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This scenario is designed for use with any of the leading SFRPG's
- Traveller, Star Trek, Space Opera, Star Frontiers, etc.,
though this isn't the only reason why no player stats are included. To
judge by some of the letters appearing in the leading RPG magazines, many
Referees and GMs are still locked into a mental straight jacket which makes
them try to run any printed game straight off the page - which is a big
mistake - or to reject such scenarios because they don't fit into the current
game (which is just a draft).
Although the scenario produced here is complete within
itself, it is designed to be a source of ideas rather than a finished unit,
and is particularly unsuitable for 'unedited use', so to speak.
On the contrary, anyone wishing to use this material is strongly advised
to read through the entire text before (a) making any and all additions/deletions
he/she thinks necessary, and (b) rolling up character points which will
tailor the scenario to the preferred game and style of play, and the experience
of his/her players. This scenario should ONLY be read by referees - NOT
by players.
And now, having got those few thoughts off my chest, let
the action commence.
It is assumed that the PCs will start the adventure either
on a rest planet or on a relatively unimportant interstellar flight.
They will be contacted by 'Headquarters' (which will vary from game to
game. of course) and ordered to report as quickly as possible for an urgent
briefing.
Once the players have been gathered together, they will be asked
to take a single spacecraft out in order to act as a guard of honour for
an interstellar 'schooner' which is bringing in an ambassador from an important
outer planet. They will be warned of only two possible sources of trouble
attached to this mission:
(1) The ambassador, from one of the outer worlds, is known to
be an inveterate tourist. That is to say, there is nothing he likes less
than simply traveling directly from point A to point B without making
at least half a dozen stops along the way. The players are warned that
they must not allow this at any cost, as the ambassador is due to address
a crucially important meeting on a fixed date. This meeting cannot be postponed
- except under very exceptional circumstances - without causing serious
political upheavals.
Note: The need to deliver the ambassador to his destination
on time is actually only one small part of the mission - as we will soon
see. Still, the importance of carrying out this small task successfully
(and without offending the ambassador, of course) is all that should be
impressed upon the players for the moment - so as to catch them off guard
when the real action starts.
(2) A second reason for keeping the ambassador on course is concerned
with a newly discovered planet which lies not far off his flight path.
The Federation / Imperium / or whoever are currently negotiating with some
of the more enlightened leaders on the planet in order to be allowed to
mine a portion of its rich mineral deposits. These negotiations are very
close to completion, but full consideration has to be given to the people
of this new world - a strange and superstitious race who call themselves
the URTHYKNOI. Sudden visits - by anyone - could set the whole process
back for years.
The Briefing (2)
A complete rundown on the URTHYKNOI (pronounced ER - THICK
- Noy) is still not available. Existing list of facts is as follows:
(1) The URTHYKNOI people are on the small side compared with
human beings - the average height is just under five feet, when they stand
on their hind legs, or about three feet from ears to the ground when they're
'on all six'.
(2) As the last note suggests, the URTHYKNOI have six legs positioned
at the shoulder, waist and hip. The front legs double as arms, thought
they show a fair amount of dexterity in their feet as well. The middle
pair of legs seem originally to have served the sole purpose of supporting
immature youngsters during travel. As they have progressed, technically,
a split has appeared between those who regard these arms as obsolete
(and refuse to use them for anything except their original purpose - or
not at all), and those who see them as an adaptive bonus and who have learned
to use them as a second pair of arms.
(3) The seemingly trivial question of what to do with their central
pair of arms is actually a central feature of URTHYKNOI life - not least
because the main political parties are identified by their attitude towards
this question. The more progressive faction (the people who are willing
to negotiate for the mineral rights) support the use of all six limbs and
are therefore known as the 'sixers'. Their opponents, not surprisingly,
are known as the 'four only' party (both names are only rough translations
from the original 'high Urthyknoi` language, of course).
(4) Those members of the four only who are known to be aware
of the negotiations haven't shown much enthusiasm for the project - but
neither have they openly opposed it. It is essential that any dealings
with the Urthyknoi take this situation into account and that everything
(within reason) is done to avoid antagonizing the members of the 'four
only'.
(5) Whilst there is no single religion shared by all of the Urthyknoi,
it is known that many 'four only' supporters also belong to the 'wind
from beyond' cult (again this is only a rough translation of the original
title).
Followers of 'wind from beyond' share certain ideas found in
the Polynesian 'cargo cults' here on earth. For example, whilst no visitor
has been openly attacked, Urthyknoi cult members have made clear their
contempt for the visitors from the federation / imperium / etc. by refusing
to meet with them or accept any tokens of goodwill (ie. diplomatic bribes).
The attitude of the cultists has intrigued the two or three
anthropologists who have been allowed to make brief visits to the planet
because it seems to be completely at odds with one of their central
beliefs: That 'He who was sent' will come on the 'Winds from beyond' with
many men and with many gifts for the Urthyknoi who have faithfully worshipped
him. The only member of the Urthyknoi who ever openly commented
on this point simply insisted that: "The true 'He who was sent' will
make himself known beyond doubt when he comes".
(6) The Urthyknoi are known to have certain, limited, telepathic
powers, though their exact nature isn't known.
The players should be expecting to meet up with the ambassador's
space schooner shortly after it passes Greyp (pronounced Gree-Ip) the home
planet of the Urthyknoi. In fact they will intercept a mayday call from
the Ambassadorial craft several hours before they reach the rendezvous.
The call will make it clear that the ship is about to make a
landing on Greyp, but everything else is hopelessly garbled. Even if a
recording of the message is re-run with computer enhancement, etc., it
will not be possible to tell why the ship is being forced to land or whether
the Captain is expecting to make a regular landing or a crash landing.
Fortunately, the downed ship is carrying a rescue beacon, operated on one
of the regular emergency channels.
Locating the ship, once they reach Greyp, shouldn't present
any difficulties for the players. The big question, of course, is: having
found the ship, how should they go about rescuing the ambassador and his
crew? If the players don't see this much of a problem, the referee should
emphasize the delicate nature of the investigations, and the fact that
the appearance of two alien spacecraft in quick succession, might well
be interpreted by the xenophobic members of the population as something
closely resembling an invasion. At this point, the players might feel that
their best bet is to contact HQ for instructions as to how they should
proceed. This action will turn out to be an extremely bad idea, as it will
hasten the onset of the events described in Module
7.
If on the other hand, the players decide to save time by sending
down a search party immediately, they will walk straight into the situation
described in Module 4.