The Jolly Roger and Friends - part 2
The scenario breakdown for last weekend's Pirate Borg game can be found here. But I kicked the lads off by having them on their longboat hunting down their long-lost ship, the SS Stinky. Now resplendent in their Blessed Coats (a score from their last gaming session), as they sailed to the main island, they noticed that they were ringed by a series of tentacles that were fast closing in on them.
One tentacle was shot and blown away before reaching their boat, but the other seven soon closed in. With one tentacle on each lad (excluding Cythis) three were able to grab onto the boat and attempt each round to pull the thing under.
To the lad's credit, they were able to make fast work of the tentacles grabbing at them despite one of the lads almost being dragged into the sea. That would have been interesting as, being Skeletons, they wouldn't drown but they couldn't swim either.
Once the individual threats were dealt with, they focused on the tentacles pulling the boat down. With little time left before water poured over the side, they dispatched the remaining tentacles and luckily escaped.
From there they were able to close on the island and finally, with Cythis preternatural guidance, find their lost ship at anchor in a lagoon.
Incredibly they were able to sneak up on the ship and the smaller Jolly Roger next to it without anyone noticing. An amazing feat given that it was broad daylight. Dropping off their Buccaneer sniper on the sand bank, the rest of the team made for the stern of the Stinky where they found boarding ropes already in place.
Another set of excellent rolls saw them board their ship whilst the Buccaneer scurried up a tree to take aim at the unwanted boarders. After a short parley, Captain Hook decided he had had enough and called on Mr Smeg to drop the sack he was carrying. This was a Bag of Bones that contained ten or so Skeleton Pirates. With Hook's vampiric powers in play, the Skeletons quickly took shape and rushed our intrepid lads. Angelica, seeing this, dived for the Captain's Cabin and quickly locked herself safely away. The actual crew of the Stinky (i.e. its alcoholic Skeleton Crew) quickly dived overboard and onto the longboat where Cythis was waiting. This took them all out of the fight and left the lads to face the music.
With a crack, one of the Skeleton Pirates was felled by a shot from the Buccaneer over in the trees. The rat crew (The Bilge Rats), Hook and Smeg realised they were in a difficult position and did their best to hide behind the enormous rotting fish head that was the Stinky's figurehead. As the rats fired off their pistols, shot peppered the trunk of the tree where the Buccaneer was staged but it didn't break the tree trunk. Meanwhile, the Skeleton Pirates attacked the other lads on the aft deck of the ship.
The lads expected to make short work of the Skeleton Pirates, but no sooner was one felled, then after a round it returned, thanks to the vampiric abilities of Hook.
As the pressure was on, the Buccaneer decided to dive down into the sea, get back onto the beach and quickly make for the cliffs where he would have a much better sight of the deck. Thus, he would be able to ply his trade with impunity. But when he dived into the water he came almost face to snout with an enormous crocodilian creature. Fortunately, the Buccaneer was the less shocked of the two and hightailed it out of the water.
As the battle raged on the ship, suddenly the voice of Hook could be heard bellowing out to everyone to stop fighting. Everyone froze. Hook called out, "Do you hear that?" Bewildered everyone just stood there. One of the lads however passed a Wisdom roll and spoke. "Is that a ticking clock I hear?"
Sudden panic ensued as Hook went into meltdown and begged Mr Smeg to save him. The Bilge Rats scrambled overboard for The Jolly Roger. Mr Smeg picked up Hook and dumped him over the side onto the Jolly Roger before jumping down there himself. The Buccaneer bolted for the cliffs and the Skeleton Pirates re-engaged the lads on the aft deck.
With Hook, Smeg and The Bilge Rats hightailing it out of there on The Jolly Roger, the Crocodilian Monster lost interest in the SS Stinky and headed after the submersible. Without Hooks powers reforming the Skeleton Pirates, eventually the lads were able to overcome their foe and regain control of their ship.
With the SS Stinky back under their control, the lads then addressed Miss Fairweather, who refused to come out of the cabin. Eventually, they had to concede taking her on as a temporary passenger and dropping her off where she wished. But she did tell them of some nice treasure that was supposed to be in the caves behind them. Setting a guard, the lads set off to find the treasure and, after some ghostly shenanigans, did manage to score some nice loot.
Now they have their ship, they can go anywhere. I'll be handing the reigns over to one of the other lads to Game Master the next adventure. So, I need to get my own Player Miniature painted up for the next game.