Intro wrote:You are down on your luck in Donjebruche. If you don't make some cred soon, you could get on the wrong side of some bad people. This leaves you not being particularly picky about what sorts of jobs you take on. You might have come out onto the frontier to try to strike it rich in some crazy scheme only to lose your shirt. You might be on the run from the bad people of some other star system.
At any rate... you've taken a job with an elderly Andorian named Tarsh. Nothing fancy-- he's picking up a package from a Cromarg named X'al Fen. Tarsh is supposed to meet him at 8:30 at the Grey Banshee. Tarsh is expecting trouble, so he wants a couple of PC's to go in early and make sure the place is safe. After they give the signal that all is well, they are to remain positioned for backup if things get ugly. The rest of the PC's are to go in with Tarsh for the pickup-- providing (hopefully) a sufficiently intimidating show of force so that things don't get ugly in the first place!
...Prelude wrote:All right... it's a pretty scuzzy dive. There's all manner of spacers, malcontents, and toughs scattered through the room.
You notice some hulking cat men and a large spider-like crustacean type creature. Before you can really size anyone up, though, you are struck by the fantastically beautiful Orion woman at the bar. The empty bar stool by her side is strangely alluring to you....
[You make a will roll and roll a 14. Fail!]
and you find yourself forgetting your mission temporarily as you walk toward her.
You take a seat next to her.
She looks askance at you and says, "hello, sailor. Buy me a drink?"
The bustle around you blurs together and you seem to have trouble focusing temporarily. You notice the barkeep several seats down from you serving a couple of Klingons.
(The Klingons are off toward your right, midway down the bar. The bar wraps around in a big, long "U" shape. You're at the bottom of the "U" with your back to the door. There are tables behind you and booths against either side of the wall.)
Captain Jack: I'm going to enjoy my drink, chat with the orion lady, and spend a little time watching the klingons...
You don't recognize the drink that your lady friend orders, but you see the bartender use an excessive amount of Zoolean Brandy when he mixes it. When the bartender brings your drinks, he winks at you.
You chat with the mind bogglingly beautiful Orion...
[Reaction roll... a 12]
... and you think your familiarity with Orion culture is making you seem pretty sophisticated. It might be enough to make her like you... a little... uh... maybe. Before you can rethink your conversational approach, however, you sense a presence directly behind you. Just as you feel a pair of rough fingers tap your shoulder (perhaps it was a jab?), you notice that one of the Klingons is looking in your direction as he speaks to his friend. The Orion lady might have a wry grin on your face as you turn...
There behind you, you see the ugliest Fralli you have ever seen looks at you with contempt.
"Listen, bub... just what exactly are you doing in my seat?"
Captain Jack: "Oh, my apologies." I wink at the nice Orion lady, "glad to meet you ma'am. " and I get up and make my way out of the bar.
You have a sinking feeling that maybe winking at the girl was just a little bit too much for your Frallish friend to take. Or maybe he simply has "short Fralli" complex. You hear a grinding sound from deep inside his nose-- it sounds halfway between a growling dog and a braying donkey.
Before you can extricate yourself from the scene, he shoves you. He draws himself up (as best as he can) to his full height.
[You make a Streetwise roll to see if you can come up with anything to help. You roll a 14. Nothing comes to you except maybe to try to look tough enough to make him think twice about going too far here.]
Both Klingons are paying close attention now....
[Okay, contest of skills between your Intimidation of 11 and his Will of 10. You roll a 10 and he rolls an 8. Both succeed, so you roll again. You roll a 14 and he rolls a 10. Oh no! He's lost his temper and is not cowed by you at all... he hauls off and throws a swing at you!]
[The Fralli executes a "determined" all-out attack for a bonus of +4 to-hit. He gets a +1 bonus to-hit for evaluating you for one second before throwing the punch. He is swinging all-out for your face, so that's -5-- canceling out the bonuses exactly. His brawling skill is 11, but you don't *have* to know that. He rolls... an 11!]
[You may parry or dodge on 9 or less. If you choose to retreat by stepping backwards, you may parry on a 10 or less or dodge on a 12 or less. Doing so will not spoil your to-hit bonus for evaluating your opponent.]
Captain Jack: I will step backwards to dodge, and after I attempt to dodge, I'm going to quickdrawl my phaser, and hope I remembered leave it on stun, and attack.
The band stops playing temporarily and...
[You roll a 12-- narrowly dodging the punch. That was close! Good thing you could step back....]
[Your fast-draw skill is at 12-- and you roll a 6! Man, you look like a pro pulling it out of the holster. Not quite critical success territory, but very good.]
[No penalties for speed, range, or size. You pistol skill is at 13... and you roll an 11. You nail the Fralli! Rolling for location... a 16... his right foot! His right foot? That's too weird. Reroll that... and... it's a 16?! Well... I guess it was meant to be.]
You step back, dodging the Fralli's brutish swing as you instantly have out your phaser. You deftly shoot him in the right foot-- a location perfect for maximizing his embarrassment, it seems. The Fralli teeters past you and crashes into a table. The two Dukars sitting there are at their feet instantly as the Fralli collapses onto the floor in a puddle of alcohol.
The Klingons roar with laughter and congratulate you on the maneuver, slapping you on the back.
The Orion lady cries, "oh Foo-foo!" She rushes to the Fralli's side and helps him. He insists he's fine as she helps him toward the exit.
And the band starts playing again!
[You score one character points for handling the scene without embarrassing yourself and for dealing with the Fralli without hurting him or anyone else. You also have a temporary rep as being someone not to mess with. Congratulations!]
You have a little bit of time to mill around some and check out the place, but it is just about time to call your patron, Tarsh.
If there's anything in particular you want to try or examine before calling Tarsh, you may describe what you want to do and how you want to do it. Otherwise, you can describe how you contact Tarsh and what you say to him. (So far you don't detect anything that would be an overt threat to him-- nothing appears suspicious so far.)
Captain Jack: I'll finish my drink if there is any left, and wait for Tarsh. Briefly comment to the barkeep: "Sorry about the mess..."
Tarsh and Marcus arrive at about 8:15PM, expecting to meet the X'al Fen at 8:30PM. There's no sign of the Cromarg, yet. Tarsh orders an Andorian whiskey. The waitress asks Marcus what he'll be having.
Meanwhile, over at the bar. One of the Klingon Warriors is rambling on and on about serving on the Kzinti front. He is obsessed with the tactic of using a T-bomb to eliminate drones, and seems to think that Captain Jack would like to know exactly how to pull this off.
[What do y'all do?]
Sorry for the post change.