My FFO Campaign - Robbery! - Week 2

After a long delay I recently managed to play another game of Final Fade Out. This "special" scenario is detailed on page 68 of the FFO rulebook. It is the Week 2 scenario, "Robbery!" The following special instructions were in place.
1. The party enters from sector 9 and must exit the table from sector 1.
2. When you resolve a PEF, roll on the Special PEF Resolution table (see p.68) as opposed to the normal table.
3. If you Fast Move at any time someone will report you to the police. The police will arrive in 1d3 + 1d6 turns and will be armed with BA Pistols and Shotguns.
4. If you have a gun and fire it, the police will respond as in 3 above.
This Encounter will use the rules from the FFO rulebook and most of my House Rules However, I am now going back to using the Risks and Rewards deck for searching buildings for humans, zombies and loot. As before, this batrep will be rules heavy for the benefit of new players. All notes relating to the rules will be written in blue text to differentiate them from the rest of the batrep. All page numbers will refer to the ATZ-FFO rulebook.
Encounter = Special (see p.68)
Location = Springvale, a Suburb of Mayhem City, USA
Time = Evening during Day 14 (Week 2)
Initial Encounter Rating = 3
CAST
Scotty "Vampifan" Bryant. Rep:5 Star Survivor with Born Leader and Slow Attributes.
  Skills = Drive:4, Melee:3, Shoot:4, Fitness:2, People:5, Savvy:3.
  Weapons = BA Pistol  and Katana (1HW or 2HW).
Angelina "Angie" Johannson. Rep:4 Co-Star Citizen with Free Spirit Attribute.
   Skills = Drive:4, Melee:2, Shoot:4, Fitness:4, People:3, Savvy:3.
   Weapons = Knife (1HW).
Niall "Big Sil" Sillito. Rep:4 Co-Star Citizen with Rage Attribute.
   Skills = Drive:4, Melee:4, Shoot:3, Fitness:2, People:4, Savvy:3.
   Weapons = Machete (1HW)
Robert "Gap" Thirlby. Rep:3 Co-Star Citizen with Runt Attribute.
   Skills = Drive:1, Melee:2, Shoot:3, Fitness:3, People:2, Savvy:3.
   Weapons = Baseball Bat (2HW).
None of the cast suffered from Lack of Sleep for this Encounter (see p.58). Hannah, Jamie and Billy were staying in Vampifan's house, guarding his property. They took no part in this encounter.

The encounter took place on a 45" by 30" game board made up of six of my 15" by 15" Stoelzel's Structures urban game boards that I'd made from Carl's Undeveloped Real Estate set. The top of the board in this photo indicates North. The board was divided into 9 sectors measuring 10" by 15" and going from left to right then top to bottom. Sector 1 is in the top left of this photo and Sector 9 is in the bottom right.

The above photo shows a view of the board from the west. The buildings are a mixture of models from World Works Games and Stoelzel's Structures. All vehicles are from my collection of die-cast models.

 This photo above shows the board from the east.

Next, I rolled for the placement and Rep scores of the three PEFs (Possible Enemy Forces) (see p.60). Rep is determined by rolling 2d6 and using the lowest number for the Rep. Either number can be used if both numbers are the same. Roll 1d6 to determine which Sector the PEF is placed in. If there is a building in that sector, place the PEF inside. If there is cover that blocks Line of Sight to the player group, place the PEF so it can't be seen. Otherwise, place the PEF in the centre of the Sector.
PEF:1 was Rep:6 and was placed in Sector 1 in the derelict building.

PEF:2 was Rep:4 and was placed in sector 6 inside the blue cabin. Just to help remind me where the PEFs were, I placed them on the roofs of the buildings they were in.

PEF:3 was Rep:5 and was placed in sector 5 in the armoury store. It could have appeared in either the armoury or the general store so I diced for its location and it ended up in the armoury.

 Team Vampifan made a diagonal move into sector 8, walking the maximum allowance of 8".

Next I had to roll 4d6 to determine how many zombies appeared at the start of the game (see p. 45). Three appeared by the blue cabin.

 Two appeared inside the wooden cottage in sector 9.

 Four appeared at the south-eastern corner of the office building.

And three appeared just ahead of Team Vampifan, giving a total of 12 zombies.

ROBBERY!
Things were bad. Vampifan saw police cars rolling through town but not stopping and just yesterday, he walked past a National Guard checkpoint where they had quarantined part of Mayhem City. It was not safe to be on the streets right now. Vampifan, Big Sil, Angie and Gap had to cross this part of Springvale to reach their homes. 
TURN 1.   Activation - Vampifan =5, Zombies = 2, PEFs =1

"Come on. Let's take those deadheads out," Vampifan said as he led his colleagues further up the street.
By moving forward another 8" Team Vampifan were in Charge range of the three zombies ahead of them. They had all taken the Zed Or No Zed test (see p.49) previously, so didn't have to take it. However, Big Sil, Angie and Gap had to take the Citizens' Brown Pants test (see p. 30) if they wanted to charge into melee. All three passed 1d6. Phew! I hate that rule!

Vampifan charged at the female zombie who had her left arm in a sling. He held his katana in a two-handed grip above his head. Big Sil moved off to the side to take on the zombie office worker. He held his trusty machete in his right hand. Angie and Gap took on the zombie biker. Angie wielded a sharp knife, whilst Gap kept a tight two-handed grip on his baseball bat.

Vampifan split the female zombie's head in two with a powerful downward slice from his katana.
Vampifan's Melee score of 3d6 was increased to 5d6 because he used his katana as a two-handed weapon. He scored 3 successes and the zombie female scored 1 success out of 3. All zombies have a Melee score of 3d6. I rolled 1d6 for Vampifan on the Melee Results table and got a 2. this gave him a score of "equal or less than his number of successes but not a 1." The zombie was Out Of the Fight, which against zombies counts as an Obviously Dead result (see p.49).
Big Sil was not as successful as Vampifan. His machete strike to the neck missed its target and struck the zombie office worker in his left shoulder. Even so, it was a powerful blow and the zombie staggered backwards and fell over.
"Tough bugger, aren't you?" Big Sil mused.
Big Sil had a Melee score of 4d6. To this he added 1d6 for using a one-handed weapon and another 1d6 for having the Rage attribute. He scored 3 successes out of 6, whilst the zombie scored 2 successes out of 3. Rolling on the Melee Results table, Big Sil could only manage a Knock Down result.
Angie thought she had done so well when she thrust her knife into the zombie biker's heart. He barely noticed the wound. His outstretched hands gripped Angie around the throat.
"Oh, shit!" she gurgled.
"No, Angie!" Gap shouted in alarm. "You have to hit them in the head!"
He swung his baseball bat and connected with the side of the zombie's head just above the ear. With a sickening crunch, Gap shattered the zombie's skull, killing him instantly.
Angie's Melee score of 2d6 was raised to 3d6 because of wielding a one handed weapon (her knife). She rolled 2 successes but so did the zombie biker. They were tied. This actually worked to Gap's advantage. He had a Melee score of 2d6, which increased to 4d6 because he held his baseball bat in a two-handed grip. He also gained a further 1d6 for fighting an evenly matched opponent (see p.32). So, he rolled 5d6 and incredibly, scored 5 successes! The zombie could only manage 1 success. Gap followed up this impressive display by rolling a 1 on the Melee Results table, killing the zombie.

The zombie office worker whom Big Sil had knocked down staggered back to its feet. Meanwhile the other nine zombies shuffled closer to Team Vampifan but were too far away to cause any trouble.

The door to the armoury suddenly swung open but it turned out to be just a gust of wind. It was a false alarm. 
"Christ, that nearly gave me a heart attack!" Gap proclaimed.
"Who's got the jitters?" Angie mocked. 
All 3 PEFs could move this turn, so I started with the one closest to Team Vampifan, PEF:3 (see p.60). Because it started indoors its Rep was reduced from 5 to 4. It passed 2d6 on the PEF Movement table (see p.60) and moved outside next to Team Vampifan. I rolled 2d6 on the PEF Resolution table (see p.61) but passed 0d6 against the Encounter Rating of the area (ER:3). This counted as nothing to worry about, so the PEF was removed from play.

The next closest PEF was PEF:2 in the blue cabin. This also had its Rep reduced by 1 for being in a building, which gave it a Rep of 3. It passed 1d6 on the PEF Movement table and moved 12" away from Team Vampifan. It reached the edge of the board in 4" and then had to roll to see if it moved north or south. I rolled for north and the PEF moved a further 8" (see p.60).

PEF:1 was the last PEF to move. Its Rep was reduced from 6 to 5 for starting off indoors. It easily passed 2d6 and moved 12" towards Team Vampifan. It passed 2d6 on the PEF Resolution table - contact!. I rolled 1d6 on the Special PEF Resolution table (see p.68) and scored a 1 for a Robbery attempt. That was rather appropriate given the name of this Encounter. I rolled a 4 on the How Many table (see p.62) for a result of PG+1. This meant that Team Vampifan would face 5 enemies (PG = Player Group, which in this case was 4). This could turn very ugly.

A gang of five Punks led by Johnny Rancid, (Rep:4 with the Rage attribute) who was armed with a BA Pistol and a length of chain, (a one-handed improvised weapon) ran out of the derelict building to confront Team Vampifan.
"Give us your weapons and valuables," Johnny Rancid demanded, "and we'll let you live."
His colleagues sniggered. They seemed to find Johnny's remark highly amusing. They consisted of Mongo Smash, a big brute (Rep:4 with the Dim attribute) armed with a pair of Desert Eagle BA Pistols, Drew Belchard, a teenager (Rep:3 with the Poser attribute) armed with a spiked club, (a one-handed weapon) Slash, a young female (Rep:3 with the Poser attribute) armed with an MP5 SMG and finally another young female, Kat (Rep:3 with the Greedy attribute) and also armed with an MP5 SMG.
The Punks were placed 2" away from Team Vampifan and the two leaders took a People Challenge. Vampifan had a People score of 5, whilst Johnny had a People score of 4. Vampifan could only manage to pass 2d6 but Johnny only passed 1d6.

A red mist descended over Vampifan. He narrowed his eyes and glowered at the tall punk with the Mohican haircut.
"You want my weapons and valuables, huh?" he snarled. "Come and get them, you miserable piece of shit!"
Vampifan had no intention of surrendering to the Punks so it was time to Walk the Walk and take an In Sight test (see p.17) with team Vampifan counting as Inactive and the Punks as Active. This meant that each punk suffered a -1d6 penalty to their Rep scores, giving Team Vampifan a big advantage. Vampifan and Gap passed 3d6 each (as indicated by the black dice), so they would react first. Angie, Johnny and Kat passed 2d6, whilst Mongo, Drew and Slash only passed 1d6. Big Sil did not roll as he was still locked in combat with a zombie. Angie and Gap only just passed their Citizen Brown Pants tests with rolls of 4 and 3 respectively.

Johnny Rancid stood stock still with his pistol still holstered and his length of chain hanging uselessly by his side. When Vampifan thrust his katana into Johnny's gut, the Punk leader looked so surprised. It was almost as if he hadn't expected Vampifan to attack him let alone wound him. Vampifan twisted the blade as he withdrew the sword and Johnny sank to his knees and pressed his hands to his wound.
"Well fuck me!" he murmured before crashing down onto his face.
This is what happened. Both men took the Charge Into Melee test (see p.29) with Vampifan adding +1d6 to his Melee score of 3 for being a Survivor and Johnny adding +1d6 to his Melee score of 4 for having the Rage attribute. Luck was on Vampifan's side as he rolled 3 successes to Johnny's 2. This meant that Johnny could not fire at Vampifan and that he would count as being unarmed for the first round of combat. Vampifan rolled 5d6 on the Melee Combat table (see p.31) gaining a +2d6 bonus for using his katana two-handed. Johnny's Melee score of 4d6 remained unchanged. The -1d6 he suffered for counting as unarmed was cancelled out by his Rage attribute. Again, Vampifan won by 3-2. When rolling on the Melee Results table he only managed a Knock Down result. However, Johnny only passed 1d6 on the Recover From Knock Down test and so was Out Of the Fight. This caused the rest of the Punks to take the Man Down test (see Ganger QRS). I rolled a 2 and a 3 on 2d6, so the Punks would Carry On.

As Gap charged at Kat, the young Punk managed to fire a single shot at him. However, she panicked and the bullet went high and wide. Gap didn't give her a second chance. He swung his baseball bat at her head and crushed her skull with such force that one of her eyeballs popped out of its socket.
Gap had a Melee score of 2d6 but having the Runt attribute reduced this to a mere 1d6. Kat had a Melee score of 3d6 and should have easily beat him but both sides could only roll 1 success each. A tie resulted in Kat firing once before Gap reached her. No reaction test would be taken. I rolled a 2 for her, which added to her Shooting score of 3 gave her a total of 5 - a miss (see p.26). For Melee combat, Gap's Melee score of 2d6 was raised to 4d6 for using his bat two-handed. Kat used her SMG as an improvised weapon (a club) and so her Melee score of 3d6 remained unchanged. Gap managed 2 successes to Kat's 1 and so Kat was Knocked Down. Alas, she passed 0d6 on the Recover From Knockdown test and was Obviously Dead. This caused the three remaining Punks to take another Man Down test but with a roll of double 1 they were determined to Carry On.

Next up was Angie. She decided to charge the other female Punk, Slash. Slash reacted slightly quicker and was able to get off a snapshot from her MP5, but just like Kat, she fired wide and missed her target. Angie pushed Slash's SMG to one side away from her and stabbed the Punk in the right eye. Slash dropped to the ground, screaming in agony as blood streamed down her face.
Angie's Melee score of 2d6 was reduced to 1d6 because she was a Civilian. Slash's Melee score of 3d6 remained unaffected but both sides rolled very badly on the Charge Into Melee table and neither of them scored any successes. On a tie, Slash was allowed to fire once before the Melee combat commenced. Sadly for her, she rolled badly and missed. Worse was to come. Angie scored 3 successes out of 3 and whilst Slash scored 2 successes, it wasn't good enough and she lost the fight by 1. Angie only scored a Knock Down result on the Melee results table but that was okay, because Slash only passed 1d6 on her Recover From Knockdown test. This put her Out Of the Fight.

"Dude, this wasn't supposed to happen!" Drew whined. "Let's get out of here!"
Mongo nodded in agreement and the last two Punks fled with their tails between their legs, utterly broken and humiliated.
With Slash going OOF, Drew and Mongo had to take another Man Down test. With rolls of 5 and 1 they passed 1d6 but because they now had more friends who were either Out Of the Fight or Obviously Dead, they were forced to Runaway (see Ganger's QRS). So they fled off the table.
With two shots being fired this turn (one each from Kat and Slash) the police would arrive in 1d3 plus 1d6 turns. I rolled a total of 6, so on turn 7 the police would come to investigate. The two shots fired also meant that more zombies may arrive on the board. However I rolled under 5 for both shots so no more zombies appeared. This ended a very eventful turn.

TURN 2.   Activation - Vampifan = 3, Zombies = 5, PEF = 2.
Big Sil finished off his zombie opponent by slicing off the top half of the zombie's head. Black blood and bits of brains sprayed in an arc away from him.
This time Big Sil rolled 7d6 in Melee combat. He gained an extra +1d6 for being in an evenly matched combat. He scored 4 successes, which were added to his one automatic success for fighting a zombie. The zombie rolled 4d6. He also received the +1d6 bonus for being in an evenly matched combat. The zombie only scored 2 successes so lost 5-2. I rolled a 3 for Big Sil on the Melee Results table, which was enough to kill the zombie outright.

Vampifan, Angie and Gap looted the bodies they had just felled, but only took their opponents' firearms - a .50 calibre Desert Eagle BA Pistol for Vampifan, a 9mm MP5A SMG for Angie and a 9mm MP5SD3 SMG for Gap. Afterwards, Vampifan would give the Desert Eagle to Big Sil.

PEF:2 rolled 2d6 on the PEF Movement table and gained a +1d6 bonus to its Rep score because shots had been fired last turn. It passed 2d6 and moved 12" towards Team Vampifan. This placed it inside the general store.

TURN 3.   Activation - Vampifan = 1, Zombies = 2, PEF = 4.
PEF:2 once again passed 2d6 on the PEF Movement table and moved outdoors right next to Team Vampifan. I rolled 2d6 against the Encounter Rating of the area and scored 1 success, which raised the Encounter Rating from 3 to 4. 

Nine zombies moved further up the street, attracted by the noise of gunfire from a previous turn.

"It's time to get the flock out of here!" Vampifan said. "Let's haul ass!"
All four members of Team Vampifan raced up the street to put as much distance between them and the zombies behind them.
I made four Fast Moves for the heroes. Vampifan only rolled 1d6 because he had the Slow attribute, but he passed 1d6 and increased his move of 8" by a half to 12". I rolled 2d6 for the others and applied the same result (a double 3) to each of them (see p.15). This meant that they all passed 2d6 and so their movement scores were doubled to 16". Remember that special rule about Fast Moves? Anyone who Fast Moves at any time during this encounter will be reported to the police. So once again I rolled 1d3 plus 1d6 to see when the police would arrive. This time I got a total of 4, so that meant that the police would arrive on Turn 7. That made me wonder if it would be the same police who were responding to the gunshots or a different group. I figured it'd be a different group but really, it was rather academic as the game was nearly over.

TURN 4.   Activation - Vampifan = 1, Zombies = 4
The four zombies at the side of the office block moved further down the street, moaning in frustration as the humans eluded them. However, they could smell freshly spilled blood nearby. Soon they would feast on the dead and wounded Punks.
As per the Zombie Frenzy rule (see p.45) zombies who have a line of sight to any human have their Rep increased to 4 for the purposes of Activation only. This meant that these four zombies could move this turn but the other five couldn't.

Once again, Team Vampifan ran as fast as they could along the street.
This time every one passed 1d6 on the Fast Move tests, which allowed Angie and Gap to exit the board and Vampifan and Big Sil to reach the board edge. I did not roll for police intervention again as it was totally irrelevant at this point in the game.
TURN 5.   Activation - Vampifan = 4, Zombies = 3.
Vampifan and Big Sil sauntered off the board at a walking pace. 
Only if Team Vampifan failed to activate for a number of turns could the game continue. As it was, they activated first and thus it was game over.  
AFTERMATH. To achieve victory, all Team Vampifan had to do was exit the board from sector 1. This they did, so all four were eligible for Rep or Skill increases.
Vampifan opted for a Melee skill increase and succeeded. His Melee score was raised from 3 to 4.
Big Sil attempted to increase his Rep but failed.
Angie also went for a Melee skill increase and she also succeeded. Her Melee score is now 3d6.
Gap went for a hat trick of Melee skill increases and he succeeded as well. His new Melee score was also 3d6. I must admit that I thought that Gap performed particularly well in this Encounter and I'd nominate him as my "Man of the Match."
In addition, because the next Encounter would take place after day 20, Big Sil, Angie and Gap would no longer be classed as Citizens but as Survivors. Oh, yes! Ditto for Hannah, Jamie and Billy, even though they didn't take part in this Encounter. So that meant that everyone got something out of this Encounter.
Finally, I had to roll on the Keeping It Together table (see p.73). However, because of the results in the previous encounter, Big Sil, Angie and Gap were exempt from this test for this Encounter. Vampifan had the Born Leader attribute which increased his People skill from 5 to 6. Remember, I use a house rule which replaces Rep score with People skill for the Keeping It Together test. He rolled 4 successes. Hannah could only manage 2 successes, which meant that not only would she stay with the group but that she was exempt from this roll next time. I did not roll for Billy or Jamie - they are just children and they do what their mum tells them. So if mum stays, they stay and if mum leaves, they leave.
That was a lot of fun with the dice gods being particularly kind to Team Vampifan. It could have all gone horribly wrong for them, particularly in the fight with the Punks. Anyway, this will be my last post before Christmas so I'd like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas. It is unlikely that I'll post again until next Sunday. Stay safe and have fun!