I Killed a PC in the First Session

Last Saturday I started a new campaign centered around Prohibition Mobsters trying to make it big in 1920's NYC. Here's how it went.

• Four PCs- Sam (Played by the same guy who played Virgil in Agency 17), Bruno, Roseanna ("Red"), and Vinnie
• 150pt total
• Red and Vinnie are both playing minors (16 or 17 years old)

The PCs are called into a speakeasy by their local Capo, Jack Bennedetto. Jack works for the Barberini family, and so do the PCs. Jack's learned that the Baker Gang, a smalltime outfit working out of Newark is sending a shipment of booze South around Manhattan to try and avoid having another shipment hijacked going through the heart on NYC.

This, of course, means the players should have an easy time hijacking the very same shipment.

The players pump Jack for details. The Bakers are politically insignificant. They only manufacture booze, they sell to other outfits who ultimately distribute the product. Most families buy from them only when shit hits the fan and their normal supply routes have been compromised.

Sam sets out to get in contact with his brother-in-law, Teddy, an excellent wheelman. He then does some digging, meeting a soldier of the Vespucci family. The Vespuccis have been keenly aware of the trouble that the Baker Gang is having- their last three shipments from them have all been hijacked.

Sam is not pleased to learn it seems to be his nemesis, Jack "Three Finger" Moran who is involved. Moran is Irish, territorial, and feisty. Sam sets up some smoke and mirrors, hoping to convince Moran's gang that the next Baker shipment is going by boat.

Meanwhile, the others decide to scope out Newark. Locating a diner owned as a front by a member of the local criminal elite, they manage to fast-talk their way into getting Bruno a job at a 'rubbing alcohol' plant.

Bruno attempts to so some reconnaissance  while Red and Vinnie are stationed outside, but Bruno is an amateur actor at best, and he arouses suspicion. He's confronted by some armed thugs in the parking lot outside, and is convinced to go back inside.

Bruno is questioned by the boss of the factory, but doesn't break under interrogation. They're convinced he's a cop.

Meanwhile, Vinnie tries to sneak into the factory, even getting into a supply closet via a window, but without any firearms, and outnumbered, he wisely stays out of sight.

Bruno eventually makes a move, attempting to get his armed guard in a headlock. The guard takes aim, just to get socked in the chest. Firing his shotgun twice at Bruno, the guard misses due to the bulk and shock penalties.

Bruno misses on his next attack as the guard dodges and retreats. The guard opens fire again, and Bruno fails his dodge, taking seven shotgun pellets. Bruno is hit in the torso, groin (twice), right arm (twice), the leg, and his hand, for a total of 26 damage, as well as a crippled arm and hand.

Bruno does make his HT checks, but the players taps out knowing that continuing the fight is pointless. More members of the factory are moving in, some drawing firearms.

The session ends with Bruno's body being loaded into the same truck the players think they have to hijack.

Important Lessons:

• Bruno didn't go for an all-out attack while trying to grapple the guard
• Retreating out of close combat to avoid bulk penalties is powerful
• Bruno never should have gone back inside the factory. Range penalties work in your favor when you're running away from people with guns.
• A lot of the PCs invested a great deal in melee brawling skills, a poor decision considering they're operating in the era of the Tommy Gun
• Acting at default, Fast-talk at 12 and Streetwise 11 aren't going to cut it if you're trying to infiltrate an enemy outfit.

Italian Mob Rank/Status

Monster Hunters is ongoing, despite a long (almost month long) break in sessions due to numerous real life things going on. The game's plot is as thick as ever, which has made me increasingly reticent to blog about it since describing what's going on would take ages.

For a new campaign, I'm thinking about Prohibition Era crime- the likes of Al Capone, Bugsy Siegel, and so on. It would involve trying to scrabble up the ladder within the organization, pulling off jobs, fending off other gangs, and inevitably clashing with police.

Associate members of the mob are pretty easy to peg- Rank 0, 2pts (as per Social Engineering pg. 15). This comes with a -2pt Duty to the Family (representing getting asked to do jobs above and beyond the normal criminal endeavors and the cut of profit that gets sent up to the bosses). All PCs would be given this to start.

Rank increases at 2pt/level, with the mob representing a 10pt Patron for Requests for assistance. This is to model individuals like Meyer Lansky and Bugsy Siegel who had clout within the mob without being able to fully capitalize on the Mob's power due to their ethnicity.

Made Men receive Criminal Rank in the family, at 3pts/level, replacing rank that they previously held before. (IE: Rank 3 previously is now Rank 2) The mob represents a 15pt patron for Made Men when making a request for assistance.
Made Men are subject to a -10pt vow:
-Code of Silence (Never talk to Authorities or seek their help)
-No talking about business to non-members
-Cannot fight or kill fellow members without Boss' Permission
-Must pay tribute
-Cannot commit adultery with other family members' wives
And also a -5pt Duty.

Breaking the vow or refusing to accept an order from the boss is punishable by death.

But Made Men enjoy privileges:
-5pt Legal Immunity within Organized Crime Circles. This represents the fact that Made Men are not to be attacked without permission from the Man's boss.
-Reputation 4 (Large Class of People, Criminals: -50%)- 10pts

Soldiers generally have rank 1-3, with a cap of 3. Rank 0 would represent a  member not currently in the good graces of the family.

Capos have rank 4-6.

The Underboss and Consigliere are rank 7.

The Boss/Godfather is rank 8.

The levels for the 2pt rank for non-Italians is roughly similar, with rank 4 meaning that an individual is in responsible for a group of individuals below them, with the size of that group increasing with each level of rank.

Status:
Most Made Men are expected to be Status 1 or 2, with higher ranking Capos (Rank 6 especially) likely edging into Status 3. The Underboss and Consigliere would both be Status 3 or 4, and the Godfather would be Status 4 or 5 (Al Capone). This status is purchased separately from Rank.

Any thoughts or comments are appreciated.

The Endless Legions: Impalers

I ran a combat last session involving Impalers, and while effective at taking on the weakest combatant who was in the fight, they didn't exactly pose a significant threat to the players.

So as I go through introducing you all to the Impaler, I'll likely talk about the failing points they had last session.

Impalers

Impalers are part of the Endless Legions of Hell. Used primarily to crack defenses as shock troops, Impalers are characterized by the black tar that seeps from their bodies constantly. This tar hardens, covering their entire body in a protective shell and forming the claws and spines for which they are named. Impalers can fire spines from their bodies, allowing them to attack at range.

ST: 13        HP: 13         Speed: 7
DX: 15      Will: 13        Move: 7
IQ: 13        Per: 13         Weight: 200lbs
HT: 12       FP: 12          SM: 0

Dodge: 11  Parry: 13     DR: 20 (Ablative)

Traits: Claws (Long Talons); Combat Reflexes; Damage Resistance 20 (Ablative); Regeneration (Extreme, DR Only, Requires Ready)*; Spines Innate Attack (Detailed Below); Spines (Long); Unfazeable
Skills:Innate Attack (Projectile)-16; Karate-18; Wrestling-19;

Claws (18): 1d+2(5) cut or impaling; reach C.
Spines (21): 1d small piercing damage; range 100, Acc 3, RoF 30, Shots N/A, Rcl 1


*Restores 20 DR/second due to scaling effects of having DR 20
 

Impalers originally had only 10 DR. While enough to prevent the less damage heavy characters from immediately cracking through and dealing HP damage to them, Fiona swinging her great axe for 5d+3 had no issue getting through to the gooey center. Increasing this DR to twenty both ensures that two or more attacks will be required to start affecting the Impalers' HP, and that regenerating the shell for a turn is more of a worthwhile investment.

Now, for combat options, Impalers can actually make decent use of Spraying Fire, and Quick Shooting. I decided to give their claws a very high armor divisor to ensure that they could target the most beefy member of the PCs, without needing high damage to punch through DR.

The high RoF of spines is what really makes Impalers dangerous against unarmored targets. On a skill roll of 16, an Impaler is still going to score 5 hits against a target within 2 yards. That requires a margin of success of 4 to completely avoid the attack, which most characters with a dodge at or below ten will fail- consistently. Given that a roll of 10 is hitting with 11 shots, it's clear why armor is important while fighting them.

The Endless Legions: Mayhems

The Endless Legion is the seeming mass of demonic beings that aren't powerful enough to claim their place within the meritocracy that is demonic nobility. A large portion of it is effectively a caste system enforced by which species a demon is- it's a rare imp that survives long enough to overcome the weakness of its birth.

One such species, used as troops by the nobility, are Mayhems, named because of the chaos of limbs and weapons that ensues when they enter a melee.

Mayhems look a great deal like a normal human, at least until they reveal the two extra arms that are generally hidden inside the chest cavity. At this point, it becomes obvious that their spines and arms are elongated (SM +1, arms have SM+2, a reach of C-2), and that they can use all fours arms to attack separately. Once they reveal their arms their height increases to almost seven and a half feet tall.

The spine of a Mayhem is exposed and can be attacked from the front. When the spine is crippled, the upper torso breaks free of the legs, reducing the Mayhem to crawling about on four arms to move around. This effectively gives them the horizontal disadvantage, making it impossible for them to move and hold more than a single weapon at the same time.

 Mayhems frequently use weapons with extended melee reach to enable themselves to attack foes who cannot close in to attack without risking a thicket of sharp death.

Mayhem

ST: 13            HP: 13           Speed: 5.5
DX: 13          Will: 10          Move: 5
IQ: 10            Per: 10           Weight: 200lbs
HT: 9             FP: 9              SM: +1
Dodge: 8        Parry: 10       DR: Only skull and spine

Fright Check: -2 (Experienced monsters hunters quickly acclimate to fighting these)

Claw (14): 1d+1 crushing. Reach C-4.
Grapple (15):  No damage. Gains +2 to ST per extra arm used to choke/strangle, up to +4.
Spear (14):  1d+3 impaling (1d+4 if held by two hands). Reach 1-3 (One-handed), 1-3,4* (two-handed)
Long Spear (14): 1d+3 impaling (1d+4 if held by two hands). Reach 2-4 (One-handed), 1-4,5* (two-handed)
Halberd (14): 2d+10 cut. Reach 2-4,5*.
Halberd (14): 2d+9 imp. Reach 2-4,5* May get stuck.
Halberd (14): 1d+4 imp. Reach 3-5*

Traits: Claws, blunt; Extra Arms 2 (Long 2; Extra-flexible, Switchable); Extra Attack 3; Injury Tolerance (No Vitals; Independent Body Parts (Upper Torso Only; No reattachment)); Night Vision 5; Striking ST 1.
 Feature: Spine can be targeted from the front, different crippled spine effects

Skills:
Brawling-14; Climbing-18; Polearm-14; Spear-14; Wrestling-15

Allowing allies to take advantage of Feint

So, the combat in my game is starting to get slightly stale for my tastes, and I've always been slightly irked by how much better deceptive attack seems compared to a feint- the improved turn economy of deceptive attack is highly desirable.

A feint, done right, draws your opponent into a state of weakness so that you can then smash in their face, taking advantage of it.

My thinking is, a good enough feint might open up a hole in an enemy's defense so glaring that even allies can take advantage.

Proposal:
Any feint that imposes a penalty of -3 or more to a defense roll can be taken advantage of by allies, not just the combatant who originally used feint.

Why is Ireland such a hotspot for supernatural activity, anyways?

My players have been asking this question for a while now. Ireland in 1641 doesn't appear to have any real reasons to have such an influx of demons, neutral spirits, and other supernatural creatures. Now, I actually have an explanation for this.

Angels.

Yes, you heard that right, Angels. More specifically, Metos, but it ties into all of them.

The campaign world exists in a multiverse where a predatory corruption bounces from universe to universe, attempting to transform each of them into some version of hell. Hell, for campaign purposes, is a universe that has fallen to demonic corruption and now threatens Earth. The two universes (Hell and the one the players are trying to save) are intersected somehow, allowing travel between them.

Travel from Hell to Earth and back is difficult. The majority of demons are incapable of traveling to Earth without risking a permanent demise, although especially wise/old/strong specimens have learned to project avatars of themselves to Earth to reduce the risk of their excursions. Losing an Avatar might be painful, but it doesn't cause any permanent damage at least.

Angels are also from another universe, one that managed to stave off the corruption and achieve a horribly high level of Ultra-tech. Using this technology to transform themselves into terrifyingly powerful androids- and later, pure machines- they took the fight to Hell.

Needless to say, the various religions of the world have no clue about this.

The Angels are limited in number. The vast energy required to create just one could kill stars and blacken solar systems of light. Only five are active on Earth. Metos, the strongest, is fully capable of destroying entire planets, but that only serves to temporarily stem the tides of Hell.

The Angels don't have the means to create more of themselves to the same degree of power that they already possess. Hell is always expanding, always creating more troops, many of which are truly expendable.

It's a real Zerg Vs. Protoss with humans caught in the middle situation. (Disclaimer: I'm a massive Starcraft fan).

Metos is the most powerful Angel, the one capable of crushing planets and killing stars. It's his presence in Ireland, in a state of rest over a particularly powerful ley line that is the origin of the numerous incursions into Hell. His presence has weakened the barrier between the universes, allowing more free travel between the two.

This isn't completely unique to Metos either- most of the angels are strong enough that they similarly start to strain the underpinnings of reality that make it harder for things to cross between dimensions.

Sometimes the worst enemy of a group of PCs is real life.

Agency 17 is over for now. A combination of grad school, work hours changing, going full time and life emergencies caused too much scheduling headaches to continue trying to gather everybody together every week.

Maybe it will return if things settle down, but these things tend to not happen.

In other news, I lost the files for three of my PC's character sheets for the Monster Hunters game I'm running IRL. Thankfully, I'd printed off sheets for everyone a week prior, so I can recreate them without too much fuss.