Classic Traveller Adventure 03 - Twilight's Peak

Introduction

Running the Classic Traveller adventure Twilight’s Peak solo using 5D SF PPS RPG.

There are minor spoilers for the adventures in this post but have tried to steer away from most of the surprises.  It is 40 years since the adventure was released after all.

Background

I am attempting to replay solo Classic Traveller adventures.  I started with Traveller RPG but then moved onto writing my own, streamlining them as I go.  I ended up replacing all of that with 5 Dice SFRPG for Annic Nova.  It worked fine and is great as it uses the same mechanics for both combat and non-combat encounters. 5 Dice SFRPG does not provide the level of granularity of characters compared to other RPGs but for running solo adventures I find I am just looking for the main difference of the characters.

Adventure Structure

Here is the outline of how I plan to run the adventure:

Act 1: Set in space, covers collecting rumours to hopefully point to the location of the correct planet.

Act 2: On the planet, getting directions and travelling to the Octagon

Act 3: Searching the catacombs.

Act 4: The Zhodani and conclusion.

Notes

Act 1’s aim is to collect rumours while trading across a lot of planets.  This is not going to translate well into solo play so what I have done for Act 1 is have the act aim to scout around (collect a certain number of experience points) across space scenes. This should generate around 3-8 scenes of tasks to undertake to gather rumours.

Act 2 is random number of scenes in Rough terrain

Act 3 is a fixed number of scenes (5) that correspond to major tasks required while searching the catacombs.

Act 4 is also a field number of scenes (3) that are the main climatic scenes at the end of the adventure. 

Prologue

The date is 300 1105 on Regina. The party is:

OCF is a Robot from an industrial background with good skills and a mini-missile. OCF has 3 decades of adventure; decade 1 yields an item, one blast; decade 2 sees a serious injury but recovered; decade 3 supplies general experience with great improvement.

Iui, a male Aslan from an industrial background with good skills. Iui has 2 decades of adventure; decade 1 supplies general experience with great improvement; decade 2 just drifts past.

Gia Choi, a female Human from a military background with great skills and a big slug pistol. Gia has 3 decades of adventure; decade 1 yields an item, a weapon; decade 2 supplies general experience with great improvement; decade 3 supplies general experience with great improvement.

Melany McBride, a female Human from a poor background with average skills and a laser pistol. Melany has 2 decades of adventure; decade 1 yields an item, a weapon; decade 2 yields an item but already has one.

The team need to find a treasure – the secret behind the Twilight’s Peak epic of what lost Scouts discovered.

Act 1: Rumours

The crew move from system to system trading but at the same time picking up rumours.

Scene 1 Dinomn Colony

No one is really around but it is not surprising considering the lack of anything around here of note.  The team walk into a bar for a drink.

“It is quite an amazing story.”

The team cannot help but overhear the conversation of three well dressed women going on next to them.

“Do tell.” They continue.

“Well, there was this scout…” the speaker notices Gia eavesdropping.

Gia looks sheepish but says enthusiastically, “Do you mind if we listen in?  I do love a good story about scouts.”.

“Sure.”

OCF orders drinks for everyone to maintain the goodwill.

The team are then entranced as the woman proceeds to tell them about the epic of Twilight’s Peak.

It has piqued their interest and they do further research on it when back on their ship.

“Most interesting, it is a shame we don’t know where that ship crashed – bound to be some good trading goods we salvage,” says Melanie.

Scene 2 Rech Outpost

It is now the late hours on Rech. A siren can be heard droning on incessantly nearby. They realise the siren it for them!  They crash the small buggy they have been using to get around the docks.  Luckily the crash was only minor.

“Everyone alright?” asks Gia, who was steering.

“Yeah, we’re alright,” answers OCF. “Please do not do that again.”

Scene 3 Wochiers Spacestation

The warmth of civilisation seems to be most evident, simply by stopping and taking in all in. In the spacestation locale they end walking behind two traders.

“I reckon Fulacin.”

“Nope, definitely not, the spaceship crashed on- “

Gia interrupts, “Are you talking about the Gyro Cadiz?”

The two traders turn around uncertainly, “Ye-es, why?”

Gia responds, “We have heard the story but there is not that much speculation on it we can find.  Always keen to find out more.”

And with that a spirited discussion breaks out between the traders and the party on how much of the epic is true, what are these Octagons and where the spaceship may have crashed.  The party got the better end of the deal on information.

Scene 4 Spaceship Hazard

The main part of the day is over.  It is evening at the moment.  The adventurers are nearly done looking around. In the spaceship zone the team are subject to sensory overload trying to make sense of the Octogon book they have just found and how it relates to the Twilight’s Peak epic. The task seems very hard.

Gia and OCF applies great survival skill and eventually succeed.

They are fairly certain now on what planet the ship likely crashed.

This was the final task to complete this acts objective.

OCF still at good skill level and has: a mini-missile (1); Iui still at good skill level; Gia still at great skill level and has: a big slug pistol; Melany still at average skill level and has: a laser pistol.

Act 2: Searching for the Octagon tower

Th team arrive at the planet they believe has the spaceship.  To succeed the team need to search the planet for the tower.

Scene 1 At the Outpost

While at an outpost the group encounter some friendly transporters and start talking. They do not know anything about a tower or crashed ship, other than rumours but they doo get a good deal on an ATV for their trek across the unforgiving planetary surface.

Scene 2 Mountains Obstacle

In the mountains they hit a tight spot and need to winch the vehicle past an obstacle.  That is when they realise the vehicle is missing a winch!  Instead of winching Gia very carefully drives to the side of the obstacle with maximum use of the gears and the wheel traction.

Gia applies great technical skill and succeeds.

Scene 3 Badlands Obstacle

During their time in the badlands location the adventurers again find they ate in great need of a winch for the vehicle.  The obstacle will not be as easy as the one in the mountain, it fact it is very difficult.  Gia and OCF spend hours planning the best way to continue.  With a great deal of sweat (at least from Gia!) and concentration the obstacle is passed.

Scene 4 Badlands Animal

The main part of the day is over.  It is evening at the moment.  During their time in the badlands location they run into a large carnivorous animal (a Snowcat as per the adventure animal encounters).

Gia threatens it with her weapon but the snowcat pounces before she can acts and knocks it from her hand.  OCF crashes into the snowcat before it can damage Gia but while the cat is knocked out the way, OCF lands badly on the ground. Gia uses a small knife she is carrying to threaten the snowcat again.  The cat that realises that it is not worth continuing and the snowcat retires.

Scene 5 Rough Hazard

“Look out!”

Melanie is driving but the warning from OCF, next to her, is too late.  It is in the rough and the vehicle crashes, badly.

“Well, that could have gone better,” says OCF. 

“Yes, well, how the hell are we supposed to get the vehicle out of that?” Gia is pointing at their ATV, on it side and wedged between two large boulders.  The ATV is relatively undamaged but firmly stuck.

“If we can move one of the boulders, then the vehicle should right itself and it will be free,” answers OCF.

“If we move a boulder – how do you suggest we do that?” says Melanie.

OCF shows them is mini-missile, “With this!”

The rest of the team are silent in a combination of shock at the audacity of what OCF is proposing. After a while Gia is the one to voice what they are all thinking, “If you place it wrongly though, the whole ATV will blow.”

Any other suggestion?” asks OCF. He takes the further silence as assent and indicates Gia to help him place the missile as she has some experience in blasting.

After hours of calibrating and calculations, OCF sets it off. BAM! The boulder breaks into smaller rocks and the ATV rights itself on that side.

“Too easy,” says OCF daring anyone to disagree.

The team have a well justified rest to recover from the stress of the day’s events.

Scene 6 Ruins Obstacle

The team come across the ruins of an abandoned small settlement.  They search through it and OCF  finds a grenade.  Otherwise the search was fruitless.

Scene 7 Badlands Citizens

Another patch of badlands and up ahead is a building site, the party stop to talk to some workmen.

“Hey, “ OCF calls out, “What’s with the work.”

The labourers blatantly ignores him.

“Hey,” OCF says again. Silence.

“Leave it OCF,“ Gia says, “it doesn’t matter.  They won’t be able to tell us anything to help us anyway.  Although I am curious too on what is being built….”

Scene 8 Ruins Obstacle

Afternoon has arrived. The party are ready to complete the challenge to reconnoiter. It is in the rough the adventurers stumble over the spaceship!  The spaceship leads to the Octagon.

Finally, the objective is completed.

Act 3: Scout Around

The party travel to the building.

“Obstacles are going to be harder to overcome here."

 The team are feeling strained.

Scene 1 Ruins Obstacle

Afternoon has arrived.

“We need to figure out how to get into this thing.  Somewhere should be an entrance into the hidden base associated with this building.  Or the epic is really just a fable.”

OCF has the best chance but cannot find anything. They are dispirited and shuts down in despair.

Iui and Gui tram up and spend a day searching, prodding, thinking.

“Hey Gia!“ Iui calls out pointing at what he has uncovered, “Look here!”

Gia comes over and cries out in surprise.  Iui has found a trapdoor and when it is lifted it reveals a corridor leading downwards.

Scene 2 Ruins Hazard

It is the early hours of the day. Passing through the trapdoor corridor the adventurers are becoming stressed in the catacombs and by being contained from all sides. The task seems routine.

“I can solve this,” says Iui using his sensory enhancer to reduce people’s stress.

The scene comes to a successful conclusion. They have managed to through the catacombs and get through the vault door into the alien base!

Scene 3 Ruins Obstacle

The party halt at the edge of a chasm. A bridge intermittently comes on and off.

“How will we know it will stay on long enough for us to cross?”

“And how will we know it is safe to cross anyway?”

Everyone watches and probes and waits.  It takes longer than it probably should have but they work it out and safely cross the bridge.

Scene 4 Ruins Obstacle

It is so quiet it is unnerving. The party go room by room investigating the various part sof the alien base.  One of the most interesting is a 10 metres half sphere that seems to show a representation of the planet itself, with up to day weather patterns.

Iui finally works out the controls and what is being represented.  It is fascinating.

“It even shows ships in orbit,” Iui states, “Look there are three ships and I can expand the view so you can see – What? Those are Zhodani ships!”

“Zhodani?“ OCF says, “This is starting to make sense based on  the rumours we have heard.”

Scene 5 Ruins Professionals

The group come across a large chamber with a number of Droyne warriors encased in ovoid containers.

“Hey don’t get too close!” warns Gia.  But it is too late.  Iui with intense curiosity touches one of the ovoids.  They all quickly dissolve and 36 armed Droyne Warriors are now also in the chamber with the four members of the team. Well, the team has found not only the alien base but the aliens.

Act 4: Investigate

The team are quite stressed.

Scene 1 Ruins Professionals

The aliens at least seem to ascertain the party is not dangerous.  They swarm to the globe room and instruments and calmly are absorbed by what it is displaying.

OCF points to one of the displays, “Aren’t they Zhodani troops? And isn’t that the vault door we came though?”

OCF is right.  The Zhodani arrive.  The Droyne warriors point their pistols at them and they disappear one by one.    

Iui whispers to himself, “Disintegrators.  They should be impossible.  So many tech levels above now. Who are these soldiers?”

Scene 2 Outpost Obstacle

Iui remembers something about the globe’s controls.  He goes over to a panel and on the globe a pointer can be seen moving towards one of the Zhodani ships.  The pointer pauses on the ship and after a few seconds the ship disappears.

Iui explains, “I remember seeing this when I was looking at it before.  The alien disintegrators gave me an idea on what the controls meant.”

Iui continues and the other two ships are also destroyed.

Scene 3 Ruins Hazard

The aliens make it clear they have set off a self-destruct mechanism for the base.  They will not be coming with the party.

Quickly the party retrace their steps, back out the tower and into their vehicle.  Only Iui suffered any injury as he was climbing through some rocks.

The scene has come to a successful conclusion. The party escape the base.

Gia laments, “No one is likely to believe us you know.”

The objective is achieved.

Adventure aim completed successfully.

Verdict

I seem to have used a different homegrown RPG for each of the Traveller adventure plays!  However, 5 Dice SFRPG worked very well.  5 Dice SFRPG is not very different form 4 Dice SFRPG so maybe I can count them as the same. I will try and stick to 5 Dice SFRPG for the next game but no promises.  I sort of stuck to the promise.  I am currently running the next one but have modified the 5 Dice rules to be a little more closer to standard RPG mechanisms.  E.g. larger weapons inflict more hits rather than increase chance to hit. Also adventurers can have more than one skill.   But it is still very similar.