The Gift of Murder (Session 93)

 SESSION 93: The Ongoing Assault on Set’s House (10June19)

           The jackals were guardians of the gold sarcophagus and the mayhem gave away our location within the lair. The forces of Set converged on our squad and forced them to fall back without the loot. Lots and lots of fighting ensued. Advantage be damned. We hardly covered any ground again. Just wave after wave of cultists and their minions. Blood and fire. Steve died to the latter but was still also freely releasing the former, charred on the outside but still bloody rare on the inside. Nara got lucky and dodged her doom for now. Once the dust settles and the blood stopped flowing it looked like the Necromancers of Set had finally been crushed. was That pretty cool as far as accomplishments go but it cost us a murderhobo.

ROLECALL

Carla the Green Lama of TMB (C7) 94958 xp +10% <100001> CRT 1d10/III

            Scars: permanent loss left index finger and scarring on arm

Bimbles the Lama of GSS (C7) 92796 xp +5% <100001> CRT 1d10/III

Hobo Steve the Champion (F7) 91127 xp +5% <120,001> CRT 1d20/IV

            Brain Damaged: reduced mental capacity (tough night on the town)

Rahgnar the Dwarven Myrmidon (D6) 55873 xp <70001> CRT 1d24/V

            Serious wound: permanent loss of an eye (-1 to missile fire)

            Critical Wound:

Raul the Ranger (MD6) 55124 xp +10% <60000> CRT 1d10/III

            Serious wound: permanent loss of CHA -4, 

Removed one of his own nostrils.

Boris the Dwarven Champion (D7) 98073 xp +10% <140001> CRT 1d16/IV

            Serious wound: permanent loss of CHA -3, carved up face

            Injury: lost 6 teeth                               

Ding-We the Peg-Legged Magician(W6) 75752 xp +10% <80001> CRT 1d8/I

            Critical Wound: Left leg obliterated

Bunny the Raconteur (T8) 90539 xp <160001> +10% CRT 1d16/II

            Light wound: permanent loss of pinky finger, off hand

Ramrod the Cloned Burglar (T6) 21769 xp +5% <40001> CRT 1d20/II

             Serious wound: Bad Back (-1 stone CC)

            Scars: Neurological damage to hip, noticeable limp

            Missing six teeth talks with a lisp

 

            The Henchmen

Arnd Cobblestone the Dwarven Myrmidon (D6) 40976 xp +5% <70001> CRT 1d14/ III

Saffron the Mad Fairy Queen of Ribbits (FY6) 91814 <130001> CRT 1d10/III

            Moderate wound: Scar on abdomen

Sloth the Clocker (L6) 48718 xp +10% <81300> CRT 1d16/IV or 1d6/G (vs. s, m)

Sasha Plasha the Guide (R6) 41424 xp +10% <50000> CRT 1d10/III

Nara the Naked Purple Jiva Girl (P2) 3145 xp +5% <4400> CRT 1d6/I

 

RESERVES

                        

Elapsed Campaign Time

210 days at beginning of session (also applies to recuperation) 

Join us for session Ninety-four when we ask the questions:

Are we done with these guys yet?

Will there be another wave?

When will we actually adventure again?

Tale of the Tape

Steve-oh may be a frizzle fry but at least he is well cooked

KILLS

Steel skeletons (2) 

Runic Golem 

Skeletons (10) 

Zombies (6) 

Ghast

Black skeletons (6) 

Crypt knights (4) 

Gbluug & Kakta 

Brass Jackals (6) 

Low level cultists (4) 

Nathalas the Despicable 

Thala-Kul 

Kelingard 

 

LOOT

Wand of magic missiles (24 charges)

Staff +2

68 pp

Sandals of kicking 

Minions of Dark Gods Abound (Session 92)

 SESSION 92: Assault on the Temple of Set. Wait What?!?

            We were having a pleasant rest in the temple of the damned after knocking off the Kill Crew... Carla got a warning from above, deep discordant tones from above, the forces of chaos were at hand. We moved northeast and smashed our way into the Secret Shrine Sector of the Setite Sect. We just can’t let a secret entrance pass by unmolested, and there was no shortage of them.

            A host of evil flunkies, spunkies and junkies. Smited, smoted, smashed and topped off with the liberation of the leaders of the mongrelmen. It seems like things are moving along just fine. I’m almost certain our uncontrollable need to search and loot while ransacking a secret base that has been alerted to our presence will have no adverse outcome, but forget that shit because we just discovered a major mutha-fucking cache. A full golden sarcophagus surrounded by chests and two exquisite brass jackals. "Oh ya!" Our hobos stood there more than a little slack-jawed figuring how to get this jackpot back to Helix for melting down into ingots.

    

ROLECALL

Carla the Green Lama of TMB (C7) 94958 xp +10% <100001> CRT 1d10/III

            Scars: permanent loss left index finger and scarring on arm

Bimbles the Lama of GSS (C7) 92796 xp +5% <100001> CRT 1d10/III

Hobo Steve the Champion (F7) 91127 xp +5% <120,001> CRT 1d20/IV

            Brain Damaged: reduced mental capacity (tough night on the town)

Rahgnar the Dwarven Myrmidon (D6) 55873 xp <70001> CRT 1d24/V

            Serious wound: permanent loss of an eye (-1 to missile fire)

            Critical Wound:

Raul the Ranger (MD6) 55124 xp +10% <60000> CRT 1d10/III

            Serious wound: permanent loss of CHA -4, 

Removed one of his own nostrils.

Boris the Dwarven Champion (D7) 98073 xp +10% <140001> CRT 1d16/IV

            Serious wound: permanent loss of CHA -3, carved up face

            Injury: lost 6 teeth                               

Ding-We the Peg-Legged Magician(W6) 75752 xp +10% <80001> CRT 1d8/I

            Critical Wound: Left leg obliterated

Bunny the Raconteur (T8) 90539 xp <160001> +10% CRT 1d16/II

            Light wound: permanent loss of pinky finger, off hand

Ramrod the Cloned Burglar (T6) 21769 xp +5% <40001> CRT 1d20/II

             Serious wound: Bad Back (-1 stone CC)

            Scars: Neurological damage to hip, noticeable limp

            Missing six teeth talks with a lisp

 

            The Henchmen

Arnd Cobblestone the Dwarven Myrmidon (D6) 40976 xp +5% <70001> CRT 1d14/ III

Saffron the Mad Fairy Queen of Ribbits (FY6) 91814 <130001> CRT 1d10/III

            Moderate wound: Scar on abdomen

Sloth the Clocker (L6) 48718 xp +10% <81300> CRT 1d16/IV or 1d6/G (vs. s, m)

Sasha Plasha the Guide (R6) 41424 xp +10% <50000> CRT 1d10/III

Nara the Naked Purple Jiva Girl (P2) 3145 xp +5% <4400> CRT 1d6/I

       

Elapsed Campaign Time

209 days at beginning of session (also applies to recuperation) 

Join us for session Ninety-three when we ask the questions:

How bad is it going to be?

Tale of the Tape

Everybody loves Steve

Bruce’s knuckles

KILLS

Steel Skeletons (2) 

Bugbears of the Red Fang (15) 

Zombies (20) 

Necromancers of Set (4) 

LOOT

29 pp

44 gp

When MurderHobos Go Round and Round (Session 91)

 SESSION 91: Cat & Mouse in the Temple of the Damned (18MAY19)

            So, we decided to run. Whatever was coming seemed to be Legion. It was in fact a Nergal Kill Crew that would bring all sorts of twisted abominations.This DM dreamed of dismemberment and disfigurement.

Ding-We webbed the first set of doors and then we spiked the second. We boogied out the back of the chamber taking a passageway to the NE until coming to a door, 30 feet later. They were feeling like whatever was behind had been avoided. I'm not sure how MurderHobos survive in the wild, the same goes for hamsters. They kicked the door in, no time for nuance, revealing a chamber with a couple of mimics feasting on some unlucky tomb robbers. The jig was up and the mimics sadly were caught with their proverbial drawers down. No sneaky ambush this time just a quick fight against our horde.

    Beyond was a series of other oddly shaped small rooms. They encountered some mongrelmen and received some broad info about the surrounding area. After all the obligatory chirping, barking and squeaking. We then back tracked to the vicinity of the pillared chamber from which we started and attempted to setup an ambush for the Nergal Kill Crew whom appear to have gotten back on our trail. 

    First came the hounds, stitched together things with rotting wolves heads and almost enough limbs to move properly. They could smell and presented a pestilent bite driven by undead rage against all that was living. Behind them came ghouls, ghasts and abominations. Everything you would expect from a prospective death god.  A rather major battle went down but we were able to hold the line and demolish Nergal’s forces at this meeting. However, the battle did deplete our remaining resources forcing us to back-back-track to get some rest. Really was just a day of doing doughnuts in Barrowmaze until the original problem was addressed. 

And that is why procrastination can be the death of ya.

ROLECALL

Carla the Green Lama of TMB (C7) 94314 xp +10% <100001> CRT 1d10/III

            Scars: permanent loss left index finger and scarring on arm

Bimbles the Lama of GSS (C7) 92152 xp +5% <100001> CRT 1d10/III

Hobo Steve the Champion (F7) 90483 xp +5% <120,001> CRT 1d20/IV

            Brain Damaged: reduced mental capacity (tough night on the town)

Rahgnar the Dwarven Myrmidon (D6) 55229 xp <70001> CRT 1d24/V

            Serious wound: permanent loss of an eye (-1 to missile fire)

            Critical Wound:

Raul the Ranger (MD6) 54480 xp +10% <60000> CRT 1d10/III

            Serious wound: permanent loss of CHA -4, 

Removed one of his own nostrils.

Boris the Dwarven Champion (D7) 97429 xp +10% <140001> CRT 1d16/IV

            Serious wound: permanent loss of CHA -3, carved up face

            Injury: lost 6 teeth                               

Ding-We the Peg-Legged Magician(W6) 75108 xp +10% <80001> CRT 1d8/I

            Critical Wound: Left leg obliterated

Bunny the Raconteur (T8) 89895 xp <160001> +10% CRT 1d16/II

            Light wound: permanent loss of pinky finger, off hand

Ramrod the Cloned Burglar (T6) 21125 xp +5% <40001> CRT 1d20/II

             Serious wound: Bad Back (-1 stone CC)

            Scars: Neurological damage to hip, noticeable limp

            Missing six teeth talks with a lisp

 

            The Henchmen

Arnd Cobblestone the Dwarven Myrmidon (D6) 40654 xp +5% <70001> CRT 1d14/ III

Saffron the Mad Fairy Queen of Ribbits (FY6) 91492 <130001> CRT 1d10/III

            Moderate wound: Scar on abdomen

Sloth the Clocker (L6) 48396 xp +10% <81300> CRT 1d16/IV or 1d6/G (vs. s, m)

Sasha Plasha the Guide (R6) 41102 xp +10% <50000> CRT 1d10/III

Nara the Naked Purple Jiva Girl (P2) 2823 xp +5% <4400> CRT 1d6/I

 

RESERVES

empty 

Elapsed Campaign Time

209 days at beginning of session (also applies to recuperation) 

Join us for session Ninety-two when we ask the questions:

Will we travel more than 200 feet?

What did the mongelmen tell us?

Have we forgotten any critical clues towards completion?

What are we doing?

Where are we going?

Will Purple-Girl survive to third level?

Tale of the Tape

Boris’s psyche has begun to fracture (PTSD), the dead have infected his soul (incurable)

KILLS

Mimics (2) 

Mongelmen (6) - Chit Chat 

Hounds of Nergal (5) 

Ghouls (16) 

Barrow Ghasts (2) 

Barrow Abominations (2) 

LOOT

Zilch

Back to the Pit (Session 90)

 SESSION 90: Home(ish), at last (29APR19)

    Splat. Dropped back into our own time and place. Nope. Well at least the place we left from, we were still a long way from Denethix. Is the nightmare of Carcosa finally over? Only time will tell. At least for now the gateway was gone and so we could convince ourselves that the serpent-men had been held back. With strange memories swirling in our minds of a frozen place called Norway. Our hobos gave their heads a shake to push aside these strange thoughts and focus on the here and now.     

    Things started as they do. A group of evil hieracosphinxes had gathered around our corpse pile in hopes that we were not dead. Dead meat totally sucks in comparison to killed meat. Shaking out the clouds of white lotus smoke from our minds we fought for our lives. Our reward was the personal belongings of a half-eaten adventurer. We then made haste for Helix. Back to town and straight to bed. They would have a team reunion thingy at breakfast.

    The next morning, with Rhagnar and Clone-Rod in toe we set out for Barrowmaze. It is high time we resolved its evil influence on the local lands. We ran headlong into a foraging gaggle of giant ants an hour or so into our marsh hike. They had real big mandibles and we bled a lot more than planned for so shortly after breakfast. It seemed that the Fates were to aligned with MurderHoboing today. We returned to Helix to try again tomorrow. The second attempt was better. Returning to the barrow mounds, we got into the maze and down to the chamber of pools where Clone-Rod drank deeply and felt more agile. After that we went back to the giant pair of inscribed Nergalian bronze doors that we didn’t previously have the guts to open. 

                                                Embrace Death                                  

    Inside of this very large chamber was a horde of sarcophagi being watched over by a giant statue of a warrior. It ended up being a bronze golem. The roof threatened to collapse during the battle but our hobos brought down the bronze goliath before being entombed. We then proceeded to loot with utmost vigour. Nothing was done to obfuscate the process. After 30 or so minutes of plugging away the watch group at the entry were filled with dread…

 

Heavy breathing, perhaps sniffing, claws on stone- distant yet ever closer.

A howl and then another and another, call and response.

Then a tone, anguished and harsh, from a flute?

All goes silent, and yet you know they are not far.

  

ROLECALL

Carla the Green Lama of TMB (C7) 92650 xp +10% <100001> CRT 1d10/III

            Scars: permanent loss left index finger and scarring on arm

Bimbles the Lama of GSS (C7) 90488 xp +5% <100001> CRT 1d10/III

Hobo Steve the Champion (F7) 88819 xp +5% <120,001> CRT 1d20/IV

            Brain Damaged: reduced mental capacity (tough night on the town)

Rahgnar the Dwarven Myrmidon (D6) 54462 xp <70001> CRT 1d24/V

            Serious wound: permanent loss of an eye (-1 to missile fire)

            Critical Wound:

Raul the Ranger (MD6) 52816 xp +10% <60000> CRT 1d10/III

            Serious wound: permanent loss of CHA -4, 

Removed one of his own nostrils.

Boris the Dwarven Champion (D7) 95765 xp +10% <140001> CRT 1d16/IV

            Serious wound: permanent loss of CHA -3, carved up face

            Injury: lost 6 teeth                               

Ding-We the Peg-Legged Magician(W6) 73444 xp +10% <80001> CRT 1d8/I

            Critical Wound: Left leg obliterated

Bunny the Raconteur (T8) 88231 xp <160001> +10% CRT 1d16/II

            Light wound: permanent loss of pinky finger, off hand

Ramrod the Cloned Burglar (T5) 19543 xp +5% <20001> CRT 1d20/II

             Serious wound: Bad Back (-1 stone CC)

            Scars: Neurological damage to hip, noticeable limp

            Missing six teeth talks with a lisp

 

            The Henchmen

Arnd Cobblestone the Dwarven Myrmidon (D6) 39822 xp +5% <70001> CRT 1d14/ III

Saffron the Mad Fairy Queen of Ribbits (FY6) 90660 <130001> CRT 1d10/III

            Moderate wound: Scar on abdomen

Sloth the Clocker (L6) 47564 xp +10% <81300> CRT 1d16/IV or 1d6/G (vs. s, m)

Sasha Plasha the Guide (R6) 40270 xp +10% <50000> CRT 1d10/III

Nara the Naked Purple Jiva Girl (P2) 2532 xp +5% <4400> CRT 1d6/I

 

RESERVES

-empty-                        

Elapsed Campaign Time

207 days at beginning of session (also applies to recuperation) 

Join us for session Ninety-one when we ask the questions:

Tale of the Tape

-nada-

KILLS

Hieracosphinxes (6) 

Giant ants (18)  

Mongrelmen (8) – Parlayed

Bronze Golem  

Iron statue  

Ochre jelly – Put the lid back on the sarcophagus 

Death scarab

Barrow mummy

Barrow wight

LOOT

Black pearl 500 gp

Silver scarab

Electrum urns (2)

Gold canoptic jars (4)

Potion of strength

Silver earrings 30 gp

Chunk of amber 150 gp 

Runic tablet

Intermission: Norway Ablaze

 

Session: In-between 89 & 90 (REDACTED 2019)

For some  donkey fuck of a reason I did not do my usual crummy session recaps for our time at war. Which really bites as we had a lot of fun playing it straight for a a number of sessions before the weird began to appear and tie us back to the larger campaign. So what will be presented will be the even broader strokes.

World's Third Shortest Game Review

WWII: Operation Whitebox (Small Niche Games: Peter C. Spahn) - Based off the oldest of old school rules. Since we were already playing B/Xish the transition to a different skin was very easy. We had lots of fun planning missions, sneaking around and shooting the bad people of the 3R. Sadly we didn't blow up any commies but the two ends of extremism are closer together than most folks figure. Anyways, if you feel like playing WWII using the original rules, OWB is locked and loaded. It also has some very simple scalability guidelines depending on how you like to play your DOOM. 

Aside: When I choose this system as our WWII engine I was back and forth between either OWB or The Front by Mark A. Hunt. The Front is a very tight skin over our favoured Olden School Rules and is also strongly recommended. I probably went with OWB because I had it first and there was accessory support not that The Front couldn't have been easily converted. Flip a coin or whatever, either game delivers. Sometime in the nearing future we will play Mark's "Gangbusters B/X" to make up for the snub(nosed-revolver).

OWB: Allied Missions I - We played the three missions in Norway Ablaze before I derailed our historical wartime back into fantasy. The three were very easy to run laid out in a logical manner with very nice maps. Not much to say other than the two published mission books are an essential piece to get you up and defending the free world. 

April 9^th, 1943. Location Lunna House, Lunna Ness Shetland Island, Scotland.  

As the smoke cleared we were not who we were or where. Our troop where transformed into troopers awaiting a briefing in northern Scotland. First we were joined by a group of British Commandos and then the brass rolled in to layout our objective.

    Operation Claymore: In conjunction with resistance fighters we travel to Norway (Stamsund in the Loften Island chain) in hopes of bringing liberation from Nazi control. Starting with a tactical mission to cripple the German's communication network we then we blew up the fish oil factory to cripple glycerin extraction for the manufacture of explosives. The mission was also a cover for a commando raid elsewhere in the region. This resulted in the third and final mission to take at the machine gun bunker overlooking the harbour and was preventing the extraction of the commandos.

    This stuff was played straight WWII style until the final mission when a German U-Boat was infiltrated and strange documents were recovered in it and in the bunker before Armin Zola was able to collect the same materials from bunker. The documents spoke of black magic and entities from beyond and traveling across galaxies. Now, the weird was turned on. Learning of Hilter's right hand of occult oversight, Johann Schmidt aka. the Red Skull was going to conduct some sort of ritual in a Norwegian castle far to the north of us within the next few days - this crazy talk now had weight and time was of the essence. There was also reference to a number of other secret Nazi societies involved - Vril, Thule, Hollow Earth and the Black Sun all of which were enacting Baron Heinrich Zero's doomsday plan (Der tag) Along with the presence of many key names in the Reich's paranormal and extra-planar expeditionary division - the SS Verfugunstruppe.

       Dietrich Eckart - Master Magician of the Nazi Party and was known to be dead!

       Karl Haushofer - Occult adept and the carrier of secret knowledge concerning trans-human entities, follower of the 'Great Old Ones'.

        Dr. Ernsy Schafer - Leader of the SS Tibet expedition that discovered the Hollow Earth, he was the Nazi Indiana Jones            

    Upon presenting the information to our COs it was decided that the squad were the only available troops to run the mission as the commandos were in rough shape to recover further information and if possible disable whatever was going on in the "Keep".

The Keep - as pointed out by far more wordsmithy type reviewers this adventure and the included rules in particular leave something to be desired. We simply needed a castle packed full of Nazis suitable for infiltration and neutralization. This was provided rather nicely.

The group made their way across the frozen expanse dodging german patrols until arriving in the vicinity of the Keep. Next a way in was needed and found by ambushing an execution unit getting rid of some pesky civilians and stealing an official vehicle. They got in, snuck around and planted timed demolitions all over the place until eventually zeroing in on the ritual taking place in church within the basement of the keep.  Follow the chanting they say. They should have done that earlier as the clock were ticking things were gonna start shaking soon enough. Victory or Death.

The Red Skull stood before some sort of shimmering orb the large the size of an elephant leading the ritual. I am the Devil's advocate! Before him stood a patrol unit armed and equipped for a mission being presented by Dr. Schafer, and the clearly apparition like entity that once was Eckart (he was floating!). As we slowly snuck forward the patrol began marching into the simmering orb and disappearing. It took our soldiers a moment to catch their wits before they realized that for some reason unknown to them they most follow through the passage. Weird visions of different lives on a different world populated by mythical creatures flashed before their eyes. Yes, this was the end one way or another of the lotus dream. The Red Skull now saw them and called the alert,

                        "Welcome to our sanguinary sect of worship
                        Feel at home in our black conventicle
                    As we anathematise all those who oppose us" Dave Mustaine

And so the final battle commenced. We were outnumbered, outgunned, running out of time and the Red Skull showed superhuman strength and speed. Diving behind the massive pillars that supported the keep above our troopers had temporary reprieve from bullet fire but the Germans under herr Skulls direction were cutting the angles quickly. "Probably wouldn't take too much to bring the place down", clips were emptied to buy the time needed to set the charges. The Red Skull took matters into his own hands and forced us back into the open. We were really run-in out of time on multiple fronts. It was decided that the only way we were going to escape was by rushing the portal with the help of a whole bunch of grenades. The chamber became obscured with dust and smoke along with some good luck the Skull appeared to be at least temporarily disoriented by a grenade that landed at his feet. The gambit worked and a path opened up before our troopers. They dropped everything and just ran for it. Under the cover of smoke and dust the regular soldiers could only shoot wildly as the Skull fought to rise to his feet. They jumped into the unknown as the timers on the demolitions expired. 

We may never know if we turned the tide of the War by defeating the insidious Red Skull and the rest of Hitler's paranormal apparatus. 

We did have the suspicion that Dr. Schafer and the apparition Eckart would one day cross our paths yet again in some strange dimension.

Engulfed once more in the smoke of the white lotus dimensions passed before us like half remembered dreams.