Diamond Annie and the Pentagram of Peril.

[Silbuster]

Diamond Annie and the Pentagram of Peril!

The word was that a sorcerer’s den had been discovered and it was still working. I don’t normally hold with the magic malarkey. It’s not natural, if you ask me. Mind you, its loot usually is so after putting it to the vote (“Who fancies being stinking rich?”), we decided to pay a visit. Sadly, we weren’t alone.

That much was obvious as the bullets started flying while we were still scouting the scenery. To the Souf…I do beg your pudden… to the South was Sweeney Todd, obviously come to close the place down and grab the goodies for themselves. While to the East were some renegade Queen’s Hussars anxious to supplement their pension. It all looked like it was going to get nasty. I wasn’t wrong.

Sniper Sue plus supporting carbines formed a fire base on a hill so everybody formed their own and blazed away in support of the rest who tried to rush the gates. We got to one first and wished we hadn’t. One knock and Jack the Ripper’s ugly brother leapt out. Fortunately, the Lady in Black was nearby and at the cost of a sizeable dent in her shotgun’s stock, Jolly Jim Ripper bit the dust. She was just congratulating herself when Captain Catastrophe of the Queen’s Own materialised in his place. ’Struth! What’s going on here?! What have we been drinking?

We were feeling a bit nervous about this particular gate. Looking elsewhere we could see that a hussarette was hugging something purple and expensive looking over in the next building. We and the police moved over to see if we could share…

Casualties were building up now. The coppers in particular were taking a hammering with Sniper Sue hors de wotsit together with a supporting cast. On the other hand, both Sherlock Holmes and PC Blenkinsop had hold of something big, red and tasty and didn’t seem inclined to give them up despite considerable encouragement from our operatives. Fortunately, at that point Captain Catastrophe knocked on our gate and ran off with a werewolf at her heels leaving the Lady in Black to question blasted Blenkinsop. Sadly their soppy Inspector got in the way.

Blimey! Where were the goodies? Something bold and blue appeared before a Hussarette. We shot her and moved closer. So did the police and the rest of the girls in black. In desperation, Miss Velvet knocked at another door only to be greeted by Jack the Ripper’s really ugly brother. We were really having all the luck here. To cap it all, PC Throttler asked another gate what was going on here and got  handed a big, golden ball. At this point, we and the Hussarettes decided to call it a night. There might have been a carpet of dead bluebottles on the floor but they had at least three times the rewards the rest of us were looking at and that’s what counted. Disconsolately, we picked up the Misses Blue Pants, Aquamarine and Purple and headed for a few pints down the local.

Diamond Annie,
Spare a tanner, guv’
And I’ll spare you.

The Pentagram is represented by six gates (six sided dice in the photos). One at the centre of the board; the others arranged in a pentagon about 5” from the centre. Figures stop when they make contact with a gate and throw a six sided die each turn they are in contact with it:
1/ Booby trapped bomb. Attacks at +5, pluck modifier -1, radius of effect 3”
2/ A demonic wolf emerges from the gate and immediately attacks.
3/ A ripper emerges from the gate and immediately attacks.
4/ Number the gates 1 to 6 and throw a D6. The figure emerges at the numbered gate. If an enemy figure is already in contact with the gate then it can engage it in combat.
5/ A casualty of your choice pops out of the gate. “Where have you been malingering? Welcome back.”
6/ An object of inestimable value pops out (Coloured D10s in the photos).

Scoring:
2 points for taking out an enemy soldier.
5 points for taking out an enemy leader.
15 points for carrying an object of inestimable value off table. The figure has to leave with the object and may not return.

[Chairface]

Wonderful looking game!

[Craig]

Always brightens up my morning this 

[shadowking1957]

another great one superb made my day

[oabee]

Entertaining report, as always.

Really--REALLY--like the Pentagram of Peril: this would make a great--GREAT--convention game.

I'm thinking out loud here: How about alternative markers for the gates? My first thought was Litko Game Accessories:



It would cost a bit: the Iron Gate Markers are 6 for $24.99, Sealed Gate Tokens are 3 (of the same type) for $7.99. But it looks very nice indeed. Wouldn't even need painting, although most--all?--of us probably couldn't resist the temptation to slap some paint on those gates. Maybe Litko would give you a deal on 5 tokens/gates if you asked. Or you could do the Hexagon of Peril.  

Or you could just use the tokens, or make your own gates, whatever.

I'm not sure, but I don't think the lightning bolts are included.

There are a lot more options out there...I'll leave those to others.

Good to see the girls in action again. Silbuster: as you've played a lot with Diamond Annie's Company, I would be interested in how they've evolved over time: changes in equipment/weaponry, additions/subtractions of characters, etc.

For those who don't know, this was one of the first IHMN Companies I published, and I'm very fond of the girls. You can find the original version here:

http://inhermajestysname.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/diamond-annie_s-forty-thieves-by-michael-j-obrien.pdf

An updated version, compatible with Heroes, Villains, and Fiends, with more latitude in Mystical Power selection, is here:

http://wrgmr.com/forty%20thieves.pdf

[Silbuster]

I went with what was available at the time... dice! However, those gates are somewhat inspirational. You are correct that it would add some class to the affair and it is intended to play it again.

As to Diamond Annie; she's had to adapt to "environmental" changes. Originally conceived as a class act villain, she increasingly found herself facing veteran military companies armed to the teeth with enough firepower to bring World War Zero to a noisy end. Hence the 9mm version of C96 Mauser many of them are armed with (which was not actually produced until the early 20th century). It has the same characteristics as a repeating crossbow but the additional -1 pluck modifier is an absolute must when none of your enemy have a pluck lower than 4. In addition, she and Baby face have overpowered on the fantasy that they are reincarnations of Amazon queens and become fanatics. It's actually a requirement for their survival. She became a bullet and bolt magnet. The pins may be alright for subterfuge but when it became a question of total war on the streets, something harder was required. Hence, Mollie and Dollie have become the gang's enforcers, openly carrying sabres up the Old Kent Road. "The Hills from Hell" as they're known. Equally, Gertie might as well have thrown her little arc pistol at the opposition for all the good it was doing, so she was the one who invented the 9mm C96 while she's used her technical skills to bring her shooting up to Annie's standard. The company in the pentagram game was:

Character            Pluck   FV   SV   S   Cost   Talent      Equipment
Diamond Annie         2      3   4   1   67   Leadership+2,fanatic   9mm C96,diamond rings,magneto,inspirational,markswoman
Baby face            3      3   2   0   36   Tough,fanatic, Shotgun, sword, magneto
Dorothy            4      3   1   0   21         9mm C96,sword,magneto
Gert Scully         4      0   3   0   21   Markswoman      9mm C96,magneto
Girlsx3            5      1   1   0   15         9mm C96,pin,magneto
Girlsx5            5      1   1   0   12         Pistol,pin,magneto

Crazy Mary went East again and came back wiser but more aware of her mortality:
Crazy Mary         3      1   0   1   34   Fanatic,ZOS,bartitsu   Magneto

[oabee]

I went with what was available at the time... dice!

Hey, no problem with that. Best to try out a scenario with whatever's on hand before dropping the big bucks on upgrading scenery. I think you've got a real winner here, and it's perfect for a convention game. I'm about to put together a Victorian cemetary, and this would be a great scenario for it.

Annie increasingly found herself facing veteran military companies armed to the teeth with enough firepower to bring World War Zero to a noisy end. Hence the 9mm version of C96 Mauser many of them are armed with. 

When I originally submitted this Company, all the named characters had Mauser C96s, and I believe it was an option for the Girls. I thought this would give the Thieves some punch, which they could well hide in the folds of their skirts. Then this guy named Craig something-or-other, who claimed he helped write the rules, suggested to me that the Mausers shouldn't be so plentiful.  So I cut most of them out. Looks like my original  concept was proper, after all. 

And I like the swords.

Well done!