Mission 8 - Five Parsecs From Home

 This is a step-by-step breakdown of the eighth Campaign Turn and Mission in my Five Parsecs From Home campaign. 

This Turn my Crew is up against Distorts, which are basically transporter accidents with a bad attitude. They have a lot of tricks: teleporting about, moving through walls, coming back from the dead, etc. In theme with that, I also fought the battle twice. I'll explain why below.

Crew names below are often abbreviated G to M, as explained in: Crew Roster, which also tells you about my team and a bit about their ship. See also the Index of my Five Parsecs articles for a list of previous Missions and other content.

Pre-Battle:
1.1 Flee Invasion: - n/a
1.2 Decide Whether to Travel: - n/a
1.3 Starship Travel Event: - n/a
1.4 New World Arrival Steps: - n/a
1.5 Gain 1 story point if it's turn 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, etc. - Not this turn.

2.1 Upkeep and Ship Repairs: -
Crew Upkeep - 1 (because characters in sick bay don't count)    Ship Debt - 0    Ship Repairs - 0 (but I use the 1 free repair point per turn)    Medical Care - 0 (Leonidas is in Sick Bay, and I decide not to pay to speed up the process since I have excess crew)

2.2 Assign and Resolve Crew Tasks: -

• Find a Patron - Juniper    
• Train - Inshubur
• Trade - H'Xex   
  
• Recruit - none   
• Explore - The Kid   
  
• Track -  none 
  
• Repair Your Kit - Moreva   
  
• Decoy - GcViib

Inshubur interfaces with The Strange Brain of the Skulker that we recovered in Campaign Turn 7. Mechanically, it's the Teach-Bot that we got as Loot at the end of the previous Quest. So I roll 1d6 for her one-time XP boost, and get a 6! She already had 8 xp, so this bumps it up to 14. That's enough to get 2 upgrades of any sort she qualifies for (as a non-human, she can't buy a second point of Luck). I consider a Toughness and a Combat as that's probably what she needs the most, but decide instead that if the point is that this strange device modifies her brain or brings enlightenment, it's most thematic to have this be 2 advances both in Reactions.  

To match that, I added the following to her character description/story: "Update: After numerous missions, including 2 fights with K'Erin Outlaws of the B'Lilu Gang, she managed to get her hands on the Strange Brain of the Skulker, a remarkable positronic neural network of ancient origin. She hacked the interface, then meditated while jacked in to the Strange Brain, and it subtly altered her perception of time."

Other noteworthy results from Crew Tasks: 

H'Xex trades for Combat Armor with lots of blinking lights on it.

The Kid meets an Alien Merchant and trades our Stabilizer for his Documents that contain a  rumor. A stabilizer is a device you can put on a Heavy weapon to make it easier to move and fire. We don't have any heavy weapons, but we do have several really good non-heavy weapons, so it seemed a beneficial trade.

Moreva fixes the Damaged Communicator. (Side note: it's a little unclear in the rules if the Communicator is supposed to be carried into Battle by a specific character, or is a piece of shipboard equipment. I decide to envision it like a communication hub housed on the ship that facilitates contact between all the characters on an away mission.)

2.3 Determine Job Offers: -  I get 2 offers this turn, 1 from an existing Patron, and 1 from a new Potential Patron. Menrva Bail Bonds wants to secure a fugitive cultist, but are willing to wait a few turns for it. The Fellowship of Temporal Philosophers want us to secure a cellular sample of a weird creature called a Distort, and that's got a more urgent timeframe. Sounds like their facility might be overrun by the mutated accidents.

2.4 Assign Equipment: - Inshubur gets the new Unity Sight. GcViib picks up an Infantry Laser and a Blade, since he'll be filling in for Leonidas, who is in sick bay.

2.5 Resolve Rumors: - not this turn

2.6  Job Description: Fellowship of Temporal Philosophers wants us to get a cellular culture sample of a Distort. - Type: Private Organization.   Danger Pay: +1 Credit    Time Frame: Turn 8 only.   Active Benefits:  Persistent    Hazards & Conditions: None.


 
Battle:

Mission 8 Starting Positions

Notable Sights:  Priority target: Select a random enemy figure. Add +1 to their Toughness. If they are slain, gain 1D3 credits.

Objective:  Secure - You must end 2 consecutive rounds with crew within 2” of the center of the table. A crew member with an enemy within 6” of them does not count. Once this is achieved, you Win. If you drive off the opposition, you can complete the objective at your leisure.

Enemy Type: - Roving Threats: Subtype: Distorts

Numbers: +0    Panic: 0     Speed: 4”     Combat: +0     Tough: 4     AI: B     Weapons: Touch (Damage +3)

3 Distorts, 1 Distort Pack Leader, and 1 Distort Priority Target
Extra-dimensional horrors. It’s rumored they are the remnants of sapient beings who were lost in teleport accidents.

Stubborn: They ignore the first casualty of the battle when making a Morale check.

Shimmer: Move through terrain and solid obstacles. When slain, roll 1D6. On a 5-6, another Distort is placed 1D6” further away.

Deploy: The mission is at an underground facility where a research project got interrupted by Distorts warping in to the singularity experiment. The Distorts are deployed in 3 groupings deep within the facility. We ride two freight elevators down to the experiment level.

Round 1: - Everyone gets into position, including H'Xex taking point. The Distorts move up, and it's clear they're going reach us very quickly. I decide to interpret the Distort ability to move through terrain doesn't let them stop inside solid objects.

Situation at end of Round 2, version A

Round 2: - Inshubur, GcViib, and Juniper all go on overwatch. The first Distort melds through a computer panel and heads towards H'Xex. GcViib shoots at it and misses due to cover, but Inshubur kills it. Two more bust out of the wall at the other end of the chamber. J blasts the front one to bits (it's the priority target). It shimmers and reforms 4" back. Since this is the middle of enemy actions, I have that one rush forward as well. Moreva blasts it a moment later. 

Unfortunately, it spawns one... off the map, but I'm going allow it to move on next turn. The Kid shoots at the remaining one, but misses. H'Xex jumps across the room, and blasts it from point-blank.

Battle Event between Round 2 and 3 -  "Change of Plans", the last sentence of which is "Enemies with no ranged attacks are unaffected by this event." (As an aside, I must say that dislike that this Battle Event does nothing in this circumstance. In the analysis section below I will discuss a House-Rule that I plan to use if it comes up again.)

Round 3: - G, I and K go on snap fire. Distort comes out of the wall next to J, using her as cover so K can't make the shot. But Juniper gets lucky in the melee, and shoots it repeatedly with the gun in her cyberhand.

2 more burst out of the wall on the west. GcViib blasts the closer one, and Inshubur kills the pack leader.

That was way too easy.  Maybe, by forcing them to step out of the walls at the end of the movement, I'm missing what makes Distorts interesting and challenging in the first place. Luckily, I have pretty detailed notes turn by turn, so I rewind the game state to where it was at the time I made the decision on them waiting inside walls.

Round 1: - Again, we spread out a bit. H moves up. The enemy on the East side of the map stay inside solid wall at the end of their movement, so they get closer without drawing any fire. I decide to have the one in the middle do something similar, in that will shift laterally from its previous position to take better advantage of cover.

Round 2: - I'm starting over from the top of this round, so I reroll Initiative and everything. The same 3 characters end up on snap fire in the quick actions: G, I and J. The Distort in the middle heads towards H'Xex, and still can't reach him, but its new position has it in cover from all possible attackers. GcViib and Inshubur both miss it during snap fire.

Moreva steps out to the edge of the balcony, and blasts it to smithereens. Shimmering smithereens, which reform 2" further away. The Kid shoots the reformed version, and this time the death sticks.

Juniper steps backward in the elevator, and gets ready for the transdimensional beasts to rupture forth into our reality. H'Xex moves laterally across the research facility to prepare for the Eastern assault.

This is the map of the second play of the Mission. Note the "Fog Cloud".

Battle Event between Round 2 and 3 -   Fog cloud: A dense cloud of fog envelops the center of the table for the rest of the battle. It extends 6” in every direction and blocks all visibility past 2”. Some of this gunfire in the workshop has knocked over an alembic, the resulting chemical reaction immediately cuts the room in half with smoke.

Round 3: Only the Kid and Inshubur are on snap fire / overwatch. The Distorts advance but remain behind solid walls. The ones in the East erupt from the wall of the freight elevator. The Kid lases one. The other one struggles with Juniper for a bit, and she surprises it with the little friend in her cyberhand. It takes 2 stunned markers. For her action, Juniper presses the fight, and since the Distort has 2 stuns, she wins easily. With the situation on the East stabilized, H'Xex heads to the West end of the research lab.

Round 4: A good initiative roll sees all three PCs on the West end of the map ready to go in snap fire.  The remaining Distorts rush out of the wall at them. Inshubur vaporizes one of them. GcViib stuns the Pack Leader. H'Xex vaults over the work table to axe it, but it's faster and more distorted than it looks. H'Xex is hit hard, and only survives by his Luck. Because of the fog cloud and the reactor cutting the table in half, no one else can get shot in.

Battle Event between Round 4 and 5: Visibility Change. The big reactor cycles down, and everything gets so dark you can only see 8" away. The fog thins out, however, so it now takes 7" of fog to block LOS.

Round 5: - An even better initiative roll lets 5 PCs act before the Pack Leader. Inshubur blasts it. It would be game over, but there's a shimmer in the wall. GcViib and H'Xex sit on snap fire, just in case. The new Distort emerges next to H, positioned where G could theoretically shoot it too. H does though, and this time the mission really does end.

Analysis: - In the end, the results of both games are about the same. PCs win without any casualties. It does seem a little better earned the second time, as my victory is not because of arbitrarily assuming they can't stop inside a wall.

But was that really arbitrary? If my tabletop wasn't virtual, it would require some serious improvising with the rules to represent a monster inside a physical terrain feature like a wall. You'd either have to precariously balance some minis, or more likely replace minis with tokens. So while this second method seemed like the smarter thing for the NPCs to do, and is more satisfying in play, it's also clearly well outside the rules as written. The game intended the version in blue above, NOT the version in red.

Now, before I say this next bit, I want to first reiterate that I really enjoy Five Parsecs From Home. The battles are quick and exciting, and the campaign frame and events that happen during and between those battles is a ton of fun as well.

That said, I'm definitely finding that melee-only enemies, like Distorts or Large Bugs, don't feel very threatening. The Rampaging and Beast AIs are pretty easy to work around, baiting them out into the open by dropping your best melee fighter in an open area while the rest of the crew lines up to shoot. This seems worse in 3rd Ed than it was in 2nd Ed, because in 3rd Ed if you Dash you can't melee, but in 2nd Ed Dashing was how you initiated melee. Basically, this edition reduces the melee enemy's move by 2 in the turn of their actual assault, which can really leave them vulnerable. I've read that the first expansion for this edition will be including some alternate randomized AI variants that might help make foes of all types less predictable and exploitable, and some upgraded elite versions of enemies. I hope that releases soon.

I was also much happier with the Battle Event after Turn 2 of the second run of the mission. In particular, I don't like how "Change of Plans" does nothing when Melee-only Enemies roll it. I'm considering a house-rule for next time: If Change of Plans is rolled, all Melee-only Enemies immediately move a free full move closer to the nearest PC. That would not only make the event always meaningful, it would also potentially inject more danger and excitement. You might think you're lined up to pwn a monster with your whole crew shooting from 5" away without danger, only to have it unexpectedly nudge forward into charging range. 


Post-Battle:

4.1 Resolve Rival Status: - Distorts never become rivals

4.2 Resolve Patron Status: - Successful mission, so the Fellowship of Temporal Philosophers is added to my list of Patrons not just on Aceso Menrva Prime, but anywhere because they are Persistent.

4.3 Determine Quest Progress: - n/a

4.4 Get Paid and Benefits of Success: - 7 Credits total (3 for the mission, 1 for danger pay, and 3 for Priority Target)

4.5 Battlefield Finds: - I roll the "keep the weapons of 1 slain foe", which is one of the best results if you are fighting any enemy that actually uses weapons. Distorts don't.

4.6 Check for Invasion!: - n/a

4.7 Gather the Loot: - Combat Armor! That's a good roll.

4.8 Determine Injuries and Recovery: - no one was hurt

4.9 Experience and Character Upgrades:  G.0 H.3 I.4 J.3 K.4 L.0 M.3   - First Kill: I     Rookie: K

4.10 Invest in Advanced Training: - n/a

4.11 Purchase Items: - none

4.12 Campaign Event: - During routine maintenance, the gravitational adjuster got knocked out of alignment. Your ship suffers 1D6 points of Hull Point damage.  4 damage! So much for leaving the planet next Turn.

4.13 Character Event: - One of Moreva's old enemies shows up, causing trouble. They become a new Rival on this planet. Cultists called the Radiant Quiver of Resheph. Moreva used to be part of a splinter religious group, and when she left the compound, they were not happy about it.

4.14 Check for Galactic War Progress: -  n/a

4.15 Tick Story Clock: - 1 (So the Turn after next will see our next Story Track Mission)