TTJP Episode 28-29 The 2nd and 3rd Gate to Hell

 

Casting: Tiger Team!

• Jian Wu (Two) (Christian) 16M; Our smith and all around craftsman, carries a huge sword and Master of Dragon Man Kung Fu.
• Jiao Ting (Eight) (Chris D) 16M; Reckless grappler; Black Palm
• Liang Jing Min (Five) (Randy) 16M; Noble, on the outs with family; Chinese Spear Fighting.
• Nongmin Chushi (Seven) (Rory) 16M; He talks to spirits, inquisitive and charming perhaps a wee bit too friendly to strangers. Shaman, Eagle Fist Chin Na!, Quarterstaff. Also Talker!, Artiste!, and Outdoorsman!
• Shang Yi (One) (Calvin) 16M; Natural leader and archer. Shedao
• Zhiyu Zhige (Nine) (Laurie) 16F; Sorcerer specializing in healing. Transcendent beauty and possibly descended from a fox spirit. Eagle Fist Chin Na.
• He Bohi (Eleven) 16M; Twin, grew up near the docks. Eagle Fist Chin Na, focused on striking.
• He Donghai (Twelve) 16M;, Twin, Eagle Fist Chin Na, focused on grappling.
• Ko Lanfen (Four) 16F; Solid Order devotee. Tai Chi Chuan,
• Laoshu (Three aka Mouse) 17F; Quiet and deadly with a knife. Dagger Fighting
• Meiyou Ren (Six) 16M; Affectionately called the party blending machine and close to Zhige.
• Rang Baozhai (Ten) 17F; Our bookworm and nerd. Eagle Fist Chin Na and Xiangliu's Bite (Crossbow).

Jing Man Steals the Day

After the prior episode where we picked up a bunch of Shenshou and closed a portal to hell the group goes out looking for more trouble.  This time we opt to check out the nobility and the GM had a bunch of social stuff planned. Jing Min (the only one who bought up his Sense Chi power) crits his roll and leads us directly to a 2nd portal to hell.  We quickly kill or capture the few cultists and head in to close the portal from the inside.  This one requiring blood to do so.

Zhige stayed behind with Rang to analyze the Shenshou to determine who should get what, if anything. Shang Yi tries to knock out one of the cultists (we wanted prisoners) with a bodkin arrow to the head - instantly killing him of course.  We otherwise made short work of the cultists and demons.

Players Notes: Zhige was on study detail because the player was out sick, though I was still a bit salty and disappointed that the mage was assigned to figure them out over my shaman since they are spirit artifacts (plus he has decent Empire History and Research skills, but mostly it was the niche takeover). We all had a good laugh (and fun harassing him) over Shing Yi's player not knowing what a bodkin arrow was when he picked that arrow to use. The GM is learning to plan backup plots for us shortcutting things.  A good die roll or unexpected creativity can derail a game session but its far better when the GM rolls with it than arbitrarily declaring it failed.  Let the players have their moment, through luck or ingenuity - it makes for a better story and memory than implausible, or plausible but still obvious countermoves to keep things in line with the GMs plan

The Third Gate to Hell and a Plot Revealed!

After capturing a few cultists we interrogate them. Chushi is lead interrogator since he has Talker! and his default is pretty high, plus he has Detect Lies at a good level. We learn that there are 3 gates to hell and that they likely all have been opened already. Bones, Blood, and the final Flesh.  Also the end goal is to get parts of an Orierary  that can send one to any place or time.  Also a 4th portal to heaven will open up. Details a bit fuzzy.

We head just out of town to seal the 3rd portal, cultists all gone but a dead family is in the barn with the skin all flayed off.  These demons are tougher than the rest as they are big and strong with a flaming aura. Ting opts to slam one anyhow but his new shenshou protects him. We target the joints as they are made of stone and magma and take them down without serious injury. Chushi has to have the skin peeled off his arm to close the portal.  A couple of others volunteer but he argues he has less need of the arm than anyone else in the upcoming fight and demands everyone stop arguing and get it over with before he loses his courage.  Zhige numbs his nerves and bandages him but it has to heal naturally (no magic) so he will lose the use of it for about a month.

The group rests the night away on our return. Jing Min goes to pay off his debt by dating the Bunny Prince and Chushi distracts himself making a tassel for his spear with his spirit hands.

The Final Battle?

The third session we started an hour late than the GM lost his power so even though we all got an experience point for showing up I'm not calling an episode - GM may adjust the session count anyhow though.  We made some basic plans and as far as I know the following shenshou have been handed out.

• Ting got a cestus that has some kind of protection aura.
• Jing Min has his spear.  It is the only awakened item so far and declares its unimpressed with its bearer.  So far it hasn't been dropped in a volcano though...
• Shang Yi got a bow
• Ren got a sword
• Rang and Zhige got some jewelry.

The character's dont know what the items do yet. The GM did retcon things and said Chushi can talk to the sentient ones and wake them up from their dormancy.  The nonsentient ones he cant really talk to but Spirit Empathy will help him determine their impressions of potential bearers. So he will get a chance to use spirit communication, at least in the background.

Pyramid Scheme Pyramid #4/3 Sci Fi Issue

 

Putting Science in Your Fiction

Interesting article. Its very niche in that its for scientific discoverers rather than inventions. So it is useful for survey missions, background character goals and campaigns where such development is desired. Included is advice on getting others involved, a very useful addition.

The Divine Pacific Republic of Datastan

A location that is a tiny remote island. Basically its for Cyberpunk.

More Options for Metatronic Generators

Expands on an article from Pyramid #3/46 Weird Science. Basically a way to handle powers as gadgets that have a monetary cost instead of a point cost.

Space Zombies

A colony ship with a zombie problem!

Lord Kelvin's Icebox

An Infinite Worlds setting, this one is a dying earth that is entering an Ice Age, Infinite Worlds is really an under exposed setting for world hopping that is rich in adventure possibilities. In fact it can also dovetail with Kromm's Putting Science in Your Fiction article above.

Mind Over Time

Psychic powers to manipulate time.  This is done in the format introduced in GURPS Psionic Powers and has a good breadth of abilities and a few novel ones.

Ghost Planets

Three abandoned worlds for GURPS Space.

Reign of Action

This one provides detail to adapt GURPS Action! to the Reign of Steel setting.

The Toughest Race in the Solar System

An interesting idea is the exotic race. Includes examples, suggestions, and rules for a variety of tough races in the marathon variety.

The Murrinres Portals

A weird portal or gate system between worlds or even different dimensions.  Interesting plot ideas here.

Play Stupid Games, Win Stupid Prizes

A grab bag of ideas and rule options for some rather extreme sports.

Random Thought Table: Gone But Not Forgotten

Thoughts on exploring known or misunderstood locations.

Other Reviews

Mailanka's Musings

Dungeon Fantastic

TTJP Season 1 Episode 27 Off We go to Hell!

 Casting: Tiger Team!

• Jian Wu (Two) (Christian) 16M; Our smith and all around craftsman, carries a huge sword and Master of Dragon Man Kung Fu.
• Jiao Ting (Eight) (Chris D) 16M; Reckless grappler; Black Palm
• Liang Jing Min (Five) (Randy) 16M; Noble, on the outs with family; Chinese Spear Fighting.
• Nongmin Chushi (Seven) (Rory) 16M; He talks to spirits, inquisitive and charming perhaps a wee bit too friendly to strangers. Shaman, Eagle Fist Chin Na!, Quarterstaff. Also Talker!, Artiste!, and Outdoorsman!
• Shang Yi (One) (Calvin) 16M; Natural leader and archer. Shedao
• Zhiyu Zhige (Nine) (Laurie) 16F; Sorcerer specializing in healing. Transcendent beauty and possibly descended from a fox spirit. Eagle Fist Chin Na.
• He Bohi (Eleven) 16M; Twin, grew up near the docks. Eagle Fist Chin Na, focused on striking.
• He Donghai (Twelve) 16M;, Twin, Eagle Fist Chin Na, focused on grappling.
• Ko Lanfen (Four) 16F; Solid Order devotee. Tai Chi Chuan,
• Laoshu (Three aka Mouse) 17F; Quiet and deadly with a knife. Dagger Fighting
• Meiyou Ren (Six) 16M; Affectionately called the party blending machine and close to Zhige.
• Rang Baozhai (Ten) 17F; Our bookworm and nerd. Eagle Fist Chin Na and Xiangliu's Bite (Crossbow).

To Hell and Back!

So having rested up and gathered some materials to help us we head back to the cave entrance.  The shadow prince has had his troops remove the rubble and are waiting for us. Shang Yi's player is absent so we have him anchor the portal on this side and the rest of us head in.  Once we cross we see the portal as a gaping tear in the air and surrounded by a bunch of bones with runes on them. Our three experts on Occultism and Hidden Lore (Demons) (Rang, Chushi, and Zhige) compare notes and declare that we have to find a missing skull to complete the pattern before we can destroy it. We see a stairway down and follow it to a lava filled cavern with 7 spine demons.  We quickly finish them off, Wu taking out three by himself, Ren another, and the rest ganged up on by several of the rest of us. We then search the area and find 17 sarcophagi which Chushi and Zhige open up to look inside. Wu and Jing Min watch over Chushi as he opens his with his spirit powers and he discovers a glowing spear that crackles with lightning and looks like its made of clouds. He picks it up and it screams silently into his head "You are not Worthy!"   Chushi politely points out to it that its rather rude and aks if it would prefer to be put back in the coffin and left or taken to the real world to find someone who is worthy. It grudgingly admits assent and he hands it to Jing Min who is staring at it and asks if its magical*. While Jing Min stares lovingly at it the spear tells him "Meh, you'll do" Chushi checks out the rest and before picking each up politely tells them that he is not trying to possess them but to rescue them and take them back to earth if they want. This seems to be received well and he gets nor more headaches or quick judgements as he gathers the powerful shenshou (spirit artifacts) and he wraps them in Wus cloak to carry them back. Zhige and Ren discovered a fancy sword sheath in their sarcophagus and headed back to join the rest of the group.  On the way she comes across a big door with an illusionary mural tellin the tail of the17 fallen warriors - she takes notes.

As we enter the last room we see a sword stuck in a skull floating in the air. Zhige immediately has Ren pull the sword and runs it back to the sarcophagus she found which had a skeleton with a missing head and as its placed the cavern starts to fall apart and we run to the top.  Sure enough, the skull joining the rest and the tear is closing.  We all run back home, carrying a kingdoms ransom hidden in a huge cloak.

* To be fair the GM hadn't described it yet, but too good a moment to pass up recording it.

The Heroes Return

We leave the cave and advise the Prince the portal has been closed but that their is dangerous spirit eating moss all over and he decides to bury it again. He eyes a distracted Jing Min (still entranced by that spear -sheesh get a room!) and we promise to get with him later but that we need to take some of what we found back to the order for study. On our return our new trainer seems impressed with our success and treasure, though declines to try and take it from us.  Its generally a bad idea to try and confiscate spirit artifacts as they prefer to do their own choosing.

Aftermath

The Shenshou gathered were a plot device that several had been saving up points for as we prepare for the end of our training period.  Chushi as a shaman with Medium and Spirit Empathy can sense their feelings, even i they are not sapient and will help them find someone hey deem worthy. Not sure what or how he will do that with the ones not going to the characters but looking forward to finding out.  Possibly the Order will send someone to collect any not immediately disbursed.

Pyramid Scheme Modern Action Issue

Issue 2 of the latest GURPS Kickstarter is aimed at modern day adventuring. Lets see what we have...

Into The Forbidden Zone

This article describes three real world locations that were abandoned during modern times. Its a departure from the author wo is best known for his fictional mini-settings. He briefly describes each location and has a few extra paragraphs of inspiration for running them in various genres.

The Phoenix Program

This describes the counterinsurgency portion of the Vietnam war. It is well researched and includes rules for the PC's to run their own operations.

Phoenix: Birds of Prey

This companion article describes various military units and how characters can be modeled.

Three Steampunk Monsters

Three interesting takes on old classics and suitable for most horror campaigns.

Secret Masters

This was my article and I will have some designers notes up that incudes material cut for space, primarily examples. GURPS has several conspiracy settings and solid rules for trying to uncover conspiracies, or even keep them hidden. What I felt was lacking was a simple way to actually run o be in charge of a conspiracy. This was my way to allow behind the scenes manipulation of organizations.

The Checkpoint

A very useful and fairly generic article describing a road based checkpoint and how its run. One of the more broadly useful articles as it covers temporary and permanent checkpoints with enough detail and explanation that it can be easily adapted.

The Company

A covert organization from the authors old Action! campaign this worked example of a modern day adventuring company can be dropped into most Action and Monster Hunter settings.

Derelicts on Ice

An interesting adventure exploring a ships graveyard off the coast of Greenland.

The Hunter's Reliquary II

Some items for a Monster Hunter campaign, includes the usual magical weapons but also some interesting choices for utility items.

El Rancho Fin Del Camino

An interesting location entry. This is a remote ranch house.

Highway Stars

A bunch of modern day vehicles all statted up and ready to go.

Random Thought Table: Get Paid, Heroically

Goes over the idea and troubles of making money in a modern day setting as an adventurer. Some useful material here for those not working for a regular job, and even those that are.

Other Reviews

Malianka's Musings

 

TTJP Session, Episode 26 The Shadow Prince

Casting: Tiger Team!

• Jian Wu (Two) (Christian) 16M; Our smith and all around craftsman, carries a huge sword and Master of Dragon Man Kung Fu.
• Jiao Ting (Eight) (Chris D) 16M; Reckless grappler; Black Palm
• Liang Jing Min (Five) (Randy) 16M; Noble, on the outs with family; Chinese Spear Fighting.
• Nongmin Chushi (Seven) (Rory) 16M; He talks to spirits, inquisitive and charming perhaps a wee bit too friendly to strangers. Shaman, Eagle Fist Chin Na!, Quarterstaff. Also Talker!, Artiste!, and Outdoorsman!
• Shang Yi (One) (Calvin) 16M; Natural leader and archer. Shedao
• Zhiyu Zhige (Nine) (Laurie) 16F; Sorcerer specializing in healing. Transcendent beauty and possibly decended from a fox spirit. Eagle Fist Chin Na.
• He Bohi (Eleven) 16M; Twin, grew up near the docks. Eagle Fist Chin Na, focused on striking.
• He Donghai (Twelve) 16M;, Twin, Eagle Fist Chin Na, focused on grappling.
• Ko Lanfen (Four) 16F; Solid Order devotee. Tai Chi Chuan,
• Laoshu (Three aka Mouse) 17F; Quiet and deadly with a knife. Dagger Fighting
• Meiyou Ren (Six) 16M; Affectionately called the party blending machine and close to Zhige.
• Rang Baozhai (Ten) 17F; Our bookworm and nerd. Eagle Fist Chin Na and Xiangliu's Bite (Crossbow).

We gather together after searching the complex for information and head to meet the Shadow Prince who runs this place. Chushi greets the guards who of course refuse admittance, saying the prince is busy and we need appointments. Chushi determines he means a bribe is required and passes this along to the group who debate what to do.  The head guard then points at Zhige and offers to let us pass for a few minutes with her.  Surprisingly she accepts.  They go just out of sight where she uses Pressure Points to give him a memorable experience, just not the kind he was hoping for! Barely managing to walk back he tells the others to let us pass.

Dinner and a Show

Were ushered in and it turns out Prince Ming May is a rabbit person. We briefly chat and inform him of our purpose here, finding and rooting out Black Silk cultists.  He wishes us good luck as they are a dangerous nuisance and offers dinner to talk it over. He seems besotted with Ling Min (what is with this guy and rabbits?) though Jing Min tries to remain politely disinterested. The meal goes well and we learn a bit, though most of the conversation is flirting. After awhile though the prince figures out Jing Min is not into him and changes gender intoa very beautiful female with bunny ears.  Things get much more accommodating and the aide gets some scrolls and maps for us to look over. There is a cave where a bunch of cultists have been trapped and the cave walled off but it potentially has a demon portal in it. We offer to investigate.

No Cultists Here!

Chushi explores the cave in astral form and notes the cave walls are covered in a toxic moss that extends into the spirit world. Thankfully the fresh rubble blocking the entrance is not yet contaminated and he gets in safely. All the cultists have vanished or died, but they did complete the portal and it is surrounded by bones.  Chushi memorizes the symbols all over the place and heads back out to tell the others what he found.  We send a message to Rang and the Green Seer and its determined that the portal has to be closed as quickly as possible but that it has to be closed from the other side. We head back to get some gear and rest up.  Pai Mei is informed by Zhige using a messenger spell and he agrees it must be done but that she is not to die, hes put too much work into her - oh and save the cook too. Thanks Pai Mei! I knew you loved my cooking! 

Pyramid Scheme: Fantasy Issue

 So the kickstarter is out and at this point most backers have their copies of the three issues. This is my review f the Fantasy issue.

Other reviews are listed here. Mailanka and Dungeon Fantastic

Toxic Grimoire

This introduces the Poison college for GURPS Magic with 40 spells, most of them new to this issue and a handful of existing spells from other colleges. There are some really neat and innovative spells here and if your a fan of GURPS Magic this is a very nice addition.

Utatsumi

This is ideas for poem magic and is heavily influenced by Japanese lore. It discusses the metaphysics behind poem magic and some specifics for Japanese culture and how it could influence these mages. It is not a new magic system but provides ideas for working with GURPS Magic, Sorcery, and Ritual Path Magic.

The Demonic Temple of Felltower

This is a Dungeon Fantasy adventure. I wont go into details as that would be a spoiler.

Healing and Purification Ritual Path Magic

A collection of premade spells for the Ritual Path Magic system. One of the reviewers wondered what is the point of building spells for a flexible magic system. The thing is that while anyone could come up with these spells that doesn't mean they would. Christopher Rice made several spells nd they are playtested (I'm in a campaign that used them) so they have had a chance to observe and address any unforseen consequences. Also just as with spells as powers someone else building them saves the reader time and may be done in a way that reader would not have thought of.  The Succor spells in this issue for example are done in a way I would not have thought of.

Fraxinetum

A historical location in southeastern France in the late ninth century. Like all of Matt Riggsby's stuff it is well written and researched.

Basically the story is a small band (reportedly) took over a castle almost by accident. Very useful fodder for adventurers doing the same in your campaign!

Tactical Looting

This is ideas for a dungeon run on the clock.  Resource management is essential to much adventuring, yet many dungeons let you rest between fights and bypass that problem. Kromm gives lots of advice for these speed runs and even if your not into that the "How Long Does it Take" section gives handy times for certain common delving activities.

Stilpnotita, the City of Lamps

This is a city on the elemental plane of earth and its an interesting base for adventurers. Basically a settlement in a large cavern lit by lots of lamps, from whence it gets its name. It is in my opinion really well thought out and has some useful ideas.

Supernatural Energy

This is my article so I'll refrain from offering an opinion and just say what its about. It is two sections, the frst takes a fresh look at Magery and imagines how it could have been built if it were designed for GURPS Fourth Edition from the ground up instead of being relatively unchanged from the original GURPS.  Also looks at how to make Magery work better for powers based magic such as Sorcery.  The latter is mainly ways for mages to cooperate with each other and duplicate feats possible in various magic systems. The second portion focuses on tapping external energy such as ley lines, fires, storms, etc. I was inspired by psychic vampires and shows such as Lost Girl so tapping emotions are also referenced. I use a lot of this material in my Chalice World setting, for Sorcery and Vampires.

Pandemonium

An alternate earth setting where the landscape is littered with demons, both petty and powerful. A lot of reference to GURPS Infinite Worlds but really it can be used as a standalone setting concept or inspiration. I found it interesting, though obviously incomplete due to space limitations.  Maybe it will get its own supplement.

Fusion Alchemy

Christopher Rice keeps adding to and tweaking his Metatronic generator rules and this time its adapted for alchemy.  Good article and can be ported into other genres as tech or supers based drugs.

The Cube

An interesting puzzle room. Basically its a cube that rolls around inside a larger cube and you have to maneuver it next to a wall in the right position for a door to match up.

Random Thought Table (Lack of Speed Kills)

This is some really good GM advice for helping keep the game moving along.  Probably worth the price of the issue all by itself as odds are you have run or played in campaigns where this would have been helpful.

Overall I loved this issue and can't wait to see more feedback on it and the others.  If things go well this may be an annual thing.  I will point out as an author on the project, we had specific guidelines on how long each article had to be.  Several articles would have merited much more space, while some were a concise and natural fit at the targeted word count. With good feedback on the SJG forums and purchase of issues when they eventually go on sale for those who missed the kickstarter we may see some of these get more detail.

TTJP Season 1 Episode 25 The Bait

 

Casting: Tiger Team!

• Jian Wu (Two) (Christian) 16M; Our smith and all around craftsman, carries a huge sword and Master of Dragon Man Kung Fu.
• Jiao Ting (Eight) (Chris D) 16M; Reckless grappler; Black Palm
• Liang Jing Min (Five) (Randy) 16M; Noble, on the outs with family; Chinese Spear Fighting.
• Nongmin Chushi (Seven) (Rory) 16M; He talks to spirits, inquisitive and charming perhaps a wee bit too friendly to strangers. Shaman, Eagle Fist Chin Na!, Quarterstaff. Also Talker!, Artiste!, and Outdoorsman!
• Shang Yi (One) (Calvin) 16M; Natural leader and archer. Shedao
• Zhiyu Zhige (Nine) (Laurie) 16F; Sorcerer specializing in healing. Eagle Fist Chin Na.
• He Bohi (Eleven) 16M; Twin, grew up near the docks. Eagle Fist Chin Na, focused on striking.
• He Donghai (Twelve) 16M;, Twin, Eagle Fist Chin Na, focused on grappling.
• Ko Lanfen (Four) 16F; Solid Order devotee. Tai Chi Chuan,
• Laoshu (Three aka Mouse) 17F; Quiet and deadly with a knife. Dagger Fighting
• Meiyou Ren (Six) 16M; Affectionately called the party blending machine and close to Zhige.
• Rang Baozhai (Ten) 17F; Our bookworm and nerd. Eagle Fist Chin Na and Xiangliu's Bite (Crossbow).

The Assignment

So after our night out were assembled and told to go out and find some insurrectionists and cultists.  We are handed boxes of paperwork with possible leads and reports but its all unorganized.  Rang cant decide whether to cry or get mad and the team helps her sort things into piles. Chushi, Shang Yi, and Zhige use their skills and abilities to broadly categorize things while Rang more carefully sorts it all out. Shang Yi and Rang then put the results to the group and we decide to explore the cities underground culture.

The other two buckets were the Guilds and the Nobility and we decide to wait on them till we have more practice and information. But we think going into underground complexes and dealing with seedy types is something we can manage. So we head out and go to a large cavern that is a black market.

The black market turns out to be a well lit cavern with merchant stalls of all types. After walking around a bit we find a sapient rabbit. Chushi hugs it and pets it then tries to hand it to Jing Min who it seems oddly attracted to but he hurriedly declines.

• Zhige heads over to swap secrets with some foxes.
• Chushi  having gained some info from the rabbit follows his nose to the food stalls. He makes a few minor purchases but mostly uses the opportunity to schmooze with fellow food connisoiurs and get some general information on the place.  He finds out that the group should talk to the Shadow Prince who runs the place.
• Jing Min browses some enchanted weapons, though he is just window shopping as were all too poor to afford anything like that.
• A few peoplecheck the pulse of things and find that generally people here hate the Nobility and Guilds but think the Order is mostly ok and looking out for them.

We pretty much end things there, it was a short night as some people werent feeling good and having internet problems.  Also the GM had not known the groups direction till we made some choices. Not had a game for a few weeks since but hopefully this week that changes.

Bait?

A bit about this. The Order has decided that as newcomers were all very expendable and have good reports that were pretty tough in a fight and overall capable.  So its been decided to have a trial by fire and use us as bait or a stalking horse.  We go out and find the bad guys and either take care of them or we get killed but reveal them in the process allowing senior members to take them out.