During tonight's game it was a question of closing in on some of the cartel informants following last week's Ascendant rpg session. This week found our group of Dreadnaught Security specialists exchanging power armored mayhem through several small shops and offices downtown. This was after Intergang's sniper armored operatives were trying to pick off three of our guys last week
A blog about sewing machine repairs,but mainly my hobbies which include old school role playing games, science fiction,films, horror, and general geekery. Sit down and stay a spell.
Thursday, October 10, 2024
Intergang Cash Out! -- Ascendant Rpg - Session Report
Wednesday, September 25, 2024
Intergang Break Out! -- Ascendant Rpg - Session Report
This session picks right up after a few days have passed and Lady Elizabeth has healed up in Medical. The cartels have invested in bringing a specialist assassin group in the form of Intergang's Super Human divsion's operatives. Intergang decided to bring in thier latest power armor to do a bit of 'shopping' by robbing several of the local credit unions.
Bludville isn't as important as Metropolis but it's got a lower finiancial profile then the cutting edge cities such as Metropolis or the waning popularity of New York City's Gothem city within a city profile. There was something being stored in one of the banks that Intergang were knocking over. This is when Silver Sable's Wildpack stepped in. The PC's backed off the Wildpack as this was thier collar.
Intergang has completely gone off the reservation and came up against Silver Sable's Wildpack in tonight's game session. The PC's were minimizing the collateral damage to thier city as power armored Intergang operatives took out the vault.
The PC's went full tilt against the Intergang operatives and didn't hold back. They took the fight into an abandoned neighborhood that was due for demolition. The crew took down two buildings on the Intergang operatives. Trapping them for Dreadnaught Security to pick up later on.
Wednesday, September 11, 2024
Enter The Manhunter - Ascendant Rpg - Session Report
During tonight's Ascendant rpg game things got very complicated as the player's PC's came face to face with 'The Power Company' mercenary outfit. And it was glorious! This is the first time the player's PC's came up against mercenaries and capes with an edge and in this case Manhunter of the 'The Power Company' cleaned thier clocks! The party has been messing around with the gangs and cartels within Bluddville for months. Then they crossed a pretty serious group of NPC's in tonight's session.
Manhunter doesn't have a reputation persay and so when they came across him & his mercenaries raiding one of the local gang labs. Things got ugly fast in Bludville & then got worse. The PC's made the mistake of attacking Manhunter's men and then wounding Manhunter. That did not go over well with the PC's having two of thier own wounded next melee! The PC's withdrew to lick thier wounds.
One of the wounded was Lady Elizabeth & this took out our Camelot powered knight & melee specialist for tonight's game. She healed quickly but her pride took a hit in tonight's game. Manhunter was saved by Skyrocket. But the PC's were quick to withdrawn and get back to Dreadnaught Security only to find out that they've been assigned to act as liasons with Silver Sable's Wildpack who would be running interference against some of the big guns the cartels have brought into Bludville. This all echoes off from events from Capital City Casefiles #2: Served Cold
The cartels are getting tired of having thier teeth kicked in by Dreadnaught Security operatives. They've been bringing in hired assassins and hitmen to take out the freelance operatives. The build up has been happening for months now. What happens after that is coming up.
Tuesday, August 6, 2024
Street King Throw Down! - Ascendant Rpg Session Report - Capital City Casefiles #2: Served Cold By Karl Gustav- Session Report
We had a diffferent sort of action in tonight's Ascendant rpg campaign session. During last week's game, Plasma our resident fire user had his body gravely wounded. And we were able to get his body into a magnetic containment vessel. Things were not looking good for Plama and Dreadnaught Security, Inc. called in S.T.A.R.R. Lab specialists to handle Plama's case.
Our party was told to get back on the case & that a lead had emerged from The Unseen Court who had witnessed the Psycho Warriors breaking into a local warehouse.
After meeting with two representives of the Unseen Court - Trash & Midnight Maiden learned that the Psycho Warriors picked up some cargo & took off in thier high tech hover plane. The local cartel The Street Kings is incredibly upset with these invaders.
The heroes decided to search the warehouse for clues. What they ended up finding instead was a group of cartel goons scoping out the warehouse! The party decides to head in and comes face to face with armed cartel enforcers & El Cazador, one of the deadliest El Cartel enforcers in Capital City!
The party attacked with gusto and crippled two of the Street King capes before they retreated due to an energy projector who kept them under cover we ended here.
Sunday, July 21, 2024
Enter The Psycho Warriors - Ascendant Rpg Session Report - Capital City Casefiles #2: Served Cold By Karl Gustav-
The PC's have been called into a new mission as they've made a cosmic entity report after encountering the High Evolutionary last session. Now the PC's are to perform a raid on an illicit drug lab except when they got there all they found was victims being tortured. And here's where things got sideways after a hovercraft comes for a landing at the illicit lab! The illicit lab had been taken over from the cartels by some forgein concern!
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Immediately the PC's took on gun & energy rifle fire! These guys were playing for keeps!
The PC's were confronted by a battlion of Psycho Warriors who looked like rejects from an S&M club combined with future soldiers uniforms. Even grievously wounded these guys kept coming!
This freaked the players out as these things didn't stop! Plasma bursts and laser vision blasts later those same warriors were taken out! And so it went! There was no retreat as the warriors poured over the party and rained energy fire on them!
Star Labs was closed on a Sunday! But our Plasma based hero Hothead was incredibly unstable. But the PC's got him medical attention on time getting our resident flaming hero into a magnetic containment tank in time! The players are pissed that they had to break off the action!
Saturday, July 6, 2024
OSR Commentary & Ascendant Rpg Session Report Five - Capital City Casefiles #2: Served Cold By Karl Gustav- Evolutionary's Revolution
"“It may have taken a slide down the evolutionary ladder to enable me to slough off my madness, but I am lucid once more. Furthermore, my perspective on both the Human race and my life’s work has been profoundly altered by the experience. I have been to both ends of Human evolution. I have known first-hand the humble origins of life on this sphere, as well as the ultimate genetic destiny of the Earth’s highest lifeform, Man."
During last week's game by DM Paul The High Evolutiionary showed up! And this wasn't a guest spot. But a reveal! We had to think fast or we would be on the end of a Marvel heavy hitter! Note that DM Paul is using the High Evolutionary profle from Write Ups. org. & his origin ties into our Ascendant Marvel/DC comics campaign. We were found out!
He pondered this for a moment as his fanatics in power armor surrounded us. The High Evolutionary is a shadowy figure in DM Paul's campaign that runs a cult for the betterment of mankind and it's glorious destiny of evolution. He's mostly seen running ads in the back of New Age magazines.
Then suddenly he says that he has to consider the data more carefully and then get back to us. He will with draw from the city for the moment. Bludville is safe for the moment but he would have to draw samples of our genetic material for further consideration. No problem with that. The High Evolutionary & his forces would be leaving the city by the next day.
We then had to report into Dreadnaught Security about these developments and then move on to our next assignment.
Saturday, June 22, 2024
OSR Commentary & Ascendant Rpg Session Report Five - Capital City Casefiles #2: Served Cold By Karl Gustav- Evolution's Edge
"So this session picks right up with the PC's meeting the Everyman in the center of Bluddville's meat packing district in a small park. ' The Everyman' taunted the player's PC's with some raher unsavory details of thier last meeting. And included some information including the fact that his drug operations have been affected by the inclusion of poisoned product to some of his users. And over the last several months he has been unable to track down the source. 'The Everyman' 's alliance with the group's old villain Poker Face is fragile as he suspects his mentor's interference with his profits to both the vile mob and the villain himself'. Why is unknown. " 'The Everyman's suggestion was to investigate a warehouse down in the 'Bowels' the lowest neighborhood within Bluddville'
Thursday, May 16, 2024
OSR Commentary & Ascendant Rpg Session Report Five - Capital City Casefiles #2: Served Cold By Karl Gustav- Gamber's Round
The PC's in tonight's Ascendant rpg campaign session started poking around for evidence that Poker Face had indeed returned. The return of one of the group's old villains Poker Face means that the murder count could rise. This vile villain is highly unstable often getting frustrated in his schemes and taking his frustrations out on his victims. He has a hair trigger making this low level Ascendant very dangerous! Tonight's session picks right up from May 1st session available for a read here. Events in tonight's game up point the damage to the criminal underworld from the fall out from Capital City Case Files#2 Served Cold. The adventure plot went something like this; "The heroes are sent to investigate a mysterious and brutal murder in a trendy apartment building by a Cartel enforcer, which leaves them racing to unravel the series of events that led to it, and trying to stop the rampage before it leaves any more corpses.."
During tonight's game in Bludville the party finally got down and dirty with Pokerface's gang the 'Fifty'. What they weren't expecting was to go toe to toe with a mid level hired Ascendant thug called Bodyslaim from the Cartels! This was a bit of a shlog for the party. They needed to work as a team because the mercenary Bodyslaim made short work of the team's two bricks. He literally brought two brick walls down on them. He both super strength, regeneration, and sonic powers!
This attack came right on the heels of the party finding a vital clue and DNA evidence too the lair of Pokerface.
The player's eventually dropped a car on Bodyslaim! And then before his regeneration could kick in called for backup from Dreadnaught Security to have him arrested. Dreadnaught sent in a clean up crew to take the mercenary in.
The party then had the evidence gone over by thier own scientist Foxglove in Dreadnaught's crime labs. This is where I used the Ascendant Rogues Gallery for some of the background Dreadnaught Securities NPC's!
And the material is from Bluddville's meat packing plant neighborhoods. This is bad news.
The party went toe to toe with the rest of the Fifty there last year while busting up one of Pokerface's dog fighting gambling and number's rackets! The party is also going to be crossing into one of thier villainous NPC mob bosses 'The Everyman'. A literal master of disguise who rules the meatpacking district with an iron fist! The party will have to arrange a meeting with the 'Everyman' to discuss terms!
Wednesday, May 1, 2024
OSR Commentary & Ascendant Rpg Session Report Four - Capital City Casefiles #2: Served Cold By Karl Gustav & Gamblers Slaughter
This half of our Ascendant rpg campaign picks up with the player's PCs getting done with second half of thier training under Stan “the Lariat” Hansen in Japan at his training dojo. And then mopping up the last of N.W.O. forcees in our games from the Write Up's.org website. The PC's are being brought into Bluddville by Dreadnaught Security. And this loops around to last January's Ascendant session here. Now a series of murders by poisoned blow dart on some of Bludville's high roll gambler's points up the return of one of the group's old villains Poker Face! I used the character archtypes in the Ascendant Rogues Gallery supplement to sketch out Poker Face who doesn't appear in this session. But whose presence overrode the whole session!
The events in today's session looped back around into Capital City Case Files#2 Served Cold. Several of the turfs and places in Bludville have been left in a bit of a vaccuum where Poker Face's gang 'The Fifty' have taken over. In this session the PC's got a chance to beat a bit on 'The Fifty before they brought out automatic weapons and RPG's causing the PC's to retreat or there could be more collateral damage.
Sunday, February 11, 2024
OSR Commentary & Ascendant Rpg Session Report Four - Capital City Casefiles #2: Served Cold By Karl Gustav & Training Daze
The PC's in tonight's Ascendant rpg adventure were training in Japan under contract to Dreadnaught Security. And thier taskmaster was Stan “the Lariat” Hansen old partner in crime Steve Williams aka Doctor Death.
The good Doctor brought in some his boys and began to have them spar as well as show them the ropes when it came to Ascendant mercenary tactics. The Lariet's Dojo as it's called is a multi level 'danger room', gym, and extreme sports area. The player's PC's had to out manuever physical obsticals ala flame throwers and the Death's Ascendant boys. These guys form the new Triangle of Power.
During tonight's game two of the lower tier Ascendants almost took off Starlight's head. Starlight is our resident telekinetic and energy blaster. She thought the TOP were playing a bit rough. The Triangle's response was that the bad guys were playing for keeps.
The player's PC's dealings in Capital City have been iffy with the drug dealer's network being fueled by money from the sale of Freak. Freak goes back to N.W.O. in our games from the Write Up's.org website. So the point is well taken actually. Dreadnaught Security is paying for the extra training and updating on the group's capacities and powers.
And this is going to loop back around to the events of Capital City Case Files #2 Served Cold & last session right here.
For tonight's session we used some of the rules, principles, and ideas that we had seen the Ascendant Rogues Gallery supplement which is super critical for faster play.
The PC's got a line on a shipment of Freak that was leaving the Oska labs for N.W.O.'s New York City dock's safehouse. And that's when the party got involved with Mokugeki. And this is where while taking out a dozen namelss mooks. The ran straight into the giant head henchmen! He had the party choose between a red & blue card. The party chose the red card!
And even after the training the party received Mokugeki gave the party some pause.. He was able to shrug off some killing blows and then full psycho killer on the party exending his claws! He slashed at everyone!
Friday, January 19, 2024
OSR Commentary & Ascendant Rpg Session Report Three - Capital City Casefiles #2: Served Cold By Karl Gustav & Japanese Holiday
So during last night's session the player's PC's were able to head off the murder in Capital City Case Files #2 Served Cold. Now after running into Mark Shaw aka Manhunter from the late Eighties DC comicbook series the PC's are heading off to Japan. This is to talk with a high ranking Japanese mafia figure Stan “the Lariat” Hansen, whose a retired Ascendant from the mid 1970's. Hanson has the inside skinny on a combat drug Freak that trickled down into the underworld. This tricks out after events of Capital City Case Files#2 Served Cold. This session report and business come on the heels of this session here.
One of the things that we've found while playing Ascendant is that the Ascendant Rogues Gallery supplement is super critical for faster play. The book has Chargen variant rules . And because chararcter generation was probably the single part of Ascendant that my group found slow, and this book looks like it'll be a huge help for that. There's a chapter of hero archetypes with ready-to-play characters and easy ways to customize them.
For our games lower tier Ascendants have been a part of the landscape since the Golden Age. However with the events of 2022 the Ascendants have reappared on the international scene. Lower tier Ascended just didn't make much of a dent on the international stage. Capital City during the Eighties and Nineties was supposed to be a dream for the US but recession of 'o8 put the final nail into that idea.
With age of the Ascendant coming into it's own Capital City is coming back to life except for the crime which is hanging on by it's finger nails.
And that brings us to the PC's working freelance for Dreadnaught Security getting into the underworld of Japan. The Japanese have a completely different asthetic when it comes to the Ascendants. The Japanese culture is fascinated but the Ascendant are merely other celebrities. And so it goes. The Japanese underworld is another matter with the Ascendants being another set of tools in thier arsenal.
The PC's met Stan “the Lariat” Hansen, at one of his hotels and the party was surprisingly cordial. The meeting when off without a hitch and the party found out about the fact that N.W.O.'s drug dealings are cutting deeply into Hansen's terrority. The player's PCs are going to stay at the hotel and see Toyko for two weeks. This is actually cover for them to train at 'the Dojo' the Ascendant training facility that Hansen actually runs on the side. This is too access the party's capabilities & powers.
And this loops around with Mark Shaw doing recon for Dreadnaught Security on the local drug lords and thier connections to the international scene. Here's where we ended!
Monday, December 25, 2023
OSR Commentary & Ascendant Rpg Session Report Two - Capital City Casefiles #2: Served Cold By Karl Gustav
'The PC's actually met with and had a full on productive meeting with Mark Shaw aka Manhunter. DC's Manhunter is one of the fore most Ascendant bounty hunters within our Ascendant campaign. Shaw had clues that we were more then willing to pay for about the Narco's cartel that had placed the hit on the couple who was living in the apartment complex. Our party are actually freelancers working for Dreadnaught Security. This picks right up from two weeks ago on the blog here. This game session took place several days ago, because of the holiday I'm only now posting it.
Shaw Securities has worked closely in the past with Dreadnaught so this wasn't a total cross corporate issue. The fact that we found evidence of the superhuman drug Freak among some of the ruins of the apartment brings the case to a whole other level.
Shaw directed us to the bounty hunter Sting and before we could leave the apartment we came face to face with Bruiser Brody. A cartel enforcer/hitman who single handedly beat the snot out of Kimado and Scar are two our party's hand to hand guys.
The battle leveled a warehouse and caused some property damage this came outta of the player's PC's paychecks. And in the meantime the party decided to do a bit of bounty hunting on the side to pay some bills. That went better with them busting a gang of Ascendant organ runners. Worth a cool 50,000 this paid for the damage to the warehouse. Brody got a way and nearly put two our number in the supers medical unit.
And this brings us to the fact that the player's PC's are totally unaware that I've been substituting various NPC's in and out of the adventure. Capital City Casefiles #2: Served Cold By Karl Gustav is extremely modular allowing the DM to have some flexibility with the materials, NPC's, and adventure itself.
Friday, November 24, 2023
OSR Commentary & Ascendant Rpg Session Report One - Capital City Casefiles #2: Served Cold By Karl Gustav
" The heroes are sent to investigate a mysterious and brutal murder in a trendy apartment building by a Cartel enforcer, which leaves them racing to unravel the series of events that led to it, and trying to stop the rampage before it leaves any more corpses.."
"Capital City Casefiles is a series of scenarios for Ascendant, the superpowered role-playing game of infinite possibilities. Each Casefile offers a single Issue of exciting play for a group of metropolitan metahumans with Power Levels ranging from 18 to 22 and a collective challenge rating of between 100 and 150 points.
These scenarios can be played in any order and are designed to be easy to run with any type of heroes, be they super-powered police, costumed crimefighters, or underground antiheroes. The Casefiles are set in Capital City, Delaware, a fictional city first introduced in the Ascendant rulebook and detailed in the Capital City Gazetteer and Map Set (available separately from Autarch). But don’t worry – if you’re not interested in playing in Capital City, you can easily adapt the scenarios to your city of choice. Capital City can be Chicago, Detroit, or New York. It can be your hometown with a fresh coat of graffiti and a layer of rust and grime. Whether you use the scenarios in Capital City or another metropolis, you’ll find the Capital City Casefiles to be something special. These aren’t just beat-em-ups or thinly-disguised dungeon crawls. Strip away the superpowers and the Casefiles could be police procedurals or detective mysteries. These are scenarios that challenge your problem-solving and role-playing as much as your tactical prowess; and they do so by taking advantage of the robust rules for Fighting Crime and Saving the Day found in the Ascendant rules."
In this Casefile you get:
- An amazing covery by Joe Bennett of "Immortal Hulk" fame
- 36-page ready-to-run scenario suitable for introductory play
- 4 new NPC antagonists and 2 NPC allies
- 4 full-color maps (wrecked apartment, wrecked townhouse, wrecked warehouse, and coffee shop)
- 1 printable player handout
Our party is a group of independant contractors and Ascendants in the heroes of Power Limit 18 to 22. The Ascendants have only recently emerged from the pages of history. And Capital city is the dark reflection of DC Comics Metropolis. And yes Superman has emerged from his phone booth but this is the street level of Capital City out in the MidWest. And there's been an explosive murder that we believe an Ascendant might be a part of this sorted affair. We're subletting our contracts from Dreadnaught Security. The PC's are naturally not trusting of the security firm but that's another blog post.
Capital City Casefiles #2: Served Cold By Karl Gustav as a PDF is top notch with excellent handouts, well thought out layout, and really solid easy to read fonts. The whole affair clocks in on around thirty six pages. In tonight's game we got intoduced to our party via Dreadnaught Security's debriefing and police meeting about the incident. We then came to ruins of the apartment complex to bring Ascendant's senses to the site of the murder to look for clues. The clues within Capital City Casefiles #2: Served Cold are made with colour coated bullet points. Again very well done. And the module is very well organized so that it's easy for the DM to pull the adventure elements within Capital City Casefiles #2: Served Cold right into play.










