1012 24 AUG 2000, Krakow, Poland (Hex 17358)
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"Never in my life have I ever been so happy to see someone leave and this momentous occasion was when that herd of pigs moved off. The guards didn't even bother to question the guy, they just waved him and his oinking friends through. It was obvious what he was bringing to town. We go the treatment though.
As soon as the last squiggly tail was through, the barrier dropped faster than you can say stop. It was obvious they wanted to talk so Wally and Klasha went up front for a little chat. It seemed pretty routine until one of the guards pointed at our new friend. Things became more animated then."
Two weeks of vacation behind me in our family weekend house. No running water or electricity. Time for reading books and days spent painting Warhammer 40k miniatures with my youngest son. Would do it all over again in a heartbeat but I have to get back to work and so does the team.
When we last left the team, they had met up with a guide outside the city as the waited at a ORMO checkpoint for entrance into the city. The guide said he could find them lodgings in the city and the team decided to let him ride along in the hopes of finding some place to stay.
We know that the guide is the infamous Sgt. Cutler, but the team do not. They were not given any information from Lt. Fredrickson, as I feel that gives too much away. Cutler does live in the city and does know people that could provide lodging for the group. Those people are not in cahoots with Cutler. That much is known at the moment.
Time goes by and we can assume the team eventually makes it to the checkpoint and try to obtain entry into the city. We will pick up the scene there.
Scene K2 - Passing the Military Checkpoint (CF 5)
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Scene Setup
Once the team reaches the barrier, Klasha and Wally will dismount and approach the barrier. They will explain to the guards that the group are weapon dealers and have come to the city to do some trading. They will willingly show the guards the cargo and allow them to inspect the trucks, if they wish. After the guards approve their entrance, the group will move off into the city.
Scene Resolution
Now to see how the scene progresses. We roll and D10, resulting in a 5, which is the current Chaos Factor, and since the roll is not greater that the Chaos Factor, the scene is altered (because the roll was odd) in some way. It is not going to be that simple.
Now we have to determine what has changed. The most obvious change would be the that the guards want a little bit of the action and want the characters to do some palm-greasing before the pass. I do not want to assume that all guards are corrupt but the chance is always there. We will give it a 50/50 shot.
[GME: Do the guards want a bribe to let the team in? - Chaos Rank 5 - 50/50 (50%) - 94% - Exceptional No]
What a great show of integrity. Not only do they not want a bribe, they would seem to be very much opposed to such a practice. We will file that away for future use.
Maybe the alteration centers around Cutler. Cutler probably passes many of the checkpoints when travelling in and out of the city, as do a lot of other people. There is a chance that the guards know him, although that may be unlikely. To find out, we can ask the GME.
[GME: Do the guards at the checkpoint know Cutler? - Chaos Rank 5 - Unlikely (35%) - 22% - Yes]
Now that is interesting. The guards do know Cutler but that does not mean they are on friendly terms with him. Cutler is not really the most trustworthy of people but he is a great talker. How do the guards feel about Cutler?
[GME: Are the guards at the checkpoint on friendly terms with Cutler? - Chaos Rank 5 - 50/50 (50%) - 96% - Exceptional No]
Ouch. They know Cutler and do not like him. Could it be because they know of the suspicions that Cutler is secretly dealing with marauders? Everyone knows the Krakow ORMO are not keen on marauders. Still, it can't be that open a secret or Cutler would probably be dead or run out of the city by now. They may suspect but they probably have nothing beyond rumors.
[GME: Do the guards at the checkpoint suspect Cutler is working with marauder groups? - Chaos Rank 5 - Unlikely (35% - Cutler is probably trying to keep his involvement secret while he is in the city. No sense in upsetting the locals when you really need a safe hideout) - 18% - Yes]
So they suspect the good sergeant of being in bed with the marauders. It goes to reason, that if they know that, the might try to warn the group of the snake in their midst.
[GME: Will the guards at the checkpoint attempt to warn the group about Cutler? - Chaos Rank 5 - Likely (75% - if they do not like corruption, we can assume they are honest and do not want to see anyone fall victim to Cutler's plans) - 33% - Yes]
And there we have it. The guards are not opposed to the group entering Krakow but they are opposed to Cutler. Now on with the scene.
We can assume that the guards make the normal inspection of the team, their vehicles and the cargo. Beyond Cutler, is there anything that might make the guards not let the team into the city?
[GME: Do the guards at the checkpoint find anything to keep the team from entering the city? - Chaos Rank 5 - Unlikely (35% - the group is probably not the first group of stragglers peddling weapons they gathered) - 16% - Yes]
Now that is a snag. It is probably that the presence of Cutler with a well-armed group of stragglers may lead the guards to think that the group are actually the marauders.
[GME: Do the guards at the checkpoint think that the characters are the marauders? - Chaos Rank 5 - Likely (75% - a lot of circumstantial evidence could support their suspicions) - 57% - Yes]
Guilty by association it seems. Now how to resolve the problem. Simply sending Cutler away would probably not solve the problem. Klasha needs to convince them somehow. She will explain that the just met Cutler while waiting here in line and have no business dealings with him and that the team simply wants to sell off the weapons and find a warm bed, a bath and a belly full of food. She will also tell them that they will send Cutler packing and thank the guards for their warning. Wally will assist her and pipe in as appropriate. We will assume that the sides are similar in size.
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Task: |
Convince the guards the team is not with Cutler |
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Ability Die: |
Empathy B (D10) |
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Skill Die: |
Persuasion B (D10) |
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Modifiers: |
+1 Psyops Specialty, +1 assisted by Wally, +1 won't cost the guards anything, -1 request is dangers (if the group is marauders), -1 Guards have nothing to gain from the deal |
= +1 |
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Mod. Ability Die: |
Empathy A (D12) |
[+1 Step, total = +1] |
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Mod. Skill Die: |
Persuasion B (D10) |
[Unmodified] |
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Ammo Die: |
-- |
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Roll: |
12,4,-- |
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Result: |
2 Successes |
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We will assume that the leader is a Polish officer and use the stats given in the Referee's Manual.
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Task: |
Resist the persuasion |
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Ability Die: |
Empathy B (D10) |
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Skill Die: |
Persuasion D (D6) |
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Modifiers: |
-- |
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Mod. Ability Die: |
Empathy B (D10) |
[Unmodified] |
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Mod. Skill Die: |
Persuasion B (D10) |
[Unmodified] |
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Ammo Die: |
-- |
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Roll: |
1,3,-- |
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Result: |
Failure |
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Her arguments are enough and the officer agrees to let the team minus Cutler into city. As the group will not be allowed to take the BTR into the city, the officer assigns a runner to show them to the "valet" parking where they can store the APC and then to bring them to the Ratusz (town hall), where they will get proper papers to use during their stay.
Klasha and Wally return the group and explain the situation. Harris calls Cutler over and tells them that they will not be able to take him up on their offer but maybe they will run into each other in the city. Cutler looks over his shoulder and sees the scowls of the guards. "Yeah, no harm, no foul. Be seein' ya Major".
With Cutler gone, the barrier opens and the team moves into Krakow.
Scene close.
The team gained entry into the city but lost their guide. They did not find out the truth about Cutler but only the rumors that the guards had. We will leave that open. They need to visit the motorpool of the 221st Battalion in order to drop off the APC and visit the town hall. These are two new threads. As they have passed the checkpoint, that thread can be closed.
The Chaos Factor will remain at 5, as the team was able to enter the city but now have no guide.
Chaos Factor: 5
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