Chapter 5 Finale Volcano God Appeasment!

So, the team needed to rescue one of their own from the Pygmy Tribe before she could be sacrificed to the Volcano God!  Setting out from their ramshackle rooms at Trader Joe's Beach Side Resort they trekked through the jungle, beating off some giant snakes, and proceeded to enter the Cave of Tunnels that led to the Volcano's top where the sacrifice was to be held.

Traveling through the winding tunnels, they mostly managed to avoid the perilous collapsing floor sections that would have dropped them into a lower tunnel over run with .... creatures!

Arriving at the top of the Volcano Cone ... Behold:

Team Bob is to the right, Lily is on the alter to the left. Statues of Lava Men are to the top and bottom of the huge Lava pool. As they moved closer, the could spot the Pygmy's dancing and chanting. At first Chip opened fire on one of the statues of the Lava Men to find that ... they were statues of stone and nothing else!

Moving around the south end of the Lava pool they drew the notice of the Real Lava Men in the pool!

The Pygmy's offer little resistance as they prepare to throw Lily into the fire! As they get her to the lip of the pit her clothing starts to smolder and she screams as the heat gets intense!  Then, the Idol of the Volcano God stirs and attacks Amanda and Sarge, who have moved past it to take out the remaining pygmy's.

They realize the Lava Men cannot leave the pool! They finish off the last Pygmy but fail to take out the Shaman who disappears in a cloud of smoke!  "PARLEY!"  ... The Volcano God speaks with his only voice and all the team members have to take an Extreme Peril Check! and with the In action, the Idol goes dormant!!!

Lily is saved!

An action shot of some of the group working for Lily's rescue! The lady on the right played her first game as the captive Lily..... I had prepared a script for her to voice act for the group during the action... often breaking everyone up... she did rather well after we explained the format... Saturday afternoon matinee of the action hero's girlfriend in danger type situations!   

Tug Boat Mystery

So we applied a different approach to our regular game. A mystery killing of one of the crewmen on the Tug Boat Team Bob is traveling on.

3 colors of poker chips with 3 each of that color. Each color was marked with a Who, What or Where clue. These I scattered through out the boat. Players could travel 6 inches a turn. Black chips represented an unknown encounter but not a peril check.  When a player was sure he had found the pertinent clue for a color of chip he could ignore any he had not checked out and search others, thereby making it possible to not have to check all 9 chips.

Unknown encounter was the shadowy suspect who had 4D10 shooting and was triggered when a player announced he was going to cross over a black chip that blocked the passage way. He would roll and the players could attempt to dodge only, make any required health checks, then he "disappeared into the shadows".............(Players were not allowed recovery checks or cards that allowed them to recover!)

What Chips:   Wrench, Club, Bloody Knife  : easy to figure which was used for the crime
Who  :  Hapless Crewman , Clueless Crewman,  No Alibi
Where:  Tidy work space,  All in Order, Signs of a fight

The WHO chips had to be interrogated using Cunning or Finesse with 2 Success or 2 health checks when the subject got violent for a bit, though in the next turn you could put him to the question again as you didn't get to roll attacks on him.

So, traveling about the ship, collecting clues and sometimes some damage Chip (sidekick of Lily) ran afoul of the Shadowy Suspect and was gunned down.  Atchison took a beating and Amanda a black eye. Bob called Finished! First and was right, Sarge second and was right, Amanda 3rd and was wrong.....

The pictured pieces all stack up and assemble into the complete Tug Boat.

AAR : A Train to Trieste, Chapter 4, episode 4 ....

((Here is the set up, the players are defending the trains shipment of equipment to be used as a defensive screen vs the Barons Anti Airship Super Weapon beam! Traveling through the mountains on their way to Trieste from Germany, a trip of several days, they are hoping to get past the Barons total control of the air by using rail.  Secret Agents, spy's and saboteurs.. will make things difficult and of course the Barons forces have control of the air!))

The train pulled away from the station towards night fall. The Team put together a patrol list of who was on guard, who was off duty and who was asleep. ((random diced when action took place to keep them from arranging their "best" coverage))

 

 

 

Overhead a Zeppelin lowers towards the train, many ropes drop and Air Pirates zip towards and land on top of the train. Bob, leader of this teams Mission, responds to the sound of multiple boots hitting the roof overhead by leaping up and grabbing the stop cord and yanking it, response to the action is the train slamming on the breaks!  Several air pirates tumble over the edge of the cars, several others are left hanging on to the edge of the roof!

 

Lily is on duty and races to the top of the train and engages air pirates as she works her way down the roof line, dispatching several with her katana.

Amanda (in a stylish blue dress) also on duty climbs onto the roof of the lead passenger car and blazes away at air pirates near the engine.

 

((not having made roofs for the cars lead to using some of the Pulp Alley cards to hold the roof top people up out of the cars to reduce confusion on who was where))

The slowing of the train led to the Zeppelin overshooting but it corrected its reactions and landed another wave of boarders. In the mean time in the passenger cars, civilian riders were milling about when several threw open their coats and pulled pistols out and a fierce gun battle ensues!

******************game held over due to time of night************  so a cliff hanger ending for the nights play for 2 weeks till everyone can get together again to finish the action packed episode!!!!

 

New Engine

Modifications are done except a painting touch up on the new version of the Train To Triesta engine.

Gave it a more European look. On to the modified cars:

Flat car and two passenger cars. I started making domed roofs for the passenger cars... then realized they would stay on for about the first 30 seconds of the game till the players needed to move their characters about!  On wards with out.

Time for a train Ride.. hmmm all I have is this wild west train set...

For 28mm figures ... bit way to small, cars are about 6 inches of train car and short hook up assemblies.... so..

Train Cars are now about 11 inches long. Planning on 2 passenger cars, 2 box cars and 1 flat car that the Team will be escorting... secretly on a regular passenger train.... what could possibly go wrong!???

Filled in side walls. This is the basic form for the passenger and box cars.

Next.... work on some windows and such for the passenger cars... nope, not going to cut them out...print and glue is the way to go with the short time frame I have......

Storming the Cliffs of Dispair! Chapter 4, Episode 3

The teams mission is to knock out 3 sensor platforms on the cliff sides to allow a zeppelin force to bombard the Air Pirate Base on the very top of the cliffs as a precursor to taking on the Barons Super Weapon! Then they were to take and search the Sensor Control Blockhouse on top of the cliff to earn extra advantage in the next scenario.

(( The party had to list, in general, what they were taking with them to scale the cliff side. Their instructions included Radio contact for when the sensors were down. 3 sub teams of two players were to select a route up the cliff side, take out their sensor target in a coordinated blast and then repel down the cliff side to make their escape.  They were given a climbing skill that was the average of their might and cunning skill dice size and totals. Each turn of climbing was considered to be a extreme peril unless they were on a ledge of some sort. ))

Arriving in the vicinity of the Sensor array the 3 sub teams split up and made their way slowly up the cliff face.

On the left is Amanda and Sarge, to the right is Professor Ice and Iron Kidney Joe, further on down the cliff face is Moren and Atchison.

((I made push pin platforms to hold the figures as they "climbed" by pushing them into the paper machete))  Here Ice and Kidney climb on up while Sarge and Amanda close in on the lowest platform, only to fail a peril check and starts an alert!.... Ack! The sensor platform is a decoy setup!

((Here's  a pic of the entire cliff face...my arm and some of Mo.....))

Ice and Iron make the top of the cliff and right into a hail of fire from Air Pirate Security members!

Here Atchison and Mo top the cliff into ever more Air Pirates responding to the alarm!  A gun battle ensues until Mo decides she will run through the buzzing swarm of hot lead and try to plant her demo charge on the sensor!  Atchison dodges and weaves while laying down the best covering fire he can....but to no avail and goes down but not over the cliff... KOA!

Ice also races to his sensor platform and begins planting his demo charges. With no chance to use a delayed timer, the opt to set their repelling gear, set off the blasts while flinging themselves off the cliffs!  Ice executes his maneuver and 3 peril checks flawlessly! Mo... well she gets away from the blast but slams against the side of the cliff and is knocked senseless, and falls to a KOA status....

((3 platforms were the minor plot points, a block house on top of the cliff was the Major plot point. They failed to take out the blockhouse so will not get the extra advantage it would have given them in the next scenario.....................A Train to Trieste!))

Below we see Amanda and Sarge making their escape down a cliff ladder with the unconscious Atchison!

Characters and Wreckage

Long summer break, back to Pulp Alley , next episode to get ready for.  First off some wreckage of a crashed prototype super zeppelin destroying weapon to be investigated.

Here is the base and a card board tube sliced up and hot glued down. Everything, except the figure are primed with spray paint to give a structure to mount the broken debris in. For the surface I used some aluminum foil to give it a crumpled look.

Bah , blurry photo, but it gives the idea. Painted it all grey and then highlighted with silver to pick out the crumpled edges where the paint would have flaked off after the crash and fire.

Assorted bits hot glued together and then inserted. I left the hot glue stringers dangling where they fell, then pushed them around when cooled off to give the effect of wiring. Sprayed the entire interior with a flat black, then dark metal dry brush followed by a silver dry brush of prominent edges.

Base still to work up with plowed piles of dirt etc.

Characters. Several of the players lack the skill and resources to assemble their own character figures so I chipped in and here we go.

Iron Kidney Joe, an attempt at a super soldier that sort of panned out. Extra die in brawling, and one less in shooting and spotting rolls are reduced by one due to his being nearsighted to the point of needing large lens goggles............

Lily, a take charge and hands on problem solver.
And here's Amanda's side kick Fenris

And a final group shot.

Chapter 3 Episode 3 Meanwhile In Cairo

The Team is assembled at the Commission HQ to go over the action plan that the high command has come up with to thwart the Thule Society and their plan to summon … something of great power. Various Ideas are tossed around but an action plan to hit them hard is adopted. The Team equips up including explosives to undertake the job. Hurriedly as the sun is setting, the team heads out to the edge of the city in 2 trucks.

“Hey sarge, can you slow this thing down some? Geez the road is rougher than hell.”

“You said you wanted to be there with the sun up and its going to be close.”

 

The 3 building complex is at a crossroad of sorts and is approached at speed by the truck convoy. As they near the complex they see scattered dead people, torn to ribbons! The various members making a last check of their weapons when the lead vehicle is taken under fire from a sub machine gun!

(figures beside the trucks are the drivers and front passengers.)

The fire slightly damages the lead truck but the driver is hit and passes out, causing the truck to swerve out of control but it rolls to a stop. The following truck sees the fire and the driver yells for the riders to bail out before he has to drive through the burst himself!

 

The lead truck swerves to it left out of the intersection and a group of Cultists take it under fire. The second truck swerves through the Burst template and takes damage to the engine and steering, causing it to careen off to its right and it crashes into the Thule’s parked sedan rendering the remaining rider downed but the driver bails out.

 

 

The Sun sets at that moment!

 

 

Night Gaunts appear and close in!

 

Combined fire allows Sarge to finish one of the devils off!

 

One lands on top of the truck involved in the pile up and it takes down one agent after a short brawling. Amanda invokes Mystical Fires and attempts to burn it down… to no avail (made all its health checks) Then she remembers they attacked only with the coming of darkness and whips her flash bulb camera up and takes a shot, the Flash startles the beast into flying off!

The search for documents scattered about the area until a crashing sound alerts them that they are still not alone. From the rubble of the buildings, 2 creatures emerge, composed of teeth and claws, long sharp claws.

 

Sarge makes for a parked car but hasn’t time to search for keys, instead he throws a grenade hoping to stop its approach.

 

Other agents add to the carnage to try to help Sarge. He gets into the vehicle and searches for the keys (random peril).

 

Sarge plays a timely Trip Up to get the last bit of time he needs to get away from the creature.

 

The rest of the team pile into the remaining truck and barely make good their get away, leaving the Thule’s failed summoning to be dealt with by someone else!

 

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Game setting pic

The Pulp Alley Team!

Here they are:

Leader Robert Howard (side kick is Margret Howard) (sitting), Professor Ice (sidekick is Iron Kidney Joe),  Atchison Thomas Moore III (side kick is David Barrow Smith), Amanda Smyth(the one and only!), Franz (side kick is "Sarge"), and new to the team is Lily Hanley.

Chapter 3 Episode 2: AAR Sand in Their Shoes a Pulp Alley AAR

The Team has been dispatched to Cairo to rally with support elements already in place. Team leader Robert Howard (Bob) studied the sigils on the stele from the park from photographic copies on file with the Parks Service. His hope is that what they might mean is the basis of what the Thule Society was up to at the Park Site.

So this flight is to Egypt to explore and get more of the sigils recorded so they might possibly be translated and crack the case. To aide in this effort, Amanda Smyth has been attached to the team as an archivist/linguist and just happens to be the niece of one of the largest monetary backers of the Commission.

After a long boring flight they were met by a equally bored minor official, Ahkmed, from the Cairo Headquarters.

Upon their arrival in Cairo, Ahkmed walked them through customs and had organized transport to the local Commission HQ, a small building stuck in a side street. As the team enters the building they find it is under staffed with only a handful of people working there. The staff provides Bob with a map….. a papyrus map and a scroll case for it. The map is rather sparse on details with a general outline of some mountains, major gullies as land marks and an X with the name Thosus.

“What or where is this Thosus, Ahkmed?”
“Information on Thosus is from legendary sources that it once was an outpost of a pre-Sudanese people. Nothing much is left but a few crumbling ruins that the natives refuse to go near, claiming it is “Cursed by the Gods”… rather than by “God”.  There is reported to be a temple there with a stone Idol and sigils inscribed on it as well as on the temple walls. The hills around it team with nomadic people that care little for the laws of Egypt.”

“How long to get there?”
“ It is 230 miles or so to the southwest of Cairo. I have arranged supplies and 2 Trucks with petrol to be ready in the morning for you.”
“Any chance of a local guide to go with us?”
“Attempts to secure a local guide have proven fruitless when the destination is known. I am sorry.”

The morning of the departure, the Leader and side kicks roll out early and the agents straggle in.

Morning sees the Team assemble to depart except to two agents that have come down “sick” and are in the infirmary, out of action. Ahkmed provides 2 replacement agents of dubious quality but assures Bob that they can drive, shoot and are “reliable”…..

Driving slowly across mostly arid desert countryside for 12 hours, the Team decides to make camp, having covered half the distance to the site. Camp is pitched, food prepped and watches assigned. Deep into the night a Nomad group surges out of the darkness and attacks the camp.

Margret Howard, primary assistant to Bob sees the shadowy forms swarming towards the camp in the crescent moon feeble light and opens fire with her rifle, missing her target but alerting the camp to the attack by “something”.

The sleeping members of the team swarm out of the tent and scatter in various directions! Sarge shouts “which truck are the bloody grenades in??!!”

Atchison dashes to a truck and plans to mount up and fire it up, possibly to hurl it into the attacking mobs….but fumbles his keys! (peril check fail)

Bob dashes around the side of one of the boulders and opens fire with a burst of smg fire…. Taking down many of the attackers. Others pour in their rifle and pistol fire… to little avail as the Nomads close to hand to hand fighting, wielding no more than finger nails and filed teeth!!!

But the weight of fire winnows them down and the last Nomad is pummeled down.  Examination of the “nomads” shows they have slightly scaly skin, sharp teeth and rudimentary clothing… The two agents filling in claim to have no knowledge of what they are, only that they are some of the people Ahkmed warned them about.

Next morning they break camp earlier than was their plan and continue on to the site of the ruins, arriving a couple hours before nightfall, having been delayed somewhat by having to carefully traverse some serious gullies along the way. (Peril check passed)

Arriving, they establish their camp adjacent to the ruins and begin an examination of them, Amanda setting of nearly continuous flashes from her camera. While this is going on a creature breaks out of the sandy soil and charges into the camp…. Atchison sees the beast and recoils from it, emptying his revolver at it! Sarge and Bob open fire, slowing the beast and then finishing it out before it could come to grips with any team member!

Amanda deciphers most of the sigils and runes but the crucial last bit has been lost to the wall having collapsed but it seems there is another copy underground in the caverns below that may still be intact!! (Major Peril passed)

The entrance is found by Amanda’s fiddling with the stele and then almost falling into the dark hole (peril check passed) it reveals while the team dispatches the beasty.

Flashlights and ammo are passed around, and they spiral down into the depths. Arriving at the base of the stairs Sarge warns them to “stay alert and maybe we get out of here alive!”…. To which Amanda snaps a photo…. Setting off a powerful Flash!  (She was taking pictures all the time, calling POOF!! (signifying when she sets off the power full Flash Bulbs.) Now and again, leaving several players groaning…or laughing most of the game.)

Amanda proves to be a bit flighty (she was an assigned continuing Minor Peril point!) She spotted something moving on the wall and screamed, bolting away from it and towards the front of the party. (another member failed their random peril check to “save her” ..)

Meanwhile the form that moved on the wall slid to the floor and began oozing towards the party! Doctor Ice engaged it with his pistol to little effect! Sarge opened fire with an SMG burst and tears it apart…. But the firing has a side effect, echoing in the cavern passages and alerts a larger threat that there is a source of ….. food coming!

Amanda shrieks again and an agent saves her from a vicious spider (peril check passed: Amanda vocal calls for help and shrieks was played by my lovely half, Mrs Alfrik)  Suddenly a huge creature ambles out of the shadows towards them, clacking its paws() at them, which is too much for one of the Cairo agents who screams “run for your lives! This place is Cursed!!!!” He breaks and runs back towards the entrance, …. Never to be seen by the team again! Amanda fires her camera and a small pepper-pot pistol as she hastily backs away and manages not to fall down.

Bob calls for everyone to open fire at the beasty, Bob taking the time to load his “special ammo” (a special Gear added to the list that requires a random peril check to see if it will add more shooting dice to the attack due to its Special ingredients or not) and then open fire, finding that the special loads have a better effect than standard bullets!! He’s rightly thankful to the research department and the slugs slam into the creature. (red rings are dice level reductions)

Its downed but stumbles back up, where upon Sarge yells “to hell with this” and chucks a grenade at it while Bob unleashes another burst of smg fire! It’s Down and now out.

Amanda and the team in turn do find the other set of sigils and runes where upon she takes pictures and notes…

“What’s it all mean Amanda?” asked Bob.

“I have to finish the translation when I can get my hands on several books back at the HQ, I just don’t have enough here to finish it other than I can tell you the “newest” language there is an early cuneiform, the next is a Antiluvean language, the last line is the sigil language, so let’s head back as soon as we can!”

The intrepid adventurers head back towards Cairo.

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Addendum:

Dearest Archibald,

I am so glad our Fathers allowed me to go with this group of Specialists. I have seen amazing things! I have incredible pictures that the headquarters assures me they will use in the article I am composing in a prestigious Scientific Journal. My journalistic adventure and career is off to an amazing start!
Assure our fathers that their investments are being put to good use and I’m sure many things will be brought back for the Museums and their private collections.
I do wish that the accommodations were better than the tents I have had to use so far. They don’t even carry a bath! Well, some sacrifice must be met for History. I suppose a river swim is in order later.

Love. Your devoted fiancé,  Amanda.