Toll Bridge over the Great Gorge

The party is on its way. Ray, the sheriff of (the last town) has instructed you to seek out New Singapore which is past the Great Gorge. He says the Gorge is impassable overland but their are bridges that can get them across.

Survival Check (DC10) - To travel in the correct direction. On a fail the group encounters a group of five Radclaws as they have travelled too far south. After defeating them (or running away), they can find their way. Slain Radclaws can be eaten in place of trail rations.

Hours later you make your way to what can only be the Great Gorge, a crevasse that isn't so wide as it is incredibly deep.

Roll Perception- You see what Ray was talking about. The gorge is straight down on both sides and too far to jump, especially with the truck. If you listen, you can hear moving water at the bottom but you can't see it.

The party's options are left (south) or right (north).

If the party chooses south then they travel for an hour before having the cliff turn out as it meets the coast, a dead end. As you pull a u-turn the truck backfires loudly and echos off the gorge's walls. As the truck pulls away, the party hears a massive caw! Its a pterodactyl! It swoops out of the gorge end and flies high in the air and then after the truck.

Pteranodon

CR 3

XP 800
N Large animal
Init +8; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +11

DEFENSE

AC 16, touch 14, flat-footed 11 (+4 Dex, +1 dodge, +2 natural, –1 size)
hp 32 (5d8+10)
Fort +6, Ref +8, Will +3

OFFENSE

Speed 10 ft., fly 50 ft. (clumsy)
Melee bite +5 (2d6+4)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.

STATISTICS

Str 16, Dex 19, Con 15, Int 2, Wis 15, Cha 12
Base Atk +3; CMB +7; CMD 21
Feats Dodge, Improved Initiative, Skill Focus (Perception)
Skills Fly –1, Perception +11

Fight off the pterodactyl. Remember that if the truck is moving away from the flyer than it isn't in the truck's MG front arc. However, it is not recommended that the party stop and present a target.

If the party turns right (north) than they will come to a bridge within an hour. The bridge is rudimentary but an effective lift bridge (the kind that's center moves up and down). The control booth is on the far side (150 away) and if the party calls across or waits long enough an old man's voice comes over the radio-speaker on their side.

"What?!"

NPC-Gregory Spanmaster-Grouchy Toll Keeper
Gregory is 68 and has spent his life building and maintaining bridges over the Great Gorge. This is his third and favorite as it has lasted the longest. From the booth he can control the drawbridge and demands tribute to use it. Gregory is old and his habit of asking for things to use his bridge has left him with few friends. This makes him ornery and unpleasant to deal with.

Conversational Direction:
"Gotta pay the toll!"
Which is?
"Um, well letsee. Broke me wrench recently, got one of those? And I need some motor parts to get the Loretta here working again. Who's Loretta? Why my bridge o'course!"
Can we give you anything else?
"Nope, them's me terms. A wrench and new motor parts. No! I don't need nothin' else right now."
Where can we get these things?
"Hmm, I used to get things from up the road that way. There's an old Super Consum-a-lot store that people lived in for a while. Its got an automotive section that should have the tools and parts I need. You get this stuff and I'll let you come across."
Why can't you get the stuff?
"I'M OLD! And I don't want to. And I don't have to, I'm already over on this side."

Gregory will not be swayed towards anything else. He will agree to watch the truck if the party leaves it and will make sure its fine. He's a grouch, but he's no thief.

If the party wished to do so they could shoot at Gregory. In his booth he has 3/4 cover (+7) and light concealment (10%) and its 150 ft away. Its a tough shot, but possible. If you kill him, someone then has to get over to his side of the bridge and activate the lift.

A Craft (structural) or Repair DC-10 reveals that the bridge is in rough shape and needs repairs like Gregory said. Without Spanmaster to repair it, it could be tricky. The system that runs the bridge is custom and hectic. It takes a Computer Use (DC 17) to get it to work. If this check is failed, a Disable Device will take the computer apart and a Repair or Craft (electronic or structural) check (DC17) will be needed to rig something. Once the bridge activates it grinds to a half 3/4 of the way down. You hear the motor strain and then blowout with a small explosion. It appears the parts are necessary to use the bridge. It would be possible to build a ramp to get up, but the truck isn't built for that, its a risky landing, and any damage to the truck could be disastrous to your mission. The best course of action is to go get the parts.

It is a walkable distance so for the sake of saving fuel it would be advisable to leave the truck with the freezer on. A ten minute ride or half an hour walk in the direction indicated will lead the party to a ghost town. Only a bit in they'll come to a massive parking lot for the Consum-a-lot. The rusted out wreckage of ancient vehicles are here and there and the storefront looks like it was barricaded and then broken into. You can't hear anything.

At the entrance you confirm that this place was once the home of a community of squatters who did a decent job of building it into a fort. However, skeletons litter the breach and the fortifications have been smashed in. Once inside your eyes adjust to the darkness. A Perception check (DC15) will find a control panel that will activate dim lights, half of which flicker and die when you turn them on. Another Perception (DC5) will reveal more skeletons, many in large piles. With the lights on you can perceive how big the store is, but little about its contents.

If the party thinks of it, the departments are labelled. The automotive section is in the back right corner, the food department is on the left and it appears that this is where the community had set up its fort. Plywood and grocery carts form a defensive ring around the produce section, with catwalks to the freezer sections and over the shelves.

After exploring for a bit, the party will hear rustling. If they look for the source they find a ragged man shuffling around a corner. He doesn't react right away. Depending on how the party reacts the man will either look up or groan deeply. If the party tries to talk to him or get any closer he will lunge trying to bite. He is a zombie.

Medium Zombie

CR 1/2

XP 200
NE Medium undead
Init +0; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +0

DEFENSE

AC 12, touch 10, flat-footed 12 (+2 natural)
hp 12 (2d8+3)
Fort +0, Ref +0, Will +3
DR 5/slashing; Immune undead traits

OFFENSE

Spd 30 ft.
Melee slam +4 (1d6+4)

STATISTICS

Str 17, Dex 10, Con —, Int —, Wis 10, Cha 10
Base Atk +1; CMB +4; CMD 14
Feats Toughness^B
Special Qualities staggered

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Staggered (Ex)

Zombies have poor reflexes and can only perform a single move action or standard action each round. A zombie can move up to its speed and attack in the same round as a charge action.

The party is now on the clock. Basically any reaction besides a professional ninja taking this zombie out will alert the others. Every round more zombies will come. The move slowly and are brittle but they are numerous. The party must get to the automotive section to find the parts they need. However, they will find that there are only small wrenches that have specific sizes. Your group doesn't know what size you need.

If they are efficient, they might explore some more and find that the sporting section has bats, bows, arrows, ammunition and some old firearms. The firearms are in poor condition, but enough of them put together would make a functioning weapon. A Repair check or Craft (mechanical) and some time will allow for a character to assemble a functioning weapon or the parts can be taken for later. There is ammunition for small arms and rifles. The section also has a first aid kit.

If the party finds the pharmacy section they have the potential to find first aid kits (3), a medical kit (1, in poor condition), stimpaks (2), and the several of the ingredients for crafting pharmaceuticals.

If the party explores the fort (which requires a Disable Device (DC15) check to get in the front door) they could find the leader's monkey wrench. However, the zombie of the squatter's leader is still holding it. The leader is a special zombie, he's faster and is frightful to see and it summons more zombies.

Zombie Lord-
HP- 4D8
AC-15
Base Attack Bonus- +6
Good Saving Throw- Reflex
Skills- Climb(6), Jump(6), Perception(2)
Feats- Dodge (+1 to AC against chosen target), Frightful Presence (Will Save 12, target is shaken (-2 on rolls for six rounds)
Str.17 Dex.14 Con.15 Cha.14
Wrench 1D6+Str. (3), Grab +9(attk of oppr) (if a hold is maintained he can bite +6 1D6 damage)

After retrieving the wrench and the motor parts (and anything else they felt like grabbing) the party needs to get out of the building. By now there's probably an unhealthy amount of zombies between them and the door. They can fight straight through, use the catwalks to get over halfway and have a high point to shoot them down from or attempt to find an exit in the back of the building. Each is dangerous. Fighting out is obviously hard to do, but it is the most direct way out. The catwalks get the party up and out of harm's way but if they stay in spot too long the zombies will pile against the shelves and push them over with the possibility of falling or crushing damage to our heroes. If the party thinks to make a break for it by finding a back exit there's the possibility that one doesn't exist. It will take a Perception DC17 to find the back exit and a Disable Device DC 15 to open the locks that hold the doors shut. The doors are old and rusted so a strong party member could burst through. Once outside the zombies will only reluctantly go into the sunlight so two at most will pursue the party to the parking lot.

Its late when you return to the bridge but you are happy to find that Gregory has kept an eye on the truck and has even gone to the courtesy of plugging the truck into an electric generator to save you fuel. You're not sure how he got to your end of the bridge. He sends a basket over on a pull-line to put the parts into and barks over the intercom that he'll have you across by morning. About ten o'clock you hear the bridge lower so if you have the need to hurry you may go quickly. If the party waits until morning you can talk to Gregory on the other end, who's attitude is more pleasant and will give you directions to New Singapore if you're polite. You once again continue your journey into the sunrise.

This ends the second session.