And the winner is
This year it was hard to pick a winner as, well, I’ve not played a huge amount of games. The ones I have played have been long campaigns such as Horror on the Orient Express which may get game of the year – once I have finished playing it. Instead this year’s game is one I’ve watched being played and helped with on the Actual Play when the Miskatonic Playhouse ran it Miskatonic Repositorycon. The title was chosen for the fun it was seeing it being played over the space of four hours and potential that it has if your Keeper takes their time with you. The Tartarus Intercept by Alex Guillotte is Roll4Sanity’s game of the year 2024. Set in the near future, it’s not my usual choice of game as these future games tend to hand wave the science fiction parts so the game can happen. Speaking to Alex as part of the prep for the game, he knows his stuff and there is a great section on the game book called ‘Hard Science Fiction’. If your keeper is hesitant to run the game because of this, tell then it is all explained and is very adaptable.
The set-up for the adventure is very simple, you play the crew of the Ceres Cargo Ship (CCS) Orpheus, a battered old freighter repurposed to get the Tartarus system first. You and your crew are on the clock to stake a claim to what every riches lay in this system. It should be palladium but the probe sent 20 year ago never sent any data back but there’s nothing sinister in that right… Right? Much as I like making my own character for the game, the pregenerated character have all the skills you need to make the game’s space mechnaics work. The book does include new skills and equipment and a blank character sheet to make up your own crew member but is Vacc Suit Ops the skill on which you want to spend your points or is it SensorTec. Take a pregen, it’ll be fine!
Captain Stone – 33 year old from Earth, they are an expert in Spacecraft Ops, a skilled persuader and doesn’t spook easily. When times get stressful, they can play one of the 5000 classic 20th and 21st century send the store on a data node.
Pilot Oris – 32 year old borne on Ceres Colony, naturally they are an expert in Pilot Spaceship and Astronomy with a level head in most situations. Having no social skills they are very tactile and prefers to hug rather than shake hands!
Science Officer Barnes – 42 year old from earth has excellent skills in Astrophysics, Xenobiology as well as Geology and Sensortech. They are good under pressure, mainly speak German and are dedicated to understanding the universe documenting everything to their datapad.
Engineer Greene – 46 from Earth keeps the ship running being an expert in Fabrication, Electrical and Mechanical Repair as well Engineering. Has some charm despite their stern face, is quite average all round but is very much dedicate to their work.
Mechanic Cooper – is the youngest crew member from Earth aged 28, they are larger than the others and the build and skill to punch like a rail-gun. The have numerous skills to fix the ship and does like to cheer other people up even if the do chew come all the time.
Dr Chandler – The Ships Doctor is keeps themselves to themselves, 44 years olds and brilliantly clever with amazing skill in medicine and biology as you would expect with a good level of skill in Vacc Suit Ops. They have been injured and speak through a voice box but that doesn’t stop them.
Into the Uknown…
There are no spoilers here at Roll4sanity so you’ll have to think of your own possibilities about what you’ll face. What would do if you needed to go outside of the ship to do repairs? If the prob was right, what might you find on the planet as you look for palladium. Could they be claim jumpers, alien life forms or other natural hazards? Whilst you won’t be playing your typical investigator you don’t have to read a NASA handbook to play his crew. You’ll have the ship’s computer to help you, you are trained in all the skills you need and dealing with unknown situations if what you’re there to do. If it was easy, the would have sent a robot!
The Tartarus Intercept was cut down a little to make it fit into the four hour timeslot for the Miskatonic Repositorycon. Depending on how much exploring you do and the pace your keeper what’s to keep, this could run for two four hour sessions, even longer if your Keeper gets imaginative and extended the world that has been built for the Tartarus Intercept by Alex Guillotte – Roll4Sanity’s game of the year 2024!