Gamma Section: The Devil’s Due

Discovering the Pirate’s Base

The PCs will need to generate clues on the pirate’s base of operations.  It’s hard to predict what every player will decide to do to investigate and a referee may need to improvise for this part.  This section is about role play and skill use to generate clues and the following are some ideas that could be pursued.

1. The Venture didn’t get a good scan on the sub-orbital hop performed by pirates.  The PCs may attempt to sweet talk or bribe other star ship crews for a good scan if their ships or shuttles were over head during the sub-orbital hop.  A PER ability check modified with a positive modifier for the appropriate bribe may do the trick. 
2. Prevailing on Marshal Ben to force the flight control at the Pan Galactic Corporation’s private star port to turn over their scan data will require a PER check but offering  a bribe causes automatic failure.  Role playing a surly attitude with the marshal may cause him to not bother as well.
3. They may beat the grape vine in a half dozen bars and will get conflicting rumors but among them will be the name Mo’s Easy.
4. If they have learned a general area and do a data search on the local info nets, they may discover that there is an old Streel Mercenary base in an old volcanic caldera called Devil’s Caldron about 100 km from Mo’s Easy.
5. If they supply the captain with the general location he can do a fly over with cameras and computers set to scan and that will positively locate the pirate base.
6. Travelling to Mo’s Easy and discreetly questioning some of the residents will turn up a general though not exact location for ships seen landing and taking off about 100 km away to the East.  Alternately, some pirates from the base may have come out to Mo’s Easy with a hover car for a night on the town and the PCs can encounter them and attempt to get information out of them.

Encounters at Mo’s Easy

Mo’s Easy is a notorious collection of saloons and habitat modules half way between Point Glass and the Tetrarch Pyramids (a day’s travel).  The location is plagued with sand storms and dust devils.  If it’s necessary to have encounters here, a referee can abstract the location without a map as most people go from their vehicle directly into a building.  The location is optional and not completely necessary for the adventure.

The center of interest here is the bar known as Mo’s Easy.  Some people are involved in illegal activities and thus not very likely to talk to the PCs and others are just worried about personal safety and are afraid to talk to the PCs.  The best way for the PCs to turn up solid information will be for a handful of Lucky Devil pirates to show up to blow off steam and party. 

Devil’s Caldron & the Canyon Hide Out

Devil’s Caldron was a mercenary base during Laco’s war.  Built by Streel and MerCo, the floor of the volcanic caldera was leveled and a ceramacrete landing pad put in.  It fell into disuse and was re-occupied by the Lucky Devil pirates.  The rim of the caldera provides camouflage for grounded ships and is a relatively secure landing site. 

DevilsCauldron.png [2]

Devil’s Caldron Map Legend,

(scale: 1 square = 5 meters)

1. Desert floor
2. Outward slope of the caldera – 50m high
3. Inward slope of the caldera – 40m high
4. Caldera floor – leveled and covered with star port quality ceramacrete
5. Weapons platform – 10m high with heavy laser and type 1 parabattery (500 SEU).  Weapon covered with tight fitting cover which takes one turn to remove as protection against sand and dust.
6. Weapons platform– 10m high with heavy machine gun and locker with 5 ammo belts.  Weapon covered with tight fitting cover which takes one turn to remove as protection against sand and dust.
7. Rusty hover truck – baton key is with one of the pirates in the caldera.
8. Entry tunnel to the caldera – chairs, table, crates, and sleeping cot.  The pirates have arranged crates as a wall to separate the side passage off and have a lounge for card playing and sleeping.  2 pirates : (RW 35, M 35, PS 3, IM 4, RS 40, STA 40) skein suit, auto-rifles, 2 ammo clips, doze daggers, one with IR goggles
9. Storage
10. Assault rocket reloads – 2 pallets with two rockets each.  Rockets covered with tight fitting cover which takes one turn to remove as protection against sand and dust.
11. Inoperative crane – left over from Laco’s War 30m high.
12. Jet copter – undergoing engine maintenance, the copter will not fly till another two hours of work is done.  2 pirates: (RW 35, M 35, PS 3, IM 4, RS 40, STA 40) skein suit, laser pistols, 1 power clip, doze daggers, technician tool kits.
13. The Venture’s shuttle – The external locks have been changed and the lock out program has been reprogrammed.
14. Scarlet Terror’s Thruster class privateer – Requires a baton key held by Scarlet to gain access.
15. Wheeled load lifter – unlocked and ready to use (see new equipment appendix for details).
16. Large shipping crates – mostly empty, 5 m high.

Players have variety of ways the can approach the caldera.  The pirates all have chronocoms and will be able to raise pirates at the hide out .75 km away once they realize the PCs are here.  Two are in their “lounge” (area #4) playing cards and two are doing engine maintenance on the jetcopter, they will be focused on their activities and may not notice the PCs unless the players do something rash or foolish.  If the pirates at the hide out are summoned they will arrive in 2d10 combat rounds.  If the other pirates are summoned have 10+1d10 pirates arrive in a hover car and a hover transport.  Average mooks have a skein suit and a rifle with 2-3 ammo clips and possibly a melee weapon.  Officers (2-3) will have a skein suit, a defense screen, power belt, pistol or rifle with 3-4 ammo clips, and a melee weapon.  If the pirates from the hide out respond to the caldera, the hide out will only have two pirates left if the PCs investigate it afterwards.

One asset the players have is that Kleevor will have moved the Venture directly over this site and can shoot a large target in the caldera with the ship’s lasers.  Possible targets would be a grounded ship, the crane, the jetcopter or the weapon’s platforms.  Kleevor must be mindful of UPF laws concerning orbital bombardment and the above list represents legal targets for him under the law.  He might also shoot to destroy the entrance to the caldera to prevent pirates from the outpost from using it, however, he will not target the outpost lest there be kidnapped civilians there.  For that reason the players will just not be able to use him as “deus ex machina” laying done the “god smack” from orbit. 

The players can employ the laser battery on the Venture once every 50 turns.  It will effectively destroy the jetcopter, a hover vehicle or a weapon’s platforms for a 60% skill roll or do maximum damage to the privateer vessel for 50% skill roll (by Kleevor but rolled by the players).  The players must request the orbital “god smack” and direct which target they want hit.  Note if the Venture’s laser battery is used to destroy a hover vehicle while pirates are riding in it Scarlet will automatically have been in the other vehicle and thus survive to face the PCs.

Canyon Hideout Level 1.PNG [3]
Canyon Hideout Level 2.PNG [4]

Canyon Hide Out 

(scale: 1 square = 2 meters)

The canyon hide out is built into the side of a canyon wall.  It would be very difficult to find if a hover car and hover transport were not parked at the entrance.

1. Parked hover car and transport – guard in chair reading a hard copy travel magazine.  1 pirate: (RW 35, M 35, PS 3, IM 4, RS 40, STA 40) skein suit, IR goggles, gyrojet rifle, 3 ammo clips, water canteen filled with strong alcohol, large free standing umbrella and folding chair.
2. Office – three desks a good search will turn up a magnetic holster holding an auto-pistol up under the middle desk.  1 pirate officer smoking : (RW 45, M 40, PS 4, IM 5, RS 50, STA 50) skein suit, auto-pistol, 3 ammo clips, sonic sword
3. Storage area – crates of food, water, toilet paper, etc.
4. Workshop – maintenance area for robotic and storage closet.  2 pirates: (RW 35, M 35, PS 3, IM 4, RS 40, STA 40) skein suit, doze daggers, gyrojet pistol, 3 ammo clips
5. Passage to stairwell going up.
6. Lounge – 3 pirates: (RW 35, M 35, PS 3, IM 4, RS 40, STA 40) skein suit, sonic stunners, 3 power clip, vibro-dagger with power clip
7. Dorm – beds and locked footlockers [level 2 locks].  2 pirates : (RW 35, M 35, PS 3, IM 4, RS 40, STA 40) skein suit, needler pistols, 2 ammo clips, and random melee weapon.  Overall there will be some limited identification papers here in the foot lockers that may lead to arrests by Star Law.
8. Sealed windows – look out into the canyon.
9. Second level ladder well.
10. Storage area – There are ten squares that may be searched roll on the table below.
11. Uni-species restrooms – doors are lockable from the inside.
12. Dorm – beds and locked footlockers [level 2 locks].  2 pirates : (RW 35, M 35, PS 3, IM 4, RS 40, STA 40) skein suit, auto-pistols, 2 ammo clips, and random melee weapon.  Overall there will be some limited identification papers here in the foot lockers that may lead to arrests by Star Law.
13. Computer Room – Radiocom, subspace radio, and computer.  Treat the computer and its security as level 3 each.  There are extensive records for this group of pirates on the computer though not all of them are of interest.  Buried deep in the files are files on finances (1), pirate personnel (1), and ships (1); one skill roll per set of files to locate.  If these files are turned over to Star Law, nearly the whole band will eventually be captured.  In 1d10 months there will be a reward for the PCs based on the number of sets of records turned over to Star Law: 10,000cr per set of records.  2 pirate officers : (RW 45, M 40, PS 4, IM 5, RS 50, STA 50) skein suit, gyrojet pistol, 3 ammo clips, sonic sword or vibro-dagger with power clip, baton keys to the pirate ship and the shuttle
14. Quarters – 1 pirate cleaning his auto-rifle : (RW 35, M 35, PS 3, IM 4, RS 40, STA 40) skein suit, auto-rifle, 3 ammo clips, doze dagger
15. Quarters – empty
16. Quarter: 1 pirate – (RW 35, M 35, PS 3, IM 4, RS 40, STA 40) skein suit, sonic stunner, 2 power clips, sonic dagger
17. Quarters – empty

Note: Scarlet is not keyed to a particular location.  Each referee has the option to place her when they wish as a boss encounter and she will have 1d5 pirates with her.  If the PCs look like they plan on settling for just taking out the vehicles at the hanger she can turn up in a hover car.  The goal is to hold her in reserve as a boss encounter and/or prevent the PCs from having too easy of a time with this section of the adventure.

Scarlet Terror aka Scarlet Rose: (RW 60, M 40, PS 3, IM 5, RS 50, STA 45) skein suit, laser pistol, albedo screen,  3 power clips , belt pack 50 SEU, baton keys to the pirate vessel and the stolen shuttle.

1d5 pirates: (RW 35, M 35, PS 3, IM 4, RS 40, STA 40) skein suit, random pistols (Laser 1-20%, auto pistol 21-40%, gyrojet 41-60%, Needler 61-80%, Electro stunner 81-100%), 3 power or ammo clips, random small melee weapon and power clip if required (knife 1-20%, sonic knife 21-40%, vibroknife 41-60%, brass knuckles 61-80%, shock gloves 81-100%)

The Pirate’s Response

A large group of pirates will converge on the hanger if the pirates at the outpost are alerted to the PC’s presence.  The number of pirates listed as showing up and the number of pirates keyed to particular rooms at the outpost do not match.  This is somewhat intentional as the name of the adventure is “Mooks Without Number”; so there is no hard and fast number of pirates.  A referee can increase or decrease the numbers of pirates at any point in the adventure to match the challenge to the size and health of the party.

If the pirates from the outpost have responded to the PCs presence at the hanger then the PCs will find 4 pirates guarding the front door to the outpost if they make their way there.  There will be one pirate skulking through the dorms stealing from his fellows.  He’ll have 1d5+5 trinkets of silver, gold, and costume jewelry valued at 3d10cr each.

The players could also stumble across the hide out as they make their way to the caldera.  If they attempt to clear the hide out first it is not likely that the pirates at the caldera will be called for support.  If there is a general hue and cry among the pirates over the presence of the PCs, then the pirates at the caldera will be on alert, watching and trying to raise their fellow pirates by chronocom.  The two doing maintenance will be watching from the rim of the caldera and the others will be set to defend the entrance.

If the players should use the Venture’s laser battery to destroy the entrance to the caldera the pirates coming from the hideout will dismount their vehicles and climb over the rim of the caldera.  The driver of the hover car will retreat for two turns and come racing back on the third turn at top speed and crash the hover car into the caldera wrecking it and stunning himself for 1d5+3 turns.  Referee chooses a suitable location for the hover car to come to rest in the caldera.

Aftermath

Some, but not all, of the pirates have identity cards and if these are captured and turned in to Star Law it will fill in some information in the Star Law files on this pirate band and may eventually lead to arrests.  If the computer at the hide out is hacked and key financial, personnel, and ship registry files are turned over to Star Law, it will eventually lead to most of the band being rounded up and their fence being arrested.  If the players simply obtain computer files and scans from the pirate’s ship, it will allow Space Fleet, Star Law, and militia forces to cripple the pirates capturing most of their ships.  In 1d5+5 months rewards can come in for the information (1d5 x10,000cr).

The pirate’s ship at the caldera is stolen and the players will not be able to keep it if they capture it but a reward could be paid to lessen the sting of not getting the ship.  Typically, such rewards are 1-3% of the value of the ship concerned.  In this case a Thruster class privateer costs close to 1 million credits so the PCs will split 1% of that and Captain Kleevor will collect 3%.  The portable items of value at the caldera are the two pallets of two assault rockets each, the jetcopter, the wheeled load lifter, and the captured heavy weapons.  Anything that is shot with Venture’s laser from orbit is scrap.  Note: it might seem that Kleevor makes out while the PCs do all the work but this is just how prize money is divided for capturing pirate and enemy vessels.

The players should, at the very least, be able to recover their shuttle and destroy the pirate shuttle.  On a very successful run of this adventure they could capture some information of value to Star Law which will give the Lucky Devil Pirates someone other than the Venture and her crew to worry about. 

Many of the items from the cargo search results table under room #10 could become hooks for further adventure.  For example, the data cube with a star chart is essentially a modern pirate map or it could be nothing at all.  As referee you have the option to fudge a table result if you want a particular item to use as a hook for continuing adventure.  Some items on the chart could be problematic for the Venture’s crew to sell due to legal issues.  After this encounter with the Lucky Devil pirates, the Venture’s crew will have several months of boring shipping duty before they ever deal with these pirates again.  It would be good for their reward from Star Law to catch up with them during that time and let the players think that the Lucky Devil pirates are crippled or destroyed.

It’s up to the referee to decide if Scarlet should live to bother the PCs another day.  If she is reduced to 0 STA she may still survive as per the rules on death and dying.  Other officers may survive being reduced to 0 STA as well but unnamed “mooks” reduced to 0 STA can be treated as dead.  A Scarlet that escapes or survived only to be turned over to Star Law can return at another time in the player’s adventures to be a thorn in their side.

Experience Points

Award 1 EXP for taking the hanger and a bonus point for recovering navigation data from the pirate’s starship.  Award 1 EXP for taking the outpost and a bonus point for recovering computer records on the pirate band.  The bonuses apply only if they data are turned over to the appropriate authorities; namely Star Law and Space Fleet.