Re: [HoE] Something About A Sword... (Spoilers)

["Steve Crow" <crow_steve@hotmail.com>]

>   Baron 11 mentioned...
>
><< Something... was just not a very good adventure.  It seemed an excuse to
>  drop the sword into the world. but this has already been addressed, and I
>  am tired. >>
>
>   I'm running "Something About A Sword" right now, and you're right.  It's
>not a very good adventure.  I was dropped into GMing the adventure in the
>middle of it when the former GM gave up in disgust and left it in my hands.
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>   Something both he and I agree is that the sword is very powerful, and it
>just too simple for the Templar to get it, since at pretty much every point
>in the adventure he has people telling him about Elliot's magic sword,
>everyone knows he's a Templar (even though Templars usually do things in
>secret), and he gets reminders at every turn to "make sure you find that
>magic sword and don't let it fall into the wrong hands!"

Actually, we had some fun with that in our campaign.  Everyone was just so 
overwhelming gushy about Elliott (and I played it up so much) that the PC 
Templar was about ready to start slaying everytime someone would say, 
"Elliott - what a stud!"

>   Meanwhile, Malias, accompanied by another Doomsayer, continues his 
>attack
>by tossing a nuke at the main building.  In fact, he throws it at Violence
>Jack, the first sniper he saw get on the roof.
>   Bill, the guy playing Violence Jack, asks the GM, "Is it coming right at
>me?  Does it look like it was aimed at me?"
>
>   "Yes, and yes."
>
>   "Okay, I'll try to deflect it."
>
>   At this point, hilarity ensues as everyone starts hauling out their 
>copies
>of Last Crusaders to figure out what he's talking about.  And the GM is
>looking pissed, then as he looks up Deflection, he looks nervous, then 
>REALLY
>pissed...

Does Deflection work on Burst Radius attacks?  I suppose Doomsayers _could_ 
target a specific person (yes, they have to roll to hit), but it seems 
easier just to target a spot of ground (within 10 yards, certainly) near a 
target.  Why give them a chance to Dodge, use Guardian Angel, or anything?

>   Turns out that Bill purchased one level of Deflection a little earlier, 
>and
>he ends up doing it, taking the nuke on the bulletproof car door he uses as 
>a
>shield and batting it back at Malias the Doombinger, who most likely 
>answers
>the nearby doomsayer's inevitable "What do we do now, Lord?
>
>   With a, "Now?  We die."
>

*heh*  Nice quote.

>   Talking to him, I find out that Katie was right to want to go back.
>   1.  The chase was futile.  Malias was killed by his own nuke.

Not sure I would have let that limit me as a Marshal.  Just bring in a 
second Doombringer who was lurking in the background.  Did you give the 
Templar the coup for killing Malias?

>   2.  The person we saw fleeing was the doomsayer, injured by the 
>explosion.

Still, I'm not sure I would say it was "futile," since he still might have 
gone off to summon reinforcements or whatever...

>   3.  The gap in the fence was large enough to let in another pack of 
>mutants
>who held their attack until they saw the posse driving away.

I'm not sure I would have left the gap dependent on the PCs' actions.  On 
the other hand, how hard would it have been for the mutants to create a hole 
anyway?

>   4.  We just gave them the win by taking off before the area was secured.
>

Not sure what you mean by giving them "the win."  Clearly they left some 
stuff behind, and it sounds like your assumptions later were justified, all 
things considered.

>   Personally, I don't have a problem taking over.  The GM was so thrown by
>Malias being killed that he didn't really know what to do with the rest of
>the adventure.  I decide that the doomsayer that got away was Brian 
>Kirkland,

Throw in a second Doombringer who was lurking in the background.  Just as 
Malias was kinda supposed to do.

>one of Silas' Adepts.   He's put lots of research into different spells - 
>I'm
>gonna have some fun with those - but he ranked lower than Malias, his 
>former
>student.
>   So they're now facing a guy who isn't quite as tough, but who is much 
>more
>crafty.
>   I decide that due to the fact that they just left this town to die, I am
>going to do several things...
>   - When they get back to Last Chance, they will discover that no one is 
>left
>alive.  It is a ghost town, because THEY FUCKED UP.  I will make them 
>realize
>that, so they won't ever be so selfish again.  Later, while scrounging in 
>the
>storm cellar, they discover that one of the mothers set off a grenade down
>there with all of the women and children so that the mutants couldn't get
>ahold of them.

That kind of motivation works only if the players are that concerned about 
their players being heroic.

>   - Kirkland is going to head straight for Rock Springs, go into that
>Apfeltech plant, and make his bargain with the Manitous, and begin setting 
>up
>his defenses.  I am not going to be easy on the party and have Kirkland 
>make
>his bargain with the Manitous conveniently at the moment that the posse 
>walks
>in the door.  If they don't hurry their asses up, the deal will be done,
>Kirkland will be setting his defenses, and more and more Muties will be
>arriving day by day, coming to serve their new warlord.
>

Does it look like they are going to proceed slowly?  Hard to tell based on 
published travel times from place to place because...oh, right, there aren't 
any distances given between the various Something... locales, are there.  Or 
a useful map.  Or anything like that...

>   -  Oh, and the big one, Elliot Ritter came back Harrowed.
>
[snippage of lots of future plans for the group]

>   I like my option better because Jack will have to start using his sword 
>in
>his left (off-hand), he'll probably end up getting a bionic replacement in
>Junkyard (I just like the idea of him havng this clunky bionic arm with
>visible pistons and a giant hand), and he'll hear about (or see first 
>hand),
>the wreckage left at Burke's former home as Elliot pays him a visit, and 
>the
>ruins of Jarret, Wyoming, as Elliot goes home...
>

Well, the first thing is to hope it all works as planned.  As has been often 
noted, "No strategy survives contact with the enemy."  It sounds like 
somewhat of a deliberate...well, screwover to me.  How it goes over depends 
on what the players are like, what they expect, etc.  Whatever works, I 
suppose.

>   And does anyone have any other ideas for me?
>

Your plan seems strong, although it strikes me as just eas easy to simply 
have a second Doombringer make his presence known.  Certainly your plans 
will make the adventure a lot tougher than written...  :)

>
>   - The Worm Ouroboros
>
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---

Steve Crow

"Worm Can Opener Extraordinare"

Check out my website at:  http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Stargate/4991/

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