Citizen 2; HD 2d6+5 (14hp); Init +4 (+4 Improved Initiative); Spd 30ft.; DV ; Attack +2 melee, or +2 ranged; Fort +1, Ref +0, Will +0, Str 12, Dex 10, Con 13, Int 8, Wis 10, Cha 6.
Prior Life: Wall Hopper
Skills and Feats: Climb +6, Hide +
5, Jump +6, Listen +7, Move Silently +5, Spot +7, Swim +6, Wilderness Lore +7; Alertness, Improved Initiative, Skill Focus (wilderness lore), Toughness
Possessions: Improvised Clubs,
(1d8+1/0)
Once the players have disposed of the muties, have them make a DC 12 Spot check. If successful they notice that one of the muties wears a shell jacket with the words ‘Barney Rubble Block Citi-Def’. Another of the Muties bears a ruined Laser Rifl e, which he was using as a club. A Successful DC 18 Technical check gathers spare parts worth 500 creds. Try to interest the players in where on earth the muties obtained these items. Should the players have access to some form of thermal imaging device, following the muties’ footsteps back will be a piece of cake. As this is unlikely, however, the players will probably have to employ more traditional methods. Have them make a series of three DC 14 Spot checks to follow the trail back to the mutants’ base. Try having the distant sound of a judge’s siren slowly start
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drawing nearer as they are doing this to add a little atmosphere.
Having done this, the players will fi nd the footsteps lead to what looks like a collapsed wall. Careful inspection reveals that the top of a set of stairs is concealed just behind it, and the players can squeeze through gaps in the twisted ruins of the wall to access it.
The stairs are extremely slippery, being covered in a sort of luminescent moss. Players are fi ne whilst
advancing at a snail’s pace, but any sudden movement could cause them to slip. Halfway down the stairs a large rat suddenly drops from the ceiling and lands on top of one of the players, scaring him half to death. All the players must now make a DC 16 Refl ex save to avoid slipping and tumbling down to the bottom of the stairs for 1d3 points of damage. Also, those at the back of the group will collide with those in front, forcing them to make another DC 14 Refl ex save or slip over. This can set off a very amusing chain reaction effect if the players are unlucky!
Any player succeeding in a DC 18 Intelligence check will realise they have stumbled across a forgotten equipment cache from the Apocalypse War. These were created when the Sovs invaded and were intended to provide stocks of essential equipment to aid guerrillas fi ghting rearguard actions.
Players can now begin to search the basement chamber. Unfortunately, between the dust, damp and the tender attentions of the mutants much of the equipment is ruined. There are still a few items that are salvageable though. A DC 18 Search
check is necessary to locate each item. 1. A small case
containing 7
Medipacks. A DC 14 Spot check reveals that at the bottom of the case there are a group of 6 hypo- sprays. A DC 18 Technical check, using appropriate equipment,
identifi es them as a powerful hallucinogenic painkiller designed to help the user resist interrogation. The hypo-sprays make the user practically immune to pain but provoke a –8 penalty to all skill checks involving Dexterity.
2. A broken weapons’ rack and the smashed remains of Laser
Pistols. The rack has been torn from the wall and broken to pieces with stones. However, given time and effort, the still functioning pieces of Laser Pistols can be pieced together. These can either be sold for around 6,000 creds, or used to create 2 functioning Laser Pistols (DC 18 Technical check to do this). 3. Hidden amongst a pile of fi lthy sacking and animal bones there are two useable shell jackets (DR 8).
Games Masters should feel free to scatter a few other minor items around in the basement. Try to give the players equipment that will be
useful to them, but each time make them work for it – the equipment should either require extensive repairs or have pieces missing. Like the man said, in the Big Meg nothing comes for free!
Cunning players will also start to consider the possibilities of establishing a hideout in the basement chamber. This is entirely permissible, but Games Masters will have to deal with the specifi cs of this on their own.
Should the players wish to locate the source of the voices, have them make a DC 14 Listen check. If successful, they trace the sound to a large section of ventilation pipe protruding from the roof of the chamber. Clearly, whoever is speaking is somewhere up above the players, their voices carried by the pipe, although the actual distance is unknown.
On reaching the bottom of the stairs, read the following out loud to the players.
Having reached the bottom of the stairs your flashlights reveal what once seems to have been a large chamber. However, the ceiling on the far side has collapsed and is choked with debris. A twisted mass of ventilation pipes and cables hang down from the holes. The near end of the chamber is comparatively clean, although large damp patches on the wall show where water has got in. The floor of the chamber is scattered with smashed boxes and pieces of equipment, each one having the words ‘Sector 190 – Barney Rubble Block Citi-Def’ stencilled on its side.
Once the players have finished searching the chamber, read the following to them out loud. As you begin to wind up your search of the subterranean chamber, an eerie silence descends, a silence broken only by the constant dripping of water. Suddenly you stop dead in your tracks. From somewhere close to the rear of the chamber the murmur of conversation can be heard.
Players finding something to stand on can get their ears closer to the pipe and attempt to hear what is being said. On a successful DC 12 Listen check they hear the following:
‘...and take it to the judges. It’s a video slug I filmed on the last job we did. Should be enough to convince them I’m for real...and remember, once they’ve pinched you-know-who, I get to be boss!’ Every third or fourth word is punctuated by a strange snuffling stutter that makes the voice highly distinctive. The voices die away, although a strong smell of aftershave, (Tommy Swillpigger, if the players must know), is wafted down to them on the breeze.
The voice the players have heard is that of Diamond Joe’s lieutenant Mumbles giving instructions to one of his contacts. However, the contact and the vid-slug will never get to the judges…
Scene 5 - Homeward
Bound
As the players decide on their course of action, have them make a DC 14 Spot check to notice the fl ickering lights of a pair of Lawmasters speeding toward the area. The only sensible course of action is for the players to hide themselves in the shadows. A couple of rounds later the judges arrive with shouts of ‘Freeze right where you are, Fido!’ The Pitt Bulls try to run, leaving their victim on the ground. All hell breaks loose as the judges begin to expertly round the gang members up, using a combination of Lawgiver rounds, daysticks and drive-by boots. Seconds later it is all over. The judges make a cursory search, determine that the victim is dead, then escort the still-surviving Pitt Bulls away. The players overhear
them radioing for a clean-up squad and meat wagon to attend.
At this point have the players make a DC 14 Spot check. If successful they notice that a number of articles still remain scattered around on the fl oor. Three Pitt Bull masks can be found as well as 1d20+50 creds dropped in the mayhem. As the players approach the area where the victim’s corpse lays they notice the heavy stench of Tommy Swillpigger lingers in the air. Should they search the corpse they fi nd nothing to help them identify the man, but in one of his pockets there lies a blood-spattered vid-slug.