PalmCon was back this year at the Palm Beach Convention center and so was FAR TREK!!!! I was invited to run games again at our local convention and was very excited to introduce the game to some new players.
I had 2 sessions that each ran about two and a half hours. I will now give you a highlight reel of both games. The Missions I used were pulled from the Star Trek Adventures Briefs: First Contacts PDF. This item is a free download from Modiphius Games, if interested the link is listed below.
https://modiphius.us/collections/star-trek-adventures-tabletop-rpg/products/star-trek-adventures-briefs-pdf-007-first-contacts-free-pdf
Session 1: First Contact - "Inner Workings"
The Starship Excalibur NCC-1705 finds itself in orbit around a Class L planet, where the crew are determining the viability of setting up a permanent mining facility. However the landing party have just made a remarkable discovery of ancient alien ruins that may be a clue to the planet being inhabited long ago.
Our Cast:
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| the ruins |
Mara, Andorian 1st Officer - played by Camille
Dr. Jeffrey Cole "Doc" - played by Greg
Lt. Turnover, Andorian Helmsman - played Joe
Ensign Ivor, Edoan Security - played by Jessy
As the landing party investigated the ancient alien ruins they were able to determine that similar ruins have been found in nearby star systems. Speculating these lost people were a star faring race, and hoping to discover more Commander Mara orders the party to scan the area for more remnants of the alien culture. Soon the area is rocked by seismic activity that is so intense the ground opens up and swallows the crew whole!!!
Some time later Mara regains consciousness and discovers she is trapped alone in a small cavern. Her communicator signal is being jammed by the high concentration of minerals in the rock. Meanwhile "Doc" has organized Ivor and Turnover and they set about searching for the Commander. The three crewmen find themselves in a larger natural cavern dimly lit by phosphorescent geodes. Using his tri-corder the Doctor discovers they are not alone in the cavern as multiple life forms are detected!!
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| trapped underground |
The commander gives up on her communicator and starts banging a rock in an SOS pattern in hopes that her crewmates will detect this and dig her out. Light tremors shake the cavern and remind the landing party that they are in a precarious situation. Within minutes the crew locate a tumble of rubble from which the clack-clack-clack of rock on rock is heard. The use of phasers is deemed to dangerous here and physical activity is used to begin digging the trapped commander out instead. It is of course at this time that the life forms reveal themselves!!!
A two meter long worm-like creature with lashing feelers that score rock slides from the darkness, and Lt. Turnover uses his phaser in an attempt to drive the thing off! However it takes multiple shots from both him and Ensign Ivor to make the creature retreat. At this same moment Mara comes face to face with another of the worms as it tunnels into the area where she is trapped, she uses her phaser as well but the tough crystal-like carapace of the creature seems to absorb the stunning blast. The worm lashes out with its feelers and tears into the flesh of the andorian officer.
Ivor finally moves a large rock and clears room enough to drag the commander out the crevice in which she was trapped, and Lt. Turnover fires a blast that disintegrates the rampaging creature at the order of Mara.
A quick scan and a Hypo-shot from the doctor gets the Commander back in action, and she asks for a status report. The party are currently trapped an unknown distance below the planets surface in a series of natural caverns. They are surrounded by roaming worm-like creatures that are very resistant to stun settings, but can be driven off by them if hit with concentrated fire. The composition of the glowing geodes combined with other ionic minerals naturally present in the area are making full use of the communicators and tri-corders sketchy at best. Turnover relates that he was able to get a lock on a nearby energy source of artificial origin to the north of their current position underground.
With little else to go the party begin to navigate the underground caverns heading for the energy source and avoiding any more worms!
It's not long before the party hear the sound of lasers being fired and the sounds of someone in distress. Hurrying along the tunnel they party come upon a pair of alien humanoids under attck by a trio of the worms! Setting phasers for heavy stun Ivor, Turnover and Mara are able to drive the creatures off and Dr. Cole administers first aid to the wounded and scared aliens.
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| meeting new friends |
Using their communicators and Tri-corder as a makeshift translator, the party are able to communicate with the aliens in very loose and broad terms. It seems the pair are headed to the "energy source" as well, and they seem to think the crew are members from other "Nodes" on a similar journey to make a request of the "Guardian" at the "Temple" to stop the tremors.
The group then travels the rest of the way together and soon they reach the source of the energy reading Lt. Turnover discovered earlier. The crew realize this is more than just a temple, it's a high tech geo-thermal power plant! Suddenly a figure emerges and the aliens drop to their knees and call out "Zakhus, Zakhus".
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| Zakhus reveals all. |
Communication is tough going but the party determine that Zakhus is a caretaker/priest of the "Temple" as was the guardian before him etc. The party come to realize that over generations the knowledge to actually run and maintain the power plant has been replaced by a rote system of cleaning and verbal praise. The power plant is in dire need of physical maintenance and resetting of its systems, the tremors are a direct result of the systems being on the verge of failure!! Just then a horde of worms bursts on the scene heading for the plant and the alien pilgrims aided by Ivor and turnover must hold them off! Inside Mara and the Dr. Cole are faced with the task of convincing Zakhus they are not committing sacrilege by attempting to reset the systems of the power plant before a diverted magma vent backs up in a catastrophic eruption destroying everything in a thousand kilometer radius!!!
In the end the crew was successful in saving the everyone, and convincing Zakhus that they were "Guardians" from a different "Node" and showed him old and forgotten tasks to better care for his "Temple". They were soon able to locate a tunnel to the surface and be beamed back aboard the USS Excalibur.
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| The Landing Party, Session 1. |
Next Post is Session 2 of FAR TREK at PalmCon 2022.
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