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BETA SECTION: RUNNING THE TREK TO THE MORAES 

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WILDERNESS TRAVELING

The PCs must reach the ship as quickly as possible to prevent Terry from completing the engine overhaul or defensive preparations. There are several important factors in making the best travel speed

1. Selecting the best route through the terrain.
2. Avoiding accidents and delaying encounters.
3. Traveling unencumbered (at full speed).
4. Arranging camps and watches to permit everyone the maximum effective rest and travel rate.

GIVING PLAYERS INFORMATION

Each PC is familiar with equipment and subjects relating to his skills and mission responsibilities. Answer reasonable requests by the players for information that

SIGHT RANGE, MOVEMENT RATE, AND CHANCE OF ACCIDENTS AND DELAYS BY TERRAIN TYPE 

¹See the Terrain Effects Table, p.19, Alpha Dawn Expanded Rules.

²To check for an accident, subtract the current ability rating from the given percentage. Rolling this number or less on dl00 indicates an accident. In forests and ridges and ravines, an accident is usually a minor fall, resulting in a twisted ankle or other annoying, but not serious, injury subtracted from stamina). On rivers, accidents ace usually caused by snags, hidden obstructions, or rough waters that dump the raft and its contents. Such a dump does not injure the PCs, but may cause minor damage to unprotected electronics gear, 2db points of damage to the raft, and a 15-minute delay. Scouting prevents most accidents (See Scouting, Beta .1).

³Most delays are about 15 minutes long. In rugged terrain, a delay is usually caused by a poor choice of routes that force the PCs to backtrack. On a small river, a delay is usually caused by mis- handling of the rafts. Scouting prevents most delays (See Scouting, Beta .1).

⁴No chance of accident if character has military of environmental skills at any level 'piesufling experience and conditioning for rugged terrain or if the route was scouted by robot or environ mentalist.

⁵Chance of accident reduced by 10% per level of environmental skill (presumes that training includes use of inflatable rafts). No chance ot accident if route was scouted by robot or skilled environmentalist.

• Robot Technicians: Missions, functions, skills, and abilities of all survey robots.
• Environmental Scientists: Maps of regions and preliminary survey data.
• Technical Engineers: Technical data on the Moraes and other survey craft; general information about robot abilities.
• Military Technicians: Details of shipboard security and defenses; information on combat abilities of robots.

FOREST: Extremely rugged, cut by ravines and rocky outcrops, dense timber and undergrowth, difficult to pick routes.

STEEP SLOPE: Sparsely wooded slope from plateau or ridge to valley or river.

STREAM: Small watercourse; not navigable by raft.

STREAM VALLEY: Rugged, but routes along stream are obvious and less overgrown, some stream crossings necessary but easy.

SMALL RIVER: Winding, moderate current, some obstructions.

RIVER GORGE: Wide, straight, fast and deep, some dangerous rapids.

RIVER VALLEY: Travel is easy in low grasses and along open beaches; meandering river course forces indirect routes.

PLAINS: Flat flood plain with abundant undergrowth.

RIDGES AND RAVINES: High elevation, very steep and rugged, sparsely wooded.

WATER GAP: Steep rocky cliffs come to water's edge in places; generally difficult, slow travel, but better than crossing ridges. WOODED LOWLANDS: Lightly forested, broken by grassland clearings.
 

SIGHTING RANGES, MOVEMENT RATES, ACCIDENTS, AND DELAYS IN WILDERNESS TRAVEL

Use Table .1 whenever the PCs travel in the wilderness, The information on thai table is for a mixed party in wilderness terrain. Differences in racial travel rates are only important icr melee turn movement.

When the PCs enter a hex, each player should check for accidents or delays, subject to any modifiers or exemptions specified in Table 1. When on foot, each character checks separately. In the rafts, there is no mishap unless all paddlers fail their checks. Accident danger is doubled for night travel.

When a mishap occurs, explain it in terms of the setting. For example, "Your character lost his balance on the slope, stumbled, and strained his ankle:'
 

SCOUTING

Scouting prevents a variety of accidents and delays, and does not reduce 'trave~ time- Aerial robot scouting takes no extra time, and an environmentalist on foot is much faster through the terrain than other characters.

Scouting on foot actually represents m) more than leading the party by a reasonable distance. As long as the first man in the party's travel order or in the lead raft has environmental skills, the party should get credit for scouting.

Robot scouting is effective in two cases where other types of scouting are not:

1. During night travel because robots have superior sensors and mobility.
2. On small river terrain in rafts, because from a raft, not even an experienced
3. Environmentalist can anticipate all the problems on an unfamiliar river.

CAMPSITES AND WATCHES

Encourage the players to describe the features they are looking for when they select a campsite. Depending on the terrain and the features requested, judge a reasonable percentage chance that such a campsite exists. Roll against this percentage to find such a campsite, with a positive modifier of 10% the PCs' highest environmental skill level. Such a roll may be made every 15 minutes, The degree of success of the roll should suggest how perfectly the campsite fits the PCs' requirements. If the roll is just barely successful, the camp-site is marginally accept- able, having most but not all the features requested. If the success is very great (for example, 50 points less than the needed roll), the camp is nearly perfect, with unanticipated bonuses, like a fresh spring or a rock overhang. If the roll is a 96-00, all campsites are completely unsatisfactory.

No one will discover a cave or similar ideally-defensible campsite, but in the upland regions or water gap a site with rock walls onthree sides might be found.

Draw a rough sketch of the terrain and ask the players to draw their campsite locations of all the equipment and characters, asleep and on watch. Then analyze the campsite. If the PCs searched for and found an easily-defensible campsite with excellent viewpoints for the characters on watch, reduce the chance of surprise when creatures approach the campsite. Conversely, if the PCs are careless in selecting their camp, if they set up the camp poorly, or ifno one stays awake to watch the camp, decrease their chance to detect intruders or to respond to attacks.

Each character on watch must make a successful intuition check to avoid being surprised by an intruder. Add a +20% modifier to the check for each man on watch.
 

FOOD AND WATER

Tell the players that a sufficient supply of food and water eliminates any need for hunting or foraging.

Beta .2

HAZARDS: TAINTED ATMOSPHERE

The atmosphere of Mahg Mar contains traces of toxic compounds. The atmosphere is breathable, but over an extended period of ti me, characters experience headaches and rapid exhaustion. Characters must wear the breathers provided with the environmental suits in the personal survival kits or sleep in the pressurized bivouac unit to prevent the following unpleasant symptoms.

After three hours of breathing the atmosphere of Mahg Mar, characters experience severe headaches (-30% from intuition and logic) and tire easily (-20 from stamina, and unable to travel for more than eight hours without rest). They return to normal after 10 hours out of the atmosphere. Feel free to take steps to make wearing the environmental suit undesirable. For example, decrease reaction speed by 20 points for limited vision, or reduce stamina by 5 points because of the ventilation and added encumbrance. This will make the decision whether or not to wear the suit a matter of practical importance in the game.
 

ENCUMBRANCE

Traveling encumbered is a serious disadvantage, since it cuts movement rates in half. Use the formal encumbrance rules, if you can. They require a detailed list of everything carried and how much it weighs

If the PCs travel encumbered, allow them to travel for one half-hour at the reduced rate before explicitly telling the players that their travel speed is halved because they are encumbered. It should take at least a half-hour of travel before it is clearly the encumbrance, and not the terrain, that is slowing them down. Thereafter, they may lighten their loads and resume full movement, if they choose.
 

EXHAUSTION

Penalties for exhaustion (half movement, dexterity, and reaction speed) come after 10 hours of walking without sleep. If one PC is exhausted, the whole party must travel at half rate or leave the exhausted PC behind. Sleep is defined as five hours of uninterrupted sleep, or six hours of sleep interrupted by encounters or watch duty. Characters with military skills understand these limitations. However, if a party travels without a person with military skills, do not explain this special rule. If the PCs set off after four hours of sleep and find they are still moving at half speed, hint that they haven't had enough rest yet.

The breathers on the environmental suits are very uncomfortable. Each character must make a stamina check to sleep in one. If the check fails, he can try again in an hour or remove the breather. They are not necessary when sleeping in a bivouac unit.

Sleeping in a raft is possible as long as the raft is guided by two paddlers or by one paddler with environmental skills.
 

WATER DAMAGE

Any character carrying weapons while swimming runs a 50% risk of a malfunction, rendering the weapon completely useless and irreparable. The characters have no experience or training with weapons under these conditions, and have no idea what will happen if they use them. If the PCs don't protect their electronic gear (tech kits, radios, power backpacks, etc.) against the water there is an 800/0 chance of retrieving such equipment every 15 minutes. Storing equipment inside the bivouac of damage and malfunction to the equipment if ii is dunked. Modify this chance as appropriate. In any case, the damage should be minor and easily repaired if the items can be recovered.

Unsecured equipment may be lost on the bottom of the river. There is a 50% chance of retrieving such equipment every 15 minutes. Storing equipment inside the bivouac; units, for example, keeps the equipment dry. The bivouac units float, so they can be easily recovered without delay, even As they go overboard.

If anyone gets dunked in the water, there is a 25% chance that his breather will malfunction. The Malfunction is obvious 90% of the time, and can be repaired by a technician. However, 100/0 of the time the malfunction is not obvious. In these cases that breather ceases to work effectively its user begins to suffer from atmospheric poison mg after three hours (see Tainted Atmosphere, above,. At that time, a medic can automatically make an accurate general and specific diagnosis of the problem. If a technician checks each breather after a dunking, he always recognizes a malfunctioning breather and can fix it.

Temporarily reduce the abilities of characters who are dunked in the river at night. Reduce their abilities in -5% increments, up to one-half of each ability score, for every hour a character remains in wet clothes in the chilly night air. Building a fire, wearing dry clothes, or sleeping in the insulated bivouac unit removes the ill effects.
 

NIGHT TRAVEL

When traveling at night, all travel rates are halved (except on rivers, where there is no treetop cover blocking the weak light from the sky, and where footing is not an issue). Accident danger is doubled for both foot and river travel.
 

GETTING LOST

The party has a map and emergency equipment. If any character has environmental skills, there is no risk of getting lost. It none of the PCs have environmental skills, make a logic +20% check each hour to avoid getting lost. The first failed check in a hex means a 15-minute delay. The second consecutive failure means the party enters a randomly-determined adjoining hex other than the one they wanted to enter. All sub- sequent consecutive (allures result in another 15-minute delay. Unless they lose their map, the PCs can't get lost during daylight hours in a ridge, steep slope, stream, or river hex.
 

CUMULATIVE TRAVEL PENALTIES

Travel rate penalties are cumulative. For example, if a character ~alks for more than 10 hours, his movement, dexterity, and reaction speed are halved until he sleeps (Alpha Dawn Expanded Game Rules, p. 19). Therefore, a party traveling at night ('12 rate) that has walked for more than 10 hours without sleep ('/2 rate) will travel at '/4 normal rate ('~ '/2 = '/4).
 

ADDITIONAL TIME PENALTIES

You must decide if PC activities not covered in this section cause significant delays, and if so, how long they are. Delaying activities may include equipment repairs, raft-building, campsite preparation, experimenting with the robot as a shuttlecraft, and soon. Here are a few guidelines.

1. Minor repairs take 15 minutes.
2. Major repairs (significant damage or delicate devices) take an hour or more, if field repairs can be made at all. Inadequate tools and parts prevent most major repairs.
3. Do not assess a penalty of more than 15 minutes without warning the players that they may be losing valuable time.
4. If players ask how long an activity will take, give them an estimate within 100% of the actual time. However, if the PCs lack the appropriate skills to estimate a delay your estimate may be much less accurate.

RANDOM ENCOUNTERS: ROLLING RANDOM ENCOUNTERS

As the PCs enter each hex, roll for a random encounter on Table 2, 3, or 4. Use the table for the type of terrain the PCs are in. If a creature is encountered, look in the Alien Creatures Update rile and the encounters in Gamma section for their descriptions. When a character investigates a mysterious noise or sighting, the only sign he finds may be a few broken twigs or shallow footprints.

CHOOSING RANDOM ENCOUNTERS

You may select and order the events faced by the PCs If you do, be flexible in your choice and sequence of events in order to control the tempo of each game session. The ideal is a rising and falling rhythm, with peaks of dramatic action-adventure separated by comparatively slower-paced segments of strategic and practical problem solving. The sequence below is an example of alternating action and mental puzzles.

1. An encounter with ferocious carnivores.
2. The problem of selecting a defensible camp site and establishing watches.
3. An encounter with scavengers who threaten the camp's supplies.
4. The decision to use rafts or march overland in order to travel as quickly as possible.
5. An encounter with dangerous rapids on the river, requiring several skill rolls and/or rescue attempts.

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TABLE 3. VALLEY AND LOWLAND RANDOM ENCOUNTERS

(For river valley and plains terrain.) 

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