The morning has started out with a snag--literally. After finding yourself floating an hour down river, you ran into this logjam. You decide to blow it open with TD19 and some laser shots.

It takes 600 grams of TD19 to break it open enough that a few hits with a laser breaks through, which is a little more than you expected. Total delay is just under 30 minutes, but you get through, slowly push the rafts down and around the bend, and get on your way again.

6:30 a.m. (6.5 hours remaining) (1.5 hours with no rest)
Rations remaining: 46 (each survival ration is for one person for one day)
Bivouac Units: 1 (30/30 SP (structural points); 10 kg each); second one is kept as scrap (10 kg)

As you drift, Appleburg is becoming a little more talkative. He asks about your mission, and when you give him the details, he says he was trained in the military as a military surgeon, and even made it through boot camp and weapons training, but fighting is not his main skill. Nevertheless, he is happy to join in the fight because this is for a good cause and he really is anxious to get off this planet. "If I never hear the word Sathar again, it will be too soon," he says.

He tells you the tube sucking creature that got Orvo is called a Thalian, and that there are some other dangers as well--something called Flutterbyes that will land on you and try to put their larvae on you.  A few minutes later, his oar hits a malleable something in the river. "These are called 'Jellbellies'," he says. "They are like almost invisible jellyfish which will stun you with their poisonous tentacles."  (You remember your oars hitting those from time to time in the river. They appear quite common.) He thinks a minute and says, "The Sathar also discussed an intelligent species called the Notui. Some sort of bird-like species. I didn't get all the details but they are somewhere south of here. The Sathar lost one or two scout ships or something down there. Something with the atmosphere or natural EMP seemed to cause some wrecks and cut off the ability to easily find them via GPS or normal methods. As far as I know, they're still down there with rotting Sathar corpses inside." He chuckles. "I hope they rot. They--"

His statement is suddenly cut off.

OOC: I should have had you state who was in each raft. Because we didn't do that, I had to guess and go by some comments made earlier, so sorry if this is not what was intended, but you can switch it up later.

RAFT 1:
Desi
Hammer
Appleburg
S'krllk

RAFT 2:
Porter
Orvo
Bartja
Shemp (robot)


Appleburg is interrupted when the lead raft is suddenly flipped high into the air and its contents dumped into the water. The crew of the raft discover themselves in the river splashing around and surprised. And then you see the giant crododile-like creature that flashes past Desi as it opens its great jaws and clamps them onto the overturned raft as though attacking a territorial competitor.

The creature is very, very large--at least 10, and maybe even 15, meters long. It is impossible to tell its size for sure in the water as it thrashes around with the raft in its mouth.

You are 25 feet from shore, and your things are floating in the water around you (except those that sink to the bottom). The crocodile monster is thrashing around with the raft not far in front of you.

The second raft is 10 feet behind and floating without a problem.


7:00 a.m. (6 hours remaining) (2 hours with no rest)
Rations remaining: 46 (each survival ration is for one person for one day)
Bivouac Units: 1 (30/30 SP (structural points); 10 kg each); second one is kept as scrap (10 kg)
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:19, Thu 11 June 2020.

EDIT: Hammer, being a Mechanon, has a metal chassis (although extremely lightweight) and begins to immediately sink to the bottom. He cannot drown.

As Hammer sinks to the bottom, he will gather up as many of the non-floatable items as possible before walking back up to the shore.

Hammer sinks to the bottom. Desi and S'krllk are gaining their composure splashing and swimming as they look around.

Appleburg begins to swim swiftly to shore. "Sarcosuchus!" he yells loudly in panic as he tries to get there as fast as possible.

The giant crocodile monster, which must be 40 feet long, is thrashing with the raft when it suddenly stops as it realizes the raft is not a living competitor vying for its territory. It dips below the water to spy above what things -- or prey -- fell from the raft. It also glances at the rear raft.





The raft is now deflated and has holes, but it still floats slowly above the surface of the water.

The water is deep here, perhaps 50 feet, which appears to be where the apex predator lay in wait for prey to come to it.

Hammer is at the bottom scooping up some essential equipment. Some will not be able to be gathered easily or quickly.

S'krllk and Desi can spend time gathering floating supplies (2d10 supplies per turn or 1d10 plus half movement), or they can beeline to the shore or to the other raft...or maybe even try to take on this creature mano a mano. They can also spend one turn assessing the situation for potential additional clues.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:40, Fri 12 June 2020.

Woken by the sound of all the splashing, Porter quickly assesses the situation in the second raft,  "Eerrm, maybe we should be heading for the shore line?"  he suggests.

S'Krllk makes a beeline for the shore, he seems to be muttering something derogatory about the universe's teeth.

Hammer will take a total of 3 turns gathering stuff from the bottom of the riverbed before going to shore.

ROUND 2
The giant crodolian is slowly turning its head from side to side underwater to gauge the situation.

Desi and Appleburg are collecting the items floating on the water to salvage what they can. they bump into some nearly invisible bubble objects but are unhurt.

S'krllk is swimming quickly to the shore. He is suddenly shocked by the sting of one of the jellybellies Appleburg warned about (10 STA damage) and is paralyzed. He starts to sink into the river, unable to move.

Hammer is on the bottom collecting items.

The rear boat is steered by Porter toward shore.

ROUND 3
Desi and Appleburg collect a few more items before kicking toward shore. They are not hit by any jellybellies. However, they suddenly notice that S'krllk has sunk below the water and must have been stung.

S'krllk has almost sunk to the bottom of the river, still paralyzed. He is unable to even control his breathing and takes immediate drowning damage. (3 STA damage of drowning damage.)

The rear raft is almost to shore.

Hammer is still collecting items when he notices S'krllk sinking nearby, obviously hurt and unable to move or help himself.

The crocodile has abandoned the first raft and is making a U-turn to look upstream at what fell out of the raft--and the second raft.

Hammer will take what he has gathered and immediately go to S'krllk's aid to try to drag the Vrusk out of the water to dry land.

gurgle

"Everyone out of the water!"  Porter roars as he guides the second inflatable ashore, leaps out of the raft with his machine gun and turns to take aim at the giant crocodile.

If the beast looks like attacking any one of our people, Porter will open fire.

ROUND 4
Hammer is moving toward S'krllk to help...

S'krllk is helpless still and taking drowning damage...(15 drowning STA dmg.)

Desi and Appleburg are swimming quickly to shore...Desi feels the sting of a jellyfish creature pulse through her body. She begins to sink in the water just 10 feet from shore. (8 STA dmg.) She is paralyzed and cannot move as water fills her lungs.

The first raft is going to the shore. Porter jumps off and hauls it up right as a giant maw jumps from the water, snatching at air before falling back into the water. Porter's heart races at the close call.



ROUND 5
Appleburg sees Desi fall into the water and he reaches for her to help her above water.

The crododilian creature is under the water looking at its potential prey again.



It seems to spot Hammer just as Hammer pushes S'krllk above the water to stop the drowning...

Appleburg is dragging Desi to shore, getting her head out of the water.

Hammer and S'krllk turn but only feel a wave of water and see the tail as it passes by them.



S'krllk is almost dying now, but at least his Vrusk head is out of the water for the moment.

Porter and the riders of the rear raft now have the raft safely ashore and are turning to see how to help their comrades.

You see the crocodilian monster walking just below the surface as its feet find purchase on the shrubs and dirt as it prepares to breech.

Hammer gets S'krllk to shore. Everyone is on the shoreside now. Desi and S'krllk are paralyzed (7 more rounds each).

Its head is just below the surface as it seems to watch you from below with its gargantuan body.



Then is slowly sinks back in the water and disappears into the darkness below. You wait for a full minute but don't see it.

S'krllk and Desi regain control of their bodies.

The damaged and chewed up raft has drifted and is caught in some rocks about 8 feet out from shore 20 yards downriver.

Player stats updated--in blue.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:14, Tue 16 June 2020.

"Well now we're screwed!"  Porter exclaims.  "We can't all fit in one raft, not that I am real keen on getting back in the river with that thing.  And we can't get to the Eleanor Moraes in time traveling by foot.  Totally screwed!"

Hammer says, "We might be able to repair the damaged raft. Let's check it out and see. We brought repair equipment, including the damaged bivouac."

Hammer will try to retrieve the old raft and see what can be done to repair it, and how long it might take.

S'Krllk raises his head and moans out "...build new?... many trees... have kit..."
He attempts to sit up, coughs out some water, and lays back down, "after nap."

You drag the raft out of the water to inspect it. The material is very durable and the punctures are not as bad as you might think from such an attack, but since the crocodile creature bit once and then just a frenzy death roll that seemed worse than it was.

You have airship and bivouac material that can patch it up with the kits. Doing so, and getting the gear back together and packed, will take about 30 minutes.

As you begin looking at the status of the raft, the others are looking at what was lost and saved in the capsizing.

You lost:

1 of two medkits:
Remaining meds:
-Biocort doses= 7
-Anesthesia: 9
-Staydose: 8 remaining
-Stimdose: 8 remaining

8 survival kits (including food and water):

8 freeze field generators (2 remaining)

5 cold light lanterns

All but 1 machete



Note also that S'krllk is at 4 STA.

Porter surveys his team's situation. There's nothing he can do when it comes to healing folks so let's stick to what I can do he thinks to himself.  The sarge makes sure everyone is far enough back from the river bank just in case their crocosaur comes back and then he takes up a watch position between the river and the team.
  "Hey Hammer can you make a note in your electronic diary for me?  Note to self, for all future missions, each team member should carry their own personal emergency supply of biocort."
  As the rest of the team tend to raft repairs and treating the injured, Porter also checks the remaining shared team equipment is dived as evenly as possible between the rafts so that if they are attacked again only half the team gear is in any given raft.
  "Probably closing the barn door after the horse is bolted but again another lesson for future missions."

OOC: FYI, there were originally 15 survival kits. You guys lost approximately half of the supplies. I assume some heavier things like robokit and the robot itself were on the raft with Bartja. I assumed Hammer rescued S'krllk's techkit and few items.

You repair the raft, get the supplies ready and are about to set out. There is no more sign of your crocodilian friend. The raft is repaired but will not survive any major damage. (Down to 10/20 structural points.)

Orvo gives S'krllk 3 doses of biocort, his limit for the day. (34 STA.)

7:30 a.m. (5.5 hours remaining) (2.5 hours with no rest)
Rations remaining: 23 (each survival ration is for one person for one day)
Bivouac Units: 1 (30/30 SP (structural points); 10 kg each); second one is kept as scrap (10 kg). Rafts: 1 at full capacity (20 structural points); 1 at half capacity (10 structural points).


You are ready to get back on the rafts and try again with a little over 5 hours until the Moraes takes off and strands you here forever alone.

"Hey Desi, I ain't gonna get any sleep worth dick this close to the exfil.  How about we swap the rafts around, I'll take point with good raft, seeing as how you broke yours,"  He smiles "and you can follow us?"

Hammer is ready to push out. He will stay with the front raft to put his ecosystem checks and skills to use as they go. "This will be a memorable event for my recordbooks," he mumbles half to himself. "So many new species. Fascinating."

  Rather than complicate things too much, Porter takes Desi's place in the front raft letting the team commander take a break in the second raft.
  "Nice work on the repairs folks but we ain't got all day to sit around admiring your work.  Let's move out!"

You get back in the raft and head downstream. Luckily, the crocodilian creature seems to have lost interest.

After about a half hour of travel, you see a diversion in the river. You can travel to the left side, which continues at the current safe pace, or you can go to the right, which is a faster area of rapids. You will need to decide quickly.

OOC: Looking at the map below, you can see that taking the left is the safest route but it is at a rate of 5 hexes per hour and, at a 15 hex distance, will take 3 hours to meet the area where the rivers conjoin. The faster route to the right, at 6 hexes per hour, will get you to the same spot in just under two hours but will have some dangerous rapids to navigate.



8:00 a.m. (5.0 hours remaining) (3 hours with no rest)
Rations remaining: 23 (each survival ration is for one person for one day)
Bivouac Units: 1 (30/30 SP (structural points); 10 kg each); second one is kept as scrap (10 kg). Rafts: 1 at full capacity (20 structural points); 1 at half capacity (10 structural points).

"We go right, through the rapids."  Porter announces,  "We've had too many delays so far, if we go the safer way we are too late anyway, so not really a choice at all."

Hammer says, "I have to agree. We need all the time we can get just in case there are any further delays. But everyone should hold on tight, get the gear tightly wrapped to avoid losing anything else, and be prepared. Bartja, maybe your droid up there can scout out the river as we go and alert us of any dangers?"

"Let's secure everything that isn't already tied down.  We can't afford to lose any more stuff!"

Orvo goes through his medical gear, and personal equipment & weapons, to make sure as much as possible is secured to his person or the raft.

The party decides to follow the fast rapids to save some time. This requires more effort, paddling and reaction speed.



OOC: For this part, I am assuming two people must man the oars of each raft. The rules for rapids are:

Every character without environment skills must make a reaction check once per hour. Failure results in incident below.

The two at the oars (rowers) must also make an additional reaction or skill check, with the following results:
1) Both make reaction skill check: no further rolls
2) One misses reaction skill check: Everyone must make another reaction check to avoid incident roll--if two or more make check, no incident.
3) Both miss reaction skill check: immediately roll an incident check.

INCIDENT:
Roll below for results of missed rolls in rapids. For hourly rolls, subtract 30 from the roll. For rowing rolls, subtract 10 from roll for each person with environmentalist skills.

1-30: Party almost loses balance but catches themselves. No harmful results.
31-40: Random item falls out of raft
41-55: Roller loses balance and falls out of raft.
55-64: Roller bumps random rider and knocks him out of raft.
65-74: Two fall out of raft (including roller)
75-84: Three fall out of raft (including roller)
85-94: Raft overturns
95-100: In the confusion, sharp instrument punctures raft. Repairs required.


During the first hour, you still must be getting used to it because several did not make their checks. (Bad rolls.)

Bartja: Fail (Rowing) Fail
Desi: Succeed (Rowing) Succeed
Appleburg: Succeed
Hammer: Fail (even with skill bonus) (Rowing) (Succeed)
Orvo: Succeed
S'krllk: Fail
Porter: Succeed (Rowing) (Succeed)

Raft 1 (Bartja, Desi, Orvo):
Indiv rolls:
Bartja: no effect.

Raft Rolls:
No effect.

Raft 2 (Appleburg, Hammer, S'krllk, Porter):
Indiv Rolls:
Hammer: See below
S'krllk: No effect

Raft rolls:
N/A

About 45 minutes into your travel, Hammer loses his footing, falls back, and bumps into Porter, who then falls into the river. (64 roll after modifier.)  Porter is wet...and his breather comes off in the fall...He then hits a rock as the rapids are throwing him around in a torrent. (9 STA damage) You try to get him, but it takes awhile to reorient the raft as he grabs onto sticks. With his scalp now bleeding and the pain pulsing...he is assisted back on the raft after you are forced to go to land and then run back to help him from the rocks. (3 fails in a row there...ouch.) Porter now is missing his breathing mask and his head hurts.

You also lost 15 minutes trying to assist and pull him back aboard.

A few minutes later, and Bartja lets go of the oars to look at the hand controls for the survey robot. Something has gone wrong. Terry has apparently cut off Bartja's command channel. The survey robot that has been such a help to you in this mission suddenly takes off straight to the southeast toward the Moraes.

Bartja tries to take command again, but it is now ignoring all commands.

9:00 a.m. (4.0 hours remaining) (4 hours with no rest)
Rations remaining: 23 (each survival ration is for one person for one day)
Bivouac Units: 1 (30/30 SP (structural points); 10 kg each); second one is kept as scrap (10 kg). Rafts: 1 at full capacity (20 structural points); 1 at half capacity (10 structural points).
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:14, Fri 19 June 2020.

New Map:

"Just wrap a bandage around my head and keep moving."  Porter grumbles as the team come back to help him after falling out of the raft.  "This damn planet is really starting to bug me, we can't go 5 minutes without something else going wrong or something trying to eat us!  Just once I'd like to see us catch a damn break!"

"Permission to personally assassinate and then revive Terry if we get that far.  Then permission to assassinate him again after revival?"

Bartja tosses the controller aside in favor of focusing on controlling the raft through the rapids, but his flesh-face-half grimaces in a frown of frustration as he considers the loss of the Survey Robot.

He grumbles from the side of his mouth "that was a lot of firepower flying away."

Another thought occurs to him once Porter is back in the folds of the repaired raft.  Addressing Porter, Desi, and Hammer he asks, "Would it be worth taking a chance to split our team before we reach the ship?  A couple of us could try to find these Aborigines and see if we can gain their assistance in halting the ships take-off.  If they can bring down Sathar ships with their EMP, they can surely stop a launch for a few more hours to give us time to take it back."

Desi tries to smile at Porter's frustration because she understands it all to well.  "I hear you loud and clear Sarge!  Welcome to my frustrations.  Orvo will patch you up real quick."

In reply to Desiraye Lipost (msg # 31):
Orvo does some quick first aid on Porter before they shove off gain.

Orvo patches Porter (+10 STA), and you head off into the rapids again.

Hour 2 of the Rapids:

Bartja: Success (Rowing) Success
Desi: Success (Rowing) Failure
Appleburg: Failure
Hammer: Success (Rowing) (Succeed)
Orvo: Fail
S'krllk: Success
Porter: Succeed (Rowing) (Critical Failure)

Raft 1 (Bartja, Desi, Orvo):
Indiv rolls:
Orvo: no effect.

Raft Rolls:
No effect.

Raft 2 (Appleburg, Hammer, S'krllk, Porter):
Indiv Rolls:
Appleburg: 52 net: Appleburg is dislodged from the raft and falls into the rapids...

Raft rolls:
Massive failure...

About 30 minutes later, you find yourself facing more violent rapids. The first raft manages to keep it together and everyone safe.  With the second raft, they fall apart. Both Appleburg and Porter cannot hold their spots, and they are ejected into the rapids.

Some options:
1: Go to shore with some delays like last time of 30 minutes to get everyone back on and push back to the rapids safely.

2: Try to use an oar or hands to grab Appleburg and Porter with both individuals rolling RS checks to avoid any delays, with following results:

   a) Both succeed: Gets on board with no delays.
   b) One succeeds at -35 or more below RS: Get on board, no delays
   c) One succeeds: Roll on incident chart above at -20. No effect means pulled safely aboard.
   d) Both fail: If puller fails, he falls into water. If person in water fails, he is sucked under and must try to get to shore through rapids. (STR check.)
   e) Crit failure: Dire consequences.

Either or both rafts can try to rescue the individuals.

This message was last edited by the GM at 04:15, Mon 22 June 2020.

Hammer reaches an oar out to Porter to help him back in the raft and will do the same for Appleburg if no one else does first. "These rapids are killing us. I wonder if we should've just stuck to the non-rapids for an easier ride."

"Thanks mate"  Porter says to Hammer  "It doesn't matter what we do, we are screwed.  If we went the other way we would not make it in time, we just have to hope that enough of us make it going this way, to justify our losses."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:32, Mon 22 June 2020.

Hammer reaches out...and Porter is brought safely aboard the raft once more, though soaking wet again.

Appleburg has a bigger problem. He reaches out for the oar but gets sucked underwater, out of sight. Then, a moment later, he reappears above water, grabbing the oar and being helped back aboard.

You count yourselves lucky that there were only two incidents in two hours in this highly turbulent water with rafts full of equipment and people, and being ridden by those with no experience.

About thirty minutes later and you feel you must be getting close to the point where the rivers join, almost done with the dangerous rapids. But now the water is becoming rougher very quickly. Giant rocky spines stick up from the surface, threatening the rafts. You hear a dull roar from not far ahead and see a faint plume of mist rising above the trees.

10:00 a.m. (3.0 hours remaining) (5 hours with no rest)
Rations remaining: 23 (each survival ration is for one person for one day)
Bivouac Units: 1 (30/30 SP (structural points); 10 kg each); second one is kept as scrap (10 kg). Rafts: 1 at full capacity (20 structural points); 1 at half capacity (10 structural points).

New Map

Hammer says, "I don't think I need to do an ecosystems check to tell that there is a waterfall directly ahead! We should probably land the rafts and haul them to the base of the waterfall."

In reply to Hammer (msg # 38):

"Copy that!  Let's get it done."  Porter replies

OOC: Waterfall: The adventure states that each rower makes a RS check (or capsize and be swept over waterfall) and that the rafts must be ported around the waterfall with a 30 minute delay. This assumes anyone got the hint that it was a waterfall, which you did here. Beyond that, it doesn't really provide a roleplaying opportunity, so we'll push through this.

I forgot to mention earlier, but even though Porter lost his breathing mask earlier, there was an extra one since Hammer does not need a mask. However, there are no additional masks if anyone else loses or breaks one.

RS checks: All made by very solid margins.


The turbulent water makes it difficult to steer and when you realize there is a waterfall ahead, you pull off and portage the rafts around. This loses you a half hour of time, but you safely make it to the bottom of the waterfall and begin your journey again.

The river opens up into a wider river, which equals the same speed as the rapids but without the dangerous rapids. Grateful that the rapids did no permanent damage, you glide into the larger river.

The large river soon enters a giant water gap area. The water gap has steep rocky cliffs that come to the water's edge in places. It is a little more difficult travel in the gap and a little slower, but is much better than crossing the ridges by land, better than the rapids, and even better than the normal narrow river you took off on earlier in the morning.

The water gap area is very wide with occasional patches of small rock, dirt or brush covered "islands" that are easy to navigate around.

It is here that Bartja sees his survey robot hovering about 100 meters above the water. It does not seem to be moving currently. You are about a kilometer away from a larger, brush covered island and are surrounded on both sides by the immense cliffs of the gap. The survey robot hangs just about at the top of the cliffs. Its battery power must be low by now.

OOC: Did Bartja throw his hand controller overboard? If not, he could try to regain control with a skill check here.

See map for water gap area:


This message was last edited by the GM at 04:49, Tue 23 June 2020.

  Porter trains his machine gun on the robot.
  "Bartja, if you can't take control of that thing I am putting it down.  Just say when!"
  At the first sign of trouble, Porter opens fire.  Glancing left and right at the cliffs.
  "This is a perfect spot for an ambush, heads up everyone!"

(OOC)
If things go pear shaped, long sustained bursts from the machine gun at the robot until it is down.

S'Krllk makes a raspy sound, either a Vrusk indication of curiosity or a little left over water in the vocal passages, then says, calmly, "Computer, scan for communications signals and express the results. Then scan for devices and express the results."

Porter watches the old survey robot as S'krllk does a scan.

Bartja rummages through the gear to locate the hand controller and opens the channel to the robot.  "This is the perfect ambush spot.  Cross-fire from the cliffs and more firepower on the island.  That's what I would have done, but we'll see how smart Terry is."

With the controller in one hand and his rifle across his lap, Bartja attempts to sync the controller with the hovering Survey robot.

  Sergeant Porter flicks on his albedo screen
  "Screens up everyone!  And somebody cover the island."

S'Krllk says, "it's confused. Terry is both a terrible human being and a sloppy hacker. I'll try to get it back."
Then he starts interacting with his bodycomp as he attempts to reclaim the robot.

S'krllk quickly works with his bodycomp and in record time, he is able to regain 100% control of the robot back to the hand controller (or himself). (critical success) Now, either he or Bartja can control the survey robot.

S'krllk also determines that the robot has been fully restocked with ammo and batteries fully charged or replaced.  (You can thank Terry for that.)

You begin putting up screens and are on full alert...

And this is when the raft comes within about 500 meters of the larger brush covered island. As you predicted, it is a perfect place for an ambush, and Terry took advantage of that.

Terry's remote robot pops up from behind the bushes for its ambush. You can tell immediately that this will be more effective and dangerous than the first robot attack. It is situated in hard cover and has camouflaged itself with its work arms. You note, however, that it is only in soft cover from the air if the survey robot gets directly above or behind it. Like your newly reacquired survey robot, the ambushing robot appears well armed.

Your rafts are moving at 25 meters per turn, so it will take you 20 turns to reach the island where the robot is hiding. (Currently, this is considered medium range for the robot's firepower. Your movement on the bobbing raft also puts you at the equivalent of soft cover from the robot's perspective. Your hand weapons are ineffective at this range. Once you get in range, the bouncing raft will cause a -20% modifier to attack.)

MOVEMENT:
Please use the grid markings to indicate where you are going (or sending the survey robot) (A-O, 1-13).

If you attack with your survey robot, note the following: Hard cover until it reaches one hex away (to northeast, northwest, southeast) or behind (on top or southwest) from the attacking robot. Of course, you could also sacrifice the survey robot by ramming it into the attacking robot.

Your survey robot is currently at speed 0 at the place on the map below and at 100 meters altitude. It may accelerate and go up or down each turn according to the instructions on the  map below.

Your raft moves 1/2 hex per turn. You may steer it or slow it down without any modifiers.

Oarsmen/Rider Options:
1) By having two oarsmen concentrate only on oaring (and letting down their guard), you can speed it up to 1 hex per turn.
2) The oarsmen can concentrate on trying to steer the raft to dodge any incoming attack. Success rate will be 1/2 RS but both oarsmen must make the RS check.
3) Turning the raft does not cause any change in normal RS checks or affect speed.
4) If letting the raft drift, you can be prepared to dive overboard if there is trouble.

NOTES: Shemp obviously cannot dive overboard. The hand controller also is not waterproof.

RAFT NOTE: You cannot steer the raft upstream.

The ambushing robot fires its heavy laser. The laser hits a spot between the two rafts, sending up a plume of steam.

OOC: See below for positions of the two rafts and the robots. Raft #1 is the northern raft, which would technically be N6 (reading the letter to move diagonally with the hex).

Raft 1 Occupants: Porter, Hammer, S'krllk, Appleburg
Raft 2 Occupants: Desi, Orvo, Bartja, Shemp

I have as current rowers Porter and Hammer, and Desi and Orvo, respectively. Bartja has the hand controller.

Let's handle this in two turn moves (i.e., one hex move per raft)





This message was last edited by the GM at 23:57, Tue 23 June 2020.

  "Nice work S'krllk, now it's my turn."  Porter hands his oar to the vrusk so he can have both hands free to fire his machine gun.  The sergeant takes aim at the robot on the island and begins firing sustained bursts.

(OOC)

Machinegun [hit 85%, dmg 10d10, RoF 1 burst, Range --/70/200/500/1km, Ammo 100/100]

Bartja grins at S'krllk and turns his focus on the hand controller.  "Now it's my turn to do some damage on Terry" he mutters as he focus' controlling the bot and firing.  "Shemp - take the oars and guide us towards that island.  We all need our hands free for this."

Using the hand controller, he flies the robot and holds the turrets steady, he instructs the Survey Robot to move up and into a flanking position, then open fire on the camouflaged unit with both the auto rifle (10 shots) and the heavy laser set to 5 SEU shots.  He then launches the robot, causing it to gain altitude and fly as quickly was possible (to G-H 12)

Hammer focuses on steering the raft and keeping it as steady as possible for Porter to take clean shots. He will glide it to area M6.

OOC: I am a little confused at the survey robot movement.

It is currently at speed 0 and can accelerate 2 hexes per turn, up to 7 total (plus 20 meters up or down in altitude).  So its full acceleration speed would be:

Turn 1: 2 hexes speed (2 traveled)
Turn 2: 4 hexes speed (6 traveled)
Turn 3: 6 hexes speed (12 traveled)
Turn 4: 7 hexes speed (19 traveled)

Also, please follow each letter northwest as shown in the arrows. So rafts are currently at N6 and N7. Attacking robot is at C10.

So the survey robot would move as follows:

Turn 1: To M8
Turn 2: To I10
Turn 3: 2 to 6 squares in any direction. (G12 would be 2 squares)

I will proceed with Turn 1 and 2 as indicated above, assuming it is firing the heavy rifle. The automatic rifle has a max range of 300 meters, so it can fire it when it reaches row I (i.e., on Turn 2).

Machine gun is considered long range (not extreme) since you are under 500 meters now.</blue>
Please make sure posts include 2 turns worth of moves. I will stop a turn if something drastic happens.

NOTE: Remember in Star Frontiers that a turn is approximately 6 seconds.
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:21, Thu 25 June 2020.

You go into full battle mode with the attacking survey robot, remembering that there were three such robots on the Moraes. One is controlled by Bartja, one was damaged by you earlier, and now this one.


TURN 2
The rafts enter M8 and M7 (450 meter range).

Bartja's experience proves useful, and after a brief scare, he gets solid control of the survey robot, sending it to 20 meter height and 100 meters forward to M9. It fires its heavy laser at the attacking robot.


Survey Robot Stats
500 Stamina
Heavy Laser: 100 SEU power (currently set at 5 SEU shots)
Auto Rifle: 100 rounds (10 round bursts)
% to hit (base): 70%.

Modifiers:
Survey robot:
70% (base) - 20 (Med Range) - 10 (movement) - 20 (hard cover) = 20% chance to hit
11:06, Today: GM Heath rolled 19 using 1d100.

For combat modifiers generally, see here: http://wiki.rpol.net/?id=6687/COMBAT
For weapon stats (including ranges), see here: http://wiki.rpol.net/?id=6687/WEAPON%20STATS

Note that a telescopic lens, which I believe Desi has, will change the range to one level close (long to medium, etc.)


The heavy laser hits the attacking robot, causing 29 points of structural damage.

Porter fires his machine gun.
85% (base) - 10% (movement) -20% (hard cover) - 40% (long range) +20% (firing burst) = 35% chance to hit.
11:27, Today: GM Heath rolled 54 using 1d100.
NOTE: Although the rules say -20% for the bouncing raft movement, I left it at -10%, which is the general modifier for a moving vehicle. If you accelerate it by rowing faster as described above, I will increase this to -20%
Porter's burst goes wide, missing the attacking robot.

The attacking robot also fires its heavy laser, and you realize you will also be in range of its automatic rifle when you get to 300 meters.

70% (base) - 20 (med range) - 10 (moving vehicle) - 10 (soft cover) = 30%
11:28, Today: GM Heath rolled 25 using 1d100.

The attacking robot hits Raft 2 with its heavy laser (set at 5 SEU), resulting in the following effects:

The laser hits Orvo and the raft. Orvo takes 12 STA damage and the raft takes 12 Structural damage. (Target chosen randomly. Orvo now at 12 STA; Raft now at 8 Structural points.)

TURN 3 (new initiative)
The attacking robot fires its heavy laser at the raft again. 11:39, Today: GM Heath rolled 36 using 1d100. The shot hits the water just to the left of Orvo, making the Dralasite jump in surprise and fear.

Porter fires his machine gun again. 11:39, Today: GM Heath rolled 19 using 1d100. His aim is true this time, and he hits the attacking robot behind its dense cover with a burst. (59 structural damage.) (8 bursts ammo remaining)

Bartja has the survey robot also attack again. 11:39, Today: GM Heath rolled 28 using 1d100. It just misses the attacking robot but sets ablaze the bushes near it.

The rafts enter the next hex (400 meter range):
Raft 2 = L8
Raft 1 = L7
The survey robot has accelerated to 4 hexes per turn and is at I10 (300 meter range, 40 meter height). Both robots can now fire automatic rifles.


Reminder on stats of your survey robot:

This message was last edited by the GM at 02:58, Fri 26 June 2020.

New Map:

In reply to GM Heath (msg # 53):

  Porter continues hosing the robot with lead.  "Hey Hammer, nice work on controlling the raft."  He yells between bursts.  "Can you take down another personal note for me?   Investigate the use of incendiary rounds as tracer rounds."  Porter pulls the trigger again as the rafts close in on the enemy position.

(OOC)
The 85% chance for Porter to hit already includes +20% for bursts as that is the only way his weapon works.  Even so his first burst still missed and second still hit :)

Just a question regarding the laser hit on Orvo and the raft.  How is it possible for a weapon like a laser to hit multiple targets i.e. Orvo and the raft.  It's not an area of effect weapon so I was under the impression it could only hit one or the other, not both?

Re the laser hit, the adventure states that the raft or equipment will take some of the damage, so I split between the target and the raft (50% to damage raft, and 50% to damage equipment). I imagined that, because it is a large weapon, it might have punctured the victim and gone straight through to the raft.

"Terry's robot fires at the closest raft. If two
or more rafts are equally close, randomly
select the target for each shot. Then randomly
select targets within each raft.
Remember that the rafts and gear will take
some of the damage. If the party is carrying
explosives, a direct hit will set them off."

Hammer will continue steering the raft as gently and easily as he can to help out Porter. He yells across to the other raft, "If you want, you could speed up or veer off to the right so that we are not clustered together.

He will steer the raft to K7.

Bartja remembers suddenly to flip on his Albedo screen, then returns his focus on the Survey Robot he controls, dialing up the amplitude of the Heavy Laser.

"We need to dispatch this bot before Terry fixes the last one we damaged and sends it our way.  We also need to keep it from punching any more holes in these rafts or we aren't going to make it on time."
This message was last edited by the player at 17:41, Fri 26 June 2020.

PM

Half of Bartja's face frowns in concentration...

S'Krllk plies the oar, attempting to keep the raft in the same general direction while maintaining a distance from the other raft. While he does so, he instructs his computer to check for signals to or from the attacking robot. If any are found S'Krllk will instruct the computer to mimic the signal and contradict the orders it relays.

PM

Bartja's teeth show in a grin from his fleshy-half-face as he swings the Survey Robot into a flanking position above the ambushing robot and focus' fire on the devilish fiend.

Could also be a 'Through & Through Hit'?

OOC: Yeah, something like. I don't know how well they thought it through but it makes it more interesting. At first read, I thought it would hit the raft first and then possibly an individual.

Also, I just saw in the rules that the hovering robots are treated as jetcopters for damage effect, so I will be using that now.

TURN 4 (initiative goes to attacking robot)
The rafts enter J8 and J9. The survey robot moves to D12 and slows down.

The attacking robot fires at the rafts, but the shot goes very wide, maybe due to its damage. 14:13, Today: GM Heath rolled 94 using 1d100.

With the survey robot in range, it now also fires a burst from its auto rifle at the survey robot, making a direct hit. 14:13, Today: GM Heath rolled 22 using 1d100. (37 damage; 463 remaining.) (Jetcopter damage effect: roll=19, no effect.)

Porter fires a second burst, but his shots hit the river water harmlessly. 14:18, Today: GM Heath rolled 86 using 1d100.

The survey robot attacks with both heavy laser and auto rifle on the attacking robot. Unfortunately, both of the attacks are off. Laser: 10:26, Today: Bartja Nemuco rolled 89 using 1d100 ((89)). Auto Rifle: 10:28, Today: Bartja Nemuco rolled 84 using 1d100 ((84))

S'krllk is attempting to hack remotely into the survey robot while still oaring and keeping the raft steady, but he fails. 14:21, Today: GM Heath rolled 90 using 1d100.

TURN 5 (initiative to attacking robot)
The attacking robot fires again on the rafts. 14:22, Today: GM Heath rolled 29 using 1d100. He makes a direct hit on Bartja, who staggers back, nearly falling from the raft. (9 STA damage for Bartja.) The attack also hits the supplies behind Bartja, which you will have to sort out later. Luckily, the supplies stopped the heavy laser from puncturing the raft.

With its auto rifle, it makes a solid hit directly on the survey robot. 14:25, Today: GM Heath rolled 8 using 1d100. (64 damage; 399 remaining.) (Jetcopter damage effect: roll 22; loses 30 speed. Speed now at 1 hex per turn.)

Porter fires a third burst from the machine gun. This burst is closer but still misses. 14:27, Today: GM Heath rolled 46 using 1d100. (6 bursts remaining)

The survey robot fires everything it has at the attacking robot. It hits with both shots.Laser (Short Range = 66% to HIT): 10:28, Today: Bartja Nemuco rolled 49 using 1d100 ((49)). Auto Rifle (Medium Range = 56% to HIT): 10:28, Today: Bartja Nemuco rolled 55 using 1d100 ((55))

The heavy laser, which Bartja cranked up to 20 SEU, does extreme damage.</red> (92 damage) The auto rifle also does massive damage. (55 damage)

The attacking robot is now starting to smoke. You see it turn all of its firepower up to your survey robot and away from your rafts.

Attacking robot: 263/500

New Map

  Sergeant Porter continues to fire with his machine gun as his raft closes in on the target.
  "Keep pouring it on folks, we need to start swinging the odds in our favour!"

Feeling the heat from the power beltpack keeping up the Albedo screen, Bartja takes a deep breath and forces himself to release it slowly.  "Sure glad I remembered to turn on my screen" he mutters quietly.  "That mistake almost cost my life."

He debates changing into "dodge" mode with the Survey Robot, but decides to press the attack as suggested by Porter.  The damaged rotors of the bot have already slowed it and trying to dodge further attacks with it now would just remove the extra firepower it provides.

"If we can salvage anything from this bot, I'll need it to make repairs to our Survey Robot.  That includes ammunition, the parabattery, the rotors..." His voice trails off for another moment of concentration as he surveys the attacks through the hand controller view screen.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:09, Mon 29 June 2020.

Hammer will continue to steer the boat downriver. "Getting closer. I hope this thing gets taken down before it shoots us at point blank range."

TURN 6 (initiative to party)

The rafts move into J9 and J8.

Porter fires his machine gun, and makes a hit. 14:41, Today: GM Heath rolled 21 using 1d100. (71 dmg.) (5 bursts remaining)

Bartja's survey robot fires its heavy laser...and hits. 00:03, Yesterday: Bartja Nemuco rolled 7 using 1d100.  Heavy Laser. (40 SEU remaining) (109 dmg)

Then it fires its auto rifle burst...and also hits! 00:03, Yesterday: Bartja Nemuco rolled 28 using 1d100.  Auto Rifle. (51 dmg.)

The attacking robot is smoking and on fire as it cranks away shots at Bartja's survey robot, completely ignoring the rafts now. It makes two solid hits at full power. (175 dmg.)

(Flying vehicle hit results.) The first hit damages the steering unit of the survey robot, knocking it back one hex to D12 and bringing it to an immediate halt as it spins from the hit. It also drops about 40 meters. Long term Effect: turns at 1/2 normal amount and accelerate/decelerate at only 1/2 normal amount.

The second hit is directly on the battery of the survey robot.  Its power is reduced to 10 minutes of flying. You must land it within 10 minutes or it will crash. The battery must be replaced after that.

Attacking Robot: 32 structural points left
Survey Robot: 224 structural points left

Due to its first hit, the survey robot did not advance on the map but starts to accelerate to get to C12 as Bartja instructed at the end of the next round. (Speed=2, altitude=40 meters)

TURN 7 (initiative to attacking robot)

The attacking robot is now severely damaged and not at full efficiency. It fires twice again at full power at the survey robot above...

The heavy laser misses, but the auto rifle hits the survey robot. (54 dmg.) (Jetcopter effect: the hit damages the control unit. -35% to hand controller success for each command/hour of use.

Porter fires again. His burst goes wide. 15:05, Today: GM Heath rolled 58 using 1d100. (4 bursts remaining)

The survey robot fires its heavy laser...hitting the attacking robot. The hit is so hard (126 points) (20 SEU remaining) that the survey robot literally explodes, debris littering the small island and the brush fire around it.

You take a deep breath now that the robot has been destroyed.

Your own survey robot is damaged in three functions (battery, controls, steering).

If you are deciding on some potential options of things to do:

1) Bartja has to figure out what to do with the badly damaged survey robot--ditch it or try to repair it.

2) If you try to repair, Bartja can land it on the island with the attacking robot. There is a 25% chance of each item he needs (3 total, plus ammo) being available to be salvaged. Each available item also requires a skill check to successfully salvage and install. Each item to attempt salvage and install takes 15 minutes time, plus 15 minutes to land the raft and search through the wreckage.

3) You can ditch the robot and move downriver.

First things first. With the robot destroyed, as you continue to float, you examine what supplies were destroyed by the laser blast. Half your rations are gone. One freeze field is destroyed. The bivouac unit was burnt and punctured.

You begin to panic as you see water all over the raft floor and realize it is not from the river. Then you relax as you see it was from your fresh water stores punctured by the laser blast.

10:30 a.m. (2.5 hours remaining) (5.5 hours with no rest)
Rations remaining: 11 (each survival ration is for one person for one day)
Bivouac Units: 0 (0/30 SP (structural points); 10 kg each); second one is kept as scrap (10 kg). Rafts: 1 at 8/20 structural points; 1 at 10/20 structural points.

This message was last edited by the GM at 05:05, Thu 02 July 2020.

In reply to GM Heath (msg # 71):

  "Let's keep moving."  Porter says  "We don't have any time to waste."

Hammer says, "If my calculations are correct, it will take us two and a half to three and a half hours to arrive if we don't stop or have more delays. That's cutting it close. I regrettably have to concur with Porter. Let's move on and say good-bye to the survey robot. But if you want to salvage it, we could try to double time it when we get on land or try to make up time. Or we could even split up into two groups, one on each raft. I'm game for any of that."

Bartja lands the Survey Robot on the island and commands it to shut down to conserve power for now.  He then flips off his albedo screen to conserve power on his own beltpack.

"I estimate it has 10 minutes of flight time left on the damaged battery, but it also has legs to walk on and that might take less power.  I might be able to fly it quickly through the gap and land it near the Moraes, then have it walk in.

That said, with the controls damaged, the weapons it has won't be as useful to us as they have been.  My time might be better spent practicing with my own gyrojet rifle.  Terry still has another one of those Survey robots, and without the heavy laser and auto rifle firepower, we're going to get shredded by that thing if he's gotten it fixed."

He stows the hand controller in a dry pack and his flesh-half-face scowls as he considers the shortness of time and damage they've already suffered.

"If anyone believes it's a good idea to split, I would stay here with Shemp to try and fix the survey robot.  If I can get it repaired, I could join the assault on the ship with it remotely.  However, if anyone else stayed here with me, you would lose that advantage.

My opinion is that having the robot in good working order gives us the advantage equivalent of two soldiers and an aerial scout.  We need all the advantages we can muster.  If we don't take the ship back, I won't actually be left behind"

He looks around at his companions to gauge their thoughts on this possibility.

  "Not a chance."  Porter shakes his head.  "We are not splitting up in hostile territory.  That is a recipe for disaster.  And we don't have time to talk about this, we have no idea how many more delays we will run into before we reach the landing sight.  We need to get out of these boats and on dry land ASAP.  The next time we run into one of Terry's robots we want everyone available in the fight, we are too exposed and under under gunned in these rafts."

"I have to agree with you Sarge.  We're too banged up, even in two group, to be effective.  I believe our strongest asset is to operate as one cohesive unit."

Half of Bartja's face smiles.  He suspected the team wouldn't want him to stay behind even though it was the logical, statistical choice.

"Well if you want me to make this assault in the flesh.....  or half-flesh, then one of you renegades needs to show me how to properly use this gryojet rifle."

"That, I can help you with Bartja."

S'Krllk says to Bartja, "if we're not to use the robot, perhaps I could examine that controller. If I could find a way to hack Terry's other robot, it would certainly change the odds."