Cepheus Deluxe: The Bounty Hunter - Session 4

 

Wilfred Parekh at Gadget Rehab. I'm now using Adobe Firefly for illustrations as Adobe's AI model is trained on their stock library to which they own the rights. Just don't look too closely at his arms.

Introduction

Tasked with tracking down a man last seen at a tree sap fast food joint, novice bounty hunter Arman Doyle has stolen the restaurant's back office computer terminal in the hope his target had a loyalty card and had given his address.

To play Cepheus Deluxe solo we're using Mythic Game Master Emulator 2nd Edition. For the bounty hunting system we're using Bounty Hunter Handbook.

The Adventure

Scene 4 | Krinnai, Siento 1 | 3023.05.07 | Cr44,580 | Chaos Factor: 5

Chaos factor has been reset to 5 as Arman got the last scene under control and escaped.

The day after his rather odd burglary Arman sits in his apartment staring at the Wonder Sap restaurant's terminal where he left it on the floor the night before. He never did tech stuff in the marines so he has no idea how to get anything from it, and no useful contacts here on Siento 1. His thoughts turn to Frank Hancock, his handler. Maybe he could help?

He doesn't have a phone number for Hancock so he simply drives to the offices of Amtep Logistics and asks to see him. I'm not asking the oracle if he's there, it's safe to assume he always is.

"You need a hacker?" the elderly man repeats Arman's statement back to him as a question.

"Yeah, this machine's my only lead on Cameron Lang."

"Alright," Hancock says, running a hand over his thinning dyed black hair, "I think I know a guy. Go to Gadget Rehab in the East End. Go this afternoon with the terminal and just tell the guy I sent you."

"Thanks Frank." Arman says, relieved. Hancock points at him.

"But don't expect him to do it for a simple fee. You're asking him for something illegal so he'll probably want you to do something less than legal in return."

"Alright... thanks." Arman leaves Hancock's office and goes for brunch nearby (-Cr10). While eating he opens his communicator. Gadget Rehab, tech repair shop on Compton Street in in the East End. He drives there in the early afternoon.

The East End is a bustling working class area full of activity, so I'll roll a 1 in 6 chance for a random encounter on the Random Common People table in Cepheus Deluxe.

No encounter.

Arriving at Gadget Rehab Arman finds a small cluttered shop with half built computer terminals and deconstructed communicators lying on every surface. I've generated the name Wilfred Parekh for the owner (using Seventh Sanctum) and I'll use the ever reliable Maze Rats to generate the rest of him.

"Yes? You need that fixed?" The man behind the counter asks Arman in a high, squeaky voice.

"No, no actually Frank Hancock sent me. From Amtep Logis-"

"I know who Frank Hancock is keep your voice down bloody hell." He interrupts in one long unbroken sentence. "Wilfred Parekh, that's me. I can hack anything. What do you need from it?"

Arman considers explaining how he came into possession of the terminal, then thinks better of it.

"I need the address of someone called Cameron Lang. Physical and comms." Wilfred scribbles down the name on some kind of tablet device, then swipes the page off into its memory.

"I can do it, simple consumer model like this, it's no problem." Wilfred says. "But you gotta help me out too. I don't need paying for this."

What does he need then? I'll try generating a patron job goal from the table in the rulebook.

4, 2: Transport goods or a person: quickly, secretly or securely, pick two

Interesting. Let's use another table to find out who Wilfred's enemy is and we'll say that's who we're up against.

3, 2: A local gang running a protection racket

Sounds perfect!

Wilfred goes on to explain that a small but annoying East End gang have been shaking him down for protection money. "They're just two-bit thugs but I can't go up against them. It's just me and my cousin Jimmy here, I don't have a way to stand up to them." He explains that later that day Jimmy will need to pick up a shipment of spare parts from the docks in the East End, but the gang knows this and he's behind on his payments to them.

"They're gonna go after Jimmy and mug him for the shipment, probably rough him up too. Or worse!" Wilfred says, sounding quite distraught.

"I could drive him there and back in my car if the shipment's not too big." Arman offers.

"It's just a few boxes, they'd fit in the trunk and the back seats. If you do this, I'll hack that thing right here while you wait."

"Alright," Arman says. "I'll do it."

Scene 5 | Krinnai, Siento 1 | 3023.05.07 | Cr44,570 | Chaos Factor: 5

Later that day Arman gets into his car with cousin Jimmy. He's in his mid twenties, a few years younger than Arman. Here are his stats:

STR: 11 (+1)

DEX: 8

END: 8

INT: 4 (-1)

EDU: 11 (+1)

SOC: 6

He has no useful skills.

Arman checks his revolver is loaded and starts up the car. They drive off through the East End of Krinnai towards the docks. They're going to be ambushed for sure, but when will it happen? It's probably most likely to happen once they've got the parts, so the gang can steal them.

Does the ambush happen on the way to the docks? (Very unlikely)

57: No.

The drive to the docks is easy, Arman following directions from his satnav. They arrive at a small warehouse where they meet some business associate of Wilfrid's who shows them inside and points to four plastic storage containers small enough to fit in the car. Jimmy signs on a tablet for him and then he and Arman go and pick up a box each.

Does the ambush happen while loading the shipment? (50/50)

56: No.

Arman uses his Recon skill to keep an eye out for any suspicious movement while they load up the car, but nothing happens. He begins the drive back through the maze of dockside warehouses, the sun getting low on the horizon now. Before they've even made it out of the docks Arman hears a car come tearing towards him from his right, down a path leading to a warehouse. He needs to keep cool and swerve out of the way.

Arman rolls Driving/DEX 8+ (This is how skill checks are written in the rulebook so I've started writing them this way. It means he rolls 2D6, adds modifiers from his Driving skill and Dexterity, and has to roll 8+ to succeed).

10 +1 Driving +1 Dex = 12. Success!

Reacting instantly, Arman yanks the wheel to his left and maneuvers the car out of the way. The other car zooms past him and then circles around. They're now in a chase which has special rules in Cepheus. But who is involved? We know Jimmy's stats, and you can revisit session zero to check Arman's again.

Arman's car:

Agility: +0

Speed: 100 km/h

Range: 400 km

Armour: Unarmoured

Since vehicles' stats are quite vague, the gang's car will be the same as far as the rules are concerned.

How many gangers are there? (1D4+1)

4.

As these are basic street thugs, let's keep things simple and give them very basic statblocks. I'll list their characteristics in the standard Cepheus/Traveller way to save space. As always we'll use Maze Rats to generate a descriptive word for each one.

Ganger Driver

777777

Stamina: 7

Lifeblood: 14

Skills: Driving-1, Melee Combat-1

Gear: Dagger (1D6 damage)

Athletic Ganger

777777

Stamina: 8

Lifeblood: 16

Skills: Melee Combat-1, Athletics-1

Gear: Machete (2D6 damage)

Solid Ganger

888888

Stamina: 8

Lifeblood: 18

Skills: Melee Combat-1, Gun Combat-0

Gear: Autopistol (2D6 damage), Leather jacket (AR 2)

Scarred Ganger

777777

Stamina: 7

Lifeblood: 14

Skills: Melee Combat-0, Gun Combat-0

Gear: Autopistol (2D6 damage)

With the gangers zooming past Arman's car, he's able to swing around into a good position alongside them. He hands his revolver to Jimmy and wills his concealed autopistol out from his forearm. Jimmy points the gun out of the window and fires at the car, missing it. Only the vehicle with the higher position roll can attack, so it's onto round 2.

The ganger driver still hasn't managed to get his car into a place the occupants can aim their guns from, so Arman does his best to aim and fire at them. He gets a critical hit! (There are no rules for rolling two sixes in Cepheus Deluxe except it's an automatic hit, but I'm houseruling them in now. We'll roll on the critical damage table for vehicles). We got "Crew hit" which normally means everyone in the car would take 4D6 damage. That doesn't make sense for a single shot from a pistol, so we'll assign that damage to one of them randomly. The athletic-looking ganger in the back of the car cries out in pain as he is hit in the shoulder. Jimmy cheers loudly and fires twice out of the window, hitting a warehouse wall behind the car.

Arman carefully works the car into a good position, aims, fires and misses. Jimmy watches him do this and tries the same thing, but he also misses. The gangers gain on them and two of them point autopistols out of the windows, firing but missing.

Arman keeps driving and points the gun behind him out the window, firing twice. The first shot smashes a headlight and the second knocks one of the wing mirrors off. That'll give them -1 DM to their position roll each round (I just houseruled that, otherwise neither of those hits would have done anything and he may as well have missed). Jimmy carefully aims again and fires, but misses.

After five rounds in a vehicle chase, if the prey hasn't been stopped or killed they escape. They're approaching the exit of the docks now. "We're almost out!" Jimmy shouts, but Arman yanks the wheel to the right and goes off down a path between more warehouses. "We're not going out, you want the cops chasing us as well? We're gonna get these punks off your back once and for all." He looks at the revolver. "And reload that gun then give me it back, you're just wasting my ammo."

Arman fires two shots at the gangers, one of which hits the car's body. Jimmy reloads the revolver with shaky hands.

The gangers gain on Arman and drive alongside him, then the two armed ones fire three shots between them, but all miss. The driver suddenly swerves left to try and ram Arman off the road but he's able to react fast enough to evade the move. Four shots ring out from the ganger car but all miss their target. "This is getting ridiculous." Arman says. "As soon as we get the chance we're gonna pull over and jump out. Take the revolver back and get ready to use it."

Three shots come from the enemy car just after he speaks. Seeing some crates stacked up against the corner of a warehouse up ahead, Arman shouts "Now! Go for those crates!". He take his foot off the gas then yanks the wheel hard to the left, goes around the tight corner and brakes hard to stop the car. He opens the door and gets out, but that's all he can do in one turn. Jimmy picks up the revolver from Arman's seat and gets out too.

They look up to see the gangers speeding towards them. There's no time to shoot; they both dive out of the way as the gangers crash into the car, tearing the passenger side door completely off. Arman hears Jimmy cry out over the sound of crunching metal, and when he gets back up he sees the poor man lying motionless several metres away from the crash.

While he's distracted the driver gets out of the car and flings a knife at him, which whistles past him luckily. He runs over to Jimmy and ducks down behind a crate, then leans out and takes aim at the solid-looking ganger in the car. The three of them in the car get out quickly and stagger around to the back of the car, taking cover behind it.

Arman keeps his gun trained on the solid looking one and fires, catching his shoulder. The scarred one pops up and fires his pistol twice, the second shot clipping his arm slightly, drawing blood. The tougher one fires twice as well, missing both times.

Crouching behind the crate, Arman releases the magazine from his pistol. It clatters to the concrete as he puts a new one in and chambers a round. In one movement he glides out from behind the crate and shoots the solid-looking ganger in the chest. The man grunts and falls backwards out of sight. Behind their car, the driver grabs the pistol dropped by his friend. "Screw this, man!" He shouts. "This guy's some kinda psycho, let's move!"

"What about Clarence?" one of the others asks.

"Leave him man, he's mincemeat!" the driver yells back. He gets back into the car then shoots at Arman through the window but misses. The athletic looking one follows him into the car, getting into the back seat but the one with the scars looks shaken and bolts for the maze of warehouses.

"I'm not done with you pricks yet!" Arman shouts, firing twice at the car. One shot hits the driver in the arm and the other gets the athletic looking one in the chest. He slumps down onto the back seat. Panting and gritting his teeth, the driver manages to start the car and drives off in the direction of the exit of the docks. Arman takes careful aim at him and fires one more time. As the bullet flies past the car, the driver speeds up and disappears off into the city.

Round 1

Arman rolls for position.

4 +1 Driving +1 Dex = 6

Ganger Driver rolls for position.

2 +1 Driving = 3

Arman hands his revolver to Jimmy and equips his autopistol (2 actions).

Jimmy equips the revolver and fires at the gangers' car (2 actions).

5 -3 Gun Combat -2 Firing from moving vehicle -2 Firing at moving vehicle = -2. Miss.

Round 2

Arman rolls for position.

6 +1 Driving +1 Dex = 8

Ganger Driver rolls for position.

2 +1 Driving = 3

Arman aims and shoots at the gangers (2 actions).

12 +2 Gun Combat +1 Dex +1 Aiming +1 Position -4 Firing from and at vehicles = 13. Critical hit!

Critical damage table (vehicles) roll:

9: Crew hit - Athletic Ganger

4D6 damage: 14. Athletic Ganger is wounded (-1DM to all rolls).

Jimmy fires at the car.

7 -3 Gun Combat -4 Firing from and at vehicles = 0. Miss.

Jimmy fires at the car.

11 -3 Gun Combat -4 Firing from and at vehicles = 4. Miss.

Round 3

Arman rolls for position.

4 +1 Driving +1 Dex = 6

Ganger Driver rolls for position.

4 +1 Driving = 5

Arman aims and shoots at the gangers (2 actions).

5 +2 Gun Combat +1 Dex +1 Aiming +1 Position -4 Firing from and at vehicles = 6. Miss.

Jimmy aims and fires at the car (2 actions)

3 +1 Aiming -3 Gun Combat -4 Firing from and at vehicles = -3. Miss.

Round 4

Arman rolls for position.

2 +1 Driving +1 Dex = 4

Ganger Driver rolls for position.

3 +1 Driving = 4. The gangers are successful on a tie as they're the pursuers.

Solid Ganger aims and shoots his autopistol (2 actions).

4 +1 Aiming -4 Firing from and at vehicles = 0. Miss.

Scarred Ganger fires twice.

5 -2 Same position as target -4 Firing from and at vehicles = -1. Miss.

5 -2 Same position as target -4 Firing from and at vehicles = -1. Miss.

Round 5

Arman rolls for position.

4 +1 Driving +1 DEX = 6

Ganger Driver rolls for position.

1 +1 Driving = 2.

Arman fires twice at the car.

11 +2 Gun Combat +1 Dex -4 Firing from and at vehicles = 10. Hit!

Surface damage roll:

7: Device. Headlight destroyed.

9 +2 Gun Combat +1 Dex -4 Firing from and at vehicles = 8. Hit!

Surface damage roll:

6: Device. Wing mirror destroyed. -1 DM to position each round.

Jimmy aims and fires at the car (2 actions)

11 +1 Aiming -3 Gun Combat -4 Firing from and at vehicles = 4. Miss.

Round 6

Arman rolls for position.

6 +1 Driving +1 DEX = 8

Ganger Driver rolls for position.

6 +1 Driving = 7

Arman shoots at the gangers twice.

9 +2 Gun Combat +1 Dex +1 Aiming -1 Position -4 Firing from and at vehicles = 8. Hit!

Surface damage table (vehicles) roll:

2: Bounce off, no damage.

8 +2 Gun Combat +1 Dex +1 Aiming -1 Position -4 Firing from and at vehicles = 7. Miss.

Jimmy reloads the revolver and puts it in Arman's lap (2 actions).

Round 7

Arman rolls for position.

2 +1 Driving +1 DEX = 4

Ganger Driver rolls for position.

3 +1 Driving = 4. The gangers are successful on a tie as they're the pursuers.

Solid Ganger aims and shoots his autopistol (2 actions).

3 +1 Aiming -4 Firing from and at vehicles = 0. Miss.

Scarred Ganger fires twice.

10 -2 Same position as target -4 Firing from and at vehicles = 4. Miss.

11 -2 Same position as target -4 Firing from and at vehicles = 5. Miss.

Round 8

Arman rolls for position.

1 +1 Driving +1 DEX = 3

Ganger Driver rolls for position.

4 +1 Driving = 5.

Ganger Driver attempts to ram Arman's car.

3 +1 Driving = 4

Arman attempts to evade it.

10 +1 Driving +1 DEX = 12. Arman is successful.

Solid Ganger fires twice.

8 -1 Position -4 Firing from and at vehicles = 3. Miss.

4 -1 Position -4 Firing from and at vehicles = -1. Miss.

Scarred Ganger fires twice.

7 -1 Position -4 Firing from and at vehicles = 2. Miss.

3 -1 Position -4 Firing from and at vehicles = -2. Miss.

Round 9

Arman rolls for position.

1 +1 Driving +1 DEX= 3

Ganger Driver rolls for position.

2 +1 Driving = 3. The gangers are successful on a tie as they're the pursuers.

Solid Ganger aims and shoots his autopistol (2 actions).

8 +1 Aiming -4 Firing from and at vehicles = 5. Miss.

Scarred Ganger fires twice.

9 -2 Same position as target -4 Firing from and at vehicles = 3. Miss.

8 -2 Same position as target -4 Firing from and at vehicles = 2. Miss.

Round 10

Arman rolls for position.

4 +1 Driving +1 DEX= 6

Ganger Driver rolls for position.

4 +1 Driving = 5.

Arman rolls Driving/DEX 8+

11 +1 Driving +1 DEX= 13. Success! Arman pulls the car around a tight corner and stops it.

Round 11

Ganger Driver rams the parked car (automatic hit).

Arman dives for cover.

Arman rolls Athletics/DEX 8+

9 +1 Athletics +1 DEX = 11. Success!

Jimmy dives for cover. 

5. Failure!

Jimmy takes 6D6 damage: 16.

Jimmy rolls END 8+

2. Failure! Jimmy is knocked out for 1D6 hours: 1. He'll suffer -2DM to all rolls until he gets proper medical care.

Roll for internal damage to Arman's car (As it was stationary we treat the collision as a light armoured vehicle hitting a non-armoured one, which is one armour level higher than what the gangers' car has).

3: Breach. This is extremely dangerous for a space ship, but for Arman's car we'll say the passenger side door is torn off, leaving a gaping hole in the car.

New combat: Round 1

The combatants roll for initiative.

Arman: 5 +1 Tactics +1 INT = 7

Ganger Driver: 8

Athletic Ganger: 6

Solid Ganger: 4

Scarred Ganger: 5

Ganger Driver gets out of the car and throws a knife at Arman.

7 -3 Athletics =4. Miss.

Arman runs over to where Jimmy lies and ducks behind a crate, then takes aim at the Solid Ganger (2 actions).

Other three gangers get out of the car and hide behind it. The ones without guns will stay in hiding for now.

Arman uses another aim action then shoots at Solid Ganger.

8 +2 Gun Combat +1 Dex +2 Aiming -2 Target behind hard cover = 11. Hit!

2D6 damage: 6 +3 Effect -2 AR = 7.

Scarred Ganger fires twice at Arman.

8 -2 Target behind hard cover = 6. Miss.

10 -2 Target behind hard cover = 8. Hit!

2D6 damage: 3 -2 AR = 1.

Solid Ganger fires twice at Arman.

9 -2 Target behind hard cover = 7. Miss.

9 -2 Target behind hard cover = 7. Miss.

Arman reloads and shoots at Solid Ganger.

11 +2 Gun Combat +1 DEX -2 Target behind hard cover = 12. Hit!

2D6 damage: 8 +4 Effect -2 AR = 10.

Solid Ganger rolls END 8+

2. Failure. Solid Ganger is knocked out for 1D6 hours: 1.

The gangers make a morale check.

Ganger Driver: 7 -1 Untrained = 6. Fighting withdrawal.

Athletic Ganger: 7 -1 Untrained = 6. Fighting withdrawal.

Scarred Ganger: 5 -1 Untrained = 4. Break.

Ganger Driver gets in the car then shoots at Arman.

6 -3 Gun Combat -2 Target behind hard cover = 1. Miss.

Athletic Ganger gets in the car.

Scarred Ganger runs away.

Arman shoots twice at the car.

6 +2 Gun Combat +1 DEX +1 Attacking stationary vehicle = 10. Hit!

7 +2 Gun Combat +1 DEX +1 Attacking stationary vehicle = 11. Hit!

Surface damage table (vehicles) roll:

11: Internal damage.

Internal damage roll:

5: Occupants. The rules say 1D6 hits land on random occupants doing 3D6 damage each. I think the extra damage die is because most vehicles will be moving in combat, so we'll use the 2D6 damage of Arman's pistol. I'm going to say both our hits are on occupants. Tossing a coin to see who gets hit by each one. Both are hit once.

2D6 damage to Ganger Driver: 3 +2 Effect = 5.

2D6 damage to Athletic Ganger: 5 +3 Effect = 8. Athletic Ganger is knocked out.

Ganger Driver starts the car and drives away.

Arman aims and shoots at the car.

5 +2 Gun Combat +1 DEX +1 Aiming -2 Attacking fast moving ground vehicle = 7. Miss.

Arman reloads his pistol again, then checks on Jimmy. He's hit his head and covered in bruises but it doesn't look like any bones are broken, luckily. Arman takes his revolver from where it lies and puts his pistol back in his arm compartment, then hauls Jimmy into his car. He looks at the ganger sprawled on the ground. He's bleeding from the gunshot wound in his chest. "You can bleed out right there for all I care." Arman mutters, then gets in his car and punches in "HOSPITAL" to the satnav.

On the way to the hospital he remembers he was shot in the arm. Suddenly the pain comes back and he feels the blood running down his skin. He stops outside the hospital, pushes Jimmy out of the car through the gap left by the missing door, then beeps the horn twice. A few people milling about outside rush over to Jimmy, but he's already on his way home.

It's dark when he gets back to his apartment. There he takes a bandage from his first aid kit and wraps it around the cut on his arm after sterilising it. Finally he pours himself a whiskey and dials in the number for Gadget Rehab. Wilfred won't be happy when he hears about this, Arman thinks, downing the drink in one.