Stage 3: Above the City
Fiction from the World of Hunters, Inc.
by Richard Fichera
Artwork by Brad McDevitt
Stage 3 - Above the CityThe scene beyond this door wrenches your gut like an archetypal nightmare. Five hundred feet or more below you are the glimmer and sheen of city streets. Tiny cars wend their way through the intersections that surround the skeletal frame of a skyscraper whose configuration of I-beams and scaffolds rise into the night sky before you. A single I-beam joins the frame of the door, and leads to a junction of beams and supports about forty feet away. A chill, wet wind blows casually through the door, like a serial killer who greets his bound and gagged victim. From here, each person must proceed single file. There are periodic junctions every 40 to 50 feet, between which each player must make a AGLx2 roll or slip. If the character slips, they are allowed one more AGL roll to catch hold of the beam before they fall to their deaths. After four such crossings, the party will come to a plywood platform where they can regroup. If the guards try to climb down, they will discover that no matter how far they descend, the streets never get any closer. They do not need to climb back up to continue this stage; when they continue moving along the structure, proceed with the stage as written. Beyond the platform is a series of scaffolds that creates a pathway across part of the structure and towards a more complete part of the building. In the moonlight, a door can be seen beyond the last scaffold. About halfway across these scaffolds, the team will be attacked by twelve winged creatures that look like medieval gargoyles. They are armed with lengths of steel cable that they use as whips. They can also grab and tear with their beaks or the claws on their feet. The following statistics apply: Gargoyles: Both a successful flying roll and attack roll must be made for each gargoyle's attack. They prefer to use their whips. Gargoyles who cause serious or fatal wounds with their claws will attempt to fly away with their prey. Individual gargoyles will flee if they receive a serious wound or worse and the entire group will flee whenever only half of them remain in combat. Prison Break
Stage 1: Steel Corridor Stage 2: Abattoir Stage 3: Above the City Stage 4: The Slum Stage 5: Skid Row Stage 6: Darkness to Light Ready Made Characters Back to Shadis #31 Table of Contents © Copyright 1996 by Alderac Entertainment Group This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. |