Clo and three of the Generals begin their attempt to get Ida out of High Water, as internal strife is threatening to explode.
Previously, on The Four Generals
The Generals need the panic room underneath the Opal of Ishtar, but Clo Mirza — Myrrh's younger brother — has taken it over. Only Sarge has taunted him to come out. The mission: infiltrate a church turned into a crime den and rescue the love of Clo's life. A classic story of casino son meets preacher's daughter.
Content Warning: Language, Smoking, Violence [lots], Gambling, and a tinge of cosmic horror. I will also ignore history, technology, and common sense here or there but no slight is ever intended about the real history, people, or events referenced.
More info, attribution for the tools and materials used— including the splash art — can be found in the About & Credits, below.
The Four Generals: Episode 1, Act 2 >> Fell Breaks Loose
[DESIGN] Sometimes you just got to make a map...
Even though any sort of precise map is not really needed in this kind of game, sometimes you just want to work out something like a map off of which you can base a few scenes. After last time's quick-ish dice-drop-into-map outing, I thought a bit about how this would make sense. What would the interior of a church look like? What is this outbuilding? How do the other buildings fit into the terrain? What about the graveyard?
Spent a chunk of an hour just tooling around in GIMP to come up with the above. Outbuilding is now where both the baptismal font and the church storage is located. Ida Fell is going to be locked in the storage room. Or well, that's where they locked her but she got out and is now in the font area with the outer doors shut.
Fell is in the church office being confronted by some small fries while Olive Fell is hiding somewhere near the pulpit. The guard/sniper is up on the roof roughly around the middle of the nave on the steeple.
"Camp Fell" is what they call the collection of shacks and trailers where the more notorious stuff happens.
Nave is a bit smashed up. Some of the pews have been chopped up for wood and such. One of the pews is drug up partially on the half-stage where the pulpit and choir box are located [said choir box was probably just a spot for a couple of singers and an electronic keyboard].
Last grave in the graveyard is from the 1980s.
Ok, that's more than enough.
Setting the Scene: Episode 1 | Act 2 | Scene 1.
Chaos Factor: 5
Expected Scene: Team is looking at church from a safe distance (+1).
Scene Test: 7.
Actual Scene: As expected.
Trying out something where scenes can get a +/-N where N = 1 or 2 to represent the general stability of the scene outside of the standard Chaos Factor. At any rate, it's as expected, here.
It's the classic trope of action movies where no matter how remote and well-guarded the enemy's base is, you will have some spot where you can watch it and make plans. Then, you know, sometimes the trope is you get captured or you miss a vital detail. The "get captured" would have been what happened with an interrupt type scene. The "miss vital details" we'll leave up to the dice rolls in this one though it is large just roleplaying scene.
Sat, Aug 15. 22:11. Hillside overlooking The Church of High Water.
Making Plans for Mirza
Even though the moon is currently in its "faintest sliver" stage of life and hiding by the horizon, the clear skies makes it possible to see the Church of High Water and the surrounding structures from this distance. There are a whole lot of shadows and its hard to make out specific elements, but it is there.
Clo and The Colonel are spread out on the ground and trying to track movement around the Church, which is still fairly busy for a later Saturday night. They move the binoculars back and forth and talk in whispers. Clo still acting nervous but with a bit more fire in his step now that he is actively involved.
Where did the binoculars come from? *shrugs*
Where didn't they come from. It's that kind of show, ok?
"Can you see anything?," Sarge asks, leaning down.
The Colonel hands the binoculars up to Sarge who glances through them. Sarge mostly just sees the church building illuminated slightly in the wan light. Another, darker building behind it. Past that...something else.
Both Clo and the Colonel have a total of 4 between Focus and Awareness with a slightly different make-up. I'll put +1 for 5 dice total and allow for a free ReRoll from Clo's "Shadow" feat since this is kind like staying hidden while tracking someone.
- Crit >> [FR] upgrades to Extreme Success.
At that, we'll give him the whole stack of detail.
- Was there anything obvious about where Ida is being held? (50/50) >> 71 = No.
- Did something happen that might have alerted them? (Unlikely) >> 29 = Yes.
Clo tries to fill in some visual gaps as Sarge tracks his vision where indicated.
"Between us and the Church there's some sort of graveyard. Can't tell many details about it, but old graves with small grave-markers. You have the Church and if you look at the roof, near the steeple, there's a man with a gun. Some sort of lookout.
"Back behind the Church, to our left, there's another building. Not sure what it's for. A few guys were getting agitated and now there's just one pounding on the door. Well, was a few minutes ago."
- Is he still? (50/50) >> 54 = No.
- What's he doing now? (Actions) >> 08 Attack 16 Conflict + 09 Attain 15 Completion = He's full on firing on the door.
Let's do some decaying dice. 6d6, -xd6 per 1&2 rolled. -3D6 first round. He's doing a heavy number on the door.
- Are the others responding to the gunfire? (Very Likely) >> 96 = Exceptional NO! Gunfire is simply too common around this spot for them to even notice it.
"Um," Sarge says, seeing flashes of light, "I think he's now shooting the door."
"That can't be good," LT whispers.
"Behind that," The Colonel says, "further away from us I mean, there are some smaller trailers and shacks that seem to be connected to the church. That's behind a ridge that means they would be kind of hard to see if we were even with the Church."
"What's the plan?," asks Sarge.
"We have three targets where Ida might be held. The Church, that building get shot at, and those trailers."
Knowing Ida, where does Clo think she is?
- {Church | Outbuilding | "Camp Fell"} >> Church.
Clo: "She has to be in the Church, right? That's the biggest, sturdiest building. It's where they would keep someone."
Sarge: "Unless she's what's under gunfire."
LT: "Even without binoculars, I can see the lights on in those buildings Col was talking about. They are doing something over there."
The Colonel: "Sarge?"
Sarge: "One of us needs to get to that building and see what has the man upset. If it's her, she'll need help. LT, want to go and check out those trailers? Can't be normal folks, they'd be reacting much harsher to the sounds of guns. And Col..."
The Colonel: "Yeah?"
Sarge: "How much training you got in getting on top of buildings?"
Setting the Scene: Episode 1 | Act 2 | Scene 2.
Chaos Factor: 5
Expected Scene: The team splits up to try and find Ida while Ida is under threat.
Scene Test: 7
Actual Scene: As expected.
- [2 checks] Guy Shooting In Door (3d6) >> -1D6 = 2d6 remain.
- 2d6 >> -0D6 = 2d6 remain.
This isn't really balanced around everyone being separate so we'll see how it goes.
Triggered Scene: The first interrupt will be "The Gang Gets Rowdy" and start fighting back against Fell. Altered scenes will likely be something building towards that.
Sat, Aug 15. 22:23. Various spots around The Church of High Water.
Splitting the Team
Clo keeps his head down as he makes his way up through the parking lot, cracked and burned by the heat of the Arizona sun over all these years, and aims for the double doors at the front of the church...
From previous math, we know this is largely just a Basic danger and this is such a Clo-thing to do that I'm not worried about going into finer details.
- (Crime) 3 + (Stealth) 3 [Free ReRolls] >> Critical Success.
...and doesn't feel the roof of his head get shot off. "Heh, roof...like the man with the gun...on the...*gulp*" and he feels sweat break out way past the residual heat is causing.
He had talked about going through the graveyard but the guy calling himself "Sarge" had said it was too clear a shot. This way he can stay mostly hidden until the part where he has to scoot up the stairs.
Now, a few meters away, is the front doors of the Church. It is...quiet...
- Is it really? (50/50) >> 68 = No.
- What does he hear? (Sounds) >> 37 Ferocious 78 Scratching + 98 Whistle 60 Music.
- Is the whistled tune the sound to start the attack on Fell? (50/50) >> 17 = Yes.
- Can the others hear it? (Likely) >> 11 = Exceptional Yes.
- Are they going to react right away? (50/50) >> 63 = No, they are prepped.
This might explain why no one was getting too excited by the gunshots by the baptism font. They thought it was the people carrying out the execution of Ida as planned.
...wait, no it's not. The sound of heavy furniture being shoved aside and maybe a few words. Then a strange tri-tone whistle like someone is trying to imitate a large, mechanical bird. In the distance, from somewhere behind the church, someone repeats the sounds.
Now what in all heck-it is that about?
Then the gunfire erupts from overhead.
Sarge had warned Clo about taking the graveyard. "You'll be a sitting duck, kid," he did not say but he seriously contemplated it.
Now he's taking that exact path. He needs to get to whatever the guy is shooting at and this is by far the quickest way. The Colonel will shadow the kid and go around to get on the roof. LT is taking the long path to see what's up with the little shanty town on the other side.
Sarge, though, Sarge is going right through. He uses the barely-there rusted fence as an awful shield. Glancing up to see if he's been spotted...
This is a Critical test, and a dangerous one. Failure = bang bang.
- (Crime) 2 + (Stealth) 1 >> Zilch...he's going to spend his Spotlight...almost literally so...
Looks like I need to go back and add in gunfire to Clo's viewpoint...
...and the answer is yes, he can see the gunman lifting the rifle right at him.
Fuck it. Sarge stands up and makes himself as visible as possible. Maybe it will buy the others some time.
"Over hear, shit-brains!," he thinks, "I'm the ghost of bad life decisions past!"
Then he dives as the first bullets hit the ground near him.
Collin Stallworth was never exactly trained in stealth. Why would he be? He's not the person who goes sneaking in. He's the guy who openly apprehends the bad guy. Or, mostly, just escorts the bad guy someone else gets credit for busting.
The Magnolia Killer. Thompson Vale. When he and Agent Jani Blum...
No...not now.
Can't think about that now.
Can't think about he never told his therapist that the things he saw might have been worth it if he and Blum had gotten recognized for their sacrifice.
Thinking back to that time makes him fully appreciate that has been trained in gun fights. Fully trained and having seen field action.
As he sees the scrawny back of Clo Mirza fade up the stairs towards the front doors in silence, he quickly paces behind and then cuts to the right as planned. There was some sort of porch/patio behind the Church and that's the most likely spot.
Before he gets to it, he hears sounds of gunfire on the roof. At this angle it's impossible to tell where it is shooting but the most likely target right now is Sarge.
Col speeds up and starts pulling himself on the roof as quickly, and quietly, as possible...
- (Brawn) 3 + (Stealth) 3 vs Critical >> a complete whiff...a literal range of 1-6 on the dice. HA!
Well, shit. Everyone will end up in a bad place if we burn through all of the Spotlights for this one sniper, so let's say he spends 1 [ADR] since that's at least a Basic and we'll go from there...
- +1 = Basic and going to go all in... >> Double Basic = Not The Colonel's luck, be takes one Grit and is off-footed, mostly.
...only as he gets on top of this porch roof and is working around to jump up on the main roof of the Church, he realizes he is looking right at the barrel of a rifle. He yanks back, feels a bullet hit him in the left arm, and falls backwards into the night.
Making the map, I rolled there was some sort of minor boon in the path that LT is taking. Since the gunman is thoroughly distracted, I won't worry about stealth.
- What's the boon? {MM} >> 5,3 Jigsaw Piece + 6,6 Tinker = hmm, a piece of equipment that helps with the other pieces... I think a generator would make sense, but it's only minor from some reason.
- Is the generator running? (50/50) >> 04 = Exceptional Yes.
- Is the main Church area fairly well lit up? (50/50) >> 99....TWIST!
- Random Event = NPC action. I think in this case it would make sense that the NPC is one of the guys who is planning on shutting it down in part of their planned assault.
The weird whistle was bad-a-fuck enough, LT thinks, before the galdamn gunfire started kicking up. Shit, hopefully everyone is alright.
He presses his bulk up against the clay cliff just in the off-chance any of the bang-bang is meant for him and keeps inching along. He can hear something in front of him and to his right, getting louder as a second round of gunfire goes off. Like a car running. Like a...
A generator. He's spotted a number of powerlines running overhead but maybe the good reverend doesn't like paying power bills and leaving a paper trail. As he walks up to it, it's a big damned number.
Big enough to run all the lights he currently sees and maybe a few more, besides.
- To see if he senses the guy walking up... (Focus) 2 + (Awareness) 2 vs [{Basic | Double Basic | Critical} >> ] Basic >> Nope.
He is wondering if he should just turn the thing off and who that might fuck up more, the shitheads or his friends, when he feels the gun press against the back of his head.
"Who the fuck are you, fat ass?," the unknown person asks.
Man...that's mean.
- Does the font work? (Likely, since there's power from the generator and out here it was probably some sort of well system) >> 35 = Yes.
We are just going to make some assumptions about what happened.
If only Ida hadn't gone back to say goodbye to Olive, both of them might be safer. No, no...Ida'd be safer. Olive might have been punished by the fucking achorado who calls himself Bo.
Ida had dropped off the fake Amtrak ticket and then made it to the end of the block before realizing that she hadn't told Olive goodbye. Cut back to say adios to her hermana, and there was Bo holding the decoy ticket. Why the ass-stain was in the family home, no idea. He punched her in the face and she woke up inside a storage closet.
Assholes.
"Maldito imbécil! PENDEJO!," she shouts at the door. Wishing her mom had taught her more slang before she died. She needs to find a book of Spanish curse words after she gets out of her. All she knows is the shit her mom called her dad during their many arguments.
That kind of couple, the ones who would fight hard and love hard.
God, she misses her mom.
At any rate, she woke up here and then after screaming various taunts for a couple of hours and feeling like she was going to die in the heat, she finally decided to get out. They had just used the old lock on the door which she got through in no time at all once she focused.
Seeing in the old baptism font, she risked turning on the water. She realizes that out in the desert, she won't live if she loses too much hydration.
And that's when the dickheads noticed she had gotten out. Bo and his two hombres. Only Bo shouted at those two to run inside.
- Are both still alive? (50/50) >> 91 = Exceptional No.
Asshole #1 grabbed ahold of her while Asshole #2 was reaching over to grab her hair and caveman back into the closet. She kicked up and connected hard enough that Asshole #2 pulled out a gun and aimed right for her...
Which was bad news for #1 whose head was in the way of the bullet as soon as Ida yanked her head back.
Bo was screaming something about don't shoot her, blah blah blah, fucker probably thinking he'd end up Dad's son-in-law after all this... and #2 is looking really damned shocked.
Long story short, she yanked his ass into the baptism font and after a really frantic struggle, he must of caught his head or had some heart condition 'cause now he is floating face down. She has his gun. Guns are...
- Are guns her thing? (50/50) >> 82 = No.
...not her thing and she doesn't even know if it will work now that it has been submerged but she got it pointed at Bo as he came storming in. He ran back out and then she shut the outer doors and got one of the benches wedged against the door. One of the benches for folks to sit on while their babies get drowned for Jesus.
Now she is in the font submerged next to a dead body because Bo has decided that murdering a door is the best way forward and bullet holes keep letting light in and the font is probably as good as bullet-proof as anything in this building has.
Clo owes her at least a dozen roses and a real good massage after this. And some other things. She misses his fancy cigarettes and the way he gets flustered every time they kiss and the fact that he smells flowery because she told him she preferred him to smell more like lilacs than musk. They were going to have a family together, goddammit to fuck.
And Olive had best be ok.
[DESIGN] Making Ida Fell
As everything goes pear shaped all the time, let's take a very short break to figure out Ida's stats.
She will be {The Criminal | The Face} >> The Face and looking over tropes let's say {Bad to the Bone | Cool but Distressed | Hot Stuff} to fit that >> Cool But Distressed.
Like with Clo, I'll randomly roll her Feats [but since she's not into guns, ReRoll any that might lean that way]. We end up with Cash Flow, Silver Tongue, and Detective.
Doug's Commentary
Well, spent longer than I thought working out a map and then had to take a break to make a character so that about eats up all the time I have to play for this session. There's a lot of things being juggled and the next session (Act 3) will either wind up Episode 1 or possible kick this into a two-parter.
Ida and Clo are interesting enough characters that it might be fun to bring them back or keep them around, but we'll see how things shake out.
About The Four Generals
BigBetty.com has placed a bet on Maddy Dwyer's life. People stand to make millions if she is dead within the next two weeks. Maddy's dad, Thomas "Cap" Dwyer has asked three old friends to travel to Las Azaleas and protect his daughter. The group went as The Four Generals in high school but have long since gone their separate ways. Now, the three friends — and Maddy, calling herself Major — have reformed The Four Generals. Their task: to keep Maddy alive. Also, some cults and crazy mega-church leaders are involved.
Credits
The Four Generals is played using Outgunned. Mythic, Gamemaster's Apprentice: Base 2e, and Gamemaster's Apprentice: Weird Horror are used as game oracles. Other tools have been added in.
Art is modified from stock photos and images by myself from various sources, given below. GIMP + G'MIC are used to create the effects. Unsplash is the most common source of stock art.
References to source materials use the following codes [BOLD = Main Sources for campaign]:
- {BRTM} Book of Random Tables: Modern
- {BRTN} Book of Random Tables: 1980s - 1990s
- {GMAB} Gamemaster's Apprentice: Base 2e Deck
- {GMAWH} Gamemaster's Apprentice: Weird Horror Deck
- {MM} "Maidenstead Mysteries" [Tricube Tales] Image Oracle
- {MY} Mythic, 2nd Edition
- {OG} Outgunned
- {OGAD} Outgunned Assistant Director
- {RR} Random Realities
- {TBM} Table Fables, Modern
- {UNE} Universal NPC Emulator
When page or card numbers are given, they will be in the {curly brackets}. {RR1,6} = Random Realities for die roll 1,6.
Part of the Alabama Weird world, though not geographically located in Alabama.
This post is in the standard Doug Alone post style. See Anatomy of a Post for more details.
ART CREDIT AND EXPLANATION
The "external" view of High Water derives from this photo: Photo by Michael Yantis on Unsplash. BUT, it was very unlikely that I would find a photo that had a church and out-buildings that 100% matched. Instead, I just went for a shot from a distance that had some of the elements I needed and then cropped and flipped it with some "behind" elements blurred/lost. It's close enough that I can sort of see how it lines up but not necessarily a precise match.
The High Water door: Photo by Melody Zimmerman on Unsplash. I contemplated touching it up and blending it give it some more details but ultimately decided to leave it mostly as is after doing some "night time" conversions.