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Chapter Three: Bushwhacked in Beaver Creek! GM: Mike Mitchell Assisted by Kyle Nearhood Game played 2 - 6:30 p.m. Aug. 22, 2004 Interested in starting your own adventures? Contact us at: info@hawgleg.com Posted:Aug. 27, 2004 Return to Redleg Gang Home Page

TEXAS RANGER MURDERED!

Vile Ruffians Invade Peaceful Town!

Texas Rangers Swear Revenge
On Redleg Gang!!

"Another solid installment in our Summer Playtest. Once again the guys helped us identify some issues with the way we handle ambushes. I definitely plan to revisit this issue this summer."
-- Mike Mitchell, Gutshot co-creator

CROWDED HOUSE
The table was packed as 12 members of the Redleg Gang started blasting their way through the adventure. Before they stopped their reign of terror, bodies would be piled up like cord wood and flames were engulfing the town.

Aug.27, 2003
Beaver Creek, Texas – The notorious outlaws, The Redleg Gang, have struck again, terrorizing the once-peaceful town of Beaver Creek. When the smoke cleared (or the dice quit rolling), the crooked land agent was dead, his bodyguards slaughtered, and town going up in flames.

"Players are notorious for messing up the best-laid plans of GMs," said Gutshot co-creator Mike Mitchell. "I've run games for years, and have personally run this adventure four or five times before, and I have never seen a group cause this much mayhem this fast! It was amazing to watch the carnage unfold!"

The plot of the game, "Bushwhacked in Beaver Creek," is very simple. The crooked land agent, Mr. Merriweather, has swindled one of the boy's granny out of the deed to her ranch. So the boys have saddled up and ridden into Beaver Creek to jump him, get the keys to his safe, and steal back the deed (and help themselves to any money they might happen to find). Of course, in the West, ain't nothing that simple. There's a Texas Ranger in town with a stack of wanted posters featuring their faces, so they have be careful.

The carnage began when the players decided to split into two groups. Everyone who was wanted for crimes committed in previous adventures lurked in the streets and in the alley to jump Mr. Merriweather and his bodyguards as they left the bath house on Friday night. Everyone else (five new players) mingled with the crowd at the Grand Hotel and attempted to distract the ranger and the patrons (who could be mustered into a posse by the Ranger).

To find out who won, who lost, who lived, and who died -- check out the Game Report below.

Playtest Criteria

PLANNING HER NEXT MOVE Jessica Nelson (playing Gabriella Francesca) calculates what her Character will do next as Jeff Pieper (playing Aces) waited for his next turn. This was the first game for both players.

The game was specifically designed to stress test how the rules perform in an ambush setting. "The rules performed as they have in the past -- not that well," Mitchell admitted. "That's why we keep returning to these issues -- players tell us there's a problem and we keep revisiting it and reworking it until we find a way to make it work smoothly within the confines of our game system. I think I've identified a way to address this issue, and we'll definitely be revisiting it before we finish the campaign." The game also highlighted two other areas for attention: Mobs and the need for streamlined record keeping.

"I think I've finally got a handle on how the mobs should run," Mitchell said. "And, with 17 PCs and 12 NPCs, I realized something so obvious that I'm stunned I didn't think of it before! I kept fumbling through stacks of Character Sheets looking for who was attacking whom, and then realized this would go much more smoothly if I created with a short record keeping system that let me fit more than one NPC to a sheet. It's so obvious that I can't believe I didn't think of it before!"

What's also obvious was that 29 Characters is too much for any one game!

"I knew that there were too many people going into it. Thank heaven Kyle Nearhood showed up to lend me a hand, or I would have been swamped," Mitchell said gratefully. Kyle played in last summer's campaign when he rode with the Midnight Riders as the mysterious desperado known only as Cord. He was the only character not to be identified by the authorities.

CAST
The Redleg Gang:

New Specialties are in Blue

• Bob -- (played by David Burlin)
  Custom 1 - TN 7, Quickdraw: Pistol
  Weapon: Pistol
• Buckshot Bill -- (played by John Black)
  Custom 2 - TN 8, Sureshot: Shotgun, True Grit
  Weapon: Double-barrel Shotgun
• Buckshot Buddha (played by Robert Hart)
  Gambler - TN 8, Lucky, Spontaneous, Sureshot: Shotgun
  Weapon: pistol, Double-barrel Sawed-off Shotgun
• El Gallo Negro (played by Chris Trevino)
  Custom 2 - TN 8, Spontaneous, Sureshot: Pistol, Two-Gun Shootist
  Weapon: 2 Pistols
• "Shirley" (played by Jared Lamb)
  Custom 3 - TN 9, Hard-to-hit, Lucky, Speedy, Spontaneous
  Weapon: Pistol
• Shady James I (played by David Michael)
  Custom 2 - TN 8, Sureshot: Rifle, Speedy
  Weapon: Pistol, Double-Barrel Shotgun
• "Splintertooth" Jim, alias Jimbo Connors (played by Scott Coons)
  Custom 2 - TN 8, Lucky, Spontaneous, Sureshot: Shotgun
  Weapon: Pistol, Sawed-off Double-Barrel Shotgun

New Members:

• Aces (played by Jeff Pieper)
  Custom 1- TN 7, Hard-to-Hit
  Weapons: Pistol, Shotgun
• Boy Name Sue (played by David Brininger)
  Owlhoot - TN 8, Brawler, Tough-as-Nails
  Weapons: Pistol, Sabre
• The Feisty Goat (played by Rahul Tandale)
  Custom 1- TN 7, Lucky
  Weapons: Pistol, Single-barrel Shotgun
• Gabriella Francesca, alias "La Lolita," alias "Gabby" (played by Jessica Nelson)
  Custom 2 - TN 8, Lucky, Spontaneous
  Weapons: Derringer, Pistol
• Man With No Name (played by Mike Brininger)
  Deputy - TN 8, Hard-toHit, Lucky
  Weapons: Double-barrel Shotgun, Pistol

The Honorable Citizens of Beaver Creek:
(all NPCs played by GM Mike Mitchell & Kyle Nearhood)

BEAVER CREEK

BEAVER CREEK -- BACK ALLEY

Game Stats for
Bushwhacked in Beaver Creek!

There were 12 Characters and 4 NPCs involved in the Hotel
(There were an additional 13NPC s in town -- mostly the hotel -- ready to form a Posse if the gang was recognized... and boy, were they recognized!)
The game lasted two Turns and took about 4.5 hours to play.

Introduction (Victory Objectives)
You and the boys decided to lay low for a while, so you rode into the hills above Rio Gato and stayed with your sweet Granny, who has a small ranch there. You spent your days punching cows and wrangling cattle and your evenings gambling, drinking, and dancing with your beautiful cousin, Carmalita. It’s been a relaxing few weeks, until you found out that Granny has a problem.

It seems that the crooked Land Agent -- Mr. Merriweather -- in Beaver Creek had tricked her and several of her neighbors (almost all of them related to you or one of the other gang members) into giving him their original Spanish Land Grants in exchange for bogus land grants. This will allow him to claim their land as his own. If this happens, the kindly aunt (and Carmalita!) will be kicked off their hacienda, and you boys won't have any place to hide out in the future.

After snooping around, you’ve discovered that Mr. Merriweather keeps the original deeds in a big safe locked in his re-enforced office (a building that is too sturdy to break into)-- along with a huge stack of cash.

Unfortunately, a Texas Ranger has arrived in town, with a stack of wanted posters featuring your faces. This means the you cannot just ride into town and rob Mr. Merriweather. After a few more days of observing your prey, you’ve noticed something very useful...

Mr. Merriweather likes his whiskey. Every night, around 8 o'clock, the crooked Land Agent goes to the bath house with his bodyguard, Joe. He spends about an hour soaking in the hot water and drinking his hooch. Then, accompanied by Joe, he stumbles through the alley to the back of his office, unlocks the door, enters, relocks it, and spends an hour or so counting his money and laughing wickedly as he plots to evict your sweet Granny and her friends.

During this time, the Texas Ranger will be in the Grand Hotel across the street from the Land Agent's Office. Friday night at the hotel is in full swing, with cowboys and townsfolk drinking, laughing, and flirting with saloon gals. There's even a gambler in there. If any shots are fired, the Ranger will immediately lead some of the locals to investigate -- armed and ready for trouble.

If you boys manage to jump Mr. Merriweather and Joe in the alley without a shot being fired (by you or them), you’ll save Granny’s ranch, become local heroes, and make off with the tidy sum in the strongbox. However, If even one shot is fired, the Texas Ranger will be on, leading a mob of 4-10 armed men (1d6 + 3).

HAVING A GRAND TIME Gabriella Francesca, who is new to the gang, brazenly joins the Texas Ranger on the balcony at the start of the game.

Pre-Game Setup The players could position themselves anywhere they want in town, but not in the Sheriff's Office, Land Agent's Office, or the Bath House. If you have played in a previous adventure and are wanted, then you must avoid being seen by any of the townsfolk... especially the Texas Ranger. If they recognize you, they will instantly sound the alarm and an armed posse will form in 1-3 Actions and come after everyone they recognize).

Turn One Names were pulled from the hat, and the outlaws got kinda jumpy waiting for Merriweather to come out of the Bath House. The Feisty Goat even tried to bluff his way into the Bath House, but was told to "get lost!" by the owner, Fat Louie. He emphasized his point by making a loud "Ka-Chink" noise with his trusty Sawed-off, Double Barrel Shotgun.

Victory Points

NOTES:
Aces	50 VP, Bedlow; 25 VP for trying to burn down hotel
Bob	25 VP for helping group achieve victory
Boy Named Sue	50 McLawson; 5 VP for scalping him & stealing his stuff
Buckshot Bill
Buckshot Buddha	20 VP Killed Fat Louie (who killed him)
El Gallo Negro	5 VP, Attempting to subdue Merriweather; 5 for bravery against the mob, 5 VP for shooting Cooter; 25 VP for trying to burn down the bath house
The Feisty Goat	15 VP for facing the mob
Gabriella Francesca	15 VP, attempting to slam McLawson
Man With No Name	10 VP, assisting in McLawson kill, 15 for moving to office to further game objectives;
Shady James I	15 for moving to office to further game objectives; 25 for writing "Shady James I was here" in blood on bath house wall;
"Shirley"	10 VP, Norman the Bodyguard; 15 VP for grabbing Merriweather to further game objectives, 5 VP facing the mob
"Splintertooth" Jim	20 VP, Joe the Bodyguard; 10 VP for recovering Buddha
Loot	$1,312 Cash; $20 in Pesos (doesn't count toward VP), Lavender Soap, Texas Ranger Badge, Spanish Land Grants (returned to rightful owners), some silver & gold watches, and misc. weapons.
Killing Texas Ranger	Everybody lost 10 VP for the death of the Texas Ranger. The Texas Rangers have sworn revenge against you, and all purchases must now be made at Boomtown Prices!

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