deadSun -MAXIMAL- 08 Desert Crawl

 LOOT

- A whole lot of nothin'!

DEVELOPMENTS

- Mab's treasure map lead to a strange crystal ruin sunken into the sands, its door sealed by some manner of sorcery.

- All traffic is halted east from Fort Auroch due to a mysterious murder by one traveling performer Yako the Blue, who is imprisoned in the Fort's dungeon.

We had a lowkey game of exploration and debating the best ways to murder three more people to sate the sword god's bloodlust.

We opened with the unveiling of Kestrel's surprising paint job - one half of the hoverbike was refashioned in a creepy neogothic Philippe Druillet ceramic face motif, and the other was painted like the Hatsune Miku motorcycle. Kestrel was impressed. Machine Kid gave him his card in case people asked about who did the work, trying to get his name out there as a designer.

The Village of Hog's keeper Jospel asked them to meet him in his gardens; the Company agreed. Jospel politely outlined his argument after offering the Company to partake of his motor oil - the biker gang was likely to retaliate due to the recent massacre, and they would be looking for the Company, so acting as the village's protector, Jospel needed the Company to make themselves scarce as quickly as possible. The Company found his logic sound and agreed to get out of town ASAP, which frankly surprised and relieved Jospel. 

They travelled the wastes on their new hoverbikes, riding east. They stashed their iron mule Mischief at the mysterious merchant's hut by Rat Creek. His necrotortoise packmule was conspicuously absent from the stables, but Pete's cyborg steed was still there. The company then set out enjoying the perks of covering ground at twice the rate.

They followed the treasure map given to them by Adipose Mab and arrived at a strange crystal ruin sunk into the central scarlet desert sealed by a blacker-than-black metal double-door. Some graffiti indicated Halaena Graf's gang had passed through recently; a broken hammer and chisel at the foot of the door and a hobo sign on the wall indicated that the door was likely sealed by some form of sorcery. Kestrel knocked on the door to no response. They gave the grounds a once-over, then decided to carry on in search of more people to murder.

More Gus L goodness

Riding southwest, they passed by a crumbled blue statue of an ancient monarch and spent the next evening camped atop a rocky mesa. During her midnight watch, Hipsap spotted a group of seven weary and well-laden tomb robbers with their two mules heading east on the road below them, but in a sudden fit of conscience, the Company decided not to get involved.

The next day they passed through towering red canyons painted with enormous ancient cave-paintings depicting strange lanky figures, then arrived at Fort Auroch. They found a large group of merchants camped around its gate, who gave them shifty looks and conversed in hushed tones as they passed. The Fort's portcullis was barred and the guards demanded they turn back, but they bribed their way in with some of the vintage pin-up magazines Hipsap had looted from the bikers previously. The bribed guard welcomed them to Fort Auroch and gave them the low-down: folks were testy for two reasons. The first: no passage was granted into the Crimson Canyons beyond Fort Auroch's eastern gate due to a wild rampaging angel on the loose. The second: a traveling performer from one of the stopped caravans, Yako the Blue, was being held in the Fort's dungeon after murdering a guard in cold blood.

Thus concluded the session. Seven days remain to sate the Sword God's curse.

deadSun -MAXIMAL- 07 Hoverbandit Rumble

LOOT

- 30gp from the Machine Kid for stripped bike parts

    > Kestrel spent their share on a "surprising paint job" for their bike from the Machine Kid Binocco

- 1 Stack of Vintage Pin-up Magazines (worth 800cp)

- 1 lead-lined pouch of chipped Occulith, toxic crystal gemstones (worth 1,000cp)

- 3 Metal Cylinders, depressible button on top, Blue Clock symbol painted on it (1/4 slot)

- 1 Metal Cylinder, same button, Green Hazard symbol (1/4 slot)

- 1 flask half-full of backwashed rotgut (1/4 slot)

- 1 sticky note, "REMEMBER TO PICK UP SLOP FOR THE HOG-GATORS!"

DEVELOPMENTS

- Six out of Nine people have been slain to sate the Sword-God's bloodlust, after which it claims it will release Breezy Pete

4th of Lastmonth, Year 1V39

Gaming

 We opened with players locked in a stalemate with the hoverbiker outlaw gang. The gang demanded the return of the stolen hoverbike and funeral expenses paid for their comrade, whom the Company had slain previously. 

Under the guise of accepting the deal, Kestrel hid their rat companion under the hoverbike's hood and passed the bike over to the Ooze Mutant, the outlaw gang's spokesmutant. The rat leapt out and dealt the Ooze Mutant a fatal surprising blow, and the battle was on.

Seizing initiative, Gemini attacked one of the gun-toting bandits with a throw of Breezy Pete's Emerald Spear, slaying them instantly. The slain outlaw's partner immediately failed his morale roll, turned tail and fled. Hipsap took a lucky reaction as one of the gunners on the opposite hill whiffed his shot terribly, and she made short work of them with her moldy maleficence. 

The bug bandit's lieutenant - a hulking 8' tall insectoid mutant - leapt from his bike with inhuman speed and flexed his massive mutoid biceps, blasting the sleeves off of his black leather jacket and revealing a glowing tattoo of a rose. He engaged Kestrel and Gemini in a long bloody melee. Kestrel created an opening by blinding the mutant bugman with sand from the ground, and Gemini scored a powerful hit with their lucerne, but the bugman kept on coming, its carapace hissing and roiling as neon green ooze dripped from its wounds.

The bugman fended off the mighty blows and a second pair of insectoid arms burst from his body, which seized Gemini and dealt a powerful blow. Gemini was nearly rendered Deader than Dead, but judicious use of the Grit feat reduced the wound to a destroyed arm. Gemini still was knocked unconscious and would die quickly if not treated.

Seizing the Door Sword from Gemini's person, Hipsap shouted the name of her destination - the village of Hog - and drove it into the bugman. Light began to pour out of his body, and still he did not back down, but Kestrel score a killing blow with a point-blank flintlock pistol headshot. The bugman melted into a pool of neon green goop, and beneath his molten flesh appeared a rusted cellar door.

Hoisting the door open and hurling the lethally wounded Gemini through it, the party found themselves crashing into a scrap heap inside the Machine Kid's garage back in the village. He was busy gaming on his vintage setup and was annoyed at the interruption, but quickly helped Gemini into a MutaTube and stabilized them before they died.

The party returned to loot the battlefield and found many things, including a sticky note that read, REMEMBER TO PICK UP SLOP FOR THE HOG-GATORS! 

The party kept three of the hoverbikes for themselves and cut a deal with the Machine Kid, who paid them 3,000cp for the rest to strip for parts. They chatted for a while and Machine Kid pointed out they would need to repaint them quickly if they didn't want to be taken for brigands around the village, and offered to repaint them for 1,000cp each, using something he called "the Algorithm." Kestrel took him up on the offer and asked for "something surprising"; Machine Kid pocketed the money and told them to return tomorrow morning to pick it up.

Hipsap instead slunk around and found some indigo dye steeping in the Village Sanctum's gardens, which she stole, intending to repaint her bike herself. (The results of her efforts remain to be seen.)

The party then holed up and licked their wounds for the remaining 4 Watches of the day, ending the session.

Thus ended the 5th of Lastmonth - there are 7 Days Remaining to sate the Sword God's curse.

Primer, Tips & Tricks for deadSun -MAXIMAL-

What follows is a quick primer on OLD SKOOL GAMING and some ERRANT-SPECIFIC MECHANICS. It's the hint book in the back of the floppy disk box. They're primarily adapted from Arnold K's goblin punch blog and Patrick Wetmore's primer at the beginning of Anomalous Subsurface Environment with some Errant-specific things thrown in.

EXPLORATION

- Errant is a game of exploration. You gain XP for cash that you waste partying. Treasure is the primary source of cash and XP in old-school gaming.

- Treasure is found in dungeons. The best treasure is hidden and will require you to hunt for it. Ask questions. Open drawers. Look under mattresses. Make offerings on mysterious altars. Pry open the synthoid machine-husk and gut its valuable components.

- Dungeons are filled with traps, hazards, and obstacles. These serve to prompt creative problem solving. You aren't limited to what's on your character sheet - you can attempt anything remotely possible within the fictional space.

- Performing some actions may require succeeding on an attribute check. You pass these by rolling a d20 over a target number and equal to or below a relevant attribute score (think blackjack). Failing these can bring harm to your character.

- If there is no risk, there is no roll. Jumping across a chasm might require a physique check, but using a ladder succeeds automatically.

- There are a wide variety of tools available to aid exploration. 10' poles let you prod something potentially dangerous from a distance. Mirrors help you peek around corners. Spikes can hold a door open or closed.

- Light is your most valuable tool of all. It's a measure of how long you can spend in the dungeon. Stumbling around in the dark is a death sentence.

- Supply is used to restore your light sources, rations, and other equipment with a depletion value, like potions or ammunition. More supply = more exploration time.

- Old-school gaming is interested in the friction that comes from tracking encumbrance. You can carry a number of item slots equal to 10 or your PHYSIQUE score, whichever is higher (my house rule). If you're carrying more than that, you'll be at higher risk of encounters in the dungeon -- it's hard to move quietly when you're weighed down with all that gear. You'll have to make decisions about what to carry and what to leave behind.

- Retainers are a valuable resource. You can hire a porter to haul heavy treasures and carry the torches. Henchmen will explore and fight alongside you in dungeons in exchange for a share of the treasure. Mercenaries will accompany you on travels through the wilderness. Teamsters will handle your pack animals.

- Death is part of the game. Don't take it to heart. Roll up a new character, loot your old corpse, and get revenge. 

COMBAT

- Combat is often quick and deadly. You can better your odds with a good plan or a crafty gambit. Use stealth, treachery, henchmen, and your environment to your advantage. A good maneuver will enhance your damage, allowing you to roll larger dice.

- Combat can often be avoided entirely. Remember: you earn XP for treasure you bring home, not critters you slay. Errant has a robust system for running negotiations. Find out what people want and give it to them, or convince them to see it your way. This can work with monsters, too. 

- If the chips are down, you can always run for your life.

- Armor is like a get-out-of-jail-free card. Armor gives you blocks that you can spend to reroll incoming damage on a smaller sized die. If you reduce your opponent's die size all the way down to 1, you get to make a reaction in combat for free. 

- Armor is also heavy and can take up multiple inventory slots. You can hire a porter to lug around all of your extra equipment. 

- You can restore your spent blocks in the dungeon by using an armor repair kit.

- Resting for a night in a safe location lets you restore a roll of your damage die in HP. Occults restore their spells, too.

DOWNTIME

- Downtime Turns last a month in-game. In addition to healing up, shopping, socializing, and wasting your gold for XP, you can work towards your goals. These are like project clocks in Blades in the Dark. If you've done the legwork you can start a cult or a side gig, learn blood magic, look for a witch to cleanse you of your hexes, craft or tinker with your gear, build a road, do alchemy, etc. There's a big list of subsystems in the book and the base structure is pretty accommodating to most goals.

AND LASTLY

- If something doesn't make sense or seems unfair, let me know! I am super jazzed about dipping into the traditions of Old Skool Gaming but I really am still learning the ropes.

deadSun -MAXIMAL- 06 Village of Hog, Return of the Hoverbrigands

Kenshi

Loot

One goat (haunted?)

Dramatis Personae

- Gemini
- Kestrel
- Hipsap
- Scramps, Village of Hog vagrant swineherd
- Binocco, Village of Hog machine kid
- Jospel, Village of Hog machine-centaur shovel sanctum keeper/gardener
- Ooze Mutant, the Hover Brigand

Worldbuilding

- High Noon lasts for four hours in the land of deadSun -MAXIMAL-.

Recap

5th of Lastmonth, Year 1V39

    We picked back up with the Company making their way through the yellow deserts toward the Village of Hog. Along the way they encountered a duo of gas-mask wearing goatherds who greeted the party kindly. The party immediately began debating amongst themselves if they should kill them to uphold their pact with the sword god, but instead decided to return the greeting. The goatherds welcomed them to the lands surrounding the Village of Hog and gave them directions, then made an offer to sell them a goat. The second goatherd was walking at a distance apart from the rest of the flock with the goat for sale on a leash. 

    Using the Door Sword, Gemini contacted the Sword God and attempted to see if the goats counted as valid murder targets for fulfilling their pact. They did not. Curiously, though, the goat that was for sale made the Sword God pause in consideration - "perhaps counts for half," he said. They also noticed the goat gnashing at its leash angrily and drooling profusely. For 5 copper pieces they bought the goat and left the goatherds on their way. 

    Hipsap Sanvalli attempted to record the interdimensional thoughts of the goat using her Communicate Dimensions spell and play them back. She heard a bizarre ranting and raving, like one side of an argument, considering sorcerers, molecules, the nature of the universe, and the consumption of sorcerous brains. 

The party continued onward and arrived in town at High Noon.

Village of Hog (Vaults of Vaarn, Eigin Oasis)

    The Village of Hog turned out to be a few scattered adobe buildings around a central oasis. Upon arriving they were quickly accosted by a down-on-his-luck swineherd, who excitedly asked if the Company were "the regulators they had been waiting for". The party agreed and the swineherd introduced himself as Scramps and began raving of the "undead scourge rising from the northern canyons" and the "consternation loose among the freeholders of our fair village", promising them more information if they bought him a drink.

    The party agreed and he lead them to a tavern staffed by a solemn fungus-ridden man in a wide-brimmed hat. Kestrel convinced Scramps that the water from their canteen was a fine artisanal Northern spirit and poured him a glass. Scramps made a show of artfully sampling the fine spirit and then told them what he knew. He claimed that the town was facing a dual onslaught of crystal-ridden Empyrean zombies from the northern canyons and hoverbike-riding brigands from the south, who each passed through occasionally, stealing hogs and slaughtering townsfolk. The zombies carried gold, he said, and the brigands rode gaudily-colored hoverbikes.

    The Company deliberated about whether zombie would count towards fulfilling the pact, and Scramps said he could take them to one if they bought him another drink. Hipsap bought him a real one this time and one for herself, and the fungus-ridden bartender poured her two flutes of neon turquoise syrupy wine. Scramps led them across the village towards a building whose yard was littered with mechanical debris and scrap metal. Knocking on the door, it was opened by a pissed-off nine-year-old, who Scramps addressed as Binocco. 

    Binocco waved them in through a room absolutely packed with heaps of wires and terminals and heavy machinery, Serial Experiments Lain style. In a large glass tube at the end of the room was a trapped Empyrean zombie. The players pointed their sword at it, and the Sword God confirmed that killing undead creatures would not count toward fulfilling the pact.

    Scramps took his leave to return to the bar. The party chatted with Binocco a while and Hipsap and him bonded over both being afflicted with blood curses. Binocco said he was born cursed to age backwards and he was performing research about how to reverse his reverse aging, hence the zombie and all the computers. He had about nine years left until he disappeared, he reckoned, and invited the party to join him in his research in the future, as he could put a group of people who can handle themselves with a blithe disregard for their own lives to good use researching the Ancient Machines Of The Past. By cross-referencing the seven Spy Kids ass holo-projector watches on his wrist he could confirm that the brigands rolled through town about once a week, but Jospel the lawkeeper might have more information at the town sanctum.

    The party took their leave and went to speak with Jospel, a massive wiry machine-centaur being, who they found weeding a beautiful lush garden. They offered Kestrel some motor oil, which they politely partook of. Jospel asked the Company what sort of travelers they were, and the party muttered about being recruiters... retainers... renouncers... regulators? Taking them for bounty-killers, Jospel handed them a poster detailing a bounty on the leader of the brigands, a huge bug man named Papa Mandible, and said they believed their hideout was somewhere in the southern hills, not far from the main road. The party asked what was in the sanctum, and Jospel told them it was kept empty except in the event of emergencies, such as undead or brigand attacks. 

The Village of Hog, adventurer's perspective

The Plan

    Many methods of mass-slaughtering the townsfolk were debated throughout the session. Eventually they settled on the bandits as their quarry. They left Mischief behind at the village corral and set off with their new goat, Kestrel's skull rat companion, and the hoverbike they had looted from the brigands last session. Checking the glovebox, Hipsap found a crude map that pointed to a place in the southern hills near a bend in Rat Creek. Kestrel made a wager that they would be able to send a precise distress signal using the hoverbike's onboard radio/GPS systems that would make the bandits send nine of their weakest men in staggered waves of three to their current location, calling it a milk run.

    The wager failed.

    The players quickly found themselves surrounded by a group of the brigands. "Did you really think I would be that stupid?", said the Ooze Mutant they had let go last session, "I saw you all run off with that bike." A half-dozen mutant heads poked their heads over the nearby hillsides with their rifles trained on the Company. The Ooze Mutant outlined his terms. 1) The Company would return the stolen hoverbike immediately, as the Better Ought Nots would not tolerate dilution of their brand. 2) The Company would hand over 2,000cp as funeral expenses for Craig, the man they killed in the woods during their last encounter with the bandits.

    Weighing their options, Kestrel hid their rat companion under the hood of the hoverbike before passing it over to the Ooze Mutant, and the session concluded. Tune in next week for more!