Episode 2 – Shipwrecked

During the return from the Spratly Islands, the seas darken and the wind picks up. An EASY Intelligence + Knowledge / Sailing roll will realize a storm is coming up, but an AVERAGE roll knows that the they will be unable to avoid the center of the storm and that they are going to be in for a rough time.

As the storm strikes the violent pitching of the seas requires that everyone roll against a HARD Vitality + Willpower to not be sick from the constant pitching. Anyone with the Lightweight Complication, as will anyone that rolls a Botch on the above roll is going to be miserable and will have to be strapped to a hammock to ride out the storm. If they wish to perform any activity, they will have to make another HARD Vitality + Willpower roll with the standard two-step penalty to Vitality. Eventually, the storm passes and the ship can continue on their journey.

Riding out the storm is a HARD Complex Action of Intelligence + Pilot / Felucca with a time increment of two hours. The storm is so violent that each roll for the Complex Action has a HARD difficulty. A success will do a point of damage to the boat, an Extraordinary Success avoids all damage, a failure does d4 Basic damage and a Botch does d4 Wound damage with the lasting storm a full 24 hours. As the felucca will take more damage than it can sustain, sooner or later, the boat will begin to sink.

Once the felucca has sustained 8 Life Points the Crew will have to roll an AVERAGE Intelligence + Craft / Carpentry or Mechanical Engineering / Repair or a HARD Intelligence + Knowledge / Sailing roll to keep their boat afloat for another time increment. In addition, the storm has become so powerful that each time increment, every member of the Crew must roll an AVERAGE Agility + Athletics to not be blown overboard. Eventually, the repair rolls will fail and the felucca will begin to founder. However, a HARD Alertness + Perception / Hearing will detect breakers.

Unknown to the felucca’s Crew, they have been blown so far off course that they are nearing the Zamboanga Peninsula and are about to go aground. If the breakers were detected, the helmsman has one chance to roll a HARD Ship’s Agility + Pilot / Felucca to steer directly into the shore. If this roll fails, the Felucca founders beam on. Each member of the Crew will have to roll a Complex Action of Agility + Athletics / Swimming to reach the beach safely. The difficulty is based on whether the breakers were detected and the results of the helmsman’s last minute maneuver. If both the above rolls succeeded, the task is EASY, if only one succeeds, then the task is AVERAGE, and if both fail, the task is HARD. In any case the time increment is the same, one Combat Turn. Survivors will have to huddle in the partial shelter of a shallow cave until morning.

When dawn breaks, the storm will have passed and the survivors will now have to figure out a means to return to Davao, but they must stay alive first. Finding a defensible location is a HARD Intelligence + Perception / Tactics test. Building a shelter is a HARD Complex Action with each roll taking 30 minutes. If not completed in eight hours, the activity draws the attention of half a dozen feral Grik.

There are several sources of food in the jungle available the PCs. Hunting is a HARD Complex Action of Intelligence + Perception / Tracking with each roll taking 30 minutes. Success allows a standard attack roll. Failure spooks the target and scares it away. A Botch encounters a hungry Dimetrodon. Fishing or gathering edible plants is an AVERAGE Complex Action of Intelligence + Survival with each roll taking 30 minutes. Water is everywhere, but purifying the water is a HARD Complex Action of Intelligence + Survival with each roll taking 30 minutes.

A success in hunting, fishing or gathering obtains 2-5 pounds of food. A Extraordinary Success will locate 3-18 pounds. A success while looking for water will find enough for everyone to drink if it is purified, while an Extraordinary Success locates a source clean enough not to require any further treatment.

Faced with attempting to trek across 250 miles of jungle, the only other option is to build a raft. This is a HARD Complex Action of Intelligence + Craft / Carpentry with each roll taking two hours. Aside from the possibility of a Botch, complicating matters, there isn’t a limit on how long this task takes.

Due to the need to reach the wreck in order to treat the wounded, the survivors will have to use the raft to first recover the medical supplies and weapons left behind during the frantic escape. Reaching the wreck through the pounding tide and flasher fish is extremely dangerous. Lifting the raft into the water is an INCREDIBLE task of Strength + Athletics / Lifting, but up to six can make the attempt in direct support. As the raft enters the water, it takes a HARD Agility + Athletics / Dodge to board the raft ahead of the flasher fish attacks. If the roll is failed, it is treated as an attack roll doing basic damage + d2W. Negotiating the tides to reach the wreck is a HARD Intelligence + Pilot roll.

Shortly after returning to the shore, the survivors must make a HARD Alertness + Perception / Sight to spot a felucca’s sail. Unfortunately, the survivors are nearly invisible against the trackless jungle. In order to signal the felucca, it takes an AVERAGE Recall roll (Intelligence + Willpower) to remember that there are still fuel drums and flare gun on their wrecked ship.

The survivors will again have to brave the trip back to the wreck using the rules above. Once at the wreck, manhandling one of the fuel drum into place is a HEROIC Strength + Athletics / Lifting roll, but no more than two can directly support each other for the task. Hitting the drum with the flare gun is an AVERAGE task of Agility + Guns. Once the wreck bursts into flames, it creates a tower of black smoke visible for miles. The felucca turns out to be from Davao and out searching for the missing fueler. After a quick and happy reunion, the survivors sail back to a grand celebration of their return.

Feral Grik

Agility: d8, Strength: d10, Vitality: d10, Alertness: d8, Intelligence: d2, Willpower: d6; Life Points 20; Initiative d8 + d8

Traits: Tough as Nails (Major)

Skills: Athletics d6 / Dodge d8 / Jumping d8 / Running d10, Covert d6 / Stealth d10, Discipline d6, Melee Weapon Combat d6 / Claws d10 / Teeth d8, Perception d6 / Smell d8 / Tracking d8, Survival d6 / Jungle d10

Description: The baseline animal for the family of carnivores that gave rise to the apex-predator the Grik.

Herbivore

Hadrosaurus

Agility: d6, Strength: d10, Vitality: d12+d4, Alertness: d10, Intelligence: d2, Willpower: d4; Life Points 20; Initiative d6 + d10

Traits: Sharp Sense: Smell (minor), Coward (minor)

Skills: Athletics d6 / Dodge d12 / Jumping d10 / Running d12+d4, Covert d6 / Stealth d8, Melee Weapon Combat d6 / Claws d8, Perception d6 / Smell d10, Survival d6 / Jungle d10

Description: A large ‘duck-billed’ herbivore roughly 20’ long.

Carnivore

Pyroraptor

Agility: d10, Strength: d6, Vitality: d8, Alertness: d10, Intelligence: d2, Willpower: d8; Life Points 16; Initiative d10 + d10

Traits: Fightin’ Type (Major)

Skills: Athletics d6 / Dodge d10 / Running d10, Covert d6 / Stealth d10, Discipline d6 Concentration d8, Melee Weapon Combat d6 / Claws d10 / Teeth d10, Perception d6 / Tracking d8, Survival d6 / Jungle d8

Description: A swift bipedal 8’ hunter that is one of the many carnivores in the raptor genus.

Dimetrodon

Agility: d6, Strength: d10, Vitality: d12+d2, Alertness: d6, Intelligence: d2, Willpower: d6; Life Points 24; Initiative d6 + d10

Traits: Tough as Nails (Major)

Skills: Athletics d6 / Dodge d8 / Jumping d8 / Running d10, Covert d6 / Stealth d10, Discipline d6, Melee Weapon Combat d6 / Teeth d8, Perception d6 / Smell d8 / Tracking d8, Survival d6 / Jungle d10, Unarmed Combat d6 / Brawling d10

Description: A slower and more powerfully built predator, roughly 9’ long with a large ‘sail’ in the middle of its back.