Gave Barbarians of the Aftermath a Run

A few weeks ago (finally posting up) my wife and I gave Barbarians of the Aftermath a whirl in the setting we developed for our Live Action Airsoft System so that we could jumpstart the game. I gotta say, BoA is very well done. We used the MythicGM Emulator along with the story generator in the PDF to get things rolling. Equipment selection was a breeze. Instead of the point buy system we just picked what characters typically had in our game. Off we went!

First, the PCs:

Polly:

Polly was an accomplished Actress [1] in local theater but to pay the bills she worked as a Computer Technician [2]. That was before the world went dark. After she became a member of a local Militia [1] with respectable skills.

Str 1, Agi, 1, Min 2, App 0
Bra 1, Mel 0, Ran 1, Def 2

Lucky, Determined (to rebuild society), City Dweller

Weapon: Remington 870 shotgun


Ty Lawson

Ty grew up as a Farmer [2] who was known to have a bit of a touch as a Mechanic [0]. After graduating school he became a Police Officer [1] but that didn't last long. After the world got tossed into the hand basked Ty put his skills to use as a Militia [1] member defending the small town where he grew up.

Str 1, Agi 2, Min 1, App 0
Bra 0, Mel 1, Ran 2, Def 1

Passionate (rebuilding society), Determined, Poor Hearing

Weapons: M4, 1911

The PC had to survive bad choices in a house. The foes were rabble and an NPC who was a madman who only wanted to spread suffering and disaster. So, the in-game setup was that the PCs misjudged how long it would take to get to said house in the city. They arrived just before dark. But they figured that they'd be in and out in no time.

Once inside they began rummaging for the professor's notebook but their search was interrupted by sounds of intruders. They snuck upstairs hoping that whoever it was would move on. No such luck. Crouching in the darkness they trained their weapons on the stairs waiting. BLAM! Ty flips on his rail mounted combat light and Polly pulls the trigger on her Remington. The shotgun sent two rabble to their doom; their life gone before their corpses finished tumbling to the foot of the stairs. Ty tugs Polly's shoulder to move to new positions. He knew that they're try another assault. This time they came up the stairs with guns blazing, shooting into black emptiness. Ty flipped his M4 over the railing, flipped on the combat light and sent a few more rabble packing. Their bodies collapsed where they stood on the stairs.

Downstairs the house front door slams shaking the whole place. An angry voice flares up and the sound of someone getting punched could be heard if the PC's ears weren't ringing from all the gunfire.

Taking the commotions and noise downstairs the PCs again take up new positions. Just in time. Two grenades are tossed up into rooms adjacent to the top the stairs and go off. The explosions are incredibly loud but harmless except to the interior decorating.

As suddenly as the violence erupted the house goes quiet. The sound of glass breaking can be heard and the stark blackness of the night is pushed back by the bluish orange smear of flame of molotov cocktails.

Ty finds an ironing board and kicks off the legs. He's got a crazy idea. He's going to surf down the stairs while crouched on the board so that the egress will be faster than running and his profile will be smaller hopefully making him harder to hit. After all, he figures that they've got the front door covered - a sort of funnel of death in reverse. He takes a few deep breaths, holds his M4 against his body and kicks off.

As the former farm boy surfs down the stairs enemy fire riddles the railing and bannister. As he hits the foot of the stairs the board catches on the two guys that Polly smacked with the shotgun sending Ty rolling. He somehow manages to go with the flow and catches himself upright on his haunches, his M4 aimed at the door but he slams his shoulder against the wall that causes a wince.

As Ty lays down cover fire Polly runs down the steps and moves to take position. Ty's M4 goes black. Out of ammo. Polly annihilates the rabble at the door with one more dose of lead and she moves to take a new position.

As Polly was moving and Ty was drawing the 1911 from his chest rig two more figures burst into the great room now partially illuminated by the growing fire upstairs. One of the men had the booming voice heard before. He was a madman blazing away recklessly with a pistol in each hand.

Ty trains his weapon on the madman and squeezes off a round and he sees his target dive behind an overstuffed chair. He almost forgets that Polly too is engaged in mortal combat. Their gunfire sounds like distant thunder.

What looks like a giant figure leaps over the tumbling chair and comes at Ty showing a scarred face filled with inhuman rage. The 1911 barks two more times - the rounds going errant or causing no discomfort could not be told. The madman continued his course and crashed into Ty driving him backwards into a corner and began to pummel.

Polly by now was wounded in her fight against the twilight enemy. She was battling to find advantage.

Ty was seeing stars and relegation to giving up was rising in the back of his mind when a voice told him to get up. Determined, the former police officer turned militia member took a firm grip on his lifeline. He stuck the 1911 into the madman's gut and twice pulled the trigger. Slicked with blood, Ty woozily stumbled to push the massive once angry man off him. He was beaten to within an inch of unconsciousness (1 LB remaining).

Gasping, as he rose from his knees he saw Polly's limbs go awry as she sprawled backwards across the arm of a couch landing in a most unnatural position. (-4 LB)

Ty left out a yell of pure anger but he couldn't hear it over blasts still ringing in his ears. One more blast flares in the room and the rabble himself sprawls backward onto the dining room table.

The fight is over.

Ty tends to Polly discovering that she's still alive. Now he's got to figure out the next step.

That was the end of our session. Nathaniel and Simon. Great, great game design. We loved it.