Aslan Route 32: The Lions of Thebus, Part 2

Previously, on The Aslan Route: The crew of the Macavity are looking for a missing aslan ihatei called Ftaheas, and believe they have found his ship on Thebus...

Thebus, 1108 Week 26

Vila is absolutely confident he has found the missing aslan ship, but when the Macavity flies over it, in a forest clearing and refuelling from a lake, it narrowly misses with a potshot from one of its heavy lasers, and they jink away. Thinking it possible the aslan are just a bit trigger-happy, they stick a low range of hills between them and the other ship, intent on approaching stealthily by air/raft, but in doing so notice a groove through the forest of the kind made by ships that crash into it.

They decide the first order of business is to look for any survivors, and leaving Mazun in charge of the Macavity, they follow the trail of wreckage in their air/raft, discovering that the crashed ship will never fly again, but the crew and passengers appear to have survived and retreated in good order to a nearby ruined building, taking with them everything of utility or value. Dr Matauranga fortunately had the foresight to bring with him a database of part numbers for the missing ship, and is able to match part numbers from the wreckage to it, thus learning that the wrecked ship is the one they want.

Circling the ruins at a safe distance, Vila, Rex and Dr Matauranga approach on foot from what they hope is an unexpected direction, and at length discover Ftaheas holding court in the ruin with his followers. Running low on oxygen and filters for their respirators, they are confused, irritable, and struggling to concentrate in the thin air; despite their (well-founded) concerns that Rex's irascible and impulsive nature might lead to bloodshed, he is the one best suited to make contact, and to everyone's surprise manages to negotiate civilly with the aslan, offering them new respirators and inviting them to join him aboard the Macavity for a meal and medical treatment for those who need it. They accept upon learning that Macavity's crew know Ftaheas' father and were asked to deliver a message from that worthy.

Once restored to full capacity, the aslan explain that they were ambushed by cowardly Oghman raiders and shot down, since when they and the pirates have been hunting each other in the forest. While Dr Matauranga is patching them up and taking medical samples for his collection, Vila uses a small drone to scout out the ship in the clearing, which proves to have a number of Oghman raiders relaxing around it, totally oblivious to his observation. The Macavity's crew explain to Ftaheas that his father would like to see him, and say they don't know why to minimise loss of face for Ftaheas himself; it would not do for anyone to think his father had to send monkeys to rescue him from a botched ihatei expedition.

Ftaheas and Rex are now of one mind: The raiders must pay for their insolence. Vila declines to take part in the assault (after all he is legally female) but Dr Matauranga says he will follow to provide medical help as needed. Ftaheas gathers his retainers, and following a plan concocted by Mazun and supported by a berserk Rex lasering everything that moves, the aslan assault the Oghman vessel.

Taken completely by surprise, the Oghmans' morale breaks quickly, and they flee to their ship, intended to lift off and escape in it; unfortunately, Rex and Ftaheas scramble up the ramp as it closes, followed by the other aslan males, and the carnage continues aboard the rising vessel. Having lost their advantage in numbers and with nowhere left to run, the Oghmans surrender to the boarders.

Rex restrains himself from massacring them, and leaves their fate in Ftaheas' hands. It is decided that the raiders will be stuffed into low berths, and Ftaheas will travel back to Tyokh in company with the Macavity aboard his new prize. Their story will be that his original ship suffered minor damage, and lacking enough skilled crew to fly both vessels, Ftaheas has returned with prisoners and a new ship to see what his father wants of him; after paying his respects, he will return to repair his own ship.

Dr Matauranga suggests that there is plenty of room for Ftaheas on Sink, but the crew agrees this needs to be discussed with Prince Hteleitoirl and the Abbot before it's mentioned to Ftaheas.

Tyokh, 1108 Week 36

Leaving Ftaheas and his father to their reunion, and Dr Matauranga to his customary date with Bridget Harries, the rest of the crew settle in to one of the starport bars on Tyokh to discuss options for their next voyage.

GM Notes

This was a modified version of the adventure in The Drinaxian Companion; I replaced the hunters intended as the main antagonists with Oghman raiders on the fly, as it suited the flow of play better. It turned out to be a more enjoyable scenario than I'd expected on first reading.

I have never seen so many Critical Failures so close together. The session began shortly after Vila had critically failed his Electronics check to find Ftaheas' ship, and had thus directed the Macavity to the Oghman raider which had shot it down. He quickly handed over the baton to the Oghmans, who critically failed their attempt to notice the PCs surveilling them and then went on to critically fail every roll of importance in the ensuing combat.

You just can't get the staff these days.

Fringe Space: Makavan 002 - Contact in Space

In Cisco’s Dewdrop Dining-Rooms
They tell the tale anew
Of a hidden sea and a hidden fight,
When the Baltic ran from the Northern Light
And the Stralsund fought the two.
- Rudyard Kipling, The Rhyme of the Three Sealers

New Hope, Late January '01

"Egregore," Ribeiro read aloud as she, Guzman and Makavan approached the boarding ramp, followed by their luggage. "What a strange name. Why is she called that?"

"Brokers tend to remember unusual names," Makavan said. "Makes them more likely to think of me for a job." He didn't add the real reason, which was his conviction that the Egregore would only fly if everyone on board believed really, really strongly that she would.

They walked up the ramp, a robot rolling past them into the port payload bay as they climbed, towing a cargo pallet behind it. As they entered the ship, a cheerful baritone called out.

"Well, hellooooo nurse!"

"Behave yourself, Greg," Makavan said, then to Ribeiro: "That's the ship's AI. I'm afraid it's developed something of a personality over the last couple of decades, but it's harmless enough."

"Step outside where I can get a target lock and say that," Greg said.

"Aren't ships considered female as a rule?" Ribeiro asked.

Greg shifted its voice to a husky contralto and said "I can be female if you like. Simon responds better to this voice anyway. He's shallow like that."

"Greg, please ready the ship for lift and hard vacuum, then get launch clearance and take us to low orbit."

"We're going to hang out our washing on the Kármán Line," Greg sang, baritone again. "Have you any dirty washing, Simon dear?"

"It's going to be a long trip," Guzman muttered to himself.

Ring 3, Late January '01

Approaching the New Hope Automated Transfer Point, the Egregore was hailed by a cutter from the Hapflorean Federation.

"Cease accelerating and prepare to be boarded," the cutter's captain radioed. "You are suspected of carrying contraband." Ribeiro, in the right hand seat on the bridge, looked at Makavan and shook her head.

"No can do, monkey boy," Greg called, and muted the channel as the zhuh-zhuh captain exploded in a fiery rage.

"I wish you hadn't said that," Makavan said. "You know how it upsets them."

The AI threw a course plot up on the main display screen. The marker for the zhuh-zhuh cutter changed from NEUTRAL to HOSTILE as its sensors shifted from scanning mode to trying for a targeting lock. A sheaf of potential intercept courses sprang onto the display.

"Punch it, Simon, you can beat them to the ATP," Greg encouraged. Makavan checked the Limiting Cone of Approach on the course plot; the AI was right. It had probably checked that before kicking off.

Makavan slammed the throttles forward hard enough that the ship's gravity momentarily couldn't cope, and as Guzman staggered to stay upright he splashed hot drinks from the tray he was carrying over the three of them, causing scalds and harsh language.

"Next time, a little warning," Guzman said. "Or I'll brain you with the jug."

Ring 4, Late January '01

Emerging from the ATP at Thalweg, Makavan noted a local cutter in company with an independent trader; as soon as it detected the Egregore, it disengaged and moved onto an intercept course.

"Strap in," Makavan called to the others, "And brace for manoeuvring." He didn't want to be brained with a jug.

However, orbital mechanics and pursuit curves being what they were, it was clear the Egregore would be in the approach pattern before the cutter had any hope of catching up. Its captain apparently decided the incoming trader was the Port Authority's problem, and turned in search of easier prey.

Next: Thalweg...

Status at End January '01

For the moment, I'm going to say that if the IRD would increase Simon's Rep, his Wealth die type goes up one, and if they would decrease it, Wealth goes down one. Lifetime Rep is tracked as normal for 5150, and I'll pretend his Rep is always 5 - the default for the player character - to avoid needing to track that; the SWADE equivalents of increasing Rep are Advances, and decreasing Rep - permanent injuries.

• IRD/DRD: 9. Dice rolls vs default Rep 5 give +1 Rep, so Wealth goes up to d8.
• Current IRD: 0. Lifetime IRD: 9.
• Bennies: 3 left, next refresh episode 004.
• Wounds: None.

GM Notes

I'm still mulling over the designs for the various ships in the campaign, but it seems to me that one reason 5150 abstracts the general crew might be that they are an AI with repair drones. More about the ships later.

Checking the Hauling Cargo encounter on NLMV pp. 41-42, it seems I can simply say I'm hauling two units of cargo to Thalweg, gaining a total of 8 Increasing Rep d6. That takes my total for the month to 15 IRD, offset by 3 Decreasing Rep Dice for ship operating costs. That's 12 left at the end of the month.

Simon needs to make a Science roll for astrogation, and it seems reasonable to let Greg Support him. The SFC says the basic AI has a d6 and a Wild Die, which roll 3 and 6+6+4 respectively; that would give a +4, but the maximum a single supporter can offer is +2. Simon has a d4 plus a Wild Die, which roll 4+2 and 3, then we add the Support +2 and the -4 modifier for jumping to another star system within the same galaxy, for a grand total of 4; success. Hmm, Simon will have to git gud at that. The jump transit time (SWADE p. 144) is 2d6=7 days, which is also how much energy the ship consumes; I expect the ship will wind up with about 30 once designed, so that's OK. (Note that although I've rolled that first, in the narrative it actually occurs between the two encounters.)

En route there are two Contact in Space encounters, using NLMV pp. 35-38; the first is a single PEF, the second is two PEFs. PEF 1 is a zhuh-zhuh military cutter with a Rep 4 captain; PEF 2 is a xeog cutter with a Rep 4 captain; PEF 3 is an independent basic trader with a Rep 3, which acknowledges us and then moves on, so we don't need to worry about that one. However, reading p. 37 carefully I decide that on a roll of 3-6 on 1d6, cutters will be hostile; both of them are.

Since I'm still thinking about the various stock ships, I ran the ship combats as Dangerous Quick Encounters based on Piloting; I allowed Greg to Support with Piloting (the basic AI is explicitly stated to be able to fly the ship).

• PEF 1: Support gives a +1, Simon rolls 5; total 6, success but with Bumps & Bruises (-1 for Fatigue).
• PEF 2: Support gives +0, Simon rolls 6+4=10, -1 for Fatigue gives a total of 9; success with a raise, no injuries.

Experiment 8: 5150 for Savage Worlds - NPCs

Don’t create your Extras with the character creation rules. Just give them what you think they ought to have in their various skills and attributes and move on. - Savage Worlds Adventure Edition

Here are my guidelines for converting 5150 characters to SWADE; I find it useful to have some mechanism for randomly generating NPCs for solo games, and this works well.

The Least You Need to Know

NPCs in the pre-generated encounter tables have a Race, a Rep, and a Weapon; most NPCs in my game will be limited to this to avoid the campaign drowning in its own statblocks.

• Most NPCs are Grunts (Extras) though the odd one might be a Star or Co-Star (Wild Card).
• The die type for SWADE Traits is twice the 5150 Rep or Skill; Rep covers Agility, Strength, Vigour and linked skills; People covers Spirit and linked skills; Savvy covers Smarts and linked skills. For example, a character with Rep 4 has a d8 in Agility, Strength, Vigour, and linked skills.
• 5150 Attributes are represented by SWADE Edges or Hindrances; I'll allocate those on the fly as and when appropriate - I generally don't use them at all, except for the racial ones.
• Weapons may be P-1 (Glock or laser pistol), B-2 (Desert Eagle), A-3 (MP5 or laser SMG), or Melee (usually a dagger/knife, but could be anything).
• Armour is usually light/civilian body armour, but military personnel upgrade this to an infantry battle suit.

Statistically, assuming passing 2d6 is a success, Extras with a d4 in a Trait are roughly Rep 3, those with a d6 are roughly Rep 4, and d10s are about Rep 5; for Wild Cards, Traits of d4 or d6 are roughly Rep 5, so the standard Rep 5 Star is a close match for a beginning PC. However, the above rules feel closer in play, even if they are a bit off statistically.

Races

5150 Races become SWADE Ancestries. I'll work the Ancestries up in detail at some point, but for now we can get by with the Edges needed to represent 5150 racial attributes:

• Grath have Berserk (SWADE) to represent Rage (5150).
• Hishen have Menacing to represent Cruel.
• Razors have Level Headed to represent Quick Reflexes, and AB: Gifted plus the Stun Power to represent their Mental Blast.
• Xeogs have Charismatic to represent Smooth.
• Zhuh-zhuh have Berserk to represent Rage; muggie zhuh-zhuh instead have Small to represent Runt.

Examples

One of the things I like best about SWADE is the ability to zoom in or out to different levels of detail, depending on available time and motivation. I extend this concept to NPCs, which in this campaign come in low resolution, high resolution, or full statblock versions. Let's look at a couple:

Yelena Ribeiro: Rep 4 Mover (Office Holder), unarmed. Pep 3, Savvy 4, Near Sighted.

The 'low res' version of Ribeiro only has a Rep, a profession, and a weapon (or not); so she rolls a d8 for everything, and that's all I need to know.

The 'high res' version rolls a d8 for everything except Spirit, Intimidation, and Persuasion, where she rolls a d6 instead. Her profession and the fiction have already established she should have the Attractive, Aristocrat and Filthy Rich Edges, but there is no reason for her to have Soldier. Her 5150 Attribute (Near Sighted) suggests Bad Eyes as a Hindrance and the to-hit penalty drops her Shooting to d6. The meanings of her names suggest she should be bright, tranquil, and resilient; I'll use those keywords instead of rolling on the Allied Personalities table (SWADE p. 112).

If I need a full statblock, then to avoid the NPCs having skills coming out of their ears, I normally start from the Soldier NPC template and then modify it using the above guidelines. For Ribeiro, this gives me:

• Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d8, Spirit d6, Strength d8, Vigour d8.
• Skills: Athletics d8, Common Knowledge d8, Fighting d8, Intimidation d6, Notice d8, Persuasion d6, Shooting d6, Stealth d8.
• Pace: 6; Parry: 6; Toughness: 10 (4*).
• Hindrances: Bad Eyes.
• Edges: Attractive, Aristocrat, Filthy Rich.
• Gear: Commlink, light body armour.

Mikal Guzman: Rep 4 Exotic (Mercenary), A-3. Pep 4, Savvy 3, Dim.

The 'low res' version of Guzman again rolls a d8 for everything, and is packing an MP5 or a laser SMG.

The 'high res' version rolls a d8 for everything except Smarts and its linked skills. As a mercenary he ought to have the Soldier Edge; notice how close this makes him to a SWADE Experienced Soldier Ally. The meanings of his names suggest he should be honourable and wise, so he can have the Code of Honour Hindrance, and the 5150 Attribute Dim - despite its name - has the mechanical effect of making interacting with NPCs harder, so let's give him the Mean Hindrance as well, giving a -1 penalty on Persuasion. If I needed a full statblock, it would look like this:

• Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d6, Spirit d8, Strength d8, Vigour d8.
• Skills: Athletics d8, Common Knowledge d6, Fighting d8, Intimidation d8, Notice d6, Persuasion d8-1, Shooting d8, Stealth d8.
• Pace: 6; Parry: 6; Toughness: 10 (4*).
• Hindrances: Code of Honour, Mean.
• Edges: Soldier.
• Gear: Commlink, light body armour, MP5 or laser SMG.

It will be unusual for me to work up NPCs much beyond 'low res' levels, as one detailed character (my PC) is generally enough for me to keep track of; the typical NPC in the campaign will have a Rep determining its die type in all relevant Traits, and possibly an Edge if non-human. It's surprising how far you can get with that.

Aslan Route 31: The Lions of Thebus, Part 1

“You all know how beastly tigers are
(Out in, out in, out in India)
They bite; they scratch; they make an awful fuss
It’s no use stroking them and saying puss puss puss”
– The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, Hunting Tigers Out in India

Tyokh Highport, 1108 Week 14

Macavity's crew accompany Troisei back to the Clan Aftei landhold where she reports in. The Afteiko reviews her accounts and the stories from herself and her companions, and declares himself satisfied with her performance.

Later that week, Dr Matauranga again meets with Bridget Harris. He passes her a list of his requirements for Project SPANC, asking her to acquire them for him in her role as a cargo broker, and she notes that they range from incomprehensible to unethical to downright illegal. She is also somewhat taken aback by his new ensemble and they part on a slightly sour note.

A few days later, Troisei introduces them to a business acquaintance, Ftahkaiw, who has a proposition for them. His second son Ftahteas took a ship and some like-minded ihatei off towards the dustbelt in search of land and glory, and is missing in action. Ftahkaiw has made certain rash statements about how well his son is obviously doing, which will rebound badly on him if they turn out to be untrue; and he is also concerned for his son's safety. After some spirited negotiation the crew agreed to keep an eye out for him on their travels, and return him and if possible his ship, ideally alive and in an honourable condition. They trade their way to Torpol, where Ftahkaiw thinks the boy was heading, and start looking around.

Torpol, 1108 Week 22

Since Clan Ahroay'if dealt with Drinax again, somewhat more permanently this time, Torpol is no longer a xenophobic fascist state bent on eradicating all aslan, but is under new management. Specifically, there are Ahroayh'if marines everywhere, looking for trouble and hoping they find it.

"Don't worry," says Vila, "I know a guy." The guy turns out to be a starport engineer who worked on the relevant ship as it passed through, and can give the next few stops on the itinerary (Marduk and Thebus) as well as details on the weapons fit and what supplies it had loaded. Vila buys him a few drinks, and the Macavity heads off towards Thebus.

Thebus, 1108 Week 26

Networking around Thebus Highport, the crew confirms that the missing aslan ship was here, that it landed on Thebus, and wasn't seen leaving. Refuelling and replenishing their stores, the crew complete their trading and likewise head for the surface, pausing to run a sensor scan to find the ship. Vila, who is now the ship's best sensor operator, is convinced he has found it, and the Macavity thus descends nearby. However, wary of trigger-happy aslan who are not responding to their hails, the Macavity lands a short way off, and - donning respirators to protect them from the very thin air - the crew head for their quarry in the ship's air/raft.

To be continued...

GM Notes

This session was low on play, as we got sidetracked discussing rules for the next proposed campaign, Dune: Fall of the Imperium. I'm relaxed about this, because to my mind the purpose of these sessions is to spend time talking with each other, the game is merely what we talk about.

Lions of Thebus is one of the adventures from The Drinaxian Companion which we never quite got around to in our Pirates of Drinax campaign, despite the PCs spending most of the game in the Dust Belt. I could've run Gods of Marduk on the way there, but it didn't grab me when I read it, and they can always hit that up on the way back.

Troisei's first trading voyage is now over, and as we've ignored how well she did so far, I decided to give her a Persuasion roll with Support from the PCs to resolve that; critical failure - discharged in disgrace, failure - held back for more training, success - sent back out as results were indecisive, raise or better - promoted. The last of these is what happened, and the crew breathed a sigh of relief as they can now return to their normal somewhat elastic moral code.

The meeting with Harris was submitted by Matauranga's player as ongoing backstory, in the form of a report from Harris to her boss, which I encourage as it gives me more plot thread ideas. SPANC of course refers to the Steve Jackson Games card game Space Pirate Amazon Ninja Catgirls.

The players show no interest in their mission from the IISS on Torpol, so I think the Ahroay'if will decide to stay there and take a cut from the starport fees and tariffs.

Vila got to use his new Edge, I Know A Guy from the Rifts players' handbook, which I liked enough to import. He also critically failed his Electronics roll to find the missing aslan ship, and what he found instead was... well, more of that next time.

Fringe Space: Makavan 001 – Job Offer

"Forget the former things; do not dwell upon the past. See, I am doing a new thing! See, it springs up; do you not perceive it?" - Isaiah 43:18-19

New Hope Spaceport, Early January ‘01

Simon Makavan pushed the food around his plate in a desultory manner. He stabbed something that might have been a chunk of root vegetable with his fork before it could get away, sniffed it, then wrestled it into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed.

His stomach complained queasily at the quality. He told it sternly that this was what they could afford now, so it had better get used to it.

Looking out through the window, he could see the Snakebite Inn’s illuminated sign; an improbably jolly-looking serpent, salivating over a burger which looked considerably better than the Chef’s Special he was eating. He could see the sign because it drooped at a dangerous angle, which in a more upmarket part of town would have drawn some sort of inspector to remonstrate with Billy the Snake, who Makavan supposed had been nicknamed after the sign. He did not know Billy’s surname; for all Makavan knew, he might not have one, and if he did, he would probably charge you extra to use it.

The windows rattled in the hot, dry air as something lifted off from a spaceport pad, and in walked trouble.

She had long, raven-black hair; a thin, intelligent face; and two metres of muscles and bulging armpit which she had very sensibly delegated to someone else. Makavan could imagine a harassed major-domo saying to her “Madam, if you must venture into those less than salubrious quarters, at least take one of the Household with you. I know just the fellow...”

The pair of them walked up to the bar and spoke briefly to Billy, who pointed at Makavan; then walked over to his table.

She moved like old money; he knew that kind of movement, because he could still move like that himself when it was useful, which it generally wasn’t in this part of town, and his family had all moved like that until politics intervened. He instinctively sat up straighter and put on his old manners and a patrician accent. If a pretty woman with money wanted to talk to him, well, he had nothing better to do, and it would take his mind off lunch. He expected it wouldn’t taste any worse cold.

“Captain Makavan?”

“That’s me,” he agreed, shifting the register of his speech from Not Rich Enough To Be Worth Robbing to Old Money, “But please – call me Simon. Do I know you? One of last year’s balls, perhaps?” He didn’t know her – he was sure he would have remembered that face and walk – but she looked like the type who went to a lot of balls in the season, and they were crowded enough that it was plausible.

“I don’t think so,” she frowned, “I’m Yelena Ribeiro, and this is my associate Mr Guzman.” Makavan had learned by now to sit with his back to a wall, and the door and window meant Guzman couldn’t, so he focused on scanning the bar inside and out for threats and being uncomfortably exposed.

“Delighted to meet you, Ms. Ribeiro,” he said, and meant it. “How may I help you?”

“I’m hoping to book passage to Thalweg,” she explained. “None of the regular lines seem to go there, but I understand you might.”

“Wherever profitable business takes me,” he agreed, hoping that would convey that he could, but it would be expensive. “But why Thalweg? It’s on the border with Xeog space, and we’re not exactly on good terms.”

“I’m afraid I can’t discuss that,” she said, primly. “But I think I can make the trip worthwhile for you.”

“You should know that my ship is somewhat less than luxurious,” he said. This was true; the Egregore was a second-hand mail packet which had already seen better days when it was sold as Hegemony war surplus twenty years ago. “Certainly not up to the standards a Ribeiro would expect. My family allows me to indulge my adventurous foibles,” not least because they were all dead or in prison awaiting trial, where he would no doubt join them once the wrangling over his extradition was resolved, “But there is a limit to the funding I can draw on.” A limit he had, in fact, exceeded some time ago.

Makavan was not overly concerned by that; his debtors’ desire to be repaid was one of the main reasons his political enemies hadn’t yet managed his extradition. Thalweg was interesting as it promised not only revenue, but a chance to move further away from those enemies.

“Well,” Ms Ribeiro said, “In that case, perhaps we can help each other. When can we leave?”

Makavan considered who he might have to talk into doing what, and how long it would take.

“Tomorrow morning,” he said. “I’ll comm you once I have a launch slot.” And after a brief pause: “The Port Authority might contact you to confirm funding.” Ribeiro raised an elegant eyebrow. “It’s, ah, an anticorruption measure,” Makavan got out. “They want to be sure I have a charter from someone... respectable. Which I don’t doubt that you are for a second.”

Not that he would have minded if she weren’t; ethics are soluble in sufficient poverty, especially when garnished with a pretty face.

GM Notes

To kick off the campaign, as we’re starting planetside, I’ve used GM fiat to force a Job Offer (5150 NLMV p. 44), Hauling Passengers (p. 42) to a xeog world in Ring 4, because it sounds like it will be interesting. That means we get two Contact in Space encounters on the way to delivery. Who are the passengers? Working through pages 28, 44 and 45 tells me Ribeiro is a Rep 4 Mover (although p. 45 suggests she is more likely employed by one), and Guzman a Rep 4 Mercenary; Ribeiro will be a handy contact later. Conveniently, p. 12 lists six types of Mover, and the dice say she is an Office Holder. Hmm, food for thought.  The pay for the job will be 7 Increasing Rep Dice; at some point soon I need to work out how Rep Dice interact with Wealth, but I already know how Rep interacts with SWADE character generation, more of that later.

Experiment 7: New Hope

“One must be cunning and wicked in this world.” ― Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace

I found generating the statblocks for Hollis in multiple game systems gave me quite a good feel for the place, so as I'm using the 5150 setting now, let's repeat that exercise with New Hope, the default base world for 5150. I'm dropping Stars Without Number this time, it's been years since I've used it in anger and that probably won't change any time soon; class and level advancement and SF just don't go together for me.

The details of New Hope vary a little from product to product, so I'm working from a combination of 5150 Fringe Space, 5150 No Limits Maiden Voyage and the 2021 edition of 5150 New Beginnings, all of which go into some detail, although the latter has the most information. Where there is a clash, NLMV has precedence, then FS, then NB. There's also at least one setting book for 5150, but I have what I need already, and I'm cautious of getting sucked down the rabbit hole again, as happened many times with Traveller.

5150

All one needs to know mechanically for 5150 is that New Hope is a Class 2 world with Law Level 2, that it is part of the Hegemony though not under its direct control, but the Xeogs dispute that and say it's theirs.

Traveller

TL:DR: New Hope C76254-9 Ni

Starport: C. In 5150 you can repair damage and refuel on any planet, but there's no mention of any construction facilities or bases on New Hope.

Size: 7. That's the closest to Earth-sized you can get for the stated atmosphere and hydrographic percentage. Any edition of Traveller would give you a surface gravity of around 0.9 for that.

Atmosphere: 6. Standard pressure and breathable without assistance.

Temperature (Mongoose Traveller only, and not even Mongoose actually uses it): Strictly speaking, New Hope just squeezes into Temperate, but the descriptive text for Hot is a better fit. If we were to use Hot, it would give a -2 DM to the Hydrographics roll, which could be accommodated.

Hydrographics: 2. 5150NB explicitly says 15% surface water, so I'll round that up to 20%. It seems to be this which makes it a Class 2 planet rather than Class 1.

Population: 5. No Limits Maiden Voyage is silent on this; Fringe Space says 125,000 to 300,000, 98% in NHC; New Beginnings says one to three million, with 90% in the city. Maybe there has been a recent influx of population? I've gone with the earlier statement.

Government: 4 (Representative Democracy). 5150 says political power lies in the hands of a few, some elected, some not.

Law Level: 4. No Limits Maiden Voyage states that automatic weapons are illegal, but pistols are permitted, which is an exact match for level 4.

Tech Level: 9. Here, you could argue anything from TL 9 to TL 13, depending on which items you think are designed and built locally, and which are imported. I decided to roll with 9, as it's the highest possible given the other stats. That means all enhancements, robots, ships etc are imported, and local weapons are slugthrowers or lasers, which means I don't need to add any weapons from the SWADE SFC.

Remarks: No bases or gas giants are mentioned, though a gas giant is more likely than not. It's a Non-Industrial world whichever edition of the rules you use, and if you want a cultural difference from Mongoose 2nd Edition, I'd go with Barbaric - the principal sport is the Competitive Violence League, and gunfights in the streets are not uncommon.

SWADE SF Companion

Planetary Gravity: Normal. (There's nothing in any 5150 product I have to say it isn't.)

Dominant Terrain: Desert. (15% free-standing water, and from private correspondence with the author I know he based the NHC area on Arizona.) That gives a base temperature of 85 F.

Atmosphere: Normal. (Again, nothing to say it isn't.). Modify temperature by 1d20-10 F, so we may as well leave it as is; 85 F or about 29 C. That would be the average annual temperature, I assume; Lake Havasu City, on which NHC is patterned, has an average temperature or 23 C or 73 F, give or take a couple of degrees depending on whose figures you believe.

Population Density: Let's say Sparse. My dislike of this approach to world population is well known; the reality is that it would be very or extremely dense in NHC, and very or extremely sparse outside it. I can feel my blood pressure rising already, so let's move on.

Dominant Government: Could be anything, but let's go with Oligarchy.

Authority: This is the equivalent to law level, let's say Lenient.

Customs: The best fit I can see is "weapons limited" for all of society. No assault rifles for you.

Technology Level: Meh, "Average for the Setting", since it doesn't seem to vary much from planet to planet in 5150.

Spaceport: Looking at the description of available facilities, Small looks like a good match; can provide services, basic repairs, and fuel, with developed areas a short ride away.

Dilemma: Clearly a Diplomatic Dilemma, as ownership is contested.

Factions and Fronts

I'll allow the rules to generate fronts procedurally, so that the game has some elements of surprise, but from the description of New Hope in 5150 I can see some major factions and questions which would make interesting plot threads:

• The Gaean Hegemony wants to impose their laws and will on New Hope. (Why haven't they done that already?)
• The Xeogs want to claim New Hope as part of their sphere. (Why? Why haven't they done that already?)
• Organised crime in Ring 3 wants to retain New Hope as a safe planet. (Is that why the Gaeans and Xeogs have left it independent? How much influence do the crime rings have, how are they using it, and on whom?)
• The local rulers want to retain their independence and power rather than simply being a puppet for one of the other factions. (How are they playing the other three off against each other to achieve that?)

There are some other questions to explore in play as well:

• Who built the ATP network, and why?
• What in-game reason is there for all races and states using the same ship types?
• Why are the other races so close to Terran hominids?

Quite possibly the 5150 Setting book explains those, but I've learned from Traveller to limit which official products I use in a campaign.

Coda

So there we have it; New Hope is Class 2 Law Level 2, or if you prefer Traveller for this sort of thing, C762544-9 Ni. I could park it in Foreven Sector, but there's neither need for that nor benefit to it.

I'm quite looking forward to visiting there again.

Fringe Space: Makavan 000

The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter,
It isn't just one of your holiday games;
- T.S. Eliot, The Naming of Cats

Why not a Session Zero for solo campaigns too? It has a slightly different focus, but it's still helpful to clarify how I intend to run the game.

Setting Expectations for the Campaign

Genre and Tone: SF noir. My games generally end up there anyway, I may as well lean into it.

Rules and Setting: A Savage Worlds implementation of 5150 No Limits Maiden Voyage; SWADE is my go-to RPG, but it lacks a number of elements one needs for a solo campaign, such as randomly-generated encounters, missions, and NPCs; these I will borrow from 5150 No Limits Maiden Voyage. I will also pick and choose elements from the SWADE SF Companion (rules) and 5150 Fringe Space (setting), but I must be careful here; the keys to a successful solo game are first, keep the complexity level low to avoid burnout, and second, if you're mashing up multiple products, minimise overlap between them, as the overlap generates more complexity.

Safety Tools: I'm not a huge fan of these in general, but since I do prefer tales of romance and drama to those of sex and violence, movie ratings are a handy shorthand; I'm aiming somewhere around PG-13.

Objectives: Establish whether "5150 for Savage Worlds" works well enough for long-term solo and group campaigns, whether I should adopt more of the SWADE SFC, and whether it's worth switching from Roll20 to Fantasy Grounds. And, of course, have fun playing; it's easy to overlook that and get caught up in rules mods.

Off-Ramp: Minor issues - drop SWADE and revert to 5150. Major issues - shift the campaign into Guest Games, pretend it never happened, walk away whistling nonchalantly. To be reviewed after 12 posts.

Character Generation

I like to give characters personalities which match the meanings of their names, so choosing a name used to take a long time; but now, I get a short list from Space Corsair's Traveller name generator and pick one; this tells me my new PC is called Simon Makavan.

According to the internet, which is good enough for this purpose, "Simon" might be from the Hebrew and mean listening or hearing, or from the Greek and mean flat-nosed. "Makavan" is from Tamil and means one who has children or sacrificer. Gujrati has a similar-sounding name (Macwan) which is sometimes said to mean crowned one or one with a diadem. Swirling those around in a glass of single malt until they dissolve, they suggest Simon's Edges might include Alertness or Aristocrat, while his Hindrances might include Code of Honour, Loyal, Selfless (from the SFC) or Ugly (which I discount because he can't afford the Persuasion penalty). I also want Simon to have a small spaceship, which means taking the Captain Edge from the SFC; its prerequisites are Common Bond (minimum Smarts d6) and Piloting d8. By now I have the concept of an exiled nobleman in mind, and take Enemy (Minor) as the missing Hindrance - the rivals who plotted his downfall. Shamed or Vengeful would also have worked.

Turning to skills, 5150NLMV explicitly calls out pilot, mechanic, "culinary" and labourer as crew positions; let's call those Piloting, Repair, Common Knowledge, and Athletics, respectively. SWADE adds Electronics to operate sensors and missiles, and Shooting to operate lasers. The SFC adds Science for navigation. Experience playing 5150 makes me think Fighting, Persuasion, Piloting and Shooting will be critical, so I emphasise those at the expense of other skills.

I don't like dropping attributes below d6, but with three Edges I need to reduce something so he can have Agility d8; so Strength falls to d4. I also don't like paying the points to increase skills above the linked attributes, so his skills will be mostly d4 or d6, but I can afford Piloting and Shooting at d8; the d8 in Agility is to make those two cheaper to buy.

Going forward, Ace is essential to allow him to soak vehicle Wounds and ignore a few penalties, Alertness would reflect his superior hearing, and we ought to do something about his Strength. That'll do for Novice Rank, then we'll reassess. Probably Luck and Great Luck to gain more Bennies, followed by Spirit d8 and Common Bond so he can share them with allies. Never enough points, are there?

To summarise:

Simon Makavan

• Ancestry: Human (Adaptable).
• Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d6, Spirit d6, Strength d4, Vigour d6, Wealth d6.
• Skills: Athletics d4, Common Knowledge d4, Electronics d4, Fighting d6, Notice d4, Persuasion d6, Piloting d8, Repair d4, Science d4, Shooting d8, Stealth d4.
• Pace: 6; Parry: 5; Toughness: 9 (4*).
• Hindrances: Code of Honour, Enemy (Minor - rival House), Loyal.
• Edges: Aristocrat, Captain, Command.
• Gear: Trader starship Egregore; Glock (2d6 AP1 $200 3 lb); dagger (Str+d4 $25 1 lb); commlink ($50); light civilian body armour (Toughness +4* $200 4 lb). $25.

Yes, this looks like someone I'll enjoy playing.