The Return of Usenko's Star Trek Adventure Game (TM)!

[Morkonan]

Well, I've had a while to work on this next episode (RL has been an issue, so last fortnight we played "Fury of Dracula" instead). ...

BORG.

... As to why it's a Borg ship . . I have tokens for Ferengi, Klingon, Romulan or Borg, and Borg has the terror factor. But why are they there?
...

Does either sound better? Or a third option?

And I need to write the ground component too.

OK...

First of all, you've done a great job so far, really! Happy players, interesting plot, new things for the players to do, mysteries being revealed, new concepts that could be useful later on, a new mythos evolving, etc.

But then, you do this...



Why not just have Satan show up? Hitler? Maybe Sauron could weigh in on the complex political issues of Federation and Romulan politics? Perhaps Darth Vader could help negotiate a new trade agreement between the Federation and the refugees in the Battlestar Galactica fleet?

(You're supposed to be laughing at this moment, not worrying about unjust sarcastic criticism that isn't based on a fond shared enthusiasm for creating and entertaining others. )

If you bring in a Borg ship, in any way, or have anything at all with the Borg, you will undermine everything you have created so far. All of it. Everything may as well be flushed down the toilet as it will become meaningless and trivial as soon as the players, with their own understanding of the Borg having been indoctrinated into them over decades and by millions of dollars of talented television and movie production, have all their experiences thus far being immediately and forcefully brought into stark relief as "survival against the Borg."

Yes, they will poop themselves. And, in so doing, will ignore every independent and interesting action they would have otherwise conceived of taking, themselves, in favor of a standard, by rote, response dictated to them by the immense of amount of conditioning they have as Star Trek fans.

This is Deus Ex Machina in reverse. Instead of having a Greek god descend to save the players from certain death, you're using a established nearly godlike force to inspire fear and to artificially, since you didn't have anything to do with its original construction, introduce "drama."

I've don't know much about Aussie television, but imagine that the writers of your favorite sitcom were trying to come up with an element that would introduce some serious drama and decided, due to a lack of enough of a writing budget and due to episode constraints, since the season is about to end, than they'll just end that season with a cliffhanger by having the Borg show up with their standard "Resistance is futile" line. Yeah! That will get viewers tuning in next season! Nevermind that it's a sticom about a bunch of friends who live in contemporary Melbourne....

Earlier, I mentioned what I called "The Builders", which were large organisms that first moved the asteroids into place and may have, through combined efforts, altered the orbits of the moons in the system or, if taken further, could have even had something to do with building the planets. Think of them as ginormous, hugemongously so, organic bulldozer ships and construction cranes, combined, with an addition of "super-duper-industrial-space-tug-boat" thrown in. (ie: Doomsday Machine" (TOS) big, with nasty manipulator claws and toothy looking maws ringed with chompers designed to pulverize asteroids composed of rock and metal) Up until this time, they were quiescent, not really having any use other than to stand by in case they were needed.

IIRC, I suggested that if you needed a big-bad threat, then this is the sort of threat you would want to throw at the players. Anything capable of physically constructing this system is surely a threat to a starship. They may not have energy weapons, but if they can catch the ship, they can tear it apart, literally... It also serves as a further clue to the players that there exists forces in this system that are capable of being moving parts, or moving them, in a much larger device than just the possibility that there is a computer-planet involved. They're the "tools" of the Watchmakers, or whatever you wish to call the original designers of this system.

I'm not saying you have to go with that. You do you. BUT, if you want a "big bad physical threat" then this is the sort of thing you need to do. Do not "cheese" your way out of having to do some work by needlessly introducing a canned, processed, pretreated, precooked, can of Fiction-Spam in the form of "The Borg."

Introducing elements from other people's work, aside from what is mandatory to allow for shared and enthusiastic fan-based roleplaying, is simply lazy and thoughtless. Lazy, because you're only doing it for a "quick fix" to a "perceived problem with lack of drama" and thoughtless because your players deserve more from you, since you've come all this way on your own without having to grab for a pair of crutches.

By creating a setting, evolving a plot, constructing activity elements and timelines, you're doing many things that a writer would naturally do while writing a work of fiction. Because of that, you need to pay attention to certain "best practices" in order to achieve the best experience for everyone. At its heart, that means that the story needs to come to from you and you need to create the drama, fresh, new, compelling... That doesn't mean you shouldn't talk about it with others or ask for advice, it just means that your friends, your "readers", are play8ng your game, like reading a book, with one goal in mind above all others. It's the very same goal that ALL readers of books attempt to satisfy -

They desire a new experience.

You can not give them that if you throw the Borg at them in this episode. You'll "break" the entire module and destroy the value of all previous work if you do that.

[Usenko]

Okay. Fair calls on all parts. You're right, it was lazy of me, and I can do better. Alright then, let's try to workshop something else.

I have small off-cut pieces I was intending to use for asteroids. I was about to say that I don't have anything else (an oversight on my part - when laser-cutting the tokens, I should have included several "generic alien ship" tokens. But anyways . . ).

HOWEVER - I have some LARGE off-cut pieces. And it occurs to me that these would naturally match the small off-cut pieces, so maybe this would connect with the asteroids.

Yes. . . Obviously we don't want anything that looks TOO much like a Doomsday machine, for the same reason as wanting to avoid the Borg. But something else, an expy, might work.

Instead of the Borg[1] or the Doomsday Machine we have the Constructor. Note that this is (unknown to the PCs) small by the Builders' standards; you describe it as a tugboat (not even a super-duper tugboat!), but it's a tugboat with two main weapons:

1) A massively powerful tractor beam, enabling it to fling rocks (and which can attempt to grab the Tamworth if it gets within 2 hex range).

2) On the dorsal surface a flat area which conceals a bank of plasma torches, which can heat rock to vapour temperature almost instantly. This counts as a triple-power phaser, but only at extremely close range (1 hex).

On the outside it's just another asteroid. But as our heroes detect it, suddenly it emits a burst of light, and moves. So far it's not scary . . but then unlike ANY asteroid they've ever seen before, it STOPS, changes direction and moves TOWARDS the ship.

If the PCs aren't paying attention they might not notice that the Constructor is trying to push them away from the planet. For all they know it's a wandering monster.

I was thinking of having it emit hyperonic radiation, like everything else on the planet, but that seemed too obvious (and I don't necessarily want the PCs immediately connecting it to what's going on down there!). Instead, the burst of hyperonic radiation that nearly disabled the Tamworth was the activation signal for a dormant Constructor - it's RESPONDING to hyperonic radiation, rather than actually emitting it.

Anyways . . .

When they first encounter the Constructor, the scene then switches immediately to the Away team, so this is left hanging. But when we return to space, the Tamworth needs to do battle with the Constructor. The device immediately flings two large asteroids in the Tamworth's direction. It has no shields, but its "hull" (being made of rock) is way tough. They should learn quickly that getting close to it is a bad idea. But it is not a combat vessel; in fact, it was not intended to actually get close to the ship.

(In fact, what is currently happening is that another three or four constructors are in the process of building a made-to-measure starcruiser to face off against the Tamworth, with hyperonic weapons, Space-Wedgie Generators and Space-Puppy Crushers. Our heroes surprised this one; its complex programming means that it will attempt to distract them whilst the others complete the first small combat starships).

Better?


[1] Note that I wasn't really seeing the Borg as the big threat here - hence the fact that it was a scoutship. The idea was that it was a formidable foe which they'd have to work their hineys off to defend against. And then they'd find that (version 1) defeated Borg who were terrified of the PSC too or (version 2) evidence that the PSC had EATEN some Borg generations ago. But yeah, I get where you're coming from, and you're right.

Maybe I can get some of that "Gosh-this-big-bad-is-tough" feeling in the ground zone without spoiling the overall impact.

Suppose this: When the abducted crew members are trying to get out of their bio-prison they come across another vesicle in which they find a lot of partially digested and deconstructed remains. Most are unrecognisable (because they're ancient species that the Feds haven't encountered - gazillions of years old), but they CAN recognise EXTREMELY ancient and mostly deteriorated Borg implants. The conclusion is that long ago this thing used to eat Borg (though the remains are no threat to the PCs, the fact that the bad guy is tough enough to destroy them is not a fun thought). And this way I provide something else for the bad guys to beat up on that shows how tough they were, and I add a continuity nod to the series but without hugely relying on it or turning the scenario into a battle to the death with a known menace.

And . . Maybe our engineer character can use the Borg implants as part of a gadget he builds to get them out of the sticky situation!

[Morkonan]

...Better?

MUCH better! This is yours, so own it all the way through. It's a focus for your own creativity and that's part of what makes it fun, right? So, let Paramount (or whoever) have fun with their silly Borg. YOU get to invent giant space-beasts that treat Borg like space-gnats.

On the design of the Constructors, my original imagery was something like these bits: (You're familiar with them, I'm sure.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydra_(genus)

Hydra diagram gif

Good image:

[ external image ]

So, that's just sort of what I was envisioning, but bulkier, with no "delicacy" about it, anywhere. IOW, the tentacles would look like they were biceps on top of biceps tied together with anchor chain and encased in armor. There's a definite purely "physical" nature that they portray, despite any neat sci-fi mechanics. So, while these beasts may be able to shoot lasers out of their rectums and project and weave powerful force-fields, they'd be just as comfortable grabbing hold of a warp nacelle and physically ripping it off of a defenseless ship. Wherever they go, everything is on the menu.

That's just my imagery and there are some important differences, here. The most important, concerning proper genre translation, is that I don't know how serious or dramatic certain sci-fi things are to your players. For instance, "tractor beams" are, to me, entirely overused in sci-fi. Star Trek did it so they could avoid a bunch of extra costs, just like the Transporter gimmick, and so that they had a way for story hooks where they could immediately introduce drama caused by "helplessness", like tying someone up. It also helps that a ship has a way to directly interact with its environment without having to have gantry cranes. Star Wars used it, in A New Hope, for much the same dramatic reason.

What I envisioned was a shock encounter, a "WTF is that" moment, a "OK, it's big, it looks tough, and it's probably pissed off, so let's move out the way", followed by a somewhat pitched battle where the beast. The beast, which looks like it's just a tough brute, might first try to simply "catch" the ship in its manipulators, like it would when cleaning up a stray asteroid. But, when the ship evades it, it has to reason another way. It's not particular intelligent and has been ordered to "clean up" the player's ship so it doesn't interfere with the mechanism of the computer.

It turns around, focuses whatever field-generator, biomechanically based, it uses for thrust and sends a pulse towards the ship which disables its warp drive and throws multiple systems into chaos, no matter what "shields" the ship has currently active. Then, much like a hydra after disabling its prey, moves in to engulf it and dissemble the pieces that are currently too large to fit in its gullet. Then, if successful, it would move the contents to one of nearby moons where they would be recycled.

However, the difference between my imagining and yours is that you may know that the players will consider tractor beams and emitters just as dangerous, maybe even moreso, than big strong tentacles grabbing the ship like some version of an outer-space Captain Nemo story. If that presents just as much urgency and drama, then use tractor beams and emitters/whatever. For instance, if I told someone unfamiliar with certain fantasy roleplaying genres that I was going to threaten my players with a Level 37 rat, they might not think that was as scary as a their suggestion of a big rabid dog. But, I know that a Level 37 rat would beat the crap out of a big rabid dog every day of the week and twice on Sunday. (Damn, I now want to make a module where players are threatened by a Level 37 rat... I'll name him Willard. They will be terrified. Of "Willard.")

On drama:

Piece by piece, you've been introducing snippets of clues that continue to build on the mystery and heighten the drama. Step by step, "the plot thickens" and the stakes rise, if for no other reason than the scope of their discovery. (Near certain death is a factor, too...) The players see this series of events as two different things. One takes place on the planet, one in space. But, you know they're both the same and that's one of the clenchers for the player's "Aha" moment, when they start to really figure out what's going on. Keep that up, no matter that one series of events is on shore and one is taking place in the deep sea, so to speak. That act alone, building up the drame bit by bit, no matter the locale, will also help to bring "sameness" to both parts, so the players realize that these things are all connected.

On constructing the Big Bad space threat:

I'd let them defeat the first space beast, but suffer casualties, a battered ship, emotional trauma and the dawning realization that they may not be able to complete their objective with the threat of death if they even try to continue.

Then, things would get worse...

A short while after the first, near invincible, beast is defeated, the rest of the system comes alive with even more beasts, some obviously bigger than the first. The ship is obviously in no shape to take these on and, due to damage, it can't easily flee. Solution? Hide in terror and pray enthusiastically. The night is dark and full of terrors.

Incorporating your idea of the beasts making an even more formidable beastie, some of the go hunting for the player's ship while, nearby, many appear to congregate near a very large asteroid near where the player's ship is hiding. (So they can witness events) It becomes obvious that this large asteroid is some sort of component manufacturing center. The beasties, along with some unique, smaller, specialized space-critters appear to be assembling something. Something big. Something with a huge energy reading. Something that, just like the beasties, ends up sprouting a "life signature" about halfway through its construction. When that happens, it also begins to emit powerful sensor sweeps that the player's ship only narrowly avoids, since it's in hiding.

Worse and worse. Soon, that ship will be fully operational. Soon, it will begin searching in earnest. Soon, the player's temporary hiding spot will be discovered. Time to start getting their affairs in order....

[1] Note that I wasn't really seeing the Borg as the big threat here - hence the fact that it was a scoutship. The idea was that it was a formidable foe which they'd have to work their hineys off to defend against. And then they'd find that (version 1) defeated Borg who were terrified of the PSC too or (version 2) evidence that the PSC had EATEN some Borg generations ago. But yeah, I get where you're coming from, and you're right.

Maybe I can get some of that "Gosh-this-big-bad-is-tough" feeling in the ground zone without spoiling the overall impact.

"You will know a man by his enemies." (Can't remember who said that.)

This is good and it's the right trick if you want to imply something quickly. There are so many great stories that allude to a known, powerful, force that had been defeated by whatever current threat the characters were facing. That implies that no matter their current strength, they couldn't have bested that old foe, so they have no hope to defeat this new threat... presumably.

It may also be a hook for your continuing storyline for a campaign.

So, your planet-bound players stumble upon a cache. It's really a dumping area, full of what the mechanism considers to be useless crap. It's obviously a bunch of discarded junk, with bits and pieces of landers, personal weapons of alien manufacture, parts of what is obviously a corridor door from a spaceship, bits of an alien control console for something, some alien medical devices, half the golden record off of one of the Voyager probes that didn't get blasted into oblivion by Klingons...

And, what appears to be some bits of Borg tech. Ancient Borg tech... Precursor Borg tech!

The idea here being that ages ago, the early Borg must have visited this system. To them, it would be heaven. In this system is a perfect combination of biological and mechanical technology combined in a unified purpose. They would have been ecstatic and would have immediately started shouting "Resistance is futile" over every single comm-channel they had. They would have rushed to the planet to plant their Borg flag in the name of the Borg Collective and would have been quickly snuffed out by an irritated Abacus that didn't appreciate being awakened by rude parasites.

One of things the planet-bound players are able to do is to use this Precursor Borg tech to establish an undetectable line of comms with the ship, so the players can know about and interact with each others events.

You need some "magic." IOW, with these separate groups, you have to get them working and reasoning together so they can enjoy each other's predicaments. You have time constraints, so magic is the solution for that. Use this cache of alien discarded tech to do that.. Find a few things for the players that appear to be even more powerful and strange than Borg tech, just to emphasize your point - This place is dangerous.

"We found a miniature black-hole generator in this cache of cast-off components. Due to elemental construction, it was obviously not manufactured in this system. It's not working. I don't think I could get it working. I definitely wouldn't want to get it working. I'd like to go home, now."

If you have to get the players together while avoiding detection, the planet-bound players can jury-rig either some old alien tech or part of the system's internal transport devices to "ride the carrier wave of the old Borg tech" in order to beam themselves to the ship. The system might then think it's got an infection and try to rapidly diagnose the source, of course.

Later, if you wish, you can tell those crew that used this method that they've been infected with precursor Borg nanotech or something.

... And this way I provide something else for the bad guys to beat up on that shows how tough they were, and I add a continuity nod to the series but without hugely relying on it or turning the scenario into a battle to the death with a known menace.

And . . Maybe our engineer character can use the Borg implants as part of a gadget he builds to get them out of the sticky situation!

Yup, exactly so!

But... With all this certain death, with all this overwhelming power, with all of these dangers around every corner, and every turn sprouting more, how are our intrepid and soon-to-be-reduced-to-their-component-parts adventurers going to escape?

When writing a story, it's practically imperative to know the ending. In fact, ideas for dramatic endings are often the seeds from which good stories grow. Every great story, IMO, can be retold by beginning with its ending.

Further, any story that can't be told by first beginning with its climactic ending is just not a good story. Or, it's weird enough that it must be in some strange genre that only aficionados can appreciate.

(Contrast retelling the stories of 2001, 2010 and then Star Trek: The movie. You can retell 2001 and 2010 as they exist now from their endings. But, ST:TM? A space-baby ending constructed from the existing scenes in the movie, as it is today? WTF? Theme is huge in this and helps determine how these stories are constructed properly.)

So, forget everything you've constructed up to this point. Leave it behind you for the moment. Sit there with your tea, coffee, water, soda, beer, whiskey or illicit substances and think...

You're watching the ending of a great movie. It's your movie. It's awesome! The ending is suitably awesome. Maybe it's got a good message, maybe it has a great battle, it might be the first kiss in a tear-jerker love story or maybe its as simple as a tired but relieved Hobbit opening the door to his house, glad to finally be home?

So, what ending do you want? Nothing else matters when you're thinking about that, not even all the work you've done so far. After all, you're the creator! You can imagine any ending you want and then construct the elements necessary to achieve that ending with as much style, drama and flair as you want.

(To help, imagine your favorite movies and television episodes. Think about the ending and then imagine everything else in that story being constructed by the writers in order to lead up to that ending. Think about how every element, every scene, every bit of dialogue is lovingly constructed only AFTER the ending is written and only so that it contributes to the quality of that ending... )

What's your bestest, most awesomest ending imaginable? (Free space-beer for the entire crew is possible, but probably not what you'd really like to have happen. )

PS - Referring to the Borg in the episode's backstory is fine and, as you rightfully point out, contributes to the building up the drama rather than misdirecting it. Also, visual aids are great, but they only serve to fuel the imaginations of the players. You can easily get away with printed out card-stock counters and achieve the same goal. Personally, when using something like that, I think that "line art" is best, since it's not pretentious and obviously is only a suggestion as to the physical appearance. Deviantart.com is a great source of freebie art you can easily search through. Write a physical description, with some flourish, to add further to the presentation if you think that's suitable.

[Usenko]

So, forget everything you've constructed up to this point. Leave it behind you for the moment. Sit there with your tea, coffee, water, soda, beer, whiskey or illicit substances and think...

You're watching the ending of a great movie. It's your movie. It's awesome! The ending is suitably awesome. Maybe it's got a good message, maybe it has a great battle, it might be the first kiss in a tear-jerker love story or maybe its as simple as a tired but relieved Hobbit opening the door to his house, glad to finally be home?

So, what ending do you want? Nothing else matters when you're thinking about that, not even all the work you've done so far. After all, you're the creator! You can imagine any ending you want and then construct the elements necessary to achieve that ending with as much style, drama and flair as you want.

(To help, imagine your favorite movies and television episodes. Think about the ending and then imagine everything else in that story being constructed by the writers in order to lead up to that ending. Think about how every element, every scene, every bit of dialogue is lovingly constructed only AFTER the ending is written and only so that it contributes to the quality of that ending... )

What's your bestest, most awesomest ending imaginable? (Free space-beer for the entire crew is possible, but probably not what you'd really like to have happen. Smile )

An excellent question, and one I have been trying to think over.

I have a broad idea about where this should go, but I'm struggling with the details.

This being effectively a continuation of ST:TNG, there is a certain cadence to the ending that I'd like to use. It goes like this: The situation gets worse and worse, and it looks more and more like severe force is going to be needed (and we may well not have enough force), when suddenly a breakthrough is made. Generally it's a breakthrough from the B-story that gets applied to the A-story which either de-escalates the situation or allows the heroes to prevail.

So how does this work here? Well, the A-story is the planet. The B-story is the combined mission with the Tamarians, and specifically it is learning to communicate with them.

Therefore, the ending should somehow involve both crews, in such a way as it integrates them together.

Okay, so how to do that? I can think of a few scenarios. All of the following are Star-Trek-ish, but the later ones seem more so.

1) In order to escape from the giant PSC, a character from the Tamarians (perhaps the Captain) makes a noble sacrifice, in the process demonstrating that he understands the language of our heroes. He dies so that his friends (old and new) may live. His death somehow either buys the time that they need to defeat a boss of some sort, or distracts the boss to allow them to get away somehow.

2) The crews have managed to get back together on the ship, but it's badly damaged, and even if it were at its best it just doesn't have the firepower to prevail. The crew are preparing to sell their lives dearly and try to launch a warning beacon out into space so that others won't come across the lethal PSC. Suddenly a mixed team of Feds and Tamarians who had previously been struggling to communicate with each other make the big breakthrough and produce . . .

a) Tactical: The hyper-powerful weapon (TM) that can actually defeat the PSC, or at least blast a hole in the defences for a limited time - just enough for them to boogie the heck out of there.

b) Engineering: A form of shielding - recognising that the PSC's technology is based on Hyperonic radiation, they can allow the ship to absorb the energy for a limited time - just enough for them to boogie the heck out of there.

c) Science: Some kind of Hyperonic radiation-producing widget that gives the PSC some kind of false signal that causes it to do something . . "Oh, look over there at that nice distraction!" This fools the PSC for a limited time - just enough for them to boogie the heck out of there.

3) The PSC is just getting ready to blast the "viruses" out of space, when suddenly, against all odds, a message that it is capable of understanding gets through to it. This message is a direct result of some lesson the Tamarians and/or the PCs have learned from each other - perhaps the Feds didn't previously understand that like the Tamarians, the PSC communicates in metaphor too (or perhaps they use the concept of the Tamarians' metaphorical communication as an analogy to enable them to work out HOW the PSC thinks[1]).

Meanwhile the Tamworth's crew are frantically trying every code they can imagine. Then, just as the alien battleships are winding up to fire Hyperonic Lances that will turn the Tamworth to a wisp of dissociated plasma, they power down and the gun turrets return to the stowed position.

In the confused silence that follows, the crew wonder briefly why they're not dead. A booming voice echoes through the bridge: "Ardriel using the abacus. Vermin in the siloes (i.e. "I am the PSC. So you're not just insects?")?"

The crew exult for a moment, realising that they've made contact! But they still need to work out an appropriate message to send. If they don't manage it, the Tamarians will figure it out - less experience points for the PCs! In either case, basically the final message they receive is something like "Okay, you're not vermin. Get off the planet and let me get back to work. And tell your not-vermin friends to keep their distance. My calculations are too important to allow you to disturb me. That's your only warning."

--

As you might be able to tell (from the amount of detail I have given it), I like the last one the most. It seems to be the most quintessentially Star Trek of the three - after all, the milieu is ultimately about communication and understanding between cultures, not getting there firstest with the mostest and blasting the other guys to bits. But it might be a little implausible.

Obviously there are other options, including (but not limited to) combinations of the above three.

Do you have any thoughts?

[1] One aspect of this I like: We can't have the PSC actually becoming best buds with the Feds, because we don't want to either (a) keep coming back here to hang out, or (b) have them swanning around smacking down any enemy that comes around. We want them to remain an inscrutable alien presence, and one that our heroes are anxious to avoid! So using this alien language concept means that they will be able to communicate enough to make contact and say "Hey, we're not cockroaches, don't swat us" but not enough to make friends as such.

[Morkonan]

...Do you have any thoughts?...

Frequently. Sometimes, they're disturbing. But, so long as the courts say I'm not a danger to myself or others, there's no way they can lock me up! (Just kidding. Probably.)

[1] One aspect of this I like: We can't have the PSC actually becoming best buds with the Feds, because we don't want to either (a) keep coming back here to hang out, or (b) have them swanning around smacking down any enemy that comes around. We want them to remain an inscrutable alien presence, and one that our heroes are anxious to avoid! So using this alien language concept means that they will be able to communicate enough to make contact and say "Hey, we're not cockroaches, don't swat us" but not enough to make friends as such.

This is imperative. We already have them with a pet monster, there's no way they can be made to feel invincible every time they show up for a gaming session. Feast and famine, uncertainty, looming danger, hard-won victories... Every time they touch the dice or spend some points, it should make their blood-pressure rise.

OK, I've been brainstorming and have come up with the very same goals as you. You know your audience (players/friends) so, as always, you know what is best for them and what they would enjoy.

1) Everyone has fun. That's the only rule anything has to follow. All ideas must fulfill that goal.

2) All players must feel their individual actions are significant - Everyone has a good chance for glory.

3a) The group of characters needs to be reunited so they can all share in a common experience of the end-game.

3b) The crew, except for a short time, needs to be in "communication" with each other, so they can share in information exchange. There's no use for your creative efforts, and those of the individual, separated, player groups, to go to waste until a "reunion." Everyone should get the full gaming-session experience as soon as possible. (Though, it should be well recognized that there is pretty big intrinsic value in that initial separation and gameplay in this module/session.)

4) The stakes must be as high as the scenario allows. The players have to have the opportunity to win, but they also have to have the opportunity to experience the threat of a loss. Without those two conditions, there can be no drama. Without drama, there is no feeling of "reward" for their session efforts.

5) The players crave new experiences - That's why they're playing. To facilitate that requires creativity and chances for the players to explore their world wherever their curiosity and desires take them, within reason. They should be allowed to be rewarded for their own creative efforts and their curiosity should always yield new fuel for their imagination.

6) Your mythos deserves to be revealed. Your work and imagination also deserves the reward of appreciation from your players. They also deserve as full of an experience as possible, without spoiling its mystery. So, some of the "backstory" here needs to revealed to them in some way. It's icing on the cake, a desert after a hardy meal, a nice cup of coffee at the end of the day or that one beer, shared amongst friends, as they rest from their day's labors.

Some ideas:

A) Reunification:

The players have to be reunited so that they can all interact directly and share the risk/reward experience together. This is also one of their goals, since they all want to survive together.

1) The planet-bound crew and space-crew work out a way to transport the members to the ship using resources they have discovered. Planet - Use discarded alien tech and make it work. Ship - Analyze the unique radiation in the system and figure out a way to piggyback a transporter signal.

Drama/risk - Low tension, unless the players can "fail" a transport and scatter their atoms across the system... Sort of a hollow defeat, though, since the only threat is their own performance.

2) Planet-crew discover one of the intra-system transports the system uses for transporting materials to orbit. It appears to be on a scheduled routine. (Big grubby looking bug-like thing with a hollow thorax-like structure that appears atmosphere-tight. Ship-crew figure out that it journeys to a nearby moon on a tight schedule. Team figures out a way to arrange a roundevous that allows for transporter use transport-ship-to-ship, since it will be out of the planet's radiation corona.

Drama/risk - Pretty high drama and risk for all, since the rondevous would mean all players are exposed to risk. Might be some really good tension as the ship crew dodges/runs from alien patrols and the planet-crew have to deal with riding in a big bug... that ends up having crew of its own - Larval-stage worker-bots being transported to the moon. (ie: everyone is running from everything until the transport takes place, then they're still running from everything, since the whole system is now pretty pissed off)

3) Ship-crew figure out a way to make a break for it and rescue the planet-crew. (Various scenarios)

Drama/risk - I don't particularly like this one, since almost all the creative weight is on the ship-crew.

B) While I'm thinking about it, let's work on that A-Story/B-Story thing. Combining elements:

Both storylines need to mesh together. We also want to emphasize every player's intimate contributions to the team's success.

We also need to combine the Tamaran's in this, since that is the theme of the mission. (Cooperation with an alien race.)

Going to jump ahead here to an idea I had last night, after posting. Yes, I think about this sort of stuffs. Also thought up a new story, fueled by this, but nothing to do with Star Trek.

A couple of idea that guided my reasoning: "You must leave" and telling the backstory so they players can enjoy the mythos you've created through the use of "The Derelict."

Despite all the technology and sci-fi, despite aliens, exploration, dangerous babes in the wilderness, Star Trek has always been, at least the "best" Star Trek (TOS!), what makes us "human." It's our values, both personal and social, our need to discover, to overcome severity while holding to our principles, to actually remain human despite inhuman trials... That's what Star Trek is about.

So, it's time to open the door to some of that by leaving behind the corporeal flesh and blood. It's time to discard the significance of metal, wires and technology in favor of giving the players a glimpse of the fantastic and inscrutable. (Pardon the dramatic leadup, sorry...)

This can be adapted to either the planet or the sheltered interior of an asteroid cave. You can use either focus to emphasize your A+B storyline significance, where the solution comes from the angle that seems, at first, the least significant in dealing with the current dilemma. (As per your Star Trek trope idea)

"The Derelict"

A) The players on the planet discover an intact alien survival suit, obviously ancient, covered in dust, with the mummified remains of a humanoid alien of an unidentified species.

B) The players on the ship discover an ancient derelict spaceship in the crannies of the asteroid cave they've chosen to hide in. (Or, at least nearby enough that they can sneak their way over to it in order to investigate.)

*****
Edit - Either A or B would best begin to unfold, fully, after reunification, not before. That's so everyone is there for the "reveal." They can find temporary shelter from pursuing system-bots, as per "B" below, or they can also transport the survival suit found in "A" with them to the ship, for further examination. Though, it'd be better if one of the players on the planet, who examined the suit, is the channel for "The Reveal" if you choose "B" as the suit should be left behind and not available for further examination after this module is over.
*******

They're sharing their sanctuary with the foreboding that this alien's fate is one they will share. (Foreshadowing) Despite evidence of its advanced technology, it didn't survive. It couldn't get out... ("Drums, drums in the deep... They're coming." Dwarven corpses, a sarcophagus, signs of an obviously failed last stand, there's a reason that scene took place like that.)

There are signs of this alien's "humanity." (Further foreshadowing of their sealed fate) In its last moments, it was obviously considering its fate. It must have died when its life-support gave out. It didn't even try to escape.. It just lay down and died, maybe holding a religious symbol (or socio-political one representing some ideal, for all they know), what appears to be a scroll or a book or an icon or a family photo - Something that was of personal, emotional, importance to it.

The scene is a sad one. This mummified alien was, indeed, very "alien." But, in its death, it was as "human" as you can realistically make it.

The ship/suit is of no practical use in this situation. The tech is advanced, but equally inscrutable. There aren't any easily discernible ways to make it work for them. Unlike most episodes of ST, nobody is going to be able to walk up to an alien command console with an unknown format, no instruction manual, and start programming new instructions for it to execute... There are no obvious resources here that they can use. There's only this sad scene, foreshadowing their ultimate fate, acted out upon their emotions by the corpse of a alien that, perhaps, they could have called "friend" had they known it.

The alien may have been an explorer. The ship/suit appears to be focused on that. There appear to be some personalizations, too, showing that this alien was probably independent of any organized hierarchical structure. ("Replaceable" components appear to be long-ago jury-rigged to suit the alien. There's some obvious artwork (sculpture in the ship, decorative scawls on the suit) scattered about. There's what appears to be a personal console/entertainment device, perhaps manufactured in a completely different style than the rest, showing the alien kept it as a personal possession. (ETC) Heck, you can even place the bones of a pet or the remnants of a houseplant, if you want. IOW - Make it "human" and obviously alone, showing the personae of a lone brave adventurer that was probably exploring and charting new systems when it came upon this one and met its doom.

So, the players find this, get excited, then disappointed when they don't find any uber-weapons. They shrug, call you a jerk for getting them all worked up over "nothing" and abandon "The Derelict."

"You must leave."

There are mysteries in this Universe that will remain mysteries, no matter how much technology and knowledge we gain. If this was not so and did not always remain so, the Universe wouldn't be worth existing within. We are simply not equipped to handle "omniscience."

Whichever player appears to have had the least practical impact on this mission's success, whichever player seems the least engaged, whichever one appears to always be screwing things up or the butt of the other player's jokes, or ire, this one is your chosen instrument for the next bit. That choice may play heavily on your decision regarding where, the planet or space, this takes place. I think it's important, both from a gameplay point of view and your overall thematic point of view of joining significant and seemingly insignificant storylines, for something like this to occur, even if it's not exactly like this. (PS - I know I should use semicolons effectively, I just choose not to..)

The player hears a voice in their head. They hallucinate. Or, if you choose, all the players eventually hear the same voice. (It'd be cooler if the one hearing the voice translates it for the rest, IMO, but they can all, as players, hear it at the same time, just so long as it's clear that the one player you've chosen is the one who is telling them all of this.)

"You must leave" - Something is communicating with them and it appears that it's the "ghost" of the alien in the derelict. Maybe it's some sort of projection implanting itself into their mind(s), some alternate form of life that the alien has now attained or even a true ghost. They don't know what it really is and they will never, ever, be able to discover exactly how this alien or its tech is communicating with them. But, it is. And, its warning is dire.

This is where you communicate the juicy bits of your backstory, the ones that the players haven't yet discovered, and the very important bits you definitely want them to know.

I think it's a mistake, for the sake of the value of "mystery", to have the Abacus speak directly to the players. That's a prime reason why this "ghost" is going to do it for you.

The alien answers questions, though haltingly and with apparent difficulty. It does not tell them everything because it doesn't know everything. It died before it could discover the most critical bits that the players would want to know. It couldn't leave. It couldn't rejoin its race. It gave up... Importantly, it gives no "personal" information. It's your "Everyman" as far as this alien species goes.

The Tamarans - I don't know enough about how they're being used. But, work them into this as well. Imagery of everyone, including the Tamarans, sitting around and listening to all of this comes to mind. They can offer substantial input or even translation help. They can even make this "more human" for you by inserting commentary, parables, wisdom, etc. Whatever you want to add that's extra, I'm sure you can work them into it.

"The diversion"

I thought the same. A diversion would be a good idea. But, how to use it? The diversion must also "cost something." TANSTAAFL Ultimate sacrifices are golden in human lore. I'm reminded again of "The Doomsday Machine" TOS episode and Matt Decker's sacrifice. Yes, he developed an Ahab complex, but that didn't devalue his sacrifice. If you can develop an "Ahab" character, maybe the Captain of the Tamaran ship, that would be awesome. He and some of his loyal crew can use a shuttle, their own ship, or some other ship, maybe the derelict, in some jurry-rigged capacity, or elements of the survival suit in a desperate charge against one of the primary structures on the planet, allowing for surface crew to be rescued, perhaps, as the player's ship does a desperate fly-by of the planet and uses an altered transporter signal to rescue the castaways or something.

Either way, the diversion is a good idea and should be pursued, but with its "cost" as the final creative element. Combine that diversion in juxtaposition with whichever "B" storyline provides the ultimate solution to their dilemma regarding how to escape.

So, the Tamarans or a small contingent of their crew decide to provide the diversion. They have heard the backstory, realize the stakes, but take unusual solace in the fact that they will not die alone, but may join this alien explorer in a shared fate. A fate they don't appear to be uncomfortable with. Maybe they know something about existence that humanity has yet to learn?

(Note: Above, I may have gotten A and B stories/themes a bit confused. It's no problem and you can translate out the refs that don't make sense, I'm sure.)

A brief, consolidating, recap:

1) Achieve the numbered goals, especially reunification of the crew using combined efforts coupled with some form of risk during the attempt.

2) Provide for the addition of the fantastical element (or a similar fantastical element of your choosing) and use it to help convey your backstory without requiring The Abacus to actually "talk to" or "talk at" the players. The players deserve to learn the tidbits, but not all, regarding the neato/cool backstory portions you've come up with. AND, you also deserve to savor their reactions and praise.

3) The diversion is important and must have a cost. It's best to be both emotional/internal and corporal/real as well. Death is good for that, but death without emotional involvement is meaningless, so build that up for whatever character/element is going to be destroyed. You're spot-on with the idea of a noble sacrifice. This system should be a system in which someone dies and its Quarantine Beacon will admirably serve as their gravestone.

4) In my opinion, the players must realize that The Abacus will always think any merely mortal species in the galaxy as "less than insects." It's "above" any line of reasoning more into their existence. It simply doesn't think of them at all in any significant way. Even now, with seemingly everything in the system arrayed against them, it's barely even daydreaming about the task of debugging this current error that could, potentially, cause a -10^235 deviation in one insignificant calculation concerning the atmospheric exchange rate of beetle larva aspiration as it applies to whatever ultimate problem this system has been created to solve for...

5) Have fun.


Lastly - Am writing this layed out on a couch, hunched sideways over a laptop... I'm also waiting on some surgery and dealing with that and have been over the past month or so. So, basically, I'm not at my desk nor in my normal writing environment, so my posts are more rambling and verbose and disorganized than... normal. I'll continue to think about this stuff.

[Morkonan]

After further thought, this might sum things up nicely. Offered for your consideration after realizing I needed to focus my efforts a bit better-

(These are only suggestions. Whatever you decide is going to be just fine, I'm sure. I'm just providing snippets of ideas, as fuel for your imagination.)

By timeline, for easier organization:

1000- Planet: Players and their Tamara allies are chased underground, where they discover the detritus left from previous explorers and aliens as well as cast-offs from the Abacus's work, which is too complex to figure out. The find the Precursor Borg items, mentioned earlier, and are able to use those and their ingenuity to make comms contact with the ship.

1000- Ship leaves planetary orbit due to your choice of causes. Ship then battles the first of the Builders/Constructors. Is sorely damaged. Detects other beasties "waking up" and giving chase. Is pursued, but evades due to inginuity of crew finding a hidy-hole in a large asteroid.

1001 - Planet: Establishes comms with ship. Describes the stuff they've found and their current situation as being hunted by humanoid constructs of the local Data Node structure. They have had to fend off a couple, by this point. Are currently hunting around to see if they can make use of any of the junk, but will obviously need help, soon, or they're doomed.

1001 - Ship begins repairs. Is able to witness the beginnning construction of a giant B.E.M. the system is quickly constructing, presumably to search them out and eat them.

1002 - Both - Whatever "flavor" discoveries you want them to make and minor encounters or data they are to discover. Interaction between Tamaran and Fed crew is increased, as combined efforts are now crucial to the survival of both. It's the calm before the storm. Planet crew look for resources while evading their hunters, Ship crew repair systems, jury-rig warp engines, increase transporter range due to Tamaran assistance by linking anti-matter systems with transporter system, using Tamaran energy focusing/dispersion technology.

1003 - Both - Agreement is made that the ship will try a desperate fly-by maneuver, warping into very low orbit, to avoid some of the effects of radiation interference, and wiil use suped-up transporters to beam the crew aboard. Then, they'll escape the system.. they hope. So far, the beasties only appear to have sublight drives. There's no reason to think they'd need otherwise if confined to system. But, the big beastie under construction, it's an unknown variable and is surely purpose-built to destroy them. For right now, passive sensors show that the orbit of the planet and the immediate environs nearby are free from large beasties.

1004 - Planet - It's all going pear-shaped... The crew is ambushed while attempting to reach the surface for transport and they're injured by beasties. They kill most, but more are chasing them. They flee, making "running away" skill checks until they can't make any more "running away" skill checks and think they need to start making "Gravediggin 101" skill checks. They fall or flee into a tunnel/cave/lava tube-like structure. For whatever reason, unknown to them, the beasties either can't find them or give up their pursuit. But, they can stil hear them moving around. There are a bunch of them out there... They find themselves in another vacuole occupied by more junk. But, curiously enough, they find an intact alien survival suit. (The Derelict trope mentioned above)

1004 - The ship is on its way. As soon as it leave the asteriod, it's detected by the big BEM and it gives chase. But, it is only partially formed. However, since they can now use active scans, it's apparent that it is growing bits of itself. It doesn't need anymore outside resources and will soon be fully active. There's evidence of warp-field capacity as well as superior shield and power generation. There's a running battle as the ship attempts stuttering warp capability. The power couplings blow, repeatedly, and full engine power is frustratingly elusive as the ship is pounded by what are now only very weak weapons compared to what the beastie will eventually be capable of.

1005 - Planet - The crew examines the suit and the remains. Sees the evidence that this was as a fellow explorer. (Described in above post) One of the Tamarans cries out gibberish, falls unconscious. One of the crew gets severe headaches, any others feel intensely uncomfortable. They all start seeing things. Flashes of light, red vision, shadows moving. They hear things. Screams, not human. They know none of this is real, but may be symptoms they're all going mad, perhaps due to something in the alien's suit. Microbes? Radiation? Neither are detected.

1005 - Ship - Ship pops into low orbit after a heroic attempt, which was successful, to temporarily restore warp power. Trailing smoke, it contacts the surface crew who inform the ship they are still underground, have wounded, are experiencing hallucinations and are trapped in a cave by nasty critters.

1006 - Both - Ship transports the planet crew, then scoots as best as it can into a higher orbit. That'd be wonderful, but it appears that, due to an insinuation by you, their headlong pursuit in rescuing their comrades and the abuse they inflicted upon their systems has resulted in the warp power couplings being completely fused and useless. They can be repaired, but that repair will take about two hours longer than it will take a fully equipped, and very pissed off, massive BEM beastie to reach their orbit and asspload them out of existence. Too bad, so sad, start rolling credits... (Their magical stowaway can give them more detail, perhaps even some assistance in repairs, if they ask it. It'd be close, but not enough. It also might be clear that it may think abandoning them to their own fate might be prudent. )

1007 - Time for a meeting and power-point presentation! Well... maybe just a brief meeting. The crew get together. The planet crew are in sick-bay, suffering from unknown illness. They are able to relate what they found and to describe their symptoms.

Here's where a significant Tamaran cooperative you wanted comes into play! (One of them, aside from the Ahab/Decker suicide-run/diversion one that will happen. (And is a very cool topper for this morality play.)

The Tamaran Mystic

Tamarans are weird. This is obvious. Their methods of communication are weird. This is frustrating for humans. But, it's also frustrating for Tamarans, sometimes!

Nobody knows why, not even the Tamarans, but there are members of their species that are extremely intuitive, sometimes even magically so. It's not known how they do it and Tamaran culture always argues about it, but they are somehow able to exactly interpret even the most strange metaphors used by members of their own species. Some more spiritually inclined claim it's because Tamarns that have this ability, and there are few, are able to communicate with some sort of Universal Being. Others think that they can send their consciousness back in time in order to discern the most exact, and thus most likely correct, interpretion of a metaphor by witnessing the moment of its creation. (A religious-like event in Tamaran's views, anyway.) Others believe it's all nonsense and any positive results these "mystics" have are only anecdotal at best.

No matter what they believe as to the causes and methods, they do respect these Tamarans and they are culturally valued. They aren't seen as "powers" and don't have any formal authority in anything, but they often double as counselors, sometimes as "lawyers", and are usually respected and cherished because of their nature as mediators. A Tamaran member of the crew, your choice, just happens to be one of these "Mystics." It's not rare for a few, due to chance and sometimes design, to be present on a Tamaran ship. They're bloody useful.

One of the player characters, either from the ship or planet (Whoever you've picked to have a nicely significant role) starts to feel strange, if not already, and starts babbling nonsense. This would be inconvenient, in a normal situation, but the team doesn't need this distraction right now. A Beastie is about to arrive and their ship is practically disabled at the moment.

(IF both Fed and Tamaran ships are present, then they both went through the same "Ship" related events. They were only able to reach this far, this quickly, from the asteroid-cave escape event because they figured out how to amplify their warp-field signatures using sympathetic warp-field resonance. But, now they're both in the same dilemma. However, it becomes clear that, through combined efforts, one of the ships may be able to be repaired in time, before the beast arrives. It could be either one, but one ship, alone, can not carry the entire crews of both without overburdening the already weak life-support systems, similarly dooming them all. The crews are now trying to decide how even that would help, since it's obvious an escaping ship would be caught by the pursuing beastie, anyway.)

The Tamaran Captain/other informs the team that he wants to try something. (Or you insinuate that asking the Tamarans to help formulate a plan is a good idea.) He points out that one of his crew is a "mystic." Is he a magician, a priest, a medium... a lawyer? It's not really clear, thanks to translation issues. But, the Tamaran Captain places a lot of stock in the opinion of this "mystic" and insists that he be allowed to examine the planet crew.

The Mystic makes his appearance, is a low-rankking crewmember, but obviously a greatly respected one by other Tamarans, places a symbolic bit of ribbon around his neck (The imagery there should be obvious) and sits by the sickbed of the ailing, babbling, crewmate. He, through mysterious means, interprets these babbles quite succinctly, for a Tamaran. The player's character is in communication with some dead alien spirit/force/soul/projection/memory/whatsits, obviously from the derelict suit or where it was found. The thing "hitched a ride", perhaps, and chose this crewmate. (If he wasn't already present on the surface. If he was present, then he was possessed or communication was established on the planet, while he fell ill. However it happens, his character was determined to be the one that was most psychically suited for this particular form of communication.)

** Note: Contingency Plots If the "spirit/ghost" approach is too much, then it's an AI persona core left in the Tamaran's suit, which they beamed up with the planet crew. It's able to communicate telepathically, through some form of neural link. If this too closely resembles the previous episode's "entity" you've already used, then adapt this idea to a cache of information found in the data-coils of the dead alien's suit. The important thing isn't that the ghost or some similar AI is helping them, but that this is the physical remains of someone they can empathize with, even if it's an alien more strange than their Tamaran allies. The Tamaran Mystic still applies, here, since they are adept at intuitive reasoning and can serve to "mediate" between an alien data core and its strange messages and both Tamaran and Fed crew just as well as they can help to settle land disputes on the Tamaran homeworld... or marriage counseling. The planet crew wouldn't get sick, in this case, but they might argue or cause some other disturbance over arguing about the meaning of this alien data core's diagrams. All crews will eventually determine the node is a highly valued thing and attacking it with a decoy ship would be an excellent, achievable, distraction.

Either the Tamaran translates directly, in perfect English, the babbles of crewmate or, better, your player's character communicates the words and phrases to the Tamaran and then communicates what the Tamaran translates them into. Either way, the effect is transparent to the players, since the gravitas of the moment shouldn't have such detailed distractions, but should definitely involve active participation from your chosen player. (So they get more input/impact in the results of the moduel than they've had, previously.) You tell the players that the words you use to respond to their questions, as well as the tale you tell, are actually coming from the player's character.

Your backstory is told, bits finished off that the players haven't yet stumbled into. (As much as you wish to reveal of it, without revealing ultimate answers to "why" or "who." You can relate a more full Precursor Borg backstory, here, if they haven't figure it out. Also, tell them what has been going on and how all this that has happened is just subminds and ancillary systems "doing what they're supposed to do" in preventing minor interference. The Abacus has not yet full turned its attention to the players. It isn't yet fully "awake" to their presence, yet. Yet.

Now, when faced with the situation and the fact that "All this is cool, but it doesn't help us get out of here", complaints will eventually come from the players. That's when it is discovered or suggested that there is a possible way out, but it will require a sacrifice. The "ghost", in combination with the Tamaran mystic and your Federation crewmate, comes up with a specific suggestion...

There's a communications relay node that is reachable before the alien monster-beastie can reach them, if they combine their efforts and focus most of the repairs on only one ship (Or modifying a shuttle, if the Tamaran ship is no longer present) so that it can achieve partial warp-drive function, albeit sublight, at best. If this ship can threaten or damage this node, it will certainly cause a cascade effect. This will not harm The Abacus at all, but that's not the point. The point is that this would cause the system's defenses to come fully online, for a time, and everything, including the big beasties that is due to "rendevous" with them in a few hours, to head towards that offending ship and deal with it. In other words, according to the strange, often poetic, ramblings of the ancient pilot's spirit, one ship can die so that another may live. They can get one ship repaired in time to do this and use the remaining time, caused by the diversion, to get the other underway and repaired... maybe. You make it clear (But, you're taking liberty with a creative "lie" to your players) that if they screw this up and if they don't make their rolls or have the points to achieve this, then they'll die... for realz. Unless they want to roleplay lonely disembodied spirits watching this giant computer grind out its computations through the coming millenia, they had better get this right. No do-overs. No take-backsies. It's all or nothing and you have a trashcan just itching to eat up their character sheets...

1008 - Both - Repairs take place on both ships or ship-and-shuttle. Major efforts are focused on the drive of the Tamaran ship, since it is more suited, and some effort on the player's ship's life-support systems, to handle expected crew overload. If the shuttle alternative is used, then it's the same, with the shuttles weapons, maneuvering thrusters (to give it a fighting chance), shields and warp speed capabilities being improved and expanded upon. Neat weapons ideas are encouraged, to make whatever they decide to use more formidable in the "opinion" of any observing automated systems. Having the decoy ship/shuttle announce a "Corbomite Maneuver" on broad-transmission as it approached the relay node would be particularly inventive, should a player suggest it. Give that guy a commendation, if so. That would surely gain increased attention, and a rapid response from the big beastie, if that happened.

(Your "diversion" scenario takes over, the Tamaran/whoever sacrifices themself, the players escape by the skin of their teeth, they come away with some weird notions, some triumphal moments and an advisory to the Federation to leave this place the F alone.)

[Usenko]

Alrighty . .

The ground half of Wednesday's session is complete. It uses much of what we were discussing.

Note that when I mention creatures such as elephants and lions, this is a reference to the fact that in order to keep costs down, I used cheap $2 animals as miniatures. I mentioned that the kids have painted them up, and they now look fantastic, actually! However, I have made use of this. I have made rules for each one and have made it clear that the appearance of them is no more than convergent evolution. Cue MST3K mantra.

-- Begin second half --

8 ) First Officer’s Log.

9) There is little left of Ship’s Surgeon Doolittle. Later the crew can grieve, but right now they need to focus on survival. The ship is not answering their hails, so for whatever reason they are currently on their own. His samples lie on the ground where the shreds of his body remain. If PCs collect his samples, some of the insect-like creatures will follow at a short distance. Otherwise the PCs will be left alone.

10) PCs decide on how they can survive. Unknown to them, they are now marked as a potential threat, and are being watched. If they accumulate 6 demerits, they will be attacked by the first wave of defence creatures.
Demerits:
1 – Picking up the dropped samples from the Doctor!
1 – Entering a Canyon Cave.
1 – Getting in the way of deerpoodles or samamanders
1 – Damaging a NoobaNooba tree or Plume tree.
1 – Scuffing any creatures’ scent track.
2 – Capturing a deerpoodle or samamander.
2 – Killing an insect.
2 – Touching the water of a pond or attempting to take a water sample from it.
3 – Destroying a Noobanooba tree or plume tree.
3 – diving into a pond.
6 – Killing a deerpoodle or samamander.
Each time a demerit is earned, the level of hyperonic radiation will increase. However, it will increase around the PCs, not in the Crater area.
If the PCs dither for long enough, they will be approached by insects, which will start biting them (i.e. to drive them in the direction of the encounter).

11) When the PCs commit their last demerit, a swarm of the insects will emerge from a nearby hole (or NoobaNooba tree) that will drive them towards an area of Crystalline Forest different from the one they visited before. Here they will see, in front of a series of caves, a creature similar in size and shape of a hippo. As they watch, the hippo-like creature will deposit four pods onto the ground, and as it moves on the pods will “hatch”, each bringing forth a different creature. These creatures are rather larger than the deerpoodles – about the size of a terran bear. They bear a passing resemblance to terrestrial animals too – one is roughly similar to a tiger, the second to a bear, the third appears a cross between a camel and a dinosaur (with a sharp-looking beak) and the final one (which looks rather like a very small elephant).

12) The creatures will all attack the PCs. The elephant-like creature will hide behind the other creatures and attempt to grapple with the PCs. If successful, it will show that its elephant-like appearance is only superficial – it is also venomous, and its bite will leave a grappled PC unconscious.

13) If the PCs are not captured in the first round the Hippo will spawn a second group of creatures. These ones are similar in general build, but larger – about the size of a rhinoceros. One indeed resembles a rhinoceros, another resembles a fox, another a bigger tiger, another is similar to a lion and the last is similar to a larger version of the elephant. Note: If the PCs are captured by the first group of creatures, the second group will be kept in reserve for a future episode.
Again, the elephant-like creature will attempt to abduct and paralyse PCs rather than directly injure them. If an elephant-like creature is killed, a new one will be spawned unless all creatures are dead.

If PCs are successful in fighting THIS group, a second identical group will appear – only this time stronger and faster, and they will obviously anticipate some of the PCs’ moves! Eventually should the PCs hold out, the animal-oids will capture the Tamarians!

Each time the elephant has captured a character it retreats into a cave, and re-emerges.

14)
a. If the Tamarians and/or some of the PCs have been captured but at least some of the PCs have not, the remaining conscious PCs will need to attempt a rescue. They will find that the cave is sealed, but using an appropriate skill it will be opened on a good roll (or a great or superb roll if it’s an iffy skill!). They find themselves in a biological-appearing corridor, which will lead to the room in c).

b. Any captured PCs awake in a biological cell – MINUS their communicators, weapons, tricorders or any other equipment. Again, an appropriate skill roll will release them on a good roll; a great or superb roll may be required if the skill is less appropriate. Encourage creative solutions! When they escape they find themselves in a corridor. One PC will wake up in the room described in d).

c. Each of the rooms they find here has an organic-looking appearance (like they are inside a digestive organ or similar. A short exploration of the area will locate a large chamber. This chamber will be filled with unusual material – very large quantities thereof. Roll notice.

Average: They fail to identify anything beyond there being a variety of technological and biological items.

Fair: The biological items include identifiable skeletal fragments from probably intelligent races (but none are identifiable). The technology includes some long non-functional personal items, a few fragments of what might have once been a shuttlecraft or two, a console and pieces of clothing.

Good: A few items are identifiable. There are bones and carapaces belonging to a number of types of species that the PCs do not know, but there is one familiar one – a skeleton in the end of the room has cybernetic implants, making it obviously borg! Some of the other technological items are recognisable – a section of starship corridor with attached consoles, a transporter pad (non-functional), a large number of personal devices (none of which work) and some metal pieces.

Great+: A large number of items are readily identifiable. There is a borg skeleton at one end – further examination shows that the borg implants appear not to match those known in today’s borg, and the dry, mummified remains of the corpse seem to indicate that it is very old, possibly even ancient; it might even be the remains of a forerunner of the borg we know today. There are a great variety of bones and carapace fragments, but the borg is the only species which is identifiable (the others may well be so ancient that their species are long-extinct!). There is a vast array of technology here, and whilst none of it is functional there are a few circuits and components which might be usable. Items include the remains of a vehicle, a section of starship corridor with attached consoles, a transporter pad (non-functional), a large number of personal devices (none of which work, but some of which are potentially usable), some metal pieces, a single starfleet communicator badge (obviously taken from one of the PCs or the late doctor!) which has been rendered non-functional and a hand-phaser or similar energy weapon of an unknown configuration (but evidently created by a species with similar hands to a humanoid); it is unclear how much charge it still holds, but the weapon does have a blinking light showing that there is some charge left in its batteries!

PCs should collect as much technology as they can – they will probably need it to enable them to jury rig some kind of communication device.

d. One PC (random selection) will awake on a table, with organic-looking items (think robot arms) doing strange things around them (presumably scanning the PC). A little experimentation will determine that they are unable to move. They are in their uniform (thank heavens for small mercies) but have no equipment. Encourage creativity – if they can come up with an appropriate method of getting out of captivity, reward it, and allow them to wreak havoc in the base! If not, the PC being examined is a reason for the other PCs to have to come and rescue him.

e. It is clear that the aliens are not planning on the PCs getting loose in their base; aside from the occasional samamander running past, there is no sign of security forces. The PCs should be aware that they have a very limited window of opportunity to get by, and should escape as quickly as possible. Again appropriate skills should be used to unlock the door and get out. (If they make too much mess, feel free to throw one or two small defensive critters at them).

15) When the PCs escape captivity, they will see that the coast is clear. There is no sign of the defensive creatures, although a single Hippo is patrolling the area. The PCs need to use their skills to get past; if the Hippo sees them, they will need to fight another set of (small) defensive creatures (GM note – If this happens, HEAVILY nobble the enemies to allow the PCs to get away! ) .

16) Roll for notice. Anything halfway reasonable will result in the PCs noting that there is an area that does not seem to have any creatures walking through it. If the PCs investigate, they will find that there is a zone that (for once) is not generally travelled by the aliens. This is quite close to the area where their pattern enhancers are set up. Further there is a small cave which they may be able to make secure with a little ingenuity. The PCs may now plan how they might be able to contact the starship and get away!

-- Commercial break --

So . . Does that work? Check me.

[Morkonan]

Alrighty . .

The breath before the plunge.

...So . . Does that work? Check me.

This is all great stuff! I really like your idea of "accumulating demerits." Things going on behind the scenes that the players aren't aware of are always great, just so long as the players eventually notice.

1) IMO, there is no such thing as "chance" in a well crafted adventure. IOW, the players may think they can escape from a situation or that they can manipulate what happens to them. Within reason, that's fine. But, as far as the adventure goes, if the players are supposed to go to a place or do something else to advance the story, they get there, somehow, no matter what they do. Making this appear that it is something "natural" to the course of the game, combined with their decisions, is the mark of a Master GM. It appears that you have it covered well. Just make sure that you make it clear - "All roads lead to my dungeon! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

2) Any really juicy storytelling you've got cooked up needs to be told, no matter how stupid your players are. So, make sure that there are opportunities for them to uncover your hard work, even if they fail skills checks. BUT, you also don't have to reward failure. One way to do that is to delay the discovery until it is no longer of any immediate tactical use. So, for instance, if the players don't discover the identity of a lof of the junk/scrap they find, they can't use it to build a comm device, right? Well, then, that means they don't get your juicy bits of backstory you've cooked up. Soooo, what you do is show them how bad they screwed up by giving them that information, later, in another way. For instance, a tricorder scan, which wasn't very informative at first, done by a player (either one of their tricorders was overlooked by stoopid alienze or a rescuing player does the scan), later on the ship, once they've downloaded the scans to their ships computer, they learn the probable identity of some of the items and artifacts if they can make a certain skill check. Hopefully, this time, it'll be one they're good at.

3) LOVE the idea of your kids painting the animals for you! That's great dad-stuff, right there. Take pics for the family scrap book as those moments quickly disappear. I always had problems finding "monster" figures. We generally just used the spare change (coins) I had in a jar to mark them on the big hex map we used. It was the dry-erase kind, so was great for laying out a tactical situation. I wish I had thought of going out and buying a big cheap bag of plastic animal figs. (When I had to have monsters, I'd do some line art and print out monster-counters I'd glue to foam backing-board. When computers became common, that is.)

4) On the refuge. I was thinking about how to explain that sanctuary without using some sort of metaphysical explanation, in case that's not the tack you want to take. In that case, if it's the cave where the Explorer alien's body is, that I had mentioned earlier, then let that alien have cobbled together some sort of field projector. Make it very obvious that he took old and odd bits of stuff he must have found in that earlier dumping ground and, using his own ingenuity, cobbled together a field projector that counteracts the radiation you're using as a "signature/harbinger" sort of device for your planet/system AI. Though his body has long ago become mummified, the projector still has power and works, albeit feebly, to project a counteracting field that forms a sort of dead-space around the immediate locale and one that the planet's critters will normally avoid/bypass. Though, if specifically instructed to do so, they will easily penetrate the field and attack the PCs. The alien just managed to survive, keeping a low profile, foraging for necessities as it could, until it finally died, either to its wounds, through starvation or nutrition or even just isolation. There's no reason why you can't have a bullet-hole through its skull and a pistol laying besides its outstretched hand... Though, if you're going the metaphysical route, with a ghostlike presence communicating with the PCs, I'd let it have died a natural death due to starvation as a suicide would be too distracting. (Or, you can ignore everything about the Explorer, your choice. As always, just offered as fuel for your own ideas.)

5) On the rescue.

I'm reminded of the pilot episode of Star Trek. The crew, attempting to rescue the Captain, is setting up a phaser projector on the surface to blast their way through the lift doors of the alien's little psychic zoo. (Man, that pilot was so badaas. I loved it! It was so gritty and Majel Barret was a damn good First Officer. Anyway...)

The key here is that the audience knows that the captive(s) will have to do something, themselves, in order to escape. IOW - Nobody is actually going to be able to rescue them. Their plight will not be relieved by the knowledge that "rescue will eventually come." That's the human part, the part where the story depicts some inner human strength winning through in the face of opposition. There's also the social aspect as we're social creatures and wouldn't leave our friends to die.

Soooo. Make it very clear that the captives must act on their own, in some way, in order to help affect their rescue. For instance, they don't have a choice - They must either cobble together some comms device so that the other crew can fix their position or they must fight their way to their gear, in order to comm their position. Lastly, even if their crewmates know exactly where they are due to a successful comms, the captives may have to make their way to "higher ground", either get close enough to the surface to meet their rescuers or be transported out or actually reach the surface, escape the tunnels, and await rescue.

It's all very desperate stuff.

The crew wants to rescue them, but they can't set up a phaser projector on the surface, like the old pilot episode, since they'd be under constant, and ever increasing in strength, attacks. They may elect to go spelunking, but it should be clear that the further they go, the more likely they'll be tracked and more baddies will come. (Like stirring an ant's nest)

Meanwhile, your captives are trying to survive, to learn, to make use of what skills and tools they have available in order to somehow escape, either by being able to reach a point where rescue can occur or actually rescue themselves by reaching the point. But, they're under constant threat of discovery and possible dismemberment...


So, now what? Those are awefully high stakes, right? Sure they are. But, they're really not that terrible a problem, really. I mean, sure, they sound ominous, but they're nothing insurmountable. The full power of a starship, maybe two, and all its resources and crew should be able to tape together a solution, right?

Yes, yes they would... if not for the other variable that makes all this of the upmost urgency!

Tick-tock, tick-tock.... (Things get worse.)

In any story with high drama in it, things always get worse. Whenever you're thinking about concocting a story, just like when building an adventure module like this, the one question you ask yourself over and over is "How can things get worse." And then, you make things worse.

Time limits. There's always something dreadful about time limits, whether your trying to answer questions on a five page multiple-choice test and you're only halfway through the first page when you realize that there's only five minutes left on the clock or... you woke up late and have a scheduled lecture in ten minutes at a location that is fifteen minutes from where you live. Time, in several ways, is responsible for more panic attacks than any number of horror movies.

Time sucks and the ticking alarm clock is there to remind us that we only have a limited lifespan on this Earth. All things it eats...

So, how can you make things worse for the players, thus making things so very much more entertaining at the same time? Time restriction!

IOW - The players can't just get lazy and sit around attempting several different solutions. They don't "have time" for that. They have to make decisions, right now, and carry out a hastily constructed plan. Both teams are effected by time limits in some way or, perhaps, one time limit that effects both teams of players. Radiation exposure that will kill everyone unless they can escape to the ship? etc.

So, what would that be? It could be that the ship will have to leave due to xxx within xxx time. What's that threat? Radiation, a space monster coming its way, a damaged ship component, some other requirement like a "warp window" that will clsoe?

That's what I would suggest - To add another element of drama and to keep the players on their toes, always bitching about how tough this module is, but loving every minute of play despite that, they need a new category of threat to heighten the drama. You can't really have too much drama, just so long as the tension gets released with the finale and denouement.

How does that sound to you? Can you introduce that "new threat" of a time limit caused by anything you can dream up? It's all about giving your players a "new heart attack that appears fatal", one which is different than all the previous heart-attacks they've had, so far.

Note: On a tick-tock threat mechanism - Possible suggestion: After some of the crew is captured, the science/medical departments on the ship(s) figure out that the unusual radiation being detected is eventually fatal to humanoid lifeforms. It's not a bad sort of death, really. One's neurons will just eventually turn to mush after xx hours of constant exposure. The ship's shields can block some of it, but the ship will eventually have to leave orbit. (A mechanism you can abuse/strengthen as necessary) Because of this, after xx hours on the planet, under this sort of exposure, the crew will die. PPE will help, a little bit, for those able to use it. But, the captured crew has no such luxury and can't shield themselves from this particular hazard. (Just an example, you can probably think of a more appropriate time threat.)

[Usenko]

Heh, I forgot to mention - I will be using the derelict, but I want to have the crew back together before that, so the "Derelict ship inside the asteroid where we happen to be seeking shelter" trope is the one I intend to use.

Thank you for reminding me about the time-pressure thing. It's actually there, but I didn't make an issue of it (the PCs are already pretty cognizant of it).

The Hyperonic radiation does 2 jobs:

1) It prevents beam up without a complicated procedure, which requires a person with a high engineering skill and some equipment (specifically pattern-enhancer beacons). They have one such person (the Chief Engineer) and the beacons - but unknown to the crew, the site where the beacons are set up, the Crater, is now occupied by two of the second highest level defence creatures (plastic toy dragons! ) and, if they're really unlucky, two gosh-darn-near invisible creatures (actual GAMING MINIATURES - transparent plastic hellhounds!). So to get away they'll need to do some serious combat and/or other clever stuff. Oh, and the hyperonic radiation levels are climbing, so the Engineer will need better and better rolls . . .

2) It ALSO has an effect of gradually damaging the players in a non-specified way. You suggested turning neurons to mush - I like it. And I have thought of a mechanism for it - randomly asking players to re-roll successful skill checks! The more radiation, the more re-rolls . . .

[Usenko]

Oh, and another minor detail:

After a lot of umming and ahing, I decided on the best way to handle the "Two Ship" problem. To whit: A line in the second Captain's Log: "The Tamarian ship has warped away, leaving the exchange team aboard the Tamworth."

Yes, a bit hand-wavy, but the PCs all accepted it.

(One[1] grinned and said "Nice handwave." )

[1] This guy is, like me, a dedicated TV Tropes reader. . . .

[Morkonan]

... You suggested turning neurons to mush - I like it. And I have thought of a mechanism for it - randomly asking players to re-roll successful skill checks! The more radiation, the more re-rolls . . .

Awesome! I love playing games with player's minds like that. A "secret" dice-roll behind the DM's screen, the clickity-clack of the dice determining some unknown fate, a snigger from the DM, a furtive scribble with the pencil... "Oh, yes, everything's fine, don't pay any attention to that. So, what was that again about trying to sneak into this castle?"

...Yes, a bit hand-wavy, but the PCs all accepted it. ..

"Yeah, yeah, we get it. So, now for the adventure and the phat lewtz!"

On the derelict in the asteroid - Everything there can be handled just the same as you would if it was the last resting place of the Explorer somewhere in the underground warren, no probs.

A note on devious trickery and terrifying players:

You know that radiation thing? The little dice-rolls and such? The looming danger?

Looming danger is cool, but it can wear people out.

ie:

"Winter is coming!" Yeah, yeah, we know... friggin "Winter is coming" every friggin day... What's for friggin breakfast?

"She has dragons and she's going to invade Westeros!" Yeah, yeah, friggin dragons invading Westeros, again. What's for breakfast?

So, when the players are stressed over something else, not when they're calm or lazing about, only when they're stressed, you inject them with adrenalin by making a "random" dice-roll, write a quick number or something down on a piece of paper, then, through whatever in-character means seems most appropriate, announce that there has been a radiation burst and the players have received an extra dose...

It doesn't mean anything. They aren't going to ever be killed by that radiation, since it's not something that is fully within their power to effect. (IF they could easily prevent their own death, then they can die. If they can't, then it's very unlikely they'd die.)

But, it'll scare the bejeebus out of them, right when they're already anxious.

Lead up to it by doing random rolls, from time to time, during the next session. Space them out a bit. Put a post-it note or something in front of you to remind yourself to do it, since it's hard to remember that sort of thing. They'll get used to you rolling, but won't know what it's for. (For myself, I'd roll randomly fairly often, sometimes joking that it was for no reason other than to make them nervous. But, only sometimes joking...

If they try to determine how bad their situations is due to radiation and how much more they can take, the random bursts will quickly let them know that there is no way they can predict how much longer they can survive.

PPS - LOL! Those transparent figs! Pure gold and a nice find, to be sure.

[Usenko]

'Twas a good night!

I had no voice, so it was rough going. But even so, everyone was having fun.

Of course things didn't go to plan. The asteroid field I put on the star map to block the Tamworth crew from heading the wrong way? Nope. They heard "you go half speed if you head that way," they said "Righto, that works!" and headed that way.

Even adding extra asteroids to make the belt even more impassable failed to bother them (I had my "GM is shamelessly cheating!" grin all over my face).

Eventually, rather than try to railroad them into going the direction I wanted them to go, the Constructor simply appeared at a different location. I was wondering if they'd be suspicious that they hadn't seen it before, but they didn't seem to notice.

The whole asteroid encounter took a lot less time than I thought, so instead of simply leaving them face to face with the quiescent Constructor, I allowed them to have a battle with it. They fought it quite smart - Rather than just trying to shoot at it, they chose not to provoke it, and when it was clearly trying to destroy them, they first tried to shoot the rocks it was flinging. When that didn't stop it, they then tried minimal force - on an unbelievably good roll, the Science officer was able to pinpoint the source of the tractor beams on the surface of the rock, and the Tactical officer matched that with equally good rolls. I could have cheated, but I figured that it was probably good to give them a victory. And since I wanted to head planetside anyway, rather than prolong the encounter, the Constructor suddenly developed a runaway plasma resonance (prompting the crew to use a previously untried power, "Warp Jump." ) and exploded.

They're going to be highly disappointed next time they face one of these things - they probably think that its weak spot is the tractor beam. They might not suspect that the thing detonated its own internal reactor in an attempt to destroy them before they discovered too much!

Whilst the asteroid encounter took less time than expected, the ground encounter took a lot longer, so we hadn't completed it before one of the guys had to get his bus home. That's okay, though - next episode should be mostly about getting the crew back together.

[Morkonan]

That's awesome! Great job!

Sometimes, actions take longer than expected. Little things crop up, the players get distracted or an unexpected encounter or discovery can side-track gameplay. It's all good, though. The only thing that matters is whether or not everyone has a good time!

Though, with my crew, even the simplest, most obviously mundane activity can take several hours... This is, partially, a true story. Seriously. No foolin'.

< * A bit overboard. Sorry, was offline and didn't look at word-count. Safe to ingore. I should buy another copy of X3TC to fund my postings... Parsed out the stage direction, so that helped. >



"You step through the door. Roughly hewn walls of stone line the corridor stretching West to meet what appears to be a heavy oaken door about fifty paces ahead. The elaborate brass fittings are just like the ones you read about. This must be the Treasury door mentioned on the map!" said the Dungeon Master.

"I use my Detect Traps ability!" said the Rogue.

"I check the walls near us for secret doors," said the Mage.

"I ready my bow, just in case," said the Ranger.

"I cast Detect Evil!" said the Paladin.

"I prepare my axe for combat," said the Warrior.

"I mutter a short prayer to my god and then dig around in my pack for some rations. Praying is hard work," said the Cleric.

<dice rolls>


"OK. There don't appear to be any secret doors near you. There are no enemies that you can see. There doesn't appear to be any evil nearby. Your god is pleased with you and you munch upon a <dice roll> nice bit of dried jerky, Cleric. However, the Rogue does spot what appears to be a small pile of muck nestled against the South wall of the corridor.

"Hey, everybody, I found something! OK, I pull out my dagger and sneak up to the muck to examine it. If it moves, I'm ready," said the Rogue.

"I ready my Fireball spell and cast a simple Light cantrip on my staff, so we can see the thing better," said the Mage.

"You can't ready a spell and cast another," said the DM.

"It's a cantrip! I can cast those at any time. Besides, we're not in combat, so it doesn't matter," said the Mage.

"OK, whatever." replied the DM. "What about the rest of you?"

"Is it at Point Blank range? If so, I get an Attack Bonus!" said the Ranger.

"Yes," said the DM. "It's at Point Blank range."

"Awesome! I'm gonna nail that sucker," said the Ranger.

"Are you going to attack it?" asked the DM.

"No, but I'm ready to. I should get another bonus for that."

"You're not in combat, yet, so it doesn't matter," stated the DM.

"But it will!"

"I'm going to raise my Holy Symbol, in case it's evil," said the Paladin. "Oh, and I also ready my +5 Holy Avenger sword."

"Fine, you do that. Next?"

"I stand by the Rogue, in case it tries to jump him," said the Warrior. "I also ready my shield. If it attacks, I am declaring that I will try to shield the Rogue in the first combat round!"

"That's cool of you, bro. Thanks." said the Rogue.

"No probs," said the Warrior.

"OK, while these two are loving it up, I'm going to ready my mace. How was the jerky, by the way?"

"The jerky was fine, Cleric," said the DM. "OK, let's see what we have, here"

<dice roll>


"Rogue, you think you snuck up on it. The muck is only a hand or so high. It's brown and it doesn't appear to be moving at the moment."

"Holy crap, it's a Brown Slime! Those things are deadly!" said the Rogue.

"I jump in front of the Rogue," said the Warrior. "Remember, I told you before combat started I was going to do that, so the Rogue should get some AC bonus in case he's attacked."

"But, nothing has happened, yet. Are you initiating a combat round?" asked the DM.

"Well, no. But, like I told you before, I'm ready to protect the Rogue."

"I'm not going to attack or cast anything, yet, but I'm going to be ready too. So, I should get an initiative bonus," said the Mage.

"We aren't rolling initiative, yet," said the DM. "It's just sitting there and nobody has declared an attack. And, you wouldn't get a bonus, anyway."

"Dangit."

"I'm going to shoot it with my +5 Arrow of Piercing," declared the Ranger. "That should give it a bad day!"

"OK, well now we have to roll for-"

"Wait a sec," warned the Rogue. "If it's Brown Slime, you'll lose that arrow. Brown Slime eats metal!"

"Uh, OK, I won't use that. I'll use a regular arrow."

"Too late, roll for initiative," commands the DM.

<dice roll amidst player moans>


"We got a two! We got the drop on it for sure!" says the Rogue.

"Yes, you won the initiative. The arrow slices into the muck and pieces of it splatter against the wall. But it's still there."

"OK, I jump in front of the Rogue, like I told you I was going to do," said the Warrior. "He should get an AC bonus and I'm pretty well armored, so I should be fine for now."

"Yes, he gets an Armor Class bonus for this round," states the DM.

"Coolios! OK, I'm going to Backstab it," declares the Rogue. "That's going to be +4 to hit."

"It doesn't have a 'back.'"

"What? No way, it has to be facing us, right? So, whatever bit isn't facing us is it's 'back!'" said the Rogue.

"That's not how that works. It doesn't have a front, either, so it can't -"

"STOP I call time-out!" yells the Paladin. He holds up the Player's Handbook. "It say's right here, on page 58, that 'a Paladin's "Detect Evil" spell is always successful.'"

"That's right," said the DM. "But, I told you that you didn't detect any evil nearby."

"AHA!" The Paladin pulls out the Monster Manual. "It says right here on page 37 that Brown Slimes are Neutral Evil! So, my Detect Evil should have detected that Brown Slime and you didn't let me do that!"

"I told you that you didn't detect any Evil, though, and you didn't," said the DM.

"Huh. Well, OK then," said the Paladin. "But, next time, you have to tell me that my Detect Evil ability works, 'cause you're not making that clear."

The DM sighs. "But, the Player's Handbook" already says that a Paladin's Detect - "

"I cast a Fireball at it," states the Mage. He picks up six hit dice and rolls them across the table.


"JUST WAIT A MINUTE," yells the Cleric. "Just wait one darn minute." He looks at the DM. "He didn't do that."

"Yes I did."

"OK, wait a second, let's get this right," calms the DM. "Cleric, you're the Party Leader, so what do you want to say?"

"Look. The blast radius of that Fireball is going to be at least twenty feet," said the Cleric. "We're in a ten foot wide corridor, right?"

"Yes, that's right. The corridor is around ten feet wide, give or take a foot. It's roughly hewn stone," states the DM. "I think I see where you're going with this."

"That's right! So, there's no way this Mage is going to cast a Fireball spell in a closet and that's exactly what this place is, just one long closet. He'd cook us all."

"Look, I got three spells left, here - Fireball, Comprehend Languages and friggin' Breathe Water. What the crap am I gonna do with 'Breath Water?'"

"Breathe Water, idiot," said the Rogue.

"Screw you," said the Mage. "At least you can do something."

"Damn skippy, I can. Rogues are cool."

"Look, mage, I'll let you not cast the Fireball, but you'll have to lose your combat round. I'll give you an AC bonus, though," said the DM.

"Friggin' fine, whatever," said the Mage.

"OK, that leaves the Cleric."

"Well, if it's a Brown Slime, it'll mess up my mace, so I'll cast "Bless" instead," said the Cleric.

"OK, but you should have stated that at the beginning of the combat round. You cast Bless, but the bonuses won't go into effect until the next round."

"That's fine, we're OK for now and it'll give us an AC bonus, at least."

"Hey, I get to do something, right?" asked the Paladin.

"Yes. Technically, you haven't done anything yet this round, so it's your turn," said the DM. "What do you do?"

"OK, my sword is a +5, so it should get a bonus against the Slime's metal attack thingie. I'm going to hit it!"

"Fine. You hit it and a piece of it flies down the hall," says the DM. "That's everyone, so it's its turn." <dice roll> "It does nothing. It just sits there, with bits of it scattered about."


"Maybe it's friendly," says the Mage. "Ha! I'm going to cast Comprehend Languages and tell it we mean it no harm."

"That's really not quite how that works," says the DM.

"But, remember? We talked about that! Otherwise, Comprehend Languages would be stupid!"

"LOl, figures.." said the Rogue.

"Didn't I tell you to screw off?" said the Mage. "Want me to cast that Fireball, anyway?"

"OK, stop it," commanded the DM. "Fine! Mage, you cast Comprehend Languages and say that you mean it no harm. It says nothing."

"Are we in a new combat round, yet?" asks the Paladin.

"Technically, yes," states the DM. "But, it's just sitting there, so if you want to attack it again, you won't have to roll for initiative."

"A free attack! I murder the thing with my dagger," said the Rogue.

"Wait a second, guys," said the Cleric. "DM, this thing hasn't moved or anything yet, right?"

"That is correct."

"OK. Rogue, instead of attacking it, take a closer look at it. Warrior, cover him with your shield. Ranger, get ready with your bow. Paladin, you be ready to attack it again and I'll get ready, too."

"What about me?" asked the Mage.

"Uh, you get ready to hit it with your staff or something," answered the Cleric.

"Friggin' fine. Stupid Mages. I should have rolled a Bard..."


"OK, you guys get your plan together and everyone is ready." <dice roll> "The Rogue takes a closer look and doesn't detect anything unusual. <dice roll> "It does, however, smell a bit like poo."

"WTF? Poo?"

"Yes, it smells like poo," said the DM.

"Hey, guys, it's poo!" laughs the Rogue. "Better watch out, Mage, it's gonna get ya!"

"F' off. I swear I'm going to learn how to turn you into something unpleasant one of these days."

"Ha ha hah, 'learn' Don't make threats you can't keep, your wizardship."

"He's already unpleasant," said the Paladin.

"Hey, I didn't say nothing about you, Mr. Clean with Poo on his 'Holy Sword.'"

"You're lucky I'm Lawful Good," said the Paladin. "But, that doesn't mean my character has to put up with your crap."

"Yeah, but you're the one covered in crap," said the Rogue. "So, who's laughing now, poo-boy?"

"Shut it, guys, the DM is getting 'that look,' said the Cleric. "Howabout it, DM? We OK to move on?"

"Sure, it's just a pile of poo. Sitting there. Well, mostly sitting there, since bits of it are scattered into other 'wheres.'"


"Yeah, yeah, funny. OK, we're moving on another ten feet, people," stated the Cleric. "Guys?"

"Yeah, I'm ready. I'm going to do the Secret Door detection this time," said the Rogue.

"Wait a damn minute!" demanded the Mage. "I'm the only Elf here and I can't do crap right now other than Elf stuff because Mages suck and Elves can detect Secret Doors, too, so I should be the one doing it."

"LOL. Mages suck," taunts the Rogue. "And, you're an Elf. Why the heck don't you have a bow, elf'gololalas?"

"F' OFF!"

"Shut up," warned the Cleric. "We don't have time for this."

"I didn't start it," muttered the Rogue.

"I'm going to nock another arrow," said the Ranger. "A regular one!"

"And, I'm going to ready my shield again, just like last time, OK?"

"Fine. The Rogue will get an AC bonus, 'just like last time,'" said the DM.

"Sweet! That's so cool!"

"OK DM, we move to the next square," says the Cleric. "And, guys, about that poo - At least we didn't step in it."


"I cast Detect Evil!"

[Usenko]

That sounds remarkably similar to our travel through the Asteroid field last night.

(Complete with occasional discussions regarding the difference between Hollywood Asteroids and Real Asteroids - we have sciency people in our group. ).

[Usenko]

Okay.

Wednesday night we are continuing. I think we've enough ground-based material to keep us going all the way.

However, I need to bring in some more space story.

A broad version of where I'm thinking of taking it:

* The Tamworth manages to make contact with the crew once they've got some junk to gaffer-tape and cable-tie together.

* The hyperonic radiation is now intense enough that 1) the crew are starting to have weird hallucinations (random creatures appearing and disappearing) and make impaired decisions (forced re-rolls of successful skill checks) and 2) It's nearly impossible to transport to a ship in orbit.

* The only way to rescue the away team is for the ship to go into the atmosphere. This is risky, but what choice do we have? The players make skill checks - Conn must make a successful roll to bring the ship to the right place, Captain must roll successfully to add some skill points to any unsuccessful rolls, Ops must beam the crew on board, Science must roll to find some kind of protection against the radiation, Engineering rolls to adjust the Pattern Buffers.

* The away team are recovered. So we can now set to warp factor 9 and ENGAGE! Only no we can't. The radiation has mongulated the Warp engines, and they need to be taken off-line and recalibrated entirely. And two constructors arrive in the region.

* The crew must escape somehow. They come up with a once-only method of distracting them. They need to park in the Asteroid belt for a time whilst the emergency repairs are made. They see a hollow in an asteroid - looks like the place!

* After some appropriately thrilling moments, the Tamworth is brought into the hollow. The crew are able to detect an unfamiliar beacon nearby. After some searching they find themselves in a narrow canyon, where they come across the derelict spacecraft. The emergency beacon is still sending its summons after millions of years!
(A smart science officer MAY realise that the frequency being used by the emergency beacon is somehow undetectable to the PSC aliens . . .)

And we'll explore the wreck next episode!

[Usenko]

And while we're at it . . .

Today I had a look a the miniatures available for a new re-launch of the Star Trek RPG. I'm happy with our FATE based system, but the figures are SWEET. And since I would REALLY like an excuse to buy some of those Klingons . . . .

I was thinking of a possible direction for the NEXT campaign. Probably over a year away, but you can't get planning too early!

Here's the off-beat suggestion:

--Begin Blurb--

Episode 3: The Games are Afoot

The Klingon Empire and the Federation are at peace again. A shaky, not-entirely-trusting kind of peace, but at least nobody's actively shooting at each other.

As a show of good faith, this year's All-Galaxy Fleet Games are to be held at Q'onos (for any non-Trekkies reading, this is the Klingon Homeworld).

In this event, held once per decade, fleets from all over the Galaxy are coming to complete. The Cardassians, the Bajorans, Starfleet (with a combined team and also teams playing as Vulcans, Humans, Bolians, Tellarites, whatever) have sent teams. Even the Romulans have managed to scrape together enough people from the rubble of their homeworlds to field a team for most events.

Although the Tamworth is a beaten up old tub, she has a record that's nearly a century old. She may be outgunned, but she's never been outrun over the short-course Impulse Sprint - and her Engineering team are continually upgrading the Impulse engines to keep it that way. She will compete once again in the Starship division of the Games. The Crew are all pretty excited!

But soon excitement will be the last thing on their minds as the crew of the Tamworth find themselves fighting to clear the name of the Chief Conn officer, who the Klingons have accused of a murder he did not commit- and with the finals of the starship just days away, they don't have long to do it!

[Morkonan]

....But soon excitement will be the last thing on their minds as the crew of the Tamworth find themselves fighting to clear the name of the Chief Conn officer, who the Klingons have accused of a murder he did not commit- and with the finals of the starship just days away, they don't have long to do it!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf_in_the_Fold

I loved this episode. It wasn't so much for the story, which was also excellent, but it was for the "gotcha" moment and turning the idea of a simple "whodunnit" on its head, introducing a "fantastic" element in the non-corporeal alien that may have even been "Jack the Ripper." It was friggin awesome!

Side-note: I created a fantasy rpg character (Powers & Perils, a frpg I played alongside of playing D&D, from time to time) named "Re'gek" which was based on this idea. Translated to D&D, he became "Red Jack," a sadistic, evil, little bartard... the quiet "murder you in your sleep just 'cause i feel like it" sort. A really evil little man. It wasn't easy to play him as i kinda don't like that sort of thing. BUT, it always makes for a good story! Red Jack is the guy you don't want to know. You don't want him in your adventuring party. He's the guy that slits open the bellies of puppies just to hear their last whimper. He's the guy that sneaks into the tent of the princess your group just rescued so he can gag her and dig out her eyeballs with a rusty spoon. If you want someone murdered, tortured, eaten, or to have disgusting, unsettling things done to, things that would make Poe and Lovecraft say "Damn, that's disgusting", then you tell Red Jack to do it... IF he feels like it, that is. He might think it's a great idea, but decide he wants to do it now, instead of waiting, and since you're the closest object around...Disgusting little man, who probably really isn't human.

So, anyway, while TOS episodes are wonderful, everyone knows 'em. I'm sure you can recite line-by-line alongside the actors for a bunch of TOS episodes, just like some of your players can. The trick is, of course, making this "episode" different.

With a contest that has rules, what's the worst thing that can happen? Somebody cheats, of course.

The highest stakes are life and death. Well, kinda... Actually, the highest stakes are what you make them out to be. Constructed properly, any story you're telling about "high stakes" drama can focus on just about anything, provided you build it up to actually be the highest stakes in that story. In college/university - exploitation movies, where the drama of student's lives is acted out, the highest stakes are an "exam" score or "graduation" or "successful romance in a new, complicated, world of adolescent transition into adulthood." Or... whatever.

You can make taking out the garbage, successfully, to be the most important thing in a character's life, more important than even their own life.

What's the "highest stakes" for a Klingon?

Honor.

So, we have humans, with the highest stakes most often being life and death, and the Klingons, being completely being honor-driven, and a contest, with cheating being the most dramatic, stake-inducing, risk.

See the story, yet?

But, it's just a race! A Klingon can even admire cheating, a little bit, but this is something that is bound by "rules" that have to be followed in order to retain honor. Even so, Klingon's admire resourcefulness and devious thinking, just so long as the results aren't underhanded or dishonorable. Personal sacrifice is a plus, too.

What I'm thinking - There will be a race. Somehow, a Klingon is murdered. The reason for this is that Klingon's death will somehow give their ship an advantage. But, more importantly, there's a greater plot involved that meshes well with the outcome of the race, so the motivation isn't just "to win the race" but something larger, more worthy of such a sacrifice. The Klingon's death might be arranged to purposefully implicate the crewmember OR that may be only incidental and the accusation and possible trial is only a red-herring that you've engineered to bring the players into the story. "Hey, look guys, I found a body!" "You must be the murderer!"

I'm not sure which I like best, either the purposeful implication/framing of the crewmember as murderer or the incidental involvement which leads to the accusation of murder. In either case, the murder only acts to reveal the larger plot - "We came here to participate in a race, we ended up getting involved in a giant plot to steal Q's left sock in order to open a portal to Hell so a demon could return home in order to bring it's lover a sandwich... made of human souls!"

Yeah, that probably wouldn't work. But, you get the idea.

OK, so...

1) What are the "rules" of the race. They'll have to be given to the players so they can plan for them, sort of like a "rules within rules" guide for them to construct their strategy. For instance, let's say you have ten rules that must be followed with the goal to get the ship from x to y in the fastest time. Within those rules, the players can assign particular crew, other players, to make "skill checks" in order to give them a bonus for that phase of the race. They'll plan out what each one will do, based upon their traits. They may have a point pool that has to expended, placing additional restrictions upon them. (They can't just have one player continuously making "stamina checks" in order for them to win a footrace.)

The course comes into play, as well, as needed, in order to bring to bear the talents of all the player's characters. Want to get a player to participate, but they're only a scan-tech? Asteroids on the course! Need "Medical" to get involved? The race will last thirty hours. (The history behind the race is much like that of the "Marathon." An ancient Klingon ship raced back home to warn the Klingon homeworld of an impending attack or to spread the news of a victory. The ship's comms were destroyed, but its crew stayed awake for days in order to complete their mission. Once completed, the chief engineer collapsed and died.) So, medications to keep the crew alert are not allowed, but medical monitoring is and the medical officer is allowed to give medications to ailing crew within a strict limit. Skillchecks are conducted in which the penalty for failure is the collapse of that crewmember. etc..

2) What is a sufficient reason for a Klingon to sacrifice their life for "honor" that could also involve this race? It doesn't have to specifically involve the goal of the race, such as winning it. But, for whatever reason, this Klingon's death is tied to the involvement of the crew being in the race, either directly or just incidentally. He could be a crewmember of a competing ship and that's why the character is implicated in his death. Or, he could be not immediately associated with the race, but it's found out later that he was. Or, he could have nothing at all to do with it, but it's discovered that he is involved in some other plot and the accusation of the crewmember was only incidental to his actual involvement.

3) How can the stakes be raised even higher?

A bomb is found on the ship and the only way to prevent it from killing everyone is for the ship to win the race? (Upping the stakes, but by increasing the importance of the original goal, which is always tasty if done right.) Or, the ship isn't allowed comms during the race and their comms system must be disabled (Key components are removed.) Warp engines are disabled as well. (matter-antimatter converter/whatever is removed) "Race officials" are present to observe, but they have no comms, either. (They can be used to interact with in order to further the plot while the ship is racing to the finish.) However, in the middle of the race, the crew finally figures out that the entire Klingon council, which is present at the "finish line" will be assassinated. Unfortunately, this will occur about five hours before they could arrive at the finish line, no matter how hard they push their engines. In order to save the council, they'd have to do the impossible - Beat the record by an unheard of margin!

Could success actually mean failure? An unwinnable situation that presents the crew with a dilemma - If they succeed, they fail, since their victory will ultimately mean bad things will happen or some other "loss" will occur. Victory means they will be accused of cheating and that means the Klingons will declare war against the Federation...etc. So, to "win", in that scenario, they must "lose." However, if they lose... someone will die. An assassination attempt was made upon one of the crew by a race official/observer who was not all that he appeared to be.. The crewmember will not survive if the ship doesn't win the race (Time element), since the only medical facilities capable of saving their life are at the station at the end of the race. In order to save their life, they have to win, but if they win, they'll really lose, but if they don't win, someone will die, which means they ultimately lose, anyway...

Or, maybe there really is a bomb on board? It was activated when the dilithium injectors were removed and all dilitium was removed from the ship. In order to diffuse the bomb, dilithium must be inserted into an injector again. But, in order to get their injector back, they have to get to the finish line. The bomb is due to go off about five hours before they could possibly finish the race, even with record-setting time. And, if they win, and save their own lives in the process, the Klingons will accuse them of cheating and go to war with the Federation. If they lose, they all die... The bomb is part of a device that is meant to be found in their ship's wreckage. It will be then claimed that the device was being used by them in order to cheat.

4) What sort of experiences do you want the players to have? What sort of new things do you want them to discover and interact with? What Klingon-things do you want them to experience?

You're reading a story about a ship that crashlands on an alien planet. In order for the survivors to be rescued, they must make it to a lone observation outpost their people have established. However, in order to do that, they must traverse thousands of kilometers of hostile wilderness. And, in order to do that, they must get help from hostile aliens who's primary interest is killing them...

As the reader, what do you expect to encounter in this story? Well, you're going to look forward to experiencing this planet, the survival elements the characters encounter in its wilderness and the new flora and fauna that are interesting and unique from your own experience or even what you could imagine for yourself. And, you're also really looking forward to learning about these hostile aliens, learning what their culture is like, learning how they're dangerous and how they could help the stranded survivors. How are the survivors going to convince the aliens to help them while the aliens are gnawing on their legs?

However, the writer sucks. So, instead of all the juicy new bits, you get aliens that aren't "alien", a hostile environment full of vegetarian fauna, flora that is not described in the least, a long walk in the park instead of a hostile journey and absolutely nothing new for you, as the reader, to experience in what is supposed to be the "survival on an alien world" experience you expected, but turned out to be a story that could have just as well have taken place on Earth in the present day, maybe with a kindergarten class on a field-trip to a petting zoo...

So, you've got Klingons. The players are going to expect to become intimately familiar with Klingon culture in some ways, or at least some aspects of it. They're going to expect to have to manipulate it or work within its cultural rulesets in order to achieve their goal. Maybe they're excited about learning about Klingon combat rituals and trying out their skills with the batleth <sp>? Or, maybe they all want to be sailors on shore-leave and experience the wonders, and personal pains, of Klingon mating rituals?

In any event, you've got to steep the players in Klingon culture. It's something they'll expect, unless they've been intimately involved in it before. And, if that's the case, then you need new Klingon cultural bits for them to explore, learn about and to manipulate or work within in order to achieve their goals.

In conclusion - Whatever it is, it isn't going to be what the players expect. The "win scenario" they're working towards will either not really be what they think it is or it will end up being a seemingly impossible conundrum they'll have to figure out for themselves. Win the game and lose their own souls or lose the game and their own lives? "Honor" is an important Klingon theme, so it'll have to be everywhere, as well. They'll expect that. The TNG series did a lot with Klingon politics, so they may expect that, too. The Murder is important, but whether or not the crewmember was purposefully framed or only incidentally charged is even more revealing. Plots within plots...

PS - Or, maybe the crewmember really did murder someone?

PPS - The alien entity infusing the ship is a sort of "cheat." In an honor-driven moment, inspired by all the honor he sees around him, pressured by the humbling feeling of seeing so much honor flowing from all these honorable Klingon race officials, after reading Horatio Hornblower stories for a week, straight, over and over, in an award-winning intimate moment in which he gives a soliloquy worthy of Othello, the Captain orders the entity to not interfere at all, not one little bit, not even a smidgen, in the ship's performance during the race. Of course, this will appear to be a fatal mistake, since the only thing that they had which could have possibly be used by them to win the race, or save their own lives, has been taken away from them by a hasty decision, made with the best intentions... My ex-wife always said, "The road to Hell is paved with the best intentions."

[Morkonan]

Wow, i really post quite often on O.T. these days...

OK, how's this plot:

The crew's ship is eligible to participate in the Impulse Drive Race event, due to past victories, long ago. It has a "buy."

But, it has been decades since it was considered "modern" and things have changed a bit. Sure, ships get refitted, but you can only polish an old shoe so much, no matter how comfy it is. Starfleet would like the ship to enter the race, for nostalgia reasons and because the competitor is a descendant of the same captain that was the ship's adversary in the past. Both the Feds and Klingons would like to see those exciting races re-run.

But, the Feds have their doubts, so they want the ship to race a "qualifying run." Their sparring partner is going to be Captain Jerkweed, the biggest jerk in the galaxy, only second to the guy that invented "childproof caps" which aren't really "childproof", just a gimmick to sell more blood-pressure medicine...

OK, Captain Jerkweed is just there to give the players some flavor experiences, for them to have fun with and for them to enjoy beating in the race. Ship's Impulse engines are calibrated to match each other and the players get a dry-run practice at "how to race at Impulse speeds."

"Fair Impulse Racing Rules"

1) All dilithium crystals are removed from all ships using them or engines are otherwise brought offline. Without warp crystals to properly focus the power for the warp field, there's no point in turning them on anyway. That doesn't mean they can't be powered up, though, it just means that doing so is a bad idea.

2) Comms systems are disabled so that the ship can't receive FTL information about their competitor during the race.

3) All shuttles have their warp engines and comm systems disabled as well.

4) All weapons are locked out, just in case someone is a sore loser...

5) Ship's sensors are limited to passive scans, only, simulating the same conditions that the Klingon Heroes, who are the inspiration for this "Marathon" faced.

6) During the three-day race, the crew is not allowed to sleep. Medical attention can be provided in life-threatening situations, but any crewmember that can't stay awake without medical stimulants will be disqualified from participating. Again, part of the history. (Coffee and other natural, foodborn, substances are fine, but must be approved. I don't know what a bunch of Klingons hyped up on Klingon-coffee would be like after three days... )

7) The crew can plot their course however they wish, just so long as it ends at the finish line. (Plotting a course to one of the nearby Klingon worlds or outposts would probably end up with them being greeted with very large explosions, a bright lite at the end of a tunnel, and then Saint Peter asking them questions about what they did that one time when they thought nobody was watching...)

8 ) They can use any of the ship's systems available to them, within certain rules, just so long as they don't attempt to increase the maximum output of their calibrated Impulse drive units. They can, for instance, try to use their shields in inventive ways, maybe try to use a tractor beam to get a bit more speed by pulling on nearby asteroids, use passive sensors (telescopes?) to plot hair-raising close-calls of planets in order to gain a bit more momentum from gravitational assists, etc.. (Think of it like a present day regatta. Characterize it like that to your players.)

9) Cheating will be met with phaser-blasts or boiling oil, whichever comes first. (The players are warned by the Feds, telling them the history of this event is taken very seriously by the Klingons.)

10) Whatever additional rules you want to use that cause discomfort and panic among your players...

The cultural history of the Impulse-Drive Marathon - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marathon

Basically, this. A revered Klingon ship that was at a battle rushes to the Klingon homeworld to tell its people of their victory. It was a primitive ship, of course, and the Klingons have been in space a very long time. It had limited technolgy and that is reflected in the restrictions placed upon modern-day competitors. Once the ship arrived and informed the Klingon Empire that the fleet had been victorious over their hated enemy, several of the ship's crew, including the Captain and Engineer, died due to exhaustion. This is the inspiration behind this specific Impulse Marathon and it is a very revered event in Klingon culture.

(If the Impulse Marathon is a normal games event, then this is the version the Klingons have insisted on. Tney want it to be a re-enactment of this heroic tale and they, themselves, run this sort of race in their own games. This was agreed to by the Feds, since they're looking to encourage cooperation and peace, the lousy milksops... )

Returning to our story:

The players win and are scheduled to compete. Captain Jerkweed can be brought back at your convenience whenever you need a professional, paid, "Captain Jerkweed" antagonist for the players to groan about.

Meanwhile, back at the tribble ranch...

A Klingon of a disgraced house hatches a plan. In order to get revenge against the house that revealed his to be a traitor, he is going to assassinate their "rising star", the captain of the Klingon ship and the player's ultimate competitor. But, he also wants to doom the Klingon Empire. He feels that they are cowards for seeking peace with the Federation and that justifies his house's traitorous ways, long ago. Some Klingons sympathetic to this may actually look more favorably on his house's actions in the past, even though that house is now shunned.

His plan is simple: (Well, not-so-simple...)

The player's ship will be boarded by Klingon race-inspectors as well as Federation reps using two Klingon shuttles. They, along with a Fed delegation, will inspect and calibrate the Impulse engines so that the race is fair. There will be a ceremony on-board, to welcome all, and to toast the cooperative, peaceful, efforts of both sides.

The Klingon, let's call him "Dippy teh Swuft"... or just "Dippy," will take the place of one of the Klingon shuttle pilots (he'll murder the one scheduled to fly that day) and will sneak on-board using that means. (The players can't prevent this) He will install three mechanisms:

Control Module - Uses a unique, alien (Something other than Klingon, maybe Romulan) device that will act as a timer/control module for the other devices. Locate it someplace really weird. It has a special directional transmitter that lines up with receiving modules, so it's difficult to detect, if not impossible.

Power-coupling Device 1 - Tied into a life-support power-reserve node, designed to slowly siphon off power to life-support systems and to cut the main power coupling for life-support regulator nodes. Critical system, probably heavily redundant on newer ships, not so much redundancy for the player's old ship...

Power-coupling Device 2 - Time for Jeffries-tube adventure! Ladder-climbing skill check... The device is connected to warp-engine power distribution node. It is designed to disrupt power distribution if warp-engines are activated, producing an imbalance that will tear the ship apart. Even if warp engines aren't used, the device is set to activate the power node, even if the main control module is deactivated, and will produce an overdrive situation, either propelling the ship into another dimension from which they can't escape or... sending them all into Heaven... 50/50

The saboteur is more easily able to get access to these areas by impersonating a race official, when other officials aren't necessarily around or paying attention. Nobody cares what a taxi-driver does when he's not driving.

He also has help!

One of the race officials is in league with Dippy. His house is sympathetic to the House of Swuft... They also want war and a change in the Council. He helps Dippy infiltrate the delegation as the "pilot." He also is a true official and one of his duties is to make sure that certain systems, which could be abused, are "locked out" at the time of the race. To manage this, the race has decreed that these systems will have a lock-out code assigned and can only be activated in case of emergency. Each system has a code that is only known to one race official. This particular spy's role is to oversee the lock-out of the ship's comm systems, so they can't be used to receive FTL message updates on the competitor's position, speed, status, etc.

The thing is, this guy is the one that will, indeed, be killed by one of the crew (players).

Dippy has a "Stage Two" part of his plan. He has a Federation Photon Torpedo detonator. After he leaves the player's ship, piloting the shuttle as expected, he will take the Federation delegation to the Klingon ship. There, he will place the torpedo detonator as well as a timing/control module in the Klingon ship. It is set to blow after a set time or when it gets within "camera range" of the "finish line."

Since he is the "pilot" of the second Klingon shuttle, he will stay on-board and die along with the ship. (Two shuttles were necessary, one on each of the competitor's ship, for mass balancing.) His hope is to confront the Klingon captain, in the final moment, regale him with his dastardly plan so he can witness the dismay on the captain's face, and then push the button to destroy them all, just as the ship gets within camera range, so it's on "national television" when it occurs. When the Federation device is discovered, the officials will think that the players sabotaged the drive system of their competition, a dishonorable act, and the Klingon council, fueled by "Hawk" members, will be forced to resume hostilities... "for Honor's sake" and in reprisal for the desecration of the somewhat sacred, culturally significant, "Marathon" race.

Meanwhile, back on the ship, the race has started. During the course of the player's actions in trying to compete effectively, rolling dice, making skill checks, carrying out their plan, something doesn't go as planned... A power fluctuation is detected.

Crewman X's specialty is this system. (Best if it's where you've hidden one of the devices). He is assigned to carry out the task of debugging the system to get it back into peak performance. (Make this seem routine and just another chance for a player to interact with the Klingons. The Klingon asks him mundane questions while they're in the turbolift, comments on how wimpy the Feds are and how glorious the Klingon Empire is, etc.) He's tired, since everyone has been working without sleep, and goes to check on the system. However, one of the officials looks nervous... He states that an official must accompany any mechanical repairs of this nature and he volunteers, even if it's not his specialty. After all, the race obserers/officials are tired too, and then agree to let him monitor things.

When the crewman/player and Klingon accomplice get there, the Klingon knows the crewman is about to discover the device. He attacks, roll for initiative, "You're stuck in the Jeffries Tube with an angry Klingon. He has a Klingon Ceremonial Dagger and is well-versed in its use and you have a tricorder and a spanner and it's been three years since you attended the Academy class "How to defend yourself in confined spaces armed only with a spanner wrench and soiled pants 101."

The player wins, of course, and kills the Klingon. YAY! But, he's the only witness to the attack. On top of that, the Klingon, in his dying moments, told the player that they were all going to die and that the Empire would once more be restored to its inevitable path to glory...

The race officials freak out. They demand communication with their embassy. The trouble is... the dead Klingon "official" was the one in charge of the communications lock-out codes and he was the only one with the lock-out codes for the comms system. Dead Klingons are not effective speakers, so there's no way to activate the comms system and even the shuttle comms systems were locked out, as well.

The race officials freak out, again. They hatch a "cunning plan." Obviously, the Fed captain/player isn't going to hold a trial in the middle of the race. But, this is a sacrilegious offence, desecrating the sanctity of "The Marathon" and, if what they suspect is true, it's outright murder! They believe that the dead official was about to uncover "cheating" by the players. Later, their suspicions are confirmed when a alien device of unknown manufacture is located during the investigation. The players, of course, deny knowledge of it and, since it's alien, nobody is quite sure what it does yet. The race officials believe it's a power diverter, designed to enhance Impulse engine perforance after the race was underway. They're not far from the truth. As of now, that appears to be what it is, until it is investigated further by the players. (will take awhile. removing it will obviously result in "Bad Things" happening, like an antimatter cascade/breach)

Klingons are Klingons - Cooks and bakers, are all warriors first. So, their "cunning plan" is straightfoward-Klingon- Hit it with a hammer. They're going to take over the ship. How? They will either attack the ship's secondary bridge (Battle Bridge) or take control of the ship's engine room. They are armed, after all, and if they need more weapons, they'll break into the Security offices and take them.

They demand that the ship stop and that they are allowed to either leave in the shuttle (It's booby-trapped too, Dippy thought of everything) or the players use whatever double-secret means they have of establishing communications. (There is no double-secret means, but the Klingons think there is)

At this time, it's discovered that the device which was found, or other devices that were found, will not only prevent warp engagement, resulting in explosions if tried, but will also detonate if the Impulse engines are powered down. And, it's apparent that no matter what, supposedly, the players do, the devices will cause the ship to asspload all over the place before they can reach the finish-line.

But, no matter how much sense is talked to them, the Klingons demand a trial. Since the players aren't going to allow that sort of thing and there's no time for such a distraction, there is only one solution - Trial by combat!

Yes, one of your players gets to get into an honor battle with a Klingon using the batleth-thingie! What fun!

If he wins, the Klingons will agree to listen to the players and to accept the evidence of sabotage as well as to work with them in implementing a solution. (They are, after all, also skilled engineers assigned because of their skills.) If the players lose, they are supposed to agree to stop the ship and to undertake whatever is necessary to contact the appropriate authorities. Oh, and the offending player will, incidentally, be killed, even if he doesn't die during combat. Got a blank character sheet ready? Probably will need one...

So, what happens now?

If the players lose, they're dead. Unless, of course, they wish to renege on their deal. If they do that, the Klingons will attempt to override controls, sabotage engines, do whatever it takes including blowing up the ship...

If they win, then their lives will be extended a little bit longer.

a) They will discover the other devices, all will eventually agree they are the result of sabotage, but none agree on who did it, yet.

b) The dead Klingons personal effects are examined, routinely., in preparation for stowing. The players obviously want to examine them in detail. There's a few arguments, but eventually they're allowed to, under observation of course. A coded data-chip is discovered. With the Klingon's help, the players discover detailed plans for their ship and the locations where the devices are connected to their systems. There's a personal manifesto in the form of a message from Dippy to this undercover spy in which he blabs about his cunning plan and the glory his house will be returned to, as well as the rest of the Empire, when the Feds are revealed, through trickery, as the devious little milksops they are! He is resolved to die with honor on the competing ship, relishing his chance to redeem his house at the expense of the life of his most hated enemy's proudest son... Damning evidence, to be sure. But, even the spy didn't know that the plan was to destroy the player's ship as well! The devices are unmistakably set to blow everything to smithereens, anyway. It seems Dippy was quite willing to sacrifice the lives of his sympathizers.

c) One of the race officials is inspired by all of this. Yes, it's devious and probably dishonorable, but who cares about "Federation Honor?" If Dippy is successful, he'll be seen as valiantly restoring his house's honor through personal sacrifice and returning the Empire to it's destiny! There will be war and war is fun! People who don't like war are not fun! "Death to the pansy do-gooders! Up the Empire!" He goes on a rampage, trying to convince his fellow Klingons on board to take up the cause. Some might, some might not and decide to side with the players - That's up to you as this is just one of many possible "complicating factors" during this mission.

d) There is only one solution - Somehow, the players must win the race before the devices assppload and before Klingon ship can reach the finish line. This is their only chance! If they can do this, they can get to the finish line and can force race officials to assign a warp-capable ship to intercept their competitor and to warn them of their impending doom.

To do this, and to warn the ship in time, they have to disable the devices. These are alien devices designed to go "boom" if they're tampered with. Every single skillset available to the players will be used to accomplish this - EVERY_SINGLE_ONE. Figure it out. These are alien, so they don't have to make sense. If your joker character's joke skill needs to be implemented, and it does, then he has to use it to calm down a tired tech who is over-anxious.

They are allowed two mistakes, one for each of two devices. (Only two strikes allowed.) Make these happen.. High drama! They screw up, twice, and are on their nail-biting third try for the last device when they finally succeed.

Great! That part is over, all is well...

BUT, if they haven't figured it out by now, the Klingons tell them that if the other ship blows up and if Dippy was as ingenious in his preparation as he had been with their ship, then it's obvious he's going to make it look like the Feds have something to do with the sabotage. Given the state of affairs and the emphatic opinion of many Klingons, as well as a lot of hawkish Council members, the Council may very well declare a renewal to hostilities. At the very least, there will be blood before this is over and the relationship between Feds and Klingons could be irreparably damaged.

The crew now has to win a race to save the lives of their competition, who are known to be honorable, rising stars of a new "cooperative movement" between Feds and Empire, and to prevent general war!

If they lose, bad things happen. If they win, well they just get to be declared the winners and might get a commendation from Starfleet for their inventiveness and bravery. But, of course, no stuffy desk-bound Fed Admiral is going to believe the Klingons would all go to war over some tragic, but small, accident during a stooopid race, right?

The players should be forced to spend a long time tweaking systems, modifying rolls, getting inventive in using the gravitational pull of nearby systems/planets, maybe even using their shields as a sort of "solar sail" to catch some solar winds from another nearby system or even recalibrated shields that will surf on the magnetic field bubbles nearby... IOW - They do not get a chance to rest until the race is over. Everything happens "bam-bam-bam-bam", one crisis after another. They have to draw heavily on their previous plans during all of this in order to succeed. Players doing double-duty in bomb-diffusion and racing skills are going to be worn out and... that's what is intended.



As always, just my ramblings. Maybe food for thought or poop for the bowl, your choice.

[Usenko]

You know, it seems like EVERY FREAKIN' TIME I come up with a story, you seem to be able to take its bare bones and turn it into a living, breathing creature with large teeth and the ability to snort fire.

(Not complaining, mind - it makes my job easier with this! Thanks for your ghost-writing. )

Anways, later on tonight I shall put up some pics of the alien monster creatures. They look pretty good, especially the dragonoids . . .

This does mean that with the effort I have put into them, I'd really rather that the PCs actually encounter them.

As things stand, the encounter (cut-down version) is:

* Away team fight minor monsters[1] (and possibly mid-range monsters). Then either:
a) Monsters overpower team and drag them into the cell.
b) Away team win, monsters grab the Tamarians and drag them into the cell, forcing the away team to break in and rescue them.

* Away team find themselves in the cells, needing to rescue any prisoners, including one who's being experimented on like it's a bad horror movie.

* In the process they find the stuff they need to contact the ship in the junk room.

* They escape and try to find a hidey hole.

* They then have to somehow get to the pattern enhancers to get aboard the ship. At the Pattern enhancers they will come face to face with the Epic Monsters (aka dragons).

I'm thinking the PCs should only come up against one dragon unless the bout drags on (heh). If they stuff around, I can punish them by throwing another dragon at them.

But I ALSO have these two invisible hellhounds. I think it seels like it'd be a bit too much dealing with them AS WELL AS the dragons; can you spot somewhere that could work?

(I'm happy to do a bit of re-working of the story structure if necessary).

[1] Last week's session ended here, in mid fight with the minor monsters.

[Usenko]

And here they are, folks . .

The defensive creatures, brought to you by my own personal sweatshop of child labour!


http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd28 ... 0small.jpg

And, with rather more care in their painting (but no more enthusiasm), here are the bosses!

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd28 ... 0small.jpg


{Images posted directly to the forums should not be greater than 640x480 or 100kb, oversize image now linked - Terre}