 July 30, 2016 - 6:08am | Was noticing the crime and punishment table in WoWL module. Two entries carried the penalty of death by vacuum. Smuggling heavy weapons and being a sathar agent. I suppose murder could be added to the list. Interesting that smuggling uranium will get you some hard time: I suppose that means (here I go totally hijacking my own thread in the opening post) that Clarion has a major corner on the uranium market and the planets GNP is significantly built on the atomic fuel trade thus the specific inclusion of uranium smuggling. At any rate I had a RM adventure seed: RM are spacing a pirate/smuggler/killer for his various deeds but his compatriots are waiting with a large launch, a medic and freeze field to grab his body and whisk him away. He might even be a dralasite that has stored pockets of air in his body to use a thruster by letting the air out to redirect his vector in the, what, one minute he has to live after being spaced. The smuggler captain is grabbed, pulled inside the launch and the launch makes for a ship. PC's had the execution duty and see what happens and are forced to run for the elevators, to the station docking bay, cut short a pre-flight check (give the players the pre flight check list and ask them how much of it the want to skip in the interest of running down the criminals. For every item on the check list they skip there is an accumlative x% that an engine will hyper ignite which cuts the ships ADF in half. Pirate ship doesn't have to be faster than an assault scout (let's say it's something in the high ADF privateer range). The pirates have dropped a collection of IFF beacon mines which they plan to fly through and lead any pursuit. There could even be a second vessel out there waiting to take a shot at the PCs. Bulk of encounter is about the pursuit with real chance of bad guy getting away. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
July 30, 2016 - 6:27am | There could even be a bait and switch, it looks like the launch docks with the privateer but it ducks behind it and fly's into a cargo bay of a freighter that waits till the RM go in hot pursuit of the fleeing vessel. Under this scenario the fleeing vessel doesn't have to be a capable privateer just a robotically controlled freighter taken in piracy but now under forged documents. In this scenario the actual escape vessel could be a Pacific class freighter like that in Dramune Run. Robotic ship isn't that fast and even if PCs hyper ignite an engine in rush to chase the criminal and after they run into a mine they should be able to board the vessel and divine it's secrets. I don't see that the pirates would bother with robotic opponents to engage the PCs as the robotic ship has done its job at this point but perhaps the pirates did so just to thumb their nose further at the RM. Can even have the leader going to his execution making bold threats against the RM, stuff that sounds like pure bravado since he's about to be spaced. Action starts "en media res" with PC' in uniform Skien suit and RM issued laser pistol at side and little else - ie players don't get to prep their PCs for this encounter. Intro is them walking him from cell to air lock and him mouthing off then the execution. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
July 30, 2016 - 7:11am | Alternately the pirates have the one vessel a large freighter ala KHs, but carefully hidden in a cargo module is a thruster class privateer. The dock and begin the pursuit but jettison the cargo modules (6 of them) with them in the hidden privateer. PCs really need to continue pursuit of freighter, run into prepositioned mines and board robotically controlled freighter. Pirates blow the explosive bolts holding cargo container (including false compartment of cargo ready for inspection) around the privateer and rocket off on wildly divergent vector. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
July 30, 2016 - 7:19am | There is a possibility here: Players can be given pre generated characters and robotic opposition on freighter can be severe such that there is a total party kill. Then the players roll up their real PCs. The crown is more than just a little perturbed over this pirate escaping justice and murdering Royal Marines. The order is given for him to be hunted down and brought to justice at all costs, alive if possible but just the head will suffice. To this end the PCs are experience Marines and officially the Corp is accepting their resignation or discharging them so it looks like they're civilians and they can sign on with one Garlus Tylapper and his ship that has a mission to return to Dramune (Dramune Run) where they hope to track the pirate. Note: at some point the PCs can have an interaction with a star law marshal who warns them that only Star Law has authority to chase interstellar criminals. He may suspect the PCs mission. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
July 30, 2016 - 7:47am | On a dralasitic silly humor note: death by vacuum doesn't necessarily mean being spaced out the air lock for a dralasite it could also mean having house hold cleaning machines attached to ones body till they suck out your fluids, a very long and torcherous process I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 July 30, 2016 - 9:24am | Chucky the Pirate Leader laughs at the Royal Marines about to space him and threatens them all with terrible revenge. Unbeknownst to the Royal Marines Chucky has an implant in his brain which upon activation will transfer his consciousness to a robotic body aboard a nearby ship with a crew of robots ready to make that revenge real. Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
