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GURPS Star Wars: Vanguard, S1E03c

September 26, 2023 No comments

Insurgent Team Vanguard

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Episode 3: Legacy of Ruin, Part 3

  • Back in Minerva City, the Team begin seeking information on the streets about the detention facility and the prisoner. While this is happening, Tina manages to repair the lightsaber using the crystal she obtained earlier.
  • The streetwise investigation results in Nim making contact with someone who claims to have information. With Luck providing sniper overwatch, Bostco and Nim arrange at the clandestine meeting only to learn that it is the investigator, Nara Tao’ni. She recognizes Bostco and, after much back and forth, agrees to not turn them in as long as they assist her in extracting someone she is close to from the Crimson Corsairs.
  • From her, they also learn that the Imperial Security Bureau is sending a team to take prisoner out. This leads the team to make the decision to use their new gear to disable the shuttle, then use it to pretend to be the ISB agents.
  • Cut to an A-Team repair montage. Bostco and Luck work on getting some ion torpedoes obtained from Loophole functional – they get two working; the other three work on both the Aggressive ReConnaissance-170 starfighter and the Low Altitude Assault Transport (LAAT), successfully getting them repaired.
  • And now, the Team makes their plans…

Player Notes:

  • Down Nosh for the session.
  • Boiled down, it doesn’t seem like we accomplished a lot. We handled Job Rolls at the beginning, then had a bunch of roleplaying and a whole bunch of researching and repairing.
  • We’ve already determined that, if the two ion torps don’t disable the shuttle, then we’re on to simply destroying it.
Campaign Logs, Star Wars: Vanguard , , ,

GURPS Star Wars: Vanguard, S1E03b

September 16, 2023 No comments

Insurgent Team Vanguard

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Episode 3: Legacy of Ruin, Part 2

  • With a roar, the beast attacks and the Team springs into action, with Luck using his jetpack to get into position atop the creature to attack with his vibroknife, while Nim darts between its legs to use his grapple line to tangle its legs and Darrrill unexpectedly engages it in melee combat even as Bostco and Tina distract it with blaster shots.
  • Darrrill ends up engaging in an unexpected … testicular grapple (words I never expected to type in a GURPS recap) with the creature which, naturally distracted it rather significantly so Nim could further tangle it up and Luck could jam the armed grenade into the hole he’d cut on the creature’s back. The result was rather sticky.
  • Afterwards, the Team had monster steak, Tina got permission to keep the (currently) non-functional lightaber, and Luck discovered that Loophole had a bunch of deactivated battle droids and weapons which the other clone intends to use against the Empire at some point.
  • Following their meal, Loophole takes the lot of them to a place with a lot of scrap and points out two functional, if admittedly old and in need of work, vessels from the Grand Army of the Republic: an Aggressive ReConnaissance-170 starfighter and a Low Altitude Assault Transport (LAAT). The arsenal of the Team is increasing…

Player Notes:

  • Full house again. Also a really short episode because Ronnke, the GM, was struggling with a brutal headache so he went back to bed after we ended; he almost canceled early it was that bad.
  • I think absolutely none of us expected to be in a GURPS game where a player grappled a monster … by the testicles. It left us in stitches.
Campaign Logs, Star Wars: Vanguard , , ,

GURPS Star Wars: Vanguard, S1E03a

September 12, 2023 No comments

Insurgent Team Vanguard

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Episode 3: Legacy of Ruin, Part 1

  • Back in Minerva City, the Team has learned that the official story for Pallas has changed: according to Imperial propaganda, insurgents caused the deaths of people trying to decontaminate the city-state.
  • Bostco learns that an investigator is looking into the events and has consulted his family; he arranges a meeting with her, hoping to redirect her attention elsewhere and is (over)confidently convinced that he succeeded.
  • Tina experiences some strange dreams connected to the Kyber crystal she discovered, then ultimately ends up cornering Luck about her mother. The former clonetrooper then tells her about the day Order 66 was executed and how his previously damaged inhibitor chip allowed him to not take the shot at her mother…
  • The Team depart Minerva City and travel to the plateau where those events happened, following a ‘hunch’ of Tina’s. There, in the desolate wreckage, they encounter another former clonetrooper, Loophole, who has been eking out a life in this barren wilderness.
  • While at Loophole’s home inside the remnants of the destroyed Republic headquarters, the team hear the roar of an approaching great beast and rush to meet it…

Player Notes:

  • Full house again.
  • Again, I’m intentionally trying to keep these outlines short instead of getting overly verbose like I do sometimes. There is a lot of stuff that happened during the session that I didn’t mention in the outline … see?! I’m getting overly verbose again!
Campaign Logs, Star Wars: Vanguard , , ,

GURPS Star Wars: Vanguardd, S1E02d

September 4, 2023 No comments

Insurgent Team Vanguard

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Episode 2: Shadows of Pallas, Part 4

  • Darrrill moves against the comm array to ensure that the Imperials cannot summon help. He accomplishes this easily enough and rejoins the rest of the Team.
  • Leaving the locals outside the mine, the Team enters the facility. They quickly engage a pair of troopers in a long hallway, continue on toward a lab where they take on two more, and then finally reach the control center where a trio are standing watch with an officer. Despite the troopers sealing off the control center, Nim is able to hotwire the door to open it and Luck hurls an armed thermal detonator inside. The officer might have been able to escape through another door, but the three troopers are vaporized…
  • The Team continues on to the lab proper, a converted storage facility. Here, they capture several scientists and learn the Empire has been experimenting with injecting various materials into the locals which is causing mutation. Luck wants to just blow this entire place, but the locals resist, insisting that they can rescue the hideously mutated people who are their friends and family. In the end, Luck decides that the team can do no more and he won’t risk them when the Empire inevitably returns, so the team withdraws, taking their scientist prisoners and the captured walker (which they intend to stash somewhere until they can figure out how to smuggle it into the city.) The prisoners they intend to turn over to their contact, Kalen Brie, who will no doubt want to thoroughly interrogate them…
  • Later, they will learn that the Empire did show back up and, exactly like Luck expected, they came back in force.

Player Notes:

  • Full house for a change.
  • Several short firefights. We also sort of decided that thermal detonators have a weird blast radius of 5 yards but do mininuke (UT156) damage which is an insane 6dx200 cr ex with linked damage of 4dx200 burn ex rad sur. So yeah, those troopers were vaporized.
  • At the end, we had a string of mediocre or outright bad social engineering checks, resulting in the locals demanding we not just blow up the facility … so the team bailed, knowing these idiots were all going to be wiped out when the Empire returned. And yup!
  • Haven’t figure out where we’re going to store the walker – it’s currently hidden somewhere in the badlands, so isn’t easily accessible. Clearly, we need to obtain a decent-sized freighter that we can store that puppy in! LOL.
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GURPS Star Wars: Vanguard, S1E02c

August 28, 2023 No comments

Insurgent Team Vanguard

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Episode 2: Shadows of Pallas, Part 3

  • Having identified the probable location of the Imperial basecamp, the Team considers their options and decide that they need to capture or neutralize the AT-ST they passed during the speeder chase before it can get clear of the radio interference and alert the base of their presence.
  • Thanks to Tina’s sense of absolute direction, they are able to quickly locate the walker, then stake out locations ahead of it. When it passes, Luck uses his jet pack to spring down on the roof; the Team’s new ally, Ronan, decides to make a mad jump to join him, nearly going over the side. Ronan yanks the hatch open and with two well-placed stun shots, Luck neutralizes the pilot and gunner.
  • The two are extracted and interrogated, though not a great deal is really learned. After heavily sedating the two and ensuring they are both bound and their rebreathers are topped off, the Team leaves them behind and then moves forward to observe the camp again. Ronan returns to his people to bring Darrrill and any reinforcements that want to assist. In that time, Tina’s droid, H4X-R, is able to insert into the facilty and secure images, including that of the hideous experiments going on in the biolabs.
  • Upon arrival, the Wookie is dispatched to take out the comm array, while Luck and Bostco lead a ground team, augmented by the AT-ST, piloted by Nim and gunned by Tina.
  • Attempts to stealth forward are foiled by a single alert stormtrooper, and a fierce firefight ensues. Two of the troopers are dropped by regular shots, and a third surrenders when the walker blows up the gun emplacement on the roof and then vaporizes the fourth trooper who is locked in a deadly exchange with Luck. Ronan is grievously injured during the exchange, but not killed.
  • The Team look in the direction of the comm array which Darrrill should be reaching at any moment…

Player Notes:

  • Still down Nosh for this session as he went on vacation, though he’s coming back next week, just in time for Darrrill’s thrilling heroics.
  • Thanks to Return of the Jedi, we know hijacking an AT-ST is ridiculously easy. So we did it! Gigermann joked that, since we ended Episode 1 with having “obtained” the pirate starship, and now we’ve taken this AT-ST, we should end every chapter with us having stolen another vehicle of some sort. I’m looking forward to the AT-AT!
  • Tina’s last shot at the poor stormtrooper was brutal. Three hits. Before calculating DR reduction, damage was 200, 200 and 250. Stormtrooper armor on the torso is DR 60, but the weapon was (5), so only 12 protects, which means he took 188, 188, and 238. That’s 614 points of damage! Ronnke said it was like -50x his base HP and -10x is essentially disintegrated. I think that’s the most damage I’ve ever seen done with a non-starship weapon.

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GURPS Star Wars: Vanguard, S1E02b

August 6, 2023 No comments

Insurgent Team Vanguard

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Episode 2: Shadows of Pallas, Part 2

  • With their new ally, Ronan, leading the way, the Team links up with the remaining members of Pallas’ citizens who have been harried and hunted by Imperial forces.
  • The Team divide to gather intelligence from or lend assistance to the survivors, learning that few of them know what the Imperials want here either. Eventually, they narrow down the probable locations of the Imperial basecamp to one of two mining camps.
  • Leaving Darrrill behind to assist with any defenses and with Ronan leading the way, the rest of the Team take speeders to scout out the two spots … but en route, they are sighted by a pair of biker scouts who pursue!
  • When one of the scouts breaks off, the Team realize he is likely going to get within comms range and summon reinforcements so they wheel around and pursue him, leading to a three-way chase as they are still being hounded by his buddy. In the end, the Team opt to ground their vehicles and open fire with their weapons just as the scout reaches transmission range. They then flee the smoking wreckage before the AT-ST they passed during this chase can investigate.
  • Identifying the basecamp is easy as one mining facility is obviously abandoned, but the other still has Imperial activity – and guards! – at it. In fact, the Team are able to witness something strange: a shuttle arrives at the camp as lab-coated techs push a repulsor-sled toward it. Upon the sled is a very high tech cryo-tube containing a person who looks … mutated!

Player Notes:

  • Still late recaps. Kept getting stupid busy. Trying to keep these minimal.
  • Down Nosh for this session as he went on vacation.
  • We missed two weeks in a row after this – the first week was due to two additional absences (me for a stupid amount of OT, Giger for a computer catastrophe), the week after due to Ronnke being sick and FX having computer woes of his own.

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GURPS Star Wars: Vanguard, S1E02a

July 23, 2023 No comments


Insurgent Team Vanguard

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Episode 2: Shadows of Pallas, Part 1

  • On Phantine, the Team is investigating why Pallas, one of the city-states on Phantine, went silent. The official story is that city shields failed, but Luck doubts this and wants to discover the truth.
  • Via speeder, the Team reach the outskirts of Pallas, discovering signs of sabotage that lend credence to their theories.
  • As they enter the city, several of them realize that they are being watched and a quick chase ensues …
  • …but comes to an abrupt halt when the Team finds itself engaged in a firefight with a squad of stormtroopers! It is a fierce engagement, but on that ends with only the Imperials downed and the Team having made a new (temporary) ally.
  • The sound of an approaching AT-ST forces the Team to bug out quickly…

Player Notes:

  • Way, way, way late recaps. Kept getting stupid busy. Trying to keep these minimal.
  • Full house again, though the next two will be down one as Nosh (Darrrill’s player) went on vacation.
  • The bulk of this session was taken up by the firefight.

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GURPS Star Wars: Vanguard, S1E01c

July 16, 2023 No comments

Insurgent Team Vanguard

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Episode 1: The Diplomat, Part 3

  • Suspecting that the Crimson Corsair pirates are here for the same reason they are, the Team accelerates their time table.
  • Bostco enters the hotel lobby and tries to get a room for the night, confirming that they’re booked up.
  • Nim enters via a service entrance, posing as a pizza guy trying to deliver to someone. When he exits, he does so ensuring that the service door can be quickly opened.
  • Just as the team are preparing to enter via the service entrance, the pirates storm the front lobby, making no attempt to conceal their assault. This provides excellent cover, however, and with Tina discreetly providing overwatch via the systems she’s sliced into, the team locates Diplomat Wren’s room, slices it open, and extracts with her via a lift following a quick bit of convincing. And, as they are entering one lift, another opens to reveal a couple of hostile pirates. Luck leaves them a parting gift in the form of an armed thermal detonator. They don’t seem to like it very much.
  • Downstairs, the team extracts, using the now abandoned service entrance once more. Crowding aboard a speeder, they are unfortunately observed by the pirates and a short-lived chase ensues that ends at the hangar…
  • At the hangar bay, the Crimson Corsairs have an exceedingly bad day as they are quickly cut down by the expert fire of the team. And to add insult to injury, the Team decides to escape the station in the (late) Corsair’s own ship!
  • Mission accomplished.

Player Notes:

  • Way, way, way late recaps. Kept getting stupid busy. Trying to keep these minimal.
  • Down Tina’s player due to her being on vacation.

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GURPS Star Wars: Vanguard, S1E01b

July 9, 2023 No comments

Insurgent Team Vanguard

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Episode 1: The Diplomat, Part 2

  • The Team arrives at Starhaven Station and are relieved that their codes check out. Leaving Darrrill behind with Kira Thalos to ensure their escape route is secure, the Team inserts onto the station and begins to gather information
  • Bostco takes Tina with him and plays up his reputation as a semi-famous physician to gain access to the wounded at the local medical facility so as to ensure that Katalana Wren, the woman they wish to extract, is not among the casualties.
  • Darrrill observes the arrival of who he suspects to be more of the pirates who initially attacked the ship that caused all of this mess in the first place and alerts the rest of the team.
  • Nim hits a local casino with Luck acting as a sort of bodyguard; there he engages with Xal’Dor Vorkesh, the casino owner and a known info-merchant. While this going on, a bounty hunter wearing Mandalorian armor enters with a warrant to take Vorkesh into custody. A tense stand-off ensues with Nim pretending to be another hunter who already has taken Vorkesh into custody while Luck is preparing to get into an ugly shoot-out with the hunter. Eventually, the hunter withdraws in the face of overwhelming odds, though he promises Vorkesh that this isn’t over.
  • In appreciation for Nim defusing the situation, as unusually as he did so, Vorkesh provides the information on Wren’s probable location…

Player Notes:

  • Way, way, way late recaps. Kept getting stupid busy. Trying to keep these minimal.
  • Mostly information gathering in this one, along with some almost shooting. And I was gonna get me some Mandalorian armor too! Maybe later…

Campaign Logs, Star Wars: Vanguard , , ,

GURPS Swashbucklers: Sea Dogs, Company Log

July 8, 2023 No comments

Date Course Knots NM Notes
31 Dec 1724 Ashore
Refit complete; ship christened Graceful Dame, launched, anchored in Kingston Bay
1 Jan 1725 Ashore
Ventured inland to query Old Tom regarding Morgan’s Coin
2 Jan 1725 Ashore
Dove in Port Royal for Morgan’s Coin; began provisioning for voyage
3 Jan 1725 Ashore
Provisioning, continued
4 Jan 1725 SE 4 72
Cleared Kingston and put to sea in AM
5 Jan 1725 SE-NE 4-2½ 84 At sea
6 Jan 1725 NE 2½ 62
Arrived at île-à-Vache before noon; entered Ferret Bay and went ashore
Ashore
Rumjack entered port after noon; Mr. Ned Long threatened company with death.
Rescued Ms. “Dora,” fled bay during confusion
SE 4 35½
Departed Île-à-Vache in PM
7 Jan 1725 SE 3½ 83½
Hove-to for guardacosta inspection
8 Jan 1725 SE-NE 4 94
Favorable weather. Passed S of Isle de la Beata in AM
9 Jan 1725 NE 3½ 89
Passed French schooner in PM, headed W. Shifted torn sail for spare.
10 Jan 1725 Ashore
Arrived at Santo Domingo around midnight
11 Jan 1725 Ashore
Shifty hanged in AM.
12 Jan 1725 Ashore
Took on provisions; cleared port after noon
EbSE 5¾ 63
Mr. Moggridge on light duty due to illness
13 Jan 1725 EbSE 5¾ 132
Sail sighted ahead at noon, Princess Mary, hailed for news.
Mr. Moggridge on light duty due to illness
14 Jan 1725 EbSE 6¼ 150
Performed divine service. Mr. Moggridge on light duty due to illness.
Strange man from the sea leapt aboard, and leapt away
15 Jan 1725 EbSE 6¼ 150
Mr. Bold employed fixing hull leak.
Mr. Moggridge on light duty due to illness
16 Jan 1725 EbSE 6 144
Favorable wind shift.
Mr. Moggridge on light duty due to illness
17 Jan 1725 EbSE-NNE 6-4½ 89
Tacked NNE in AM. Winds shifting unfavorably.
Mr. Moggridge on light duty due to illness
18 Jan 1725 Ashore
Arrived at Barbados very early AM; waited for sunrise to enter port. Rumjack entered port in PM.
19 Jan 1725 Ashore
Purchased 2 tuns cotton for sale at St. Kitts, 1 tun spiced rum.
A shore expedition (Sir Randel, Dr. Spenser, Mr. Palange, and Mr. Lucroy – visit the ‘devil’s house’ where they have a strange encounter
Cpt. Hayden & LT Rogers meet with Cpt. Lockhart
20 Jan 1725 Ashore
Departed Bridgetown in convoy with Princess Mary afternoon
NbNW 5½ 62¼
21 Jan 1725 NbNW-W 5½ 116½
Rescued Cpt. Dufresne & Crew in a.m.
in p.m., encounter Charon (?), observe Pelican take Rumjack (now dead ship)
22 Jan 1725 NbNW 6¾ 142
Arrived at Saint Kitts very early in a.m
23 Jan 1725 Ashore
Sold 2 tuns cotton; purchased 2 tuns goods for sale at Port-de-Paix
24 Jan 1725 Ashore
Took aboard passenger, Geoffrey de Saloman
25 Jan 1725 WNW 10½ 177½
Departed St. Kitts in AM. Light rain AM, and Evening.
Passed S of St. Thomas, N coast Puerto Rico
Dutch flute sighted heading SW
26 Jan 1725 WNW 7½ 182¾
27 Jan 1725 W/WNW 6¼ 146½
On middle watch, narrowly avoided uncharted reef
28 Jan 1725 W/WNW 7½ 196¼
Arrived at Port-de-Paix after midnight, anchored until AM
29 Jan 1725 Ashore
Accompanied Mr. de Saloman to duel Dutchman (?), Falko Rijnders, at nearby island; Dr. Spenser meets Mdme Cassandra
30 Jan 1725 Ashore
31 Jan 1725 Ashore
Sir Randel, Dr Spenser, Lt. Rogers and Cpt. Hayden attend a party
1 Feb 1725 WbNW 4¼ 72½
2 Feb 1725 WbNW 4 94½
3 Feb 1725
WbNW-NNW
 6 148½
Encountered British schooner under-manned due to impressment by Navy vessel; Geoffrey de Saloman agreed to captain for them, departed company
4 Feb 1725 NNW 8¾ 210¾
Arrived at Nassau just before midnight
5 Feb 1725 Ashore
Delivered message to Raynard Adler, who paid agreed-upon 1s
Rescued merchant’s daughter, Rogers and Bold injured
Discovered Cpt. Doyle as behind the attack
6 Feb 1725 Ashore
La Dame Blanche at port; Sir Randel joins Mr. Boissonade at meeting with Captain Morgan expert, discovered to be “Handsome Ned” Long, who is apparently not dead
7 Feb 1725 Ashore
8 Feb 1725 Ashore
9 Feb 1725 Ashore
Ms. Dora recovered her former captain’s pocketwatch from a local sailor
10 Feb 1725 Ashore
11 Feb 1725 Ashore
La Dame Blanche departed in AM
12 Feb 1725 NW
Departed Nassau in AM; winds increasingly gusty
Ashore
Arrived at Harbour Island in PM; secured for bad weather
Dora kidnapped, rescued
13 Feb 1725 Ashore
Detained for questioning by Lt. Brace of the Hazard, and released
SWbW 8¾ 52¼
Put to sea in PM
14 Feb 1725 SWbW 7¾
WNW 10½
Entered Gt. Bahama Bank
SWbW 7¾ 175¾
Evaded pursuit by unknown vessel in eve
15 Feb 1725 WbSW 5-8 107
In Florida Channel current. Nearly becalmed around midday
16 Feb 1725 WbSW 3¼ 31½
Ashore
Arrived at Havana late AM
17 Feb 1725 Ashore
18 Feb 1725 Ashore
19 Feb 1725 Ashore
20 Feb 1725
Cleared port before noon, with passenger, Amira Inara Muñoz
Stranded Spanish sloop sighted. Did not assist-appeared capable
21 Feb 1725
22 Feb 1725
23 Feb 1725
24 Feb 1725
Arrived at Campeche before sundown
25 Feb 1725 Ashore
Dinner with Gordon Reade, Maurice Boissonade, and company
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