Savage Fallout - East Coast: Journeys - Session 1

The first session of my game, Journeys, began with the PCs heading to Stockyard. Maxwell Smart, a Vault Dweller from Vault 88, had been sent out to search for spare parts for the malfunctioning extruder. Capable and tough, Max is focused on the art of unarmed combat (using the new Unarmed Edges which will be listed in the final Savage Fallout document), though he does have some skill with firearms. Rend, a Tribal knife-fighter from the west, joined up with Max at a small town bar not too far distant from Stockyard. The pair were involved in a minor scrap which ended with the aggressors unconcious and the PCs' quick exit.

Unfortunately, the pair happened upon an old mine... by way of a collapsed rear section. Rend made his Agility roll, but Max wasn't so lucky. He mildly wrenched his shoulder, but was otherwise unhurt. Finding their point of entry to be unreachable, they began to search through the mine. The lack of light was easily remedied by Rend's quick, though dangerous, thinking... he tore a chunk off one of the supports and lit it. This provided enough light for them to see by, but made the timbers groan a bit more than Max was comfortable with. Pressing into the mine, the pair found several old shafts, stripped of any valuable minerals, and found themselves at a dead end... inhabited by a quartet of giant rats. They quickly disposed of the nuisances and moved back the way they'd come.

Finding a storeroom, they were able to procure light (box of flares) and some useful items. Onward and upward, the PCs moves closer to the mine entrance and found the lair of a radscorpion. Luckily, they managed to kill the beast without taking a single wound. Rend attempted to salvage the scorpion's venom sacs, but a botched roll ended with sticky fingers and a ruined venom sac. Moving out toward the light, Max managed to get them into the mine's "office" and procured a dusty old pipe rifle and some ammo. Searching the rest of the room turned up nothing of value and the pair exited through the mine's entrance, continuing their journey to Stockyard somewhat dirty, but richer and still mostly unharmed.

Cresting a rise, they both breathed a sigh of relief as Stockyard spread out before them, not 10 miles off. Along the way, they spotted a group of men at a small homestead and began to venture around. Rend, making his Notice roll, was able to make out five men, four armed and apparently beating up the fifth. This wouldn't stand with our heroes, and they stealthily approached. Max, burdened by his newfound loot, lacked the outdoor skills of Rend and was spotted not too far from the homestead. Decding to make himself more of a distraction, Max walked up to the group and began speaking with the armed pair before him. The others were busy making who appeared to be the owner of the homestead uncomfortable. Meanwhile, Rend continued on his stealthy way, moving to well within range to use his throwing knives. Just as things began to turn ugly with the bullies, Rend flicked a knife and hit home, Shaking one of the armed guards. Max took a quick shot with his newfoudn rifle and moved into melee range to let his fists do the talking.

In the ensuing fight, the homestead owner was knocked unconcious, along with most of the offending group. One of the thugs bled out due to a knife wound, and Max was beaten pretty badly (due to some impressive rolls in a brawl with one of the thugs). Luckily, the leader was brought down quickly at the start of the fight by a massive kick from Max and, bereft of their tactician, the others broke and were dealt with easily. Taking what they wished from the band, they discovered from them and the owner of the home that a man named Butler had been making overtures to try and gain the services of the owner, a hunter named Roy, and take over his home. Roy had so far refused, resulting in his current situation. Leaving the mostly unconcious group in Roy's care, they headed into town.

Entering Stockyard, the heroes found a hotel and began making some plans. While Rend stayed at teh hotel to watchover their possessions, Max headed over to the hospital. Though tended to as well as possible, overall, his wounds were superficial and would have to heal on their own (the "magic" hour having passed long ago). After getting back to the hotel, the PCs decided to head out to dinner. Taking the hotel owner's circuitous directions, the pair found themselves victims of a "road tax" scam run by a local gang. Just when it looked as if our heroes would be cut down by the thugs' weapons, the city police force arrived and managed to catch or kill most of the crooks.

After that, the session wrapped up with the PCs giving their statements and agreeing to testify against the perps.