The Devil's Due
Contents
- 1 The Devil's Due
The Devil's Due
Preface
It is no accident that Sheriff Johnny Behan has found himself in the position of power he occupies. Arguably one of the most influential people in Tombstone, he has the power of the law behind him, which he often uses to pursue his own interests. He can harass and arrest those who stand in his way, and set free or stymie investigations into his allies. He sometimes spends more time collecting ruinous taxes on vice than doing his own job enforcing the law and keeping the peace. People who have wronged him or oppose him tend to mysteriously find themselves the targets of the Cowboys, with whom he shares sympathies--that part is no mystery or secret! How he can hold on to his elected position makes all the locals scratch their heads, though, and they can only chalk it up to people playing fast and loose at the ballot box. But what is anyone going to do about it? Everyone knows that if they go digging too deep, the last hole they dig might be their own when some Cowboy friendly to Behan comes a-knockin' and makes them put down the shovel of truth for good.
Background
In 1881, there was an election debacle regarding the office of Pima County Sheriff. The election results were thrown out because of gross fraud (due to there winding up being something like over a hundred votes cast in a race with only 15 registered voters), and by the time things were resolved, the eastern part of Pima County, Arizona where Tombstone lay had been split off to form Cochise County. Due to the election results dragging on for so long from the aforementioned debacle, the territorial governor sped things up quite a bit and used his power of appointment and declared that Johnny Behan would serve as the County Sheriff for that first term; the new county needed a sheriff, after all. Many called foul at this. Behan had not even been in the running. He had a long career up to that point in various government offices and businesses, notably running a bar and hotel in Tombstone that was a frequent hangout for the Cowboys.
Prior to all this, before coming to Tombstone, Behan had faced numerous personal losses and embarrassments forcing him to move on when the going got tough or a reputation for corruption and incompetence began to swirl around him, and some believe he may have been at the end of his rope. After some time in Tombstone, this personal anguish found Johnny Behan at a crossroads in his life, and where the barriers between this world and the spirit world are tenuous, crossroads--both literal and figurative--are where influence from the other side can find the weak-willed and desperate.
Behan chose to leave town to escape his problems and begin anew. He crept away in the night so as not to have to answer any difficult questions and face any further embarrassment. Just outside of town, when he finally had to make a choice as to which direction to travel on his flight, he stopped. He considered what he was doing, what he was leaving behind and what might be waiting for him when he got to wherever he was going. He couldn't outrun a telegram. Wherever he went, news of his departure would get there before he did. Without realizing it, Johnny Behan's turmoil and weakness called out to a power from the beyond, a stranger that met him at the crossroads, filled him full of hope and made him grandiose promises. Behan was suddenly invigorated by the words of this stranger, not even pausing to question the irregularity of it all--such is the charm of fell powers--and he turned back around and returned to his life in Tombstone. He started covering up the embarrassments that caused him to flee in the first place. Everyone seemed to forget about whatever peccadilloes had him so worked up, and a few months later, Governor John C. Frémont, seemingly out of the blue, appointed him Sheriff of Cochise County.
For this favor and more down the road, the Stranger at the Crossroads exacted a price from Behan. The Sheriff's behavior became ever more corrupt and underhanded, perhaps to pay an ever-increasing toll for the Stranger's favors. Whatever the case, in recent months, Behan has moved his offices to the brick courthouse and jail building, or "Castle Behan," as some locals have started calling it, and he rarely ventures out onto the streets anymore without an entourage of least two armed men with him. Since carrying firearms is not allowed on the streets of Tombstone, these men are hastily deputized as needed by Behan. Many people call foul at this, as well, since many of his "deputies" are just local thugs being given license to pack iron.
Behind the scenes, Behan has stumbled upon the bill that the Crossroads Demon has levied for all of his assistance. Since their meeting, the ills that Behan had to commit seemed relatively small at first, and were relatively palatable to one such as he. But, as time went on, and the tally of damnation mounted, the evils demanded in pursuit of favor became too bitter a pill to swallow, even for one with as faulty a moral compass as Johnny Behan. Now, even as he is reluctant to carry out the last set of requests, he fears the wrath of the men he has already wronged in the past--his reason for ensconcing himself in the safety of the Courthouse. Beyond that, he is terrified the Crossroads Demon may pay him a personal visit, and he knows that no amount of bodyguards, brick or iron bars will stop the Stranger when it is time to pay the Devil's due.
If agents of the DTI start making a name for themselves in Tombstone, Behan may seek their assistance with his problem. If they haven't yet made a name for themselves, you can start this adventure with a gunfight in the street, where the the DTI agents assist putting a few desperadoes intent on breaking into the jail in the care of the local undertaker, Phineas Draycott (or Doc Rouska, if any of them managed to survive). Whether the Agents are involved in this gunfight is up to the Judge; the bodies of the dead will make an appearance later in the adventure. Behan will tell the Agents that he has a problem he'd like them to look into. He will couch it as "a man trying to threaten and blackmail" him, a lie that will wear thin rather quickly. If such were the case, Behan has a reputation for dealing with such men. This is well known. Even if the Agents have arrived fresh into town, they would know this much about Behan just from reading up on their DTI personnel dossiers. To get the Agents to take him seriously, he will likely be forced to tell them at least some of the truth, as far as he knows. The latest request of the "Stranger," as Behan calls him, is to murder a spate of locals. Why the Stranger wants them dead is unknown to Behan, but secretly, they are attempting to slow down or stop mining operations in town. This would naturally incur the wrath of many businessmen, since mining is really the only thing Tombstone has going. However, if the mining operation is stopped, men answering the whispers of the ancient spirit cannot reach the prison sealed beneath the mesa, so it is in the interest of the Demon and his masters for the mining operations to continue. If Behan does not accomplish this before the dawn after two full moons (with the first of these just around the corner), the Stranger will "make him pay." He is reluctant to elaborate, but if pressed, he may reveal that he suspects the Stranger is the Devil, and that he may come to take his soul to Hell. Once again, he finds himself at the end of his rope. This time, however, running away is simply not an option.
Dramatis Personae
(In Likely Order of Appearance)
- Johnny Behan
- Iago Mercado
- Father Roscommon
- Phineas Draycott
- Doc Rouska
- Lazarus
- Zombies/Ghouls/Skeletons
- Fell Hounds
- Possessed Gunslingers
- The Crossroads Demon
Unfurling the Plot
Ultimately, the only permanent way to protect the Sheriff will be to get the Crossroads Demon to tear up his contract with Behan at the place the deal was first made: a crossroads a short horse ride outside of town. Of course, Behan doesn't know about any contract; he didn't sign anything from the Stranger at the Crossroads that fateful night. The Stranger just gave him a pep talk and convinced him that wondrous things would happen, and that they would be in touch.
Then, wondrous things started happening for Behan. He unexpectedly became Sheriff of Cochise County, for starters. And, as promised, the Stranger stayed in touch, delivering messages and requests using local townsfolk as his mouthpieces. Behan knows that the messengers never seem to remember speaking to him, though. After delivering the Demon's words, without fail, they always forget what they did, and think Behan is a crazy man to accuse them of having any dealings with him. The contract only came into existence when Behan's evils manifested themselves beyond the normal scope of salvation: when one of his acts of unjust greed eventually resulted in the death of an innocent man. At this point, through the manifest power of the Demon, the terms of the simple contract for Behan's immortal soul (which had been a sort of infernal spit-and-handshake affair up to that point) were etched in fire on the flesh of his first victim.
Know Thy Enemy
A sufficiently well-versed man of the cloth or native shaman or medicine man should be able to identify the Stranger. It is an infernal entity known to many cultures around the world by many names, but is known in European folklore as a Crossroads Demon. This will be abundantly clear if they happen to ask Behan about where they met the Stranger or his state of mind prior to the meeting, and they may even deduce the method of the Demon's downfall: That a contract exists burned in the flesh of one of Behan's victims; that the contract must be taken and that the Demon must destroy the contract with his own hand with the blood of a witness at the place the deal with Behan was first made.
If no such Agent (one with any ranks in the Devotion skill) are currently in the employ of the DTI in Tombstone, there are at least two local resources they can utilize to progress in their investigation. While not a man of the cloth, Iago Mercado is well versed in the occult, and can fill them in. The Agents might seek out his aid in crafting items that might help fight a supernatural entity, which would naturally cause him to inquire as to the nature of the Stranger, since not all demons are created equally. Additionally, Father Roscommon--the local Catholic Priest--may be able to clue them in, as such entities often preyed upon the souls of his poor, beleaguered countrymen back in the old country of Ireland. If the Agents are drawing a blank and seem to be stuck, either one of these NPCs may be drawn to them if their investigation seems to stall. Iago might be following the pull of one of his many mystical charms or totems, seen their dilemma in tea leaves or what have you. Father Roscommon may simply cross their path and sense something amiss and strike up a conversation, which will probably begin with the predictable, "What seems to be troubling you, my child?" whereby he would get more nosy and gently insistent with the hope that they will eventually relent and clue him in. Note that if Father Roscommon is made aware of the investigation, or if he is consulted, he will readily volunteer to stand by the sides of the Agents until the investigation is complete. If he is not brought into the investigation, he will eventually approach them and offer his assistance if no other person of faith is available to fill this role.
The Word Made Flesh
Behan knows that some of his deeds in service to the Demon have directly or indirectly caused the death of some number of men--not by his own hand, of course, but by the hands of others that he had set into action. He would be at a loss to tell the agents who the first victim might have been, and hence, where this contract is located. This does not paint Behan in a particularly favorable light, since he can't even keep track of all his victims, and simply allowing nature to take its course and leaving Behan to the mercy of the Demon is always an option. Once the team figures out that a contract exists, either Phineas Draycott or Doc Rouska may be approached in the course of the investigation. They are the two locals most likely to have seen something amiss on any dead bodies presented to them. One or both may have spotted the strange markings (in an unknown language) burned into the flesh of a man but a few months ago. They likely would have passed it off at the time as either some creepy supernatural thing (in the case of Draycott) or Indian torture and corpse desecration (in the eyes of Doc Rouska). If the Agents do not approach either of these townsfolk, they may directly or tangentially expose their knowledge of how to progress the investigation to the Agents. One method may be to allow the Agents to overhear Draycott discussing his findings of burn marks on a dead man's skin as he tries to drink away the horrors he has seen at a local watering hole (this is the Old West, after all, and one or more of the Agents is bound to spend time drinking or eating at a local pub, as it is a daily routine for almost everyone in town. If there are any academic types among the squad, he may also approach them in an "official" capacity and inquire if they are familiar with languages and present them with a sample of writing from the contract that he copied down. Doc Rouska might make an office call to warn the Agents of new methods she has seen the Indians employing to terrorize their enemies: desecrating corpses by burning gibberish markings into their flesh. Either one or both of these individuals could present the Agents with the next bit of information they need to progress their investigation: the name of the Contract Bearer, and where he is buried. If desired, you can further involve an interaction with a gravedigger to reveal the exact burial plot. A request to exhume the body will have to be processed through Behan's office if things are done officially. If the exhumation is done on the sly (read: grave robbing), they may have to deal with the gravedigger in some way, shape or form, as he will be opposed to anyone just waltzing in and digging up bodies. If the body is exhumed, the patch of flesh can be easily removed--it is in surprisingly pristine, leathery condition--and eventually be brought to a showdown with the Crossroads Demon.
Things are never quite that simple, though, and if the Demon has any say, he will not allow his plans to be thwarted without some opposition...
Encounter the First
If Johnny Behan is fortunate and the Agents pursue this investigation to save his worthless hide, there will be a few points at which the Crossroads Demon will be roused to interfere. When the team speaks to Draycott or Rouska to discover the location of the contract, the Demon is first alerted to their interference, as they are shining the light of knowledge upon one of his secrets. Since either location will have corpses at hand from the gunfight at the jail which opened up the adventure--Draycott is an undertaker, while Rouska is a physician/mad scientist trying to bring people back from the dead--the Demon will animate a number of corpses and start a fight before the agents can depart. While the Agents are conversing with the NPC, they would be interrupted by some noises emanating from a back room: Metal utensils clattering to the ground. A door creaking open. Slow, bare footfalls padding in their direction getting more and more distinct. Ragged, quiet and baleful moaning like a dead man's final gasp filtered through the dry branches of a withered tree. And then the zombies would lurch into the office and attack! If the encounter takes place at Doc Rouska's, you may include Lazarus as an aide to the Agents. He can be quite formidable in a fight, and may make this encounter much easier for the players. It may also raise questions as to just what sort of person Lazarus is, as well...
Note that if, for some reason, the players go out of their way in an attempt to meet either of these NPCs away from their offices or, in the case of Doc Rouska, meet away from her office in town or her residence, (where she also has corpses stashed, for which she might eventually need to explain if they turn into zombies), the zombies will come from somewhere. For a bit of extra challenge or excitement, they may come from Boot Hill, and may even be zombie gunslingers from some recent shootout (bonus points if they can be enemies the Squad has recently put in the ground on their own without the gimme corpses supplied in the encounter at the beginning of the adventure!) armed with the shooting irons they were buried with! If using zombies from Boot Hill, zombie guns should have their REL stat doubled, though; dirt in the action and dampness in the powder will not be kind to such weapons.
If you want to stick to the script, the zombies may simply come from the office of the NPC in question, if they are nearby, and they will be drawn to the Agents attempting to uncover the Demon's secrets. Optionally, this in itself may also cause an interesting ruckus, as--depending on the time of day--a group of recently deceased bandits stumbling down the streets will naturally cause a stir (and present something for the DTI agents to try to explain away later on down the road). If the zombies have to travel from Boot Hill or the NPC's office, it may not be readily apparent that the zombies are specifically after them at all; the cries of the townsfolk might alert the DTI agents before the zombies are able to home in on them. And, in typical heroic lawman fashion, the Agents would likely break off their meeting with Phineas Draycott or Doc Rouska to run to the sound of trouble before trouble has a shambling chance to find them. It may also point the finger of suspicion at either NPC, as people will probably want to know why in tarnation dead folk came staggering out of their offices!
Encounter the Second
With knowledge of where the contract is located, the next bit of interference the Demon can throw the Agents' way will be triggered when they attempt to exhume the body of the contract-bearer. If a request to exhume the body is processed through Sheriff Behan (who will be inclined to quickly grant it, since it is in his own best interest), opposition may be laying in wait for the Agents when they arrive at the cemetery; the Demon would have caught wind of their intents by following their paper trail. They may even have an ambush prepared that the Agents can potentially reveal if they are cautious, or get caught by if they are not. Depending upon how challenging you wish the encounter to be should determine the timing and approach of the enemies in this situation. If the Agents attempt to dig up the Contract Bearer on the sly, the Demon's minions will not have the chance to ambush them or prevent them from reaching the grave, but digging up a body takes time. They would simply interrupt them in the middle of their task, and instead of a knock-down, drag-out fight, it might transpire (at the Judge's preference) that they arrive just as the task is almost complete: If one member of the squad hunkers down in the grave and furiously ministers to prying open the coffin and tearing the contract from the body, spending a few rounds to complete some kind of extended action, they may be able to make off with the goods without having to defeat the opposition.
This action scene easily presents multiple options, as it can be played out in a few different ways with a number of different antagonists, depending on what might make the most sense in your version of Tombstone, or according to you and your players' personal preferences. One option is to have more undead in the form of zombies, ghouls or even skeletons rise from their graves (the contract is hidden in the middle of a cemetery, after all). A pack of Fell Hounds--coyotes with red, glowing eyes--could descend upon the agents, as well. For some variety in opposition, though, the default (canon) option consists of a number of locals who have been charmed into action by the Crossroads Demon. Taking this approach would present some clues by allowing the Agents to see a wider scope of some of the Demon's various abilities, namely that he can possess/charm people, which may have been hinted at previously if Behan told them how the Demon communicates with him. Once the contract has been unearthed, if encountering the possessed locals, even (and especially) if the fight is going well for the Agents, the locals should receive occasional reinforcements in the form of the dead rising from their graves and/or the aforementioned Fell Hounds, with the intent being that the Agents should eventually have to flee the cemetery. Though men may call this land hallowed ground, this is still a place of death. It is a realm closer to the Demon's than their own, and they should not feel safe lingering there for long. If the Agents are met at the grave by the bandits or are ambushed by them, the undead or animals (reinforcements) will not begin to harass them until the contract is recovered. If the encounter occurs as they are completing the task, the undead and/or animals can freely begin reinforcing the bandits as the Judge sees fit to keep the tension up.
If using locals (the default suggestion), there is also a bit of leeway as to who the locals could be. If you desire a challenging encounter, the opposition can be a small group of Cowboys, Laroq's Vaqueros some other form of deviant bandits who are following their small group's leader (who has been charmed for the express purpose of coming out to the cemetery to interfere). As mentioned above, the bandits may be lying in wait for them. If the Agent team is smaller, weaker, kind of beat up (and you are feeling merciful) or you and your players prefer close-combat, the locals could just be townsfolk armed with knives, various improvised weapons or their bare hands. Whatever the case, the locals needn't be killed; if they are knocked out, they will be disoriented and non-hostile when they come to, and will not remember what happened. If the Agents square off with a group of bandits, only the leader will suffer these aftereffects of the charm; the rest of them--if any are able to talk after the fight and are questioned about it--will just say that their leader got a wild hair and convinced them all to come out to the cemetery because someone "was out there robbin' graves."
Planning for Failure
While it is easy to assume the Agents will succeed in their encounters, the cards may not always be in their favor. If the Agents do prevail in these fights or wind up more torn up than expected, it may be advisable to have a non-combat scene or two prepared after one or both encounter scenes to allow the PCs a chance to heal up before their next big encounter. These resting scenes do not necessarily have to deal with the investigation at hand. If the players have other irons in the fire or leads they would like to follow up on in pursuit of future endeavors or seeing to past ones, this may be a perfect time to fit these things in. Likewise, a shopping scene might be in order if anyone needs to gear up for the showdown. A visit to Iago Mercado at the Argento might be in order to see if he has any wares that might be useful in the upcoming fight. A grim drinking and planning scene played out in the smoky depths of a local bar or the DTI office might be called for to allow the squad an opportunity to plan their next moves.
If the first encounter with the zombies starts to go south for the players, one or more friendly locals will come to assist (suggestions are Iago Mercado armed with some goodies that will help put down the living dead; Father Roscommon armed with his bible, faith and a stout club or even Marshall Virgil Earp could ride up and lend a hand). If the players are defeated by their foes at the cemetery, the possessed gang will simply leave them for dead and abscond with the contract, which will have to be recovered from them once the Agents have licked their wounds enough to scrap again. They will be found by the gravedigger who revives at least one of them, and help will be summoned before any of them can bleed out.
A Fistful of Damnation
With the contract in hand, and twice now experiencing the lengths to which the Demon has gone to prevent them from getting it, the Agents should now always feel like the eyes of the Demon are upon them. They might think they hear his whispers in the wind, taunting them, or attempting to seduce them. They may know that the demon can possess others. At this point, they know for a fact that he can raise the dead in his service. Burdened with that knowledge, they should be made to feel leery of anyone who gives them a passing glance, and they should feel like the locals are taking more note of them than usual for no apparent reason. If they hear about a person dying while they figure out what to do, they should be made to wonder if they will come back in service of the Demon. Whether any or all of this is actually the case or their imagination is up for debate and the Judge's discretion, but it can be used to create a sense of dread and paranoia, that danger could be lurking behind every face they meet until this investigation is complete. You can optionally drive this point home by having a random local's eyes glass over in a swirl of inky blackness as they pass by and randomly attack one of the Agents with his bare hands just for sheer shock value. Just by having this contract in their possession, the Agents should know that they are in almost as much danger as Sheriff Behan at this point; they have placed an irresistible target on their backs, and they cannot dawdle. The Demon will eventually get what he wants if they wait too long to give him what he deserves.
As Father Roscommon or Iago Mercado (or an Agent with the Devotion skill) can attest, destroying the contract would sever the connection with Behan and make him safe for a time, but the Demon can simply come back and eventually enforce a new one that will likely be even harder to find. He would also eventually be free to turn his attentions on some other hapless soul once he has collected Johnny Behan's. Destroying the contract themselves is an option, if the Agents want to take the easy way out, but it will ultimately not solve the problem that the continued existence of the Demon presents. The best outcome will involve a rather narrow set of circumstances due to the nature of the enemy. It will require the agents luring the demon out to the crossroads and confronting him there; a fight where the deal was made will sap the Demon of some of his powers, and allow for his permanent defeat if the Agents best him. When they are ready to face the Demon, they will have to figure out how to summon him and lure him out into their trap.
With the contract in hand, a devout Agent or Father Roscommon can glean a few important details about the Demon. The most notable of these is his name (which ultimately isn't important, and you can supply whatever name seems fitting for you), and the fact that if his true name is spoken loudly beneath the full moon (conveniently set to occur that night, or "soon," depending on how rapidly you wish to spur the action) it will draw him forth. By this time, the Agents should come to the realization that they will likely not survive a full lunar month with the contract in their possession, and if they don't get this issue resolved by the next one Johnny Behan's soul is forfeit, anyway. So, if they are going to take advantage of this opportunity, they will need to strike while the iron is hot.
Lambs to the Slaughter, or Wolves, if You Prefer
Naturally, the Agents may suggest just going to the crossroads and summon him there. This is not advised, as the only people the Demon can inhabit in that case will be the Agents themselves, and they will have to fight the Demon as he inhabits the vessel of one of their fellows! If they plan to drag a literal sacrifice out there, their villainy should be rewarded by having the Demon possess one of the Agents in spite of their plan, preferably the one who came up with the sacrifice plan in the first place (as they may arguably be the most morally evil by their deed, and the easiest target for the Demon). However, the Agents may take this risk if they cannot bring themselves to subject anyone to possession by the Demon. Note that this route will have catastrophic consequences for at least one member of the squad, as will be explained later during the encounter with the Demon. This plan, however, will bypass the "Hell Ride to the Crossroads" section of the Adventure.
If this plan comes up--going directly to the crossroads--the character examining the contract should present a timely clarification: The Demon will not just materialize out of thin air; he is not summoned, per se, but rather he is drawn forth into a "suitable vessel" nearby. This information can also be uncovered in a less urgent manner merely by someone positing the question as to how the Demon is summoned. This (hopefully) will present a bit of a dilemma as to who they should offer up for this unenviable duty, and if it doesn't, the Judge may need to remind the players that their characters took oaths to protect people, and that becoming soulless murder hobos will likely not help them in their future endeavors.
The problem they now face is this: Who are the Agents going to serve up as an unwilling vessel for the Demon? The wording on the contract and the reader's knowledge will be frustratingly vague in this regard. The nature of the Demon's summoning is not reliable or precise. Father Roscommon (if he is consulted) would suggest stacking the deck in their favor and attempt to summon him by giving a smorgasbord of targets that no good man would care might wind up in a grave. If Father Roscommon is not consulted or the players do not come up with this idea themselves, he might still interrupt out of the blue to present his suggestion, as he has low-key been stalking the Agents, hoping he can help in some manner since they either first approached him (if they did) or since the Zombies attacked (if they did not). He would urge the Agents to visit the Crystal Palace or the Grand Tartan and start a donnybrook with the Cowboys or Vaqueros there, and when the fight spills out into the street, under the light of the full moon, call forth the Demon that he might take his pick of vessels, and then get ready for their own Hell Ride to the Crossroads!
If the Agents opt to take the Padre's advice, or arrive at that conclusion themselves, the setup can easily be managed through narrative and roleplaying, without setting up an additional encounter or fight.
The Hell Ride to the Crossroads!
If the Agents start a fight with local bandits from one of Tombstones dozens of taverns, the fight will quickly spill out into the streets, where one of the Agents can call out the Demon's name for all to hear. The Demon will be summoned into one of the desperadoes, and a group of them will give chase as the Agents make for their horses and ride out of town. You can use individual combatants if you choose, but this may be a good time to use Mob rules to make a large encounter a bit more streamlined, and for dramatic effect; it seems way cooler to be chased out of town by several dozen desperadoes instead of, say, four or five.
During the chase to the crossroads and the final battle, if you wish to keep the identity of the Demon's vessel secret, it may not be evident at first glance which combatant is possessed by the demon. Seeing whose eyes are glassed over black would require getting into fist or knife (or demon claw) range for at least enough time for someone to take a swing, and the important thing is to defeat the Demon at the crossroads, not in the streets of Tombstone outside of a bar. During the chase, the Demon will always have his minions ride ahead of him; he can jump from one vessel to the next, but doing so temporarily weakens his minions, so he will throw them in harm's way before placing his current vessel at risk. If using Mob rules, he will take up residence in one vessel of a mob that is hanging back a bit from the others. If the vessel of the Demon is killed outside of the crossroads area (for example, if one or more Agents attempt to risk the penalties of long shots, or a rifleman was set up ahead of time on the approach to the crossroads and he snipes at the Demon) he will jump vessels. This takes the Demon one combat round and uses all its APs. During this round, all members of his posse are weakened until the Demon is able to act next. All their attributes are reduced by one die type; a minion with a Dexterity of 1d8 and skill of 2 with their pistol would make attack checks at 2d6 instead of 2d8. If using mobs instead of individual enemies, mobs' attacks and damage are both reduced by one die type.
The Hell Ride is an extended, continuous skill check, and a running battle that does not require a battlemap. One of the Agents must be chosen to lead the Hell Ride. Each phase, the leader will make a Ride skill check. The skill check has a TN of 5, and 4 VPs per agent involved in the chase are required to reach the crossroads. If this skill check is successful, it denotes that they are progressing toward the crossroads. If the check fails, the pursuers are cutting them off, forcing them away from their destination or causing them to slow down and spoil for a fight. Additionally, each Agent (except the leader) makes a Ride skill check at the conclusion of Phase IV at a TN of 3; any failed skill checks reduce the number of VP earned by the leader that turn by one as one or more of the Agents are falling back and run the risk of getting cut off by pursuers and separated from the group. The leader of the Hell Ride cannot draw too far ahead of the rest of the squad lest they get separated from the group and cut down. If the leader's skill check results in a calamity, any VPs they would have earned are reduced from the total, as they are being forced wildly off course or have gotten turned around and lost their way. If one of the other Agents suffers a calamity, they cause the VP total to be reduced by two instead of one, and they are dismounted; the leader cannot make riding checks to earn VP until the fallen rider gets back on his mount when he can take his next action.
At the outset of the Hell Ride, the range will be relatively short. If the Lead agent does not make a successful skill check at the beginning of the phase, the range for any attacks during that phase will be one range increment for pistols (the pursuers are successfully keeping up and have closed in). If the lead Agent succeeds, they can choose to open the gap and increase the range increment by one for any attacks made that phase. This can be used to reduce the effectiveness of their pursuers' attacks, but it will also affect their own attacks, as well. One of the pursuers will also ride far to the back (3 range increments away from the group). The agents may elect to fire at this target/mob at a +4 TN penalty. For any Agents who might be lying in wait at the crossroads, they can fire at the pursuers with a rifle as soon as the Hell Ride begins. The penalty for taking such long-range shots increases the TN by the VP remaining until the Agents reach the crossroads; If 4 agents are riding, then a total of 16 VP will be required. If the sniper were to take a shot before any VP are earned, his TN would be a whopping 21 (5 + 16)! Taking a shot at the Demon riding at the back of the group will also add an additional +2 penalty, as he is an extra range increment away, even for a rifle. All that dust getting kicked up and too many bodies out there might make it nigh-on impossible to score a hit until they get a bit closer in...
For ease of tabulation purposes, and because all participants will suffer under the same modifiers, any penalties for movement and mounted fire can be ignored for the duration of the Hell Ride.
Laying on the Spurs or Slowing to a Trot
The Agents may wish to voluntarily slow down to whittle away the Demon's minions and potential reinforcements. The leader of the Hell Ride (or Hell Canter, if the Agent so wills it) may opt not to make a Ride check at the beginning of any phase and thereby accumulate no VP for that phase. This will allow the Agents more time to engage their pursuers and reduce their numbers. Conversely, if any Agents choose, they may forfeit their combat actions and spend all their APs to focus on riding, preventing the pursuers from cutting them off and making openings for their slower allies to advance. At the end of Phase IV, instead of making a check to see if they slow the leader down, their Ride Check at TN 3 may earn VPs to add to the total earned that turn. At the conclusion of any full turn when the required VPs or more have been earned, the Hell Ride is concluded in phase IV, and the Squad has reached the crossroads.
The Showdown
The Hell Ride Concludes at a crossroads just west of Tombstone, where the report from the impending gunfight and the bloody screams of the wounded will still be barely audible even in the heart of town. The area is flat and open with little available cover (unless the Agents prepared some for themselves in advance). There is one small building out here, an old abandoned adobe shack little more than five or six paces on a side just a few paces away from the intersection. Any of the wood that once made its door, stoop, awning or shelves inside has long since been scrapped, probably used to feed a few campfires over the years. There are a few holes for windows, but no wood frames or shutters, let alone glass to keep the elements out. There is still a roof to the place that has enough integrity to support perhaps one or two people without collapsing so long as people don't move around too much; the wood up here and the timbers supporting it must have been too much work to casually scavenge. Even still, if someone were to clamber up to start a fight, both participants will likely fall through the weathered roof and crash to a heap down below. The building is not very tall, and can be easily scaled with at TN 5 Athletics check (TN 3 if approaching by one of the window-holes to provide a leg up). The adobe walls of the building provide a cover level of 2 (They will stop 2 wounds delivered to any target behind them). The roof of the building is flat, and there is no half-wall to provide cover; being atop the building will simply allow one a small height advantage and a clear line of sight for a good distance (such as for a rifleman to provide fire support during the Hell Ride).
Once at the crossroads, the Demon's ability to jump vessels is somewhat hindered. If his mortal shell is defeated, the victim's flesh burns away to reveal the demon's true form (this is the catastrophic consequence mentioned earlier, and why it is not suggested the Agents come here directly, as when the Demon is summoned into the body of one of the Heroes, they will be consumed and slain when the Demon is beaten...for the first time. Yes, this is potentially a multi-stage fight. On top of that, if the Demon's true form suffers enough wounds, it will disappear in a crumbling puff of brimstone-stinking soot, and the Demon will jump to occupy another body, losing his next action in the process. There is no visual indicator as to which target is the Demon's next vessel until it acts and attacks. When the Demon jumps to a new body and that body is knocked unconscious or killed, these lesser vessels are not destroyed, he just jumps to a new one. He will always favor minions as his new vessel if any are left alive, but if all the minions are taken out, he will begin jumping into the bodies of the Agents opposing him. If the Demon jumps, each player should make a Spirit Skill check. The Agent who scored the lowest on his skill check will be the new target. When inhabiting the body of a lesser vessel, the Demon uses the vessel's skills and stats to make skill and resistance checks. The only part of himself he maintains is his infernal claw attack.
Any minions who may be left alive are released from their possession when the Demon's first vessel and its true form is revealed at the crossroads. They will somehow instinctively know what has happened to them, and the coercion on their souls will cause them to go into a rage against their former master, at which point they would help the Agents in the fight against the Demon. This may be a boon, but it can also be a bane, as it is quite possible for one of the freed minions to score a killing blow and cause the Demon to jump into a fresh, undamaged vessel!
The Devil in the Details
Before the final battle begins, the Judge should inform the players that due to his infernal nature, the Crossroads Demon is a mastermind-class enemy, and a modified version of the Risk rules will be in place. If they want to back down, they always have an out: Destroying the contract.
With that formality taken care of...The Demon cannot be bested by normal means. Even if he is denied of his minions, he can still jump to another body; when the Demon's current vessel has taken enough wounds to incapacitate it (rendered unconscious or dead), anyone nearby (NPCs first, naturally) will become his new vessel. If using mob rules, he will inhabit the body of a member of a mob, reducing the mob's numbers and effectiveness by one, and enter the field as an independent combatant. It may be possible to revive any "spent" vessels after the fight. Thus, it might be possible for an Agent to become possessed, and the players may have to fight one of their own! The Demon will carry on the fight until the players either manage to get him to destroy the contract, or until he manages to defeat the last PC. The Demon is compelled to attack the Agent in possession of the contract. He will inexorably move toward them, and make all of their attacks against that individual. If the Demon's current vessel is armed with a gun, he will will fire while moving at a walking pace, and will not seek cover. If he reaches his target, he will begin attacking with his claws, which is a much more deadly attack.
At any point in the encounter, the holder of the contract may choose to tear or cut it up; this will instantly void the contract and cause the Demon to vanish, and the fight to end for now. If the Demon gets control of the contract, he will keep it in his possession until he has beaten all those who oppose him here at the crossroads. Making an attack with the contract in hand causes the Demon a +2 penalty to his attack TN, as he can only use one hand for a swipe attack. Any Agents slain at the hands of the Demon are not yet permanently dead per the Risk rules, but if all members of the squad are incapacitated (A TPK, in essence), then the entire group is killed with no chance for revival. If things are not looking good, it may be necessary for the Agent holding the contract to force the Demon to run away so they may all live again to fight another day! If the Demon gains possession of the contract, an attempt to take it back from him may be attempted using the disarm rules. On a successful disarm, the Demon loses control of the contract, and the attacker gains possession of it. The contract can also be passed from one Agent to another, which may be a viable tactic if the Demon is getting too close, or the Agent is too badly hurt--playing keep away might be the best route to go in certain circumstances. However, keep in mind that for the plan to work and the Demon to be banished, the contract (and the Demon) must be kept within a short distance (about 20 paces max) from the crossroads.
To defeat the Crossroads Demon once and for all, the agents must engineer a method by which the Demon destroys the contract in flesh with his own hand with a mark of blood from a witness. The surest method to accomplish this in the pinch they are in is simply to use the contract as a sort of shield, take a hit from the fell beast while wielding it, and hope to survive. When the Demon attacks the bearer of the contract, if the attack hits they can make an Athletics skill check at TN 9; if successful, they manage to interpose the contract with the incoming claws, taking damage from the attack and suppling the "blood of the witness." The contract is destroyed, and this particular Demon is forever banished to Hell with whatever dramatic special effects you would like to incorporate. The Agent can also invoke another variant of the Risk mechanic for themselves on top of the one already in play and voluntarily take the hit, which drastically increases the odds of getting the contract in the way of the attack, but will expose the Agent to greater harm, and possible permanent death in the form of self-sacrifice. The Agent makes an Athletics skill check at a TN of 3 instead, but if successful, they cover their own flesh with the contract as the Demon's claws rip into them. The Demon's attack gains a damage bump, but if the wound results in the Agent's death, they cannot be revived. If they survive, however, they will be eligible for an experience bonus per the Risk rules, in addition to the bonus the group will get for fighting a mastermind.
Where the Chips Fall
Assuming the Agents are successful (since if they are not, everyone is probably meekly packing up their stuff and getting ready to go home rather than reading this part detailing what happens next), they have either banished a powerful Demon scourge from the land and helped a bit in securing this part of the frontier from supernatural forces that might force themselves into our existence. After the battle is over, the Heroes ride back into town, into the sunrise, but there are still very real issues that the Demon's interference brought about in the lives of the people of Tombstone, Arizona.
Johnny Behan was appointed to his position by the territorial governor, and is not a duly elected official. His position was granted through the interference of the Demon. Due to Behan's unsavory nature, and the evils he has committed while paying service to the Crossroads Demon, he has the potential to become even more wildly unpopular, especially if his misdeeds are brought to light by certain investigators in the know. Even without the Agents' influence, it is unlikely Sheriff Behan will win re-election this year. Some may want to see Behan answer for his crimes, which is perfectly normal and understandable, and can easily be made to happen; it's not like he was overly secretive about his dirty deeds. He was simply able to be overt because he had the favor of the Cowboys, and he was inclined toward sloth. Without the support of the Demon, Behan will find that his favor among the Cowboys and tolerance from Laroq's Vaqueros rapidly withers and dies. After all, plenty of them likely got snuffed out during the Hell Ride, and even if they don't know for sure that Behan had something to do with it, they all will feel it in their guts as the lies and influence of the Demon slips away to uncloud their eyes. In light of this, if left to his own devices without facing justice--if he is not shot dead in the street by any number of people who would like to see him gone--Behan will most likely lose the next election and slip off into the night again, like he planned to when this whole mess started. This time, however, he won't have any doubts clouding his mind that might call forth another Crossroads Demon like last time; his path out of town and his motivations will be pretty clear cut, even in his mind.
Causing the Sheriff to face justice might earn the Agents of the DTI some credibility as straight-shooting lawmen in these parts, which may help future investigations, just as that reputation might hinder others. No one thinks Virgil Earp is going to abdicate his duties, after all; the man has a sterling reputation (except among the criminals, who would love to see his good name besmirched, of course). On the other hand, when everything is said and done, Johnny Behan will know beyond a shadow of a doubt that he owes the continued uncertainty of the state of his immortal soul to the Agents who fought a Demon to release him from his contract. The ball may be in his court once again. Where once he was unquestionably damned, now he may have a chance to repent and not assuredly go to Hell. Whether he walks that path is a question to be answered another day, but it all starts out with the Heroes of this story deciding for him if he will even get a chance to answer that question. Do the Heroes take a risk on Johnny Behan and hope that he turns to the path of good, or do they make him answer for his mortal sins, and remove his say in the matter? Because sure as a Tombstone summer is hot, the mortal punishment for ol' Johnny will be to hang by the neck until he is dead, dead, dead, and that doesn't leave a lot of time to make amends for a lot of sin.
So, you could say that Sheriff Behan knows he owes the Agents of the DTI a big favor. Maybe a lot of big favors. Perhaps, even a lifetime of favors, depending upon how tight they want to put the screws to him. While he may not have it for long, Behan still has power, and still holds plenty of authority. They could opt to keep Behan in his place and even try to campaign for him come election time to keep their golden goose in office. Having Behan in their pocket might be awfully helpful when dealing with Angus Laroq or any other bandits or schemers that might come to town. But the writing on the wall is pretty plain to see, here, and that route might not be the most palatable to some of the more just-minded folk out there. One thing is for certain, though in this situation: You can't have your cake and eat it, too. If the Agents try to squeeze Behan for a spell before turning him in, they will lose much of their credibility, and he will have plenty of time to either cover his old tracks or improve his reputation to the point that a conviction likely won't stick in the eyes of a territorial Magistrate.
All the above assumes, of course, that the Agents prevailed in the fight against the Crossroads Demon. If they chickened out or were forced to tear up the contract themselves, well....
They know he's still out there. Waiting. And now he knows who they are.
