Pulp Alley: Forbidden City (Perilous Island, Game 9)

Introduction

It has been nearly 2 years since the last installment of our Perilous Island campaign.  You all know why this delay has occurred: Covid 19.  Well, I'm pleased to say that things are opening back up where we live and this has permitted us to meet up again and play another episode.

For those who cannot remember anything about the campaign at all, I suggest you start at the beginning: Tarzan and the Lady.

If you just need a quick catch-up on the last episode then it is here: Blood Sacrifice!

Otherwise, continue reading here for the next part in this thrilling tale!

The Scenario

In their search for Lord Darrow (the missing archaeologist), the leagues have followed the trail of clues (or each other!) across Perilous Island.  Now they have reached the entrance to the Forbidden City - the semi-derelict city of the ancient Enocheans.

All the signs tell them that they must enter the city, but there are several problems:

• Firstly the gate can only be opened by performing a complex ritual on three separate altars simultaneously.
• Secondly, the gate is guarded by a huge, animated bronze statue.  How will our adventurers cope with this?
• Thirdly, the scenario only lasts 6 turns before the ground shakes, meteors and lightning crash down and the tunnel entrance is reduced to rubble!

The Leagues

The Snake Cult

In the red corner, we have Al Masudi and his giant pet snake, followed by various devotees.  Since the last game, he has spent some experience points to gain the Commander skill, which gives him even more level-2 followers.  One of these is a cheetah (Al Masudi has a fondness for exotic animals, as can be seen in several earlier episodes of this campaign), whilst the other is another marksman.

In addition to the regular crowd, the cult has obtained the services of a local Nghai hunter, just for this mission (he's the guy dressed in the red fez.  I was running out of suitable models as we were playing away from home and I hadn't anticipated the need for quite so many native models).

Tarzan's Jungle Alliance

Marked by green are Tarzan, Koko the gorilla and various simians (small apes).  Again, Tarzan has expanded his roster a little by virtue of experience or reputation (I forget exactly which) and there are more simians than previously.

Tarzan also has a Nghai hunter in his party and in addition to this he has Lady Elaine Darrow, the missing archaeologist's daughter.  She seems to think that this party has the best chance of tracking down her lost father, at least for now.

Sir Henry's Safari

Finally, in blue, we have Sir Henry, Alain Quartermain, Captain Goode and a bunch of ascaris, plus Lady Constance (Sir Henry's niece, I believe).  As with the leagues above, Sir Henry has an extra ascari follower and he also has a Nghai hunter attached to his party.  [I was astonished to find out that all the leagues had made friends with the Nghai; they must be a very trusting tribe].

The Opposition

The table is set up with 2 types of danger:

• The Golden Guardian is a giant, mechanical man.  He will try to protect the gate from all who seek to pass.  Whether this is because they haven't got the correct identification or whether the guardian has malfunctioned after eons of wear and tear is left to the reader.
• There are a couple of nests of giant waspquitos near the gate.  Initially there is just a single lookout insect at each location, but they move in a semi-random manner towards the closest player model.  If they contact a figure then that contact is perilous and another wasp exits the nest to take up the lookout position.

Turn One

Out of the initial hands dealt to 3 players, we had three "Play Immediately" cards.  This is quite unusual, though something like it has happened before in one of our other games (Swamp of Terror).  Still, it looked as if the winner of the scenario would gain some extra resources in addition to the glory of being top!

Predictably, the leagues moved towards the gate in turn 1.  There were a few variations in this, though:

• All three players moved their main character towards the altar nearest to them.
• Since Tarzan didn't need to run this turn, he spent an action to exercise his new Summon skill.  A couple of baboon swarms answered his ululating call.
• The Safari moved several ascaris onto the top of the nearest cliff.  This server 2 purposes: they were relatively close to the gate and might be able to rush it when (if!) it opened and also they had good visibility to much of the table (i.e. they could shoot things!)

Maybe the ascaris were a bit too close to the gate, though?  The guardian rumbled over and stomped one of them into the ground.  First blood to the monster!

Turn Two

Another "Play Immediately" card was drawn.  The stakes were rising quite high for this game!

The cultists all formed a line as they marched forwards.  In a spoiling move, Koko the gorilla ran to the tail end and roared [he has the Shock skill].  This manoeuvre was intended to scare some of the lesser cult members into the farther wasp's nest at the top of the picture, where they would be stung to death.  It was partially successful in that several cultists (including their highly-strung cheetah) were indeed startled by the sudden commotion and they did all pile forwards into the wasp's nest - but the wasps failed to injure anyone.  Oh well...

The rest of the turn played out like this:

1. Tarzan activated his altar with ease.
2. Al Masoudi also activated an altar.  This was all going swimmingly.
3. Sir Henry decided to throw a spanner in the works by refusing to attempt his part of the ceremony this turn.
4. Various cultists and ascaris engaged in firefights from the opposite sides of a small rock.  Many bullets were expended, but all of them pinged and whined off the cover without doing much damage.
5. The ascaris on the cliff pinned down the cultists in the wasps nest, though once again the amount of cover prevented any injuries.

This time, the guardian strode towards Hurkey (one of Tarzan's followers).  It didn't quite reach the monkey so it shot beams of searing light at him instead.  The little animal dodged aside nimbly and avoided any harm [against the odds, mind].

Turn Three

Sensing that everyone was somewhat annoyed with him for his spoiling tactics, Sir Henry quickly lit the fire at his altar.  He then played Buy Some Time to extend the scenario to 7 turns.  Well, that should be enough, right?

Having scared half the cultists last turn, Koko returned to investigate the grave (minor plot point).  He used a Secret Path to avoid the increasing number of wasps that had now emerged from their nest [perhaps he swaggered in a hypnotic manner that made the wasps drowsy?  Or he managed to convince them that he really didn't have any jam sandwiches?  Who knows the ways of a gorilla?].

Without being pestered by the giant bugs, it was relatively easy for Koko to collect evidence of the demise of yet another member of the ill-fated Darrow expedition.

In past games, the cult's giant snake has dispatched a number of monkeys with ease and it was no surprise when it slithered forwards and engulfed another one.  However, this time the simians fought back!

First, in an act of desperation, Caesar took on the serpent and - amazingly - landed a hit on the monster without receiving any injury himself.  Encouraged by this, Kobo ran in to the fight and landed a couple of blows.  This turned out to be on a vital spot (Lucky Strike card) and suddenly Kobo's decent 2 hits turned into an unstoppable 4 hits.  Both simians pummeled the snake with rocks and sticks and bit & tore at it until the creature stopped moving!  [The snake lost 2 successive fights, failed all its health checks and then fluffed the necessary recovery roll at the end of the turn.  This was the Day of the Monkeys!].

Of course, the simians have another nemesis: the cultist grenadier is very fond of blowing up small, furry animals.  He threw a bomb into the melee and the explosion caught Caesar by surprise, tossing the monkey aside like a rag doll.  Oh, well...

Otherwise, in turn three:

1. Sir Henry performed his part of the ceremony flawlessly.
2. Al Masoudi attempted to light a fire on his altar and failed!  Worse than that, he injured himself in doing this.  None of the other cultists were free to aid him, either.
3. Tarzan, noting that the ceremony was already lost for this turn, didn't bother to attempt his part.  Instead he used Summon to call more swarms of jungle creatures [more baboons - some had been lost in skirmishes with Saeed, the cult's brawling specialist, and some snake swarms as well.  Note that all of these swarms had the same capabilities, even if the model was represented by baboons or snakes].

Hurkey continued to dance around the metal guardian.  The huge, living statue made multiple attempts to crush the presumptuous beast, but once again the monkey dodged aside [truly, this was heroic stuff from little Hurkey!].

Turn Four

1. Tarzan lit the fire on his altar [again?  These flames just wouldn't stay alight; they went cold at the end of every turn].
2. Al Masoudi lit the fire on his alter.
3. Sir Henry couldn't strike a light to ignite his altar.  In desperation, both Alain Quartermain and an ascari tried to help him out, but neither of them managed either.
4. Various minor league members ran around the field screaming, followed by the ever-growing number of angry wasps [these were all attempts to lead the wasps into someone else's "territory", usually with only partial success]

So, once again the gate-opening ceremony failed.  It's only turn 4, though - there should be enough time yet, shouldn't there?

This time, the guardian pulverised an unwary cultist.

Turn Five

OK, let's try again.  Sir Henry and his cohorts tried to light a fire on the altar, again without any success.  There were massive groans of despair from all the players at this!

Again, Tarzan didn't waste time in attempting the already-failed ceremony, but instead summoned more jungle swarms.

Much squabbling was done by various minor league members, which served mainly to rouse even more wasps.

Seeing no need to attempt his part in the ritual either, Al Masoudi left his altar and attacked the gorilla [who was busy trying to pull the arms off the cult's Nghai hunter].

It seems as if the cult leader had bitten off more than he could choose, though: Koko won the fight and then used his Savage skill to fight again - winning that too.  Al Masoudi was left battered and down in the dirt!

The guardian continued to pick off one model per turn.  This time one of Tarzan's many swarms was the closest model to the gate and therefore the focus of the behemoth's wrath.

Turn Six

OK, this is getting desperate now - can nobody open the gate?

Tarzan was first to attempt the ritual this turn, but this time he failed it.  Lady Elaine, having retrieved the ancient sword [minor plot point] came to assist despite being pestered by Captain Goode and a giant wasp.  She couldn't light the fire either.

Since the ritual was already compromised, the rest of the ever-diminishing crowd of characters squabbled among themselves and tried to avoid the attentions of the ever-growing number of giant waspquitos.

One cultist couldn't take the strain any more and made a break for the still-closed gate.  He screamed at it to open [perhaps "open sesame" or some such phrase?], but the doorway remained stubbornly shut.  Then the guardian picked him up and crushed him to death.

Turn Seven (extra time)

Do you remember that Sir Henry had played a Buy Some Time card much earlier?  That event caused the game to extend into a seventh turn - but this would absolutely be the last turn possible.  Could the remaining leagues sort out their differences and force the gate open?  Even if they did complete the ritual and the portal opened, would it be in time for anyone to enter the Forbidden City?  Let's find out...

First to go was Sir Henry.  He lit the fire on his alter without too much trouble.

Next up was Al Masoudi.  He had recovered consciousness after the beating he took from Koko, but was far from at his best.  Even so, the cultist leader dragged his battered body over to the nearby altar and completed his part in the ritual, under the watchful eye of the gorilla.

Could Tarzan finish the ceremony and cause the gate top open?  He could - he did!  With the last altar alight, the gateway to the ancient city groaned and creaked as the barrier withdrew.  The path was now open!

Now for the difficult part - was anyone close enough to make use of this success?

The cult's cheetah darted like lightning, raced past the guardian before it could react and vanished into the dark tunnel.

Behind the big cat, the two ascaris from the cliff top came huffing and puffing along.  They just made it into the doorway as well before the ground shook and started to split apart.  All the other characters were forced to beat a hasty retreat as an earthquake split the ground, demolishing the entrance and burying the guardian in a newly-formed crevasse.

Victory

Who won?  Well it's something of a technicality, since everyone had fun and since all the leagues can progress.  Still, for the record:

• Tarzan and his followers had 3 minor plot points (the altar, the grave investigated by Koko and the ancient sword picked up by Lady Elaine) and therefore scores 3VP.
• The Safari held 1 minor plot point (their altar).  Although Captain Goode had taken the pile of skulls minor plot point early in the game, he was knocked down later in the game and lost this.  So, just 1VP.
• The Cult also achieved an altar plot point, but didn't even attempt any others.  I think they were so focused on escaping through the portal that they weren't interested in such distractions.  Again, just 1VP.

Nobody went after the Guardian - the major plot point.  Even Sir Henry, who seems to like facing off against huge monsters, decided early on that this construct was nigh impossible to injure.  Indeed, all the players rapidly figured out that the guardian could only attack (and defeat) at most one character per turn,.  The rather callous tactic employed was then to present it with a new minion to squash once per turn and otherwise try not to provoke it too much.

Conclusion

Well, that went down to the wire, in extra time!  By the end all the players were rooting for each other's heroes as they struggled to light the altars and complete the gate-opening ritual.  They barely did it, but a few characters managed to get through before the gateway was closed forever.

These few who entered will allow the rest of the leagues to proceed to the next scenario.  Mind you, those characters who didn't go through the gate [i.e. almost everyone!] will be delayed and won't join the next game until its turn 2.  Presumably the cheetah and two ascaris lower ropes over the wall, switch off the city's defensive mechanisms, find another way in or otherwise use their presence in the city to help those who are left outside.

The wasps were interesting.  We made up their behaviour on the fly and that wasn't great - the rules for deploying and moving them were poorly defined.  Still, we worked around this and by the end they had changed from being a minor nuisance to a considerable irritant.  Which is how it should be for such creatures, I think.

Man of the Match

I'm really not sure how to decide this, as none of the characters performed exceptionally above their expected behaviour.  Possible candidates:

• The cult's cheetah, which was knocked down a number of times.  Each time, it just got back up quietly and continued doing its master's bidding.  Nothing dramatic, though it was first through the collapsing gate.
• Tarzan's simians.  As a group, these tend to be picked off quickly by other leagues or by hazards.  In this game they did a bit better.  Although they all succumbed in the end, Hurkey evaded the guardian's attacks for 2 turns and Caesar & Kobo turned on the giant snake and beat it senseless.
• Koko the gorilla.  He frightened half the cult so that they ran into a wasps' nest, he beat the cult leader senseless and he tied the arms of a Nghai hunter into knots.  And dug up a shallow grave.

Most Useless

Again, I don't think there are any truly obvious candidates for this title.  Still, here are a few suggestions:

• The cult's snake.  Normally this thing is a monster; it goes where it pleases and does what it likes.  Today it was stopped early in the game by a couple of monkeys.
• All the league's leaders.  Each of them failed to light their altar in a different turn, thus causing the ritual to fail time after time until it was almost too late.
• Tarzan's swarms.  Although they looked impressively numerous, they had little impact since Tarzan quickly ran out of Fate cards to play for them and without this boost they were easily seen off.

The incident at Station X

Introduction

On a barely-charted jungle planet, remote from normal shipping lanes, the Federation have permitted the establishment of a private research station.  Ostensibly this group of scientists, led by the fiercely intelligent Professor Frinkle, are there to develop new medicines and cures.

A garbled message from the base is received by the USS Matakishi - a Federation starship commanded by the inspiring Captain Bellamy.  It reads:

"...madness...overstepped...chemical...unwilling...too much...help...".

The ship's comms officer has determined that the transmission is being jammed.  By looking at a list of base personnel, it is thought to have been sent by Doctor Smith, the research centre's second-in-command.  Bellamy decides to investigate immediately and leads a small away team to the planet's surface.

However, he's not the only one to show an interest.  The Klingon vessel P'Rang has also intercepted the message and her captain Mor'tah has ordered that "Federation combat drugs" research is in violation of some treaty or other and must be seized, for the safety of the Empire.

Setup

This was a 3-player game of Pulp Alley, using my newly-completed Alien Jungle and my slightly older Salad Box Science Base.  The terrain was set up as follows:

• Most areas of vegetation would be difficult (i.e. if anyone ran through them then they would take a peril).
• 2 of the areas of vegetation (the one with the pit beast and the one with the Venusian death lilies) were dangerous.  No running was permitted and even walking would trigger a peril.
• All building interiors were also difficult.

6 minor objectives were set up in buildings and around the base:

• A microscope and samples were in the Geology building
• A computer terminal was in the Command building
• A filing cabinet was in the Admin building
• A cloning tank was in the Science building.
• A hyperwave jammer was at the eastern end of the base clearing.
• The base's power supply was at the western end of the complex.

The major objective was Doctor Smith, who was in the open at the very centre of the research base.

The Leagues

Federation Away Team

• Captain Bellamy is inspiring, quick-witted and a lucky devil.  He can shoot and brawl a bit, but his strengths are really in problem-solving.
• Science Officer Tring is extremely smart, but probably lacks some social graces (well, he is an alien, after all).
• Doctor Johnson is a hard-nosed medical officer.  He probably spends much of his life being quietly exasperated by everyone and everything else in the universe.
• Lieutenant Rashi leads the security detail.  He's impetuous and a daredevil, so it's a bit of a wonder that he has survived even his first few years in Star Fleet.
• 3 redshirts are also included in the party, to provide the inevitable "meat shield".  Their skills are, well, mediocre (as you might expect from a bunch of goons).

Professor Frinkle's Base Experiments

The mad professor is determined to preserve the autonomy of his research from outside interference of any sort.  To that end, he has the following resources:

• Professor Frinkle is your standard crazy geneticist who won't be shackled by anything so paltry as morality.  He is a deductive and an inventor.  For this game he used his inventing skill to come up with some mind-enhancing drugs for himself.  Frinkle has also set up cameras and booby traps all over the base; this is represented by his cursed presence ability.
• B-9 is the professor's sinister robot.  It is armoured and can project some form of electrical field (long burst).
• Miaou Miaou is a harmless pet - probably one of the professor's early experiments.  It looks a bit like a cross between a seal and a penguin, but is surprisingly agile.
• Eygar is a faithful lab assistant.  She is clever and crafty, though somewhat faint-of-heart.
• The professor has been using other base personnel as experimental subjects.  3 of them are present as reanimated plague zombies.

Klingon Expeditionary Force

• Captain Mor'tah is a classic, "bad guy" Klingon.  He's intimidating, savage and veteran, which together make him quite a fighter.  He's also very cunning, though not particularly subtle.
• Maal is the captain's loyal second-in-command.  He is intelligent, cold and calculating, ruthless and indomitable.
• Science officer Sira is extremely bright, but not as tough as the other members of the Klingon party.
• Vagh is a close combat specialist who believes that fighting with the bat'leth is the only true way to gain honour.
• "Targ" is a strange, pig-like beast picked up by the captain on his travels and regarded as a pet.  It's not a real, Klingon targ of course - that's just the captain's little joke.  Actually, it's quite a dangerous animal.
• Leyra is the Klingon's answer to the Federation's redshirts: a security goon with little expectation of surviving an episode.

The Game

Unsurprisingly, given the setup, the first turn was spent with most characters heading for the inevitable "scrum in the middle".  Turn 2 started to become interesting:

1. The Klingon pig-beast charged around the corner of the Science building, straight into Eygar.  Both were knocked down, but the pig-beast just shook itself and regained its feet. The faint-of-heart lab assistant didn't bother to get up again.
2. Science officer Sira tried to switch off the base's power supply - but each time failed a peril and was knocked down.  Even though she stood back up and tried again several times more, eventually the repeated zaps knocked her out (i.e. she kept failing perils and taking damage; eventually she failed a recovery roll).  It seems that the mad professor's booby traps were working as intended!
3. Captain Mor'tah strode into the middle of the clearing, grabbed Doctor Smith and shook him into submission.  Of course, this immediately made him a prime target for every other faction - but Mor'tah embraced this position and returned all fire with glee.
4. Both Doctor Johnson and Miaou Miaou made for the filing cabinet in the Admin block.  Neither had any luck, as both of them went down to hidden hazards in the darkened building.

The pig-beast charged into the nearest thing is could see, but Professor Frinkle was a tougher customer than his lab assistant.  He swatted the creature down with ease.

Meanwhile, B-9 rumbled forwards and then unleashed a deadly electro-bolt.  The ray narrowly missed Mor'tah, but completely fried the hapless Leyra.

Over in the Admin block, Doctor Johnson and Miaou Miaou both regained their senses at about the same time.  There was a brief scuffle which resulted in the strange alien pet bolting through the door, leaving the doctor alone in front of the filing cabinet.  However, despite several attempts the increasingly-frustrated doctor just couldn't figure out how to break into the locked cabinet.

As another moment of comic relief (perhaps?), one of the plague zombies chased a redshirt across the board in slow motion.  Neither had much chance of hurting the other, though the redshirt kept dodging backwards so as to use his phaser and the zombie repeatedly stumbled forwards to close the distance.

Then the robot lurched forwards.  It suffered some form of malfunction and splattered corrosive fluids all over itself, Professor Frinkle and Mor'tah, as well as making that area perilous for the remainder of the game (this was a fortune card, though I forget exactly which one).  The robot and the professor were unharmed, but the Klingon captain caught a face full of the poisonous goo.

What with the noxious chemicals and phaser fire from Lt. Rashi & Captain Bellamy, Mor'tah sank to his knees and then collapsed, releasing his grip on Doctor Smith.

With a detour into the Science building to look at the cloning tank, the Klingon pig-beast squealed its challenge and charged at Professor Frinkle.  It may have been intent on revenge for its fallen master, but once again the hopped-up professor smacked it down into the dirt.  This time the creature didn't stand up again.

B-9 now turned its attention on Captain Bellamy and Lt. Rashi.  It shot down the lieutenant before unleashing its electro bolt on the Federation captain.  Luckily, the captain survived, as did a nearby plague zombie which happened to be in the line of fire.  Honestly, I think at this point that the player of the Mad Science league was so annoyed with the plague zombies' hopeless performance that he was even trying to kill them himself.  Ah, well - what else would you do with a failed experiment except turn them back into spare parts?

In the last turn of the game, the Federation started to retreat.  Science officer Tring had managed to solve a minor plot point (the microscope in the Geology building), though not without a considerable amount of difficulty.  I think it took him 2 or 3 turns.

He now retreated to the relative safety of the away team's shuttle, having discovered several interesting facts about the microbiology of the planet's soil and the curious organisms which coexisted below the surface.

At the same time, Doctor Johnson gave up trying to open the records cabinet ("Dammit, Captain!  I'm a doctor, not a filing clerk!"); he also moved towards safety.

Conclusion

Even though Professor Frinkel held the centre ground, he had been totally unable to solve the major plot point.  I suspect that by this time Doctor Johnson had lost all means of cooperating with any of the leagues.  Indeed, I imagine he was quite dead, having been phasered, covered in corrosive robot fluids and then zapped with an electro bolt.

Likewise, Maal had spent several turns trying to understand the computer terminal in the Command centre.  Despite his advanced abilities, he just couldn't gain anything useful from it and failed to solve the plot point.

So, the final scores were these:

• Federation away team: 1 victory point (for Tring's minor objective - the microscope).
• Klingon expeditionary force: 0 points.  Sira's early, repeated and ultimately fatal failures to switch off the power grid and Maal's incomprehension of the computer terminal were frustrating.  However, captain Mor'tah's showboating move into the middle did claim the major objective briefly before he was shot down.  I suppose that could be seen as reckless & irresponsible, or glorious & brave, depending on your point of view.
• Mad Science base defenders: 0 points.  Miaou Miaou did attempt a couple of plot points early on, but was easily chased off when someone else came close.  Professor Frinkle left it too late to claim the major plot point (though he did achieve 2 of the 3 successes he needed) and B-9 was having too much fun zapping things to bother with such trivia.

In the end, the Federation won the game, even though they only held a single, minor plot point.  This wasn't for lack of trying by all three leagues, though.  I cannot remember another game of Pulp Alley where the plot points proved so perilous and the challenges were so hard!

Man/machine/animal of the match: runners up are the pig-beast (which just kept getting back up and charging the next opponent) and Professor Frinkle (who shrugged off every hit he took from every source.  Maybe his combat drugs do work after a fashion?).  The winner, however, has to be B-9.  The large, armoured robot trundled around the centre of the table and scared the cr*p out of everything nearby.

Most useless: I think Sira was a bit of a waste of space.  This Klingon science officer failed to understand the base's power supply and indeed kept getting zapped whenever she prodded it.  Eventually this was too much and she was knocked out of action, without having contributed anything at all.

Pulp Alley Perils: Predator

Introduction

As I mentioned in my last post (Pulp Alley Perils: Introduction), my friend Steve has come up with a detailed set of rules for what we've called the "Predator" class of perils.

The Predator is a type of danger that will (to a greater or lesser extent) stalk or chase a character.  As such, it might represent a swarm of tropical bees defending their nest, a gang of pickpockets, an officious Gestapo agent ("papers, please!") or an angry rhinoceros.  Or many other things, indeed.

Over to you, Steve:

The Predator

Following our last game I've contemplated mobile perils like the Nazi agents and the angry buffalo.  As we've gained experience playing Pulp Alley, we've become adept at avoiding the normal static perils.  We typically only brave the peril if baited with a plot point, or if it represents terrain that we absolutely must cross.

I enjoyed the element of risk introduced by the mobile perils.  The possibility to lead them toward another player's characters added an extra aspect to the game.

Here is a simple model for a peril which attacks the player characters.  I've named it the predator, it fits snugly into existing pulp Alley mechanisms.

Each predator is assigned a range, movement and optional special behaviours called traits.

For example: 

The Buffalo

Range 8"

Move 4" / 2d10

Traits Impetuous

Roll the move dice (2d10) when a character (target) moves within the range of the buffalo (8" in this example).  The buffalo travels its move distance toward the target (4") for each success.  No successes no movement, one success 4", two successes 8".

If the predator contacts the target then a peril occurs, and is resolved as normal.

The predator normally stops on reaching the target, though traits can adjust this behaviour.

Traits

Traits are simply special rules that apply to the predator.  Predators may have no traits or several.

• Feeble: The predator is removed if the target passes its challenge.  This represents a weak or timid or easily eliminated threat.  Removal overrides any post-challenge actions caused by other traits.
• Pack (N): A pack of N relatively weak threats, similar to feeble, but with N "lives".  One member of the pack is removed each time the target passes their challenge.  The pack is removed (see Feeble) when its last member is eliminated.
• Ambush: The predator only moves if it rolls sufficient movement to reach its target.  A classic ambush predator that lies low and attacks from a short distance.

Predators may have only one (or none) of the final three traits:

• Elusive: The predator always deploys in cover.  If its move finishes the open, it returns to the closest cover.  Specific definition of cover may be used to fine-tune behaviour.  For example,
  - a swarm of bees would return to their hive.
  - a vampire might return to any shadowy corner, except sacred ground.
• Impetuous: The predator moves the full distance rolled, and may move beyond its target.  The target suffers a peril even if the predator overshoots.  Example: a bull or rhino that will build up a head of steam during its furious charge.
• Hit and Run: After resolving a challenge, the predator rolls its movement again.  It moves the rolled distance back in the direction it came.  Example: a pack of small yappy dogs or smaller monkeys, individually timid but brave in numbers.

The predator provides a flexible method for single threats, or packs and swarms of smaller creatures.  Range and movement can be adjusted to represent the tenacity of the predator.  Traits permit different behaviours.

Example Predator Perils

• Rhino : Short sighted, easily provoked, faster than you'd imagine - the original "battle unicorn".
  Range: 8"
  Move: 4" / 3d6
  Traits: Impetuous.
  The Rhino's move is potentially greater than its range.
  The Impetuous trait means it can charge through and past its target.
• Bees defending their hive:
  Range: 12"
  Move: 3" / 4d6
  Traits: Ambush, Elusive (returns to hive).
  Several movement dice, threat level increases with proximity.
  Ambush means the swarm will not leave the hive unless they can reach and imperil the target.
  Elusive sees the bees return to their hive after an attack.  (Elusive specifies return to cover, in this case the hive is specified).
• The Mummy: Classic Universal studios version, slow, but always on your tail.
  Range:16"
  Move: 4" / 1d12
  Traits: None
  Long range and big movement die guarantee pursuit.
  Single die and short move mean it will rarely catch a running target, but trip, or stop to investigate a clue, and your adventure may be over.
• Macaque troop: Small nosey monkeys. Raid your pack / pockets for food, may bite.
  Range: 8"
  Move: 4" / 2d8
  Traits: Hit and Run
  These fellows will back off as soon as they've relieved you of your sandwiches.
• Small stray dog: More bark than bite, but what other perils might the bark attract?
  Range: 12"
  Move: 4" / 3d10
  Traits: Feeble, Hit and Run
  Fairly mobile, but a limited danger.
  Will not stand its ground, and disappears in the face of determined resistance.
• Young conscripts: acting tough but fearful for their own safety.
  Range: 6"
  Move: 6" / 1d6
  Traits: Pack (5)
  As likely as not to challenge characters getting too close.
  Reasonable staying power from Pack (5), but won't resist a determined show of force.

Conclusion

So, is this useful inspiration?  Or possibly unnecessarily complicated?  Please let us know your thoughts!

Pulp Alley: Blood Sacrifice! (Perilous Island, Game 8)

<==  Back to the previous episode

Introduction

It's been a while since we played our last game of Pulp Alley (see here for Swamp of Terror!), but we finally managed to gather all the players in the same place yesterday.

According to the rules for the Perilous Island campaign, we should progress to Act III once one league had collected 4 pages from the journal of the missing explorer, Lord Darrow.  We had decided early on that while this would be fine for a 2-player campaign, it might lead to an interminable number of games for our 3 player setup.  Instead, we ruled that we would progress once any single league had collected 3 journal pages.

Well, it's been a while and I failed to notice that Tarzan's league already had collected 3 pages.  By rights we should have moved on to the next set of scenarios.  However, we still hadn't played once of the Act II scenarios ("Blood Sacrifice") and so we decided to do that anyway.  We'll move on to the final stage of the campaign from our next game onwards.

The Leagues

All of our leagues had by now acquired 25 or more reputation, thus entitling them to an extra roster slot.  The Safari and Tarzan each took another follower, whilst the Cult of Hanesh decided to upgrade a (level-1) follower into a (level-2) ally instead.

Similarly, each league had acquired a number of experience points and now seemed like a good time to spend some of them on permanent upgrades:

• The cultist leader, Al Masoudi, spent 4 of his 5 experience points to purchase the Commander skill, thus adding 4 more slots to his roster.  These were filled with a level-2 rifleman and a level-2 animal (Steve wanted a cheetah, but for now I only had a leopard model.  I'll get a cheetah in due course).
• Tarzan decided to spend 4 of his 5 XP on the Summon skill, intending to surround himself with hordes of monkeys, jungle birds or the like.  However, I completely forgot to use this during our game!  I think it will take some time to get used to it...
• Sir Henry (Safari) chose to save his 2 XP for later.

Tarzan's Jungle Alliance

As usual, Tarzan led a collection of animals: Koko the gorilla, Caesar the clever simian and 4 lesser simians.  This also seemed like a good time to spend 3 backup points on a level-3 lion, just for this game.

Sir Henry's Safari

Sir Henry's league is as it was before, but with the addition of another (level-1) ascari.  He did, however, spend some of his great wealth on a rocket pack.

Personally I think this piece of equipment must be something that Sir Henry had taken from Stahlhelm's Nazis (the 4th league that we had in early games during this campaign, until that player dropped out).  The members of that group still pop up in our games from time to time, usually as perils or other non-player characters.  Since the Nazis have a robot soldier, it isn't stretching things too far to assume that they also had an experimental rocket pack - which Sir Henry either bought or had stolen...

The Snake Cult of Hanesh

As mentioned above, Al Masoudi (the cult's leader) has acquired more level-2 allies.  He now has quite a large, disreputable crew.

The Game Setup

As required by the scenario, we rolled to see who would be sacrificed by the local witch doctor - and to what.  The dice spoke and came up with Duncan (from Lord Darrow's expedition) would be sacrificed to the Great Gonga.  Since I have a nice model of a damsel-in-distress that I had been wanting to use for some time, this was adjusted to Miss Duncan instead.

Plot Points

• Miss Duncan, tied between 2 stakes in the centre of the table (major plot point)
• The witch doctor (minor PP).  Note that he is surrounded by a number of acolytes/bodyguards, thus making it perilous to approach within 6" of him.
• Glowing green crystals (possible perilium deposit, minor PP).
• Pile of skulls (possible mysterious remains, minor PP).
• Strange statue (minor PP, guarded by a mystical force field).
• Expedition radio (minor PP)
• Enormous footprint (minor PP)

These last two plot points were added because we had 3 players; they're not in the scenario as written.  However, we've found that multi-player games need proportionally more plot points than 2-player games - otherwise it alters the balance between solving clues and fighting other leagues too much for our taste.

Perils

• The quicksand in the north of the table is perilous (well, duh!)
• The witch doctor's bodyguards make it perilous to be within 6" of him
• 4 Nazis provide some mobile perils.  At the end of every action phase they will move 6" towards the nearest enemy.  If they have a clear line of sight and are within 6" then that enemy takes a peril.  Should a model move within 6" of a Nazi during its own activation then it also takes a peril.
  If the peril is passed then the Nazi is defeated and removed from the table.  On a d6 roll of 4+, the player who faced the peril may replace the Nazi anywhere on the table, as long as the new location is more than 6" from all enemies.
• A grumpy buffalo is perilous when in contact with a player's model.
  Since that would be too easy to simply avoid, it also has the following rule: every time any model moves within 10" of it, the buffalo will move d10" towards that model.  That gives the possibility of someone running screaming through an enemy camp, followed by an enraged bull!
  Note that in our game this made the buffalo extremely active - it knocked out at least 3 characters.  If anyone wants to reuse this idea then I would suggest that either you make the distance much shorter (such as 6" and d6"), or else use a dice roll to trigger the buffalo's movement.  Perhaps it should move d12" if anyone comes within 12", but only on a d6 roll of 4+?  Or something like that...

Blood Sacrifice!

Sir Henry moved first in our game.  Without any hesitation, the intrepid explorer used his rocket pack to fly over the jungle, past Nazis and other perils.  He landed in the central clearing, just a few steps from where Miss Duncan was tied between the posts.

Of course, the buffalo then spoiled this piece of derring do a bit by charging out of the jungle straight at the gentleman.  I imagine it was startled and enraged by the noise and/or smoke from the Englishman's strange device.

Sir Henry was too old a hand to be bothered by this; he nimbly sidestepped the beast's charge.  However, the buffalo was now in the middle of the table and would react to pretty much any movement apart from around the fringes.

Most of the other players advanced cautiously, approaching their nearest minor plot points to try to gain an early lead.  Sir Henry continued his heroic dash by befuddling the buffalo with a Secret Path card (am I the only person who thought about the similar incident from Crocodile Dundee when this happened?).

He then blew it completely by failing to untie the damsel in distress.  The challenge to undo the knots required 3 successes and Sir Henry only achieved one.  By this time, half of the Snake Cult was closing in on him...

To add to the Safari's woes, Alan Quartermain investigated the glowing crystals - only to find out that they weren't real.  The light filtering through the jungle canopy shone on a rock in such a way as to make it shine, but it was just a very ordinary rock when seen close up.

Meanwhile in the north, the cultist's grenadier was up to his favourite tricks: throwing bombs at monkeys!  2 of Tarzan's simians thought they were safely hidden in the foliage, but the grenade still injured Caesar.

In a hooting, screeching fit of revenge, a couple of the remaining apes charged at the cultist.  He dodged out of their grasp - straight into the quicksand!

The central clearing was now filled with animals racing all over!  Tarzan's lion ran one way, whilst the cult's snake and leopard went the other, all in attempts to distract the buffalo.  In the end, the maddened bull decided to chase down the leopard and gore it to death.

At the half-way point of the game, here is how things stood:

1. Tarzan had collected a minor plot point, but had made heavy weather of it and wasn't well positioned to intervene in the central struggle.
2. The cult's brawling specialist ignored his friend who had fallen in the quicksand and dispatched both of the simians with brutal efficiency.
3. Sir Henry finally freed Miss Duncan from the sacrificial posts, only to be attacked by Tarzan's lion.  Astonishingly (to me, at least), the lion had the worst of the exchange.  There were words that, if not exactly swearing, were strong expressions of disbelief...
4. Al Masoudi and Captain Goode both vied for the witch doctor's attention, whilst the latter's bodyguards attempted to stab them both.  Goode went down several times, but just wouldn't give up and kept returning to the fight (and, importantly, thus prevented the cult leader from solving this plot point).
5. The buffalo continued its rampage, knocking out Lady Constance (safari) and a simian (Tarzan).

Saeed, the cultist knifeman, killed off the two simians.  While he was thus occupied, the cult's grenadier reached for the radio but couldn't manage this and stay afloat at the same time.  He vanished into the quicksand with a soft, sucking sound.

As this happened, there was a crashing sound.  Birds flew up from the bushes, calling wildly.  The Great Gonga had arrived!  He was the most enormous, black gorilla that anyone had ever seen - easily bigger than any other land creature anyone had seen.

Oblivious to the rapid approach of Gonga, Sir Henry and the miraculously-recovered lion tussled for possession of Miss Duncan...

...whilst Al Masoudi and Goode continued to fight the witch doctor's bodyguards and each other just to survive.

Gonga was obviously infuriated by the puny beings who had stolen his sacrifice.  He tore into the melee and gave the lion an almighty buffet.  Sir Henry managed to duck and step backwards with Miss Duncan...

...but it was only a temporary reprieve.  The gigantic monster tossed the lion aside and continued his relentless pursuit of the humans.  To his credit, Sir Henry managed to wound the beast - but this just maddened Gonga even more!

As Sir Henry and Gonga fought, the lion recovered and stood up.  The cult's snake immediately struck at it, though neither creature could gain the upper hand.

Then, Alan Quartermain decided to fire into this melee on the grounds that anything he hit was good.  His shots missed the lion but struck the reptile, which then collapsed into the dirt.  [I think this might be the very first game where the cult's snake has failed to terrorise its enemies and has instead been knocked out!]

As we entered the last turn, the situation was thus:

• Gonga and Sir Henry were fighting for possession of Miss Duncan in the central clearing.  If Sir Henry could just survive until the end of the round then the game would end and he would escape with his prize!
• Al Masoudi and Goode still wrestled [inconclusively] with each other and with the witch doctor's bodyguards.
• The buffalo was annoyed enough to be chasing a couple of ascaris through the jungle.
• Remnants of all 3 leagues hung about the fringes, not particularly wanting to get involved in any further fighting.

Pretty much the only minor action in turn 6 was this: Tarzan's lion ventured into the quicksand.  The clever animal grabbed the sinking radio [minor plot point] and dragged it to the side.

A couple of cultist minions stood nearby and even took a shot at the lion, but this was ineffectual.

Everyone held their breath as the main event came round: could Sir Henry survive another round against the monstrous ape?

Gonga pummelled the man mercilessly, reducing him to a d6 health [i.e. the lowest one can be and still stand up in Pulp Alley].  Then, with the last attack of the game, Gonga landed a final, single blow.

Sir Henry needed to roll a 4+ on one d6 to survive.  If he could do this then his league would have 3 victory points and would win the game, not to mention the enormous kudos he would acquire.  It was a 50:50 chance, but sadly he rolled low and fell to the ground.

Gonga sniffed contemptuously at the stricken man, grabbed Miss Duncan in a huge clasp and strode off into the jungle with the screaming damsel...

Final Results

• Sir Henry's Safari nearly pulled off a considerable coup, but ended up unlucky and empty-handed after the shining crystals proved to be an illusion.  0 victory points.
• The Cult of Hanesh made an early gain when their leader effortlessly grabbed the strange statue.  However, they then seemed to get bogged down in indecision and pointless fights.  1 victory point.
• The Jungle Alliance concentrated on minor objectives and managed to claim several of them (Tarzan scored the large footprint, the lion rescued the radio and Koko grabbed the mysterious remains - though this was something of a poison chalice as Koko contracted Fungus Lung for his trouble).  3 victory points and the winner!

Conclusion

The Blood and Glory card was only drawn on the last turn, when there was barely any fighting!

Well, that was another fun game!  Mind you, I think it was notable for dithering all round.  Once many of the minor objectives had been claimed in turn 2 or 3, all three leagues had models that bickered and skirmished around the jungle fringes rather than pile into the central, sacrificial glade.

The Nazis were fairly ineffectual as perils, being dispatched with surprising ease and (mostly) not returning to the table.  After maybe a couple of turns, they had all vanished without being a significant hindrance to anyone.

On the other hand, the buffalo was a holy terror, chasing down pretty much anything that moved!  For certain it dispatched 3 characters - the tally may have been greater than this but my memory isn't good enough.  Eventually it was lured away into the south west, where it played tag with Tarzan and a couple of ascaris for the second half of the game.

Sir Henry's gamble very nearly came off.  Perhaps if his ascaris had been more central then they might have softened Gonga up with rifle fire and permitted the great white hunter to triumph?  Or maybe not.  Either way, he's acquiring quite a reputation as a man who enjoys wrestling with the most fearsome monsters!

Tarzan and Koko were disappointing; they gained minor plot points easily enough but against little or no opposition.  The temporarily-allied lion was much more impressive, fighting Sir Henry, the giant snake and Gonga (though without actually winning any of those fights) before grabbing a final objective.  On a more personal level, I was thoroughly delighted when the simians pushed the pesky cult grenadier into the quicksand 😁.

As for the cult, once again their leader carried the show pretty much alone; he was let down by incompetent underlings.  Al Masoudi must be getting so tired of this, but that is the lot of a would-be evil overlord.  So it is written!

The next episode is available here ==>