Game Idea 7-28-2017 Do you know the way to Rojelais

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jayphailey
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Game Idea 7-28-2017 Do you know the way to Rojelais

Post by jayphailey » Sat Jul 07, 2018 7:53 pm

Game Idea 7-28-2017 Do you know the way to Rojelais.

Did I post this one?

Note, anything in here is free for you to use. If you don't like something, change it to suit yourself!

If you would change anything, I am interested in reading what and why.

My point in posting this is to amuse you, amuse myself, and if I am really lucky, give you some mental legos to use in your games. There's no right or wrong way to take these and make them your.

TL;DR - Rule 0!


Game Idea 7-28-2017 Do you know the way to Rojelais.

The PCs are traveling

They stop off at Rojelais Station. This was a station started by a con-man based on sunshine, glad handing and attitude and not much else. But it took off on him. And then without him after he was assassinated by an Orion loan shark he'd cheated.

Currently the station has these purposes.

1 - it's a trans-shipment point. It's in the perfect place to be a stop over and a hub for cargo and passengers heading for the Federation frontier. So big carriers can run regular, scheduled runs to the station, drop cargo and head back. Then smaller transports can take the cargo on the final leg to its destination.
1a - It serves as a stop over, R&R and support for cargo crews coming and going. So it provides all the services to separate spacers from their credits and to keep commercial ships flying.

2 - A Market. Some times things are brought out and their trip is obviated. Sometimes people bring stuff hoping they can sell it. So lots of things are for sale on the station. Commerce is a big deal and lots of it going on. Brokers try to make a living putting cargoes and customers together. Good ones make a lot of money. Bad ones lose a lot of money.
2a - this place is a lot more commercial and money driven than most places in the federation. This is a funcction of it's distance from the Federation and it relative poverty. The Federation is working on upgrading the station and it's infrastructure to support a more standard Federation model where personal finance is all done behind the walls and screens away from public eyes.


3 - a hive of scum and villainy. Of course, because it wouldn't be as much fun otherwise.
3a - Because this is Federation territory, the scum and villainy has to be under cover. There is a market for adventurers, scouts and mercenaries. this area is far from the core and Starfleet is thin on the ground. So scum and villains present themselves as hired guns, mercenaries and tramp freighters. There is also a hidden "Gift Economy" people in the know transact with each other via gifts and shows of friendship.

3b - The local crime lord, John Bingham looks like someone's grandpa. and he acts like it too. His cover is a small repair shop. But he also is a loan shark (Not the original one who killed Rojelais,) and can introduce his friends to other friends who can gift them with certain items they desire.

It's all carefully tuned to look friendly and to be weird, but not illegal.


4 - There is a small Starfleet office on the station. About 30 people try to be cops and search and rescue people. They are spread too thin. If it amuses the GM, PCs passing through will be shanghaied for Starfleet jobs on the station until they escape. Starfleet does not own the station. It rents space. The station administration is glad to have them. They don't have to put as much of their own income stream into security that way.
4a - There are always idiots coming through. They make enough noise and disruption so Starfleet people feel like they're doing their jobs keeping that down. And they are. The completely unplanned and spontaneous idiot flux is perfect distraction for the black market that operates on the station


4b - Frank Juno is the assistant chief engineer. he is also the fuel systems compliance inspector, so he inspects commercial shipping to make sure their fuel systems meet Federation regulations. He is also the Undercover Starfleet Intelligence station chief out here.
Juno actually has ties to John Bingham's black market circle. He has borrowed some money from Bingham and has done some work in exchange to pay some of it off. Bingham thinks he has a Starfleet officer on his string. Juno is mapping the organization, and the commerce that flows through it. It's a finicky business.

Juno will introduce himself to the PCs when they get to the station, but won't give away his cover.


-*-

Shortly after arrival (Or after a couple of encounter style scenarios) Juno brings Jenna Gorma to meet the PCs. Jenna is an associate of the 2-d-Crew a band of mercenaries that operate in the area. She's a technician and good at fixing things and bypassing electronic security.

Jenna tells the PCs that the 2-d-Crew has uncovered word of a cache of preserver artifacts on a primitive world not far away. The 2-d-Crew is all about the money. Looting a cache of preserver artifacts would set them up for life.

The world they're on, Horiyko-Banjo is a prime directive protected world. The GM should steal the other sort of RPG world he like to play on. Maybe the natives run around with swords and bows and metal armor and misinterpret psionics as magic.

Maybe they have sailing ships and muskets, and mistake psionics for magic.

Whatever.

The 2-d-Crew plans to head for Horiyko-Banjo, and grab those artifacts.

A stealthy approach seems most efficient. Also if no one knows, that delays pursuit and investigation.

But if slaughtering a bunch of people with energy weapons makes them rich, well...

Jenna is not down with this. This plan is a step too far for her.

Juno tells the PCs "You're the only ones present and free to act. It's up to you."

-*-

The station Starfleet commander, Lt. Commander Akomoko is too busy. "We don't have resources to chase rumors! I have seven suspicious ships leaving and two crews to inspect them before they're gone. Oh, that reminds me!"

Starfleet Command is 3 days away by subspace (Or more depending on how the GM feels) Other Starfleet units are similarly far away.

A big shiny cruiser full of people is guaranteed to arrive... right as the adventure is wrapping up.

-*-

So what do the PCs do? How far will they go?

Going to intercept the 2-d-Crew in space is an option. The mercenary ship will flee to avoid having a stop and inspection demanded.

Do the PCs outgun the 2-d-Crew? That seems dangerously close.

If the PCs try to race the 2-d-Crew to the planet, that's a thing, too.

If the PCs try to go undercover among the natives to get the artifacts before the 2-d-Crew gets them, this can be a thing, too.

If the PCs catch the 2-d-Crew in the act of looting, that's a very clear violation of the Prime Directive and the 2-d-Crew is subject to arrest, prosecution and jail time for it.

Generally the Federation's view of the PD out here on the frontier boils down to
A - Don't mess peoples' stuff up. Don't mess with their world view, don't mess with their culture. Do no harm
B - Don't play God. messing people's stuff up with good intentions is still messing stuff up. Don't let Hubris lead you into a crap storm. because you'll feel like crap when you're serving your time for it.


Some might say that the natives have their own relationships with their preserver artifacts and the PD means outsiders shouldn't interfere.

the 2d-Crew will assert (As a last resort) that they are stealing thee artifacts to protect the natives from outside influences.

If the Players discuss what the Prime Directive means for a good chunk of the session, then this is a win for the GM.

Also, if local warlords or pirates on Horiyko-Banjo get the impressions that there are valuable artifacts in ancient labyrinths and installations under their world, they've have very strong opinions about owning these. Sticking aliens with pointy things, shooting aliens with muskets or having your wizard brain-whammy aliens is totally on the menu for this.

If the GM is desires he can make up different humanoids who live on Horiyko-Banjo, and their relations to each other. Depends on how much he wants the PCs to be drawn back to it.

-*-

Note - Rojelais Station looks somewhat like "Optimist Station" I made up earlier. Elements can easily be borrowed between them. Optimists Station was supposed to be in the Deep Frontier far away and around several obstacles. Optimist Station is designed to separate PCs and their situation from Earth and the majority of the Federation.

Rojelais Station is part of the Federation's network of travel and trade. So by definition it's not as isolated as Optimist Station. People, cargo and ships are coming and going all the time.

-*-

Rojelais Station is rooted in an old Orion Star City, that was sold off as scrap and then rehabilitated bit-by-bit by various people.

In recent times. in order to better support heavy commercial traffic it was thoroughly refit and modernized. Heavy Cargo infrastructure and support for commercial ships was added and upgraded. This has also make several large freight companies serious stock holders in the Station. They want a professionally run operation.

-*-

The System the Station is in is called Rittek, and it's main world is called Hettik.

Hettik is an Earth-like world, with an Earth-like biosphere with one change. All carnivores are flavors of felines. So bears, wolves, big cats, all land predators are variations on felines. Worse, all of these have a strange affection for humanoids. They'll rub on humanoids, grab humanoids, sleep around, near, with or on humanoids. And purr.

This can be disconcerting to people who haven't been warned. Or people don't like cats.

The various felines of Hettik think they're all house cats. They're not. A freak out based on mixed signals can send people to the hospital or the morgue. So Hettik felines are not recommended unless one knows what they're doing and really likes cats.

Hettik is lightly populated world. But they're always welcoming new settlers, including people who go broke on Rojelais and have to start over.

Its a Federation world so the principle work is building up the infrastructure to support more fusion reactors and replicators.

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jayphailey
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Re: Game Idea 7-28-2017 Do you know the way to Rojelais

Post by jayphailey » Sun Nov 03, 2019 6:45 am

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