[Actual Play] Traveller Hero: Flight of a Thousand Years

[AlHazred]

So, as related in this thread, I got my players interested in at least giving Traveller Hero a shot.

 

The first session started on Alell, a resort planet in the Regina subsector. I didn't have much canonical info on Alell, so I winged it from the scraps I did have.

 

Dramatis Personae:

Captain Donovan Fisk, owner and captain of the Spindrift Maiden out of Mora (former merchant who retired from Al Morai)

George "Geo" Timmons, hotshot pilot (former Navy pilot, dishonorably discharged)

Musush "Sushi" Biiana, navigator and steward (a remittance woman and black sheep of a noble family, she's paid by her family to stay away from their interests)

Ganidiirsi "Gani" Shirika, gunner (ex-Marine war hero)

Hunter Aline, communications officer (ex-Marine)

Joshua Martinez, scientist and long-term passenger (discredited Ancients scholar)

 

The PCs started out coming out of jump into the system. I described some of the work they had to do so that they could get a feel for the fact that they were pretty busy during jump transitions. They got inspected shortly after they came out, then proceeded on to the planet.

 

Once there, some of them went to a startown hotel, while others went to the port warden's office to file paperwork. The port warden told them they would need to submit to a ship inspection to ensure they fulfilled some new Imperial regulations regarding starship design. Then they all got back together at one of the hotels in the startown and enjoyed themselves for a while. The captain arranged a few cargoes and the navigator acquired a few passengers.

 

The port warden got back to them rather quickly: due to a number of violations of Imperial starship codes, their ship was being impounded until it could be brought up to spec. This was going to be bad in a number of ways, as the captain knew that certain things about his ship were illegal. The group decided to see if they could fulfill the paperwork requirements and get their ship out of hock. Meanwhile, in three days it would be Festival week on Alell, and only essential services would be available -- if the Spindrift Maiden was still on the ground at that time, they wouldn't be taking off in time to make their contracts.

 

While out on the plaza of the resort-city of Moreto (the nearest to the largest planetside starport), comparing notes on their progress, a woman in a white robe approached the PCs' table and asks for their help. She tells them that she's Gamaagin Shuliigi-Tukera, a local noble. Her brother Hamuraad is being held captive by a criminal syndicate and she can't get anyone in authority to do anything about it. Suddenly, a couple of Alell security police appeared and restrained her while a man in a doctor's outfit sedated her. He apologized, said she was an escaped mental patient, and excused himself as the police dragged her to a waiting unmarked car.

 

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I'm weeks beyond this plot now, but if I don't start posting now, I'll never get it out there. Trivia points if you can identify my sources.

[AlHazred]

Re: [Actual Play] Traveller Hero: Flight of a Thousand Years

 

The group questions the doctor concerning the woman. He explains that she's a mental patient under his care at Saint Phee's Mental Hospital in the Orpheon, a resort-city in the mountains. He excuses himself and leaves with the security police in the unmarked car. The whole incident is performed extremely quietly, without disturbing more than a few of the rich tourists enjoying the open plaza.

 

So, with the exit visa the foremost concern, the Captain designated Joshua and Sushi to try to talk to the requisite people in order to get their paperwork square. Meanwhile, he sent the rest of his team to rest and relax. When they vacated, the Captain did some snooping of his own.

 

Taking a rapid train to the Orpheon, Captain Fisk finds Saint Phee's Mental Hospital. It's located in a remote part of the city, which sits like a bee-hive on a mountain peak. He has to pass through a transparent tube-walkway to get to it -- for the distance (100 meters) it seems like he's walking on air. He disguises himself as a doctor, breaks in (many of the residents seem to be voluntary, and in any case Alell seems to be geared toward hiding all of the ugly parts of life behind a polite, genteel veneer). From speaking to the inmates, he discovers that a woman matching the general description of Gamaagin is in isolation, under the name "Jennifer." Unfortunately, he is discovered changing back into his regular clothes in a supply closet. A chase ensues, and he manages to make his escape.

 

Meanwhile, Sushi and Joshua have navigated the first levels of the bureaucracy, and manage to find a lawyer still in his office late at night. The lawyer gives them a letter of introduction to a clerk in the Department of Registration in Lucifer, the capital of Alell. They hop a red-eye bullet train there and sleep on the way.

 

Captain Fisk meets up with the rest of his crew and tells them they should look into the woman's story. They decide to start with an investigation of the brother. Regular contacts prove to be little help -- Hamuraad has a well-known public persona as a rake and figures prominently in the society pages. His last reported appearance is a little over a week previous to the adventure.

 

A little creative hacking from an anonymous public terminal allows Fisk access to some basic information about Hamuraad; apparently, he is involved in some local businesses as figurehead, as co-signer on loans, that sort of thing. The businesses are various: a farm on Menorb, a construction company on Efate, a number of small investment companies, and the Outer Systems Tourist Agency, located in the Orpheon, Alell.

 

Sushi and Joshua meet with the clerk (Sushi's noble status and silver tongue combined with Joshua's bureaucratic skill prove an unbeatable combination). They get two pieces of paperwork completed there, and the name of an individual in the Commemorative Society offices in Alell Down. He also provides them some information on what kind of variances they'll need to lift off. They resignedly hop another red-eye to go back.

[Publius]

Re: [Actual Play] Traveller Hero: Flight of a Thousand Years

 

This sounds very sharp. I'm jealous. In fact, I'm turning green even now. Darn it.

[AlHazred]

Re: [Actual Play] Traveller Hero: Flight of a Thousand Years

 

The party reconvene in Moreto to discuss options. Fisk is all for investigating the woman's story, as is Sushi (since it's a fellow noble) and Gani (who is concerned laws might be being broken). The rest of the party doesn't feel strongly one way or another, so the motion carries. They decide to check out Outer Systems Tourist Agency.

 

The main group do a little reconnaissance, while Sushi and Joshua see the Commemorative society about the last three waivers the group needs to leave Alell before Festival.

 

The main group finds the last hangout that Hamuraad was seen at, one of his usual ones, a club in the seedy part of town. They go to investigate it during the evening hours, dressing in club gear for the occasion. Hunter and Gani go to hang out in the bar and talk to patrons. Fisk goes to see if he can sneak into the club's offices, while Geo sneaks around outside looking for clues.

 

Hunter and Gani learn a little about the scene. They note the presence of what seem to be part of the criminal underground lounging around. Hunter is sure she sees a person known to be associated with the Ine Givar, a well-known terrorist organization. Gani intimidates a bunch of locals with his size and strength.

 

Fisk determines that the control room is either upstairs or behind the stairs. Deciding to try upstairs, he waits for a good opportunity and sneaks up. He finds a small antechamber with windows down one side overlooking the main floor. There are two exits, one further along the windows, the other going deeper into the offices. He decides to try to break into the door leading deeper into the offices.

 

Geo finds the alleys behind the club nondescript. He finds a somewhat concealed garage door with no sign of how it can be opened.

 

Fisk fails to penetrate the lock going deeper into the facility, so he tries the door leading further down the window-wall. He succeeds in getting in, and finds a plush office, with a wine rack (including a bottle of very expensive, illegal-to-own tokaj eszencia), expensive music player, the works. He tries to hack into the computer there; he finds some vague connections to investment and finance companies, but nothing concretely illegal.

 

Hunter notes a crew of four burly bouncer types bracketing a stylishly-dressed man of dark hair and features; they're talking on the stairs leading up. The man goes up with two bouncers, leaving the other two guarding the stairs. Hunter signals Gani that something may be up; the Captain went upstairs and hasn't returned yet.

 

Fisk has at this point left the office, but meets the owner in the foyer. There's some attempt to baffle the guy with BS, but he's not buying any of it -- signalling his men to grab Fisk, a short scuffle ensues. It ends with Fisk in the one bouncer's clutches, while the other nurses his stomach. They all retire to the office.

 

Hunter and Gani look over the bouncers, trying to gauge how distractable they might be; the answer is, "Not very." Deciding to size them up, Hunter and Gani move to a good position, dancing at the edge of the dance floor while waiting for a good time to attack -- "shock and awe" is their tactic of choice.

 

Fisk is held firmly in his seat by the bouncers while the club owner sits at his desk. There's a terse conversation wherein the club owner apparently knows about the group's investigation. "Lay off!" comes the curt order from the club owner.

 

Gani and Hunter decide that the time is right when the strobes go off and the club DJ puts the music on overdrive. Gani runs up, grabs the bouncers' heads, and smacks them together like cymbals. One goes down, the other is unstunned. He never gets a chance to react, though, as 5' 6" Hunter mows him down so fast she doesn't even have to slow down going up the stairs. "Damn, that girl's stronger than she looks!" thinks Gani. They high-tail it upstairs.

 

Meanwhile, the club owner leaves the office with one of the bouncers. Fisk decides this is his best shot and manages to surprise the guy with some fancy footwork. They dance around for a while, until Fisk manages to catch him by surprise.

 

Fisk, Gani, and Hunter meet in the foyer. "Where'd the guy go?" asks Fisk. "What guy?" ask the other two.

 

Geo, outside in the alley, is surprised when the garage door starts to open. Before it can even open all the way, a very expensive grav speeder barrels out at high speed.

 

Meanwhile, Joshua and Sushi have met and spoken with a very nice older gentleman who is an administrator in the Commemorative Society. Impressed with Sushi's command of etiquette, he gives them access to the Society's library. While Sushi talks to the old man, Joshua discovers the three waiver forms they need to complete. He gets three copies, and finds out that there are a number of different officials who are supposed to sign the forms, some of whom are in other cities. But ultimately, all of those officials work for the Imperial liaison to Alell. Sushi and Joshua decide to crash a big party being held in the high-class area, to meet with the liaison there. They go back to the ship to dress up and find suitable transportation.