Session Notes 2

This game was ran over two sessions using Savage Worlds wiht a group of six players. Mostly it was run as written, though a few flourishes were added here and there. The Hound of Shub-Niggurath was intended to be bullet proof, which worked nicely. Unfortunately for it, the Hound was not half-ton stone block proof. The actual mission was scrubbed a the last minute, sending our CASS team off to North Africa on an emergency. The session ended with the team in a crippled B-17 plunging towards southern France, a Me-109 chasing after them.


The Barbarossa

Rostock
1. Downtime, 4 weeks
2. Mission Briefing
a. Secretary, case officer
b. This is an overt mission
i. This is the Barbarossa, Hitler's latest toy
1. It is a flying aircraft carrier
2. Capable of carrying 15 fighters and 8 bombers
3. Heavily armed and armored
4. Carries its own bomb payload
ii. You will be part of the operation that is going to destroy it before it is completed
iii. It is being constructed in Rostock on the Baltic Sea
iv. You are being sent to England for jump training
v. On March 1 you will embark from England on Carrier Task Force 19
vi. You and a company of US Rangers will be parachuted in at 3am on the night of March 10 on to the airfields near the shipyards
vii. Your primary objective is to secure the airfields and hold them against enemy counterattack
1. Once the airfields are secure you will send a coded message via radio "Excelsior"
2. This will signal bombers to unload on the shipyards
3. You and the Rangers will then board any aircraft that is usable and fly north to rendezvous with Carrier Task Force 19.
viii. Disposition of enemy forces
1. Rostock is not heavily garrisoned
2. Expect the Nazis to be largely third rate troops, old men and boys
3. Five companies of Wermacht regulars
4. 1 company of Panzers
5. The biggest threat is the possible presence of Dr. von Blud and his Ubermensch
6. Dossiers
7. The airfield is garrisoned by a company of the 134. Grenadiers, a reserve regiment.
ix. The Airfield
1. Your primary objective will be to destroy the planes located in the hangars out British friends have amusingly labeled the mount farm
2. After that, destroy the control tower, the fuels dump, and cause as many casualties amongst the pilots as you can. Taking them prisoner is also an option, but we will not be transporting prisoners out.
3. The technical site should be destroyed as well, and any research materials there should be recovered.
3. Interlude: Jump Training at Camp Barnam outside of London
a. Combat training with the rangers (5 xp bonus, must be spent on combat skills or edges, not powers)
i. Obstacle course, running, field craft training, etc…
b. Agility rolls for three training jumps, failure equals 2d12 damage and see below
4. Interlude: A traitor
a. Svetlana receives a mysterious message "meet me in Hyde Park on the 21st at 10pm by the rose garden."
b. Mysterious stranger standing under a lamp post, smoking a cigarette (Galushes)
i. Tan trench coat, black felt hat, hands and face wrapped in bandages
ii. Hands Svetlana an envelope
iii. Fades into the fog
5. Interlude: Hospital Number 9
a. Several of the Rangers injured when two planes collide during landing (after a training jump)
b. Those sent to hospital Number 9 fare well at first, but then go down hill
c. Mystery (PCs there may also be swept up) why do so many soldiers die at Hospital Number 9?
i. The Doctors and nurses are members of a secret vile cult that sacrifices blood and organs to Shub-Niggurath, the Goat with a Thousand Young
1. Altar in the woods near the hospital, pre-Celtic ruins
2. 15 cultists in total
3. Ritual sacrifices, scarification and orgies
4. Cult originated in France, came to England after the Fall of France
ii. Doctors:
1. Dr. Timothy Ville, British surgeon, young and affable
2. Dr. Henry Vouchard, French Surgeon, bitter and cantankerous
3. Dr. Llwylln Jones, Welsh surgeon, leader of the cult, distant and cruel
iii. Important Nurses:
1. Betty Greeves, Brisith head nurse, bitter and sarcastic
2. Suzzy Greenwood, American nurse young, pretty, and not entirely under the cult's influence
3. Emma Walthers, British nurse, young, pretty, and vindictive
iv. The Ritual
1. Timing, begin clock at 6:30 pm, ritual occurs at 8pm
2. A circle of nine celebrants are nude save for ornate goat's heads headdresses.
3. They surround the body of a young girl from the village, Maggie, who they have kidnapped.
4. Iä! Shub-Niggurath! The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young!
5. As the ritual completes, the chanting reaches a crescendo and Maggie unzips from neck to pubis, black light spills forth, strange vapors, and a tentacle emrges, the Dark Hound of Shub-Niggurath is born to rampage across the area.
6. Dark Hound of Shub-Niggurath
Attributes: Agility d10, Smarts d8 (A), Spirit d10, Strength d12, Vigor d12
Skills: Fighting d10, Howl d8, Notice d8, Stealth d10,
Pace: 9 Parry: 7 Toughness: 12
Special Abilities:
• Cause Madness: The sight of the Hound causes all to make a Spirit roll or suffer temporary insanity.
• Size +2
• Discordant Howl: The howl is a flame template area of effect that causes those hit to roll Spirit vs. the Hound's Howl or be shaken, wounded on a raise
• Low Light Vision
• Fast Regeneration
• Fearless
• Armor (Hide)
6. The Mission
a. Agility to pick landing place, Success= off 1d6 random, Raise= dead on, Failure= off 2d6 random, Crit= drift into trees
b. Agility to land, Success= shaken, Raise= fine, Failure= wound, Crit= 2 wounds
c. Initial resistance is minimal
d. Counter attack before dawn by 2 panzers, 1 company of grenadiers, and the Ubermensch
e. Bombers late, but arrive
f. Safe flight back