Chapter 12

Fabulous Loot


Before becoming the leader of the Metal Warriors, BFenix first had to satisfy the Gods of Metal and claim the forgotten blood sword RAGE in the Steelliums of Hellius.
Character by BFenix

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On a remote moon in the Fang Sector, multiple forces are coming for the prisoner that the United Systems Alliance is holding in the Jacksonville Naval Base detainment facility.
Photo: Red Rover
From "Prison Break!"
Elements shown: LEGO
image rights: Red Rover 5/28/20

Grinding mobs is for amateurs. If a Hero has the spotlight, he's going to use it to nab some trophies.

A Heroic Escapade always has Loot as its objective. Whether treasure, magic weapons, captured hostages, or secret plans, it's only an Escapade if it has Loot to escape with, leaving any opposing so-called Heroes empty-handed.

Loot items are claimed by a Hero when his units escape with them over a friendly edge of the battlefield, when he or his units are in control of the items when the Escapade ends, or if the Loot is still lying around unclaimed when he achieves victory and takes control of the battlefield and everything in it.

Depending on the campaign fiction and the players' mutual agreement, some Loot might be claimed upon completion of a story-specific task instead - defeating a boss enemy, activating a series of control panels, or feeding the tastiest member of the royal family to a dragon, for example.

12.1 The Loot


By the unanimous consensus of respectable minifig treasurologists, the only appropriate way to store valuables is in obvious and easily stealable containers.
own photo

Not all Loot is created equal. A Hero's greed increases with his Irresponsibility, and his tastes only grow more expensive and exotic as a campaign snowballs forward.

Loot Appraisal

When preparing Loot for an Escapade, there are three attributes to decide: its Unit Inch value, its physical qualities as an object or objects, and which Heroes it appeals to.

  • Value

    Heroes are temperamentally unable to fight for anything less than the maximum they can get away with at all times. Minifigs with a tolerance for half measures never become Heroes in the first place. Whether chests of gold, crates of weapons, or rescued prisoners, an Escapade's target Loot is always worth exactly as many Unit Inches as the Irresponsibility level of the Hero seeking it.

    Loot may take the form of cash and treasure that can add Unit Inches to a Hero's Budget directly, or the Unit Inches may be already vested as units and Artifakts ready for a conquering Hero to claim.

    In story-focused campaigns, the Unit Inch value can be more transactional, with Loot that grants benefits worth the proper number of Unit Inches. The Loot might be a faction banner or legendary beverage whose capture inspires new soldiers to join a Hero's Army, or a briefcase full of engineering plans or a sack of rare energy crystals that allow a Hero to build new war machines after the battle, or the kidnapped pastry chef whose rescue earns the support of doughty Doughnut Warriors for whichever Hero rescues him.

  • Physical Qualities

    All Loot is represented by one or more physical objects. If a Hero completes the challenges set forth in the troll prophecy, the troll kingdom doesn't become his ally instantly; he receives a symbolic Trollface Mask that he must escape with first. Physical Loot items naturally become targets for rival Heroes to steal, destroy, place in minefields as bait, or toss back and forth in a deadly game of keep-away.

    Unless the storyline or player preference dictate otherwise, Loot objects are about an inch in physical Size for every Unit Inch of value.

  • Appeal

    Most Escapades target Loot with universal appeal: gleaming treasure, legendary weapons, and powerful Artifakts of war. All the Heroes involved in such an Escapade are fighting for the same prize, forging alliances and stabbing each other in the back in order to be the last one holding the bag at the end of the battle.

    Not all Loot is desirable to all Heroes. The lost will and testament of the red Hero's billionaire great aunt is worthless to the blue Hero, just as the miracle cure for the blue king's necrotizing zombie butt disease is irrelevant to the red Hero. Rescuing the green Hero's best friend, unjustly imprisoned by a corrupt government for exposing foreign interference in the election process, is meaningless to either of them.

    When an Escapading Hero stages an Escapade for Loot with limited appeal, he and his allies (if any) are fighting to seize the Loot on his behalf, while the defenders (if any) are fighting to protect it. Any other Heroes in the Escapade will have to come up with limited appeal Loot of their own, Koincidentally present at the same Escapade, subject to the approval of the player group. The value of the secondary Loot items are based on the Irresponsibility of the Heroes seeking them, but can't exceed that of the main Loot pursued by the Escapading Hero.

    Limited Appeal Example: The Prison Break

    Example: John Lenin, famous musician and Space Commie Hero, has been defeated and captured by the Galactik Police State. In his absence, the Space Commies have secured the services of Paul McCarthy, a cynical bounty hunter who specializes in tracking down missing Commies.

    As a new Hero, McCarthy has an Irresponsibility level of 1, allowing him to Escapade for Loot worth one Unit Inch, which is conveniently the cost of restoring a defeated Hero. Paul McCarthy declares that he's staging an Escapade on the Galactik Police Prison, with the rescue of John Lenin as the Loot.

    Despite his musical popularity, Lenin has limited appeal as a Loot item; only the Space Commies are able to make use of him if he's rescued. The other Heroes in the battle will have to decide whether to ally with the attacking Space Commies, ally with the defending Police State, or come up with their own limited appeal Loot.

    The Space Mafia decide to take advantage of the Escapade to break one of their own minifigs out of the prison and do some damage to the Galactik Police in the process. Although the Space Mafia Hero has an Irresponsibility level of 3, the value of his Loot can't exceed that of the Hero staging the Escapade. He's limited to a single prisoner worth one Unit Inch.

Loot Categories

Not all Loot comes in the form of gold and currency, although those certainly have their appeal. Escapading Heroes quickly become connoisseurs of unique collectibles to further their campaigns.

  • Treasure

    STARCorp prides itself on having more stealable loot lying around than even the Space Mafia.

    image rights: MadMario, signed 7/23

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    Treasure is the most basic and flexible type of Loot, although not as instantly useful as new units or weaponry. Safes full of cash, chests of gold bullion, sacks of stolen credit cards, and priceless Blue Deadly SpaceMan memorabilia can all be converted directly into Unit Inches for a Hero's Budget once successfully removed from the battlefield.

    Dragon hoards, Spanish fleets, bank safes, and the museums of parasitic colonialist empires are all good places to Escapade for treasure.

    Each treasure loot item is worth one Unit Inch. Each treasure taken adds one Unit Inch to the Budget of whoever claims it, and subtracts one Unit Inch from the Budget of whomever it previously belonged to.

  • Heroic Artifakts and SuperNatural Talismans

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    Magical swords, cursed rings, alien cannons, reality-altering gem-encrusted handwear, and necromantic books of interdimensional madness are like catnip for Heroes. Unfortunately, no matter how much Budget a Hero embezzles, Heroic Artifakts (6.6: Heroic Artifakts) and SuperNatural Talismans (D.2: SuperNatural Powers) can't be bought with regular Unit Inches. Heroes either have to seize them as Loot in an Escapade or wait for another Hero to seize them as Loot in an Escapade and then murder him.

    An Escapade for Heroic and SuperNatural Loot can take Heroes to the halls of the gods, trap-filled crypts, lost cities, wizards' towers, or the private collections of university libraries.

  • Fighting Units

    Neo-Prussian Hero Johnny Blitzkrieg never met an abandoned Luftpanzer he didn't like.
    Photo: Bragallot
    From "Peach Pluton Apocalypse"
    Elements shown: LEGO
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    There are many ways for a Hero to claim enemy units and equipment for himself. Vehicles and Submissive creatures can be commandeered. Programmed units can be stolen and re-Programmed. Subjugated units don't automatically join their liberators, but there's nothing stopping the liberators from re-Subjugating them.

    Besides stealing units from an outraged enemy, Heroes can Escapade for fighting units who exist specifically as Loot items. Lost allies to free from an ancient curse, a defending champion who will join the Heroes' cause if they can defeat him, a powerful autonomous mech left abandoned by an advanced precursor race, or unemployed vagrants who will take up arms for dental benefits are all valid Loot units.

    Heroes might seek new units in villages under attack, ancient temples, abandoned sci-fi hangars, seedy taverns, monster lairs, and underground fight clubs.

    Loot units may need some work to be useful for their new owners. Vehicles may need new operators, damaged units may need repairs, and even fresh units may need re-equipping and modifications to make a good culture fit with their new Army pals. These are handled in-between Escapades like any other Army maintenance tasks, and have the same Budget cost as for any other unit.

  • Captives

    Aethannian raiders sneak in as the Liossan invasion is already underway, successfully taking the Vasluxian VIPs prisoner and escaping by boat.
    Photo: Dienekes22
    From "The New War - Finale"
    Elements shown: LEGO

    image rights: Dienekes22, signed 7/28

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    Heroes, campaign leaders, and other plot-critical characters only truly die when the campaign fiction demands it, and even then it's usually reversed afterwards in a Koincidental retkon (6.5: Heroic Deaths). When one of these characters falls in battle, their incapacitated bodies become valuable Loot items, either as prisoners for their enemies to capture, casualties for their allies to evacuate, or hostages for meddling factions who haven't decided yet which group they fall into.

    Captives might be held in a high-security dungeon, a low-security courtroom holding cell, a torture chamber for interrogation, or an opulent palace bedroom for marriage. A Hero might also stage a high-speed Escapade to hijack the vehicle transporting the captives to one or another of these locations, whether by bus, train, carriage, or starship. If a Hero wants to stage an Escapade to rescue a captive held by another Hero, the Heroes' players will have to negotiate a location that will be fun for both sides.

    By the inescapable power of Koincidence, minifig bonds and restraints are notoriously loose, and any unrestrained unit can spend an Action to free any captive they can touch with their hands. Freed captives immediately become active units in the battle, joining the regular turn sequence with their own players as appropriate.

    During an Escapade, captives bide their time, feigning submission and waiting for the opportunity to either escape or strike back at their captors. If a captor is about to take any action to harm one of their captives, all of his captives in the battle have the option to immediately activate with one Instant Benny each. The captor's turn and action are interrupted; all captives take a turn immediately. The captor's turn, including whatever action they had been about to take, can resume once the captives' turn is finished.

  • Production Resources and Plot Hooks

    If the Conventu Scolastici Aeternitatis can discover the secret of brewing Maniac Beer, it could change the balance of power throughout the BrikVerse.
    Photo: MadMario
    From "A Quantum Leap?"
    Elements shown: LEGO

    image rights: MadMario, signed 7/23

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    In story-driven Escapades, Loot can take more esoteric forms, depending on the players' tastes and the needs of the fiction. A data crystal with plans for the experimental Deathsteroid, the allegiance of a dwarven ForgeMaster with knowledge of fourth-level metalwork, an unholy pact with a flock of horse-sized ducks, and an evil sister's secret diary can all open unusual and forbidden avenues of unit production and plot kontinuity for Heroes who are unsatisfied by the standard options.

    There are no specific mechanical advantages granted by captured production resources and plot hooks, but their fiction carries weight. A Hero who can change the direction of the story also changes what the Humans will let him get away with.

    After the Escapade, a Hero who successfully captures this type of Loot gains story-appropriate units of his choice equal to the Loot's value. A captured production material like high-tech energy crystals might grant him the ability to build new high-energy beam cannon tanks or deadly beamsaber knights. A plot element like a family signet ring might inspire hereditary bondsmen to rally to the Hero's cause.

    Whether the Loot has any long-term effect on the storyline or just a one-time benefit to the Hero's Army depends on the players' interest level and attention span.

12.2 The Loot Stronghold


As the target of infinity simultaneous invasions repeating for all eternity, the Four Rums may be the most fiercely-contested Stronghold in the BrikVerse.
Photo: Ninja_bait
Model by Kenny "Kommander Ken" Bush
From "BATTLE OF THE KONVERGENCE"
Elements shown: LEGO
image rights: ninja_bait, signed 7/24
model rights: Kommander Ken, signed 7/23
Stronghold Defense Improvements
ImprovementEffect
Fortifications
Add Barrier Add one barrier
height 3", Armor 1
Increase Height Increase height of one barrier by +2"
Increase Armor Increase Armor of all barriers by one
Field Hazards
Add Field Hazard Add one Field Hazard
3" thick, one Hazard Die
Strengthen Hazard Add one Hazard die to a Field Hazard
and increase its thickness by +2"
Garrison Forces
Strengthen Garrison Add +1" to the maximum Size of Garrison units

Any Loot worth Escapading for is held in a Stronghold, protected by some combination of static fortifications, dangerous traps and terrain, and active defending units.

Like the value of the Loot, the Stronghold's defenses are based on the Irresponsibility of the Hero staging the Escapade. For every level of the Hero's Irresponsibility, the Stronghold receives one improvement to its Fortifications, Field Hazards, or defensive Garrison. If the Loot and Stronghold belong to a specific player, that player dictates the defensive arrangements. Otherwise, all players work together to decide what defenses are appropriate.

Depending on the setup, the Stronghold might occupy the center of the battlefield, open to attack from all sides, or it might occupy one end of the battlefield while attacking forces approach from the other.

Defensive structures and terrain can be built in a perimeter around the Stronghold (a medieval town wall and moat, an electrified perimeter fence, a ring of fused asteroids) or form a barrier blocking the approach (razor wire and trenches, a street barricade of crashed tractor trailers, a steep mountain pass flanked by sphinx statues that shoot laser beams out of their eyes), or they can be incorporated into the Stronghold itself (a concrete bunker, a zombie-proofed house, an armor-plated ice cream truck mobile command center).

Mobile Strongholds
Nothing beats the empty vacuum of space for ease of battlefield setup. In space campaigns, Strongholds or even whole battlefields are often capital ships rather than stationary locations on the ground.
Photo: Ninja_bait
From "Fleet Forum Battle"
Elements shown: LEGO

image rights: ninja_bait, signed 7/24

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There's no rule saying Strongholds have to stand still - train heists, stagecoach ambushes, and capital ship boarding parties are all classic Escapades.

A mobile Stronghold can be treated like any other unit, moving around the battlefield to best position itself for defense. Especially large Strongholds can make use of the Thrust rules to make their movement appropriately ponderous (9.3: Thrust).

To capture the sense of a chase scene, however, it can be better to leave the Stronghold in place and move the battlefield around it instead. Pick a speed for the Stronghold's movement, and at the beginning of every cycle of player turns, move all units and scenery around the Stronghold backwards that many inches.

The rearmost edge of the battlefield is considered friendly to all factions. Whatever units fall off the back of the battlefield are removed from play and returned to their owners' Armies after the battle.

Fortifications

The gates of the M-Throne Imperial Senate Building have never been breached.
Photo: Azmi Timur
From "Imperial Senate Building"
Elements shown: LEGO

image rights: MadMario, signed 7/23

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These makeshift wooden defenses aren't as strong as the stone walls around them, but they're a better option than leaving the breach open.
Photo: Dienekes22
From "The Start of the New War"
Elements shown: LEGO

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Attackers are free to bring equipment designed to overcome a Stronghold's defenses. Walls aren't stealthy enough to catch them by surprise.
Photo: Dienekes22
From "The New War - Turn 3"
Elements shown: LEGO

image rights: Dienekes22, signed 7/28

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Loot defenders can protect their valuables with heavy barriers. These might come in the form of stone walls and wooden palisades, or they might be junk-built barricades, rocky cliffs, or unusually thick and sturdy hedgerows.

When defenders improve a Stronghold's Fortifications, they can build a single barrier layer up to three inches in height (eight standard bricks) with maximum Armor:1. The defenders can use each successive level of strengthening to either add another layer of barriers, increase the maximum height of one barrier by two inches, or add a to the maximum Armor of all Fortification barriers (up to the appropriate maximum Armor level for the story and genre (7.1: Structure)).

The designs of Fortification barriers are up to the players. They can include any features that fit the story and make them more interesting (gates, towers, helicopter pads, secret passages). Fortification barriers don't have to use their maximum Armor, form complete encirclements or obstructions, or be built to any uniform height.

While their height and Armor is limited, Fortifications can be built to any length - a wall a hundred miles long is just as easy to punch through as one a hundred feet long; the main difference is how thinly the defending forces have to stretch to cover it.

Fortifications Example: Minus Torus

Example: Minus Torus is the last Stronghold of the Doomaloreans, an ancient line of stainless steel knights. The castle citadel is heavily fortified with both masonry and magic.

With nine levels of Fortification improvements, the defenders give the fortress a 3" high ring of Armor:1 stone walls (1 improvement level) and add two more rings inside it (+2 levels). They increase the height of the second ring to 5" (+1 level) and the innermost ring to a 7" tower (+2 levels) protecting their precious Loot: the Holy Chrome Cannon.

The Doomaloreans spend their final three Fortification improvement levels to raise the Armor of the walls. 3 is the standard strength of stone walls, but the players decide that 4 is a fair Armor value for castle walls enhanced by centuries of enchantment.

Field Hazards

In addition to physical barriers, Loot can be protected by dangerous and difficult environments. A Stronghold might be encircled by minefields and razor wire, a lava moat, a powerful repulsor field, or piles of poop left by inconsiderate dog owners and/or their dogs.

When defenders improve a Stronghold's Field Hazards, they can add one Field Hazard up to three inches thick with a single Hazard Die (Chapter F: Field Hazards). Each subsequent level of improvement can either add another Field Hazard or strengthen an existing Field Hazard by adding another Hazard die and increasing its maximum thickness by two inches.

Defenders don't have to design Field Hazards that use their maximum Hazard dice or thickness or that form complete or uniform encirclements or obstructions.

Field Hazards Example: The Poop Bog

Example: The legendary Poo on a Stick, a sacred Artifakt of the debased Dungan civilization, rests on a porcelain throne in a shrine deep in the deadly poop bog.

The Dungans improve their Field Hazards three times. They use the first improvement to add a 3" thick ring of sucking mud (Difficult Terrain, -1" Move) around the shrine island. The second adds a 3" thick ring of powerful wind gusts around the shrine itself (Concealed Hazard, 1" Thrust away from the shrine). They use the third to strengthen the wind ring, increasing its thickness to 5" and adding a second die of overwhelming stench (Exposure Damage 1, breathing units only).

The Garrison

Passive defenses can slow the advance of an Escapading Hero, but they're rarely enough to kill him. Whenever possible, defenders prefer to call on local forces and minions to act as disposable meat shields. Castle guards, town police, wandering monsters, frenzied cultists, and summoned abominations can all be deployed to spoil an Escapade. If the defending forces belong to an existing Hero's faction, the Hero's player can take control of them; otherwise, they can be assigned to any player without a Hero participating in the Escapade, or treated as mobs controlled by Mob Rule (MC.5: Endgames).

When defenders improve a Stronghold's Garrison, they can add defensive units and weapon emplacements with a maximum Size of 1" each. Each additional improvement increases their maximum Size by one inch.

This is identical to the way the Sizes of Escapading units are limited by their Hero's Irresponsibility, but in a horrifying opposite Responsibility version.

The defenders can add as many or as few units to the Garrison as they like, although their final Unit Inch value can't exceed the total value of the forces deployed by the Hero staging the Escapade. Regardless of which faction the defending forces belong to, Garrison units aren't taken from any Hero's Army, and can be treated as completely disposable.

Because Garrison units belong to the Stronghold bastion rather than to any Hero, they're officially designated as bastards.

If a Stronghold has a Garrison, then the Fortifications and everything inside them belongs to the Garrison defenders, everything outside them belongs to the Escapading Hero and his allies, and either group entering the other's territory is on Deadly Ground (MC.3: The Benny).

Garrison units don't have the initiative to carry or move Loot items in any direction away from the Stronghold, although they can leave the Stronghold to collect Loot items and bring them back. Only a Hero is Irresponsible enough to try and steal Loot items from his own faction.

Garrison Example: The Zombie Outbreak

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Example: Ash Housewares, a legendary chainsaw-wielding Hero, has been captured! It's up to backup Hero Phil Jalentine to rescue him.

After tracking Ash's location to a high-security holding facility hidden inside a Parasol Corp hospital, Phil makes an unsurprising discovery. As usual, the hospital has suffered a Koincidental zombie outbreak just as he arrives.

The defenders decide to add a Garrison, but Phil is a new Hero with an Irresponsibility of 1 - enough to bring a small team of minifigs and stage an Escapade with Ash as Loot, but not much more. This means that the Garrison can only be strengthened a single level, and its numbers will be limited by the size of the team Phil is bringing.

They use their limited Garrison size to add a pair of militarized corporate security guards and a handful of zombies. It's now a race to see if Phil's team can extract Ash before the zombies chow down on enough neutral hospital patients to build up a zombie army and overwhelm them.