I had a wonderful Thanksgiving today. The Seussian City I sketched on the way to the farm, however, did not. It's kinda hard to draw a straight line in a truck bouncing on gravel roads.
- Ark
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Player Portraits: Kaye
Kaye is the man behind the infamous, and incompetent, wizard Torvalds. He complained vociferously about the double chin in the picture I drew of him, but like his fake name Kaye, the picture isn't the real him - it's a caricature. Well, at least that's what I told him. This is actually, exactly what he looks like - sketch lines included. :) The grin on his face? That's the grin that Kaye gets when his character is contemplating genetically building acid dripping xenomorphs that will get out of control and eat the rest of the party. On accident. Of course.
- Ark
- Ark
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Desmond Connors
The Boy's write up of his Stars Without Number character:
Recruit Archive Desmond Connors
Occupation: Military assassin
Height: '5"6
Weight: 150 lbs
Age: 26
Eye color: steely grey
Hair color: Dirty Blonde
I.Q: 143
Bench: 351 lbs
Background: Desmond Connors was born 3175 in the small town of Autumn Springs. At age 5 the Skorpios attacked the countryside he lived in.
He and a few of his quicker friends escaped the fray. They left the area and hunted and gathered for several years before making their way to the big cities.
While there Connors left the group and went to a stealth class. During this harsh time in Connors' life, he made a living as a petty thief, Then quickly realized it was not a "worth-while" career. At age 18 Connors was drafted into the military, and the recruit trainers quickly learned of his skill. He was put in a special unit for stealth ops and climbed the ranks to Petty Officer First Class. Then 7 years after being drafted, he volunteered for the Reprive expedition, where a new adventure awaits him.....
The Boy can draw too. That's Desmond up there fading away with help from a camo-suit. :)
- Ark
Recruit Archive Desmond Connors
Occupation: Military assassin
Height: '5"6
Weight: 150 lbs
Age: 26
Eye color: steely grey
Hair color: Dirty Blonde
I.Q: 143
Bench: 351 lbs
Background: Desmond Connors was born 3175 in the small town of Autumn Springs. At age 5 the Skorpios attacked the countryside he lived in.
He and a few of his quicker friends escaped the fray. They left the area and hunted and gathered for several years before making their way to the big cities.
While there Connors left the group and went to a stealth class. During this harsh time in Connors' life, he made a living as a petty thief, Then quickly realized it was not a "worth-while" career. At age 18 Connors was drafted into the military, and the recruit trainers quickly learned of his skill. He was put in a special unit for stealth ops and climbed the ranks to Petty Officer First Class. Then 7 years after being drafted, he volunteered for the Reprive expedition, where a new adventure awaits him.....
The Boy can draw too. That's Desmond up there fading away with help from a camo-suit. :)
- Ark
Saturday, November 17, 2012
SWN NPC Profile: Admiral Beringer
Kaye wanted to know some things about the commander in charge of the Void Expeditionary Force in the Redshirt Stars Without Number game. That would be Admiral Beringer. He looks and talks just like General Beringer in the movie Wargames. Well, as so far as I can imitate Barry Corbin, of course.
McAllen Beringer was born in 3143 CE and raised on the wild island continent of Garuda on Aquila, where his father was a park ranger at the Ganymede National Wildlife Preserve. He grew up learning to ride horses and the Momma-Long-Legs, a native pack animal, while acting as a tour guide through the region's varied biomes. He was very involved in helping his father to enforce the park's anti-poaching regulations, tracking and capturing several illegal hunters during his summer months off from school. He moved to the Aerie, the capital of Aquila Prime, during his last year of high school, and joined the Reserve Officers Training Corp. After graduation he joined the Aquila Space Navy and went to the Naval Academy on Eagle Eye Station, in orbit above Aquila.
Beringer developed an aptitude for recognizing patterns in data and entered the Communications Corp. He was assigned to the AUS Hummingbird, a patrol boat in the Ptolemy Wilds that monitored activity in the Atlas system. He participated in several anti-pirate actions, until the Hummingbird was appropriated by the Naval Intelligence Division for espionage purposes. The boat did rim dives into the Skorpios held Novikov and Smirnova systems.
This led to the Novikov Incident of 3164, in which two Skorpios patrol boats detected and fired upon the Hummingbird. The Aquila ship was crippled, but as the Hummingbird was being boarded, the crew killed the Skorpios marines and boarded the enemy ship instead. Lt. Beringer successfully took over the Skorpios patrol boat's computers, destroyed the Hummingbird with the boat's weapons, and helped the pilot jump the boat safely to Atlas before the other patrol craft could react. The three survivors were given commendations and Beringer was permanently assigned to the Naval Intelligence Division.
Beringer was then assigned to the Grendel, a free merchant ship secretly owned by the Aquila Navy. The Grendel plied the spaceways along the Skorpios Cluster, collecting data on ship movements, the construction of the battle station Joseph Stalin around Skorpios held Corvus, and the Skorpios invasion of the Apotelesmatika system. The latter part of his tour involved running guns to the Almagest rebellion.
He was promoted to Lieutenant Commander on his second tour and took control of the Grendel, continuing to gather intelligence data deep within the Skorpios Empire. Most of that time was spent setting up a covert base on Smirnova and creating the Smirnova-Harmonics-Almagest Railroad, helping refugees from the war to escape, and sending munitions and supplies to the front. His last official action as an undercover intelligence officer was the sabotage and destruction of the battle station Joseph Stalin around Corvus, which was the first act of the Annihilation War. The Grendel was destroyed in the escape attempt, and Beringer spent a year on the surface of Corvus, fleeing from Skorpios patrols and radioing troop emplacement data until he could be extracted after the Aquila fleet secured the system. During his stay, he helped to organize the Witches of Corvus, an indigenous psychic contingent, against Skorpios troops, and they used their powers to help drive the Skorpios away from the planet.
He was then promoted to Commander and put in charge of the Brimstone, a Frigate class warship that was used for long distance intelligence gathering in the Agro system. Beringer helped lay the groundwork for the Argo Invasion three years later, and then repeated the job six years later with the invasion of Belinski in 3180. After the front was stabilized, he was promoted to Captain and forcibly assigned a desk job by the Naval Intelligence Division. Beringer disliked the sedentary life, but did his job as ordered.
With a peace treaty signed in 3182, he worked quietly for Naval Intelligence Division, organizing the intelligence networks. Over the years, he noticed patterns of movement within the Skorpios Empire and the wilds that disturbed him. He wrote many reports on what was called the 'System Independence' movement within the Wilds, but his warnings were ignored. He predicted the formation of the Alliance of Independent States five years before it happened. But the people of Aquila were tired of war, the Navy lost funding, and complacency set in.
The Peace Movement on Aquila grew so strong that Belinski,
then Argo, and finally Corvus were handed back to the Skorpios Empire. Commodore Beringer had predicted that failure
in judgment as well. He worked hard to create
intelligence network throughout the three systems that would survive the
hand-over. Beringer decided to lay low
during the Wild Systems independence movement and fallout. A number of military leaders resigned as
Aquila lost the five additional systems in the bloodless coup known as the Alliance
of Independent systems.
McAllen Beringer was born in 3143 CE and raised on the wild island continent of Garuda on Aquila, where his father was a park ranger at the Ganymede National Wildlife Preserve. He grew up learning to ride horses and the Momma-Long-Legs, a native pack animal, while acting as a tour guide through the region's varied biomes. He was very involved in helping his father to enforce the park's anti-poaching regulations, tracking and capturing several illegal hunters during his summer months off from school. He moved to the Aerie, the capital of Aquila Prime, during his last year of high school, and joined the Reserve Officers Training Corp. After graduation he joined the Aquila Space Navy and went to the Naval Academy on Eagle Eye Station, in orbit above Aquila.
Beringer developed an aptitude for recognizing patterns in data and entered the Communications Corp. He was assigned to the AUS Hummingbird, a patrol boat in the Ptolemy Wilds that monitored activity in the Atlas system. He participated in several anti-pirate actions, until the Hummingbird was appropriated by the Naval Intelligence Division for espionage purposes. The boat did rim dives into the Skorpios held Novikov and Smirnova systems.
This led to the Novikov Incident of 3164, in which two Skorpios patrol boats detected and fired upon the Hummingbird. The Aquila ship was crippled, but as the Hummingbird was being boarded, the crew killed the Skorpios marines and boarded the enemy ship instead. Lt. Beringer successfully took over the Skorpios patrol boat's computers, destroyed the Hummingbird with the boat's weapons, and helped the pilot jump the boat safely to Atlas before the other patrol craft could react. The three survivors were given commendations and Beringer was permanently assigned to the Naval Intelligence Division.
Beringer was then assigned to the Grendel, a free merchant ship secretly owned by the Aquila Navy. The Grendel plied the spaceways along the Skorpios Cluster, collecting data on ship movements, the construction of the battle station Joseph Stalin around Skorpios held Corvus, and the Skorpios invasion of the Apotelesmatika system. The latter part of his tour involved running guns to the Almagest rebellion.
He was promoted to Lieutenant Commander on his second tour and took control of the Grendel, continuing to gather intelligence data deep within the Skorpios Empire. Most of that time was spent setting up a covert base on Smirnova and creating the Smirnova-Harmonics-Almagest Railroad, helping refugees from the war to escape, and sending munitions and supplies to the front. His last official action as an undercover intelligence officer was the sabotage and destruction of the battle station Joseph Stalin around Corvus, which was the first act of the Annihilation War. The Grendel was destroyed in the escape attempt, and Beringer spent a year on the surface of Corvus, fleeing from Skorpios patrols and radioing troop emplacement data until he could be extracted after the Aquila fleet secured the system. During his stay, he helped to organize the Witches of Corvus, an indigenous psychic contingent, against Skorpios troops, and they used their powers to help drive the Skorpios away from the planet.
He was then promoted to Commander and put in charge of the Brimstone, a Frigate class warship that was used for long distance intelligence gathering in the Agro system. Beringer helped lay the groundwork for the Argo Invasion three years later, and then repeated the job six years later with the invasion of Belinski in 3180. After the front was stabilized, he was promoted to Captain and forcibly assigned a desk job by the Naval Intelligence Division. Beringer disliked the sedentary life, but did his job as ordered.
With a peace treaty signed in 3182, he worked quietly for Naval Intelligence Division, organizing the intelligence networks. Over the years, he noticed patterns of movement within the Skorpios Empire and the wilds that disturbed him. He wrote many reports on what was called the 'System Independence' movement within the Wilds, but his warnings were ignored. He predicted the formation of the Alliance of Independent States five years before it happened. But the people of Aquila were tired of war, the Navy lost funding, and complacency set in.
The Peace Movement on Aquila grew so strong that Belinski,
then Argo, and finally Corvus were handed back to the Skorpios Empire. Commodore Beringer had predicted that failure
in judgment as well. He worked hard to create
intelligence network throughout the three systems that would survive the
hand-over. Beringer decided to lay low
during the Wild Systems independence movement and fallout. A number of military leaders resigned as
Aquila lost the five additional systems in the bloodless coup known as the Alliance
of Independent systems.
In 3197, the Muldoon-Shaw administration was voted into power on Aquila. One of President General Muldoon's first acts was to promote Beringer, the man who had predicted the loss of eight systems, to Admiral and put him in charge of the newly formed Special Projects Division. The intent of the Special Projects Division was to, at a minimum, rebalance the strategic power in the Ptomemy sector in favor of Aquila, and ultimately, to complete regime change in the Skorpios Empire.
While marooned on Corvus, Beringer had heard tales of undiscovered caches of military hardware, but could never get any of the top brass interested in the rumors. With his new authority, he sent covert operatives to Corvus and discovered the rumored bunkers deep underground. The only problem was that there was no way to covertly reach the bunkers and extract the goodies inside.
Reluctantly, President General Muldoon ordered a full strike on Corvus, at the request of Beringer. Caught by surprise, the Skorpios Empire fled to protect the new shipyards at Argos. With Corvus secured, Beringer and his people located the bunkers and extracted the pretech weaponry. Regretfully, there wasn't much, but there were enough remaining components to construct a jump-4 spacecraft. Thus began the Void Expeditionary Force - which officially began when Perimeter Station Nine was destroyed and the AUS Reprieve escaped to Three Sisters.
Admiral Berenger has focused the Special Projects Division on extracting lost technology from the Void sectors. Once Beachhead Base was established in the Three Sisters system, and additional jump-4 transportation secured, Beringer moved his operations into the Void itself. He understands that Skorpios has military superiority, better intelligence networks, and more wealth. Much of the government, and even the military, does not understand how dire the situation is. Beringer has the weight of the union on his shoulders.
- Ark
Thursday, November 15, 2012
SWN Faction Turns: February 3200
I'll add them in the future when it feels right.
Meanwhile, on February 2nd, the Redshirts game started with the Skorpios Empire attacking a secret Aquilan base in an attempt to steal or destroy the high tech spacecraft Reprieve. The pretech research base, and the attacking fleet, are not really represented in the faction game itself, though they would be powerful assets. I'm not going to worry about it. I'll just say that the fleet and the base destroyed one another and that was that. Accounting is easy when you close your eyes and wave your hands about.
So now, on with the faction game for February, 3200 CE.
Initiative is still using a d4, creating this order of play - the Almagest Rebellion, the Skorpios Empire, the Aquila Union, and the Alliance of Independent Systems.
Almagest Rebellion - The rebellion took a complete trouncing in January, and has little desire to do anything but hide and lick their wounds. Regretfully, they don't have the resources to hide everyone. The faction earns 2 FacCreds this turn, and with the 2 they squirreled away last turn, they have a total of 4. It takes 3 FacCreds to purchase Stealth, and since they have two assets on the ground, one will have to remain exposed.
The rebellion uses the Buy Asset action and decides to spend the FacCreds and stealth their damaged Vanguard Cadre on Almagest. This leaves their band of Zealots visible, with only one hit point remaining,
NEWS BLURB - On Almagest, the Talus Red Cross - and independent humanitarian group from the Alliance of Independent Systems - reported on February 5th that there was an influx of homeless children seeking shelter at the aide camps in the capital. PXL News believes that these refugees may be remnants of indigent families that were driven out of the sewers during a violent purge last month. The Sister Sally Saracen of the Talus Red Cross is asking for donation all across the sector due to this tragic turn of events. Imperial Skorpios officials refused to comment on the story.
Skorpios Empire - I think I'm going to change the Tag of the Skorpios Empire from Imperialists to Eugenics Cult. That just fits a lot better with their modus operandi. I should have stuck with it, as it had been my first, instinctual choice. Oh well. So, the empire is feeling plucky since their victories on Almagest and the landing of the stealthed assets on Corvus last month and their hefty bank balance this month of ten FacCreds. They unleash the dogs of war by selecting the Attack action this turn.
Their first military action is to use the stealthed Treachery asset to attack Corvus. The treachery asset attacks with Cunning vs. Cunning, but does not do damage. Instead, on a successful attack, it destroys itself, gives the user 5 additional FacCreds, and changes the ownership of the defending asset to the attacker. The target is the union's Postech Infantry on Corvus.
The results of the combat are 10+7 vs. 4+4 - thus the empire wins. The Treachery asset disappears, the empire's bank balance goes to 15 FacCreds, and the empire now owns the infantry. That is a pretty devastating turn of events for the Aquila Union, who is only left with the Tripwire Cell and the Base of Influence left on Corvus.
Continuing with it's attack, Skorpios turns it's eye on Almagest. The Zealots are in view, so the Impeiral Posttech Infantry attacks. (In actuality, the infantry asset attacks the rebellions 'presence' on Almagest, and Almast chooses to defend with the Zealots rather than taking a direct hit to their Base of Influence and end up loosing the hit pints of the very faction itself. A slight difference in working, but an important one.)
The results of combat are 6+8 vs. 1+3. Yeah. The empire wins overwhelmingly. A d8 produces 6 points of damage, leaving them at a -5 and destroyed. The rebels' Zealot asset is removed from play.
These events really inspire two separate news blurbs:
NEWS BLURB #1 - DATELINE CORVUS, FEBRUARY 9, 3200. Residents fled in horror from the capital in the early morning hours as the sounds of fierce fighting erupted from the military base inside of town. When the dust had settled, the top brass, including General Wallace McKenzie, lay dead in a bloody coup. Witnesses report soldiers' eye glowing yellow and shooting anything in sight. Since then, the base has been sealed off and communications blacked out. "This yellow glow from the eyes and erratic behavior smacks of fungal mind control," Chief Research Scientist Fenrus Lucifer of BioTonics Labs on Aquila said in an interview. "As we know, Skorpios is home to various fungi that are compatible with human DNA. It's possible that the Empire has whipped up some sort of elixir that creates . . . fungal zombie armies. I know that sounds a bit odd - but worse things have happened. I have suggested to President General Muldoon that we inoculate our entire military force with a new anti-fungal vaccine we have just developed called Defungicin X-12. BioTonics will be happy to provide the medicine at a reduced rate, of course."
NEWS BLURB #2 - The Talus Red Cross on Almagest is reporting that Skorpios Shock Troops launched a series of blistering assaults on refugee camps between the 12th and 13th of February. Troops appeared to be targeting homeless children, and were killing them on sight. Sister Sally Saracen of the Talus Red Cross denounced the attacks, describing them as unwarranted, shameful, and horrific. Video smuggled out of Skorpios controlled space showed disturbing images of children wired with belts of high explosives hurling themselves at Skorpios Troops, then igniting into bright, orange fireballs. The Skorpios Government denies any of the events took place and reports that all is calm on Almagest and that production in the rifle factories of Almagest is up sharply.
Aquila Union - This month, the union earns 5 FacCreds. It is still in Peaceable Kingdom mode, so Aquila needs to avoid launching attacks on any other factions to gain experience points from the goal. That doesn't stop it from getting it's war machine moving by choosing the Use Asset Ability.
On Aquila, the Postech industry asset is called to action. The d6 roll results in a 4, indicating that an additional FacCred is earned. The Venture Capital asset activates, and using the Postech Industry asset as leverage, rolls a d8 for a 6, indicating that another 2 FacCreds are earned, bringing the faction's bank account up to 8 FacCreds.
On Ridgway, Aquila sends its Blockade Runners to the Patton system for 2 FacCreds, with the intention of transporting the Postech Infantry asset located there to Corvus so that they can help defend the capital.
NEWS BLURB - PXL Financial News Update for February 20th, 3200. Stocks rose for a third straight day today as investors dismissed conflicting reports from Corvus. "We at MacBeth Trading are very bullish," said CEO Allister MacBeth. "I whole-heartedly recommend buying into stocks from Yamato Shipyard Industries, the Maximum Defense Company, the LaserStar Weapons Combine, and BioTonics Amalgamated, home of BioTonics Labs. This week's orders are up tremendously. The recent downturn due to that Corvus hogwash is just that - hogwash. Government sources tell me that it's a minor issue. Assets are being put into play to deal with the situation, and they'll have things straightened out shortly with a minimum of fuss. Yes, we are bullish on the future."
Alliance of Independent Systems - The Alliance again gains 4 FacCreds and decides to pump it's wealth into building a Base of Influence on Cicada by using the Expand Influence action. Aquila tries to counter this move, and both factions roll off. Since the Alliance is using a Surveyor crew, they get an additional roll. So, it's d10 plus Cunning vs. d10 plus Cunning. Aquila gets a 10 on the die, plus it's 4 for a 14. The alliance rolls a 2, plus the 6 cunning, resulting in only an 8. However, their reroll is an 9, giving them a 15 and a new base on Cicada with 8 hit points. Aquila does not get to fight back.
NEWS BLURB - On February 25th, Harry Freedonia announced the creation of the School of Native Unity on Cicada. "The Inland Relation Office is a serious threat to the well-being of the native Klakker community on Cicada," Mr. Freedonia said at a press conference. "Governor Vidalia would get the peaceful race hooked on F-3000c like a common drug pusher. What's next? Offering the Klakkers blankets smeared with oozing small pox sores? We reject this intolerable treatment and are building schools in the jungle to help educate the Klakkers about their unalienable right to free speech, to free assembly, and the right to bear arms for the defense of their well-being. Klakkers are people too, you know?"
So that is February in the Factions game. During that month, the players explored the Three Sister's system, discovered the Ark, destroyed the Shibboleth, unleashed GAIA the AI, followed the Ark to the Ukraine system, discovered that a lost Skorpios warship found it's way there 50 years ago and had taken over the planet, stole a Lost Skorpios patrol boat, escaped back to Three Sisters, and were in the process of hollowing out an asteroid to create Beachhead Base for the Aquila Navy to use as a privateer base to launch raids of Ukraine. Meanwhile, the Reprieve travelled to Schwarzkopf to alert the brass back home and resupply, leaving the PCs busy mining out an asteroid and installing toilets.
- Ark
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
SWN Faction Turns: January 3200
The map is drawn, the combatants are stated up, and the pieces are in place. It's finally time to begin the Redshirts Stars Without Number faction game for the Ptolemy sector. I am sad, though, that I did not think to include an ASTEROID WITCH.
For those who have come late, or never paid attention and suddenly want to, here are the blog entries detailing the setup (but you probably don't need to really know any of it):
Galactic End Game
SWN Factions: The Begining
SWN Faction Game: Movement and Geography
SWN Factions: The Alliance of Independent States
SWN Factions: Aquila Union
SWN Factions: Almagest Rebellion
SWN Factions: Skorpios Empire
The Redshirts campaign began on Groundhog Day, 3200 CE, and has been going on for at least ten months in game. That's a lot of travel time while they have been frozen scout-sicles. I'll start the faction game one month earlier, and take it in one month turns until we've caught up with the PCs.
In the faction game, the first bit is initiative. That's page 113 in the fancy (core) Stars Without Number rule book. There are four players, so a d4 will do. The order of the factions will be (dice roll please,)the Alliance of Independent States, the Almagest Rebellion, the Skorpios Empire, and last, but not least, the Aquila Union.
Alliance of Independent States - They AIS gains four FacCreds for this month, and has no maintenance charges, giving them a total of four FacCreds in the bank.. The Alliance decides to take the action of Use Asset Ability, sending their Demagogue, Surveyor, and stealthed Psychic Assassin assets from Atlas to Cicada via their Covert Transit Net. This moves almost all of their assets out of their realm of control, but their intelligence is good and the Alliance knows that the Aquila Union will be busy with Skorpios for a while.
NEWS BLURB - Labor leader, human-rights activist, and well know seditionist Harry Freedonia arrived at the Cicada system on the January 5, 3200. "I'm simply here to speak to the natives - the so-called Klakkers - about their unalienable rights to freedom and self expression.," he told the PXL news service. The Aquila Governor's office on Cicada issued a statement shortly thereafter, indicating that they had detained Harry Freedonia upon his arrival, but had released him and his staff within hours after they were unable to find official links between him and the Alliance of Independent States.
Almagest Rebellion - The Rebellion scrounges up two Fac Creds in January, and has no bills to pay. Looking at the Goals, I think I assigned one that is far too unrealistic - that of seizing the planet. I'll reassign a goal that is more plausible, without punishing the poor rebels. Blood the Enemy requires eight HP of damage to be done to the enemy, which is far more doable. With that, the rebellion chooses the Attack action, sending their Zealots and Vanguard Cadres into battle vs. the Skorpios Postech Infantry on Almagest. They must come out of stealth to do the attack.
In the Vanguard Cadre battle, d10 + rebel's cunning vs d10 + empire's cunning result in 2+4 vs. 1+7 or 6 vs. 7 in favor of the Skorpios Empire. The Postech Infantry's d8 counterattack did 6 hp to the Vanguard Cadre, leaving it with 6 hit points. The zealots lost as well, 8 to 16, and took 2 hit points. As zealots, they damaged themselves with a d4 resulting in 1, leaving them with only 1 hit point. In seeking to do eight points of damage, the rebellion's assets took nine points instead, and exposed their positions.
NEWS BLURB - Scattered reports from Almagast City over the first two weeks of January indicate a major offensive by the Skorpios Empire into the city's sewage infrastructure. On January 12, Scientist-Theologan Yuri Azov announced via The Mouth of Truth News, "The womb-born slave malcontents of Almagast made a paltry and pathetic attack on the Chernobyl Barracks, but were massacred where they stood. We've taken the liberty of gassing the sewers to root those maggot-eaten rats out of their fear holes. All is calm now, and we are in control. Praise Emperor-Scientist Andropov!"
Skorpios Empire - The most powerful faction in the sector pulls the biggest income at 6 FacCreds for January. Like Almagest, I probably chose an unrealistic immediate goal, and will pick Expand Influence instead. The Alliance decides to take the action of Use Asset Ability and sends the stealthed assets Surveyors and Treachery from Argo to Aquila held Corvus via it's Beachhead Landers for 2 FacCreds.
This movement sets off the Tripwire Cells that Aquila had placed on Corvus. Rolling vs. Cunning against each asset, The tripwire ties with a 4+5 vs. 2+7 against the Surveyors, and looses to the Treachery at 4+5 vs. 6+7. So, the Surveyors and the Treachery land stealthed on Corvus, safe and sound.
NEWS BLURB - The PXL news service had learned that due to a complete lack of suspicious activity along the Corvus/Argo border, military leaders are relaxing protocols, calling for a parade in the capital, followed by a planet-wide leave on January 21st. "While we will still be on high alert," said General Wallace McKenzie, "I've got a feeling that the Skorps don't have much fight left in them. After all, they've been getting their nose bloodied by the rebels on Almagest. I think we'll be perfectly safe.
Aquila Union - The union gains 5 FacCreds this round. While I would have normally had the union continue to build up militarily against the Skorpios Empire, I am going to go with the Tripwire Failure above and have Aquila turn its attention to the Demagogue Harry Freedonia who is making trouble on Cicada with the alien Klakkers. Aquila will decide to buy an asset, specifically the Saboteurs asset on Cicada for 5 FacCredits. This will probably cost them against Skorpios in the long run.
NEWS BLURB - On January 30th, the Aquila Governor's office on Cicada announced the formation of the Inland Relationship Service, a governmental organization tasked with improving relationship with the native Klakker populations. "Its been centuries since the Terran Mandate put down the Great Klakker Rebellions," said Governor Alice Vidalia. "The Klakkers left on Cicada mean us no harm. They live in their little mud heaps out in the jungle and get on with their lives. I think they are perfectly safe, and have no intention of building another Death Fleet intent on wiping humanity from Known Space. We've assembled some highly talented teams to teach them the art of papier mache, how to perform classical theater, and each Klakker will receive a Rubik's Cube which will spray them with Happy Pheromone F-3000c when they complete the puzzle successfully. I think these are excellent building blocks for an improved relationship with our impoverished alien hive-mind neighbors."
This has actually been pretty damn enjoyable. It's pretty quick and simple once you get the hang of it. The abstractness of the system lets me use my imagination in ways I wouldn't have expected, and writing up those news blurbs has been really fun.
So, that's it for the month of January. Three days after the Klakker announcement was released, the Redshirts blasted out of a surprise Skorpios Naval Blockade on the Schwarzkopf Rim and began their adventures in The Void.
Oh, for those that have read down this far and still have some sort of clue as to what is going on - and care - here is a sector map detailing the large scale movement assets of the factions and some places of interest.
- Ark
For those who have come late, or never paid attention and suddenly want to, here are the blog entries detailing the setup (but you probably don't need to really know any of it):
Galactic End Game
SWN Factions: The Begining
SWN Faction Game: Movement and Geography
SWN Factions: The Alliance of Independent States
SWN Factions: Aquila Union
SWN Factions: Almagest Rebellion
SWN Factions: Skorpios Empire
The Redshirts campaign began on Groundhog Day, 3200 CE, and has been going on for at least ten months in game. That's a lot of travel time while they have been frozen scout-sicles. I'll start the faction game one month earlier, and take it in one month turns until we've caught up with the PCs.
In the faction game, the first bit is initiative. That's page 113 in the fancy (core) Stars Without Number rule book. There are four players, so a d4 will do. The order of the factions will be (dice roll please,)the Alliance of Independent States, the Almagest Rebellion, the Skorpios Empire, and last, but not least, the Aquila Union.
Alliance of Independent States - They AIS gains four FacCreds for this month, and has no maintenance charges, giving them a total of four FacCreds in the bank.. The Alliance decides to take the action of Use Asset Ability, sending their Demagogue, Surveyor, and stealthed Psychic Assassin assets from Atlas to Cicada via their Covert Transit Net. This moves almost all of their assets out of their realm of control, but their intelligence is good and the Alliance knows that the Aquila Union will be busy with Skorpios for a while.
NEWS BLURB - Labor leader, human-rights activist, and well know seditionist Harry Freedonia arrived at the Cicada system on the January 5, 3200. "I'm simply here to speak to the natives - the so-called Klakkers - about their unalienable rights to freedom and self expression.," he told the PXL news service. The Aquila Governor's office on Cicada issued a statement shortly thereafter, indicating that they had detained Harry Freedonia upon his arrival, but had released him and his staff within hours after they were unable to find official links between him and the Alliance of Independent States.
Almagest Rebellion - The Rebellion scrounges up two Fac Creds in January, and has no bills to pay. Looking at the Goals, I think I assigned one that is far too unrealistic - that of seizing the planet. I'll reassign a goal that is more plausible, without punishing the poor rebels. Blood the Enemy requires eight HP of damage to be done to the enemy, which is far more doable. With that, the rebellion chooses the Attack action, sending their Zealots and Vanguard Cadres into battle vs. the Skorpios Postech Infantry on Almagest. They must come out of stealth to do the attack.
In the Vanguard Cadre battle, d10 + rebel's cunning vs d10 + empire's cunning result in 2+4 vs. 1+7 or 6 vs. 7 in favor of the Skorpios Empire. The Postech Infantry's d8 counterattack did 6 hp to the Vanguard Cadre, leaving it with 6 hit points. The zealots lost as well, 8 to 16, and took 2 hit points. As zealots, they damaged themselves with a d4 resulting in 1, leaving them with only 1 hit point. In seeking to do eight points of damage, the rebellion's assets took nine points instead, and exposed their positions.
NEWS BLURB - Scattered reports from Almagast City over the first two weeks of January indicate a major offensive by the Skorpios Empire into the city's sewage infrastructure. On January 12, Scientist-Theologan Yuri Azov announced via The Mouth of Truth News, "The womb-born slave malcontents of Almagast made a paltry and pathetic attack on the Chernobyl Barracks, but were massacred where they stood. We've taken the liberty of gassing the sewers to root those maggot-eaten rats out of their fear holes. All is calm now, and we are in control. Praise Emperor-Scientist Andropov!"
Skorpios Empire - The most powerful faction in the sector pulls the biggest income at 6 FacCreds for January. Like Almagest, I probably chose an unrealistic immediate goal, and will pick Expand Influence instead. The Alliance decides to take the action of Use Asset Ability and sends the stealthed assets Surveyors and Treachery from Argo to Aquila held Corvus via it's Beachhead Landers for 2 FacCreds.
This movement sets off the Tripwire Cells that Aquila had placed on Corvus. Rolling vs. Cunning against each asset, The tripwire ties with a 4+5 vs. 2+7 against the Surveyors, and looses to the Treachery at 4+5 vs. 6+7. So, the Surveyors and the Treachery land stealthed on Corvus, safe and sound.
NEWS BLURB - The PXL news service had learned that due to a complete lack of suspicious activity along the Corvus/Argo border, military leaders are relaxing protocols, calling for a parade in the capital, followed by a planet-wide leave on January 21st. "While we will still be on high alert," said General Wallace McKenzie, "I've got a feeling that the Skorps don't have much fight left in them. After all, they've been getting their nose bloodied by the rebels on Almagest. I think we'll be perfectly safe.
Aquila Union - The union gains 5 FacCreds this round. While I would have normally had the union continue to build up militarily against the Skorpios Empire, I am going to go with the Tripwire Failure above and have Aquila turn its attention to the Demagogue Harry Freedonia who is making trouble on Cicada with the alien Klakkers. Aquila will decide to buy an asset, specifically the Saboteurs asset on Cicada for 5 FacCredits. This will probably cost them against Skorpios in the long run.
NEWS BLURB - On January 30th, the Aquila Governor's office on Cicada announced the formation of the Inland Relationship Service, a governmental organization tasked with improving relationship with the native Klakker populations. "Its been centuries since the Terran Mandate put down the Great Klakker Rebellions," said Governor Alice Vidalia. "The Klakkers left on Cicada mean us no harm. They live in their little mud heaps out in the jungle and get on with their lives. I think they are perfectly safe, and have no intention of building another Death Fleet intent on wiping humanity from Known Space. We've assembled some highly talented teams to teach them the art of papier mache, how to perform classical theater, and each Klakker will receive a Rubik's Cube which will spray them with Happy Pheromone F-3000c when they complete the puzzle successfully. I think these are excellent building blocks for an improved relationship with our impoverished alien hive-mind neighbors."
This has actually been pretty damn enjoyable. It's pretty quick and simple once you get the hang of it. The abstractness of the system lets me use my imagination in ways I wouldn't have expected, and writing up those news blurbs has been really fun.
So, that's it for the month of January. Three days after the Klakker announcement was released, the Redshirts blasted out of a surprise Skorpios Naval Blockade on the Schwarzkopf Rim and began their adventures in The Void.
Oh, for those that have read down this far and still have some sort of clue as to what is going on - and care - here is a sector map detailing the large scale movement assets of the factions and some places of interest.
- Ark
Monday, November 12, 2012
SWN Factions: Skorpios Empire
The last of the major factions in the Ptolemy sector is the Skorpios Empire. When settlers arrived on Skorpios, they discovered that it was dominated by a single type of organism - an alien fungus that would destroy or eventually choke out every other type of life. High technology kept the fungus at bay, but after the Silence, desperate researchers discovered how to prevent the fungus from killing humans by adding the alien fungal DNA to the human genome.
The hybrid offspring had a tendency to be stronger, smarter, and a bit more crazy that regular humans. The scientists decided that they had stumbled upon the secret to human perfection, and executed everyone who refused the upgrade.
Six hundred years later find the humans of Skorpios unable to naturally reproduce, requiring automated vat systems to produce new generations of crazy little supermen and women. Scientist-Emperor Leonid Andropov, a 300 year old short, bald, macrocephalic crazy man in a white lab coat, rules the empire with an iron lab glove, intent on enslaving all other humans in the galaxy, working them to death, and replacing them with his vat born children.
| Faction | Skorpios Empire |
| Attributes | |
| Force |
8
|
| Cunning |
7
|
| Wealth |
5
|
| Hit Points |
49
|
| Systems/Assets | |
Almagest
|
Planetary Government |
| Base of Influence HP:29 | |
| Postech Infantry/Force 4 | |
Apotelesmatika
|
Planetary Government |
| Base of Influence HP:12 | |
Argo
|
Planetary Government |
| Base of Influence HP:12 | |
| Postech Infantry/Force 4 | |
| Extended Theaters/Force 4 | |
| Beachhead Landers/Force 4 | |
| Treachery/Cunning 7 | |
| Stealth/Cunning 3 | |
| Stealth/Cunning 3 | |
| Surveyors/Wealth 2 | |
Belinski
|
Planetary Government |
| Base of Influence HP:4 | |
Dubyago
|
Planetary Government |
| Base of Influence HP:4 | |
Harmonics
|
Planetary Government |
| Base of Influence HP:4 | |
Optics
|
Planetary Government |
| Base of Influence HP:4 | |
Skorpios
|
Homeworld |
| Base of Influence HP:49 | |
| Tags | Imperialists |
| FacCredits/Turn |
6
|
| Goal | Planetary Seizure |
- Ark
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