Saturday, December 26, 2020

0120 - The Great Escape - Part IX - Just Trying to Help

 1400 10 AUG 2000, Near Bełchatów, Poland
===================================

  • "They were a motley bunch but they had a lot of people with AKs so we figured we needed to take them seriously. Desperate people with firepower could do some really messed up things, at least that has been our experience. Still, if they wanted to choose today to leave the world, we would help 'em find the door."
Setup
How the marauders got so close is a problem that we need to address. The easiest way would be to have some wooded terrain, maybe with a few hills. We need a road where the IED was planted and which also represents the road the characters were traveling on. The map set from Free League provides two maps (thanks again, Free League) that I can then place next to each other to provide a suitable stretch of road with hills and woods.

The encounter lists all the marauders as having AKMs. I will let this stand at the moment but this needs to change in the future. All NPCs with the same weapons makes them flat, cardboard cut-outs. The other point is that they have no vehicles or support weapons, which also makes it a bit boring. I believe it would be beneficial to mention marauders on the card and then have a table in the rulebook to randomly roll the marauder's weapons and vehicles. It would probably be advantageous to look at the v1 and v2 rules on the subject for inspiration.

The group has a chance to spot the approaching marauders, who probably assume that the IED took care of any organized opposition. Boy, are they in for a surprise.

Macron has the highest Recon for the group and since he was keeping watch, he will make the roll.
  • Task: Detect the approaching marauders
  • Ability Die: Intelligence B (D10)
  • Skill Die: Recon B (D10)
  • Modifiers: -- none --
  • Mod. Ability Die: Intelligence B (D10)
  • Mod. Skill Die: Recon B (D10)
  • Ammo Die: N/A
  • Roll: 1,8,--
  • Result: 1 success


The group notices the approach of the marauders. No one is surprised (this is war-torn Poland, after all ;-) ).

The map is set up with the POWs in the trucks farther West, at a crossroads. The group is near the destroyed UAZ, with Marshall and Logan performing triage while Wally and Robinson pick over the carcass of the UAZ. The rest are on security, with Klasha and Harris to the West and Griff, Potato and Macron near a bend in the road.


We can still try to have a peaceful resolution to the situation. Maybe the guards can convince the marauders that moving off would be in their best interest. Unfortunately, Griff, Potato and Macro do not have persuasion, so we will only the attribute die. As strange as it may seem, Potato has the highest Empathy with C.

  • Task: Convince the marauders to leave the group alone
  • Ability Die: Empathy C (D8)
  • Skill Die: -- none --
  • Modifiers: +1 leaving won't cost the marauders anything, -1 there are more marauders than characters (not counting the POWs except the armed ones), -1 the marauders have nothing to gain by helping the characters = -1
  • Mod. Ability Die: Empathy D (D6) [-1 Step]
  • Mod. Skill Die: -- none --
  • Ammo Die: N/A
  • Roll: 6,--,--
  • Result: 1 success
Against all odds, Potato convinces the marauders to look for an easier prize and the group withdraws. Conflict is avoided. Still kind of in a state of disbelief at the moment. The hulking door-opener pulled of a social interaction.

Anyway, since Logan and Marshall are going to be busy with the wounded for a while, Wally and Robinson will scavenge for parts, with Robinson assisting Wally.
  • Task: Scavenge the UAZ for vehicle parts
  • Ability Die: Intelligence B (D10)
  • Skill Die: Tech B (D10)
  • Modifiers: +1 assisted by Robinson = +1
  • Mod. Ability Die: Intelligence A (D12) [+1 Step]
  • Mod. Skill Die: Tech B (D10) [unmodified]
  • Ammo Die: N/A
  • Roll: 11,9,--
  • Result: 3 successes
Covered in oil and grease but successful, Wally and Robinson throw three vehicle spare parts in the back. We may need those before the journey ends.

The rest of the shift is spent caring for the wounded and scavenging.

2 comments:

  1. That is a very nice map - what game is it from?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The map is from the Twilight:200 v4 Alpha set. They are two of the eight battlemats presented in the Alpha.

      Delete