Ralph_Haas |
Stability, two points spend: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4
Provided I keep my s~~+ together
Not being too good at fighting, I try to make myself as small a target as possible. I'm a reader, not a fighter!
Which is better of trying to stay out of the path of the bullets, concealment or stealth?
Haita the Shepherd |
You can just stay out of sight without a check and you can't be targeted. The way I'm seeing it boil down is Freddy and Evelyn on either side of the door from the conservatory, Amadeus in the room throwing down with Trammel and Walker beside the door on the opposite side. So if Ralph is out of sight of the door, he can't be shot at.
Haita the Shepherd |
Joesph and Anatoly hear gunshots ringing out from inside the mansion.
The bottom level of the carriage house is a converted garage, with space for several cars to park and various auto maintenance tools stored within. There is currently a black Cadillac sedan parked there. A closed door on the wall leads to a set of stairs leading to the second floor of the carriage house.
Haita the Shepherd |
Order of Action- pool values represent total at the beginning of the round
Ralph- Fleeing 8 (diving for cover)
Trammel
Freddy- Firearms 6
Amadeus-Scuffling 5
Walker
Evelyn- Firearms 2
Ralph, with the body of a heavy reader, throws himself away from the door his hands shaking in fright. No stability loss beyond the spend.
Meanwhile, Samson Trammel grabs the drawer in his desk and yanks the entire thing out. Evelyn, Freddy and Amadeus can see that there is a sheaf of papers and folios bound in twine and rubber bands within.
"YOU WON'T GET ME! I WAS CHOSEN! CHOSEN!", he shouts.
Freddy stays cool, his adrenaline pumping. He retaliates, taking a shot at Walker while he's popping out to line up another shot on the detective.
damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7
Walker grunts, blood seeping from where Freddy wounded him.
Amadeus charges into the room, jumping on Trammel on the floor.
Next round will be a scuffling contest to keep him down.
"WALKER! GET HIM OFF ME!", the cult leader shouts.
Walker takes a risky shot at the medium, trying to dislodge him from his employer.
For the second time today, Amadeus feels the hot pain of a bullet entering his body- this time through the shoulder. 6 damage, Amadeus. You're Hurt.
Evelyn takes the opening to retaliate, landing another hit on Walker.
Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 4
Trammel's bodyguard falls back behind the wall, clutching the new wound.
Okay, new round!
Anatoly Dudko |
1d6 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3 Stability check with 2-point spend
Antatoly stands looking at the body. He just stands. It's almost too much. First the mouth, and the unspeakable acts surrounding it, and now this. He had murdered a man. Sure, he might be dead himself if he hadn't shot, but now what. Where did he go from here. did he begin his slow descent into madness and depravity, or learn to live with his sins, and continue life.
He makes no acknowledgement of Joseph's attempts to speak to him... he must stares.
Haita the Shepherd |
1d6+2 Stability check with 2-point spend
Antatoly stands looking at the body. He just stands. It's almost too much. First the mouth, and the unspeakable acts surrounding it, and now this. He had murdered a man. Sure, he might be dead himself if he hadn't shot, but now what. Where did he go from here. did he begin his slow descent into madness and depravity, or learn to live with his sins, and continue life.
He makes no acknowledgement of Joseph's attempts to speak to him... he must stares.
Anatoly's mouth is dry, his heart racing. He killed a man. He's a killer now and there's no way to change that. Dear God, what would Uncle think?
Anatoly loses 3 stability.Haita the Shepherd |
Trammel kicks and writhes in Amadeus' grasp, trying to sink his teeth into the investigator's arm.
Scuffling: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4
While Trammel bites down into Amadeus' arm, the medium maintains his old on the cult leader.
Walker tries limping away into the smoke filling the grand entry from the sputtering wreck of a car, but Freddy gets an angle and takes it:
Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7
With the loud report of the .45, Walker sprawls to the ground and remains still.
Evelyn, Ralph- any actions?
Haita the Shepherd |
Joseph walks up to Anatoly Come on, we have to help them!!! He tries to drag him into the car, and whether or not he succeeds, he stamps on the gas pedal and begins to speed towards the firefight!
Joseph jumps into the Cadillac and hits the gas! Then realizes that the key isn't in the car.
Would you like to try hot-wiring it with mechanical repair?Haita the Shepherd |
The fight is basically over, but Trammel will still attempt to escape.
Trammel continues thrashing, kicking with his feet, jabbing with his elbow and biting at Ralph's hand.
Scuffling 4 points: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10
With a nasty kick to Amadeus' bullet wound and vicious bite to the soft flesh at the base of Ralph's thumb, Trammel kicks free of the investigators and attempts to run into the grand entry!
He's legging it, what do you do?
Haita the Shepherd |
Freddy runs forward and takes aim at Trammel's leg with his .45...
Firearms: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7
Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5
The cult leader tumbles to the floor in the smoky grand entryway, toppled by his momentum and the bullet in his leg. The desk drawer and its contents drop from his arms, flying across the room. Grunting from the pain, he starts crawling after it.
Haita the Shepherd |
Ralph scoops up the drawer- within is a thick sheaf of papers and folios bound variously by twine, rubber bands and nothing. The top sheet has Testament of the Dripping Mouths' Emanates typed in the middle.
Trammel starts pulling himself to his feet.
"That is not for your eyes! Give it back! The- the briefcase! A thousand dollars cash, plenty of Nectar- take that! Twice as much if you let me go!"
Haita the Shepherd |
Joseph drives the despondent Anatoly over to the smoking mansion from the carriage house, completely ambivalent to the groundskeeping. Running in through the servant's entrance and the kitchen, he finds the place filling with smoke from the crashed car. In the grand entrance, the powerfully built man that answered the door lays face down with a rifle still clutched in his hand while a middle-aged man in his undershirt and slacks, bleeding from a bullet wound in his leg, attempts to get back on his feet. The man he had lunch with this afternoon... what was it? Randall? Ralph?... seems to be studying something in a desk drawer that's been ripped from its home.
Ralph_Haas |
I move the drawer out of reach of Trammel.
I've played enough Lovecraft games to know that you NEVER read the spooky books.
Testament of the Dripping...well, this is indeed what we're looking for. Let's see what we can learn about this so called "magic mouth" hmmm?
I read the spooky book.
Haita the Shepherd |
Trammel ignores Westmore's orders and lunges for Ralph, only to be kicked by Amadeus. His knee buckles and he falls to the floor once more.
The Testament is a thick sheaf of papers, it will likely take two or three days to read through. Flipping through pages, Ralph finds that Trammel's magnum opus-in-progress is a chaotic work, variously typed and handwritten in different penmanships. Many pages are soaked or marked with various bodily fluids or supplemented with thin shavings of organic material.
Give me a stability test for beholding Trammel's manuscript, Ralph.
"I was CHOSEN! Give it back! Your feeble mind won't be able to grasp our genius!", he says, still crawling toward the manuscript.
Haita the Shepherd |
Joseph continues pointing his gun at Trammel Stay down or I shoot!
Sweating, Trammel looks between Joseph, Freddy and Evelyn before making a break for the gaping car crash hole in the front of his mansion!
Fleeing: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10
He legs it far harder than you thought a man with a leg wound possibly could.
Evelyn Malley |
The gunfight is over before Evelyn even realizes it. Very slowly she stows her firearm and waits for her heart to stop pounding; the others already seemed to have Trammel handled. Or so she thinks, until the man manages to break in spite of his condition. How the hell is he running so fast?
Instead pursuing Trammel, Evelyn's first instinct is to assess everyone's injuries.
"Right, the mouth," she says absentmindedly, grimacing at Joseph's wounds.
Is there time for First Aid, or is that too time consuming?
Haita the Shepherd |
Joseph's bullet finds its mark: damage: 1d6 ⇒ 4
Trammel had clearly hoped that the smoke would give him the needed cover to escape into the night, but Westmore's practiced enough to lead the fleeing cult leader. A shot through the center mass sends Trammel tumbling face down to the ground not far from where the smoking car crashed into the house.
You can do First Aid- but it will take time. The car might go up in the meantime and the neighbors may notice what's going on at some point....
Ralph_Haas |
I absentmindedly hand Amadaus the papers. Sure. Very scattered work. I'd like to read more, but nothing useful jumps out at me...
I turn to Freddy.
The cross? It's in the trunk of the once-car now battering ram. I hope it's ok...it's very valuable to the right collector...
Anatoly Dudko |
Anatoly cringes at the sound of each gunshot, but Trammel going down seems to make something within him snap. "Load him up in the trunk of Caddy, and let's get out of here. I'll grab the cross, but don't know if I'm capable of going down there and... seeing... it again". Anatoly runs to the ruined car, trying to get to the trunk before it explodes.
Haita the Shepherd |
Anatoly runs to the trunk. A frightful sound and the smell of gasoline rises from the shattered engine. The massive cross is where it was left, slightly splintered. With a sputter, a gout of flame rises from the engine block.
Trammel gasps on the ground, still crawling away. He drags himself a few more feet before finally collapsing, a nonsense word gurgling from his lips: "Nyarllathhhughh..."
That's a stability check to witness his grim demise; another one if Amadeus is leafing through Trammel's gross manuscript.