Monday, February 8, 2010

Amazons From Beyond Space: Scenario

A team from the United Democracies Space Force has landed on the Femina asteroid. The asteroid was discovered early in the days of interplanetary travel and has a breathable atmosphere. The team consists of three officers, a scientist, an engineer, and a technician. All are male. Their mission is to recover both of the black box recorders from the Command Beta Test probe which crashed on the asteroid after returning from a deep space mission. The CBT probe was unmanned, but did have an electronic robot pilot which might have survived the crash.
There’s just one small problem: the asteroid is populated by Amazon warrior women. Somehow, tribes of Amazons were transplanted from ancient Greece to the asteroid thousands of years ago. The Amazons have refused all attempts at contact from the United Democracies. They value men only as breeding stock and pets. But the UDF needs the information from the CBT probe and has decided to send in a stealth team to recover it.
The asteroid is also populated by large predator mammals from Earth’s ice age. No one knows how they got there; one theory is the asteroid was terraformed as a sanctuary for endangered species by an unknown extraterrestrial race.
The UDSF team has been dropped at the edge of the forest where the probe crashed. Satellite images show it to be an uninhabited area where few of the Amazon tribes venture. The plan is for a space ship to land at the edge of the crash site, discharge the stealth team, and return to pick them up. The space ship will be remotely operated from the one team member who is a pilot. Under no circumstances is there to be any contact with the Amazons. The United Democracies have been planning a new round of contacts for months. Any sudden appearance of off-worlders might jeopardize this. Only the Star Commander of the team has been provided with a ray gun. The others are only equipped with stunners.
But, unfortunately for the UDSF team, there is a small band of Amazon warriors in the vicinity of the crash site. They consist of one Amazon queen, four Amazon warriors, and an Amazon scout. The forest where the CBT probe crashed just happens to be a royal preserve where the Amazon nobility captures feral males for sport. The hunting party hasn’t seen any game in days, but did notice the probe fall from the sky. They are headed toward the crash zone, curious to see what the gods have sent them. The Amazons are also eager for some males to catch and make the whole expedition worthwhile.
The Amazon queen has given strict orders to her warriors to capture the men with as little damage as possible. There is no value in a dead male.



The Game Board
The game board consists of a 2’ X 2’ board. The board represents a small forest through which a stream runs from the center of one edge to the opposite end. The stream can be forded with some difficulty and there are no bridges built across it. In one corner of the board is large hill. In the opposite end is another hill, somewhat smaller. The probe crashed near the center of the board, next to the stream. Bits and pieces of the probe are scattered through the forest, some of which may be the black boxes. The forest provides cover and the hills provide level 1 and level 2 elevation.

Characters
United Democracies Space Force stealth team: Commander Tony Hammer, Capt. Steve Mitchell, Lt. Jake Nero, Dr. Herbert Klock, Engineer Walter Scott, Technician Jimmy Wonder. Amazons: Queen Hippolyta, Warrior Myrene, Warrior Andromeda, Warrior Prothoe, Warrior Arisbe, Scout Tekmessa. There may also be the robot pilot, Arslan 5000 (Grade 1), somewhere in the wreckage.

Set-up
The UDSF stealth team must be set-up within 6” of each other at the edge of the forest. The Amazons must be set-up within 6” of each other on the edge of the forest opposite the UDSF team. The stream will divide the two teams from each other.

Victory Conditions
The UDSF team must recover both black boxes; have their space ship remotely piloted down, board the ship, and leave. The Amazons need to capture all the USDF team members and haul them back home. If any of the Amazons are killed through action of the USDF team, the United Democracies will recall the orbiting space ship on their own and leave the team on the asteroid. If any of the UDSF team is killed, the Amazon Queen will lead her warriors back home and return with some women who can follow orders.

Encounter Cards
Twelve encounter markers are placed on the board, at or near the crash site. No marker may be placed within 3” of any other marker, or within 3” of the starting location of the UDSF team or the Amazons. Use a standard playing card deck containing one of the cards Ace through Queen to determine the nature of each encounter marker.
Ace- A pod half-buried in the ground from the impact is discovered to contain the Arslan 5000 robot pilot. Since this is a space probe robot, it has limited mobility in a gravitational field. Furthermore, it only has a few batteries left to charge its repulsor ray. Only the one UDSF team who is robot-qualified can activate and control the robot. Also, it cannot cross the stream.
Two- The control consols to the CBT probe. Useless, since it was badly damaged from the crash.
Three- A cache of twelve arrows left behind by another Amazon hunting party.
Four –The black box recorder.
Five– A case with two additional communicators.
Six- A chunk of crumpled metal from what had been the probe. It can still make an effective projectile if thrown.
Seven- The engine from the CBT probe. Inoperable.
Eight - The second black box recorder.
Nine- A loud roar is heard and both parties look to the highest hill on the board to see a full grown, hungry saber-tooth tiger. The off-world team and Amazons must put aside their differences long enough to defeat this blood thirsty creature before it kills every one of them.
Ten- A case thrown from the crash is found to carry twelve batteries which can be used to power the stunners.
Jack – The guidance system of the crashed probe. Useless in the present situation.
Queen- Another cache left by a previous Amazon hunting party. This one contains two spears.


Special Rules
Amazons and equipment from the space probe.
The Amazons have no knowledge of advanced technology. Therefore, any objects they recover from the off-worlders will be of no use to them, other than something to throw. However, should they capture the Commander’s ray gun, one of the stunners, they may try and use it. But since they have no idea of how it works, one of four things is likely to happen:
1) The Amazon shoots her intended target.
2) The Amazon shoots an inanimate object, such as a tree.
3) The Amazon shoots another Amazon.
4) The Amazon shoots herself.
The only way to resolve this issue is for the Amazon wishing to fire an alien weapon to make a D10 role. If the die rolls 1 or 2, the first condition prevails. 3 or 4, the second. 5 or 6, the third. 7 or 8, the fourth. If conditions 1, 3, or 4 are met, the same rules apply as if the actual target had been the intended one. 9 or 10 assume the weapon malfunctioned.


Seduction
Some of the UDSF team have seductive skills.
What this means is that certain UDSF characters can attempt to seduce an Amazon. This will be an opposed roll and the skill only adds 2 points to the character's dice roll (hey it takes a lot to seduce an Amazon). A tie is considered a loss to the Amazon.
Should the UDSF character win the opposed roll, both he and the Amazon will be out of the game for four turns.
Now here's the fun part: the UDSF character has to pass another opposed roll, the "Satisfaction" roll. If you do not better the Amazon's roll by at least five points, she is not considered satisfied with the seduction outcome and the UDSF character loses. If he wins, the Amazon will give him a 5" head start before attempting to catch him again.
Remember: these are Amazons.
In any case, should the male character lose, he is considered "captured".
A captured male character cannot use his seduction skill. The Amazons laugh at any man so foolish to try. The skill only works on characters who are no more than 1” away.

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