Niv Lova Solo Actual Play Part 2

The zone giveth and the zone taketh.

Day 2. Cloudy. Scavenge: I will give a +1 on the scavenge table with the dogs helping out. 3 cans of food/rations.

Ivan wakes up to one of his new canine friends, Ghani, licking his face. Time to explore more of the town. The next building he will try, a block away, is a very run down looking bus station. On the way over, Ivan scavenges a couple burned out buildings. The dogs run all over, noses to the ground. They manage to find 3 cans of food and Ivan thinks they will need more than that to keep all 3 of them fed for long.

Bus Station 5 Areas. 1: Empty. 2: Enemy: Skinner. 5 HP. Leap d6. Morale 12. Dogs give +1 to initiative when applicable. Area 3: Stash. Bandit guarding. 1 HP. Area 4: Stash.

The entranceway has large broken windows and debris. They get lucky and scrounge 5 cans of food from a storage closet behind a desk. First Leto’s ears perk up followed by a growl from Ghani which warns Ivan that something is coming from the darkened hallway leading into the station. He pulls his revolver as a skittering from claws on a hard floor echo. A skinner comes barreling into the room. Ivan fires into the deranged, human face set upon a large skinless mutated four legged body. Pale blood streaming, it leaps at Ivan who manages to dodge just in time. Leto finishes it off with a bite into the Skinner’s neck. Panting, Ivan collects himself, Leto licking his hand, as he takes in the horror that is the skinner. He has heard tales of creatures roaming the zone and never thought to expect anything this horrible. The human face. Was this a person once? Could something this awful have happened to his family? He checks the gun. 5 bullets left.

Ivan steels himself and moves into the darkened hallway towards the soft glow of light from a room further along. There is a stench in the hallway especially bad from a darkened office where the skinner must have been living. He ignores that room and heads to another office. As he goes to open the door Leto gives a soft growl. Gun raised, Ivan stands to the side and flings open the door. A rough looking bandit runs out screaming and swinging a knife. Ivan kicks him off balance and the bandit crashes headfirst into the wall, falling dead on the floor. He looks like he must have fought off the skinner and hid in this room, close to death already. Ivan takes 2 throwing knives from the body and searches the room. He finds keys in the desk to unlock the closet to finds 5 9mm rounds and 9 rounds of buckshot and a pain pill. He heads upstairs, finds more ammo in another office and is surprised to find 3 people inside the last office space. “Welcome pilgrim. The zone has sent you to us. We heard the noise and thank you for taking care of that skinner. Please, join us on our trek to zone zero and the divine.”

PRE check: fail. 

Ivan tries to placate them but they can tell he is not a fellow believer. Ivan begins to back away and he hears a low growl from Leto. One of the believers yells “Defiler!” and moves to stab Ivan who fires, hitting her in the neck. Leto and Ghani attack the believer holding a police baton and the last swings at Ivan with a knife, nicking his arm. Ivan shoots him in the stomach as he stabs Ivan along his side. Ivan finishes him off with a strike with the butt of the gun to the temple. Leto and Ghani killed the last believer. Ivan bandages his arm and side. Takes 3 food and 3 bandages, a gas mask and 6 pain pills.

Area 5: NPC. 3 Believers. Neutral. 1, 2, 6 HP. I had the dogs go after the believer with 1 HP (I don't see the dogs as vicious killers, but can handle enemies with very low HP).

They head back to the fire station for the night. Ivan is able to fully recover. He attempts to reveal what the remnant does and concentrates and focuses on it as its shape shifts and changes. A faint smell of pine fills the air and Ivan can sense the dogs. He concentrates more and can see in his mind what they are seeing. He feels a deeper, larger presence allowing him to gain control and imagines the dogs seeing a ball bounce in the garage. The dogs chase after the imaginary ball. He adds more and more bouncing balls and Leo and Ghani are yipping and barking, jumping to try and catch the invisible bouncing balls. He feels connected to a greater presence, that he could lose himself in. Ivan then makes the balls disappear from his mind and the dogs stop and look around sniffing the ground trying to find them. The presence fades away, as does the smell of pine. Hallucinations. He can use the Remnant to trick one or two minds. No wonder people are willing to kill, or worse, to have this kind of power. This could be worth a fortune! Or be just what he needs to move further into the zone and learn about what happened to his family. After seeing the skinner, he knows The Event was not just some random disaster and that his parents and sister were not merely killed. Could they still be alive somehow? He grasps the Remnant harder. He still wants answers.

1 XP. Level 2. +1 to FIN to help with dodging.

Notes:

Another fun session. So many possibilities. Part of the time I am worrying about Ivan finding the right ammo and bandages and the other marveling at what he must be seeing and feeling. Looking forward to the finished Niv Lova product!

Niv Lova is by Writer Firster. Check out the playtest.