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What have I done....

parmasson

SOC-14 1K
I did it, I let them find the hulk of a 400 ton Gazelle Close escort. Turrets gone, in shambles but M drives and the parts from a Free Trader got it moving. Now I want to see what they are going to do with it. We have been playing every weekend for over a year 4-6 hours at a time. Now they have their big prize. Still needs millions and millions to get it up to snuff but they have been slowly gathering power and allies for along time now.

There players are mature players but not opposed to violence if it suits their needs. They have a crew of loyal NPCs they have been grooming for months (in real time).

I wonder what they are going to do? They have gone out of their way to stay off the “Imperial Radar” and careful to use their false IDs when dealing with the mob. A 400 ton warship is hard to hide.

It’s real old (100years+) , I have established that the GCC is an obsolete design. This one went missing over a century ago and has been claimed as salvage. No weapons, no armor, gig unsalvageable, computer gone.

What do you guess they will do? I haven’t a clue.
 
I think that's good. Players should get something hella cool every now and then. If I wanted to be constantly frustraited and unable to achive my goals, I'd spend more time at work. You didn't make it easy, so it's a good reward. Good job!
 
Maybe turn it into a base of operations? Like a pirate haven?

(BTW, Kurega, what's with the new sig? Are you saying the new LBBs should have equal sides? (Cause, pie are square, ya know.))
 
Greetings and salutations,

You've done good!

What could they possibly do with it.
</font>
  • go get even on their enemies</font>
  • go pirate</font>
  • go mercenary</font>
  • stake out and lay claim to an unclaimed planet or asteroid belt</font>
  • sell it (Imperium or ally)</font>
  • exchange it for land, another ship, noble title(s)</font>
The list is off the top of my head. If they keep it, don't make it easy to get everything they need/want for it. Make 'em jumpp through the hoops. When they get it or part of it operational, give those parts quirks.
 
Turn it into a flying, Jump Capable Casino/Brothel! erm, wait.. I've done the math on that, doesn't really work out. My players would probably find a way to blow it up, regardless of their intentions.
 
"(BTW, Kurega, what's with the new sig? Are you saying the new LBBs should have equal sides? (Cause, pie are square, ya know.)"

Thanks for asking. It is an expression of the LBBs as a venerable, irrational, but useful sci-fi expression. (Something deep n smart.)

1. Go get even on their enemies
Perhaps
2. Go pirate
Not really their style.
3. Go mercenary
This I can see them do. How much does the 41st pay for a merc license?
4. stake out and lay claim to an unclaimed planet or asteroid belt
This is likely.
5. sell it (Imperium or ally)
Never
6. exchange it for land, another ship, noble title(s)
Hmmm. Didn’t think of that.

Anyway the repair bill will be MCr30+. They need to come up with cast before it’s gonna fly.
 
Nice to have a mobile base. That's sort of what it feels like.

*Sigh* I wish they'd hurry up with that maglev rail service to Illinois.
 
That’s ok I can’t handle another player in this mess. It is so convoluted that I have to keep notes to remember what the Hell is going on.

Here is the thing. One of the ships they just captured belongs to the mobster they are working for (as hit men, sometimes). He is the guy that they stole from in the beginning and had to make happy or they were gonna get whacked.

Anyway, this guy is a slave trader and general evildoer who holds some power over the party so they are building up to hit him. Only problem is the mobster also happens to be the dictator of a little republic on a balkanized world.

Their problem is that they were hired to find and hit this guy but found themselves unable to pull the trigger. Now they have an intricate plan to fool the mob boss, then knock him off, defeat the mind flayer threat (don’t ask), save the slave girls (reoccurring theme), avoid the zombies, the Ine Givar, and the Imperial Navy (not easy).

Add to this their desire to trade in anything with good margins and you have

Oh forgot to mention that IRIS is on their trail for the 90 million insurance fraud thing.

Their ships so far
The Flaming Anvil 100 ton scout (legit. salvage)
The Batbear 200 ton far trader (pimped out former slave ship)
The hulk of a 400 ton Gazelle CE (grey area salvage)

A 100 ton scout owned by a mobster. (piracy)

Yeah it is small fleet but they have been lucky and done well. Now all they have to do is avoid
1. IRIS
2. Imperial Navy
3. The Vilani Mob
4. Mind Flayers

and everything will be just fine.
 
Uh huh! Nothing like a little chaos to keep things lively!

Don't suppose they've tried playing the sides against one another? Like sicc'ing the Imperial Navy (or IRIS) on the Mob Boss?
 
Ahhh, yes. Make the right connections to acquire some nukes. Leave major breadcrumb trail to the mob boss, "roll over" for the Navy/IRIS, and let them have fun pounding each other. While escaping with the Gazelle and a few other things, of course.
 
Well here I am in uncharted territory. Now they are playing wit the Big Boys ™ .
I have some millionaire PCs who have more trouble than when they started.

The I.N. scares them. They always play nice because they have seen the HMS Hyperion (3000-ton battleship in a small ship universe) and it really made an impression. They tried the old “distress call” pirate trick trying to capture a specific ship and the Hyperion showed up to lend a hand. IRIS they have never seen, it is the spooky factor.

“Uh huh! Nothing like a little chaos to keep things lively!”
They always complain there is too much to do. Their projects keep getting pushed back. (Heheheheh)

“Don't suppose they've tried playing the sides against one another? Like sicc'ing the Imperial Navy (or IRIS) on the Mob Boss?”

Up to now the play one off the other has not really showed up. Up till now they have not really had the power to play big time. Now their loyal crew of freed slave girls form Nebulan (cheesy but it works for us) will fly the thing.

“Ahhh, yes. Make the right connections to acquire some nukes.”

Nukes make them nervous. Early in the campaign they left one behind because N/B/C weapons are on the IN’s poop list.

The best thing is one of the players now has a lawyer as a character. Talk about big guns.
 
This sounds like an awesome campaign.

Perhpas the players could refit that Gazelle and head for the frontier to do some merc work? The money and parts from the pther salvage ships should get them in the ballpark?

By the way, not to split hairs or anything, but isn't the Gazelle normally a 300-ton ship?
 
JTAS #4 lists it as 400 tons. Eh, a little fudge factor at any rate. All of the turrets are gone and the hull is only pressurized because of some judicious welding. The only reason it is operational is because they cannibalized parts from an old free trader.
 
^All the hull plates to patch holes
Miles of optic or electronic wire
Relay governor assembly (just techno-babble)
Cryogenic pumps and coolers for fuel
Life support system
Computer core
Jump drive nuts and a few critical screws
Fusion igniter from the PP
AG system
And many, many more. Point was that it was not a two ship deal. They had to choose
 
The back story is that the gazelle got in a fight with another ship. The other ship was destroyed by a nuke and the gazelle was lost with all hands. The thing is a mess. All turrets gone, J drive was intact but damaged, M drive was shot, lots of hull hits and the fuel system was torched. It is currently “sitting under a tarp” so to speak. Getting the ship was easy the hard part will be in repairing the ship some 20% of new cost if you were to buy the stuff on the open market hence my question about merc license costs in the 3I in one of the other forums. There is no way it will be mistaken for a trade vessel in the way they plan to rebuild it. So the I.N. is going to want to know just why they are mucking around here in an old gunship.
 
Originally posted by Kurega Gikur:
So the I.N. is going to want to know just why they are mucking around here in an old gunship.
Just because? After all, its got no turrets, right? And nothing like a spinal mount? And, see, officer, we don't have any weapons mounted in our holds... Nothing to see here... Moving right along....

I was asking about the stuff that would fit, because I would think you would have to replace an entire section of hull - and the curvatures wouldn't be the same. If you just weld a patch over the hole, I would think you would get all kinds of integrity problems: keeping in atmosphere, going through an atmosphere, GG skimming, sinking when you land in water....
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If you just weld a patch over the hole, I would think you would get all kinds of integrity problems.
You know it! They spent the entire trip with their vaccsuits on. Getting the ship was easy. Getting it to fly is gonna be tough!

I cut a little slack in the technicalities dpt if it’s good for the plot. Yeah it would be nearly impossible but I like to stress the nearly part.

As for no turrets…
How long do you think that is going to last! *smirk*


There is a story behind why the scout ship is called the Flaming Anvil. It has to do with a gas giant, a SDB, and a really dangerous retroburn (term?) into the clouds.

They were not going that fast to begin with. Pulled a powerful retro and well you can see the problem.

This crew likes action and big M drives.
 
Originally posted by Kurega Gikur:
JTAS #4 lists it as 400 tons.
I re-read some of my older books and I have found a 400-ton version in The Spinward marches Campaign book. High Guard has it as 300 tons plus 100 tons worth of drop-tanks. I guess it's one of those ships that come in many different varieties depending on which suppliment you read.

In the original Book 2 the Merc Cruiser is fully streamlined while in later books the MC is only partially streamlined.
 
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