Critique My Campaign - Rifts Yucatan

[Bill]

Hello fellow game enthusiasts! I am seeking feedback on my newest effort to promote Palladium products in the wilds of southern Oregon. Please read my notes, published here, and let me know your candid thoughts. Suggestions on new characters and plot twists, how to address problems described in the session notes and potential issues that I might be overlooking will all eagerly be received. I'll even take disparaging remarks against my reputation, family, and intellect with grace.

I am updating the notes on that page at least once a week, so check back often if you're interested in how the game progresses.

[Bill]

Nothing? Not even an insult? I can't help but be dissatisfied.

[Akashic Soldier]

Dude, there's nothing to criticism. The post is just you saying you'll take insults.

How are we supposed to insult you without any material to base our spiteful elitist resentment on?

EDIT: Oh I see it now. Might be an idea to copy and paste it in here. I've got the window open I'll read it as soon as I finish doing a write up of my own game back down in GOING TOO FAR in this forum.

[the Captain]

Nothing? Not even an insult? I can't help but be dissatisfied.

Don't take it personally, this isn't a very heavily trafficked part of the forums. Might I recommend posting the session synopsis here, undoubtedly you will snag a few comments from those who don't click through to your wiki. Frankly it is a bit of reading over there, and attention spans are not what they used to be.

Off the cuff, your campaign looks well thought and organized. In the synopsis you mentioned one of the players being dissatisfied with his character; that seems to be your only issue, and you have identified it and probably know how to deal with it. It seems to be a BIG campaign, I hope the story is suitably epic.

[Bill]

Thank you for the replies. You are, of course, correct. I will duplicate my session notes going forward.
After reviewing the battle mage class, it looks like the player completely forgot to use paired weapons. I think he would have found the encounter with the Allosaur much more exciting had he fully utilized that skill. We'll discuss it before the session on Friday and I'll look over his spell list as well.

Session One - 13 January 2012
This session included Dylan, John, and Mike playing JW Grackle, Yavin, and Conan respectively. The session opened with Ankara, Conan's associated leadership NPC, approaching the PCs to investigate the sighting of large humanoid ants to the south of the settlement.

The players set out on foot to do so and encountered an allosaurus. They defeated the creature after four melees of combat. The combat rounds became somewhat repetitious once players had decided on a preferred attack. I will have to think on ways to mix up combat to keep it more exciting in the future. After killing the dinosaur, the players spotted the ant-people that they were looking for. Two scouts had been observing the fight. Using their supernatural strength to move the monster, Yavin and JW presented the carcass to the ants as a gift.

Here we ran into a communication problem. The write-up for the ant-people (fyr kree insectoids from the Yin Sloth Jungle book from the Palladium FRPG) indicates that they communicate via an ultrasonic language. Yavin, an undead slayer, has a power tattoo that grants him the ability to understand any language; however, he does not have the ability to hear in the ultrasonic range. Though Dylan argued that the magic would provide the means to communicate as well as the means to interpret communication, I ruled that it provided the ability to interpret language but not the means to hear it. And, though that made the subsequent introduction to the queen and conversation with her more challenging, I think it made for a much more entertaining game.

Instead of permitting him to immediately and easily communicate, I allowed the character to flawlessly (96%) interpret the alien body language of the ant-people. This, combined with JW's impressive (80%) trust/intimidate check, allowed the players to get their message accross. Though awkwardly and imperfectly. I did ask if anyone in the group had an appropriate pantomime related skill, even dance would have worked, to make the communication more effective. They did not.

After passing a night in the strange, yet familiar, ziggurat of the ant-people, the PCs returned to the settlement to report what they had learned. After admonishing them to tell her sister that the ant-people would be very difficult to conquer and that they present no threat at this time, Ankara brought Conan and Yavin into Pycel's office; JW was left to his own devices and quickly found a meal.

Pycel questioned them regarding the ants and found their answers vague. When they indicated that the ants were being attacked by vampires, and that they might be able to gain valuable allies by defeating enemy of the ants, she showed her true colors. Pycel said that as long as the ants did not pledge fealty to her they served as a useful distraction for her other enemies. And, when Yavin would not let it drop, she thanked them for volunteering to investigate the vampires further.

The session left off with the PCs preparing to venture into the wilderness and seek out the vampire menace. Everyone was awarded 500XP for playing and I awarded John and Dylan an additional 100 each for playing out the strange communication problem.

Several times during the session, Mike expressed dissatisfaction with his character's abilities compared to others. Because half the game was based on combat, where a level 1 spell caster generally won't stand out much, and the other half of the game focused on areas where his character was not well developed, he very likely felt left out. I will have to accept some responsibility for that. I have not taken the time to review his character so I can better plan opportunities for him to shine. I will attempt to do so before our next session.

[Akashic Soldier]

Might I suggest countering the Magic-User's feeling of impotence with the introduction of Magic-Using culture, certain NPC's, perhaps a conspiracy of Spell Casters, that for reasons left entirely up to you would willingly approach the Magic User to offer aid, assistance, mystic warnings or information. They could be involved in the story in a way the other players don't immediately see but because the "Magic User" is enlightened "unlike his brutish cohorts" they keep him informed of some of the mystical dangers and perils ahead of them. This is best accomplished by pre-written notes passed to the player in secret so the Wizard seems to posses an almost supernatural insight at times. Its a rough idea that requires you handle it with a cookie cutter but if "arrogant/aberrant" Spell Casters begin confiding in him and mocking those who were foolish enough to not see that Magic is the key to the universe... then maybe his ego about his character might start to slightly inflate. Especially if he is able to occasionally know things that he could do (simple things) that saved the party from situations that would otherwise result in their deaths.

All he has to do... is remain silent as to how he knows... or lie... and given the same opportunity pass the same care and insight to any other Magic-User he might encounter that he feels could be promising.

[the Captain]

After reviewing the battle mage class, it looks like the player completely forgot to use paired weapons. I think he would have found the encounter with the Allosaur much more exciting had he fully utilized that skill. We'll discuss it before the session on Friday and I'll look over his spell list as well.

I hadn't noticed the PC was a Battle Mage, I assumed it was just a LLW or Shifter. The player should have nothing to complain about. You might want to discuss strategy with the player as well, some players just don't get using magic and psionics in combat. Make him study the spell descriptions and discuss creative ways to use spells. Some of the most powerful spells are the little ones used creatively.

[Zenvis]

Hello fellow game enthusiasts! I am seeking feedback on my newest effort to promote Palladium products in the wilds of southern Oregon. Please read my notes, published here, and let me know your candid thoughts. Suggestions on new characters and plot twists, how to address problems described in the session notes and potential issues that I might be overlooking will all eagerly be received. I'll even take disparaging remarks against my reputation, family, and intellect with grace.

I am updating the notes on that page at least once a week, so check back often if you're interested in how the game progresses.

well I like it. What's the plot?

[Bill]

well I like it. What's the plot?

Thank you. That's a harder question than you might guess. There isn't really a plot so much as a detailed cast of characters and some planned events. The direction of the story, or plot, depends on how the players deal with the events, whether they interfere with the plans of the NPCs, and what allies they make along the way.

The discovery of the ant-people was the first event. The players' interactions and subsequent report on them will result in the official position of the expedition being to ignore the ants until such time as they present a threat. Later I may throw in an NPC, probably Malik, attempting to take control of the ants just so they don't go to waste. The players were not able to secure the ant-queen as an ally, though they may have another opportunity after they encounter the vampire minions of Camazotz.

Other planned events include; meeting Camazotz, discovering the human fishing villages on the north side of the peninsula, fighting off a full scale vampire assault on the expedition, discovering a plot to assasinate Stelmet, and the completion of Pycel's pyramid. The list will grow and shrink depending on what happens in the game and the players can always choose to become involved in the personal feuds of the NPCs, which generates lots of story. The latter is almost inevitable too, if they want to maintain any alliances that they form.

This kind of game tends to be really dramatic and engaging without having a ton of structure.

[Bill]

Session Two - 20 January 2012
This session included Dylan and John playing JW Grackle and Yavin respectively. The session picked up with Zosime, a stone master, begging Yavin and JW for help exploring the ruins. The adventurers agree and proceed into the ruins in Zosime's Big Boss ATV.

Zosime reveals that she is hoping to locate one of the jewelry stores buried in the collapsed luxury hotels that are located in the heart of the old city. She has a badly worn street map with notes scrawled in Spanish along the margins. She brings the ATV to a halt in front of a collapsed skyscraper and attempts to pry open the remains of a revolving door that is now little more than an obstacle of twisted and corroded metal. Looking to her supernaturally powerful allies, she asks for a little help. Yavin easily clears the doorway while JW stands guard. Dust and broken concrete rain down upon him while the structure seems to groan a little.

Once inside, Yavin engages his supernatural vision tattoo. Zosime picks her way through the broken and ruined hotel atrium using a flashlight to guide her way. With almost no warning, two tiger-claw raptors leap out of the darkness to attack JW and Yavin. The fight lasts for about four melee rounds. JW mostly relies on his big-bore pistols while Yavin uses his laser pistols. Firing megadamage weapons inside an unstable collapsed building has potentially dramatic consequences that I point out.

Awareness of the potential for bringing the building down on their heads causes Dylan to adjust his tactics and go for easier shots. John's character is blinded by noxious dinosaur spit early in the fight and is forced to switch to his character's flaming sword tattoo. Even blind he manages to get in a couple good hits. Two more of the monsters show up as JW and Yavin finish off the first pair. Zosime also returns and attempts to help, nearly shooting Yavin and contributing to the inevitable destabilizing of the building. At JW's prompting, Zosime starts molding a pillar from the cracked and broken marble floor of the structure. It is a slower process than will be useful though. Near this point in the fight, being blind and nearly defenseless, Yavin uses his phoenix tattoo to restore his MDC.

With miraculously good timing, JW misses his last shot of the melee round. It is the tenth miss of the fight and the building can take no more. The raptor flees with the player characters hot on its heels to get out of the building before they are crushed under it. We drop out of combat time and I describe the plume of dust that erupts from the building behind them. Zosime washes Yavin's eyes out with water from a canteen and the party relaxes. Zosime reports that she was successful and shows off a small velvet pouch. As they get ready to move on to the next site on her map, the ground around them begins to shudder and vibrate. The rubble around them rises and consolidates into a twelve-foot tall humanoid form that begins to wade in their direction. JW fires on the thing while Zosime and Yavin retreat toward the ATV.

Rather than attacking them directly the monster assaults the ATV. In less than a melee, it depletes half the vehicle's MDC; rendering it inoperable. Yavin and JW's weapons seem less effective against it and Zosime is nearly crushed as it finishes destroying the truck. Noting that his ranged attacks are far less effective than he's used to, JW switches to his vibrosword and moves into melee with the beast. Yavin follows suit rather than risk hitting his companion with his laser rifle. Fortunately the monster was near the limit of its MDC and the body it has assembled collapses. Only Yavin sees the invisible energy form that flees deeper into the ruins.

We leave off with the group, injured and low on ammunition, debating how to most effectively get back to the encampment. Both players were awarded 500 XP for playing.

While exciting and action packed, this session didn't do much for character development. We did discuss some practical rules information regarding the gunslinger OCC which will influence how JW will be played. I think Dylan and I will need to go over the class together so I can clarify a few things for him. His interpretation of some information is not consistent with the general rules of the game and I need to give him some feedback on where his exceptions really are. Zosime, who is actually one of the pregenerated characters I put together for this series, was fun to include and I think she is likely to show up again later on.

I had originally intended to only use the tectonic entity this week, but on a whim I threw in the raptors. It worked out well and pushed the characters much closer to their limits. Due to both Mike and John being out of town for a World of Warcraft tournament, we will not be playing next week. Unless of course there is a sudden upsurge in interest in the game. If even two new people want in, I'll happily put together a scenario for them.

[Bill]

Session Three - 3 February 2012
As expected, no one showed up for the January 27th session. Session three included Dylan, John, and Mike. Each continued with their characters from the previous sessions. A fourth person has expressed interest, but is not able to attend regularly. I look forward to adding her to the mix when she is available though.

Over the past two weeks I have spent a great deal of time reviewing the rules and compiling a slightly more coherent version for myself. The rules are better but more disorganized that I thought they were. Frankly, it is a testimony to the appeal of the setting that anyone wades through the morass of incomplete notes that make them up. Worst of all, in some places they are not internally consistent. The section on ley lines and rifts, for example, has conflicting information on the length of ley lines and the duration of rifts. It's a small oversight but, for a product that has been in continuous publication for as long as Rifts, I would expect better. I digress.

This week's adventure saw the three friends wandering through the town late at night, no reason specified, when they were jumped by black-clad assassins. They might have been on patrol or perhaps headed to or from a watering hole. The real reason is not terribly relevant. I wanted to play out a melee to apply what I had learned and test the system a little. I was particularly eager to demonstrate the effectiveness of knockdown attacks. In preparation, I whipped up a set of basic stats for a level three juicer wearing light megadamage technowizard body armor with an exoskeleton feature that enhanced their strength to supernatural. This is, by the way, a very dangerous combo.

The fight took place on a deserted street flanked by several buildings of varying heights, from 30ft to 50ft tall. The juicer assassins took advantage of the terrain, one concealing himself in an ally while the other fired a laser rifle from the roof of the taller building, catching Conan by surprise and nearly vaporizing his helmet. Using the perception rules, only JW was able to successfully detect the ambush before it happened. I ruled that Yavin and Conan would lose initiative and act last on the first actual round of combat.

Combat continued for four melee rounds. Yavin squared off with the vibro-sword wielding assassin while JW pursued the sniper and Conan attempted to support his friends using his magic. Mike tried out several spells, but I think he is still struggling to really work out what will be most useful to him. I think his ice-ball spell would have been the most effective of the ones he attempted to use, if he had managed to roll better.

Ranged attacks into melee are not really covered in the rules. As a house rule I require any attempt to shoot into hand to hand combat to be a called shot with a chance that any miss will hit a friendly. This bogged down the fight a little at first due to called shots requiring two actions, with an aim action requiring a third if the player elects to use it. On the positive side, that also kept the sniper from really chewing up the group.

After the first round of combat,Conan had taken cover from the sniper behind a building. JW had located the sniper and moved to intercept, but the sniper responded by leaping to the adjacent building, the one that Conan was currently hiding behind. Yavin and his opponent continued to fight, the undead slayer mostly getting the worst of it.

JW, using his big-bore pistols, knocked down the assassin on the roof. When it recovered, rather than attack the big lizard, it rolled off the side of the building and executed a kick attack against Conan. Though caught off guard, Conan nimbly evaded the attack and responded with a spell. JW, denied his intended target, set about disarming Yavin's opponent with a couple well placed called shots. This timely intervention may have been the only thing that saved Yavin. A juicer, even a low level one, with a pair of vibroblades is disgustingly effective in combat.

Just as Yavin's fight took a turn for the better, his flaming sword neatly cleft his opponent in half, Conan's took one for the worse. His armor battered and his magic waning, he surrendered. The assassin made him insert a black chuck into his mouth that expanded to prevent him from chanting invocations and would have made off with him, if not once more for JW's timely intervention.

While Yavin picked over the body of his fallen enemy and collected the vibroblades for his own, JW put his own blade to work and beat back the remaining assassin. Even this might not have saved Conan, if not for a cunning bluff on the grackle's part. Pointing his empty revolver at the juicer's masked face, he made a successful intimidate check and demanded that his enemy give up. Under strict orders to not be taken alive, the juicer flexed his enhanced muscles and leaped back to the roof of the building.

Tenacious, as player characters seem to frequently be, the trio chased after the juicer. Though they were able to shoot him, knock him off the roof of a building, and in the case of Yavin even catch up with the assassin for a moment, they couldn't keep pace with him for long. Ducking through the narrow streets of the settlement, the juicer assassin escaped.

Conan desperately picked over the rapidly decomposing body of the dead juicer, hoping to find some trace of the keyword that would disengage his gag. Nothing remotely like that was on the body. In a matter of minutes, the body had been reduced to nothing but a stain and some ruined equipment. Not being the most technically savvy bunch, the player characters lacked the skills necessary to understand why the body had done that. JW's background story placed the character close to Lone Star at one point though, so I felt it appropriate to tell them that JW had encountered something similar before. The juicer's own nanite colony, which normally helped speed his healing processes, had been reprogrammed to destroy his body after he died.

The device gagging Yavin was a similar story. None of the PCs have lore magic, but because of who they are and where they are from I told them that it was a technowizard device and that a keyword was necessary to release it. I think it's a bit of an oversight to build magic using classes, like the Battle Mage, that don't have Lore Magic as a class skill. I may just have Mike add it to his character at a +10%.

Even though it started off as a bit of an unplanned encounter, I think this may have been our best session yet. The fight was well paced, the action system worked pretty smoothly, and I managed to introduce a potentially exciting mystery at the end. Who want's Conan captured or dead? Who would need to use hired assassins to do the job? How will they get that thing out of his mouth without killing him?

[Bill]

Nice read, I'm looking forward to future sessions.

Just thinking about having a gag like that in for an extended period of time... that's just mean!

It would be. They will probably have to break his jaw to get it out without the keyword. Fortunately magical healing is commonly available.

[Bill]

I'm behind on my notes.
Session Four - 10 February 2012

Dylan was unavailable for this week's session. John and Mike continued with their previous characters. No one else appears to have expressed interest in the game. This somewhat inclines me to think that the shop owner is not talking it up. My own promotional efforts haven't been effective either though. I am at a loss for how to improve our attendance.

Conan and Yavin traveled from the site of the ambush to the scriptorium, hoping to have the gag removed from Conan's mouth. The players hoped to have it rendered inert or something. Onesimos, a tall black man of indeterminate age that serves as master of the scriptorium, used a spell to render the battlemage unconscious then proceeded to break his jaw to remove the techno-wizard chuck. A healing spell returned our hero to whole. Onesimos was not able to tell them where the device had come from.

After recovering from the ordeal, Conan and Yavin sought out Yakutz. The spy master appeared to be meditating completely unguarded in his quarters when they entered. Without telling them directly who was behind the attack, he suggested that a friend of one of Yavin's friends had become taken with Conan, and that a jealous rival might be behind the attack. I admit this was a bit convoluted, I ended up having to repeat it about three times before John and Mike decided that their characters should go chat with Ankara.

On the roof of the building where Ankara keeps her quarters, a large pavilion had been erected where she hosts all night parties. Conan and Yavin found her there, performing sun salutations while several of her other guests slept off the previous night's festivities. Ankara denied any knowledge of the attack and expressed her sympathies. She insisted that none of her friends could be so cruel. Yavin noticed a slim young man trying to slip unnoticed down the stairs into the building, signaling to Conan he quickly gave chase.

The Atlanteans captured the young man, Igor Venture, without any real effort and bound him with handcuffs. After a brief interrogation, they learned that Igor is the apprentice of Belicor, a Diabolist and Summoner who left the party before the attack. Igor knows little more than that, he was attempting to escape unseen in order to inform his master that two men were asking about Ankara's romantic entanglements. Belicor seeks to possess her for himself.

Pushing the chained up young man in front of them, Conan and Yavin exit the building into the street. The morning rush to work has begun and the streets are full of a carnival of colorful characters. The settlement is home to a myriad of strange beings that have attached themselves to the expedition or that serve the 200 Atlanteans that live here. A person in chains is a very unusual sight though. For all of its failings, Clan Sharin does not practice slavery.

Conan and Yavin are confronted as they make their way through the busy street by a heavily tattooed man and his giant companion. Yavin recognizes him as Rikard, a former apprentice to the tattoo master Stelmet. Rikard demands that they explain why the boy is chained up and when they attempt to skirt the situation, he insists that they turn Igor over. Not wanting to tangle with Rikard or his huge ally in the middle of a busy street, Conan and Yavin comply.

Rikard snaps the chain between the cuffs with his bare hands and tells our heroes that he'll be watching them. He and the monstrous creature, whom he addresses as Machutuk, escort Igor out of the scene. I don't generally like to thwart players like this, but it was a convenient way to introduce these two characters. I expect them to play an important role as the story develops. Conan and Yavin know roughly where to find Belicor though and move on to seek out the sorcerer.

When they find the apartment, a series of symbols has been inscribed into its surface. Neither of the characters are able to identify it, though Conan is able to recognize them as wards. Conan knocks anyway and is immediately struck by the effect of an agony ward. Doubled over in pain, with a good chunk of his hit points wiped out, he looks up to see the door open and the robed form of Belicor revealed.

I kind of expected John to attempt to kill Belicor right here. He didn't though. Instead, when Belicor asked him to bring his friend inside to talk, Yavin picked up Conan's writhing body and crossed the threshold into the summoner's apartment. He immediately regretted the decision. Scribed on the floor of the apartment, and directly abutting the threshold of the door, was a magic circle. Power leach's effects in an MDC environment are not specifically described in the conversion book, so I improvised. The undead slayer was immediately reduced to an SDC being and, had a fight actually broken out, he would have found all of his megadamage effects reduced to SDC as well.

However, no fight broke out. Even though a single blast from a laser pistol would probably have killed Belicor outright, the guys talked it out. It was a pleasant surprise for me. Belicor laid out that he was willing to give Conan a warning, that he had no interest in actually killing anyone but he would not tolerate competition for Ankara's affection. As long as Conan keeps his distance, Belicor will leave him be. Conan, who never really had any designs on Ankara in the first place, agreed and Yavin carried him out. A quick application of Yavin's phoenix tattoo restored Conan and they returned to their apartment for some well deserved rest.

Rest was not to be had for Yavin though. Shortly after returning to the apartment, there was a knock on the door. Machutuk, the pogtalian giant stood hunched over in the hallway. The stone masters responsible for erecting the settlement knew well that the inhabitants would be of a wide range of shapes and sizes and they attempted to accommodate that as best they could. Even so, the 13 foot tall pogtal did not fit well in the twelve foot tall corridors. Machutuk, in broken American, invited the Atlanteans to lunch with Rikard. Yavin agreed while Conan chose to rest and recover.

Rikard's intent was revealed during the lunch. While Machutuk devoured what appeared to be a raw raptor, Rikard offered Yavin an opportunity to be part of his underground movement to overthrow Pycel and the other elders in charge of the expedition. Rikard told Yavin that the leadership was insane and that if left in power, they would surely get everyone killed. He told Yavin that he didn't need an answer right away, but he hoped that the undead slayer would join them.

This week was really great for story development. We somewhat resolved the assassin storyline from last week and introduced a new conspiracy element. While a little low on action, there was enough investigation that the pace was still good. I am not completely happy with how much of a beating Mike's character has been taking lately, but he doesn't seem too distressed over it.

As much as I would like to add more people to this game, I am enjoying the ability to have a low action session like this on occasion. Demo games almost always rely heavily on action to let players practice the combat rules and stay involved when their inexperience and low investment in their character might keep them in the background. It's a challenging balance to maintain.

Your comments and suggestions are appreciated.

[Bill]

Session Five - 17 February 2012

Dylan was again unavailable. Mike and John continued with their existing characters. After the previous several sessions, I felt it was time to get back to the assignment that Pycel had given the player characters back in session one. Using Zosime as a messenger I set the guys back on the path.

Conan and Yavin geared up for their recon mission, mounting Conan's mechanical horse and proceeding through the jungle to find the vampires. After establishing that it would not be possible to ride the horse at its maximum speed, I asked the players how they would like to proceed; quietly or with great fanfare. They wanted to try and go about it stealthily, but their characters aren't well built for that task. I think this highlights their inexperience with the game more than anything else. Rifts is designed to be skill centric, but does not include rules for untrained attempts. You've either got the skill or you don't. In this instance, I let Mike make a riding check to try and keep the horse's noise down; though a stiff penalty for traveling at 50mph through dense undergrowth. He did not succeed.

At that point, I decided that we'd either have a quick fight with a pack of raptors or a pair of allosuars. We randomly determined allosaurs and one chased the guys into the other. Conan rammed the one ahead of them with the horse and both Atlanteans failed their riding check to remain mounted. Fortunately, as it's written, the horse continued to fight alongside of its now dismounted riders.

The fight with the first allosaur lasted about one melee round. Yavin, the horse, and Conan took it apart without much effort. This might not have been the case, except I took the opportunity to point out to Mike that his character could fire two pistols with every action thanks to his paired weapons skill. He hadn't even considered it and only wrote down a single pistol on his sheet. I had him correct that, the character wouldn't make the error even if the player had. Near the end of the round, the allosaur bit Conan's horse and lifted the machine off the ground in its mouth. It hadn't escaped when the monster turned to flee and Conan cut it down. The dino fell over, pinning the horse under its bulk.

The other half of the duo arrived at the beginning of round two and didn't fare any better. Even without the mechanical horse to back them up, the pair of Atlanteans wore it down and it too attempted to flee. I had this one give up a bit sooner, no backup was coming for it, and it actually managed to outrun Conan; even taking a shot in the back.

This fight took about 30 minutes, which is a distinct improvement over our previous encounters. Mike and John are really starting to get the hang of the game. Afterwards, they cut free the damaged mechanical horse and remounted. The sun was setting, and the Atlanteans wanted to avoid being exposed after dark. They rode towards a distant temple visible just above the tree-tops, Chichen Itza. The sun dipping towards the west, riding along the path of a ley line, the pair felt the first stirrings of many vampiric presences ahead of them.

Another issue with Palladium characters is that they have scads of powers. For example, Atlanteans are able to sense vampires at 1000 feet. They're also able to teleport between any two points on a ley line, which is exactly what Conan and Yavin did after realizing they were headed straight for vampire-central. After presenting them with the option of going the entire length of the line or fleeing to some point along it, John and Mike elected to see what was on the other side and teleported to the distant ruins of Copán. They left the horse behind, poorly concealed under some vines and creepers.

I had to end the session at that point because I had not even remotely prepared for this contingency. Rifts is very much like that though. Because the players frequently have the means to escape or bypass anything, you've got to be prepared for it. I'll have to start notes on the other locations that are easily accessible via ley line travel to make sure this doesn't happen again.

Their relocation to Copán also leaves me in a bit of a quandary as to how to proceed. I'll either have to GM fiat JW Grackle into the scene or do a side story with him while I run the other two players through their adventure. Dylan's absence last week sets him up well for that, but I dislike running what is essentially two games in parallel. I've done it before, and done it well, but it isn't my preference. A fourth player is planning to join us for the next session as well. She'll be using one of my pregenerated Atlanteans, so I could just drop her in with Conan and Yavin. I'll probably have her play along with JW in an effort to keep the scene time balanced though.

Your comments and suggestions are appreciated.

[Bill]

Session Six - 24 February 2012
This week is the first time we've been back up to four players since Series Three began. Both Dylan and Rachel joined us. Dylan continued with JW while Rachel has taken on the role of Zosime. I actually wrote the character with her in mind, so it should be an excellent fit. John and Mike continued with the characters that they have been playing since the beginning of the series. Rachel has expressed interest in expanding on stone magic and I have encouraged her to. I know nothing of lapidary, so I'll be taking her word on any new gem-spell associations that she chooses to create.

This session ended up covering a lot of ground, and a blow by blow account of it would be very time consuming to write up. Instead, I'll summarize the significant events.

Conan and Yavin discovered that Copán is inhabited by Aztecs and ruled by Huitzilopochtli. The god bid them offer alliance to their leader and gave them the gift of two enchanted macuahuitl. They learned from one of the god's servants that Huitzilopochtli doesn't even want to be on earth and the servant begged them to help his god be free to leave. They were presented with a map to a secret place in Acapulco and asked to seek Quetzalcoatl. Conan exposed his secret identity to Huitzilopochtli before teleporting back up the ley line to where he and Yavin had left his mechanical horse.

JW and Zosime were told that it would be good for them to meet up with Malik by Dave. It was some heavy handed deus ex machina, but I needed to get both of them back into the story and it was a fast and easy way to do it. Malik informed them that an associate of his, called Roger, had absconded with a very dangerous object and that he would appreciate it if they could look into recovering it.

Doing a little detective work, they tracked Roger and his companion, a demon known as The Eater, back to his apartment near the south gate. Coincidentally, the same gate that Conan and Yavin were returning through. All four characters, now much more conveniently in the same scene, searched the apartment. It turned out to be was vacant, but filled with garbage and half an eaten human leg. The group split up again as Conan and Yavin gave their report to Pycel, JW reported the severed leg to the captain of the guard, and Zosime met with Onesimos to learn more about the mysterious box that Malik had sent them after.

Confounded by the mystery and frustrated by Pycel's response to their efforts, the group reformed the next day intent on killing some vampires. I don't recall exactly how they came to that decision, but I went along with it. I described it as late in the morning when they arrived near Chichen Itza, taking the ruined highway to the place. We spent the remainder of the session with them fighting zombies.

It's good to have a full table again. I'll admit that I was starting to feel like my efforts were being wasted. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate John and Mike showing up every week. The point of the game is to demo rules and promote sales though, and that requires that we add people periodically.

Session Seven - 2 March 2012
I met up with Rachel to help her flesh out her character's background and populate her NPC list earlier in the week. See the NPC log for notes on those. I really enjoy building up the cast of characters in this fashion. And while I haven't integrated many of the player generated NPCs so far, I do intend to.

I was pleasantly surprised when Eric and Sara joined us this week, bringing my number of players up to six. Eric played Kaethe and Sara took on Abraxas, while Dylan, John, Mike, and Rachel all continued with their characters from last week. Dylan has expressed interest in playing an Atlantean ley line walker to avoid the possibility of being left out of the story by a teleporting incident such as we had two-weeks ago. I am fine with people switching out characters as often as they like, but I am also committed to making the game work with any mix that might show up (within the limits I have defined above). I'm sure the group will be able to come up with another option if they can't just teleport away from a problem.

This week was all about Chichén-Itzá. Assessing the damage to their equipment, the group decided to fall back to the settlement to resupply before making an assault on the pyramid itself. This ate up a couple hours of game time and put them back at the pyramid in late afternoon. When they entered the clearing in front of the temple, they discovered that the zombies they had destroyed earlier were attempting to reassemble themselves. Yavin put a quick stop to that, incinerating the accursed remains.

The group was then confronted by a giant naked half-bat half-man that addressed them in Spanish and bid them enter the temple. The undead slayers recognized the monster as a demon familiar, a manifested being that vampire intelligences use to defend their lairs and operate as an extension of themselves away from their physical bodies. At this point the players seemed a bit confused as to what to do about the monster. Being the only non-atlantean, and therefor the only character vulnerable to vampiric mind control, I whacked JW with the creature's pheromone seduction power. He failed his save and became entranced by the enormous naked monster's obvious maleness. An abundance of penis jokes ensued. Recognizing his friend's dazed stare, Yavin slapped the stupid look off his face; which gave us an opportunity to use the rare pull punch maneuver. Initiative was rolled and the fight went off.

The last time I used a vampire in a Palladium game was probably around a dozen years ago. It was disappointing then because a friend of mine rolled an unmodified 20 on a called shot to the heart with a crossbow. This time wasn't much more fulfilling because the demon familiar's stats were reduced by 75% in daylight. The fight was over in about one melee round. Between JW's big bore railgun knocking the monster down, which we later determined it wouldn't have, and Yavin's water bazooka blasting half its hit points off, it wasn't much of a fight at all for six player characters. Granted, that's why they made their assault during the day.

At the top of the pyramid, the player characters found two passages leading down into its interior. Zosime was not able to detect any secret passages, but Conan found a concealed shaft under the altar. The stone master easily lifted the five-ton piece of rock out and gently deposited it out of the way. Negotiating the shaft led to some discussion on falling. JW, being a supernatural creature, leaped into the hole with abandon while the rest of the group shimmied down ropes. Conan actually fell. Both JW and Conan sustained 1d6 MD from the 100ft fall, Conan surviving by the grace of his armor but still suffering a small amount of structural damage.

At the bottom of the shaft, in a huge chamber encircled by twelve passageways, they found hundreds of skeletal remains littering the floor. Abraxas and Yavin, the undead slayers, had expected this to be the resting place of the vampire intelligence. It was nowhere to be found though. Conan cast ''globe of daylight'' and they began to move towards the passage at the four-o'clock position. Two vampires, groggy and weakened by being active during the day, appeared from the three-o' clock passage and initiative was again rolled.

This fight was even more one-sided than the fight outside. Confronted by the globe of daylight, the vampires were forced to flee out of its radius. This led to an almost comedic game of Conan chasing the vampires while everyone else murdered them. The fight was over in just under a melee round and the players had a little time to discuss what they should do next when two more vampires appeared across the chamber from them. The players elected to ignore them and proceed down the passage.

We were getting close to 9pm at this point and I wanted to wrap things up, so at the end of the shaft they found the treasure filled throne-room of Camazotz with the alien intelligence seated on his throne. Camazotz congratulated the heroes on their earlier successes and invited them to take what they could carry from his treasure. Being gamers, this naturally led to some silliness about trying to take the throne or Camazotz's armor. After getting through that, Camazotz invited the player characters to serve him, which Eric would have chosen to do if I had let him. I pointed out that the Atlanteans have a deep seated hatred of vampires and related critters which would make taking the monster's offer unlikely at best.

We closed the session with the players fleeing at best possible speed from Chichén-Itzá in an effort to get home before dark. I described dusk falling around the settlement and the swirling of huge bats overhead as they entered the protection of its walls. This may change the tone of the next couple sessions as the Atlanteans and their allies battle Camazotz's minions. I've never really run a game that took place during a siege, so it could be interesting.

Eric indicates that he'd like to join the game and make his own character. I wasn't sure if Sara was as engaged during the session, but if she'd like to join as well they're both welcome. With more players, I'll have to up the ante on the opposition too. I'm sure I'll find a good balance, but it could take a couple weeks for me to hit the sweet-spot.

Any feedback you wish to offer will be appreciated. Thanks.

[Bill]

Session One - 11 September 2013
So series three, which the above sessions were part of, more or less collapsed when everyone seemed to get busy all at once. I attempted to restart with series four in October, but failed to get much traction. We meandered through around three different Rifts series, including one centered on the Great Lakes area, one set in England, and one tripping around the American Southwest. A volunteer GM was spelling me for a few weeks, when due to other commitments and car trouble he had to bow out for several weeks.

Then, Mike showed up out of the blue. With Mike, John, and Rachel all back at the table, it seemed only natural to fall back to this story line. John and Rachel even had their original characters from the series; John has been playing Yavin consistently since we left it even! This session, we were joined by another woman named Rachel. She elected to play Akula, a mutant-lion dinosaur hunter. Mike didn't have Conan's sheet with him and elected to play another of my NPCs, Kaetha Sharin. I don't even recall why I had printed Kaetha, but she was always intended to be a part of this series.

We quickly rehashed where we left off. The group had been tracking the movements of The Eater; a demonic entity which had slipped the control of one of the settlement's shifters. We established that they had managed to successfully vanquish the monster before it could destroy the wards and circles keeping the vampiric forces at bay. We picked up with them meeting Rikard to discuss what to do next.

Yavin suggests that they approach the ant-people for assistance. Rikard approves and the party moves out. Akula borrows a hoverbike from the motor pool, Yavin uses his magical tattoos, while Zoisime and Kaethe make the trip using jetpacks. Flying over the no-man's land and the jungle, they are unmolested. Upon arrival at the inverted pyramid, the player characters discover that a small force of ant-people are battling a hideous chimera of angel-demon and serpent. Seizing the moment, Akula directs his hoverbike onto a collision course with the monster and leaps clear. It explodes on impact, slaying the beast and several of the ant-people as well.

While the rest of the party busies itself with cleaning up the wreckage, Yavin penetrates the pyramid and communes with the queen. He discovers that he can bypass the language barrier by allowing the queen to access his mind directly. This is going to have repercussions. The queen immediately ascertained that Pycel had designs on enslaving her people. Even so, she agreed to help fight off the vampires if the colonists would supply the ant-people with technological weapons. While entering and exiting the ant-people's pyramid, Yavin observes larger, more menacing looking ant-men than he's seen before wielding weapons that appear to be sheathed in some form of plasma.

The party returns to the settlement. Kaethe abandons her fellows to report to her associated leadership NPC while the rest of the party mounts a levitated piece of stone that Zoisime uses to transport Akula and his trophies; Yavin pushes the slab to propel it along a little faster. On the way, the mutant-lion notices a clearing filled with coffins and that the shadows surrounding the field are behaving strangely. Rather than risk being attacked by a shadow-creature, they proceed back to the settlement's walls.

Session Two - 18 September 2013
This session featured Mike, John, Rachel B, Rachel S, and Bruce. Bruce continues to play Snow Man, a juicer he has been using for the past eight months or so. Mike attempted to bring Conan back into the story, but has misplaced one of the pages to his character's sheet. Upon discovering this, he elected to use Vin Foose, a cyberknight that he has used before.

We picked up with Akula relating his exploits to the crowd of rough and readies that populate the Cantina, the Settlement's only official drinking establishment. The rest of the group was reporting to Rikard and attempting to work out the next step in their efforts to save the settlement from destruction at the hands of the vampires and their minions.

Upon learning that the ant-people would be willing to exchange aid for weapons, Rikard immediately pointed out that Pycel would never allow the settlement's armory to be traded. However, he knew of another cache of arms that they could make their bargain with. He laid out a plan that the group would break into this cache after dark, while the majority of fighters would be on the wall repelling the assault, and indicated that any guards that the player characters encountered would need to be dealt with permanently.

This should have met with some resistance from Yavin or Zoisime, both good aligned characters that would not normally be willing parties to murder. It did not though. Yavin signed on without reservation, while Zoisime followed his lead with minimal objection. I have promised John an appropriate insanity check for later on, and possibly an alignment shift.

After discussing the plan and agreeing to meet Rikard at the motor pool after dark, the group split up. Zoisime returned to her apartment to sort her stones and prepare herself. There, Steve Jones, her love interest, found her and begged her to marry him. She agreed even after he pointed out that her family would never accept their union. She told him to find a priest, and he left to do so.

Conan likewise returned to his quarters to prepare and found himself ambushed by his love interest, Tomomi. She once more begged him to return with her to the Federation of Magic, to set aside his blood feud and come home to the people that love him. He refused. Tomomi warned him that soon her brothers would come and dispatch both of them as deserters.

Snow Man went to find Akula, and succeeded in entering the Cantina just as three surly dwarfs, who had accused the lion-man of being a wasteful fool, were exiting. The juicer overheard their muttering plot to punish the dinosaur hunter for his insolence. After being informed that they had a job, the pair left the bar to seek out the company of prostitutes. On the way to the brothel, they ran into Kaethe; ostensibly the NPC to whom they are both loyal. She attempts to find out what Rikard's plans are and insists that the two mercenaries stay close to Yavin and the other members of the group. Snow Man is elusive regarding Rikard's plans for unknown reason. The interlude with the prostitutes requires a save versus psionics that both characters fail. Consequences of this may take some time to come out.

Yavin spends the time before sunset attempting to meditate. He has strange visions of being part of a greater being, one of a collective mind.

At nightfall, the party regroups as planned outside of the motor-pool. They then follow Rikard to a mostly unoccupied tenement building and proceed to the central stairwell. Here they discover that, unlike most of the other structures in the settlement, the stairs also go down. The group descends approximately 40ft to a basement level of the building that should not exist. Yavin, using his magic tattoos is able to discern an invisible doorway that leads into a concealed armory. Racks of laser-weaponry fill the space.

Rikard instructs Zoisime to create a stone vessel to carry the weapons while he and Yavin gather them, Snow Man, Vin Foose, and Akula are to locate any guards in the building and end them. Akula uses his formidable tracking skills to discern that there are two guards walking patrol routes. One is inside the building and the other outside. They meet at the central stair well after an unknown amount of time.

Vin Foose is left to wait for the outside guard to reenter the building while Akula and Snow Man go in search of the inside guard. Traveling up several floors, they are ambushed by her. A lithe woman garbed in piecemeal armor over a rubber body-suit and full face visored helmet shoots Akula with a powerful energy pistol. She gets initiative on the lion-man and deploys a fancy trident that extends from a metal rod, using it to sweep Akula off his feet and narrowly missing her attempt to stab him with the tines. Snow Man moves in and engages her with his vibroblade. Akula switches from his vibro knife to his trusty shotgun and manages to miss with the first blast, barely hitting his target with the second and only missing Snow Man thanks to his uncanny automatic dodge.

Alerted by the shotgun blast, Yavin and Vin Foose rush to the scene. And there we leave it until next time.

[Alrik Vas]

Pretty exciting stuff, man. I like the multiple motivations in the group and the intrigue with the NPC's. The fact that you're running it with relative walk-in's is pretty amazing.

[Bill]

It was a really good series to run. I'm very happy that coincidence has allowed me to come back to it.

[Alrik Vas]

I just started a game a few weeks ago and i still havent' cemented the plot yet. Currently i'm just running the guys through some simple adventures, letting them explore and get to know each other while letting them develope their charaters.

Currently they're hunting a clever and infamous gargoyle, but money for the expedition is a constant problem as they're independents. So far they haven't tried to make allies, so it's slow going.

[Bill]

Thank you, LS. Putting together a cast of characters like this requires a big chunk of prep up front, but it pays huge dividends as the series progresses. It lends a lot of depth to every session. Even when I'm not directly referencing the in-fighting and relationship drama, the players who are familiar with the back story are looking for those connections. Funny you should mention WoD; it's where I first employed this soap opera style of story development.

[Bill]

Session Three - 25 September 2013
This week, both Rachels were out. Rachel B will probably not be back for a while as she is attending classes in a city two-hours away. Rachel S is having difficulties with the heat in her apartment, hopefully those will be resolved soon. Bruce, John, and Mike continued with their characters from the previous week. Kyle also joined us, playing a Basilisk Bodyfixer known as Doctor. We were briefly joined by another young man who had to leave before the session really got moving.

The combat against the mysterious woman went very smoothly and maintained a sufficient degree of engagement with all four of the players present. Only after killing her was Yavin, a former slave of Atlantis, able to recognize her unmasked features as those of an Altaran Warrior Woman. He immediately jumped to the conclusion that whoever owns the cache of weapons that the group is stealing must be in league with the Splugorth.

The group proceeded upstairs to the roof in an effort to spot the other guard from high ground. Snow Man had hoped to employ his sniper rifle to end that problem quickly. While they looked for another Altaran, Snow Man came under fire from an unknown source using plasma weaponry. The juicer took cover. Yavin, being able to fly and lucky enough to spot the source of the attack leaped into the air with the aid of his flying tattoo. Pursuing the unknown attacker, he quickly gathered that it was winged in form as it too leaped from the rooftop that it had been occupying. A short exchange of fire led to the second guard fleeing between buildings and evading Yavin's pursuit.

We left off with the player characters stowing their stolen arms in the back of an APC, preparing to run a demonic gauntlet to the ant-people's pyramid at first light.

[Bill]

Session Four - 2 October 2013
This week featured Bruce, John, Mike, and Rachel S. As the group prepared to depart, Malik approached the group's APC, standing in the middle of the street. He accused the group of taking something that belonged to him and demanded its return. Zoisime, who has been the object of Malik's affections in the past, attempted to convince him that they were not in fact guilty of anything. Malik is joined by a strange purple skinned, bald, man and a woman that appears to be a mirror image of the Altaran the group had encountered the night before.

Malik loses patience after Zoisime continues to deny the group's criminal activities and he signals his cohorts into action. The Altaran acrobatically flips onto the APC and the purple man begins a metamorphosis into the dragon-like creature that escaped from Yavin. Rather than deal with a fight in the middle of the street, Snow Man orders Zoisime back into the APC and flees the scene. Malik dodges deftly aside and the Altaran is shaken loose. At high speed, the group exits the settlement's protective walls. This may have repercussions later.

With the juicer's enhanced reflexes, the APC is able to maintain a good speed along the ruined highway. Snow Man deftly dodges past trees and obstacles with only the slightest effort. The group expects to arrive at Mayapan in under half an hour. Without warning the vehicle plunges into a field of magical darkness. Snow Man's speed is checked, while he relies on the awesome power of the vehicle to push over most trees in his path. The rest of the group is able to use supernatural powers to penetrate the darkness. They behold spirits, shadow creatures, and demons.

Several of the creatures attack the vehicle almost immediately. Zoisime fails her horror factor check and is reduced to a cowering mess in the corner of the vehicle as one of the monsters affixes itself to the front of the vehicle and spews a viscous secretion from its two mouths. One of the characters correctly identifies the monsters as Penta Demons as they tear into the APC's hull; warning lights and klaxons fill the cockpit. One of the monsters penetrates the airlock and combat ensues. Lasting two rounds, there are no casualties on the heroes' side; Vin Foose's right arm is cocooned in resin. Several jokes are made on how the resin can be removed with megadamage attacks.

The vehicle exits the field of darkness and the Penta Demons flee from the light. The group proceeds on to Mayapan and the ant-people's pyramid. They are greeted by two of the larger warrior specimens and Zoisime has to engage in a little dance, literally, to convince them that the rest of the group needed to follow Yavin into the pyramid. The queen again communes with Yavin and more or less thanks him for the weapons. She also indicates that her people will attack at noon of the following day and that he is to take one of the warriors with him.

Wanting to coordinate the Sharin forces with those of the ant-people, the party discusses strategy for getting back into the settlement without going through the area of darkness or dealing with Malik, and how to get the huge ant-warrior in without arousing too much suspicion. Yavin considers flying back to the settlement to arrange things, but the warrior clamps its taloned hand onto his arm and makes it obvious that it will not be left behind. Ultimately, they decided to find an alternate route back to the settlement. Not an awful plan, but it led to a series of failed navigation rolls. On the positive side, this opens up the opportunity for me to introduce another thread.

[Alrik Vas]

Getting lost...the end of many a great adventure.

[Bill]

You mean the beginning of many great adventures.

[Alrik Vas]

Well, the beginning of the end, anyway.

When a series of bad navigation rolls inspires your GM, it's one thing. When a series of bad navigation rolls buggers a campaign, it's another.

[Bill]

One of the most important lessons I learned in my 22 years of running games was to never, ever get so committed to a plot line that player action can wreck the campaign. We'll get back to the vampiric assault on the Sharin settlement, but this is an opportunity to add another layer of complexity to the story, introduce new allies and enemies, and possibly reveal some secrets about Camazotz. They'll miss the ant-people's assault on the vampire forces and utterly fail to coordinate a Sharin pincer maneuver, which will have some repercussions to the story, but the story is far from ruined.

[Alrik Vas]

I only meant buggers the campaign in the sense of the players not getting to do what they want. Adapting as a GM is pretty much a given, sir. Carry on.