Atomic Highway @ Open RPG Day 3/12/2011, Comic Store West

For my afternoon session at the Open RPG Day March 12th, 2011 at Comic Store West's morning session, I ran one of my favorite games, Atomic Highway!


Three players from the last Open RPG day came back and 3 new ones joined them on and adventure named Milk Run.


Spoiler alert! I'm going to write this adventure up and post it on our sit for Game Master to use. So if you might be playing in it you don't want to read it!! But let your GM's know its out here for them, thanks!


Milk Run
Boss man Billy G, owner of BG's Raceway and the town of Chappell called the group up to have a chat with him. he's got 2 of his favorite drivers, hurt in the last race, that he wants taken to the monks of Comfort In Gods Arms right off old exit 177, just south of New Platte. Along with the 2 drivers he wanted them to haul six 55 gallon barrels of milk. They would give it to the monks and the monks would give them back a bunch of tech stuff. When they ask the boss why they wanted milk he said he didn't know but they did good trading so it didn't matter to him. He also gave them a truck to haul the milk in and told the group that his drivers, the milk and the truck were worth more to him then the whole group put together, so don't let anything happen to them!

The game then opened into the middle of a road combat. It ended in the players destroying 3 raiders and their Road Warrior flipping his Mustang and all but dead as the Police of Big City, pre-death Ogallala, drove up and checked out the situation. The policeman then sent them on their way.

At exit 177 they found the Comfort Inn that had had the last 'n' knocked off and huge metal letters hanging below that said Gods Arms and front of the building was a Pre-Dark War Memorial or 3 soldiers and a huge metal plate with a large pyre burning on it. The monks met the party in the parking lot and took the Road Warrior and other 2 injured while other monks came with dollys to claim the barrels of milk. The Monks then told them that they did not have the high tech items for them today but tomorrow the truck would come with the shipment and they could have the tech items and their healed wounded back. They were welcome to stay in the parking lot over night but they were asked to please stay in their vehicles. When asked why they wanted milk one of the head monks ran back into their building and returned with several pre-death magz and showed them pictures of people with milk mustaches. Then he pushed back his own cowl and smiling big, with a white upper lip he said "Got Milk? Milk does a body good!" Being very pleased that someone was interested they went about their own business.

In the middle of the night the group was awoken to chanting. They saw 11 monks carrying 3 blooded white sheets wrapped around body shape figures. Thinking they saw one of them move the party quickly ran over and demanded that the monks put down what they were carrying. The monks assured them that all was as if should be and that they were to return to the cars. The monks didn't stop and the players opened fire on them. As one went down to a players flame thrower the monks begged the party to allow them to do what MUST be done. After several monks had been killed the rest dropped the bed sheets and ran into the Inn locking themselves inside. While inside the sacks they found 2 bodies they could not identify and their road warrior who was drugged and groggy.

From the Inn speakers boomed and the monks said that they have not yet harmed the group and they must be allowed to complete the ritual. When they asked why they had tried to sacrifice their road warrior the monks replied that he was he was to far gone to waste the gods healing upon. The player they took the dead monks and the two dead and placed them in the pier and returned to their cars. Volvo, the one played stayed and help the monks when they came out and finished their ritual. This involved letting the bodies burn and then using shovels to scoop out the remains and pile them by the edge of the small nearby lake. Before returning to the Inn they told Volvo that since he showed interest and had not harmed anyone if he wished he could join them to become an initiate of the monks order and they would expect an answer in the morning.

The next morning the party was taken in to see their friend and then two wounded road-warriors from Chappell. Inside the Inn they were amazed by the amount of high-tech items they saw and they were pretty sure that what they were seeing was more advanced then any pre-death stuff they'd ever seen.

Volvo's stayed to start his initiation while the rest fo the group drove north up 83 to visit the huge trading post they had seen on the other side of the interchange. The pre-death building was shaped like a old wooden fort with machine gun emplacements along the walls and in the towers. They were met our front by a man dressed in a loin clothe and huge feathered head dress who invited them in to trade.

After shopping (funny a one off game and the players still want to go shopping for gear! =) ) and as they were leaving they felt the ground vibrate and the feeling grew stronger and stronger when from the north a well kept Semi with blackened windows and pulling a short box drove by. It made no noise at all and if it wasn't for the ground vibrating they'd might not have noticed it. Sure that was the truck with the tech they headed back to the inn.

At the Inn Volvo had been given his initial classes and given holy milk to join him with the monkhood as an initiate. When the truck arrived he was put to work emptying out crates of tech items and then filling the truck with 55 gallon drums of milk. When it was completed he noticed the leader of the monks walk up to the tractor of the semi and from it climbed down a small grey skinned mutant with skinny arms and legs and big almond shaped eyes. After the two of them spoke the mutant climbed back into the truck and it departed.

The party return and had their tech and wounded, now fastly healing, put on their vehicles and wished a safe trip. Volvo was told to return to finish his initiate period and released back to his friends who found that his upper lip was stained a permanent white.

Several of the group wanted to follow the truck back to where ever it came from but the wiser prevailed and the group returned to Chappell to give the Boss his tech and his, now healed, drivers.

Back at Chappell the boss filled thanked them and filled all their tanks and supplied them with ammo. The game ended with Billy G. promising some party members a motorcycle and a battle car if they drove for him, and won, in the up coming race.

Of course they accepted and you can expect that next Open RPG day's Atomic Highway game will start at B.G Raceway!

I can't say enough about this system. Atomic Highway is great for high-action quick play games and it lends itself to role-play events like Comic Store Wests Open RPG days. Nothing tells you that people enjoyed it more then when someone buys their own copy after playing...so far I've sold 3 copies!

You guys that played ~ Thanks for playing, see you next time!