[DL] more plot advice (long, minor spoilers near end)

["Nick Zachariasen" <zacharin@pluto.dsu.edu>]

O.K., I too am now in need of advice on what to do next with my posse.  I
basically have an idea, but I only have one session before I go back up to
school and I need to figure out what to do wth it.  Here's a rundown of my
current posse:

Setzer: Setzer should be familiar to those of you who have played Final
Fantasy 3 (6 in Japan).  Setzer uses razor-edged cards and special darts as
weapons.  He has a modified (read: a bit larger and able to support more
weight- Belongin's Edge at 5) air carriage that he lives in and that acts as
a small casino.  He has a Yearnin' (I believe 3 points) to find the killer
of his friend Daryl as well as her air carriage and to join the two of them
together to create the world's first-ever flying casino.  Ian (Setzer's
player) wants him to become a Hexslinger soon.

Carmelita Gonzalez: A gaucho played by Steve, Carmelita is from Argentina
originally.  She currently has 5 Grit as a result of the previous session (a
recap of past sessions shall come later).  Oh, yes, they are coming for her
soon, but I've planned when...

Cyrus Q. Hornswaggle: Cyrus is a snake oil salesman played by Luke.  Cyrus
joined 2 sessions ago.  He saved Jack Carson (coming next) from death with a
Smith and Robards Revivification Elixir he just happened to have in his
Cart-O'-Stuff.  Hey, I kinda hosed Jack's player with some dynamite, so I
figured I owed it to him to at least give it a chance.  I said that if Luke
could make a Professional: Snake Oil Salesman roll at TN13, I'd let him have
one of the potions.  By spending a red Fate Chip, he made it.  I'm thinking
of allowing this to become a schtick of his, but possibly with higher TNs
for fancy stuff.

Jack Carson: No, he doesn't have a Sidekick that's always saying
"Hi-yoooo!!!".  He's a drunken gunslinger with the 7th Son Knack.  He
prevented me from using a blue Fate Chip to augment the roll of a Harrowed
character who had grabbed dynamite meant to blow up a 'Glom (more on that
later) to instead blow up him and Carmelita.  His player is Grant, who
better git now if he's joined up.

Now for the recently deceased persons:

Phineas T. Flubberbuster: A Mad Scientist played by Jason, Phineas was a bit
Loco (2 points), Phineas became Harrowed following an encounter with some
bank robbers (his companion, Bejamin Frasier, was also killed, and if Ian
had drawn 3 crads like I told him too, Bnjamin would have been the
Harrowed).  Because Jason couldn't make it to the session in which Luke and
Katie (the next player whose character I'll discuss), I just had his Manitou
take over and make him slip off.  His fate will be described later.

Dani: A Halfbreed played by Katie, Dani was a guide/tracker.  She also
carried dynamite.  She went out spectacularly :) .

Now, I shall describe my posse's history.

Phineas, as mentioned before, was killed while Carmelita was off doing
something on the range (read: Steve couldn't make it).  He eventually
stumbled ito Carmelita's hotel room while she was havng a bath.  He had just
dug himself out of Boot Hill.  Anyway, the next morning Dallas was attacked
by a large plot device, er, group of bandits.  Luckily, they encountered
Setzer, who had his air carriage.  They took off just as the attack started.
They then sat down in Colorado while following a rail line (I later decided
it was a Wasatch line).  They were forced to stay on the ground due to a
broken sammoflange (it was an air screw, but due to a somewhat inside joke
from a former Cruel Site of the Day I changed it).  They witnessed from the
air a raid on the train (by who I don't know yet- I didn't bother coming up
with a responsible party).  When they investigated the train, they bore
witness to the creation of a 'Glom.  Setzer managed to get the train out of
there and they escaped, leaving the air carriage safely out of reach of the
'Glom on the upper area of the ravine the tracks lay in.

They then pulled into Pickville, Colorado at about dusk and told the station
master what had happened.  He thanked them and they then went off looking
forthe saloon, tripping over Jack carson on the way.  He then tagged along
once he found out where they were going.  Carmelita bought him a bath and
shave.  From there they recruited Dani as a guide and Cyrus as
transportation.  Setzer won quite a bit of money gambling.  How do the rest
of you run gambling, anyway?  We were strapped for time, so we just went
with opposed Gamblin' rolls.  I thought that was too easy for him, what with
a 4d12 skill and all (maybe 5d12, I'm not sure).  Anyway, on the trail they
encountered a Headless Horseman (they left about an hour before dawn).  They
dispatched him by tying a stick of dynamite in one of Carmelita's bolos and
chucking it at him.  Then, once they got back to the air carriage, they
found another air carriage in the ravine further down the track (about 150
yards back), this one with Hellstromme's name painted on the side.  They
didn't see the 'Glom, but they did see the Hellstromme air carriage shaking
a bit as well as 5 X-Squadders (Have your average schlub X-Squadders ever
been statted?  I found veterans in CoG, but no red-shirts.) trying to get
Phineas aboard the air carriage.  Well, the posse intervened, and while
doing so, the 'Glom burst out of the air carriage (killing 3 X-Squadders).
Carmelita decided to try to use some of Dani's dynamite, and pitched it at
the 'Glom, with the dynamite landing at its feet.  I then took Jason aside
and explained to him that I was going to have the Manitou attempt to take
over.  It did, and it picked up the dynamite before the 'Glom fully ripped
open the air carriage's doorway to get out.  He tried to pitch it at
Carmelita and Jack, but I failed the roll (went bust actually, but they
didn't have to know that, as Jason had just done so trying to throw it
before Ian realized what had happened) and tried to spend a blue Fate Chip.
Grant, with his 7th Son Knack, spent his blue Chip to negate mine.  I then
had it land at the feet of the two remaining X-Squadders, who then proceeded
to go boom.  Jack also took some damage from the blast.

The battle was long and hard-fought, as i had given the 'Glom some good guns
to go with 7 bodies within it.  I gave it two Evans Sporters (from the
raiders), two Gatling pistols, a Gatling rifle, and a Gatling Shotgun (from
the X-Squad).  Cyrus, who failed his Guts check upon sight of the 'Glom,
simply cowered under the wagon (I believe I should give him some extra Fate
Chips for that, as I don't think he purchased the Guts aptitude now that I
think about it) for the duration of the battle.  During said battle, the
posse ended up drawing the Black Joker four times in a row.  To make a long
story short, Setzer, from the ravine's cliffside, plugged Phineas in the
Guts with a 40-damage shot from his Sharp's Big .50.  Phineas didn't move
much after that (O.K., he didn't move at all).  Carmelita took the wounded
Jack on the back of her horse back up the ravine, but Jack got shot by the
'Glom and proceeded to die.  Dani, holding a lit stick of dynamite, was shot
lethally by the 'Glom and fell on top of it.  She had 3 other stick of
dynamite in her backpack.  She ended up falling on top of it and getting
exploded along with it.  Since I kind of hosed Jack with the dynamite (I
think the burst radius is 5, anyway, which makes more sense and would have
caused him less damage), I let Cyrus have an S&R Revivification Elixir in
his wagon (Professional: Snake Oil Salesman roll, TN 13- see above), and
Grant spent a red Fate Chip to make the required Vigor roll.  Setzer ended
up flying him back to town to see a sawbones and Carmelita stayed behind to
make sure Phineas didn't get back up- ever.

Now comes my dilemma.  I have to figure out where to go next.  I'm going to
have Dr. Hellstromme reward the posse for saving his train from the 'Glom,
and possibly reward them for the return of his very expensive air carriage,
so they're definitely going to Salt Lake City.  However, I have one session
left with my current posse before I go back to school on the 11th, and I
want to run just a short adventure.  I was thinking of taking them to
Manitou Springs and just using Old Man Withers, but I was also considering
just taking them to Salt Lake City right away and having them meet up with
Percy Sitgreaves- after they take in a game of skullchucker, of course, and
also after the Diablos come for Carmelita since she's now gained 5 Grit and
is beginning to show herself as a true enemy of the Reckoners, still unaware
of them though she is.  Since Ian also wants Setzer to learn some
Hexslinging, I was going to have Sitgreaves himself teach Setzer after the
posse begins to work for him (though they probably won't know it's him) and
cut the teaching time down to 2 months due to Sitgreaves being such a good
teacher.

So, there you have it, sirs and madams, mydilemma.  Have you any suggestions
on what I should do?

Nick "Oh, what ever is a Marshal to do?"Zachariasen

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