Saturday, October 4, 2008

The Brawl: Goons Strewn Like Busted Balloons

Max

Catching his breath, Quazarn watches the chaos of goons gone wild in the arena -- off towards the far wall a goon is tripped up and wrestled to the ground by a half dozen brawlers. Another is gummed up with restraint foam from the towers. The dwarf wrangler still struggles to bring the goon squad back under control, abandoning his whip in favor of a shrill whistle.

At the heart of it all Quazarn's erstwhile companions defend Darryl and the other wounded fighters valiantly.

Coffee

Max
Zarko and the Gibbon watch Creature tumble overhead, booted by the goon. The frankenstein lands in the pile of bodies with a grunt. The goon rears up, waving its arms over its head in triumph. Now Creature is behind Zarko.

The other goon winces when it puts weight on its swollen toe. It looks dumbly back and forth between Buck and the goblin and slowly seems to realize the cause of its ouchie. Clenching its teeth it growls and flexes at the two of you.

[I'll need initiative rolls from Creature, Buck and Zarko. Let's try d10, +/- DEX modifier to ranged damage.]

Zarko sighs and turns to Buck.

"Rock and roll," he mutters. Then moves in to attack the goon.

Initiative: 4 + 4 = 8
Attack roll: 47 (my melee is 55, so that hits.)
Damage is a whopping 1.

Rondo

Initiative: 10 + 2=12 rolled
Attack: 11
Damage: (makeshift club) 2 + 2=4

wulfgar

Creature:
Initiative: 1
Attack: 03% HIT
Damage: 11
Saving Throw: 80% FAIL

Max

[Need Saving Throws for Buck and Zarko. Will try to update at lunch if time permits.]

Max

Showing a dim spark of brains the goons both lunge for Creature. Man, goblin and apes duck under their reaching arms and attack. The goblin and the Gibbon both miss, wary of the goons stomping feet, but Buck gets in another glancing blow with his club.

The goons converge on Creature, snarling and swinging their slab-like fists. Their charge is reckless, their attack overwhelming, their timing...disastrous. A sweeping backhand goes wild, and one goon pokes the other in the eye. The blinded goon clutches its face, mewling, and Zarko sees his opening. With a light kick to the back of its knees, the wary ape buckles the goon's legs.

And then Creature does something really, really violent*. The medics, accustomed though they are to bloodsport, cover their eyes. When they look again both of the goons lie sprawled and bleeding.

"Warg's piss," scowls one, throwing down his club. "We're gonna need a bigger stretcher."

[On account of your Critical Hit I ruled that any damage left over after dropping one goon would carry on to the other, and as it turned out this was enough to bring them both down. *Please feel free to fill in exactly what Creature did to accomplish this feat -- I'm dying to find out!

[What a crazy round this was: Critical Miss by one goon caused him to smack the other one. The blinded goon critically botched two saving throw rolls -- 00 on the die both times! -- which meant his 8 point attack on Creature was lost!]

wulfgar

Creature grabs both wrists of the first goon and pulls his arms out...and then off, as the thugs shoulders give way like a turkey's wishbone. Now armed with two..arms..Creature glowers at the remaining henchman. Dropping one arm to the ground, he grips the other like a lousiville slugger and cranks out a swing worthy of Babe Xorblat, Hall of Fame Hobling-Wookie Outfielder of the God City Thunderbolts. The bloody bludgeon connects with 2nd goons head and send it spinning almost 360 degrees. His neck snaps with a sickening crack. His head dangles by a shred of skin and a fountain of arterial red showers the arena.

Max

[Shoo-eee-howdy-shucks, wulfgar. That's horrible. Also awesome. Ironically both goons had made their Survival rolls and therefore remained unconscious but alive, only to be slain by narrative!]

Max

Hobson nods to Quazarn and strides into the arena with his crossbow leveled. The rest of his companions stand over two fallen goons. Elsewhere in the arena, goons lie unconscious or stand immobilized by blobs of spray-foam. Here and there across the pitch the Brawl has resumed in earnest, as fighters take advantage of the chaos to cull the weak.

Only one of the seven goons is still upright and unrestrained. As Hobson watches it sniffs the air and whuffles. Drool runs from the corner of its mouth. Ignoring the whistle blasts of the dwarf wrangler it trots toward the heap of wounded and semi-conscious fighters.

Buck and the others stand ready, but the goblin apothecaries stop them from attacking. The goon ignores them, instead seizing one of its fallen kin by the ankle and roughly dragging it away. It sits back on it haunches and begins to gnaw on the other goon's calf, tearing off a chunk of flesh. Before the cannibal can continue its meal it is sprayed down with foam.

The goblin medic squad jogs past Hobson, stretches in tow and smelling salts pump sprayers at the ready. The loudspeaker crackles: "THE DISQUALIFIED FIGHTER HAS LEFT THE FIELD AND WILL BE...wait, he left the field? Where the f%#@ is he?...AND WILL BE DETAINED FOR QUESTIONING. PLEASE CONTINUE BRAWLING."

Dr Rotwang!

Quazarn laughs! "Not today, Zurg!" He dashes valiantly back to the vehicle which bore him to this ill place.

[Where's Darryl, again?]

Max

[In the heap of battered fighters the gob medics are about to start evacuating from the arena. You could wait around for him if you wanted to chance it.]

Dr Rotwang!

Quazarn skids to a halt. "The kid," he mutters.

He heads back to the ramp...cautiously.

Coffee

Max
[Need Saving Throws for Buck and Zarko. Will try to update at lunch if time permits.]

D'oh! My saving throw is 47.

Sadly, I needed a 37, so I'm afraid something narrative this way comes...

Max

[Fortune was with you, and the (randomly targeted) goon attacks were aimed at Creature. You're in the clear, for now.]

[More generally, just to make your options clear, at the moment Buck, Zarko & Creature do not seem to be drawing any additional attention from the Brawl security . Whether you three fight on in the Brawl or not appears to be your choice...]

Rondo

Buck removes his hand from his eyes and grimaces, "Geesh pal! Wha...well, I bet they don't have the guts to mess with us again..." and he pats Creature on the back. He surveys the chaos around him for a moment, only to recall the kid. He goes over quickly to the medic to see what's going on, "Well, what's the story?" hoping that the attendants to Daryl got a good eye full of the grisly damage my monster pal threw down on the goons.

Age of Fable

I'll change my clothes to something nondescript, and ask the others what's going on.

Max

[Note that an obviously armed man on the pitch is likely to draw attention -- in or out of a police uniform.]

Age of Fable

...back to police then.

Max

OK, cool, can I get a percentile roll...?

Age of Fable

35

wulfgar

Creature growls and looks menacing, which shouldn't be too hard, seeing how he's covered in blood and holding a freshly severed arm in one hand. He maintains his watch over Darryl until he's evaced. If any of the brawlers engage him, he'll counter, but he's hoping for a few moments respite.

Rondo

Buck has no problem continuing in this 'brawl' as long as it appears that Daryl will be cared for with no b.s. involved. Money is riding on Creature, so it'd be nice to make some scratch to give to the kids mom. Maybe she won't kill us! ha

Max

The apothecary squad sets about their business, spraying groggy fighters with smelling salts and scooting them toward the ramp. The unconscious and lame are rolled onto stretchers.

Annoyed at the stink eye from Buck and Creature, the chief apothecary blusters, "You two: scatter! You did me a solid fighting off those goons. You got heart, and the big lummox is a real thunder-crapper. But I'll personally oversee your autopsies if you don't bugbear off."

He glares a moment, daring a cross word from anyone. After a moment he sighs, "Look, fellas, your lizard buddy will be fine in a day or two. We're carting him off now. Nothin' fancy, but three hots and a cot'll do him wonders. Now get your heads back in the Brawl and let us do our job. You're trouble, all of ya. Bad luck. Run off, before you bring the damn sky crashing in. Eh?"

He turns away to direct the medics. Zarko nudges Buck, nodding toward a clump of fighters shuffling nearby, deep in conversation with the Gibbon. They hang back for the moment, wary not just of the gore-spattered Creature but of the crossbow toting hobling cop strolling up. After a tiny jolt of nerves you recognize Hobson*.

[*That percentage I had Fable roll was Mistaken ID, but luckily enough for you guys he failed. Otherwise you'd've been all "Oh crap, it's the fuzz!" ;D]

Dr Rotwang!
Quazarn skids to a halt. "The kid," he mutters. He heads back to the ramp...cautiously.

Quazarn watches the goblin medics troop back and forth, and sighs with relief when he sees Darryl's stretcher go by. Do the lad's eyes flutter open for a second? Does he crack a weary smile, somehow wise and noble in defeat? Does he weakly raise his hand and give Quazarn a brave thumbs up?

Well, no, none of that. He's still out like three strikes. But his breath is slow and deep -- he's surely alive if not kicking.

Rondo

Buck asks Zarko, "You wanna stay in this thing, or should we split?"

Coffee

"Well..." Zarko thinks for a long moment.

"Common sense says we should split. But I dunno...it feels like I'm a part of something, for the first time in a long time.

"I think I'll hang out here with Creature until I get taken out."

He looks up, meeting Buck's eye.

"You can go, if you want to," he says, clearly not meaning a word of it. "I won't think any less of you."

Rondo

Buck grins from ear to ear, "...and I won't think any less of you for staying here with me!"...he gets back to back with Zarko as they await the next challengers.

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