What your idea for solo introductory adventures leading to group play

jedion357's picture
jedion357
November 17, 2017 - 5:36pm
Close encounter today with Blizzard Pass M1 AD&A solo adventure at used book store and brief walk down memory lane. 

Naturally i spent the day considering something similar for SF. 

What i came up with is this: starting characters each have a short solo adventure that if the complete links them up at a cargo container where they begin to cooperate. Solo adventures are tailored to a primary skill. 

Set up is all PC are slaves, sold into slavery on Outer Reach by pirates who captured the starliners/frieghters/etc that they were passengers on. They are employed in work on the surface of Outer Reach by a crime boss/warlord. They learn about an opportunity to escape the surface and the hope is to get away altogether from outer reach and maybe report the slavery ring to star law.

Each PC must wait till they are out of their cell and at their job site and then make their way to the link up point. 

Each solo has a series of skill challenges tailored to the PC. Opportunity for gaining equipment and the potential for combat (once or twice) can be run by a referee or classic solo go to paragraph 13....
I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!
Comments:

jedion357's picture
jedion357
November 17, 2017 - 6:02pm
Alright, my idea isnt original, its the cliche escape from the slave galley.  

Techician character will have skill challeges surrounding obtaining a vehicle: operate& repair machinery, open lock and detect/deactivate alarms/defenses, rumaging in the garage he can assemble a -10% tool kit from odds and ends. 

Robotics skilled PC is doing repairs on robots - his skill challenge involves defeating the lock out and reprograming a robot and or preventing security robots from raising an alert.

Computer skilled PC might have to be the one to hack the "party's" exploding neck shackles explosive colars that blow if you pass the "fence line" or on radio command.
He can steal codes to unlock stuff and or redirect security robots. 

Demolitians expert could be involved in disarming his own colar because a glitch prevented it from unlocking. he'll have to improvise a demolitions tool kit.

Environmentalist ? Annalyze samples? Certainly no time to analyze an ecosystem. Maybe work in his out doors wood craft skills. 

Medic skills? Administer drugs ie telol and force an NPC to tell him crucial info? Heal his broken leg or he'll be unable to escape? Cobble a med kit together.

Psych-social: tough one, will involve manipulation of NPCs through pursaision or hypnosis

Military skills: these guys will have to fight and unarmed combat could be crucial. Maybe a skill check improvising weapons: a zip gun maybe

Edit: time element- the ship theyre trying to catch leaves in 20 hours.
I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

Shadow Shack's picture
Shadow Shack
November 17, 2017 - 11:55pm
I would probably write up three separate adventures (one each for military, technical, & biosocial PSAs) that lead up to the Port Loren Raiders adventure, and rewrite the Raiders adventure in Expanded Rules format. 

(oh, yeah...I already did that second part Wink)

The biosocial character would deal with the hydra, the technical charater would work with the security team in the computer complex, and the military character would work security. Each would have different missions that unite them for the grand event against Manetoe, Gramic, Konchinho, & Geiger.
I'm not overly fond of Zeb's Guide...nor do I have any qualms stating why. Tongue out

My SF website

rattraveller's picture
rattraveller
November 18, 2017 - 2:38am
For a starting solo adventure that only focused on what skills you have sounds a little more complicated than it needs to be. A Technologial PSA can take Technician 1 and Gyrojet 1 but then be forced into going down the Tech path (never go down the Tech path it only leads toward goggling your apple). With these skills they could try the military path with equal or better success depending on. A generic path were the use of your skills gives you the option to take a certain path with your skills and not take certain paths if you do not possess that skill could work.
Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go?

jedion357's picture
jedion357
November 19, 2017 - 6:39am
rattraveller wrote:
For a starting solo adventure that only focused on what skills you have sounds a little more complicated than it needs to be. A Technologial PSA can take Technician 1 and Gyrojet 1 but then be forced into going down the Tech path (never go down the Tech path it only leads toward goggling your apple). With these skills they could try the military path with equal or better success depending on. A generic path were the use of your skills gives you the option to take a certain path with your skills and not take certain paths if you do not possess that skill could work.


sounds like youre describing a pick your path book: if you have medic skill you can turn to page 33, etc.
I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

jedion357's picture
jedion357
November 19, 2017 - 6:40am
Shadow Shack wrote:
I would probably write up three separate adventures (one each for military, technical, & biosocial PSAs) that lead up to the Port Loren Raiders adventure, and rewrite the Raiders adventure in Expanded Rules format. 

(oh, yeah...I already did that second part Wink)

The biosocial character would deal with the hydra, the technical charater would work with the security team in the computer complex, and the military character would work security. Each would have different missions that unite them for the grand event against Manetoe, Gramic, Konchinho, & Geiger.


I like that
I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

KRingway's picture
KRingway
November 19, 2017 - 9:01am
You'd just have to make sure that each player has enough interesting things to do, then have a way that all of the players paths eventually meet. If each player discovers a piece of information on the way, you could have them all pooling this info when they meet and that is what helps them resolve the adventure.

Shadow Shack's picture
Shadow Shack
November 19, 2017 - 9:38am
That's the inherrent beauty of the Port Lorens Raiders prequels...the BioSocial character learns about the hydra prior to the hydra portion of the main game, the Tech learns of the pattern of the raiders' hits, and the Enforcer meets up with one or more of the Raiders (unbeknownst to him/her but the character discovers suspicious activity nonetheless) prior to the main game. Then they are assembled as a team to investigate the mysterious pattern of hits at the computer center.

The only trick is determining why the BioSocial character needs to be part of the Raiders team since the two adventures are not directly related. 
I'm not overly fond of Zeb's Guide...nor do I have any qualms stating why. Tongue out

My SF website