Session 4 – Enter The Hangman

Dramatis Personae:

A brief session, but one with a huge amount of impact.

Loot:

  • 6000 cred chips paid to the party in payment for the Nav Chip.
  • Each member of the party now has a smartphone as well.

Magic Words:

  • By dissecting the monster found last session, Ronnina has learned the word “Cling.”

Rulings:

  • Jet costs 25 cred chips per hit.
  • Un-mutifyin’ juice is available for sale for 500 credits. It removes ALL mutations.
  • Mutation Murray’s Discount Mu-De-Mu Shack is open for business. For 300 credits, they’ll dose you with mutagen. If you don’t like what you get, they’ll unmutate you. It’s an expensive way to get mutated, but an inexpensive way to get un-mutated.
  • The architecture skill can be used to break through walls more quickly than normal.
  • With the acquisition of Smartphones, everyone in the party has gained the Technology skill at 0-in-6.

Mutations:

  • Galens Brook gains a supernatural sense of balance, and the ability to take on a Gaseous Form at will.
  • Umquat removes all her previous mutations.
  • Umquat gains the ability to shadow-jump up to 10′. Line of sight not required.
  • Ronnina gains the ability to turn her skin into plastic, granting -1 Cha modifier, and +1 AC while active. Activating this skin is a move equivalent action.

NPC Relationships

  • The Hangman: The party met The Hangman for the first time. A techno wizard, and member of the mysterious cabal known only as “The Internet.” The PCs agreed to enter her sole employ, and to receive tracking chips in their hands. All of them did so, except Galens Brook, whose lack of chip was missed by The Hangman. Additionally, something about Virgil and Ronnina seemed to bother The Hangman. She looked uncomfortable and covered up a tattoo on her chest when she saw them.
  • Clint Blerkinman: The party killed Clint Blerkinman.
  • Muta Bro: Muta Bro panicked and attempted to flee when asked to get a chip installed in his hand. Logic and threat of death failed to sooth him, but a hit of Jet successfully got him to agree to the party’s needs. It’s safe to say that Muta Bro is officially an addict at this point.
  • The Blerkinmans: Clint’s family. Though the PCs have not met them, they know that at least one of Clint’s daughters is very sick. They negotiated for The Hangman to send the family 1000 cred chips, and Galens Brook has also added another 1000 to that from his personal funds.

Session Highlights

The party was led out of the central park, into a narrow alley near the boarder between Fighting Mongoose and Redstone Lord territory. Clint Blerkinman warned the party that they were in over their head, and if they fucked up this meeting with his employer, it was likely that all of them (himself included) would end up dead. To play it safe, they sent Ronnina away with the Nav Chip.

The party went in, climbed down a ladder into a room filled with old broken tech, and found a willowy, spastic man at a computer. He introduced himself as The Hangman. Having never seen the party before, but knowing there were 4 of them total, The Hangman confused Muta Bro with one of the four. The man determined how much the party knew about the Nav Chip. He responded to their counter offer of 5000 cred chips with an offer of 6000 cred chips, but only if the party agreed to commit themselves solely to his employ. They would be allowed to pursue their own contracts when they were not needed, but only insofar as those contracts did not conflict with The Hangman’s agenda. And they should always work in The Hangman’s interests. The party agreed.

The Hangman handed them a device to implant chips in their hands. All of the PCs did so (Ronnina returned here,) however Galens Brook managed to avoid getting a chip implanted through the negligence of the referee, which has been ruled to be the negligence of The Hangman as well. So Galens is free, on this count.

Muta-Bro had a crisis of Loyalty. Virgil attempted to calm him with logic, and The Hangman made clear that everyone would die if Muta Bro didn’t get chipped. Finally, Muta Bro calmed down and agreed to get chipped when he was offered a hit of Jet.

Once the party was chipped, “The Hangman” slumped over, and the wall opened up, revealing the TRUE Hangman. A woman in a red workout two-piece, and a long black cape. Her greasy hair hung over her face, obscuring her eyes from view. She gave each member of the party a smartphone, and welcomed them to being agents of The Internet.

The first mission she required of the party was simple: Clint Blerkinman knew too much. Even the simple word, “Nav Chip,” could be spoken carelessly in earshot of someone who knew what it meant. He had to die. Galens Brook, citing a moral dilemma, left the group at this point. Virgil and Umquat carried out the assassination promptly.

So ended January 2516 C.E.