Seclusion: An Alien Solo RPG Campaign. Act1, Part 1: There is an explanation for this, you know.
It was a normal cargo run, the kind you might do time and time again. Take a long nap, drop off the cargo and collect your paycheck. A monkey could do it. But something is off, you woke up early and Muther won't tell you why.
Welcome to the start of Seclusion: An Alien Solo RPG Campaign. The campaign will be broken down into three acts, and each post will be half an act. And each act will be broken into Scenes, and at the start of each scene, there is a chance for chaos to happen.
If you haven't read the character and setting creation post, check it out now!
This is Alien so the first act will build tension and then all the crazy action and death will take place in Act 2, and Act 3 will be the epic final. Hopefully, at least.
Let's play!
---
Scene 1: Just Natural Side Effects
The structure of the campaign will be in acts. Three acts to complete the story, two posts per act, and each post will be broken into scenes. Each scene will start with a roll of a stress dice. It starts with just one dice. If a roll a 1 (or the Alien symbol) something unexpected happens. Let’s start.
Roll: 1 Stress dice - A blank (as in it wasn’t a 1 or a 6).
Hypersleep always sucks. It isn’t the going to sleep, it's the waking up that gets you. You’d think I’d be used to this by now seeing as I’ve gone under probably two dozen times in my career. Still, you can’t fix the biology of what happens to you when you wake up after a long sleep. I turn my head and vomit into the provided bucket. It’s ten times worse than the worst hangover I’ve ever had, and I’ve had a few.
I look around and see the other crew starting to wake up. Looks like everyone is in various states of waking up. Good. It’s rare but not unheard of for a hypersleep to cause serious damage to someone. Death happens. Shit happens. It’s all part of the job.
 |
| Waking up from cryosleep is never fun. |
Our chipper synthetic Jessica 7 comes around handing out towels and reminding us to drink our nutritional shakes. I do as I’m told, I know it will make the hypersleep hangover go away quicker.
We stumble to the lockers and start to get our clothes on. Nobody says a word, we all know the drill. The first thing is first, food.
I plop down in the seat labeled ‘First Officer’. I’m just as shocked as anyone else that I’m moving back up the ranks again. It’s a good feeling, even if I am only the first officer on this bucket of bolts doing stupid cargo runs to far-out colonies.
Jessica 7 starts bringing out food. Eggs, waffles, coffee, everything a body needs after a long sleep. We wolf it down and after our second serving, the Captain starts to speak.
“Alright crew. I hope you are all well rested after our little nap.” A few of us giggle, Captain humour. “This is a quick and easy run. Casper, head to the bridge and start your course corrections now. I want to save as much fuel as possible. Kat, check the cargo and start prepping for offload. I want to drop this load and burn hell back home as quickly as possible.”
The Captain takes a long drink from his coffee and continues, “Conrad, can you contact the colony and make sure they are ready? If my watch is correct, we are about two days ahead of time and might get our speed bonus this run.”
I chime up, “Captain, we are how early? That doesn’t seem right at all. Permission to check in with Muther?”
The captain rolls his eyes, he’s great at leading the crew but not perfect when it comes to details. “Sure Eugene, check in with Muther but I’m telling you, I have a good feeling about this mission. We are going to get this bonus and then I'm going to make Conrad buy us all a drink with his Company card.” Conrad doesn’t smile. That bastard wouldn’t know a joke if it hit him in the face. I think they pick company agents on their low sense of humour.
“Alright, you all heard the Captain. Let’s get to work,” I say. Sure we are all a bit sluggish, but we got jobs to do.
Scene 2: What's the Story Muther?
Roll: 1 Stress dice - A blank.
I stroll through the halls of the USCSS Bison. She is an ugly girl but strong and safe. She got us here and she will get us home.
Walking past the bridge I see Casper at the controls already. I head into the secure compartment where Muther’s mainframe is kept. “Muther, can you tell us why we are two days ahead of schedule?”
Muther’s relaxed monotone comes over the speakers. “I’m sorry First Officer Eugene Bryant. That information is classified.”
“Classified? What? I’m the first officer. If you can’t tell it to me, I’ll get the Captain.”
“Sorry Eugene, it is classified from any crew on the Bison.”
No, no. This can’t be correct. I pull up a console and start punching in my command override codes. There is nothing on this ship classified from me and the captain.
 |
| What's the story Muther? |
Roll Comtech (1) - Wits (4) - No success
In Alien you roll the number of dice equal to your skill level and its corresponding attribute, aiming for at least 1 success, (a 6). For this roll, it's 5 dice. In this roll, I got no success.
A message flashes on the screen, No Access to Classified Files permitted. I slam the keyboard. This is ridiculous! And not possible. I put the codes in again, slamming the keys down as I go.
In Alien you can ‘Push your roll’ and try again if it makes sense. But you gain a stress point when you do it. Now every time I do a still check I have to roll stress dice equal to my stress level. They add to my chances of success but also can lead to panic if they come up as a 1 (panic).
Pushed Roll - Comtech (1) - Wits (4) - Stress (1) - 2 Successes
With multiple successes, I can spend the extras to do a stunt. I’ll say I get unexpected information…
This time it works! I get into the classified files but there isn’t much to find as I navigate them. Just a note saying we should drop out of hyperspace a couple of days early. That explains why we think we are early. I keep scrolling through lines of gibberish and then I spot something odd.
Rolling on the D66 Random table from Alien RPG solo rules and I get Lifeboat.
A lifeboat signal was picked up about a week ago, at least according to this data. Why the hell did Muther keep this secret from us? I run out to tell Captain.
Scene 3: Rumour Control
Roll: 1 Stress dice - A blank.
The Captain nods, he’s taken the news quite well. Better than I thought he would. “Get that sneaky asshole Conrad up here now. This has the distinct smell of company bullshit and I want him to start answering questions."
I head to the bridge where Conrad should be trying to communicate with the colony. Casper runs into me in the corridor just outside of the bridge. “Hey Eugene, you know something is really off. We ain’t where we are supposed to be. Now I see you rushing around the ship. What’s going on?”
Casper’s eyes are bloodshot. Into the drugs already, doesn’t take long for him to get started. But the kid is whip-smart. I can’t let word get out already.
Roll Manipulation (2) - Empathy (5) - Stress (1) - 0 Success - PANIC!
Panic Roll (Roll a D6 and add it to your current stress score of 1) 3+1= 4 KEEPING IT TOGETHER. You manage to keep your nerves in check. Barely.
A panic roll means that I’ve automatically failed this still check.
Lies tumble out of my mouth, the navigation needs to be calibrated, and the star scanner needs to be debugged. Casper doesn’t buy it for a second. “Cut the shit Eugene. You may be First Officer but nobody else can fly this bird and I need to know the fucking truth. Why aren’t we where we are supposed to be?”
Sweat pours down my face, I look into Casper’s red eyes and spill it all. “Muther dropped us out of FTL a couple of days early. Captain and I don’t know why. Something about a Lifeboat. I need to find Conrad and see if the Company was involved.”
Casper’s eyes go wide, well wider. First, he is confused, then angry. “If that weaselly fuck Conrad blows this mission and my paycheck I’ll throw him out of the airlock myself. You tell him I said that. I’m heading back to the bridge to scan for any lifeboats or other ships. Keep me posted Eugene.”
I watch Casper storming off. He is becoming less and less stable. I don’t care how good a pilot he is, the drug use just keeps getting worse. I’ll have to talk to the Captain about getting a new pilot for the next run.
Scene 4: I really am an OK guy
Roll: 1 Stress dice - A blank.
I find Conrad sitting at the Comms station on the bridge. He’s looking frustrated as he’s trying repeatedly to raise Hannibal Colony with no luck. Conrad who is at the comms console turns to me, “I can’t raise a damn thing on the radio. We should be in the range of the colony’s comms satellites by now but I can’t get anything. The Captain really needs to invest in an upgraded comms antenna.”
“Conrad, we aren’t where we are supposed to be and I need to know if the company is involved at all," I say to Conrad. Then silence. I wait for Conrad to respond and can see him go through a number of options in his head
“First Officer Eugene Bryant. I hope you are not insinuating that I or the company are withholding information from you. As you know, the company is heavily invested in this supply run and would do anything in its power to ensure its success.”
“Unless something more lucrative came along right Conrad?” I say with more frustration than I mean to.
Conrad loses his cool also. “Fuck you Eugene. I know you all hate me but I have a job to do and I’m going to do it. Now tell me what is going on in detail and I’ll see if I can find something out.”
Against my better will, I tell Conrad about coming out of FTL two days early and an indication about a lifeboat. “Now, Conrad. I need your help. Can you go through your records and see if you have any information about this? And what is company policy here?”
Roll Command (2) - Empathy (5) - Stress (1) - 1 Success, no Panic
“Fine Eugene. I’ll get back to you. But I’m letting you know, I don’t know anything about this.”
Scene 5: The Bonus Situation
Roll: 1 Stress dice - A blank.
Calling a ship-wide meeting isn’t normal and so Kat and Juno, who don’t know anything about the early departure from FTL are clearly nervous. Jessica 7 is there also but doesn't show any emotion about it.
The Captain walks into the mess where we are all sitting and doesn’t waste time. “Look, The bonus situation isn’t looking good. For some reason, Muther dropped us out of FTL and woke us up two days early. Indications say there may be a lifeboat or something floating around. The company doesn’t know anything about it either.” The Captain shoots Conrad a dirty look. “But if this company shenanigans, you can be assured you’ll all be compensated for the efforts. Now any questions?”
Does anyone of the crew have a problem with it? Let’s ask the oracle. Using the solo rules from PPM you roll 3 base dice and 3 stress dice. Successes on base dice are canceled by panics on the stress dice. I get 0 successes and 0 panics. That means something unexpected happens instead. Rolling on the Event and subject random table. I get Missing Military. Alright, I know what this means.
Kat puts her hand up. The Captain nods for her to speak. “Captain, that's all good in all. Now we were supposed to be transporting weapons and shit for this colony right? Well when I checked the cargo, they ain’t no weapons. Boxes labeled weapons sure, but when you open them it's just agricultural equipment.
The captain shoots me a look. He’s scared.
---
Well, thanks for reading the first entry into the Seclusion. Next entry we will see how things develop for the crew of the Bison!
Support the Blog
Are you on Twitter? Follow me at @croakersrpg. I talk about the blog, chat with other TTRPG creators, and have interesting conversations.
These are the books I used to write this blog. These are affiliate links, if you click any links on this blog and buy something from Drive Thru RPG, I get a small cut of the price at no extra cost to you. It will help support the blog and allow me to buy new and interesting books!
Comments
Post a Comment