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.
“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.
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