The guard walking the wall of the bounty hunter compound thought he heard a noise. He turned to investigate. Felix Silla-Rossi, who had leaped over the compound wall using his anti-gravity harness, had landed on a large metal hatch in the ground. The hollow metallic sound of his landing had alerted the guard to his presence. He frantically looked around for a place to hide. He found cover behind some junk piled against the inside of the wall but the rope he held still stretched over the wall to the outside.
The guard walked up, saw the rope, and looked outside the wall. His helmet-mounted searchlight shone on a group including Officer J.T. Tucker, Rex Werthy, Professor Thadeus Putnam, and Qarma Blaze.
Chapter 8 - The Ruins of Old Cuyahoga
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, the team visits the ruins of Old Cuyahoga to rescue some captives from the underground bunker of a gang of bounty hunters. Professor Putnam's player was out this week.
Dramatis Personae
- Officer Bocephus "J.T." Tucker - Williamsburg police department - Level 2 Warrior
- Rex Werthy - construction worker - Level 3 Engineer
- Professor Thadeus Putnam - retired professor of anthropology - Level 2 Expert
- Felix Silla-Rossi - 15 year-old juvenile delinquent - Level 2 Rogue
- Qarma Blaze - teenager and retail sales clerk - Level 1 Civilian
- Officer Steve - a German Shepherd, Officer Tucker's partner - NPC
- Vera Cooper - retired nurse - NPC
- Mabel Anderson - Professor Putnam's elderly housekeeper - NPC
- Ivana Soraya - elementary school teacher - NPC
- Auguste Kristijan - locksmith - NPC
- Farah Subhash - retired truck driver - NPC
- Alan Poulson - general contractor - NPC
Bunker Busters
Officer Tucker told the others, "I've jammed his comms! Get him!" Officer Tucker and Rex Werthy fired their sonic stunners at the guard with little effect. Qarma fired her stunner again. The guard collapsed. Rex climbed up onto the top of the wall and lowered the unconscious guard down to Officer Tucker. Tucker bound the guard with zip-ties and covered his mouth with duct tape.
The group quickly scrambled up and over the wall. Professor Putnam stayed behind. He would provide a distraction at the gate when it was time to make a quick escape. Two guards warmed themselves in the cold January night around the orange glow of a thermal unit about two hundred feet away. Another guard walked around the far side of the wall. No one seemed to have noticed the exploding rocket pistol shells.
Rex and Officer Tucker pulled open the hatch in the ground revealing a set of metal stairs leading down into a subterranean bunker.
The team found a corridor at the bottom of the stairs. There were two doors, one halfway down the corridor on the right, the other at the end of the corridor on the right. Felix moved forward to guard the far door while Rex and J.T., wearing full suits of battle armor, prepared to open the closer door. They listened at the door and heard nothing so they opened it and moved in.
They found a dining hall with a long metal table and benches. Two men wearing suits of light body armor were sitting at the table eating a meal. The two men were surprised by the intrusion and hesitated while they processed what was happening. The bounty hunters drew their rocket pistols and opened fire while the intruders unleashed a barrage of sonic stunner attacks. The bounty hunters were quickly subdued and bound.
There was a single door on the far south wall. It led into a combination kitchen and larder filled with supplies. There were two doors on the far south wall. The door on the right was padlocked shut. A sign read "To sub-levels DO NOT OPEN".
Rex rubbed his chin, "Well now I HAVE to open it!"
J.T. said, "Better not! It probably leads to mutoids, and if these bounty hunters don't want to mess with them then neither do we. Keep to the mission."
The door on the left led into a latrine. The latrine had another door. The team formed up and listened. They could hear talking and recorded music playing from the other side. They pushed it open just a crack to look into the next room.
They found a large common area with several beds and tables. Men, some in armor and some without, were lying in bed, sitting at tables drinking and talking, or repairing their weapons.
Qarma Like a Boss
"What's the plan?" asked Rex.
J.T. took a moment to work out a strategy. In that moment, Qarma Blaze, the petite 19-year-old fashion retail worker wearing a futuristic smart-suit hefted the shoulder-mounted plasma thrower from its attached back-pack generator in one hand and a sonic stunner in her other hand. "Ugh!" she complained, "Whatever!"
"Uh, this is the point where all of you put your hands up and stare at the wall! I'm totally not even kidding!" Her commanding presence and sheer sense of disdain caused every bounty hunter in the room to pause in confusion.
Qarma re-iterated, "Um, NOW! I'm serious!"
The bounty hunters put their hands up.
Rex, J.T., and Felix ran into the room and started putting zip-tie restraints on each of the bounty hunters. Qarma holstered her stunner and re-attached the plasma thrower to its backback generator to help, "Ew! Do I have to touch them?"
DM - Qarma walked into the center of the room and said the lines. Qarma's player rolled her Intimidate skill. 01. A critical success! Normally the bounty hunters would get a saving throw vs. paralyzation to resist, and I rolled their saving throws as a demonstration - all but one made their saves. However, the sheer display of moxie and the 01 was too perfect so I ruled they just failed outright.
Suddenly one of the bounty hunters shouted, "Hey boss! We're being raided!"
J.T. glared at Felix, "Felix! You've got to gag them!"
Felix said, "Sorry!"
Gang Bosses
The team prepared themselves for the next wave. They took positions behind the cover of thick duracrete columns in the middle of the room. Qarma upturned one of the tables. Everyone took aim and covered a different door.
Two doors on the south wall opened and armored bounty hunters came running out. Qarma opened fire with her sonic stunner, sending one bounty hunter sprawling onto the floor. The other bounty hunter fired on Qarma with his rocket pistol and missed.
A third armored bounty hunter emerged from a third door on the south wall. He was bald and carried a sword in one hand and a rocket pistol in the other. Officer J.T. Tucker opened fire with his automatic pistol, killing the man instantly.
Rex spotted another armored bounty hunter emerging from the same room as the bald one. He waved at J.T. to get his attention. J.T. looked his way. Rex used his fingers and hand-signs to try to communicate something to J.T.
J.T. activated his communication transceiver, "Rex, you're wearing battle armor with a built-in comm-unit. What are you trying to say?"
Rex stared for just a moment before he activated his comm-unit, "Oh. Right. I just saw another guy in that room. I don't think you could see him."
"Thanks."
J.T. moved up to the doorway, his back against the wall. He took out a stun grenade and primed it. He tossed it into the room. The grenade landed at the feet of the bounty hunter within. There was a flash of blue light and a throbbing buzzing sound. The bounty hunter fell to the floor.
J.T. stepped over the dead bald man and darted into the room to put zip-tie restraints onto the other bounty hunter. This bounty hunter was larger than the others with heavier armor. He carried a rocket pistol in one hand and a high-tech electronic sword in the other. J.T. picked up the sword and switched it on. The crystal blade began to glow red with laser energy. "Neat! Dibs."
Volgiurs
One of the bounty hunters broke free of his zip ties, and picked up a sword. Felix opened fire with a short burst from his automatic rifle, seriously wounding the bounty hunter. The bounty hunter attacked Rex, the sword dashed harmlessly off the battle armor. Rex dropped his hand weapon and grabbed his shovel in both hands. He swung his shovel at the bounty hunter, killing him.
The two dead bounty hunters were dragged into one of the sleeping quarters on the south wall. The other bounty hunters, some conscious but bound, some still unconscious from sonic stunners, were dragged into the other room.
J.T. put his knee on the leader's chest as he regained consciousness.
"Your entire group has been subdued. You're going to tell me where to find the captives you have prisoner and we're going to let you live. Does that sound like a bargain?"
The leader of the bounty hunters nodded. J.T. removed his gag. "The captives are kept in a big holding cell."
"And where is that?"
"Through that door over there, first door on the right."
"See, that's wasn't too tough, was it?"
The team formed up in front of the indicated door. J.T. asked, "Felix, hear anything?"
"No, nothing".
They opened the door to a large dark duracrete room. The air was filled with the horrid smell of rotting meat and animal waste. There were four large duracrete columns in the center of the room. On either wall were large cages made of iron bars, their gates open.
"What the hell?" said Rex as they scanned the room with their spotlights.
In the far right corner they saw a lanky creature the size of a wolf. It was quadrupedal with two long forelimbs. Each of its four legs ended in terrible claws. Its head resembled that of a bald vulture, only large enough to completely bite off a man's hand. Its neck and shoulders were protected by a large ruff of feathers. A long feather-tipped tail whipped behind it. It opened its raptor-like beak and hissed at the light!
"Aw, hell no!" said Rex.
A second creature appeared out of the darkness from the right. It hissed and blocked the doorway. Rex opened fire with a semiautomatic rifle and J.T. opened fire with a rocket pistol. The creature screeched in pain as the explosive self-propelled guided projectiles exploded in its thick hide. It hissed and bit at Rex. The creature's beak could not break the hard armor of Rex's battle suit.
Felix tried to get a shot at the creature but the doorway was crowded. He couldn't risk accidentally shooting Rex or J.T. so he turned and ran, opening a door in the north west corner into the dining hall. He ran as fast as he could out into the entrance corridor at the bottom of the stairs and through the door at the end of that hall.
Rex and J.T. continued shooting at the creature in the doorway until it fell, dead. J.T. clambered over its body and into the room to get a better angle of attack against the creature. He drew his new mono-sword and slashed at the beast, nearly severing its head. It then stabbed at it, piercing its heart. The creature fell down, dead.
DM - J.T. rolled a natural 20 for 20 points of damage followed immediately by another natural 20 for 4 points of damage!
Felix burst into the room, rifle ready, but the beasts were already dead.
Reunion
"That asshole lied to us! It was a trap!" declared Rex.
"No," said J.T., "He told the truth, the door is right there on the right, just like he said. He just failed to mention these things." He kicked the dead body of the vulture-creature.
They opened the door to the right and found a short corridor that ended in another door with a padlock. Felix took out his lockpicking gun and had the padlock open pretty quickly.
DM - I had been debating with myself for days whether Felix's Dimension-Prime lockpick gun would work on Dimension-25 locks or not. When the question finally came up in the game, I just had Felix's player roll a d20, 1-10 = wouldn't work, 11-20 = works. He rolled a 20 so I decided a pin and tumbler lock is the same regardless of universe.
They opened the door to a long cell filled with sixteen people - all humans from Williamsburg and Buck's Head who had been captured. They were chained to the wall using manacles.
Rex and J.T. were quickly checking on them - Was anyone injured? Did anyone need medical help?
Suddenly a woman's voice called out from the end of the room, "Rex? Rex, honey, is that you?"
Rex dropped his shovel in amazement, "Shayna? Shayna, I'm here!"
J.T. spun around, "Shayna? Rex, how do you know my sister?"
Shayna looked at J.T. in confusion, at a loss for words.
Rex stopped short, "Your sister? Bullshit! Shayna, why did you never tell me you had a brother?"
Shayna said, "Because then you'd want to meet him. And I knew you and J.T. wouldn't get along."
J.T. stormed up to Rex, "Are you dating my sister?"
Rex said, "We've been engaged for several months! Shayna, what were you going to do at Thanksgiving, have me war a hood? What the hell?"
Shayna blushed, "I hadn't thought that far ahead. I'm sorry."
DM - When I saw that Shayna's last name was Tucker and J.T.'s last name was Tucker, I said, "Wait, are you two related?" Rex's player said, "No way!" but J.T.'s player and the other players all overrode him, "No way! They are now!" It was too perfect and the resulting role-play was fantastic!
Another voice blurted, "Jesus, Werthy! Hurry up! I haven't got all day, idiot!"
It was Alan Poulson, Rex's rival.
Rex said, "What happened to you?"
"Well, apparently there were some bounty hunters that overheard our plans at the trading post. They followed up on our way back to Williamsburg and captured us. Ivana, Auguste, and Farah are over there."
Felix found his friend Skeezer, "Felix! Holy shit!"
The two exchanged news and got caught up on what had happened. Skeezer had fled the school and ran to the abandoned house that served as their hangout. A few hours later some meth-heads showed up with shotguns looking for the meth they had hidden in the house - the meth that Skeezer had already found and sold - so he fled the house. He was wandering the desert outside of town when he was finally captured by the bounty hunters.
The Vault
After freeing all the prisoners, they turned their attention to the heavy metal door in the back of the cell. It was protected with a keypad lock so the lockpicking gun was useless.
J.T. said, "Just get out of the way." He lifted his foot and kicked the door as hard as he could. It busted open, breaking the lock out of the duracrete wall.
DM - J.T.'s player rolled a 06 on his Strength Feat! BOOM!
Inside the vault they found a collection of stolen and hoarded items. There was a Consortium rocket launcher, a box of 20 stun grenades, a fancy high-tech bicycle, and other goods.
Felix found a rectangular box about the size and shape of a briefcase. There were several lighted buttons on the outside with a transparent section revealing an interior filled with warm glowing vacuum tubes and electronic components.
"I think this is what that lady wanted us to get."
J.T. said, "Then pick it up and lets go. Get those people to help us carry these grenades and that rocket launcher. We're going out the front door."
They emerged from the bunker hatch, stole two hovercraft parked in the middle of the compound, and busted out of the main gate.
DM - It was getting late so we just wrapped up the escape. The players described it as an A-Team style escape with explosions, jumping the hovercraft over the gate as they flew out, music, etc.
Denouement
Later, Felix delivered the databank to the woman who gave them the information. The woman thanked him and told him that if he ever needed anything to look for her - her name was Eris Birdsong. She also asked Felix if he had any interest in working for the Solar Syndicate. Felix declined the offer but introduced her to his good friend Skeezer, who had skills she might find useful and was in need of a job.
The team took their freed survivors from Williamsburg and Buck's Head back to the bank of the Cuyahoga River where it flowed into Lake Erielhonan. They gave the signal and the submersible transport crawled up onto the shore to pick them up.
Everyone escaped and soon all the survivors would be safely within the Hidden City.
What happened next is another story for another time.
THE END
- Entrance from surface
- Kennels (2 volgiurs)
- Common Sleeping Area (4 armored bandits)
- Mess Hall (2 unarmored bandits)
- Kitchen and Larder
- Stairs down to lower levels
- Latrine
- Private Sleeping Room (1 armored bandit)
- Private Sleeping Room (1 unarmored bandit)
- Sub-Boss’ Room (1 gang sub-boss)
- Gang Boss’ Room (1 gang boss)
- Terran captives chained to wall
- Vault (Portable Databank plus 2d10 items from the smugglers cache table, see page 58).
- Secret passage connected to concealed door in kennels
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