The fourth play session for The Jägermeister Adventure happened tonight and, quite pleasingly, we had no technical issues, even though we had reverted back to using Roll20 for both audio and video. As usual, I recorded the session using Audio Hijack and have uploaded the output into tabletoprecorder.com to allow me to extract a summary. Overall session length was one hour forty five minutes, mainly as we reached a natural breakpoint and I didn't want to overshoot time wise like I did in Episode 3.
It felt fitting to play Traveller on the evening after the funeral service I'd attended for Derrick Jones, a long time friend and Traveller player and GM who passed away recently. He is greatly missed. RIP.
Characters.
Saul Emzer (Graham) - the only professional bounty hunter in the group, a guild member well aware of his own shortcomings. Saul knows his aptitude is the down and dirty part of the missions. He isn't the brains, and he certainly can't fly a ship, but when the trouble goes down, he's a man of action, and of stealth when needed. Saul has brought the rest of the team together to support him and fill out the skill gaps. He doesn't like to think of himself as the leader, but he's the one with the official guild membership. He's made some big scores in the past.
Gibert Chang (Andy) - hailing from the Meriden system's Harmony habitat, the home of an obscure religious sect, Gilbert sought freedom by joining the Imperial Interstellar Scout Service. He grew up with good understanding of space construction and has supplemented this with a wide range of technical skills, becoming a professional spacer. He describes himself as the potential getaway driver, but is officially the ship's engineer, and he comes with a broad (but not deep) range of experience and a well-used but cared for vacuum suit called Nadia.
Arturo "Lucky" Javed (Paul) - Lucky's life has been a lot of ups and downs, probably more of the latter than the former. He aspired to be an intelligent agent but was kicked out of that career early on following a serious injury. He then took to a life of petty crime, struggling to make do and stay out of trouble. Eventually, a role came up on a Merchant vessel, but he kept his hand in with the underworld to try and make some money on the side. He knows Gil of old following a job that went sideways. Lucky is the one who is likely to make contact with any criminal elements that the group may need to deal with.
Pen Gata (Neil) - has spent his life in space, with a broad range of spacer skills that means he's the pilot and astrogator. Once again, he's a broad specialist rather than a deep expert. (The character was built with package generation so has a less developed life path).
The Jägermeister - a 100dT Jump-2 streamlined courier capable of 6G thrust, the ship is also their home and Assured Courier's GmbH's main asset. The crew mostly live aboard, as it's a lot more pleasant than the desert world of Ikeran where they're officially based (and have a rented office). The ship is usually located in one of the downport's long-term parkways. She's armed with a single triple turret with beam lasers and a missile rack.
Session notes.
This was the second session on Bulari, and the characters were continuing their pursuit of Edric Voss into Yarm and the adjacent refuge settlement, populated by over twenty-thousand Souther refugees from the Valkosi Civil War. This is the closest to Voss' home territory that we've come so far, and there was definitely potential for the characters to suffer harm, especially as only Pen was carrying anything heavier than a stunner. I think that the players managed the investigation well; we could have finished all of the Bulari elements with perhaps another 15 minutes play but it leaves us with a good kick off for the next session.
It was noticeable through the session that Paul's character definitely lived up to his nickname with the dice rolls that were made.
The 'doors and corners' reference is a Detective Miller from The Expanse reference about entering an unknown space on an investigation. We had a good giggle when Andy imagined Gil, in a high-vis top with a checklist on a clipboard doing 'point and call' when he entered a room.
From my perspective, I now had a realistic Plan B and Plan C in case the characters caught up with Edric Voss. I think that put me in a much better frame of mind when I started the session. During the session, because we had people continuously in different locations, I ended up doing a lot of cutting between players and locations to try and keep the spotlight moving.
The next section is, as usual, from Tabletop Recorder. This was the cleanest take on recording the session and hopefully that shows in the output below. We deliberately did introductions at the start of the session to give the language model as much chance as possible to get the right output.
I'm not entirely happy with the output from tabletop recorder on this session. Although the transcript is very good, the summary is fluffy and lacking detail. Hence for the second week running I'm going to add a quick final summary. If the output doesn't improve much beyond this I suspect that I won't be wanting to take this much further when my beta subscription runs out. I've fed back to the developers. The tone and vagueness doesn't really fit that well with the kind of scenario that I like to run.
Summary of the Session (lightly edited AI synthesis of the transcript).
Upon gathering at their respective locations, each member of the team charts their path for the day. Gil Chang, using his inherent charm and carousing skills, discreetly navigates through the bustling refugee camp, attempting to eavesdrop on snippets of valuable information. Simultaneously, Saul Emser pursues his own inquiry away from the camp, believing his presence there might provoke unwanted attention. Saul meanders through the town, absorbing conversations and local rumours to stitch together the current sociopolitical tapestry and, hopefully, catch wind of a potential lead.
Meanwhile, Arturo Javid, nicknamed 'Lucky' though the irony of his moniker remains to be seen, decides to follow a practical approach. He chooses to dive into administrative dealings, planning to verify and perhaps fortify their leads by conversing with the local administrative officers.
Penn, stationed strategically in their vehicle, prepares for a swift mobilization. Equipped not just with tools and weapons but also readiness to provide transportation or extra hands as the situation demands, Penn awaits instructions from the team to jump into action.
Meticulously, Saul then explores the possibility of their target's involvement in local disturbances — a strategy that involves presenting his credentials and navigating bureaucratic hurdles to extract information from the police about their man.
As boundaries between investigative and confrontational approaches blur, each member, including Lucky and Penn, aligns their skills towards enhancing their search tactics, whether through stealth, negotiation, or direct confrontation. The team's investigation deepens as they consider all possible scenarios, including impersonations and camouflages, to better understand and capture their elusive prey.
The narrative unfolds as Gil, emboldened by hypothesis and liquor, theorises a connection to a scandal during the fighting in Naggeth, possibly involving the dead quartermaster and the mysterious Edric Voss. As Gil's inquiries potentially spiral towards a confrontation, the team strategizes rendezvous points and backup maneuvers, ready to support their comrade or withdraw to safety strategically.
In solidarity and determination, the team converges energies, each leveraging their unique skills to unravel the mystery at hand, inching closer to the true machinations behind the chaos that's spurred them into action.
In the heat of their strategic planning, Penn boldly suggests using their air raft to squash their target from above, indicating a readiness for direct action. Saul Emser, however, steers the conversation towards a potentially less lethal approach by planning to extract information from a contact about Voss's whereabouts. Saul considers leveraging the contact's side hustle as a bargaining chip to gain this critical piece of intelligence.
The team discusses various tactics including deception, negotiation, and the strategic use of weaponry to extract the needed information without tipping off their adversaries. This diverse array of strategies showcases the team's versatility and readiness to adapt to unfolding scenarios on the ground.
Arturo Javid (Lucky) expresses concern about an armed individual posing a threat, underscoring the perilous nature of their mission. Meanwhile, Saul prepares to confront the sniper that guards their target location, emphasising the need for stealth and surprise in their approach.
Gil Chang, maintaining a low profile, suggests penetrating their objective under the guise of a casual patron, a strategy supported by his fellow operatives. Saul's outward appearance, featuring a military buzz cut, is scrutinized for its potential to either blend in or stand out, adding another layer of complexity to their undercover operations.
The plot thickens as Gil, facing intoxication, nearly collapses but is supported by his comrades. They consider leveraging additional resources such as stunners for their imminent confrontations, further discussing logistics such as securing an air raft for quick extraction and setup for their next move.
As their operation unfolds, the team's dialogue is peppered with tactical assessments, contingency planning, and real-time adjustments, reflecting their commitment to not only capturing their quarry but also managing the complex dynamics of their mission's environment. The discussion concludes with affirmations of their strategy and readiness to act, encapsulating a tense yet focused preparation phase poised to transition into decisive action.
In summary: Gil was in the refugee camp and carousing, trying to find out about Voss. Saul and Arturo were going around Yarm town, while Penn made sure that the very expensive air/raft wasn't at risk. They regrouped and decided that they all needed to go into the refugee camp. Saul checked out Voss with the police, liberally bribing his way to the front of the queue; there were no records of him, but there was a live murder-scene which he greased the wheels of bureaucracy to get permission to visit. Arturo slickly got a conversation with one of the harassed clerks at the Adminstration centre. This confirmed that Voss wasn't on record, but further conversations with those around mirrored what Gil was finding. Some of the key points were that Voss had been there 1-2 months before, looking for Souther Veterans who wanted to undertake 'a mission' and ideally had NBC experience. There was possible interest in a ruined location called Naggeth on the interdicted world of Valkosi. Penn scared off some teenagers who offered to 'take care of his car', by showing he was armed. Gil was confronted by an individual who may have meant him harm, but they ended up drinking in the bar, where he was offered info on Voss if he spent the night at the bar drinking with the owner and paid him a fee. Arturo and Saul smoothly joined in, directly cutting a deal and paying for information that Voss wanted them delayed; they effectively bought out the contract. Meanwhile Gil was very ill. They checked out the murder scene and confirmed that it was a former Valkosi Army Quartermaster who had NBC kit to sell. His throat had been slit and the kit was gone. They also checked out the home of someone linked to Voss, Holgar Larsen, to find that they had upped and left like they were going away for some time. In the rubbish bin, they found a note which included 'Bay I'. There's a Bay I in the starport. They headed back to ship and started preparation for take off (refuelling and processing) and also to raid Bay I.
