The team shows up at the market, only to find themselves attacked by dreaded haaikodils. Looks like someone has destroyed a chunk of the market. After being injured, the team learns there are secrets underneath the surface of Tartan.
[NOTE] A QUICK RECAP
NOTE: This sums up all three prior posts, not just the events of the last one.
Last time, De Havikmannen (The Hawkmen) arrived on Tartan and were going to meet their contact: Kayla Elaine. Kayla is an engineer who has been screwed over by the Tartan Corp and is now working at the Port as something like a head mechanic...a head mechanic who seems to have a bit more cash than normal.
The Children of Tartan staged a terrorist attack on the TPIEC (Tartan Port Industro-Entertainment Complex, a hub for human settlers) at the heart of the TFZ (Terraformed Zone). The Children wish to shut down any outsiders getting in and take back Tartan for the "original settlers." They are also opposed to the Kionites, a metallic alien race who claims Tartan as the site of an ancient pilgrimage. Elaine is part of Kionite, unaware that Kionate nanomachines can assimilate the DNA of other species.
Willem Havik (a Hawk-man Mutant), Natum Vijf ("Nate," a Battle strategy bot turned bounty-hunting field forensics expert), and Roos Ellim (a sniper and Havik's right-hand woman) were able to capture the terrorists and save some of the people, but it is clear danger awaits. Though they are searching for De Wittespin (The White Spider), Havik and his team are also trying to figure out who is stirring up trouble and arming the Children of Tartan.
Elaine gives the team a cannister with three control boards that have been tampered with by De Wittespin. Her "contact" in the market claims he spotted them snuck into one of his shipments. The team is going to the market to explore this claim.
SCENE THREE
{Ancient Ruins + First Aid Kit} {4 Brawny + Agile} {3 Normal Difficulty} {Random Realities [RR] "Complication" >> 5,5 Expose} {RR "Senses" 5,4 Briny Odor + 3,1 Muffled Talk}
The market has been damaged and is in disarray with people putting it together. A large tank of salt-water has been spilled everywhere. Lon Kylus, Elaine's "Contact" [and likely partner in at least some crime] fears being exposed. Since it is Agile + Brawny, this implies a chase scene. Actually, no, thinking about it: let's do something more fun to actually fit the "First Aid Kit" icon. Something to do with repair, but maybe a fun fight as well. Strange sharkodiles (something like sharks, something like crocodiles) has gotten out from the tank. The salt water tank 2d3 >> 4 Effort total. That makes me think two, each equaling 2 Effort.
This will likely push another follow-up scene in the market place which is ok.
The lack of screams has lured Willem into an accidental trap. He has noticed a general sense of disarray, a sense of people out of place. Maybe that is just the market, though.
He sees a kid, wide-eyed, staring at him. Pointing at him. Only a split-second later realizes the kid is pointing behind him. He then hears the sound, like a deep cough.
- {Normal Agile} >> 2,3 >> No success. -1 Resolve.
He spins, slapping his wings down, but feels the weight of something heavy slap into his chest before he can take flight. As he smashes back through the table the kid was hiding behind, he hears Roos' straalpistool shoot out a blast.
- {Normal Agile} >> 5,5,1 >> 2 Successes. The first of the haaikodils is down.
Something makes a deep, rattling gurgle. It is only now that he can focus on the creature on top of him. A haaikodil?1
Nate runs over and tries to get his claw arm on the haaikodil's mouth to prevent it from crunching down on Willem...
- {Normal Brawny} 2,3 >> No Successes. -1 Resolve. Nate is down to just 1 Resolve left, which can be a problem.
Willem hears, instead, the crunch of metal as Nate's claw arm is caught in the powerful haaikodillian bite. He also hears a whimper and it occurs to him that the kid who might have helped save his life is partially caught under the table.
- {Normal Brawny} 3,3,4 >> Uh oh. -1 Resolve. He is also down to just 1 Resolve. Going to need to work in a rest cycle for the guys.
- {Normal Agile} 1,5,4 >> 1 Success.
- {Normal Brawny} 1,6 >> 1 Success.
Willem kicks up and tries to lift the haaikodil and himself off the table, but the thing's tail comes around slams into Willem's head.
Roos is now there, as well, opening fire. A strong pistool shot into the belly of the beast does not cause it to stop lashing at Willem or biting down on Nate.
Just when things look like the worst, Nate gets his five fingered hand on his right arm up and grabs the wound opened by Roos and tugs, spilling guts and haaikodillian intestines on the market ground.
Willem uses the momentum to push the beast far enough back that he can immediately turn and get the market table off the young kid. The...
- {male | female | non} >> female
...young girl is gasping and crying until she looks up into Willem's face.
"Je hebt de kop van een vogel," she says, and then she smiles.2
[DESIGN] The Prevalence of "Ruins"
There are 36 images in the image oracle pool you'd expect to see pretty much every icon by this point. However, I have had several significant moments in which "Ruins" has showed up.
Two locations. A character. Two scenes.
I'm going to build on that and change up some parameters. The pilgrimage of the Kionites is more significant than they are letting on. It's not just the ruins of a CorpWar battle, there is something else here on Tartan. The ruins of some significant structure to the Kionite people (or even "pre-Kionite" in that it might be related to them before they turned to bio-robotics).
THIS is why Kayla Elaine has been brought here. A connection to her distant past.
Does it have anything to do with the robots going wild, the uprising Children of Tartan, or De Wittespin? Maybe, maybe not.
Just more lore for the lore pile, as it were.
With that being said, the next scene almost definitely needs to be a rest scene. Two of our mains are down to a single Resolve. Something to give them back a point of Resolve would be nice.
SCENE FOUR
{Empty Hourglass + Cannister} {6 Brawny + Crafty} {6 Hard}
The {mother | father} >> mother of the kid saved by Willem has taken the team to some sort of healing tank, but using it requires either great strength or great smarts.
Her name is Dahlia, the child. Mom is Saskia. The two took them down a short alleyway and then a set of old, stone steps down into the darkness beneath the market. Then further down again. And again.
Now they are in a artificial cave with centuries-old lightning and a surprising amount of moisture. Here the verdigris of the surface is full in effect. The copper-rich Tartan stone is a swirl of greens and browns with hints of blue and purples.
Along the way, Saskia explained some of what happened. A trio of folks in full deep-waste gear stormed the marketplace and were screaming something the rights of true Tartans. They smashed up tables, stole some items, and then — almost like an afterthought — smashed the tank that held the haaikodils and fled while the beasts adjusted to their dry freedom.
Willem, Nate, and Roos just happened to show up right as the dazed monsters had started to prowl. This means in Saskia's eyes, the trio are saviors. Not just of Dahlia, but maybe many others.
- Is the market made up mostly of "non-Children"? >> [1], 1, 3 >> No becoming yes.
While the TPIEC hosts many of the so-called Laatkomers3, to use Children speak, the Market, which is just a couple of rings away from the core of the TFZ, has been hosting more and more people from off-world. It seems only expected that some of the Children would see it as a threat. Or opportunity.
Saskia leads them through a vast region into a small chamber beyond. This used to be the habitation of the early settlers. Before tech could increase the strength of the TFZ, the Tartan surface was too harsh to endure for long. Early settlers would go from here to the mines. Underground to underground. Rarely seeing the purple sky.
This small chamber is a sickbay long abandoned for being out of date and behind anything the TPIEC has to offer. Five medi-tanks sit to one side and look long disused.
- Do they look 29th century human in design? [1], 6, 1 >> No.
NATUM: Sir, these are not matching any of my record of pre- or post-CorpWar technology that should have existed in these parts.
WILLEM: Saskia, where did these come from?
SASKIA: What do you mean? They have always been here.
- Is Saskia from the original settlers? [3],6,4 >> Yes, but... she often sees her family as being separate from "The Children" and much more open to newcomers.
SASKIA: My great-grandfather used to do upkeep on them, and my grandfather and father worked on them, but they have been almost entirely forgotten by the people above.
Willem and Nate go to investigate and both try to get the pods working.
- Willem: {Hard Brawny} 3,4,5 >> No.
- Nate: {Hard Crafty} 6,5,4 >> Yes.
Willem pulls hard on the oxidized doors with no success but after a moment of fiddling with the alien controls, Nate figures out the combination and the doors hiss open on batteries that have survived many centuries.
WILLEM: Well, let's try it.
He steps inside, tucking his wings, and a few button presses later the machine starts whirring.
- {2x(d2-1} >> 1 + 1 = All Resolve Healed.
- Since these are likely Kionite in origin, would they work on Nate (advantage)?? >> [3],1,2 && [3],5,3 >> No, and... +changing. Using them in their current state might destroy a robot, but they can be changed.
After he steps out, feeling completely refreshed, Nate asks to spend some more time working with them. He notices the technology should be able to work on his machine body.
Willem acquiesces and asks Saskia to lead him and Roos back to the market for the time being to try and track down their contact.
[DESIGN] Maybe Adding a New Type of Roll: Twist
Right now, I am doing well enough with the structure to coax out twists from the simple nature of the beast. We've added aliens, militant groups, ruins, and some other elements that were not in the design brief.
However, it is sometimes nice to have something in the dice that just says: "Think again!"
My initial idea is to try out something which other games like Ironsworn have kind of done...not really. It was part of the inspiration, though. Roll a d10 as the "stable" die. Then roll a pair of "twist" dice:
- d2 = Events are well in control, probably don't use
- d4 = There is little chance of things going off the rails
- d6 = Standard, some chance of things altering
- d8 = There is a fair chance of things altering
- d10 = A pretty good chance of something unexpected
- d12 = Things are in flux
If one of the twist dice matches or exceeds that stable die, there is a minor twist for the scene/question. If both do, there is a bigger twist. If both match the die precisely, there is a complete twist of expectations.
This is relatively easy to do at the start of the scene but the question is how often to do it throughout? Every oracle question? I don't know. That feels clunky. I'll give it some thought. Let's try it with the next scene.
SCENE FIVE
{Biohazard + Crosshairs} {6 Brawny + Crafty} {2 Normal}
There will be an attack as Willem and Roos meet with Lon Kylus. The attack will be on {Willem | Roos | Lon} >> Lon. Since it is Brawny and Crafty, part of it will involve a brute force thing and part mental struggle.
TWIST TEST (D6) >> <8> vs [1], [4]. As Expected.
WILLEM: Kayla says these came from you. [*showing a digi-screen of the three corrupted robo-boards*]
LON: Ah, but they were snuck into my shipment without me...
A loud pop is heard in the distance and some folks shout out. Willem rips his head around but does not see the source of the sound. Then he hears Ro0s call out to him.
ROOS: Will, the scrap seller, he's...
Looking at Lon, they see him grabbing his arm as strange green lines start eating up his veins. Already to Lon's bicep.
- Is this a well-known type of hazard? [1], 5, 2 >> No.
Willem has no idea what he is looking at. A fast acting infection?
- Tries to assess it. {Normal Crafty} >> 4,4 >> Fail.
The read out from his opti-goggles and his own long career does not help. He goes back to his more battle-honed days and leaps over the counter and grabs the man's arm and before Lon can protest, yanks.
- {Normal Brawny} >> 1, 6, 1 >> 1 Success.
The scrap-seller's arm tears off as the man screams in agony. The scrap of flesh continues to change a strange metallic green as the unknown biohazard keeps changing the flesh.
Willem binds the gaping wound as best he can and plans to get Lon back to the medi-vats.
WILLEM: ROOS! See if you can find who just shot our man!
ROOS: [*Does not answer, takes off running*]
Willem is in flight because time is of the absolute essence.
- {Normal Agile} 5, 1 >> 1 Success
Luckily, by the time he gets Lon into the machine and Nate turns it on, there is still some life left in the man. It takes a long time before his wound is healed enough to stop bleeding, but the machine can only do so much. Might be weeks before he is at full capacity.
WILLEM: Watch him, Nate, I need to find Roos.
[NOTES] DOUG'S COMMENTARY
I like watching this go from "quick trip to planet to find a criminal" and now is increasingly more about the history of the planet and has a few various conspiracies brewing.
I continue to just wing [pun!] tech from out of nowhere to fit the vibe. Willem is now wearing opti-goggles to give him data, and has some sort of digi-screen device. That works for me. I think a flyer type would 100% have some sort of goggles to cover his eyes [he does have a bird head, mind].
The names Willem, Saskia, and Roos are all from Duolingo, by the way. They crop a lot in Nederlands lessons. No idea why. Roos, just in case you are wondering, is pronounced like the English word "Rose." It's fine if you were assuming "kanga-roos." That works for me.
I continue to enjoy my weird art for this. The haaikodils, made by fudging around with clip art and various patterns to make a roughly shark + crocodile shape, hits exactly the sort of odd mood I was wanting.
I realize I am pushing the limits of proper "bounty hunter" type stories at this point, but characters I play are always going to drift to chaotic good. It's what I like to play. It's how I play. No matter how hard-ass or battle-weary I start with my characters, they tend to drift to something like Willem, now. A person who keeps a general eye on the job but also tries to be a force of good.
We will see.
I wonder what weird place this is going? So far, the dice have been interesting.