Red Sand Brown Sky AAR - "I don't date clowns!"

She just wanted a drink, a drink and to be left alone. But after a few minutes at the settlement bar she found herself talking to some clown.

“C’mon baby, you’re new in town. I could show you around,” he said. “Just an innocent date, that’s all.”

She looked up and repeated. “Leave me alone.”

Stinky Breath leaned in and grabbed her arm with a smile. “That’s not too friendly…”

“I already told you once, I don’t date clowns.” Beth pulled her arm away and as Stinky Breath stumbled forward she drove an elbow into his face. The bar erupted as survivors went to their weapons as the bloodied man fell to the floor. Beth cleared the chair and drew her pistol, surveying the room for threats. Stinky Breath got to his feet and screamed.

“You %i#*$!” he yelled. “Fight! Fight! I demand the Right to Fight on your scrawny a$$.”

Beth was shaking from adrenalin as the noise grew louder with shouts of “Kill the clown!” and “Teach her a lesson.” The Councilmen were called and arrangements made for the fight. It would be settled right now.

 

“Don’t date clowns eh? That’s the last mistake you’ll ever make.”

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This is an AAR for Red Sand Brown Sky the soon to be released free supplement to Red Sand Black Moon the game of Fantasy Gladiatorial Combat. RSBM allows players to use any fantasy figure in gladiator matches and RSBS takes it a step further. Red Sand Brown Sky allows players to use any modern day or Post Apocalypse figure in gladiatorial matches. Think Thunder Dome. In this AAR I used two figures from the All Things Zombie range of 28mm figures from Acheson Creations. The clown with a chainsaw is one of my favorites so I was looking forward to seeing how he’d do in RSBS. You’ll see more of this line in the crowd as well as figures from other manufacturers.

Acheson Creations

RSBS also ties into the After the Horsemen  PA rules from THW to be released later this month. ATH is human centric and doesn’t have zombies, etc. ATH is about regular folks trying to survive and thrive after the “world has ended”.  

This fight takes place in a Settlement off of the Fringe of the Wasteland.  This actually started out as an ATH Encounter but quickly switched to a RSBS fight. In the ATH world survivors can fight these matches “professionally” or in response to an insult. Basically if you are insulted you can offer a challenge, the Right to Fight. If you refuse you are forced to leave the area or stay but be seriously disrespected which takes a variety of forms, none pleasant. The two characters didn’t do well on a People Challenge interaction from ATH so Stinky Breath took it as an insult. In any case, on with the story.

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Word of the fight spread quickly as the two made their way to the dirt arena on the outskirts of the Settlement. A crowd has already gathered when Beth and Clown made it. Everyone loved to see the Clown fight. I mean, not every day could you get a chance to see someone chopped up by a chainsaw! Even Ranae the Rat Girl was there.

Ranae the Rat Girl and a couple of other survivors.

The Clown’s posse arrived and brought his chainsaw. As they took their places in the crowd the two combatants entered the arena from opposite ends.

  

The Clown posse and other spectators.

The Councilman in brown hood entered the arena. He looked over at Clown boy and opened his book. 

 

Councilman Jones.

Writing down the Clown’s name he turned and asked Beth, “What’s your name?”

“You pick one,” she replied.

Unfazed he continued, “How do you spell it?”

Furious she yelled, “Beth! Beth! My name’s Beth!”

The Councilman just smiled and entered her name into the village history book. “You all know the rules and I only have one question. Yield or Die?”

Stinky Breath wiped a ball of spit from the corner of his mouth and leered across the arena. Yanking the cord his chainsaw roared to life. “Yield! I choose yield!”

Beth spat on the ground, “Die! I choose die!”

“Then fight!”

The crowd went into a frenzy as the match began. Bets were made on the local Clown and the stranger from the Fringe. Bets were taken on first blood, who would win and even on which body part the killing blow would be delivered. Nothing brings a village together like a good bloodletting.

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The match begins.

Not all fights need be to the death. If both combatants agree beforehand they have the option of yielding after blood has been spilled. The loser concedes to the winner whatever he wants. This can be goods, one day of work, or anything else short of maiming or killing the conceding opponent.  Beth was sure what the Clown wanted so it would be to the death. Besides, she really hated clowns. Anyway, back to the AAR.

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As the Councilman moved from the center the two opponents moved towards each other. Playing to the crowd Clown boy fed his chainsaw some gas watching sharp chain spin. “Don’t worry baby, I’ll make it quick,” he said with a grin. 

Beth shook her head and said, “Not today.” Pulling her BAP from its holster she fired before the Clown could move. Bam! A hit square in the chest and down went the clown! The crowd was immediately silent and Beth just smiled.

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Bam! A Big Ass Pistol shot to the chest puts the clowns down.

RSBS has a variety of weapons from one hand cutters, like a knife, to chainsaws and even flamethrowers. So of course there has to be modern firearms. Beth had a BAP and a machete as back up. But just like chainsaws have their limits, they can run out of gas, so do guns. You only get one bullet in the arena. And you better make it count.

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Clown boy stood up and rubbed his chest. “You got blood on my coat,” he said. “That pisses me off, scrawny.” Giving more juice to the saw he charged forward. Beth ducked under the saw and slashed the Clown in the belly sending him backwards.  The crowd yelled its delight while the Clown posse looked on in disbelief.  

A slash to the belly sends the Clown reeling.

The yellow 6 shows Beth's Maneuver score and the blue 5 shows the Clown’s. Game wise this means Beth will attack head on. 

Clown knocks away Beth’s attack and goes over to the offensive. An exhausting exchange of blows leave both opponents tiring and out of breath. “I gotta stop smoking, “Clown boy thinks as Beth backs away to catch her breath.

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In game terms both had run out of Bonus Dice. Each fighter in RSBM has three Attributes that affect how he fights. They are Savvy, Strength and Speed. Clown boy had a total of 12 points so had 12 Bonus Dice. Beth was actually a little better with 14 Attribute points. In addition to Attributes each fighter has one or more of sixty Signatures used in RSBS. Signatures are exhibited traits that help make each fighter unique. Beth was Strong Willed so had 3 additional Bonus Dice giving her 17, 5 more than the Clown. Even worse, Clown had Frenzy as a Signature. This meant he would burn 1 Bonus Die each time he rolled on the Attack Table. He had run out of Bonus Dice early but still had managed to hang on. And now Beth had spent her last Bonus Die. If he could land a hit with the chainsaw…

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Clown is huffing pretty badly by now and Beth isn’t much better. Clown goes over to the attack but Beth’s not lugging a chainsaw and evades the attack. Spinning about she aims a slice at Clown boy’s head…

Clown moves forward and the two go to the Maneuver Table. Clown scores 6 successes but Beth scores 8. Beth scores higher so will be the attacker and gains an advantage!

But the advantage is lost as she scores terrible on the attack. Clown scores more and lands a blow with the chainsaw!

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The machete clangs off the chainsaw as the Clown knocks her blow up away from his face. Down goes the chainsaw digging into the chest of Beth who screams and falls away! The noise of the saw is drowned out by the roar of the crowd at the sight of blood. Clown smiles and moves forward towards the prone Beth.

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Beth goes down with a serious wound, losing half of her Strength in her Chest.

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Beth was very lucky. The Chainsaw has 5d6 for damage and Clown’s Strength added another 4d6. Rolling 9d6 and only having 3 successes (a score of 1, 2 or 3) come up was very lucky. One more success and she would have been a Bleeder. But this has been a pretty long AAR so I’m going to cut it off here and post the rest of the story tomorrow.