by John Wick
THE RUN-DOWN No spiders. No webs. Four doors from this area (including the one the metes just came through). There is an elevator in the center of the room. There is a nest in the elevator shaft. The communications terminal and the life support terminal are here, along with a map of the complex. THE SET-UP This room appears to be a control room. There are many terminals, each with vid screens that are all dark. There is evidence of a struggle here, but no bodies can be seen. An elevator tube is in the center of the room, along with four doors - one in each direction (including the door you just entered through). The marks of struggle include blood stains on the terminals and overthrown furniture. The chairs of each terminal are lying on the floor. One is broken. There are papers everywhere, but again, there are no signs of webbing or spiders in this room. THE ACTION When the metes begin a thorough search of the room, they will discover that the two terminals are set up for communications and life- support. The Communications terminal has been ripped apart, but anyone with an Electronics Roll will be able to make repairs in about forty-five minutes (with a successful roll, of course). On the wall between the doors to the eating area and the crew quarters is a map of the complex. The only markings on the map show where to go during emergencies and some other rather important information, including where to turn the power back on (the third floor). It also shows them where the stairs are located that will allow them access to the third floor without using the elevator. The life-support terminal is also dark, but Undamaged. Anyone with an Electronics or Computer skill will be able to turn life-support back on once power has been re-established in the base. The elevator doors can be opened manually, but the car isn't moving anywhere until power is turned back on. The car is currently on the third floor and once the mercs open the elevator doors they'll be in for a big surprise. There's a nest in the shaft, and once they open the doors, it will fall out onto the floor and break open, spilling fifteen baby spiders all over the floor (or anyone stupid enough to stand in front of the door as it opens). The spiders will scurry this way and that, lost in confusion, and then they will all make their way to the nearest source of warmth: namely a merc. They will not attack the merc, they just want to get warm. They will bite if they are smacked, however, each one causing a point of damage. They are not mature enough to have poison sacks, and so the merc doesn't have to worry about that. Each spider has only 2 hit points and is easily squished as their carapaces and skeletons are still rather soft. Once the nest problem has been taken care of, the mercs can direct their attention to the elevator shaft. The top portion is covered in webs and if they peek down they will notice another nest on the second level. A flame-thrower or other incendiary device will destroy the nest neatly, however, the liquid from the flame thrower will linger for almost an hour and a half before flaming out and the adult spiders will come to investigate as soon as they can. FOLLOW-UP The other four doors are easily opened j ust by pushing them open. The doors to the eating room and the crew quarters had no lock and the lock to the officer's quarters has been destroyed. If the mercs want to go down the elevator shaft, go to SCENE SIX. If the metes chose the west door, go to SCENE THREE. If they go through the east door, go to SCENE FOUR. If they go through the north door, go to SCENE FIVE. BattleLords of the 23rd Century An Old-Fashioned Bug Hunt (Part 2)
Scene One: The Frying Pan No Good Enough? Scene Two: The Control Center Scene Three: A Letter to Home Scene Four: From the Belly of the Beast Scene Five and Six: Who's in the Kitchen with Dinah and The Elevator Shaft Scene Seven: The One You Warned Me Of Scene Eight: Mommy Won't Wake Up Scene Nine: Sending Our an SOS and Afterward Map of Driscoll VII Research Labs (slow: 102K) BattleLords of the 23rd Century An Old-Fashioned Bug Hunt by John Wick, et. al. (Part 1)
Scene One: Spiders, Spiders, Everywhere Scene Two: Jane Fonda's Nightmare Scene Three: The Living Quarters Scene Four: Lost Little Alice Scene Five: Waking Up Hatter Scene Six: Goodies Scene Seven: Putting The Hatter To Sleep Scene Eight: Getting Some Wheels Map of Starship Gamera (slow: 103K) Back to Shadis #24 Table of Contents Back to Shadis List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master List of Magazines © Copyright 1996 by Alderac Entertainment Group This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. |