Turn 28: Combat is slowly coming to an end. Really. It would take some bad rolls to spend any more than 2 turns mopping up what's left. 'Course, I say that and people are already having bad rolls.
On another note, I've thought of a way to maybe potentially decrease combat time: Whenever combat starts, it is considered "1/3" a turn. In those 1/3rds, mutations and regeneration are paused, and non-combat turns are put on hiatus. On the 3rd turn, the non-combat turns proceed along with combat, mutation, and regeneration.
It would give me even less excuses to not update faster, would make small mini-fights very quick to handle, would prevent regeneration from being too powerful, and solve combat before everyone's mutated to hell and back. On the other hand, it might have some oddities as a result. What do you guys think, would it improve combat or make it worse?
Run to the Portion hub hallway.
[16]: You turn and run out of the fight into the Portion Hub Hallway. There are a lot of bodies of infected and noninfected scientists and a guard in this hallway, a lot of bullet casings, and a lot of blood. Signs point to guards from the Portion B Hub using this as a choke point, and only mildly succeeding. At the end, a large door to the Portion B Hub that is currently closed.
However--and you luckily notice before you step near him--there's a crippled infected scientist on the ground near the door who has his legs shot. He is extremely vulnerable and unable to reach you at the current position. You probably could kill him in one hit, though a miss or failure with a melee attack could put you in danger, as he would be able to actually attack you.
You notice Erin come up behind you, intensely wounded.
Shoot infected scientist 4
[8]: Contrary to the desires of both the GM and probably the players, you fire your heavy pistol and just barely hit Scientist 4, causing only a minor amount of damage with a hit on the edge of her body.
A grand start to your markswolf carrier I'm sure.
"Aaaaahhhhh!"
GetItOffGetItOffGetItOffGetItOffRunRunRunRunRun!
Taze anything that tries to stop / catch me
[16]: You run very, very fast towards the Portion Hub Hallway, because GM imagines you would both be closer and because you decided to not be specific.
You see... quite literally the exact same things Starn sees. You also see him. Because you got the exact same roll for the same action:
There are a lot of bodies of infected and noninfected scientists and a guard in this hallway, a lot of bullet casings, and a lot of blood. Signs point to guards from the Portion B Hub using this as a choke point, and only mildly succeeding. At the end, a large door to the Portion B Hub that is currently closed.
However--and you luckily notice before you step near him--there's a crippled infected scientist on the ground near the door who has his legs shot. He is extremely vulnerable and unable to reach you at the current position. You probably could kill him in one hit, though a miss or failure with a melee attack could put you in danger, as he would be able to actually attack you.
You regenerate slightly.
Another 1... Maddening. Scientist 1. BITE his throat out!
[8]: You thought that was maddening? Well, it's only going to get worse.
You attempt to bite the scientist's neck with your teeth. However, he dodges left and right and you can't get a bite down on his neck.
Though perhaps it's for the best, biting someone's neck out without any teeth or mouth mutations doesn't sound very fun.
Stomp doubly and intensely on Infected Guard 1! This is taking too much time! Rragh!
[11]: You just barely continue to blunt-force Guard 1, stomping on his chest. You only do minor damage, and he's still alive by just the smallest margin!
Open fire on Scientist 4!
[9]: In another astounding display of players getting poor rolls, you fire a couple rounds at scientist 4 and only strike once on the edge of her left forearm, doing only a minor amount of damage.
The irony, if you and Tamer both risked extreme overkill and shot at one of the other two, one of them would be dead.
Go back to biting scientist 1.
[20!]: Suddenly, the heavens open up, the angels fly down, and god shines on Felicia as she bites down hard on scientist 1's neck and rips it out, finally killing him.
The former part might not have actually happened, but it sure felt like it because good god he is finally dead. Congrats, if nothing else, I can now claim that the slog is slowly coming to an end by your hands.
Holy crap, big gun! Charge Jimbo and bite his legs off.
[15]: Jimbo suddenly finds his target charging and then promptly chomping down on his legs. It is obviously quite painful and very disturbing. Well, to be fair, everything else about this group is disturbing.
Oh god, hit that jello head before she kills me!
[5]: Jello head notices that the guard tries very weakly to hit her, and she can easily dodge his attacks with little effort.
Rawr?
[12]: The crippled scientist looks around and vaguely notices both Starn and Erin. He begins crawling veeeery slowly towards them. Unless they literally stand still for several turns, he's not getting to them any time soon.
As to mutations, he looks kinda like a cyclops. Partially. He has one eye, and big muscles which could probably result in some dangerous punching.
Link to Sheet.Health: Otherwise healthy.
Infected with: Strain D.Mutations:A maw of teeth and flesh for a mouth.
13 black, icky, oozing tentacles out of back.
Items:Severely Damaged Alexandria Corp Hazmat suit.
Slightly Dirty Surgical Mask.
Standard Taser.
Link to Sheet.Health: Nearing death.
Infected with: Strain V.Mutations:Yellow eyes.
Sharp teeth.
No hair.
Scales throughout the body.
Large, beefy legs.
Large feet.
Long, clawed toes.
Large and long chest.
Items:Combat Knife.
Level 1 Security-class Security card.
Link to Sheet.Health: Otherwise healthy.
Infected with: Strain P.Mutations:Is a Mantisman
Thin and somewhat fragile.
Mantis spiked forelegs.
Compound eyes.
Insect wings.
Other details relating to Mantises, adapted for a humanoid shape.
Items:Ruined, ripped scientist suit.
Delusha V13 Machinepistol (mostly full)
Heavily Damaged Body Armor
Link to Sheet.Health: Somewhat injured.
Infected with: Strain X.Mutations:Is a Werewolf.
Massively muscled.
Heavy fur.
Large claws.
Face very akin to a Wolf. Except grimier.
Other minor details relating to wolfs.
Items:Broken Glasses.
Couple of USBs.
Failing External Hard Drive.
External Hard Drive.
Couple Bags of Candy.
Net Shooter (unloaded).
2 Large Nets.
3 Large Electrified Nets.
Large Backpack.
Typhoon Eagle Heavy Pistol (mostly full).
Link to Sheet.Health: Otherwise healthy.
Infected with: Strain G.Mutations:Head is a transparent, slightly cyan gelatinous mass.
Arms and hands are transparent, slightly cyan gelatinous masses.
Items:Damaged Alexandria Corp Hazmat suit.
Scalpel.
Needle.
Standard Electric Prod.
Link to Sheet.Health: Moderately Injured.
Infected with: Strain I.Mutations:Black bone spike back.
Chest is covered with very dark, slightly brown carapace and scales.
Long, hunched over back.
Long foot, long clawed toes.
Armored and spiky feet and legs.
Agile legs.
Mace tail.
Clawed hands with three shielded fingers and no thumbs.
Items:Mostly destroyed Hoodie.
Damaged Jeans.
Half-used roll of bandages.
Cutting Knife.
First Aid kit (3/5 uses).
Assorted medical equipment and supplies (2/3 uses).
Link to Sheet.Health: Otherwise healthy.
Infected with: Strain R.Mutations:Extremely long tail with a spear-hook on the end.
Items:Slightly damaged scientist suit.
Baton.
1 Flashbang grenade.
2 Teargas grenades.
Taser.
Link to Sheet.Health: Heavily injured.
Infected with: Strain Q.Mutations:Large, eagle-wings on back.
Enhanced hearing.
Items:Damaged scientist suit.
Level 3 Management-class Security card.
Taser.
Hostiles:Location: Section C Primary.
Health: Dead.
Infected with: Probably Strain L.
Weapons: Working Circular saw hand.
Armor: None, basic clothing.
Health: Dead.
Infected with: Probably Strain K.
Weapons: Large, clawed hands.
Armor: None, basic clothing.
Health: Dead.
Infected with: Probably Strain J.
Weapons: Large, strong fists.
Armor: Large, penetration-resistant scales.
Health: Slightly injured.
Infected with: Probably Strain D.
Weapons: Chest maw of teeth and tentacles.
Armor: None, basic clothing.
Health: Nearing death.
Infected with: Probably Strain V.
Weapons: Big muscly fists.
Armor: None, basic clothing.
Health: Edge of death.
Infected with: Probably Strain B.
Weapons: (Using as club) Eliminator SMG (empty).
Armor: Moderately Damaged Body Armor.
Relating to location and the building you are in:Harry Baldman
Samarkand
TamerVirus
BlitzDungeoneer
Sarrak
Location: Level -5, Portion B (Research), Section C (Dangerous or Unknown section), Section C Primary
Travelable locations (all can be traveled to): Portion Hub Hallway, Sub-Section A, Sub-Section B, Sub-Section C, Sub-Section D, Sub-Section E, Sub-Section F, Sub-Section G.
Wade Wilson
Location: Level -5, Portion B (Research), Section C (Dangerous or Unknown section), Sub-Section F, Panic Room
Travelable locations (all can be traveled to): Section Exit to Sub-Section E (via Research Hallway), Research Hallway (Sub-Section F), Microbe Breeding Room (via Research Hallway), Larger Creature Breeding Room (via Research Hallway), Gene Manipulation Room (via Research Hallway), Surgery Room (via Research Hallway), Containment Room (via Research Hallway), Camera and Break Room (via Research Hallway), Animal Control Armory (via Research Hallway), Miscellaneous Experimentation Room (via Research Hallway), Section Exit to Section Primary (via Research Hallway), Storage Room (via Research Hallway).
blazing glory
Lenglon
Location: Level -5, Portion B (Research), Section C (Dangerous or Unknown section), Portion Hub Hallway
Travelable locations (all can be traveled to): Portion B Hub, Section C Primary.
This is a big info dump on the building you guys are currently in. This will exist until the building is left. The information may be read at will, however you may want to verse yourself with the information sooner rather than later.
Building Layout Guide:
Understanding how the building codes work is important to know where you are. Here is a brief guide. The building is divided into Floors/Levels, Portions, Sections, and Sub-Sections.
Levels are each floor of the building, numbered from +25, the top of the building, to -6, the bottom of the basement. It's fairly self-explanitory: Level 0 is the ground floor, the floor above +1, and the floor below -1. Levels are very highly secured from eachother, and can only be traversed by the central elevator or the central stairway. The levels under the ground are separated far, far more than the levels above ground--for every level underground, roughly 3 levels above ground could be fitted in the gap.
Portions are large sections of the specific floor in question that are managed separately for any number of reasons. Due to how much area they encompass, there are rarely more than 8. Portions use the alphabet to number themselves, so A for 1, B for 2, C for 3, etc. Potions are highly secured from one another, often having to go back to the central area near the central elevator before you can go to another. However, sometimes there are paths between sections if they happen to be related in what they are used for.
Sections are parts of Portions that are specialized towards a specific task. For example, a Portion dedicated to Vehicles might have a Mechanic section, a R&D section, and so on and so forth. Sections also use the alphabet to number themselves. Sections are moderately secured from one-another, except for when the jobs of some are related and bordering.
Sub-Sections are parts of Sections specifically specialized at specific task and nothing else. They are numbered using numbers, rather than the alphabet, as some Sections can have a large number of Sub-Sections. Sub-Sections are somewhat protected from one-another.
That's basically it, I'll add more if I think of anything else you might need to know.
List of Levels:
These are the levels I think might be relevant to everyone's interest.
Level +25 is the VTOL Landing level. VTOL craft store in here and take off from here.
Levels +24 to +6 are various levels that probably aren't important for the players for a while.
Level +5 is Upper Security, which deals with everything from Level 0 up. This means they control the doors leading out, folks.
Level +4 is Business. They deal with business deals and other public corporate matters.
Level +3 and +2 are Public. They interact with the public and employees. You've all been there before several times.
Level +1 is the Rec and Medical Level. This is where employees that need a quick break go, or if somebody's injured and they need immediate care, they are also sent here.
Level 0 is the Lobby. Let's all go to the lobby~ Let's all go to the lobby~...
Level -1 is Underground Security. These guys are the dudes that protect all the secrets and employees. There is no way around Underground Security--the Central Elevator refuses to go past without authorization, and the staircases are in plain sight.
Level -2 is Mechanical R&D. These guys deal with mechanical things, obviously. They make neat vehicle stuff--all employees have a couple neat things in their car that originated from one of these in one of the various Vanaard Corp buildings. They also make other things, but you don't know what else.
Level -3 is Computers and Digital R&D. These guys house the central computer, have a large computing force dedicated to managing things, and research and develop various softwares.
Level -4 is Weapons and Destruction R&D. These guys deal with experimental weapons and other destructive things. The entire level is reenforced with solid Steel in each Section, and the outer part of the level is heavily reenforced with Concrete. There is also a noticeably larger security force here.
Level -5 is Bio R&D. You guys work here, obviously. You deal with biological experimentation, and other things related. Quarantine procedures are far, far more strict here than any other level. Well, at least, that you know of...
Level -6 is Restricted. The stuff down here is highly classified, apparently even more than alien life. Unfortunately, the entire level is highly secured, and it's already locked down massively, so unless something comes OUT of -6, you're NEVER getting in without some sort of mechanical monstrosity than can punch through massive amounts of concrete and steel.
Discovered Locations:
Level -5:
Portion B:
Section C:
Sub-section A:
Sub-section B:
Sub-section C:
Sub-section D:
Sub-section E:
Quarantine Room Hallway.
Quarantine Room (x16)
Research Hallway (Sub-Section E)
Research Room (x3)
Contaminated Research Room
Research Room
Computer Room
Storage Room
Sub-section F:
Research Hallway (Sub-Section E)
Microbe Breeding Room
Larger Creature Breeding Room
Gene Manipulation Room
Surgery Room
Containment Room
Panic Room
Animal Control Armory
Camera and Break Room
Miscellaneous Experimentation Room
Storage Room
Sub-section G:
I'll add more as I think of more.