Event 1) Arrival

After a comfortable, first class, coast-to-coast flight from NY to LA (probably with lots of complimentary beverages) the Hunters will be met at LAX by a group of black federal limousines and taken directly to the Twin Towers to meet with Director Karsten.

If one of your Hunters is still carrying the white teddy bear from the last episode they will feel inexplicably eager and excited to be in LA. Additionally, the same character will suddenly have a whole head full of LA trivia that they have no idea how they know.

This might manifest itself in the form of the character suggesting a speedier route to the hotel than the driver is taking:

"Y'know, if you take the 110 around to the 101 you could miss all that 405 traffic completely..."

Or:

"You can save 20 minutes if you get off on Wilshire and just cut through West Hollywood. Wait a minute... have I ever been here before?!"

The limo drivers are from the local LA office. But Gutenberg has brought with him his four best agents (The Four Johnsons). These are the same agents that have assisted him through this entire affair. They are loyal to none before him.

The limos will pull gracefully into the rotary at the root of the Twin Towers and deposit the Hunters and their FBI escorts at the front doors, in the shadow of the pool area, 17 floors above. The FBI agents are all carrying concealed sidearms.

Gutenberg will permit the Hunters to take in any and all of their gear provided they are discreet about it.

"Hi there big boy, is that a Stinger missile in your pants or are you just happy to see me?"

The lobby is lavishly appointed with a central fountain encircling the express elevator shafts and broad balconies where diners can dine at a number of fine cafes, or shop for memorabilia and gifts. The floor is a mirror of marble and the reception desk is carved of a single piece of white and gray stone. The place really is a work of art.

The Hunters, shell shocked form the last several week's events and probably at least lightly drunk on first class complimentary beverages, can breath a deep sigh of relief at the promise of a comfortable bed and some good room service.

But just one sigh please - that's all we have time for...just as the Hunters cross the threshold into the hotel, the silence is shattered by a woman's scream as a man dressed in black leathers jumps out of the dense foliage of a planter near the elevators. In a blur of speed, an old man carrying a golf bag takes a crushing right hook across the jaw and crumples to the floor.

With a single motion, the man in black leathers steps toward the young woman and grabs a nine iron out of the golf bag.

"Damn you Celia!! Couldn't get enough, could you!? Thought you'd take it all, eh?! Well... welcome to the club!!" he screams and cocks the golf club back to strike...

Bad timing, man, bad timing...

As they are pounding his face into a fleshy ooze, one or more of your Hunters might notice that their crazed assailant looks a little like "Keanu Reeves..."

In fact, he looks just like "Keanu Reeves."

Uh oh....

As the hunters are slowly considering the ramifications of their mistake, the frantic voice of the director shrieks out from above, "Cud! CUT!!! CUUUUTTTT!!! #$%@&!"

The scene was supposed to be a master shot taken of an assault filmed earlier on a sound stage at the studio. The actors were only wearing wireless mikes and no special lighting was to be used.

Gutenberg will hand the discarded, limp rubber golf club to the nearest Hunter, "I would've picked the four-wood."

GMs: Looks like your hunters have made some enemies in the movie business. That's right. Blood Ties is the newest A-list production in the works at Ravenous Studios and it stars all your players' favorites!

For game purposes, fictional names and brief, fictional accounts of the NPC actors' careers are included for your use. However for best effect, you should replace these names with your player's favorite superstars.

If one (or more) of your players is really sweet on Sandra Bullock, then replace "Katie Wade" with "Sandra Bullock."

If one of your players always wanted to fight terrorists alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger, replace "Kane Drachman" with "Arnold Schwarzenegger".

If one of your players really fantasizes about pushing Gilbert Godfried off the top of a burning hotel...

... well, you get the picture.

"Keanu Reeves" was merely a name picked at random out of the ether. Substitute it with any name you wish.

There should he enough talent to go around for each of your players to team with their favorite superstar.

Role play out the interaction of the Hunters with their favorite actors... especially as the night progress: es and the situation gets worse. I think you'll be surprised how much your players like it.

The Cast of Blood Ties is detailed in the Cast List boxes throughout the article. Here is a summary:

Kane Drachman: Action Hero Supreme
Katie Wade: Darling of the Silver Screen
Alec Mars: The Veteran Hero
Dillon Moore: The Unwilling Hero
Lucinda Kaye: The Supermodel

With the assaulted actor either unconscious, or Just badly battered, Gutenberg will step in and flash his badge. While this will not stop the director, Sal Solomon, from total hysterics, it will keep the police from hauling our heroes off in irons.

Plot Point

While Gutenberg soothes the situation with Ravenous Pictures, Special Agent Johnson (you pick) will lead the hunters over to the desk to check in. The conversation should go something like below.

Let your players hear it.

"Johnson - party of 10. We have a floor reserved." "I'm sorry, Mister Johnson, your reservation for the 17th floor was bumped at the last minute. I have you on the 18th floor ... is that alright?"

"That will be fine."

"So you are in the FBI?"

Yes."

"Do you know Scully and Mulder?"

"No. That's a TV show, you @$$%*&A . Get a life and give us our keys."

Sal Solomon and his crew have occupied the 17th floor for the duration of their stay. The bad guys will not know that the Hunters have been bumped.

This is very good for the Hunters and very bad for the film crew. At around 9:00 prn the Hunters will be escorted to a conference room on the ground floor where they will meet with Hal Karsten, Director of the FBI.

Event 2) The Meeting

As mentioned above, this meeting should take place about 9:00 pm. This makes it a night meeting so that Clay's vampiric helpers can operate freely, and also sets up the': Hunters to be able to view the 10:00 news afterwards - to catch Event 3: Clay's Unveiling.

Karsten has been head of the Bureau for nine years. Before that, he was a crime lab researcher specializing in ID forensics in Washington. He has been with the FBI for 22 years; so it has en a long time since old Hal was in the field.

Role play the meeting with Karsten, but keep it brief. Karsten is there mostly to hear the player's stories. He is collecting information for Clay, so that Clay can more accurately assess the damage his organization has taken so far.

Such questions as:

"Tell me in your own words, what you saw in Leesburg..."

"What clues led you to Howard Hawke in New York?"

"Are there any loose ends or remaining threats that you can see from your last two... uh... exercises? Who are they and in what capacity are they a threat to you?"

"What is the next step from here? Any leads on who is coordinating this coven?"

At this moment, he is calm and seems almost disinterested. His orders thus far are to find out what the Hunters know.

After the Hunters have had the opportunity tc thoroughly tell their stories, he will tell them, that he will need to "get back to them on it."

Indicate to the players that Karsten seemed skeptical and a little nervous.

The Hunters can now freely retire to their rooms Senator Clay is going to be on at 10:00... some press release or something.

Event 3) Clay's Unveiling

At 10:00 pm Pacific Time, Senator Clay will address the citizens of California. His purpose will be to reveal the model for his Solace Center -- the keystone of his welfare reform program -- to the rest of the country. In his speech, Clay will summarize the Solace Bill as a welfare reform bill that will tax big business and the rich to provide federal funding for the Solace Centers. The Solace Centers will provide housing, education and medical facilities for the homeless, infirm and underprivileged.

It is here that he will unveil Howard Hawke's model of the Solace Center. This should be all your Hunters need to put the final pieces together (if they haven't already). By now it should be pretty hard for them to miss that distinctive maroon-and-tan theme.

Event 4) Detonation

Clay's speech will be interrupted by the 17th floor (and most of the tech crew of Blood Ties) being blasted into next week.

The explosion will kill all main and auxiliary elevator service in west tower. All four emergency stairwells will be engulfed in flame and main power to everything above the 17th will be cut. Even evacuating the lower levels will be difficult due to the large amount of flaming debris that the blast wilt hurl into the central shaft of the tower.

For the Hunters and their allies, there is no way to go but up.

Event 5) Stampede

At this point, after a cursory check for escape routes, the Hunters should be grabbing anything they can and start hitting the emergency stairs to the upper levels. As the stampede through the restaurant they could pick up several stunt men or tech crew who might be dining late. But the real fun starts when they get to the roof.

Important Note:

Here is a good place to make example of the fact that this is a dynamic adventure. Instead of a course set out on a paper map, your characters must thread their way through the events of the plot. Your Hunters have already had time to interact with the stars of Blood Ties. And so one or more of them might already be on the restaurant level dining with the cast. Or perhaps even on the penthouse level drinking with the cast - with impure thoughts in their minds.

Your Hunters could be anywhere... it's up to you to give them subtle incentive to keep them on the 23rd floor or higher.

Event 6) To The Penthouse!

To get to the roof, your players must pass through the Penthouse level. This level contains six deluxe suites where the A-List members of he cast are staying the night. It's more convenient to just stay at the hotel since they would have to be here at the crack of dawn anyway to film the Big Motorcycle Stunt tomorrow. See Event 9 for more on the Big Motorcycle Stunt.

The stars of Blood Ties are not as quick to action as the Hunters and so are still waiting for the hotel management to call them and tell them what happened. As the Hunters arrive, the stars will just be realizing that the hotel is on fire and panic will be just setting in. Time for the Hunters to take charge and get everyone they can to the roof, before they succumb to the rising heat and smoke. A rescue by helicopter should still be pretty easy at this stage.

Trying to bolt up to the penthouse level, the Hunters could meet resistance from the actors' underinformed private security. These guys are just big mooks and should be easy for your hunters to intimidate or neutralize.

Event 7) The Roof

There are many things to do on the roof -- not the least of which is get on a cell phone and call for help!!!

With a bombing like this, the local FBI is sure to he in close proximity. Gutenberg is all over that. He'll call Karsten and ask for a helicopter...

And surprisingly enough... it's director Karsten himself leading FBI response team.

Karsten will be surprised to hear from the Hunters.

"Yes, of course... we'll have a bird to you in five minutes! Hang tight!"

Hunters with any kind of danger sense might notice a strain in Hal Karsten's vioce... but there's no time to deal with that now... because it's time for....

Event 8) Federal Bonus Carnage

While the advanced architecture of the Twin Towers makes it almost immune to earthquake damage, it was never designed to take deliberate special forces- style vandalism. Lazarus' C4 charges will sever the flexible joints connecting the Skybridge with the West Tower. The Skybridge is still connected to the east tower.

Gravity, today as always, is reliable as ever. In a chorus of screaming steel and shrieking victims, the entire Skybridge platform will hinge downward, separating form the West tower, dumping 150,000 gallons (650 tons!) of water from the glass- bottomed pool, 180 feet into the rotary below.

Collateral damage to nearby pedestrians and vehicles from all the lawn furniture, soft drink machines, food vendor stands and 40 or more flailing bodies, crashing to earth at approximately 80 mph, should be graphically described.

The unstoppable torrent of water will hurl humans (who will likely be killed instantly by the shock of its first impact) and all but the heaviest vehicles, out of the rotary and down the hill -- creating an instant mudslide of water, flesh and steel.

At least two limousines and four cars will wash with the slide down the hill onto Highland Avenue, causing a massive pileup.

Vehicles crashing through the guardrails on Highland Avenue will roll (possibly in flames) onto the 101 freeway - causing further pileups.

Kane Drachman: "Look at that... it is just like in a movie..."

Your hunters will have about a 4 minute window to use the cables laying around on the roof (property of Ravenous Pictures) to pluck a few innocent civilians off the Skybridge before it fully separates from the West tower. They'll have to move fast.

Note: The cables are not nearly strong enough o keep the skybridge from falling.

Event 9) Communications Blackout

Once Karsten discovers the Hunters and Gutenberg are still alive, he will order all cellular service in the area to be shut down and all land telecommunications service cut. The outside world cannot know about this. One or more of the actors or civilians might bring this to the Hunters' attention through their complaints. "Louie! Oh Louie, my cell phone has died!"

However, remember, Dillon Moore's phone is on a separate subnet, and so still works.

Event 10) Deadivac

One or more of your hunters might notice -- just before Karsten's chopper rises up over the edge of the roof -- that this 'rescue' helicopter is flying in under the level of the roof... and pretty fast.

Instead of a friendly medivac to airlift the soon-to-be-charcoal Hunters off the roof, Karsten has called for a gunship. Two SWAT snipers packing M16s (with grenade launchers and light-intensifier nightscopes) will start cutting them down the instant the helicopter clears the line of the roof. They haven't been informed as to the nature of the "terrorists" they're supposed to be shooting at, and so won't be too choosy about their targets. The group is going to have to be pretty tough and accurate with their fire to down a SWAT helicopter.

This would be a good time to lose a few civilians if your crowd on the roof is getting unmanageably large. For added fun, a stray M203 grenade could get blasted into that 8,000 gallon water tank. The rupture in the tank would create a small but potent flash flood that would wash Hunters, actors and/or civilians off the roof. That is, unless they could grab onto something and dangle awhile, screaming hysterically for help.

Note: Do not let the Hunters capture a working helicopter... even if none of them knows how to fly it, they are bound to try. For best effect, have it careen down into a nearby residential area and explode.

Event 11) "Terrorists Have Seized the Twin Towers!"

The media has arrived! Karsten commits to his path of action and declares that a group called the Crystal Jihad has seized the building and hostages. He will declare that the terrorists are in possession of an unknown number of high explosives and heavy weapons, and that all air traffic in the area is to be shut down until further notice.

This is so no news choppers can get a good took at the roof.

If none of your Hunters happen to be glued to the news on their portable televisions, one of the actors, or other civilians that might be up there can bring it to their attention.

"Damn! Like we weren't in it deep enough! Now they're sayin' we got terrorists up here!"

LA Action Live reporter, Diana Wolfe, from her vantage at the FBI staging area in the parking lot will be interviewing Director Hal Karsten live!

Karsten: "Well, Diana, we are taking every precaution to avoid further loss of life. At this time the terrorists have not issued any demands, but have assured us that another explosion will follow the first if any action is taken before they are ready to negotiate..."

Wolfe: "Are you empowered with any kind of authority, Director, should the Crystal Jihad issue its demands?"

Karsten: "This is America, Ms. Wolfe. We don't deal with terrorists."

At this point, the Hunters may need to restrain Frank Gutenberg; otherwise he will grab up the nearest heavy firearm he can find and -- screaming obscenities all the way -- start blazing away at the FBI staging area. They are way too far out to be accurate, but a barrage of M16 fire will make Karsten and Wolfe dive for cover, truncating the press conference.

From here out, anyone approaching too close to the edge of the roof is going to be a target for SWAT snipers.

It's getting mighty warm up here, Hunters. What now?

Event 12) The Big Motorcycle Stunt

The marquee stunt of Blood Ties was supposed to be Dillon Moore (as Max Tempest) jumping his motorcycle between the towers of the Twin Towers Hotel. More specifically, it was supposed to be Dillon's stunt double making the jump. Even then, he wouldn't actually be making the jump.

Are you crazy?

For this stunt, a thin but strong steel cable was to be strung from the antenna of the West Tower to the Roof of the East tower. A special harness was then to be fitted to Max Tempest's bullet bike (an insanely powerful, turbo-charged 1100cc monster) The design of the harness was such that it would hold both the bike and rider securely attached as they jumped off the roof and then slid down the cable to a large open hole in the glass. Then they could reel the bike back up and shoot it again from a different angle.

The bike is there (two of them, in fact). The ramp is in place. The glass is open over on the East tower. The only thing missing is...the wire.

If someone could really actually jump that motorcycle, for real, over to the other tower... with the cable attached, they could secure it to something and everyone else could slide across to safety. It's only about 120 feet. Except for the darkness, the smoke and the hail of sniper fire, it's a pretty straightforward jump.

And would at least keep them from cooking alive.

The target zone is a removed section of curved glass on the opposite tower's restaurant level. It's gonna make an awful mess if they miss it.

The SWAT gunmen will keep shooting at anyone trying to slide across after the wire has been placed. Their orders are "no survivors".

There are two motorcycles there so your Hunters can try it twice, if the first one fails.

Possible complication

The Hunter making the heroic jump smashes through the glass and surprises (I know I'd be surprised) a team of SWAT operatives. Surprise, flying glass and crashing motorcycles could help even the odds for your Hunter.

Event 13) Power Outage

The blueprints for the East Tower are laid out in an impromptu foreman's office on the restaurant level (see map). This will become a valuable tool for the Hunters when the FBI cuts the power to the building. Now that they are off the roof, and out of danger from the fire, Karsten knows he will have to take them out conventionally.

From the blueprints, any of your characters with construction or engineering skill will be able to locate the emergency battery room.

Who gets to go down to the 20th floor and turn on the emergency power - in the dark...?

Event 14) Bif and Reggie Drop In for a Bite

In direct violation of Karsten's no-fly zone a Bell Jetranger, piloted by the Vampire Lazarus will arc up over the rooftop some 70 or 80 feet. Doubtless, it will be taking fire from the Hunters as it approaches, so it will veer away as soon as it delivers it's payload the Vampires Bif and Reggie.

Lazarus is using Bif and Reggie to observe the Hunter's offensive capabilities. He half expects them to be killed but wants to see how the Hunters react before going in himself.

Event 15) Air Drop Lazarus

The Hunters will first hear the sound of a helicopter far above. The sound of its engine will slow and then rev more quickly. The chopper must be 300 or more feet above the roof.

Some large object, plummeting through the darkness will hit the roof so hard and so heavy that it will punch clear through to the next floor. No explosions follow... and when the Hunters go to inspect the projectile, they will find... nothing.

The Vampire Lazarus is here... somewhere...

The unattended Jetranger will crash into the hillside.

Event 16) Dillon's Betrayal

GMs: you don't have to necessarily wait until now to use this one. Throw it in whenever it suits you.

Dillon Moore's cell phone is still active. He has used it to call the police (in between snorts of cocaine from his private stash) on these insane "Hunter" people. "They're crazy! They think the FBI is out to kill them! I'm losin' my mind up here, dammit you gotta help me!"

The smooth, soothing voice on the other end assured him everything would be alright... as long as he did what he was told...

You should begin with Dillon arguing loudly against anything that might be a good idea. These type of characters always seem to do that.

From there, someone might notice that Dillon is conspicuously absent from time to time; presumably sneaking off to snort his coke -- but actually going off to phone the bad guys.

Until he gets a chance to grab a firearm -- and this should be at the worst possible time -- Dillon will merely act as a spy for Karsten. But when he has his chance, he will try to grab a gun, take a hostage and present himself for surrender to the authorities.

Event 17) SWAT Team Push

Unless the Hunters are taking stringent precautions to stay quiet and stay away from the windows, the Feds will know right where they are most of the time. The success or failure of this offense by the SWAT team will be, in large part, determined by their knowledge of where the Hunters are going to be.

Two pairs of SWAT operatives will assault the stairwells simultaneously - firing bursts of automatic fire up the stairwell and lobbing the occasional flash grenade up a flight to the balcony above them. They will try and take one floor at a time this way - driving back the Hunters' defenses.

Hunters with a military background will get a MIN check, however, to notice something...

... those guys really aren't trying too hard.

In fact, the stairwell assault is only a distraction, to keep the Hunters away from the central express elevator shaft.

Either two or four SWAT operatives are ascending the center maintenance shaft, which opens onto the roof. If the Hunters don't get savvy and consult their blueprints quickly, they are going to be fighting a two front war.

Three fronts, if any of Lazarus' team is still wandering around.

Event 18) Meanwhile, back on the ground...

Here, it is important to note that Clay is listening to Diana Wolfe on the radio to keep apprised of the situation. The siege has gone on far too long. He will telephone Karsten to give him some more... inspiration.

Karsten, still awaiting a report from the FBI team in Anaheim, will pick up the phone with dread gnawing at the pit of his stomach.

"I don't think you are trying very hard, Director. That's no way to repay me for all the favors I've done you. I want this situation handled, Hal, do you understand me? Now I don't want you think I'm some kind of monster, Hal - we're friends... right? And friends are good to each other, aren't they? Aren't they? Hal, what is that noise? Are you crying? Stop crying Hal... and pull yourself together. We're friends... so I'm going to give you a choice. You get to choose, Hal... which one do you want to keep? Jayna or Claire? We're friends, Hal... I'm only going to kill one of them, and I'm going to let you pick..."

This should prompt Karsten to initiate...

Event 19) Endgame

Perhaps no-one will ever know what choice Hal Karsten made with Clay on the phone, but the result of Clay's "inspiration" is that Karsten hits the Twin Towers with everything he has left.

He will tell his SWAT operatives on the ground that the terrorists have started executing the hostages. If your Hunters are alert, they might catch him on the bullhorn.

"...this is a free-fire zone! There are no friendlies, repeat, no friendlies!"

Lock and load, Hunters... this one's for all the marbles!

Karsten's assault teams are going to be moving fast and so might be a little reckless. Press the hunters from several directions at once and press them hard. Give them as much as they can take.

It'll be a brutal fight, but eventually the gunfire will cease, and an eerie silence will wash over the building.

As the battle for the building raged, Karsten finally got a call from his team in Anaheim. His wife and child were dead.

As the ringing in the Hunter's ears is finally beginning to fade, Karsten will walk into the lobby. He is unarmored and armed only with his pistol. Picking his way through the carnage he will make no efforts to cover or dodge.

"They're dead, Frank. I just got the call. They're dead. You were right. Frank. You were right all the time..."

If any of the Hunters look questioningly at Gutenberg for direction, he will stare coldly back.

"Kill him."

Even if your Hunters don't ventilate Karsten where he stands, given a few more seconds, Karsten will press his pistol to the side of his head and do it himself.

Most of your crew is likely already dressed in SWAT armor and carrying SWAT weapons. As they exit the lobby in the graying light of dawn, Gutenberg will hold up his badge (to forestall any gunfire) and take command of the task force. He will loudly declare, for the benefit of the media, that all the terrorists were killed and the building is secure.

Diana Wolfe will broadcast this news to the whole world... including Senator Clay. Looks like he'll be able to make that press conference after all.

Next Episode:

The FBI arrests Senator Clay on national TV, marking the end of the Solace Bill, and Clay's political career -- almost.

Until next time...

Hunters Inc. Chapter 5: The Vampire Strikes Back

Introduction
The Twin Towers Hotel
Events
Cast List
Hotel Maps (very slow: 272K)