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FORWARD Three years ago Styrus IV, a Federation Colony, suffered an outbreak of Angheles Fever. The vaccine for the fever was provided by the Ligonians and they though the Fever had been beat. Instead, the disease mutated. Now Federation doctors try to find a cure for the mutated version but their lack of understanding of the vaccine hampers them. They need assistance from the Ligonians. The Ligonians are only too happy to assist their Federation neighbors. With some trade concessions, they would be ready to provide assistance. There are three Ligonians that will take the spotlight during this adventure: Hagon, Yareena, and Lutan. Hagon and Yareena rule the Ligonians as husband ("First One") and wife. They are not yet accustomed to dealing with the Federation so their trade demands are excessive. By Ligon culture, however, they are prevented from backing down. They become trapped by their inexperience and Code of Honor. Lutan, formerly Yareenas First One, is a metaphorical snake. He has hatched a plot to restore himself as Yareenas First One and earn the gratitude of both the Federation and the Ligonians. He had provided "under the table" information on the vaccine to Dr. Klymec, an Andorian doctor. He hoped that when the doctor would discover the cure and he would be free to take it. Yareena, meanwhile, will be kidnapped while on Starbase 14 by some of his own people. In the end, he would arrive with the actual cure and rescue Yareena. The first "hole" in his plan appeared when Dr. Klymec succumbed to the disease himself. Lutan began to plot. When he discovers that the negotiators bring a doctor to the conference, a plan comes to mind. CAMPAIGN NOTES Another critical part of the story is Lutan making off with the good doctor. In my series, the doctor has no hand-to-hand capabilities. If the doctor in your series is a Klingon-Borg commando that could easily mop the floor with Lutan, you might want to give him some more henchmen. CAPT DeSoto and LCDR Torres (My series NPC captain and first officer) can be replaced by your own command staff. One of the things that I forgot when putting this adventure together was the fact that Starbases have computers. My players didnt. Whenever they blew it on a knowledge skill, theyd ask the friendly Starfleet computer. Should your players have the same idea, simply replace the required knowledge based skill with Computer (Research). Id recommending keeping the Difficulty the same as the previous skills unless they put down some very specific (and correct) parameters. "Counting Coup" is yours. Have fun with it! PART I: INTRODUCTION Scene: Ready Room, U.S.S. Hood If the CMO is a player, Have him or her relay the information provided in Handout #1. If not it will be up to the Narrator to get the information put out. Once that is done, Captain DeSoto will again take the stage. He will announce that he will be conducting the negotiations with the Ligonians for their medical assistance in defeating this mutant strain of the Angheles Fever. He figures that if they were able to come up with a vaccine for the previous disease, they should be able to come up with a vaccine for the mutated version. He will choose the player characters to act as his diplomatic attachés for this assignment. To assist them, provide each player with Handouts #2 & #3. The Hood, in the meantime, will be assigned to enforce the quarantine around the planet. Most of the characters will be unequipped except for their communicators. The sole exception will be any characters from the security department who will carry Type II Phasers (for show). The Captain will also remind the characters to bring their dress uniforms for the welcoming ceremony later that day. Scene: Starbase 14 For the extent of this mission, each Away Team member has been provided with their own quarters on the Starbase. Let them get settled in. Once that is done, it is time to introduce the Ligonians. Scene: Docking Bay, Starbase 14
At this point, Captain DeSoto will introduce the Away Team. After the exchange of pleasantries, the ceremony will be over. Hagon will confess that the journey has tired Yareena and requests that they be escorted to their quarters. Starbase security personnel will do just that. Scene: About the Station At this point, play out Interlude #1. As the characters go about the station, have the characters make a Streetwise Test at Moderate (7) Difficulty. Whichever character scores the highest die roll and succeeds will notice Lutan spending a great deal of his time talking to starbase security personnel. A Culture (Ligonian) Test made at the same difficulty will reveal that Lutan talking to such people is below his station. PART II: THE NATURE OF POLITICS Scene: Meeting Room, Starbase 14 When playing out the negotiations, have Captain DeSoto almost plea for moderation to the Ligonian demands. Hagon remains steadfast. Lutan will remain cautiously neutral during the negotiations. If any of the characters are Betazoid and choose to scan any of them, have the player make a Receptive Telepathy Test at Challenging (10) Difficulty. A successful scan of Yareena or Hagon will reveal that they feel that they have made rather excessive demands but their Code of Honor refuses to allow them to back down. Scanning Lutan reveals that he knows of a "key" to curing the plague. Scene: CMOs Quarters He approaches the CMO with the fullest confidence. That evening two of his guards took control of the stations central communication terminal knocking out two of the guards. That done, they knocked out all base communication capabilities. Now that the CMO has no way of calling for assistance, he knows that he can make an offer that cannot be refused.
He will also insist on secrecy stating that if it was known that he was talking to him or her without knowledge of Hagon, it would tarnish his honor. If the CMO resists, he will attack in the form of a grab. Unless the CMO stated that he or she was standing ready for an attack, assume that the first attack is a surprise. Once the CMO is nabbed he will have his ship transport them to the site of the abandoned lab. After Lutans henchmen cut off the communication nodes, they take the phasers off the knocked out guards and move toward Yareenas quarters. They stun her guards and make off with her. The next morning, things will be in chaos. The starbase personnel are trying to get the communications systems on-line and the characters will notice that their CMO is gone. Just as things seem like they cant get any worse, Hagon will storm in and confront Captain DeSoto.
Things have just gone from bad to worse. Play out Interlude #2. PART III: CLIMAX Hagon did not make an idle threat. The Ligon "fleet" (actually a collection of tramp freighters with minor weaponry) will arrive. They will not take any overt action, only posture. The Hood is really in no state to help as illustrated in Interlude #2. Lutan, in the meantime has taken the CMO to an abandoned lab. It is cluttered with an assortment of instruments and equipment Also on the floor is a corpse of an Andorian.
He places an injector on the counter.
Lutan will shrug. He will also note that a small dose of the original vaccine is in one of the deceased doctors petri dishes. Discovering a cure for the mutated version of the Angheles Fever will require a series of tests. Between each of these tests, have the player make a Search Test made at Moderate (7) Difficulty. If successful, he or she will find another injector loaded with anesthetic. This could be critical in overcoming Lutan (see next page). Getting through the Doctors notes is the first hurdle. His notes are a mixture of medical jargon and Andorian slang. Understanding his notes will require a successful Medical Science Test made at Moderate (7) Difficulty. Or Life Science (Microbiology) Test at Challenging (10) Difficulty. If the character speaks Andorian, reduce the difficulty to Routine (4) and Moderate (7), respectively. The task will take about an hour; thirty minutes if the character scored a Dramatic Success. If Lutan sees progress, he will produce another dose. If not, a successful Persuasion or Charm Test made at Moderate (7) Difficulty will persuade him to give the CMO another dose anyway. Once that is done, successfully resequencing the Vaccine to counteract the mutant variant will require a successful Medical Science or Life Science (Microbiology) Test made at the previous Difficulties. It will also take an hour or thirty minutes, depending on the level of success. If the CMO comes up with the new vaccine, Lutan will demand that he be given the formula and notes. If that is done, Lutan will thank the doctor for his or her assistance then abandon him or her on the planet. This is the time for the doctor to make a stand against Lutan. If the Doctor attacks, assume that Lutan is surprised the first round of combat. Some of the other characters might be wondering where the good doctor is and want to search for him or her. Others might want to find Yareena and get this whole diplomatic mess straightened out. CAPT DeSoto will split the Away Team up with the greater bulk dedicated to finding Yareena. There is a certain chain of events known already by Starfleet Security. Getting this information from them will require an Administration (Starfleet) Test at Routine (4) Difficulty if the character is of the Command or Security Departments. Increase the Difficulty to Moderate (7) if the requesting character is from any other Department. Below are the known chain of events
The chain of events point a line directly to the Ligonians. Hagon will be outright uncooperative during the investigation. He suspects that Lutan was somehow but his Code of Honor forbids him to point out a fellow Ligonians to a collection of aliens. A Betazoid character making a Receptive Telepathy Test at Challenging (9) Difficulty can confirm this. Getting him to admit his suspicions of Lutan will require a Persuasion Test at Difficult (12) Difficulty. All this is assuming that the characters are capable of speaking to Lutan in the first place. After his initial accusation, he and his entourage retreated to their ship. Any character making a successful Law (International) or Diplomacy (International Law) Test at Routine (4) Difficulty will know that his ship is considered "Ligonian Soil". Getting in to see him require that the character go through the proper government channels. This will be a Challenging (10) Administration (Ligonian Government) Test. Tricoders are the key to solving these mysteries and they can be gotten from Starbase 14 with a Routine (4) Administration (Starfleet) Test. Have any character scanning for biological remnants make two Personal Equipment (Tricorder) Tests at Moderate (7) Difficulty. Success on the first test will reveal a strand of Yareenas hair. Success on the second test will reveal some drops of blood. The blood is from one of Lutans henchmen whom Yareena scratched in the midst of the struggle. With this information in hand, the Starbase can conduct an internal scan and determine Yareenas exact position. This trick will not work on the doctor owing to the fact that he or she is not on the station. Using the tricorder to scan for energy emissions, however, might yield a clue. A successful Personal Equipment (Tricorder) Test made at Challenging (10) Difficulty will detect the energy traces of a transporter using the Hyglenian Shift. A Systems Engineering (Transporter) Test made at Routine (4) Difficulty will reveal that this is not the type of transporter beam used by the Federation. A world Knowledge (Ligon II) Test made at Challenging (9) Difficulty will denote that the Ligonians do use such a transporter beam. Approaching Hagon with this information. Approaching Hagon with this information will require a Persuasion Test at Moderate (7) Difficulty. Getting him to do anything about it will require the same test at Challenging (10) Difficulty. This could be potentially used to "call in the cavalry" if things are not going well with the doctor. PART IV: RESOLUTION Yareena is being kept in an auxiliary room in the Starbase by two of Lutans henchmen. Both of the guards are armed with Ligonian Maces. Use the Ligonian Archetype provided in Handout #2. Under the skill "Primitive Weaponry" make their specialization the Ligonian Mace (natch). Yareena is gagged and bound to a chair. The room is large (about 20 meters by 20 meters) and the sole functional light in the room is right over Yareena, plunging the rest of room into darkness. Yareena is about 10 meters from the entrance. As characters approach her, have them make a Search Test at Moderate (8) Difficulty. Reduce the difficulty to Routine (5) if the characters state that they are watching her eyes. Lutans guards are in the shadows waiting to ambush the characters. If they succeeded in the aforementioned Search Test, they will note that her eyes flicker to two distinct points: one to their port (left) and one to their starboard (right). If the players state that they are preparing for an attack, they are not surprised. If they do not or failed the Search Test entirely, they are surprised by the guards. Once the guards have been overcome, the characters can free Yareena and earn her gratitude. Back on the planet, the doctor undoubtedly will want to get off the planet with her findings. If he or she overcame Lutan, she will note on his arm is a transporter beacon. Activating it will transport Lutan and anyone in close proximity back to the Ligonian ship. When Lutan and the doctor appear in the Ligonian transporter, the general reaction will be that of confusion. The only two people aware of Lutans plans were his two henchmen. Hagons suspicions, however, will be confirmed. He will see no choice but to return the doctor to his or her crew with his abject apologies. Honor be damned: he is now bogged down in damage control of a political nature. As Hagon escorts the doctor to her crew, run Interlude #3. In the end, if the doctor was successful, the Ligonians have no chips with which to bargain. Not only that, Hagon owes the characters a great debt for rescuing his wife from his own people. If the doctor was unsuccessful, Hagon providing Ligonian assistance to the colony is the least he could do to repay his debt to the characters. CAPT DeSoto will offer some token concessions to the Ligonians. If the characters ask about this later, he will reply that in diplomacy you never back an opponent into a corner. You always give him a way out to save face no matter what you have gained from him. By offering minor concessions, CAPT DeSoto hopes to solidify Federation relations with the Ligonians. Leaving Hagon with nothing can only make an implacable enemy of him and that is not the nature of diplomacy Each character gets one experience point for surviving the adventure. If they found a cure for the Angheles Fever variant and rescued Yareena, increase the award to two: three if they role-played well.
Characters should complete the adventure with no more than three points of Renown. INTERLUDE #1 Scene: Bridge, U.S.S. Hood "Sir," reported the Assistant Tactical Officer, "We have a ship leaving Styrus IV. No medical registry." "On screen. Open hailing frequencies," said LCDR Manuel Torres. "Hailing frequencies open," reported the Communications Officer. "Unidentified ship, this is Commander Torres of the U.S.S. Hood. You are leaving a quarantined planet. Return to the planet at once." "Hes maintaining his course," reported Tactical. "Lock onto him with a tractor beam and hold him in place." "Tractor Beam, aye," said Tactical then: "Tractor beam locked. Got him." LTJG Lian Tzu, the Operations Officer then spoke up. "Sir, I read the ship beginning to engage warp engines." "Sir," added LT Orfil Solis, the ships Flight Control Officer, "If they go warp while in a tractor beam, theyl tear themselves apart." "I know. Open-" began LCDR Torres. "-Hailing frequencies open," completed his Communications officer. "Unidentified ship, do not engage warp engines! You will cause a breach-!" Everyone on the bridge was blinded by the explosion. "How many people were on that vessel?" asked LCDR Torres. "Fifty-two, sir," reported Tactical. "Make a report of this incident to Starfleet," he ordered his Communications Officer as he slumped into the Captains chair. That was probably going to be the first of many ships trying to escape this quarantined world. How will he avoid another disaster like this? "Mierda." INTERLUDE #2 Scene: Bridge, U.S.S. Hood LCDR Torres looked over the bridge and sighed. They had five ships now caught in their tractor beam. LTJG Tzu was having a devil of a time finding power to back up such a great use of it. Well, Tractor Beam and Computers. He had nearly every terminal on the Bridge turned over to the Operations Department. While Tactical altered the tractor beam to "net" the ships, the entire Operations department spent their time overriding those ships systems to ensure that they couldnt try to go to warp. LCDR Torres couldnt help but feel for the captains of those ships. Their werent stupid. They werent suicidal. They were just desperate. Most of them probably didnt carry a trace of the fever. Still, the quarantine had to be enforced or else a carrier will get out and spread the disease to other worlds. "Sir," said the Tactical Officer, "We have five more ships." "Modify the tractor beam-" "-Sir, theyre not trying to leave the system, theyre trying to enter the system!" "¿Que?" asked Manuel in disbelief. "Sir, I read them to be Ligonian Corvettes." "Were they scheduled to be at the talks?" "No sir. Looks to me something went sour in there." "Hail them," CMDR Torres ordered his Communications Officer. "Hailing Frequencies open," "Ligonian Fleet, this is Commander Torres-" "I am Captain Kimba!," interrupted a large Ligonian appearing on his screen, "You have taken the wife to the First One of Ligon so we shall take your starbase!" LCDR Torres made a chopping motion with his hand to signal the Communications Officer to end the transmission then turned to his Tactical Officer. "Worst case scenario: what are our chances against them?" "Worst case? I figure wed wipe them out in less than a minute and our shields, in turn, will be reduced to ninety percent." "Sir," interrupted LTJG Tzu, "Thats assuming that we had the proper amount of power for the shields, and weapons. With all the power allocated to holding the other ships in place well be lucky to get off a phaser burst." "Is there anything we can cut off?" asked Torres. "Sir, if any other ships try to escape this planet, were going to have to evacuate personnel to shuttles so I can cut down on life support to support the tractor beam alone." LCDR Torres saw only one option left; one which he really hated. He turned to the Communications Officer. "Send out a call to Starfleet. Inform them that we need assistance." INTERLUDE #3 Scene: Operations Center, Starbase 14 CAPT DeSoto sat in the Operations Center with various officers from Starbase 14 arguing over how to handle the situation at hand. He ignored them. He was in conference with Admiral Quinn by way of Monitor. "Robert, I know your under a lot of strain right now but help will be coming soon." "Im glad to hear that, Admiral. Im sure Commander Torres has things in line out there." "Commander Torres put out the call for help in the first place: not an easy thing for a young field officer to do, but it was the right decision." CAPT DeSoto nodded. "Who are you sending?" "The Fearless." CAPT DeSotos eyes went wide. "Gregory-" "Captain!" boomed Hagon as he entered the room, "There are still matters to discuss." "Federation vessel has just come out of warp," announced the Stations Tactical Operations Officer. "On screen," ordered the Station Commander. Another Excelsior-class cruiser dropped out of warp firing a spread of photon torpedoes and phaser blasts that knocked the Ligonian ships out of formation. A voice came over the speaker. "This is Captain John Hawke of the U.S.S. Fearless. In deference to the negotiations I have suspended my policy on no warning shots. Ligonian ships, you have one minute to leave Federation space." Captain DeSoto sighed. This was not the victory he wanted. "Youre right, Hagon. We do have matters to discuss." NON-PLAYER CHARACTERS Captain Robert DeSoto Image: Starfleet captain with sad eyes and a receding
hairline. ATTRIBUTES SKILLS ADVANTAGES/DISADVANTAGES Courage: 5
Lieutenant Commander Manuel Torres Image: An unassuming Hispanic male of average height and
indeterminate age. NOTE: For a better picture of Torres, see ST:TNG Episode 1:
"Encounter at Farpoint (Part 1)." ATTRIBUTES SKILLS ADVANTAGES/DISADVANTAGES Courage: 5
Lutan Image: A bulky Ligonian male with a pleasant demeanor. (See ST:TNG
Episode 3 "Code of Honor") ATTRIBUTES SKILLS ADVANTAGES/DISADVANTAGES
Hagon Image: A average sized Ligonian male with a cautious demeanor.
(See ST:TNG Episode 3 "Code of Honor") ATTRIBUTES SKILLS ADVANTAGES/DISADVANTAGES
Yareena Image: A average sized Ligonian female with a noble demeanor.
(See ST:TNG Episode 3 "Code of Honor") ATTRIBUTES SKILLS ADVANTAGES/DISADVANTAGES
U.S.S. HOOD (NCC-42296) Class & Type: Excelsior-Class Cruiser Hull Characteristics HANDOUT #1 Angheles Fever Highlights:
HANDOUT #2 LIGONIAN HOMEWORLD SUGGESTED ATTRIBUTE & EDGE RATINGS SPECIAL OR UNIQUE ABILITIES SPECIAL OR UNIQUE SKILLS SIZE TRAITS COMMON TO THE SPECIES
STORY NOTES Counting Coup should not be confused with Challenges. Challenges involved with political decisions and are often to the death. Challenging your Counting Coup opponent is viewed as a sign of weakness. Their two primary weapons are the staff and Ligonian Mace. The staff, for game purposes can be treated like the club. The Ligonian Mace is a metal glove where the hand is covered by a large metal ball. At one end of the ball is a thick hook used for ensnarement. The ball is covered with spines coated with an akyloid poison causing death in seconds. Size: 40 cm The only combat maneuver in Ligonian Wrestling is Grab. DESCRIPTION HANDOUT #3 PLANETARY TEMPLATE Planet Name: Styris IV
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