This was a typical journey across the seedier side of Cygnar. This district has a Duke with a bad reputation, and things are kind of rough around the edges. This close to the coast, towns are walled and mistrustful from the occaisional Cryx raid. Further inland, things are more comfortable, but a bit unlawful. To the North, they enter the Gnarls. This episode was composed of a nice montage of small encounters along the way. This part covers the main Cygnar highways connecting Ceryl to Five Fingers, but not quite entering the Gnarls yet.
The first encounter was a legitimate tollbooth set up by the local Duke. It is totally legitimate, but not really a “normal” thing in Cygnar. I told you this Duke was a jerk.
The second is another tollbooth, but this one was set up by bandits pretending to be official Cygnarans.Anyone with connection to Cygnaran military will recognize these guys as fakes. The Mule is painted blue and gold, but it ain’t Cygnaran.
The third encounter was capturing the message being send by Cryxian agents. It is more complicated than normal. The PCs knew that a message was being sent North, and this was a big GM’s hint that this was an unusual messenger coming through. So the PCs ambushed the Cygnar force. They were quick and efficient, which meant that the two Cygnaran light jacks were almost undamaged. I let the PCs upgrade by taking them over. One PC is an actual military Cygnar Warcaster, so they did know the proper access codes.
Right now, the Iron Cask is headed north around the Cygnar coast, headed towards the Bay of Stone.
Cast of Non-Player Characters
Encounter One: Cygnar Toll
This is a legitimate tollbooth set up by the Duke, and the Cygnarans are professional. If the party pays five gold, they are let through. We were not expecting any trouble.
Lt. Ohms – Cygnar Lieutenant
SPD:6 MAT:7 RAT:6 DEF:14 ARM:15 ARC:4
Full Life Spiral P:7 A:6 I:5
Warcaster
Sword(Bond): PS:11
Hand Cannon: RNG:10 POW:12
Centurion – Heavy Warjack
SPD:4 MAT:6 DEF:11 ARM:19
Full Damage Grid (Heavy)
Piston Spear: PS:18 Reach Crit Sustained Strike (follow ups auto0hit)
MagnoShield: PS:13
*Action: Polarity Field (no charge)
8x Trenchers +UA
SPD:6 MAT:6 RAT:5 DEF:13 ARM:13 5 Hits
Go to Ground, Assault, Smoke Bomb
Rifle: RNG:10 POW:11
Bayonet: PS:9 Reach
6x Long Gunners
SPD:5 MAT:4 RAT: 5 DEF:13 ARM:12 5 Hits
Combined Ranged Attack
Rifle: RNG:14 POW:10
Encounter Two: Not-Cygnar Toll
This is not a legitimate tollbooth, and was set up by clever bandits. If the party pays five gold, they are let through. If they kill the bandits, they can recover 75 gold that was previous taken.
Lt. Garrot – Bandit Jack Marshal
SPD:6 MAT:6 RAT:6 DEF:14 ARM:14
Life Spiral: P:6 A:5 I:4
Jack Marshal
Hand Cannon: RNG:10 POW:12
Sword: PS:11
Mule – Heavy Merc Warjack
SPD:5 MAT:5 DEF:11 ARM:17/19
Full Damage Grid (Heavy)
Mace: PS:16 Reach
Cannon: RNG:8 POW:15 AoE:4″ Crit Devastate (Slam all in AoE d6″ directly away from center of blast POW:15)
8x Highwaymen +WA
SPD:6 MAT:6 RAT:5 DEF:13 ARM:13 5 Hits
Rifle: RNG:10 POW:11
Bayonet: PS:9 Reach
6x Rangers
SPD:7 MAT:6 RAT:6 DEF:14 ARM:11 5 Hits
Pathfinder, Prowl
Rifle: RNG:10 POW:11
Knife: PS:7
Encounter Three: Cryxian Messengers
It is an actual Cygnaran military dispatch with escort. Something is not quite right about this. (Scale down for smaller groups!)
Lt. Fusingcap – Cygnar Warcaster
SPD:9/6 MAT:7 RAT:6 DEF:14 ARM:15 ARC:4
Full Life Spiral P:7 A:6 I:5
Warcaster, Light Cavalry: Add 8 Hits before dismount
Sword(Bond): PS:11
Hand Cannon: RNG:10 POW:12
Grenadier– Light Warjack
SPD:6 MAT:6 RAT:6 DEF:14 ARM:15
Full Damage Grid (Light)
Grenade Launcher: RNG:10 POW:12 AoE:3 Arcing Fire PCs with Light Artillery may Reload/Fire as Full Action
Mattock: PS:12, Entrenching Tool
Lancer – Light Warjack
SPD:6 MAT:6 RAT:6 DEF:13 ARM:16/18
Full Damage Grid (Light) Arc Node
Spear: PS:12 Reach Set Defense
Shock Shield: PS:9 1 point Cortex shock
6x Stormblades
SPD:5 MAT:7 RAT:4 DEF:11 ARM:16 5 Hits
Glaive: PS:13 Reach
ElectroBlast: Rng:4 POW:12
8x Trenchers +UA
SPD:6 MAT:6 RAT:5 DEF:13 ARM:13 5 Hits
Go to Ground, Assault, Smoke Bomb
Rifle: RNG:10 POW:11
Bayonet: PS:9 Reach
4x Gun Mages
SPD:6 MAT:5 RAT:7 DEF:15 ARM:11 5 Hits
Magic Bullets: Double Boost, Thunderbolt, Snipe
Gun: RNG:10 POW:10 Magic
The message itself looks like a normal letter between two merchants. There is no apparent reason that the Cygnar military would use their dispatches for this type of merchant’s letter. Once the Alchemist gets some time, he may discover a secret message written in Invisible Ink, but in a strange, spidery script that nobody can read. It does, however, point them towards Asherath Scarrow, a dark figure in Five Fingers.
Map
Both Tollbooth encounters can use the same map. It is of a road through a forest with a tollbooth. The Cygnarans are deployed in black, and the Bandits are deployed in blue. It can be used for the third encounter as well, by removing the Tollbooth.
