Wednesday 20 March 2019

Five Parsecs Campaign Turn 6

It’s been a while since I picked up the campaign, but time for a bit of progress.

There were no upkeep costs this turn due to the colony rations looted last turn.
3 credits were spent to fix the Screen Generator.

Jobs

Nathaniel traded, gaining a gift (+1XP)
Anul went exploring  and met an arms dealer, gaining a Suppression Maul
Kari tried to track the raiders who’d ambushed them, but with no success.
Mila, traded, gaining some scrap worth 1 credit
Jak and Noah trained for +1XP

Reece found a potential patron, a group of pirates, but turned them down (the rules don’t really cover this situation but it seemed in keeping with his character), instead he turned to a previous patron, the Government Administrator who sent them after the raiders in the first turn.  He had info on a squad of soldiers who had gone off the grid.  Believing they may have information on the events that led to the nano-fabricator that went AWOL, but not trust anyone official, he wants the crew to try and persuade them to come in.

To be honest I got in a bit of a rut with this turn.  Narratively I wanted a mission where they were trying to bring the target in peacefully but I couldn’t quite work out a solution that didn’t hinge on a single task roll determining whether it was all over or whether I would be fighting a combat.  I needed something more nuanced to represent the persuasion aspect.  To be honest I prevaricated far too long before deciding on something and figuring I should just get on with it to move on to the next turn.

Here’s what I came up with, using a deck of normal playing cards:

The crew’s first challenge was to get past the squads picket.  Each side would draw a card.  If the crew won, they could take through as many characters as the difference in cards.  If they didn’t win they could still take one through in the following circumstances depending on the card the suit of the highest card:

Diamonds, paying a bribe of D6 credits
Hearts, if they can trade any supplies
Clubs, trading a weapon
Spades, trading any piece of gear

If they can’t do any of these they would face a firefight.

If they got through, they would then have to persuade the squad’s CO.  The soldiers drew five cards, keeping them face down, and the crew a hand of six cards.  As each of the soldier’s cards was drawn the crew would need to try and play a higher one.  In the event of a two cards drawing they could still win depending on the suite played by the soldiers:

Diamonds – if any crew member present has a trade background or skill
Hearts – If a crew member can pass an easy test on personaility or similar skill
Clubs – if any crew member present has a soldier background
Spades -

If the crew didn’t win more hands than they lost, it would be a tabletop battle, with those outside the picket trying to get in, and those outside trying to subdue the CO and get out.

1 Persuade the picket

The crew drew a comfortably higher card than the picket.  Reece chose to take Anul and Jak with him to negotiate.  The rest of the crew would remain outside in case it became necessary to fight.

2 Persuade the CO

The CO drew his, face down.  The Crew had a hand of six.

9 diamonds vs Jack of Spades – crew win
5 of diamonds vs 5 of clubs (Reece used Trade skill to raise by one) – crew win
3 of clubs vs 3 of diamonds (Jak used solider background to raise by one) – crew win
Ace of diamonds vs Ace of hearts – crew loss
8 of clubs vs 9 of diamonds. – crew win

As the team had won more hands than loss, they persuaded the soldiers to come in, without a shot being fired!

Aftermath

The crew did not gain a new enemy
They were paid 6 credits
All gained +3 XP.

I decided no loot roll was appropriate in the circumstances.

Campaign event – trade one piece of equipment for role one roll on the trade table.  I swapped the broken suppression maul for 2 basic supplies.
Kari re-thought her motivation, from Glory to Fame (not a big leap admittedly)

Nat levelled up CS by 0.5
Jak hit veteran rank 2
Kari levelled up Reaction by 0.5
Mila levelled up CS by 0.5
Noah levelled up Tech to 1

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