Traveller in a Space:1889 Theme

I have an art book by this guy, Alex Alice, and, while I've never played Space:1889, I think I could at least try a 1-shot using some basic Traveller rules based on the aesthetics of this art. The book is also beautiful.

Alex Alice

Basic premise is very Edger Rice Burroughs: Mars, Venus and the other planets can be visited and have their own biomes. You fly through space via the aether and aether engines.

The way I'd run this, and this is an early idea so I may draft more actual rules later, has the basic stuff as follows:

1. Classic Traveller Book 1 & Supplement 4 careers only. But also limit TL options to TL4 (late 19th/early 20th century analog)
1. Using what I understand the TNE way works: roll 7 times, pick the 6 you want and put in the attribute you want
2. no rolling to get into the career - automatic
3. roll then select table for skills (my normal house rule)
4. failing survival => leave service or die and start over again
2. Ship rules
1. Fuel is not really required - aether engines works very differently and does not require the same space/fuel. So very small relative to the ships
2. life support is still needed - takes a larger percentage of the ship and I'll need to figure out a good amount required per person/per day. 
3. Ships can be made of light metals and glass, and you can tell a lot from the style where it comes from (nationality)
4. Can fly on planets and in space, but not underwater. They will float on top.
5. No external weapons? People get out in bulky space suits and fire weapons? Or turrets / shup guns are available?
6. Speeds
1. max atmospheric
2. max in the aether / between worlds: calculate days for trips to destinations? Different aether engines that do have some correlation between size/mechanics/ship mass. Tiny engines can power gliders and personal flight wings, larger ones for ships to traverse the heavens. Details to be mulled and hopefully written out but may use the same or similar tables from book 2. But will probably work with, other than the moon, something like 1 week to Mars or Venus, +/- days based on engine, 3 weeks to Jupiter, 5 weeks to Saturn, etc. Will have to look at distances again. But I do want to maintain the week trope if I can with some minor adjustment for a better aether engine or engineer.
3. Universe
1. Earth analog, 1890 maybe?
2. Mars as per ERB / art book. Native life includes sentients; Mars Princess is currently on Earth at the Expo (starting point of game?). Dying race?
3. Venus as per ERG / art book, prehistoric environments, no intelligent life
4. Combat
1. always my weak point!
2. armor may work as per a discussion on COTI where the armor level is the number of dice to subtract from damage inflicted which may be interesting:
1. Leather/Synth = Armor 1D
2. Cloth = Armor 2D
3. Combat = Armor 3D (old school plate armor - see image below)
4. Battle Dress = Armor 4D (not in this game)
3. range DMs as per rules with DMs based on range. 8+ to hit

Plate armor (more Alex Alice)

Adventure ideas:

1. At the World Fair they meet a sponsor who requires a small crew for a trip to Mars to fetch something for the Princess
1. all is at it seems, and the crew can meet the last Princess of Mars with her blessings to get the golden seal
2. the sponsor is trying to curry favor with the Princess and Martians and is wanting to retrieve her golden seal from Mars and trade it for favors.
3. The sponsor is working for a rival faction on Earth and want to steal the golden seal and hold it hostage for forcing the Martians to do something
4. The sponsor wants to kill off the Princess' parents for some nefarious reason. The characters may notice that the ship has a few untrusty looking members and more guns than you may expect
5. There is another wanting to retrieve the golden seal and there will be a race to the Red Planet. One of the two is working for the Princess, the other against. Which one are you with?
6. There is nothing to fetch, the Princess is actually sending a message to Mars with the pretense of retrieving the seal. That request is a hidden message to the Martians.
2. A hunter wants to hire the group to go to Venus
1. All is as it seems. Base on one of the several Classic Traveller Hunter adventures
2. All is at it seems, but the hunter does have enemies. Who may be wanting to do their nefarious things. Attempts to sabotage the ship before or during the trip, as well as attempts on the planet itself would be interesting and challenging.
3. The hunter is using this as a pretense to "accidently" kill a rival on Venus. 
4. The hunter is hunting something that is, for reasons, illegal to kill. The players may not find out until sometime on the way there and unable to back out.
5. The hunter is really a spy and wanting to get intel on a foreign power's bases on the planet.
6. The hunter is very inept and kills himself on Venus. What do the players do?

Dolmenwood Session 4: Fog Lake and a Goblin Warren

The group decides to continue to Fog Lake, despite it taking an extra day. But - they could just follow the river down to search for the shrine of St. Wort. Which, as none have any real ranger type skills, was probably faster as it was likely they would get lost. Especially the way we roll. From the Campaign Guide, they meet Duncan Mudmurloe:

A stiff, lanky human man in his mid-thirties, with dry, pallid skin and an anaemic moustache. Dresses in courtly breeches, jacket, and absurdly high, powdered wig, even when toiling besideFogLake. Mudmurloe is the “gentleman’s gentleman” of Jollie Oistace Pollard (p328), and hails from High-Hankle. His duties have, of late, tended more and more to the manufacture of Azoth at Fog Lake, which his master has been consuming and demanding in ever-increasing quantities.

We've determined that Azoth is really just crack as they have to smoke it and experience out of body experiences. But nothing much was going on around the lake, and the manservant of Jollie Oistace Pollard of High Hankle was just cooking his drugs by the lake. Camping that night after a meal of fish cooked over a campfire, the crew gets up, and along with Duncan head downstream. The only thing of note was a very loud owl that Elrod swore was sitting right outside his tent.

It is a nice day, and the river is a pretty easy walk. A but before lunch, though, they see a wagon with what seems to be a dead horse. Getting closer they see that the horse has been mauled, and there are bloody pawprints heading further south. Checking inside, Elrod finds that there are 2 young goblins, Snotnose and Rockbutt. Rockbutt was asking about his parents. Elrod said he was not sure where they were. When asked about the horse, well, I cannot recall now what he said. 

no animals other than plastic ones were harmed in the filming of this scene

Deciding to leave the crack dealer to watch the child goblins, they followed the tracks. Not too far along they came along upon a bloodied female goblin, Starrock. She was the mother and witnessed the father getting torn in half by the hell hounds or whatever they were. She was worried not only about her own children, but the goblin warrens ahead had a creche full of youngsters as well while most of the goblins were hunting for food.

Hurrying ahead, while Starrock hobbled back to her children, our heroes find the gates to the underground goblin warren open. Inside, there were torches, and a fairly large area acting as a foyer. Around the first bend they could smell the fetid odor a cesspit, and using a torch he grabbed off the wall, Elrod looks down. And sees several eyes looking up, glinting red in the torchlight. A battle against giant rats starts, and for a while no one hits anyone, but eventually the rats are vanquished, and despite one rat bite, no one caught some strange rat-born disease.

Moving fuether in, they see a carrion worm attacking a goblin. Friar Moon hurries up to slam the 9' work against the wall - the passage is narrow and only one person a can easily attack at a time. The goblin gets off a final shot, and escapes from the cul-de-sac he was trapped in. While Elrod fails more than once to boost Belle over Brother Moon, Kier starts shooting arrows. Eventually this beast is also slain, and they hurry on. 

The come into the town hall of the warrens and upon a battle scene: goblins are fighting hell hounds, and somewhere along the way a giant weasel got in and was heading to the nursery. Weasels are both opportunistic and like fresh goblin apparently (that, and I found that mini while looking for things to add to the dungeon, and since I had painted it, it showed up). 

Arrows, hammers and torches fly as the battle goes on. In a last try, Elrod's hoof got stepped on when trying to boost Belle again, Brother Moon managed to leap over one large hound and dart into goblin house, trying to draw the creature from the fight. They manage to kill the 3 hounds, but they just disappeared into grey smoke when killed. The last wolf was killed on the bridgeway to the nursery - that is when they saw the tail end of the giant weasel heading to the nursery. Next to them was a goblin shooting arrows, and blocking the entrance at the far end of the narrow passage was the nursemaid holding a small ax. Between Keir's arrows, the ax, and a successful magic spell from Elrod, the weasel was killed at the doorstep of the creche.

Pretty much where we ended the game. But what will happen is that Starrtock and her children get back along with the goblin hunters. There is both sadness and gratitude: while several goblins have been killed, more were saved and the youngsters were saved. I'll let the group decide it we want to roleplay the festivities - I see something like the Ewoks as there is a great cauldron of weasel stew, general celebrations, and perhaps some gifting for the heroes of the warren. And I need to name that goblin village: Geerk Underhill. 

There was also some discussion, and the goblins had never seen these hell hounds before. But they think that perhaps someone in the human town of Hendenburgh may know something of this as they roam the woods even more than the goblins do.

Elrod earned the name Weasel Blaster, Kiera Hound Shooter, Belle Hound Hammer, and Brother Moon Hound Hopper. Goblins have a strange sense of humor. 

I'll also note that the battle map is just a small area of the entire warren: there are caves and passages all over. But as those did not really factor into the session plan (and I only have so much space and so much plastic terrain!) that was the only part covered. 

battle picture with annotations. I added the nursery after I took the picture.

Dolmenwood Prep Part 2

Added a bit more to the map, and digging through my toys miniatures for various ideas. I've also annotated the map with what they will be finding, though I want to make it more immersive - I need to think of the smells, temperature, humidity and whatever sounds they hear. I am also adding baby goblins in a nursery creche that are under threat. The question is: why aren't the goblins doing their part: and I think there will be a lot of dead goblins scattered about maybe? or perhaps most were out on a hunting expedition. I've a few more days to figure that out.

Been taking a few pictures and even had AI adjust one a bit. Hopefully we'll have a good time. 

the hounds approach

oh rats!

annotated work in progress

after AI updated it

original picture

Dolmenwood Game Prep Again

Knowing I can really only prep on the weekend for a while until my brain catches up to my new job & I can adjust to that (give it a couple months but I will get there, I always do) I decided to bring out the toys. I'll also throwing in another OSE adventure I backed a while ago, and it fits into where the party is going. While one of the players has read through the adventure, it is more of a sandbox thing so there are a lot of ways to approach this. They have the Otter quest for the righting of the shrine, and because it was an Otter it is near the river that was pointed out by the Grimalkin Dandy Prisslwhiff, bard. But there are probably several sessions in that adventure, along with the shrine. 

Using the caves stuff, along with the goblin lair, I created a small dungeon. I won't post the reasons why they may go into this yet as they may read this post, but I have a few things I think will make them want 

to. I still need to populate it, though I have several ideas and things I want to test out. 

I'll probably gather the minis this week for what I need so that everything is in 1 place and easy to find. I am at least getting that organized! I even have a "box of minis I may need for this session" that also houses the character minis. It will get populated this week (twirls evil mustache). 

The AI version

original picture

I've also stopping running the Traveller game - with the new job it was just too much for me to handle. And I feel I was not doing a good job running the game. While it is my favorite RPG, I was apparently more stressed running it according to the players. Mostly because it is my favorite and I want people to have a good time, I worry more than other games I run. I was having fun but had too much going on to give it the attention it needs. Which is why I found an adventure for the Dolmenwood / OSE game that should give me a bit of structure and it is not all from my head.

I think part of it is mechanics. I am a huge fan of detailed mechanics. and Traveller (especially T5!) has some detailed mechanics for a lot of things. I have some interesting rules I wanted to try for the older OSE game I was running so the Druid could craft things. The players just don't want to do that sort of thing - too complicated and just wants GM fiat. More of a narrative style of play where the GM just does things is the approach this group uses the most. Which is good, but I like rule and things. Probably why I am a decent developer as that is all rules based. So that contrast between my preference for rules-based games vs narrative styled games is where some of my stress comes from as I need to relax how I want to run things to accommodate them. Which I've been doing (the NPCs handle all the details of ship stuff for the most part) but I feel that we're missing part of what makes Traveller my favorite game. Being my first RPG is also part of that!

Anyway, putting the Traveller game back on a shelf sadly, and will just run the monthly Dolmenwood game and be a player in the Tuesday night games for a few months at least, maybe longer.

Brain Dead

Not exactly, but starting a new job at a large international company is a LOT different than all the jobs I've had the last 40 years. I am used to pretty much jumping in and start figuring things out in the first couple of days. Now I have a month of training and onboarding. And to be honest, it is still very confusing to me. I almost quit after the 1st day - I could be quietly retired and not have to worry about this! 

Acclimating to a new job takes a heavy mental and emotional toll on me. And so my last gaming session we just yakked. I let everyone know ahead of time that I was overburdened with all the changes as well as being short 1 player, and by the end of that talk we had moved to let someone else lead a game for a while. I still have a few things I want to accomplish in the Kinunir game, so I do plan on getting back to it. But right now, after work I am just exhausted. And until I make that transition that is the state I am in. I do not make transitions easily!

But there is a bright side to this: I can now see how a very high law world that is full of rules would work! It reminds me a bit of the Exit Visa/Stranded on Arden adventure. Adventures in bureaucracy which does not appeal to a lot of players! Think the version in the magazine I have actually has a flow chart. 

Now for an idea of a better way to handle the same situation. 'As you leave the port warden's office, a clerk at the counter catches your eye." At this point, roil for his reaction to the crew. It's a 6, unreceptive, but he still looks like he might be able to help, Since the players don" know what skills might come into play, allow the entire group to approach, but single out one player in the crew to talk; he might not have the best skill level for the task, but he should have some appropriate skill level. In this case, either the Captain (character 1) or the Supervisor (character 6) should be told to talk to the clerk. 

"Ok, I'm trying to engage the man in conversation." says the Supervisor. 

"He'll talk, but seems brusque." Encourage the players to figure out the procedure themselves. "He seems kind of officious." 

"Maybe we could slip him some cash?" interjects the merchant 3rd Officer (he has bribery skill). 

"Do you want to try that?" Let the character make the decision while giving enough data to allow a reasonable response. One without bribery skill should be rebuffed, while one with skill might be told, "He's not acting friendly enough to be bribable at the moment." 

If necessary, push the players to ask the official if he can help. Note, if necessary, who does the asking, and use that player's skills to modify the die roll. Roll the dice secretly, but let the players know they are being rolled. The result is 5, with enough DMs to allow the clerk to give some help. The referee should say, "The clerk thinks maybe you should make an appointment to see the Customs Inspector in Building 134 tomorrow. He might be able to help." There is a basic scheme to the types of skills which will be useful to the players as they deal with the various officials. It may prove useful to mention to the players, as the adventure proceeds, some of the following facts, perhaps as each comes up. If they can remember these facts, they can better determine which of their number should deal with various types officials. 

A. Clerks are affected by Administration skill. 

B. Supervisors are affected by Liaison skill. 

C. Customs workers are affected by Liaison skill. 

D, Immigration workers are affected by Streetwise skill. 

E. Security workers are affected by Liaison skill. 

Early in the adventure, these details may not make any impression, but later on, the players may be able to understand that some of their number are better suited to some situations, even if they do not know all of the possible skills which could affect the encounter.

Anyway, mostly a filler post as my brain is full of trying to understand far too many new terms, meet too many new people, and get frustrated by bureaucracy!

June Bug is becoming my therapy cat!

Kinunir Session 5: Into the Dome

Our intrepid group of 4 was down to 2 last session for reasons. Deciding the 2 would stay in the research pinnace while Jake and Moses entered the dome.

Moses tried to communicate with Professor Plutonis and his lovely assistant, Yvonne. Who for some reason I just picture as the character from Star Trek: Voyager's Proton holodeck series:

Yvonne

Plutonis was glad to hear from his comms: while he and Yvonne had been imprisoned for the last 2 weeks or so, and he had lost weight due to the bland seafood diet, he was okay. But his Mightiness was still debating whether to flush them out the nearest waterlock, or see if he could extract information and technology from them. Plutonis said they were on the same level as the sub but was not sure how far away. From a technical note: the Oollarians did not recognize the comm-dots, and those things have an amazing battery life!

Sinking the pinnace to what seemed to be the level of the moonpool, Jake and Moses get into the gel suits and get loaded with 2 spare gel suits and their weapons. It was decided that being submerged would not hurt the gauss rifle and things that could get damaged were placed in the convenient dry bags that Professor Cosmosis had brought along. He of such foresight. The might of the infinite ship's locker perhaps. 

outside the moonpool. The sub is the escape pod.

Swimming across the 10 or 20 meters, they got into the moonpool. There was a ledge and ladder going up to the double sea doors. The sub mas amber and red lights and is badly damaged.  After changing back into their armor (though not specifically mentioned I think leaving the gel suits either on the shelf or in the sub?), they ease their way past the doors. Rolling on my tables from the previous post, there were a few Greenies way down at the end of hall. Fortunately, the 2 that saw them, while they were His Mightiness' guards and police, were part of a nascent freedom league. They closed the doors behind them, and one trotted towards our two suspicious heroes. Keeping his arms well away from his large (and single shot) sidearm, he whispers that the prisoners are 3 sections away, past two pumping stations. He has to whisper pretty loudly as this is one of the engineering levels, and the pumps make a lot of noise. The guard backs up, and Jake and Moses start moving through the various sections towards the prison area.

In the middle of one of the pumping stations, they meet Jason and Thriss. The two agree to lead the characters to the jail. Jake gives Thriss his taser. Who immediately pulls a Luke Skywalker and stares down into the needles. Jake quietly pulls it back and explains how it gets used. Moving to the prison section, which according to Plutonis has not been fully guarded the last week or so after the initial surprise of illegal aliens wore off. His Mightiness or one of his counselors was concerned with spreading information about the rest of the universe and wanted to minimize contact with the professor and his assistant. 

Opening the hatch to the prison section, Thriss tries to shoot the guard with the taser. Rolling a 3, and with his -3 for an unfamiliar weapon, they were lucky he did not shoot himself! Rolling out of the way as the guard got up, drawing his gun, Thriss did not feel like a hero. Moses shot him in the back with a tranq shot, putting the guard to sleep. Grabbing the keys, they sent up and found Plutonis and Yvonne in adjacent cells. Putting the sleeping guard in there, they started to retrace their steps back to the moonpool. 

Unfortunately, I keep rolling 3s on the encounter table, and the tangle with 5 more Greenies. As they were pulling out pistols to shoot, Moses decided enough was enough and the gauss rifle came out to play. While our group was shot at, the players are fortunate the dice gods hate me even as a referee, and not a single shot landed (one roll was even snake eyes). Moses took down two of them, and I think Jake did as well. Unfortunately, gauss needles, while making hamburger of the guards, also ruptured the pump tanks behind the guards. Water was gushing out like a fire hose. Jason started to worry as automatic locks would quarantine each section, so they had to hurry to the next section. They got out as the water was above their ankles and rising. 

Thriss really wanted to leave Oollar, and said that his life expectancy as a sea miner is measured in a few years. Jason's wife had been killed by the dictator in one of the purges. He wanted outsiders to help arm the resistance but had no idea what Oollar could trade for. This discussion went on as everyone got into their gel suits. Thriss got into his suit, fortunately stored in the locker next to the moonpool. Without an air hose he ony had a couple minutes of air, but Jake and Moses maneuvered him to the air lock of the research sub. 

Thriss' diving suit.

And that is where we left the session. I'll need to fluff out the various NPCs, Plutonis, Yvonne and Thriss, a bit more, and poke around for some images other than Yvonne's above. Still no idea why that is how or why that was the image I had of her. Oh well - my brain works in strange ways!

Work update

The computer equipment shows up tomorrow, and I need to finish cleaning off that section of my desk to get it set up. The paints and minis will just have to be moved to the 3rd section only instead of being spread out. And of course, I have my normal jitters and nervousness about a new position. I've been that way since junior high school: the strangest and most uncomfortable dreams so I don't sleep well. Especially as I am not entirely (or even partially!) sure of what the expectations of this position are. Despite 73 items so far in the onboarding (all bureaucracy stuff), the software onboarding (source control trouble tickets, wikis and all the stuff around being a developer on a team) is yet to happen. So - I am nervous. Even after doing this stuff for 40 years, I still question myself. Which I think is a lot better than when I was being an arrogant a-hole and thinking I knew everything!

But: this may mean I don't get as far as I'd like in this game. I do want to get them to the asteroid belt, so that the player who dropped out can at least have his character check his claim. Perhaps joined by the engineer, who knows. But I may get caught up with work for a bit and need to concentrate on that more. We'll just see how that goes.

Oollar Factions

While officially there are multiple guilds on Oollar to handle the day-to-day work of surviving on a hostile planet, there are of course multiple political factions even within a dictatorship. A lot of this the players will never see or notice assuming they do go on a rescue mission for Professor Plutonis and his assistant Yvonne (who I am just going to use some pregens from Citizens of the Imperium for stats and all that). But I do want to have some NPCs from Oollar that will interact with the players.

First, I have a large map made from several segments of the Starship Geomorphs. There will be a chase from the moonpool or a water lock to get to the prisoners. Of course there will be people there, but not everyone is backing the dictator. There are some freedom fighters, and in fact, that telescope they noticed in their fly-by was in fact from one of those groups. And yes, even if I post this my players either won't read it or will read it after I post the next update. And even if they do read it, we're good about not meta-gaming. 

the lower complex

In the 10,000-meter view, His Mightiness Lord Grey is the dictator of Oollar. Fourth generation dictator who is barely holding the world together as the technology is hard to maintain. He has his goons nicknamed the Greenies as they were a seaweed green uniform. These men and women carry single-shot guns that are low impact but cause damage from the larger slug (same as a body pistol). His immediate circle of guards are actually well-trained and are willing to die for him. Those at the lower levels may not have that same fervor and harbors many who just want the benefits of working for his Mightiness.

There is at least one faction openly opposed to the dictatorship. Lord Grey has his own spies in this group and feels it is better to know your enemy. When they get too close to actual action, he initiates a purge where the most vocal are summarily tried and tossed out the nearest water lock. Survival in measured in seconds between the cold, the thin atmosphere, and the luck of the draw from any nearby carnivorous sea creatures. This group is known as the Freedom Fighters. 

There is another more subtle group that is also working on bringing down his Mightiness and his goons. This is the group that also has spies in both the Freedom Fighters and the Greenies. This group is working more slowly but also realize that the Greenies still outnumber their group by a significant margin. Working for his Mightiness allows for better food rations, weapons and much better working conditions. And the vast majority of the 2 billion inhabitants are, if not happy, then at least not in misery. 

Using the rogues pregens in the Citizens of the Imperium book, we have two rebels:

• Jason Garch 8948A5, age 50, 8 terms. Streetwise-1, Forgery-1, Bribery-1, JoT-1. An older man with thinning hair, Jacob has held a grudge against his Mightiness since his wife was murdered by him. She was a leader of the Freedom Fighters and caught up in one of the purges. 
• Thriss Hardy 85A35B, age 22 1 term. Streetwise-1, Demolition-1. A shaggy-haired and wiry youth,  Thriss just hates being part of the Mining Guild as it is dangerous work, though he has picked up demolitions as part of his job there. He wants off the planet if at all possible but has little to provide outside of demolitions. He will beg to leave with the group should they meet.

Interesting that someone with 8 terms only has 4 skills. And I'm ignoring the mustering out benefits, though Thriss does have a gun that he really does not know how to use!

And pulling from OSE, we'll have random encounter checks every 10 minutes or so, or once per sector (20x20 grid map). 1d6, and 1 = an encounter. Then a d6 roll each time they enter a new section:

1. Greenies. 1d6 guards show up, each has a body pistol with a single shot. Wearing cloth armor. Reaction roll as per rules, so the players may be able to talk their way through.
2. Freedom Fighters. 1d6. The Freedom Fighters want to get the 2 prisoners out of the prison and hidden in the main dome. Reaction roll + 2. They are armed with cudgels, no armor.
3. Greenies with Freedom Fighters. 1d6 Greenies or which at least half will be rebel sympathizers. If fighting starts the sympathizers will aid the players and help get the prisoners released. They will also explain the world politics as they understand it if asked.
4. Guild workers. 1d6 Machinist Guild workers (who have a wrench insignia). Reaction roll and utilize any character streetwise, carousing as a DM. A bad result and they will try and send out an alarm.
5. Jason and Thriss. The players will meet up with these two. They will help the players. 
6. Guild workers as above (4) but from the Pump Guild. Insignia is what looks like a tube connected to some machine (a pump),

If an alarm does go off (a chance with encounters 1, 3, 4 & 6 unless all enemies are either killed or unconscious), it will be 2d6 rounds before a squad of 4 Greenies shows up. 

If the group does not encounter Thriss and Jason, they will meet with them at the moonpool as the group makes their exit (assuming they actually make their exit, which assumes they also go in! But pretty sure that they will). Thriss really wants to leave with the group, and there is a mining suit near the pool. It will take 5 minutes for him to get into though and only has air for a few minutes as it normally uses an air pump from the station or boat to supply air. He will be begging, and Jason will urge the group to take him as well. 

While this is mostly an extraction scenario, the Freedom Fighters may try & get the players to stay and help "fight the man". With their weapons and skills the Fighters would have a real chance. Or so they believe, but as there are thousands of Greenies and limited ammo, the fight probably would not go well.

Inside the domes, the light is from incandescent bulbs that tend to flicker and cast a pale light over dark walls. The air is still thin and reeks of wet metal, but it is breathable. Endurance may be impacted if the players try to do too much but should normally not be an issue. The furniture and everything has a brutalist appearance: purely there for function with no style. The heavy equipment in the engineering sections looks old: rust, scuff marks and dents. And loud - there is always the sound of pumps, fans and heavy machinery make conversations on this level difficult. 

Some notes on running Traveller here. I really like Traveller - I tend to like rules-heavy games. Unfortunately, my group tends to be more narrative driven so I've always hesitated to running a Traveller game because of that, and they do not like science fiction as much as I do. And there are always assumptions, known or not, about any game. Traveller is a sandbox game: each game can be something entirely different, and the players do not have the built-in assumptions of most fantasy games. One of the players decided he was just not having fun so is dropping out. Part of it is I am not a great GM, but I think another part are some assumptions about the Traveller universe. Which is why I stuck this in MTU - leave a lot of the 50 years of lore behind unless it pops up organically. But I fear I am not getting this across well except for 2 of the players that have played Traveller before and know that each universe is different. This is also why I gave up running Corsairs: I don't think the players understood the world of Corsairs and were not having fun. Dolmenwood is a pretty generic fantasy game with known tropes and a specific setting, so they are comfortable there it seems. I do have a pretty thick skin at this point, but it bothers me if the players are not having fun. As it is mostly my presentation that I feel is lacking. 

As I am starting a new job in a week, not sure how long this game will run. But I may give up running games for a while as it does stress me out. I'd make a good assistant GM as I love all the stuff around running games: creating worlds, maps, characters, ideas. But getting them across in a good way seems to be more difficult than I like. And I do have a good bit of social anxiety, even among my friends. Which is one of the reasons I do try & run games - to get over those issues or at least learn to deal with them better. And of course, part of this is the anxiety from starting yet another new job. I am not discounting that impact on my emotional stability! You'd think a 62-year-old guy would have more confidence in himself!

Kinunir Session 4: Off to Oollar

Still calling this the Kinunir as there are a couple more scenarios that can still play out. And it is easier to tag a set of games so we can find all the posts.

Our crew meets up with the Professor at O'Leary's O'Lasers, who explains why they are taking a slight detour to Oollar. Professor Plutonis had chartered a ship (a 600-ton merchant) to transport himself, his assistant Yvonne, and a 4-person sub that could be transported in a 50-ton shuttle to Oollar. He firmly believes that there is an alien city in the depths, and despite the inherent dangers of that system, went anyway. The pilot's story:

We were researching at the edge of the Eye, looking for remains of an alien city Dr. Plutonis believed existed there. He was in a pocket sub with Yvonne when an explosion rocked the sub. I think they used some sort of underwater explosive device. It killed the controls of the ship and they towed them to one of those big floating domes. Think they said it was St. Yon City - each of their cities I think are named after their saints. The comms still worked but I was in the cutter waiting for them to return. I saw some surface boats heading my way, and Dr. Plutonis said to leave and get help. That was almost 10 days ago. He did have some comm equipment, and I know which dome he was taken to before I was out of range. 

The group does some shopping (I had posted the extensive Consolidated Equipment list to a resource channel in Discord), I stock the lab ship as well, and the next day they fly up to the lab ship, Tyrell piloting the research pinnace up. Fortunately, Pascal can also pilot the shuttle, and Jake can fly the air/rafts. 

They make a quick tour of the ship, and meet the rest of the crew and scientists:

• Navigator Sir Wor Weura
• Engineer Ben Cramer
• The Boffins

Getting their stuff loaded, and Tyrell flies out to the 100-diameter mark to make the jump to Oollar. It was an uneventful week, though Moses does have a habit of cleaning his weapons in the small lounge. 

Coming out of jump near Oollar, they make a few orbits around the planet. There are no radio, radar or other electromagnetic signals. Moses gets a faint reading on the sub's beacon system. Loading into the pinnace, they go to take a closer look. The very thin atmosphere is clear over the Eye, so I did not make them do any piloting checks. They did zero in on the dome.

the Eye of God

Getting closer, Moses managed to get the feeds from the sub. It was sitting in what appeared to be a moon pool. The engines were inactive, and the explosion damaged the hull so that it was no longer seaworthy. On one of the flights search they also noticed what appeared to be a telescope, so it would appear that they had been spotted via the old Mk1 Eyeball. 

And this is where we left the session. I've a few notes on the lab ship and estimate it will take 8 trips of the pinnace to refuel the ship (which has fuel purifiers even if the original ship did not list those). 

Lab Ship Info

Refueling: 90 tons, shuttle as 12-ton fuel capacity, will take 8 trips to refuel. From a water world, 1 hour on land and round-trip time is about 2 hours. No idea how close this is, and it could go faster if they use a collapsable fuel bladder that would give an extra 8 tons or so of fuel per trip.

Staterooms:

9: Pilot / Tyrell

10: Navigator / Sir Wor Weura

11: Medic / Pascal

12: Engineer / Bevin Cramer

19

20

21

22

23

24

25: Aurora Oaks, lead scientist

26: Tora Beauchamp, student/scientist

27: Ivo Bardot, student/scientist

28

29

30: medbay, with Medtech autodoc & medical stuff

31: gym - treadmill, compact weight machine

33

34: Lounge

38: Professor Victor Cosmosis / Engineer, scientist

Ship’s Locker:

2x respirators A

Disposable vacc suit x2

2 shotguns, loads for shells, rubber bullets

2 handguns, auto-pistols

Other items as needed depending on story (things get lost in that locker and found much later. Just like my pantry at home)

Air/Rafts (x2)

Beacon, small (500km range)

Comms, TL-12 continental range

Air filters x4

Filter canteens x4

Emergency blanket x4

Trench knife x4

Vehicle survival kit

Labs (main and aux)

Hazmat suits x2

O2 masks (1 hour) x4

Other

Vacc suits (TL12) x4 (2 in the spoke)

Medtech AutoDoc (stateroom 30)

6 gel suits suitable for the cold of Oollar

2 harpoon guns

I am also using vacc-rated air/rafts. No need to wear a vacc-suit. Unless you plan on disembarking in a vacuum. I'll also note that grave vehicles can only get to about 10 diameters out from the planet before the grav drive no longer has enough to push against. At 10 diameters effective gravity is about 0.1m/s or 0.01G. Flying a grav vehicle to orbit the pilot will notice things slowing down as they get further away. 

Other updates

I've not done much with the Traveller software. I did add a .NET 1 page repo for what are essentially scripts. Smaller in scope, and runs on Macs, PCs, and Linux systems. And no need for an internet connection. Which was also the point of the larger, more complicated version. But I got disheartened watching what others are doing, even though my stuff had an entirely different intent. I may get back to it, but with the news below, not sure when I'll have time and interest simultaneously.

I'm also employed again, starting Aug 3. Working for a large, international company which I've never done before. So I'll admit to being nervous. But if I decide I do not like it or fit in well, I will go ahead and retire. But I really like writing software, and as long as the fun outweighs any potential issues I'll go ahead. I even have a fancier title: Principal Software Engineer. Which is also alarming (me and my Peter Principle / imposter syndrome issues!). 

Shu Nidurninni - Lab Ship Tour

The Shi Nidurnni is a 15-year-old Lavalier Class Lab ship owned by Professor Victor Cosmosis. 

from Double Adventure Death Station / Argon Gambit

From the journal of Aurora Oaks:

Tora and Ivo were watching from behind the pilot's couch as the Shu's pinnace slowly slotted into the docking ring. As the lab ship was not rotating it was a simple maneuver, mostly automated. The loud clicks against the hull and the green light over the airlock indicated we were locked and air pressures synced up. Shutting down the pinnace controls, Johan slid out of the pilot's seat, saying "This is my last trip here - moving on to the Freebooter. The prof is looking for some new crew as most of our contracts are up." He cycles open the airlock and we get into the small lift vestibule. We were used to the zero-G here as ship's gravity was at a 90-degree angle from the pinnace's. I always thought this was a strange thing, and while both Ivo & Tora managed not to get space sick, I did the 1st time. It was embarrassing. Pressing button the lift doors opened. It had clear arrows pointing to what would be down, and copious handholds. Pulling our bags in, we all grabbed the handles and pressed the down button. The door slid closed and we jerked a bit up as the lift started moving. In a few seconds weight came back and our feet and bags landed on the floor. 

The lift opens up to the reception area, a pretty spacious area with some worn furniture and a ship's plaque on the wall. I always enjoyed reading the "Knowledge is the surest vector" part. And noted the hatch next to the lift that led to the ladder that climbed the spoke. Johan made sure to point that out on our first visit here. Grabbing our bags, we left the reception area and passed several staterooms until we got ours. Mine was adjacent to the iris valve that led to the crew quarters, and Tora was next to me, and Ivo next to her. There were 4 empty staterooms as this ship could handle a lot more people than just us. But Montca University was fully funding our research, so we had the primary lab to ourselves. Victor was using the aux lab for his own research, and we were looking forward to getting to the Xyman system for first-hand research in that most interesting belt.

While we were still in orbit, and had some time, we decided to walk the ring. Just like the spoke was an interesting design choice, a ring ship just seemed so quaint. But being able to spin for pseudo-gravity was important for some research where grav systems can interfere with some experiments. The access button next to the iris valve was green, and the doors slid into walls as we walked forward. The crew quarter section was quiet, and the emergency bridge doors were locked as we passed the 2nd drive pod. The carpet underfoot was worn, and other than the signs on some of the doors it was easy to just see this long corridor curving up as some sort of tunnel. But then we got into the aux lab, and there was a good bit more space. Victor's computers seemed to be running some sort of simulation, and we passed the various empty stations. I saw the emergency nooks where survival bubbles and emergency vacc suits were stashed, along with basic fire-fighting gear. Though I've been told that in case if a real emergency the atmosphere could be vented. Which is why there were emergency vacc suits and balls. I keep thinking maybe we should train a bit on that, just in case. 

The iris valve to our lab was open. I noticed the warning paint over the floor hatch. This is how some of our larger equipment got moved in a few weeks back. The floor here was also covered with a thin carpet of an odd orange color. We checked the lab equipment, and somehow Tora managed to scratch herself on something. I have no idea how she survived childhood - she is always having some patch on her from some scrape or cut. But she designed some of the equipment and knows her stuff. Most everything was on standby, though we would start up the main computer and some of the equipment to analyze some of the specimens we have. We just need to get to the Xyman system to get some in its natural state. Or unnatural as Victor keeps telling me.

MagMagMag from COTI somewhere in this thread

Continuing on past the 50+ meter lab we pass a closed iris valve to the cargo bay. A few crates are here, and various supplies. The next iris valve is also closed but opens on our touch, and we pass the other air/raft bay and drive pod 1. The bridge is dark as we are in orbit, and we all wonder who the next pilot will be - Joahn was nice enough but we barely knew him as he ferried us up here half a dozen times and helped with our equipment. Past the bridge were the crew staterooms, blandly anonymous. Another iris valve and we were at the galley. A little bit further and we had gone full circle, back to the reception area.

And no, no robots like that in MTU. And I asked AI for a dedication plaque and it was pretty interesting - it got W.H. Keith as the chief architect! While this lab ship was originally for the IIS, after almost 15 years of use Dr. Cosmosis became the owner of it. He may want to change out the plaque! I did a couple minor edits on it 

IMPERIAL INTERSTELLAR SCOUT SERVICE

LABORATORY VESSEL — TYPE L (LAB SHIP)

SHU NIDURNNIS  

“Knowledge is the surest vector.”

Commissioned: 1087

Registry: IISS-LS-7712

Class: Type-L Modular Research Vessel

Displacement: 400 tons

Primary Mission: Deep-space biological, chemical, and xenological research

Secondary Mission: Survey support, anomaly investigation, orbital laboratory operations

Constructed at: Gashidda Orbital Yards, Regina Subsector  

Chief Architect: W. M. Keith  

Lead Systems Engineer: Dr. Sula Hedin  

Hull Configuration: Ring-Habitat with Central Spindle

Drive Systems: Model/4 Jump Plant • Triple Redundant Maneuver Grid

Power: Fusion Pile Mk VII

Crew Complement: 12 (plus up to 20 research specialists)

Motto:  

“To seek the unknown, to map the unseen,

to carry the light of inquiry into the long night.”

Presented on behalf of the Imperial Interstellar Scout Service  

Regina Directorate — Spinward Marches

Kinunir: Scientists and the Shu Nidurninni

I've already said we have 3 scientists on the Shu Nidurninni, and now I need to generate them! As the Montca University is paying for 6 months of lab time aboard the ship for the Xyman system. Perhaps some anti-matter research? Going old-school with Citizens of the Imperium Scientist career.

Aurora Oaks, Lead Scientist

876B9A, 6 terms, age 42

Computer-3, Gravatics-1, Mechanical-1, Navigation-1, JoT-1, Leader-1, Admin-1

Working with strong computer models of the standard gravatic model, Aurora Oaks still has not achieved her PhD but is undeniably intelligent. She believes that the natural contra-terrain of the Xyman system may lead to a breakthrough. She has convinced the Montca University at Enris to charter the Shu Nidurninni to the Xyman system and is bringing along 2 of her graduate students. Easy going about anything other than gravatics, Aurora has procrastinated for her thesis work and thinks this trip whe will get a definitive paper to defend and finally get around to getting her doctorate. 

Tora Beauchamp, Student

7447A7, 3 terms, age 30

Computer-2, Electronics-2, Medical-1

A loud yet clumsy woman, Tora has the perpetual imposter-syndrome. She is somehow loudly meek with a large voice for such a small woman. She also always has a bandage on somewhere as she is always getting hurt working on various projects. With her fellow scientists, she is hoping to get a paper out of this project and get her PhD.

ArtStation - Characters02

Ivo Bardot, Student

8758B5, 3 terms, age 30

Computer-2, Gravatics-1, Grav-Vehicle-1, Carousing-1. 

A boisterous man leaning to over-indulging and having the beginnings of a beer belly to show for it, Ivo already has his PhD but has been a student of Aurora Oaks for the last several years. He is really the one driving her to finally get her PhD. He gets along well with everyone it seems, though Tora seems to shrink down a bit around him.

Ship Patch

I also decided to make a ship patch. I made the basic idea then unashamedly got AI to clean it up.

original via Google Draw

modified by CoPilot

 

The character generation process

Note: scientists get Computer-1 automatically, so the final info includes that bump.

started: 734797 ended: 7447A7, age 30

Term 1: Survived, and gets Electronic-1, Computer-1. She is leaning to the technical side and perhaps is the wone keeping the computers in shape. But she barely survived this term - maybe crossed the wrong wires!

Term 2: Survived, receiving Medical-1, +1 Education. No self-medication here, but as she is working on potentially dangerous projects, she took some medical training!

Term 3: +1 Dex, Electronic-2. Working a bit to be a bit less clumsy. And We'll leave her here at age 30, working on her PhD.

started: 876A7A, ended: 876B9A, age 42

Term 1: Survived, Leader-1, Admin-1. This looks like she will be the lead scientist.

Term 2: Survived, Gravatics-1, Computer-1. Specializing in gravatic theory?

Term 3: Survived, +1 Education, Mechanical-1. Learning to work on the machinery.

Term 4: Survived, +1 Education, +1 +1 Intelligence. Just getting smarter and learning more.

Term 5: Barely survived, JoT-1, Navigation-1. Several generic skills, oddly gets Navigation skill. Hoping to work on a lab ship I think!

Term 6: Barely survived, no aging effects, Computer-2, +1 Education. Leading her cohort on the ship.

started: 665A78

Term 1: Barely survived, +1 Intelligence, Gravatics-1

Term 2: Barely survived, Gun Combat/Body Pistol-1, +1 Intelligence

Term 3: Died. And the only one who actually picked up a weapon skill!

Started: 8756B5, ended 8758B5

Term 1: Survived, Carousing-1, +1 Intelligence. He must have been partying with the smart crowd.

Term 2: Survived, Grav Vehicle-1, +1 Intelligence. Well, someone needs to be able to pilot the air/rafts!

Term 3: Survived, Computer-1, Gravatics-1. Some actual scientist skills! And we'll have him at this point as well

Kinunir Session 3: Finishing the 1st Arc

Pascal had visited the injured shuttle pilot in the hospital. He found the following information:

He's in the Waygin Hospital (outside of the port in the startown) as his injuries were not too bad. No guards or anything and he'll be released in 2 days. A couple of broken ribs and a broken arm. Healing pretty fast as the hospital has Medstar auto-docs and bone grafters.

He'll say that he was just carrying General Products engine couplers. He was re-routed due while de-orbiting to pad 17 as normally he would have landed at the General Products landing field near the shipyard. But as reported, about 200 meters up the m-drive seemed to stutter and have uneven thrust. He managed to avoid the concourse and fortunately the safety systems cut in and he was not too badly hurt, but somehow the drives were on fire. The emergency shuttle was there and they got him out but the cargo and shuttle were almost entirely destroyed.

And in related news:

Dateline 357-1105

SPA and the Ministery of Safety have removed the last pieces of the downed shuttle from the pad. Engineers have resurfaced the landing area, and pad 17 will be open for business by 360-1105. The investigation continues. Kane Howe has been released from the Waygin hospital, and currently is not considered responsible for the drive failures.

In related news, the SPA has been unable to confirm why the General Products shuttle was rerouted from the General Products private yard to the Montca Downport. Our investigative reporter is digging into the facts. 

Before Treena shows up, 2 players placed bets on the 11 teams in the Race to the Bottom. And I had not fleshed that out, and so we have another news update:

Dateline 358-1105

The 43rd Race to the Bottom has finished. SeaAdventure’s Quicksilver 2 person submersible won the race in 5 hours and 13 minutes. Race results:

1. SeAdventure Quicksilver, 5 hours, 13 minutes
2. Otterbanks Maritime, 5 hours, 19 minutes
3. General Products FastSub III, 5 hours 45 minutes
4. Deepsea Hulls Orca, 5 hours 59 minutes
5. Montca Motors Little Squirt, 6 hours 13 minutes
6. Enri Engineering Sealcraft, 6 hours 18 minutes
7. Famille Spofulum FS Torpedo, 6 hours 47 minutes - disbarred from illegal fuel source
8. Ritchie Subwerks Gogetter, 6 hours 51 minutes
9. WunderSubs Proto-I, 7 hours 3 minutes
10. Flinks Works Minnow, DNF
11. Asteria Work Group Shark, DNF

Team Famille Spofulum was disqualified after team officials tested the fuel which was highly dangerous to the environment. Racer Mitzie, dressed in her trademarked red gelsuit, had to be forcibly removed while having what witnesses say was a major hissy fit. 

Treena shows up, two auto-carts following her. They gear up for Montca's thin and tainted atmosphere and walk to the halfway point between Montca Downport and the General Products Shipyards. Moses and Tyrell accompany here while Jake and Pascal stay in Concourse 17 to keep an eye on things as much as they can.

The drones fly to the ship, apparently undetected. While one plays guard and is viewing the fireworks that are now starting at the race, the other releases the spider-bot. Which opens the airlock door. With Moses' and Tyrell's help, the drone crawls around and identifies the black globe fittings, then starts mapping out the fuel tanks.

This is when Jake sees red alarm lights flashing over the GP Yards and contacts the outside team. I'll also note that comms between them are, by default, encrypted. We're talking future WeChat or whatever, and with their comms they can actually communicate directly and not need to go through Montca TelCo. Though the can. Jake starts out from the airlock as the drones lose communication with Treena and the boys. These drones are also semi-autonomous, and they had preloaded the directions, so they can operate on their own. Once the job is completed, they will return to base. While they have GPS, they also have inertial guidance systems that are independent of the network. We think it is intentional jamming on the part of GP, and someone can see a security air/raft going through the yards when communications is restored. Moses, our ex-pirate, has the drones head north towards the last of the fireworks rather than straight back to them.

As the drones are coming back from the swarm of news and blogging drones also covering the start of the race, the security air/raft shows up. The guards ask about drone license, and Treena just scowls and says they don't have that authority. Moses manages to persuade them that yes, they were streaming the fireworks and has the video proof. And at that point Jake was calling about the after party to get to. Begrudgingly the guards got back in and flew back to the GP yards. 

It was late at night as they all reconvened at O'Leary's. Treena handed over the crystal memchip with all the recording information, and, after Jake got her an algae sandwich, she and her powered luggage trotted back off to the transit system to go wherever she was going. They tried to call Mr. Grey, as they are calling the Oberlines executive, and got a message service. Saying that his catering pickup would be ready at 9am the next morning, the group turned in.

We also had a quick flashback when Jake tailed our mysterious executive as he was leaving the port. He got into a very expensive speeder and left on his own. Jake also visited his old precinct and talked with Officer Fran, who he has known for 6 years. She was one of the 1st responders to the shuttle crash, and she saw what looked to be computer parts.

At 9 sharp, Mr Grey shows up. Data is verified, cash is left behind and Mr Grey takes his data, and like Treena the evening before, heads off to wherever he was heading off to.

When Jake mentioned the computer parts, and Pascal said that Kane Howe, the shuttle pilot, said it was engine couplers, they realized what was reported did not match first-hand accounts. And that a GP shuttle landing at the Downport vs their own port was unusual as well. 

Before much more conversion came up, the Professor came in, worried and in a hurry. His good friend was doing research on Oollar and has gone missing! As it is on the way (sort of) to Xyman, he has decided to take that detour and leave in the next 48 hours. Giving time for the new crew to spend the Cr15K on weapons for the ship armory, as well as spend their own credits for any gear they want. With Cr60K in their pockets, and being on a high-tech world, though one with a high law level as well, they can pick up all sorts of goodies. I just need to know what they want. I will fill out the ship's armory (probably a converted stateroom as the lab ship does not have an armory!). I also need to flesh out the 2 scientists that are paying for the ship for their research. Probably not the Death Station research!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

GM Notes

Info related to some of the background things here, so the players may not want to read from this point forward! Though a good chunk of this is actually available in Library Data should they choose to research any of the companies involved here. Just not all

Oberlindes Lines pulled some strings to get the shuttle re-routed and was testing a projected energy device that can disable m-drives. The executive paying the group is part of a small group in the megacorp that is doing some industrial privateering basically, trying to get General Products. From wiki  Oberlindes Lines - Traveller And I may flesh out Mr. Grey a bit more - he could well be a recurring character for something, nefarious or otherwise.

347-1105: The Bloodwell, a 1000-ton merchant owned by Oberlindes Lines, is destroyed by Imperial naval fire. (Adventure 03 - Twilight's Peak, GDW, 1980, p. 42.)

361-1105: The TNS at Dentus (Spinward Marches 2201) receives word that the "Kinunir" class colonial cruiser Adamdun mistakenly destroyed the merchant craft Bloodwell. (JTAS #05, GDW, 1980, p. 05.)

1105: Great concerns are raised over the destruction of the Oberlindes vessel Bloodwell by the Imperial battlecruiser Adamdun after the incident is attributed to the failure of a recently fitted tamper-proof transponder. (Behind the Claw, SJG, 1998, p. 08.)

1105: Oberlindes Lines passes the 200 ship mark.

Oollar

In looking around the D'Arlee Quandrant, one of the jump 2 systems from Montca is Oollar. It has a very interesting UWP: E83A9A-4. A low-tech water world of billions ruled by a charismatic dictator and a very thin atmosphere where you need a respirator to walk around. Steam-powered world so how does that work?

First, it is an amber zoned world. I imagine huge floating cities that use steam pumps to pressurize steel and glass domed cities that follow the currents. As it is ruled by a single dictator (odd roll so male) he must also have lieutenants on all the floating cities to keep order. Looking up what a charismatic dictator operates:

• Charisma and Personal Appeal: The leader is seen as extraordinary, often possessing moral authority, a compelling vision, or a sense of mission. Followers may believe the leader is uniquely qualified to solve national or global problems.
• Moral or Ideological Justification: Many charismatic dictators frame their rule as necessary for national survival, unity, or progress, often appealing to shared cultural or historical values.
• Personal Cult of Leadership: They build a personality cult, portraying themselves as infallible and indispensable, which reinforces loyalty and suppresses dissent.
• Use of Propaganda and Symbolism: Charismatic dictators often use media, public ceremonies, and symbols to project strength, unity, and inevitability of their rule.
• Control Through Trust: Followers may obey not because of laws or institutions, but because they personally trust the leader’s judgment and believe in their cause

And that is almost the basis for the Divine Intervention adventure almost! I may steal parts of that, though it is a high-tech world. Though I actually have a few other ideas based on the NPCs and characters that would also work, and perhaps have something buried in the ocean.

I won't do the whole world mapping as it is just a giant ocean. And the floating islands will have various guilds:

• Machinist Guild - in charge of keeping the buildings, domes and steam piping in shape. Includes the pumps but not operating them
• Pump Guild - in charge controlling the great air pumps that
• News Guild - in charge of propaganda, err, news from the glorious ruler
• Electrical Guild - in charge of the electrical systems
• Transportation Guild - in charge of driving the domed cities
• Farm Guild - in charge of the great kelp farms, the primary food stock
• Fishing Guild - in charge of the fishing fleet, primary source of protein
• Mining Guild - deep sea divers who mine the depths for the materials needed for the domes
• Security Guild - maintains security over the domes.
• Cutting Guild - loggers of the underseas forests

Probably a few more. Definitely a steam-punk vibe. Early radio with giant antennas, diving suits with air hoses connected to the pumps. 

Some questions and maybe some answers:

• Why are there even people here? Centuries ago, Miro Aspettrei, a cult leader, used all the funds and chartered 4 colony ships to Oollar. He wanted to create "The Heaven's Paradise" and wanted the whole world to himself to rule. The original domes were created from the hulls of those colony craft.
• How are the domes even built? On an ocean-covered planet, mining underwater is very hazardous yet the brave men and women of the Mining Guild done their suits and bring back the precious metals used to repair the domes and make new ones
• how are there 2 billion people? The 8 colony cruisers had almost 140,000 people in it in cold sleep. One of the tenants is to go forth and multiply, so families tended to be large. A dozen children per family was not unheard of. Population growth though has hit the hard resources of a low-tech world and the 2 billion now inhabiting Oollar discretely practice birth control. Though I think even that is not enough to explain the population.
• does Oollar interact with other systems? It is amber-zoned and while Miro the 5th keeps a firm grip on the population, there is a hidden black market for higher tech items, such as respirators, food stuffs and even birth control medications. With the low technology, ships can land in the ocean and meet up with local smugglers. Radar is not an option However, many of the domes do have slow torpedoes which can cause ship damage. 
• what does everyone eat? A lot of seaweed and fish products. The Farm Guild handles seaweed farming as well as the farm domes. The Fishing Guild handles fishing, from both boats above water to netting and fish farms in the depths. Smuggled food, especially treats, is highly prized as well as highly punished.
• What are the steam pumps burning for fuel? Dried seaweed only goes so far, but there are huge underwater "forests" of a material, that once dried, burns better than coal. The smoke does need to be vented but with the thin atmosphere, venting gases is pretty easy (and just guessing, but yes, there will be a series of baffles I assume but I am no atmosphere expert!)
• What are the conditions in the floating cities like? Crowded, cramped, smelly and mostly dirty. Think of Dicken's view of the slums. Except in the Grand Leader's area which is spotless and maintained by hundreds of servants. But with the crowds, while most people know everyone in their circles, there are so many people that strangers are not uncommon.
• Do they speak the common language, and would it have evolved over time? Yes, though Oollar does have several regional accents based on the domes, the common Anglic is still spoken.

And why all this info? Because the Professor is going to want to go here. For reasons I am still working on!

And based on the Book 6 book, Oollar is orbiting in orbit 0 around the M1 V star at 0.2 AU or so, and it has 1 belt & 1 gas giant. That close to its sun gives it a 49-day year! And even though it is that close, it is going to be a cold world, so massive icebergs float around as well. And that close, probably tidally locked so the far side is a perpetual ice sheet, miles thick, and the sunward side an "eye" of liquid ocean. Now known as The Eye Of God by the 2 billion natives. The domes mostly congregate at the edge of the Eye, where there is slushy ice. There is a constant churn at the terminator zone which is also aided by a strong thermal core of the planet. The water is rich in nutrients and hosts a large number of aquatic lifeforms well-suited for this strange world!

I really need to get back to that program I was writing, though now I am leaning to just putting in a SEC line and extrapolating the system. Yes, it would be the 43rd version! And I may bow down to the inevitable and ask an AI to write it so see how that works.

Dolmenwood Session 3: Leaving the Fey Lands

After a good bit of delays for various reasons, we returned to the Dolmenwood adventure. Our party of heroes, including one very quiet Fern Evergreen (I am just really bad at running NPCs alongside characters!) peeked into the family crypt to see two dancing skeletons. Pirouetting in the air, the jolly remains of Sir Chyde's parents asked if the party wished to dance. No one took them up on their offer. Seeing the chasm on the floor, and green slime and vapors. LozeBelle carefully checked the coffins: the 2 that were open were Sir Chyde's parents, apparently the sky dancing skeletons. The three other closed coffins contained the remains of his siblings. Peeking down the chasm it seemed to have sunlight reflecting off of snow. No one tried to throw anything down, or even clamber down - which was the safest thing to do. To avoid the slime, Elrod started up on the clsoed caskets to get to the door at the opposite side of the family crypt. The skeletons where not happy and attacked! A minor hit, then Friar Moon managed to turn the undead, who fled to the furthest corner of the room. 

The group gets to the next chamber, with 4 pillars in the room (though to be honest: depending on the size of those pillars they really would have been crowding that room. I think the map could have been a bit larger, though I suppose realistically it was the correct size). At the far end are heavy looking stone doors, flanked by 8' tall dog statues. Above the door was inscribed Call to the Companions. Unfortunately, realu life had interrupted the game for a long time and no one, including me, remembered that the Fairy Princess has mentioned the dogs' names. We did a wisdom roll, and 1 player got one of the names. Anyway, LozeBelle went up to the doors, and the statues did nothing. Elrod tossed a rock the simply bounced off the statues. The Dwarf fighter then tried to open the doors and one of the statues lunged at her. Elrod jumped up to swing at the door with his hammer, but it barely chipped. A quick fight started, and Keir, being part Fey, realized that mundane weapons could not hurt the enchanted statues. 

Fleeing down a side corridor, the animated statue dog stopped at the edge of the room. Deciding to explore in another direction, they found the chapel of St. Sedge. Lighting the candle, the group felt a wind and heard the sounds of battle. Behind a tapestry they found a wedged door that led to the priest's chambers. Along with 3 wormtongues. And while the game gave the stats, no images there nor in the monster manual. Pictures are always nice. A battle happened, but being stuck in the corner only 3 characters could get into position to fight. Elord was grievously wounded, and the acid spit did not help. Technically he got to 0 HP and in Dolmenwood and OSE, that means death. I decided to use the optional rule, and washing off the acid and casting some healing spells. he was brought back. Though he lost a constitution point.

It was at this point I remembered that the Princess gave the names of those hounds, so the normally quiet Fern (the NPC Elf) suddenly recalled the names. Back to the hall and speaking both names the door opened up. Inside the ghost of Sir Chyde welcomed them and asked if they would take his ring to the princess. As they took the ring from the skeleton's hand in his casket, the ghost disappeared. 

Going back to the lower level, they entered the Fey woods, snow falling on their shoulders. Trudging through the snow they got back to the tower, where Grimmlegridge the troll and Griddlegrim permitted them to enter, despite offering more mushrooms. A threat about not letting the princess get what she asked for led them straight her. Giving her the ring, the ghost of Sir Chyde showed up and the Fey and astral ghost seemed to hug.

Rewards were given: the gem of resurrection, a few of the snow crystals, and the Dwarf got a magical hammer with a butterfly engraved on it (+2 damage and only weighs half of what a normal war hammer weighs. They needed a magic weapon). She also had their wounds healed and restored that CON stat for the Breggle. Declining to stay for the wedding, they start back. The forest seemed denser and harder to get through yet they did finally get back to the lower level of the crypt. Somehow it was night outside, so they set up camp for the evening after closing the crypt back up, adding a warning to stay out on the door, and hiking a bit into the woods so as to not be sleeping on a burial mound.

In the family crypt

Next morning, as they are fishing and getting breakfast, a large 5' Otter shows up. Only because I saw the meme a while ago and it tickled me. Though the players were really focused on the fact that the Otter was not wearing clothes. And I'm doing what one series of books did that I liked: the sentient creatures were capitalized, and the "cousins" (non-magical/sentient) were lower case. So, an Otter is an intelligent, speaking otter, and an otter is a regular otter. Anyway, the Otter, Hermes, does have a quest for the group: to correct the hidden Shrine of St. Wort. Which is lost and somewhere south of Fog Lake. They do agree to do the quest and then head back to the Giant's Nose. Where they discover it has been 5 days since they left.

Hermes, the quest-giving Otter

Resting and getting supplies, and adjusting for XP, no one leveled up. A few days later, they head up Cave Lane. This road is at the bottom of a crevice and only gets daylight at noon. No one passes them in either direction for several hours of travel. They do notice the occasional smashed instrument along the way and posit several theories, most prevalent is that someone really hates bards. 

A bit past midday they come to a stone bridge, and a Grimalkin strumming a silver-stringed lute. She introduces herself as Dandy Prisslwhiff, bard. When asked if she had any information, she was willing to trade info for a musical duel or solving a riddle. As none of the characters were a bard or had any musical abilities, they opted for the riddle. I had to write it down, but here was a bit of an issue for me: we've only started playing in the Dolmenwood, and 2 of the players were playing Dolmenwood natives. As people who grew up and lived in the woods, they would have most likely figured it out. The players, on the other hand, not steeped with all the knowledge, have no clue. I decided to just let them have the answer and give them the info that the shrine is probably west of where they are, somewhere in a river. Which is why Hermes wants it fixed - he is worried that the human god may get upset with a shrine that is not correct. 

And this is where we left that session. We finished the 1st adventure and are starting along a 2nd. I need to think things through a bit more and I have several ideas and adventures I can plunder. Hopefully keep things fun and exciting for the group.

A few things in the adventure:

1. That chasm actually led back to the Feylands - the light was reflecting off the snow fields outside the tower. That ring, connecting the 2 worlds, was weakening the barrier between Dolmenwood and the Feylands.

• Had anyone touched or had anything touch the slime, it too would have floated up. Not sure how long that would have lasted.

I am still having some issues running combat of course and tracking more than 1 NPC just seems harder than it should be.