Outward Bound

For the first time in several weeks we had all our players for our Traveller campaign, which was just in time for the final resupply and outfitting of the Deepnight Revelation at Tobia. Given that the security officer Colonel Xavier Quinn was now back with us, we went back to decide what had happened with Albrinn Moss, the crew member who had been smuggling things aboard the ship. Quinn decided on a rather violent (but non-fatal) form of punishment, which will definitely set the attitude aboard the ship for the rest of the mission.

Whilst at Tobia, the ship’s crew had what will probably be their last chance to have a long rest at a civilised world for a long time, and there was the usual parties and social events organised by the local nobility. The biggest was a ball arranged by Duke Mark Duduuna Udi Aella of the Trojan Reach. Whilst there, the expedition leaders were invited in for a private meeting with the Duke, who tried to push them for information about the secret nature of the mission. They were very unwilling to provide him with any information.

He did ask for a favour though – to allow the daughter of a friend of his to join the mission. She was Sublieutenant Sir Alixe Vanaadi, a 23 year old graduate of the local Naval Academy, and looking for a chance to prove herself. They agreed to consider her rather than directly agreeing. In hindsight, the Duke probably would have been a bit more expectant of an immediate agreement given his station (and the noble Travellers would have known this).

After doing some digging, the Travellers found out that she did seem to be quite a competent gunner, so the Colonel Quinn was quite happy to have her on his team. From the rumours that they picked up, there did seem to be a bit more behind the request than was immediately obvious. Some amongst the nobility seemed to think war was coming, and there was concern that she might be the sort of person to insist on a command on the front line. Her family obviously considered a simple science mission would be safer for her, and by the time she came back there would be plenty of opportunity for promotions and retirement.

As part of the deal, the crew managed to get hold of a second particle barbette, to match the one that they took off the pirate ship at Topas. It had just been removed from a decommissioned vessel and wasn’t in great condition, but it would give the engineers something to do in order to get it working and fitted to the Deepnight.

We also had a quick overview of what the Deepnight was going to stock up with in terms of supplies – vehicles, ships, cargo and equipment. It’s sort of a bit unfair on the players for them to decide this, since they have no idea what would be considered ‘reasonable’ for a standard mission, let alone one as long and unusual as what the Deepnight is undertaking. I’d already come up with my own guess, and they were happy with that.

I’ve laid everything out on a map in Roll20, which shows where everything is aboard the ship. If a hanger bay gets destroyed or damaged, it’s obvious what is in there. If rare biologicals leak and start infecting the ship, then we can see what is near to them. It also gives a visual view on how many supplies are left.

With everything decided, it was time to leave Tobia. The plan was to head through the Florian League, heading out across the Outrim Void avoiding the Aslan border as much as possible.

The current route looks like it will be through the following systems:

• Ardasii
• Pryme
• Albe
• Kydde
• Thalassa
• Tlazolteotl
• Gabriel
• Forandin

This gives me an opportunity to plan what is going to happen. Given the real world complications in getting everyone together for a game over the last month or so, I haven’t had much enthusiasm for doing much in the way of prep and the sessions have felt a bit unfocused. Now it seems we should be back to a more regular group, and I have a fair idea of where things are heading, so I should be able to get back into planning ahead.

I want to try and put the spotlight on various NPCs over the course of the mission, so the players get to know them a bit and provide a bit of an ongoing internal plot. Since the game won’t be stopping anywhere for very long, providing a long running plot at worlds isn’t going to be possible.

Sublieutenant Vanaadiub was the first obvious choice, and a few days into jump after leaving Tobia, word reached the PCs that she had already started causing some trouble, since she was demanding to be given some responsibility. Quinn decided to put her in charge of getting the two particle barbettes into working order and fitted to the ship, a task she took to with a great deal of enthusiasm (though with somewhat less enthusiasm from the engineering staff she commandeered to help her).