Weekend Warriors -- Campaign Log

[Edsel]

Re: Weekend Warriors -- Campaign Log

 

The game just ended for tonight as I type this. I'll be working on the campaign log write-up for session fifteen over the next couple of days.

[Eosin]

Re: Weekend Warriors -- Campaign Log

 

Crucible says "The key to success is planning."

[NightStick]

Re: Weekend Warriors -- Campaign Log

 

Crucible says "The key to success is planning."

 

 

Yup, Yup, Un huh. Ditto for Sweeper!

 

In fact, I would say that our rating (in the public opinion polls) should jump SIGNIFICANTLY!

 

The only bad thing,....well,..... I'll let the others tell that tale.....

[Edsel]

Campaign Log Session 15

 

GAME SESSION FIFTEEN

Actual Date: 9/16/2006

 

Wednesday, March 22nd

Most of the day passes pretty uneventfully. This gives the Weekend Warriors some time to plan a course of action regarding their plans to keep Melissa Fordham under surveillance. Since Crucible has already managed to infiltrate into the circle of hangers on that part of Melissa’s entourage it is decided that he will keep up the charade as long as possible. Choir Boy and Demolition man stow their equipment in a mini-van and take up a post about a block away from the Fordham estate. In this way they are far enough away that they shouldn’t attract attention and yet close enough that they can arrive quickly if Crucible calls for them.

 

Sam Nagakura is unable to join them as he is forced to take a two day business trip in his normal identity. Likewise Giles Sebastian is hoping to be excused since he has a date with Rally Vincent this evening. His team mates relent to his request since they can reach him via cell phone in the event of an emergency.

 

 

At 7:00 pm Giles picks up Rally for their date. At about the same time the Melissa Fordham entourage prepares to move out on the town for another night of partying.

 

Eventually the Melissa Fordham party ends up at Running with Scissors (see Hudson City p32). The arrival of her group fills the place to near capacity and the noise is deafening. Crucible manages to get to a raised platform to one side of the main dance floor. From here he has a good view of the main pit and can see Melissa Fordham and her inner circle. He dances as he keeps a covert eye on things. The three vigilantes are pretty certain that if Card Shark intends to try and grab her it will be here since the venue will surely attract a lot of publicity.

 

A new band by the name of Donkey Punch is introduced and they start into their repertoire of songs. It is not a group that Crucible has heard of before and their songs seem of pretty average quality, but the wildly gyrating crowd doesn’t really seem to care. Once the band’s pyrotechnics and light show begins things start to get interesting.

 

Once the FX of the show gets started the house lights are lowered and flashing strobes of various colors start an eerily hypnotic pattern. This makes it hard to see clearly but Crucible has a good vantage point and is not distracted. Fog machines then start to belch a light cloud of stage smoke across the crowd. As Crucible watches he notices that the people within the cloud seem to go a bit slack, they move slower and more mechanically. Somehow they seem to be sluggish. He quickly deduces that something is not right about the wall of fog that is advancing across the floor towards him.

 

Thinking quickly Crucible grabs up a bar towel, pours a glass of soda water on it and uses it as a makeshift gasmask. Even with the towel he feels light headed as the smoke engulfs the rest of the room.

 

As soon as the smoke started the band reached an instrumental only section of their music and pulled up the bandanas that they had been wearing about their necks. Once the rapidly moving gas has engulfed the whole room they drop their pretence and start issuing instructions to the dancing throng of people. The doped-up crowd mechanically follows the suggestions that are fed to them by the band leader. The music continues though the band stops, apparently they had all been playing air guitar for the duration of their staged act.

 

 

The use of the soaked towel allowed Crucible to avoid the effects with a CON roll. He managed to make the rolls long enough to obtain a gas mask of his own. He’s getting a lot of mileage out of his cell phone disguised stun gun.

 

The stun guns in our game are an 8d6 NND with a limitation that only allows you to take a target to -9 STUN, however it is really easy to sucker punch a guy who at -9 STUN and thereby put him at GM’s discretion.

 

 

Now a dozen Card Shark agents, wearing respirators, emerge from the wings of the stage and start to filter out into the crowd. Jack O’Diamonds strides onto the stage and directs the crowd and his agents using the club’s sound system, he even has a few of the hypnotized crowd snap his picture for posterity. Apparently the gas is a strictly inhaled substance; Crucible feels no worse affect on his eyes than that caused by cigarette smoke. Crucible is able to surprise a lone Card Shark Deck Agent who is on the flank of the operation. In the foggy, drug addled crowd he is able to drag the agent to an out of the way area and swipe his costume, weapons and, most importantly, his gas mask.

 

As soon as he is able to don his acquired Card Shark uniform Crucible joins the other agents as they pull out of the club with Ms. Fordham in their custody. During his quick change he has been in radio contact with Choir Boy and D-Man to alert them of the situation. The vigilantes realize that the Card Shark team will likely exit from the rear of the building along the alleyway. Choir Boy and D-Man move their mini-van so they can view the opening of the alley that they feel is the most likely avenue of escape.

 

Fortunately the Deck Agent uniform, which features an opera mask, is able to hide Crucibles identity enough that his acting skill allow him to pass as an agent. He is one of the four agents that Jack O’Diamonds directs into the back of the disguised food delivery truck with the captive Ms. Fordham. Jack O’Diamonds and another agent ride in the cab of the truck.

 

Inside the back of the truck there is no direct contact with Jack O’Diamonds and the driver. The small window that separates the cab and the cargo box is not designed to be opened. The back of the truck is only dimly lit. Once on the road the agents remove their respirators, but they leave their opera masks on. Ms. Fordham begins to come out of her drug induced stupor but she is handcuffed and secured before becoming coherent enough to cause trouble. She reviles her captors with some scathing language but the agents simply snicker at her or ignore her comments all together. A lack of windows makes it nigh impossible for Crucible to determine where they are headed.

 

 

Meanwhile at Club S Rally and Giles have continued their conversation, it is now nearing 11:00 PM. The crowd has dwindled a bit and they have had their privacy in the corner booth. At some point their hands have joined and they have sat close together. Their eyes meet and this time Minnie May is not there to break the spell. They move closer but hesitantly, both are a little timid. As their lips approach each other they close their eyes... Then Giles cell phone breaks the spell as it frantically chirps for attention. “What!” He says abruptly as he brings the annoying device up to his ear.

 

His conversation with Choir Boy is brief and to the point. He hangs up the phone. “Rally I’ve go to go, they need me,” he apologizes. “Card Shark has nabbed Melissa Fordham and Crucible has managed to go undercover with the kidnapping crew. I’ve got to get over there fast! I am sorry to cutoff the evening like this.”

 

“Well we’re only a block away from my house, we can take my car,” Rally winks.

 

 

Choir Boy and Demolition Man begin to follow the retreating food service truck as it leaves the area of the club. Being ever cautious the Card Shark vehicle takes a few odd turns and twists. It soon becomes obvious that they have been made and the truck is trying to lose them. The situation becomes worse when the two vigilantes realize that a mid-sized sedan has started to follow them in turn. As the food service truck speeds away they spot the passenger of the following car preparing a long arm of some sort. The two vigilantes are forced to abandon their pursuit of the truck in order to defend themselves from the car that is now chasing them.

 

 

Finally I got to use the chase rules that I adapted from Spycraft. They seemed to work pretty well but the chase was very brief.

 

 

The chase rapidly develops into a running gun battle. The vigilante’s van escapes with a single bullet hole thought the back door and a bullet lodged in a back seat. The Card Shark chase vehicle fares much worse as a couple of .45 ACP rounds strike the car. However Choir Boy is finally able to score a hit with one of the 10-gauge slugs from D-Man’s shotgun which disables their pursuer.

 

Since the food service truck has already vanished they circle back on the disabled Card Shark vehicle and the agents who try to abandon it are soon cut down by pistol fire. As the two vigilantes leap from their vehicle a blue Shelby Cobra roars onto the scene.

 

“My Rally you’re looking nice tonight,” comments D-Man when she and Sweeper approach.

 

“Thanks, why don’t you boys run along and see if you can find Crucible and I’ll take care of these two. Besides there may be a reward if they are fugitives,” she smiles.

 

The three vigilantes hop back into the van and head off to collect Sweepers gear and await contact from Crucible. Rally remains with the wounded thugs and calls the police.

 

 

Neither of these two Card Shark agents was killed. Their body armor prevented the wounds from being fatal. The arrival of Rally and Sweeper on the scene may have saved their lives.

 

 

Crucible is aware of the erratic maneuvers that the truck is pulling. He has little doubt that the numerous turns are intended to throw off any potential shadows. The acceleration and subsequent slowing soon convince him that he is probably on his own. The lack of windows makes it nigh impossible for him to guess his location. He is able to determine that they get on one of the expressways for a brief interval but they quickly exit back to normal city streets. After a short drive, no more than 15 minutes, the truck seems to enter a parking garage.

 

The truck stops and the agents disembark. Crucible’s City Knowledge and Knowledge of the City’s subsystems serve him well as he recognizes that they are in the parking garage of the Harpcor Towers. This late at night the garage is pretty much deserted especially at the lowest level. The agents and their hostage quickly move to the stairs and use it to access the third sub-basement of the building. This is a floor dominated by building services (water lines, electrical trunks, climate control systems, etc.) a level that only the building services staff normally see.

 

He accompanies the agents who escort the captive Ms. Fordham to a holding area. Apparently Card Shark is pretty much running the building services in tower B as they pass several custodial staff that pays them no mind. The group takes Ms. Fordham to a room with a fire door beyond it are bunks and the other seven kidnap victims. Ms. Fordham is shown to her bunk. The makeshift holding facility is fairly humane since it features an adjoining rest room facility with shower. During the delivery of the prisoner Crucible is able to overhear some talk between Card Shark agents. He is able to glean that the hostages are to be taken up to 47B on Saturday Night but little else.

 

Once they have delivered Melissa the agents depart, apparently each headed for some other assignment. Fortunately no one questions Crucible they seem to still think he is just another agent. He is able to find an out of the way corridor and a trace out a route that leads into some of the utility tunnels that connect the buildings in this area of town. He is also able to locate a couple of non-standard security cameras in the area and thus plot a route that avoids the obvious ones. Once he is certain he is alone and out of earshot he manages to contact his team mates and inform them of his location and a plan that he has formulated. The connection is poor and his call is dropped a couple of times but soon the vigilantes have charted a course of action.

 

 

The action opens up when the three vigilantes (Choir Boy, Demolition Man and Sweeper) enter the stairwell from the ground floor and start to come down. Through the tactical radio that Crucible has he hears as the Card Shark agents go on alert due to the “intruders in the stairwell.” As this message is being transmitted he is walking past the room with the hostages. The two Deck Agents standing guard are surprised as he sweeps them with the handy cell phone Stun Gun. As they drop to the ground a few good kicks ensure that they will stay down. As the rest of the Card Shark forces head toward the stairwell to repel the intruders they are unaware that Crucible has retrieved a key from the guards and is freeing the hostages.

 

The three vigilantes in the stairwell open the door just long enough to exchange a few quick, ineffectual shots with the Card Shark agents who have gathered to oppose their entry to sub-basement three. They drop a smoke pellet just outside the door and the obscuring cloud makes the Card Shark agents leery of approaching besides they are waiting for attackers to try and enter the base they don’t realize that the vigilantes have no intention of advancing further into danger.

 

Crucible overhears a communication that indicates a group of Card Shark agents have entered the stairwell from somewhere above his friends and warns them of this. Demolition Man quickly rigs a booby trap on the now closed door to the third sub-basement and the three vigilantes begin to head back up to fight their way past the Card Shark force that is descending.

 

 

Demolition Man made a hurried Demolition Skill roll (1 full Phase) to prime a thermite pellet (1d6 RKA, AP, Explosion) and gently place it on the door’s interior handle. That way when the Card Shark Agents attempt to follow them they’ll be in for a surprise as the impact detonated pellet drops to the floor. The smoke pellet covers the area for a full Turn and the Card Shark agents don’t see that the door has been closed again until it dissipates. Then they cautiously approach which grants the three vigilantes at least a full Turn’s head start on them.

 

 

Fortunately there are only three Card Shark agents to oppose their escape, one Face Card agent and a pair of Deck agents. There is a brief, frantic exchange of close range weapons fire in the confined space of the stairwell. Choir Boy is hit in the arm but his body armor deflects the bullet. The three Card Shark agents are all left incapacitated. Two are shot and one is pummeled by Sweeper’s three-section-staff.

 

The vigilantes quickly grab up the readily accessible gear. Sweeper smashes a concealed video camera he spots and he three flee to their waiting vehicle. As they exit the stairs they hear the detonation of Demolition Man's booby trap several floors below.

 

 

In the meantime Crucible, with the aid of a Presence attack, has gotten all of the hostages to listen to him. He explains that he is here to rescue them and that if they follow him they will be free shortly. He leads them on his pre-determined escape route that should avoid any video surveillance. He gets to the tunnels entry and encounters a single Deck Agent that is guarding the route.

 

Still in uniform and still carrying out a good act he is able to surprise the Deck Agent with his cell phone stun gun. The agent scarcely sees the danger before the stun gun is zapping away on his upper lip. While staggered a quick haymaker makes sure he’ll sleep for a while. Several of the former hostages add their own kicks as the pass they senseless thug.

 

Crucible and the hostages are soon able to emerge from a utility manhole several hundred yards from the Harpcor Towers. Three mini-vans await them and the other vigilantes arrive at about the same time. The victims are quickly herded into the vans and the team makes a smooth get away.

 

After a short drive, the hostages are dropped off just around the corner from the local police precinct house. The vigilantes wish them well and make sure that they understand that their delivers are the Weekend Warriors before driving off into the night.

 

 

Session Wrap-up

 

Recovered Weapons & Equipment

Crucible obtained the Cark Shark deck agent’s uniform and equipment. This includes a Browning HP35 pistol, an MP5 Submachine gun, a Deck Agent’s armored uniform, and a pair of brass knuckles, a gas mask, and a tactical radio headset.

 

In the staircase the three vigilantes paused just long enough to grab up all readily available weapons and lose gear. This consisted of three tactical radio headsets, a pair of brass knuckles and three pistols (two Beretta 92S pistols and a Springfield M1911A1).

 

Body Count & Damage

A pair of Card Shark deck agents was left unconscious at the scene of the brief chase. They were picked up by a HCPD patrol which was alerted by Rally.

 

In the stairwell of the Harpcor Towers five Card Shark agents were injured, three of them critically. Since Card Shark’s forces held the location at the end of the raid the fate of these people remains unknown. Three additional Card Shark agents were left unconscious due to Crucible’s stun gun and the follow-up beating he gave them.

 

Experience Awards

Ken Seidai’s player was unable to attend and therefore did not gain any EP.

 

The other four player characters got 3 EP for their participation. Broken down as follows:

 

1 EP for participating in the session, 2 EP for a resounding success since Card Shark's plan was thoroughly thwarted. A very smooth operation, it made me proud of my players.

 

At the request of the other three players I decided to give 1 EP extra to Crucible as a consolation for his sitting out most of the previous two sessions while setting up the operation that worked so well against Card Shark.

 

To date the EP totals of the characters are: Choir Boy 27 EP, Crucible 45 EP, Demolition Man 41 EP, Ken Seidai 21 EP, and Sweeper 45 EP.

 

Closing Comments

I’ve finally gotten things to a point in which a few days can be allowed to pass. This will allow the characters to cover their normal identities. They can rest, for a change, with the knowledge that they have gained a significant PR coup. This improvement in their popularity couldn’t come at a better time since the new VAIS unit is due to become active on April 1st.

 

A few mundane, non-combat encounters will probably take place before the next real action so I can feed some tidbits of information to the team. Card Shark’s latest scheme seems to have been thwarted but lots of other mischief is still afoot.

[Eosin]

Re: Weekend Warriors -- Campaign Log

 

Tasers disguised as cell phones are the bomb! Especially when you have Acting, Concealment, and Slieght of Hands! Zaaattt!

[Edsel]

Re: Weekend Warriors -- Campaign Log

 

Gives a whole new meaning to the old jingle "Reach out and touch someone."

 

Of course when word of this starts making the rounds at the Card Shark company picnic I doubt the agents will be as trusting of anybody with a cell phone ever again.

[Matt Frisbee]

Re: Weekend Warriors -- Campaign Log

 

Righteous action in Game Session 15, Edsel! Excellent writeup as well. I liked the bit about the band being the cover for the kidnapping and kudos to Crucible for being clear-headed enough to recognize the threat. However, I wonder if any of the group realizes that there must have been an inside member of the entourage to steer the target to the venue?

 

Matt "The-plot-thickens" Frisbee

[DEFCON Clown]

Re: Weekend Warriors -- Campaign Log

 

Donkey Punch?

Thats just wrong. Rep for these great write-ups though.

 

EDIT: Once I can rep you again that is.

[NightStick]

Re: Weekend Warriors -- Campaign Log

 

Donkey Punch?

 

This was a topic that was well discussed long before Edsel settled on Donkey Punch.

 

Some of the terms are TRULY FOUL!

[Edsel]

Re: Weekend Warriors -- Campaign Log

 

For those following the campaign log the next game is not scheduled until October 14th.

 

Normally we would have gamed last night (Sept. 30) but it just didn't happen. One player was absent and I have been wanting to give Arkham Horror a try. It is one of the many boardgames that I have never gotten to play. So the five of us ended up playing it instead and had a great time.

[NightStick]

Re: Weekend Warriors -- Campaign Log

 

Last nights session was, a little different, to say the least, than normal...

 

While it was only Kierian & Sweeper, we did our best to cover our "normal" identities.

 

I think that the lil Luv Bug was in the air........

[Eosin]

Re: Weekend Warriors -- Campaign Log

 

I enjoyed last nights game. It was focused on getting some non-vigilante stuff done and setting the groundwork for future investigations but somehow it all went astray and focused on .... instead of the normal...

 

It was unusual but in a good way.

[Edsel]

Re: Weekend Warriors -- Campaign Log

 

Good, I'm glad you enjoyed it. I kinda felt I was taking a gamble following the course I chose. But since I hadn't really had enough free time to flesh out a story for last night's limited turnout (2 players) I just had to wing it with some background stuff I had been kicking around.

 

I'll try to get the campaign log updated within the next couple of days.

[NightStick]

Re: Weekend Warriors -- Campaign Log

 

It was unusual but in a good way.

 

Yeah, Same here, I just forgot to say it!

 

My mind must have been elsewhere!

[NightStick]

Re: Weekend Warriors -- Campaign Log

 

Having seen a rough draft of the outline, I am truly curious as to what may befall Kierian & Sweeper in the Campaign Log.

[Lightning91]

Re: Weekend Warriors -- Campaign Log

 

Normally we would have gamed last night (Sept. 30) but it just didn't happen. One player was absent and I have been wanting to give Arkham Horror a try. It is one of the many boardgames that I have never gotten to play. So the five of us ended up playing it instead and had a great time.

 

What.... No seperate thread with a log of the events in Arkham?

 

BTW, I love the write-ups so far. Please, Keep it up!!!

 

Lightning91

[Edsel]

Campaign Log -- Session 16

 

BTW' date=' I love the write-ups so far. Please, Keep it up!!![/quote']

 

Okay, here you go. Sorry this took a while to complete, I had a very busy week.

 

GAME SESSION SIXTEEN

Actual Date: 10/14/2006

 

Thursday, March 23rd

For several days Kierian and Giles will be alone in their vigilante activities. The Weekend Warriors smashing success against Card Shark has made some of the members feel justified in taking a couple of days off. Sam Nagakura is still out of town on his extended business trip and may not be back in town for up to a week. John Black is spending more time with his grandson who is still in Everett Memorial Hospital after experiencing complications due to a nasty case of the flu. Ryan Grey has left town for a few days to visit family abroad (outside the US where it is safer to meet).

 

The construction foreman at the bed & breakfast (soon to be the front for the Weekend Warriors base) has had a couple of run-ins with some suited thugs. Basically the goons in suits have been by a couple of times making veiled threats and now they are demanding to talk with the fellow in charge of this “uninsured” facility. The foreman informs Giles who, as part of his new identity, will be the manager of the bed & breakfast about this development. During the afternoon Kierian and Giles meet to discuss this topic and other while they get in a bit of sparring in the newly completed gym.

 

They decide that Kierian will play the part of the owner (or at least chief officer) of the bed & breakfast and that he will meet with these thugs on Saturday afternoon. Comparing notes they realize that these goons are probably soldiers of the Torccone Family who are working a classic protection racket on the businesses in this neighborhood. Kierian has decided that if need be he will take a minor beating before caving-in to their demands. The two vigilantes realize that they could start a war with the Torccone’s but that would do little to cover-up the existence of the secret base. It is better to cave-in to a little extortion which will allay suspicions and even give them a street alibi since they’ll be but one more business under the thumb of the Torccone’s.

 

They also decide that the best way to ensure the security of the base is to have Kierian install it personally. There will be no chance for a contractor to divulge details of the security system if they do it themselves. Giles agrees to pick-up a shopping list of items for Kierian from Archer’s Electronics & Security in Pierpoint (p102 Hudson City). As soon as their sparring session is over Giles departs on the shopping spree while Kierian leaves for his semi-regular lunch with his mom.

 

 

Kierian arrives at the offices of the VOLT foundation at about one o’clock but he is soon sent out on business. Due to the number of occult murders in the city over the last month (the so-called Aztec murders) Richard Ravenscroft has decided to recruit an occult expert. Kierian Foster is asked to go and meet the potential recruit in the name of the VOLT foundation. At two-thirty he is to meet with Miss Satella Harvenheit at their estate in Irishtown.

 

Miss Harvenheit is a very mysterious person. The large Edwardian mansion in which she lives had been held in the name of the Hendric Foundation until about three months ago. In 1910 Albert Harvenheit emigrated with his family from Germany. The Harvenheit’s are a wealthy family whose money had come from shipping and art dealing but they had soon expanded into gem dealing for which they are best known. In 1920 a mysterious fire claimed the family with the exception of the youngest daughter, Satella. Miss Harvenheit was the sole heir to the family fortune. She rebuilt the mansion and maintained it as her primary residence until 1928. Satella traveled extensively, first as a student and later as an eccentric tourist who visited all sorts of off-the-beaten-path areas of the world. In mid-1928 Miss Harvenheit seems to have vanished and was eventually given up as dead.

 

Management of the estate and Harvenheit fortune was assumed by a young girl named Azmaria Hendric. Up until Azmaria passed away two years ago (aged 90) she administered everything under the name of the Hendric foundation. After Azmaria’s death her decedents, primarily her grandson Joshua, administered the estate for the Hendric foundation. Only four months ago the ownership of the Hendric Foundation and the estate were transferred to Miss Satella Harvenheit. It is unclear if this is a descendent of the original Miss Harvenheit or if the long missing woman has resurfaced. If the later is the case she would be 102 years old!

 

Some of you may recognize the name Satella Harvenheit and realize that this is a character from the anime, Chrono Crusade. In this instance the character has been lifted from the manga. In the anime Satella dies in the manga that is not the case. Regardless the character and her story are completely unknown by the players involved in this session. Only the player of John Black (D-Man) is an anime fan and he wasn’t in attendance at this session.

 

At two-thirty sharp Kierian Foster arrives that the Harvenheit mansion. He is expected and let in at once by a butler. He is shown to a sitting room while the servant notifies Ms. Harvenheit of his arrival. As Kierian looks around he notices that the décor matches the circa of the mansion. The house is loaded with antiques and it looks as if he has stepped back into the 1920s. A few bits of modern technology are visible and though they have been styled to blend with the décor is it obvious to his keen eye that the modern additions are very new while the rest of the stuff is definitely very old.

 

Kierian’s wait is brief and he is soon pleasantly surprised as a breathtakingly beautiful young woman enters the room. She is tall, about five feet eight, with red hair and brown eyes. As she speaks Kierian detects a hint of a German accent. “Mr. Kierian Foster I am Satella Harvenheit pleased to meet you.” She extends her hand to him with the palm down and he awkwardly reaches out and shakes it. She seems mildly surprised and amused.

 

Kierian finds her appearance somewhat distracting. She wears a fitted suit that makes full advantage of her exciting figure. She also wears what would almost be considered a gaudy amount of jewelry which prominently features a variety of large gemstones (several are more than a karat in size). Kierian’s observant eye tells him that these are not costume jewelry. Her manner of speaking is a little odd as well. She speaks English flawlessly but with a slight German accent and she uses outdated colloquialisms from time to time. However Kierian is impressed with her confident tone and warn personality. Her appearance certainly adds to his attraction since he had feared meeting a venerable old lady.

 

Before long the two are deep in discussion about the purposes of the VOLT foundation. Satella already knows why they are interested in her. This meeting just serves to confirm what VOLT’s intentions are. She realizes that might be valuable to the organization and vice versa. Her knowledge of the occult seems to be almost encyclopedic she is a veritable treasure house of information.

 

Since she seems very intrigued by the cases of the Aztec murders, Kierian offers to take her on a tour of the areas where with bodies were found. He is pleasantly surprised when she, almost eagerly, agrees to go on the tour. She confides that she is unfamiliar with the town since she was quite a bit younger the last time she visited. He offers to include an afternoon’s tour of the whole city and again she gladly accepts.

 

For hours the two of them drive around the town and Kierian plays the part of a tour guide as they continue to discuss the occult nature of the crimes. Satella opines that the specifics of the crimes indicate to her that someone is trying to summon up a demon. This is a prospect which seems to raise her ire and make her more enthusiastic to be of assistance. Kierian continues to feed her more and more information including some tidbits that he has not shared with the VOLT foundation and he is pleased how she reacts and seems very willing to provide helpful input. By the end of their tour the two of them have become very comfortable with each other.

 

Kierian has used the opportunity of the tour to put his Seduction skill to use. Not to seduce Satella but in an effort to make friends and gain trust (see the rules for Seduction in the Ultimate Skill). His efforts are assisted by the fact that Satella is hoping to make new friends since she has been away for so long and currently has none. Besides Kierian has a better than average appearance as well. Based on the personality of Kierian Foster I wouldn’t be surprised if he tries be become much closer friends with Satella later though.

 

Feeling that he can trust Satella, Kierian mentions the dagger (the Nahuatl Dagger) to see what she thinks of it. She is immediately able to confirm his suspicions that such an item could be used by someone “knowledgeable in such things” as a homing beacon. When he asks her if she could tell more by examining the dagger she agrees to look it over. They drop by the Flag National Bank to reclaim the dagger before heading back to her estate.

 

At the estate Kierian extracts the dagger from its box and lays it on the coffee table. Satella looks at it intently for a second and then rubs the clear diamond in her bracelet before picking up the dagger. Kierian is startled when the dagger flares with its unnatural light for an instant but Satella seems unfazed by its behavior. “This has been the cause of much trouble,” she murmurs quietly as she examines the weapon.

 

“The blade is obsidian but the large jewel in the hilt is a black onyx. A dark gem for dark magic,” she explains. “It is perfectly harmless now, its power can only manifest at night. It is quite dangerous to carry this around I am not surprised you and your friends have been attacked while you kept it near. Someone is trying to summon forth a demon, the murders are a sign but without this dagger they will not easily succeed. This should be neutralized I can do so if you wish.”

 

Kierian says by all means if she can vanquish its power he would be glad so she agrees to do so. She explains that she’d like to take it to her study and perform an exorcism of sorts on it. Kierian declines her invitation to watch. So while the two of them wait for dinner to be served Satella takes the dagger to her study and Kierian waits in the sitting room. He takes advantage of his solitude to look over the contents of the room and the mansion in greater detail.

 

He notes that the security system is a little outdated, something he can offer his help in rectifying. He also notes the pictures on the mantle in the room. Most are quite old probably dating from when the mansion was new. He notices a picture which has been moved to the back of the mantle and faced away from the room he turns the picture and looks at it. The picture is of four people; a fair-skinned boy with dark hair who wears a headband and what looks vaguely like Indian-style clothing, a young girl with light-colored hair who wears a beret, a young attractive woman with light colored hair who is wearing a nun’s habit with some odd appointments and lastly a woman who looks identical to Satella. In the background of the picture is a Model A Ford and it is obvious the picture is very old. The four seem to be close friends and they are smiling happily for the camera. The picture is in a sealed frame, an expensive archival type with UV glass and acid-free backing. The picture is apparently considered very important or valuable.

 

The picture, unknown the characters at this point, is of Satella, Azmaria Hendric, Rosette Christopher and Chrono. It was taken in San Francisco in 1928 at a carnival.

 

After dinner Satella retrieves the dagger and gives it back to Kierian. He is amazed to see that the black onyx is now crystal clear. Satella assures him that the dagger is now powerless. As he prepares to bid her farewell for the evening he asks her if she would be interested in joining him tomorrow for lunch so that he can show her more of the town. He is delighted when she accepts his invitation.

 

 

That night and the following morning Kierian will spend several hours investigating the background of Satella Harvenheit. The woman is an enigma, a mystery that he wants to solve. Some of the things he suspects of her are frightening; just how old is she, if she is that old how can she appear so young? She is so full of life and intelligent, she is beautiful and articulate. She is unafraid of what he has told her of goings on in the city and she seems to posses powers he can’t understand. He has, until this point, only encountered such (dare he call it magic) powers in the form of evil to be defeated. In Satella he senses no evil; he senses only a benevolent energy, and perhaps a bit of sadness.

 

This evening it is also learned that, due to complications, the grandson of John Black will remain a patient of Everett Memorial Hospital for a few more days.

 

Friday, March 24th

Kierian’s investigations find no evidence that the Satella Harvenheit who vanished in 1928 left any children. It is basically as if she disappeared from the face of the earth and then several months ago this still young and beautiful woman reappeared. The Hendric foundation was founded by an Azmaria Hendric in 1928. An early picture that he found confirms that the young girl in a beret from the picture in the Harvenheit mansion is Azmaria.

 

The nun that he saw in the picture had some odd differences in the habit she wore; Kierian finds out that the hallmarks are distinctive to a little known organization called the Order of Magdalene. The Order of Magdalene does not actually seem to be a specifically religious order, in other words their members were not really Catholic priests and nuns but they seem to have used a church-based organizational structure. The organization was known for its charitable work during the depression but it seems to be far older than that. In fact it seems like the Order may still be in existence today but he can’t be sure. The charity work appears to have been ancillary to the Order’s true purpose which remains unclear. Apparently the Magdalene Order was at the forefront of relief efforts following a localized disaster in San Francisco in 1928. There are rumors that the Order and the authorities knew the cause of the strange lights in the sky, the earthquake and the tsunami that struck the ocean front area of the city in August of that year. It will require much more digging to determine just what all of this is about. The records of the membership of the Order of Magdalene are secret as well so the identity of the nun remains unknown to him.

 

The boy in the picture is even more of a mystery since he has found no evidence about who he is, or was.

 

The disaster in San Francisco in August 1928 is a non-historical event. Nothing like it happened in the real world. This is an event that did take place in the alternate universe of the Weekend Warriors campaign setting.

 

Kierian picks up Satella near noon. They take advantage of the warm and sunny early spring day and head to the Avenue of the Elms for lunch. Here they rendezvous with Giles and Rally who join them for lunch. Satella is happy to meet Kierian’s friends. The four of them talk for over an hour getting to know one another and discussing topics about the sights and places within the city. Satella seems to know the history of many of the older establishments in town and is eager to learn of developments during the last couple of decades. After lunch the two couples go their separate ways.

 

Giles and Rally find Satella to be as beautiful and mysterious as Kierian had indicated she would be. It is almost as if she is new to exploring the world, sort of like she has lived a sequestered life up until now. But her vibrant and outgoing personality makes it hard to believe that she is ignorant of society as a whole. Rally also has a hard time believing that the gems Satella was wearing were real but Giles assures her that Kierian said they were.

 

Rally asks Giles if he would like to go for a short drive to the country side so they can take advantage of the beautiful weather. He is agreeable so she takes him trap shooting. Rally remarks that there is nothing like the smell of fresh country air punctuated by gunpowder.

 

 

On their trip back to the Harvenheit estate Kierian goes over his proposal for the new security systems he would like to install there. He explains that the VOLT foundation likes to provide for the security of its own members peace of mind. He has noted that her security at the mansion could use some upgrades. She accepts his offer though the conversation seems to bore her a little and Kierian gets the idea she is agreeing to make him happy.

 

She talks to him about the fine arts of the city, the theaters of The Golden Avenue, the nightlife and the Opera. Kierian gladly talks to her of these things, at least all he knows about the higher class versions of them. Before long he realizes that she wants to go out on a date, a real date, a prospect that thrills him. Her choice of going to the opera concerns him somewhat since he has absolutely no experience with it but the prospect of enjoying her company easily wins out. They make a date to go to the opera tomorrow night.

 

 

Later in the afternoon Kierian and Giles perform a bit of reconnaissance in the areas of town known to be frequented by bikers. They first head down to Charlesburg (an area of Freetown south of the Community College). The only bikers they identify are a few members of the Forbidden going about business (probably crank sales).

 

Next they head into the Elmview and Red Hill areas of towns where there are several biker bars. At Hog Haven (p47 in Hudson City) they see a couple members of the Satanic Skulls. The two bikers seem to be keeping to themselves and avoiding trouble so the vigilantes simply make a not and continue their tour of the area. In Red Hill, at Hannigan’s Waterfront Dive (p83 Hudson City) they finally spot a group of nearly a dozen Highway Mobsters. The two vigilantes case the joint for about an hour and note that from time to time several members of the gang come and go from a backroom that seems to be off-limits to all others. Since this is only a recon mission they don’t press their luck by trying to get a peak beyond the door. As they leave the bar Sweeper makes a quick circuit of the premises noting the locations of all exits and windows and Crucible writes down the tag numbers of all the bikes he can locate.

 

The team’s interest in the outlaw bikers are focused mainly on the Highway Mobsters who are a nomadic group. They and the Satanic Skulls have been involved in an escalating series of skirmishes lately (look over earlier campaign log entries for details). The Weekend Warriors are more interested in the Highway Mobsters since the Satanic Skulls are still weak owing to a run-in with LIBRA a couple of months ago.

 

Saturday, March 25th

This afternoon is one that Kierian has dreaded. He is to meet with the enforcers of the Torccone mob as they try to convince him to pay for the protection they can offer the bed and breakfast. He is miserable when he realizes that he might have to show up for his date with Satella while sporting a black-eye or a split lip.

 

His fears are proven groundless as he is able to come to an agreement with the unsavory characters without having to prove his ineptitude by suffering a beating. The price is a little steep but within the finances of the Weekend Warriors. With the Torccone Family providing “protection” for the bed and breakfast the Weekend Warriors will be able to operate out of their secret base without attracting undue attention. Who would ever think a vigilante group is paying protection money to the mob? The only other alternative was to refuse and thus raise suspicions when the vigilantes always seemed to protect the establishment. Besides this way they may be able to gather some info from the various enforcers with the judicious use of the Conversation skill.

 

 

This evening Rally and Giles have their first uninterrupted date. Giles picks up Rally in his new Lexus LX470. The night is a simple movie and meal arrangement during which they are finally able to relax and enjoy one another’s company. This time there is no ringing phone when their lips finally meet.

 

 

Meanwhile Kierian meets Satella at her estate and she insists that they take her car to the opera. This turns out to be a vintage Rolls-Royce Phantom II in pristine condition, complete with chauffer. Kierian finds the opera to be different, probably something he’d enjoy more if he could understand what they were singing about. He is not certain that he likes being noticed here by several people he recognizes as old money people from the upper crust of Hudson City. In his line of work it is usually better to maintain a low profile. He takes comfort in that fact that nobody here is likely to have any idea who he is. Still the young, attractive couple attracts some attention.

 

After the opera they return to her estate and have a nightcap. Satella makes a comment about hoping he will not be put off by those silly prohibition laws. This sends Kierian’s weirdness meter back up and again he wonders about just who she really is. Within a few drinks inhibitions loosen and he starts to be bolder in his questions. Finally Satella decides to be honest with Kierian starting off with her first admission.

 

“I bought the car we rode in tonight when it was new. I was born on June 10, 1905 which makes me what…101. Or it would if I hadn’t lost the last seventy-seven years.”

 

By the end of the night Kierian knows who Satella is. Who Rosette Christopher was, who the boy was and what part Azmaria played in the past. He knows the nature of the disaster in San Francisco in 1928 and he knows what the Magdalene Order was and may still be.

 

Briefly for those who do not know, Satella Harvenheit is called a “Hexen der Juwlen” in the manga. She is a Jewel Witch or Jewel Summoner. A magic-user whose powers are based upon summoning constructs through the use of jewels. She has always been involved in hunting down and exorcising demons (anime demons are more akin to evil spirits than true Judeo-Christian demons). She participated in a climatic battle against such demons in 1928 San Francisco (hence the disaster). At that time she encountered her sister, or a golem constructed from her sister, who had been kidnapped by a demon in 1910 (the same demon who slew the rest of her family). Unable to free her sister and forced to combat her Satella used a spell that crystallized both her and her sister, the two then fell into the sea. About a decade ago the crystallized forms washed up on the shore near Seattle and were recovered by the Hendric Foundation (since Azmaria was still alive and knew what it was). For years the foundation studied on how to reverse the process without success. Four months ago the night watchman at an institute facility found Satella unconscious but back to normal, there was no sign of her sister.

 

Satella’s background is far more elaborate than this though. It is far too lengthy for me to be willing to type it here. You can find out a lot with a good internet search. I’d recommend the anime and particularly the manga if you want the true story (the anime and manga have different endings among other things).

 

Session Wrap-up

 

Recovered Weapons & Equipment

Since there was no combat there were no weapons or equipment to recover.

 

Body Count & Damage

Again non-applicable since there was no combat.

 

Experience Awards

Only the characters of Sweeper and Crucible participated in the game, both characters received 2 EP. Crucible also gains a 1-point contact with Satella Harvenheit.

 

Some role-playing was done toward working on the team base so 1 bonus EP is awarded for the base construction.

 

To date the EP totals of the characters are: Choir Boy 27 EP, Crucible 48 EP, Demolition Man 41 EP, Ken Seidai 21 EP, and Sweeper 47 EP.

 

Closing Comments

I have been able to introduce a second useful NPC for the group. Kierian’s player had made it clear that he was playing the field hoping to find a girl friend and so I though what better way to introduce an occult expert with whom the group can consult. Satella is physically 24-years old which makes her a pretty good match for Kierian. She is a lot, more worldly, than Rally Vincent in some ways but she is a product of social morals from the late 1920s. Satella is still adrift in a world that has advanced 77 years during her absence. She still hopes to find Fiore (her lost sister) and perhaps she is out there somewhere. All the friends and family she ever had are gone and she is alone in this world. This explains why she took so readily to the friendship that Kierian offered her. She has vowed to live in this future that Rosette has made possible. She learned back then that friends are to be treasured and she knows that her past friends would want her to be happy and make new friends. She will not let them down.

 

I haven’t determined just how powerful I want to allow Satella to be with her jewel magic. Has magic remained potent since the pulp era, or has it waned in strength? The beauty of the situation is that I don’t have to make that decision until I manage to write myself into a corner.

 

Our next game is scheduled for October 28th, but I have already had D-Man's player call to cancel out

[NightStick]

Re: Campaign Log -- Session 16

 

This evening Rally and Giles have their first uninterrupted date. This time there is no ringing phone when their lips finally meet.

 

 

[Matt Frisbee]

Re: Weekend Warriors -- Campaign Log

 

As always, an excellent write-up for a serious role-play session. Glad to hear your group is still fighting the good fight, but things are going to get very complicated when all of these budding relationships have to suffer the stress of the vigilante lifestyle...

 

Matt "Plot-complications-anyone?" Frisbee

[Edsel]

Re: Weekend Warriors -- Campaign Log

 

Yeah, Rally has a lot of pre-existing enemies that I can introduce into the campaign to cause all sorts of grief. Satella is another story but I am sure I can manage to complicate their lives as well.

[NightStick]

Re: Weekend Warriors -- Campaign Log

 

Heck, our lives were complicated enough before we added the "significant other" angle to the equation!

 

Tonights session covered alot of ground; a lot of it was pure fun - we got to hurt baddies tonight!

 

AND, we got to rescue some of those less fortunate than us; including a surprise!

 

[Eosin]

Re: Weekend Warriors -- Campaign Log

 

I was thinking on the way home ~ we are set up great right now.

 

• We know where to get el Aztica's gang
  
• We got a line on the Torrecones and Stradh
  
• We got an in for the Highway Mobsters and may be able to figure out the *Kerosene stuff
  
• Penny Dreadful has only *one remaining hand to play and then we may have a shot at rescuing Valloric.
  

 

It's a target rich enviroment.

 

 

* See Edsels forth coming writeup for more details on these two events.

[Edsel]

Campaign Log -- Session 17

 

GAME SESSION SEVENTEEN

Actual Date: 10/28/2006

 

Sunday, March 26th

The reader should be aware that the write-up for this session contains spoilers for the Hero Plus adventure The Alchemy of Love.

 

This morning Choir Boy arrives back in town. Soon he, Kierian and Giles are at the bed and breakfast and are discussing plans. Kierian starts some of the preliminary work on the security system while Giles and Ryan do some work on other parts of the base (areas they don’t want outsiders knowing about). They hear from John Black who is at the hospital visiting his grandson. John plans to come by the base this evening to get back into the swing of things.

 

 

At about two o’clock in the afternoon the three vigilantes (Sweeper, Choir Boy and Crucible) get an urgent telephone call from D-Man. Everett Memorial Hospital, where he is visiting his grandson, is under attack by a group of armed men dressed as orderlies. They are being lead by an attractive woman in a nurse’s uniform, Penny Dreadful! The focus of the attack seems to be the pediatric ICU. D-Man is unable to relate much more information before his call is cut off. The three vigilantes hurriedly grab their gear and speed for the hospital.

 

Obviously this is Penny’s Codex of the Orphans crime. Kierian has been expecting something like this and he had recently been checking up on local orphanages. The vigilantes get a head start on the police and manage to arrive several minutes before the HCPD is effectively on the scene. Unfortunately they miss Penny and her crew by a few minutes.

 

The three vigilantes, currently in street clothes, act like concerned civilians and quickly infiltrate into the hospital in an effort to figure out just what has happened. Kierian is able to flash his VOLT foundation ID and bluff his way past the security guards. The vigilantes soon have a rough idea of what has occurred. Penny and her crew have kidnapped most of the juvenile patients and about half-a-dozen nurses. The victims were loaded in to ambulances and specially equipped panel vans and whisked away from the hospital. Conflicting accounts from assorted people indicate that the vehicles fled in different directions, probably in an effort to confuse and put-off any would be pursers.

 

Sweeper soon determines that John Black was critically injured during the altercation. The fragmented account that they get is that he was hit with a tranquilizer dart similar to those used by Penny’s gang on previous occasions. However in this case, probably due to poor luck, he was hit in the neck which resulted in a cut to his carotid artery. If he hadn’t been in the hospital he’d have surely bled to death. John Black is currently in emergency surgery and will likely be out of commission for several days.

 

Upon gaining entry to the pediatric ICU, Kierian and Ryan soon find a note that has been prominently placed. It is obviously a clue left by Penny Dreadful, it reads:

 

“Better hurry up and find the kids—some of them need their medicine, now don’t they? Look for them in the place of Molly Ivor’s passion.”

 

Kierian quickly snatches the note with his gloved hands and makes a photocopy using a machine at the nurse’s station. He then replaces the note for the cops and the three vigilantes quickly leave the hospital so as to avoid any entanglements with the authorities. They quickly speed back to their base to research the meaning of the clue.

 

Very soon their research reveals that Molly Ivor is a character from the James Joyce short story, “The Dead.” Molly Ivor’s passion was a free and independent Ireland a goal toward which she worked. A little study of Hudson City’s buildings reveals that the former Irish Cultural Center was located in a now vacant building on Oneida Street at 7th Avenue in Guilford. The Irish Cultural Center moved its operation to Boston two years ago and their former building is currently vacant. The vigilantes are a little taken aback by the ease of this clue and half expect it to be a dead end but they gather their gear and head that way. Outside a steady rain is falling. It has been almost two hours since the kidnapping.

 

The team stashes a backup vehicle a few blocks away near the north edge of Blackbridge Park. Then they do a quick drive-by reconnaissance of the building. The former ICC building is a two story affair which is connected to another building with a firewall to the west. It is located on the corner with Oneida Street to the east, 7th Avenue to the south and an ally running behind the building to the north. Windows look out the south and east sides of the building but there are none overlooking the alley. There is large front door at the southeast corner, a fire escape leads to a second floor window on the east side and in the ally there is a garage door and a small fire door. The garage door is probably large enough for a single ambulance or panel van to enter but the building would not have room to hold more than a couple of vehicles. If the kidnap victims were delivered here then the empty vehicles have been driven away. The heavy rain has certainly washed away any telltale signs of activity. The team drives down the street and around a corner out of sight.

 

Sweeper creeps onto the roof of a building down the street and with a set of binoculars studies the building for any signs of life. He becomes aware that the upper floor windows, though unlit, seem too light colored. He soon realizes that they have been coated with mirror film from the inside. Apparently someone wants to be able to peer out without anybody being able to look in. He also notes that there is a large AC unit on the roof of the building and what is probably a roof access door. He then rejoins the team back in their parked van and they formulate a plan of action.

 

Choir Boy and Crucible approach the building via the back ally. They come from the west so they will not be visible from any windows. Sweeper accompanies them but uses his swing-line to access the fire escape via the roof. Crucible carefully picks the lock of the fire door only to discover that the door is barred from the inside. Sweeper carefully peeks through the second floor window from above. He has to put his face almost up against the window to see inside. Unfortunately the first thing he makes out is a man swinging a handgun toward him.

 

Combat starts with Sweeper doing a Dive for Cover to pull his face up and out of the window. The bullet punches a hole through the window and flies off over the city. Hearing Sweepers warning Crucible fires at the door bar which he is barely able to make out thought the cracked open door. Fortunately the bar is wooden and his round pretty much shatters it. He kicks open the door and Choir Boy rushes in, his pistol at the ready.

 

Choir Boy and Crucible discover that the ground floor is pretty much gutted and open. Debris is strewn about the floor which would have made stealthy movement very difficult. A single thug descends the stairs from the second floor as Choir Boy leads the way. In a contest of Dexterity Choir Boy proves faster and the thug is felled by a single .40 S&W round to the shoulder.

 

Meanwhile Sweeper does a handstand on the roof ledge and summersaults down through the window with the aid of his swing-line. He vaults into the room landing a solid blow on the man at the window and staggers him amid a shower of glass. Sweeper finds him self beside a wall and a bed with a sick child. The thug he has stunned is screening him from the other goons in the room. He sees five thugs in the room full of sick kids and nurses. The entire second floor has been converted into a makeshift hospital ward. The work here must have taken a week or more to accomplish so this latest crime of Ms. Dreadful has been in the works for a while.

 

Two of the thugs in the room head rapidly for the stairs to the ground floor to investigate the gunshot they just heard. One thug stands by the head of the staircase covering them with his tranquilizer pistol. The other thug with, pistol in hand, is approaching the melee between Sweeper and his compatriot but he is unable to get a clear shot.

 

The two thugs race down the stairs to see their wounded buddy lying on the ground among the debris. Crucible is waiting on them. As they arrive he double fires his .45 APC SOCOM pistol with devastating effect. One thug is hit in the upper thigh and crumples to the ground with a shattered femur his associate suffers a worse fate as the big slug tears into his chest. Moral, people without body armor do not fare well against high-caliber handguns.

 

Sweeper has a hard time with the thugs up stairs as they keep aborting to dodges against his attacks. Finally one of them manages to throw Sweeper back out the window but he lacks the strength to toss him clear of the fire escape. Only Sweeper’s pride suffers from the throw. He is back up in a flash and his three-section staff connects with the mouth of the first thug, the man crashes to the floor sans a few teeth. The second thug only lasts a couple of seconds before he too is beaten senseless.

 

The only thug who is able to offer any resistance downstairs is the one who is recovering from the stun of a shoulder wound. He only clears his head in time to be savagely stomped by Choir Boy in passing. The sole remaining thug, at the top of the stairs, draws a real gun but he is quickly talked into surrendering by Crucible.

 

The vigilantes quick ascertain that the all of the hostages are accounted for. The nurses are able to care for the children and so the vigilantes make a 911 call to summon the fire department and paramedics to the scene of an undisclosed emergency. This will give them ample time to vacate the area before the police arrive. They bind the thugs that still have any fight in them and have the nurses attend to the first aid needs of the goons who have suffered gunshot wounds. They also ensure that the nurses know that it is the Weekend Warriors who have come to their rescue.

 

The vigilantes observe the building from across the street until the first emergency vehicles arrive (fire department) to be sure that the children and nurses are safe. They then flee the scene confident that they have saved the day and gained some more positive press.

 

The characters went into this fight fearing the effects of bullets on oxygen bottles and hospital equipment. Fortunately Penny had equipped her thugs with the tranquilizer pistols to avoid the same problem. The only shooting was either directed out of the window or took place on the ground floor.

 

The police will immediately be summoned by the firemen and paramedics. All of the kids and nurses survive their ordeal little worse for wear. There is only one remaining novel left that has been penned by the missing author Shane Velloric: Faces of the Sun, Faces of the Moon.

 

Later that evening they check up on the condition of John Black. He will be fine but he’ll also be laid up for at least several days. Giles has dinner with Rally, Ryan heads home to recover from the lingering effects of jet lag and Kierian spends the rest of the afternoon at the VOLT offices.

 

 

Monday, March 27th

This day starts off as what the Weekend Warriors consider to be a day of research. It is still rainy and chilly so there is not a lot of immediate impetus to go out and get involved in something drastic. Instead the vigilantes bask in their favorable headlines and visit their individual sources to see what the talk on the streets is.

 

Sweeper talks with a few of the people that he knows in the Chinatown area and hears of a new drug that is going by the name of kerosene. Apparently a Dark Fist gang member managed to get a sample of this new drug from a Satanic Skull biker and the At-Zhang tong is very interested in finding out more about it. The Dark Fists have been gunning for any Satanic Skulls that wander too close to Chinatown but apparently the bikers are on to the scheme and are avoiding the area much to Wu Kien’s disappointment. Sweeper’s source also says that it is rumored that the Highway Mobsters also are peddling this drug.

 

The At-Zhang has chemists trying to analyze this new drug but their sample is very small and it seems to be defying their efforts. The drug is supposed to be highly addictive. The tong believes that it is an opium derivative of some sort but that’s what they always say when a new drug crops up. One thing the confusion indicates is that kerosene is a sophisticated drug and it must be a product of a well funded lab.

 

Sweeper takes careful note that the Satanic Skulls and Highway Mobsters are the two groups selling this drug. This might explain the recent clashes between the two long-time rivals. The drug is so new it is likely that a single supplier is working with both biker gangs, not a really smart thing to do unless you are trying to precipitate a biker war.

 

The Dark Fists are the Chinese street gang enforcers who work for the At-Zhang tong. Wu Kien is the Dragon Head of the At-Zhang. The leader of the Dark Fists is a fellow named Xu Te-Wu, a vicious fighter reputed to be a master of Shao-Lin Tiger Kung Fu. More info can be found by consulting the Hudson City sourcebook.

 

Choir Boy sets out today with the aim of doing some snooping into goings on in the mafia world. Just before lunch he locates Lenny Castanzo, a low-life wannabe who does odd jobs for some of the Torccone’s made men. A little ready cash and soon Lenny is sharing the stories that he has heard. Word is that the Torccones are about to take delivery of a large heroin shipment at one of their waterfront docks. The family intends to make a deal with the crime lord Strad (one of their biggest customers) to undercut the heroin market in south Hudson City. Lenny claims he heard about the shipment when he happened to overhear a conversation between two Torccone men. He was traveling with one, helping to collect debts when they encountered the other soldier. The two made men started talking and sent Lenny to get some coffee but he lingered around a corner and heard them talking carelessly about this deal. He only knows that the shipment is supposed to arrive sometime this weekend and little else.

 

 

Kierian decides to try a little undercover work in his efforts to find out more about what the Highway Mobsters are up to. He concocts a background for himself and adopts the alias of Luke O’Connell. He disguises himself as an unaffiliated biker and heads down to Hannigan’s Waterfront Dive. The Highway Mobsters have been hanging around the joint and have apparently commandeered one of the back rooms in which to do business.

 

Kierian strides into the bar and looks around. The clientele of the Dive seems to be a pretty rough looking crowd. The colors of the Highway Mobsters are mixed in with numerous bikers from small clubs and some, like Kierian, who wear no colors at all. In addition to the bikers there are a lot of paramilitary types (Hannigan’s is known to be a hangout for mercenaries). Kierian spies a fairly tough looking biker who is trying to make time with a semi-attractive biker girl so he heads over and horns in.

 

Kierian basically invites the girl to join him instead of the loser she is with, which pretty much guarantees a hostile encounter. Kierian makes sure that he draws the attention of all those he can with the loud altercation. Pretty soon blows are exchanged and despite a little better fight than he’d expected Kierian is victorious. He buys the buddies of the defeated biker a round of drinks and then starts flirting with his newly won prize. His goal is achieved as he draws the attention of several of the Highway Mobsters.

 

Eventually one of the Highway Mobsters strikes up a conversation with Kierian. In short order Kierian is invited into the back room to discuss the possibility of riding with the gang. In the back room he discovers about a dozen of the Highway Mobsters and the president of the club Brian Kelly (aka “Sidewinder”) holding court. It is unclear just what sort of business has been going on here but there is a distinct lack of women and a more serious tone in the air. Apparently whatever business was going on has been put on hold while the newcomer is introduced. No money, drugs or other questionable evidence is visible amidst the smoke and liquor glasses. All attention is focused on Kierian and Sidewinder.

 

Kierian identifies himself as Luke O’Connell, an independent biker. Sidewinder says that the Highway Mobsters might have room for a confident man who can handle himself. However, he says that he can’t be sure that the incident in the bar wasn’t merely a fluke so he introduces an even tougher looking biker named “Mackey Boy” to be sure that Luke isn’t a one-trick-pony.

 

The two men square off and Kierian is indeed given a tougher trial but in the end the result is still the same. A barely scratched Luke O’Connell is given an offer by Sidewinder. Luke will be given a chance to join the Highway Mobsters. It is rare for an unknown to be given such an offer so before he can join he is given a task to accomplish in order to prove his worth.

 

Several of the lieutenants in the Satanic Skulls ride a bike with a distinctive paint job on the gas tank. If Luke were able to bring back one of those bikes then he’d be able to prove his daring, his worth and his ability. A man who could pull that off on his own would be worthy of a provisional membership in the Highway Mobsters. Luke (Kierian) agrees to the deal.

 

The name Luke O’Connell was simply made up on the spot. There is no record of this fictitious individual. In other words this is not a Deep Cover or even a False Identity. There is no paper trail to back up this name.

 

Tuesday, March 28th

Ryan and Giles spend most of the day staking out the waterfront docks near South Jefferson Street on the Stewart River. Ryan knows that the Torccones often bring in clandestine shipments on some of the docks in the area. By early afternoon he has identified a couple of Torccone soldiers talking with a particular dock foreman. Later record checking will indicate that this dock foreman is named Danny Sullivan. Once they feel they seen everything they are likely to see they head back to the base and contact Kierian so the three of them can organize their activities for the coming night.

 

Just after dark Sweeper and Crucible pay a visit to Danny Sullivan’s residence. They have disguised themselves as generic men-in-black types. They could be G-Men they could be rival mobsters, either way they should appear menacing to Mr. Sullivan.

 

When Crucible knocks on the door it is opened by a young girl of perhaps, nine years old. When Kierian asks to speak with Mr. Danny Sullivan the girl yells for her father. Upon seeing the strange man on the doorstep Mr. Sullivan shoos his daughter back into the house and scolds her about opening the door to strangers. An anxious man, probably concerned for his family, agrees to take a ride with the two strangers.

 

A combination of very subtle threats and a 5G bribe soon gains the vigilantes the information that they were seeking. Danny tells them that he has been asked to assemble a trustworthy crew to unload a cargo Friday night at 11:30 PM. He claims to have no idea what the cargo is since he’s learned it’s better to take the money and not ask too many questions. The vigilantes learn that there will probably be about half a dozen longshoremen and at least that many Torccone soldiers there. At least that is how these special jobs usually go down.

 

After returning the slightly richer Mr. Sullivan back to his home the vigilantes head back to base. The tentative plan of the vigilantes seem to be to stakeout the dock on Friday night in hopes of getting a crack at Strad himself or perhaps getting a chance to follow the shipment to Strad’s hideout. With several days to think about it and gather more data these plans are still subject to change. Of course the vigilantes realize that this may be a shipment with more security that normal and that in past jobs it is unlikely that Mr. Sullivan has been aware of how many unseen soldiers are about.

 

The vigilantes head once more to their base to gear up. They have a motorcycle to steal…

 

 

It is past nine o’clock when the three vigilantes take a small panel truck and head south to watch the area near the Satanic Skulls base of operations. The bikers operate out of an abandoned and fortified warehouse in Sabine County, north of Cookville, near I-8755. They realize that trying to steal a bike from the base would require a lot of planning but they also know that bikers will be filtering back to the base from the city. They set up an ambush along one of the north-south roads near the warehouse and wait.

 

At about 10:30 one of the lieutenants of the Satanic Skulls appears riding one of the distinctively painted bikes they are looking for. The rider is in the company of two other bikers. The fight really isn’t one as the three vigilantes open fire from concealment and cut down the bikers before they know what is happening. Two of the bikers are killed by the bullets and resulting crashes and the third is injured and left unconscious by rubber bullets, and a crash.

 

The vigilantes quickly manhandle the three bikes into the back of their truck and strip the three Satanic Skulls jackets from the bikers as well. In just a few minutes they are fleeing the area with their prizes. A little quick repair work at a south side safe house and the bike is ready to go. Kierian assumes his disguise as Luke O’Connell and heads directly to Hannigan’s Waterfront Dive. He is able to present the bike and the three jackets to Sidewinder and the Highway Mobsters. It looks like Luke will be the latest gang member. It is now 11:30 PM on Tuesday night.

 

Session Wrap-up

 

Recovered Weapons & Equipment

Five tranquilizer dart guns and five pistols are obtained from Penny’s thugs. Three motorcycles and $1300 cash are taken from the slain bikers. $5000 was spent on the bribe to Danny Sullivan. One of the motorcycles was presented to Sidewinder of the Highway Mobsters.

 

Body Count & Damage

At the old Irish Cultural Center the team took out a group of Penny Dreadful’s hired thugs. Five were injured, one critically, and a sixth was captured and left for the cops. The ambush on Tuesday night left two Satanic Skulls dead and one injured and unconscious (rubber bullets from Sweeper).

 

Experience Awards

Only the characters of Sweeper, Crucible and Choir Boy participated in the game, all three characters received 3 EP, broken down as follows:

 

1 EP for participating in the session, 2 EP for a resounding success in that the kids and nurses were all rescued and all of the thugs guarding them were captured with no escapes or fatalities. This was also a long session and a lot of stuff was accomplished.

 

Some role-playing was done toward working on the team base so 1 bonus EP is awarded for the base construction.

 

To date the EP totals of the characters are: Choir Boy 30 EP, Crucible 51 EP, Demolition Man 41 EP, Ken Seidai 21 EP, and Sweeper 50 EP.

 

Closing Comments

I hated having to sideline D-Man so quickly in the game especially since the Codex of the Orphans scenario was intended to have a big connection with him. It was his grandson getting kidnapped but since this was the second session that the player had missed I had to advance the storyline.

 

I think that the game went pretty well all things considered. I have been very busy and work and home so I had to adlib a lot more than normal for this session. Also I had no idea which story threads the players would work on after Penny’s latest escapade so I was operating blind.

 

A nice thing about working up the campaign log is that I come up with all sorts of connections and ideas for my plots. Minor conspiracies grow as I think about them.

 

I have got to get the PCs to name that bed and breakfast of their’s so I don’t have to keep typing out “bed and breakfast.”

[Eosin]

Re: Weekend Warriors -- Campaign Log

 

Man, did I roll some sucky damage during those biker fights.

[Edsel]

Re: Weekend Warriors -- Campaign Log

 

Yeah, but in some ways it might be even more intimidating when you slap them into submission.

 

The link is to a youtube video of a recent Sprint comercial. The scene is from the obscure western "My Name is Nobody."