NEXT ADVENTURE
Here's the scenario for the next game. Any useful downloads are included directly below it.
The current adventure campaign is "Sweet and Sour", a smuggling adventure (based upon the TV series, "Firefly" by Joss Wheadon). This adventure began at Hefry but quickly jumped to the Reft Sector as Spider Lethe worked to track down a lead on "The Catalyst" from the last adventure. Another attack is being planned that will lead the Zhodani into a war with the Imperium (called "The Alliance" in subsectors near The Reft). An ancient artifact is involved and powers that are so dangerous, even Spider is afraid. See you in the next game. Be sure to use the new Character Sheet. (There's a copy below. GRIPLets are available at the Breakfast Bar page, and at Dagget's and Bladensteil.) For those who would like to play one of the characters from Firefly, look for the link below. Otherwise, make you own that is reasonably compatible and send it to me as an attachment for pre-approval.
Need an instant character? Here are five (pilot, co-pilot, medic-steward, gunner-marine, and an engineer) completely ready to go and easy to personalize. 155KB, freeware
Classic Traveller rule books are available for sale through its creator at Far Future Enterprises. Rough rules for character generation may be found on my Rules web page, but they are paraphrased and abbreviated and I make no guarantees. Buy the rules.
Firefly characters in Classic Traveller format for GRIP (iPC ver 3.1.21), 100KB, freeware by Capt Ron
Sweet and Sour Campaign map for Players, 28KB, freeware by Capt Ron
Sweet and Sour Campaign common knowledge for Players, 9KB, freeware by Capt Ron
CHARACTER ROSTER (from past games)
Seperate web pages are available for characters with highlighted names
CAMPAIGN LOG
The campaign started 29 July 2000 with the adventure, Raid on Ruie! Four players rescued Alice Masters (owner of The Breakfast Bar on Hefry) from the Free Air Rangers, terrorists on nearby Ruie. The adventure took several game sessions.
The second adventure, Trouble on Roup, (with three players) played out over several nights and started with a routine cargo delivery to the waterworld, Roup. But, trouble with orbiting pirates was followed by trouble with the arrogant inhabitants. The players barely escaped with their lives...and a valuable cargo!
The third adventure (with one player) began in The Breakfast Bar when a firefight broke out. The brigands escaped when the city dome was holed, but were later captured and arrested following a running battle in space. This adventure took only one game session.
The fourth adventure in May of 2001 was a play test tournament of The Breakfast Bar, an adventure campaign that played out over four nights, and the character that was most active was Dan's "Sam Murphy"! Thanks guys. This adventure was purchased by QuikLink and I appreciated the playtesting help.
The fifth adventure is called Death From Above and involved a fiendish plan on Yori played out over many gaming nights. It began on December 17th, 2001, and continued for months. Players adventured in Hefry, then fought a starship battle with a pirate enroute Yori, and ultimately survived but crashed. On March 26th, 2002, they defeated a large scorpion-like desert hunter and discovered a well guarded secret entrance to an underground base (when three humaniods in combat armor and anti-grav belts flew into it only three miles from the crash site). On April 2nd they made their way into the underground complex and were nearly killed by a merc guard (named Jake) with "shoot to kill" instructions, and ultimately saved the world from sabotage of it's weather patterns by a high tech madman and a team of fanatical scientists. The players became heroes to the citizenry and were generously rewarded.
The sixth adventure was An Evil Mind. This adventure was about a crew that was hired by an elderly woman, Mrs. Sara Klagerty, to haul a SuSAG museum artifact to Regina. Initially it was not clear why normal shipping wasn't being used. Later, Mrs. Klagerty revealed that Zhodani agents were attempting to locate her to recover the PSI enhancer that she had stolen on behalf of Imperial intelligence interests. A chase into jumpspace ensued and the crew was on high alert, but the jump out appeared normal as Regina Customs approached the ship....
A special seventh solo adventure was played on the fly, placing the An Evil Mind campaign on hold. It started as a pirate adventure for Justin Lenox who was joined by Tedric. They were hired by CAPT Vogel Kargh of SCOURGE to raid a SuSAG ore carrier in the Hefry system. Other (NPC) crew members were Vragish Dromore and Ripper Ogel. The venture resulted in a rich take of high grade silver ore, and an offer of future employment...after some R&R on Regina.
The eighth adventure resumed An Evil Mind as the Destroyer Escort, INTREPID, (allegedly a Regina Customs enforcement vessel) closed to board BLACKJACK. Agent Ted Rooks and an armed team of six spacewalk across and embark the merchant ship. But the boarding team acts suspiciously and Mrs. Sara Klagerty notes that one of them has a SuSAG emblem on his cutlass. A ferocious firefight ensues as the Zhodani (and allies) boarding team attempts to take BLACKJACK by force and recover their psionic magnifier. But the crew of BLACKJACK is up to the challenge and despite injuries, fought off the attempted hijacking. When the Zhodani realize their boarding team has failed they attempt to destroy BLACKJACK to prevent their artifact from falling into Imperial hands. While Tedric and Tiny worked to subdue and question the prisoners, Justin was forced to fight a fully armed Destroyer Escort with only one of BLACKJACK's turrets! A series of called shots (despite negative modifiers) destroys the enemy's ability to fight and they "jump out" as Justin begins working on their engines.
But troubles were far from over. Beowulf's injuries appear to render him incapable of flying during the starship fight, and the ship assumes a dangerous trajectory toward Regina. Justin (not Tedric...sorry for earlier mistake) realizes that at least one of the Zhodani boarding team is manipulating or mentally attacking the already badly injured Beowulf, and begins systematically spacing and neutralizing them despite pleas from Tiny and Mrs. Klagerty. But Justin persists and Beowulf recovers enough to affect a landing at Regina Highport. Mrs. Klagerty's boss (the beautiful and dangerous Spider Lethe) and a dozen Scouts swarm aboard to rescue the crew of the BLACKJACK and take the dangerous psionic device to safety.
Beowulf is hospitalized for a month and crewman Doug Kord is also forced to take leave to recover (Rachel's injuries are less severe). With time on their hands, the largely uninjured crewmembers must decide whether to relax and explore Regina...or to accept an offer from Spider Lethe. The woman in black pays the crew well and offers more money...should they care to further thwart the Zhodani (and SuSAG) and their evil plans.
This was one of the most intense and enjoyable adventures ever played despite problems with irc.sorcery.net, irc.dal.net, and GRIP (all NPC entity stats were zeroed anytime a new entity was added from the Rogues Gallery). Well done to all three players and thank you for a great game! But is the "An Evil Mind" campaign over? Only time will tell....
A special ninth solo adventure was played on the fly, again placing the An Evil Mind campaign on hold. This adventure started as a simple transport mission for Justin Lenox using a standard Scoutship (while waiting for BLACKJACK). But the Scout Ranger and daughter team he was transporting are bigtime trouble. He is a crack shot used to charging hell with a handbucket (despite a fear of spaceflight), and his daughter is a flirtatious engineering hotshot who is used to backing her father with a shotgun, not a plan. Justin learns that they are to serve subpoena papers to one of the most dangerous felons on Enope, and decides that for enough money he will throw in with the devil. Through bluff and surprise the delivery is made, and everyone survives. No small feat! One again the Guild Hall could not be used as no net could be found that worked (for free).
Time tells, and the tenth adventure continues as Zhodani attempted to take the artifact by force from its warehouse in Regina Highport, using Scouts to attack Marines. But Spider Lethe and Justin intervened and ruined the plot. (Ty Dumas almost helped, but had to drop out.) Many were injured, but only one Scout was killed and the Zhodani intendant was captured for questioning. (I had trouble adding new players to ICQ...and continued to have trouble for several weeks.)
The eleventh adventure series set up the finale of An Evil Mind. The Zhodani succeeded in grabbing the artifact and shuttle to Regina Downport and then out into the desert. But an electronic bug provided a clue to their underground lair (before it was discovered and destroyed), and the hunt was on! Spider Lethe trains and leads Justin, Tedric, and Tal in a nighttime parachute insertion from a glider. They drop wearing state-of-the-art Scout chameleon suits with IR block, psi helmets, laser carbines, and knives. Tal nearly augers in, but is saved by a freefall catch by Spider. They bury their suits and head for the lair.
The players raided the Zhodani base and attempted to take the artifact. Gareth Gray Owl, a Zhodani noble, (and his three Intendant henchmen) were holed up in an underground lair in the prairie/desert of Regina. The lair was guarded and ready as they waited for an inbound Far Trader who's captain was under Zhodani control. They knew of the bug and realized they had been found out but could not wait any longer to get the artifact off planet as their cover began to unravel. The artifact was booby trapped to prevent it from falling into Imperial hands, but was far more useful to the Zhodani than the Imperium...so they were very reluctant to give up. Players Justin and Stephen sneak in with Mrs. Sara Klaggerty (Spider's boss) due to their loaned chameleon suits and despite a chaser in the grass. They captured the Zhodani base, but were unable to keep the artifact from blowing up...or Mrs. Klaggerty from being killed. As Spider says at the end, it is better that the artifact is destroyed than in Zhodani hands. But Mrs. Klaggerty will be missed, she was a great agent and a good boss. It was a bitter sweet ending....
The twelfth adventure began a new adventure series on January 28th, 2003, entitled Fireflies and Border Scouts. Players Josh, Jim Velos, and Flex Conway were in The Breakfast Bar ordering steak and eggs with Beowulf and Alice when Hefry was attacked. The Breakfast Bar is airtight and they survive and race to the Starport with Beowulf in Alice's spare vacc suit...but BLACKJACK is badly damaged and unable to fly. They are asked if they can fly and will fight, and are directed to the Scout Base where they are given scoutship REFT EXPLORER. The ship lifts off and is immediately plagued with maintenance issues, but eventually is the only one of four scoutships able to damage the Zhodani Destroyer Escort (DE)...and one of its three Zhodani Scoutships. Debriefs after the Zhodanis flee indicate that the DE is probably unable to jump and the enemy task force is probably still hiding in the Hefry System while making repairs. Players return to Hefry for re-arming, maintenance, and a few quick hardware and software upgrades before going back out to find the DE and its three Scouts.
Players tracked down the squadron (with three Scout ships) and blasted the Destroyer Escort until it drifted in space. A boarding team began sweeping the ship fighting pockets of resistance, accompanied by a Zhodani Ambassador who claims that these "Zhodani" are renegades, not members of the real Zhodani Navy. The players gather in a common area with a captured prisoner...beginning to interrogate and solve the mystery! As they learned the plot, returned to Hefry and are made honorary Hefry Scouts and given a 1000CR per month retainer, subject to recall in case of emergency. The dome is rebuilt with the money from the salvaged Destroyer Escort. The Zhodani are officially cleared and Spider Lethe, an Imperial intelligence agent shows up to begin searching for the group that is responsible, lead by an enigmatic leader known only as "The Catalyst." (A pause of many months followed my move, returning to sea for two years, and the melting of my hard drive.)
The long awaited lucky 13th adventure began sometime late in 2005, titled Sweet and Sour - an adventure series based upon Joss Wheadon's "Firefly." On Hefry, the players were briefed at the Scout Base by Spider Lethe. The Catalyst has agents throughout the Sector and is trying to spark a war between the Zhodani and the Imperium. The Catalyst's agents are centered in The Reft in a corporation called Blue Sun. Spider intends to lead a group against Blue Sun and stop them. She enlists the help of Zhodani Ambassador Spriafak and a tough veteran fighter named Vinter, along with a retired Scout captain named Pop and a crewman named Elizabeth. Spider also has an Ancient artifiact that can cause a misjump and get them to the Reft in a hurry (and eventually back). Ambassador Spriafak and Vinter volunteer to go for the safety of the region and for 10,000CR per week respectively.
Although hard on the stomach, the jump (misjump) was successful and the players arrived at Iselen in the Vestus Subsector of the Reft. Pops and Elizabeth remained on the scout ship to button up while Spider, Spriafak, and Vinter led the way into a nearby bar for a much deserved beer. While there, they met a merchant captain named Mal and his crewman, Jayne. During conversation, shots ring out and a ship takes off. The players raced out to find that Pops is dead, Elizabeth is dying, and their ship (with the important Artifact) is gone! Captain Mal offers the use of the sickbay on his ship, SERENITY, but neither a doctor name Simon nor Spriafak can save Elizabeth. The game ends in chaos with the players stranded dozens of jumps from home, their ship and Artifact missing, and two comrades dead. And the Blue Sun is nowhere in sight....
In the next game Mal offered to give chase in SERENITY, but he must move cargo enroute to afford gas. The players accept paying positions as crewmembers. Spriafak (whom Kayle seems to take an interest in) and Vinter are joined by Jenreis (a tough merc). They head to Persephone in pursuit of their stolen ship, and accompany Mal to Badger's where they buy cargo...explosives shaped and painted as a Red Cross medicine box. They then take this medicine box to the quarantined and interdicted world of Amoirve. The shuttle is sent down with Simon, Book, and INara to help help the locals and SERENITY is then hailed and boarded...without incident. But once on the planet, instead of being met by the rebels and delievering the explosives, they are ambushed and robbed of the "medicine box." Subsequently the real rebels arrive and the group is held at gunpoint while the unhappy rebels sort things out!