Solo All-Out Apocalypse Session 4
As seems to be my way, it has been approximately FOREVER since I last played this solo game. I'm hopeful that I remember how any of this works.
Last time: The gang got into a very hairy fight with some androids and blood birds. They managed to take out one android and steal one shotgun before fleeing outside. After catching their breath and taking stock of their inventory they worked their way along the south side of the building and spotted the water park!
On to the game!
Fly, Altivo, and Baby look excitedly at the large "Waterpark" text emblazoned on the side of the building, but their mood falters slightly as they realize there's no obvious entrance to the structure, at least not without going back inside the main area of the mall, which might take them dangerously close to the android zone. At any rate, they will have to get closer to see if there are any utility entrances that aren't locked up.
Last session we checked for encounters, so they are able to proceed safely across the parking lot, though they do so carefully and as quietly as possible, hunkering down between the husks of various vehicles. They make their way along the wall, testing each door along the way. Google maps shows me that none of these doors have handles and I imagine they all have either key-card access or push handles from the inside, so I'm going to give a 1-in-6 chance that any of these doors is open. [1: An open door!]
I am actually disappointed by this since it likely means less time inside the mall, but I must follow the will of the dice here. We will see what happens!
A fortunate turn of events for our heroes: one of the utility doors is actually open! It looks like some debris has prevented it from closing fully, leaving a gap big enough to get a finger through. Fly leads the way, pressing himself flat against the wall to listen for a minute.
At this point I need to figure out what's actually within. Due to this being a landmark I will use the chart I established previously and my list of converted Gamma World monsters to determine what's going on in there. If I have to choose a monster I think I'll roll twice and pick the one that best fits the water park theme.
[3: Themed monster][15, 6: Obb, Blood Bird] Interesting... I had kinda envisioned this place being occupied by sentient creatures, but I guess not! Well blood birds are a given in this place, and while it would make some amount of sense for them to be infesting this place, Obbs are flying fungus creatures so it makes sense to find them in moist places. I think I'll use them here for fun, since we will almost certainly see more blood birds before the game is done anyway.
Another small issue: I don't know what's actually behind these doors. I couldn't find anything online about it. I'm sure they must lead to utility rooms, back offices, break rooms, storage, etc., so I'm just going to make stuff up here. I'll roll the dice if I need to, but since there are clearly dumpsters right outside the doors I will just say that these doors lead into a utility area.
Fly doesn't hear anything, but sticking his face up to the door gap he can smell something. Unfortunately it's not the chemically-clean smell of a chlorinated swimming pool; it's mold. Fly turns to the others, face scrunched up.
"Smells musty in there, but I don't hear anything."
He carefully pulls the door open and peers inside. They're at the end of a long hallway, cluttered with decayed junk: old mop buckets, cardboard boxes, and trash bags covered in lacy black fungal growth. There is no light inside, and the light from the door barely illuminates to the end of the hallway, which seems to split into a T intersection.
Altivo looks down the cluttered hallway, then doubtfully back at the cart. Clarabell can step over this stuff, but the cart will likely get stuck. Plus there's no way Clarabell can turn around in that narrow hallway with the cart hitched.
"I'm not leaving her outside," says Baby. "Let's leave the cart and bring her with us."
"She stays outside," Fly replies. "At best she's a nuisance, and at worst she blocks off our escape route if we get swarmed."
Let's roll to see who wins this argument. Odd says they leave Clarabell outside, even says the opposite. [6: Clarabell comes along] Fly is exasperated when Altivo takes Baby's side, but seeing that he's lost argument he helps the others hide the cart between two burned-out Ford F150s.
The team proceeds carefully inside. Altivo leads the way, followed by Baby leading Clarabell, and finally Fly, muttering grumpily. They do not yet use the flashlight, relying on the light from the open door (propped open with some junk) to see. Altivo reaches the T intersection, peering carefully one way, then the other.
Crossing the parking lot and stowing the cart took two turns, so let's roll for random encounters.
[2: No encounter] Altivo detects no sound nor movement, although the latter could just be due to the pitch darkness. He rummages in his pack, pulling out a flashlight, but Baby stops him and pulls out the scented candle they found earlier. I realize they don't have anything with which to light it, but I'm just going to handwave that and say they are able to get it lit. Shaky orange light illuminates the hallways, and helps mask the awful smell of mold spores. I'll say each usage point gives them one exploration turn (ten minutes) of light.
The light doesn't illuminate far enough to see much, so they just choose a direction randomly and turn right at the intersection. I'll roll on this chart to see where it leads:
Waterpark Rooms:
1: Back office
2: Break room
3: Water treatment room
4: Storage
5: Workshop
6: Park access
[5: Workshop] The gang proceeds down the hallway and arrives at some kind of maintenance room. Baby holds the candle high revealing a medium sized room strewn with various bits of industrial stuff. This room would have been used to perform basic repairs on waterpark equipment, so it's unlikely it would contain chlorine (if it exists at all I'm going to say it's either in storage or in the water treatment room). However, it's clearly full of various bits and bobs (picked over somewhat let's say, due to its proximity to the door), so we'll call it a standard lootable area.
The gang mulls it over, but the candle is already dwindling. It would take one exploration turn to loot the room. They decide to forge onwards, leaving any treasures here behind. They continue down the hall.
[6: Park Access] At the end of the hallway is a set of double doors. The candlelight reveals that the doors are crusted over with weird fungal growth. Baby pinches their nose due to the smell and makes room for Altivo to look. He takes a whiff and has to stifle a cough.
"It's not radioactive, that's for sure."
I'll roll to see if they try to pass through the door. Odd says they go through, even says they don't try.
[5: Go through] Fly squeezes past Clarabell and gingerly tries the door. The crash-bar handle squeaks a little and the door moves, but the fungal growth is preventing the door from opening further. Altivo is feeling weary (having used up his point in Brawn for the day), so Fly holsters his pistol and tries to shove the door open.
(2hp = 2 dice)[1 success]
The fungus breaks apart with a meaty ripping noise. The door swings open revealing a sight that makes everyone gasp in amazement: a massive room nearly 200 meters long lies beyond, containing a towering scaffold structure in the forefront, and a massive open area beyond. The grubby skylight ceiling allows for some illumination (Baby snuffs the candle), though filth has built up on the glass. Several panels in the ceiling are broken, and the beams of unimpeded light paint bright columns through a cloud of green haze that hangs in the air. The source of this green haze is obvious enough: the whole room is coated in fungal growths.
Baby, Fly, and Altivo crane their necks to take in the structure that dominates this side of the cavern. It is a maze of metal staircases and platforms. Over a dozen tubes and chutes emerge from the structure, stretching in all directions, all coated in a black lacework of mycelium and clusters of dark fungal lumps. Periodically the lumps shake gently, letting loose a fresh cloud of miasma.
Beyond the structure is a broad indoor plain filled with more dark lumps. The party can't make out much detail from here.
High above, dark winged shapes swoop through the gloom.
Everyone backs up carefully, and Fly pulls the door shut. "Not that way."
It's time for another wandering monster roll.
[3: no encounter] Turning Clarabelle around, they retreat back into the dark, past the workshop and toward the T intersection. Baby lights the candle again (another use gone) so they can see what is down the other branch.
[1: Back Office] They peer through the next door down the hallway. A pair of ransacked desks and a fleet of filing cabinets are arranged haphazardly. It is filled with detritus, but it doesn't seem the kind of place where you'd find chlorine, so they continue onwards.
Inside this area I'm just gonna roll for encounters for every other room, even though it isn't a full 10 minutes per room if they don't linger. I just think it's more interesting if Stuff Happens.
[6: No encounter][3: Water Treatment Room] By candle-light the party proceeds down a flight of stairs and comes out into an industrial room filled with pipes and valves and stuff. It's musty and nasty but it's clearly a water treatment room. Jackpot!! This seems like the ideal place to find chlorine. The party is going to spend a turn searching the room. This is an ideal spot to find chlorine, but also chlorine is a consumable (not in an EATING way) item. So I'm gonna call this a specialty item, and a normal looting scenario. Each person searching will need to get a success AND their resulting dice will need to sum to at least 10.
Fly is going to stand guard at the stairs while the others search. Altivo is going to use his flashlight to help, and Baby will use the candle (using up another usage point). I'm gonna roll another encounter, too.
Fly (2hp = 2 dice)[1 success]
Altivo (2hp + flashlight = 3 dice)[2 successes, <10]
Baby (2hp + candle = 3 dice)[2 successes, <10]
[6: No encounter] Altivo and Baby rummage around the dark corners of the room. They find a couple of chlorine drums, but they are overturned and empty. Everyone voices some choice expletives. However, there was some successful looting generally, so let's roll on the junk table to see what they found.
[80: Religious Vestments, 3 uses]
[60: Leather Jacket, 3 uses]
[44: Horseshoe Crab Blood, 6 uses]
[66: Raffle Tickets, 3 uses]
"Cult," they all say in unison. "Definitely cult shit."
They gather up their bizarre loot. Altivo tries on the leather jacket. A little tattered, but it fits.
"Let's keep looking," says Baby. "There must be additional storage someplace."
They head back up the stairs and collect Clarabell. There are still a couple more doors visible, so they check the next one.
[4: Storage] Baby gestures vigorously but silently at a door marked "Storage." I'll roll odds/evens to see if it's locked. [Even: unlocked] The door creaks open. Baby's candle enters its last dungeon turn of illumination, so I've marked off its final usage point now, but it's still good for lighting their way. The room is medium sized and full of junk. I'm gonna roll again to see if they find anything useful. Again, Fly keeps watch while Baby and Altivo search, but before doing that I'll have Baby use their serum to regain that lost hit point. A bit meta, but this is literally the only way they'll get the successes they need to find chlorine.
Fly: (2hp = 2 dice)[0 successes]
Baby: (3hp = 3 dice)[1 success, <10]
Altivo: (2hp = 2 dice)[1 succcess, <10]
Disappointment again. Baby rolled 6, 2, 2, so even if they used their point in Senses to turn one of the failures into a six, that still won't equal 10. Again, empty sacks and drums of chlorine and bleach, but none have anything left inside. They are crestfallen, but let's see what they DID find. Again, I'll use the random junk table.
[98: Driving gloves, 6 uses]
[83: White glue, 1 use]
Altivo is starting to look like a serious badass with the gloves and leather jacket. Baby is looking decidedly less cool, but I think that glue may come in handy. I'd rule that it will allow for one additional point during a repair.
The party is crestfallen. What now? If the waterpark doesn't have what they need, where else can they look? There must be SOME kind of sanitation supplies in a place like this. A bit of rest would help, maybe. They are feeling a little beat up after their fight with the androids, and it's impacting their performance.
As they are discussing, a sound suddenly echoes through the dark hallways. The creak of the door slamming shut, and the crunching of metallic footsteps in the hall outside! Who could it be??
We will find out NEXT TIME! (Spoiler: It's the androids)