Neil couldn't join us for the session so we played with three players. We seemed to solve Andy's microphone issue part way through the session, which was great. Rest of the tech was as previous sessions (Roll20 on Chrome, Discord, Audio Hijack to intercept the feeds, and tabletoprecorder.com to process into a transcript and summarise.
We did the introductions at the start of the session again, and they seemed to help the LLM in identifying who was talking again. Once again, the commentary was pretty meta, which comments on my running! Ideally, I'd like to switch that off if I could and I think I'll suggest that to the devs.
As Andy was a little delayed, we had a slightly shorter session than usual, but I think we broke the session at the right point.
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.
A bit of a bumpy start as Andy was delayed, but we handled it in game by having Paul and Graham's characters having a late night discussion on what to do! Overall, I'd left this completely open and knew what I'd do if they decided to stay at Minerva or if they jumped back to Valkos or Meriden. Ideally, they needed to carry out that return trip to find the plot again, and fortunately they did.
I decided to use fog of war on Roll20 for the boarding of the Hirondelle. I knew that there wasn't going to be much of a real threat (beyond a crude trap and the ship's cat), but I felt it would feel much more tense if I was revealing sections of the ship as they went through it. Roll20 seemed to have raised it's game in this space as it took me less than 15 minutes to create a new page from a composite of four images and then add a slightly complex shaped set of deckplans.
I was impressed that the characters weren't quite as mercenary as they could have been - they could easily have let the Captain of the Hirondelle expire in his low berth as the battery failed, but instead they recovered him back to the Jägermeister. They avoided a multi-million credit payout as a result on the salvage of the ship.
Summary of the Session (lightly edited LLM synthesis of the transcript).
The crew deliberated extensively on their plan to refuel and monitor for the arrival of the Hirondelle, a ship of significant interest tied to their mission. Their discussion revolved around whether to remain at Minerva or jump to Meriden, a choice complicated by timing and the enemies' potential moves. They weighed the risks of staying behind and potentially missing crucial activities of their targets against the possibility of reaching Meriden too late after their foes.
Saul reminded them of the low regard in which bounty hunters are held, emphasizing their precarious position and the skepticism faced when claiming the security threat posed by their targets. Arturo contributed to the strategic maneuvering, recommending they remain on Minerva to gather as much intelligence as possible about potential targets while refueling.
After a moment's delay, Gil entered, proposing they prepare to jump while considering all possibilities. A robust discussion ensued, involving detailed scrutiny of possible repairs their adversaries might undertake and the strategic implications of various repair scenarios. They hypothesized the enemy's moves, repair durations, and speculated on the significance of Meriden as a quieter system potentially advantageous for covert activities.
Towards the end, the rallying discussion reached a critical point where they had to decide whether to gamble on a proactive maneuver or play it safe and gather more intelligence. Considering the criticality of their mission and despite the apprehensions expressed by Saul about acting too hastily, the group inclined toward taking the risk of moving to pursue their adversaries directly in Meriden, hoping to intercept them during or post-repairs.
Thus, fortified with reasoning, assumptions about their foe's predicaments, and strategic outcomes of their possible movements, our adventurers decided to jump and chase the faint trail left by their targets, all in the hope of thwarting a greater danger that awaited in the shadows of space.
Engines primed and the decisions set, the crew of Jägermeister prepared to leap into the unknown, chasing ghosts and leads in a session marked by strategic debates, cautious plotting, and the ever-present shadow of peril that space bounty hunters perennially navigate.
In the latest session of their ongoing RPG adventure set in the vastness of space, Dom guided the crew of the Jägermeister with his usual expertise. Amidst the debate on their next steps, Saul, with his bounty hunter's caution, reminded the team of Arturo and Gil about the lingering challenges they faced in their pursuit. Their target, the Hirondell, was the focus of their strategy discussions, leading them to consider every possibility from refueling to jumping to Meriden to catch their adversaries post-repair.
Arturo, the practical navigator, and Gil, who also revealed his piloting skills, debated the merits of education versus dexterity in piloting, leading to some confusion and adjustments in their character sheets. With the need for astrogation and engineering checks pressing, Dom clarified the roles and modifiers, leading the team through the technicalities of tabletop gameplay mechanics.
As they prepared for a jump to Meriden, the crew discussed their activities during the travel, with Saul deciding to focus on polishing his guns, Gil studying engineering, and Arturo keeping spending time in his makeshift gym. Their banter filled the space between critical decisions, from choosing their destination to adjusting their plans based on new information gathered about the mysterious and potentially dangerous settlement of Harmony.
Upon their successful arrival at Meriden, they received troubling news about the Hirondelle; it had reportedly suffered a drive explosion and had managed to control the situation without further assistance. Skeptical and curious, the crew decided to use their military-grade sensors to scan for the Hirondelle themselves. This initiative led them down a trail of data analysis, requiring both investigative work and technical expertise, and ultimately led to the discovery of the Hirondelle floating lifelessly in space, prompting them to prep for a cautious yet possibly hostile boarding mission.
Through careful planning, skilled maneuvering, and collaborative problem-solving, the crew of the Jägermeister faced the unknown dangers of space, demonstrating the rich, immersive nature of their role-playing game. Each decision carried weight, each role dice roll was critical, and as they prepared to board the derelict Hirondell, their adventure took a suspense-filled turn into the depths of space intrigue. In a thrilling chapter of their space adventure, the Jagermeister crew ventured into the eerie silence of a derelict spacecraft. Dom, orchestrating another vivid session, guided the crew through a meticulous examination of the ghost ship's nooks and crannies using complex maps overlaid with fog of war effects, which he skillfully managed through his tabletop tools.
Saul, always cautious and pragmatic, led the discussions about their method of entry. They opted for docking rather than a precarious floating maneuver, given the load Saul was managing on his device. Opting to enter via the upper deck, the crew, including Arturo and Gil, strategized their infiltration, discussing entry points like airlocks and hatches painstakingly revealed by Dom in the ship’s map.
Once aboard the ship, the atmosphere was tense, with decommissioned systems and a lack of gravity. Saul and Arturo, with their fine mix of electronics and engineering expertise, swept for traps at the airlock entrance, despite their uneasy jokes about the situation. The airlock hissed open, revealing a ship cloaked in darkness and silence except for a peculiar grinding noise signaling their sealed entrance.
Inside the ghost ship, the voyage turned more sinister. The crew navigated corridors sprinkled with debris and eerie signs of a sudden abandonment. Arturo's sharp eyes and keen instincts led them safely past a gruesomely rigged shotgun trap that nearly caught Saul off-guard. The trap's failure was met with both relief and a touch of mockery from the team, highlighting the peril they narrowly escaped.
As they delved deeper, the horror of their findings escalated. The discovery of multiple bodies with slit throats suggested a grim tale of betrayal or mutiny aboard the ship. Saul and Arturo’s investigation revealed the crew’s tragic fate, hinting at the brutality that Voss' team was willing to deploy and the darker undertones tied to their mission objective. Each room provided more clues but also deepened the mystery of the ship's dire circumstances.
Confronted with bloodstains and remnants of violence, the crew pieced together a possible narrative involving bioweapons — a terrifying prospect that aligned eerily with their mission’s criticality. They surmised the crew members were victims of a vicious takeover, likely related to the bioweapon dealings they were investigating. This discovery linked back to ominous activities on Minerva, which might be the next target for these devastating weapons.
Through diligent search and a cautious approach, the Jägermeister’s crew gathered crucial evidence and debated the moral implications of salvaging the ghost ship amidst a backdrop of unfolding galactic threats. The session ended with the crew poised on the brink of crucial decisions, balancing the temptations of potential riches against their duty to avert a dire crisis. Thus the brave adventurers aboard the Jagermeister navigated through layers of mystery and danger, their journey marked by both technological challenges and moral dilemmas, all masterfully woven into the narrative by Dom’s expert storytelling and the collective ingenuity of Saul, Arturo, and Gil.
The boarding party located a low berth pod containing the severely injured captain of the Hirondelle. Through the glass, they observed his numerous injuries, which seemed to indicate torture. Saul and Arturo, showing their concern, decided to transport the captain to a medical facility for urgent care. As they strategized, the discussion veered into the ramifications of saving the captain versus the salvage rights, which would be significantly diminished if the captain survived. Despite the potential loss of salvage profit, the crew unanimously agreed to prioritize the captain's life over monetary gain.
During the rescue operations, they accidentally triggered a power loss in the berth pod, but managed to safely secure the captain in their ship. Pen took charge of creating an emergency beacon to mark the Hirondelle, leveraging his skills in communications to set up a transponder.
As they initiated their next move, another vessel, the Headhunter, approached, signaling new complications. The Headhunter's captain, Aoife Scarlock, revealed that they had also reached Valkos and urged the Jägermeister crew to collaborate, sharing any crucial information about potential atrocities planned using bioweapons related to their findings on Valkos.
After some deliberation, Saul, Arturo, and the crew agreed to share their data openly with the Headhunter, setting aside the competition for the sake of preventing a larger catastrophe. They discussed their next strategic moves, which included informing the authorities about the looming threat and investigating other potential targets specified in the stolen data, which indicated the terrorists' next moves toward Minerva.
As the session wrapped up, the crew, now fully aligned with the Headhunter, decided to expedite their return to Minerva without refueling, aiming to thwart the impending crisis with the combined efforts of both ships. Their decision reflected a blend of cautious strategy and a necessary rush against time to prevent an imminent disaster, highlighting the tense and cooperative nature of their spacefaring endeavour.
My summary: We opened the session with the Jägermeister docked at Minerva Highport, with the crew despondent that their gamble hadn't paid off as the Hirondelle had not arrived in the realistic jump window from when it had departed. Arturo and Saul were chewing over options with a drink when Gil arrived in the crew lounge. They discussed through the best approach going forward and then, with some worries, decided to jump to Meriden as it was the logical location for the Hirondelle to jump to if it was damaged and had lost fuel.
They jumped to the system, arriving safely. Gil started a system scan with the sensors, but the shear number of objects in the system mean that it was likely to take over a week to catalogue the whole system with no guarantee that they'd succeed to locating their quarry. Instead, Arturo tried a legal argument with the Meriden starport for access to the comms & sensor records for the system to see if they could find the Hirondelle. Initially pushed back as their bounty warrant was for Edric Voss, not the Hirondelle, they managed to shift their argument and gain access to the data.
Several hours of processing later, they had found MayDay/Signal GK transmissions from the Hirondelle and a mining vessel - the Heart of Glass - which had rendered assistance. The Hirondelle had reported a drive explosions and called for help, and soon after the Heart of Glass reached them, they reported that the situation was resolved and they would buy all the crews that responded a beer at the port. There were no further transmissions from either ship. The system authorities didn't follow up as the issue was resolved.
Some clever calculations that used the different system locations to triangulate the signals led to the discovery of the Hirondelle, around a day's travel out in the belt. Accelerating at 6G, the Jägermeister hurtled to rendezvous, finding their prey drifting, cold and powered down. There were very obvious signs of battle damage.
Arturo and Saul suited up and boarded.
The ship was cold, in zero-G. Very quickly, they found the ship's cat (who they rescued) and then bodies of three of the Hirondelle's crew (leaving only the Captain unaccounted for) and then one body of a Heart of Glass crew member. They'd been brutally murdered while tied up and gagged. There were signs of torture, and a room full of ship's tools used to carry this out. The bridge was booby-trapped with a shotgun, but Saul dodged that.
Two further significant finds were made - the missing paperwork from the Imperial Library at Kahn and the frozen body of the Hirondelle's captain in a low berth. The paperwork was all about a bioweapon, AX-7, which was stored at a lab at Naggeth on Valkos, plus there was evidence of information searches on how to weaponise it by forming an aerosol and about the significant events and locations of the northern Valkosi Government-in-Exile on Minerva. This was the information that meant that they could recover the bounty for Edric Voss.
The Captain had been tortured and was clearly very close to death, had he not been in the low berth. There was a a moment of moral wobble when the boarding party realised that the multi-million credit payout for salvage was gone if he survived, and that his low berth was on the last of its batteries, but they decided to do the right thing instead and rescue him.
Pen had prepared a transponder beacon for the Hirondelle, exerting rights over the vessel which they left behind.
As they prepared to jump out, the Headhunter, Aoife Scarlock's ship, jumped in. Scarlock asked for access to what they'd found - she'd visited the lab at Valkos and knew an atrocity was planned. She asked the Jägermeister to assist to stopping this and they agreed to work together. They didn't tell her that they had Voss and the paperwork for the bounty though.
We ended the session as they jumped for Minerva.
5 November 2025
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