Five Parsecs From Home - Online Campaign - Round Three - Space Pirate Raid

 With their former employer getting more and more agitated making some vague (and some very NOT-SO-VAGUE) threats, it was decided it was time to go! Unfortunately, taking stock of fuel and supplies, the crew realized they would have to find a way to make some coin here on Athilles IV, just to get OFF the planet!!

The crew busied themselves with assorted tasks and trying to avoid those that were hunting them. 

Meetoktu and Mad Willie set about trying to repair a few of the damaged weapons. At some point the two got into a heated discussion about the effectiveness of lasers (for those who aren't aware, or maybe just forgot... Mad Willie DOESN'T BELIEVE IN LASERS!?) and Meetoktu got SO FRUSTRATED, she decided to "demonstrate" that lasers DO work by further melting the pistol Willie was trying to repair... at which point Willie grabbed the Boarding Cutlass Meetoktu was trying to repair and scampered out of the ship and into the enshrouding mist... he returned several hours later with the handle for the boarding cutlass... the blade was never seen nor spoken of again... 

Ace and Jimmy Oath spend some time training. Getting Jimmy back into shape after his stay in the sick bay. 

Pylon and Case wend out trading. Pylon managed to score a good deal on a handgun (which Willie took to replace the one that Meetoktu melted) and Case managed to sell some cargo, bringing in some much needed income. 

AS they were making preparations for their departure some Googly-Eyed Alien Space Pirates came looming out of the mist looking to do some misdeeds! 

The leader of the enemy forces - a Pirate Lieutenant armed with pistol and ripper sword. 

There were two specialists, also armed with handguns and ripper swords. 

Then there were FOUR other Pirates with Military Rifles. 

I thought this might go very poorly... 

At least THIS time we remembered that the entire planet is shrouded in mist and the maximum visibility is 8" (on tabletop!) 

I hand drew a simple map for this encounter - at the bottom of the picture is the crew's ship... Didn't have time to colour it... 

WE played the game on a mix of Roll20 - where I had the map and counters, and Discord - which we used for chatting. At the beginning of the first turn all of the crew were clustered by some crates and barrels outside the ship. In the distance they could hear the revving of Ripper Swords and knew something was amiss! 

The crew moved forward to take cover and meet whoever was coming for them... The pirates advanced in rushes through the mist. 

The orange circle marks the "Notable Sight": a Peculiar item that, if a crew member moves into contact with, would gain +2 XP.

In Round Two - shots were exchanged, but as everyone was in cover, there wasn't much affect. Meetoktu was stunned, briefly, and Jimmy Oath used his Distraction Bot to... well... distract one of the Pirates for a turn. 

On Round Three the crew got a bit lucky and took out two of the Pirate Crew that were trying to sneak around the flank and rush them. Another, on the other flank was stunned. 

The loss of two of their crew would cause TWO MORE of the Pirate Crew to flee! 

In Round Four the second specialist was taken out (with three stuns!?) and ANOTHER Pirate fled, leaving only the Pirate Lieutenant!

He was finished off in Round Five and that was it. Willie did make it to the Notable "Peculiar Item": (to gain +2 XP).

WHEW!!! They really needed a win this time around, and they GOT ONE!!

Here's how the rest played out:

STEP 1: TRAVEL 

1. Flee Invasion (if applicable) 

No invasion, no need to flee...

2. Decide whether to travel

The crew decided they would like to travel... but did not have the FUNDS to do so!

3. Starship travel event (if applicable)

No travel, no event

4. New world arrival steps (if applicable)

Still on Athilles IV

Generated a new Rival at this point as well... PIRATES!! 

STEP 2: WORLD

1. Upkeep and Ship Repairs

Pay upkeep for seven crew = -2Cr (+1 for Purifier) 

In an effort to save up funds for a move offplanet, they decided to make no payment on Ship Debt - +1Cr interest - Debt now 17 CR

2. Assign and resolve crew tasks

Lt. Meetoktu Yrmngr  - Repair Boarding Cutlass - rolled 1 - Damaged beyond fixing?!

Mad Willie - Repair Handgun - rolled 1 - Damaged beyond fixing?!

Jimmy Oath - Training +1XP

Pylon - Trade - Acquired Basic Firearms - choice of a Handgun, Colony Rifle, or Shotgun. Chose Handgun to give to Ace - to replace damaged scrap pistol. 

Ace - Training +1XP

Case - Sell some cargo - Earn 2 credits. 

Brother Bart - Recovering in Sick Bay

I just could not stop rolling ones for repairs!? WTF!? 

3. Determine Job Offers

There were none... 

4. Assign Equipment

Mad Willie took the spare Handgun from the Ship's Locker

Ace took the Handgun that Pylon found at the market. 

5. Resolve any Rumors

They're already, theoretically ON a quest... and have heard had no further rumours 

6. Choose your battle

Having THREE rivals now, it was 50-50 that they were going to end up fighting one of them... I rolled a 3 and that meant they were fighting the NEW rivals - the SPACE PIRATES - that may or may not be privateers in the employ of their previous employer... 

STEP 3: TABLETOP BATTLE

Deployment Condition: Caught off guard: The Crew all act in the Slow Actions phase in Round One. (I forgot about this when we actually PLAYED the game... but it didn't really matter, as I'd remembered that there was a maximum line-of-sight of 8"... so there was no shooting on the first turn anyway... 

Notable Sights: Peculiar item: Gain +2 XP.

Objective: RAID! The Objective is to SURVIVE!! If the crew failed to Hold the Field, their ship will take 1D6+1 points of Hull Point damage. If a spaceship model is available, it should be placed dramatically on the table for this mission so the players have a visual reminder of what you are defending!

THE ENEMY 

ENEMY: Pirates

NUMBERS: (d6 roll = 6!) +2 = 8!!! (Lieutenant, 2 specialists, 5 Pirates) 

PANIC: 1-3

SPEED: 5”

COMBAT SKILL: +0 (Lt +1)

TOUGH NESS: 4

AI: A - Aggressive! 

WEAPONS: 2A (Lieutenant - Hand Gun and Ripper Sword, Specialists - Hand Gun and Ripper Sword, Pirates - Military Rifles)

Space-faring looters who descend on colonies to raid, pillage, and enslave.

Loot: Gain an extra Loot roll if Holding the Field.

STEP 4: POST-BATTLE SEQUENCE

1. Resolve Rival Status

Space Pirates remain rivals

2. Resolve Patron Status

There was no patron involved in this one - other than that we are saying, narratively, that all the new rivals generated by the previous game's event, is actually their obscenely wealthy former employer hiring thugs to track them down... 

3. Determine Quest Progress

Not a quest battle. No progress. 

4. Get Paid

+5Cr! It's a little weird that you get "pay" for a fight that wasn't related to a job... maybe it was for bounties on the pirates they took out...? 

5. Battlefield Finds

Debris: 1D3 credits’ worth on the scrap market. = 2Cr 

6. Check for Invasion

No invasion

7. Gather the Loot

Consumables (2 uses)

Ripper Sword - Damaged

3 Dazzle Grenades - Damaged

8. Determine Injuries and recovery

Brother Bart - still recovering in sick bay. 

9. Experience and Character Upgrades

Lt. Meetoktu Yrmngr - +3 for surviving and winning, which brought her to a total of 8, 7 of which was spend to increase Combat Skill! 

Mad Willie - +3 for surviving and winning, +2 for making it to the Notable Sight, brought him to 5XP

Jimmy Oath - +3 for surviving and winning, +1 for training brought him to 5XP

Pylon - +3 for surviving and winning, brought him to 5XP

Ace - +3 for surviving and winning, +1 for training, +1 for taking the first enemy out of action, brough them to 4XP 

Case - +3 for surviving and winning, brought her to 6XP

Brother Bart - recovering in sick bay. 

10. Invest in Advanced Training

Nope.

11. Purchase items

Nope. 

12. Roll for a Campaign Event

The Crew meets up with an old arms dealer contact who owed them a deal.

They got a choice of 3 weapons from the following list: Hand Cannons, Military Rifles, Shotguns, or Machine Pistols. 

Two Hand Cannons and a Machine Pistol were selected! 

13. Roll for a Character Event

Jimmy Oath - Where did it go?

A random item carried by the character has been lost. When rolling for a Character Event next campaign turn, roll 1D6+Savvy as well. On a 5+, the item turns up again, otherwise it is lost for good.

Distraction Bot

Ace swears she saw Mad Willie recover it from the Battlefield... Willie swears he never saw the thing... Doesn't know what Jimmy's talking about... mumbled something incoherently about bots cannot be trusted! 

14. Check for Galactic War progress

No invasion, no war. 

And that was if for this week!