Uncharted Worlds – Page 68 – Powered by the Apocalypse G+ Archives

#RustbucketTales #Part11

Previously on Uncharted Worlds…

…The Shadow clips the prison transfer shuttle stabiliser, sending it immediately into a spin towards the city below…

…Orcha checks BountyNet and sees that he is wanted on Jagatika for murder, assault, and escaping from prison.

…Rustbucket sits in a rocky desert beneath a cloudy sky. Anvil looks at the scorched remains of the proton depolarizer on the top hull and says “looks like we’re not hiding anymore”

…The Shadow approaches Fallow Highport, passing the curved, deadly shape of the Scythe in its docking port…

…Lynard steps on a lizard burrow and is dragged down, screaming. Orcha activates his jetpack, then neatly shoots the lizard through the throat as it bites on Lynard’s legs.

…Kidd tells Kestrel and Anvil “I can get those parts for you, if you make a delivery run for me…”.

…Orcha dumps a bleeding Lynard on the ward-room table and tells Dev and Phoebe “you fix him,” then walks out.

…Anvil tells Kestrel the optimum course to take back to the station to avoid detection. Kestrel notices the course details popping up on the “backup computer”‘s screen just before he speaks them.

…Orcha looks up from gutting a lizard to see the Rustbucket make a wobbly liftoff, turn to the South, and disappear over the horizon…

Orcha had been walking all day. He was almost out of water, and had only the meat from the butchered lizard for food. Other than the burrowing predators, he’d also seen a few of the elephant-sized Fallow Beasts they preyed on, and had attracted the attention of some circling winged scavangers who appeared to fill the vulture niche. Rustbucket had come this way, but now he’d reached a barrier – a huge canyon, wider than he could cross with his suit jets. Hunkering down behind a rock and chewing some dead lizard, he scanned the edges through his rifle scope, looking for a way forward. Five or six klicks to the west, the canyon narrowed to just a few kilometers, and there seemed to be a structure across it. Increasing the magnification showed a bridge, a single span of stone in a perfect inverted catenary – not the sort of thing he’d expect the local rustics to have. On the southern side there was an obviously local tech watchtower, made of stone blocks, with a tethered fallow-beast and a thin plume of smoke showing habitation. Slinging his rifle, Orcha began to creep between the rocks to get closer…

Up on the station, Kestrel and Anvil had just finished loading the last of the parts into the Shadow when Anvil’s comm beeped for attention. Sai had been watching the traffic pattern for arrivals from Georus, the system they’d come from, and had got a hit. It could be bringing a news package, including word of Orcha’s bounty, and could even be transmitting it to the station right now. Sai beeped again: the ship was Nerian registered, the yacht Tanngrisnir. That wasn’t good – the only “yachts” from Neria were owned by the ruling family, and armed, and Rustbucket had past history with them. While Ironclad had got the Nerians to withdraw their bounty on the Rustbucket’s crew, the bounty on Orcha meant that all bets were off; they were free to collect, and Rustbucket might just end up as collateral damage. Definitely something to avoid. As they cruised towards the planet on an “authorised” flightpath, Sai beeped again: the “yacht” definitely wasn’t a yacht, and it had queried traffic control for news of Rustbucket. They were being hunted.

Down on the planet, Orcha hid in the rocks near the bridge until dusk, then began to sneak across, using the curve of the arch as cover. From up close, it was clear that the bridge did not belong here – it was made of a single piece of stone, probably nanoformed, and well beyond the tech the locals used (apart from antibiotics and a couple of long-range radios, they limited themselves to only what could be made by a local blacksmith). He’d made it over the peak and was partway down the other side when a voice called out from the tower: “who goes there?” Introducing himself as “Orcha of Hansar”, Orcha made his way forward, and was welcomed by the hunting party currently residing there. The lizard-hunters were friendly and hospitable, even to a forbidden offworlder. They inquired whether he was from the starship which had flown over that morning, but also insisted that he travel to a nearby village, Tapakiri, to present himself to the Guardians for arrest. One of them, Fortitude, would show him the way in the morning. Since the village was in the direction Rustbucket had headed, and figuring he could always kill or stun them later, Orcha agreed.

Out in the desert, Kestrel frowned at the empty valley. “This is definitely where we left it” – but Rustbucket was gone. Low-light sensors showed some blood, and some tracks heading south, but no sign of what had happened to their ship. Boosting The Shadow to altitude, she had Anvil run a sensor scan – which rapidly spotted the heat signature of an idling starship power-plant near a small village to the south. Rustbucket had been set down in a cornfield, but looked undamaged. Kestrel put the Shadow into a dive, pulled up at the last minute, triggered the docking port, and executed a perfect docking-under-thrust.

Inside, the ship was empty. A lot of blood and discarded medical supplies in the ward room, but the crew were nowhere to be seen, and Dr Westcott wasn’t in his cell. While Kestrel and Anvil speculate about what has happened, there is a banging on the main airlock door; there is a group of Guardians outside who want them to present themselves for arrest. When they ask about their friends, they’re informed that they are currently in the town jail. Kestrel turns on the charm, and arranges safe passage to negotiate with the local authorities.

Shortly afterwards they’re led through the dark streets, past rows of low-tech “houses”, to a stone building and a meeting with the village headman. He reassures Kestrel and Anvil that the others are safe – though one of them lost his leg due to venom from a lizard bite – and demands to know why they have broken the law and landed. Kestrel says they were here on a hunting trip, and that Nakamoto sold them a permit; when one of their party got into difficulties they naturally assumed they could call on the local people for assistance. Naturally, she’ll compensate the village for their trouble, and once the ship is repaired, be on their way. The headman buys it hook, line and sinker, orders everyone released, and starts talking about urgent messages to the capital and demanding explanations from the offworld security force. As she leads them back to the ship, Kestrel tells Dev to whip up a quick official looking landing permit; she’s sure they’ve got some Nakamoto letterhead around they can crib from…

The next day, as Anvil works on fixing Rustbucket (under the watchful eye of a couple of Guardians, who are largely there to keep the curious away), they talk about Orcha. Phoebe thinks (hopes?) that he’s died of thirst by now; she’s pretty angry about Lynard’s leg, and blames Orcha for the whole thing. Kestrel says she’ll make Orcha buy Lynard a new one. But they have to go back and get him; “I wouldn’t trust leaving him on this planet with these yokels. He’ll set himself up as a god-king or something”. Fears of incipient divine tyranny are eased later that evening when Orcha, escorted by Fortitude, arrives at the village. Kestrel quickly identifies him as the missing member of her crew, forestalling arrest, and Orcha gives Fortitude a shiny new rifle as thanks for the company on the trip. As he r-enters the ship, Dev spits at him: “I wish you’d died out there in the desert”. Rustbucket is not a happy ship.

Repairs complete, and the villagers paid off with some handwoven Jagatikan fabrics, Rustbucket lifts off. Orcha persuades them to check out the bridge, and after a scanning run (definitely nanoformed), they land on it. The bridge doesn’t look human made, and they speculate on its purpose – is it an artwork? Anvil hauls out a laser cutter and cuts a sample – which reveals that the bridge is also (slowly) self-repairing; in a year or two there will no sign anyone ever vandalised it. Information on the bridge is probably valuable; all they need to do is get it to the right market. So Rustbucket lifts off and heads for orbit.

…and runs straight into not just the Tanngrisnir, but a Nakamoto interdiction boat. Tanngrisnir wastes no time, broadcasting that Rustbucket is harbouring a wanted fugitive and opening fire with its energy cannon. Rustbucket fails to evade the blast, but the shields take most of it. As damage indicators start flashing, Kestrel turns tail and runs straight for the Nakamoto ship, trying to put it between her and the Nerians. It works, and Tanngrisnir pulls back, unwilling to fire on a Nakamoto ship, but it simply trades one problem for another: the Nakamoto ship scans Rustbucket and gets a solid ID, and the Nakamoto Captain demands Kestrel repay her obligation to them by turning over Orcha so he can collect on the bounty.

This is a problem Kestrel knows how to solve. “You expect me to give over my bounty like that?” Instead, she shifts to a private channel and offers to compensate the Nakamoto captain personally if he looks the other way and lets her collect on Orcha herself – in another system, of course. One cargo of dustspice later, and Rustbucket is running for the jump-point, Tanngrisnir far behind. But as they burn for the outer system, they notice something ominous: Scythe is no longer docked.

Damaged, and with no cargo beyond a slightly depleted haul of guns, and with the Nerians and probably a crew of professional bounty hunters on their tail, Rustbucket jumps. They’ve escaped… for now.

Nothing to report yet, but The Sunday Skypers crew had a brainstorming session for a future UW campaign that I’ll be…

Nothing to report yet, but The Sunday Skypers crew had a brainstorming session for a future UW campaign that I’ll be running. Lots of good ideas thrown about and world building done. Really psyched about this game. My first rodeo with running a PbtA game, so I do have some butterflies.

While this is technically a “competitor” for UW, I think there’s some neat little mechanics in here that make it…

While this is technically a “competitor” for UW, I think there’s some neat little mechanics in here that make it worth sharing.

Originally shared by Adrian Thoen

Impulse Drive roleplaying game version 2.3 is ready to play, for free.

This is the most complete version yet, with more explanations for much of the rules, and more easily used references and note taking sheets.

Any reshares and signal boosts are muchly appreciated!

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4w2ZvCSYT6AMzhrVktlVXpBN1k #PBTA #RPG #misfitsandspaceships #scifi

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4w2ZvCSYT6AMzhrVktlVXpBN1k

Perseus Expansion – Episode 4

Perseus Expansion – Episode 4

We left our heroes escaping the Near Dark system in their Combine registered tramp freighter, accelerating out of atmosphere and heading for the one safe jump point. Unbeknownst to them they had a stowaway in the shape of Darius Blaze (Military-Starfarer-Crowded), and a new player for a session or two. Darius was on the opposing heist team and speculatively stowed away to follow the trail of the successful team of PCs.

Dr Krieger investigated the data cube and found out [prompted and asked the Dr to tell us what he found] that the data had all the hallmarks of the ESU’s infamous Delta Directive, and rather than being the antidote to the virus, it was a sophisticated placebo and no more, masking the true structure of time delayed biologicals with a limited lifetime, a containable infection with a shelf life, a dirty weapon. Was Near Dark the victim of a controlled test of this disease? A deep dive into the data structures revealed a digital signature that pointed to the location of a laboratory.

Meanwhile the liner Sumptuous sprays out some small craft that speed out system, alerting a waiting ship to intercept the PC freighter. The Independent bulk freighter Hagan lumbers into scanner range. It is a hired privateer working a faction that want to reclaim the data disk? Or maybe the hyper dense silver globe? Or probably both. The globe resisted all scanning attempts.

As the Hagen sprays out two wings of attached starfighters I limber up ready for a very one sided starship combat battle. As Tyrrell and the interloper Darius square up to each other on the bridge, Dr Krieger storms in and initiates a sudden exit to jumpspace, yep he went straight for the Wild Jump! (7 result). A new uncharted world ! A strange signal in a hard to decipher alien protocol, talking of a gate in power down and not able to support transfers until restored. The signal was traced to a structure an hour away. It was of vast size, and possibly of the same construction of the two known functioning forerunner gates’ If this really is a third gate then it is a momentous discovery.

Speeding in the other direction the characters encounter a planetary system, with an atmospheric make up identical to old earth’s. How strange… Orbiting the planet was a large upstation, which needed to be explored. What they found within the partially powered structure were the remains of Arzurak humanoids and a station that never recovered from a crisis. The multi limbed wyrm like creatures within ensued a quick gun battle, with Darius finishing off one with his dress sword.

Down below, on planet there is suddenly signs of life, just as the orbital station starts to come back online. They are representatives of the peaceful and benevolent Harmonious Futures, whose lead representative, Saran Gumai, invites the PCs down to the surface of Traxic III, to visit their monastery, a prefabricated beauty on the edge of a lake.

Greeted warmly, they enjoy the clean fresh air around them, with just a hint of sweetness. Food and drink is consumed heartily, and the entire western tower is at their disposal. Setting up a watchdog sensor, the characters recline in soft sheets and sleep soundly, waiting for the morning to come. It will won’t it?

Episode 4 tonight of The Perseus Expansion.

Episode 4 tonight of The Perseus Expansion. One of my players requested a Hot shot piloting skill as part of their starfarer career. I didn’t see any problem in adding in new skills as campaign customisations so had a shot at one. I had a quick peak at Inverse World and created something Move like.

Let me know what you think?

Ace Pilot

When you perform a daring feat of piloting skill, roll +Mettle. On a 10+, choose three. On a 7-9, choose two:

You end up where you wanted and with considerable style

You evade a pursuer, getting out of their sights

You trick a pursuer into hitting something, or ram into something in your way – deal their own highest starship weapon damage on themselves

Your lighting manoeuvres act as a ‘Get involved’ to reduce incoming damage by one level

Your precision piloting acts as a ‘Get involved’ assist to a Navigation skill

So, general question: Should I work on creating an actual timeline of past events for each campaign?

So, general question: Should I work on creating an actual timeline of past events for each campaign?

Let me start by saying that I’ve always disliked the Date-PersonName-Event thing in history lessons, my mind immediately rejects the information. Like bleep blanked as soon as it enters.

You’ll note that in the current version of the Core preview, I’m purposefully vague about when things happen. I tend to talk about the past in terms of “in the past decades” or “centuries ago”.

Making a discrete timeline means a lot more work making sure it all “works”, timing-wise. It’s an extra system that has to be plausible.

On the plus side, creating a historical timeline requires creating a time-keeping structure and language, which can help build the setting.

Basically: I have personal reasons to NOT do it, but as consumers of campaign settings, do you appreciate a defined timeline?

Perseus Expansion – Episode 3

Perseus Expansion – Episode 3

This was the heist. With Tyrrell and, slightly hilariously, the large alien Gorm, operating as new Trojan Securities guards working on the inside and Dr Krieger working on the outside breaking down the security computer systems, more and more was uncovered about the way the security works.

Meanwhile Nadia Wike and associates (who are they?) are working their own scam to get access to the goods in the vault. And Near Dark Security are working their way through leads to track down the characters.

We also had two pieces of system news that may or may not be a part of the game focus.

A Starfreight Logistics chartered Galaxy Liner is due inbound to Near Dark in two Terradays. Galaxy Liners are noted for their size and opulence, offering the ultimate star cruise experience. This is the first time such a ship has visited the Near Dark system, creating considerable speculation as to the purpose of the stop over. The Local Business Federation is working overtime to ready trade and goods for such a momentous occasion.

Edrikson Relay Engineers have reported that the intermittently faulty relay sensor at the outer system Jump Point has now been repaired and is fully online. The full repair report was not made available, having been transferred to the NDA sensitive list. News 23 can report that the team has been operating at the Jump Point for more than two weeks and that ESU navy assets were reported to be operating in the Jump Point area.

These messages are sponsored by HG De-contaminants – “no spore any more”

Inevitably many of these forces crunched together on the final night. Half hacked systems, discovered trojan ICE, a safehouse discovered and a firefight in the stairwell, a separate incursion through the vault roof. Two heists happening at the same time and out of their depth security guards in a crumbling facility where “nothing ever happens”. Kevan was on his last shift. He had kids. Would he survive?

The confusion aided the characters and they were in, into the vault, two items extracted rather than just the one data cube (what is this strange small heavy metallic ball?). Speeding out of the city to a starport bustling with the arrival of the liner. A quarantined ship crawling with Near Dark Security forces and one last gung ho battle before lifting off out system to … what?

3 XP and they all level up. New skills all round.

As usual the Uncharted World system sat in the background and gave us just the right moves at the right time. The system is probably too light for one of my players who dislikes the 7-9 range as a pyrrhic victory. The game works for me and it really helps move things along at a good pace.

I might have some starship combat tonight.

I might have some starship combat tonight. Some of my players might be watching, so this could just be some elaborate April Fool…

In terms of handling ‘Threats’ (p.145). If the players open fire on a ship am I tracking the standard thee elements as threats or ‘Sections’. I’ll also be tracking any weapons as threats too.

If fire was focussed on the enemy ship and the Shields were neutralised and out of the action, then is it just a successful Open Fire to take out the Hull and destroy the enemy ship? How does the Class of the ship (especially the big ones) affect this?

Cheers,

A new preview for The Core campaign setting has been uploaded to the preview materials DropBox.

If you have a bit of spare time, I invite you to give it a read-through. The opening pages are very rough, but the factions themselves should be more-or-less good to go. If you have any feedback about layout, presentation, content, whatever, I’d be delighted to hear it. Best to catch these early.

If the general structure of the factions passes muster, I’ll be using the same structure for the other 3 campaign settings (with some setting-specific variations).

https://www.dropbox.com/s/zxqqmq6fshwzb0n/CartaGalaxia%20Preview%20-%20The%20Core%20-%20v160331.pdf?dl=0

Few weeks ago we played an UW one-shot and it was awesome.

Few weeks ago we played an UW one-shot and it was awesome. So now we are going to start a campaign and, as the Jump Point provided in the book worked so well, I’m going to prepare my own Jump Point (or snatch one already made Jump Point if I can find one)

I have an idea, but I’m unsure if it will be good enough. If you please can help me with suggestions and more prompting I would appreciate.

The Heist.

This story starts when an infiltration to recover something from a restricted access place goes the hard way. (My first idea was to start with the preparation of the infiltration, but if we need to start with a blast, this will be a better moment. What do you think?)

Prompting:

To the hacker/technical guy: You are monitoring the system that you gained full access into. You notice someone trying to gain access. Which part of the system is this guy trying to access? What do you do?

To the least combat/infiltration character (maybe the medic, or the bureaucrat..): You are inside the most restricted area, quite close to where your goal is guarded. Only one last known challenge ahead and you will reach your goal. What is between you and your goal that prevents you from reaching it and that made vital for you to be here, as you are the only one that can go through?

To the driver: You are in the vehicle, waiting outside of the place with your sight on the exit door. What does this place looks like? Which faction symbol is on the walls. what about the surroundings?

again to the driver: A vehicle approaches the place, stops close to the entrance and the doors open. Which unexpected and important person comes down of the vehicle? You and this person know each other very well, what is your past with this person? What are your feelings for this person? What do you do?

With this unexpected visit, plus the seed for a complication planted with the interface access above, I expect things to go hard, to raise an alarm or something like that that makes the going out difficult.

Prompting that still needs to find a place:

Who or what is what you came here to recover?

How did you discover this place?

And still need more prompting for what comes after.