Masters of Carcosa - Session 23

And so we come to the end. Did I know this would be the last session of the campaign? Hard to tell, but I posted about it going on hiatus shortly afterwards. This session ended up being a fitting conclusion for the campaign. Gus and Eric were both in attendance. We ended on real cliffhanger. The whole campaign had been building towards this moment: the party decided to attack the Jale Slaves based.

I had shared a dispatch from Space Alien Strike Force after the previous session, a couple weeks before we played, which might have nudged them towards this showdown.

The session ended with a giant mass battle, which I was once again unsure how to play out. I know I was tracking how many rounds it took to win the fight, and that would tie into casualties and other post-fight shenanigans. Maybe I have notes on G+ somewhere. Oh wait.

My map of the slaver’s base is incomplete, which is pretty funny since it was obvious early on that this was the one thread the party was most interested in pursuing. As it stands, my not finishing things worked out alright in this case.

Masters of Carcosa is the longest campaign I have run. 23 sessions, starting at the end of 2014, ending near the start of 2016. Sharing all these old play reports has been a lot of fun. I haven’t thought about this campaign in some time. Revisiting it now, all these years later, has me wanting to play Carcosa once again. It really is the fucking best.

Players:

• Gus: Normangina, Yellow Woman Fighter
• Eric Boyd: Orange Julia - Orange Women Fighter
• Dion: Asha-Rea, Ulfire Women Fighter

Dispatches from the Space Alien Strike Force

• All troop movement occurs via the large “front” door. The aliens suspect there must be at least one other exit, unless the slavers are idiots.
• 12 raptor riding guards always patrol the exterior of the slaver base. They think there are at least 18 raptors, based on how the guards rotate in and out of their shifts. They think they can get better intel with more time.
• 16 Jale Slavers took a group of 28 slaves North East. There are currently 13 slaves that remain chained outside.
• There have spotted one person that they suspect might be the leader. Unlike the rest of the slavers he was shirtless and wearing a large lizard’s head as a helmet.
• There has been too little troop movement for them to guess at troop size. They think there must be at least 60 slavers in the base, but likely more.

Recap:

• The party mills around in Invak for an extra two weeks, prepping for a big battle, thinking hard about what to do next when it comes to the slavers.
• Further news from the Space Alien Strike Force reveals that some slavers have returned with additional slaves (13 Red Men), 17 Jale Men look to have come to join as new recruits, and that’s about it.
• The party decides, “Fuck it, let’s just kill those mofos.”
• They ride out with an army of 120!
• A make shift pontoon bridge is built to cross the river.
• They leave part of their force behind, and approach with the most bad ass looking laser pistol wielding men and women.
• They approach the slaver citadel, and begin making demands of the guards out front.
• That doesn’t go well: laser fire is exchanged.
• Normangina manages to blow a hole in one of their “arrow slits”, exposing part of the base further up the mountain.
• They leave their demands staked to the ground and flee.
• The party makes camp, and waits for a fight that doesn’t happen. The next day they advance with their whole army on the slavers base.
• A slave is sent out from the base to parlay with the party. He informs them they must flee and never return. “the Overqueen of Small Petals” is an evil women, clearly one steeped in the ways of vile sorcery.
• The party isn’t having none of that. They decide there isn’t much point waiting further, and launch their big attack.
• One group of their number head up through the hole Normangina created earlier. The other bust through the front door after a bazooka is fired to make the entry easier.
• The army of Invak and Jahar pour into the base.
• The party come face to face with a group of 6 raptors and their riders.
• A vicious fight where several of their hechmen die, and Normangina is knocked out cold. (Though not before hoping onto the back of a raptor and commanding it to bite someone!)
• Dion’s character (name?) is almost killed, but the injury just makes him angrier. (Hulkamania Save vs. Death Rule!)
• The party is victorious after 4 rounds of combat.
• Orange Julia revives Normangina with a desert lotus potion.

What will happen to our fearless heroes?!

Comments:

• Ramanan S (2016-04-26 04:29): I wanted to write it out before I forgot what happened. Gus you’ve used two bazooka blasts. Everyone else who still has weapons with explicit ammo counts remember to mark off how many shots you have left. We ended in media res. Gus you can attempt to quickly tame the raptors before you end up embroiled in another fight. It took you 4 rounds to end that fight. So that effects what your next encounter will be FYI. 
• Chris G (2016-04-26 04:54): +1 for Hulkamania!
• Ramanan S (2016-04-26 04:55): First time that’s ever happened (natural 20 when making a save vs. death).
• Logan McCormack (2016-04-26 06:06): I just love to read your game reports! :D
• Gus L (2016-04-26 17:24): Oh yeah totally taming the raptors! We ride to victory! Also collecting a solid mob of extra combatants.

Post-Session Post:

The bodies of Jale Slavers lay motionless on the ground, their velociraptor mounts mill about confused. Fighting rages all about. The armies of Invak and Jahar have joined forces to fight the scourge of slavery once and for all. The fighting will be vicious. This day was coming: the Rainbow connection crosses the threshold of the Jale Slaver’s mountain citadel.

To be continued …

The game is on hiatus … for now! The Rainbow Connection fights the slavers for the last time. We will have to wait till next season to find out what happens.