IC Dresden Files RPG Bridges to Nowhere

Sakutian

This is the IC thread for the Dresden Files RPG campaign Bridges to Nowhere. Please make any out of character posts in the OOC thread. I wish you all a fun Halloween, this will serve as my treat to each of you.

If you walk into Stag Coffee almost any day of the week you would never guess that it is a local hot spot frequented almost exclusively by low-level spell casters and dozens of other human, or nearly human, supernaturals every day. You aren't going see pencils being levitated across rooms or anyone tossing fireballs in here. What you will find are teenagers glued to computer monitors typing furiously or clustered in one of the comfortable booths armed with enough caffeine to make Morpheus vomit.

The well polished wooden floors, walls, tables, and counters give the impression of some medieval structure rather than a modern building. A small handwritten chalkboard menu sits on the counter featuring the day's specials. The mammoth glass window emblazoned with the outline of a forest green stag and the largely glass door allow incredible amounts of sunlight to shine within. Several black spotlights hang from the ceiling putting forth a small electric hum throughout the day.

It is always a warm place that is full of life, happy chatter, and all manner of pleasant aromas. Almost the moment you enter you find yourself never wanting to leave again.

Unfortunately today isn't an ordinary day at Stag Coffee. The normally spotless floor is being steadily overtaken in a mixture of water, spilled drinks, and sizable traces of crimsons. The bodies of people wearing sodden clothes, one them male and the other female, are laying facedown in writhing masses on the floor. Both of teenagers are making pitiful sounds while clutching at their stomachs and they are clearly in a great deal of pain.

Shards of jagged glass lay sprawled across the floor, a chill night wind is blowing through the now open window frame and doorway. The overhead lights have almost all been shattered and they continue to send sparks down to the ground every so often, the only steady light source is a single remaining lamp in the center of the room. The countertop has been set ablaze and smoke is quickly filling the room, the flames light is producing all manner of unsettling shadows in every corner.

The fire sprinklers, set off by the billowing smoke, are raining down a steady deluge of water in an unsuccessful attempt to put out the fire. The steady patter of water splashing to the floor is deafening. At the same time large throaty croaking noises, much like the ones a frog would make rip through the air. Four squatting warty skinned creatures are crouching near the crumpled bodies of both of the fallen teens. They appear much like frogs the size of small dogs, save for the fact that they have pairs of leathery wings in place of any legs. Long wiry tails ending in sharp barbs curl up from the base of their spines snapping out in savage lashing motions into the water every so often. Each time they open their mouths to produce another throaty croak dozens of needle sharp teeth shine in the room's dim light.

Alright so here is the breakdown of this scene. Stag Coffee is divided into three zones, and one of them is actually the street directly opposite the shattered window and door. Zone 1 is near the rear wall and is taken up by overturned tables and booths largely. Zone 2 makes up most of the floorspace, it is also the area in which the frog creatures and the downed teenagers currently reside. Zone 3 is the street outside. The counter top, which is on fire, stretches through Zone 1 and 2.

As a result of the fire CHOKING SMOKE is filling the room very quickly, unfortunately the wind blowing in from outside is blowing it all back inside for the most part. The various liquids spilling across the floor have made it extremely SLIPPERY. LAst but not least there is a great deal of BROKEN ADN OVERTURNED FURNITURE laying about.

Make your posts as you will, I look forward to seeing what each of you come up with. The sole requirement is that you must be within one of the three zones detailed above. After everyone has made their grand entrance I will respond. Have fun.

Image Spoiler

SanderJK

Dr Meyer is a frequent customer of Stag Coffee. You'd be surprised how much you can hear if you are patient, and willing to buy a cup of coffee and and a hot meal at the right time. And while few powerhouses showed their face there, the lesser gifted are greatly affected by the games played by the powerful, often without even realizing what is going on.

And they serve some good coffee too.

So when some things showed up, he quickly made his way to the cafe, and arrived to curtain of smoke, and trails of fire from inside. "I hate fire, it always messes up your clothes, and even if you can get them clean, getting out the smell is another matter entirely."

Dr. Meyer arrives at the street scene, watching into Stag Coffee for clues of what exactly is going on.

Sakutian

Peering through the cloud of smoke within the coffee shop Dr. Meyers is able to discern very little, the smoke and darkness are doing a great job of concealing what is going on inside. However he is able to hear pained cries and strange throaty croaks, he can also discern the amorphous outlines of several inhuman figures crouched on the ground within.

Rainfall

Juliette sipped her coffee, leaning back in one of the few booths in the back of Stag that hadn't been overturned in the blind panic that had overtaken the usually peaceful coffeeshop. The water pouring from the fire sprinklers soaked her clothing, making the already-tight fabric cling to her body, which was probably the reason for the marked frown on her face. Or maybe it was the near-certainty of smoke damage.

"This was a nice afternoon. Someone is going to pay dearly for this."

Sakutian

For those of you who are beginning in Zone 1 or Zone 2 here is what happened twenty minutes earlier.

It was a slow night for Stag Coffee, Halloween usually was though. The lesser spell slingers who made up the bulk of the customer base often used this night to enact some rituals in private, or raise a bit of mischief if they were more adventurous. The chill fall weather seemed to have kept even more people indoors than usual this year, even the promise of heavenly spiced pumpkin coffee on sale hadn't been enough to draw them out of their homes.

Two teens, probably a couple from the local college based on their proximity and their matching PITT sweatshirts, had taken up a table in the center of the room. They were conversing in quiet voices and seemed to be planning on making an evening of their coffees.

Becka Griffin, owner and operator of the establishment, was manning her usual post behind the counter next to the antique cash register. She'd been cleaning glasses for the last hour and had created a small pyramid of them to her left. The sound of a chiming bell coming through a door behind the counter drew her attention away from her busy wok, she looked back up from her work obviously a bit annoyed.

"Delivery, you mind keeping an eye on things for a minute?" Not waiting for a response Becka stepped through a door behind the counter shutting it behind her. A minute passes and Becka's voice rings out from behind the closed door "What the he?!" Before finishing her sentence a tremendous roar booms through the air while a wall of fire and force tear through the door as though it were made of tissue paper. The newly cleaned pyramid of cups clattered to the floor and shattered. The counter they'd been resting on was ablaze in an instant as though it had been doused in gasoline, all but one of the overhead lights shattered and darkness filled the room.

As the fire sprinklers began pouring water down on everyone and everything within the panicked cries of the teenagers seeking an exit in the dark echoed through the room. Before anyone was able to make an escape effort though the sound of shattering glass accompanied by throaty croaks rang out. Five creatures, appearing like nothing so much as a combination of a giant frog, a bat, and a scorpion, flew inside. Each of them issued horrible croaking sounds every few seconds.

Unfortunately the teenagers had been standing under the only steady source of light remaining, making themselves the clearest targets. One of the beats flew off into the darkness while the remaining four circled them in midair lashing out with their barbed tails and driving their stingers into the screaming pair. Within seconds they had both fallen to the ground where they cried out weakly. The frog-like creatures had landed surrounding them and begun moving in steadily closer. Perhaps waiting for their victims to succumb to their wounds so they could feast, or maybe they were guarding what they now claimed as their hunting ground?

dresdenphile

Rey was on his way home from grocery shopping, arms loaded with brown paper sacks when he heard the explosion.

"Dammit...can't even unpack Pop Tarts without something going down," he muttered to no one in particular. Setting the groceries down on the curb, Rey rushed over to the coffee shop to see what had happened and if there were any hurt people in there.

Starting in Zone 3, but I'm going inside to see what's what.

Sakutian

Upon arriving at Stag Coffee Rey Nardo notices two things immediately. First the building appears as though it had been hit by an explosion inside, small trails of smoke were escaping out into the night air every so often. and weak sobs can heard from within. He also sees the local dragon emissary Dr. Frederick Meyers standing in front of the structure peering through the ruined window intently.

dresdenphile

"Frederick? What's going on here? Do you know what happened?"

Pneumatic Horseman

James strides in through the cracked plate glass window, smiling at not having to duck through the door for once.

Never one to inquire when action is called for, the huge man lumbers through the rain falling from the sprinklers, the glamour surrounding him being washed away as he crosses the room towards the creatures, withdrawing a massive maul from the hockey bag slung over his shoulder.

I'd like to cross from the outside zone to where the beasts are and hit one with my two handed hammer.
The dice roller thing must like new people, my alertness (initiative) gave me a +2 for a total of 5
And for my attack, I got a monster +3, so Weapons 4+3 on the roll=7 and due to inhuman Strength and the weapons value of 3, I'm at a 12 if I hit (less it's doge of course)

SanderJK

dresdenphile wrote: »

"Frederick? What's going on here? Do you know what happened?"

"Not sure, but something is definitely moving in there, and it doesn't like anything I've ever seen."

Sakutian

As Dr. Meyers and Rey are talking about what has happened each of them hear a woman crying out for help, the voice is coming from around the corner of Stag Coffee. The voice is strong and sounds familiar to them both but whatever message the speaker is trying to relay it is lost to a fit of coughing.

Dresdenphile you get to be my first test subject. I am compelling your Trouble Aspect: Helping Paw, the sounds of this figure in dire distress and so very nearby are a beacon to your desire to help others. Charging headlong around the corner will earn you a Fate Point.

Also the area you will be entering is a side street next to Stag Coffee, a narrow one at that. It will be known as Zone 4.

dresdenphile

"Doc, check inside to see what the hell is going on in there. I'm going to go see who's in trouble."

Without waiting for a reply, Rey rushes to the sound of help around the side of the building.

Sakutian

Rounding the corner of the coffee house Rey sees much of the stone exterior has been scorched a dark black, halfway down the side street a woman is laying on the ground in front of the ruin of a rear entrance. Wearing a forest green sweater and black jeans Becka's dark hair, usually heavily braided with beads and charms, seems to have been burned off of her head. Her black skin and clothes stained with a layer of ash. A few feet away from her the shards of metal and melted plastic lay in a heap on the ground. It appears she is trying to call out for help but each time she speaks a coughing fit begins anew, her voice escapes as little more than a hoarse shout.

Rainfall

Juliette stepped through the water and smoke into the centre of the coffeeshop, looking across the croaking monsters at the towering changeling who had just entered. She stood lightly, holding a combat knife in one hand, flipping it between her fingers as she waited for someone else to make the first move.

"James Mcdonall. About time you decided to come out and party, it's been too long. How's your father?"

Advancing into Zone 2. My total Intiative comes out to 5 thanks to my Inhuman Speed, even if I end up being first in the queue I'm going to wait, my defenses aren't good enough that I want to be the first one stabbing these things.

Sakutian

Once we resolve Jame's attack Juliette is going to be next in the combat initiative. I rolled for the creature's initiative and got a 2.

Sakutian

Catching one of the winged frogs unawares in the middle of an especially loud croak James' crushed the scaly beast into a sickening greenish paste with a singe blow from his maul. Gore made up of the beast's slimy innards splatters across everything within a few feet including James, the other toad creatures, and Juliette. The remaining toads turn to see the half-troll standing covered in the remains of their deceased cohort holding his weapon which continues to drip bits of the vanquished foe onto the floor.

dresdenphile

Rey rushes over to where Becka was in heap. He was no doctor, so he thought he'd see if the woman was responsive before going to fetch the doc. "Becka, are you hurt? Can you walk if I help you?"

Sakutian

Still coughing violently Becka looks up at Rey and reaches out towards him with her left hand. Her fingertips are smoking and all the nails on her hand have been singed as black as charcoal. "Dammit Rey help...help me up and I can do more than walk."

I need an alertness check from Rey now.

dresdenphile

Okay, I have an Alertness of +4 (Great), and I rolled a +,+,-,+. That puts me at +6 (Fantastic), if my math checks out.

Sakutian

You math looks good to me. I rolled 1 for my creature's Stealth so yeah. This creature is doing a Fists attack with it's horrible tail, you can counter the maneuver as you see fit. I rolled another 0 for his attack so you pretty much can't fail to block this.

A bit of debris tumbles down from above crashing to the ground directly behind Rey followed by the sound of wings flapping violently. Tearing through the air above Beck and Rey a winged frog baring it's needle like fangs dives down on the pair lashing out with it's barbed tail.

SanderJK

Dr. Meyer hesitates for a second. "Do I run into the burning building with the faint voices, or towards the cry for help from a dark alley. I guess I'll trust Rey with this one."

I move into the building.

Sakutian

Pressing onward through the smoke Dr. Meyers comes upon what would have to be considered an unusual scene in any case. James McDonall is bearing down on three winged frogs with a maul that appears to have been splattered with some grisly manner of liquid. Juliette Raith is also nearby with a combat blade balanced nimbly in her hands with the unearthly grace only a vampire of the White Court can ever manage. The frogs are encircling two fallen youths. At the same time a fire is blazing on the countertop and slowly spreading, while the fire sprinklers are soaking everyone and everything within.

dresdenphile

I think this is right: Fists to block with a roll of o + + -, giving me a +5 overall to block.

Rey bats the winged beast aside like an unruly child. "What the hell are you, you ugly little prick?"

He yells to Becka, "Get up before this thing tries to jump on us." Rey reaches down to help the woman stand.

Can I attack the thing now or was blocking my action? I have Supernatural Speed, so I'm not sure...

Sakutian

Because I rolled so badly Rey pretty much slaughtered my frog bat. These guys are really just minions so they can't take a hit like that.

Thrown out of it's dive by Rey's attack the creature soars into the far wall splattering across it with all the speed and volume of several dozen green paintballs.

Taking Rey's hand Becka stands up and looks at the gore splattered wall disgusted. "Thanks Rey, guess you don't know what this thing was either?"

dresdenphile

Rey shakes his head. "I don't make a habit of looking for things like that; they seem to find me with no problem, though."

Gesturing at the carnage he asks, "What happened in there? Are there more of those things?"

Sakutian

Turning to face Rey Becka flings bits of the frog's innards off of her finger and onto the ground. "I'm not sure what happened. I thought there was a delivery and I came to out bring it in, when I opened the door all that was there was that." Becka points at the shards of metal and metal plastic.

"It's some sort of a bomb, went off right in my face, must have passed out after that because I only came to a minute before you showed up. I've gotta save my place though or it's gonna burn to the ground." Stepping towards the open door frame that leads in Stag Coffee Becka collapses to her knees and starts another fit of coughing before taking more than a few steps. When she pulls her hand away from her mouth it is stained with blood.

dresdenphile

"You're not going anywhere." Rey quickly scoops Becka up and, with a burst of speed, rushes her over to the other side of the street where he sat down his groceries. He flips out his cell and dials 911.

"I'll take care of your store; get an ambulance here for you and the others, okay?"

I don't want to be callous, but I also don't want to explain a troll and dead bat-frogs to the cops.

Sakutian

Haha not callous at all man.

Nodding weakly Becka takes the cell phone from Rey. "You save my place Rey or I'll have your hide."

dresdenphile

Rey grins. "Of course. You do realize I expect a lifetime comp on those Rice Krispie treats with the chocolate chips, right?"

The werefox turns and rushes into the building, not sure what horrors he expects lurking within.

Sakutian

In response to Dr. Meyer's attempt to breath fire on a frog in OOC thread.
As flames shoot from the Dr. Meyer's mouth blasting directly towards one of the squatting frogs the beast flaps it's leathery wings and flies straight up with incredible speed. Performing a nimble barrel roll around the fire which sets the floor it had been sitting on ablaze the frog croaks and hovers a few feet away from Dr. Meyers.

Rolled a 6 believe it or not. Hooray!

Rainfall

The son of the troll king, and Chlaexis's emissary? Busy day for Stag.
Juliette darted in and struck at one of the beasts before quickly ducking back, using her superior speed to keep away from the pack of creatures.
"Let's not take all day at this, boys. I think there's questions that need to be answered as soon as the beasties are taken care of!"

Weapon vs. frogthing (4d3=1, 2, 3, 3=1) With my Average Weapons, that's 2 shifts. If I hit, I get +3 total from my Weapon and my Inhuman Strength.
Also, moving back into Zone 1, since Inhuman Speed lets me move between zones without taking penalty as part of a physical action, which this is(attack/dart back)

Sakutian

Two halves of a flying toad fall to the floor cut cleanly through as though it had it's body were the same consistency as warm butter.

dresdenphile

Can I make it in and act this round? My Supernatural Speed gives me the following:

Effortless Movement. Whenever moving as part of another physical activity, you may move two zones without taking the –1 penalty for a supplemental action.

and

Supreme Initiative. You always go first in initiative order in a conflict, regardless of your Alertness rating. If there are other entities present who share this ability, you must then use Alertness to resolve initiative order among yourselves.

Pneumatic Horseman

James examines the remains of the pulped frogbat thing in the maul shaped indent, nodding at the lovely woman with the sharp knife. "Well enough. You and your mother still trying to kill each other?"

Shifting his stance so that he can see the pale, too fast vampire and the frog things he readies another blow.

Sakutian

The two remaining frogbats seeing their only clear path to escape blocked by James and Dr. Meyers begin a chorus of renewed throaty croaking as they attack.

One of the creatures propels itself across the floor in a horrible slithering crawl opening it's mouth as it attempts to take a bite out of James' ankle.

Rolled a great -3 for this one. Go ahead and roll for James defense when you get a chance, it's just a basic fists attack.

The airborne frogbat clearly angered at Dr. Meyer's attempt to reduce it to cinders, swoops down and lashes out at him with it's tail.

Rolled a 1 for this frogbat fists attack, again go ahead and roll your defense when you are able.

Meanwhile the flying amphibians are attempting to make good on their assault a Rey rushes into the ruined coffeehouse. The sound of sirens some distance away but growing steadily louder begins to echo down the street.

Pneumatic Horseman

While not exactly nimble, the big half troll does manage to dance back from the vicious creatures ravening jaws.

I got a -2 on my athletics check to dodge, which gives me a net of 1.

Endurance check wise, I rolled even, so net 3 there unless supernatural toughness or recovery adds to endurance checks (don't have my book on me)

Sakutian

As I read it no supernatural toughness does not increase your endurance check.

SanderJK

Dr. Meyer attempts to block the frogs attack with his cane,* but doesn't succeed in fending of the beast.

Defense vs Frog monster. If Weapons +4*(If I have that cane) if Athlethics +0. (1d3-2=-1, 1d3-2=-1, 1d3-2=-1, 1d3-2=0) So boned either way, either with a tie of 1 vs 1 (for +Fists stress), or a 1 vs -3 for (4 +Fists stress)

He does manage to hold his breath against the billowing smoke though:

Endurance test vs smoke +3 (1d3-2=0, 1d3-2=-1, 1d3-2=0, 1d3-2=1) = 3+0 = 3

Sakutian

The frogbat pierces Dr. Meyers shoulder with it's stinger then flies backwards, the shallow wound begins bleeding a bit and a cold stinging sensation begins to flow through the dragon emissary's body.

Dr. Meyer's take 1 Physical Stress, also he gains the aspect POISONED. At the start of each turn he has to make an Endurance check to see if he takes further damage from the frogbat's poison.

dresdenphile

Rey launches a jump-kick at the creature that just stung the good Doctor. He had a feeling that he'd need new shoes after this was all over.

I have Fists 4. I have the Lethal Weapon Stunt, so I get a +2 to the stress induced on a successful attack. I rolled +,-,+,- for a net gain of 0. So, +6 is good right?

Sakutian

Rey's kick splits the frogbat wide open and sends a fresh wave of slimy innards splattering across the coffee house interior.

Needless to say my bad rolls continue, Rey kicked my minion apart.

The final frogbat looks about seeing the remains of it's allies splattered around the room and decides to flee. Flapping it's wings it takes to the air and flies out of the open window frame and vanishing into the darkness. At the same time the fire is finally extinguished by the steady rain being produced by the fire sprinklers, the stink of burning wood and plastic fills the room.