Fallout: The Savage Wasteland

Game Master thegreenteagamer

I have been stingy with you for a while, especially compared to the other group. I've been setting this up for a while. Remember the sheriff's possee died here and he barely made it out alive.

Fitz whistles at the pile of stuff.

"Well, I think some of our problems are solved."

Rufus looks over the haul. "Yep, long as yer problems ain't fireproof. I like the looks of that shotgun there. Used ta have one o' these in the ol' days. I kin show you how to shoot so close to a dude he craps hisself!"

Sorry about delay on the new map. Car troubles keeping me busy this week, and I left my computer with my carpool buddy, so its gonna be a pause until Monday. I'm sorry.

We can go theater of the mind until then.

Theater of the mind is good, but if Scruffy prefers playing with maps I can contain my excitement for a day or two. That way we'll have more room to divide the loot.

Mickey took the cigarette from Marcus and placed it behind his ear.

"Thanks, but I'll wait until we're done here."

***

Mickey grabbed a few of the grenades.

"These would have been helpful earlier."

***

"Everyone, ready? Let's go kill us a Queen."

As you guys open the door to the Fine Details room using keys you find in the foreman's office, you see in the center of the room a relatively large hole. It seems big enough to fit a big guy like Marcus or Mickey, but not big enough to fit two abreast. It seems to open up a little once you get inside, but not much. Also, it is completely, utterly, and totally pitch black inside.

Equipping my Bladed Gauntlet and Brass Knuckles for now, and popping my combat helmet on.

"Much as I don't wish to, I should go first. My weapons of choice are best suited for these confines, after all."

"Fitz, care if I go first or just get your back? Inside that small space If I carry this sweet shield little to nothing will be able to pass me. You can take pot shots over me until we find a bigger tunnel"

Equipping Ripper + Riot Shield, and decked with Metal Armor. Yay Shining Knight!

Do we have any way to light this place a little bit? Plain torchs could work if nothing else

You can improvise a torch rather easily, but it will require a free hand. If only you had someone in your party good at solving problems with improvised stuff. A MacGeyver, as it were. Someone who might have, for example, once made a water filter out of a bag and some stuff lying around. Where could you find such a person, though, who could use an energy cells factory and make some kind of lights? Where, oh where...*smart @$$ grin*

"I'll hold the rear."

Common Knowledge: 1d4 - 2 ⇒ (3) - 2 = 1
Wild: 1d6 - 2 ⇒ (2) - 2 = 0

Notice: 1d4 - 2 ⇒ (1) - 2 = -1
Wild: 1d6 - 2 ⇒ (5) - 2 = 3

Derpy, derp, derp.

the notice was at +2, not -2, Mickey. You kinda can't fail it. It was just me being a smart alek and reiterating you can't see in the dark.

Giving a shout out to mah bro Fitz! Make me some fine a$$ pimplights!

Spencer changes into the new armor that seems protective but slightly camouflaged and lightweight, and claps on the matching helmet. For now he leaves some of his gear behind, figuring it won't be necessary down in the hive cave--his backpack, now stuffed to the brim with clothing and supplies, the pipe rifle he's never actually fired, and the varmint rifle now replaced by a nicer gun. Approaching the hole, though, he and the others are caught by its size and darkness.

"Hey Fitz, wanna rig something to help us like you did with that garbage bag?" He turns to the scientist. "I got a lighter if that helps. Plus all this junk. Maybe you can use that 'solar blaster' thing we found, the sun's pretty bright, if memory serves." He cracks a grin and leans on a counter. "Probably smart if we don't go down without light though."

Rufus cradles the shotgun, loading it carefully and storing the rest of the shells in a pocket of the old leather duster he wears. "Gonna call this one Mabel, 'cause Mabel is a fine-a$$ b!tch, yessir."

Before they descend, Fitz spends some time and some leather lying around to make a kneepad studded with the knuckles from his brass fist weapon.

"There. Leaves one of my hands free for other things."

"Now, what's this about a light?"

Fitz locates a small metal tube, some glass, and copper wiring and hooks them up to one of the energy cells the group had found. In minutes, a working flashlight is assembled.

"Unfortunately, it doesn't turn off. It will burn like that until the energy runs out. But, it should serve us well in this regard."

"Good job, Iron Fitz... Light... Check. Protection... Check. A stupid amount of explosives... Check "

Marcus speds up his ripper with a malicious grin

"What we waiting for? These ants ain't killing themselves"

Have been having continued things bugging my time in real life. That's why posts have been short and mostly in discussion. Haven't had time to get all my gameplay stuff together. Sorry. I'll still hit recommended quota, but not my usual rapid post self...

As you climb down into the holes you find the initial area opens up to a wider base, and then tunnels seem to go off into four directions. Vaguely north, south, east and west. The north tunnel seems to curve off to the left, but your light doesn't show too far, the east forks, the south seems to stretch straight on, and the west slopes downward.

So far, no ants are in sight, but you can hear their chattering echoing through the halls.

Fitz tosses his Bladed Gauntlet to the side, as he realizes he's too weak to carry it.

"I say we go west. If I were a b!tch a$$ queen I'd be down there sitting comfy."

"Yeah, she's probably West. But I think we should leave her for last. I don't want our escape route choked off when the kiddies come running to protect their mama. Let's try the north tunnel first."

"Alright, north it is." Spencer takes up a position near the middle of the group, new rifle in hand--although the shotgun may do well in these close quarters, its overwhelming ammo capacity of two seems less than desirable. Plus, need to test the new gun out.

Science or Common Knowledge roll on the effects of killing the queen on the hive?

Lets go Science at +1 or common knowledge at -2

As you make your way north you start to see dead an corpses along the way. They seem to be blown into multiple pieces, and scattered all over the place. The tunnel, however, does widen in this direction, allowing you to walk two abreast.

Marcus and Fitz, as you two are on point, make notice rolls at no penalty. The rest get -2 penalty.

I think the d4+1 edges out the d8-2, so let'sa go.

Fitz suddenly expands sightly, his muscles becoming more chiseled.

"Ah, clearly my work out regimen has a time delay. Excellent." he retrieves his gauntlet and proceeds.

Science: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5
Wild: 1d6 ⇒ 6
Aces: 1d4 + 1d6 ⇒ (4) + (3) = 7

Since I Raised on Science, can you tell me whether the ants frenzying would be good or bad for us? That is, would they be more focused on each other, or attack u if they see us and swarm like they have been?

Notice: 1d8 ⇒ 7
Wild: 1d6 ⇒ 1

If only I were wearing my hat. Though come to think of it, I should be since ants don't seem to be targeting specific limbs. Assume that after this, I swap my helmet for my hat.

"Careful! Mines ahead!"

Yeah, I'm gonna go, starting after this dungeon, with an hour of wearing an item to kick in. 24 seems a bit much, but the swap out is ridiculous too. And anyway it would be good for you. They will prioritize by proximity instead of coordination against you. Your workout comment made me laugh out loud, so have a Benny.

Notice: 1d4 + 1 - 2 ⇒ (2) + 1 - 2 = 1 and Wild: 1d6 ⇒ 3

Hey, it's true to the games. Can't we have just one thing that's true to the games? *puppy dog eyes*

Fitz thinks for a moment as they figure out how to deal with the mines.

Is it an Explosives check to disarm mines? Though we need to turn back and go down the west tunnel anyway. But, for future reference.

"Killing the queen first is actually our best bet, come to think of it. The rest of the ants will turn on one another, leaving us able to simply sneak out in the confusion. Maybe pick off a few stragglers on the way out."

"In the end, there will likely only be a single injured ant left standing."

"Sounds good to me," Spencer comments, still looking ahead.

Notice: 1d6 + 2 + 1 - 2 - 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 + 1 - 2 - 2 = 2
Wild: 1d6 + 2 + 1 - 2 - 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 + 1 - 2 - 2 = 5 Ace: 1d6 ⇒ 4

"And by the by, those mines are all over," he says, pointing. "Walls, ceiling... somebody wanted a whole lot of dead stuff here. Maybe it was set for the ants, and they just avoid the tunnel now?" He looks to Fitz. "Think you can disarm any of them, or do we want to just head back?"

"I believe I could, yes, but it would be risky. One wrong move, set off one of those mines, and the whole tunnel likely goes up."

"Let's go back and see if another is safer."

I was doing a final exam. But daddy's back!
Effects of Killing the Hive Queen: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 21d6 ⇒ 5
"Ey, if the need arise we could lure that queen up here and kill it with a cave in. Not that I wouldn't like ripping it a little bit, just sayin'"

"If you think it's safer to go after the Queen, Fitz, then that's good enough for me. West it is. But leave the mines alone for now. We'll have plenty of time to mess with 'em later."

Okay, enough of the map is finished to work with. Sorry guys, it's been really busy. :-/ Anyway...

You guys start to head down the western slope, and all of a sudden you are confronted by...a LOT of ants...mostly soldier, but certainly enough workers that are attending, yes, the big bloated queen over in the corner. You've found the birthing chamber...

Order: Spencer, Rufus
Ants
Papa, Mickey, and Fitz

Dim light conditions; -1 to attack rolls

A strange, squealing chittering noise is emitted by the ants all at once upon your entry, unlike anything you've ever heard... you can hear a similar sound echoing down the halls...

Just so we have a clear number... how many ants are we talking about? 5, 10, 20, 100?

"Hm. I do not like this."

Fitz does the only thing he really can do: Tosses a grenade right at the queen's ugly ant face.

I believe you said we eat a multi-action for grenades?

Explosives: 1d6 - 2 ⇒ (2) - 2 = 0
Wild: 1d6 - 2 ⇒ (6) - 2 = 4
Ace!: 1d6 ⇒ 4

I believes that's a raise.

Damage: 3d6 + 1 ⇒ (6, 3, 4) + 1 = 14
Raise Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 2
Ace!: 1d6 ⇒ 6
NEW MEANING TO 'EXPLODING' DICE: 1d6 ⇒ 6
EAT ALL OF IT: 1d6 ⇒ 3

Damage total: 31, AP 1

@Marcus: 21 including the queen (that we can see), but it may be significantly less here in a moment.

"I do love my explosives. And these appear to be of exceptional quality."

Edit: Forgot the further -1 for dim light, so no Raise. 29 damage though.

Edit 2: unless bringing the flashlight in negates that? Or any bonuses for The Drop (which I doubt we got) or anything similar.

Marcus, its all on the map. You do realize you're last, right Fitz? I'll resolve it after the others. Yes multiaction for drawing if you don't have quick draw, and also range do grenades is not super far...and lighting... Also grenades are opposed by agility, so that may not be a raise.

Flashlight negates pitch black from -3 to dim light -1

Ahhhh, my bad. And no, I didn't realize that. You had me listed first so I assumed I was up first, and completely overlooked the OOC. I probably should have done something different then. Ah well, what's the point of grenades if you never toss one, right?

Slinging the hunting shotgun and drawing out his loving Ol' Bessie, Rufus sights the nearest soldier ant and fires!
Guns: 1d10 - 1 ⇒ (6) - 1 = 5 and Wild: 1d6 ⇒ 4
Damage: 2d4 + 1 ⇒ (3, 1) + 1 = 5

Rufus gets a shot in, but sadly it pings off the ant's carapace.

Seeing Fitz moving for a grenade, Spencer decides to do his best to cover him. "Cover your ears!" he shouts, bringing the rifle up to aim at the nearest soldier ant. I don't suppose I could set it on Fitz's shoulder to ignore the Strength penalty, could I? In any case I'm only attacking once, to avoid the autofire penalties.

Shooting: 1d8 - 2 - 1 - 1 ⇒ (1) - 2 - 1 - 1 = -3
Wild: 1d6 - 2 - 1 - 1 ⇒ (4) - 2 - 1 - 1 = 0 Gonna Benny.

Shooting: 1d8 - 2 - 1 - 1 ⇒ (8) - 2 - 1 - 1 = 4 Ace: 1d8 ⇒ 8 12. Why bother Acing more?
Wild: 1d6 - 2 - 1 - 1 ⇒ (3) - 2 - 1 - 1 = -1

Damage: 2d8 + 1 + 1d6 ⇒ (7, 7) + 1 + (2) = 17

No on the bracing on Fitz unless all he does is stand still. Also the auto weapons are full auto only unless they specify otherwise, like some are auto or 3 round burst, etc. Still would've hit. Incidentally, suppressive fire rules are useful for situations like this in the future... look it up.

Spencer opens up fire on one of the nearest soldier and tears it to ribbons.

The ants will take me a while to do, I'll get them all out in the morning before work and resolve Fitz's toss after.

Oh crap, yeah, forgot about those entirely. S+~+. Well, since I have to do the extra shots anyway, might as well roll them out.

Shooting 2: 1d8 - 2 - 1 - 1 ⇒ (5) - 2 - 1 - 1 = 1
Shooting 3: 1d8 - 2 - 1 - 1 ⇒ (3) - 2 - 1 - 1 = -1
The rifle's recoil is greater than Spencer was prepared for, and his other shots ricochet off the tunnel walls. Whoa.

I decided to drop the two ants to a square 3D approach because it's just a pain to track properly

The ants in front rush over at Fitz, who is bottlenecking their assault.

SoldierVsFitz: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7
Damage: 1d10 + 1d6 ⇒ (8) + (4) = 12 (Hit, not quite a raise)

SoldierVsFitz: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 = 10 (already a raise, no point acing)
Damage: 1d10 + 2d6 ⇒ (2) + (4, 4) = 10 (Another hit, so wound at this point)

WorkerVsFitz: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6
Damage: 1d6 + 1d4 ⇒ (5) + (3) = 8 (No damage)

The other ants remain in the corner protecting the queen...

Can't resolve the grenade yet, because if you don't soak the wound, you're still shaken, and can't toss it...so...IF you want to change your action at this time, you can, or we can take your grenade toss roll, but in either case you need to not be shaken for that. In the meantime, Papa and Marcus can act as well.

Yeah, Soak. Technically I should be one square back next to Marcus, but I imagine they'd gang up on the nerd anyway. =)

Vigor: 1d6 ⇒ 4
Wild: 1d6 ⇒ 3

And I just need a simple success to soak that one Wound I believe, so grenade should toss just fine.

Papa is big, but he ain't two people. He'll attack the SA in 25,S
"Hold up there Fitz, I'm breaking you free!

Wild attack Ripper: 1d10 + 2 + 2 - 1 ⇒ (9) + 2 + 2 - 1 = 12
12

Wild Wild Die: 1d6 + 2 + 2 - 1 ⇒ (5) + 2 + 2 - 1 = 8

Damage: 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (6, 6) + 2 = 14
Raisin': 1d6 ⇒ 5
Make it Rain!: 2d6 ⇒ (3, 1) = 4
23

"I'm sorry to rip you on, Fitz"

That joke hurt more than the attack.

Marcus cuts the head clean off the soldier as it leans in to bite Fitz, the ripper slicing through it like a hot knife through cold butter.

Fitz manages to chuck the grenade at the center of the queen's horde.

Should be vs TN 5, as Fitz didn't remember range or low light penalties

Queen Agility: 1d4 ⇒ 3
Queen Wild: 1d6 ⇒ 5

Three Soldiers: 3d6 ⇒ (4, 4, 4) = 12
Four Workers: 3d6 ⇒ (4, 5, 4) = 13

The blast tears the soldiers and all but one of the workers in the pile to shreds, but miraculously they take block the brunt of the damage from hitting the queen.