Solo Tabletop RPG Actual Play – Kids on Bikes Solo Part Five

You can purchase Kids on Bikes here.

You can purchase the Plot Unfolding Machine here.

Read our previous session here

(For this session, I will use the Powered Character rules for Waldo to reflect the change. The Powered Character gets 7 Power Tokens that can be spent to roll 1d6 each to add to a check roll. They only replenish with rest.)

(Powers for  Waldo are

1. Heals others with a touch
2. Controls the elements – fire)

Scene 16 – Falling 1 of 3 – The Old Sykes House

Modified proposal: increase the intensity and tension
Action: Looking for some answers

Waldo’s eyelids flicker. Something has changed as he takes a breath. He can hear noise in the room. The ground beneath him is damp and dirt. Rita Hyde’s voice. Then Sally Gilliam’s, but weaker. The Mayor is there, too. 

“Tell us where your little witch’s hut is!” The sound of a strike. Gilliam groans. Waldo feels something flame inside him. He can’t let good ol’ Mrs. Gilliam be treated like that. Reaching up, he feels something on his head, protruding…horns? And his eyes feel like they have a filter over them. Waldo sits up and strikes out at The Mayor, who has his back to him.

(Power Tokens: 7. Fight check – 14 vs. 2 +2 Power Tokens (2d6) = 10. Failure)

The Mayor’s suit lights on fire, which sends him running. Rita turns her attention to Waldo, eyes wide. Shocked at what he has become. She grabs Gilliam, gun to her head, backing away towards the ladder out of the cellar. Waldo shouts at Bopper to “attack!”

(Charm check – 6 vs. 8 (exploding) + 5 = 13. Success)

Bopper leaps up, teeth chomping down on the hand Rita holds the gun with. She yelps and drops the weapon, allowing the poor, beaten Mrs. Gilliam to crawl away. In a panic, Rita pushes past the Mayor, who is rolling around on the dirt to put out the flames. She grips her Celtic cross, and the Enoch Varney statue comes to life, reaching for Waldo.

(Flight check – 9 vs. 19. Success)

Waldo dodges and sends the statue of balance. It crashes into a support beam that starts bringing the house down, blocking Rita’s path out of the basement. She runs deeper into the tunnels beneath the ground.

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Scene 17 – Falling 2 of 3 – The Tunnels
Modified proposal: Cause confusion, doubt, or questions

Waldo rushes to Gilliam. Gilliam explains that he’s dead now, only kept alive by the demonic power that won’t last forever. She says she’s okay and he needs to stop Rita. Waldo pursues, hunting down Rita in the tunnels. Bopper stays with Gilliam.

(Oracle question: Is Waldo able to easily follow Rita’s trail? Answer: No)

The damage from the statue causes a worse cave-in. The dirt ceiling falls on Waldo.

(Grit check – 7 vs. 1. Failure. Gain 1 Adversity token)

While Waldo is unconscious, we see multiple inhuman hands pulling him out of the dirt. Rita’s voice can be heard directing them. Waldo is dragged deeper into the tunnels under the house.

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Scene 18 – Falling 3 of 3 – The Temple

Modified proposal: Add some trouble or bad news

Waldo wakes up to find he’s bound to a large stone block. In the shadows, misshapen figures writhe and watch. Rita looks quite disheveled. She’s preparing something. Waldo starts to notice something about the figures in the shadows. What he can make out of them reveals they are the other kidnapped children, transformed into these creatures.

Rita turns around. She’s hewn a stone into a makeshift dagger, replacing the one lost in the basement. Waldo knows he has to act now.

(Power Tokens: 5. Grit check – 10 vs. 2+1 = 3 + 2 Power tokens (2d6 = 6) = 9+1 Adversity token = 10)

Waldo concentrates, flames erupt from his arms and legs, burning the ropes away. The creatures in the shadows squeal in horror. Rita stumbles back, reaching for her Celtic cross. Waldo has to stop her before she can call the statue.

(Fight check – 9 vs. 7 + 2 Adversity tokens = 9. Success)

Waldo lunges, and his hand, no longer flaming but still hot, sears Rita’s, and she releases the Celtic cross. The chain snaps under the heat, and Waldo tosses the charm into the shadows. “You’re done, Rita. The great Waldo has defeated you using the powers of the Devil himself. I didn’t expect him to be an octopus, but this is a world full of strange & wondrous sights..” Amid his rambling monologue, Waldo notices Rita trying to lift a rock to use against him.

(Power Tokens: 3. Brawn check – 10 vs. 5 + 3 Power tokens (3d6 = 9) = 14)

A funnel of flames shoots out of Waldo’s hands, engulfing Rita in them. It turns out her robes were made of a very flammable material. The exertion of this power causes Waldo to become light-headed. His eyes roll back, and he falls into darkness. As Rita burns up, the misshapen figures transform into the children they once were. They lift the unconscious Waldo and help carry him back to the tunnel entrance.

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Scene 19 – Epilogue

The missing posters are gone from Westgrove, and the children who were once missing are reunited with their families. Once stabilized, Deputy Reid Wheeler conducts an investigation into Rita Hyde’s home and discovers she’d been working with others in town to perform rituals on the children in the hopes of making them her slaves with the hopes of eventually wielding so much power she could control the town.

Reid is pretty confident Sally Gilliam is also a witch, but not one he has to worry about. He stops by her shack outside of town. She’s adopted Bopper, who is making this his new home. The dog runs out barking to greet Reid. The cop and the witch have a brief exchange. Reid says he misses Waldo and feels sorry he ever blamed him. They put up a tombstone, but Reid admits it feels strange not to be burying a body there.

Sally assures him it is okay, and if Waldo could tell him, he’d say he forgives him. Reid excuses himself, off to keep patrolling Westgrove. From inside Sally’s house, we see the silhouette of a horned figure watching as Reid’s car pulls away. “Ain’t that sumthin.”