[Let's Play] Fighting Fantazine Adventure 3: Prey of the Hunter

[Thaluikhain]

Shoot the robot with both pistols like in a 90s action movie.

[Beroli]

You fire at Despair. The laser burns through his clothing and into his body, revealing molten metal and wires. You fire again and again until all that’s left of him is a slowly melting lump of metal. The acolytes of Despair stand bewildered. ‘He was an android?’ manages one.

‘He seemed to know so much about everything,’ adds another despairingly.

‘And yet he wasn’t even human,’ sighs a third.

The crowd of acolytes disperse sorrowfully. You have freed them from the grip of Despair and perhaps in time they can find hope in life again. Add 1 LUCK point. You make a quick search of the cavernous room and uncover 20 credits and a gas mask. You then follow the acolytes back out onto the surface and get a few stares from passers-by, surprised to see so many file out of the seemingly abandoned bomb shelter. Add 1 to your TRAIL score. You carry on to the mines at a brisk pace, trying to make up for lost time.

You reach the mines. A crowd of not-so eager workers are already making their way inside and you follow them in.

You collect your portable extractor from the foreman and join Finnegan and the rest of the miners in the tunnels, ready for a day of tough manual labour. Roll one die (1d5 today). The result is 5.

You are working alone in a remote part of the mine when your portable extractor hits something – looks like a lump of titanium. You remove some more rock from around it – it’s a very big piece of titanium! Excitedly, you work away at it and have soon revealed a whole mother lode of the metal. You call excitedly and soon half the workers in the mine are helping you work at it. Once it is finally uncovered the foreman slaps you on the back and hands you 60 credits. ‘Good job – take this as a bonus and feel free to take the rest of the day off.’

You thank him and leave the mine, pleased with your discovery.

You’re feeling tired after the day’s trials. Time to get some rest.

You head through the rough area of the city towards your squat. Figures watch you surreptitiously from the shadows. Roll one die. If you roll a 1 something happens. Your roll is 3.

You stop to buy some food from a smelly old woman for 1 credit before reaching your abode. You tuck into the unappetizing food before settling into an uncomfortable sleep.

Test your Trail; a 5 succeeds (barely). You awaken the next morning with a sore back, but otherwise rested (restore 3 STAMINA points). You do not have 350 credits. You work in the mines. You’ll have to cross town to reach the mines. Will you walk or take the monorail?

Adventure Sheet:
Name: Alan Schaefer
Skill: 11/11
Stamina: 16/16
Luck: 10/10
Villainy: 2
Trail: 5
Credits: 192
2 Laser pistols
Gas mask
Number of deaths: 2

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to walk yet again.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Keep walking.

[Thaluikhain]

Walk on.

[Beroli]

It’s a fair walk to the mines and walking through the streets on Karthran-6 is never safe at any time. With your head down, you walk through the litter-strewn streets at a prompt pace. As you pass a dilapidated house you hear an old woman screeching from inside. ‘Help! Help! I’m being robbed!’ she cries in a weak voice.

Rush into the house to help her?
Continue on to the mines?

Adventure Sheet:
Name: Alan Schaefer
Skill: 11/11
Stamina: 16/16
Luck: 10/10
Villainy: 2
Trail: 5
Credits: 192
2 Laser pistols
Gas mask
Number of deaths: 2

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to rush into the house to help her.

[Thaluikhain]

Help, but I expect this to be a trap.

[Beroli]

You spring into the open window only to find yourself facing a horrible old woman with an eye patch and arms like tree trunks with two shaven headed louts either side of her. ‘My hero,’ she says sarcastically in the voice you heard asking for help. ‘Boys, teach this intrepid do-gooder the way things work on Karthran-6.’

The two skinheads advance on you. Fight them both at the same time.

First SKINHEAD Skill 8 Stamina 6
Second SKINHEAD Skill 7 Stamina 8

Round One: Alan 20, First Skinhead 12; Alan 17, Second Skinhead 13. First Skinhead is at 4 Stamina.
Round Two: Alan 20, First Skinhead 15; Alan 15, Second Skinhead 13. First Skinhead is at 2 Stamina.
Round Three: Alan 19, First Skinhead 17; Alan 19, Second Skinhead 14. First Skinhead is dead.
Round Four: Alan 15, Skinhead 15.
Round Five: Alan 18, Skinhead 18.
Round Six: Alan 13, Skinhead 15. Alan is at 14 Stamina.
Round Seven: Alan 14, Skinhead 16. Alan is at 12 Stamina.
Round Eight: Alan 20, Skinhead 14. Skinhead is at 6 Stamina.
Round Nine: Alan 19, Skinhead 16. Skinhead is at 4 Stamina.
Round Ten: Alan 21, Skinhead 13. Skinhead is at 2 Stamina.
Round Eleven: Alan 15, Skinhead 12. Second Skinhead is dead.

The old woman howls with rage. ‘What did you do to my boys?’ she screeches. ‘You’ll pay! You’ll pay!’

She leaps forward to attack you.

OLD WOMAN Skill 7 Stamina 5

Round One: Alan 17, Old Woman 13. Old Woman is at 3 Stamina.
Round Two: Alan 15, Old Woman 18. Alan is at 10 Stamina.
Round Three: Alan 20, Old Woman 12. Old Woman is at 1 Stamina.
Round Four: Alan 22, Old Woman 9. Old Woman is dead.

You search the three bodies and the house and find only 13 credits – no wonder they’d turned to robbery. Shaking your head at the universe, you leave the house and continue on towards the mines.

You reach the mines. A crowd of not-so eager workers are already making their way inside and you follow them in.

You collect your portable extractor from the foreman and join Finnegan and the rest of the miners in the tunnels, ready for a day of tough manual labour.

Roll one die (1d4 today). The result is 4.

You are chatting with Finnegan when a weasly guy sidles up to you proffering a laser pistol. ‘You want this?’ he breathes. ‘Only thirty credits!’

‘Beat it Philbert,’ snaps Finnegan. ‘No-one wants to buy your crap.’

‘Not crap!’ declares Philbert. ‘Go on – twenty-five credits.’

Well, do you want a third laser pistol?

Adventure Sheet:
Name: Alan Schaefer
Skill: 11/11
Stamina: 10/16
Luck: 10/10
Villainy: 2
Trail: 5
Credits: 205
2 Laser pistols
Gas mask
Number of deaths: 2

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote no. Two laser pistols is already enough, and Alan does not have a third hand to wield a third pistol.

[Beroli]

Philbert gives up and tries his luck with some of the other miners.

(It's a perfectly good laser pistol, neither better nor worse than the ones you have and a lot cheaper than the first one you bought, but of course if you hadn't had one before now you wouldn't have been able to use one against Despair. And it does raise your Trail if your coworkers see you indicate that you think you need a laser pistol.)

Nothing else of interest happens for the rest of the day. After several hours’ tiring labour with few breaks the horn for the end of your shift goes off. You collect your 45 credits and head back into the city.

You’re feeling tired after the day’s trials. Time to get some rest.

You head through the rough area of the city towards your squat. Figures watch you surreptitiously from the shadows. Roll one die. If you roll a 1 something happens. Your roll is 5.

You stop to buy some food from a smelly old woman for 1 credit before reaching your abode. You tuck into the unappetizing food before settling into an uncomfortable sleep.

Test your Trail; a 4 fails.

You are startled from your sleep by raised voices coming from the street outside. ‘Your kind ain’t welcome here,’ yells the voice of a clearly inebriated man.

‘Yeah, clear off Trawg scum!’ yells another.

‘I have no time for such as you,’ replies a horribly familiar voice.

There is the sudden sound of a explosion of sorts followed by horrible screaming, then silence. Finally you hear the slow tread of footsteps heading towards your door. By the stars – Omoz has found you! Quickly, you gather your things and climb out the back window, but will you escape? Test your Luck. An 11 fails.

As you pull yourself through the window, there is a blast of energy behind you and a laser beam rips across your back (lose 8 Stamina points). If you survive, you drop to the ground and race away from your hideout. You turn round to see Omoz at your window laughing uproariously. You duck down a side-street and run full pelt, desperate to get away. Eventually you pause to catch your breath. You spot a seeming deserted shed and head towards it. It should make a decent hiding place. You make yourself a makeshift bed, but are too terrified of Omoz showing up again to get any sleep. Eventually the sun rises and your sleepless night is at an end (lose 2 Stamina points for lack of sleep).

...and that kills you.

Rewinding to the night's beginning, you succeed on the Trail test.

You awaken the next morning with a sore back, but otherwise rested (restore 3 STAMINA points). You do not have 350 credits. You work in the mines. You’ll have to cross town to reach the mines. Will you walk or take the monorail?

Adventure Sheet:
Name: Alan Schaefer
Skill: 11/11
Stamina: 13/16
Luck: 10/10
Villainy: 2
Trail: 5
Credits: 249
2 Laser pistols
Gas mask
Number of deaths: 3

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to walk again.

[Thaluikhain]

Walk.

[Beroli]

It’s a fair walk to the mines and walking through the streets on Karthran-6 is never safe at any time. With your head down, you walk through the litter-strewn streets at a prompt pace. (Roll a die; unlike the previous die roll when walking to the mine, this can repeat infinitely. The result this time is 1.)

Two Aquanarians armed with knives spring out of a shadowy alleyway to attack you. There is no time to draw a laser pistol before they are on you. Fight them both at once.

First AQUANARIAN Skill 6 Stamina 7
Second AQUANARIAN Skill 7 Stamina 5

Round One: Alan 19, First Aquanarian 11, Alan 19, Second Aquanarian 15. Second Aquanarian is at 3 Stamina.
Round Two: Alan 18, First Aquanarian 13, Alan 22, Second Aquanarian 12. Second Aquanarian is at 1 Stamina.
Round Three: Alan 16, First Aquanarian 10, Alan 19, Second Aquanarian 14. Second Aquanarian is dead.
Round Four: Alan 23, Aquanarian 11. First Aquanarian is at 5 Stamina.
Round Five: Alan 15, Aquanarian 14. First Aquanarian is at 3 Stamina.
Round Six: Alan 17, Aquanarian 12. First Aquanarian is at 1 Stamina.
Round Seven: Alan 17, Aquanarian 15. Flawless victory.

If you defeat them, a quick search of their bodies reveals only 12 credits. As you pocket these a few passers-by stop and stare at you, but no-one says anything (add 1 to your TRAIL score). You carry on to the mines.

You reach the mines. A crowd of not-so eager workers are already making their way inside and you follow them in.

You collect your portable extractor from the foreman and join Finnegan and the rest of the miners in the tunnels, ready for a day of tough manual labour.

Roll one die (1d3 today). The result is 2.

You and Finnegan are working hard in one part of the mines with a surly D’Laré named Fl’zal. After an hour of back-breaking labour, Finnegan sits down for a rest. ‘Phew, this place takes it outta ya some times,’ he remarks.

Fl’zal laughs. ‘You males are so pathetic,’ she mocks. ‘On my planet, we realize that males are the weaker sex and stop them doing any manual work. Maybe you humans should follow suit.’

‘I thought on your planet you stopped males working so they were always on hand when you females needed to abuse them,’ retorts Finnegan wryly. ‘Sounds like a pretty barbaric culture if you ask me.’

‘Take that back, male!’ she snarls.

Back Finnegan up?
Try to calm the situation down?

Adventure Sheet:
Name: Alan Schaefer
Skill: 11/11
Stamina: 13/16
Luck: 10/10
Villainy: 2
Trail: 6
Credits: 261
2 Laser pistols
Gas mask
Number of deaths: 3

[Thaluikhain]

Calm it down.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Avoid a fight with the sexist alien.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to try to calm the situation down.

[Beroli]

You quickly come between them. ‘Now, now, we’re all friends here,’ you try.

‘Perhaps,’ Fl’zal snarls. ‘But you humans are living on borrowed time. The Lyanians grow in power every day. And when they finally destroy your planet, you can at least be consoled that the D’Laré and our ways will live on.’

With that she stalks off. Finnegan bursts into laughter. ‘Just when that conversation was beginning to get fun you had to be all responsible. Oh well.’ He gets back to work. You shrug and do the same.

Nothing else of interest happens for the rest of the day. After several hours’ tiring labour with few breaks the horn for the end of your shift goes off. You collect your 45 credits and head back into the city.

You’re feeling tired after the day’s trials. Time to get some rest.

You head through the rough area of the city towards your squat. Figures watch you surreptitiously from the shadows. Roll one die. If you roll a 1 something happens. Your roll is 1.

You are just about to buy some rather grotty looking rations from a wizened old crone when you notice your pockets seem worryingly light. Pulling out the contents you find a nimble-fingered pickpocket has stolen half your credits. You curse out loud – the stupid thief probably didn’t even realize that by stealing your valuable money he may be dooming you to being torn apart by Omoz. Grumbling, you hand over 1 credit to the crone for the rations before returning to your dilapidated abode (deduct the credit from your Adventure Sheet). You tuck into the unappetizing food before settling into an uncomfortable sleep.

(Practically speaking, losing 153 credits at this late date guarantees death unless you use loaded dice for all your remaining Trail checks. I therefore suggest, rather than playing through continued efforts to get another 200 credits through mining, now that you know what the major downside to a squat is, incrementing the deaths counter by 1 and moving your residence to an apartment rather than going home to the squat tonight, but I won't do this without approval. If you're on board with this, also vote on whether to move to a cheap apartment or a more expensive one. There is, of course, an upside and a downside to each, and neither is trivial in either case.)

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to move the death counter by 1 and move to a cheap apartment.

[Thaluikhain]

Second that.

[fotan]

Thirded.

Btw, where can one find back issues of fighting fantasize? The official website is giving me 404s.

[Beroli]

You find a moderately priced apartment going for ten credits a night. You hand over your money to the surly landlord who shows you to your sparsely furnished room. You tuck into the complementary meal provided before reclining on the room’s hard bed. Restore up to 4 STAMINA points.

Test your Trail; a 7 succeeds.

You do not have 350 credits. You work in the mines. You’ll have to cross town to reach the mines. In light of the previous votes, I feel comfortable assuming you'll vote to walk; let me know if I should not in the future. (Roll a die; the result this time is 2.)

Two Aquanarians armed with knives spring out of a shadowy alleyway to attack you. There is no time to draw a laser pistol before they are on you. Fight them both at once.

First AQUANARIAN Skill 6 Stamina 7
Second AQUANARIAN Skill 7 Stamina 5

Round One: Alan 16, First Aquanarian 18, Alan 20, Second Aquanarian 12. Alan is at 14 Stamina, Second Aquanarian is at 3 Stamina.
Round Two: Alan 18, First Aquanarian 12, Alan 15, Second Aquanarian 15.
Round Three: Alan 20, First Aquanarian 16, Alan 15, Second Aquanarian 16. Alan is at 12 Stamina.
Round Four: Alan 22, First Aquanarian 17, Alan 20, Second Aquanarian 15. Second Aquanarian is at 1 Stamina.
Round Five: Alan 17, First Aquanarian 11, Alan 18, Second Aquanarian 11. Second Aquanarian is dead.
Round Six: Alan 19, First Aquanarian 10. First Aquanarian is at 5 Stamina.
Round Seven: Alan 20, First Aquanarian 15. First Aquanarian is at 3 Stamina.
Round Eight: Alan 18, First Aquanarian 14. First Aquanarian is at 1 Stamina.
Round Nine: Alan 21, First Aquanarian 12. First Aquanarian is dead.

A quick search of their bodies reveals only 12 credits. As you pocket these a few passers-by stop and stare at you, but no-one says anything (add 1 to your TRAIL score). You carry on to the mines.

You reach the mines. A crowd of not-so eager workers are already making their way inside and you follow them in.

You collect your portable extractor from the foreman and join Finnegan and the rest of the miners in the tunnels, ready for a day of tough manual labour.

Roll one die (1d2 today). The result is 2.

You spend the morning in the company of a worryingly thin miner. Over the incessant hum of the portable extractors he tells you of a time he fell in with a cult that operates in an old bomb shelter in the city. ‘Call themselves the cult of Despair,’ he recalls. ‘They believe that nothing in life is worth living for and the sooner people accept that the freer they’ll be. Course I had no real interest in it, but my friend Samuel was intrigued and I went down there with them. Their leader is this hooded weirdo. Started spouting all sorts of crap about life’s emptiness. We were about to leave, but he insisted on touching our faces before we left. I didn’t see any harm in it so we let him and suddenly I was consumed by feelings of hopelessness and Samuel seemed to go the same way. All I wanted to do is stay there with the rest of the cult forever. It’s only when I banged my head one day that I came to my senses and left. I think Samuel’s still down there.’

‘A remarkable story,’ you reply.

‘But a true one,’ the man assures. ‘If you ever run into the cult don’t let the leader touch your face.’

You shrug and continue working. (You have no option to mention having encountered the cult, but if you did it would probably just give you TRAIL points anyway.)

Nothing else of interest happens for the rest of the day. After several hours’ tiring labour with few breaks the horn for the end of your shift goes off. You collect your 45 credits and head back into the city.

You’re feeling tired after the day’s trials. Time to get some rest.

You reach your apartment without mishap and pay your slob of a landlord 10 credits. You tuck into the frugal complementary meal provided before crawling into bed.

Test your Trail; an 11 succeeds.

You awake from a dreamless sleep (restore up to 4 Stamina points for your rest). You do not have 350 credits. You work in the mines. You walk. (Roll a die; the result this time is 4.)

You reach the mines. A crowd of not-so eager workers are already making their way inside and you follow them in.

You collect your portable extractor from the foreman and join Finnegan and the rest of the miners in the tunnels, ready for a day of tough manual labour.

You and Finnegan are working alone in a small tunnel, Finnegan telling you of a few tales from back on Earth. He is just recalling about his time working on the giant lizard experimentation laboratory in Tokyo when two Silazians walk past you both. The two of them seem to be in hysterics and it seems all they can do to stop themselves falling over. ‘What’s up with them?’ you ask Finnegan once the two hysterical aliens have gone round the corner.

‘There’s ethessal gas coming out of the tunnel they’re working on. It makes people very happy.’

‘Ethessal gas!’ you start. ‘But that can cause brain damage.’

‘I think a lot of workers are prepared to take that risk,’ says Finnegan, clearly not very concerned.

Report the dangerous gas leak to the foreman?
Do not (gain 1 Villainy and nothing else happens for the rest of your shift)?

Adventure Sheet:
Name: Alan Schaefer
Skill: 11/11
Stamina: 16/16
Luck: 10/10
Villainy: 2
Trail: 7
Credits: 343
2 Laser pistols
Gas mask
Number of deaths: 4

[Thaluikhain]

A giant lizard experimentation laboratory in Tokyo, hey?

I think we should report this, though I'm worried about our trail going up.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to report the gas leak to the foreman.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Though doing the right thing in the mines did cost us our lives last time, and even as corrupt as this place is, I don’t think we’ll get in trouble for reporting a leak to the foreman (at worst he’ll tell us to do nothing).