[DH1e] The Damocles Contingency (RPG IC)

[Lord_Ikka]

Nicios

 

Nicios spat to clear his mouth of the ethereal taste.

 

"A psychic stench from below."

 

He moved to the elevator lift, waiting for the others while readying himself for further action. A quick surge of power into his left arm should remove most of the damage from the mutant's pistol shot.

Spoiler

Manifest Psychic Power (Healer)

Threshold - 7

Roll - 10 + 5(WPB) +1(Power Well) = 16

Result = Heal 5 damage (d10 roll - 9). No psychic phenomena (no 9s rolled).

 

Nicios is now at full health, but can't use Healer on himself for another six hours unless he passes a Toughness test, or will take 1d5 damage. 

 

[Mazer Rackham]

The Pillars of Heracles:

 

DAMOCLES CONTINGENCY IN: 3 HOURS (On arrival to the sanctum).

 

The lift descends into the gloaming below. As it does so, you are exposed to a vista rarely seen by anyone outside the staunch enclaves of the Mechanicum who specialise in the maintenance and construction of these grand devices.

 

The nucleonic stacks are close by, blocks of adamantium shielding wrap the towering piles in geometric blocks, the cyan-azure light from the giant power coils within bathing the darkness between each stack, resembling a strange city of hab-blocks. Repulsor fields and void shields contain much of the actinic power, but even so, the hum is a vibration which resounds in your bones, rattling every atom with electrical jiggle.

 

The lift feels flimsy, a cage merely to keep out tiny predators as you dive into the depths, a tremendous chill in the air despite the thermal couplings and resonating Petawatts, is accompanied by a creeping dampness tainted with the scent of bad oil and corrupt flesh. The stink only gets stronger as you make your way down the inspection shaft - a mainly open latticework of plasteel girders.

 

After an hour, you arrive at the Rotunda, a circular monitoring and control facility outside the main stacks control centre. No-one lurks to greet you as you disembark. What should be hustle and bustle is a riot of smashed mechanical bodies, human skeletons, and destroyed equipment. Cables and conduits snake hither and thither, snapping with golden sparks where they are abruptly cut or pulled from sockets.

 

Wrongness laces the dank atmosphere, and following the rotunda round for a bit, you finally discover the stairs to the Master Control Room.

 

MAP:

Spoiler

 

The four hooded figures to your left flank ignore your presence, each roughly seven feet in height, they are surrounded by a swarm of servo-skulls which appear to barely functioning, blurting strange, fragmented bihharic. Mechadendrites snap and quiver as they attend to the machine databanks and cogitators. In the centre of the room at the far end, rises a massive dais, surrounded by what were once votive candles, these now burn to thicken the air with smoke, only adding to the miasma instead of dispelling the foulness.

 

Upon the dais stand three plinths. Upon the outer two are statues of great Mechanicus heroes, their names long gone. Their works outliving them, yet the idols are now corroded and besmirched with blood and damage, masks of crude metal skulls are wired over the hooded, brass faces, and cables sprout from them, snaking down across the floor, only to loop crazily before disappearing into the wall. They lurk behind a strange, shimmering field.

 

Between them, stood perhaps in reflection or supplication, is a massive figure in tattered ochre robes. From what you can see of this...individual, it appears to be a mish-mash of flesh and metal, quite painful to even look at. Corroded metal plates are conjoined by what appear to be rotting arms - right-handed forearms - which clasp and writhe as they grip and release every time the brute sways.

 

A chainmail coat drapes over the beast, except it too has a cloak of flesh-metal, the severed right hands adorning it spasm in what appears to be pain, a silent rending of the air and clinging of a desperate soul trying to pull free from eternal bondage. The thing reeks of bloody oil and rotting meat, yet no flies pollute the air around it. It is a thing of death, metal, and only the ken beyond. It has no right arm itself, either, but the left arm ends in a giant metal fist. In size and scope it carries the power of that which it was wrough from - a Kastelan robot.

 

Above this abomination, stands a beautiful sculpture of aurumite and gilded bronze. It is perfect, in every way, yet it is a facsimile of a human being, rendered in small cogs and gears, a true Deus Ex Machina in the strictest sense of the High Gothic and Mechanicum understanding.

 

A hololithic countenance stands proud of the unmoving, yet strangely animated idol-face. It watches with a strange beneficent mania, before it sees you enter.

 

+Welc-c-ome, my dear/dear/error/dear friends. I have been exp---ecting you. Please attend me.+

 

Edited July 17, 2023 by Mazer Rackham
Death clock update

[Lysimachus]

Reynard:

 

Talking back probably wouldn't do much good… except it might give them a little time to observe, to make a plan of attack, or at least get set before the monstrous guardian-thing attacked them?

 

Reynard looked thoughtfully around the rest of his team, then shrugged. Probably down to him.

 

"Golem," he replied with a casual nod. "Fancy meeting you here."

 

"Nice statue."

 

One way or another, it'll be dust in a few hours.

 

 

 

Edited July 17, 2023 by Lysimachus

[Trokair]

Bardas

 

Bardas glanced over at the Foxkin, as opening ploys go he probably would have tried similar. Might as well play along.

Strolling a little forward, though not too much.

 

+No drinks? After all the effort spent on the invitation this party is a bit luckluster.+

 

[Mazer Rackham]

The Cathedral of Flesh and Iron:

 

The face flickers at Reynard's glib wit. It could be artifact interference from all the smoke and dust, but it certainly looks like a smug smile. A narrowing of the eyes.

 

+M...my great-greatest?//Query? Yes. Servant. My Warden. Take-take-take the surrendeeeeer of our foe-foe/LIAR? Fools.+

 

The huge beast turns around on the spot, a grinding of cogs, gears and rattling of bone and chain.

 

It's face bleeds crimson neverlight through a spiked skull 'Tragedy' players' mask covering half of the battered, rotten face. The top of the usual, domed cerebellum found on the pattern of robot, has been savagely maligned, beaten into the shape of a ragged crown, and gilded in hotch-potch manner.

 

The residual features, a torque at the neck, and the long flowing trappings of a hive's regal tyrant falling from below an ermine mantle reveal the truth of the Golem's greatest ally, the Patriarch Aldario, thought long dead, ages ago. It eyes you all with grim malevolence, it's body writhing with otherworldly power.

 

"Six RiGhT AR|M|S. One WiLL FIT?" the thing hisses in sibilant whispers that carry the lingering shriek of screams at the edges.

 

GM: All Players must now take a Hard (-20) Willpower Test. for Fear (Terrifying). Failure will require a roll on the shock table.

[A.T.]

Falk

 

The familiar shriek, the greasy metallic tang in the air, yet in truth one more puppet that the golem cowered behind. A terrifying foe, but each mockery of man both large and small burned into an even greater hatred of the thing that drove him on.

 

Willpower test: 23 vs 49-20 (possibly +10 from resistance-psychic) = pass with 0 or 1 DoS

[Machine God]

Kerr Restal:

 

He steeled himself with half-remembered lore.

 

By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes.

 

 

 

WILL 39 +10 (Fate Point [Charmed: 6, Fate Point used]) -20 (Hard difficulty) = 29. Result: 22, Pass

 

 

 

"No Mr. Dark I am not scared!" stated Kerr Restal as he drew his Carnodon's.

 

 

 

 

[Trokair]

Bardas

Spoiler

Terror Test

WP:35 – 20 (Hard)= 15

D100: 91, Fails, 7 DoF

Shock table, D100: 37 + 70 for DoF above = 107

Fainted, 1d5 rounds, D10/2 = 3/2 = 1.5 becomes 2 Rounds  

Additionally -10 on all Skill test until end of encounter.

Gain 1d5 Insanity, D10/2 = 8/2 = 4, Total Insanity 12 now.

Insanity Test

WP:35 + 10 (Trauma modifier - If I am reading table 8-5 correctly) = 45

D100: 61, Fail, 1 DoF

Mental Trauma table: D100: 43 + 10 for the DoF above = 53

-10 for Int, Fel and Per test for 3d10 hours. D10: 3 – so rest of game?

Also compulsive something or other... 

 

Bardas took a half step backwards, collapsing in the process. All bravado evaporated in the face of the wrought aberration of the Omnissiah’s design. He thought  that after everything he had faced he had prepared himself sufficiently, prayed sufficiently and had the mental fortitude to face the golem and expunge the Abominable Intelligence as was riotous. He was wrong!

Edited July 18, 2023 by Trokair
Fate point reroll by Mazer - Bardas not going insane at all, honest.

[Lysimachus]

Reynard:

 

Spoiler

Fear Test: Wp25 -20 = 05(!), Roll: 86, Fail with 8DoF. That means an 80 on the Shock Table before even rolling… 

 

No better chance of passing on a second go around, but I think I'll have to try a FP reroll?

 

FP Reroll: 13. Still a Fail, but 0DoF at least.

 

Shock Table roll: 12. Half Action on next turn.

 

 

Aldario. The hideous thing that had once been the Lord and Master of Damocles roared, and Reynard stood utterly still, almost unmanned by the sheer horror of it. Then, from somewhere deep inside, another emotion swelled.

 

Anger. This fool was the cause of all of this world's troubles. The one who should have been a protector to its people had become their greatest enemy. The Golem had been defeated, locked away. Aldario - in his selfish focus on his own flesh and blood rather than his subjects, so typical of the bloody nobility! - had given it a way out and allowed it to corrupt him.

 

And look at the result.

 

"You poor, stupid ."

 

 

 

 

Spoiler

Initiative Roll: 5(Ag) +1(Wary) +9(d10) = 15.

 
 

Edited July 18, 2023 by Lysimachus

[Lord_Ikka]

Nicios

 

Nicios grimaces as the...thing's voice pummelled them. His will remained strong, and a cold smile appeared on his hard face. 

 

"Your power is nothing in the face of the God-Emperor's Will, beast. Feel His Wrath!"

 

Nicios lashed out with his own blast of terrifying prescence. 

Spoiler

 

Willpower Test 

Target - 33 (53 - 20)

Roll - 95, Fate point re-roll - 19

Result = pass, 1 DoS

 

Manifest Pyschic Power (Terrify)

Threshold - 13

Roll -  6 + 8 + 6 + 10 + 5(WPB) + 1(Power Well) = 36

Overbleed x 4 (5 each over threshold) - Targets' Shock Table roll goes up by 10 per each Overbleed effect.

Result = 5 targets (Guardian Aldario and 1-4 servant-thralls) must take a Willpower test. If failed, each target must roll on the Shock table with a +40 modifier. No pyschic phenomena (no 9s rolled).

 

 

Edited July 17, 2023 by Lord_Ikka
I can't spell...

[Mazer Rackham]

The Cathedral:

 

The backwash of aetheric terror swamps the room, stirring the souls of all within as a battle of wills takes place.

 

Nicios extends his holy wrath, rebuffed entirely by the Warden as though a huge bulwark of mental fortitude was swiftly erected. The Thralls are not so fortunate, however, and whatever remains human within them suffers.

 

Thralls:

Spoiler

Thrall 1: FAIL

Result: 70 Make no Actions until Snap Out

 

Thrall 2: FAIL

Result: 47 Cannot Approach Nicios, -10 all Tests until end of Encounter.

 

No Insanity Points awarded as they're nuts to begin with, hailing from the Dark Mechanicum.

 

At this attack, the hovering face shifts into rage, seeing reflected the will and power of it's most ardent adversary.

 

+Rudimentary creatureeeees of blood/BLOOD GOD/?_and FLESH. TouCHinG my mind/d/d/d with /?QUERY?-you/your/yours: YOUR  mortal ignoran...ce. HATE. Eradicate. HATE. Eradicate!+

[Mazer Rackham]

 

Gentlemen.

 

No matter what happens next, thank you for playing, it has been quite the adventure.

 

Good luck, may the dice and Emperor favour you.

 

It pleases and somehow saddens me to say it, but, for the last time:

 

Initiatives.

 

[Necronaut]

Scourge:

 

As the abomination turned to face them, the blood drained from Scourge's face. When it spoke, he felt its voice reverberate within his psyche as much as his ears. He began cackling uncontrollably, his mind broken, unable to comprehend, much less make any sense of the unspeakable,  hulking monstrosity in front of him, whose horrific pronouncements assaulted his cortex with their myriad blasphemies. He raised his boltgun and fired wildly, its deafening report barely smothering the crazed, metallic laughter issuing forth from the grille of his faceless helm. None would be spared the Emperor's Wrath. 

 

 

 

Willpower Test: 38 - 20 (Hard) = 18

Willpower test: 1d100 51: failure; 3 DoS

 

OOC: With a target of 18 and a 51 rolled, I actually have a significantly greater chance of making things worse with a re-roll, but here goes nothing… 

 

Shock Table Roll: D100 + 30 (DoF)

Shock test: 1d100 92: failure; 7 DoS

 

A markedly worse result has been achieved! Huzzah! (kill me)

 

Shocking table roll: 1d100 65 + 70 (DoS): 135

 

135: Laughing hysterically, Scourge randomly attacks anything near him in a manic frenzy, firing wildly or using whatever weapon he has to hand (boltgun in this case, thank the God-Emperor). The effect lasts until the character snaps out of it or is rendered unconscious. He also gains 1d5 Insanity points.

 

Insanity Points: 1d5 2: 2 Insanity points acquired! No effect at this time. 

 

At least Scourge isn't completely incapacitated? His mind is broken, but I'm sure he'll recover quickly… hopefully before he inadvertently kills any of his companions. Let me know when it is appropriate to roll to snap out of it. 

 

I'll leave the target of the random attack roll up to our intrepid GM (modifying the success/failure to taste), assuming Scourge should take one during the surprise/fear round. Good luck, everyone. And sorry.

 

Random attack roll: BS36 (assuming a single shot; feel free to modify to taste/level of cruelty)

Random attack: 1d100 74: almost certainly a miss, even if firing at point blank range. The Emperor protects the repentant.

 

Boltgun damage (just in case): 1d10+5X, Pen 4, Tearing, Reliable

Bolter Damage: 2#1d10 4 9 + 5 = 14X damage, Pen 4

 

19/24 bolts remaining in magazine

 

Initiative: 1d10 9 + 4 (Ag) = 13

Edited July 18, 2023 by Necronaut
Clarity; initiative roll tacked onto end of spoiler.

[Lord_Ikka]

Nicios

Initiative - 6 + 3 = 9

[Trokair]

Bardas

 

Initiatives

D10: 8 + 4 (Ag) + 2 (Paranoia) = 14

[A.T.]

Falk

 

Initiative

9 + 3 = 12

[Mazer Rackham]

GM: I'll resolve Scourge's fusillade now - it takes place just before the Initiative call, in sync with Nicios' attack.

 

Confronted by such an confused and aberrant abomination, Scourge panic fires. The wild shooting results in a clatter of bolts thankfully going high and wide, exploding randomly across the immediate combat zone, narrowly missing a recumbent Bardas, blasting a few chips of plascrete from above Falk's head with a ricochet. (GM OOC: I rolled on the Scatter chart).

 

It is a manic starting pistol to this fight to the death.

[Machine God]

Kerr Restal:

 

It was an affront to the machine.

 

Whilst the battle erupted he channelled his hate into logic and purpose.

 

Death was coming, there was no need to rush.

 

When one maintained the four holy principles, Death followed.

 

 

 

 

Initiative

1D10 = 9 +4 (AGL Bonus) +4 (Lightning Reflexes) = 17

 

 

 

Edited July 18, 2023 by Machine God
Thank you Necronaut

[Mazer Rackham]

+ NARRATIVE TIME ENDS +

+ STRUCTURED TIME BEGINS +

 

+ Initiative Order +

= No Surprise Round =

Spoiler

Restal - 17

The Golem of Antares - 16

Reynard - 15

Bardas - 14

Thrall 3 - 14 (Player takes Priority).

Scourge - 13

Thrall 1 - 13 (Player takes Priority).

Falk - 12

Thrall 2 - 11

Thrall 4 - 11

Nicios - 9

The Warden - 9 (Player takes Priority).

 

MAP (for convenience):

Spoiler

 

 

Edited July 20, 2023 by Mazer Rackham
It begins

[Mazer Rackham]

ROUND ONE

 

Restal [ ]

[Machine God]

Kerr Restal:

 

He kept both of his pistols trained on his target.

 

 

 

Full Aim on The Warden

 

 

 

 

[Mazer Rackham]

ROUND ONE CONTINUES:

 

Golem:

Full-Action: Tech Use Test

D100: PASS, 1 DoS

 

The third chime of warning rings across the 'Cathedral'.

 

+ WARNING + Temperature Increasing. Core Venting Initiated - 10% and rising. +

 

Reynard [ ]

 

[Lysimachus]

Reynard:

 

Reynard ducked instinctively as Scourge let loose a hail of bolts into the ceiling. The Crusader seemed to have lost it, at the worst possible moment! As Reynard rose, he slid around behind the power-armoured Acolyte. They needed Scourge's strength in this fight. Plus, better to be out of his line of fire, as well as get a little extra cover before the Golem's attendants started fighting back!

 

Even as he put his shoulder against the armour and gave the penitent a gentle shove forwards, Reynard snarled into the side of the bucket helm whatever words he thought might inspire the zealot.

 

"Scourge, remember the gifts you have been given, and do not dishonour them! Face our foes! Fear not the Heretic! Suffer not the Heretic to live! For the Emperor!"

 

 

Spoiler

Half Action only.
Half move behind Scourge (and talk as a Free Action).

 

Don't know if that will help any with Scourge Snapping Out of It…?

 

 

 

 

Edited July 20, 2023 by Lysimachus

[Mazer Rackham]

GM: I'll allow it as an 'Assist'.

 

Bardas [ ]

[Trokair]

Bardas

 

The Silica Animus had to be stopped, and the former lord of this world, fallen and reduced to little more than the thrall beside it would interfere, therefore Logic dictated its elimination.

Spoiler

Half Action Aim, Half Action Single Shot with Saxa

BS: 40 + 20 (Hulking) + 10 (Aim)  + 10 (Short Range) – 20 (Called Shot: Head) = 60

D100: 10, Hit, 5 DoS

Assuming no Dodge

Damage 1d10 + 5 = 7+5 = 12 at Pen 3