Monday, May 29, 2017

Battle for the Bridge

Last time, our heroes boarded the derelict and made their way to the door of the bridge.

They burst in, and find themselves confronted by 3 Dominion robots, including a hulking overlord robot.

Shots ring out but no one is hit.

Until the guard robot blasts Kate at close range. She collapses!

Kip destroys the guard.

And comes to Kate's side. He blasts another robot but is severely wounded.

Kip pulls Kate off the bridge and closes the door, In the adjoining corridor, he administers a stimpack. Kate groggily comes to her feet and our heroes retreat. But the robot overlord bursts through the door and blasts Kip!

Kate backs away and shoots the overlord. It is damaged but still pursues her.

Until it gets close enough to strike with its stunsword. Kate crumples to the ground.

Much later, our heroes awaken, and discover that they are imprisoned.

What do their captors have in store? Find out next time!

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Destroy the Derelict

A Kate and Kip Adventure
While battles rage on Zirconia, spaceships slug it out in orbit above the planet. During one of these battles, the Federation ship Nebula was crippled, and the crew abandoned ship. However, the auto-destruct failed to engage. So Kate and Kip are sent to the ship to finish the job.

Kate and Kip enter through one of the airlocks. Oh no! Dominion robots have boarded!

Kip takes out a robot.

More robots advance but our heroes shoot them down.

The last robot shoots and wounds Kate. Kip zaps it.

After taking a stimpack, Kate is at full strength. The proceed through Nebula's winding corridors.

Kate trades shots with a robot.

And she destroys it. Another robot rushes Kip and tries to grapple him.

But Kate takes it out.

Our heroes advance deeper into the corridors and encounter another robot.

Kip eliminates it.

Kate shoots another robot in the hallway. Look out! A master robot shoots, wounding Kip.

The master robot rushes forward and slashes Kip with its laser sword. Kip retreats, and zaps his attacker.

After taking stimpacks, Kip and Kate arrive at the door to the bridge.

What will they find on the bridge? Find out next time!

Game Note: It's been a while since the last adventure of Kip and Kate. I was off work this morning and did not feel like setting up a miniature game or 4AD scenario. I decided to run a virtual scenario instead. I rolled randomly to find their mission, and robots came up as the enemy again. That's serendipitous because I have a campaign against the robots going on.

Sunday, May 21, 2017

The Skull Cave

In our last installment, our heroes have been searching the forest for the orc reavers who stole the three rings from the Northport abbey. The have just stumbled upon . . .
 
the Skull Cave!
Source: http://imgur.com/LZ1jO
They enter the cave through the gaping maw and descend a set of stairs into the bowels of the earth, At the bottom of the stairs, a winding corridor (1) leads them further into the lair.

Map of the adventure
They round a corner and encounter four giant centipedes. The creatures turn, and appear ready to attack the party. Instead of readying his bow, Rikk the ranger brings his hand to his mouth and makes a strange hissing noise. It startles the centipedes and they flee.

Game Note; The ranger is an unofficial class found in Uncanny Against Darkness. One of the powers of a ranger is to scare animals away.

At the end of the corridor is a door. They open it and enter a room (2). Two orcs are standing guard. Once they see the party, they charge. Wielding two wicked choppers, one swings at Khamen, who ducks and then plunges his dagger into the orc's chest. It collapses to the ground. Rikk takes out the other with a well-placed arrow.

In the next corridor (3), five worgs are sleeping on the floor. As soon as the door opens, the leap up and charge. Rikk kills one with an arrow. Khamen and Candorra are able to fend off attacks. The three heroes slay 3 more of the beasts. The last one flees.

Our heroes enter the next room (4) and spy a towering orc. A reaver boss!
Source: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/63/de/24/63de2410aa1cca422a138c0715c37cbe.jpg
"I know you, ranger!" the orc growls. "This is the last time you'll bother me!" With that, he launches himself at Rikk. The ranger manages to dodge the blows as he unsheathes his sword. Candorra rushes to Rikk's aid. Her blade flicks out and slashes the orc. It yells in rage and strikes at her. The orc's weapon hits, biting through her armor and drawing blood. Candorra stumbles backward.

Meanwhile, Khamen sneaks up behind the orc. His magic dagger pierces the orc's flesh. The monster lashes out behind him, and strikes Rikk with a mighty blow. But now Candorra has an opening and she strikes.

With Rikk temporarily down, the orc rushes and grabs Khamen by the throat. His powerful muscles clamp down, crushing Khamen's windpipe. In desperation, Khamen plunges his dagger into the orc's arm. It releases Khamen and swings. Khamen dodges, Candorra and Rikk rush forward and stab. Their blades bite deep, and the reaver collapses.

The party searches the room and finds the first of the three rings! Just two more to go.

Will our heroes find the remaining rings? Can they win them back?
Find out next time!

Game Notes
  • I am currently playing The Three Rings, a Four Against Darkness module.
  • Because 3R seemed very random, I have modified it a bit. I turned the adventure into 3 hex crawls. The boss of each crawl will hold one of the rings. 
  • In 3Ryou can come across dungeons, which are mapped out using standard 4AD rules. When I rolled a lair during the hex crawl, I declared that the boss of the lair would be the first hex crawl boss. I used my modified encounter charts instead of the standard 4AD rules. Here is how they look for this dungeon:
  • I got lucky and found the boss in the fourth room.
  • Next up - the second hex crawl!