gregcaires
SOC-12
Just a quick update about the ongoing campaign for my 14 year old and his friends: (WARNING - spoilers about some CT adventures)
Last weekend I took elements from Beltstrike and Mission to Zhodane to create a custome adventure.
The had survived "One Crowded Hour" and were stuck in the Bowman belt awaiting transport out of system. They got to "sandbox" for a little while on Koenig's Rock (great map), and then it was suggested they get some short term jobs as they are building up funds necessary to put a surplus starship back into service.
They reviewed the "Utoland" Gazette and they roleplayed getting dead end jobs at a bar, a buggy repair shop and one character (my son) kept going after jobs he was completely unprepared for. They all did a great job "applying" for these jobs. One character immediately went after the Serene mining job and eventually they all decided to drop what they were doing and apply for that, with expected results.
High Passage #4 has an orbital satellite floor plan that works well as the temporary home for the abducted Belters. The boys (all experienced zero-G characters) go to learn prospecting and then attempted to plot their escape by trying to take over the resupply vessel. Wisely, they refrained from the attempt.
Back to work, they eventually located the "Rock" and against a seven-day clock before the next resupply visit they used mined ice and used "Pebble" to transfer just enough unrefined fuel to make a 1-parsec jump to the next system. They turned the ship over to IN (with the girl still in Cold Sleep) and caught the next starship outsystem, figuring a criminal report would delay them further and they want to get to their starship ASAP. I was a little disappointed they didn't consider going back and getting vengeance against Serene but they figured they odds would be against them.
In all, they had a good afternoon getting into, enduring and then getting out of trouble. Since they spent so much time "outside" I up-leveled their zero-g and vacc suit skills by 1 and gave them sensor and prospecting-0. They will have a chance to learn/improve their shipboard skills interstitially by working for crews while enroute to their own ship (we already have an ex-Scout pilot/nav, and a trained engineer).
As it was custom and we were playtesting in real time I felt I didn't do as good a job as in our previous games (Across Dark Face, Death Ship, One Crowded Hour) but I learned later that they did enjoy it and are looking forward to our next session (it will be Horde).
Amazing how a low-tech pen and paper (and imagination) game from nearly 40 years ago can still compete with the latest/greatest fast-paced intense graphics video games.
Last weekend I took elements from Beltstrike and Mission to Zhodane to create a custome adventure.
The had survived "One Crowded Hour" and were stuck in the Bowman belt awaiting transport out of system. They got to "sandbox" for a little while on Koenig's Rock (great map), and then it was suggested they get some short term jobs as they are building up funds necessary to put a surplus starship back into service.
They reviewed the "Utoland" Gazette and they roleplayed getting dead end jobs at a bar, a buggy repair shop and one character (my son) kept going after jobs he was completely unprepared for. They all did a great job "applying" for these jobs. One character immediately went after the Serene mining job and eventually they all decided to drop what they were doing and apply for that, with expected results.
High Passage #4 has an orbital satellite floor plan that works well as the temporary home for the abducted Belters. The boys (all experienced zero-G characters) go to learn prospecting and then attempted to plot their escape by trying to take over the resupply vessel. Wisely, they refrained from the attempt.
Back to work, they eventually located the "Rock" and against a seven-day clock before the next resupply visit they used mined ice and used "Pebble" to transfer just enough unrefined fuel to make a 1-parsec jump to the next system. They turned the ship over to IN (with the girl still in Cold Sleep) and caught the next starship outsystem, figuring a criminal report would delay them further and they want to get to their starship ASAP. I was a little disappointed they didn't consider going back and getting vengeance against Serene but they figured they odds would be against them.
In all, they had a good afternoon getting into, enduring and then getting out of trouble. Since they spent so much time "outside" I up-leveled their zero-g and vacc suit skills by 1 and gave them sensor and prospecting-0. They will have a chance to learn/improve their shipboard skills interstitially by working for crews while enroute to their own ship (we already have an ex-Scout pilot/nav, and a trained engineer).
As it was custom and we were playtesting in real time I felt I didn't do as good a job as in our previous games (Across Dark Face, Death Ship, One Crowded Hour) but I learned later that they did enjoy it and are looking forward to our next session (it will be Horde).
Amazing how a low-tech pen and paper (and imagination) game from nearly 40 years ago can still compete with the latest/greatest fast-paced intense graphics video games.
