Goodman Games

I've got a short Funnel adventure for this year's Gong Farmers Almanac, and I'd like to give it a quick run-through before subbing it to the GFA.

It'd need to be run pretty fast, so I may do more assuming about characters' actions than I normally would, but am absolutely open to feedback on what you might've done differently... It may seemed rushed, but it might sometimes be more like a walk-through than full-on play, given the time restrictions. On the flip-side, you don't have to commit to weeks and weeks of play. Hopefully, everyone can post every day or nearly so.

If this gets off the ground, it could lead right into a 1st Level PbP of a different adventure to follow this Funnel.

Don't bother posting your four Zeroes' stats, beyond a short intro for folks to get an idea of who's in the mob ("Zigzag the gong-farmer is blond, lisps and carries an axe and a large sack," etc.). It's all honor-system. Spend your starting money on extra equipment as you like (the intro below may give you some ideas).

Once we have three or four folks on board, we'll dive in deeper.


INTRO
You are part of the crowd that hangs out at the Iron Boot Tap House in Punjar. These are your people. There is a bond between you, and if someone messes with one of you, they are messing with all of you...

One day you were hanging out in the Iron Boot, when Fast Jack and Tophat Charlie staggered in with a stranger named Grace. It turns out Jack and Charlie were going to go get Other Molly out of the lockup, when they got tangled up with the Lords of Deepwater gang. The Lords were there, buying prisoners for gods know what purpose, when they set their sights on a woman who was just then having her bond paid off by her friend Grace. The Lords were obviously going to skrag this Grace so Jack and Charlie stepped in. In the fight, Other Molly got taken instead of this Grace's friend.

So now, you need to go to the Little Favela section of Punjar and give the Lords of Deepwater some payback and rescue Other Molly...

I'd like to give it a try.

EDIT: Nevermind, I have another funnel that's starting.

My band of unlucky drunkards is in!

Tommy Thimble cannot hold his liquor (drunk on a thimble's worth). He is a gaunt Cheesemaker with deep set, grey eyes. He is holding a cudgel (staff) and hoarding, in his small sack, a wheel of cheese, a hammer, flint and steel, and a few torches.
(str 11, agi 9, sta 10, per 8, int 9, luc 10, 4 hp)

Travis Swift is a rotund rice farmer. His exceptional girth is the first and last thing you will remember about him. Despite his wide-as-tall stature, his outsized cowardice will allow him to flee as fast as any other patron of the Iron Boot. He propels himself forward with a pitchfork and a ten foot pole. Travis is also carrying a sack of empty flasks recently emptied of their booze. Lucy, his sleepy hen, is perched on his shoulder.
(str 12, agi 3, sta 10, per 5, int 12, luc 10, 3 hp)

Millie Motormouth is a bratty, youthful seeming mercenary. Millie is LOUD - possibly to compensate for being underwhelming in all other ways. She is clad in ill-fitted hides and a tarnished long sword. Her sack contains an iron spike.
(str 9, agi 8, sta 8, per 6, int 9, luc 6, 1 hp)

Lala Lacey is ill-suited to anything other than begging on the streets. She is a dolt among dullards, but manages to be charming with her simpleness and straw colored hair. Lala is the unofficial mascot of the Iron Boot. Lala deftly ambles about in crutches and a sling draped unconvincingly around her left arm. Lala holds a battered lantern used almost exclusively to collect alms (almost exclusively for booze).
(str 5, agi 15, sta 10, per 12, int 5, luc 14, 2 hp)

Here's my pack of 4 ne'er-do-wells:

Ivan Grapeworth, a plucky yet unsuccessful wine-seller, who doesn't frequent this establishment, but happens to be here now and despite not recognizing anyone has been caught up in the excitement. Carries a club, flint and steel, and a wineskin
(str 8, agi 9, sta 12, per 8, int 10, luc 14, 2 hp, AC 10)

Flea, small, thin, pale, your typical gutter-rat. Eager to prove himself. Trusts no one. Uses a small mirror to look over his shoulder, and keeps a dagger hidden in his rags with a crust of hard bread.
(str 6, agi 12, sta 15, per 10, int 8, luc 11, 2 hp, AC 10)

The Daggerstain Brothers. Pickpockets and swindlers by trade. Meato, the elder brother, thin, quick, thoroughly unlikeable, oily mustache, greenish skin. Zeppo, thoroughly normal-looking and unassuming, a little stupid. Takes orders from Meato.
Meato plays with his dagger and uses a grappling hook as decor.
(str 6, agi 13, sta 14, per 5, int 12, luc 10, 2 hp, AC 11)
Zeppo also carries a dagger and an empty chest under his arm. When asked he says he's keeping extra air in it. "Just in case."
(str 10, agi 9, sta 12, per 9, int 7, luc 13, 3 hp, AC 11)

I have it on some authority that we have a third player, whose post is awaiting moderator approval because he's new to the forum.

Anybody else that wants to join in by morning, please feel free -- I won't be back here til around 8 AM Pacific Time. I suppose there's even room for stragglers in the pack of Zeroes...

I also forgot to mention that there are five prominent NPCs in the thing that are not yet named. As a little thank-you for playing in this play test, you can name these guys, or have them named after yourself or your forum handle or some such. For example, the scenario was the suggestion of Mr. Terry "Rock Awakens" Olson, so the central villain is called Oll Zen.



ARRIVAL IN THE LITTLE FAVELA OF PUNJAR

A crowd of you funnels out of the Iron Boot, like an angry cloud of smoke after something on the grill caught fire. You march straight over to the Little Favela, home of the Lords of Deepwater, who messed up your boys.

The Favela, a dense slum on a sloping corner of Punjar, is a tangle of streets, ancient structures and improvised buildings. If Jackson Pollack were a city planner, you couldn't get a more convoluted collection of streets, dead-ends, and alleys.

The place is all stirred up with a giant funeral procession weaving through the streets. It's like New Year's Eve, Independence Day and a NOLA Second Line, all rolled into one uber-bombastic thing.

As you hunt for signs of the Lords, after about 15 minutes of searching, a few members of some other gang block your path. They are cross that you even dare to be here, on this day, during this event. They absolutely seem to be angling and itching for a fight and your rag-tag group are a convenient object for their desire (to bust skulls).

There are five of these gang members, and they've gotten a 10 on their initiative.

• If you get a higher initiative, you can possibly preempt them... State your actions and make your attacks. This is all happening mixed into the crowds on the street, so I will apply your attacks to the gang members randomly.

• They (that survive) will attack your Zero with the lowest Luck. IF you beat them on initiative, you can have a Zero choose to defend your unlucky buddy instead of making a full-on attack (step down the dice chain to attack the ganger, but add +2 to your ally's AC).

• If you get a lower initiative, hold off for the moment.

• If you get the same initiative as the gang members, any of your Zeroes with a Luck higher than 11 may act; the others will act after the gang members.

Any questions, just ask!

Initiative 9+1=10

Millie flashes the gang members the dirtiest arm gesture known in the Favela (the right arm lifted over the shoulder and touching the back with the left hand clutching the right elbow).

Only Lala gets an attack off with her greater than 11 luck score. She slips a stone into her sling and whips it at the nearest enemy. To hit 6+1=7, damage 1.

Initiative: 11+1=12!

My band of hooligans react quick-ish, themselves itching for a fight.

Flea tosses his dagger in his hands back and forth then charges straight in screaming like a wild man to stab at somebody's eyes.

Zeppo steps into the fray, lashing out with his dagger but keeps an eye out to protect his older brother (-d attack, +2 to Meato's AC), Meato who is going to try to stab the person who he thinks has the fanciest hat, or lacking those... shoes.

Ivan, sputtering and blinking with the group's energy, but not sure quite what to do, searches the area for some makeshift weapon that looks more dangerous than his club (like fireworks?)

Would you like us to roll our attacks or would you prefer to do that?
(I'll include attack rolls in case you would like us to:
Flea dagger attack 18-1=17, dmg 3-1=2
Zeppo dagger attack (rolled d16) 13, dmg = 2
Meato dagger attack 3-1=2)

Brun Grimmson (L) Tax collector - you pay what you owe, or he comes to “collect”... the younger. more civil brother (haha) left the Frozen North to seek fortune in the rough streets of Punjar
Str14(+1) Agi12 (0) Sta12(0) Per12(0) Int11(0) Luc9(0)

Tyreese "Sweet Pea" (N) Gongfarmer - cleaning up dirty jobs are kinda his specialty...a man who will stop at nothing to raise his lot in life, though he currently is literally scraping bottom
Str10(0) Agi9(0) Sta15(+1) Per9(0) Int8(-1) Luc9(0)

Gunnar Grimmson (N) Animal trainer - gentle giant with a knack for beasts...trying to find an alternative to his barbaric upbringing, the older, bigger brother makes a few coins training horses. He has been training a pony special for Kylie, unbeknownst to her, as a gift.
Str17(+2) Agi8(-1) Sta10(0) Per14(+1) Int15(+1) Luc13(+1)

Little Kylie (C) Orphan - pint-sized problem child... her small frame and baby face give her a younger, more innocent appearance than she's earned, and marks her as the spitting image of the daughter Gunnar lost to war in the Frozen North.
Str8 (-1) Agi17(+2) Sta9(0) Per6(-1) Int15(+1) Luc13(+1)

Rolled a NATURAL 20 for initiative! They'll tackle these toughs head on- for Other Molly!
Brun: att=6, dmg=4 Tyreese: att=8, dmg=3, Gunnar:att=11, dmg=4, Kyllie: att=21!, dmg=3(sling)

The tension between your group and these toughs is like a hot fog, it's so palpable.

The two sides slam together in combat like they were born to it.

Lala's sling gets deflected by two yahoos running by just then with a canvas banner...

Flea viciously slashes one of the hoods in the face!

Kylie gets in a surprise shot from a low angle, right below the breadbasket! This against the same foe Flea cut -- he's staggered but still standing.

[And to be clear, I tend to consider attacks as virtually simultaneous, so he's still attacking, even though he's really gotten walloped there.]

These punks are a bit bruised, but not deterred... They attack!

[I'm not sure if we have four players or three, so I'm just going to make the attacks for one foe vs. each of your lowest Lucked characters. quozl are you still out there? The other dudes are in reserve.]

Brandishing short filleting blades they seem to produce from nowhere, they strike thusly:

Prodigal William: Natural 20, 5 pts damage, plus it's a strike to the eye! for 3 more points of damage!
Jeff C: They hit a 14, for 3 pts of damage!
Fenris: They hit an 18 for 5 pts of damage!

Primed for a fight you are, in your numbers. But seeing these punks up close it's abundantly clear from scars and other marks that they regularly engage in street fighting...

But there is a commotion just a few people back through the crowd! What does it mean...? We'll finish your attacks for the round to find out...

There are five assailants - A, B, C, D, E. When making your remaining attacks, identify which target you are going for (D is the one hit twice already).

Note for "Ivan": there are many folks with banners or pennants on tall poles, there is a vendor with meat on wooden skewers, and there is the obligatory fruit cart. Some few folks have horns (horn, not metal).

Note for "Meato": Having an eye for such things, he's noticed that B has some kind of soft shoe threaded in intricate patterns with gold thread. The gang are sadly hatless, and thus less cool than they might otherwise have been...

RIP, throughly murdered Millie

Tommy shouts trying to cover his panic in what he hopes might be menace. He grabs his fallen comrade's sword and hacks at D and rolls a 6 to hit...

Travis shifts his massive body with a lurch that sends Lucy (the hen) flying off his shoulder in a squawking panic. He propels his momentum toward D, the pitchfork leveled at the gang member's chest. 15 to-hit, 8 on damage! (I'll burn luck if I'm close on the to-hit).

Context clues lead me to believe these are our five nameable NPC's? Maybe I won't burn those luck points.

The lovely site of golden thread on B's shoes are the last thing Meato sees. RIP Meato.
Zeppo screams in anger, tragedy wracking his body! (did the 13 on his to-hit roll miss?)

Ivan will move to the vendors with the intent to throw a meat skewer at a gang member like that part in Temple of Doom:

Tyreese goes down in a heap, having cleansed his last gong...
(Brun and Tyreese both had Luc9, so I rolled randomly to see who got the shiv...)
Gunnar scans the chaos for Little Kylie, attempting to get between her and the Lords.

ProdigalWilliam wrote:RIP, throughly murdered Millie

Tommy shouts trying to cover his panic in what he hopes might be menace. He grabs his fallen comrade's sword and hacks at D and rolls a 6 to hit...

Travis shifts his massive body with a lurch that sends Lucy (the hen) flying off his shoulder in a squawking panic. He propels his momentum toward D, the pitchfork leveled at the gang member's chest. 15 to-hit, 8 on damage! (I'll burn luck if I'm close on the to-hit).

Context clues lead me to believe these are our five nameable NPC's? Maybe I won't burn those luck points.

LOLing at "Thoroughly Murdered Millie".
The 15 is a solid hit and the pitchfork drives D into the fruit cart where his mellon is skewered to a mellon. (No worries recovering the weapon immediately.)
These are not the Five mentioned. Neither are they Lords of Deepwater.

jeff c wrote:The lovely site of golden thread on B's shoes are the last thing Meato sees. RIP Meato.
Zeppo screams in anger, tragedy wracking his body! (did the 13 on his to-hit roll miss?)

Ivan will move to the vendors with the intent to throw a meat skewer at a gang member like that part in Temple of Doom:

Ivan can grab a skewer and make an attack this round (at -2) -- that's stretching his actions for the round (hence the -2) but let's keep things moving.
Crap! If Zeppo wants to burn 2 Luck, his miss would become a hit (I should have pointed that out before). Let me know if he spends it.

Fenris Ulfhamr wrote:Tyreese goes down in a heap, having cleansed his last gong...
(Brun and Tyreese both had Luc9, so I rolled randomly to see who got the shiv...)
Gunnar scans the chaos for Little Kylie, attempting to get between her and the Lords.

Perfect on the die roll to decide.
No problem finding each other in this crowd, it's moving and swirling down the street, but you folks know each other.

So anyone that still needs to make an attack, go ahead and give me your rolls and damage -- we've zeroed in on an AC 15 for these guys, but you can attempt to use circumstances to strengthen your chances. Let me know what you're attempting, and I can adjust accordingly with some randomization (you aren't Warriors with Deeds yet!), so give me your to-hit rolls, even if you don't hit a 15.

Go!

Zeppo will definitely burn the 2 luck in tribute to his dead brother Meato. So his to hit becomes 15, dmg 2.

Ivan will launch the meat skewer at a random thug, to hit 18-2(for stretched action)+1(for birth augur)= 17. dmg=1

Lala catches Lucy out of the air and launches the frantic hen toward the nearest enemy gang member (the one attacking my group next and buffing my low luck member's AC score for a round?). Reflex save/agi check (just in case) 12+1=13. Chicken to human contact roll 10+1=11.

[after the enemy goes and assuming nothing changes wrt to deaths and interruptions]:

Travis demelons his pitchfork. He discovers this takes much less effort than he expected. He whips his newly anointed farm tool around and his body carries through in an inelegant manner. He has a moment to gasp as Lucy flaps madly past him. He catches his feet in just the right position to drive the pitchfork into the gang member currently dealing with the feathered volley. 19 to hit! 6 to damage. [Travis is rolling like a beast and his shape (a ball)!]

If Tommy survives this round (lost the roll off due to equal luck with Travis and will face peril this round), he swings wildly with the long sword at the most damaged gang member. 4 to hit!


[glad you liked the thoroughly modern millie reference, at least I got some mileage out of her brief run]

Okay, so unless I'm missing something, it's ROUND TWO.

From out of the crowd, a second set of gang members arrives, furious at the other gang for starting a fight. The second batch begin to harass the first batch, when a third faction dog-piles onto the melee!

Utter chaos breaks out! Bystanders have caught onto the fact that blood is being spilt, lives are being lost, and they begin to scream and run in panic! However, most of their reaction is lost in the noisiness of the procession, and folks just ten feet away from slaughter have no idea...!

It's all leaping kicks, flashing blades, low blows, flying chickens and somewhere, getting trampled, are the most exquisite embroidered slippers on a dead man's feet...

And down through the crowd comes the enameled casket, borne by six bearers and flanked by two dancing paper dragons controlled by numerous bearers holding large broom-handle mounts for the giant puppet. The crowd is parting for the casket, divvying up the fight, as it were -- or NOT, as the case may be...


So, flinging chicken maneuvers and such are set aside for a moment. For THIS round, start by giving me a roll-under Luck check. For each character, either they "MADE IT!" or they "MISSED IT BY X" (in your best Don Adams impression). This will tell me if that character is even being attacked this round, and it will tell me BY WHOM (dun Dun DUNNN!).

With the results of the Luck check, give me each characters' action for the round, including attack rolls as needed, please.

Ivan - MADE IT! (rolled a 1)
Flea 11 - MADE IT! (I think, rolled an 11, and his luck is 11)
Zeppo 13 - MADE IT!

IVAN flings another flaming meat skewer at either A,B,C,D or E, whoever is near-ish and still standing. To hit= 17+1=18, damage=4, then ducks after
FLEA and ZEPPO, who have forgotten what it is they set out to do and just want to cause as much mayhem as possible with these Favela guys. They yell "C'mon!" to any of their fellow vagabonds who will listen and try to knock over the pallbearers on one side of the casket to get it to tip over. This oughtta get the Lords of Deepwater's attention!

Do I need to make an attack roll on the pallbearers?

Brun: (Made it!) "This is getting a little too crowded..."
Even as Brun withdraws from the fray, he tries to collect Tyreese's purse. He looks about for his friends, ready to rush in to thier aid.

Gunnar: (rolled his Luck exactly)
Gunnar tries to get Little Kylie out of harms way and out of this fight.

Little Kylie: (also rolled her Luck exactly- lucky!)
Kylie has the sense to go with Gunnar, but still want to be within a slingstone's distance of the action!

This is a beautiful run of luck!

And yes, rolling the exact number counts as a success.

No need for an attack roll on the pallbearers -- tackling them is the last thing they'd expect.

We'll wait for the ProdigalWilliam's return before adjudicating...

Tommy is over by a mile: 19.

Lala skates under with a 13.

Travis continues to exceed expectations with a natty 1.

I'll let my declared actions stand.

[sorry, post massage coma dropped me unexpectedly]

Hahahaha oh crap!

Little Kylie sqeals in mixed terror and excitement as she hurls a slingstone at the walking corpse!
Kylie: att=4 (lol) dmg=2

My 3 zeros look at the man, look at the evil living corpse, look at each other, and then they're following the man. On the way out, Zeppo takes the grappling hook (only heirloom of the rapidly thinning Daggerstain family) off his brother and affixes it to his own belt.
If possible, Flea spots the exquisite slippers on the dead man and slips them off before hightailing it. (he's only grabbing one thing but if you think the slippers require a luck roll to spot or anything, I just rolled 1 over his luck score.)
Ivan grabs another meat skewer and sinks his teeth into the meat as he runs, careful not to stab himself.