Action Movie World, Session Four: "Razorfist: A.D. 1995"

"The story opens on a terrifying hellscape of ruined Detroit."
"So, basically just Detroit."

It’s time for the recap of our latest AMW session, Razorfist: A.D. 1995! This was a birthday game for a friend, who requested the Fighting Tournament playbook. He theorized we would never use the Fighting Tournament playbook unless someone requested it. He’s probably right. Here’s the narrated “trailer” I put together:

In the last days of the 20th century, the melting of the polar ice caps has left the world in ruins.[a shitty computer graphic of the East and West coast of the U.S. disappearing]Torn by war, racked by starvation, what's left of humanity hides behind walls.[Some establishing shots of watery, rainy Detroit, grubby humanity packed in like sardines]The only way out – off the planet![Two young people watch from a rooftop as a starship achieves escape velocity in the distance]And some will do anything for a chance at salvation.[Splash screen of movie title in stain-less steel “futuristic” font]RAZORFIST! A deadly battle of fighting prowess in which the winner takes all... and the loser loses everything.[montage of fighters battling in a neon-lined arena, cigarette smoke thick in the air, disaffected Asian men in suits giving hooded gazes over cigars as they watch the brutality]Now, one man must do what it takes to survive – or die trying![a silhouetted figure finds themselves cornered in a dark, blue-lit alley as the only exit is blocked off by a vehicle. Voice-over: “Don't you get it? The game's rigged! None of us are getting out alive!”][Cut to disaffected Asian man in white suit with cigar: “Now… finish it.”]RAZORFIST! Rated R!

This was not going to be a complicated game. The characters would get into the illegal fighting tournament, beat the crap out of some NPCs, then each other, and then the villain (the evil businessman who created the tournament). We got down to character generation. We had a full crew of the usual suspects, plus one new player (Naomi). The cast was as follows: 

Berkeley Blower as Gipper Frost, an American football star banished from the United States for “fighting his way into the White House” and attacking the President for socialism. (So right away, we set a certain tone.) Berkeley was the Lead, and his player described him as “Brian Blessed, constantly sweating and out of breath.” He was a rival of...

Scott McCheddar as Arnaud “Toronto Terror” Gaultier, a French-Canadian fighting champion who always had a drink and a cigarette in his hand and disdained everything that wasn’t Canadian.

Javier Simpson as Ernie “Calcutta” van Evenhoeven, an ill-educated Ultimate Fighting participant who paid opponents to throw matches and then bet on himself. He was caught and had every bone in his body broken by Arnaud. Video of the beating became famous worldwide. He was childhood friends with...

Anna Citizen as Brandy Daniels, a holovid producer out to expose the corruption in Razorfist and get a great story in order to promote her career.

Benjamin Baird as Ken Wu, a three-time Chinese gold medalist turned journalist, hired to go undercover in Razorfist. To my delight, Wu’s player told me to completely ignore the journalism subplot once it was introduced and put it on the cutting room floor. He was the unlikely brother of Gipper Frost.

And introducing Sami Fin as Luci Adieux, a fighter whose brother was killed by the reigning Razorfist champion, Crusher Liu (Bolo Yeung), and is now out for revenge. She chose the Smooth Operator playbook and modeled herself after Geena Davis.

Act One

I tried to get the characters together as quickly as possible. “Cal” and Brandy, being old childhood friends, met on the plane into Detroit. Cal recognized Gipper from his famous attack on the White House and fannishly bulldozed his way into Gipper’s life. They drove to the hotel in preparation for getting into Razorfist, and Cal’s player drove up the Camaraderie with some one-liners about the tournament and its participants (“more crooked than a Cambodian highway.”) 

"Imagine Brian Blessed in the red diaper from Zardoz."

Meanwhile, Ken Wu and Luci Adieux got the attention of Razorfist officials by charging into a pit fight in a downtown venue. Luci, being a Smooth Operator, didn’t have huge fighting skills, so she mostly set up stunts for Ken. Together, they defeated both opponents and got the attention of Crusher Liu. They also “met” Arnaud when Ken was thrown out of the ring and smashed Arnaud's table during a fight, upsetting his drink. They agreed they would meet up at the tournament later.

The play group suggested one more fight on the way to Razorfist, on the “hydro-train” to the arena. Some punks showed up on the train, started causing trouble, and were promptly given a savage beating. (I mentioned that the thugs had just wandered over from the Satan’s Game set and were dressed exactly like them, which seemed to be a big hit.) I liked that one of the players said “no, we need an inconsequential action scene in between the two acts” and then we just made that happen.

Act Two

Finally, we got down to the real business of the session: making the PCs fight each other! I got out a printable bracket and had the players sign their names on it. At the end, I gave the Lead discretion on which opponent he got to fight first. He chose Cal (the Smartass). Before the fight, there was some dramatic scenery-chewing between the PCs and the Villain, Mister Tokunaga. (For whatever reason, keeping his name straight became a huge problem throughout the game, and it became a running joke of supposed continuity errors.) 

I based one of the NPC fighters, "Slade," on Ray Jackson from Bloodsport, because of course I did.

Tokunaga, who had forced Gipper Frost into the fight in the first place, secretly instructed Arnaud to kill Frost during the fight in order to drive the ratings up. Tokunaga also revealed that he planed to make huge profits by simulcasting the illegal tournament worldwide and “going public” with Razorfist. The villain gave a speech about Darwinism and declining civilizations, like you do when you’re a heavy in a vaguely post-apocalyptic game. Frost’s player brought the house down with a one-liner that went something like: “Tonight, it’s not going to be morning in America... it’s going to be mourning all over the world.” The player was wearing a hat that said RONALD REAGAN when he did this. He then rolled a 12 on the one-liner and raised Camaraderie to 3. 

Razorfist begins! I cued up the Spotify playlist of Eighties montage songs I'd put together and kept it going for the rest of the game. “The weenies at the front of the tournament bracket should fall like wheat before a scythe,” says the AMW rulebook, and that’s exactly what happened. The first three matches were against NPCs with goofy names (Kalimama, Slade, Johnny Cuidado), and they were quickly dispatched. Luci Adieux crushed Kalimama's throat with her boot to prove she was serious business.

Then Frost “The Cold Warrior” went up against Calcutta. Cal’s player did a spit-take when he found out he was battling Frost, which I think might have counted as a one-liner. The Frost / Calcutta battle was brutal and brief. Cal used his Smartass to taunt Frost into doing something stupid, but then botched his follow-up stunt. Liberal use of the “Not Tommy! NO!” script move was made here, earning both players some XP. Frost did a wrestling-style drop onto Cal, who took five harm and chose to "accidentally" die. Calcutta, shattered by the blow, expired in the arena, opening up the Vengeance move for Frost. Cal’s player became Fight Choreographer.

Meanwhile, Brandy Daniels stealthily made her way backstage to get dirt on Razorfist. She used her Thespian Soliloquy move to determine that Tokunaga was running a huge, fraudulent electronic gambling operation, and that he stood to rake in huge profits from Razorfist’s public debut. She succeeded at a cost, so her character was once again captured. I felt a little bad about that, since that’s what happened in “Satans’ Game” too, but it was the only move that made sense.

Then came the next battle in the bracket, Arnaud vs. Luci Adieux. This was probably the most challenging battle, mechanically speaking. I gave people the option to pick a new Pugilist playbook before we started, but no one did. A Pugilist fighting a Smooth Operator in a PvP battle was a bit of a mess. The Pugilist rarely mounted anything less than an 11 on his die rolls, meaning he dealt enormous harm with every move he made, but the Smooth Operator could use her move to just soak it for huge counteracting bonuses.

At first, it looked like this was just going to create table tension instead of an exciting fight. Then the players decided that Arnaud would take the fall in the match, and then they would team up to take down Crusher, kill Tokunaga, and destroy Razorfist. Okay then!

Act Three

The third act promptly descended into awesome mayhem. I thought we were going to go all the way with PCs fighting each other and the Lead fighting Crusher. That just goes to show, never assume anything where player characters are concerned. Brandy Daniels pulled off a one-time stunt to push Crusher Liu out the window of the VIP box onto the arena floor, and Ken Wu (the Gunslinger) got out his pistols and just shot him down. So much for a tense match with the Razorfist champion!

"Very good, but brick not hit back--" [hail of gunfire]

But things were grim -- Wu succeeded at a cost and was already suffering major harm from his battles in the arena, so he chose to die, gunned down by Tokunaga’s bodyguards. Adios, Ken Wu. His player became Pyrotechnics Expert. (Minutes later, all of downtown Detroit was on fire for no reason because of rioting.) Arnaud and Luci Adieux engaged in a massive brawl with the bodyguards while Tokunaga dragged Brandy up to the roof toward his waiting helicopter. There were a lot of success-at-cost rolls being made, so I was triggering the Villain moves of getting help from bodyguards, whipping out military hardware, etc. 

Frost’s player pulled off a Stunt and asked if he could break into a display case that contained a glove studded with razors -- aka the actual Razorfist -- and use it in battle. I said hell yes. Frost and Tokunaga confronted each other on the roof (villain move: villain reveals his secret fighting skills) while Brandy tried to commandeer the helicopter.

Long story short, Frost pulled off his Vengeance move, impaled Tokunaga on the Razorfist glove and threw him off the roof. Then the helicopter dropped onto him and exploded. “So there’s not gonna be a sequel,” said the Smartass. We ended on a freeze-frame of Frost throwing up his hands and yelling “YEAH!” and I cued up “Love is the Way” from Kickboxer. End credits!

Mechanical Notes

The AMW rulebook says “this is the sort of movie in which The Pugilist can really shine,” and that’s no joke. I’d say the Pugilist ends up eclipsing any other playbook type. When we tallied up Star Power at the end of the game, most players had two to four Star Power. The Lead had five. The Pugilist player had eleven. Between the Hands of Stone bonus, his existing moves, and the Training Montage, he missed one roll the entire game, only because he rolled snake eyes. I think if I were ever to use this Playbook again, I’d make “all Pugilists” a requirement. I knew things would shake out this way going in and was fine with it, so I don't consider it a flaw in the design.

Having players fight each other is fun, but something I’ll probably want to do in moderation in the future -- and again, the playbooks involved makes a huge difference. The Pugilist fighting the Smooth Operator in this game was like the irresistible force meeting the immovable object. This could be awesome or meh, depending on the context.

One thing I may house rule, or at least clarify, is the “you inflict harm, but are driven back” result from the Violence move. I’ve noticed it tends to get used (even by me, during the first session we played) as a cost that isn’t really a cost. “Driven back” is an abstract term that doesn’t necessarily create much in the way of a disadvantage unless it’s enforced. In the future, I think I’ll mandate that “driven back” means either being separated from the group in some way, or some other tangible drawback.

The Fighting Tournament script is also damned hard on Camaraderie. It kept resetting to zero when characters died. Our group doesn’t like to draw on Camaraderie; they prefer to hoard it to get that extra XP at the end of the game. So it would reset and suddenly people are scrambling to lay down zingers so they can get it back up to 3. That became a tough road once the Smartass died in the middle act.

Setting this game in the Dark Future was probably gilding the lily, but I don’t care. We already came up with a great name for the sequel starring Gipper Frost. RAZORFIST 2: COLD DAY IN HELL. 

Tonight's Movie: RAZORFIST: AD 1995

I'm running Action Movie World again! Tonight's movie: RAZORFIST: AD 1995. (The actual "movie" is made in 1984.) In the dark future, desperate souls live in squalor as megacorporations hoard the last of the world's resources! And other dystopian boilerplate! The only chance for a new life lies in RAZORFIST, the illegal underground fighting tournament beneath the city of New Detroit. A young fighter vows revenge against the champion who destroyed his life -- but when the criminal underworld gets involved, the odds are stacked against them all! Who will rise to the top of RAZORFIST?

(I'm telling you, this game is the next best thing to going back in time and working for Golan and Globus.)

What’s So Great About Action Movie World?

Now that I’ve posted a few play reports from Action Movie World, I thought it might be time to discuss the game in more detail. (I like doing things backward.) If you’ve read through the previous posts and wondered what some of the game terms and conventions are about, this post will explain a few of them. If you’re not already a fan of AMW, this post will make you a fan. Or cause you to grimace in distaste. Or walk away unmoved. Look, I’m not the boss of your emotions.

Anyway, here’s what I think makes Action Movie World special.  I will say up front: this is not a review, nor a balanced critique. It’s pretty much a fan letter and a list of things I like. A list of things I dislike might be forthcoming -- if I ever come up with any.

The PCs play actors playing characters. 

In the introduction, Action Movie World admits to taking copious inspiration from Hong Kong Action Theater, an RPG from 1996. I loved HKAT at the time, though I had some gripes with the combat mechanics. I especially loved the mechanic of PCs playing actors who in turn would take on a variety of roles, which HKAT pioneered (as far as I know) and Action Movie World perfects.

Playing the same “actor” across a variety of movies frees up a player to put a new concept into play each time. They can play a renegade maverick on the edge, the quiet loner, or the by-the-book disciplinarian. If they want to typecast themselves and play the same character every time, that’s an option too. This level of player freedom adds a breeziness and flexibility to Action Movie World that has made my play group eager for the next session.

One PC plays the Lead. Everyone else plays a supporting character. 

Many games and play styles tend toward an ensemble mode of storytelling, where everyone is equally valuable and no one character stays at the forefront. Action Movie World gleefully defies this formula as part of the genre emulation element of the game. Movies have Leads, so the game has Leads. One PC stays in the spotlight, and the other players surround the Lead to act as motivation, foils, or hapless buddies only two days from retirement.

Of course, there are many reasons why (especially in a long-term campaign) an ensemble approach might be best for a play group. But for the pace and intensity of something like Action Movie World, having a single lead character around whom the majority of the action revolves really works -- and the game understands this.

The Lead cannot die. Supporting characters get XP for dying. 

In some games -- well, let me rephrase that, in some groups, character death can be a problem. A lot players (for good reason) don’t enjoy putting a lot of time and care into a PC, only to have them die (either gloriously or ignominiously). Action Movie World solves this problem. If your character dies, your actor lives on. They’ll play another role in another movie. Better yet, they get tasty XP for dying, possibly more XP than they might have gotten for surviving the movie. I cannot overstate the sheer genius of this. This is the mechanic that led to one of my most damage-phobic players yelling “I’m trying to die here!” in the middle of a session and enthusiastically throwing himself on a literal sword.

Dying also opens up the possibility of the Vengeance move, a single PC move (usually against the Villain) that garners automatic success when used to avenge a dead supporting character. So killing off a supporting PC isn’t just motivational from a storytelling standpoint, it has real mechanical benefit. Again, this helps guide the games into the shape of your typical action movie.

Better still, supporting players can basically decide to die at any time. The Director can decree that your character dies when you take five harm or take damage from a weapon with the -deadly attribute on it, but a player can also just decide to throw themselves into the fire and have a heroic death in order to trigger that sweet Vengeance move. This might seem counterintuitive at first, but not when you realize that trying to survive as a supporting character in Action Movie World is not only missing the point a bit, but mechanically uncoupled from your character advancement.

When PCs die, their players become “assistant directors.”

When PCs lose their supporting characters, they don’t have to just sit around bored for the rest of the game. They take on the role of assistant directors: fight choreographers, pyrotechnics coordinators, acting coaches, etc. Their job is to “punch up” the flow of the game, suggesting bigger, badder, more exciting elements for the fight scenes and action sequences.

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sold on this at first. Players with dead characters sitting on the sidelines making commentary and changing the action as we go? I had my doubts about it working -- but it did. A player at the table whose entire job is to make your fight sequences amazing is a great way to ensure your fight sequences will be amazing. This is a wonderful little innovation.

Action Movie World understands action movies.

I wanted to play Action Movie World from the moment I finished reading the book, but it was an entertaining read on its own. The introduction by Dr. Will Dodson is like a miniature lecture in the ecology of the action film. Throughout the book, the authors demonstrate that they understand how action movies work: from the beginning, you understand the story, and you know how it’s going to end -- the hero kills the bad guy. The whole point is generating excitement (and body count) on the way there.

Action Movie World doesn’t debase its source material, but it doesn’t try to make it out to be more than it is, either -- it encourages “loud, dumb fun” and straight-up tells you not to think too hard about certain elements of the game. After all, many action movies fall apart under close logical scrutiny. Your AMW games will too, if you’re playing them “right.”

So that’s what’s what makes Action Movie World special in my book.

Action Movie World, Session Three: "Satan's Game"

It's time for the recap of our third session of Action Movie World: First Blood, "Satan's Game"! This is my first time at bat as Director, and I was a bit nervous. This is the first time in a long time I've come to a system after other gamemasters, and the first two sessions went so well, I was tempted to try to account for every possibility. But I resisted the siren song of overpreparation, and so was not lured onto the rocky shores of dullness. Anyway, on with SATAN'S GAME!

This session used the Cop playbook. The basic plan: to make a cop movie assaulting the great boogeymen of the Eighties: drugs, rock music, Satan (for some reason) and nonconformity. The setting was Chicago, 1986, and rather than go into laborious detail about what I intended for this monstrosity, I'll reproduce the voice-over trailer I read off before the session began:

Satan's Game Trailer (1986)
[Done in the voice of that one guy who did movie trailers in the late 70s / early 80s, just before Don la Fontaine] 

"In a city rocked by crime…"
[a pair of old people is menaced in their home by Satanic lunatics]
"In a time ruled by fear…"
[a hapless student on a stone slab weeps as a leatherbound creep raises a knife]
"In a world in the grip of Satanic madness…"
[some college kids sit around playing a roleplaying game, Lairs and Labyrinths]
"Who will be the winner of SATAN'S GAME?"
[Splash screen with garish, shitty font and blood dripping down]
"A drug created by Lucifer's right hand man!"
[Michael Ironside appears in a robe in a shitty drug lab] “This city will burn! Lucifer rises!” [he injects something into his neck, his eyes glow green]
"The people in the hands of a corrupt politician!"
[a back-alley assassination of some poor dope, possibly carried out by Kurtwood Smith because why not]
"The innocent seduced by the thralls of the devil!"
[evil rock and roll music in a smoky club, excessive cleavage, butts and neon lights]
"Who will stand against the pawns in SATAN'S GAME?"
[Some shadowy figures emerge from a backlit darkness, looking a lot like the player characters...]
"Rated R!"

I'LL BLOW THIS PLACE UP AND BE HOME IN TIME FOR CORN FLAKES

So there you go. The basic plot, as it rolled out: corrupt politician Leslie "Buck" Kendrick (Ronny Cox) introduces a new drug to the city so he can solve the problem he just created and become a hero. To do so, he hires a vicious Satanic psychopath, Damien Chaos (Michael Ironside), who distributes the drug to the kids, who start listening to the rock music and sitting in basements pretending to be elves. Nothing could go wrong with this plan! Also, in case you are wondering: yes, this plot is lifted directly from the likes of Judge Dredd and Demolition Man.

The play group consisted of:

Benjamin Baird as Sgt. John Cobb, a corrupt SWAT team leader with a conspicuously expensive lifestyle. Works with the Colombians on the side. (Frank, playing his first game, using the Gunslinger playbook)

Javier Simpson as Faustiano Ramirez, an ex-cop who quit the force after the murder of his sister by Mayor Buck Kendrick was covered up. (Jerry, again using the Smartass playbook). Faustiano is the Lead for this session.

Anna Citizen as Kelly Bishop, a city accountant who has uncovered a money laundering scheme and is now in the line of fire. Former informant to Faustiano. (Gina, playing the Thespian)

Scott McCheddar as Adrian McGruder, a renegade cop on the edge known as "The Fist." Has disciplinary problems and beats a lot of suspects to death. Faustiano's ex-partner. (Greg, as the Pugilist)

Berkeley Blower as Captain Angus Bellows, the department captain who sat behind his desk the whole session yelling MCGRUDER, I'M TIRED OF CLEANING UP YOUR DEAD BODIES (Bill, using the Yeller playbook)

Come on, Michael, you have two lines and then you're shot

Unfortunately, it’s been a couple weeks since we played, and I didn’t take detailed notes during the session (one of my shortcomings as a GM / Director). But the plot went something like this:

We open on the subway, as Faustiano rides home after a weary day of job-hunting (or whatever it is he does with his days). A menacing punk tries to steal an old lady’s purse as the train empties. Faustiano tries to reason with him, but the punk is obviously drugged out, and a fight ensues. Faustiano slams the punk’s head into the center pole and leaves him for the “actual cops.” Eighties tropes everywhere, right out of the gate! 

Later that night, Kelly Bishop, working late at the city offices, discovers the mayor is laundering money through the Universal Church of Holy Waters (led by the Pastor Brian Rivers). As she saves this to her 3.25” floppy disk, she hears a noise in the office. A group of menacing punks with glowing green eyes close in on her and attack her with knives. She takes some Harm, but escapes with her life (and the disk, which gets damaged in the escape).

Across town, the corrupt John Cobb leads a SWAT raid on a drug facility. One of the perpetrators is a contact, Pancho, who reveals in secret that Juan “The Donkey” Sanchez is moving some new drug for a mysterious new player in town.

Kelly seeks out Faustiano at his apartment, seeking out his protection. Faust looks out the window and finds it staked out by more green-eyed punks. (The drug makes the punks’ eyes glow green. It’s also how you know they’re evil -- I mean, aside from their clothing, nonconformist hair, and taste in music. We are running an Eighties cop movie, after all). Faust calls McGruder, who shows up and beats both punks senseless in a spectacular and bloody altercation.

Eventually, the trail of clues leads the gang to “Club Anarchy,” where Damien Chaos, insane Satanic rocker Johnny Scofflaw (played by Gavan O’Herlihy), and his Satanic bassist Rikki Maleficent (played by Tawny Kitaen) have gathered. This is where things get complicated. Faust, McGruder, Kelly and Cobb all arrive at about the same time.

Cobb approaches Damien and company and tries to make a deal, because he is, after all, the corrupt cop. He successfully ingratiates himself with Damien Chaos, then waltzes out to his car, gets out his assault rifle, walks back in, and opens fire. Meanwhile, McGruder and Faust have discovered the club staff making the mysterious drug in the back room. Two simultaneous firefights ensue. Frank (Cobb’s player) rolls an epic Violence roll and hits Damien Chaos and Johnny Scofflaw with a -area, -messy attack. We decide on the spot that the drug is highly flammable, and the two henchmen are incinerated. So long, Michael Ironside, you barely had a chance to overact.

Hey, remember "Witchboard?" Yeah, me neither

I get a chance to make a Director move, and I decide to do what you’d do in the Eighties: I separate the group by kidnapping the female character. Rikki Maleficent chloroforms Kelly Bishop and drives away with her. The cops track her to the Universal Church of Holy Waters, where she is about to be sacrificed to Satan by Mayor Buck Kendrick himself. I have a few precious moments to deliver a Ronny Cox villain monologue before the hero cops wade in and start the bloodbath.

When this final scene approached, Frank eagerly declared he wanted his character to die, so he arranged for John Cobb to walk into the church with two assault rifles, open fire on a massive crowd of insane cultists, and then be mowed down in a hail of gunfire while doves flew into the air and O Fortuna blared in the background. We milked it for everything it was worth, and it was pretty glorious.

Then came the final showdown between the Villain and the Lead. McGruder held off the hordes of cultist baddies while Faust delivered his own monologue and then entered into a vicious final battle with Mayor Kendrick. Jerry (Faust’s player) pulled off a wicked stunt where he managed to get Kendrick stabbed by his own henchman, Rikki Maleficent. Kendrick then shot her, because it’s not an Eighties movie unless a villain murders their own henchman for screwing up. Then Faust took Kendrick’s big sacrificial knife away from him and beheaded him with it.

At the end of the session, Bill won MVP for his performance as Captain Angus Bellows. Throughout the game, various characters would come back to the station house and Bellows would scream at them. Bill brought the house down a number of times and had a number of terrific one-liners (sadly, I didn’t write any of them down, so they’re mostly lost to the ravages of time). Bellows grounded the session and kept everybody on track, despite spending most of the runtime at his desk.

This session was tremendous fun, and I already have an idea for a sequel: SATAN’S GAME 2: THE BRIDES OF CHAOS*. There was a whole subplot involving some evil roleplayers and a Pat Pulling character, as well as a game shop owner played by Eddie Deezen, that I didn’t even get to put into play. Obviously, my life will not be complete until that happens. There's also the Pastor Brian Rivers and his daughter. Brian Rivers is played by Cliff Robertson and is obviously corrupt. I can wring at least two crappy sequels out of this turkey before we're through. 

Mechanical Notes

I don’t have much to add in terms of mechanics this time around -- I do, however, have the actor script in PDF with a custom move if you want to have a look at it.

Anna Citizen (Gina) is up next to play the Lead. I’m not sure when (or what) we’ll play next, but I’m looking forward to it!

* because, see, Damien was a Manson-style killer and bigamist who had a whole bunch of brides, and they'll have to avenge his death. For Satan. This stuff writes itself!