Lazlo Plots - February & March

[Holister]

Ok. I feel this new thread may be a bit more appropriate, seeing that January is over and February has officially begun. Oh, and tomorrow ol' Chuck The Radioactive Groundhog will be lettin' me know if we have 6 more weeks of an already non-existant Winter.

Hey...I live in Jersey. I'm just lucky I don't have 6 foot skeeters knocking' at my door.

Well, I can safely assume you know how these threads work, blah, blah, this, that and the other. So post away.

As for me. I have some great news. I have two new members for my tabletop game, and I had to add a second weekly game session I guess making it bi-weekly now.

As for other news from the Holister homefront, I have not entirely forgotten you guys over at Lazlo. And thanks to some rather persistant nagging by my good friend Matt and persuasion by other concerned parties {you know who you are} I have been considering bring back Ben Holister to once again grace the Lazlo forums on a regular basis starting again in March.

I have several storylines that will explain his absence as well as his miraculous and sudden return. I have already been discussing a few of these ideas with others {Again, you know who you are}.

Once I bring ol' Ben back, expect some changes to you favorite redneck sheriff. I also have special storyline that I plan on starting in April (May at the latest) that will invloves some monster hunting so if anyone wants in, welcome aboard. If not, expect regular weekly reports in WAR STORIES.

I also have several enemies that will surface (but do not expect character accounts as their actions will be only mentioned by Ben or in PMs with other players). That Villain of The Week crap ends here and now...

I also plan on introducing some other monster stories not cannon to Pally such as carnvirous Sasquatch, lake monsters, hostile aliens, mutant bugs, mad scientists, evil cults, and the such. Why you ask? Because horror does go Beyond The Supernatural. lol...

I may also be looking to have Ben hook up with other PCs as a freelance monster hunter or friend to those in need. I also am planning to have Ben make amends in some places and bury a few hatchets in others. Why? Cause I feel like it. So could there be a Ben & Ron crossover in a few months. Who can say. But with Ben, anything is possible.

Well I have hogged this thread long enough already so I will step down off the soapbox and let you others have a turn.

Remember though....Vote Ben Holister in 2012 for a better America.

[Lord Z]

Aww, no villain of the week? But that is a theme which actually works in a forum-based freeform story telling medium.

[Holister]

I actually cannot tell if you are serious or not.

By the way, Happy Groundhog Day from Chuck the Radioactive Groundhog.

[Holister]

I have a question.

Has anyone here actually played the BtS 1st edition campaigns from the original book? I need to know what the name of one of the campaigns is. It was something like "Top of The World" or something like that?

I need to know because I plan on using that camapign module for a thread I am planning to run.

Thanks

[Hibik]

A Window On the World?

[Holister]

Thats it Thanks for the assist Hibik.

I've got plans for that campaign. Gonna mix it up with a little "System Failure" action. I plan on combined the two for one story that has "The Bugs" infesting the secret base while the other "subjects" are free to run amok.

Sort of double trouble.

[Hibik]

Let's see, things going on this month... one character is going to be out of commission for a bit come a week or so from now. My alt, Sparks, has to finish a story of what happened some time ago, but after that she's free if anyone has mischief in mind.

[Holister]

Well I have time for people to clear their plates; Im in no rush. I have to re-introduce Holister again to the site anyway and then get him resettled before taking on any thing big. {Consider it like Ben Holister 2.0}.

[Lord Z]

I just got my copy of The Rifter #57 yesterday, and it got me thinking. There are a lot of interesting new monsters which have been introduced in The Rifter but have not yet been mentioned at the .org. As a research tool for players, descriptions of encounters with these critters might be a very useful thing. I think I will begin posting a series of short first-hand & second-hand stories about each of these critters. Mostly, this will be done under RAVEN's account, but Professor Ali has an excellent excuse for traveling the world now. Such a series might also make a good in-game basis for entries in the wiki.

Off the top of my head, I can think of these...

Soul Tree
Wraiths (here I refer to the various minions of the Soul Trees)
Scaring Crow
Grave Larva
Kroguar
Hafoot
Brawling Joe
Geode Golem
Taluses (both species)

That doesn't count two entirely new classes of PCCs: Tainted Martyrs & Lucky Psychics.

That also doesn't count the many critters from other game lines which just fit so darn well in BtS (Madness Ghosts from Rifts Madhaven, Void Entities from Chaos Earth N.O.R.A.D., Shadow Beasts from Heroes Unlimited, and Black Hounds from Fantasy in Rifter 57 come to mind immediately).

If anyone would like to requests of a favorite critter they would like to see featured, please post a response in this thread. Also, if anyone would like to add their own encounters, go ahead and jump in.

[Hibik]

I was thinking of trying to do up an encounter with a Joe, actually. Though an unscrupulous merchant peddling in Grave Larva sounds like an interesting setup too.

[Holister]

Anyone consider using PFRPG "Scarecrows" in a BTS game?

[Lord Z]

I once tried using a scarecrow in a Rifts game. The players just found it to be annoying. Granted, this was not one of my better structured games, but I have sort of soured on scarecrows (as they appear in Fantasy and the Conversion Books) ever since. It seems like a nice monster for BtS, but I doubt I will be the one using it.

I will for now, steer away from doing anything with the Brawling Joe or Grave Larva, since Hbik might be doing this. If someone points to a specific BtS other critter from the list, I will start on that. My hold up at the moment is deciding which to cover first.

[Holister]

I like the daylight horrors that don't think twice about screwing with you day or night.

[Lord Z]

There is room for all three types on the board.

[Hibik]

I think of nighttime horrors as the ones that mask their movements with darkness, and daytime horrors as the ones that mask their movement with not so subtle things - ie, crowds of people. Monsters who can blend in with crowds, day to day life, etc, work just fine in the day. Sometimes better since you're supposed to be safer then - though it requires a bit more thought to get them to be subtle.

[Holister]

A good example of daytime time, just some Japanese horror films. Most of the story takes place during the day too. Just watch the original Ju-On, most of the movies takes place during the day.

[Cybermancer]

Here's a Febuary plot that's just gotten underway. Time will tell if it lasts into March.

Happy Valentines Day, everyone!

[Holister]

Oh gawd....are you serious.

Have things gotten that dull that you brining that nightmare Ron scenario back.

Come on, you guys can do better than that.

EDIT: Post edited to remove non-needed comment - NMI

[Jefffar]

I was intending to keep it locked a way a fair bit longer than that, but after one of Doc Thanatos' posts it made Hannah wonder if Not Ron had gotten free. All it takes is a bit of doubt in her containment of him and a good emotional episode (which Cybermancer and Nemesis provided somewhat unintentionally) and he got loose.

There was some behind the scenes playing between characters goign on that also made the timing appropriate. Don't worry, he won't be around long this time, and maybe he might get locked away for good to boot.

[Tearstone]

Has anyone done anything with The Hoarse Whisperer entity?

[Jefffar]

Not in ages.

[Tearstone]

Maybe it's time somebody should?

[Jefffar]

I concur.

[Lord Z]

Hmm, I don't have the Hoarse Whisper article. I would be interested in seeing that as a thread on the .org if someone else writes it.

[Tearstone]

I'm considering doing so.

[Lord Z]

Day, the concern that I see with this story is how almost all of it happens off screen. There doesn't seem to be a lot of information nor action which would actually find its way on the .org forums. Am I reading this incorrectly? On the other hand, I love it when a story finishes.

[Tearstone]

Ok, I've had this plotline kicking around in my head for.years, and it has gone through several major revisions and rewrites, but i have to say that I'm quite happy with how it has turned out.
I have been wanting to finally put an end to the very long Ghost-Belladrox-Hawk arc that i have been working on for years. I figure now (or at least in the next few weeks) is as good a time as any.
The plot runs a little something like this: David Hawk, in truth an avatar of Azhi Dahaka (anyone who doesn't own one should really pick up a copy of Pantheons of the megaverse, its a great book and the has the basis for a great deal of this storyline), has been on BtS earth for millenia looking for an artifact called "The Eye at the End of the World". Within lies one of the many locks upon the Infinity Labrynth, which is the prison for Dahak's master, Ahriman. He found it relatively quickly, but was unable to do anything with it as powerful wards barred him from going anywhere near it. Unfortunately, Dahak was a patient being. He waited for an opportunity to present itself. During this interval, at some point, he corrupted a relatively quiet order of monks known as the Obertine Brotherhood. His patience was eventually rewarded when he discovered he remains of an ancient cult looking to regain its former power,
and avenge itself on its enemies. He manipulated them into summoning belladrox into this dimension, whilst at the same time he tricked the Catholic church into a plan he had had a hand in devising. The church, under the guise of missionary work, gathered together 3 artifacts of great power. They then raised a great army, under the guise of a crusade, and rounded up a group of "heretic" sorcerers to combat belladrox. The army fought and died, the sorcerers using those deaths to fuel a great spell that broke belladrox.into three pieces( spirit, mystical power, and body). Each piece was bound into an artifact, and those artifacts were scattered across the world.
Long winded? No worries, cause here is the point. One of those artifacts was the eye, and while Hawk could not touch the eye, the sorcerers who imprisoned belladrox could. They were, for the.most part, good men. Why was this important? Because hawk hoped that with the binding of belladrox, the wards would be weakened enough that he could open the eye and break the lock on the Infinity Labrynth, bringing his master one step closer to victory. Unfortunately, he miscalculated. One piece of belladrox was not sufficient to weaken the wards to the extent he required. He needed the whole being, and it was bound away in a prison that only it could open. Thankfully for hawk, belladrox being the sneaky bastard it was, was able to put a tiny portion of its essence within the soul of the.most corrupt of the sorcerers. A man named Klaus Andreas, an ancestor of.our own GS. The essence remained hidden in the bloodline of Klaus' descendants, slowly changing them until one would be born that could contain belladrox. Becoming his freedom and rebirth. Enter Konrad Andreas, aka Ghostspider. He has successfully bonded with two parts of belladrox. However he is well aware of what will happen should he come into close proximity to the eye. This has lead to a stalemate between him and hawk. Unfortunately hawk has two things of great value to gs, his siblings. Recently hawk, in an attempt to break the stalemate and lure ghost to the eye, released information on a way to free ghost's siblings from his control. Ghost has not yet received this information, but when he does, its showtime.
Sorry if this was a bit long, but.unfortunately its a pretty convoluted backstory.
Also, just to say it now, this is NOT a end of the world plot. In fact should hawk win, and the lock is broken, nothing will happen. Not a damn thing, at least nothing that will register to the society. Those with enough foresight will realize that evil has just got that much closer to victory, even if victory is still millennia away.
So the question should come up: why should the society help ghost in what amounts to a suicide mission?
Thoughts? Suggestions? Ideas?

TL; DNR

Spoiler:

Too long; did not read.

[Tearstone]

Har Har.

[Jefffar]

Not Ron has been contained, on with our regularly scheduled programming.

[Tearstone]

Are you sure... really...sure?

[Hibik]

And there was much rejoicing (said one of the victims).

I'm doing a little writeup of Sparks' encounter with a Brawling Joe she had while looking for Ron that I will eventually finish, hopefully.

[Lord Z]

Hbik, I have a request. When you post your Brawling Joe story, can you please include the actual term 'Brawling Joe' or one of the listed psuedonyms? I ask because a player might research the .org for these terms and I wouldn't want that player to miss your encounter.

Shady, I love gremlins, and I look forward to seeing your thread.

[Hibik]

Z - since Sparks would likely know what it is (but never having encountered one), yes, I think that can be done. I'll go over the source material again as well to ensure accuracy - I've been slow on getting the thing done anyway.

[Cybermancer]

Considering how often the nightmare has returned, one can never truely be sure it is done.
I am working on a plot idea that is kind of general purpose. So that anyone who would like to work with it, and maybe even link it to other plots can.
The basic idea is a Organized Crime group that has Supernat resource. The planned intro to this group would perhaps be finding out about a Protection racket making use of Gremlins. From there we would find that as they go deeper down the rabbit hole it as it were, they find that Gremlins are just the tip of the iceberge.

How many movies are their in the Nightmare on Elmstreet fanchise?

Any way, an interesting combination you propose here. Something I could totally see happen.

Nemesis mentions 'dark dealings' with the mob in this thread during her talk to 'Frankie'.

[Hibik]

Z - for March, I was going to have a thing GW was going to pursue in Germany. Would you take exception if I had a representative of the Court play a small role? Nothing big or blatant, just some hints and references that there is more than just the protagonist and the villains stirring the pot. I was thinking mostly a flavor, "huh, that was weird" curiosity reference.

[Lord Z]

Why would I take exception? I have no problem with that.

[Hibik]

I find it always polite to ask. Who knows, maybe Mel will make an enemy.

[Cybermancer]

There's lots of reasons for someone to view Mel as a potential bad guy. Like some of the company she keeps. But really, that can be said of anyone who hangs out with Nemesis.

[Hibik]

Which company? The vigilantes, assassins, athiests, pagans, priests, shrinks, or redheads?

[Jefffar]

I was thinking the coffee baristas. Vile lot those.

[Hibik]

I was thinking the coffee baristas. Vile lot those.

Oooh, English majors. Yeah. Lots of enemies there.

[Jefffar]

Hey, be scared of the poetry students for the pen is mightier than the sword.


Anyway, most of my major plot points for Q1 2012 have done their thing, back to business as usual for me.

[Cybermancer]

I think Mel's biggest problem may be the red heads category.

Speaking of which, I do have a story line that will kick off come the 14th of March. Should only last a week or two. Other than the initial set up which will be carefully orchestrated, there's not a set plot so much as a timetable for encounters and clues.

Clues will be dropped in posts made on Lazlo, including at least one post that will get editted suddenly.

We'll see how it goes.

Happy hunting.

[Cybermancer]

Do you want someone to notice the "suddenly edited" post, Cyber, and thus have someone comment about it?

Well, if someone didn't notice within 24 hours or so, I was going to point it out through an alt anyway. So yes, if anyone notices the suddenly editted post, they should definitely point it out.

And rather than use an alt, I will probably point the post out to someone else to notice.

[Cybermancer]

Yes, she's very special that way.

I'll PM you the post that will change sometime on the 14th.

[Hibik]

Sparks vs. Joe is posted. Hope it's to somebody's liking.

[Lord Z]

Link to the thread! I enjoyed it, and so did RAVEN. This is exactly the type of thread I was hoping that my suggestion would produce. Next, I will write up an encounter between Prof Ali and a Scurry Scree. It should not interfere with any plans for a crooked merchant story if you do decide to follow through with that.

[Hibik]

Thank you Z.

Can't wait to see what you write up.

[Lord Z]

The Talus appears in this link -- I started off with the smallest critter in the game, the Scurry Talus.

[Hibik]

Z - quite neat. I liked it.