Play@YSDC

The thick tail snakes around Simon and starts to constrict. The head twists, like it is looking into his eyes, and then the toothed mouthpart projects towards his face, just like it did with Lindsay.

Would be a bonus for having Simon grabbed but that's cancelled by penalty for the effect of the light. Attack 65%: 1d100 52

That's a success for the creature, you can roll to fight back, but you'd need a hard success or better, or you can roll to Dodge - just needing an ordinary success

Yeah, bonus for point blank, and the creature can't dive for cover as it's busy trying to eat Simon. Don't fumble though as Simon is very close by

"I figured it out!" Simon laughs in the creature's face, madness and triumph in his eyes as he struggles to avoid the beast. He hardly seems aware he's being constricted.

1d100 Dodge 36

Kris switched his grip on the shotgun as it returned from its missed swing. He pulled thecstock into his shoulder and brought the barrel up sharply so it was little more than a hair’s breadth from the creature’s snapping maw. ”Time to die!” he snapped, and he pulled the trigger…

Fingers crossed…

Shotgun (25%) - 1d100

Bonus die for point blank range - 1d10

Is it possible to spend a point of luck to make that a success?!

Jocelyn pulls on the door, but it resists her. Luckily, she is able to force it open.

STR roll (35% stat) to open the door:
d%
Spending 7 Luck to make that succeed.

The three lobed mouth shoots straight for Simon's face, perhaps it's his building madness and the erratic nature of his movements, but the creature's maw, all teeth and facial claws, pulls up short, snapping and clawing ineffectively right before Simon's eyes.

Kris uses this moment to fire the shotgun inches from the mouthpart. The deafening explosion sends Simon reeling, his ears ringing. Both Kris and Simon are splattered with chunks of flesh, Simon can't even open his eyes he is so caked in mucosa, blood, and other tissue. A long, wet slapping, muttering sound erupts from the direction of the creature, then a rising howl, the air throbbing with it, strident, wild, and menacing.

With Jocelyn hauling on the holed and battered door the locking mechanism finally splinters and rips out of the doorframe, the rest of the door flies open, bathing the hotel room in the bright artificial light of the corridor. In the doorway stands Ollie holding the big red key, flanked by the other two AFOs, their MP5s raised to shoulder height and aimed into the room. Behind them stands DS Bates with a frantic look on her face.

The creature issues a sad moan which starts to die away almost as soon as it begins. In the bright light its outline starts to waver and blur, it becomes misty and indistinct, until finally the last few wisps dissapate in the air and there is nothing but the curtains rippling in the breeze from the open window.

Luck well spent

Shotgun damage 4d6: 4d6 11

"Regina's under the bed, she's fine," says Jocelyn, moving out of the way so the others could enter the room. "I tried to get her out of the room when I heard that thing coming, but Lindsay misunderstood my intentions and shot me. I was trying to get Regina out when the...creature attacked Lindsay. That's all that's left of her."

DS Bates walks into the room and crosses over to Lindsay's body. 'Jesus, what a mess.' She looks up at Kris who is still holding the smoking shotgun, 'You have got a lot of explaining to do.'

At Jocelyn's mention of a creature Bates looks confused, 'Creature, you mean these things?' she asks, pointing at the insects which seem to have calmed down and are now settled on the floor, walls, and ceiling of the hotel room, with a few fluttering out of the window and into the hallway.

"No, you didn't see it?" asks Jocelyn. "I didn't get a good look myself, since I was dealing with Regina. Whatever it was, it broke in through the window from the outside."

Kris broke open the shotgun to make it safe then relaxed slightly, allowing the gun to drop down by his side. DS Bates attitude was starting to get on his nerves but he tried to bite down on that and report what he had seen. ”Some sort of creature attacked Lindsay Peale,” he said, determined to keep his report factual and to the point. “It grabbed ahold of her, crushed her in its coils, then bit her head off. It sounds unbelievable, but her injuries should be consistent with my report.”

“It tried to do the same to Dr Eagleton but I blew its fucking head off. When you opened the door it seemed to disappear. It likes the darkness but can’t handle daylight.” He looked down at his blood- and ichor-stained jacket and wiped a thumb down his lapel and offered it to DS Bates. “This might be worth analysing too. See if it tells you anything about the creature that attacked us.”

Despite looking like the killer from a 1980's slasher movie, Simon is grinning widely.

"I told you! I told you all that this was just smoke and mirrors! The 'creature' vanished when light hit it-- no doubt because we would have seen the flaws in the illusion when it was fully illuminated. Where's Lindsay?" He attempts to force his eyes open and looks towards her, seeing her remains. "No, this isn't right... how can she be..." He seems momentarily at a lose for words, struggling to process everything in a way that makes sense to him.

Kris didn’t say anything, he just gripped Simon’s shoulder in a reassuring manner.

PC Grey and the two other AFOs enter behind Bates, their submachine guns raised to a firing position as they criss-cross the room. 'Room's clear boss' says Grey while PC Wisniewski is down on her hands and knees looking under the bed, 'You're safe now Regina, out you come.' PC Babcock stands at the door, facing into the corridor, and blocking any entry.

Ollie comes up to Kris and takes the shotgun, 'Evidence.' He gently puts his hand on Kris's back and looks down at Lindsay's body, surprisingly tenderly he says 'First kill's always hard.'

Bates looks sceptically at Kris's explanation and she looks more alarmed when Simon starts talking. She steps over the body towards the window, crouching down and picking up some broken glass. She stands and looks out into the night. Then turns back to Kris, 'So, you're telling me someone or something broke in through this window and killed Lindsay by biting her head off. And not, despite how it might look...' She gestures to the empty shotgun cartridges on the floor, and the blood on the end of Kris's finger as he holds it out to her. 'That you blew her head off with her own shotgun in a moment of panic, maybe mistaking her for something else in the dark, something that wasn't there when the lights came on...'

I'm gonna need an Extreme success on Persuade if you want to convince Bates, and maybe the AFOs too, that there is some killer creature on the loose

It seems to Simon that Bates's explanation might just be the truth...

Persuade (55%) - 1d100 Nope…

Kris wasn’t going to be intimidated by Bates or the AFOs, swanning around with their guns and their tactical gear. ”Yeah, you weren’t in here so you didn’t see what went down. Forensics will prove I didn’t shoot her, see if they don’t!”

"I'll admit I didn't see her die," says Jocelyn, realizing that she does not sound like a good witness. "I was under the bed trying to retrieve Regina at the time. But look at the window. It was broken from the outside, not the inside. See the broken glass on the floor below it?"

Persuade roll (60 / 5 = 12% skill) to convince DS Bates and the AFOs:
d%

"Maybe we shouldn't be too hasty," Simon says. "It was rather dark in the room, due to the unusual behavior of the insects. I have never been in a situation where gunfire was exchanged before. I suppose it may be possible that in the chaos and stress of the moment our fears gave rise to hallucinations, the better to help us cope with everything. Kris and I at least seemed to have seen the same thing, which does give me pause, but perhaps one of our delusions fueled the other-- I cannot be certain what I was saying out loud. Then there was Lindsay herself-- she was quite clearly stressed, half maddened with paranoia, and she did shoot at you, Jocelyn. Are you alright?

"Perhaps... perhaps Lindsay attacked me and Detective Sapru shot her in my defense. As I said it happened so fast I am unsure what I saw. And I've already seen Balfour's ability to craft compelling illusions, and Jocelyn and I can both attest to. What does seem evident is that the insects began to swarm the room,which sent Lindsay into a tailspin of psychosis. Everything after that is murky."

"Regardless, I still remain convinced Reverend Balfour is dangerous. Hopefully these tapes Lindsay has reveal more of her concern towards him, but she never told us where they were, regrettably.

Kris frowned and shook his head. Simon’s comments were hardly helping his case.

”I can’t claim to know what’s going on,” he said calmly, ”But obviously something’s cracking off - look at the insects! Have you ever seen anything like that before?!”

“It sounds crazy,” - Kris tried not to look at Simon - “But Balfour and his church are behind this - you need to read his book.”

"She didn't just shoot at me," says Jocelyn, "she did shoot me. I'm lucky I wasn't killed. The vest helped a little, but it still hurts. I'm going to need a doctor, but we need to search Lindsay and the room for the DVD she mentioned or any clue as to where it is. Maybe Regina heard her say something when they were alone in the room. We should ask her about that once she recovers."