Comes in third in Britian’s Greatest Foes! Loses to George Washington and Michael Collins.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/9204961/George-Washington-named-Britains-greatest-ever-foe.html
Episode 1.4 St Elmo’s Fire
Prologue: Augustus Bellarose, mysterious merchant with shady background, sits in the Screaming Pig. An old contact makes him a deal: they want to sell a large amount of gunpowder to the French, but don’t have a read on the new Governor yet. Get him out of the way for a day or two and Augustus gets 10%. Augustus says oui oui. Meanwhile, over in Arabelle’s lab, the sample she took from the zombie corpse pops, sizzles and cracks open like an oyster revealing a strange green pearl. She picks it up with tweezers and puts it in a beaker.
After the credits, we are at sea in the Colossus. After a full day searching at the co-ordinates given to the Governor by Augustus, they have yet to find the pirates he had word of – pirates suspected of trading with the French. A frustrating search leads Captain Carnegie to follow Augustus suggestion to check out an old cove he knows on a tiny uncharted, uninhabited island nicknamed Banana Island for its shape. (BTW guys, you can now name it whatever you like, as your navigator charted it for you.)
Our heroes arrive on the beach but penetrating the small shack in the bushes, they find six men dead. Pirates or smugglers, by their dress. Augustus recognizes one of them, but hides his reaction from the others. Investigations reveal they were having a small gathering when they were all stabbed while seated. Weapons lie nearby. The doctor’s assistant is sent for and she discovers, to her horror, two of the men have the barnacles on their skin – although they appear to have died with the men’s death. One of them is covered from the waist down and one large barnacle has yawned open, revealing a strange green pearl….which she palms before anyone else sees it.
Meanwhile on the beach, a signal from the boat reveals a sail has been seen. By the time the two longboats get back to the Colossus, there are two of them: two strongly armed and armoured French warships, boxing the Colosssus into the attol’s curved harbour. One ship was possible, but two, right here, right now? Seems suspicious – but no time for that now. Carnegie refuses to be intimidated, however, and runs the blockade. The gutsy manoeuver pays off, but the ship is heavily damaged in the run. Down below deck, Miss Arabelle is thrown about as a cannon ball tears through her cabin wall. Still clutching the pearl, she cannot hold onto a crossbeam with both hands, and a wave almost carries her away. In desperation, she pops the pearl into her mouth and uses both hands to pull to safety. A small trail of froth bubbles from her lips, and suddenly, she gets a sense of what needs to be done.
The Colossus is fast, being a lighter ship than her enemies but they still have the wind gauge and can fire as she runs. Will there be a ship left if they elude their enemy? Then out of nowhere there is a spark of green flame, like St Elmo’s Fire, on the mast of the leading French ship and the mast falls – clearly a cannon ball hit it square on. The falling mast catches light and soon the ship does too. Stricken, it cannot fire. With the advantage now his, Carnegie smells prize and turns the Colossus around to attack the second ship. As they pull into range, they notice Miss Arabelle on the deck, pointing her finger at the second ship. And its mast splints like kindling as well.
The Colossus closes to board the second ship, but as they reach it they notice it is swarming with battle already. Eventually it becomes clear that the crew has become possessed by the zombie-barnacles and the unaffected are fighting for their lives. They beg for rescue and dive into the water, making for the Colossus. Carnegie allows them to come on board, but has the doctor separate out the infected men and tie the rest to the mast. All in all, almost two dozen men are saved, of which five are infected. All of them are in French uniform except two men who are dressed like poor merchantmen. Strangely, these two are not begging for mercy from Carnegie, but from Augustus. One of them we now recognize as the man in the bar from the start of the episode.
Augustus is in no mood to be merciful to smugglers who just led him into a trap, and sets about poisoning the prisoner’s water supply. Meanwhile, Mr Hargraves also makes a quick decision, goes and finds his most trusted men and tells them to kill the infected prisoners and make it look self inflicted. None of this chicanery is noticed by the officers and doctor because they are quizzing the French captain who says simply that he was given a tip-off that the Colossus would near the island and ripe for picking. He says his informant would not name his source, as is the way of such men. Carnegie and the French Captain – Hulloc – bargain: fair treatment for his men for all the information. Hulloc agrees, but will provide the information only after reaching land – too much can happen at sea.
And indeed, by next morning, half his men are dying from dehydration as a terrible scourge purges them from every orifice. The deck is a cesspool and the doctor can find no obvious cause. Hulloc suspects the spy amongst the English is on the Colossus itself, and is trying to kill him and his crew to cover his tracks. He thus agrees to name the merchantman in the scarf – a disreputable smuggler known as La Scorpione – as his source. Hargraves immediately marches over and hurls La Scorpione to his feet and demands information. But the ascent is the last thing his exhausted body can take. With his last breath, he raises a finger in accusation at his killer, spits hate and says “BELLAROOOOOSE” as he dies.
And everything goes very quiet on deck for a moment. Roll credits.
An idea of what St Kitts is like (sort of). Plus monkeys. http://io9.com/5888207/drunken-monkeys-steal-cocktails-from-caribbean-beach-resorts?utm_campaign=socialflow_io9_facebook&utm_source=io9_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow
Just some ideas of modelling a vehicle or some other large important machine or object like it was a Feature.
First question: why? Surely it should be a Resource or a power with the Gear limit. Yes, it could be. But if it is a Feature, it can have some personality (in every sense) of its own, and it can Assist you, meaning more dice. Or you (the captain, or the engineer, or the pilot, or all three, unless they’re arguing over what to do) can assist it in doing things. Either way, it allows for some extra dice rolling fun.
How many steps? Let everyone buy the vehicle during chargen as an Asset. Add up all the steps they spend. That’s how many steps you get on the ship!
Values:
Love may keep a ship flying, but they don’t really love back. Most objects only have three Values:
Duty: How much they keep going when the going gets tough
Power: How much they have to give to make the going of others tougher
Truth: How well they move around and respond to commands, both in and out of combat.
For an average vehicle, they all start at d6.
Vehicles can have Relationships, but they can also have Designs. As in what they were designed to do. Usually, this can be phrased as being like a relationship, eg
I was built to destroy THE FRENCH d10
I can easily avoid THE POLICE d8
I never let BAD GUYS get away d12
I smuggle things without THE EMPIRE noticing them d6
Some can be more personal:
I travel through time and space with THE DOCTOR d8
I am the last hope of MAL REYNOLDS d10
SHERIFF ROSCO never gonna catch the Duke Boys d12
You get one Design at d4 for free, with either your main purpose or your main operator. The rest cost levels.
Lastly, add Assets. These include armor, guns, and any scanning tech or the like. Don’t include Flight if you’re a plane – that’s just standard operation, but if your car turns into a boat, then you totally have the Swimming Ability. Likewise you don’t get Superspeed unless your car is ridiculously faster than other cars. And if everyone is trying to be the fastest and the most furious, then this will just be a Distinction – there’s nothing “super” about it. Whereas, for example, no other car (except KARR and Goliath) in Knight Rider can Turbo Boost or Communicate.
Example: Mal is being chased by Reavers in the Mule and has just burnt all his Plot Points saving Jayne, so Wash decides to do a Barnswallow. He rolls Glory (Watch How I Soar) d8 + I must keep ZOE safe d8 and Ace Pilot d12 and spends a Plot Point for “We’ve Done This Before” d6 and gets 5, 6, 10, and 4. He hands the 10 to “Serenity” who rolls Duty (Keep Flying) d10 and MAL’s Last Hope d10 and Trickier Than She Looks d8 and gets 10, 1 and 5, or 15, plus Wash’s 10, which is 25. The Reavers have no way to beat that so decide to Give In and explode.
Final Note: If your vehicles are alive, like say you’re flying around on dragons or something, they can be statted like people, or you could use a different set of Values to vaguely equate with handling, speed and durability. Horses probably have Glory, Duty and Power, for example, with power being stamina, duty control and glory speed. Or you could just use Handling, Speed and Durability as your values, because hey, that’s what people value in a vehicle!
Golden Panda- Or rather…How Xun Loses his heart.
in Kic But Do.
Plot set up.
Old White Beard, fallen on interesting times, now lives in the Estate of Master Shang Li, in the room next to Li’s bedchamber.
The village is suddenly full of hungry ghosts
Fortune Cookie is related to the hungry ghosts in some way
Ritual related to the ghosts…?
New Martial Arts style = Ghost Hand, can defeat ghosts
Sui is sleeping with Master Li because she’s a gold digger
1st scene..Old White beard is captured by hungry ghosts after leaping out of the bedroom window. We decide this is a critical moment in the story, and then flash backwards. (White for White Beard)
2nd scene. Long in the past: Xun Chao Man and Old white beard have lunch and discuss why Xun wants to be a sorcerer-power and wisdom. OWB says wisdom and power unrelated. Xun laughs and opens fortune cookie, it says Power leads to wisdom. (White for Xun)
3rd scene. Chao Kwok and Sui Dai fen Sparing using water style vs drunken monkey style on bamboo. First to touch the ground loses. Chao talks too much and loses. (for now….) (Black for Chao)
(The Scroll is in a shrine on a mountain top that can only be gotten to by cloud walking…BUT……)
4th scene. Bed room scene. between Sui dai fen and Master Li. they agree to summon a sorcerer Friend to help with a ritual to find out how to defeat the guardians to the temple. (White for Sui)
5th scene. discussion between Master Li and Old White beard. Old White Beard hid the scroll.. Only the pure can get the scroll through purification ritual that will allow someone to pass through the waterfall. (White for Li)
6th scene. Old White beard with Xun Chao man. walking in a forest. Xun Chaon demonstrates power.revealed that fortune cookie provided power. Xun is in White beards debt. Wants Xun to prevent Sui passing through waterfall by ensuring she is impure. Xun says OK! (White for OWB)
7th scene. Xun wakes in bed in a weird shack with Sui. Xun says he will tell everyone. Sui beats up Xun to bully him into keeping quiet. (Black for Xun)
8th scene. Chao Kwok and Xun at Sake bar. Xun tells Chao that Sui has been sullied. and defiled. Chao realized Sui is attempting the water fall and could fail. Starts to run after her. (Black for Chao)
9th scene. Waterfall in front of cave. Li and Sui there. Sui walks through. The waterfall turns noxious green and there are faint sound of screaming. Sui gets the scroll and then Chao kwok turns up. Sui gloats that she has the scroll and opens and reads it. (White for Chao)
10th scene. Outside the waterfall temple. Li and Old white beard. White beard gloats about setting this up. Then they fight. White beard kicks Lis arse – kicks him clear off the cliff! – and takes his house. (black for Li)
TILT!!!
256
5151
Mayhem – Magnificent Self Destruction
Tragedy – Life Ruined Forever
Act 2
Ist scene. White beard is in Lis bedchamber gloating. hungry ghosts attack. White beard leaps out of window. Every single person in village is hungry ghost. They carry off White beard to Xun Chao. Dun dun duh! Xun gloats – he tricked White Beard, knowing WB’s need for revenge would drive him to something stupid. Hungry ghosts loom. seemingly at Xun’s power. “the best revenge is to have your enemies live while everything crumbles around them.” Xun places White beard in a bubble blown of sorcery. White beard floats above village watching everyone get eaten. He is aghast at what his revenge has wrought. (black for OWB)
2nd scene. Xun Chao floats into village on a black crown surrounded by hungry ghosts sicing them on people and going Mwhhahhahahha!! Old white beard floats and watches on. (white for Xun)
3rd scene. Chao Kwok and Sui walk out of the falls. See the devastation of the village down below. They agree to read the scroll together. “Old white Beards recipe for perfect dumplings.“ they are shocked. (black for Chao – no ghost strike)
4th scene. Sui throws the scroll over the cliff. And says we must go and fight the hungry ghosts as best we can, they run down the hill. (or does Chao Kwok?) and fight the ghosts. Xun Chao gets to gloat as Sui dies horribly at the hands of hungry ghosts. (black for Sui)
5th scene. Li is watching the battle. Chao Kwok climbs out of the ravine. gets to village. Sees the hungry ghosts punch Suis heart out so hard that Xun Chao catches it and eats it cackling with glee. Li frees old white beard by hitting the bubble with the scroll. (white for Li)
6th scene. Li and white beard join forces and fight the ghosts as allies. White beard proposes snatching away the fortune cookie of Xuns power. Bouncing off master Li onto Xuns cloud. Snatches fortune cookie and crushes to dust. But its another trap! – a black powder infects White beard, blinding him with pain. (black for OWB)
7th scene. Flash back scene to Xuns and Chao Kwoks past. Both beset by bandits. Chao choses simple life of martial arts, Xun chose way of sorcery. Xun uses sorcery to kill them horribly and slowly, in a similar manner to White beards ‘death’. After this happens Xun displays a weakness and Chao Kwok notices this – to kill with the black blindness Xun must concentrate totally. (black for Xun I think?)
8th scene. Chao Kwok remembers that Xun must have total concentration or spell will back fire. Chao Kwock uses a Kung Fu Dumpling strike and punches Xun in the belly. (white for Chao)
9th scene. Chao Kwocks kick knocks some of Sui’s heart back into Xuns throat, choking him. He is overtaken by his own spell and the black veins writh upon him and rotting flesh starts falling off. He does not die. Doomed to suffer as half alive zombie. (white for Sui, revenge in heart form!)
10th scene. Master Li gathers up Xuns and Suis bodies and whisks them off the the water falls. Channels power from water fall into student and sorcerer. Rips the heart out Xun’s throat and places it back into Sui body. washed clean of the blood looking beatific. She returns to life! Her hand reaches around behind him…..And then….she stabs him with a hairpin!
resolution/aftermath – what happens next…
Old White beard-Crippled, blind and forever sick from having the magic in his body. no longer an old master, he wanders blind and dying.
Xun Chao Man-lies dead beside the waterfall, his throat torn out. At nightfall, however his eyes open, evily. He has returned.
Chao Kwok. – While having won the battle, the village is in ruin. smoking, and hundreds dead. He won, but has nothing left to celebrate.
Sui Dai Fen – Walking away from the waterfall into a life of violence and evil having been tainted by the the heart coming out of Xun Chao Man.
Master Li – slumps down watching Sui dai fen walking away without a second glance at her erstwhile lover.”Suuuiiiii” he cries feebly, heartbroken and lost.
We had some of these last time from Gareth, but the instant CSI is great…
When someone makes a funny, press: http://instantrimshot.com/index.php?sound=rimshot
When someone says something dramatic, press: http://www.dramabutton.com/
When someone fails miserably and is humiliated, press: http://sadtrombone.com/
And when someone throws out a witty one-liner, press: http://instantrimshot.com/index.php?sound=csi
Leviathan 