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joylessdivision posted:I believe most of the Walkers and Gnawers are hanging out in Rio, although there is at least one named Bone Gnawer that show up as battle masters. And he's got a pretty great name for a Gnawer. He's in tomorrow's update There's a GW who also has a great name.
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Jul 14, 2023 18:23
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| # ? Jun 7, 2024 17:09 |
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Better or worse than Paws-that-refreshes?
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Jul 14, 2023 18:24
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 Joylessdivisions World of Dorkness Presents: Haighter's Gonna Hate: Part 3: Rage Across the Amazon Part 3 Fianna Breoghan Dances-in-Clover (the most Fianna loving name I’ve ever seen) is the eldest Fianna on the council, and a rank 5 Galliard as well as a member of the “Grandchildren of Fionn” camp. Breoghan is widely respected by the Fianna and members of the council. He is a fair man, always willing to consider the thoughts of others. His happy-go-lucky personality makes him easy to get along with, though he can be quite fierce if pushed too far. He trusts the decisions made by the council unless they seem too extreme. An accomplished musician like many of his tribe, he will gladly play his guitar if asked. He truly believes that the Garou presence in the Amazon is necessary to the survival of Gaia and is quick to anger around those who do not believe this. Despite Golgol being a Get, Breoghan trusts him completely and will defend his decisions against those who oppose him. Jesus, Mary and Joseph on high, Ya’ll really named this man loving “Dances in Clovers”. I don’t know if I should be offended for my Irish heritage or just bemused because at least it wasn’t something like Concobhar O’Dublin or some poo poo. Get of Fenris Golgol represents the Get on the council, as well as being High War Chieftain, granting him a disproportionate amount of power. The Get say this is only right, they were the first ones into the war. While many on the council have grumbled about this, none have dared to question it. Glass Walkers Code Red is the odd name of the eccentric Glass Walker who represents the Walkers on the council. He is a mysterious figure of Brazilian and Portuguese descent. Some believe he is from Rio de Janeiro, but none are sure of his past, though all admit that he is an exemplary member of his tribe, which in turn makes him disliked by most of the council, but highly respected by the other Walkers involved in the war. He has provided the Garou with potent weapons and defenses for the war effort, including high tech gadgets and electric spirits that have confounded Pentex. The Glass Walkers have, on occasion, been able to turn Pentex’s own machines against them by awakening the spirits within. Because of this, Golgol values his advice, even if the rest of his tribe shake their heads in disgust. Red is a rank 4 Ragabash. Red Talons Fierce Hunger is the Talon’s representative. She is a rank 4 Ahroun and a member of the Anti-Extermination camp. She respects the natives of the Amazon and Homids she has worked with in the war, but as a Talon, demands harsh restrictions against all humans. She trusts the rest of the Lupus on the council more than she does the Homids, even Golgol. The sharp contrast in weather between her native British Columbia and Brazil has made her job more difficult. Shadow Lords Last-One-Out is the Lords representative, a Lupus rank 5 Theurge. He sarcastically criticizes everything the council discusses, but when the time for decisions comes, he is among the most decisive Garou in the jungle. All the Lords in the Amazon follow him faithfully, although he demands they follow Golgol’s chain of command in all cases. The exception, of course, is if the Lords stand to gain something from disobedience. Silent Strider Horus the Sword represents his tribe on the council and is a rank 5 Ahroun, famed for many exploits, especially for saving an African caern from Pentex. His experience makes him invaluable to Golgol’s decision making. He is Chief of all the Borzoi packs, who take training directly from him. Silver Fangs Maria Orrelano represents the Fangs. Her sept back in Mexico is at war with the BSD of that country, and her Glory from these battles has earned her the necklace of BSD canines she wears. Some whisper that her proximity to the Dancers has made her somewhat mad, while others simply say that it's the nature of Silver Fang blood. She is eager to lead missions herself and the council must regularly stop her, as they are there to lead, not die in battle. She is a Rank 4 Galliard. Stargazer Awena Walks-The-Airts is one of the few Gazers involved in the war. A master of Kalindo, she will teach the art to any cub she believes can learn it, though very few can. Any she believes will not be able to finish the training is simply not taught. Glory seeking Garou cannot learn from her. She speaks little during council meetings, but when she gives advice, it is usually correct. She is a rank 4 Lupus Ragabash. Uktena Cavalo represents the Uktena on the council, hailing from southern Brazil where he was a Macumba priest prior to his first change, and his contact with the spirits only improved after learning of his heritage. One of the most feared Theurges in the area, many native magicians, even Mokolé Kinfolk have allied with the Garou out of fear of what Cavalo might do. He is rank 5. Wendigo Argues-With-Anger represents the Wendigo. Most of her Mexican wolf pack was wiped out by human encroachment, leaving her bitter and hostile, and she has come to the Amazon to seek her vengeance against Pentex, who she knows to be responsible for many of the world’s “natural” disasters. Her advice is tainted with anger, and few on the council take her seriously anymore, as they know how she is likely to vote: The most destructive and direct option possible. She is a rank 5 Ahroun. Leaders of the North Ward The battalion that operates out of the Hollow Heart Caern, they are regularly sent far afield on missions against Pentex. The two Moons of the Ward are “High Mountain” and “Dark Foe”. Golgol is the War Chieftain of the North Ward as well as High War Chieftain. Shandy, War Leader  Breed: Homid Auspice: Ahroun Tribe: Fianna Fetishes: Heart of the Spirit (holds 5 Rage points, see Players Guide), Great Klaive Image: Tall and lanky in Homid form and long and lanky in Lupus, he has long, stringy red hair and an engaging smile and his green eyes glow with energy. He has Celtic design tattoos on his biceps. Roleplaying Notes: Smile! War can be a real hell, but it brings people together. You glory in the unprecedented chance to party with all the tribes. Always crack a joke if someone looks down and out and give a good pat on the back to anyone who needs it. Background: The War Leader of the Dark Foe Moon, he is a competent and outgoing leader, well respected by everyone involved in the Amazon conflict. Strong willed, loud and boisterous, he enjoys a good fight and a stiff drink. He’s a former member of the IRA (yes, the Irish Republican Army), but became disillusioned in the “cowardly way” they chose to fight. He volunteered for duty in the Amazon in search of the real thing. His large victory parties have proven to be a boon to morale for all those serving in the Amazon. These parties are also held regardless of if the battle was won or not. He always volunteers to be first in the battle and will challenge others for the right if they volunteer before him. He’s known for his broad smile, quick wits and savage temperament. I'm not surprised to see a mid-90’s Fianna character be a former member of the IRA, especially since we’ve already established that there are PLO Garou and Mossad Mages, but it’s still wild as hell to see. Tanzȗt, Battle Master  Breed: Lupus Auspice: Philodox Tribe: Silent Striders Fetishes: Stalk the Heart (Lvl 4, Gnosis 7. An Egyptian wand that leads the user to the location of a Kindred’s heart, whether in their body or hidden elsewhere (like a Setites). Requires a successful activation roll to use. Sword of the Avenging Son (Lvl 5, Gnosis 6) an Egyptian sword bearing an Egyptian spirit with a seething hatred of Setites that causes double damage against Setites when activated. Image: In Lupus, she is an Ethiopian wolf with reddish fur. In Homid form she is of Coptic descent with dark hair and Egyptian hieroglyphs tattooed across her body. Roleplaying Notes: You’re quiet as there is little that needs saying, and when you do speak it is plainly. You’re on a vengeance mission and have little time for anything else. Background: Tanzȗt leads her own Warg, and she came to South America in search of her enemies, the Setites. After a battle in Medelin nearly killed her, she fled to the jungle and discovered the war, joining the fight and quickly rising through the ranks. The Amazon war however is only a temporary distraction, as she realized the need to aid Gaia, but her seething hatred of the Setites is likely to drive her to abandon the war soon. Her driving goal is the destruction of the Kindred who drove her tribe from her homeland ages ago. The secret of her hatred is arcane, as she has been possessed by an ancestor who died at the fangs of a Setite. Why she can call her ancestors when the rest of her tribe can’t is unknown, but the dead have seized the opportunity to use her as a tool of vengeance. Sherrick Drast, Pack Leader  Breed: Homid Auspice: Philodox Tribe: Shadow Lords Image: Standing six foot and of medium build, he is of mixed Turkish and English descent, with black hair braided into three ponytails, black eyes and a fierce scowl. Roleplaying Notes: You are not a happy person, as the world is in danger and others haven’t figured out that the fun is over. Only through discipline and asceticism can the world be purified. Golgol will fall soon, and then you’ll be ready to push your agenda to the Shadow Lord who succeeds him. Background: Sherrick grew up in a London slum, the son of a poor Englishman and a Turkish immigrant. He hated his mixed heritage because the kids at school made fun of him, which led to many fights and his irrational anger became legendary. Undergoing his first change was revolutionary as he now had a form in which his anger could be properly delivered. He broke into his bullies' house one night and tore him to pieces in front of the boy's terrified parents. When he was thrown from the house only to find himself surrounded by angry wolves, he ran, but the wolves followed no matter how fast he ran. Once the Lords caught him, they taught him a lesson in obedience. While the scars would last a lifetime, the discipline fulfilled a long-suppressed desire in Sherrick, suddenly feeling a sense of belonging. As a Homid he loathed his “mixed breeding”, but as a Garou he realized his blood was strong, as he was a purebred Shadow Lord and fit comfortably into the primitive hierarchy of the tribe. The Judges of Doom camp came to him later, impressed by his discipline and ethics. After going through a rigorous initiation, he became part of the feared camp. Few in the Amazon know of his affiliation, as he knows the Judges have a bad reputation among the Garou. For now, he leads his Lords pack the “Gaunt Dogs”, instilling a terrifying standard of duty and obedience. Leaders of the South Ward The battle force stationed south of the Amazon River frequently battles against the BSD of the Hell’s Hand Hive. There are two Moons here, the “Red Sky” and “Dread Claw” Dag Hateful Hand, War Chieftain  Breed: Homid Auspice: Ahroun Tribe: Get of Fenris Image: Standing nearly 10 feet in Crinos, Dag is an intimidating sight to both allies and enemies. He has deep, rusty brown fur with auburn highlights and steel gray eyes. His body is mostly covered in tattoos that serve as reminders of his adventures and travels. In Homid form he is completely bald. Roleplaying Notes: A quiet man who prefers not to speak unless necessary, and with as few words as possible. Quick to anger, and reacting to ignorance and disrespect with sudden fury, he never breaks eye contact during a conversation. Should the person he’s speaking with avert their gaze, he points it out as an inherent weakness of the person. Background: Born in Germany in the ‘50s, he has spent his life since his first Change traveling the world in search of martial adventure. A born leader, he follows nothing but the ways of the Garou. As a longtime friend of Golgol he was chosen by the High Chieftain to lead the South Ward early in the war. At first, he accepted this position more for adventure than for ideology, but has become a strong champion of the Amazon, leading the South Ward with quiet glares and an iron fist. None dares to cross him, in fear of his legendary battle skills. Dag has fought as a mercenary in numerous campaigns around the world, and the discipline he maintains with his underlings, no matter how harsh, not only strengthens the pack units, but teaches necessary survival skills. Jurgen Kreig, Battle Master  Breed: Homid Auspice: Ahroun Tribe: Get of Fenris Image: An old battle-scarred hulk, Jurgen is a broad shouldered and broad chested man with a continual scowl on his face that is heightened by the scar running down from the left side of his mouth. He has Glory pictograms carved into his arms. Roleplaying Notes: You are gruff, surly and cantankerous, everything a Battle Master should be to ensure his Wargs’ survival. Sure, Renown is important, but getting the job done is more important. If any under your command go out of their way to seek Glory, knock them around a bit, they’re here to fight under your orders. If they gain Glory along the way, that’s fine, but their priority should be your orders. Background: Part of the second pack of Get to arrive in the Amazon, he has been here for a while and doesn’t plan to leave anytime soon. This is the most important battlefield on the planet, everything else pales in comparison. It is his personal duty to make sure that new cubs put under his command survive, at least until they can be promoted to another Battle Masters charge. He’ll go out of his way to ensure their survival but will not coddle them. Crick Rumwrangler, Battle Master  Breed: Lupus Auspice: Philodox Tribe: Bone Gnawer Image: A lanky wolf with mottled dark spots over his fur that he keeps trim. He is well groomed in Homid form and feels he must keep up appearances so others will like him. In Homid form he is of mixed Caucasian and Spanish descent, five foot tall and approx. 115lbs, and looks to be in his thirties. Roleplaying Notes: Take it easy and slow, rushing never got anyone anywhere except into trouble. Smile and nod a lot when your superiors are speaking to you. Be friendly with those under you, you never know when they’ll be going up the ladder and you’ll be going down. Background: One of the few Bone Gnawers in the Amazon, he commands his unit with a sense of caution because he seems to constantly be the object of criticism. Crick is a quiet type but will not allow himself to be pushed too far, and when it does, his competency as a warrior shows itself. He listens to the needs of those who serve under him and tries to meet those needs as best as he can. He leads the Warg that defends the Sky River Caern. Roshen One-Arm, Pack Leader  Breed: Lupus Auspice: Ragabash Tribe: Silver Fangs Fetishes: Severed Arm (Lvl: Special, Gnosis 7) Roshen’s old arm that has been turned into a fetish. It is a Crinos form arm that he uses as a club that deals Strength+2 agg damage. Image: A scraggly guy of 25, he’s 5’2” and 120lbs, with a nutty smile and a penchant for waving his severed arm around when he walks. Roleplaying Notes: Pretend you’re crazy. It gets you a lot of attention and makes your enemies fear you. Your pack knows it's just an act, and they play along. Background: Roshen lost his arm in battle years ago, which was then preserved and turned into a fetish which he now uses as a club in battle. Each member of his pack has a severed arm tattooed across their chests to show membership in his pack “The Severed Arm”. Considered to be a bit nuts by most, he’s just a Ragabash through and through. He came to the Amazon from a Napa Valley sept of Silver Fangs. Freebooters A camp of Black Furies who were the first to arrive in the Amazon when the war broke out. This pack is composed mostly of Furies from the African Congo, though there are members of other tribes that assist them. They make their base at the Hollow Heart Caern and are often encountered in the field as they search for lost caerns or fetishes. Joba Fareye  Breed: Metis Auspice: Theurge Tribe: Black Furies Metis Disfigurement: Fragile Claws Image: In Homid form, Ioba is a thin black woman, and in Lupus she is a thin black wolf. In her natural Crinos form she stands 9 feet tall with black fur. In all forms she wears gloves to protect her claws and appears to be in her late teens. Roleplaying Notes: Always keep an eye out for danger and adventure. You are a wide-eyed girl always ready for excitement. Laugh a lot when you talk. Background: Arriving two months ago to join her pack at the Hollow Heart Caern, she has already learned two of the local languages. She’s angry and disappointed to learn the rules of the area, for instance, Golgol only allows her pack to leave camp when he deems it safe, and she has yet to get out into the deep jungle. She dreams of discovering a lost Incan city or old caern of some sort and is getting antsy enough to just forge ahead without her pack. She’ll try to bribe any packs heading for the deep jungle to let her come along. The Ghost Raptor Pack Hidden away in a secret spot in the jungle said to be an abandoned Bastet domain, there is a pack of Garou who follow an Ahroun known only as “White Father”. The 12 Garou of this pack are of mixed breeds and tribes, and like the Kinfolk who follow them, are deadly warriors. The Raptors are a group of Theurges, Ragabash and Ahrouns who follow Uktena as their totem and were among the first packs to arrive in the Amazon. They were assigned a command of their own with orders to wreak havoc behind enemy lines. They went into the bush and subsequently ignored all calls to return. The Raptors could be an incredible ally to the war effort, but Golgol and the War Council have declared them rogue and due for judgment. Only the ongoing war is keeping them from being hunted down. The identity of the “White Father” is unknown, but the Raptors serve him as they would serve a god: living, fighting and dying at his command. Some of the information about this mysterious leader suggests that he may have become infected with a Bane, and now seeks to be worshiped by other Garou. No one is sure where the Raptors stand in the war, though they are an effective fighting force, as they are known to appear out of the mist without warning, striking hard before retreating, leaving no sign they were there. Lately they have begun disrupting Moot Rites with distracting, but harmless explosions, and in the last month a group of the Raptors broke into one of the fetish storehouses and burned it to the ground. Why they would do this is beyond the War Council and Golgol is growing impatient with the need to deal with the Raptors once and for all. Many whisper stories of their powers, some saying they have befriended the Balam, allowing them to move through their territories without issue, while others claim they have befriended the Incarna Penthesilea, an Amazonian warrior spirit, serving her as well as Uktena. This might be why they brand themselves with the symbol of the labrys. More importantly, there are rumors they have been responsible for the destruction of several Pentex outposts and some heavy machinery as well as stealing a couple of helicopters from Pentex. The Balam refuses to tell the Garou anything about the Raptors, other than they are good and noble warriors, and the Mokolé simply do not say anything at all. Golgol believes the Raptors have made an alliance with the two local changing breeds, and that they are working towards their interests in some way. Considered loose cannons, a few raids have gone awry because of their appearance. Of course, Golgol would prefer they be under his command, but failing that he wants them punished, even killed if necessary. Now that they’re actively interfering in the Garou’s war efforts, it may be time for Golgol to divert some of his resources to hunting the rogues down. Background As previously noted, the Raptors compound is deep in the jungle in an abandoned Den-Realm, and they have scouts who keep watch on every move Pentex makes. They do not serve Gaia in this matter however, having been contacted by Pentesilea through White Father, a Theurge accustomed to being possessed. Penthesilea is an incredible warrior in her own right and is the reason that her Garou behave as they do. Alarmed by the number of fetishes being created by the Garou, she has directed her pack to go forth and prevent the further destruction of the Umbral ecosystem. White Father also directs the pack to assist other Garou without revealing themselves too much or the location of their secret domain. Through the blessing of Penthesilea, the Raptors have a good relationship with the indigenous peoples and changers, which is the secret to their success. Local workers provide them with the layout of Pentex facilities, allowing them to strike decisively with smaller groups. Because their resources are limited, the Raptors have learned to make the most of what they have as well as “acquiring” additional supplies and equipment from Pentex. While one of the helicopters they stole has been reduced to a rusted hulk by the humidity and poor conditions of the jungle, the other still functions, and a Glass Walker mechanic has imbued it with an Owl spirit, which makes it completely silent when running as well as making navigation at night much easier. The downside is that it won’t run during the day, as Owl is a nocturnal spirit. The greatest threat facing the Raptors is that White Father has been exposed to too much toxic waste and radiation and is dying as a result. With no clear second in command for the pack, the Raptors will fall if they cannot decide who amongst them will take command. The most prominent contenders are a Ragabash Shadow Lord named Orson Bladewalker, a Silver Fang Ahroun named Uthor Bitesilver and a Black Fury Theurge named Dione Shadowbreeze. Recently, Uktena has been warning them that the Wyrm is attempting to infiltrate them which has made the Raptors uneasy, often delaying a few minutes before assisting other Garou (including the players) while they use Sense the Unnatural or Sense Wyrm. Even after this is done, they remain very distrustful of other Garou as they are still technically outlaws. Thunder Tiger  Breed: Lupus Auspice: Ahroun Tribe: Stargazers Fetishes: Tiger-Scar (lvl 2, Gnosis 5) a gift from Penthesilea, this is a mark of great respect and pride, and puts Thunder at a -2 difficulty to social rolls related to the Bastet Image: In Lupus, he is a gray wolf with yellow eyes and a large scar like marking on his flank in the shape of a leaping tiger. In homid this scar appears as a tattoo of a tiger, marking him as a member of the East Wind school of Kalindo. Roleplaying Notes: Usually grunts replies to questions and use the least number of words possible. Background: Born in the Pacific Northwest, he went through his first Change alone in the wilderness. His anguished cries drew the attention of a Theurge Stargazer named Windsinger who took the pup to a mountain hideaway and befriended him, teaching him how to comfortably wear Homid form and eventually training Thunder for the destiny Windsinger had seen for him in a vision. Thunder gained his name from his Kalindo tutor, Sharpened Breeze. When Windsinger’s pack, the Ghost Raptors decided to travel to the Amazon, Thunder asked to join and was accepted, growing in rank as the pack began their tour of duty in the Amazon, leading him to becoming the bodyguard of White Father. When the pack first met the Bastet, he quickly bested their champion and was awarded the honor of being White Father’s chief guardian as well as gaining the Bastet gift Shriek. He is potentially too devoted to his position and is willing to do literally anything to protect White Father from harm, including challenging any who dare to challenge Father’s honor. While this fanaticism regularly gets him trouble, it is also how he ascended in the hierarchy of the pack. Native Uktena The few native Uktena live at the Caren of Rain Spirits and in the Amazon, there are only six native Garou left, as the few others have been killed in the war. Jubati  Breed: Homid Auspice: Ragabash Tribe: Uktena Fetishes: Tsansti’s Blowgun (lvl 4, Gnosis 7) a 10 foot blowgun that once belonged to a local Uktena hero, it has some magical abilities. It has a range of 40 yards and a damage pool of 5 used for penetrating armor only. Jubati carries 15 darts. Enough Curare (more in Appendix 1) for 10 darts, and a gourd full of Ayahuasca (appendix 1) Image: In Homid form, Jubati is a native of the Yanomami tribe, standing 4 '7' and weighing about 100 lbs. His body is painted with many war and beauty marks of his tribe and in Lupus form he has reddish fur. Roleplaying Notes: You used to smile a lot, because you were happy. Now the world is dying, and you are very sad. Your friends worry about you, warning you to not let Harano take over. You cannot stop worrying. Let Harano come. Background: Jubati lived in the first village that Pentex took over upon entering the Amazon, the same place where the Black Frost were killed. He fled when the machines first came as they scared him as nothing else had before. When he returned and discovered the machines in his village, he sought out his Bastet friend Atahualpa, and was horrified to discover what she had become. Barely escaping her trap, he fled to the Caren of Rain Spirits where the rest of his tribe lives. Since the arrival of other Garou, he’s felt a little better, though he worries about their strange and destructive ways. More than anything, he cannot help but dwell on the loss of his home and Bastet friend. If given the chance to save her, he will take it. Pentex Pentex does not advertise their presence in the Amazon, instead preferring to work through front companies, the primary front being DFG. Despite the name, the company specializes in clear cutting large areas, and seemingly is a conglomerate of manufacturers who specialize in forest management equipment, including bulldozers, chainsaws and defoliant chemicals. In truth it’s just an excuse for Pentex to gather their various deforestation schemes under a single corporate umbrella. DFG won the bidding from the Brazilian government to clear cut the Amazon for cattle farming, and the meat produced is sold to fast food restaurants around the world (with a large percentage going to O’Tolley’s). DFG was Elliot Meiche’s idea, and in his international efforts to deforest the world, the Amazon would have been his crowning achievement. But, DFG wasn’t secretive enough in their activities, and when the Garou found out, war broke out. Meiche was pulled from DFG management and replaced with Robert Allred. Now the company is little more than a front for Pentex’s First Teams. The Pentex South American headquarters is located in Rio de Janeiro, and from there all finances and construction is overseen for the DFG headquarters near Manaus. Other Pentex fronts in the area include Harold and Harold Mining, an international mining company that is tearing apart the Andes in search of precious metals and gems, aided by the burrowing BSD. Magadon, Inc. has a laboratory in the Amazon as well, with the “Official” story being they are researching rare plant life in search of cures to mankind's deadliest diseases. In truth they’re digging up plants to discover deadly new toxins and addictive drugs. Finally, there is Rainbow, Inc. although they are now headquartered in Rio and no longer maintain a factory in the region. Instead, they rely on individual natives to collect rubber from the trees, rolling it into large balls to be taken down river to Manaus to be sold to Rainbow. The company’s main efforts are focused on Indonesia.  Pentex Organization Sidebar
Promotion Besides the usual promises of power and revenge on their enemies, the driving motivator of the First Teams is promotion. Promotion allows First Teamers to not only boss around those of lesser rank, but also affords a two-week vacation to Rio. Three elements are considered in relation to promotion: Kills, Cunning and Corruption. The number of kills is important as it proves the valor, or insanity of the First Teamer, and Garou kills are especially highly prized. Cunning is another trait worthy of reward but harder to judge. Those who have devised unique or truly brilliant methods of ambushing or fooling the Garou are considered to have meritorious cunning. Finally, corruption is measured by the amount of damage done to the rain forest, which is tallied, and rewards are given for extreme destruction, especially when toxic waste is involved. Promotion follows a standard military ranking, starting at Private and going up from there with the highest achievable promotion being from Major to Executive, where they are given a cushy office job, high salary and retirement plan. This is the dream of most of the Fomori First Teamers, though Pentex executives don’t like to give office jobs to “uncouth” warriors. Barnaby Shadrack, Chief Regional Officer (Crow)  Image: Tall, clean shaven with perfectly groomed black hair, he has steel-gray eyes and an intense stare. He never blinks when speaking to others, ever. He dresses in the finest suits and wears a Rolex and always carries a briefcase where he keeps his Uzi. Roleplaying Notes: You wonder why others have a hard time keeping their cool. You have no trouble keeping your emotions bottled up, and you know that to show any emotion, other than what you want to show, is the ultimate sign of weakness. Background: Joseph Sheldan was once one of the most feared Wall Street corporate raiders before taking a high powered job at Endron. The tragic accident that took his life was highly publicized, and while Joseph was buried, Barnaby rose, a new identity for the hot-shot Pentex exec. He didn’t care if his public life was gone, the raw power of his new position was enough to keep him occupied. When his good friend Robert Allred moved him to the Amazon to clean up Meiche’s mistakes, he knew this was a stepping stone to the Board of Directors. He knows his job and future are riding on his performance here, and he’s not about to let a bunch of furry animals on two legs get in his way. The Garou will simply have to step aside for his interest. Of course, he knew they wouldn’t, and that gave him a chance to show off his kill ratio to his superiors. Regional Board  Catherine Snodgrass Catherine has never taken any poo poo from anyone, seemingly born for her current job. She was the president of a shipping company, and when Pentex purchased it, she refused to take the lay-off sitting down. She marched into Pentex HQ and demanded to know who was in charge. The smiling security guard led her down deep into the basement of the building. When the lights went out and the darkness was filled with the growling of something heinous, she didn’t run, instead knocking the guard into whatever lurked in the darkness, leaving him to be torn apart. She then leapt on the beast and fought it to the ground. Once the beast stopped struggling, she realized it was a man, albeit a rather hairy one. The former beast man then led her back upstairs, explaining he was a werewolf and that he had been impressed. Soon enough the BSD recommended her for a position with Pentex. Over the course of the next five years, she rose in the corporate ranks until finally gaining a high level position in the Rio office. The war thrills her, and she’s convinced that Pentex will win easily. She tends to dominate board meetings. Robert C. Barnacre No stranger to the corporate world, he’s still a bit unsure of his current employer. They’re an odd lot, with some changing into wolves and others routinely leaking pus from their joints. It’s enough to drive most people to a nervous breakdown, but Robert is too professional for something like that. He does his job, and he does it well. After all, that’s why he’s a top-level executive now. Sure, he knows that everything his company does is illegal, but he’s also aware of ways around that. Besides, doesn’t every company bend the rules a bit? What he hasn’t realized is that the company is annoyed that he hasn’t done more to fit in. He’s been singled out for some mysterious purpose by Lethargg, the Urge of Apathy. Bethany Kiker The spoiled daughter of Board of Directors member James Kiker, she knows nothing about being an executive, and frankly doesn’t care. She demanded that daddy get her a job in Rio, and so he did. While she attends every board meeting, she doesn’t pay attention to what’s going on, as she’s too busy thinking about shopping. She’s aware of the disgusting monsters that work for “Daddy’s Company”, but she’s seen them in movies before, so they must be real. She’s sure every company has secret monsters working for them. Which…she’s not wrong in that assessment. How many companies in the WoD are thick with Vampires, Ghosts, Garou and probably Mages as well. I don’t think Changelings would have much interest in working for corporations, probably too banal. Salazar Eustis Salazar used to be a standup comedian, but he was a miserable failure. He simply wasn’t funny. Instead of getting in on the right-wing grift as so many other failed comedians have, he instead fled to South America to dodge his gambling debts, and became a foreman for H&H Mining, gaining quite the reputation as a cruel taskmaster. One drunken night, he wandered into the mines to meet the mysterious night crew. Figured he’d just go say hello. They weren’t pleased to see him. But the only thing that saved Salazar from the claws of the BSD were his terrible jokes. As they toyed with him, cutting him here and there, Salazar went a bit mad, and began spouting his club act. Within minutes the BSD were on the ground, clutching their stomachs, choking on their own laughter. This little debacle quickly gained the attention of Allred, ever on the lookout for someone who could control the mad Garou, and for his achievement, promoted Salazar to the Regional Board for a laugh. Surprisingly, Salazar has done well, and anytime any of the other board members try to screw him over, he invites his BSD friends to the boardroom for a few laughs. This shuts up the rest of the board rather quickly. Dean Herburger Dean was the premier salesman for a high-priced LA advertising company, at least until he went to that weird party and took those strange drugs. Next thing he knew, he was in a state hospital with ten corpses to his name. He was going to fry as soon as the doctors declared him sane, but Herburger was considered too valuable to Pentex, so the underpaid doctors were bribed to keep him locked away in a maximum security funny farm for life. Of course, he’s not in his cell, he’s down in Rio sitting on the Regional Board. He’s still great at selling too, easily convincing the other board members to see his way on most things. Except when those flashbacks occur…. Deborah Garcia Deb ran away from home at 16 and came to Rio. It was a beautiful city and her life for a time was wonderful, one big party until one night she got drunk in the wrong part of town and her date dumped her near the shantytowns. While she was scared, as she’d never seen this part of Rio before, nothing would happen to her, this was still Rio after all, right? The Seeder Bane who hunted in the shantytown came across her and realized it had found a prize. Deb was dragged kicking and screaming into the Umbra and experienced the torture of rebirth as a Fomor. By the time she was spat back into the physical world, she was crazed and enraged. When the First Team finally arrived to retrieve her, she’d already killed 8 children. She was then taken to HQ and trained in her new role as a Fomor. She exhibited amazing command abilities similar to a Kindred’s Dominate powers. Quickly she rose through the ranks as the company discovered her powers could come in handy in an executive position, and she was promoted to the Regional Board. In times of stress, she reverts back into the personality of a 16 year old. Samuel Jehosaphat Linedecker What a name  Sam began his career at Pentex as a janitor. Responding to a temp assignment, he arrived at the Toronto HQ and was tasked with waxing the floors of the basement laboratories. But Sam didn’t have clearance to be on that level, though the guards waved him through, assuming he did. The Banes, however, assumed nothing. He was found by guards later, who tried everything possible, including high power stomach pumps to get the “thing” out of him. The “Thing” as it turns out was ChemBatch #373, and it became good friends with its new host. It told him many things, special things, secrets of the Toronto executives. Not above bribery, Sam soon found himself in a cushy executive position on the Regional Board in Rio. The company didn’t mention the war or the danger of the Garou, and ChemBatch #373 knows nothing about being an executive, so Sam simply pretends to know what he’s doing, hoping the others don’t catch on. Elap Ylliw, “Misses Reveille”, First Team Leader  Breed: Homid Auspice: Galliard Tribe: Black Spiral Dancers Fetishes: The Black Pistol (lvl 6, Gnosis 8) an old standard issue US Army .45 Colt automatic pistol painted black. While it takes normal bullets it does….things to the bullets. Once a bullet has passed through the barrel, it won’t stop until it tastes blood. Its attack and damage pools remain normal, but the bullet will fly around until it hits its target or is destroyed. If an entire clip is fired and no hits are gained, the bullets will continue to swarm the target until they hit. Attack rolls should be made each round until every bullet hits. Image: In Homid form, Elap is a thin and lanky man with long red hair and an unnerving smile and glare. There is madness in his eyes. In Lupus form, he is a reddish wolf with the same glare. Roleplaying Notes: You’re a quiet person, as to say anything may give your secret away. They must not know your secret. Until it’s been revealed, be cagey around anyone who snoops or your nosey superiors. Background: Elap experienced his first Change at nine, and before he could tell anyone, the BSD came and kidnapped him from his parent’s farm in Ireland, taking him by boat to their Hive in Scotland. He remembers little of his Rite of Passage and life after. When he finally returned to some semblance of sanity, he found he was an Honored and respected member of the tribe. He didn’t know why, and couldn’t remember anything, though he pieced some of it together from hearsay. He was privy to very special lore from the Wyrm itself, and no one knows what this secret is, but they all want to be his friend when the time comes to reveal it. Many of the younger BSD have kissed up to him in hopes of gaining his favor. He realizes that when they find out he’s forgotten, he’ll be torn to pieces. To get away from prying ears he joined Pentex for their war on the Amazon, which only made things worse. Other Garou rushed into the Hell’s Hand Hive, certain the secret would be revealed in the war. Now he’s trying to get sent on a mission to keep away from all the other BSD. Pentex HQ Personnel Charley Riley (Chief Engineer) An expert engineer adept at designing functional facilities that maximize waste dumping, he is a devout, almost religious servant of the Maeljin Incarna who regulates Elemental Wyrms. He’s currently unaware of the horrid disease that is eating him away inside, a disease that can only be detected in the Umbra. It’s far too late for a cure, and when he finds out, he’ll likely freak out and destroy his factory in vengeance. He does not realize that this disease is his reward for his loyalty. Doctor George Bernard (Head Scientist) Director of the local Project Iliad, his life's work is to create breeds of Fomori that share the same characteristics from parent to child. He’s overjoyed about the war, seeing it as a perfect place to try new Fomori breeds, and with the constant casualties, his superiors have given him carte blanche in his experiments. All First Teams fear him, living in terror of being summoned to his labs for “Reconfiguring” as he’s constantly trying to improve on his past creations. He has a horde of Banes he makes deals with, promising them permanent material form in return for allowing him to alter their natures, constantly trying to create the perfect blend of Wyrm and Human. His partner, Dr. Elise Bornman, director of Project Odyssey, is currently stationed in Rio where she is able to track potential psychics for recruitment. Mel Westerburg (Foreman) A regular kind of guy, except for his Iliad altered muscles which have granted him the strength to lift steel girders like paperweights. He’s a fair foreman, though somewhat racist to the local natives who have been conscripted. He doesn’t like it when other officials give orders to his crew, and he will side with them over the “Suits” in any dispute. His loyalty to Pentex, however, is unquestionable, as he believes his retirement plan will allow him to go to Hollywood with his muscles and become a star. He’s completely unaware that Pentex has no intention of ever letting him leave the company. Atahualpa, “Blood of the Incas” - Corrupt Bastet  Breed: Feline Tribe: Balam Fetishes: Dragons Icor (3 applications) Soul Ruby (grants Science 2, Black Spiral Sign Language 2, Computer 1) Image: She appears as a very sick jaguar, with an incessant cough and fur falling out in patches, all effects of the Bane that inhabits her. In Homid form she is from an almost extinct Incan bloodline, with “pure-bred” features. Roleplaying Notes: Pace about often, you’re a jaguar in a cage. Your own home has become your hell, and that’s what you got for staying and trying to defend it. You’re constantly struggling against the Bane inside you. Background: Atahualpa's Den-Realm is in the Umbra right where Pentex built their HQ. She tried to stop them but was unable, and now her realm is the home of Banes, who have possessed her. She is desperate to escape, but most days doesn’t remember her real identity or her place in Gaia’s plans. The Bane is winning. She knows of only one way out, attacking as many Garou as she can, hopeful that they are fierce enough to kill her and grant her peace. Of course, the Bane won’t allow this, and its self-preservation motive has caused her to run from two battles when she became wounded. Now she is mustering all her will for the next fight to ensure her death. The Balam While the werejaguars are usually very individualistic, generally staying in their own Den-Realms and repelling unwanted intruders, the war has caused many of them to gather and formulate a fighting force of their own. Black Claw, one of the highest ranked among them, has been elected their war leader. Within his realm, four other Balam follow his leadership. Throughout the entire Amazon Basin there are about 22 Balam, but they are separated from one another and tend to ignore the war, except when it comes to their borders. Black Claw  Tribe: Balam Breed: Feline Gifts: Song of the Great Beast (allows Black Claw to summon a Hoplophoneus, a sabretooth tiger. Stats for said creature are up to the ST) Fetishes: Skin of the Toad (lvl 4, Gnosis 5) the shed skin of a giant poisonous toad. Black Claw wraps the skin around a grass glove, then rakes his foes with his other hand. After a wound has been opened, he touches the glove to it, introducing the toad’s poison into the enemy's body. Victims must make a Stamina roll at difficulty 8 or lose 3 health levels per touch. Image: Very large and muscular in all forms. In Homid form he appears to be a member of the Yanomami and dresses in the garb of his tribe. Roleplaying Notes: You are a stern cat, and unlike your fellows, you don’t like to play often, as you’re too angry and would tear them apart. You must reserve your rage for the invaders, both Pentex and Garou. You won’t speak to any Garou unless they are a native or an acknowledged leader or at best, pack leader. Background: Always a respected cat, he’s stood against the homids for ages. While the rest of the Balam thought there was little to fear from the apes, he is now bitter at the losses suffered in the battle. The tribe’s overconfidence is affecting their strategy, though those who have sworn obedience to him through the Rite of Fealty must follow his orders explicitly or be cast from his realm. He is enraged by Golgol’s arrogance and imperialism, and if not for Golgol, the Garou might have sided with Black Claw long ago. Instead, they get to suffer his raids, as he will not rest until all the outsiders have been driven from the Jungle. The Mokolé While the Mokolé are trying to stay out of the war, the encroachment into their nests has caused a few to go on the rampage, leading to a few First Teams to disappear in the jungle, never to be seen again, victims of the werecrocodiles and completely unprepared and underpowered against the Mokolé’s superior jungle knowledge. However, the Mokolé are a bit confused about the issues involved in the war, realizing that Pentex is bad, but all have a deep seated fear and hatred of the Garou, though the wisest among them, Nyi (more info in the Players Guide) is considering an alliance, but is unsure how to approach them, hoping the Garou will approach them first. There are approximately 33 Mokolé in the entire Amazon Basin, gathered in seven family groups. Nyi’s family resides in Grrrash tak’nyrr, consisting of four adults and two new hatchlings, including the young adult Song-Of-Younger-Days. Song-Of-Younger-Days  Breed: Suchid Aspect: The Rising Sun, “Strike” Archid Characteristics: Terrible Claws (on feet), Bipedal Walking, Great Speed (+5 to movement-based Dex) Special: +1 Initiative Image: In Archid form, Song appears as a seven-foot-tall Velociraptor, in Homid he looks like a native. In Suchid, he is a normal looking river reptile. Roleplaying Notes: You are a watchful and quick-witted guardian of the nest. You don’t speak much, as words are not important to you. You can communicate well enough through a sharp-toothed grin or a slash of your claws. Tomorrow: The final bits of Chapter 2 and Chapter 3
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Jul 15, 2023 15:42
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I'll give the whole Amazon war effort credit, it is genuinely ripe for PCs come along to come along, rally everyone together and really bust some heads. (In a spiritual sense.)
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Jul 15, 2023 15:55
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Nessus posted:The emphasis on the Amazon as a place that humanity has never touched is kinda funny given what has been learned subsequently; the place was a lot more densely inhabited than people assumed. However, this would mostly give Glass Walkers and Bone Gnawers a way to play to their strengths if they find the subtle remnants of ancient temples and so on. There's similar issues for most of WtA's approach to anywhere not-europe. The stuff on Australia pisses me off because (in addition to the many issues laid out in the review in the archives) time has marched on so drat hard on it... but WW/OPP continue to bang the same drum and have apparently never heard of Dark Emu.
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Jul 15, 2023 15:57
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Loomer posted:There's similar issues for most of WtA's approach to anywhere not-europe. The stuff on Australia pisses me off because (in addition to the many issues laid out in the review in the archives) time has marched on so drat hard on it... but WW/OPP continue to bang the same drum and have apparently never heard of Dark Emu. have you heard of uluru
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Jul 15, 2023 16:12
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Dawgstar posted:have you heard of uluru Don't make me tap the dang sign
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Jul 15, 2023 16:16
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Dawgstar posted:I'll give the whole Amazon war effort credit, it is genuinely ripe for PCs come along to come along, rally everyone together and really bust some heads. (In a spiritual sense.) Rage Across Australia presented a similar situation, everything was basically in a terrible balance that was just waiting for the players plucky young pack to come in and tip everything over into something functional (And murder hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians and farmers but hey that's what the spirit world needs i guess?)
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Jul 15, 2023 16:41
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Dawgstar posted:I'll give the whole Amazon war effort credit, it is genuinely ripe for PCs come along to come along, rally everyone together and really bust some heads. (In a spiritual sense.) Until they start cramming spirits into fetishes and Pantheslia (or however the gently caress her name is spelled because how it's spelled in the book is not how it's supposed to be spelled according to my spell check) possesses someone to smack around for loving up the Umbral ecosystem. Loomer posted:There's similar issues for most of WtA's approach to anywhere not-europe. The stuff on Australia pisses me off because (in addition to the many issues laid out in the review in the archives) time has marched on so drat hard on it... but WW/OPP continue to bang the same drum and have apparently never heard of Dark Emu. Benefit of the doubt to the authors, they were trying to do the whole "Distant lands are also dark and weird" and the implication I took from the whole "Humanity hasn't touched the Amazon" specifically was more about all the stuff in the Amazon we don't know about from a scientific perspective, because they do talk about the native Amazonians. And mostly in not awful ways. But also, The 90s and the writers were a bunch of goobers from Georgia so hearts mostly in the right place and all that but execution leaves a lot to be desired.
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Jul 15, 2023 16:44
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Kurieg posted:Rage Across Australia presented a similar situation, everything was basically in a terrible balance that was just waiting for the players plucky young pack to come in and tip everything over into something functional (And murder hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians and farmers but hey that's what the spirit world needs i guess?) At least in Rage Across Egypt while the PCs' pack (or pride, or slew or whatever you call a bunch of weirdo spiders) were also the lynchpin* to helping turn things around the main thing was making sure that a Red Talon didn't find a way to blow up the Aswan High Dam. That would be... troublesome on several levels. *And it's fine this is the standard for location books! I've read some where everything is nice and find and there's basically no reason to go there. Forgotten Realms, I'm looking in your direction. joylessdivision posted:Until they start cramming spirits into fetishes and Pantheslia (or however the gently caress her name is spelled because how it's spelled in the book is not how it's supposed to be spelled according to my spell check) possesses someone to smack around for loving up the Umbral ecosystem. That is a very weird spelling of what I am going to assume was the Amazonian warrior-queen of myth which I only get now years later because ha ha Amazon. Rage Across Amazon is one of the few books that does stop to consider maybe stuffing a spirit into something just so it does thing better to excess is not super good for the spirit ecology but, and maybe my players were uncommon, none of them ever really fooled around with fetish creation so I didn't think about it very much. There were a couple of klaives, a d'siah (crescent blade Silent Strider knife thing) and a spirit flute but they were never really interested in making them themselves.
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Jul 15, 2023 17:16
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joylessdivision posted:Shadow Lords I really feel Last-One-Out is a name that deserves to be given to a Bone Gnawer, possibly one that moonlights as a community pool lifeguard. joylessdivision posted:
I am sure there is better Pentex material out there, and I did like the W20 Book of the Wyrm, but I can't think of anywhere else that so thoroughly nails the vibe of 'Evil Dead meets Office Space' as Rage Against the Amazon.
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Jul 15, 2023 19:22
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Infinity RPG: PanOceania Star Trek Descoberta So, finishing up our Acontecimento coverage, we move to its solar system, [d]Descoberta[/b], Portuguese for Discovery. It was first discovered via a wormhole from Sol by the explorer ship Pos Udyam. A thing to keep in mind through this is that while it won't get any real discussion, every planet and the Vila Boosters are home to orbital fortresses of the Knights of Santiago. That said, they're mostly fuel depots for in-system patrol vessels, though they do have guns of their own. The planet nearest the star Descoberta is Miranda, a planet coated in a surface of 'hot ice' - a mix of water and various hydrocarbons that are under such intense pressure that they become solid despite existing at absurdly high temperatures. It is mostly notable as the home of the D-1 Deep Pressure Mines, which are almost entirely automated because of Miranda's extreme pressure, radiation and heat. The mines are a vital source of rare compounds for Acontecimento's industrial sector, fired into orbit via mass driver to a small orbital station at the planet's L2 point. It is then moved out to the wider system by freighter. Miranda is also home to the orbital Um Solar Arrays, which collect solar power and beam said power to orbital stations around Acontecimento, mostly to power Teseum processing facilities. Peteca is...technically nearer to the sun than Acontecimento, at least at the nearest part of its eccentric orbit, though at the far end it is further away from it than Aparecida. It fortunately is fairly hard to accidentally ram into, as its orbit sits on a 30 degree slant from the orbital plane of the system. It is largely ignored except for mining operations, as its crust has an abnormally high percentage of heavy elements. That brings us back to Acontecimento for a brief tour of the orbitals. Most space trade flows through the trio of Victoria, Trinidad and Concepcion, which are the upper ends of the planet's three orbital elevators. Victoria is connected to Orujo via the Ipanema Orbital Elevator and is mostly used for industrial materials both from the planet and Peteca. The orbital is also home to most of the planet's Teseum refineries, and so it is constantly aglow from industrial activity. Trinidad connects to Puerto La Guardia via La Guardia Elevator and is mostly commercial shipping, with over one hundred docking spines for incoming ships. It resembles something like a 3-d spiderweb, and is also the main commercial ship repair station and passenger terminal, with excellent dining and space viewing domes. Concepcion is atop the Bhai Khalla Elevator and mostly moves food and produce. It's the smallest and newest, with no additional business yet, though the folks in charge of it are looking for it. Victoria is, as a note, surrounded by a near-total no-fly zone under edict of Acontecimento Orbital Control, mostly to keep ships from accidentally flying into the lasers beaming forth from the Um Solar Arrays. The no-fly zone also covers the Coronado Naval Yards, which also receive beamed power. The naval yards, however, are full of construction crews and ships, both tugging stuff around and under production. Most of that work is visible to the public, or at least as visible as an area that is a no-fly zone can be, but electro-optical cages are used to block off classified naval projects. Aparecida is the fourth planet of the system, a gas giant full of ammonia. It is notable first as a major gas mining site, producing hydrogen and helium isotopes plus other stuff needed for spaceship fuel. The controlling interest in Aparecida's mines is MagnaObra, one of the few breaks in Minescorp's near total dominance over the system's mining rights. MagnaObra has believed for decades that the planet holds hidden Teseum reserves, and they have moved to prevent any other corporation from establishing any presence on Aparecida. The other point of interest is the Vortex, a breathakingly beautiful cyclone on the planetary equator which has been raging for longer than humans have been in the system. It is a popular sight on tourist space cruises, of which the system sees hundreds per year, but it also has made MagnaObra's work much harder. The Vortex continuously generates smaller storm systems within the gas giant, which disrupt mining fairly frequently. Sorvette, the final planet, would be a major competitor for mining dollars to Aparecida if it wasn't so annoying to get to. It is full of water and hydrocarbon ice that'd be quite valuable...but because its orbit is poorly aligned, it is hard for Circular-based traffic to reach the planet and so it is inefficient to mine for interstellar trade. All mining operations on Sorvette have strictly been for in-system purposes. The ice is extensively quarried, however, using remotes to track veins of ice with desirable properties and carve out large blocks. Primarily, this means looking for water or ice with high hydrogen or oxygen content. It is widely rumored that the dead bodies of Aconteccan criminals have been found frozen in the walls of the ice quarries, but most consider these to be just stories told by mobsters to scare each other. Descoberta System is home to five stable wormholes, headed to Sol, Shentang-Yutang, Neoterra, Bourak and Varuna, which puts it on the route of four Circulars - C2, C5, C6 and C7. This means more traffic heads through the system than almost anywhere else in the Human Sphere except for Sol. Each wormhole is guarded by a Lusiad, an orbital station that serves as a mix of navigation beacon, surveillance cluster and defensive fortress. They scan every incoming vessel with LIDAR and RADAR across the entire electro-optical spectrum, recording the information and transmitting it to redundant repeater networks through the system as well as comparing it against a database of known ships, to ensure that the navy has as much advance warning of any dangers as possible. Next time: New Earth
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Jul 15, 2023 22:15
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Dawgstar posted:I'll give the whole Amazon war effort credit, it is genuinely ripe for PCs come along to come along, rally everyone together and really bust some heads. (In a spiritual sense.) The PCs, if we’re being honest, should be nameless soldiers #132-136 in any given Dynasty Warriors game in comparison; I know some groups are into that but it sounds anti-fun to me.
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Jul 16, 2023 00:46
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AmiYumi posted:There’s something to be said about shaking up the status quo, but scrolling through the huge list of Rank 5 and 6 characters just made me wonder what they would possibly even need a group of fresh-from-their Rite of Passage woofs for. These early WW modules are super interesting to me--my current poo poo is trying to make open ended OSR modules that are less about pure dungeon crawl combat and more about navigating factions. The cultural memory of these modules is that they're super railroady and dreadful to play, so I was really surprised at how much I'm liking most of them. Of course, they do have some big issues, from my point of view. . . I really don't like the actual module plotlines, for the most part. I almost wish that they were just the character profiles, a few inciting incidents, and some "if this happens, this character responds this way" guidance to keep things moving. The ST advice has generally seemed pretty good, and the writers hearts usually seem to be in mostly the right places, but as soon as you present your module as a sequence of scenes you're really making it hard to avoid the railroad. The power levels also do seem very off, as was pointed out above. There's also just so many characters, especially allies, at play here--I guess in part because they want to give all the different tribes their representation. It feels like you could really make it easier for STs to figure out potential roles for NPCs to play by just cutting them down in number by like 75%.
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Jul 16, 2023 01:51
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AmiYumi posted:There’s something to be said about shaking up the status quo, but scrolling through the huge list of Rank 5 and 6 characters just made me wonder what they would possibly even need a group of fresh-from-their Rite of Passage woofs for. Like, I have played enough W:tA to know what it takes to hit those renown levels; any one of those NPCs should be an unstoppable beast pulling off Gilgamesh or Sun Wukong poo poo, and you’ve concentrated like thirty of them in one place? Yeah, but the Garou are hugely outnumbered and outgunned. There's 120 for the whole Amazon and more Pentex reinforcements arrive every day, plus the fact since Garou are terrible at working with other Changing Breeds (who hold a grudge for obvious reasons) means they have to endure stuff like Balam messing with them in the jungle or because they wandered into a Mokole wallow they didn't know about a dinosaur steps on them. It's true, a rank 6 Garou is pretty scary but there's just so many fomori and Black Spiral Dancers it's going to be a 'though I had slain a thousand foes less one, The thousandth knife found my liver' situation.
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Jul 16, 2023 02:28
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Dawgstar posted:Yeah, but the Garou are hugely outnumbered and outgunned. There's 120 for the whole Amazon and more Pentex reinforcements arrive every day, plus the fact since Garou are terrible at working with other Changing Breeds (who hold a grudge for obvious reasons) means they have to endure stuff like Balam messing with them in the jungle or because they wandered into a Mokole wallow they didn't know about a dinosaur steps on them. It's true, a rank 6 Garou is pretty scary but there's just so many fomori and Black Spiral Dancers it's going to be a 'though I had slain a thousand foes less one, The thousandth knife found my liver' situation. Yeah it gets hammered on later that Pentex is loving everywhere in the Amazon, and they're pumping out Fomori like it's going out of style. Even the W20 Apocalyptic Record chapter that talks about the Amazon is straight up "It was a losing fight and a huge disaster for the Garou" And yeah, there's also the Balam who are full on attacking the Garou and Pentex because they're both invaders, while the Molkolé kinda chill on the sidelines unless someone directly messes with them. Not to mention the disaster that is the outcome of the El Dorado mission. Also all those high ranked NPCs are essentially just there to give orders. They're not necessarily leading the fight on the field. Golgo and friends have probably spilled some Pentex blood in the Amazon but I got the impression they were more there directing things, and the chain of command thing comes up in one of the stories where it specifically directs the ST to have the players continue to tell the same thing to each different link in the chain of command until they get to Golgo who finally gives them a direct order.
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Jul 16, 2023 03:23
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Loomer posted:There's similar issues for most of WtA's approach to anywhere not-europe. The stuff on Australia pisses me off because (in addition to the many issues laid out in the review in the archives) time has marched on so drat hard on it... but WW/OPP continue to bang the same drum and have apparently never heard of Dark Emu. I have to give credit to Deviant: the Renegades for making Darwin, the closest major city to the rock, a major setting for the game and not mentioning Uluru even once. Speaking of Deviant, this book is great inspiration for that game. Position the PCs as Devoted created by Pentex, caught between the packs of werewolves that want them dead and the Conspiracy that wants to exploit them like it exploits the jungle.
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Jul 16, 2023 05:09
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One thing I appreciate about Revised Werewolf is it finally takes the rest of the changing breeds to task for continuing to bang on the drum of the war of rage while the world burns around them because the entirety of the Garou nation hasn't apologized enough to them specifically.
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Jul 16, 2023 05:14
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joylessdivision posted:Not to mention the disaster that is the outcome of the El Dorado mission. Also all those high ranked NPCs are essentially just there to give orders. They're not necessarily leading the fight on the field. Golgo and friends have probably spilled some Pentex blood in the Amazon but I got the impression they were more there directing things, and the chain of command thing comes up in one of the stories where it specifically directs the ST to have the players continue to tell the same thing to each different link in the chain of command until they get to Golgo who finally gives them a direct order. That's also true. As really bad at some aspects of his job Golgol is, he's also pretty much the only thing holding together the war effort because he's really good at others. Our pal would like to take the field and do some damage but it's not the best place for him because like Pentex would just, I dunno, carpet bomb wherever they thought he was because it's hard to regenerate from napalm mixed with balefire or whatever they use. Kurieg posted:One thing I appreciate about Revised Werewolf is it finally takes the rest of the changing breeds to task for continuing to bang on the drum of the war of rage while the world burns around them because the entirety of the Garou nation hasn't apologized enough to them specifically. Yeah, I always liked the touch that the first hit on Gaia's Top Ten Most Wanted the Nagah sent out wasn't a Garou but was the Simba Black Tooth.
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Jul 16, 2023 05:27
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Pakxos posted:I am sure there is better Pentex material out there, and I did like the W20 Book of the Wyrm, but I can't think of anywhere else that so thoroughly nails the vibe of 'Evil Dead meets Office Space' as Rage Against the Amazon. Though it does kind of make me wonder - how does Pentex, y'know, Pentex? It seems like the people in charge are a wonderful combination of amnesiacs, delusionals, and fugue states. Do they just pose as hard as they can in a boardroom all day and somehow vomit out steel and chemical precursors while they sleep, because Wyrm?
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Jul 16, 2023 05:43
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Glazius posted:Though it does kind of make me wonder - how does Pentex, y'know, Pentex? It seems like the people in charge are a wonderful combination of amnesiacs, delusionals, and fugue states. Do they just pose as hard as they can in a boardroom all day and somehow vomit out steel and chemical precursors while they sleep, because Wyrm? Oh we get to meet the Rio "Regional Board" in this book and they are....well they certainly are a cast of characters Having not read Book of the Wyrm or anything else directly about Pentex yet, my guess is that the "Board" as far as the folks running things are likely a mix of Sabbat, BSD and some more or less "Normal" humans who are just good old fashioned evil rich dudes. And considering how many subsidiaries and shell companies they have, there probably are a ton or just regular folks who end up working for them and end up in positions of power. Which actually describes most of the Rio board 
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Jul 16, 2023 05:51
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joylessdivision posted:Oh we get to meet the Rio "Regional Board" in this book and they are....well they certainly are a cast of characters I liked the janitor fomori executive who's just trying to fake his way through it all. I imagine him being played by Neil Flynn in his Scrubs glory days.
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Jul 16, 2023 07:22
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Everyone posted:I liked the janitor fomori executive who's just trying to fake his way through it all. I imagine him being played by Neil Flynn in his Scrubs glory days. Executive VP of Marketing Jan Itor.
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Jul 16, 2023 08:56
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joylessdivision posted:Having not read Book of the Wyrm or anything else directly about Pentex yet, my guess is that the "Board" as far as the folks running things are likely a mix of Sabbat, BSD and some more or less "Normal" humans who are just good old fashioned evil rich dudes. Yeah. The Board of Directors is exactly that. A mix of ridiculously wealthy people who don't believe they're, say, shoving Bane spirits into people and turning them into monsters but instead are 'developing bioweapon research' like they're on Umbrella Corp, some of them actual Wyrm cultists and a few actual supernats like Harold Zettler who is a war criminal Malkavian antitribu, Enzo Giovanni (who is a, well, Giovanni) and Francesco a lupus Black Spiral Dancer who thinks this is all great fun. There also might be a Syndicate mage or two onboard depending on how crossover happy you like to be.
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Jul 16, 2023 13:36
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Joylessdivisions World of Dorkness Presents: Haighter's Gonna Hate: Part 3: Rage Across the Amazon Part 4 Background: Song is the youngest adult in the family group at Grrash tak’nyrrr, and the most energetic. While the rest wish to wallow in the mud, he wants to hunt, and has already caught many apes wandering too close to the nest. These strange apes smelled of corruption and darkness. Tasted pretty bad too. Nyi has asked Song not to attack any Garou who come to the nest if they wish to be friends. He’d never disobey Nyi, but he has also never seen a Garou before. He understands what a wolf looks like, and will leave them alone, but will attack any human shape he finds, even Garou in Homid form. Animals The Amazon is full of unique animals, and provided are a few that are potentially more dangerous than others, chosen with the idea of creating combat encounters around them. If any of these creatures has been chosen by the Wyrm to do its bidding, ST’s should make sure that the stats are altered to be greater than what is provided. All the listed animals should be considered to have a minimum of Survival 2 and Primal-Urge 2. Stats are provided for an Anaconda, Jaguar, Crocodiles, Electric Eels and Piranha. And that brings us to the end of Chapter Three. I admit that I don’t love this chapter, but that’s mostly due to it being a heavy NPC chapter and while there are certainly some gems throughout the chapter, it feels odd to have some of the War Council given stats, while others aren’t. Most of the Garou given stats are fine, none of them really jump out at me, other than Shandy the former IRA member and of course Roshen One-Arm. I don’t know what’s more frightening of an image, a Garou in Crinos coming at you or a Garou in Crinos with one arm, swinging his severed arm at you like a club. The Pentex portion of this chapter is what I really gravitated towards, as Pentex and its absurd series of shell companies and literal psychopaths and monsters running the show has always been one of my favorite bits of Apocalypse setting lore. Yes, I am fully willing to admit that Pentex is dumb as hell, and for the most part come across as mustache twirling villains who wouldn’t be out of place on an episode of Captain Planet or Toxic Crusaders, but it’s exactly that Saturday morning villainy that I enjoy about them. Why are they doing what they're doing? Because Evil  It’s stupid as gently caress and I absolutely love it. Pentex is one of those elements of Werewolf that really helps to tonally set Apocalypse apart from something like Masquerade, which is so poe-faced at times that much of the humor found in it is sometimes unintentional, or when it is intentional, has the bad habit of swinging so far into the absurd that it simply doesn’t make sense with the tone of the game. While Apocalypse also has a similarly dark tone, it firmly establishes early on that evil corporations are the enemy, and while the idea that corporations are not your friend and are actively murdering the planet is far easier to grasp in 2023, it feels like that realization hadn’t quite sunk in for most in 1993, and so cranking up the over the top evil just makes sense. Besides, this is the game where you’re playing 10-15ft tall furry murder machines who solve all their problems like they’ve got the Doomguy screaming RIP AND TEAR in their heads 24/7, so why not throw some over the top, capital E evil corporate fuckers into the mix. You know, as a treat.   Chapter Four: Encounters The Pack Player characters are part of a pack and should be used to the idea of pack cohesion, however in a war situation, pack cohesion and identity take on a new meaning. Garou warriors in the Amazon are not just a group, but a military unit. They must function as one, protecting and watching out for each other. Each pack must have a clearly defined leader, someone whose commands are obeyed without question during a battle. Of course, pack leaders can be questioned or challenged once back in camp, but on the battlefield, all Garou must fall in line, as to do otherwise is almost certain death for not only the individual, but the entire pack. ST’s should demonstrate the importance of this cohesion through NPC packs. While it can be challenging to balance the individuality of NPC’s needed for creative roleplay with the nature of military discipline, it is not so different from roleplaying any other wargame. Soldiers always have commanders, and they in turn have commanders above them and so on, and orders will often conflict with the personal desires of the players, but that is the heart of dramatic conflict. Multi-Tribal Packs Multi-tribal packs are not uncommon in the Amazon conflict, as most tribes send their favored packs to fight, but as pack members die, the gaps must be filled. Often these new recruits are the remains of other packs that have been decimated, and as the war has raged on, the original “pure” tribal packs have become conglomerates of the various tribes. This mixed coalition has added the necessary cohesion the Garou needed to fight the war, as inter-tribal conflict, normally a problem, has lessened considerably as the mixed tribal packs have fought side by side. A pack with a Sliver Fang, Silent Strider, Uktena, Black Fury and Bone Gnawer is a less strange sight to see in the Amazon conflict than it would be anywhere else. Pack Names Every pack needs a name to identify themselves, and in the Amazon, packs compete for Glory, living to howl their pack names around the fires of Moots. Missions are of course assigned to packs, not individuals, and thus a pack's name is a major part of stories told in the Amazon conflict. Players are encouraged to come up with the name for their pack together. Travel Times Sidebar When traveling through the rainforest, the players must decide who amongst them will lead the way. The leader then makes all the travel rolls listed below once per day.
Natives, or allies of local totems roll Intelligence + Survival difficulty 5, with 5 miles traveled per success, but can be increased as needed. Stories Provided are some story ideas for adventures in the Amazon. Besides these brief springboards, there are also two additional, more fleshed out adventures, the short “Rio by Night” and the full length “In Dreams and Nightmares” which tasks the players with stopping Pentex from destroying the lost city of El Dorado, as well as reintroducing the dastardly Samuel Haight. Using the Ghost Raptors Players will, and likely often, get into situations where they are outnumbered, outgunned and broadly speaking, straight up hosed. The Ghost Raptors make for an excellent deus ex machina when this happens, as the Balam are constantly reporting on Garou activities to the Raptors, it’s possible they’ll be notified of the players impending doom. Here are a few other ways the Raptors can be worked into your adventures:
Recon Missions Day Recon The players are sent to investigate a native village where Pentex activity is suspected. Upon arrival, the players discover the villagers are helpful and friendly, offering food and showing the players an area that was clear cut recently but has remained abandoned. The abandoned area still bears an echo of Wyrm taint, but otherwise is free of the Wyrm. After investigating the area, the villagers offer the players a place to sleep for the night, and if they accept, the true horror begins. As darkness falls and the moon rises, Banes descend on the village and possess the villagers, causing them to attack the players in an attempt to subdue them. Shortly after this initial attack, a First Team will move in, intent on capturing the players alive to gain information about Garou base camps. Night Recon The players are sent by the elders on a reconnaissance mission to a new Pentex camp, one located deeper in the jungle than the main HQ that Pentex is attempting to keep secret. The outer defenses of the camp involve roving patrols, watching Banes and various electronic detection systems. Once the players are past security, they find the camp appears to be like any other Pentex camp in the Amazon, with a stock of military hardware that reeks of the Wyrm. While the whole camp bears the taint of the Wyrm, the central tent is the greater focus of the taint. Peering into the Umbra reveals that the tent is surrounded by swirling Banes. If the players can get in close enough to see what the tent contains, they’ll discover the horrible secret of the camp. Within the tent is a massive metal pit surrounded by various electronic devices, tended by people dressed in protective equipment. Within the pit is a Thunderwyrm. Pentex has outfitted the creature with control devices they believe will help them direct the beast against the Garou. If the players could get their own claws on the control device, they could potentially unleash the creature on the camp to wreak havoc. Good luck with that. Thunderwyrm - Str6/Dex2/Stam6/Per3/Int1/Wits2/Ath3/Brwl3 It has 14 health levels before hitting Incapacitated, and is 25 feet long, ugly and extremely pissed about being told what to do. Recon Encounter While on a routine patrol, the players encounter a small, obnoxiously friendly monkey that chatters loudly and follows the players around. If anyone uses Sense Wyrm will learn the creature is Wyrm tainted. If they attempt to attack, the monkey will flee while attempting to lead the players into a Pentex ambush. If they do not attack, it simply observes their movement and reports their patrol patterns. It is only one of many spies that Pentex is sending out in preparation for a major assault on the Garou camp. Search and Destroy Missions The Rogue Pit The players are ordered to secure a section of jungle that Pentex has begun exploiting. The elders believe that Pentex forces have not yet dug in, and that the majority of the forces are simply humans who can be driven away before a First Team arrives. Would you be at all surprised that this is in fact, not the case at all? The players will be tracked and ambushed by a pack of BSD on their way to the site, and this ambush should seem totally unrelated to the mission at hand. Which….sure maybe a pack of BSD are going to just swoop in and start attacking a pack of Garou, but players are generally smart enough to make the connection. If the players get past the BSD and continue with their mission, they’ll soon discover that the “mere humans” are in fact another pack of BSD posing as Pentex grunts. The Dancers intend to despoil the area with toxins to create a Pit and are being led by a powerful Theurge who knows the Ritual of Caern Building, as this is a bit of virgin jungle. The Dancers want to create a base of operations away from Pentex to create their own second front. Pentex of course does not condone this, as they do not approve of splitting their forces, nor do the elders of the Hell’s Hand Hive. Nevertheless, the Dancer’s Pit needs to be investigated and eliminated before the base can be established. Unearthed Remains Word reaches the players that Pentex crews are in a tizzy about some kind of buried treasure they’ve found. It is then up to the players to get in, find the treasure and deal with it. They should be warned of the extensive security around the site, and that a stealthy night infiltration would likely be the best course of action. Once they arrive, the players notice that there’s a lot less security around the site than they expected. In fact, the post seems abandoned. Further investigation reveals the excavation site as well as a deep tunnel. If the players descend into the tunnel, they find a series of rooms with various treasures, mostly works of art that are several thousand years old. In the next chamber they find the scattered, broken remains of the Pentex crew. Then the sound of gunfire echoes from further down the tunnel. Should they go investigate the sound, the players will find the final room where the “Real” treasure Pentex was after is located. Standing in the center of the room, waiting for the players is an ancient Kindred that Pentex dug up and awakened. She’s holding an assault rifle that she’s just learned how to use. Killing this Kindred is not the only solution to this encounter. I wonder how ancient the authors intended. We talking like…Methuselah ancient or Antediluvian ancient? I’d assume the former because throwing an Antediluvian at the players, Garou or not, seems overly cruel. Finding the Traitor A Garou warrior has decided it means more to win than stand for a cause, and to that end has turned to the Wyrm and intends to join the BSD. This traitor has run off into the jungle and must be destroyed before they reach the BSD Hive. The players must race against the BSD to find the traitor who knows the jungle better than they do and has no intention of being found. Tunnel Rats Pentex has dug into their position, but how deeply they've dug has only now been discovered by the Garou after the recent capture of a secret Pentex base. The base was supposed to be a secondary Pentex Laboratories location until the Garou took it, however under all the major buildings are tunnels leading in various directions. The players are sent to investigate said tunnels. Not only do the players have to deal with the traps throughout the tunnels, but also the constricted space that makes combat more difficult. Even if they succeed, they may encounter the Bane infested giant rat that has been building the tunnels, as well as potentially discovering a Black Spiral Pit or even a Hive. Fomor Rat - Str3/Dex5/Sta3/Ath3/Brwl4/Dodge3 The rat has 4 health levels before being Incapacitated, and it is the size of a Saint Bernard. See and Flee The Garou have discovered a BSD Theurge who, with the assistance of willing sacrificial Pentex employees, is going to attempt a great ritual of some kind. The players need to sneak in close enough to the Pit to step sideways into the Umbra, see what’s happening and then get the hell out before they’re noticed. Easier said than done of course, as the players will have an entire Pit of BSD on their tails, the Umbra around the area is swarming with Banes, and finally, the thing the Theurge has summoned and bound bears a striking resemblance to a Nexus Crawler. Combat Encounters Air Raid While on a routine patrol, the players hear an odd buzzing. If they choose to investigate, or if they simply ignore it, the buzzing gets louder. They are then ambushed, becoming part of a Pentex combat test. The test involves Pentex’s new “Air Force”, said force is made up of 15 Wyrm tainted, and Bane ridden insects, most of which are mosquitos, along with a few giant locusts. These creatures are, on average, about 3 feet long, though some range from half a foot to 6 feet. Fortunately for the players, the Wyrm tainted bugs do not do Agg damage, however the Bane infested bugs do. A small First Team is nearby watching the “Test” take place and have been provided with fetishes that protect them from the giant insects. Giant Mosquitoes - Str2/Dex3/Sta3/Ath3/Brwl3/Dodge3 Attacks: Pincer Nose (Strength+2, can draw blood on a successful attack, which causes 1 level of Agg damage on top of normal damage.) It has 4 health levels before reaching Incapacitated, and their flight speed is 30 yards + Dex per turn. Giant Locusts - Str3/Dex2/Sta4/Ath3/Brwl3/Dodge2 Attacks: Chewing (Strength+1), Ram (Strength+3, the locusts fly into its target after spending 1 turn in flight. Damage is resisted by the targets Athletics +2, if the locusts win, the target is knocked down). It has 5 health levels before Incapacitated and flies at 15 yards + Dex per turn. Balefirefight Pentex has been burning large areas of jungle across the Amazon. The players are sent to the next site to be hit to attempt to stop it. Pentex of course is prepared for this, and when the players arrive, they encounter four Furmlings running wild amongst the trees, and heading straight for the players. Furmlings- AKA: Balefire Elementals, they appear as luminous blobs of napalm like plasma, glowing with an irradiated phosphorescence. Guard Duty The last few days have seen a rise in Pentex movements, and instead of being sent out on a mission, the players are asked to stay back for guard duty, as they are stationed at an outpost that coincides with an Umbral Glen. Just an uneventful night in the jungle, right?  At some point in the night, off in the distance, a howl can be heard, followed by another. The first is the Warning of the Wyrm’s Approach, while the second is the Call for Succor. If the players want to help, the direction of the howls is easy to track, and if that wasn’t enough to get the players moving, the sound of gunfire should. Anyone who goes to investigate will discover another pack that is outgunned and out maneuvered by a Pentex First Team of Fomori. A little stealth should turn the tables in the Garou’s favor. Once the First Team has been dealt with, the players find two of the other Garou are still alive, but badly wounded and in need of escort to safety. They are pups barely fresh from their Rite of Passage and are traumatized by the loss of their packmates. If the players left to help the other pack, a pair of BSD’s, a Ferectoi (AKA: Bane Children, high ranking Fomori) as well as several Banes move in to plant the seeds of corruption in the Glen, hoping to be in and out before the players return. If one player was left behind to guard the outpost, the attackers will attempt to take them out swiftly before continuing their mission. Investigation Dance of the Dead A Garou base is under siege in the Umbra, as spirits of long dead native Amazonians are attacking any who walk through the Umbra. The players are sent to the known burial grounds of one of the attacking tribes, where they must find the spirit of a tribal leader, who will inform them of the location of a secret burial ground. If the players decide to investigate the secret burial ground, they’ll find it guarded by four BSD and two Ferectoi. If the players can defeat them, they find nothing of interest at the site itself. However, if they step sideways into the Umbra, everything will become clear. In the Umbra, the players will meet the spirit of a young girl who is dressed in the robes of a tribal priestess, who appears to be sleeping, surrounded by Banes. These Banes are holding her hostage to blackmail the spirits into attacking the Garou. If the players free her, she will awaken and take the hand of the player who did the most to free her, and then lead them out of the Umbra before disappearing. Unknown to the players, the young girl has notified the other spirits of the players actions, and the pack will now have good luck in the jungle which manifests in minor ways, such as mosquitos being less bothersome, ease of travel through thick growth, etc. These bits of good luck should go on long enough that the players figure out that they have been bestowed honor for their actions. You know, the Garou base suddenly no longer being under siege would probably tip them off too. Rescue Missions The Captured Friend A Garou messenger has been captured by Pentex. She has information related to the location and methods intended for the next raid against the Megacorps. She must be returned to the camp or killed before the information she has can fall into Pentex’s hands. As she’s friends with the players, it’s only fitting they be the ones sent on the mission. The Trapped Theurge A Theurge has become trapped in the Umbra by Banes. While she has been able to use her powers to stay alive, she can’t return without help. The players are assigned to join the group being sent to battle the Banes, and the mission must be completed before Bane reinforcements can arrive. The Hostage Pups Pentex has kidnapped a litter of Garou pups and intends to use them in some kind of horrible ritual to bring a major Wyrm minion into the world. These pups are important, as divinations have revealed they will be important to the war against the Wyrm (broadly speaking), though no one is sure how. Of course, Pentex is using them as bait to lure and capture or kill as many Garou as possible. The pups in question, if they really are as important as some suggest, are likely a greater danger to the Garou than anyone knows, as they have undergone the Dance of the Black Spiral and have already been brainwashed. How much damage this whole affair inflicts depends on how the players deal with the situation. Before we jump into the two longer stories, I’d like to take a moment to comment on the ideas presented so far. I like most of these, as there’s a nice mix of different kinds of missions, although they all follow a similar path of “Mission brief, shits worse than expected, resolve” which isn’t a bad thing, this is a war after all so it’s not surprising that the Garou leaders would have incomplete information, or that Pentex would possibly feed them bad information to draw out Garou packs for slaughter. The Hostage Pups feels…a bit lovely really, considering its putting the emphasis on the lost pups instead of the players. I don’t expect every group of players to be the “Chosen Ones”, but it doesn’t feel great as an ST to have an idea presented that’s basically “Hey go fetch these NPC’s who are super important for vague reasons” when the players should be the ones who are the focus of things. Dance of the Dead is pretty good, and I could see that spinning out into something a bit more engaging, same for Guard Duty. Also, the Bane monkey is kind of hilarious and could easily be worked into something a bit more involved than what's presented. Our first longer story Rio by Night is, if the title didn’t tip you off, a crossover-ish story that brings Kindred into the Amazonian war. Rio By Night This story takes the players to Rio de Janeiro, shocking I know, where the players become entangled in Kindred affairs, while also having to deal with Pentex and learning about the unsung heroes of the war, the Glass Walker monkeywrenchers. Scene One: The Mission The players are called before Jurgen Krieg, their Battle Master (or whomever their Battle Master may be if you’re not using Jurgen). Who asks them to sit while he paces around, looking at them and thinking. Jurgen informs the players they need to go to Rio. If any of the players show relief or remark about a vacation, Krieg gets in that players face and shouts: quote:“This ain’t no beach vacation! You ain’t going to the Copacabana!” He then explains the mission in full, that Pentex is planning something, but so far, the Garou have been unable to figure out what, though they know that executives in Rio are being briefed on whatever this scheme is. The executives arrived two-days ago by boat and went straight to the HQ in downtown Rio. A monkeywrencher in the city was able to eavesdrop on some of the meetings before their connection was lost. It seems that Pentex is looking to build an alliance with the Kindred of Rio. As Jurgen explains, a war with the Kindred is a second front that the Garou do not have the resources to fight, and the potential loss of Rio would be crushing, especially considering the work the Garou in the city have already accomplished through the Earth Summit of ‘92 that took place in the city. The players are told that further details will be given to them by the Rio operatives and that their mission is strictly to defend the operatives, despite the protests of the Rio Garou, and ultimately, stop the Pentex/Kindred alliance from forming. Once dismissed, the players are met by a Glass Walker named Nathan Duskrunner who will be their escort to Rio. They are taken to the open Moon Bridge and prepare to leave for Rio. Before leaving, Nathan warns the players that they are not to antagonize the Rio Garou, as they get enough poo poo from the rest of the warrior Garou. The City  The players step through the Moon Bridge and arrive in an expensive-looking living room, which is part of a nice home with well-kept grounds visible just outside the window, and a security fence around the estate. The house is located on the Corcovado Mountain, and the living room’s massive windows give a beautiful view of Rio towards Guanabara Bay. There are six Homid form Garou standing around the room watching as the players enter, most appear to be rich residents of the city, some are of European descent while others are of mixed descent. These Garou do not speak to the players. Once everyone is through the Bridge, Nathan motions for the players to follow and leads them outside, across the lawn to a grove of trees. In the grove is a wrought iron table with a glass top and matching chairs where an old man sits, waiting for the group. Nathan stands behind the old man as he motions the players to sit. The old man introduces himself as Guiterrez, the leader of the Open Arms sept. He informs the players he’s not pleased about their arrival but is aware of the players orders and will not argue. He’s also willing to be hospitable but expects the players to simply follow and observe his people, not to interfere. If the players try to argue, he sneers and walks away. If they agree, he smiles and informs them that he has a guide who will take them around the city, then leaves. Nathan shows the players to their quarters in a guest hall separate from the building they entered. These guest quarters are nice and modeled after local resorts. Nathan asks the players to hang tight then leaves. After a bit, their guide arrives, an 18-year-old Lupine native of mixed descent with an infectious, broad smile, who introduces himself as Rough Tangent of the Glass Walker tribe, proudly proclaiming that he is the player's guide. Rough Tangent Breed: Lupus Auspice: Theurge Tribe: Glass Walkers Fetishes: Free Ride (lvl 5, Gnosis 6) a small alligator clip with a wire attached to Rough’s belt. When hooked up to a powerline, it allows Rough (and anyone touching him) to be instantly transported through the power conduits to the nearest transformer. Works like the Glass Walker gift Phone Travel Image: In Homid form he’s of mixed Brazilian and European ancestry with the aforementioned infectious smile. In Lupus he’s a shaggy brown wolf with white streaks Roleplaying Notes: Oh boy, are you excited! You’re tired of partying alone and now that these out-of-town Garou are here, it’s your chance to show off. Background: Rough was born to a she-wolf who lived in the shantytowns of Rio, surviving on whatever scraps she could find. The Open Arms Sept looked after her occasionally, hopeful she would one day bear a Garou, and when she did, they took the pup and placed him with Homid Kinfolk, and so Rough grew up more Homid than Lupus. He loves computers and their potential to reveal mysteries of spirits. He hopes that Rio will someday be a cutting-edge high-tech city. The Tour Rough takes the players out on the town, seeming desperate to show off the city, especially to any fellow Lupus. He makes numerous comments about how rare a city Rio is, one where humans know how to have fun. The players should figure out that despite Rough’s attitude and behavior, he is Lupus. Which….I mean…how? Other than buddying up to any Lupus players. I’m sure there’s a way for players to sense which breed other characters are and I’m just drawing a blank on it at the moment. The tour begins around 5pm, with Rough leading the players to minivan, warning that it is Gutierrez’s and quote:“If it gets so much as a tiny scratch, I’m history! Just kidding. No, really, have fun!” The players are driven down the mountain where they can see Christ the Redeemer above them. From here Rough drives the group around town, pointing out famous buildings including the site of the ‘92 Earth Summit. Once they reach Centro, the downtown district, he becomes quiet, and the van slows. Tall buildings, banks and corporate offices surround them. He stops the car and points to a building down the block on a corner, a rather nondescript corporate building with a plain logo above its door that reads “Allied Bank”. He informs them that this is a Pentex building. If any of the players attempt to get out of the van, Rough warns them that the building is well guarded. If they resist, he will remind them of their orders. Rough then takes the players straight to Copacabana Beach, parks the van and starts telling tall tales, regaling the players with his adventures and the legends of his sept. If the players need additional information about the city, now is the time to provide it, though they should time their questions just right, as Rough gets steadily more drunk as the night goes on. As the evening goes on, Rough begins rambling about things he’s not supposed to reveal, and the players can ask about Guiterrez’s plans, though if they don’t Rough will drunkenly brag about how this was all a diversion to get them out of town and distracted as Guiterrez doesn’t want a bunch of war heroes messing up his negotiations with Boyer. If any of the players ask who Boyer is, Rough suddenly realizes he’s said too much and reveals Boyer is the Prince of Rio’s right hand. Legends of Rio Sidebar
Scene Two: The Meeting The players can easily get Rough to spill the location of the meeting as well as directions. Despite the information they players have just gained, they’re still removed from the real action, as Rough was running his mouth, a group of Kindred were surrounding the meeting place while another group of Kindred were stalking Guiterrez while he waited for Boyer. The Kindred are responding to an earlier attack, as Boyer was ambushed by a pack of BSD’s before he even made it to the meeting spot. Since most Kindred don’t distinguish between Dancers and other Garou, the Kindred of the city now assume they are being hunted by Garou. The news of the war in Chicago (covered in Under a Blood Red Moon) isn’t helping this misunderstanding either. The city’s Kindred have either gone into hiding, or as the players will soon find out, taking the fight to the Garou. As the players and Rough leave the bar, they are surrounded by a group of men who appear to be a mix of locals and Europeans. In actuality they are a pack of Brujah who demand to know the location of the assassins who attacked Boyer. Rough argues no one was assigned to attack Boyer, as the Garou wanted the negotiations to succeed. The situation has the potential to turn out poorly unless the players intervene, especially a Philodox. The Brujah can provide a description of the BSD who attacked Boyer, who Rough will quickly identify as Dancers. The players should realize that Pentex is attempting to play the two sides against each other, but the Brujah don’t give a poo poo about who is or isn’t a Dancer, nor do they care about Pentex. Instead, they’ll gleefully report that Guiterrez is likely already dead and then attack the players. Because Rough is still trying to sober up, it’s up to the players to do their jobs and defend him. We’re given a small sidebar with stats for the Neonate Brujah, and all are armed with switchblades and light revolvers, but no silver. Once the Kindred realize they are outnumbered and can’t really do much damage without silver, they make a run for it. If the players pursue them, the Brujah make their way through the crowded beach. As long as the players are in Homid form, the crowd will just assume they are police chasing some locals and attempt to detain the players. If they’re in Crinos form however, Delirium will take effect, sending the beach going crowd into a panic. This impromptu riot will keep the players from catching their Kindred quarry. Either way, Rough informs the players they’ve got to get to the meeting asap and begs them to get into the van. If they don’t, he’ll take off without them. If one of the players tries to drive (Rough is still pretty drunk after all) a Wits/Dexterity + Drive roll will be required. The players arrive at the meeting place, a stretch of beach in Ipanema and Rough hops out. A group of Garou are gathered around the body of Guiterrez, along with two dead Kinfolk who have been ripped apart. Nathan looks up at Rough and the players and scowls, however any player who gets 5 successes on a Perception + Empathy roll will see that Nathan is ashamed, the realization that the players should have been here as ordered weighing on him. Nathan tells the players that they’ve been tricked by Pentex, and Rough shifts to Lupus to perform the Howl of Mourning. The other Garou present, except Nathan (and the players I assume) shift to Lupus and join the chorus. Nathan simply stands with his head hung in shame. Nathen points out that it’s clear Pentex is attempting to start a war between the Garou and Kindred, but it should be the players who suggest the next course of action. The sept simply wants to end the coming war. At some point, Rough will offer an idea that could help the players, explaining that Pentex keeps videotapes of all their meetings and planning sessions. As this was an obvious Pentex ploy, it would have been planned at the HQ, and if they could find the tape, they could show the Prince, potentially gaining an ally against Pentex. This may cause an argument to erupt about making deals with Kindred. Nathan, like the rest of the Glass Walkers, is none too bothered about the prospect of potentially dealing with the Kindred, as averting this new war is more important. Regardless of what the players may feel about the situation, they are still under orders to protect the Glass Walkers, and as Rough intends to infiltrate the HQ, the players have their mission before them. Scene Three: Corporate Assets Rough takes the players back to the Corcovado caern, telling them to catch a few hours' sleep. The next morning, he gathers the players and gives them business suits, noting that “These will help. Our Theurges worked all night on them. Don’t worry, they’ll fit.” The suits in fact, fit perfectly, as if they’d been custom tailored. Rough explains that the suits are bound with a spirit that exudes an aura of respectability and importance. If questioned about the nature of the spirits, Rough will be vague, claiming to be unsure. The truth is that he knows they are finance spirits, found in downtown Rio, and because they are Weaver spirits, he is reluctant to explain this to other Garou. The players are then driven a couple blocks from the Pentex HQ. Rough warns the players not to change form until he gives the all clear, and they make their way to the Pentex HQ, leading them to the front doors without hesitation. As a small group of businessmen make their way out, Rough holds the door open for them and smiles. Everything seems completely normal. Once inside, the players enter a huge lobby, people sit in plush chairs waiting for their appointments, while a bank of elevators lies dead ahead, flanked by security guards. Video cameras are mounted in every corner of the room. Rough says “Just in time for our appointment” to the players loudly enough for anyone nearby to hear and begins leading the way towards the elevator before stopping abruptly, spinning to face the players. Rough warns that one of the security guards is a Dancer that would recognize him. If the players don’t notice the bathroom nearby, Rough will and will subtly herd the group towards it. While it seems like this whole plan is falling apart around them, Rough points to the bathroom mirrors and suggests stepping sideways. The Web of Finance If the players have stepped sideways, they find themselves in the Umbral reflection of the bathroom, a considerably more ominous place on this side of the veil. The lobby outside looks more or less the same, except empty of people and Banes with glowing red eyes have replaced the video cameras. Rough leads the players to the stairs, which appear to be made of rickety wood. Once on the second floor, Rough leads the players into the first office available. The room is a large partitioned cubicle farm. The partitions appear to be made of spider webbing, and Pattern Spiders can be seen moving about repairing the bits of web. Looking into the physical realm reveals a mundane cubicle farm. Each cubicle contains a worker on a computer. Every time one of the employees attempts to look over a partition or speak with another worker, a Pattern Spider zips over and begins building another wall between the employees, ensuring the employees remain focused on their tasks. There are two open terminals in the room, and Rough makes his way to one of them. If a player decides to use the other open terminal, a Wits + Computer difficulty 7 roll will be sufficient to reveal the information they need. ST’s should consider adding additional information on Pentex to this revelation to set up further adventures. While Rough or the players are working on the computers, someone may notice that the Pattern Spiders seem to be getting agitated. Eventually one of them begins to approach Rough (or the player at the other terminal), readying itself to attack. Before it leaps, Rough completes what he’s doing and the spider simply stops, seemingly forgetting what it was doing before turning away and returning to its weaving. Rough informs the players they need to get down to “Storage Room 5” in the basement, then makes his way out, completely unfazed by the Pattern Spiders. If the players freak out at the spiders or something goes wrong, stats for Pattern Spiders are provided in the corebook. Scene Four: It’s Never That Easy At the bottom of the stairs is a door marked “Basement - No Unauthorized Entry”. Rough steps out of the Umbra with the players in tow. Once through the door, there is a dimly lit hallway, illuminated by weak light bulbs hanging from the ceiling at 15-foot intervals. To the right a few feet in is a door marked “Storage #1”. Rough points down the hall and leads the way. Nothing impedes the players trek down the hall, and Storage Room #5 is unlocked. However, there is a BSD guard just within the room, who has heard the players coming, and has activated a silent alarm. If the players don’t suggest caution upon entering, Rough is grabbed by the guard. If they are cautious, they can easily eliminate the guard. Either way, an alarm light is flashing in the storage room, and armed First Teamers are on their way. Once in the room, anyone who makes a successful Perception + Alertness roll at difficulty 7 sees rows of stacked VHS tapes. In short order, the First Team will arrive, made up of one BSD and four (or five) First Teamers. First Team Number 17 Goltrag Huolg An ugly BSD Metis, he is the First Team leader. Stats are provided for both Goltrag and the First Teamers  So, the players have potentially two BSD to deal with, as either the guard in the storage room grabs Rough when he barges in, or they sneak in and somehow the guard doesn’t just grab them despite hearing them coming down the hall with enough time to hit the silent alarm? If there’s a guard in the room who sets off a silent alarm, just treat them as a potential fight because it doesn’t make any sense that they would hear the players coming but suddenly be unable to hear them because they tried to sneak into the room. Now, if the players were being stealthy from the start, then sure, have the guard be taken off guard and maybe have the silent alarm be something they hit when the players come into the room as an “Oh poo poo” moment for the guard before they try to fight back. I’m not even asking for much here other than a bit of clarity with what is being suggested. Take the Tapes and Run During the fight, one of the players should try to find the tape instead of fighting. If they don’t, Rough will call one of the players and point to the wall of tapes. Intelligence + Enigmas difficulty 8 will allow the player to understand the filing system, and then a Perception + Alertness at difficulty 7 roll will allow them to find the tape. While all this is going on, Rough begins quickly inspecting the pipes in the room, looking for a power conduit. Once he’s found one, he begins unscrewing the panel and once opened (and the tape acquired) he’ll call the players to join him and grab on. Once everyone has grabbed hold, he uses his fetish and, in a flash, the players are transported two blocks away, materializing on the street. As the players and Rough make their way to the van (parked nearby because Rough was clever enough to park it near a potential escape route) security begins to pour out of the building searching for the players. Soon enough they’re on their way back to the Sept. Once arrived, Rough rushes in with the tape to Nathan, who thanks the pack then takes the tape to the Prince, asking the players to defend the caern against potential Kindred attack. Again, this seems like you could handle this fight better. Why not let the players spend a bit of time searching for the tape, knowing that security is on the way, and once they’ve found it, have the First Team break into the room, giving the players a chance to focus on the fighting while Rough prepares their escape, and if one of the players has a good enough Perception score, ask them to make the Perception + Alertness roll to notice Rough is doing something across the room away from the fighting. This way the ST doesn’t have to handle the chaos of combat and trying to run one player doing a search and an NPC futzing around with the pipes finding an escape route. Handling it this way would also potentially add tension to finding the tape because as I mentioned in my previous comments, either the first guard is caught off guard and hits the silent alarm in panic, or they hit it when they hear the players in the hall, so already we have the ticking clock of the incoming First Team, and once the players know the alarm was triggered, they’re going to try and get the tape ASAP. Of course, having one player search while the others are engaged in combat is more dramatic, but looking at it purely from the perspective of having to arbitrate combat and the narrative, I feel like having the goon squad show up after the players have the tape would be far easier, as that way they have the Maguffin they came for, but their immediate exit is now blocked by the First Team who just showed up. Tying It Up - Or Letting it Run From here it is up to the ST as to how things shake out. Does Nathan make it to the Prince to stop the impending war, or was this whole mission for naught? Will the caern be attacked by a group of Kindred while he’s gone? A Kindred/Garou war will complicate things for both the players and the ST, so it completely falls to the ST to decide how best to proceed, though this could potentially open up a crossover chronicle. Regardless of how things shake out, the Players and Rough will eventually be treated to a feast and victory Moot where they will be given the Renown they are owed, an invitation to stay in Rio as long as they like and a permanent invitation to return whenever they wish. Eventually the players will need to return to the Amazon, however. And that is the end of Rio by Night. I think this is a decent way to handle the crossover idea without attempting to do a crossover game. Involving Kindred in Garou stuff and vice versa is cool and fine, it’s just when you try to bring them together with players on both sides of things that it seems like utter chaos for an ST to deal with. I also like the bit about news of the Chicago war coming up, although if you hadn’t run Under a Blood Red Moon with your players, I feel like you could easily just swap Chicago for literally any other city that would be more relevant to your players, unless of course your primary game takes place in Illinois. The Orson Welles story is also a fun bit of lore, if only because it confirms that Orson Welles existed in the World of Darkness, which means his hilarious sparkling wine commercials also exist in the WoD. Is this a completely useless bit of trivia that has no bearing on anything at all? Yes. Is it something I personally find funny? Absolutely. I also like that the Battle Master pulls the “You’re not going to the Copacabana!” and then that’s literally where the players end up. Tomorrow: Samuel Haight finally shows up!
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Jul 16, 2023 15:53
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Infinity RPG: PanOceania Ten Cents Neoterra exists as the jewel of Tencendur System, both the political and cultural hearts of PanOceania and one of the single most important planets in the Human Sphere as a result. Very little is known about the planet's existence prior to about 1 billion years ago, as scientists have found that at that time, an extinction event occurred which drastically altered essentially every physical aspect of the planet and the life on it, based on fossil records and tectonic activity. This event has become popularly known as Zeus's Wrath. Around 1.5 billion years ago, one of the moons orbiting the gas giant Zeus fell into the gravity well of the planet and exploded on impact. The moon was about the size of Earth, and it was torn apart entirely, with most of the debris forming a huge asteroid field now surrounding Zeus...but not entirely. One large chunk of the moon was hurled into space and spent 500 million years falling through Tencendur system on a very erratic orbit. Eventually, it impacted Neoterra's southern hemisphere, causing the continental plates to buckle and wiping out the vast majority of life on the planet. What remained was nearly destroyed by 200 million years of active vulcanism and tectonic events. The biosphere that remains is, to this day, fragile and lacks in diversity, requiring constant effort by humanity to protect it. The weather patterns on Neoterra are still influenced by this ancient catastrophe. In the northern hemisphere, cold fronts on the Nostrum Ocean are common, overwhelming the warm and moist air from the south. The northern continents suffer extremely icy coasts and terrible blizzards as a result, as well as making extreme microclimates in the area around Bose Harbor and the other northern ports; these areas are significantly colder than the rest of the planet at essentially all times. Fishers work the Nostrum Ocean, harvesting wild reptilos, but deaths are not especially rare due to poor weather. The other rough ocean is the Samudra, which suffers heavily from tidal effects and is home to a whale-sized, glowing breed of reptilos which resembles a manta ray. These creatures are very curious and friendly and like to follow boats; sailors see them as good luck. The other two oceans, the Cook and the Australias, are much calmer and nicer, with extensive shipping and boat travel. The Australis is mostly cargo traffic on drones, while the Cook is more civilian and military vessels, and has been seeing a spike in piracy which the Hexahedron believes is the result of an enemy power, though they're not sure who. The oceans as a whole are extremely influenced by the tides thanks to Neoterra's twin moons. While most of the time, the moons counter each other's pull, every few decades they form a conjunction that instead amplifies the tides and dramatically alters the weather. These so-called Great Tides cause extreme weather all over Neoterra alongside extremely large, tsunami-like waves. Fortunately, ALEPH has extensively worked with PanOceania to develop infrastructure and tidal prediction algorithms to mitigate the damage the Great Tides can cause. However, they are imperfect, and occasionally the coastal cities of Neoterra will suffer billions in damage from the Great Tides. On a more positive side, the tidal activity during these periods makes for extremely good surfing, and Great Tide surfing is a source of great entertainment across the entire Human Sphere. All money brought in by surfing tourism is earmarked for charitable support of victims of damage from the Tides. A combination of Neoterra's fragile ecosystem and poorly planned development led to the total ecological collapse of Solitudo Island early in Neoterra's settlement. As a result, Neoterra's culture is very focued on ecological protections, albeit not to the extent of, say, Bourak. It's still a major focus, however, and ecotourism is a major industry. Almost all of Neoterra's native animals are from the same scientific family - a breed of warm-blooded lizards referred to as reptilos. They have filled most ecological niches in the past 500 million years, even jobs that on other worlds are more commonly done by insects. Reptilos are commonly divided into three types based on color - a deep red, an iridescent blue and an electric green. Each of these colors is absurdly hostile to the other two, but chemically, carnivorous reptilos are unable to consume the meat of reptilos of another color. The chief exception to reptilos dominance is the Spes Archipelago, which was largely spared the extinctions that the rest of the planet underwent. The islands are a shockingly diverse set of ecosystems when compared to the rest of Neoterra, full of jungles and rivers with many species found nowhere else. One of the most dangerous predator species on Neoterra is not even an animal, however: the trapper vine. It is a deadly plant which feeds itself on the bodily fluids of its prey, using poisonous thorns to paralyze animals that brush against it and vines which will reflexively grab creatures on contact, ensaring them so they can't escape. The vines tighten around prey, piercing them with the paralytic thorns, and the thorns then use reservoirs in their structure to drain the prey of blood and other fluids. Typically, an animal will survive one or two days of excruciating pain as the vines tighten around them more and more. Several subspecies of trapper vines exist, ranging in size from 'small and annoying garden pest' to 'apex jungle predator.' They move very quickly by plant standards, and attacks by trapper vines are an unfortunate problem for tourists, hikers and kids who aren't paying attention, with extensive Maya programs dedicated to trying to educate people on the dangers of the vines and how to avoid them. Also of note are the reptilos which take on the ecological roles normally held by birds. They are referred to as drakes and are exclusive carnivores, regardless of size or species. Some are large, some small, some brave and some skittish, but they all look fairly similar due to their shared wing structure - a long flight membrane that stretches between the forelegs and hindlegs. On the ground, they crawl with significantly less agility. One of the most common species is the Acalica, a species of drake that hangs on things by its hind legs and likes to live in large cliff-side colonies. They are popular pets on Neoterra, though you need to own around six to ten of them, as they're very social and get lonely easily. They're fairly small, about the size of a dog. The largest drakes are dangerous, as they are strong enough to carry off small animals or even young children. Next time: Earth 2: The Legend of Curly's Gold
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Jul 16, 2023 16:44
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It's interesting Amazon makes such a big deal of mixed tribe packs which has been the norm ever since... well, ever since. It'd be a rare group that I think would automatically default to all playing the same tribe.
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Jul 16, 2023 16:51
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quote:”This ain’t no beach vacation! You ain’t going to the Copacabana!” “This ain’t no party! This ain’t no disco! This ain’t no foolin’ around!”
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Jul 16, 2023 20:37
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joylessdivision posted:
This one seems like it could end up pretty funny if the players actually give diplomacy a go and now have the awkward situation of technically having a recently woken up Methuselah ally. Who they probably have to carefully keep a secret from all the other werewolves. Could potentially tie into the Rio adventure too.
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Jul 17, 2023 00:41
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Obligatum VII posted:This one seems like it could end up pretty funny if the players actually give diplomacy a go and now have the awkward situation of technically having a recently woken up Methuselah ally. Who they probably have to carefully keep a secret from all the other werewolves. Could potentially tie into the Rio adventure too. I imagine the Methusalah to be a slightly senile granny type who will unleash terrifying upper-level Disciplines against the Pentex folks trying to mess with "her puppies." I'd lik to play/run this campaign but with a First Team that broke loose from Pentex and are now doing their utmost to gently caress up the evil corporation that turned them into monsters.
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Jul 17, 2023 07:32
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Considering the short lifespan of most Fomori that would be a very high intensity campaign. Unless you're playing it classic X-COM, in which case let me know.
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Jul 17, 2023 07:38
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Joylessdivisions World of Dorkness Presents: Haighter's Gonna Hate: Part 3: Rage Across the Amazon Part 5 Now let’s get into the meat of things, the reason we’re here after all, is Samuel Haight, and by Gaia we’re finally getting the next installment of his adventure in In Dreams and Nightmares By J. Morrison  In Dreams and Nightmares revolves around the legend of El Dorado, as the players learn that legends often have some basis in fact and must attempt to save the fabled city from Pentex. This is a race against time as the players discover not only the importance of the lost city, but the truth about the city, its leader and its importance to the Amazon. Pentex has a head start and has left just enough clues behind that a clever player will catch on they’re on the trail of a villain they’ve encountered before. Samuel Haight has previously appeared in The Valkenburg Foundation and The Storytellers Handbook to the Sabbat, but as the author notes, neither of these supplements are required to run this story, as Haight’s background is provided later along with updated stats. Which, sure, you don’t need to run those previous adventures, but why bother running this story if you haven’t already introduced Sam? He’s literally the main villain of this adventure and treating this story as his introduction feels weird. Having said that, you could absolutely skip the story from the Sabbat book because Sam is essentially a cameo there, and just jump from Valkenburg to this without missing a beat, and if you’ve already run your players though Valkenburg or a modified version of it, then they’ll know who Sam is, which will make his appearance in this story have more weight. The Plot
What is Really Going On Haight is once again working for Pentex and has gained a position of power within the Megacorps. Pentex believes El Dorado is the site of a caern, as well as potentially the source of controlling the world’s gold market. What they don’t know is that El Dorado is not just a place, but a realm supported by the powerful Dreamspeaker who has protected the city for a millennium. Pentex is unaware that Haight knows about El Dorado the Mage and has every intention of stealing his power for himself. To assist him, Haight has gathered a group of First Teamers who all survived previous battles with the Garou. He’s also looking to gather a few more pelts, as Sam has Kinfolk who see the world as he does who are eager to join his newly created tribe. About El Dorado As previously mentioned, El Dorado is a Dreamspeaker Mage of great power that the world at large has forgotten about, save for the occasional legends surrounding his lost city and a king anointed with gold dust who shares the lost city's name. Centuries ago, when the Conquistadors invaded, they slaughtered the indigenous peoples as they searched for the fabled city of gold that the natives had described. They of course never succeeded. El Dorado made deals with the local Black Furies and Balam that he would come to their aid when needed if they would keep any Conquistadors from getting too close to the city. Both sides kept their bargains as more and more Spanish invaders entered the continent, but neither the Changing Breeds nor the Dreamspeaker expected that the golden king’s power would be detected by the Technocracy. The Technocracy sent their own agents into the jungles to find and destroy the city and the Dreamspeaker, but were never seen again. Seeing as this first attempt failed miserably, the Technocracy then sent a small army of Mages to assault the city, but instead of just attacking they instead performed a powerful ritual to “map” the city out of existence. This led to the city and its freshwater lake being shifted entirely into the Umbra, but in such a way that no one could enter or leave the realm. Once convinced that there was no possible way that this could possibly backfire at all, the Technocrats returned to Spain to proclaim their success. But the Dreamspeaker maintained his connection to Earth through dreams, and after many years he fed these dreams to a man who became obsessed with finding the lost city. In 1933, archeologist Joseph Herlech led an expedition into the jungles to find the lost city. He found it. With powerful magic and sacrifice, El Dorado had slowed the passage of time in the city and realm, and while three centuries had passed on earth, within El Dorado, only thirty years had passed. Herlech was not allowed to leave, for fear that his discovery would alert the Technocracy. Unfortunately, by reconnecting the realm to the earth, Dorado’s own time slowing spell was broken. During this time Dorado had been experiencing visions of a dire future of the rainforest and knew that he must do all he could to prevent it from coming to pass. To achieve this, he placed himself into an ageless sleep with the magical gold dust that he had used to coat his body. Now he remains sleeping, using his mental powers to leave his body and roam the Amazon, reincarnating into various animals and other living entities with a connection to Gaia. The Black Furies who once served him remain in the realm, protecting the sleeping Mage and only leaving the Umbral realm when necessary, and these Furies were the source of the rumored Amazonian warriors of the continent. Dorado has also visited Garou elders in dreams, advising them on potential risks when he was aware of them, and warning that their current course of action is detrimental to the jungles. The elders do not always agree with Dorado, but understand he is helpful, and they will do what they can to assist him in his time of need. That time is now, as the Wyrm’s corruption has made in-roads into South America, and Atahualpa, a Balam who knows the location of the lost city is now corrupted by the Wyrm, and has told Pentex all she knows. Now they have plans for the vast gold resources in the realm. Theme Greed. It is greed that will destroy the last bastion of Amazonian myth, shattering a once powerful city and the Mage who has protected and served Gaia. Mood Desperation. The Amazon is falling to Pentex, and one of the few truly powerful allies the Garou has is about to fall, unless the players get there in time (they won't). The secondary mood is Revenge, as the Skinner has returned, offering the players a shot at retribution. But Samuel Haight is no fool and has proven he’s a crafty enemy already. He knows his enemy's weaknesses and how to hurt them psychologically as well as physically. While the players likely want revenge on Haight, he in turn wants revenge on all Garou. If the players haven’t met Haight yet, they may have heard bits of his legend. Players can make an Intelligence + Occult role to remember these bits and pieces of information, and a Galliard player may have heard a story or song related to the Skinner. If all else fails, an NPC can fill the players in on any relevant information. Which as I already pointed out, seems like a bunch of unnecessary work to introduce a character into your Chronicle when you could have just run “Skins” first and already have Haight established with your players. Scene One: Down Behind the Lines The players have been tasked with guarding the caern’s bawn (border area), a duty fraught with danger as Pentex is actively looking for caerns in the area, and the players have been chosen after the elders received word of the increased patrols and search parties. Soon enough, the players are engaged in a battle with First Team #13, composed of five lightly armed members who are on a reconnaissance mission. Despite their light equipment load, they are still potentially dangerous, and are unaware that they have been set up. Haight has become tired of the backstabbing going on amongst the local Pentex leaders, backstabbing that Haight normally wouldn’t pay much mind to, other than it seems all the knives are directed at him. One of the less subtle moves made by the executives has been fueling a rivalry between Haight and Roland Thompson, the leader of First Team #13. Thompson is accustomed to getting his way in the Pentex camp, but with Haight’s arrival, that has changed. Haight for his part has been getting the run-around from the Board who cannot understand how Haight has risen in the ranks of the company, nor do they condone the motley crew that Haight has brought to the Amazon with him. To fuel the rivalry between the two men, the Board has been acquiescing to Haight’s wishes, and making it clear to Thomspon that the equipment and privileges he is now being denied are being given to Haight. As far as Thomspon is concerned, Haight is the source of all his current problems, and has made it perfectly clear to Haight just how much he resents the Skinner. Plans were originally made for First Team #13 to go in search of El Dorado, but with Allred’s help, Haight vetoed this move and took the task on himself. While Haight is the more capable of the two men to lead the expedition and assault, this had little to do with why he was given the task. This has left First Team #13 with the dangerous task of scouting out caerns. Elliot Meiche (remember him!) is pissed about Allred snatching the Amazon project from him, and has been making moves of his own, including allowing messages to be “discovered” by the Garou. He’s determined to destroy his rival and in-turn has assured that Haight will get his chance at power, but with Garou hot on his heels. Haight is unaware of how deep the rivalry with Thompson really goes, as Thompson is hell bent on making Haight look bad, going so far as to sell out Pentex to make sure that Haight fails. One of the First Team members should be captured by the players, and this prisoner (or prisoners) will then attempt to barter information for their lives. Whether the players take the deal is up to them, but they should at least be willing to listen. So, the players should snag this Thompson guy is what I’m gathering here. The information the prisoner gives is this: An assault on El Dorado has been planned, not only to attack it but to utterly wipe it from existence. If the players don’t believe the information, the prisoner will suggest that they speak with one of the local Garou of their camp to verify the veracity of the story, and that right now a heavily armed First Team is making their way to the lost city with the assistance of Kindred. Again, it’s up to the players if they wish to keep the prisoner alive after gaining this information, but they should at least consider the information they’ve been given. The players should also take into consideration if the prisoner has seen the caern, as well as if killing the prisoner is an honorable action. If a Children of Gaia player gives their word that the prisoner will be spared and still takes part in killing the prisoner, they will lose Honor in the eyes of their tribe. If the players choose to take the prisoner back to their Battle Master without first checking them, they will inadvertently lead another First Team assault to the caern later, as the prisoner is outfitted with a radio tracking device. The information gained from the prisoner is important enough that the Battle Master should be informed, and when presented with it, Jurgen (if using Jurgen) takes the news poorly, grumbling and bitching to himself before declaring that the information is too important to make a decision on alone, and that it should be put to a vote. The players are then sent to meet the War Chieftain who is also displeased with the news. The War Chieftain then sends the players, along with a scout pack to the Hollow Heart Caern. This gives ST’s an opportunity to explore the Garou chain of command as the players are asked repeatedly to tell their story until finally reaching Golgol, who takes the news about as well as every other authority the players have informed. But at least Golgol offers direction. He explains that El Dorado has spoken to him in dreams, and that he has offered aid when able, and now the Mage must be warned of what is coming, but that no Moon Bridge exists to the realm. The players are provided with a map that details the immediate area as well as the fastest route to the lost city, approximately three days travel from where they are. The players are then given the order to get to El Dorado before Pentex and warn the Mage of the coming assault. If there are no Black Furies in the group, Golgol will provide them with a fetish that will allow them to enter the realm without being attacked on sight by the Black Furies who defend it. If there is a Black Fury player, this is not necessary.  The players are then sent on their mission with praise for the information they’ve brought and the hope that they are not too late. First Team #13 Sgt. Roland Thompson Position: Team Leader Image: The perfect straight man, Thompson looks slightly stupid, and slack faced, carrying himself with an appalling lack of bearing. Truth is that he slumps slightly because he’s always relaxed, maintaining a state of body and mind best used for performing martial arts. He appears non-threatening. Roleplaying Notes: You don’t much like or trust anyone who isn’t part of your team. You’ve learned all too well how easily those around you can stab you in the back, and as a result, you have no hesitation to do the stabbing first. Background: Thompson spent much of his life moving around the world from military base to military base, the son of a career soldier and a mother kept busy with numerous hobbies. By fourteen he’d become a perpetual problem child, getting into fights and bullying younger kids. When the Allred Military Academy offered to take him in and teach him the errors of his ways, his parents jumped at the opportunity. Trained by the best teachers' money could buy, the Allred Academy, a division of Pentex, taught Thompson to be a killing machine while appearing perfectly sane, like numerous other children before him. The few times Thompson returned to visit his parents; they were stunned by the changes. Gone was the disorganized, emotional mess of a child, replaced by a disciplined, clean-cut and seemingly loving child. The day after his graduation, Thompson sabotaged his parents' car and waited to collect his inheritance. He’s worked for Pentex ever since and has become an efficient First Team leader. Tanya Woo Position: Second in Command/Demolitions Expert Image: A stocky “Oriental” woman, she’s muscular with a bit of a soft gut. Her black hair is beginning to go gray, and she often flashes a quick smile. Roleplaying Notes: You’re almost always smiling, because you are usually thinking about how lovely it will be to watch everything burn. You’re also a bit distracted by these images in your mind, and of the memories of the things you’ve burned before. Background: The first time Tanya smiled was when she set her pesky brother on fire. The gag in his mouth kept him from screaming, and the tape around his wrists and ankles kept him from thrashing around too much. He should have never raped Tanay. Of course, the rest of the family had to go too, they would have told someone about the fire. Tanya has been running ever since, and now she gets paid to burn things. Woof. The term is ASIAN you FUCKS. Also, not great that we just throw in some incestuous assault in there, but at least the fucker got cooked? Abraxas Position: Fomor Agent Weapons: “Oh none for me, thanks” Powers: Immune to Delirium, Exoskeleton, Body-Barbs, Lashing Tail Image: Abraxas is a big boy. Standing at 12 feet tall and nearly as wide, his body is covered with a thick, horned hide colored glossy black with a face with just enough room for eyes above a large beak that has replaced his mouth. Like an insect, his skin is segmented, allowing him to squeeze into incredibly narrow spaces as well as being able to pass through trees that are only inches apart. Recently, a thick syrupy fluid has been leaking from inside his body. No one has bothered to explain that he’s dying. He’d be considerably less willing to fight if he knew.  Roleplaying Notes: Don’t talk, kill Background: Few would believe Abraxas is only 16. No one so young should be his size. He decided to run away from home a year ago, and unfortunately ran directly into a Wyrm-hole when looking for shelter from an approaching storm. The three hours he spent there caused numerous changes to the boy, and he would have gone completely insane if he hadn’t been found by Pentex. They provided him with food and shelter, while the First Team provided him with companionship. The continuing mutations he’s experiencing have removed three health levels from him permanently, and he will be dead by the end of the year if this metamorphosis continues. Jack Sardis Position: Heavy Artillery Image: Balding and scarred, Jack has seen the results of exploding artillery from less than two feet away. Burn scars cover 80% of his body and his smile carries the promise of pain for his enemies. Roleplaying Notes: Your only friends are the other First Team members you're with at any given time. Presently you’re only carrying two silenced heavy pistols, and you feel a bit naked without a mortar cannon. Background: Jack returned from Vietnam with a permanent attitude adjustment. Missing the sound of artillery led him to becoming a mercenary and he’s been fighting ever since. Scene Two: Day One (Run Through the Jungle)  In this scene, the players are trekking through unfamiliar patches of jungle to beat the First Team heading for El Dorado. The jungle is thick with undergrowth, and the perfect place for Haight’s first traps. After a few hours of travel, the players find the faint path that Haight’s caravan has been on. Checking the map confirms it leads to El Dorado. This is, however, a trick, as only some of the First Team and supplies came this way, a group of Stragglers, made up of locals hired to haul supplies for Haight. The Skinner has scouted the area and personally chosen the best spots to place traps as well as hiding the Stragglers. Any players with Heightened Senses has a good chance of recognizing Haight’s scent (Perception + Alertness difficulty 8). If the scent is recognized, especially if the players have previously encountered Haight, the player will regain one Rage point automatically. Haight is of course prepared for any possible contingency and is leading any pursuing Garou down the wrong path, but simply leading them along the wrong path is not enough, as he needs their skins as well. Following the trail will lead the players to two things, the first is off the trail of Haight and into a field where traps have been set to maim and destroy as many Garou as possible. Second, they will alert Haight that he has Garou on his tail. Following the path or going around the area will lead the players into an area of thick growth, where the traps are laid, with an obvious path having been hacked through the area. Past the initial wall of growth are carefully laid claymore mines, spaced approximately two yards apart for the next 20 yards, and are detonated by trip wires (Perception + Alertness at difficulty 9) each mine does seven levels of non-agg damage. There are also silver coated caltrops concealed in boxes in the trees triggered to drop their loads onto the ground below. Wires below the boxes can be detected with the same roll as the other tripwires at the same difficulty. When the caltrop boxes are triggered, ST’s roll five dice against the difficulty of the players Dodge+3, with one success equaling one caltrop hitting the player, causing one level of Agg damage on contact. While these won’t likely hit most of the players, they are instead intended to slow them down. If the players haven’t yet figured out that Haight is involved, but have encountered him already, the traps should tip them off to who is behind things. Additionally, there are several snares made of stainless steel, woven with silver set up. These also require the same roll as noted above to notice and require a Dexterity + Dodge roll at difficulty 8 to avoid triggering, though there are only three of these set up. The snares cause one level of agg damage each turn they are in contact with a Garou’s body. If players shift into their natural breed form, the snares will not affect them. Cutting the cords requires five levels of damage. Haight’s final surprise is in fact, half of the traps in the area. Haight has planted “Howlers”, non-threatening devices that cause a loud explosion followed by high pitched, piercing screeches. Anyone with Heightened Senses active will be deafened by this as well as potentially falling to Frenzy (Resisting frenzy difficulty is lowered by one for this roll) and going into a fox frenzy in a minefield is a very bad idea. While it’s unlikely the players will be killed by any of these traps, they are more likely to be severely injured and any who are still frenzying are likely to encounter the final line of defense on the other side of the growth, two Stragglers armed with assault rifles. Any players who come out of the trapped field in a frenzy give the Stragglers an automatic initiative advantage. Luckily for the players, these two Stragglers only have five silver bullets each. The bad news is that they’re sharpshooters. Six successes on a jump attempt are needed to reach the Stragglers hiding in the trees, and they have a +2 difficulty to attempt to hit them because of the partial tree coverage. Sharp Shooting Stragglers Weapons: H&K G3 (five silver bullets total per weapon, 4 normal clips), Combat knife, Colt. 45 auto (two normal clips) These Stragglers have been promised a bounty of $5,000 for each Garou they bring back to Haight, provided the pelts are intact. Everybody needs extra money, and these guys intend to bag as many Garou as possible. They are the only two survivors of First Team #18 Scene Three: Day Two (Meet New Friends) The players are likely injured at this point, and so letting them rest a bit is a good idea. As night falls, there are no lights in the distance, and the little light they have comes from the stars above and the sliver of a crescent moon. This should not be a restful night however, as the jungle is full of unusual sounds, distant shrieks and odd shadows. When morning comes, the jungle is oppressive, while the trees surrounding the players are the same, the air feels heavier, and the temperature has made it difficult to breathe while the sky is filled with clouds threatening rain. After the players have traveled for about an hour, the rain comes, heavy and with lightning dancing across the sky and thunder shaking the ground. After several more hours of trudging through the torrential downpour and mud, the rain passes. While there is a danger of quicksand here, the players should have no issue rescuing each other should any of them become stuck, as none of the quicksand areas are large enough to swallow more than one Garou at a time. With the sun setting on their second day, the players encounter the remaining four Stragglers, entirely composed of Fomori. This group has no other goal than destroying the players. While they were also offered the bounty for Garou hides, Haight also informed them that it is more important to keep the Garou from reaching El Dorado. This group is fanatically faithful to Haight and will do their best to not only kill the players but keep their pelts intact. While the players may not be strong enough to battle this group of Fomori, ST’s should make sure that the odds are even, either through removal of some of the Fomori, or having them switch sides. Which contradicts the previous bit about them being frantically loyal to Haight. Just don’t throw more Fomori at the players than they can handle I suppose. Once the battle is over, and the players are victorious, the sun has set again, and the players should take this opportunity to rest and recover. The rain should continue throughout the battle to really enhance the drama. More Stragglers Abigail Peabody, “Drowner” Image: Surprisingly normal in appearance, she has light brown hair and dark brown eyes with oddly pale skin. Roleplaying Notes: Nothing delights you quite as much as watching a Garou slowly suffocate. Your primary attack is taking your Plasmatic form and forcing yourself down a Garou’s throat. (This attack is a resisted roll of Dex + Brawl vs Target’s Stamina + Dodge, 3 or more successes allows Abigail to force herself down the target’s throat. Damage is equal to her Strength and works as Suffocation or Drowning per the corebook rules. This is non-agg damage, but cannot be healed until successfully breaking free) When there are too many people around to indulge this pleasure, you transform into your Plasmatic form and strike as many as possible with your Infectious Touch. Laugh shrilly whenever you connect with a target. Background: Abigail was Kinfolk, though she never knew it. Her parents died in a car accident when she was young, and she bounced from one foster home to another. At 19, she had the misfortune of drawing the attention of an Odyssey research team while volunteering for college experiments to pay for school. Odyssey remade Abigail, explaining that the Garou are vile creatures that desire the death of all humans. Everything she’s experienced, including the deaths of her original First Team has convinced her that Odyssey was correct in this assessment. She was originally part of First Team #22. Lance White, “Fatso” Image: Fatso lives up to his name and more, weighing just under 800 lbs. and buried in greasy, seeping flesh, his hair has fallen out leaving open sores. His skin has taken on a reddish tone with purple streaks from the stretch marks. He’s got breath strong enough to knock a bird off a poo poo wagon. Roleplaying Notes: Chuckle to yourself often, and swing at your enemies with all your might. If you succeed in killing an opponent, dig in and chow down! Garou make for good eatin. Background: Lance was always heavy and always on one diet plan or another. Then one day he found out about the Iliad Project and what he thought was a weight reduction program. He was terribly wrong. His previous team, First Team #36 was entirely wiped out except for himself and Eel. Charles Grammercy, “Eel” Powers: Extra limbs, Body Barbs, Umbral Passage, Claws and Fangs, Hide of the Wyrm Weapons: Why bother? Image: Extremely gaunt with sleek black skin, he is entirely hairless, and his face resembles that of an eel. Spurs of bone erupt from nearly every joint in his body, many leaving a crust of blue scabrous material where they erupt. The spurs are new, and he hasn’t decided if he likes them or not. Roleplaying Notes: you almost purr when you talk, and you like the way you look (I guarantee it). You are extremely grateful to Pentex and will gladly do anything for them. Background: When doctors told Charles he only had a few months to live, he took it extremely poorly. Who wouldn’t? When the Iliad Project offered a slim chance of recovery, a chance to beat the AIDS virus that was destroying him, Charles jumped at the chance. Whatever the chemical stew they injected him with was incredible, as his whole body felt revitalized. Less than a week later the more serious changes started to occur. Charles is extremely grateful for the second chance at life, even if it’s a life destined to be very different from the one he knew. He’s willing to do anything for Pentex, after all they saved him from his worst nightmare, a slow agonizing death. He was always someone who preferred the idea of going out in a “blaze of glory”. Meeks Chimera Powers: Shapeshifting, Extra Limbs (adds 6 dice to multiple attacks only), Claws and Fangs Image: Meeks has chosen to be female and typically appears as an attractive woman with long blonde hair and blue eyes. Roleplaying Notes: Pick your targets carefully, find the most injured among the enemy and shape yourself to their exact image. Apologize profusely for what you’re about to do, as it hurts you to kill Garou; they’ve always been friendly to you in the past. This job bothers you, as you’ve always liked the Garou, but the only way to get your mate back is to assist Pentex in their Amazonian efforts. Though if you ever find Robert Allred on the street, he’s a dead man. Under no circumstances will you harm a follower of the Chimera, and will attempt, using facial expressions, to express that you wish to do no harm. If the tide of battle has turned against the Garou, she will beg the Garou she attacks to simply play possum. Background: Meeks doesn’t like Pentex, but she simply has no choice in the matter. If a Garou were to offer her assistance, she would switch sides without hesitation, as she believes the Garou to be honorable. There is no honor in Pentex, only pain. She believes her mate is held by Allred and feels she has no other choice than to aid Pentex in their schemes. The truth, however, is that Elliot Meiche was the one who held her mate Tobora, but he was destroyed to gain information about the Chimera race. Arthur Barrister Image: With slimy skin covered in puss filled blisters, of the four First Teamers, Arthur looks the most like a Wyrm creature. He has no legs and a long tail that slithers across the ground. His eyes are wide, and his mouth is filled with cilia (microscopic, vibrating hair like structures usually found on small organisms) instead of teeth. Roleplaying Notes: Kill, Kill, Kill! Background: Arthur is the illegitimate son of Robert Allred, who didn’t like the idea of illegitimate children or lawsuits. Allred had the newborn and mother captured by a First Team and personally delivered them to the Iliad Project. Poor Arthur has been in Pentex’s hands for the last fifteen years, and only Samuel Haight and the other Fomori have ever shown him kindness without squirming at the thought. Scene Four: Day Three (Hardships Untold and Dangers Unnumbered) The storm clouds have darkened, robbing the morning of the first light. The only hint of the dawn is the pale outline through the clouds, as the rain is so heavy the leaves bend under the weight. In the far distance, the players hear a roaring, rushing sound. A small creek has become a raging river. Occasionally the sky is lit by blasts of lightning that stretch across the horizon. The map the players have been using is now soaked, but readable. The path they’ve been following is gone, and the only option is to continue pushing forward. Here in the deep jungle, Gaia’s pain and rage is a very real danger. After a few hundred feet of travel, the players notice the sound of the river is growing closer. Flood waters have raised the river beyond its normal banks, and trees have become submerged in the raging waters. Dying Glade Spirits can be seen in the depths of the trees that are hurled aside by the foaming waters. If the players are foolish enough to try and swim across the river, they need to gain 5 successes on a Strength + Athletics roll at difficulty 7 for every 10 feet they cross. At its narrowest, the river is 50 feet across. Failure means the player has been dragged a mile by the water, while botching means they have become stuck in high-speed debris and knocked senseless for two turns. Any more than two consecutive botches results in the player being knocked unconscious by the repeated impact. If the players have no rope, they can attempt to force a tree down to make a bridge. While the trees in the area are tall enough for the task, crossing the river in this manner without falling requires Dex + Athletics difficulty 7. If the players have rope, they can use it to attach to the trees as anchors (and the difficulty is reduced to 5). If anyone falls from this potential tree bridge, consult the corebook for drowning rules. The river is likely to severely delay the players, and once past it, the ground begins to incline, though it is not steep. Five accumulated successes on an extended Dex + Athletics roll at difficulty 7 is required to climb up the water slick hill. Failure means a tumble back down the hill and further delay in reaching El Dorado. Botching sends the player back down into the river, forcing them to attempt the climb again. Beyond the hills, there is a sheer cliff face that drops down into a deep valley. This is where El Dorado once existed in the physical world. The cliff face has enough cracks and crevices that climbing is possible, but with winds in excess of 30mph and the torrential downpour, climbing will be like attempting to climb oiled glass. The cliff face is extremely steep, and the drop is over 200 feet. 20 cumulative successes are required to climb down (same roll as above, difficulty is 8) with each success equaling 10 feet have been scaled. Botching at any point in this extended action means the player has slipped and fallen. ST rolls 1 die of damage for every 10 feet the player falls. This is normal damage and can be soaked. If the players have rope, the difficulty of the climb is reduced to 5. The valley below is a substantial area, appearing more like a crater from above and the forest is densely packed in the valley. Towards the center of the valley a column of stone can be seen, but from the valley floor the pillar is blocked by the trees. This stone is, according to the map, the player's destination. After reaching the valley floor, the players have one final challenge to deal with, Ballengash of the Balam, who is not used to seeing Garou in his territory, other than the occasional Black Fury. If the players have a Black Fury member or show the fetish to Ballengash, he will let them pass through his territory, however if any of the players act contemptuously, the Balam will make their lives a living hell. Samuel Haight has already passed through this area, and while Ballengash is aware someone crossed through, he’s unaware of who it was. If the players attempt to pass into the Umbra, they will find it difficult (Gauntlet 7). The players should remain civil towards Ballengash or find themselves harried. If the players are civil, he’ll lead them directly to El Dorado’s realm. If they have upset him, he will instead step into his Den-Realm and begin making sudden sneak attacks against them while drawing them slowly away from their target. ST should roll Ballengash’s Manipulation + Enigmas vs the Wits + Enigmas of the players to succeed in his misdirection's. If he decides to lead the players away from the lost city’s entrance, he’ll attempt to get them hopelessly lost. If successful, he’ll stop bothering them and simply keep a close eye on them. If that fails, he’ll use guerrilla warfare tactics. He is extremely defensive of his territory and will fight to the death to protect it. If the players take the time to explain their mission, Ballengash will aid them in any way possible as he considers El Dorado a friend. Ballengash  Tribe: Balam Age: 32 Rank: 4 Image: In homid form, he is a dark-skinned man with long black hair and greenish-gold eyes, dressing in a traditional style of ceremonial kilt and long feather decorated cloak. This attire has been chosen in case anyone of importance visits. While he won’t admit it, he believes the Garou are important visitors to his area. He also wears an ornate headdress of cloth woven with gold and feathers, with a golden jaguar's head as the centerpiece. In Crinos, he is over 8 feet tall with light brown fur. Roleplaying Notes: You will wait to be formally addressed by the Garou, it is only proper. They are entering your territory and should request permission. You will not speak unless spoken to, and you love to stare intently at Garou. You enjoy it when they’re nervous. Always smile before answering questions and snarl when insulted. Background: Ballengash has always lived in this valley, having only left once, and even then, he returned as quickly as he could. He knows the precise location of El Dorado and has been to the realm many times. The Black Furies respect him and don’t care about the gold he pilfers from time to time, as the gold is everywhere in the realm and of little use to the Furies. Scene Five: Lost or Won, the Race is Done  With or without Ballengash’s assistance, the players finally made it to the entrance to the El Dorado realm. The entrance is well hidden, fifteen feet off the valley floor on the side of the stone column. The column itself is 40 feet tall, and the majority is entwined with vines, making it appear like any of the other trees in the area, unless a Perception + Alertness roll (difficulty 6) is made. The entrance is only open at night and can only be reached by climbing the side of the pillar that faces the moon. The Dorado Realm The entrance to the realm opens a foot and a half into the stone column, though the realm itself is extremely large, in fact it’s several times larger than the entire valley itself. When the players enter, it is night within the realm, but there is no storm. The air is sweet with the distant smell of cinnamon, and the air is drier and cooler by about 15 degrees. Upon crossing through, the players find themselves standing on a stone shelf. A hundred yards from this shelf is a gaping chasm that reaches off towards the horizon on either side. To the north is a primordial jungle with impossibly tall trees, and it is from there that the cinnamon scent is emanating. To the south, but closer than the jungle is an immense lake. Directly across from where the players are is a chasm and across the chasm lies El Dorado, a quarter mile or more away, bathed in moonlight. Near this idyllic vision is one of abject horror, as there are two dead Garou lying in pools of their own blood, skinned. They were Black Furies of the El Dorado Sept of Gold. If the players met Haight previously, but somehow still haven’t figured out that’s who they’re chasing, the two skinned Furies should finally tip them off to who they’re dealing with. If the players have never dealt with Haight previously (again, why would you do that?), an Intelligence + Occult roll at difficulty 8 will tell them this is the work of the Skinner. All players gain an automatic point of Rage for this heinous crime, and any Black Fury players gain three points of Rage. Off in the distance, the sounds of gunfire and howls of pain can be heard. The players now need to figure out how to cross the chasm. On the nearest side they will see a bridge that has been broken and now dangles uselessly. They can either run a mile and a half to the deep forest, or run to the edge of the lake, half a mile away, then swim another mile until they can reach solid ground. Either way, they’re being delayed. The Chasm The chasm is easily a thousand or more yards across and has steadily grown over the centuries. The shift into the Umbra of such a large area caused minor flaws in the land, and the chasm is the result, with the bridge existing nearly since the time of the original shift. The chasm is bottomless, and anyone foolish enough to attempt to climb down it will find themselves in an entirely different part of the Umbra. There are also no other entrances to the realm than the main entrance the players used, so any who fall or climb down the chasm would have to make their way back around to the main entrance of the realm, a several months long journey. There is also a powerful waterfall where the chasm meets the lake, though because this is the Umbra, the lake is never drained, no matter how much pours into the chasm. Swimming Lake Parima If the players attempt to swim across the lake, they will encounter a powerful undertow that pulls them towards the chasm. If they simply dive in, they’ll discover the undertow is as strong as the river they crossed previously, leading to an extended action of four rolls: Strength + Athletics or Swimming, difficulty 7. 15 successes are needed to clear the shortest distance between the two shores. Botching means the difficulty goes to 9, while a second botch brings the difficulty to 10, and a third botch sends the player over the falls into the chasm. A Strength + Athletics roll at difficulty 8 (with 3 successes) will allow the player to grab the edge of the chasm and climb back up. At which point they would have to attempt the crossing again. “Dog paddling” across the lake lowers the difficulty to 5 (or 4 in Lupus form), and if they have rope and use it to chain themselves together, they can make the crossing without serious risk. It should take the players approximately half an hour (story time) to run the half mile and swim the distance. The Forest of El Dorado The forest is not a traditional jungle, but an Umbral jungle. When this area of jungle was separated from earth, the curiosities that lived inside were well known. When the area was mapped out of existence, it also removed the denizens of the jungle with it. Now the Realm of Dorado is the only place these beings exist. If the players ask these curiosities for assistance, they will receive it. Ignoring them will mean they are ignored in response, and if they attack, they will be met with force. Creatures such as reptilian beasts scurry from the players as they approach, boars the size of economy cars lumber in the distance, and strange monkeys with snake-like fangs watch from the trees. The trip through the jungle is relatively harmless and takes 30-40 minutes without assistance. However, the Ewaipanoma know shortcuts to the city that could get the players there in about 10 minutes. Ewaipanoma - the Headless Men  The Ewaipanoma, or “Headless Men” are a unique tribe of beings that have long been extinct in the material world after being wiped out by Wyrm corrupted Europeans who referred to the tribe as “Acephali” and believed them to be savages and cannibals. This is incorrect, as the Ewaipanoma are carnivores, they are not cannibals, instead hunting the giant boars that roam the jungle. They are also not headless, instead their faces are centered in their chests. The Ewaipanoma are almost painfully shy, avoiding contact with either humans or Garou, though this does not stop them from defending themselves. Image: Heavily muscled and gargantuan at just over 12 feet tall, their thick skin is dark brown and has a bark-like texture. While they are not Wyrm corrupted, it’s possible that if spotted alone, a Garou might confuse them for a Fomori. If attacked, they will call out to their people for assistance and battle to the death. Roleplaying Notes: Never turn your back on the enemy and never surrender. If you are treated civilly, you will welcome any you meet as a friend. A long association with the Black Furies has given you the ability to understand and speak with Garou. El Dorado is your friend, and you would die for him. Okay I know I said the Mokolé were one of my favorite things in this book, and these guys are another thing I love in this book. Giant dudes with their faces in their chest? Awesome. Scene Six: The Fall of El Dorado  Upon reaching the fabled lost city, the players will see a wonder. Buildings of marble and gold stand against the night sky while torches light the streets that are literally lined with gold. The quantity of gold within the city could quite literally destroy the market value of the mineral. However, on closer inspection, the players will notice large portions of the city have fallen into disrepair, with deserted buildings slowly being reclaimed by the jungle. In fact, the area where the players (potentially) meet the Ewaipanoma was once the edge of the city. Unless the players have their help, the area outside of the city looks like nothing more than steep, inaccessible hills. There is a shortcut, but finding the path is extremely difficult (Perception + Alertness diff 10, min 3 successes required). If the players didn’t beat Haight to El Dorado (and let’s be real, this whole story hinges on them not beating him there), when they arrive in the city proper, they are greeted with devastation. There are approximately 30 bodies of native Kinfolk, mercilessly shot down or torn apart by the First Team. Mixed among the corpses are three Garou, each meticulously skinned. Despite the horror on display, things might be looking up for the players as amid the dead are three of the First Teamers. There is not a living soul to be found in the area besides the players or their potential allies of the Ewaipanoma or Ballengash who can direct them to where the Dreamspeaker sleeps. If the players are alone however, they’ll have to search the city for the Mage themselves. Without help, the players shouldn’t have too much trouble, as the sounds of battle from deeper within the city should draw their attention. Halfway through the city (to where Dorado sleeps), the players encounter a pair of Black Furies who are battling Haight’s remaining First Teamers. There are an additional 4 First Teamers hiding nearby, and if the players do not assist the Furies, they will die. Each of the First Teamers is down two health levels, with the Furies at a -4 health levels. The Black Fury Amazons: Klymtra and Alestro  Breed: Homid Auspices: Galliard and Ahroun Image: The Furies of the Dorado Realm are as traditional as any Fury you’ll ever meet. In Homid form they wear little clothing and nearly all of the tribe are of South American descent. Roleplaying Notes: The Furies of the Sept of Gold have lived in the Dorado Realm for centuries, leaving only when breeding stock was low. If the natives of the local villages could be convinced to speak on the matter, they would tell stories of demons who came in the night and either stole their men or simply forced themselves on them before disappearing again. The Dorado Kinfolk are made up almost entirely of these victims of pillaged villages. While they’ve been treated well, they are still considered second-class citizens. These Furies are the basis for the Amazonian warrior legends, and their ancestors were responsible for the deaths of numerous Conquistadors. When it was time for Dorado to sleep and learn the ways of Gaia, the Furies vowed to protect him in return for the assistance he had given them in the past. They have never broken this vow. If the players save these two Furies, they will beg the players to rush to the inner square to save the Dreamspeaker before it is too late. Tomorrow: The conclusion of the El Dorado adventure and more
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Jul 17, 2023 14:25
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Play as First Team and part of the strategy is capturing other Pentex operatives so you can "de"program them and use them to replace your losses when your original team members get merked.
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Jul 17, 2023 14:29
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Everyone posted:I imagine the Methusalah to be a slightly senile granny type who will unleash terrifying upper-level Disciplines against the Pentex folks trying to mess with "her puppies." That's Deviant, basically.
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Jul 17, 2023 14:45
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Man, that's some heavy crossover-itis. And sure, let's just shove every indigenous magical tradition under one umbrella, it's fine, it'll be fine.
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Jul 17, 2023 15:05
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Dawgstar posted:Man, that's some heavy crossover-itis. And sure, let's just shove every indigenous magical tradition under one umbrella, it's fine, it'll be fine. Of course. All non-european magic is the same (unless it's kung fu).
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Jul 17, 2023 15:38
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joylessdivision posted:Roleplaying Notes: The Furies of the Sept of Gold have lived in the Dorado Realm for centuries, leaving only when breeding stock was low. If the natives of the local villages could be convinced to speak on the matter, they would tell stories of demons who came in the night and either stole their men or simply forced themselves on them before disappearing again. The Dorado Kinfolk are made up almost entirely of these victims of pillaged villages. While they’ve been treated well, they are still considered second-class citizens. These Furies are the basis for the Amazonian warrior legends, and their ancestors were responsible for the deaths of numerous Conquistadors.
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Jul 17, 2023 16:57
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Dawgstar posted:Man, that's some heavy crossover-itis. And sure, let's just shove every indigenous magical tradition under one umbrella, it's fine, it'll be fine. The Uktenna have intentionally spread out to engulf every native and minority group that the other tribes don't have covered. And if those natives don't want the Uktenna's benevolant rule.... well....
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Jul 17, 2023 17:04
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Halloween Jack posted:There's so much blatantly offensive stuff spread across White Wolf books that it's easy to forget some of the more-or-less-low-key...ecofascism? of Werewolf. I don't even know what to call this. Nah, you’re spot-on. I was thinking the same thing; as portrayed, the Garou Nation is absolutely an eco-fascist death cult. (To the point that you have to give them cartoonishly evil antagonists like Pentex to make them even remotely sympathetic). Samuel Haight is a Self-Made Deviant with The Garou Nation as his target Conspiracy. 
Gatto Grigio fucked around with this message at 17:40 on Jul 17, 2023 |
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Jul 17, 2023 17:37
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As a kid I was weirded out by the basically neutral tone with which they'd describe a PC faction as having a policy of rape or genocide.
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Jul 17, 2023 17:49
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