Echoes of a Tattered Past
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Echoes of a Tattered Past A Post-DS9 Adventure For Starfleet Shattered Stars #10 Written By Roger L. Taylor II Illustrated by: Roger Taylor and TFAndrews Special Thanks To: Play-testers: Rex, Justin, and Jeremy Rouviere, Jed Smith, the U.S.S. Sakarya, and The Seventh Fleet (www.seventhfleet.org) Star Trek © Paramount Pictures, Star Trek The Role playing Game © Decipher, Inc. All Rights Reserved Introduction Class L and VI are Class H. No known “Echoes of a Tattered Past” is an adventure sapient lifeforms. for use with the Star Trek: Role playing Game by Decipher. It is the tenth adventure in the Background: Two hundred thousand years ago (give or “Shattered Stars” campaign and is suitable for a take) the native population realized that their crew of 2-6 players playing a Starfleet crew sun was going to flare and destroy their during the post-DS9/post-Voyager era. With civilization. Unable to evacuate their some modification, this adventure could be population, they designed the probe to wait adapted for other crews and other eras. out the flares and aftermath, and create a Narrators will require the use of the Star temporal pocket to 'shift' their Trek: Player’s Guide, Star Trek: Narrator’s civilization forward to a “safer” period in their Guide, and may require the use of the Star planet's history. Trek: Starfleet Operations Manual in running this adventure. A number of pre-generated Conflicts: characters are available at the end of the Man vs. Unknown- the heroes must uncover mission. Alternately, players may substitute the planets history and the probe purpose their own characters with the approval of the and weaknesses in order to triumph. Narrator. Man vs. Man- the heroes must defeat the probe The adventure takes place near the and its safeguards in order to triumph. Federation/Romulan border in the year 2389. Man vs. Nature- the planet and its denizens Players who wish to take part in this adventure will do their level best to kill the heroes. should not read any further. Attacks by beasts, plants, and diseases will be made. Adventure Synopsis Man vs. Self- the heroes must decide whether Girding for a confrontation with the to sacrifice the 173 million people below Romulans, Starfleet has detected a series of or allow the probe to fulfill its mission. faint subspace pulses originating from a nearby Questions internal to this conflict system home to a pre-industrial humanoid involve both the Prime Directive and civilization. Fearing a Romulan listening post Temporal Prime Directive, the in Federation space, Starfleet Command has technological balance of power in the dispatched the Defiant class starship U.S.S. sector and the number of lives saved by Sakarya to investigate. stopping the probe versus the lives 'saved' Surveying the planet and the surrounding by allowing it to complete its work. system, the starship finds a small network of shore-based subspace transmitters broadcasting Table 6.1 Universal Target Numbers into space. Nearby (and approaching fast) is a Difficulty Base TN probe of extremely ancient origin- on the order Simple 5 of 200 thousand years. Routine 10 Sakarya and her crew must determine the Challenging 15 origin of the probe and the transmitters, and Difficult 20 their relationship to the planet below. Virtually Impossible 25 Recommended Date/ Heroic 30 Season/Stardate: 2389/ Post-Star Trek:Nemesis /SD 66803.3 Setting: Kaimo- An unexplored system in the Otorin Sector. Charted by long range sensors in 2234. Nine planets orbiting a Type A4IV star. Planets IV is Class M, planet V is 1 there are roughly a million stone- or bronze- Act One age ingabitants on Kaimo IV. First Looks Sensors detect four discrete subspace point- The action opens in media res with Handout sources arrayed in a pyramid shape around the #1 (Captain's Log) and Sakarya's arrival in the planet. The three secondary sources are system. feeding data to the primary, which is located at A complete analysis of the system will of roughly 38O North and 118O west course take a great deal of time (several days, The area nearest the primary signal-source is in fact) but a TN 10 System Operation a slightly depressed bowl (much like the Lake (Sensors) or Space Science (Stellar Bonneville/Salt Lake basin) some 1000 Cartography) test reveals the basics and will kilometers in diameter. It has mashed potato earn the heroes Handout #2 (Kaimo System or dumplings-and-gravy-style topography with Profile). small islands formed from calcite, igneous, and The central star of the Kaimo system is sedimentary rock (as per CGI image used for unstable and prone to flares, and over the last inspiration) surrounded by a high water table. several million years has greatly fluctuated in The island chains are is covered with lush size as its internal reactions changed. The vegetation and heavy undergrowth. outer system is fairly typical with an extensive An Extraordinary test- or a separation TN 15 Oort Belt and outer cometary rings. The inner Planetary Science (Geology) or Social Science system is crowded with debris and high solar (Anthropology) test- reveals that the topography winds, creating hundreds of thousands of near the primary signal-source is very sensor ghosts and less-than-reliable sensor regularized- possibly evidence of a planned or readings beyond short (planetary) range. organized creation or development. A TN 15 System Operation (Sensors) or (Comm) test searching specifically for subspace Leaving the Sakarya signals indicates a faint signal emanating from The heroes must now decide how they wish Kaimo IV- though there is a lot of radio- to proceed. The Kaimo system is a large place frequency and other EM noise in the system. to hide what will very likely be a very small Romulan listening station. On the other hand, Kaimo IV the signal sources on the surface must also be Approached from orbit, Kaimo appears to be investigated. The best plan is for the heroes to a placid, quiet, classic Class M world- glowing send a small party in a shuttlecraft of runabout blue an green in the sunlight. A TN 10 System to investigate Kaimo IV while Sakarya Operation (Sensors) test reveals no other traffic continues her search of the system. The in orbit, but the higher-than-normal solar nearest clearing large enough to host a shuttle winds are playing havoc with the planet's or runabout is 20 kilometers away. The heroes upper atmosphere. Normal transporter should specify what equipment and personal operations will be difficult- at best.1 gear they are taking along in the A TN 10 Planetary Science (Geology) or runabout/shuttle. System Operation (Sensors) test will earn the heroes Handout #3 (Planetary Scan) and Overflight reveals that the planet shows evidence of Flying over the area pipointed as the source pronounced geological and tectonic upheaval of the subspace signal confirms what was within the last several thousand years. detected by Sakarya's sensors- a large inland Background radiation levels are also slightly lake basin filled with small islands. A large, higher than normal, but not high enough to be ancient mountain rises near the center of the dangerous over the short term with adequate lake, almost precisely on top of the coordinates medical care. Sakarya discovered. Nothing incriminating is Plant and animal life on the planet are both visible from the air- no modern buildings, no verdant and plentiful, and sensors indicate a Romulans waving disruptor pistols or playing large number of small villages dotting the area- 1 including one within ten kilometers of the Day-side transporter operations suffer a +15 TN penalty, and night-side a +10 penalty. primary subspace signal. Sensors estimate 2 rugby- but both the subspace signal and a large Fatigue tests. and extensive network of caves can be Within two hours of setting out, however, detected leading into the mountainside. heroes traveling at ground level find themselves chafed by tree bark, bruised, and Welcome to the Jungle abraded by the constant climbing over, under, Kaimo IV (especially where the heroes set and around obstacles. down) is a warm, humid, and verdant world, Fatigue Level/Activity Tests and the first smells the characters sense are much like that of fresh-mown grass. The Level Base Time Interval landing site is a rough outcropping of bare Extreme 10 minutes 5 minutes rock, surrounded on three sides by the jungle. Demanding 1 hour ½ hour A hundred meter drop borders the fourth side, leading to hungry waves pounding on the Standard 2 hours 1 hour rocks below. Relaxed 4 hours 2 hours As the noise from the shuttle (or runabout's) passage dies away, a variety of strange hoots, Fatigue Level Penalties/Rest Table cries, and other noises slowly resume in the Fatigue Level Penalty Rest Required surrounding jungle. Normal N/A N/A A quick scan- a TN 10 System Operation (Sensors), Medicine, or Life Science (Biology) Winded -1 to all tests 10 minutes confirms that there are no immediate threats to Tired -2 to all tests 1 hour the health and welfare of the party- though the Fatigued -4 to all tests 2 hours surrounding jungle is packed with animal life forms ranging in size from beetles to Exhausted -8 to all tests 4 hours mastodons. A TN 10 Planetary Science Encumbrance Limits By Strength (Geology) or Physical Science (Physics) test to Strength Light Load Heavy Very Heavy determine that this area of the planet is Score Load Load seismically stable, and that the planet (overall) was subjected to levels of heat and radiation 4 20 kg 40 kg 60 kg lethal to most humanoid life.