Browncoatone
Topic Author
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat 17 Oct 2020, 18:36

Pertinax

Fri 09 Apr 2021, 16:59

I've been fiddling with a campaign idea (when I'm not just wasting time in Night City...) and I've noticed in times past that I work better when I have someone to bounce ideas off of and here you are. So here's the initial idea of the Pertinax Campaign. Feel free to make suggestions, point out problems, or swipe ideas for your own use if you see something you like.

We start with Raymond Rayborn and the Celeritas class commercial interstellar transport Promptus. An explosion on board the Promptus, caused by a previously unknown design flaw, kills the crew and severely damages the ship. While working at the shipbreakers, Rayborn is able to inspect the vessel and determines that the design flaw has a relatively simple fix. By the time he learns this the company building the Celeritas class has gone bankrupt. The remaining Celeritas class hulls have all been grounded after another of their sisters, the Praeceps, went missing. Once the courts hammer out the details, the remaining ships, now all destined for the scrap yard, are put up for auction. Rayborn makes his move. Convincing several members of the Local 1039 Shipbreakers Union to invest their life savings into the venture, Rayborn is able to purchase the Celeritas which was grounded on a distant colony world after the Praeceps was reported missing. As every other bidder assumed they would have to pay for the Celeritas to be towed back from the frontier, Rayborn is able to easily win the title to the Celeritas. Rayborn and small team charter passage to collect the Celeritas, and as expected Rayborn's simple modification renders their scrap purchase a functional starship. Rayborn and his investors turn to the business they know best: salvage. Rayborn Recovery is founded and Rayborn re-christens the Celeritas the Pertinax. Years pass.

Session One
The PCs join the crew of the Pertinax, now under the command of Rayborn's daughter, Ryleigh. She's young (maybe early 20's or late teens) but bound and determined to prove herself capable of the task. The first mission is the repossession of a crawler sold to a frontier family farm which has defaulted on their payments. The family cultivates Dragonflowers, an exotic form of carnivorous xenoflora. Dragonflower extract is worth a lot (why else tangle with hundreds of 3-4 meter tall carnivorous xenoflora every year?) and the local economy revolves around the purchase and sale of Dragonflower Extract futures. Once the team finally tracks down the family they learn that the crawler has been stolen. Why keep paying for a vehicle if somebody else has it? What's the worst that can happen? It will get repossessed? Turns out the thieves raid the local farmers (or would they be ranchers? Normally farmer's crops don't actually try to EAT them you know) to steal Dragonflower extract and influence the price of extract futures, then bounce back out to the wilderness beyond the reach of local law enforcement's authority or desire to apprehend them. The team will have to track down these bandits and beg, borrow or steal the crawler back. It's also possible that the players may be put in the position to return the crawler to the family in exchange for the back payments- plus interest. This one's to introduce the players to the basics of the game's mechanics and to set in their minds the more mundane aspects of the setting.

Session Two
The team is sent to salvage a crashed starship on a colony world. When they arrive they learn that the starship crashed into the sea necessitating the contracting of a local ship and purchase/theft of aquatic gear. Thermographic scan of the area will reveal that the ship's fusion reactor is still active. The team will have to manage expendable resources and plan how they're going to raise ship from the deep. Once on site they'll encounter the new occupants of the ship, drawn to the warmth of the reactor's coolant system, which include such lovely adaptations as active camouflage, ink dispersal and of course bio-electric shocks from the local squid-like predators. Xenomorphs aren't the only lifeform to fear on the frontier...

Session Three
The team is sent to salvage what they can from a failed "ghost" colony. As they search the site for salvageable materials, I wait for a PC to come into contact with the local water supply which has been contaminated. The player in question is given a note explaining that their character is becoming paranoid and delusional to the point of violence. Player gets XP for a proper descent into madness. Hopefully the team will put 2 and 2 together about the water and find a cure. If not, well, man is the greatest threat to man...

Session Four
Team is sent to recover an android from a colony that has defaulted on their loan. The catch? When they get there the colony claims they have no idea what you're talking about. There's no androids here. Team has to find which of the humans on this colony is not what they claim to be while the local miners begin a series of strikes and protests over wages and safety concerns. 

Session Five.
Team is sent to repossess a starship from a captain/owner that has missed the last three payments. Time to play up how the captain/owner won't see it as a legal repossession but rather as an act of piracy and prep them for a hostile take over. Now hit them with the Xenomorphs. 

Any suggestions?
 
Kingfish
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri 12 Mar 2021, 22:51

Re: Pertinax

Sat 10 Apr 2021, 02:06

I like it, a lot.

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say, with a username like "browncoatone", you probably know the details of the Firefly episode, Bushwacked. I plan on using that basis (with slight modifications) to introduce the xenos in my campaign.

But top notch work on the plot setup.
 
Bengt Petter
Posts: 772
Joined: Sat 09 Apr 2011, 11:27

Re: Pertinax

Sun 11 Apr 2021, 08:56

It’s a very well written campaign draft with many interesting details. But since you asked for opinions, I’ll give you mine.

The story is based around a couple of missions. That’s good, but I’m also thinking about the PCs. What are their possibilties? You mention a few desicions they are able to make, but perhaps that part could be more developed. I think it’s more interesting if it really matters what they do. It may have to do with their personal backstories. Perhaps some of them have previous connections to some of people they meet? Maybe there is a rival crew from another company? If so, what do they want?

I’m also thinking about the corporate connection - if their is any. Of course, that’s up to you. But Alien is often about the secrets of The Company. They discover big things in space and try to hide them from both other companies and their own crews. Who is hiding what? What is there to discover? You could make that hidden bigger picture a part of your campaign. A somewhat unconventional twist could be to make everything a U. P. P. drama, but it would for sure make things different.

Another aspect is the locations. I know you just presented a draft and that’s just fine, but I would consider making them more interesting. There should be stuff that aren’t obvious from the start, but possible for the PCs to find out. I would use the locations to introduce some of the core themes of Alien: corporate intrigues and secrets, remains of ancient aliens or alien technology, and/or androids with their own (or ”just” corporate) agendas. That’s what you find in the movies.

All this stuff is meant to make things more Alien, and less generic sci fi. Use it if you like, or just go with your initial thoughts with a couple of interesting missions.

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