tim_manley
SOC-12
After Action Report
Teenagers exposed to Classic Traveller for the first time
I used Book 1, 2 and 3 – straight rules, no house rules.
For all of them, this is the first sci-fi RPG they have played.
The setting/scenario:
It was a “one-shot” designed to be played in one sitting.
I took inspiration from Traveller - DA 03 - Death Station though I didn’t run that. It was really an “Alien” encounter (per the Alien movie franchise).
I used a space station (this one here).
The concept:
Players end up on a planet "out in the middle of nowhere" and are hired to investigate why a space station has gone dark. Turns out the station has Xenomorphs on it and the player will either die or fight their way out.
The critters:
The station has Xenomorphs on it, total of 4, in variant stages of evolution. The stats are below:
Scientist #1 EFD488 no armor, teeth attack 3D
Scientist #2 DAA7B9 Mesh armor, teeth attack 3D
Engineer FGC667 Cloth armor, stinger attack 4D
Navigator GGG768 combat armor, thresher attack 6D
The Players:
my 16 year old son
his 16 year old GF
two of their friends, both 16 years old.
How the play went:
First we rolled up characters.
I had them roll 2D for each ability in turn. Then they each rolled an extra 2D and could replace any ability roll with that roll. This actually saved one player from having two abilities with a 2 (instead he only had a single ability).
My son decided he wanted to be a Marine, failed enlisted, and was drafted into the Scouts. After his scout term he tried again to enlist in the Marines and was successful. After a term in the Marines he decided to enlist in the Merchants and was again successful.
His GF rolled a Merchant, failed enlistment and was drafted into scouts, but failed survival. They were all surprised your character could die during character generation. She rolled up a new character and spent 3 terms in the Merchants and made First Officer.
Friend #1 tried to enlist in the Marines, failed, but was drafted into the Marines anyway. He spent two terms in the marines and then one term in the Scouts.
Friend #2 tried to enlist in scouts, was drafted into Marines, spent 1 term and then tried again to enlist in the scouts and ended up surviving 2 terms in the scouts.
All of them ended after 3 terms, they were all afraid of turning 34 and having to roll or lose ability scores.
They mustered out, Friend #2 rolled a Scout Ship as a benefit. Then they all started spending their Credits on weapons and gear. It old them that this represented what they’ve collected and save during their careers.
Once character generation was finished game play began.
The players ended up on a remote planet after being hired to deliver a locked box. The guy came to pick up the box and pay them and customs agents showed up and took the box and the guy away. The players then went into the E class starport and drowned their lost money.
A business man approached them, pays for the dinner and drinks for the night and says he has a business opportunity. He gives them a business card and says if they're interested come see him, but enjoy the night on him.
They decided to go see him. They find out he’s a member of a corp but needs a trouble shooter team that's outside the corporation. He wants them to investigate a research station that in system but has lost contact. He gives them a memory card and wants them to plug it into the stations computer and then investigate what's happened. He offers to pay them Cr10,000 each for the job. They’re thinking this is “illegal” until I describe to them that “trouble shooter” is like a private investigator. They’re all like “ah, okay”. They take the job. As up front pay the guy fills their ship with fuel.
They see the station is dark and the dock at the open docking bay. They enter and begin checking things out.
My son has an auto rifle (skilled) and a cutlass, Friend #1 has a submachine gun (not skilled), friend #2 has a revolver and a cutlass. GF has an auto pistol and a foil. Friend #1 & GF bought combat armor, my son and friend #2 bought Cloth & Reflec.
They open the door and enter the first hallway. I describe it more like Event Horizon and Alien and Dead Space as much as I can. I try really hard to set the scene with my description. When they open the door they run across a net with dismembered body parts tied to it and this freaks them out.
They enter the hallway. The station has no power and is on emergency power with emergency lights. There is debris piled up against the door that exits this hallway. They try the iris doors but there isn’t power to operate them and they don’t have the tool to do it manually. So Friend #1 goes to move the debris out of the way and open the door.
Scientist #1 was hiding in the debris and attacks him. But he’s wearing combat armor so there is no damage done. I make sure all information is open so the kids can see how you figure your modifiers for combat. My son can’t shoot since I tell him autofire rules means he’ll apply his hit roll to everyone that’s adjacent. Friend #2 runs up and hits Scientist #1 with his cutlass, friend #1 tries to shoot with his submachine gun but misses and bounces the rounds off the heavy door. GF runs up and sticks the xenomorph with her foil.
Next round the xenomorph bites Friend #2 and takes him to 0 strength and he falls unconscious. This is surprising to all of them at how fast someone can drop. My son runs up and the three of them pound on the xenomoprh until it falls unconscious then they kill it once it’s down.
They’re freaked out and retreat back to the ship and learned about how to treat wounded characters. Once they’re ready they move back in. My son had actually bought a halberd (go figure) and his GF carried that instead of her foil.
They opened the door into the 2nd hallway. I described that the emergency lights flashed and created a strobe like effect. There was blood pooled on the deck. They walked in very carefully and then noticed bodies hanging from the ceilings with their chests blown out. This freaked them about and they actually debated leaving the station and saying to hell with it. One of them bought a “hand computer” and I treated it like a modern slate. So they took pictures of everything.
But they persevered and even though freaked out made their way into the Command Module. They turn the power back on and unlock all the doors and start doing their job. They discover a file as the data is downloading and see a file with a note that says “found something valuable”. They also see grease pencil righting with an access code and coordinates. So they take a picture of that as well.
They hear a scream and the sound of tearing metal and get freaked out and want to hurry. But two of them read the file while the other two open the weapon’s locker. In the weapon’s locker they find x2 Laser Rifles, x2 Laser Carbines, x2 shotguns, x4 body pistols. They take them all and Friend #1 and #2 arm themselves with the laser rifles.
They go through the files and realize that there is a research ship out there somewhere, and they “found something” on the airless world below that looks like ruins. They go through pictures and see one that looks like a garden full of giant Faberge Eggs. The pictures show folks in spacesuits take these Faberge Eggs and loading them onto the pinnance to bring back to the station.
Everyone wants to go find them as they think they’ll sell for a hell of a lot of money. But the sound of tearing metal makes them remember they’re scared and they start to leave. They’re saying they want to try and blow up the station, but they have to make it to the power room.
Then the door to the command module is being ripped open and I describe a “wet, glistening metallic like head with crystal white teeth. They shoot at it and Friend #2 rolls boxcars and rolls a pretty good damage and takes it down to 0 on one stat. This didn’t take the xenomorphs to unconscious but it did make it rethink its current course of action.
Their plan is to go to the power room and set the reactor to overload. They open the door to the hallway and see a flash of movement so my son opens fire with is autorifle and fills the room with lead. They move in quickly and start working on the last door. Another Xenomorph rushes out to them. Both laser rifle’s fire. Friend #1 misses, friend #2 hits and rolls pretty damned good. My son opens up and hits pretty good a well and they drop that one. So I tell them “you now here a hissing sound”. They all go “ah shit”. They’re in full freak out and escape mode. They have given up any idea to blow the station and just want to make it back to their ship. So they in full paranoia work their way back, enter their ship and then lock their door. They then check the scout ship three times inside and out before they’re sure nothing is with them and they travel at 2G back to the mainworld.
They make it back and show the guy all the data (except the science ship information as they rightly connected the grease pencil writing to that ship’s location and wanted to keep it secret).
After they get their pay, and a bonus for a “job well done” they go and explore the ship, which is empty, and then just leave the system with it and the scout ship.
The Conclusion
They loved the character generation system. They loved how combat was smooth and fast and “role playable”. They loved the setting. Once I told them that “you can even design your own starships” they said “wow, cool!”
They want me to create a campaign and start running this regularly.
Teenagers exposed to Classic Traveller for the first time
I used Book 1, 2 and 3 – straight rules, no house rules.
For all of them, this is the first sci-fi RPG they have played.
The setting/scenario:
It was a “one-shot” designed to be played in one sitting.
I took inspiration from Traveller - DA 03 - Death Station though I didn’t run that. It was really an “Alien” encounter (per the Alien movie franchise).
I used a space station (this one here).
The concept:
Players end up on a planet "out in the middle of nowhere" and are hired to investigate why a space station has gone dark. Turns out the station has Xenomorphs on it and the player will either die or fight their way out.
The critters:
The station has Xenomorphs on it, total of 4, in variant stages of evolution. The stats are below:
Scientist #1 EFD488 no armor, teeth attack 3D
Scientist #2 DAA7B9 Mesh armor, teeth attack 3D
Engineer FGC667 Cloth armor, stinger attack 4D
Navigator GGG768 combat armor, thresher attack 6D
The Players:
my 16 year old son
his 16 year old GF
two of their friends, both 16 years old.
How the play went:
First we rolled up characters.
I had them roll 2D for each ability in turn. Then they each rolled an extra 2D and could replace any ability roll with that roll. This actually saved one player from having two abilities with a 2 (instead he only had a single ability).
My son decided he wanted to be a Marine, failed enlisted, and was drafted into the Scouts. After his scout term he tried again to enlist in the Marines and was successful. After a term in the Marines he decided to enlist in the Merchants and was again successful.
His GF rolled a Merchant, failed enlistment and was drafted into scouts, but failed survival. They were all surprised your character could die during character generation. She rolled up a new character and spent 3 terms in the Merchants and made First Officer.
Friend #1 tried to enlist in the Marines, failed, but was drafted into the Marines anyway. He spent two terms in the marines and then one term in the Scouts.
Friend #2 tried to enlist in scouts, was drafted into Marines, spent 1 term and then tried again to enlist in the scouts and ended up surviving 2 terms in the scouts.
All of them ended after 3 terms, they were all afraid of turning 34 and having to roll or lose ability scores.
They mustered out, Friend #2 rolled a Scout Ship as a benefit. Then they all started spending their Credits on weapons and gear. It old them that this represented what they’ve collected and save during their careers.
Once character generation was finished game play began.
The players ended up on a remote planet after being hired to deliver a locked box. The guy came to pick up the box and pay them and customs agents showed up and took the box and the guy away. The players then went into the E class starport and drowned their lost money.
A business man approached them, pays for the dinner and drinks for the night and says he has a business opportunity. He gives them a business card and says if they're interested come see him, but enjoy the night on him.
They decided to go see him. They find out he’s a member of a corp but needs a trouble shooter team that's outside the corporation. He wants them to investigate a research station that in system but has lost contact. He gives them a memory card and wants them to plug it into the stations computer and then investigate what's happened. He offers to pay them Cr10,000 each for the job. They’re thinking this is “illegal” until I describe to them that “trouble shooter” is like a private investigator. They’re all like “ah, okay”. They take the job. As up front pay the guy fills their ship with fuel.
They see the station is dark and the dock at the open docking bay. They enter and begin checking things out.
My son has an auto rifle (skilled) and a cutlass, Friend #1 has a submachine gun (not skilled), friend #2 has a revolver and a cutlass. GF has an auto pistol and a foil. Friend #1 & GF bought combat armor, my son and friend #2 bought Cloth & Reflec.
They open the door and enter the first hallway. I describe it more like Event Horizon and Alien and Dead Space as much as I can. I try really hard to set the scene with my description. When they open the door they run across a net with dismembered body parts tied to it and this freaks them out.
They enter the hallway. The station has no power and is on emergency power with emergency lights. There is debris piled up against the door that exits this hallway. They try the iris doors but there isn’t power to operate them and they don’t have the tool to do it manually. So Friend #1 goes to move the debris out of the way and open the door.
Scientist #1 was hiding in the debris and attacks him. But he’s wearing combat armor so there is no damage done. I make sure all information is open so the kids can see how you figure your modifiers for combat. My son can’t shoot since I tell him autofire rules means he’ll apply his hit roll to everyone that’s adjacent. Friend #2 runs up and hits Scientist #1 with his cutlass, friend #1 tries to shoot with his submachine gun but misses and bounces the rounds off the heavy door. GF runs up and sticks the xenomorph with her foil.
Next round the xenomorph bites Friend #2 and takes him to 0 strength and he falls unconscious. This is surprising to all of them at how fast someone can drop. My son runs up and the three of them pound on the xenomoprh until it falls unconscious then they kill it once it’s down.
They’re freaked out and retreat back to the ship and learned about how to treat wounded characters. Once they’re ready they move back in. My son had actually bought a halberd (go figure) and his GF carried that instead of her foil.
They opened the door into the 2nd hallway. I described that the emergency lights flashed and created a strobe like effect. There was blood pooled on the deck. They walked in very carefully and then noticed bodies hanging from the ceilings with their chests blown out. This freaked them about and they actually debated leaving the station and saying to hell with it. One of them bought a “hand computer” and I treated it like a modern slate. So they took pictures of everything.
But they persevered and even though freaked out made their way into the Command Module. They turn the power back on and unlock all the doors and start doing their job. They discover a file as the data is downloading and see a file with a note that says “found something valuable”. They also see grease pencil righting with an access code and coordinates. So they take a picture of that as well.
They hear a scream and the sound of tearing metal and get freaked out and want to hurry. But two of them read the file while the other two open the weapon’s locker. In the weapon’s locker they find x2 Laser Rifles, x2 Laser Carbines, x2 shotguns, x4 body pistols. They take them all and Friend #1 and #2 arm themselves with the laser rifles.
They go through the files and realize that there is a research ship out there somewhere, and they “found something” on the airless world below that looks like ruins. They go through pictures and see one that looks like a garden full of giant Faberge Eggs. The pictures show folks in spacesuits take these Faberge Eggs and loading them onto the pinnance to bring back to the station.
Everyone wants to go find them as they think they’ll sell for a hell of a lot of money. But the sound of tearing metal makes them remember they’re scared and they start to leave. They’re saying they want to try and blow up the station, but they have to make it to the power room.
Then the door to the command module is being ripped open and I describe a “wet, glistening metallic like head with crystal white teeth. They shoot at it and Friend #2 rolls boxcars and rolls a pretty good damage and takes it down to 0 on one stat. This didn’t take the xenomorphs to unconscious but it did make it rethink its current course of action.
Their plan is to go to the power room and set the reactor to overload. They open the door to the hallway and see a flash of movement so my son opens fire with is autorifle and fills the room with lead. They move in quickly and start working on the last door. Another Xenomorph rushes out to them. Both laser rifle’s fire. Friend #1 misses, friend #2 hits and rolls pretty damned good. My son opens up and hits pretty good a well and they drop that one. So I tell them “you now here a hissing sound”. They all go “ah shit”. They’re in full freak out and escape mode. They have given up any idea to blow the station and just want to make it back to their ship. So they in full paranoia work their way back, enter their ship and then lock their door. They then check the scout ship three times inside and out before they’re sure nothing is with them and they travel at 2G back to the mainworld.
They make it back and show the guy all the data (except the science ship information as they rightly connected the grease pencil writing to that ship’s location and wanted to keep it secret).
After they get their pay, and a bonus for a “job well done” they go and explore the ship, which is empty, and then just leave the system with it and the scout ship.
The Conclusion
They loved the character generation system. They loved how combat was smooth and fast and “role playable”. They loved the setting. Once I told them that “you can even design your own starships” they said “wow, cool!”
They want me to create a campaign and start running this regularly.
