A couple of minor adjustments and updates to my plan.
The Trip
I’ve decided to implement the “Spaceships Malfunctions” from Pyramid 3-103 en masse with the caveat that the engineer character – Buck – has been dealing with this sort of thing from the beginning of the campaign; it’s only now that we’re actually adding the meat to this. Per the rules, I roll versus HT-3 for malfunctions once per week and ended up with 3 for the four-week trip. They are are:
- Week 1: Location: Central Hull, Habitat. Malfunction: Wastewater Recycling Malfunction. On day 3, a random PC notes a growing smell from a bathroom station; after poking around, the mechanic is able to identify the problem: a piece of shrapnel from the firefight at Quopist has caused a minor leak in the wastewater tubes which has increased in size and leaked a bunch of stinky water. Repairing it requires patching the tube and cleaning up the mess – it’s not difficult, just time consuming and in an awkward location. Mechanic (Starships) at -2 (-2 simply due to aforementioned location that is difficult to reach)
- Week 2: Location: Rear Hull, Jump Drive. Malfunction: Exotic Malfunction. As the ship is ramping up to make the Jump, there is a sudden, unexpected malfunction with the drive. No Jump actually transpires, but all fuel is consumed. Repairing this requires a Mechanic (Jump Drive) plus 1d+3 hours of time (to track down problem first, then repair it) as well as refueling … again.
- Week 3: Location Central Hull, Cargo Hold. Malfunction: Carg Door Failure. There is a serious fault in the door that is knocked loose with the most recent Jump. It begins (and keeps giving) false readings – “The door is ajar … now it’s closed … nope, it’s open again. Still open … still open … closed now, etc.” Mechanic (Starships) at -1d (because engineer is having to track down an electrical fault. This fault can be repaired while in flight.)
- Week 4: No malfunction
The Arrival
I’ve revised my thinking regarding this scene. The ship is still going to be boarded by customs personnel in space armor and they’ll require all personnel on the ship to assemble so they can be checked. At the same time, a scanning team will move through the ship to confirm there are no smuggled people or the like. This is to set up the fact that it happens again during the Departure and that team is a lot less disciplined than this one. Since Abe (my GM PC) is a registered psi, he will be identified as such by the team who will order him to check in with customs at the high port immediately where he will be fit with what amounts to an tracking device. His presence in-system has now been logged and failure to check in is a Class 3 Felony. This will also set up a continuing problem that PCs will have with Abe in the group…
The Holiday List Gala
The intended terror strike is still a strong possibility, though I still haven’t decided whether to pull the trigger on this one yet simply because I can’t see them getting past the security since the archduke is present, not to mention the various dukes, duchesses, counts, countesses, etc. If I do go ahead and pull the trigger on this, there will need to be something present that points toward a nobleman being responsible …
Although … hmm. Okay. So I’m planning on having Sae meet his former CO, right? Sae, being a Curious sort, may note that his CO is meeting with someone else and that someone else could be the actual target of this Ine Givar strike force with the hint that this may be a false flag op. Yeah. I like that.
The Departure
The original plan was to have the PCs be hired to go to hex 3217 in the Foreven sector, but I’ve discovered Bael, which has “lanthanum” deposits. This works perfectly for what I need. It is only 11 jumps away from Mora instead of 12 and is perfectly located with the Darrian Confederation, the Imperium, the Sword Worlds, and the Zhodani Consulate all within a 2-Jump range. In the original adventure I’m using for this (“Planet of Darkness” which is in the Star Drive campaign setting for Alternity), there are two stellar nations intent on moving against the world (Lison.)
And then, of course, Sae’s former CO seeks a flight off Mora to “anywhere but here,” they’re boarded by the faux customs team who follow the same methodology … then execute Sae’s former CO.