#i also frequently make him drive off cliffs on his motorcycle

[epikfuny]

i found out that there's an actual current in the gta river and ive been making my own fun by forcing my guy to jump in the water and flail around helplessly as he ragdolls down waterfalls this game is great

[zippdementia]

Part 67 Alignment May Vary: Welcome to Hell

The players awaken and everything is messed up.

You all wake up to the sound of a repetitive blaring horn. Each of you is in a tube whose purpose is not immediately clear. Behind you is soft padding and in front of you is a see through cover made of some kind of hard glass. The world beyond this cover is darkness punctuated by frequent bursts of light that seem to come in time with the blaring horns. The light illuminates a large room.

It takes a moment for them to remember where they are. Once they do, they realize a very long time has passed and the spaceship is in trouble, about to crash land on a mysterious red planet and currently being bombarded by asteroids in an asteroid belt a computer tells them is “The River Styx.” Bob and Fiona are broken and rusted, and there’s no time to figure out what went wrong here. The players flee to the ship’s escape pods, only to have the hull of the ship breached and Aldric almost sucked out when he fails his saving throw. He makes it, but Blackrazor is ripped from his back and spins into space, lost.

All of you are tossed back and forth against the walls of the escape pod as it tumbles and twists and turns, spinning incessantly until you think your body will be crushed from the force of it. You can hear a roar and outside of the pod’s single window you can see heat and flame building up around the outside of your small circular craft. Then there is a mighty, sickening jolt and you are thrown one more time against the wall as everything finally goes still. The door to the pod slides open and a mechanical voice brokenly states “Thank you and have a safe journey” before an explosion of static cuts it short.

You emerge from the broken pod and clamber out onto red rock. The pod has come to rest on a high shelf overlooking a vast red landscape, a maze of dry canyons and valleys that stretches to the horizon. And on that horizon is a massive city scape, so large you cannot see where it ends. It literally encompasses the entire line of the horizon from left to right and though it is very far away, you can already see it is constructed of massive towering structures, like no city you’ve ever come across in your life or heard tell of before. A wind blasts across the landscape, stirring up red dust clouds and pulling at the fabric of your clothes.

At this point in the campaign, we are off book and running my own material. I’ve always wanted to do a planar adventure in Dungeons and Dragons. The possibilities such a campaign offers are exciting, though I have not found many official (or even unofficial) adventures set in the planes. And the ones I have always feel a little... I don’t know... standard. Like they just took the same kind of adventure you’d see in a normal campaign and themed it with different creatures.

For my planar campaign (which I am working on releasing on DMs Guild), I wanted something far more outside the box. Just as the characters are having the boundaries of their worlds stretched, I think the players need to have the boundaries of what they think of as a DND game stretched, too.

So the first thing I’ve changed is that these planes are literally planets, not planes. That lets me throw in a touch of sci fi for a nice spelljammer element. And the first of those planets to be explored is Planet Hell.

Encounter: The Hell’s Angels

The first big encounter here is against four biker devils, a Bone Devil (named Bones), a Bearded Devil (named Beards), a Barbed Devil (named... Cisco, which was supposed to be funny, but now I wish I’d just kept it Barbs, so let’s call him Barbs), and an Imp (Larry). These guys are straight out of Easy Rider, leather jackets and all, and they ride hovering jet bikes. The set up here is that they will attack the players and this will result in a jet bike chase through a maze like canyon full of dangers and driving challenges. While all this is going on, a meteor storm that hits Hell every day is about to start and the players will literally have to outrace the storm to make it to the safety of the world city of the Nine Circles (which is protected by a magic/science shield. Helping them in this endeavor is Alyss, a young blonde punk rocker looking chick who rides in on her own jetbike and warns the players that the biker gang is coming to investigate their crash site.

This encounter ends up being so much fun in so many ways.

First of all, the players don’t want to meet the biker’s head on. So Imoaza decides to use disguise self to look like a devil herself and pretend like she’s captured Carrick, who will then launch a surprise attack. She rolls a high success on her disguise and ends up looking like a classic red satan devil you’d get at a costume store, goatee and all. She also speaks Fiendish, as it happens, so she is able to really complete the disguise. It works and she doesn’t discard the disguise for the whole encounter. This ends up being absolutely ridiculous. Read on.

Beards tries to insult Carrick by peeing on him with a devil’s penis that looks like a living lobster and pisses acid and this is when Carrick launches his surprise attack, the other players joining him shortly.

Early on in the fight, Barbs and Bones escape, Bones dragging Imoaza’s red devil face along the ground until she is too dazed to fight him. He then blasts into the canyon, closely pursued by Alyss on her own personalized jet bike with Aldric riding shotgun and wielding a grenade launcher Alyss tosses him. Imoaza steals Larry’s tiny bike and rides after them, but for the life of her, she cannot roll well enough to figure out how to use the bike well. And while all this is going on, a meteor storm has begun to crash down around them. So what you end up getting is this ridiculous red satan devil (who is really Imoaza) cruising backwards on a hoverbike, screaming in terror as she races into the canyon just barely outrunning a meteor storm.

We honestly think this is the end of Imoaza. I’ve set up challenges the players must face to navigate the canyon and hers ends up being a leap over a wide chasm. With the way she’s been rolling... but then, against all odds, she rolls a critical success on this jump, and it looks a little like this...

The silence surrounding the chasm is broken suddenly by a shrill cry, like a plea for help, and rocketing into view comes a tiny hoverbike, clinged to by a tall red devil with a jet black goatee hanging beneath a mouth open in a wide scream. The Devil is ridiculously large a top the miniscule bike and Every part of his body that can grip something is gripping the bike: knees, buttucks, hands clenched on the seat of the motorcycle, his tall shape crouched low and terrified... and backwards... over the bike as it speeds its way without stopping towards the chasm. This is the end for the devil for sure. Except just before the bike takes its fatal dive, it hits a rock and is tilted upwards and suddenly the screaming devil man is flying, not falling, as the bike soars like an angel across the huge chasm, spinning around in the process, knocking the devil free from his perch, whereupon in his mad scrabbling he gets himself turned the right way around, grabs the handlebars and successfully lands on solid safe ground.

Then there’s Larry. Oh my god, Larry. I initially threw him in just so there would be an easily accessible bike for the players to use during the jet bike chase. But the minute I start voicing him and he keeps hilariously failing to injure Carrick while the Paladin (have I ever mentioned Carrick is a Paladin before?) fights Beards, using his fiery whip to smack away Beard’s attacks, Larry becomes a crowd favorite. Carrick especially loves him, finding the imp’s futile attempts to harm him more cute than anything else, to the degree that once Carrick defeats Beards, Larry takes a liking to him, calling him “Chuck” and determining they are going to be a new gang. He grabs Beard’s bike, tells Chuck to get on, and he rides him away from the Meteor Swarm, saying how cool it is that they’ve met and how they are going to be friends forever.

Well, by the time this happens, Aldric’s launching of grenades in the canyon has caused landslides and certain passages have been blocked off by piles of rock. Larry gets to one of these just in time to see Aldric and Alyss soaring over it in a marvelous display of driving skill and defying gravity, intent on continuing their chase of Bones and Barbs.

Larry looks at the rock wall and takes a deep breath. “Do you believe, Chuck?” He says in his small, hopeful, tremulous voice. Carrick slaps him on the shoulder. “I believe in you, buddy.” Larry then guns the bike, heading for the rock wall, about to perform the same stunt as Alyss. His eyes closed, his legs flailing out behind him (he’s too small for even his own bike), he drives a top speed for the wall.

And rolls a critical failure.

Carrick sees what is about to happen and does what any true friend would. He bails off the back of the bike, misty stepping off to witness Larry drive into the cliff wall, the bike upending itself to smash him into pulp against the rocks before exploding in a ball of fire.

And that’s the end of Larry, short lived favorite familiar.

The rest of the chase has too many crazy moments to list: Aldric finally catches up with Bones, jumping off his bike and impaling the devil, then stealing his leather jacket. Aldric and Alyss outrun a horrible cave monster a little bit like a gaping dragon from Dark Souls. Imoaza has to outrun the meteor storm on the way to the shielded city, and almost doesn’t make it. And Carrick finds Blackrazor in the desert.

This last moment is a defining one. Carrick initially is hesitant to retrieve the blade, knowing it is evil. But he also knows it may not be his call to make: this is Aldric’s burden to bear. The player is so torn, he literally has to toss a coin to figure out the answer. It tells him what to do... he picks up the sword, and Blackrazor is less than grateful, berating him for having let Aldric drop him in the first place. He does finally thank him and tells him that Carrick will play a nice role in his final plans, then makes a joke about eating the souls of children. This last one is too much for Carrick. Not sure whether Blackrazor is being crass or honest leads Carrick to realize he cannot trust the sword’s actual intentions. And in a moment of decision, he drops the sword back in the desert and rides away (he traded his exploded jet bike for a summoned horse... which here in Hell turns out to be a Nightmare). Blackrazor screams profanities at him as he goes, promising that one day he’ll cut off his head and drink his insides.

Eventually the party synch back up on the edge of the city, which this close up they see is actually just a ruined sprawl of ghettos. This is in fact an illusion, created by Alyss to protect them, but they won’t find that out for a while. For now, they wander the dead city with Alyss, who tells them to abandon the bikes except her own, which she hits a button on to cause it to shrink down to pocket size, and which she drops in her back pack. She explains a little about their situation while they walk.

Hell, it turns out, used to be involved in an eternal war with the Demons of the Abyss, in a conflict dubbed the Blood War that mostly took place in the River Styx, the asteroid field right outside of Hell. Some centuries ago, Asmodeus traveled to the Abyss himself at the head of a huge army to finally bring the fight back to the Demons. His plan was successful and he used a magic so powerful that the Abyss was sealed away into between reality, unable to manifest and interact with the real world. But Asmodeus himself did not survive the magic and Hell was left for the first time in its history without a leader.

With the war against the demons over, the devils turned on themselves, waging a war that began as a physical conflict but slowly became more political. Out of this war emerged the Nine Cities, a sprawling conglomerate of nine separate cities, all ruled by different Arch Devils. Hell also became a tense democracy, with the leader of Hell voted into office to serve a fifty year term. The current president is Mammon, devil of greed and pride, who rules from his vast casino-ridden city of Messmiter, the Golden City.

While different presidents have pushed different agendas and together have turned Hell into a technological leader in the universe, one thing they all agree on: Hell’s borders should remain closed, its warships destroyed and grounded. No one comes into Hell except in death. No one leaves Hell. Ever.

Alyss tells them that there are crystals here on Hell which call souls to them when those souls pass around the universe. It’s uncertain why a soul may be called by a crystal to end up reborn on Hell, but it is known that Devils used to be able to make this happen as a contract. Now with Devils forced to stay in Hell forever, the influx of new souls has slowed, leading to a lot of anger and unrest. Devils desire souls, they need them to grow in power. Without them, they feel starved and restless.

Also restless are the few unfortunates who end up being called to Hell. Not only are their souls almost always drained for a devil’s personal gain, but Hell used to operate on one basic principal: Hope. There was hope that with enough penance, one could leave for a better place. This actually used to be true. But no longer, not with the borders closed. So Alyss has joined a group known as the Hell’s Rebels, led by who she says is an incredible leader of men, a visionary. Their goal is to escape Hell.

This gives many reasons as to why the player’s presence is so disruptive and yet so important. One, they’ve broken the closed border rule, albeit unintentionally. Two, somewhere on Hell their working spaceship has landed, which could be the rebel’s ticket out of here. And three, they have fresh, living, souls. That makes them a target. And because Barbs escaped them in the canyon, she is sure word has reached Hell that they are here.

And with this set up, we enter my next planned scenario in Hell, hideout.

Rooftop Showdown

I want this part of the adventure to feel a little like Blade Runner, or Dark City. I am aiming for mystery and a touch of uncertainty and I want to create a daring escape.

So the set up becomes that Alyss brings them to a decrepit hotel room and leaves them, telling them she’ll be back in a few hours but under NO CIRCUMSTANCES are they to leave or open the door. They aren’t even to speak if someone calls to them. Alyss has her own way of getting back in. Don’t speak to anyone, she warns them again, before leaving. The players settle down for a much needed long rest, but when they finish it, Alyss hasn’t returned.

Three days pass. The players stay alive by Carrick casting “Create Food and Drink” and summoning a bunch of random Fiendish foods. They eat them all (except for a summoned plate of fried Bearded Devil Penis, which they leave in a corner of the room, where it begins to acquire a greasy acrid odor). Imoaza passes the time by reading various tomes she’s collected over the course of their adventures, especially the journals of her people taken from the Yuan Ti temple. Aldric digs through Alyss’ left behind backpack, eventually finding the shrunken motorcycle and blithely pocketing it for later study. He also finds an energy capsule which they use to recharge Carrick’s rifle. And he detoxes, not from drugs but from Blackrazor’s influence, slowly wresting his mind free from the blade’s evil influence, which he can still feel reaching for him and calling to him. Carrick finds a cellphone (of course, they don’t know this is what it is) and is able to pull out of his distant other-life memories that this is a communication device. He leaves it alone.

On the fourth day, a knock comes at the door. The players ignore it, and then Alyss’ voice calls to them, saying she lost the key and is being chased and needs to get inside. The group is nervous and anxious, not sure whether this is really her or not. As they hesitate, she becomes more desperate, saying that she will die if they don’t help her. They stay silent. Some time later, her voice returns, only this time she says she’s been caught and will be executed if they do not open the door immediately. She tells them that she will work something out with the Devils to keep them all safe, but they need to open the door now. Again, the players do nothing, and Alyss sobs and cries before there is a horrible crunching sound and her voice goes silent. Completely unnerved, Carrick uses a detection spell to try to sense anything outside the door. He senses a presence so large and evil that it almost makes him sick and he whispers to the others that he hopes they did the right thing by doing nothing.

It is not long after that the cellphone rings, jarring them all. Carrick picks it up and a male voice tells them he’s coming to get them, they have to trust him, that Alyss’ illusion is wearing off (it was never meant to last this long), that something has happened to her, and that they need to go. They decide to trust this voice and it (naming itself as “Jacobs”) instructs them to climb out of the window of the hotel and up to the roof.

Here is where things get crazy. Opening the window shatters Alyss’ illusion and for the first time, the players get a true look at the city they are in. It is not decrepit at all, but rather a bustling metropolis filled with flying vehicles, loud noises, and bright lights. It is night time right now but the city is brighter than day with all of its neon and LEDs. The players climb out of the window and Imoaza casts fly so that they can avoid a difficult climb. Just in the nick of time, too: behind them, the door to the apartment shatters and a Pit Fiend forces its bulk inside the room. But the players are already gone.

I think the sign that this section was a success was the players later asking whether that was really Alyss on the other side of the door. It wasn’t. In fact, it was the devils trying to break through her illusion and find them, but the fact that the question was left in their minds is exactly what I was trying to achieve, that uncomfortable feeling of “maybe we did the wrong thing.”

They end up having to wait on a rooftop while Jacobs makes his way to them. While they wait, they are accosted by a group of 12 Spined Devils and an Erinyes. Imoaza and Carrick face off against the devil’s in ranged combat from the roof, while Aldric flies up to meet the Erinyes, who taunts his bravery as base male bravado while ripping into him with her whip, spear, and arrows. The battle is intense, with spines falling all over the roof while Carrick and Imoaza use their eldritch blasts to fire back at the Spined Devils. Maybe the most intense moment comes when the Erinyes restrains Aldric with her whip and then throws him down into the river of traffic below them.

Damn that Larry, thought Harry as he steered his shiny new hovercraft down Risen Street, taking time to shake his fist at an old van as it puttered along in the lane he wanted to be in. If Larry would just start acting like an adult and less like a child then Harry’s life would be a lot simpler. Larry was supposed to have been back in town after the weekend to watch Harry’s kids (inexplicably, the little Implings loved their uncle Larry) but instead he was nowhere to be found. Harry wasn’t concerned, he knew Larry was most likely off with his gangster buddies and thinking of himself as much cooler than he in fact was. How many times did Harry have to tell his brother to get a real job before it was too late and no company would have him? How many times had Harry had to bail out Larry from some misadventure or another? Despite his anger, Harry couldn’t stop his lips from curling into a small smile as he thought of those misadventures. That was Larry’s one gift: no matter how much frustration Harry felt at him, his damnable brother was just so happy-go-lucky he couldn’t stay mad for long. As the frustration left him, Harry felt a sudden tinge of worry. Where was his brother? It wasn’t like him to just disappear without a trace. To be halfway around the world asking for help, yes, and inconveniencing his dutiful and responsible older brother, sure, but just disappearing was odd.

Harry didn’t have much time to consider the thought. There was a sudden jolt as a man fell from the sky and smashed against his windshield with the force of a dropped boulder. The shiny new hovercraft that Harry had spent nine years saving up for (it could fit all three of his kids and his wife besides) spun madly out of control, being ping ponged around by the other speeding traffic. Harry meanwhile, was flailing against the sudden release of the air bags, unable to see anything past their white bulk. He desperately tried to steer the car into safety, but only succeeded in pointing its nose directly at that old van that he had shook a fist at earlier. The two cars collided and Harry’s shiny new car was chucked aside into a building, Imp and vehicle alike exploding against its side in a fireball not unlike the one that had claimed his brother Larry only a few days earlier.

Eventually this battle comes to a halt. It is on a timer, with me rolling a die each round with an increasingly easy to hit goal number. When I roll that number, Jacobs arrives. There is one last mad dash as the players try to figure out what side of the roof Jacobs has pulled up to, failing all of their perception rolls, and leaping off of three different sides (all of them wrong). This results in Carrick being knocked unconscious and almost killed by traffic, Imoaza having to dodge madly through cars to save him, and Aldric (who got a haste spell from Carrick during the fight) whipping around in traffic like a car himself, madly looking for them.

They eventually all are pulled inside Jacobs’ vehicle and he flies them off to meet the leader of the Hell’s Rebels. Their hideout is a moving target, a giant airship that looks like a cross between a mighty galleon and a blimp, with a huge air bag suspended over the main deck and keeping the whole ship aloft, and giant jet engine pipes coming off the back of the ship to propel it forward.

They are taken on board the massive vessel and brought to see the commander. He stands in a long throne room, decked in an impressive robe and commander’s outfit. He turns as they arrive and eyes them all with a scrutinizing eye.

“Jacobs!” he shouts at last in a quick voice a little bit like a speeding racecar. “If I have tried to teach you one thing while being on board my ship, it is... well, it is my name. And you’ve actually done a great job of learning that. But if there was a second thing, it would be manners! And by all the devils in the nine hells, we do not leave people to bleed on our carpet. It’s not civilized! Did you even offer them something to drink? Get them a bath and a bed and whatever else they desire. Maybe a bowl of my famous cereal. That would perk them right up! Greetings, this is my ship the Jolly Roger Mark II and I’m Captain Krisp, Captain Roger Krisp, at your service. No, I won’t shake. I don’t know where you’ve been.”

And we stop there, with all of us laughing at the return of a favorite character. It’s a huge moment, actually, one I’ve been wanting to get to for a long time. Captain Krisp was one of those NPCs who became so quickly memorable that I’ve long wanted to bring him back into the campaign in a role that felt worthy of him. Being the captain of Hell’s Rebels is perfect. It also keeps alive the feeling of world-spanning that I’ve so valued in this long long long campaign. The fact that an entirely new group of adventurers is dealing with characters and plots left over from other groups of adventurers just makes the whole story feel epic. And of course, the players are the glue tying it all together.

By the way, for anyone ever wondering what Captain Krisp sounds like or how he thinks, I have taken massive inspiration from Varrick from Legend of Kora. Which is a wonderful show for many reasons, but maybe most memorably for Varrick.

Next time, we’ll get deeper into Hell and more crazy scenarios for the players to work through.

[badcowboy69]

Thundering Trivia

Whew bet y’all thought you’d not see another bit of writing from me ever again, huh?  Sorry for the absence and hopefully I can keep the stories going again.  Cute little short (well short for me) story dealing with Travis and Riley on a little outing of theirs out in Zion Canyon.  Bit of mild fluff, safe for work, and something new for any fans out there to learn about Travis.

Special thanks to @zoey-and-dakota for always encouraging me to strive with writings.  The thoughts were always there, just couldn’t get my mind to make my fingers type.  Story under cut due to length.

The sun was starting to set in Zion Canyon bringing with it a much needed coolness.  Bright red and orange light streaked the sky while fighting a losing battle against the evening blues and purples taking their place.  Off in the distance a thunderhead was forming with its anvil shaped mass reaching high up into the atmosphere.  Brief flashes of lightning could be seen within as the clouds making up the approaching storm continued to grow and swell.

Riley was leaning peacefully against the wooden door frame to the cabin that he and Travis were staying at.  He watched the skies carefully and figured the storm would be getting to their location very soon.  A sudden blast of cold air hit him from the downdrafts and he could feel the faint hint of rain on his face.  This certainly was not going to be one of the gentle showers that he’s previously experienced here in the Canyon.

It’s been almost a week since Travis brought him here saying they both were due for a change of scenery.  He didn’t say where they were going as he wanted it to be a surprise.  Having a car in their lives meant taking trips and exploring the wasteland would be much easier and pleasurable.  They could now travel farther and stay at their destination for a longer period of time as a result.  Although Travis missed cruising on his motorcycle, it wasn’t practical for the couple for extended trips like this.  Once plans were set and the car was packed with supplies, the two men headed off on their newest adventure.

The drive through the desert offered scenery was flat and barren for the most part, exactly what Riley would expect.  However, the closer they came to Zion the more things changed with towering rock formations and deep ravines.  Riley still doesn’t know how he managed to maneuver the car down the twisting dirt roads leading far into the canyon, but he did so semi-flawlessly leaving only a few smashed cactus in his wake.  At a certain point, Travis guided him through an area which was once a pre-war camping ground and to a lone cabin perched on a cliff.  

After parking, Riley got out of the car and had his breath taken away by the splendor and beauty surrounding them.  Travis smirked to himself as he gathered up their packs and headed to his cabin.  Even if he wanted to, Riley couldn’t move from his spot.  He was too taken in by the tall canyon walls glowing bright orange in the brilliant sunlight.  Scattered trees dotted the landscape and he could faintly hear the roar of a stream down below.  He was brought out of the enchantment feeling Travis’ hand on his shoulder.  Giving the redhead a kiss on the neck, Travis told him to come rest and cool off inside the cabin.  There would be plenty of time for exploring and sightseeing later.

Riley reluctantly stepped away and followed his partner inside the log cabin.  While unpacking, Travis told him the lands here were virtually untouched by the bombs and radiation, a complete hidden paradise for centuries.  He happened to discover it on one of his motorcycle trips and made sure to put the location data in his pipboy for future use.  Since then he’s made good friends with the Tribals that populated the canyon.  On return visits he would bring them goods from New Vegas such as tools and knives to help make their lives a bit easier.  In turn they offered him lodging here whenever he desires.  

In the days that followed Travis showed Riley around the canyon and introduced him to his Tribal friends.  The couple also spent long hours fishing or swimming in the clear non-radiated waters of the canyon.  There was always so much to see and do, but almost like clockwork a gentle rain would happen in the afternoon causing their exploring or fun to halt for a few hours.  However, today’s shower was obviously not going to be little or gentle.  Giving one last look at the approaching storm, Riley stepped back inside the cabin.  

Travis was sitting at the kitchen table cleaning his rifle, Medicine Stick, and looked up when he heard Riley shut the door.  “Gonna get rain, huh?  I can smell it.  Well, at least I think I smell it.  This gun oil frigging reeks,” he grimaced while pushing the bottle of cleaner off to the side.  “Why can’t things that clean actually smell good?  I mean how could something that stinks so bad do good?  Ugh!”

“I suppose the thinking is the more powerful the smell, the more powerful the cleaning it provides.  Anyway, the rains might be more a thunderstorm by the looks of it.  Lots of lightning in this one.  In fact I’ll say it’s going to be one hell of a storm,” Riley replied as he eagerly made his way to a window.  It’s been a long time since he saw a storm that wouldn’t include radiation like back in Boston.  “Are these frequent in these parts?  Like, is there what’s considered a storm season here where you can expect them every day at a certain time just like the showers?”

Riley turned hearing the loud scraping of chair legs on the wood floor as Travis pushed himself abruptly away from the table.  The courier looked slightly flustered as he kept his gaze focused on the rifle before he frantically looked around the cabin, crystal blue eyes wide.  “Travis?  You alright?  Are the fumes getting to you?” Riley asked.

“Y-yeah...uh….”  Travis loped to the door and pulled down a hinged wood board to barricade it shut.  “Can’t have this thing blowing open if it’s going to storm like you said.”  He ran a hand through his black hair and shot Riley an uneasy grin.  “You thirsty?  Want a beer?”

Giving a quick nod Riley got quickly sidetracked as the angry rumble of thunder could be heard echoing through the canyon.  A heavy gust of wind slammed into their cabin making it shudder in its wake.  “Hoo boy!” Riley breathed excitedly directing his attention back to the window.  “I hope this won’t bring floods or anything.  I know we’re up high enough, but those people at riverside will be…” he paused seeing Travis was now pulling the curtains shut and tucking their sides into the window frame.

For a fleeting moment he wondered if Travis was afraid, but he quickly pushed it aside as they’ve dealt with a few small storms before.  However, maybe that was the key.  Previous storms were little rain dumpers with scant bolts of lightning and gentle booms of distant thunder.  This powerful storm was going to have them right in the middle of the mayhem.  The skies now grew dark almost as if it were night and the winds continued to slam against the cabin and make the door rattle.

Meanwhile, Travis continued to cover the windows, but was halted when he got to the one Riley was staring out of.  “Umm...precaution.  In case the window busts we won’t be getting glass or rain in here.”

Riley obliged and moved out of the way and that’s when he noticed the slight tremble in Travis’ hands while he pulled the curtains shut.  He watched his partner closely and noticed the subtle indications that Travis was stressing about the approaching storm, but doing his best to hide it.  Not wanting to bring attention to it, especially if the assumption was a mistake, Riley carefully chose his conversation to see Travis’ reaction.  “I’m glad we’re in this cabin.  I’m sure getting caught out in a storm like this would suck being in a tent.  Has that ever happened to you?”

“N-no.  No, if I am out and about and see a storm coming I try and get somewheres better than a crummy tent,” Travis replied while putting the finishing touches on his window covering task.  Shooting Riley a nervous glance, he twitched his moustache and tried to muster up a smile.  “Oh, I forgot to get you that beer.”  Striding back to the fridge, Travis snagged two bottles out of it and proceeded to make his way back to Riley.  “Sorry about that.”

“It’s ok,” Riley smiled as he took the bottle and twisted off the cap.  He was about to put it to his lips for a drink when a bright white light filtered through the spaces between the cabin’s slats.  Almost immediately following, a deep, resounding boom of thunder filled the air making the very foundation of the cabin shudder.  The event sent a jolt of excitement through the redhead, but seeing the momentary change of Travis’ expression from strained relaxed to fearful verified Riley’s assumption.  Travis was afraid of the storm.

Frowning and doing his best to hide his alarm, Travis made his way back to the table and began putting away the gun cleaning supplies.  He knew Riley must have noticed the shift in his behavior and attitude and that only served to upset him more.  Travis had no secrets to hide from his lover, but his irrational fear over thunderstorms was embarrassing in his eyes.  Riley knew plenty of other things that caused Travis to be afraid such as cazadores and being restrained in any way.  However, fear of thunderstorms almost seemed a bit childish and not something Travis would readily admit to anyone, not even Riley.

While Travis did his best to calmly place the cap back on the bottle of cleaning solution, another flash of light filtered through the cracks making him flinch and bite his lower lip in anticipation for the thunder.  His unwanted wish was granted as the boom made the cabin shudder once again.  The thunder also served as an announcement to the rain which began to pound against the windows sounding as if someone were tossing pebbles against them.

Seeing Travis obviously stressing over the forces of mother nature outside, Riley pondered what he could do to help his partner relax.  He knew the worst thing he could do is question Travis about this as it would bring unwanted attention to the fears and no doubt upset Travis all the more.  Getting an idea, Riley made his way towards their bed and grabbed a blanket.  “You know, nothing beats snuggling under a blanket during a storm.  Would you like to join me?” he asked while taking a seat on the couch and placing the blanket on his lap.

Furrowing his brow at the suggestion, Travis turned towards Riley.  He hesitated for a moment as he wanted to get his supplies properly put away, but seeing the arched eyebrows and sincere look on Riley’s face, Travis couldn’t exactly resist.  Setting the gun cleaning kit back on the table, Travis snatched up his beer and joined Riley on the couch.  “Is clothing optional?” he nervously jested while taking a seat next to him.

“Well...if it makes you feel more comfortable, by all means,” Riley responded with a chuckle while draping the blanket over them and tucking it around their shoulders.  However, Travis didn’t strip and instead snuggled against Riley’s side.  Adjusting his position, Riley put his arm around Travis’ shoulders and held him close.  Leaning in, he pressed his lips against Travis’ cheek right as another boom of thunder sounded.  He felt Travis tense and slightly shudder cementing his assumption about Travis being scared.

From past experience, Riley knew the best way to get Travis focused on something when he was unhappy or uncomfortable was to talk to him about historical pre-war topics.  At first he thought he’d discuss weather conditions back in the days such as blizzards or hurricanes, but then realized mentioning extreme weather during a storm might not be the wisest of choices.  As thunder once again rocked the wood cabin, Riley suddenly got an idea for an interesting topic.

“Back in ancient times some cultures believed that the weather was controlled by their gods.  Some of the more well known ones were Thor of Norse lore and Zeus from Greece.  They were the gods of thunder as well as a few other responsibilities.  Thor was a protector of mankind and wielded his powers for good.  Zeus, on the other hand, would sometimes hurtle lightning bolts at the…” Riley stopped.  He wasn’t sure if telling Travis about gods who enjoyed tossing lightning to the earth down below or even zapping people for the hell of it would be appropriate at this time.  He knew Travis wasn’t one to believe in such beings anyway, but it still was a bad idea.

Travis squirmed at Riley’s pause.  “Earth?” he asked while closing his eyes to the recent flash of lightning that shone through the cracks.

“Well...for the most part, yes,” Riley reluctantly continued, but felt if Travis was asking questions he deserved them answered.  “They’d also get sent down on people that disobeyed or displeased him.”

“What a dick,” Travis snickered.  “Why did people always have these so called supreme beings that are always bent on snuffing ‘em out for whatever reason?”

“Not all of them were dicks,” Riley stated while gliding his hand lightly over Travis’ arm.  “I’m sure the biggest reason they were created that way was to simply keep people in check.  If people had some gigantic being looming over their life with the power to punish or destroy them if they misbehaved I’m quite sure they’d do their best to behave.  Pretty much to keep an honest man honest so to speak.”

“Yeah...I reckon that makes sense.  Still kinda stupid, though.”  Adjusting his position, Travis poked his arm out from under the blanket so he could take a sip from his beer.  Out of the corner of his eye he saw Riley’s expression change and Travis couldn’t help but smirk.  “Didn’t you see me with it?  Had it since you invited me over.  You want a sip?”

“No.  No, that’s ok you…” Riley stopped speaking as thunder roared and made windows and any glass items in the cabin rattle loudly.  Not wanting to be outdone, the rain intensified and made it seem as if they were camping under a waterfall instead of up on a cliff.  When the rumble of thunder finally ended, Riley rested his head against Travis’ and continued to lightly glide his fingertips over the black hairs on Travis’ arm.  “Well, if murderous and mighty humanoid deities aren’t your thing, maybe divine creatures would pique your interest instead?”

Finishing the last of his beer, Travis dropped it off the side of the couch to the floor with a hollow thunk.  “Animals you mean?” he asked while settling back comfortably under the blanket and against his partner.

“Yes, animals.  In Asian cultures like China, great dragons were the masters of the skies and a vast majority of them ruled the weather.  In Egypt most of their gods had human bodies, but their heads were that of animals.  Set, or Seth, was the god of chaos and also in charge of storms.  It’s unclear what his animal was supposed to be, some say a jackal others say some sort of aardvark.  But if you want to talk about gods being dicks, he was a big one.”

Travis giggled nervously and moved his hand down to squeeze Riley’s knee.  “Bet he ain’t got nothing on you in the package department.”

Riley rolled his eyes and shook his head.  “I said he is one, not has one,” he replied, giving Travis a poke in the ribs making him giggle all the more.  “Anyway…” Riley continued while adjusting his glasses, a smile still on his face from Travis’ playful remark.  “A great majority of the Natives from North and South America believed a giant bird caused the thunder and lightning by simply flapping its wings.”

“Does that mean the rains came from it taking a…”

“Don’t even go there!” Riley laughed then laughed harder as Travis returned the tickling he got.  Almost as if disapproving of their behavior, a loud crackle of lightning tore apart the atmosphere followed immediately by a boom of thunder.  Much to Riley’s surprise, the sights and sounds hardly phased Travis as he was too busy squirming under the blanket trying avoid Riley’s hands.  

Once the tickle fight and squirming stopped, Riley took a deep breath and slowly exhaled to try and calm himself.  “Now then, if I may continue.”  He looked at Travis over the rims of his glasses and smirked seeing his lover’s eager and attentive expression.  “I think besides most of the dragons, the Thunderbirds weren’t out to torment humans.  They mostly were protectors and kept giant snakes from killing everyone and taking over the earth.  Interestingly enough, throughout all the different tribes on the north and south continents, they all shared the belief of a Thunderbird.”

“I reckon I like the bird the best,” Travis chimed while changing his position so he was laying over Riley’s lap.

“How come?”  Riley asked as he gathered Travis in his arms to help support him and keep him comfortable.

“Well, think about it.  Almost everyone else was out to kill and punish mankind, torment them, or whatever.  Then you get the birds.  They seemed like they were more wanting to help people than destroy them.”

“Don’t forget that Thor was a protector of the people as were a lot of the dragons.” “See, that’s just it.  Thor’s still a guy.  Don’t care if he’s a god or not, he’s still humaniod and probably prone to fucking up or getting pissed off.  Dragons too.  I dunno...the birds just seem cool and helpful is all.  Plus I think by two entire continents with different people all sharing similar beliefs and stuff about the birds shows they were pretty chill critters.  Had the birds been assholes I think they’d have found something else to try and conjure up.  People usually try not copy bad shit.  Does that make sense?”

Riley grew silent for a moment and chewed on his lower lip while pondering what all Travis said.  “Yes, in some crazy way it all does make sense.  Man, you would have been a great student to have in my class back in the day.  You always have strong interest in so much and ask pretty good questions too.  Your thought process is really unique and imaginative to say the least.”

Travis grinned, but then sobered quickly while averting his gaze from Riley.  “You do know I don’t...ummm...I’m sure you might have noticed, but I ain’t exactly fond of storms.  Kinda scared about them, really.  We ain’t never really experienced storms together outside of the casino or anything so I was able to hide my fear pretty good.  Out here all the sights and sounds are like in your face and stuff.”  He trailed off for a moment, his mind working a million miles an hour on how he wanted to word things.  “Your little lecture about the ancient stuff really helped me a lot.  Kept me distracted and kept me interested.  Maybe later on I’d love to hear more details if you got them, especially about the birds or other Native lore.”

Smiling gently, Riley nodded and lightly touched the side of Travis’ face with his fingertips.  “I’d be very happy to tell you about anything you’d like to know on the topic to the best of my knowledge.”  Bowing his head down, Riley placed a tender kiss on Travis’ brow while wrapping his arms around him.  “I’m also glad I was able to help you through your fears of the storm.  It’s nothing to be ashamed of either.  I figured something was very wrong with your change in behavior, but I wasn’t going to pry and make you more upset.”

“Thanks, Riles, I really appreciate it.  Ain’t saying next storm comes along I won’t be bothered, but it’s good to know that I got you to help me through it.”

“Anytime, Travis.  I’m more than happy to help you ride out the storms in any way you need.”

Narrowing his crystal blue eyes and allowing a lascivious grin to pull back his lips, Travis purred, “Hmmm...I know something much better I’d like to ride during a storm.”

“Oh, Travis,” Riley chuckled with a roll of his eyes.

~fin

[allcheatscodes]

midnight club los angeles xbox 360

http://allcheatscodes.com/midnight-club-los-angeles-xbox-360/

midnight club los angeles xbox 360

Midnight Club cheats & more for Xbox 360 (X360)

Cheats

Unlockables

Hints

Easter Eggs

Glitches

Guides

Achievements

Get the updated and latest Midnight Club: Los Angeles cheats, unlockables, codes, hints, Easter eggs, glitches, tricks, tips, hacks, downloads, achievements, guides, FAQs, walkthroughs, and more for Xbox 360 (X360). AllCheatsCodes.com has all the codes you need to win every game you play!

Use the links above or scroll down to see all the Xbox 360 cheats we have available for Midnight Club: Los Angeles.

Check PlayStation 3 cheats for this game

Official Title: Midnight Club: Los Angeles

Genre: Racing, Sports Car Auto Racing

Developer: Rockstar

Publisher: Take2 Interactive Software

ESRB Rating: Teen

Release Date: April 1, 2008

Hints

Make Money Faster

When someone calls you to race they might tell you to name the time and place, make the time as early as possible (but it still needs to be daylight) this makes you able to do it long and still be able to see (I frequently wreck into cars if its midnight) chose the race “welcome to Hollywood” it’s a really easy and fast track. Just keep pressing race again and you should make 10-30 thousand dollars with in an hour or half an hour.

Quick Way To Get A Fast Car

A fast way to get a car is to first testdrive a car that you have unlocked then quit the test drive after that you should be able to trade your current car in for any car you want even if you don’t have enough money. For example, if you have an RX8 then you will be able to trade it in for a Lamborghini gallardo. You will be able to buy the car if you don’t have enough money but you will be in debt. Then you can just race to pay back the debt with your fast car then you wont be in debt.

Get A Decent Car

Karol should tell you someone wants to race for a Camaro SS. Look for someone with that car on the gps select that person find them and if you win 2 races out of three with them then you get his Camaro.

Drive In Water

Are you tired of your car damaging out when youdrive in water? What you do is test drive a carfrom the garage and you won’t damage out.

Ditch the Cops

An easy way to ditch the cops is to go on the freeway once the cops are chasing you then just stay on the freeway until they are just searching for you then there will be a secret place to go into which leads you to a sewer place but nothing is in it so you can just drive in there to the other side to get on city roads while the cops are still searching for you on the freeway.

Escape From The Cop By Flying

If you are being chased by the cops and you can’t lose them, you can go near the beach and there is a big cliff. Jump off of it and then go as fast as you can.

Drive Locked Cars Without Cops Around

While in the garage go to “Vehicle Showroom” then go to any car or motorcycle even the ones that are locked, and press “X” and you will be able to test drive the car. There won’t be any cops at all to stop you from doing anything illegal and you can’t damage/damage out your car at all. No cops makes it nice if you just wanna cruise around to find the Yellow Barrels with the R symbol on them but the only thing is you can’t customize the vehicle or race anyone since you are just test driving it and not having purchased or unlocked it yet.

Advice for Betting

You need a fast car. If you do a wager race put it on easy twice in a row then you should be used to the race by then. After that put it on hard and it will be the same race. Bet 20k and you will win (only if you memorize the race from when it was on easy). After every race press re-wager (only if you think you will keep winning) After 30 min. You should have about 200k.

Way To Win The Chevy Camaro DUB Edition.

When you are racing for the Camaro DUB edition, follow the racers and find shortcuts through the city to win races and that helped me and got a score of 21 and won first place every race.

Easy Way To Win DUB Tournaments

When trying to win a dub tournament, try using cheats. I know that they won’t give you any money but youl still win the car.

Teleport

In both offline and online game modes, you can teleport around the map by entering the race editor, switching out of “drive and drop” mode, moving the pointer to where you want to go, then going back to “drive and drop” mode, and exiting the creator. You will be where you ended the race editor.

Free Parts

Use the following trick to get free parts without completing the game. Go to “Garage”, and select “Customize Your Car”. Go to “Performance Parts”, and press X to auto upgrade. This will check off all parts you can put on. Do not press A. After you press X, press Xbox 360 Guide. Go to your friends list, and join someone’s session. Note: You can also go to the recent players list for a better chance of finding someone playing online. When asked if you want to start a multiplayer match, select “OK”. When you get on the street, you will have the parts installed with no money deducted from your bank. This also works on any interior or exterior part, but the process is slightly longer to make the car you want. For example, highlight “Front Bumper”, then press X. Go to the bumper you want, and press Xbox 360 Guide. Join someone’s game, and when you roll out of the garage, you will have that bumper. Quit the multiplayer game, return to the garage, and get any other part desired by doing the same thing.

Easy Rank And Money

Go to Arcade mode, and set the AI to “Easy”, traffic to “None”, and disable power-ups. To earn money, make sure you do not finish in last place.

Getting Rid Of Police

Use the following trick to get rid of the police when doing a race. Finish the race, and enable the “No Police” cheat, then turn it off again. The police will disappear, and it will not have any effect on what you do afterward.

Catching Freeway Racer

When you see a red target far away on the map, enable the “No Damage” and “Unlimited Nitro” cheats to reach them quickly. Then, turn off both cheats once you are about to race him to keep your reputation and money intact.

Easy Time Trial Wins!

Enter a time trial for the first time and race the route. When you see the end, stop if you’re 10 20 or 30 seconds ahead of the pace. When the timer gets to about 6 or 7 seconds, finish. Do this until you get the chance to win the car and it should make it easier. Comment if you like.

Fastest Way To Get The Neither Bird Nor Plane Achievment!

First, go to your garage. Then test drive the 2004 Lamborghini Murcielago DUB Edition. Next, go to the big sewer type canal thing and hit one of the ramps at full speed and using nitrous you should get the achievement.

Easiest Way To Get The Just Get A Motorcycle Achievment!

First, get a fast car that you can drive well then get on the inerstate. Make sure you don’t have any cheats activated, then go to race editor mode. Go in drive and drop mode (there’s no traffic) then just drive on two wheels for as long as you can. It might take a while depending on how fast you go and how well you can drive. Comment if you like this hint.

Get A Fast Car At Low Price

Karol has 3 bikes/motercycles/that he could hook you up with. Compete in a couple of races then it should say “student driver” or “rookie”, then go to your garage and a motorcycle shold sat 14, 000 dollars. Buy it then you should have a super fast car. Warning: this only works when you have 3 or more cars.

How To Make Your Car 5 Differnt Color’s In One

Go to your garage and pay 1, 000 dollars for a paint job. Then go to a section where it say’s all parts. Then go to main color, then doors, then hood, then front bumper, then, back bumper. You should have 5 different color’s on your car. Then enjoy the sweetness of your car.

Ran Ot Of Nitrous?

Did you know that every time you go past the gas station it refill your car’s nitrous even during races.

Quick Way Out Of A Chase

This isn’t Need For Speed people, if you accidentally get in a chase by the cops and you don’t want to run away just pull over you will only have to pay about $900 and you don’t get an impound ticket so who cares about getting away.

Turbo

During a race if you are not in first always try to get behind the guy that is in front of you. Doing this will make your nitrous bar go all the way up. After it is all the ways up press x and you’ll get right by the first place car.

Cheats

Unlock Cheat Mode

To unlock the corresponding cheats, collect the Rockstar barrels. If you usecheat mode in “career mode”, you won’t get any more progress.

10 Barrels Unlimited Nitro20 Barrels Never Damage Out30 Barrels Unlimited Special Abilities40 Barrels Top Down View50 Barrels No Police60 Barrels No Fines

Unlockables

Infinite Money

You’ll need to complete Career mode.

How To Get The Hydrolics / Air-Bags

Sign up for Rockstar’s Social Club online, then join the LA Driving Test. Once you complete 4 of the 12 objectives you unlock hydraulics and airbags the next time you turn on your console.

Unlockables From The Collectables

Never Damage OutFind 20 hidden collectable R* barrels.

No FinesFind 60 hidden collectable R* barrels.

No PoliceFind 50 hidden collectable R* barrels.

Top Down ViewFind 40 hidden collectable R* barrels.

Unlimited NitroFind 10 hidden collectable R* barrels.

Unlimited Special AbilitiesFind 30 hidden collectable R* barrels.

Easter eggs

Currently we have no easter eggs for Midnight Club: Los Angeles yet. If you have any unlockables please feel free to submit. We will include them in the next post update and help the fellow gamers. Remeber to mention game name while submiting new codes.

Glitches

Currently we have no glitches for Midnight Club: Los Angeles yet. If you have any unlockables please feel free to submit. We will include them in the next post update and help the fellow gamers. Remeber to mention game name while submiting new codes.

Guides

Currently no guide available.

Currently no guide available.

Achievements

South Central Unlockales/Achievements

Goin’ South (10) Meet the South Central Mechanic.

Easier than the Hills (20) Complete the South Central tournament.

South Central Test Drive (10) Win 10 races in an SUV.

Low Ballin’ (20) Win 10 races in a Low Rider.

Sign Here (20) Complete 10 deliveries in South Central.

Money for nothing (20) Complete the South Central Wager Mission.

Brother Time (20) Complete the 3 missions for the South Central time trial.

Been there, Done that (50) Finish the South Central career.

GOOOOAAAAALLLLL!!!!! (60) Finish all South Central Goal Attacks.

Unlockables/Achievements

Wanted Man (10) Pull over while the police are in ‘pull over’ mode, then drive away during the ticketing cutscene.

Out On Bail (10) Evade the police successfully when they are in pursuit.

Neither Bird nor Plane (10) Travel 1020 feet in a single jump.

Jordan Jumpman (10) Spend more than 10 minutes in the air. Brought to you by JORDAN BRAND.

Unicycle (20) Drive a cumulative total of 50 miles while doing a wheelie on a motorcycle.

Just Get A Motorcycle (20) In a car, drive a cumulative total of 50 miles on 2 wheels.

Hear me Roar! (20) Unlock Level 3 ROAR.

Anger Management (20) Unlock Level 3 AGRO.

Set To Stun (20) Unlock Level 3 EMP.

Zoning Out (20) Unlock Level 3 ZONE.

In the Lap of… (20) Beat the Luxury Champ.

Name that Tune (20) Beat the Tuner Champ.

World’s Strongest (20) Beat the Muscle Champ.

Two Wheels of Fury (30) Beat the Motorcycle Champ.

How Exotic (30) Beat the Exotic Champ.

The Basics (10) Complete one of the missions you receive in the mission log.

What’s a Speed Limit? (20) Win 15 dynamic freeway races.

Streaker (20) Win 5 races in a row offline.

Winning With Less (20) Win 10 races on a motorcycle.

Go on Green (20) Win 15 Red Light Races.

Destroyer of Worlds (20) Successfully destroy 15 opponent vehicles using the Payback vehicle at the Beaches garage.

Here for a Pickup (20) Successfully deliver 15 vehicles out of the Hollywood garage.

Father Time (30) Completely unlock a time trial by completing all 3 missions.

Uncle Time (20) Finish the first mission for each of the 4 time trials.

Competitive Glory (20) Win each of the 4 tournaments at least one time.

It’s How You Play The Game (30) Finish 300 offline races. Winning is not required.

The Winner (30) Win 180 offline races.

Rags To Riches (30) Have $1 million dollars in the bank while playing in Los Angeles.

Have Car, Will Travel (30) Drive a total of 5,000 miles, including any miles driven online or offline.

Getting Off the Bench (10) Enter an online cruise and join a proposed race.

Who Made This? (10) Enter a Race Editor Race online.

Saving Los Angeles (10) Enter the Race Editor, create a race, and then save it.

Paparazzi (10) Save 16 photos to your photo album.

T-Mobile myFaves (10) Join an online game with 5 of your friends. Stay Connected with MyFaves from T-Mobile.

Turn in the Work (10) Submit a vehicle to Rate My Ride.

Everyone’s a Critic (20) Rate 25 rides online.

Crossing the Line (20) Finish 50 races online.

Master Thief (30) Steal 80 flags while playing Capture the Flag or other battle matches.

Postman (30) Deliver 100 flags in Capture the Flag or other battle matches.

Ranking Up (30) Win 20 ranked matches online.

Where in the World? (10) Find half of the collectables in Los Angeles.

Waldo’s Still Missing (40) Find all the collectables in Los Angeles.

Retire the Master (50) Beat the City Champ.

Mild Dedication (10) In Goal Attack, complete every goal for one race.

True Dedication (100) All Goal attacks must be unlocked and every goal for every race completed.