All posts by Alegis Downport

Old School RPG-gamer and Webmaster at Alegis Downport and Digital Waterfalls.

Technical Support

April 17, 2016 Alegis Downport Leave a comment

Required Skills: Computers and / or Electronics are advantageous but not essential

Players’ Information:

Whilst taking some well-earned rest and relaxation at Urnian starport, the players are contacted by a patron named Bernhard Lahman who is in need of their services. He is the CEO of Lahman Securities, a financial services company that primarily operates in the investments sector. It has come to light via his head of security that there is something odd taking place with some financial transactions, which have been detected via their monitoring tools. It appears that there may be some insider trader activity going on and the profits from such transactions are disappearing via an unknown route.

Lahman would like the players to join the company IT support team as a ‘cover’ for an investigation that Lahman wants to hire the players for. This way they can keep an eye ‘at the ground level’ for any unusual activity. They will provide on site IT support for the company, which involves dealing with support calls, dealing with company employees requests for help and installing equipment. They will report to the internal IT support team who will provide the players with a limited amount of access to the company systems. If questioned if Lahman has a suspect in mind, he reveals it may be Cared Johen, one of their top traders who has been behaving a little erratically the past couple of months. Lahman wants the players to keep an eye on Johen to see if there is any evidence of anything illegal taking place and if necessary, apprehend the suspect if sufficient evidence can be gathered.

The players will receive Cr. 10,000 each with a bonus of Cr. 50,000 for the group as a whole when the operation is brought to a successful conclusion.

Computer — A Typical Workstation – Image from wikimedia – Public Domain

Referee’s Information:

Johen is known to have some good friends in Lahman Securities own internal security team, hence the Lahman wanting a completely independent group to perform the operation. The risk being that if word got to one of Johen’s friends, he could be warned and the surveillance operation be exposed.

In addition, to help with the ‘front’ that the players have been recruited as IT support agency staff, they will have to still provide day-to-day technical support to the rest of the company. It may be possible to use this as an excuse to locate Johen’s workstation and install some tools which may reveal the nature of what Johen is doing.

A Roll of Six Determines the Possible Outcome:

1. Johen is siphoning off money fractions of a credit at a time to another bank account somewhere. The players will need to build up evidence of the transactions that are taking place to confront and accost Johen.

2. Johen is manipulating transactions to bring down Lahman Securities. He has a personal grudge against the owner; Lahman as he was denied a huge bonus for his contribution to the launch of their latest financial product, which has become a huge success for the company.

3. It turns out that suspecting Johen is completely wrong. Instead a number of other employees who are Lahman’s full time IT support personnel, are the real perpetrator’s. Realising that the players have been hired, they escalate their intentions by stealing a substantial amount of money and make a break for it. Unfortunately the suspects lose their nerve and a firefight against the players in the building ensues. The players will have to protect the company workers and make sure that they aren’t caught up in the crossfire.

4. The suspect Johen is a member of a terrorist group and has already siphoned off an amount of money for the organisation. However the terrorists are now going to hit the company for even more and make a political statement at the same time, by launching an armed attack on the company. The players may have a chance to stop the attack if they are able to intercept a last minute message. The terrorists will attack from two different directions a) from the underground vehicle parkbay and b) from above by landing on the roof by air raft with the intention of making their way down. If necessary they will have no hesitation in taking hostages.

5. Johen has become alerted to what the PCs are doing (possibly discovering their monitoring tool for example) which in turn, alerts the players. As the players arrive to confront Johen he makes a break for it, intending to take a large amount of cash and escape. The result is a high-speed chase across the city where Johen hopes to make it off-world via a transport waiting for him.

6. Johen is actually trying to expose the Lahman Securities and the people that hired the players as crooks who are manipulating the market to their own advantage. Lahman is aware of this and is trying to frame Johen before his activities are exposed. The players will have to make a choice in who they believe and either help Johen in trying to build evidence to whistle-blow on Lahman, or assist their employer as originally agreed.

Statistics:

Foreven Sector – Urnian / Urnian UWP – B9779AC-A N Hi In Cp 5 3 Cs

Classic Traveller Statistics for Key Characters:

Bernhard Lahman (CEO of Lahman Securities) UPP 7669AA
Administration-2, Computer-1, Leader-2

Cared Johen (Leading Trader for Lahman Securities) UPP 699BA9
Administration-1, Air/Raft-1, Computer-2, Electronics-1, Gambling-2

Lahman Securities IT Support NPC (6 in number) UPP 566997
Computer-2, Electronics-1

Terrorist NPC UPP 998886
(Number to be determined by Referee to match the players.)
Blade Combat-1, SMG-2, Tactics-1, Vehicle-1
Equipped with SMG, dagger and mesh armour

Adventures, Traveller

The Venatorian Club

December 20, 2014 Alegis Downport Leave a comment

For: 2-6 players

Players’ Information:
Whilst sat at the local starport bar, the players are approached by a very well-dressed gentleman, looking quite out-of-place in such a grotty establishment. He introduces himself as Tristan Keeler-Maxwell and asks if he can buy the players a drink and discuss a proposition. He and a group of friends are due to leave for Urnian / Kutadis (E668214-2) on an organised hunt. Tristan and his compatriots (naming their group the Venatorian Club) are extremely wealthy and own an island on Kutadis, populating it with a number of animals and creatures which are hunted for sport. Tristan has heard good things about the players and asks them if they would like to accompany him on the next trip, as bodyguards. Unfortunately his regular group of bodyguards are not able to attend, so he needs a reliable group to protect the hunting party, in case of any ‘mishaps’. He is able to produce on demand any documentation that allows him to hunt on the world, should the players have any doubts about the legality of the situation. Transport will be provided as they have a Safari ship, the players may bring whatever equipment they think they will need.

If the job is accepted, Tristan will cover any starport berthing fees for the players ship whilst they are away, as he does not want them to be out-of-pocket. Each player will be paid 10,000 Cr up front and a further 75,000 Cr on completion of the hunt, in roughly three weeks time.

Whilst en-route to Kutadis the players get to know the rest of the hunting party; they are all aged between 25-35 years old, exceedingly wealthy and sit in significant positions of power within major corporations and companies. These excursions provide an exciting diversion in what are quite demanding daily roles for the patrons.

Hunting- Image from wikimedia - Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license — Hunting – Image from wikimedia – Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license

Referee’s Information:

1. Despite all the bluster about the great hunt, it turns out that the animals the hunters are after are mechanised / quite advanced robots, which are set up to be fairly docile and not to threaten (all that much) the hunting party. The hunting party kill a few of the mechanised animals, the players help out and get their cash for being the ‘bodyguards’. The referee runs through some animal encounters of their choice where the players get to help out in some way.

2. As above, but one of the mechanical animals develops a fault, its safety overrides fail and turns truly nasty, going after the whole party intending to kill them all. The players will have to protect the group whilst fending off attacks and making a run for their ship. It is suggested that the players ATV / vehicle develops a fault and they have to run on foot.

3. The world is actually populated by a Neanderthal-like underling creature that has not come to the attention of the Imperial authorities. The Venatorians discovered them on a survey and kept the find to themselves, using them as prey in their hunting ‘expeditions’. The Venatorians take one of the underlings to use them for the next hunt; of course this is highly illegal, so the players must find a way to protect the underling or somehow stop the Venatorians. However, the players will have to be careful that they don’t maroon themselves on the planet by going against their employers.

4. As above, but when the players are looking to pick their moment to stop the Venatorians during a hunt for an underling, they are attacked by a far superior force of underlings. The players may be able to use the situation to their advantage.

5. The party is attacked by bandits who have also managed to capture the Venatorians starship. However, before they left on the hunt, Tristan has removed a vital part of the engine electronics (for security reasons) and the ship won’t start. The bandits are currently located between the players party and the parked ship; they need to avoid the bandits, return to the ship to escape (defeating the bandits as well) at the same time as not losing the vital part, otherwise they won’t be going anywhere…

6. The Venatorians turn on the players stating that they are very glad they have agreed to come on the hunt, but unfortunately for them the players have now become the prey. Mechanised or ‘real’ animals no longer provide the necessary ‘kick’ they want from a hunt and instead they trick groups to this world to become the hunted. They Venatorians strip the players of all their usual equipment and give them basic hand weapons such as knives and bows. The players will now become the ‘sport’ and are given a head start of one hour before the hunters will come after them with full intention to kill them all. Of course, the hunters have kept all the advanced weaponry such as laser weapons, rifles and locator equipment.

Referee’s Considerations:
When calculating an appropriate number of opponents, the referee should ensure that there is at least two more Venatorians than the players to make things tough for them. It is suggested that there are roughly twice as many bandits / underlings than the combined party of Venatorians and players. Continue reading The Venatorian Club →

Adventures, The Base, Traveller

The New Messiah

September 12, 2013 Alegis Downport 2 Comments

Patron: Religious leader, Cleric
Required Skills: None
Required Equipment: Starship with low berth
Number of Players: 2-6

Players Information:
Whilst taking a well-earned break at Ovdyo (Foreven 2935), the players are asked by a two men for transport to Udika (Foreven 2934). They are both dressed in long smocks but their clothes are clean and appear new. The taller of the two men introduces himself as Callidan and his colleague as Vernrean. Callidan asks the players that for religious reasons, Vernrean travels in a low berth until their arrival at their destination. Vernrean’s status within their religious order is such that for complex theological reasons, he must not pass through into ‘heaven’ (off world) and be awake until it is his time to die.

Callidan has been hired by Vernrean as a guardian to help with the practicalities of travelling between worlds so that he may spread his ‘message’. The players will be paid handsomely (Cr 15,000) for their trouble.

Somewhere? – Image copyright Alegis Downport 2013
image used with permission

If the players accept the offer, Callidan will tell the players that Vernrean is a religious visionary and he is travelling to a number of worlds to spread his word of salvation.

1. The job is as described and though the players may not agree with Vernrean’s views, he is harmless enough. As the players arrive at their destination, Vernrean tries to get the players to join his religion. He will however, not be offended if the players refuse and pays them in full Cr 15,000 with his blessing.

2. During the journey to Udika, Vernrean is recognised from news reels as not just a religious leader, but a wanted terrorist. Before the players can act on their discovery, Vernrean and Callidan have armed themselves, hold the players at gunpoint and summon another ship to kidnap the players and take them to the terrorist’s base. The terrorist’s intend to steal the player’s ship for their own and simply ‘dispose’ of the players.

3. Before the players recognise the Vernrean from the news reels, the authorities track the players down and order the players ship to stand to, accusing them of aiding a known felon. Vernrean calls himself a freedom fighter and tells the players that he is fighting against a corporate regime who murdered his family. It’s up to the players to decide whether to hide Vernrean and Callidan, or turn them over to the authorities and convince them they have nothing to do with them. It should be noted that before they left the starport, Callidan hacked the local data ‘net and added the players to the list of known associates/felons.

4. Halfway through the journey, odd things start to happen aboard ship, such as equipment malfunctions and ghostly occurrences such as poltergeist activity, lights flashing and things moving of their own accord. If the players look hard enough, they appear to be the uncontrolled psi-emanations from Vernrean in the low berth. The players must decide if the risk is sufficient to drop them off before their destination or not. If asked, the Callidan will deny anything to do with the occurrences and will appear quite offended. If the players do nothing, the malfunctions and ghosts will become more threatening, risking lives and the ship. If the players try to open the low berth, Callidan will do everything he can to stop the players.

5. Vernrean is actually highly developed Zhodani intelligence gathering android and has acquired a large number of Imperial secrets. It is gradually making its way back to Zhodani space, under the guise of Vernrean. Whilst in the low berth, it will send bursts of data traffic to alert the Zhodani fast courier that has been arranged to pick it up, to let the courier know it is on its way. However during one of these transmissions, the players pick up unusual data traffic and after some analysis, determine that it was coming from Vernrean in the low berth. Just as the players move to confront Vernrean and Callidan, the Zhodani courier appears and will threaten the players to allow Vernrean and Callidan to transfer to the courier. It’s up to the players to stop them. Vernrean and Callidan will do all they can to disrupt the players response.

6. Part way through the journey, Vernrean wakes and is released by Callidan from the low berth. He says that he has had a vision whilst asleep and gives the player’s co-ordinates to go to a supposedly dead region in space and wait. Unknown to the player’s, Vernrean has incredibly powerful psi-abilities and upon arrival at the co-ordinates, activates the ships jump drive, forcing it through a wormhole. The players ship arrives at an uncharted world with an orbiting spacecraft graveyard. Thousands of unidentified spacecraft orbit this stellar backwater, all apparently lifeless and in various states of condition. The players are asked to fly to a specific location and arrive at a starship containing more of the same race as Vernrean. They ask the players to help them repair their ship and assist with getting them back into the Foreven Sector.

The player’s dilemma is if they will help a group of powerful psi-beings back to their space, where they would be a powerful potential threat to the Foreven Sector, or attempt to escape and leave them in isolated space? However, the players are likely to need their help getting back to the Foreven Sector, due to their unknown location in the galaxy and the use of a wormhole to travel this far. In addition, what of the spacecraft graveyard and what secrets and surprises lie within?

Vernrean - as a religious leader/terrorist
 UPP 789AAA
 Bribery-1 Computer-2 Electronics-2 Engineering-2
 Leader-4 Submachine Gun-1 Auto Pistol-1

Callidan - as Vernrean's Associate
 UPP 877976
 Computer-1 Submachine Gun-1 Auto Pistol-1 Jack-o-T-1

As a Zhodani android, Vernrean should be classed as a TL15 pseudo-biological humanoid robot with technology employed sufficient to disguise any mechanical and electronic emanations so that sensors ‘see’ a biological being.

As a psi-being, Vernrean can move objects and disrupt electronics such as controlling ship systems. Specifics are not given here; the guide for the referee is that Vernrean is a member of a sufficiently advanced humanoid race that can control electronics and inanimate objects, using their powers seemingly without any loss of strength. The referee should play Vernrean and other members of his race as powerful beings more powerful than any others that the players have encountered. However, they are still biological beings and hence can be killed.

Adventures, Traveller

The Builder

October 24, 2011 Alegis Downport 3 Comments

Required Sills: None
Required Equipment: Starship
Number of Players: 2-6

Players’ Information:
The party is approached by a gang of builders (numbering eight including the leader) who need transport whilst on Urnian/Ovdyo; they have won a contract to refurbish a nobles penthouse and party is asked to transport the gang of burly builders to Urnian/Udika, their materials and equipment to site. They have several tons of equipment (enough to fill the PC’s cargo hold to capacity), including tools, heavy plant gear, bricks and other materials.

If the party asks why they can’t use local construction materials, the lead builder replies that the noble has expensive tastes and specified particular materials for the construction. Examples can be presented to the party, eg. special internal bricks that display soothing, coloured patterns when illuminated.

Building