Play Report - Hunting on Narok

Only three days of in-game time were covered in the last session. The Crew of the High Victorian is on Narok. And chose to take a random patron job while waiting for the cargo convoy to ship out.

A local magistrate put out a bounty on a local prairie-dwelling beast known as the yong-gong (shrieking thing). He explained that it had broken into some local farms, killed livestock and then killed farm workers who were defending the herds. The magistrate said it had to be put down, so a “Wanted: Dead, success only” contract.

Do you see it?  It's right over there!

The player for the Marquis said he wanted a quick win, and a success on his record. Plus it would be a little bit of good PR for the Empire.

The players are learning, no rushing off without a plan or enough gear. The Marquis secured vehicles, communicators and enough gear. One PC, an ex-Army man bought himself a modified rifle LINK to hunt the yong-gong. The yong-gong is a big critter, about the mass of a Kodiak bear:

Hunting Big Game in Traveller

Question: How many shots does it take to bring down an elephant?

Answer: Either One, or lots.

In CT the animal creation process is flexible and simple enough to allow a Referee to create new creatures on the fly. The table scales from 1 kg (rats, rabbits) to 44,000 kg (dinosaurs, dragons, whales).

• A 6,000 kg creature (e.g. a forest elephant) has 9D/4D hit dice. Average 32/14, max 54/24
• A 12,000 kg creature (e.g. an African bush elephant) has 10D/5D hit dice. Average 35/18, max 60/30

This is an elephant to scale with humans, for comparison.

Problem is, it is astonishingly unlikely that a Referee will roll up 'max hit points' with random rolling, at these levels.

More Traveller Literary History - Kalin

In E C Tubb's Dumarest of Terra novel Kalin, the titular protagonist finds himself out of cash on Chron, an Industrial planet of huge strip mines and forges, run mostly on slave labor. Dumarest avoids that fate, but if he's not working for the Company, there are very few other options. He gambles a little, but wins too much for the house's comfort, so that's not a source of income.

Along with some other travellers he meets, he goes hunting for creatures called zardles. Zardle meat is not appealing, but it is edible and better than not eating. 

I have extracted some details of the creature from the narrative, to construct a Traveller animal description for it. I have written elsewhere about Frightening Animal Encounters, and these things definitely fall into that category. More than half a dozen of the hunters in Dumarest's party are killed by these foul beasts.

Just add lots of legs. And claws. And bad breath. And don't forget its poison.

More on Skills - Hunting

Hunting skill

Hunting skill is introduced in Book 6, Scouts, and also appears in the expanded career tables in Citizens of the Imperium in the Hunter career (shocking, I know). The skill is described thus:

Hunting: The individual is skilled in tracking and hunting animals. In animal encounter situations, this skill is used to enhance the chance of any specific type, of achieving surprise on such animals, and of surviving such encounters. DMs based on specific situations should be generated, and hunting skill should be a favorable DM.

The right gear and a faithful friend are worth a +1 DM

Reconnaissance can be used as Hunting minus 1.

Hunting can be used as Survival minus 1, but only for the purpose of finding food. 

Hunting is a major component of Adventure #10, Safari Ship. In that book, the hunting process is given an elaborate treatment, more than I could go into here without leaning on the copyright laws. Plus you may not have access to that adventure. Here, I present my personal ideas on the subject.

My reading of the Hunting skill leads me to conclude that the skill affects four things:

Frightening Animal Encounters

Animal Encounters should be exciting. And when I say exciting, I also mean terrifying. It is the referee's job to make what happens in the game memorable, so storytelling and descriptiveness are key skills. It also helps to have critters that are imposing in their potential to do harm. Encountering a bunny rabbit is not exciting. Encountering something like this should be.

Take a look at what's on the cover of Planet Stories, Summer 1942. No, not the Amazon. She's fine. I mean, fine. I mean the thing grabbing her and being shot in the non-face for its trouble. Yes. Look at that.

Shoot that thing in it's non-face brave Amazon! Teach it some manners!

Imagine your players' reactions if a half dozen or so of these awfuls came tromping out of the mist or the trees while on some remote and forsaken backwater planet. Either they'll panic or think “thank God we recently restocked the rocket launchers!” In both cases, what ensues should be an epic fight.

800 kg Omnivore Hunters

25/12 Cloth-1, Claws (x2) dmg: 5D A3 F5 S2  # appearing: 3

“A three-meter humaniform shape emerges from the undergrowth. It probably masses close on a ton. It's gray-skinned, hairless with a featureless lump atop its shoulders where its face should be. The arms end in 4-fingered frying pans with 10-cm claws. I suggest you run.”

I've been browsing through Supplement 2: Animal Encounters, and there are some doozies in here. I list the world profile and terrain type in case you want to look them up. The extra descriptions and the planets named are mine. 

Fighting the White Apes - A Combat Example

I wrote a post a while back about the Great White Apes of Barsoom, and how dangerous they are. But was I right?  I decided to find out. 

Yeah, that guy's probably doomed.

Meet Graham Clark, a PC of mine. Age 30, UPP B98885. He's an ex-army recon specialist (Recon-4). I take Recon to be related to Hunting, so I'll give him Hunting-3. He's hunting White Apes, armed with a Gauss LAG, which I recall finding at Freelance Traveller.  The G-LAG does 6D damage. (Note: I ignore +DMs versus armor on the tables, reading them as 0).



White Apes:

1600kg 8D/3D [28/10]  Claws/teeth  (+4 to hit due to size) Dmg 6D+2 

Armor: Mesh  A2 F8 S3  2 attacks/round   Number appearing: 1D

Encounter 1: Range medium, no surprise. Graham fires, the ape charges. Graham hits, wounds but does not down the ape, the ape closes to short range (speed:3, remember?) and kills him with one blow. Stats down to 001. Graham is unconscious, and the ape will tear him apart in round 2.

Yikes!

Path of the Lioness - Campaign journal #2

Captain's Log, Federation Science Vessel Lioness
Captain Josiah Greene reporting

"The march of the Thunderwhumps"

     The Haephestian star-map generator which we found on Zephlenn had pointed us towards the planet Klah. Once we arrived, and were beginning to orbit the planet, lights on the side of the generator began to flash, which we determined was a directional indicator. Diego put us into a parking orbit above the starport, and I, Gen. Mason, Wally, Svetlana and Carter rode down in the pinnace. 

      After landing the pinnace at Klah starport, and delivering the q-ferrets and tree rat to the local zoo officials, we lifted in the direction the generator seemed to be pointing us. A few hundred km northeast of the port, the generator zeroed in on a large ranch-style house. We couldn't see any indication of the presence of the pentagon piece, so we concluded that it must be in the house.

  The house belonged to a Mr. Walpole, who owned most of the land we could see. I introduced our team, and explained in brief what we were looking for. Walpole agreed to let us look around, and to my surprise, the piece was not in the house. The star map device began to flash lights on all sides, and Mason realized it meant that the next piece was buried beneath the house. Walpole denied any knowledge of this. He agreed to let us dig beneath his house for the piece, but asked us to do him a favor first.

Mr. Walpole's problem was with the local wildlife. A herd of large grazers, which he termed "Thunderwhumps" were headed toward his ranch house. They were still 20+ hours away, but these creatures apparently move in straight lines, and don't bother going around obstacles, choosing instead to bash through them. Thunderwhumps can weigh up to 30 tons each, and this herd had half a dozen of them. 

Pride of the Lion - Amber Zone Review # 32

 Amber Zone: Pride of the Lion, by John M. Ford 

This time the Aslan are the prey, not the hunters!

 Check out the series introduction here.

Location: Grizel (C-768400-6) No location is given for Grizel in the OTU, other than it is an Imperial world, near to Aslan space.

Patron: Martin Trelane, an old acquaintance of the party.

Mission: Rescue a family of Aslan from a local rancher, who has taken them prisoner. The rancher is playing out a revenge fantasy against them, in the fashion of The Most Dangerous Game.

Complications: The patron is wounded, the PCs are going to be outnumbered and outgunned, none of the locals will be willing to help. The rancher has no intention of letting his quarry win/escape, and will not let the PCs live either, once they get involved. One of the Aslan is a child, but that will not stop the rancher from killing her.

Payoff: Trelane asks the PCs to 'help', not 'do a job'. He has no time to haggle over fees or rewards. In the end, the PCs should gain from their help.

Strong Points: This adventure jumps straight into the action, and time is of the essence! The players will have to come up with a plan on the fly, including how to find the Aslan before the rancher does. For once, the PCs may be motivated by something other than money; helping the patron & the Aslan is just the right thing to do. The bad guy is a jerk, but the author gives him enough backstory for the players to understand why he is playing out this revenge – it doesn't make him sympathetic, but it does make him three dimensional. If the PCs are successful in their rescue attempt, they will have gained a significant Contact among the Aslan, and opened the door to future adventures with Aslan NPCs & Patrons. A side note: if any of the PCs already have a negative attitude towards Aslan, this adventure will have even more complexity and opportunity for role-playing. Don't ignore the moral aspect of adventures!

Weak Points: I do not see anything in the adventure itself as written that I want to change: nothing is illogical, silly or ripping off the PCs.

What I'd change: Before I ran this adventure, I would include Trelane as an NPC in another adventure, perhaps also at least referring to the Aslan. If the players are already familiar with Trelane, and with the Aslan, they are more inclined to jump to the rescue.

In My Traveller Universe: With some work, I could convert the Aslan (I have no non-terran aliens) into a minor human culture which is insular and tradition-bound. The language difference would still exist, and the story would have to be changed only slightly to fit the new societies' details. I would locate this adventure on the planet Hinar in the subsector called the Wilds. It is TL-4, sparsely populated and controlled by cattle barons.

Map: The ranch and its environs. The Ranch house is in the center, the Aslan ship is to the east, at the starship icon.

Map scale: 10 km/hex

I made this map, using Hexographer. It may be reproduced or modified without permission.

Photo credit: http://www.freeimages.com/photo/720704

Royal Hunt - Amber Zone Review #20

Check out the series introduction here.

Amber Zone: Royal Hunt, by J Andrew &William H Keith from JTAS #12  

OK, Jumbo, now just hold it steady here a moment.

Location: Krajraha (no known location in the OTU), no planet UPP given, but the details of the adventure mention a medium size world with a type 6 atmosphere.

Patron: Elias Dulandir, VIP of an industrial corporation which is seeking mineral & mining rights on Krajraha. He is negotiating directly with the Potentate of Krajraha.

Mission: The PCs will act as bodyguards/lackeys to Dulandir for the two month visit to Krajraha, which will include going on the titular royal hunt into the jungle with the Potentate.

Complications: The PCs are barred from coming along with their usual combat load; the party is restricted by custom to use bow weapons only. What is supposed to be a leisurely trek with a large group of retainers and only occasional actual hunting becomes anything but relaxing as aggressive creatures invade the camp, pack animals become belligerent, weapons have accidental discharges, and the hunting party becomes temporarily lost. Through it all, the PCs have to keep themselves and their patron alive. The patron will want to keep the Potentate alive as well – if he dies, the deal is off, or at least negotiations will have to start over with his son.

Payoff: Cr 15,000 per PC for the two months of bodyguard duty.

Strong Points: The PCs will be busy on this trip, it seems a most ill-fated expedition. Part of the challenge will be that they will have to get used to low-tech weapons, as the patrons will send home any PC caught with firearms. The referee can 'motivate' the players to investigate all the mishaps by having the Potentate or the patron accuse them of trying to undermine the deal.

Weak Points: Only with setting it in my TU – Mishima is a TL12 planet, which means communication with the city (weather, GPS, hi-speed contra-grav rescue) should be pervasive enough to take the wilderness out of this wilderness adventure. It works better if the hunting party are out of touch with the capital and on their own.

What I'd change: I think this one stands up well as it is.

In My Traveller Universe: Mishima, in the Barrick Cluster, is a suitable match for the described geography. It is also out of the way, of modest population and has trade code Non-Industrial. 

The Map

The map scale can vary, probably best between 5 and 10 km/hex, and assuming that the pack animals will move at best 3-4 km/hr, and the party will frequently stop and camp out. 

I made this map, using Hexographer. It may be reproduced or modified without permission.