9. Lure of the Wilderness
Posted: Sun Oct 28, 2018 7:11 pm
Conditions: The temperature is above 90 degrees fahrenheit and the humidity is high. No ley line is nearby the town, though you might find one as you venture farther from civilization. The ever present muck of swamp mud is everywhere, as are mosquitos eager to dine on any exposed skin.
That’s Odd…
Outside the town, Toshiro communicates to Norona the general weirdness of the too quiet swamp. Upon activating his magical sight, Norona finds strong traces of exceptionally dark magic crisscrossing game trails everywhere he looks. Once he knows where to look, he finds sets of odd looking tracks, with footprints of different sizes spaced at ever increasing intervals as they race off into the swamp.
He loses the tracks when he reaches water too deep to see the mud beneath, but telltale signs of something’s passing can be seen from scrapes on trees and disturbed vegetation.
Heroes First!
Like the heroes they are (well, that most of them are), the 32nd determines that it is time to save the town from the magical illness that (quite literally) plagues them. With Toshiro and Norona’s discovery of some kind of dark magical threat looming and a creature on the loose, it does not take much to put two and two together and surmise that they might be related.
The way is murky and mucky, but not so deep that the vehicles will have much trouble passing, should the party choose to bring them along on this run. If you do bring them, Jareb has made darn sure they are well supplied with plenty of water for the trip. If you do not, make sure you’ve got some supplies on you for the trip.
Note: Encumbrance will matter for this story arc! Per the core rules, we only deal with encumbrance when thematically appropriate, and stomping around in a hot swamp sure seems appropriate. We’re on the honor system (I will not be auditing your character sheets for encumbrance), but please make sure to take encumbrance into account if your character is carrying more than his/her maximum weight. For ease of reference, the encumbrance rules can be found on page 49 of Savage Worlds Deluxe, and there is a handy table on page 65 of the TLPG.
Into the Swamp!
What follows will be a series of challenges over three extended rounds (which take place over the course of time periods much longer than the typical 6 seconds of combat) for the party to complete in order to (hopefully!) unravel the mystery of what is ailing the town!
For each challenge, one player character will be the Team Leader, and you may decide amongst yourselves who that leader will be. The Team Leader MUST roll one of the listed skills for the challenge, which are explained below. The other members of the Team Leader’s team may roll any skill that makes sense as a cooperative roll, adding +1 to the Team Leader’s result for each success.
For the opening round, the party will need to complete two challenges simultaneously, and each player character may help on only one challenge or the other. The party will need a total of 3 successes on each challenge, or bad stuff may occur. You have been warned!
Challenge 1: Where There’s a Will, There’s No Way Forward
As you move further into the swamp, anyone with an arcane background can feel a familiar inky blackness of the mind creeping into your thoughts. The air feels a bit thicker, but nowhere near as oppressive as when the party fled from the shadows behind the flickering blue light of the swamp’s guardian spirit, and you can tell that something’s will is opposing you.
To overcome this challenge, the Team Leader must roll an Arcane Skill (spellcasting, psionics, weird science, etc.) or an applicable knowledge skill (Arcana makes the most sense, but Occult or some other related field of study could apply) and narrate the results. Other team members may roll any skill that makes sense and add +1 to the Team Leader’s result for each success and raise.
The arcane team will need to accumulate 3 total successes in order to succeed.
Challenge 2: The Woods Have Eyes…Best Not to be Seen
As you get closer to your goal, one of you catches sight of a human hiding in the trees as if keeping watch. Upon closer review, several humans can be seen along various trails, and their numbers increase as you move deeper into the swamp. These people carry rudimentary looking weapons and wear armor that appears to be made of leather and bone, like the barbarians of old pre-Rifts stories. Whether by intuition or by training, you know it would not go well if any of these sentries were to alert their comrades to your presence. Best to try and slip by, if you can.
To overcome this challenge, the Team Leader must roll Arcane skill (spellcasting, psionics, etc.), Driving, Fighting, Notice, Piloting, Riding, Shooting (though I would only recommend this with a silent weapon, such as a laser), Survival, Stealth, Throwing or Tracking and narrate the results (Note: Vehicular rolls incur an additional -4 due to their being real hard to hide). Other team members may roll any skill that makes sense to them and add +1 to the Team Leader’s result for each success and raise.
Because these sentries are on the lookout for intruders, all of your rolls for this challenge must be made at -2. This includes the cooperative rolls.
The tactical team will need to accumulate 3 total successes in order to get past the barbarian sentries unseen.
Risks and Rewards
Besides potentially helping the town, the party might be able to win some rewards for itself if it manages to successfully complete all of the challenges it will face over the next three extended rounds (in the form of extra Bennies and potential other goodies). But be warned: failure on any individual challenge will make the difficulty of other challenges go up, and failure to complete the overall mission could lead to the GM getting a bunch of neat rewards instead of the players (including bonus GM Bennies! Mwah-hah-hah-hah-ha!)
Good luck!
That’s Odd…
Outside the town, Toshiro communicates to Norona the general weirdness of the too quiet swamp. Upon activating his magical sight, Norona finds strong traces of exceptionally dark magic crisscrossing game trails everywhere he looks. Once he knows where to look, he finds sets of odd looking tracks, with footprints of different sizes spaced at ever increasing intervals as they race off into the swamp.
He loses the tracks when he reaches water too deep to see the mud beneath, but telltale signs of something’s passing can be seen from scrapes on trees and disturbed vegetation.
Heroes First!
Like the heroes they are (well, that most of them are), the 32nd determines that it is time to save the town from the magical illness that (quite literally) plagues them. With Toshiro and Norona’s discovery of some kind of dark magical threat looming and a creature on the loose, it does not take much to put two and two together and surmise that they might be related.
The way is murky and mucky, but not so deep that the vehicles will have much trouble passing, should the party choose to bring them along on this run. If you do bring them, Jareb has made darn sure they are well supplied with plenty of water for the trip. If you do not, make sure you’ve got some supplies on you for the trip.
Note: Encumbrance will matter for this story arc! Per the core rules, we only deal with encumbrance when thematically appropriate, and stomping around in a hot swamp sure seems appropriate. We’re on the honor system (I will not be auditing your character sheets for encumbrance), but please make sure to take encumbrance into account if your character is carrying more than his/her maximum weight. For ease of reference, the encumbrance rules can be found on page 49 of Savage Worlds Deluxe, and there is a handy table on page 65 of the TLPG.
Into the Swamp!
What follows will be a series of challenges over three extended rounds (which take place over the course of time periods much longer than the typical 6 seconds of combat) for the party to complete in order to (hopefully!) unravel the mystery of what is ailing the town!
For each challenge, one player character will be the Team Leader, and you may decide amongst yourselves who that leader will be. The Team Leader MUST roll one of the listed skills for the challenge, which are explained below. The other members of the Team Leader’s team may roll any skill that makes sense as a cooperative roll, adding +1 to the Team Leader’s result for each success.
For the opening round, the party will need to complete two challenges simultaneously, and each player character may help on only one challenge or the other. The party will need a total of 3 successes on each challenge, or bad stuff may occur. You have been warned!
Challenge 1: Where There’s a Will, There’s No Way Forward
As you move further into the swamp, anyone with an arcane background can feel a familiar inky blackness of the mind creeping into your thoughts. The air feels a bit thicker, but nowhere near as oppressive as when the party fled from the shadows behind the flickering blue light of the swamp’s guardian spirit, and you can tell that something’s will is opposing you.
To overcome this challenge, the Team Leader must roll an Arcane Skill (spellcasting, psionics, weird science, etc.) or an applicable knowledge skill (Arcana makes the most sense, but Occult or some other related field of study could apply) and narrate the results. Other team members may roll any skill that makes sense and add +1 to the Team Leader’s result for each success and raise.
The arcane team will need to accumulate 3 total successes in order to succeed.
Challenge 2: The Woods Have Eyes…Best Not to be Seen
As you get closer to your goal, one of you catches sight of a human hiding in the trees as if keeping watch. Upon closer review, several humans can be seen along various trails, and their numbers increase as you move deeper into the swamp. These people carry rudimentary looking weapons and wear armor that appears to be made of leather and bone, like the barbarians of old pre-Rifts stories. Whether by intuition or by training, you know it would not go well if any of these sentries were to alert their comrades to your presence. Best to try and slip by, if you can.
To overcome this challenge, the Team Leader must roll Arcane skill (spellcasting, psionics, etc.), Driving, Fighting, Notice, Piloting, Riding, Shooting (though I would only recommend this with a silent weapon, such as a laser), Survival, Stealth, Throwing or Tracking and narrate the results (Note: Vehicular rolls incur an additional -4 due to their being real hard to hide). Other team members may roll any skill that makes sense to them and add +1 to the Team Leader’s result for each success and raise.
Because these sentries are on the lookout for intruders, all of your rolls for this challenge must be made at -2. This includes the cooperative rolls.
The tactical team will need to accumulate 3 total successes in order to get past the barbarian sentries unseen.
Risks and Rewards
Besides potentially helping the town, the party might be able to win some rewards for itself if it manages to successfully complete all of the challenges it will face over the next three extended rounds (in the form of extra Bennies and potential other goodies). But be warned: failure on any individual challenge will make the difficulty of other challenges go up, and failure to complete the overall mission could lead to the GM getting a bunch of neat rewards instead of the players (including bonus GM Bennies! Mwah-hah-hah-hah-ha!)
Good luck!