My thanks to Roger Sanger, the copyright holder, for granting me permission to host this article on my web site.  To quote him, "I was looking for a new home for DGP's 2300 AD articles, and naturally I picked the best fan sites on the Web for that purpose.  Kudos to Pentapod's World!  Enjoy!" - Kevin Clark - January 24th, 2000.

REFEREE'S OVERVIEW

This is an adventure which stresses commercial acumen and is ideal for characters with some sort of business angle.  Most independent ship operators and traders, for example, would turn their hand to whatever should yield a fairly quick profit.

The important thing is to play out encounters in full: the meat of the adventure is the interaction with various individuals, business dealings, and the mounting frustration of the players as the odds seem stacked against earning their lucrative bonuses.
 

WINGSHIPS

Configured much like a Loadmaster, a wingship can fly like an aircraft but is optimized for altitudes of 10-20 meters.  At these heights it generates a cushion of air between its wings and the ground ( or sea), markedly reducing drag and fuel consumption and increasing payload by about 500%.

The two wingships in the auction are 15-year-old Shtemtenko Sht-31s, a venerable but reliable design.  With a length of 50m and a wingspan of 28m ( halved when wings are folded for parking), each can carry a maximum payload of 250,000 kg ( or 50,000 kg if they are expected to flay above nap-of-earth altitude).  These two were left over from a larger batch sold on Earth and were added to a large shipment of agricultural machines being sent to Tirane for Auction.

Type: Wing-in-ground-effect ( WIG) transport; Crew: Pilot, copilot, engineer, cargomaster; Mass: 40,000 kg; Armor: All faces: 2; Evasion: 11; Sensor Range: 300 km; Signature: +7; Cargo: 50,000 kg ( 250,000 kg in WIG mode); Max Speed: 600 kph; Cruising Speed: 300 kph; Combat Movement: 800 m; Endurance: 12 hours ( 20 hours in WIG mode); Price: MLv3.0 ( new).

{ A cool website with more details on realworld designs is the "The WIG Page" at http://www.se-technology.com/wig/ - KevinC}

THE CONSORTIUM

The water world of Botany Bay produces light industrial goods for the whole American Arm.  From the capital of New Cairns, thriving communities have spread to other islands, including the Aborigine settlement of Ranipawab.  Able, energetic, and enterprising, the Aborigines have built up a solid economic standing.  There is a healthy flow of trade between New Cairns and Ranipawab.  Hydrogen and sail-powered ships ply the straits regularly, as do a few cargo zeps.  Abnormally high winds keep air traffic to a minimum, but a small consortium of Aborigine investors and entrepreneurs, AKO, Inc., thinks it has identified a chance for a commercial air service.

Like many other nations, Russia regularly disposes of "non-lethal" army-surplus equipment on the open market.  Two old wing-in-ground-effect transports ( wingships) are to be auctioned on Tirane.  Hybrid hover/aircraft, built to combat standards with full foul-weather and day/night pilot systems, they are rugged enough to operate on the turbulent New Cairns-Ranipawab route.  As wingships are faster than ships or zeps, and cheaper to run and safer than aircraft, they could serve AKO well by shuttling cargo and passengers.

The consortium is wary of alerting potential rivals to the opportunity, and is made up of busy individuals disinclined to take time off for such a straightforward task as procuring the wingships.  Hence AKO will approach the characters to act as their agents.
 

THE OFFER

The characters may be based on Botany Bay and be contacted in person.  Otherwise a lawyer representing AKO will contact them by secure mail, enclosing a computer chip with details of the offer, handling instructions, authorization for using AKO credit lines, and a voice-print contract for the characters to confirm and return.

The terms are these:  as well as being reimbursed for standard passage to Tirane, the characters will receive Lv2000 each to buy the wingships, check their airworthiness, and arrange their safe and prompt transfer to New Cairns.  Their responsibility ends when the wing ships are loaded on board ship and bound for Botany Bay.  In addition, AKO is offering a series of bonuses if the characters meet various targets, all or some of which can be taken in the form of AKO stock at a special rate of Lv125 shares for Lv100.

AKO has arranged a line of credit with a local bank for up to MLv2 ( for both ships, sold as one lot).  But the group is entreated to keep the price as close to MLv1.5 as possible.  As an incentive, characters who make a good bargain will receive 1% of the difference.  In addition, a line to MLv1.9 has been established to cover transshipment, temporary warehousing, and other expenses.  If these expenses are kept below MLv1 .5, the lump sum bonus is Lv5000: if MLv 1.5-1.7, the bonus is Lv2000.  The third bonus is for promptness.  Depending on when the wing-ships reach Botany Bay, the team as a whole may receive either Lv4000 or Lv2000.  Finally, a small purse of Lv1000 is provided for living expenses.  Any left unspent the characters can keep.
 

DAY ONE: ARRIVAL

The auction takes place at the French colony of Provence Nouveau, under the auspices of a local import/export firm, Maurois et Abelard.  The characters will arrive at Tirane ( or be hired, if already based there) the day before the auction, and the wingships will be available for inspection.  The group can hire a local expert for Lv400 or attempt it themselves.

Task: To check wingships: routine, electronic.  1 hour.

The man they have to speak to is the deputy manager, Andre Segard.  If the group looks smart and knows the form, they will be able to speak to him straight-away.  If not they may have trouble convincing his over-protective secretary of their bonafides.

Task: To convince secretary: Routine.  Determination or Eloquence.  5 minutes.

Task: To complete authority ( Teamwork): Formidable.  Determination or Bureaucracy.  30 minutes.
Referee: Add 1 to the roll for every character above one trying to bully, persuade, and help Segard.

Andre Segard
Segard is well-intentioned and intelligent, but overconcerned with the niceties of observing the exact letter of the law.  Mild and unassuming, he is nevertheless relentless in his quest for the "proper" thing to do.
Motivation: Heart King: scrupulously honest; Heart 2: helpful and friendly.

Play Segard in part for laughs, stumbling over exactly how to address the group, offering them tea, finding his dispenser has backed up and so on.  Keep an eye on the clock and remember CDIB closes for business at 4:30pm.  The actual transfer requires a lot of paperwork, and Segard's finickiness only slows things down.  After an hour of bumbling, data-inputting, incoming phone calls and lengthy detours to legal and procedural databases, the end may begin to come into sight.
 

DAY TWO: THE AUCTION

Play the bidding for tension, starting with several interested buyers at the opening price of MLv1, falling away as the price rises.  By MLv1.6, the party is bidding against just one other group, a trio of uniformed men sitting at the back.  They will drop out after MLv1.9.

Observant characters may note several things about the opposition:

Task: To make observation about the trio ( Unskilled, Hazardous, Uncertain): Difficult.  3 minutes.

• the uniforms were military, but not French;
• the uniforms were not from any major army on the planet;
• the three looked extremely annoyed at the characters;
• they spoke English;
• all three wore pistols under their tunics;

As soon as the lot is sold to the characters, the three stalk out.  If followed, they take a metro to a cheapish quarter and go into a small hotel.

Task: To tail the three ( Hazardous): Routine.  Stealth.  2 minutes.
Referee: All characters involved in the tail must make two checks -- once for the metro trip, once for the walk to the hotel.  A failure on the first roll means the quarry is lost, on the second that the characters are spotted.  If the officers realize they are being followed, they detour via a crowded department store and shake off pursuit.

Task: To gather information ( Unskilled): Routine.  Interview.  2 minutes.

STABLES

Once the auction is over, Mss. Maurois and Abelard will present the characters with hard copy deeds and documentation for the wingships, made out to AKO.  Final confirmation of the credit transfer, export registration, and the arranging of shipment to Botany Bay will take a few days and the characters and wingships are obliged to stay on planet for that time.

Storage of the wingships immediately becomes the characters' responsibility.  The usual practice is to rent a "transit park", a fenced-off lot in the warehouse quarter near the spaceport.  A park must be hired and moving arrangements made with a local helicopter-crane operator.

Task: To find a transit park: Simple.  Bargaining.  30 minutes.
Referee: Basic price is Lv1000 per day, less Lv25 per point the roll exceeds the necessary score.
Task: To hire a helo-crane: Simple.  Bargaining.  30 minutes.  Referee: as above, with cost Lv1000 less Lv20 per point.

Task: To hire a security firm: Simple.  Bargaining.  30 minutes.
Referee: Basic price is Lv1000 per day, less Lv25 per point the roll exceeds the necessary score.

Task: To call on local police ( Hazardous): Difficult.  Streetwise or Bureaucracy.  15 minutes.
Referee: Add 1 to roll per turning point passed while a policeman.  Increase the difficulty by one level if not French.  A failure may reflect hostility at the attempt to win preferential treatment.

BUYING THE TICKET

The next task is to arrange transshipment.  This is not all that straightforward given the complexities of freight handling, but there are two main options.  To engage a professional transshipment consultant is expensive ( a flat fee Lv1000), and most will not touch such a one-time job:

Task: To engage a consultant ( Unskilled): Formidable, Bureaucracy.  30 minutes.

Task: To find freight service ( Unskilled): Simple.  Info Gathering.  5 minutes.

{ Note: The only thing that would justify the interstellar shipping prices quoted in the next sections, would be if the PCs are renting the entire transport ship ( paying the fees for 100% of its cargo capacity).  This way no time is lost ( beyond discharging the stutterwarp drive and purchasing fuel) in each system because the merchant crew extends its stop to complete the sale/purchase of other cargo. - KevinC }

THE YANKEE VENTURER

The Yankee Venturer is an American bulk freighter heading back to the Arm.  It charges MLv1.5 and will reach Botany Bay in time for the characters to earn the full Lv4,000 bonus, but is due to depart on day five.  The export paperwork will not be completed until the morning of day seven unless some way to oil the wheels is found.  A visit to the starport customs will first of all have to get past the politely unhelpful reception:

Task: To get past reception: Routine.  Eloquence or Determination.  30 min.

Helene Portmanteau
It's been a bad day.  The alarm went off late, the car broke down on the way, and, let's face it, she's stuck in a dead-end job despite a good education and a lot of talent.  Who wants to be helpful?
Motivation: Club Queen: stubborn; Spade Jack: pompous and arrogant.

Play her as obnoxiously as possible.  The characters need her to bend the rules and she feels in the mood to be rigid.  If they are especially diplomatic, the characters may be able to persuade her or bribe her.  Any offer of less than Lv1000 will automatically fail.

Task: To persuade Portmanteau: Formidable.  Bureaucracy or Eloquence.  5 minutes.

Task: To bribe Portmanteau ( Hazardous): Difficult.  Bureaucracy or Eloquence.  2 minutes.
Referee: Failure means that the bribe is rejected, mishap that the money is taken first, a major mishap that Portmanteau may call the gendarmes.

Task: To talk their way out: Routine.  Eloquence or Streetwise.  5 minutes.

THE VERNIY TORGOVETS

The next option is the Verniy Torgovets ( "Trusty Merchant") from the Russian flag line Cosmoflot.  It leaves on day seven and will reach Botany Bay soon enough to earn the reduced bonus of Lv2000 -- but is fairly expensive since a surcharge will be levied for converting the cargo bay to carry items more delicate than the titanium ore it brought to Tirane.  Astute characters may manage to haggle the price down from MLv1.7 to MLv1.6 by negotiating with the shipmaster, Captain Aleksandyr Solovyov.

The best approach is to fete the captain and his senior officers with genuine Russian vodka ( price Lv20 per bottle) and stress the importance of developing Russo-Australian trade:

Task: To negotiate a cheaper rate ( Unskilled): Difficult.  Determination.  20 minutes.
Referee: Reduce difficulty level by one if one of the characters speaks Russian or if they bring more than four bottles of vodka to the meeting.

THE MADAME ROSALIE

The final option is the French itinerant freighter, Madam Rosalie.  Slow and relatively cheap ( MLv1.4 for the 59.3 LY haul), it will get the wingships to Botany Bay, but without earning the characters any bonus.  It leaves on day ten.
 

DAY THREE: A VISITATION OF ANGELS

Once the wingships have been transit parked, the characters receive a visit from the trio from the auction.  The leader ( Maj. Denham) introduces himself as "a senior officer from a respected mercenary unit".  He says he has just spoken to their bankers and is in a position to buy the wingships for the full price paid, plus "more than a little something thrown in to sweeten the pot".  The truth, that the characters are but agents without the authority to sell, is treated as just a bargaining ploy.  The mercenary refuses to be specific about why he wants these particular wingships, and when it becomes clear no deal is in the offing, withdraws sourly, muttering "we'll see about that" and similar veiled warnings.

Major William Denham
Ruthless, arrogant, and efficient, Major Denham is the chief fixer of the Black Angels, granted responsibility for hunting down new work, acquiring useful equipment, and sometimes a little intelligence work.  He carries a Traylor 57 pistol under his jacket.  Treat him as an elite Ground Military NPC ( with skill selections suitable for a tanker) with a dash of Troubleshooter skills.
Motivation: Spade Queen: ruthless, stopping at nothing; Club Queen: stubborn.
 

THE BOX

At this point the players may be wondering what is so important about the wingships.  After all, a simple check through the database of upcoming auctions ( cost: Lv5) will reveal a similar shipment in only six weeks' time:

Task: To check database ( unskilled): Simple.  Computer.  5 minutes.

Task: To find black box ( Uncertain): Routine.  Electronics.  1 hour.

Task: To identify black box: Difficult.  Electronics.  10 minutes.

RUSSIANS AND WRITS

The characters are soon contacted by an official from the Russian embassy.  If they are at a hotel, he phones; otherwise he visits the park.  Maurois et Abelard gave him the addresses.

The official, Novikov, claims one of the wingships may have a faulty navigation computer and offers the services of a trained Russian technician.  It will not take much to get Novikov to admit the presence of the penaid.  He stresses his clear legal right to remove anything not listed on the bill of sale -- such as a piece of military-standard intruder spoofware.

The professional approach would be to accept the justice of the Russian claim, in which case a Russian engineer calls later in the day and removes the box.  Novikov demands absolute discretion, and offers a lump sum of Lv2000 for silence, though hard bargaining may inflate this:

Task: To inflate fee: Difficult.  Determination or Eloquence.  5 minutes.
Referee: Increase fee by Lv100 for every point the roll exceeds the necessary score.

Task: To remove the penaid safely ( Hazardous): Impossible.  Electronics.  1 hour.
Referee: A mishap indicates the wingship is damaged, a serious mishap also exposes the character to an explosion ( EP=2).

Task: To spot the trap: Routine.  Electronic.  Instant.

Evgeni Nikolaevich Novikov
Novikov is a typical junior diplomat from the Russian Foreign Service:  well-educated, able, and intensely aware that he needs an unblemished record to advance to the highest ranks.  His approach is businesslike and firm, but he begins to look rattled if the characters give him a hard time.
Motivation: Spade 7: he seeks a position of responsibility; Club 2: he is not intimidated by threats of violence.
 

DAY FOUR: AMBUSH AND KIDNAP

Whatever is arranged with the Russians, the Black Angels don't know about it and attempt a typically heavy-handed bid to get hold of the penaid, kidnapping one of the characters and demanding it as ransom.  If the characters themselves are standing guard shifts over the wingships, the Black Angels attempt to snatch someone at the transit park.  Otherwise they locate the PCs' hotel and make their move whenever they get an opportunity.

This can be handled in one of two ways.  If you want to ensure a dramatic combat finish, make the snatch a fait accompli.  Alternatively, you can play out the snatch attempt, with the possibility that it will fail and the action sequence be brought to a finish.

Fait Accompli

Just provide a reason why one of the characters ( or, even better, a prized NPC) is alone, and describe the buzz of a stunner from a darkened doorway, and the screech of a groundcar as it speeds away around a corner.  Then the others receive a phone call from Major Denham warning them that they had better get ready to hand over the black box, cutting off before they can reply.

Playing it out

To play out the kidnaping, arrange matters so that one character is apart from the rest, but not too far away -- reinforcements ( other characters, hired security guards, police) should arrive within a few minutes.  Examples range from sending one person out for some fast food to grabbing the one patrolling the transit park in the rain while the others stay under shelter.

The snatch will be made by four Black Angels:  one behind the wheel of a car, two with stun pistols, and Denham standing back with a Traylor 57 under his jacket.  The Black Angels are a tank unit; its men are not ideally suited for rough and tumble.  Denham is described above, his men are experienced Ground Military NPCs( with skill selections suitable for a tanker).

If they cannot make their snatch quickly, they withdraw rather that get caught in a proper brawl, but may make another attempt.  One note about the law in Provence Nouveau: although firearms certificates are easy to obtain for pistols and hunting weapons, the gendarmerie react with an extremely humorless attitude to those misusing such freedom.
 

SAVING THE DAY

If the snatch is successful, the characters must choose whether to contact the police or to handle things themselves.  In the former case, success is certain but slow.  A tipoff will alert the Black Angels after a few days of investigations and the victim will be left, unconscious but unharmed, on the outskirts of the city while they make their getaway.

But this may mean revealing the presence of the penaid and hence saying goodbye to the Russians' bonus.  Besides, PCs may well be in a more macho mood -- or desperately need the skills of the victim -- and take matters into their own hands.  The mercenaries are holed up in their hotel, which the players may already know.  Otherwise, there are a number of ways they may trace them, here are just some examples.  Although it is strictly unethical, Maurois et Abelard may provide the local address the Angels gave in registering for the auction:

Task: To persuade Abelard or Maurois: Difficult.  Eloquence.  10 minutes.

Task: To follow the car ( Hazardous): Routine.  Ground Vehicle.  3 minutes.
Referee: A minor mishap means the Angels spot the pursuit and try an ambush, a major one indicates a pile-up.

Task: To prepare a trace: Difficult.  Computer or Security Systems.  1 hour.

If the characters launch an attack on the hotel, they will readily see that it is a shady sort of place.  The concierge will tip off the Angels unless bribed ( at least Lv50) or threatened to silence.

Task: To bribe concierge ( Uncertain): Routine.  Streetwise.  1 minute.

Task: To threaten concierge ( Uncertain): Routine.  Determination.  1 minute.

Task: To spot route: Difficult.  Tactics or Intelligence.  1 minute.

Task: To kick down door: Difficult.  Strength.  Instant.

AFTERMATH

After all these tribulations, the characters are finally able to get the wingships on their way and deserve whatever fee they have earned.  They may also have won a reputation as able and reliable agents, and perhaps the enmity of the Black Angels.

If they took any payment in the form of AKO stock, they will have a good reason for continued interest in the consortium.  This could be a useful hook for future adventures.

They may, for example, be leaned on by a rival eager to acquire their shares as part of a hostile takeover.  AKO may face a prolonged whispering campaign, and, lest their share certificates devalue to so much wallpaper, the characters may investigate the source of the smears.

Anyway, the shares provide some way of anchoring the characters to their playing environment, to offset the usual tendency for characters to flit from adventure to adventure without putting down any sort of roots or developing long-standing associations outside the confines of a particular group or crew.

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