Exploring the Savage World of Keltica

Game Master ZenFox42

"I concur with Arabella's assessment. Lets do some detective work, maybe a little spying, and maybe a little sabotaging. Lets just find out as much as we can as quickly as we can."

Taking off his glasses and cleaning them as best he can on his shrit tail.

"So what is the plan then? Let's have WindDancer do a little flying around again and see if we can piece together a plan of action. So that gets the ball rolling. So what are we to do while the little dragon scouts? Shall we load up the cart and set up a emergency fall back position. If we get seperated or lost we can regroup there with provisions."

"No offense to WindDancer, but it would probably take her days to cover an area we could in hours with the aircart. However, she could scout *from* the aircart, and dive down to investigate anything that looks interesting or odd.

So, shall we begin to load up the cart? Are we trying to take everything we want to keep in case someone attacks this place while we're gone, or are we just taking some food and leaving most of this stuff here to come back to?"

-You've got 110 GP and 3 fine gems which Alex could appraise with a High Society roll at -2 (each).
-Arabella, you could probably rig some acid or base splash "grenades" from the stuff in the lab, but that would take a couple of days.
-Who gets which potions?

"I think, before we begin exploring, we need to get everything of value out of this place and stash it somewhere safe. So to answer your question, load up the cart."

Not sure if this got lost or not, but K'Don is gonna go through and keep all the arms and armor that he can use, plus a full second set in storage.

ALL - note on encumbrance
By the rules, you can carry up to 5 times your Strength die without penalty.
Unless you list that you're carrying 100 things, I'm only going to pay attention to your armor and weapon(s), but ask that you keep that total 10 pounds under the limit for incidentals. Sound ok?

K'Don - you can carry 50 pounds (so 40 pounds of armor & weapons)
You do find lots of plate armor (your leather is +1 to Toughness) :
Breastplate : +3, 25 pounds
Arms : +3, 10 pounds
Legs : +3, 15 pounds

You can't wear all that AND carry your main greatsword (12 pounds) without penalty. Let me know what armor you'll be wearing.

You can find some other greatswords and take one as backup, but you don't get the extra +1 with it, and you wouldn't want to carry it on your person, due to weight.

ALL - if anyone else wants a breastplate, just let me know. Maybe some of the Orcs were under-sized. :)
And if you want to "stash" stuff in one of the rooms, let me know.

Appraise roll 1: 1d8 - 2 ⇒ (8) - 2 = 6
Appraise roll 2: 1d8 - 2 ⇒ (1) - 2 = -1
Appraise roll 3: 1d8 - 2 ⇒ (3) - 2 = 1

Not sure if Alex under- or overvalues the two gems, or just isn't sure what they're worth?

"Yes, do load the cart. Should we see trouble coming, we might as well have taken whatever we could take." Alexander made no move to help, instead peering at a handful of gems as he held them up to the light.

Arabella will make a pass through the mines and sabotage or disable all the the heavy equipment she can in the better part of a day. She doesn't want any of the gear or potions, just as many "spare parts" she can load into a duffle for potential weird science of gadgeteering devices in the future, plus Reason and her Bio-Ergoggles. If she can find a functioning pistol and some shot an ammo, she will take that to replace her old pistol, which got transformed into her burst gun.

With any time left after she does that, she will see what she can do to make the hover craft safer, such as putting some kind of walls or railings to help keep people from falling off (or if it already has those, some kind of harnesses that everyone can wear and connect with a line to the craft).

Before loading up the craft, she'd like to take it up for a test run just to determine about how high it will go, how fast, etc. She's not clear if it will function as a flying machine or more like a low flying cart or wagon.

Let me know if this requires rolls. You can make the rolls for her off-line to speed things along. Her repair skill is d6.

Connor looks from Katana to Alex, eyes glinting in excitement. "We're gonna go flying?!"

Alex - gem #1 is worth 750 GP, you're not even sure if #2 is real or paste, and just can't tell #3's real value.

ALL - there are guns and rifles, and plenty of gunpowder and shot (they were in a locked room that y'all finally got in to). So if you have the Shooting skill, you can stock up.

Arabella - there's already some guard rails, and I'd assumed you had the helpers (and some of you could have contributed of course, except Alex ;) get extra chairs built and installed on the aircart as previously discussed.

Make a couple of Smarts rolls just for your first time out, just to see how you do. You do have more Bennies at this point, and they can be spent on mundane things like this.

ALL - I'd say you've been there 8-9 days now, with no one coming near the place.

Potions : one of Quickness, two of Healing, one of Armor, and one of Deflection - who wants which?

Katana helps out wherever needed, without being asked. Making chairs, helping Arabella disable machinery, cooking, walking the grounds (guard duty), etc.

She doesn't say much except regarding how to get a job done, doesn't offer any info about herself or her history, but answers questions pleasantly enough.

She asks K'Don if he would be willing to be her hand-to-hand sparring partner, requesting about an hour's workout a day. He finds that despite his significant size over her, she manages to keep him a little exhausted and slightly bruised here and there after each workout.

K'Don is going to take a full 2 sets of plate armor and another set if Leather (if available), lots of weapons, and anything else a warrior would have and wrap it all in oil skins and make it totally weather proof (ask Arabella about that). Then on one of the scouting trips with the cart, stash the whole bundle hidden very well. Making sure he knows the location.

Your weights for the armor are a little heavy, so can I assume that it will block a standard pistol shot?

Not complaining, just saying, so even 1/2 orc, with a strength of 10, can't wear a full set of platemail and weild a great sword without penalty?

While all this is going on, K'Don will ask that Wind Dancer begin a patrol of the area. Nothing strenuous, just a Combat Air Patrol.

K'Don, being a military man, will plan a defense of the facility in his head and on paper if necessary, just as a "just in case". If any of the civilians will act a lookout then the enterances will be watched, telling them this is not a fighting thing, just run and report if you see anything.

Alex will take a potion of Healing.

Alexander drew Connor aside, intending to teach him how to shoot in their downtime. He didn't bother to make himself useful in any other way, though he followed along Arabella sometimes and watched her disable the machinery with interest.

Arabella will ask Katana about herself while working on these tasks. "Where did you grow up? How did you learn to fight? Do you still have family anywhere, a husband maybe or a wife? What do you want to do when this is over?" That sort of thing.

Arabella keeps Alexander busy, asking 'ever so nicely' for his help with lifting and moving and holding this in place while she secures it, etc. Eventually she'll say to him privately, Time to wake up, your grace. We're a society of equals here. No titles, no wealth but what we share, no servants, no privilege. You're no better than me or Katana or K'Don here. So get off your a$$ and pull your weight." She thumps him on the chest and heads off to her next task.

She will begin to do her part to tutor young Connor, teaching him things about physics and chemistry. She also engages WindDancer, teaching him words and phrases.

K'Don is the only one she seems shy of. His focus on fighting is so foreign to her and the idea of using violence so repugnant, that she can't bring herself to engage him in conversation or get to know him. She is always polite to him, of course, but not beyond what is necessary.

"My past is dead to me, and I have no future. I go where I want, and where I end up is where I'm needed." She gestures with her hand in an arc at the building you're in, as if that explains everything.

Wanting to help, Connor enthusiastically agrees to relay K'Don's patrol request. WindDancer, too, is happy to oblige: As much as she wants to be close to Connor, she prefers soaring in the open sky over being stuck inside .

GM, let me know if you want perception rolls or whatever.

Reaction Roll: 1d100 ⇒ 31

The boy is less enthusiastic about his schooling. He fidgets, his attention wanders, and it's clear he'd rather be out in the sun playing with his friend. But he gives it his best effort, for Uncle Alex's sake.

Really? A young kid who *doesn't* like setting off big explosions? And, you *are* out in the sun...oh, you were referring to Arabella's teaching, I first noticed Alex's teaching.

Regarding WindDancer's Notice rolls, I'm going to try something I read somewhere : please make 3 Notice rolls right now. Then if/when they're needed, I can refer back to them (with penalties if needed) without giving y'all (the players) a heads-up that something's up...

Yeah, sorry, I kinda glossed over the shooting practice.

The boy is less enthusiastic about his schooling. He fidgets, his attention wanders, and it's clear he'd rather be out in the sun playing with his friend. But he gives it his best effort, for Uncle Alex's sake.

I should point out, that Arabella is not approaching this teaching like a typical classroom teacher, with books and assignments. She tries to get his curiosity engaged and shows him something unusual and tries to guide him along whatever seems to interest him, trying to show him how he can figure things out himself or test different possible explanations. Wherever possible, she'll get WindDancer involved, for example, giving WD a rock to drop from higher and higher and observing how different the impacts are or how long each rock takes to tall.

She'll show him different chemical reactions, and let him make safe versions of things that burn or make small explosions. She'll never push him beyond what his curiosity drives him to want to learn, but she'll favor him with a hug when he hangs in there for a reasonable length of time.

Well, you didn't say you were doing a Mister Wizard/Professor Proton/Bill Nye thing. :o) That'd make a difference for sure.

What's "Child Psychology" under in Savage Worlds, anyway? :o)

Ok, so is everyone all packed up and climbing on board the aircart?

Anything else anyone is doing beforehand?

What are you telling the people who stayed behind to help out?

Potions : one of Quickness, one of Healing (Alex took one), one of Armor, and one of Deflection - who wants which?

Arabella, I need a couple of Smarts rolls for your first times out (by yourself, I assume), you can spend up to 3 Bennies on re-rolls.

And I guess for you more than anyone else, I need to know how much "stuff" (probably Gerta's lab equipment) you're taking with vs. leaving behind in the lab vs. stashing somewhere hidden...

K'Don will need to have a destination in mind before we just run off. Did we find some place to go to in our test rides and scouting trips with the air cart?

If the result of 3 on the first roll would mean crashing the craft, I'll spend a benny to re-roll.

Regarding potions, I think others will benefit more from these than Arabella. She'll hold onto the other potion of healing so she can give it to someone who suffers incapacitation before he/she can take the potion, since Arabella has a better chance of avoiding injury.

Arabella will have any crystals weak or otherwise, and the prototype of the crystal enhancer, presently non-functional, but the general design is correct, just with some things not properly aligned or connected. She will store that (the enhancer) with the cache of armor and weapons K'Don hid, just so it won't fall into the wrong hands.

Beyond that, I don't remember any particular things, other than the bioergonic Compass, that she'd take with her, other than a bag of "spare parts". I'm thinking these are various gears, levers, axles, struts, pulleys, casings, bearings, and so on that could be put together into something weird science-y down the road. She'll store the chemicals mentioned at some point with the armor and weapons cache. She's assuming we're going on recon runs and if all goes well we can come back and get these hidden things later. If we can't get them, it's no great loss. I'll work up the weight of the spare parts if you want me to, but Arabella is still going to be equipped the same as before when in adventuring mode. The spare parts will be on the hover craft, but won't be lugged around unless circumstances require it.

K'Don will take the potion of healing

Marko will take the potion of deflection

Since Arabella will be flying, I don't want to start describing your trip until the player gets back. So take the weekend to describe or role-play any last-minute things.

Regarding a destination, there's two X's on the map, and you're at one of them. I thought it was decided to try and find the other X?

K'Don, both potions of healing have been called. If you want to discuss it with Alex or Arabella...but there's still one of Quickness and one of Armor (which with your plate armor you really don't need...).

Arabella doesn't mind K'Don having the potion of healing, since he's most likely to need it. Her logic in having it was in case he gets incapacitated, someone else can try to get to him and administer it. Maybe we could make a little potion harness for WindDancer and let her deliver the healing to whoever needs it. Alexander might want the armor potion and K'Don the Quickness, if I understand correctly how they work.

Going to the other X sounds reasonable, but Arabella wants to approach it very cautiously. It seems likely that the other X is where Gerta was delivering the crystals, in which case, it will need to be approached in such a way that we are not detected. So if the map has other landmarks, we can travel a bit to try to get a feel for the scale of the map before we head for the X. Arabella would like to see if K'Don recognizes any landmarks so as to get a rough idea of where we would need to go to get back to civilization. She will try to determine latitude again using the stars if she gets a clear night, if she can.

We need to remember however the words of that famous archeologist, "X never marks the spot."

sounds good

K'Don will talk to Connor about being his squire. In addition to Arabella science Lessons, K'Don will see if he can entertain connor and acquire a 2, trainer Lessons bein

K'Don will talk to Connor about being his squire.

That'd be great, Connor would love to have a squire. :op "Fetch my pop-gun, knave!"

Maybe we could make a little potion harness for WindDancer and let her deliver the healing to whoever needs it."

Hehe... now there's a fun mental image. "Bombs Away!"

Given that her body's only a half foot long (18" nose to tail) she's barely larger than a potion flask. I think ZF would have to weigh in on whether she could manage flying with one of those bad boys strapped on.

We need to remember however the words of that famous archeologist, "X never marks the spot."

"Except when it does."

Well, if she could lift an apple or fruit, I don't see why she couldn't lift a small glass or clay bottle. But she'd have to get it, move, deliver it *carefully* into the target's hand, etc. etc.

Probably at least 2 round to deliver, the recipient could use the potion on the 3rd round? So not the fastest delivery system in a real emergency.

Hoping Arabella's player will see this tonight. Others can post and I'll answer questions, but not move forward until she responds so I know she's caught up and can contribute.

It's a totally overcast but not rainy, hot humid summer day as you all set out.

With some of Arabella's odd science-y parts and most of K'Don's plate armor stashed in the back, along with some food, everyone straps in to their chairs.

Arabella's got the hang of starting up the "engines", and takes off smoothly.

After about an hour of travel in the general direction you think the second "X" is in, the following things happen in rapid succession :
1. You see a bright, blinding light. You feel what the players would understand as an intense static electric shock (hair stands on end, etc.). Probably no PC but Arabella would recognize it.
2. You feel the aircart start to tip, and it continues to tip to a pretty extreme angle even before Arabella can begin to compensate.
3. You then feel a bone-jarring thump as it feels like the aircart landed hard on solid ground (keep in mind, you were probably at least 50-100 feet up over solid forest, but this happened *right* after the tipping).

When your vision clears from the blinding light, you are...blind. Absolutely total darkness surrounds you. The air smells funny, sort of stale like a tomb (if any of the PC's have ever been in one :). You feel more than hear a quiet low vibration coming from all around you.

What do you do?

K'Don Son of Ugal of HouseUshah wrote:

K'Don will talk to Connor about being his squire.

That'd be great, Connor would love to have a squire. :op "Fetch my pop-gun, knave!"

ROFLOL

Alex had already been worried as they strapped themselves into the contraption that Arabella assured them would fly. By the time they were actually in the air, his grip on his seat was so tight the wood creaked.

Then there was the accident - or was it an assault? It made no difference to Alex. He yelled as the aircart tipped, certain that this was the end... and he wasn't so sure he hadn't been right when he looked around and saw nothing. He hadn't been expecting to go to Heaven, after all... but this was a bit odd.

"Steady on," he muttered to himself, shaking hands seeking the clasps of his straps. A little louder, he added, "Is... is anyone there?"

*Chirp?*

Not much to do but start feeling around for something or someone familiar. If Arabella is still in contact with the cart, she'll try to find her pack. If she touches anyone she'll whisper very quietly to find out who it is. If she can hear Alexander's question, she whispers, "Here," but otherwise tries to make as little noise as possible.

Everyone can hear each other, but the sounds sound slightly odd somehow in a way you can't describe (because you haven't experienced it before).

Not much to do but start feeling around for something or someone familiar.

Hands off the tail, lady. You don't know me that well.

"Unka Alex?" a tiny voice asks.

"Did anyone think to bring a *torch*?" Katana asks rather sarcastically, one of the few times you've heard any emotion in her voice. Probably because she's annoyed that she didn't either...

"Marko, can you make light? Connor, can you or WindDancer?"

"I think I can manage a little light."

Casting a light spell. How?

"Marko, can you make light? Connor, can you or WindDancer?"

"Unka Alex doesn't let me play with matches," Connor says quietly.

WindDancer has Low Light Vision (is it pitch-black in here?) and also Infravision (so she can see heat sources including people and warm-blooded animals). Is she getting anything at the moment?

"I would make an exception for such dire circumstances, Connor," Alexander noted, having decided (with some relief) that he wasn't dead. "What in blazes happened back there? And where are we? Arabella, what is this?"

-Marko : not on your spell list.
-WindDancer : other than those bodies in the aircart, nothing else. It is Pitch Dark in here.
BTW, it's interesting that Pitch Dark is the "darkest dark" listed in illumination, but being blind and the Obscure Power are even "darker" (provides a bigger penalty).

Earlier I asked about matches. They are not available. Posted here. After that post, I specified we had flint and steel. Can we assume we have torches prepared for when we have to muck about in the dark, or maybe some lamps from the mine? It was probably mentioned how the mine was illuminated, but assuming it is some kind of oil lamp, can we have taken a few of those and some oil in our supplies?

Assuming we do, Arabella will begin feeling about for such equipment and set about making fire for illumination. She would keep the flint and steel on her person and at least one torch or lamp.

Earlier I asked about matches. They are not available.

Not available here perhaps, but as I read it they definitely exist:

most humans have probably heard of "flamers", but they are very dangerous to use, poisonous, and some have to be carried in special containers.

What with Alex's aspirations of grandeur, Connor was likely exposed to them at some point. Lacking any sort of magical light ability and given flint and steel simply make sparks, a match is the only thing that came to Connor's mind when "making light" was mentioned. So I say "played as laid." :o)

Well, part of me hates to play the "literal" card, but I think it will be more interesting this way...
-It sounded more to me like a "day trip", fly out and fly back. Granted it's hard to get a sense of scale on the map, or how that compares to the speed of the aircart, but...
-Nobody said earlier when I asked about preparations that you were packing up *extra* gear for all circumstances like going underground etc., or *lots* of food and water, etc. And people did specifically say that IF you got to the other X, just make it a recon mission - again, not landing, so heading back home at the end of the day.
-I'll easily grant that everyone has flint and steel on them, but seriously, I can't see Arabella sitting down at the controls for what she thinks is a "three hour tour" ;) in the middle of the day with a torch stuck in her backpack, on her back (if nothing else, the seat back would make that very uncomfortable).
-So : everyone has flint and steel in their pouches/pockets (just like everyone would have a knife even if you didn't list it), but you only have your normal personal gear (listed on your character sheet). If you've got it in a backpack, it's in the back of the aircart along with the Weird Science gear and K'Don's armor.
No torches or lamps were brought.
-NOTE : all of this is predicated on what I remember (which these days is highly suspect) about responses to my questions about preparations - if anyone can *quote* otherwise, I'll be glad to modify the situation.
-P.S. : crude, hard-to-use, dangerous matches do exist back in your homeland, but not here.

After a minute of sitting in darkness, Katana curses softly and you hear the ripping of cloth.

She says "This won't last long, everybody keep alert!"

You hear the sound of flint-on-steel. In a few seconds, she holds up a tightly-wound "wick" of cloth that's rapidly burning down to her fingers.

In the dim light, you see a large room, completely made of metal. The aircart is right next to one of the walls, which is bare, smooth metal with what looks like large runes carved in the metal. The side walls of the room have bumps and holes all over them. You see what *might* be a door in the wall farthest from you (it's an indentation in the metal wall, about the right size and shape), but it has no doorknob of any kind. There's a "counter" sticking out from the side walls, running the length of them, with more bumps and holes. There are legless chairs held up by single posts running along the counter. Otherwise, the room is empty.

The light goes out, and Katana says "I'm not burning up the rest of my clothes - anyone else have any ideas?"

I could argue that even if we did not plan to stay away overnight, a prudent group would be prepared for staying out at night, given that there could be problems with the hover craft that might strand us far from the base. But even if we did not bring camping gear, we would bring food and some cooking utensils, which would likely include cooking oil or butter. Candles might also be included as something to light with the flint and steel to create a steady flame for starting a cook fire.

I might suggest a smarts roll to see if we were smart enough to think about possible problems we might encounter and packed to be prepared for those problems. But if I had to work with what I can be certain Arabella would have with her she would do the following:

Arabella finds her pack and pulls out a notebook she keeps for writing down ideas, keeping a journal of events, etc. She'll also get a cooking pot. She'll shred some paper to create some kindling. Then she'll find whatever she can made out of wood: pencils, wooden cooking spoon, maybe some arrows if we have them to spare. She'll break these up and add them to the pot. If she has any cooking oil, she'll drizzle some over the lot and then use a flint and steel to ignite the paper and nurture the flame into a small fire of burning wood. Once burning, she'll carry the pot over to the possible door and begin to try to figure out how to manipulate it.

Alternately, if she has some cooking oil, she can create a makeshift torch by wrapping some cloth (dish rag or towel, perhaps) around a suitable object like a wrench (she has her tools since they might be needed to fix the craft). Then pour oil around the cloth and light it.

It really won't matter what you packed, at least for right now :

Arabella is only a couple of minutes into her procedure (slow going, fumbling around in the dark), probably after the paper is shredded and while she's looking feeling for wooden objects, when something happens that makes her endeavors moot.

I'll describe that in detail early tomorrow morning (real time), but is anyone else doing anything else during these first 3 minutes or so?

Alexander is making a nervous bother of himself by hovering over Arabella's shoulder with free "advice." Of course, first he would probably have made his way over to the wall and begun hitting random bits in an effort to find the "hidden latch" that might release them. So, maybe he wouldn't have that much time to be annoying.