When Kwan expectedly found himself with a death sentence on his head, Flashman helped smuggle him out of China. Having nowhere better to go and fearful of Chinese assassins, Kwan has elected to travel the world with Lt. Flashman.

 

Personality: While a gifted fighter, Kwan has always lacked the deep insight necessary to rise to the peak of perfection. Nonetheless, there are very few practitioners of white crane style kung fu who are his equal. He understands his weaknesses, however, and this has not prevented him from continuing to search for true enlightenment.

 

He is cheerful, possesses a wry sense of humor, and is not above an occasional practical joke at the expense of his "less civilized" (read: non-Chinese) companions. He quotes ancient Chinese philosophy often, but is not above slipping a few tidbits of his own into the mix.

 

Quote: "The beginning is the essence of all that must be known, and the place where all must return."

 

Powers/Tactics: A master of White Crane style kung fu (pek hok kun), Kwan prefers to fight defensively. He will not kill, although he would be more than capable of doing so if he so wished.

 

While Master Kwan is skilled with most martial arts weapons, he prefers a staff as a weapon in combat.

 

Appearance: A slender middle-aged Chinese man, Master Kwan has a wispy mustache and beard, both of which are more white than black nowadays. Even though he is no longer a Shaolin now that he has fled China, Kwan still shaves his head in Buddhist fashion. He wears traditional Chinese clothing, although he wears pince nez glasses to read and frequently carries a western-style umbrella as well.

 

 

POSTSCRIPT: Changes involved only reworking Kwan's martial arts to provide him with a more flexible and less lethal package (plus new - hopefully better - names for the maneuvers). After playing him a couple sessions, I was not quite happy with Master Kwan's martial arts package. Too offensive; too high damage for the character who is supposed to be a Buddhist monk with a Total CvK. So I've reworked it into something a little "softer" and with a bit more flexibility.

 

Max damage has been reduced from 7d6 to 6d6; but an additional Damage Class gives his NND and STR-based maneuvers a bit more oomph. Martial Grab and Disarming Throw provide new abilities to disarm and/or restrain opponents.

[Cardinal]

Re: 1905: The New Century Campaign

 

** rise from the dead oh thread of yore***

 

So what happened in this campaign? It looked like it had fantastic promise.

[Trebuchet]

Re: 1905: The New Century Campaign

 

Still going, but Mentor hasn't felt like posting synopses. We've had about a half dozen sessions and hope to squeeze in another one later this month.

[Cardinal]

Re: 1905: The New Century Campaign

 

Well, if you can convince Mentor to post any of the write ups, I have a shiny virtual cookie with his name on it.

 

Glad to hear that it is going well.