We're playing Mass: the Effecting (http://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/Mass:_the_Effecting) right now, we returned to it last week in mid-mission. The PCs are a group of "ethical" mercenaries called Penumbra Securities. The ethical part is important, we treat our contracts as inviolable and try to minimise collateral damage. We even have a charter (http://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/Mass_Effect_Transcendence/Mission_Statement) outlining what we will and won't do.
This is long, so I've broken it up into sections for ease of digestion.
Background
We're running through a mission called Green Gold which is going to be turned into an introductory adventure by our GM once he's seen how we pull it apart. Essentially it's all about a Prothean artifact found at an archaeological dig site which everyone wants possession of. We spent the early part of it looking for an Institute of Mars researcher who'd gone missing. Our contract was to find her and extract her to safety. We've accomplished that, she's currently a prisoner aboard our ship being kept temporarily locked up for her own safety (long story).
However, we've now taken on a new contract to retrieve the artifact itself for the Alliance, ostensibly by ensuring it stays safely in the custody of the Institute of Mars, who are the owners of it. The artifact is a green stone pillar, about man-height but quite thick and weighing several tons. It contains starchart information which hasn't been decoded yet, and of course that information is valuable. Think mass relay routes into previously uncharted parts of the former Prothean Empire which haven't been loot-er...explored.
The artifact is still at the dig site, specifically in the researcher's compound above it and connected to the tunnels of a site called The Fastness, which is some sort of Prothean mountain-bunker. One of the researchers hired the Blood Pack to secure the site, so that he could steal the artifact and sell it to a massively wealthy volus collector. He took all his colleagues hostage in the process, and was holding them prisoner.
Not long after they did that, a second party who want the artifact, a dozen turian veterans hired by a local grandee arrived on site. They cut main power, installed a communications jammer and ringed the site with motion detectors and mines. They have at least one sniper roving the vantage points and have surface-to-air weaponry.
We came next, attempting an aerial insertion aboard a shuttle escorted by a pair of gunships. We were shot down shortly after entering the jamming field, though all survived. We left our pilot attempting repairs as we entered on foot. While we managed to sneak in without triggering sensors or mines, they had a sniper perch with a clear view of us, so the turians know we're here. They didn't start a fight because they're pre-occupied with the Blood Pack in the compound and didn't want to weaken themselves.
We managed to get a scout drone into the compound and make contact with the hostages, including getting a map of those tunnels. Using said tunnels, we got into the back of the compound and breached while the turians were making another probing attack to test the defenses. We killed four of the vorcha and got all fifteen hostages out and into the tunnels. While that makes us look good, and clears the field of non-combatants, it wasn't actually our contract. They're also not completely out of danger since they have no supplies and no means of getting offsite or calling for help.
The current situation
We have five PCs (http://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/Mass_Effect_Transcendence/The_Principals) in the tunnels behind/beneath the main compound. We have a shuttle, two gunships and our frigate out there somewhere, but the comms blackout prevents us making use of any of them.
We have the Blood Pack; a huge, heavily armoured krogan and about twenty armoured vorcha; in the compound with the artifact. Also in there is the treacherous researcher trying to sell the thing, currently trying to decode it. They are dug in, motivated and prepared for a long fight.
We have the turian ex-military team, about a dozen of them, somewhere outside the compound launching probing attacks at regular intervals trying to find a way in. They have a jamming device stopping anyone talking to the outside world. They are tech-savvy and determined to get this thing.
Somewhere outside this, the volus collector is probably on her way with a team of her own to secure it. We don't know how far away she is, or whether the researcher managed to inform her that he was ready to make the deal.
There is also a salarian team working for a notorious crimelord active on the planet. We haven't seen them at the dig site yet, but they shouldn't be discounted.
Lastly, Baria Frontiers sent an asari executive to get the artifact. We haven't seen her so far, but again we are assuming she's out there. No idea what sort of team she may have brought.
The longer this takes, the more likely it is that the collector will arrive, along with the other parties who aren't evident yet. Not only that, it is also more likely that the researcher decodes the artifact and is able to sell the information without it (no one wants to share it).
Our goals and resources
We want that artifact. Not only because we're contracted to get it, but it will prevent it falling into the hands of criminals and profiteers. Succeeding may also open up some lucrative black ops contracts with Alliance Intelligence in the future, as well as enhance our reputation as people who get difficult things done discretely and cleanly.
There are the five PCs, none of whom are injured and with full stocks of ammo and equipment.
One of our primary strengths is air power. We have a shuttle (hopefully the turians haven't grabbed it and our pilot) and two gunships (one was trailing smoke after the insertion, hopefully it wasn't shot down). Without communications, that's all but grounded since we can't co-ordinate with them. None of the other teams so far have had any air assets, they've been stuck on the ground. With comms back up, we have serious, mobile firepower at our disposal and the means to extract the artifact quickly.
If it comes to it, we can even call in fire support from our frigate (laser batteries, we don't have any mass accelerators being a non-military vessel), or get it to land. But again without comms, they don't even know our status.
We can use the tunnels again, but the Blood Pack will be wary of a second attempt given we stole their prisoners using them. We're assuming they're not going to attempt to sweep the tunnels given the turians at their doorstep.
Then there's the civilians. If we had comms, we could call the shuttle up to evacuate them to town where they'd no longer be our worry. If not then within a day or two supplies are going to become a concern. This is an arid, volcanic terrain and we're a long way from civilisation. The ground transport is inside the compound, where we can't get to it without being shot at by everyone. So either we clear away all the shooters, or find a way to evacuate them soon.
The plan
Storming the compound with all those vorcha (and the krogan tank) is suicide. Not only that, we'd hand victory to the turians. As long as the jamming is in effect, we're at a disadvantage (smallest crew unable to use their trump card).
So I'm thinking we need to take out that jammer. Our tech specialist, Kane, could jury-rig something to allow us to find it (I hope!). We hunt it down and either grab it or failing that, destroy it. Obviously the turians aren't going to just let us do that, so it's not an easy proposition. But as soon as we've either controlled or destroyed it, we call in air support.
Then we can turn our attention to the Blood Pack in the compound. I noticed that the vorcha are wearing body armour, but not proper sealed suits with barrier generators. Which made me think of gas. If we could flood the compound with some sort of knockout or nerve agent, we might be able to take all or most of them down without a firefight. Just leaving the krogan tank to deal with, along with the researcher. That done, we call in the shuttle, load the pillar onto it and bugger off.
Simples, right? :p
So if you're still with me after all that, any better ideas/nuances/problems/thoughts on the situation and how to resolve it? Anyone have a better plan?
This situation is awesome and if your team lives through it they deserve a long break. My suggestion is: No matter how this ends you should post the results.Other than that I suggest having the team pray to their own personal gods.
Wow, that sounds like alot of fun.
I think your top priority is attaining a viable exit strategy. Fix that shuttle, disable the jammer, or jury-rig a simple optical signaling device to comunicate with the frigate. Just make sure that what ever course you take ends with you escaping the planet quickly and not getting shot down again by Turian anti-air.
I think your primary objective is the Turian anti-air. While you're taking that apart, you may have the option to shut down their jammer, take over their motion detectors, regain power (so your techy has more options) or hold a gun to their heads and make a deal.
Consider using the Turian's motion detectors to control their actions. Draw them out of position with a viable false alarm. Blind them with a flury of false alarms. Or even stage your own deaths in their mine field. If you've got any corpses, you could put misinformation on them for the sniper to find.
And finaly, put those prisoners to work! All those fancy science degrees have got to be good for something. Have them draft a fake decoded message for example.
My hunch is that whatever plan you make now, the situation will change really fast as the other factions arrive. But whatever happens, you'll be happy to have a safe escape route and a fake decoded message.
Quote from: MGuy;579045This situation is awesome and if your team lives through it they deserve a long break. My suggestion is: No matter how this ends you should post the results.Other than that I suggest having the team pray to their own personal gods.
Sounds, then, like this would make a really neat intro adventure; once we've finished mutilating it with actual play. There's a lot going on and I'm guessing what is detailed are the locations and factions. The GM said there's also a timetable of what would happen if the PCs
weren't there, as a vague guide for how events can transpire.
What's interesting is how some elements are already torpedoed by the assets we have on hand - particularly our own shuttle and gunships - that other sorts of PC groups might not have.
Quote from: Malleus Arianorum;579069Wow, that sounds like alot of fun.
I think your top priority is attaining a viable exit strategy. Fix that shuttle, disable the jammer, or jury-rig a simple optical signaling device to comunicate with the frigate. Just make sure that what ever course you take ends with you escaping the planet quickly and not getting shot down again by Turian anti-air.
I think we're probably alright for exit, once we decide to get out, though nothing is set. If we can't clear the jamming and just bring our shuttle down, we can use the tunnels to escape through the mountain and come out the far side away from the compound.
But ensuring we have a secure escape plan isn't a bad idea.
Quote from: Malleus Arianorum;579069I think your primary objective is the Turian anti-air. While you're taking that apart, you may have the option to shut down their jammer, take over their motion detectors, regain power (so your techy has more options) or hold a gun to their heads and make a deal.
Their anti-air capability looks like several guys able to use shoulder-mounted surface-to-air missiles. But finding them is probably the same as finding their hideout where the jammer is, so hopefully those things all come together. Though that also makes them equally intractable, since they're going to fight hard to retain their advantages.
Restoring main power would be useful (presumably the compound's own comms are able to cut through a mobile jammer, or they wouldn't have made killing power a priority), but we're not sure whether it was disabled or properly destroyed. If the latter, I don't know that we can fix it in the timeframe we're looking at.
Making a deal has potential (either for a genuine one, or a ruse), though no one in this entire scenario trusts each other at all. Plus only one team can walk away with the prize. We do have a turian PC who is shockingly attractive by their standards (and flirted with their leader a little when we met him back in the settlement), but I don't know if he'd fall for something along those lines.
Quote from: Malleus Arianorum;579069Consider using the Turian's motion detectors to control their actions. Draw them out of position with a viable false alarm. Blind them with a flury of false alarms. Or even stage your own deaths in their mine field. If you've got any corpses, you could put misinformation on them for the sniper to find.
The perimeter is a bit tricky to get to from where we are in the tunnels. We'd have to go back down and out the back of the mountain, circle around to the compound area and then down the way we originally came in. Our only other exit from the tunnels is directly into the compound the way we breached to snatch the hostages.
They seem pretty canny; I don't know how easy it would be to trick them into responding to false alarms. But it's worth a try if we go back outside.
Quote from: Malleus Arianorum;579069And finaly, put those prisoners to work! All those fancy science degrees have got to be good for something. Have them draft a fake decoded message for example.
Good point, if we were going for any sort of decoy-oriented ruse, using their knowledge would be key to making something convincing.
Quote from: Malleus Arianorum;579069My hunch is that whatever plan you make now, the situation will change really fast as the other factions arrive. But whatever happens, you'll be happy to have a safe escape route and a fake decoded message.
Yep, always the case that any plan falls apart on contact with the enemy! Problem is we need time to hatch anything good, but the longer we take, the more likely it is that we have to deal with other factions arriving on the scene.
Its kind of blurry, I'm not sure if this'd belong here or in the actual play forum, but it seems interesting enough to people that we'll keep it here.
RPGPundit
Quote from: RPGPundit;579441Its kind of blurry, I'm not sure if this'd belong here or in the actual play forum, but it seems interesting enough to people that we'll keep it here.
RPGPundit
Cheers. I know it's on the line, but I figure given this is "give me advice about what to do next" rather than "here's what happened, enjoy", it's probably better-placed here.
Quote from: Kiero;579624Cheers. I know it's on the line, but I figure given this is "give me advice about what to do next" rather than "here's what happened, enjoy", it's probably better-placed here.
That's fine.
RPGPundit
Just a quick update on this one, somehow we managed to get out of this one alive, and with all objectives completed. You can listen to the session on our site (http://insanitywetrust.wordpress.com/) (it's session 9), but what's particularly interesting is the GM's rundown of what the planned timeline was. Ie what would have happened if the PCs had never turned up. That's right at the end of the second part.