Re: [HOE] Killer Clowns Spoilers

[Sam & Max <samnmax@swbell.net>]

Bryce wrote:

> Spoilers for Killer
> Clowns... I*Always*thought*clowns...were
> scary... and so this makes perfect sense to me.
> An adventure set in the Deadlands version of
> Disney World... cool.  I've only read through
> this so far, so anyone's thoughts on how to
> improve this adventure, or any weakness it has
> that I cannot see by reading it would  be
> appreciated.  (usually you can only get to know
> an adventure by actually running it)    It looks
> okay, and I'm perfectly comfortable with
> premise, an island amusement park filled with
> killer robotic clowns.  The novel part was
> great, I really liked the character of Roth.  I
> think the story will really help me with setting
> the scenes.  The story description of the Big
> Bad Wolf was great.\
>   The map is good, except for the markings of A
> and B. However, I'm thinking of inking in the
> internals of the Enchanted Woods, to help create
> the feeling of being lost while inside the
> Woods. The Puppet is a fairly deadly challenge,
> what with the instant kill potential.  But I do
> like the way it is, with the hanging corpse and
> the twisting, grasping tentacle-like wires.  The
> Big Bad Wolf is very tough, I could see a few
> players going down to it.  Also, I don't know if
> I want the players to realise that Wolf and the
> Clowns are automatons.  I guess its okay, but I
> do like how the Clowns dissolve into a pretty
> puddle of goo.  Dempsey, itself, is also a tough
> hombre.  Its going to take a lot of firepower,
> brains, and luck to take this hombre down. I'm
> guessing this adventure is for a group of
> experienced survivors.  What is it like when its
> run?  Also, this is the third dime novel, what
> is the second one?  And how many dime novels are
> there for HOE? Thanks in Advance, Bryce

    I really enjoyed running this adventure. To me
the most fun part is the set up well before the
true combat starts rolling in. The bad guys in the
terminal go over easy and give a nice boost to the
players plus a chance to drop some ammo or weapons
into a weak party if need be.
    The Main street CSA section is a wonderful
opportunity to really get creepy with the
players.  The White Ball in the Lost Children
section of the security station was a perfect
image. The person in front saw it and just closed
the door. When every one else asked what was it..
he just shook his head and said "Nothing we need
to mess with.." The whole posse nodded and said.
"Okay. Moving on. :)
    And it just got better.
    I gave the players the map but cleaned it up
so A and B weren't there. If its marked they are
going to expect something.
    The Puppet really bugged my posse.  They
_knew_ it was a trap. They could feel it but they
went down there anyway. God bless their (Heroic)
and (Curious) hearts. :)   Plus they had to get
closer to see if it was a hostage or not. They had
a two NPC's with them.  The wires got one NPC and
hoisted him up.  While the grinding spraying
screams were raining down from above the posse
Syker actually grabbed a wire on purpose and shot
up to save the guy! As soon as he saw what was
happening (Fear check) he managed to blast free..
barely. The posse just ran away from it.
    When the power came up I started the Miss
Louise track from the Lost Boys Soundtrack.. .. on
infinite repeat. :) Its a semi-off kilter carnival
tune.. This got old after about three minutes but
I left it on and it set the mood. The music
floating over the island made the posse crazy
after a while and I would turn it up or down
depending on how close they were to the Merry Go
Round. :)  After a while they simply started
hunting down the music to stop it.. but when they
got there and saw the Merry Go Round and the
bodies on the spinning wheel.. they just let it be
and moved on.  Didn't want to waste time or effort
on it.
    The Big Bad Wolf section was fun. First they
jammed the door to the house open and left the
Grundy out side and told her "Do Not let this door
close." then after they found the hostage and the
junkers motion sensor started pinging something
big they started yelling "Close the door and don't
let anything open it!" he he.
    The clowns only real weakness is their
dependence on hand to hand attacks. They are very
powerful attacks mind you but armor will shut them
down quick. The topics been done to death.  What I
thought of was giving them boxing glove guns and
acid shooting flowers aka the Joker. But didn't
need to in the actual game.
    The Roller Coaster is fun and you are feeling
really destructive have a dispatched clowns acidy
self eat through a major support column and start
collapsing the coaster as the posse is stuck
aboard it.  That was a great scene.
    As for Dempsey. He is tough and mean and the
Ridicule is a powerful weapon. Don't forget it.
The armor level could make him near invulnerable
if the posse is down shooters or can't hit the
target.  Also if the posse member start climbing
up the walker.. have Dempsey just retreat into the
lake. Washes them off good.
    All in all, one of the best creepy Dime
Novels.  The best parts weren't the flat out nasty
combat, but the slow terror of the park itself.
The blood fountain in the Town square is a
personal favorite. When semi congealed blood
gurgled and spit from that,  the posse nearly said
screw this we're going home. They wouldn't but
they wanted too.
    Wow. Long post. Sorry bout that but this is my
favorite pre-written adventure for HoE.
--
David Heth
"Sniper rifles have been known to cause
Spontaneous Brain Rejection(SBR) at several
hundred yards. "