Bullets Flying Everywhere Session 3 Fatal Strike

This was a crazy RPG Session. 

Intro

So I had planned to run this session at home, but between work and scheduling conflicts I ended staying in the city tonight. It was kinda a bummer because I had planned a bit of creative PvP for tonight's session (I introduced patron play to bullets). I got the patron on the phone and it ended up working out really well. 

Weather

The first sign of interesting times was when the tornado sirens started going off. I saw some cloud rotation and apparently one touched down a couple of miles from me. Winds got really high and tree branches started fall. I decided to take a video of the storm and I captured my transformer exploding. 

The Session

We were without power and couldn't watch a movie so Bullets Flying Everywhere was a go. This scenario was

 FATAL STRIKE 

You are in Miami when a group of ninjas who moved only by cruelty try to steal a nuclear weapon. It's up to you to stop them, alone, because this time it's personal.

My two player's we Sparks a tech guy and Rider a sharpshooter. The game opened up on a Miami beach. Tech guy went straight into making his device while sharpshooter went swimming. 

The patron wanted to poison one of the players so I ruled poisoning was a McGuffin kidnapping and that the player would need to rescue the antidote. Very Temple of Doom. 

A beautiful woman handed out free drinks and Rider ended being the one to injest the poison. While the players were instigating how to cure when they were confronted by a bunch of Goons with ponytails. 

 A fight breaks out but they're outnumbered 10 to 2. They run for it but Sparks gets knocked out while a wounded Rider speeds away on a motorcycle. He got off to a good start and almost lost them on the overpass when he came to a dead end. 10 against 1 they blocked his retreat and killed him. 

Sparks woke up as a grizzled survivor in captivity and immediately broke out of what he found to be a nuclear power plant. He made his way through the everglades until he came to a place to heal up. He then found the local park rangers and recruited them to the cause along with a Demolitions expert named Preacher. The went back to the Nuclear Power Facility to confront the Ponytail ninjas and got into a massive combat engagement with a fortified enemy while the reactor melted down in the background. 

Aftermath

We were rolling dice and working out move order when we heard a loud noise outside. It was a crash but like the sound of an explosion. I sprung to my feet and ran out the door barefoot. We were on the second floor so I jumped down the stairs and jogged across to the accident. I saw the car wreck but I thought it must have been driving in the parking lot. It still hadn't registered to me that she had come off the highway, uprooted a tree, and blown through a stone wall to get there.

I saw that no one had stepped out and the door was still closed. I ran up to the door, heard screaming inside, and saw there was someone banging on the glass trying to get out. I grabbed the handle with both hands and I'll be honest I barely felt it. I pulled, something gave way, and the the door was open. There was a young woman inside and I pulled her out. I think her name was Valerie. She was really shaken up but able to stand. I got her phone for her and she called her mom. We talked for a bit until she had calmed down and I checked to make sure she wasn't injured. She had a bad headache but other than that she was fine. Police were arriving so I left her to them and she went off in an ambulance.

Reflection

 Talking about doing this stuff feels out of place, like this doesn't belong in my real life. And yet when the time came I never considered any other option. Somebody needed help, for all I knew there could have been kids stuck in that car, and it's only natural for me to do everything I could to help them. 

Bullets Flying Everywhere Session 2 Iron Hero

  This session was played 05/28/2022.

The Foreword

This session was comedic, off the wall action, and a hell of a good time. It clocked in at an hour and forty five minutes. Errors in judgement will still be marked in red, the quest for the rules accurate game continues.

The Trailer 

“In Chinatown a group of Punks who are utterly insane Create a super soldier. 

The Psycho Punks

Over the top villains with mohawks, bad fashion sense, and cybernetic implants. They're out to get revenge on the entire world, and by extension, their parents.  The are led by a futuristic samurai known simply as Big Brother. 

The Players

Shade, a hand-hand expert. Lenin Stalinski, a sharpshooter. Marvin, a demolitions expert, and a nerd named Bob.

The Session

This game opened with my players eating shawarma at a joint called Little Istanbul. They noticed that the owner was getting roughed up by a couple of punks in the back. Shade, the hand to hand expert, moved invisibly up to the goons through the steamy kitchen. The flash of a blade, a cry of surprise, and thuds as the punks hit the floor. Bob the nerd was looking out front and noticed a third gang member acting as a getaway driver. This is where Marvin whipped out his 367 Magnum and laid down suppressive fire on the getaway driver who took over behind the bike.  Stalinski took careful Aim and shot out the tires on the motorcycle. Marvin got tired of playing nice and charged in, ripping his shirt off in the process to reveal a suicide vest. The punk took off running down an alleyway. 

Bob the nerd asked if he could fix the motorcycle.

I made the mistake of allowing it, even though it should have required a restore dramatic action. Or asked him to roll to see if they could find another vehicle. 

Bob wheeled the motorcycle around and, picking up Marvin, they tore down the alley. The poor little guy on foot never had a chance to escape on foot. As they neared Marvin raised himself up while Bob slammed on the brakes, launching the loaded goat out of the proverbial cannon. 

I had the player roll an explosives/spray check to see if this maneuver caused the bomb to go off and if it stunned/suppressed his target. Roll a 1 and boom the bomb goes off. 

The intimidation succeeded and I the party dragged their captive back to Little Istanbul. I used the kidnapping rules to deal with this situation and introduced a martial arts lieutenant as a rescuer. Marvin interrogated him. Shade and Stalinski investigated the gang / asked for an alliance by asking the shop owner what kind of racket the punks had been running and if they would join them. They got the information they were looking for plus the promise that the shop owners might join them if they could prove that they could stand up to the gang. While this all was going on Bob the nerd was mixing up a Molotov.

I should have rolled to see if there was a requisition misfortune.

Lightning flashed outside, revealing the silhouette of a vengeful martial arts lieutenant with a samurai sword. The resounding boom that followed wasn't thunder, but the crack of Marvin's Magnum. The hostage was dead and the fight was on.

I should have had the lieutenant bring henchmen.

The fight opened with the players laying down suppressive fire. This forced the martial arts lieutenant to dive for cover behind a parked vehicle. The following round the demolitions expert made use of his new Molotov cocktail and threw it at the car but at the same moment the martial arts lieutenant popped up and hit him with a throwing knife. The knife did some damage but the Molotov did more. Glorious explosions abound as the martial arts lieutenant disappeared in a fiery blossom of napalm. Leninov Stalinski walked up to the burning wreck, and lighting his cigar on pyre said, "That's why you don't bring knife to a bomb fight."

The night ended a little bit early here. There were other bad guys out there but this was a good stopping point for a quick and easy night.

Postscript

This game was a lot of fun to run and play but as you can see my players ended up looking a lot more like a rival gang than anything else. It was my second foray into the system and this time I was a little bit more comfortable making calls even when I didn't really know the rules. In some cases I guessed right and in some cases I guessed wrong. There are a lot of efficiency boosters built into the system that once you understand them running the game actually becomes a lot easier. This is especially true now with the quick reference pages that just got added. 

Pertinent rules I missed.

HENCHMEN If the big bad is solitary, there are no henchmen. If the big bad is a commander, the big bad and each lieutenant each control 4 henchmen per player character. If the big bad is a bureaucrat, the big bad and each lieutenant control 6 henchmen per player character. If the big bad is a commander or bureaucrat he always has at least 1 lieutenant, even if there is only 1 player character.

Requisition Description: The crew searches for an item, like a car, tank, rocket launcher, etc. Starting Time Requirement: 4 Skill: Smarts, Hustle, Drive Result: The crew acquires the item. Complication: When PCs requisition an item, the judge pairs the action with an appropriate check, made by one character on the crew. If the check fails, they are on the verge of acquiring the item when they have to deal with a group of neutral henchmen (not related to the main bad guys) in order to secure it. The number of henchmen equals the amount a bad guy lieutenant would have. The type is chosen by the judge at random or based on the situation. (See “Inspiration.”)

Restore Description: This action is a catch-all for any activity that regains abilities already available to a character, but lost through use. Starting Time Requirement: 4 Skill: Smarts or hustle Result: Choose 1: (A) the gadget guy gets materials for his next gadget. (B) The demo expert gets 1 set of explosives back. (C) A vehicle is repaired. (D) A lieutenant or big bad gets all his henchmen back. Restrictions: The big bad must perform this action at his base.

Bullets Flying Everywhere Session 1 Heat Lightning

This session was played 05/15/2022.

The Foreword

This was my first time running the game. I did everything wrong but I'm taking this review as an opportunity to learn from my mistakes. Those points will be marked in red.

The Trailer

When a completely insane secret agent is dealing smack on the streets of Oakland, the local gang needs to step up and do what the authorities can't be bothered to do. This is, Heat Lightning!

The Solitary Big Bad

 He served his country under a clandestine agency you've never heard. We owed him a debt that can never be paid, and he's here to collect. 

Special ability: Bulletproof.  The bad guy is invulnerable to ranged fire of any type. He can only be hurt by melee attacks and explosions. (Ranged weapons fired at point blank count as melee.)

 If the big bad is solitary, he always rolls three dice for dramatic actions and can only perform one dramatic task at a time. I missed this rule and I think I had him rolling one die. 

A solitary big bad’s starting level is equal to the number of player characters x3, minimum 6. I played him as a level 6, but with 3 players he should have been level nine. You live and you learn. Unless you're a severely handicapped evil spy. 

The Players

The Leader, The Demo Expert, The Girl.

My players all decided to play as eastern Europeans. I can't remember their names, but neither can they. They were something suitably badass like Boris, Dragonov, and Masha.

The Session

The players began by with an investigation dramatic action. They contacted their friends in the Russian Mob and uncovered when and where the evil plot would be going down. In this case the evil plot was a shipment of contraband was being delivered at the docks later that night. I had the evil plot set to go off at time segment 8, but I should have rolled a skill check to see how much faster it could have been completed. The players used the information from their investigation to set up an ambush. They went down to the docks and fortified it. I was only calling for a single check on these actions instead of allowing each player to conduct an action or help.

I gave the demolitions expert a free RPG. Any specifically listed equipment require a Requisition dramatic action. I initiated combat without either side completing a confront task and I gave the players surprise, automatically, without a roll. I missed the Ambusher rule. The big bad wandered in and got immediately lit up by the demolitions expert with the rocket launcher. I counted stuns as hits. What can I say, I started my team out on easy mode. The solitary big bad was very close to death after a single shot. The other players opened fire but they couldn't get past his bulletproof special ability. The big bad passed his guts check and laid down suppressing fire. This forced the demo expert and the girl to run for cover, but the leader used his movement to close into melee. The showdown was on. Leader vs Big Bad, Mano a Mano. This fight really could have still gone either way. They had used their explosive device and bullets wouldn't work against this guy. It was do or die and the leader did it, against all odds. The big bad was knocked out cold and the team dragged him back to face justice.

Pertinent rules I missed.

Fortify

"At the fortified location, the characters 

begin combat as ambushers for the purpose of 

surprise and fight as if one level higher."

Ambushes

" If one crew ambushes another, the ambushed crew starts in one position. After they are placed the ambushers place themselves in up to two groups around them up to a distance of up to 2 sprints. "

Checking for Surprise

 "When hostilities are about to begin, each character must pass a hustle check to determine if he is eligible to act during the surprise round. Bonuses or penalties apply to this check based on a character’s activity prior to the surprise round. There are seven dispositions that affect the surprise round hustle check. If the mission begins with combat, in the very first scene, it is an initial encounter and each character checks at their standard skill level with no adjustments.

 After the first scene, the only way that combat begins is by a crew completing a confront task. If a character is a protector, he checks at his standard skill level with no adjustments, unless the crew he is protecting has completed a fortify dramatic task, in which case he counts as an ambusher. A character not working on a particular task before combat always counts as a protector. A character on a crew that has completed a fortify dramatic task counts as an ambusher. Ambushers make hustle checks with a +1 skill bonus."

Requisition

"The crew searches for an item, like a car, tank, rocket launcher, etc."