The primary entrance to the engine compartment is reached from inside the train moving along the normal corridors. It is locked from the inside as a standard security protocol. The maintenance hatch you used to access the roof looks like a part of the wall and has no handle, just a hole for the key. It opens to the outside of the train using the bartender's key. You used a similar hatch at the front of the second class passenger's compartment to re-enter the train -- again using the bartender's key. The corresponding hatch on the engine compartment would not open with the key -- not locked, but apparently jammed from the inside.

I had assumed you were now inside the train again, looking at the normal entrance to the engine compartment, trying to gain access. When you took out your gun, I thought you planned to shoot the lock. Maybe not?



Details of Engine Compartment Access Options

I really appreciate all the effort you're making trying to handhold me through this and I apologize for my ineptitude. I'm a little 'spatially dyslexic' ...  I'm sure it seems anticlimactic that, in the midst of this pulse-pounding scene I screeched to a halt ...

Would you perhaps consider listing my options if my goal is to (a) find and neutralize the terrorist and (b) locate and eliminate any further bombs?

https://giphy.com/gifs/snl-sat...4-cJBY6cGpla8So1Pv1u

I see you are highly rated at pistol -- 14. I think the distance will reduce your chances by 1 and the unfamiliarity and general awkwardness of the gun will as well.

So, target number = 12

Roll away Ms. kelly. It may all be over in a hurry.

Okay, awesome!

So, I'm not sure how you're converting the Gurps rules as it pertains to the smart gun. If you already have a good idea how you want to handle it, disregard below.

From the book, a small S&W Model 34 Kit Gun, .22 has a rate of fire of 3 shots per round, with a recoil of -2 between shots.  When aimed the accuracy is +3 but I think this gun doesn't have such an aim.  For damage, a single .22 round hits for 1d+1 penetrating injury, meaning, any damage remaining after deficits for armor, etc. is doubled due to its penetrating power.

Note the average human has 10 Hit Points. A sturdy, very tough man might have 15 and all numbers in between.

So, because she declared she was firing off "a couple" shots, I will presume this is 2 shots.

First shot should be at full roll, the follow up shot is at -2 due to the recoil (unless this gun doesn't have a recoil).

Here goes nuthin....

07:36, Today: Alice Kelley rolled 6 using 3d6.  Shot One (needs a 12).  WhooHOO!

Second shot (if allowed, and presuming -2 recoil)

07:37, Today: Alice Kelley rolled 15 using 3d6.  2nd shot needs a 10 . MISS!

Damage from first bullet:

07:38, Today: Alice Kelley rolled 5 using 1d6+1 ((4)). Not bad damage!  If he has no armor (a leather jacket or whatever might absorb 1 point), the net should be doubled unless he hits the vitals at which time it is trebled.  Vitals on a torso hit is a 6 on a d6. A 5,4,3,2 or 1 is a normal torso hit.

07:40, Today: Alice Kelley rolled 7 using 1d6+1.  Were vitals hit?  Needs a 6.

Well, I forgot to remove the +1`from the previous bullet damage roll of 1d+1. However, if you rule its okay to simply negate the +1, it looks like the roll was actually a 6 which is actually a vitals hit for treble damage. Presuming leather jacket of damage reduction 1, that means my 5 is reduced to 4 and then trebled to 12.  This may be enough to drop the dude.

Again, you rule however you like, I'm fine with however you house rule it, but I'm just laying out how firearms work in Gurps.

All in all, she fired twice, missed once, but got a good hit to the guy's vitals (ie, lungs, heart, whatever)...

Hoo Boy... Okay... I, Sara do not, but I'm wondering if Alice does, have a clue as to whether there are any adverse ramifications to 'answering' the call. I fear if I answer its going to detonate the bombs.  The only viable skill that may come into play (your call on his one) is Electronics/Security Systems IQ/A - skill level 12. Perhaps her Intuition advantage may help, too???

Before I answer the phone I'd like to have an idea what "Alice" might anticipate...

Thrilling ride so far.  I'm literally terrified Alice is going to bungle this thing and get herself and everyone on board killed!  lol

Glad you're enjoying the story, Sara. Hopefully the first of many.

Alice will certainly have a stab of fear that answering the phone might set off the bomb(s?), but in a swift calculation, she will feel that is unlikely.

Started new job. Will update tomorrow by hook or by crook. I had to think about what she was going to do and read back some. Thanks for your patience!

Congratulations on the new job! Take your time. Establish a new rhythm. We can pick this up whenever it suits you. What will you be doing?

Hi, I'm working in a University Admissions office.  Got my own office!  Great people here. Now I've got to FINALLY pass my driver's license test (flunked 3 times).

Great news on the job! And your own office - cool. And good luck with the driver's license test. Just take it easy. You'll get it.

OMG time got away from me!  I'm sorry I'm sucking as a Player. I'll get up a post soon!  I'm juggling too many balls at once these days.

How did the driver's test go? Don't worry about the pace. We'll get it done. And hopefully, move on to another adventure afterward.

Would you want to play Alice again, or someone else in a different setting?

Permit test was pushed off.  I’d be happy to play Alice again ( if she survives!).  I would also be willing to return the favor and run YOU in a solo adventure with a genre of your choosing!

Of the mob of people, is Alice able to glean if anyone speaks passable English?  Her concern is that the driver or someone else will try to get the train moving again and that will lead to the terrorist setting off the bomb.
Also, though Alice doesn't know if her disguised voice persuaded the other terrorist to join "him" up front, but is it safe to say she saw no one in the crowd that looks like the Arab?

Lastly, Alice will at least try to pantomime to the driver that if the train starts up and moves the terrorists intend to blow it up.

Her last hope is to recruit him to start evacuating everyone from the train.

Among the first wave of people to come along the corridor from the main section of the train into the engine is the bartender who helped you already. he speaks passable English and you are able to communicate through him to the train driver, and ask him to help evacuate the passengers. It will occur to you that sending them back along the train will alert the second terrorist and you may suggest that the passengers move towards the far end of the tunnel, away from the train immediately.

The driver communicates back to you that the key card you have pulled from the slot on the control panel is the only way to start the train. As long as it is not in the slot, it will not move. he does not have another card. The terrorists? He shrugs.

There are no signs of the Arab you had seen before, and who you strongly suspect is the other terrorist -- the husband. The "wife" is dead at your feet. You know there was a suspicion in his tone when you last spoke to him, but you don't know if he will come or not.

Thank you! Yes, the job is going great.  I am working in the Admissions Office of a college.  I review and analyze student credits from their other colleges to decide whether or not they are compatible with our college's curriculum for transfer credits. I also assist Veterans through the admissions and financial aid process.  I work with some very nice people (except for the IT guy who my boss wrote up for sexually harassing me, even though I asked her not to -- as I did not want to make any waves so early into my tenure here.) I moved into a really nice one bedroom apartment with my boyfriend who just finished his Masters and got a very awesome job as an accountant. I also adopted a cat named "Finch". Life is good! Now, if ONLY I can get that @#$@#@# driver's license once and for all !

Enough about me, though. What about you? What do you do for a living? Are you in college? Married? What are your top 3 favorite interests/hobbies?  What, if any, vacation plans do you have this year?  Have you caught Covid? Tell me 2 things about yourself that I might find mildly interesting. :)

I really appreciate this game you're running and your patience at my slow pace. If Alice survives, I'd like to continue her adventures, but also I would like to offer to run YOU in a game of any genre you prefer as long as I can handle it using my current Gurps game system, which I would run behind the scenes.

Glad you're enjoying the game. And I'd love to tell other stories with you.

As for me, I'm an old geezer. I've been gaming since the late 70's. I'm married, two kids, two grandkids, four poodles. I work remotely for a telecommunications company building website utilities. I used to make training videos for a living. My wife and I are snowbirds, just back from Florida last week.

Interests (outside of gaming):

• Hiking
• Swimming
• Cooking

Vacation -- camping in New Hampshire

Covid - no - four shots so far

Interesting things about me:

• I grew up in the suburbs of London
• I published one of the first online yellow pages for AT&T back in the 90's

YAY! Which is your preference for our next project? Me GM you, or you GM me?  And if Me GM you, what's your preference for genre?



Ah so you're, like, my Dad's age! (He turned 60 recently) And I swallow my pill every morning so no grandkids for him yet! lol


I hike now and then, too.  And LOVE swimming! I'm a FISH!  Not much of a cook, though.  But I'm learning as I make most of the dinners for my boyfriend who works loooong hours.



Love New Hampshire!



I've got my 2 shots. My boyfriend, his dad and his grandfather all caught Covid in 2020 and his grandfather DIED of it. :(



LONDON?! How cool is that!  Are you in America now?  Were you BORN in London?  Do you have an accent? I LOVE the British accent.  And also cool that you had your hand in the Yellow Pages. Gosh those phone books are kind of obsolete now, yes?  You're a very good writer. Have you ever written any fiction?

Not BAD! Not Bad! I'm scared but encouraged!

Note, all of these rolls do not factor in any additional penalties you as GM may have factored in for other circumstances like range, etc. I'm presuming she's pretty close to the train, just a little below for an angled, upward shot. If there are no other unknown modifiers:

Alice succeeded in disguising her voice enough to give the Arab pause.

Her first shot hits the head.

Her second shot, a little off due to recoil misses head but, if part of the torso is not blocked by the train, the bullet will hit the torso (per gurps a head shot missed by 1 hits torso, but I'm not sure of the Arab's upper torso is completely blocked by the train's window frame).

Similarly, her 3rd shot, jerked a little bit more by cumulative recoil also misses the head but, like before, if the torso is partly exposed, the round will hit the torso.

Hopefully at least one, if not all 3 of the rounds, hit their target, either head or torso.

If indeed the head shot hits, GM should roll against the Arab's HT (average person's HT is 10) at -5 penalty, so if he's average, he'd need to succeed on a 5 or less to NOT be stunned. If he's stunned he can 'do nothing' until the following round. If, however, he fails the roll by 5 or more, (say he's HT 10, a roll of 10 or higher) would result in an automatic knockout -- ie, the bullet smashes into his head, jarring his brain so much he is knocked out.

IF the head shot succeeded, I took the liberty of rolling against the 'hit location' chart.
On a 1 the jaw is hit; on a 2 the nose is hit, on a 3 an ear is hit on a 4-5 the cheek is hit, on a 6 the eye is hit. In this case I rolled a 07:57, Today: Alice Kelley rolled 2 using 1d6.  what part of head is hit? So the 9 millimeter bullet smashes right into his nose!  lol

I will roll against damage too, just in case (2d+2)

07:46, Today: Alice Kelley rolled 8 using 2d6+2.  Damage from third shot.

07:46, Today: Alice Kelley rolled 9 using 2d6+2.  damage from 2nd shot.

07:46, Today: Alice Kelley rolled 10 using 2d6+2.  Damage from 1st shot.

07:36, Today: Alice Kelley rolled 11 using 3d6.  3rd shot, 12-2 (additional recoil) = 10.

07:35, Today: Alice Kelley rolled 13 using 3d6.  2nd shot 14 -2 recoil    - need 12.

07:35, Today: Alice Kelley rolled 14 using 3d6.  1st shot, 14+2 (acc) +2 extra time +1 all out -5 head = 14.

07:34, Today: Alice Kelley rolled 11 using 3d6.  Disguise Voice (need 11).
This message was last edited by the player at 12:00, Sat 23 Apr 2022.

PS, you're the GM so you can pick and choose what of the above actions/rolls/rulings work for you or not. I'm fine with whatever you choose, I just wanted to give you a little rules help if you are adhering as close to the Gurps RAW as you can, given your limited experience.

You can scrap it all if you so desire. I'm having a ball either way, whether she wins the day or is blown up into atoms!  lol

Mission one in the bag! Well done.

I’m happy to keep on with Alice in Paris, but I would also enjoy having you run me through an adventure. Genres I enjoy include

Sci Fi
Horror
Sword & sorcery

Happy to review specific settings.

I know you have used your detailed GURPS knowledge to help with rolls in this session, but in general, I’m a ‘Black Box’ gamer. If you know wat you’re doing you only need the dice every now and then. On the other hand if you want to run me up a nice detailed GURPS sheet for my character, I’d love to have it. It’s just too much like maths homework to compile it.

I’m in hospital with two broken ribs at the moment, tapping this out on an iPad. Seriously tedious, but wonderful escapism at the same time. I should be back at my three screen desktop set up by next week and we can pick it up there.

I love that you have introduced me to the second person gaming voice. So very immediate. Thank you.

WHEW! I was sure Alice was going to get blown to smithereens! I literally breathed a sigh of relief when I read your last post!

Thanks SO MUCH for running this for me. You exceeded my expectations in every way and I super appreciate all the work you put into this.



I will absolutely take you up on more adventures for Alice. But if you're cool with letting me attempt to run you through something I'd really like to give it a whirl. I have limited GM experience but have been enjoying the few games I've run. Maybe let me run you through a short one and then, when complete, you will be refreshed and ready to send Alice off on some other hair-raising adventure!



Is the above genre list in order of favorite to least favorite, or random?  I think I'd be weakest at running Sci Fi.  Sword & Sorcery is more my sweet spot.  But Horror could be really, really cool, too.

If you had someone put a gun to your head and said you HAD to pick between Sword & Sorcery and Horror, which would you choose?  And if it was Horror, do you prefer contemporary settings/periods or older, ie, turn of the century, old west days, etc.?



Nope. As much as I love the system, I think I'm going to skip Gurps and if you're cool with it, I'm going to use Mythic GM Emulator behind the scenes. All I would need to work out with you is a basic outline of your character. What you're good at, what you suck at, stuff like that. Also, you won't have to roll any dice UNLESS you enjoy rolling dice, in which case I can certainly oblige.



Dear Lord, what HAPPENED?! How'd you break your RIBS?!!!  I hope they at least put you on some fun drugs???



Yes, I love writing in the present tense both as a player and GM. I'm not sure it would necessarily work in a novel but it certainly makes it fresher and brisker and more intimate than third person past tense.

Give me a couple or a few days to write Alice's closing post.  I want to do it some justice and need to compose my thoughts.

I'm really glad we "met" because you're a great GM!  :)

I fell down some stairs while vacuuming. Thought I was on the bottom step, but I wasn't. Fell backward into a hutch, broke the ribs, and then tried to tough it out, like an idiot. Ended up in the ER for ten hours then a tube into my back between ribs and lungs to suck out a bunch of blood which kept me flat on my back for five days. Duh!

3 maybe 4 hit points, I figure (broke 2 ribs) but you do not just jump up and keep on fighting after that. Adrenaline may get you back on your feet for an hour, but then you are going to keel over and make some serious moaning sounds.

Anyway, back home again. No more pecking out my posts on an iPad (wonderful toy, but not a real tool).

I look forward to your final post, and I will keep this game open for another scenario after you finish yours.

Flavor-wise I would go for Lovecraftian Horror over S&S. Classic settings: 1920's or maybe 1950's.

I purchased the Mythic deck, very interested in the solo roleplaying thing. Love to see how it plays out. Perhaps you'll share in the chat about what you turn over and how you interpret that.

Thanks for playing with me.

Oh MY! you poor thing! Here you are, trying to help out around the house and offer to vacuum and what do you get for it? Two broken ribs! Well I'm glad you're still pretty much in one piece and back from the hospital.

I'm still mulling over a final post. My parents gave me a wonderful graduation party this weekend. Mother's Day is the 'official' graduation ceremony, but we only have 6 tickets for it, so they put on a shindig for me for the rest of the family and friends. So that ate up much of my weekend.  Then this new job is very demanding!  I'll get to it, because I want to put the final touches to our very exciting adventure!



Okay, so Horror it is...  This will be new to me so I'll have to peruse some ideas online for inspiration. That said, I've got a few ideas though they may not be the perfect fit in setting, etc...

I've got a couple thoughts that I have banging around in my weary head, let me know which one(s) piques your fancy... If you can't pick one, pick 3 and I'll pick the one I think I can run most easily.

1. A creepy investigative horror adventure set in the Old West

2. A Call of Cthuluesque game set in the Jersey Shore, say 1950.

3. A Cliffhanger type 1930's type pulpy adventure that may bring you to the steaming jungles of South America.

4. A weird horror set in colonial era (1700's) war-torn New York wilderness (think Lovecraftian Adven ture meets The Last of the Mohicans)...

5. A Survival Horror game set in modern times where resources are limited and you have to use your wits, cunning and resourcefulness to survive.

6. ???   <-- This would be a game based EXCLUSIVELY on random generation from soup to nuts with me using the Mythic GM Emulator.  All I would need from you is a character concept and brief background, and then, I, as GM, would do behind the scenes Mythic GM emulator rolls and interpret/analyze the results into some hopefully cohesive gameplay.  Challenging and maybe biting off more than I can chew, but what the heck...

7. A modern day fix it man (detective, former criminal/enforcer, a desperate family member) embarks on a hunt for a missing person that leads to Boston's deepest, darkest, most unspeakable secrets...



I never used or saw the "Decks". I just downloaded the PDF 'rulebook' (its very short). Its cool how it opens up so many possibilities and lets the solo player get surprised, too.

And, yes, I will keep a running cheat sheet behind the scenes to show the scenario rolls, generations, Mythic interpretations, etc. and share with you at the close of the adventure.



No, thank YOU!  You're the one who answered my ad and treated me to a marvelous adventure! I owe YOU the thanks! This is so fun and quite an escape!

I'm thinking:



Silas Tremayne is a Pinkerton Agent. His initials and his high moral standards in a world of violence and degradation have earned him the nickname The Saint.