Asteroid P-4836 - Amber Zone Reviews #3

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Amber Zone: Asteroid P-4836 by Loren K Wiseman

Location: The Rabwhar planetoid belt (Lunion Subsector, Spinward Marches), owned and operated by Sternmetal Horizons, LLC.

Patron: An anonymous business factor for an unnamed business that is in competition with Sternmetal Horizons

Mission: The PCs are to infiltrate Sternmetal's research facility situated on the planetoid identified as P-4836. Once inside the facility, they are to locate a specific computer and extract a specific packet of data. Then they must exit the facility without their actions being detected.

Complications: The biggest factors are the base security and the remoteness of the target. There is simply no way to approach this facility without being seen – it's a private asteroid housing highly secretive research. Objects in space have near unlimited line-of-sight in all directions. Lastly, the PCs must pull off the entire operation without ever being noticed. At all. The second they're spotted, they have failed.

Payoff: The factor offers MCr 1 for the data, provided that Sternmetal is unaware of its theft.

Strong Points: This is a mission to throw a PCs with lots of high skill levels; this is a very tough mission, which relies on stealth instead of firepower. It can work well as a solo adventure. There are plenty of challenges in pulling off a job like this.

Weak Points: The mission could fail at many points – as soon as the base personnel suspect the PCs of malfeasance, the game is up. The description specifically includes the possibility that the target data is not in fact on the station at all. Sternmetal cannot even suspect that they have been burgled, the steal has to be perfect, or it fails completely. The factor's company cannot use data that is known to be stolen against the company they stole it from without facing a huge legal action.

What I'd change: I would reduce the size and armament of the base security force, and possibly change the mission to destroying Sternmetal's computer to take the target data out of the big picture. That would be an easier objective to reach. I would also correct a number of obvious spelling and punctuation errors in the article as printed.

In My Traveller Universe: I would set this adventure in the Verrazano belt (Solaris-Litton 0409) part of the Republic of Tamarkand. The system government is listed as family/clan, so I'll say that means that the belt is worked by independent mining clans, and the research facility is on a rock the company owns. This may give players a few more options for how to approach the facility without arousing suspicion.