The Gaming Den

Look for something to use against him. I’m pretty sure this guy will rip us to pieces in melee.

I vote to look around for something to use against him, as that is something that any adventurer in a gamebook adventure should do.

Look around, it even says there's loads of stuff around.

Your heart leaps as you spot a harness fixed to the wall right next to you. Hurriedly, you strap yourself in and then reach for the handle to open the cargo doors. Omoz slows, visibly worried.

‘Bon voyage!’ you laugh and throw the switch.

The cargo doors creak slowly open. Immediately all the air is sucked from the docking bay and crates tumble as they are sucked into the intense vacuum. Omoz stares at you hopelessly as his talons dig into the metal of the ship, trying to hang on. Your harness is strained to near breaking point but it holds. Suddenly, there is a clink as Omoz’s talons snap from his fingers and the hateful Trawg is sucked out into the blackness of space, his departing scream lost to the roar of the vacuum. You snap the lever back into place and breathe a sigh of relief as the doors close and the docking bay returns to normal.

You sink to your knees, letting out a hysterical laugh. You’ve done it! Omoz is no more. You are safe and the galaxy is rid of a terrible menace. Composing yourself, you wander round the ship looking for any survivors. You find all the crew have been murdered, many left in sadistic poses. Saddened that you unwittingly caused the deaths of so many, you head for the bridge and pilot the ship to Melos-8, home to a sizeable Confederation garrison. You can’t help but wonder what they’ll make of your report.

You stand facing the grey haired and battle-hardened war heroes who make up the military tribunal who sit in judgement of your actions on Karthran-6. Upon arriving on Melos-8 you were immediately put under arrest and ordered to stand trial. You have told the tribunal everything. You know if they were to prove you were lying you would most likely spend the rest of your life in jail. The members of the tribunal whisper amongst themselves, occasionally turning to look at you with gazes of contempt. Eventually they reach an agreement. The chair turns to you and in a strong voice declares that the tribunal has reached its conclusion.

You have 5 or fewer Villainy points.

‘Although some of your actions could be deemed inappropriate,’ rumbles the chair, ‘we understand that you were placed in a unique situation where you could rely on nothing but your own survival skills. For that reason any charges against you are to be dismissed and this tribunal thanks you for ending the menace that is Omoz.’

You whoop for joy. You have survived with your career and honour intact whilst freeing the galaxy from the villainous Trawg forever. Well done! You just hope your next mission is a bit more straightforward...

Followup post to follow; in the meantime, feel free to ask any questions.

There was an entire other path to getting money, as well as the mines: if you had fought the security robot early, the robber would have introduced you to a mobster who would have given you various jobs. A lot of them paid better than a day in the mine, but nearly all of them came with a Villainy gain. And if your Villainy was 6 or higher at the end, the judgment of the court would be that the way you had behaved couldn't be justified and now you were getting 10 years hard labor.

To my astonishment, there is actually a check for "do you have two laser pistols?": it was at the very end. If you had chosen to fight him, you would have found out that he had Skill 13, Stamina 16. But you would also be able to shoot him for 1d6 damage before the fight if you had a laser pistol--or 2d6 damage if you had two laser pistols.

After all six possible events take place at the mine, each day you work there you check your TRAIL. If you fail, Omoz finds you there and you can potentially win by blowing him up with a grenade...if you worked for the mobster long enough, and got the right random missions, to get a grenade. If you succeed the TRAIL check and Omoz doesn't show up, your TRAIL increases by 1.

As you saw, if you're caught in the cheap apartment you just die and if you're caught in the squat you escape, but need to Test your Luck to see if you take 8 damage. If you're caught a second time in the squat, you die.

The expensive apartment costs 25 credits a day; that is the entirety of its downside. If you're caught while in the expensive apartment, you're awakened by the sound of Omoz slaughtering his way through the building's security. You can try to help them (auto-death) or escape out the window. If you choose the latter, your residence is changed to a squat and you proceed from there as if you had been in a squat the whole time.

Choosing to report the gas leak, in addition to the TRAIL gain, gets you a codeword that means that the next time you come to work, two of your coworkers will try to beat you up (or more than beat you up, since while they'll retreat if reduced to 2 Stamina each, there is no indication that, if they win the fight, they'll stop before you're dead).

Thanks for hosting. Are the Mercanii crewmen booby trapped?

Beroli wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 29, 2022 7:27 pm

To my astonishment, there is actually a check for "do you have two laser pistols?": it was at the very end. If you had chosen to fight him, you would have found out that he had Skill 13, Stamina 16. But you would also be able to shoot him for 1d6 damage before the fight if you had a laser pistol--or 2d6 damage if you had two laser pistols.

Huh, so he's killable in a fair fight? Ok, he's got really good stats, but still not how the description had me imagine him.

I appreciate the thanks.

Yes, they do in fact blow up for 10 Stamina damage if you touch them.

Hah, booby trapped in the exact way we expected, cools.

Thank you for hosting, Beroli.