Haunted Hotel - High Moon with Insanity Rules

Using my Insanity rules with THW's High Moon, I decided to send my three heroes into the Death's Kiss Hotel (nothing bad could come from a place with that name, right?).  My heroes are:

Ace:  Rep 5 Star:  Marksman, Slow to React, Pistol.
Cade:  Rep 4 Townsperson:  Slow to React, Pistol.
Joseph:  Rep 4 Indian Warrior:  Brawler, Rifle.

Ace (Red), Cade (Green), Joseph (Blue)

Ace and Joseph entered the hotel at around 8 P.M., along with their guide, Cade.  Their job was to see if stories about the hauntings were true or simply legend.  and for that, they'd stay and explore the hotel from 8 P.M. until 8 A.M.  Let's hope they survive.

 
They entered one room when Ace froze in his tracks.  "Did you hear that?"  Sneaking out into the hallway, he peeked into the next room.

PEF #1:  Pass 1d6.

"What is it?"  Joseph asked, his rifle entering the hallway before him.

Eyes peering left to right, Ace shrugged.  "I guess just my imagination.  I could have sworn-"

PEF #2:  Pass 1d6.

"Did you hear that?"

Cade entered the room, pistol shifting as he glanced around.  "I heard that too.  Something's here, just not sure it's a ghost."

"It's like the walls have eyes that watch our every move," Joseph said with a shudder.

Backing out into the hallway, Ace nodded.  "That wasn't the wind.  I thought I heard talking."

PEF #3:  Pass 2d6;  4 Opponents total.

Ace again entered the room and paused as he thought he heard movement all around them.

PEF resolves as ghosts.  Ghosts act first and split into two groups.

"I don't see anything now," Ace said.

Just then, Cade and Joseph spun around to find a spectral being staring at them.  Cade froze in his tracks (gains Insanity point) while Joseph fired his rifle.  To their surprise, the creature disappeared into the room, and the two men gave chase.

Ace, meanwhile, encountered three ghosts in one bedroom.  He opened fire, but suddenly, all three shrieked, and Ace stumbled back, head spinning.  (2 Insanity Points gained.)

11 P.M.

Cade and Joseph chased the ghost through the hallway, with Joseph getting a few shots off.  Finally corning it in a bedroom, Joseph slowly entered.  He fired but missed, and suddenly, the walls begain wailing at him.

Seeing his friend in pain, Cade pointed his pistol and fired.  Hearing a thunk, he thought, 'I got you, so son of a-'

Then he saw Joseph hit the ground (OOF) and he realized his horrible mistake.  Before he could check on his friend, the ghost lunged forward, and Cade bolted for the hallway.

Cade found Ace in a nearby room, collapsed in the corner (4 Insanity Points, but saved by Star Power).  Helping Ace to his feet, the two took off down another hallway.

(At this point, only the heroes activated for three turns.)

2 A.M

As the ghosts gave chase, Ace and Cade opened fire, driving the beings off.  They continued circling from room to room, and both were having problems focusing.

5 A.M.

However, the spectral presence was begging to take its toll, and not long after, Cade collapsed unconscious.  (OOF.  Ace survived again thanks to Star Power, but he was down to 3d6.)

Finding Joseph, he did his best to tend to the man's wounds (Passed 1d6 on Recovery table), before taking up his rifle and continuing on his way.

6 A.M.

Just have to last two more hours, Ace thought.  Spotting a shrieking shadow, he fired, and it vanished, but then he heard howling from the room next to him.  He ducked just as a ghost flew over his head and put his back to the wall as a third approached.

Wait, he thought, is my back glued to this wall?  He pulled himself away, but now the lights were screaming at him, the paint was taunting him, his own gun even cackled when he tried to pull the trigger.  (Gained another Insanity point for 5 total.)

Dropping the weapon, he fell to his knees and covered his face in his hands.  He tried shaking his head, but it did no good.  (Star Power failed). 

Collapsing on the floor, he opened his eyes to find three hideous specters watching him with glee.  And the last thing he heard was their high-pitch cackles.

Ace, Cade, and Joseph were never seen again.  Their bodies were never found.  And no one ever entered the hotel at night again, until its location was long forgotten.

Does Death's Kiss Hotel exist today?  Possibly.  It could even be one you stay in next.  But when the sun goes down, just keep reminding yourself that's possibly all a myth.

Unless of course, the walls really are watching you right now!

Clownin' with Cowboys - a High Moon AAR

I ran this game mostly just to blow off steam, and to test out the Monster Clown for High Moon.  Rep 5.  Quick Reflxes for random Attribute.  1H Weapon.  

Here he is now:

Meet Risi

Risi (short for, 'Risible') has entered the town of Cactus Valley to rescue his buddy Pokes (a Mangler) from the clutches of the so-called innocent people of the town.  This is a Raid encounter, with his goal being the jail in Section 1.  Once again, I used the scale of 1 Section = 10."  And since Risi is armed only with a single jagged, rusty blade, subtly will probably be the best approach.

Time for some fun!

Risi entered the town early in the morning, when everyone was still recovering from a festival the night before.  He snuck around, searching for the nest way to the jail.  

(Note that I started with with 4 PEF's instead of 3 to make it a little more challenging.  Also, if Activation ends up as Doubles and 4 or less, then another PEF appears).

A lone cowboy appears, making a trip toward the outhouse.

(In Sights Check.  Pass!)

Good morning, sunshine!  And good night!

His buddy then heard the noise and rushed out.

Let's just say it wasn't pretty!

(The last PEF didn't resolve so Risi eventually made it to the jail.)

Violets are blue, blood runs red.

(In Sights check - Pass)

I see you, my pretty, and now you're dead!

At that point, another PEF appeared and resolved as a cowboy.

I'll let Pokes handle this.

(Pokes, a Rep 3 Mangler, won Charge into Melee and Melee, and hacked the cowboy to pieces.)

As they left the jail, however, they encountered some trouble.

Gunman Rep 4

Cowboy Rep 3

Cowboy Rep 3

Towns persona Rep 4.

Wanna see a magic trick?  No?  Fine then, die, you spoil sport!

The rest of the group fled behind the general store, and Risi and Pokes followed.

Although Risi got another kill, the remaining cowboy dropped poor, misunderstood Pokes.

Risi snuck behind the duo, but then realized they were joined by the town's blacksmith.

I don't suppose we could talk this over a spot of tea?

Although Risi managed to remove the cowboy from the equation, the blacksmith pulled out two pistols and filled the poor monster clown with bullets.

So no on the tea then?

They buried Risi by nightfall and told the town that a maniac gunman had plowed through the town, but he was executed on sight.  No reason to scare anyone with stories about monster clowns, right?

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That night, they visited the grave and paid their final respects to Risi.

(Not Quite Dead test:  Passed!)

Apparently, though they weren't aware that the only way to truly kill a monster clown is to completely destroy its body.  Burying one is usually a no no.

I will be laughing,
you will be hurt,
and I'll be dancing,
while you breathe dirt!

Singing his little song, Risi sent the blacksmith face-first into the grave and then pulled out his knife, grinning wickedly.

As the bartender ran, he screamed for help, but the people knew the truth of that night and remained in their homes.  They were all too aware of the creature with metal on his face and blades on his hands.  And they knew all too well of the clown dancing around.  So no one emerged to help the poor man.

He managed to make to to his house before a large foot tripped him.  Risi then dragged him gleefully (Risi, not the bartender) to the pond.

Oh don't worry.  I promise you'll float . . . unless of course, I tie rocks to your feet and jump up and down on your chest!

(Since Risi failed in his mission, and well technically, he did not receive any Increasing d6.)

The next morning, the people found the bodies and faced the terror for the first time.  And no one saw Risi the clown or the body of his friend.  But sometimes at night, people claimed to hear cackling in the wind.  

Did you hear it?  Was it the wind or something else?  Hopefully he doesn't know you're listening.  And he's probably not real anyway.  

But just in case, look over your shoulder.

No, your other shoulder . . .