0103 – The Great Escape – Part VI – On the Way to Zloczew – The Hunters

 1045 07 AUG 2000, Near Weilun, Poland

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Not everyone you meet is tryin’ to kill you. It is hard to remember that little bit of wisdom these days but that does not make it any less true. We had a chat with those hunters and, although they could not help us get the supplies delivered, they were a welcome break to lead being slung over our heads at high speed.

Wally thanked them for their time and handed over a clip for their AK. The really liked that and then everyone went on their way, still breathing.

Just to recap, the team has met a group of hunters from Zloczew. They are frightened but unwilling to run so that they won’t be perceived as doing something shifty. They are not willing to talk but the leader is very ambitious. Where to go from here is the big question.

Both Wally and Klasha speak Polish, although Wally is the only native speaker. Klasha is also seriously wounded, so we should probably leave her out of the action for a while.

It is probably not a good idea to dismount Wally alone but at the same time, the group does not want to appear as a threat. One other member should accompany him, excluding the driver (Robinson) and the gunner (Potato). Potato would probably be a threat just by his presence. That being settled, Wally and Macron dismount, Macron slightly behind and to the left of Wally as the approach the group. Wally has his weapon slung and Macron has his pointed up, trying hard to be non-threatening.

The characters had an interaction with Zloczew when they drove out the stragglers that had taken up residence in the town. Therefore, it is possible that the hunters know the group, as they are responsible for the civilian’s weapons. Still, we can ask the GME.

[GME: Do the hunters recognize the characters after they come close? - Chaos Rank 6 – Somewhat Likely (80% - it is a large town but the group stayed a couple of days and may have met more people but probably not everyone) - 33% - Yes]

Now that the hunters know who the group are, there may be a chance that they are more inclined to talk to the group. The characters helped them out once in their time of need and has only had a positive impact on the community.

[GME: Will the hunters now talk to the group? - Chaos Rank 6 – Very Likely (90%) - 52% - Yes]

So now everyone can relax and start talking to each other. The initial reluctance probably comes from the fact that the hunters do not recognize Wally, as he was brought onboard after Mitchell was killed in an ambush while the group was recovering the OT-64. Marshall probably watched the whole thing.

Wally dismounted and approached the group, his hands hooked into his web belt. The hunters still clutched their weapons, watching his every move. When Macron came around the end of Can-Can, a hint of recognition passed over their faces. One of the younger ones then pointed toward the turret where Potato’s bulk filled the turret hatch. After that, the group relaxed, knowing we meant them no harm.

A good day then, no one has to die. The easiest solution would be for the hunters to travel farther south and deliver the medication to the townspeople of Weilun. That would, however, be a major risk for the group. Still, one can ask.

[GME: Would the hunters be willing to smuggle the medication into Weilun for the characters? - Chaos Rank 6 – Very Unlikely (45%) - 74% - No]

I did not really expect them too. In the current state of the world, that is asking a lot. There is probably a lot of trade between the towns, maybe the hunters know of a merchant or smuggler that would be willing to take over the transport.

[GME: Do the hunters know of someone that would be willing to smuggle the medication into Weilun for the characters? - Chaos Rank 6 – Somewhat Likely (80%) - 96% - No]

Would have been too good to be true anyway. Guess there is not much more that the characters can hope to learn from the hunters, so they can probably part ways.

On to Zloczew.

0102 – The Great Escape – Part V – On the Way to Zloczew

 1045 07 AUG 2000, Near Weilun, Poland

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After strapping the generator on the back deck and stowing the small freezer with the blood and plasma, the team can prepare the package for the civilians. The drugs most needed to combat the outbreak are:

Item	No. Available
Antibiotic – (Liquid or Oral)	95 Units
Mild Pain-Reliever	163 Units

It would have been nice to have more and a lot of people got hit for very little return, but that is the way it goes sometimes.

After the package is prepared, the team is left with:

Item	No. Available
Blood, Whole	2 Units
Plasma	3 Units
Sedative, Strong	160 Units
Doctor's Medical Kit	2 Kits
Small Freezer	1
1.5kw Generator	1

The greatest problem now is how to get the medication BACK to Weilun. It would probably not be advisable to roll on back into town, drop off the wounded civilian and the drugs. Better to maintain the appearance of a marauder raid.

Instead the team can continue on to Zloczew. They have been there before, freeing the town from the control of a group of stragglers. The townspeople will probably not be very upset to see them and maybe the team can find a way of getting the medication back to Weilun.

We have not had a random encounter during this period of travel so I can just go ahead and roll. The territory around Zloczew used to be classified Terrorized, as the stragglers had taken over the town and had their way with it before the officer showed up and restored order. Since the characters drove off the stragglers and rearmed the town, I would classify the territory as Insular. The town is not keen on a repeat. The territory type will not add a modifier to the encounter roll.

The terrain type is, of course, Road. A roll of 3 gives us the encounter type Group and a second roll (5) reveals that they are Hunters. The terrain is open, so the encounter distance is just over 2km (2,100m). Using my generator tool, the group can be fleshed out.

Encounter: Hunters unit with 7 hunters. (Observation 16)

=============================================

Veteran Polish hunter #1

(Initiative: 4, Attributes: 7, Assets: 13, UCD: 4)

Motivation:

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

Very ambitious: The NPC will be overwhelmed by a desire to manipulate and control the people around him, to become a ruler of men.

Moderately violent: The NPC is aggressive and inclined to view violence as the preferred means of resolving disputes.

Hits:

qqqqq qqqqq qqqqq qqqqq -1 Initiative

qqqqq qqqqq qqqqq qqqqq -2 Initiative

Note: initiative modifiers are cumulative.

Main Weapon: AK-74 with 1 magazine(s)/belt(s) and 10 loose rounds

Grenades: HC Smoke Grenade q

Equipment: Flak Jacket, Combat Webbing, Pack, Gas Mask, Sleeping Bag,

Food: 5kg of Wild Food

*****************************************************

Experienced Polish hunter #2

(Initiative: 3, Attributes: 6, Assets: 11, UCD: 3)

Hits:

qqqqq qqqqq qqqqq qqqqq -1 Initiative

qqqqq qqqqq qqqqq qqqqq -2 Initiative

Note: initiative modifiers are cumulative.

Main Weapon: Double-Barreled Shotgun with 4 magazine(s)/belt(s) and 10 loose rounds

Melee Weapon: Club

Equipment: Pack, Sleeping Bag,

Food: 1kg of Wild Food

*****************************************************

Experienced Polish hunter #3

(Initiative: 3, Attributes: 6, Assets: 11, UCD: 3)

Hits:

qqqqq qqqqq qqqqq qqqqq -1 Initiative

qqqqq qqqqq qqqqq qqqqq -2 Initiative

Note: initiative modifiers are cumulative.

Main Weapon: Crossbow with 7 arrows/bolts

Grenades: Antitank Grenade q

Equipment: Kevlar Vest, Combat Webbing, Pack, Sleeping Bag, Gas Mask,

Food: 7kg of Domestic Food

*****************************************************

Experienced Polish hunter #4

(Initiative: 3, Attributes: 6, Assets: 11, UCD: 3)

Hits:

qqqqq qqqqq qqqqq qqqqq -1 Initiative

qqqqq qqqqq qqqqq qqqqq -2 Initiative

Note: initiative modifiers are cumulative.

Main Weapon: Pump-Action Shotgun with 5 magazine(s)/belt(s) and 10 loose rounds

Equipment: Kevlar Helmet, Combat Webbing, Pack, Sleeping, Pack, Flashlight,

Food: 3kg of Wild Food

*****************************************************

Experienced Polish hunter #5

(Initiative: 3, Attributes: 6, Assets: 11, UCD: 3)

Hits:

qqqqq qqqqq qqqqq qqqqq -1 Initiative

qqqqq qqqqq qqqqq qqqqq -2 Initiative

Note: initiative modifiers are cumulative.

Main Weapon: Double-Barreled Shotgun with 4 magazine(s)/belt(s) and 20 loose rounds

Grenades: Fragmentation Grenade q

Equipment: Pack, Sleeping Bag, Flashlight,

Food: 1kg of Wild Food

*****************************************************

Novice Polish hunter #6

(Initiative: 1, Attributes: 6, Assets: 9, UCD: 1)

Hits:

qqqqq qqqqq qqqqq qqqqq -1 Initiative

qqqqq qqqqq qqqqq qqqqq -2 Initiative

Note: initiative modifiers are cumulative.

Main Weapon: .22 Semiautomatic with 2 magazine(s)/belt(s) and 10 loose rounds

Melee Weapon: Hatchet

Equipment: Kevlar Helmet, Combat Webbing, Pack, Sleeping, Pack, Flashlight,

Food: 4kg of Wild Food

*****************************************************

Novice Polish hunter #7

(Initiative: 1, Attributes: 6, Assets: 9, UCD: 1)

Hits:

qqqqq qqqqq qqqqq qqqqq -1 Initiative

qqqqq qqqqq qqqqq qqqqq -2 Initiative

Note: initiative modifiers are cumulative.

Main Weapon: .22 Semiautomatic with 4 magazine(s)/belt(s) and 20 loose rounds

Grenades: 140mm HEAT Rifle Assault Weapon (RAW) rifle grenade q

Equipment: Kevlar Helmet, Combat Webbing, Pack, Sleeping, Pack, Flashlight,

Food: 9kg of Wild Food

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

The unit is mounted on horses with riding saddles.

Time to check surprise. The characters are moving in a vehicle, making the roll Average for the Hunters. There are seven hunters in the group (-7) but the characters have a vehicle (+5), making the asset 14.

[Detect the approaching characters in a vehicle – Asset Level 14 – Average (x2) – Target Number 19 – Roll(s): 6] – Outstanding Success.

That was to be expected, as the OT-64 is not known for its stealth characteristics. Can the characters pull off the same trick?

The highest Observation for the characters is 15, minus 5 for the vehicle, plus 7 for the number of people in the other group, for a total of 17. The hunters do not have a vehicle, so the roll is Difficult.

[Detect the Hunters – Asset Level 17 – Difficult (x1) – Target Number 19 – Roll(s): 13] – Success.

Both groups detect each other. Now to see how it play out.

On the road to Zloczew, the group could probably come from either town, so a random roll (1-3 Weilun, 4-6 Zloczew), reveals that they are from Zloczew. Still, maybe there are open to a deal.

We can use the settlement attitude table to set the basic attitude for the group. I roll one D6 and add 3 because of the territory type, resulting in the group being Frightened. This is understandable, as the group is out trying to find food for their community and a lot of armed bands are dangerous. How will they react? We can ask the GME.

It is very unlikely the Hunters will just attack the group out of hand, as they are definitely outgunned. Still, we have to know.

[GME: Will the group attack the characters? - Chaos Rank 6 – Very Unlikely (45%) - 100% - Exceptional No]

Wow, not only will they not attack, they will go out of their way to avoid conflict with the characters. This means that they would probably flee, but we can ask the GME anyway.

[GME: Will the group flee from characters? - Chaos Rank 6 – Very Likely (90%) - 100% - Exceptional No]

Now that is strange, two 100s in a row. So are the ways of the mysterious die gods.

The group does not flee, so this means that they let the characters approach, but why? Maybe they want to take the chance and contact the character group.

[GME: Are the Hunters willing to talk? - Chaos Rank 6 – Unlikely (50%) - 55% - No]

Maybe they are concerned if they flee that may make them a target. This is likely, given the present state of the world.

[GME: Are the Hunters scared to flee because they may be seen as a victim or threat? - Chaos Rank 6 – Likely (85%) - 50% - Yes]

So they remain where they are in order to not give the impression that they have something to hide. That is great, so we can assume the characters are allowed to approach, stopping near the group. We can also assume 50m is close enough. Marshall was there, so she can tell us.

We rolled up slowly on the group. There was no sense scaring anyone, as that would just have led to some more early departures from this world. We had had enough for today.

The group fanned out in front of us, probably to avoid us getting too many wit the KPV, if we decided to mow them down. Better safe than sorry and they seem to have been around the block a couple of times.

It was a rag tag group. They were obviously civilian but they had some military hardware in there stocks, including a well used AK. They seemed serious but we had the impression that they were generally trying to avoid a fight. That suited me just fine.

Now, where to go from here?

Twilight: The Next (4th) Generation

 The team is on vacation, or at least I am. I am enjoying the sun of the Northern German Plain near the Baltic. The area was part of the German Democratic Republic and things have changed a lot since the last time I visited.

I took the time from my vacation to support a new Kickstarter project that is dedicated to a new version of my favorite game. I am really looking forward to this and I hope all like minded individuals will also support the new game. You can find details here: Twilight:2000 Kickstarter.

I am really impressed by the quality of the initial products. I like the work-ups and the art. The team itself (Free League Publishing from Sweden) is also very friendly and open to input and suggestions from the fans, which takes them up a notch on my opinion scale. 

The team has also produced other games, such as an Alien roleplaying game and has been the recipient of multiple awards, which I hope will also continue in the future.  You can find there website here.