Masters of Carcosa - Session 9

The players had found a Space Alien compass in an earlier session and decided to see where it would lead them. I had decided it would lead them towards the tomb of a dead Space Alien hero. A nearby hex was described in the book like so:

In a pure white chamber is the perfectly preserved corpse of a Space Alien wearing a suit of reflective armor that protects against the following types of weapons: microwave, yellow laser, dysprosium, polonium, nickel, neptunium, cesium, strontium, radon, aluminum, boron, mercury, thulium, protactinium, niobium, and helium.

In my Carcosa style recap of the session, one of my fictional alternative endings to the session was as follows:

8 Space Aliens (AC 12, MV 120’, HD 3), part of an elite combat squad, pursue a group of Carcosan who have defiled one of their tombs through the badlands. They are armed with laser rifles.

They were first mentioned in the session 7 recap, and I likely added them as an entry on the encounter table for the region shortly after. The players would meet them a few sessions later. As I mentioned earlier, I would sometimes use the recaps as a way to share rumours, and also share news about the off camera world with the players. In the session 8 recap I shared that the Bone Men cultists were taking people back to an Abandoned Space Alien Outpost. The players would eventually return there, but I don’t think it was because of the mention in that recap. This is probably too subtle a way to share what’s going on, but it was a fun all the same.

I also used the other entry from Hex 1113 this session, having the mutant T-Rex show up.

There are no settlements in this hex because of the mutant tyrannosaurus (AC 15, MV 150 , HD 15, Neutral, 30 aura of radioactivity, bulging eyes, transparent skin) that slays anything in its vicinity.

The entries in Carcosa are quite terse, but sometimes that’s all you need for something to be memorable. I got quite used to spinning out whole sessions from a few sentences, both in my own notes and from the book.

Players:

• Beloch Shrike: Renoir, Red Man Fighter
• Gus: Normangina 
• Eric Boyd: Orange Julia, Orange Women Fighter
• Dion: Osha Rey, Ulfire Man Fighter
• Willie Burke: Grenn, White Man Sorcerer

Recap:

• The party begins the session in Invak, having returned their from Jahar. They decide to follow the strange alien compass to wherever it may lead.
• They venture South towards Jahar, but about 4 hours out of town they stumble upon 6 White Men, presumably slaves, dying in the desert.
• The party splits up, with one group heading back to Invak to secure a rescue party.
• On the way back the encounter a Spawn, a Blue quadruped with a smooth hide, 4 eyes, and a beaked mouth. They give it a wide berth, and it leaves them alone.
• They rescue the White Men without incident, who are now recuperating in Invak
• The party heads South again, travelling towards Jahar.
• They make it to the town without incident and spend the night.
• The next day they head East towards the site the compass is pointing towards.
• They discover a small white structure.
• Examining it, they discover it looks to like a tomb for a dead Space Alien.
• The party takes the alien and his armour.
• As it is quite late they camp out in the wastes!
• At night a group of bone men wander by, but do not see the party.
• They party surprises the group.
• The bone man snuff out their torches, and a melee breaks out in the dark.
• It is violent, and the bone men are put down. One bone man is captured.
• The party returns to Jahar, but as they are about to leave a radioactive t-rex shows up!
• It is distracted by the pile of carrion and lets the party move away.
• Back at Jahar the party hand over the captured bone man to the merchant caravan guards.

Treasure:

• Space Alien Armour - full body and reflective
• 3 laser guns (from cultists)
• Well preserved dead Space Alien
• 50’ of Rope x 4
• 10’ of rusted iron chain, with manacles (no key)
• One small pouch of Green Lotus Powder
• Ceramic short swords, perhaps space alien in origin x 8
• 6 torches

I was still apparently not confident the game was actually fun, 9 sessions in. Reading these recaps now it’s funny how unsure I was about this game.

• Eric Boyd (2015-05-06 01:13): Side note: my character is named Orange Julia.
• Ramanan S (2015-05-06 03:45): I added items of note from the dead cultists. They were wearing leather like armour, but that would be ruined from the fight. Green Lotus Powder: A victim of the green lotus powder falls into an unconscious trance for 9-12 hours, then awakens in a state of extreme weakness and sickness. He can do little other than speak sparingly, recline, and eat and drink. The green lotus sickness does not directly cause death, but the body becomes very thin and the mind prone to despair. Eventual suicide is common among victims of the green lotus.
• Eric Boyd (2015-05-06 06:24): Is the green lotus powder something we can throw in someone’s face, or is it an ingested poison?
• Ramanan S (2015-05-06 09:43): I pictured it like a throw in your face sort of thing, like you make a small cloud. Ingesting works too and is probably a more reliable vector for administrating it.
• Chris G (2015-05-06 16:44): I freakin’ love these recaps. One of these Mondays I’ll get off work early enough to join.
• Ramanan S (2015-05-06 23:48): The actual sessions are probably less exciting. Hah.
• Chris G (2015-05-07 20:46): That sales pitch needs some work …
• Ramanan S (2015-05-07 22:03): Once I figure out how to be a good DM i’ll get on that next. Ha!
• Eric Boyd (2015-05-07 23:17): Hey, enough with the self-deprecation and imposter syndrome! If you didn’t know what you were doing, we wouldn’t show up.
• Ramanan S (2015-05-08 04:09): Fair enough. I think my main problem is everyone I play D&D with also happens to be an amazing DM. Ha! I think I can do a better job if I was like 20% more organized. One day.