Return of the Iceman

Adventure Description

The players are in Hong Kong (for the various reasons, see below). The action starts in the airport, as the players arrive. The GM should read this through a couple of times to familiarise himself with the setup for each scene. The players shouldn't read it at all.

Character Hooks

Below are the introductions which the GM should read to the players of each Starring Role - remember that not all Starring roles are likely to be taken - in which case they are replaced with an extra (for example the Gritty Detective becomes a random cop), or simply ignored.

• The Gritty Detective is arriving in Hong Kong escorting a bail jumper for a bail bonds agent. The bail jumper is a smart-mouthed punk, and the Gritty Detective does NOT like him.
• The Huge Bruiser is sitting disconsolately in the departures lounge, on his way home to the US. He used to own a small bar, but refused to pay protection money, figuring he could take care of any problems. A week ago, the bar was firebombed, and he discovered that his insurance had lapsed because of mysterious paperwork errors. If he could get his hands on the people responsible...
• The Karate Cop is meeting an arriving flight carrying an extradited gang member who jumped bail. His job is to take the prisoner downtown.
• After his last job, instead of a suitcase full of cash, the Killer got a suitcase with a bomb in it. Obviously his last employer wants him permanently silenced. He doesn't know who gave the order yet, but the Killer has been searching for his contact on that job and has just found him as he enters the airport together with a mass of "little brothers". He must follow - if the contact takes a plane out, the last link to the person who gave the order to plant the bomb could escape.
• The Lone Biker has just arrived in Hong Kong searching for a buddy of his who came to Hong Kong on his honeymoon, to get away from things after that trouble in Little China. He hasn't returned, and a rumour has surfaced that the Wing Cong have something to do with his disappearance.
• The Masked Avenger has arrived, following clues that suggest a Hong Kong triad is behind the sudden flood of imported heroin that is causing gang wars in his city.
• Fresh from a boring stint as a bodyguard, the Mercenary has arrived in Hong Kong looking for a job that promises some excitement - it sounds like a happening town.

Scene 1: "Arriving Passengers Should Battle Their Way to Passport Control..."

Johnny Chun, an aging martial arts movie star (use the martial artist character sheet if needed), has decided to move behind the camera as a director. His first film will be "Return of the Iceman" about a Ming Era hero transported to the present day where he battles gangsters and various evildoers. He is currently shooting a scene where the hero - pursued by a posse of martial artists from the same era - arrives in the present. The scene is being shot at the old international airport (see the scene 1 map) where the authorities have kindly agreed to cordon off an arrival lounge for the afternoon's filming.

However, not all is well with the movie - while Chun's name virtually guarantees a good box office return, the Triads have been harassing Chun for a share of the action. His public status has given him some leeway, but the Triads are getting tired of waiting, and Chun has found it difficult to secure funding. He has turned to an old friend of his - the Fixer - who has provided the money. However the Fixer is worried about his investment and has gone to the airport to warn Chun that he should swallow his pride and just pay the Triads off.

He is right - the triads have lost patience with Chun and the Wing Cong - a Tong dominated by criminals with a particular reputation for brutality - have sent a group of "little brothers" to the airport to give him a warning. They don't intend to kill Chun, but they do intend to rough him up a little, kick some of the actors around, break some equipment and generally send him the message that the time has come to pay up. The airport is provided with strong security, which means that the Tong goons would have difficulty in getting guns through. Accordingly, this group consists of hand-picked members with known hand to hand combat prowess and they have carried through security a variety of items which won't set off metal detectors (light clubs, nunchuks, etc.). Thus use the standard Mook Sheet, with all the Little Brothers having 2 levels in Strike and a light HTH weapon (+2 d6 HA).

The Goons arrive in the arrival area adjacent to that where the filming is going on - there is series of partitions set up to screen the area from arriving passengers and a guard to ensure the filming is undisturbed. When the Tong fighters arrived she was peeking between two partitions at Sing Chai - the star and a current celebrity heartthrob - and she was brutally beaten to the ground by Ken Hau, the leader of this group (use the Villain's Lieutenant Character sheet). He now has her pistol (a .38 snub-nose police special (1d6+1 RKA) with 6 rounds) while another Tong member has her baton (+3d6 HA). The Tongs kick over the partitions and begin to swarm in to the filming area. Several things happen at this point:

• The Huge Bruiser, who is sitting in the adjacent departure lounge (see map) recognises several of the Tong members who had come to his bar demanding protection money.
• Among passengers coming off the arriving flight are the Gritty Detective and the prisoner he is escorting. The prisoner recognises several of his acquaintances among the Tongs. He shouts, and makes a break for the protection of his friends.
• The Karate Cop arrives, to a scene of mayhem.
• The Killer, having temporarily lost his prey in the press of the airport, hears shouts and breaking stuff - it will take him 3 phases to arrive at the departure lounge.
• The Lone Biker, the Mercenary, the Masked Avenger (and the Ordinary Joe or the Girlfriend, if used) while walking off the plane, hear various people screaming and getting out of the way of what are obviously a mass of gang members in the process of committing illegal acts and oppressing law-abiding citizens.

There will be about 6 Tong goons for every player character, plus the leader.

For all practical purposes, the passengers and film crews are normals with Stat.s of 10, and the appropriate skills - nothing combat related. The seven actors are dressed in Ming era costumes and armed with a variety of martial arts weapons (swords, pole arms, etc.) which they will drop in their haste to get out of the way. The Tong mooks will rapidly appropriate these and menace player characters with them! All the actors have acrobatics and breakfall, plus 1 level in HTH combat, but battling Triad soldiers is not in their contract.

There are several important points to remember. Having just arrived off an international flight, or come through airport security, none of the characters except the Karate Cop has any weapons (he has the same snub-nose .38 as the airport guard)

Airport security knows that an action movie is being filmed in the area - shouts, screams, breaking stuff and gunshots will attract absolutely zero attention, as they are assumed to be part of the movie. Anyone who phones security will (at least at first) be assured that everything is OK, it's only a film being made.

There is lots of breakable stuff around here, plus gantries to swing on, chairs and pot plants to throw, expensive film equipment to break, lots of cables snaking over the floor to trip on, or strangle people with and masses of civilians running screaming in all directions. The glass walls (marked in blue on the map) are thick, toughened glass, with DEF 6, but only 1 BOD.

Play up the oddness - when the players first come into the filming area, the cameras will be to left and right - mostly out of sight. Instead they see Tong members confronting a bunch of guys who look like they just came from the Ming Dynasty - including several dressed as Lin Kuei, in what look like ninja suits. There's plenty of room for some potentially painful misunderstandings here!

The Tong members will at first concentrate on breaking stuff and kicking the actors around until it becomes apparent they have some opposition - then they will attack that opposition en masse. Once half or more of them are down - shouldn't take long - the rest will make a break for the emergency exits, where there are a number of limousines waiting with the engines running. The survivors will pile in and the cars will pull away with a squeal of tyres and plenty of smoke. The drivers are waiting for this exodus and have a reserved action - if it looks like the car is going to be boarded, they will take off, even if that means leaving some colleagues behind. The GM should prevent players from getting their hands on cars right now. If a driver is shot, his car will pile up, leaving it undriveable (make this movie-style-car-crash spectacular!).

If the players are having too easy a time of it, have the goons grab some hostages - old ladies or pregnant women, a kid in a wheelchair or something similar - and use them as human shields. Have a hysterical passenger fall to their knees and grab a player by the legs (thus halving their DCV) and beg frantically for protection.

In all the excitement, the bail jumper will disappear.

Once the emergency exit door alarms are triggered, airport security will finally get into the action, arriving a minute or so later, and taking over charge of things. The Fixer will also turn up at about this point. If the players pitched in and fought the Tong goons, Chun will vouch for them - the Karate Cop, if still around, will do the same, so there should be no particular trouble with security. They will, however take statements, and insist the players stay somewhere where they can be contacted if the need arises. Chun will express his gratitude for their help and offer his mansion for temporary stay.

Scene 2: Mansion o' Mayhem

At the Wing Cong Headquarters, all is not sweetness and light - when the bedraggled survivors from the airport raid limp in, the head of the Tong will be enraged. What should have been a stern lesson to Chun and an act seen as a bold statement to the other Tongs has turned into a debacle and caused great loss of face. He immediately orders a gathering of the Tong's fighters. They will take final and decisive action against Chun to expunge this stain on their honour!

Meanwhile the players are treated to a big dinner at Chun's mansion, and he explains the potential motivations behind the day's attack. The Fixer, who has gone along to try work out what to do next, is very worried - some sort of arrangement with the Triads will be very difficult now, and very expensive even if possible. How will he get his money back, if the movie cannot be made?

Chun's mansion (see maps: first floor, second floor) is on a hillside overlooking the city, and built back into the steep slope. It is in a wealthy residential area, on a quiet cul-de-sac, where all of the properties are separated from the street by high walls and security gates. Below Chun's property is a steep drop to the road, as it winds up the hillside, and across from that another steep drop to the back of a large apartment building

While the players are discussing this problem and enjoying a good dinner, the Tong fighters are gathering. A couple will watch the mansion with binoculars from the nearby apartment building until they see the lights go on and then off, in the bedrooms. They will then call the others who will arrive en masse, armed to the teeth, in a number of stolen cars. Aim at about 6 - 8 mooks per player. The mooks will split into three groups - one will circle the house and burst into the top floor through the windows. The second group will invade the house at the same time from the front, and the third group will infiltrate the garden ahead of the others, to ensure no-one escapes from the house and to provide backup if needed.

A small group of 6 mooks is situated at the head of the quiet road that leads down to Chun's house and they will watch for the arrival of the police, (they can see most of the road up the hill, so will detect police well in advance of their arrival) and to cover any retreat. Most of the mooks have mobile phones for communication

At this point, the action starts. Once all the groups are in position, the mooks in groups 1 and two will assault the house. If there is any substantial resistance, group three will run to support their comrades (thus providing a fresh wave of attackers as the first two are used up!). If the mooks take severe casualties (about 1/3rd of their number, which is to be expected) they will begin a fighting retreat, moving into cover behind the furniture and trying to get out of the house. If more than 2/3rds are down, they will simply flee for the cars. All the cars have drivers waiting, and they will take off at speed. In this case, the 6 mooks left at the road will shoot at cars which they don't recognise - or any cars showing signs of hostile activity (like players leaning out the window and shooting!)

In the mansion itself, several points should be noted to aid in running a fun combat.

• First, the upper floors of the house are in darkness, at least initially. Enough light filters through the windows from outside to make movement and combat possible, but all combatants suffer the same penalties as if in darkness (-1 DCV, 1/2 OCV) with -2 to PER rolls. These penalties can be removed simply by turning on the lights BUT the phase the lights are turned on, everyone will have to make a PER roll or be blinded, unless they have some warning. Downstairs, the lights are on, although turned low, so no penalties accrue.
• The players are unlikely to be armed - Chun doesn't keep guns in the house. they should have no trouble getting guns off the mooks, however. Still, keep track of ammo - without a backup, they will run out quickly and some of the heroes will need to get fresh ones.
• The mansion is full of expensive things in glass cases or on small tables to throw, break or stumble into.
• The table in the dining room is smoked glass - it would shatter most impressively if someone was thrown onto it, doing more than 3 BOD (the glass will do 1d6 HKA in addition to impact damage from the throw).
• There are plenty of big glass picture windows which should shatter impressively if shot through or someone is thrown through them (again, 2 DEF, 1 BOD).
• The kitchen is full of lethal hand-to-hand weapons, knives, cleavers, rolling pins, etc.
• From the second floor someone could easily go into the pool (which is nicely blue-lit) either on purpose or by accident.
• The martial arts studio is walled completely in mirrors. Someone bursting in, in the darkness must make a PER roll not to think he is surrounded by aggressively moving figures.
• Downstairs are two servants - the Tong soldiers won't want to leave them as witnesses!
• Chun should be provided with some goons to keep him out of the main action, but you don't need to specifically include him in the combat - he can be wounded and left out of the later action or included as support for the players, as the GM feels like it.

Once the combat winds down, the surviving mooks will run to the cars, which will make tyre-squealing exits as before - this time however, the players may be able to get close enough to commandeer a car, or they can go in pursuit using one or more of Chun's cars (although if they trash his Mustang in the process, he will be VERY upset). The Tong members are smart enough not to lead pursuers back to their base, but will dump the stolen cars downtown and scatter on foot. Still, this is your opportunity to run a thrilling chase down the winding hill road and through Hong Kong's crowded streets - use all the car-chase clichés you want, and make the players roll lots of dice to stay on the tail of the fleeing cars, expend ammunition, avoid driving over scrambling pedestrians or into trucks crossing their path. This chase can end one of three ways - either the players lose the mooks - in which case they will probably return to the mansion. Alternatively, they may keep up with them until the mooks decide to abandon their cars, or crash, in which case there will probably be a chase on foot though a crowded night market. Finally, the players might crash. In the last case, mobile players will probably want to hobble away - the police look dimly on high speed chases through downtown - if you are getting tired of the car chase, you can throw some cops into it, in which case the players' objective will probably be to lose the cops rather than catch the mooks! Dead or non-mobile players will be taken to the morgue or hospital respectively - either way, they're out of the adventure. If the players catch up with fleeing mooks, they will try to tough it out and refuse to talk. Tongs are legendary for their solidarity. However, the players might be able to intimidate them. The fight and pursuit should give them a good bonus - give them at least +2d6 for relentless pursuit. Even if the players cannot get this information, there will be enough evidence at Chun's House for The Fixer to deduce which Tong the attackers represent. At this point, The Fixer will support the players to the best of his ability, although he will try to stay out of the way of actual harm. He has decided the only way he can ensure the movie is made - and he can get his money back - is if the Wing Cong are made to back off, and the heroes look like they can do exactly that.

Scene 3: Head to Head with the Wing Cong

When the players reassemble, The Fixer will explain that this is now a war to the death - even if the players don't want to get involved (fat chance), the Tong will be forced to take revenge for its two defeats - otherwise it will be scorned by the Triads. The safest course is to do the unexpected - to take the fight to the Wing Cong. If the players agree, The Fixer will start calling people on his mobile phone and some time later (by which time it is early morning) lead the players to a rusty shed on the docks. Inside a cheerful young man will greet them and lead them onto a small fishing boat docked nearby. In one of the cramped cabins is a small armoury - pretty much everything in the way of light man-portable weaponry the player's little hearts could desire, with a heavy emphasis on stolen British and Chinese army weaponry. Allow the players to select what they like - you can use the weapons list in Dark Champions if you have it, or the more minimal one in the HSR. The cheerful young man (no names exchanged!) says the the Fixer can have it on his account. As a rule of thumb, pistols and submachine guns are in abundance, as is ammo, there are a few assault rifles, conventional rifles and shotguns. There is one case of 6 grenades, and one LAW. There are plenty of knives, in all sorts of formats if anyone wants one. After that, the fixer will go to a nearby parking garage, where after a brief exchange of cash, the players can take possession of two stolen cars. If the players have other reasonable requests he will try to arrange them - make rolls on his contacts and skills if needed.

The Fixer can provide them with the address of the Wing Cong's Chairman's house, which also serves as the headquarters for the criminals associated with the Tong - a small office building near the harbour. He will leave up to them the timing of the actual assault. Chun will stay behind to deal with the police in the aftermath of the assault on his house, and while the Fixer will not be keen on joining any actual assault, he will consent to watch the cars, provide lookout and so on. For the layout around the Wing Cong's base, see the map of the docks, for the base itself, see this page.

The main entrance to the building is always guarded by two mooks dressed as armed security guards - after the debacle at Chun's house these will be supplemented by 4 more lurking out of sight in the room off the lobby. There are no obvious signs as to what the business does, only a few faded travel posters on the lobby walls. The guards will politely ask anyone who enters what their business is (in Cantonese, of course - few of the mooks speak much English) and then turn them away with a plausible excuse (the person they are looking for doesn't work here or is in a meeting, but will call back if they leave a phone number, there are no public phones or toilets, the company is closed for the founder's birthday, etc., etc.). They will NOT let anyone past the lobby, if necessary calling for help from their nearby comrades and setting off the alarm (the button is under the desk).

The loading bay doors at the back of the building are locked - and alarmed - and the gates into the yard are closed with padlock and chain. The fence has multiple strands of barbed wire along it's top. There are always a few guards lurking about on the first floor, overlooking the back of the building. There are no windows on the ground floor and those on the first floor are alarmed - the grit and grime around their sills shows they have not been opened for years, and they are likely to stick if someone tried.

The first two floors of the building are pretty drab - scuffed grey linoleum, dingy green paint peeling off the walls and beaten up furniture that has obviously been used and misused for years. The whole place stinks of cigarette smoke and is humid and sticky inside. The lighting is all fly-speckled fluorescent strips.

The top floor is a complete contrast - while just as dingy from the outside, inside it is paneled in exotic wood, plushly carpeted and furnished with all the latest electronic gizmos and toys. The lighting is for the most part, subtle and built in, designed to highlight the treasures acquired by the various Tong leaders. This floor also has plenty of expensive things to break! This is where the head of the Tong lives, and he is usually accompanied by his underboss and two lieutenants. One deals with the Tong's finances and business matters - a slender middle-aged man with glasses, he can be treated as a normal mook, since his business skills are unlikely to come into play. The other deals with the street gang members, and both he and the underboss are street-hardened criminals, who can can be treated as a Villain's Lieutenants. The Chairman himself is middle-aged, but his lifestyle has kept him tough. He is a squat, heavily built man with short grey-speckled hair, and a heavy, jowled face. He uses, of course, the Villain Character Sheet.

Once the alarm is sounded (either literally, or by gunfire), the triad fighters inside will rush to the site of the disturbance to defend the building. You can plan on using about 6-8 mooks per player, but not all of them will arrive at once - have them stream out from various places in the building, so that they arrive in waves. That way you can have several combats in different rooms. Once the main combat is over, have a few remaining mooks set ambushes elsewhere in the building). Meanwhile the Chairman and his three associates lock the doors to the top floor and pile furniture up to provide a barricade. They will then arm themselves (the underboss has a nifty H&K MP5 submachine gun, the street lieutenant has a sawed off 18 G shotgun and both have butterfly knives, the Chairman and his business manager have Glock 19 handguns) and await events.

If the Tong members downstairs can drive off attackers, they will simply wait until the coast is clear. If the Heroes overcome the Tong gangsters and burst through the door to the upstairs apartment, these four will be waiting. If everything goes ominously quiet downstairs, they will wait a few minutes then cautiously dismantle the barricades and try to make a run for the limo. on the ground floor to make their getaway.

Scene 4: Epilogue

The GM can tie up the adventure with a smart removal from the scene of carnage, plus assorted drinks and congratulations at a locale away from the local police. Details can be tidied up later. However, there are some plot threads to be tied off, to wit:

• The Gritty Detective should find his bail jumper hiding at the Wing Cong hideout. How he deals with him is up to player, but he doesn't get paid unless the HK cops get him back.
• The Huge Bruiser gets to put the hurt on the people who burnt out his bar. Letting him walk off with a suitcase of cash would be a nice touch.
• The Karate Cop should get a chance to collect the bail jumper, as noted above.
• If he thinks to interrogate anyone on the upper level of the building, the Killer can find out that his last job came from here - he was to be killed both to save money and to remove a potential witness and threat.
• The Lone Biker will be able to find his friend locked in a cell in the basement, beaten up and dehydrated, but otherwise OK. The Wing Cong decided to take revenge for their earlier troubles in San Francisco and had identified him as being involved in that.
• The Masked Avenger should be able to find plenty of evidence that the Wing Cong is behind the influx of heroin into his city.
• The Mercenary should get both a big boost of adrenaline, and a good paying job as bodyguard to either Chun or the Fixer if he thinks to ask. They're both going to need one!