A Plague of Perruques: a Traveller Hero introductory scenario

[shadowcat1313]

copyright 1985 and used with the permission of Marc Miller.

 

Plague of Perruques:

A Traveller Hero scenario for 4-8 players.

 

NOTES: originally published in 1985, and first used as a tournament scenario for the Frontier Wars convention, its copyright 1985 by GDW, but no specific author is listed. This is used with the permission of Marc Miller.

 

THE CHARACTERS:

The characters can come from any backround, there will need to be one noble whether as a PC or NPC, and at least one person with some kind of hunting/fieldcraft skills. The characters will not need access to a ship

For this adventure.

 

THE SITUATION:

The Hostilities of the Fifth Frontier War are only recently concluded. The Regina subsector is now recovering from the ravages of the war, many worlds were battlefields, while others were cut off by blockades, sieges, and enemy raiders. With recovery comes a reopening of the subsector.

The adventurers have been recruited by Genidiirsi Hault-Reitan as part of an informal team visiting worlds in the subsector. The Baron Reitans purpose is two-fold: He has been visiting his own holdings on various worlds between Regina and Efate, and helping in the recovery by managing problems that have come up.

The entire group set out from Regina some months ago. Baron Reitan arranged passage for everyone along the spinward main as far as Efate. Stopovers at each world have averaged about a month.

UAKAYE: The Group has just arrived on Uakaye, The Baron has planned a short stay, primarily to allow a hunting expedition for Redbacked Slonths, a carnivore native to Uakaye.

 

THE HUNTING EXPEDITION:

Baron Reitan has contacted a local outfitter, gotten some maps, a few guidebooks, and an aerial survey.

Redbacked Slonths are in season, now migrating to the north shore of Triante, Uakayes largest island, this territory is mostly forest. Hunting Slonths is a test of locating their spore and following it til the slonth is found.

Slonths leave a vile smelling spore trail exuded from a gland in their tails, which frightens the smaller animals that are slonth prey.

 

REFEREE SYNOPSIS:

This adventure is in two parts, an initial hunt for the Redbacked Slonth, and then an investigation into the cause of a plague that is ravaging Uakaye. The hunt is brief and simply allows the players to learn to work together, the real adventure is the search to diagnose and treat the plague.

 

NOTES:

The original version of this had six different causes, the tournament version only used the first cause

 

CAUSES:

1. A genetic experiment gone wrong

2. A Genetic Experiment deliberately released for revenge

3. A Genetic Experiment deliberately released for ransom

4. Zhodani Biological Weapon

5. A Naturally Occuring Plague

6. A Plague from another World

 

THE HUNT:

Redbacked Slonths are an interesting carnivore native to Uakaye , They are 200kg pouncers with claws

The Barons hunt for them is a pleasant diversion which hes been looking forward to for several months

The redback skin of the slonth is a delicate velvety hide which makes an exotic leather. The Baron wants that leather to make a cape. For Hero System. I'd say just use the stats for an adult tiger but without the roar

And make it a skilled climber.

EVENTS: a Die roll of 10+ indicates an event, if the Plague Cause is #5, then each event should present a grey colored grazer, grey should be emphasized, these are animals suffering from the plague. A second or later encounter should present an animal dead from the plague.

 

THE PLAGUE:

Upon return from the hunting expedition, the group finds the situation has changed considerably since they left Uakaye City. A fast acting disease has swept the city, affecting nearly 30% of the population, medical and government officials are overworked and overwhelmed. They are fully occupied just trying to relieve suffering among the afflicted.

SYMPTOMS:

The plagues most visible symptom is a perruque, a cap of fungal fibers that cover the top of the head like a wig. The grey fibers completely cover the victims own hair, obscuring the natural hair color.

The other symptoms are more serious. A high fever, a thin opaque film over the eyes, creating blindness. Unconsciousness and coma, and death from brain damage in some cases. The progress of the disease is swift, the first sign is a mild fever along with bits of grey fiber at the roots of the hair, within a day. The fibers completely cover the skull within 3 days, and the vision has dimmed due to the film over the eyes, and the fever increases in intensity. By the eighth day the victim is completely blind and racked by a high fever. A Crisis occurs on the 7th day, if the fever breaks the victim usually recovers, the film over the eyes melts off, and the grey fibers shed with normal hair loss, recovered patients are bald til their hair grows back in. Recovery is complete within 10 days of onset. The Crisis on the 7th day is crucial, if the patient doesn't survive the crisis, the condition rapidly deteriorates and death follows within 24 hours, about 50% of the plague victims don't survive.

TREATMENT:

Early in the course of the disease there is little that can be done,. When the fever starts to rise, the victim must be kept comfortable and fever suppressants administered, Anti-biotics can help reduce complications but they don't appear to help in preventing the disease itself.

 

ADVENTURE INFORMATION:

 

TIME:

The local day is close enough to 24 hours to count as a standard day for scenario purposes, and the day is divided into 4 6 hour blocks, all characters need one block of time to sleep under normal circumstances.

Travel times in Uakaye City can be considered as irrelevant, travel to other locations will be listed by location.

 

INFORMATION GATHERING:

At each major map location, it is possible to encounter a rumor. The rumor may be true, false, or misleading, or even a potential clue when the group first arrives at the map location. The Rumor should be presented at the first reasonable opportunity.

 

 

LINRADIS ISLAND: THE IGS ENGINEERING LABORATORY:

[6 hours from the city by grav vehicle]

Imperial Geneering Systems maintains a remote genetic engineering laboratory on the remote island of Linradis. The Isolation is deliberate and serves 2 purposes, It helps reduce contamination in case of an accident, and it keeps workers minds on their work and away from the distractions in the city.

Intel Kiriolion is a researcher at the lab, and he is avaialable to discuss the plague and its effects on Uakaye City, his superior Resian Talbot is the director of the laboratory but has only been on the job a short time.

RUMOR:

One of the labs staffers comments that former director Tanissa Levant was discharged for inefficiency.

 

CASES:

1. Kiriolion has been working on a biological agent similar in effect to the plague currently in Uakaye City, unfortunately his lab has no remaining samples, all were sent along with a final report by courier to the Naval base at Efate about 2 weeks ago. The courier Lars Intron took the materials into the city and then was going to take 2 weeks vacation in the city, he has not returned, and he is just now overdue.

Kiriolion has an electron microscopic profile of the plague, if it matches with a sample from Uakaye City, then they are the same.

IGS has a tenative vaccine for the plague, which should work on about 60% of the population, if the 2 plagues match, then the vaccine should stop the spread of the disease.

 

POLAR SUBSURFACE CITY:

[12 hours from city]

An especially rich vein of Iridium Ore runs along the floor of the ocean of Uakaye near the north pole. To exploit it, a mining settlement has been established under a dome on the floor of the sea. The settlement is controlled and owned by Ling Standard Products. Its designation is MinCon 78.

A platform raised 50 meters above the ocean surface allows vehicles to land and be lowered to the to the city by elevator. The city is as yet untouched by the plague. The local city leaders are aware of the plague and are determined to avoid its reaching the colony

They will allow the adventurers to interact by video with whomever they need to talk to. The information they can provide includes the following.

They have had no contact with the IGS research lab on Linradis, if the infection came from there, the lack of contact is the reason the colony remains untouched.

RUMOR: Their search radars record a ship landing in the Shallows recently.

 

THE SHALLOWS:

A section of the sea on Uakaye north of Uakaye City is exceptionally shallow, between 1 and 3 meters deep with a floor of solid bedrock. A starship has recently crashed here after sucessfully entering atmosphere. The wreck lies half submerged in the center of the shallows. The ship named the O'shaunessy is a 400 ton subsidized merchant which visits Boughene, Uakaye, Roup, and Knorbes and Feri on a regular basis. This ship has 2 decks, the lower deck is flooded and underwater, the upper deck has about 30cm of water sloshing about, and the damage to control circuits and electronics is severe.

RUMOR: The Ships computer contains a record of the ships flight.

Cases:

1. The ship crashed due to the failure of a control interface, the entire crew of 5 was killed during the landing.

2-5: nothing useful

6. The entire crew is dead. Examination of the bodies shows that all of them died from the effects of the plague. The ships log contains an account by the captain of the gradual effects of the plague on the crew, while enroute to Boughene. The ships log can be acccessed by another ships computer at the starport. 2][-lo vf6r72][-lo vf6r72][-lo vf6r72][-lo vf6r7e trying to land the pilot made a miscalculation and crashed in the shallows. Records on the ships bridge show the plague is also rampant on Boughene.

 

AG FACTORY:

The Ag Factory is an automated production center which is devoted to growing a variety of grains and vegetables for local consumption. The entire operation is run by less than 5 people in an extremely complex control center.

RUMOR:

One of the staff at the factory comments in passing that the Ag Factory is producing large quantities of food, but casualties from the plague have reduced demand. No one is going to earn their bonuses this year.

Cases:

1. The night controller has cooked up a plan to make some money from this plague. He has sent a ransom demand to the police department. The ransom demands are untraceably sent by computer, they call for the ransom to be placed in a drone at the Ag Factory and send it west over the ocean. The Ag Factory has both the money and the drone on hand, Somebody at the factory will have to prepare it. The police will expect the drone to be intercepted by an air raft or perhaps a radio signal. In either case theres a good chance the extortionist will get away with the money. Actually the night controller expects to switch a false load for the money when it is placed in the drone, he will then hide the money and get away with it later. The group when visiting the Ag factory will find everyone friendly and open, but unable to provide any real information. The night controller has no real knowledge of the source or cause of the plague.

 

STAGING POINT:

[6 hours from the city]

Staging point was establishd as a stopover for travellers ranging across the surface of Uakaye. The small station has a restaurant, a vehicle repair station, a communications beacon, and a small store.

The station is operated by a husband and wife couple and their three children, questioning them can give a good idea of who has passed through recently and of any interesting events.

RUMOR:

The Zhodani casualty remains recovery team was through here several weeks ago,, the people here think that the Zhodani were responsible for the plague.

Cases:

1. the weekly courier between IGS and Uakaye City hasn't been through on his regular run. In fact he hasn't been back from Uakaye City, They think he came down with the plague, his name is Lars Intron.

 

HUNTING GROUNDS:

The forests of Uakaye are home to the Redbacked Slonth, the Baron's goal on his hunt. Terrain types on the hunt are Forest, Swamp, and Beach.

Cases:

1. The hunting grounds show no important information, no evidence of the plague is present in the field.

5. if the hunting ground are revisited, throw 2D each time an encounter table is to be consulted, on a 7+ a local animal is found dead of the plague.

 

CITY INDUSTRIAL PARK:

The industrial park is the site of several small factories, most sprang up to deal with war production needs of the Imperium, and now there winding down as their contracts expire. Consequently there are only a few workers here and the future looks bleak. One temporary bright spot is Triple V vacc suit corporation, They have been hiring workers lately to help produce stripped down vacc suits for local sale, the suits serve as quarantine suits to protect against catching the plague.

RUMOR:

Some unemployed workers are saying that Triple V is run by a truly unfeeling and greedy person who devised the plague just to sell a surplus stock of vacc suits and make a quick credit.

Cases:

1. A new employee of the company is Tanissa Levant, he is in charge of quality control, and has only been on the job for a few weeks.

IN RESPONSE TO DIRECT QUESTIONS: Tanissa Levant admits that he was formerly head of the IGS lab, he left because his contract ran out. He also says that he knew about a similar plague being developed by IGS, but he is certain that the Uakaye plague cant be same one, He always insisted on extreme safety measures while he was director.

 

RESIDENCES:

The residential area of the city is filled with houses and apartment blocks, because of plague fears, no one is allowing visitors or callers.

 

UAKAYE DOWN STARPORT:

The starport closed itself to traffic once the nature of the plague became apparent. There has been on traffic allowed to the planetary surface.

RUMOR:

There was a strange incident recently: A ship landed out in the shallows, rather than here at the starport. One fellow believes that it was Zhodani Saboteurs, another thinks it was smugglers.

Cases:

1. There is no record of a parcel shipment passing through the starport from IGS to Efafe, The clerk knows Lars Intron, and expected him with the package but hes never shown up, that was just before the plague started he thinks.

 

 

STARTOWN:

The people in startown are especially troubled by the plague. With the starport closed there is little in the way of new business. And the old hands are running out of money, the only jobs to be had are clearing the dead out of rooms.-a job likely to give the plague to the workers.

Cases:

1. Cleaning up the plague dead is one of the few jobs open at the moment, some people wont take the job for fear of catching the plague, but others take the job because they need the money. One Startown resident says he has always done this sort of job, when a hotel needs a body removed, they call him[They paid 100 cr per job before the plague, now the job has gone down to 50 cr per job] He remembers just before the plague started, he and another man cleaned out a room in the Uakaye Regent Hotel, of a man who had been dead for a few days, his partner died of the plague. The man thinks about it for a minute and then comments that his partner was one of the first to catch the plague.

 

POLICE HEADQUARTERS:

The police are overwhelmed by the plague, several of their enforcers have fallen to its effects, they are overworked and undermanned. The Police Chief appears distracted[perhaps showing the signs of the plague himself] The police chief is unable to provide any help due to lack of resources, He suggests there might be some equipment available at the Imperial Army Base.

RUMOR:

An enforcer going off duty is heard to say that he thinks this is a Zhodani plot, they use biological agents.

Cases:

1. The police chief says he has received a ransom note that calls for cr 1,000,000 in return for the formula for an antidote and vaccine, they are checking on its authenticity, he should know more in a few more days.

NEXT TIME THE PARTY CALLS: The ransom note appears to be authentic, they are going to pay the ransom.

 

COMMERCIAL CENTER:

The stores of Uakaye City are located in the commercial center of the city, Equipment of Law level 8 or less and tech level D or less can be purchased in the stores here, prices are 10% above base price, Vacc suits and protective suits are priced at 200% of base price. A Locally produced protective suit is available for cr 1,000.

 

ABANDONED ARMY BASE:

[6 hours from the city]

The Imeperial Army Base has been scheduled for inactivation, there are no troops assigned to it now, only a few guards responsible for the equipment left behnd. The Officer of the guard can provide an Imperial G Carrier for use as transportation on Uakaye, This requires a good reaction from the officer, or he will not cooperate, there are over 300 g carriers parked in the motor pool, one could be stolen if necessary.

IF ASKED: a coperative officer of the guard could provide bio protection suits which may protect against the plague.

RUMOR:

Two of the guards can be overheard talking about the plague, the wear Imperial bio-protection suits when they have to go into town.

 

HOTEL COMPLEX:

The Uakaye Regent Hotel is one of several hotels in Uakaye City, since the plague it is the only one remanaing open, One of the others was burned to the ground in an attempt to clear out plague contamination.

RUMOR:

There was a Zhodani group through the city some weeks ago, recovering remains of Zhodani war casualties. They were the ones responsible for the plague, either they left it behind or they tripped a booby trap while recovering bodies.

Cases:

1. If a clerk is asked about Lars Intron[ It must mention him by name] he can check the files and find that Intron was registered there and found dead of the plague in his room. The room itself was cleaned up and Intron's luggage was placed in storage. Introns luggage contains a parcel addressed "The chemical warfare section Imperial Naval Base, Efate". The package contains a ruptured sample container of the biological agent, it has leaked out.

 

MEDICAL CENTER:

The Medical Center in Uakaye City is under tremendous pressure, treating plague victims, looking for a cure, looking for treatments until a cure is found. The staff is very cooperative, and appreciates the efforts of the group to find the reason that the plague has hit Uakaye.

RUMOR:

The medical staff was originally puzzled by the rapid appearance of the plague, they now have several theories. It could be a genetically manipulated virus, or it could be a naturally occuring disease,

Cases:

1. The first victim of the plague was Lars Intron, He was found in a hotel in the city, he has not yet been identified by occupation or residence.

 

FINAL NOTES:

For the assorted critters in the wilderness, I would just use various creatures from the Fantasy Hero beastiary as Traveller just uses generic critters, there are buffalo, boars, crocodiles, small elephants even

Or at least local equivilants of such.

 

One plot line that's not covered but could easily be more developed is the Zhodani leaving a gift

 

 

the original module didnt include a map, and the characters were from a module called Tarsus.