STALKER7

A SCRAPJACKS DEMO AAR. PART ONE

Occasional Tom dropped by the CCWC game room on Friday to try a short demonstration game of Scrapjacks. His four-person crew boarded a derelict bulk hauler, the ISP Kuśala, and swept through two sections, aiming to scrounge up some loot as they got their ‘space legs’ and settled into a new vocation as deep space salvagers.

A simple, abbreviated layout for their tutorial run: two sections, both open bays with no interior walls or rooms. Four Points of Interest and one minor Objective in each section. All locations have generic salvage as well as useful items.

MHU ONE – BREACH

Scrapjacks is played in a series of 12″ x 12″ sections called MHUs, or ‘Mews’, which is short for Modular Habitation Units. These are mass-produced, basic life-support shells come with integrated link-ports and power couplings, and they form the backbone of every ship, shuttle, and station in Colonial Space. Call it ‘boring and unimaginative’ or ‘efficient compatibility‘, you board any facility or vessel in the breadth of human space, it’s 99.9% likely you’ll be in a MHU.

Each MHU automatically seals in the event of damage, intruders, or shutdown, making each one a separate, self-contained environment. Some intact, some not. Exactly how not-intact is determined each time a crew breaches the bulkhead and enters a MHU.

In the Breach phase, Tom’s crew rolls to determine that MHU’s Objective – retrieve a log with the location of a hidden cache – as well as the module’s Condition – Partially Flooded.

The data log is on the far side of the room near the exit bulkhead, and there’s a knee-deep slurry of hydraulic fluid and gray water that’ll slow movement. Not great – but not bad for their first time. The crew passes their reaction roll, then advances into the MHU.

AIRCHARGE

Those green glass stones on the left represent the crew’s supply of Aircharge – a term for the most valuable resources in outer space: oxygen and power. Aircharge is used – deducted – as they move, work, and fight through the wreckage. Scrapjacks may need to search for loot but it always pays to keep an eye on their levels.

SWEEP AND HITCH

Tom’s crew fans out. The Rigger finds an access panel and opens the drains. Normal movement restored. The rest of them begin to clear the POI, prying away crumpled panels and hot-fixing damaged circuits to pop cabinets, crates, and lockers. They turn up a few useful items and some meager salvage. (this is the first room on the first level, after all)

They finish their activation. Time to see if the job runs smooth or if there’s a Hitch – which there usually is because this is deep space and everything doesn’t want you here.

A quick roll determines there’s a sudden bloom of Void Mold: a strange, caustic rot that affects deep space hulls and structures. Fast-acting, aggressive, it appears suddenly, drawn to heat and light. The Rigger and Torch see it in time, but the Patch and Yard Dog don’t move fast enough. One wound each.

SWEEP AND HITCH TWO

A cooperative/solo game, activation alternates between the Scrapjack players and the Threats until the crew exits the MHU. Occasional Tom has his guys heal up and keep moving. More POI cleared means more items and salvage.

With the Torch at the exit bulkhead, and both the Patch and Rigger tied up at the last POIs, the Yard Dog heads to the Objective. Delicate salvage and retrieval is not really his skill set, but he figures he can handle it.

Nope. And a swarm of rogue Work Droids pops out of floor panels on the far side of the room. If it wasn’t for bad luck, some people would have no luck at all.

WHEN PUSH COMES TO SHOTGUN

The work droids swarm three of the four Scrapjacks and all of a sudden the Big Empty feels uncomfortably crowded. Lucky for the Torch, he’s out of reach, busy at the exit airlock as he overrides the door code. However, the Rigger and the Patch are stuck and both get injured by snips and saws, pneumatic hammers and blowtorches. The Yard Dog’s slightly up-armored EVA suit protects him from injury.

When the Scrapjacks activate, they realize they need to think smart and fast if they want to get out before the next Hitch brings more trouble. “Exit’s open,” the Torch shouts on the comm, then ducks into the airlock.

Bleeding, the Patch still manages to draw his Coil Pistol and take down the droid that was trying to sever his legs, then limps to the exit, following the Torch. The injured Rigger fumbles his melee attack. Rather than stick around, he opts to disengage and Free Moves to the exit bulkhead as well.

That leaves the Yard Dog. He racks the bang on his 10-Gauge Riot gun and decides to earn his pay. He blasts one droid apart, then spends another Aircharge to Push and reactivate, putting a big hole in the second droid. Still at the Objective and riding high on the kill count, he succeeds in downloading the cache data, then Free Moves himself out of the section.

The door hisses shut behind him. The airlock begins to cycle. The first MHU is clear.

Adding the value of the hidden cache, Tom’s crew has gathered a fair amount of salvage, plus a handful of useful items. Not too shabby. And there’s another MHU just beyond the next bulkhead.

However, their Aircharge supply now stands at seven. The current injuries will use up the last of their Med Kits. That’s not great.

They might find more in the next MHU. They might not. No way to be sure.

In the airlock between compartments, it’s decision time; they can call for extraction – or press on.

What will they do?

*** END TRANSMISSION ***