1200 24 AUG 2000, Krakow, Poland (Hex 17358)
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"It was really, really loud. That AKM opened up in that old stone building and it was loud. Iov went down and Logan was almost on him before he hit the floor. Griff and Macron got up in the guard's faces and it looked like was going to turn really bad so I flipped off the safety just to be safe. In the end, Harris got everyone to stop shouting and just stare are each other with hate-filled eyes from across the room.
After that, Klasha did the song and dance and I was sure she was going to threaten to call her personal-injury lawyer. In the end, the guy handed us passes for a weak and gave a weak apology. Welcome to Krakow."
Warhammer 40,000 with the kids is taking up a lot of my free time lately. It is great to see them get interested in an hobby and identify with it and their armies, quoting from the lore, etc. They have come to learn to fear dad's Death Guard, as Nurgle intended. Things are as they should be. They have also shown an interest in roleplaying, with the game of choice currently being Star Wars: Edge of the Empire but there has been some interest expressed in playing Twilight:2000 (if it ever comes :-( ). At the moment, that is what I am playing, even if I am playing solo.
When we last left our merry band, they had received warnings about their friend Sgt. Cutler and parted ways with him. At the checkpoint, they pick up a couple of ORMO troopers who were to guide them to city hall where they can "register" with the city council and apply for papers to allow them to stay.
First of all, we have to consider that is probably a simple bureaucratic act. It would logical to think that travelling merchants probably enter the city on a daily basis in order to ply their wares to the population of the city. The papers would then be not permanent residence papers but rather some form of temporary pass to allow them to enter the city, sell and buy as they needed to and then leave the city within a pre-defined amount of time or have the permit extended. In order to not unduly burden the town, this period is usually set at seven days, allowing for enough time to enter, do their business, and get out. Shorter permits would be possible, if the person so wished. Longer than seven may also be possible but at additional costs (see below). Permanent residents would have another type of papers that would them to enter and leave the city at their leisure, as often as they would like.
The papers will need to be on their person and we can assume that any interaction with the ORMO will involve everyone having the papers checked. Those without papers or possessing expired papers will probably be questioned at the nearest battalion HQ and then thrown out of the city. Here can also assume that this means as you are without a chance to collect your belongings. There has to be some kind of extreme punishment of there would be no real reason to get and keep the papers on the characters. If they got thrown out, it would be another adventure to recover their gear in the town.
Now on with the scene.
Scene K3 - Getting Papers at the Town Hall (CF 5)
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Scene Setup
The ORMO troopers escort the group to the Ratusz (town hall). There they can join the line at the desk of a minor city functionary whose sole purpose is to issue and stamp the passes. What purpose would the ORMO troopers serve in this case? First of all to make sure they got where they needed to be and did not get "lost" on the way there. Their second purpose would be to convey some sort of estimate of their total value in order to prove that they can support themselves. Alternatively the city employee could make the "estimate" of their worth themselves but that would be a waste of the time if the group did not have means of supporting themselves and the ORMO would have to see the group back out, which could result in bloodshed. Therefore I believe that the estimate would take place at the checkpoints.
The characters finally get to the desk and the troopers present the estimate of the groups worth. The papers, like all other bureaucratic acts around the world will not be free. The city has a lot of things to finance and this is just another way of filling the coffers. At the same time, it cannot be, generally speaking, outrageously high or no one could afford to enter the city. It would be possible to say that there is a flat-rate payment due, say the equivalent of $20 per day in the city per person, with the normal period being seven days, as mentioned above. If this does not seem like much, please remember the city is not trying to bankrupt the characters but with ten people the amount they will have to pay comes out to $1400 our about the price of a medium machinegun.
Payment would be in Ration Tickets. If you have not read it, you might want to refer back to my post 0080 - Labor, Wealth and Slavery for an understanding of how this works in my world. Alternatively, the group would have to barter for the entrance into the city. As they have no ration tickets, that will be their only course of action.
So, the group will approach the clerk, declare their intention to stay in the city for a week, pay their fee and be on their merry way.
Scene Resolution
The current Chaos Factor is 5 and we roll an 4, resulting in a modified scene. Since the roll was even, this results in an interrupt scene. As I really do not have something in mind at this point, I will simply generate an random event using the Games Master Emulator:
- Event Focus: NPC Action
- Event Action: Carelessness
- Event Subject: Anger
Interesting combination. A random NPC causes the action. This is why lists are important when playing solo. One of the lists to be updated is the list of NPCs that you can use to determine which NPC is involved in things like this. Currently there are the following active NPCs in this scene:
- Iov
- ORMO Guard #1
- ORMO Guard #2
- City Clerk
Another random roll reveals the culprit, ORMO Guard #2. So, his carelessness causes some form of anger. That is great starting point but we may need some more information and here we can again consult with the GME Oracle.
[GME: Does the guard injure someone by accident? - Chaos Rank 5 - Unlikely (35% - the assigned duty is boring but not really something you would have a great chance of injuring someone while performing it) - 4% - Exceptional Yes]
Did not see that coming. The exceptional yes means that he probably hurt someone seriously, maybe even killed. Now we need to determine who. In addition to the characters, there are the other NPCs near the group as well es everyone else in the city hall room. We will make a simple roll of a D6 with 1-2 being a PC, 3-4 the other guard, Iov or the clerk and 5-6 a bystander. The roll is a three and a second roll shows the unfortunate victim to be Iov. The guy is having a rough time of it.
To see how badly Iov is injured, we can simply roll a standard hit. The guard has the standard Polish Soldier profile and is armed with an AKM and I could assume one Ammo dice is added to the pool. It is unlikely that he will empty the magazine into Iov. Still, we could ask the Oracle again.
[GME: Is the guard intentionally trying to kill Iov? - Chaos Rank 5 - Unlikely (35% - the just met but maybe something is happening in the background that the characters do not know about) - 41% - No]
So one ammo dice it is. No need for modifications so it will be a simple attack roll.
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Task: |
Accidently shoot Iov |
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Ability Die: |
Agility B (D10) |
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Skill Die: |
Ranged Combat C (D8) |
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Modifiers: |
-- |
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Mod. Ability Die: |
Agility B (D10) |
[Unmodified] |
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Mod. Skill Die: |
Ranged Combat C (D8) |
[Unmodified] |
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Ammo Die: |
1 |
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Roll: |
6,3,5 |
(5 rounds expended) |
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Result: |
1success |
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One hit and no critical. That is probably the silver lining of the whole thing. Iov is hit in the chest. Luckily he had his vest and only takes one points of damage.
Our ever-present saw-bones, Logan will, being Logan, jump to assist the groups injured member. It is not life-threatening but he can make a medical roll to prevent infection.
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Task: |
Perform first aid on Iov |
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Ability Die: |
Empathy B (D10) |
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Skill Die: |
Medical Aid B (D10) |
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Modifiers: |
-- |
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Mod. Ability Die: |
Empathy B (D10) |
[Unmodified] |
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Mod. Skill Die: |
Medical Aid B (D10) |
[Unmodified] |
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Ammo Die: |
-- |
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Roll: |
6,6,-- |
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Result: |
2 successes |
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Logan is really on the ball and has Iov patched up in no time. The teams arrival in Krakow is not getting off to a good start.
This is not the place to start a free-for-all firefight, as the chances of getting back out of the city are really poor. Leaving under those circumstances would also keep the group from fulfilling their goal of contacting the DIA agent in Krakow in order to find out what happened to the Special Forces team the cav troopers were supposed to meet up with. A little restraint is called for.
Still, an ORMO trooper injured a member of the group and they may be able to use that as leverage. Klasha, assisted by Wally, will try to convince the clerk that the city owes the group for the damages caused by their security forces. The clerk will be assigned Empathy A (1-2 on a D6), B (3-4) and C (5-6), with his persuasion skill being assigned in the same manner. We end up with 6, 2 or Empathy C, Persuasion A.
Klasha explains that the group entered the city under the protection of the ORMO and now find themselves with a wounded comrade due to negligence on the part of the local security forces. The group cannot be expected to pay the same people who shot their comrade for the right to remain in the city under their protection. Each success will grant papers for one week.
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Task: |
Convince the clerk to let the group stay without paying |
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Ability Die: |
Empathy B (D10) |
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Skill Die: |
Persuasion B (D10) |
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Modifiers: |
+1 Assisted by Wally, +1 Present the case well, -1 outnumbered by the ORMO |
= +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: |
8,1,-- |
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Result: |
1 Success |
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Now to see how the clerk react.
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Task: |
Resist the Persuasion attempt |
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Ability Die: |
Empathy C (D8) |
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Skill Die: |
Persuasion A (D12) |
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Modifiers: |
-- |
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Mod. Ability Die: |
Empathy C (D8) |
[Unmodified] |
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Mod. Skill Die: |
Persuasion A (D12) |
[Unmodified] |
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Ammo Die: |
-- |
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Roll: |
2,5,-- |
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Result: |
Failure |
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Klasha could push the roll but with 1D10 remaining, as the 1 would not be re-rolled, the chances are not good. As is stands, the group gets a free pass for a week for their damages and are sent on their way. The group did not really control the scene, so the Chaos Factor is raised to 6 and we add the town hall to our list of locations and the ORMO guards and clerk to our list of NPCs. The curtain closes on the scene.
Chaos Factor: 6
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