Niv Lova Solo Actual Play Part 3

The weird wild zone.

Day 3. Fog. Extreme. Double rations to account for feeding the dogs.

Ivan wakes for the day and the dogs seem a bit skittish. It seems oddly dark out and Ivan stops just outside of the fire station garage. A fog so thick, that he literally can’t fully make out his hand held out in front of him, has settled over the abandoned town. It is deathly quiet out, and he can see the fog swirling ever so slightly. There is no way they could make it to another building, let alone attempt to even scavenge. He decides to camp inside the garage for the day and hope the fog will lift at some point. Luckily, they have 5 days of food. He can’t imagine being caught out in the open during something like this.

Day 4. Partly Cloudy. Strip Mall 4 areas. Area 1: Empty. Scrounge. Area 2: Hazard. Pass. Area 3: Empty: Scrounge food. Area 4: Stash.

Luckily the unnatural fog has dissipated today. He hopes to scavenge up more food and bandages, maybe some more ammo before moving on from this abandoned town. Today they head to the strip mall, Ivan holding the revolver in one hand and the remnant, Wesak in the other. Along the way they are able to gather 3 cans of food from more abandoned houses. As they get closer to the strip mall, Ivan can see that part of the roof has collapsed and many of the stores are inaccessible. They first search a used clothing store and find a slightly larger, better backpack. Next, they search the insurance office. As Ivan pushes open the door, he hears a creaking overhead and jumps back as more of the roof caves in. Now this office space and the used clothing store are ruined. Further down is another office space and they find a jackpot of food in the kitchen area. Lastly, Ivan, Leto and Ghani search a used bookstore and find a lockbox in the back. He is able to break the rusty hinges to find one can of food, a bandage and a length of metal he could use to repair something.

With the strip mall scoured, Ivan moves on to an office building further away, closer to the Damaged Nuclear Power Plant. It looks to be some sort of Laboratory. Maybe a medical clinic. Most of it looks burnt out. When Ivan and the dogs get close, people come out - they hold up weapons and threaten him. Ivan tucks the revolver away and holds out his hands while trying to obscure the Wesak. The dogs growl and Ivan tries to reassure them he is only passing through as he backs away.

PRE check fail. FIN check pass. 

They don’t seem to want to listen. More believers come out calling him a deceiver and walking towards him. Ivan turns and runs as fast as he can. Some of the believers follow at a run, carrying melee weapons. He keeps running, trying to break their line of sight around burned out houses, sprinting through yards, the dogs following close behind, not barking. He ducks behind a shed and concentrates on Wesak, pine scent in the air, two believers are fairly close, and Ivan shows them an image of himself and the dogs running in the other direction. Ivan almost gets distracted by the weight of that other presence but shuts it out. The two believers yell and get the others to follow. Ivan and the dogs keep running to the northern edge of town and take shelter in a hovel of a house for the night. Ivan uses his knife to pry open two congealed cans of food. Beans and chunky soup tonight. The dogs lap up their portion and Ivan thanks Wesak for keeping them safe. He wonders at what cost?

Day 5. Clear day. Not lost. Scavenge 5 rations. No POI. Encounter: Psychic. Close. Hostile. 4 HP. 

Ivan, Leto and Ghani leave the town behind and keep heading north to find the settlement called Last Hope and the Ghost. Now that Ivan has his own remnant, he is more curious to find out what Ghost knows about them and aberrations. They happen upon a small shack and are able to get 5 cans of food. As Ivan is stepping from the shack he sees a very tall and pale humanoid with an abnormally large head walking towards them. The dogs start to bark and Ivan pulls the revolver and grasps Mesak tight. The thing points a long fingered hand at them as it begins to walk faster. Ivan fires the revolver, a clean shot to the chest of the creature. The mutation is wearing tattered clothes and has a backpack. He gets a caffeine pill and a tent, which should come in handy. Ivan decides to leave the broken heavy armour and take the tent. This creature, just like the skinner, looks like it may have been human once. Leto and Ghani keep their distance from it.

Night encounter: 4 scavengers. Neutral. Goal: Protect wealth. Do they want to take Ivan’s gear? No, but… they want more information.

Ivan sets up the tent further north and hears people approaching. The dogs bark a warning and Ivan comes out of the tent to see 4 people approaching out of the darkness. The moonlight is bright enough that he can see they are armed and carry themselves like they have been here awhile. Ivan calls out “Hi friends. Sorry, I don’t have a fire.”

A woman with a patch on her eye asks Ivan where he is headed.

“North. I want to learn more about what’s going on here. In fact I killed some sort of creature near a shack not too far south from here.”

PRE check: fail. They do not necessarily believe him.

“Have you come across any aberrations? Any remnants?”

Ivan “Nothing like that. But I’m looking.”

“Check his gear.”

Ivan keeps calm. He can feel the remnant Wesak shifting its shape in his pocket. He concentrates on it.

Activate remnant: fail. Use Fortune point: Pass.

As the smell of pine blooms in the air. Ivan makes the scavengers searching his bag see a broken perfume bottle.

“Damn, I think I broke your aftershave buddy.” and the scavenger leaves the bag. “Nothing here.”

The woman with the eye patch says “Alright, let's move on. We’ll check out the body and shack you mentioned. But a word of warning. You’ll find nothing but trouble if you keep heading North.” The scavengers walk off into the night and the dogs quit pacing and settle down. For the first time, Ivan second guesses coming into the zone. 2 XP.

Notes:

This was two sessions for me and enough happened that I decided to go with 2 XP. The 4 scavengers had me more nervous than the psychic - the supernatural elements are great. I am definitely feeling a psychological horror vibe with Liv Nova. Very cool.

Liv Nova is by Write Firster. Check out the playtest document.