To Russia With Love

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Outline
Concept:

The players are tasked to enter a house of a man in Yakutsk and steal a Firebird from him. They do so with some difficulty (he is an ex-millitary hoarder). Finally they charter a flight to Verkhoyansk which is 200 miles away. During their flight, the plane crashes and they must hoof it the remaining 120 miles (193km) to Verkhoyansk. They may attract the attention of a nearby cult of Gamayun who will wish to destroy the intruders and free the firebird. They have dogsleds as well, but their camp is heavily fortified. The players will pick up several Curses during their interaction with the cult. The players must then reach the next city in a survival situation.

Afanasiy wakes the players up from their sleep in a shitty Russian apartment. He proceeds to tell them that they need to go to a particular address and pick up a bird from the owner Alexi Randoff, then deliver it to Verkhoyansk.

Alexi's house is well fortified and large, with its own property. There are video cameras on the premisis, and he will see the players coming via silent alarms. When he does, he will don armor and weapons and prepare to attack.

Alexi: 4 dex, 5 firearms, 3 athletics, 4 stamina, 3 endurance. Gear: Millitary coat (4 armor, no penalty)

AA-12 shotgun with drum mag, 22 shots, 8 damage, difficulty 6. Extra mag.

2 flash-bang grenades, one cooked off

2 frag grenades

2 tear gas grenades

millitary gas mask (with night vision goggles)

Combat knives (x2)

Luger pistol, damage 5, difficulty 6. Stimulant (no wound penalties)

After the players get the firebird from the house, they must find a way to get to Verkhoyansk. The only way is by private chartered plane. About 3/4 of the way through the flight, the plane begins to crash. Highly perceptive players may notice that the engines stop. The pilot will come back from the cocpit and begin to search in the back for a parachute. He finds one, and then jumps out of the plane. Inside the plane there are 1 fewer parachutes than rollers, 2 fewer if the russian takes one. The other passengers will want a parachute too, so the players will have to fight them for it. If two players share a 'chute, the fall will deal 4 bashing and they will be required to make a strength + athletics check to hold onto the other person.

The plane will go on to crash upon a rock spire. The players are on a plataeu of sorts and there are little to no landmarks available. There is no vegitation and the ground is made of ice. If the walk to the edge, they can see clouds. It is daytime and the air is very cold (about 0 degrees). At night the air will get down to -20.

There is only 6 hours of sunlight a day (18 hours of night). The sun rises and sets very near to itself. The parachutes that they have will really help them if they gather them. Metal instantly freezes to skin (pee on it to release it). Every thousand feet you descend, the temperature rises by about 4 degrees. The players' bodies will need twice as many calories per day to maintain their core temperature. Eating snow only serves to dehydrate them further (because of the body heat required), and melting ice inside a canteen in a jacket isn't much better.

The players will eventually find a steep edge that they might want to chance down. This is very steep and the characters must be athletic to make it for sure. Once down, there will be many trees and bushes, but passing around within them won't be difficult. The forest is silent.

The players may chance upon a cave, but there is no food inside. Without heavy duty survival gear, the players will be freezing to death at night. Without any snow gear, they will not survive the evening. Shelter is key. KEY.

Frostbite can strike in minutes if players are working with their hands. Frostbite is guarenteed if they do not have gloves. If they work too hard, they may start to sweat. If they sweat, the layer of sweat may begin to freeze to their skin, freezing them to death.

Without a toboggan to carry supplies with, they will not be able to carry much more than their encumberance allows. While encumbered, the players are likely to make 2mph progress. With 6 hour days, this can quickely lead to cannibalism in search of food. There is almost none available. The players will eventually come to a second large slope that they will need to go down. It is covered with rocks, so if they're not careful they could die going down it. Injured players present a huge threat to survival for the group if they can't keep up.

The players will eventually come to a wide open 'field', which is actually a frozen river. Navigating around it would take days. They may opt to go over it. One player (one of the heaviest) will fall victim to the firebird once more and fall through the ice. Upon contact with the ice water, they must make a stamina + endurance roll difficulty 6 or go into cardiac arrest from shock. Heart rate will immediately climb to about 200bpm. Muscles will weaken and cramp within minutes, and conciousness is lost soon after. If they are pulled from the water and they do not remove their clothes, they will die of hypothermia. (uncontrolable shaking, blue skin, instinctual response to dig). The correct response is to dry yourself using powdered snow, and then get warm, dry clothes on. Without clothes on, the character will die. The eyes will be affected very heavily by the cold water, and the character who goes in will be temporarily blinded within seconds.

After the river, the players will be thrust in to 'true' taiga. There will be trees as far as the eyes can see and no land marks visable. It may feel claustrophobic.

Original notes:

Players encounter a Firebird which bonds them to it and brings unspeakable misfortune.

o Russia With Love

the players are dropped in russia to contend with the wilderness and obtain a firebird. They must survive a plane crash, the arctic climate, and eventually the misfortune that the bird brings to them during their conflict with a paramilitary org.

Players are approached by Koschei who wishes to give the bird to glivassigg.

Players kill a man, capture the bird, take a plane to their destination. The plane crashes en-route and they must survive the treck through the snowy mountains to get to the village.

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