Thursday, July 29, 2021

0173 - Going Native - Part VII (The Outskirts of Krakow)

 0200 23 AUG 2000, Near Miechow, Poland (Hex 17155)

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

"We have been through and seen a lot but it never stops bothering you. Finding them bodies strung out on the road and the rest executed in the woods was really hard on us all. Kill if you have to, I get that. There was no reason for this slaughter so."

 

The team is trying to get a good night's sleep. The merchant convoy pulling in late is probably not something to worry about, but you never know. The convoy would probably either a) make a camp, possibly near the characters or keep moving. If they keep moving, they are probably moving at night. This is not uncommon for those that want to avoid entanglements by limiting their visibility, but it also limits the sight of the guards. Often those cho0sing to travel this way have something to hide. We can ask the GME for more details.

 

[GME: Is the convoy intent on making camp for the night? - Chaos Rank 5 - Somewhat Likely (65%) - 26% - Yes]

 

It makes sense to camp near other groups in dangerous world of T2K. The presence of a large number of people could deter attacks since people viewing the scene may not realize the groups are not actually together. Kind of like having adjoining campsites, just with heavy weapons.

 

Night Shift (0000-0600)

 

Weather:

The weather remains fair.

 

Light Conditions:

The light conditions are Dusk.

 

Activities:

Macron will kick Griff awake. It is better to have a couple more eyes alert and watching with a large group nearby. All others will sleep, with their boots and weapons nearby.

 

Navigation:

n/a

 

Hazards:

n/a

 

Encounters:

None. It is a quiet night. Nobody out there but the group and the convoy next door.

 

Resolutions:

At this point, we could just say that the team spends a peaceful night camping near Miechow, but maybe Fate has different plans for the group. We can tempt Fate with a GME scene.

 

Maybe the convoy just wants to sleep without having to worry about a case of high-speed lead poisoning or maybe they have darker plans rolling around in their head.  We should probably take a closer look at that.

 

The leader of the convoy has the following motivations:

 

  • Deceitful: The NPC is a liar and may be a traitor if the situation presents itself.
  • Somewhat sociable: The NPC will be amiable, talkative, and cooperative with most people he meets.

 

He will talk your ear off but is probably not to be trusted. Good to know.

 

The merchants also outnumber the group but are not as well equipped; Mass instead of Class, as it were. The may still pose a danger though but we do not want to get hung up on a simple encounter, so we will let the Gods of Fate decide.

 

[GME: Do the merchants stay in their camp, leaving the group alone? - Chaos Rank 5 - Likely (75%) - 11% - Exceptional Yes]

 

So, they are definitely not going to venture out of their camp. The merchants stay in their camp and make a point of keeping others out of the camp. We can assume that this also means Griff and Macron.

 

[GME: Do all the merchants in the convoy want to stay in camp? - Chaos Rank 5 - 50/50 (50%) - 64% - No]


So the group is going to leave the team alone. It is probably a good idea. To nice a night for someone to die.

 

Record Keeping:

The team gets their night's sleep and the sun goes up on another day in war-torn Poland.

 

Morning Shift (24 AUG 2000 0600-1200)

The sun goes up and the team is on the road again.

 

Weather:

The weather stays fair as the sun rises.

 

Light Conditions:

The light conditions remain light.

 

Activities:

The team will continue to travel on the planned route.

 

Navigation:

Not required, as the team is moving by road.

 

Hazards:

In the lead vehicle, Wally will make the driving roll for the team.

 

Task:

Driving Roll for the Shift

 

Ability Die:

Agility B (D10)

 

Skill Die:

Driving C (D8)

 

Modifiers:

+3 Road Terrain Modifier

 = +3

Mod. Ability Die:

Agility A (D12)

[+1 Step, total = +1]

Mod. Skill Die:

Driving A (D12)

[+2 Steps, total = +2]

Ammo Die:

--

 

Roll:

6,5,--

 

Result:

1 Success

 

 

No hazards are encountered this shift.

 

Encounters:

It is 50km to Krakow, which will take most of the shift for the players. I randomly roll and the encounter may take place in the 4th hex, just shy of Krakow. The territory is Terrorized, which fits into the story. The Krakow ORMO has been busy lately with marauders preying on the caravans entering the city.

 

The encounter type is a derelict convoy and that fits very well. I have planned to introduce a certain derelict convoy at some point. Now would be as good a time as any to introduce THAT convoy. As a side note, Operation Reset if for me neither the standard from the Free City of Krakow nor the operation detailed by FL. To each his own.

 

The rest of the shift can be handled with a narrative. This is based off the standard GDW text with embellishments from me, where appropriate.

 

It had been a small unit, maybe twenty-five, thirty men, three deuce-and-a-half's and a couple of Hum-Vees. Someone had been awfully thorough. Helmets, jackets, boots, and (of course)

all of their equipment, weapons, and ammo were long gone. Somebody even took the trouble to gather up the spent shell casings. There must have been quite a few of those, because

the trucks looked like Swiss cheese. It must have been quite a firefight, and it couldn't have lasted long. They'd been ambushed, caught in the open by heavy automatic fire from at least

three different spots among the woods thirty meters from the road.

 

They didn't have a chance. Five had been captured. We found them in an untidy pile off by the woods where they'd been herded together and machinegunned.

 

One truck had burned; the others had been shot to bits and then stripped of everything useful: tires, engine parts, canvas tops, they even drained the crankcase oil. It was like a plague

of locusts had hit, leaving the bare-bone skeletons and a sick-sweet death stench. Whoever had knocked off that convoy had gone over the place with a fine-toothed comb.

 

We were getting ready to move on when we heard the moan from deeper in the woods.

 

"Schaeffer, Frederick L... Lieutenant," the man manages to say. "Mission ... mission accomplished ... almost. Operation ... R..Reset. Got that? Reset. Got to get them through … Listen to me," he says with a desperate, burning intensity. "This is Operation Reset. Got it? Reset. You need to find…. Reset. Not among the trucks…… This will change everything… not today but the future………",

 

Schaeffer dies.

 

A few papers were scattered around from a Polish research facility in Lodz but it seem to be a lot of data on medical tests; height, weight, etc. The strangest thing among the flotsam and jetsam left from the attack was a book titled Polski Język Migowy (Polish Sign Language). This was one of those WTF moments. It seemed strange enough that we packed it up to take along."

 

This is the beginning of my Reset campaign. It is not the published campaign (not the v1 or v4 campaigns at least) but it ties into my other campaigns in other games.

 

Resolutions:

n/a

 

Record Keeping:

The team has travelled 4 hexes (40km) and has used a total of 96 liters of alcohol (24l for Jerry, 24l for Bad and 48l for Can-Can-2).

 

 

Day Shift (1200-1800)

 

Weather:

The weather turns cloudy.

 

Light Conditions:

The light conditions remain light.

 

Activities:

Macron and Potato cover the team as the rest form a burial party for the victims of the ambush. As it will take a while, Logan will set up camp.

 

Navigation:

n/a

 

Hazards:

n/a

 

Encounters:

No encounter this shift.

 

Resolutions:

Logan

Logan needs to find a suitable camp site.

 

Task:

Make a Camp

 

Ability Die:

Intelligence B (D10)

 

Skill Die:

Survival C (D8)

 

Modifiers:

--

 

Mod. Ability Die:

Intelligence B (D10)

[Unmodified]

Mod. Skill Die:

Survival C (D8)

[Unmodified]

Ammo Die:

--

 

Roll:

4,7,--

 

Result:

1 Success

 

 

Record Keeping:

n/a

 

Evening Shift (1800-0000)

 

Weather:

The weather becomes clear again.

 

Light Conditions:

Light

 

Activities:

Griff will take over guard as Macron turns in for the night shift. Griff takes over watch and Logan will prepare the meal. The rest will finish up the burials.

 

Navigation:

n/a

 

Hazards:

n/a

 

Encounters:

None

 

Resolutions:

Logan

Logan prepares a meal for the team.

 

Task:

Make a Camp

 

Ability Die:

Intelligence B (D10)

 

Skill Die:

Survival C (D8)

 

Modifiers:

--

 

Mod. Ability Die:

Intelligence B (D10)

[Unmodified]

Mod. Skill Die:

Survival C (D8)

[Unmodified]

Ammo Die:

--

 

Roll:

6,6,--

 

Result:

2 Successes

 

 

Just what the team needed, a warm meal after such a grisly task.

 

Record Keeping:

The team uses 10 rations of domestic food and Logan gets a shift of sleep.

 

Night Shift (0000-0600)

 

Weather:

The weather remains fair

 

Light Conditions:

Dusk

 

Activities:

Night falls and Macron takes over the guard as the team beds down for the evening.

 

Navigation:

n/a

 

Hazards:

n/a

 

Encounters:

n/a

 

Resolutions:

n/a

 

Record Keeping:

All the team, except Macron, get a shift of sleep.