Fight Locations — Indoors
Abandoned Tenements
By Dave MapleAbandoned buildings are a common place for gangs to hang out so it is likely that the players will eventually investigate one to discover an army of mooks just ready for a punch up or shoot out. Abandoned tenement blocks tend to be in a poor state of repair, vandalised, with broken windows boarded up and the smell of decay in every room.
The police will be slow to respond to anything happening in such a location, since there is little risk of property damage and most decent citizens would not be hanging round an abandoned building.
Cool Things That Could Happen
The floor gives way under a Mook, PC or both, sending them falling one or two floors below. Their impact on the fall below might be enough to weaken the floor below so that they continue to fall through. For the most dramatic effect start at the skylight and end in the basement, with pauses in between when the fight continues as they think the floor will hold 'this time'.
The walls are thin in sections and improvised doors can be made using a UZI or throwing a mook through them.
For some reason abandoned buildings seem to be the “elephants graveyard” for shopping trolleys. A trolley makes an improvised weapon and can be used to scoop up a mook and then push them, perhaps towards the elevator shaft or a window.
The elevator will be jammed between floor and doors on many floors (where the elevator isn't) will have been jammed open or are broken. It's a long drop to the basement.
Windows will be boarded up but this wood will shatter and splinter if someone attempts to throw a mook through it.
A pile of rags in the corner turns out to be a sleeping tramp, who gets very annoyed that his home has been invaded.
The fire escape will be rusted and will come away from the wall at a dramatically appropriate time.
Improvised weapons — wooden beams and planks, with or without nails in them; shopping trolley, see above; dustbins, the lids make good shields; glass bottles, half bricks, rusty pipes.
Brothel
By Dave MapleThere are many reasons the players could get involved in a fight in a brothel. They could be investigating an organised crime syndicated that happens to run the Brothel. They may have stumbled in through a back door chasing after mooks. They may have a contact there as the girls could learn some useful information from pillow talk with some local crime boss or corrupt official. Perhaps they are even there for less innocent reasons…
A fight scene in a brothel should involve mooks getting knocked through thin walls into different rooms, chasing enemies (or being chased) from one room to another, imagine lots of rooms with interconnecting doors. This will give plenty opportunity for catching bystanders in compromising situations. Most of the cool stuff below involves such situations.
Cool Things That Could Happen
Mooks or Players could lose the initiative when confronted with a naked woman standing in front of them.
You could end up fighting a mook, standing on a bed, (either the mook or the PC) which has some overweight businessman tied to it while a woman stands in the corner screaming.
Bursting in on a couple in the middle of having sex, the fight goes on around them but they pay no attention to it. The grunts and groans come not only from the mook getting beaten up; you get the idea.
One room may contain a Jacuzzi, or deep bath, suitable for holdings someone's head under the water, much to the protest of the people already in the bath. The water splashed on the floor will of course make it slippery.
Lubricant gels and oils can be strewn across the floor causing mooks to slip and slide.
Mooks and Players may get mistaken for clients or prostitutes as they enter rooms.
Another room will have a man in a babies nappy, licking a large lolly pop as the player comes in he asks, “Are you my Daddy?” (or Mummy, as the case maybe).
One room seems to be a BDSM dungeon and the Mistress there helps beating up the mook, kicking him even after the Player takes them down. She may start beating on the PC afterwards. Props in here include a fake Iron Maiden with soft spikes, a mook or PC could be shut in here expecting to die. A rack, manacles on the walls, perhaps a bed on nails, candles.
Opening a door to catch the Police Chief, Mayor (or other fine upstanding contact) in the act. How the player then uses this information is up to them.
Running down a corridor with doors opening left and right with semi-naked figures running about. Men stumbling about with trousers round their ankles.
Halfway through the fight the place could be raided by the Police.
Improvised weapons — whips, chains and manacles from the dungeon; a huge dildo of comic proportions, which could start to vibrate the first time its used to club a mook; discarded bras used a slingshots, or to tie a mook up; panties/fetish mask pulled over mooks heads to blind them.
Inspiration
The Corrupter, Big Trouble in Little China
Casino
By Ike PorterCasinos vary in shape and size, and usually the gaudier the building the better. From recreations of the TajMahal, the Great Pyramids, and British Castles, to forms truly bizarre with huge guitars on the facade. On the inside, however, it's simply shades of the same colour. Restaraunts (see fight locations:restaraunt for into) and hotel rooms (ditto) are there at no extra charge, but what you're really there for is the glitz, the glamour: the casino floor.
Cool Things That Could Happen
There are two basic categories of games of chance. Table games and slot machines. With slot machines, there is a range of coins from .05$ to $10 and more. Little old ladies sit at the cheaper ones and constantly plug money into them in a trance like state. (There's a plot idea… maybe they are in a trance, slowly having their chi sucked away…) The machines themselves sit on a riser off the floor about 3' high, and are very heavy due to being full of coins. Chairs are hefty, and generally not bolted to the floor.
There's a myriad of table games where you'll find the gambler archtype gaining and losing fortunes. Maybe some visiting triad/mafia/tong mooks down from the big city on vacation but still ready for a fight. Useful weapons include chips, cards, dice, and the croupier's whip (from the craps table).
You can go nuts here with the layout of the gambling floor… the more extravagent the better. Have the gaming floor spread over two levels with a balcony to jump, flip, and throw from. Bars at every corner of the gaming floor to throw flaming drinks from. Chandaliers from the ceiling… Oh yeah, the ceiling. Did I mention that every square foot of the casino is covered by at least 4 different security cameras? And if the image cross references pledged databases of known threats…
Also featured can be, externally, large plate glass windows, glass elevators, lights, and offset balconies to make a hasty escape with.
Inspiration
City Hunter, God of Gamblers, virtually any James Bond film.
Church
By John FialaThe center of the religious life of the community. The some sombre and holy place in town. Naturally, we want to kick some butt once we wander into one. Your basic church is a huge open space, with lots of pews, hopefully some pillars, an altar up front (as ornate as your denomination likes), and lots of blue-haired ladies tsk-tsking at all the commotion.
Cool Things That Could Happen
If you're dealing with a big ornate cathedral, then there can be chandeliers to use to Errol Flynn your way across the church, allowing you to bypass all of the pews that slow down your opponents. In really old cathedrals, a Scrappy kid can jump up onto a chandelier and throw candles down at his tormentors while his teammates get ready to clear the slate. Killers can shoot down the chandeliers, capturing opponents underneath. Similarly, there can be large torch/candle holders bolted to the sides of walls and pillars that can be grabbed onto to swing into a kick or jump over someone nasty so the bugger chasing you runs full tilt into the nasty.
If the pews are big and heavy and not fastened to the floor, then they can be tipped over like dominos to try to trap mooks between them. For that matter, rolling a grenade (or other impovised party favor) into the mooks' feet is even more effective, because they can only run in two directions, and everyone wants to run in those directions. In a catholic church, there will be little benches that swivel up and down for parisioners to kneel on, and a pair of martial artists can have a battle of trying to smash the opponent's feet under the bench. Really strong people can try to pick up a pew and throw it at people.
The altar usually will have big heavy candlesticks, which can improvise as clubs or swords, as necessary. People using swords will probably want to wisk their sword through the candles to make them fall to the ground in pieces. Also, large (human-height) crosses can be used similarly, and any benches or chairs are Jackie-Chan style props. Large communion plates (or large bibles) can also be used as sheilds, or missles. (Holy frisbee, indeed!) Drunken masters may be so gauche as to drink the communion wine to charge up. Spare robes can be liberated to masquerade as bystanders.
If it's a catholic church, break off the stations of the church from the walls, and throw them at targets. Kick someone into the candles that are lit at the front of the church for extra damage. There's a lot of holy water around: People can try summoning Water Elementals or filling water pistols with the water to keep back vampires.
For that matter, a cool bit of scenery would be one character hitting a neer-do-well into a communion booth, where a timid priest could take his confession, or a more steady-minded might hit him as he leaves the booth.
And we haven't touched the choir loft. The organist can stick around and continue playing music during the fight. The fighters can work their way up into the loft, and throw projectiles down into the rest of the battle. Someone's face can be smashed into the organ's keyboard, causing a discordant noise. Those music-holders in the loft could be used as improvised tridents, and might even put someone's eye out.
In many of John Woo's movies, he's got a lot of doves fluttering around churches, which strikes me as unsanitary. Maybe some sorcerer will produce doves as an attack out of his coat, which would look cool. Also, consider the saints and Jesus, up on the wall, looking forelornly down at the fighters. Strict religious characters should feel really bad about what's going on.
Finally, we've got a lot of lead flying around, and large, ornate stained glass windows. Throw a mook through one of those, or else have reinforcements swing down from helicopters through the windows. Keep in mind you're dealing with a huge, probably stone, room, and have fun with ricochets, both hitting the wrong person, and causing fun effects.
Inspiration
The Killer, Face/Off
Cinema
By Davide ManaIn tactical terms, a cinema is a wide, mostly dark space full of innocent bystanders and row upon row of chairs blocking the way. Theoretically, movement is possible only along the aisles or, with some difficulty, along the rows of chairs. Often there's a balcony as well. A cinema is a place where traditionally someone can go and hide: in the darkness of the room, the back of someone's head is pretty much the same as the next. Also, it is a traditionally certified place for clandestine meetings. Lee Oswald was caught in a cinema. Dillinger was killed outside of a cinema.
Cool Things That Could Happen
First of all, the obvious: Martial Artists can jump from one seat to the other, leaping over rows of sitting bystanders. Gunmen can duck behind chairs and crowl on the floor, possibly causing a “wave effect” among the audience. People can also jump from the balcony.
Those thick draperies at the entrance are guaranteed to entangle the unaware or to conceal an ambusher. Silver screens tend to be rather filmsy, and can be pierced by a character leaping. Behind the screen, items like fire estinguishers, old planks, stepladders, boxes of nails and broken chairs can traditionally be found. Much of what you see is flammable (it should not be, but it is).
As the main purpose for the existence of the cinema is the film (or movie) being projected on the screen, much care should be taken in the choice of movie when using a cinema as a fighting location. First, the movie is the main light source in the room, and can be used to add a few effects. Second, a few action hooks can be created by timing the action in the cinema with the action on the screen. A few examples:
Action Movie — A lot of the noise made by the players will be lost among the din of the soundtrack, which means that a lot of people will not notice (at first, at least) that a fight is going on. Characters can get some inspiration from what is enacted on the screen, leading to a “mirror sequence”. Another cheap stunt is having the Named Bad Guy/Top Mook talking to the characters in phrases that after a few secs are repeated word by word by the bad guy on screen.
Horror Movie — Perfect choice for a fight against abominations or supernatural nasties, or if the team includes such beings. Lots of dark scenes on screen, as to say a lot of dark moments in the room: getting the drop on your enemy is almost impossible. Most horror soundtracks are usually designed to increase tension: people tend to be a bit jumpy and will go off screaming at the slightest provocation.
Art Film — Quiet soundtrack, and people will like to hear the dialogue: a lot of “Shhhh!” will come from the audience if someone talks loud enough, and any kind of action will attract the attention and summon the manager and/or a few usherettes. Then a few angry words exchanged, a few gunshots and you have a crowd of scared cinephiles running for the doors…
Heavyweight Art Film — In some obscure original language, with equally obscure sub-titles. Much of the audience is sleeping and will not notice anything. The following day, a newspaper film critic might at some length describe part of the fight mistaking it for an “incongruous but as always tecnically masterful” movie sequence, probably “an ironic reference to the over-rated Hong Kong action fare popular with the teenagers”.
X-Rated Movie — Cue to low-grade '70s pounding soundtrack… A few Mooks could get distracted by the on-screen action and become sitting targets. The audience will invariably include someone that might not like being caugh here by the press/police. The bit with the supernatural creatures has already been done by John Landis.
Disney Movie — Children everywhere, fighting off boredom while their fathers and mothers look rapt at the screen — might even welcome a fight. Lots of cute songs.
Generally speaking, the game master should place a movie on the screen that the players know well. This will make it easier for them to visualize the scene, lightening a bit the game master's job of describing the details.
Innocent Bysanders come in different flavours. All these people can simply add to the general chaos, join the fight, be used as hostages/human shields and so on:
Punters in the back row (will probably ignore much of what happens anyway)
Usherettes (pretty, and carry a torchlight!)
A pop corn/candy/ice cream vendor (maybe old fashioned but fun)
A fireman
A manager (will try and reason with the invaders)
An abundant sprinkle of V.I.P.s in the best seats can be found at Gala Nights, Premieres and Special Events.
Matinees usually attract schoolboys, either legit (if the movie has some cultural weight) or playing truant.
The Projection Room: The movie flow can be disrupted repeatedly by characters and GMC hitting the projection machine, turning it on and off, changing focus, speed and direction. The Projection Room also has a few spare kilometers of highly inflammable film, tin film-reel boxes (great as throwing weapons or improvised shields), a stool and a Projectionist (usually a world weary and cynical guy).
Finally, the fight might spill in the hall: Coke machines, people waiting for the second show, posters advertising future showings, lots of glass doors.
Inspiration
The Replacement Killers, Matinee, An American Werewolf in London, The Blob, City Hunter, Gremlins…
Circus
By Alan L. KrauseEvery so often the circus comes to town. Usually arriving unseen at night, the large tents of the circus which are its trademark spring up over night like mushrooms. The circus transforms an old parking lot or hay-filled fairground into a crowded, bustling showcase of the amazing, fascinating, and disturbing. Once the local populace has sated its appetite on the visual buffet the circus offers, the circus pulls down its tents, packs up the animals, and leaves the town as they arrived — quietly, and in the dead of night.
The structure of a circus is fairly standard — one large tent (the 'big top') houses the main attractions (trapeze, animal acts, knife throwers, cannon-ball man, etc.) and makes up the central hub of the circus. Surrounding the big top are side shows (such as the always in demand freak show), games of skill (“Three balls for five dollars. Step right up and win your sweetie this lovely six foot stuffed dove…”), food vendors, and static animal exhibits. Separated from these parts are the carnival workers' (called “carnies”) living quarters (usually motor homes) which are off limits to carnival visitors.
The people who work in the circus form an extended family of sorts, and are very suspicious of outsiders. When a problem arises in their domain, they are hesitant to call for outside help and prefer to take care of it on their own terms. The group of roughnecks who help set up the tents and other structures (called the “Irish Brigade”) also serve as an an impromptu riot squad. They will most likely not be incredibly happy if a seed of the secret war blossoms in their midway. Treat them as big, tough, loyal (to the carnival) mooks with sledgehammers, crwobars, and tent pegs.
From the player's perspective, the circus is a crowded public place where anything can (and everything will) happen. Loud noises, weird costumes, and interesting odors abound. There are plenty of innocent bystanders to get in the way while the circus is open for business, and the hustle and bustle of the carnival is able to hide/disguise a surprising amount violence (see below).
Cool Things That Could Happen
When the players enter a carnival, play “For the Benefit of Mr. Kite” from the Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album (by the Beatles), or any other circus related music for atmosphere.
Clowns provide tons of opportunities for the gamemaster and player alike. The villain could duck into a clown's dressing room and apply make up and wig and waltz through the circus unnoticed. A group of clowns could attack a group of PCs at random to amuse the crowd — see how the PCs react. Finally, the PCs could decide to dress up like clowns to get close to someone important in the crowd or in the circus, and then take them out… I sure hope a group of “real” clowns don't walk by the PC group and hastily usher them into the big top for their performance. Don't forget pies, seltzer bottles, big shoes, and the obligatory little car that holds ten clowns.
There are plenty of things to do in the big top! Have a villain run through it while a three ring show is going on, and watch the players attempt to dodge the lions and the cracking whip of the lion-tamer trying to keep his beasts in control. Have a duel up on the high wire or trapeze! The players may want to shoot mooks out of the “human cannon” at other mooks or named characters. Maybe a player is captured and then gagged and placed on the Wheel of Death as the three Almazov brothers throw knives at the unfortunate spinning hero. So many toys…
Nothing is as truly disturbing at the circus as the freak show. Is that a transformed animal or just a young boy with large eyes and webbed feet, webbed toes, and gills? (Jo-Jo the dogged face boy, anyone?) Is the bearded lady really a lady or is it a big bruiser in disguise waiting for some heads to knock together? The players could try their hand at a little bit of fire breathing for an improvised weapon, or borrow the sword from the sword swallower (remove carefully). Don't forget the snake/tattoo lady.
A classic fight scene at the circus is the fun house. Mirrors surround the character, distorting the images of the player and other mirrors. The player turns a corner and finds himself seemingly surround by 8 clones of (insert named bad guy here) . Which one is real? (Player tip: when in doubt, everyone pick a mirror and let loose.)
Use the animals at the circus for some tense moments. There's nothing like a player accidentally dropping into a cage of tigers to inspire their creativity. Letting loose a stampede of angry elephants is a good way to scatter / crush a few mooks as well.
Peanuts, popcorn, cotton candy, pretzels, soda, and hot-dogs — A truly balanced diet. As an improvised weapon, cotton candy seems ridiculous. Do you know how sticky that stuff is? I wonder if it is flammable? What would happen if someone's head was shoved into the cotton candy machine? Popcorn is usually cooked in oil at a very high temperature — ouch. Hot dogs are most often cooked in boiling water or over a heating table (see your nearest Kwik-E-Mart for an example). Both of these would be painful to land on. Food stands are just begging to be knocked over as bodies are thrown to and fro.
Some of your player characters may want to test their skills at some of the games available at the circus. Perhaps the big bruiser of the party will want to ring the bell using the sledgehammer, or the ghost may want to have a carnie guess her weight. Just remember that these games are not slanted in the general public's favor. Your PCs should be able to impress the carnival visitors, but don't make it too easy on them. I can see it now… both guns blazing at the BB gun range.
Inspiration
Octopussy, Batman Forever, just about every circus I've been to.
Garage
A garage, also sometimes known as an auto shop or body shop, is a great place to stage a fight simply because of all the dangerous props available. Garages will be filled with a variety of tools, gadgets, equipment, and electrical devices, most if not all of which can pose a serious risk to life and limb if used correctly. Garages tend to be cluttered with this stuff, and a lot of it is often in a state of disarry. In other words, there will be plenty of things lying around for your PCs and GMCs alike to utilize in the pursuit of mayhem. More than this though, garages make great fight locations because they just have a lot of atmosphere. Be sure to describe the smell of oil and exhaust and the sound of power tools when you describe the scene.
Cool Things That Could Happen
There are a lot of metal tools lying around a garage, including screwdrivers, tire irons, and lug wrenches of various sizes. Naturally, these make great improvised weapons.
There are also a lot of power tools and other equipment around, most of which I don't know the name of. If you can't visualize this for yourself, make sure you look around next time your car is in the shop.
Heavier items and equipment can be used to trip up foes, such as the heavy jacks used to lift cars and rolling tray tables which hold tools.
Auto parts can also make interesting improvised weapons. For instance, air hoses can be used to choke or disarm an opponent, while a hubcap can be thrown like a frisbee with deadly force.
Don't forget that there is both a lot of electrical equipment and flammable liquids in a garage. Either alone can be dangerous. The two together should prove explosive.
Speaking of liquids, gasoline, oil, washer fluid, brake fluid, power steering fluid, and anti-freeze can all be thrown in an opponent's face to temporarily blind him, or spilled on the floor to create a hazzard.
It goes without saying that techie characters should absolutely love messing around in a garage, with what they can create limited mostly by their own imagination. If nothing comes to mind, have them go watch re-runs of the A-Team.
And last but not least, don't forget that garages are often full of cars. This can be one or two in small garages, and up to a half-a dozen in a large one. Besides all the inherent fun you can have with these things, don't forget that some of them might be up on hydraulic jacks, suspended well above the floor. Imagine what would happen if one of those jacks were to drop suddenly, or if someone were foolish enough to actually try driving off of one of them…
Inspiration
Twin Dragons
Hardware Store
By David EberHardware stores come in a number of different shapes and sizes, from the small mom and pop business to the mid-sized home and garden store to the vast warehouse type home centers (e.g. Channel, Hechingers, Home Depot, etc.). The location you choose is going to have a huge effect on the way the fight runs. Small stores tend to be very cramped, with little room to move, plenty of close combat, and lots of collateral damage. In contrast, the large warehouse type stores are so big that you could concievably stage a car chase inside of one. In general, the small stores are ideal for small fights, when you want the characters to mix it up tight with each other. The big stores are great for larger combats, when you want your players to take on hordes of mooks and engage in some flashy destruction. Either way, any hardware store should be paradise for Techie characters, who should be encouraged to engage in some A-Team style kitbashing if at all possible.
Cool Things That Could Happen
First off, characters will have no shortage of improvised weapons in a hardware store. Sledgehammers, axes, chains, nailguns, drills, circular saw blades, screwdrivers, shovels, and 2x4s are just a fraction of what's available.
Past the basic tools, there are a lot of other items which can be used creatively. Nails, screws, and ball bearings can be scattered to trip up pursuers, while paint, thinnner, cement, and a bunch of other mixtures can be utilized to make a floor slippery, sticky, or flammable.
Of course, if players have the time, items can be combined to produce all kinds of wonderful things. Nails can be driven through boards and set up as traps, and any character with info/science can try to cook up some explosives or gas bombs with al the chemicals available. Hardware stores are filled with so much stuff, your imagination should run wild with the possibilities.
As mentioned above, Techies should go hog wild, especially in a larger store, and start cooking up all kinds of exotic weapons and devices with the equipment available.
Of course, the physical layout of the store will have a lot to do with the fight, and larger stores offer a lot of possibilities. The high metal shelves are great for staging acrobatic kung fu battles. Gunmen can also use them as cover, while intrepid players can find ways to topple them on top of their enemies.
Warehouse-type stores are so large they generally have their own forklifts, which can be driven down the isles. Take one of these, an ingenious techie, and all the items available, and you've got a supercharged war wagon on your hands. Bear in mind that these stores have very high ceilings as well, perfect for leaping and flying characters.
And don't forget, there are always plenty of civilians to get in the way too.
Ice Rink
By TaveWell, at an ice rink, what's cooler than the ice? A few ideas:
Cool Things That Could Happen
First off, ice is slick. Any Martial Arts check (except for those fu powers using The Path of the Empty Bottle and Evan James' Path of the Playful Rhythm) should suffer a −2 AV penalty. Anybody using heavy weaponry (shotguns are a good example) should have to make a Strength check with a difficulty 7 to keep from being knocked over. Trying to get back up off the ice from a spill should take an Agility check with difficulty 7.
Somebody with guns should take a flying sideways leap and go whizzing across the ice, blasting mooks as he goes. Somebody should also grab a mook by the arm, spin him around a few times, then launch him into his cohorts.
Sorcerers with Fire Blast could melt the ice, creating safe places to stand, lots of steam, etc.
Where there is an ice rink, so there will be skates. Anybody wearing skates (PCs or otherwise) should ignore the Martial Arts penalty while on the ice.
Skates are razor sharp. Therefore, they hurt. A razor-edged kick is a −2 penalty stunt (remember that if they have skates they ignore the penalty from the ice) doing Strength+4 damage.
The above assumes an empty rink, but that's no fun, so we're gonna set it during a hockey game, just for fun.
At a hockey game, there are hockey players. These guys can be mooks that trash on both sides. Remember, during a firefight, the good guys and bad guys tend to look alike…
Hockey sticks deal Strength+3 damage.
A mook could get whacked upside the head with a hockey puck. (This should be a stunt if done by a PC.)
A mook should get thrown into a goal. This would cause that little police light to go off and the crowd to cheer or boo (if it was their team that got the point or not).
Inspiration
Sudden Death, For Your Eyes Only
Laboratory
By Rob VinesWhat could bring a Feng Shui party to a research lab? An obvious scenario would be for the party to have to break into a government or corporate lab to get their hands on some device. During the break-in either the police, lab security, or agents of another faction (possibly after the same McGuffin) comes by, and the stage is set for some high-tech mayhem.
Another idea: a raid on a Buro or Lotus-backed secret lab. Let your party find out about an experimental cloning facility or a massive mind-control ray being built in the hills overlooking Hong Kong, and they'll be begging you for the chance to go kick some mad-scientist butt.
Or perhaps one of your characters in her “day job” works at a lab. Techies are obvious candidates, although gadget-heavy Masked Avengers or certain Everyday Heroes could have scientific ties. Send a hit team after her, or have someone try to kidnap one of her co-workers — the guy who just figured out how to reproduce that cold fusion experiment, for example. This can work as a solo adventure, or the character on hand call the rest of the group in for a little equal-opportunity mook mashing.
Cool Things That Could Happen
To begin with, any large R & D facility will have more than labs in it. Other fight locations include auditoriums, cafeterias, entry lobbies/reception areas, secretarial pools, parking lots/garages, offices, and big rooms full of cubicles. But the really fun stuff can be found in the labs. In no particular order:
Chemistry labs will have racks of glassware or perhaps a table-sized distillation apparatus that people can be thrown into. Plus don't forget about the bottles of caustic, poisonous, flammable, (or often all three!) chemicals sitting around that can be thrown at or poured on people.
Cables and wires can be used to trip, strangle, and impede.
Every lab these days has a computer in it. Monitors can catch bullets and explode, or be used as a weapon a la “Grosse Point Blank”. Plus, if it's lunchtime or after hours, someone's probably using it to play Quake or visit porno sites.
Most any physics lab will have a laser somewhere. Depending on how realistic you want to be, someone can be blinded (realistic) or vaporized (unrealistic) by the beam.
Safety showers! Picture a shower head with a pull-ring mounted in the corner of the lab, or out in the hall. Pull the ring and a 50-gallon tank of water empties all at once… and doesn't stop until it's all empty. Perfect for washing off those noxious chemicals that someone poured over you. Or for dousing the fire demon with!
Perhaps something's being heated over a bunsen burner. It can be thrown at an enemy, or the burner can be knocked over and start a fire, or someone can use the gas line to set someone else on fire.
Someone should get thrown into the fume hood… makes a nice BOING sound when it happens.
There will be tanks of compressed gasses around. Dumb mooks (and possibly dumb PCS) may take cover behind them. Teach them the error of their ways. Tanks of non-flammable gasses (helium, nitrogen, argon), if punctured, will rupture or (if the regulator is shot off) fly around the room like an unguided rocket. Tanks of flammable gasses (hydrogen, acetylene) should explode violently.
Something crucial can catch a bullet and start to malfunction. Drive the Techies in the group nuts by shooting off some other vital part once they've gotten it working again.
Liquid nitrogen is fun stuff. It's extremely cold (320 degrees below zero!), and every lab has a tank of it somewhere. Splash some on a target to cause damage and impairment (until their skin defrosts). Use in conjunction with the safety shower to coat the lab floor in an inch of ice. Or have someone shoot open the tank and soak someone in the stuff… watch them shatter when they hit the ground.
Throw someone into the high-voltage power supply and watch them make like the world's biggest bug zapper. Or sabotage an experiment by throwing a crowbar across the power leads.
And of course, anyone who's seen Face/Off or Operation Condor knows what can happen if the fight strays into an Aeronautics lab. A jet engine on a test mount can be a powerful weapon. And when the wind tunnel gets broken open, everyone's fighting in a hurricane!
Inspiration
Almost any James Bond movie has a fight in some Mad Scientist's lab. Face/Off and Operation Condor for the creative aerodynamics. Terminator 2 has the destruction of the lab where they're building SkyNet and a good example of what you can do with liquid nitrogen.
Library
By David EberThe library is a location that is near and dear to my heart, as I worked in one at the information desk for six months, and spent a lot of time in the library while working on my M.A. On more than one slow afternoon I would find myself daydreaming about this very topic, imagining a John-Woo style gun battle breaking out amidst the stacks.
Libraries come in a variety of sizes, from small local libraries to mid-size locations with two or more floors to large university establishments. Libraries also offer a lot more than just books and magazines now: videos, CD's, casettes, microfilm, microfiche, internet, and computerized card catalogs and loan services can be found in many libraries. It all depends on the location. Libraries also host guest speakers, community meetings, presentations, story-times, special exhibits, and a variety of local events. With all this in mind, the library becomes a fertile ground for creative chaos. If you haven't done so recently, go visit your local library, and get a feel for how a fight could be set up, and what might occur when it breaks out.
One other thing of note: despite the stereotype, libraries are not all that quiet, at least not the public ones. A mid-sized library is usually full of people, many of them children, taking books out, brining them back, using the services, asking questions, and being a nusiance. Don't expect a sterile combat in a library. Combatants will have to deal with masses of panicked people getting in the way of things once the mayhem begins.
Cool Things That Could Happen
As everyone knows, libraries are full of shelves, which in turn are full of books. Shelves range from the 48" high reference stacks to the larger units which range over 6 feet tall. Naturally, shelves make good cover, as well as scenery that the characters can jump over, dive behind, leap onto, and so on. What make library shelves even more interesting is the way in which they are arranged. Shelves are ranged in parallel rows, and you'll often find two units in a row with a gap between them. This can make for a cat-and-mouse chase between characters as they try to outmaneuver each other without really being able to see each other. Of course, characters could also knock each other into the shelves, or try to knock them on top of each other. Mind you, this isn't easy, as a shelf filled on both sides with books is very heavy and hard to move. You can also have characters fighting each other from opposite sides of a shelf. This can be John-Woo style, with characters on either side of the shelf shooting through the gaps as they move down their length, or this can be done with martial arts as well, as players throw kicks and punches through the shelves or even swordfight in this manner.
Of course, the books themselves make excellent props, as they can be thrown and knocked around. Since there are so many of them in one place, you can have some spectacular crashes as someone gets thrown into a shelf and the books come crashing down. Books are extremely flammable, so anything from a grenade to a blast spell can quickly turn a library into a raging inferno, and the only thing better than books being thrown around are flaming books being thrown around. Also, when books get shot it tends to scatter debris everywhere, especially if it's a shotgun blast. Since the books are on the shelves, characters may be fooled into treating them like cover. A heavy caliber load will go right through them and hit whoever's behind them. And finally, heavy reference books can be used as improvised weapons in their own right.
There's more to a library than books and shelves. The check out, reference, and information desks can all be used as cover, including the classic move in which a mook is dragged or slid headfirst down the length of a counter top. Most libraries have computer terminals for electronic catalogs, and these will explode spectacularly when hit by a gun blast. Microfilm and mircofiche readers can also be used as cover, and reels of microfilm can be used to distract or entangle an opponent. Even the metal check-out stamps can be used as a weapon; a player can finish off an opponent by clocking him between the eyes with one while uttering some revolting Schwarzenegger-esque quote like “You've been checked out for good.”
You'll also find a lot of book trucks (i.e. carts) in a library. A character can jump on one and then cap mooks as he speeds along the floor. If it's loaded with books, it can be slammed into an onrushing gang of attackers, scattering them like marbles. Even better, it can be set ablaze or rigged with explosives, turning it into a deadly weapon. Note that you'll also find a lot of non-library specific props in a library. This includes everything from display cases to fire extinguishers to stairwells to potted plants and sculptures. Make full use of them.
Finally, libraries are full of people, all of which can be used to present dilemmas. This can be anything from hostages to frightened children, confused senior citizens, and panicky patrons. If you like dumb humor, you can always have a crotchety old librarian admonish the players for being too noisy or breaking library regulations — in the middle of a firefight.
Mall
By David EberThis is a location that is not so near and dear to my heart, as I spent two less than fruitful years working in one. However, a mall is a great place for a fight, mainly because it has a lot of stuff. Stuff includes all the items for sale in the stores, all the furnishings in the stores, all the furnishings in the mall, and all the customers too. That, of course, only scratches the surface. I'm assuming most, if not everyone reading this has been in a mall at least once in their lives, so I think I don't need to go on any further. However, before we get to the cool stuff, you should keep in mind the major areas found in most malls:
- Anchor Stores
- These are the large department stores. Every mall has at one at the very least, and larger ones may have as many as half a dozen. These stores are, quite honestly, seperate locations in and of themselves.
- Food Court
- A large open area filled with tables and chairs, ringed by a number of fast food restaurants. These vary somewhat in shape, size, and number of restaurants, but are otherwise more or less the same from mall to mall.
- Courtyards
- Well, not exactly. What I mean are the various “open” areas found within a mall, areas not occupied by escalators, elevators, plants, fountains, benchs, or carts. These areas are often used to hold special events, such as where children visit Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny.
- Stores
- Well, of course. Needless to say, these vary tremendously, but are relatively consistent from mall to mall. Look for clothing stores, shoe stores, restaurants, music stores, bookstores, toy stores, video arcades, and lots of specialty stores.
- The Mall Proper
- These are the corridors which make up the length of the mall, along which all the stores line up. They tend to be wide, with high ceilings, and are usually cluttered with things like benches, trash cans, potted trees, and the like.
Cool Things That Could Happen
Any fight in a mall should take place in the mall corridors itself (otherwise you aren't really having a fight in a mall, but just in a store). The wide corridors with their high ceilings should give characters plenty of room to move, but there will also be plenty of obstacles. The biggest will be the wooden “carts” or kiosks which serve as sort of mini-stores. It will, of course, be lots of fun if these carts get knocked over, and even more fun if they get blown up. If you really want overkill, go watch the scene in The Blues Brothers which involves a car chase — in a mall.
Mall fights can and often will spread into the surrounding stores. The sheer variety of different types prevents a full listing of the possiblities here. A few things to consider: many stores have glass display windows which are ripe for breaking, all stores have cash registers which make for heavy bludgeoning instruments, all stores also have counters which can be used for cover, as well as for a variety of stunts, and virtually any sort of prop can be found in a mall — if you're in the right store. Clothing stores also often have mannequins, which can be used in whole or part in a variety of humourous and inventive ways as weapons.
Food courts are full of fast food restaurants, which are, of course, an entry all unto themselves. The court area proper will be filled with tables and chairs, all of which can generally be thrown about, kicked around, and jumped over.
Multi-story malls will have escalators, which make a great place for a fight. Characters can slide down the railings at high speed, or trade gunfire with characters on another escalator going in an opposite direction. Of course, if their clothing gets caught in the mechanism, well…
Multi-story malls always have open areas between the floors. These are essentially holes in the floor surrounded by railings and glass which allow people on the upper floors to look down below. This means they can also be thrown through them, or jump down, or even jump up if they have the Prodigous leap schtick.
Multi-story malls also often have internal elevators, usually made of glass. Hand-to-hand combat inside the elevator can lead to one or both of the combatants being knocked out of the elevator — through the glass. Hand to hand combat can also occur on top of the elevator, or a character can jump from the top of the elevator through the glass walls. Naturally, anyone in a glass elevator is a sitting duck for gunfire. Finally, a large glass elevator pratically begs to be destroyed in some spectacular fashion.
Remember, malls also have a lot of areas the public doesn't normally see: service hallways where merchandise is loaded and unloaded. Transformers and other equipment are often found back here. A fight in a mall can be that much more fun when you kill all the lights.
Of course, you might want to leave the power intact, because many of the stores in a mall have neon signs which will explode in a shower of sparks when hit by gunfire or flying bodies.
Some malls still have merry-go-rounds in them. Do I really need to explain the possibilities of a large, spinning structure which plays music and is made largely of glass and wood?
And finally, malls are full of people. Lots of people. People in an enclosed building who will most certainly panic when the fighting starts. At the very least, these people will get in the way. They can also become nusiances if they try to interfere, or problems if they become hostages. If you want to make it tough, put a few cute kids or a baby in a stroller in jeopardy, and watch how your players deal with it.
Inspiration
Police Story, The Blues Brothers, Bodyguard from Beijing.
Morgue
By Dave MapleThe players could end up in a morgue for a number of reasons, but hopefully not for the obvious one. The most likely reason for a fight in a morgue is if they are investigating a dead body and the mooks want that body destroyed/recovered, or want an item on the body.
Whatever the reason there is plenty of fun to be had with the dead.
Cool Things That Could Happen
A bottle of formaldehyde could be throw in the face of a mook, blinding them and effectively taking them out of action, although their screams will be heard for a good while.
A corpse may suddenly sit up right, due to rigor mortis, scaring the pants off of PCs and mooks alike. Once in that position pushing the head back will send the feet up in the air perhaps kicking a mook in the process. (Not sure if this could really happen but I've seen something similar in the movies)
The corpse turns out to be a hopping vampire, zombie or other such supernatural creature which wakes up joining the fight. The mooks might be servants of the vampire or they may be as surprised as the PCs.
A trolley, complete with corpse, could be pushed left and right, or used to ram a mook up against a wall. The body would eventually fall of perhaps on another person or just to be tripped over later.
A freezer shelf, with or without occupant, could end up with a mook slammed down onto it and then pushed into freezer and locked shut. The freezers in morgues are often “open plan” inside so anyone inside will be surrounded by corpses on shelves.
The circular bone saw will obviously be used on the living for a change. There will also be lots of other knives and saws, stainless steel trays and dishes available to be used as weapons.
Mooks or players could lose initiative when the sheet is removed off a corpse to reveal horrific head trauma or some other nasty fatal injury. Loose limbs might fall on the floor when a trolley in knocked.
Inspiration
Hard Boiled
Nightclub
By David EberAlthough all nightclubs basically serve the same purpose, i.e., a place for people to drink and dance, they vary tremendously in size, layout, location, appearance, clientele, and virtually everything else. They range from small, underground basement clubs to large, upscale discotheques to bars with dance floors and live music. Clubs cater to a wide variety of tastes, so part of setting a scene in a club is deciding what kind of club it will be. The location and the music will largely determine who patronizes the club. Hip-hop, house, techno, industrial, Latin, modern rock, and even country-western are some of the choices, and thus the crowd will range from college students to yuppies to punks, Goths, and more. Seedier clubs can also have their share of gangsters, lowlifes, and other dangerous types. The one thing all clubs have in common is that they're dark, filled with loud music, and crowded with people.
Cool Things That Could Happen
Many clubs have multi-level floors, with the dance floor and surrounding areas on different elevations. Characters can use these varying elevations to perform stunts with leaping, jumping, and the like. This is especially cool if the floor has dramatically different elevations, such as elevated walkways and the like.
The lighting in clubs in not only dim, it often consists of multicolored lights that flash and move with the music, and will sometimes include smoke machines, laser beams, and the like. Not only are they distracting, but they also explode in a shower of sparks when hit by stray gunfire. These lights are usually mounted above the dance floor in groups. Entire banks of lights can be shot or cut down, crashing to the floor in an explosion of glass, steel, and flame.
Speaking of which, some clubs have entire lattice works of steel suspended above the ceiling to support the lights and sound equipment. These lattice works make a great location for a martial arts fight, but bear in mind that they tend to be fragile, and can easily collapse.
Clubs often feature live bands. This means lots of musical equipment, speakers, and electronic gear, all on a raised stage. Naturally, all of this will explode and shoot off entertaining showers of sparks when damage. A clever techie could rig up a sonic weapon using the equipment, while a sorcerer could do the same by directing a sonic blast through the amplifiers (imagine them exploding outward when this happens). In a pinch, guitars can be used as melee weapons, drumsticks and cymbals can be thrown with deadly effect, and wires and cords can be used to trip up and entangle opponents.
All clubs have a DJ booth, and this too will be loaded with electronic equipment. Yes, you guessed it, it all explodes when hit. If you like, you can even have the DJ “narrate” the action as the players battle it out. Incidentally, you can enhance your game by using colored light bulbs and a stereo to blast out club music when the fight breaks out.
Finally, when you find a club, you'll find alcohol. Nightclubs will have one or more bars, with all the possibilities that entails — everything from flying bottles to tubs of spilled ice. Also, many clubs will have tables and chairs and the like, the most basic props for any indoor combat scene. And of course, clubs will be filled with people — lots of people — who are likely to panic when the shooting starts. Imagine the chaos that will ensue when a lot of people try to flee a small, dark, loud area all at once during a battle.
Inspiration
The Crow, The Replacement Killers, The Last Dragon.
Police Station
By TaveFirst off, I have played Resident Evil 2, and yes I thought it was too damn short. But, I liked the police station design. However, do not make a police station full of weird switches and zombies. Your players will look at you like you are a baggie filled with toxic waste and never take you seriously ever again. Now, on with the show…
Cool Things That Could Happen
Police stations have cops, so throw some in. Depending on your level of generosity, you could do one of the following:
Nice Cops: Some can whack on the bad guys, some can whack on the PCs. Any cop characters can convince the police not to attack the PCs, but that will take at least one sequence.
Neutral: There are no cops. The bad guys got there before the players did, and either locked all the cops up or killed them all.
Nasty: Some cops are bad guys. They're either bad guys in disguise, or they're on the bad guys' payroll. They should give the PCs constant trouble with the “Do we shoot them or not?” question.
Where there are cops, there are guns. There should be a nice selection of handguns, revolvers, and shotguns, with maybe a few SMGs in the confiscated weapons area. Bullet-proof vests should be common as well.
If the station has a S.W.A.T. division, there could be tear gas. Tear gas gives 2 points of Impairment to all who are unprotected and gives a +1 difficulty penalty to hit somebody with ranged weapons for 3 sequences.
There should be jail cells somewhere in the station. PCs can lock mooks or named bad guys up to hold them, or the bad guys can lock up a player. It should take some creativity to get out of one.
Interrogation rooms have those cool one-way mirrors. A nice touch is to have a PC on the side you can see through and a mook on the other looking for the PCs, unaware of the danger he is in. Take careful aim and…
If there's a parking garage in the station, you could shift the fight to the garage. And whatd'ya know, this site has a garage fight scene too. Hmmmmmm…
Inspiration
The Terminator, First Blood
Restaurant
By Dave P. BlewerEvery Feng Shui series should have at least one battle in a restaurant, they make prime low power Feng Shui sites (see Baptism of Fire, in the main rulebook for one such site, The Eating Counter), but also serve for good locations for ambushes, assassination attempts and all sorts of random violence.
Cool Things That Could Happen
The restaurant should have a least two levels, that way mooks and other characters can be thrown over the second floor balcony and land on tables, ruining someone's meal.
Restaurants are full of possible weapons; the most obvious being the knives and forks readily found on each table. But don't forget chairs, skewers, napkins (that should at least take out a mook), bottles (both broken and undamaged), candelabras, menus (see napkins), hot plates, chop sticks, even the food can be used as an improvised weapon.
Who owns the restaurant? Is it a front for the Ascended in either their Triad or Mafia guises. Maybe the Guiding Hand or Lotus have a controlling interest. Whatever, the waiters and waitresses should be a little handy with their fists.
Maybe the Chef is a master of some sort of culinary Fu.
As in many of the fight locations, this area will contain innocent members of the general public, who can serve as hostages or distractions.
A couple, hopelessly in love should be oblivious to the mayhem that has erupted around them and spend the entire battle staring into one another's eyes or furiously necking.
Tables can be overturned and used as barriers or even thrown at foes like giant Frisbee's.
Restaurants normally contain copious amounts of alcohol, which can be a godsend for a Drunken Boxer. remember that alcohol is flammable.
It is entirely possible that a firearm such as a revolver or shotgun is hidden behind the counter.
Hot plates of food (soup is a perennial favourite) or frozen joints of meat can make fairly effective weapons.
A sorcerer could influence the customers of the restaurant turning them into mook troops armed with carving knives.
He could also animate the food, leading to fairly gruesome effects… what if he animates the food that the Dragons have already eaten?
There will be fire extinguishers dotted around the restaurant, these can be used as weapons (clubs, bombs or spray) or used for the task that they were designed for.
Maybe the Restaurants have musicians to entertain the punters, instruments of all kinds make interesting improvised weapons.
Swing doors should lead into the kitchens that can be used to take out a mook, or to hide from a villain by sneaking into a room as he leaves it (ALA Three Stooge Movies).
The kitchen itself is full of possibilities, ovens, super sharp cutting implements, boiling water, rolling pins and other esoteric cooking implements that have always looked fairly intimidating to me (imagine what a grater could do to someone when wielded by a determined individual).
Other facilities in a restaurant include the toilets (restrooms to you Americans) and baby changing facilities. A used nappy (diaper) must be good for taking out a mook.
Inspiration: Loads of films, those that come immediately to mind include: Hard Boiled, Mr Nice Guy, Rush Hour, Dragons Forever, Dead Heat, Many Bond Movies, and Once Upon a Time in China.
Sauna
By Davide ManaWords like hot, wet and misty spring to mind: white tiled rooms full of hot fog, people wearing only towels around their hips and shoulders, discussing “business”.
Steam baths are usually large, with more than a single room. Down the hall, you'll find a massage room, showers, and maybe a pool. Executives, brokers and other businesspeople, gangsters with their bodyguards and Sumo wrestlers often grace this kind of institution. Men and women do not mix (only Peter Gabriel was so lucky in that old video), but in some cases the two sections might be separated only by a rather thin wall (so that men can hear the women laugh on the other side… and wonder).
Steam is produced in a boiler room and comes in through a series of grates. Gangster film folklore has the sauna as the place were “the friends' friends” meet to discuss delicate matters. The steam bath is public enough not to attract suspicion and private enough to grant privacy. And just try and smuggle in some heavy weapons, dude.
Smaller saunas can also be a classy addition to an already classy establishment: an elite hotel, an exclusive ski resort or a mountain chalet, a large house or mansion.
Wood lining substitutes for tiles, and often there's a small coal stove in a corner, with a bucket full of water to slowly pour on the embers. Gender segregation is not strictly enforced, as this kind of place tends to be smaller, more private, for the patrons to use at leisure.
The small sauna is common fare in cheap (and also not so cheap) murder mysteries: the bad guy locks the victim in the sauna and pumps up the steam. It offers less possibilities as a fight location in itself — but it's great for staging an ultra-close range combat scene, fast and lethal.
Cool Things That Could Happen
First things first: no big guns in large steam baths. People have to undress in a locker room, and proceed to the steam bath proper wearing little more than a towel, without many chances for concealing weapons. If the characters carry a spare towel, folded, a Concealment 1 gun can be tucked in it, but little else seems feasible. The same can be said for edged weapons: a knife or dirk is ok, but only Goemon used to carry his sword in the sauna without problems. Also, someone could be on the lookout, especially if the place is frequented by sensitive patrons like organized crime high-ups and other shady characters, so even a small weapon might not get through the checkpoint. All in all, the steam bath is the place to stage a fight and teach a lesson to players that have started relying too much on artillery. [The above assumes that the characters are not assaulting the place SWAT-like, but instead are infiltrating it or simply going in for a bit of peace and relax]
The place is supposed to be full of hot fog, so that target identification becomes a tricky business, being accurate only at close quarters. Smart ass players that shoot at shadows in the mist have to be really lucky not to hit some innocent bystander.
All surfaces are covered by a thin film of water: the floor is slippery, so that running becomes an hazard and other acrobatic stunts increase in difficulty. On the other hand, a good Martial Artist might incorporate the small floor friction in his attacks, going for some Jackie Chan-esque sliding stunts. Drunken Stance and Aberrant Spasm get a whole new dimension.
As breathing the hot air is harder, the fighters might get winded sooner than in normal circumstances. Water damage to equipment should be taken into account wherever applicable, due to the high humidity of the place.
Sorcerers will experience slight to no Difficulty casting Steam Blasts, and those of them with Weather schticks can easily thicken the mist to conceal their movements or blind their enemy and with little more effort could create miniature thunderstorms (Rain, Thunder, Lighting) sweeping the place. Casting hallucinations is also made easier by the mist.
Not much can be found in the props and improvised weapons department, of course, except for towels. Wet towels. Lots of them. These can be used as whips, to hit opponents and maybe disarm them. Damp and rolled into a ball they can be thrown against opponents to distract them — and make them fall thanks to the slippery floor. Wrapped around the left arm they are a good protection during knife-fights or can be used to intercept the byte of some nasty creature. A martial artist might handle a wet towel as a nunchaku.
Towels are also the only clothes available: the “you lost your towel” routine can be used to distract particularly stupid mooks (he looks down, covers himself and gets shot or knocked over) or to set dangerous but demure female fighters running for cover.
Other items that could be found scattered around the steam bath are stools (good for both attack and parry) and buckets — great when thrown and a real killer weapon, if filled with cold water, against an overheated opponent. If the management is careless, some cleaning implements (=broomsticks, cleaning chemicals) could be found laying around.
If the place has also a massage room, it will be complete with one or more suitably big and musclebound masseur/masseuse, plus some bottles of lotions — possibly Tiger Balm. Shower shootouts are by now a fixed set piece in many action movies and will not be further elaborated upon in this instance.
Sumo wrestlers (too good to be left out of the picture), qualify as a very special kind of 'Innocent Bystander'; they are probably here just to enjoy a few moments of ease, silence and tranquility, relaxing and reading the latest 'Shonen Jump'. They might not like being disturbed, and have ample means for retaliating.
Finally, were the fight to spill out of the steam bath/sauna, the characters will end up fighting in the streets with little or no clothes, certainly attracting quite a bit of unwanted attention. The sudden change in temperature might have a few nasty side effects (cramps, for instance). This is very true for those little out of the way mountain saunas that can be found associated with ski resorts: the place is a small snowbound chalet surrounded by a forest, possibly near a lake: taking the fight out of the hot room into the woods might do for a dramatic change of pace.
Inspiration
Maximum Risk, Goldeneye, The Blues Brothers (just to see how conspicuous a large group in a Turkish Bath can be).
Sex Shop
By Colin ChapmanCool Things That Could Happen
In a more Jackie Chan-esque, comedic campaign, a mook could be momentarily stunned if the centerspread of a nearby porno-mag is flashed in his face.
Another mook might forget about fighting altogether and sit in the corner of the room with a pile of pornographic magazines, giggling stupidly and staring goggle-eyed at the pictures.
Racks of whips, chains and padlocks in the fetish and bondage sections make handy impromptu weapons, and are useful for entangling mooks.
Paired Dildoes! A martial artist could fight with a dildo in each handy. Many dildoes would make intimidating impromptu weapons, especially huge oddly shaped ones that resemble fists, or are covered in studs.
Lubricant gels and oils can be strewn across the floor causing mooks to slip and slide.
A mook could be blinded by having an eyeless fetish mask jammed over his head.
Bondage gear, such as leather straps and chains, can be used to truss up an opponent.
Characters can fight on or around bondage frames, entangling close combatants when they try to attack.
Rubber apparel can be stretched taut and used as a handy catapult or trampoline.
A sadistic or masochistic customer might really enjoy getting in on the action, leaping into the fray in full fetish gear, armed with a whip (or other nefarious sex tool).
Bursting an inflated condom could make stupid mooks dive for cover as they mistake the “bang” for a gunshot.
Slaughterhouse
By Colin ChapmanCool Things That Could Happen
The floor of the slaughterhouse is covered here and there with patches of slippery blood (and that's even before the fight starts).
Metal benches and freezer unit doors provide excellent cover.
There are plenty of sharp knives, meat cleavers and meat hooks lying around, just begging to be used as weapons.
A mook will probably be hung on a nearby meat hook.
Hanging carcasses can be used as cover, thrown at targets, swung or pushed to knock over mooks.
Mooks can be thrown on the buzzsaw blades that are part of the work surfaces, or a hero's head can slowly, inexorably, be forced down towards the spinning blade during a struggle with a villain.
A frozen leg can make an impromptu club.
Mooks can be beaten into a freezer unit and locked in.
Inspiration
Predator 2
Strip Club
By David EberAnother location which is near and dear to my heart, strip clubs have all the ingredients necessary for a stylish and exciting fight: loud music, flashing, colored lights, dark, confined spaces, and, of course, a lot of half-naked women (at least this would seem to be essential, judging by the number of movies that manage to work in a scene in a strip club). In fact, a strip club is essentially a bar with a stage and dancers, though the specifics vary from club to club.
Strip Clubs vary from local go-go bars to upscale gentleman's clubs. The core concept is the same, but everything else varies quite a bit. The basic strip club is essentially a bar with one or more stages behind, on the end of, or apart from the actual bar. There are also bathrooms, a dressing room, and a DJ booth. There may or may not be a kitchen and a seperate “couch-dance” room. Gentleman's clubs tend to be much larger, with bigger, raised stages that are less accessible to the patrons, often along with seperate smaller stages. Gentleman's clubs tend to look more like dance clubs, and the seating oftne consists of plush seats rather than metal chairs.
People in a strip club include the dancers, bouncers, bartenders (often as scantily clad as the dancers), the DJ, and the patrons, who include horny college students, businessmen in suits, average working guys, lonely outcasts, bachelor parties, and drunks. In short, pretty much anyone, even some women. Naturally, they'll all panic when the shooting starts, though the bouncers may wade into the fray, especially if guns aren't involved.
Cool Things That Could Happen
The main focus of any strip club is the main stage, which will be anything from a small square to a long runway featuring several dancers at once. All of them have at least one pole, and many of them have mirrors, swings, and metal “scaffolding” which the dancers can climb on. Naturally, characters can also use this stuff to perform stunts, including the classic move in which a character swings around a pole to deliver a double-foot kick to an attacker. Mirrors will explode when hit buy bullets. If you want to add a twist, you could have the mirrors reflect blast spells that hit them.
Flashing, moving, colored lights are common to all strip clubs, as are smoke-machines. Both will impair vision, and the noise and crowds will also reduce awareness. Lights which are hit will explode in a shower of sparks.
There are a lot of tables and chairs in a strip club, much more so than in a regular bar. These are going to provide a lot of obstacles in a combat… or opportunities. Tables and chairs are usually light enough to be thrown around. They also break nicely. Also note that any stunt you can excecute in a regular bar can be done in a strip club as well.
The dancers are what make a strip club interesting, and should be used to enhance the scene. Dancers can scream, run, cower, and have to be rescued when the fight begins. Alternately, they can wallop on a mook who threathens them. If you want to go for humor, a dancer can beat up on a mook who gets thrown onstage (thus “interrupting” her set), whom she thinks is trying to steal her money, who disrupts a private dance, or who “accidentally” comes into contact with a sensitive part of her body after being thrown onto her. Or, the dancer could go after the character who threw the mook onto her. Dancers could be used as hostages, or they could serve as contacts or even melodramatic hooks for the PCs. Finally, a dancer could be a spy or an assassin under cover, sent to help, or eliminate, the players.
More elaborate clubs may have anything from big screen TV's to mud-wrestling pits to shower shows to private booths. All this stuff can and should be utilized to enhance things as you see fit.
Inspiration
Full Contact, Striptease
Take-out Restaurant
By David Utter“Take out” takes on a whole new definition when characters and mooks swing in to action. The basic fast food joint has an open dining area with a number of fixed booths, tables, and chairs. There may also be free standing chairs, tables, high chairs (put the kid down before ya swing it at the mook), etc…
Cool Things That Could Happen
Salt and pepper shakers thrown into a mook's face will blind him momentarily, long enough to perform your entire wing chun dummy form on his body.
Condiments may be available in little plastic packs, or via pumps in a large container of a condiment. Nothing like a little barbecue sauce on the floor to give you a sliding start.
Straws and plastic utensils may serve as fragile, one shot melee weapons. Toss a bunch into the face of the mook with the Uzi for a moment to dodge.
Many fast food places have high ceilings, with exposed overhanging supports and lighting. Perfect for when you have to go over a vigorous melee rather than through it.
The salad bar contains many slippery dressings. Hot food items tossed in the face of the mook will give him pause, too.
Behind the counter, use the spring loaded cash drawers to impede the progress of pursuing mooks. Since most register drawers are groin level, well, you know, heh heh.
The deep fryers are the single deadliest item in the place. Entice a mook to stick an appendage into one for some impressive plaintive screams. Most places use a device called a fast filter to drain the vats, and have an attached hose to pump the oil back into the vat if desired. The hose doesn't have much range, so be sure to tuck into the back of an unsuspecting mook's trousers before you turn the pump back on, ok?
The food prep boards usually have an assortment of sharp kitchen style knives and cleavers. Slice, dice, and julienne fry the opposition. And some places have powered food slicers of various designs for food prep, also. They make a mook salad bar ready in seconds.
Sinks in restaurants must use a blend of bleach and water to sanitize implements. Dunk a mook's head in nice, hot, bleachy water, or just spray the floor as he approaches for slippery fun.
One or more walk-in freezers can be found in the back of the place. The doors are large and usually swing freely. Slam the door on approaching mooks, and grab yourself a cold orange juice while you've got a moment.
Of course, no restaurant would be complete without someplace to cook the food. Microwaves can be dropped on passing mooks. Do the “bar slide” trick to some mook, but use the grill instead. Don't forget a dollop of special sauce. And you're sure to enjoy it when you see some mook get his arm caught in one of those conveyor belt fed broilers, which run at about 400 degrees.
Large canisters of soda syrup are connected via tubing to the store's drink dispensers. They make good melee weapons for strong guys. But don't shoot the CO2 tanks unless you've got cover or an open door nearby; the kaboom might mess up your perfectly coiffed self.
Toy Store
By Colin ChapmanCool Things That Could Happen
Note: The GM might grant Scrappy Kids a +1 AV bonus while fighting in a toy store since it's familiar territory.
Over-protective adults might try to shield a Scrappy Kid from harm.
Little kids get in the way all the time, causing the characters consternation as they try to avoid plugging them in the crossfire.
Despicable mooks and villains might grab a child to use them as a shield or hostage, while others in dangerous positions might need rescuing.
Several kids might think it's great fun and dog the characters, getting excited and asking to hold their gun/sword/whatever.
A pogo stick or space hopper makes an excellent “weapon” for a martial artist, allowing them to bounce around the store while they beat on mooks.
Skateboards and bicycles abound, giving characters a mode of transport, allowing them to cycle or skate past mooks while shooting them. Likewise, characters can perform excellent stunts with them, or even use them as weapons.
Rollerskates can be donned by daring characters, or rolled under mooks' feet, causing them to slip and fall.
A character could dive for a dropped gun during combat, picking it up and firing at a mook… only to discover it's just a toy.
Marbles can make great weapons, thrown, fired from a slingshot, or strewn across the floor.
A toy trampoline can be a cool prop, allowing characters to make improbable jumps and bounces.
Toy softball bats, plastic swords, lightsabers, etc. can make impromptu (but fragile) weapons.
A remote-controlled car can be used to trip people up, or a knife could be strapped to it and sent speeding along, slicing ankles.
Concerned parents might heckle characters, and otherwise get in the way.
Cap guns could be fired to distract mooks.
Masked Avengers caught unawares might grab a mask from the nearest Flying Rodent Man (tm) children's costume.
Masked Avengers fortunate enough to have their costumes most certainly get dogged by a kid wearing a Flying Rodent Man (tm) costume, who copies their every move and quote, and asks to be their sidekick, just like Small Bird Boy (tm).
A character might grab an ultra-cool, pump-action, tri-barreled Narf (tm) weapon, and take out a few mooks with its patented hard-foam rockets. (Yes, he'd get a damage bonus for going “KA-CHINK!”).
A character could see a baby falling and dive to rescue it, only to discover it's a ploy using a thrown doll to get him to break cover.
A toy bow and arrow can be nasty, especially if the little sucker ends are popped off.
TV Studio
By TaveCool Things That Could Happen
Well, let's see here. First, anything that happens during the fight will be broadcast all over the area, maybe all over the world. This could give people the whereabouts of the PCs, and THAT could be bad news.
Mooks can be tripped by electric cables.
Cameras can be used as impromptu weapons at Strength+3 damage.
What show the guys fight their way through should also have an impact:
News Programs-You always see a bank of monitors in the background. Smashing somebody into them would be fun.
Infomercials-Are you kidding? Those things always have some sort of blender, slicer, dicer, and some of them have CARS. Lots of toys.
Regis & Kathie Lee style-Nobody cares if two smiling idiots die. Plus, that big couch they always sit on is good for 90% cover. Potted plants make good weapons, too.
Children's Show-These will be full of Scrappy Kids wanting to know why the bad men knocked Barney out cold. Do NOT, however, kill them.Trust me, nothing takes the wind out of a session that is in good spirits more than the death of a 5-year-old. Trust me.
Soap Operas-Couches, tables, and chairs… Oh, my! Lots of cover. Also, dumb mooks may want an autograph of their favorite soap star.
Talk Shows-Admit it. You've always thought it would be cool if a REAL fight broke out in one of these things. Plus, there will be some interesting future topics. (Today on Geraldo — Redeemed assassins and the people who love them.)