Casting Shadows

Day 25 of #RPGaDay2020 and our unusual route through the map version of the infographic below brings us to the prompt ‘message’ (Area 12). Had we followed the numerical order of prompts on either infographic, we would be pulling on the ‘lever’ prompt now (Area 25). Thanks to our detour we addressed lever in the first week on Day 6. Hopefully, despite the long delay in getting to this message, we are arriving at just the right time.

Not ones to dwell on fear once their minds are made up (but very much ones to dwell on and poke fun at it when their minds are not made up, ie: most of the time), the ghostbusters take one last look at favorite spots in town, namely Lou’s Considerably More Authentic Pizza, and then head out into the hallway. It widens at the corner into another vending machine area with old motivational posters.

The soft drink machine is branded with the Mellow Yellow logo, and hums to itself quietly… until Linda staggers against it and her massive insectile body shivers. I let them know that Diego staggers as well, and Stent moves in to steady him as Dunhill moves to help Linda.

Briefly, I let them know that somewhere deep below, pulses of energy are speeding up and both Linda and Diego can feel them. Rather than have this all be a pure information dump, I signal that Linda is trying to communicate.

Dunhill leaps into action, turning to face the drink machine, then pauses. “I want to give Linda a drink, but I am suddenly afraid of being kidnapped again…”

“Go on!” coaxes Lemmon’s player. “It can’t happen twice now can it?” referring to Dunhill’s earlier abduction by Linda and Peck the mad scientist through a secret door behind the Coke Machine near the lobby.

They both shoot me a look which I return with a blank expression and a bad rendition of Eastwood’s “Do you feel lucky?” line so that they could not be sure if it was the first delivery or the second. Of course I changed the reference to the .44 Magnum to Mellow Yellow, but left the part about the head. Think about it, it makes sense.

“I know what you’re thinking. ‘Does it have five cans or only four’? Well to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I kind of lost track myself. But being that this is Mellow Yellow, the most powerful soda pop in the world, and would blow your head clean off with fizzy citrus enjoyment, you’ve got to ask yourself one question: ‘Do I feel lucky?’ Well, do ya, punk?”

A poor Harry Callahan reference

“That is no help at all,” says Dunhill’s player matter-of-factly.

“Correct,” I reply. “So… are you going to go for a soda?”

“NO Kim Mitchell!” they all chorus.

“I get the message,” I wink. I know the chorus is now embedded in their minds regardless of their protests. Then I dig back in, satisfied that the heroic mood has been reconnected with the comedic mood, so we can be comedically heroic, not 80s revenge movie heroic.

“Linda staggers against the machine and it disgorges a few cans of Mellow Yellow and its plastic front cracks,” I say, all business. As I talk, I sketch a small section onto Diego’s map and show him.

He nods.

I go on to describe how Linda seems to be in pain and is trying to claw something out of herself, but cannot reach it.

Then I wrap up my expository comments with some Possessing Entity dialogue and a bit of description, “The portal is opening!”

Gray and Dunhill try to help Linda and with a Brains roll without ghosts discover a device embedded in her carapace which is pulsing and counting down. It reminds them of a bomb.

“I think we pissed Peck off!”

With another ghost-free roll to disable the device, Gray removes it from the quivering mantis and shows the timer at 01 second and a scary amount of chemical explosive.

“I think Peck wanted to send a pretty strong message!”

“Message received,” the rest reply.

In addition to being a bomb, Diego is able to note with his huge Brains trait that it is a pain compliance device capable of sending crippling shocks through a body even as large as Linda’s current mantis form.

“She is one tough woman!” Dunhill says approvingly.

Linda, for her part, cannot help herself but eye his cranium.

Questions: What messages were sent and received? To what effect?

Link: Later, there will be a video. It will get posted below today.