Rogue Trader: The Saga of the Demetrius Dynasty... (Inactive)

Game Master Alexander Kilcoyne

I'll leave the maneuvers to Jerol, but it would probably be wise to come about on the port side and draw closer while engaging in 'evasive maneuvers.' I don't know how strong their ships are, but if we target all our fire on one, it may force the other to withdraw.

She didn't know which was worse, Lion's constant paranoia and posturing or the way Havelock kept staring at her with that odd metal face. It seemed that She and Jerol were the only 'humans' left on this ship. Minerva might have been alive once, but she is so cold and distant, she might as well be one of the walking dead. Still, She couldn't argue about how well they did their jobs...

Seeing that everything was under control on the deck, Praetia goes to the turrets to oversee the gun crews. What better way to find their true allegiance than how they perform in the heat of battle?

'So men, you claim you are servants of the Emperor: your Salvation, Sword and Shield? Well, prove it now! Those other two ships are filled with orc scum that would love nothing more than to pile into this vessel and slaughter you to the last man. Once you are left for dead in the void, they'll go below decks and savage your wives and children. Through unyielding faith in the Emperor, you will transform these cannons into instruments of His will! Aim true, and when those green-skinned hulks come lumbering into range, rend them asunder.'

The men go about their work, paying little attention to the missionary's fierey words. Either still traumatized from the outbreak of insanity or embittered from her accusations of heresy, she does little to inspire them.

Jerol was in combat mode, everything else started to phase out, he was a blur of movement as he disengaged the flaps from automatic, warmed up the side thrusters and turned the main engines to manual thrust.

Most pilots he encountered liked to get the machine to do most of the work, preferring to use pre-determined turning patterns. Jerol preferred to feel it, make alterations on the fly, push a little bit in a different direction when needed. Make judgement calls a computer could just never do.

Jerol stuttered as he spoke, his entire concentration entirely on flying the ship, speech was just an afterthought.

W-where dya want'er?

They are orcs, I think its most likely they will fly right at us and try and gun us down. I say I use my action to look at the augers this turn. And if we have longer range, we just sit here and blast them when they get nearer.

I didn't fully grasp the maneuver rules from the book, but we may need to build up speed before they get to us. I don't know how long it will take to get to max speed in case we need to escape. The worst thing would be to have them on our tail where our dorsal turrts can't reach (seriously, 40,000k in the future and they haven't learned from WWI-era design that ships need to have their turrets on the stern to fire on pursuing ships?)

Speed is pretty simple, effectively you first choose to move either 3 (your half speed) or 7 (your full speed), and by default you can turn up to 90 degrees in either direction at the end of your move, be it 3 or 7 squares. The crew can use one of their actions to perform this if you wish as it doesn't require a check. But a skilled pilot will for example, declare he is moving his full speed and then make an adjust speed test. Lets say he scores a success and four degrees- he can then elect to move up to 5 VU less than his full speed (so anywhere from 2 to 6 VU's) or move up to 5 VU more than his full speed (so anywhere from 8 to 12 VU'a). As he didn't also adjust bearing, he still turns at the end of his move. You can't reduce your speed to less than 1VU, or increase it to more than double your speed value.

If you want to turn twice, thats the Come to New Heading maneuver- allowing you to turn once when halfway through the speed and once again at the end. Using this, you could effectively quickly perform a 180 degree maneuver moving only three squares (assuming you nominated half speed).

I'm aware the rules are quite hard to grasp over PbP, but i'm convinced you'll get the hang of it :), just keep reading up on the relevant sections and ask any questions you need to ask :).

"Humie? Yaz? What kind of low brow moron are we dealing with here? They sound like they are not even human...are we battling xenos? If so then they shall soon regret their temerity, no xeno craft can stand up to the void wolf!"

Overcome with a sense of pride, Havelock is almost ready to dismiss the treat entirely, radiating confidence to an almost palpable degree.

Jerol wants to do the auger action. That leaves then going for say full speed and a turn 90 degrees at the end which I would say to Starboard as that will best put our guns on the Orcs (crew action for the move since pretty standard). Orcs usually have wonky systems that are good in boarding actions; so, they like to get close. Their speed could be anything from spectacular to pitiful on any round and they likely won't work well in concert as a result. The thing you can count on is that they will try to close as fast as they can to bring some insanely huge weapon to bear and likely to latch on to the ship. Defense, distance, and attrition will break them down. Odds are likely one of them will end up in a gap of distance and maneuver from the other if you give the pair enough time to chase after us. (haven't place shapship gothic but used to do plenty of the fantasy man-o-war game).

'Full speed Void Master with a turn to starboard to clear the guns for action. I hope to move in a spiral pattern letting this pair play chase the puppy. Only, they're going to find this puppy has plenty of bite.'

'Guns to fire on the first ship that comes within range to fire.'

The Void Wolf noticeably slows down a little as it is put into battle stations, and the junior pilots manage a simple turn maneuver. The gun crews report the unknown vessels are well out of firing range currently.

1/2 crew actions used. Jerol and Minerva left to act. Jerol, the Focused Augury action requires a Scrutiny + Detection test; the ships detection is currently boosted by +5 from Havelock and is thus +17. Please list your degrees of success (or failure).

Did Lion's +20 to Maneuver help the pilots do their move and turn?

Mechanically it had no bearing as no check is required to simply move and turn.

Edit: If you wanted the crew to attempt a more complex maneuver feel free to retcon that and make the roll on their behalf (Skill 20).

"Now we shall see firsthand the power of the Shard technology, after all that maintenance it should be a very satisfying experience."

Retcon to after the Madness of the Warp. Lion's final report.

Lion looked over the list of casualties and the missing.

On a ship there shouldn’t be any missing but some of the bodies or bits of bodies were still being sorted out to determine what went where and what had been swallowed by whom.

It was a terrible disaster and it was his job to make sense of it.

’Kilbert, scribe this down.’

’Dear insert name’

’I regret to inform you that your insert appropriate child/spouse/parent died this day in a heroic defense of the ship.’

’I did not personally know your cherished one but I have spoken to others of the crew that have personally assured me that insert name was a credit to their section and to the ship. Their actions on insert date shall forever be remembered in the annals of the Void Wolf and their sacrifice shall be remembered in the halls of the God-Emperor as a deed worthy of the greatest defenders of the Imperium.’

’We regret that we could not return the bodies of your loved ones but were forced to bury them with full honours at …’

Lion took a moment to close his eyes and randomly stab at a chart of the sector. Looking pleased with his selection, he rattles off the co-ordinates of his choice of burial site.

’Sir?’

’Yes, Kilbert, what is it? Is the tea ready? I hope you have some of the sugar puffs to go with the tea today.’

’No, sir…’

’No? We’re out of sugar puffs, well, I guess we’ll have to make do with the raspberry sugar cookies.’

’Yes, sir, we have the sugar puffs but, uh, no sir. I don’t understand the letter, sir?’

’What is to understand, Kilbert. It is a letter of conciliation. It conveys our regrets to those that have lost some they’ve loved. Even a simpleton like you should understand that.’

’I know, sir. I get that sir, but, but, it’s a total fabrication. A pure lie. You’ve not spoken to any of these crew person’s mates. You don’t know if they fought bravely or died shivering in a corner. You don’t know which ones were brave and which ones were cowards. And the co-ordinates! You just randomly stuck your finger at a chart and said that’s where they were.’

’And a good thing that I didn’t go down there and interview the crews. The place is hellish nightmare down there with blood still being mopped up from places that you’d never think it could reach. I’ve seen the pictures well enough to know that it’s the kind thing to give even strong men nightmares with brains and other organ bits stuck to ceilings.’

’But sir, why’re you saying these things?’

’Because the Imperium and the Administrum wants it that way, Kilbert. They don’t want letters going home to people on dozens of world describing in gory details that their loved ones died in some strange cannibalistic fit. They don’t want people’s last memories of their loved ones to be of them scarfing down bits of raw liver with a side plate of intestine sausage.’

’The Imperium wants heroes and role models. People that are willing to get on a rust bucket and fly to the edges of the void for the promise of life leisure and more thrones then they can make scooping up buckets of toxic goop or fighting off people eating plants on their homeworlds.’

’Fine, sir, I understand but why not at least give them the decency of knowing where their honoured dead were buried. Why choose a random spot on the charts?’

’Kilbert, ah, you simple creature you. Do you think that any of the family of the crew members on this ship can afford to travel out here to the farthest corners of the Imperium to mournfully wail as they look out on the spot where we tossed their loved one’s carcass? Even if they could afford it, we’d never want to risk the contamination to the Imperium in having such a body returned to civilized space. A location is just an idea where they can point to on a map and tell their friends. It is an idea. It doesn’t have to be real for them to feel it is real.’

’Yes, sir, I think that I understand now, sir.’

’Good, get the letter over to the Scriptorium to have suitable letters drawn up. The next time we reach a port of civilized souls, we’ll off load them for a ship headed towards Port Wanderer. Eventually they’ll make it to the inner worlds or wherever the crew people listed their next of kin as living.’

’Very good, sir’

’One other thing, Kilbert.’

’What, sir? The tea, sir?’

’Now that you mention it, yes, of course the tea. But more importantly, take the list of the named next of kin and forward it to the Eccesiarchy for distribution to the Inquistitorium.’

’Everyone on the list of relatives? To be put on a list for the Inquisitorium?’

’Yes, Kilbert. Clearly, the people that died suffered from a weakness of character that allowed them to be infected by whatever took over many of the crew. Such weakness of character is a deadly rot if left unchecked. Don’t worry, the way of things this day, it likely won’t be for fifty or a hundred years before some Inquisitor gets around to any of their families or their families’ decendents and properly cleanses the root of the problem.’

Rubbing his hands in eagerness, Lion said, ’Now, let’s have tea.’

The player of Jerol informed me that he doesn't have internet access for a few more days, so i'll make the augurs roll on his behalf in an update later.

Battle March

'Sound the Battle March'

Sorry all, busy weekend then a big essay...

Manning the augurs, Jerol feels the sensors of the Void Wolf hum underneath his fingertips, the systems machine spirit running even faster than normal thanks to Havelock's efforts and prayers...

1d100 ⇒ 1 5 degrees of success

The augurs thrum with power as Jerol expertly scans one of the vessels, managing to expertly scan the second ship in addition to the first. You get a full reading of both ships systems, and they are clearly Ork vessels of a similar nature...

Unknown Vessel 1 & 2- Ork Raider (Frigate Class)

Weapon Capacity- Dorsal 1, Prow 2

Essential Components-

Looted STC Drive
Warp Engine
Really Big Teef: Functions as a Gellar Field
Single Void Shield Array
Air Pumps (Life Support)
Boyz Barracks (+10 to all command checks involving hit and run or boarding)
Armoured Kaptin's Bridge- If it takes a critical hit roll 1d10. On a 4 or higher it is unharmed. Also, if the ship chooses not to turn it can move an extra 1d5 void units.

Supplemental Components-
2 looted imperial prow macrocannons
Dorsal Gunz-
Macrobatteries 'improved' with Orky tech...
Stowage Bay
Ork Armoured Prow (+4 armour to its front arc, extra damage when ramming).

Bump- Minerva you still with us? Maneuver action for the crew needs to be decided on, and one crew action left, as well as Minerva's action.

Bump- Minerva you still with us? Maneuver action for the crew needs to be decided on, and one crew action left, as well as Minerva's action.

Let's do this! Crew Action: Maneuver ahead full (seven squares), turn to port (right) at the end of the movement.

No check required for basic movement. Minerva + one crew action left.

'Explorator Havelock and Voidmaster Jerrod. According to these readings, it appears these ships have been out fitted for a close frontal ram and boarding action. Do you concur?'

'I'm suggesting that we alert the soldiers that we have in the barracks to prepare for a possible boarding action and begin breaking out the cloaks and stubber guns. We may have need of everything we can wield in battle if these ships use those rams and extra boarding parties.'

Suggest Crew action to prepare for boarders by getting the soldiers into armour and weapons and breaking into the crates for some of the weapons and equipment we picked up in Port Wanderer.

"A logical conclusion and the right action to take under the circumstance, one gram of preparation is worth a ton of ammunition."

"It looks like the mercenaries may get to earn their pay before time; such is the way of the warp. But no xeno shall defile this ship, we shall beat them off with cannon fire, and if all else fail, they will face us and falter."

'Praetia, I've heard these Xenos are a fractious lot. Often willing to sell out there own mothers. Do they even have mothers?'

'Anyways, perhaps you or I could start a bargaining with the pair. The idea that one might be bargained to turn upon the other might sow the seeds of distrust among them to give us an advantage. I'd suggest switching coms between the pair and see if the offer of reward to either for service will be useful in getting the other to suspect the other.'

'A leaked or dropped word here or there with a suggestion of the other might be all we need to turn the pair upon each other's throats.'

Jerol doesn't expect he'll have internet until Thursday. And Minerva seems to be AWOL...

'Praetia, I've heard these Xenos are a fractious lot. Often willing to sell out there own mothers. Do they even have mothers?'

'Anyways, perhaps you or I could start a bargaining with the pair. The idea that one might be bargained to turn upon the other might sow the seeds of distrust among them to give us an advantage. I'd suggest switching coms between the pair and see if the offer of reward to either for service will be useful in getting the other to suspect the other.'

'A leaked or dropped word here or there with a suggestion of the other might be all we need to turn the pair upon each other's throats.'

'Good suggestion. It seems my presence at the batteries is more of a hinderance than a help. I'll be up as soon as I can.'

"They do not have mothers, in fact, Orc physiology is partly myconoid in nature.
They multiply by spreading spores that eventually grow and burst from the soil as fully formed adult orcs.
This is why a planet that has been invaded by orcs can see sporadic outbreaks of new clans for years.
In fact, as far as anyone knows, they do not understand the concept of sex or genders at all."

Havelock strokes his faceplate a little. "Orc's care only for warfare, they cannot be provoked into doing anything else but fighting.
Once they have a target in sight they will attack it regardless of losses.
They will most likely fall to infighting, but not until the prey in front of them has been killed. We are not likely to be able to deal with them."

Jerols fingers expertly used the augers, his fingers moving quickly but fluidly between the buttons. He was quickly able to identify the nature of the ships, their weapons, even their engine systems.

Satisfied with his work, he turned to Havelock and Lion.

Perhaps if we can get 'em in a position where if one fires it might hit the other? I can't imagine friendly fire would be much of an issue for 'em.

The Void Wolf finishes its simple maneuvers under the guidance of the crew. Minerva is poised and vigilant upon the deck of the Void Wolf, her eyes watching the ships internal sensors and ready to repel boarders if necessary...

Minerva seems to have disappeared so i'm ignoring her action for now. Shes bodyguarding. You have one crew action left and then the ork's act. You finish the turn out of firing range of your guns (max firing range= double the range value, or 12). You can elect not to use the crew action if you prefer.

The Void Wolf finishes its simple maneuvers under the guidance of the crew. Minerva is poised and vigilant upon the deck of the Void Wolf, her eyes watching the ships internal sensors and ready to repel boarders if necessary...

Minerva seems to have disappeared so i'm ignoring her action for now. Shes bodyguarding. You have one crew action left and then the ork's act. You finish the turn out of firing range of your guns (max firing range= double the range value, or 12). You can elect not to use the crew action if you prefer.

Have them prepare to repel boarders

Havelock frowns at Jerols words, that is one expression that he can still pull off well.
Had Jerol not heard what he just said?
Havelock is just about to open his "mouth" when he realizes that Jerol meant that the orcs would not hesitate to fire even if others were in the line. And he is probably right, with the kill lust up, the orcs would not care.

The area around Havelock's eyes crinkle, and even colour slightly as he smiles in a self decapitating manner at nearly making a fool out of himself.

Circuits preserve me, I don't have a mouth, and yet it seems to be far to eager to run ahead of me and get me into trouble.

To cover up his mistake he instead clears his throat nosily before speaking.
"I say we go with Navigator Beneteks idea, have the crew ready to repel borders. And it also occurs to me, that if the bloodlust is up in the orcs we might be able to use a variant of Navigator Beneteks suggestion."

Havelock scratches his faceplate. "We can't barter or bargain with them, but if we can fake an injury to the ship, and make it look like one of the Orc vessels might reach us first to get ALL of the combat and loot, the other ship MIGHT possibly turn on it to make sure it gets it fair share...or even all of it.
I do not know how we would do that however.

Hi guys. Really sorry for the delay! I thought work would have slowed down by now but, alas i continue as busy as before. Unfortunately i don't think this situation is going to change any time soon. So, in consequence, i'm going to have to give up the game. Really sorry!, Really liked this char too.

Hope to play with some of you again some time.

Hymenopteryx

Fair enough, sad to see you go but such is the way of things. Everyone else, I will update on monday with the Ork's actions; i'm banned from the forums tomorrow. Don't worry, I will not let the game die as long as I have willing players :).

Vessel 1-
Aid the Machine Spirit boost Maneuv (Ork equivalent)-1d100 ⇒ 1 (+10)
Focused Augury (Void Wolf)- 1d100 ⇒ 72 (fail)
Flank Speed- 1d100 ⇒ 21 (+2 VU)
Adjust Speed and Bearing- 1d100 ⇒ 61 success

The first Ork frigate attempts to scan the Void Wolf, but a distinct explosion on their ship suggests the attempt was a failure. Nevertheless, they steam ahead at full speed and turn to face the Void Wolf- though not particularily quickly.

Vessel 2-
Aid the Machine Spirit boost Maneuv (Ork equivalent)-1d100 ⇒ 25 (+5)
Focused Augury (Void Wolf)- 1d100 ⇒ 81 (fail)
Flank Speed- 1d100 ⇒ 59 (fail)
Adjust Speed and Bearing- 1d100 ⇒ 91 (fail)

The second Ork frigate appears as though it tried to make an early, speedy turn towards you- but the pilot made a critical error. It recovers into a basic maneuver, moving 5 void units (its full speed) and turning towards you. Both Ork frigates end their actions out of range of their guns.

Round 2- Void Wolf

Link

Over to you!

'It looks like they are moving into our T'

'Even with their speed boosts, I don't think that they'll cut us off on this run.'

'If we travel straight, they'll cut the range and come into range of our guns. I just am not sure how close we can thread this needle of distance before they choose to close to boarding distance.'

'Your thoughts?'

Lion looked to the command crew for their opinions.

Please bear in mind you can only shoot on YOUR turn. You could probably get into normal or even close range with a well planned maneuver.

"Orc's are notoriously impatient, they would like to get to grips with enemies as fast as possible, in a space battle, that would probably mean they intend to attempt to board us as soon as they can. If we let them within range they will take it, and if we do not, they will charge us like a blood mad ambull in mating season."

Havelock frowns a little before continuing, like what he is about to say next is something he would rather not say.

"Orcs are very tough, and while the ships are inferior to ours in most aspects, it is possible that it is much like their masters, capable of taking an impressive amount of damage before being crippled, moreover, it's masters are not likely to care overmuch for damage less than crippling."

'How maneuverable would you say they are compared to the Void Wolf, Explorator Havelock?

'This system is filled with plenty of space junk. Void master Jerol, do you think that you could out fly these ...'

'The term I believe is Boyz, sir. With a Zee.' supplied Navigator Solar.

'A Zee? Are you sure?'

'Yes it is clearly written in the Guileman's Standard Book of blasphemous Xeno words. Boyz with a Zee.'

'Well then, Void master Jerol, do you believe that you could out fly these Boyzzzz?'

'Blast, I can just taste the corruption trying to pronounce these Xeno words.'

"This is only an educated guess, as I have not had either chance or inclination to study the heretical tech of Orcs, but it is likely that it is much like its masters. Brutal, simple, sturdy and not very sophisticated. I would think that we are much more manoeuvrable than their ships."

Havelock taps his faceplate again in though.

"In addition, if we can keep our of their range for a bit, it seems like they may attempt more dangerous manoeuvres to close in with is, they may in fact cripple themselves if we can just draw them in."

"As for their words, with a lower jaw as massive as they have, they cannot wrap their thick tongues around our more sofisticated language, humie for human, boyz for boys, kaptin for captain and so on."

Studying the tactical situation, First Officer Trask ventures a suggestion-

Sir, they don't see very maneuveurable. What if we could fly right past them on a burst of speed and make a sharp turn- we'd be right behind them and they would struggle to either fire at us or board us, while we could fire at close range against their rear armour.

'Jerol, do you think that you could do such flying?'

Jerol shoved the junior pilot out of the seat and started adjusting the thruster positions and power. He looked and Lion, grinned, and said

I reckon we can get close enough if I give her a little more boost. These orks wont know what hit em

So how about a 45 degree turn clockwise, half our move towards the orks, shoot, 45 degree turn anti clockwise, the other half of our move?

'Jerol, do what you think is best. If you can maneuver around them to get a shot off without being boarded, that would be supreme. I'll go back down to the turrets and try to inspire them to action.'

Praetia's words of devotion (or perhaps the proximity of the Ork ships!) inspire the gun crews to higher levels of performance.

By default you only turn once (up to 90 degrees), and always at the end of your movement. You can adjust speed to move more or less, adjust bearing to turn earlier, or do adjust speed and bearing to do both. You can shoot either before or after your move (obviously after will likely be better here).

You may want to consider having one of your characters direct the bombardment as then you'll be testing one of your BS instead of the crews.

Edit: Actually, Minerva can direct the guns each turn this combat.

2nd Edit: Its unlikely you could get behind them this turn, but if you managed an early turn and some extra speed you could go for a broadside at long range...

With Jerol handling the till of the ship, he decides to talk to the Orkz.

He writes a quick message for Solar to consult Guileman's Standard Book of Blasphemous Xeno Words to provide the correct translation.

With a nod and a wave of his hand, he steps to the pulpit to broadcast his message.

Sol hurries over with the translation whispering the correct pronunciations.

'Wez hummies recognize you're greatnez. Wez only going to zurender to the greatez bozz zince thatz only right. You tell uz which onz of uz iz greatezt and wez pay our teef to youz.'

Lion signals to cut the broadcast while they listen for a reply.

'Teef? I mean teeth? That is what these Xeno's use for money? By the emperor, I could purchase a pound of teeth for a few coins in most ports. I could have every shape and size of teeth a person wanted for several hundred thrones. Their garbage on most world tossed in the bins with all the other bones striped from carcasses and pulled by medicae.'

In concert, a single reply comes back from both ships- a deafening roar reaching a crescendo that has everyone the the bridge desperately trying to cover their ears...

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!

After finally being able to hear something else but the ringing in his ears, Havelock brushes of his robes and attempts to regain his composure.

"Yes...that would be the most commonly heard Orc word by outsiders...the warcry. I guess now we will see if you managed to sow some dissent between them, or if you've just made them mad. Either way, now it begins..."

I currently dont have a copy of the rules, as my laptop has died and I am using my girlfriends atm, so I can't really contribute to what we're going to do with the ship, as I don't really understand the rules. Ill make a roll when you guys have decided what is best for us to do, but I may be somewhat quiet untill then.

Ok, been talking to AK. He helped clarify the rules abit. Going to make a roll to increase our speed and make our turn as soon as possible. So we hopefully end up along side the ork ship.

Jerols hands flying around the console, he said to the rest of the command crew

Ill plant her along side the orks, they wont be able to unload a full salvo into us that way, and they might have to expose their rears as they try and maneuver around us.

Jerol immediately started to swing the ship around, doing as small an arc as he could possibly manage. The tiniest split second slip could cause the ship to spin in a random direction, and cause the turn to be much wider than he intended. It took all his concentration [/b]

1d100 ⇒ 52

Jerols hand slips for a second, luckily his skill with ships allowed him to take another go at this difficult maneuver. Killing the rear engines for a second, he adjusts the flaps and boosts it to more power, trying to make this sharp turn again.

Re-roll!

1d100 ⇒ 52

Even with a 'new heading' maneuver, I don't see a way to get a hit on them this round without also taking fire.

I suggest trying to move ahead 12 squares and turn 90 deg to starboard (right). This would put is in a good position next turn to fire on them if they move closer next round.

Thats just a fail, unless someone is encouraging Jerol or boosting maneuvrability in some way. Failure just means he moves the normal 7 and turns at the end of the round. Which hould prove interesting...