Tavar
2011-12-12, 01:18 PM
Well, it's finals period, and to lower the tension a bit, my roommate ran a oneshot in the Hero system. I thought I'd share this because it's so...interesting.
First off, the Setting. It's set at the College of William and Mary.
Characters: All of the characters are loosely based on a people from the club we're both in, Skiffy(it's the sci-fi fantasy club on campus). Each character generally has multiple inspirations, but generally up to 3. Still, they're all exaggerated into stereotypes.. In addition, the names are references(sometimes obscure, sometimes not), and each one also has a handy title.
Chris Tolkiberry, The Red Shirt:
A Freshman, he's new to the club, and still trying to find his place. Has the flaws optimist, poor, relatively unkown socially, doesn't know the campus well, and is only 17. Has quite a bit of knowledge about nerd culture, though, which was useful.
Redshirt is the title given to all new members of the club, so it fits.
He's based on one of the current Redshirts.
This was mine, due to a random Die Roll.
Lora Ipsem, The Chick:
Pessimistic junior at the college. She was also really enraged at anything she viewed as Misogyny. Also has a complex about her name. Don't bring it up, or she's shovel you in your face.
She's based on two of the girls in Skiffy. For a while, Skiffy had a lot of guys, and thus the few girls we had were notable. Hence the title.
Tom Morton, The Townie
A graduate, he still hangs around because, hey, Skiffy. The Best Armed, he actually was allowed to carry a gun around. Somewhat complicated due to a broken leg, which lead to many jokes about him being too old.
Based on a couple, well, townies. IE, people who don't go to the college, but still come to meetings.
Chad McMurphy, The Lurker
He's the fly on the wall. Never speaking was part of the character. He also had and unannounced crush on Lora, which, while never said, explains some of his actions. Also, so unnoticeable as to be forgettable. Also, roomate of Dimitri.
Combination of a couple people and Silent Bob. Called the Lurker because, he, well, Lurks.
Dimitri Galbreski, The Loud Guy
The combat tank of the party due to having the best combat skills. Also, he's a fencer, and thus has weaponry/armor. Also, loud. Would become stunned when things didn't make sense.
Based on several iconic members of skiffy including my roomate.
Jon Deskchain, The Militant Nerfer
The Club has an activity called Nerf Wars, where every Saturday we take over an academic building and do different games involving, well, firing nerf guns at eachother. The Militant Nerfer is someone who takes this a bit...too seriously. Very enthusiastic, though.
Based on 3 people.
This character joined us later in the session.
Dave Dobbs, The Hipster
This character wasn't used due to several potential players not showing up. Instead, he was NPC'd, but he was still useful. Character wise, he's noted as being unlucky, as well as being designed so as to be bad at combat. Knew lots of weird languages, for example, Esperanto, aka crazy moonspeak.
Notable for being based on several jokes about our club's current President, as well as a former Alumni.
Day 1:
It's a week before the start of Finals, and the group consists of the Loud Guy, Redshirt, Chick, Townie, Lurker. We've apparently been playing some sort of RPG in one of the buildings, but got kicked out of our room, and are searching for another one, with little success so far. The Redshirt suggests going to Swem, the library, and looking for a room there. The others agree, as it's late, so it's likely we'll be able to find a room, and most of the campus seems full.
Arriving there, we find that the study rooms on the first 2 floors are full. To explain, on the first floor, you can talk normally. On the second floor, you're expected to remain in quiet study. However, this rule is relaxed in study rooms. The Third floor also has such rooms, but it has much more stringent rules. Basically, you shouldn't make any noise if you're there. But, with a lack of options, we head up there anyways, in hopes that we can find a room.
Well, getting up there, we split up, and do find a room. In fact, each person finds a room, because there just aren't that many people up on the third floor. So, we need to pick one of them and gather together. The Loud guy solves this in the most direct manner: he shouts out "Hey, I found a room!"
This causes some...problems. Namely, while the study rooms are empty, the third floor isn't. And the shouting's annoyed those people up there. In fact, one of them is agitated enough to confront the shouter, and by extension, the rest of the group. Various members try to be diplomatic, but it's pretty obvious that this guy isn't exactly what you would call right in the head. Talking about how the shouting has stopped him communicating with his god, stopping the flow on knowledge. A bit more questioning reveals that he's referring to the Slimy One, some sort of cult or something. At this point, the Townie inquires about joining(this is actually in character!).
Eventually, he gets up in Lora's face, and the Lurker has had enough. Using an unabridged version of Ulysses by James Joyce as a club, he smacks the guy from behind. This knocks him unconscious, but causes the rest of the people on the third floor to try and jump us. Also shouting about their god-thingy. A couple of us try diplomacy or intimidation, but at best we make them a bit slower to attack us.
Now, quick explanation of the mechanics. The basic roll in Hero system is 3d6. Lower is better, with triple 1's being an automatic success, and triple 6's being an automatic failure. Combat has some special values that are added into all of this, but that's the basics. In addition, you have certain combat maneuvers that one can try.
Now, we all get into combat, and do pretty well. See, we haven't taken off our coats yet, so we still have armor on and everything. In addition, we get really, really lucky. Seriously, we largely aren't even hit, and the couple hits that do land are largely negated by our armor. Fitting, because it's a bunch of college student/cultists. Meanwhile, without armor, we are able to damage them, and we manage to hit quite a bit more often. In fact, I get one of the Redshirt's best moments right here: I used the Haymaker maneuver, which tanks my defense(normally it's 4, but after this it's -1, and higher is better....), but adds +4 damage dice. I hit with the attack, and then roll the damage dice. The cultist instantly drops unconscious, but more importantly I drop his Body to 0. See, there are 2 types of physical hitpoints: stun and Body. Stun points are basically non-lethal hit points. Body are your lethal hitpoints. You have many more Stun points than body, and if you take enough stun points, you're stunned for a round. If you lose all of them, you're unconscious, and the number can go infinitely high. If your body points go to 0, you're dying on the ground, and each phase you lose another point of body. If you get to twice your original body points in negative, you die. Now, there are also 2 kinds of attacks: killing and basic. Killing attacks deal a certain amount of d6's of body damage, and have a multiplier for how much stun they do. Basic attacks do a certain amount of stun, and have a chance to do Body damage based on the dice that you roll.
So, my character, a physically pretty weak guy, with a basic fist, dealt 10 points of body. With one attack. We described it as him doing a haymaker to the cultists throat....
Anyways, we knock them all (one who was pepper-sprayed) unconscious except one, who we grapple and restrain. Talking to him, we aren't able to get more information, beyond the fact that he's a cultist, and such. going through the stuff, however, we find a couple things. First off, a book, with really weird pictures, and in some sort of odd language. The Lurker, when looking though it, finds a letter, but doesn't share it or it's information with the rest. We also find some weird dagger thing. We do realize, however, that the language looks similar to one that the Hipster knows/has used, so we decide to take it to him. The Chick and The loud Guy stay behind to talk to campus police, while we take off. Campus Police are pretty understanding, and take the cultists.
The rest of us show us the book to the Hipster, who reveals the language is Esperanto. It talks about summoning some horror, and all that standard Cthulhu crap. Normally, this would be something we can just laugh off, but the raving's make us nervous, as well as the various items we've found. Specifically, part of the book mentions that the ceremony will take place in 2 days, and there's a picture with some sort of line going from Morton(a building on campus) to the Crim Dell(a...pond on campus). Around this time, the militant nerfer joins us, adding at least another body to the mix.
Also, some investigate the book. Despite one hilarious failure(misreading it as Heston....), we realize that saying the name Hauster 3 times in a row is some kind of kill word. Powerful, but risky. We decide to keep it in mind, but not say it unless we need to.
We decide that we'll investigate this, and get some gear ready. And thus ends the first night.
Aside: Interesting Spots on The William and Mary Campus
The Crim Dell is a pond/swamp thing. It's frankly disgusting, and something of a joke on campus, because of how foul the waters are supposed to be. Hell, it's spawned new life (http://www.wm.edu/research/ideation/science-and-technology/discovery-of-a-new-bacteriophage-means-crim-dell-isnt-just-for-photos-anymore-007.php). Well, ok, it's spawned a new type of virus, but still. And officials/tour guides still try and pass it off as scenic. Dammit, water shouldn't be that shade of green!
Morton: Morton is something of a bad joke. Confusingly laid out inside, with doors that go odd places. For instance, a door labeled Janitor's closet actually leads to a decently sized lecture hall. It also has the distinction of being shaped like a y. In any case, it's been steadily sinking into the ground.
Day 2-3:
Day two largely consists of us preparing, and also some basic recon. See, a couple of us have classes in Morton, and there is something strange going on, even for there. Mainly, doors aren't going where they should. Hell, one door even leads to a building on the opposite side of campus.
At this point, we also get supplies. The Lurker goes and get's both beer and gasoline, plus a packed of white t-shirts. Yes, this is leading exactly where you think it is. The Townie already has equipment, but ends up getting the militant Nerfer a gun as well. The Chick gets a shovel, and the Redshirt gets a big hammer. Finally, The loud Guy gets out his Bokken.
Going into Morton, it's even more insane than before. Pretty much every door leads to a different place than normal. We test this a bit, and find that opening the door from the Morton side is the only way to get the portal thing to work, but once you open it from the Morton side, two way travel is possible. If the door is closed, however, while something(in the test it was string) is inside, it'll get cut in half.
So, every door is basically like this, with them leading to different areas. Several lead to rooms in different buildings, and at least one leads the woods near campus. What makes things difficult is that we need to get to the roof, and the stairwells all have doors...
Still, we're able to get up, because some of the doors lead to different floors. On the second floor, we find something leading to the top of swem. It looks like a ritual is set up here, but there's no one there, so we leave it be for the moment. Moving along, we make a perception check. We see, coming towards us, a man in a black suit. A very tall, maybe even dis-proportioned man. Who seems to be lacking a face....
Yeah. Luckily, since we don't bother him, he doesn't bother us, just moving past us. Still, the Redshirt recognizes both who he is, and what he's from. Supposedly, he's just something the internet created, but we aren't so sure now. Also, at this point, I see something down one of the hallways that would form one of the two branches of the y. There is this weird thing sitting under this table. It looks like some sort of paper-mache head, and I feel like it's watching me(note, this thing is apparently actually in Morton. My roomate's seen it, and taken a picture). Moving closer to it, nothing seems to happen, and then suddenly, it attacks my mind. Already nervous, I smash it with my hammer after resisting the attack, destroying it. The others are drawn by may attack, but play it off as nothing.
So, once again, we move on, finding a door that leads to the third floor, where we find that the papermache head was here as well. And it's smashed, in the same way. Deciding to test this, the militant Nerfer goes down and shoots the head, resulting in a bullet hole appearing in the head on the third floor as well. We decide to stay away from the thing for now on.
Testing one of the doors, we find it opens to this weird place. Full of tall, ionic column and moisture. I, ooc, realize what's going on, and soon, after a knowledge: Nerd culture roll, so does the Redshirt. We found R'lyeth. We soon lose R'lyeth, as we close the door and walk quickly away. Finally, we find a staircase that leads to the roof, though it hadn't been in the building before this. So we, we get to the roof, and find a ritual in progress. The hipster is in the center of a circle, and six cultists surround him, 3 with daggers, and 3 without. We rush in to save him, and make some good progress. Then the Hipster's unluck starts to work against us. First, after shooting a cultist in the hand, the cultist drops his knife. Onto the hipster, cutting him. Also, while the Redshirt does manage to knock down the leader, he ends up killing him. On the summoning circle. The one that needs a sacrifice.
....
Yeah.
Oh, during this, 4 more cultists got involved, 2 of whom flew onto the roof. Soon, only one is left, and he flies off. We try and get as much of the blood off the circle as possible, and also destroy the circle. We aren't sure how successful this is, however, and we notice on Swem that another ritual seems to be taking place.
Oh, and that the head-thingy's back, sitting on the stairwell. Immediately, the Redshirt, Lurker, and Chick all head off to the door we know leads to swem. The head also goes this way, and we notice that it looks kinda like and egg... We try and break/kill it, but aren't successful. Meanwhile, The Townie stays behind to use his paramedic skills on the Hipster. The Militant Nerfer tries to pick off the cultists with his rifle, and does a decent job, given the long range and bad angle. The Loud Guy also stays, as he wants to protect the Hipster, as well as having a psychological button pressed, and pressed hard.
The rest of us and the Egg/head reach the roof of Swem at the climax of the ritual. The egg jets over to the circle, while all of the cultists cry out as one and die. The Egg is launched a good 15 feet in the air, and hovers for a moment, while red light plays over it. Then it's launched into the night, in the direction of the Crim Dell. We notice that the cultists seem to be...leaking some sort of combination of muck and water, but we're unsure of where to go now. The lurker knows, and decides to speak, directing us to the Crim Dell as well. The Militant Nerfer and the Loud Guy also show up, and we all make our way down the fire escape, and head over to the Crim Dell. Arriving, we don't see anything immediately, but then some turbulence occurs. Out of the pond rises the Slimy One, a tentacled being with a beak. Those that make a perception check take ego damage(if reduced to 0 ego, you run away screaming). Two giant tentacles reach out for land, with many smaller attack tentacles as well.
The Lurker is off to the side, and begins preparations for his molotav cocktails. The Loud Guy doesn't use his bokken, instead punching the tentacle, because, hey, bragging rights. The rest of the melee characters start attacking the main tentacles, in order to distract them. The Militant nerfer, meanwhile, starts trying to shoot the thing in the eye, and thus damage it. It's difficult to hit, though, so we have mixed success. It also hit's hard, dealing almost half of my stun with one attack. But, the haymaker comes in handy again, smashing the tentacle for quite a bit of damage. Which got it to grapple me...
Also, the Loud Guy at this point goes to the Lurker to start making molotovs as well, and the Chick pepper sprays the tentacle, helping me out. Then the Nerfer shoots the thing, managing to hit the eye. The Tentacle drops me, and we're finally able to dispatch it. The Nerfer get's lucky again, hitting the eye for massive damage. At this point, the Redshirt realizes that a panic button is nearby, and the police would be helpful. So I run for that, just as the cocktails start to be used. Pushing the button, I call for help, and then the beast lets out a mental shockwave, dropping me unconscious and battered, but alive. Several other's are also injured, but quite a few survive unscratched. Another couple molotovs, and some bullets, and the thing is dead, slowly sinking back into the filth from which it came.
At this point, regaining consciousness, we have a debate about the book, which signals the second time the Lurker actually speaks. We decide to keep it, as there still might be cultists around, as well as many copies.
At this point, the Townie has also arrived, with the Hipster in tow. They stay to talk to the cops(having either been a victim, or not having been involved in this series of actions), and the rest of us enter a nearby dorm in order to clean up, and hear a sound behind us. The cultist that escaped. Only says 3 words, too.
"Hastur, Hastur, Hastur!"
Session end.
Selected Quotes:
GM:"Save the hipster, save the world!"
GM on third floor of Swem: “You can already hear the nervous energy of 1000 grades dropping…”
GM, as NPC: “You have stopped me from hearing the voice of my god!”
Player: “Thomas Jefferson?”
GM, as NPC: “Are you interested in joining the cult of the slimy one?”
Townie: “Possibly, tell me what it involves?”
GM, as NPC cultist, weird voice: “Hi Lora.”
Myself, in same voice: “Wanna go out?”
Player of the Chick:“Your argument is invalid, I have a penguin. With a bell.”
Player of the Chick: “I like ferrets. They’re cute. They’re like slinkies. Only furry.”
GM: "Damn it, I can’t even kill [Skiffy's President] in an RPG…"
The Loud Guy: “I JUST PUNCHED A TENTACLE, BITCHES!”
GM: “So, the redshirt has been grabbed; my pants are vibrating again.”
Player of the Chick: “Alright, I’m going to pepper spray the sludge monster.”
Player of the Lurker: “Why does Morton look like a robotic [redacted]?”
Someone Else, three hours later "Holy ****, Morton really DOES look like a robotic [redacted]."
First off, the Setting. It's set at the College of William and Mary.
Characters: All of the characters are loosely based on a people from the club we're both in, Skiffy(it's the sci-fi fantasy club on campus). Each character generally has multiple inspirations, but generally up to 3. Still, they're all exaggerated into stereotypes.. In addition, the names are references(sometimes obscure, sometimes not), and each one also has a handy title.
Chris Tolkiberry, The Red Shirt:
A Freshman, he's new to the club, and still trying to find his place. Has the flaws optimist, poor, relatively unkown socially, doesn't know the campus well, and is only 17. Has quite a bit of knowledge about nerd culture, though, which was useful.
Redshirt is the title given to all new members of the club, so it fits.
He's based on one of the current Redshirts.
This was mine, due to a random Die Roll.
Lora Ipsem, The Chick:
Pessimistic junior at the college. She was also really enraged at anything she viewed as Misogyny. Also has a complex about her name. Don't bring it up, or she's shovel you in your face.
She's based on two of the girls in Skiffy. For a while, Skiffy had a lot of guys, and thus the few girls we had were notable. Hence the title.
Tom Morton, The Townie
A graduate, he still hangs around because, hey, Skiffy. The Best Armed, he actually was allowed to carry a gun around. Somewhat complicated due to a broken leg, which lead to many jokes about him being too old.
Based on a couple, well, townies. IE, people who don't go to the college, but still come to meetings.
Chad McMurphy, The Lurker
He's the fly on the wall. Never speaking was part of the character. He also had and unannounced crush on Lora, which, while never said, explains some of his actions. Also, so unnoticeable as to be forgettable. Also, roomate of Dimitri.
Combination of a couple people and Silent Bob. Called the Lurker because, he, well, Lurks.
Dimitri Galbreski, The Loud Guy
The combat tank of the party due to having the best combat skills. Also, he's a fencer, and thus has weaponry/armor. Also, loud. Would become stunned when things didn't make sense.
Based on several iconic members of skiffy including my roomate.
Jon Deskchain, The Militant Nerfer
The Club has an activity called Nerf Wars, where every Saturday we take over an academic building and do different games involving, well, firing nerf guns at eachother. The Militant Nerfer is someone who takes this a bit...too seriously. Very enthusiastic, though.
Based on 3 people.
This character joined us later in the session.
Dave Dobbs, The Hipster
This character wasn't used due to several potential players not showing up. Instead, he was NPC'd, but he was still useful. Character wise, he's noted as being unlucky, as well as being designed so as to be bad at combat. Knew lots of weird languages, for example, Esperanto, aka crazy moonspeak.
Notable for being based on several jokes about our club's current President, as well as a former Alumni.
Day 1:
It's a week before the start of Finals, and the group consists of the Loud Guy, Redshirt, Chick, Townie, Lurker. We've apparently been playing some sort of RPG in one of the buildings, but got kicked out of our room, and are searching for another one, with little success so far. The Redshirt suggests going to Swem, the library, and looking for a room there. The others agree, as it's late, so it's likely we'll be able to find a room, and most of the campus seems full.
Arriving there, we find that the study rooms on the first 2 floors are full. To explain, on the first floor, you can talk normally. On the second floor, you're expected to remain in quiet study. However, this rule is relaxed in study rooms. The Third floor also has such rooms, but it has much more stringent rules. Basically, you shouldn't make any noise if you're there. But, with a lack of options, we head up there anyways, in hopes that we can find a room.
Well, getting up there, we split up, and do find a room. In fact, each person finds a room, because there just aren't that many people up on the third floor. So, we need to pick one of them and gather together. The Loud guy solves this in the most direct manner: he shouts out "Hey, I found a room!"
This causes some...problems. Namely, while the study rooms are empty, the third floor isn't. And the shouting's annoyed those people up there. In fact, one of them is agitated enough to confront the shouter, and by extension, the rest of the group. Various members try to be diplomatic, but it's pretty obvious that this guy isn't exactly what you would call right in the head. Talking about how the shouting has stopped him communicating with his god, stopping the flow on knowledge. A bit more questioning reveals that he's referring to the Slimy One, some sort of cult or something. At this point, the Townie inquires about joining(this is actually in character!).
Eventually, he gets up in Lora's face, and the Lurker has had enough. Using an unabridged version of Ulysses by James Joyce as a club, he smacks the guy from behind. This knocks him unconscious, but causes the rest of the people on the third floor to try and jump us. Also shouting about their god-thingy. A couple of us try diplomacy or intimidation, but at best we make them a bit slower to attack us.
Now, quick explanation of the mechanics. The basic roll in Hero system is 3d6. Lower is better, with triple 1's being an automatic success, and triple 6's being an automatic failure. Combat has some special values that are added into all of this, but that's the basics. In addition, you have certain combat maneuvers that one can try.
Now, we all get into combat, and do pretty well. See, we haven't taken off our coats yet, so we still have armor on and everything. In addition, we get really, really lucky. Seriously, we largely aren't even hit, and the couple hits that do land are largely negated by our armor. Fitting, because it's a bunch of college student/cultists. Meanwhile, without armor, we are able to damage them, and we manage to hit quite a bit more often. In fact, I get one of the Redshirt's best moments right here: I used the Haymaker maneuver, which tanks my defense(normally it's 4, but after this it's -1, and higher is better....), but adds +4 damage dice. I hit with the attack, and then roll the damage dice. The cultist instantly drops unconscious, but more importantly I drop his Body to 0. See, there are 2 types of physical hitpoints: stun and Body. Stun points are basically non-lethal hit points. Body are your lethal hitpoints. You have many more Stun points than body, and if you take enough stun points, you're stunned for a round. If you lose all of them, you're unconscious, and the number can go infinitely high. If your body points go to 0, you're dying on the ground, and each phase you lose another point of body. If you get to twice your original body points in negative, you die. Now, there are also 2 kinds of attacks: killing and basic. Killing attacks deal a certain amount of d6's of body damage, and have a multiplier for how much stun they do. Basic attacks do a certain amount of stun, and have a chance to do Body damage based on the dice that you roll.
So, my character, a physically pretty weak guy, with a basic fist, dealt 10 points of body. With one attack. We described it as him doing a haymaker to the cultists throat....
Anyways, we knock them all (one who was pepper-sprayed) unconscious except one, who we grapple and restrain. Talking to him, we aren't able to get more information, beyond the fact that he's a cultist, and such. going through the stuff, however, we find a couple things. First off, a book, with really weird pictures, and in some sort of odd language. The Lurker, when looking though it, finds a letter, but doesn't share it or it's information with the rest. We also find some weird dagger thing. We do realize, however, that the language looks similar to one that the Hipster knows/has used, so we decide to take it to him. The Chick and The loud Guy stay behind to talk to campus police, while we take off. Campus Police are pretty understanding, and take the cultists.
The rest of us show us the book to the Hipster, who reveals the language is Esperanto. It talks about summoning some horror, and all that standard Cthulhu crap. Normally, this would be something we can just laugh off, but the raving's make us nervous, as well as the various items we've found. Specifically, part of the book mentions that the ceremony will take place in 2 days, and there's a picture with some sort of line going from Morton(a building on campus) to the Crim Dell(a...pond on campus). Around this time, the militant nerfer joins us, adding at least another body to the mix.
Also, some investigate the book. Despite one hilarious failure(misreading it as Heston....), we realize that saying the name Hauster 3 times in a row is some kind of kill word. Powerful, but risky. We decide to keep it in mind, but not say it unless we need to.
We decide that we'll investigate this, and get some gear ready. And thus ends the first night.
Aside: Interesting Spots on The William and Mary Campus
The Crim Dell is a pond/swamp thing. It's frankly disgusting, and something of a joke on campus, because of how foul the waters are supposed to be. Hell, it's spawned new life (http://www.wm.edu/research/ideation/science-and-technology/discovery-of-a-new-bacteriophage-means-crim-dell-isnt-just-for-photos-anymore-007.php). Well, ok, it's spawned a new type of virus, but still. And officials/tour guides still try and pass it off as scenic. Dammit, water shouldn't be that shade of green!
Morton: Morton is something of a bad joke. Confusingly laid out inside, with doors that go odd places. For instance, a door labeled Janitor's closet actually leads to a decently sized lecture hall. It also has the distinction of being shaped like a y. In any case, it's been steadily sinking into the ground.
Day 2-3:
Day two largely consists of us preparing, and also some basic recon. See, a couple of us have classes in Morton, and there is something strange going on, even for there. Mainly, doors aren't going where they should. Hell, one door even leads to a building on the opposite side of campus.
At this point, we also get supplies. The Lurker goes and get's both beer and gasoline, plus a packed of white t-shirts. Yes, this is leading exactly where you think it is. The Townie already has equipment, but ends up getting the militant Nerfer a gun as well. The Chick gets a shovel, and the Redshirt gets a big hammer. Finally, The loud Guy gets out his Bokken.
Going into Morton, it's even more insane than before. Pretty much every door leads to a different place than normal. We test this a bit, and find that opening the door from the Morton side is the only way to get the portal thing to work, but once you open it from the Morton side, two way travel is possible. If the door is closed, however, while something(in the test it was string) is inside, it'll get cut in half.
So, every door is basically like this, with them leading to different areas. Several lead to rooms in different buildings, and at least one leads the woods near campus. What makes things difficult is that we need to get to the roof, and the stairwells all have doors...
Still, we're able to get up, because some of the doors lead to different floors. On the second floor, we find something leading to the top of swem. It looks like a ritual is set up here, but there's no one there, so we leave it be for the moment. Moving along, we make a perception check. We see, coming towards us, a man in a black suit. A very tall, maybe even dis-proportioned man. Who seems to be lacking a face....
Yeah. Luckily, since we don't bother him, he doesn't bother us, just moving past us. Still, the Redshirt recognizes both who he is, and what he's from. Supposedly, he's just something the internet created, but we aren't so sure now. Also, at this point, I see something down one of the hallways that would form one of the two branches of the y. There is this weird thing sitting under this table. It looks like some sort of paper-mache head, and I feel like it's watching me(note, this thing is apparently actually in Morton. My roomate's seen it, and taken a picture). Moving closer to it, nothing seems to happen, and then suddenly, it attacks my mind. Already nervous, I smash it with my hammer after resisting the attack, destroying it. The others are drawn by may attack, but play it off as nothing.
So, once again, we move on, finding a door that leads to the third floor, where we find that the papermache head was here as well. And it's smashed, in the same way. Deciding to test this, the militant Nerfer goes down and shoots the head, resulting in a bullet hole appearing in the head on the third floor as well. We decide to stay away from the thing for now on.
Testing one of the doors, we find it opens to this weird place. Full of tall, ionic column and moisture. I, ooc, realize what's going on, and soon, after a knowledge: Nerd culture roll, so does the Redshirt. We found R'lyeth. We soon lose R'lyeth, as we close the door and walk quickly away. Finally, we find a staircase that leads to the roof, though it hadn't been in the building before this. So we, we get to the roof, and find a ritual in progress. The hipster is in the center of a circle, and six cultists surround him, 3 with daggers, and 3 without. We rush in to save him, and make some good progress. Then the Hipster's unluck starts to work against us. First, after shooting a cultist in the hand, the cultist drops his knife. Onto the hipster, cutting him. Also, while the Redshirt does manage to knock down the leader, he ends up killing him. On the summoning circle. The one that needs a sacrifice.
....
Yeah.
Oh, during this, 4 more cultists got involved, 2 of whom flew onto the roof. Soon, only one is left, and he flies off. We try and get as much of the blood off the circle as possible, and also destroy the circle. We aren't sure how successful this is, however, and we notice on Swem that another ritual seems to be taking place.
Oh, and that the head-thingy's back, sitting on the stairwell. Immediately, the Redshirt, Lurker, and Chick all head off to the door we know leads to swem. The head also goes this way, and we notice that it looks kinda like and egg... We try and break/kill it, but aren't successful. Meanwhile, The Townie stays behind to use his paramedic skills on the Hipster. The Militant Nerfer tries to pick off the cultists with his rifle, and does a decent job, given the long range and bad angle. The Loud Guy also stays, as he wants to protect the Hipster, as well as having a psychological button pressed, and pressed hard.
The rest of us and the Egg/head reach the roof of Swem at the climax of the ritual. The egg jets over to the circle, while all of the cultists cry out as one and die. The Egg is launched a good 15 feet in the air, and hovers for a moment, while red light plays over it. Then it's launched into the night, in the direction of the Crim Dell. We notice that the cultists seem to be...leaking some sort of combination of muck and water, but we're unsure of where to go now. The lurker knows, and decides to speak, directing us to the Crim Dell as well. The Militant Nerfer and the Loud Guy also show up, and we all make our way down the fire escape, and head over to the Crim Dell. Arriving, we don't see anything immediately, but then some turbulence occurs. Out of the pond rises the Slimy One, a tentacled being with a beak. Those that make a perception check take ego damage(if reduced to 0 ego, you run away screaming). Two giant tentacles reach out for land, with many smaller attack tentacles as well.
The Lurker is off to the side, and begins preparations for his molotav cocktails. The Loud Guy doesn't use his bokken, instead punching the tentacle, because, hey, bragging rights. The rest of the melee characters start attacking the main tentacles, in order to distract them. The Militant nerfer, meanwhile, starts trying to shoot the thing in the eye, and thus damage it. It's difficult to hit, though, so we have mixed success. It also hit's hard, dealing almost half of my stun with one attack. But, the haymaker comes in handy again, smashing the tentacle for quite a bit of damage. Which got it to grapple me...
Also, the Loud Guy at this point goes to the Lurker to start making molotovs as well, and the Chick pepper sprays the tentacle, helping me out. Then the Nerfer shoots the thing, managing to hit the eye. The Tentacle drops me, and we're finally able to dispatch it. The Nerfer get's lucky again, hitting the eye for massive damage. At this point, the Redshirt realizes that a panic button is nearby, and the police would be helpful. So I run for that, just as the cocktails start to be used. Pushing the button, I call for help, and then the beast lets out a mental shockwave, dropping me unconscious and battered, but alive. Several other's are also injured, but quite a few survive unscratched. Another couple molotovs, and some bullets, and the thing is dead, slowly sinking back into the filth from which it came.
At this point, regaining consciousness, we have a debate about the book, which signals the second time the Lurker actually speaks. We decide to keep it, as there still might be cultists around, as well as many copies.
At this point, the Townie has also arrived, with the Hipster in tow. They stay to talk to the cops(having either been a victim, or not having been involved in this series of actions), and the rest of us enter a nearby dorm in order to clean up, and hear a sound behind us. The cultist that escaped. Only says 3 words, too.
"Hastur, Hastur, Hastur!"
Session end.
Selected Quotes:
GM:"Save the hipster, save the world!"
GM on third floor of Swem: “You can already hear the nervous energy of 1000 grades dropping…”
GM, as NPC: “You have stopped me from hearing the voice of my god!”
Player: “Thomas Jefferson?”
GM, as NPC: “Are you interested in joining the cult of the slimy one?”
Townie: “Possibly, tell me what it involves?”
GM, as NPC cultist, weird voice: “Hi Lora.”
Myself, in same voice: “Wanna go out?”
Player of the Chick:“Your argument is invalid, I have a penguin. With a bell.”
Player of the Chick: “I like ferrets. They’re cute. They’re like slinkies. Only furry.”
GM: "Damn it, I can’t even kill [Skiffy's President] in an RPG…"
The Loud Guy: “I JUST PUNCHED A TENTACLE, BITCHES!”
GM: “So, the redshirt has been grabbed; my pants are vibrating again.”
Player of the Chick: “Alright, I’m going to pepper spray the sludge monster.”
Player of the Lurker: “Why does Morton look like a robotic [redacted]?”
Someone Else, three hours later "Holy ****, Morton really DOES look like a robotic [redacted]."