Mason Geddes is used to a life of being a solo operator, behind enemy lines. Collecting intel, tracking high value targets and causing a touch of mayhem on the side. Living outdoors and surviving for weeks at a time where most people couldn’t survive a night is Masons version of down time.
However, with current hostilities hotting up, Management has decided to pair Geddes with another operator.
That person is
Diesel. No first or last name, Just Diesel. For the most part Diesel is happy to let those around him believe he is a mechanic - hence the single name reference. But in reality Diesel has two outstanding skill sets. One, he is a hand to hand and close fighting expert. And secondly he has a friendly outgoing nature that has seen him cultivate personal contacts wherever he has travelled. This people skills combined with his specialist operator skills are why he has been paired up with Geddes. Their strengths and weaknesses compliment each other.
Together, they should have created a great two-man team. However there introduction did not go well, a fight ensured and a frosty beginning to their relationship began (
Diesel failed a social conflict role to determine how their relationship starts. Then Diesel failed his push roll!). On the plus side, Geddes largest concern was whether Diesel could handle himself, and in the ensuring fist fight Geddes learned the hard way that he can. Onto new beginnings.
The new two person unit was instructed to cross the border and investigate new infrastructure being built 15 miles from the make shift fence line that delineated the two warring sides. The fence line itself was no longer the robust protective defence system it was intended to be. Today, it was breached in many places. In fact every couple of hundred meters or so there were large holes, enough to drive convoys of vehicles through.
Rumours were that both sides had heavily mined the demarkation line to account for the holes in the fence. How true these stories are, is not clear.
While full scale war has yet to break out, most fear it is not far away. Cold wars and hot wars are in many ways easy to operate in. Black and white. This grey war presented unique challenges.
Geddes and Diesel were in country preparing to cross the border and get eyes on new infrastructure being built. A contact only semi-known to Diesel has arranged a meeting to provide necessary equipment for the op.
Diesel warmly greets their new friend. Pleasantries are exchanged before getting down to business. Diesel has taken the lead, and is doing all the talking. Geddes stands an uncomfortable distance apart. Too far away to be in the conversation, but too close that he remains conspicuous.
Fortunately Diesels negotiations this time go as well as advertised. The contact has brought the necessary equipment which includes a handful of fragmentation grenades, a white phosphorus grenade, 2 x smoke grenades and 2 x claymore mines. As a bonus they are offered an Armburst anti take weapon. Diesel gives Geddes a look “
do we want this?”.
Geddes makes an exaggerated shrug with his palms up “
Of course we’ll take it!”.
The exchange has gone well. The contact accepts payment and offers his latest intel on where to cross the border. Diesel suggests that their work does not involve crossing the border, but what else would these two be doing here? And needing this kind of equipment?
Nevertheless, Diesel listens to where a successful crossing recently took place. Yes, the hole in the fence was abut 300m wide. “
But stick to the wheel marks, there are many mines there but the vehicles have left an obvious trail through the minefield that should be safe.
As a solo referee i am trying to include more iPC and NC interactions. This will mean more social conflict situations. The above negotiation for starting kit included opposed rolls between Diesel and the contact. Diesel had a +1 for his negotiating specialy, +1 because he imposed no additional cost on the contact and a -1 because Diesel had some difficult/valuable preferences he wanted met.
I created a small matrix to help me decide how the negations went.- Failure meant negotiations stalled and no change took place.
- one success would pistols and a SMG available.
- 2 successes would make SMGs available and 50% chance of a LMG.
- 3 successes would mean the PCs could choose starting gera and inclusion of an AT weapon which ended up being the case, and an armbusrt was choosen due to low weight and being single use (ie not overly powerful).
I have created a 4 stage solo mission that i am playing through.
For each stage i have a set of tables (rumours, moods, radio chatter) and a selection of encounters that could come from the 52 card playing encounters or my own created self-prepared encounters. So even sitting here now as the Ref, I do not know where the story line will go or what the outcomes will be.
Next up is the infiltration stage.