Tuesday, January 25, 2022

League One 3: Vampires of Red Square

A League One solo play

I have updated the adventure’s characters to the Assembled Edition. Of course, you won't see that in this blog entry; I've outlined the changes to make in another entry. Night Hunter is renamed Dusk Hunter here; I forget why.

Contents

Menagerie got re-written about halfway through because it turned out I had been handling Transformed characters as animals all wrong.

Briefing

Penultimate threaded her way through the seats of the Guardian plane and found a seat beside Menagerie, who was  curled up on two chairs as a big blue lynx. She felt a cold shudder. Menagerie said, “You’re sitting in Palimpsest.”

There was a brief blip of consciousness, and Penultimate could remember getting up and moving but didn’t remember the volition. Still, she could see the screen from here, so that was fine.

“I would have moved,” she said.

“Pal didn’t want to wait,” said Menagerie. “Hey, if you’re here, who is flying the plane?”

“This plane flies itself.”

“Aren’t we due to land?”

“This plane lands itself,” she repeated. “And the Guardians have priority clearance in all airspaces.”

“We should tell them we’re not the Guardians,” said Doc Golem, in human form.

“They’ll notice. Better rock up.”

He sighed and shifted to rock form.

Skyblaze sat down with her diet soda.

“Diet?” asked Penultimate.

“Someone drank all the regular.” She looked directly at Menagerie.

“Don't know who that could be. Oh, I think I spilled some pizza,” he said. “I hope the stain comes out.”

The screen grew into an image of an African-American colonel in a blue UNLES uniform.

“Guardians—You’re not the Guardians.”

“Still off-planet,” said Penultimate.

Menagerie flickered to a goat. “We’re the farm team.”

The colonel  raised an eyebrow but went on. “We’ll take your help. We’ve got an Omega-class  emergency here. Vampires are taking over the Red Square. You are hereby deputized to help.”

Everyone sat up. Menagerie shifted back into a lynx.

The summary was this: At 2100 Moscow time last night, a brigade of vampires surrounded Red Square at 2100 hours and demanded the surrender of the Russian government—“They don’t know any Russians, do they?” murmured Skyblaze. They announced their  intent to create a vampire nation, where vampires could walk around freely and humans would be chattel.

“They don’t know any humans either,” said Menagerie.

“Shh,” said Penultimate.

The colonel told them that the Russian  senior officials were trapped in the Palace of Congresses at the Kremlin, cut off from outside military aid. Defending them was up to the few guards who were there, two dozen UNLES commandos, and the heroes.

He leaned forward. “All of that you could have gotten from the news.”

“We did,” said Penultimate. Menagerie and Doc Golem looked at her. Skyblaze rolled her eyes.

“The following is talk-only clearance. Through other sources, we have discovered that a Nazi vampire has resurfaced from the past. There’s a chronosynclastic fibula, whatever the hell that is, and this vampire is named Baron Mannheim.  He and his team  called the Night Brigade have resurfaced. We know his second in command was a necromancer known as Dr. Night.”

“Who created the fibula?” asked Doc Golem.

“Our current theory is that Dr. Night did something magical to get the Night Brigade out of a tight spot during the Seige of Stalingrad. Now Mannheim is trying to finish what Hitler started in World War 2.”

Penultimate looked at Starblaze. “Dates for Seige of Stalingrad?”

“Late August, 1942 to February 1943,” Starblaze said.

“Same for me.”

“We’ve disrupted communications, but if they get control of the Palace, they’ll have effective control of communications. And they’ll have control of the Russian disinformation farms; it will take them a while to realize what that means, but it will be bad.”

“So stop vampires, find Night Brigade and neutralize them.”

“We can hold off the vampires until dawn. You need to find the Night Brigade and deal with them. We’ll have you dealing with weak points until we locate Mannheim. Meet our agent Dusk Hunter at these co-ordinates.”

Flying Bloodsuckers

“Four vampires with jetpacks,” said Dusk Hunter. On top of that building over there. And that spot looks weak.” He stopped for a moment, drew his bow, and fired. A vampire fell across the street, a wooden shaft through his heart.

“On it,” said Penultimate. “But Mannheim’s plan doesn’t make any sense,” she complained.

“Move,” growled Dusk Hunter.

“Menagerie, you and Skyblaze take the vampires on jet packs.”  What a world, that I can say these things, she thought. “Doc and I will shore up that bit of barricade.”

Skyblaze and Menagerie-as-owl got to the top of the building. [1] Skyblaze fired and disintegrated her SS trooper; Menagerie clawed it but to no effect.

“I know an owl isn’t enough,” said Menagerie. “No, it’s winter, as a pterosaur I’d just go to sleep and freeze!”

Palimpsest tried to enter the vampire that Menagerie had just attacked but found that the palpable aura of evil kept her away. [2]

The three snipers on the roof held their fire, unwilling to hit the heroes.

The vampires had no such compunction [3] and fired their rifles. All three missed.

Modern rifles , noticed Starblaze. Probably didn’t know they could get 9mm parabellum for their MP41s from small arms. Faster to grab something modern. She dimly heard Menagerie say, “Well, that’s gonna be a problem” as she fired on another. [4] He disintegrated, and the jetpack went up too.

Menagerie decided instead to become a chimpanzee and fall on one of the vampires. [5] “So how strong is this jet pack? Enh, you probably don’t speak English, anyway.

Only one of the vampires could fire, and he missed Starblaze. The other one struggled to get free. [6]

Starblaze blasted again [7] and another one disintegrated. “Good thing Doc isn’t here. You going to finish him or you want to get off and I’ll do it?”

“I can do it. He’s cheesing me off.” [8] Chimps are strong; he managed to rip the vampire’s head off, and they started to fall together; Starblaze flew down next to him and he jumped onto her back.

Naziferatu

Meanwhile, Doc and Penultimate were behind a blockade of cars, benches, and trash, and facing eight vampires. “Doc, you help reinforce that section there.”

“No — that’s where the commandos go in and out.”

Penultimate parkoured up to the top of the barricade and saw the vampires killing the half-dozen commandos there. “There’s hurt people, Doc. Get them, and I’ll try to make a diversion.”

She somersaulted down into the thick of things, [9] grabbed a vampire and jammed a wooden chair leg into his chest. The vampire fell to the ground. Huh. Didn’t turn to dust; Buffy was wrong. Doc’ll be happy.

Over in the middle of the crush, Doc had backhanded a vampire away from one of the fallen commandos. He picked up the man.

The vampire hissed and tried to attack Doc. [10]

Penultimate managed to dance away from the other vampires. “Nuh-uh, this happy meal isn’t on the menu.”

Doc managed to shoulder his way through the barricade, which left Penultimate facing seven vampires.

She [11] lashed out and missed three but hit the other four.

They attacked, but two of them did so badly she could use a technique she had learned and knocked them out. The last one hit, though, and his fangs slashed through her coat and along her arm. [12]

“Uh, Doc?”

“This man’s in shock!” [13]

“Doc, I need you!”

Favouring her arm, Penultimate swirled around again, kicking at all of them, but missing the last two. That knocked out two of the vampires, but that still left three of them.

Fortunately, all of them missed, one of growling something in German.

Doc cursed in Yiddish and tried again. [14]

“Doc? Nice if you hurried up.” Penultimate lashed out again, and knocked out all but one of them, but he was the one who had drunk some of her blood, and she was suddenly irrationally afraid of him. [15]

She tried to steel herself against it [16] and failed.

The vampire grinned and said something in German. The accent was unfamiliar but she could make out “are mine!”

She couldn’t believe it but she was cowering like the victim in a Hammer horror movie. The vampire came close— [17]

—and a rocky fist hit him across the street. “You’re hurt!” Doc said to her.

There was a howling.

Doc hoisted Penultimate over his shoulder and walked her behind the barricade. “You should have said something,” he said. She could see something wolf-like bounding towards them, and then Doc pulled a car across the opening.

“Let me look at that,” he rumbled. [18] He cleaned and bandaged it.

“We should be out there.”

Starblaze appeared above them. “Four werewolves, I guess. Menagerie’s making barking sounds at them. You ready or should we deal with this?”

“Job’s a job,” said Penultimate. “Let’s go.”

Doc moved the car again.

“Hey, werewolf!” called Penultimate. “Come through the narrow opening!”

A streak of reddish-brown appeared, and slashed at her. [19] Crap, they’re fast.

Doc pulled the car back in place. “One at a time.”

“Thanks,” said Penultimate. She somersaulted up the barricade to avoid the next attack [20] and searched in her gadget bag for something that would be useful.

“Don’t encourage him! Or her, I suppose,” Doc said. He swung at the werewolf [21] and missed.

The werewolf slashed at Doc. “Oh, tough. I almost felt that!”

Penultimate searched again. Nothing silver. What else affects werewolves? [22]

Doc swung again. [23] “I’m really more of a wrestling guy.” His fist connected with the werewolf’s ribs.

Penultimate found a can of adhesive spray and a lighter. That will do. She flicked the lighter on and directed the flame at the werewolf. [24]

The werewolf shrieked and fell down, unconscious.

“So how many of them are there?” she asked.

Skyblaze showed up. “Oh, three more. I got one, and Men’s turned into a hawk of some kind and he’s dive-bombing the other two. We’d appreciate your help.”

“Did I detect snark?” Penultimate got to the top of the barrier and gave a worried look where the vampire had fallen.

His body was there, beheaded.

She felt a wave of relief. The commandos are not as sensitive as Doc.

“They’re fast,” she said. “So we need to bottle them up, somewhere their speed isn’t as useful.”

“Would a chunk of road be useful?” said Doc, and he sank his hands into the asphalt. “Have to be careful here because it’s brittle from the cold.” [25] He started to pull up the road, slowly.

Starblaze saw what he was doing and grabbed a car that wasn’t on the barricade, [26] and dropped it at right angles to a building.

Menagerie saw where they were building and swooped toward the building to lead the werewolves there. [27]

Instead, they decided to attack Penultimate. One hit. [28]

Penultimate lit her improvised flamethrower again [29] and sprayed a gout of flame over the werewolf, who howled in pain.

The other werewolf stood stock still.

“Pal’s got him!” called Menagerie.

Doc grunted with effort and tore up a long chunk of road, which he set on edge against the building. [30]

Skyblaze grabbed another car. This one came apart in her hands, already slashed by werewolves or vampires or whatever.

The injured werewolf snapped at Penultimate, but missed and raced into the darkness.

Penultimate tried to catch him with her flamethrower but failed. “Too fast,” she said.

“I’ll keep an eye on him,” said Menagerie.

Doc paused for a moment to wrap his arms around the werewolf that Palimpsest had possessed and squeezed . It took nearly half a minute for him to knock out the werewolf, which turned into a wolf once unconscious.

“Poor doggy,” said Doc.

Penultimate followed the sound of Menagerie’s voice and found the injured werewolf at the end of an improvised alley, on top of a car, trying to escape.

She grabbed a penetrating dart from her gadget bag. [31] The dart sank into the gas tank, and the werewolf looked quizzically at the sound.

“Escaping gas, Rin-tin-tin. You’re tough, so this won’t kill you.” She turned the improvised flame thrower and lit it.

The car exploded. She pulled the wolf from the flames and radioed. “Werewolves down. By the two cathedrals.”

Doctor Night

“You’re on the east side?” came Dusk Hunter’s voice. “The sorcerer has breached the east side and he’s summoned some kind of demons. This might be the turning point.”

“We’re on our way.” Everything might be the turning point. How often did I hear that before my Earth fell?

“League One—assemble!”

Menagerie flew overhead. “Oh, yeah, I already saw the ugly demon things. Sight of an owl, baby.”

“You and Skyblaze scout out the area. Your Pal?”

“Demons and vampires she can’t touch.”

“Too bad.” She saw Doc tromping up the street, and she bounced up to meet him.

“You’re hurt again,” he said to her. [32]

“Occupational hazard.” [33]

“Hold on a second.” He reached into his bag and pulled out an ampoule, then fitted it into one of the syringes made for his rocky hands. He injected her. [34]

“Sit for a minute. You’ll be good until morning or until you do something else occupationally hazardous.”

He picked her up and threw her over his shoulder.

Once there, [35] a demon of some kind dove for Penultimate. Doc swatted it down out of the air, as neatly as a tennis player returning a serve. [36]

“I didn’t hurt it, did I?” he asked Penultimate.

There was no point telling Doc it was a creature from Hell. “I’m sure it’s fine.”

It was obvious they had reached Dr Night’s entry point. Night was floating above the barricade, directing his minions as though he were the conductor of an orchestra of hellspawn. Penultimate somersaulted off Doc in time to avoid one of the larger demons. [37]

“Skyblaze, he’s flying. He’s yours. Everyone else, grab a demon and dance.” She spent a moment affixing a holy symbol to a stick. [38] [39]

With a shout of joy, Skyblaze curved around and fired on Dr. Night [40] hitting him solidly and illuminating him in her blaze. Her blast faded and he disappeared.

“I didn’t vaporize him, did I?”

Menagerie was doing a King Kong on the building, [41] grabbing a demon out of the air. It vanished after he hit it.

“Nah, he stayed around for a second. I guess they’re regrouping.”

Doc Golem tore up a piece of pavement and threw it at a flying demon. It went wide and nearly hit Skyblaze. “Sorry,” he rumbled.

The demons sent blasts of mystic energy, dark rents in reality that missed.

Skyblaze said, “Apology accepted,” [42] and blasted a demon, which vanished.

Penultimate ran up the side of the building and flipped so she had an angle on the demon flying by; she hit, and the demon vanished.

As an owl, Menagerie managed to grab hold of a flying demon with his talons.

The demons concentrated on Skyblaze, firing mystic blasts at her. All missed, but one of them came very close. She aimed at him instead [43] and blew him away.

“We’re not killing them, right?”

“Pal says we’re disrupting the spell that brought them to this plane.”

Penultimate said, “If you can’t trust a ghost on these matters…” There was one more close enough [44] so she leapt and got it, but it didn’t vanish. [45] Instead, it veered to attack her.

Menagerie changed to a gorilla, still gripping the demon, and the demon fell out of the sky, with the additional weight.

Skyblaze said, “There’s probably a staging area for demons to be summoned, and medical facilities at return.”

Doc Golem grabbed a car and used it to swat the demon heading for Penultimate. “Well, I’m sending him to medical aid, then.”

There were two demons left; the one under Menagerie had vanished when it hit the ground. [46]

Skyblaze fried another demon and it vanished. There was one left. A few seconds later, there were none left.

Fafnir!

“North side,” came Dusk Hunter’s voice on the radio. “The one named Fafnir, hellfire flamethrower. He’s got commandos pinned down and a group of vampires as well.”

“On it!” Penultimate said. “But it makes no sense,” she told Doc Golem. “Obviously they don’t actually want to control the country; they could have gotten into the Palace of Congresses easily with just Dr. Night’s power.”

“Maybe he’s not as smart as you are.”

Skyblaze was there first, of course, and radioed back. “Five Russian vamps and Fafnir. He’s dodgy and fast; I missed him once.” [47]

“Flamethrower look mystic or vintage?”

“Both. Not German WWII vintage, but old-style. Probably bespoke.”

“Doc,” Penultimate said, “You and I will take the vampires. Men, Skyblaze, concentrate on Fafnir.” [48]

Skyblaze [49] fired from above at Fafnir, but he was shielded and her blast dissipated.

Penultimate [50] leapt to one side and hit one vampire trooper with her holy stick. [51] That vampire went down. The others scuttled up the wall of the Arsenal, out of reach.

Menagerie swooped in on Fafnir [52] but his claws didn’t sink into the man’s skin. “O-ho. Force field of some kind!”

Fafnir [53] sprayed a gout of flame at Menagerie but missed.

The four remaining vampires leapt at Penultimate. [54] She dodged all of them. “They’re on the ground now, Doc!”

Doc picked one and punched. [55]

Skyblaze circled Fafnir and fired again. [56] “Missed again!”

Fafnir fired back at Skyblaze. [57] The gout of hellfire caught her square. She heard the voices of every one she had ever wronged, and the searing pain. She groaned with effort.

Menagerie [58] attempted to keep Fafnir distracted, flying around his head and making quick passes. [59]

The three vampires all missed Penultimate, and she hissed, “I have this. You’re the only one who can hurt Fafnir!”

Doc nodded. [60] His fist connected with Fafnir’s chest, and Fafnir went flying over the barricade out into the night.

“He vanished, too,” reported Menagerie.

Tank Attack

Their communicators spoke again. “They’ve got a tank. Repeat, they’ve commandeered a tank. You should be able to see it, it’s on the northern side.”

Penultimate could see it. The tank was rumbling toward them.

“Men? Can you take them from in the tank?”

“I can do one, but not the other.”

Then Penultimate saw the second tank heading toward them.

“I’ll take the left one,” said Doc Golem. “Menagerie’s methods might not harm the tank; I am not so gentle.”

The driving slits were wide enough that Menagerie could fly into his tank. Once inside, he shifted to a komodo dragon and struck with his claws, [61] decapitating both of them.

“Theoretically, they’re both dead, so I didn’t kill them. Yeah, I know, Pal, it’s a slippery slope.”

He switched to human form and looked for how to shut it down. [62] “Heh. Guess I was listening during Pen’s boring-ass lectures.”

“‘Boring’?”

Doc Golem ran toward his advancing tank. He wanted to be on concrete, not soil, when he met it. “They’re dry, Pen. As an undergrad I would have skipped ‘Piloting Weapons of the Soviet Hegemony.’” [63] The tank was nearly there—

“But it’s useful now,” said Penultimate.

Doc Golem got the tank right where he wanted to grab it, and flipped it over.

“That’s it? I thought you were gonna go all Rambo,” said Skyblaze.

“I realized they can’t get out if it’s on the hatch.”

“Wimpy attack,” she said.

“ I flipped over a tank ,” he replied.

“Cool it. Men, I need a bird’s eye view. I think there’s still something about this that we’re missing. Look for something unusual.”

“Besides the undead Nazi commandos?”

“Besides.”

Dusk Hunter came on his channel. “Satellites have just identified Mannheim and a crew entering Lenin’s tomb. One of our people thinks he might be going to raise Lenin to get the people’s support. If we can take out Mannheim, we can stop this whole thing.”

Battle at Lenin’s Tomb

Skyblaze got to the squat pyramidal mausoleum first, but she waited for Penultimate and Doc Golem before going in. The door was open and the interior gates were ajar..

“Damned Nazis. Can’t even shut the doors,” muttered Skyblaze.

“Go ahead, interrupt whatever they’re doing. We’ll follow as fast as we can.”

Without saying anything, Skyblaze was gone. [64]

By the time Penultimate and Doc Golem got there, both Skyblaze and Dr. Night were floating on opposite sides of the inner mausoleum. Fafnir was on the near side of the black and red sarcophagus.On the far side of the sarcophagus, Mannheim was screaming at the two vampires in turbans near him.

“He’s telling them to finish the ritual no matter what,” reported Skyblaze.

“Then concentrate on the mystics!”

“You must concentrate on me!” roared Dr. Night, and wind suddenly sprang up, whirling around the inside of the tomb, racing along the viewing corridor. Mannheim’s group was in the eye of this storm; the ceremonial cloth draped on the sarcophagus barely rippled. Penultimate grabbed Doc against the sudden slam of wind. She was protected, somewhat, in his lee.

Fafnir switched his flamethrower to point at Penultimate and Doc Golem . [65] He aimed upwind and fired. [66] Hellfire splashed harmlessly against Doc. The mystics continued chanting. [67]

Skyblaze darted down, still in the calmness of the eye, and fired under the roof of the sarcophagus. [68] She had aimed her blast precisely to avoid the sarcophagus, but the ball of skyfire engulfed both mystics and began to touch Baron Mannheim; the mystics collapsed, smoking.

“That’s job one,” she said in German; in English, she added, “Job two is breaking wind.” She grinned.

A radio on Mannheim’s side crackled. “The package is secure.”

Mannheim grinned. “Los auf!” he said, and faded into a mist.

Penultimate looked through her utility belt [69] and found the explosive mines. She had noticed that Fafnir’s flamethrower might explode if you hit it in the right spot. “Doc, grab Fafnir.”

Doc grabbed at the undead commando [70] and squeezed. Fafnir screamed.

The wind dropped. “We will return for you,” said Dr. Night in German and flew out.

Fafnir struggled [71] but to no avail.

“Can’t touch the Baron in this form, following Night,” said Skyblaze and zipped off.

“Go!” said Penultimate to Doc Golem. “I’ll stay here in case Mannheim hasn’t actually left.” [72] Doc Golem nodded and ran off.

Penultimate closed the doors and turned on the lights. In German, she said, “You can come out, now.” If Mannheim wasn’t there, no one would hear her—

Instead there was a tap on her shoulder. “You want me.” It was not a question.

She turned. “You’ve been hurt and are hungry. A young woman, left alone in a tomb—a snack, and what better way to get an operative on the other side than by suborning her?”

She lashed out with a kick and then somersaulted back. “Very stereotypical.” [73]

Mannheim growled and, lightning quick, reached for her [74] but she managed to avoid both grabs.

Her next kick [75] connected, too, and Mannheim folded. She had a wooden stick, which she pounded into his heart, and then carried him out.

“We’re by the front gate,” said Doc Golem, over the communicator.

She trotted over, with Mannheim over her shoulder. There was a row of vampires next to an army cargo truck with a mangled front end.

“I see you found something,” she said to Menagerie.

“There’s a diamond repository here.”

Penultimate nodded. “Has been since before 1917.”

“For some reason, they wanted the diamonds.”

“Insurrection’s expensive work.” She looked at the truck. “Hippo?”

Smugly, Menagerie said, “Rhino. This rhino hates cargo trucks.”

Dusk Hunter rode his air cycle down. “Good work. How did you know?”

“I didn’t, but the stated plan didn’t make sense. When they hit the mausoleum, it made even less sense, even for 1944 thinking. So I asked Menagerie here to look something more unusual than time travelling commando Nazis.” She nodded toward the truck. “Turns out there was something, and Menagerie stopped it.”

“And you got the rest of the Night Brigade.”

“The main figures. There are still wolves and vampires to clear up, but with luck your people can do that. Or you can call in the Guardians for that, when they get back.”

In the plane later, Skyblaze said, “Did I detect snark?”

“Did that come through? I have to work on that.”

Characters of League One

Penultimate (Rae Summers)

Origin Trained

Great (6) Prowess Great (6) Coordination Good (5) Strength Good (5) Intellect Good (5) Awareness Good (5) Willpower

Determination 5

Stamina 10

Specialties Athletics, Investigation, Leadership, Medicine, Pilot, Science, Technology

Powers

  • Great (6) Gadgets

Qualities

  • From an alternate dimension
  • Trained in everything
  • Sensitive that she’s second-best

Doc Golem (Jacob Meyrink)

Origin Transformed

Great (6) Prowess Good (5) Coordination Fair (4) Strength Great (6) Intellect Fair (4) Awareness Great (6) Willpower

Stamina 10 Determination 4

Specialties Medicine Expert (+2), Wrestling (+1)

Powers

  • Amazing (8) Alternate Form Stone
  • Fair (4) Regeneration

Qualities

  • We do what we can, and a little bit more
  • Doctor, sworn to help, not harm
  • Paying a debt

Menagerie (Charlie Davenport)

Origin Transformed

Average (3) Prowess Fair (4) Coordination Fair (4) Strength Fair (4) Intellect Fair (4) Awareness Great (6) Willpower

Stamina 10 Determination 4

Specialties Aerial Combat Master (+3), Martial Arts Master (+3), Underwater Combat Master (+3) [76]

Powers

  • Animal senses: Weak (1) Detect (see ghosts)
  • Supreme (10) Transformation (animals)
    • Extra: Instant
    • Limit: Tell

Qualities

  • Shapeshift master
  • Insecure showboat
  • Sonics! My weakness! (+degree effect)

Palimpsest (Andi Noll)

Origin Transformed

Fair (4) Prowess Fair (4) Coordination Poor (2) Strength Average (3) Intellect Good (5) Awareness Incredible (7) Willpower

Stamina 9 Determination 2

Specialties

Powers

  • Ghost:
    • Weak (1) Phasing Limit: Constant
    • Weak (1) Flight
    • Supreme (10) Life Support
  • Incredible (7) Possession Limit: Close

Qualities

  • Ghost
  • Haunting her murderer
  • An unholy symbol! My weakness!

Skyblaze (Deanna Sult)

Origin Transformed

Great (6) Prowess Great (6) Coordination Incredible (7) Strength Fair (4) Intellect Average (3) Awareness Good (5) Willpower

Stamina 12 Determination 2

Specialties Aerial Combat (+1)

Powers

  • Amazing (8) Blast
  • Weak (1) Super-senses [All Languages]
  • Fair (4) Flight

Qualities

  • Secret ID [Deanna Sult]
  • Varied mysterious history
  • Making up for the past


Game Mechanics

[1] Skyblaze moderate success, so that SS Trooper is toast; Menagerie marginal success, so its damage resistance soaks up the damage.

[2] One of her Qualities causing a problem; she gets an extra Determination Point.

[3] All of the vampires fire rifles and get moderate or major failures.

[4] She gets 6+1 vs 5, so moderate success.

[5] We’ll call it prowess, so he gets 8 vs 5, a major success. We’ll call it a wrestling move instead. He squeezes and does 3 stamina after the Damage Resistance is subtracted.

[6] Major failure. (5-3 vs 6)

[7] 6+3 vs 5. He’s gone.

[8] He activates his quality “Mastery of animal forms” to push his strength by one and does enough damage to knock out the vampire. Then he jumps onto Starblaze as the vampire falls.

[9] Retcon: Need to have grabbed something made of wood. DP: 3. 6+3 vs 5, major success. No slam.

[10] Vampire manages a marginal hit but Doc has Damage Resistance 8. Because they are stupid, half of the vampires attack Doc, where it doesn’t matter if they hit, and the other half miss Penultimate.

[11] She starts by stunting burst on her strength attacks, activating the “Trained in Everything” Quality and spending a Determination. DP: 2 Four of the vampires are at 3 Stamina now.

[12] Energy Drain hits for 5 Stamina; that particular vampire is up to full.

[13] Doc does not do so well on the Medicine roll, getting 8-4 versus difficulty 4.

[14] Because he’s already done some stabilization, difficulty is only 3 this time. Doc gets 8 versus 3. Massive success.

[15] Using his Vampire quality to stunt Emotion control. She gets a DP because he stunts. DP: 3.

[16] Willpower roll 5-3 vs 5. Major failure.

[17] 6+3 vs 5. Major success. Slam is major success.

[18] This time he does much better on the Medicine roll and gets a Major success. She spends the DP on a recovery, activating “Trained in Everything.”

[19] How lucky! The Blutwolf rolled 7-5 versus Pen’s 6. Major failure.

[20] The Blutwolf misses again, but 7-4 vs 6.

[21] Narrow miss: 6-1 vs 7.

[22] And she fails again for the Intellect roll of something rank 6. Gonna have to spend a determination point.

[23] This one connects: 6+3 vs 7. Werewolf down to 4 stun.

[24] Marginal hit, but the werewolf takes an extra degree of damage, so that’s 6 stamina, and the werewolf falls down.

[25] Actually a Maneuver-as-pyramid test using Strength to create an advantage that will then become a Quality “Confined Space”. He creates the Advantage but

[26] Moderate success, so that works toward creating the Quality.

[27] He does not succeed.

[28] With a major success; no slam. She spends a DP on recovery; her Stamina now 6

[29] 8 vs 7. She hits for 8 Stamina.

[30] Moderate success this time.

[31] I’m not actually checking for Gadgets; instead, the Gadget check is a Maneuver for an advantage: we’re creating the Quality “Explosive Situation.” Difficulty 5, rolls 5+3 for the Maneuver, then rolls again to create the Quality…another 5+3, for a major success, which includes a free activation.

[32] She’s currently Stamina 6.

[33] Say Dr Night and 4 minion weak demonic minions and 4 average ones.

[34] Accepting Trouble — loss of a page — for an Advantage, then spent on Recovery. She’s at 10 Stamina now.

[35] Wouldn’t be Trouble if it didn’t cause some.

[36] The weak minion got 3 vs Doc’s 6, and Doc got 7 versus the minion’s 4. That one’s gone.

[37] Avg Minion gets 4 vs 7 to hit, which doesn’t. Pen: 7 Stamina

[38] INT roll is 9 vs 5, so it’s now a holy stick. This has no game effect, but it seems like something the character would do.

[39] Initiatives: Skyblaze: 12, Penultimate: 11, Menagerie: 10, Doc Golem: 9, Palimpsest: 8, Dr. Night: 8,Demons: 6

[40] 6-1 vs 3; hits. He’s at Stamina 1.

[41] d2 roll if it’s average or weak: weak. He hits, 6-1 vs 4.

[42] She gets 10 vs 4. Hits.

[43] Her attack is 6+4 vs 4. No stun.

[44] Attack is 6+4 vs 6. No slam.

[45] Attack is 6+0 vs 6. Marginal, but that demon’s at 3 stun, so 4 Stamina removes it.

[46] Both miss Skyblaze.

[47] Well, no, I didn’t even bother to roll. But she can have a Determination Point for that. Now she has two.

[48] Initiatives: Sky: 12 Pen: 11 Men: 11 Fafnir: 11 Pal: 10 Vamps: 9 Doc: 7

[49] 6-3 vs 7. Nope.

[50] 6+3 vs 3. No stun.

[51] I’m going to say that as a holy artifact, it ups the degree of effect by one.

[52] 6+2 vs 7: moderate success.

[53] 7-2 vs 7: failure

[54] 3+3, 3-2, 3-5, 3-1 vs 7 (6+1 for Athletics)

[55] 6-3; marginal success, but they’re minions.

[56] That’s 6-2 vs 7. Miss.

[57] 7 vs 6; a moderate hit. She loses 6 Stamina. Now at 6.

[58] Spends a point of Determination on Inspiration.

[59] Intellect roll vs Fafnir’s intellect of 3 to create “Distracted” quality; I’ll be nice and let him add +1 for Aerial combat: 4+1-1 vs 3. One free activation, which he passes to Doc.

[60] He’s got +2 from Distracted, and he activates “Making up” for another +2. 6+4-1 = 9 vs 5. Slam is 8+1 vs 4. Fafnir now at 6 Stamina.

[61] I just realized I’ve been giving his animal forms the Prowess and Coordination of his human form. He’s a better fighter as a human than as a chimp, which is what I was originally going to do. As a komodo, his Prowess is 4. 4+2 vs 3: major success. He also activates Mastery for Burst, and gets 4+3 vs other vampire.

[62] Intellect roll, difficulty 3. 4+1 vs 3.

[63] Not rolling to hit, but to get a good grip. 6+1+5 vs 3, that’s massive success.

[64] I’m going to say she came in and attacked one of the mystics; 6+2 vs 4 (say), so she hit with a major success. No slam.

[65] Initiative: Fafnir: 7+4, Mystics: 5+5, Skyblaze: 6+4, Baron: 5+5, Pen 6+4, Doc: 5+4, Night: 3+2

[66] Just a -1 for the wind, because they’ve worked together before. 7-1+3 vs 5+2, moderate hit against (rolls) Doc.

[67] The module suggests 5 pages. 5-1: 4 left.

[68] She has DP 2, spends one to activate “Making up for the past” and stunt Burst.  She gets 6+5 vs 5+2, vaporizes both mystics; moderate hit vs Mannheim, who is now at 3 Stamina.

[69] Intellect roll: timed mine, rank 6. 5+6 vs 6+2. She’s got one for next turn.

[70] Lucky! 6+4 vs 5+1. He gets a solid hold and gets to give a little squeeze. Fafnir takes 4 more stamina; down to 2.

[71] 4+2 vs 8+1+6

[72] Mythic: Is Mannheim still there for some reason? 5% Emphatic yes.

[73] She hits: 6+3 vs 5, does (5-3) damage. Mannheim has 1 stamina, and needs blood.

[74] He attacks twice, at 5-1 and 5 vs 7. Fails.

[75] 6+4 vs 5. Connect. Stun effect is nil.            

[76] Character re-written about two-thirds of the way through the adventure because I had been misinterpreting the rules regarding Coordination, Prowess, and Transformation.

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