Sneaking Around the HPG

I ran the session with the Ground Crew on Friday night. The primary objective for them was to send a letter "to Clark's cousin Pleatus, on New Earth," their drop for their collected information on the strength and position of the 9th Division. The complication they ran into was that the HPG network on Terra was closed to civilian traffic. Simon used his access as a contractor at the site to attempt sending the message directly from the utility box in the station, but was unsuccessful while he was there, requiring the party to return that night and try again. Eventually they patched their communication through the Mars HPG network and was able to get the message out that way, providing the intelligence for the ComStar Party to be properly briefed for their second training exercise.

The party was able to use their abilities in a couple different ways. Let's review the challenges I put before them, and how they coped.

Alex - The teller on duty when they arrive. Alex is a fresh-out-of-school acolyte who had to tell Simon that he couldn't send his letter because the HPG net was closed. Alex was more or less bypassed -- after Clark was unable to talk past him, he handed the letter to Simon, who went into the employees-only area with his badge. (Clark overcame with Acting.)

The Network - The first time Simon tries to send the message, it bounces back, as it is not military traffic. Because this event notified his supervisor (Barbra), he decides to discretely leave work for the day before she can link it to him. (Simon overcame (or at least detected) with Communications/Conventional.)

The Locked Doors - When the two returned that night to find another to send the message, they find the building locked up. They infiltrate by climbing the chain-link fence around the tower (note, that despite begin called an HPG station, this station was simply a radio-forwarding station to the main HPG at Hilton Head -- there wasn't actually a generator on-site.) (Both overcame with Climbing checks, Clark untrained.)

The Locked Box - The utility box has a padlock on it that was not there when the party left. As neither had Security Systems, they pry the hinges off both doors, and remove them, still padlocked together. (Clark used Interest/Do-It-Yourself, his handyman skill.)

The Encrypted Network - The message is rejected again for not being encrypted -- all traffic must be by the new protocol. Simon encrypts the message. (Simon used Cryptography.)

The Interplanetary Network - Simon realigns the radio network to send a signal to a Mars HPG station for re-broadcast. (Simon made a Difficult Communications/Conventional check.)

Covering Their Tracks - The utility box is quite difficult to reassemble, but after several checks (and nearly an hour of time), they get the doors back on. (Clark used Interest/Do-It-Yourself.)

One major problem I encountered with this session was that there was a locked room in the HPG station that had all the plot hooks in it. There was a rather dim guard (Roger) on the door, but neither Simon nor Clark had any interest in penetrating that room. When Simon returned the day after the break-in, the room had been emptied out, but there were still some papers left about. Also, there were a few plaintext messages left in the sending queue for the station, which Simon was ordered to check on by his employer. Simon very diligently confirmed they were present, then deleted them, sight-unseen, to comply with his instructions. Well securing Simon's job and loyalty to his employer, it effectively scuttled my chances to get the plot hooks to the players for their next session. I'll need to come up with some clever way to get them to intercept Blakist communications.