RS Dalek Dilemma or Real Trouble in New Osaka

So He-Who-Writes did decree, decry and demand: “ A very simple playtest help you can give. Please try squads with a bit more points (say, 230-250 max) but allowing leveled skills up to +5 (marksman 5, weapon master 5, tech 5, tough 5) and please let me know if there is a point of no return after which a character is definitely too powerful. I am thinking of listing this as a variant system in the supplement but I wonder if there are skills that should stay at max3 no matter what (Toughness I am looking at you). Thanks!”

So here is our test. Twice now our poor Daleks have been bested by beastly Ogrons. Let me now set the scene, you may wish to refer to our previous endevours!

I'Zulu looked at the survivors with the sort of intensity usually reserved for extraneous matter impinging on a difficult to clean manipulator: “I have nether seen NO-THING LIKE IT! You could have been outperformed by a pair of Thal grannies!”

“J'Off, you freeze again and I will assign you to a Z'Pok away mission.” - “I have uploaded new test protocols and the waste pipes in sectors 5 &8 need delimnation.”

J'Off personal log Day 3-.

I'Zulu hates deploying the Uber, they can be- very aggressive and undisciplined. The weapon overheats the bottle and even with advanced cooling the Dalek's life is shortened and down-time between missions stretches with each use.

For Captain Ron the mission is easy. Just deliver the chip to the buyer's ship. That's it, no problem. Except everyone in the Thralling UNIVERSE wants it.

Mission 17 “Make it to the ship alive” fits, plus location 6 Open Battlefield makes it harder, complication 11, Surrounded By Hostiles tops it.

Ogron Pirates team Total 245 Tactical Discipline Determined 4 remove stress tokens

Crewing -

Captain Ron Total 58

Crawl 1” Walk 2” Run 4” Sprint 6”

Big, adds +1 to-hit, +1 in melee

leadership (2)

marksman (1) +1 shooting

martial arts (2)

reactive, +1 reaction roll

tough, +1 endure

veteran +1 action & reaction

Plasma pistol, damage 4 short range, minus every 2” over 8” energy

kevlar jacket jacket Torso 2

'arry Total 27 Crawl 1” Walk 1” Run 3” Sprint 5”

Big, adds +1 to-hit, +1 in melee

martial arts (2)

tech (1) +1 tech roll

reactive, +1 reaction roll

tough, +1 endure

veteran +1 action & reaction

Intrusion kit +2 tech roll

monowire scythe damage 3 armour 1pt less Cleave, opponent OOA critical hit

They gained a massive 9 from the last mission, and had 4 left =13 'arry gains a tech (4) and Ron marksman (6).

Ron winced internally. Knowing that when you want this level of urban violence you call on the Driscoll Brothers, Dan-I and Tone-I.

Big, Ampidextrous, marksman (5) , reactive, tough, veteran

2xPlasma pistol, kevlar jacket Total 78 each

Crawl 1” Walk 2” Run 4” Sprint 6”

Big, adds +1 to-hit, +1 in melee

martial arts (2)

reactive, +1 reaction roll

tough, +1 endure

veteran +1 action & reaction

Plasma pistol, damage 4 short range, minus every 2” over 8” energy

marksman +5 per shot.

ambidextrous 2 simultaneous attacks at -1

kevlar jacket Torso 2

So doing a double hail of fire- each target +5 marksman, -1 Ambidextrous, -2 hail of fire= +2

Double called location shot +4-location

Daleks

J'Off Total 44

Fast (3) Crawl 1” Walk 2” Run 8” Sprint 10”

Martial Arts (2)

Non-Reactive -2 on all reaction rolls

Stealth (1) -1 to spot

Green. - 2 on activation, reaction, morale, shoot, melee

Light Power Armour Legs 3 Arms 3 Torso 5 Head 5 sealed

Zap pistol short range, minus every 2” over 8” 3 damage+2 damage to bionic & artificial Energy

Jump Pack jump 8” per action, free disengage

Motion Detector. +2 bonus to spot

Uber Dalek Total 89

Crawl 1” Walk 2” Run 6” Sprint 8”

Big, extra legs (6) Marksman (5) non -reactive

Power armour Legs 4 Arms 4 Torso 7 Head 7

Laser cannon blind, energy, built-in

Omega Squad Al'Gor Total 60

Crawl 1” Walk 2” Run 4” Sprint 6”

Leader(1) Marksman(2) Reactive Tech(1)

Light Power Armour Legs 3 Arms 3 Torso 5 Head 5 sealed

Zap rifle 4 damage+2 damage to bionic & artificial Energy, built in

Omega Squad Bg'Dog Total 54

Crawl 1” Walk 2” Run 4” Sprint 6”

Marksman(2) Reactive Tech(1)

Light Power Armour Legs 3 Arms 3 Torso 5 Head 5 sealed

Zap rifle 4 damage+2 damage to bionic & artificial Energy, built in

The Game

now I guessed that this would be a quick, bloody game and I was not proved wrong. I had also thought that I'd overdone it with the Uber.

Tone-I took the Ogrons and got initiative, working his way up the first half of the board in due caution.

Bg'Dog got the first reaction, Al'Gor the next 2 and fist shot at Cpt Ron, giving him a pin. Tone-I let rip with a hail of fire at Bg'Dog – 3 2's and an 18, so neatly outlined then plugged through the eye. Here, once again a theme's developing. These lads have done their homework.

'arry does a runner for the building, gets a 1- an ineffective shot from the crowd, and becomes a sitting target. Uber rolls 3 successes, so that's +2 aimed at a sitting target with the biggest gun going backed up by +5. 'arry gets 2 pins and a scratch. I had expected smoking boots-.

Dan-I had taken cover behind a bush (not fooling anyone) and takes very careful aim- and plugs the Uber, also in the eye. It goes down in a tangle of limbs.

At least I'm holding up morale wise this time. J'Off makes a move through the village area. Al'Gor rolls 3 fails. And Tone-I uses them to shoot him. Yep, you got it, another head shot. Dead!

So that leads only J'Off who survives the morale role only 'cos it's cops vs pirates. He manages a small move, finding Cpt Ron at danger close he takes a shot – and misses, probably going through gap betwixt Cpt Ron and his Norwegian Blue shoulder sitter.

Ron turns around and fills his torso full of bolts until the lights go out. It's an Ogron thing.

Delivery complete – but wait, who has been shooting? Who is the shadowy recipient of the chip?

Conclusion. I enjoyed the extra points, it allowed me to field an Uber- but looking at the others-. Some RPG's let you play a character at the end of their career rather than the beginning. This feels like this, have one good shooter, one good hand to hand, a good tech, I'm talking Blake's 7 here. What I'm trying to say is that I'd prefer to have a good spread of 3's rather than a couple of 5's. But if you want power armour, this is the way to do it.

The customer service droid is here for your assistance.

Queue music-