[HOE] Playing in the 'Yard [spoiler for my posse]

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

Well, my posse rolled into Junkyard along with the Convoy tonight, and boy
howdy, did they already cause a stir. You see, a former soldier managed to
take down Sarge in a duel. Of course, he had a little help from a Huckster
friend of his who drew a royal flush (with a Red Joker) on Rust, turning
Sarge's AP gun to useless debris. The spotters saw him and his activities
were recorded by cameras (he failed his Sleight o' hand roll by 1- ouch!).
Now the Huckster- not the soldier, as he went in the competitor's entrance-
is going before Judge Tolliver for interfering in a sanctioned duel, with
the purse being held pending the investigation. He's trying to say the glow
they saw coming from his coat was just a Zippo being lit (again, failed by
1), but he goes before the Judge next week. Now, here's the sticky bit: he
has FiHP: Templars 5 because he's sent to acquire things (world-renowned
thief before the war)they get wind of existing and feel they need (like more
sharp things, particularly famous ones).

This is the first question of the week: how should I handle this? There's a
Templar in the posse, so he could vouch for the fact that he does have...
connections, but how would the Judge react to this? Do you think he'd play
ball, perhaps saying that there was insufficient evidence or some such, or
would he still throw him in the Pit? I mean, sinking 5 points into FiHP
should help him at least a little, so I'm thinking even if he doesn't get
off scot free (which he really shouldn't), what do you think I should have
happen to him in lieu of the standard punishment of him=meat?

Second, the lady Syker in the group wants to... *ahem* WORK for some money
(she's Randy). What sort of risk do you think I should put her at for
contracting a social disease of some sort and how severe? Just so you know,
the Templar has the Greater Reward for Lay on Hands, so he can likely cure
whatever ails her.

Third, and last for this post, three of the posse have purchased licenses to
hunt Lurkers in Junkyard.

<SPOILER SPACE FOR THE PLAYERS (Adam Larson and Adam Kost, you know who you
are)>







This is going to become important as I've sort of adapted the old Undertaker
adventure for the Weird West to a Harrowed Junker who killed a couple people
to get bodies to turn into cyborg soliders. He's going to drop down with
either Spider (at level 3) or a gun that fires 100 feet of network cable to
kill people, possibly taking them up into the Steel Sky or just to the top
of a reasonably small building with either nobody noticing or any observers
blaming it on the Lurkers, who will serve as a red herring for the posse.
He's going to have a Familiar with a rail gun or beam weapon (I haven't
decided yet), so he's going to be rather nasty if they corner him (plus
he'll try to steal their bus if it looks like he's going to have a fight and
lose!). Adding to the nastiness, he's got Glow Bones and Soul Eater both at
3.

Anyway, enough of him, how hard should I make it for them to catch lurkers?
The Doomsayer was a bounty hunter before the War and the Templar was an
Agency sniper in the 1970s (time distortion placed him in HoE), so they've
got decent people-hunting tactics, but they don't know the Steel Sky like
the Lurkers do. Any tips on making them suffer?

I'll ask more questions tomorrow after I've had sleep, as Shaft knows I have
them.

Nick Zachariasen
Editor Emeritus
Trojan Times