Supplement Four
SOC-14 5K
Decision Eight
As the airlock cycles open, the boarding party sees two men, medkits in hand, wearing IISS uniforms.
Scott Hesh
Medic-1, Electronics-1, AutoPistol-0, Laser Carbine-0
Morale: 5
Jim Richards
AA5CB8
Engineering-1, AutoPistol-0, Laser Carbine-0
Morale: 1
At this point, I'm going into combat rounds.
(Remember, I'm not using Snapshot or AHL tactical combat. I'm using THESE Traveller personal combat rules.
All four of the boarding party individuals have crammed themselves into the small airlock.
Just outside the airlock, waiting as the hatch cycles, are the two Scouts.
I'll roll for initiative:
Wain: 5
Rouse: 19
Plunt: 7
Edwards: 4
Hesh: 16
Richards: 17
The initiative rolls also tells us which characters are in the "front" of the airlock. Wain and Edwards will be the first ones out of the airlock. Behind them stands Rouse and Plunt.
We run this in initiative order. As fate would have it (because I'm rolling real dice doing this), Edwards moves first.
Drake Edwards. The Wildcard.
To be honest, I don't know how to play this guy. I haven't read ahead in the adventure, and I don't even know if this dude is a real scout.
At this point, because they were standing there with medkits, ready to help, I DO BELIEVE that the crew of the PURCELL are real scouts.
I don't think they're pirates.
I'm less certain, but I think Edwards is a scout too--I just think there's something going on between him and the crew of the PURCELL.
I don't think Edwards is a pirate. If he is, he's the dumbest pirate I've ever seen, begging to be taken to a ship full of enemies.
Yep. I believe they're all scouts. And, I don't think Edwards is on the up-n-up.
Now, if a real GM were reffing this, he'd know how to play Edwards. He'd know his motivations. Because I haven't read ahead, I don't know the real story.
And, I don't know how to play Edwards.
I've really go no clue.
He's got the initiative here. Does he shoot at the other Scouts? Or, does he try to get them at gun point?
I'm just taking a wild guess. It's all I can do without more information from the adventure. Maybe Edwards wasn't supposed to come aboard the PURCELL. If so, that should have been stated somewhere. I didn't read anything like that.
What I'm going to do is, since I'm so much in the dark about this guy, is let the dice decide.
I'm going to roll on the Reaction Chart. No DMs. Just a straight roll. This will give me an indication of how Edwards feels towards the other scouts, and how he will react.
Here we go. I roll a 7. Great. Right in the middle. "Non-Committal" result. That doesn't tell me anything.
OK, I've got to make a decision here. Given the reaction throw, I'm going to play Edwards as if he doesn't know what he wants to do himself. I'm going to make him hesitate.
Under my COMBAT RULES, one of the initiative options is to Hold your action, allowing you to move later in the round. This adds +20 to your initiative throw.
This changes Edwards initiative to: 24.
If that holds up, he'll go dead last in the round.
Let's see what the others do.
Wain
Wain's the GRENDEL's enginner. He's cool under fire, too. He received a knighthood due to his actions in the Navy.
He's smart, too. INT-13.
Plus, he heard the captain's warning before coming over to the PURCELL.
Wain sees the two scouts, medkits in hand, and his periphial vision notes that Edwards is hesitating.
Wain lowers his AutoRifle, and as he does so, he shifts it so that the barrel rests atop Edwards' pointed laser carbine. As Wain lowers his weapon, Edwards' carbine is forced down too.
In a normally role playing game, I'd go into a role play encounter here. But, the adventure book doesn't give me that option. I can do one of two things: Wain can call for the Scouts' surrender. Or, he can surrender himself.
It's a bit too risky for Wain to surrender himself. I mean, he's a smart cookie, and he knows he may not be 100% certain about the situation.
No, I think Wain, given my character tags I've given him earlier, and his stats, would call for their surrender.
That's what Wain does.
It's the younger one, Hesh, that speaks up. "We'll never surrender to pirate scum like you."
Wain notices that the young scout is doing all he can to keep his grip on the medkit he holds loosely in front of him. Hesh rather be holding the sidearm at his waist.
"We're not pirates," replies Wain. "We've come to help."
"If you're not pirates," says the other scout, Richards, "then surrender yourself and tell it to the judge."
It's a mexican standoff. Technicaly, Plunt is in command. But, Plunt is also new. Nobody really knows him yet. The person in real command here is Wain. But, it's not like there's a real command structure, besides the captain, on a tramp freighter anyway--no matter how much Wain would like there to be.
The engineer looks over his shoulder. He can see Plunt staring at him. Wain notices the new guy has lowered his weapon too.
"We surrender," Wain says. He drops his autorifle on the deck by his feet.
"WHAT!" It's Edwards. But, Plunt has raised his carbine so that it sticks into Edwards' back, saying, "That's right. We ALL surrender."
It's a tense moment, but Plunt has Edwards where he could murder him with just slight pressure on the trigger. Edwards shrugs off the laser carbine powerpack, laying it by the straps, at his feet.
The two scouts, Hesh and Richards, drop the medkits in their hands and pull thier side arms.
All in the airlock step over their weapons and raise their hands--all exectpt Plunt. He keeps his carbine pointed at Edwards until the scouts have him covered. Without saying anything, they look at him, wondering where he will point the carbine next.
Plunt gently lays it on the ground. Then, he allows the scouts to tie his hands behind his back.
All four boarding party members secured, the scouts of the PURCELL lead them to the ship's low berth cabin. Hours later, Wain, Plunt, Rouse, and Edwards are thoughtless, dreamless, swimming in the void of low berth sleep.
Aboard the GRENDEL, hours pass, and he hears no word.
Then, the skipper of the PURCELL hails him. "We've captured your boarding party. We've got our weapons trained on you, but I don't think you're pirates. Turn yourself in, and we'll get to the bottom of this.
Captain Longe keeps both gunners in their turrets as he man's the bridge, but he does not give the combat command. Instead, he waits for ships from the planet.
A day later, they arrive. And, the GRENDEL is escorted to the world of Dhian.
(To Be Continued)
As the airlock cycles open, the boarding party sees two men, medkits in hand, wearing IISS uniforms.
Scott Hesh
Medic-1, Electronics-1, AutoPistol-0, Laser Carbine-0
Morale: 5
Jim Richards
AA5CB8
Engineering-1, AutoPistol-0, Laser Carbine-0
Morale: 1
At this point, I'm going into combat rounds.
(Remember, I'm not using Snapshot or AHL tactical combat. I'm using THESE Traveller personal combat rules.
All four of the boarding party individuals have crammed themselves into the small airlock.
Just outside the airlock, waiting as the hatch cycles, are the two Scouts.
I'll roll for initiative:
Wain: 5
Rouse: 19
Plunt: 7
Edwards: 4
Hesh: 16
Richards: 17
The initiative rolls also tells us which characters are in the "front" of the airlock. Wain and Edwards will be the first ones out of the airlock. Behind them stands Rouse and Plunt.
We run this in initiative order. As fate would have it (because I'm rolling real dice doing this), Edwards moves first.
Drake Edwards. The Wildcard.
To be honest, I don't know how to play this guy. I haven't read ahead in the adventure, and I don't even know if this dude is a real scout.
At this point, because they were standing there with medkits, ready to help, I DO BELIEVE that the crew of the PURCELL are real scouts.
I don't think they're pirates.
I'm less certain, but I think Edwards is a scout too--I just think there's something going on between him and the crew of the PURCELL.
I don't think Edwards is a pirate. If he is, he's the dumbest pirate I've ever seen, begging to be taken to a ship full of enemies.
Yep. I believe they're all scouts. And, I don't think Edwards is on the up-n-up.
Now, if a real GM were reffing this, he'd know how to play Edwards. He'd know his motivations. Because I haven't read ahead, I don't know the real story.
And, I don't know how to play Edwards.
I've really go no clue.
He's got the initiative here. Does he shoot at the other Scouts? Or, does he try to get them at gun point?
I'm just taking a wild guess. It's all I can do without more information from the adventure. Maybe Edwards wasn't supposed to come aboard the PURCELL. If so, that should have been stated somewhere. I didn't read anything like that.
What I'm going to do is, since I'm so much in the dark about this guy, is let the dice decide.
I'm going to roll on the Reaction Chart. No DMs. Just a straight roll. This will give me an indication of how Edwards feels towards the other scouts, and how he will react.
Here we go. I roll a 7. Great. Right in the middle. "Non-Committal" result. That doesn't tell me anything.
OK, I've got to make a decision here. Given the reaction throw, I'm going to play Edwards as if he doesn't know what he wants to do himself. I'm going to make him hesitate.
Under my COMBAT RULES, one of the initiative options is to Hold your action, allowing you to move later in the round. This adds +20 to your initiative throw.
This changes Edwards initiative to: 24.
If that holds up, he'll go dead last in the round.
Let's see what the others do.
Wain
Wain's the GRENDEL's enginner. He's cool under fire, too. He received a knighthood due to his actions in the Navy.
He's smart, too. INT-13.
Plus, he heard the captain's warning before coming over to the PURCELL.
Wain sees the two scouts, medkits in hand, and his periphial vision notes that Edwards is hesitating.
Wain lowers his AutoRifle, and as he does so, he shifts it so that the barrel rests atop Edwards' pointed laser carbine. As Wain lowers his weapon, Edwards' carbine is forced down too.
In a normally role playing game, I'd go into a role play encounter here. But, the adventure book doesn't give me that option. I can do one of two things: Wain can call for the Scouts' surrender. Or, he can surrender himself.
It's a bit too risky for Wain to surrender himself. I mean, he's a smart cookie, and he knows he may not be 100% certain about the situation.
No, I think Wain, given my character tags I've given him earlier, and his stats, would call for their surrender.
That's what Wain does.
It's the younger one, Hesh, that speaks up. "We'll never surrender to pirate scum like you."
Wain notices that the young scout is doing all he can to keep his grip on the medkit he holds loosely in front of him. Hesh rather be holding the sidearm at his waist.
"We're not pirates," replies Wain. "We've come to help."
"If you're not pirates," says the other scout, Richards, "then surrender yourself and tell it to the judge."
It's a mexican standoff. Technicaly, Plunt is in command. But, Plunt is also new. Nobody really knows him yet. The person in real command here is Wain. But, it's not like there's a real command structure, besides the captain, on a tramp freighter anyway--no matter how much Wain would like there to be.
The engineer looks over his shoulder. He can see Plunt staring at him. Wain notices the new guy has lowered his weapon too.
"We surrender," Wain says. He drops his autorifle on the deck by his feet.
"WHAT!" It's Edwards. But, Plunt has raised his carbine so that it sticks into Edwards' back, saying, "That's right. We ALL surrender."
It's a tense moment, but Plunt has Edwards where he could murder him with just slight pressure on the trigger. Edwards shrugs off the laser carbine powerpack, laying it by the straps, at his feet.
The two scouts, Hesh and Richards, drop the medkits in their hands and pull thier side arms.
All in the airlock step over their weapons and raise their hands--all exectpt Plunt. He keeps his carbine pointed at Edwards until the scouts have him covered. Without saying anything, they look at him, wondering where he will point the carbine next.
Plunt gently lays it on the ground. Then, he allows the scouts to tie his hands behind his back.
All four boarding party members secured, the scouts of the PURCELL lead them to the ship's low berth cabin. Hours later, Wain, Plunt, Rouse, and Edwards are thoughtless, dreamless, swimming in the void of low berth sleep.
Aboard the GRENDEL, hours pass, and he hears no word.
Then, the skipper of the PURCELL hails him. "We've captured your boarding party. We've got our weapons trained on you, but I don't think you're pirates. Turn yourself in, and we'll get to the bottom of this.
Captain Longe keeps both gunners in their turrets as he man's the bridge, but he does not give the combat command. Instead, he waits for ships from the planet.
A day later, they arrive. And, the GRENDEL is escorted to the world of Dhian.
(To Be Continued)
