Start: 055 -3201
This
is an account of a Traveller Game I’m running for Ben, Chloe, Harry and Matt.
The first session was taken up with character generation, which produced some
interesting results. I’m using MGT mainly, with bits of CT and MT thrown in,
plus some home-grown stuff. The setting is the Outworlds Sector.
Jim (Ben) Infantry /
Navy C43488 Age 30 Homeworld: Corinth
Olivia (Chloe) Enforcer/Entertainer 7BB566 Age:
32 Homeworld: Syros
“Space” Hopper (Harry) Agent/Navy 255977 Age 34 Homeworld:
Corinth
Sir John Snow (Matt) Diplomat/Law Enforcer 65298E
Age: 50 Homeworld: Naxos
Immediately there is an interesting
situation. Sir John is from Naxos, which is currently under military rule from
Corinth following a failed uprising. However, the Naxos Sodality party is being
supplied with weapons from off-world and Jim has an Ally who is a weapon
smuggler. Hmm …
Episode 1
ReplyDeleteLocation: Gateway / Gateway Station.
Date: 055 – 3201
The characters were having a drink in the “Double Helix”, tended by their old friend Ryk Storm, when a man and a woman entered. They approached Storm, who pointed out the characters.
“They should be able to help you”.
The couple approached the table. They were in their late 20’s / early 30’s. The man spoke to Sir John.
“Greetings, sir. My wife and I seek an escort to accompany us on our journey to Corinth. We are recently married and certain elements of our respective families do not approve. I will meet all passage expenses, plus a bonus on safe arrival at Corinth. Have we a deal?”
There was a brief discussion; then they agreed. Sir John observed that the man was obviously of noble bearing, but was trying to act ‘common’. The woman said very little.
“What’s your name?” asked Olivia, direct as usual.
“Err …, Mr and Mrs John Smith”, was the reply. “Please see to all travel arrangements. We wish to depart as soon as possible.” They gave the address of a nearby hotel, exchanged compad numbers, and then left.
Some enquiries via the Station computers showed that the next ship leaving for Corinth was the luxury liner “King Richard”, Jumping via Naxos. Sir John booked High Passage for the Smiths and himself, and Middle Passage for the others. Jim and Hopper did some asking around to see if they could find out anything more about the Smiths, but to no avail. It was whilst they were packing that a comms message came in.
“This is Smith. There is something wrong at the hotel. The reception desk has told us that the maintenance men have just left; they were here fixing the air conditioning after we reported a fault. We have not reported a fault.”
“Stay in the lobby by the reception desk”, replied Jim. “Me and Olivia are on the way over.”
The hotel was a short travel tube journey away, in one of the larger domes of Gateway Station. It was the Saborian Gateway, a middle-class hotel. The Smiths were waiting in reception. John Smith handed over the room key.
“Stay here. We’ll check it out and collect your luggage. You’d better come with us”
The room was on the second floor. Jim tried the key but it didn’t work. Jim used brute force to break the door open. The room was a standard hotel room, whilst Jim searched it; Olivia amused herself by looking through Mrs Smith’s belongings. She had some fairly expensive jewellery; Olivia wrestled with her conscience but finally relented and left it alone. Quickly she packed up the cases.
“Here’s something”, said Jim, peering into an air vent. “It looks like a bomb of some kind”. He activated his compad and called Sir John and Hopper. “It’s a cylinder, vents at one end and a timer on the other. Set for two hours.”
“Could be a gas bomb. Possibly Diathene. You’d better leave it alone and get back here with the Smiths. I’ll get Ryk to put us up at the “Double Helix”.
John Smith looked a little put out at having to sleep in the room at the club, but his wife nudged him and made a subtle “live with it” gesture. The characters spent some time with Ryk, reminiscing about their previous adventures, and then retired for the night
(Ref: Ryk Storm and the “Double Helix” featured in a series of Starblazer Adventure Games I ran a couple of years ago with Ben, Matt and Harry.)
The following ‘day’ (Gateway Station follows a 20 hour day/night cycle), they took a taxi to the spaceport. The taxi was a grav flyer (parts of Gateway Station, especially the larger domes and modules, are large enough to permit these vehicles). They were en-route when from out of a side tunnel pulled another flyer with a pilot and passenger. The passenger opened fire with an autopistol, spraying the taxi with burst fire. The taxi driver cried out and fell over the controls, sending the car veering towards the dome wall. Olivia dragged him off and took over flying; Sir John pulled the Smiths down onto the floor of the car, while Hopper and Jim returned fire. The taxi took more hits and began to break up; then a shot from Hopper hit a lift module on the pursuer. As the driver struggled with the controls, Jim shot and killed him, the car spun out of control and crashed. The taxi was badly damaged and Olivia guided it to a forced landing. They jumped out and pegged it into the starport.
ReplyDeleteThe departure board showed that the shuttles for the ‘King Richard’ were due to embark in 30 minutes. Whilst they were waiting, a message bot rolled up to Olivia.
[YOU ARE OLIVIA STEEL. YOU HAVE A MESSAGE. MESSAGE READS – UNCLE VREL IS DUE TO BE RELEASED FROM SHEOL.]
Olivia looked confused. “Do I have an Uncle Vrel?” “You do now”, laughed Hopper
Another message bot rolled up, this time it went to Sir John.
[YOU ARE SIR JOHN SNOW, COUNT OF NAOLA. YOU HAVE A MESSAGE. MESSAGE READS – THE DNA TEST WAS NEGATIVE.]
Heading out to the ‘King Richard’, it was a magnificent sight. A 5000 ton liner, operated by Interworlds Thruspace of Sparta. On board, they checked their weapons in with the purser and were shown to their staterooms. Olivia negotiated with the purser to have her and Hopper upgraded to High Passage, which she paid for; Jim elected to stay in Middle. The ship broke orbit and headed out to the Jump point; right on time it translated into Jump space; en-route to Naxos.
To be continued …
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Ref: This was the group’s first introduction to Traveller and they loved every minute of it. Compared to other Games we’ve tried, they like the basic simplicity of the system. Also, I’m very familiar with Traveller; it was the second RPG that I owned (I had it for my birthday in January 1978), so I didn’t have to keep looking up rules etc.