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"I've been GMing for a while now but the most entertaining moment I presided over was during a small weekly Rolemaster campaign running from 1996 to 1998 if I recall. The party included a number of warriors, a paladin and a priest with the "gift" of Vampirism.
As the party traveled through a dense forest to the north of the civilized lands they were beset by an undead horseman riding a great white warsteed. The party attempted to escape and a running battle ensued with the eventual result that "Kylan" the vampiric priest was taken by the horseman who claimed he was rescuing him from accursed living beings, despite his complaints he was carried to a clearing where he was left while his would be rescuer returned to deal with the living ones.
Left to his own devices Kylan looked around and spotted a great black stone throne, inscribed with glowing runes in an area remarkably devoid of plant life. Kylan attempted to examine the throne but not being the best perceiver of power sources failed to note anything particularly wrong about the throne and so in a manner that left everyone in the group speechless chose to sit down on it.
Kylan discovered that he was sitting on a source of necromatic power with an intelligence of its own (treasure companion had just been released) and found himself thinking of Skeletons, as the rest of the party struggled to locate him, Kylan began experimenting, skeletons, wraiths and other creatures of Undeath began to arise as he exercised his curiosity, much to the frustration of the other PC's.
Eventually the paladin of the group, (I forget his name) rushed into the clearing, holy axe and shield at the ready and Kylan began to feel strangely angry. The paladin charged towards the throne and Kylan decided to retreat by taking a vampire batform. His vampiric powers magnified a hundredfold by the power of the throne he actually took on a form more resembling a fellbeast and pounced on the paladin. The battle was short as with Kylan no longer on the throne the rest of the party was able to reach the clearing but resulted in the paladin's shield arm being chewed and swallowed by Kylan before being rendered unconscious.
It was sometime before the party forgave Kylan and the incident proved the first but not the last time that the paladin was to be rendered "mostly armless" through the repeated use of prosthetics with each and every time necessitating another adventure to find another layhealer and Kylan was always much more careful about where he sat down after that.
Playing in a convention adventure about ten years ago, our group took on the roles of a small group of mercenaries hired to investigate an incident on a rough colony planet. Some detective work quickly identified a fortified building in the desert as the headquarters of a culpable bad guy organization and we headed out there intending to do a stealthy entry and gain access to documents that would verify our theory that they were the guilty party.
Initial entry was easy and we were soon exploring the ground level of the building. Unfortunately, some bad perception rolls had us walking straight into a patrolling guard and our cover was blown. Gunfire is exchanged to little effect and the enemy retreats towards a doorway. Realizing that he may be able to bar the security door and prevent us from penetrating into what seems to be a datacentre, the party takes decisive action to stop him. One character tries a rush and tackle, but fails. Another two characters shoot but miss as the enemy has partial cover already. Finally, the medic decides it's up to him and opens up with an auto-shotgun with disastrous effect as poor skill and worse rolls combine to direct shot after shot into the back of the hapless character who had tried the rush.
The enemy guard retreats into the datacentre, hotly pursued by two characters while the medic rushes forward to save his comrade. The shotgun has made quite a mess and quick assessment shows that death is imminent. Luckily this is the stuff the medic knows best and he confidently makes his rolls to stem bleeding, but shock and horror - he fumbles and inflicts additional damage on the character with predictably fatal results.
Shocked by the death of his friend, the medic rushes into the datacentre. Control mechanisms for the door has been damaged in the firefight, explaining why it's remained open. Unfortunately, the enemy guard is still alive and is now working to close the next security door. One of the characters is in melee with the guard, trying to wrestle him but failing badly. Realising that once more everything could depend on him, the medic opens up with his auto shotgun again knowing that the burst will inevitably hit both the guard and the character trying to wrestle him but being forced to rely on luck out of desperation. Rolls are made and concussion damage is not too bad, but the criticals are instantly fatal for both friend and foe. Sixty seconds into the game and the medic has three kills, but two of them are party members! To make things worse, the "datacentre" turns out to be little more than a security centre with lots of displays but no interconnects to the main computer systems.
Trying to salvage his sanity, the medic justifies his actions to the remaining party member by saying that at least the security door is open and we can complete the mission. They agree that the deaths would be in vain unless this is done and proceed to explore the rest of the ground floor. Coming across an elevator, the two remaining characters start arguing about how to proceed. The medic wishes to go straight up on the assumption that the most closely guarded secrets will be there but the other guy wants to finish exploring the ground floor. Eventually the medic wins the argument by reasoning that they just can't afford to waste time or get into more fights than necessary since they've already lost half their strength.
Stepping into the elevator, they note that it's an open shaft with a platform rather than a box elevator. The other guy gets a really bad feeling about this and wants to step out again, but the medic will not listen to this as the decision has already been made to go up. The platform starts to rise and as they approach the top floor they can make out some improvised barriers and figures at the top of the shaft. The GM proceeds to describe twelve security guards armed with auto shotguns, light machine guns and grenades. Realising that we've met our doom, we watch the first couple of attack rolls but the outcome is inevitable and the last two party members are reduced to bullet-ridden corpses in seconds. Perhaps the main elevator shaft wasn't such a good idea...
After this adventure, I realised my true vocation was a Games Master rather than as a Player since I had the gift for indiscrimate large scale killing of player characters ;)
Dave was playing his first time in my Rolemaster system and had rolled up a meadow elf mage. (Meadow elves are a custom specie I have that are very short, about 4' tall). The large party of 1st-3rd level characters that he joined doled out some good healing potions they had from the previous adventure and headed out for the frontier. Eventually they find an unmapped castle and sneak in the open gate. The castle is situated on bedrock next to a cliff.
They found a bunch of asleep (drunk) fire giants who had taken over this previously human castle. The giants are scattered throughout the courtyard snoring like bears and the party started arguing about what to do. One of the other 1st level characters did something dumb like try to slit a giant's throat and soon all the giants were awake.
The giants closed the portcullis and (with hangovers) were chasing the hapless weenie characters around the castle. (One character had managed to make it out and goes for the horses). The party is completely split up, one giant per PC, all the rest trapped in the castle. Being the feisty type, Dave did something with a cart that managed to trip up his giant (with a good roll by his elf) and he escapes up some stairs. After luckily dodging a giant mattock.
Dave leaps up more stairways, runs down a corridor or two, and would have had a chance to hide except I rolled that the giants had allies (let it not be said that I take it easy on the PCs). Dave is cornered by a 5th level fire hound with his pursuing giant not far away (his giant is recovering from having whacked his kneecap pretty good on the stairs). Dave makes another good roll and keeps the hound at bay briefly by using his last spell points, but it rushes forward again the next round. Hearing the cries of his panicked compatriots in the distance, Dave is doomed and knows it by the tone in my voice. But Dave is not the type to give up.
"I leap out that window you mentioned!" "But Dave, it is at least a 100' drop on to solid rock..." "I go for it, I'll tie my rope around that stone divider you mentioned..." "You don't have time to tie a knot..." "Forget a knot, I'll just loosely loop it and go!"
So he jams one arm through the middle of his rope coil, tosses the end of the rope around the round stone window divider, grabs it and leaps out. He's awkwardly banging his way down the wall, scrambling to let out his coiled rope with some modicum of control. A few excellent rolls later he has managed to hold on and is hanging at the end of the doubled rope. A good go and I'm sad to have to kill him off, but my monsters aren't stupid (as a general rule).
I give him the bad news: "The giant starts pulling you up by the rope..."
"I let go."
"Uh, are you sure Dave? It's at least 80 more feet to the ragged rocks below. You might have a chance to escape later if you let yourself be captured, but that drop is a guaranteed death..."
"!#($&*@% that, I drop."
The rocks it is. A more heroic end than stew.
I proceed to roll and start handing out several critical crush results to the undaunted Dave. Amazingly for once I roll poorly and Dave's character has a chance to be conscious, although he has nasty critical stuns, permanent damage, internal bleeding, etc. In my world if your nervous system is still intact you can make a roll to remain conscious for a round before you go under from being at negative hits. He makes his consciousness roll, which was lucky but not outrageous. So his character is lying there on the rocks, broken and bleeding, gasping his last agonizing breath... but conscious for a round.
"Wow, that was amazing Dave! Congratulations, but of course you're dead next round anyway. Any last words from your character?"
(scanning his character sheet) "What did those guys give me... I drink my potion of Healing Major (TM)."
"Nice try Dave, but if you think that a potion bottle survived that fall..."
A few rolls later and I determined that the potion had indeed survived the fall and was within easy reach on his belt. But still...
"Sorry Dave, in your condition you're going to have to make an Absurd maneuver roll with Huge Minuses, at least -100, plus the, uh, -85 from your injuries, to be able to drink the potion. Give it a shot of course, but..."
All rolls in my world need to be visible to the GM (or at least a neutral player) so I knew Dave had been honestly lucky so far. I stood up to co-witness the die roll as much as to honor a fallen PC.
roll... roll... roll... roll... "uh... 376, including my encumbered maneuver bonus".
The guy who had run to the horses found him & hauled him off, and he's still adventuring to this day, feisty as ever...
In my beginners group the players were offered by an old witch the "Ritual of the Hide" to ask three yes/no questions to the goddess of fate herself.
The 2nd level Mentalist Perrin decided to participate in the ritual. He had to get a cow, kill it himself with an axe, and skin it. Then he was to be wrapped tight in the cow hide, and left alone for the night at the old barrow to have a vision concerning the questions he wants answered.
The players bought a cow called "Lisa" and took her to the next slaughter house. There Perrin tied her up on the wall and started attacking her with a borrowed axe. As a Mentalist he had only two ranks in short sword and with luck, surprise bonus, and rear attack bonus he managed to hit with his first strike and scored a critical: Lisa bled from the foot and was stunned for three rounds, crying for her life. (I mimicked the cow's sound so good that one of the players had to leave the room because of sympathy for poor Lisa, she could not stand it.)
Anyway Perrin continued to slash at Lisa, but missed. After Lisa's stun was over and she could not run away because she was tied up, she decided to strike back and kicked at Perrin. The strike hit and threw him back to the wall, breaking three ribs and sending him to unconsciousness.
When he regained consciousness, Lisa was dead -- died due to blood loss from the 2/round leg wound. The owner of the slaughter house looked a little strange as Perrin left with his cow hide but said nothing.
Unfortunately the "Ritual of the Hide" did not reveal any new information, but after all Perrin experienced the furious danger of a tied-up cow and each time I make that sound again I see the fear in his eyes and the laughter in the other player's faces.
email: aotrs.command@ntlworld.com
I'd be happy to hear from any other Rolemaster loons out there!
Rolemaster is the system I have used most over the ten to twelve years I have been roleplaying. I have had some incredible campaigns that I have played, and I have seen some spectacular kills and fumbles over the years. The highlights of my gaming have been in Rolemaster - the lowest moments (when a fifth level monster killed by a cricket ball) to the best (playing a MERP campaign that could have been called "the adventurers of Rushven the Mage").
However, it is one of the most slightly disturbing events I wish to share with you.
It began on the session I ran for my 18th birthday. We had two
Spacemaster parties at that time. One was on a ship called the
Nightstar. The other was just a party of adventurers. I had decided
for my 18th to do something special, so I wrote in both parties
together, so most of my players were using their characters form
both groups.
Anyway, the quest went as planned until the group entered a cultist fortress. They started fighting the cultists. One of players was a mage, using a truly obscenely powerful demon-slaying artifact sword (I only let him have it because he was a mage and couldn't actually use it very well). The mage was the captain of the Nightstar and the only member of that party to go down to the fortress. He went into melee with one of the cultists. One of the other players was using a Transhuman VIII, which he had decided was a walking fish. (Don't ask.) He decided to use his flame rifle on the same cultist. I warned him of the possibility he'd hit the mage. He went ahead and fired, somewhat annoying the mage. The mage then turned round and took a swing at him, chopping off his arm, much to my amusement. Then, one of the other players, Chris, decided to 'fire a warning shot' at the mage. Using his 12mm Enforcer, the most powerful projectile weapon available. And rolled up. And got a good critical. As I watched with mounting glee, the 'warning shot' smartly took out the back of the mage's head. I should note that this is the only inter-party fatality I have ever had. That didn't stop me laughing hysterically for about five minutes though.
The group cleaned out the cultist base and mopped up a pair of
Zhainmoth (for those who haven't got Dark Space or C&T 2,
they are not dissimilar to Mind Flayers from D&D) that were
in the base. Later in the quest, the group came up against a powerful
Zhainmoth who was behind the cult. I had spent some time planning
his psions and attack patterns. Thus I was slightly miffed to
see him get splattered in round two.
But this is only the first part of the tale. Several years have
passed, and I found myself running the same quest with a few modifications
for another party altogether.
They got into the cultist fortress and ended up dueling with
the Zhainmoth there. They had split the party into two. One party
consisted of an Explorer, played by anther Chris, and a Romulan
Archmage (my campaigns are rather lose with genres!) The Zhainmoth
cast a Suggestion spell on the explorer to 'shoot the mage'. Now
technically I know that suggestion can only allow a target to
do something inside his normal nature, but the explorer in question
was a loony, drug-using pervert stalker. (don't ask). He failed
his RR.
The moment he did, I felt a sudden sinking feeling. I was right.
The explorer rolled up with his shot gun, and hit the archmage...in
the back of the head! I felt a little guilty, so I allowed the
fact the mage had a barrier shield to count as enough head protection
to keep him alive, but he was down to serious negatives.
The more I though about the incident, the more I was worried.
Both times I have played this campaign, a party mage has been
shot in the back of the head with a projectile weapon by a fellow
party member whose player was called Chris. I don't know about
anyone else, but that creeps me out.
And to cap it all, when they reached the final Zhainmoth, they killed him in two rounds with lucky criticals just like the first time. Spooky, huh?
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