Seclusion: An Alien Solo RPG Campaign. Act 2, Part 2: No One Can Hear You Scream
Welcome back from our short break! I hope you are all well-rested and relaxed after a couple weeks off. I still may be a bit erratic with my posting until February. But I wanted to get this Alien playthrough posted.
We are heading right back into the pointy end of the campaign and we've crossed the halfway mark. Will Eugene regain control of the ship? Will he be able to stop Conrad? Will he get his bonus? We will have to play to find out!
In the last part, the crew of the Bison found out that Company Agent Conrad has been purposely infecting the crew, leading to the Captain's death. Eugene, Kay, and Casper confronted Conrad but were unable to get to him through the quarantine door. Eugene then decided to check on Juno the medic and the Captain's body to ensure things are alright.
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Scene 5 - Roll: 2 Stress dice - TWO Panics. Alright readers, here we go.
Eugene turns the corner into the medical bay where the door lay wide open. He knows it is against ship protocol to have an internal door open for any reason, other than transiting the room.
Immediately his hands drop to his holster and he finds the familiar shape of his service pistol. He is glad he strapped it to the side of his compression suit.
Inching slowly into the medical bay, Eugene peaks around the corner. He sees furniture and medical instruments flung around as if there was a fight here.
Roll Observation (1) - Wits (4) - Stress (4) - No Success, Panic
Panic Roll - Current Stress is 4 + 1 (on a D6) = 5. Keeping it Together. You manage to keep your nerves in check. Barely.
I think Eugene panics because he spots something, or doesn’t spot something he expected. Does Eugene see something? Oracle says No, But. No, he doesn’t see anything because everyone is gone from this room.
Looking around the corner, Eugene sees nobody in the medical bay. Juno isn’t there, but that isn’t what has Eugene’s heart racing. The Captain is gone also. He was dead, Eugene saw his lifeless body with his own eyes. Did Juno take him somewhere? No way would he do anything like that without calling it in first.
“Muther, this is Acting Captain Eugene. Please locate Juno and the Captain’s body, ASAP.”
“I am sorry First Officer Eugene, I cannot help you as Acting Captain Conrad has requested all Bison crew members be locked out of the systems. Please request Acting Captain Conrad remove your restrictions. Thank you, Eugene.”
Eugene swears out loud and curses Conrad for his traitorous actions. No, he isn’t a traitor, he’s a goddamn greedy company man, only out looking for a buck. He never gave a shit about the crew and their safety.
Scene 6 - Roll: 2 Stress dice - One Panics.
The passages fly past as Eugene sprints to the bridge. Maybe if he can get into Muther’s mainframe he can hack himself back into control. There is little other hope at the moment, all other avenues seem to be cut off.
He gets to the bridge and strips off his compression suit, which isn’t useful inside the ship, and locks the bridge door. Eugene also takes out a picture of his family back home. They are laughing and look happy. How long has it been in real-time since he saw him last, he thinks. Probably 6 or 7 years. It doesn’t matter, just looking at them calms him down (-1 stress and -1 stress for resting in a safe place).
After taking a breather and calming down, Eugene walks through the bridge with his pistol out. Everything seems quiet but he has a bad feeling about it all.
Roll Observation (1) - Wits (4) - Stress (2) - 3 Success, No Panic
With the extra success, I get to ask a couple of questions of the GM (Which is me, of course).
Question 1: Is it coming for me? A D6 will say. A 4, that is a Yes, But. Yes, something is coming for Eugene but it's stuck or can’t attack right away.
Question 2: Are there more of them? A D6. A 4 again, that is a Yes, But. Yes, but the other one isn’t as deadly yet. Oh boy, let’s see how this plays out.
Hearing an odd sound, Eugene turns and looks into the most horrifying thing he has ever seen. He is looking into the face of the Captain, but it isn’t the Captain. Or it was once the Captain. Black veins cover his face and exposed skin. Its mouth is locked into an unholy grimace and its hands are balled up into fists.
This triggers a panic in Eugene, as he has never seen anything like this.
Panic Roll - Current Stress is 2 + 2 (on a D6) = 4. Keeping it Together. You manage to keep your nerves in check. Barely.
Starting to freak out, Eugene takes a step back, “Captain, you are alive? Hey, you gotta stop this freaky face shit. Let’s get you back to the med-bay and get you looked at.”
The thing that was the Captain keeps moving forward at a distracted shuffle. Eugene hears June the medic shout, “It’s no use! He won’t listen. He attacked me and I’m not feeling too good either Eugene.” Eugene spots Juno’s crumpled-up body laying behind the Captain.
Eugene pulls out his service pistol. If the Captain won’t stop, he’s going to have to stop him.
 |
| The Captain. Dead but still alive. |
Ok, let’s create some stats for the Captain. It’s similar to a creature called a Revenant in the Chariot of the God’s scenario, so we will use that.
Dead Captain - Speed 1, Health 6, Skills: Mobility 1, Observation 3, Armor Rating 2 - Poor Movement speed
Ok, let’s draw some initiative cards. Eugene drew a 10 and the Captain a 3. That means the captain goes first.
Shuffling forward, the Captain moves directly at Eugene. Although it seems it is awkward on its feet and cannot reach Eugene in one stride.
Eugene aims his pistol at the Captain, with tears streaming down his face, and whispers “I’m sorry Captain.” And pulls the trigger.
Roll Agility (3) - Ranged Combat (3) Pistol (2) Aiming (2) - Stress (2) - 2 Success
1 Damage, Use the extra success to reposition Eugene and take other’s Initiative
Armor roll for The Captain - 1 Success, damage is blocked.
The bullet slams into the chest of the Captain, where his heart should be. But the Captain doesn’t stop or even slow down. Eugene aims again and fires.
Roll Agility (3) - Ranged Combat (3) Pistol (2) Aiming (2) - Stress (2) - 1 Success
1 Damage - Armour roll for The Captain - 1 Success, the damage is blocked. Having some really bad rolls here…
Another bullet hits the Captain, and a thick black liquid starts leaking from the wound. The Captain speeds up now and…
Random Attack - Horrible Roar
The Captain unleashes an inhuman scream that splits Eugene’s ears. He has never heard anything resembling that sound. Eugene knows right away it will haunt him for the rest of his life, no matter how long or short.
Eugene (+1 stress) must make a Panic Roll. Current Stress is 3 + 5 (on a D6) = 8
TREMBLE. You start to tremble uncontrollably. All skill rolls using AGILITY suffer a –2 modification until your panic stops.
Eugene starts to shake. It’s all too much. Bullets aren’t doing anything, Eugene knows he’s got to get out of the bridge before that thing rips him apart. He turns and runs.
Roll Agility (3-2) - Mobility (1) - Stress (3) - Panic!
Panic Roll - Current Stress 3+5 (on a D6) = 8 Tremble again.
But his feet don’t work. He is just looking into the face of the Captain, who stumbles closer and closer, hands clenched in tight fists. So tight Eugene can see the skin on the knuckles has broken and bone is showing.
Random Attack from the Captian - Pounce (this is a two-part attack. A leap and then if it hits, the Captain will pound the target)
The Captain stops stumbling, and quicker than Eugene thought possible, jumps at him.
Damage - 6 Base Dice - 1 Success - 1 Damage. (Eugene down to 1 health)
Knocking Eugene to the ground, the Captain stands above him, fists raised. He brings them down with all the might of his unnatural form.
Damage - 6 Base Dice - 6 Success - 4 Damage
Rolling on the critical injury table. Busted Kidney - Can’t run, only crawl, Mobility -2
Fists slam into Eugene, on his chest, and his back. Pain shoots through his back and side. He’s never felt anything like that before. As his vision goes black he sees someone else come into the bridge. Then he feels the heat from a fire. It reminds him of being back home, with his family. Everything goes black…
—
Well, Eugene is done. Maybe not dead but he won’t be able to continue the adventure in his current state. So far we’ve lost 2 crew members to whatever this is, and now Eugene is out of commission. Next Act, I’ll pick one of the two remaining crew members to play (not Conrad, he’s an asshole). And continue Seclusion…
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