dinsdag 24 januari 2012

Traveller - the last past months

So, where do we actually stand in the Traveller campaign. Here a writeup from the gamemaster about the major events of the campaign. Pending are the smuggle runs of the last two sessions.

Chapter 1 - Rat Hive Exodus

The Travellers are in the backwater Inchin system, in the Spinward Marches. Inchin is a poor desert planet owned by a guy named Iarl Rowri, an eccentric rich guy who bought his own planet, sure he could make a lot of money there. He has met a lot of setbacks and has not succeeded as of yet. Inchin now has a kind of totalitarian regime. Rowry apparently lives in a palace at the only town on Inchin, called Rowri's Folly by people off-planet.

Takeda Station orbits Inchin, clutered with neon signs. All the Travellers are stranded there one way or another. It used to be a mining/industrial base, but Rowri sold it to the mysterious Takeda because he needed the money. This was 15 years ago. Takeda station has the greatest bar this side of the galaxy, Murphy's Bar and Grill, completely filled with old-earth memorablia and culture. He even has a radio station that broadcasts Solomani songs (especially Creedence and Hank Williams).

Of course there is a rat problem in the cellar. The Travellers find the (radioactively mutated) pests, extend the range of the radio station and discover that Takeda Station contains a lot of scrap metal, including pieces of a huge ship called "The Galactic Dragon".

Chapter 2 - Beetlejuice

Old man Finkle is a drunk and completely broke. He loses his ship, Beetlejuice, to the Travellers in a poker game (but his pilot and stripper slash mechanic daughter keep their share). The Travellers also inherit the mortgage on the ship.

The Beetlejuice is a weird, green, 100 ton experimental ship, without jump capabilities. It is filled with non-standard tech.

In the meanwhile the only Traveller with a set goal is Max. A few years back, he received a mysterious marble of mercury-like substance through his girlfriend (later referred to as “Vril”). He researched this material at his university, far away in another sector. All his research, including the strange material, was stolen however. He traced the crime back to the Inchin system, and wants to retrieve his life's work.

Chapter 3 - Spacetruckers

Together, the Travellers launch the “Lone Star Trading Company”. Their first job entails doing some mining runs for an independent group of miners. These old geezers try to keep independent from the League of Miners and Prospectors, which slowly destroys their business. During the mining runs, the Travellers are bugged by a trader named Bachus, who owns a 500 ton far trader "Predator" and works for the League.

Chapter 4 - The Lion and the Dragon

Security Inspector Reichmann of the Inchin Police asks the Travellers check out Bachus, because he appears to deliver weapons to the Inchin resistance. They break into the Predator to discover a small ships boat inside, which could be used for smuggling runs. The Travellers engineer a makeshift tracking device with short range. They want to try to catch Bachus red-handed.

More importantly, the Travellers discover that their ship, the Beetlejuice, used to belong to an alien (Aslan) named K'syah. He discovered the ship in the system, at a dangerous place he refers to as the "Galactic Dragon". His journal claims that there are many more parts available for the ship at that location. The Travellers conclude that it must be a vessel, because Takeda station contains scrap metal belonging to a ship with the same name.

The Aslan apparently was murdered about 10 years ago, right after he hid the Beetlejuice on a Junkyard moon. It's unclear who murdered him or why, but he was very paranoid just before he was murdered, saying he was being followed because of something that had to do with the ship.

Furthermore, the Travellers discover that K'syah had a girlfriend (Pam) who might still be on the station. She should be employed at the upper section, which is off limits to lower section residents. She is the only lead who might lead the Travellers to the Galactic Dragon, to upgrade the Beetlejuice with parts that might be present there.

Chapter 5 - Deadly Choices

Bachus approaches the players in person, and asks them to make a delivery to Inchin. He has discovered the tracking device the Travellers planted on his ship. He assumes, however, it was put there by the Inchin Police. He intends to kill two birds with one stone by sending the players to make his final delivery.

At the drop-off point, the Travellers hide and wait for the “resistance” (who are plain smugglers and drifters) to pick up their shipment. They follow them into a large canyon. The smugglers inhabit a large technical facility, long since abandoned. The Travellers start their assault on the drifter’s base.

In the meanwhile, Bachus flees the system.

Chapter 6 - Assault

The Travellers continue to gain access to the facility. After defeating the drifters located there, they discover it used to belong to a cooperation named TechNet. They also find out that it's a back up power station to another facility. They follow the power traces to that second facility, deep in Inchin's dessert.

Chapter 7 - Biodome

The Travellers clear out the second abandoned TechNet facility on Inchin, which has been overtaken by insectoid predators. Their hivemother resides in the giant bio dome in the centre of the facility. They kill the aberration by flooding the dome. After that they discover the main function of the site: it's an archeological dig, a huge shaft that descends deep into Inchin. They discover that the site is meant to recover ancient artefacts. More specifically, they dug for the same strange substance that was stolen from Max by Takeda. It is reffered to as "Vril". Furthermore, they mine the computers and find an intact datalink with the Galactic Dragon, enabling them to find its current location.

They return to Takeda station and find that Bachus has fled. Instead, they are approached by a beautiful woman named Pam. She was the Aslan's girlfriend, before he got murdered by Takeda. She tells them Takeda is after them because they have information about Vril in their possession. The Travellers flee the station, accompanied by Pam. They locate the Galactic Dragon in the Inchin system, with the information they obtained in the TechNet facility, and decide to pay it a visit.

Chapter 8 - Enter the Dragon

After Baron Rowry of Inchin discoverd the presence of TechNet sites on his planet, he attacked the sites and destroyed most of them. The TechNet employees sent SOS messages, and the cooperation responded by sending their prime vessel, the Galactic Dragon. But the paranoid Rowry anticipated retaliation, and invested heavily in surface-to-space defence systems. While their mission was diplomatic, Rowry attacked the Dragon the moment it was in range. The vessel was not equipped for warfare on that scale, and was destroyed. The loss of the Dragon was the downfall of the struggling TechNet cooperation. Remaining employees were fired, the main assets were sold, and everything else was abandoned.

When the Travellers visit the Galactic Dragon, they discover it has since then become a town of sorts, home to Spacecowboys, Drifters and Pirates. It's led by a one armed Pirate named Ramsey. They trade with the locals and upgrade the Beetlejuice. Also, they hack the ships database and find out a lot more about their ship. It was an experimental TechNet ship employing the power of Vril as an alternative to normal Jump Technology.

The actual drive that is needed to jump with Vril was present in the Dragon, but it was sold to the three notorious junkers, and brought to their Junkyard moon of Elthan. Coincidentally, this was the same Junkyard where the Aslan hid the Beetlejuice, some 10 years ago. Luckily, one of the brothers visits the city, and takes some of the Travellers and Pamela to the moon to get the so-called "Fridge". With that device, the Travellers will finally be able to jump.

Chapter 9 - Takeda

On the Junkmoon of Elthan, things go horribly wrong. While Jack and Stacey are lifting the Vril drive into the spacetruck, Charles is out riding a space bike with one of the brothers. They discover a small fighter vessel, which attacks them. At the same time, Pam reveals herself to be Takeda. Obsessed by Vril technology, she attacks the Travellers on the junkmoon. Powered by Vril, her cybernetic body is capable of immense feats. Two of the brothers die in the battle, but in the end the fighter crashes into the junkyard, and Takeda is defeated with a huge amount of explosives. The Travellers flee the blazing moon, leaving the charred cybernetic remains of Takeda, but not without retrieving the piece of Vril that powered her. After returning to Dragon City, the Vril Drive is installed on the Beetlejuice, along with a gatling gun. They've defeated their opposition and are free to go where they want.

Session 10 - First Jump

When making the jump, it becomes apparent that jumpspace is fundamentaly different when using the Vril drive. Halfway the jump, the Beetljuice co-exists with another vessel for some 8 hours. The laws of physics are abandooned completely as they are able to pass through walls between the two ships. They explore the other ship, a huge, abandonned generation vessel from centuries ago. The horror ammounts to a climax as the see the shape of a huge, leather clad soldier through one of the doors. They escape the ship, and safely return from Jumpspace in the Tarsus system.

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