The Pitch

'Echoes in the Black' by Darran Sims narrated by Darran Sims.
Serenity: HeroQuest adventure for 6 players.

"Ta Ma Duh! Why can't we stick to the gorram plan! 
I wanted simple, in and out and everything shiny.
The job was good, the idents were perfect and the feds were away from the Skyplex.
Then everything has gone south.
Something has been following the Betty.
They are keeping their distance, so they aint purple bellies and everytime time we avert course they disappear like echoes in the black. The question is who are they, what do they want and why are they messing up my gorram job?"

I ran this game twice at Dragonmeet based on the series FireFly and the film Serenity by Buffy's Joss Whedon. I used the HeroQuest rules system for simplity [for me anyway]. Both games were the same scenario but with different players for each the final outcome differs in some extent. The plater characters are the crew of The Betty from Alien 4; Joss Whedon's first stab at a misfit crew of smugglers onboard an old, broken-down ship.

The Characters

Elgyn Rane is the captain of the Betty and has the kind of authority that doesn't need to flaunt itself. Smart, resourceful and charismatic, he is a former Alliance officer who discovered more challenge and profit in the murky world of space smuggling. Elgyn has used his commendable war service with the Alliance Space Corps, his associates in the Alliance Civilian Guard and his contacts with the Alliance Admiralty to gain lucrative jobs. With his network connections he evades capture but is mistrusted by the criminal underworld of the rim. It is his loyalty to his crew that stops Elgyn taking on the more dangerous missions.
106 words.

[CENTER]“Hey son, I’ll give you my authorisation code. Its E-A-T-M-E.”
“Drink, Elgyn?”  “Constantly.”
“Hey, don’t cut thrust till about 600 metres. We’ll give ‘em a little scare.”[/CENTER]

Sabra Hillard is the Betty's pilot. A feisty, captivating woman, she is also tender and dignified. Flying is in her blood as she was trained as a commercial pilot before enrolling into the Alliance military, piloting every known class of ship.  Hillard knows every operating tactic and procedure and how to circumnavigate them as well as out-manoeuvring and escaping any other flyer.
Hillard served with Elgyn but like him she refused to commit the atrocities ordered by the Admiralty command. She cherishes the freedom that being a freelancer brings almost as much as she loves Elgyn; she shares both the perils and the rewards of their current smuggling lifestyle.
109 words.

[CENTER]“Nobody is left behind. Not even you Johner!”
“No, There’s got to be another way”[/CENTER]

Christie St. Just is the powerful, enigmatic ‘muscle’ of the group. Supremely self-assured, he never loses his cool, even in the deadliest of situations. Christie is large, has a distinctly overwhelming bearing and he speaks with quiet, don't-f**k-with-me authority. He has intuitive knowledge of his surroundings at all times and utilizes his two disposable ‘mini-pistols’ with great accuracy, he can even ricochet bullets to unswervingly hit his targets. His mini-pistols are concealed in undetectable, quick-release holsters so a moments notice he is armed and dangerous.
Christie is loyal to Elgyn serving him unerringly and is indebted to Hillard for saving his life during the war.
105 words.

[CENTER]“We’re expecting any trouble?”
“Smells like a doublecross, boss”.[/CENTER]

Johner is a mercenary, hired by Elgyn as extra muscle, but has chosen to stay onboard the Betty “ ‘Cause pays good and regular”. Johner is thickset, mean and ugly, with vivid scars crisscrossing his ugly baldhead, and has an ugly temper to match. Johner talks-before-he-thinks, often saying the most inappropriate comments but his coarseness occasionally provides paradoxical humour. He is self-centred and has a schadenfreude streak that boarders on sadistic; he scares and unnerves all that he meets. 
Johner is accomplished in battle [his love of big guns and loud bangs is renowned], skilled at bashing-in heads and can brawl in the dirt with the best of ‘um.
109 words.

[CENTER]“My own recipe. Way more dangerous.”
“You hang with us a while, you'll learn I'm not the man with whom to f**k.”[/CENTER]

Vriess is the Betty's chief mechanic. Though his legs are paralysed, he hasn't allowed this infirmity to interfere with his work. Vriess has strong arms with that he climbs and crawls over the hidden parts of the ship. Vriess uses his re-vamped, motorised wheelchair that has hidden weapons and guns concealed within its workings. He is not above using his vulnerability to gain ill-placed sympathy to get his way but he never tricks his crewmates.
Vriess has a murky past from that he still keeps many criminal contacts.
In stressful situations Vriess provides comic relief, something that helps him deal with his unrequited love for his friend Call.
108 words.

[CENTER]“Wanna check the chair?”
“They never check the chair”
“The Kawlang Manoeure, right?”[/CENTER]

Annelee Call is the Betty's mechanic: a tough, resilient character whose bravado belies a profound inner turmoil. Though young in years and seemingly naïve, Call is a veteran of the misfortunes of life. Quick and agile she defends herself with her hidden stiletto knife.
Call has a natural affinity with anything mechanical or electrical and can repair almost any machine though she harbours mistrust for computers and Artificial Intelligence. As the newest recruit Call has proved her worth on the Betty and is respected by Elgyn. Her true nature is revealed as generous and humanist -- but she hides a shocking secret. 
104 words.

[CENTER]“Jesus Christ, Johner. What did you put in this shit? Battery acid?”
“Look, I can make it all stop. The pain, this nightmare. That’s all I can offer you”.[/CENTER]

The Betty

Scorpion-class combat re-supply vessel 18M
Simple Mechanical Engineering, Wide Perception, Easy to Pilot.
Unregistered—Known false registrations – EA-TM-E

Dimensions:
Length - 44.4m (145.6’) Beam – 12.7m (41.6’) Height – 20.0m (65.7’)
Width—(including engines) – 74.7m (245.1’)
Tonnage: 1950 tons.
Speed Class: 5 cruise / 8 Hard burn.
Crew Quarters:*4 two-person cabins (double or twin), 125 tons.
Fuel Capacity: 100 tons, 575 tons Storage Capacity (960h).
Cargo Capacity: 650 tons, 6x1 ton containers.
Passenger Capacity: none 
Traits: Fast Throttle 5M, Memorable 20M, Seen Better Days 20M.

The game [Spoiler warning for those that might want to play the game]

I started the game with the Betty setting down at Eavesdown Docks on Persephone with a cargo of scrap metal in the hold, not worth much but better than dropping into atmo with an empty hold. Straight away as they walk off the Betty they are surrounded by Alliance soldiers lead by Redbone Bright, the officer in charge of the docks. He hit the Betty with a citation for littering as it was leaking oil all over the dock. He also wanted to know who they all are, my trick to get the players to introduce their characters to each other. Both groups accepted the fine, none tried to bribe him despite the clues I gave. From there they went onto the Palace Saloon to meet their contact, called Rogan Joshi, to whom they should ‘curry’ favour.

The Palace Saloon doesn’t quite live up to the image its name conjures. Located in the poorer area of the docks, the lower port fees being what makes this area so special, the Palace Saloon is a dive. A clean dive but a dive none the less, renowned for it late-night Karaoke and it’s private booths that are ideal for private meetings. Before they could get in through the door though the barkeep, Azcal Breen, made sure they enter his ‘fine’ establishment un-strapped of their iron. Why the gun control? ‘cause blood is a bugger to clean up!’

Rogan had a private booth in the saloon and got to business straight away. The job is simple but comes in two parts. The first part is a legitimate delivery of lug nuts [you can’t have too many lug nuts] to the Highgate Skyplex in the Regina sector. The Highgate Skyplex use to be the HQ of the terraforming operation of the whole sector, but most of it is now dialect, the few functional areas used now as a space warehouse by the eccentric merchant Brian Hammond. Rogan has obtained, at great expense he points out, the Ident cards that allows docking at the Skyplex and will pay the crew for this job to avert suspicion.
The second part happens on U-day at 09:00. By quirk of a computer error the secure sections of the Skyplex can then be entered, including Brian’s vault, for a two-hour window of opportunity. Also as it is U-day all the feds are away on shore leave just leaving the local guards on duty. It should be easy to deal with the local talent and walk into the vault. The contents of the vault include the payroll for all the Skyplex staff and all of it is for the taking, that’s their payment for the second part of the job. Rogan only wants the six large black cases all marked with Alliance flags that are also in the vault. Do not open them, shake them up or scan them in any way. Drop them off at the rendezvous point on Angel and the job is done. Simple, huh?

The trouble is that U-day is seven days away and the Highgate Skyplex is six days away on full burn so the timing will be tight. There can be no distractions. Rogan leaves after paying them for the lug nut job and giving them the six ident cards. 

Both groups liked the sound of the job, a whole vault for themselves was good thing. However they were a little suspicious of the six black cases. Could they be much needed medicine or something more sinister? Six cases and there are six of them, could that be something?

Before they left the bar the barkeep, Azcal Breen, came over to them and asked if they would do him a little job for him if they were departing soon. A case in his backroom needs ‘disposing of’ so no trace of it can be found. Just push it out of your airlock and into a sun if you can as long as is gone. And no its not what you are thinking, I have better ways of getting rid of bodies. You can check out the case if you like just lose it.

Both groups took this job on as well despite Rogan warning them earlier about distractions. The first group did it to help Azcal out as a favour [and for the money of course!]. The second group haggled Azcal for a better price so that they could buy more fuel for the trip. Both opened the case up and looked inside. It was broken engine parts, all with Alliance holographic serial numbers on.

As the new cargo was loaded onto the Betty several of the characters checked in with their contacts to learn more about it. The mechanics of the crew learnt that the holographic serial numbers the Alliance use are very hard to remove but very easy for the feds to trace; they give off a weak signal similar to a transponder that can be detected by any nearby sensor. The only safe way to remove them is to cut off the actual engine parts off. In their professional option, the mechanics think that the engine these ‘parts’ came off was something like an Alliance gunship. It’s the kinda thing that’ll get you spaced if caught carrying it!

Other members of the crew went checked out what their contacts knew about the Highgate Skyplex. They learnt that it is a really old station, built the ol’ way so it was built to last. Trouble is it was built so long ago that it is well past its sell by date. The main reactor, that is located at the bottom end of the station, is off-line and burning hot. Parts are totally uninhabitable especially as you get closer to the reactor. Only the top part is habitable, that includes the main section, a space bar that has an unpleasant reputation due to the Dockers that frequent there, the docking ring, and the habitation ring. It is used by Brian Hammond as a warehouse in space, stripped down to the bulkheads to gain more storage space, it is easy to get to and easy to dock with once you have the clearance. It is hard though getting that much sort after clearance. Brian Hammond only expects the best and he pays well for it, even though he could command a cheaper price. Hence the payroll should be very plentiful.

One of the groups even went as far as to get organised a criminal contact on the station.

Armed with that information they all boarded the Betty and launched off into the black. Both players of Hillard plotted the perfect course that used up the least fuel and took the least time [each rolled a critical, a perfect score]. With less than six days of cruise time with very little to do until then the crew just sat back and relaxed.

Then came the first dilemma... To be continued

Then came the first dilemma. In the monitor was detected a faint signal from something following the Betty. The blip was on the very edge of sensor range and would have remained undetected if it weren't for some strange sensor echo coming off it. Whatever it was it was small but the crew couldn't make out it was though it was matching the course the Betty was following. The mechanics in both instances tried to fix the sensors to make sure it wasn't a malfunction but that revealed that they were working fine. They have a few options available to them, they could avert course and confront whatever was following them, they could try to outrun it or they could try to evade it. The risk was using up too much fuel and therefore lose time, if they were late they may mess up the caper. Each group took a different approach.

The first group opted for the outrun then evade tactic. Hillard put the ship it full burn while Vriess and Call nursed the engines. As soon as the blip vanished off the monitor Hillard then changed heading in an attempt to lose the pursuit, repeating this twice. In play it took all the crew to perform this tactic. Hillard used all her piloting skills and was augmented by the mechanics, Vriess and Call, who were keeping the engines ticking over. Elgyn used his command skills to coordinate the crew's efforts while Christie and Johner gave advice and help to Hillard. By all accounts it looked like the tactic worked, as after a tentative wait the blip didn't return. 

The second group decided on a different scheme. Again using the combined effects of the crew, they used a couple of cases of lug nuts throw out of the airlock by Johner and Christie at an oblique course to create a ?chaff' effect. At the same time the mechanics Vriess and Call tried to blind the blip with sensor noise as Hillard put the ship into full burn but keeping the same course. Elgyn again synchronized the crew's efforts. As they watched the monitor the blip changed course and followed the chaff instead of them.

After that excitement they carried on with the rest of their journey getting closer to Highgate. Then came the second dilemma...to be continued...


This is one of the things that I like about the HeroQuest system. The characters can interact and assist each other very easily within the rules. It rewards a more cooperative play as shown by all the characters getting involved in the manoeuvre though it was just the Hillard character piloting the ship. The players picked up on this quite quickly and used it all through the rest of the scenario.

Then came the second dilemma.
They were picking up a distress signal originating from 20° off their present course. The signal was weak and had no audio as yet. Alliance regulations states ‘all distress signals must be investigated if possible and then be reported to the proper authorities’. However the last thing this group wanted to do is to call up the feds.

Both groups weren’t sure what to do. As they thought about it they were getting closer and closer to the source of the signal though the angle of interception was getting larger. Also they were getting audio now and could make out someone asking for help. It was a woman and her name is Amelia Regan. She is suited up and adrift in space after her ship suffered engine failure. She reports that she has plenty of oxygen, as she pulled one of the air tanks with her, but has no food or water. She is also babbling incoherently about strange happenings in her childhood and cries on occasion. She is clearly loosing it.

Neither group even bothered to speak to her or scan her location. Each crew though were divided on what to do. On both occasions the females of the crew, Hillard and Call, wanted to go and rescue her. The rest of the crew thought it was a trap or didn’t want to waste any more time in doing a pointless rescue.

The first group of players decided to hold a contest, with Hillard with Call verses Elgyn backed up by Christie, Vriess and Johner, to see what course of action would be taken. All the players pitched in their reasons for or against the rescue and then, using their character’s abilities, augmented the main instigator on their side. They were all pitching in abilities like ‘Refuse to Commit Atrocities’, ‘Tender’, ‘Humanist’, ‘Naïve’, ‘Self-Centred’, ‘Avaricious’, ‘Callous’, ‘Intuitive’, ‘Spot Suspicious Behaviour’, and even ‘Loves Elgyn’ as a negative modifier. It got very close but the women were out-numbered and out-matched so when the dice were rolled the men won out, even with both sides burning hero points. They would not change course to pick up Amelia instead they would just fly by.

The second group were also divided but instead chose to role-play this situation out. They did use their abilities, especially the personality traits, as guidelines for the role-play. They held a long in-character discussion about the situation, each putting forward their own points and arguing against the others. It got quite heated, but again they all decided to not go to the rescue but to stay on course to Highgate Skyplex.

In some games this may have been a game breaker, players taking sides against each other almost to the point of coming to blows. Yet with HeroQuest and the style of play at these demo sessions, this became an interesting part of the game. The players got more creative when ‘competing’ against each other than they did against me as the GM. Also they were working out the possible consequences to actions they may take, just from the smallest information I gave them and justifying their actions because of them. It was a cool moment in both cases and all eh players went with it.