Walk Without Rhythm ... HMS Apollyon Session 1

Now imagine it with a mole man whaling on it with an ax

Aboard the HMS Apollyon a motley gang of travelers plucked from the sea were sent into the depth of monster cursed HMS Apollyon and all returned to tell the tale.

Released form the relative comfort of the infirmary and subjected to a series of irksome and insulting personality testing, the castaways were herded to the rust gates, a fortress barricade bristling with cannon that leads from the civilized Sterntown into the lost regions of the hull.

Of the 30 odd lost souls, our six adventurers appeared to be the most well equipped and skilled.

Rustgate (starting) Equipment List - HMS Apollyon

This sort of thing is not available in Rustgate

Below is an equipment list of what supplies can be bought around the rust gate - a minimum of trust will be required to get out and go to the Scavenger's Souk where better equipment can be found.  Expensive, magical and better mechanical equipment can be found on the Promenade, but unless one has a special pass (such as for religious observance) that area is out of bounds to flotsam and exiles like the characters.

ARMOR

Anyone can wear armor of any kind that they have the Strength for.  Armor Skill gets rid of Penalties as detailed in the appropriate skills post. Wizards should consider the Weapons Training skill-set if they would like to wear armor.

AC	Description	Price	Min STR	Penalty
8	Piecemail armor, woven fiber armor, Padded Armor,Soft Leather (Light)	15 GP	5	None
7	Hard Leather Armor, Studded Armor, Ring-mail (Light)	30 GP	6	-1 hit / AC 8
6	Shell/Chitin Armor, Scale (leather/light), Half Cuirass( Light)	40 GP	9	-1 hit / AC 7
5	Chainmail, Heavy Scale, Plate Cuirass, Brigandine (Heavy)	80 GP	11	-1 hit /AC 6
4	Splint, Banded, Heavy/Reinforced Chain or Mirror Armor (Heavy)	150 GP	13	-2 hit /AC 5
3	½ Plate, Plate and Heavy Scale, Plate-Mail (Heavy)	1200 GP	13	-3 hit/ AC 4
-1	Shield – Light metal, Leather, Chitin, Wood or Woven shield	10GP	5	N/A
-1*	Heavy Shield – Metal, Hardwood	30 GP	11	N/A
N/A	Helmet – Various metal or leather helmets**	15 GP	N/A	N/A

* -2 vs. Missles

** Grants an additional saving throw when something smacks you in the head or you fall.

Min STR – If you lack the Strength to use the armor all rolls are at -4 and AC is two levels lower. For flailsnails PC's these rules and the Penalties will apply if you're buying armor aboard the Apollyon or it seems appropriate (i.e. you've played several sessions, have leveled up etc).

Penalty – (See this post for detailson Fighter Skills) For native PC's without the appropriate armor skill there are penalties associated with wearing armor one lacks training in. Generally this means wearing armor you can use is more effective than wearing armor you can't but which is heavier.

Note on Weapons and armor: Bronze weapons are favored and cost 1.5 times as much as they do not corrode or rust in the awful damp environment of the Apollyon. Silver Weapons cost 10 x normal and take a session to forge. Magic armor is assumed to have no strength requirements or use penalties.

MELEE WEAPONS

Description	Price	Min STR	1 or 2 HD?	DMG
Sword, Scimitar, Morningstar, Large Axe	25 GP	11	1 HD	1D8
Mace, Hammer, War-Crowbar, Short Sword, Short Spear, Bayonet	15 GP	7	1 HD	1D6
Dagger, Brass Knuckles, club, blackjack	5GP	5	1 HD	1D4
Rapier, Small Sword, Katana (fine sword)	100GP	7	1 HD	1D8
Battle Axe, Two Handed Sword, Maul*	55 GP	13	2 HD	1D10
Polearm, Pike * +	25 GP	9	2 HD	1D10

* Always attack last regardless of inititative.

+ May attack from 2nd Rank.

MISSILE WEAPONS

Description	Price	Min STR	Range S/M/L	DMG
Throwing Knife, Throwing Steel	5 GP	N/A	10'/20'/30'	1D4
Light Crossbow/Spear Gun (pneumatic)*	35 GP	11	30'/50'/80'	1D6
Heavy Crossbow/Spear Gun (torsion)*	80 GP	16	45'/60'/100'	1D8
Shortbow	50 GP	8	30'/50'/80'	1D6
Longbow/Compound Bow	100 GP	14	45'/80'/150'	1D8
Javelin, Throwing Axe, Harpoon, Spear	10 GP	8	15'/25'/35'	1D6
Arrows or Bolts x 30	10 GP	N/A		N/A
Quiver **	5 GP	N/A		N/A

* May be used is below minimum strength but will require a Goatsfoot or Cranequin to reload, and this takes a round.

** Without a quiver reloading takes an extra round unless the player spends a round sticking arrows into the ground and doesn't move from their firing position.

Guns

Guns are in loud, smells and tend to do no more damage than other missile weapons, except they are very handy in close quarters, have almost no strength requirements and hit for exploding damage. That is if a gun rolls maximum damage an additional damage dice may be rolled. This is why certain highly penetrating weapons such as bolt action rifles do multiples of D4 damage rather than a single die, the wound is almost guaranteed to be nasty.

Firearms come in three varieties Low Technology, Medium Technology and High Technology. Low technology weapons are the most easily available and are almost universally muzzle loading requiring extra time to load. Medium Technology Weapons are harder to find and are cartridge firing. High Technology Weapons cannot be made by the current engineers of Sterntown and begin at clip fed automatic weapons.

Description	Price	Min STR	Range S/M/L	DMG
Wheelock or Flintlock Pistol +	50 GP	N/A	15'/30'/50'	1D8
Matchlock or Musket * +	150 GP	N/A	45'/100'/150'	1D10
Blunderbuss/Shotgun(muzzle loading) +	150 GP	N/A	10'/20'/30'	1D10
Shot and powder for 10 shots	15 GP	N/A		1D6
Powder Horn, Cartridge case, bullet kit **	100 GP	N/A		1D8

* This is a long gun and may have a bayonet attached. Seating a bayonet takes 1 round, but firing while it is attached gives a -1 to hit. Bayonets effectively turn the rifle into a short spear.

+ Muzzle Loading Weapons are slow to fire and lower velocity, they take 2 rounds to reload (can be reduced by gun skill).

Description	Cost
Light Sources
Torch – Burns for an hour x4, 40' Light	1GP
Lamp – Burns of 4 Hours, directional, 60' Light with Shutters	15 GP
Glow Kelp – Glows when crushed for 2 Days, 20' Light (Green)	6 GP
Flask of Lamp Oil – fills lamps - Range 20'/30'/50' (M), burns 1D6/1d6	1 GP
Oil Bomb, fused, highly combustible – Range 30'	5 GP
Tools
Pick, Shovel or Crowbar (-1 Hit Damage 1D6)	2 GP
10' Pole	1 GP
10' Rope	5 GP
Grappling Hook	15 GP
Pitons, climbing gear, and harness (1 person)	25 GP
Iron Spikes x 5	1 GP
Mallet and Stake	1 GP
Camouflage or Bug Netting (10' x 10')	10 GP
Thieves Tools (Picks, glass cutter, blackening, 10' wire)	30 GP
Fishing Kit (line, hooks, pole, hand net, lures, flies)	5 GP
Containers
Canvas Backpack	5 GP
Leather Backpack	15 GP
Small Sack	1 GP
Large Sack	1 GP
Waterproof Backpack	30 GP
Waterproof Small Sack	5 GP
Steel or Glass jar (Waterproof – 1 Gallon)	3 GP
“Potion” bottle/test tube	1 GP
Bug Spray
Moon Bane herbs (rumored to help with lycanthropes)	15 GP
Infernal Shells (rumored to delay outsiders – mildly magic)	60 GP
Holy Water (Holy to Ship Spirits - effects crawling death)	25 GP
Holy Water (Holy to the Queen – effects undead)	30 GP
Holy Symbol (appropriate material)	30 GP
Mirror, Glass	5 GP
Mirror, Metal (Silver)	30 GP
Sick Lichen (Mild Ingested Poison – 1D6 damage or save)	15 GP
Garlic	10 GP
Food and Drink
Wineskin+	2 GP
Hard Liqour – Bottle+	5 GP
Beer – Growler (bring own bottle)+	1 GP
Iron Rations (Dog Jerky, Kelp Loaf, Sea Nuts) 1 week supplies	15 GP
Rations (Sea Frond, Fungus Flour, Rat) 1 week supplies (need fire to prepare).	5 GP
Fine Rations (Mushrooms steaks, Giant Pigeon, Meat/seaweed Tarts, Chocolate) 1 week supplies (Need fire to prepare)	40 GP
Mad Kelp (Mild Smoked Drug/anesthetic/stimulant - addictive) 3 doses*	15 GP
Laudanum (Intense Ingested drug/anesthetic - highly addictive) 3 doses**	100 GP

+ A belt of alcohol will rejuvenate some HP (mostly the insubstantial kind) at a rate of 1D4 per drink (1 times max a session and can be had during battle – takes 1 round). Bandaging also has this effect after battle or when someone spends time working on a fallen ally.

*Mad Kelp will stop shock and stabilize a dying person 25% of the time for 1D10 turns per dose.

**Laudanum is an effective painkiller for surgery and to prevent shock 75% of the time. It is effective for 4D6 turns per dose, but more than 3 doses in a 24hr period are likely to be leathal.

Note: Upkeep in Rustgate is cheap – A space in a shack rents at 1 GP a week and food tends to run about a GP 1 Day – figure 10 GP a week total for food, shelter and sundries.

There is once nice inn in the Rustgates – The Gilded Exile (Sign appears to be a mummy previously dipped in brass) where a night of food, drink and a private room run 80 GP, the owners can also arrange contact with dealers in unwholesome pleasures.

SESSION XI - Part II - Amongst the Underdwellers

Session XI - PART II

Having discovered that they are under a murder indictment by parties unknown, and that Drusilla's family/clan are not happy with her the party determines it must find the deed to the Old Brewery and hand it over to the corrupt Fist Officer Lieutenant Tsu to escape trial and execution.

The Cast

Huxley McTeeth - (m) Fighter (Lvl 2) - Short, strong, grizzled, armored, and wielding a magic white saber from the tomb of a Rocket Man.

Grimgrim "The Seared of Monstcrom"- (m) Cleric (Lvl 3) - Recently extra fervent. pig masked.

Druizzilnax (aka Drusilla) - (f) Elf (Lvl 1), physically frail, spear wielding, hideous armor wearing and from a society of militarized cannibals.

Nell Hassenphafler "The Topstown Gore Bird" - (f) Assassin (Lvl 3), Scarred face, sinewy physique, fancy purple metal dress and poison hatpins.

Lemon Jackson, Evoker - (m) Magic-User (Lvl 2) Gun totting & hell-bolt flinging,

Gurgur, Greymol - (m,m) Moktar, Moktar Holy Tom, (Lvl1,Lvl1) Moktar henchmen , serious catbrawn. 

The boarded window pivots smoothly on hidden bearings and within a mere moments the worried band is back inside the Old Brewery again.  The room they enter is remarkably clean as if it had recently been scrubbed clean, and indeed a mop bucket full of filthy bloody water stands in the corner.

Opening the door cautiously the party peers into the room that hold the Brewery's central stair.  Directly opposite them is the former guard post, it's door now ripped off its hinges and the interior charred with fire.  Close examination of the guard post reveals signs of violence and a pile of burnt corpses.

Shaking their heads at the violence of gang warfare, the party returns to the stairs and shifts the steel plate to descend into the Brewery Depths.  The warm, tidy brick chamber below is decorated with glass cases and daguerreotypes in glass frames.  The East wall has a dark passage and to the West is barred by a steel grate.  Examining the displays the party finds that it's a museum of sorts dedicated to the brewery's operational days.  The Weedstone Family is featured prominently, and most of the photos depict the mildly unwholesome process of making mushroom beer.  Grimgrim (Wisdom Check's are good for noticing things) finds one strange photo of a young Weedstone in what appears to be a large cavern lit with sodium lamps hugging some sort of large, white plated fish to his chest.  The cavern in the photo contains a pool and great rafts of giant mushrooms, growing in wooden boxes. A peeling label says 'Brewery Mascot "Bleachy Pete" and Master J. Weedstone'.

In the Necromancer's Villa - Pavelorn Session II

Once more into the grimy pits of Pavelorn's vaults Lune Chamet and his servant the crippled Bol o' the Knee ventured, with only a sinister magician, two holy warriors, a mercenary crossbowman, two servants and a pitbull for company.

Lune - Note the paucity of info, that's LBB OD&D.

After the last delve the party had  left a note for the bandit prince proclaiming its good intentions, and received a reply saying they were untrustworthy and without class, but should they save any bandits rewards would be available.

With a shrug and a laugh the band returned to the great stairs and wandered through the rooms already explored.  Someone had been here before - the bodies were all gone and the scorch marks from the inferno the adventurers had created were scuffed.  With no trouble they were on the roof of the villa in the cavern again.  Beyond the villa's Southern edge a wide boulevard extended into the darkness, paved with smooth ancient cobbles.  Margo the wizard had brought along some axes and sledges and the party quickly demolished the roof above a Southern chamber.  In the chamber beneath were two strange beasts, furred monster men with the heads of stages. Lune and Margo both knew that the best answer for strange creatures was quick death, a plan confirmed when the beast men attacked by fling a torch and then crossbow bolts back at the party.  Once filled with bolts the beastmen were dead and the room below revealed to be a magical prison and place of punishment.  Margo laboriously copied the sigils with the carceri and they were revealed as a sick sorcerous joke to keep the poor beasts trapped and unstarved.

Autochthonic Cybernecromantic Entity

A 10 HD one of these is the central enemy of the Red Demon map I posted earlier this week.  Its zombie thralls crawl through the structure looking for more parts to rebuild and repair, unfortunately they find human parts just as useful as machine.

Autochthonic Cybernecromantic Entity

Cyberzombie advances to protect it's control unit.

No Enc. 1

Movement: (0')

Armorclass:3

Hit Dice: 1 per body absorbed

Attacks:3

Damage: 1D6/1D6/1d6 (Claw/Claw/Claw)

Save: F 5

Morale:10

Hoard Class: XIX

XP: 16 - 2400

Cybernecromantic Zombie

No Enc. 1-20

Movement: (20')

Armorclass:5

Hit Dice:3

Attacks:1

Damage: 1D8

Save:F 3

Morale:12

Hoard Class:None

XP: 65

Cleric of Management

The recent infiltration of my career interests into my game playing interests has me thinking about how to stick a lawyer PC into a game - oh the possibility for terrible in jokes! In a plain OD&D game or a Gonzo science fantasy one this would be silly, I suppose on could have a robed and wigged barrister as a magic-user or thief, or even a barbarian trial by combat specialist who constantly referenced the arcane rules of his practice "Now, in a case of a simple murder the weapons have to be similar, and the defendant gets to choose.  Where reasonable suspicion exists and the the accuser has a history of blood-feud the Prosecutor will be armed with a two handed sword, and the Defendant a short sword."  Still I think that a more modern setting makes perfect sense for lawyer adventurers - they are often freelancers, can be involved with strange folk and sometimes must do their own investigating.  The most compelling modern fantasy setting I know is Weird Adventures.  Below we have an idea for a lawyer adventurer for Weird Adventures. 

Cincinnatus Klar - Cleric of Management

Cincinnatus  Klar
Novice Cleric

Strength - Average to Strong (due to inner conviction)
Intelligence - Slightly above Average
Wisdom - High but obsessive
Constitution - Below Average due to diet and lack of sleep
Dexterity - Average
Charisma - Average, attractive but oddly off-putting unless a devotee of "Management".


Cincinnatus "Cinch" Klar was a bright young man from a good family of Staarkish stock hailing from the steel league. He went to some of the better schools in the league and finally in the city.  Cincinnatus's education led him ultimately to the law, but Cincinnatus' bland career path following his older brother into the family machine parts business, working besides the family firm's elderly solicitor (Cinncinnatus's uncle Joheim) with the goal of letting the old man finally retire after learning the details of the trade was interrupted only a year after Cincinnatus recived his degree and was embarred in both the steel league and city.

Wampus County Play Report - Session IV

Hastily written on scraps of several documents, including a burnt out sleep scroll, and sent by fast carrier to the cities of the West.

Dear Father,

I suppose I am becoming one of the locals here, slowly sliding into the vices of the frontier and gaining its callous virtues.  I have been drinking rather much of late, and killed my fair share of men.  I think one relates to the other, and I claim medicinal need for the alcohol as I am currently recovering from a wicked knife wound to the thigh.

The Red Demon in the Swamp & 100th Post

The Red Demon 1 square = 10'

NOTE: PDF of the whole locale is HERE

So called because of the bright red corrosion marking its huge hull, the Red Demon is an ancient war machine decayed and destroyed, but still menacing.  A large tank like vehicle standing 100' tall and over 100' long, the Demon mounts a massive cannon hanging obscenely from a turret shaped like a grotesque head and rests partially submerged in the noxious swamp.  The Vile Fen is full of such sites, and the Demon is only a small machine, compared to some of the ancient monoliths deeper within its murky embrace

The nearest fishing village knows of it but stays far clear, traditionally because the radioactive sludge leaking from it made it deadly to approach.  The flora and fauna have returned near the wreck in recent years and flourish, but in his youth the headman's local brother attempted to explore the Red Demon and never came back, cementing the artifact's evil reputation.

Within the Demon some chambers have been forced open to the swamp and recently dangerous swamp life including a giant toadypheme have taken up residence in the lower part of the hull.  Other areas of the vehicle have remained sealed, since its destruction ages ago, and hold dangerous unstable explosives, a mad medical subsystem that has reanimated some of the crew, and usable ancient artifacts.

The Law in Denethix and Beyond - A Table

Lawyers, in urban fantasy as in real life, are necessary.  Ideally lawyers fix problems, mediate disputes, act as trustworthy agents and provide advice untainted by emotion. For a real life example (that may actually be useful to you if you live in the US) see the following article on traffic stops - it lays the way bureaucracy works bare and gives easy to use advice for all sides of a dispute .

The ASE party's elven lawyer

Bad lawyers of course exist as well, most bad lawyers are simply overconfident, fail to explain risks well, are desperate for fees or can't keep up with the tortuous pace of legal action. Some are truly bad, con artists, the public face of criminal organizations, bullies, or creeps of various stripes using the respect society gives them and the law as cover for their appetites. Luckily these villains are rare.

In a fantasy metropolis all this is equally true, and adventurers seem likely to fall afoul of the law more than most. Not simply criminal trials because they are amoral killers, but civil actions when would be owners of adventurers' recovered loot step forward or greedy bureaucrats attempt to get a cut. As a civil attorney myself I can foresee numerous ways that fantasy scenarios could become entangled with law and order. In these cases the players will need lawyers to give them legal authority for their acts or simply provide them time to liquidate the gold and make a decent escape.

SESSION XI - Part I - The Wheels of Injustice Turn Slowly.

Faced with an enraged patron the PCs return to the brewery and discover that stranger forces than the grasping hands of crime lurk within.  Huxley takes a dangerous wager.

The Cast

 

Huxley McTeeth - (m) Fighter (Lvl 2) - Short, strong, grizzled, armored, and wielding a magic white saber from the tomb of a Rocket Man.

Grimgrim "The Seared of Monstcrom"- (m) Cleric (Lvl 3) - Recently extra fervent. pig masked.

Druizzilnax (aka Drusilla) - (f) Elf (Lvl 1), physically frail, spear wielding, hideous armor wearing and from a society of militarized cannibals.

Nell Hassenphafler "The Topstown Gore Bird" - (f) Assassin (Lvl 3), Scarred face, sinewy physique, fancy purple metal dress and poison hatpins.

Lemon Jackson, Evoker - (m) Magic-User (Lvl 2) Gun totting & hell-bolt flinging,

A STATISTICAL UPDATE (As emailed to players)

 

Killed: Peacock Boss (Mr. Donnybrooke) (E5*** - 650xp), Animated Coatrack (4HD*** 245xp), 2 Elf Guards (E2* - 58xp), 10 Guards (F2 - 200xp)

Escaped: Harridan Orchids (300 GP)

Captured (XP time 1.5): 2 Guards(F2 - 60xp), Elf Guard(E2* 88xp), Capo Yarrix (E5MU2** 625)

"Innocent" slaughtered: - 200XP from feeling sad.

Slaughter Total: 2026 XP 

Looted: Jade Bowl (150 GP), Furniture (1500 GP - kept 0 XP), lizard plant (100 GP), Ogre tusk netsuke collection (300 GP), Silver Rocket-man belt buckle (150GP), Spare Change (55 GP), 1/2 a nights drug money (400 GP).

Loot Total: 1,155 GP/XP

Bonus XP - I give bonuses based on how in character PC's act - max is party level * 100 per character.

Nell (100XP - Climbing and figuring out orchid trap)

Lemon: (50 XP - Daring vs. Donnybrook)

Drusilla (100 XP - Saving Grimgrim's life)

Huxley (100 XP - Face off with Capo)

Grimgrim (150XP - Getting crazy metal/suffering major wound)

After XP Grimgrim and Nell are 3rd level! Drusilla is 300 shy of 2nd and the rest of the party is rapidly closing  in on 3rd level.

After the Raid

The Adventurers return home with their new furniture and treasure and get a few hours sleep before being summoned by the exalted brother (and Lt. Tsu).

Monty appears with a hired carriage and warns the party that the Lt. is not happy, but that his own boss Joohanssanville seems pretty content.  Monty says that the looting of the upper floors of the Old Brewery is ongoing, and that Joohanssanville's bravos have chased off the few remaining guards and discovered a secret first floor entrance.