salvage from a destroyed dropship in space

[freakacid]

heyho,

for our next session I am planning a setup like this.  (3025)

My players are on a dropship that they have hired for this trip. They jump into another system, where a recently damaged dropship (a mule or union) with some valueable cargo (12 mechs and equipment) is drifting in space - slowly towards the sun...

My crew is not very properly prepared, they might have on mech (I thought about one old Phoenix Hawk LAM) available to help with salvaging. There might be some surprises onboard, such as survivors in cockpits or mechs, or even on the bridge (it is assumed that those are generally friendly towards my PCs and want to be rescued, however some might have some mental issues after a horrible accident...).

I want to introduce some external danger - some enemy spacecrafts (other dropships, maybe fighters approaching from another jump point). What would be reasonable time frames for this? (how long does it ake a dropship/fighter say from nadir to a pirate jump point?)

My idea is, that my players have to decide and play out about what they can salvage/rescue and what they need to leave behind which then goes lost forever. It is intended to be an intense situation. How would you recommend to play this out? Should I make a model of the dropship and let em move within it, or would you recommend to roll this more abstractly? How can I produce the tension and produce an outcome that allows them to salvage, say 2 or 3 mechs having to give up the rest?

oh, another problem is about leaving the system...as their jumpship will be empty when arriving, but they need to get away soon? Are there any jumpships capable of two jumps in a row?

thank you!

[The_Caveman]

In 3025 there's no jumpship that can double-jump without the risk of blowing its drive. Even a risky quick-charge is going to need 96 hours or so.

Transit times from the Z/N points to the inner system are variable depending on the type of star. For a star similar to Sol it's about 10 days burning at 1G. For a very dim red dwarf, maybe as little as 48 hours.

Which poses a problem for your scenario. If the derelict is close enough for the players to reach, it's not going to be in imminent danger of falling into the star. Also, the smart thing to do would be to use the players' ship to tow the stricken vessel rather than stealing a few 'Mechs and leaving the ship to crash.

Might I suggest instead that the derelict ship is having problems with its fusion reactor: the engine is overloading and the emergency SCRAM controls have failed, leaving the players just a matter of hours once they board to save what they can before the radiation levels become lethal. The players then have two main options: try to salvage the 'Mechs before time runs out (you can be really evil with this by invoking Murphy's law on getting the 'Mechs free of the hangar) or attempt an extremely dangerous repair on the reactor to save the whole ship.

Side Note: if you don't want there to be any possibility of the players getting a free dropship, no matter how clever they are, I suggest making sure the JumpShip they're travelling on only has one functional docking collar.

[Daryk]

As hard as fusion reactions are to maintain (even in battletech), I don't think an imminent "meltdown/overload" is particularly plausible (rules of cool always applies, of course).  Now, if the dropship in question was hauling some weapons they shouldn't have been, and there was a mishap (that could have lead to other problems), there's no reason contamination of some kind couldn't limit time aboard the ship.  Of course, this scenario means anyone still alive on board is already doomed to die (from chemical poisoning/virulent bioweapon/radiation sickness), but that's probably just as well given they'd probably die in prison otherwise.  This could also mean the characters have to subject whatever they salvage to some serious decontamination before they can use it, not to mention talking their own dropship crew into taking it on board in the first place.

[guardiandashi]

the way the immanent catastrophic failure can work is if you make a bit of a change from how canon fusion reactors are said to work.

in my head canon fusion reactors run "hotter" than canon says.
with that said I break down the reactor as a series of linked modules.
1 fusion core: this is where the actual fusion reaction occurs and is essentially a barely controlled ongoing fusion explosion.
2 plasma extraction and channeling system: pulls plasma out of the fusion core and channels it to other systems, can only extract and return a small amount of plasma.
3 power generation: this is where the plasma power generation loops which work by manetio-hydrodynamics actually are. 
4 general containment and shielding.

by doing it this way you can have a failure that has an immanent catastrophic failure start that leaves you "some" time to try to deal with it before everything goes "plewy"

I realize some of the canon says it really doesn't work this way but it "rationalizes" it for me.

[The_Caveman]

When I said "overload" I didn't mean the reactor is going to go stackpole and blow up the ship in a giant nuclear fireball.

If the control system is fried and the reactor is running far beyond 100% power, it's going to generate more radiation than its shielding is capable of absorbing. Either high-energy radiation will leak through the casing and flood the ship with gamma rays, or the reactor vessel itself will suffer a structural failure and fill the atmosphere with superheated radioactive material. In the case of a Union, the fuel tank with 300 tons of liquid hydrogen is sitting right on top of that reactor vessel too. When the reactor goes, the fuel tank will probably go too.

Which is actually the most destructive outcome of all. If the hydrogen tank ruptures, you'll not only have the equivalent of a steam explosion, but it will then immediately be followed by the detonation of the hydrogen-oxygen mixture in the ship's atmosphere. Which would be even more effective at scattering irradiated material from the reactor chamber throughout the ship, if there's even a ship left afterward.

[freakacid]

I think I´ll go for the possible explosion (and will try to keep details as realistic as possible). I want to try to stick to canon, but some deviations are alright, and I think my players are no physics nerds (they might have an understanding, but will accept SciFi irrealism ;)).

There will be lot of murphys law when rescuing the mechs (the most valuable ones will be very hard to get... it will need a lot of risk/luck to cut them loose).

I the further danger by another party will be added, as it is important for my general storyline. Maybe the enemy is also threatening the players jumpship, so another time constraint.

Thank you for the good advice.

Actually my question was a little about "how to play" this situation.

Would your recommend to play it turn by turn, or rather to make more general descissions and roll the results abstractly?
(ok, you decide to go for mech xy which has a "very hard" modification, and you roll on which skill?)

thank you

Rene

[Atlas3060]

It would depend on how much fun the group thinks it would go.
Some like the idea of a set number of turns, others love to spin together a story as they go do their heroic salvaging.
Personally I'd go for anything that allows the GM wiggle room.
This gives the GM that ability to make it as easy or difficult as the game needs.

So if you are going turn by turn, don't let the players know how many they have.
If you're going more abstract, then setup some story trap wires to have things go off.
What I mean by that is if they got Mech #1 finally freed; then suddenly have the ship rock around a bit.
Maybe someone's oxygen supply dipped into the low category.
Those cheap (insert faction here) created encounter suits are so inferior compared to (other faction name here).
Their readings aren't always accurate after a certain number of encounters without proper maintenance.

Make the players sweat, but enjoy, the thrill of possibly dying out in the quiet of space while trying to get rich.

[freakacid]

"Make the players sweat, but enjoy, the thrill of possibly dying out in the quiet of space while trying to get rich."

that exactly was the plan. Actually for my story it would be best if they could salvage something like 1 or two mechs eventually and some equipment they can barter/sell. But it needs to look like they can get really rich.. ;) Someone should really risk dying.. (but not have to in the end ;)

[Atlas3060]

You have learned well.  >:D

[Archangel]

How about this for a backstory:

Player group comes across a JumpShip and a cargo DropShip that barely fought off a pirate attack and battle damage is preventing the DropShip from separating from the JumpShip whose core is badly damaged and is getting ready to blow.  The crew of the JumpShip and DropShip are eager to be rescued, the passengers (henchmen of a criminal boss or covert operatives depending upon how challenging you wish to make it) are less so.  They were supposed to rendezvous with another JumpShip and DropShip that was supposed to take passengers and cargo to their final destination.  The passengers believe that since they didn't make the meeting the other JumpShip and DropShip will try to track them down and so would prefer to be rescued by them.  Later during the rescue/recover operation another JumpShip and DropShip (either the passengers' allies or the rest of the pirates that were told of the failed hijacking) jump into the system and immediately moves to engage the player group.

Major challenges could include persuading the passengers (or alternately killing them) to let the player group rescue them in exchange for some of the cargo; preventing the JumpShip core from overloading (unless extremely successful, successful repairs only delays the inevitable unless the player group decides to disable their own JumpShip >:D and use the parts to replace the damaged components) limiting the amount of cargo the players can rescue; fighting off the reinforcements/persuading the reinforcements that you are friendly (if the player group successfully persuaded the passengers not to fight them).

[freakacid]

actually I already do have a backstory already...

the dropship contains some starleague mechs that have been stolen from comstar which was moving them around secretly  (not decided yet if dropship can be considered pirate or just a merchant dealing with this "hot stuff"). The captain has already had sold a first batch/delivery of some ammunition to one of my players earlier on.

Comstar has found out who has stolen their goods, but was not able to capture the ship without attracting attention. So they wanted the dropship to at least dissapear secretly, make it look like an accident: Someone sabotaged the docking collar of the jumpship that was intended to bring the dropship to solaris (thats where my players are). The dropship was torn apart during the jump, as it was not properly docked, but the intact parts including some cargo are now floating in space in a system one jump from Solaris.

One of the crew members survived because he was on the jumpship during jump and informed my players about the secret cargo...Asking them to try to rescue possible survivors. They are now organizing a trip to the lonely system where the dropship might be... however they will have to deal with the situation described. I will also give them a moral task- I am not sure if they will help the survivors, as those might claim ownership to what is there....

Much of this might not completely be canon, but its reasonable close.

[Archangel]

Is there a surviving ComStar ROM agent around?  (Too early for a Blakist or MD agent.)  Of course he can't be allowed to live and report in thereby possibly bringing the wrath of ComStar on your player groups' heads or even worse sabotage your player groups' JumpShip.   >:D

[freakacid]

you can read my mind ;)

[Atlas3060]

Much of this might not completely be canon, but its reasonable close.

Unless you happen to be submitting this as some idea for a novel; I can safely assume no one at your table will care.  ;D
Especially if its as fun as you're describing.

[Maingunnery]

In general I would use the rules from: MOVING CARGO, page 41, Strategic Operations. Combined with the fact that two dropships can dock their cargo doors together, you can determine the amount of cargo moved per minute.


Another scenario: The target dropship has burned out its engines (bad technician!) and was put into orbit of an gas giant. However there was a miscalculation and its orbit is rapidly decaying (bad navigator!). Now its up to the players to get as much cargo out before the target enters the atmosphere of the gas giant.

[idea weenie]

In general I would use the rules from: MOVING CARGO, page 41, Strategic Operations. Combined with the fact that two dropships can dock their cargo doors together, you can determine the amount of cargo moved per minute.


Another scenario: The target dropship has burned out its engines (bad technician!) and was put into orbit of an gas giant. However there was a miscalculation and its orbit is rapidly decaying (bad navigator!). Now its up to the players to get as much cargo out before the target enters the atmosphere of the gas giant.

In case the players try to use their Dropship to push the damaged Dropship, you can get into all sorts of fun with tug rules/damage.  If they try to use ASF put into a launch cradle with their engines pointing out (and using gyros/maneuvering thrusters to rotate the Dropship), this should give them a little more time, but a lot of technician rolls will be needed.

Plus more ASF or Dropships on meteor watch, it would be a shame (  ;) ) if a rogue asteroid went into a bad orbit thanks to the smaller moons around the gas giant.

[Intermittent_Coherence]

actually I already do have a backstory already...

the dropship contains some starleague mechs that have been stolen from comstar which was moving them around secretly  (not decided yet if dropship can be considered pirate or just a merchant dealing with this "hot stuff"). The captain has already had sold a first batch/delivery of some ammunition to one of my players earlier on.

Comstar has found out who has stolen their goods, but was not able to capture the ship without attracting attention. So they wanted the dropship to at least dissapear secretly, make it look like an accident: Someone sabotaged the docking collar of the jumpship that was intended to bring the dropship to solaris (thats where my players are). The dropship was torn apart during the jump, as it was not properly docked, but the intact parts including some cargo are now floating in space in a system one jump from Solaris.

One of the crew members survived because he was on the jumpship during jump and informed my players about the secret cargo...Asking them to try to rescue possible survivors. They are now organizing a trip to the lonely system where the dropship might be... however they will have to deal with the situation described. I will also give them a moral task- I am not sure if they will help the survivors, as those might claim ownership to what is there....

Much of this might not completely be canon, but its reasonable close.

I find it stretches my SOD that Comstar and ROM would be inept enough as to 1) let it leak that a shipment of mechs was being transferred 2) have the shipment stay long enough at a transfer point that it became vulnerable and 3) have security be lax enough that it actually got stolen.

It might be easier to believe a series of bureaucratic SNAFUS led the shipment to be transported thru public shipping rather than Comstar's own more secure jumpship fleet. Such SNAFUs further compounded when the jumpship captain decided to make an unscheduled detour, whereupon Murphy and his pirates happened.

[freakacid]

good idea, I´ll continue that way...

now I have to balance forces for next session..

[skiltao]

Would your recommend to play it turn by turn, or rather to make more general descissions and roll the results abstractly?
(ok, you decide to go for mech xy which has a "very hard" modification, and you roll on which skill?)

I wouldn't go turn by turn unless you have interesting decisions for them to make each turn.

I'd suggest abstracting each major action into three rolls: one for the quality of their work (e.g., how much they damage the 'Mech while recovering it); one for how fast they can work; and one for how soon they get feedback about the first two rolls (e.g., realize that what they're doing isn't working, or figure out exactly how long their work will really take). Actually, make that four rolls: one up front before they start any work at all, to get a vague idea of how hard and fast the task will be.

As hard as fusion reactions are to maintain (even in battletech), I don't think an imminent "meltdown/overload" is particularly plausible (rules of cool always applies, of course)

Fires plus a fuel leak could work.

[freakacid]

puuhhh,
recently had the session. Worked very well. Boarding the ship, finding some survivors and many dead bodies in the ship. Searching every room, reconstructing what happened and finally finding a surviving traitor onboard... the whole thing under time pressure... gave the internal dynamics a nice boost.

My team managed to salvage 5 mechs and some cargo... however they have more trouble bringing it to Solaris as threatened by two other dropships. After intense discussions they managed to team up with another ship (in my game: a Snord irregulars unit) who also want their part--- my wolfnet agent however managed to do something like a hidden "batchall" with them - that will finally lead to a (trial of posession) like fight on solaris. The other players do not understand what is going on, and the clans were not mentioned, but some pathetic talk about honor and the true warrior (....) and so on was there for some good fun.

[the hidden clan style of acting of my wolfnet agent and the snords unit in 3025 might be a stretch of canon, but it is my game]

[skiltao]

Sounds fun! :)

[pheonixstorm]

Not much of a stretch though if you read up on the history of the Dragoons and the Irregulars.