Last week we spent some time deciding what skills and gear our "Freeway Warrior" would sport. We decided to put two points into Shooting, one point into Perception, and one point into Fieldcraft. Being on the wimpy side of the Endurance scale, apparently we thought that it would be better to stay far away from danger by toting a rifle, being smart enough to see trouble coming before it gets close, and wilderness savvy enough to hide if it comes down to it.
To that end we settled on a compass so we know which way to run, binoculars so we can see our enemies at even longer distances, three square meals (running burns calories, folks!), and a geiger counter. Here's how our character sheet looks:
And with that, we're off!
I want to know where I can apply for the "Roustabout" position, so I can then become a former one. What a great job title. Nonetheless, the lucrative Roustabouting profession clearly did not teach Long Jake Bannerman (seriously, this guy rolled a perfect 20 on the "awesome fraternity names" chart) never learned the first rule of Post-Apocalyptic Fighting, which is "never go out alone". Duh.
In a fuel-starved world, what do you think the odds are that we proceed at a cautious 55 mph with properly inflated tires to assure the best possible gas mileage? That's right, zero: We roar down Highway 75 driving that bad boy like we stole it! Which we probably did, come to think of it ...
Ambushed! My immediate question is, do you think our buddy Long Jake is in on the ambush, probably via coercion of some sort? I tend to think probably not, as he could've just as easily gotten us into the building and shanghaied if that's what they wanted. On the other hand, why would ambushers wait for us to get there if Jake hadn't told them someone was coming? Otherwise they'd have just popped him and her right off. Unless the captured him before the radio transmission, forced him to tell them everything, then laid up for us. And they're just not very good at ambushing ...
Regardless, it's up to you, fellow adventurers -- what shall we do? Explain your reasoning in the comments!
We’re not Mad Max, though our story is eerily similar. If they get another chance like that and hit the gas tank we are done cakes. Stick it out and if we get lucky we can whup ’em and steal supplies and ammo.
Good point McKnight. Plus you know there’s something important about the girl. It’s how it always plays out. I’m for staying and fighting, even if it means an early end to this adventure.
Definitely stay and fight. After all, we’ve got 5 points in shooting. We should be able to hit something…
And honestly, I got pretty tired of running away in the last one. Stand and fight! Er…take cover and fight! The bad guys have our radio frequency! It’s all going to hell!
Stand and fight. Or in this case dive down and take cover. đ Now if we could just get through this without taking massive hits to our already low END…..
Bullets are like illegal aliens: they should be fired, and here’s always more of them!
You know, I was about to vote to getting the eff out of there, low points and all. But so far, a good point has been made to taking a stand and fighting it out.
Usually I’m on the “stand and fight” side, but we’ve only just started this adventure (fights early on in these books ususally don’t end well); and have no idea how many ambushers there are (if there’s more than 4 we can’t even shoot them all), so I say we run away like little girls and hope for the best…
Let’s take cover (assuming they don’t mean lying down in the middle of the street in the foetal position, trying to pretend this isn’t happening). Our mate Lohn Jake Bannerman-Roustabout said that he’d found guns and ammunition, so now seems a good time to stick around and make use of them.
It also seems that since our Field Craft is at 4 points, we can probably MacGyver something useful like a mini-bomb or setup a trap or two. If that fails our close combat is at 12, so we can do some serious damage if they move in close enough. This could get interesting and very likely wind up working in our favor and if we stay out of sight long enough, they’ll have to come after us, meaning fewer rounds wasted and more ammo for us. As Dan said, there’s something important about that girl, so she might come in handy.
First of all, in the best Post-Apocalyptic Military tradition, we did not Steal that car… We ‘requisitioned’ it!
Second, not only would we abandon Frat Boy and the Generic Girl by running off, we’d also be leaving behind that Machine Gun, and all the ammo!
Of course, either way, I’m kind of worried about only having four rounds of ammo for my own weapon…
Not sure of the game system, but it sounds like we should be able to take them!
Should I ask?
Judging by the Britishisms… “roustabout” and “tyre”…
So disappointed with the choice of compass. Use your eyes!
Sorry… harsh… I’m still voting to see where this lands. Willing suspension of disbelief and all.
First off, can we switch characters? I would much rather be ‘Long Jake Bannerman’! I mean, if you google the word ‘roustabout’ it says that its typically covers some temporary labourer, like a circus worker. Now think people, what kind of guy works in a circus and gets the name ‘Long Jake’? The kind of guy I want to be!!
Now secondly, I say we only save yourself and Long Jake – screw the girl she is only trouble! Either she is a spy for some gang (most likely the HAVOC gang mentioned in the intro) or she is the favourite, maybe/maybe not voluntary, squeeze of Mad Dog Michigan and will be the reason why the gang chases us.
Let her fend for herself I say..
Oh, and Jeff, how did you end up rolling a 0 for our END? I mean, if you roll a D10 (since you said it was out of ten) wouldn’t 1 be the minimum?
I’ve been meaning to ask but never got around to it last week so now is as good a time as any I guess…
Hunter-Hunted, the instructions for that part of character generation say if you get 0, it counts as 0 and not 10 for some reason. Not sure why they did that.
@Jeff (15) – Weird… Not sure how that makes sense to have a range that goes from 0-9 on a D10. Guess the author isn’t a dedicated roleplayer himself and therefore misunderstood the dice.
Anyways, it only makes for an “interesting” character – or so I’ve always been told when I’ve rolled a subpar character đ
Hunter-Hunted: In this case it was a deliberate design choice, as elsewhere in chargen and combat, 0=10. I don’t know why they didn’t want anyone having 30 END (it’s 20+whatever you roll), but it was on purpose.
I have a feeling that this adventure will have at least one of the following: 1. A tribe of weird feral kids who worship a Delta Airlines plane; 2. A bloated “warlord” in a hockey mask with a horde of black-clad rapist followers; 3. Tina Turner; 4. People insisting on saying “guzzeleen” and talking with incorrect accents; 5. Big. Damn. Explosions.
Take cover and fight. After battle get with the teen and interogate to make sure she wasn’t a spy set up to lead the bandits to your position. If innocent spare her and offer refuge, if not have your way with her and leave her in the wastes. Check the bodies for any survivers that may provide intel and for equipment.
I can’t bring myself to begin this adventure by abandoning a woman and a, um, roustabout to some horrendous fate. Bad karma.
I gotta say, for something clearly written by a Brit, or maybe an Ozzie, Uncle Jonas’s redneck dialect isn’t that bad.
I’m pretty sure raping our enemies won’t be an option in this adventure, TOOL–for which most of us, I would hope, are profoundly grateful.
@X-stacy, I was just seeing if anyone was still paying close attention LOL.