S1E20 - Trial By Fire - by Overseer Kyle

Tales From Tomorrow - A Fallout TTRPG Story Podcast

S1E20 - Trial By Fire

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-2:28:47

S1E20 - Trial By Fire

Hope calls for justice. The river brings something worse.

Overseer Kyle

Aug 06, 2025

Transcript

Where We Left Off

The crew left the Grove Family Cabins behind, their boat heavy with people and questions. Reuben, Ted, and Marlene came aboard. So did Chop — the super mutant — and his broken Sentry Bot project: Buddy Bot. They were headed north, back toward Hope.

What Happened This Time

Upstream, the crew fished and spotted trouble. Mirelurks in the water. Dozens. Possibly hundreds. Then came the real problem: a Mirelurk Queen, moving along the river nearby.

They didn’t fight. They watched. They waited. They got lucky.

Not long after, they found the aftermath of someone else’s bad luck — a merchant caravan torn apart on a riverbank. Sam and Raven investigated while Chop, Jim, and the settlers stayed aboard. They looted what they could: med kits, food, armor, and a legendary shotgun.

On the way back to the boat, Raven slipped — tumbling into a nest of hatchlings. Chop pulled her out while the others covered. They got back on the water, battered but breathing.

Then the call came in. Tom, on the Hope radio frequency:

“Dock the boat. Everyone stays aboard — except Sam.”

Mayor Smiles was calling for a trial.

The Dreamer’s Price

Sam met with Tom and later, Mayor SMILEs. The offer: five jurors, selected from a list Sam would provide, but subject to approval. The crime: the murder of a member of the Eightfold Path. The timeline: 24 hours. Not self-defense, they said. Not this time.

The sentence? Still unclear. But death was on the table.

Sam started planning. Alfred the Mr. Handy raised concerns — not just about the trial, but about Jim.

Jim, still on the boat, offered a defense no one asked for. A checklist of good deeds. A few smiles. A few unsettling laughs. No remorse. And maybe no plan.

They Plan — But Not All Together

The jury list started forming: Lena. Tom. Terry. Jacob. Hell’s Bells. Sam sent for Rusty Dusty Bones — the ghoul with a gift for law and a group of holotapes to give him all the ideas he could need. If he could make it north in time, he might just save Jim’s life.

Meanwhile, Raven started to wonder: if this town is about second chances… does Jim deserve one?

Next?

Tomorrow at high noon, Hope holds its first post-war trial. The jury will decide. Rusty’s on the road. SMILEs is watching. And something is moving upriver, behind them.

If they can’t hold the line — Hope falls next.