pinecone Posted November 18, 2008 Report Share Posted November 18, 2008 Re: The Dragon Hunters (Steampunk) In this case you need to think yourself inside the mind of the box. Perhaps it could be distracted by a seductively decked out companion cube? How does one determine the gender and preferance of a cube? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Querysphinx Posted November 18, 2008 Report Share Posted November 18, 2008 Re: The Dragon Hunters (Steampunk) How does one determine the gender and preferance of a cube? Just introduce it to Pablo Picasso. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Major Tom Posted November 19, 2008 Report Share Posted November 19, 2008 Re: The Dragon Hunters (Steampunk) How does one determine the gender and preferance of a cube? A question for the Borg Queen if ever there was one... Major Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teh bunneh Posted December 18, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2008 Re: The Dragon Hunters (Steampunk) OK, so it's been several weeks since I updated the thread. Sorry, been busy. Long story short: The good guys won. If you want to know more, you'll have to buy the adventure (hopefully available this February from Hartfelt Publishing). But the good news is, we've started a new adventure! Here's the recap from two weeks ago... ---------- Dragon Hunters Recap for 12/6/2008 Now that the race (and the danger) was over, there was still cleanup to do. “Don’t we have people for that?” ADEN demanded. “Sorry,” Pascal told him. “We are the people.” So the heroes spent the better part of a week helping Pascal dismantle Lord Portland’s equipment, taking away occult artifacts and cataloging them for the records, and then storing them at the Black Friars HQ. Luckily, the mansion was so isolated that no one came along to question them about what they were doing there. At the end of the week, the Dragon Hunters returned to London. Pascal gave them a few days liberty while he handled the cataloging and safe disposal of what they had collected (as well as shuffling away all of the paperwork). So the heroes broke up to take care of their own personal business. The first order of business was to get Savannah some decent clothes. While blue jeans and a duster might be appropriate out on the Texas plains, it was no way for a young lady to dress in polite Victorian society. “So who’s a lady?” Savannah demanded, but Alicia was insistent. They went to several shops, having a little trouble finding anything because of Savannah’s… ahem… healthy proportions. But while on the city streets, they spotted a familiar face – it was ADEN, dressed in a butler’s uniform. That seemed unusual, so they wandered over to talk to him. He ignored them at first until they got in his way, then he said, in a metallic voice, “Pardon me ladies.” He didn’t recognize them! Something was weird. They followed him back to a nearby townhouse. He went in through the servants’ entrance, and the heroines knocked on the front door. A maid answered and asked what they wanted. “That mechanical man that just came in? Who is that?” “Oh no! Did he do something wrong? I knew I shouldn’t have let him go do the shopping by himself!” “No,” Alicia reassured her. “Everything is fine. We’d just like to know where you got him?” “Oh, that,” the maid smiled. “The mistress bought him at a new store downtown. I believe we still have the card around here somewhere.” She came back a moment later with a card for a shop called “The Garden of EDEN: Autonomous Clockwork Servants For Your Everyday Needs. Affordable, Discrete, Fashionable.” The ladies, their original shopping mission forgotten, hailed a cab and headed for the store to investigate. Meanwhile, Mordent wanted to take some time to just relax. He headed down to his favorite coffee shop, bought several newspapers, and sat down to read. Life in London seemed fairly calm at the moment. The only strange thing going on was a series of unexplained robberies throughout the city. Jewels, cash, valuables, all of them had been taken -- but there had been no signs of a break-in! Scotland Yard had been called in, but even they were clueless. The Cat-Burglar is unstoppable! Of course, simple robberies (even mysterious ones of this sort) are not the Dragon Hunters’ bailiwick, so Mordent didn’t fret too much about it. Elsewhere, Thackary was working in his lab when Jeeves came down to announce a visitor. It’s his Aunt Millicent (Millie). She came to personally invite him to brunch (since he is so good at ignoring her written invitations). She also brought him a gift, “Quite frankly something he sorely needs since he hasn’t seen fit to get married yet (though he is quite eligible and there are plenty of young ladies she would love to introduce him to if only he’d pull his head out of those books every once in a while and attend one of her parties or luncheons to which he is always invited, if only that wretched manservant of his would simply give him the invitations), and speaking of which, that’s exactly the reason I came. I brought you a gift!” It turned out to be a clockwork man, one dressed (and programmed) as a manservant. “Of course, I wouldn’t want to put Jeeves out of a job but perhaps he would be better suited working in the kitchen or some other task, since obviously he isn’t caring for you properly like the gentleman you are. This young fellow, the shop calls him O’Leary, is fully qualified in every way to be the gentleman’s gentleman – and what’s more, he won’t talk back and hardly needs any caring for or supervision (you don’t want servants robbing you blind while you’re away, not that yours would do so but one can never be too careful these days I’m sure you’ll agree).” Thackary was fascinated by the robot. He thanked his aunt profusely and promised to be at her next brunch. O’Leary added the date and time to his internal calendar, and Aunt Millie left. “Come down to my lab, O’Leary,” Thackary practically cackled. “Let’s see what makes you tick.” O’Leary protested that disassembling him would void the warranty, but Thackary didn’t care. A few hours later, O’Leary was in pieces. Among other things he found, Thackary discovered a makers’ mark on one of the robot’s inner workings. It was stamped “Pietra Verde.” The young savant recognized the name – Pietra Verde is practically a legend among savants. It’s an entire town on legs; it can actually get up and walk away when danger looms. Were these robots – and by extension, ADEN – originally built in Pietra Verde? About then, Mordent and ADEN showed up. Thackary excitedly showed them his new toy. “I’d like to disassemble you, too, ADEN, to compare your inner workings…” ADEN protested (most vigorously!), so Thackary (reluctantly) put together a penetrating optical device that would let him examine the robot’s interior works without having to disassemble him first. He spent some time comparing the two robots and learned that while the bodies were pretty much the same (though obviously O’Leary was much, much newer), ADEN’s mechanical brain was considerably more advanced, with several nodes and modules that O’Leary didn’t have. Meanwhile, the ladies found the Garden of EDEN and went in. It didn’t look like much, more like an accountant’s office than a robot factory. A clerk approached them and asked if he could help them. “We’ve heard about your amazing mechanical men,” Alicia said. “We’re interested in purchasing several for ourselves.” “Of course, madam!” he said, leading them to his desk. “Each clockwork man is meticulously assembled for our customers to meet their personal needs. They can be trained as guards, butlers, gardeners, maids, even nannies! Whatever your household needs. At first, they might seem rather expensive – about the same price as a butler’s yearly wages – but when you consider how long they will last, and how little maintenance and upkeep they require, you’ll end up saving money in the long run!” “Can they be used for light industrial work?” Alicia said. “It seems like they might be more economical for a textile factory than hiring laborers.” “That’s an interesting question,” the clerk said. “Thus far, to my knowledge, no one has asked for such a customization. I don’t see why not, though. Their hands are quite dexterous, and performing repetitive work is simple for them.” “That sounds quite fascinating,” Alicia said. “Who is the manufacturer, and where are they made?” “They’re the creation of Mister Nickerson, our founder,” the clerk told her. “But more than that I can’t tell you. Trade secrets, you see.” “If we were to buy a large lot of them for our factory, we would need to meet the man responsible for their creation,” Alicia insisted. “We simply cannot spend such a large sum without meeting our business associates face-to-face.” “Of course, madam. I will speak to my supervisor about your request. Would you care to leave your name and an address where you might be reached, and we will contact you shortly?” Alicia left Thackary’s address and the ladies headed back to meet with the others. So it was they were a little bit surprised to find the others had already learned of the robots! They told the others about the store, and about the mysterious Mr. Nickerson. “Nickerson?” Thackary asked. “Why does that name sound familiar? Ah! I remember! I went to school with a fellow named Nickerson. Nickers, we used to call him. Always getting picked on by the older children. I felt bad for him, and we became friends. So that’s what he’s gotten up to in the past few years. Well, good for him!” “Don’t you find any of this the least bit suspicious?” Alicia asked. “All of these duplicates of ADEN showing up here?” Thackary shrugged. “Savants invent, that’s what we do. Nickerson has perfected a way to mass-produce clockwork men, to which I say good for him! But if you like, I’ll send him a note and see if I can get in and talk with him, savant to savant. Then we’ll get to the bottom of this.” Thackary dashed off a telegram, and the heroes retired to their own homes for the evening. TBC! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Major Tom Posted December 18, 2008 Report Share Posted December 18, 2008 Re: The Dragon Hunters (Steampunk) Thackary's not the most intuitive or suspiciously-inclined of people, is he? Major Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teh bunneh Posted December 18, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2008 Re: The Dragon Hunters (Steampunk) And here's the recap for this week's game... Dragon Hunters Recap for 12/13/2008 Sunday morning, Thackary got a return telegram from his old friend, Nickerson. "So good to hear from you again, Thacks. Why don't we meet for dinner tonight and catch up?" Thackary dashed off a quick note to invite Nickers to one of his clubs that evening. Then Jeeves reminded him that he had agreed to attend his aunt's brunch that morning. Thackary tried to come up with some excuse, but was unable to think of anything plausible so he reluctantly put on his suit and got ready to go. About then, Alicia, Savannah, ADEN, and Morden showed up at his door. Thackary brightened up -- if he brought his uncouth Dragon Hunter friends to his aunt's, odds were good that she wouldn't invite him back anytime soon! So the whole group showed up for brunch, much to Aunt Millicent's dismay. To her credit though, she rolled with it. During brunch, she introduced Thackary to Miss Emily Ramsborough, a lovely young debutante who would be perfect marriage material for the young bachelor. Thackary didn't want anything to do with the whole "marriage" thing, so he spent most of his time sketching vehicle designs on his napkin and ignoring the poor girl. Alicia and Savannah held up their end of the conversation, though, asking Emily about herself and her goals. She told them that she wants to be a writer. She'd already written several serials under a pen name in a few of the local penny dreadfuls, mostly adventure stories about Africa and India. Savannah suddenly remembered -- she'd read a few of Emily's stories. They were quite good, very true-to-life, like the girl had been to Africa herself. Emily blushed at the compliment, but demured. "I've never traveled anywhere outside of London," she said. "I'd love to go to Africa someday, but..." "Oh, pish-tosh!" Aunt Millie scoffed. "A proper young lady doesn't entertain such thoughts. Your duty is as a wife and mother, not as some scandalous adventuress!" Savannah and Alicia bristled at this, but were polite enough to hold their tongues. Instead of responding, Alicia invited Emily to dinner that evening. She wanted to hear more about the budding young would-be authoress. And more than that, there was something odd about her fate lines. The spinneweis could tell that Emily had some destiny greater than wife and mother, if only she would nurture it. As the heroes left Aunt Millie's house, ADEN leaned over to Morden. "Sir," he said quietly. "I can't be certain of it, but I believe I saw Aunt Millicent's automaton manservant O'Reily stealing a silver tea-set during the meal." "Really? What would a clockwork man want with a tea-set?" Morden asked. "Hard to say, sir, but I saw him take it down into the coal cellar." The heroes had a quick conference. They decided to send Thackary and ADEN back inside the house. Thackary would pretend to have forgotten his hat. ADEN would look around to see if he could find the tea-set. Meanwhile, the rest of the team would go around back to the coal chute and see if they could spot anything unusual. While they were rooting around back, Savannah noticed a coal wagon driving away from the house. "Quick, after it!" she called to the others. They jumped back into their carriage and went back to the main street, but were dismayed to see at least a half-dozen coal wagons on the street! Dejected, they went back to pick up Thackary and ADEN, and then headed back to Thackary's house. When they got there, they found another telegram waiting for them. "Ancient spirits loose in Kiev. Pack bags. Ship leaves in two days. -del Giatto." "Looks like we've got our next mission," Thackary said. "Spirits, eh? Sounds like I need to perfect that ghost-busting ammunition I've been thinking about..." He rushed down to his lab and began working. The others headed back to their own flats to get ready for the trip. When evening rolled around, Alicia and Savannah headed to a nice restaurant near Thackary's house, where Miss Emily was to meet them. Morden decided to take a little walk downtown to scope out the robot showroom (and see if there was a collier anywhere in the neighborhood). Jeeves dragged Thackary out of his lab and dressed him for dinner that evening with Nickerson. Dinner with Emily went well. The girl wanted to hear all about Savannah's adventures -- "You've been to New Orleans? Was it as wonderful as they say?" Savannah shrugged. "That's where I was born. I guess it loses some of its appeal when you grow up there. I couldn't hardly wait to get out." "Oh, I'd love to go there, someday! To travel around the world, how wonderful that must be!" "Well, why can't you?" Alicia asked. "You're your own person; you don't have to do what Aunt Millie or your parents say." "Oh, but it's just a silly girl's daydream," Emily protested. "It wouldn't be proper." "Proper?" Savannah scoffed. "Proper's what you make it. Alicia and I are making our own destinies, and you can too if it's what you want. Your stories are too good to just stop writing and stop dreaming about." "Speaking of your stories," Alicia said, wanting to test a theory. "You said you want to go to New Orleans someday? Why don't you close your eyes and tell us what you imagine the city is like?" Emily laughed and did as she was told. She proceeded to describe the city in every detail, from the great muddy river to the docks, from the moss-draped antebellum mansions to the French Quarter, down to a little restaurant that Savannah used to go to when she lived there. The detail was uncannily accurate. While she was speaking, Alicia unfocused her eyes and looked at the strings of fate that bound Emily to the world. She saw the girl's line of creativity and imagination grow bright, sparkling like a river in the sunlight. Alicia reached out to try to touch the line, but found that her hand passed right through it, as if it wasn't there -- or more accurately, as if Alicia's hand wasn't there! "Her destiny is so strong!" Alicia thought. "There's something special about this girl. I have to ask Master Pascal about her..." As dinner ended, the ladies invited Emily to meet with their benefactor (Pascal del Giatto) tomorrow afternoon. “He has some contacts in the publishing business,” they told her. “I’m sure he could help you jump-start your career.” Meanwhile, Morden strolled about the darkened neighborhood, making a mental map of the streets and alleyways. He was not at all surprised when he found a collier's warehouse directly behind the Garden of Eden. "Just as I thought!" he mused. Still elsewhere, Thackary met his old school chum Nickerson at the club. They spent some time catching up on each others’ exploits since they had last seen one another, back in boarding school. Talk eventually turned to what Nickers was working on now – the robots. Nickerson admitted that he didn’t build the automaton bodies, only the brains. He imported the bodies from a factory somewhere, but he declined to say where. “Switzerland, isn’t it?” Thackary suggested. Nickerson bristled, but regained his composure. “Really I can’t say, old boy. Trade secret and all that.” “So you program their minds yourself, do you?” Thackary asked. “Yes, it’s a very delicate operation that I cannot entrust to anyone else, you understand,” Nickers said. When dinner was over, Nickerson insisted on paying the tab. He pulled out a large roll of money from his billfold and left a very generous tip. “You’re doing well for yourself, I see,” Thackary said. “Very well indeed,” Nickerson laughed. “Soon everyone in the city will have one of my clockwork men. In fact, why don’t you stop by tomorrow, old chum. I’ll make one special just for you.” Thackary promised to do that, and then headed home. The next morning, the Dragon Hunters headed over to Black Friars to see Pascal and ask him what to do about Miss Emily, and also to find out about the new mission. The first order of business: The young lady. “Obviously she is clairvoyant,” Alicia said. “The Dragon Hunters should recruit her, before our enemies find her.” “Yes, but she’s still a minor,” Pascal protested. “I’m certain her parents won’t just agree to let her daughter join a globe-trotting organization of paranormal investigators. Not to mention how dangerous the job can be.” “So we have to get her out from under her parents’ wing,” Morden suggested. “Perhaps pretend that Black Friars is some sort of finishing school for young ladies?” “We could just get her betrothed to Thackary,” Savannah suggested. Thackary did a spit-take. “Don’t I get a vote?” he demanded. The other Dragon Hunters shouted him down and resumed their brainstorming. Unfortunately, they couldn’t come up with any workable ideas, so they agreed to table the discussion for now and come back to it later. “Now, about the mission I’m sending you on,” Pascal said. “Rumors have been leaking out of Russia regarding an ancient legend that has apparently become all too real. The infamous witch Baba Yaga has been terrorizing the countryside around the city of Kiev. Your job is to go there, find out if these rumors are true, and if they are put a stop to her.” “Who’s Baba Yaga?” Thackary asked. “A powerful witch, or demon,” Alicia said. “She’s said to fly through the sky in an iron cauldron. She kidnaps children, takes them to her cottage, and forces them to work for her. If they displease her, she throws them in her pot and eats them!” “And her cottage is said to be a living thing,” Morden added. “It can walk around on giant chicken legs, so it’s never in the same place twice.” “Giant chicken legs!” Thackary scoffed. “What ridiculousness!” “Didn’t we just see a car that ran around on giant spider legs?” Savannah asked. Thackary had to concede the point. “Anyway,” Pascal continued. “You’ll be leaving aboard the good ship Der Seeschaum at the first tide on Tuesday. You’ll sail to Calais, then take the train to Paris. Then you’ll board the Express to Varna. From there, you’ll board another ship north to Odessa, and catch a train to Kiev. There, you’ll meet your contact.” “And who is our contact?” Morden asked. “A Frenchman named Citron,” Pascal said. “He’ll have further instructions when you arrive, as well as being your translator and guide to the area.” “How will we know him?” Thackary asked. “What’s he look like?” “I’ve never met the man in person, only through correspondence,” Pascal said. “But he is a member of our organization. He will meet you at the train station. Use the following exchange to identify him: He will ask for a cigarette. While he is lighting it, say “It is warmer in Kiev than I expected it to be.” He will respond, “Winter comes early in the Ukraine. Then you will see how hot it can get.” “Sounds all very cloak-and-dagger,” Thackary said. “Yes. The Dragon Hunters have had some… problems in the past with Czar (and I’m not just talking about the fight with Blestonov during the race). We have to move carefully while in his lands.” “Anything else we should know?” Savannah asked. “Yes, there’s one more thing,” Pascal said. “Dealing with ghosts and demons is always tricky, but we have a few tools that might make things easier for you. I’m going to give you one of our artifacts to take with you. It is a spirit trap. It should enable you to capture her, provided she isn’t too powerful. Let’s go down to the vault and I’ll give it to you.” Del Giatto led the heroes down into the crypts beneath the former monastery and opened a locked and warded door. While the master was rooting around through the collection of artifacts, the heroes spotted the table where he had been cataloging the occult items recovered from Portland’s house. All of the neat little boxes were completely empty! “Pascal,” someone asked. “Did you, by any chance, have your clockwork man Wilkerson down here helping you with these things?” “Yes, he’s been very helpful,” Pascal admitted. “Well, it appears that he’s gone and nicked most of them…” TBC! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Major Tom Posted December 18, 2008 Report Share Posted December 18, 2008 Re: The Dragon Hunters (Steampunk) Good clockwork help is so hard to find, isn't it? The capper to this would be if, once the group puts an end to whatever nefarious scheme is afoot, the cheeky clockwork bugger actually has the nerve to ask for references to give his next employer... Major Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matrix3 Posted December 18, 2008 Report Share Posted December 18, 2008 Re: The Dragon Hunters (Steampunk) Thanks for the updates! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teh bunneh Posted December 19, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2008 Re: The Dragon Hunters (Steampunk) You know what's kinda weird about this game? We've played like... I dunno, six, maybe seven sessions? And they've only ever gotten into one fight (like a real fight, where I'm counting phases and stuff). That's really unusual for one of my games. I tend to try to get a fight in every session, or every other session at the least. It's odd. Could be that of my players, only one made a "combat wombat" character. Most everyone can hold their own in a throw-down, but only one PC (Savannah) is really optimized for battle. Sorta a new experience for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSgt Baloo Posted December 19, 2008 Report Share Posted December 19, 2008 Re: The Dragon Hunters (Steampunk) Somebody rep Teh Bunneh for me, huh? I still have to spread some. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadowsoul Posted December 22, 2008 Report Share Posted December 22, 2008 Re: The Dragon Hunters (Steampunk) It's not quite the same but I did tag him for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teh bunneh Posted December 23, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2008 Re: The Dragon Hunters (Steampunk) Dragon Hunters Recap for 12/20/2008 Del Giatto led the heroes down into the crypts beneath the former monastery and opened a locked and warded door. While the master was rooting around through the collection of artifacts, the heroes spotted the table where he had been cataloging the occult items recovered from Portland’s house. All of the neat little boxes were completely empty! “Pascal,” someone asked. “Did you, by any chance, have your clockwork man Wilkerson down here helping you with these things?” “Yes, he’s been very helpful,” Pascal admitted. “Well, it appears that he’s gone and nicked most of them…” -------------------- The Dragon Hunters searched the entire Black Friars building for the missing artifacts, but found no sign of them – the day’s coal delivery had already been made. “Well, I’ve got an appointment with my old friend Nickerson, so perhaps we should start there,” Thackery suggested. The heroes debated their next course of action. They decided that instead of boldly walking in the front door of the Garden of EDEN, they would check out the collier’s in the back. Perhaps the stolen artifacts were still there. They split into two groups. Alicia and Thackery would go in the front door and ask the proprietor if he had seen Aunt Millicent’s missing tea set. Meanwhile, Savannah, Morden, and ADEN would sneak around and try to get in through the back way. Thackery and Alicia walked in the front door. There was a stout manager-type and two bully-boys standing around. “Pardon me, good sir, but yesterday my dear old aunt lost a prized tea-set,” Thackery said. “Apparently her mechanical man accidentally dropped it into the coal bin, and we’re afraid your delivery-men may have inadvertently picked it up. Would you mind if I had a look around?” Thackery made for the door into the building and the two bully-boys jumped up to stop him. “Unhand me, you ruffians!” Thackery demanded. “Or you shall regret your ill manners!” They did not unhand him, so he used his patented Galvanic Walking Cane to zap one of them, dropping him to the floor. Alicia quickly reached out for the manager’s lines of fate, twisting them so he would lose his nerve completely. It worked. He screamed, broke, and ran for the back door. She followed him, but fear gave him wings and he ran through another door and bolted it behind him. Thackery was making short work of the two big fellows – they weren’t expecting this young man-about-town to pack quite such a whollop! When he was finished, he followed Alicia down the hall. Meanwhile, out back, Savannah found an unused service door. Morden rusted the lock out and the heroes snuck in. They found a large room with a full coal bin and a bunch of tools in it. There was nothing unusual there, so they moved on. They found themselves in a wagon-yard. It was empty, as the workers had already left to go on their rounds that day. It was about then that they heard shouting and fighting in the main building, and then the sound of someone running away. Once the sounds died down, they went through the door to see what was the matter. They caught up with Thackery and Alicia, who were examining some rather large shipping crates. It was their opinion that these were the crates the clockwork men had arrived in. “So there is definitely a connection between Nickerson’s automaton factory and this coal operation,” Thackery said. “Let’s go find my old friend and find out what he’s up to…” They went through the hallway that the manager had run down (Morden once again rusted out the lock so they could pass through the door), and soon found themselves in a Savant’s laboratory. A half-dozen mechanical men stood around them, menacing them with weapons. Nickerson stood on the other side of the room. “When I told you to come by for a visit, I didn’t think you’d come armed for bear,” Nickers laughed. “Good thing we did, though,” Thackery answered. “So what’s this all about then, old chum?” While Thackery was talking, Alicia quietly, subtly reached out for Nickerson’s strings. She made him more likely to talk about his grand plans, in the hope that would give the heroes time to think of something. “What’s it all about?” Nickerson laughed. “Why, money of course! Do you know how hard it was going to school with all of those wealthy, spoiled, privileged brats? None of them with even half of my intelligence (present company excluded, of course)! And yet, they had everything and I had nothing! School there taught me one thing: That a man needs wealth if he ever wants to amount to anything. All my intelligence was worth nothing without the money to back it up. So here I am now, using my genius to take away their undeserved riches and bestow them on myself!” “But not all of your clients are wealthy,” Thackery protested. “What about all the middle-class people who aspire to more? You’re stealing from them as well.” “Regrettable, but necessary,” Nickerson shrugged. “If they aspire to be rich, they take the same chances (and face the same dangers) that those who were born rich do.” “I think I’ve heard about enough!” Savannah said, shouldering her weapon and firing at the nearest clockwork man. A huge gunfight broke out. Thackery blasted at the clockwork men surrounding him with his Galvanic Cane. Savannah fired her rifle until it was empty, then pulled out her twin, pearl-handled Colt .45s and blasted with them. Morden conjured a huge man made of stone from the earth, and commanded him to “disarm” the automatons (knowing that the literal-minded creature would most likely rip their mechanical limbs off!). ADEN wisely decided to stay out of the room while the rock-man was bashing automatons, so instead he slipped out around front in case Nickerson tried to make a run for it. Soon the automatons were falling to pieces. Nickerson ran over to a huge Babbage Calculating Machine in the corner and pulled a switch. Then he made a break towards a secret door in the back, but Thackery managed to blind him before he got to it. Unfortunately, he knew his own lab like the back of his hand and he still managed to slip out the door and shut it behind him. The attacking robots were all destroyed, so the heroes took a moment to look around. Thackery went to check out the Babbage Machine (he was quite impressed – most Savants don’t have the skills necessary to build one!). He saw that the last command programmed into it was an order for all automatons to go berserk and attack anything nearby! London’s citizenry was in danger from the hundreds of clockwork men that Nickerson had sold to them! Feverishly, Thackery worked to reset the machine. Finally, after a quick prayer, he reactivated the computer, with orders for all the automatons to shut down. Then the heroes went out front to see what had happened. The front room of the Garden of EDEN was ruined. The automatons they kept there in the showroom had run rampant, flipping over desks and menacing customers. Luckily, ADEN was nearby and managed to keep anyone from getting killed. However, Nickerson slipped past him and jumped in a cab, escaping (for now!). “I have the feeling that’s not the last we’ll see of ol’ Nickers,” Thackery said, feeling a little sad that his old school chum had gone so completely ‘round the twist. The heroes found out later that the same thing had happened all over the city. Robot servants went crazy for a few moments, and then completely shut down. It was a miracle that no one had been seriously hurt! Crisis averted, the heroes went back inside to check out Nickerson’s lab more completely. They found the stolen magical artifacts arrayed on his work table. It seems that he was in the process of analyzing them when the heroes interrupted his studies. They gathered them up and packed them in a secure box. They also found a room full of stolen items. Not knowing how they could possibly return all of these things to their proper owners, they simply left the door open, and then phoned the police. Let Scotland Yard sort out what belonged to whom! The Dragon Hunters returned the stolen artifacts back to Black Friars, to Pascal’s delight. “Excellent job, hunters!” he told them. “Now, your ship still leaves tomorrow, so I suggest you get packing!” TBC! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teh bunneh Posted December 23, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2008 Re: The Dragon Hunters (Steampunk) We're putting the steampunk campaign on hiatus for a month or so to give another person a chance to run something. Hopefully, The Dragon Hunters will be back sometime in February! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teh bunneh Posted January 26, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2012 Re: The Dragon Hunters (Steampunk) I was interviewed by The Games the Thing podcast for my Hero Steampunk setting, The Widening Gyre! (which the Dragon-Hunters campaign world was based off!) Take a listen, here: http://www.thegamesthething.com/webp...e-w-bill-keyes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenAge Posted January 26, 2012 Report Share Posted January 26, 2012 Re: The Dragon Hunters (Steampunk) I love this!!! I wish I could play. We (my wife, 2 boys and I) hosted a Steampunk costume party for New Years Eve: "A Jules Vern New Years Eve". We didn't just call it a Steampunk party because, well, most of the folks involved wouldn't have known what we were talking about. I built a "working" time machine and my wife made awesome costumes!!! A few pics below. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenAge Posted January 26, 2012 Report Share Posted January 26, 2012 Re: The Dragon Hunters (Steampunk) Couldn't resist posting a few more pics: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teh bunneh Posted January 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2012 Re: The Dragon Hunters (Steampunk) Those are some great pics, GA! Love that red velvet chair. Is it an antique? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenAge Posted January 28, 2012 Report Share Posted January 28, 2012 Re: The Dragon Hunters (Steampunk) Those are some great pics' date=' GA! Love that red velvet chair. Is it an antique?[/quote'] Yep, or, at least I think so. The chair was my grandmother's for as long as I can remember. It ended up with us when she passed at 92 a few years ago. I'm not really sure where it originally came from, but it might be worth some research. The best thing about it is that it still has all 4 wooden casters (I hear those usually break). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DusterBoy Posted January 29, 2012 Report Share Posted January 29, 2012 Re: The Dragon Hunters (Steampunk) GA? Those are brilliant photos. It's great you could get your whole family to play along. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bolon Posted January 30, 2012 Report Share Posted January 30, 2012 Re: The Dragon Hunters (Steampunk) I have one question. Is the timeline or story world copyrighted, by whom and did you get anything more done on this game? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teh bunneh Posted January 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2012 Re: The Dragon Hunters (Steampunk) I have one question. Is the timeline or story world copyrighted' date=' by whom and did you get anything more done on this game?[/quote'] The world and timeline can be found here: https://www.herogames.com/viewItem.htm?itemID=258132 And no, sadly, we didn't get back to the game... but I still have big plans to go back and continue the campaign someday! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teh bunneh Posted February 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2012 Re: The Dragon Hunters (Steampunk) Terracide and The Widening Gyre both got mentioned in this week's RPGshop.com newsletter! Where to begin? If it's not the Hero System 6th Edition adding several new RPGs and settings such as The Widening Gyre and Terracide, its Savage Worlds coming out with some fantastic new adventure compendiums for the Hellfrost and Sundered Skies settings. And don't forget Shadowrun putting out the third adventure of their Horizons adventure series, Colombian Subterfuge. For you Warhammer 40K fans out there, a new Dark Heresy book has arrived also - check out The Chaos Commandment. Then there's new Pathfinder stuff, new Ars Magica stuff, new Castles & Crusades stuff, and on and on...wow, what a Winter! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DusterBoy Posted February 18, 2012 Report Share Posted February 18, 2012 Re: The Dragon Hunters (Steampunk) Wow, Bunneh! Your fame grows apace, dude! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted February 19, 2012 Report Share Posted February 19, 2012 Re: The Dragon Hunters (Steampunk) Is The Widening Gyre compatible with 5th Edition? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teh bunneh Posted February 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2012 Re: The Dragon Hunters (Steampunk) Widening Gyre was written for 6e, but since (IMHO) the various editions of Hero are almost completely backwards-compatible I'd say the answer is yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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