Blood Drive

Date: 5/9/24 - 10/24/24

Players: Matt, Dan, Bob, Andy, Mat Jr

Characters: Big Jim Taylor (Brawny Cowboy, Matt), , Chad (Cowboy, Dan) , Sam Colton (Bob, fast draw performer)

Retired: Morris (Andy, survivalist, haunted by dead brother -- killed by Diablo Bull), Willie (Cook, Matt Jr, Real Life), John Kerr (Andy, Cowboy, son of lawman, killed in the battle of Gault's canyon), Doc Caravan and his dog Caleb (Doctor, Bob, arrested by Pinkertons in Denver), Burt Gills (Bob, loudmouth jackass cowhand, killed by plague vampires in the Sioux Nation)

The players join a cattle drive for the Lazy S ranch going from Sutter's Flat, TX to Roswell, New Mexico. The local rail company, Bayou Vermillion, is charging monopoly prices so the usual method of selling the cattle to the railroad just don't pay enough.

NPCs

Bill Sutter: Owner of the Lazy S. Stubborn, tough but fair.

Luke Canton: The cowhand foreman. A big, no nonsense cowboy. Little patience for greenhorns.

Abigail Morton: Bill's niece that has come to live with him for unknown reasons (we know her mother has died).

The Cowhands (living): Eli Chavez, Pomeroy, Red Orson, Connor Vega, Grant Delgado (wanted to leave drive but convinced to stay by Doc, whiner), Lance Ramirez, Diego Hernandez, Nate Morales, Owen Navarro

The Cowhands (dead): Dan Sellers (giant tranatula), Matty Perez, Wyatt Morgan, Jesse Boon (killed in Beau Vermillion Attack), Owen Navarro (blamed Doc for Dan's death)

Episodes

5/9/24: The players join the ranch for one reason or another and set about doing ranch chores. Doc Caravan stumbles into a nest of tarantulas - two cowhands end up dying and Doc barely escapes with his life. Big Jim tries valiantly to break the nefarious Devil Eyes but isn't able to succeed before the drive heads out. The PCs meet Batholomew Phelps, the railroad agent who makes ominous threats about not selling.

5/16/24: After Phelps threat, Bruce is eager to get out of Sutter's Landing and get the drive going. Abigail and the PCs are sent into town to gather supplies last second supplies. They run into Phelps and is men in town where a bloody fight ensues. Willie nearly dies, Phelps men are dispatched, but an injured Phelps manages to escape. The drive gets under way with the GMs punishing mini-game for a cattle drive leaves much of the crew fatigued.

5/23/24: 3 days out, Phelps catches up to the drive with another group of Bayou Vermillion thugs aided by a team of Walkin' Dead and the indian To'sarre. A massive, long, middle of the night fight rages for many, many rounds. In the end the PCs are victorious, cowhands Jesse, Matty, and Wyatt perish, To'sarre shapechanges to escape, and the GM realizes he needs to streamline mass battles like this in the future.

5/30/24: The drive continues. The new drive min-game is not as brutal. Big Jim is jumped by To'Sarre in coyote form but is driven off. A trip through the Texas badlands leaves many cowhands fatigued with thirst. Eventually they come to an abanonded farm with a well. The PCs are sent to investigate the farmhouse where they fight a ghoul and young farm girl that turns out to be a ghost! Big Jim Taylor is incapacitated and Chad and Doc injured. The session ends mid-battle with the ghost.

6/6/24: John Kerr arrives just in time to help put down the ghost. The cattle drive reaches Roswell. Bill Sutter goes off to talk to the army about selling the cattle while the others stay behind. A strange streak of fire lights up the next sky and starts a grass fire that the PCs have to move the cattle out of the way of. Investigating the strange site, they come across a dead man with a rocket pack in an army uniform. The army cavalry arrives taking the PCs, and Bill back at the base, into custody.

6/13/24: Chad hands over the documents found on the rocket man and after some tense questioning, they are released. John Kerr beats up a soldier and steals a uniform to make a daring resuce, but it's not needed. Foiled at Roswell, Bruce makes the decision to continue the drive all the way to Denver. To secure the PCs continued help, he offers them 10% of the eventual sale of the cattle. The drive takes the Trincheros pass, in dangerous Black Mesa indian territory, and sure enough the danger arrives. To'sarre, joined by his Black Mesa brothers, attacks in the middle of the night.

6/20/24: This time, the fight goes better for the PCs with Owen the only cowhand to fall. To'sarre though again changes into a crow to escape.

7/11/24: At a burned out farmhouse, they learn about a local bandit gang led by a man named Colonel Gault. Sent to the small town of Dogleg for supplies, things go sideways when the corrupt Marshal mistakes John Kerr for his lawman father and assumes Kerr is there to arrest him. Bullets fly but the Marshal and his deputies are defeated. The PCs learn that the Marshal was part of Gault's gang and that Gault has eyes on the cattle. While desperate to rest and recuperate, the PCs hurry out of Dogleg hoping to get back to the drive before Gault attacks.

7/25/24: Gault and his men attack the cattle drive as the other PCs arrive from Dogleg. Greatly outmanned, the only choice is to hope to flee Gault and his men to fight another day. John Kerr, Doc, and Chad as well as a good portion of the cowhands are captured. The rest of the PCs travel to the town of Exposition where they recruit gunmen from the Black River railroad company. They follow they Gault's obvious trail and arrive at a box canyon.

The free PCs and cowhands, climb the rocky bluff in preparation to take out some guards. John and Chad meanwhile have managed to escape their bonds and are waiting for the right moment. As they're served dinner, the bad guys realize they have gotten free. Gunfire ensues. The freed PCs take out the guards and begin firing on the camp. John and Chad fight back, but unarmed in a gunfight doesn't go well. John Kerr dies and Chad is incapacitated.

8/1/24 - 8/8/24: The gunfight with Gault and his men continues. Maurice, the camp cook/slave, sees this as his time to escape and helps our PCs. It's a long, difficult battle but in the end the PCs are victorious. John Kerr dies along with cowhands Diego Hernandez, Nate Morales, Pomeroy, and Red Orson. Sadly, Caleb the dog perishes as well attempting to rescue his owner.

8/15/24: The party gathers themselves after the deaths of Gault's Canyon. They hire new cowhands in Dogs Leg and Exposition to replace the folks they've lost. Pushing on they arrive in Denver. Cowhand Grant Delagado kills fellow cowhand Lance Ramirez and sneaks off to Denver to alert the Pinkertons that a wanted fugitive - Doc Caravan - is traveling with the Lazy S crew. The Pinkertons shows up the next morning, and Doc turns himself in, telling the others not to fight for him.

8/22/24: Leaving a resigned Doc behind, the drive leaves Denver. Loudmouth asshole Burt Gills is hired on as a cowhand. The party runs into a Helstromme agent wondering about the events in Roswell. They convince him they had no part in it. A cowhand in the group is secretly a Union soldier with accomplices shadowing the cattle drive. When they attempt to abduct Morris for questioning, things go a bit sideways. A couple soldiers are killed before calmer heads prevail.

9/5/24: The party is intercepted by a group of Sioux that herd the party into an old abandoned Union fort. There they meet a wagon train herded there as well and learn that a case of smallpox has effected some of them. After a tense meeting with the Sioux, they learn an "evil spirit" is in the land and they will only be allowed to leave once it is dealt with. Reluctantly, the PCs enter the fort to find out what is going on. One of the caravan, Father Mercer, is a disciple of Grimm and appears to be hiding something in his wagon. Burt taunts him with blaphemy until he ends up attacking the party. They subdue him.

9/12/24: The PCs find a scary artifact in Father Mercer's wagon and destory it. Thinking, hey taunting worked before!, they taunt the elderly Crane couple. Zeke is killed in the process, but the battle ends there. That night the Cranes, who are secretly plague vampires as suspected by the players, take their revenge. The Cranes kill Burt and are close to killing Morris and Big Jim, when the Sioux ride in and save their bacon.

9/19/24: Leaving the Sioux Nation behind, the cattle drive heads into the narrow Wind River Canyon, the last stage before arriving in Wyoming. Halfway through, they are set upon by a group of hungry Devil Bats. The PCs survive, but a large number of cowhands are carried off into the night by the horrific creatures.

Mourning but pressing on, the sounds of sustained gunfire come from the direction they are headed. The PCs scout ahead to find a detachment of Iron Dragon on one side of the canyon locked in battle with a group of Wasatch Rails on the other side. They dodge stray gunfire as they scout the camp. Their investigation reveals that the combatants are all actually ghosts! They are trapped here to repeat the battle from three years ago. The PCs put two and two together and realize that they are fighting for control of the railroad trestle bridge spanning the canyon. Finding some sweating dynamite, they think if they destroy the bridge it might end the battle and allow the drove to continue.

9/26/24: They lower Morris down on a road to start planting the dynamite when a congealed mass of dead bodies rises from the swift moving water. Chad has his second fear-induced heart attack and collapses on the trestle. Morris hastily starts climbing back up only to have a board break in his hand and send him tumbling back into the river. Sam and Morris battle the unholy creature while Big Jim tries desperately and unsuccessfully (no healing skill) to save Chad. At the last second Sam comes to help, Chad is saved, and the creature is eventually put down.

They leave the Wind River Canyon behind and arrive in Wyoming ready to end this drive at the ranch of Bill's brother. As has become the norm for this trip, the light at the end of the tunnel proves elusive. They find a barely started a big house, a bunk house that has been burned to the ground, and signs of a battle but no survivors. Going into Dirtwater, the only nearby town, they receive a distinctly chilly reception but don't learn much.

10/3/24: The drovers get to work fixing up what little was started of the ranch when they are greeted by Randolph Logan, owner of the nearby Northern Star ranch. He asserts that without the deed, they are merely squatters on this land and trouble comes to squatters. Morris has an insight and realizes that the "Grant Deeds" in the cemetery might not actually be a burial. Sure enough, it's the missing paperwork. They take it into town to file the deed but run into Randolph and his men. The poor county clerk is caught between the two groups. A gun fight breaks out with the end result of the sheriff being nearly killed, Logan being run off, and the clerk finally agreeing to file the deed.

10/10/24: Life continues on the ranch. Strange metallic wolves attack some cattle, rustlers attempt to cut down the fencing, a sniper takes pot shots at those fixing the fencing, and their old nemesis - To'sarre - reappears much the worse for wear. The PCs lay the blame for most of those troubles on Logan and are itching to put an end to this man messing with the ranch.

10/17/24: The Chinese New Year celebration is just the distraction they need to strike back at Randolph Logan. Big Jim convinces the Iron Dragon performers to include him in the dancing dragon. As it makes its way down main street, Jim suddenly throws it off and opens fire on the celebrating Logan. A wild fight ensues but in the end Logan and some of his hired goons are gunned down. Morris discovers his sister, Clorus, working for Logan. An errant shot from Big Jim nearly kills her, but she's saved in the end.

With Logan dead, the PCs go to the North Star ranch to see what's what. They meet Barnabas Morley, a scientist working for Logan, who has now taken over the ranch. He's willing to leave the Lazy S crew alone if they agree to leave him and his ranch alone as well. An uneasy truce seems to be at hand. The Lazy S though encounters a strange infected bull though a couple nights later. Suspecting Morley might be the source of this, they return to the North Star looking for an explanation. Morley isn't in the explaining mood though and orders his men to open fire on these troublesome neighbors.

10/24/24: Bullets start flying at the North Star. Chad and Sam hold down the outside while Morris and Big Jim make their way into the ranch house in pursuit of Morley. The PCs seem to have the upper hand until Morley activates a device and a huge, undead, diablo bull comes running out of the barn. It crashes through the kitchen, Morris panics, and as he runs away the beast gores him to death. Jim realizes that the device Morley carries may be key so he risks running away from the bull to get it. The bull is having none of that and tramples Big Jim.

Sam is in a shoot-out with the sniper out front. Chad runs in the front door, sees the carnage and the bull, and promptly turns around closing the door. The bull pursues, breaking through walls and doors, but runs past the hiding Chad. Chad runs inside, tackles Morley, and breaks the device. Sam drops the sniper and attempts to climb a tree to escape the bull - critical fail. The bull gores Sam. Chad intimidates Morley into telling him how to kill the bull - by destroying the control box on it's head. Chad sneaks back to the front door and gets off a shot before the bull realizes he's there - killing the beast instantly.

Morris has died, but Sam and Big Jim manage to survive. They return to the Lazy S where they build out their ranch, make peace with the citizens of Dirtwater, and ally with the Iron Dragon to continue their rail line. All is good - other than To'sarre still being out there somewhere and holding a hatred for Big Jim and the others.

House Rules

Persuasion

Let's think of Persuasion more like an Empathy skill. Use this to influence people whether through persuasion or bluffing, read other people, know when you're being lied to (rather than Notice), know who's a harrowed/charmed/spirit.

Cover

The Cover mechanic is just a mess of the game bogging down while the GM and Players make random decisions. To whit:

That cactus you hide behind - Is it light, medium or heavy cover? Who knows.
That rock on the battle map - Is that just hard ground? A small boulder I can crouch behind? A massive boulder giving total cover?
And what if the lazy GM doesn't have a map and is instead going more theater of the mind? Is there cover? Can I reach it? No way to know.
The whole nonsense of "hide behind cover, pop out, take a shot, duck back into full cover, enemy has to ready and try to interrupt".

So I propose the following:

Generic Cover: There's cover available and we assume all targets have cover. Exceptions abound of course (you get ambushed walking down the street, you're surrounded, the Marshal is a dick, ghost bullets, other common sense things, etc.)

Cover Bonuses: When you're in cover, at the start of your turn you get to decide how good that cover is as a free action. Do you stick your fool head out there? Are you ducking down real good? Are you a yellow-bellied pansy who's made himself as small as possible? Great, your call! While you get a bonus to being hit, you also take a penalty trying to do things that involves the cover (it gets in your way, you don't have a good view, you miss an opportunity hiding behind that barrel ya coward). (And when we say modifiers to actions, we mean only when the cover hampers you (shooting , notice check, powers)). The modifiers are:

Light: +2 cover, no penalties to actions
Medium: +4, -2 to actions
Heavy: +6, -4 to actions
Total: +8, -6 to actions

Movement: You can move up to your Pace-3 and maintain cover. If you move more than that, you have to take the Taking Cover action.

Taking Cover / Flank Them: Either you have no cover or you've decided to leave your perfectly cover for no good darn reason. Make a free action Athletics roll (or as an Action for a +2 to the roll) with MAP penalties:

Critical Failure: You fail to get to cover, you'll have to take this action again next round.
Failure: You don't quite make it to cover. You're in the open until the start of your next turn and then you're in cover. Hope you don't get shot!
Success: You made it to cover.
Flanking: If you have cover, that cover is roughly in the 180 degrees you want it to be (generally facing forward we'd assume). If someone gets beside you or behind on the battlemap, then you've lost cover to that person.

Cover but still get Damaged: Just a reminder that a shot that misses due to cover but that would hit otherwise, still gets to roll damage. You just get to add the toughness of your cover to your toughness when applying damage.

BONUS OBSTACLE

+2 Heavy glass, thick leather, drywall, wooden shield, aluminum car door

+4 Sheet metal, steel car door

+6 Oak door, cinder block wall

+8 Brick wall

+10 Stone wall, bulletproof glass, tree

Other People, Horses, etc: They take the full damage instead of you

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