The drive was uneventful as they skirted the eastern tree-line of the area transported to this strange new world. On their right, trees and forest. On their left, dry desolate hills, gullies, and boulders. They eventually found the state road that led towards Buck's Head and turned right.
They arrived at the "Northside Trailer Park" where Rex and his mother both lived. All the trailers looked as if they had been ransacked - their windows broken and their doors hanging open or busted off their hinges. Household items were strewn about.
They exited the truck and cautiously approached the trailer in which Rex's mother lived. Like the other trailers, the windows were broken and the door hung open. Rex entered first and was struck by a horrible smell of decay. He fought back tears and held his left arm over his face while he wielded his shovel in his right.
He entered her bedroom and was shocked to see her dead body covered in a swarm of giant rats - but rats unlike any he had ever seen! These rats were monstrous - the size of small dogs - and covered in bald patches as if they suffered from the mange. They appeared rabid with foaming mouths and bulging red eyes.
Rex choked back his revulsion as several of the rats scattered, escaping through the broken window and open back door. Several turned towards him and hissed. They hurled themselves at Rex in defense of their prize!
Chapter 4 - The Baron of Buck's Head
What follows is a play-through of an adventure scenario I'm writing for Overlords of Dimension-25. The scenario is a survival hex-crawl where the player characters and their entire town are transported to a strange new dimension, only to be attacked by armored invaders intent on rounding up the townsfolk for a mysterious and nefarious purpose.
This week, after having escaped the town and found their way to the Wasteland Trading Post, the party heads back into Williamsburg to secure some valuable trade goods.
Dramatis Personae
- Officer Bocephus "J.T." Tucker - Williamsburg police department - Level 1 Warrior
- Rex Werthy - construction worker - Level 1 Engineer
- Professor Thadeus Putnam - retired professor of anthropology - Level 1 Expert
- Felix Silla-Rossi - 15 year-old juvenile delinquent - Level 1 Rogue
- Scout Thomas - 16 year-old outdoorsman and YouTube personality - Level 1 Scout
- Vera - elderly lady with a broken leg - NPC
- Mabel - Professor Putnam's elderly housekeeper - NPC
DM - Officer J.T. Tucker's player was away this week. The rest decided to go to Buck's Head to check on Rex's mother and get some more supplies. There was some AMAZING role-playing this week between the players. My write-up cannot do justice to all the in-character interactions, interpersonal conflict, and just good acting that happened this week. It was fantastic!
Wasteland Rats
Rex found himself beset by giant mutant rants. He began hitting them with his shovel. Scout, waiting out by the truck, heard the commotion and ran up to the broken bedroom window of the trailer. He looked inside and saw the giant rats. Rex was in the hallway to his right. Scout opened fire into the bedroom with his assault rifle, killing two rats. Felix and the Professor ran into the living room and angled for a shot with their rifles but held their fire. Neither could take a shot without endangering Rex. Rex was bitten repeatedly before smashing the last rat attacking him. The remaining rats scurried past, escaping the bedroom and fleeing out the back and front doors and the other broken windows.
Rex looked at the mutilated body of his elderly mother in the bedroom and sighed. Professor Putnam put his hand on Rex's shoulder and offered his sympathy.
Abubakr Zangin, the Baron of Buck's Head
A voice called out from behind Scout, "Hey, what's going on?" Scout whirled around, rifle ready.
It was a young man of Turkish descent. He dressed like a preppy with a pastel Izod shirt and a white jacket. He held his hands up and said, "Don't shoot!" Something about him seemed disingenuous. He was standing in front of the next trailer over, about thirty feet from Scout.
Rex took a deep breath to steel himself and whispered, "Aw Hell no. Not today. Not now." He exited his mother's trailer through the open back door. He saw the man, It was Abubakr Zangin, the occupant of the trailer two spots down from his mother's. Rex was pretty sure Abubakr sold drugs. He lived in a trailer in Buck's Head yet drove a sports car. People visited his trailer all hours of the day and night. Rex's mother did not like Abubakr at all.
"Hey Abubakr," said Rex.
"Rex! How are you?" said Abubakr. To Abubakr's right, between the trailer and a pickup truck, were two of Abukar's cronies - the mechanic Caiden Norman and his creepy junkie girlfriend Iona Frank. A man holding a hunting rifle emerged from around the trailer to Abubakr's left - it was the trucker, Cian Butt. Cian spit his chew on the ground as he slowly walked around to the left.
Rex told Abubakr what had happened in town and that they escaped. He asked what happened.
Abubakr said that he saw some Martians come through Buck's Head a few days ago. They shot everybody with lasers and looted all the trailers - a story inconsistent with the behavior Rex and the others had witnessed in Williamsburg.
Abubakr began asking Rex some probing questions - Where were you camping? How many people were with you? How much supplies did they have? How many weapons? Rex replied with vague generalities, never mentioning the trading post.
Iona crept forward towards Scout, her head and shoulders jutting out in front of her while her hands and arms waved jerkily behind her. "That's a pretty rifle, kid. Do you know how to use it? Aren't you a pretty little thing?"
Caiden, his arm resting on the hood of the pickup twenty feet away, said, "Jesus, Iona! He's just a kid!"
Suddenly the sound of a rifle shot cracked the air from the other side of Rex's mother's trailer!
Shootout
Cian Butt fell to the ground, shot through the head.
DM- Natural 20!
Iona lunged forward in an attempt to grab Scout's rifle. Caiden drew a pistol from his waistband and drew a bead on scout but held his fire for fear of shooting Iona, "Get out of the fucking way!" Scout rammed his rifle butt against Iona's face.
Abubakr sneered as he kicked an old grill onto Rex. He leaped over it and began punching Rex. Rex counterattacked with his shovel, knocking Abubakr to the ground.
Felix darted from behind Rex's mother's trailer. He ran as fast as he could to get behind the next trailer over. Professor Putnam chased after Felix shouting, "Young man! Give me that rifle, right now!"
Felix shouted, "No way!" as he disappeared behind the other trailer.
Rex whacked Abubakr across the head with his shovel, knocking him unconscious.
Caiden gave up on shooting anyone and ran to help Iona, punching Scout. Iona escaped and ran away towards Rex's truck, jumping into the cab. Scout cracked Caiden across the jaw with the butt of his assault rifle. Caiden broke off and ran back the way he came, between the truck and the trailer.
There was another rifle shot. Caiden was shot in the head.
DM- Another natural 20!
Iona screamed, jumped out of truck, and ran away into the trees.
Felix was lying on the ground smoking rifle braced against the dirt. He had dropped and waited for Caiden to run this way before taking the shot.
Professor Putnam caught up with Felix. He stopped and gasped at what he just witnessed. Felix got up and handed him the rifle, "Here you go. Its out of ammo now anyway."
Aftermath
"What just happened? Who started shooting?" inquired Rex as he secured Abubakr in zip-ties.
Professor Putnam explained, "The gentleman there was taking a position behind the trailer-"
Felix interrupted, "He was trying to ambush us so I shot him!"
Rex stood up, "You shot FIRST?"
Felix said, "Yeah? So?"
Professor Putnam became stern, "Young man. What you just did was not self defense. It was cold-blooded murder. What you did was wrong!"
Felix became defensive, "So what? You all know they were going to try to steal our stuff. I shot him before he could shoot at me! What's the big deal? Scout, I did the right thing, right?"
Scout held up his hands, "Don't drag ME into your narrative!"
Rex barked, "We do not shoot first! You murdered that guy! And what about Caiden?"
Professor Putnam said, "He was running away. He posed no immediate threat."
Rex's eyes bulged, "You murdered him TOO?? That's two murders in less than a minute!"
Felix dismissed them, "Whatever," and stormed off towards Abubakr's trailer, "Which trailer is his? I bet he's got all the cool shit!"
Rex rubbed his forehead in frustration, "Two trailers down."
DM - This whole section led to some AMAZING role-play between the players - especially . My write up can't do it justice because there was just so much of it. I'll do my best to summarize and capture the spirit of it.
All the Cool Shit
Inside Abubakr's trailer they found piles of items hoarded from every trailer in the park and several other businesses and houses in Buck's Head.
Scout checked Caiden and Cian. He took their weapons and their belongings. He found a sandwich wrapped in cling-wrap, "Nice! Save that for later!" He stuffed it in the thigh-pocket of his cargo pants.
Felix found fifty cartons of cigarettes from various brands. He declared, "Dibs!"
Rex found a a five kilogram plastic bag of methamphetamines. Felix said, "Ooh! Take that back to the trading post! We can get a LOT of trade for that!"
Rex threw it in a paper bag, "No! I'm taking it outside and burning it."
Felix rolled his eyes and hauled an armload of cigarettes out to the truck.
Professor Putnam found 125 bottles of various alcoholic spirits in various stages of consumption. "He's not wrong. We hit the mother lode in terms of vice."
Rex replied, "Whisky and cigarettes are one thing. I'm not dealing meth." He took the paper bag outside, righted the grill, doused it in lighter fluid, and set it all on fire.
Felix shouted something obscene from the truck. Rex shouted, "Shut up and try not to murder anybody!"
Felix glared at Rex. He hopped into the cab of the truck to sulk. He took out a cigarette and started smoking it.
Scout returned after searching for keys for the other cars parked in the lot. He reported to Rex, "I found a few keys but those cars will never make it over the wasteland zone. Its too bad. Abubakr's sports car is pretty sweet! Look, I also found some more old people in their trailer. They had all been shot in their beds or in the hall."
Rex returned to Abubakr's trailer. The meth dealer was waking up but he was bound with zip ties and his mouth was duct taped closed. Rex felt guilty for what happened. Felix straight up gunned down two of Abubakr's fiends. Rex found some paper and started writing a note.
Look, Abu....I am sorry about what happened here today. This wasn't what I wanted or came here for.But look, something bad and strange has happened here. Go 3 miles east and see for yourself. There are a lot of good people around here, and they don't need another predator...they need a leader who can give them some hope. Give them some hope...don't just steal their crap and roll them in a gutter.
Rex took a breath. He looked around the trailer. He noticed some of this mother's belongings. He realized that his mother hadn't been shot with a laser, she was shot with a pistol. It wasn't the Martians. The Martians weren't looting. Abubakr and his cronies had killed his mother.
.......I know now what you did to my mom, and the rest of these people - when I come back - and I will - I want to see that you've made lives better and protected them from the Red-coated Martians. If you haven't, then I WILL give you the same as Cian got. Do Better.I will be watching!
He left the trailer. He quietly helped Professor Putnam and Scout drag the dead bodies of Cian and Caiden into his mother's trailer. He sprayed it down with lighter fluid and set the trailer on fire.
They rejoined the sulking Felix in the pickup truck and departed the burning pyre. Rex took the pack of cigarettes from Felix's hands, crumpled them, and threw them out the window.
DM - All that shit HAPPENED! It was epic! The note above is what Rex's player wrote, word for word.
Back Into Williamsburg
Rex stopped off at the Southside Trailer Park on the other side of the highway on the off-chance that his girlfriend Shayna had escaped and was hiding. He found it empty and ransacked, the windows broken and the front door busted open with a crowbar. He found a photo of the two of them together and put it in his satchel.
They continued to Williamsburg, stopping a mile out and hiding the truck off the side of the road. It was now around 4 pm and the sun was getting low in the January sky. They hiked through the bare trees and around the south side of the storage place. They took a look towards the east road - the roadblock was gone.
They continued cautiously through the trees towards the high school. When they left two days ago the Martians had established a base-camp at the high school and were rounding up townspeople. At that time there had been two rocket-planes and dozens of armored soldiers and several armored transport vehicles.
Now the roadblock was gone and a single armored transport vehicle sat in front of the high school. A handful of troopers, their helmets off, occupied a small bivouac with some inflatable tents.
"Ah HELL no! Where is everybody?" whispered Rex.
Professor Putnam answered, "They must have captured everyone and withdrew, leaving only a skeleton crew behind."
"This may work for us!" said Rex, "That means it should be easier to move around the town! Okay, where do we want to go first?"
Felix, still sore with Rex from earlier, suggested, "Well, I'd actually like to stop by my nanna Rossi's house. She's old and wasn't at the high school. I mean, Mabel hid out, right?"
Rex sighed, looking down at the ground. How could he say no to that? "Okay, Nanna Rossi's house. Where she live?"
"On the other side of the elementary school."
"Okay. But listen up everybody, just because it might be easier its no reason to take risks. We still move low and slow and stick to the trees."
Spotted
It was now dark. The sky had an eerie neon glow that illuminated everything in bright green moonlight. They darted across the southeast highway and moved around the south side of the high school. They were caught in the beam of a searchlight! An amplified Martian voice called out, "Stop! Surrender now!"
Rex shouted, "Run!" and they took off through the forest at top speed. They made it to the railroad. Felix started running north along the rails but Scout said, "No! Stay off the railroad! You'll be out in the open. Stick to the trees! This way!"
They kept running for half a mile before stopping to catch their breath in a densely wooded area. The leaves were gone and they could see a small aircraft hovering over the high school, its spotlight scanning the area they just fled. It hit the railroad and turned north.
"Told you!" said Scout.
"Shut up!" said Felix.
Rex said, "Hold on, I'm good with animals!" He cautiously approached the dog, his hands out, and tried to calm the poor thing.
It didn't work.
Rex stood and said, "Anybody else?"
Scout perked up and said, "Wait a minute!" He took the sandwich out of his pants pocket, unwrapped it, and gave it to the dog.
The dog took the sandwich in its mouth and ran away.
Rex said, "Nice!"
Nanna Rossi
They arrived at Nanna Rossi's house at 5:40 pm. The door was busted in. The windows were still broken so the inside of the house was frozen. It was dark and still.
Professor Putnam put his hand on Felix's shoulder to prepare him for what came next.
They went into the living room. There on the couch was lay Nanna Rossi. She had been killed by what appeared to be a laser blast.
Felix choked back tears, "Why didn't they stun her like the others?"
Professor Putnam said softly, "I'm sorry, Felix. She was elderly and had difficulty moving. For whatever reason, they're only stunning and capturing young and able people. She probably didn't meet their criteria."
Felix sniffed, "I- I guess that makes sense."
Scout asked, "So, what now? Hit a few more stores downtown?"
Felix said, quietly, "No. I- I kind of want to go back now."
Rex gave Felix a firm hug and looked at Scout and Professor Putnam, "We're headed back now. Let's go."
To Be Continued...
DM- PHEW! Man, wow! So much pathos! So much emotion! So much sullen teenagers making questionable choices in the heat of the moment! It's fantastic and I love it!
What happens next week? WHO KNOWS?! Part of the reason for leaving Williamsburg without further looting was story-appropriate, part was because Officer Tucker's player returns and it will be easier to integrate him back in if they're outside Williamsburg.
I mean, I know what happens to Williamsburg next. I've got a detailed timeline. But I have no idea what the PLAYERS are going to do next! I think that's exciting!
The encounter in Buck's Head was pretty much random. All the names were randomly generated. I just made up the meth dealer stuff, with help from the players, on the spot. It was so good that I decided to add it to the adventure itself - which is perfect because Buck's Head as-written was pretty boring. Now there's a cool story there!
Also, every character that took a risk and returned home got 750 XP quest award. Rex, Felix, and Professor Putnam are all 2nd level now!
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