GM Tarondor's The Two-Headed Serpent Campaign - Pulp Cthulhu (Inactive)

Game Master Tarondor

Players can "ninja dot": Dot in and then delete the post. This will allow you to see the game in your campaigns, but will keep the start line clean.

CHAPTER ONE: BOLIVIA
In media res...

Sweat runs down your back. Tiny insects gather at your ears and pester your eyes. Strange birds call in the dark rainforest and a light rain drizzles down, cooling nothing. Your packs and rifles weigh heavy on your shoulders. The mule train wends its way through the rainforest on a narrow dirt path. Doctors and nurses in the rear, medical supplies in the middle and you in front.

Their team leader, a 36-year-old Italian doctor named Arturo Ursini, has been preoccupied for most of the trip. Doctor Ursini walks alongside the lead mule, talking with you as you travel. With a hint of uncertainty in his voice, he says, “This is a breach of protocol, but dammit, you need to know. You shouldn’t have been sent out here until you were brought into the inner circle anyway. Caduceus isn’t what it pretends to be, and we were really sent out here to… ugh!”

Louise is suddenly hit in the face with a spray of blood. Doctor Ursini has been fatally shot in the head and collapses to the ground!

You can’t initially see where the shot came from. You can make a Spot Hidden roll to attempt to locate one of the attackers. If you fail, you can try again the following round with a bonus die. You can, of course, take any other action you prefer.

See slide 5 of the maps. We’ll add Charlie when JoshB gets us a character sheet. For now, Charlie’s at the back of the muletrain with the nurses and will take a while to get into the action.

INITIATIVE
In CoC, having a firearm in hand means that you gain a +50 to your Initiative. So the bad guys here probably go first.

Enemy Leader (unknown+50)
Enemies (unknown+50)
Louise (90)
Enoli (80)
Minerva (80)
Antonio (40)
Charlie (??)

STR: 8d10 ⇒ (8, 5, 4, 5, 10, 9, 5, 5) = 51
STR roll: 1d100 ⇒ 100Fail!

Enoli, an enormous invisible force strikes you and threatens to hurl you back! But you resist it![/ooc]

You're aware of the firearms and have chosen Dodge as your default. You were taken by surprise, so I'm going to assume that each of you Dive for Cover. That will impose a penalty die on the attackers, but it will also eat up your next attack. Probably less than ideal, but realistic. Sadly, if I ask you and then wait for each of you to answer, we'll be here for weeks before we even get started.

Shotgun v. Antonio, w/ penalty die: 1d100 ⇒ 1001d100 ⇒ 65 Fumble!
Shotgun v. Enoli, w/ penalty die: 1d100 ⇒ 661d100 ⇒ 75 Miss!
Shotgun v. Louise, w/ penalty die: 1d100 ⇒ 531d100 ⇒ 81 Miss!
Shotgun v. Minerva, w/ penalty die: 1d100 ⇒ 171d100 ⇒ 33 Hit.

Shotgun v. Minerva: 4d6 ⇒ (4, 5, 3, 1) = 13

Shots ring out and pellets fly, spattering the leaves, trees and mules. One of the doctors is hit as you all throw yourself to the dirt. But Minerva is just a moment too slow and is struck by several pellets in the leg!

Having Dived for Cover, you cannot attack this turn. I'm not really sure if you're supposed to be able to do anything else, but I'm going to say that you can try to Spot Hidden or you can move to cover.

Everyone, go!

Enoli was closer to the front, keeping an eye on the trail, when the first shot rings out. Then the sudden force catches him off guard, he rolls with the force, avoiding its power and also the shotgun blast that narrowly misses him. Enoli freezes in place, crouched low, but his head swiveling back and forth peering through the jungle.

Spot Hidden:: 1d100 ⇒ 7

Nice! That's an Extreme success, and because there's no rules one way or the other for this, I'm going to say you spotted two men in rough uniforms hidden in the bushes some distance away.

Everyone else, go!

Suddenly wearing Ursini's blood is just the thing to really get Louise moving. She's on the ground practically flat before most anyone has started moving. It's only actually then, as she's wiping her eyes clear and hearing the cracks for gunfire that she gets a clear idea of what's happening.

She knows what direction Dr. Ursini's blood splattered toward, so she has a pretty good idea which direction to look in to find the attackers.

Spot Hidden: 1d100 ⇒ 11

Minerva curses in English and German as she's hit in the leg. "Ouch that hurt. Anyone else hit?" she mumbles as she tries to find where the shots come from. She's so distracted by the pain that she can't concentrate on finding the enemy.

Spot Hidden 60%: 1d100 ⇒ 70

That damage was more than half my hit points. Let's see if Minerva dies on the very first page of the campaign. Wonderful! She stays conscious.

CON Check 60%: 1d100 ⇒ 30

Man! CoC is dangerous!

Spot Hidden: 1d100 ⇒ 49

Moments of panic ensue when the shots ring out and Antonio finds himself huddled against one of the trees, not quite sure how he got there. He cranes his neck around, just managing to spot the sight of a figure before he ducks back down again as more shots ring out. Reflexively, he crosses himself. "Sálvame, Santa María..."

ROUND TWO!

In addition to the shots being fired at you, other gunmen are firing at the nurses and doctors (and Charlie).

I’m also going to rule that last turn you were able to draw your various firearms. Thus, you each have +50 to your Initiative.

INITIATIVE

Louise (90+50)
Enoli (80+50)
Minerva (80+50)
Enemy Leader (unknown+50)
Enemies (unknown+50)
Antonio (40+50)
Charlie (??)

Louise, Enoli and Minerva may go!

Spotting the two in the woods Enoli shouts out, "Two at 4 o'clock!"or whatever direction I saw them

Enoli raises the rifle he had slung from his back and takes aims at the man on the left of the two.

Rifle 60%: 1d100 ⇒ 4
Damage: 2d6 + 4 ⇒ (5, 2) + 4 = 11

Not sure if it's applicable, but Enoli has Beady Eyes and doesn't take penalties for small targets or shooting into melee

Minvera is lays on the ground gritting her teeth in pain. She cannot concentrate and lets a shot off in a random direction.

Firearm Handgun 40%: 1d100 ⇒ 98

Good news, Minerva! Being prone gets you a bonus die! Roll again.

Sorry I didn't see them on the map at first, so to revise my post that I can't edit, I'll aim and hit the one on my right

Louise knows Minerva has been wounded because well, Minerva has said so. Louise is concerned about Minerva's reaction. She had seemed quite calm, even asking others if the same had happened to them. To Louise's mind this was either good and not good at all.

It could be Minerva's just been scratched and is taking it well. On the other hand she may be in shock, a false calmness while she bleeds out without even realizing it. Louise gives Minerva feedback to focus on, and belly crawls over to her.

"I'm alright. How are you feeling?"

When she gets to Minerva she easily spots the wound leg, and stays low while checking it with her hand.

"Damn, I hate shotguns."

The good news is a shotgun injury is less penetrative, so there's less chance an artery has been hit and the bleeding is deadly. The bad news is shotguns make a mess. It will be hard to clean, and there will a lot of tweezer work removing pellets later.

"Ah, that's not so bad. Give me just a second and I'll take care of it."

Since Minerva is active and focused, Louise delays staunching the wound long enough to take aim at one on the men she's spotted and return fire.

Louise will target the man directly below, or south, of her on the map.

45 Auto: 1d100 ⇒ 97

Damage: 1d10 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8

In case the extra roll for prone applies to Louise as well...

Take 2: 1d100 ⇒ 34

I see that I erred in equating "diving for cover" and "being prone", so never mind on the bonus die!

Also, please note that I am purposefully ignoring the effects of concealment for our initial fight because I want to gauge the difficulty without slaughtering everyone!

Enoli fires his M1 Garand, striking a figure hiding in the trees. With a loud wail, the target falls back, dropping its rifle and begins to crawl away.

Minerva and Louise both fire into the undergrowth, but can't be sure if they hit anything.

Rifle v. Enoli: 1d100 ⇒ 72d6 + 4 ⇒ (1, 6) + 4 = 11 Success.

A rifle bullet hits Enoli in the shoulder. It's bleeding badly and hurts terribly, but it's not fatal.

The rules on what can be done in a combat round are fairly vague. Does it include a move and an attack? Or only one or the other? I can't tell. If anyone knows better, let me know. Anyway, until I do know better, this is what I'm going to do:

At a cry from the jungle, four men step out of the foliage and rush you with machetes raised!

Machete v. Enoli: 1d100 ⇒ 521d8 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6 Failure.

Machete v. Antonio: 1d100 ⇒ 711d8 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10 Failure.

Machete v. Louise: 1d100 ⇒ 151d8 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6 Hard Success.
Louise Dodges (55): 1d100 ⇒ 73 Failure.

Machete v. Minerva: 1d100 ⇒ 581d8 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10 Failure.

The men, dressed in Bolivian army uniforms, have a gaunt and wild-eyed look. They are undisciplined and disheveled. Enoli dodges behind a tree, Antonio skips back as the wild-eyed soldier swipes at him with the huge blade. Minerva fakes left and steps right, pushing the soldier to let his momentum carry him past.

Louise, however, is taken by surprise and gains a nasty cut on her forearm. It is gushing blood and burns like fire.

STATUS
Louise (90+50): 14/20 hp
Enoli (80+50): 15/26 hp
Minerva (80+50): 13/22 hp
Enemy Leader (unknown+50): ???
Enemies (unknown+50): ???
Antonio (40+50): 30/30 hp
Charlie (??)

Antonio, go!

The rules in the PDF seem to say we can move and fire.--
Character may move and take shots at any point during
the round.
- To take advantage of the +50 DEX for readied firearm,
it must be fired before any movement is made.
- The character may move up to a number of yards equal
to their MOV rate and make their firearms attack (or
attacks) normally on their usual DEX rank.
- If the character moves their MOV rate x5 in yards, they
must fire while running (penalty die) and shots may be
delayed in DEX order if significant distance must be
covered to reach a firing position (Keeper’s discretion)

I guess I should be reading in the Investigator's handbook. I didn't see that in the Keeper's Handbook, though it could certainly be in there! Did I mention I'm new to this game?

Antonio's fight instincts take over as the man closes with the machete. The priest ducks the blade and throws a nasty right cross at the man's face.

Brawl 70: 1d100 ⇒ 26
Damage: 1d3 + 1d4 ⇒ (2) + (3) = 5

Soldier's dodge: 1d100 ⇒ 2 Cripes.

The soldier blocks the padre's roundhouse with his forearm. Antonio can see that the young shoulder is unshaven, lean and heavy-lidded, almost like he is half-asleep, although he's fast enough.

ROUND THREE!

Enoli, Minerva and Louise, go!

Enoli rears back away from the tree, taking a large step back away from his machete-wielding attacker, raises the rifle, and fires.

Rifle 60%: 1d100 ⇒ 53
No point blank bonus with rifles

Damage: 2d6 + 4 ⇒ (1, 2) + 4 = 7

Then backpedals a few feet back.

"What is wrong with them?! Look at their faces. Something unseen tried to push me earlier as well!"

"Louise! This is getting ridiculous. We're here to humanitarian work you imbecile." Minerva grunts as she rolls and fires her handgun at the soldier attacking Louise. She misses as she continues to roll out of the way. The blood from her leg wound smearing on the ground.

Handgun 40%: 1d100 ⇒ 60

Enoli's rifle blast hurls back one of the attackers. Minerva's shot goes high as the recoil is unexpectedly fierce.

Louise, go!

When hit Louise yelps and rolls away from her attacker. After gaining a few feet of distance she aims at the man's center of mass and fires again.

45 Auto: 1d100 ⇒ 87

Damage: 1d10 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 2 = 12

I have faith, Louise. You're getting all the bad rolls out now, so that when you face Cthulhu in the next scene, it'll be all 01's!

Reminder we can use luck (1 for 1) to increase the hit roll, I don't have much luck myself, but might help some of those close calls

Would Louise's shot be "point blank range"? That would get a bonus die

Wow, point blank is 1/5 dex, so 18ft for Louise

Yes it would.

From the back of the caravan, a voice shouts over the din of gunfire and grunting. Thick and deep, it bellows out into the jungle.

"I'm on my way! Keep in cover!" Abraham shouts, pulling the rifle off of the sling that was hooked around his arm and taking aim at one of the men with a rifle after throwing himself prone by a fallen log. Cocking the rifle back, he takes aim for a moment before firing.

Feel free to put me wherever you want to GM. I am preferably taking a shot at one of the enemies in the back that are armed with guns. If none are available, I'll take a shot at the one that had cut Louise.

Rifle %65: 1d100 ⇒ 33Penalty?: 1d100 ⇒ 44Damage: 2d6 + 4 ⇒ (3, 1) + 4 = 8

Louise? You get a bonus die.

Abraham, you've got problems of your own. As much as you'd like to save your companions, you're the lone fighter in a gaggle of doctors and nurses. And you're fighting a machete-wielding thug of your own. Luckily, looks like you punched his ticket already.

Abraham raises his M1 to his shoulder and fires a quick snapshot, striking his assailant in the stomach. The surprised soldier falls to the ground injured, then begins to crawl away, leaving the machete behind.

Louise, go!

The bonus die is all I'm missing right?

45 Auto: 1d100 ⇒ 98

Argh! Amazing!

Oh yeah, this is feeling like Call of Cthulhu now...

Another shot from the foliage - The rifleman stands on a wooded knoll to the east. He's wearing a Bolivian officer's uniform.

Rifle v. Antonio, penalty die for firing into melee: 1d100 ⇒ 291d100 ⇒ 202d6 + 4 ⇒ (5, 5) + 4 = 14

Machete v. Antonio: 1d100 ⇒ 63
Machete v. Louise: 1d100 ⇒ 38
Machete v. Minerva: 1d100 ⇒ 53

Louise's Dodge: 1d100 ⇒ 46

Defender wins ties with Dodge. And since both Louise and her attacker got ordinary successes, Louise has dodged out of the way of the machete attack.

As the team struggles with the crazed Bolivian soldiers, another shot rings out and Father Antonio staggers backward, hit hard in the leg.

That's less than half of Antonio's hp in one shot, so he just barely avoids having to make a Con check.

STATUS
Louise (90+50): 14/20 hp
Abraham (80+50): 30/30 hp
Enoli (80+50): 15/26 hp
Minerva (80+50): 13/22 hp
Enemy Leader (unknown+50): ???
Enemies (unknown+50): ???
Antonio (40+50): 16/30 hp

Abraham, you don't immediately see anyone threatening the doctors and nurses. Do you want to head forward to help repel the attack at the front of the column or stay to protect the rear? or something else?

Everyone, go! By the way, dropping prone is a thing. So's getting under cover.

Pain flares up through the Padre's body as he realizes something is incredibly wrong, but not quite understanding that he's been shot. He grabs the man he's tussling with and tries to yank them both to the ground, hoping to slam the man on his head.

I'll admit to trying to do two things here at once: Fall prone and get in a brawl attack. I figure a big guy slamming you down with him is going to hurt.

Brawl 70: 1d100 ⇒ 54
Damage: 1d3 + 1d4 ⇒ (2) + (3) = 5

Louise keeps scampering back from her attacker to get space to fire her pistol.

45 Auto: 1d100 ⇒ 95

45 Auto: 1d100 ⇒ 88

Damage: 1d10 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7

This is getting aggravating. 5 of my last 6 rolls have been 87 or higher, and the one that wasn't didn't count. The chances of rolling 87 or higher 4 consecutive times is 0.00038416%. They're so high I can't even use luck to help.

If you'll allow, Keeper, I'd like to have used my 'Tough Guy' talent last round to spend 10 luck to avoid 5 damage.

This is getting aggravating. 5 of my last 6 rolls have been 87 or higher, and the one that wasn't didn't count. The chances of rolling 87 or higher 4 consecutive times is 0.00038416%. They're so high I can't even use luck to help.

Yeah, it's not the day to play the Lottery, is it? Well, you must not have paid your dues to Paizo!

If you'll allow, Keeper, I'd like to have used my 'Tough Guy' talent last round to spend 10 luck to avoid 5 damage.

Sure.

Father Antonio, normally a boxer, takes a page from the wrestler Toots Mondt and takes the soldier down with a flying elbow, the two of them crashing to the ground.

Louise continues to fire at her target who, despite appearing drunk, moves with what is either an amazing celerity of sheer dumb luck to avoid the bullet every time.

STATUS
Louise (90+50): 14/20 hp
Abraham (80+50): 30/30 hp
Enoli (80+50): 15/26 hp
Minerva (80+50): 13/22 hp
Enemy Leader (unknown+50): ???
Enemies (unknown+50): A: 5 damage
Antonio (40+50): 21/30 hp

Seeing the Father take a hit from the rifleman, same as himself, he realizes the biggest danger right now is that enemy on the hill. Enoli is in pain, badly wounded, and he is scared. He remembers back to his youth, Grandfather would always tell him, A true warrior can remove the pain, remove the world's distractions, and strike true

Suddenly the pain in his shoulder numbs, the sounds of the screaming and crying around him dim, time seems to almost slow as he turns towards the rifleman on the knoll and fires.

Rifle 60%: 1d100 ⇒ 81

Damage:: 2d6 + 4 ⇒ (2, 1) + 4 = 7

This could be a mistake but I want that shot, so 22 luck will get me to 59%

Enoli turns and fires, striking the figure on the distant knoll. The Bolivian officer staggers, but remains standing.

STATUS
Louise (90+50): 14/20 hp
Abraham (80+50): 30/30 hp
Enoli (80+50): 15/26 hp
Minerva (80+50): 13/22 hp
Enemy Leader (unknown+50): 7 damage
Enemies (unknown+50): A: 5 damage
Antonio (40+50): 21/30 hp

Minerva and Abraham, go!

"All of you. Get in the jungle, keep your heads low, and stick together. Someone comes for you, knock them down and keep them down." Abraham says to the nurses and doctors he had been escorting, growling in irritation at the sound of further gunfire up ahead. He had friends up ahead that he needed to get to, friends that were in danger of bleeding out far from home.

"This is a mess. I expected some trouble but did they really expect this much danger? Shouldn't there have been some mercenaries or bribes paid to keep us safe?", Abraham thought as he ran ahead towards the front of the column. He knew he should've been there, being point was his specialty back in the war. The jungle was unfamiliar territory, so different then the concrete jungle of New York City or the sunken trenches of Europe.

Moving behind some cover, Abraham's eyes scan the jungle treeline for the any other shooters as his comrades fight the madmen with machetes. Spotting the man with the rifle a distance away, he takes cover by some bushes, takes aim, and fires another shot from the M1 Garand.

I am not sure how much distance each space covers but I only moved about five. I assume that'll be okay? I'll make the shot against the gunman in the woods firing down on the players. If I can't see him, redirect my shot to the ones in melee with everyone. I'll roll a penalty just in case it applies.

Rifles 65%: 1d100 ⇒ 51Penalty?: 1d100 ⇒ 34Damage: 2d6 + 4 ⇒ (4, 3) + 4 = 11

Minerva rolls and scrambles to hide under some bushes. She peers out, and hopes she's not notices for a moment.

Abraham's shot hits the officer on the knoll, rocking him backwards, but the officer still stands. Having taken two bullets to the chest, he seems somehow still quite hale.

Minerva scrambles behind cover.

The officer on the hill turns and flees into the jungle.

The crazed Bolivian soldiers continue their assault with machetes and one cuts Enoli badly.

Machete v. Antonio: 1d100 ⇒ 55 Miss.
Machete v. Minerva, w/ Penalty: 1d100 ⇒ 811d100 ⇒ 26 Miss.
Machete v. Enoli: 1d100 ⇒ 271d8 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8 Hit.
Machete v. Louise: 1d100 ⇒ 931d8 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12 Miss.

Enoli Dodge (40): 1d100 ⇒ 82 Miss.

STATUS
Louise (90+50): 14/20 hp
Abraham (80+50): 30/30 hp
Enoli (80+50): 7/26 hp
Minerva (80+50): 13/22 hp
Enemy Leader (unknown+50): 7 damage
Enemies (unknown+50): A: 5 damage
Antonio (40+50): 21/30 hp

Everyone, go!

Dammit! Enoli curses as the pain from the slash brings him out of his self-induced trance. Now desperation takes over, we have to end this threat soon, while we still can. He backs up several feet while also crouching low, in hopes to avoid the rifleman. He targets the machete wielder.

Rifle 60%: 1d100 ⇒ 56

Damage:: 2d6 + 4 ⇒ (2, 6) + 4 = 12

Abraham sees the man on the hillside stagged back from the shot and his eyes widen as he sees him just refuse to fall down. He wasn't a crack shot but he was fairly certain that he had placed that bullet clearly into the man's chest, anyone else would be bleeding out right? Maybe his shot just wasn't as spectacular as he thought it was. There wasn't time to think, as the soldiers with machetes continued to try and strike down against his fellows. Enoli's cry of pain him lay down once more in the muck, snapping his sights instead to the fight nearby.

They were all still in such close combat and his aim hesitated on who to aim for first. A second passed before he aimed his sights at the man stalking after Minerva, the rifle's shot echoing in the jungle.

Going prone. Taking a shot at the enemy going after Minerva.

Rifle 65%: 1d100 ⇒ 21Damage: 2d6 + 4 ⇒ (3, 1) + 4 = 8

Abraham has probably correctly identified that he gains a bonus die for being prone and a penalty die for firing into melee, which cancel each other out.

Enoli's shot takes his attacker in the throat, killing him instantly. Abraham's shot hits Minerva's attacker in the thigh.

Minerva steadies her hand and fires her .45 at the machete wielding crazy man.

Firearms Pistol 40%: 1d100 ⇒ 95
Firearms Pistol 40% Bonus Die: 1d100 ⇒ 18
Damage: 1d10 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3