 March 7, 2010 - 12:20pm | Old friend recently moved back into the area and decided to run a One-on-One Star Frontiers game with me, we are starting with Crash on Volturnus. Since it is just me, he allowed me more a advanced character. Cassandra Shadvol grew up on a small Agricultural Station orbiting the sun in the Prenglar system, where she helped to maintain the Ag-Robots, and the growing conditions on the station (skills in Robotics and Environmental). When she was old enough she applied to the Gollwin Academy and gained admittance as a Piloting/Energy Weapon student (Personality roll of 29, Logic rolls of 54 & 46) Everything was going good until her last year when she got the highest score during a Laser Battery Targeting Test, it was later discovered that the test program had been tampered with to allow her to score high. While it couldn’t be proved that she did or didn’t tamper with the program (she didn‘t, she believes it was a Vrusk Astrogation/Energy weapon student named Klick-Kow), the accusation ruined any real future she would have in the SpaceFleet. Allowed to take a medical discharge, she left the academy. (because she didn’t finish her last year she only has 1 level in Piloting) Name: Cassandra Shadvol EQUIPMENT: Starting Credits: 60+60*14= 1680cr (House rule for Starting Credits= Skill 1 wage + Skill 2 wage*2d10) Basic Portable Computer (1kg, SF04) starting equipment
-- Power clip (--kg, 20seu) starting equipment Standard Equipment Pack (--kg) starting equipment
For the Second Stage of the Exploration they planned to use a old Starliner, the Serena Dawn, to transport several hundred exploration personnel to the planet where they would inhabit the newly constructed bases and outposts to start on site exploration of the planet., but they needed Shuttle pilots to transfer them and their personal equipment to the planets surface. Having received her Shuttle Pilots License (Piloting skill 1) at the Academy, she answered a advertisement for shuttle pilots placed by the Government of Truane’s Star, and got the Job. She also learns that the Government has lost contact with the first expedition months ago and was planning to re-equip the second stage of the expedition with full exploration gear and a smaller team that would be making the trip in Storage class to make room for the additional equipment. While traveling to New Pale, Cassie gets a chance to purchase some equipment she thinks she is going to need.
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 March 7, 2010 - 3:36pm | Pretty cool. Just one critique on the background: Having received her Shuttle Pilots License (Piloting skill 1) ... You can pilot a shuttle at Technician: 6 (no pilot skill needed), Pilot:1 permits operation of any system ship. So, is your GM going to provide any NPCs to accompany the game? |
 March 7, 2010 - 8:52pm | Robots would make ideal NPC team mates. No need to worry about role playing personalities and the PC can tell them what to do. The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of
the strong. * Attributed to Mahatma Gandhi |
April 4, 2010 - 7:24am | ** Character Note: Since she has a Computer Skill of 2 she knows how to write the Programs: Information Storage and Life Support Since she is needed to run system checks the shuttle shortly after arriving in the Zebulon she is given a cabin on the upper Crew Deck and not put into Storage Class with the rest of the Expedition On her way to her room on the ship she if informed the trip will take about 100 hours (5 days), but the navigator needs about another 10 hour of time to calculate the Jump, the captain is pulling away from the station and is using the next 10 hours to make sure the ship is secure. After putting her stuff into her room (Middle room in upper left most block of rooms on the map) she is introduced to the ships captain (a Female Yarzarian called Loapa) as well as a male Vrusk Psycho-Med Tech named Virrt-Chi who is also part of the planetary expedition, and is there to help the ships medical officer in awakening the expeditions personal for their freezer fields (Storage Class). She then spends several hours running checks on the Landing Shuttle (Hull Size 3 with Atomic Engines), making sure it is properly locked onto the Serena Dawns hull and the equipment already stored in it’s cargo bay is properly secured ( 2 Explorers, several Robots and Prefab Building sections) Noticing the Serena Dawn has portable Hypno-Training Chairs she talks Virrt-Chi into plugging her in so she can Hypno-Train some medical skills, suggesting that it would be good to have some more medically trained personnel on the planet and that there will be no time for her to learn once they reach the planet (Personality roll 43). Agreeing he helps her set up and plug into the Hypno-Training Chair in her room (This is a house rule that we have always used with Hypno-Training, you can gain a new skill or skill level by going into EXP Debt, any and all EXP gained goes first to paying off the debt) (---- Experience -10 ---) Medical Skill 1 ( GM gives 2 XP for her actions so far) (---- Experience -8 ----) Cassie spends the next 100 hours (5days) spinning out of her mind in a Hypno-Training Chair in her room, the Chairs functions include IV feeding, waste extraction and administering Drugs, so she wakes up with little more discomfort then a little cotton mouth. Taking a quick shower, and using the “accommodations” of her quarters retracting facilities, she gets dressed and prepares to go to the bridge for a update on their progress. As she is zipping up her coveralls she hears a cry for “Help” outside her west door followed by a large thump. Opening the door she find a Grungy dressed Human male bludgeoning poor Virrt-Chi in the head with his fits, Noticing her the Human Grins and attacks *(Roll initiative roll: 3+8=11), Cassie backs up into her room trying to defend herself as the Human Lunges at her failing in his attempt to trying to grab her. *(Initiative roll: 1+8=9) with a Evil glint in his eye the Pirate Lunges at Cassie again, but Cassie meets his attack with a knee to his groin (Melee: 38%-20% for target=18%.. Make joke about small target penalty.. Rolls 13) that connects (takes 2 points damage, GM rules Stamina check needed) causing the Pirate to collapse to his knees holding himself (Stunned) *(Initiative roll: Auto) Grabbing her TechKit Cassie swings it at the back of the Pirates head as hard as she can. (Melee: 38%+20%behind+20%stuned-15%techkit= 63%.. Rolls 40)Hitting the Pirate(3d10 dmg.. Rolls 18+2=20dmg + knocked out) he collapses on the floor *(Initiative roll: Auto) Just to make sure he isn’t getting up soon she hits him again (Melee: Ruled Automatic Hit for 18+2=20dmg) *and again (23+2=25dmg) Taking a quick peak on into the aft hallway and seeing there are no more Pirates in the hall she checks on Virrt-Chi, she finds that the poor Vrusk is past help, his carapace is riddled with bullet and laser blast holes. Pulling his body into her room, she then attempts to connect her personal computer into the ships Computer communications lines (Interfacing computers 30%+20%-40%=20% .. Rolls 07) once connected she is only able to Display ( Automatic) a warning about intruders on the Bridge and a explosion in the Weapons Locker. Leaving her room with her TechKit she sneaks to the top of the hall and carefully peaks around the corner, seeing a Pirate with a whip. Sneaking back down the hall she peaks around the corner of the middle horizontal hall that leads to the Airlock, seeing a Pirate with a Club. Waiting for the pirate with the club to turn she attempts to cross the hall way into the lower end of the hall (Stealth: 20%+10%=30%.. Roll 03) making it unseen she peaks around the corner into the bottom hall seeing a pirate wearing a shockglove and Power Belt Pack. |
 April 10, 2010 - 11:14pm | I like the STA check for getting hit in the groin area. +1 House Rule |
April 12, 2010 - 9:04pm | "Oohhhhh, my vruskan cubes!" |
April 14, 2010 - 9:46am | Taking a minute to think (I ask the Gm if the floor is carpeted or not, he says no the floor isn’t as it makes it easier to clean, but the ceiling is carpeted for use with Velcro shoes) she comes up with a plan (queue MacGyver music). Quickly and quietly she sprays the floor (2 meter square area) just after the corner with lubricant from her TechKit, then sneaks back across the hall without being seen by the pirate with the club (Stealth… Roll 28) then entering the cabin at the top of the hall she gains access to the ships power grid ( Repair Machinery: 40%+60%=100%.. Roll 47), using 2 meters of uninsulated and 4 meters of insulated wire spliced together from her TechKit she stretches a trip wire from one side of the hall to the other at about 15cm from the floor, using hoses and Ion bonding tape to make sure the wire doesn’t ground where it touches the wall, she plugs it into the ships power systems (Deactivate Alarms/Defenses: 40%+60%.. Roll 56), and lubricates the floor before the wire. She then enters the lower of the 3 rooms in the upper part of the Hall, gains access to the ships power system (Automatic). Taking the remaining 6 meters of insulated wire she strips 3cm of insulation from the wire, frays it and plug the other end into the ships power grid (Automatic). Just as she finishes plugging the wire into the wall she hears the west door to the room open (Intuition roll 27) and quickly hugs the wall (Stealth Roll 17) as a pirate with a VibroKnife walks in. *Taking him by surprise (Pirate is Surprised, she gains Initiative) she jabs him with the Electrified Wire (Melee: 38%.. Rolls 36, GM rules the powered wire will shock for 4d10dmg… roll 27) *(Roll Initiative roll: 5+8=13) then keeps shocking him (Melee: 38%..Rolls 08, Dmg 4d10..rolls 31) until he stops moving. She quickly pockets the pirates VibroKnife, then with the wire in one hand and a spray can of lubricant (to use as mace) in the other she exit’s the west door into the hallway.
VibroKnife (1kg) Going to the center hall she waits at the corner till the Pirate with the club sees her (hiding the wire from site), where she quickly gasps in surprise and runs back around the corner like she didn’t want to be seen (Personality roll 53). As the Pirate shouts to his companions, Cassie hugs the wall waiting for the Pirate to come around the corner. *When the Pirate comes barreling around the corner he is surprised to see Cassie waiting for him (Pirate is Surprised, she gains Initiative) as she jabs at him with the electrified wire (Melee: 38%.. Rolls 23, 4d10 damage.. Rolls 30) and he goes down. The pirate with the whip runs around the corner at the top of the hall, slips on the lubricant (fails a Dexterity check) and slides under the Electrified Trip Wire getting caught ( 4d10 dmg.. Rolls 35) The pirate with the ShockGlove comes around the corner at the bottom of the hall and also slips on the lubricant (failed dexterity) and slams into the wall head first and lays still. *(Roll Initiative roll: 5+8=13) Still holding the Powered Wire checks the Pirate she just downed for a pulse (Not finding one) while watching the other 2 pirates carefully. The pirate with the Whip at the top of the hall fails to get himself out from under the Trip Wire (4d10 dmg.. Rolls 24) stops moving and starts to smoke. The Pirate with the ShockGlove at the bottom of the hall is still not moving. Moving quickly she carefully puts down the Powered wire and moves to disconnect the Trip Wire (Deactivate Alarms/Defenses: Automatic) picking up his whip, then she moves to the Pirate with the ShockGlove, Stopping to check the center hallway for more pirates before crossing. Checking the pirate she finds him unconscious (the GM says he rolled 00 for the pirates DEX check so he had him make a STA roll that also failed knocking the pirate unconscious). Taking the ShockGlove and Power Belt pack she binds and gags him and puts him in a nearby room. Then returns to her room (stopping to retrieve the Insulated wire) for the rest of her stuff. [New Equipment] Whip (1kg) ShockGlove (1kg) |
April 14, 2010 - 11:20am | "Pirates are sooooooo stupid." -- Yosemite Sam  |
April 14, 2010 - 1:19pm | It's a generous GM who allows electrical wiring and trip wires to inflict more damage than electric swords, gyrojet rifle rounds,and auto pistol/rifle bullets. I'd recommend you continue using them  |
April 14, 2010 - 5:28pm | A Electric sword does 4d10 damage, and isn't connected to a starships power systems |
April 15, 2010 - 7:52pm | A Electric sword does 4d10 damage, and isn't connected to a starships power systems But what if it *was*.  |
 April 16, 2010 - 10:52am | A Electric sword does 4d10 damage, and isn't connected to a starships power systems But what if it *was*. Heh Heh in my SFU, a random chance for an overload every turn it is used. Then another roll to see what happens, anything from just a fizzle, to welding it to a bulkhead, or exploding and taking off the wielders hand. Time flies when your having rum. Im a government employee, I dont goof-off. I constructively abuse my time. |
October 13, 2010 - 7:09am | After much delay here is the next issue in the adventures os Cassandra Shadvol After grabbing her Stuff and putting on the Shock Glove, she quietly moves down to the center hall and around the corner. Checking the center corridor for pirates, and seeing none she goes to sneak across to the hallway to the Airlock when the Airlock door opens. Moving quickly she ducks into the lower part of the middle corridor and hides against the wall (Reaction Speed roll 54 & Stealth roll 19). A Human Pirate with a night stick comes out of the Airlock and turns right into the upper part of the Corridor without apparently seeing her. Once the pirate is a little ways away from her she Sneaks around the corner into the hall to the Airlock and carefully enters the Airlock (Stealth roll 07). Once in the Airlock she checks the Elevator (The GM changed the map saying that the Floor hatches are a elevator system for traveling between floors that look like a large 2 meter Pillar with Pressure door that open into a elevator). Checking the indicator panel on the elevator she notices that it is indicating that most of the levels below are reading as Yellow, Orange, or Red (Hazardous, Low Oxygen. Or Vacuum) and that the tube to the shuttle is reading Black (impassable/damaged). As she is checking the Panel she hears a Airlock door opening, and Ducks behind the Elevator Pillar (Intuition Check 51... To see if she can tell which hatch is opening, Stealth roll 21.. GM gives +20% to Stealth skill for size of Pillar) Peeking she sees a Pirate with a Automatic Pistol enter through the hatch that leads to the bottom most airlock on the map . The Pirate moves to the hatch that leads to the top most Airlock and exits. Not being able to reach the Shuttle Cassie decides to grab her gear from the cargo bay and try to make it to one of the life boats. Thinking it to be safer she heads to the hatch that the Pirate just came through. Remembering that the Steward put her Equipment in the Locker Room (Cargo bay) Closest to the Bridge (Logic Roll 48) She Sneaks down the corridor to the Bottom Airlock(Stealth Roll 32), into and through the Airlock(Stealth Roll 34) then into the Corridor between that Airlock and the Airlock to the Life boats where she slips into the Locker Room (Stealth roll 15) Once in the Locker Room she notices she is not alone (Intuition roll 07) hearing someone going through a locker on the other side of a row of lockers to her left. Peeking she sees a Pirate with a Hand Axe rummaging through a lockers that he has broken into. As he doesn’t see her she sneaks up and hits him with the Shock glove set on stun (Melee: 38%+20%behind=58% roll 35). After tying up the stunned Pirate. She used her code to open her Locker and retrieve her Equipment as well as the items issued to her as a member of the Exploration team, a Military Skiensuit and a set of Coveralls that is the Exploration teams uniform. Once she retrieves all her Equipment she takes a quick look at the stuff the Pirate had been Pocketing and what stuff he had dumped on the floor while looting the lockers grabbing the items she thinks would be most useful from the Pile of stuff on the floor Med kit (4kg) 10 Power Packs (--kg, 20seu each) 12 packets of Survival Rations Computoy (basically a Portable Computer with emphasis on Games, 1kg) Galacticana Encyclopedia (basically a Portable Computer Holding a Encyclopedia of Information, 1kg) A bag with 17 pieces Jewelry, 7Fluid Vials (Steam bath Perfume)and 6 Chronocoms that the Pirate had, 1kg total) As she is gathering her stuff she hears the door open and what sounds like 2 Pirates Enter (Intuition roll 44) Trying to be quiet she accidentally kicks some ball bearing that were on the floor alerting the pirates to her presence (Stealth Roll 65) Just then the Ship Vibrates Violently and the ship lurches as what sounds like Explosions go off, Cassie grabs a hold of a locker to pervent from falling over as the deck seams to heave (Reaction Speed roll 58) as gravity is lost for a second. Seconds later Gravity seams to shift throwing loose items around the Room before Gravity returns to normal. Cassie hears the pirates curse and flee the room. Grabbing her stuff and heading to the door she find no one in the Hall to the forward Airlock or in the Airlock itself, and no one in the Escape bay. In the Escape bay she finds one Life Boat left. As the Ship Trembles and Cassie hears more Explosion sounds coming from the Bridge area she opens the Life Boats door and hears the 1 Minute launch warning. Dropping her stuff in a Launch chair she moves into the Pilot Chair, overrides the pre-set controls, shuts the hatch and launches the Life Boat (Pilot skill: Automatic) just as a Explosion rips into the Escape bay. The Life boat shutters and lurches as some debris hit it. As the Life boat enters the atmosphere of Volternus warning lights flash across the control boards, one of the engines suddenly Engine Explodes and Sparks fly around the cabin. She manages to make a Crash landing at a Rocky outcropping in a desert (Crash Damage Roll: 67= no damage). Recovering from the shock of the crash landing she notices that one of the Life boats fuel cells must be ruptured as the life boats Acidic fuel is seeping into the compartment and starting to catch fire. Cassie has just enough Time to grab her Equipment and 2 Survival packs (GM rule) and get far enough away from the Life boat before it explodes (Reaction Speed roll 59) knocking her unconscious from the blast as she runs away (Stamina Roll 83). . (---- Experience -8 ---) ( GM gives 5 XP for her actions so far) (---- Experience -3 ----) |
 October 16, 2010 - 1:01pm | Great storyline..cant wait for the next episode! Keep it up. Reasonable men adapt to the world around them; unreasonable men make the world adapt to them. The world is changed by unreasonable men. Edwin Louis Cole |
October 18, 2010 - 7:20pm | Anyone think this would be a good submission for the magazine? |
October 19, 2010 - 2:59am | Liking it! Anyone think this would be a good submission for the magazine? With possible exception to the electrical wire zapping & tripwire damages, it's a great story so far. Allow me to explain... I hate to drag that one back up again, but something happened to me recently which parallels that scenario. I was working on my jaccuzi a couple weeks ago and my finger completed a circuit I couldn't see while feeling around inside. 240 volts (240, mind you...not the typical 120 house current) later I was thrown back and stunned so to speak, my hand was a bit numb for a while. Paramedics were called but all checked out and I wasn't deemed worthy of taking a ride to the hospital. I'll be calling someone that actually knows how to service these things come spring...and just stick to the simple 12V motorcycle stuff for now. Now, I've also been shot and stabbed in the past. Thankfully not together. The shot was from a .22 pistol round that entered and exited through the side of my abdomen about 12 years ago, the stab came 8 years prior to that courtesy of a butterfly knife attempting to find a hollow between a pair of ribs a little higher up. Either one of those hurt a helluva lot more than the 240 jolt, both resulted in trips to the ER after the reality set in that a band aid wouldn't cut the mustard. So like I said earlier, that was a generous decision on the GM's part to allow that much damage, I can't say what the equivilent voltage of ship power would be but neither one of my injuries were caused by "combat grade" weaponry like SF guns and knives would be classified as...my "SF counterpart injuries" would have been inflicted from a practice pistol and the Standard Equipment Pack's pocket knife by comparison. Like I said, I hate to drag it up again. I'm all for rewarding ingenuity in a game, whatever gets decided is what's decided and that's how the game gets played. All I'm saying is if this were to be submitted as a story, I'd alter that part just a bit and make it more realistic for the sake of the story...something more like "the bad guy falls for the trap, gets hung up, and the hero is able to get in a few free licks to finish him off." The guy getting entangled and stuck while getting constantly fried --- folks will buy that. The other two that got the brief jolts and died...well, that's where it enters the realm of unbelievable and that's what I would suggest altering a bit for a submission. |
 October 19, 2010 - 9:48am | I too have taken 220V across the fingers by shorting the taps of a live transformer. I was lucky that the path of the current was from finger to finger and not from finger through my heart to the floor. I was properly insulated from the floor by good rubber shoes. Being an electrical engineer I knew better than to just grab things like I did and was very embarrassed. And thankful! What I am getting at is it very possible to kill if the path of current is right. Shadow and I were extremely lucky. We could develop a rule set to determine the odds of death but I don't want to do the experiments. I suggest w00t, his parts are replaceable and he can be rebooted. -iggy |
October 19, 2010 - 6:19pm | Years ago I saw a man Electrocuted..240v, not a pretty corpse. As for the damage of an improvised weapon, a good GM usually looks for something that is close in the rules and makes adjustments. In this case it was a length of insulated wire plugged into a ships power system. so what is close ALPHA DAWN Electric Sword: 4d10 damage for 2seu Shock Glove: 2d10 damage for 2 seu Stun Stick: 3d10 damage for 2 seu DRAGON MAGAZINE Zethra: 1d10 damage for each 2seu put into the attack So how many SEUs are flowing through a Star-ships power system at a time? If I was the GM I would probably gone with a 2d10 or 3d10 damage. But I'm the player and went with the GM's ruling and roll(role) with it.  |
October 19, 2010 - 8:17pm | I suppose under the right circumstances it could be much worse...I could have been standing in water rather than dry concrete! I still don't want to repeat that one anytime soon. We could develop a rule set to determine the odds of death but I don't want to do the experiments. From most recent to earliest in life --- having been electrocuted, sideswiped by a truck while on my motorcycle, shot, stabbed, mauled by a psycho white German Shepard, and struck by a steel 70s car bumper in the head (that last one probably explains a lot)...I won't stake any claims as to being immune to mortal weapons, but I too will not be volunteering for such experiments. So the real question becomes "Who wants to play human lightning rod?" |
October 21, 2010 - 4:02am | hermes handbags boots women cartier |
October 21, 2010 - 3:10pm | And we have our first official volunteer for said experiments! |
 October 21, 2010 - 3:43pm | Yeah, they say that knock-off handbags are a good conductor of electricity -- and damn, how they burn up like a Roman candle!  Now, lets hook 'um up!  |
 October 21, 2010 - 8:25pm | I'm definitely diggin' the storyline so far. It's even better for me because when I originally ran Volturnus with my player group, we were all green as heck to SF. I was more interested in getting the PCs down to the planet than I was about them fighting pirates onboard the starliner. In retrospec, and seeing how kewl a talented ref handles Volturnus....dang, awesome! My SF website izz: http://ragnarr.webs.com |
October 23, 2010 - 9:42pm | Okay! I got in another session playing with my kids and we got through Delta section. They are now camped out with the Ul-Mor at the oasis north of the crash site. Seeing as Mallak is only one section away from this point in the description of his play I'll pose a question I always come across when playing SF0. Where on the hex map is the entrance to the caves of Epsilon section? Where is the exit? Where is the Place of True Warriors in Zeta section? I'm trying to work out the path followed because SF1 starts the characters out by taking them back to the oasis again and resting them their. Facts from SF0: Caverns are one 12 hour period's travel inside the burning lands. Movement rate in burning lands, 1/2 hex average per day, 1 hex max per day. The characters exit the caves into the desert. The characters then journey three days South to the Place of True Warriors. The Place of True Warriors is an unremarkable section of desert. Movement rate in desert, 2 hexes average per day, 4 hexes max per day. -iggy |
October 24, 2010 - 3:13am | I got curious and dug out the module. Unfortunately, there is nothing indicated on the map depicting a cave entrance that is one 12-hour hex's worth of travel from the edge of the desert (let alon eeither proposed site for the "oasis") to back this up, or any other possible location at the edge of the desert/BL for that matter. |
 October 24, 2010 - 4:35am | OK kids I am only going to say this once. 120 Volts, 220 Volts, 222,000 Volts, 222,222,222,000 Volts you can stand there all day and let them run through you and the worst that will happen is your hair will stand on end. Try it with a Tesla coil. So how does electricity kill you? Amperage folks. It only takes 1, count them ONE Amp to kill you. That is why most electric devices use milliamps. The other part of the equation in resistance measured in Ohms. Check out Ohm's law for further discussion. Oh I used to fix radar systems for the Army, learned all this there (Be All That You Can Be) Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
October 24, 2010 - 4:36am | Now enough of this and get back to the story. Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
October 25, 2010 - 4:31am | OK kids I am only going to say this once. 120 Volts, 220 Volts, 222,000 Volts, 222,222,222,000 Volts you can stand there all day and let them run through you and the worst that will happen is your hair will stand on end. Try it with a Tesla coil. So how does electricity kill you? Amperage folks. It only takes 1, count them ONE Amp to kill you. That is why most electric devices use milliamps. The other part of the equation in resistance measured in Ohms. Check out Ohm's law for further discussion. Okay, but I still volunteer "star (not verified)" for the amperage experiments. The D&D rules make no mention that trolls are immune to electrical attacks. |
