I started a Megatraveller campaign and figured it might be entertaining to post the log entries for others enjoyment. Be warned, I take great liberties with the universe. I also haven't run MegaTraveller since 1990, so relearning the rules is an ongoing process.
Enjoy!
Dramatis Personae
Atom Neutron - A scientist, soon discovered to be a cyborg.
Bort McDouble - A former belter and the frequent target of the Marquesas' distain.
Dez - A scientist who travels, and maintains, Atom Neutron.
Koban - A former pirate with a quick trigger finger.
Mega Steve - A no-nonsense retired army officer.
Marquesa Solange Ducilla - A member of the nobility who is slumming with the common folk.
Zapp Cannon - A retired scout and owner of the Spicy Sicilian.
NPC's
Admiral Scooter Norris - A retired black ops commander and owner of the Serendipity. Carries a deadly alien virus.
Garrick - 18-year-old assistant to Scoooter.
09/19/20
01:1117 – A myriad group of individuals receive a letter from Admiral Scooter Norris requesting they attend a meeting about joining a team for a business venture. The scout did not know the Admiral, but was recommended to him by a prior commander. The meeting will be held on the planet Fari, aboard the vessel, Serendipity.
08:1117 – The group arrives at Feri, in the Regina sector. At the bottom of the cargo ramp of the Serendipity, the group is greeted by Garrick, an 18 year old assistant to Scooter. It is discovered that after retiring, Scooter travelled to an alien planet and contracted a disease that is deadly to anyone to anyone with whom he comes in contact. He sequestered himself into the captains cabin on a broken down Onderneming-class Colony Transport.
He shares with the group that he has gotten a lucrative contract to hunt pirates and plans to use the Serendipity as a Q-ship. Before doing so, he needs to acquire weaponry. During his time in the Navy, he came across a bit of useful information, long forgotten by the powers-that-be. The Kinunir-class Vanguard Cruiser was developed and produced at the shipyards in Regina. The prototype vessel was abandoned somewhere on the planet Beck’s World. The power source was removed, but the rest of the vessel remains intact. The exact location of the vessel is buried somewhere in the shipyard database on Regina.
Scooter offers the group 200,000 Cr to go to Regina, find the exact location. Then, the party is to travel to the Beck’s World and remove the weaponry from the Kinunir-class vessel. Scooter will bring the Serendipity to the Beck’s World system and await the groups message. He will then land the Serendipity, the equipment will be loaded, and…profit!
9/26/20
After realizing the scout ship does not have enough accommodations for the number, or status, of the people present, it is decided to dock the ‘Spicy Sicilian’ to the Serendipity and use the latter for intersystem travel. Prior to leaving, Atom and Bort realize the spacious accommodations allow for the employment of full-time tutors and hire instructors in Science and Tactics to accompany the ship (at a rate of 5000Cr up front and 5000Cr/month, each). The Marquesa then suggests they hire a crew for the ship, to allow more time for socializing (blade combat training) and shuffleboard (shuffleboard, it’s actually a fun game). A six man crew is hired: Steward, Navigator, Pilot, Sensor Ops, and two Engineers (at the cost of 2500Cr/month each). Scooter concurs a crew would lead to smoother operation of the Serendipity and appoints the Marquesa Executive Officer (XO), leaving her to deal with the day to day details.
11:1117 – After spending 3 days hiring tutors and crew, the Serendipity lifts off from Feri and begins the voyage to Regina. The first jump takes it through the Roup system (18:1117), but the vessel does not stop. The second takes it to Regina. During the jump, the group takes advantage of the time to work on sorely needed skills and aiding the newly hired crew in conducting maintenance on the aging vessel.
25:1117 – The Serendipity remains in orbit while the Spicy Sicilian transports the group to the Scout Base on Regina. The Spicy Sicilian lands at the Scout Base and makes inquires but receives no information about a ship scrapped on Beck’s World. Doc and Koban remain on the ship while Zapp, Bort, Mega, and the Marquesa acquire ground transportation from the Scout motor pool. They travel to the General Products shipyard and drive through the non-guarded gates, parking in the administration building parking lot. Solange purports to be an amateur archeologist and Bort, acting as he assistant, bribes the security personnel 250Cr for an hour of access to the archives.
The Marquesa is unable to find much in the paper archives. There is mention of all the ships of the Kinunir class, but none of the XK prototype ship. She does find, filed with the Kinunir records, a copy of an academic article on Xenotechnology, authored by Captain Shin Ye, Ph.D. The article focuses on alien power sources. Bort likewise has little luck on the computer search. He finds traces of a file in the Kinunir database labeled “XK”, but it was erased in 925 IC. Luckily, cross indexing the name “Shin Ye” with “Beck’s World” leads to a funding request for an expedition. Location data, to a site on Beck’s World, is included in the request.
Simultaneously, Zapp and Mega visit a dockside bar and seek out leads and information. They discover a little more information about the Ancients and their tendency to establish small outposts rather than the cities typical of modern races. They also hear a rumor regarding a Kinunir-class ship, the Boughene. The rumor is the destruction was faked by the Imperials and the ship was shifted to exploratory operations toward the rim. The motivation for this plot is unclear.
Back at the ship, further research into Shin Ye reveals that she died 30 years ago. An upper-class gossip column reveals there was a substantial inheritance upon her passing and a group of five nephews and nieces, whose names are listed, were engaged in a bitter battle over the division of her fortune. There is no further mention of Shin Ye, nor the inheritance.
Feeling they had enough information to locate the XK, the Spicy Sicilian takes off and docks with the Serendipity. During the docking procedure, Zapp inadvertently damages the docking collar on the Serendipity. It will require repair either in normal space, or planetside (preferred).
26:1117 The Serendipity jumps to Roup.
30:1117 Everyone pays 250Cr/point of Social Standing to maintain their lifestyle.
33:1117 The Serendipity arrives in Roup, but immediately jumps to Feri.
40:1117 The Serendipity arrives in Feri, and after some calculations jumps to Beck’s World.
47:1117 The Serendipity arrives in the Beck’s World system and remains on station on the outskirts of the system.
48:1117 The group takes the Spicy Sicilian and approaches the planet. EM scans indicate a cluster of satellites over the archeology site, but extraordinarily little else. An orbit that passes over the indicated coordinates is achieves and Doc locates the vessel on the second orbit. He has difficulty with the optical scanners but obtains an image after difficult technical adjustments.
It appears the XK made a hard landing, as the landing gear is destroyed, and the first deck has been crushed to about half its normal height. A cautious approach is deemed best and the Spicy Sicilian begins its approach at an altitude of 3200 meters. At around 100 miles from the XK, and at an altitude of about 320 meters, all power on the Spicy Sicilian is lost. The only sound is the gasps of surprise and the flow of turbulent air around the decidedly non-aerodynamic hull as the vessel begins it fall toward the ground.
10/03/20
With the Spicy Sicilian in freefall, Zapp heads to the engineering console near the generators and leaves Bort piloting. On the way, he notices Doc slumped over at the sensor console, apparently unconscious. Bort makes a comment about ‘another naughty word robot’. After cranking open a few doors and arriving in the engine room, Zapp realizes there is power in the system, but the flow is being interrupted. He thinks it may be possible to do a series of manual resets and get small bursts of power every few seconds.
Mega Steve heads to the cargo bay to manually deploy the landing gear. When Mega Steve gets there, he finds a stowaway, Dez, one of the new crew from the Serendipity. After some tense moments involving harsh language and the waving of firearms, it is decided they may be better off working together, instead of dying together (although both agree the latter is more romantic).
Bort realizes he has a lack of control surfaces and his ‘piloting’ is amounting to monitoring a pizza slice shaped hunk of metal fall from the sky. One of the few movable external surfaces are the thrust vector plates at the rear of the ship. Zapp thinks Bort can use them as improvised elevators, giving him crude pitch control of the ship. Solange heads to the back of the ship to turn cranks and press buttons to make this happen. Bort also instructs Dez and Mega Steve to deploy the fuel scoop to bleed air speed.
Working together, the crew of the Spicy Sicilian manage to get it on the ground in one piece, with severe damage to the landing gear, but otherwise in good repair. It is discovered that Doc is, in fact, a cutting-edge-tech android and Dez is the scientist who watches over him. No one seems to mind, except Bort who rambles on about “…R.U.R., Roy Batty, Marvin, Decepticons, Sheen, Mr. Roboto, Ash, and Bishop…”. No one listens.
As the hover sled lacks power, the group sets out on foot toward the XK. After a brief fight with some native wildlife, they soon find a chasm in the earth that leads to a hallway beneath. Mega Steve begins to hear signs of pursuit and Zapp sees shadows moving within the passage. Dez drops down and disables the only illumination through a focused act of violence. The group follows the passage several hundred feet, with both Zapp and Mega Steve becoming more paranoid about possible pursuit. The tension is relieved when it is discovered they are experiencing delusions. Dez taking a 9 mm round to the chest, courtesy of Zapp, also improves everyone’s mood.
A short time later, an Ancients laboratory is discovered with a human shaped imprint and a stone control console. After reverting to their ape-like ancestors and banging on the stone for a few minutes, Bort lays within the imprint and the alpha chimp begins smashing more buttons. Lights come on. Things rotate. Bort ends up unconscious and bleeding from his nose and ears, in need of immediate medical care.
Doc contacts the group on the comm link and informs them power has been restored. He is instructed to get the grav sled to their location ASAP and, driving like an android possessed (or a normal android according to Bort) they get Bort back to the med bay in the ship in time to save his life.
49:1117 Expecting a recovery time of 2-3 weeks, everyone is surprised 24 hours later when Bort walks out of the med bay in search of munchies, appearing little worse for the wear. A second crashed ship is also located near the XK and it is discovered to be a scout vessel, like the Spicy Sicilian.
The group holds a brief planning meeting and realize no one has the knowledge and skills necessary to removing the turret weapons from the XK. The scan the applications of their recent hires and decided to include Peter Irate in the shore party. Peter listed his prior experience as ‘Activities Director’ but seems to know a WHOLE lot about weapons. When asked about this apparent contradiction, Peter stated “Activities was a pretty broad category on his last ship”. Regardless, he has the knowledge needed to dismount weapons from a turret mounting.
10/10/20
50:1117 The group once again boards the Spicy Sicilian and descends to the planet. It is decided to visit the XK site first, and later investigate the crashed scout ship. The approach proceeds normally. Dez uses the ship sensors to do a comprehensive scanner sweep. He detects a radiation source within the ship, but it appears partially shielded. He also detects 5 life forms near the XK. Four of them are large and the last about the size of a small humanoid.
The Spicy Sicilian approaches the crash site flying nap of the earth and crests the last hill a mere 200 meters from the XK. The XK is intact, but with severe landing strut damage, likely the result of a hard landing. A cargo ramp is deployed from the bottom of the ship, but with far less clearance than normal. Between the XK and the Spicy Sicilian are 4 beasts of burden, known as uulkeons, and a large wagon half filled with fodder. A small campfire with a cooking pot burns nearby.
Upon exiting the ship, the group is confronted by a 10-year-old girl who appears from behind the wagon, a carbine pointed at the group. Surprisingly, Mega Steve does not open fire immediately and gives Solange the chance to speak with the child. Her name is Kira Leath and her father and brother got trapped within the XK when the power come on unexpectedly. The group informs the girl that they will free her family members.
Dez sneaks up the cargo ramp and find a security robot and a maintenance robot in the cargo bay. Gunfire ensues and the robots are dispatched with some of the group taking superficial wounds. The group explores further, dispatching robots as necessary and discover Kira’s older brother, Zivan Leath, hiding in the ships forward lounge. Zivan tells them his father, Flynn Leath, was a deck higher, moving towards the bridge. Zivan is told to go outside while the group explores further.
The group ascends an access ladder to an escape pod bay. All eight pods have been deployed and a group of bird creatures have nested in the voids. The door to the bridge is located, but takes several attempt to open. During this time, several robots attack the party and are dispatched. Interestingly enough, a janitorial robot fails to path around Bort. Kira’s father is located, and sent outside to join the rest of his family. Upon accessing the bridge, Bort decides he has had enough of all the sealed doors and uses his computers skills to open all the doors in the ship. A blue glow is seen in the rear of the ship, the engineering section, but it is several minutes until someone realizes it is Cherenkov radiation and radioactive particles have been bathing the group the entire time.
Enjoy!
Dramatis Personae
Atom Neutron - A scientist, soon discovered to be a cyborg.
Bort McDouble - A former belter and the frequent target of the Marquesas' distain.
Dez - A scientist who travels, and maintains, Atom Neutron.
Koban - A former pirate with a quick trigger finger.
Mega Steve - A no-nonsense retired army officer.
Marquesa Solange Ducilla - A member of the nobility who is slumming with the common folk.
Zapp Cannon - A retired scout and owner of the Spicy Sicilian.
NPC's
Admiral Scooter Norris - A retired black ops commander and owner of the Serendipity. Carries a deadly alien virus.
Garrick - 18-year-old assistant to Scoooter.
09/19/20
01:1117 – A myriad group of individuals receive a letter from Admiral Scooter Norris requesting they attend a meeting about joining a team for a business venture. The scout did not know the Admiral, but was recommended to him by a prior commander. The meeting will be held on the planet Fari, aboard the vessel, Serendipity.
08:1117 – The group arrives at Feri, in the Regina sector. At the bottom of the cargo ramp of the Serendipity, the group is greeted by Garrick, an 18 year old assistant to Scooter. It is discovered that after retiring, Scooter travelled to an alien planet and contracted a disease that is deadly to anyone to anyone with whom he comes in contact. He sequestered himself into the captains cabin on a broken down Onderneming-class Colony Transport.
He shares with the group that he has gotten a lucrative contract to hunt pirates and plans to use the Serendipity as a Q-ship. Before doing so, he needs to acquire weaponry. During his time in the Navy, he came across a bit of useful information, long forgotten by the powers-that-be. The Kinunir-class Vanguard Cruiser was developed and produced at the shipyards in Regina. The prototype vessel was abandoned somewhere on the planet Beck’s World. The power source was removed, but the rest of the vessel remains intact. The exact location of the vessel is buried somewhere in the shipyard database on Regina.
Scooter offers the group 200,000 Cr to go to Regina, find the exact location. Then, the party is to travel to the Beck’s World and remove the weaponry from the Kinunir-class vessel. Scooter will bring the Serendipity to the Beck’s World system and await the groups message. He will then land the Serendipity, the equipment will be loaded, and…profit!
9/26/20
After realizing the scout ship does not have enough accommodations for the number, or status, of the people present, it is decided to dock the ‘Spicy Sicilian’ to the Serendipity and use the latter for intersystem travel. Prior to leaving, Atom and Bort realize the spacious accommodations allow for the employment of full-time tutors and hire instructors in Science and Tactics to accompany the ship (at a rate of 5000Cr up front and 5000Cr/month, each). The Marquesa then suggests they hire a crew for the ship, to allow more time for socializing (blade combat training) and shuffleboard (shuffleboard, it’s actually a fun game). A six man crew is hired: Steward, Navigator, Pilot, Sensor Ops, and two Engineers (at the cost of 2500Cr/month each). Scooter concurs a crew would lead to smoother operation of the Serendipity and appoints the Marquesa Executive Officer (XO), leaving her to deal with the day to day details.
11:1117 – After spending 3 days hiring tutors and crew, the Serendipity lifts off from Feri and begins the voyage to Regina. The first jump takes it through the Roup system (18:1117), but the vessel does not stop. The second takes it to Regina. During the jump, the group takes advantage of the time to work on sorely needed skills and aiding the newly hired crew in conducting maintenance on the aging vessel.
25:1117 – The Serendipity remains in orbit while the Spicy Sicilian transports the group to the Scout Base on Regina. The Spicy Sicilian lands at the Scout Base and makes inquires but receives no information about a ship scrapped on Beck’s World. Doc and Koban remain on the ship while Zapp, Bort, Mega, and the Marquesa acquire ground transportation from the Scout motor pool. They travel to the General Products shipyard and drive through the non-guarded gates, parking in the administration building parking lot. Solange purports to be an amateur archeologist and Bort, acting as he assistant, bribes the security personnel 250Cr for an hour of access to the archives.
The Marquesa is unable to find much in the paper archives. There is mention of all the ships of the Kinunir class, but none of the XK prototype ship. She does find, filed with the Kinunir records, a copy of an academic article on Xenotechnology, authored by Captain Shin Ye, Ph.D. The article focuses on alien power sources. Bort likewise has little luck on the computer search. He finds traces of a file in the Kinunir database labeled “XK”, but it was erased in 925 IC. Luckily, cross indexing the name “Shin Ye” with “Beck’s World” leads to a funding request for an expedition. Location data, to a site on Beck’s World, is included in the request.
Simultaneously, Zapp and Mega visit a dockside bar and seek out leads and information. They discover a little more information about the Ancients and their tendency to establish small outposts rather than the cities typical of modern races. They also hear a rumor regarding a Kinunir-class ship, the Boughene. The rumor is the destruction was faked by the Imperials and the ship was shifted to exploratory operations toward the rim. The motivation for this plot is unclear.
Back at the ship, further research into Shin Ye reveals that she died 30 years ago. An upper-class gossip column reveals there was a substantial inheritance upon her passing and a group of five nephews and nieces, whose names are listed, were engaged in a bitter battle over the division of her fortune. There is no further mention of Shin Ye, nor the inheritance.
Feeling they had enough information to locate the XK, the Spicy Sicilian takes off and docks with the Serendipity. During the docking procedure, Zapp inadvertently damages the docking collar on the Serendipity. It will require repair either in normal space, or planetside (preferred).
26:1117 The Serendipity jumps to Roup.
30:1117 Everyone pays 250Cr/point of Social Standing to maintain their lifestyle.
33:1117 The Serendipity arrives in Roup, but immediately jumps to Feri.
40:1117 The Serendipity arrives in Feri, and after some calculations jumps to Beck’s World.
47:1117 The Serendipity arrives in the Beck’s World system and remains on station on the outskirts of the system.
48:1117 The group takes the Spicy Sicilian and approaches the planet. EM scans indicate a cluster of satellites over the archeology site, but extraordinarily little else. An orbit that passes over the indicated coordinates is achieves and Doc locates the vessel on the second orbit. He has difficulty with the optical scanners but obtains an image after difficult technical adjustments.
It appears the XK made a hard landing, as the landing gear is destroyed, and the first deck has been crushed to about half its normal height. A cautious approach is deemed best and the Spicy Sicilian begins its approach at an altitude of 3200 meters. At around 100 miles from the XK, and at an altitude of about 320 meters, all power on the Spicy Sicilian is lost. The only sound is the gasps of surprise and the flow of turbulent air around the decidedly non-aerodynamic hull as the vessel begins it fall toward the ground.
10/03/20
With the Spicy Sicilian in freefall, Zapp heads to the engineering console near the generators and leaves Bort piloting. On the way, he notices Doc slumped over at the sensor console, apparently unconscious. Bort makes a comment about ‘another naughty word robot’. After cranking open a few doors and arriving in the engine room, Zapp realizes there is power in the system, but the flow is being interrupted. He thinks it may be possible to do a series of manual resets and get small bursts of power every few seconds.
Mega Steve heads to the cargo bay to manually deploy the landing gear. When Mega Steve gets there, he finds a stowaway, Dez, one of the new crew from the Serendipity. After some tense moments involving harsh language and the waving of firearms, it is decided they may be better off working together, instead of dying together (although both agree the latter is more romantic).
Bort realizes he has a lack of control surfaces and his ‘piloting’ is amounting to monitoring a pizza slice shaped hunk of metal fall from the sky. One of the few movable external surfaces are the thrust vector plates at the rear of the ship. Zapp thinks Bort can use them as improvised elevators, giving him crude pitch control of the ship. Solange heads to the back of the ship to turn cranks and press buttons to make this happen. Bort also instructs Dez and Mega Steve to deploy the fuel scoop to bleed air speed.
Working together, the crew of the Spicy Sicilian manage to get it on the ground in one piece, with severe damage to the landing gear, but otherwise in good repair. It is discovered that Doc is, in fact, a cutting-edge-tech android and Dez is the scientist who watches over him. No one seems to mind, except Bort who rambles on about “…R.U.R., Roy Batty, Marvin, Decepticons, Sheen, Mr. Roboto, Ash, and Bishop…”. No one listens.
As the hover sled lacks power, the group sets out on foot toward the XK. After a brief fight with some native wildlife, they soon find a chasm in the earth that leads to a hallway beneath. Mega Steve begins to hear signs of pursuit and Zapp sees shadows moving within the passage. Dez drops down and disables the only illumination through a focused act of violence. The group follows the passage several hundred feet, with both Zapp and Mega Steve becoming more paranoid about possible pursuit. The tension is relieved when it is discovered they are experiencing delusions. Dez taking a 9 mm round to the chest, courtesy of Zapp, also improves everyone’s mood.
A short time later, an Ancients laboratory is discovered with a human shaped imprint and a stone control console. After reverting to their ape-like ancestors and banging on the stone for a few minutes, Bort lays within the imprint and the alpha chimp begins smashing more buttons. Lights come on. Things rotate. Bort ends up unconscious and bleeding from his nose and ears, in need of immediate medical care.
Doc contacts the group on the comm link and informs them power has been restored. He is instructed to get the grav sled to their location ASAP and, driving like an android possessed (or a normal android according to Bort) they get Bort back to the med bay in the ship in time to save his life.
49:1117 Expecting a recovery time of 2-3 weeks, everyone is surprised 24 hours later when Bort walks out of the med bay in search of munchies, appearing little worse for the wear. A second crashed ship is also located near the XK and it is discovered to be a scout vessel, like the Spicy Sicilian.
The group holds a brief planning meeting and realize no one has the knowledge and skills necessary to removing the turret weapons from the XK. The scan the applications of their recent hires and decided to include Peter Irate in the shore party. Peter listed his prior experience as ‘Activities Director’ but seems to know a WHOLE lot about weapons. When asked about this apparent contradiction, Peter stated “Activities was a pretty broad category on his last ship”. Regardless, he has the knowledge needed to dismount weapons from a turret mounting.
10/10/20
50:1117 The group once again boards the Spicy Sicilian and descends to the planet. It is decided to visit the XK site first, and later investigate the crashed scout ship. The approach proceeds normally. Dez uses the ship sensors to do a comprehensive scanner sweep. He detects a radiation source within the ship, but it appears partially shielded. He also detects 5 life forms near the XK. Four of them are large and the last about the size of a small humanoid.
The Spicy Sicilian approaches the crash site flying nap of the earth and crests the last hill a mere 200 meters from the XK. The XK is intact, but with severe landing strut damage, likely the result of a hard landing. A cargo ramp is deployed from the bottom of the ship, but with far less clearance than normal. Between the XK and the Spicy Sicilian are 4 beasts of burden, known as uulkeons, and a large wagon half filled with fodder. A small campfire with a cooking pot burns nearby.
Upon exiting the ship, the group is confronted by a 10-year-old girl who appears from behind the wagon, a carbine pointed at the group. Surprisingly, Mega Steve does not open fire immediately and gives Solange the chance to speak with the child. Her name is Kira Leath and her father and brother got trapped within the XK when the power come on unexpectedly. The group informs the girl that they will free her family members.
Dez sneaks up the cargo ramp and find a security robot and a maintenance robot in the cargo bay. Gunfire ensues and the robots are dispatched with some of the group taking superficial wounds. The group explores further, dispatching robots as necessary and discover Kira’s older brother, Zivan Leath, hiding in the ships forward lounge. Zivan tells them his father, Flynn Leath, was a deck higher, moving towards the bridge. Zivan is told to go outside while the group explores further.
The group ascends an access ladder to an escape pod bay. All eight pods have been deployed and a group of bird creatures have nested in the voids. The door to the bridge is located, but takes several attempt to open. During this time, several robots attack the party and are dispatched. Interestingly enough, a janitorial robot fails to path around Bort. Kira’s father is located, and sent outside to join the rest of his family. Upon accessing the bridge, Bort decides he has had enough of all the sealed doors and uses his computers skills to open all the doors in the ship. A blue glow is seen in the rear of the ship, the engineering section, but it is several minutes until someone realizes it is Cherenkov radiation and radioactive particles have been bathing the group the entire time.
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