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.

Meeting the Maple Mill Militia

Readers of the Grimfish Harbor Howler may have missed the story.   Buried on page two was a brief story about another  hive tremor that had struck Emperor’s Getaway and had opened up new areas to explore.

This is not uncommon in the EG (both tremors and burying important news behind a daft interview with a frustrated Archeopriest.) New areas opening up means new opportunities.  

Game Note-The players were given five possible areas to explore and were told to collectively pick one. They chose Paddlestab Creek because of course they did. End Game Note 

After a brawl, the various gangs readied themselves to head towards Paddlestab Creek. The newest edition of the Howler hinted at trouble they might face as Paddlestab Creek is located near Maple Mill.

Maple Mill is best known as the home to Moogus Peefer AKA The Madman of Maple Mill.  This surly old man is a doctor turned inventor who is known for his interesting and very dangerous robotic creations, and his one size fits all solution to all problems “Chop em up.”

In this case, Peefer’s creations slipped their reins (not unusual) and formed a collective (unusual) who call themselves the Maple Mill Militia   

Led by a brightly painted yellow flying ball with five shooty appendages known as The Admiral, this militant band has moved into a recently opened up abandoned mining rig.  While The Admiral is off trying to discover what both a militia and an admiral are, the Maple Mill Militia has posted up.

The gangs decide to work together and creep up on the unsuspecting bots to grab some loot and cause some chaos.

The five present gangs-absent were The Shrouded Path and Majestic Twelve-creeped into the area and completed a quick scout to see with what they were dealing.  They did not know that the enemy was mechanical so were surprised to see shiny-ok, maybe rusty-metal guards posted up around an old mining building. 

Game Note-This scenario was played using the raid scenario from the original rule books.  Additionally, loot crates were scattered around the defending side’s table half. End Game Note

The Maple Mill Militia, being a band of mechanical creations didn’t bother to collect the valuable supplies and resources left by the previous occupants before the mining rig was cut off in a previous hive quake. The plan for the gangs was simple; work together, get the loot and get out.

So it was that the five gangs cautiously crept forward.   Each gang had a somewhat different strategy.  The Pale Veil crept up the side towards the giant power tower (tower of power?) while the Mischievous Misbehaviors stayed on the ground and snuck up the opposite side.  The Slag Ratz with a Z for Maximum  Doucheyness also stayed low and headed for the turbine in the center of the  territory.   The Wastoids took a different stance, continually asking if they could shoot the guards and musing whether las guns made noise.   The Waste Side Bears followed the Veil but went high across the rooftops while the Veil stayed low.  The Bears too had itchy trigger fingers but restrained themselves for the greater good of avoiding the alarm being sounded.

The Ratz were the first to make an aggressive move   Two of the beefy boys (boyz?) crept up some stairs and onto the walkway of the turbine and quietly incapacitated the robotic sentry who was posted there.

The Wastoids, who were crossing the green bridge, restrained  themselves  under pressure from the other gangs and managed to quietly take out another robotic droid who was stationed on the bridge.   The Veil did the same to yet another sentry who was guarding the tower.

It was the Mischievous Misbehaviors who blew the cover.  After looting a crate for some cred saving rations to feed their entire gang, they snuck up some stairs to jump a guard on the far side of a  bridge.  They were able to club the silver sentry, but unfortunately, did it loudly enough that they were discovered and the alarm was rang.

The stealth mission was now over.  The Ratz ran for the stairs that climbed the front of the rig while the  Veil ran for two crates on the tower.  The Bears opened up on anything metal with their guns while the Misbehaviors climbed a three story building opposite the tower side of the mine.

It was the over eager Wastoids who were caught out.  Nearly their entire gang was left exposed on the green bridge when a silver droid with a heavy las rifle (same stats as a heavy stubber) who was tucked into the front room of the mining building  unloaded on the hapless ashers, knocking one down and routing  two others.

The Wastoids retuned fire but struggled to take down the metal militiamen.

A loud explosion rocked the power tower when a Veiler opened a crate only to find it contained very old and very unstable explosives.  The new Pale boy, who was recently recruited from the gang’s settlement went out as the first casualty.

The cover was now blown and the fight was in full force   This ruckus was loud enough to bring in mechanical reinforcements who were out patrolling and heard the fighting.

Then there was betrayal.  

One of the Misbehaviors ran out onto the green bridge where the Wastoids were advancing.   A loud zap was heard and the little dude dropped to the ground.  A Wastoid stood only a few paces away, recharging his Las pistol which he had just fired at the green ganger.

The shockingly brazen move so demoralized the little green men, that they never did recover.  The untimely reinforcements led by a large mechanical menace known as the Commander, plowed into another pair of MM’s.  The Misbehaviors bottled out.

Meanwhile, the Ratz battled their way up the front stairs but were pinned down by increasingly heavy fire.  The heavy las gun zapped away, not wounding, but pinning several Ratz.

The Wastoids gained the platform containing the mining building and looted a crate before heavy fire and good judgement had them bottling.

On the tower, the Veil looted a large crate, were harassed by one of the now infamous phase birds of Maple Mill, and readied for a push on the mining building.   The Bears exchanged fire with more mechanical foot guard and were progressing.  

Then the Admiral returned and he was not happy (I think?  Are mechanical flying spheres ever happy?)

Moving fast and flailing dangerous metal appendages, the Admiral quickly bore down on the tower invaders.

The Pale Veil and Waste-Side Bears acknowledged the crumbling situation that losing two gangs and gaining ever increasing numbers of angry bots had caused.  They, along with the Ratz pulled back with what they had managed to loot.  The Bears left empty handed.

The raid, overall was a success for most of the gangs.  At the cost of a dead Misbehavior-the betrayed little dude survived- the five gangs had gained some valuable loot and an appreciation of the inventing skills of the Madman of Maple Mill. 

.

King of the Giant, Very Large Hive Pile ,

      Iazra is an orphan.  She doesn’t even have a last name.   Iazra is also a Bottle Wyrd. This is a rare class of Wyrd who uses something like Warp energy to create potions that can act as psychic abilities. Iazra has the rare gift of innate potion making and was trained for a while by a Master Chemist until that Bottle Wyrd was killed by outlanders.  Now Iazra doesn’t know what to do.  She has set up a small camp atop an isolated tower within the lower reaches of Emperor’s Getaway, where she works on her potion making undisturbed and alone; just how she likes it.  That is about to change as six rowdy bands of Juves are about to brawl at her doorstep.

Game Notes-Two things that drive scenario creation are scenery and random miniatures that the Hive Master (dungeon master?) likes to shoehorn into campaigns because they are interesting to paint (see-duck with grenade in mouth.)

This scenario has both!  As mentioned previously the scenery fanatic showed up with a beast of a terrain piece, and the Hive Master picked up a random model who looks like they brew portions.  Voila! A new class.

The scenario is simple.  Take the tower and be the last to survive.  Bottling for gangs stands at 50% losses for this scenario. -End of Game Note.

   The six gangs; the Wastoids,  Waste-Side Bears, the Shrouded Path, the Pale Veil, the Mischievous Misbehaviors, and the Slag Ratz, with a z for maximum douchyness (that’s only the second longest name in campaign history-or maybe the second half of the sentence isn’t part of the name. oh well) always 

seem to always show up at the same time in the same place. 

The tower loomed tall over the small gunners, who approached from different sides, and who implemented different strategies

.

The Mischievous Misbehaviors used speed, figuring it was better to gain a foothold and hang on to any gains they might make.   

The Shrouded Path were more cautious after their recent drubbing and hung back. 

This didn’t stop them from dropping a Misbehavior with a lucky auto pistol shot. 

The Wastoids and Slag Ratz With a Z for…oh never mind, seemed awfully chummy as they advanced for the same stairs that the Misbehaviors were trying to climb.   Whispering and plotting, always prevalent in Hive Decastus, was on full display as the Wastoids shot over the heads of the Ratz and knocked down, but didn’t injure a little green Misbehavior.

The Pale Vail were cautious after losing three dead in the last go around. They slowly crawled forward while hiding and covering with overwatch. 

  The Wastoids did what they always do.  They advanced quickly shooting as they went.  They knocked down a Kroot and shot at, but missed a Wastoid.

Slow and cautious or speedy assault.   Both! Neither!  How about betrayal and brawling?

The Slag Ratz, who tested both the Misbehaviors and Shrouded Path with minimal success, suddenly piled into the Wastoids. Axes and clubs smacked the Wastoids, who after initially being surprised, struck back with knives and pistols. 

The Wastoids had an ace up their sleeve (well, two if you count the dice rolls of the Ratz.). Mr Blue was emerging as a force with which to be reckoned.  His two advancements were both in Weapon Skill.  The Wastoids also outnumbered the less experienced muscle boys. 

The fight was brutal.  The Misbehaviors, who were starting to lose numbers from pistol fire by the former team up, could only watch in relief.  The Shrouded Path, who were advancing towards the Ratz stopped and watched in amusement.

Two heavyweights, Mr Blue from the Wastoids, and Brizzle Grubmok of  the Slag Ratz waded into the melee.  The stabbing Wastoids were getting inside the wild swings of the Ratz’ clubs.  Ratz fell under the weight of numbers and were nearly wiped out.  One Ratz was piled on by four Wastoids and clubbed down three before finally falling injured from a shanking by the fourth.

Just like that, the Slag Ratz were out of the fight.  Their betrayal had gained them nothing, and left them battered.   The Wastoids were also weakened and voluntarily bottled before the lurking Kroot could pounce on them. 

Meanwhile, the Misbehaviors gained advantage from this pile up and climbed high into the tower. The Waste-side Bears gave chase from the opposite side of the large structure.

The cautious Veil and even more cautious Path eyed each other with suspicion, and one attempt by the Kroot to sic their hound on the rear guard of the Vail, resulted in the Pale lad flaming the barky beast.  

Up the tower climbed the four gangs.  Iazra thr Bottle Mage was shocked to see half her height pointy eared, smelly green dudes stumble up the stairs and into her encampment.  They were not hostile, but she hesitated. 

The tussle for the tower would climax in a two gang fight.  The Vail and Path stalemated each other.   The Misbehaviors waited on the roof, guns aimed at the two access points.  A Bear rushed the ladder while three others rushed the stairs.  The Bottle Wyrd hid, as auto pistol and stub hun fire traced across the roof. 

A stub gun round knocked down one charging Bear, while another green battler clubbed another.   The Mischievous Misbehaviors fought with ferocity not previously seen.  They beat back the Bears and secured the tower.   As the last five standing fighters cheered, Iazra decided it was time to make her way, so she offered her services to the strange little ankle-biters and they accepted