Chapter 1 - Gear up time

[kcdusk]

Geddes slipped away, and between the undergrowth and rain he was able to move unseen back to his pack and tarp. Sheltering under his tarp and out of the rain, Geddes had to think. Where too now

Mechanical clanking continued in the background as vehicle after vehicle rumbled by. Geddes took his time to outline his options in his head;

• Travel back to the village
• Stay where he was
• Head deeper behind enemy lines

Geddes began to de-camp. He would soon be out from under the projection of the tarp that was doing a great job keeping the increasingly heavy rain off of him, as he carried out last checks on his backpack. Too soon he would be out in the weather again, which despite his all-weather clothes, would soon become dismal and cold.

Holding on to the last corner of tarp, a sudden violent gust of wind whips it from out of his hands. Geddes turned to watch the tarp blow quickly towards the mechanized Russian column of tanks, APCs and IFVs!

Geddes ducked into the brush, as thwack, the tarp blew against a BTR-70. It might have gone unnoticed in the deteriorating conditions, but it partly wrapped over the driver or commanders viewing hatch. Either way, the BTR-70 stopped due to loosing visibility forward! A soldier popped their head out and starting to remove the tarp, seemed to slowly realise what the item might mean. He slowly turned and looked into the brush, and began scanning deeper into the forest for where such a man made item might have suddenly come from.

Crouching still, Geddes had an important decision to make. Remain stationary and hope he isnt seen Or quickly haul ass out of there

The decision is effectively made for him. As the rear ramp thumps down, and 6 armed soldiers disembark. There is no real sign of urgency, but clearly they are going to conduct some form of quick check.

Geddes turns and runs. Speed away from contact being more important that stealth.

One of my favourite games growing up was James Bond 007 by Victory Games (1983). My cousin and I played this the most, which may add to why I think its such a great game. Plus our ages at the time. But I have always thought the game system was one of the better ones I have seen. A roll of the dice determines if you were successful or not and depending on how low the roll was, the quality of that success. Skill levels, Ease Factors and Performance Modifiers. It really was a great system.

Something that I distinctly remember being the best I had seen, was the chase mechanics it used. It handled chase scenes, actions and range really well. I intend to use a modified version of the chase rules for the upcoming pursuit of Geddes through the Jungle.

Ill determine starting range (close, short, medium, long, extreme, extreme +1 for example) and then roll mobility checks. Each success shortens or increases the range. If Geddes gets a success and the soldiers get a success, then the range remains the same for instance. If Geddes gets 2 successes and the soldiers fail there roll, then Geddes moves 2 ranges clear. Once Extreme +1 or more is reached at the end of a round then the chase is over. And the soldiers will need to track Geddes. Or if the range is reduced to close, then the chasing soldier can enter HtH with Geddes (tackle).

[kcdusk]

The rain thumps down into the damp earth, and 6 Russian soldiers disembark. They are slow but steady in their movements, practiced but not enthusiastic to be leaving the dry of their ride for the rain outside.

Geddes curses his tarp blowing away and determines that a ground check is about to take place, so speed is more important that stealth.

I determine that the range of the encounter starts at medium.

I also determine that since Geddes is watching the 6 soldiers dismount, he gets a free action to evade them, before both sides getting turns each round to extend or close the distance.

I also detrmine to break the 6 pursuing soldiers into 3 groups of 2. With the first group being made up of the leader plus 1 other, so they have better pursuit stats as seen below.

The skill and attributes used for the pursuit are Agility and Mobility.

Geddes turns and runs away from the road, and the 6 soldiers. The dampness underfoot, falling rain and sounds of war somewhat muffle his escape. Having seen the soldiers he has this single chance to put real distance between them before the soldiers have a chance to react.

Geddes has Agility and Mobility of D12+D12.
Group A is D10+D8
Group B is D6+D6
Group B is D6+D6

Round 1
Starting distance is Medium.
Geddes is wearing his backpack, which impacts him with a -2 for mobility.

Geddes gets a free action and rolls D10+D10, result is 7 and 2. So the one success increases the range to Long for all 3 chasing groups.


Geddes continues to run deeper into the woods without looking behind. He is sure the soldiers will be close by. Running through his mind is his backpack. Should he keep it on and risk being caught, or dump his pack which might make his life alone on the road more difficult for the gear he will loose

Round 2
Starting distance is long.
geddes rolls first as he is being pursued.
D10+D10 and rolls 5 and 1. No successes so the range stays at long.
Group A is D10+D8 and rolls 9 and 3 so range closes to medium
Group B is D6+D6 and rolls 5 and 6 so range closes to medium
Group B is D6+D6 and rolls 4 and 2 so range stays at long.


Geddes can hear sticks snapping and grunts & groans from his pursuers. IF he doesn't loose them in these woods soon, he has no doubt he will be caught. Geddes shucks his backpack off, and continues to run with only his FAL in hand.

Round 3
Geddes is D12+D12 and rolls 2 and 8. One success means the range extends by 1.
Group A is D10+D8 and rolls 1 and 5 so range goes out to long
Group B is D6+D6 and rolls 4 and 4 so range extends to long
Group B is D6+D6 and rolls 2 and 5 so range extends too extreme. If the distance ends a round at extreme +1 then they loose Geddes trail.


Geddes chances a look behind him, he makes out a few pursuers still hot on his trail. He feels he has opened up some distance between himself and them. He is thankful none of thought to stop and shoot at him. It was likely a good decision, as he would be a moving target amongst the trees and very difficult to hit at best.

Round 4
Geddes is D12+D12 and rolls 10 and 3. Two success means the range extends by 2.
Group A is D10+D8 and rolls 9 and 5 so range extends from long to extreme.
Group B is D6+D6 and rolls 5 and 1 so range extends from long to extreme +1 and so loose track of Geddes in the woods.
Group B is D6+D6 and rolls 6 and 2 so range extends from extreme to to extreme +2. This group also looses Geddes.

Geddes is running full pelt. He has taken some branches to his face. But he feels no pain as he runs on. Water drips across his face, some directly from the sky, some drops falling from his boonie hat. It might only be his mind playing tricks, but he feels like he is running slower and his pursuers getting closer!

Round 5
Geddes rolls 5 and 1 for no change to range.
Group A is at extreme and rolls 6 and 6, two successes!, reducing the pursuit range to medium.


The chase has moved from initial sprinting, to a more drawn out run now. Both sides are over the initial adrenaline phase and have settled into a speed that is perhaps 90% of what it was. Geddes ducks and weaves amongst the trees, free of his pack. The last remaining group chasing him have fallen behind, but have not quite given up.

Round 6
Geddes rolls 2 and 7, extending the range too long.
Gruop A rolls 3 and 4 so the range stays at long.


Geddes suddenly changes direction 90 degrees, through some thicker trees and over a low lying hill that briefly hides him from his pursuers. The following soldiers are slow to realise Geddes has changed direction, and just catch a glimpse of him as he disappears over a small rise.

Round 7
Geddes rolls 10 and 9, 3 successes, which extends the range to extreme +2.
Group A rolls 5 and 6 which makes the range extreme +1. This group also looses Geddes in the woods.


Geddes continues to run through the rain. It takes a few minutes longer for him to realise he has lost the soldiers.

He falls down next to a tree to catch his breath and see if he can hear them still coming. He also starts to take stock of what he's lost by dropping his rucksack, and what small items he still has on his person.

A full 15 minutes later, Geddes stands up and prepares to move out. Apart from loosing most of his gear. He is now facing one main problem, which direction is the front line

[kcdusk]

Geddes lay exhausted on the wet ground. He had evaded his pursuers, but in doing so had lost his backpack which contained much of his gear (including cold weather gear). And also, his next action was to asses where he was, because potentially he had become lost during his escape.

To know where he is, Geddes needs to pass a Navigation test, which requires a survival roll (Geddes is A+A). I rule Geddes has lost his map and compass with his backpack, so -2. I also assign a further -1 due to running wildly during the pursuit. This reduces his chances to B+C (or a D10+ D8).

Geddes rolls a 3 and a 2. So fail. Geddes is lost.

There is still a few hours of daylight left, and while he keeps moving Geddes will not feel the cold too much. But once night begins to settle, he can expect cold and frigid conditions with no protective gear.

Whilst definitely lost, Geddes keeps his head and is just able to work out where the sun is, and get an approximate feel for where North, East, West and South is. So he does have one simple choice available to him; which way does he want to go

North would mean a 50/50 chance of crossing into a neutral country or into the enemy state. East would definitely lead directly into the enemy state. South would lead towards a safe option. West would be back towards where Geddes expects the front line to be, approach friendly lines but from the enemies side.
Geddes decides the fight has started, and he needs to be a part of it. So he chooses to head North. There is a chance this leads to a neutral state, and from there he can re-enter the fight. But there is also a chance it leads further behind enemy lines, where Geddes can make an impact.

With Geddes heading North I roll for a random encounter. I roll 3 of Spades = pack of wolves.

Geddes can hear howling wolves in the distance. Turning his head from side to side, he determines that they are behind him. Possibly tracking him This is something he will need to monitor in the short term. Night time is approaching, which could be dangerous if the wolves are following.

With the sun setting, the final random encounter of the day has Geddes coming across a road, with a car load of locals driving dangerously fast. They are clearly panicked and in flight mode! Geddes looks down at his fatigues and FAL. Will they see him as part of the invading force Or as a friendly

Geddes decides not to take a chance, and ducks off the road into a drainage ditch. The vehicle blasts on by. Geddes rolls onto his back exhausted and thinks about all the gear he lost by dropping his backpack. It made sense then to help him evade capture, but now, it would make it more difficult to get through the night.

With no warm clothes no sleeping gear to help him through the cold night. I determine that Geddes must pass two survival rolls or suffer hypothermia. Geddes grew up sleeping and hunting outdoors which is represented by his Intelligence (A) and Survival (A) ratings. I assign -1 for the cold, -1 for no sleeping gear, and another -1 for extra difficulty. Geddes rolls D10+D8 and gets 8,4. So one success means while suffering through a cold night, he is OK for now. Second roll is also D10+D8 and is 4,2. So a fail.

Being hypothermic means Geddes suffers 1 point of damage and 1 point of stress. These are his first injuries!

Geddes makes it through to sunup. Hypothermia cannot be healed until you are able to get warm. Geddes intuitively knows he is in trouble, and at first light makes every effort to find a way to get warm. He rises slowly to his feet, and begins to walk. Almost anything Geddes comes across that attracts his attention will be considered if it has the potential to provide warmth.

I roll for a random encounter to start the day. (Also, I should have pushed that second hypothermia roll, I might have been able to avoid the impact. But this is a rule that is new to me, so I dont always think of it in the moment).

The encounter I rolled didnt make a lot of sense. While I was wondering how it might fit into my story, I heard a wolf howl ..

I decided to ignore the rolled encounter and instead use the howling wolves encounter from yesterday. This made more sense and I think is a good example of how to join encounters together to make a larger story.

A wolf has been tracking Geddes. The carload of people late yesterday may have given them pause, or made they shy away. But overnight they have picked up Geddes sent and they have come together this morning.

Geddes makes a recon roll (keeping watch). D12+D12. The roll is 2,5. So Geddes fails to see or hear the wolf approach. Stats for animals, including wolf, are on page 38 of the Referees Manual.

The wolf wishes to ambush Geddes, so is stalking him. This is resolved via opposed Recon rolls.

Wolf: Intelligence D and Recon A. So D12+D6. No terrain modifiers. No darkness modifiers. The wolf wants to advance into Geddes hex, so -2 to the recon roll reduces the D12 to a D8, plus the remaining D6.

Geddes is D12+D12.

The rolls are; Wolf 4,1. Both Fail.

The rolls are; Geddes 9,9. Two success. Therefore Geddes sees the wolf approaching him.

Range to the wolf is 110m (11 hexs).

Geddes is cold, weak and knows he is vulnerable when he first sees the wolf. Internally hed love to let it go, he has no desire to shoot any animal. But realising the wolf sees him as weak and therefore prey, Geddes understands he must act. Then it hits him. The first Star Wars movie, when Luke Skywalker crawls into a Tauntaun. Geddes doesnt just need to kill the wolf to keep from being eaten, he needs to kill the wolf to stay alive himself!

Geddes touches his holstered 45 colt, thinks better of it, then makes his FAL ready. Lining the shot up, Geddes knows the first shot is likely to startle the wolf and make him run. Normally frightening the wolf off would be enough to stay safe. But Geddes needs the warm, dead body for himself.

Geddes ranged combat is A+A.

-1 medium range
-1 small target (feels right)
-1 shrub land modifier

Final roll is B+C or D10+D8.

Roll result is 9,6. Hit with two successes. FAL damage is 3 +1 for the extra hit, so 4. The wolf goes down, Geddes lowers his head, but understands this will be a bloody way to get warm.

[Raellus]

It's helpful to see others apply rules that I haven't a chance to experiment with yet, like hypothermia for example. Thanks for blazing that trail.

I also like how you made the Pack of Wolves encounter a two-parter, playing it out over two days. I wondered why there was only one wolf in the "pack" so I looked up the encounter in the Ref's manual to see if a dice-roll determined the number of wolves in the pack. In the manual, at least, nothing is mentioned about the number of wolves encountered. That seems odd. Is there a number on the card I'd look through my deck, but I don't want to see any spoilers for my own campaign.

It must be a huge wolf if Geddes is planning on wearing it like a Tauntaun! Or is he going to use the pelt for warmth Either way, I look forward to that scene.

And, at the risk of being totally nerdy and pedantic, it's the second Star Wars movie (in order of release).

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