dulux-oz
September 19th, 2015, 12:53
For those of you familiar with Shadowrun v2 & v3 you'll be aware of a bunch of stories detailing the real-life mishaps (sorry, adventures) of Runners that appeared on the Web (Usernet and WWW) under the the heading of The C.L.U.E.L.E.S.S Files (or something very similar). These stories were complied by a certain GM (no, not me) from stories sent in to her from other GM's and SR Players and were put online as a warning of what not to do on a Sadowrun. Sadly, the C.L.U.E. Foundations is now defunct, but copies of the Files exist, saved for prosperity by thoughtful individuals such as myself.
I'm not going to post those files here!
What I am going to do is start a new set of files, and not just for Shadowrun - any RPG is fair game because any group of Players can become C.L.U.E.L.E.S.S - that, and I just had to relate the following episode from my own game which finished a few minutes ago :)
The Setup
A party of Fantasy PCs has infiltrated a Giants' Stronghold and killed the King before withdrawing to rest and heal up. After going back in and getting into a few more fights they find themselves in a corridor with a tapestry at the far end (with a few deep voices murmuring from behind) and a side passage (also covered by a tapestry) leading to the grieving Queen's chamber - and boy is she ugly!
And big!
So deciding not to tangle with her just yet (being once again low on Hit Points & Spells) they decide to ensure that there is nothing "dangerous" behind the tapestry at the far end, so they don't get caught being attacked from both directions at once.
The C.L.U.E.L.E.S.S
So our Gnome Mage/Thief says "I'll slip on my Ring of Invisibility and look behind the tapestry." Which he does. As he moves the tapestry to peer around it one of the giantesses on the other side says "What just moved the tapestry?"
Now nobody speaks Giant, so all the party got was a quizzical sounding tone of something said. Instead of backing away everybody stays where they are - in the middle of the corridor in plain sight (except of the Gnome). They do declare what they are going to do if something comes from behind the tapestry. The giantess then pulls back the tapestry to see what's going on and, seeing the "invaders who killed the king", begins to scream.
At this point the declared actions go into effect. This involved the Paladin charging forward, the Ranger firing an arrow (as a Called Shot for the throat to stop the screaming - not a bad idea), the Bushi firing his crossbow, the other Mage firing Magic Missiles, the Druid casting Entanglement behind the party to "stop anyone coming up behind us, like the Queen" (and incidentally cutting off their own retreat), and the Gnome drawing his Dagger and "backstabbing" the screaming giantess - in the calf.
The giantess takes the hits and then, now that the Gnome is visible, lashes out and kicks the Gnome - who flies through the air like a screaming misshapen football to land in the middle of the Entanglement spell - and he's got less than average Strength and virtually no ranks in Escape Artist, so he's basically stuck without some really good rolls (ie Nat-20s).
In the next round the Paladin cuts down the screaming giantess and then Cleaves into another one before realizing that the party's stumbled onto the Queen's Handmaidens/Bodyguards - and that there are 7 more to go, 6 of which are uninjured. Carnage then ensures as various combat spells, arrows, crossbow bolts and what-not reins into the giantesses while they proceed to carve up the Paladin and throw flaming boulders at the rest of the party. The one highlight was the Bushi, who is notorious for shooting his fellows in the back (he took the "Bad Luck" Flaw) - normally the Paladin because he's the one that always charges forward - scoring a Double Crit and ricocheting his Crossbow Bolt off the Paladin's shield straight up into a giant's throat and into his brain, thus killing him (actually taking him over his HP limit - but what the hey!)
The Gnome at this point, badly injured from being kicked through the air decides that he's not going to be able to get out of the Entanglement spell so instead decides to go Invisible again and lay "doggo", waiting for his friends to win and get rid of the Entanglement spells. Making his Reflex Save he succeeds (not necessary, but he rolled it before I asked, so I let it stand).
Three rounds later with 5 of the 8 giantesses dead and the party badly hurt and almost out of spells the Queen arrives - with half-a-dozen male giant reinforcements who have heard the screaming and the fight. They use their considerable strength to simply wade through the Entanglement spell, one stomping on the invisible Gnome by accident, and hitting the party from the rear. The party did have a round of notice as the giants waded through the Entanglement spell, so half of them turned and drew weapons to receive the inevitable charge.
Net Result: a party with no-one (quite) dead, 17 Hit Points remaining (combined), a dead Queen and 14 dead giants, no usable spells, all the Potions and Scrolls of Healing used up, and a fortress on alert because now their King AND Queen's killers are at large - and all because an invisible Gnome forgot that, while they couldn't see him, they could see the things he was moving about!
And these guys have been gaming with me in this campaign for over three years now!
Yes, the C.L.U.E.L.E.S.S are alive and well - and closer than you think!
So let's hear your C.L.U.E.L.E.S.S story.
Cheers
I'm not going to post those files here!
What I am going to do is start a new set of files, and not just for Shadowrun - any RPG is fair game because any group of Players can become C.L.U.E.L.E.S.S - that, and I just had to relate the following episode from my own game which finished a few minutes ago :)
The Setup
A party of Fantasy PCs has infiltrated a Giants' Stronghold and killed the King before withdrawing to rest and heal up. After going back in and getting into a few more fights they find themselves in a corridor with a tapestry at the far end (with a few deep voices murmuring from behind) and a side passage (also covered by a tapestry) leading to the grieving Queen's chamber - and boy is she ugly!
And big!
So deciding not to tangle with her just yet (being once again low on Hit Points & Spells) they decide to ensure that there is nothing "dangerous" behind the tapestry at the far end, so they don't get caught being attacked from both directions at once.
The C.L.U.E.L.E.S.S
So our Gnome Mage/Thief says "I'll slip on my Ring of Invisibility and look behind the tapestry." Which he does. As he moves the tapestry to peer around it one of the giantesses on the other side says "What just moved the tapestry?"
Now nobody speaks Giant, so all the party got was a quizzical sounding tone of something said. Instead of backing away everybody stays where they are - in the middle of the corridor in plain sight (except of the Gnome). They do declare what they are going to do if something comes from behind the tapestry. The giantess then pulls back the tapestry to see what's going on and, seeing the "invaders who killed the king", begins to scream.
At this point the declared actions go into effect. This involved the Paladin charging forward, the Ranger firing an arrow (as a Called Shot for the throat to stop the screaming - not a bad idea), the Bushi firing his crossbow, the other Mage firing Magic Missiles, the Druid casting Entanglement behind the party to "stop anyone coming up behind us, like the Queen" (and incidentally cutting off their own retreat), and the Gnome drawing his Dagger and "backstabbing" the screaming giantess - in the calf.
The giantess takes the hits and then, now that the Gnome is visible, lashes out and kicks the Gnome - who flies through the air like a screaming misshapen football to land in the middle of the Entanglement spell - and he's got less than average Strength and virtually no ranks in Escape Artist, so he's basically stuck without some really good rolls (ie Nat-20s).
In the next round the Paladin cuts down the screaming giantess and then Cleaves into another one before realizing that the party's stumbled onto the Queen's Handmaidens/Bodyguards - and that there are 7 more to go, 6 of which are uninjured. Carnage then ensures as various combat spells, arrows, crossbow bolts and what-not reins into the giantesses while they proceed to carve up the Paladin and throw flaming boulders at the rest of the party. The one highlight was the Bushi, who is notorious for shooting his fellows in the back (he took the "Bad Luck" Flaw) - normally the Paladin because he's the one that always charges forward - scoring a Double Crit and ricocheting his Crossbow Bolt off the Paladin's shield straight up into a giant's throat and into his brain, thus killing him (actually taking him over his HP limit - but what the hey!)
The Gnome at this point, badly injured from being kicked through the air decides that he's not going to be able to get out of the Entanglement spell so instead decides to go Invisible again and lay "doggo", waiting for his friends to win and get rid of the Entanglement spells. Making his Reflex Save he succeeds (not necessary, but he rolled it before I asked, so I let it stand).
Three rounds later with 5 of the 8 giantesses dead and the party badly hurt and almost out of spells the Queen arrives - with half-a-dozen male giant reinforcements who have heard the screaming and the fight. They use their considerable strength to simply wade through the Entanglement spell, one stomping on the invisible Gnome by accident, and hitting the party from the rear. The party did have a round of notice as the giants waded through the Entanglement spell, so half of them turned and drew weapons to receive the inevitable charge.
Net Result: a party with no-one (quite) dead, 17 Hit Points remaining (combined), a dead Queen and 14 dead giants, no usable spells, all the Potions and Scrolls of Healing used up, and a fortress on alert because now their King AND Queen's killers are at large - and all because an invisible Gnome forgot that, while they couldn't see him, they could see the things he was moving about!
And these guys have been gaming with me in this campaign for over three years now!
Yes, the C.L.U.E.L.E.S.S are alive and well - and closer than you think!
So let's hear your C.L.U.E.L.E.S.S story.
Cheers