Strange Aeons: Intro Battle Report

Editor's Notes: I took some liberty with some of the mission parameters of the Treasure Hunt scenario and game rules since this was a learning game for my 11 year old son Nate. I just encouraged him to play in character and do what seems cool and cinematic, which is how 11 year olds basically live life anyway.

For instance, I wanted him to be able to explore the whole board, so he needed to drive the truck around. Since there are no vehicles rules in Strange Aeons yet, I made my own:

Truck: Driving a truck doubles movement. If the truck enters or touches any terrain features, take a Dexterity test. Failed tests=immobilized. Up to 3 models may ride in the truck.

Row Boat: Normal movement in water.

Other modifications to the rules were all buildings are Hideous, which forces an Insanity check upon entering a door or window. I did not make fixed turns, only that he had to make 4 discoveries during the game, meaning Threshold needed to find four objects by searching any terrain feature (one discovery per feature) and then escaping off any board edge. Lurkers needed to kill all Threshold agents.

Nate elected to come on the main street into town, instead of the railroad or water (which was smart.) From that deployment I mentally found the 2'x3' boarder and set up my Lurkers in secret opposite his force. I wrote down the location of my Mad Scientist and Zombies and allowed them to be triggered to activation on turn 3 or when an Agent would have LOS to their location beforehand. 

I also used the Treasure Hunt Treasure Table for the first few discoveries then switched to the Body Snatchers table so there was a chance he didn't find anything and it would create suspense (which it did!)

As it was, this was a great learning mode for Nate and created a thrilling story. Finally, note that Agent Dark Cloud is a Mad Scientist by cost and profile though in the story he is a Rogue Threshold Agent. This swap was purely for the narrative.

P.A.T.E.R. (Pennsylvania Threshold Emergency Response) Team:

Agent Petri, Command and Inspire Skills

Tommygun

Cleaver

Firearm Cleaning Kit

Agent DeVille: Grapple Skill

Club

.22

Agent Morse, Accurate Skill

Shotgun

Knife

Agent Dark Cloud and the Prior Residents of Sunset Lake, PA

Mad Scientist, Command and Rugged skills

Scalpel

Diabolical Serum

Self Medicate

Five Zombies, Tough and Jump Up skills, Undead and Hideous

Maul (hands)

Lurch

The town itself was totally deserted, though completely intact, with no signs of life at all (the buildings become Hideous and cause Insanity checks.) 

Engine running, the Threshold left the van at the curb and entered the hostel, the last place a telephone call came out of the town, turning up their first successful discovery, a bloody map with hasty notes jotted down upon them near the operator switchboard. They searched adjacent buildings for a few turns unimpeded as the sun set and moon shone pale above the wooded lake (and they passed all Fear checks for the spookiness thanks to Agent Petri’s Command skill and Resolve.)

That is, until Agent Morse, on lookout in the street near the truck, saw 2 people coming down the breezeway towards him from across the street. One staggered wildly out into the paved lane and got to him before he could hit it square with his shotgun (firing while Alert.) The other plodded slowly along, plaintively moaning.

Upon hearing Morse’s shouts and panic fire, Agent DeVille came out of the front door and charged the zombie which was attacking Morse, immune to the terror of the dead thing (Insanity test passed), swinging his lead-filled baseball bat at its head, twisting the old woman’s skull with a sickening crack.

The zombie was knocked down but managed to lurch up and clamp her septic mouth on DeVille's arm as he tried to finish her off. Falling to the ground clutching his arm, he passed out (Major Injury.) Agent Morse passed his Insanity test (using Petri's Resolve due to Command and Inspire skills) for seeing his comrade taken down and he continued to fight with the gory zombie as the other one closed in. Agent Petri was inside the house, still searching and did not have LOS and so, was spared the sight (and Insanity test though he was likely to pass, also for being Alone in the dark house.)

Agent Morse was in a deadlock with the undead woman, yelling for help when dread started taking its toll as the unbearable smell almost overwhelmed him, his grip on his shotgun slipping from the bloody maw of the zombie chewing the shotgun receiver held squarely by Morse in its mouth like a champ bit. Morse looked sideways at the second zombie now moving next to them which seemed to awaken from a fugue and surge towards the combat…

Suddenly Agent Petri bounded out of the house, shredding the closing zombie with his chattering Thompson machine gun, a found scroll in hand, then ran (Charged) into the fight with Morse, drawing a large meat cleaver from his belt as he shouldered the rotting thing sideways. Together, Petri and Morse managed to put her down, piece by piece. Agent Petri looked at the prone DeVille, then Morse and he slowly shook his head as the Agent lay there, weakly rasping.

Meanwhile close by, at the ruined lighthouse overlooking the town, strange figures stood on the high stone walls above, watching down on the scene. Petri felt eyes on him and turned his head up the street.

The rogue Threshold agent codenamed Dark Cloud stood atop the slabs of the ruins, which glistened in the climbing moonlight with runic spirals of coagulated blood. The agent impassively injected two of the zombies next to him with a large veterinary syringe full of glowing reactant, one shuddering and gaining some degree of vigor (Constitution and Movement boost) while the other, nothing but a popping gasp out of its kinked, fetid throat (No Effect.) With a gesture from Dark Cloud, the zombies walked right off the sheer walls to crumple on the ground below with wet thuds (3" down) , only to somehow stand up again and start lurching towards the agents (both zombies did not take Fall damage and were able to change their states from the automatic Face Up penalties from falling, to Standing, due to Jump Up traits.)

Petri yelled to Morse to keep searching and the two
ducked down an alley as the zombies came down the gravel road towards them. The air was rising with stink and a sound like sailcloth flapping in a breeze, though the air was still.

Dark Cloud sent his last zombie over the side of the lighthouse but it hit the ground awkwardly and split its skull, ending its unholy motions. He then walked indifferently down the staircase towards the Threshold agents, who were now out of sight, busy searching the perplexing pile of crates discovered in a davenport next to the vacant hotel, a third discovery, a manifest (scroll.) Petri noted the Threshold sigil on the sides of the crates but there was no time for a photograph and he lacked dynamite. He did not see what they were but he had a sick feeling in his gut about his hunch.

The zombie that Dark Cloud's reactant made more vigorous manically caught up to the Threshold agents, Morse fired from the hip and splintered clapboard siding along with the zombie’s shoulder as the corpse came around the corner, stumbling. The zombie was just out of arms reach (1” from BTB at the end of the random move rate), the so Threshold ran out of the alley, through the back yard of the davenport, searching madly and finding a fourth and final discovery, a Ring of Power on a rock next to neatly folded clothes and shoes in the grass (though not knowing what the ring was or how to use it.)

The zombie Charged, again coming within inches of catching them (less than 1” short of BTB after Random move rate and another Insanity check for Hideous) but this time Morse calmed himself, took a few precious seconds to dump his double aught round and chamber a slug round, compose his aim (forfeiting one Action to use his Accurate skill for his second Action, shooting his shotgun with a Dex boost of +1) and he hit the gibbering thing square in the chest, sending it splayed backwards (3” away , due to Power) and landed face down on the paving stones, a singed hole gaping through its burial dress.

The agents looked up to the main street where their idling truck remained, and didn't see DeVille where they left him... and the streets were teeming with undead. Dark Cloud stared at the 2 remaining Agents as he advanced, a still island amid a roaring undead stream washing towards them. Finding a scroll in the grass next to a town monument in the yard, Petri grabbed Morse by the collar and they ducked into the dark woods on foot, leaving DeVille and their truck to the now-occupied town of death.

Only as the Rhododendron wipped past his cheeks as he sped through the mossy, rocky undercanopy did Petri realize that this was a trap. One sprung by Agent Darkcloud himself. Petri pulled the panicking Agent Morse down a cut to the fire road and to eventual safety.



End Phase

Threshold won! Nate was extremely happy to have 2 scrolls, a map piece and a Ring of Power. Agent Petri gets a free Skill advancement (TBD) and Morse got one too, electing to take his Dexterity from 5 to 4; this makes the Accurate skill great for him, as aiming can make his powerful Mossberg hit on a 3+ for one Action or 4+ without aiming! At 6" or less, this is great for getting some breathing room.

Unfortunately, Agent DeVille perished at Sunset Lake... though that does not mean he is resting in peace...

Until the stars are right again!

Strange Aeons: Scene of Horror, scratch built Flesh-Eating Spirit Tree

I really should've installed a bloody treehouse in this one... maybe I can tackle that later. Here is my latest Scene of Horror for Strange Aeons. It is not as dramatic as previous ones posted here on Sarcophagi but once you see his face, it's dramatic enough for a large, flesh-eating tree spirit.

This was a craft store Halloween tree I picked up at some point. It is huge and dominates the trees on my tables, so it seemed fitting that it be a flesh-eating beast tree. That said, I wanted him to sorta lurk in the forest and not be too brazen.

I sculpted the face with Apoxy Sculpt. After sculpting I sprayed the whole tree with texture paint to blend the face in to the rest of the tree. His roots are acrylic caulk, since the tree didn't really have roots and I thought it needed it for symmetry.

From there, it was a matter of paint, basing and building the canopy out of pottery mesh sprayed black and then hit with spray adhesive to attach the dark green flock. I then strung it out on the branches and that's all she wrote.

I like that I can use him as a Scene of Horror or just have him lurking in pics. He looks good in Bushido too!

Here's some WIP below.

Reaper BONES: Glowing Ghosts using LED Tealights

This one is for my new friend Garrett (did I spell that right?) and pre-existing friend Benn @ my FLGS Redcap's in Philly but this also goes out to anybody who is thinking about glowing effects on their tables, or at least some small, placeable elements like minis or scatter terrain (more on that later).

I built the ghost above tonight for this tutorial and it took about 20 minutes.

Reaper BONES make super inexpensive, translucent models ripe for lighting and you can get easy and cool effects efficiently. LED tealights are crazy inexpensive and can be used to make really great wreck markers, bonfires or in the following case, ghosts. I was insisting this very thing the other day to Garrett and pointing at my own blog as proof, failing to realize I never actually posted any damn thing about BONES lit projects here on Sarcophagi,  though I did post it up over on Lead Adventure Forums, found here: Lead Adventure Forums

Anyway, I've found a lot of traction for lit things like ghosts for pulp games like Strange Aeons, to which I am addicted. I am working on Fire markers using tea lights as well and I'll post up something on that later, though the principles are the same.

Needed:

• Reaper BONES Grave Wraith, about US$3.00
• Green Tealight, available through Amazon, US$7.00 for a pack of ten. I like these because the batteries are replaceable.
• Jeweler's Saw or Xacto Saw
• Scalpel or Xacto
• Crazy Glue
• 2" base
• Green Cotton (Halloween floss)
• Optional: Silicone (from DIY)
• Optional: White poster tac

Something to consider with this... Depending on how much light difussion you want, you may or may not want to get the LED bulb into the miniature. In some cases, gluing the  mini right to the top of the bulb housing is enough to get the light to diffuse through the mini, where you don't see a glowing mass at the base, but instead that bulb is hidden by cotton floss. I have made three ghosts and overall I think gluing the mini to the bulb housing is probably the best way to go visually but in the following case, I put the bulb up in the mini as a case for the most amount of steps or a larger mini that needs more direct light to diffuse out, which is the case with this mini.

 Cut the tombstone off the ghost. I saved this bit to paint up later with other tombstones. You might want to leave that there, your call. The ghost of a tombstone is cool too I guess. It does fit more centered on the tealight with the tombstone off.

I cut off the protective housing over the bulb since it is easier to trim out a hole for the smaller bulb instead of the bigger housing, the OD of which surpasses the width of the base of the ghost. 

Glue the tealight onto a 2" base. You could even skip this step too if you aren't an giant stickler for BTB physicality in games. I had previously tried painting the sides of the tealight black in an effort to hide the sides under the cotton more but as it turns out, the clear sides transfer more light into the floss and the glow hides the sides of the teal ight best.

Here's Rick all cored out and dry-fit to the top of the tealight. Like I said, when you put the bulb into the bottom it looks more like a bulb in his feet. Fear naught.The cotton will diffuse and blend it. Be sure that before you glue you play around with getting the bulb centered into the mini so the bulb sends the most amount of light straight up to the top of the mini. Shut off the lights and move the mini around on top of the lit tea light and you'll see what I mean. If you have to glue on top of the bulb housing leaving an undercut below the miniature, just fill in underneath with clear silicone and let dry then it will be super strong and still conduct light.

All together and ready for cotton. But first, trim out the cotton "smoke".

Grab the cotton and make a circle about the height of the mini. Pull apart the center and arrange the mini through it so the floss is around it's "feet" or whatever. Remember before with the bulb? Pad the cotton over it thick. The more cotton, the more the glow. Once happy with your "smoke", glue on the ghost. Then add the cotton after it is dried.

Annnd... there it is. Not much to it actually. You may wonder about securing the cotton to the sides. I've played around with this some and found two things: First, it is hard to do and second, probably not necessary. If you are stickler for adhesion then I suggest you use some white poster tac on the sides and learn to live with it. Permanently attaching it seems unnecessary and that can block replacement of the battery as well as the twist-to-activate motion.

Here are 3 ghosts I've made. The one on the left is my favorite. I cut her from her base and glued her sideways over the bulb housing (pic below). Her flowing robe blends in great with the cotton. In the center is Rick. On the right is a more skeletal ghost. Note that the last ghost's tealight has sides painted black and while it doesn't look terrible at all, you can see that the light doesn't diffuse as much as the first two. Finally, these are bright enough to use under average table light, meaning you do not have to play in the dark for these to look spooktacular. Spell check really hates that pun.

So that's it friends! I leave it to you to try out, like I said, there is not much to this. Experiment and have fun with it.