Five Parsecs From Home: The Voyage of the Power Cruiser - Battle 1

First, the crew's activities:

• Arel decides to try and decoy some of their many rivals.
• Endyne goes trading and acquires a Flak Screen for a bargain 3 credits.
• Dennio checks what job offers are available from their patrons.  He receives 2 offers.
• Larry trades some contraband tech devices, gaining an extra 4 credits for the crew.
• Gordi explores and finds a potential bargain but decides not to pay out anything more.
• Hany trains, gaining 1XP.

The pirates are in the area and almost track down Hany, but luckily Arel sends them off on the wrong trail!

 Patron job offers:

1. A private organisation, the Lissen Botanical Society, would like the crew to contact someone.  It turns out that Arel has an interest in gardening, and used to tend the gardens at the orphanage.  During his deployment to Lissen, Arel attended several meetings of the local botanical club.  When this job came up, and they needed someone tough and used to trouble, they immediately thought of Arel.  With the severe restrictions on weapons, the crew will clearly stand a better chance than a group of locals would - as long as they don't get caught!  LBS are offering an extra 3 Credits danger money, but the job needs to be completed this turn or next.
2.  The Sector Government were impressed with Eandyne's work during as previous operation and would like to hire the crew. They offer 2 credits danger money to undertake the mission, regardless of outcome, but this is a once-only opportunity and they will cut all ties with the crew after completion.  If the mission is completed successfully, they will also throw in a hand-cannon as a gesture of appreciation. There is no time pressure, the crew can take up the challenge as and when they are ready.

Job number 1 is the obvious choice, and additional information is exchanged as the crew prepare to head out.

X marks the spot (though a bit vague on a planetary scale)

This is a locate and contact mission.  The action takes place in a wilderness location centred around an overgrown marshy area some way inland, fortunately still low enough that the air is still breathable.

The enemy consist of 4 bounty hunters, approaching from the North.  The bounty hunters are veterans (-1 panic range) armed with handguns and include a lieutenant with a blade plus a specialist with a rattle gun.  [This would have been a stealth battle from the 5PH Compendium, but flicking between the 2 books I realised I had rolled the standard number of enemies (2D6, choose highest die) instead of using crew size +1 = 7.  It didn't help that the section on number of enemies in a stealth game appears at the end of the stealth missions section, rather than nearer the start or with the "enemy deployment" section.  I also suspected that boredom might set in of there was too much sneaking around and not enough shooting!]

Bounty Hunters, Lieutenant far left, Rattle-gunner far right.

The crew are closing from the East, in loose order.

The crew(L-R): Arel, Eandyne, Dannio, Larry, Gordi and Hany.

The crew have to locate a local security officer, Talia Summer, to pass on some information from the Botanical Society.  She will be waiting for them close to the marsh and the crew have noted 3 likely spots where she might be hiding.

Security officer

The field of battle includes a central marshy area surrounded by rocky outcrops.  Areas of forest and vegetation are scattered throughout the area and there is a hedge running North-South, just to the West fo the marsh.  Trees, vegetation and rocks will provide hard cover, the vegetation and marsh will also count as difficult terrain.  The marsh will not block LOS or provide cover.  The hazy conditions prevalent across Lissen will reduce visibility to 14".  This will cancel out the crew's range advantage of rifles against pistols.

The battlefield.  Red crates mark possible locations for Talia.

2 crew members get to move in the Fast phase, though it doesn't really matter at this early stage in the game.

First initiative roll.

 

The crew move up en masse, Gordi taking the lead with Larry close behind her.

Moving forwards.

 Gordi and Larry's faster moves put them in the lead.

Gordi takes the lead.

The bounty hunters move forwards, hugging the hedgeline.  The haze means that neither side can see the others yet.
 

Bounty hunters approach.

 

 The hazy conditions make it difficult for the bounty hunters to draw a bead on the crew, but they can make out figures moving in the distance.

 

I can see movement ahead!

 

Turn 2: The crew determine that the first marker is a bust, no contact here.  Gordi and Larry, being fastest, press on towards the next likely location.  The others prepare to engage the bounty hunters, dim shapes gradually coalescing through the haze.

The crew engage the enemy.

Gordi locates Talia Summer atop one of the rocky outcrops.  Larry covers her back while she moves to make contact.

Gordi locates the contact.

Close enough to see each other now, the two sides flick their safeties off and prepare to fire.  The bounty hunters mostly keep to cover, but the rattle-gunner hefts his weapon and takes his chances.

Bounty hunters open fire.

The burst of rattle-gun fire shreds nearby foliage and chews divots from the soggy turf, but all rounds fly well wide of Hany Flemer, who has been caught in the open.  Another bounty hunter steadies his arm against the rock face and his bullet nicks Hany's arm.  Hany staggers back in shock, but is only stunned.

Hany Flemer takes a hit but is only stunned.

 

Talia slides down the side of her rock perch in a shower of gravel and makes contact with Gordi.

Gordi makes it to the contact.

 

Hany decides that discretion is the better part of valour and retreats out of sight of the bounty hunters and into the cover of some bushes.  He isn't used to combat in the same way that Arel, Eandyne and Dennio are.  They are demonstrating their superior skill by making good use of cover and creeping forwards to better firing positions.

 

Hany pulls back to the bushes while the others edge forwards.

 

Dennio and Eandyne squeeze off a couple of shots, both of which stun the rattle-gunner.  Taking advantage of the distraction, Larry edges around the opposite side of the rock outcrop towards the bounty hunters.

 

Bounty hunter rattle-gunner takes a couple of hits and is stunned.

 

After some ineffectual firing from the bounty hunters, return fire from the crew eliminates the rattle-gunner and stuns another bounty hunter as she makes a dash towards the undergrowth nearby.  The superiority of infantry lasers and military rifles over handguns is becoming apparent.

 

Specialist out of the fight and another bounty hunter stunned.

 

A few more seconds and suddenly it's all over.  Larry sweeps around the edge of the outcrop, shotgun levelled.  The spray of pellets takes the bounty hunter lieutenant out of the fight.  Firing from the main body of the crew takes out the remaining two bounty hunters, but as the echoes of gunfire fade away and the smoke (but not the haze) clears, it is apparent that not everything has gone their way.  Dennio is lying on the ground, cut down as he was moving between cover.

 

Bounty hunters all eliminated.

 

 Larry's quick thinking rear attack certainly accelerated the bounty hunter's demise.

 

Larry Tere's rear attack helped!

Arel and Eandyne peer cautiously from the protection of the undergrowth.  It's hard to be certain in the haze, but it loosk like all the bounty hunters are down?  A few seconds later, Larry's shouted confirmation frees them to go and check on Dennio, crumpled at the bottom of the nearest rocky outcrop.

Dennio Arciark is the only casualty from the crew.

With the mission completed, onto the post-battle sequence.

 The bounty hunters do not become our rivals.  Maybe they're dead?  Maybe they survived but know they're outclassed.  Whatever the reason, they won't bother the crew again in the future.  The crew receive 5 credits payment (2 rolls, 4 + 5, pick highest), plus the 3 credits danger money already promised = 8 credits.  When they check the bodies of the bounty hunters, they find a useful starship part (worth 2 credits off next ship upgrade) and a set of combat armour.

Dennio is alive, but has a crippling wound, so the crew opt to use their 3 credits danger money to pay for emergency surgery.  Fortunately, Dennio will only spend a short while (1 battle) recuperating from the injury in the cottage hospital near their base of operations at the starport.

The crew manage to sell some cargo picked up on the last planet they visited, earning an extra 2 credits.

Hany makes a friend among the locals and gains a story point.

A successful first mission for our crew!  But who knows what lies in store for them next...

Five Parsecs From Home: The Voyage of the Power Cruiser - Introduction to Lissen

Lissen

Planetary diameter: 7628 miles (slightly smaller than Earth)

Gravity: 0.97G

Atmosphere: Thin

Hydrosphere: 45%

Population: 127,358 at last census.

Government: Captive

Tech Level: Analagous to late 19th Century Earth

Lissen is a tectonically active, low-tech agri-world, with a technology level is similar to late 19^th century Earth.  Long-distance transport is by steam train, local travel by either beast-drawn carts or primitive internal combustion engines, communication is primarily by telephone and telegraph, occasionally by horseback dispatch rider to more isolated regions. 

It has a basic starport, with a Scout base.

The planet has a 45% hydrosphere, thin, hazy atmosphere, and is near-earth sized (7628 mile diameter).

Population at last census was only 127, 358 people.  Weapons are strictly controlled.  Only daggers can be carried outside the home.  Long-bladed weapons are controlled, firearms are banned for the general populace.

As a subservient colony world, Lissen has a captive government, controlled by Pactolus, who deliberately restrict the influx of technology.  Food shipments are sent directly to Pactolus.  The small population are almost exclusively employed in the agricultural operations.

Farming is mainly in the valleys, air quickly becoming too thin to breathe without supplements in the upland regions.  Scientists believe that the planet started with a thicker atmosphere and a large ocean, but these have gradually been attenuated over millions of years.  Located closer to its star than Terra is to Sol, Lissen has been subject to strong solar winds that have stripped away much of the atmosphere, the reduced pressure resulting in the seas also evaporating.  Originally very warm, the planet as a whole has cooled considerably with the thinning of its insulating blanket, to the point that ice caps have developed.  This is what actually makes Lissen fairly habitable for humans, its original hot, humid form would probably have been too unpleasant for colonisation.  In another few million years, Lissen may well end up like Mars, the oceans entirely gone and only a faint wisp of atmosphere remaining.  It is only Lissen's magnetic field that has prevented this fate overtaking the planet already.

Human habitation is confined mainly to the coastal areas, this is for two reasons.  Firstly, the aforementioned thin atmosphere means that these lowland areas are where breathing is easiest, especially given the prevailing low technology levels (minimal breathing apparatus).  Secondly, fairly low rainfall across the planet makes irrigation essential for arable farming and this is most easily arranged near the coast where primitive desalination plants pump sea water through the sluice runs. 

The Pactolan government exerts huge control over the Lissen puppet government, which is little more than a mouthpiece.  Technological levels have been kept deliberately low, partly because the strong solar wind causes frequent malfunctions, but primarily because it makes it easier for Pactolus to keep the scattered population in order.

The low technology levels make it easy for off-world outlaw groups to land undetected and there are rumoured to be several such hideouts on Lissen, hidden in isolated valleys.  As long as food production and shipping is not disrupted in any way, the government are indifferent to their presence.

The system contains a gas giant and several smaller planets, all of which are uninhabited.

 

Five Parsecs From Home: The Voyage of the Power Cruiser - Meet the Crew

 After watching some of the adventures of the Blackraven crew on the Joy of Wargaming, Number 2 son asked that we create our own starship crew for some good sci-fi adventuring.  Sensing an opportunity, I grabbed my copy of Five Parsecs from Home and got him rolling some dice.

Without further ado, may I introduce the crew of the Power Cruiser: 

Arel Warders is a human male.

Arel Warders

Orphan Utility Programme

Desires fame

Mercenary

Arel is a product of the Orphan Utility Programme, taken in by the state and given training and an education.  Having no parents, Arel feels compelled to seek approval from anyone that he can.  Becoming famous will give him the recognition he feels he deserves.  Lacking any particular talent for technical skills, performance or creative arts, Arel’s skill lay in fighting, and the OUP encouraged him towards military service.  Having mustered out of the Neo Colonial Commonwealth military, Arel set himself up as a mercenary, and likes to demonstrate his fighting prowess.  He has come to Lissen to seek employment.

Eandyne Rookson is a human male.

Eandyne Rookson

 

Religious Cult

Desires freedom

Mercenary

Eandyne belonged to The Kedrine Associative, a religious cult who train large numbers of their "associates" as mercenaries and hired him out to earn money to support the cult.  Having been exposed to different cultures and worlds during his time as a mercenary, Eandyne has realised the opportunities available and desires freedom from the constraints of the cult.  He is considering throwing his lot in with the people of Lissen, who he considers are as much prisoners of the Pactolan government as he was a prisoner of the Kedrine Associative.  His most recent employer was the Sector Government and Eandyne still has contact with them (patron).

Dennio Arciark is a human male empath.

Dennio Arciark

 

Military Brat

Desires revenge against Nagrican outlaws

Punk

As an empath, Dennio has low-level psychic abilities, and can read emotional states in others.  In theory, this should make him very good at dealing with others, but he has a deep-rooted anger that makes him deliberately rub others up the wrong way.  Moving around with his parents to various military postings, Dennio frequently relocated as soon as he had started to feel at home.  In his teen years, Dennio rebelled against the militaristic attitudes that pervaded his life, adopting a punk lifestyle.  His father was killed in action fighting against Nagrican pirates and now he desires revenge against them.  His punk lifestyle has sometimes brought him into conflict with others, most recently some Psychos with whom he had a run-in.  He believes that he has tracked the Nagricans to the planet Lissen.

Larry Tere is a human male.

Larry Tere

 

Low Tech Colony

Desires technology

Petty Criminal

Larry loves technology.  That’s unfortunate, because living on the low-tech colony agri-world Lissen means that he doesn’t get access to much.  Larry’s knack with technical equipment made him well-known in his village, and people would come from far and wide to ask him to fix broken items.  This led to requests for more unusual items, and Larry was soon the local “go-to” source for any illicit tech requirements.  Local enforcers would overlook his illegal activities in return for servicing of any items they might acquire to improve their own lives.  Larry is eager to get off-world to indulge his love of technology, get to grips with more complex machinery and take advantage of the improved lifestyle which it would bring.  Larry’s illegally acquired repair bot will be coming with him.

 

 Gordi is a precursor female.

Gordi

Industrial World

Desires revenge against psychos

Scoundrel

Gordi hails from the industrial world Chindivrium.  She is something of a scoundrel.  She desires revenge against the same Psychos that dislike Dennio, they have left a trail of death and destruction across several planets, and Gordi has followed it to Lissen.

 

Hany Flemer is a human male.

Hany Flemer

Comfortable Mega-City on Pactolus

Desires truth

Agitator (trouble with pirates)

Citizen Flemer is comfortably well-off and brings some important financial backing to the crew.  He is something of a crusader, seeking truth about the government on Pactolus, where the inhabitants are differentiated by height, "Tallers" being full citizens but "Shorters" being treated as little more than property, with severe restrictions on their lives and minimal rights. He has also seen how the workers on Lissen are oppressed and forced to live in what he sees as primitive conditions.  Hany has been encouraging others to campaign for civil rights on Pactolus, and has just started rabble-rousing on Lissen, where he is seeking more information about how they are forced to live.  Recently his agitation has resulted in trouble, with some pirates taking an interest in him - presumably they have been paid off to "discourage" him, apparently in a fairly permanent way.  On a low-tech world like Lissen, accidents can easily happen...

 

The crew are "somewhat honourable bandits", who met through their dislike of the Pactolan government.  Between them they have 16 Credits.

 

The Power Cruiser

An unreliable merchant cruiser, 30 hull points, 21 Credits in debt.

 Crew names were chosen from a Sci-fi name generator, I was given the task of working out how the crew came together and how to explain their characteristics etc.  This was apparently the "boring" bit, and watching a few episodes of Go-Jetters drew his attention elsewhere...