(This got absolutely no play in the GM section so I'm moving it here...)
Ok, I'm not thick or anything, but I'm having a bit of a learning curve with the RT Endeavour system and how to apply it to adventures. I'm running our first RT game in about 3 weeks so I thought I'd ask you lot for a little help in setting up my first one. Here's a rough outline of what I have so far...
MONKEY BUSINESS (Greater Endeavour +3 PF)
Introductory Scene: Every Which Way But Loose
The RT and his crew are on a shopping trip on a planet or starbase (allow each player to make a single acquisition roll). After they have made or attempted to make their purchases they make their way back to their ship. At the loading dock, they are surprised by a group of Jokaero who arrive in a rickety looking spheroid made of random parts. The Jokaero raid the place, grabbing whatever equipment they can get their hands on (possibly something the Players just bought), hop back into their 'ship' and escape into space.
Objective 1: Track the Jokaero (Exploration, Trade 400 points)
An enterprising Rogue Trader Captain will see the profit potential in tracking the extremely rare orange furred hoodlums to their 'home,' capturing them and then selling them to an interested party, like the Adeptus Mechanicus, Arbites lookign to prevent future raids or a criminal organization that might want some of the advanced Jokaero tech. There are many possible activities the players may pursue in their search for the Jokaero...
1. Navigator Tracks In The Stars - The quickest way to find the beggars, but the RT must get the Navigator on their trail immediately. Each successful Tracking Roll nets 50 Achievement Points towards the objective.
2. Triangulation - The Jokaero have been very active over the last year and have raided numerous bases, planets and even ships in a seemingly random pattern. If the PCs visit each site and gather enough information to take a bearing (using any Investigation Skills), they can gradually build up a picture of the raids and roughly triangulate their center with a successful Navigation roll. Each successful Investigation roll is worth 50 Achievment Points. A successful Navigation roll is worth 100 points.
3. Hire Kroot - Around one of the raided planets is a Kroot Warpsphere. If the players don't shoot or run and try to negotiate, they may make a Rare Acquisition Test to acquire the services of one of their number for the hunt.
4. Preparing a holding area - If the players are smart, they'll have a special holding area fixed up to keep the technical savants from escaping and running amuck on the ship. They must decide on just how much their willing to spend on it by determining the level of difficulty for the Acquisition test.
5. Other creative uses of Exploration or Trade skills - worth 25, 50 or 100 points each.
6. Others?
Objective 2: Capture the Jokaero (Exploration, Military, 400 points)
The Jokaero have made a semi-permanent home on a jungle world on which they are worshipped as holy by the primitive lizard people that live there. These aliens will not allow the PCs to just up and take the Jokaero. Shelling the snot out of their cities won't help either, as the Jokaero will simply flee in their 'ship.' Possible activites include...
1. Scouting - By sending a small team out to find the Jokaero (typically just a dozen or so people, including the PCs and a few red shirts to get eaten by jungle beasts) the players can earn 25 points towards the objective. If they hired the Kroot from Objective 1, scouting is worth 50 Achievement.
2. Sabotaging the 'Ship' - Sabotaging the ship just before making a grab for the Jokaero will keep them from escaping and add 50 Achievent Points towards the Objective.
3. Each Jokaero Captured - 100 Achievement Points alive, 25 dead.
4. Capturing a 'Slann' - The leaders of the Lizard Men are even more sacred than the Jokaero and a Xeno-Biologist in the group might see their value as a potential link to the legendary 'Old Ones,' the Slann, and want to take a specimen back to sell as well. This will be very hard to do, as they are powerful psychics with a city of fanatically devoted followers to protect them and will probably require a Mass Combat action to capture. Bring back a live one, however, nets the RT and his crew 300 Achievment Points. Even a dead one would be worth 100 Achievment Points, as even the corpse of one of these 'legends' would be of immense value in a number of scientific circles.
5. Other creative uses of the Exploration or Military skills - worth 25, 50 or 100 points each.
Objective 3: Transport and Sell the Jokaero (Trade, Criminal 400 Points)
The hardest part is keeping the Jokaero from escaping, considering their great strength, agility and prodigious technical skills. And then you have to find the right buyer. Things that can happen...
1. If one of the Jokero can make a Dex roll with a Difficulty modifier equal to the difficulty of of the Acquiisiton test used to build the holdign area, it will have found a way to get loose and run amuck on the ship, stealing equipment, building weapons and other devices and generally causing trouble until it is recaptured or killed. And Emperor forbid it gets to the engines. Lose 75 Achievement for each one killed and lose an additional 50 Achievement points for any serious damage it causes to the ship. Capturing it alive and with minimal damage is worth 100 Achievement Points.
2. Fight Off Claim Jumpers - A rivel RT, Pirates or something else tries to steal your precious cargo. Fight them off and gain 100 Achievement points.
3. Sell to the Adeptus Mechanicus - Worth 100 Points.
4. Other stuff - Here I'm stumped for things to hand out Achievment Points for.
So, there you go. That's the gist of it so far. I'm of the opinion that trying to get more detailed than this hurts the Endeavour system and that providing general goals, creatures stats and basic description and then playing the rest by ear is the way to go. I'd appreciate any pointers on distributing the Objective or Achievement points better, ways to fill in the material with more options and general advice from those who have run an Endeavour already. In other words, how would you set this up and run it?
One thing I'm curious about in Lure of the Expanse is that if you look at the Endeavour Record Sheet they posted up in a DD a while back, there are actually ways to get
negative
achievement points. A lot of them, apparently. I could see Killing one of the Jokaero or the Slann as a potentital negative, but since the bodies would at least be worth something for dissection purposes, I just reduced the award to 25 AP instead of 100 for the live one. How else do you lot think I can offer up negative points?