THE NEW VANGUARD! HAUNT Issue #9 with Special Guest Star STEEPLEJACK!

Right, I'll see how much I can do before I hit the sack. Feel like crap, hoping a hot shower and early bed will sort me out. Brrrrr!



Looking behind him Haunt saw... no door! It had gone! He turned and looked about.

Plains. Hills. Grasslands. A warm breeze.

He turned to Steeplejack at his side. The pair of them were dressed in period clothing and stood otherwise alone in the middle of a plain.

Aside from...

A curling twist of black smoke rose from beyond a distant hill. Trouble? Then, a thunder of hooves! From the direction of the smoke they come... Indians on horseback, whooping and hollering! Riding right for Haunt and Steeplejack! There were around twenty of them!

"Guess it's time to see what powers we currently have, pardner," the Haunt drawls. "Let's see what happens with my go to power."

Aura of Fear but on the horses only.

Steeplejack nodded holding his hands in front of him with some trepidation before wondering if he ought to go for his guns instead. Learning how to shoot when a barrel load of horse riding Indians charging down didn't seem the right time start. But just in case he reached for one gun hoping that it wouldn't come to that whilst being ready to move earth if Haunts power to cause fear was suddenly absent. That is, of course assuming, my earth moving powers were still intact. Steeplejack mused as the pack descended on them.

Sj

Haunt unleashes his Aura of Fear against the onrushing horses!

OOC Bearing in mind what I explained before let's see how this goes. TIME is trying to rebel against the characters!

TIME 10 + Roll(2d12)+0: 12,2,+0 Total: 24 vs
AoF 10 + Roll(2d12)+0: 8,7,+0 Total:25
AoF is at full effect!

Aura of fear 10 + Roll(2d12)+0: 11,12,+0 Total:33 vs

Horse Int 1 (this won't be a challenge... Basically if it's a double then another double it might fail) +
Roll(2d12)+0: 4,2,+0 Total:6
Roll(2d12)+0: 8,10,+0 Total:18
Roll(2d12)+0: 2,6,+0 Total:8
Roll(2d12)+0: 10,10,+0 Total:20 plus Roll(2d12)+0: 12,11,+0 Total: 43 (44) AoF FAILED
Roll(2d12)+0: 9,5,+0 Total:14
Roll(2d12)+0: 9,2,+0 Total:11
Roll(2d12)+0: 3,11,+0 Total:14
Roll(2d12)+0: 5,12,+0 Total:17
Roll(2d12)+0: 5,4,+0 Total:9
Roll(2d12)+0: 12,12,+0 Total:24 plus Roll(2d12)+0: 4,5,+0 Total: 33 (34) AoF FAILED
Roll(2d12)+0: 4,7,+0 Total:11
Roll(2d12)+0: 2,8,+0 Total:10
Roll(2d12)+0: 7,5,+0 Total:12
Roll(2d12)+0: 10,4,+0 Total:14
Roll(2d12)+0: 3,11,+0 Total:14
Roll(2d12)+0: 5,2,+0 Total:7
Roll(2d12)+0: 7,5,+0 Total:12
Roll(2d12)+0: 2,5,+0 Total:7
Roll(2d12)+0: 1,4,+0 Total:5
Roll(2d12)+0: 10,5,+0 Total:15


The horses screech to a halt in the dust screaming fear and shaking in terror even as the riders desperately cling on if they can! Some are catapulted through the air to thud into the dust and others sprawl, tumbling and rolling in confusion. Out of twenty charging horses only two still carry on to their destination!

OOC Whilst Steeplejack may have a couple of guns on his belt he's not had chance to spend any of Thoths fake gold yet. Thus he doesn't have the Colt Peacemaker or derringer in the picture. Doubtless David M will correct me if my guesses are wrong (and I defer to your knowledge. I know you are pretty much an expert on gaming in the old west having been a fan for a long time of the genre in comic books at any rate. If you have any suggestions of guest appearances from characters of the era from any comic books feel free to pipe up. More fun, plus any DC characters will have stats that translate directly into the game we use. Jonah Hex will be badass I expect...)

Steeplejack reached for a gun, and rolled his eyes as he came up empty. The Indians were attacking with bow and arrow from horseback and knives in their belts. Two of them rode up and looked to fire arrows at the pair of them! The others were more or less lost in the huge cloud of dust and confusing noise of the horses.

OOC So Steeplejack can hang back or sprint up to attack or use a power or something... your call.

"let's grab some spare horses and get out of here, without guns and powers acting all weird we might get ourselves killed before we've even begun. "

Speak then attempted to flag down a horse to grab and swing up onto. Hoping to keep the horse and the bowman assuming between him and them.

You want Western heroes? You got Western Heroes!!!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:DC_Comics_Western_characters
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_comics
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mighty_Marvel_Western
https://www.google.com/search?rls=com.microsoft:en-US&q=marvel+comics+western+characters&tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwipyoCt7dvnAhWCd98KHSKiCF0QsAR6BAgKEAE&biw=1024&bih=756
https://www.google.com/search?rls=com.microsoft:en-US&q=marvel+comics+western+characters&tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwipyoCt7dvnAhWCd98KHSKiCF0QsAR6BAgKEAE&biw=1024&bih=756

From the pulps:
https://www.google.com/search?rls=com.microsoft:en-US&q=pulp+western+characters&tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwizrZDv7NvnAhVCTt8KHQHKCmIQsAR6BAgDEAE&biw=1024&bih=756
https://www.pulpfest.com/2015/06/saddle-up-thrillings-western-heroes/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_fiction

Some of this background information is really neat and you can spend hours getting lost in reading it.


Western RPGS:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deadlands
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1152089861/western-the-roleplaying-game
https://www.kenzerco.com/aces_n_eights/
https://orkerhulen.dk/boothill-3rd-edition-2.html
http://www.waynesbooks.com/DCHeroes.html#ww
https://rpgmuseum.fandom.com/wiki/DC_Adventures {I wasn't aware of this game}
http://www.writeups.org/ DC Heroes new rules and character write ups.

Masked Rider, Lone Ranger and Zorro being the big 3, though Zorrro is pre-1830s when Spain still controlled Mexico and California was part of their empire.

Steeple_jackuk wrote:"let's grab some spare horses and get out of here, without guns and powers acting all weird we might get ourselves killed before we've even begun. "

Speak then attempted to flag down a horse to grab and swing up onto.  Hoping to keep the horse and the bowman assuming between him and them.  

"Only two horses coming our way and they have riders," the Haunt replies. "Let's try this and see if it works. Be prepared to take 'em down."

The Haunt deactivates the magic ring showing himself in his regular Haunt outfit. Spreading his cape, and trying to summon Fog, he yells out, "I am COYOTE! Shall I show you a trick?!" Yay! Actor!!

[not trying to summon up a huge area of Fog but say around 10' radius around him to make him more mysterious and mystical. Of course, changing clothes in a flash might help with that too even if Fog fails.

ooc: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coyote_(mythology) Don't know much about him but what's here but I've heard of him in various stories. Plateau[edit]

Myths and stories of Coyote are also found in the cultures of the Plateau area: the Chinookan (including the Wishram people and the Multnomah),[24] the Flathead,[25] the Nez Perce,[26] the Nlaka'pamux, the Syilx (Okanagan), the St'at'imc, the Tsilhqot'in, and the Yakama.[27]

One story from the Chinookan describes Coyote's attempts to catch salmon. After repeated failures, Coyote defecates and his own feces begin to insult him. Eventually, his feces stop insulting him and offer detailed advice not only for catching the salmon, but also for preparing the fish once he has them. Coyote enjoys success for a while before he begins to fail once again. Coyote stops and, as before, defecates again. This batch of feces tells Coyote that there are even more aspects he has to take into consideration when fishing including specific instructions for specific geographic location. The story concludes with Coyote finally understanding how to fish properly but thoroughly exhausted.[28]

Southwest[edit]

Coyote also appears in the traditions of the Tohono O'odham people of Arizona, as an associate of the culture-hero Montezuma.

He also appears in a legend of the White Mountain Apache, "Coyote fights a lump of pitch" (a variant of the Tar-Baby theme), and in similar legends of the Zapotec and Popoluca of Mexico.

Functional cognates[edit]

See also: Trickster

Coyote is compared to both the Scandinavian Loki, and also Prometheus, who shared with Coyote the trick of having stolen fire from the gods as a gift for mankind, and Anansi, a mythological culture hero from Western African mythology. In Eurasia, rather than a coyote, a fox is often featured as a trickster hero, ranging from kitsune (fox) tales in Japan to the Reynard cycle in Western Europe.

Claude Lévi-Strauss, French anthropologist proposed a structuralist theory that suggests that Coyote and Crow obtained mythic status because they are mediator animals between life and death.[29]

Steeplejack ran over to where the horses cowered in terror and vaulted to the back of one even as Indian warriors sprawled in the dust all about!

OOC You don't need to be a superhuman to climb on a horse. However these horses are trained by the native americans and are currently petrified with fear until Haunt releases the hold he has over them. Once that happens... yeeee haaaa! Hold on to ya hats pardner! We're talking an unskilled animal handling check which might go well... or go sideways depending on the pesky TIME thing we have going on. It hasn't reared its head yet but every time a superhuman ability is used it gets checked...

In the meantime...

The attacking horsemen split, one going for each hero!

OOC Standard native american warrior:

Dex 4 Str 3 Body 3
Weaponry (melee, missile) 3
Animal Handling 3
Military Science/tracking 3

(See what I mean about not really presenting a challenge, hence the 'Time challenge thing'?)

Attack on Haunt...

Dex 4 + Roll(4d12)+0: 8,6,10,10,+0 Total: 20 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d12)+0: 4,6,+0 Total:30 (34) vs
Haunt Dex 8* + Roll(5d12)+0: 4,4,1,6,9,+0  Total: 8 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d12)+0: 2,12,+0 Total: 22 (30)
HIT +3 EV (to 6) vs Haunt Body* 14= NO DAMAGE and the arrow shatters!

Clink! The arrow explodes against Haunts chest into a zillion wood fragments!

The other takes aim at Steeplejack on the horseback!

OOC Here we go again...

Dex 4 + Roll(4d12)+0: 12,6,11,2,+0 Total: 23 (27) vs
Steeplejack Dex 13* + Roll(6d12)+0: 5,12,5,7,9,7,+0 Total:14 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d12)+0: 6,10,+0 Total: 30 (43)
The Arrow misses!

Steeplejack casually leans to the side and watches as the arrow zings past!

I may use these results for a set amount of time as otherwise the page will be filled with me checking stuff every time.






*Time 10 vs Dex 10... Roll(2d12)+0: 6,10,+0 Total:16 vs Roll(2d12)+0: 12,1,+0 Total:13 DEX REDUCED TO 8
Acrobatics 5 is very good but not superhuman.
Time 14 vs Body 14... Roll(2d12)+0: 8,4,+0 Total:12 vs Roll(2d12)+0: 12,2,+0 Total:14 Body ok

**Time 13 vs Dex 13... Roll(2d12)+0: 10,6,+0 Total:16 vs Roll(2d12)+0: 6,6,+0 Total:12 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d12)+0: 4,9,+0 Total:25 DEX REMAINS 13

ooc: Don't think you will have a big change in what you wrote. Also, most Indians didn't have saddles, just some kind of hide or blanket on the horse's back. So Steeplejack, who I am sure has Animal Handling or Riding or some such skill, will have no problems guiding his terrified mount.

And one of the reasons that the Haunt is planning on walking.

OOC Agreed, these guys really can't make a dent in the heroes with arrows. Therefore...

Haunt appears having cancelled the magic appearance change and then summons a fog from nowhere!

Well, that was enough for the two attacking Indians! They reared their horses, gaped in fear and turned, heading back the way they'd come! They were joined by others who ran whilst glancing over their shoulder in superstitious terror!

In moments the heroes were left with a crowd of terrified horses who were glued to the spot and settling dust along with various discarded bows and arrows.

The black plume of smoke over the brow of the hill still beckoned. Something was, or had, burned.

Looking about, there was no clear and obvious route, like a road, to any nearby settlements.

OOC Right, rather than fanny about every time the characters try anything I am going to assume:

Time (as a force of the universe) does several things:

Physical Abilities (Dex, Str, Body) WILL be affected
All powers WILL be affected
Skills MIGHT be affected if they are basically of superhuman level. Anything over what characters like Green Arrow and Batman have (peak human) in other words will be affected.

This is only when the characters face off against people/animals from this era of Time. Against Time Travellers (like the bad guys) you are at full power, as they are. They suffer the same type of reduction. Time really doesn't want anyone messing with it. unless you are a master magician like Professor Thoth or protected by some magical artefact everyone will suffer reductions like this if they travel back in their own timeline and run a risk of changing history forever. Also the longer you stay in the era, the more profound the effects which will extend to mental and mystical attributes eventually!

The other type of time travel is that which creates a new, alternate time line and you keep everything as is without Time trying to 'reject' you. This is NOT that kind. This is the 'tread on a butterfly in the distant past and mankind ceases to exist' type, so you have been warned!!!

Phew. Time travel. Don't think too much about it and it will spare you a headache...

Admin wrote:OOC As an aside I am going to check all relevant attributes powers and skills and I will post up new 'Time affected' character sheets to refer to.

ooc:
Good idea. If we had the time, we could test ourselves and see what we can do. Thinks like pounding the ground. Lifting and throwing stones. Running and jumping. Stretching and shapeshifting, etc. But since we have a fire over the hill and Rush has seen lots of Westerns, he has a pretty good idea of what they are about to find and it won't be pretty. So the power testing will have to wait as we see if there were any survivors.


"Let's grab the bridles of a handful of these ponies, hombre, and then I will let off the fear. The rest will either scatter and perhaps head back to where the Indians live or will follow us. I'm not sure since I am no expert on herd animals."

"Then we need to go over that hill," pointing to where the smoke is, "and see if there are any survivors and see if we can help. Big three things I think we will see is a cavalry unit wiped out, a wagon train attacked and maybe wiped out or a ranch attacked and maybe wiped out. But I'm afraid we may be burying some folks here pretty soon."

The Haunt goes up to some of the horses and grabbing the reins to 4-5 of them, waits for Steeplejack to do the same or do what he thinks is best, then releases his Aura of Fear.

Steeplejack nodded in the affirmative after mounting his horse and following his pardners wake up over the hill, eyes peeled as he took in the whole area.

Sj

OOC Also bear in mind that Haunt is probably around a 1/3rd ahead in terms of HP/Power/Experience. After this adventure (and possibly the next) Steep will be getting a jump in power (probably Str/body rather than Dex which will be expensive to increase).

Haunt and Steeplejack calmed the horses released from the Aura of fear effect and eventually the animals were calm enough to let the pair mount the horses.

The others got up and ran off, spooking those that were held by the Heroes but both possessed enough strength to easily keep the animals in check. It took time but after fifteen minutes or so the remaining horses were calm. Haunt had a pair along with the one he was riding and Steeplejack just the one.

Moments later they were geeing the horses forward and over the ridge to see what would be revealed...

A circle of wagons had been pulled up. One was still burning lightly, but the others were blackened and burnt out. The heroes gaze turned cold as they saw, even from a mile away, bodies strewn about. Riding steadily across the plain they could see no one else about aside from the group of native americans sprinting away back towards distant hills.

As they approached they saw something strange. No arrows. had the Indians carried guns? No, they would have used them. Then what...?

Dismounting and tying the ponies to a burnt out wagon Haunt moved to a body. A neat hole, scorched and flaring out had burned through the settler. Not a bullet hole then. More like...

More like a shot from a laser gun. Not standard 19th century weaponry then. The Aliens were here, and not afraid of using the weaponry they'd brought through the gate. The question was how many of them and what were they after? The Indians had NOT done this...

Steeplejack turned form where he sat quietly on the back of the horse. "Rider approaching!" he said. Haunt turned and saw a lone ride heading towards the wagons. He'd been unhorsed earlier but managed to round one up and rather than fleeing was heading back to speak to Haunt and Steeplejack!

He came closer then stopped at a safe distance. "You... Do this?" he said, with the wave of a hand at the cluster of half a dozen burnt out wagons and bodies of the victims.

OOC I assume the pair will say no but reel off a list of questions to ask of the Injun and I'll fill in the gaps.

By the way, Indian, Injun... it's how I was brought up. Cowboys and Indians. These days I think the more PC term is Native American but I'll refer to these guys as Injuns if thats ok.

"No," the Haunt replied, "thought you and yore kind did this originally."

DavidMcMahon wrote:"No," the Haunt replied, "thought you and yore kind did this originally."

Steeplejack looked on somewhat suspicious. What he knew about Indians, was only what little he could remember growing up. You don't learn a lot of American history in the poor parts of the north where he grew up. But from what he could tell, the different tribes was more like different gangs, except that been given the equivalent of Uzi's when everyone else had bowie knives.

Steeplejack let Haunt do the talking, he seemed to know his way about this better than he. Besides he knew his accent would only draw more suspicion, so he kept a keen eye out and also about seeing if among the wreck there was any discernible evidence of a trail or any other clues.

Sj

By the way, Indian, Injun... it's how I was brought up. Cowboys and Indians. These days I think the more PC term is Native American but I'll refer to these guys as Injuns if that's ok.


ooc: Both works. Since we are doing this time period, that's what people said. "Native American" is only a description from the last few decades after all, which ticks the rest of us born in the USA off since we are Native Americans too. After all, the original Indians were from Asia who immigrated here. And had numerous wars amongst themselves, pushing weaker tribes to less valuable lands or wiping them out completely or merging them into their more powerful tribes. That's for people who think Indians were a pure and peaceful innocent people who miraculously appeared in the Americas and never bothered their neighbors at all. It was only evil white men who taught them about wars.

OK, I'm going to get off my soapbox here. We had snow overnight and things are a bit hectic in the Raleigh area. 2" of snow is a huge problem for us as we do not have tons of expensive snow plows and salt trucks, etc. to handle the snow that only shows up a couple of days or a week every year.

And for Steeplejack, if he ever mentions his worry about his accent, Haunt can lay that to rest since lots of folks from all over Europe are settling in the Wild West, primarily Irish, German, Scottish and Italians. Chinese are primarily in the northern West/Mid-West as they were brought in in the 1850s+ to help lay the railroads through that area. Or he can find out on his own because if memory serves and depending where we are in Billy the Kid's life, he worked for a rich influential English cattle rancher trying to turn his life around, then went back to his killing ways when the Englishman was killed.

Now to call my clients and let them know I am not coming out to see them because of the icy roads and sidewalks. Cheers!

Oh and when we get to Prohibition, a Chicago Typewriter is a Tommy Gun.

DavidMcMahon wrote:
And for Steeplejack, if he ever mentions his worry about his accent, Haunt can lay that to rest since lots of folks from all over Europe are settling in the Wild West, primarily Irish, German, Scottish and Italians.  Chinese are primarily in the northern West/Mid-West as they were brought in in the 1850s+ to help lay the railroads through that area.  Or he can find out on his own because if memory serves and depending where we are in Billy the Kid's life, he worked for a rich influential English cattle rancher trying to turn his life around, then went back to his killing ways when the Englishman was killed.

OOC: Good point, it's great you know so much about this era Dave, playing as you do with two Brits it makes it easier we've got someone who is native. Anyway, Sj will not worry about his broad slightly Brummie accent and try and just growl out the words without giving himself a sore throat. Hope you got on alright with that snow and all.

Sj

OOC Not quite sure what happened with your OOC snow day post David but I scrubbed it from the issues area to keep things tidy, hope you don't mind! Anyway hope the snow clears up in reasonable time. Whenever it comes down here it tends to hang around for weeks and make everyone completely fed up/incapable of driving. We've dodged snow so far in the UK for the most part but been absolutely clobbered by flooding instead...

The Injun frowned. "If you not do this and we not do this... we found tracks appear from nowhere. Men tracks and... " he frowned again.

"Feet like ..." he struggled with his fingers to hold two apart then another two. (OOC Vulcan greeting thing) "And heavy. very heavy. Almost same as horse. Big. Like...Bear! Big bear. Fierce."

he appeared to be struggling to understand how a group could appear in the middle of a plain, walk... or sometimes run to the pilgrims who probably offered food and drink to them only for them to be killed with weapons that were more powerful than the white man normally carried. For him and his people it represented a clear and present danegr if the white man could bring new weapons in the struggle for survival on the plains.

"I... my name is Ke-Woh-No-Tay. Some call me Scalphunter. I chase bad men. Kill them so people stay safe. To make war is bad but sometimes war only way to stop greater war. You understand? I will go with you. track... big beasts and men with burn hole guns. Collect scalps." he made a cutting motion with his knife.



"If you say no, I go anyway. Ghost in white must change though. Stand out like... white horse on plain." he said, raising an eyebrow at haunts quite outlandish garb.

Admin wrote:"If you say no, I go anyway. Ghost in white must change though. Stand out like... white horse on plain." he said, raising an eyebrow at haunts quite outlandish garb.

"Hate to say it partner..." Steepljack intoned with a slower than usual drawl as if his words were coming out at half their speed. "But I think we've just got some help we need. But he's got a point about the look. Perhaps best change over away so you don't spook the fella!"

OOC: I think we should take him, we can do with all the help we can get, and if this Scalphunter is as good as he says then we might have found a ally who can make a difference in catching up to the Advent.

Sj

ooc: How outlandish can my costume be? I directly swiped it from the Western Ghost Rider character!
OHHH! Wouldn't it be cool to run into him too? http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/g/ghostridertimely.htm
And Scalphunter is an interesting character, a white man raised by Indians. I know there was a radio show about a white man that disguised himself as an Indian in order to keep law and order in the West but can't remember what he was called and never heard the show.
BTW, does Detective skill cover tracking abilities or is that another skill?


The Haunt walks behind Steeplejack, blocking Scalphunter's view for a split second of him, and rubs his magic ring during that time so he is back to the scarred western figure [who ISN'T Jonah Hex, whom Scalphunter met in the comics a few times but since we are not following comics who knows if he knows him here and now.]

"Those are just the hombres we are trying to find and put an end to, Scalphunter," the Haunt says not really knowing much about the man since there obviously wasn't any Westerns on TV about famous Indian heroes, though there were a ton of them in the 1950s about almost every famous and nearly famous Western characters on TV. Westerns were the number one shows in the 1950s, everything else took a back seat to them. Rush King was thankful for video streaming that allowed him to see those old shows so he could study the acting style and language and primitive TV filming techniques of that bygone era. "You know this area way better than we do, we would take it as a right neighborly thing if you were to show us the way to these owlhoots, so we can make sure nothing like this happens again."

"The name is King ... er ... Rex King. And this here is my partner ..."

He waves to Steeplejack to introduce himself with whatever name he wants to use.

OOC While the comics depicted masked mystery men the only time I ever saw Scalphunter in the comics was JLA 198 which I bought back in the day and had to come up with some research/head scratching to remember...



Only Green Lantern and Flash wore a mask back then and there were a few comments about the clothes they wore. As there were about Zatannas costume...

Military Science has the Tracking subskill by the way. Other than that it's pretty useless in a standard superhero genre. A war based campaign would see that usefulness increase.

Scalphunter nodded. "Rex King. You change clothes plenty fast." he said with restraint. He was clearly quite superstitious and unsure of what he was dealing with here.

"I track good." he knelt to the look at the tracks. "Appear over there. Wait for wagons." He moved and looked about, pacing carefully. After turning and glancing back at the wagons he offered. "This man..." pointing to a guy with a cauterised hole in his head. "Approached them. Said words. Died. Shooting started. Panic, screams. See where women and children fell? Running for cover, no danger to bad men with strange feet. Yet died. Men shoot, casings all about."

He put a hand on his chin, thoughtful, then walked out fifty feet or so and crouched, looking around on the floor. Finally he appeared to have found something. He picked it up from the dirt and walked back with a flattened bullet in his palm. "Never seen bullet flat like this. Hit rock, rock smash. Metal bend. Flesh rip. Bullet punch through most time. This? Other bullets same. Flat. Like hit... " he looked nonplussed. What could stop a bullet?

"I look for trail. Him Rex King, clothes changer and smoke man, like when tribal chiefs smoke pipes with strange plant and see things not normal, he like all time. You?" he asked of Steeplejack.