Penthouse Blitz

Owls Go Hollywood

Penthouse Blitz

The Owlmandos have entered the air duct from the roof, ready to wreck SoloChem’s nefarious plans.

The narrow, twisting air ducts empty into a cramped, two foot high crawlspace that stretches out on all sides for as far as you can see in the dim light. The crawlspace floor is made of flimsy tiles suspended from the ceiling with metal struts. The area is filled with electrical wiring, plumbing, sprinkler system machinery, and ventilation shafts.

You hear murmuring voices directly below you, and thin streams of light shine up from cracks in the flimsy tiles below your feet.

You suddenly realize that you are in the drop ceiling above the labs. The crawlspace “floor” is made of lightweight ceiling tiles suspended below the roof of the building. The two foot gap between the real ceiling and the drop ceiling is just enough room…to travel freely.

Tristan gently lifts one of the tiles and the owls crowd together to peer inside. They see a number of technicians bustling about, administering strange injections into freighted rats, lizards, and other creatures.  Gawain grips his sword and readies himself to charge in, but is stopped by Percival, who shakes his head, desiring caution. Gawain ruffles his feathers, but gives into his brothers. For now, at least.

Carefully picking their steps, they make their way around the crawlspace.

In order to successfully move around, the Owls need to make a number of Prowl and Climb checks.  The module doesn’t really clarify If this is a single check or a series of them. Since they plan on looking everywhere, I decide to make a series of 3 checks for each of them.  All have a Prowl of 87% and Climbing of 47% (look, they can fly. They didn’t spend a ton of time working on climbing walls). Tristan:  Climb (28, 03, 08) Prowl (79, 03, 58) SUCCESS on all three. Percival: Climb (83, 50, 23) Prowl (4, 44, 30) FAILURE on the first and second Climb Gawain: Climb (28, 86, 68) Prowl (16, 7, 55) FAILURE on the second and third Climb Since Percival failed his first Climb check, he falls through the tiles. I need to know WHERE he is though. Does he fall into the First Room? 50/50 (50%) 63. No. Does he fall into a hallway? 50/50 (50%) 38. Yes.

Percival crashes through, but rolls and lands somewhat gracefully (he made his Acrobatics check). The all pause, and listen, but no one seems to be coming. Gawain gestures back to the animal lab, and this time it is Percival who grudgingly accepts.

Percival waits outside the labs door, waiting for the signal. The signal, of course, is the sound of Tristan and Gawain crashing through the ceiling and setting themselves on the technicians. One manages to make a break for it, only to be tackled by Percival and dragged back inside.

The techs are non-combatants. I rolled a handful of combat checks, and none of the Owls screwed up completely.

After securing the techs, the Owls have a moment to talk.  Now that the rooftile recon plan is no longer an option, it’s time to move onto the assault. Gawain wants to free the animals, but Percival argues they have no idea what was done to them, and that it makes more sense to leave them safe and secure for now, and to hand them over to the NYPD once all this is over for proper medical care.

Do they agree to free the animals? Unlikely (35%) 45. No. Does Gawain do it anyway? Unlikely (35%) 28. Yes.

“Ok, we’ll wait,” says Tristan. “Agreed.”

“Agreed,” says Percival.

“Agreed” says Gawain, with a gleam in his eye, as he presses the “emergency release” button. A dozen cages opened, and their occupants spilled out to room, rushing towards the hallway.

“Gawain!” Cries Percival.

“Hey, you said we needed a diversion, right?” Now grinning broadly, he takes out the detonator, flips it open, and pressed down on the trigger. A quiet and distant “pop” could be faintly heard, and the entire room was plunged into darkness. Only distant and faint emergency lights provided any illumination, but it was more than sufficient for the Owls.

“We’ll talk about this when we get home” Tristan says grimly.

The next room is a massive research and production facility, stocked with a tremendous variety of chemicals. 2 goons leaned out of the doorway, gawking at the animals running past. The walkie talkie screamed in Percival ears, as a dozen voices all tried to cut in on each other, and each was silenced by the others.

The Owls quickly take out the two goons and head into the labs. Three scientists and two more goons are holed up in a corner. One of the scientist’s peers through the darkness at the Owls and hesitatingly asks “Are you…are you one of ours.”

“No” says Tristan grimly.

Without the element of surprise, the fight isn’t quite as easy as the others for the Owls, but they handle themselves well (Gawain and Percival took a bit of S.D.C. damage). The guards are killed, but the scientists are secured.  Tristan takes up position by the door, in case any guards come, while Percival and Gawain take out the lab. Percival directs Gawain to take one of the tanks of Sulfuric Acid to destroy the bulk of the Blue Ice, while he sets to work on sabotaging the production machines.

Mechanical Engineer (60%) 71. Failure.

The machine remains intact, but what he’s hearing over the radio is what makes Percival pause. “Guys?” He says. “They’re starting to get organized.”
“Grab a sample and leave the machine,” says Tristan. We have work to do.”

Game	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness by Erick Wujcik
Module	Turtles Go Hollywood by Daniel Greenberg
Oracle	Mythic Game Master Emulator by WordMill