[Gamma World PbP] Odyssey to the West (Game Thread)

Denada

Adventures Across Gamma Terra

Welcome to the game thread. This is a campaign set in Gamma World, the post-apocalyptic, mutated future earth where for a brief moment (now remembered as the Big Mistake) all realities converged into one horrible explosion of chaos, destruction, and radiation. After that, things got a little weird.

The world as it stands now is full of mutated freaks, strange monsters, and dangerous plants - particularly marigolds. They did not mutate well. In any case, one of the realities that came to Earth was the one that contained the Apocalypse Readiness and Recovery Center, or ARRC.

The ARRC is a secret underground facility, a vault, you might say, where people, plants, animals, technology, and other things were stored in anticipation of some kind of horrendous apocalyptic event. Sadly, the Apocalypse Recognition Sensory Equipment wasn't particularly well designed (thanks Obama), so no one was woken up when the apocalypse actually did happen. It's now 107 ABM (After the Big Mistake), and the ARRC's Environmental Stabilization Core has malfunctioned. You're the crew that was just recreated from a mixture of genetic goo and raw material who's job it is to get the parts necessary to fix it.

Unfortunately those parts are in (what was) California and you're in (what was) Kentucky. Fortunately, you're the best crew that the ARRC has ever reconstructed from the malfunctioning remains of its Regenesis Center. I'm sure everything will go smoothly. Speaking of you, you are:

Bofsat, Wheeled/Exploding unstable robot, played by @wildwood.
Harmless, Rat Swarm/Temporal swarm of temporal rats, played by @GrimmyTOA.
NT-MTR, Demon/Android hell-fueled robot, played by @Antimatter.
Octzi, Octopoid/Shapeshifter tentacled mechanic, played by @Gatsby.
arrcd, Demon/AI possessed android, played by @DarkPrimus.

- - - - -
The five of you will be posting your actions and such here, in the game thread. I am not going to use an OOC thread. If you have out-of-character things to say/questions to ask/etc, just post them in DarkGrey text.

Also remember to bookmark the game thread so that you can find it even when your notifications don't alert you to a new post. Bookmark by clicking the little bookmark icon. You can then find your bookmarked threads here or by clicking the little star icon next to your name. If you're using one of those fancy alternative skins for the forums then things might be different, but if you're doing that I'm sure you're savvy enough to figure it out. Just don't lose track of the thread is what I'm saying.

You should use invisiblecastle or orokos to handle your rolling. I'm handling your sheets, and I will update them when necessary. I'm also probably going to redesign them in the near future because I want to redesign them in the near future.

Now, on with the game!
- - - - -

Denada

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   *WARNING*   *WARNING*   *WARNING*   *WARNING*   *WARNING*
Core stabilization failure. Initiate emergency protocol 66CSD.

Initializing ...   ...   ...   ...   
Error. Cryo-stasis failure detected. Proceed to crew regenesis.

Initializing regenesis ...   ...   ...
Warning. Genetic recombinator malfunction detected.
Unexpected results may occur.

Regenesis complete. Proceed to orientation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~WELCOME TO ORIENTATION!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Congratulations! In addition to being alive, you have also been
selected for a critical mission in support of the ARRC.

*pause for fanfare*

You are currently in the year –TEMPORAL INTERFERENCE DETECTED-.
The temperature outside the ARRC is a balmy –STOP ERROR 0x10c##
################
#######
## # #
##  death of everyone and everything inside the ARRC, including
you #####                 ########     #    ###
###
# Core Repair Kits are located in the Designated Equipment
Retention Plaza in beautiful Modesto, California. Proceed to
your designated supply location to receive one (1) Explorer's
Kit (TM) and the additional supplies listed in your personnel
profile. In the event of a catastrophic explosion in your
designated supply location, proceed directly to #--%%%%%%%%####
######################
((^^$####################
##            do not, under any circumstances


*...this script is not responding, do you wa*

Thank you for enjoying this brief mission orientation. Remember,
the outside world is an inhospitable wasteland that is hostile
to all forms of existence. Use the Teleportation Platform
conveniently located on Level Sunshine 4 to make your journey as
quick and un-perilous as possible.

END OF MESSAGE

Now that the soothing-yet-authoritative voice of the ARRC's primary computer system has given you your orders, it's time to act. You've been instructed to retrieve a Core Repair Kit for the Environmental Stabilization Core of the ARRC. These kits are located in a facility in California. The ARRC is secretly located beneath a secret vault beneath Fort Knox in Kentucky. That would be a long trip, if it weren't for the convenient teleporter.

Your first order of business is to go to Supply Depot B7 on Level Waterfall 2 of the ARRC. From there, head to Sunshine 4 to find the Teleportation Platform.

For reference, you are currently in the Crew Orientation Conference Center, in the south wing of Level Bluebird 8.

Antimatter

"I have a map, fellow ARRC members."

Denada

NT-MTR's face-screen switches to a map of the ARRC with a bouncing "you are here" arrow over a room with three hallways branching out from it. A small label indicates that you are indeed in the COCC, while a plethora of other acronyms indicate the locations of other important areas. The BLO, the YUP, and the HERP are all on this level, while the Supply Depots are two levels up. Depot B7 is on the north wing of Waterfall 2. From there, you will need to take the elevator another 4 levels up to Sunshine 4, where the Teleportation Platform is located in the east wing between the BALL and VAGG.

Here in the COCC, you're surrounded by four white walls, each adorned with an array of video screens that are currently playing a looped promotional video for all of the enjoyment life in ARRC cryo-stasis has to offer. The room is roughly 50 feet wide, 200 feet long, and 20 feet tall. A row of tables to your left is laid out with Intelligently Non-Selected Edible/Consumable Treats, all of which are still sealed and are Guaranteed for Freshness*.

There are four large double-doors on each wall, though only three of them actually go anywhere. The fourth is entirely for decoration, to help achieve one of the ARRC's seven primary design goals: symmetry.

Based on NT-MTR's map, the door on the north wall will lead you toward the elevator.

GrimmyTOA

"Oooh! A Map!"
"Do we have a map?"
"Nope."
"Oh."
"We've got a dog with a laser gun attached to its forehead, though!"
"Oooh!"
"You'll have led on when everyone else is ready, NT-etcetera."
"Don't forget that we're totally harmless!"

Antimatter

NT-MTR passes out food to the party, storing a small amount of food on its person not because it needs to eat, but in case an ally requires additional nutrition. Following this, it stands stock still, waiting for its team to finish with their communications and preparations.

wildwood

Bofsat consumes some consumables, confirming their consumability. He wads up the wrapper and stares at it for a moment. Then, in a blur, he spins on his wheels, sending the wrapper flying. He stops just as quickly, watching it fly, until it comes to a stop.

"Bofsat is ready. What needs hauling?"

Gatsby

Octzi grabs as much food as he can, and then some. He's not particularly hungry, nor does he trust any of this nonsense, but he realises the value behind any kind of edible substance and knows he can get a good price. Plus some extra bargaining chips never hurt anyone.

Antimatter

NT-MTR observes Octzi's and Bofsat's behavior in puzzlement. "This one shall lead the way north, then."

Denada

With your bellies (or integrated material processors, as the case may be) full, you head out the door toward the elevator. Bright white lights come to life along the hallway as you walk though. Turning down a few more corridors, you finally come to the central elevator shaft, where the elevator doors slide open as you approach.

Pleasantly forgettable music plays in the background as you begin your ascent. The ride seems unnecessarily long for only traveling two floors, but it gives you a chance to hear a brief news blurb to catch up on recent events. Sadly it's a clip you've heard before, so it's mildly annoying instead of being informative.

Finally, you hear a DING as the elevator comes to a halt. The doors slide open, at which point you feel the elevator shake slightly. The movement is accompanied by a distant thud and a few of the lights flickering. After a second the flickering stops, and everything appears normal. According to NT-MTR's face, Supply Depot B7 is two intersections straight ahead, one to the left, then one to the right.

Antimatter

"Ready, willing, prepared to continue onward, comrades." NT-MTR turns its head left and right, cautious, checking for anything out of the ordinary as it walks its way towards the group's destination.

Gatsby

"Lead the way," Octzi absent-mindedly mutters. Currently his more pressing thoughts concern the potential value the supply depot may pose and what the current apocalyptic economy is like. Even in a desolate wasteland profit is still profit.

GrimmyTOA

The mass of rats surges down the hallway in NT-MTR's wake. The individuals are varied, running the gamut from sleek white lab-rat types with glasses on to a piebald, mangy specimen who calls himself Benji and keeps talking about cheese. Each is clad in a few scraps of leather, and armed to the teeth.

There are between two and three hundred of them, but it's really hard to tell exactly -- both because of the constant writhing and because individual rats keep popping in and out of existence with tiny little *BAMF*s. At one point you notice Benji arguing with himself. They keep up a constant chatter, but they move with a strange uniformity of purpose, more like a school of fish than anything else. It takes you a while to put it together, but eventually you realize that some of the rats are hopping forwards in time and then returning to the past to let the others know where the rats had chosen to go. It's a bit eerie.

"So I says to him, I says 'cheddar? Are you kidding me? give me a nice soft goats cheese, or..."
"We mean none of you any harm! We've said that already, right?"
"This is a long hallway, huh? Should'a put the rooms closer together, huh?"
"I don't even like cheese that much. Give me a nice warm eyeball any day."
"Shh! You'll scare them."
*BAMF*
"Nah, they were okay with it for now. We went a little more to the right up here."

wildwood

Bofsat rattles and shudders for a few seconds, then follows along quietly.

Denada

You hear another thud somewhere in the distance as you continue your way toward the Supply Depot. The lights flicker again, briefly, then return to normal. It happens three more times before you finally reach Supply Depot B7.

Before you stand huge, heavy steel doors. These are the kind of doors you would expect to see on a giant underground military vault in a movie. They're a dull green, have a large, complicated-looking locking mechanism, and are probably several feet thick. There are even caution stripes painted along the edges of the doors where they come together. The doors are surrounded by an array of security cameras, three of which are pointed at the control panel to the left.

Yellow caution lights begin spinning when you press the large red button marked "OPEN" while the complicated-looking locks begin to rotate, shift, and slide into and out of a variety of positions. Eventually the two doors begin to slide open, but stop suddenly with a loud bang and a spray of sparks, leaving a space of about three inches between them. The control panel does not respond to further button presses.

GrimmyTOA

A sudden stillness falls over the horde of rats.

"Well that doesn't seem right."
"No."
"Nope."
"Doesn't it?"
"No, Arthur!"
"Oh."
"Hmmm."

Can I send a rat or two through the gap to see if there's a switch on the other side?"

Denada

Yes. Being a swarm, you can fit through any space that one of your constituent parts can get through. It's dark on the other side of the door though, so you'll need to make a Perception check (DC 12) once on the other side to find anything.

wildwood

Bofsat pounds on the console buttons some more, just in case they're really stuck. Then he looks around the room for any tools that may help pry the doors open further.

Antimatter

I have dark vision, can I look through the gap? I obviously can't fit my head through, but I can take a glimpse, right?

GrimmyTOA

Okay, once Antimatter takes a peek, I'll slip through and see if I can get the door open.

Denada

Bofsat: The immediate area is devoid of tools, or anything else really, except the four of you.

NT-MTR (Passive Perception): Peering through the small gap between the doors, you can see what appear to be large piles of, well, junk. Broken crates, empty cases, a boat for some reason, even a wagon. From your position you can see shelves along the back wall that appear to have backpacks on the middle shelf, a few portable generators (with fuel) on the lower shelf, and some camping supplies on the top shelf. Although a lot of the gear in this room appears to be broken or missing, there's still some that should be usable, provided you can get the door open. You can't see a control panel from where you are.

Harmless (Passive Perception): While NT-MTR presses his no-light optics against the gap between the doors, you break down into a stream of rats that scurry into the dark room. After half a minute of sniffing and crawling, you find the control panel. A helpful display on the panel indicates the problem: "ERROR. DOOR STUCK. PLEASE CLEAR OBSTRUCTION." After pressing the button to turn on the lights, you see a robot torso jammed into the track the door slides on. You also see a robot leg nearby, and a head, and part of an arm, and various other robot parts scattered about. The pieces all seem to radiate out from a big hole in the left wall where something appears to have exploded. A large pile of dirt and metal shards fills the hole now, as though there was a tunnel that collapsed.

Everyone: Another thud sounds in the distance, this one louder than previous thuds. The lights flicker and go off momentarily, coming back on after several seconds.

Antimatter

"Thuds and irregular power flow, not a good sign. This unit did see useful supplies in the room, at least."

GrimmyTOA

"We've found something!"
"Yes indeed."
"We'll try to fix it."

The rats pour towards the robot jammed into the tracks, and begin to bicker about how best to remove the obstruction. Once they hit on a solution (they decide to pull it out) they get to work.

Denada

Those of you outside the room hear the chittering of rats and some metallic squeals, then see a flash of light. A second later, the door begins to move again.

Inside, Harmless swarms over the broken robot. Each rat takes hold of a part of the torso, then in a flash they appear in another time-space in which they had already pulled out the robot. Free of the obstruction, the door opens.

Side Note: I used a creative application of Temporal Fugue, your Temporal origin's novice power, even though you're not technically attacking anyone. I encourage all of you to come up with creative uses for the powers and such that you have available to you. If you can come up with a justification for it, it's fun/cool/interesting, and it would move along the story, just assume that I will allow it. In combat you'll have to use your powers as written, but otherwise just go for it.

With the doors open, you can see what NT-MTR described to you. There's some useful stuff here (the gear and Omega Tech listed on your character sheets), and a whole lot of broken and/or looted junk. You can also see the remains of a blown-up robot and a big hole in the left wall that appears to be a collapsed tunnel.

wildwood

"Good job, rats."

Bofsat wheels over and around the debris, looking for anything useful. He settles on a finely polished sheet of metal and a bright red wagon with all-terrain wheels. He rolls it back and forth a few times before nodding and attaching its handle, pulling it behind him. "Rats want a ride?"

Aside from moving around a bit to try out the wagon, Bofsat waits for NT-MTR to keep leading the way.

I look forward to explodifying something soon.

Antimatter

NT-MTR examines the robot's remains closely, a frowny face on its monitor while it does so.

1d20+2 → [17,2] = (19)
sorry, didnt see that you had the sheets up already!

GrimmyTOA

The rats eye the wagon for a moment, and there's a sudden spate of *BAMF*ing from the throng.

"A ride?"
"Maaaybe."
"Tell them about the generators!"
"Oh yeah!"
"And the tunnel!"
"We should take the portable generators..."
"And the fuel."
"...and the fuel."
"We're gonna neeeed them!"
"And it looks like something dug through the wall over there."
"In or out?"
"What am I, a coal miner?"
"Also we should look around this room some more."

With that the rats spread out and begin rifling through the supplies, looking for useful items.

Scavenging: 1d20+4 20

Gatsby

"This looks like one Big Mistake of a mess," Octzi says. He sidles over to the hole in the wall. Cautiously he runs a tentacle over the edges of the jagged surface and the overall blast radius of what caused this.

Science check: 1d20+5 = 21

Denada

NT-MTR: Judging by the remains of its arm, this robot was designed for excavation, specifically digging and/or drilling (you would have to find its other arm to be sure, but that would be difficult at best amid this rubble). The robot appears to have exploded due to an overloaded power core. For such an overload to occur, the robot would have to be poorly designed, severely mistreated by its owners, or both. Due to the nature of the damage, there is nothing salvageable from the body.

Harmless: Being made of rats, scavenging is something you're quite good at when you want to be. You're able to scrounge up some more supplies that could come in handy, or taste good, or are shiny, or possibly all three.

You find the following in addition to what's listed on everyone's sheets: 1 kaleidoscope, 1 clock radio, 1 electric blender, 2 boxes of paperclips (20 paperclips in each box).

Octzi: Although there is an exploded robot on the floor, that's probably not what actually opened up the hole. It certainly helped, but the real blast was probably from some kind of grenade or similar-sized explosive. There was indeed a tunnel here, but it was poorly constructed at best, and it's no wonder that the thing didn't stay open for very long considering people were blowing up robots and grenades inside it. You can also tell that the explosion came from inside the tunnel, meaning that someone dug into the supply depot, rather than out of it.

Antimatter

"Curious." NT-MTR turns its head back and forth at the group. "Can this one assist in any way? Or should we head towards the teleportation platform?"

Gatsby

"I'd say nothing but trouble, worse: Trouble without pay is behind that mix-up," Octzi points out, a tentacle jabbing in the general direction of the rubble. Giving it a good hard thump with the same appendage, Octzi turns to the droid and the rest of the group.

"Whatever caused it seems like it didn't want any followers. I'm more than happy to oblige that request, personally."

GrimmyTOA

The rats quickly distribute their loot -- the kaleidoscope in particular counting as an A-1 find -- and pile into Bofsat's wagon with a great collective squeak of delight. One of the more enterprising ones attempts to plug the clock radio into the back of the android, but most of them seem pretty focused on their new ride. An almost perfectly synchronized yell erupts from several hundred tiny throats.

"ONWARDS!"
"-wards! Dammit."
"Oh come on! Who did that?"
"I thought it was one two three shout, not one two shout."
"... Get it together, Humphrey."

Antimatter

"Let's roll." NT-MTR leads the way, teleporting forward small leaps at a time.

wildwood

"Hang on, rats."

Bofsat follows behind NT-MTR, trying to avoid any big potholes or bumps.

Denada

Having loaded up on whatever you could from the supply depot, you head back toward the elevator on your way to the Teleporation Platform. You hear another thud on your way, though this time the lights don't flicker.

Inside the elevator, you're treated to another long wait while mild music plays softly in the background. After what seems like several minutes, you hear a loud BOOM and feel the elevator lurch and grind to a stop. The lights go out, and after about 10 seconds red emergency lights come on in their place. You feel another lurch, then the elevator continues its ascent toward Sunshine 4.

Finally, you arrive at the main entrance to the Teleportation Platform. The doors open without incident, at which point a small arrow whizzes past NT-MTR's head and lodges itself in the wall behind him. Inside the room, you see two what can only be described as badger-people, each one with a crossbow pointed at you. Behind them, two pig-people are guarding a huge hole in the wall, each one carrying a crude flail. All of them are wearing dirty biker clothes, which makes sense when you see the gang of five people driving away on motorcycles in the large tunnel. Two of the four riders are badgers, one appears to be some kind of robot, and the last is a rabbit-person with a large, red metal cylinder strapped to his back.

You only have a few seconds to take in the scene before one of the pigs screams at the other mutants. "What are you waiting for? KILL THEM!"

Roll Initiative!

GrimmyTOA

By the time the rats finish bickering about whose fault it is that nobody told them the Badgers and Pigs and Motorcycling Bunny-Rabbits were hostile, precious seconds have elapsed.

Initiative: 1d20+10 12

Antimatter

Nt-MTR draws its gun and draws a bead in the enemy robot. Its common sense actuators misfired, causing the teleporting robot to lose the advantage of time.

1d20+5=9

wildwood

Bofsat realizes almost immediately that they are under attack, but takes a lot more time than he had anticipated detaching the wagon, so that he could move. "Be careful, rats!"

I'm assuming that the wagon needs to be detached before combat, right? Although a robot trailing a wagon of sniper rats does have a certain appeal...

1d20+0 = 4

Gatsby

Reacting with lightning quick reflexes that only an octopus has, Octzi utilizes his extra brain power to drum up a plan in his head within mere milliseconds. Making sure he's at the rear of his group, the octopoid con-man unholsters his makeshift rivet gun, ready for any attack.

1d20 + 2 = 21

Denada

Round 1



The room is awash in a shifting blue glow that gives everything a strange, dreamlike quality. The glow is coming from the teleportation platform, which has a plate ripped off of one of its sides, some frayed wires sticking out, and probably a few pieces missing. This seems to have caused the platform's quantum nano-field to become unstable, so it's probably best not to get too close to it. Unless you're interested in dying. Then it's fine. The walkway is kind of a pain to clean though, so at least don't die up there.

As the remainder of the gang speeds off out of sight, the two badgers and two pigs remain in the room, presumably to stop your pursuit. Octzi and one of the badgers arm their weapons at almost exactly the same time, but the badger is just a hair quicker. He fires of a shot that hits NT-MTR square in the chest, easily piercing the android's armor, then scurries back toward the pigs, hoping to put their girth between you and him.

Badder 1 (B1) - 22/22 - AC 15; F 13, R 14, W 13
Location: E9 - Status: Normal.
>>>Octzi - 23/23 - AC 19; F 11, R 16, W 15
Location: O10 - Status: Normal.
Badder 2 (B2) - 22/22 - AC 15; F 13, R 14, W 13
Location: G10 - Status: Normal.
Porker 1 (P1) - 29/29 - AC 17; F 16, R 13, W 12
Location: D8 - Status: Normal.
Porker 2 (P2) - 29/29 - AC 17; F 16, R 13, W 12
Location: E10 - Status: Normal.
Harmless - 26/26 - AC 20; F 13, R 15, W 14
Location: O6 - Status: Normal.
NT-MTR - 11/20 - AC 18; F 15, R 15, W 13
Location: N9 - Status: Granting CA to adjacent enemies (so B1 nt).
Bofsat - 32/32 - AC 15; F 17, R 14, W 11
Location: N7 - Status: Normal.

Hazard: Unstable Teleportation Platform (active)

Up next: @Gatsby

Notes: If anyone triggers the hazard I will let you know. You can learn about it ahead of time with a DC 19 Science check (no action). On your turn, please tag the next person in line at the end of your post so that they (or I) know to go.

Gatsby

Question @Denada, if I use Shapeshifter's Feint only to change my form and not attack, that would count as my standard action right?