Nov Elysia Point Crawl

In my previous post, I identified the major nodes of Solstice Rain and ways to drive players to discover them. With these clues prepared, it’s time for the fun part of this remix series: Reorganizing Solstice Rain’s scenario structure into a point crawl of Nov Elysia, the adventure’s setting. In doing so, I will add connections between the nodes that previously did not exist. This will give players latitude to engage with the scenario and drive the drama on their own terms. In addition, I will establish a “crawl procedure” to introduce flavorful encounters and add in-fiction time pressure to city navigation.

Laying Out the Point Crawl

Solstice Rain presents Nov Elysia as a “metropolitan LSA port city.” Given the importance of rivers for a source of both fresh water and inland trade, I want a prospective map of the city to be on the coast, bisected by a river. This river will also serve as a landmark I can reference in-fiction. For example, I can hint that military encounters are more likely south of the river. With that in mind, I can geographically separate the nodes from Mission 1 (Kirmani Plaza, Downtown,Train Depot, and FOB Saber) from the nodes in Mission 2 (Jamming Transmitter, Harbor, and Kiros). All this means is that PCs will encounter at least one Mission 1 node before reaching a Mission 2 node.

With regards to travel, I want travel between the Mission 1 nodes to be short and sweet. Ideally, the paths should encourage exploration of Downtown or the Train Depot over making a Beeline to FOB Saber. That said, I still want an option to progress directly to FOB Saber, in case the fight in Kirmani Plaza goes poorly.

Beyond Mission 1’s nodes, I want to add options to travel to Mission 2’s nodes prior to taking a Full Repair. That said, I don’t want them to be simple to reach, and instead be a commitment to assault (encouraging preparation and gathering intel). Mission 2’s nodes and paths will thus be initially hidden, but revealed once the players discover certain clues. For example, while at Downtown, if the PCs hear about the prisoner transports heading to the Harbor, they can immediately learn where the Harbor is and the general path to reach it.

Nov Elysia’s Point Map

Keeping these ideas in mind, I present my basic point map of Nov Elysia:

A point map of a randomly generated city, with paths for traveling from one major part of the city to another. Indicates whether a path between points is in a civilian or military area, as well as how long it takes to travel that path. — © 2023 by Michael Prijatelj, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Created with City Map Generator by ProbableTrain. Uses path assets from Santy’s RPG Conundrum.

Initially, players will only be aware of nodes 1, 2, 3, and U (as well as the connections between them). The Mission 2 nodes (4, 5, and 6) are hidden until the PCs discover clues that could clue them to their existence. Once one of those nodes is revealed, its connections will remain obscured until the PCs navigate to a node that has a direct connection to it. Variants of this map, as well as the GIMP .xcf file I used to prepare it, can be found here.

Point Crawl Procedure

For this Nov Elysia point crawl, from the time the mission begins, the PCs will have from dawn (6AM) on Day 1 to dusk (6PM) on Day 2 (36 hours total) to find Captain Farris and Ambassador Bannerjee. After 6PM on Day 2, the VSAF forces retreat with the PCs’ comrades, and the mission ends in failure.

The procedure to run this point crawl is as follows:

Travel

One turn of travel is equal to one hour.
Movement along the connections on the map takes anywhere from 1-3 turns to travel, depending on connection.
Every turn of travel, roll 1d6 for a random encounter (see tables below) during that turn:
- In a Civilian Zone (movement between nodes 1, 2, 3, and U):
  - 1: Military Encounter
  - 2-4: No Encounter
  - 5-6: Civilian Encounter
- In a Military Zone (movement involving nodes 4, 5, and 6):
  - 1-2: Military Encounter
  - 3-5: No Encounter
  - 6: Civilian Encounter

Nodes

Once PCs reach a given node, they learn of all the connections that node has to any other known nodes. PCs discover new nodes via clues.
Attempting to clear a node (i.e., resolving the conflict at the node, either through combat or narrative) takes one hour.
Navigating around a node (i.e., avoiding conflict or otherwise not engaging with the node) takes one hour.

Rests

A rest lasts one hour.
PCs may perform a single Full Repair at (U) FOB Saber over the course of 10 hours. During this Full Repair:
- Each PC levels up to LL1.
- The PCs receive a number of pieces of Exotic Gear equal to the number of nodes they cleared (at minimum).
- Each PC may take one downtime action.

If I roll a random encounter, I can randomly roll or pick from one of the appropriate tables below. I will contextualize encounters to fit the present narrative and handle them using Lancer’s rules for Narrative Play. For instance, a fire in a residential district may look different than one in the harbor. Depending on the encounter’s resolution, I may reward the players with an appropriate Reserve, which I can pull from either the Lancer Core Book or Solstice Rain. I may also present options to the players in the form of Power at a Cost (Lancer, p. 53). Perhaps the PCs need to give up a Reserve, some repairs, pilot gear, or some other item in order to help their allies or hinder their enemies!

Civilian Encounters in Nov Elysia

Encounters with nonhostile civilians, local landmarks, and disaster scenarios.

Roll 1d20	Encounter
1-2	Lost child, looking for safety and family at FOB Saber.
3-4	Civilian trapped in their overturned car.
5-6	Opportunists looting a storefront.
7-8	Resigned civilians drinking at a bar missing its front wall.
9-10	Battered tourism terminal that, when repaired, provides a virtual tour of the locality, guided by a cheerful COMP/CON.
11-12	An abandoned market for rare fish; some still fresh!
13-14	A nanite spray data packet detected when in close proximity: It says “RA SEES ALL” and provides a one-time paracode that pulls blackmail information from a Scanned VSAF unit.
15-16	Incoming maglev train on elevated rails loudly blares an SOS as it heads towards a collapsed segment of the track.
17-18	Building fire with trapped civilians; the nearby firefighting truck is overturned.
19-20	Building collapse; after the dust settles, a Sleeping Bag (pilot gear) with someone alive inside can be found amongst the rubble.

Military Encounters in Nov Elysia

Encounters with friendly LSA militia and hostile VSAF soldiers. As a reminder, all of these encounters should be run using the rules for Narrative Play from the Lancer Core Book, p. 45.

Roll 1d20	Encounter
1-2	Wounded LSA soldiers, in need of medical attention.
3-4	LSA infantry pinned down by VSAF infantry & tanks.
5-6	LSA soldiers low on supplies, trying to repair a tank with whatever is handy.
7-8	VSAF saboteur squad about to take out a bridge with LSA soldiers crossing.
9-10	Downed dropship from the Rio Grande; survivors holed up with VSAF prodding the wreckage.
11-12	Journalist accosted by the VSAF team they were trailing.
13-14	VSAF short-range surveillance drone spies on the PCs.
15-16	Wounded VSAF soldiers in no condition to fight.
17-18	VSAF ambush from low-ranking mech pilots with similarly low-end mechs (not an actual combat encounter; resolve using narrative rolls).
19-20	Colonel Kiros hunts the PCs from shadowy alleyways with his Raptor Plasma Rifle. He flees (with Step) if they get too close or deal any damage to him.

Conclusion

With the map, procedure, and encounter tables I have drawn up, I am ready for players to chart their own course through the war-torn Nov Elysia. This procedure should introduce some reasonable time pressure to rescue Captain Farris and Ambassador Bannerjee. Most importantly, it will opportunities for players to express themselves through their characters’ choices, both in what objectives they prioritize and how they handle any random encounters along the way. With clues in hand and this point crawl at the ready, my next biggest task is to recontextualize the events at each major node to accommodate nonlinear exploration.