Chrome Hammer: Ascension - Campaign Turn 1 (Wetwork)

Hoi, Humans (and Meta-Humans)!

It's time to start a Chrome Hammer: Ascension campaign!

I've been building this thing and testing it and laying it out, but I haven't had a chance to approach it like a player, starting from scratch.  Well, no more waiting!  It's time to eat my own (soy-)dog-food.

I've already got the table set up, so let's go!

Keeping things simple, I'm only playing against one Corporation.  It's a Fey Lord run Pharma Corp called "Astral-Zenica".

The Crew:

I went mostly random, though I did rearrange some things to suit my minis collection.

"Grimm": the Veteran Revenant Ronin (with Headshot)

"Shuffle": the Non-Grata Dwaf Mage (with Teleport)

"Sarge": the Veteran Ork Shadow (with Safe-Cracker)

"M": the Veteran Human Face (with Schmooze)

"Ghost": the Vagabond Elf Ronin (with Killing-Machine)

Let's go through the campaign phases.

//Upkeep:

First, I have to pay Upkeep, but if I've got no money, what are they going to do?

//City Events:

Next, I check the City Events and get "Broken Neon Theory".  PubSec is cracking down on gangs, so Gangers don't have time for Downtime activities this turn.  Luckily for me, I don't have any Gangers in my crew.

//Get Jumped:

My Crew is a bunch of nobodies that haven't done anything yet.  Nobody has been Doxxed, so nothing happens here.

//The Plan:

I've got nothing else going on and have no money, so I look for work.  Rolling twice, I get Sabotage (Wetwork) and VIP (Bodyguard).  I choose Wetwork.  No real reason.  Just not a Job I get a lot of.

//Sell Junk:

Selling plasma to buy cat food for dinner doesn't count.  Nothing to do here.

//Downtime:

Options are a bit limited for a starting Crew.  Several of them require money.  So what do you do when life sucks?  Get blitzed!

"Shuffle", "Ghost", "Grimm", and "Sarge" use Personal Business to Party, but don't earn any Rep.

Meanwhile, the diligent "M" gets on the Grid and does some Legwork, finding an old map with a Service Entrance to sneak into.

//The Job:

Everybody gets ready to get to work, but then "Oh, no!  A Glitch!"  It seems that the target has an exclusive RapiMed contract that will send a signal to a RapiMed extraction team if her vitals drop! Somebody will have to hack the relay that connects her before we can do her in! (Two-Factor)

Here's the Corporate compound.  The 'Punks slip in the main entrance, except for "Sarge", who sneaks in through the hard-to-reach Service Entrance.  The wage-mage target starts across from the main entrance, and will mostly wander aimlessly until she knows there's a problem.

A view from the air.  You'd think this drone would say something.

The Service Entrance pays off, as "Sarge" is able quickly approach a Data Terminal.  Several other 'Punks advance as well, as do the Corp's Guards.

"Ah, good. I got da one wit da green light.  Dat's lucky!"

Next Turn, "Sarge" successfully hacks the Data Terminal, and "Ghost" Hot-Wires a Loot Crate, scoring a pair of "Heavy Gloves".

Everything seems pretty calm, right?

But now, the pair of Guards on "Sarge" approach him.  The first scans the Ork and Exposes him, and the second follows that up with an Overrun, Fragging "Sarge" outright!  Yikes!

"We've got a 10-72.  Requesting backup..."

With "Sarge" getting Exposed and other Guards scanning "Grimm" and "M", the Corporation gets a bunch of Response Points.  The first five of which summon a Beast Lord!  Well, crap!  Luckily, he's kind of slow, and started over in the far corner.

BWAAAAAAAAAHMP!

If this is the way things are going to go, it's not going to end well.  Things are just happening too fast.  Time to get creative!  "Shuffle" draws the threads of reality to him and Casts the "Teleport" spell, poofing "Grimm" across the table and right in front of the relay Control Terminal that controls the Two-Factor Glitch!  Noice!  He Casts too hard, though, and takes 5 Damage.  Ouch!

"Wingardum... something!"
[Tearing Noise]
"Well, it's a good thing he's already dead."

"M" wastes time failing to Hack the other Data Terminal, and gets Close Called by a Guard. Luckily, the Guard fails and wanders off.  "M" decides to give up on Hacking and takes the opportunity for a half-move into cover (and closer to the wage-mage who has managed to randomly wander into "M"'s range).

"Buy Geisha-Snax™!"

I don't want the target to run away from "M", so I decide that "M" will sneak up on the target and let her have it!  That's 2 points of Charge damage, which is a great start, and 4 points of normal Assault Damage, which is also really good, but it's not enough to drop the wage-mage in one go, meaning that "M" is Exposed!  This pushes the Response Points over the next threshold, too, instigating a Protocol.  I roll on the table and get "Faerie Rings", which are basically magical teleporters (marked here with orange tokens).

Hmm.  She's still up.  Should have given her the J.T.Kirk Chop.

I was afraid that the wage-mage would blip across the map on the mushroom express, but luckily she's on the wrong side and has to retreat away from "M" and (unbeknownst to her) right into the arms of the Hidden Elf and Dwarf. :)

Wage-Mage: "Whew!  That was close.  I think I'll be OK now."
Narrator: "She wasn't."

Next turn, the Guards that got "Sarge" use the Faerie Rings to jump into "M"'s lap and Assault him!  He survives, but is forced back and away from the exit!  And then the Beast Lord also teleports toward "M", ending up on the roof (because that's where the Faerie Ring ended up).  So much for it being slow.

"Dude!  Little help?  I think I saw a ladder back there!"

With all of this chaos, the Response points are stacking up! (Look at this pretty die!)  A Doppelganger enters the table from the corner near the exit, and a second Protocol takes effect, but it's Faerie Rings again, meaning the Rings go away.

Twenty is a bad thing here.

"M" tries to run for it, but it's no use.  The Beast Lord jumps off of the roof to get him, and the two Guards pile on.  "M" gets Overrun and is Fragged!  Man, you really want to avoid getting into a punching fight if you can help it.

"Wheeze! I... called... no nut-shots! Groan!"

With little use for subtlety now, "Ghost" blasts the wage-mage, becoming Exposed, and "Shuffle", who was hiding nearby anyway, finishes off the target, completing the mission.  Then, it's a mad scramble for the exit!

This seems about right for a Player Character "plan".

//Recovery:

After the Job, everybody meets up at the Vendi-Go.  "M" is bloody, but fine.  "Sarge" doesn't show, though.  He's been Captured!

//Get Paid:

Time to get paid!  The Job pays 2D6 GB, and I get a '7'. How terribly average.  Experience-wise, "Grimm" gets 2 Rep, "Shuffle" gets 3 Rep, and "Ghost" scores 5 Rep!  Nice!

//PayData:

I don't have any "matching" PayData, so there's nothing to sell.

Thanks to "Sarge" we got at least one new PayData, which I process, logging the "2" that it rolls.  I can't do anything with it yet, but it's a start.

//Sub-Contract:

This is really an advanced option when you're close to pinning down the CEO and have too many "jeebs" to spend.  My Crew doesn't have those issues.

//Character Advancement:

I didn't clear enough Rep to advance, but I hope to change that next mission.

//Recruit:

With the Ork captured, I'll need to find a temp.  Meet "Dusty", the Vagabond Human N00b!

I'm sure he won't die on his first Job.

Next mission:

It would probably be smarter to wait, but I want my Ork back.  I'm going in for a rescue!

I wrote this game, so clearly I'm just a Corporate shill, but if you're looking to score some Rep, sneak over to a Data Terminal and download this game HERE!

Ĝis la revido!

Jason "Ludanto" Smith C;E