Bandit Clan Quest (Borderlands Series)

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The sun beat on the desert like an angry parent on an uppity child. Even the shade of the rock...
Opening

Vindictus

XENO
Location
Texas
The sun beat on the desert like an angry parent on an uppity child. Even the shade of the rock formation you and your new 'friends' camped under wasn't enough to stop the oppressive heat, though the occasional breeze left you... Not comfortable, but at least not dripping with sweat.

"Gonna die out here," A convict built like a bipedal tank moaned. "Fucking Dahl scaglicks. Why'd they bring is out here if they were just gonna leave?"

Because you were expendable, you thought. Just some shitty criminals, people nobody would miss one way or another- And when the time came to leave, nobody thought twice about leaving you behind.

Well, nobody from Dahl, anyway. There had been 'Natives' here before Dahl set up shop, the descendants of crazy survivalists seeking to avoid the clearly inevitable collapse of civilization and outlaws trying to avoid the long arm of the law by grabbing land on some gods-forsaken rock where nobody would look for them. They probably weren't any more thrilled by millions of criminals getting left on their front doorstep than you were at being left on this rock.

It's not like you were even that bad of a person. All you'd done was accept a courier job off of the echo-net without asking too many questions, and the next thing you knew you were charged with a list of crimes too long to remember, shipped off to serve fifty years on Hades IX, and then basically bought by Dahl (along with about fifty other people) like you were just so much human cattle.

And now you were here.

... At least you're free now, you guess. "Gonna need food and water to stay alive," you muse. "And guns, probably, to stop other people from taking them from us."

"Guns are easy," a skinny man with a baseball cap said. "I overheard some Dahl techs say they were going to have to leave a bunch of their military stuff behind in order to all fit on the star cruisers. There'll probably be a bunch in the security bunkers, like the ones at the old mining camps."

"Ain't gonna be no food in there, though. I heard there was some fancy hydro-woozle gardens supplying the kitchens. Supposed to be part of that science facility, on account of them using it for experiments and stuff."

"You boys are dumb, ain't you?" One of the few female convicts spat in the sand. "Think nobody else has heard about them bunkers of guns, or piles of hydra food? We go after them, and everybody else is gonna be gunning for us. We aught to find some of those folks who have been living here and cozy up to them, get them to show us how to get set up here."

"Or we could just take what we want from them, instead of playing buddy-buddy."

Most of your fellows keep quiet, watching you as much as the conversation playing out. It takes you a moment to realize that their looks are expectant- they want you to make the choice. How the heck did that happen-?

[] Go for one of the bunkers. They're literally built to be secure, so you should be as safe as it'd be possible to get once you're settled in.
[] Go for the hydro gardens. It might not be as defensible as a literal bunker, but food is also very important to that whole not dying thing.
[] Go for a native tribe. They've been living here long enough that they obviously know what they're doing, so they could really help out.
-[] Peaceful approach
-[] Hostile take-over

As you sort out your plans, one of the more quiet convicts speaks up.

"Hey. What do we call you, Boss?"

[] Boss is fine.
[] Write-in.

Gender and appearance is more aesthetic than anything, but, hey, might as well vote on it anyway.

Gender:
[] Male
[] Female

Appearance:
Post any suitable (SFW) picture with a short description (eg, '[X] Completely Anachronistic Knight Guy'), or vote for a previously posted picture.
 
Mechanics:
Dice table stolen shamelessly from Oni Quest.

>Any Doubles: YOU WIN, RAWR. SO STRONG.
>100: You win twice
>90-98: Stupidly Successful
>60-90: Successful
>40-60: Neutral
>10-40: Not So Good
>2-10: Terrible
>1: This is so terrible that IT JUST MIGHT WORK! (reroll)

Actions can be taken with any number of units, so long as they have a 'Hero' unit leading them.
Every additional unit of 'Human Resources' devoted to an action adds a minimum .25 bonus to your roll. Better units, or better equipped units, add to this bonus. Additional hero units add a base bonus of 5.

I will give suitable rewards for Omake and fanwork, should any be created.
 
[X] Go for one of the bunkers. They're literally built to be secure, so you should be as safe as it'd be possible to get once you're settled in.
-[X] Hostile take-over
Can't argue with that logic. Also we're bandits shooting stuff is the only thing we're good at.(and even then not that much)
[X] Boss is fine.
[X] Male
 
[X] Go for one of the bunkers. They're literally built to be secure, so you should be as safe as it'd be possible to get once you're settled in.
-[X] Hostile take-over
[X] Agrona
[X] Female
 
[X] Go for a native tribe. They've been living here long enough that they obviously know what they're doing, so they could really help out.
-[X] Peaceful approach
[X] Call me Prophet, for I shall guide you to prosperity.
[X] Male
[X] Revolver Jesus


Pandora is mostly composed of ridiculously lethal wildlife, so it seems pretty important to learn the ins-and-outs of how to avoid dying to it from the people who have been dealing with it the longest. The peaceful approach seems like it would be the best for convincing them to give us said knowledge.

EDIT: Changed the name/title. We should totally try to found a cult and eventually establish ourselves as Pandora's prime religion. The peaceful approach has the benefits I mentioned before, but it also allows us to gain a foothold in the local's culture and hopefully allow us to influence it further down the line.
 
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[X] Go for one of the bunkers. They're literally built to be secure, so you should be as safe as it'd be possible to get once you're settled in.
-[X] Hostile take-over
[X] Agrona
[X] Female
 
[X] Boss is fine.
[X] Male
[X] Go for a native tribe. They've been living here long enough that they obviously know what they're doing, so they could really help out.
-[X] Peaceful approach
 
[X] Go for the hydro gardens. It might not be as defensible as a literal bunker, but food is also very important to that whole not dying thing.
-[X] Peaceful approach

[X] Boss is fine.

[X] Male

[X] Mutant
must our hero look like a human?
 
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[X] Go for the hydro gardens. It might not be as defensible as a literal bunker, but food is also very important to that whole not dying thing.
-[X] Peaceful approach

[X] Boss is fine.

[X] Male
 
[X] Go for one of the bunkers.
[X] Boss is fine.
[X] Male
[X] Revolver Jesus

It is Times like This, That I regret not being able to just upload an image right from my picture folder to the forum.
 
[X] Go for one of the bunkers. They're literally built to be secure, so you should be as safe as it'd be possible to get once you're settled in.
-[X] Hostile take-over
[X] Agrona
[X] Female

I vote for Agrona to look like this.
 
Just a quick FYI, but peaceful/hostile really only applies to the tribes option? I may not have made that clear.

Anyhow, I'll go ahead and vote tally in a bit. Any last minute voters will want to have their votes in before this little thing:

Ticks down.
Adhoc vote count started by Vindictus on May 16, 2017 at 9:28 PM, finished with 15 posts and 10 votes.
Vindictus threw 2 100-faced dice. Total: 60
9 9 51 51
 
Welcome to the Bunker
Male (7 votes)
Boss (6 votes)
Bunker (6 votes)

Your gang- And isn't that an odd feeling- weren't the only ones to hear about the guns left in Dahl's security bunkers. Or maybe you were just unlucky, and the other, slightly smaller gang of convicts had been looking for shelter, and merely happened to stumble across the small valley that housed it at the same time as you did by chance.

The two groups eyed each other and the distance to the bunker carefully for a moment. Nobody was armed, but that just meant whoever got to the bunker first would have an advantage...

"It's gonna be a race to the guns, then," You say quietly. "Whoever gets to them first will be able to chase the others off, so let's MOVE!"

With a shout, you start sprinting for the open gates of the bunker, the rest of the gang right behind you, and the other gang following after a moment. That moment of a lead is enough for you to clear the gates before your rivals, if only just.

"Hold them off in the doorway!" you shout. "You, big guy, come with me to find the guns, I'll need you to carry them."

The next few minutes are spent scrambling through narrow corridors, searching for the armory. Fortunately, you know when you find it- Dahl had been kind enough to label all the rooms with big, bold signs, even if they didn't include a map or anything like that.

You grab several rifles with built on slings and load them on to the big guy- Three over one shoulder, three over the other- and then grab a pistol for yourself. You've never really held a gun before, and even just a pistol sits a bit heavy in your hand, but it can't be that hard, right? Just point and shoot...

By the time you get back to the gate, the fight has taken a turn for the bloody. Nobody is dead- you think, at least- but several people are wrestling and punching each other, too caught up in fighting to notice your return.

You fire a round into the ceiling, and the fighting stops instantly.

"This fight is over now," you declare, voice sounding a lot more steady than you feel. "You boys... I don't know who you are, but I'm willing to bet you're not too eager to eat a lead sandwich. This is our turf, so you need to back the hell off."

There is a pause for a few moments, where everything is silent, and then one of the convicts on the other side of the fight starts clapping slowly. "Bravo. Yes, you've certainly made your claim on this place very clear. But I think we've gotten off on the wrong foot," He says, stepping forward. "You see, I can't help but notice there are about twenty of you, and not quite twenty of us, but this place is easily big enough for more people than that- Hundreds, maybe even thousands of people could fit in here with a bit of work. It's easily big enough for all of us- And there is safety in numbers, yes? You could always use the security of a few extra bodies between you and any other gangs, after all..."

The man stops, and you realize with a start that he's easily a mere ten feet away from you.

"So, what do you think about joining forces? With you leading us, and me as your second in command, we could rule this wasteland...

[] Kill him
[] Chase him off
[] Take his offer
[] Write in?

OOC: Leaving the appearance vote up for another day, as there hasn't been a lot of votes for that one way or another.
 
Well, he has cunning. Speaking and stalling till 10m... Problem is cunning and trust issues.
 
[X] Kill him, then assert your dominance over the rest of his gang.

We already have a second, I don't know who that is, but we have them.
 
[x] Take his offer
Are you really going to kill a competent ally?
You would be doing the same thing in his situation.
We were doing exactly the same things as them until this moment.
 
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