Starstones Campaign Chapter One

 We got to play the first game in my new Starstones VSF campaign. Once again my ARSS team have been joined by a team from the Home Office, Lord Farquhar Bufton-Tufton with is wife Lady Amelia and faithful servant Singh. Ian has decided that Singh will be an immortal character in this campaign. If he is killed, rather than create a new character, he will re-introduce Singh with his original stats. By some mysterious means he will always illude death at the last moment !

CHAPTER ONE 

It was been reported that Kartal Nuri Pasha, a senior agent of the Ottoman Sultan’s court, has located a Starstone fall site after “interviewing” a local shepherd who witnessed the event. The Pasha is accompanied by the prominent Ottoman scientist, Professor Erman Gukay, together with a bodyguard of Ottoman soldiers.

HM government have intercepted Ottoman communications which pinpoint the location of the site, so your team have been tasked with assisting in the retrieval of the Starstone.

Set Up: Rural countryside with an area of rough ground/scrub in the centre of the Northern edge (where the Starstone is located), about 8” in from the table edge.

Deployment: Deploy all PCs along the southern edge, then deploy foes randomly but not closer than 8” to any PC (if a foe appears closer than 8” from a PC, place it 8” away).

Foes:

3 x Ottoman Dervish Swordsmen

4 x hordes of 3 Ottoman Soldiers.

Searching the scrub:

Hartal Nuri Pasha

Professor Gukay

1 x Bodyguard (Dervish Assassin)

Trap: There are no Traps.

Ambush: An Ottoman swordsman leaps out from the nearest cover and attacks the closest PC.

Reinforcements: 3 Ottoman Militia enter from a random table edge.

At Our Back: 3 Ottoman Militia.

Things Could Get Worse/Complications: An Ottoman Iron Man enters from a random table edge. Leave the card in the deck, the Iron Man acts as a normal foe for drawn cards, except it also activates if the Complication card is drawn. 

Game Event: Kartal Nuri Pasha and Professor Gukay have finished gathering the Starstone and will attempt to escape from either the E or W edge. Return this card to the deck, each time it is drawn activate Kartal Nuri Pasha and Professor Gukay. They will also activate on a Monster Frenzy card.

NOTE: Nuri will use his gas bombs if any PC comes within 9” (12” once trying to escape). 

Wandering Monster

1 or 2: 1 Dervish Assassin

3 to 6: 3 Ottoman Soldiers

Victory

The game ends if the Starstone is carried off of the table, or if Nuri, Gukay and the Bodyguard are dead; or if all PCs are off table or dead.

Game Report

It started off well enough, the teams moved onto the table and took up a firing position and took out 3 soldiers and a couple of swordsmen with their superior firepower,

As the group moved forward, a failed activation brought another 3 soldiers onto the table behind them (Wandering Monster).

But the Professor spun round and threw one of his exploding globes, which killed them all. Maisie sprang an ambush and took a wound from the crazed swordsman before she put him down and Lord Bufton-Tufton took and early wound from another ambush.

Bufton-Tufton rushed forward leaving his wife and Singh to finish off the enemies on their side of the table. Apart from the last 3 soldiers, he had a clear run at Nuri Pasha and his group, things looked good for our heroes....

...which is where things started to go wrong! Obviously some warning had been sounded because more foes started turning up by the bucket-load.

(We went through 3 or 4 turns with every PC failing at least two activations and drawing a Wandering Monster card almost every time!).

A Dervish assassin turned up on the group's flank, quickly followed by 3 more soldiers. Jack rushed up to meet the threat, gunning down the assassin and 2 of the soldiers. Maisie moved up to support him but took a lucky shot from the last soldier before she shot him.

Disaster struck as another ambusher leapt on Maisie and she fell to the ground. Jack swiftly dealt with the rogue and Lady Amelia rushed over to use her medical knowledge to deal with Maisie's wounds. She she knelt next to Maisie's body another ambusher rushed out, but Lady Amelia managed to parry his blow. Jack turned back to she Lady Amelia struggling with her attacker and 3 Militia closing in on the fight. 

What to do, shoot the militia and charge in to help Amelia? Of course, he's a hero so he did both (3 passed activations!). Jack gunned down 2 of the militia, then drew his blade and charged forward, stabbing the ambusher through the heart.

The Professor stepped up and shot the last militiaman with his trusty revolver.

Fortunately Maisie's wounds were minor (back in the fight with 2 HPs) and her uncle gave her a shot of Mrs Pinkman's Restorative Compound, which brought her back to full health.

 

More soldiers and assassins arrived on the northern edge and on a monster frenzy card the soldiers moved together to form a formidable horde of 6.

To make things even worse for the PCs, an iron man turned up and moved towards Bufton-Tufton, who put a bullet into the machine.

The rest of the party moved forward to support his lordship but a hail of shots from the nearby soldiers riddle Bufton-Tufton and he dropped to the ground.

As the iron man passes over Bufton-Tufton's inert form and crosses the rise, the rest of the party pour fire into the creation, but with no effect. Despite being hit by an Ottoman marksman, the Professor throws his last exploding globes, one to wipe out another group of soldiers moving up behind the party and the other to blast the iron man, which causes damage, but the monstrosity keeps moving.

 

Singh bravely draws the iron man away allowing Lady Amelia to move to help her husband as even more soldiers arrive on the table.

"They said an escort of soldiers, not a whole bloody regiment!"

With a cry of triumph Professor Gukay holds aloft the Starstone and Nuri Pasha leads his group away. Our heroes can do nothing to stop them, they are too far away and too many foes are between them.

A group of militia appear behind Singh and he takes a hit from the volley they aim at him. then the iron man closes in....

 

Valiantly, Singh battles the killing machine and somehow disables it so it crashes to the ground (but Singh has just one hit point left).

Lady Amelia reaches her husband's side, but it's too late, Lord Bufton-Tufton is dead! reluctant to abandon her husband's body, Lady Amelia starts to drag him towards the table edge. Professor Hodgeson joins her and takes up the burden, but then a group of soldier emerge from the nearby trees. The Professor shoots one, then takes a bullet in the chest and collapses. Lady Amelia empties both barrels of her shotgun into the last soldiers, then checks the Professor. He is still alive, but badly wounded. She helps him to his feet, them they continue slowly forward, dragging Bufton-Tufton's body between them.

 

As Singh rushes to join the party another volley from the militia drop him to the ground. Enraged, Jack runs up and blasts the rascals with is revolver, then scoops up Singh's body over his shoulder.

The party escape without further loss, Lady Amelia is the last to leave the table. As soon as they are safe, Jack lowers Singh to the ground and examines him.

"Bugger it Maisie, he's croaked!"

"Are you sure, Jack?"

Jack rises to his feet.

"See for yourself, he's not breathing and there's no pulse."

Maisie bends over Singh's form.

"Oh God! You are right Jack, he's dead!"

Singh opens one eye and weakly gasps "I think you are mistaken, Miss!"

Well that could have gone better!

Our dice rolling was dreadful, frequently Jack seemed to be the only character able to pass more than one activation roll! We were also unlucky with the cards, if felt like half the deck was Ambush and Wandering Monster cards. Had we got more single sword-armed assassins turn up instead of groups of rifle-armed soldiers, it might of helped a bit.

The amount of fire power the bad guys had was a problem as well. I had given all gun armed foes a "poor shot" trait, which reduced their DL, but the sheer number of them meant that it didn't really help. I will need to re-think how to handle guns for the next game. Despite all that, we had fun and are looking forward to the next adventure.

New Campaign for Sellswords VSF

The Starstones Campaign.

 Earth has suffered a succession of bizarre and impressive meteor showers, caused by previously unknown space debris. Although most of the meteors burned up in the atmosphere, numerous small rocks survived to hit the surface of the planet. Four main “fall zones” have been identified, one ran across the South Pacific, the second across Antarctica, the third ran across central Africa and the fourth (and longest) ran from the Austrian Alps to the Sinai Desert.

 Scientific investigation of the meteorites has revealed them to contain a previously unknown mineral, which appears to be an unprecedented source of power. Exactly how to harness this energy is currently unknown. Research was somewhat curtailed when almost simultaneous explosions in laboratories in Berlin and St Petersburg, and at an international conference in New York, eliminated almost half the world’s experts in the field (along with a large part of Manhattan Island).

 All HM Government operatives have been instructed to obtain any meteorites (commonly referred to as “Starstones”) they encounter. It is also essential to prevent Starstones falling into the hands of foreign powers.

 Unfortunately, the politics of the Balkans, where a large number of Starstones are thought to have fallen, is particularly volatile. As well as local governments/warlords/bandits, who may simply be after the meteorites to sell to the highest bidder, agents of various European powers have flooded into the region. In particular HM operatives should be aware of agents from the Ottoman Empire and Prussia (since the steam machines of Prussia destroyed the Austrian Army in the 1866 “Seven Days War”, the Hapsburg Empire has effectively become a Prussian vassal state).

 Game Mechanics

Thanks to Mark Wayne Adams for the original idea that inspired this.

A Starstone may be the objective of the mission or the PCs may merely find one whilst on other jobs.

If a Starstone is not the mission objective, ‘That may come in Handy’ is always a Starstone – it can be secured and moved off the table.

 Intelligence Report on Principal Operatives in the Region

 Kartal Nuri Pasha           

Senior Ottoman Government Official (Sultan’s Intelligence Branch). A skilled swordsman, previously head of the Dervish Assassin training program.

 Professor Erman Gukay

Ottoman Government Scientist

 Oberst Karl Von Leiche

Prussian Military Intelligence (Science Division), officially an “observer” on loan to the Ottomans. Von Leiche’s department has a special interest in “esoteric” experiments, such as Vampirism, Lycanthropy etc. The Oberst is thought to be assisting the Ottomans with scientific experiments.

 

The Villainous Line-Up: L-R Kartal Nuri Pasha, Professor Erman Gukay and his lastest creation (a steam-powered servent), Oberst Karl Von Leiche and Von Leiche disguised as a nun (the oberst thinks he is a master of disguise).

 An Element of Gothic Horror

I am thinking that the classic elements of Gothic Horror, vampires, werewolves, mummies etc would be better suited to the Victorian background rather than our usual fantasy one. I am playing around with adapting some ideas I’ve found on the internet to add in a horror element that is a bit less hack-and-bash.

The Horror of It All

A new element added for this campaign is Sanity score and Horror checks. Each character has a starting Sanity score of 5. Events or creatures may cause Sanity damage or force you to make a Horror check.

Making a Horror check = roll against DL10 then add the number of Sanity points you currently have. If you fail, you lose 1 Sanity point.

If a character takes more Sanity damage than they have Sanity points, they become unconscious. Another PC can “encourage” the downed character by moving into contact and spending an action rousing them. Immediately stand the downed character up and roll a d6, then divide by 2 (rounding up). This is the number of Sanity points added to the revived character, though no more than their original max.

Now the recovered character rolls 1d20 on the Madness Chart + any modifiers.

The Strong Will trait allows a bonus against Horror/Madness rolls.

At the start of each chapter all surviving PCs regain up to 3 Sanity points (they may not exceed their current Sanity score). Healing and medicines/potions DO NOT heal a character’s Sanity points.

Characters may improve their base Sanity score for 3XP per point.

 

Madness Chart – Roll 1d20 + current sanity points + any Strong Will bonus.

1-2 - Lost to the Darkness:  You have descended into the depths of madness. With a final whimper, you fall to the ground and slip into a catatonic state that you never recover from.  This character is for all intents and purposes͙ dead.

3 - Delusions:  Your fractured state of mind is in shambles and you are ready to slip over the edge at any moment.  Any further rolls on this chart are done at -5 to the roll.

4 - It Itches:  Your skin burns and itches as you scratch and claw it feverishly. Why isn’t anyone else scratching???  At the start of each turn, this character tests against DL6 or takes 1 point of damage. A successful Healling or medicine/potion will cure this result.

5 - It’s Coming For You!:  How does it know? Why is it calling my name? What does it want?  This character takes an additional +1 Sanity damage.

6 - Paranoia:  They really are out to get me. All of them! Especially that one over there. He’s always been jealous of me.  Beady little eyes. Breath that stinks…I bet he’s possessed.  At the start of every turn, make a Will check against DL10. If failed, this character acts like a DL10 foe during this turn. His paranoia is taking over!

7-8 - Berserker Rage:  You have come unhinged! You lash out at the Darkness!  At the start of every turn, make a Will check against DL10. If failed, this character activates immediately and moves/attacks the nearest model, friend (DL12) or foe.

9-10 - My Precious!:  You are obsessed with shiny objects and the idea of treasure.  This character is drawn to treasure and he hordes it. Each turn this character is in possession of a clue token, make a Will check against DL12. If failed, this character immediately moves to exit the table with his clue.

11 - Open to the Other Side:  You can feel the spirit realm tickling your mind and tempting you to evil actions. Such ecstasy! -2 to your Will.

12 - The Chills:  You begin to shake uncontrollably and feel a deep chill in your bones!  -2 to your Shoot.

13 - Hallucinations:  You are seeing things. You can’t discern real from fake, but the images are terrifying! At the start of every turn, make a Will check against DL10. If failed, this character is frozen in place with fear and cannot defend himself. All melee attacks against this character automatically hit.

14-17 - Get a Grip!:  You shake it off. You’re fine. Nothing is wrong.

18-19 - Survival is Possible:  Despite the Darkness you have faced, you begin to see hope. Remove one Madness result. If you have none, restore +2 Sanity points.

20 - Mind of Steel:  Having seen the horrors of the dark, your mind becomes emboldened and stronger than ever! Gain +1 Strong Will.

 

The first game of the campaign will (hopefully) be played at the end of the week, so hopefully I will get a write-up on the blog soon!

More VSF in the Balkans with Game Report

 We played our third VSF Sellswords and Spellslingers game and this time I remembered to take some pictures.

The Setting

You are agents of Her Imperial Majesty, Queen of Great Britain, Empress of India etc., carrying out clandestine operations on behalf of HM Government.  Be aware that other government departments may have agents operating in your vicinity. This can be an inconvenience at times as these agents may get in the way of your operations. However, please note that it is not permitted to engage fellow Imperial agents in combat, no matter how annoying they may be. It is also frowned upon to allow fellow Englishmen (or even Colonials) to come to harm if you could reasonably prevent it. You have been sent to retrieve Doctor Simple-Smythe, a scientist whose research into lighter than air technology is of great interest to Her Imperial Majesty’s government. In this game my ARSS team have been joined by a team from the Home Office, Lord Farquhar Bufton-Tufton with is wife Lady Amelia and faithful servant Singh.

Into the Balkans Scenario 3

 Having rescued Doctor Simple-Smyth, the party must now rendezvous with a Royal Navy vessel that will carry the good doctor back to England. The ship is anchored off a nearby harbour and arrangements have been made for a steam launch to pick up Doctor Simple-Smyth at noon. Unfortunately, the Doctor suffer an injury during the escape, which has left him partially incapacitated. He can either use 1 activation to move independently (he activates at the start of each turn if no PC is in base to base contact), or if assisted by a PC (in base to base contact) he can use the same number of actions as the PC. He will not voluntarily contact a foe, but if attacked will defend himself (due to his injuries he fights as a Sword +0) and has 3HP.

 Set Up: Harbour side and surrounding streets.

Foes: There are 9 Bandits, plus 3 Bandit Thugs, the Bandits must be deployed as 3 hordes of 3.

 Deployment: The Bandits are deployed in random locations. PCs are deployed on the southern table edge, AFTER all Bandits have been deployed, but at least 4” from any Bandit.

 Wandering Monster: A Bandit Thug appears on a random table edge.

 Complication: The first time this is drawn an impressive meteor shower draws everyone attention PC roll 10+ on a Smart test, if they pass they can take one free action whilst their opponents are distracted. The second time it is drawn, the Bandit Chieftain arrives on a random table edge.

 Traps: There are no traps.

 Scenario event: An Iron Man activates at a random point on the table (it was previous hidden until activated). Leave the card in the deck, the Iron Man acts as a normal foe for drawn cards, except it also activates if the Scenario Event card is drawn. It will always move towards the Doctor and ignore PCs unless they are between it and the Doctor.

 Clues: The bodies of fallen foes may be searched in an attempt to find “clues” which may be of use in future adventures.

 When searching a foes roll 1d6: Minions: find a clue on a roll of 6, loners/henchmen etc: find a clue on a roll of 4+, Boss/Mastermind/Evil Genius etc: automatically find a clue

 Clues may be cashed in at any point before or during a game. In order to obtain some form of advantage.

For example

3 clues would allow a PC to take an addition item of important equipment (such as an Inventor taking an extra device for this adventure or a PC taking an additional weapon), or allow a PC to disable a mechanical device that they are in base to base contact with (by successfully hitting it in close combat).

The Game

The table viewed from the East. The party are deployed on the Southern table edge and must get the Doctor to the steam launch in the opposite corner. It was decided that the Home office team would escort Doctor Simple-Smythe to the steam launch, whist the ARSS team would advance more centrally towards the dock and try to draw the attention of the bandits away from the Doctor.

Numerous dastardly Balkan brigands are lying in wait for them. A sudden and spectacular meteor shower fills the sky, drawing the bandits' attention, allowing Jack and Maisie to move forward unnoticed (unfortunately the Professor was equally captivated by the lights in the sky).

Jack and the Professor move further forward, while Maisie covers the flank by gunning down a bandit thug creeping up on them. She moves over to search the body and finds a clue! In the meantime the Professor notices a group of bandits in the next street, threatening the advance of the Bufton-Tuftons with Dr Simple-Smythe.

The Professor primes and throws one of his exploding globes (a mixture of volatile chemicals) and removes the threat with a bang.

Meanwhile Jack exchanges fire, killing a thug....

...and pinning down another three bandits.

Who take cover behind a large crate. After a brief firefight all three are eliminated.

A couple of failed activations produced two more groups of bandits on the dockside, who merged together a one great horde in their rush to get down the steps.

Singh spots a thug sneaking up on Lord Bufton-Tufton and deals with the impudent fellow.

Jack and the |Professor draw the larger part of the bandits in play towards them, trying to leave a clear route for the Bufton-Tuftons and the Doctor.

Maisie climbs up the side of a building onto the rooftop, to get a better view for a long range shot with her telescopic sighting device. She then starts picking off some of the bandit horde bearing down on her uncle.

On the other side of the table the Bufton-Tuftons slowly advance taking down any bandits who get in their way, Lady Amelia's shotgun proves especially useful at removing "obstacles". Already wounded, Singh engages in hand to hand with a particularly strong thug. The fight is intense and Singh suffers another wound before he dispatches his opponent. At this moment another 4 bandits enter the table and rush upon him, and the brave Sikh/Indian/Nepalese warrior (he is very vague about his origin) falls to the onslaught.

At this point a Iron Man activates and advances towards the Doctor (and Lady Amelia).

Now wounded himself, Jack guns down the last thug on that side of the table. as the horde advance they are blasted by another of the Professor's exploding globes, then the survivors are caught in a crossfire between Maisie's rifle and Jack's revolver and cut down. The Professor gives Jack a reviving dose of Mrs Pinkman's Compound, before Maisie rejoins them, using the stairs this time. Once outside she quickly checks the thug that Jack had shot and finds another clue.
 

By now the Bufton-Tuftons and reached the steam launch. Lord Farquhar casts off as Lady Amelia hustles the Doctor onto the craft.

A bandit thug rushes forward to stop them but Lady Amelia lets the rascal have both barrels of her shotgun.

Lord Farquhar fires up the engine and guides the craft to the far end of the dock....

...where the Professor, Maisie and Jack hop aboard. The party have completed their mission at the cost of the faithful Singh and Maisie has found 2 clues that may be of use in the future.

The final scene, as the camera pans through the streets, across the heaps of bodies. It pauses when it reaches Singh's corpse, then zooms in to a close-up on his battered face. Suddenly one eye flickers open and looks around....END