I am currently running an Iron Kingdoms RPG game for some of my friends. We just completed session 3. I decided to keep a written record of the game (from a players perspective in case any of them see this.) I am using a published adventure. This Entry was written by my wife A. Enjoy!
The Cast
Leopold - A Human Pistoleer/field Mechanic with his helpful laborjack Old Smokey.
Prudence- A Dwarf Bounty Hunter/field Mechanic with her laborjack Cornaro
Rahl- A Human Warcaster/Tempest Gun Mage. A member of the Cygnarian Military and a true patriot
Evangeline (Evie) - an Iosian (Elf) - Alchemist/Mage Hunter with a penchant for throwing grenades.
Morrigan - A Nyss (Elf) - Urban Nomad/Investigator A master of the Nyss Claymore (a Big sword) and the most outspoken member of the party.
Later
Bruce Clemons - A human Ranger/Soldier (Think Aragorn meets Gunny Highway) The quiet ones are usually the most Deadly
Sylvestra - Human Arcanist/Fire Sorcerer who is on the trail of the a fellow mage who betrayed her old team and left her to die.
Also starring (NPCs)
Alma Barlow- Human Alchemist in training. She is the assistant of Doctor Gateu
***
When
we first meet our intrepid heroes, they are traveling on a train called “The
Gilded Star” to the town of Bainsmarket in the far north of Cygnar. There has
been an outbreak of Bloody Sweats and the train is carrying medical supplies
that the area desperately needs.
The Bloody Sweats
Bloody
Sweats is a highly contagious, airborne fever. It has a rapid incubation period
of less than 24 hours. This is followed by a prolonged prodromal stage, during
which symptoms begin to manifest, which can last several weeks. Initial
symptoms include high fever, open sores, and frequent, heavy nose bleeds. In
the final stage, the patient bleeds from every pore, which is how the disease
earned its name. The longer the disease goes untreated, the lower the patient’s
chances of recovery are. Once the disease is full-blown, the death rate is over
70%.
Train Layout
Engine – Coal – Staff – Dining –
Passenger – Special Cargo – Regular Cargo – Caboose
The
company was hired as additional guards for the shipment. The primary contingent
of guards are in the sixth railcar, designated for special cargo, with the medical
supplies. The company is traveling one car forward, in the passenger car, to
keep a low profile. Evangeline (a.k.a. Evie) is an alchemist with some medical
training. So, the company decided to use the cover story that Evie is going to
the region to assist with the outbreak and Rahl, Prudence, and Leopold are
there as companions and protection.
Morrigan,
the fifth and most recent member of their team, considers it unwise for all of
them to appear as a group. So, she distanced herself from the others during the
journey, choosing to read in the opposite corner of the railcar, while the team
gathered at one of the circular booths near the front. She also has medical
training. So, if anyone were bold enough to ask the anti-social Nyss her
business, she could use the same cover story as Evie.
Bitter over the separation, Prudence made many
sly comments about Morrigan reading her book upside down. This was, of course,
pure slander, which the noble Nyss ignored.
But
things were not all sunshine and roses in the front of the railcar either. A
cloud was looming over the company…in the form of the smoke produced by Rahl’s warcaster
armor. Despite his repeated protests that the suit was in low-power mode, and
thus was hardly producing any smoke at all, many of the passengers decided to
open their windows. Evie went so far as to move to halfway down the railcar and
switch to the opposite side. It is suspected that she stopped at this
particular bench because of the black cat sleeping peacefully there. The cat tolerated
her presence, so all was well. (Except with Rahl, who was annoyed that everyone
was bad-mouthing his armor.)
*~*~*
The
Gilded Star started out of Steelwater Flats, traveling northeast around the
curve of the Upper Wyrmwall mountains, on its way to Bainsmarket, which sits on
the Cygnar/Khador border. The train made one planned stop in Fharin to
re-supply and pick up a few passengers. Due to the time-sensitive nature of the
mission, this was the only stop planned.
The
train would soon be leaving the shadow of the mountains, and it was looking
like this particular adventure would be boringly uneventful, when one of the
passengers suddenly stood and cried out in alarm.
The
company, and in fact every passenger on the railcar, looked questioningly at
the man as he patted all of his pockets. Eventually, he found the misplaced watch
and looked around sheepishly at those he’d disturbed with his absent-minded
antics. Most went back to whatever they’d been doing, but the group in the
corner stared at him overlong. This prompted the man to go over an apologize further.
With
a surfeit of embarrassment, Dr. Henri Gateu introduced himself and his young
traveling companion, Miss Alma Barlow. He made additional apologies, but gave
no real explanation for his overblown distress. Then Dr. Gateu and Alma were
invited to sit down at the booth. But the doctor soon excused himself to use
the restroom one car up in the dining car, while Alma stayed at the table.
She
explained that she was raised in a small town and that she met the doctor when
he came to their area due to an outbreak of sickness, similar to their current
mission in Bainsmarket. She asked to travel with him as his assistant and apprentice.
He agreed and they’ve been together for the last five years.
When
she ran out of things to say about herself, Alma, being nervous around such
rough-looking types, continued to babble about whatever came into her head. She
ended up revealing that the watch, which the doctor had thought lost, was a
gift from his late wife. As such, it is extremely precious to him and he panics
whenever he thinks it lost. Being an absent-minded fellow, this happens somewhat
often.
Unfortunately
for Alma, her willingness to reveal personal details about her employer did not
endear her to the company. She immediately felt the tension increase as several
members of the group became quite suspicious of her.
*~*~*
A
second cry of alarm. Another misplaced pocket-watch? No. A rider, coming over
the hill and kicking up a cloud of dust in his wake. Then another and another.
Soon an entire line of horsemen could be seen charging straight at the train,
along with a buckboard with an obviously military grade machine gun (called a
mini slugger) mounted in the back.
The
company analyzed the situation and immediately determined that this was not an
innocent calvary charge, but a line of raiders intent on attacking the train.
This notion was confirmed when the mini slugger started strafing the train with
bullets.
Wasting
no time, the company sprang into action….and scattered. Rahl stood up and
opened the railcar door next to him, then stepped out onto the platform between
cars. Leopold moved to the opposite side of the car to shoot at the raiders. Evie
chucked a grenade through the open window and managed to hit the buckboard,
setting it on fire and ending the constant barrage, which had already managed
to kill or injure people in several railcars. Prudence moved from the front of
the railcar to the back, on her way towards the cargo the company was being
paid to protect. Trust a dwarf to move in the direction of the “money”.
Morrigan analyzed the situation, determined that the raiders might try to stop
the train, dropped her book on her bench and charged down the aisle on her way
to the engine, somehow managing to avoid slamming into Prudence on the way. (Unfortunately,
she did not communicate any intentions to her teammates and therefore did not
earn any teamwork bonuses from the divine puppet-master known as the GM. But
hey, what can you expect from an anti-social Nyss? But then again, none of the
other party members did any talking either.) Morrigan moved into the dining
car, leaving the doors to both railcars open in her wake.
***
Back
in the passenger car…By this time, the raiders had reached the train and were
climbing aboard. The first Bandit (who will be known as Steve) opened the rear
door of the passenger car and tossed in a grenade without really aiming before
ducking to the side of the open door for cover. It sailed over Prudence’s head
and landed in the aisle between Leopold and Evie. Amazingly, neither one was
injured. However, there was a large hole in the aisle floor and the cat was not
seen again.
A
second bandit (a.k.a. Fred) moved into the railcar and shot pointblank at
Prudence, who was right in front of him in the aisle, before diving for cover in
the bench seat that Morrigan vacated seconds before. It wasn’t enough cover though
because Leopold managed to wound Fred badly. He was still in the fight, but not
for long.
Prudence
climbed up onto the bench in front of Fred, raised up her mace, and brought it
crashing down on top of Fred’s head. Fred was then dead. Prudence promptly planted
her free hand on the top of the bench and vaulted over the back to duck down
behind Fred’s corpse, prepared to use her dead adversary as cover against his
compatriots who were still coming into the car. It was very cinematic.
The
third bandit (who we shall refer to as Mac) stepped into the railcar and tossed
a grenade at Evie. It missed her, but hit Leopold full in the face. Apparently,
he had a chance to buy a helmet with a facemask and didn’t do so. Mistake? Not
necessarily. Some people look fine without eyebrows. But the railcar did NOT
look fine with a significant portion of the wall missing. Leopold stayed on the
train due to a judicious use of “GM magic”. Mac takes cover in the area
directly across from Prudence.
Getting
back into the action, Steve charged towards Evie, who had stepped out into the
aisle at this point. Leopold shoots him dead.
Prudence
hefted Fred’s body and tried to throw it across the aisle at Mac. She managed
to get him in the air, but she’d taken serious damage by this time and her
agility was suffering. Prudence slipped in the blood pouring from Fred’s head
wound and pooling at her feet. As a result, his body landed in the aisle
instead of slamming into Mac. Enraged, Mac stepped over his fallen comrade and
came straight at Prudence. Backed into a corner, seriously injured, no support
close at hand, Prudence had no choice but to make him regret that move. With
some help from Evie, Mac also went down.
***
While
Prudence, Leopold, and Evie were dealing with Steve, Fred, and Mac, Morrigan
and Rahl were in the dining car.
On
her way towards the engine, Morrigan saw Alma cowering under the table and
seriously considered kicking her, but ultimately decided that now was not the
time. And there was always the chance that she wasn’t mixed up in all of
this. Being of a suspicious nature, Morrigan wasn’t convinced on that point,
but she’d deal with it later. So, instead of kicking her, she just gave Alma a
look that had the other woman scurrying back into the corner of the booth,
under the bench seat.
When
she stepped into the dining car, she saw two bandits manhandling Dr. Gateu off
the train at the front of the railcar.
Great
weapons are long. And railcars have limited headroom. So Morrigan did not
ready her Nyss Great Sword, but instead pulled out her bow. “I really need a
smaller weapon for close-in fighting,” she thought. “Too bad the GM
decided to do me a ‘favor’ and not give me one before putting me on a train.
Note to self, have ‘chat’ with GM after this.” Morrigan fired in an attempt
to rescue the doctor. Unfortunately, moving railcars are not the best platform
from which to fire, so while one of her arrows did wound a raider, the other ended
up grazing the doctor’s arm. Two words: Hand weapon.
Rahl
followed Morrigan into the dining car and also fired at the miscreants, after
casting a combat spell in their direction. One raider went down, but the other
got away with the doctor. During the altercation, the raiders returned fire and
managed to take down Rahl’s power field, but he got it back up quickly.
A
fourth raider, who shall henceforth be known as Harry, came onto the train between
the dining car and the passenger car. He followed Rahl, who was not aware of
him, but Morrigan’s preternaturally heightened senses told her he was there. When
Harry prepared to shoot at them, Morrigan made sure she was hidden behind Rahl,
which wasn’t hard, since he’s a big guy, wearing a large suit of armor that
emits a cloud of smoke. Still, it was a good thing she hid, because the
raider’s shot pinged off Rahl’s armor, missing Morrigan entirely. See?
Teamwork.
Rahl: “How do you
like my armor now?”
Evie
saw Harry through the still open doors of the railcar. She stepped out into the
aisle, just behind the hole in the floor, drew her bow, and fired. He went
down, falling off the train and tumbling away as the train continued to roar
down the track. One small step towards avenging the poor cat. It was right
after this that Steve attacked her.
In
the end, the raiders got away with the medical supplies and the doctor. The
train began slowing down as the raiders retreated. The company wasn’t able to
follow immediately, due to a need to treat the injured. Evie, Morrigan, and
Alma all have medical training and began triage immediately. Many were dead or
injured beyond their skills to heal. The other group of guards was decimated.
Only one member of that group was alive and mobile. He identified the company
and approached them. They agreed to take him along when they went hunting the
good doctor and the supplies.
Each player earned 2 Experience
Points and recovered all used feat points in Session 1.
