As the action begins, Psyclist calls out that there is a fourth, invisible opponent. Gallowglas goes running into the Rhinestone Cowboy with the Wheel Feat, dropping him to the ground. He grows a bit more. The Bullman cracks the whip on Alphonse. The Ghost Rider moves up and ropes Ghost (both are invisible and desolid). Then Annie Oakley (AKA Quickdraw) opens up on Gallowglas — triple-tapping her with a lever-action compressed air bean-bag rifle, and putting out a serious Chuck Conners/Rifleman vibe. The Rhinestone Cowboy picks himself up, muttering “Stick to the plan, take on the guy with the stick” to himself. He runs past Gallowglas, and attempts a move-through on Stick, which misses (while Stick mimes a bullfighters cape). C4 blew up the Bullman [1], and Stick delivered a Tonfa Smackdown. Alphonse configured for max distance, and closed in on Quickdraw, but was unable to move and engage. Hammer moved up and struck at Bullman as well [2]. Ghost attempted to unhorse the unseen Ghost Rider by going to Density Increase and yanking on the rope. Unfortunately, as soon as she turned off Desolidification the rope passed right through her, and she wound up flat on her back on the back side of the ANWPP float. The two cops in PARS suits get off the float and move up, drawing their blasters (from a very Robo-cop-like in-body holster).

Bullman was actually reduced to about -1 STUN during 12, but immediately woke up again with the post-12 Recovery.

Psyclist’s Mental Haymaker misses the Ghost Rider. “Grey Horseman! Don’t be a coward! Show yourself!”, he orders.

Quickdraw shifts targets to Alphonse, and fires a single, well-placed shot (that wasn’t nearly as well placed as it should have been, but that’s the way the dice rolled). Gallowglas targets Bullman, in hopes of not making Rhinestone Cowboy grow any further. Bullman gets up, and moves over to his whip, which he dropped on the last hit he took, but is unable to pick it up this phase. Ghost Rider rides around the side of the ANWPP float, to get a line on Ghost, and ropes her again, snagging an arm. Psyclist targets Rhinestone Cowboy, with negligible effect (official winner of the “Worst Roll of the Night” competition). The Rhinestone Cowboy picks himself up (again) [3], and realizes he can’t reach his target (Stick) and still attack, so he delays.

Quickdraw repeats the single shot against Alphonse. C4 flash-bangs the Rhinestone Cowboy. And the Bullman. And Gallowglas, Stick, Hammer and the two PARS cops [4]. Stick picks up the Bullwhip. Alphonse shoves Quickdraw into the street. Hammer hits the Rhinestone Cowboy. Ghost uses the rope to throw Ghost Rider from his horse, crashing him into the ANWPP float just behind Jazz.

Gallowglas flails blindly, but manages to hit Bullman [5]. The Ghost Rider gets up, and uses his rope and Grappling Throw to throw Ghost onto the floor. Pullman tries to retrieve his whip from the ground, at his feet, but it is no longer there. He can’t see that because he is still flashed. The Rhinestone Cowboy now has an action where he COULD reach his target (Stick) and attack, but he can’t see anything, and delays again.

Quickdraw stands up and collects her rifle. C4 blasts Ghost Rider, and he falls unconscious. Alphonse moves up and shoves Quickdraw again, throwing her back into Rhinestone Cowboy and knocking her out. Stick hammers the Rhinestone Cowboy with a Charge. Hammer moves up and sticks it to Bullman, knocking him out again. Ghost gets up and moves up on the Ghost Rider, but cannot reach him and attack. One of the PARS officers can see again, adjusts his blaster, and fires a burst at the still-blind Bullman

Gallowglas delays, still flashed. Quickdraw and Bullman begin recoveries. Psyclist lands a Mental Haymaker on Rhinestone Cowboy at the end of 7, making him the first of the villains to reach GM’s discretion.

Quickdraw wakes up, assess the situation, leaps to her feet and runs off, shouting back over her shoulder “Remember folks, Mutant Rule Now!”. Bullman also wakes up, and makes tracks in a different direction. C4 blows up Quickdraw, knocking her down, but not out. Stick and Alphonse cut off Quickdraw’s retreat. Psyclist throws a last mental blast at the fleeing Bullman, picking him off and dropping him. Ghost closes in and smokes Ghost Rider a good one, placing him far, far into GM’s discretion, but taking the STUN Drain Damage Shield stoically.

Quickdraw makes one last attempt to flee, but is overtaken and grabbed by Alphonse, and zip-tied by Stick. Hammer reaches Bullman, and secures him.

[1] My recollection is a bit hazy. It was Bullman Jazz hit in 12, right? I forget just what she hit him with. It was an AE 1 hex IIRC, but I don’t think it was the NND. [2] Again a I’m a bit hazy, but I’m pretty sure he went after Bullman in 12, and not Rhinestone Cowboy. [3] How did Rhinestone Cowboy get knocked down, and away from Stick? Did Gallowglas hit him in 2 instead of hitting Bullman, or was it Hammer targeting him? [4] I made a mistake here, the PARS suits SHOULD have had Flash DEF. [5] More haziness. I THINK it was Bullman, and I think it hit (zero OCV vs. zero DCV). Another mistake here, Bullman had an additional targeting sense that was not flashed. Not that it mattered much, Stick had his whip, and all his offensive options were tied up in it. But he might have gotten away.

-DCZ

The combat was not as well-matched as I had hoped, but I think it was more than a 1.5 pointer, so I will award a base of 2 combat points.

Total experience awarded for the last two gaming sessions, INCLUDING the base 2 combat points indicated above:

Ben/Psyclist:

2.5 combat, 1.5 non-combat.

Psyclist was very effective, except for that one TERRIBLE mental blast damage roll. A bonus non-combat half-point is included for his artistic endeavours on Polly’s body armour. If we start playing Heroic Action Points, remind me to give you a bonus point for your Worst Damage Roll Ever (until next time).

Jazz/C4:

2.5 combat, 1 non-combat.

Anne was very engaged in the game, managing range brackets, tracking targets, and generally keeping up a high level of situational awareness. This resulted in more effective application of C4. The role-playing portion was, unfortunately, stacked against Jazz. Interacting with authority figures is not really her forte, and there wasn’t really any opportunity for her to respond in character.

Mike/Hammer:

2 combat, zero non-combat.

Bill wasn’t present for the role-playing session. Hammer did a good job of carrying his weight in the battle.

Polly/Gallowglas:

2 combat, 2 non-combat.

Gallowglas was in the heat of the battle, with great enthusiasm, but was limited in what she could do by being flashed. Polly was very involved in the debrief, and delightfully indignant at the hospital. He plans to “spruce up” the farm (or maybe “Aspen up” … :-) are the icing on the cake.

Sarah/Ghost:

2.5 combat, 1 non-combat.

Ghost pretty much took on Ghost Rider single-handed, and didn’t let him play to his strengths.

Tia/Alphonse:

2.5 combat, 1 non-combat.

Also very engaged in the battle, which was reflected in the effectiveness of the character.

Xiang/Stick:

2.5 combat, 1.5 non-combat.

Stick was in the thick of things, as usual. Bonus points for absconding with the Bull Whip, the Matador flourish and being supportive of Polly’s indignancy with the hospital staff.

-DCZ