Madman’s Gambit was a short introductory adventure published in the original Jovian Chronicles 1st edition rulebook, AKA the white book
. The adventure itself was very sketchy, but had some excellent material in it. As it wasn’t included in the 2nd edition white book, I’ve done a SEED for it. Like all my SEEDs, this is part of an alternate
Jovian Chronicles setting. There are no significant differences, but the events described here are not canon, and some material in later SEEDs (such as vehicle designs) may deviate significantly from the canon universe.
History
2209 was a turning point in the history of the Solar System. This was the year of the Odyssey Incident, the affair that set the entire finely-balanced arrangement of political compromises established since the reunification of Earth in 2184 swaying dangerously. The details of the incident are given in Odyssey SEED. Madman’s Gambit SEED deals with – or, more accurately, provides the gamemaster with an entry-point for a campaign dealing with – some of the many repercussions of that incident.
In the wake of the Battle of Elysee, the Agora, ruling body of the Jovian Confederation, implemented a plan to upgrade the JAF to respond to the threat presented by CEGA and make use of the lessons learned during the Odyssey affair. One of the primary components of the program, in addition to modernizing the JAF’s exo-armor designs (the Alpha
revisions of the Pathfinder, Retaliator, and Vindicator), was the development of a ship capable of rapid response to threats against the Confederation, to be classified as a strike carrier
. Strike carriers had to be capable of long-distance patrols and raids, transporting exo-armors and fighters to wherever they needed to go and providing them with fire-support when they arrived. The ship was also to serve as a support vessel for the Godsfire Refit, a redesign of the famous supercarrier that attempted to address the many problems with its design that had been exposed during the Battle of Elysee.
Blueprints for a strike carrier had already been drafted before the Battle of Elysee, but construction of the prototype had been a low priority, and had proceeded slowly. The post-battle influx of funds and personnel allowed the first hull to be finished within months.
On November 23rd, 2210, the JSS Valiant, name-ship for the Valiant-class strike carriers, was commissioned after completing its proving trials near the Vanguard Mountain shipyards of the Valiant Consortium, where it had been built. After a brief stop-over at Olympus to take on provisions and passengers, the ship departed on her maiden voyage, a journey that would be far more eventful than anyone anticipated…
Scenario
Designed as she is for long-distance patrols and deployments, the maiden voyage of the JSS Valiant is to take her and her mixed crew of green rookies and veterans deep into the inner Solar System. Starting with a long burn from Vanguard Mountain to shed velocity, the Valiant will drop down the gravity well, through the Belt, and into Martian orbit. There, the ship will offload the new Jovian ambassador to the Martian Republic, Anton Priam III, and his staff and take on the old ambassador and his staff. It will then break Martian orbit and accelerate again, looping around the sun outside the orbit of Mars as it climbs back up to Jupiter orbit and its final destination, Olympus. The ship also carries a contingent of reporters from ZONet and a few Jovian news networks, to cover the maiden voyage of this radical new class of warship.
Unfortunately, not all is as simple as the Agora or the ship’s crew might like. Devon Malachai, one of the Venusian masterminds behind the Odyssey, is not only still on the loose, but is in disgrace for his failure to cover up VenusBank’s involvement with the Odyssey and Operation Methuselah. Exiled from Venus and cut off from the Bank, Malachai is desperate to restore his standing by striking a blow against those responsible for foiling his schemes – the Jovian Confederation. While he has set a number of other plans already in motion, the Valiant is too tempting a target to pass up. Not only is it the pride of the Jovian fleet, but her Captain, Luther Columbus, has unknowingly crossed paths with Malachai in the not-so-distant past. The master manipulator has set up a number of schemes by which he hopes to destroy the Valiant and plunge the Confederation into war with CEGA.
Character Involvement
The simplest way to get PCs involved with this OCA is to make them pilots aboard the Valiant during its maiden voyage. Rookies, veterans, or a mix could be found aboard, and with two squadrons of three exo-armors or interceptors each aboard the ship, it fits well with most group sizes. If this is being played as part of an ongoing ‘SEED campaign’, the players could continue using their pilot (or reporter) characters from Odyssey SEED, which would provide yet another reason for Malachai’s attack.
This is, of course, not the only option. With over two hundred crewmen aboard, plus pilots and passengers, the Valiant has a decently-sized security detachment aboard. While not capable (or not as capable) of becoming involved in dramatic space battles as pilots, there’s still plenty for these characters to do aboard the Valiant, and other ways to involve them later in the adventure. Crewmen, especially bridge crew or exo-armor/interceptor technicians, can also get involved in the action, but are harder to work in than security forces.
There are also, surprisingly enough, a number of non-military options for players. One possibility is a reporter assigned to cover the maiden voyage of the Valiant. With Malachai involved, there will no doubt be many possibilities for digging up dirt or uncovering secret plots and conspiracies. Players could also be a member of Priam’s staff or security detail, but this is, again, harder to work in. In both cases, they could be kidnapped along with Priam towards the end of the adventure, and have to defeat Malachai aboard his ship.
Plot Points & NPCs
Captain Luther Columbus
Veteran/Spacer, pictured center of the top-left group on pp74 of the rulebook
Late of the JSS Daring of the 3rd JAF destroyer combat group, Captain Columbus is an experienced combat commander and officer. Columbus treats the crew of his ship, even one as large as the Valiant, like family, and will be understanding but stern about mistakes and foibles as long as he feels that the individual is trying earnestly to improve themselves. Well aware of the importance of his mission, Columbus is trying to put the JAF’s best foot forwards to the civilian officials and reporters aboard his ship for her maiden voyage. Although he is a brave soldier and not afraid of doing what’s necessary, Columbus will try to avoid combat and unnecessary bloodshed if at all possible, and expects all those under his command to do the same.
Columbus’ 3rd destroyer group served in the Battle of Elysee and, more recently, a skirmish with CEGA forces in the Belt near Ceres City. Although he does not know it, both engagements have earned him the enmity of Devon Malachai.
Chief Samuel Hectors
Expert/Spacer, depicted left of the top-left group on pp74 of the rulebook
An experienced NCO reassigned to the Valiant from Alpha Division, Hectors believes that the Battle of Elysee has proved once and for all that the proper use of the JAF is defending the Jovian homelands. As the head of the ship’s enlisted complement, Hectors is responsible for keeping everything running smoothly. Unlike the Captain, who can afford to be lenient, Hectors believes in running a very tight ship. Unfortunately, Malachai has, through his contacts still scattered throughout the JAF, convinced Hectors that the Valiant is part of a plan by the Agora to forcibly subjugate the inner Solar System, starting with the Martian Federation. Hectors has agreed to sabotage the ship’s engines after it passes through the Belt, to drop it into a lower orbit and place it on a return course for Olympus days earlier than it otherwise would have, missing Mars entirely in the process. He has also agreed to sabotage one of the life pods to launch as soon as it’s sealed, though the reason for this hasn’t been revealed to him. Little does he know what else the Venusian has planned…
Lieutenant Helena Juno
Specialist/Pilot, depicted right of the top-right group on pp74 of the rulebook.
Lieutenant Juno served with Captain Columbus in the 3rd destroyer division, as did her brother, who died in the skirmish with CEGA forces near Ceres City. She has, at Columbus’ recommendation, been promoted to head the Valiant’s compliment of combat craft. Juno is an experienced combat pilot, and has a swift temper and no patience for the antics of hot-shot rookies. Captain Columbus has requested that she keep her temper in check as much as possible, but there’s only so much she’ll put up with. Despite this, Juno is very loyal to her subordinates.
By default, the Valiant is assumed to carry one squadron each of Pathfinders (Tiger Flight) and Lancers (Shark Flight). Juno is equally skilled in piloting either, and should be used to fill out whichever squadron the players cannot. If the players have filled out both, she should be a shipboard flight control/tactical officer.
Sergeant Rosie Mora
Specialist/Technician, depicted left of the bottom-left group on pp74 of the rulebook.
The stereotypical technician, the Valiant’s head tech, Sergeant Mora, is obsessed with exo-armors and interceptors. She loves getting up to her elbows in the guts of a machine, and will enthusiastically jump in whenever one of her subordinates is doing something wrong. Normally cheerful and carefree, Mora’s attitude towards pilots is noticeably darker. After all, they’re the ones that take out her babies
and wear them down or, even worse, get them damaged. She’ll only be friendly to those that treat their machines with the same care and respect that she does, though she has yet to meet a pilot that can live up to her standards. Mora is good friends with Kat Leo, and her technicians serve as auxiliary security and damage control personnel in emergency situations.
Master Sergeant Katherine Kat
Leo
Expert/Soldier, depicted center of the bottom-left group on pp74 of the rulebook.
Another no-nonsense individual, Master Sergeant Leo is in charge of the Valiant’s security detachment. How she and the carefree Mora get along so well has puzzled many, but the fact remains that they do. Kat is determined to ensure that the Valiant presents the best face of the JAF to the Jovian public, and works with Chief Hectors to keep the crew in line and reign in the youthful enthusiasm of the newbies. Unfortunately, she believes that all pilots as untrustworthy hotshots. When Hectors sabotages the ship’s engines, this puts the Valiant’s pilot detachment at the top of her list of suspects.
Dr. Cassandra Pallis
Specialist/Medic, depicted right of the bottom-left group on pp74 of the rulebook.
The ship’s chief medical officer, Dr. Pallis is a kind person and long-time friend of Chief Hector. Many of the crew come to her for help with their personal problems in addition to injuries and illness, as she is very empathic and understanding and hates to see anyone hurt or suffering. Despite this, she has been somewhat distracted and distant lately, as Hectors has told her of his feelings, suspicions, and plans. She does not agree with his chosen course of action, but is loathe to betray the confidence of a friend without good cause.
Lea Nomaru
Curiousity/Reporter
A reporter from ZONet assigned to cover the maiden voyage of the JAF’s new carrier. Like all reporters, Nomaru is inquisitive and loves asking questions and poking her nose in where it doesn’t belong. Captain Columbus has warned her about causing trouble, but she is not known for following orders and would love to get some dramatic battle footage. Despite this, she respects the JAF and wants to try to make them look good, but the hint of treason and intrigue presented by Hectors’ sabotage might get the better of her. A story about Malachai’s plots, however, would interest her even more, and could be used to exonerate the crew in the eyes of the Solar System. (See Lt. Commander Adrian Fredricks and CEGA Wing 27, below)
Anton Priam III
Specialist/Official
The carefree and arrogant Anton Priam III is the scion of an important family in the Confederation. He is also a legendary diplomat, able to broker impossible deals. To reassert their interest in the continued existence of the Free Martian Republic, the Agora has dispatched Priam there, to serve as the Confederation’s primary ambassador. Priam enjoys mind games and often acts like a “typical” hedonistic Jovian to encourage others to underestimate him. He practices his negotiation and manipulation skills at every possible opportunity. One of Priam’s goals during the voyage is to seduce one of the ship’s pilots (of whatever gender!) and make sure everyone aboard knows of it, to help cement his reputation for his arrival on Mars. Despite his tendency towards theatrics, Priam has a cool head under fire and is excellent at making the best of a bad situation.
Marcus Royal
Expert/Supplier
Priam’s administrative assistant, the staid and proper Marcus Royal is constantly aggravated by the reckless and rude actions of his employer. Unfortunately, he’s not perceptive enough to see beyond Priam’s facade. He is, despite that, still very loyal, as he also knows just how effective Priam can be as an ambassador. Royal tends to take out this stress on the people around him, especially any members of the JAF. He sees the military as undisciplined, bloodthirsty fools, liable to cause a diplomatic incident or worse if left unsupervised. The Valiant’s encounters with the Black Cross and CEGA Wing 27 will almost certainly result in outbursts and accusations from Royal, as will Priam’s kidnapping by Malachai.
Captain Marlon Karribdys
Expert/Soldier, depicted center of the bottom-right group on pp75 of the rulebook.
An honorable pirate and captain of the SS Black Cross, a Bricriu corvette. Karribdys was once a gunnery officer aboard the CSS Oderta, but he and the rest of the crew mutinied and seized the ship when the captain ordered them to open fire on a Nomad mining habitat. They have staked out a region of the Belt as their own, and do their best to protect the Nomads that dwell there from outside influences. This often translates to attacking passing freighters and mining vessels flying Confederation or CEGA flags, both to drive away competition and to secure necessities. Like most pirates, Karribdys does his best to keep those aboard the ships he raids alive. Malachai has convinced Captain Karribdys that the Valiant is seeking to invade and subjugate the Belt. The players might be able to disabuse him of this notion without killing him, especially since killing him would leave the Nomads he protects substantially worse off.
Lt. Commander Adrian Fredricks
Specialist/Pilot, depicted left of the bottom-right group on pp75 of the rulebook.
Fredricks represents much of the worst of the CEGA Navy, just as Ranho Garand once represented its best. The commander of CEGA Flight 27, Fredricks is a glory hound and staunch Earth supremacist. He firmly believes in the inferiority of the colonies and colonists, and CEGA’s right to use military force to bring them back in line. After an incident with a Merchant Guild freighter that nearly proved disastrous, Fredricks has been reassigned to a safe
patrol route, well removed from any reasonable chance of an encounter with non-Earth vessels. This reassignment has left him champing at the bit, eager for action.
Devon Malachai
Specialist or Expert/Official, depicted left of the top-right group on pp75 of the rulebook.
The notorious Malachai has been a constant presence on the SolaPol ten most wanted
list since the Odyssey affair. The VenusBank administration has managed to dump much of the blame for that mishap squarely on Malachai’s head, forcing him into hiding. As a former HDF exo-armor pilot and VenusBank executive, Malachai is a skilled opponent both in and out of an exo-armor. In person, he is smooth and persuasive, but prone to fits of rage when things aren’t going his way.
Bitter and deranged, Malachai has turned his skill at manipulation against the Jovian Confederation in an attempt to redeem himself in the eyes of the Bank’s upper management. A master conspirator, Malachai always has plans-within-plans. Karribdys will be used to convince Hector of the information he’s received about the Valiant’s purpose. The sabotage will place the Valiant deep within CEGA space, where they will no doubt encounter a patrol. The ensuing confrontation will lead to Priam, as a standard precaution, being loaded into an escape pod, which just happens to have been booby-trapped. With the ambassador in his hands and the Valiant destroyed by CEGA forces, Malachai has no doubt that he can easily start a war between the two superpowers.
Encounter with The Black Cross
The SS Black Cross will attack the Valiant as soon as she passes into the belt. The ship carries four Syreens strapped to its hull (or two Defenders and two Explorers, or any mix of the above), piloted by average (skill 2) pilots, though Marlon Karribdys sometimes takes one out, and is significantly more skilled. The ship is no match for the Valiant in a stand-up fight, and the crew knows it, so they will employ hit-and-run tactics and radio warnings to attempt to drive the Valiant away
. The exo-armors will retreat as soon as they sustain a Heavy Damage result, and the Black Cross itself will retreat when any component is destroyed, suffers two Heavy Damage results, or the main hull suffers Heavy Damage. Captain Karribdys is a reasonable, honorable man and can be negotiated with by officers who show similar qualities. Those who show mercy to his men will be trusted more than those that kill indiscriminately.
Sabotage
However the encounter with the Black Cross is resolved, it convinces Hectors that his information is right – the Valiant is intended to attack the inner Solar System, and its maiden voyage was plotted so that it could eliminate an annoyance to Jovian mining companies. He sabotages the ship’s engines, extending the deceleration burn far longer than necessary. The crew must repair the engines before they drift too far into the inner Solar System, and Kat Leo is determined to catch the culprit, to show just how efficient and disciplined the JAF is. Unfortunately, her first suspects are the ship’s compliment of hot-shot, light-hearted pilots. In order to clear their names, the real culprit must be unearthed.
Whether or not the players actually uncover Hectors’ involvement, or simply manage to clear their names, is up to the GM. Once they do find out that he’s involved, then they’re faced with the thorny problem of what, exactly, they’re supposed to do about it, and how they can prove it. Despite his misguided actions, Hectors’ intentions are good, but he will not be disabused of his beliefs easily. More weight should be placed on this segment for non-pilot characters – perhaps Malachai has managed to slip some agents onboard who further muddy the trail.
Attack by CEGA Wing 27
The Valiant’s pass through the inner Solar System takes it across the patrol route of CEGA Wing 27. Desperate for glory and blinded by his hatred, Lt. Commander Fredricks assumes that the Valiant must be the vanguard of a Jovian invasion of Earth. Any Jovian craft this far into the solar system on legitimate business would have filed a flight plan weeks, if not months, in advance. He and his squadron – composed of two Tengu carriers with modular vehicle bays, carrying four Wraiths and four Wyverns – attack. This could be a single battle after the Sabotage subplot is complete (or in the middle of it), or spread across many skirmishes and interspersed with the Sabotage subplot. At some point during the fighting, Priam (and, optionally, Nomaru) should be loaded into the booby-trapped pod and launched, to be captured by a stealthed Ryu that Malachai has lying in wait.
It’s best to skip this encounter entirely for non-pilot types, or have it handled off-screen by the Valiant’s pilots.
The Final Showdown
The Ryu flees with the pod, taking it to Malachai’s ship, the Guinevere. A modified Inari cruiser, its panels hide four Heavy KKCs and two Light Missile Bays. Use standard stats from the Mechanical Catalog – heavy weapons are standardized across all warships – but add Concealed to all weapons, and assume that the mass of the rest of the ship has been reduced enough that the guns do not slow it. It also carries four top-of-the-line Ryus, one of which is piloted by Malachai himself. In order to prevent war, Priam must be retrieved before Malachai can arrange for Wing 27 to destroy
the Guinevere with Priam still aboard. While this will no doubt involve a dogfight with the Venusians, liberating Priam from the Guinevere will require a much more creative approach. It might even require the players to work together with those that were against them earlier – Leo, Royal, Hectors, and Nomaru.
Non-pilot characters can be difficult to integrate here. One obvious method of getting them involved, especially civilians, is to have them put in the escape pod with Priam and kidnapped by Malachai. Then, instead of defeating his pilots and finding a way into his ship, the players have to break out – or take control – from the inside. For PCs that are members of the Valiant’s security force, a few boarding pods could be added to the Valiant’s compliment. As the pilots fight off Malachai’s exo-armors, they could have to use these to board the Guinevere and rescue the hostages.
Timing & Objectives
Don’t rush the adventure, but try to keep up a steady pace. Remember that the whole voyage takes place over the course of a month and a half, so the players don’t have weeks of time to spare. At best, they have days, and time should get tighter as they approach the conclusion of the adventure.
Aftermath
Its shakedown cruise completed, albeit with slightly more excitement than originally planned, the Valiant returns to Olympus amidst great fanfare. There, the ship is put into the Olympus yards for refitting and repair before being dispatched on its next mission, whatever that may be. The lessons learned by the ship’s crew will be used to improve the design for the next three ships in the class.
While Malachai’s precise fate is in the hands of the GM and players, he is likely to escape, to continue his machinations against the Confederation. The incident has, however, given him a second focus for his hatred and bitterness – the JSS Valiant and her crew. Through its trials, the ship has likely become a source of pride for the Confederation. Destroying it will not only settle Malachai’s personal vendetta, but strike a blow against the Confederation itself, hopefully creating an opening for future ploys…
Jovian Chronicles is copyright Dream Pod 9. Material on this page is copyright 2005 Nicholas Pilon.
