Hethel’s (Dungeon) Bowl Part 1

 Hethel’s Bowl is located near the outer hive a day’s travel from Grimfish Harbor.   It sits just above a large missing chunk of Hive Decastus where an event known as the Cataclysm was centered.   Hethel’s Bowl avoided the devastation that struck other places closer to the epicenter of the blast that eliminated Fern Settlement from existence. Hethel’s Bowl wasn’t untouched and was subject to the same cave-ins that hit other areas of the lower hive.  These cave-ins cut off parts of the area that makes up Hethel’s Bowl.

More recent minor quakes have opened back up a part of Hethel’s Bowl.  The Gangs are headed that way. 

Game Note- The gangs were again given the five possible locations to explore.  They chose Hethel’s Bowl because-we kid you not-one of them read it as Hethel’s Bowel and giggled like a child until convincing the others to go there.-End of Game Note

It just so happens that none other than Archeopriest Aidus Johipok (often misspelled Johipak) the Emperor’s Getaway historian has a special place in his heart for this location.

That’s right   According to Johipok’s records, Hethel’s Bowl is one of the past cultural meccas of Hive Decastus.   Or so our gangs are led to believe…

High Culture is in the eye of the beholder.  Hethel’s Bowl is actually one of the former homes of the Society for the Reenactment of Dungeon Bowl.  Specifically, it is where the Hethel Hydras used to play.  This group read ancient texts about fantastical creatures using magic to teleport around a dungeon in an attempt to find a ball in a treasure chest and carry the ball  into something called an end zone   The Society was able to recreate this fictional (?) game using teleport technology and low amounts of explosives.

Game Note-In this scenario the gangs have stumbled upon a derelict Dungeon Bowl stadium.  There are cultural artifacts to be found. They just happen to be sprinkled amongst chests with bombs in them in true Dungeon Bowl fashion.  When the gangs arrive, the thirty teleport pads are turned off and they need to figure out how to turn them on to reach the sweet sweet booty. 

Some rules- there is a three digit code that when entered, turns the teleport hubs on.  Once per turn a model who began the turn standing on the pad can enter a digit 0-9 in one of the three slots.  The same code is used for all pads and all players will know what numbers have been entered.  Once a correct number is entered into a slot, it turns green and locks.  Once all three numbers turn green, the teleport pads activate and anyone standing on a pad is teleported.  This is done in the order that models stepped onto a pad.  Off they go.

- models standing on a pad cannot shoot or be shot  

-when a model stands on a pad, that model is teleported and their turn is done. A model that is teleported by a chain reaction from another ganger’s action is not considered to have taken an action that turn.

-models teleport by rolling a  D30 (that’s right..the beast that is the 30 sided die) and moving onto the appropriately numbered pad. If that pad is occupied, the model occupying the pad immediately teleports by rolling a D30..  This can cause a chain reaction of teleportations.   If a model rolls the number corresponding with the pad on which they are standing, they are teleported to the local pub and are out of the scenario.(example- Mo is standing on pad 18 and rolls an 18)

A model or models can charge a model who is standing on a pad to engage in hand to hand, but if the charged model is teleported away by a chain reaction the attacking player must attack the newly arrived model even if it’s a friend  (momentum based aggression is a hell of a thing.)

A model who starts the turn on a pad can jump off and jump back on using normal teleportation rules.

-End of Game Note

Five gangs arrived at Hethel’s Bowl. The Misbehaviors became lost and arrived late.   The Majestic Twelve, more casual group of friends than gang, were also not present.   

The arrival of the gangs brings with it the atmosphere of the day.  Will the gangs feel out their surroundings and abide by an  unsaid truce as they determine if there are any external dangers, or will they shoot each other in the face.   The Waste-Side Bears chose the latter and immediately tried unsuccessfully to shoot down a Ratz.   Nothing came of this and the gangs were sufficiently spread out to avoid any shared space.   Each gang crept forward exploring the surroundings and headed towards the softly glowing circular pads that populated the catacomb of Hethel’s Bowl.

The individual gangs approached the pads with similar tactical philosophy, throw a Juve onto the pad and see what happens.  Soon, a dozen or so of the accessible pads were occupied and the nervous Juves began pushing buttons to see what would happen. The three digit code which initially read as XXX in red soon began to change as the buttons were pushed.  A green four popped into the first slot after several other numbers failed to turn green. This was  followed by a green nine in the second slot and finally  the third number turned green.   

    A scratchy loudspeaker sounding like an unserviced animatronic bear at a Chucky Cheese pizza joint called out “Welcome Sports Fans, This is Dungeon Bowl!”  Gears cranked, lights flickered and with a sudden whoosh, every ganger standing on a pad was hurled via teleportation to another pad in the bowl.

Reactions to this event were mixed.  One Bear immediately teleported out of the bowl and to the nearest pub after a malfunction (he rolled the same number as the pad on which he was standing,) while other gangers were all business and kept from their destination pad and bolted towards the nearest chest of possible loot.  Some unlucky gangers appeared in the middle of groups of unfriendly rivals with usually predictable and violent results.

The Shrouded Path closed in on one of the many blood bowl chests first.  In blood bowl, some chests have a football within that is the whole point of the game.  Find the football, carry it to the end zone and score the point.   In this case the football is a collectors item worth creds that can be used to feed the gang.  Other chests contain a small explosive bomb.  Dungeon Bowl creators were a sadistic bunch.

The Kroot who opened the first chest did not find a ball…

The chest…to the left.  No football inside. Boom.

Along with numerous chests of footballs and bombs, there sat scattered through the bowl, crates of other historically relevant (read profitable swag) artifacts.  The Pale Veil popped one of these open and found the first collectible   

A Hethel Hydra banner.

The first truly bizarre event of the day (night? morning? Who can tell) played out between the Ratz and the Wastoids. A newly recruited Rat exited his teleport destination to claim a chest when a Wastoid materialized behind him on the pad from which the Rat had just exited.   Ratz can be territorial, so the young lad pivoted and charged the Wastoid  

As the Rat closed in a pop and fizz lit up the pad and the Wastoid disappeared and was replaced by another Rat who moments ago was standing on a pad halfway across the bowl.

A shared look of confusion spread across the face of both the newly teleported Rat who didn’t understand why his compatriot with whom he probably shared a nice breakfast, was now coming at him with malicious intent, and the charging Rat who was in mid swing at the lovely chap with whom he had that very morning shared a scone (probably) and not the Wastoid who he had been seeking to behead.

Then it got strange.  The freshly teleported Rat disappeared with a ‘pop’ and was replaced by the original Wastoid who had been bounced by yet another teleportee back to where he started-that is to say in front of a club wielding and quite confused charging Rat. The fight was inconclusive and both combatants withdrew.

Elsewhere, fighting was minimal as gangers explored isolated areas of the catacomb/sports arena/historical site.   One particularly resourceful Wastoid grabbed a giant Hydra banner and a Hethel Hydras collectible poster and was headed for the exit,

The score of the evening so far was found in a giant shipping container.  A Rat popped open the door of the big box and lo and behold found a giant Hethel Hydras foam finger.   He also found a crate of souvenir Hydra jerseys, but there was a problem.   The crate containing the jerseys was secured by one of those annoying security locks that you can never open without destroying the merchandise inside  (you know what I am talking about-stupid Sam Goody and your crappy CD cases.)   

This conundrum required a solution. Two gangers would have to work together to move the crate.   It just so happed that a Bear popped onto a nearby teleport pad.  And so it was that two gangs who had been shooting each other earlier ( well, the Bears shot-the Ratz did not) lugged the crate along the top of a building both thinking of ways to eventually double cross each other and how good they would look in that official Hethel Hydra number nine jersey.

The day was peaceful so far.   Minor dust ups, usually when a rival popped onto a teleport pad too close for comfort were infrequent but that might be changing soon.

Meanwhile

To be continued…

-

Revenge

 The Mischievous Misbehaviors were feeling put out.  The attack on the Maple Mill Militia headquarters (now known by the Maple Mill Militia as The Independent Hive State of Gilligana) had netted valuable goods for the participating gangs, and all escaped relatively unscathed.   This was not the case for the green fellows. 

In the spirit of cooperation, the five gangs worked together to sneak forward, deal with robotic foes, and grab loot. The Wastoids either failed to understand their mission or cynically ignored the pact when one of their number shot down a Misbehavior who came too close.  

The shot little dude survived, but his wounding led to further misfortune for his gang, the death of a fellow gang member, and a general feeling of disgruntlement amongst the Misbehaviors.  

This was the catalyst for the ambush that the Misbehaviors sprung on the Wastoids as the latter gang lugged their loot from Maple Mill.  

The Greenies enlisted the help of the Waste-Side Bears and the Shrouded Path (who missed the bot fight) with the promise of booty (think pirates-not daisy dukes.)   The Pale Veil and Slag Ratz with a Z for a Maximum Doucheyness happened to be in the wrong place and became unwilling ambushees in the coming fight. 

Game Note- The Misbehaviors were allowed to offer two gangs the opportunity to join the attack.  They chose the Bears and Path who both accepted. The Ratz and Veil were not given a choice.  The game was a modified ambush scenario with up to half of the ambushees setting up in a building in the center of the board, while the remaining would enter as reinforcements from any board edge.  The ambushers started their entire gangs more than 18” from any ambushee.    The ambushees were forced to place their entire stashes in three crates (one for each ambushee gang) in the building.  It was fitting that three Wastoids had the largest stash.-End Game Note.

The ambushees elected to set up on the top floor of the building.  The Bears set up high across a long bridge, the Misbehaviors set up low, and the Path split set up low opposite the Misbehaviors and high opposite the Bears. 

This was the first fight where a significant number of gangs had Juves graduate to Ganger status.  This meant long guns were finally in action in (small) numbers.

The ambush was on!

The Bears, who shared the high ground with the defenders immediately went to work  Autoguns barked from a tall tower down into the defenders and immediately knocked down a Veiler with a pop.   

The Pale Veil, who were very unhappy about being in this predicament in the first place, loudly made their opinions known to the Wastoids who created this mess.   The Veil had no choice but to tune up their las guns and return fire against the Bears.  The Wastoids joined them while a Rat pinned, but didn’t wound a big bird of the Shrouded Path. The Ratz’ Bolt gun immediately ran out of ammo.  Not a good start. 

The defenders’ plan to escape this predicament soon became apparent when all three gangs brought reinforcements into the fight in the same place; behind the Kroot who were holding the bridge opposite the Bears.  To the defenders, this seemed to be the vulnerable spot for a breakout.  

Once again, being on the side of the Wastoids was a bad deal.  Without warning, a Wastoid on the top of the building began dragging his crate away and abandoning his startled allies.   The Veil again loudly voiced their displeasure about the whole situation and suggested that shooting the Wastoids might be worth the loss of the loot.

The attackers, now aware of the defenders’ plan launched into action.   The pistol and club crew of the Waste-Side Bears rushed the bridge. The Shrouded Path on the opposite side hunkered down and waited for the onslaught coming their way.  The Misbehaviors double-timed it to cut off the defenders’ reinforcements.

The defenders were in a tight spot.   They had to both hold off the onrushing Bears and drag the crates of loot away but had few numbers.  One of three Ratz was out of ammo and another was shot down by a rifle toting Bear.   The top of the building exploded in rifle fire at the relentless Bear assault.   

The fire was effective in slowing the Bear rush.  Two Wastesiders tumbled down with wounds while several others ducked to the ground pinned.

Time was not on the side of the defenders.  While the fight raged on the rooftops, Kroot entered the center building via the third floor.   They stopped only long enough to shoot down a Wastoid who fell from the rooftop miraculously uninjured after being shot by a Misbehavior.

Escape with the loot now was impossible without reinforcements.   The Wastoids led the charge up several ladders to the rooftop of the building held by the Kroot blocking force.  Two Wastoids were able to gain the roof only to come face to face with a hand flamer wielding Shrouded Pather.  Poof! Two Wastoids were torched.  

Down below, Ratz reinforcements ran headlong into the converging Misbehaviors who had raced to cut them off.  A multi-ganger hand to hand fight raged between three Misbehaviors and three Ratz.   Two Veil reinforcements  crashed through an abandoned hab and tangled with two other Misbehaviors.

The attempt at reinforcing had failed.   The Ratz were the first to realize that the plan to get out with the loot was doomed and bottled; the Veil followed.  The Wastoids, who had the most to lose, grudgingly bailed on their loot and fled the fight.  

The Mischievous Misbehaviors had their revenge.   They split the stolen loot evenly with the Bears and Path.   A Wastoid was left dead, and the debt was paid.