Supplement Four
SOC-14 5K
Can you tell I'm prepping for my game this week? Questions, questions, questions.
I try to look at the major possibilities when I prep, so that I'll be as ready as I can when the players throw that idea at me that I haven't even thought of.
But, I digress...on to the subject of this post: Stealth.
Traveller really doesn't have a "Stealth" skill. Yeah, I know I could make one, but I haven't. In any case, the character I'm looking at wouldn't have it anyway.
Here's the situation:
A desperate fight has just concluded aboard the PC's ship, the ADROIT PURSUIT. They've successfully fought off Vemene agents who've tried to take the ship from within.
Now, a pilot and the ship's Navigator are on the bridge. The Marquis Terran Tukera is there as well. He's keeping an eye on operations as the ship accelerates away from a Vemene vessel that is firing at them.
The ship's gunner has been knocked unconscious when the turret was hit in the fight. The PURSUIT's Captain, Dexter Bryte, pulled the incapacitated crewman from the gunner's station and dragged him across the corridor into the closest stateroom. Bryte's an MD (Medical-4), so he's tending to the gunner's wounds.
During the Vemene take-over attempt, most of the crew were shackled with magnetic binders and lined up in the cargo hold.
We ended last game (the session where the crew dispatched the four Vemene interlopers) with those crew members mentioned above in the places I just described. The rest of the crew--the ship's medic, the Marquis' bodyguard, and the ship's steward--are all still in the hold, still cuffed with the binders.
The players haven't found a way yet to open the cuffs easily, so they've taken the diamond-tooth saw from the tools in the hold and began cutting them off. This takes time, though, and those three characters haven't yet been freed.
There were four Vemene who attempted to take the ship internally. Two were out-right killed in the fighting last game session. But, the other two, were only knocked out...
You see, the players think the other two Vemene are dead. They're not. The players never checked the bodies (they haven't had time--as soon as the internal Vemene were dealt with, necessary crew members were cut out of their bonds, taking 15 minutes a pop, and rushed to their stations. The ship is still engaged with the Vemene craft that is firing on the PC's vessel.).
So, I, as a GM, know that I've got two NPCs within the PC's ship...that the PCs think are dead!
One of the Vemene (who is weak, having just come-to from being knocked out in the fight, has his physical stats now at 343) is located in the lounge directly behind the bridge.
The hatch to the bridge is not an iris valve. It's one of those older, sturdy, manual hatches with a "wheel" in the middle of it. This hatch is open.
Our Vemene (his name is "Brooks"), will awaken at the start of the next game session.
Now, Brooks knows that the Vemene stashed the crew's weapons in a pile up in the passenger lounge on the dorsal deck (the PCs haven't found this stash yet as no one has been up there since re-taking the ship). He wants to creep up there and get a weapon (Brooks' shotgun floated away during the zero-G fighting when he was hit and knocked unconscious last game session).
The problem, of course is that, from the crew's lounge, just aft of the bridge, there are only two ways up to the dorsal deck. One is to use the passenger lift, but Brooks is hesitant that using the lift will throw up a blinking light up on the bridge.
The only other way up to the passenger lounge is via the ladder and deck hatch. This deck hatch is some 3 feet from the open bridge hatch.
The pilot and navigator are sitting deep in their high-backed acceleration couches, so Brooks is not worried as much about those two. They're deep in concentration with their instruments, doing battle with the Vemene ship.
The Marquis, though, is standing, one hand on the back of each acceleration couch, bracing himself to the shocks that come when the ship is hit, and he's studying the holotank plot.
The Marquis' back is to the door, but it's less than 10 feet to the hatch and ladder just outside the bridge.
The task is this...
Brooks wants to creep up the ladder without being seen or heard, grab a weapon from the pile in the passenger lounge, then creep back down the ladder again.
This is a TL 13 vessel. As soon as Brooks looses surprise, he's done for. The ship's sensors can easily detect him, no matter where he hides. So, when the PCs realize that he's not dead, they'll isolate him and drain the compartment of O2 and gravity and all that. Brooks will be a sitting duck.
His only chance is to sneak up the ladder, get a weapon, and then attempt to take the bridge (and the three characters in the bridge).
All this, and his stats are lowered considerably due to his wound.
Since there really is no "official" Stealth rule in CT, I pulled something out of the air.
Here's what I came up with:
The Stealth roll is a 2D check for DEX or less. Brooks will make his roll once when he goes up the ladder and once when he comes back down (remember, we're talking about a wounded DEX-4, here).
If Brooks' check fails (he rolls 5+), then the Marquis gets a check to notice Brooks climbing on the ladder behind him (maybe Brooks made a noise).
The Marquis' check will be: Roll 2D for the Stealth number or less.
(So, if Brooks rolls a 7 on his Stealth roll, the Marquis has to roll 7- to notice Brooks).
On the other hand, if Brooks makes his roll, the Marquis gets the same check except that the check will automatically fail if the Marquis' roll is higher than his INT score (so, if Brooks passes his Stealth check with a roll of 4, and the Marquis ahs a INT-3, then the Marquis has to roll 3- on 2D to notice Brooks rather than the usual 4-).
Anyway, that's the roll I came up with. The INT part will make more sense for a non-wounded character (as in a Character with DEX-10 rolling 9 and passing his Stealth check, but trying to be detected by a guard with INT-5...the guard would have to roll 5- instead of 9- to notice the Stealth person).
Any thoughts on this?
How do you handle "sneaking by and being stealthy" in your games?
I'm open to ideas. I kinda like this roll I came up with, but I wanted to see what others would do in this situation.
I try to look at the major possibilities when I prep, so that I'll be as ready as I can when the players throw that idea at me that I haven't even thought of.
But, I digress...on to the subject of this post: Stealth.
Traveller really doesn't have a "Stealth" skill. Yeah, I know I could make one, but I haven't. In any case, the character I'm looking at wouldn't have it anyway.
Here's the situation:
A desperate fight has just concluded aboard the PC's ship, the ADROIT PURSUIT. They've successfully fought off Vemene agents who've tried to take the ship from within.
Now, a pilot and the ship's Navigator are on the bridge. The Marquis Terran Tukera is there as well. He's keeping an eye on operations as the ship accelerates away from a Vemene vessel that is firing at them.
The ship's gunner has been knocked unconscious when the turret was hit in the fight. The PURSUIT's Captain, Dexter Bryte, pulled the incapacitated crewman from the gunner's station and dragged him across the corridor into the closest stateroom. Bryte's an MD (Medical-4), so he's tending to the gunner's wounds.
During the Vemene take-over attempt, most of the crew were shackled with magnetic binders and lined up in the cargo hold.
We ended last game (the session where the crew dispatched the four Vemene interlopers) with those crew members mentioned above in the places I just described. The rest of the crew--the ship's medic, the Marquis' bodyguard, and the ship's steward--are all still in the hold, still cuffed with the binders.
The players haven't found a way yet to open the cuffs easily, so they've taken the diamond-tooth saw from the tools in the hold and began cutting them off. This takes time, though, and those three characters haven't yet been freed.
There were four Vemene who attempted to take the ship internally. Two were out-right killed in the fighting last game session. But, the other two, were only knocked out...
You see, the players think the other two Vemene are dead. They're not. The players never checked the bodies (they haven't had time--as soon as the internal Vemene were dealt with, necessary crew members were cut out of their bonds, taking 15 minutes a pop, and rushed to their stations. The ship is still engaged with the Vemene craft that is firing on the PC's vessel.).
So, I, as a GM, know that I've got two NPCs within the PC's ship...that the PCs think are dead!
One of the Vemene (who is weak, having just come-to from being knocked out in the fight, has his physical stats now at 343) is located in the lounge directly behind the bridge.
The hatch to the bridge is not an iris valve. It's one of those older, sturdy, manual hatches with a "wheel" in the middle of it. This hatch is open.
Our Vemene (his name is "Brooks"), will awaken at the start of the next game session.
Now, Brooks knows that the Vemene stashed the crew's weapons in a pile up in the passenger lounge on the dorsal deck (the PCs haven't found this stash yet as no one has been up there since re-taking the ship). He wants to creep up there and get a weapon (Brooks' shotgun floated away during the zero-G fighting when he was hit and knocked unconscious last game session).
The problem, of course is that, from the crew's lounge, just aft of the bridge, there are only two ways up to the dorsal deck. One is to use the passenger lift, but Brooks is hesitant that using the lift will throw up a blinking light up on the bridge.
The only other way up to the passenger lounge is via the ladder and deck hatch. This deck hatch is some 3 feet from the open bridge hatch.
The pilot and navigator are sitting deep in their high-backed acceleration couches, so Brooks is not worried as much about those two. They're deep in concentration with their instruments, doing battle with the Vemene ship.
The Marquis, though, is standing, one hand on the back of each acceleration couch, bracing himself to the shocks that come when the ship is hit, and he's studying the holotank plot.
The Marquis' back is to the door, but it's less than 10 feet to the hatch and ladder just outside the bridge.
The task is this...
Brooks wants to creep up the ladder without being seen or heard, grab a weapon from the pile in the passenger lounge, then creep back down the ladder again.
This is a TL 13 vessel. As soon as Brooks looses surprise, he's done for. The ship's sensors can easily detect him, no matter where he hides. So, when the PCs realize that he's not dead, they'll isolate him and drain the compartment of O2 and gravity and all that. Brooks will be a sitting duck.
His only chance is to sneak up the ladder, get a weapon, and then attempt to take the bridge (and the three characters in the bridge).
All this, and his stats are lowered considerably due to his wound.
Since there really is no "official" Stealth rule in CT, I pulled something out of the air.
Here's what I came up with:
The Stealth roll is a 2D check for DEX or less. Brooks will make his roll once when he goes up the ladder and once when he comes back down (remember, we're talking about a wounded DEX-4, here).
If Brooks' check fails (he rolls 5+), then the Marquis gets a check to notice Brooks climbing on the ladder behind him (maybe Brooks made a noise).
The Marquis' check will be: Roll 2D for the Stealth number or less.
(So, if Brooks rolls a 7 on his Stealth roll, the Marquis has to roll 7- to notice Brooks).
On the other hand, if Brooks makes his roll, the Marquis gets the same check except that the check will automatically fail if the Marquis' roll is higher than his INT score (so, if Brooks passes his Stealth check with a roll of 4, and the Marquis ahs a INT-3, then the Marquis has to roll 3- on 2D to notice Brooks rather than the usual 4-).
Anyway, that's the roll I came up with. The INT part will make more sense for a non-wounded character (as in a Character with DEX-10 rolling 9 and passing his Stealth check, but trying to be detected by a guard with INT-5...the guard would have to roll 5- instead of 9- to notice the Stealth person).
Any thoughts on this?
How do you handle "sneaking by and being stealthy" in your games?
I'm open to ideas. I kinda like this roll I came up with, but I wanted to see what others would do in this situation.
Stealth skill is there. And so are other skills that should not be limited to just Assassins. Disguise skill is there too. And so is Poisons & Antidotes skill. Most of these are excellent additional skills for CT, and I already house-ruled them that they must be accessible for Rogue career, SolSec career and similar CT classes too. 
