Friday, April 27, 2012

Post Apocalyptic Mars - Actual Play - Northward Young Martian !


To recap the party was able to survive the trepidations of a cabal of wererat assassins brought into the city state that their in. They were hired a few games back to act as body guards for a Martian wedding. They foiled an assassination attempt.
Tonight they were able to collect their reward & began to see some very disturbing things about the city as the police came to do an investigation of the events of a few games ago.
The players didn't want to stick around for the entire line of questioning & left shortly after a routine round of Q&A with the city guard.

The party began to notice something weird was going on when the guard were talking about "new mercs" in the city & a cache of new weapons being situated on the battlements.
This meant gun running but before too long they saw some strangers around coming in on hover bikes.

One of the party's fighters wanted to check on the sick & wounded from the Temple of the Plumed Serpent.  He separated from the rest of the party who shadowed a mysterious air ship that was seen in the skies heading for the warehouse district.
 In the mean time a hover truck almost ran down the party!

The truck was driven by a group of greys alien clone warriors.

The party's Dwarven cleric lost it then. He's had incidents with these guys before & hates them. A round later  he activated a hammer of chain lightning & let loose. The aliens opened fire on him nearly frying him!

The bard of the party released a treasure that they had picked up 6 games ago. An "egg of hypnotism &  delusion" 
The greys in the truck along with the dwarf didn't make their save!
Everyone was transfixed by the spinning lights & weird patterns floating in the air!

The party managed to steal the truck
That's when a small grey saucer descended on the party!

The rest of the party was given a merry chase through the winding streets of the city! 
Meanwhile the party's main fighter Zader went to the Temple of Apollo the patron god of this war torn city.

Apollo has found a niche within Martian society is because of the void left by the Holy Thern debacle. The various gods have moved right into the vacuum left behind after the exit of the Barsoomian religion. This isn't an original idea at all & one that I've adapted from The Red Planet Rpg by Clovis Cithog & doesn't get nearly enough air play.
 

This temple along with its attendant red skinned clerics, priestesses, etc. all serve as the local hospital here. After making a healthy donation to the temple. Zader rounds the corner only to be nearly run down by his comrades!
 

The party screams around the corner & a dexterity roll later they pick up Zader & are headed North right out of the city with the saucer in hot pursuit!
 
They manage to lose the saucer down a side alley & shoot round another corner almost smack dap into another hover truck!
 

They manage to not wreck themselves on the merc hover truck & 5 drive rolls later roll down another alley. The party doubles back & picks up their riding lizards, discovers the weapon cache in the back of the truck, & contacts the truck A.I.
They don't want to stick around after seeing another strange air ship pass over head. They head out of  the city via the North gate!
 They go deep into the desert, in fact deeper then they've ever been. They see wild throats, sand, wind, & dunes.
They begin to head for the mountains & keep heading North.

They manage to make the mountains when they hear something whimpering in the storage bins above the cockpit. Trussed up like a Christmas turkey is a cadlot. Bound with rope & such. The beast is a very poor sight indeed.

The cleric casts cure light wounds & makes an animal handling roll to make sure the animal will survive & not tear the party in half!
The beast sleeps after receiving the spell from the cleric.

Meantime the party is nearly run down by a herd of wild throats. The animals scream past the hover truck as  if their lives were incredible danger! The party hears the snap of reptilian wings! 
The party catches sight of a faint outline of something overhead & they freeze! They shutdown the truck just as the beast grabs a struggling throat & snaps its neck right infront of them!
 

They sit still just as the monster grabs its prey & springs airward in one swift action! Quicker then the eye can follow! 
They decide to go in the opposite direction towards the mountains!

On the way their they suddenly realize that they have little in the way of food!
After a protracted fight against a throat the party brings one down the shadow of these mysterious mountains!


The Ruins of Char'realra - A failed Dwarven Colony on Mars! 

Within a large cave they find mysterious stone heads. Ancient beyond measure & time worn. The Dwarf recognizes these belonging to ancient ancestors of his!

They back the truck in & prepare their meal & settle in for the night. Morning comes very quickly & they see how extensively that these ruins cover!

The party notices just how much of an area these cover. There's also graffiti written over several areas of the walls in High Barsoomian & Orc! 

They find that an ancient metal gate has been torn off its hinges & that a set of stairs descends below. They find a working radium bulb. Begin turning these on as they continue down. Finally they reach an ancient elevator!
The Dwarfian Cleric leads the party & sees in the shadowed darkness a strange floating orb that slowly drifts & bobs in the strange cold dead light. 
What does he do? He rolls initiative & attacks!
He nearly kills the entire party! As the following happens - The chain lightning takes out all three gas spores that were quietly floating in the darkness.
The PC rush for the surface after making their saves! That's right they make a dead run as the rhizomes eat away at their flesh. A medikit provides them with some temporary relief from the spores of the Gas spore! 
They make note where the ruins are but have less then 24 hours before they die!
They make it back to the city & into the Temple of Apollo whose priests are only too happy to take their money & prepares births for them & the rite of a cure disease spell. Which is pretty expensive! That's where we ended for this evening! 

4 comments:

  1. You had me at "cabal of wererat assassins." :)

    This sort of "kitchen sink" version of Barsoom is inspired stuff.

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  2. Trey,
    I wish I could say that this was a really original idea of mine & something that I was working on for a long time but I lifted the idea of using science fantasy elements with D&D from Terminal Space & Booty & The Beasts.
    I've been using this approach for sometime & it works out pretty well even with the gonzo stuff.

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  3. Always enjoy following this campaign. Wish I had a local DM who ran campaigns like this.

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  4. Thanks Maedar Antocus! I wish I had more players for these games locally. The Crypts & Things one runs with 7 players & 6 in this one from time to time. Thanks for the comment man!

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