Only three days of in-game time were covered in the last session. The Crew of the High Victorian is on Narok. And chose to take a random patron job while waiting for the cargo convoy to ship out.
A local magistrate put out a bounty on a local prairie-dwelling beast known as the yong-gong (shrieking thing). He explained that it had broken into some local farms, killed livestock and then killed farm workers who were defending the herds. The magistrate said it had to be put down, so a “Wanted: Dead, success only” contract.
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| Do you see it? It's right over there! |
The players are learning, no rushing off without a plan or enough gear. The Marquis secured vehicles, communicators and enough gear. One PC, an ex-Army man bought himself a modified rifle LINK to hunt the yong-gong. The yong-gong is a big critter, about the mass of a Kodiak bear:
yong-gong 800kg carnivore chaser
35/15 no armor claws (4D+3) A4 F7 S2 (3)
Six-legged, bilateral symmetry, two manipulator limbs with claws; tail.
Hides in prairie grass to stalk prey before rushing to attack. Name comes from its hyper-sonic shriek which can cause wounds at out to Medium range.
I used Supplement 2, Animal encounters to populate the region with creatures. By the book they got three encounter throws per day, with the target number depending on the terrain. If the encounter throw was a success, I threw against the terrain table for the specific encounter.
Some were 'as is'; I noted which ones would be swapped out for encountering a yong-gong. Even then, another throw determined whether it was the quarry or another of its kind. The patron had supplied them with a composite holo-image of the quarry to identify it.
They encountered many creatures over three days. Some were scared off, one or two attacked the party and a few just kept their distance.
On day three, they spotted the quarry, at Very Long range, without surprise. It stood its ground observing them. Ex-Army guy lined up a shot and got a hit. Then threw a Freight Train (3 sixes, with a +3!) for wounds. There was great rejoicing. To the party's dismay, the yong-gong did not drop! It retreated instead into the taller grass for concealment. As the party moved in, it closed into Medium range, and gained Surprise when it burst out!
The yong-gong's shriek wounded one of the hunters in the lead jeep, then it charged using its speed burst. It actually started to climb into the jeep to attack two PCs. Firing long guns at close range is tricky.
The driver had to stop and attack it with her handgun. Both hunters were clawed, one to unconsciousness, before they got enough rounds into it to finish it off. The PCs in the other jeeps were at a distance, and worried about hitting their comrades so did not fire. This time they had a doctor with them, with proper kit, so neither PC was in serious danger of death.
They returned to the town to deliver the carcass and collect the reward. The Magistrate was a little bit too busy to meet with them. While they were out in the hinterland, over in the capital city, someone had assassinated the Chancellor of Narok. The port has been shut down, and it looks like there's a civil war brewing.
But that's for next session.
Image credit: Pixabay
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