The GLOW 1996: Psychic Eustace Delmont, Episode 8 - Odin's Favorite Son
- "Previously..." and Campaign/Arc Summary
- A Quick-ish Retcon
- Crafting the Shrine
- The GLOW 1996: Psychic Eustace Delmont Episode 8 - Odin's Favorite Son
- A Race Against Crime
- A Wild Genny Chase
- Axe vs Sword
- The Battle of the Courtyard
- Chaos in the Compound
- The Inner lair
- Upstairs || Downstairs
- The Chase through the Streets
- Doug's Commentary
- Mechanical and Story Notes
- Credits
- Taxonomy and Technical Data
Previously, on The GLOW: 1996 Psychic Eustace Delmont
Eustace and Hitomi have rescued Genny and turned off the towers. Now that they know that Magnus Odinson is behind — or at least part of a plot — to try and destroy the Order, Eustace has to try and stop Odinson. Though they have dealt a death blow to the Knives, it seems likely that Odinson will try again. They have to push into the compound and the shrine at its very heart. All the while, MUNI is growing closer and closer and absolutely no one is acting in any official capacity. If Eustace turns himself back into the Order, he will lose Hitomi. Likely forever.
About The GLOW: 1996 Psychic Eustace Delmont
Eustace Delmont is a psychic on the cusp of "graduating" into a full-blow Field Psychic. He requests his right to Walk, a brief period of freedom to encourage psychics to see the other side of The GLOW. He tries to finish his long-time partner Jani Blum's final unfinished mission: to find a mini-disc and crack open the Patel crime family. He meets Hitomi Meyer, a criminal hacker. The two are now on the run between a powerful crime family and an even more powerful adversary: The Order and its plans for Eustace.
Content Warning: Occasionally very foul language, lots of smoking, quite intense violence, drinking, gambling, non-graphic sex, drugs, criminal behavior, and black magic. The GLOW is a world of spiritual torture and weird horror.
This post is in the standard Doug Alone post style. See Anatomy of a Post for more details.
Attribution for the tools and materials used—including the splash art—can be found in the Credits below along with some details.
A Quick-ish Retcon
THIS IS THE FIRST ONE-PER-WEEK EPISODE FOR THIS ARC. That mostly just means instead of trying 1 quick session pretty much daily, I have more freedom to build up a 2-3 smaller sessions and maybe 1+ longer sessions throughout the week. If it fails, I'll undo that change almost immediately. One aspect of this is that I will start dating the playthrough per scene and commentary will have potentially multiple entries at the bottom as I play. We'll see how it goes.
WHERE THE HECK IS MUNI? This is the kind of thing that I am very prone to miss in solo- and multi-play. At the end of Episode 6 ("Knives Out") we established that MUNI was on their way. Then in Episode 7 ("Finding Genny") I had a mild twist about the other towers not being knocked out so I felt it made sense to put a delay on their actions, which also helped the twist of Magnus Odinson having psychics working for him. Unfortunately, this leads to a glitch. What was meant to be a 20-minute dash across a compound has become an hour and a half. Longer before it is finished. MUNI should be here. I thought about going back into Episode 7 and working in MUNI as a growing threat but instead I will use a soft retcon.
By the nature of Neon Noir, MUNI will be at least somewhat in the pocket of people like Roman Patel. We know from behind the scenes cooking that Roman is helping Magnus. This means that Roman might have placed a call to stop MUNI from diving in head first. This combined with MUNI forces tussling with Juan's people and Knives that are fleeing the compound means there has been a delay. One that is coming to a close. Especially with the increased Soulburn in the area, MUNI equipment will be working more functionally again. They will show back up. They are not the main threat for now but at least a bit of a chase sequence might be in order to get away.
Crafting the Shrine
The idea I had for the shrine, after some back and forth, was something of a single-story structure built on the "greenhouse" motif. A outer (false) sanctum where Magnus delivers his sermon/speeches. Inside, though, a glass enclosed courtyard stores up Soulburn along with a kind of airlock style mechanism between the false sanctum and the courtyard. The outer walls are around 10 meters high. Inside, two large tanks store up Soulburn to keep it evenly dispersed. A courtyard full of strange plants and decadence. To the north, an inner sanctum that is less a holy shrine and more a tech haven where the Knives secret psychics, hackers, and mages gather to carry out the plans that Magnus and the others are hatching.
One of the ideas for motifs was something like the Kailasa Temple though not built into a cliff face. Something that kind of emulates it, though. Magnus is all about design to hide his true intention and an elaborate front would be a perfect cover.
The gist of this session — the first and test of the week-long "session" format — to have a sort of five-room-dungeon but it's five scenes within the inner shrine where specific details can be worked out later on. The five scenes planned are:
- Guards at the gate. A not so terrible fight but one in which breaching inside might require getting past a stronghold. In other words, the guards can duck back inside or fall back and force the PCs to come to them.
- A Hitomi-themed scene requiring getting through the security of the airlock mechanism.
- A more complicated fight sequence in the courtyard using pillars, plants, and tanks to establish some strategy and planning. These will be people able to tap into Soulburn and so will likely have some degree of powers.
- A bit of a placeholder. If the fights are too easy, this might be a third fight sequence. If the fights are hard, this will likely be more of an establishing scene.
- A mini-boss battle with Magnus Odinson.
Rather than work them out, will keep those concepts in mind per scene. There is a chance that Eustace and Hitomi will run out of steam before they reach the end-game, in which Magnus escapes and Heat rises again (to 6).
The GLOW: 1996 Psychic Eustace Delmont. Episode 8 - Odin's Favorite Son
Setting the Scene. A Race Against Crime.
Date: Sunday, June 2, 1996.
Time: 2:42am.
Place: A garage where the knives receive shipments and store goods.
MUNI cops are entering the compound. As Soulburn is returning, the helicopters are able to get closer to the ground but are still being a bit cautious but the PCs have only one more hour (3:30am) before there's enough Soulburn for MUNI to be there in full force.
Is there enough Soulburn for Eustace to lose his Distracted? (Even) → [c104] No. He'll lose once he is in the Shrine but for now he is back to feeling a bit headache-y and unsure.
I will go ahead and count the 20ish minute break they get as a Time Out for purposes of regathering. Grit will reset (otherwise the fight would likely be too easy to feel like a mini-boss). Besides that Eustace gets an action to try and heal up Genny again.
Is there a vehicle to steal to speed up getting to the Shrine? (Even) → [c68] Yes. Hitomi will work on that. Besides that they will grab some food, etc.
Essentially this will be a quasi-Time-Out with gathering up and making plans.
Genny is going to be built with the rules of Supporting Characters in Chapter 6. Name: Jinjuro "Genny" Yusuda. Help: Shoot. Flaw: Obstinately Practical. Brawn: 4. Nerves: 6. Smooth: 3. Focus: 4. Crime: 3. Grit: 3 (total).
Date Played: March 2, 2025.
A Race Against Crime.
Date: Sunday, June 2, 1996.
Time: 2:32am.
Place: A garage where the knives receive shipments and store goods.
With a great grunt of movement as every joint and muscle has been transformed to a package of dull pain, Genny bends and carefully grabs the gun from the corpse of the woman who had been leading the black-garbed guards. Even with his precise movements, he finds blood smeared across the back of his hand and as nonchalantly as he can, he wipes it on the top of the desk and its many receipts. He tries not to look at the remains too much, despite years in various violent services. The smell is bad enough.
Genny walks back out to the main chamber and sits down next to a heap of wrappers and empty bottles. He has been guzzling protein bars, pain killers, and electrolyte-laden drinks from the Knives' stash. Nurse's orders. Genny complained a lot but he realizes the large man — whom Hitomi has called "Nurse" — is nearly at good at fixing people as chopping them into bits. Genny tries very hard to not be impressed but being a soldier for as long as he has means you sometimes have to give kudos to people who are just that practical in the field, like a gun feeling admiration for a sharpened knife. Genny is pretty sure that "Nurse" is in some way "the enemy" — jobber competition or something worse — but for now they can be allies and Genny is not going to kick up a fuss. There's an order of magnitude, here. Genny tends to involve the kind of action that requires a single warrior to take out a whole platoon. Hell, his number one choice of weapon is basic microwavers that disorient and nauseate. He's shot plenty of people but he's pretty sure a good number of those could have recovered (whether or not they did is a whole other story). Nurse dissects people. [1]
Outside, Hitomi is hacking into a three-wheeled vehicle that looks a bit like an armored golf cart designed to take bullets while going off road. Not exactly going to help if they have to flee into the main city streets but for the compound it should be pretty invaluable. It is roughly six kilometers to the compound gates from here but there is enough MUNI that the sirens catch on the wind here or there. Probably waiting to get permission to storm the compound. Waiting or permission and for the fighting to die down. The shooting has mostly stopped. That's a plus. On the other hand, the sound of MUNI helicopters keeps getting closer. Right now they can't get below 50 meters or risk a stall out but there is enough Soulburn that even Genny is starting to catch a sparkle out of the corner of his eye. Nurse's weird glowing wing trick seems to have sped that process up.
Hitomi comes back inside and looks through boxes until finding one that has a carton of cigarettes and rips it open while grimacing at the American label. She tosses a pack to Genny. Opens a pack for herself and lights up, no longer seemingly carrying out Country-of-Origin. "Got the cart cracked. Turned off some of its safety features as well so we can push it until it craps out." [2]
Nurse grabs some fruit and nut bars and hands it to Hitomi, pulling the cigarette from her mouth, and says, "Eat." She sticks her tongue out at him but takes him on the offer and chews thoughtfully. Nurse walks back over with a few bottles of water. Hands her one of those. She starts drinking and then shoves her own food into his mouth with her other hand with a giggle. It turns into a gentle tussle of two people taking care of each other while pretending to be irate about it. Genny is not exactly sure if he has seen a more nauseatingly cute display of affection and the fact that three corpses have been turned into hamburger behind him makes it all the more surreal.
A few minutes later, the whole time without saying another word, the trio head out to load up and race against the opposing forces of criminal and the law, knowing that they will find solace in neither.
Setting the Scene. A Wild Genny Chase.
Date: Sunday, June 2, 1996.
Time: 2:50am.
Place: The Gates to Magnus's Shrine.
Expected Scene: The trio have to shoot through guards to get inside.
Scene Test: [c78] 2d10 = 3 + 4. Only a minor complication. "Sacrifice yourself or a friend." A literal sacrifice seems a bit much but maybe Genny has to do something to help that takes him out for the rest of the session.
Actual Scene: There are too many guards at the gate so Genny is going to lead several off on a wild goose chase (and maybe survive).
There are dozens of black-camo'd guards watching the gate. Enough that it would be a high level boss fight if the trio tried punching through. Instead, they are going to lead a good number off. Still a rough fight but maybe more doable. What would make it succeed? A chase sequence where Eustace and Hitomi have to bail out and double back works for me.
We'll set the Need at 9. Initial speed is at 1 because presumably the guards will be in similar vehicles. It will take some reckless action to get a good race up. For the most part we are looking at Critical, Critical. Genny will have to drive which puts it against his Nerves. Once they hit 9, they have enough of a lead to leap off and hide.
Date Played: March 2, 2025.
A Wild Genny Chase.
Date: Sunday, June 2, 1996.
Time: 2:50am.
Place: The Gates to Magnus's Shrine.
"Ok," says Genny, "UNESCO should definitely sue." [3]
"Layers within layers of random religions woven to appeal to the sort of hippie hopeful that might be trapped in The GLOW," Eustace says. The gates to the shrine at the very heart of the Knives compound is clearly meant to evoke Indian sub-continent vibes. Pillars with carvings of men and women lead to a door meant to look like old stone but no doubt something more secure. A glowing light next to it suggests that all the lotus and elephant motifs are just hiding something a lot more high tech. Eustace can see the seeping Soulburn at the door's edges. Which is a surprise. Apparently the inner temple has been hiding a surprise from all the anti-Soulburn parishioners.
The main problem is that the gate into the shrine is full of guards in the same black camo as earlier. Magnus's non-believing guns for hire. There are at least a dozen or more. Smoking, laughing. The body of a few white robed Knives are stacked up near one of the pillars. All riddled with bullets and now discarded. Apparently Magnus has dropped the charade and any Knives that came here for refuge were given very strict leave-or-eat-bullets orders.
Sitting on a small central altar where no doubt Magnus himself stands to give his bullshit sermons is a big man with a bald head and a sturdy axe. He has a headset on and seems to be the one coordinating some kind of clean up based on the bits of speech that drift across. The time until Magnus bails and leaves the Knives behind is fast approaching.
"Can you take that many?," Genny asks Eustace.
"I'd rather not find out. Mochi, plans?"
Hitomi looks back at the armored cart she has rigged. "We do a quick drive by and start shooting, get as many as possible to give chase. See, on the side, two more of these carts. At some point you and I bail out and get back here."
"Genny?"
"Be the rabbit to lead the foxes away? Maybe a little payback for the beating I took earlier? I'm game to try. If I get shot, though, you need to apologize to my wife."
At the word "foxes," Eustace has winced but as far as plans go its possibly the best they have. If the shrine is actually full of Soulburn he can be a lot more effective once they are inside. Right now he is just a pair of blades attached to a man with a migraine.
They get into the vehicle and hit the ignition. The whine of the electric motor kicks back up. There's some gas power that can be turned on to increase the speed but once they do it will make a lot of noise. [4]
The trio drive in clear view of the guards as Hitomi opens fire. One of the women who had been close to Axeman the Barbarian drops. Genny whips the cart back away as Eustace shouts about needing to get back to the others. His attempt to conjure fear of some helpful horde does little to shake any of the confidence of the group, though, as they return fire and take to carts of their own. [5]
Genny swerves around a tree to avoid the worst of the gunfire while Eustace and Hitomi do their best to hold on and avoid taking a bullet in the back. The cart's armor holds off several of the shots but now that several of the guards on other carts and coming after them, it might not be long before their ride is wrecked. [6]
Genny directs the cart across a field and down a slope. Cover is sparse but it's easier to maneuver and build up speed when early season vegetation is your prime obstacle. Hitomi takes aim and shoots the driver of the cart directly behind them. While the dark-skinned man falls over and the cart slides out of control, the other cart speeds up and tries to come around on the side. The stopped cart's driver is pushed out and a blonde woman and the world's angriest face takes his place and rejoins the chase. [7]
The second cart shoves in and tries to ram their cart along the side. Genny shouts and pulls hard to the left while Hitomi and Eustace are both slammed around in the back. Genny whips back to the right in time to avoid spinning out and again keeps just slightly in front of the two chasers. [8]
Eustace leaps forward to start helping Genny find a path through the dark landscape. "THERE!," Eustace shouts, pointing towards a group of buildings. A farm house with equipment, silos, and a large feeding area is front of them. Hitomi squeezes off a few more shots at the cart behind them but none of them manage to land as she ejects her mag and starts reloading. [9]
The cart behind them returns fire. However, Genny is now cutting right in front of the cart that has been keeping up beside them so the shots tear through their cart instead. Several of the guards on that are forced to duck down and lose control. Blood is dripping down Eustace's arm but he manages to hang on and keep an eye out on the terrain around them, looking for opportunities. [10]
"Get me CLOSER to them!," Eustace shouts as Genny slams on brakes and whips back around a silo used to store grain. The cart is moving at a high rate of speed as it swerves with a meter of the completely caught by surprised cart driven by the blonde woman. They are even more surprised as Eustace jumps up out of Genny's cart and lands on top, blades slicing through the roof and cutting through the driver's head and scattering the other two that are inside. As the cart crashes into the side of the silo, Eustace is rolling away and down into the shadows where he is hidden. Hitomi has finished reloading and getting ready to dive off herself. [11]
To get into place for Hitomi to exit, Genny whips through a large open building designed to feed animals. Taking the cart on two wheels to slam into a 90° turn, Genny masterfully handles the speed as the cart flies past a series of troughs. Hitomi taps him twice on the shoulder and leaps off into a pile of hay in one of the troughs. As the cart chasing them enters into the building — sparks shooting off their side as they cut it a little close — Hitomi buries herself down into the straw and hears the other cart go past. She wishes Genny luck as she leaps out and trots back to the silo to meet up with Eustace. [12]
By the time she catches back up, Eustace is moving bodies out of the other cart and looking it over. He pulls it back from the silo and pulls a few wires. After a second, the heavily damaged vehicle is restarted and the two head back to the gates. [13]
Setting the Scene. Axe vs Sword.
Date: Sunday, June 2, 1996.
Time: 3:06am.
Place: The Gates to Magnus's Shrine.
Expected Scene: Eustace challenges the leader.
Scene Test: [c33] 7. 2d10 = 10 + 9. A major complication. There's an image of Canopic Jars. [c31] An airlock cycles.
Actual Scene: As Eustace and Hitomi gets back, the airlock has been opened and the axe-wielder is now using Soulburn to power up his fighting. The others have retreated inside to help guard the courtyard.
Rather than be another "goons vs heroes" fight, this will be two Soulburn wielding people fighting it out. Let's build our axe-man.
Leon Larken. Specialist in close fighting. Boss Template 1. Attack: Extreme. Defense: Critical. 6 Grit. Hot boxes on 2, 4, and 6. Feats: Sharp Blades, Heavy Handed, Fighter, Relentless. Special Actions: Parry, Counter, To the End.
Eustace and Hitomi are both going to have +2 Adrenaline from the last couple of scenes but it will be rough.
Date Played: March 2, 2025.
Axe vs Sword.
Date: Sunday, June 2, 1996.
Time: 3:06am.
Place: The Gates to Magnus's Shrine.
As Eustace and Hitomi approach the gates, the only guard left is Axeman the Barbarian. His subordinates, the ones not pulled off in the wild chase, have gone. For a lot of people, this would be a clear sign to not approach any further. Before Eustace and Hitomi have come clearly into view in the faint light, Axeman is already pulling off his headset and readying his axe.
Eustace notes that the door is now open and Soulburn is pouring out into compound. As the axe-wielder looks at Eustace, the man's eyes seem to glow. He is clearly using some psychic powers to aid him.
Eustace scans around for anything to use as an advantage. The man's weakness stands out. He is all brawn. He doesn't know how to strategize but instead will rely on pushing through the fight. [14]
Eustace does not even shout as he runs to meet the man head on. Throws one blade up and to the left and as the guard is smirking and bringing his axe to block it, Eustace swings his right arm and cuts the man through the stomach into the chest. The man, the same size as Eustace, is caught completely off-guard and shifts gears to bring the axe down heavy on Eustace's right arm blade to block it from splitting him open entirely. Blood explodes up and out as Eustace dives over to the side. Hitomi shoots at the large man but the Soulburn has given him enough of an edge that even heavily injured he is able to move out of the shots with surprising speed. Hitomi curses and pulls out another mag and slams it into place. [15]
The heavily bleeding man charges and swings wildly at Eustace who manages to parry back against the worst of the blows. Still, it is clear his assailant hits like a truck and every blocked swing still drives Eustace back. [16]
As soon as Eustace gets an opening he kicks the man in his heavily injured stomach and knocks him back. Right as the axe-wielder looks up with fury in his eyes, his head explodes. Hitomi has walked up and shot him. [17]
Eustace grabs up the guard's axe and the two of them run into the open door. [18]
Setting the Scene. The Battle of the Courtyard.
Date: Sunday, June 2, 1996.
Time: 3:11am.
Place: The Courtyard in the Shrine.
Expected Scene: Eustace and Hitomi enter the courtyard and fight the remaining guards trying to get to Magnus before he can escape.
Scene Test: [c61] 3. 2d10 = 1 + 5. Minor complication. "Bent light of active camo." The guards camo allows them to hide in the bushes.
Actual Scene: The guards aren't as tough as the one outside, but they are harder to hit.
Eustace has taken a right beating. We'll have Genny show up during this scene but not at start. Eustace will need to try and take as little damage as possible. In fact, I am going to spend Eustace's Spotlight to allow the "change a rule" and give him a chance at some self-repair. He will be still Hurt but will maybe get some Grit back so they don't have to abandon the mission.
As for the remaining Guards, we'll have them use an odd combo of the Strike Force sample but reverse their damage and defense. We'll also trim back their Grit slightly to 6. 6 Grit, Hotboxes on 2 and 4. Attack Critical, Defense 2xCritical. Feats: Automatic Weapons, Bulletproof Vests, and Tactics. Special Moves: Counter, Flashbang!, Surround, and Disappear.
Date Played: March 2, 2025.
The Battle of the Courtyard.
Date: Sunday, June 2, 1996.
Time: 3:11am.
Place: The Courtyard in the Shrine.
Eustace sits on a bench and uses the rest of the medical equipment they snagged earlier from the storehouse to treat his many wounds. After a bit, he still looks pretty hurt but at least he doesn't feel the pain so much and has staunched the bleeding. [19]
The courtyard is a large, gardened area with several pillars, benches, and fountains. Above them, several meters over their head, a sturdy glass ceiling helps to keep the Soulburn contained. The decor in here is much more Italian villa than ancient Buddhist temple. The faux religious trappings are less important when the Knives cannot see. The interior is all about money. A bit of a glimpse into the inner workings of Magnus's mind. The plants are several exotic varietals and their shapes and colors are strange and warped as they flow in a breeze that only they can feel. Mages have clearly changed their taxonomy into something unique. Plants that breathe Soulburn.
Eustace and Hitomi get up and move through the dense fauna and try scooting along the edge of the courtyard when gunfire rips out. Eustace flings himself behind a large plant filled with some cosmic horror version of azalea bushes. Hitomi gets down behind a stone bench as chips break off. [20]
"Where the fuck are they coming from?," Hitomi hisses as soon as the gunfire lets up. She thinks she sees a shape moving and opens fire with her assault rifle but fails to find any targets. Eustace reaches around with his mind to try and find any sort of opening and his mental focus pulls towards a large metal tank over to one side of the courtyard. It is full of Soulburn and if it could be released, he could channel it into a weapon. For the moment, though, he dives over a fountain to where he thinks the gunfire came from but finds no one, there. [21]
He sends a quick message to Hitomi about the tank as another burst of gunfire sends him diving into the water fountain. She tries sprinting towards the tank but has to duck to try and avoid getting hit. [22]
He is immediately back up and moving towards the bullets. He finds a shooter masked by their suit to blend in with the many strange plants. This explains the black camo. Soulburn powered camo. He brings both blades down through plants and person alike. Hearing a slight sound behind him he swings back without even trying to look. A gasp as another camo'd gunner's head flies off and comes into view. He is already moving before it hits the ground, diving behind a heavy pillar. Hitomi takes off running for the tank and shoots to where she thinks she hears motion. Emptying out an entire magazine, she is satisfied to hear a grunt as another enemy goes down. [23]
The enemies start unloading their own guns and Eustace and Hitomi are pinned down. There is no good way to move. Anytime they try and get free, another unseen gunner starts targeting their area. The guards tightening the noose. A shout for the door takes some of the pressure off.
Genny says, "I figured you could use some help and starts squeezing off shots into the undergrowth to try and buy up some time. [24]
The hidden guards take shots at Genny, who ducks back behind the doorway, and Eustace is able to move fast and target their locations. Within a few seconds, the gunfire dies down as the other three are dead as well.
Not long after, a loud roar rips through the courtyard as the Soulburn tank blows out the side of the wall. "Shoot the glass!," Eustace shouts. Her and Genny start shooting out bits of the glass above and Eustace and Hitomi due their best to avoid any fallen shards raining down on the courtyard. The thick Soulburn starts to dissipate. [25]
Eustace slides his blades together to get the blood off of them. "There's another tank this way, come on." It is not long before Hitomi is set it to explode as well. The spiritual pressure in the courtyard is greatly depleted and already some of the plants are starting to lose their luster. [26]
Setting the Scene. Chaos in the Compound.
Date: Sunday, June 2, 1996.
Time: 3:25am.
Place: The Inner Sanctum which is really just a business office running the Knives' true purpose: crime and finance.
Expected Scene: The trio have to make their way through offices to find Magnus.
Scene Test: [c41] 8. 2d10 = 10 + 6. Another minor complication which, on the general feels amazing how many we get. In this case, "Wageslaves revolt" seems to be fun and a rare "positive twist" in this series.
Actual Scene: As they move through the Inner Sanctum, many of the folks working behind the scenes are actively fleeing the space.
Sometimes the "always be action" aspects of Outgunned clash with my tendency to dawdle with lore and character interactions — with action taking a hard backseat in many of my solo efforts, being summed up in a few sentences — and so to counter that want to take a moment to establish some scene cues. Elements to pull upon when I try and get into scene mode.
The same overblown intensity of architecture that the outer sanctum and courtyard had. Massive pillars. Works of art on the walls. Large spaces. Not quite Brazil (the movie, not the country) levels of great vast areas inside of offices but something that could be like that. But also brown brick, golden, marble. Bright desks. Computers. Thoroughly modern — even more so than 1996 standards — and human-friendly, but ostentatious all the same. A display of money and decor. Something that might make more sense in a reclaimed church or older building being renovated but this is built brick by brick to establish Magnus in power. A couple of dozen people who essentially live in this structure and take some tunnel outside, who have only windows into the courtyard.
And currently most of these wage workers — even, if not especially the ones with some mystic ability — are fleeing. Eustace and Hitomi have punched through their guards, through their angel drones, has destroyed their control over Soulburn. The more and more Soulburn that Eustace absorbs, they more he looks like a crow. They more they see the lines dancing through Hitomi. The more they can feel the fox-faced psychics watching over Eustace approaching, especially now that Soulburn is pouring into the compound.
We have been through a few hard fights already so this scene is more about just building up things.
Date Played: March 4, 2025.
Chaos in the Compound.
Date: Sunday, June 2, 1996.
Time: 3:25am.
Place: The Inner Sanctum which is really just a business office running the Knives' true purpose: crime and finance.
Genny collides full on with a young man in a DEPTH CHARGE t-shirt carrying a box of papers. "Watch it, asshole," Genny shouts, pulling out his gun and taking aim. Eustace grabs his arm. Gives DEPTH CHARGE a chance to run. Points out the handful of other people scattering with folders and boxes and trying to find exits. Especially now that the main exit was just blocked by three armed and bloodied people walking in. Most of them are pretty young and look terrified. One has a hammer and is smashing up computers but upon seeing Eustace watching him, takes the hammer and smashes through a window and starts crawling through. Another man starts to follow.
"These are just workers. Folks caught up in it, we have bigger fish to fry. Looks like most of the people of power have already left. Or, just aren't here this time of night." As Eustace is saying this, a woman in a long earth-tone-rainbow colored robe walks around corner and then lets out a scream and backs away from Eustace, pointing in his general direction. "Ah, the workers and the psychics." She is already running quickly past a desk with a bright lamp. One of many in this huge space. The damage done to try and bury evidence is massive but clearly only half done.
"It's like a cathedral," Hitomi says, taking in the large pillars and the odd stained glass motif. More oceanic than heavenly. Full of teeth and fins and claws.
Eustace, back in Soulburn, tries accessing the threads constantly flowing around in the air. "This place was a state park just 10 years ago. That means this is all built to look decadent and ancient. Magnus is a weird dude." [27]
"Plenty of weird dudes can't afford to build something on this scale," Genny points out. He has moved over to one of the many desk and is looking at the print outs. "There are financial statements from all over. At least a couple of local banks. Several very much so not local."
Hitomi walks over to one of the terminals. Plugs in one of her laptops and clacks away at the keyboard before sighing after a moment. "I can get in, but it might take a moment." [28]
Eustace grabs a young woman with purple hair out from under one of the desks where she thought she was hiding. "Magnus. NOW." She yelps and piss flows down her pants. Eustace nearly feels bad except he knows that these office workers are partially responsible for the subjugation of a number of people their own age and plan to spread it even further. He shakes her again and she points to a door at the end of a hall and says, "He's....the tunnel..." [29]
"And why aren't you going into the tunnel?"
"Shoot...shoot...us."
Eustace sets her down gently and points to the door back into the courtyard. The woman runs off. She is the last visible worker in the area. Presumably there is a larger day staff but they are elsewhere right now. Which Eustace points out that the Genny, Hitomi, and himself need to be as well.
Hitomi taps some more keys and the screen of her laptop goes bright red. "I set it to punch through the system, upload it to my off-shore data bank. If anyone touches it, it will burn itself." She wipes it down for finger prints. Eustace walks over and pulls the Soulburn off of it. Crushes it in his hands. Hiding their tracks as best they can. [30]
After that the group runs through the room to the hall that was pointed out. At the end of it is set of stairs into a mezzanine and they follow it up.
Setting the Scene. The Inner Lair.
Date: Sunday, June 2, 1996.
Time: 3:40am.
Place: The main office of Magnus Odinson.
Expected Scene: A few guards are left behind to protect the tunnels while Magnus gets away.
Scene Test: [c82] 4. 2d10 = 4 + 5. Wouldn't you know it, a minor complication. There's a picture of a secret door and "Isolate Slovenly Work".
Actual Scene: Guards are in the room, but relatively simple ones. They have sealed the tunnel but have not done a great job.
We'll just make these guys some advanced cannon fodder. 2xBasic/Basic/9. Finding the door will take some examination.
Date Played: March 4, 2025.
The Inner Lair.
Date: Sunday, June 2, 1996.
Time: 3:40am.
Place: The main office of Magnus Odinson.
As Eustace pushes open the left side of the double door, gunshots ring out and smash through the wood. This place might be a sham but Magnus likes his mahogany and marble. Each bullet just cost their boss a hundred dollars. Eustace has pulled back behind the right with Genny and Hitomi pulling out their guns and taking up position. Eustace tries to get a read on the situation but can't focus on how many gunners there are. "More than one, maybe." [31]
"Good job, Mr. Psychic Weapon," Hitomi sasses before running through the door and taking a shot at the first person she sees. As a bearded man in black camo goes down she is already turning to fire at a person behind her and takes that person as well. Eustace walks in behind her and shoves outward with all the excess Soulburn the place has built up, using himself and Hitomi as a calm center. The air crackles and then explodes outward as the rest of the guards are slammed back at force against the walls. One of the large globe lights shatters and rains down shards of glass into the room. A few seconds later the immense psychic pressure drops and the broken bodies drop down like rag dolls. Some have been punched through like anatomically correct water balloons. [32]
Genny walks in after him, looking like he is weighing in on running or maybe even trying a lucky shot against Eustace. Instead, he holsters his pistol — well, since he has no holster, just shoves it into his pocket with the safety on — and shrugs. "Just glad I can help."
Hitomi starts searching the room. It combines the general shape of a bishops office with minimalist decor. A desk joined the people in the room being smashed. A chair with it. A few paintings are now blood splattered. Besides that, it is mostly empty. The impression of an office for a man who clearly does much of his work elsewhere. Windows, cracked, show more of the courtyard outside. From those same windows they can hear MUNI 'copters flying overhead, low enough to land. Speed is very much of the essence.
They scramble around the room, trying to find anything that shouts "tunnel" when Hitomi shouts "AH." Walks over to one of the blood spattered painting, this one depicting the body of Christ in the tomb, and snatches it down. "For the son of a bitch is risen. I am going to enjoy shooting the self-important replica loving bastard." Behind it is a panel that she deftly works at until it goes green and the center a panel on a wall next to where the painting was — a panel covered in brains from one of the black camo'd guards who just found out why you don't mess with the Order — slides back. "Open Sesame." [33]
Setting the Scene. Upstairs || Downstairs.
Date: Sunday, June 2, 1996.
Time: 3:50am.
Place: Approaching the bottom floor and the entrance to the compound's secret tunnel.
Expected Scene: The trio are reaching the bottom floor of the multi-story stair well which will lead them into the tunnel to leave the compound.
Scene Test: [c72] 4. 2d10 = 4 + 9. Amazing. Shocking! Another minor complication. It's minor so rather than go with any prompts on the card, we'll just say that some guards are left behind and Magnus is getting away. They have some turns to catch up (before Magnus hits the main road) and the combat eats into that.
Actual Scene: Guards are shooting back.
Speed starts at -1 (essentially). 8 turns before Magnus hits the end of the tunnel. 12 need. If they are not past 6 mark on their Need track by turn 8, they are in danger of losing him.
Guards will be Crit/Crit/9.
Date Played: March 6, 2025.
Upstairs || Downstairs.
Date: Sunday, June 2, 1996.
Time: 3:50am.
Place: Approaching the bottom floor and the entrance to the compound's secret tunnel.
They have been running down the stairs for five floors. Five floors of gray concrete and plain swept steps. Almost indistinguishable from any corporate office's stairwell at this point. The many faces of Magnus Odinson. AgroHippie Compound becomes Eastern Copy Cat spirituality becomes Overblown Splendor becomes Drowning in Civil Engineering. Too few witnesses to impress, most likely.
With the bottom floor in sight, Eustace hisses a warning in time for the group go on the defensive as more guards below them open fire. Bullets slamming into cement and into the metal. Eustace leaps over the edge and lands the floor below, a half-set of steps before the bottom, and slices through a guard. As another new Eustace takes bead on the large man, Hitomi opens fire with her assault rifle. That guard topples as well, more are running up the stairs and Hitomi starts plugging them. [34]
Four more guards are running up the stairs and targeting Eustace and Hitomi. Eustace once again leaps over the railing and hits the floor, now below and hidden slightly from the gunners. These new opponents take only a moment to relocate their targets. Two turn and run back towards Eustace while the others empty mags into the stairs above. Even as Hitomi and Genny press themselves down and against the wall there are simply too many ricocheting bullets and shards of stone to avoid taking any hits. [35]
The two guards who have backtracked to find Eustace realize the error of their ways too late as double blades come out of the darkness of the stairwell underneath them and pierce both the man on the right and the guy slightly to the left and behind them in the heads. Which Eustace then slams together, dropping both. Back above, Hitomi and Genny pour bullets back towards the remaining two as they are reloading. Hitting empty on the assault rifle, Hitomi flings the gun down and then grabs herself and Genny and dives down to get more cover than last time. [36]
The guard on the stairs, seeing that his last remaining friend was dropped, starts advancing on the last known location of Hitomi and Genny. As he does, though, a blade comes up through the stairs at his feet and slice. He screams and falls back, his gun firing wildly as he does so. Hitomi and Genny have to keep themselves pressed down as the last the bullet echoes come to a close. Getting up and running down stairs, they see Eustace finishing off the man. [37]
All three are now running across the to the garage to which the stairs have been leading. They see the tail lights of another care in the distance which blink as the car goes around a corner. There are only two other cars left at this point. One is a heavier transport vehicle — dull and gray and well used but likely dependable — while the other is a sports car — red and sleek. Eustace runs back and starts pulling at the dead guards' pockets. Hitomi, realizing what he is doing runs over to help. Eventually, in the pockets of the man that Eustace cut down first, they fine a set of keys that seem to work and head back. To Genny's sadness, it is for the truck. [38]
With Hitomi behind the wheel, they speed off after the now gone car.
Setting the Scene. Chase through the Streets.
Date: Sunday, June 2, 1996.
Time: 3:55am.
Place: The tunnel between the compound and the streets under Maidenstead.
Expected Scene: They are chasing Magnus's car through the tunnel.
Scene Test: [c90] 6. 2d10 = 3 + 4. AN EXPECTED scene!? In THIS game? Holy cow.
Actual Scene: As expected.
This will start on turn 4. They have 4 turns to get within spotting distance. We'll start there.
Date Played: March 6, 2025.
Chase through the Streets.
Date: Sunday, June 2, 1996.
Time: 3:55am.
Place: The tunnel between the compound and the streets under Maidenstead.
Hitomi slams the clutch down and gets up a good amount of speed before the truck stutters and starts slowing down. "Fucking shit dammit!," she shouts and then manages to stabilize. The tunnels up ahead and lit by the headlights of the truck but so far they cannot see the car up ahead. Eustace tells her to kill the lights and he can help navigate. She looks at him for a few seconds for taking his urging.
Eustace leans forward and keeps a watch on the tunnel. To both Hitomi and Genny, it now doubt looks nearly pitch black. To Eustace, it is a swirl of color. As Hitomi starts to gather back up some more speed, Eustace notes faint light up ahead. Actual light. Not just the swirling Soulburn. A system designed to turn the overhead lights on as Magnus passes and then off after he is gone is a good indication they are getting close enough to him to see at least some indication of his passing. Eustace directs Hitomi to turn right. "No, more right. Wait, that's too much!" A loud tearing sound comes from the passenger side of the truck where Genny is sitting as Hitomi slams into the wall and loses even more speed.
"I really want to turn the lights on, Nurse," Hitomi says, barely concealed anxious anger in her voice.
"Trust me, we are getting very close. We'll be in light soon enough."
Without taking her eyes off the dim light in front of them as they approached the still active lights over head — another one going dark before they get to it, and then another, they are falling behind — she reaches into her pocket with her left hand and pulls one of the cigarettes she pilfered from the compound. Activating the truck's lighter, it ejects it's glowing red tube. She lights the cigarette, puffs hard a few times, and then leans forward and starts accelerating again, this time not missing the cues to shift gears. Soon enough, they are now fully in the light and she can see again. Which means she can see the wall in front of them start sliding shut. She glances around the cab and notices a small remote clipped to the sun visor. Hitting that, the wall stops closing and starts reopening. As she drives through that she glances left and right and spots the only other car on the road — well, a car with two motorcycles driving in front of it like escorting a VIP — and whips the truck in that direction, turning the headlights back on. [39]
As they fall in a quarter kilometer or so behind Magnus's car, Hitomi focuses on trying to keep up but also trying to drive in a way that it just seems like she is casually following, hoping that Magnus and his squad are expecting the guards to have followed. One of the bikes falls back to check them out but after a second goes forward again. She seems to have passed the test. [40]
As they are crossing over a complicated overpass junction where the freeway here dive off to cross the bay, head south to the new GLOW, or head north into Maidenstead, Hitomi guns it and charges forward. The truck smashes through one of the bikes and hits the back end of Magnus's car, driving into the guard rails on the side. It flips over and comes down hard on the roof and keeps sliding away. Other vehicles honk and swerve to get out of the violence. Eustace and Genny are thrown hard into the windshield, with Eustace's head smashing into the glass hard enough to crack it. Genny is squeezed up against the door and let's out a gasp. Still, he fairs better than Eustace and he and Hitomi are both out the door shooting before Magnus's car starts sliding. [41]
Hitomi and Genny first target the other guy on the bike before he can get his gun out. Then the driver of the car. Soon, it's just them and Magnus. Other cars on the free way are avoiding the situation. Like the saying goes, no one sees anything in The GLOW. [42]
Finally, Magnus crawls out. Lifts his hands up. No threat. No intimidation. Just an older black man still dressed in his compound attire. Likely caught there late when stuff started going sidewise and stuck around assuming he could push through.
Hemp shirt. Beads. Looks more like a man that might run a herbal remedy shop than a person orchestrating the destruction of multiple lives. A grandfatherly looking fellow. No doubt his down-to-earth appearance was part of the fanatical following. For a person who caused so much pain, he certainly looks trustworthy.
"I can pay you...," he starts to say, defaulting to his wealth and the power he just spent the last twelve hours losing. Hitomi just shakes her head and waves of tiredness wash over her. This man has hurt a lot of people. Including Juan. All the suffering. Anastasia. Dozens of others. Hundreds of others. How many corpses around The GLOW due directly to this man? And yet, face to face with him, she is suddenly exhausted. She wants to know if Mrs. Yuuki pulled through. Wants to check in on Bee. Wants to find out if Anastasia made it. Just wants to crawl in bed with Eustace and spend 24-hours healing up.
Magnus starts to smile. He clearly thinks that these two would-be assassins might be bribed despite everything they have witnessed. Then his smile fades.
Eustace is walking up. Bleeding from the forehead. Covered in cuts and bruises. Eustace looks down at Magnus, such a small man to cause so much trouble. "You. You were going to topple the Order?"
"Ah, it was just business, you know? I was being paid very urk..."
Magnus is silenced, for good, as Eustace picks him up and throws him over the edge of the overpass. Cars below start honking furiously.
DOUG'S COMMENTARY
March 7, 2025
This was my experiment of trying out "once per week" posting and it was ok. I played the first four scenes of this in essentially a 3ish hour burst. Then, there were two bursts of the other four scenes. The end result is something that feels more like what an actual multiplayer TTRPG session would have, while still allowing me shorter solo play sessions to make up for the lack of downtime. All the same, it just feels a bit odd to have a post this long. Over 40 mechanical footnotes. I think 10 images included?
Some of it was the action-heavy aspect. I definitely play better when I have a chance to stew a bit. I think I need a week where I do not dedicate every single scene to some sort of combat or conflict to get a good feeling about whether this longer semi-sustained posting schedule is better than 2-3 shorter posts where each one represents a session.
The biggest benefit I have had is that I can usually take a whole day to come back to a session and then do some pretty substantial up-cycling. By this I mean I keep the general action and all the dice rolls but I go through and add more details. I usually have a fairly complete scene in my mind and it can be hard to get everything down without completely losing or burying the game. This style, where I am not having to essentially constantly play and post to have enough content to keep stuff flowing, gives me some extra time to have a few extra scenes but also to try and make some scenes better. I do not think I quite hit that fully, here, but there are a lot of little additions that I had the chance to work on. More time to work on certain interactions. Etc.
Another pootential benefit would be the inclusion of proper one-shots where the "one" means "one week." I am slightly itching for one now to show some behind the scenes aspects, so to speak. Stuff going on that does not involve Eustace or Hitomi.
Overall, outside of the debate of the one-per-week vs 2+-per-week, this was a fairly exhausting post to play/write. Since the scene with Genny getting captured and the flashback to Anastasia, it has been pretty a constant run. There was the "timeout" to handle the Turning Point nature of it and then we had something like twelve scenes in a row in which a gun fight, chase, or similar conflict was happening — with me even adding in to option non-combat conflicts. I guess the scene in the offices this time wasn't really a conflict. That one might have gone differently had we gotten there sooner. Guards shooting around office drones. I just needed a break from rolling some dice, essentially.
My favorite fight was the camoflaged guards in the courtyard. There is a thing in this campaign where no matter how much damage an enemy can put out — and quite a few have put out a lot — they seem to die in just a few turns. Having enemies that were more resistant to dying than they were actually good at doing damage was a nice spin.
Up next will be a timeout as Eustace and Hitomi try to patch up and Genny gets paid. We'll also figure out how much money was obtained. And then it seems like a good time to deal with Dave Akari and the Apostates, possibly. I wondered about dealing with the law and fall out but ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...
Oh, bonus fact. There is a guy in the offices who is wearing a DEPTH CHARGE t-shirt. I wrote those words because I just needed a band name to include that might make sense in context to the characters but not necessarily the readers. I decided to look it up and found out about Depth Charge's Nine Deadly Venoms which very well could have been in circulation in The GLOW in 1996 so there you go. Just imagine that album cover or artwork was on the t-shirt. Or make up a band. That's fine with me, too.
MECHANICAL AND STORY NOTES
- Healing Genny is Critical on Focus + Healing. -1 due to Distracted. +1 for there being supplies. 6 dice. Eustace gets a 2xBasic after a reroll so pushes All In and gets a 2xCritical. Genny is back up to all 3 grit.
- Criminal + Fix. 6 dice. Even without a reroll gets a Critical + Basic. Cart will be Armor 3 and Speed 0.
- I went looking for an actual UNESCO site to show how Magnus just borrows stuff in his mishmash religion. See https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/243/.
- Is the cart electric? (Even) → [c106] Yes? It is mostly electric but has gas power for an added burst.
- Genny only gets a Basic so speed is maintained at 1. Hitomi gets (Nerves + Shoot) Crit + Basic. Eustace gets (Smooth + Speech) no successes. Need = 1/9.
- Genny gets the Critical to avoid the worst of the gunfire. Eustace gets only a Basic and takes 2 Grit. Hitomi gets 2xBasic and takes 1 Grit.
- Genny gets a 2xBasic so enough to maintain speed while Hitomi manages a Crit+Basic shot. They are wearing the chases down a bit. Need = 2/9.
- Genny gets the Critical to avoid the ramming. Eustace and Hitomi take 2 and 1 Grit respectively.
- With Eustaces +1 Help, Genny gets up to a Crit + Basic. Speed is now 2. Hitomi does not land a shot but only gets double basic. Enough that it will reduce the difficulty to Basic but she also has to reload. Need = 4/9.
- Eustace takes 2 more Grit, poor guy. Genny gets an Extreme so next turn he'll have +2 Help as the other cart recoups. Hitomi manages to avoid losing any Grit.
- Genny with the +2 gets Extreme + Crit. Eustace rolling Brawn + Fight and using the extra Crit to close the distance leaps off and comes down with 2xCrit + Basic. He chops up the cart closest to them and has enough to roll back behind the silo to hide from the third cart. Hitomi spends this round reloading and gets ready to leap off herself. Speed = 4 and Need = 8.
- Genny gets an Extreme. Like last time this will give enough left over to avoid Hitomi having to roll. Well, not literally since she's about to ROLL, get it?! Don't need to play out the next action turn since the Need will fill, so instead will do Hitomi in a Gamble vs Critical: Nerves + Stunt. She gets Crit + Basic and makes the action, getting down behind a trough as the third cart chases after Genny.
- Is the other cart salvageable? (Bad) → [c113] Yes? Focus + Fix -1 nets Eustace a Critical. He gets up and running enough that they can ride it back to the gates.
- Spends one Adrenaline to use his mind powers to search for weakspots. 3,5 = Enemies aren't sharp [can be attacked with Focus + Know + 1] or 4,4 Enemy hasn't really noticed you. I like the first one.
- Focus + Know + 1 + 2 for using his Cyber Arms (Adrenaline) + 1 for blades -1 for Leon's Feats = ludicrously, without rerolling, an Impossible + 2xBasic. Hmmm. Leon is immediately forced to spend his 3 adrenaline action of To the End and has 2 Grit left. Eustace has two Quick actions so he can move out of the way to give Hitomi a clear shot. She doesn't make a hit, though, and has lost another mag.
- Brawn + Fight nets Eustace two Criticals which absorbs 6 of the 9 damage.
- This time Eustace only gets 3xBasic = 1xCritical. Leon still has 1 Grit left. Hitomi, though, gets a Critical and finishes the guy off without shooting Eustace.
- Does Leon have any mags on him compatible with Hitomi's gun? (Bad) → [c63] NO! No, he is very much about choppy chop.
- Eustace will spend a Spotlight for a chance to heal up. Know + Healing + 1 Help due to the equipment they snagged earlier. He only gets Critical + 2xBasic. He will heal 5 Grit. He still has the Hurt condition though. He does win the coin flip and keeps his Spotlight.
- Neither Eustace nor Hitomi make their stealth rolls. Eustace gets a Critical to avoid being shot. Hitomi gets 2xBasic and takes 1 Grit.
- Hitomi does not get any hits and loses another mag. Eustace spends an Andrenaline to sense weakness as his quick action. Weakness = 1,1 enemy has a portentious weapon. 4,3 enemy has some explosives. The latter seems to be the most fun. Eustace also fails to get any damage on the enemies, though.
- Eustace gets 2xBasic and takes 1 Grit. Hitomi makes Critical and avoids getting shot.
- Eustace spends Adrenaline for +2 and goes All In for another +1. Gets Extreme + Critical + Basic. That's two Grit gone and enough to take a quick action to get into full cover. Hitomi shoots while moving. She emptys an entire mag for +1. She gets Double Crit for 1 more Grit. That's 3 down.
- Eustace is in full cover. Hitomi makes the Critical + Basic so is able to keep moving a bit. Enemies trigger Surround which means E+H take 1 Grit to use their Quick Action. We'll say Genny shows up here.
- Eustace once again uses Adrenaline and goes All In. Actually goes All In in both ways and comes out with Extreme + Critical. This does the last two Grit of the enemy. Hitomi fails her Crime + Dex roll but spends a Spotlight to active the tanks explosion. She gets her Spotlight back. Both her and Eustace make their Brawn + Stunt roll to avoid taking damage from fallen glass.
- Eustace makes his Focus + Awareness roll to detect the other tank. This time Hitomi gets an Extreme and sets it to blow just fine.
- Ah, why not. Focus + Know. Gets a Critical + Basic.
- Does the area still have a terminal Hitomi can hack into? (Good) → [c58] Yes. However, she only gets 2xBasic. Enough to see a path, not enough to do it hurriedly.
- Brawn + Speech + 1 Help due to the obvious threat. Gets a Critical. Now, does she know about the secret tunnel? (Even) → [c37] Yes.
- Same as before but she gets another +1 for sacrificing her laptop. This time gets Double Crit + Basic. She'll get the data and has enough left over to hide her tracks. Eustace is just showing off.
- I don't think he has ever gotten a good roll but Focus + Awareness only nets a Basic.
- Hitomi only gets 2xBasic for 2/9 Grit. Eustace spends Adrenaline to use Focus + Know to shove hard. Extreme (9 Basic damage) + Basic. He's out of Adrenaline for now but it looks cool, right?
- Crime + Awareness + 2 Help for all three working together. Gets a Critical + 2xBasic. The painting, by the way, is The Body of the Dead Christ in the Tomb by Hans Holbein the Younger if want to look that joyous image up.
- Eustace succeeds in a danger sense roll for maybe the second time in the whole campaign. He only gets a critical when attacking though, which knocks the guards down to 8 Grit. With the emptying of a mag and +1 Help from Genny, Hitomi does better: Extreme + Basic. That knocks them down to 5 grit and she has time to reload.
- Would leaping over the railing be a gamble at this height? (Even) → [61] Yes? Ok. We'll not treat the "dodge" as a gamble, but make him do a second Brawn + Stunt which will be a Gamble. Needs just Basic to land, though. He gets the dodge for the bullets and makes the landing, but takes 1 Grit from snake eyes. Hitomi fails her React entirely and takes 3 full Grit damage. Genny will take 1 since Hitomi so completely failed.
- Eustace gets 2xCrit and drops both on him. Hitomi only gets a single Crit but 2xBasic. In order to do this she emptied her last mag for the assault rifle and 'burned it up' to get another +1 as she throws it at the guards. It's silly, but I like it.
- Since there's no way the guard could aim at Eustace and Hitomi, I chose Eustace's reaction to just attack. He gets a critical. Rules, scmules. To keep cinematic, though, we have the classic gun shooting wildly while falling down stairs. Hitomi gets double basic and takes 1 Grit.
- To determine the cars still left will roll 6d6. Each at -4. Speeds of 0 or less means 'no car'. Get only 2 possible vehicles. Speed of 1 and Speed of 2. Do the guards have the keys to one of the cars? (Good) → [c19] Yes. Which one {truck | car | both} → Truck. Eustace whiffs but Hitomi gets her Crime + Detect.
- Turn 4: Gets Crit + Basic. Speed 2. Need = 2. Turn 5. Fails to get even a Basic. Drops to speed 1. Need = 3. Turn 6: Double Basic. Speed = 1. Need = 4. Turn 7. Speed drops to 0. Need = 4. Turn 8: Spends Spotlight to get Speed up to 2. Need = 6. Coinflip loses the Spotlight.
- She gets a Critical on Nerves + Driving. For Reaction, they are trying to play it cool. Crime + Cool for her. She gets a Critical so her driving is matching expected and in the dark it will be hard to tell who is inside. Speed = 4. Need = 10/12. Next turn they will make it so will do a ramming maneuver.
- She's going to sacrifice the truck for +1 Help. Gets Critical. Eustace needs to get a Critical Brawn + Stunt -1 to avoid taking damage. He fails. This means he is up to 8 Grit taking and takes a second 'Hurt' which we will call 'Smashed'. Genny is back down to just 1 Grit.
- She gets Extreme on Nerves + Shoot + 1 (Genny). This is enough to completely lock down the situation.
CREDITS
The GLOW 1996: Psychic Eustace Delmont is played using Two Little Mouse's Outgunned and Outgunned: Action Flicks (especially, but not limited to "Neon Noir" and "Great Powers"). It uses Larcenous Designs' Gamemaster Apprentice Deck: Cyberpunk 2E as its main oracle.
Other sources used include:
- Zach Best's Universal NPC Emulator.
- Cesar Capacle's Random Realities
- Kevin Crawford's Cities Without Number
- Matt Davis' Book of Random Tables: Cyberpunk 1, 2 and 3.
- Geist Hack Games and Paul D. Gallagher's Augmented Realities.
ART CREDIT AND EXPLANATION
Magnus Odinson is from this awesome photo by Natalia Bluth. The man is gorgeous and apologies to the OG model for me turning him into a crafty maniacal scientist.
The Gates of the Fallen Star is actually the Ellora Caves.
The barn-building scene for setting up the chase: Photo by Randy Fath on Unsplash.
The Courtyard: Photo by Nicolas Lysandrou on Unsplash.
Inner Sanctum: Photo by Crew on Unsplash.
Magnus's lair: Photo by Gioia M. on Unsplash.
Stairwell Down: Photo by Arisa Chattasa on Unsplash.
The Tunnel: This photo.
The overpass: Photo by Tom Barrett on Unsplash.
Taxonomy and Technical Data
- World: The GLOW
- Campaign: The GLOW
- Arc: 1996 Psychic Eustace Delmont
- Post: Episode 8 - Odin's Favorite Son
Dates Played: March 2-7, 2025.
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