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Into the Void Ref’s Notes Session 30

It took almost a year to get back to the campaign, but I never end a campaign. Ever.

Session 30 was really fun, and was a reminder why I love this group so much. Since William moved to San Antonio last year we are taking the game back to Roll20 rather than in-person. I’ve not run or played a game on Roll20 since the pandemic lockdown, though I’ve kept my account  and all the stuff in there. The biggest issue I’ve had with it is that putting things online is an added layer of preparation. I really like doing everything in a small notebook and using that with my small ring binder that has all the campaign materials and playing in-person. I spend a lot of time on the computer already. BUT — I have made some progress on Roll20.

I got an iPad Mini for Christmas 2024, and recently added and Apple Pencil and the application Procreate to it, and it makes creation of maps for the online game much easier. I no longer want to go jump in front of a bus every time I start working on one. I can sit in my chair, in the front room with my family, and work on the iPad. The pencil works really well too, and the application does exactly what I need it to do.

Now, while I haven’t been running this campaign for nearly a year, I have been running a D&D campaign for three players for about 8 months, so I’ve been getting a lot of GM practice. So jumping back into the Traveller game was not that hard. I was very pleased with the roleplaying done by the group. They give me so many things to riff off of during the game. I had no intention of introducing an NPC computer hacker, but they wanted to find one, so I whipped one up. The things they did that I wasn’t expecting, which was nearly everything, gave me so many options as the referee. It is kinda funny that now, at 60 years of age, I am finally understanding that if you LISTEN to your players and ride that wave the game will be a lot better, and a lot easier to run.

Classic Traveller is a great system for this kind of play. There are enough rules to get the job done, but not so many to make the game oppressive and hard to create and adjust on the fly. Cepheus Engine is the same way.

After the game we started a discussion about the Cepheus Engine, and possibly converting the campaign to the CE System Reference Document. I have already ported a lot of CE mechanics to this Classic Traveller game. I think making it official might help the players, as they’d have all the rules I’m using easily available. So I asked them, if they have the time, to fiddle around with character creation using the online version.

I do, however, ask myself how much this would improve our game. Would it improve it at all? Is it necessary? The honest answer is probably not. Classic Traveller has served us well for many years now. I really enjoy saying I run Classic Traveller. That means a lot to me.

 

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ITV Session 30: A Planet Found

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Elapsed time: 396 game days

SAFCO starts from where we left off, onboard the Rambler II, attached by docking clamp to a doomed freetrader hurtling into the sun. They have the mentally-broken survivor of that craft onboard as well. Roger releases the docking clamp and gets the Rambler to safety with plenty of time to spare. On the trip back to Mylor, Barney attempts to break the corporate encryption on the optical storage wafer containing the doomed ship’s log. He succeeds only in breaking into some image files – pics of alien artifacts and antiquities presumably found on one of that ship’s missions. At skill level of Computer-1 he is unable to break the more difficult encryption. They keep the rescued man sedated. They consult the ship computer’s library program to find that InStarSpec does have an office on Mylor. Removing the vacc suit from the man, they find and InStarSpec ID saying “Igor Ravensky: planetologist”

Returning to Mylor, they turn the man over to the Scout service, who in turn put him in a local hospital.

The team debates what to do. They ask Fardt (who has Streetwise-1) if he knows a hacker who might help with the encryption. Fardt makes his roll. They meet a tall man in a leather overcoat, high hair, and small hipster glasses with circular lenses at the Happy Gluck — Tahm Slykk. Tahm has his portable gear with him. They get Vern to find them a private room, explain the situation. Tahm agrees to help them for an even share of whatever profit they make off this “caper”. They agree. At Comp-4, Tahm easily breaks the encryption and makes them a copy of the ships log. He of course has a copy on his rig as well. He agrees not to step on their toes, and Flint gives him 2000 cr as an advance on payment and goodwill gesture.

Back onboard the Rambler, at the space port, they evaluate the data. They see that the other ship was a typical Type-A Freetrader that had been modified for exploration, with various labs and gear. They see that right before the incident the ship had been two parsecs away, just coreward of the Zerix system (where they have been before). According to the time stamps, the ship was gone less than 3 weeks – enough time for the Jump-2 back and forth and just a little time in that parsec. They also know that there are no planets charted in that system, so obviously InStarSpec has found a new system.

They decide to go attempt to question Igor. Arriving at the hospital they are told he is being kept sedated, that whenever he starts coming around he starts getting agitated and violent. As they discuss next steps, and man in a nice business suit arrives and questions the desk clerk, who points to SAFCO. He introduces himself as Sevor Halin , manager of the local InStarSpec office. He thanks them, asks them what kind of ship Igor was on, and asks them to come to his office the next day.

The three former scouts in SAFCO are familiar enough with InStarSpec to know they are essentially for-profit explorers. They look for new resources, make a claim, then sell rights to other companies that might be able to exploit them. They have hired scouts out of the service, and the Scout Service tends to look down on them as profiteers, which they are, but then again in this universe who isn’t?

SAFCO meets with Halin, and agree to travel to the new system, named Chamax, to find out what’s going on, as they actually sent a two-ship expedition. The other ship is a 400-ton Subsidized Merchant, also retrofitted for exploration. They agree on payment, and Halin urges them to leave quickly.

SAFCO launches the next day, traveling first to the Zerix system, refueling at the gas giant there, and then jumping to the Chamax system.

Unknown to Halin, they have the ships log from the freetrader so they know exactly where to look. From orbit they use the ship’s sensor array and can see the Sub. Merchant still sitting there next to a plateau. They see no movement. Roger lands the ship stealthily on the top of the plateau. Flint and Roger creep up to the edge with Fardt with binoculars. Lucky mans one of the laser turrets on the ship and Barney gets in the pilot’s position.

Looking down, Flint, Roger, and Fardt see the Sub Merchant leaning to one side into the sand. They see a portable temporary shelter and an ATV near the ship as well as the location where the other ship was probably landed. Nearby there are a bunch of stone domes – ruins. One is bigger and has been opened up. They also see holes in the side of the ship with the same kind of scorch marks they saw onboard the doomed freetrader.

End of session:
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Elapsed time: 412 game days

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Into the Void Ref’s Notes Session 29

A few notes about session 29. Not going into too much detail about specifics from the Referee’s point of view as we just started this adventure.

For the first time ever I am using a classic published adventure from the old Traveller books. Two reasons. First, I was having trouble coming up with a good way to take the game at this point. I’ve been collecting the old books, and decided what the heck, let’s do it. Second, after watching some of Seth Skorkowski’s YouTube Videos I feel like I have a new appreciation of both how good many of those published classics are and how to run them.

So if you are in my group, don’t watch Seth’s videos! I might use some of the old scenarios he talks about!

This was one of those session where we had just finished a multi-session adventure. Sometimes deciding which way to take a game is not easy. In order to make this work I needed to get the guys back into space. They had a good reason to do exactly that, but could have decided to do some other stuff first. I might have needed to improvise a better reason. But rather and try to guide them I just sat on my hands. I let them hash it out. No forcing things. If they decided to do something else I would have made a game happen by responding to them. Turns out they did exactly what the scenario needed them to do anyway, so that was cool. We got underway. Sometimes as a gamemaster you have to just let things happen. It’s always better when the PCs aren’t railroaded. I’ve got a folder full of good NPCs and ideas for encounters. I can pretty much always make fun happen with the players’ help.

But I have to admit, it is nice to have DOZENS of concise 1-page adventures from Michael Brown and almost all the classic Traveller adventures and double adventures waiting to be to used.

I had to do a little massaging of the published scenario to fit it into the game, but nothing that major. This is almost always the case. I’m not running the published Third Imperium setting. So a few minor details had to be changed. I ran into this when running the last set of sessions using Michael Brown’s Energy Transfer adventure.

Something I’ve learned from reading Michael’s adventures, and that I’ve become very comfortable with, is finding new ways for PCs to use skills, and coming up with quick rules to determine their effects. For example, allowing the navigator to use his Nav skill to accomplish more efficient travel, save time, and in this case double the amount of time they’d have to accomplish their task upon arrival. They started with 1 hour under normal navigation, but for every 1 he could make his Nav roll by, I gave them an additional hour of time to work before falling into the sun. He made it by 1, so they had 2 hours rather than 1, which helped. I let the Engineer use his skill to gain information about the status of the clearly damaged maneuver drive. This kind of skill use, I think, lets players feel like they are valuable skills. It makes the characters a lot cooler. I had the pilot make a Pilot skill roll to match the speed and attitude of the target vessel. Without that, things would have been more difficult. He has Pilot-4, but he could have failed. Spacewalks and all the rest would have been a lot harder if he’d had to constantly be making adjustments, and using the docking clamp would have been next to impossible.

Once they were inside the ship, I again had to sit on my hands and just answer questions and let them explore. So many of us have been programmed to think that constant action is what makes RPGs fun, but it’s not. Exploration, suspense, information gather, time stress. These all made the game fun.

I can’t wait to continue.

 

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ITV Session 29: Into the Sun

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SAFCO starts from exactly where the last session left off, at the secret landing pad/hideout of the now-dead Lomax Jr.

After discussing what to do with  the transport coffins full of radioactive ore, they decide to dump the coffins into the local gas giant as they are about to go refuel.  The group takes off directly from the hideout, not wishing for anyone to learn they have illegal radioactives onboard the ship. Sally Rasputin remains with the crooks – looks like she has a new employer.

They reach one of the two gas giants in the system, skim some new fuel, and dump the coffins. Lucky uses his Nav-1 skill to plot an efficient course back to Mylor that will cut some time off the journey. As they slingshot around the sun on this trajectory, they receive a broad-beam message. A ship has entered the system and is hurtling toward the sun at high speed. It does not appear to be under power, but it will enter the sun on its current path. Any ships available are instructed to investigate and render aid if possible.  The team decides to intercept and help. It will be close. A typical intercept course will only give them about an hour to help once they meet the ship.  Lucky again uses his Nav-1 skill. The ref rules that if he can make his roll, for every 1 he surpasses his required roll by they get an extra hour to work. Lucky rolls an 8, beating his required 7 by one. They’ll have 2 hours to work. Not much time, but better than just an hour.

sunThe Rambler II alters course. Using Lucky’s navigation, they are able to slingshot around one of the outer planets, picking up speed, and intercepting the incoming ship. They see that the other ship is a Type-A Freetrader, almost identical from the outside to the Rambler II.  The company name “InterStarSpec” is painted on the hull. At this point the clock is ticking. Roger uses his pilot skill to match the speed of the other ship. Barney finds InterStarSpec in the computer’s Library program, identifying it as a company with offices and facilities on Mylor. They are apparently involved in identifying natural resources on new worlds, obtaining rights, and selling those rights to other organizations.

They take the Rambler around the other ship for a visual examination. They see lots of burn marks on the hull. Roger flips the Rambler length-wise and flips it upside down to better establish a lock with the docking clamp on the other ship. They have no airtight tunnel, so Flint, Barney, and Lucky put on vacc suits, use the airlock, and spacewalk over to the other ships front airlock. Lucky is unable to hotwire the panel so the hatch remains shut. He says it looks like the panel has been deliberately shorted out!

The away team carefully spacewalks to the rear of the ship, hoping to access the rear airlock, between the two maneuver drive nozzles. They see the same burn marks on the rear of the ship. Barney notes (using Enginering-3 skill) that the nozzles appear to be ruined, with melted/slagged parts. Lucky succeeds in hotwiring the door. Flint enters the ship through Engineering, followed by Flint and Barney. Roger and Fardt remain aboard ship. Power is on, artificial gravity is working, and life support is functioning.

They do a thorough search of the ship. Looks like there has been a fight all over the vessel. Burn marks similar to those on the hull appear on interior bulkheads, and things are a mess in general. The Jump drive appears to be undamaged, but Barney quickly assesses the situation in Engineering. The M drive will not be repaired without new parts. Not only are the thruster nozzles in horrible shape, but there is damage to the interior mechanisms.  The ship’s powerplant is functioning.

The away team gets to the bridge. Barney notices a big wrench on the floor, and four bolts scattered around.  He knows from the Rambler that these are bolts used to hold a wall panel on in the communications area. Looking at that panel, Flint sees that indeed the bolts are removed. He tips the panel forward to see a skinny, dirty, scraggly-bearded man hiding in the interior. The man looks crazed. Flint removes the panel. The man is shaking, sweating and gibbering nonsense. Barney removes the data storage module containing the ships log. The survivor continue to freak out, muttering “Chamax…Chamax!!!”.  He lunges at Flint, who easily avoids the attack and swats the man down, unconscious. They find a sedative in the medical bay and administer it to him.

Deciding they have gathered all the information they can and having found the one surviving crew member to whatever befell this ship, the away team  puts the man in a vacc suit they find in the ship’s locker, and take a couple of body pistols and shotguns along with ammo (they can’t help but do a little looting). They carefully spacewalk, carrying the man back to the Rambler II.

We end the session with the team and the survivor aboard the Rambler II, the two ships still connected by the docking clamp, both ships still hurtling toward the sun, with 45 minutes before it is too late to escape the star’s gravity well.

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Elapsed time: 396 game days

Loose ends:

  • Ship needs to move to safety
  • The survivor – who is he, is he now just insane
  • What happened to this ship?
  • Still haven’t dealt with Dr. Fawke back on Desolis
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Into the Void Ref’s Notes Session 28

We were one player down this session, but ran his character carefully and safely.

This was the end of a 4-session adventure. Really, it could have been added into the previous session, but I really didn’t have anything ready at the time. One good thing about running short sessions is that it allows you to react to the character’s actions well. It also draws things out a lot.

So here’s something I noticed during this session. At one point a couple of the PCs split off in the air raft, the idea being they could cover the rest of the team from a high vantage point. One of the PCs has good Rifle skill, so he was great as a sniper. The other, Barney, the engineer, was more of a lookout. Barney’s player, William, often puts his character in a lookout position. He seeks a good vantage point, and this has paid off many times for the group, whether playing Traveller or GURPS.  In this particular case it didn’t hurt anything, but it didn’t help either. I could have helped, but it didn’t. As the Referee, I didn’t suddenly invent some threat for him to deal with. Things were as they were. The team had created a good plan. They’d acted rationally. There was no reason some threat would instantly materialize just to keep William entertained.

And the great thing is this: William didn’t need to be entertained. He is a long-time RPGer, and an engaged player. Like the rest of this group, he thinks of the team’s success and how he might contribute to it, rather an worrying about being the constant superstar. So as an adult RPGer, he is able to accept that the actions of his PC did not put him in the spotlight but remain engaged with the game.

I appreciate that. I am a very lucky GM to have a group like this.

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ITV Session 28: Goodbye, Old Frenemy

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SAFCO, Sally Rasputin, and Reesus Peesus have boarded the Rambler-II and are in space, heading for the first of two jumps needed to return to Mylor. The cargo hold contains 6 transport coffins full of radioactive ore intended for delivery to crime boss Lynn Lomax Jr. The micro-bomb Lomax has implanted into the neck of Reesus has been removed while on the moon Desolis, using a microscopic amount of the energy-leeching crystalline organism discovered on that moon of Trask-6. Reesus need not fear Lomax anymore.

The crew spends two weeks in transit back to Mylor. During the trip Reesus teaches the crew a few gambling tricks for card games, and they learn that he wants to kill Lomax, which is fine with the crew, but it would leave a power vacuum. Reesus tells them that Lomax’s 2nd in command, Alro Rupalian, has expressed his concerns over the move into the spaceport, and might be a good person to assume control of the Lomax interests.

As the team approaches Mylor Reesus reveals the coordinates of a private landing site/hideout used by Lomax to receive contraband materials. He is able to give them a general idea of the layout. The landing site is in an inlet in the canyon walls, on a river about 100 km east of Mylor city. They ask him if Lomax will be there and he says yes, Lomax doesn’t trust anyone, so he’ll be there to receive the goods.

To avoid being stopped by authorities SAFCO enters the atmosphere well away from the city. They have devised a plan, as they have no intention of handing radioactives over to a criminal.

Reesus uses a private radio channel to contact Mergatroyd, my Mylor City, to request assistance.

Barney and Flint take the air raft out, far from the landing site, and quietly take up a position on the other side of the river, on the edge of the canyon, across from the landing site, reporting in to those remaining on the ship.

Roger lands the Rambler-II after notifying Lomax via radio that they’ll be there.  As they land, on either side of the landing pad, they see a tower (camouflaged from the air) in which a guard stands watch with a laser rifle. There are several entrances to what must be a base in the face of the canyon walls.

Roger and Reesus descend the loading ramp to great Lomax and his entourage. Both are armed. Lomax comes out smiling, “Welcome SAFCO. I trust you have the shipment? It’s going to make us a lot of money!”. “Yes,” replies Roger, “we’ve got it.”

“I see you’ve brought my favorite lap dog back as well – hello Reesus!”

Reesus seethes. Memory of the weeks and weeks of servitude and fear overwhelm him. He draws his autopistol and points it at Lomax.

“Reesus! What’s wrong with you? Don’t you remember this?” Lomax shows him the detonator he carries with him, which weeks ago would have triggered the micro-explosive Lomax had implanted next to his carotid artery. Reesus is swearing profusely and shaking slightly. Reesus keeps the gun pointed at him. Lomax grows visibly concerned. Reesus smiles slightly. Lomax uses the trigger. Nothing happens. His eyes go wide in disbelief. He triggers it again and again to no effect. Reesus smiles and pulls the trigger – MISSING Lomax completely!

The shit hits the fan as the shot is fired.

From across the river Flint fires his rifle, hitting the closest laser wielding guard in the head, killing him. The guard goes tumbling from his deer stand style post, falling 30 feet to the floor of the landing site.

Simultaneously…

Roger tosses a hand grenade next to Lomax, who fails to dive for cover. He’s blown to bits and two of his henchmen are knocked out.

and…

The other laser guard, having seen Reesus fire at Lomax, fires at Reesus, the bright red laser beam burning a hole through his skull, killing him instantly.

and…

Aboard the Rambler, Fardt directs the automated pulse laser turret to fire on the surviving laser guard. The ships laser hits, vaporizing the goon and burning a hole in the canyon wall.

and…

Lucky points the bottom pulse laser turret at the remaining goons. The GM rolls a morale check, and they fail, dropping their weapons and surrendering.

Roger directs the SAFCO robot to take Reesus to the autodoc, but it is hopeless. A large tunnel has been burned through his brain.

A white flag comes out the door, followed by a tall androgynous man and a few more thugs, all with their hands up. The tall man introduces himself as Alro Rupalian, and asks where Reesus is? SAFCO explains the situation. With regard to Lomax, Rupalian states “Lomax as a fool. Moving into the spaceport and bring the attention of imperial authorities was a dumb risk.”  He goes on the say “We won’t be taking those radioactives. It’s one thing running guns and contrand, but I don’t want to start selling WMD components. That’s bad business.”

Finally Mergatroyd and some associates arrive via air raft and take Reesus’s body. He and Rupalian disappear into the hideout to talk business.

SAFCO, having regrouped, with Sally, board the ship to discuss their next moves…

Loose ends: They still have the radioactives. What to do about Falke, back on Desolis, who has the energy leeching organism and wishes to profit from it. They have not left the hideout yet.

End of session.

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Elapsed time: 393 game days

 

 

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Into the Void Ref’s Notes Sessions 27

“Due to reasons” it took while to get to this session. I will admit that I still have a bit of anxiety about each session. I always want it to be the best session ever. Truth is they are all good because I have a table of engaged players who make it good. You can spend all the time you want and have the most incredible stuff prepared but if you players are a bunch of house plants it will not be fun.

Anyway, our gaming group is great. I can’t say that enough.

This was the first time I’ve used a published adventure in our campaign. Though I own dozens of Michael Brown’s short adventures, and I think every one of them is brilliant, this was the first I worked into our game. Michael gives you what you need to run a fun session (or sessions) without, as he says, “stepping on the Ref’s toes.”

This was the culmination of a game spanning four sessions. Over the course of those sessions I think one shot was fired. No one was shot. There were no real “fights.” Four sessions of roleplaying and problem solving.  This is actually not unusual for my campaign and this group, and I’m continually astonished at the ability of Traveller, a great gaming group, a good and flexible scenario, and and adequate referee, to create an engaging and satisfying game.

Maybe everyone else’s games are like this? I have no idea. Growing up playing a monster-killing loot-grabbing style of D&D, superhero mayhem with Champions, and murder hobo style Traveller, I’m just surprised at how well this is going. Had any of us had the skill and desire to do things this way as teens I think it would have been well-received.  As it is, we have fallen into this during our middle-aged years, and that’s fine. I’m just so happy with this campaign. I can’t imagine ending it. Ever.

This was session 27. During session 26 I already knew I wanted to use the Energy Transfer adventure from Michael Brown and I had a “plan” for how it might work in. Needless to say my inventive and resourceful players did not do what thought they would (which I expected would happen). I had to do a little thinking on my feet to create a seamless transition into that scenario for session 27. I’m pretty happy with how that went. As a Traveller referee it was quite satisfying.

As often happens, we ended this series of sessions with a lot of nice loose ends. The campaign continues to generate its own internal drama with long-term NPCs, possible backstabbing and intrigue, and lots of options for the players.

Really, in all likelihood this “story” is not really complete. There are some things they will almost certainly deal with upon returning to their home base on planet Mylor. Fun awaits.

Traveller Stuff
My little custom Traveller campaign notebook (sheets are all in plastic sheet protectors), Classic Traveller Facsimile Edition, and small session notebook with maps, notes, and scenario.

As I prepped for this game I thought a lot about the elegant simplicity of Classic Traveller. Being able to consolidate the important stats of all the NPCs on one page of 5.5″ x 8″ notebook is a hell of a lot simpler than having character record sheets all over the place. I love my games with more complicated characters, but the simplicity of Classic Traveller is nice. It’s genius, really. Marc Miller is a freaking genius. Looking at newer versions of Traveller, Cepheus Engine, and some of the variations on CE like Sword of Cepheus I can see the influence. They are all a bit more complex, but not that much! A Sword of Cepheus character, even one with a lot of spellcasting ability, could easily fit on a note card.

The thing is, when I’m running a game I like all my stuff to be concise and very easy to locate. This is why I’ve taken some rules from the Classic Traveller books as well as the Cepheus Engine stuff and made my own little 5.5″ x 8.5″ binder. The rules we use a lot are all there, as are all the PCs, the important NPCs, the ships, the planets, and the gear. With that notebook, a small notebook with my scenario notes and maps, a copy of the Classic Traveller Facsimile Edition, and a copy of Cepheus Deluxe or Light, I’m mostly ready to go. I typically bring the Mongoose Traveller Central Supply Catalog along, as well as the Cepheus Engine vehicles book just in case I need it.

I’ll stop blabbering now.

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ITV Session 27: the Energy Leech

Spoiler Alert: this post pertains to a session run using the adventure Energy Transfer, by Michael Brown. Do not read further if you may be a player in this scenario.

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SAFCO, associate Sally Rasputin, and sometimes-associate/sometimes-enemy Reesus Peesus are on Desolis, an airless moon of Trask 6, at Sierra Praxis mining base, owned by Novastel Mining Corporation. During there initial time on the base (see last sessions) there was a tremor and power dip. Miners told them a meteor may have hit nearby. Inspection team 2 is called to work. SAFCO takes care of some business and goes back to their ship to sleep.

In the middle of the night they are summoned to meet with Dr. Jonton Fawke, the administrator of the facility. It seems that Inspection Team 2 has disappeared while investigating the meteor strike, which created a small hole in an ore shaft dome that feeds into the processing plant. Fawke does not trust his miners to investigate. It is apparent from his comments and those of the miners that SAFCO met in the base tavern that Fawke and the miners doe not have a good relationship. Fawke offers the team $5000 credits to investigate and find out what happened to the crew.

Roger uses SAFCO’s mining pod to examine the exterior of the dome while the rest of the team and Fawke use SAFCO’s robot, with their drone on top of it (it can’t operate in vacuum), to explore the sealed-off corridor leading to the dome.

The strike happened during workers time-off day, so no lives were lost in the initial depressurization of the dome. The actual ore shaft in the middle of the dome was therefore sealed at the time by a secure and radiation proof hatch. There is a large air lock used before entering the corridor, which was also closed and sealed.

From the window in the outer airlock hatch the team can see that lights are dimmed about halfway down, and further it is totally dark. Power down there is totally out.

They send the robot and drone through the airlock and down the corridor, initially using infrared and ultraviolet sensors. As the robot approaches the area where the light is dimmed, they see (in IR and UV patterns) what appear to be paint splotches covering all the surfaces of the corridor and the central conveyor belt.  They bring the robot closer and turn on the spotlight. They see a shiny, black, scaly substance covering all the surfaces. As they watch, the drone’s power levels decrease suddenly and drastically. They pull the robot back, to find that it too has lost a lot of battery power.

Outside in the mining pod, Roger sees that there is a basketball-sized hole punched in the dome. He sees some black scaly goo on the edges of the hole.

The team together with Falke determine the power loss rates for the drone battery vs the robot battery, based on the time they were down there and the percentage of power left, and surmise that smaller power sources will be depleted much faster. The robot, with a 24 hour charge, can now operate near the black stuff for about an hour before being depleted. They also determine that the energy drain began when the robot and drone were about five meters from the scaly substance.  They send the robot back down and use one of its claws to collect a tiny sample. Bringing it back, Lucky quickly removes the claw and they store it in a lead-lined case for transporting radioactives. Barney and Falke take it to a lab for examination. Outside, Roger tests the energy drain by brining the mining pod within five meters of the hole. He sees the drain starting and pulls back.

While Barney and Falke work in the lab, Lucky and Flint decide to try to determine what happened to Inspection Team 2. They would be out of air in their vac suites by now, and are likely dead. Lucky, in his vac suit, enters the corridor. He used a light to look far down into the corridor and dome, and sees a human-shaped lump on the floor, covered with the black scales.  Clearly Inspection Team 2 is dead. After he has been within 5 meters of the black scales for 1 minute he begins to feel bad! He takes 1d6 to his Endurance (for 5 damage) as the stuff starts to drain his body’s energy. He backs off quickly, having learned that the stuff can drain energy from living creatures very quickly!

In the lab, Falke and Barney carefully take a few particles of the black scales from the robot’s claw and examine it under an electron microscope. Just a few initial particles. They see the scales are composed of even smaller scales. As they watch, the scales pulse and multiply on the slide, feeding on the energy in the room and the energy of the electron microscope. Falke destroys the sample with acid before it can grow any more and present a danger to the facility or its power.

Sally contacts the team, telling them that in the taveren Reesus Peesus is causing problems. He is winning all the miners’ money at cards and they are getting pissed. He tells her that with the tiny explosive in his neck his days are numbered and he doesn’t care.  Barney goes to the bar and forces Reesus to leave, and to leaven his chips with the miners — a goodwill gift.

Flint suggests that it might be possible to use a tiny amount of the energy leeching scales to drain the microscopic battery powering the bomb in Reesus’ neck. After discussing numerous ways to approach it, they decide that a tiny amount of the material brought close to the tiny battery should drain it, based on their measurements of the earlier battery drains, before harming Reesus or anything else.  Falke is in favor of this experiment.  The tell Reesus they need to take more data on the bomb. They take the lead-lined container to the med lab, quickly take an extremely tiny sample of the scales on the end of a probe, and hold it near Reesus’ carotid artery.  After a couple of minutes they scan the bomb and find that the battery is indeed now dead, and the bomb is easily removed.  The sample is destroyed with acid.

Reesus expresses his infinite thanks to SAFCO, apologizes for trying to have them killed, and expresses his desire to get revenge on Lomax.

Dr. Falke talks with SAFCO. He says the black substance is potentially extremely valuable. He wants to develop it and market it himself, as it has potential weapons, medical, and scientific applications. He seems quite greedy. He plans to seal off the contaminated dome and corridor from all energy input and make it off limits, but wants to continue running the radioactives mining operation, using it and Novatel money to his own ends.

He wants SAFCO to help him — to be his partners.

SAFCO agrees. The radioactives they came for are loaded into their ship and they head back into space. Once away, they begin to discuss what they really need to do, based on the clear evidence that the black energy leeching scales are too dangerous for someone like Falke to control. They also don’t trust him.

End of Session.
IY6026.269
Elapsed time: 395 game days

 

 

 

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Into the Void Ref’s Notes Sessions 25 and 26

Sessions 25 and 25 of our campaign may have had the fewest rolls of dice ever. That being said, I think they were good sessions. There was a lot of discussion, decision making, and roleplaying, which I think is the point really.

As this goes on I am more and more impressed with our gaming group. They are just great players. Given the choice, they will always discuss things and make good decisions. When something surprises them and they have no time to mess around they take action.

That’s about all I have to say, other than express my frustration that we can’t play every week.