Mongoose Traveller: Hard Times On The Solomani Rim, Session 2

Cast of Characters:
Baron Khoiayahelu (Aslan noble (Imperial rank is much greater than his Aslan standing) whose family's mismanagement of the family holdings has sent him travelling)
"Chrome" (Droyne Sport pilot who has been separated from his kin and finds new families among various merchant ships he works on)
Alex Cross, M.D. (Rough around the edges former technician who became a medical doctor)
Mihai Greenman (Perennial underdog. Former Marine, Arms Dealer, Broker, and Vagabond)

German Carrick (Incredibly popular baliset player who has been laying low the last couple of years)

Stanislas Kubik (Very old administrative assistant and steward)

The Story So Far:

While at Bailey, the crew of the Princess Diana were able to help out a soiled dove in distress, fighting off an overzealous fan of her fan dance act.

The Session:

After the brawl at the Sinner's Feast, the crew did a little bit of shopping with their newfound reward. The good Baron wrote some Aslan poetry (which you can read here) for Tania, a treat she absolutely adored from her burly old noble cat-protector. The rest of the crew did some shopping and got the ship ready for some passengers. The five poor souls who flew low passage were tucked into the stasis tubes and the first three passengers showed up no problem. The last passenger showed up in a decked out luxury grav car and negotiated with the crew to arrange passage for the grav car in return for his steward duties. Thus, Stanislas Kubik became the first employee of the Princess Di. He wowed passengers and crew members alike with his cooking skills as German regaled everyone with his Baliset skills.

After a week in jumpspace, the crew arrived in Mercy. Just as it was being raided by the Solomani. Chrome's deft piloting allowed the Princess Diana to quickly avoid the crossfire as Imperial Missile Fighters pursued the fleeing Solomani Raid Cruisers. Zipping away from the conflict, the Solomani were eventually driven out of the system, with one Raid Cruiser being boarded by marines from the Imperial Fleet Carrier Donovan Trent. The fighters from that carrier took notice of the Princess Di and sent over a squad of marines to make sure that the Far Trader was legitimate. After a routine inspection, the Princess Diana was cleared to land on Mercy.

As the passengers disembarked, three things of note happened. First, one of the low passengers was unable to be revived by the good Dr. Cross. One out of five, while higher than average, is still okay. Second, Stanislas was offered a full time job as ship steward and grav car driver. Third, a passenger named Rhonda Willet approached German with a proposition (just not the kind he got when he was on tour back in the day).

It seemed that a neighbor had been creeping Rhonda out. When the Princess Di jumped into system, she received a message from her landlord noting that this neighbor had been very interested in her return. The fact that he is a convicted sex offender only heightened her anxiety. All she wanted was the crew to check out her apartment ahead of time and make sure he wasn't sitting in the closed with a knife or anything.

Never one to shirk away from chivalry, the Baron accepted the task and the whole party went to investigate. German noticed someone spying on them from nearby--likely the sex offender. Upon inspection, it turned out that someone had been in the house while she was gone. Some ideas of vigilante justice were floated, but cooler head prevailed. The police were called and an investigation was underway.

With a little more money in their pockets, Chrome took the Princess Di to a nearby gas giant to refuel as Mihai negotiated some cargo (a few tons of Magnetite Ore and Prepackaged Ramen Bowls) and passengers (a few low-berth souls desperate to get away from the warzone). At that point we called it a night.

What I learned:

• Players can have fun without a single combat.
• The subsystems in the game are both numerous very complex and I need to get smarter about them, particularly the trade rules governing everything from freight, passengers, speculative cargo, and now salvage and mining operations.
• Prestaging a lot of the trade information, just waiting for the dice rolls was useful. I didn't include all of the information I needed, though, so it was a good learning experience.
• We're getting more comfortable with the Mongoose rules. I like them.