Olympus RPG Blog

Part 1

• The ship, Mardis Gras Cruise Line’s Ocean’s Escape, departs Port of Miami for Nassau, Bahamas, at 17:00. (Day 1.) The Team™ settle in to their vacations separately, but are seated at the same table for dinner, at which, they are informed by the ship’s 2nd Officer Kenneth Graves that conditions will be favorable for the memorial ceremony tomorrow at 10:00, to be conducted on the Deck 4 promenade at the ship’s stern, with privacy provided.
• At 10:00 (Day 2), the Team performs the memorial service for Dungeonmaster.
• As the Team is returning, they round the corner to find five, armed, Middle-Eastern men, dressed in rough crews’ uniforms, in the process of tipping the 2nd Officer overboard and cleaning up blood from the deck. Shredder bids his family to go back the other way, to find help.
• The Team immediately engages the obvious-terrorists in combat, lightning-quick, too late to save the 2nd Officer, but too fast for the terrorists to reach their duffel full of weapons. One is kicked overboard. Two are shot dead with their own silenced pistol. In the middle of the fight, a sixth emerges from one of the lifeboats overhead, and is pulled down hard to the deck, and choked-out.

See the Daniverse Blog for the GM’s post-game debrief.

Part 2

Note: Mayhem’s player was absent for this session

• The Team collects the terrorists’ weapons and gear, including some master-keys to the ship, unsuccessfully attempts to interrogate the living, fanatical terrorists, and dumps the lot of them overboard. They take the gear with them in the duffel.
• An announcement is heard over the ship’s PA system: “Attention, ladies and gentlemen. We regret to inform you that a contagion has been discovered aboard this vessel. To avoid unnecessary health risk, the captain has ordered that all guests and non-essential crew are to return immediately to their cabins, and remain until the all-clear is given. Please comply quickly, and in an orderly fashion. Medical crew will be visiting shortly to account for all guests and perform a brief medical examination. The sooner all are accounted for, and cleared to return, the sooner you can get back to your Fun Day at Sea activities. Mardis Gras Cruise Lines sincerely apologizes for the inconvenience.” As some of the terrorists they just encountered were attired as “medical personnel,” the Team suspects this is part of their plan.
• Shredder takes off around the promenade after his family, but fails to locate them quickly. The Team follows, and decides they will all go inside, and keep an eye out for the family while they look for the authorities.
• A call is heard on one of the terrorists’ captured radios, translated by Zed: “Target has been located. At the Bolero’s bar, Deck 4 aft. Sweep teams secure the family and start locking guests in their cabins as soon as they start to settle in.” The Team decides to try to reach the “target” first. Mayhem suddenly decides to “do a Bogotá,” appropriates some of the weapons from the duffel, and takes off on his own.
• Inside on Deck 4 aft, they find an explosives/weapons engineer, Dr. David Dalavi , hiding behind the abandoned bar, in the early stages of drinking to their inevitable destruction; he is responsible for the terrorists’ capabilities, and is the reason for the attack, in order to extract him and force him to continue making weapons for them—a fate he is on the ship to escape. The Team intercepts and kills a handful of terrorists when they arrive to capture Dr. Dalavi, and afterward, escorts Dalavi up to Deck 10 to gather his wife and daughter and find somewhere “safe” for them to hide.
• On the way up, again, the terrorists’ radio reveals: “We have the family. 1298, Deck 10.” “Hold them there while we secure the Target.”
• At the Deck 10 hallway, the Team observes that the passengers appear to have all been locked in their cabins from the outside.
• Outside the Dalavis’ cabin, the Team takes up defensive, flanking positions: Shredder goes through a neighboring cabin to their balcony and scales across, while Zed enters through the front door, obscured by his “not-ninja” invisibility, and Ness waits in ambush just beside the door, propping it open. When the terrorists within, holding Dalavi’s family hostage, respond to the open door, the Team assaults, taking them all out in mere seconds.
• As they regroup, the Team hears the approach of an inbound helicopter.

See the Daniverse Blog for the GM’s post-game debrief.

Part 3

• The Team discusses next steps with Dr. Dalavi, present with his wife and young daughter, and also the man from the neighboring cabin, Bob Janikowski . They are interrupted by the room’s TV, when the ship’s 1st Officer informs all passengers that medical personnel will be coming by to clear and release them. It is decided to stash the Dalavis’ and the neighbors in the Team’s own cabins nearby, hoping they won’t be expected there. Bob mentions having seen some “recording equipment” being moved into the theater on Deck 3 by some shady individuals, and the Team decides to check it out.
• At the elevator block on the way down, the Team is surprised by the emergence of a pair of terrorists half-carrying/dragging an unresponsive Mayhem, who sports a bag-over-the-head. The Team attacks quickly and rescues Mayhem, who is only a little injured, with no real memory of how he found himself in such a state.
• On the way down to Deck 3 forward, the Team overhears a Russian-accented-Arabic speaker on the terrorists’ radio (translated, again, by Zed) saying the helicopter has been unloaded, and has departed, and that the “boss” will be coming on the next one.
• The Team approaches the Deck 3 theater entrance, taking a brief respite to discuss tactics and arm-up. Zed sneaks in first, followed by Mayhem. They spot eight terrorists rambling around “looking for something” and complaining (in Arabic) about the “magician.” (This cruise featured a semi-famous magician act, the star of which is presumed to be the subject of the terrorists’ search.) Using a side-channel on the captured terrorists’ radio to communicate, Shredder and Ness sneak in to join the others, as they all circle into better ambush positions.
• Due to a miscommunication, Mayhem “goes loud” with a captured submachine gun, and a brief, bloody fracas ensues, resulting in all eight terrorists dead or dying, and no Team injuries.
• The magician comes out of hiding, clapping in celebration, before spotting a bloody corpse and fainting.
• A voice crackles over the terrorist radio addressing the Team directly, and says: “You lot have been very unhelpful to the cause. I have no doubt that threatening to kill you will do much good, considering the situation. But perhaps someone here can persuade you to desist? As it happens, some nice people came to warn the Captain there were terrorists aboard. One of them would like to speak to you…Say hello, dear.” Janet, Shredder’s teenage daughter, responds: “Umm…Hello, whoever-you-are. Please don’t make them kill me…”

See the Daniverse Blog for the GM’s post-game debrief.

Part 4

• Still in the theater, nearby video screens flicker to life, showing the scene on the bridge and revealing the speaker to be the ship’s 1st Officer John El-Saleem . He continues: “Now, as I see it, you have a few choices: You can throw yourselves into the sea—that would be most convenient, though unlikely. You could surrender yourselves—also unlikely—but maybe in exchange for buying these hostages a little more time. Such a waste…” *jams the gun a bit* “You could attempt a daring rescue—that seems the most likely scenario, though unlikely to succeed. Anyway, I suppose we should demonstrate our resolve…here” The camera pans to other nearby hostages (including Shredder’s wife and son) before settling on one of the security officers, as he is shot in the head. After some background screaming, El-Saleem continues, “We look forward to seeing what you choose,” before cutting off the feed.
• The Team decides to head for the bridge, which is back up on Deck 10 forward, not far from their cabins. It is decided to reconnoiter the bridge from outside; while the others wait in Shredder’s cabin with the Dalavis, Zed will climb out on the balcony and cross forward to the bridge.
• Aside from a number of dead, the only occupant Zed finds on the bridge is the 3rd Officer, now “acting-captain,” Bradley Ocean , having survived in the toilet during the takeover. The bridge has been smashed up, presumably to prevent anyone from regaining control. The rest of the Team joins Zed and Brad on the bridge, and manages to find a working-enough screen to see a security camera view of the Pool Deck, where Brad thinks the bad guys went. They see that the hostages are tied, seated, in the center of the pool area, around a “device”—an obvious ambush.
• Brad leads the Team through the back-areas to the nearest exit on Deck 11, just forward of the pool area.
• The Team observes from what cover they can find, attempting to determine the nature of the device: it does appear to be a bomb, and the hostages are all wired to it. A couple of drones are spotted orbiting the area at a distance. Zed uses his “not-ninja” powers to reach the hostages unseen, for a closer look at the device, and decides it is beyond his meagre technical ability.
• The Team begins to converge, to go back and fetch the bomb-expert, Dr. Dalavi, when a handful of terrorists emerge from the room behind the stage on the other side of the pool area. They immediately open up with automatic rifles, and an RPG, which detonates at the feet of 3rd Officer Brad. At the same time, a pair of them also emerge from atop the bar behind the Team, almost catching Mayhem by surprise, before being immediately gunned down by him. The Team dodges fire, trying to close the distance, when Mayhem squarely shoots the new rocket the RPG-gunner is in the process of loading, detonating it, killing the remaining fighters nearby.
• Many of the hostages were thrown to the ground as a result of the blast, one fleeing in a blind panic , revealing the bomb to have been a fake. As the Team converges on the center-pool area, the movie-screen above them shows a disturbing scene: a number of heavily-armed, well-disciplined terrorists, forcing their way into Shredder’s cabin, dragging out Dr. Dalavi and his family.

See the Daniverse Blog for Part 4a/Part 4b of the GM’s post-game debrief.

Part 5

• Shredder has had barely enough time to reunite with his now-released family, when one of the former-hostage security officers is instantly killed by a hidden sniper. The sniper nearly takes out Ness as well before they all scramble to cover. Mayhem, believing he hasn’t been spotted, observes carefully the sniper’s probable location, and with one well-aimed shot, eliminates the threat. Moments later, one of the drones sweeps in toward the Team’s position, but is shot down before detonating.
• Another helicopter is heard on approach to the ship. Presuming this to be “the boss,” the Team takes up the remaining RPG and heads forward, hoping to catch it as it settles onto the landing pad at the bow.
• At the Sun Deck, as far forward as they could get, the Team is met by a handful of veteran terrorist troops, wearing ship’s security body-armor, and tending to the dead sniper, El-Saleem. A brief but furious firefight erupts around the min-golf course, with showers of broken glass. Mayhem is injured by fragmentation from a hand grenade; not dire, but he will need medical attention.
• As Mayhem takes aim at the incoming helicopter with the RPG, the Team can see Bassil Malik al-Ghazal (The Boss) hanging off the side. Mayhem fires. As the warhead explodes the helicopter, the boss is seen being thrown away into the sea, before the flaming hulk of the aircraft smashes into the landing pad.

See the Daniverse Blog for the GM’s post-game debrief.

Part 6

• Having spotted Dr. Dalavi and his family escaping his captors when the helicopter crashed, the Team immediately head down toward Deck 4 to intercept them before they can be reacquired by the enemy. Mayhem has secured the sniper’s rifle. Meanwhile, the acting-captain, Brad, takes the others with him, to start letting the passengers out of their cabins and begin evacuation procedures. But the ship can’t launch the lifeboats until it has come to a stop, so the engines will have to be shut down somehow.
• Around the Deck 7 stairwell, the Team spots a squad-sized element of terrorists sweeping the Royal Promenade, clearing the storefronts and working their way aft. Deciding they must be hunting the Dalavis, the Team decides to move quickly: Mayhem will remain to provide cover-fire with the sniper rifle, while the others make haste to reach the hopefully-unaware squad, before giving the signal to attack. Shredder and Ness take the stairs, Shredder going down to Deck 3, to emerge from the casino below, into their blind-spot. Zed cuts a cable and swings down to the Promenade floor, arriving as a model aircraft display crashes behind him. The terrorists react to the commotion by opening fire, and taking cover in the nearby shops, but are picked off by Mayhem as the others close the gap to finish them off. Meanwhile, another squad emerges at the far end of the Promenade. The Team leaps into the vintage car on display outside a nearby bar, and slams it into the group of terrorists, catching them all unprepared.
• As the grateful Dalavi family emerges from their hiding place, another group is just appearing from the back-rooms nearby: a team of a few of the ship’s security personnel, led by Security Officer Richard Strong . They had been fighting back as they could from the lower decks, and had heard someone was above, making trouble for the enemy. Mr. Strong confirms the terrorists have control of the engine room, and also have a huge bomb set up in the engine room on Deck 1. He offers to lead the Team below-decks: The Team will go after the bomb, while Mr. Strong’s security team retakes the engine control room. Dr. Dalavi goes along with the Team, to defuse the bomb, once secured.

• The Team carefully makes their way through the maze of pipes and machinery in the engine compartments, and manages to catch the terrorists unaware in the noise and confusion below, dispatching them quickly from the shadows. They take up ambush positions above the guards left behind to watch over the bomb, including Dzhamal , their Chechen-born lieutenant. In a coordinated surprise-attack from above, the enemy is eliminated. Dr. Dalavi, after a tense mistake or two, manages to defuse the bomb, and the ordeal is finally ended.
• The ship is evacuated as Coast Guard vessels arrive to collect everyone. The Team knows they can’t take public credit for the defense, but Mr. Strong and the Acting-Captain promise them a lifetime free-pass aboard any future Mardis Gras cruise, under-the-table.
• Later news reports reveal that around a dozen civilians were killed, along with around two-dozen crew, with more than 50 terrorists killed or captured. And (almost) without exception, close witnesses to the Team’s efforts, obviously coached/rehearsed, declared, “Off-duty cruise-line security personnel helped fight off the attack.”
• Dr. Dalavi and his family are not seen or heard from again, but through channels, it is suggested they were taken into Witness Protection, where Dr. Dalavi will undoubtedly end up doing the same work as before, this time, instead, for the government.
• The body of Bassil Malik al-Ghazal is never recovered.

See the Daniverse Blog for the GM’s post-game debrief.