aluminiumtrioxid

On Easy. It's possible, though, that the sample character had a really crappy Con score.

Well, the creepy-crawlies were dangerous because of their poison, which is something clerics and druids should be able to counter (at higher levels, of course). And ogres wielding clubs twice as big as your character should be able to flatten you in one hit, regardless of stats, so it gets a pass from me on that front too.

Entertainingly enough, that's how OD&D did it.

Cramming the game full of filler combat is what didn't make sense for Bloodlines, not the lack of combat xp. (Seriously, Kindred don't do that!) Building the plot in a way that a certain NPC getting impersonated is supposed to be a Big Reveal when Obfuscate 3 (accessible even to starting characters) lets you do exactly that in the tabletop didn't help either.

Or maybe they just don't want to play white savior?

Strangely enough, I see it more as an example of why combat should be engaging and interesting in its own right, but YMMV.

Yes, this is what worries me after the latest gameplay video. Not only is what we've seen full of filler combat, it's hard filler combat. I do not appreciate being forced into a pointless exercise that takes up quite a lot of time (you'll either play optimally and use lots of spells, forcing you to backtrack to the nearest rest spot or play suboptimally and die a lot/take lots of health damage, forcing you to backtrack again). Guess I can level Stealth, though.

Retro in all the good ways. Not without kinks, though. There's a free basic ruleset you guys can download and see for yourselves.

Is it out? Is it good? It's out, and it's the best official D&D edition so far. I think I still prefer Lamentations of the Flame Princess, Dungeon Crawl Classics and Hackmaster, though.

Back to the others, who are hearing seven dwarves-style singing and are appropriately terrified (read: not much). Soon, about five kinda rough-looking men emerge from the shadows. They all hold bloody sledgehammers, and are drawing a small carriage full of mutant bodies. Their leader, a huge, black-bearded, muscular guy whistles merrily. Kat is still in the mood of the millenium. "As I am incapable of doing anything, you talk to them", she instructs the others, turning her back on them. "Howdy comrades", Beardie greets them with a wide smile, looking pleased with the amount of dead mutants Mordecai’s anti-boredom tactics have accumulated. True to his dwarfy thematics, he speaks with a Scottish accent in my head. Having never met an actual Scotsman, though, I make no attempt at conveying this to the players. (Given the fact that in-universe he’s speaking an extremely bastardized underhive dialect of Low Gothic, it wouldn’t really make sense anyway.) "Hello, I see we are in the same shoes", Kelegh welcomes him, proudly waving his sword which is still slick with mutant blood. "Where are you taking those bodies?" "We are investigating this outbreak", Mordecai injects in a way of explanation, showing them his ID. "Why, to burn them, of course! Their mere existence is an affront in the eyes of our Immortal God-Emperor, after all", the man explains cheerfully. "You seem to be used to doing this... how long has it been your job?” Kelegh inquires. "About... half a month or so? Maybe even a full month?" Beardie seems unsure. Suddenly, Lazarus appears. With the exception of Kationa who seems to be utterly ignoring everyone, the others give him a curt nod, and proceed with the interview. "Has anyone tried following these things from where they come from?" - Mordecai "Oh God, no. That would mean crossing their blood, because nobody could scrape away that much blood from the streets. And you know what that means", he responds, horrified. "Do enlighten me." "Years of bad luck, friend. Weren't you at the latest sermon?" "No I'm afraid, but I'm looking forward to meeting Father Solomon. He's supposed to come sweeping by soon?" "He doesn't really do that nowadays. There's enough of us volunteering that we don't need to burden him with this." "I see, thank you for you time. The Emperor protects. Men, come", Mordecai hurries the others and sets out to follow the bloody blood again. Kat’s still not listening to him. "So anyway.... About that woman who was following us..." – Lazarus, trying to get some attention. "Ah right, report." - Mordecai "She is just very nosy and curious about these mutants, and she is at the moment questioning our verispex adept.... without any authority to do so", the assassin points out. "What kind of person is she? An adept?" - Kelegh "I don't know.... borderline heretical if you ask me. She wasn't flashing any badges or wearing any insignia. She did not identify herself to Brent and the adept, she just asked questions and they answered. So yeah, who knows." - Lazarus "What was she doing here?" - Mordecai "I have no clue, she wasn't following us. She said she was going to meet Father Solomon." - Lazarus "Fine, let's talk to her before she causes more trouble. We can go to Solomon then", Mordecai decides. "She's back there", Lazarus gestures roughly at the direction where the mutants converged. They backtrack there to find the place empty, aside from a few mutants who were shockmauled into compliance and are loaded into an ambulance car by a grinning Verispex Guy and a rather tired-looking Brent. "Off to Solomon then", Mordecai concludes. "Yeah it seems destiny wants us there. Both the father and the girl will be there, probably." – Kelegh Railroading Destiny? What destiny? "Onwards" – Lazarus, deadpan. Kat, however, still seems to be in the midst of a tantrum. "What's wrong with her? Is her warp taint acting up?" "No, just her immaturity", Kelegh shakes his head, puzzled. "Why? You mauled a mutant so she's angsty?" - Lazarus "I can't really understand what the psy masters saw in her." - Kelegh And they’re off to go see Solomon. Meanwhile Kat, who feels they’re a bit overequipped to deal with the challenge (or, to be more precise, the lack thereof), decides to follow Brent and Verispex Guy back to the Precinct to supervise their work. *** A few minutes earlier Soon after the call, an ambulance car arrives. Kaylee takes this as her cue to leave. She proceeds to the address of Solomon. After about fifteen minutes of walking, she arrives at a huge, decaying building whose main feature is a giant stake in the backyard. Next to it are some strange markings on the asphalt, similar to parking spots. The pyre seems to freshly made, but scorch marks on the asphalt hint at burnings being a regular occurance around here. Hand set firmly on the grip of her pistol, she creeps closer to the door, but finds it closed. Ear on the keyhole, she’s listening intently for a few moment, then an accusing voice disrupts her concentration. “What is a fine lady such as yourself doing around these parts?”, a short, barrel-chested, redbearded guy asks. *** Back at the Precinct Fortress, Kationa’s full of plans. She wants to comb through the pictures on their mysterious dataslate, possibly read through the copy of HERETIC WEEKLY for hidden clues, and definitely ask the arbitrators about their investigations into the disappearances. First order of business is the dissection, though, being the most time-sensitive of all. She gets down to the basement, where Verispex Guy's positively glowing with excitement. The harvest has proven to be quite fruitful: they have managed to bring in five live specimen, and quite a few dead ones. Kat watches with interest. Having no real knowledge of biology herself, she doesn’t interrupt with silly questions and just lets the experts get on with the job. But she's clearly very interested in what they are doing. Verispex Guy gestures toward the first mutant, whom his assistants happily strap on the nearest dissection table. The mutant seems to be aware of what is happening to him, and wildly thrashes around, giving out ever more desperate moans. I wonder how said assistants are called in English. Were I to directly translate the Hungarian term I’m thinking of, we’d get “Dissection Dude”, which, while fits the tone of this summary perfectly, would be a bit too much in the actual game. "Are they sentient?" she asks. Her soft heart chips in. "Will they feel pain?" They may be heretical mutants, but Kat doesn’t like seeing any creature in pain - she had enough of that to last a lifetime on the Black Ship. "I have no idea", Verispex Guy grins happily. "Only one way to find out, I guess!" He sifts through various medical implements, finally settling on a scalpel. The mutant's eyes are now totally wild, he's flailing around in an absolute panic, foaming at the mouth. "What's your name, anyway? I'm Kationa", she tries to make small talk, possibly to avoid having to concentrate on the suffering of the mutant. "Please do something about the specimen", the medicae expert commands his underlings disapprovingly. "I'm Eisen, by the way." "Isn't there some drug you can give it to knock it out?" the psyker asks. Maybe she gave the assistant an idea, maybe not, but he reaches toward an injector. Eisen slaps his hand away. "We're underfunded as is, even without wasting valuable medicine on lowly mutants that are destined to die anyway", he scolds him. Kat doesn't know how much authority she has here, but she decides it is worth trying. "No, use the drug," she says, trying to sound authoritive. She has another idea. "We don't want to spoil the results by having the creature thrashing around." "That is a valid point", Eisen concedes, with newfound respect in his voice. He seems torn. "On the other hand, this medicine could be used to save the lives of our men. Well, to be precise, to ease the mind-shattering pain amputations and other necessary operations tend to cause, but let’s not get caught up in the details. Anyway, you outrank me, this is your decision", he looks at her expectantly. Kat had been brought up on instant gratification. If she had continued in her destiny to be a grand rogue trader, she might have learned more about planning for the long term, but during her life she had never received that learning. She just didn't want to see the pain now. "Use the drug", she says, eliciting a small, resigned sigh from Eisen. "Ah well", the adept shrugs, gesturing his assistant to go ahead. "Now we wait for it to take effect. In the meantime... what brings you here?" "Trying to get the results as they come," she explains. "In this investigation, things are moving quickly. We basically need the data as it comes." That sounds much better to her than “I had a strop and went home in a huff”. Good thinking, Kat! "Well, I meant, the planet”, he specifies. "Is this your first Big Interplanetary Case?" "Oh!" Kationa blushes. She decides to go with what’s essentially the truth. "Uh yeah, it is for me anyway. Some of the others are more experienced." "So, you're here to learn at the shoulders of giants?" Eisen asks absentmindedly. One of his assistants rolls his eyes. This provokes a small snort from her, too. "I wish," she says, still feeling mad at the others. "More like giant-wannabes." She grins. "Well yeah, Mr. I'm-Better-Than-You with the giant nose looked kind of like an asshat", the adept shrugs. "He started questioning me for showing an interest in the muties! Can you imagine? I’m being paid to show an interest! Asshat." She can't help but laugh, and with her laughter, some of her anger fades away. "I just wish they would trust me," she says with a sigh. "It's like I'm just a kid." The irony of faulting her comrades for treating her like a kid after behaving like a kid is not lost on the player. "Well, stand up to them! You are an Intelligencer of the Adeptus Arbites! A 'member of an Elite Brotherhood', as they say”, he encourages her. “Did your drill instructor also come up with this bull****?" She thinks back to the Black Ship. "No, not exactly", she grins. "But yeah, you have a point." "Three out of ten will fail basic training! One out of ten will die in basic training! Of the remaining six, four more will drop out in advanced training! The Arbites is an Elite Brotherhood!", he shouts, doing his best drill instructor impression. "Seriously, that part about the dying is total bull", one of the assistants injects. She laughs again. "Well, I like investigating... I guess that's why I have the job," she mumbles and looks towards the dissection table again. "Are we ready to begin?" "Yeah, he should be ready now. Nice and quiet", he observes, looking at the mutant's pupils, then grabs the scalpel and starts with a Y-cut. An unholy stench fills the room. Everybody rolls Toughness. The NPCs all fail, one of the assistants with a botch. He falls to the ground, vomiting uncontrollably. "Emperor have mercy!", the adept cries, and starts grabbing at the industrial fan above the dissection table. Kationa, however, rolls 03, which means not only is she perfectly unaffected, she’s even allowed to be smug about it. Her player politely declines, though. "Is everyone alright?" she asks. She glances around and then goes to assist the man vomiting on the floor, trying to pull him out of the room while they clear the air. "M... mostly" - Eisen manages to blurt out while frantically trying to suppress his oxygen intake to the barest minimum. Meanwhile, Assistant 2 manages to stand up and get to the nearest toilet to continue vomiting. Seeing things calming down, Kat goes to look at the specimen trying to see what had happened, and whether it was going to get any worse. "Emperor's blood", Eisen mutters after regaining his composure enough to notice the insides of the thing. Kationa’s no expert in biology, but even she’s aware that the pulsating, mostly formless mess that is inside of the mutant should not look like this, and definitely should not keep him alive, even for the limited time it did. This revelation, in true Lovecraftian style, calls for a WP test to avoid gaining Insanity, which she aces with a 01. Then she rolls Forbidden Lore: Warp to gain further useful information, and succeeds again. It becomes obvious to her that these things that replaced the mutant’s organs are incapable of sustaining life in normal circumstances. On the other hand, maybe under different stars, at blasphemous places where the veil that separates the material world from the screaming cacophony of the Warp... his organs might even work optimally. Dun dun DUN! *** “I’m looking for a man called Solomon. They say he’s some kind of a saint or something?” - Kaylee "That he is, child. That he is.", he assures her. “I certainly hope so... otherwise my sister is doomed”, she lies with a straight face. This is when the others arrive. "That's the woman", Lazarus whispers, pointing at the nun. "Greetings. We would like to see father Solomon" – Mordecai, getting closer. "You too? What a coincidence!", Kaylee exclaims with feigned surprise, slightly irked by having her conversation disturbed by the guys. "Good day to you", Kelegh nods to Redbeard and the girl. "And who might you be?", the former asks disapprovingly, turning towards the new arrivals. Kelegh shows his ID. "We are investigating the mutant outbreak here. Apparently Father Solomon has done much to stymie their tide, he may know something we can use to purge them completely", Mordecai explains, then he turns to Kaylee. "What happened to your sister, if I may ask?" “She’s horribly ill... I don’t really know the proper terminology... but her arms are going to be paralyzed for sure! It started three weeks ago, a complication to the pox, the doctors say. I hope Solomon is truly a holy man who can help where medicine fails”, she glances at Redbeard hopefully. Mordecai puts his Medicae training to use, and tries to figure out what ailment might cause such symptoms. He succeeds on the roll and knows that something fishy is going on, gaining a +20 bonus to his Scrutiny. He rolls 10, achieving 4 degrees of success. Kaylee only gets 3 successes on her Deceive, so he knows she’s lying. "I wish your sister well, maybe the Emperor will smile on her" – Mordecai, reluctant to show all his cards. "From what we heard, the only cure Father Solomon prescribes is fire at the stake" - Lazarus “Yeah, they didn’t really advertise that where I’ve heard of him. Still, maybe a prayer from such a holy man would help...” - Kaylee "So you are here solely on personal business?" - Kelegh “Is it not enough?” - Kaylee "I don't know, I was just inquiring. The Emperor may smile more readily on those who help cleansing mutants..." – Kelegh "I was thinking the same thing." - Mordecai "We ultimately want to find the origin of these monsters, and it probably won't be a joyride." - Kelegh "I see... But how could I, a simple choir member, help you investigate?" "Well, what do you think? How could you, a simple choir member, help us investigate? What are you good at?" - Kelegh Redbeard is watching their conversation unfold with great interest. “Well... maybe by singing? But it’d be probably wise of me to go with you, if I may... These parts are dangerous.” - Kaylee "By singing?!?" – Kelegh “Yes, you know, choir members tend to be proficient at that... have you never heard it in a temple?” - Kaylee "That could come handy as well" – Mordecai, looking pointedly at her pistol. "I guess the Emperor has a job for each of us." - Lazarus “That’s how the saying goes." - Kaylee "So you are good at other things besides singing", Kelegh concludes. "Possibly. One never knows if one never tries. But I still don't know much about mutants." - Kaylee "They burn. That's mostly enough." - Kelegh “What about you, fellow citizen? What do you do?” – Kaylee, turning to Redbeard. "I mostly look after the old man's needs." “The old man? Do you mean Solomon?” "Yes." "Will he come out to hold a sermon?", Mordecai chimes in. "Yes. As soon as the bonfire is ready", Redbeard growls. While they were talking, different groups started to show up with their carriages filled with mutant bodies, and started to pile them on the pyre. “What do you know of him? Is it true that he is going to be blessed by the Ecclesiarchy?” - Kaylee "He is one of the truly blessed, our Father Solomon. The Emperor personally graces him with his words. What greater honor could they possibly offer him?", Redbeard asks, a bit confused. Meanwhile, the bonfire is starting to fill up nicely. People are gathering around. Not just the crews of the carriages. Elderly people, women, children. They are clearly expecting something. As soon as the last carriage is emptied, a small, wizened old man steps forth from the house. *** And that’s it for our second session! Another 100 xp is handed out, and we go to hibernate.

Why not D&D 5?

Monster design looks pretty cool, otherwise meh.

Next day they wake up before dawn, get their buddy Brent (the arbitrator whose incompetence they were supposed to investigate as their cover story) and the Verispex Adept they booked, then go out to hunt mutants before the zealots take care of them. Mordecai decides to bathe and get a breakfast before heading out, though. His comrades pass the time bickering making plans. "We should maybe look around the apartment. And look for Solomon afterwards." - Lazarus "Solomon will come to burn the mutants." - Mordecai, presumably yelling from under the shower. "Let's split again. I'll go to the apartment", Kationa offers. "I'd rather not, but if you want to save time, fine", Mordecai shrugs. "It isn't very wise to wander around the hive at night", Kelegh warns them, remembering that it still hasn't dawned yet. "Why don't we see the mutants and Solomon, and then see the apartment?" "Yes, so let's all go to see the mutants, scrape the samples, and then find Solomon. Or let the leader decide" - Lazarus "I've decided already. I'm getting Brent and the Verispex while you guys are still arguing." - Mordecai, deadpan. He follows up on this promise, too. When he gets back, they're still arguing (because arguments happen at the speed of plot, apparently). "I'm not arguing with no mutants!", Lazarus complains. "Because there are no mutants around", Kelegh retorts. "...whose word counts in an argument", the assassin expands the sentence. This is when Mordecai gets back. "Mine does. And I say we go. We can take the Verispex team to the apartment as well, so going as a group would be prudent." His word is law, so that's what they do. *** They start advancing to the mutant-infested area. In the meantime, they pass a fairly dilapidated-looking railway station, where a few people are standing around. One of them is apparently asking another for directions - she's our fifth character, Kaylee, whose introductions I couldn't find. Short version: she was sent here by her superiors in the Church to investigate a certain "Father Solomon", who is, by all accounts, not affiliated with the Ecclesiarchy in any way, yet mysteriously ended up on a list for beatification. A low moaning fills the air. They do not yet see the mutants, but these unholy noises can only come from them. Occasionally, we have soundtracks! I tend to either forget about them, or just not prepare anything suitable in advance, but this is one of the rare exceptions. Enjoy. Kaylee notices the small group of violent-looking people with flashlights shuffling around. She gets nervous and hides away. "This is creepy," Kat says as she follows the others. "Literally", Kelegh smiles. "Hush, you'll scare off the creepy crawlies", Lazarus hisses at them. Mordecai tries to listen where the moans are coming from, trying to glean something more specific than "everywhere". He determines that the answer's "somewhere from the south", so that's where they are headed. Kaylee creeps after them, since the address he was given points to that direction. The arbitrator decides it's time to try out the shiny new Auspex he requisitioned along with the Verispex adept, crit fails, spends Fate for a reroll, and finally succeeds in activating the device. It helpfully points out the hiding Kaylee, and a lot of lifesigns from the south. He shares this information with the others. Lazarus isn't especially surprised at the former, having already noticed the girl. "Act naturally", he whispers to the others, and slips into the first side alley. There he lies in wait for an ambush. *** The Adventures of Team "Following Life Signatures" As they get closer and closer to the source of the life signatures, the moaning intensifies. It doesn't take long for them to get to a crossroads where they can take in the view in full. Mordecai wisely takes a sip from his amasec before confronting the sight. Kationa starts to focus her mind for unleashing her psychic will if necessary. Kelegh draws his sword and shield. As psykers, they have a high enough Willpower score to have no need of liquid courage. Well, they would have, if the diceroller didn't hate them. Pale, deformed bodies crawl towards them from all directions, writhing, moaning. Soft and misshapen bones give way and bend with each movement. Tatters of flesh get scraped off by the pavement. They look desperate and in pain, long streaks of blood trailing after them. There's at least 50 of them, and their moaning provides a background noise of insane cacophony. They all roll vs. Fear, and predictably fail critically, their sanity shattering with an almost audible crack. Kelegh gets off lightly with only 1 point of Insanity, while Kationa and Mordecai gain 3 and 5, respectively. Nobody has passed the threshold of 10, though, so no immediate ill effects await them (aside from the feeling of blood freezing in their veins). Brent and Verispex Guy roll, too. The former looks aghast, but the latter is unfazed. He doesn't really understand what the others are making such a fuss about. Kat freezes up for a moment and there's a flash in her white eyes, but she holds firm. "So what are we going to do exactly?", she inquires. "I was told there will be dissections", Verispex Guy replies. Mordecai shakes with fear, but forces himself to step closer. Then he takes out his riot baton (fancy word for a club with the mono upgrade) and gives the nearest mutant the Emperor's Mercy. "Verispex, here's your sample", he manages to blurt out. "...I was hoping for a live specimen, in order to be able to study the changes in the internal physiology, y'know", the adept replies with a disdainful look. "There's plenty of still living ones, but test the blood first. Unless you mean to bring one back to the Precinct?" - Mordecai "Yes, that would be splendid. Perhaps more...", Verispex Guy wanders. Nobody bothered to ask his name. The life of a background NPC is a thankless one. "Are we sure we want to bring these... things to the Precinct?", Thraxxus asks, still shivering. "I was told they die in a matter of hours. How do you plan to bring them back?" - Mordecai, more concerned with the logistical side of the operation. "...We should totally get an ambulance car." Verispex Guy proposes. "Fine, call one in and do the tests. Brent, you stay with him. We'll follow their tracks", Mordecai gives the orders with an audible sigh. Kelegh stands frozen for a few seconds as his mind tries to cope with the sight, then he has a look at what the others are doing. As Mordecai kills one of them he lunges forward to hack them apart with the sword. Kat joins him. They don't fight back. They even seem to welcome it somehow. No wonder, considering the pain they must be in with their tattered skin. While Kat is busy cutting and slashing, and Mordecai is giving orders, Kelegh stops with the killing and gets to a suitable vantage point, from where he sees that the mutants' numbers stretch as far as he can see. "There seems to be no end of them...", he shouts down to the others. "They must be coming from somewhere", Kationa concludes. Mordecai starts following the blood trail. The others do the same. "Well, I don't want to miss Solomon either. But it seems to me they are being released on purpose. Don't want to miss whoever is doing that", Mordecai offers in a way of explanation, while he rushes past the mutants, hoping to see where they come from. As he gets farther, their numbers seem to be thinning, but the blood smears on the pavement indicate that they were coming from even farther south. He checks the streets he passes, suspecting Solomon's involvement in the matter, but the trail points to a way more distant location than his adress. They continue running along the blood smears. After a certain point they realize that they've passed the majority of mutants, so they won't run into Solomon's men cleaning up if they go further. "Want me to wait for the zealots?", Kationa offers. "f you're okay with waiting alone, sure." - Mordecai "I can manage." "Can't you divine where they're coming from anyway?", the arbitrator asks, having no clue of what a psyker of her power level is supposed to be able to pull off. "No better than what we can see with our eyes..." "Mordecai", Kelegh interrupts. "Yes?" "This trail isn't gonna get cleaned by anyone soon. Shall we wait for Lazarus?" Mordecai ponders for a moment. "I suppose you're right. I was hoping we could find the source, but if they come from farther down... Let's wait for Lazarus and Solomon." "I'll wait for Solomon. You go find the source", Kationa instructs the others. Aaannnd nobody picks up on the fact that speaking with the fundamentalists maybe should not be done by the most obviously witch-looking member of the group. "We'll wait for Lazarus to catch up", Mordecai states firmly. "What? Don't say you think I can't do anything by myself either," Kat explodes, her white eyes raging. "Who said that???" - Kelegh, dumbfounded. "No, of course not. Following these tracks could take hours. But this Solomon may help us and his congregation could make the search faster. And we wanted to check that apartment out too. And only I have a communicator, so we can't even update each other", Mordecai explains calmly. So they sit down and wait. Kat impatiently drums her foot against the ground to make her displeasure obvious. Mordecai walks around anxiously, not wanting to let the trail go cold, but not wanting to miss Solomon or get lost either... and especially not feeling like sitting around. He mercy kills some mutants to pass the time. Kat gets fed up very quickly and stands up again. "Fine, you stay here and do nothing. I'm going to go and find the source", she hisses, and starts to walk in the direction of the trail. "How old are you, Kat?", Kelegh asks, with a look of disbelief on his face. "Old enough to choose my own path, whatever they tried to make me." "And you get offended because we didn't do what you wanted us to do? We didn't stay because you couldn't do something. We stayed for Lazarus..." Hearing some strange noises, Kelegh trails off. It's as if someone was singing to himself. "Well, Lazarus isn't here. Lazarus is doing something. We're not, and in the meantime, we're losing the chance." - Kationa, oblivious to the noises. "Some people are coming from there...", Kelegh gestures at the direction of the sounds. *** Team Nuns and Assassins Meanwhile, Lazarus pulls up his gimp mask and lurks. Gimp mask apparently meaning the part of the bodyglove that covers the face, according to the player. I'm sure there's a more technical term for it somewhere, but now it being called a gimp mask is part of my headcanon. "Fascinating... it looks as if they just split for a good reason", Kaylee murmurs to herself, seeing the assassin disappear in some dark corner, then continues onward. She can't beat Lazarus' 4 successes on the Concealment roll, however, so she remains oblivious to his presence. The assassin thoroughly inspects the girl from his cover, and finds her harmless. So he approaches from behind. "It's dangerous to stalk people around these parts, you know?", he growls at an opportune moment, then swiftly glances over his shoulder, just in case. Rose would approve of his paranoia. "Is it?", Kaylee asks, stopping. "How could it be, if such a holy man defends this place?" "Why were you following that group of clearly-not-mutants?", Lazarus proceeds with a question of his own, disregarding hers. "Because they looked so suspicious with those flashlights and they were walking towards the shelter of Solomon..." Lazarus walks in front of the woman. "So you're one of the zealots?", he asks. "I don't think we like to describe ourselves like that. But why do you ask... and actually, what are you doing here?" "That's my own business. We are not looking to harm your Father Solomon, so you can stop following us. And I'll spare your life today because I'm in a good mood and I don't feel like wasting a bullet on you", the assassin growls, turning his back on her. "Well, all right. But I have to meet him anyway. You don't have to feel being followed though... It's just we're headed towards the same destination", she answers cheerfully. As the two of them proceed, they soon meet the rather green-looking Brent and a fairly excited Verispex Adept who is currently scraping off bodily fluids from a beheaded mutant. There are a few other dead mutants around too - some of them died from cuts, others had their rather soft-looking skulls bashed in like a wet paper bag. Even larger is the number of mutants, however, who are still alive. The two of them both pass the Fear test without any lasting ill effects. "Filthy mutants!", Lazarus exclaims, turning to the young arbitrator. "Where is the team? Brent! Are you armed? What is going on?" "We have called an ambulance to get them to the Precinct for vivisection, and are waiting for it to arrive. Others have run forward to see where they're coming from", Brent replies, apparently calmer than before. "Will it make you nervous if I pull out my gun?", Kaylee inquires politely, while walking towards the bodies. "You may defend yourself", Lazarus nods, jumping at the opportunity to look at her weapon. It's a bog-standard stub automatic, though, so offers no special insight into her character (aside from the fact that she's not especially concerned with what kind of gun she's toting). While Lazarus scrutinizes her gun, Kaylee inspects the mutants. They're misshapen, pale, and most of them are clearly underfed. Judging from their injuries, they've been crawling here from a great distance, and their skin has been completely peeled away where it was in contact with the road. Noting that they seem to be aware of their condition, she wonders if they might be able to speak, but turning one over, she can clearly see that their throats are way too deformed to create any sound that could be interpreted as a human language. She sighs disappointedly. Her next experiment is aimed to inspect the resistance of their skin. She borrows a pair of pliers from Verispex Guy, who's currently elbow deep in another dead specimen, then plucks at it. It seems unusually elastic, but otherwise normal. "I have never heard of a mutant of this kind. Their whole anatomy is so strange. It seems as if they couldn't have survived on their own. But they all seem so... big and well-developed. I mean, for the underhive", she concludes. "Right? Riiight?", Verispex Guy responds, positively glowing. He's obviously happy to have someone share his enthusiasm. "You research mutants?", Lazarus gasps. "Well... No, not really. I do other kinds of reserach. But I cannot pass by without glancing at strange signs like this", she admits, standing up, then goes to check the other bodies. "And you are not afraid to admit this unhealthy curiosity openly?", the assassin asks. "Just a little bit. But why do you ask? Do you think it is common to find such... events at the threshold of a wannabe saint?", she raises an eyebrow. "I ask because curiosity is close to heresy", Lazarus states sternly. "Ignorance often leads to misunderstanding and failure. Some would say, failure is heresy", she retorts with a dignified look. Lazarus eyes her suspiciously. "Do you know this Solomon personally?", he breaks the silence after a short pause. "No, I don't. What about you? " "Not yet. Well, watch out for those nasty mutants. And don't fraternise with them too much: the locals are very prone to lynching people", Lazarus advises her, then hurries in the direction of his team. "And here I thought we were going to talk... ", she shakes her head, then turns to the adept. "Tell me, Verispex. Can you detect any strange chemicals on the bodies or in the dust?" "Depends on what you'd call strange", he replies. "I'm not educated in this matter, but let's say, some acid or lixivium? Anything that could peel away the skin or soften the bones. I guess if they had this deformity in their youth, they wouldn't have lived so long... Or maybe some sort of psychic phenomena?", she guesses. "I ain't no goddamn psyker", the adept scoffs. "Anyway, no acid or similar substances detected." "I see... is it possible to keep one of them alive for interrogation?" "Well, we are doing what we can, but that damn ambulance car doesn't seem to be in a hurry", he grumbles. "Can I get the phone?" The adept gestures toward Thraxxus, who tosses it to her. "Thank you... I doubt it would help, but it's worth a try", she murmurs, gets some distance, then calls the chapel and asks for Father Martin. "Yes?", a sleepy voice intones a few minutes later. "Father. I am faced with... unexpected events. Lots of bodies, practically at the door of this Solomon. They look mutated... but I don't think they are. If they were born with these deformities, they wouldn't have survived their first year. Something made their bones soft and torn off their skin... the Arbites has asked for medical help, but this being the Underhive, it's not coming very fast. Could you... hurry it along? I think this could be important... maybe even more important than the issue of this heresy." "...I'll see what I can do", he replies after a short pause. "Thank you, Father. The Emperor protects." "The Emperor protects." After this short conversation, she gives the phone back to Brent. "Well, I don't promise anything, but it might help." "Yeah... right" - Thraxxus, sceptical. "Such lack of faith is not healthy...", she purrs with a slightly threatening edge. "Pray, and maybe your prayers will be answered." ***

Meanwhile at the Precinct Mordecai continues his investigation. He wants to look into who patrols the general area of the mutant sightings, but he's interrupted by a young arbitrator carrying a message of vital importance: the equipment they requisitoned has arrived! He rushes to loot examine what they've got, but takes time to scrutinize the messenger - after all, he might be an agent of their mysterious employer, therefore Useful and Important. Sadly, he fails his roll, despite a +20 bonus, so his reading fails to produce any useful information. Given the fact that chances of success are generally so slim in the W40K games (50% or so in something you're supposed to be good at, given average difficulty), I'm thinking of providing some sort of background information on failed non-essential rolls such as this in the future. Possibly something that hints at the answer to their question, but lets them figure it out. Or maybe the ability to retroactively spend a Fate point to auto-succeed. Or just offer the possibility of "you succeed, but there's some complication". As it turns out, the shipment takes the form of two huge boxes bearing the seal of the Departmento Munitorum. That's the logistics division of the Imperial Guard, for those not steeped in W40K lore. "I didn’t expect them to be so big. The prospects will be Rosy if they sent the wrong equipment”, Mordecai murmurs while opening one of the boxes, subtly trying to prod at the allegiances of his young colleague. He only gets a weird look, accompanied by an even weirder one when the box is revealed to be full of decaf boxes. He gets points for not questioning the wisdom of his superiors, unlike Mordecai. Heresy! "...I’m never leaving anything to the Munitorum again”, Mordecai complains, then checks the other box. It's full of lasgun charge packs, on top of which sits a folder containing a deactivated data-slate. He pockets two of said charge packs (which would definitely be more useful if the party used las weaponry), then activates the data-slate. WARNING: HIGH COMMAND ONLY - the words appear on screen as it flickers to life. A further two paragraphs detail the procedures (three months of interrogation, followed by full memory wiping and reassignment to most unpleasant duties being the most favorable outcome) that await those who view the contents without authorization. "This shipment was obviously sent to the wrong place. Go and tell the high ups to attend to it’s proper delivery”, he instructs the younger Arbitrator, then continues reading when he's out of sight. Well, he'd continue reading, but there are no words after the ominous warnings, only pictures. They're high-res satellite images of the planet. A few days old, judging from the dates in the top corner. The coordinates are also labelled. There's about a thousand of them, and since Mordecai really doesn't want to get caught while browsing, he puts an empty data-slate in the folder and pockets the original for later viewing. Succeeding in this heretical act, he's off to see the Enforcer in charge of the patrols in the mutant-afflicted districts. *** He arrives at the Enforcer Station after about an hour of travel, and conecedes that it looks less underfunded than the Precinct Fortress he came from. He flashes his ID, they salute and escort him to Corporal Ivan Franka, the man he came to see. "Greetings, Corporal Franka. I come in the service of the Emperor. I was told you patrol between Districts 318 and 329. I trust you can guess why I’m asking.” - Mordecai "Welcome”, the enforcer smiles warmly, shaking his hand. He’s young, with long hair and a carefully trimmed beard and mustache. There's some slight resemblance to Jesus, but this comparison would probably be lost on the characters. "The local mutant problem is a slight in the Imperium’s eyes. I’ve read up on the area but the local archives had nothing of interest, so I came to you. As someone who patrols the place regularly, I assumed you know it best. Have you seen anything that could be linked to the degenerates? Heard any rumors? Has anyone erected new mines or manufactorums, were there any problems with cults in the near past?”, the arbitrator opens with a barrage of questions. "I don’t know about any mines, manufactorums or cults. Speaking of the latter, however... an exceptional clergyman called Father Solomon has already dealt with the mutant problem and keeps the situation admirably in control. In fact, I’ve already recommended him to be approved for beatification” – the corporal's brimming with pride. The enforcer bringing up Father Solomon when asked about cults seemed a bit forced to the players. The tried and true method of "give at least three venues for the players to discover essential clues" can sometimes come across as having the subtlety of a sledgehammer, especially with players competent enough to find all of these venues in short order, but "clue overload" sure as hell beats fumbling around with no idea of what to do next. The NPC being a gushing fanboy trying to bring up the subject of his obsession at every possible occasion probably didn't help avoiding the feeling of beaten over the head with the Clue Bat either. Mordecai smiles and nods. "Was his work that impressive? Please, tell me more about him. I have heard about a cleric named Solomon arriving in the area, but not much more beyond that.” "He is a very imposing man. The flames of faith are burning bright in his soul! You should hear one of his speeches! Hearing his words, I feel the urge to unleash the Emperor’s unabated fury on all His foes!" - Franka, gushing. "And where can I find this father Solomon? It seems I need to have a chat with him about these mutants.” - Mordecai The enforcer searches among the documents scattered on his desk for a while, then produces an address. "Thanks, you have been a great help.” - Mordecai, departing. - „May The Emperor watch over you …and good luck with that beatification.” After that, he decides to pay a visit to Father Solomon, then remembers that this is an encounter where the support of his fellow Acolytes might come in handy. (Because everyone knows that fanatical clergymen tend to react so well to the company of psykers.) So he heads back to the Precinct instead. *** Meanwhile at the Precinct 2, the Precinct Strikes Back! As the group heads back, Kelegh examines the so-called witch for signs of psychic talents, rolling Psyniscience +20, succeeding, and finding her to be a perfectly ordinary human with no deeper connection to the Warp. During their short journey, Kationa tries to dispel the girl's misconceptions about what the Inquisition is supposed to do. "We travel. Investigate. Solve problems. Help people," she explains, vaguely. Thea remains unconvinced. They arrive at the Precinct shortly, and are informed that their package has arrived, but Officer Vern has already determined that it was misplaced. They decide to take the girl to their rooms and wait for Mordecai to get back, interviewing the orphan while they wait. Lazarus immediately jumps at the opportunity to show off his excellent social skills. "Hey, urchin!", he begins, but seeing her expression, he decides to change tactics, and turns to the others. "Uhhh, maybe Kat would be better. The girl seems to be more trusting to persons of the female persuasion." The psyker just rolls her eyes at him. "Maybe it's more to do with treating people nicely." She turns to the girl. "Thea... Can you tell us about these disappearances?" "Not really", the girl shrugs. "All kinds of people have disappeared from the neighbourhood, ever since the mutants have appeared. People say they curse the god-fearing ones, they steal them away at night." "...But I've never met a god-fearing one who was taken away", she adds in a small voice. "Have you ever seen one of these mutants?" - Kat "Yes, they are... weird. They look like the ones on those pictures", she says, gesturing toward the magazine in Lazarus' hand. "The plush worms?" - Lazarus "No, not on the cover... In the other story... the one with the boy and the girl..." "All right, let me just...." Lazarus skims through the story, and finds this: "Ah! Disgusting!", he recoils in horror, then shows the picture to the girl. "They look like THAT?" The others try to steal a look at the image, too, and are rewarded with their own dose of Nightmare Fuel. "Yes, just like that", Thea confirms. "Maybe their head is not that long, but basically that's it." This is the moment when Mordecai steps through the door. "I'm back", he announces the obvious. "And not a moment too soon! Look at this rather realistic depiction of the mutants in this hive!", Lazarus exclaims, showing the picture to Mordecai. "Also, they are a bit more... bloody", the girl adds, then gets acquintanced with Mordecai, who also gets answers to the question of "what is a street urchin doing in our rooms?". "And they are taking people? Like your uncle?", Kationa continues with the questions. "I dunno, people say they are taking people. To me, they don't really look like they can, though." -Thea "Were there signs of a break in at the hab?" - Kat "My uncle's apartment door was open when I came there, so... do you think it might have been the mutants?" - Thea, unsure. "Maybe your uncle turned into a mutant and slithered out.", Lazarus proposes. Thea turns kinda pale and green-ish at the thought, but doesn't comment. "Was the apartment also bloody?", Kelegh asks, thinking back to the girl's description of the things. "No, it wasn't. It was just dirty", she answers, still horrified by Lazarus' theory. "So it probably wasn't these mutants", the battle psyker concludes. "I don't know. We'll need to look at the apartment", Kat murmurs, lost in her thoughts. "Do you know of any areas of the hive where the mutants can be found?" "They are everywhere. Only around dawn, though. The Father's men gather and burn them by the morning." - Thea "It's best if we go and see for ourselves. in the meantime, this little urchin needs to be scrubbed and fed." - Lazarus "How did you end up getting hauled away by a mob as a witch?", Kationa asks, thinking back. "I started asking people about the magazine... can't read, y'know? Then I've found this fat dude, and he saw it and got really angry, started shouting 'witch', then people gathered, and... that's how", the girl summarizes. Kat looks dumbfounded; being the former scion of a noble house, she can't really imagine the existence of illiterate people, much less how they could possibly survive. The group peers at the clocks, concludes that it's late, and they need to get up early in the morning if they want to take a look at the mutants. "Well then, let's call it a night. Thea can share a room with Kationa I assume?", Mordecai proposes, while thumbing through the magazine, looking for any information about the publisher. Being a self-styled "HERETICAL" magazine, though, they obviously don't have such things. Possibly because they've been printed by daemons, but more likely that they don't want to end up at the stake of an overzealous cleric. "Well, I think we should check the apartment. And we also now have the location of Father Solomon and a lead on the mutants", Kationa makes plans for the morning. "The apartment can wait, but the mutants only come out at dawn, we should be rested by then", Mordecai states. "Here's what I had in mind: See the mutants, maybe backtrack their path if we can, meet Solomon when he comes a-burning, then see Thea's uncle's apartment. Oh and we need the blood samples as well." "What about the girl while we go mutant-watching?", Kelegh asks. "We should lock her up in Kat's room." - Lazarus "What? Why? She's harmless!" - Kationa, horrified. "Nobody is harmless. Even if she does not intend to..." - Kelegh "For her own good. Locking her up is unnecessary, I feel." - Mordecai "Unnecessary?" - Kelegh "OK, then don't lock her up, and if she starts running loose around the precinct, someon'e bound to bring her down." - Lazarus, annoyed. "We'll just tell the guards to keep an eye on her. Dragging her with us would be a bad idea." - Mordecai "I'll advise her to stay put. But we are not treating her like a prisoner", Kationa states firmly. "We are already spending too much time on the brat. Let's go.", Lazarus hurries his companions. "She is an asset and we need her", Kelegh injects. "Didn't you meet her when a mob was about to lynch her? And you want us to bring her with us to a meeting with a religious zealot?", Mordecai asks, dumbfounded. "To find her uncle's home, I mean", Kelegh specifies. "No. She'll stay here. But we are not locking her up." - Kationa "Mordecai, you are the leader, you decide what to do", Lazarus reminds the Arbitrator. "True. Thea, can you tell us where your uncle lives? Or would showing it be easier? And you could describe him so we know who to look for?" - Mordecai, oblivious. Kelegh clears his throat. "Hmm?" - Mordecai "Her uncle's missing", the battle psyker points out. Mordecai just winks at him. Their Ciphers (Acolyte) is sometimes impenetrable even to me. What he was trying to get at is the fact that finding said uncle would benefit both Thea and their investigation. The girl gives them an adress and describes her uncle as this wiry, bald guy in his forties with a goatee. Thinking back at this scene, I really dropped the ball when I just let them talk over Thea's head about her fate, without any reaction or input from her. Which could have been retroactively explained by her not being in the room at the time, but then she suddenly showed up right at the moment when they needed her. In my defense, watching them bicker among themselves was really entertaining, and it kinda caught my attention. "Good girl. Now let's get some sleep." - Mordecai "May the Emperor watch over us." - Kelegh Before they went to sleep, however, Mordecai shares his discovery with the others. "Right, we got our shipment from Rose. About a 100 kilos of decaf beans, and bunch of lasclips and a week old collection of satelite photos of the hive", he shows the data-slate. "These photos could be useful", Lazarus remarks. They also get informed about the lengthy warning labels and the fact that there's about a thousand of them, so if they wish to inspect them all, they won't really get much sleep. Their first idea is to look for the blood trails the mutants leave after themselves, but the spires of the Upper Hive hide pretty effectively what's going on down here. They decide to save the images for later use. "Why do we have beans?" - Kationa "We have beans because the Departmento Munitorum is incompetent" - Mordecai. *** And with this important insight into the nature of imperial bureaucracy, our heroes are off to sleep.

It's kind of hard not to deny, given the fact that average IQ ratings of the two are about on par (differences are generally small and variable in direction, when you look at a lot of studies - and there's a lot of them). There's a greater variability in men as far as I'm aware (meaning that there are more geniuses and more really dumb bastards out there who are male), but those two even each other out when counting averages. (Also, socioeconomic factors and the fact that the IQ scale is really, really bad at measuring actual intelligence are usually not taken into account in these studies.) I'm no cultural anthropologist, but isn't that view something that has been so thoroughly debunked since the 60s that if you mention it to anybody in academia, they will just point and laugh at you?

Can you provide some links and present your argument in a way so that I research it properly? Basically he took lots of quotes from people whose work is generally seen in today's academic discussions either as highly dated, or having nothing to do with mainstream feminism (generally both).

Erm... not really. Pathfinder is pulpy high fantasy, not very concerned with internal consistency or realism. The PoE gameworld looks a lot more down-to-earth, very consistent, and a bit on the low fantasy side.

Nowadays I'm prone to use Fate for all of my non-specific gaming needs. It's just so... convenient.

Right now I'm reading Ed Brubaker's Fatale. Lovecraftian horror mixed with noir. Words can't express the awesome.

Glad you commented on this, I find it hard to believe that the majority of Hungarian think Putin offers the way to economic salvation Most of the people I've spoken to about the matter think that getting closer to Russia is a spectacularly bad idea (yeah, right, it worked out so well last time). Then again, I tend to avoid discussing politics with people who are big fans of the Orbán administration, so there's admittedly a selection bias at play there.

This proves nothing aside from the fact that Orbán is an insane asswipe. Which was already widely known by everyone living in Hungary, thank you very much.

Meh, about half of them are basically WFRP classes. Also, someone who thinks a druid has no place in arctic or urban environments clearly knows jack about biology.

Assassins are awesome, but if I had to choose between an Arbitrator and an Assassin, I'd choose the former 9 times out of 10. They are very broadly competent and generally useful to have around, while the assassin has a very specific skillset (killing stuff and being sneaky), outside of which they don't get much.

I'll echo Sensuki's statement, attribute points are a bit low. Why can't I be reasonably intelligent, fairly perceptive and good at people skills at the same time?

Eh, seen worse. Like the one with the scraggly-looking rapist Santa Claus. Anyways, I've learned my lesson since then, and don't skip on my sleep time