Aslan Route 37: Meet the Navy

Previously, on the Aslan Route... The Macavity is on Acadie to repossess the far trader Perfect Stranger for Hortalez et Cie as she is in arrears with her mortgage. The Port Authority is delighted that someone has come to get the ship off their pad, but first they must repair what seems to be deliberate sabotage. They find that the crew hurried to a nearby mining settlement but were shot down on the way back. And someone is watching them...

Acadie, 1109 Week 12

Returning from the mining settlement at Houillon, the crew of the Macavity stop off first at the junkyard where the Perfect Stranger's wrecked air/raft was brought. Dr Matauranga and Vila search the air/raft and find a well-hidden compartment with a data crystal inside, while Mazun talks to the proprietor - a friendly, buck-toothed woman called Kate - and agrees with her that the air/raft should be considered an insurance write-off. Mazun takes carefully selected photos to support this idea, and Dr Matauranga and Kate collaborate on a convincing damage report. Hortalez et Cie are unlikely to send anyone to check up on this.

On the way back to the starport, the team visits the site of the wreck, now perhaps six months old. Despite the length of time that has passed, several more clues are found, the most intriguing of which is a scrap of a note in German; apart from that, the clues simply confirm what they already know, and they return to the starport to work on the Perfect Stranger, ignoring Rex's suggestion that they storm the control tower and kill and/or interrogate everyone inside.

The data crystal proves to be a 2FA key which unlocks access to an extra layer of data in the Perfect Stranger's flight computer; it transpires that the crew periodically took off-site backups of the data cores and stored them in a bonded warehouse at Herzenslust starport. They will be somewhat out of date, but if the original cores can't be recovered, they would be the next best thing.

Repairs take several days, during which time the crew confirms that they are still under surveillance, investigates but rules out the starport staff, and glimpses their watchers often enough to be sure who they are. Once both ships are ready to lift, Mazun tails the current watcher back to a suburban house. After much debate, the crew decides that they could snatch and interrogate one of these people, but that the likely gain of information isn't worth the risk, so both vessels lift for Amondiage.

The evidence so far suggests that the Perfect Stranger was intercepted, and her crew killed, by Neubayern agents, but it's not clear why; perhaps the crew stumbled on a plot by Neubayern to destabilise Acadie, and were killed to silence them?

Fast Travel, 1109 Weeks 13-19

Earlier, the crew had identified the salvage company which removed the data cores which are their main concern, and also the people sent to appraise the ship and the liner they travelled on. Using a combination of this information, boyish charm, and judicious bribes, the team follows the breadcrumbs to determine where the data cores went, taking them to Amondiage, Achille, St Genevieve, and finally the Schlesien Belt.

The team is split across the two vessels, with Mazun, Vila's friend, and Rex aboard the Macavity, while Vila, Dr Matauranga, and Kharrash crew the Perfect Stranger. Cynical, suspicious people might infer a certain lack of trust on Mazun's part towards Vila and his friend. Surely not.

Schlesien Belt, 1109 Week 20

While the others refuel and replenish the two ships, Rex and Mazun go to the Port Authority and trot out their well-rehearsed story; they have repossessed the Perfect Stranger for Hortalez et Cie for non-payment of her mortgage, and are now taking her back to Zuflucht. However, another salvage company has removed part of her last cargo - some data cores - and Mazun wishes to buy them back.

This innocent tale leads to separate interviews for them with Neubayern Navy officers and some bulky marines. Mazun sticks scrupulously to the truth and can back it up with solid evidence, so despite the Navy's keen interest in the past history of the Perfect Stranger, they have nothing on him and are forced to release him. Rex, spoiling for a fight and definitely the crewbeing with the worst interpersonal skills - unless you count intimidation - is much less convincing, but the Navy decide that anyone who was a genuine spy would have a better cover story than a litany of enemies killed over the past five years in other jurisdictions, and let him go as well, with a somewhat more bemused expression.

The team decide that first, the data cores are probably on Neubayern, and they're not going to get them back with the tools at hand, and second, the Neubayern Navy has an unhealthy interest in the Perfect Stranger and the longer they stay in the Belt, the more likely it is that the Navy will invent a plausible story connecting them to her past exploits, which will result in uncomfortable interviews for them which culminate in twenty years' hard labour.

Both ships lift for Sturgeon's Law, arriving in 1109 Week 22, with the intention of recovering the backups from Herzenslust.

GM Notes

And thus the clue I'd forgotten to give them was reintroduced.

As the scenario is written, the Travellers are supposed to identify and track their watchers (which they did) and then capture them for interrogation (which they considered, but decided against) before travelling towards Herzenslust to recover the backups (which they completely ignored, heading off in the opposite direction for several months). It all made sense at the time.

The interrogation at Schlesien Belt was a hard-fought duel of words between Mazun and his questioner, but Mazun said nothing that was untrue and nothing that he couldn't prove, so while the Neubayern Navy is deeply suspicious of the Perfect Stranger, they have decided that Mazun is an innocent catspaw. This means that they stand to learn more by letting him go and watching what happens.

Rex, on the other hand, has a d4-3 in Persuasion and was actually hoping for a fight to the death with his interrogator. He rolled a -2, and it looked like he would get his wish... and then the interrogator rolled a critical failure. You just can't get the staff these days.

Fringe Space: Makavan 009 - Confrontation

“Flee if you can, for it is wicked to injure. Strike down hard if you cannot escape, and kill.” - Michael Hundt, 17th century fencing master

New Hope, Early May '01 - Confrontation

Late night in the Pub & Rec District, and Makavan is making his way back from an unsuccessful round of looking for work. A figure is moving towards him, and flicks a glance at the inside of its left forearm; that makes Makavan suspicious, and he lengthens his stride to pick up speed without it being obvious, heading for a side alley he can vanish into. The figure draws a laser pistol and fires, hitting him square in the chest but failing to penetrate the body armour he wears constantly; he returns fire, missing, and they both duck into cover, using the corners of buildings to conceal themselves as best they can while still keeping an eye on their opponents.

After a few inconclusive exchanges of shots, Makavan looses off one last bolt, then moves as quickly and quietly as he can down the alley and turns right, hoping to flank his enemy. It turns out she has the same idea, but he sees her first and manages to score a hit before they both duck behind their respective buildings again. Judging by the swearing, that did not bounce harmlessly off the armour, but if there is still swearing going on, it wasn't a decisive strike either.

When he sticks his head and gun arm around the corner again, she's waiting for him, and although she doesn't hit him, her bolt is close enough to spall pieces of building into his face, drawing blood. Now, it's his turn to curse, but he snaps off a couple of unaimed shots to keep her head down; the power pack has enough for fifty shots and he can recharge it back at the ship easily enough, no point conserving ammo.

Makavan decides there's nothing to gain by keeping the fight going, and melts away into the night.

Later, back at the ship, he replays the encounter in his mind. The glance at the forearm bothers him; his assailant seemed to be looking at a device rather than the arm itself. He wonders if she was looking at a picture of him; if so, this was no chance meeting, she had been looking for him, specifically. He knows he's not on the bounty board - he checks for that regularly - so this has to be a private commission. The attacker was human, and seemed to be a woman. He tries to think of people he has offended badly enough to want to kill him; it's a short list, and consists mostly of House Cardenas, and in particular its matriarch, Sabine. There are a couple of hishen criminals on the list, but they would want to enslave him so they would have used stunners. Ribeiro might want to silence him about her trip, but to keep that quiet she'd have to silence several people in Traffic Control and an unknown number of xeogs; not likely.

That's good, because it means he can ask Guzman for advice.

New Hope, Late May '01 - Chillin'

"Any ideas?" Makavan asks, having described his encounter to Guzman over drinks in the Green at the west end of Pub & Rec. Guzman takes another sip of hot brown fluid and creases his forehead thoughtfully.

"It might be House Cardenas," he said. "Although I'd expect them to want a show trial; trying to kill you suggests you know something they want kept quiet. Do you?"

Makavan shakes his head. "I never bothered about politics. I wish I'd paid more attention, now. If I do know something, I don't know that I know it."

"It could be someone sending Ribeiro a message," Guzman mused. "But it's a bit unsubtle for her circles. Have you offended anyone else recently?"

"Not badly enough for them to kill me."

"I know a couple of bounty hunters. I'll ask around."

"Thanks, man. Let me get these."

"No, I think it's my turn. It all evens out in the end anyway. Don't go anywhere, I'll be back in a minute."

Curious, Makavan waited. Shortly, Guzman returned with a woman who turned all the heads in the diner until Guzman's thousand-yard glare quelled them and they went back to their meals. Makavan was disappointed to see she was wearing a wedding ring, although it was hard to see under the gems overhanging it from the engagement ring further up the finger. That ring might not stop her dallying, but it would stop him.

"Captain Makavan, this is Ms Miya. She needs an escort into the desert. I thought you might be able to help her. Why don't you get acquainted while I get us all something to drink."

"Delighted to meet you, Ms Miya. How may I help you?"

"Have you heard of the Taraneh Shrine?"

"I'm afraid not. My education was more scientific in nature."

"I'm sure that wasn't your fault." Makavan didn't rise to the bait, and she continued. "Taraneh was an ancient xeog goddess of melody, and she had a major shrine here on New Hope, or Amid Jadid as the xeogs called it during the Shikar Empire period."

"It must be thousands of years old, then."

"Indeed. For reasons of my own, I want to visit it discreetly, and Mr Guzman tells me you are a trustworthy fellow who has been helpful to the Ribeiros. I understand there will be certain expenses involved; would six IRD be adequate?"

"That they would, Ms Miya. And please, call me Simon."

"Simon," she acknowledged. "And you may call me Victoria."

They exchanged smiles.

Status at End May '01

• IRD/DRD: -2 ("leave the battle board in defeat"), -3 (ship upkeep), +2 (successful further interaction).
• 5150 Stats: Rep: 5. Month IRD: -3, roll 445 so no loss. Lifetime IRD: 14.
• SWADE Stats: Bennies: 3 Wounds: 0. Advances: 1. Wealth: d8.

It occurs to me that SWADE already has Advances to handle character development, permanent injuries which could represent loss of Rep, and Edges such as Filthy Rich to represent improving standards of living. So, I don't really need to track Rep for my Star in this particular campaign. I shall ponder what to do instead.

GM Notes

The random roll for early month involuntary encounters gives me a daytime Confrontation (5150NL p. 34) with one Exotic, a female Basic Bounty Hunter with Rep 5 packing a P-1. This is nothing personal, the dice say, Simon is just in the wrong place at the wrong time; but I think it's more interesting if his Enemies catch up with him.

I like to shake things up a little to maintain my interest, so this time I used a tweaked version of the Mass Battle rules for the fight; it's the only part of the game with morale checks, and while abstract and emphasising the Battle skill, it does allow for both sides taking damage, and the odd blaze of glory.

• Force Tokens are based on Wounds. That means Simon has 10 (Wild Cards have three Wounds) and the Bounty Hunter has three (Extras have one Wound).
• Battle Modifiers: Simon gets +7 for the Force Token advantage (ouch). BH gets +1 for better weapon skills and another +1 for being a professional bounty hunter. She also has a much better Battle skill - d10 against Simon's d4w-2. They have identical gear, so neither gets anything for that, and it's a meeting engagement so neither is prepared or has a plan.
• A battle round represents an indeterminate length of time, a few seconds to a minute.

Off we go!

• Turn 1: Simon Battle d4w-2+7 = 8; BH Battle 1d10+2 = 5. BH loses one Token; Spirit check 1d10-1 = 3, but I spend a GM Benny to reroll; 4. Battle continues.
• Turn 2: Simon (10 Tokens) Battle 14, BH (2 Tokens) Battle 17; Aces on both sides there. Simon loses a Token, Spirit d6w-1 = 3; I don't want to Benny that so far from a refresh, so Simon retreats in good order.

Well, that was fast.

With all his advantages, I expected Simon to either massacre the bounty hunter brutally or force them into a rout; but as is often the case, the dice had other ideas. That worked pretty well, so it's worth a few more tries; it would work better with more figures on each side. The regular Spirit checks to test morale are good, and align nicely with 5150. Maybe swap out Battle for Shooting for individual gunfights?

The meeting with Guzman is classic Networking; Simon rolls Persuasion d6w = 8 (thanks to Aces), a Raise, which I interpret as getting what he needs but Guzman pays for the drinks this time, and a "successful further interaction" under 5150. I gave Guzman a couple of Common Knowledge rolls to know something useful. I also decided this would be a 5150 Chillin encounter, the dice gave me 4 PEFs and I decided to use one for Guzman and the other three for job offers. I haven't bothered writing up the ones I ignored; the one I took was to Escort a Rep 4 Mover (Trophy Wife) somewhere for 6 IRD. As I often do, I forgot there should be PEFs on entering and leaving a location as well as the ones inside.

Space Corsair's site gave me the name for Sabine Cardenas, who by my usual trick of looking up the meaning of names should be honest, wise, blue or purple, and possibly a thistle or a goldfinch. I'll stew on that for a bit. Maybe she's a xeog? That could be fun.

Likewise it gave me Victoria Miya, who should be victorious and possibly a shrine, a temple, or just beautiful and relaxed, depending on who is translating the Kanji. I decided the shrine was something she was looking for, and the post mostly wrote itself after that.

Books in February 2026

The Year of Less by Cait Flanders. The author's experience of a year-long shopping ban and minimalist lifestyle. As is often the way with such books, the parts I'm interested in - how the author did it, what the effects were, how she would do it differently knowing what she knows now - have to be extracted from a detailed biography and multiple family anecdotes explaining her motivations. I'm interested in minimalism, but I suspect it works better if you're single and reasonably well-paid; even Marie Kondo gave up when she had kids.

Poseidon's Gold by Lindsey Davis. The fifth Falco novel, which I enjoyed much more than number four; this is a story of murder, suicide, and an increasingly complicated and interwoven series of fine art frauds. Additionally, the book delves deeply into the protagonist's extended family history, as several of the family are involved in the art frauds or suspects in the murder, and in the course of this we unravel what really happened to Falco's dead brother and runaway father. Despite these complexities, it rattles along at a reasonable pace. I begin to suspect that the mysteries centred on Rome itself are more enjoyable; we'll see.

Lonelog by Roberto Bisceglie; a standard notation for solo RPG session logging. I reviewed this in more detail here.

Shadow State by Luke Harding. An investigation into how the Russian Federation and its ruling kleptocracy use dirty money, hacking, misinformation and murder to influence Western politics. Basically, they realised they didn't need to overthrow the West militarily, they could bribe us to overthrow ourselves; I'm enraged and depressed both by how effective they've been at that, and how corrupt and spineless Western leaders have been in response.

Nuclear War: A Scenario by Annie Jacobsen. A Pulitzer-nominated author interviews many people with first-hand experience of the preparations for nuclear war, and outlines how such a war might start, escalate, and end. Key lessons for me were how fast it would go, how hard it would be to stop it escalating, and just how much damage it would do. Scary stuff. Looking at the people in charge of the planet's nuclear arsenals, it is hard to retain any sense of optimism.

City of Bones by Martha Wells. A post-apocalyptic tale of a city on the edge of a vast desert, dotted with enigmatic ruins left by a vanished but highly technological civilisation. Treasure hunters go into these ruins to find artefacts to sell to academics, fraudsters make fake artefacts. There is also intrigue, non-humans bioengineered to survive the desert in the last gasp of the dying civilisation, and a looming disaster tied to the treasures people are hunting in the desert. If this were an RPG product, it would be a Numenera supplement. I can't do it justice in a paragraph; go read it, if only for the world-building.

Ogre's 11 by Mark Finn. This is me starting to research the next group campaign but one; the book contains 13 system-agnostic fantasy heists for the thieves in your party, which can be played individually or threaded together into a campaign. This one is going into the pile for that next-but-one campaign; the heists are interesting, with entertaining plot twists, and I think the team will enjoy playing them.

Unusual Suspects by Mark Finn. System-agnostic NPC generation for modern, fantasy or SF games. It focuses on personality traits and memorable quirks rather than statblocks, with the intent of allowing the GM to create an interesting NPC on the fly at the table, generating only as much as is necessary in the moment, then expanding later as and when needed. It's good at what it does, but I'm not sure it'll lure me away from my existing tools.

TV

These days, I don't watch enough movies or TV to be worth mentioning, but this month a shout-out to Sandokan: The Pirate Prince on Netflix.

This is very loosely based on Emilio Salgari's novel Le Tigri di Mompracem and the life of the historical Sir James Brooke. Sandokan is a prince of 19th-century Malaysia, deposed by the East India Company, torn between seeking revenge on the British and his love for a British woman. Written as a magazine serial in 1883 and published as a novel in 1900, the story is unusual for its time in being anti-colonialist, with an Asian hero and British villains, and surprisingly historically accurate, using many real places, events and people - see here for an analysis.

The TV series - produced in Italy but shot in English - makes a number of changes both to the original and real history, and is a better story for it. The heroine is significantly more feisty and has more agency, the romance is a slow burn rather than mutual love at first sight, and all of the characters have been fleshed out and made more sympathetic, with credible motivations.

It's clearly a labour of love by people who know the book and have used a light touch in updating it for the modern audience; recycling the music from the 1970s Italian TV adaptation is a nice touch, as is adding the minor character Emilio who chronicles Sandokan's adventures.

Fringe Space: Makavan 008 - Raid

Treachery and treason - there's always an excuse for it.
And when I find the reason, I still can't get used to it.
- Dire Straits, Private Investigations

New Hope, Late April '01: Raid

It was late at night by the time Makavan worked out which warehouse Crezzi was being held in. It had to be one that fit a particular narrow set of criteria; in Little Hisha, not currently in use but also not derelict, that kind of thing. There were five that matched his search, and he got lucky on the the fourth try.

Setup: Tokens - Two Hour Wargames. Board - Loke Battlemats.

Approaching the warehouse cautiously, Makavan could see a female basic pacing near Crezzi, who was tied up and seated on a chair with his back to a shelving unit full of boxes. Judging by the arm movements, she was haranguing him; he was too far away to hear the debate, but close enough to see she had a pistol drawn - all the better to threaten him with, no doubt. Makavan wasn't especially stealthy in his approach, but the woman was equally slapdash at keeping watch, so he half-crouched, half-ran up to the edge of the loading bay and poked his head carefully over the concrete lip. She must have heard something, as she was peering out into the darkness, so he carefully ducked back.

Unseen by either of them, Adrasaia the razor had entered through a side door and climbed up onto the catwalk, and was now sidling along it towards Crezzi. The woman crept into cover near the bay door and readied her weapon, convinced something was moving outside but not knowing what or where.

End of turn 2: Something's out there. Fight played out in Roll20.

The razor, continuing to sneak closer to Crezzi, stumbled in the darkness and made a noise; the woman and Makavan both turned to look at the catwalk, but before they could see anything the razor fired a mental blast at the pair of them and everything went out of focus momentarily. It wasn't immediately clear where that had come from, but both of them assumed there was a razor somewhere on the catwalk. The woman blazed away in the general direction of the noise, and judging by the curses she hit something by pure luck.

End of turn 3: Failed mental blast, successful Suppressive Fire.

Simon hugged the wall, wondering what to do next, and heard a burst of fire from an automatic laser of some kind, followed by the thud of a collapsing body. When he risked an eye around the corner, he saw Adrasaia descending from the catwalk with a measured tread, Crezzi covered in laser burns, and the woman's body stretched out on the floor with enough of her head missing to make it hard to keep his last meal down.

Adrasaia reflexively pointed her laser SMG at him, but as he raised his hands and tried his best not to look a threat, she lowered it again.

"What did you do that for?" Makavan asked, in a much higher tone than he would've liked.

"I was hired to make sure he didn't tell what he knew," she said. "This was the easiest way to do it."

"Am I next?" he demanded, unsure whether to shoot Adrasaia or not. She thought for long enough that he was tempted to try it, but in the end said:

"No. I bugged you at the first meeting, I know he didn't tell you anything. If it became known that I killed everyone who worked for me, it would become difficult to hire anyone." He needed, he decided, to buy a new commlink; he'd changed his clothes since the first meeting, but like most people he kept the same commlink from one day to the next. Most likely Adrasaia had linked to his commlink once he'd accepted the job.

"Does that mean I get paid?" She considered this for a second.

"Yes. You did what you were asked to do. And again, if I get a reputation for not paying, it will become difficult to hire anyone. Paying you will also make it more likely that you accept future commissions." He nodded, acknowledging the point, but also relieved that he appeared to be an asset rather than a loose end.

Makavan considered asking what Crezzi had known that was worth killing for, but decided that if he knew, he would become worth killing. That would be a poor reward for his curiosity.

"Do we need to do anything about this?" He gestured at the bodies. Adrasaia considered for a heartbeat, as he was beginning to expect.

"Leave that to me," she said. "I do not think it is within your skill set."

Makavan took his payment, and left, while what remained of his composure was still intact.

Status at End April '01

• IRD/DRD: +5 (Find Job, now complete), +2 (successful further interaction). Total: +7. Two of the IRD came up 6, which would improve Rep if I were doing things that way and instead pushes Wealth up to d8.
• 5150 Stats: Rep: 5. Month IRD: 7. Lifetime IRD: 17.
• SWADE Stats: Bennies: Refresh to 3 at end of session. Wounds: 0. Advances: 1 at end of session - Simon takes the Ace Edge, useful for space combat. Wealth: d8.

GM Notes

This is a raid (5150NL p. 49). I need to resolve one PEF, which turns out to be a female Basic Shaker; I decide they are holding Crezzi hostage. The dice tell me this consists of one NPC with a non-lethal weapon; a Rep 4 Corporate Exec, in fact. That suggests it's night-time. Although immediately after that, the rules tell me to check page 29 to see what weapon the NPC is carrying; a P-1. I decide to liven things up a bit by having the razor follow Simon to the warehouse and lie in wait there. And we're off to the races.

• Turn 1: Exec KS, on Hold. Razor KD, on Hold. Simon 2C, tries to sneak closer; Stealth d4w = 2, failure, so both the exec and the razor realise he is there somewhere and start looking for him.
• Turn 2: Razor 8H, stealth closer to exec; d210 = 5; success; neither of the others is aware. Simon 8D, stealth closer; d4w = 2, now opposed by Exec d8 =1, fail (but not critical, I checked). Exec 2H moves into cover and readies weapon.
• Turn 3: Simon AH moves to and up stairs to bay; Stealth d4w = 5, opposed by Exec's Notice d8 = 7; she has him. Razor JS, Stealth d10 = 3 failure, Simon and Exec now aware, so she fires a medium template Stun at them both; d10 = 5, success. Exec rolls Vigour d8 = 10 and saves, Simon rolls Vigour d6w = 5 and saves. Exec takes a morale check, Spirit d8 = 6 so she's good, and lays down Suppressive Fire on the catwalk; d8 = 13, a Raise even with the mods for darkness and whatnot; but the damage bounces off the razor's armour.
• Turn 4: Simon 9S on Hold, razor 9H fires laser SMG at Crezzi; 4d10 = 2, 4, 5, 8; three hits on Crezzi (the one doing 13 damage kills him) and one on the Exec (innocent bystander, and with 27 damage it's Goodnight Vienna).

One thing real life has taught me is that you often never find out what the Hell was going on, and no-one currently has a good reason to explain things to Simon; so I don't need to work it out yet. The (game) world will tell me later, if it was important.

I've also realised that I miss tactical combat; the players in my group game avoid it if at all possible, and my interest in solo campaigns has always been centred on skirmish wargaming at least as much as the story linking the fights together. Need more fights!

Hmm. It also wouldn't hurt to zoom in close enough that you can read the labels on the tokens. Sorry!

Aslan Route 36: Repo Men

Previously, on the Aslan Route... Captain Ashran has been reactivated and asked to find a missing spy ship and recover its data, and if possible any surviving crew.

Zuflucht, 1108 Week 44

Mazun explains to his crew that he knew Sunita when he did his short stint in the Scouts, they were in the same intake. Obviously she stayed on, whereas a wealthy uncle died leaving Mazun shares in an oxygen manufacturing business, which he sold, using the cash as the down payment on a merchant ship.  The rest as they say is history.

Sunita has, he says, engaged the Macavity to repossess an Imperial vessel - another Far Trader - last seen on Amondiage, in response to the Imperial banking and insurance company Hortalez et Cie foreclosing on the mortgage for non-payment. This will allow the crew to claim salvage rights on the vessel, which even after expenses should be enough for a decent payday. Clearly, Imperial personnel on Zuflucht wear many hats, credible as there are only about a dozen of them.

The team debate whether to take the Macavity (takes longer and gives them crew problems, but they can have all their toys) or travel by liner (no toys, enough crewmembers, faster) and opt for the former.

Fast Travel, 1108 Week 45 to 1109 Week 09

The Macavity uses the spare collapsible fuel tank intended for the Perfect Stranger to jump to Gloire, then travels more normally to Serendip Belt, then Topas, Berlichingen, Neubayern, Schlesien Belt, St Genevieve, Achille, and finally Amondiage, taking 18 weeks due to an extended stopover at Serendip Belt for their 1108 annual overhaul.

En route, Rex is persuaded to let Dr Matauranga implant retractable claws in his forearms.

Amondiage, 1109 Week 10

The Macavity's crew present themselves to the Port Authority, and since they are on a legal repossession mission and have the papers to prove it, they discover that the dead crew arrived here in low berths from Acadie, and that the Perfect Stranger had filed a flight plan to Acadie, Colchis, and New Home. It seems their quarry is on Acadie, which they are warned is currently wracked by unrest. Fomented among the honest miners by offworld agents, no doubt.

Acadie, 1109 Week 12

On Acadie, the same open approach backed up by official paperwork has the Port Authority leading them directly to the missing ship, which the starport is keen to see removed as it's been tying up one of their few landing pads for months. They discover that the crew left in a hurry, using the ship's air/raft, and that later someone ransacked the ship, copied the flight logs, stole the data storage drums which are the Macavity's primary objective, and disabled the flight controls. They demonstrate the broken safe and empty cargo hold to the Port Authority, befriend them, and use this to extract further information; some "officials from Amondiage" have visited the ship on several occasions, the PA think they represent a salvage company. The PA also knows that the air/raft filed a flight plan to the mining town of Houillon, currently the site of clashes between imported riot police and rioting miners. The crew's new friends in the PA also helpfully look in their records and find that the air/raft crashed on the return flight due to "pilot error" after a "firearms-related incident".

Rex realises they are being watched from the traffic control tower. Innocent curiosity? The crew are unconvinced. Mazun reasons that someone running a spy ship will have contingency funds hidden somewhere aboard, and Vila finds these hidden in a machinery space in Engineering. Vila - of course - "knows a guy" who can be hired as an engineer to give them the full crew they need, and they leave him cleaning and repairing the ship while they fly to Houillon themselves and present their papers for a third time at the police station, schmoozing the desk sergeant into showing them the incident report; initially unhelpful, his interest is piqued by how sparse the report is, and he invites them to wait until the officer concerned comes off shift. Plying the station staff with coffee and doughnuts further improves their attitude.

Rex can smell fear on Officer Hughes when he returns, which escalates to terror as he is questioned. By carefully phrasing things to give him deniability, they extract the contact details for the local company which removed the wreckage of the crashed air/raft, while Dr Matauranga gains access to the autopsy report and notes that it overemphasises the crash-related injuries on the two bodies recovered from the wreck, and (in his opinion) under emphasises the headshots from a laser weapon which he suspects were the actual cause of death.

Mazun has some signals interception gear in the air/raft alongside Vila's concealed stunners ("Never go anywhere without it, it's every day carry for a trader captain,") and the team intercepts Hughes' panicked call to an unknown number at the starport, which immediately hangs up.

All clues point to the starport, but since they have to fly past the wreck site anyway, they decide to talk to the company which removed the wreckage first. In particular, Dr Matauranga wants to examine it for signs that the full crew of four were aboard at the time of the crash.

To be continued...

GM Notes

As written, Great Rift Adventure 2 supposes the PCs have no ship of their own and enter the Islands Cluster at Amondiage; mine are coming in from the other side as it makes more sense for my campaign, but the only adventure on the route from Zuflucht to Amondiage is at Gloire, and it makes more sense on the way back.

The adventure flowed very nicely through the initial investigation stages, with the crew now having a good idea what happened and when, but not yet understanding who is responsible or why. I had the Space Corsair and Fantasy Names generators open in a couple of tabs as we played, with the result that I could spray the PCs with credible names whenever they became interested in someone or something, obfuscating which ones are actually important. This didn't really slow them down much but did add a feeling of verisimilitude. I did forget to give them one of the essential clues, but it will be easy to introduce it next time as they continue to investigate.

The session was dominated by Mazun as a character and Persuasion as a skill, so I must shift the spotlight away from those for the next session, which will be in two weeks' time.

Fringe Space: Makavan 007 - Find, Part 2

“Plans are all right sometimes," I said. "And sometimes just stirring things up is all right - if you're tough enough to survive, and keep your eyes open so you'll see what you want when it comes to the top.” ― Dashiell Hammett, Red Harvest

New Hope, Early April '01

Makavan was pounding the street in the Pub & Rec district when he noticed a group of women yelling at each other; judging by the clothing, one very rich and two very much not. None of them were armed, and he couldn't tell which side to join in on, so he decided not to join in at all and kept walking.

New Hope, Later April '01

Makavan was hanging out in the Green at the west end of the Pub & Rec district, trying to make one cup of hot brown liquid last all morning, when Ribeiro sat down opposite.

"Mind if I join you?" she asked.

"Of course not," he smiled. "Welcome back. How was your trip?"

She made a dismissive gesture to indicate it was all behind her now and anyway it was none of his business.

"I hear you're looking for a hishen," she said. "Name of Crezzi."

"You're well-informed," he commented, making a face which could've been due to the taste of his drink.

"I make it my business to be," she said. "Captain Makavan, if you're going to work for Adrasaia - any razor, really - you need to be more discreet in your enquiries. The hishen has information she wants, and there are a number of other parties who also want it. As you seem to be new at this, here's a suggestion; three, really. First, look around the warehouses in Little Hisha. Second, think about why Adrasaia wants you blundering around New Hope City drawing fire. Third, think about how you can persuade those parties that you're an asset and not just another loose end."

"Thank you," he said, and meant it. "That's good advice." She rose and turned to leave, and he rose too, out of politeness.

"One more thing," she said, and frowned. "And I don't know whether you should thank me for this or not... I've been seen with you several times. You will inevitably be considered linked to me somehow. It may affect how people deal with you in future, but I can't predict how."

"Ah," said Simon. "I see. Your rivals might wish to deprive you of an asset, or - if I am fortunate - they may decide I am under your protection. Your friends may decide I am trustworthy, or may begin to wonder if I am part of a plan, and whether it will benefit them or not."

"Just so," she said, pleased at the demonstration that he knew how movers and shakers played the game. "You are not a player, not yet anyway; but perhaps you are no longer a pawn, either. Good luck, Captain."

He needed it; he was ambushed twice on the way to Little Hisha.

The pair of upper-class humans ran as soon as he drew his pistol, calling for the police; they hadn't thought they'd need anything more substantial than a slight edge in numbers and their manicured fists. The burly zhuh-zhuh labourer he actually had to shoot, several times; that one brought a crowbar to a gunfight, but knew enough to back off once burned badly enough, which told Makavan this wasn't a matter of principle, just a zhuh paid to deliver a message.

So. What did the hishen know that everybody wanted to find out? It seemed likely that the razor and the grath who had both tried to hire him were working for different factions, and unlikely he would wind up friendly with both. Either could have had tonight's shakers or zhuh-zhuh on the payroll. Presumably the hishen represented a third faction, which might just be him but probably included other hishen.

Then there was Ribeiro. Where did she fit in? Was she with the hishen, or with another faction entirely? Was her involvement linked to the xeogs somehow? If so, had his encounter with xeogs at the nightclub been a deliberate attempt to distract him, or just their usual wide-ranging hedonism?

He decided that while all this was interesting to speculate on, it didn't change his next step; find Crezzi.

Status at Mid April '01

• IRD/DRD: +5 (Find Job, pending completion), +2 (successful further interaction. Total: +2 (+5 pending).
• 5150 Stats: Rep: 5. Current IRD: Pending month end. Lifetime IRD: 10.
• SWADE Stats: Bennies: 3. Wounds: 0. Advances: None.

GM Notes

Motivation is lacking this week, so I've zoomed out to Quick Encounters and Networking on the rules front; it generally takes a little while before a new solo campaign gathers enough speed to keep going by itself, and during that time it's important to keep the rules-related cognitive load light so my mind can focus on the story.

I've also decided it's time to move on from using Turkish names for everything and spread my wings a little; hishen are now using randomly-generated names for Lord of the Rings Orcs, and razors ones for lamia, both courtesy of the Fantasy Name Generator. Anyway, this week's 5150 encounters...

Involuntary Encounter: Confrontation (5150NL p. 34). Walk in on a fight between a Mover (Rep 5 Patron, unarmed) and a pair of Joes Labour (Rep 3 Manufacturing, unarmed). Simon walks away, and the dice tell me there is no blowback from that.

Voluntary Encounter: Find (5150NL p. 40). 3 PEFs to resolve this time; Networking on the first (Rep 4 Mover, oh surely that must be Ribeiro) gives Success and a Raise, so Simon gets a Clue, but the second and third lead to Confrontations, and the wording of the rules shows he needs to fight through them. I decide that each Raise on the Quick Encounter is worth one defeated enemy, to a limit of three (as there can't be more than that against a lone PC). Simon gets a Success each time, so victory but no defeated enemies; given the frequency of morale checks in 5150, they probably ran away.

Then, there is a final PEF which is the NPC we're after; a die roll tells us this leads to a Raid Encounter, which we'll process next time. I think that should be a proper fight with tokens and a battlemat, but still count as part of April '01.

I've read that when the designer of Savage Worlds runs convention scenarios, he will often use Quick Encounters for the early part of the game, leading up to a full-on tactical combat for the grand finale. If I stay low on spoons like this, that might be a good way to do things.

Review: Lonelog

This popped up in my YouTube feed and intrigued me enough to download the free 68-page PDF from itch.io here. The author is Roberto Bisceglie.

In a nutshell: Concise standard notation for recording solo game sessions. The player is intended to use this format to capture mechanical game elements while adding as much or as little narrative as desired. It's free to use under a Creative Commons licence.

What You Get

A format-agnostic shorthand for recording your solo sessions. Why would you want to use it? It's fast, it's searchable in digital formats, it acts as a shared notation for sharing game writeups between players. The core of the notation, which can be expanded considerably, is:

@ for player actions.

? for oracle questions.

d: for mechanics rolls.

-> for oracle or dice results.

=> for consequences.

In use, it looks a lot like Markdown, in fact it uses some Markdown features like heading levels, although if you're using something like Obsidian you need to flag Lonelog entries as code blocks to avoid the parser getting confused.

This basic system is then expanded with additional (optional) layers and structures, multiple examples, best practices, templates, and notes on adapting Lonelog to your favourite system. In particular these add tools for tracking recurring NPCs, plot threads, clocks, random tables or generators, meta notes (which a programmer would call comments) and whatnot.

As usual, the examples are the best explanation of the system in use, showing how it works with different levels of narrative detail.

At the end of the document, there's a quick reference sheet 

What I Think

You'll have seen me moving gradually towards something like this over the last few years, with shorthand such as "d6w=11 SR" for "d6 with Wild Die, score 11, success with a raise", and more recently experimenting with Obsidian as a notebook app; so I'm positively disposed to the idea, as for years I've been wrestling with how to record the mechanical elements without burying the narrative.

My first attempts were using different colours and later putting mechanical detail in italics, but those were unsatisfactory. My current method of splitting the mechanics out into a separate section works well enough, but maybe this would be more elegant?

I'll have to try it and see; it'll be a few weeks before I get around to that, as with some travel upcoming I have a few posts already in the can, so look for this appearing sometime in mid to late March.