Cepheus Deluxe: The Bounty Hunter - Session 5

 

The Industrial District, Krinnai, Siento 1

Introduction

Last time, Arman Doyle helped the owner of Gadget Rehab fight off a local gang who were demanding protection money, but in the process he got the man's younger cousin put in hospital after the gang hit him with their car. Hopefully the shop owner, Wilfred Parekh will still hack into the computer terminal Arman brought him in the hope it contains the personal details of his target, Cameron Lang.

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.

I only just noticed that Cepheus Deluxe has rules for character advancement. Each session the player gains 1XP. Experience points can be used to raise skills during downtime. To increase a skill to 0 (removing the -3 penalty for using it) costs 2XP, then the requirement jumps to 10XP for skill level 1, 20 for level 2 etc. Gaining one XP every single session sounds like quite a lot, so I'm going to award an XP each time Arman completes a mission whether that's bringing in a bounty target or doing something like he did last time, scaring off the gang.

We'll say he gained 1 for capturing Stacey Small and he'll gain 1 for scaring off the gang as long as he gets what he wants from Parekh. So currently he's got 2.

The Adventure

Scene 6 | Krinnai, Siento 1 | 3023.05.07 | Cr44,570 | Chaos Factor: 5

"What-the-bloody-hell-man?!" Wilfred Parekh shouts at Arman through the communicator screen in his apartment, the words coming out so fast they sound like only one long word. "Jimmy could have been killed out there! I told you to bring him here safely not go on a wild car chase like James-fuck-Bond!". Arman is vaguely aware of that name. Some kind of ancient Old Earth folk hero like King Arthur or JFK, he thinks.

"The doctors said he's the luckiest boy they've seen in months. They're keeping him in overnight but luckily he didn't hit his head or break any bones, so he'll be coming home tomorrow."

"So he's fine then." Arman replies. "I've got the shipment of communicator parts in my car so I'll bring them over to you in the morning. Will you have the info from the terminal by then?"

"Don't bloody talk to me about hacking that terminal!" He looks offscreen for a moment. "I can have it done by the morning, yes. But that's it, alright? We're through after this."

"Sure. I'll be by in the morning then." Arman hangs up.

Scene 7 | Krinnai, Siento 1 | 3023.05.08 | Cr44,570 | Chaos Factor: 5

Arman drives over to Gadget Rehab in his car now missing its passenger side door. He'll get it repaired later, he thinks. On the way he notices a huge video billboard with a shifty-looking man creeping past a wall, casting a long shadow. "OFFWORLDERS - DON'T TRUST THEM!" a caption reads underneath.

"Alright, I found the info you wanted." Parekh says when Arman walks in. He seems to have calmed down a bit now. "Cameron Lang, 846 Archer House, 2847 Granger Street, Industrial District. 374 Wonder Sap loyalty points, he gets a free cup when he reaches 400. Now give me my bloody shipment."

Arman loads the boxes of communicator parts into the shop, thanks Parekh and leaves. "I mean it, man. Don't come back here, you're not welcome!" the shopkeeper shouts as he walks out.

I decided not to ask the oracle how Parekh would react, or if Lang's details were in the terminal. Arman went through a tough time to get to this point and he almost got Jimmy killed, so the penalty for that is losing Parekh as a contact. He'll gain that experience point now that he's got Lang's address.

Arman checks his ammo. He's got 18 bullets for his revolver and 13 left for his internal pistol, so he starts driving over to the gun store. On the way there a police patrol car signals for him to pull over. He does so and two officers approach his car. One of them, a sandy-haired man wearing sunglasses walks around to the passenger side and looks at where the door used to be. "Licence." He says. Arman gets his licence out of the glove box and hands it to him.

"You're from Vespae, this says. Far from home." The man says. Arman's not sure if it's a question or what.

"This planet is my home now." He replies.

"Is that so. What happened to your door here?" The cop points at the damaged part of the car.

"Hit and run." Arman says, wincing and shrugging. "I'm on my way to get it repaired."

"You know it's illegal to drive a vehicle in this condition?" The cop says.

"Well I-"

"Step out of the car." Arman doesn't like the sound of this, but he takes his seatbelt off and does as he's told. Luckily the revolver is hidden in the glove box.

Are the cops going to beat him up? (Very likely)

72: Yes

Chaos factor rises to 6.

Oh dear. The sandy-haired cop pats Arman down, obviously not discovering his gun hidden inside his cybernetic forearm. "You offworlders." the cop says then. Arman decides to act clueless in order not to antagonise him. He opens his mouth to speak but just as he does so the other cop, a man with a crewcut punches him in the stomach. Before Arman can resist the first cop brings his elbow down in the middle of his back, knocking him to the floor. The two of them begin kicking him violently and shouting at him about offworlders and how Errol Clayton (the planet's ruthless dictator) is going to "deal with them once and for all" soon enough. After what feels like hours but is actually just a minute, they leave him and drive off.

This wasn't a fight, we'll just roll 2D6 for damage and apply it to him, but let's give the roll a -2 modifier since that's his leather jacket's armour rating:

5 -2 AR = 3 damage.

That takes him down to 7 stamina. It could have been much worse, and it'll only take half an hour to naturally heal those staminal points. Arman picks himself up and is relieved to find he only received a few bruises to his chest and stomach. He drives to the gun store and buys some more ammo (-Cr12). He doesn't want to go and get his car door fixed yet because he needs the vehicle to go to Cameron Lang's apartment, so he drives over to the industrial district right away.

Scene 8 | Krinnai, Siento 1 | 3023.05.08 | Cr44,558 | Chaos Factor: 6

Arman arrives at Archer House, a huge apartment block made of drab grey concrete that blends into the cloudy sky above. He takes the lift up to the thirtieth floor and walks down the corridor to Lang's apartment door. He presses the buzzer.

Is Cameron Lang at home? (50/50)

100: Exceptional no.

Arman hears nothing from inside the apartment, and when he looks closer at the door he notices it's ajar. Pushing it open he finds an empty living room. A few flattened cardboard boxes lie on the floor along with an empty packet of edible tree sap from the Wonder Sap fast food place. Arman looks around the apartment.

Arman makes a check (Difficulty 6)

5 +1 Recon +1 Int = 7. Success!

Wedged between the floor and the wall he notices a small piece of white paper. Picking it up and turning it over, he finds it's a printed photo. Two people posing for a selfie in what looks like an abandoned industrial building of some kind. An androgenous-looking man or woman, thin with short blonde hair swept back over their head stands next to a shorter man. Both are grinning and making hand gestures of some kind. In the background, out of focus, is a large neon sign on a building opposite. "Red Devil Freight" it says.

Back in his banged-up car, Arman punches the company name into the satnav and finds a Red Devil Freight operating nearby in the industrial district. This abandoned building is the only lead he's got now, so he selects his destination and speeds off down the street.