Warlord Philip Ragebeard wakes up in his quarters aboard the Bearded Fury. It's the start of a brand new day. Ragebeard walks with a smile on his face to the bridge, and calls a general staff meeting. And then he realizes something.He's all alone.Ragebeard calls a general crew meeting. Still alone. Ragebeard calls for ANYONE. No response, only dust and echoes. Ragebeard cries for support personnel. Nothing. Now heavily concerned, he reaches for his stash of rum.Empty.Ragebeard begins screaming uncontrollably, failing a Fear (3) test, until he feels something on his shoulder."Son! Son, wake up!" says a gruff voice.Ragebeard awakes with a start."The nightmares again?" asks the Bartender, Barzhad O'Malley."Yeah..." Ragebeard sighs."It's been hard on all of us, rushing Eastward from the Homeworlds so quickly, but I think things can only get better from here." says O'Malley.SQUAT CRUSADE: THE MUSICALhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tARfKHBSAfA
The Brotherhood:Philip Ragebeard, WarlordMortimer the Lazy, HearthguardKim Il Sung, Guild PilotEngineer Velm, Guild Engineer"All Brotherhood personnel report to O'Malley's Bar and Grill, we have important matters to discuss," states Ragebeard."Well, I'm here, Warlord." says O'Malley from behind the counter."I'm here." says Kim Il Sung, rushing through the door."Present." states Velm, taking a seat at one of the tables.Mortimer is dragged to the tram system that runs throughout the Squat Ships. He is placed aboard the Bipolar Express, where its pilot, Hom Tanks, does a jig while shedding a tear. The Bipolar Express drops off Mortimer, who is dragged to the meeting.After a few moments, the rest of the support personnel appear - Rockfist Fearengine, Engineer Guildmaster, and Captain Brenner, Weaponsmaster of the Squat Defense Forces.
"So...where are we?" asks Ragebeard."We've entered the sector through one of the stable points. We're currently in the Welktor Nebula." states Rockfist, "Watch for asteroids.""This world was exterminatused due to chaos, but it seems we're far from the world itself." says Kim Il Sung, "I can get us through no problem.""Our supplies are quite low, sir." says O'malley."We only have what we could grab before the Homeworlds were lost." says Velm."Indeed. That needs to be our first priority." says Ragebeard, "Can you see if there are any stations about?"Kim Il Sung performs an auspex sweep, and picks up something large in the nebula amongst the asteroids. Something metallic."Warlord, that might be our best bet." says Sung."Very well. Plot a course." says Ragebeard."Sir, if there are Chaos about, I advise consulting the Hall of Grudges. Know your enemy and all." states Brenner. "Good idea." says Velm. The Brotherhood heads into the Hall of Grudges, where they reinforce their hatred of Chaos.
>Squat Crusade the MusicalMonitoring this thread.
The Bearded Fury (Light Cruiser), the Drinks All Around (Mass Conveyor) and the Galactus (Factory Ship) begin the trip toward the metallic signal. Surrounded by asteroids, the Brotherhood can see a station, built into a large moonlet. Auspexes also pick up movement. Ships. Four of them."All crew to combat stations." says Ragebeard, "I don't like this."Sung identifies the raiders as Infidel-class, and an enemy Light Cruiser covered in sores and pustules he can't seem to identify.The raiders launch Torpedoes, and the Brotherhood brace for combat, Ragebeard's beard expanding to full body length.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brKt4pvKPaQThe Infidel torpedoes fly forward, but masterful gunning by Mortimer means very few reach their targets. The Brotherhood takes a passive role, letting the enemy come to them, their ships slower but far more heavily-armed. Allowing the raiders to come into short range, the transports bring down Void Shields while the Bearded Fury pounds the raiders with concentrated Macrocannon and Lance fire. By far the most concerning enemy is the enemy light cruiser. The Pestilaans lacks the damaging plasma torpedoes of the Infidels, but makes up for it with short-range melta-cannons and Virus Torpedoes. One virus torpedo gets through, and infects a number of Squats with space-AIDS, though Ragebeard's isolation protocols limit the damage. Sung brings the Bearded Fury in close, while Velm rouses the machine spirit to action. A full barrage by Mortimer spells the end of the Pestilaans. Sung pulls the Bearded Fury up to the station, and engages docking. "Send letters of condolences to the lost, and prepare for boarding the station." says Ragebeard."Leave that to us, sir." says Cpt. Brenner.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BT9-unQMV4cCpt. Brenner marches out with the Squat Defense Forces, Brotherhood Combat Squads in Rhinos clearing the area of numerous Chaos Cultists, while Heavy Weapons Teams lay covering fire. After a few hours of battle, Brenner radios that a beach-head aboard the station has been established, and that the hallways are unusually wide. Ragebeard, Mortimer, Velm, and Sung board the station.
"Old and dusty." says Sung."There may be untainted supplies we can pilfer." says Ragebeard.Velm heads over to a cogitator, and passes Security to break some strange-looking encryptions."Welcome to Vectis Station," reads the cogitator, as Velm downloads a map of the station. It appears to be three concentric rings, with general facilities in the outer ring and command/control in the center. "Our best bet is there." says Velm, pointing at the center. A few explosions rock the station."Is everything okay, Brenner?" asks Ragebeard."Yes, sir. Cleanup is progressing, but we're hard-pressed to break the center."We're heading there now." says Ragebeard.
The Brotherhood heads through station. Mortimer and Sung look up, and realize the same symbol is prevalent in the engravings. A stylized I with a circle and two lines extending from the center. While they can gather that it might have something to do with the Inquisition, none can seem to figure out exactly what it means. It matches no commonly-referenced Inquisitorial regalia, if such regalia could be called common.Reaching the center, the players come upon a set of heavy doors, with a button. Everyone readies their guns at the door, and Sung presses the button. The players breathe an anti-climactic sigh of relief as the doors open to reveal an elevatus.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrZaP99_99M"This appears to lead to command and control for the station." says Velm."Everyone, stay calm, hopefully we can come out of this peacefully," says Ragebeard, "We don't know what we'll find up there.""Right, Warlord." says Sung."This music sucks. Can you change it?" asks Mortimer.Everyone stares at Mortimer. Him talking is a rare event."I'll see what I can do," says Rockfist.http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/64690"Better." says Mortimer.
Squats are canon again. Not sure how to feel about that.
The doors open around the players, revealing a number of humans in tattered carapace, holding Plasma Repeaters. It seems the players caught them off guard. A woman in power armor is standing there."Oh, you think you're hot shit, don't you?" she yells, "and after all the effort I went through to take this station!""Now calm down, we're just looking for food, and-" starts Ragebeard.Kim Il Sung jumps the gun and opens fire.The woman's shield deflects the shot, however."Who the fuck do you think you are? Come on!" yells the woman, raising a massive Zaythan Warblade.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TX9o6uZnEsHaving blown the surprise round, Sung continues to open fire on the strange woman, infuriating her further. Ragebeard tries to defuse the situation."I'm sorry for my pilot! But all we want is some food! Look at my warrant and the +10 it gives!""So, you're big and flashy! But it's too late to join my warband!" yells the Heretic Leader.The humans spring into action. Four lay down covering fire with Plasma Repeaters while two toss a pair of grenades they found in the station. While the Brotherhood passes toughness against the Rad Grenade, the Psychotroke Grenade hits them hard. Ragebeard is sent into a, well, frothing rage, while Velm and Morty are now mortally afraid of each other, hiding behind cover. This, however, trigger's Mortimers Hatred: Anything That Makes Me Move, and forces him to get tactical. An unfortunate hit from the Heretic's Warblade knocks out Ragebeard, who has to burn fate. Concentrated Plasma fire also knocks out Velm, who burns fate as well. Mortimer's Mole Mortar makes mincemeat of the humans, however, knocking out multiple soldiers, and thanks to shocking, allows for the capture of one alive. Kim Il Sung holds his own against the Heretic, until Morty can grab Ragebeard's Power Sword and assist.As Morty gets the final hit in, the Heretic falls forward."It's not fair..." she laments as she dies.
As Ragebeard awakens, he immediately points his bolt pistol at Sung."NEVER. DO. THAT. AGAIN." yells Ragebeard angrily, "YOU ALMOST COST US ALL OUR LIVES.""Go on. Shoot me. Nobody else can pilot your ship." says Sung smugly."Actually, I can pilot it just fine." says Ragebeard."I can too, you know." says Velm.A short pause."I'm sorry." is all Sung can muster."Once more, and it's the airlock." says Ragebeard.Velm activates the cogitators, and finds the location of the food stores, thankfully untainted."Excellent, we'll just load this up, and-" starts Ragebeard.A bright flash lights up the command center, as a man in a loose hoodie and low-hanging necklace ports in.
"Wow, that was a fucked up mission. Did it he-who the hell are you people?" the man says, raising a gun.This time it is Ragebeard who raises his gun. "Who are you first?""Man, what the fuck." says the man, who produces an inquisitorial rosette."Inquisitor Marshall M, Ordo Chronus," says the man, "But you can call me Inquisitor Shady."
www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_ITwZ0C4x8"Uh..." says Velm."Well, you know who I am, now who the fuck are you?" asks the Inquisitor."Captain Ragebeard, Warlord of the last Squat Brotherhood in the galaxy." says Ragebeard."You guys look like shit." says the Inquisitor, "You look like you got fucking nothing.""We make do." says Ragebeard."He's right, sir." whispers O'Malley over the vox."But we don't need to advertise it!" whispers Ragebeard back."Well, I have no clue what happened to the rest of my Ordo, but this used to be our Headquarters." says Inquisitor Shady."We cleared out the Heretics for you." says Sung."Lot of fucking good a station does for a single man. Tell you what. You all watch the station. I'll head to the other inquisitors, see if I can't get you some help. Just make sure the station is kept together." says Inquisitor Shady."You got it." says Ragebeard."Don't be a busta and fuck it up. We'll be in contact. I think we can help each other." says the Inquisitor. He tugs his chain low, and disappears in a flash."What's a busta?" asks Sung.
The Elevatus rises, as Rockfist and O'Malley step out."What was that flash?" they ask."This was an Inquisitorial Station. And we're the new owners." says Ragebeard."I see." says O'Malley, "Then it's time you learned how to assign your Squats."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ihknTHRZ1k"Tutorial music. Great." sighs Ragebeard."The Squat Level shows how many squats you have assigned to your various Holds. These numbers will increase over time. The more squats you assign to a hold, the more Profit Factor you will gain. However, this will deplete your Squat Level faster. Assigning less Squats means lower profit factor, but allows the number to increase over time. Do remember that crew losses come from this number as well, so be careful you do not deplete yourself to unsustainability." explains O'Malley.The Brotherhood started with a Squat Level of 300,000, 60% the capacity of the Mass Conveyor. Battlefield losses reduced this number to 255,000. The Brotherhood decided to assign the full complement of 50,000 to Vectis Station, ending with a Squat level of 205,000, and gaining 5 Profit Factor. Between sessions, this would increase to 225,500.The Brotherhood, of course, were horrified to realize their total Profit Factor was then 5.
"Simply come to the Bar and Grill at any time to review the current Squat Level." states O'Malley."Oh, and we have one more thing for you.""On behalf of all the Brotherhoods, we present you with the Banner of Command, for successfully beginning the restoration of our race." says Rockfist.>Banner of Command: Grants +10 to Command, and +10 to resist Fear tests to anyone in visual range of the banner."We just got some new things installed into the Bar and Grill, do stop by at your earliest convenience." says O'Malley."We will." says Morty, now calming down after being forced to move.As O'Malley and Rockfist leaves, and Brenner gathers the troops, the Brotherhood review the monumental task ahead of them, steeling themselves for the future.And the enhanced interrogation of the one guy they managed to take alive.
Overall, a decent start, but not the most auspicious. There was minor argument over who was in charge, medium argument over roles amongst the crew, and a major argument that proceeded the fight over whether or not the Pilot was justified in opening fire immediately, costing two people fate points first session.Silly 'umies...As a result, not much of the "musical" component managed to get done, though everyone has an instrument ready. But I think once everyone gets into the flow, things will get better.
>>20601657>profit factor of FIVE.OH God.But running their own station, so kinda like Deep Space 9?Also some advice when you have the time. Ship Combat Tactics vs a Cruiser of unknown make with unknown archeotech, and unknown arms, while all we have is a firestorm frigate with a mars pattern macrocannon and sunbreaker lance.
>>20601811>OH God.Well, the inquisitor did offer to try and help, but yes. After escaping from the Homeworlds, all they really were able to grab was whatever could fit in a cardboard box at arms length.>But running their own station, so kinda like Deep Space 9?There will be numerous times to assign personnel to new squat holds as the game goes on. Think of it like Civilization V.>Also some advice when you have the time. Ship Combat Tactics vs a Cruiser of unknown make with unknown archeotech, and unknown arms, while all we have is a firestorm frigate with a mars pattern macrocannon and sunbreaker lance.Replace sunbreaker lance with sunsear laser. Use superior maneuverability to camp enemy cruiser's rear blind spot. Unload. Don't forget to boost BS with lock on.
So this is going to be a more "tacktikul" game, with the assigning of squats to different bases, and whatnot?How do squats gain in number if they don't reproduce by sporing?
>>20601911It's a simple mechanic I called the "Squat Level." At the end of each session, after assigning Squats to a hold, the population number is checked. Each hold's population increases by 10% in the downtime between sessions. Let's not discuss how. Hold population can be damaged by misfortunes. Once it reaches a max, it doesn't increase anymore.Example:Ship 200,000*1.1 = 220,000Hold 1: 20,000*1.1 = 22,000Hold 2: 30,000 (maxed).That way the population is ever fluctuating depending on the players' actions.
>>20601883Replacing it is a no go, next session is combat start.Moving around to the rear may be difficult, but it's worth a try, better than any ideas we have at the time, which is none.I'm not even on the ship, im on planet trying to get the basic of the forge world back online. place was overwhelmed by plantlife and it seems mutants. Course the crew left nothing but around 2000 unarmed crew (50 have been armed with stubautos as interm enforcers), a handful of tech adepts, Me and an arch-militant, ~100 armsmen, fifty mercenaries i hired, some chimera, a rhino, and a bullpup cybermastiff.This is what i'll have if things go pearshaped ringside and the rival rogue trader wants his forge world to himself.
I like the Squat level and Squat Holds.Bringing back their entire race from oblivion, it's a noble cause.Given the players. Their race is doomed.
The players, of course, have a number of special components aboard their three ships that help them in various situations.Hall of Grudges (Light Cruiser): Gain Hatred of a particular enemy for a session, allow Hatred to apply to Starship Shooting.Engineer's Guild Headquarters (Factory Ship): Allows the conversion of normal items to Squat equivalent (Power Armor, Autoguns, Plasma, etc)Squat Manufactorum (Factory Ship): +10 to repairs, +20 to build stuff, constructs new torpedoes provided the Factory Ship is in the same system as the Main ShipRobotics Bay (Factory Ship): Allows for the construction and use of Imperial RobotsO'Malley's Bar & Grill (Mass Conveyor): A place for the Brotherhood to relax, catch up on plot hooks, and to manage their Squat Level.They started with a fair bit, but they still need to be smart about using it, because if their squat level ever reaches 0, it's Game Over.
>>20601977Stay within its Front or Rear Arc. Kroozas are most dangerous when broadsiding, where 3/5 weapons can nuke you, as opposed to 1/5 or 0/5. Also, when you have the enemy weakened via shooting get a crewman who stacked Command to lead a boarding action, and begin blending through their crew.I will also say this. They chose a varied array of instruments.Ragebeard: VocalsMorty: Death Metal GrowlVelm: Didgeridoo*Kim Il Sung: Archeotech Laser Guitar*I stated before the game that if an instrument was dumb, it would be changed to a didgeridoo. She chose a triangle. I said that was retarded, and gave her a second chance out of pity. She chose a ukelele.>Welphttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFGvNxBqYFI
>Run a game about orks, the race known for infighting>Perfectly synchronized kill team more than the sum of its parts>Run a game about squats, the race known for bonds of brotherhood>Everyone is shitting in each others' chimneys
>>20602099Good think i picked up a pair of Shark assault boats before we left port then.They make for good troop transportsCrack crew helps, unsure on the enemy, but he is likely well funded. [ http://pastebin.com/NCL0h685 all the info i've got on the guy beside his cruiser and that he's also contracted to work on this planet to get it running. But he doesnt want to share.
>>20602165Funny how that happens. I'd say the biggest argument that pissed everyone off was the pilot jumping the gun.The Pilot *thought* they looked like chaos, and opened fire. The Warlord and Hearthguard said there was no way to know that from just the single sentence>"Oh, you think you're hot shit, don't you?" she yells, "and after all the effort I went through to take this station!"The Warlord and Hearthguard theorized that they may have been Inquisitorial Holdouts or perhaps an inquisitorial team. Truth be told, from just that one sentence, it could have gone either way, since there was no confirmation.End result was that since the pilot opened fire, it set off everyone else, and blew the surprise round the players had, turning a simple smash and grab into a bitter battle for survival. He then claimed he was justified since they turned out to actually be Chaos, and that everyone else was metagaming.That REALLY set everyone off.What are all your thoughts?
>>20602285I will strangle him with my mechadendrites or even my own bare hands if I have to! I will see him dead by the end of this, or die trying!
>>20602316A typical PC action almost got everyone killed.Who'da thunk it
>>20602316pilot fucked up. He acted before he knew what the hell was going on, and almost got the team killed.
Late Night Bump
>>20604560Go away, inquisitor. Squats are canon again thanks to 6e.
>>20602099>ukelele>dumbThem's fighting words, hombre.
>>20602165>Run a game about magical girls, a group known for drama and suffering>Perfectly synchronized kill team more than the sum of its partsEvery time.
Archived: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/20601229/
Ragebeard here, to be fair, he was still in the mentality of the ork he was playing in the game I ran over the summer, where Shas was the warboss, everyone was ridiculously tough, and snap judgements were the way everything operated because they were orks.
bump
