Five Parsecs from Home - Part 6

Battle Turn 3

The Duelling Grounds are located at the site of a failed low-cost housing sector. Construction was abandoned when the shell corporation laundering money from the project folded, and now all that remains are half-collapsed, weather-worn foundations. The site is now a place of battle, where local gangs, syndicates, mercenaries, and the more civic-minded football hooligans meet to have out their differences without risking collateral damage. The bones of the fallen litter the desolate landscape.

Deployment

[Deployment conditions: caught off guard - PCs all act in slow phase in the first round. There are no Notable Sights or Conditions.

Some of the terrain features were constructed in haste and a bit flimsy, and I had ruled that if they broke during play it would cause 2 hits of damage to be rolled against any figure caught in the collapse. Sadly, it never came up. I will save this house rule for further battles, though, and may even try constructing extra-flimsy terrain on purpose.

The enemy are a band of Psychos. All psychos carry a blade in addition to their rolled armaments. The rank & file have an assortment of colony rifles:

Doc only performs unnecessary surgery. Hair thinks that style suits him. Princess is the last member of her royal house -- she's seen to that!

They hang out with a Feral in Spiderman pyjamas and a Chippendale dancer drummed out of his unit for conduct unbecoming.

The specialists are Wetsuit Wanda (autorifle) and Barb (shell gun) who wears a shirt with her initial on it.

Their lieutenant is... ummmm.... ???

I rolled a shotgun for the lieutenant's weapons. To fit the figure, the hooks are equipped with cybernetic flechette pistols, using shotgun stats.]

Battle Turn 3

"Guys, I... I just can't do this," says Dirk Striker.

"C'mon, mate," says Wilmer, "this might cheer you up."

"No, I think I'll just wait in the hovercar."

"Don't be such a space xqivsnnplf!" says Zllgx.

"..."

"They're here," says Muffy. "Let's leave him here to have his little strop and get this over with."


Round 1

Five Parsecs from Home - Part 5

Post Battle (Turn 2)

The invitations make to into the post on time. The WI are pleased, and pay the crew [d6+2=] 5 credits, plus the promised crate of jam. They keep a couple of jars, but Wilmer knows a guy who can unload this on the black market for some serious dosh [the Loot roll was a cargo crate worth 2cr, so a little creative license makes sense of things]. The WI intimate they may also have more work for Dirk's crew in the future since they 'seem like such nice young people'. [planetary WI added to the Patron list. If they ever become a permanent patron, it will be the Sector-wide WI.]

XP

Muffy got the first kill again, so earns 4xp. The rest (save GBH) get 3. Dirk spends 7xp to increase Reaction to 3.

Shopping

They spend 3 credits on a surplus military rifle. It would have gone to Zllgx, but since she's still on the naughty step for losing the colony rifle a while back, Muffy's getting it instead.

Character & Campaign Events

Dirk is alone. His crew have barely seen him since the WI job. All this violence is starting to get to him, and he's sunken into depression -- deep. His days are spent drinking whiskey from the bottle... gazing into the mirror at his rugged unshaven face whilst asking 'who am I?'... taking steamy showers, steadying himself with one hand against the wall... staring into the middle distance. [+1 Story Point, but Dirk won't fight in the next battle.]

Everyone else has got a bit of extra time on their hands [bonus Exploration rolls for 2 random PCs]. Zllgx runs into someone who needs a package delivered offworld. It'll be worth 3 credits from the recipient.

Slow Hand is out soaking up the nightlife. But from across the dance floor, two sets of beady eyes are watching the sparkling lights from the disco ball play over his really cool aviator shades.

"Isn't that one of Dirk Striker's crew?"

"Yes... I believe it is. Let's tail him and find out where they're holed up. I think it's payback time..."

Campaign Turn 3

[Every 3rd campaign turn, the crew gets +1 Story Point. I'm spending it now to get +3xp for Muffy. She's good at dealing damage, and heretofore has been exceptionally lucky about not receiving any, but I need to up her survivability. This puts her just in sight of an upgrade.]

Upkeep

Trading water from the Purifier once again offsets the crew's grocery bill. [-1cr upkeep / +1cr purifier]

The interest on the ship's loan comes to 2cr. Paying 6cr from the crew funds reduces the total debt to 31cr.

But now they only have 3cr remaining.

Tasks

Dirk decides a wander through the city centre might clear his head. He meets an Information Broker who offers to share secret intelligence with him, for a small fee of course. The 'fee' is nearly as high as the crew's credit balance, so Dirk merely laughs in the alien's face.

When he's not disco dancing till dawn, Slow Hand explores the local bar scene. He doesn't miss a single ladies' night in the startown.

Wilmer happens upon a mysterious merchant in the bazaar, who offers him the contents of a 'mystery box' in exchange for a single weapon. Something about the man's manner frightens him, and he declines.

Muffy pays a visit to the all-night laundromat & transcendental meditation parlour. Whilst the service droids remove the bloodstains from her favourite top, she sits before the fabled Star Crystal and contemplates the Cosmic Mysteries.  

[Muffy actually took the Train task, which grants 1xp, giving her a total of 10xp to spend. She spends the lot to buy 1 Luck. At the time, I wasn't exactly sure how one goes about Training for Luck, so I went with the first thing I could think of.]

Zllgx has a run-in with the very same Info Broker that Dirk did. She is at least polite in her refusal.

GBH decides to relax and see the sights, such as they are on New Milton Keynes. Walking through the crowded markets and bustling thoroughfares, the poor bot begins to feel all alone. So very alone....

Choose your battle

The crew don't relish the prospect of doing another job for their prior captors, but credits is credits (sic), so they decide they might as well take the government job [still available from the last Campaign Turn] -- but then fate intervenes. [Dirk's Rivals have tracked him down, so the next battle is automatically against them.]

A delivery bot arrives at the ship. Someone has sent Dirk a bouquet of flowers. And there's a card:

Please, my gentle friend, won't you
Attend our garden party at the D.G.?
You are, of course, encouraged to
Bring along all of your new friends
As we'd surely love to meet them.
Casual attire is recommended.
Kindly RSVP.

"A garden party," says GBH. "How lovely. This should cheer up Master Dirk."

"No," says Muffy, "I think there is something more sinister going on here. Look at the flowers."

"Zermerxian Puff-blooms!" gasps Wilmer. "A symbol of death!"

"And the note!" cries Zllgx.

"Oh! The note!" cries Muffy.

"By Jove, they expect Dirk at the D.G.," says Slow Hand. "The Duelling Grounds!"

"Not only that," says Zllgx. "Examine it more carefully. Do you not see?"

"I-- no! It can't be!"

"I fear it is!"

"An acrostic!"

"The fiends!"

Five Parsecs from Home - Part 4

Battle Turn 2

Deployment

The invitations for the WI Summer Garden Show must go in the post today, but the starport post office was recently shut down. The only open post office is on the other side of town. The invitations need to make the last collection, and the quickest route is through a danger zone -- the shattered remnants of the old tourist district.

[The rolled objective is Move Through -- 2 PCs must exit the other side of the table to achieve Victory.

There are no special deployment conditions or notable sights (mainly because I forgot to place the rolled 'Shiny Bits' worth 2 credits. Oops!).

The enemy are a band of Gene Renegades, transhumanists addicted to black market body modification.

Lizard is slowly transforming into a reptile. Greyface is turning his skin translucent. Cyclops is a metalhead from a hairless species who wanted a good mane for headbanging. Trollface wanted to look like his favourite character in the epic fantasy cycle, Swords Against Whatever.

Ginger (the lieutenant) has a tasteless mod you can't see with his trousers on. Insectoid (specialist) is the Woman Who Would Be Queen.

They all have colony rifles except for Insectoid, who has an auto rifle.]

Battle

The sky above the battlefield was the colour of cheap curtains that came with the flat and have sat at the bottom of the closet for months.

Round 1

Five Parsecs from Home - Part 3

New Milton Keynes
World Trait: Weapon licensing*
Notable Sights: largest indoor ski slope in the Fringe Sector

*Any weapon obtained through the Trade Table or purchased outright costs
+1 credit.

Post Battle (Turn 1)

[There are 13 steps for resolving the aftermath of a battle. I'll just summarise the important parts, and skip over the non-events (no new Rivals, no invasion threat, etc.).]

Loot & Payment & Purchases

With all enemies either neutralised or put to flight, Dirk's crew is able to pick over the battlefield at their leisure. They find a curious data stick which is full of cryptic information [+1 quest rumour], and a handful of Kiranin crystals. They also collect [1d6+3=] 9cr worth of saleable scrap. They later buy a spare colony rifle down the market with the intention of giving it to the bot, to see if it will do better in the next battle; the licence fees almost cost more than the gun! [cost is 1 credit for the gun, 1 more for the license]

Determine Injuries

Slow Hand's wound looked much worse than it was. He'll be out of commission for only a few days [d%= Minor Injuries, no long-term effect, spend 1 Campaign Turn in sick bay].

XP

Slow Hand was a casualty, so earns 1xp. GBH is a bot and doesn't ever get XP. Dirk, Zllgx, and Wilmer all earn 3xp for survival. Muffy earns 3 for survival +1 for getting the first enemy kill.

Campaign Event

[d%=Tax man]

Dirk and his new crew are given their freedom, and allowed to keep all the proceeds from battlefield salvage... provided they first fill in Form UH4567-C (in triplicate) and pay any relevant tariffs for processing. Oh dear, the sum owed comes to [1d6=] 6 credits.

Character Event

[d%=Where did it go?]

Zllgx has managed to misplace her colony rifle. Maybe it's on Dirk's ship. It must turn up eventually, mustn't it? [There a chance it will on the third campaign turn if she rolls 5+ on 1d6+Savvy. Spoiler: it doesn't.]

Flushed with success, elated with freedom, though somewhat underwhelmed with their collective credit balance, our sextet of space adventurers elect to stick together and see what the galaxy has to throw at them.

Campaign Turn 2

Dirk Striker in his new armour -- see below.

Upkeep

The crew pool their funds: 5 Credits remaining. One credit is spent on upkeep (food, ammo, beer, comic books, etc.). This is offset by earning 1 credit for having a Purifier on their ship (so they can sell clean water to the inhabitants of the world).

Ship Debt

Interest: +2cr to 38. They spend 3cr to lower it to 35. 2cr left in the space piggy bank!

Crew Tasks

Slow Hand must recover in the sick bay, so cannot take an action.

Muffy explores the port city -- one pub at a time. She gets bought a few drinks, but nothing more noteworthy happens. Well, nothing she can remember in the morning...

Zllgx and Wilmer go out to trade. Zllgx manages to trade a few last battlefield trinkets for 4cr. Wilmer haggles down a used suit of combat armour. It won't fit an engineer, but it's just [1d6=] Dirk's size.

Dirk goes into the starport with GBH to look for a Patron. And in fact two potential patrons are found. The colonel was surprised at the success of the first mission, and has another already lined up, though it isn't urgent. On the other hand, the local WI also needs a job done. Whilst they aren't offering quite as much cash as the military (2cr danger pay vs. 3), they do offer a basketful of Mrs Yortragox-Carrington's zkurgberry preserves as a bonus. Well, it's no contest, really.


next post: the battle!

Five Parsecs from Home - Part 2

Battle Turn 1

: Industrial Zone D :
: New Milton Keynes :
: Fringe Sector :

Night has fallen on New Milton Keynes. The two moons shine weakly through the clouds as Dirk Striker and his crew arrive (i.e. are unceremoniously dumped off) at the LZ. Their mission is to hold a section of a ruined industrial district, either chasing off or eliminating the band of space brigands holed up there. Once the zone is secure, the government will send in its team of crack property developers to begin planning work on a new gated community. This wouldn't have been Striker's first choice of a job, but he wasn't in a position to bargain.

Patron: Local government
Danger Pay: +3cr
Time frame: this turn
B/H/C: private transport

[The Patron was rolled with only 1d5 to fit the campaign start I made up. Pay for the mission (1d6+danger pay, as usual) is purely the value of battlefield salvage, since the actual payment is the PCs' freedom. Time frame was not rolled, again to fit the starting conditions. The B/H/C (Benefits/Hazards/Conditions) roll means no Rivals can track down the PCs this turn. Dirk (of course!) picked up Rivals during character creation.]

Setting up the Battle

Conditions: gloomy (9" max. visibility)
Notable sights: Documentation (provides a Rumour)
Objective: Secure
Enemy: Vigilantes

The rank and file are armed with Infantry Lasers -- too bad you can't salvage enemy weapons!

L to R: Hook, Shirtless, Fishy, the Engineer

Pigtails, their Lieutenant, gets a blade & +1 combat score.

The Specialists are Anorak (with a military rifle) and Ripper (ripper sword and
handgun). Specialists get no bonuses, just different weapons.

[Wargame AARs seem to be very light on mechanics, so there will be a lot fewer than in my RPG session posts.

There are a lot more images than usual, so the battle will begin after the cut.]


Round 1

Five Parsecs from Home - Part 1

: Maximum Security Detention Facility :
: New Milton Keynes :
: Fringe Sector :

"Alright you scum, listen up. I've been asked to get a special unit together for a dangerous mission in the old industrial sector. The brass have classified this as a suicide mission, and have decided not to throw away Unity personnel and equipment on an impossibility. But they've given me special dispensation to use the lot of you in one last, desperate attempt to pull it off. Many of you -- hell, most of you, even -- will not survive. But those that do will obtain a full pardon for your crimes, and your freedom. Any of you want to back out now, that's fine with me, but this is your only chance to avoid a one-way ticket to the soylent factory. Can I assume we're all agreed? Good.

"Now, since you don't know each other, allow me to make the introductions.

"Dirk Striker, career mercenary. A man's man, and a soldier's soldier. Spec-ops commando. Decorated veteran of the Antares Revolt. Medals for courage, valour, and bravery. Then abandoned by your unit at the battle of Tannhäuser Gate -- a betrayal for which you never forgave them. You'll get your revenge some day, I wager, but you've got to learn to keep you nose clean until then. Tell me, son, just how does a man of your talents get picked up on a public urination charge?"

"I was framed!"

"That's what they all say.

"Next we have Len 'Slow Hand' Luvvermann. You left a pretty cushy job in Megacity 8, and for what? The life of a scoundrel, traipsing round the galaxy in search of the zipless fuck, with nothing but a duelling pistol and a holo-crystal containing every known recording of Ravel's Boléro."

"You forgot to mention my boss threads."

"Look, I don't know what sort of 'trip' you're on, son, but no one is above following our space quarantine procedures. Our top scientists have traced the recent outbreak of Disco Fever to its source: you.

"Now we come to... um, corporal, help me out here. How do you say that?"

"Um, er.... well, she goes by 'Zllgx', sir."

"Now we come to Zg... Zlllug.... to this alien. A nomad, from a low-tech colony, whose name I'm also not about to attempt. A long way from your homeworld, aren't we? This may be the Fringe, but we are still a civilised planet. Perhaps you should have acquainted yourself with our laws and customs. Wearing white shoes after Labour day is a serious offence.

"Pllrsmgv!"

"Uh... that's no excuse.

"Moving on... say hello to Wilmer Glorp. An Engineer from the enclave in brown sector. Works as an enforcer for the Zortrino crime family in their traffic division. It's said they'll validate parking anywhere -- for a price. But those who can't pay up get a visit from good ol' Wilmer here. Such greed: all those credits coming in, and still too cheap to pay for a TV licence."

"I wasn't watching anything! I just needed to know who'd won Strictly."

"I've heard it all before.

"Next up, we have a true enigma. She was apprehended with a pocket full of false Identi-cards: Muffy Meyers, Muffy Kruger, Muffy Voorhees... Tell me, miss, is any of these your real identity?"

"I am legion."

"No matter. But it's ironic, isn't it: you elude the law with all these aliases, only to get brought in for overdue library books. And between you and me, you're lucky we found you before the library's enforcement squad did -- they don't take prisoners.

"Finally we have this... bot? I don't rightly know what this bot is supposed to have done, but I'm not paid to ask questions, so... the six of you move out at 22:00."

Campaign Notes & Character Records

I'm not a wargamer, but the light roleplaying elements of 5 Parsecs sucked me in. Plus it's a great excuse to dig out my Lego.

All my PCs were rolled entirely randomly using the 3rd edition Five Parsecs from Home rulebook, and the minifigs constructed to fit them. When I rolled on the Crew Table (p. 32) for flavour details, I got:

We met through: being in trouble with the authorities
We are best characterised as: cut-throat outlaws

And that's what gave me the idea to start them off with a Dirty Dozen origin story. The first Campaign Turn, therefore, was heavily modified. I rolled their mission randomly, and did check for Conditions and Hazard Pay, since it will be a standard campaign from here on in. They will have a ship as normal, and there are a few items aboard it / in the crew's Stash. The Colonel who put together the mission counts as the Patron that one of the PCs (I think it was Wilmer) got as a benefit during character creation.

I set the campaign difficulty to Challenging since I don't want battles with too few enemies.

Dirk Striker
------------
Type: Baseline human
Background: Military outpost
Motivation: Revenge
Class: Mercenary

Reactions   2
Speed       4"
Combat     +1
Toughness   3
Savvy      +0
Luck        1
XP          2

blast pistol, boarding sabre

The background/motivation/class results made it immediately obvious that this would be the crew's Leader. The combination also made it obvious that he needed the most risibly macho 90s action movie name possible. I almost spelt Striker with a y to make it look "cool", but I decided to go for the explicit Traveller reference instead.

Len "Slow Hand" Luvvermann
--------------------------
Type: Baseline human
Background: Comfortable megacity class
Motivation: Romance
Class: Scoundrel

Reactions   1
Speed       5"
Combat     +0
Toughness   3
Savvy      +0

duelling pistol

I wasn't sure what to make of the scoundrel searching the galaxy for romance, so I went with 70s (also very early 80s) space adventurer. And maybe leaned into the 70s part a little too hard. He's probably a liability.

Wilmer Glorp
------------
Type: Engineer
Background: Subjugated colony on alien world
Motivation: Survival
Class: Enforcer

Reactions   1
Speed       4"
Combat     +1
Toughness   3
Savvy      +1
 
Military rifle

Engineers seem to be the non-copyright-infringing stand-ins for the quarians from Mass Effect. They are physically frail, having a maximum Toughness of 4, regardless of armour or enhancements. Wilmer's only got the Toughness of a base human character due to a bonus from his Survival motivation. I often mix film noir with my sci-fi, so the enforcer got named after the gunsel in the Maltese Falcon. Let's hope he has a better run than his namesake.

Muffy (real name unknown)
-------------------------
Type: Mysterious Past
Background: Giant overcrowded dystopian city & Frontier gang
Motivation: Discovery
Class: Starship crew

Reactions   1
Speed       5"
Combat     +1
Toughness   3
Savvy      +2

handgun


An interstellar woman of mystery, Muffy would have been the crew leader, had I not rolled up an action hero to claim that rôle. If she ever leaves due to a random event, I'll have her form her own crew, and use this one as Rivals.

Zngprxtxlzf "Zllgx" Pkzlmqpsg
-----------------------------
Type: Minor alien
Background: Low-tech colony
Motivation: Wealth
Class: Nomad

Reactions   1
Speed       4"
Combat     +0
Toughness   3
Savvy      +0

special: max 4 Toughness, +1 repair rolls
blade, colony rifle

Zllgx is a nomadic Sbzdomite from the desert world, Llandudno 9. The only things she cares about in this life are credits, credits, hpgdreqjju, and credits. Credits she can get anywhere, but she'd kill her own brood-mother for hpgdreqjju. Maybe she already did.

GBH-Ω
-----
Type: Bot

Reactions   2
Speed       4"
Combat     +1
Toughness   4
Savvy      +2

brutal mêlée weapon, sonic emitter
built-in armour 6+

I'd originally envisioned GBH as some sort of off-brand warbot (hence the designation). Two battles in, and I'm pretty sure that's a mistake. Perhaps it's a janitorial bot, in over its head. This fighting does not compute!

Next post: the mission!