March 29 Roll 20 Summary

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Venatus Vinco
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March 29 Roll 20 Summary

Post by Venatus Vinco »

Savage Dresden 2nd Roll20 Session

This week we held our second live session using Savage Worlds Adventure Edition (SWADE) ruleset in a homebrew Dresden Files setting. We play our sessions once a quarter with intervening narrative play happening via play-by-post.

Characters
We have four characters:
  • Gary with a G, a slovenly wizard/detective with a passionate dislike of all things Fae.
  • Gregory, an amatuer monster hunter who became infected by a Red Court Vampire but hasn’t yet fully turned.
  • Nyx, an old Winter Court Sidhe who deals in favours and subterfuge.
  • Sammy, a half-fae and thief for hire who can transform into small animals.

Setting Info
You can view our setting info and full character sheets here.

Set-Up
The group has come together after getting individually embroiled in a problem of potentially epic proportions - two Fae, one summer one winter, have been killed and their hearts removed!

The Queens of both courts are irate and want the culprits found and the hearts recovered. Fae hearts are extremely powerful magical components and the dark magic they unleash could have far reaching consequences. The Summer Knight has given Gary 48 hours to figure it out, or he takes the blame. On the winter side, Lady Maeve has tasked Nyx with finding the culprit.
Meanwhile, Sammy and Gregory have stumbled upon the conspiracy through other avenues.

Read the lead up adventures here.

To help keep things straight I gave the players a notebook summarizing clues so far.

Opening Scene
The session opens with the characters gathered at Neutral Grounds, the accorded neutral territory in the city of Baltimore. Each of them took a turn to give an in character account of what they have seen so far. This was really well done by each of them and generated a lot of cross talk, speculation, and interaction. In the end they decide to go back to the Italian bakery where Sammy last saw the Red Court vampires and start following leads from there.

Investigation
Each character spread out to follow-up on various leads, bringing the info back to Gregory - their lead investigator - to try and piece together what is going on.

Sammy beat the streets and found a low level criminal contact. The contact was super nervous, but did say there was a high level of Russian mafia activity lately. Before he could get too much more in the way of details he got shot at by some mob enforcers and had to beat a hasty retreat.

Nyx did some magical research going to occult shops and local magic users to try and find out what kind of ritual could be done with Fae hearts. He discovered Fae hearts were powerful objects of glamor and binding meaning they could be used in massive illusions or mind control type rituals.

Gary staked out the Italian bakery watching it and asking questions of the staff and proprietors while eating an ungodly amount of their world famous cannoli. He managed to determine that the bakery is neutral grounds for the criminal underworld. It's used for meet-ups, exchanges, and other interactions between various factions of the underworld. Unfortunately, someone got wise to him and slipped something into his food, giving him a level of fatigue.

Gregory, armed with information from the others looks into the kidnapping of the woman name Aspen. Interestingly, there is no mention of it in the mainstream press. Only the local Arcane Reporter seems to be asking what has happened to the girl. This suggests someone is making an orchestrated attempt to cover their tracks, even with the media and police.

Moving on from the bakery, Gary wanted to check-in with Dr. Ralston at John Hopkins who is clued into the supernatural. He pulled his Desert Eagle and asked someone to shoot him so he could have an excuse to see the Doc in the emergency room. The others convinced him that just asking for her at the front desk would be easier. Turns out she worked with dead bodies in the morgue, so the Desert Eagle approach may not have been effective. The doctor gave Gary the lowdown on how to sustain a Fae heart in the human world to keep it from turning to ectoplasma. Keep it pumping. In this case using magic instead of blood. She also searched the hospital records and found two heart transplant boxes were missing from inventory. On his way out Gary grabbed a random pill, popping it with the hopes it would relieve his stomach pain from the cannoli incident.

Following-up on the Russian mafia angle Sammy tried to find someone he knew with ties to them. He succeeded in tracking someone down and discovered that a lot of the activity centered around the old dockside and someone big-time was pulling the strings. Of course, Sammy didn't have time to find out much more as the gangsters who were tailing him gave chase and he had to run away (again), ending up fatigued after his daring parkour get away.

Having a general sense of what the ritual was about Nyx popped into the Never Never to talk to an old Fae to try and zero in on the specific nature of this ritual, where it involved not one but two hearts. The old Fae suggested that by having hearts from the two courts the ritual was definitely about power and control rather than an illusion. Moving in and out of the Never Never to meet his contact took its toll and Nyx ended up Fatigued but informed.

Gregory used his encyclopedic knowledge of lore and inquired if the red cross markings on the box might has referred to the crusading knights of the Hospital and the mystic Templars. Everyone stared at him awkwardly for a few minutes to figure out how exactly that helped.

With the knowledge of a magical box used to sustain the heart Gary returned to the bakery and used magic to track the Red Cross box to the docks.

At the docks, Nyx beat up a homeless person to find out about any strange activity. The street person claimed he is only homeless because some hipsters and gangsters took over his home, an old abandoned dockside warehouse where he was squatting. Nyx promised the old guy he would get his house back and dropped him a dollar bill.

Knowing the building Sammy flew over the warehouse in the form of an owl, spotting a guard on the roof and some faint lights leaking out from an intentionally blacked out window. This looked like the place.

With the group's Intel confirming his research Gregory gave the okay to move in and the group prepared to breach the warehouse.
Mechanics
We set this up as a modified Mass Battle between the players and the perpetrators. One player took the lead and was supported by the actions of the others. The culprit was supported by their minions. Gregory had the best Research skill so he took the lead. Because the players are up against a powerful well resourced enemy they started with 7 tokens and the bad guys had 10.

As each player took their actions we narrated the results and then I wove in the actions of the enemy to show how they were work against the players.

After about three rounds we had a tie in number of tokens and felt like we narrated ourselves to a critical juncture, so we went Quick Encounters to a full Tactical level encounter at the warehouse.
Warehouse Showdown
With good evidence that the warehouse is where the Russian mafia, and maybe Red Court vampires, were holding Aspen - the magical component expert who went missing the same time as the hearts - the team decided to move in.

Sammy used his shapeshifting power to turn into a rat and confirm six suspected Red Court vampires. He located the girl and a half dozen zoned out Russian gangsters in a storage room with no additional exits. Outside, Gregory briefed the group on how to fight Red Court types. A briefing Sammy missed while on recon, which may factor in later.

Woefully unequipped to fight vampires Nyx used his connections in the faerie world to summon a pixie who agreed to go and find holy symbols for the whole group. Each person, except Gregory who is a half vampire himself, put on their symbols (Gregory did get a charm that granted +2 armor). The group decided to use the disguise power to approach the warehouse while Sammy snuck back into the storage room to free the girl. What they couldn't agree on was what to disguise themselves as. It came down to Russian gangsters or prostitutes. They took the compromise position and disguised themselves as Russian prostitutes!

With the ladies of the night knocking on the door the greedy Red Court immediately let the girls in, and Sammy made his way to the room. Without wasting any time Gregory, Nyx, and Gary started a fight with six red court vampires.

The initial round was powering up, Gary used smite on everyone's weapon so they could hurt the vampires and Nyx used boost trait on everyone's fighting to help hit the agile bloodsuckers. Meanwhile the vampires tried to grab the three prostitutes but failed their Spirit tests and were held at bay by the holy symbols. The next couple of rounds were a stand off as the holy symbols prevented the vampires from attacking in melee and their two pistol shooters were largely ineffective. Gregory, who was unprotected, took a wound from his vampire. None of the three heroes could hit or hurt the vamps.

In the room, Sammy got the girl free but had to break the grip of the gangsters who were zoned out but asking to be freed as well. Sensing the commotion in the room the lead vampire moved to block the only exit. Sammy promptly double tapped him in the chest - to no effect. Trapped in the room and with the team in a standoff it looked like Sammy might have no way out.

Seeing trouble the group tried to fight their way toward Sammy but to no effect. Gary critical failed! Remember that little pill he took for his stomach ache earlier? Well it worked. His fatigue went away but the pill made him crap his pants!

Undeterred Gary intimidated the vampire leader from across the room, making him vulnerable as he turned to see who dared speak to him that way. Seeing an opening Nyx hit the leader with a massive ice bolt, right in his stomach (the weak point of Red Court vampires). The ice froze the blood in its belly and the vampire howled in pain (3 wounds, failed two soak attempts). The vampire shed his skin suit and tried to retreat. As he did Sammy zipped by and out a window with the girl. Seeing the leader run, Gregory made a one in a million knife throw and killed him outright. With their leader down the other vamps fled leaving the group in an empty warehouse with a girl, a room full or Russian gangster cattle, and no heart boxes to be found!

More mystery and adventure awaits.
Mechanics
This was a straight up fight using SWADE. The new states (Vulnerable) were critical for success here.

For the vampires I used the the basic Vampire from the Bestiary adding a special weakness that called shots to the stomach could bypass their invulnerability.

The mechanic for keeping them at bay with holy items pretty much saved the day for the group and bought enough time to take down the leader and get the victim.
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Re: March 29 Roll 20 Summary

Post by Venatus Vinco »

July 12th Roll20 Summary

On Friday night we had our third Roll20 session using SWADE in a homebrew Dresden Files universe.

We were down to three players:
  • Sammy, a self described dashing and fearless changling thief
  • Gregory, a Red Court Infected monster hunter
  • Gary (with a G), a wizard and thuggish private investigator
Since our last session we continued playing by post to keep the story moving. The group managed to get clear of a cross fire between an unknown assassin and Baltimore Police Department patrol boat after rescuing Aspen, a ritualist who knew the purpose of the two hearts spell, from Red Court Vampires and Russian gangsters. All of these people were supposed to die in the warehouse to cover up loose ends for the real culprits behind the missing hearts - White Court Vampires.

Questioning Aspen revealed that the spell is designed to give control over places of power and influence. She was working for a low level city councilman named Nate Fisher to set the spell at city hall. Fisher was from Sandtown and known to hang out at a local dive bar called, originally enough, “Sandy’s”.

Knowing the target (City Hall) and patsy (Fisher) the group took some time to rest. Afterward Gary and Sammy went to Sandy’s to shakedown Fisher while Gregory (unavailable at the start of our session) went off to use his janitorial access to scope out city hall.

Go Pound Sand
Sandy’s is a dive bar whose main menu items are desperation and despair. Smoke hangs thickly in the air and most people look like they are there to escape life in one way or another - drinking, carousing, gambling, you name it. This is the ugly side of the city to be sure. In classic fashion Fisher is in a booth at the back surrounded thugs. The incorrigible Sammy offers to make a business proposition and Fisher sends the thugs over to the bar. Unfortunately, as soon as the conversation turns to the missing hearts Fisher clams up and the signals the thugs back over.

Four tough guys surround Sammy and Gary itching for a fight while Fisher bolts out the back door into the alley behind the bar. Sammy manages to keep a couple of thugs busy while Gary beats them down with his blackjack. We used a Quick Encounter for this and Gary rolled really high making quick work of the bandits and good narration of the fight.

With the thugs subdued Gary and Sammy run after Fisher. Instead of a chase we use three rounds of quick encounters using opposed Athletics rolls (Sammy vs. Fisher with Gary supporting). In character Sammy shape shifts into a Rottweiler and begins running after Fisher. Gary recognizing he is much too fat to chase anyone down supports Sammy with his spellcasting. First round Sammy closes the gap and nips at Fisher’s heels as the slumlord politician exits the alley onto the sidewalk. Next round, Fisher rolls amazingly well and crosses the street just head of a slew of oncoming cars forcing Sammy to pause before giving chase. Last round, Sammy wins and takes Fisher down. People on the street see the dog attack but Gary comes huffing up and convinces everyone to go into an all night diner to talk a little more. With Sammy the Rottweiler baring his teeth Fisher agrees.

Mechanical Note on the Pseudo Chase: The Acrobat edge came in real handy allowing Sammy a free reroll on his Athletics checks. It fit well with the narrative as you could imagine him in dog form ducking, weaving, dodging, and leaping to catch up to his opponent.

Unwilling to reveal his ability to transform, Sammy stays as a dog. The waitress makes a stink about no pets but given the look of everyone lets it go. The group orders coffee and a plate of bacon for the dog. Meanwhile, Fisher spills his guts. He is working for “some pretty looking dude” who wanted a room underneath the council chambers at city hall. In exchange, Fisher would get reach and be given a prominent position in the administration. Gary convinces Fisher to take them to the room underneath city hall...in Fisher’s car!

They all pile into Fisher’s tricked out 1970s Impala and low ride it through Baltimore to city hall. Gary and Sammy both make Notice checks to spot a plain sedan following them. Gary uses boost trait to up his driving and we make opposed driving rolls to lose the tail. The tail car rolls a critical failure and ends up missing a corner and rolling up onto the curb allowing Gary a clean getaway.

Kids in the Hall
Rolling up to city hall Gary and Sammy meet up with Gregory, they use Gregory’s janitor pass and Fisher’s keys to get into the building and head downstairs. Fisher identifies the room, one Gregory recognizes from an earlier run in with Red Court vampires. Gary knocks Fisher out and stuffs him in a janitor's closet. Unfortunately, before they can open the ritual room Sammy (the impulsive thief) finds the Central Accounting room and breaks in. An alarm keypad beeps giving the group thirty seconds to disarm it. Thanks to Sammy’s amazing electronics/thievery roll and Gary’s magical assistance they manage to bypass the alarm. Inside the accounting office they break into the room where the parking meter money is counted and Sammy pockets a few rolls of quarters. Gregory looks for pre-1968 quarters to try and salvage them for silver weapons. He doesn’t find nearly enough.

While all this is going on Fisher escapes the janitor’s closet and calls his White Court handler. Sideshow completed the team enters the ritual room. It has obviously been prepared for a powerful spell a silver circle has been worked into the floor and two pedestals have been set-up. No doubt the resting place for the hearts needed for the spell.

Gregory gets the idea to mess up the ritual by making it look undisturbed using melted down quarters from accounting to replace the silver. Sammy and Gary head outside to buy him time. Thanks to Sammy’s recon, in the shape of an owl circling city hall, they get spot a single very attractive man heading toward them. Gary jumps in the Impala and tries to run him down but the super nimble man leaps on top of the car and starts pounding through the roof. Sammy lands and shoots out a tire trying to send the car spinning in order to throw the man loose. Instead Gary ends up dazed in the front seat and the man rips the car door off its hinges. Still firing Sammy pumps the man full of lead wounding him twice, but he takes the hit and plays on Gary’s despair trying to puppet Gary. They both roll stupidly low but it works and it becomes obvious this is a White Court vampire who feeds on despair. The vampire orders Gary to take out Sammy. Fortunately Gary breaks free but not before a whole convoy of expensive SUVs come rolling up to city hall. The group quickly decides to regroup at Neutral Grounds coffee. Gregory watches from cover outside City Hall and Sammy transforms again to watch the place while Gary waddles down the street trying to get away. They grab some license plate numbers and spot an attractive vampire, who they later learn is Alexandra Lagios, the power hungry heir apparent to the local White Court. The vampires check on their spell room then leave quickly.

As Gary puffs down the sidewalk the sedan from earlier pulls up and tells him to get in. Gary needs a ride so he takes the risk. Turns out the driver is Sgt. Jim Flannagan, the Baltimore PD boat driver who saved the group from would-be assassination the night before. Flannagan has seen some weird stuff and after watching the assassin jump off a building and run away he knew to follow Gary and learn more.

An Uneasy Truce
At Neutral Grounds the team starts comparing notes and gets some local occult information from Dianne, the shop’s proprietor and local font of supernatural knowledge, while Flannagan runs the plates. Flannagan links the plates to a company owned by the Lagios family while Dianne tell the group that Alexandra is known to be impatient for power. If she has the hearts then her intention is to use them to gain control of city hall and, quite possibly, use that as a sign of her father’s weakness so she can take over the White Court in Baltimore.

Unsure how to take on a powerful ancient vampire, Gary calls in Fix - the Summer Knight who gave him forty-eight hours to solve the case. They lay out the case to Fix who nods. He doesn’t want to see Alexandra running the White Court, especially given how willing she is to violate the Unseelie Accords. Fix arranges a meeting with Vasiliki Lagios the two hundred year old leader of the White Court in Baltimore.

The group, accompanied by Flannagan representing mortal law enforcement and Fix representing the Fae courts, makes a meeting with Vasiliki. The old man listens to their evidence and eventually agrees to reign in his daughter and destroy the fae hearts. He also generously allows Gregory, Gary, and Sammy to live. However, his daughter will quickly learn who foiled her plans. It is certain they have also made a powerful enemy.

The case is solved but the resolution is far from neat and tidy.
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