The Brock's Rest (intro) - ATZ an English Adventure

Hi y'all, 

So following on from the last ATZ post which you can find here and for those who haven't read any of the series so far please find the page to the campaign here, the MiB operatives that have been deployed to the stricken Isle of Thanet have been investigating the deaths of two of their men. April Neillson, our roving reporter, managed to beat the two mercs in close combat before fleeing the tiny hamlet in search of her colleague Bobby. The MiBs, not finding anyone in the vicinity have left the area, but not before deploying some surveillance gear to inform them if anyone was to come back.

April meeting up with Bobby, decides to return to the Brock's Rest - a tavern nestled in the tiny hamlet, in order to secure it as a base of operations for them, and possibly Gobbo and his kin. The thick walls and ancient oak doors look sturdy enough to defend and it should be relatively well stocked considering the remoteness of the location.

Since the last game, April has become a Star survivor and is now armed and protected thanks to her ransacking the bodies of the dead mercs. Bobby is similarly kitted out as she carried the heavy equipment with her when she escaped. This is in direct opposition to my English style ATZ campaign rules on restricted firearms but represents her incredible fortune at beating two fully kitted out soldiers in melee. Bobby is still a civilian and a Grunt at that, so will need to stick with April in order to more effective. His "lucky" skill I have invented as it is not in this edition of ATZ and reflects his considerable good fortune. This also explaind why his "Savvy" attribute is higher than one would have thought considering his relatively average intelligence, as he tends to "luck" his way through tech etc.

The initial layout is the same one I used for the last Batrep, with the exception that, once the characters enter the Brock's Rest, I will use the interior model I have built for the tavern. With regard to the tavern there are only two main rooms on the floor plan downstairs and each room will generate 6x risk/reward cards rather just one. Also gunfire will attract zeds as if they were outside, representing zeds being drawn from upstairs.  All activity in the tavern will operate as if in a Suburban setting with regard to zombie generation etc. There is a PEF is sector 2,4 and 6 and the same rules with the swift river apply as per the last batrep which you can read here. April and Bobby will enter from section 9 in the top right of the picture below.

I was going to leave it there for this week, but I'm too excited not to jump in straight away!

"Hurry Bobby for goodness sake" April snapped as her more laid back colleague just ambled on. Seeing the D-Subs around them as she tried to hurry her cameraman forward. Bobby, who had not really seen much of the destruction of Thanet or it's effects on the local populace, shrugged unconcerned and waved at the two figures stumbling toward them. As far as he was concerned, if they weren't black clad mercenaries, then there was nothing to worry about...

As they move onto the board Bobby spots two figure stumbling toward them

and April spots 5 more over the other side of the river

Bobby fails to recognise the figures as zombies, so just waves!

April, seeing Bobby completely fail to react properly to the threat, raised her appropriated assault rifle to her shoulder and let out a quick burst. The bullets crashed into the heads of both of the approaching d-subs, dropping them to the ground in a shower of gore. 

"What the f*ck was that dude?" Bobby screeched as April swung the formidable weapon toward the group of infected she had seen across the river. With a snort of relief she saw the lead zombies fall into the swirling water of the river and get dragged away by the powerful current of the swollen waterway. 

A PEF across the water activates and reveals as nothing

April shoots the two zeds that Bobby had waved at and "kills" them both

and generates another zed behind the tavern

the last of the zeds across the river follow their friends into the river

With the rushing waters of the river at her back, April felt confident enough to face the next d-sub and let it get closer to them, so that Bobby could finally see what they were facing. 

 

only the zed activates

and again, although the PEF also activates and retreats away from the humans

and hides around the side of the building

April waited until the last moment, seeing the realisation hit Bobby - these 'things' were no longer people. Carefully she sighted down her firearm and squeezed the trigger, watching as the round crunched through the face of the infected and dropped it to the ground.

"Do you see now Bobby?" she said softly, "the world has changed - at least this part of it anyways"

Dragging him by the shoulder, she pulled him toward the front of the building.

April takes out the last zed on the board and does not generate anymore

The PEF comes forwards and is revealed to be nothing

"Can you get the door open?" she asked the cameraman. He nodded and stepped forward, lifting the cast iron latch easily. "Sure, no problem" he drawled, some of his confidence coming back as he pushed the heavy, wooden portal opened and stepped lightly inside the gloomy interior.

Further in the woods, the last PEF lurks undiscovered, waiting, watching...

hope you enjoy

dGG