Out There - Session 6
A session report of a planet-hopping sci-fi game I am writing and playing with my in-person group.
We rejoined the crew of My Ex Husband as they cruised back towards Egret, prisoners in tow.
- Captain Polly, former atmo rigger, and divorcée
- Evit, currently at the helm, a smoker and void runner
- Iago, wreck picker and face of the crew
- Bettie, a droid just human-like enough to pass as organic, but only just
- Dr. Timor, cybernetics specialist and heavy sleeper
The Stones
A few uneventful days passed in transit marked by card games and routine maintenance. Iago began retrofitting the ship's dry storage as a more permanent and signal-proof brig.
Polly happened to be near the helm as the klaxons started blaring and the ship fell automatically back to manageable speeds. Ahead she could make out the flashing red oval of a pin drive buoy signaling a hazard. The jump system was designed to automatically stop traffic if anything strayed into the route in order to avoid collision.
The buoy ahead was clogged by a cluster of spherical blue rocks. The largest was the size of a minivan; the smallest, a bathtub. They were pitted and etched as if something had eaten away at them. Polly thought they looked almost fossil-like. Iago climbed down to crew the robotic arms while Bettie headed to the airlock to investigate up close. The stones proved powdery and fragile and slightly magnetic. Bettie theorized that this was what had pulled them here through the blackness of space.
After a quick discussion, the crew decided to pull one aboard and toss the rest out of the jump lane. They proved too fragile to move easily, and the one the crew stowed split down the middle, revealing a walnut-like, hollow interior. Polly thought these might be scientifically significant - perhaps a sign of some heretofore unknown space-faring life form? She could picture turning "scientifically significant" into "monetarily valuable."
The Escape
Another week passed without incident and Iago's retrofitted brig was ready. While Dogberry had been allowed to stay as a "guest" in one of the coffin cabins on the top deck, the dangerous saboteur droid Unbettie had been locked away in the skiff in the cargo hold. The crew readied themselves for trouble as they prepared to transfer her.
The first sign that something was amiss was the scuffs on the cockpit. Unbettie had scratched the glass opaque. The second came as Iago tried to open the hatch. At their touch, the skiff's engine sprang to life and the small craft began to levitate and hover towards the exit. The droid was planning to launch, punching a skiff-shaped hole in the side of My Ex Husband while they traveled at .3 light!
Dr. Timor simply left, returning to his room and leaving the rest of the crew to deal with this situation. Iago quickly slashed the power cable connecting the skiff to the rest of the ship. The skiff's lights flickered and it slouched to one side, but it continued to grind across the cargo bay floor. Agent Farrow pulled her pulse pistol and, at Polly's command, fired a quick burst, but the shots ricocheted harmlessly off the solarized glass.
The skiff's engines flared. Bettie took decisive action. They threw the release for the bay doors. Instantly, the air began streaming out into the void. The crew clung to the cargo netting that webbed the walls as loose boxes and tools tumbled into space. The skiff followed behind, whizzing away in the opposite direction.
Bettie shut the hatch and the life support systems whirred to life, quickly restoring air and heat to the compartment. Unbettie's skiff wasn't equipped with a pin drive so it would take her a long time to make it to the next planet - months at least. The crew debated turning around and trying to catch her, but decided it was better not to transport her after this debacle.
Over Finch
My Ex Husband finally arrived back at Finch, resupplying with fuel and food supplies at one of the myriad of fuel platforms floating nearby.
Dr. Timor reported that he knew some folks here who might be able to help the crew with their blackmail plan. One option was Fara Wren, corporate counsel for King Heavy Industries, one of the mega corporations that kept their corporate headquarters among Finch's banking satellites. The other was Neema Choi, a freelance agent who made her living negotiating fuel sales for prospectors in Flare Row. He had met both in Egret high society, the former on an opera board and the latter at a faux-cheese tasting. He suggested they try to book a meeting with Wren - her services would be expensive, but she wouldn't be intimidated by whoever was financing the serial theft of Gatecrash artifacts.
GM Notes
This session was more or less defined by a few failed rolls - one while making the initial jump from Hawk to Finch and the other while trying to transfer Unbettie. Good old-fashioned PbtA hijinks!
This session I tried out a new system for adjudicating partial successes. Our system generates a lot of them and I had found myself stumbling sometimes over so many yes, buts in rapid succession. I made a quick list of types of potential complications - unwelcome revelations, damage to gear, increased risk, etc. Each time a crew member rolled a partial success, I used one and marked it with a tally. Then as the session carried on, I tried to use the option with the fewest tallies each time, though I gave myself some grace to just follow my guy if the perfect option presented itself. This worked really well!
I admit I am excited for the crew to get off of their ship for a little bit next session. Finch's stations aren't planetside exactly, but at least it will provide a change of scenery.