The GLOW 1996: Psychic Eustace Delmont, Episode 17 - Storming the Villain's Villa
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- "Previously..." and Campaign/Arc Summary
- The GLOW 1996: Psychic Eustace Delmont Episode 17 — Storming the Villain's Villa
- Doug's Commentary
- Credits
Previously, on The GLOW: 1996 Psychic Eustace Delmont
The team has gotten equipped and are preparing to storm Roman Patel's "Villa" which is actually a safe-house pretending to be a quaint, million-dollar house. Hitomi has also realized that Eustace has only a bit over a day left alive. With that, they are now in the midst of their one last ride.
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.
The GLOW: 1996 Psychic Eustace Delmont. Episode 17 — Storming the Villain's Villa
Expected Scene: The team (sans Jones) ride the ex-MUNI boat and take out the guards along the perimeter.
Scene Test: [c97] 7. 2d10 = 3 + 8. Minor alteration. "Hit by a stray shot". Is the shot directed towards the player characters? (Even) → [c70] No.
Ok, there are some options: {Thom Marius | The Apostates } = Thom Marius.
Actual Scene: Right as the team shows up, they find the outer guards tussling with Thom Marius's goons.
Setting the Scene, e17s1: Smoke on the Water.
Date: June 6, 1996.
Time: 10:41pm.
Place: The canals of New Pensacola Beach.
First off, why is Thom Marius attacking now? Scene 2 of Episode 2 established that it was a potential that Marius would act but sense then the two "rival gangs" — Marius's people and The Apostates that took over Dave's turf — have been ignored. Let's get three cards and make something of them... [c16] Lose [c14] Holy [c08] Council. Patel was keeping Marius at bay due to {Dave | Magnus} → Dave's fake church business. At least one of the "real" jobs for the Church of Holy Illumination was to help Marius traffic in some sort of illict goods. What kind? [c17] has an icon of clockwork and an icon of a combination lock. The "belongings" portion of the card mentions expensive meds. The Church was helping crack containers of medical supplies for Marius to get out on the street as narcotics. Once the Apostates turned against Dave [for reasons never explored], this cut off a major revenue stream for Thom. Roman would not have considered it his business so now Thom is going after Roman Patel's most favored possession: Amy Patel.
Now we'll roll 2d10. First one for Patel. Second one for Marius. To see how the teams are faring. Less than Δ3 will be evenly enough split that this could be treated as a distraction. Greater than Δ3 and one team is winning fast enough that whichever team it is will be the new fight, though weakened. A Δ6 or greater means it was so one-sided that the winning team is in full force (essentially). Patel = 7. Marius = 10. Marius is winning but not so much so they will be at full force.
Does the Marius group have boats? (Even) → [c60] No? Ok, so they have boats but not at the spot. They could get boats but that wasn't their plan. {Foot | Flight} → Flight. They are hovering over in helicopters. Making a spectacle. Which means the stealth suit in the villa grounds will get a teaser. It doesn't make sense for it have surface to air missiles, but it fits the genre pretty well.
For the Marius invaders, we'll use "Villain's Private Army" since that seems fun. 12 Hit Boxes. Hot Boxes on 3, 6, and 9. 2xCritical Attack. Critical Defense. Bulletproof Vests and Piercing Bullets. A small stash of special actions. However, to represent the wear down effect, we'll take away 4 boxes [and one hotbox]. They have 8 remaining [starting on box 5]. Also, they will lose a feat: {Vests | Bullets} → Vests. This means they still have bullets but their armor has been worn down by the fight. The sucky thing is this negates the bulletproof vests and the armor of the boat. Full cover is still a possibility, though.
SOUNDTRACK: Karl Casey's White Bat 45.
DATE PLAYED: May 15, 2025.
Smoke on the Water
Date: June 6, 1996.
Time: 10:41pm.
Place: The canals of New Pensacola Beach.
The sound of helicopter blades and gunfire is obvious some distance from their location.
"Hey, Jones," Genny says into the headset, signalling the pilot flying some distance overhead, "We have a situation."
"One second," Jones voice comes back over the radio.
Focus (3) + Awareness (3) → Critical + Basic.
He can both get some details of the fight and (for now) stay out of sight himself.
"Looks like three 'coptors tussling with the boys on the boats. Considering the bodies floating around the boats and one boat being on flame, I think the 'copters are winning. I'm holding a bit further back."
Genny throttles down the boat and faces back. "We have bonus company. No clue what that's about but it seems like they are hitting the same place we were planning to hit."
Eustace will use his psychic powers. Same stats as Jones. 3 + 3. He technically can get a free re-roll since this would touch base on sensing danger but that feat has done nothing for him this whole dang time so let's see. A Crit + Basic. Rerolling the last die and get nothing so it becomes a Crit. That's fine. He can sense that it's Marius. I'll even throw in for free sensing their intentions. They already have a reason to go inside — getting Bee/BR — so this is just rule-of-cool, basically.
Genny sees Eustace's eyes glow a strange magenta hue. "Thom Marius's goons. Looks like they are pissed about something and have found out about Amy. They are showing up for a good old fashioned kidnap."
"Didn't anyone tell them that's our job?," Genny asks.
"We can't bail, they'll get to Bee," Hitomi says, the edge of worry starting to crack her voice. With Eustace's death and the constant forward momentum, she kind of just convinced herself that Bee was safe and just slightly out of reach. However, she now feels like time is running out for multiple people she loves. Mrs. Yuuki is in the hospital. Bee is captured. Eustace is...
"Wasn't planning, In fact, this might work in our favor if we play it right. They are making enough noise we can get closer. Though someone is likely to call MUNI."
"I have someone on the inside helping to run interference, but it's not going to hold up long," Eustace says.
"Man, why is everything out of your mouth just absolutely terrifying today, man?," Gennya asks, and starts piloting the boat closer.
As they are pulling out of the main canal into what can only be described as the villa's moat — think less castle moat full of gator and a half-dozen meters wide and full of boats and dying people — one of the three helicopters is starting to land in the front lawn of the villa. Only, from seemingly nowhere, a flash explodes upwhere from near the front door — in actuality a heavy metal vault door looking innocent from the outside — and strikes the helicopter. In a large flash, the helicopter explodes and flaming wreckage pours down onto the heavily landscaped grass. MUNI can't ignore this much longer.
"And then there were two," Genny says.
"I'll take that one," Eustace says, pointing to the helicopter that just pulled back further from the explosion. The other one, though, has clearly spotted the boat. When they were dealing with Patel — who has a good deal of MUNI on his payroll — the ex-MUNI boat was a boon. Now, Marius's thugs are going to see it as an immediate threat. There are only a few seconds before they come under fire and based on the wreckage of the other boats in the moat, they are packing serious heat. Eustace gestures to Varvara, "Favor some up and person close combat?"
The street monk, hopped up on Righteous Anger™, nods. Eustace grabs her hand and pulls her up. A few seconds later he has sprouted his Soulburn wings and is flying Varvara and himself straight at the more distant helicopter. Genny pulls out his assault rifle and takes aim. Hitomi feels a bit left out with just her pistol so jumps behind the wheel and tries to out maneuver the gunners flying overhead.
Just to play out a whole round of combat at a go...
Eustace and Varvara are going to be using physical attacks after landing. I'll make him spend his turn to maneuver. Varvara can get an attack. Then both react.
Hitomi is going to be driving with success giving +Help to Genny and herself to dodge and for Genny to shoot. It might be a foolish plan but it's something.
Eustace's flight will be Brawn (3) + Stunt (2). He gets Double Basic. That's not enough to actuall land inside himself but it's enough to get Varvara within range since she has Flying Kick. This sets her up for Brawn (3) + Fight (3) + 1 (Kick). With her free re-roll she ends up with Critical + 2xBasic. That does 1 Grit (5/12) and gives her the ability to maneuver into the cockpit. We'll say Eustace has +1 Help next time to land.
Hitomi tries to pilot the boat. She has Nerves (2) + Drive (3). She makes it with Critical + Basic. I'll say that's worth +1 Help to dodge and +1 Help for Genny to shoot.
Genny takes aim. Medium range so he gets +1. He gets another +1 from Hitomi. Then he'll empty a clip for +1. Combined with Nerves (3) + Shoot (3) he has 9 dice. Genny "The Killer of Helicopters" Yusuda gets Impossible + Critical. Since their defense is Critical that is 9 + 1 = 10 hits. More than enough to finish the remaining 7 Grit.
Let's leave this up to an oracle. Does the third helicopter collide with the second? (Bad) → [c103] No. Instead it will just flee (all the while thinking this is Patel's MUNI people). With Varvara inside.
Eustace flies up and right as he is about to grab hold of the door of the helicopter falling back, the pilot is alert and starts banking away. Eustace swings Varvara up and she twists in the air to land inside with a rolling kick that knocks one of the gunners out the open door on the other side. The luckless gunner plummets down and lands with a crunch on the ground. The pilot is sweeping the helicopter around to try strike Eustace with the blades. Varvara leaps into the co-pilot seat and starts striking the pilot. She's not landing any major hits but she's disrupting his ability to handle fine maneuverability.
Down, below, Hitomi steers the boat towards the lower helicopter — currently aiming right for them and getting ready to unleash some heavy gunfire — and then guns it so the boat shoots under the helicopter's belly. Before the gunners can adjust to the moving target, Genny stands up and empties a clip into the fuel tank and another of the three helicopters bursts into flames.
Seeing this, the final one has decided that they are outmatched and peels back and starts heading north.
Varvara is going to have to do a leap and trust Eustace to catch her.
Varvara Brawn (3) + Stunt (3). Ooo, she only gets a 2xBasic.
Eustace is going to need to fly into the helicopter and get her. Upgrades it from Critical to Extreme. He's going to spend 2 adrenaline to bump up his Brawn (3) + Stunt (2) to 7 dice. That seems lucky. Good, he gets Extreme + Basic. He's not going to really mess with the helicopter — Marius spreading a false rumor that Patel is too strong stops them from trying again — but he will be able to get Varvara out.
It seems mean to give her a condition for her failure but I'll take off 1 Grit.
Varvara, seeing that she is currently on a helicopter moving away from her destination — and her team — tries to make a mad dash to leap out of the side where she hopes Eustace might able to catch her. Unfortunately, right as she is tensing her legs and getting ready to jump, the other gunner in the bay grabs her bulletproof vest and snatches her back and slams her down into the floor. As she is struggling to get her arms up and back into a fighting stance, a multi-colored light plows into the bay with her. Eustace has flown through the helicopter, slamming the second gunner back, and snatched her up.
As she looks down she is being carried back to the boat, below.
All four back together again, Genny radios Jones and tells him to hold tight while they find out what exploded the first 'copter. Jones takes absolutely no convincing.
Expected Scene: The team have to fight a tanky, aether-cloaked fighter guarding the front.
Scene Test: [c98] 6. 2d10 = 9 + 7. A major complication. Neat. On the card we get a sticky boot icon and the text of an ancient artifact. Some sort of magical protection that causes invaders to become stuck. A second card ([c49]) says "Caught Red Handed." A third ([c61]) says "Silence. Heroic. Scum."
Actual Scene: As the group tries to set foot on the island, a aether-artifact of some power holds them fast while knock out gas starts seeping up like fog.
Setting the Scene, e17s2: The Sneaky Bastards.
Date: June 6, 1996.
Time: 10:52pm.
Place: Front lawn of Roman's fake Villa.
We'll make this pretty extreme. Like, literally. Resisting the "sticky foot" effect will be EXTREME difficulty. Knock out gas will be Critical but that will be every turn they are stuck in place. All the while, the mech-pilot will be honing in. Attack 2xCritical (the last "Critical" is the knock out gas). Defense: Extreme (while cloaking is active, Critical without it). Three hit boxes. We'll ignore special actions but the suit has Titan so can only take one hit per time.
Basically, we start with a Reaction turn. failure to get at least one Critical means the character is knocked out. Characters can choose to "unstick" themselves but need an Extreme to succeed. Eustace is "immune" because of his flight. The rest are not. Jones can't get close because of the missiles. That seems nice and hard.
SCENE SOUNDTRACK: We'll keep the Karl Casey train going with White Bat 47.
DATE PLAYED: May 15, 2025.
The Sneaky Bastards
Date: June 6, 1996.
Time: 10:52pm.
Place: Front lawn of Roman's fake Villa.
Genny is first off the boat and is shouting commands as he starts to run across the lawn but lets out a shout as his feet stick hard to the grass and his entire body slams hard into the ground. As he pushes himself up, he finds his shoulder is now also stuck, as well as his hands. "What the fuck is this?"
I'll do a quick Focus + Dexterity check to see if the others who are behind Genny notice in time to pivot.
Hitomi: Focus (2) + Dex (3) = no successes. She is stuck.
Varvara: Focus (2) + Dex (2) = Basic. She is also stuck but we'll say she keeps her hands and upper body out of the "muck".
As said, Eustace is going to be flying and not subject. However, can he finally sense the stealthed Mech before it is too late. It will take an EXTREME (I just like saying it like that).
Focus (3) + Awareness (3) = Impossible. So yes, he well spots it. We'll give him a +2 for the extra extremes since the Mech pilot is not aware. Eustace gets to attack first. Then Reaction for everyone, then checks.
Eustace will be getting Brawn (3) + Fight (3) + 1 (Blades) + 2 (Extra successes) = 9 dice. Even with a reroll he just gets it to an Extreme. He chips away one Grit (which is the max) but doesn't bank any additional anything.
It is too late for Hitomi and Varvara — both rushing to aid Genny — to realize what is happening as both women end up caught in the same trap. Hitomi goes down as hard as Genny and ends up fully affixed as well. Varvara pivots better with the fall and only her feet are caught while her hands stay up.
Eustace flies past them and slams into something standing closer to the door. Varvara is the only with a vantage point and while she can hear the loud metallic thud as Eustace pivots in air and starts flying up, she still can't see what it was that he it. It was like he collided hard with air.
Since it is a single enemy, we'll say it has to either fire at the three people stuck to the ground or at Eustace and we'll let chance decide. {Eustace | Others} → Eustace. The others still have to make the Critical roll to not be knocked out.
Eustace gets Brawn (3) + Stunt (2) → Critical and takes 3 Grit.
The other three will need Brawn + Endure. Genny has 3+2=5. Scores a Critical + Basic. Hitomi has 2+2+1 (from her Tormented by the Past Feat). No successes so loses consciousness. Since Varvara has a hand free, we'll say she can clamp her hand over her mouth and gets 3+2+1. She gets 2xCritical. Is she close enough to Hitomi to reach her? (Even) → [c114] No. So Hitomi is out and Varvara and Genny are both awake.
As Varvara watches and tries to make out their unknown attacker, a light blue gas starts seeping up through the ground. Genny, combat-trained, immediately starts fighting back and resisting and shouting that the others need to hold their breath. Vavara clamps her hand over her mouth but Hitomi does not get a chance to react as her body goes limp.
"Genny, Hitomi's down!," Varvara shouts. Genny curses and starts trying to push his body up.
Genny is trying to get up. Brawn (3) + Fight (2) → No successes. He's still stuck.
Varvara is trying to get her legs free. Brawn (3) + Fight (3) + 1 (being upright) → 3xBasic = Critical. Still not enough to get up. She will shift close enough to reach Hitomi next turn.
Eustace is going to dive bomb the mech. He'll spend his last adrenaline to get +2. This brings him up to 9 dice (again). This time he gets 2xExtreme. He's going to use the extra to snatch up Hitomi. The mech has one grit remaining.
This time it aims for {Eustace + Hitomi | Genny + Varvara} → Genny + Varvara.
Genny can't really move so this is going to be Brawn + Endure + 1 (Bulletproof Vest). Varvara can move...enough. Brawn + Stunt + 1 (Bulletproof Vest).
Genny only gets 2xBasic so takes 4 Grit. Wait, Varvara gets an Extreme and can block 1 Extreme worth of damage from Genny...no, instead, she'll put that Extreme to getting free and charging the space where the gunfire was. Sorry, Genny.
Varvara can hear a whirring sound as the unseen attacker's gun starts prepping to fire. At that time, the multi-colored form of Eustace — attacking like a bird of prey hunting a rabbit — flies down and again a loud clang as he impacts something large and metal and bounces off. This time, instead of flying up, Eustace bee-lines for the prone body of Hitomi and with an elegant spiral manages to grab her and pull her free from the ground and takes back off towards the boat with her.
Denied the flying guy, the invisible foe takes it out on Genny and Varvara. The old soldier can't do much and shouts in pain as the bullets tear into his patch. Varvara manages to weave back and forth despite her stuck legs and avoids the brunt of it. Her momentum helps her to get her one leg up and then her other. She briefly does a mental coin flip between stopping to get Genny or going for the attacker. She goes for the attacker. The prolonged burst of fire against Genny helps her to pinpoint the thing and start running towards it. If it moves, it might all be for naught but she will strike as soon as she feels like she is in range.
Eustace is out for this round as he gets Hitomi to a safe location. Varvara is now up and moving so will get first strike. Another flying kick will close the distance and give her + 1. That's Brawn (3) + Fight (3) + 1. Unfortunately she fails to land a blow.
Genny still doesn't get back up. Let's do another test to see if they can stay awake from the gas. Varvara, yes. Genny gets 2xBasic and is still conscious but nearly out of it.
Screw it, then, let's find out if they get shot up. Genny is no longer a target so it's just Varvara. Critical + 2xBasic. She takes another Grit of damage.
Varvara closes the distance and leaps up in a kick, which is knocked aside. She had the general approach but the thing is firing from its left side, not its right, and so she misjudges. Rolling with the rest of her momentum, she sees another wave of that strange light blue gas come up. Again she's able to scoot back and get her breathing under control but she sees Genny sag. Before she can even contemplate trying to help him, she hears a click nearby and realizes it is pointing at her. She starts doing back flips to get out of the way but it's very hard to dodge bullets you cannot see.
Eustace is out of adrenaline so will use his spotlight at the end of the action turn to finish off the mech.
Let's ask the oracle: is Varvara able to see the mech at this point? (Even) → [c20] Yes? Her kick left a smear on it from the damp grass. She is able to focus on that and attack.
She's also out of adrenaline and so runs up and just tries kicking hard in that space. +1 Help from being able to spot something to know where it is.
Hey! An Extreme. That takes out the last point of Grit it has.
Glancing back just briefly, she sees Eustace flying fast towards them. Still, she has a moment to get her revenge for her miss. Focusing on the air in front of her, she sees the strange sight of a grass stain hovering in mid-air. That would be the thing's side. Doing some quick head math she figures out where the "head" might be and does a double sort of hop and then kicks hard and fast straight up. She hears glass shatter as suddenly the invisible foe's camoflage turns off and she is standing in front of a mechanized body suit around three meters high. She has caved in the large glass shield that allows the pilot to see through the stealth. As she is roughly face to face with the guard inside, and as he is bringing the now quite visible gun arm down to aim at her, Eustace gets there. The entire mech suit is slammed back into the wall and the claw like blades on Eustace's arms are out as he pulls the pilot out and demands to know where Amy Patel and the others are.
Since this is intimidation, Brawn (3) + Speech (3) with Eustace's Silvertongue feat. 3xBasic = 1xCrit so Eustace gets through and the guard starts shouting out the location inside.
To break the field, he needs adrenaline. He'll use his spotlight to get an automatic success and to take control of the aether-relic enchanting the area. He does not win the coinflip and get it back.
As the guard starts shouting about the storeroom behind the bar, Eustace picks him up and tosses the man into the wall. The guard collapses in a stunned heap.
Eustace looks around at the ground and breathes slowly. Even to Varvara's eyes, the Soulburn starts intensifying around him. Reaching forward, he scratches a complex symbol in the grass and suddenly the strange effect that has been pulling her down the whole time let's go. She feels several pounds lighter. She runs over and pulls Genny up, easily, and starts rousing him.
While Eustace is going to wake up Hitomi, Genny radios to Jones that it should now be safe to land the Green Lady.
DOUG'S COMMENTARY
That's two fight scenes a bit more hectic and tougher than expected, even if Genny trivialized the one. I think it's a good stopping spot and we'll pick up next time with Hitomi trying to get access through the doors and the last fight inside.
I personally think I do better when I am playing this game in this style. Not quite Rules As Written and finding ways to play at the rules. That felt like the kind of fight I like. Similar to the case where Hitomi was having to buy Eustace time to cut through the wall and they were fighting the stealth soldiers. Might not be tournament legal but it has a lot of chances for narrative.
Eustace and Varvara are both pretty drained and even with the "free adrenaline" I am about to give them, the next fight will likely rely more on the other two. We'll see.
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
New Pensacola Beach Canals = Photo by Hyukjoon Sohn on Unsplash.
Patel Villa = Photo by Owen Roth on Unsplash.
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