The Nightmare Switch: part 3

Last night my players and I reconvened to resume play in our new Numenera campaign. Last session finished with them entering the Faceted Dome and realising they needed to replace a part in the ancient machine they saw before them (you can read about it here (part 1) and here (part 2)). The game is played over Google Hangouts, as its difficult to get is all together regularly to play face to face (we live in three different parts of the country).

Gaming area all set up and ready to go!

The party started the session by exploring the interior of the dome. It was an unusual change from the dusty, dry, hot desert outside, with it's cool, humid atmosphere and it's frequent potted plants. Nord wondered if there were any storage compartments or bins which might contain a replacement for the burned out and damaged cylinder that was removed from the machine. The three companions rooted high and low in and around the machinery but were unable to find a replacement cylinder. They did however find a collection of cyphers and an oddity. After a brief discussion Six replaced one of his existing cyphers with a small glass rod that disintegrated metal when activated, figuring it would be more useful than the pill he gave up. With no luck on finding a replacement part, Cannis suggested that they pursue the tracks leading off westward to see if they can locate the Aeon priests from Redstone, and see if they knew anything about the part. After a short rest the party set off on foot across the scorching, arid land, following the tracks as they led off first west then southwest. By nightfall, they hadn't caught up with the creators of the tracks and so decided to take refuge in a nearby cave to rest for the evening.

With watches set and people bedding down, Nord Dar set about passing the time of his watch near the entrance to the cave, looking out on the night sky. His musings were disturbed, however, by the sight and sounds of the sand in the cave roiling and moving (GM Intrusion, which Nord's player happily accepted! This was also the first attempt by myself to add a creature of my own design into Numenera). From beneath the surface burst out a long, sinuous creature with two limbs that ended with scythe-like blades which fused synth, steel and bone. The two sleeping party members leapt to their feet and readied themselves for action: before any one started to fight Cannis roared that he could calm the creature (being trained in placating natural animals... a stretch calling this natural!). Staring at the monster, and making himself look big, Cannis shouted at the creature "back down!". For a split second it paused, checked by Cannis' booming voice in the confines of the cave, but then it launched itself at the Glaive, swinging it's scythe-blades. Cannis, being a nimble and lightly armoured sort, dived aside to dodge the blade (in doing so Cannis' player roared with delight, the dice coming up a natural 20!). This brush with death shook something loose in him, and with an un-natural howl he started to flicker and his outline shift, becoming a huge, slavering wolf-man hybrid! At this point battle commenced in earnest.

The creature in the cave

The players all rolled for initiative with all three players acting before the creature. A good start! First round actions were declared, with Nord shooting it with his bow, Cannis leaping on it and clawing it apart and Six attempting to Onslaught it with his Nano powers. This round of actions produced a spectacular amount of damage from Cannis as he applied effort to the damage and ripped a large part of the creatures armour free. Nord's arrow deflected off the creature's tough hide and Six.... well Six managed to fail spectacularly with his Onslaught, rolling a 1 and giving free GM intrusion. This was used to introduce a smaller version of the creature attacking them, which burrowed out of the sand behind Six and attacked him. The creature launched it's counter-attack, lashing out at both Nord and Cannis, missing Nord but slashing across Cannis, who simply ignored the pain and carried right on with his attack.

The second round produced another flurry of interesting actions. Cannis attempted to rip more of the creature apart to add to the devastation he got with his first strike, Nord switched attention to the small creature, and Six once again went more an Onslaught blast. Fortune did not favour Cannis, as he rolled a one for another GM intrusion: this one meant that although he ripped something off the creature he ended up with a face full of acidic ichor, burning himself for 4 points of damage. Nord grabbed the smaller creature by the neck, ignoring its bone-scythes and proceeded to snap its spine, ending the treat from it. Six had more poor luck, rolling badly and failing to blast the larger creature.

At the start of the third round, Cannis' outline flickered and shifted once again, going back to the man not the beast, who found himself naked, and on the back of a huge creature that was determined to kill him. He launched another attack on the creature, again aiming for the damaged area he had created on his first attack, but again rolled a 1! The third free GM intrusion in this fight generated a second juvenile creature which launched itself at Cannis, who dodges to avoid it. Nord then delivered an arrow to the adult creature inflicting damage upon it before Six finally activates his Onslaught and killed the main threat. All that was left now was for Cannis to dispatch the juvenile, which him promptly did with one blow from his fist!

With the companions exhausted from the fight, they simply pushed the bodies of their foes to the back of the cave, and brushed themselves off before returning to their beds, or watch posts. Cannis also found time to replace his torn clothing, much to the relief of his companions! When morning arrived, they set out from the cave again following the trail, hopeful that today would be the day they caught up, and put pay to the nightmares plaguing Redstone.