GM Tarondor's Secrets of the Ancients - Traveller

Game Master Tarondor

Let's just stick with what's happening now.

The two gunmen move north along the corridor, towards the lounge where Professor Ujinka was shot. All of you lose sight of them but surely they will discover she is missing any moment and begin searching the house for her.

You have moments to act. Ben in the medical room on the west side of the house, everyone else in the bedroom hallway on the east side. East-siders, you could probably make it to the stairs.

What do you do?

Ben locks the door and then moves to the window holding a chair. He blasts the the window with the chair and yells, "This way professor!"

He then leaps through the window ready roll when he hits the ground and then sprint to the cars!

Dex + Athletics: 2d6 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (4, 1) + 2 + 1 = 8 I was hoping for better, but that should stop some of the damage. Go summer gymnastics classes!

I am hoping to save you all with a distraction. We will see if it works. Ben may not be the brightest but hopefully this works and we can all escape.

You just locked the door to the autodoc, which I think was the only way to save her, and with "moments to act"/limited choices again, I suppose we're back to trying to escape.

Zirelle sprints down the stairs.

If it makes it better, there was no way you were getting to that autodoc without a fire fight.

Speaking of which, Chuck, your pistol is working now.

Ben, you reduce damage by the "Effect", which means by how much you exceed the target number. Sadly that number for you is 0.

Falling Damage to Ben: 2d6 ⇒ (5, 5) = 10

That's a bad fall that takes all 5 of your END. You can divide the other 5 as you see fit between STR and DEX. Let me know.

There is a muffled yell from Ben, followed by the sound of breaking glass. Taking advantage of the distraction, Zirelle moves onto the stairs.

Chuck, Dev and Erryll?

That is a sad roll for me. Ah well. I think it has to be Dex.

No one else knew the Autodoc was there, so it is useless for her unless that changes. The only way for you to get to it is for them to bust the door open and then leave pursuing me. Hopefully, I am at the cars by that point. And then someone can come and peek and see what is happening after the goons head after me. I also need the time to get away that I gain from them having to bust through the door in the hopes I get to the cars before they actually spot me. If they stay in the building then the Autodoc is not useful.

That is a sad roll for me. Ah well. I think it has to be Dex.

No one else knew the Autodoc was there, so it is useless for her unless that changes. The only way for you to get to it is for them to bust the door open and then leave pursuing me. Hopefully, I am at the cars by that point. And then someone can come and peek and see what is happening after the goons head after me. I also need the time to get away that I gain from them having to bust through the door in the hopes I get to the cars before they actually spot me. If they stay in the building then the Autodoc is not useful.

But like the gig is up, right? We all know that we're all here, right? So we don't need comms, we could just yell like normal people, and someone could yell, "Erryll! There's an autodoc! You're the only one who could use it! Get her over there now!!!" and then the whole team would be focused on getting her across the hall even if people got hurt because the goal would be like football: the line would block the quarterback getting through with the Professor, and even if there were some injuries, they could hope for the best because there was basically a micro-hospital onsite.

I am not sure why we would assume they know about more then that people went out the window. I am trying to draw them away. It may fail spectacularly, but they are both armed and possibly armored. We are not armored. Guns hurt a lot. Avoiding a fight in Traveler is always the best option.

Chuck hears the commotion and sees Zirelle go out the door.
"Get her downstairs, I'll cover you." He hisses to Erryll and Dev.

Chuck moves to the corner of the hallway and uses the wall to brace his pistol for a clean shot.

Don't turn around... Chuck thinks as he aims at the back of one of the soldiers.

Move then Aim. Can I see more clearly how the soldiers are outfitted?

Dev carries the critically wounded professor quickly down the stairs while Chuck covers them. He follows Zirelle out the door and makes a dash for the vehicles.

Dev (and anyone else slipping down the stairs), give me an Easy (6+) DEX+Stealth check.

Chuck, you see that the two men are dressed in tactical gear, wearing flak jackets and holding gauss pistols. Make an Easy (6+) DEX+Stealth check.

Sneaking: 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (2, 5) + 2 = 9

Dex/Stealth: 2d6 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (4, 2) + 1 + 1 = 8

Zirelle and Dev (carrying Professor Ujinka) sneaks downstairs while the assassins are distracted.

Erryl, what are you doing?

Chuck, please give me that Stealth check mentioned above.

Ummm...

DEX+Stealth: 2d6 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (4, 6) + 1 + 1 = 12

Zirelle and Dev (carrying Professor Ujinka) sneaks downstairs while the assassins are distracted.

Erryl, what are you doing?

Chuck, please give me that Stealth check mentioned above.

Following Dev

Chuck sneaks silently behind the soldiers and takes aim. One kicks open the door to the medical room and dashes in while the other covers him. Chuck still has a clear shot at the second gunman. In this moment, Chuck recognizes him as one of the two men in the video with Vlen Backett before his death.

Anyone, give me a Stealth+DEX check for Erryll.

Stealth: 2d6 ⇒ (3, 6) = 9

Erryll, Dev and Zirelle slip downstairs while Chuck lines up a shot and Ben crashes through the window, landing on the lawn and hurting his leg. One of the gunmen pursues Ben to the window.

"Somebody else is here! They could still be in the house."

And now the poop hits the fan.

DEX ORDER
Ben (11)
Chuck (10)
Mort (8)
Dev (7)
Zirelle (7)
Gaius (6)
Erryll (5)

Ben! You've heard the shout at the window. You could sprint to the car or get around a corner of the building, out of sight of the window. Chuck! You've got a clear shot at the back of one of the combatants and he doesn't know you're there. I'm calling that a "Boon". With a boon, you roll 3d6 and take the best two. If you're taking the shot, it's DEX+whatever firearm skill you're using. Ben and Chuck, go!

I am getting around the car to get cover and to get ready to roll if they chase me and I can get a car to go.

Ben comes up limping, but continues with his plan and makes a break to get a car between him and the window.

Chuck shoots first.

DEX+GC Lasers+Laser Sight+Aiming: 3d6 + 1 + 2 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (1, 4, 3) + 1 + 2 + 1 + 1 = 13
Dex+1, Gun Combat Lasers+2, Laser Sight w/in 50m+1, Aiming+1
That's a 12, I believe.
Damage: 3d6 + 3 ⇒ (2, 6, 5) + 3 = 16

As he watches where the shot lands, he regulates his breath as he lines up a second shot.

Major Action: Shoot, Minor Action: Aim

Chuck shoots the second gunman in the back, injuring him badly. He staggers against the door frame but barely remains standing. It appears his flak jacket absorbed some of the shot.

Meanwhile, Ben runs to the cover of the cars and takes shelter there. The first gunman, realizing there are armed defenders in the house and seeing his companion hit, follows Ben out the window!

Falling damage: 2d6 ⇒ (1, 5) = 6

Dev and Zirelle, go!

Zirelle covers Dev as he carries the professor to the cars, carrying her sword in her hand and attacking anything or anyone that gets in melee range and threatens to hinder their escape. If nothing does, she checks to see if the car they ran to is operational.

Mechanic: 2d6 ⇒ (5, 1) = 6

A normal car would be fine if it was off, but no idea if these cars got shorted out by the EMP or whatever it was.

That would be true if it were an EMP. But this is something else. Something related to secrets. And possibly Ancients. :-)

Zirelle (and Dev and Erryll, if they move with her) makes it through the house's lower level and to the door. She can see Ben hunkered down beside one of the ground cars and one of the gunman who just landed on the lawn.

Dev, go!

Looking quickly around for any way to get to the car without being seen by the gunman, Dev lowers the wounded professor to the ground and attempts to slip behind the gunman and...well...who knows what! Something needs to be done, or the professor will die...just like his uncle!

Stealth (dex): 2d6 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (4, 3) + 2 + 1 = 10

I'm not making myself clear. I know you're all moving together, but this is a round-by-round combat encounter, just as in Pathfinder. Zirelle moved to the front door, but Dev has not. Does he wish to follow Zirelle to the front door? From where he is now at the bottom of the stairs, he can't see or know about or get to (yet) the gunman on the lawn.

Yes...sorry, I thought I was already there...my bad. He will move up and once he becomes aware of the gunman, he will try to sneak up on him...if possible.

I apologize to both Zirelle and Dev. I screwed up by using my mental map instead of the actual one and I had it backward. By descending the stairs you both are right at the front door, so you don't need to move to it.

Zirelle moves to the cars, spotting the gunman on the lawn as she does. She scrambles into cover and finds Ben behind the same car.

Despite a lack of cover, Dev is able to use the gunman's distraction when he spots Zirelle racing across the gravel drive to slip behind him.

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Back upstairs, the injured gunman slips into the room, giving himself cover and returns fire at Chuck, but the pain and surprise of his own injuries throw his aim off badly and he instead blows a hole in the wall near Chuck's chest.

Gauss Pistol: 2d6 + 0 + 2 ⇒ (1, 2) + 0 + 2 = 5
Damage: 3d6 ⇒ (4, 1, 5) = 10 AP 3

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Erryll, go!

That would be true if it were an EMP. But this is something else. Something related to secrets. And possibly Ancients. :-)

Zirelle (and Dev and Erryll, if they move with her) makes it through the house's lower level and to the door. She can see Ben hunkered down beside one of the ground cars and one of the gunman who just landed on the lawn.

Dev, go!

Erryll moved with Zirelle, and as Dev arrives, he checks on the condition of the professor.

Is the professor still on the ground by the door then? My intention was to cover getting her out, to fight if necessary, and only find cover if she was safe. I mean, I'll go with what we have, but it seems like the story keeps getting retconned so I am getting a little frustrated with figuring out what has actually happened and what hasn't.

Ben tries to get into the car and get it started.

DEX + GC Lasers + Laser Sight w/in 50m + Aiming: 2d6 + 1 + 2 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (4, 2) + 1 + 2 + 1 + 1 = 11
Damage: 3d6 + 3 ⇒ (4, 6, 5) + 3 = 18

"It's those bastards that killed Vlen!" Chuck shouts as he unleashes another laser blast. "Where's the other one?!"

If the gunman goes down, Chuck will move up to the door. If he doesn't go down, he'll retreat down the stairs. Major: Shoot, Minor: Move.

Chuck moves with a purpose, keeping his pistol at the ready.

FWIW, I'm on the cover the retreat path with Chuck. No communication would let him know otherwise.

Erryll, Zirelle moved to the cars expecting Dev to bring the Professor with him, but instead Dev left her on the doorstep and went to deal with the gunman. Do you want to go with Zirelle or stay with Professor Ujinka?

Erryll will maintain an oversight position with the professor, and also pray that his laser pistol starts working again.

You can make an untrained INT+Mechanics check to fix it. Untrained is a -3. Low odds, but not no odds!

If you mean the car, I do have the skill Mechanic... no points in it, but that isn't untrained is it?

Int+Mechanic: 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (5, 4) + 1 = 10

You can make an untrained INT+Mechanics check to fix it. Untrained is a -3. Low odds, but not no odds!

2d6 - 3 ⇒ (2, 6) - 3 = 5

Dev is going to try and sweep the weapon from the gunman after sneaking up on him. Using JoT he will be at a -2 I think for unarmed combat, but if I can use STR as my attribute for the attack, it becomes a -1 action!

Unarmed: 2d6 - 2 + 1 ⇒ (4, 5) - 2 + 1 = 8

If you mean the car, I do have the skill Mechanic... no points in it, but that isn't untrained is it?

I was referring to the pistol that Erryll had just asked me about. But you're right. A "0" in a skill means you are trained.

However, it was only Erryll, Ben and Chuck that were up. Dev and Zirrelle have to wait a bit for their turn.

Erryll tries to fix his pistol, but it stubbornly refuses to work.

DEX ORDER
Ben - 0 END, -1 DEX
Chuck
Mort
Dev
Zirelle
Gaius - 15 damage
Erryll

Ben and Chuck, go!

I'm not sure of the result of my last actions.

Oops!

Chuck sprayed the injured gunman, killing him. Chuck moved to the door of the medical room.

Ben got into a car and tried to start it. Were the doors locked?

For the sake of order, let’s review where we are:

Ben, sheltering behind the cars, hasn’t gone yet, but see below.
Chuck, still inside the house, has just shot Galus dead and moved to the door of the med bay.
Dev snuck up behind Mort, but hasn’t yet tried to grab his weapon.
Erryll, at the door to the mansion with the body of Professor Ujinka, tried and failed to reboot his pistol.
Zirelle, ran to the cars and took cover, but hasn’t yet tried to reboot one of the cars.

Mort, the only living opponent you know of, is kneeling on the lawn with a gauss pistol, just about to open up on those taking shelter behind the cars (Ben, Erryll and Zirelle).

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Ben’s player announced that he would try to start the car, but it wasn’t his turn. Sounds like that's what he wants to do now that it is his turn. It's your rented ground car, so I'm happy to assume that it was left unlocked.

Ben slides into the vehicle and presses the start button, but the ground car remains inert.

Perhaps on her turn, Zirelle will fix that.

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Back on the lawn, Mort opens fire on Ben, who instinctively throws himself flat.

GM Fiat, Ben took the “Dive for Cover” action, inflicting a -2 DM on the roll, but costing Ben his next actions.

Gauss Pistol: 2d6 + 0 + 1 - 2 ⇒ (4, 1) + 0 + 1 - 2 = 4

The bullets tear up the ground car, but no one is injured. Ben winds up on the grass behind the cars.

DEX ORDER
Ben - 0 END, -1 DEX
Chuck
Mort
Dev
Zirelle
Galus - Dead
Erryll

Chuck, Dev, Zirelle and Erryll (but not Ben), go!

Having watched many holo-movies about great martial artists, Dev attempts to disarm the assailant who just fired at Ben in their car.

Melee-Unarmed Combat (-2 JoT): 2d6 - 2 ⇒ (5, 4) - 2 = 7

Any hope for a +1 for a surprise move??? lol

Zirelle will take the roll she posted previously to repair the car... if that is still possible after having the bullets tear it up. (If neither of the cars is repairable, then she will run back to where the professor was left on the ground.)

Chuck scans the med bay with his eyes and finding no threats, turns and shouts down the hall toward the stairs.
"'Ey Doc! We got an auto-doc up here! It's clear!"

He then runs to the busted window to get a look out to the scene below.

"Dev! He's weak on his left from going out the window!" He shouts, just as Dev is about to engage.

Minor: Move, Major: Leadership
2D+Leadership+INT: 2d6 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (6, 5) + 2 + 1 = 14
I think that means Dev gets bonuses on his previous roll?
I'm going to watch a video on Leadership. Neat! We now have 6 boon dice. Smoke 'em if ya got'em!

Hearing Chuck's advice, Dev adjusts to the left, gaining a Boon from Chuck's Leadership.

Dev's Boon die: 1d6 ⇒ 6 Using that to replace the "4", Dev's roll is now a total of 9.

This is an Opposed Check (Core Rules, p. 59), so Mort rolls his own opposition to Dev.

Mort's Unarmed Combat check: 2d6 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (3, 1) + 1 + 2 = 7 Dev beats Mort by 2. This is an "average success."

The two men wrestle for Mort's gauss pistol, but Dev has the element of surprise and twists the weapon out of the man's hands!

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Zirelle pops the hood of the ground vehicle and zeroes out the pin modulator. The onboard computer blinks and rapidly boots up! Success.

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Erryll, go!

Can Erryll lift the Professor? It's not that he wouldn't have done that at the hospital, but usually there are orderlies who take care of that for doctors ... otherwise, Erryll will ask for help.

Yes, he can lift her. She's ancient and very light. Erryll knows she's very close to death.

Erryll lifts the professor as carefully as possible, and re-enters her home heading for the staircase ...
"Talk to me Chuck! I need to get her in there immediately! I'm coming up now."
Erryl silently prays: technology is at the heart of everything for the Daryen, but this was going to take at least a touch of luck to pull off.