Tag: Harvey Kennett

This is going to be a lengthy post, as I wish to share my experiences as a new GM to the system, what I enjoyed about it, and how my player (this was a test run with my wife before opening it up to our group at a later date) went.

I will warn you now…this is a very long read.

It may not suit everybody. I’ve proofed it as best I can, but a neurodegenerative condition does affect my typing and thought stream and screaming tinnitus is constant in my right ear.

Concentration is not the easiest thing for me any more, I am sorry.

tl:dr :

The system is amazing…it empowered my player and gave her agency and narrative control, yet made my life richly rewarding as GM too. A few niggles here and there, but the game and system integration using the PbtA system works supportively to give players and GM’s a Space Opera setting that is worthy to call itself one.

I’ve played Traveller original, Traveller D20 and Traveller 2300AD in the past. Done some Gurps Space too. Played various systems which claim to be “Space Operas”. (Traveller, I’m looking at you. You are not a Space Opera. You are an exercise in mathematical computation, where the drama is needing to have a University-level of physics and science to feel that what you want to do is even remotely possible (because I’ve seen people at that table call out others who are not as schooled in the sciences and the game ends up hanging itself…as can friendships).

I know that’s probably an unfair assessment of Traveller; after all, we buy the systems that we hope are going to support the game the way we want them to support us don’t we ?

I didn’t buy Seventh Sea (Second Edition) by John Wick to replace my D20 Pathfinder collection. They are completely different worlds, and mechanics of execution.

I guess I am just ranting about systems that claim to be “Space Operas” and don’t deliver.

I cannot make that claim for Uncharted Worlds.

It delivers in spades….thank you Mr Gomes !

Without further ado, here is the long read….

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1 player, 1 GM (me)

After I read the book a few times to get a heads up on the system, myself and my wife (Player) dived in Campaign Creation.

She had no idea of what she wanted in terms of Campaign type, so we took the suggestion in the book and I read her the Campaign Types and she liked : Colony

She chose 2-3 Factions.

That was our starting point, with no more detail than that.

I then asked her the following questions.

1. What sort of planet is the campaign based on ? Is it a hot, Mars-like world all over ? Is it temperate, with deserts regions and polar regions like Earth ? Is it a water world ?

She replied “Something like Texas. Arid desert, rugged mountains, rolling plains, greenery and some forest.”

Apologies if our geography is a bit wrong on Texas, we’re both from the UK, and only visited Texas once, but I got the idea of what she was after so I rolled with it.

2. Are there many continents ? Just a few ? What is the dominant climate of each ?

1 major continent, like Europe. Large. A cluster of active volcanic islands on the other side of the planet. No one really goes there.

(At this point, whilst my wife is describing the world, my GM hat is telling me “Hmm, why does no one really go there ? What’s there ?”. I’m also thinking, “This is cool, my player is getting engaged and doing some of the work for me ”

3. How settled is the world ? Is this the only Colony ? Are there others ? Are the other Colonies on the same continent or on the islands / elsewhere ? Do the Colonies cooperate with each other or are they all rivals ?

She replied 4 Colonies, all on the same main continent. All were rivals to each other. She outlined the following.

Military Settlement / Colony

Independent Merchant Guild Colony

Trade Conglomeration Colony..think Megacorp

Space Pirate Colony

4. I asked her how the Colonies came in to being ? Who founded them ? For what purpose ?

She replied that surveys by off-worlders had discovered the presence of a very valuable resource on the planet, in limited quantities. I asked her to tell me what the resource was.

She said “A fuel additive, that greatly increases the efficiency of space vessel transit times. Like Nitrous Oxide for space ships, but is burns for slower and provides more sustained thrust. The 4 different Colonies each desire the resource for their own reasons.

I’m not a science geek, so I wasn’t prepared to rain on her parade. I figure anything is possible in a place as varied as the universe. Rule of Cool and all that. Plus she was enjoying shaping this new world far too much. (Thinking back to Traveller in the long past, this would have caused a major row with a few players at the time who were doing degrees in similar areas)

I asked her to explain why each Colony desired the resource, which we called Etherium.

The Military aspect is clear..faster vessels, particularly space fighters. Swifter transport time for mass troop/equipment travel.

The Independent Merchant colony is a collection of merchants who swear allegiance to a Merchant Guild, and they obtain the Etherium to sell to the Merchant Guild. The guild then sell it onwards.

The Trade Conglomeration Colony was established by a Mega Corporation, who have employees and mining operations on many worlds. The Corporation sell it onwards.

The Pirate Colony is a treacherous hive of villainy, and they desire the resource for their own vessels and other pirate vessels.

5. By question 5, we are only 10 mins in to the design process, and the world is shaping up nicely and I’m getting all sorts of ideas about the 4 Colonies.

I ask her about her Colony, and which one she is based in and why ? How old is her Colony ?

She liked the idea of being a surveyor / explorer type character. A cross between Indiana Jones and Lara Croft.

The idea of the Careers : Explorer / Personality and Rustic Origin appealed to her.

She liked the idea of being an Independent Surveyor and Explorer, who hires herself to anyone who wants things explored and reported on. (In real life, she actually is a Surveyor)

She said she came from off world.

When she landed, she arrived at the Colony belonging to the Independent Merchant Guild. She called it “Motherlode”.

She figured her skills would be in demand in a frontiers type colony (Think Defiance / Firefly), where independent merchants need explorers/surveyors to scan large areas of the wilderness to look for Etherium for them.

Motherlode is 1.25 generations old, and the parents are now in their 40’s and their children are in their teens. Very young town.

6. What threats oppose Motherlode in terms of environment and climate, or other ?

She replied the winters were harsh and bitterly cold. Summers ran a very real risk of drought. Indigenous flora and fauna posed threats. The other Colonies did not pose a threat at the immediate moment, but tensions were high and folks were always on edge, as clandestine economic espionage was always around then next corner. Motherlode is a Frontier town. Folks are trigger happy because it’s rough and lawless in places.

And then she said…”The Natives”

As a GM this was just getting better and better for me. Player buy in, doing work for me, engaging with the world, shaping it.

7. I ask her about the natives. Who, what, where, etc.

We call them Baruthians. They are a sentient humanoid race. Thin, graceful, elegant, and obsessed with metal working. They value all art, but prize worked metal above all. They have reached the age of steam technology. They are also pacifists. She aimed for Quakers, with steampunk tech who abhor violence. Curious indeed !

8. I asked about the Baruthians. As indigenous first peoples, how did they feel about the assorted Colonists taking parts of their world over ?

Unhappy and sad, and quite fearful. But resigned to the fact that progress happens and things change. The elders seem resigned, but the younger Baruthians are starting to get very restless. Open hostility between the nearest tribe of Baruthians and the Merchant Guild Colony of Motherlode has not erupted…yet.

9. I asked her to tell me more about her starting Colony. The Merchant Guild. Who runs it, why, who polices it, what are the laws ?

A Guild of Merchants was set up by a group of powerful merchants, who came off planet to this new planet. They realised they are not, individually, in the same league as the other Colony run by The Trade Conglomeration (A Megacorp), but by selling Guild Membership, they could amass a number of guild members to grow their mass to be a rival.

Membership is straightforward. The guild will buy Etherium at a fixed price from their members. It is then owned by the guild, who sell it on as they wish. Members gain a fixed price guarantee for their extracted product, and also “Guild Protection”. Members do need to meet a quota however.

There is a police force, but it is a commercial one, wholly paid for by The Merchant Guild, and the laws are wholly supportive and favourable for The Merchant’s Guild (MG) and its members.

The MG don’t have time nor coin for prisons. The expense cannot be justified and it’s not profitable having to pay for prisoners to sit around, feeding them etc.

Thus, Lesser Crimes almost invariably involve a form of indentured service / work gang.

If you think of the MG members as being independent business folks, with their own small scale mining operations, they all need labour. Some is hired and paid for. Others is work gangs.

Capital Crimes…death penalty. It’s not a sentimental place. Coin comes first.

10. Is the MG Colony self-sufficient ? Do they have to get resources elsewhere ?

They are mostly self-sufficient. Imported grain, vegetables and fruits are locally grown on farmsteads. Imported cattle are raised on small farms. Water is carefully managed, and stored in vast silos during the winter months, for the summer shortages, and to help with irrigation.

The only thing her Colony does not have is advanced manufacturing. All those requirements are brought in off-planet or from the Pirate Colony or other Trade Conglomerate Colony. Guild members are expected to have the tools they need to conduct small scale mining.

11. Is the Merchant’s Guild of her Colony (Motherlode) doing a good job ? What areas are they slipping in ? [Notice the framing of the question to get negatives which I can work with as a GM)

The MG are good at trade, but only that. If you are not a member of the guild, and you have a problem, they are not interested.

Not their circus, not their monkeys.

If that issue does not impact them or a guild tithing-member, you are on your own. The commercial police are not interested either.

The MG have appointed a “Sheriff” as a civil law enforcement officer, so they try and keep civil law issues out of their hair.

If two MG members go head to head, the MG step in hard and slap both down. If a MG member rides out of town and comes across an independent merchant, with a small operation, and word has it that the indie has struck Etherium…well…if the MG guildie turns up the next day with a dozen mercs and forcibly takes the independent’s claim, the MG don’t care one bit.

It’s dog eat dog, and the MG members are allowed to feed first.

I’d say in 30-45 mins, we’d thrashed out a world, colonies, detail on her specific colony, and had plenty of material to get a game off to a good, organic start.

Just by asking questions and letting the player run with their imagination.

This was an excellent beginning.

We slept on it, no doubt thinking about the world itself, and the next morning we did characters.

She built an Explorer / Personality as mentioned earlier. With only her as a player, I decided to create an NPC as well.

We then kicked off the game, in media res as suggested.

The scene began in Blinders Bar, a rough and tumble dive in Motherlode. Frequented with never do wells, folks down on their luck, mercs looking for work, occasional merchants from The Guild, and other non-guilded merchants.

She was there having a drink, looking for business, when all of a sudden a very elegant and regal Baruthian walked in.

I told my wife that the Baruthian’s name was K’tiss, and she was one of only a few Baruthian’s in Motherlode. I told her that the rumour mill said that K’Tiss was a diplomat of sorts which is why she comes to the human settlement. I asked her what she was doing her and my wife said “She’s probably looking for business or a deal of some sort”.

Anyway, K’Tiss walks over to the bar.

The place goes quiet and tense for a moment. K’Tiss gets a drink, and after she takes it, a very obnoxious fellow elbows her, causing her to drop her drink. He tells her, “Your type are not welcome here”, just as a table of 6 roughs all get to their feet ready for a fight.

A small, thin wiry man, late 20’s, with a good physique, but well scarred arms and face, seated on his own, told the ruffians to “Leave the Miss alone.”

They ignored his threat, and 4 split off to deal with him and 2 ruffians went to deal with the Baruthian.

I asked my wife, “What do you do ?”

She elected to watch the scene evolve.

For the wiry man (who was my PC, but she did not know that yet), I chose to roll Launch Assault + Physique. I rolled a total of 9. Win the battle but some consequence. I described the fight scene in detail, with him putting down the 4 thugs, but ending up on his chest being thrown over his table, and breaking it.

I then shifted focus to the other 2 thugs and the man at the bar. I didn’t feel a combat roll was appropriate, as Baruthians are pacifists (and I had an ulterior motive), so they picked her up by her armpits, and carried her to the window, ready to launch her directly through it. It just happened to be the window where my wife was sitting.

I asked her “What do you do?”

Her character somewhat irritated at having her quiet drink interrupted, and not wanting to get glass and wood splinters all over herself, stood up, hand revealing holstered pistol, and glared evilly at the 2 thugs. She was going for an intimidate with promised violence.

As GM I naturally gravitated towards Roll+Physique but she said, “I’m going for the more, cold, calm determination”. Mathematically, her Mettle was 2, her Physique 1. I checked the rules for Face Adversity which say +Stat, so it seemed ok to do it her way.

She succeeded and the thugs put K’Tiss down and backed away from my wife.

Meanwhile, the wiry man got to his feet, drew a vicious and rather deadly looking combat knife and activated a blue glow upon it. (Energy blade), saying “Playtime’s over. Let’s fight properly”.

He gave it a very skilled twirl or three and looked at the thugs. He made Face Adversity+Physique, as he was intimidating with brute force.

I think that seemed ok to use in this context, but I did worry if I should have done it with +Expertise (as he is well trained in a knife). (I’m re-reading this 2 days after the game, and I’m still fretting about whether I did that last move properly).

He got a partial win, so the thugs ran with their tails between their legs, but as a consequence one shouted out, “That’s an illegal weapon Mr, the Sheriff will hear of this”.

The Baruthian thanked my wife and introduced herself to her. She also thanked the wiry fella (my PC) and he replied “It was nothing. I hate bullies. And you people have had so much aligned against you”.

K’Tiss and my wife’s character, India, both looked at the wiry man and wondered about his comment. K’Tiss warmed to him immediately, and asked India if she would allow the man to join her table, and the 3 of them could talk ?

India agreed and the man, Jonah came over.

K’Tiss thanked them again, and said she was loathe to come in to the town, and especially this establishment, but she was at her wits end. A few days ago, a patrol of her tribe, on their own tribal land, caught a group of humans violating the Baruthian’s burial caves, and whilst no bodies had been looted or disturbed, the trespassers had discovered a vein of Etherium in the caves.

K’Tiss was worried because if trespassers came once, they could come again. And in force.

I asked India, who knew a bit about the town and the people there, who these trespassers may be ?

She replied, in character, “I’m not exactly sure, but I think it’s one of the heavy-hitter independent Merchant’s who is not of the Guild. Which means they cannot stop him as he is not violating their members or property.” [As GM, it was good to see a player getting in to the spirit of the game]

K’Tiss looked downfallen. Jonah said something in Baruthian, which made K’Tiss immediately look up, and India very inquisitive.

It was a simple greeting in K’Tiss’s native tongue. (As GM, it was a tool to unravel some mystery about this man, and naturally India wanted to know more).

She asked him if he was Military, to which he replied “Sort of.”

I played him cagey and evasive. India pushed, and with K’Tiss’s imploring eyes and his own personal backstory, he gave ground and said “I know of your people and their suffering.”

From a GM perspective, it was nice not to have to make people make sense motive checks or the like. It was a moment where the whole conversation just flowed naturally, and I as GM could use my acting skills to portray regret and loss, and emote the shame in my words and demonstrate defensive body language. All tools of the trade many GM’s use, but Uncharted Worlds made me focus on GM’ing the moment, not the rolls.

At this point, they realised the Sheriff would be appearing soon, so India offered to help K’tiss and India asked Jonah if she could hire him ? Jonah agreed to the offer from India.

The group left the bar quickly, and headed to a field outside of town, where the local and somewhat shabby space port (read : a few drab wooden huts, and some scorched grass) resided. All 3 left in India’s Scout shuttle.

There was again some excellent roleplaying, as K’Tiss had never flown before. Her people have only got to the steam age themselves. So as GM I was asking India as K’Tiss how the steam in her ships engines was made super light and what marvellous technology it was.

Poor India was left a bit stuck for words, as she explained to K’Tiss, “I dunno. I just press the buttons and yank the stick and go places”. Jonah chuckled drily and said, “that’s providing this clanking heap of rust doesn’t fall to pieces first !”

India was offended and made it clear that it was her ship, her rules, and you don’t diss the ship.

Jonah said that back on his home world, which is off planet, a placed called Vania, they had much better shuttles than India’s. (My Advanced Origin Descriptor of choice was Arrogant).

GM Perspective : I didn’t think much of the descriptors at the time. My wife and I discussed their relevance and necessity.

Then she said, “You know the first time we tried something like AD&D 30 years ago, and you played a Cleric and didn’t really know what you were ?” I replied, “Yes”. She said “Well, if at the time descriptors like Pious, Holy, Reverent, Judgemental, Zealous” existed, it would have helped you get in character, wouldn’t it ?”

It all fell in to place…A clever tool indeed.

Well, after successfully managing to upset India (in jest of course) about her rust bucket of a flyer, we flew for about 10 mins and took K’Tiss home.

She lived over the other side of a great mountain ridge, in a forest beyond.

As we flew, India outlined the situation to K’tiss as she saw it.

“Your people have a very valuable resource. It is on your land. You own it. But you do not use it. Others want it. They will offer you things for it. But it is known you are pacifists. So the more unscrupulous and unregulated will just come and take it anyway. And your people will die.”

(At this point Jonah muttered “Not again” and K’Tiss did not hear that comment, but India did and shelved that knowledge for future recall).

K’Tiss asked, “What can my people do?”, and India said, “Your people need to negotiate from a position of strength and use your supply of Etherium as an enabler.”

K’Tiss looked confused, so India spelled it out for her.

“Mine the Etherium in the burial grounds. Sell it to Motherlode. Some of the money you make can fund some mercenaries who you pay to protect your mine, and the remaining profits of the sales can be used for anything else your people want.”

K’Tiss said that her people cannot rob their own burial grounds.

Whilst Etherium is just a pretty rock to them, the thought of disrupting the caves is a bit no no. And having armed guards on their land violated their pacifist code.

India said, “I’m a surveyor. My ship is equipped to do geological surveys. If there is any more Etherium on your lands, I will find it and you can use that, instead of what is in the mines. With regards to violating your code of pacifism. Even if you don’t, others will. Besides, you can employ mercs with non-fatal weapons.”

K’Tiss thanked India for her help.

As the flyer was coming in on final approach to the Baruthian settlement, India asked K’Tiss about rules for flight, permission to land etc.

K’Tiss explained that she had communicated with The Elders during the flight, and permission was granted.

No one saw K’Tiss pull out a radio.

India looked at Jonah who just nodded back at her, and she turned to K’Tiss and said “So it’s true, the rumours of telepathy about your people?”

K’Tiss just smiled.

The Shuttle landed, and K’Tiss disembarked, and made them wait for a few moments, and then she returned with 2 large wicker baskets, filled with fresh fruits, some meats and cheeses, and some potent wines.

K’Tiss said it was a gift of thanks from her people.

India and Jonah, now alone, then took off.

India couldn’t contain her curiosity any longer and she said to Jonah, “You’re Ex-Military aren’t you?”

Jonah just grunted in the affirmative.

India needled Jonah a bit more and said, “But something happened. Why do you care so much for these Baruthians ?”

Jonah tersely replied, “Because they were here first, and they are not the alien. We are”.

India sensed her tenacious questioning was getting under Jonah’s skin, and she decided to make the final push. He was, after all, her employee at this point, and she had a right to know.

“And now you are AWOL, aren’t you ?”, she asked.

Jonah hung his head and looked down at the floor of the cockpit.

“As a solder, my job was to obey orders. Which I did. And my role was a covert-ops infiltrator and sniper. I was based out of Fort Vengeance.” (This is the name of the Military Colony).

“They asked me to get info on a local tribe, which I did. I thought it was just passive info. Know the lie of the land so to speak. Numbers, threats, etc. Usual military stuff. 2 days later, they commenced a highly mechanised ground attack of the settlement. 80% of the population were killed. I was deployed in the second wave after the massacre. Men, women and children were being buried in vast pits.”

Jonah fell silent for a moment, as India watched his face for his expression.

Jonah’s face hardened in sorrow and anger and he continued, “And I blame myself for providing the tactical information. I realised then that I do have a choice to ignore an immoral order. Just following orders is no defence. So I upped and left. I blew my life savings on getting new ID, and some equipment to get me started over again.”

India mulled over the disclosure.

Jonah then said, somewhat half joking, but also somewhat half serious, “And now that I’ve told you, if you tell anyone else, I will have to kill you”.

The air in the cockpit of the shuttle was thick with menace.

India broke the atmosphere and said, “I’m going to make a coffee.”

Jonah’s mood brightened, and he said, “In this old bird ? You have a coffee machine ? Are you for real ? I checked out your workshop when I boarded and it’s a bit, you know, spartan. Back on Vania, our vessels are super luxury and..”

India cut him off, somewhat annoyed (but also pleased the menacing air had passed) and said, “Well that’s coffee for one then.”

GM Perspective : Again, no rolls. The flow of characterisation felt right, light banter, secrets revealed, darker threats said in half-jest, a little bonding between strangers. It felt time to test that acquaintanceship.

India said that she was going to perform a scan of the area, as they flew over mountains on the edge of the Baruthian lands.

She rolled really poorly on an Assessment + Expertise. 6 or less.

I gave her a fact that she probably didn’t wish was true, just as all the cockpit warning symbols started going crazy. Incoming threat detected, travelling at high speed towards her shuttle. Missile impact imminent.

My wife was confused…what on earth was a missile launch doing out here, in the wilderness, with the only people around a tribe of steam tech pacifists ? No time to ponder…Action Stations !

I told her that impact was immediate. “What are you going to do ?” I asked her.

She said, “I’m going to hard burn the engines on the shuttle to put out a mass of heat, just as I dip in to a canyon in the mountain range at high speed and perform a hard turn around a peak at the end”.

Face Adversity seemed a good choice for this manoeuvre, and Mettle seemed the best Stat, as it deals with precision and agility. I explained that if she failed, this bird was going down, in pieces, much like the occupants.

She rolled a 9 with her Stat. Almost but not quite. A hit was inevitable, but things were in the hands of lady luck and gravity now.

Jonah decided to help just at that moment. He used Get Involved + Physique, to jump out of his seat and throw his weight behind India’s grasp of the pilot’s joystick and ram it down harder to jink the bird a bit harder around that peak.

He rolled an 8, turning a Partial Success in to a Full Success for India, but he suffered a complication in doing so. I ruled that the complication would be Minor damage from bumps and grazes on the control panel whilst the shuttle was twisting and turning.

As the rules say, he gets a Brace for Impact to try and downgrade the damage. He failed on a 6, incurring a bit more than a minor graze. I elected to give him a minor debility as well.

He badly twisted his right ankle as he leapt over, and to add insult to injury he face-planted his head right across her lap.

So, the shuttle is spiralling in to doom down a canyon. With a missile strike imminent. On board sirens are going off. The tension is at breaking point. The pilot is desperately fighting to push extra effort from the flyer, and her newly acquired employee is face-planted in her lap. It was a darkly comi-tragic moment.

But India pulled it off with her roll and thanks to Jonah’s help and got the bird around the peak, as the heat-seeking missile slammed in to the rock and exploded.

India levelled out the flyer and she wanted to do another scan, and she rolled Assessment + Expertise, getting an 11.

As she is an Explorer with the Reconnaissance Skill, it says :

“When you make an Assessment of any aspect of a wilderness (animals, plants, weather, terrain, hazards, etc) you gain 3 Data Points about that subject on a 10+, and 1 Data Point about that subject on a 7-9.”

She rolled 11, so that’s 3 DP’s.

GM Perspective: Here is where our first challenge with Data Points arose in the game.

P19 under Assessment, in the table, says that on a 10, “you” gain significant information. As a GM, my thought was, who gives this information to the player ? Me ? Or do they make it up themselves based on the context ? Are we giving players agency/narration here ?

We thought on it, and whilst giving players agency/narration seemed appropriate for the style and feel of the game, it says in the text on P19, 3rd paragraph, “Even if the GM had to invent it on the spot…”

But a 7-9 on the roll says, “The GM will reveal facts or they may ask you to do the same”

I think because the singular you (inferring the player) was used on 10+, and on the other categories 7-9 and 6- the specific “GM” was used, and in the main body text it says “GM”, we struggled with who should be the actual information giver. This was to be a reoccurring theme later in further scans.

I decided to let her choose the 3 data points she wanted to know about.

She chose a tactical scan of the area, identifying the threat which had attacked her shuttle, a geological scan of the area, and Flora/Fauna.

I elaborated on the immediate threat and explained her scanners picked up a military, class 3 anti-grav tank and a few smaller vehicles. As I was explaining the geological area, I interrupted myself with some urgency and said to India that “Your systems are going crazy. Warning ! Missile Lock. Incoming threat!”

With no time to lose, I asked her, “What do you do ?”

She looked to Jonah, who said to her, “Class 3 Military Tank ? That’s hard core. And Fort Vengeance is over 1000 clicks from here. They don’t come out this way, and it can’t be the Baruthians, because they are pacifists…what is going on ? By the way….get this rust bucket down on the ground NOW”

She complied and did a Face Adversity + Mettle, as she wanted to land with calm coolness.

She made the roll and I asked her to elaborate how she did this cold, calm landing.

She replied, “I power dive the shuttle down a couple of thousand metres in seconds, at extremely high G. Just as I dip below ground level in to a deep canyon, that Geo scan I ran had detected a waterfall with a large cave behind it, so I slam the shuttle straight through the waterfall in to the cave and land within an inch of the rear wall.”

Jonah, with sweat dripping off his brow said, “Not bad for a civvy pilot in a heap of metal like this one.”

India tutted to herself, and pouted with style.

GM perspective : Another great moment of high drama, danger, decisions and very real consequences. Any rolls made were beautifully supportive of the narrative flow of the game. This first exploration of Uncharted Worlds was growing on us already.

India requested to do another Assessment to get the lie of the land and if they were still in trouble.

Jonah, using his military experience, said that several thousand tons of rock around the vessel would block a scan, but also shield them from being scanned. He said you can try scanning if you want to, but if the signal does get out of the cave and picked up by the enemy, they most certainly will be able to know we are still alive and come hunting for us. Better to stay quiet.

Jonah suggested that his skills and experience come to the fore now. As an infiltration specialist, this was his territory, and it was time to take to the mountain on foot.

He moaned about his sprained ankle, as he had suffer Minor damage and a minor debility.

We hit the book for how to heal and he rolled Patch Up + Expertise. He got a 7, which meant he had to choose what to treat, the minor damage or the sprain debility.

He chose to deal with the minor damage, and then strapped up his ankle to support his weight. He said that he’d have to live with the pain, and India confided to me the GM that she’d have to put up with Jonah’s whingeing.

Jonah and India got to the other side of the waterfall, and Jonah got out his infiltration kit, and camo painted himself and India with urban greys and whites on the face and arms, and he pulled out two urban camo nets, and wrapped himself in one, and India in the other, much like pashmina’s / shawls.

“Welcome to my world”, said Jonah, as the vastly more experienced infiltration expert shuffled off like Quasimodo with a limp across the rocky terrain, ouching as he did so. Another darkly comic moment.

After a few clicks of travel across the rocky, rugged terrain, moving slowly due to Jonah’s sprain, and a roll to cross a few tricky slopes and chasms using Face Adversity+Physique, they managed to arrive on a ridge that overlooked the scree slope that led 4000 metres down to a wide path, where the tank and 3 vehicles sat.

Cover was taken and India scanned the area with her binocs. Jonah snorted contemptuously and pulled out and assembled his class 3 sniper rifle from his kit bag, telling India that “Back on Vania, we have proper optics technology..check out my scope of X50 compared to your x10”.

India saw the tank all right.

It was definitely military. Main cannon on the front. SAM launchers on the sides. Heavy SMG on the turret. A few other things she had no idea what they were. But the markings were odd. Military, but something was not right. And there were 3 pickup trucks near the tank as well, all with non-uniformed people in the back of each one. 3 armed people per truck, plus 1 driver. There was also a person poking out the tank top. Their clothes did not look like official army issue.

She relayed this to Jonah who checked it himself too.

He said that the tank was a model last used 10 years ago at Fort Vengeance, and was decommissioned during his service and replaced with a newer model.

India asked how it came to be here.

Jonah replied, “Old stock. Corrupt quartermasters. Black market ? Who knows ? It’s clearly no longer in active official military service, but in the hands of civvies. Possibly mercenaries. But that is a 20 million credit tank. Very few mercs have that sort of cash. The Class 4’s on Vania are much better however..”

I then turned to my wife and said, “India, you’re an explorer and know of trade and people. Who do you think might be able to afford this ?” and she replied “A very wealthy, determined and independent of the guild, merchant.”

I asked her what they were doing here and she replied, “This is Baruthian land. These must be a stronger force of the ones who swung by a few days ago and upset K’Tiss’s people at their burial site. Now they are back in force, and it looks like they mean serious business”.

GM Perspective: I really enjoyed giving the player agency to shape this. She could have said “It’s some mad Big Game Hunter who wants to capture the Dino-Rex-A-Saur in this area and needs a tank to do it” and I’d have run with it. (Quite why a Big Game Hunter may have shot 2 SAMS at a civilian craft is another matter and story entirely !).

As it was, her answer was good and fitted the context. The player was shaping the story for me.

So we had a choice. How do we engage such a dangerous and hostile force ? With a sniper with a gammy ankle, and an explorer with a laser rifle ? We could start shooting, but after a few shots, that tank would redecorate our ridge and plaster us across the landscape.

India asked to do a scan and she rolls Assessment + Expertise. She only gets a 9 and therefore 1 data point. Jonah says he will assist and he rolls Get Involved + Expertise, but fails with a 9. This means he gives her the upgrade from partial success to full success (making it 3 data points now), but he incurs a cost/complication/hard choice.

I elect that he loses his footing and goes tumbling 40m down the scree slope. Fortunately a boulder stops him going any further.

I do give myself a hard choice of which part of my body makes a crunching noise as the boulder arrests my fall, and that I will suffer a Severe injury depending on my next move, which is Brace for Impact. I roll the Move + Armour and get 10 and therefore downgrade the injury to Major. The sickening crunch is the sound of my right ankle taking the brunt of the impact on the boulder. It’s broken. And it had to be that ankle as well, the one already injured with a debility.

Because it was just a sprain and debility, I don’t roll up the break damage on top of it to make it bounce up again to Severe. I just apply the Break Bone description from Major Injury. I think that was right ?

Luckily, Jonah is not falling now, and he has a big boulder to brace and hide behind.

I focus back on India who has now made her roll and got 3 Data Points.

I again let her choose her subjects, uncertain of whether I could use it to add narrative threats or if she “had the ball” on this one and it’s all her choice. As discussed earlier, the system felt a bit contradictory in this area. But we are new !

I give her free reign to describe the Data Points. (2 days later after the game, the uncertainty is still bugging me big time ! )

India said she had discovered the following :

1. A vein of Etherium running near to the top of this ridge we were on.

2. A terrain map of the area.

3. The composition of Ethidium itself.

She knew beforehand that Etherium was highly combustible under the right circumstances. I had a feeling where this was going…

I said that it’s not naturally combustible. It needs a specialised force to activate it. Hitting it with a hammer won’t work nor will shooting it. It’s a fuel additive and needs to go in a specialised pressure chamber and then with the addition of 2 parts Hydrogen, 1 part Nitrogen, it will combust violently.

[I can imagine an old Traveller group of mine having major science fits here]

India came up with a plan. In her wilderness kit, she said would a can of pressurised insect repellent seem likely? I agreed, it would.

She said “would the gases ignite if the right ignition was used ?” I said “of course”.

So, she elects to climb up to the ridge, and insert the canister in to the soft, clay like Etherium. She ties a hankie to it, and tells Jonah to shoot it, once she gets clear.

She comes back down the slope to where Jonah is, and helps move him to the side, away from any immediate avalanche directly above. We both just about make Face Adversity + Physique checks.

I take aim with my sniper rifle using Face Adversity + Mettle, and get a 7.

I meet the challenge, but at a cost. (The enemy cannot hear me, my rifle is silenced, and we are 4000m away in camouflage).

The cost is…a glancing blow to the canister….it doesn’t explode…it hisses from a fracture.

India makes a comment about my Class 3 Vanian Rifle not being up to the task, I complain about being somewhat under duress and in severe pain, and fire again.

Another 7. Another glancing blow. And by now the canister is empty of gas. We failed.

At this point, we check out the enemy. They are making camp as it’s getting dark. This means they will be setting watches, getting out scanning equipment, and possibly sending a patrol out. We don’t have a lot of time.

India asks me if her wilderness survival kit has flares in it ? Seems reasonable to me as well. I explain that shooting them is not going to work, these have to be struck, which chemically activates them.

That means…hand placement.

Suddenly things got even more dangerous.

She places one in the clay. She gets ready with another to light it.

I ask for Face Adversity and Mettle, as she needs to be calm, quick and very agile to dive out of the way.

I explain that if she fails this, she is illuminated like a mini sun on the ridge, and a very high explosive tank round will come her way in moments….I mention Critical to Fatal wounds being likely consequences.

She rolls the highest possible she could get 14. What a roll ! It’s late and we are finishing up the game, but it looks like we are wrapping up in style !

She describes the first flare going off, then she jams it next to the other, and then she jumps nimbly to the side of the overhang away from the blast.

The rock catches, like a fork of lightning, and a ¼ mile of the ridge erupts in a sudden explosion throwing itself down the mountain.

She leaps aside and being the character she is, whips her phone out and takes an action selfie of her smiling in a mid air leap with the ridge exploding behind her. Photo of the year, I tell her. Worth syndicating.

I estimated 245,000 tons of rock land on the camp below.

I generously give the enemy 10 seconds to break camp, get in their vehicles and drive out of there, but alas, time and mountain waits for no man or woman.

As India watches the rocks and dust settle, she notices that where the ridge was remodelled, another vein of Etherium was uncovered, much further down the mountain and away from the initial vein which detonated.

We decide not to investigate the enemy.

We can’t..they are buried under tons of rock and most definitely dead.

We cannot move that amount of rock. And besides, a flattened tank pancake is of no use to anyone. (Although maybe the Baruthians could fashion some sort of Giant Peace Mobile sculpture and hang it in a tree, to blow in the wind. Oh the irony…).

Plus my ankle is broken.

I manage a Patch Up + Expertise and get a 7.

A 7 says you can do a number of things, including Treat a Major Injury.

But it is not implicitly clear if that means the Major Break is healed instantly and removed from the char sheet, or if the healing time is shorted ? I’d like to know where I going wrong with this.

I ruled that more strapping goes on, some heat gel, and it’s not aching, but in a splint, and can be walked on very carefully. India helps Jonah sort of goose-step down the mountain in a comic moment.

India and Jonah head back to their shuttle, fly back to K’Tiss and her people, and tell her that a viable vein is located on their land, and it can be mined and used as collateral to secure the tribe’s future and security.

India and Jonah then head back to Motherlode, with Jonah complaining that with all the trouble they have had today, it wouldn’t surprise him if India’s shuttle just packed up mid-flight, not unlike Vanian shuttles which of course are far more superior to the old junk they were in now.

India turned to Jonah, gritted her teeth and said, “If we’re going to work together after this, beyond me hiring you as I am now, then you must never mention the “V-word” again.”

Jonah looked confused and said, “V-Word ? What V-word ? I’m an ex-military man so that word has a lot of meanings for me” (wink wink)

India leaned close and shouted “VANIA !!!!!!! VANIA THIS AND VANIA THAT ! I AM SICK OF IT !!!”

Jonah just said, “Oh.”

And they flew home, at least to their base for now.

Will the arrogant merc, with a big mouth but a rediscovered moral compass not manage to upset India on their adventures together ? Unlikely.

Will the thrill-seeking, wise-cracking and just a little bit crazy India imperil herself, her vessel and Jonah in more aerial displays of desperation further down the line ? Of course…

And will a powerful, unknown at this time, independent merchant start to make enquiries in to who is responsible for his recent value depreciation of certain assets ? Those wheels are already turning…

In all, Uncharted Worlds and our playtest of the system went smoothly, with just a few moments when we needed to check out Data points and healing. We’re still not sure we handled them properly.

But the game system delivered on high drama and player agency and the mechanics actively supported these moments or gave impetus for them.

Player engagement was high. GM interest was constantly being spurred to think of consequences for when player rolls did not turn out the way they were supposed to.

Above all, it felt like we both shaped and shared a story together and the final assessment is that IT WAS FUN and we want to do it again.

Next week, we’re going to run UW with 4 players, a new concept (Space Station ala Babylon 5), and see where it takes us. The players designed 4 factions in about 40 mins tonight. As GM, I’ll be throwing in a 5th (4-5 is recommended in a campaign of that size).

Thank you for reading.