Pirates of Drinax - GMs thread
- Thread starter Sven2300
- Start date
Old School
Mongoose
Question about the Demon Eye adventure.
Nano tech is described as coming in different flavors. Flame Knight grade and Archon grade are specifically described. Its not a permanent effect, because both the aided and unaided stats are given. Then again, the accidental infection in the lab results in a permanent stat change. So how does it work?
What is the application method? How long are the effects? I recently read “Mistborn”, by Brandon Sanderson, so I’m imagining someone opening a vial and swallowing the contents whenever they need a boost.
Nano tech is described as coming in different flavors. Flame Knight grade and Archon grade are specifically described. Its not a permanent effect, because both the aided and unaided stats are given. Then again, the accidental infection in the lab results in a permanent stat change. So how does it work?
What is the application method? How long are the effects? I recently read “Mistborn”, by Brandon Sanderson, so I’m imagining someone opening a vial and swallowing the contents whenever they need a boost.
My group had our first session. The short summary is that they took their Harrier from "Dragon Base" to Salif, got lucky in finding a derelict to salvage, and set off towards Exocet. A fair amount of time & effort was put into refitting the ship, now dubbed Manticore, both at DragonBase using their Ship Shares, and on Salif with their money. Session ended with them jumping towards Torpol.
I've run these players in this campaign before, we played the adventures 1, 2, 5, and 3. The new crew is taking over one of the Harriers found at the abandoned Sindalian station.
I've given them one of the planetary sidequests: the administrator on Exocet who wants someone to drop nukes on a volcano. At least one player has said, "Science doesn't work like that" and my response has been, "The King LOVES this plan!" and that's the end of that.
I'm going to run parts of adventure 6 in here, with the Punitive Flotilla having passed through the Wildeman cluster before the PCs get there. They will catch wind of the vulnerable points of the Imperials, we'll see what they do with that. So far, they're talking about playing carefully.
I've run these players in this campaign before, we played the adventures 1, 2, 5, and 3. The new crew is taking over one of the Harriers found at the abandoned Sindalian station.
I've given them one of the planetary sidequests: the administrator on Exocet who wants someone to drop nukes on a volcano. At least one player has said, "Science doesn't work like that" and my response has been, "The King LOVES this plan!" and that's the end of that.
I'm going to run parts of adventure 6 in here, with the Punitive Flotilla having passed through the Wildeman cluster before the PCs get there. They will catch wind of the vulnerable points of the Imperials, we'll see what they do with that. So far, they're talking about playing carefully.Old School
Mongoose
Putraack said:
So the same players but different Characters? Why? What happened to the original crew? TPK?
2nd request for thoughts on my nanobot question above?
My “B Team” has finally made it to Mirage in time for the religious conference. Hijinks should ensue shortly.
Old School said:
When we ended the last game, we sort of narrated those PCs' retirements and/or happily ever afters. I recall we had a feeling that Drinax was so big and open, that there should be multiple crews pursuing multiple adventures. So that's what we've done. The last game ended with them recruiting many other pirates from across the sector to stage a pre-emptive strike on the ihatei camp, I think all of the PCs survived. I'm picking this game up about a week after that battle, with one of the Harriers salvageable from the hidden station in adventure 5.
Old School
Mongoose
Awesome. Pirates of Drinax: The Next Generation.
Kinda doing the same thing, but we’ve got three parties going all at the same time.
Kinda doing the same thing, but we’ve got three parties going all at the same time.
Old School
Mongoose
Overly wordy game session "summary" alert. . .
The Demon’s Eye: Friends in Low Places
Leaving the impounded ship behind, the team heads for the main concourse of the Highport. Lemuel begs off, as he wants to meet with various scientific colleagues at the University of Tobia. “You mean Lemuel actually has friends?” asks Gemma.
Junior jumps to his defense. “Hey, lay off Lemuel. The kid’s alright.”
Finding rooms for the night, they set about finding with Chad’s old military contact, who’s now a minor religious official somewhere on Tobia. Turns out he lives not too far from the primary downport star town, so Chad sends an email asking to get together. The team then makes a point of buying supplies for the ship (the kind of thing we usually ignore in this campaign), just so they can be sure to have these supplies delivered to the ship while it is impounded, in hopes that the Marines screw up the process of accepting or rejecting delivery so the players can blame them for it later. Seems petty, but hey, they’re having fun.
While shopping, Alaina receives a message from the local PRQ headquarters, asking the team to meet to discuss the status of “our agreement re: unfortunate events on Acrid”. Next, Chad and Alaina both get a message from the office of the Duke of Tobia, also requesting a meeting while they are on planet. Lastly, Junior is approached in a bar by a drunk, Lako Macule, who claims to be an ex-scout. Lako claims to know the location of a hidden treasure worth billions of credits, if anyone is crazy enough to try to recover it. He hands Junior a napkin from the bar with the word “Yarrow” scribbled on it, then staggers off towards the men’s room and disappears.
Pondering their newfound popularity, the B Team decides to divide and conquer. Alaina and Chad decline to meet PRQ at their offices, insisting upon a neutral location instead. A private room at the TAS will do nicely. Chad arranges for a couple of hired toughs to attend as “bodyguards” as well. They do accept the invitiation from the Duke’s representative a few days out. You don’t say no to the Duke, after all. Junior and Gemma do a quick google search and learn that the Yarrow was a Galoof-class mega freighter, 30,000 tons, owned by the Tobia Commerce Guild. Yarrow disappeared with all hands six years ago, presumably to a misjump in the Borderlands.
“What’s a Galoof class freighter cost, anyways?”
“Seven billion credits, give or take.”
“Oh. That’s worth a follow up conversation, at least.”
The team decides that since Junior is the team’s recon man, he’s best suited to follow up on this “lead’ if it can be called that. Junior suspects that Alaina just doesn’t him want in in the meetings with the PRQ suits or the nobles. “We all have our strengths and weaknesses, Sgt. Sanchez.” Gemma, the team’s engineering nerd, is assigned to keep Junior out of trouble. They also get a response from Chad’s buddy, and arrange to meet him at his Temple in a few days.
Chad and Alaina meet with the PRQ reps, a couple of lawyers who are offended but not unnerved by the presence of Chad’s hired thugs. They simply want to remind the travellers of the non-disclosure they signed on Acrid, and that any actions that impugn on PRQ’s reputation will be “vigorously contested”. “Yeah, yeah, your check cleared, so consider our silence bought. Now beat it, Matlock.”
Chad and Gemma have to spend some time searching for Lako, following his trail to the downport and eventually a rougher section of the star town, but pick up some decent intel along the way. He IS a retired scout, released from detached duty due to his “medical condition”. His “condition” has worsened since the scouts took his ship, but he did have an honorable if uneventful career, serving both in the exploratory service and later the X-boat division of the scouts. He’s a hard luck case. On the rare occasion he doesn’t drink his entire pension check, he’s known to be an easy mark for swindlers and get rich quick schemes. But he’s not one to spin tall tales. These days he hardly talks about his career at all. Fellow barflies have learned not to ask, as the subject appears to distress poor Lako.
Junior and Gemma split up while canvassing the bars, and when they regroup Junior notices that Gemma is being followed. Junior begins tailing the tail, texting Gemma to find a crowded spot and blend into the crowd. Gemma, in all her Navy geekiness, doesn’t blend very well in this part of town, and is soon accosted by two men as she tries to slip down a stairwell. Gemma fights back, but is overpowered and thrown down a few steps for her trouble. One of the thugs tells her “PRQ sends its regards. Watch your mouth, and watch your back on Tobia.”
The two thugs are really just common street toughs, and are unarmed. Junior, being Junior, is not unarmed. He’s also developed an odd, almost mechanical, tic to his movements when he feels threatened, which adds to his charm. His appearance in the stairwell about 20 seconds into the encounter offers the possibility of ending the confrontation, or escalating it greatly. Dead bodies in a stairwell on Tobia would be unfortunate. The two toughs decide that the odd little man with the knife he obviously knows how to use is more than they bargained for. Their confession on why they were following Gemma and who hired them (the typical “some guy in an alley, we never saw his face. We swear!”), buys the tough guy wannabes safe passage out of the stairwell. They are so scared they also offer Junior the 200 credits they were paid to rough up Gemma. Junior refuses the money, eliciting a promise that they will donate it the Shield Church of the Immortal Protector instead.
Gemma’s a little beaten up but not seriously harmed, and she and Junior decide to call it an evening. The next day, Chad and Alaina also take a shuttle to the downport. They have a meetings scheduled with the duke of Tobia’ representative and with Chad’s old friend the following day, but in the meantime everyone’s worked up about Gemma getting mugged. Chad (Advocate 2) takes some Holos of Gemma’s injuries and forwards them to the PRQ lawyers they met earlier, along with a notice that a physical attack on Gemma invalidates any legal agreement they had. The PRQ lawyers respond immediately, expressing their sincere concern for Gemma’s well being, along with outrage that anyone would even think PRQ would be responsible. Surely the travellers have ruffled some other feathers along the way? And their history with PRQ is well known, of course.
Junior, who has a neural comm, recorded the entire encounter, but the team realizes there’s no way to prove PRQ’s involvement in it, even if they track down the thugs and beat every scrap of detail out of them. PRQ is too smart to let this be tied back to them. If it even was PRQ. They decide not to split up again for the time being. They also head to the nearest sporting goods store to pick up some stunners, since they had to leave all their gear on the ship. Tobia’s not particularly high law level (5), but does require ID and a database check to buy most weapons. So they learn the hard way that they are temporarily barred by buying any weapon, even a stunner, as they have been tagged “pending investigation by Imperial Authorities.”
They do manage to track down Lako in a star town flophouse. It’s midmorning, so he’s sober enough to almost hold a conversation. He refuses to discuss the Yarrow, or much of anything else, because “they are always listening”. Great. The team offers him room at a decent hotel and a room service tab for a few days, so Lako agrees to accompany them back to the downport. Eventually he reveals that he knows the approximate location of the Yarrow. He doesn’t know exactly, but he knows where the supply shuttles that are tending to it are based out of. He doesn’t know who’s hiding it, or why. He won’t say where, or how he gained this information. But he does know that Hortalez et Cie paid out a multi-billion credit insurance claim when it was “lost”. He would report it himself, but he’s scared of “the corporations”, and doesn’t have a way to track the exact location. He thinks the Drinaxian agents who are blowing stuff up all over the borderlands can. He wants to be paid, he wants to be put up somewhere safe, and he wants government backed guaranty of his safety. His opening price for what he knows is MCr100. LOL.
“Tell you what, Lako. We want to hear your story, but we’re really busy at the moment, and probably headed the other direction from this Yarrow of yours. We’ll buy you middle passage to Acrid, along with a letter of introduction to our friend Wilhelmina Moneaux, who based at the highport there. She’s kinda our agent in the Subsector. We’ll arrange with whatever bank you want to have Cr10,000 put in escrow, to be transferred to you upon your arrival in Acrid. You meet with Willie. If she thinks you’re legit, you negotiate with her. If not, you’ll still have the cash, plus vouchers back to Tobia, or anywhere within 12 parsecs of Acrid.”
Lako wants double: Cr20,000. 15,000 is offered, and the deal is done. Don’t know when we’ll get to play that adventure, but it should be fun. “Think we’ll ever see Lako again?” “Yeah, the ref wouldn’t spend all that time just to stiff us out of 15,000 credits”.
The team then gets another message from the Duke’s man, specifying that he would very much appreciate if “Sergeant Sanchez could join our meeting as well. We understand he is still in your employ.” Junior beams with pride at being requested by name by this noble functionary. Alaina now has second thoughts about where this might lead.
The following day, they head for the Duke’s government complex, after Alaina insists that everyone get new suits for the occasion. There they are met by Sir Raphael Jann, a midranking member of the Duke’s diplomatic team. Sir Jann asks few questions regarding their travels, their ship being impounded, and the “unfortunate rumors” regarding their relationship with PRQ, but all with a light breezy tone, as if this is simply small talk. They also discuss the attack on Gemma, which Sir Jann takes great interest in. Junior even plays the holovid of the encounter from his perspective. Jann opines that the PRQ lawyers are probably right, despite the assault and verbal threat, there’s no way to actually tie this back to PRQ, “although they’ve been accused of such tactics before. Fortunately, the Duke has considerable resources. Should we come to an arrangement, we can see that the rest of your visit to our subsector is far more pleasant. Do I understand that you did not involve the authorities in this incident?”
“We haven’t had much luck with the authorities lately.”
“Ah. Another issue where I may be of some small service.”
Jann then turns to the topic at hand. Both Chad and Junior are originally from Simok, and served in its Army. Simok is a high population, mid tech desert world that has been wracked by civil war for over a decade. The Duke would like the team to travel to Simok as envoys to deliver messages to both sides in the civil war, as well as the mercenary outfits they’ve hired. No real negotiations are necessary, just a back channel message being passed along by friendly faces. If that goes well, there may be more opportunities in the future. “In any case, His Grace has taken an interest in the recent maneuverings of Drinax and its operatives, so our connection may be useful in the future.” So with his very friendly manner, Sir Jann has now put Drinax on notice that they are on the Imperium’s radar.
The B Team agrees to deliver the message, provided that they can get their ship back and depart relatively quickly, as they are needed elsewhere as well. “Ah. We can arrange for alternative transportation, if necessary, but I doubt it will be. Let us see what we can do regarding Lady Miria.” The team then declines Jann’s offer of a protective detail, but suspect they’ll likely be watched the entire time on Tobia anyway.
Next is a meeting with Chad’s old friend, the minor religious official. So I told the players that his religion was similar to Tibetan Buddhism. At that point I was overruled on the name I had picked for the NPC, as they insisted on referring to him as Buddha. He runs a local temple not far from the Star town. Chad finds Buddha quite a bit different than the gangly petty officer 3rd class that he remembered. He’s put on a quite a bit of weight, but has also added touch of diplomatic grace to his fast talking charm and easy smile, and by all accounts takes his religious devotion quite seriously.
They explain to Buddha their interest in gaining entrance to a religious conference coming up on Mirage. Buddha is aware of it, but has no means to get there. No doubt some of the more important holy figures of his sect will be in attendance. The team offers transportation in return for being able to accompany him. Buddha’s no fool, and he’s done his homework on Chad & Co.’s recent exploits, so he wants to know the score. The team levels with him about Dr. Jali, and that other attendees of the conference will likely be in danger as well. Involvement of local or imperial authorities would be bad for all concerned. Buddha wants nothing to do with any violence, but given assurances that every effort will be made towards a peaceful resolution, he is willing to join them. His Sensor Op skills are a little rusty, but he can contribute there as well. In return, he asks for the team’s support in transporting he and other priests into the Borderlands and Tlaiowaha subsectors, and support of Drinax in helping establish missions on several worlds. Once again, the travellers are in a deal making mood, so with a handshake, the Lady Miria has a new sensor operator, and the Borderlands have a new religion.
A day later, they get word from Lt. Cmdr. Hewett that their ship has been released, and they are free to depart. Sir Jann’s doing, or simply the lack of any evidence to hold them any longer? No way to know at this point. Who cares, it’s time to go! They text Lemuel that it’s time to get back to work, and that he needs to get his ass back to the Highport pronto. With Buddha in tow, they arrange for a shuttle to the highport themselves.
Once on board, they are surprised to learn that all their ordered supplies are stacked neatly in the cargo hold. All except for two boxes. “Who ordered a case of cheap liquor and a carton of assorted Tasty Cakes, anyway?”
“I did” says Gemma. The point of the booze and sweets was to be sure everything else was taken care of. Marines aren’t that hard to make friends with.”
Alaina gives her a look. “I always wondered why the marine detachment on my ship always fawned over you so much. You’re not THAT cute. So you really just bribe them with booze and candy?”
“Yep!” says Gemma.
“Would work on me” says Junior.
“Me too” says Lemuel.
Inspecting the bridge and weapons locker, they get less favorable news. The Marine Sergeant somewhat sheepishly informs that they although they and their ship are released, their Mercenary License is still under review. Therefore, any class 5 military equipment on board has been confiscated. He hands them a receipt for their PGMP, Cryojet, two monoblades, and fives suits of Combat Armor. The team considers a protest to Cmdr. Hewett or Sir Jann, but decide in the end to just send a note to both that they expect their gear to be returned when they pass through Tobia again in several months, and then they are off for Simok, by way of Kedus. They’ve burned a week on Tobia, but still have a little extra time to get to Mirage.
The Demon’s Eye: Friends in Low Places
Leaving the impounded ship behind, the team heads for the main concourse of the Highport. Lemuel begs off, as he wants to meet with various scientific colleagues at the University of Tobia. “You mean Lemuel actually has friends?” asks Gemma.
Junior jumps to his defense. “Hey, lay off Lemuel. The kid’s alright.”
Finding rooms for the night, they set about finding with Chad’s old military contact, who’s now a minor religious official somewhere on Tobia. Turns out he lives not too far from the primary downport star town, so Chad sends an email asking to get together. The team then makes a point of buying supplies for the ship (the kind of thing we usually ignore in this campaign), just so they can be sure to have these supplies delivered to the ship while it is impounded, in hopes that the Marines screw up the process of accepting or rejecting delivery so the players can blame them for it later. Seems petty, but hey, they’re having fun.
While shopping, Alaina receives a message from the local PRQ headquarters, asking the team to meet to discuss the status of “our agreement re: unfortunate events on Acrid”. Next, Chad and Alaina both get a message from the office of the Duke of Tobia, also requesting a meeting while they are on planet. Lastly, Junior is approached in a bar by a drunk, Lako Macule, who claims to be an ex-scout. Lako claims to know the location of a hidden treasure worth billions of credits, if anyone is crazy enough to try to recover it. He hands Junior a napkin from the bar with the word “Yarrow” scribbled on it, then staggers off towards the men’s room and disappears.
Pondering their newfound popularity, the B Team decides to divide and conquer. Alaina and Chad decline to meet PRQ at their offices, insisting upon a neutral location instead. A private room at the TAS will do nicely. Chad arranges for a couple of hired toughs to attend as “bodyguards” as well. They do accept the invitiation from the Duke’s representative a few days out. You don’t say no to the Duke, after all. Junior and Gemma do a quick google search and learn that the Yarrow was a Galoof-class mega freighter, 30,000 tons, owned by the Tobia Commerce Guild. Yarrow disappeared with all hands six years ago, presumably to a misjump in the Borderlands.
“What’s a Galoof class freighter cost, anyways?”
“Seven billion credits, give or take.”
“Oh. That’s worth a follow up conversation, at least.”
The team decides that since Junior is the team’s recon man, he’s best suited to follow up on this “lead’ if it can be called that. Junior suspects that Alaina just doesn’t him want in in the meetings with the PRQ suits or the nobles. “We all have our strengths and weaknesses, Sgt. Sanchez.” Gemma, the team’s engineering nerd, is assigned to keep Junior out of trouble. They also get a response from Chad’s buddy, and arrange to meet him at his Temple in a few days.
Chad and Alaina meet with the PRQ reps, a couple of lawyers who are offended but not unnerved by the presence of Chad’s hired thugs. They simply want to remind the travellers of the non-disclosure they signed on Acrid, and that any actions that impugn on PRQ’s reputation will be “vigorously contested”. “Yeah, yeah, your check cleared, so consider our silence bought. Now beat it, Matlock.”
Chad and Gemma have to spend some time searching for Lako, following his trail to the downport and eventually a rougher section of the star town, but pick up some decent intel along the way. He IS a retired scout, released from detached duty due to his “medical condition”. His “condition” has worsened since the scouts took his ship, but he did have an honorable if uneventful career, serving both in the exploratory service and later the X-boat division of the scouts. He’s a hard luck case. On the rare occasion he doesn’t drink his entire pension check, he’s known to be an easy mark for swindlers and get rich quick schemes. But he’s not one to spin tall tales. These days he hardly talks about his career at all. Fellow barflies have learned not to ask, as the subject appears to distress poor Lako.
Junior and Gemma split up while canvassing the bars, and when they regroup Junior notices that Gemma is being followed. Junior begins tailing the tail, texting Gemma to find a crowded spot and blend into the crowd. Gemma, in all her Navy geekiness, doesn’t blend very well in this part of town, and is soon accosted by two men as she tries to slip down a stairwell. Gemma fights back, but is overpowered and thrown down a few steps for her trouble. One of the thugs tells her “PRQ sends its regards. Watch your mouth, and watch your back on Tobia.”
The two thugs are really just common street toughs, and are unarmed. Junior, being Junior, is not unarmed. He’s also developed an odd, almost mechanical, tic to his movements when he feels threatened, which adds to his charm. His appearance in the stairwell about 20 seconds into the encounter offers the possibility of ending the confrontation, or escalating it greatly. Dead bodies in a stairwell on Tobia would be unfortunate. The two toughs decide that the odd little man with the knife he obviously knows how to use is more than they bargained for. Their confession on why they were following Gemma and who hired them (the typical “some guy in an alley, we never saw his face. We swear!”), buys the tough guy wannabes safe passage out of the stairwell. They are so scared they also offer Junior the 200 credits they were paid to rough up Gemma. Junior refuses the money, eliciting a promise that they will donate it the Shield Church of the Immortal Protector instead.
Gemma’s a little beaten up but not seriously harmed, and she and Junior decide to call it an evening. The next day, Chad and Alaina also take a shuttle to the downport. They have a meetings scheduled with the duke of Tobia’ representative and with Chad’s old friend the following day, but in the meantime everyone’s worked up about Gemma getting mugged. Chad (Advocate 2) takes some Holos of Gemma’s injuries and forwards them to the PRQ lawyers they met earlier, along with a notice that a physical attack on Gemma invalidates any legal agreement they had. The PRQ lawyers respond immediately, expressing their sincere concern for Gemma’s well being, along with outrage that anyone would even think PRQ would be responsible. Surely the travellers have ruffled some other feathers along the way? And their history with PRQ is well known, of course.
Junior, who has a neural comm, recorded the entire encounter, but the team realizes there’s no way to prove PRQ’s involvement in it, even if they track down the thugs and beat every scrap of detail out of them. PRQ is too smart to let this be tied back to them. If it even was PRQ. They decide not to split up again for the time being. They also head to the nearest sporting goods store to pick up some stunners, since they had to leave all their gear on the ship. Tobia’s not particularly high law level (5), but does require ID and a database check to buy most weapons. So they learn the hard way that they are temporarily barred by buying any weapon, even a stunner, as they have been tagged “pending investigation by Imperial Authorities.”
They do manage to track down Lako in a star town flophouse. It’s midmorning, so he’s sober enough to almost hold a conversation. He refuses to discuss the Yarrow, or much of anything else, because “they are always listening”. Great. The team offers him room at a decent hotel and a room service tab for a few days, so Lako agrees to accompany them back to the downport. Eventually he reveals that he knows the approximate location of the Yarrow. He doesn’t know exactly, but he knows where the supply shuttles that are tending to it are based out of. He doesn’t know who’s hiding it, or why. He won’t say where, or how he gained this information. But he does know that Hortalez et Cie paid out a multi-billion credit insurance claim when it was “lost”. He would report it himself, but he’s scared of “the corporations”, and doesn’t have a way to track the exact location. He thinks the Drinaxian agents who are blowing stuff up all over the borderlands can. He wants to be paid, he wants to be put up somewhere safe, and he wants government backed guaranty of his safety. His opening price for what he knows is MCr100. LOL.
“Tell you what, Lako. We want to hear your story, but we’re really busy at the moment, and probably headed the other direction from this Yarrow of yours. We’ll buy you middle passage to Acrid, along with a letter of introduction to our friend Wilhelmina Moneaux, who based at the highport there. She’s kinda our agent in the Subsector. We’ll arrange with whatever bank you want to have Cr10,000 put in escrow, to be transferred to you upon your arrival in Acrid. You meet with Willie. If she thinks you’re legit, you negotiate with her. If not, you’ll still have the cash, plus vouchers back to Tobia, or anywhere within 12 parsecs of Acrid.”
Lako wants double: Cr20,000. 15,000 is offered, and the deal is done. Don’t know when we’ll get to play that adventure, but it should be fun. “Think we’ll ever see Lako again?” “Yeah, the ref wouldn’t spend all that time just to stiff us out of 15,000 credits”.
The team then gets another message from the Duke’s man, specifying that he would very much appreciate if “Sergeant Sanchez could join our meeting as well. We understand he is still in your employ.” Junior beams with pride at being requested by name by this noble functionary. Alaina now has second thoughts about where this might lead.
The following day, they head for the Duke’s government complex, after Alaina insists that everyone get new suits for the occasion. There they are met by Sir Raphael Jann, a midranking member of the Duke’s diplomatic team. Sir Jann asks few questions regarding their travels, their ship being impounded, and the “unfortunate rumors” regarding their relationship with PRQ, but all with a light breezy tone, as if this is simply small talk. They also discuss the attack on Gemma, which Sir Jann takes great interest in. Junior even plays the holovid of the encounter from his perspective. Jann opines that the PRQ lawyers are probably right, despite the assault and verbal threat, there’s no way to actually tie this back to PRQ, “although they’ve been accused of such tactics before. Fortunately, the Duke has considerable resources. Should we come to an arrangement, we can see that the rest of your visit to our subsector is far more pleasant. Do I understand that you did not involve the authorities in this incident?”
“We haven’t had much luck with the authorities lately.”
“Ah. Another issue where I may be of some small service.”
Jann then turns to the topic at hand. Both Chad and Junior are originally from Simok, and served in its Army. Simok is a high population, mid tech desert world that has been wracked by civil war for over a decade. The Duke would like the team to travel to Simok as envoys to deliver messages to both sides in the civil war, as well as the mercenary outfits they’ve hired. No real negotiations are necessary, just a back channel message being passed along by friendly faces. If that goes well, there may be more opportunities in the future. “In any case, His Grace has taken an interest in the recent maneuverings of Drinax and its operatives, so our connection may be useful in the future.” So with his very friendly manner, Sir Jann has now put Drinax on notice that they are on the Imperium’s radar.
The B Team agrees to deliver the message, provided that they can get their ship back and depart relatively quickly, as they are needed elsewhere as well. “Ah. We can arrange for alternative transportation, if necessary, but I doubt it will be. Let us see what we can do regarding Lady Miria.” The team then declines Jann’s offer of a protective detail, but suspect they’ll likely be watched the entire time on Tobia anyway.
Next is a meeting with Chad’s old friend, the minor religious official. So I told the players that his religion was similar to Tibetan Buddhism. At that point I was overruled on the name I had picked for the NPC, as they insisted on referring to him as Buddha. He runs a local temple not far from the Star town. Chad finds Buddha quite a bit different than the gangly petty officer 3rd class that he remembered. He’s put on a quite a bit of weight, but has also added touch of diplomatic grace to his fast talking charm and easy smile, and by all accounts takes his religious devotion quite seriously.
They explain to Buddha their interest in gaining entrance to a religious conference coming up on Mirage. Buddha is aware of it, but has no means to get there. No doubt some of the more important holy figures of his sect will be in attendance. The team offers transportation in return for being able to accompany him. Buddha’s no fool, and he’s done his homework on Chad & Co.’s recent exploits, so he wants to know the score. The team levels with him about Dr. Jali, and that other attendees of the conference will likely be in danger as well. Involvement of local or imperial authorities would be bad for all concerned. Buddha wants nothing to do with any violence, but given assurances that every effort will be made towards a peaceful resolution, he is willing to join them. His Sensor Op skills are a little rusty, but he can contribute there as well. In return, he asks for the team’s support in transporting he and other priests into the Borderlands and Tlaiowaha subsectors, and support of Drinax in helping establish missions on several worlds. Once again, the travellers are in a deal making mood, so with a handshake, the Lady Miria has a new sensor operator, and the Borderlands have a new religion.
A day later, they get word from Lt. Cmdr. Hewett that their ship has been released, and they are free to depart. Sir Jann’s doing, or simply the lack of any evidence to hold them any longer? No way to know at this point. Who cares, it’s time to go! They text Lemuel that it’s time to get back to work, and that he needs to get his ass back to the Highport pronto. With Buddha in tow, they arrange for a shuttle to the highport themselves.
Once on board, they are surprised to learn that all their ordered supplies are stacked neatly in the cargo hold. All except for two boxes. “Who ordered a case of cheap liquor and a carton of assorted Tasty Cakes, anyway?”
“I did” says Gemma. The point of the booze and sweets was to be sure everything else was taken care of. Marines aren’t that hard to make friends with.”
Alaina gives her a look. “I always wondered why the marine detachment on my ship always fawned over you so much. You’re not THAT cute. So you really just bribe them with booze and candy?”
“Yep!” says Gemma.
“Would work on me” says Junior.
“Me too” says Lemuel.
Inspecting the bridge and weapons locker, they get less favorable news. The Marine Sergeant somewhat sheepishly informs that they although they and their ship are released, their Mercenary License is still under review. Therefore, any class 5 military equipment on board has been confiscated. He hands them a receipt for their PGMP, Cryojet, two monoblades, and fives suits of Combat Armor. The team considers a protest to Cmdr. Hewett or Sir Jann, but decide in the end to just send a note to both that they expect their gear to be returned when they pass through Tobia again in several months, and then they are off for Simok, by way of Kedus. They’ve burned a week on Tobia, but still have a little extra time to get to Mirage.
Here's a short summary of my Drinax game today.
The crew started at Torpol; the homeworld for 3 of Manticore's crew. There was shore leave, more refitting of the ship (completely fixed the Jump drive and Maneuver drive, more Hull repairs and some of the cosmetic work on the bridge), and rumor-collecting. They were on their way to Exocet to nuke some volcanoes ( ), and heard more about the Imperial flotilla that had recently reached Byrni.
Someone with connections to Rachando suggested that he could find them a quiet, empty, asteroid base in Wildeman. Another sold them a secret Imperial document.
Jumping to Blue, they flew silently to the gas giant, then had a hard time making a successful fuel scoop. They left alone a freighter also doing the same, which didn't seem to notice them.
Jumping to Exocet, they repeated the wild refueling, then approached the world's Highport. While doing a little rumor-gathering there, they learned about a pirate base, also in Wildeman, that needed evacuating in a hurry (this is the Red Voidborn job from The World, I've moved it here). Meanwhile, their doctor and engineer were crunching numbers with McGrath to figure out where to drop their 4 bombs.
The bombing raid went mostly well, 2 dropped with very good Effect, and 2 that were very nearly on target. The planet's chief engineer is eager to wait the years it will take to have effect on the atmosphere.
Back in space, they went to Wildeman to scout out the situation. While wild-fueling there, they spotted an Aslan freighter, and moved stealthily to Close range. One particle-beam across the bow was not enough to force a surrender. Two rounds of shooting into the ship completely irradiated the poor crew, and they now had a ship to help the evacuation of The World. The civilians there (with 2 Scouts and a Far Trader) agreed to be flown to Drinax as new population, while the fighters and captain of the Skull agreed to join in a strike at the Imperial prison camp on Iilgan. They also let their rescuers know that someone on Acrid was looking for mercenaries to fight a little war there.
So, we'll open next game in 3 weeks with the strike at Iilgan.
The crew started at Torpol; the homeworld for 3 of Manticore's crew. There was shore leave, more refitting of the ship (completely fixed the Jump drive and Maneuver drive, more Hull repairs and some of the cosmetic work on the bridge), and rumor-collecting. They were on their way to Exocet to nuke some volcanoes (
), and heard more about the Imperial flotilla that had recently reached Byrni. Someone with connections to Rachando suggested that he could find them a quiet, empty, asteroid base in Wildeman. Another sold them a secret Imperial document.
Jumping to Blue, they flew silently to the gas giant, then had a hard time making a successful fuel scoop. They left alone a freighter also doing the same, which didn't seem to notice them.
Jumping to Exocet, they repeated the wild refueling, then approached the world's Highport. While doing a little rumor-gathering there, they learned about a pirate base, also in Wildeman, that needed evacuating in a hurry (this is the Red Voidborn job from The World, I've moved it here). Meanwhile, their doctor and engineer were crunching numbers with McGrath to figure out where to drop their 4 bombs.
The bombing raid went mostly well, 2 dropped with very good Effect, and 2 that were very nearly on target. The planet's chief engineer is eager to wait the years it will take to have effect on the atmosphere.
Back in space, they went to Wildeman to scout out the situation. While wild-fueling there, they spotted an Aslan freighter, and moved stealthily to Close range. One particle-beam across the bow was not enough to force a surrender. Two rounds of shooting into the ship completely irradiated the poor crew, and they now had a ship to help the evacuation of The World. The civilians there (with 2 Scouts and a Far Trader) agreed to be flown to Drinax as new population, while the fighters and captain of the Skull agreed to join in a strike at the Imperial prison camp on Iilgan. They also let their rescuers know that someone on Acrid was looking for mercenaries to fight a little war there.
So, we'll open next game in 3 weeks with the strike at Iilgan.
I'm going to be running Treasure Ship, post-iHatei, in the next couple of weeks and I swear I remember a post on this forum (maybe even this thread) about the possible contents of the Treasure Ship, however upon searching I'm coming up blank.
I've got some fantasy RPG players at the table and I know they'll be itching to take down the actual loot list if they successfully rob/capture the ship.
Could someone point me to that suggestion list for reference?
OR
How did other's handle this non-specific billion credit treasure?
Edit: I realize there is a general list of treasure in the adventure (trade cargo, etc), I'm looking for vault-specific special items.
I've got some fantasy RPG players at the table and I know they'll be itching to take down the actual loot list if they successfully rob/capture the ship.
Could someone point me to that suggestion list for reference?
OR
How did other's handle this non-specific billion credit treasure?
Edit: I realize there is a general list of treasure in the adventure (trade cargo, etc), I'm looking for vault-specific special items.
Old School
Mongoose
There was some discussion of bounty from the Treasure Ship, mainly regarding information rather than physical treasure, way back on page 3 of this thread.
My players are running through adventure 3 (Ihatei!) and they have come up with a cunning plan to distract some of the ihatei who are gathering on Kteiroa.
The plan is that they place an order with GeDeCo on Vorito for delivery to Hilfer of the power plant, water-reclamation tech and piping that Utea wants, then they pass on the itinerary of the cargo to Toiho the Brave and he ensures that some of his raiders are on hand to intercept the shipment and bring it back to Kteiroa.
Toiho gets any other booty and a ship for a prize (plus a subtle nudge towards Paal for his raiding target from the PCs), Utea gets equipment to upgrade environmental services at the Ihatei camp and the PCs get part payment with Utea's decommissioned environmental kit which they can take to Hilfer and donate as water reclamation packages to start improving relations there. If they can pull it off it's a win-win-win.
So does the GM-ing hivemind here have any ideas on how to make the execution of this plan 'interesting'? I have some thoughts:
Are there other areas of potential challenge you can think of that might make some good roleplaying?
Regards
Luke
The plan is that they place an order with GeDeCo on Vorito for delivery to Hilfer of the power plant, water-reclamation tech and piping that Utea wants, then they pass on the itinerary of the cargo to Toiho the Brave and he ensures that some of his raiders are on hand to intercept the shipment and bring it back to Kteiroa.
Toiho gets any other booty and a ship for a prize (plus a subtle nudge towards Paal for his raiding target from the PCs), Utea gets equipment to upgrade environmental services at the Ihatei camp and the PCs get part payment with Utea's decommissioned environmental kit which they can take to Hilfer and donate as water reclamation packages to start improving relations there. If they can pull it off it's a win-win-win.
So does the GM-ing hivemind here have any ideas on how to make the execution of this plan 'interesting'? I have some thoughts:
- Presumably there is shipping insurance and trade finance packages to support GeDeCo's development mission, so they could finance this plan for pennies on the credit provided they can get someone with deep pockets (Princess Rao fr'instance) to front some cash. So there's a 'pitch meeting' scene and some 'set up a shell corporation' tasks to be done.
- They have a mole inside PRQ so there's the possibility to do shenanigans around getting PRQ the freight handling gig and then some some agent handling/espionage hijinks around briefing the mole and picking up the shipping schedule.
- There's the interception itself of course, with lots of ways for a small ship action to go sideways. Plus there may need to be some cat-pacification by whomever is the liaison with Toiho's flotilla, so that bit should be fine.
- Finally there's the blow-off. If I can threaten the PCs' legitimacy with GeDeCo in the aftermath, they might not be able to collect their insurance payout and make their sponsor whole.
Are there other areas of potential challenge you can think of that might make some good roleplaying?
Regards
Luke
Old School
Mongoose
Good stuff. Random thoughts in no order:
- Drinax is very cash poor. They’ll need to look elsewhere for their sponsor.
- Ordering good equipment, arranging for it to be stolen and delivered to Utea, and then showing up with second hand equipment from Utea might be a tad suspicious. There are other human tinkers in that camp, and word might get back to Hilfer or GeDeCo of where the stolen equipment ended up, and/or where the second hand stuff came from.
- what’s the cost of the new equipment? I assume its substantial. Insurance, especially in that particular region of charted space, might require armed escort.
- lots of possibilities to make enemies should anything go sideways. GeDeCo, PRQ, Hilfer, the insurance provider (hortalez et Cie, perhaps?). And of course, Utea and/or Toiho is they fail to deliver the ship and cargo into the trap.
- if you work in the patron mission regarding the Yarrow, there’s already an insurance company that had to make a multi billion credit payout on a lost Megafreighter a few years ago. If the same company insures this shipment and has to payout on the cargo and a ship, that insurance provider might bring its considerable resources to bear in finding the culprits. This payout could simply be a cause of reluctance on behalf of the insurance provider that they need to overcome. Then if the plan succeeds, you can use the insurance company and their wrath as yet another regional player to contend with, or not.
- Drinax is very cash poor. They’ll need to look elsewhere for their sponsor.
- Ordering good equipment, arranging for it to be stolen and delivered to Utea, and then showing up with second hand equipment from Utea might be a tad suspicious. There are other human tinkers in that camp, and word might get back to Hilfer or GeDeCo of where the stolen equipment ended up, and/or where the second hand stuff came from.
- what’s the cost of the new equipment? I assume its substantial. Insurance, especially in that particular region of charted space, might require armed escort.
- lots of possibilities to make enemies should anything go sideways. GeDeCo, PRQ, Hilfer, the insurance provider (hortalez et Cie, perhaps?). And of course, Utea and/or Toiho is they fail to deliver the ship and cargo into the trap.
- if you work in the patron mission regarding the Yarrow, there’s already an insurance company that had to make a multi billion credit payout on a lost Megafreighter a few years ago. If the same company insures this shipment and has to payout on the cargo and a ship, that insurance provider might bring its considerable resources to bear in finding the culprits. This payout could simply be a cause of reluctance on behalf of the insurance provider that they need to overcome. Then if the plan succeeds, you can use the insurance company and their wrath as yet another regional player to contend with, or not.
I start running the campaign tomorrow evening! I've been reading this post and appreciate all the great examples/info. As a first time Traveller GM I have a few questions.
1. How much acces to book 2 do you allow your players?
2. Any suggestions what to do with a character that has a scout ship at the start of the game?
3. What do you wish you knew before you started
Thanks in advance!
1. How much acces to book 2 do you allow your players?
2. Any suggestions what to do with a character that has a scout ship at the start of the game?
3. What do you wish you knew before you started
Thanks in advance!
I have been reading out the system descriptions on request, but they could have access to this all the time.Bolog said:
The main reason for not allow full access is to keep some mystery about the Aslan. At some point in the near future, i will give them access to all of book 2.
I have given them access to all of book 3.
For a new charater this is turned into D3 ship shares [POD Book 2 page 7]. For an old character I suggest that Oleb takes it in part exchange for the Harrier and some ship shares.
How to pronounce Aslan names. I still struggle.
Good luck.
The information about the Aslan strikes me as something that would be readily available given the context. Pretty much all of it is basic library stuff for the Trojan Reach, and leaving that aside, you've got the Scholar's Tower, Kasiyl, and all and sundry people who would deal with (or be from) the Hierate at or passing through Drinax, nevermind the surrounding systems on the trade route.
Book 3 does have one minor spoiler (The Ghost of the Reach) in among everything else, but it probably won't have a significant gameplay impact.
As for "what to know before you start" - make SURE you read through the entire campaign before beginning. Many of the adventures contain information that puts the others in context and some of them really need lead-up ahead of time if they're going to work well. Getting early relationships going between the PCs and the various NPCs at the palace makes an enormous difference when an episode like Blood of the Star Dragon comes up, and the political tensions that come to a head in it should be foreshadowed long before you get there.
Book 3 does have one minor spoiler (The Ghost of the Reach) in among everything else, but it probably won't have a significant gameplay impact.
As for "what to know before you start" - make SURE you read through the entire campaign before beginning. Many of the adventures contain information that puts the others in context and some of them really need lead-up ahead of time if they're going to work well. Getting early relationships going between the PCs and the various NPCs at the palace makes an enormous difference when an episode like Blood of the Star Dragon comes up, and the political tensions that come to a head in it should be foreshadowed long before you get there.
Bolog said:
Is the character from Drinax or elsewhere? If the latter then I would let them keep it - having a second ship will be helpful but not an overwhelming advantage. If it's the former then I had the same issue and my ruling was that the floating palace had only let him have use of the ship because the jump drive no longer worked - that gave the character a short-term goal of finding a way to repair the drive.
Regards
Luke
Re: the player with the scout ship-- it can either be turned into shares, or let them keep it. What they do with it is up to the players. I could see it being used for scouting, visiting planetary offices without being a visible warship, or a courier (have to keep the King and/or Princess informed!)
Democratus
Mongoose
Am I the only one who channels Brian Blessed when running the King?
So much fun!
So much fun!
Old School
Mongoose
As good a muse as any, Democratus
