Classic Traveller 04 -  Karga Ice

01 Oct, 2026

Date
20260930

Game Weeks
Wk2 - Wk4 Day3

present
Navy Starman Esperanza Klein - T
Scientist Beatriz Robinson - B

• It seems no one can make it to the session, but last minute learn this is not the case - we start 5 minutes late. I have zero prep complete besides the UPP for Karga and the knowledge it's a captive govt' beneath the same Eugenicists as dominate Tagh. (And, I suppose, the knwoledge I want to use my space infrastructure and yet to be released system-buidling system) (I also vaguely desire to give the party an avenue to get a ship)
• As unconscious low berth passengers, the crew arrives in Karga system, everyone rolls and survives low passage
• Karga (B556764-6) is an iceworld with orbital-mirror warmed oasis-seas where algae is cultured. Atmo is thin, and cities are enclosed - they look like close collections of vases, weird organic glassblwon shapes in multiple colours, so walking around is like being under stained glass. The ice is striated with orange organics bands and sulphur stains. Atmosphere is thin.
• Tech 6, 1940s Dior aesthetic / {Gattaca} aesthetic
• Capital city near starport is called Twelvth Saskatoon.
• Belatedly roll to see if anyone is a spacenoid (supposed to do during character generation) - only Beatriz is. Gets Vacc-0 as a benefit.
• Party puts frozen rebel man in storage locker, then seeks out tasks for week. Beatriz takes walking tour to learn about local culture (exposition about economy, culture of hermeticism including under ice); After this she hunts for a patron. Esperanza Klein simply wants to make some money; He considers donating plasma but there is little economy for it on this world. He engages in a brief contract with a cosmetic company to be sent to low orbit to test their products; He takes the mass-accelerator cargo route up in a breathing suit suspended in a tank of water. The remainder of his week is spent testing cosmetic products in zero-G and he returns yassified, having waxed his facial hair away, and with his skin slightly iridescent. For his troubles he is 3000cr richer.
• At the very start of next week we resolve the patron: I roll 'scout' 'mercneary' and 'hostile' for the patron and decide to combine them. In a smoky bar,ex-Scout Zhen Ota engages with the reunited party and gradually reveals herself to be an intelligence officer for the authorities - the Eugenicist faction which dominates Tagh also dominates this world. There is a vast gulf in culture between those who live on world (tech level 6) and the substantial spacenoid population of this system. Resistance to the Eugenicist faction, here, is headed by spacecraft hit and run attacks against the economy of the world; strikes on algae plantations and transport hubs. She offers the party money to gain employment and report their findings on one of a number of suspicious vessels, and further pay if they eliminate a rebel cell. She gives them a list of spacecraft to try to get hired on and tickets to a major career expo next week.
• In the days leading up to the career fair Klein gambles away his money; First on multidminesional hyperroulette, but he is captivated by a sort of acrobat bouldering claw-game wherein gamblers attempt to prevent acrobats from reaching the top of an obstacle pillar by engaging padded punching levers and so on. (The house is legit, and he has some wins, but overall he loses most of his money)
• Midweek, they make their way to the career fair in a vast exhibition centre arranged from the dark purple-theed hall for outersystem boothes to the orange bronzed room for in system exhibitors.
• They check out all five of the possible in-sytem vessels (all made up on the spot, the very dubious names the product of the first online generator returned, ships officers vibes generated from the online traveller character generator). Esperanza is hungover and dishevelled but his (possibly permanent) makeup compensates.
  1. Gloxinia - In-system equipment carrier. Depiction of the ship show's its cargo bay is open at the sides of oversized equipment. Prominent heatshield. It services the epistellar high-energy industrial facility Renfrew. Looking for a navigator and cargo-arm teleoperator. Spaceman Klein, depsite his low rank and accomplishment, impresses 4th Officer Yamamoto with his navigational ability (Navigation check, 8+ for job offer). Beatriz doesn't know how to oeprate cargo arms, is unimpressed by the wage, and wants her scientist background to be put to use and declines.
  2. Tyne - Orbital mirror maintenance vessel. Come upon booth to see 3rd Office Mehmet Rizo literally kicking away a failed applicant. They're looking for a low skilled low paid mirror polisher (1500cr/mo, lots of EVA work) or a zero-G construction robot operator.
  3. Barrington - Fast Courier, aggressively cheerful crew offers tea. Looking for navigator, steward, cargo handler. Apparently very dangerous and aggressive routes with heavy use of aerobraking and transit close to celestial bodies.
  4. Podistow Bay - Outsystem trader, depressive crew, barebones booth. looking for a pilot and loadmaster, apparently they carry dangerous highly pressurised cannisters and people have been blown apart or blasted into the void (or maybe they're just hazing).
  5. Christ - Trader, serene crew, long-haired bro captain. Looking for gunner, medic, engineer, (have they been in combat recently?) They decide to go for the Barrington and succeed, as they're enlisting as a group I only had one of them make a check at 9+ difficulty, as Beatriz doesn't have the Steward skill. They're to report 0500 tomorrow at the starport for orientation.
     They immediately return to the casino, where Esperanza loses 2000 credits and Beatriz 20cr.
     
     Have the party members truly become stooges for the oppressive regime? What schemes are the interplanetary rebels up to? How fared their erstwhile comrades on Tagh? Will they accomplish any of the missions they have set out to do? Find out next time in Sensa Sector.

Completely winged it, but glad the session ran as well as it did. Though it was almost entirely logistical there was good characterization and the party is well set up for future events.
I played very fast and loose with the UPP - at tech 6 we wouldn't expect a substantial space presence. However the B-level starport may justify it, and in my CT galaxy there's more of an offworld presence varyingly subjugated to, subjugating, or aloof from the system's mainworld.
Now I need to get my space fighting rules and system generation locked in..