Corporation - The Cult of Christmas

8/17/2019 Corporation - The Cult of Christmas

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THE CULT OF CHRISTMAS

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THE CULT OF CHRISTMASJAMES NORBURY

Playtesters

Matthew Keevil, James Norbury, Ruth Norbury, Hugo Marchant

Copyright James Norbury 2010


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Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house,children were screaming at the self-aware cultistcybermouse.

For several years we at Brutal Games have enjoyed a

Christmas Special. In essence it is simply a game with a

strong Christmas theme which is totally non-serious andmaybe even a little silly. This tradition was handed to us by

Jon and we!d like to pass it on to you. The Christmas Special

is a wonderful occasion and can be enjoyed by all regardless

of your religious beliefs, however, there are a few

observances which we would ask you to make before

embarking on this journey.

It should be near Christmas. If you can!t wait, fine, go ahead

anyway but ideally this mission should be used for your

nearest game session to the great day itself.

You should have ample munchies, everyone should make an

effort to bring something to the game, even if its only a

festive carrot carved to resemble a rude object.

You should, if possible, put on some Christmas music. Bing

Crosby would be most appropriate or perhaps some Nat

King Cole. Yes, its very incongruous with the game but can

be most amusing.

OPTIONAL RULESThe Christmas Special runs the same as any other game of

Corporation with one exception. You may decide to let the

players mysteriously resurrect in the event of their deaths.

Those players who survive the session gain XP as normal,

those who don!t receive no rewards but can restore their

character to life. This rule is only introduced because we

don!t want people wasting valuable time creating new

characters so you can let them use an existing one on the

understanding that if it dies, it won!t be permanent. Again,

this IS optional so play hard if you wish.

PLAYERSThis game can be cross-corporation or Western Federation.

If its Western Federation then simply change the Mission

Officer to be Captain Mark Summers and have the briefing

take place in a Federation building, not a a UIG one.

Players should be low level and ideally there should be

around 4 of them. The mission is primarily combat orientated

so it would be worth using characters that can fight.

NPCSThe NPCs for this mission are in the back of this section.

ONTO THE PLOTThis mission is very simple and fairly linear, it needs to be so

that you can focus on being daft and drinking whisky or

whatever it is you do on such occasions.

It!s Christmas time in Los Angeles Open City (L.A.O.C), its

snowing and everyone is excited. Aside the exchanging of

high-calibre weapons and triple-core armoured jackets, the

Federation!s Agents are thrilled with the news that Tex

Callaghan will be turning on the lights.

For those of you who!ve been living in the Freestate, Tex isTHE celebrity Agent that women want and men want to be.

His long running career has been one of the most decorated

and spectacular in WF history.

Despite his fame, Tex remains a down-to-earth, modest and

likeable guy who!d buy you a beer and sign your shotgun

whilst simultaneously ending a communist uprising near the

pool table.

And so you can see why this is a rather special event for the

residents and Agents of L.A.O.C.

To safeguard this most wondrous of occasions the

Federation have assigned several teams of Agents to dealwith potential problems. Some will be keeping the streets

safe, some (sadly not yours) will be taking Tex out for a good

night and others will be dealing with other more bizarre

threats (yep, that!s you).

THE THREAT FROM ABOVEOver the past few weeks an old and ancient evil has arisen

and taken to the skies around LA. This rusting machine of

destruction was once a simple Cult of Machina cell leader,

obsessed with coming closer to the Machine, now he is far

more terrifying!

CLAWSClaws is named after his first step towards the Machine;

razor sharp, superheated claws instead of hands but they

are by no means his most notable asset.

Claws over many decades managed to replace almost all of

his body with cybernetic parts and has come as close to the

Machine as any Cultist is likely to.

As a final act of dedication Claws attempted to download his

psyche matrix (mind state) onto a computer and then replace

his brain with advanced processors, thus becoming totally

free of the constraints of the flesh.

It was at this point that Claws ! use of an old Bright and

Sunny Media computer and lack of high-level neurostatic

skills led to a singular disaster.

The exact details are unknown but somehow a ghost image

of Martha Stewart!s Christmas Crafting Interactive A.I. Suite

was left on the target drive and a horrible blending occurred.

(If you don!t know who Martha Stewart is look it up on the

net. She is basically a domestic wonder-woman who has

created a number of notable Christmas Specials)


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When the new psyche matrix was activated Claws was not

quite the Cultist he used to be. He had the same ravenous

hunger for murder and obsession with being one with the

Machine, he just seemed to have an unstoppable longing to

spray pinecones gold and make them into table centres for

his fellow deranged maniacs.

Claws was a monstrous, imposing Cultist and commanded

great respect from his cell but over the next few months

many left the area, tired of his bizarre craft-related demands.

And so we come to the present day. Claws is still a terrifying

Cultist who has an enduring and diehard reverence for the

Machine, he also maintains a small cell of Cultists who

indulge his strange whims as it allows them to continue being

near one of the most devoted Cultists in the USA.

With the arrival of Christmas Claws has upped his game.

Over the past month he has been raiding underprivileged

schools and orphanages, abducting children which he andhis cell members have been turning into "little helpers!.

He has built himself a war vehicle equipped with hover drives

which he rides across the night sky screaming insane

gibberish at the people of the city.

Despite his brazenness, the UIG still have not tracked him

down, perhaps they are scared, perhaps they don!t have the

resources, perhaps poor people don!t warrant the effort. The

arrival of an A-List celebrity in the city has certainly kicked

people into action though and the idea of Claws crashing the

party is just a step too far.

THE BRIEFINGThe Agents will be briefed by either Luke Mitchell of the UIG

or Mark Summers of the Federation depending who they are

working for. It does not matter which, you can use the same

character and office description. The players need never

know!

The briefing room is in a non-descript office in a local LA

administration building. Its clear that this has been arranged

in a hurry.

If the players are non-Federation they will have been flown in

at the UIG!s expense.

The MO stands around 5ft 8inches, is blonde, tanned and

has an easy smile. He!s been assigned to oversee this

mission by his superiors who are insistent that nothing goes

wrong during this most important celebrity-tastic occasion.

The MO explains that Claws has recently increased his

attacks on the city, abducting kids and throwing exploding

presents from his hover sleigh.

He is also thought to be responsible for a recent robbery at

the zoo where two of the last breeding red deer in the world

were taken.

Certain pieces of information have been leaked to the UIG,

possibly by other Cultists who do not approve of Claws! new

mindstate. This means the UIG are basically aware of whatwent wrong with Claws and the MO will explain to the players

about the Martha Stewart Mind Meld issue.

THE PLANBecause the UIG don!t know Claws! whereabouts they will

need to lure him or some of his followers out.

This evening in the LA Excelenta Mall there is due to be a

Christmas Fair where there will be ample opportunity to

acquire a wealth of Christmas related goodies. Many of the

stalls are specialising in Christmas crafting which happens to

be Claws! favourite. The UIG are sure that he will either

crash the fair in person or at least send some of his cellalong to grab a few choice items.

The UIG have rented you a prime spot in the centre of the

fair where your division will be running a "Santa!s Grotto!.

This should afford you an excellent vantage spot to see any

incoming hostiles and a fake log cabin to stash any

munitions you might need.

There is little time to waste. The time now is 2pm, the fair

opens at 6pm and you need to be ready and in place. Speak

to the fair administrator, Carol Willis, who will provide you

with costumes etc.

Allocated Resources:

1000 credits shared expense money

Costumes

THE MALL The Mall is a massive structure, over a kilometre in length

with hundreds of stores, cafes and entertainment facilities. It

forms a basic cross roads with the two main shopping areas

being based around two huge under-cover boulevards.

At the centre of the cross special events are held, the area is

around 100 metres in diameter and rises around 40 metres.

All three levels of the mall can be seen from here and at the

moment Christmas decorations are strung overhead.

Already most of the stalls have been erected and the

stallholders are in the process of setting up their wares.

There is a snow machine being tested which will shower the

area in fake snow during the fair.


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Santa!s Grotto

The players won!t find it hard to locate Carol Willis who is a

pleasant woman but a little concerned about using the mall

as a place to trap Cultists.

She supplies the Agents with three elf costumes, two

reindeer costumes and a Santa costume. She shows theminside the fake log cabin which has a large bundle of toys

and a whopping great sack for santa.

The grotto is in the centre of the fair and is on a raised area

covered in fake snow. There are a few gnomes on the

ground, some plastic fir trees and a couple of hollow, plastic

reindeer. A small picket fence runs around the grotto and

there are lights strung about the place. It all looks very

festive.

The players will need to change into their disguises and wait.

OPENING TIMEAt 6pm the fair opens but there is no suspicious activity for at

least an hour. During this time the players will be expected to

entertain a line of children by being nice to them and

selecting appropriate presents.

Here are some example visitors you can have some fun with.

• Child is a little sod, he pours his milkshake over Santa and

headbutts him in the nose. The mother blames the player

saying he/she is bullying him.

• The father / mother is trying to chat up one of the elves

saying how attractive the outfit is. She / he tries to get a

comm. number and completely neglects the child who is

crying because she hates the present.

• The child spots a piece of the players hardware such as a

gun, sword, armour etc. He starts telling his parents that

Santa!s packing heat. This will need to be shut down

ASAP to avoid ruining the mission.

THE GUESTS HAVE ARRIVEDAfter around an hour of present giving two conspicuous

figures shuffle into the mall. One figure is standing and

wearing a huge brown duffle coat and hat, the other looks

like a large dog but has been dressed in a reindeer outfit to

make it look less conspicuous.

The pair are getting a few odd looks and normally security

would have stopped them but everyone has been allowed in

to facilitate with the operation.

See Rudolf and Snowballs in the NPC section at the back.

It is now up to the players to use the situation to their

advantage and extract the location of Claws! lair from the two

Cultists.

Both Cultists will bitterly resist but eventually you should

allow them to acquire the information.

THE WINTER WONDERLANDIt transpires that Claws’ lair is in an old abandoned junkyard

several miles outside the city. As the players approach theycan make out some shapes of Christmas trees cut from oldvehicle parts and mounted upon piles of cars. It seemsClaws has created a giant scrap winterscape to decorate hishome, he’s even used salvaged headlights to add somefestive ambience.

The snow is deep here, you can see this is probably becauseseveral tiny people are bringing trays of snow from thesurrounding area and spreading them carefully across theexisting snow.

MAP DESCRIPTIONMap is on the next page

EntryThis is where the doors (huge sheets of rusting steel) to thescrapyard are. They are currently ajar so the little elf helperscan gather snow.

Piles of ScrapThese are heaps of cars and other miscellaneous junk asyou might expect to find in any scrapyard. There are narrowpaths between them which are covered in snow. Heavyweapons or explosives are likely to bring the precarious pilesdown. Anyone crushed will take 4D10 damage and a randombody part will be crushed (rendered useless).

Old OfficeThis is a large portacabin which used to act as the managersoffice. Now its home to ‘Claws’ Little Helpers’ (abducted,Cultified children). Inside its like a twisted fairytale Christmas,instead of stockings hanging by the fire there are hollowedout human legs attached to the wall with rusting rivets.

The presents on the floor, although beautifully crafted aremade from scavenged bits such as washers, rats, deadbirds, human scalps, fleas, spider-webs and fingernails.

There are around 10 Little Helpers in here. They have goneinsane from the invasive attentions of Claws and will attackthe players on sight.

Claws’ NestInside this large mess of scrap is Claws’ sanctum where hemutilates bodies (including his own) and builds craft projects.

The only items worth looting are a Condition 5 CyberneticsToolkit and a dose of Sun (hydrogen sunatol).

RUNNING THE ENCOUNTERThe players should end up creeping around the junk yardlooking for Claws unless they have done something totallyweird.


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At first they will be attacked by the Little Helpers who willtend to swarm them in groups of 6-10. When a few groups ofthese have attacked Claws will fly into view on his sleigh. Hewill circle round screaming ‘ho ho ho’ in his evil, mechanicalvoice and lob grenades (wrapped as presents) at the Agents.

See Claws’ NPC for his combat tactics.

Hopefully the players will win against Claws or at leastensure he is in no state to crash the party. There is nothingworth looting here other than the items already mentioned.

AFTERMATHThe Agents return to LAOC and prepare for the big party.They are debriefed by their Mission Officer who awards themthe following.

Killed Claws 4RPBrought body back for study 1RPKilled / injured no civilians 1RP

XP 4-6 (Based on roleplaying, not success)Pay 1000 Credits. Double pay if mission was successful

as a Christmas Bonus!!

If everything went as planned the Agents can then attend theparty in the role of security guards. Tex Callaghan willpersonally seek them out and thank them for stopping Claws

ruining the event. He is a modest likeable guy and giveseach of them a Tex Special (WF Issue Magnum* with Tex’ssignature and the motto ‘Suck this Bitch’ on the barrel.)

*Deals 2D6 instead of D12.

FAILUREIf the mission was a failure then Claws will raid the party atrandom intervals dropping grenades into the crowd etc. TheFederation Agents present will be able to take him down butnot before he has killed dozens of innocents and ruined theevent. Players will not meet Tex if the mission was failed.


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RANK 0 / LEVEL 3

COMBATHP 45Shield 0

AV 4Defence 7

WEAPONSShotgun** AT 12, Dam 2/3D10, Rate 1, MashingClaws AT 14, Dam D6+10+XS, Rate 2Charge* AT 14, Dam D8+20, Rate 1Bite*** AT 14, Dam 3D6+10, Rate 1

*Happens on first round of combat if Rudolf is able to charge.** Shotgun can be fired as a free action.*** Severs a random body part if one or more of the dice rollsa 6 and enough damage is dealt.

He can either claw or bite in the same round.

STATS

Str 10, End 10, Ref 7, Agi 7, Int 5, Per 7, Pres 5

SKILLS Arts and Culture 0, Assess Tech 3, Athletics 6, Attitude 5,Close Combat 7, Computers and A.I. 4, Corp. Knowledge 1,Crime 5, Cybernetics and Robotics 5, Drive 0, HeavyFirearms 0, Light Firearms 4, Looking Good 1, Mechtronics4, Observation 6, Psychology 0, Science 2, Stealth 4, StreetCulture 5, Support Weapons 4, Tactical Firearms 5

LICENSESNone

TRAININGSUnderground Operations, Survival

CYBERNETICS A mixture of Cult-built cybernetics.

EQUIPMENT100% Shotguns (built in)

DESCRIPTIONRudolf is a strange creature; during a fight his human headwas severed so his packmates attached it to the body of acyberwolf. The cyberwolf has since been modified so that it’sfront legs are a pair of clawed Reaver cyberarms. Rudolf can

stand on his back legs if necessary but normally doesn’t. Heprefers to leap around like a wolf.

On the sides of his head are mounted two large antlerswhich he can use to perform a charge attack. He also has apair of shotguns mounted on his flanks which can each befired once as a free action (but only one per round) before heneeds an ally to reload them.Rudolf’s body is not in great shape and has many rustypatches, his face is still mostly humanoid and is covered inwounds and scars. He does however, possess modifiedtungsten teeth which are capable of severing body parts.

COMBATRudolf will charge his opponents, unloading his shotguns as

he goes. He will then claw his opponent with his augmentedarms or bite them in an attempt to sever a body part.


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RUDOLF (CULTIST)


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RANK 0 / LEVEL 3

COMBAT

HP 47Shield 20

AV 4Defence 7

WEAPONS

Tracer Li Stripper* AT 13, Dam 3D8, Rate 1Clawed Strike AT 15, Dam D4+4+XS, Rate 4Frag Grenades AT 12, Dam 3D6 (3 metre radius)

*A chemical stripper - instead of the normal load this weaponis filled with liquid nitrogen. If one or more of the damagedice rolls an 8 a random body part is shattered. (Heavyweapon which gains +4 to hit within 5 metres).

STATSStr 7, End 8, Ref 8, Agi 8, Int 6, Per 7, Pres 5

SKILLS Arts and Culture 2, Assess Tech 4, Athletics 5, Attitude 6,Close Combat 7, Computers and A.I. 5, Corp. Knowledge 3,

Crime 6, Cybernetics and Robotics 6, Drive 2, HeavyFirearms 6, Light Firearms 2, Looking Good 5, Mechtronics7, Observation 4, Psychology 3, Science 2, Stealth 4, StreetCulture 2, Support Weapons 5, Tactical Weapons 5

LICENSESNone

TRAININGSUnderground Operations, Survival, Mastered Weapon -Claws, Unarmed Combat Specialist

CYBERNETICS A mixture of Cult-built cybernetics, many are twisting hisbody.

EQUIPMENT100% Tracer Li CTOS 8.8L Caustic Thrower (Dragon

Awoken)100% Three frag grenades100% 20HP shield

DESCRIPTIONSnowballs is a freaky creature, his human body can still beseen underneath the layers of riveted metal and rubbertubes. He walks with a pronounced limp and has a severehunch. When Snowballs talks his voice is pained and drawnout incorporating much hissing and spitting. To make himlook even more hunched he is currently carrying the fluidtank of the Tracer Li industrial stripping machine. He has thegun part of the device strapped to his forearms.

Snowballs disfigurements come from him joining the Cult asa child and receiving too many augmentations. As he grewthe machine parts did not and he ended up in a horriblemess.

COMBAT As soon as his cover is compromised he will attack with thestripper, spraying madly at his enemies and throwinggrenades if they are out of range.

Remember that if he rolls an 8 on the damage dice people’sbody parts will start shattering.


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SNOWBALLS (CULTIST)


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RANK 0 / LEVEL 1

COMBATHP 10Shield 0

AV 2Defence 4Special -3 to all attacks against them due to small size

and nippiness.

WEAPONSRusty Knife AT 12, Dam D4+5, Rate 3Bite AT 12, Dam D6+5, Rate 1 (Special)Grenades AT 7, Dam 3D6, Rate 1 (3 Metre Radius)

Can attack with both bite and knife each round.


SKILLS Arts and Culture 0, Assess Tech 0, Athletics 3, Attitude 6,Close Combat 4, Computers and A.I. 0, Corp. Knowledge 0,Crime 0, Cybernetics and Robotics 0, Drive 0, HeavyFirearms 0, Light Firearms 0, Looking Good 1, Mechtronics0, Observation 5, Psychology 1, Science 0, Stealth 5, StreetCulture 0, Support Weapons 1, Tactical Firearms 1

LICENSESNone

TRAININGS

None

CYBERNETICS A range of simple upgrades such as metal plates orhydraulics to augment strength.

EQUIPMENT100% Knife70% 2 Grenade Baubles (Incendiary)50% Craft ed gifts from Claws such as Ear Tree

Decorations, Crackers with fingers inside or treatsmade with dried blood.

DESCRIPTIONClaws has been kidnapping children for some time, he bringsthem back to his lair and experiments on them, messing withtheir minds and bodies until he reduces them into obedientservants whose bodies are barely recognisable as human.

The Little Helpers are fiercely protective of Claws and willwillingly sacrifice their lives for him. They are probablybeyond hope of rescue though if the Agents wanted to sparethem and try to get them back for some intensivepsychotherapy then that’s all well and good.

COMBATThe Little Helpers are untrained but extremely enthusiastic.They charge headlong at anyone they do not recognise,stabbing and biting. They cannot be reasoned with.

BiteThe Little Helpers have been infected with a nasty disease.Each time they manage to deal some damage with their bitethe Agent should roll a D10. If he gets above or equal his

Endurance he has become infected with a disease.

The disease (Kidbitu) has an onset time of 10 minutes andwill simply strip him of 1 point of STR, END and AGI eachday until cured. It is potency 7 but cannot be cured with atoxin purge. It must be cured with antibiotics which costaround 200 credits.

You can only be infected by the disease once.


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CLAWS’ LITTLE HELPERS


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RANK 0 / LEVEL 10

COMBATHP 50Shield 50

AV 5Defence 8

WEAPONSClaws* AT 16, Dam 4D4 +12 +XS , Rat e

2Heavy Grenades AT 14, Dam 6D6, Rate 1

*If any two D4 roll a 4, they sever a random body part fromthe target providing enough damage has been dealt.


SKILLS Arts and Culture 7, Assess Tech 5, Athletics 5, Attitude 6,Close Combat 8, Computers and A.I. 5, Corp. Knowledge 4,Crime 5, Cybernetics and Robotics 8, Drive 2, HeavyFirearms 3, Light Firearms 2, Looking Good 6, Mechtronics8, Observation 5, Pilot 6 (sleigh), Psychology 2, Science 3,Stealth 3, Street Culture 2, Support Weapons 7, TacticalFirearms 4

LICENSESNone

TRAININGSMastered Weapon - Claws, Domestic Trade (Crafting),Multiple Defence, Scything Strike

CYBERNETICS A range of cybernetics. Claws has no flesh left. However, fewof them are combat orientated.

EQUIPMENT100% 6 Heavy Frag Grenades disguised as presents100% 50 HP Shield

DESCRIPTIONClaws’ mind was fused with a Martha Stewart Crafting A.I.and ever since he has been a total lunatic. He dedicateshimself to a bizarre mixture of creating decorative, tastefulcraft projects, mutilating children, rebuilding himself andtraining / improving his cybernetic reindeers (Flotsam andJaundice).

Physically Claws stands around seven and a half feet high

and has an athletic, predatory build. He is built out of ageingcomponents as he does not have the time to steal newerparts. He sometimes wears a large Santa suit complete withboots, a hat and a false beard.

When encountered he will screech ‘ho ho ho’ and attempt tokill anyone who is not already an ally or he thinks can beeasily captured.

COMBATWhen encountered Claws will most likely be flying around inhis hover sleigh, HP 60, AV 6, Shield 100, DM -1

He will fly over the targets throwing presents (heavy fraggrenades wrapped up like presents) at them. When he has

exhausted his supply of grenades (6) or starts taking toomuch damage he will call in his two cybernetic reindeer(Flotsam and Jaundice, treat as cyberwolves but with thesame charge attack as Rudolf.)

When the enemy are engaged with the reindeer he will leapout of his sleigh and attempt to come at them from behindand use the piles of scrap as cover. He only has claws so willattack with them viciously.


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CLAWS (CULTIST)

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Corporation - The Cult of Christmas