it• • • .40.

111•1■MIIP■I•

COUNTDOWN

DesignRay Winninger

Design ConsultantsBill Karh and Stan Kowalski

Cyberman Created byKit Pedler and Gerry Davis

WritingRay Winninger

Editorial StaffEditor-In-Cheif

L. Ross Babcock IllEditing

Donna IppolitoProofreading

Donna Ippolito

Production StaffLayout And Pasteup

Jane BigosTodd Marsh

Cover ArtDavid Deitrick

IllustrationJane BigosTodd Marsh

TypesettingKaren Vander Mey

Special thanks to the gang at Northwestern University

Doctor Whop BBC 1985Game Design©FASA Corporation 1985

Table Of Contents

INTRODUCTION 3Contents Of This Book 3Plot Synopsis 3

Threat To The TARDIS 3The Leander's Mission 3

Distress Signal 4Cyberman Plot 4A New Home Base 4

A Deadly Rift 5

Uneasy Alliance 5HOW TO USE THIS BOOKLET 6

Getting Started 6Character Creation 6Developing Character Histories 7Equipping The Characters 8

Running The Adventure 9Preparing For Play 9Gamemaster's Tasks 9

The Fine Art Of Gamemastering 10THE ADVENTURE 12

Crisis 12Inside The TSS Leander 13

In The Cargo Bay 13Tracked By Sam 13To The Bridge 13

Meeting With Captain Fleming 14Signal From Space 15Deadly Androids 15Pitched Battle 16

Calculating Time 16Movement And Actions 16Sneaking About 17Destroying The Androids 17

Captured! 17Enter The Cybermen 18Losing Power 18

Effects Of The Chronic Rift 19

The Next Steps 19The Vegan Threat 19Ambush And Escape 20To The Rescue 20

Freeing The Prisoners 21Escape Possibilities 21

Hiding Out 21

The Jack Of Hearts 22The Secret Smuggling Hold 22Hidden Treasure 22The Golden Weapon 22

Ultimatum 23Attack On The Cyberman 23The Scientific Solution 24

Research Stages 24Sealing The Rift 24Kalik Makes His Move 25

VESSELS 26TSS LEANDER 26

General Appearance 26Room Descriptions 26

Cybership 100-1136 32General Appearance 32Room Descriptions 32

Jack Of Hearts 34General Appearance 34Room Descriptions 34

CAST OF CHARACTERS 36Player Characters 36Non-Player Characters 40

GAMEMASTER'S NOTES 45TARDIS Data Banks 45

Chronic Rift 45Cyberman 45Earth Empire 45Gravity Bubble 45Hadder's Fever 45The Vegans 45

Supplementary Background 45The Cybermen 45

Earth Empire 46The Vegans 47

Time Line 47Beyond The Adventure 48Increasing Skills 48Building Campaigns 48

:111 CONTENTS OFTHIS BOOK

IntroductionCountdown is an adventure de-

signed for use with the DOCTOR WHORole-Playing Game. The adventure isdesigned for one to four players and agamemaster. Although pre-generatedplayer characters are provided, experi-enced role-players may wish to choosecharacters from the television series in-stead. Complete statistics for The Doc-tor and some of his more famous com-panions can be found in the Source-book For Field Agents included inFASA's DOCTOR WHO Role-PlayingGame.

Beginning gamemasters shouldfind Countdown of particular interest.The How To Use This Booklet chapterprovides extensive suggestions on be-ginning play, character creation, de-veloping background for adventures,and equipping the players. This chapteralso includes a section on Running TheAdventure, which defines thegamemaster's tasks and provides help-ful hints on giving descriptions, role-playing the non-player characters, andjudging challenge. All of this informa-tion is intended to supplement the ma-terial presented in the Game Opera-tions Manual of DOCTOR WHO:RPG.

Gamemaster Notes contains infor-mation the players may access from theTARDIS Data Banks, as well as supple-mentary background information forthe gamemaster's eyes only. Also in-cluded are notes on bringing this ad-venture to a conclusion and for usingit as a springboard for building a larger,on-going campaign.

The Adventure chapter describes indetail and in sequence every locationand encounter that make up this Dr.Who adventure. Special role-playingnotes for use by the gamemaster arealso provided.

Complete descriptions and statis-tics for the starships involved in this ad-venture may be found in Vessels. TheCast Of Characters chapter providesprofiles for all the pre-generated playerand non-player characters. In additionto the relevant game statistics and de-scriptions for each character, there arerole-playing notes to assist thegamemaster with the non-playercharacters.

Also included in this addventuremodule are the deck plans and descrip-tions for the earth ship Leander, theJack-of-Hearts, and the Cybership, thethree ships included in Countdown.

Gamemasters should read each ofthe chapters until thoroughly familiarwith their contents. Taking notes andhighlighting the important parts is alsorecommended. More experiencedgamemasters may want to make alter-ations to suit their individual tastes or

ROLE PLAYING GAME

campaigns. This is encouraged; in fact,it is one of the steps toward becominga good gamemaster. Alterationsshould, however, be made before playbegins to avoid confusion.

PLOT SYNOPSIS

THREAT TO THE TARDISCountdown takes place aboard the

fast courier Leander, a vessel from theEarth Empire of the 26th century. Theadventure begins when the players'TARDIS, en route to its next destination,becomes caught in what appears to bea gravity bubble. A gravity bubble is apowerful gravity field caused by an ob-ject of extreme mass occupying thesame location in normal spacetime asit does in another dimension. Any ves-sel lacking the power to resist the bub-ble's tremendous pull will be drawn intothe bubble's center and very likely becrushed by the immensely strong gravi-tational forces.

The bubble is a danger to the TAR-DIS because of its inter-dimensional na-ture. If the TARDIS becomes caught inits field, it will be stuck in the TemporalVortex and never able to materializeagain. Using their skills, the players willmanage to avoid this fate by materializ-ing on an unknown spacecraft (the Ter-ran starship Leander).THE LEANDER'S MISSION

Unknown to the players, the Lean-der is on a vital mission, carrying to theEarth colony Ionia a highly-perishableserum to combat an epidemic of thedreaded Hadder's Fever. The serummust be imported because its compo-nents are extremely rare and found onlyon scattered planets in the Empire. TheLeander is currently 30 hours travel (atits fastest speed) from Ionia. The serummust be delivered in 48 hours, or thevirus causing it will mutate and overrunIonia, making futile any further at-tempts to quell the epidemic.

The Leander is a small vessel com-manded by Robert Fleming, a 30-yearveteran of the Imperial Space Navy,with a crew of about 20. Usually em-ployed for rapid shuttles of importantpersonnel and documents to and frommeetings, the Leander was chosen tocarry the serum because of its size andspeed: It was the only ship largeenough to carry the necessary amountof serum that could make it to Ionia intime.

Due to the nature of its present mis-sion, a security force of ten ImperialCenturions has also been assigned to

Countdown 3

ROLE PLAYING GAME

the Leander, and this team is com-manded by Major Richard Reitz. Reitzis a brilliant tactician and an excellentsoldier, but he is also a strong discip-linarian and slightly paranoid.

The whole vessel is run by SAM(the Ship's Automated Monitor), an in-telligent computer. The human crew isusually needed only to monitor SAM'sactivities.

DISTRESS SIGNALAfter the players leave the TARDIS

to investigate their present circum-stances, they will quickly be picked upon SAM's security monitors and mostlikely be captured by the centurions. AsReitz will probably accuse them of at-tempting to sabotage the mission, theplayers must face some tricky VerbalInteraction to explain their presence onthe Leander.

Shortly after the players are cap-tured, a distress signal will be pickedup from inside the gravity bubble,which the Leander has now detected onits scanner. The signal is from a smallEarth merchant vessel whose instru-ments were damaged, and thereforeunable to detect the dangerous gravityfield. The Leander's engines shouldeasily be able to pull both ships out ofthe region of the bubble in which theyare trapped.

After some convincing by the crew,and possibly the players, Fleming willdecide to make an attempt to dock withthe ship and rescue the merchants.

As Hadder's Fever takes severalweeks to kill its victims, no one will dieof the disease for awhile yet, and soFleming can afford to use some of hisprecious time to rescue the craft. Therescue must be swift, however, or mil-lions of lives may be lost. The crew ofthe Leander is totally unaware that thecrippled merchant vessel is a fake. It isactually part of an elaborate trap set bythe Cybermen!

CYBERMAN PLOTThe crippled merchant vessel actu-

ally carries a small band of Cyberman,led by Cyberleader Vorak. The Cyber-men intercepted Earth transmissionsconcerning the epidemic quite awhileago. From these, they learned of theEarth mission to deliver the serum.They saw this as a chance to regain ahome planet. The Cybermen plan to re-move everyone aboard the Leanderandto leave it, a lifeless husk, inside thegravity bubble, where it will be eithercrushed or discovered later. Earth offi-cials will be led to believe that the Lean-der suffered a disastrous power failurethat left it unable to detect or escapethe bubble. Cyberleader Vorak has pre-pared a false message from Flemingexplaining the Leander's imminentdoom.

The band of Cybermen is weak andits numbers limited. They wanderthrough space in a small, unimpressiveship, the only means of transportationthey could find at the rapid conclusionof the Cyberwars. Since then, they havebeen constantly on the run. To increasetheir strength a bit, they have used theirCyber-technology to build powerful an-droids. These androids are what theCybermen plan to use to attack the crewof the Leander, and so the characterswill not know about the presence of theCybermen in the area. Medical Assis-tant Arthur Gray, a medic assigned tothe Leander mission, has been paid tenmillion Earth credits to help the Cyber-men from inside the vessel by sabotag-ing the automated defense systems.The Cybermen, of course, have no in-tention of paying up. After Gray hasserved his purpose, he will be liquid-ated. The Cybermen also plan to usetheir ghastly conversion chamber totransform as many humans as possibleinto their own kind and to destroy therest.

A NEW HOME BASEAfter the Cybermen have secured

the Leander and its crew, they will travelto Ionia. Due to the fever, the colonywill be very weak and unable to offerany resistance, allowing the Cybermento convert as many of the Ionians aspossible. Those who refuse to undergothe process will be efficiently elimi-nated by the Hadder's Fever (Cybermenare immune to the disease). After thehuman population of Ionia is elimi-nated, the Cybermen will have a planetthey can use as a home base. If theLeander fails to deliver the serum intime, the Earth scientists know that thevirus will reach such proportions thatany further colonization of the planetwill be impossible and any further con-tact with it extremely dangerous. Earthwill probably quarantine the wholearea, giving the Cybermen time enoughto contact other roving bands of theirkind, build the planet into an impreg-nable fortress, and gather forces for anew invasion of Earth.

Shortly after the Leander dockswith the Cybership (disguised as thecrippled merchant vessel), the androidswill board it and begin a pitched battleagainst Major Reitz's security for con-trol of the ship. This is a battle that theEarth centurions cannot possibly win.The androids will eventually secure thebridge and bring all their prisonersthere to await further orders. At thispoint, their true masters will revealthemselves.

The players will almost certainly becaptured at some point in the battle andtaken to the bridge to encounter theCybermen. Cyberleader Vorak will de-liver to them a speech detailing hisplans for making Ionia into the Cyber-men's new home planet and for launch-ing a massive invasion of Earth. TheCybermen will then lead several of theprisoners on the bridge off to the con-version chamber.

4 Countdown

A DEADLY RIFTSuddenly, everyone on the bridge

will notice a huge power drain that isbeginning to affect the Leander. It is asthough the starship's energy is beingsucked into the gravity bubble. As theplayers will learn, what appeared to bethe gravity bubble is actually a deadlychronic rift, a hole in normal space thatleads to the Temporal Vortex. Becauseof the massive gravitational pull itexerts on objects, the rift appears to bea simple gravity bubble until one getstoo close. The moment an object nearsthe rift, power starts being drained fromthe object into the Temporal Vortex.The rate at which power is drawn in-creases exponentially and is usually toominute to notice at first. CyberleaderVorek learns that the same phenome-non is being observed aboard his ship.The power drain starts out slowly, but,unless something is done soon, bothships will become powerless shells,stranded in the rift forever. The powerdrain will also affect the players' TAR-DIS and eventually the Cybermen them-selves.

To make matters worse, shortlyafter Vorak's speech, this message isreceived aboard the Leander from agroup of Vegan pirates: "Prepare to beboarded and to surrender your cargo,or you will be destroyed."

UNEASY ALLIANCEThe Vegans are a rapscallion race

of thieves, cutthroats, and pirates fromthe planet Vega XII. They usually travelabout in small bands preying uponEarth shipping.

This particular band of Veganspicked up the false distress signal fromthe Cybership long ago. Thinking a crip-pled merchant ship would be an easykill, they were about to attack when theLeander came to the rescue. As theirship, the Jack of Hearts, is no match foran armed Imperial courier, they plan-ned to leave the area until they detectedthat the power failure was affecting theEarth vessel, too. Because the Vegansdo not realize the power failures arebeing caused by the 'gravity bubble,'they believe both ships offer them aneasy kill for salvage.

On the bridge of the Leander,Cyberleader Vorak will order Captain

Fleming to give the Vegans permissionto board. He will prepare an ambushusing some of his Cybermen and an-droids, deciding to ignore the problemof the power drain until after having dis-posed of all the humans and Vegans.After docking, the Vegans will takeheavy casualties in the fighting with theCybermen, but many of the pirates willescape back onto their own ship andinto the corridors of the Leander.Aboard their ship is a secret smugglinghold where several of the pirates willtake refuge.

In the adventure, the players muststop the Cybermen, somehow free theLeander from the chronic rift so that itcan carry out its mission, and deal withthe Vegan pirates. They may be able toconvince the pirates to work with themagainst the Cybermen. Knowing theVegans, however, this truce probablywill not last too long. If Kalik, captainof the Vegan ship, manages to find outabout the Earth vessel's mission toIonia, he will certainly get his own ideasabout using it to his advantage.

ROLE PLAYING GAME

Countdown 5

This chapter includes step-by-stepinstructions for gamemastering Count-down, from player character creationthrough detailed suggestions for carry-ing out the gamemaster's essentialtasks. Although this chapter has beenwritten with the beginning gamemasterin mind, it is hoped experiencedgamemasters may find new informa-tion and ideas that will improve theirgame also.

GETTINGSTARTED

Having studied the rulesthoroughly and gathered together a fewfriends who would like to try the DOC-TOR WHO Role-Playing Game, thegamemaster's next step is to be surethe players understand what a role-playing game is. If the players arenovices, it may be a good idea to readthem the story "Tabby Cats and TimeLords" found on pp. 18-25 of the DOC-TOR WHO Role Playing Game Player'sManual. The gamemaster may alsowish to read them the Example Of Playfound in Running The Adventure, the.second half of this chapter.

CHARACTER CREATIONBefore beginning the character cre-

ation process, the gamemaster shouldre-read pp. 26-31 of the DOCTOR WHO:RPG Player's Manual and pp. 28-31 ofthe Game Operations Manual. If possi-ble, have each of the players read thePlayer's Manual before the charactercreation session, as it contains all therules they will need to know. (The rulesfound in the Game Operations Manualare chiefly for the gamemaster.) Then,during the character creation session,the gamemaster can quickly review theManual with the players and answerany questions they may have.

Each player should now be readyto create his or her own character. Thisprocess is a little tricker than it seems,as the key lies in bringing to life hisconcept rather than merely compilinga list of statistics. The gamemastershould help the players, especially thebeginners, through every step of thisprocess. That will not only speed upmatters, but it also gives the gamemas-ter important knowledge of each playercharacter. (As the process of charactercreation is lengthy, there will not bemuch role-playing until after it is com-plete.)

ROLE PLAYING GAME

How To Use This BookletForming A Concept

The very first step in creating acharacter is to formulate a concept, thatis, an outline for the design of thecharacter. It should include basic ideason the character's race, background,personality, appearance, and abilities.Some good resources for characterconcepts include books, movies, his-tory, and the Doctor Who televisionseries.

As an example, let's say that Bill,one of the players in the group, wantsto create a character who is a 17th cen-tury French cavalier. Bill believes aFrench cavalier would have high DEXand CHA scores, as well as being veryskilled in the use of the rapier andflintlock pistol. Thus, Bill notes that hewill probably want to acquire these twoArmed Combat skills. He also decidesthat his cavalier will be colorful, daring,and slightly overprotective of females.Finally, Bill notes that his character willwear high, soft leather boots, a loosewhite blouse, a rapier at his side, aflintlock pistol in his belt, and a wide-brimmed musketeer hat with a long,trailing plume. He will have a thin mous-tache and regal beard.

Bill has developed a good characterconcept. He knows what his character'smain attributes will be, some of theskills he will possess, how his characterwill act, and what he looks like. The pro-cess of actually creating his characterwill now be a lot easier. He knows howhe will spend his attribute points, andcan now determine what skills to 'buy'(a 17th century French cavalier wouldnot have Temporal Sciences VI!). Othergood examples of character conceptsare a proud, eccentric Time Lord, a 20th-century Earth reporter, a scientist froma futuristic Earth colony, a barbarian, ora Roman legionnaire.

Developing character conceptsshould be a group process. As eachplayer comes up with his concept, itshould be discussed with the otherplayers and the gamemaster. Playersshould be encouraged to contributeideas to each other's concepts. And,while it is also important that there bevariety among the characters and thateach be different from the rest, thegroup should try to come up with con-cepts for characters that will form anefficient team.

6 Countdown

ROLE PLAYING GAME

Gamemaster's ApprovalThe final step in the character crea-

tion process is getting the gamemas-ter's approval. As each character is sub-mitted for judgment, the gamemastershould carefully examine the descrip-tion to be sure it includes the attributesand skills the character needs to sur-vive. Also, the gamemaster should vetoany combinations of skills and attri-butes that are unfair because they makethe character too powerful. Finally, it iscrucial that each character have enoughpersonality traits to make role-playinginteresting. If a character does not passinspection, the gamemaster can dis-cuss the problems with the player, en-couraging him to make the charactermore viable through modifications. It isalmost never necessary to throw out ev-erything and start all over again.

DEVELOPING CHARACTERHISTORIES

The gamemaster and players mustnow work together to develop a back-ground that ties the individual charac-ters together. In doing so, keep in mindthat the background should answerquestions such as: What happened toeach of the characters in the past? Howdid they meet? Would any of them haveany information from past experiencethat would be of help in the current ad-venture?

j As with character creation, thegroup process is important here. If timepermits, have each player write out abrief history of his character. Theplayers should then discuss their indi-vidual histories, as they may be able tocontribute ideas to one another's back-grounds. This is especially important ifthe gamemaster plans to run a cam-paign.

Character histories are importantfor many reasons. First, his history mayaffect the way a character decides toreact to various present-day situations.A character whose family was killed byMovellans might develop a stronghatred for them and try to exact revengeevery time he encounters one. Also, acharacter with a well-developed back-ground seems more 'real' to everyone,which adds to the general enjoymentof the game. Finally, character historiesusually provide the gamemaster with awealth of ideas for adventures.

Consider the following example: Aplayer with a Time Lord character de-cides that he left Gallifrey upon discov-ering that one of the members of theInner Council was corrupt. The TimeLord tried to prove his discovery butfailed and was about to be put on trialfor conspiracy against a CouncilMember. This left the Time Lord withno choice but to steal a TARDIS and flee.

Character RollsAfter everyone has a good charac-

ter concept, they will begin the seriesof choices and die rolls that are the heartof the character creation process. Com-plete instructions are found on pp. 26-31 of the Player's Manual. It is recom-mended that players be allowed to rollfor their special ability BEFORE allocat-ing their attribute points and buyingskills. The special ability is one of themore important aspects of a character,and could easily alter the originalcharacter concept.

Gamemasters should feel free toadd new special abilities of their owndesign to the table or to alter those al-ready there. When doing so, take carenot to make any special ability too pow-erful or too common because that couldseriously damage the game. Also, thegamemaster may wish to reward aplayer who has devised a particularlygood character concept by allowinghim to choose his own special ability.As this could easily upset the balanceof the game, extreme care should betaken in this instance, too.

After everyone has determinedtheir attributes and skills, they will fillout two copies of the DOCTOR WHOCharacter Data Record at the back ofthe Player's Manual. The gamemasterkeeps one of the copies, as he will findit invaluable later on to know what arethe skills and abilities of the playercharacters.Personality/Appearance/Age

The next step in character creationis by far the hardest, the players mustnow develop their characters' per-sonalities. The table on p. 31 of thePlayer's Manual is intended only as aguideline and aid for players who haveno ideas for their characters' per-sonalities. (Players with good characterconcepts or good ideas for personalityshould be encouraged to choose theirown traits.) Some excellent descrip-tions of personalitiy traits are found onpp. 16-17 of the Player's Manual. Eachplayer should choose any trait(s) thatseem relevant. Good role-players willalso determine their characters' quirks,mannerisms, and favorite expressionsat this point.

Players with good character con-cepts should also be allowed to choosetheir appearance and age (though TimeLord characters should almost never beallowed to choose their own actualage). Artistic players may wish to sketchtheir characters. If no artists are availa-ble in the group, each player shouldwrite out a completp description of hischaracter and allow the other playersand the gamemaster to read it.

Countdown 7

THE

ROLE PLAYING GAME

The good gamemaster will see inthis example several possibilities foradventures. Perhaps the corrupt TimeLord is worried that someone discov-ered his secret, and so decides to hireassassins from the outer edge of thegalaxy to track the player characterdown. The gamemaster might also de-vise adventures where the character isgiven a chance to discover more evi-dence against the corrupt Time Lord —maybe enough to return to Gallifrey andconvict him. All good character his-tories will provide many such oppor-tunities.

Part of each character's historyshould discuss how he met the othercharacters, and the gamemaster shouldwork closely with the players on thispart of their histories. Gamemasterswith little experience may wish to de-sign mini-adventures whose sole pur-pose is to have the characters meet. Inthis case, the player characters willmeet one another during the course ofan adventure. This is how The Doctorusually meets his companions on thetelevision series.EQUIPPING THE CHARACTERS

The gamemaster will now ask theplayers to make a list of all the equip-ment their characters will carry on theirperson and where they will carry it. Onpp. 48-55 of the Sourcebook For FieldAgents is a list of some of the equip-ment available to the players. Do notallow any character to become a walk-ing warehouse, however. While no arbi-trary limit should be set on the amountof equipment that can be carried, allowthe players to carry only what is reason-able. If the gamemaster finds thecharacters beginning to rely more ontheir gadgets than on their brains, heknows they are carrying too much.

Next, determine what basic equip-ment will be available to the charactersin their TARDIS. Feel free to invent newequipment wherever it seems logical,and allow them to invent their own(usually with the appropriate Skill Rollsto design and create it.) Only a verysmall portion of any of this equipmentshould be carried on their person, how-ever.Sonic Screwdriver

The sonic screwdriver uses sonicfields to move and manipulate small ob-jects (which is how it opens locks). Thisfunction can be used to detonate mines(by depressing their triggers), removescrews, and myriad other uses.

The sonic screwdriver gives a userfamiliar with its operation the equiva-lent of a Level VI in Lockpicking. Acharacter making a roll against his rat-ing in Engineering or Technology whohas access to a sonic screwdrivershould receive a +2 to his ability entryline on the Interaction Matrix Tablewhen use of the sonic screwdriverwould be appropriate.

Finally, with a successful Level Vtask roll in Electronics, the screwdrivercan be altered into a form of sonicweapon that does 3D6 temporary dam-age against creatures such as SeaDevils, who are particularly sensitive tosonic vibrations. Like all equipment, thegamemaster should carefully monitorthe use of the sonic screwdriver and notallow its abuse.K -9 Unit

Another piece of equipment thatcan be extremely valuable to bothgamemaster and players is a K-9 unit,especially if the players are very inex-perienced. Initially, the gamemastercan use K-9 units to give the playershints when they are stuck for clues, orto help protect them in combat. Afterthe characters develop the ability to sur-vive on their own, the K-9 unit can beremoved from the game by having itdestroyed, recalled by the CIA, and soforth. Remember, the K-9 must be role-played as if he were a character. Formore data on K-9, see pp. 75-76 of theGame Operations Manual and pp. 56-57of the Sourcebook for Field Agents.

Level: Dmge:

AP:

Name: K-9

AttributesSTR —Level III CHA —Level IVEND — Level V MNT — Level VIDEX —Level II ITN —Levellll

Special Abilities:Trackingking (See p. 76 of the Game Operations

Manual)Combat Statistics:

AP: 5Armor: 4D6Armed Combat, Staser Pistol: Level V

Significant SkillsEngineering

ElectricalMechanical

Military Science, Trap DiscoveryPhysical Sciences

ChemistryComputer ScienceMathematicsPhysics

Space SciencesAstronomyAstrophysicsNavigation

TechnologyAstronauticsCommunication SystemsComputer SystemsCybernetics -

Force Field SystemsElectronicsTARDIS SystemsTemporal Science

Trivia, K-9 Maintenance

Combat:K-9 is equipped with a Staser pistol as de-

scribed on p. 76 of the Game Operations Man-ual. He does not take damage the same waynormal characters do. When his MAX OP END isreduced to 16, roll two dice on the K-9 MinorSystems Damage table on p. 76 of the GameOperations Manual. Any further damage causesanother minor systems failure on a roll of 1-3on a D6. If K-9 reaches 0 MAX OP END, he shutsdown completely. Roll three dice. If their totalis less than the amount of damage taken past0, K-9 is irreparable. For information on repairs,see the Game Operations Manual.Power:

K-9 units run out of power rapidly. Make aK-9 power chart to keep track of his currentpower level. He starts with 14 units of power.Every game hour, cross off one of the rectangu-lar boxes representing units. For simplicity, as-sume that three units of power are consumedin 2.5 hours lone turn at regional scale).Whenever he fires his blaster, cross off anotherbox. The column of the highest unchecked boxis K -9's current power level. If he goes two hourswithout firing his Staser, he can restore one unitof power. If he is plugged into a direct powersource, he can recharge fully in 15 minutes (oneturn at large-area scale.)

Notice how K-9's Staser Damage and AP

change as his power level is reduced. The dielisted in the damage column is the type of dierolled to determine the red die (row) result onDamage Table A (D6 is normally used). If D3 islisted, roll a D3 (D6 divided by two, roundingup), and use the result to determine the row onDamage Table A. If a number is listed, assumethat it is the result of the red die roll and use itto determine the row used. When K-9 finallyreaches 0 power, he shuts down completelyuntil he regains enough power for operation.

K -9 Power ChartVII VI V

IV

InD6 D6 D6

D3

D3

25 5 5

5

4

4

Level

IVIVV

VIVIVIVI

IVIVIV

VVVVVVVnlVII

8 Countdown

II

RUNNING THE0 RDVENTURE0

PREPARING FOR PLAYNow that all the preliminary steps

are complete, it is time to begin adven-turing. (Before running Countdown, thegamemaster should have read througheach chapter in this booklet severaltimes to make sure he is familiar withevery detail of the adventure.)

The gamemaster begins play seat-ed a short distance across from theplayers. If possible, he should set up ascreen behind which his notes for theadventure can be hidden. Remove thecommonly-used tables from the backof the Game Operations Manual andkeep them handy for quick reference.Make sure the Doctor Who rulebooks,the Countdown adventure booklet,copies of the players' Character DataSheets, and plenty of paper and pencilsare also close at hand.

111

THE

ROLE PLAYING GAME

GAMEMASTER'S TASKSOnce play begins, the gamemaster

acquires many responsibilities. Theseinclude being an expert on the rules,giving descriptions, judging the resultsof the players' actions, role-playing theNPCs, keeping the adventure moving,and making sure everyone is havingfun. This last point is by far the mostimportant. The following example istaken from an actual role-playing ses-sion, and illustrates some of the tasksthe gamemaster is called upon to per-form during play.Example Of Play

A gamemaster is running twoplayers through a short adventure.Player One's character is a Time Lordnamed Apollo who decided to steal aTARDIS and become an agent in theCIA. He is eccentric, scatterbrained, anddriven by insatiable curiosity to investi-gate anything and everything. PlayerTwo's character, Evelyn Miller, is afemale officer from the Earth Diplomat-ic Corps of the 27th century. She is lik-able, well-mannered, and carries outmost tasks given her with remarkableefficiency.GAMEMASTER: "You're both aboardApollo's TARDIS. He has just finishedmaking some tricky repairs of the guid-ance system. Evelyn, you have beenreading through the Time Logs Apollokeeps in the console room. You can'tmake any sense of them at all."EVELYN: "Apollo, you really shouldlearn to keep better books."APOLLO: (Ignoring her: ) "There,finished at last. Where would you liketo go, Evelyn?"

EVELYN: "How about that crystalplanet you're always telling me about."APOLLO: "O.K., next stop Janiculus III."(Then, addressing the gamemaster:) "Iset the controls for Janiculus and de-materialize."GAMEMASTER: "At first, everythingappears to be normal; but, after a shorttime, you hear a loud, grinding noiseand the time rotor stops. You check theconsole and note that you havematerialized somewhere on Earth in the25th century. Quickly checking the viewscanner, you find that you havematerialized in a cave system."EVELYN: "Apollo, I thought you saidyou had fixed the TARDIS."APOLLO: "Those rocks must be mil-lions of years old. They look fascinating.Come on, let's go take a look!" (To thegamemaster:) "I'm opening the doorand leaving."EVELYN: "Shouldn't we try to repair theTARDIS and leave?" (To the gamemas-ter:) "Oh, I guess I'll follow him."GAMEMASTER: "Outside, it is totallydark. The rocks a few feet ahead of youare gray granite with quartz and someother minerals running through them.In the distance, you can hear drops ofwater striking a puddle, and the wholecave has a musty smell."APOLLO: (To the gamemaster:) "We'lltake the tunnel ahead."EVELYN: "Apollo, I don't like this."GAMEMASTER: "You walk down thetunnel a short distance. A cold breezeis coming from the other end. Each ofyou try to make a roll against your ratingin Surveillance, Task Level V. Yourtarget numbers are both 4."APOLLO: (Rolls a 7.) "I missed mine."EVELYN: (Rolls a 9.) "I missed, too.What happens?"GAMEMASTER: "A hairy, three-foot tallspider drops from the ceiling ontoApollo. The spider will get to act firstthis round, due to your unawareness.He spends 3 AP and tries to bite Apollo."(Rolls die.) "He misses. His turn isover."EVELYN: "I'll use 2 AP to draw my blas-ter, 2 to aim it, and 1 to fire."GAMEMASTER: "The base Task EntryLine is IV. You receive +2 for your aim,- 1 because the spider is small, and - 1because it is kind of dark. Your targetnumber is 7."EVELYN: (Rolls a 5.) "I got him!"GAMEMASTER: "Don't bother to rolldamage. The spider dies instantly,roasted to a crisp."APOLLO: "Caves can be dangerousplaces."EVELYN: "Come on, let's get out ofhere."

Countdown 9

ROLE PLAYING GAME

C GAMEMASTER: "Before you can leave,you hear a voice from the other end ofthe tunnel, saying 'Who are you?' Sud-denly, you are blinded by a bright light.Some shadowy figures are advancing."APOLLO: "My name is Apollo and thisis Evelyn. We were just taking a strollthrough this fascinating cave system."GAMEMASTER: "Make a CHA roll."(Since the gamemaster knows that theteam advancing on the characters hashad several of its men disappear understrange circumstances lately, he makesthe roll Task Level VII. The team is verysuspicious.) "Your target number isfive."APOLLO: "Hmmm." (Rolls a 7.) "Imissed."GAMEMASTER: "After your eyes ad-just to the light, you see four figuresapproaching, all dressed in greenjumpsuits. They are carrying weapons.You can just make out the badges onthe front figure's uniform. They say'Earth Survey Team Alpha Phi' and 'Sur-vey Leader Roth'."

THE FINE ART OFGAMEMASTERING

Some of the gamemaster's manyduties can be easily mastered. Forexample, it is easy enough to learn therules of the game just by readingthrough them carefully several times.Making sure everyone is having funmay seem more complex. However, ifthe gamemaster carries out his othertasks well, a good time usually follows.That leaves giving descriptions, judgingthe action, and role-playing the NPCs.While none of these are particularly dif-ficult, they do require a little practice.In addition to the following tips,gamemasters will benefit by re-reading"Presenting Scenarios" by Wm. JohnWheeler, on pp. 24-27 of the Game Op-erations Manual.Giving Descriptions

This is probably the task most oftenperformed by the gamemaster, as hemust describe each new location theplayers enter, each NPC they meet, andthe specific results of any actions theyperform. These descriptions are ex-tremely important in creating a vivid,enjoyable game atmosphere.

Descriptions of each NPC and eachlocation the characters will encounterare included in Cast of Characters andThe Adventure sections, respectively.The first time the players enter the loca-tion or encounter the NPC, thegamemaster should read the descrip-tion in this booklet and embellish it ifnecessary. The next couple of times theplayers enter the area or meet up withthe NPC, the gamemaster should givethem the important points of the de-scription again. After a short while, theplayers will develop a mental image ofthe location or NPC, so that further de-scription should not be necessary.

When giving descriptions, re-member to include information thecharacters would receive from all theirsenses, not just sight and hearing. (Re-member how the gamemaster in theExample of Play described the caves asstale and musty?) Further, describe onlywhat the player characters can per-ceive. For example, if the characters arerunning for their lives down a darkened

hallway, do not give them detailed de-scriptions of the ornate friezes they arepassing. When devising your own de-scriptions, try to emphasize the detailsthat make the location or NPC unique.For instance, the Earth Empire inCountdown has a distinctly Romanflavor. Thus, the descriptions of theNPCs' uniforms and the corridors of theLeander emphasize the Roman style ofdress and architecture.

NPCs and locations are not the onlythings that must be described, how-ever. If the characters are in a climacticbattle or are performing an importantdie roll, describe the results of their ac-tion in detail. Instead of saying, "TheCyberman tries to hit you and misses,"or "You make your roll, and the bombis diffused," say, "The Cyberman raiseshis powerful arm and mechanicallyswings at you, missing by inches", or,"With but two seconds left, you manageto dislodge the yellow wire, stoppingthe low hum that indicated the bombwas activated."Judging The Action

Another task the gamemaster iscommonly called on to perform is judg-ing the results of the players' variousactions. He must interpret the results ofSkill Saving Rolls, Attribute SavingRolls, Verbal Interaction, and Combat.As noted above, if a Saving Roll or com-bat action is particularly important orclimactic, it is important to describe theresults in more detail than simply an-nouncing success or failure.Saving Rolls:

When judging Saving Rolls, thegamemaster begins by calculating theplayer's Ability Entry Line and the TaskEntry Line before consulting the Interac-tion Matrix to find a Target Number. Forhints on doing this, re-read pp. 34-35 ofthe Game Operations Manual. Thegamemaster will usually announce theTarget Number to the player making theroll. If, however, there are special mod-ifiers or a situation of which the playeris unaware, simply ask him to roll thedice to determine his success or failure.

When designing and running ad-ventures, the gamemaster makes thegame exciting by providing many op-portunities for the players to use theirSkills and Attributes and to make Sav-ing Rolls. Take care not to go overboard,however. Too many die rolls can makethe game seem like an endless rollingcontest. Remember, too, the impor-tance of providing opportunities for thecharacters to use all their skills duringthe course of play. After all, why shoulda player 'purchase' Administration if thegamemaster is never going to give hima chance to use it? Finally, when design-ing your own adventures, try not to in-clude any rolls whose failure wouldmean the mission cannot be completed.Players should never be punished tooseverely for bad luck.

10 Countdown

Verbal InteractionJudging Verbal Interaction pre-

sents a different set of difficulties. Somegroups of players will never try VerbalInteraction with NPCs, while others willtry to abuse it by 'persuading' guardsto let them go, or 'convincing' majorvillains to give up. If a player is meetingan NPC for the first time and is tryingto make some sort of impression, havehim make a CHA Saving Roll. When de-termining the Task Entry Line for thisroll, consider current circumstances. Inthe Example of Play given above, thegamemaster determined that Apollo'sTask Entry Line would be extremelyhigh because members of the Earth sur-vey team had recently been killed in thecaves and Apollo automatically becamesuspect. Note the degree of success ofthe roll and look at the Variable Successfor CHA Rolls Table on p. 36 of the GameOperations Manual. These guidelineswill become useful for role-playing theNPC later and determining the chancesof success of any further interaction.

Whenever someone tries to per-suade an NPC to do something, makea Negotiation/Diplomacy roll. The TaskEntry Line is determined in almost thesame way as it was for CHA rolls. Someother modifiers to look for on persua-sion attempts are: the results of the CHAroll made when the character first metthe NPC, how reasonable the requestis, and the general situation.

The Leadership skill is used whena character tries to command others,usually those he does not know. Again,determine the Task Entry Line as above,and use the chart on p. 36 of the Oper-ations Manual for guidelines for deter-mining the Task Entry Line given above.Also, take into consideration how goodthe deal is for the NPC. If the playersare chasing The Master through thestreets of London and offer an old manall the English currency they have —about 500 pounds — for the use of hisbicycle, their Task Entry Level shouldobviously be Level I.

What is important to rememberwhen judging Verbal Interaction is thatno matter how skilled the interactingcharacter is, some NPCs simply cannotbe convinced in certain matters. Youcannot persuade the Master to trans-form himself into a force of good whowill use his powers to fight evil, al-though you might be able to persuadehim to help combat an evil menace tohumanity because he sees it as a threatto himself. Before determining the TaskEntry Line, you should determine if therequest, deal, or command the playeris trying to make is even possible!

CombatGenerally, the most important ac-

tion the gamemaster must judge iscombat. It often means the differencebetween success and failure in an ad-venture. After gaining some experiencewith the combat system, there will berelatively few difficulties in resolvingcombat situations. It might be a goodidea to stage a few sample combats be-fore play begins to become familiarwith the system.

Most combats will be either a trans-itional scrape or a climactic battle.Transitional scrapes are small combatswhose purpose is to move the adven-ture along. A typical transitional scrapewould be knocking out a guard to es-cape from some sort of prison. Thegamemaster should try to get transi-tional scrapes over as quickly as possi-ble. The NPCs will usually only choosebasic combat actions, and little descrip-tion of the action is necessary.

Climactic battles are the long,drawn-out fights that conclude manyadventures. These should be describedin great detail, and players and NPCsshould be encouraged to take uniquecombat actions (tipping over tables,swinging on chandeliers, etc.). Playerswill enjoy the action a lot more.

As with Saving Rolls, no playershould be punished too severely for badluck. A player who makes no mistakesbut is beaten by an obviously superiorfoe should probably not be allowed todie permanently in combat. Thegamemaster may instead choose froma number of other options: having thefoe capture the player instead, havingsomeone arrive to give the playertimely medical aid, or having the playerregenerate (if he is a Time Lord). A keyphrase in the above sentence is "makesno mistakes". If the player dies due tosome mistake he made, it should stand.This mistake could include enteringcombat in the first place. An unarmedplayer who single-handedly attacks fiveCybermen should be allowed to die (un-less he has some excellent reason forattacking the Cybermen, such as help-ing his own comrades to escape, etc.)

P Role-Playing NPCsAnother of the gamemaster's im-

portant tasks is to take on the roles ofthe various non-player characters.Good role-playing on the part of bothgamemaster and players is a skill thatusually develops gradually, and playersusually take their cue from thegamemaster. When he does a good jobof role-playing the NPCs, the playersusually follow suit.

For each NPC, the gamemasterneeds to develop some sort of recogni-tion handle. A recognition handle canbe a mannerism, part of the character'sdescription, or part of his or her person-ality. If the gamemaster constantly em-phasizes this recognition handle whenplaying the NPC, the players willdevelop a strong image of the characterin their minds, making the play situationseem more real. Recognition handlesfor the major NPCs in Countdown areprovided in the Cast of Characters sec-tion of this booklet.

The gamemaster must play theroles of ALL the NPCs in this adventure,not just the humans. NPCs can be crea-tures, aliens, and robots, too. InCountdown, one of the NPCs is a com-puter! All of these beings should begiven personalities and recognitionhandles. By combining good role play-ing with good judging, the gamemastershould find running Doctor Who adven-tures to be a very satisfying experience.

(NOTE:With inexperiencedplayers, the gamemaster should at firstask only that they respond to game situ-ation as their characters would. Later,they will naturally begin to talk like theircharacters and to identify with themstrongly. Again, dynamic role-playingon the gamemaster's part serves as arole model for the players.)

ROLE PLAYING GAME

Countdown 11

ROLE PLAYING GAME

rrlIai

CRISISDECIO

GRAVITY BUBBLE DAMAGE TABLEDie Roll Effect2-7 No Damage8 Internal Restructuring System

Mean Free Path TrackerChameleon CircuitTime/Space Navigation Control

The AdventureThis chapter includes detailed de-

scriptions of all the events and locationsthat make up the Countdown adven-ture. It includes instructions for runningeach event, for connecting the eventstogether, and notes on the variouscourses of action the players mightchoose. Although these events are pre-sented in the order in which they aremost likely to occur during play, certainactions taken by the players may de-mand that some events occur in a differ-ent sequence. As an aid to deciding theproper course of the game's events, thegamemaster should study the PlotSynopsis included in the Introductionuntil he has a thorough understandingof both the situation and its implica-tions.

To keep in the spirit of the DoctorWho television series, drama wasstressed over realism in designing theevents that comprise Countdown. Forinstance, if a player is captured andtaken to the conversion chamber, anyplayers making a rescue attempt willarrive in just the nick of time to savetheir comrade — no matter how long ittakes for the rescue party to arrive.However, should the gamemaster wishto run a more realistic campaign, he willhave to modify some of the followingevent descriptions.

The adventure begins with all theplayers aboard their TARDIS. The TAR-DIS operator in the group has justfinished performing some sticky repairsof the internal guidance system. Theother players can be doing anythingthey want. Ask each player to describewhat he or she is doing. The TARDIS iscurrently in flight, but has no specialdestination planned. Ask the playerswhere they would like to go next, en-couraging them to role-play any discus-sion of their destination.

While the players are discussingpossible destinations, ask all theplayers to make a Difficulty Level V ITNsaving roll. If no one succeeds with thisroll, ask them to try try again at DifficultyLevel IV. If all fail once more, lower theDifficulty Level to III. Continue to lowerthe Difficulty Level until someone fi-nally makes the roll. The first playerwho succeeds will notice that the timerotor (the column in the middle of theTARDIS control console) has stoppedmoving. The above rolls really are notimportant. They serve, rather, as ten-sion-builders.

Three seconds after all the playersare aware that the rotor has stopped,the TARDIS will begin to shake vio-lently. Ask all the players to make Diffi-culty Level III DEX rolls to stay on theirfeet. Anyone who fails this roll will fallto the ground, unable to perform anyaction until having passed a DifficultyLevel Ill DEX roll to stand up.

If anyone able to stand and look atthe TARDIS instruments can pass a Dif-ficulty Level III Temporal Sciences roll,he will realize that the TARDIS has be-come caught in a gravity bubble. If hepasses this roll with a critical success,he will realize that the TARDIS is actu-ally caught in a chronic rift. (See thePlot Synopsis for more on the gravitybubble-chronic rift situation.) Thegamemaster can read the TARDIS DataBank Entry on gravity bubbles (orchronic rifts) to anyone who passes thisroll, as their character would alreadyknow the information.

THE

About one minute after the shakingstarts, it will grow much more violent.Before anyone can perform any action,he must now pass a Difficulty Level NIDEX roll to steady himself. Inform theplayers that unless they manage tomaterialize fast, the TARDIS will shakeapart. To materialize the TARDIS re-quires a Difficulty Level III DEX roll tosteady, followed by a Difficulty Level IVTemporal Vehicles Operation roll. If theplayers fail either of the rolls, have themtry again until they make it, noting thenumber of times they failed.

GAMEMASTER'S NOTE: Theabove scene is intended to get theplayers into the action quickly. Thegamemaster should play it out verydramatically, describing in detail theplayers falling to the floor or clutchingfor the materialization lever. Theplayers are really in no danger at all,and they will automatically and safelymaterialize the TARDIS. Try to makethem believe, however, that the bubbleis very dangerous and that they couldshake apart at any moment. Be sure toremind the players that they mustmaterialize blind, without knowingwhere they are. They could end up any-where, even in the middle of a star!

After the TARDIS has materializedand things are back to normal, theplayers will automatically learn thatthey were trapped in a gravity bubble(if they hadn't known this already). Anycharacter with Temporal Vehicle Oper-ation skill will automatically realizefrom coordinate readings that the TAR-DIS materialized on a moving space-craft. The year is 2576. The TARDIS hasmaterialized in Auxiliary Cargo Hold #2of the Terran starship Leander. If theplayers use the ship's scanner to ob-serve the area, refer to the detailedroom description given in Vessels. Fi-nally, if the players missed any rolls formaterializing the TARDIS, roll once onthe Gravity Bubble Damage Table (seebelow) to learn if the TARDIS' systemsare damaged from the incident. Add thenumber of times the players failed tomaterialize to the die roll.

Nearly all the results from theabove table are minor damage, andnone of them will affect the outcome ofthis adventure at all (although they mayaffect future adventures, at thegamemaster's discretion.) Guidelineson how to judge TARDIS damage andrepairs are found on pp. 71-73 of theGame Operations Manual.

12 Countdown

INSIDE THET55 LER NDER

Upon materialization, the playerswill probably use the TARDIS scannerand other instruments to check out theirsurroundings. Atmosphere and gravityreadings will all indicate Earth normal.The TARDIS has materialized in Aux-iliary Cargo Hold #2 on B Deck of thePrimary Hull.

GAMEMASTER'S NOTE: Most ofthe Countdown adventure will takeplace in the chambers and corridors ofthe starship Leander. See the chapteron Vessels for a complete description,background information, and deckplans for the starship.

After investigating their surround-ings, the players will probably leave theTARDIS to look around. If they seemreluctant to leave, tell them that thegravity bubble they encountered can bevery dangerous to spacecraft and thatthey may wish to warn the crew. Also,the CIA would certainly want them toinvestigate the bubble so that othertime travelers could be warned. If theycontinue to resist, tell them that theTARDIS simply does not have thepower to dematerialize again. A mas-sive power failure is being caused bysomething in the area (the Chronic Rift).In this case, the rift will begin to affectthe TARDIS early (the TARDIS could beaffected earlier than everything else be-cause its inter-dimensional naturemakes it more sensitive to the drain,etc.)

IN THE CARGO BAYAfter the players leave the TARDIS,

they will find themselves in a rectangu-lar room, six by seven—and—one-halfmeters in size. In one corner of the roomis the TARDIS, while the rest of the roomis filled with stacks of crates. Next tothe door is a panel consisting of somekind of gauge and several dials (actuallya thermostat controlling environmentalconditions in the cargo hold). The cratesare marked "MEDICAL EQUIPMENT -EXTREMELY FRAGILE - MUST BE KEPTBETWEEN 17 AND 18 DEGREES CEL-SIUS". Each crate is about two feet bytwo feet at the base and one foot high.The crates are made from a silvery plas-tic material.

A character trying to force open oneof these crates with his bare hands mustmake a Difficulty Level V STR roll to suc-ceed. If the players use a sonic screwd-river or pry bar of some type (definitelyavailable on the TARDIS), the crate willopen automatically. Inside are fourtrays, each approximately three incheshigh, holding several hundred tinyvials. The vials contain the serum tocure Hadder's Fever. If a character withskill in General Medicine examines theserum, he will know that it is the curefor Hadder's Fever if he can make a Dif-ficulty Level V roll. If a character withskill in Pharmacology examines thevials, he will determine their nature witha Difficulty Level Ill roll.

After investigating the crates, theplayers will probably wish to leave thecargo hold and look around the ship.The only doors that will be locked arethose that lead to private staterooms,or unused areas of the ship (such as thespecial visitors' facilities). As they leave,they will notice a placard just outsidethe door that reads "Auxiliary CargoHold #2". A similar placard appearsoutside every door on the Leander. Itwill take the characters about ten min-utes of game time to fully investigateany given room or area.

TRACKED BY SAMJust after the players leave the

hold, start making a roll every five min-utes (game time) to see if they are de-tected by SAM's security system. Usingthe Skill Level of the party member withthe best skill rating in Stealth, make aDifficulty Level VI Stealth roll for thewhole party. If this roll fails, ImperialCenturions will arrive on the scene infive minutes. If it succeeds, wait anotherfive minutes and roll again. If none ofthe players have Stealth skill, use thehighest DEX present and make the Diffi-culty Level VII.

When the party finally fails a detec-tion roll, SAM will lock onto their loca-tion and track them everywhere theygo. It is impossible to escape this detec-tion. SAM will guide a patrol of five Im-perial Centurions straight to them (seeGamemaster's Notes chapter forfurther details on the Centurions' com-bat abilities and equipment). This patrolwill be led by Major Reitz himself. Be-cause of the Centurions' training andcomplete knowledge of the ship and theplayers' activities, the patrol will takethe characters by surprise unless thecharacter with the highest SurveillanceSkill Rating can make a Difficulty LevelVI roll.

Whether they take the party by sur-prise or not, it should be obvious to theplayers that combatting the Centurionsis not a good idea. The five Centurionsand Reitz will all have their Mark VIIBlasters on stun and at the ready. If anyof the players tries anything remotelyresembling combat, the Centurions willstun him and warn the rest. When theplayers finally give up, Reitz will pokehis blaster in one of their faces and say,"Well, it looks as though we've foundsome saboteurs." Reitz and the Centur-ions will then take them to the bridgeto confront Captain Fleming.

ROLE PLAYING GAME

Countdown 13

WIIMPrIII

SCEl ❑

II ❑

ROLE PLAYING GAME

CTO THE BRIDGE

As the Centurions lead the playersoff to the bridge, the gamemaster willdescribe the areas of the ship throughwhich they are passing. He should usethe deck plans to determine the mostlikely route to the bridge.

As soon as the player-charactershave been captured, some of the Cen-turions will leave. There are as manycenturions as characters remaining onthe bridge, with Reitz automaticallystaying to command them. This mightget the players thinking about an es-cape attempt. This should be played outas a normal combat. The Centurionswill have their Blasters set for stun andleveled to fire at the prisoners. If theplayers manage to escape (or if theysomehow eluded capture in the firstplace), a full-scale security alert will beposted. Ten Centurions as well as sev-eral members of the Leander crew willbegin a room-by-room search of theship. Anyone captured by them will beescorted to the bridge.

GAMEMASTER'S NOTE: Thegamemaster will read the following de-scription to any captured playersbrought to the bridge: You are placedin a turbo-lift that elevates and thencomes to a sudden stop. The plasticdoor opens to reveal a large, T-shapedroom, obviously the bridge of the ves-sel. The room is done entirely in aglossy black plastic. On the floor is anintricate mosaic made from plastic tiles.Ahead of you are four ornamental,Roman-style columns. To either side,you see black metal stairways leadingup about twelve feet to a gantry level.On the gantry are banks of machineryand equipment. A young man withblond hair is standing on the gantrylooking down on you. Directly ahead,you see a curving bank of instrumentsbeing monitored by two crewmen, onemale and one female. Just before theinstrument bank is an ornate chair ona raised podium. Suddenly, the chairswivels around in your direction. Sea-ted in the chair is a slightly overweight,grey-haired man in his fifties. At thevery head of the room, you can see avideo image of space, and above that,a screen displaying a computer-gener-ated image of a human head. The 'head'seems to be speaking, giving instruc-tions and progress reports to thehuman crew."

(The man on the gantry is First Of-ficer Lindsay, the man in the chair isFleming, and the two crewmen areCommunications Officer Dirkes andNavigator Campbell.)

MEETING WITHCAPTAINFLEMING

Major Reitz will report the discov-ery of the players to Captain Fleming.Fleming will introduce himself as Com-mander of the TSS Leander, an Earthfast courier, and introduce everyonepresent on the bridge. He will then givethe players a chance to explain them-selves. After the characters have doneso, have each player make a CHA roll forevery NPC on the bridge, including Reitz(see Cast Of Characters for descrip-tions). Remember to record the resultsof these rolls.

If Reitz' reaction to any players pre-sent is Neutral or worse, he will try topersuade Captain Fleming to have allthe players executed as saboteurs. (Thisis within Fleming's authority, and theEarth regulations can be interpreted ascalling for it). The players must try totalk him out of it, using their Negotia-tion/Diplomacy skill. As Fleming is re-luctant to execute anyone, this is a LevelIII task. Adjust the level down 2 if Flem-ing is Actively Supportive toward anyof the characters and down 1 if he isFriendly toward any of them. Adjust thelevel up 1 if Fleming is AggressivelyHostile to any of the characters. MakeDifficulty Level II persuasion rolls forNegotiation/Diplomacy for each NPC onthe bridge who is Friendly or ActivelySupportive of any of the characters. Ifthis roll is successful, lower the Diffi-culty Level of the players' Negotiation/Diplomacy roll by 1.

If the NPC in question does nothave Negotiation/Diplomacy skill, au-tomatically alter the Task Entry Line by+2 instead. Finally, allow every playerexcept the one with the highest Negoti-ation/Diplomacy Skill Rating to make aDifficulty Level IV Negotiation/Diplo-macy roll. Each success gives a +2 tothe Task Entry Line of the final roll. Theplayer with the highest Negotiation/Diplomacyskill makes a roll against theTask Entry Line determined above. Suc-cess indicates that Fleming decides toimprison the characters only temporar-ily. Failure indicates that Fleming de-cides to have them executed, but notfor awhile. Critical success means thatFleming will believe the explanation theplayers gave (only if, in the gamemas-ter's opinion, it is a good one), and allowthem to stay on the bridge for the timebeing.

THE

GAMEMASTER'S NOTE: WhetherFleming decides to execute the charac-ters or not will have very little bearingon the adventure. (It will only makethings all the more dramatic.) If he doesso decide, the execution will not bescheduled for at least three hours. Bythis time, the Cybermen and androidswill have arrived and made the execu-tion impossible. Fleming's reaction tothe players will probably change afterhe sees some evidence that they aretrying to help him anyway.

The gamemaster should encour-age strong role-playing during thisscene. The players may ask severalquestions of the bridge crew during thescene or immediately after. If they askabout SAM or the Leander, First OfficerLindsay will explain their full functionsand backgrounds to them automati-cally. (This is considered classified orsecret information.) In the course of thatconversation, allow the players to learnthat the Leander is on an importantspecial mission. If they ask what thatmission is, no one will respond. If theyhappen to mention the serum for Had-der's Fever they may have seen in thecargo hold, allow them a Difficulty LevelIV persuasion attempt (using Negotia-tion/Diplomacy) to persuade Fleming totell them about the situation on Ioniaand the Leander's mission.

14 Countdown

THE

IA

011-1IL

DERDLYANDROIDS

Name: CYBER-ANDROIDAttributesSTR —VIEND —VIDEX —11

CHA —IMNT —1ITN —1

Combat Statistics:AP:

5Armed Combat, Blaster Rifle: IVUnarmed Combat, Brawling:

The androids have 4D6 armor. They alsohave a weapon equivalent to a Blaster rifle builtinto their right hands.

Significant SkillsNone.

3IOC SIGNAL FROM

SPACE

_s! after the fate of the players is- :.ed (or any time the gamemaster- - s appropriate, should the players

e managed to elude capture or de-- - an), Communications Officer

- ‘es will announce, "Sir, SAM is pick-- a distress call from an Earth mer-

:..--.ant vessel trapped in the gravity bub-: .e we detected earlier. Sir, they need

badly." Fleming will then ask heray the message so that the bridgecan hear it. The message reads:

- S IS THE EARTH MERCHANT VES-TOWER OF LONDON. OUR EN-

7, 7 ‘ES HAVE MALFUNCTIONED ANDARE BEING PULLED TO THE

'...:_=*.TER OF A GRAVITY BUBBLE. UN-JESS WE RECEIVE HELP SOON, WE

__ BE DESTROYED. MAYDAY. MAY-

the players are on the bridge, they. wish to persuade Captain Fleming

- elp the vessel (with a Difficulty Level%egotiation/Diplomacy roll). If the. ers do not try to intervene or they:hen Lindsay and Dirkes will per-

:e Fleming to aid the ship (in which- e. are automatically successful). This

should be role-played. Reitz will-sst that stopping to help the ship will

- same valuable time. (If the players- at know of the Leander's mission,Ai them a Difficulty Level IV Negoti-

: - Dplomacy roll to persuade Hem-_ _ e I them why the Leander cannot

iong delays.) Lindsay and Dirkespoint out that it will not take long

:ack with the ship and rescue itsFurther, the fever will not begin

mg its victims for awhile yet.

If the players managed to escapedetection or capture and are not on thebridge when the distress call comes in,Lindsay and Dirkes will persuade Flem-ing to aid the distressed merchant.Fleming will use the public address sys-tem to inform the entire crew that theLeander is stopping to dock with an en-dangered Earth merchant vessel. Thisdocking is to take place in approxi-mately 15 minutes. The players will, ofcourse, hear this message as well.

If the players are still on the bridgeand Fleming decided to imprison orexecute them at a later time, they willbe taken to and locked in the Food Stor-age Room on Deck B of the Primary Hull(Room 15 on the deck plans). Reitz andone Centurion for every player will es-cort the group. The Centurions will alsosee that the doors to all the cargo holdsare locked (just in case).

Lining the walls and in the centerof the storage room are bins containingvarious fruits, vegetables, and otherfoods. If players open the bin on theback wall, they will discover a largewalk-in storage area (recessing into thehull) containing crate after crate of food.In the corner of the room is an unlockeddoor that leads to a freezer. The freezeralso recesses deep into the hull of theship. It mostly contains frozen meats.Inside the Food Storage Room next tothe door is a thermostat control and avideo screen, which is turned off. TheDifficulty Level of the lock to the storageroom is Level IV. (The target numberfor a lockpicking attempt using a sonicscrewdriver is 10.)

About 15 minutes after Fleming an-nounces to the crew that the Leanderis going to aid the crippled merchantship, the Leanderwill be in docking pos-ition. If the players are in sight of Dock-ing Bay #1 (Primary Hull, Deck B, Room8), they will see a boarding party arriveabout five minutes before the dockingis to occur. This party consists of fourImperial Centurions, Engineer Spencer,and two enlisted Leander crewmen(stewards). Sergeant Hall is command-ing the detachment of Centurions. If theplayers are on the bridge, they will hearFleming give orders for this party to as-semble and go to the docking area.

The actual docking will go withouta hitch. The Earth party will take abouttwo minutes to prepare to board.

To everyone's surprise, the airlockdoor will suddenly and unexpectedlyopen to reveal two deadly androids. Be-fore anyone can react, these androidswill each shoot some type of beam outof their hands, one killing a steward,the other killing one of the Centurions.If the players are not in sight of the mas-sacre, one of them will notice a conven-iently-placed video screen displayingthe docking and the subsequent battle.(There is such a screen in the Food Stor-age Room where the players will be im-prisoned, and the bridge personnel willcertainly be watching the docking pro-ceedings on security monitors. Thereare similar video screens all over theLeander, and so, no matter where theplayers are, they will see the docking.)

After the first two rounds of com-bat, the androids will step away fromthe airlock door and two more willemerge from it. Sergeant Hail will im-mediately radio Major Reitz and issuea full security emergency. (Reitz, therest of the Centurions, and severalarmed members of the Leander crewwill arrive in six combat rounds, or oneminute). The Centurions will then en-gage the androids in a pitched battle,retreating into the main atrium and tak-ing cover behind the columns. If theplayers are near the area, they may wishto enter this combat.

ROLE PLAYING GAME

Countdown 15

MOVEMENT ANDACTIONS IA

❑ ❑

:11 PITCHEDBRTTLE

The androids have a pre-program-med battle strategy. They will slowlyadvance to the bridge, securing the cor-ridors as they go, and wait for their mas-ters to arrive. The Centurions are theonly humans they will actively try todestroy; all the others are to be cap-tured and the officers taken to thebridge to await the Cybermen, if possi-ble.

GAMEMASTER'S NOTE: The pre-sence of the Cybermen in the adventureis intended to be a dramatic surprisesprung on the players. Before theCybermen decide to reveal themselves,the players should see only the an-droids, and it would be impossible toidentify their origin without a detailedanalysis taking at least 24 hours.

The androids have one weakness:The equipment that Vorak and the otherCybermen had available for their con-struction was not the best, and, con-sequently, the androids suffer from atechnical flaw near the chest unit. Anyplayer who looks at the android andmakes a Difficulty Level III Cyberneticsroll or a Difficulty Level V Electronicsroll will notice this weakness. Discountthe androids' armor in determiningdamage for any attacks hitting the an-droids in their weak spot (requires a -3aimed shot).CALCULATING TIME

Once the battle with the androidsbegins, the gamemaster must begin tokeep strict track of time. Note the sev-eral dotted lines on the deck plans.

Next to each dotted line is a figurerepresenting the number of combatrounds (ten seconds each) it will takethe androids to push the Centurionsback behind that line. After the givennumber of rounds have passed, the re-maining Centurions will fall back tosomewhere in the vicinity of the nextred line and make another stand. Everytime the defenders fall back, roll a D6-3for the number of them that are killed(a result less than 0 is treated as 0). As-sume that no androids will be destroyedunless the players intervene. This is avery abstract, but simple, way of keep-ing track of the battle. If the playersthemselves are involved in the battle,play it as normal combat. The androidswill fire heavily into the defenders andthen advance on them. In either case,the defenders will not win. Thirty min-utes after the battle begins, the androidswill successfully reach the bridge. TheCybermen have four more androids ontheir ship who can be brought in as rein-forcements, and, if necessary, they willpersonally enter the fray.

If the players are on the bridge dur-ing the battle, they can watch the wholething on SAM's security monitors. SAMis programmed to seal off all parts ofthe ship and begin to respond with au-tomatic defenses in an emergency suchas this, but every time he tries to en-gage, this program fails. (Medical Assis-tant Gray has secretly erased this capa-bility, and, if given the opportunity,Reitz will of course blame the playersfor it.

If the players are trying to wanderor sneak about the Leander during thebattle, conduct their movement and ac-tions in tactical scale (spending AP, etc.)The gamemaster may be called uponto estimate the AP) costs for some un-usual actions. If he decides an actioncosts more AP than a character has, thecharacter spends more than one rounddoing it (fully searching a room, for in-stance, might cost between 30 and 50AP.) If, sometime during the battle, theplayers happen to be near the Engineer-ing or Computer Rooms on Deck A ofthe Primary Hull, they will notice Med-ical Assistant Gray come running outof one of the rooms. (Gray has justsabotaged the defense program.) Forevery three combat rounds the playersspend wandering about the ship, rollon the Encounter Table below. Add 1to the roll for every encounter theplayers have already had. Add 2 to theroll if the players are within six meters(four squares on the deck plans) of thedotted line the Earth men are currentlydefending.

Battle Encounter TableDie Roll

Encounter2-6

No Encounter7

Android8-9

Centurion Patrol10-11

Trapped Centurions

Android:The players will encounter an an-

droid heading toward (or coming from)the main battle. They can avoid or hidefrom the android with a Difficulty LevelIII Stealth roll or a Difficulty Level II Con-cealment roll. Make one roll for thewhole party using the best Stealth orConcealment skill present among theplayers. If none have Stealth or Conceal-ment, make it a Difficulty Level IV DEXroll. If the players fail to avoid the an-droid, it will attempt to capture them

THE

ROLE PLAYING GAME

and eventually take them to the Leanderbridge to meet the Cybermen. Play itout as a normal combat. If the playerstry to flee, lead them into the TrappedCenturions encounter (see below) andadd another android to the attackgroup. Add 1 to further rolls on the Bat-tle Encounter Table.Centurion Patrol:

The players will see three ImperialCenturions coming down the corridorheading toward the battle. The playerscan avoid the Centurions using themethod described above, but this timethe Difficulty Levels are both III. If thepatrol notices the players, they will at-tempt to capture them (if the playershave escaped imprisonment), stunningthem if necessary. Captured players willbe taken to the bridge. Before they getthere, however, the Centurions escort-ing them will be attacked by two an-droids, resulting in the Trapped Centur-ion encounter. If the players were notimprisoned, they may decide to volun-tarily join the Centurions to fight theandroids. If this happens, they will soonbe attacked by two androids, also re-sulting in the Trapped Centurions en-counter. Add 1 to further rolls on theBattle Encounter Table.Trapped Centurions:

The players come across a groupof three Centurions pinned by two an-droids. The Centurions are in gravedanger, which the players should rec-ognize and so probably try to rescuethem. If they are near a group of col-umns, the Centurions will be hiding be-hind them; otherwise, they will be hid-ing behind a barricade of overturnedtables. If possible, the players will comeup behind the Centurions and becomepinned with them. If this encounter isbeing played out as a result of the Cen-turion patrol above, wait until the groupreaches some area where they couldbecome pinned in before the androidsattack.

16 Countdown

IM

DESTROYINGTHE ANDROIDS

Ill SNEAKINGABOUT

After the Cybermen and androidshave taken over the ship and postedguards and patrols, characters trying toget from one area to another unde-tected will be a common occurrence. Inthis case, the character must make aroll against his skill in Stealth. The basedifficulty for sneaking about the Lean-der's corridors is Level III. Thegamemaster can modify this as he seesfit, depending on the condition ofguards, available cover, or any otherrelevant circumstances. Modify theTask Entry Line by -2 for each level ofSurveillance skill the guards possess. Ifthe character making the attempt doesnot have Stealth skill, allow him to makea DEX roll instead at a base DifficultyLevel of V.

Three combat rounds after theplayers arrive, make a Difficulty LevelIII ITN roll for each player. Anyone suc-cessful will think of one of the followingmethods of destruction: If the battletakes place near any sort of lab or acces-sible science area, the player will realizethat a certain acid (easily found in thelab) will automatically destroy the an-droids. It requires a successful combatroll to throw the acid on each android.If the battle takes place in an area wherethere are columns, the player can noticethat it is possible to shoot out one ofthe columns so that it falls, crushingand completely destroying the an-droids. An aimed shot (-3 to Task EntryLine) is required to shoot the columnproperly.

If the battle takes place in neitherof these two areas, the players willnotice that the androids are standingunderneath an automatic sprinkler.With an aimed shot (13 to the Task EntryLine), the heat from a blaster can turnthe sprinkler on, dousing both androids.The androids will spark furiously, thenjerk wildly and finally collapse.

These special attack methods willonly work once, however. After that, theCybermen will modify the androids'programming by radio signal, so thatthey will be on guard against them. Ifthe players have escaped imprison-ment thus far and the gamemasterwants them to be captured for anotherreason, the Centurions will surroundthe player characters and take them tothe bridge. (Even if the players savedtheir lives, Imperial Centurions remainhighly-trained, disciplined troops whoalways follow their orders.) If theplayers saved the Centurions, they cantry to dissuade them not to capture witha Difficulty Level V Negotiation/Diplo-macy roll. In this case, the Centurionswill ask them to join the battle againstthe androids, but will not press them ifthe player characters have a more im-portant task to perform. This encounterwill occur once. Treat a roll of 10-12 asthe Android Encounter described in theabove table. After this encounter oc-curs, treat all Centurion Patrol Encoun-ters as Android Encounters as well.

Il1 1

CAPTURED!

The players will eventually be cap-tured by the androids and taken to thebridge. If the players have not been cap-tured (or have already managed to es-cape) by the time the androids reachthe bridge, have a party of three an-droids surprise them in the open wher-ever they are. If the players are stilllocked in the storage room, the an-droids will suddenly burst in and leadthem off. If they are on the bridge, theywill be taken prisoner when the an-droids arrive. If they are trying to hidesomewhere, the androids will beguided by sensor equipment from theCybership directly to the player charac-ters' location, taking them by surprise.

It should be noted that it is very difficultfor the players to get back to their TAR-DIS by this time. The Leander cargohold, where the TARDIS is now situated,is locked, the power drain from thechronic rift having already made it im-possible for the automatic doors toopen. The doors can be opened manu-ally, but this would take at least 15 mi-nutes. In any case, the players shouldbe captured by the androids before theyare allowed to run and hide in the TAR-DIS. The gamemaster should also makeit obvious to the players that resistingthe three androids is useless. They willtake the players by surprise and caneasily overpower them.

THE

ROLE PLAYING GAME

Countdown 17

ROLE PLAYING GAME

ENTER THECYBERMEN

Once the players are captured bythe androids, they will be taken to thebridge. There they will find Fleming,Reitz, Fredrick, Gray, Spencer,Campbell, and Dirkes also being heldprisoner. A total of six androids will beon guard. All obvious weapons will beremoved from the prisoners at the timeof capture. The androids are not capa-ble of speech, but will make it knownthrough gestures that anyone touchingany of the Leander's equipment or try-ing to escape will be destroyed. •

After all the prisoners are secure,the players will hear the turbo-lift slowlyrising to the bridge. After it reaches theproper level, there will be a short delayand then the door will suddenly slideopen to reveal the Cybermen! Cyber-leader Vorak and two others will arriveon the bridge. Two minutes from thistime, the remaining Cybermen (sevenin all) will spread themselves through-out the corridors of the Leander to actas guards. Four of the androids willleave the bridge to aid them. Cyber-leader Vorak will then deliver a speechdetailing his plans.

Vorak's SpeechAfter the Cybermen appear on the

bridge, Fleming will ask them what theywant with his ship (if the players don'task first(. Cyberleader Vorak will reply:"The answer to that is simple, Earth-man." (If the character is a Time Lord,Vorak will address him properly also,as he automatically knows who ishuman and who is a Time Lord.) "Youare carrying a certain serum that I mustguarantee never reaches its destina-tion. My kind has been reduced to smallwandering bands, unable to increaseour numbers, for nearly a thousandyears now. We have no world to callhome. When I intercepted radio trans-missions concerning your mission, Iconceived of a plan that will provide uswith a home planet at last.

"I have determined that theplagued planet to which you are carry-ing your precious serum would makean ideal homeworld for my race. Underthe effects of the disease, Ionia will beweak and will fall easily to the invasionwe plan. If your vessel were never toreach the planet, your Earth govern-ment would probably quarantine theentire sector. They know that the deadlyfever will run rampant unless treated

soon, and they will not risk the possibil -

ity of a vessel carrying the fever virusto other inhabited areas. This will giveus time — time we desperately need."

At this point, Lindsay breaks in tosay, "You murderer! You're condemn-ing ten million innocent people todeath!"

"Fear not," Vorak responds. "Theinhabitants of Ionia will not die. Thatwould be a tremendous waste of re-sources. No, they will go on living, asCybermen. My kind can only increasetheir numbers by converting humansinto Cybermen. Many of the Ionians willgladly accept this transformation tosave themselves from the fever. Thosewho do not accept will be wiped out bythe disease.

"After the planet is secure, we willhave time to contact others of our kind,regroup our forces, and build. Eventu-ally we will become powerful enoughto carry out our supreme goal — thesubjugation of Earth!"

Fleming breaks in here. "Earth willnever believe that the Leander disap-peared without a trace. They'll sendsomeone to investigate."

Vorak replies calmly, "And whenthey do, Captain, they will find what isleft of your vessel at the center of thegravity bubble. We have already pre-pared your log to show that your vesselsuffered a disastrous power failure andwere sucked into the bubble. They willbelieve it."

Vorak will then order a party ofCybermen up to the bridge to lead awaya group of humans to be converted toCybermen. This group will consist ofEngineer Spencer, Dr. Fredrick,Navigator Campbell, and possibly aplayer character. This player charactermust be human, but otherwise can beselected at random. If all the playercharacters are Time Lords, they will beleft on the bridge, and Vorak will tellthe other Cybermen that conversion ofthe prisoners must wait until later, fornow they may still be useful. Oncedown the turbo-lift, the prisoners ontheir way to the conversion chamberwill meet a group of five enlisted prison-ers heading for the same fate. Thegroup will be well-guarded all the wayto the Cybership and conversion, withlittle chance for escape.

For now, Vorak plans to secure theship, post guards, and begin convertingthe prisoners. The Cybermen will be en-gaged in attempting to carry out theseplans for most of the rest of the adven-ture.

THE

LOSING POWER

After the characters are led off thebridge to the conversion chamber,something strange will occur. SAM willreport that all the ship's power levelsare falling at a slowly increasing rate.Many of the ship's major systems havealready become inoperable. Cyber-leader Vorak, still on the bridge withother Cybermen and androids, will re-ceive a radio report from his own shipindicating that a similar phenomenonis being observed aboard it as well.

After the report comes in, First Of-ficer Lindsay will receive permissionfrom Vorak to examine the Leander'sinstruments to see what is causing thedrain. Lindsay will then announce thatthe readings are very unusual andbeyond his comprehension. If one ofthe players still on the bridge asks tolook at the instruments, Vorak will againgrant permission. If the player can passa Difficulty Level IV Temporal Sciencesroll, he will realize that the gravity bub-ble is actually a deadly chronic rift. If acharacter passes this roll, thegamemaster can read to him the TAR-DIS Data Banks Entry on the rift, as hewould know this information anyway.

If the character gives any indicationof understanding the chronic rift, Vorakwill threaten the player with death un-less he or she can explain. The playermay try to persuade Vorak that the riftis extremely dangerous and that onlyhe has the knowledge to respond to thedanger. This is a Difficulty Level VIINegotiation/Diplomacy roll becauseCyberleader Vorak is very doubtful thatthere is any technology superior to hisown. If the character is successful,Vorak will allow him and any assistantsfree use of the Leander's laboratories(under the guard of two Cybermen) tostudy the rift. If another player was al-ready taken to the conversion chamber,the character may try to convince Vorakthat the player is a valuable assistantand must be released if the rift is to beproperly analyzed. Treat this as a Diffi-culty Level VI Negotiation/Diplomacyroll. Of course, Vorak will have anycharacters studying the rift killed or con-verted when they are no longer usefulto him.

18 Countdown

THE VEGANTHREAT

IIInr

pc '

0 00 0

ROLE PLAYING GAME

Any characters studying the rift forthe Cybermen will be led off to the re-search laboratory just after the Vegans'message comes in (see The VeganThreat). Once there, they may try to stallor work on something other than a sol-ution to the rift (such as a way to defeatthe Cybermen). If this is the case, havethem make a Difficulty Level IV Stealthroll to do this without their guards notic-ing. Any players failing this roll will im-mediately be taken back to the bridge(or conversion chamber). If the playerstry to find a way to deal with the Cyber-men, refer to Ultimatum. If they actuallytry to find a way to seal the rift, seeSealing The Rift. If they try to escape,play it out as a normal combat.

EFFECTS OF THE CHRONIC RIFTThe rift will have many effects on

the adventure's outcome. First of all, thelights on the Leander soon will beginto dim, due to lack of power. This dar-kening will modify combat and possiblyother rolls, at the gamemaster's discre-tion. The rift will also begin to drainpower from the Cybermen themselves!After a while (at least an hour), the APofall the Cybermen (except Vorak, whosesuperior technology foils the drain) andandroids will be reduced by 1. Also,their combat Skills Levels will each fallby 1. The exact timing of these effectsis up to the gamemaster. If the playersare doing well and progressing easily,he may decide to wait awhile before

invoking the effects of the drain. If theyare doing poorly and need help, thegamemaster might have the drainbegin to affect the Cybermen early. Ifthe players realize that the drain willeffect the Cybermen (Difficulty Level IIITemporal Science Roll) and specifidallystate that they are delaying 'their finalattack as long as possible (see Ul-timatum), the AP of all the Cybermenand androids will have had time to bereduced by 2. By the time the drainwould have had further effects, theCybermen will have been defeated.

If the players have a K-9 unit, it willbe affected by the power drain in thesame way as the Cybermen.

THE NEXT STEPSIt will finally become obvious to any

player realizing that the ships are trap-ped in a chronic rift that they are in greatdanger. The rift will continue to drainpower from both ships until they are nomore than lifeless husks. Eventually,the life-support systems themselveswill cease functioning. The players nowhave two tasks to perform: foiling theplans of the Cybermen, and sealing therift to save the Earth mission and theirown lives! Unless the players couldconvince Vorak that the rift is deadlyand he enlists their aid, Vorak will makesure that the entire Leander crew hasbeen converted or killed before takingany steps to remedy the power drain.He believes that his superior Cyber-technology will easily come up with asatisfactory method of escape.

About 30 minutes after SAMnoticed the power drain (try to encour-age the players to role-play and interactwith the NPCs for awhile to allow a shorttime to pass before beginning thisevent), Communications Officer Dirkeswill announce, "Captain, SAM is pickingup a signal. You had better listen to ityourself!" (By this time, the bridge crewwill have been allowed to monitor theircontrols, under strict guard, to keep thevessel functioning.) Dirkes will then setthe communications equipment to playthe message throughout the ship, andthe players will hear it no matter wherethey are. The message is: "AHOY,PLANETLUBBERS. THIS IS KALIK, SKIP-PER OF THE VEGAN PRIVATEER JACKOF HEARTS. YOU HAVE JUST FIVE MI-NUTES TO PREPARE TO BE BOARDEDAND TO SURRENDER YOUR BOOTYOR WE'LL LAUNCH A BROADSIDEINTO YOU THAT WILL BLOW YOUCLEAN BACK TO THE MOONS OFMAROS. MAKE SURE THERE ARE NOTRICKS EITHER, OR YOU'LL WIND UPSCRAPING THE BOTTOM. REMEMBER,FIVE MINUTES."

Allow any Time Lord players hear-ing the message Difficulty Level V MNTrolls to see if they happen to rememberwhat Vegans are. If this roll is success-ful, read them the TARDIS Banks DataEntry on Vegans (see Gamemaster'sNotes.)

After hearing the message, Cyber-leader Vorak will order his troopsaboard the Cybership to blow the Veganvessel out of existence. The troops willimmediately reply that this is impossi-ble because the power drain has ren-dered all weapon systems inoperative.Vorak will then order Captain Flemingto signal the Vegans, agreeing to theirterms. At gun-point, Fleming will do asthey ask. Vorak will then begin organiz-ing an ambush to meet the Vegans asthey board. Shortly after this, moreCybermen will first come to the bridgeand then a large group of them willleave again, including Vorak. BeforeVorak leaves, he will hand Medical As-sistant Gray (who has been on thebridge all this time masquerading as aprisoner) a Mark VII Blaster and tell himto help guard the prisoners, revealinghim to be the saboteur of SAM's com-puter defenses. (Be sure to role-play theprisoners' reaction to this.) This leavesjust one android, one Cyberman, andGray on the bridge to guard the players.

Countdown 19

THE

ROLE PLAYING GAME

iu

AMBUSH ANDESCAPE

Watching the main security on thebridge, the players and other prisonerswill witness Vorak and the other Cyber-men ambush the Vegans. Any playernot on the bridge will happen to witnessthis on a nearby video screen. TheVegan vessel will dock at Docking Bay#2 on B Deck of the Primary Hull. EightVegans will board the Leander, and twowill be killed instantly by the Cybermen.Vorak, two other Cybermen, and fourandroids will be the ambushers. TheVegans will quickly flee. Three of them(including what appears to be theleader) will escape onto the Leander.They will run through the main atriumand appear to be heading towards ADeck and the Command Level. Two Ve-gans will escape back onto their ownship (where they will hide in the secretsmuggling hold), and two others willbe captured and taken by the Cybership.The Cybermen will quickly secure theVegan ship, but will find no trace of thetwo Vegans who escaped onto it.

In the meantime, any playersaboard the bridge will probably startthinking about escape. The guard onthem is probably weaker now than itever will be in the future. As mentionedabove, an android, a Cyberman, andGray remain on the bridge. The prison-ers still present are Fleming, Reitz,Lindsay, Dirkes, and any players. All theNPC prisoners (including Reitz) will bewilling to take part in any escape at-tempt. If the players do not suggest es-cape, Lindsay will whisper the possibil-ity to them.

Conduct the escape attempt as anormal combat. As the Cybermen andandroids are paying full attention to theambush on the security monitor, theywill be taken completely by surprise.During the first round of combat, onlythe prisoners can act. Before the battlebegins, allow the players each a Diffi-culty Level IV ITN roll to realize that thelone Cyberman is clutching his gun veryloosely. During the first round of com-bat, the Cyberman can be approachedand his gun taken out of his hand witha Difficulty Level IV Unarmed Combatroll. If all the players fail to notice this,the gamemaster can have them spot aMark VII Blaster that the Cybermen justhappened to leave on the other side ofthe bridge. The gamemaster will posi-tion the prisoners and guards as he seesfit on the tactical map of the bridge (seethe Deck Plans).

If the guards ever have an opportu-nity to shoot, the gamemaster shouldprobably have them select NPC targetsfirst. If Fleming or Lindsay are still alive,they will suggest to any escaped prison-ers that they go down to the ArmamentLocker (room 12, command level) to getweapons and then to free the humansabout to be converted.

ulx E

Ll TO THE RESCUE❑ ❑

Afte the players escape from thebridge, they will probably want to pro-ceed to the Cybership to rescue as manyhumans as possible from the conver-sion chamber. If the players escapedfrom the bridge with the other prison-ers, the NPCs will suggest this courseof action to them. If Reitz is with theescaping group, he will run off by him-self. Reitz still believes the players areto blame for the entire incident and willrefuse to cooperate with them in anyway. If desired, the gamemaster canbring him back later or have himsinglehandedly charge some Cyber-men, dying in the process. If the playersare doing research in the lab for theCybermen, have the NPCs escape fromthe bridge as mentioned above, killingall their guards. The escaped prisonerswill then proceed to the lab and attemptto rescue the players. Play out the res-cue attempt as a normal combat, usingsome of the guidelines given for thebridge escape above.

For any group of escaped prisonersmoving through the Leander, roll on theEncounter Table below as often asseems fit. How successful the playershave been so far should help thegamemaster determine how often toroll (about once very two combatrounds at tactical scale is suggested).

Escape EncountersDie Roll

Encounter2-5

No Encounter6-7

Android8-9

Vegans10-12

Cybermen

Any androids or Cybermen en-countered are guards and can be a-voided, as described in SneakingAbout.

As for the Vegans, the party willmeet up with Captain Kalik and theother two Vegans who escaped onto theLeander. All three Vegans have ex-pended the power packs on their blas-ters (in the battle with the Cybermen)and will have their short swords drawn.When the group encounters the Veg-ans, make CHA rolls for all the playersto see how Commander Kalik reacts tothem.

If Kalik has a very negative reaction,the Vegans will attack the humans, try-ing to finish them off quickly and getmoving again. (For the special combat

20 Countdown

ROLE PLAYING GAME

abilities and tactics of the Vegans, seeGamemaster's Notes.) If any of the Veg-ans are confronted with a working Blas-ter during this battle, the attack willcease and the Vegans will probably flee.The players can convince Kalik to aidthem in their attempt to eliminate theCybermen with a Difficulty Level IVNegotiation/Diplomacy roll (modifiedas the gamemaster sees fit for Kalik'sreaction to the player making the otherroll). Any Time Lord knowing anythingabout the Vegans will know that theymust be watched carefully, as they area highly untrustworthy race. (To deter-mine this, the characters make a Diffi-culty Level V MNT roll. If successful, thegamemaster reads them the TARDISData Banks Entry.) If Kalik decides tohelp the players, he will agree to aidthem in an attempt to rescue prisonersfrom the Cybership. He knows that sev-eral of his own men were captured.FREEING THE PRISONERS

If the players are heading for theCybership, remind them that it isdocked at Docking Bay #1. (See Vesselsfor full description of the ship.)

Any characters taken to the Cyber-ship earlier will be taken aboard underheavy guard and locked in (DifficultyLevel VI lock) the prisoner chamber.There, they will be let out one by oneto face the chamber. Of course, all obvi-ous weapons and electronic deviceswill have been taken from the prisoners.Before the Vegans dock with the Lean-der, there will be at least three Cyber-men and two androids guarding theprisoners and operating the chamber.

No matter when the rescue partymanages to reach the Cybership, theywill arrive just in time to see the Cyber-men placing one of the players (if onewas led off earlier) into the chamber.Unless, in the gamemaster's opinion, ittook the players a particularly long timeto reach the ship to rescue the prison-ers, the Cybermen will have had the op-portunity to convert only one of the hu-mans (it takes a little while to power upthe converter.) Spencer (now a Cyber-man) and two other Cybermen are leftguarding the the prisoners and operat-ing the chamber. If it took the playersquite a long time to get around to rescu-ing the players, add more Cybermen asguards (they had more time to convertmore humans). If it took them an ex-tremely long time, you may wish tomake it too late to rescue any playersheld captive. Once placed in thechamber, the conversion process is au-tomatic and cannot be resisted.

ESCAPE POSSIBILITIESIn any event, the guard on the pris-

oners will be heavy before any rescuersarrive. Extremely resourceful playersheld prisoner may, however, think ofsome method of escape. The gamemas-ter may resolve any escape attempt ashe sees fit. The other prisoners willgladly cooperate in such an attempt.Present in the prisoner chamber are Dr.Fredrick, Engineer Spencer (who will beconverted first, as mentioned above),Navigator Campbell and five enlistedcrewmen, in addition to any players.After the Vegans dock and are am-bushed, two Vegans will be added tothe prisoners. Although the Veganscannot be converted to Cybermen, theCybermen have captured them for ob-servation and study.

Play out any rescue or escape at-tempt as a normal combat. (SeeGamemaster's Notes for the combattactics and abilities of the Cybermen).Newly-converted Cybermen are notvery stable for the first twelve hours,and so Spencer will be very hesitant incombat. For the first few hours after theconversion, it is possible for the playersto try and reawaken Spencer's oldhuman instincts. Treat this as a Diffi-culty Level VI Negotiation/Diplomacyroll. If this roll is successful, Spencerwill reject his new Cyber-programming,causing a conflict that destroys him.Trying to convince Spencer to reject theprocess will take up at least three actionrounds in combat. The players will au-tomatically know which of the Cyber-men is Spencer.

HIDING OUTOnce the prisoners are freed, any

NPCs accompanying the players willsuggest that they find a safe place tohide for awhile and plan their nextmove. The Cybermen will surely beback in force after they discover thattheir ship has been raided. If the playersdecide to free the two Vegans as well,they can gain them as allies with a Dif-ficulty Level IV Negotiation/Diplomacyroll. In this case, the Vegans will suggestthe secret smuggling hold aboard theirship as a good place to hide. If Kalik isalready with the players, he will suggestit. Continue rolling on the Escape En-counter Table above, only now muchmore frequently than before. If theplayers have already encountered Kalikand the other Vegans through the table,treat this result as a Cyberman En-counter. If the encounter with the Veg-ans takes place after the players havealready gained the two Vegan prisonersas allies, Kalik will automatically sidewith the players for the time being. TheCybermen are concentrating on findingthe rest of the Vegans, so treat a roll of5 as a Cybermen Encounter rather thanNo Encounter, when rolling near theVegan ship. When the group arrives atthe Vegan vessel, they will automatic-ally find a Cyberman and two androidsguarding the vessel's main controlroom. Play this as normal combat.

Countdown 21

THE GOLDEN WEAPONThe players must roll to see how

fast they can convert the gold. As onlyone character should roll, determinewhich one as follows: First, use thecharacter with the highest MetallurgySkill Rating; second, use the characterwith the highest Mechanical Engineer-ing Skill Rating; lastly, if no playershave either of these skills, use the playerwith the highest MNT. The DifficultyLevel for a character with skill in Metal-lurgy is II, that of character withMechanical Engineering is IV, and, if acharacter is forced to use his MNT score,the Difficulty Level is V. Determine thetarget number (modifying the DifficultyLevel for any special circumstances asyou see fit), have the player roll, andrefer to the Gold Conversion Chart.

Gold Conversion ChartDie Roll Success TimeTarget - 5 Critical Success 6 min.Target — 3 Average Success 10 min.Target 0 Marginal Success 15Target + 1 Average Failure 20 minTarget +5 Critical Failure 30 min

This chart is used in the same wayas the Variable Success Table on p. 36of the Game Operations Manual. Theresultant time is the amount it will takefor the players to convert enough goldto make one attack. The players proba-bly will not have very long to work onthe gold, as Cyberleader Vorak is aboutto deliver his ultimatum.

GAMEMASTER'S NOTE: While theplayers are converting the gold, thegamemaster may wish to try to makethem a little suspicious of Kalik (by hav-ing him whisper things to his men, etc.)Throughout the process, Kalik willshout often at his men and the othercharacters in the hold.

THE

GOLD DUST DAMAGEThe gold dust has the following

statistics in combat.GOLD DUST DAMAGE

DMG DDF PB SHRT MED LNG EXTRA — 2 1 2 3 4

Gold dust will only damage Cyber-men and Androids. Use the Firearmscolumn of Damage Table A for deter-mining damage. Armor has no effecton gold dust, and to attack with it re-quires a successful hand-to-hand com-bat. The dust can either be used directlyor thrown at a target (use the rangenumbers given). Note that gold dust hasno long range. All ranges over 3 areconsidered to be extreme.

tia■moonot

•Mmi■-.4■1■11.1,1-

THE JRCK OFHERRTS

When the players arrive at the Jackof Hearts, they will be met by a smallparty assigned by Cyberleader Vorak toguard it. This party must be defeatedbefore access to the smuggling holdcan be gained. Once the group is safelyin the smuggling hold, however, theCybermen will not find them becausethe hold is well-concealed from sightand scanners.THE SECRET SMUGGLING HOLD

The secret smuggling hold aboardthe Jack of Hearts is the perfect placefor the players to hide and plan theirnext move. If they have acquired anyVegans as allies, these will volunteerthe information that the hold is a safespot.

In the middle of the secret hold isa large object covered with black tar-paulin. Just under the covering, theglint of gold is visible!

HIDDEN TREASUREThe Vegans have just recently at-

tacked and boarded an Earth freightercarrying some golden art treasures.They brought the captured gold downto the smuggling hold, melted it down,and recast it in bars. Any NPCs fromthe Leanderwill guess the origin of thegold. They have heard about the disap-pearance of the freighter carrying theart treasures.

The players will probably want touse the gold against the Cybermen,knowing automatically that it is one oftheir weaknesses. Kalik will at first re-fuse. Eventually and reluctantly, he de-cides to give in to the wishes of theplayers, which are now shared by hiscrew, who are terrified of the Cybermenafter witnessing the massacre of theVegans. The gold will be very unwieldyand difficult to use in its present barform. It can, however, easily be mod-ified into dust form (the most conven-ient for attacking Cybermen) using theVegans' small metallurgical lab.

ROLE PLAYING GAME

22 Countdown

ATTACK ON THECYBERMEN

11" Uri In

❑

Energy Weapon Miss TableDie Roll

Effect2-7

No Effect8-9

Spark Shower10

Steam11-12

Falling Debris■

ULTIMATUM

Shortly after the players manage torescue the prisoners from the Cyber-ship (or any time the gamemaster de-cides, if the players managed to skipdoing this(, Cyberleader Vorak willissue an ultimatum. By now, the Cyber-men will have determined that thepower drain is becoming critical andthat there is very little time to waste(they may also be having problems cap-turing any prisoners and the Veganswho escaped from the ambush.) Con-sequently, the Cybermen will decide toabandon their plans to convert all theEarthlings, if necessary, and deliver anultimatum, hoping to remove the prob-lem of the humans so that they canbegin to deal with the power drain.

Vorak will deliver the followingmessage over the public address sys-tems of the Leander and the Jack ofHearts, and the players will hear it nomatter where they are: "EARTHLINGS,YOU HAVE BEEN CLEVER IN ELUDINGUS. YOU ARE CONSUMING A GREATDEAL OF TIME. UNFORTUNATELY,TIME IS SOMETHING I CANNOTSPARE. I AM CERTAIN THAT YOU UN-DERSTAND WHAT THIS MEANS. INJUST TWO HOURS, THE CONDITIONSABOARD ALL THREE VESSELS WILLBECOME SUCH THAT YOUR SURVIVALWILL BE IMPOSSIBLE. UNLESS YOUSUBMIT YOURSELVES FOR CAPTURE,AND EVENTUAL CONVERSION, YOUWILL BE TERMINATED."

Anyone with skill in Astronauticswho hears the message will know thatVorak's approximation is correct: in twohours, the atmosphere will be depletedto the point that life will be impossible.With all three vessels connected, anylife support provided by the Cybershipor the Jack of Hearts will be dispersedthrough all three ships, and neither haspowerful enough systems to sustainsomething the size of the Leander. Un-less the Leander'ssystems are switchedon again soon, all living things aboardall three ships will die. Naturally, thetwo-hour deadline will limit the amountof gold the players can convert, if theyare in the smuggling hold, or theamount of time they have for research,if they have been pursuing that avenue.

If the players have not been con-ducting research, they will want to en-gage the bulk of the Cybermen in amass battle, fight their way to the lifesupport room (room 5, A Deck, PrimaryHull), and hopefully defeat them forgood. By now, the chronic rift shouldhave affected the Cybermen and madethem much less effective in combat.(Any player making a Difficulty Level IIITemporal Sciences roll will realize thisand may try to delay the attack as longas possible, hoping for the Cybermento be further affected.) If the playershave converted some of the gold barsfound in the secret smuggling hold ofthe Jack of Hearts into gold dust, theywill have a powerful advantage in theupcoming battle. Otherwise, they willjust have to rely on more conventionalweapons. Any escaped NPCs (fromboth the bridge and the Cybership) andthe escaped Vegans (if the players havewon Kalik as an ally) will gladly takepart in the battle. If the players haven'tencountered Kalik yet, or failed to winhim over, have him and the four remain-ing Vegans show up on the side of theEarthmen halfway through the battle.

Begin the battle by having the at-tack party encounter a lone Cybermansentry. The sentry will engage in fiercecombat, but will most likely be takenout very early. Three combat roundsafter the action starts, the six remainingCybermen and two androids will showup. To simplify things, the gamemastershould divide the attackers into twogroups. One group will consist of theplayers and two or three NPCs of thegamemaster's choice, the other groupwill consist of the remaining NPCs. Thegroup containing the players must facethree of the Cybermen and one android.Play this out as a normal combat, andassume that the other group will au-tomatically defeat the remainder of theCyber-forces, taking whatever casual-ties considered appropriate. (SeeGamemaster's Notes for Cybermencombat tactics and abilities.)

The players' group will be the firstto reach the life-support area. If theyhave been doing well up to now, thegamemaster should have the NPCs inthe players' group leave to help theothers, permitting the players to enterthe room and reactivate the equipmenton their own. Once they enter the area,they will encounter Cyberleader Vorak,who has been waiting at the life-supportcontrol area, hoping to make a laststand. The players must defeat Vorakbefore they can reactivate the supportsystem. This battle is meant to beclimactic. While playing it out, thegamemaster should embellish the ac-tion with detailed descriptions. To makethings more exciting, roll on the tablebelow anytime someone takes a shotwith a Blaster, or similar weapon, andmisses.

Spark Shower: The shot has struck abank of machinery, causing a brilliantshower of sparks to issue forth. Deter-mine where the shot has struck. Anyonewithin three meters (two squares) ofthat location must make a DifficultyLevel IV DEX roll or be blinded nextround, preventing any action. Vorak isimmune to this effect.Steam: The shot has broken open apipe, which begins to spray hot steam.Determine where the shot has struck.Anyone within one square of this loca-tion takes 1 D6 damage and must makea Difficulty Level IV DEX roll to performany actions next round. Again, Vorak isimmune to the effects of the steam.Falling Debris: The shot has struck apoint high on the wall and caused somestray metal and debris to crash to thefloor. Determine where the shot hasstruck. Anyone directly below this loca-tion must make a Difficulty Level IV DEX

roll or take 3D6 damage.As soon as the players have de-

feated Vorak, it will take one round toreactivate the life-support system.

THE

ROLE PLAYING GAME

Countdown 23

SERLING THERIFTI

THE SCIENTIFICSOLUTION

The players may have opted for amore scientific solution to the Cyber-man threat. They may have begun suchresearch while working for the Cyber-men under the pretense of finding away to seal the chronic rift. Followingis a method for conducting this re-search.

The research has been broken upinto stages. Each stage is given a Skill,a Difficulty Level, and a Base Time. Aresearcher cannot try to complete astage of the research until all previousstages have been completed (either byhim or someone else). To complete astage of the research, the player(s) mustpass a Skill Roll at the indicated Diffi-culty Level. If the player does not havethe skill listed, substitute the MNTcharacteristic and make the DifficultyLevel one higher.

To see how much time it takes tocomplete a stage of research, refer tothe Variable Success Chart on p. 36 ofthe Game Operations Manual. If the re-sult of the Skill Roll is a critical success,one-half the Base Time is consumed. Ifit is an average success, three-fourthsof the Base Time is consumed. If theresult is a marginal success, the fullBase Time is consumed. If the result isan average failure, three-fourths of theBase Time is consumed and the playermust attempt to complete the stageagain (consuming more time). If the re-sult is a critical failure, the full base timeis consumed before the player may at-tempt to complete the stage again. Aplayer may reduce the base time for astage by 25 percent by voluntarily in-creasing the Difficulty Level by 1. Eachstage in the research to foil the Cyber-men is presented below.

Having completed the research, theplayer will have discovered a way toaccelerate the effects of the chronic rifton the Cybermen (draining their energyaway much faster) by making the riftmore sensitive to certain energy fre-quencies (such as the one on whichCybermen operate). Once put into ef-fect, this will reduce all the Cybermenand androids (except Vorak, who stillmust be fought as outlined above) to 0AP. The Cybermen and androids willsimply shake and quiver, unable to per-form any actions, making them into sit-ting ducks.

RESEARCH STAGESThe Idea: Difficulty Level V MNT Roll,Base Time: 15 min.

The player must pass this roll inorder to get the idea to accelerate theeffects of the rift on the Cybermen.Will It Work? Difficulty Level Ill Tem-poral Sciences Roll, Base Time: 30 min.

The player must pass this roll todiscover the particulars of the rift'spower drain and to learn that, bypolarizing the hull to the proper point,the drain will affect certain power fre-quencies faster.What Frequency?: Difficulty Level IVElectronics Roll, Base Time: 30 min.

This stage allows the player to de-termine the power frequency at whichthe Cybermen operate, and, therefore,the polarization of the hull necessary.The Wiring: Difficulty Level VI Elec-tronics Roll, Base Time: 30 min.

During the final stage, the playermust construct a control unit and wireit to the hull, polarizing it. The enhancedeffects of the rift will only be in effectwhile the device is operating and con-nected to the hull.

THE

ROLE PLAYING GAME

By now, the Cybermen menaceshould have been overcome. The prob-lem of the chronic rift, however, re-mains. Unless the rift is sealed in threehours, the power drain will become crit-ical and knock out the life-support sys-tems again. As they have not had theproper time to regenerate since Vorakswitched them off, the life-support sys-tems will go down immediately thistime, causing instant death to all livingthings aboard all three vessels. To finda way to seal the rift, the players mustconduct research using the system de-tailed above. Two potential solutionsexist.

First, if the Cybership, with its pow-erful self-destruct system, is detonatedat just the right coordinates in space,the rift will seal. To implement this so-lution, the players must build a remote-control system to steer and detonatethe ship, and surge all available powerfrom the three vessels into the Cyber-ship so that it can launch. If the playersfail the idea roll for the first solution(stage one of the research), have themroll to see if they come up with the ideafor the second after the indicatedamount of time passes. If they fail thisroll, wait and have them try again at thefirst, etc.

The second solution is to surge allthe available power into the communi-cations circuits of the Leander, thenbroadcast it at exactly the right point inthe rift, sealing it. Even though both sol-utions will automatically work, provid-ing all the research stages have beencompleted, the gamemaster shouldmake things more dramatic by leadingthe players to believe that there is achance they will fail (using phrases like"it just might work" or "it's a slimchance, but the only one you have").The various stages for both solutionsare described below.

SOLUTION #1The Idea: Difficulty Level V MNT Roll,Base Time: 30 min.

The players must pass this roll toget the idea to detonate the Cybershipto seal the rift.Finding The Coordinates: DifficultyLevel IV Temporal Sciences Roll, BaseTime: 20 min.

This stage is necessary to deter-mine the exact point in the rift wherethe ship should be detonated. Becausecalculating the coordinates is a verymathematical task, modify the TaskEntry Line by + 1 for every level ofMathematics skill the researcher has.

24 Countdown

KRUK MAKESHIS MOVE

nIIII ul

Examining The Cybership: DifficultyLevel III Mechanical Engineering Roll,Base Time: 20 min.

Before the players can begin build-ing the remote control mechanism, theymust study the Cybership and its con-trol and drive systems.Building The Remote Control Unit:Difficulty Level V Electronics Roll, BaseTime: 30 min.

This stage involVes the actual build-ing and installation of the remote con-trol. To complete stages three and four,the player must actually board theCybership.

SOLUTION #2The Idea: Difficulty Level IV MNT Roll,Base Time: 30 min.

The players must pass this roll tocome up with the idea to broadcast thepower surge into the rift.Finding The Coordinates: DifficultyLevel IV Temporal Sciences Roll, BaseTime: 20 min.

This is identical to stage two of Sol-ution #1, except the players are findingthe proper coordinates for broadcastingthe power surge.Readying The CommunicationsGear: Difficulty Level IV Communica-tions Roll, Base time: 30 min.

Before the surge can be broadcast,the Leander's communications gearmust be prepared. If CommunicationsOfficer Dirkes is still alive, she will per-form this stage if asked.Wiring The Power Into The Com-munications Gear: Difficulty Level VElectronics Roll, Base Time: 25 min.

During this final stage, the playerwill wire the power systems of all threevessels directly into the Leander's com-munications gear.

NOTE: To implement either solu-tion, someone with skill in Spacecraftmust be aboard all three ships whilethe plan is being carried out in order tochannel the power at the proper mo-ment. (Of course, no one need beaboard the Cybership if it is beinglaunched.) There should be plenty ofNPCs alive who have this skill.

Sometime during the battle withthe Cybermen, Captain Kalik will stum-ble upon the Leander's cargo hold andnotice the serum. He will immediatelyrealize that the Leander must be deliver-ing its cargo to Ionia to combat the re-cent Hadder's Fever outbreak there.After seeing this, Kalik will plan withany surviving members of his crew toeliminate the Leander crew, seize theserum, and travel to Ionia. Once there,he will give the colonists the serum —for a mere one hundred million credits!He knows that the colonists will haveno choice but to grant whatever de-mands he makes. To forewarn theplayers a little, the gamemaster shouldgive them a few more little clues tomake them suspicious of Kalik whilethey are conducting research (i.e., theyhear him whispering to his crew, seehim sneaking around, etc.)

If the players are using Solution 1,Kalik will try to capture the remote-con-troller and launch the ship early, while

the player doing the wiring and any as-sistants are still aboard. The NPCsaboard the Leander (and probably anyplayers there as well) will definitely at-tack him to prevent him from launchingthe ship, causing a battle to ensue. Any-one aboard the Cybership will havetime to get off and go join the battle(though the gamemaster should bedramatic and scare them a little). If Kalikdid not have a good opportunity to cap-ture the controller or the rift is beingsealed using Solution 2, he will waituntil the rift is sealed. At that point, heand his crewmen will draw theirweapons, and a battle will ensue. AnyLeander NPCs will gladly participate incombat against the Vegans. If the battleseems to be going against him, Kalikwill order his men to retreat to the JackOf Hearts. Once there, he will try tolaunch the vessel and escape.

THE

ROLE PLAYING GAME

Countdown 25

ROLE PLAYING GAME

fa u0

THE

VesselsThis chapter contains complete

profiles of the TSS Leander, the Jack ofHearts, the Vegan pirate vessel, and theModel 100 Cybership. These descrip-tions supplement the Deck Plans foreach vessel. Each profile contains ageneral description of the starship,which the gamemaster can draw uponwhen creating his own detailed descrip-tions of areas in the ship. There are alsoroom-by-room descriptions, listing themajor features found in each chamber.Finally, a starship data profile, listingtechnical facts about the vessel, is,pre-sented to add color and flavor to theship's description.

TSS LEANDER

Very few of the areas describedbelow will become significant to theplot. Most of the information is pre-sented so that the gamemaster can de-scribe the area as the players wanderaround the ship. Detailed combat maps(scaled for use with counters or minia-tures) are provided for some of themore important battle locations. If acombat situation develops in an areafor which no combat map is provided,the deck plans and written descriptionsshould provide all the information thegamemaster needs to create his own.Vessel Class: Orpheus ClassAffiliation: Earth EmpireDesignation: Fast CourierFunction:

Used in shuttling important docu-ments and diplomats rapidly from placeto place. Offers first-class passengerstaterooms and full conferencefacilities. Vessels of this class are oftenused by Earth admirals for headquar-ters.Hull Data:

Length: 225 mWidth: 80 mHeight: 50 mWingspan: 165 m

Engines And Power Data:Power Plant:

Two MF140 Spiral Drive Neut-ron-Ram Engines

Performance:Max. Speed: 200 x cMax. Operation Time: 2 years

Weapons And Firing Data:Armament: Two Mark VI Pulse

Laser TurretsOther Data:

Crew: 8 Officers, 12 enlisted men

GENERAL APPEARANCEThe flavor of the Leander's interiors

is distinctly Roman. For example, eachdeck has a central atrium surroundedby Roman colonnades. The flooring ismade up of small tiles laid out in intri-cate patterns, and all walls and ceilingson the command and bridge levels areglossy black. The floors are black withpatterns laid out in white tiles. Thewalls, ceilings, and floors on all theother decks are made of a plastic thatsimulates marble in appearance.Doors:

All rooms aboard the Leander havetwo sliding doors: a transparent oneand an opaque white one. If the opaquedoor is closed, the transparent onemust be closed as well. However, thetransparent door can be closed by itself,eliminating noise coming from outsidebut still allowing occupants to look out.Next to each door is a panel that con-trols its operation. The doors areopened and closed by touching certainsections of colored glass plates. Eachdoor can be locked, and a key is re-quired to open it again. The keys looklike small metal disks and are touchedto the glass plate to lock or unlock thedoor. Picking the lock on a standardLeander door is Difficulty Level IV.Entry Level:

This deck consists of one room.When the Leander lands, a telescopingtube is lowered from this room andused as the shaft for a turbo lift to bringpassengers from ground level into thevessel. While the ship is in operation,the room contains the tube in retractedform and several equipment lockers(containing mostly environmentalsuits).

r—ROOM DESCRIPTIONSCOMMAND LEVEL:

This deck contains the officer'squarters and recreation areas as wellas the access way to the bridge.Observation Room (1)

The front of this room is actually areinforced window that looks out intospace. There are four comfortable re-clining chairs and two small storagecabinets, now empty.Captain's Suite (2)

These are Captain Fleming's quar-ters. The suite consists of a large bed-room and communications alcove, anoffice, and a bathroom. The bedroom/communications room contains a bed,dresser, night stand, wardrobe, twochairs, and communications gear en-abling Fleming to tie into the ship'smain communications equipment andcontact SAM directly.Officer's Lounge (3)

The lounge contains a large tableand four chairs, a sofa, coffee table, andliquor cabinet. On the wall are strikingpaintings of the Leander and CaptainFleming.Officer's Lounger (4)

Identical to Room 3 (above).Access Chamber (5)

This chamber contains two lifts thatallow access to the entry level and thebridge level, respectively. The chamberalso contains two chairs and two smallstorage cabinets.Officer's Quarters (6)

Each stateroom is identical andcontains a bed, night stand, closet,table, and three chairs. The bed andnight stand are in a separate sleepingalcove. Every two staterooms share abathroom. Stateroom 6g has its ownbathroom. A Roman colonnade dividesthe hallways, providing access to thestaterooms:

First Officer Lindsay's Quarters (6a)Engineer Spencer's Quarters (6b)Medical Assistant Gray's Quarters

(6c)Dr. Fredrick's Quarters (6d)Navigator Campbell's Quarters (6e)Stateroom (6f)

(Sergeant Hall is currently occupyingthis stateroom, which is generally un-used.)

Communications Officer Dirkes'Quarters (6g)Officer's Lounge (7)

Same as 3, above.

26 Countdown

ROLE PLAYING GAME

t., Officer's Mess (8)

The officer's mess contains twolarge tables seating four diners each,two counters capable of seating threemore diners, and two food tables. In analcove just outside the door is a thirdtable and an observation window thatlooks out into space. The kitchen isfound in the back of the mess hall. Agroup of three enlisted chefs work a ro-tation of cooking for special passen-gers, cooking for the officers, and thencooking for the enlisted men.Research Lab (9)

Earth Empire regulations make itmandatory for all space vessels of a cer-tain size to have some sort of labfacilities. The Leander's lab contains acomputer station that ties into SAM,several work counters and tables, andfour separate alcoves for: astrophysicalresearch, biological research, chemicalresearch, and meteorological research.The lab also has its own storage roomcontaining several large storage binsand an office containing complete re-cords of all research done aboard theLeander.

Library (10)The library on this level is usually

used by the officers for recreationalreading. It has a fully-stocked selectionof data-carts, and even a few old books!

Sensor Bay (11)This chamber provides direct ac-

cess to the ship's sensors. It contains alarge sensor readout display and diag-nostic panel. In the room is a hatch pro-viding access to a tunnel that leads di-rectly to the ship's main sensor equip-ment.Armament Locker (12)

This locker contains twelve Mark VIIBlasters and several reserve powerpacks for them. Also to be found arefive Fusion II grenades. (SeeGamemas-ter's Notes for description of this equip-ment.)

BRIDGE LEVELThe bridge of the Leander is a

whole separate deck unto itself, andmuch of the action in Countdown takesplace here. Access to the bridge is pro-vided by a turbo elevator that leads tothe Access Chamber (Room 5) on thecommand level. Someone entering thebridge will immediately notice the four

ornamental columns positioned di-rectly in front of the turbo lift. Set on apodium in the center of the room is theCaptain's chair. Further ahead is themain control console where the Lean-der's status is displayed and the ship iscontrolled. The First Officer and theCommunications Officer are stationedhere. To either side of the console arelarge banks of machinery. Off to the left,between the console and the Captain'schair, is the Engineer's Station. Fromhere, the Engineer can monitor the ves-sel's power output and usage.

To both the left and right of thebridge are stairways leading up to thegantry level, which contains more in-strument and control banks. No one ispermanently stationed on the gantry,but the Communications and Engineer-ing Officers will have to go up tomonitor the instruments and operatecontrols several times.

At the front of the bridge is the mainviewscreen. The screen can be set toview space from various angles (and atvarious magnifications) as well as tyinginto the Leander's security monitorsand communications systems. Abovethe main viewscreen is the image ofSAM, the Leander's intelligent com-puter. SAM appears as a topographical3D image of a human head. He controlsand monitors all systems aboard theship. The only real need for the humancrew is to carry out SAM's instructionsand monitor his activities to make surehe is functioning properly. Like the com-mand level below it, the walls and ceil-ing of the bridge are constructed fromglossy black plastic. The floor is an or-nate pattern of grey and white tiles.

PRIMARY HULL - 'A' DECKThis deck contains the enlisted

men's quarters and the technical areas.Access to it is provided by a largeRoman stairway leading up from thecommand level.Enlisted Mess (1)

The enlisted mess contains threelarge tables seating four each, and threesmaller counters capable of seatingthree more. Each enlisted mess has akitchen that,connects to it directly.Enlisted Lounge (2)

In addition to two sofas, the loungecontains a large table, three writingdesks, two small storage cabinets, andseveral chairs.

Enlisted Quarters (3)Each chamber provides quarters

for up to twelve enlisted men. Usuallyonly six of these spots need be filled,but, with Major Reitz's aboard, all spotsare needed. Each room contains sixbunk beds and lockers, a table, and sev-eral chairs. Each man has his own smallcloset hatch in the wall above the beds.A large bathroom connects directly withthe quarters.

THE

Countdown 27

ROLE PLAYING GAME

Power Switching Station (4)From here, the Leander's power

output and usage can be varied manu-ally. Control panels allow varyingamounts of power to be switched to allthe ship's systems. In the middle of theroom is a status board that showswhere all the Leander's power is cur-rently going.Life Support Control (5)

This room allows manual controlof the ship's life-support systems. Oc-cupying most of the chamber are themotors that drive the life-support sys-tem. There are also control panels anda hatch leading to a tunnel that providesaccess to the Leander's main engines.Engineering (6)

From here, the activity of the en-gines can be monitored and modified.In the middle of the room are the enginestatus board and the engine gauge con-trol. On one end of the room is a stair-way leading up to the gantry where theengine output modification controls arefound. On the other end of the room isa stairway leading up to a catwalkwhere more gauges are located. In thecorner, occupying a major portion ofthe room, are the main engine drivemotors.Rostrum (7)

Just outside the atrium, the ros-trum is used by the captain to addressthe crew. At the head of the room is alarge speaking platform and two videodisplay monitors. Bench seating is pro-vided for approximately 30 persons.

Sick Bay (8)This is the Leander's medical facil-

ity. It consists of four rooms: a mainsickbay, the Chief Medical Officer's of-fice, the medical research lab, and asmall operating theater. The mainsickbay has space for three patients. Italso contains cabinets and lockers con-taining a wide variety of medical equip-ment. The Chief Medical Officer's officecontains a desk, chairs, and a filing sys-tem holding complete medical profilesfor everyone aboard the Leander. Theresearch lab and operating theater areboth small but adequate. The lab hasthe usual research facilities, a directcomputer link station, and a completerecord of all medical research.Computer Banks (9)

This room contains a lot of thehardware that makes up SAM. Accessis provided from the computer controlsection (Room 10).

Computer Control Section (10)This room allows direct access to

SAM's programming. The computer'soperation and activity can be monitoredfrom here. There are consoles for pro-gramming and modifying, as well as alarge status board.

Communications Bay (11)This room provides direct manual

access to the Leander's sophisticatedcommunications equipment. The con-sole for operation, monitoring, andstatus are found here.

PRIMARY HULLL - 'B' DECKThis is the largest deck on the Lean-

der. It contains quarters and facilitiesfor special passengers, docking bays,and storage and cargo sections.Passenger Suite (1)

There are four such suites aboardthe Leander for special passengers.Each consists of four rooms: a livingarea, a study, a bedroom, and a bath-room. The living area features a sofa,tables, and chairs. The study providesthe occupant with a desk and filing area.The large bedroom contains a bed,nightstand, table, chairs, and a ward-robe. Major Reitz occupies one of thesuites, and the rest are currently empty.Lounge (2)

This is the lounge used by specialpassengers. It contains a large table,writing area, two sofas, and a liquorcabinet.Dining Hall (3)

This is the most lucrative of theLeander's dining facilities. The longwooden table easily seats four. Twofood tables and several counters arealso available.

Auxiliary Conference Room (4)Special passengers aboard the

Leander often have need of conferencefacilities. This area and the main confer-ence room (Room 7) fill that need. Thisroom has everything found in the mainconference room, but on a much smal-ler scale.Communications Room (6)

This area provides special com-munications facilities for passengers. Itis often used by diplomats and militarypersonnel.Main Conference Room (7)

This room features a large confer-ence table seating six, a recording sta-tion, and video display equipment.Docking Bays (8)

The Leander has two docking bays,one on either side of the ship. Thismakes transferring passengers on andoff much simpler. Each docking bay fea-tures an airlock and storage cabinetscontaining environmental suits.

Main Atrium (9)This area is often used for recre-

ation by passengers. In the center ofthe atrium is a pond and spectacularfountain. Chairs have been placedaround the pond.

Storage Areas (10)These three storage bays hold the

tools and provisions necessary to sup-port the Leander crew. Lining eachroom are large storage lockers that re-cess deep into the hull. In the center ofthe rooms are a series of storage bins.Library (11)

This library is identical to the oneon the Command Level. It is providedfor use of passengers.Recreation Area (12)

This room features a sofa, chairs,and video display equipment. It is pro-vided for the use of passengers.Gymnasium (13)

This small gymnasium is for theuse of crew and passengers alike. It fea-tures a large mat, weight training, andgymnastic equipment.

Main Cargo Bay (14)This is the Leander's main hold. It

currently contains hundreds of crates,each containing several hundred smallvials of the serum to cure Hadder'sFever. At the back of the hold is theaccess hatch leading to the Leander'sescape pinnace.Food Storage (15)

This area contains storage of all thefood needed by the crew and passen-gers. Storage lockers line the walls.Along the back wall, the locker recedesdeep into the hull. Storage bins arefound in the middle, and a separate fro-zen storage section is found at the back.

Auxiliary Cargo Bay #1 (16)This room contains more of the

serum found in Room 14.

Auxiliary Cargo Bay #4 (17)Identical to Room 16.

Auxiliary Cargo Bay #3 (18)Identical to Room 16.

Auxiliary Cargo Bay #2 (19)Identical to Room 16. The TARDIS

materializes here.Hydroponics Section (20)

The Leander uses this section forgrowing a small portion of its food. Ina pinch, it can also serve as a botanicallaboratory.

Laundry (21)Two enlisted men operate this

large laundry for the crew and passen-gers.The Escape Pinnace

A small escape pinnace is storedbehind B Deck in the primary hull. Thepinnace is large enough to carry the en-tire crew of the Leander, but only forshort distances. Medical Assistant Ar-thur Gray intends to use the pinnace forescaping the ship after aiding theCybermen. Before anyone is given theopportunity to use the pinnace, how-ever, it will become inoperative due tothe power drain caused by the chronicrift.

28 Countdown

(10)

TSS LEANDER

Hull Data:Length: 225 mWidth: 80 mHeight: 50 mWingspan: 165 m

Engines And Power Data:Power Plant:

Two MF140 Spiral Drive Neut-ron-Ram Engines

Performance:Max. Speed: 200 x cMax. Operation Time: 2 years

Weapons And Firing Data:Armament: Two Mark VI Pulse

Laser TurretsOther Data:

Crew: 8 Officers, 12 enlisted men

Primary Hull (Deck A)

1--46

U

1 1El 0

1 square = 1.5 meters

THE

ROLE PLAY. ING GAME

10

L

9

Countdown 29

TSS LERNDERPrimary Hull (Deck B)

r16 15 L

II

1 square = 1.5 meters

30 Countdown

14

17

18

\_g

0 _L

98

1(10 ) Oi L

0

101

10 ,=4Bp 13 1=1

■••••■■••

10

iT•-■21

I

-12

6E [

• 6F

• 6G —- —15)

(10)=2=

0 10

(10)

1=1 0 _ 6B

0

O(10)

r

0(10)

ROLE PLAYING GAME

TSS LEANDERCommand Level

JJu

01

(30)

1 square = 1.5 meters

Entry Level

Bridge

THE

Countdown 31

:aCYBERSHIP 100-1136

Vessel Class: Model 100Affiliation: CybermenDesignation: Model 100 Multi-Pur-pose CraftFunction:

Often used as a scout, light attackcraft, or light transport.

Hull Data:Length: 39 mWidth: 10.5 mHeight: 10.5 mWingspan: 15 m

Engines And Power Data:Power Planet:

Two Ion-thrust, Cyber-technol-ogy engines.

Performance:Max Speed: 120 x cMax Operation Time: Indefi-

niteWeapons And Firing Data:

Armament:Two triple particle accel-

erators, 4 rocket banks, and a self-de-struct system capable of destroying asmall planet if detonated in the vicinity.

Other Data:Crew:

Capable of holding up to 20jCybermen.

rGENERAL APPEARANCEThe first thing noticed by the

players entering the Cybership is its ex-tremely small size. The vessel is capableof holding just about as many crewmenas is the Leander, but is a fraction of itssize. This is because Cybermen need noroom for recreation and no eating orsleeping facilities. Also, the Cybership'scontrols are much more technologic-ally-advanced and thus more compact.The interior of the Cybership is verybland because Cybermen have no ap-preciation of beauty. The gamemastershould emphasize the blandness andlack of size when describing its interior.

ROOM DESCRIPTIONSControl Room (1)

This is the bridge of the Cybership.On the front walls are two observationscreens and banks of machinery. In themiddle of the room is an instrument andcontrol panel that seats two Cybermen,and near the back wall is a curved con-sole that is the Cyberleader's station. Inthe floor of the hallway leading back tothe main part of the ship is an accesshatch leading down to the ship's en-gines and computers.Docking Bay (2)

The docking bay does feature anairlock, though the Cybermen have nouse for it. There are two equipment loc-kers in the docking bay containing vari-ous scanners, detonators, and othersmall pieces of equipment.

Main Room/Laboratory (3)Banks of machinery surround the

entire room. Large bins placed high onthe walls contain replacement machin-ery and systems for the Cybermen. To-ward the right wall is the monitor sta-tion where the Cybermen can study theresults of any experiments and track theprogress of their androids. To the leftside of the room is the ConversionChamber. The chamber looks like ametal coffin with a window placed justover the victim's face. To operate it, ahuman is placed in the chamber andthe control mechanism started. The en-tire process takes about ten minutes.The chamber automatically dissects itsvictim and replaces its major organicorgans and systems with Cyber-parts.Recharge Station (4)

These two rooms each hold six re-charging chambers, which resembleglass coffins. The Cybermen draw theirpower from batteries within theirbodies. The charge of each battery lastsabout 48 hours. After this time, a Cyber-man must come here and recharge forsix hours.Prisoner Chamber (5)

This room holds the prisonersabout to be converted. It contains abench and two chairs. The room is con-structed entirely of a particularly dullgrey metal.

ROLE PLAYING GAME

32 Countdown

ROLE PLAYING GAME

Countdown 33

CYBERSHIP 100- 1136

Hull Data:Length: 39 mWidth: 10.5 mHeight: 10.5 mWingspan: 15 m

Engines And Power Data:Power Planet:

Two Ion-thrust, Cyber-technol-ogy engines.

Performance:Max Speed: 120 x cMax Operation Time: Indefi-

niteWeapons And Firing Data:

Armament:Two triple particle accel-

erators, 4 rocket banks, and a self-de-struct system capable of destroying asmall planet if detonated in the vicinity.

Other Data:Crew:

Capable of holding up to 20Cybermen.

THE

4

1 square = 1.5 meters

JACK OFHEARTS

MCI

OE

Vessel Class: Ace of Space ClassAffiliation: None. Privately owned.Designation: Light merchantFunction:

The Jack of Hearts was once a pri-vately-owned merchant vessel. It waslater captured and converted by Kalik'sVegan band into a pirate cruiser,Hull Data:

Length: 61.5 mWidth: 36 mHeight: 10 m

Engines And Power Data:Power Plant:

Model 742 Neutron DrivePerformance:

Max Speed: 85 x cMax Operation Time: 2 years

Weapons And Firing Data:Armament: Two high-powered

laser-cannonsOther Data:

Crew: 9

1111111 1

GENERAL APPEARANCEThe interior of the Jack of Hearts

somewhat resembles that of a 17th-cen-tury sailing ship. The walls are metal,panelled with wood. Even the controland computer consoles are panelled.Players will also notice the highly-polished brass fittings.

ROOM DESCRIPTIONSBridge (1)

The bridge of the Jack of Heartsalso serves as the main entry area. Atthe head of the bridge is a control con-sole seating two. The helm, on the con-sole, looks like an antique sailing wheel.In the middle of the room is the Cap-tain's chair, and at the back are threesteps leading up to a poop deck. On thepoop deck is a weapons locker contain-ing eight short swords and four MarkVII Blasters. There is also a hatch pro-viding access to the engines and com-puters.Kalik's Quarters (2)

Captain Kalik is the only one aboardthe Jack of Hearts who has his ownquarters. The stateroom contains a bed,nightstand, wardrobe, chair, and desk.Mess Hall (3)

The mess hall contains two largetables seating four each. On the sidewall is a door leading to a small kitchenand food storage area

Crew Quarters (4)The crew quarters hold four bunk

beds and four storage lockers. Abovethe beds on the walls are further storagespaces for each of the crewmen.Forward Storage Locker (5)

This area contains several storagebins lining the walls and standing onthe floor. The bins contain mostly spareparts, tools, and mechanical equip-ment.Bathroom (6)Cargo Hold #1 (7)

Currently empty.Cargo Hold #2 (8)

The Vegans are currently storingsome extra food and machinery here insmall metallic crates.Cargo Hold #3 (9)

Same as Cargo Hold #2. Concealedunder one of the crates is the hatchwayleading to the secret smuggling hold.Docking Bay/Airlock (10)

The docking bay holds two storagelockers containing environmental suits.Secret Smuggling Hold

The hold is a fairly large, rectangu-lar room. Like the rest of the Jack ofHearts, the metal walls have beenpanelled with wood, and the fittings arepolished brass. In one corner of the holdare a number of benches; in anothercorner is what appears to be a small,primitive science laboratory (used bythe Vegans for grading any preciousmetals they steal).

ROLE PLAYING GAME

34 Countdown

JRCK OF HEARTS

Hull Data:Length: 61.5 mWidth. 36 mHeight: 10 m

Engines And Power Data:Power Plant:

Model 742 Neutron DrivePerformance:

Max Speed: 85 x cMax Operation Time: 2 years

Weapons And Firing Data:Armament: Two high-powered

laser-cannonsOther Data:

Crew: 9 0

_ E71

/1111■1.1

a-a

rila

1 square = 1.5 meters

THE

ROLE PLAYING GAME

Countdown 35

rt

Cast Of Characters

PLAYERCHARACTERS

Name: KELAPHALUDNER (KELLY►Race: GallifreyanSex: MaleProfession: Time Lord

AttributesSTR —III CHA —VEND —IV MNT —VIIDEX —IV ITN —IV

Special Ability: LuckCombat Statistics:

AP: 7Unarmed Combat

Martial Arts: IV

Significant SkillsArtistic Expression, PaintingLeadershipLife Sciences

BotanyExobiology

Medical SciencesGeneral Medicine, GallifreyGeneral Medicine, Human

Military SciencesTrap DiscoveryTrap Ordinance Disarmament

Physical SciencesChemistryComputer ScienceMathematicsPhysics

Security ProceduresStealthSurveillance

Social Sciences, Galactic HistorySpace Sciences

AstronomyAstrophysicsNavigation

TechnologyAstronauticsCyberneticsElectronicsTARDIS Systems

Temporal ScienceTrivia, ArtTemporal Operation

Temporal VehiclesVerbal Interaction

Negotiation Diplomacy

LevelV

VII

IIIV

VIII

IVIV

IIIV

IIII

IVIIIVIVVIV

VI

Appearance:Height: AverageBuild: AverageLooks: LooksApparent Age: Middle-agedActual Age: 900Regenerations Used: 1Recognition Handle: With his refined and

regal facial features, Kelly has a very aristocraticair. He sports a carefully-kept shock of white hairand is usually seen wearing a fancy maroon Ven-usian dinner jacket (complete with two extrasleeves tied neatly behind him!) At times, hewears a French beret and carries an ornateswagger stick. Dressed in spotless clothing andwell-polished short leather boots, his overall ap-pearance is immaculate.

Brief Personal History:Birthplace.. Gallifrey

Kelly, a member of the Prydonian order ofTime Lords, was an instructor at the Gallifreyanacademy. An excellent prospect for member-ship one day, he became close friends with sev-eral members of the High Council. Over theyears, he began to see the folly in the TimeLords' non-interventionist policy, and so hejoined the CIA, though he never admitted thisto his friends on the High Council. On his firstmission, Kelly defeated a Dalek invasion of aprimitive fringe world. Since then, he has en-countered many of the traditional TemporalMarauders.

Personality:Motives Desires Goals:

Kelly has been so successful on his missionsthat he tends to see himself as superior to mostof the creatures he must battle. He doubts verymuch that he will ever be called upon to performa mission that will present a real challenge tohis abilities. He considers violence in all its formsprimitive and uncivilized, but can resort to itwhen absolutely necessary. He enjoys art in allits forms, often isolating himself with a canvasfor days at a time.

Manner:Kelly always maintains a very serious ex-

terior (much to the amusement of his travellingcompanions). He has a certain air of superiorityabout him that very few people question. Hebelieves himself to be superior to almosteveryone he encounters and often lets themknow it. He greatly enjoys the company of hiscompanions, but will never let them know it.While in his third incarnation, The Doctor oncesaid of him, "If he'd only learn to laugh onceand awhile, he'd be one of the most decentchaps in the agency."

THE

ROLE PLAYING GAME

36 Countdown

I

Name: Phillip DuLAKERace: HumanSex: MaleProfession: Gentleman

AttributesSTR —IVEND —VDEX —VI

CHA —VMNTITN —IV

Special Ability: None.

Combat Statistics:AP:Armed Combat:

FoilFlintlock Pistol

Unarmed Combat, Brawling:

11

Level VIILevel VILevel V

ROLE PLAYING GAME

Significant Skills LevelArtistic Expression, Poetry VICarousing VClimbing VGaming, Chess IVLeadership IVPublic Performance VISecurity Procedures

Stealth VConcealment IV

TriviaHorsemanship VIPre-17th Century Earth Literature V

Verbal InteractionNegotiation Diplomacy VHaggling V

Appearance:Height: AverageBuild: AverageLooks: StrikingAge: 28Recognition Handle: Phillip is a refined-

looking gentleman with deep blue eyes, shoul-der-length brown hair, a thin moustache, and aregal beard. He always dresses in his nativeclothing: white blouse with loose sleeves, crim-son trousers and vest, a pair of high leatherboots, a wide belt, and a wide-brimmed, plumedcap. He usually carries a flintlock pistol tuckedinto his belt and a foil at his side. His speechand movements are flowery and stylish.

Brief Personal History:Birthplace: Earth, 1621

The son of a nobleman, Phillip earned hisreputation of being the best swordsman in Parisat a very early age. Eventually, he grew tired ofthe noble lifestyle and began frequenting innsand taverns of the city, earning a living by read-ing his sonnets to whomever would listen. Whilevisiting 17th century France, the Time Lord Kellyencountered Phillip and took a great interest inhis poetry, After Phillip managed to show upjust in time to save the Time Lord from a gangof street ruffians, their friendship was cemented.

Personality:Motives Desires Goals:

Phillip has a flair for the daring and adven-turous. He loves the excitement that travellingwith Kelly brings and has no desire to returnhome. He is a great believer in the "code ofhonor," which often gets him into trouble.

Phillip also has a strong compassionate sidethat surfaces. He may be confused by thestrange technology and alien races he has en-countered since meeting Kelly, but he recog-nizes injustice when he sees it and does whathe can to prevent it. He is also known to becomeemotional over the loss of an ally, often compos-ing special sonnets on the spot as a tribute.Manner:

As mentioned earlier, Phillip walks, talks,and acts with a certain elegant style. He is veryoutgoing and courteous, with impeccable man-ners. He treats everyone with respect until theyshow him otherwise. The poet in him often tendstoward expressing long, lyrical descriptions ofhis plight and the "demons" he seems to en-counter almost too frequently since meetingKelly.

Name: Gwendolyn FRAZIERRace: HumanSex: FemaleProfession: Nurse

AttributesSTR —III

CHA —VIEND —IV

MNT —IVDEX —V

ITN —V

Special Ability: None.

Combat Statistics:AP:Armed Combat, Handgun:Unarmed Combat, Brawling:

Significant Skills Level

Administration

IIIArtistic Expression, Dance

IVCarousing VI

Leadership

IIIMedical Sciences

General Medicine, Human

IVPsychology, Human

IV

Security Procedures, Stealth

IVSocial Sciences, Earth History

IV

Sports, Swimming

IVTrivia

Earth Music, Early 1960s

VEarth Fashions, Early 1960s

V

Vehicle Operation, Ground

IVVerbal Interaction

Negotiation Diplomacy VII

Appearance:Height: ShortBuild: SlimLooks: AttractiveAge: 23Recognition Handle: Gwen as her friends

call her) is a short, pretty girl with long, honey-blonde hair and deep-set, dark eyes. She wearsa mini-skirt, blouse, calf boots, and a scarf tiedaround her neck. She is always bubbly and en-thusiastic and to the annoyance of Kelly) is fondof such phrases as "groovy" and "fab".

Brief Personal History:Birthplace: Earth, 1942

Gwen is one of the many "dolly-birds" thatroamed London of the "swinging 1960s" andthe early Beatles. The daughter of a wealthy fam-ily, she often frequented jet-set parties thrownby young members of the British aristocracy.Through her job as a nurse, she met Kelly andPhillip and became involved in repelling an at-tempted awakening of the still-dormant Fen-dahl. Since then, she has chosen to remain withthe Time Lord.

Personality:Motives Desires Goals:

Gwen is a very kindhearted person whooften places more trust in people than they de-serve. She will gladly sacrifice almost anythingshe has to help someone. Her main problem isthat she is extremely curious. She cannot helpbut go off and investigate (often on her own andin violation of Kelly's direct orders), no matterwhat the possible dangers. It is to satisfy thisburning curiosity that she travels with Kelly.Manner:

Gwendolyn is bright and bubbly. She is usu-ally the first to introduce herself and is alwaysseeking new friends. She somehow manages tokeep up this bouncy demeanor even when fac-ing the gravest perils. She also has a strongsense of 'fun'. She is currently engaged in at-tempting to teach Phillip some of the dancesfrom her time period. Kelly, of course, will havenothing to do with such frivolous nonsense.

I

THE

Countdown 37

Name: Michelle VOIGHTRace: HumanSex: FemaleProfession: Research Scientist

AttributesSTR —III

CHA —VEND —IV

MNT —VIDEX —IV

ITN —V

Special Ability: None.

Combat Statistics:AP:

7

Significant Skills LevelAdministration IVCarousing IVEngineering, Electrical VGaming, Chess VLeadership VPhysical Sciences

Computer Science VIMathematics VPhysics V

Social SciencesLaw, British

• History, Earth VSports, Swimming IVTechnology

. Computer Systems VIElectronics VI

Vehicle Operation, Ground Vehicles IVVerbal Interaction

Negotiation Diplomacy V

Appearance:Height: AverageBuild: SlimLooks: AttractiveAge: 26Recognition Handle: Michelle's sandy

brown hair is tied away from her face. She hassparkling blue eyes, and her little-girl featuresmake her seem much younger than she is.Michelle wears a long lab coat and cannot seemuch without her glasses. She has a habit ofcarrying small pieces of lab equipment aroundin her pockets.

Brief Personal History:Birthplace: Earth, 1959

An extremely intelligent young woman,Michelle entered Cambridge University at theyoung age of 16 years. After she received herdoctorate in computer engineering, she wasselected to head up the top-secret computer pro-ject ORION. Michelle became a pawn of TheMaster, who was using the ORION project in anattempt to take over TN P Earth. After The Mas-ter's plot was foiled by Kelly and Phillip, Michellestowed away on the TARDIS, hoping to see abit of the universe.

Personality:Motives Desires Goals:

Like Gwendolyn Frazier, Michelle is a veryinquisitive young woman. Her training as a sci-entist has made her very observant and in-terested in all the types of advanced alientechnology she has encountered since joiningup with Kelly. For the present, she is quite con-tent to travel, having no desire to return homejust yet. Michelle hopes to one day understandall the intricacies of Kelly's TARDIS.Manner:

Michelle is the quiet type, usually stayingin the background while Kelly and Gwendolyndo all the talking. Her loyalty to her friends isvery strong. She almost never acts without firstdeveloping a complete plan of action.

Unarmed Combat, Martial Arts: V

Name: The DOCTOR (Fourth Incarnation)

Race: GallifreyanSex: MaleProfession: Time Lord

AttributesSTR —IV CHA —VEND —IV MNT —VIDEX — IV ittv —VI

Special Ability: None.

Combat Statistics:AP: 7Armed Combat:

Sword VStaser Pistol III

Unarmed Combat, Brawling: Ill

Significant Skills

LevelEnvironmental Suit Operations

IV

Gaming

IVLeadership

VLife Sciences

BotanyExobiology

VZoology

IIIMecical Sciences

General Medicine, Gallifrey

VGeneral Medicine, Human

V

Psychology, Human

VIMilitary Sciences

Trap Discovery

IVTrap/Ordinance Disarmament

IV

Physical SciencesChemistry IIIComputer Science

IVMathematics

VPhysics

IVSecurity Procedures

Concealment

IVLockpicking

VStealth

IVSurveillance

IIISocial Sciences

Archeology, Earth

IVPolitical Science

IIIHistory, Earth

VHistory, Gallifrey

VHistory, Galactic

VSpace Sciences

Astronomy

IIIAstrophysics

IVNavigation

IVSports, Cricket

VStreetwise

VTechnology

Astronautics

IVComputer Systems

IVCybernetics

IIIElectronics

IVForce Field Systems

IIITARDIS Systems

VTemporal Science

VIVehicle Operation

Aircraft

IIIGround Vehicles

IVWater Vehicles

IIISpacecraft

IIITemporal Vehicles

VVerbal Interaction

Haggling

VNegotiation/Diplomacy

VII

Appearance:Height: TallBuild: StockyLooks: AverageApparent Age: Middle-Aged AdultActual Age: 750 +Regenerations Used: 3Recognition Handle: In his fourth incarna-

tion, The Doctor appeared as a tall, lanky manwith a tangled mop of curly red-brown hair,prominent blue eyes, and an open expresssion;this form has been affectionately described as"all teeth and curls". He wore a long, reddish-brown frock coat, a floppy hat, and a distinctiveseventeen-foot-long scarf with multi-coloredstripes. From time to time, The Doctor affecteda brown plaid vest with a dull red neckcloth knot-ted at the collar of his white shirt. This formlacked the dexterous grace exhibited by his thirdincarnation and often tripped over his own scarf.

Brief Personal History:Birthplace: Gallifrey

( See also p.59, A Soucebook For FieldAgen ts)

Personality:Motives Desires Goals:

In many ways, The Doctor's fourth regener-ation was more eccentric than any of his previ-ous personalities. In this form, The Doctor'smanner shifted at a moment's notice from un-bounded and vibrantly energetic to wnaderingand abstractedly lethargic. Nevertheless, he wasalways governed by unquenchable curiosity andamazing land often unjustified) self-confidence.In this form, The Doctor was happiest whentravelling to new times and new worlds, hatingto stay in one place for very long. At times. hisconversation was very difficult to follow, as heforgot the other people's minds did not work asquickly or eccentrically as his. This form waswitty, charming, and occasionally uncon-sciously arrogant; quite fearless, all too oftenhe was so interested in what was going onaround him that he forgot to be scared.Manner:

In his fourth incarnation, The Doctor had apassionate concern for all forms of life, whatevertheir size, shape, or composition. The sight ofinjustice or evil was guaranteed to prompt hisintervention, no matter how strenuously heswore to himself not to get involved. This formwas not as physically oriented as he was in histhird body. He openly abhorred unthinking-vio-lence, though he was forced to admit that a"good thumping" often proved necessary.

Il•■■■■•

38 Countdown

THE

ROLE PLAYING GAME

Name: LEELARace: Human (Sevateem)Sex: FemaleProfession: Warrior

AttributesSTR —IV

CHA —IVEND —V

MNT —IIIDEX

ITN —IV

Special Ability: Enhanced Dexterity

Combat Statistics:AP:

9Armed Combat

Sword

Level IVAxe

Level IIIThrusting Spear

Level VIClub

Level IIIDagger, thrown

Level VIUnarmed Combat, Brawling:

Level V

1111••••••■1111

Name: Lady ROMANADVORATRELUNDAR(Romana)

Race: GallifreyanSex: FemaleProfession: Time Lord

AttributesSW —III CHA —IVEND —III MNT —VIDEX —IV ITN —IV

Special Ability:Controlled Regeneration

VII

Combat Statistics:AP

7Armed Combat, Stase Pistol: II

Significant Skills LevelCarousing IVClimbing VLeadership IVMilitary Sciences

Small Unit Tacctics IVTrap Discovery IV

Security ProceduresConcealment IVStealth VSurveillance IV

Sports, SwimmingWilderness Survival V

Appearance:Height: TallBuild: AverageLooks: StrikingAge: 27Recognition Handle: Leela is tall, trim, and

beautiful. Her long, fiery red hair frames a per-fectly proportioned face and a golden tan. Shewears a very revealing leather half-leotard,knee-high leather boots, a bead necklace, and ascabbard for her dagger.

Brief Personal History:Birthplace: The planet of the Sevateem

Leela was a warrior in the tribe of theSevateem (Survey Team), the savage descen-dants of a lost Earth expedition.

Bored by the prospect of peace on herhomeworld, Leela managed to force her way onboard the TARDIS. Her travels across time withThe Doctor provided her with ample adventureand conflict.

Significant SkillsAdministrationEnvironmental Suit OperationsLeadershipLife Sciences, ExobiologyPhysical Sciences

Computer ScienceMathematicsPhysics

Social SciencesHistory, Gallifreyan

Space SciencesAstronomyAstrophysicsNavigation

TecchnologyElectronicsForce Field SystemsTARDIS Systems

Temporal ScienceVehicle Operation

Temporal Vehicles

VIVerbal Interaction

Negotiation Diplomacy

Appearance:Height: AverageBuild: SlimLooks: StrikingAge: 120 +Regenerations Used: 1Recognition Handle: In her second incarna-

tion, Romana is a petite, pretty woman. Her long,dark blonde hair is usually parted in the middleand frames a delicate, snub-nosed face, and bril-liant blue eyes. Her choice of clothing is alwaysvaried and unpredictable, but often emphasisesher youthful appearance.

At last, she accompanied The Doctor to Gal-lifrey itself as he tried to stop a combined Var-dan-Sontaran invasion. After the fourth Doctortime-looped the Vardans and disintegrated theSontarans with a Demat Gun, Leela chose toremain on Gallifrey. She had fallen in love withAndred, the commander of the ChancelleryGuards, and decided to marry him.

Personality:Motives Desires Goals:

Leela is first and foremost a warrior. Raisedin the midst of a constant and bloody war, Leelafinds pleasure in conflict and combat. She hasadopted The Doctor as a combination god andwar leader — though she is puzzled by his soft-hearted, humanitarian ideals. She wants to helpThe Doctor and to protect him from those whotake advantage of his foolish idealism.Manner:

Leela is a ruthless, savage warrior who cankill without a moment's hesitation. Her habit ofkilling first and asking questions later often an-noys The Doctor, but even he has been forcedto admit that she's often saved him from poten-tially fatal encounters. On her part, Leela showsan odd mixture of absolute confidence and res-igned distrust in The Doctor's abilities. She be-lieves that he can do anything, but she also be-lieves that he's far too trusting, merciful, andcivilized to act sensibly.

After several years of peace and tranquilityon Gallifrey, Leela grew restive. The Doctor,making a small stop on Gallifrey, encouragedher to come on a small holiday with Romanaand himself.

Brief Personal History:Birthplace: Gallifrey

Romana began her adventures with TheDoctor when she was assigned by The WhiteGuardian to help find the all-powerful Key toTime, though she had never been on a missionoff Gallifrey before, having recently graduatedwith the highest honors from the PrydonianAcademy. In her first incarnation, Romana'sskills and bravery proved an invaluable aid toThe Doctor. During the quest for The Key toTime, she was captured by The Black Guardian'saides and psychologically tortured. This lead herto voluntarily regenerate.

In her second incarnation, Romana decidedto remain with The Doctor and accompaniedhim on a variety of adventures. Among otherthings, she helped defeat an attempt by Scarothto stop the evolution of life on Earth, assistedthe Doctor in breaking up druig smuggling bythe naturalist Tryst, and helped stop Pangol theArgolin from starting a war with the reptilianFoamasi.

Personality:Motives Desires Goals:

Romana started out more businesslike thanThe Doctor in his fourth incarnation, and shewas nearly as curious. After decades of dry dustyschoolwork in the academy, she was more thanready for new sights and experiences. In manyways, she remained a student and Galactictourist while travelling with The Doctor. Thoughshe was more thoroughly conditioned againstinterference than The Doctor, her sense of jus-tice usually forced her to take interventionaryaction. After her regeneration, Romana lost alarge portion of her businesslike ways andgained a more childlike sense of wonder.Manner:

Romana is cheerful and helpful to a flaw.On more than one occasion, she has helped thewrong parties. This seems to stem from her will-ingness to show off her talents to almost any-one. But when the occasion demands she isforceful where injustice to others is shown.

Countdown 39

lilt mr

iunn

CIO

NON-PLAYERCHARACTERS

The following are complete statis-tics and descriptions for all the majorNPCs the players will encounter duringthis adventure. Included in each profileare game statistics, a personal history,a personality profile, physical descrip-tion, and role-playing notes. MinorNPCs are given game statistics and briefdescriptions.

Name: Captain Robert FLEMINGRace: HumanSex: MaleProfession: Commander, TSS Leander

AttributesSTR —IV CHA —VEND —IV MNT —VDEX —IV ITN —V

Special Ability: None.

Combat Statistics:AP: 7Armed Combat, Mark VII Blaster: IVUnarmed Combat, Brawling: IV

The personal histories are solely forthe benefit of the gamemaster, who willfind them helpful in role-playing thecharacter and designing futurescenarios involving the NPC. The per-sonality profiles will also be useful tohim for role-playing. As mentioned inthe How To Use This Booklet chapter,the description of the character shouldbe read to the players the first time theyencounter him or her, and the importantsections re-read at each further en-counter. Finally, the role-playing notesprovide brief clues on how to make theNPC seem more real.

Significant Skills

LevelAdministration

VIEnvironmental Suit Operations

V

Security Procedures, Surveillance

IIIVehicle Operation, Spacecraft

V

Carousing

IIILeadership

VVerbal Interaction

Negotiation/Diplomacy

IVSocial Sciences, Law

III

Military Science, Small Unit Tactics

IIIEngineering

ElectricalMechanical

Physical Sciences, PhysicsSpace Sciences

AstronomyNavigation

VTechnology

Astronautics

IVElectronics

Appearance:Height: 6'Build: Slightly overweightLooks: AverageActual Age: 53 yearsRecognition Handle: Fleming is a tall,

slightly overweight man of about 220 lbs. Hisgray hair is cut short and his mustache is bushy.He wears his uniform proudly, with belt well-polished and tunic carefully pressed. On hisright breast, Fleming wears the Emperor's Crossfor Heroism Under Fire.

MIIIMIM■111

I(NOTE: Two special characteristics

— CHAR and PERS — are given for eachNPC. Use the CHAR statistic as the baseDifficulty Level of the CHA Saving Rolleach character makes the first time hemeets the NPC. Use the PERS statisticas the base Difficulty Level for any per-suasion attempts the players mightmake on the character using Negotia-tion/Diplomacy or Haggling. These areintended only as guidelines. Normalmodifiers still apply, and the gamemas-ter should alter these levels if cir-cumstances warrant him doing so.

Brief Personal History:Birthplace: EarthRobert Fleming joined the Imperial Space

Navy at the age of 18 as a Spacehand 2nd Class.He began his distinguished career by saving twoof his comrades from a fire, a move that soonearned him a promotion. After ten years in theSpace Navy, he was sent through officer train-ing, from which he emerged an Ensign. Afteranother twelve years, he managed to reach therank of Captain and was given his first com-mand, a small freighter. Resenting being as-signed to such an unimportant ship, Fleminghoped one day to be able to command a combatvessel. After a series of assignments to a varietyof small vessels, he was given command of theLeander.

Personality:Fleming is a man of such wide experience

that he is almost never taken by surprise in anysituation. He is a shrewd commander who doesnot give up easily, and he likes action and adven-ture. Fleming fully understands and enjoys hisresponsibilities and power as Captain, but he isalso quite fair and reasonable. He holds himselfpersonally responsible for each of his crewmen.Due to his long years as an enlisted man andlower-grade officer, Fleming respects theabilities and opinions of every crewman aboard,regardless of rank. For that reason, he is well-liked by the crew. Fleming is somewhat resentfulof Major Reitz's efforts to steal some of his au-thority.Motives Desires Goals:

Captain Fleming is excited about the Lean-der's current mission, believing that if he per-forms well, he will be placed in command of abetter vessel, the combat ship of his dreams.

• Manner:While on duty, Fleming is firm and serious,

never revealing much outward emotion. Whileoff-duty, he is transformed into a jovial and fun-loving person.Role Playing Notes:

When playing Captain Fleming, alwayshave him ask all his subordinates for their opin-ions on major decisions. Then, have him sit si-lently for a short time in deep concentration.Soon after, he will spring up suddenly to an-nounce his final decision in the matter. At first,Fleming will be a little suspicious of the players'sudden arrival, but he will begin to trust themif they show how much they wish to help.

Fleming is given two CHAR numbers. Makea CHA Saving Roll at the first Difficulty Level listedfor each of the players when they first meet him;make another CHA Saving Roll at the secondmeeting when he has some evidence that theytruly wish to help him.

CHAR: V/III PERS: IV

ROLE PLAYING GAME

40 Countdown

Name: Richard REITZRace: HumanSex: MaleProfession Major, Imperial Centurions

AttributesSTR —V CHA — IIEND —V MNT

DEX —IV ITN —III

Special Ability: None.

Combat Statistics:AP:

7Armed Combat:

Mark VII Blaster VIKnife IV

Unarmed Combat, Martial Arts V

ROLE PLAYING GAME

r Personality:Motives Desires Goals:

Reitz is a dedicated military man who be-lieves in carrying out his duties and respon-sibilities impeccably. He sees himself, and allother officers, as superior to the enlisted menand junior officers they command. Thus, he re-sents Fleming asking advice of his crew andwishes the Leander mission were in betterhands. Unconsciously, Reitz will begin to giveorders that are more in Fleming's jurisdiction,believing he must keep a close eye on Flemingand intervene occasionally if their mission is tosucceed. Reitz rarely trusts anyone not in themilitary. As he is technically under Fleming'scommand, Reitz will obey his orders, thoughreluctantly.Manner:

Reitz is a very strict disciplinarian who be-haves in a cold, authoritarian manner. He obeysorders from his own superiors without questionand expects the orders he gives to be similarlyobeyed.Role-Playing Notes:

Reitz is the stereotypical Doctor Whoparanoiac. (Anyone familiar with the series willrecall seeing a character of his type in mostepisodes.) He will immediately accuse theplayers of trying to sabotage the mission, refus-ing to believe they are not spies in league withthe Cybermen. Players will get the impressionhe is more worried about his reputation thanthe safety of his men.

CHAR: VII PERS: VI

Significant Skills

LevelSecurity Procedures

Concealment

IIIStealth

IIISurveillance

VLeadership

VAdministration

IVMilitary Sciences

Ordinance Construction Repair

IVSmall Unit Tactics

VI

Appearance:Height: 6'2Build: MuscularLooks: AttractiveActual Age: 27Recognition Handle: Reitz is a tall, muscular

man. He has carefully-trimmed short red hairand mustache. He wears the uniform of an Im-perial Centurion Commander very proudly andis rarely seen in anything but full dress.

Brief Personal History:Birthplace:Earth

Reitz is the son of the famous Earth GeneralAlfred Reitz. Due to his father's connections, heentered the Imperial Army a fully-commissionedofficer at age 18. After undergoing a variety ofspecial trainings, he was assigned to the distin-guished Fifth Legion, Twenty Third Cohort. Afterserving admirably for five years, Reitz was pro-moted to the rank of Major and assigned to theImperial Centurions, the emperor's personalelite guard, and placed in command of a Cohort.As he and his men were readily available for theLeander mission, they were assigned to it.

Name: Arthur GRAYRace: HumanSex: MaleProfession: Medical Assistant, TSS Leander

AttributesSTR —IV CHA —VEND —IV MNT —VDEX —IV ITN —IV

Special Ability: None.Combat Statistics:

AP: 7Armed Combat:

Mark VII Blaster IIIUnarmed Combat:

Brawling

Significant Skills LevelSecurity Procedures

ConcealmentLockpickingStealth IVSurveillance III

Vehicle Operation, SpacecraftVerbal Interaction

Negotiation Diplomacy IVAdministrationMedical Sciences, General Medicine IVStreetwise V

Appearance:Height: 6'Build: SlimLooks: StrikingActual Age: 27Recognition Handle: Gray is a handsome

young man with neatly trimmed brown hair anddeep-set, alluring eyes. He is usually dressed inmedical garments instead of his uniform (muchto Reitz' consternation, of course.)

Brief Personal History:Birthplace:Earth

Because he attended a military academy,Arthur Gray began his military career as a com-missioned officer. He used the power and re-sponsibility of his commission to set up anelaborate black market operation on the asteroidto which he was assigned. This operation madehim thousands of credits and was so success-fully hidden that none of his superiors everfound a clue to its existence. In fact, Gray wasconsidered by many to be one of the finest offi-cers on the asteroid. He was promoted severaltimes and eventually cross-trained as a medic.At his medical academy, Gray set up a similaroperation that met with equal success. Stayingat the academy until he was fully trained in gen-eral medicine, he was eventually given the rankof Medical Assistant.

Because of his impressive record, Gray wasassigned to the Leander mission to aid Dr. Fred-rick in administering the serum to the colony'spopulace. After closely observing the Earthmenknown to be going on the mission, CyberleaderVorak detected his greed and offered him tenmillion Earth credits to shut down the Leander'sautomated defense systems just prior to thedocking. After taking care of the rest of the Earthcrew, the Cybermen promised to then allow himto escape with thg money in a pinnace. Graynaturally accepted.

Personality:Motives Desires Goals:

Gray is driven chiefly by his greed, whichwill make him go to any lengths to get the powerand money he craves. He knows that by col-laborating with the Cybermen he will be partiallyresponsible for the loss of millions of lives, buthe cares very little. After escaping the Leander,Gray plans to move back to Earth and possiblyestablish his own casino.

Gray is a plotter who never acts withouthaving first devised a well-organized mentalplan. Having thought through the consequencesof success and failure for any of his actions, heusually has several contingency plans as well.Gray is also a master of deception who is ableto hide his mischievous tendencies and is al-ways well-liked. He is still believed to be one ofthe finest officers aboard the medical aid satel-lite to which he is permanently assigned.Manner:

Gray is a sly, deceptive person who will keephis cool in any situation. Whether he likes themor not, Gray treats everyone he meets with kind-ness and impeccable manners, though this isjust a front.Role-Playing Notes:

No matter what the results of the players'initial CHA rolls, Gray will treat all of them as ifthey had rolled critical successes. He will politelyrefuse to take any action that might implicatehim or jeopardize his cover. Later in the adven-ture, he will start having second thoughts aboutthe Cybermen and whether they will really allowhim to escape, all of which begins to make himnervous. With a successful Negotiation, Diplo-macy Roll against a Level VI Task, the playersmay be able enlist Gray's aid temporarily byconvincing him that the Cybermen are going todoublecross him. No matter what happens, Graywill probably try to escape at the earliest oppor-tunity.

CHAR: II PERS: II

Countdown 41

ROLE PLAYING GAME

TarName: Michael LINDSAY

Race: HumanSex: MaleProfession: First Officer, TSS Leander

AttributesSTR —IV CHA —VIEND —V MNT —IVDEX —IV ITN —V

Special Ability: None

Combat Statistics:AP: 7Armed Combat, Mark VII Blaster:IVUnarmed Combat, Brawling: IV

Name: TYPICAL LEANDER CREWMAN[---

The crew of the Leander consists of sevenofficers and twelve enlisted men. Use the statsbelow for all the minor NPC crewmembers.Some sketchy descriptions and statistic modifi-cations are provided for some of the NPCS theplayers are likely to encounter. It may be neces-sary to fill in some information if one of theseNPCs manages to take on unexpected impor-tance in the adventure.

AttributesSTR —IV CHA —IVEND —IV MNT —IVDEX —IV ITN —IV

Special Ability: None.

Combat Statistics:AP:

7Armed Combat

Mark VII Blaster:Unarmed Combat

Brawling:

Significant Skills

LevelEnvironmental Suit OperationsAdministrationAny Specialty

V

Significant Skills

LevelEnvironmental Suit Operations

IV

Vehicle Operation, Spacecraft

VLeadership

VCarousing

VVerbal Interaction

Negotiation/Diplomacy

VHaggling

IVAdministration

VEngineering

Electrical

IllMechanical

IIISecurity Procedures, Surveillance

III

Physical SciencesComputer Science

IVMathematics

IIIPhysics

IVSpace Sciences

Astronomy

IIIAstrophysics

IIINavigation

IIITechnology

Computer Systems

VAstronautics

IIIElectronics

III

Appearance:Height: 5'10Build: AverageLooks: AverageApparent Age: 35Recognition Handle: Lindsay has short

blonde hair and a very friendly face . Nearly al-ways with a smile on his face, he is often seenstopping to exchange pleasantries and jokeswith other crew members.

Brief Personal History:Birthplace:EarthMichael Lindsay entered the Imperial Space

Navy as a commissioned officer after complet-ing his university education. Because of his ex-cellent service and many friends in the upperrankS, his rapid promotions came as no surprise.Lindsay has been on the Leander longer thanCaptain Fleming and knows the ship and crewbetter. Lindsay has been specially trained incomputer technology. One of his respon-sibilities aboard the Leander is to make sure thatSAM is always functioning properly. He is seenas one of the most excellent prospects for shipcaptain in the navy.

Navigator Thomas CAMPBELL:A tall man in his early forties, Campbell re-

spects Fleming a great deal and will do anythinghe asks. He has been on the Leander for quitesome time and is thrilled to have been givensuch an important mission. Campbell has As-tronomy and Navigation at Skill Level V and As-trophysics at Level III. He also has Physics atSkill Level III.

rPersonality:Motives/Desires/Goals:

Lindsay very strongly believes in using theminimum amount of force necessary to solve aproblem, and he puts more faith in his instinctsthan anything else. He is always cool under pres-sure and very capable of making snap decisions(an excellent command prospect). Like Fleming,he respects everyone aboard the ship regardlessof rank or status. He has adopted Fleming'stechnique of asking everyone for advice whentime permits.Manner:

Lindsay is a likable, level-headed youngman who makes friends very easily. He handlesresponsibility very well and is quite an ableleader.Role -Playing Notes:

Lindsay is provided as an ally for theplayers. He will most likely trust them and de-fend them from Reitz's accusations. Even if Reitzcan find some circumstantial evidence connect-ing the players with the plot, he will still havefaith in them. He instinctively has a 'good feel-ing' about them. After the threat of the Cyber-men has been revealed, he will include theplayers in the discussions of possible solutionsto the problem. If the players seem to know moreabout Cybermen than the Earth crew or seemmore able to deal with the situation, he willgladly follow their instructions. When playingLindsay, try to stress his likability. Have him al-ways stopping to chat with the crew and othercharacters (including SAM).

CHAR: II PERS: II

Doctor John FREDRICK:An old, very experienced military doctor,

Dr. Fredrick has been specially assigned to theLeander for this mission. He is an expert on Had-der's Fever and its treatment. The Leander's reg-ular doctor is on leave. Frederick likes his youngassistant, Gray, and has no idea that the man isin the employ of the Cybermen. Once the actionstarts, Fredrick will do anything he can to help.He has Skill Level VI in General Medicine, Pathol-ogy, and Surgery. He has Skill Level IV inChemistry.

42 Countdown

Communications Officer Elizabeth DIRKES:Lieutenant Dirkes has always proven a very

capable officer. Like First Officer Lindsay, shewill be more inclined to trust the players anddefend them from Reitz's accusations. She hasskill in Communication Systems at Level V andin Electronics and Computer Systems at Level

I

ROLE PLAYING GAME

I

Engineer Alex SPENCER:Spencer is responsible for keeping the Lean-

der's systems functioning properly, and is goodat his job. He resents SAM, the computer, be-cause it makes him feel the human crew is beingtotally replaced by machines. Spencer is alsohandy with his fists. He possesses Skill Level Vin Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineer-ing, Astronautics, and Electronics. He has theUnarmed Combat Skill of Brawling at Level V.

Name: TYPICAL IMPERIAL CENTURIONThe Leander currently holds one Decade of

Imperial Centurions (ten men and one comman-der). Two such decades make up a squadron,ten squadrons make up a cohort, and ten cohortsmake up a legion. Reitz is actually in commandof the whole cohort, but is personally command-ing the decade assigned to the Leander mission.Use the statistics below for the Centurions.

AttributesSTR —V

CHA —IVEND —V

MNT —IVDEX —V

ITN —IV

Special Ability: None.

Combat Statistics:AP:

9Armed Combat:

Mark VII Blaster

VIKnife

IVUnarmed Combat, Martial Arts: V

Significant Skills

LevelSecurity Procedures

ConcealmentStealth

IIISurveillance

IVAdministrationMilitary Sciences

Ordinance Construction RepairSmall Unit Tactics

Sergeant Franklin HALL:Hall is Reitz's second in command, and is a

typical decade commander. Like all the centur-ions, he is a stern disciplinarian. Although hebelieves that Reitz is a good commander, Hallrealizes the danger inherent in the man'sparanoid tendencies. If the characters providestrong evidence that they intend to help defeatthe Cybermen, they should be allowed to makea Negotiation. Diplomacy roll at Task Level VI toconvince Hall to go against Reitz's direct ordersand help them any way he can. In addition tothe skills listed above for the typical Centurion,Hall has skill in Leadership at Level IV.

LevelIII

IVIVIVIVIVIV

VIVIVIVI

VI

VII

VIVIVI

VIVIVIVI

Name: SAMAttributesSTR —0

CHA —IIIEND —0

MNT —VIIDEX —0

EIN

Special Ability: None

Significant SkillsAdministrationEngineering

CartographyChemical EngineeringCivil EngineeringElectrical EngineeringMechanical EngineeringMetallurgy

Physical SciencesChemistryComputer ScienceMathematicsPhysics

Vehicle OperationSpacecraft

Security ProceduresSurveillance

Space SciencesAstronomyAstrophysicsNavigation

TechnologyAstronauticsCommunication SystemsComputer SystemsElectronics

Brief Personal History:SAM was built by the Century Cybernetics

Corporation and installed into the Leanderwhenthe ship was built. His function is to operate thecontrols, suggest repairs, analyze data, andmake a complete log of all the ship's experi-ences. He knows about the mission and placesgreat importance on its completion.

Personality:Motives Desires/Goals:

SAM is intelligent, but he has not been pro-grammed for hobbies, interests, emotions, orhumor.Manner:

SAM is seen on the bridge of the Leanderas a large screen displaying a topographicalmodel of a human head. He has a very lifelesspersonality. Although SAM is capable of carry-ing on conversations, they are usually academicand dull.Role Playing Notes:

SAM will not play a very active part in theadventure, as he is present merely for flavor. Ofcourse, if anyone asks him a question, he willanswer readily. If the players are having a par-ticularly hard time, the gamemaster can haveSAM offer advice to Captain Fleming or FirstOfficer Lindsay on what to do next. This advicewill, naturally, reach the players' ears as well.SAM will not aid Cybermen in any way, as thiswould violate the prime programming thatexists in his core. The Cybermen will probablyshut SAM down when they see he is of little use.

Countdown 43A

•■■

Name: VORAKRace: Cyberman

AttributesSTR —VII

CHAEND —VI

MNT —VIDEX —IV

ITN —II

Special Ability: None.

Combat Statistics:AP:

7Armed Combat, Blaster Rifle:

IV

Unarmed Combat, Brawling:

IV

simmliel■1111

Name: KALIKRace: VeganSex. MaleProfession: Pirate

AttributesSTR —MI

CHA —IIEND —VI

MNT —IIIDEX —IV

ITN —III

Special Ability: None.

Combat Statistics:AP:

7Armed Combat:

Blaster Pistol

VShort Sword

IVUnarmed Combat, Brawling:

Personality:MotivesDesires Goals:

Vorak will quickly analyze any problem andmake a decision based entirely on logic. Theonly thing that concerns him is completing hisplan. He will ignore the problem of the 'gravitybubble' until he has dealt with all the humansand Vegans and is in a position of total control.He has a great deal of confidence in Cyber-technology, believing it capable of overcomingany obstacle. The other Cybermen will followhis instructions without question or hesitation.Manner:

All Cybermen have the same personality:cold, ruthless, and mechanical.Role Playing Notes:

To those familiar with the Doctor Who tele-vision series, Vorak's character will be familiar.All Cybermen act exactly alike. The gamemastershould try to build a little ironic sympathy forthe Cybermen among the players. For example,at one point, Vorak makes a speech dealing withthe woes of his dying race. In role-playing Vorak,remember to use all the old tricks: threateningto kill assistants and NPCs unless the playersdo something for him, threatening to destroyimportant items, and so forth. Vorak has en-countered The Doctor twice and is quite familiarwith the danger presented by the Time Lords.He will automatically know which players areTime Lords and will take extra caution in dealingwith them. It is not necessary to make a CHA rollwhen the players first meet the Cyberleader orNegotiation,Diplomacy rolls thereafter. Vorakwill automatically see all humans and Vegansas threats, and he will only grant requests thatwill logically help his cause. (See Gamemaster'sNotes for statistics on the other Cybermen anddetails on their special combat abilities and tac-tics.)

Personality:Motives Desires Goals:

Kalik is a typical scoundrel. He is driven bygreed for wealth and power and will sacrificeany of his men to get it. He is a firm leader, andthe other Vegans follow his orders without ques-tion. Kalik enjoys his position as Captain of theJack of Hearts, but has even greater ambitions.He hopes one day to make enough money tobuy and rule his own planet. As a rule, Kalik isgenerally suspicious.Manner:

Kalik is cold and stern in his manner. Heoften slowly scans an area with his lizard-likehead, trying to intimidate everyone with sinisterlooks.Role Playing Notes:

Kalik should be played as a stereotypicalpirate. In describing him and the Jack of Hearts,the gamemaster should emphasize the pirate-like qualities. Though cold and gruff, Kalik con-stantly exclaims things like "By the five flamingmoons of Falvax!", "Avast, ye planet lubbers!"and similar colorful expressions. It is quite pos-sible that the players will be able to convinceKalik to aid them after he sees most of his crewdestroyed by Cybermen. Alliance with him willalways be shaky, however. He will play alongwith the characters until the Cybermen are de-feated, then he will try to eliminate everyoneand grab the serum. (See Gamemester's Notesfor typical statistics for the rest of the Vegans,as well as their special combat abilities and tac-tics.)

Significant Skills LevelLeadership VIMilitary Science

Ordinance Construction/Repair VSmall Unit Tactics V

TechnologyCybernetics VIComputer Systems V

Vehicle Operation, Spacecraft IVSecurity Procedures, Surveillance IV

Appearance:Height: 2.3 metersBuild: Man-shapedRecognition Handle: Cyberleader Vorak is

distinguished from the other Cybermen by hisblack head cowling the others wear silver). Hewalks in a slow, lumbering manner and is incap-able of showing any expression.

Brief Personal History:Birthplace: Mondas

Vorak was one of the original Cybermenfrom Mondas. He witnessed The Doctor's de-struction of the planet and escaped to Telos.Over the years, he has gained a position ofseniority and authority, and his systems wereimproved with the most modern Cybertechnol-ogy. At the conclusion of the Galactic Cyber-wars, his group of Cybermen became one of themany isolated bands to escape and roam theGalaxy. Until now, the band has only taken theactions necessary to support themselves. Afterintercepting Earth transmissions, Vorak formu-lated the plan to capture Ionia as the new Cyber-world. He contacted Arthur Gray and offeredhim ten million Earth credits to help completethe operation. Of course, he does not intend topay, but will simply eliminate Gray when he isno longer useful. Upon completion of his oper-ation, Vorak plans to contact other roving bandsof Cybermen and unite them, with the intent tofinally invade and destroy Earth.

Significant Skills

LevelEnvironmental Suit Operations

IV

Security ProceduresConcealment

IIIStealthSurveillance

IIIVehicle Operation, Spacecraft

III

Carousing

VIGambling

IIILeadership

IVMilitary Sciences, Small Unit Tactics

IV

Streetwise

VITechnology, Astronautics

III

Appearance:Height: TallBuild: StockyLooks: N AAge: Middle-Aged AdultRecognition Handle: Large and muscular,

Kalik is a typical lizard-like Vegan. He wears aneye patch over his left eye, two blaster pistolstucked into his belt, and a cutlass at his side.

Brief Personal History:Birthplace:Vega XII

Kalik is Captain of the Vegan pirate vesselJack of Hearts, whose crew he joined when veryyoung. Over the years, he rose through theranks, eventually becoming First Mate. Duringa battle with an Earth freighter, Kalik saw hisopportunity and killed the Captain, making itlook as though the death occurred due to dam-age done to the ship by the freighter. Kalikquickly assume command and led the pirateband to 'avenge' their comrade's death and tocripple the freighter. Since then, Kalik has ruledwith an iron hand. His position aboard the Jackof Hearts is very stable, and he has no challen-gers.

44 Countdown

ROLE PLAYING GAME

DIEreWIII III

III III

0 0

WORMS DATABANKS

SUPPLEMEN-TARYBACKGROUND

A PMI•1111■••■r"

I01B❑ 0

Gamemaster's Notes

THE

Gravity bubbles present a dangerto time capsules because of their inter-dimensional nature. Somehow thegravity field crossing the dimensionalbarriers seems to jam a TARDIS' direc-tional and materialization circuits, leav-ing it stuck in the Temporal Vortex andsubjected to powerful forces. GravityBubbles have the unusual feature ofsuddenly appearing and disappearingin certain areas. Their exact nature isnot understood, but most starfaring cul-tures have experienced them and havelearned certain methods of minimizingtheir danger.HADDER'S FEVER

A deadly disease discovered by Dr.George Hadder in 2511 A.D. The diseaseis known to affect only humanoid races(Time Lords are immune). The virus thatcauses the fever drives its host mad,bringing out strong, violent urges. Aftertwo weeks, the victim usually dies.There is a known cure, a serum thatmust be administered to victims andpotential victims in the area of the feveroutbreak as soon as possible to bringthe virus under control. The virus mu-tates rapidly, and becomes incurable ifnot brought under control in one week.THE VEGANS

The Vegans are a rapscallian raceoriginally from the planet Vega XII inMutter's Spiral. They are powerful,lizard-like beings with much greaterstrength and endurance than normalhumans. Like most reptilians, they arecold-blooded and that is also their mostprofound weakness. Most Vegans arepirates or smugglers who see illegal op-erations as the easiest way to achievepower. No system of laws has ever beenorganized for their society, whichseems to operate on the 'survival of thefittest' principle. The Vegans have de-veloped interstellar travel and have awide range of technologies (capturedfrom other races) at their disposal.

During the course of this adven-ture, the players may wish to consultthe TARDIS data banks for an explana-tion of the following terms.

CHRONIC RIFTThis is an extremely rare, deadly

opening in space/time that leads di-rectly to the Temporal Vortex. The Riftoften drains power from all energysources within its range directly into theVortex. The power drain starts offslowly and increases exponentially. Itaffects smaller power sources fasterthan larger ones. The Rift's draining ofenergy into the Vortex seems to carrylarger objects into it, also. For thisreason, a large gravitational field ap-pears to be caused directly by the Rift(they are often mistaken for gravity bub-bles). The Rift is extremely dangerousto spacecraft. Most engines will rapidlylose their power, leaving the ship un-able to resist the pull into the Vortex,which will surely destroy it. The exactnature of Chronic Rifts is not under-stood.CYBERMEN

The gamemaster should permit theplayer characters full access to all theinformation on The Cybermen found inthe Temporal Marauders section of theSourcebook For Field Agents. Allow theplayers to look over that material attheir leisure.EARTH EMPIRE

The Earth Empire is a political or-ganization comprised of the planetEarth and several of its colonies, allfound in Mutter's Spiral. The system ofEarth colonies took the title Empire ca.2450 A.D. The Empire itself is ruled byan Emperor, and each planet has itsown representing Senator. It controlspowerful military forces, but is gener-ally peaceful. Important enemies of theEarth Empire have included Cybermen,Daleks, and Draconians.GRAVITY BUBBLE

A gravity bubble is a phenomenoncaused by an object with an extremegravitational pull occupying the sameplace in another dimension that it oc-cupies in normal spacetime. The gravityfield of the object seems to transcendthe trans-dimensional barrier and af-fects objects in normal spacetime. Its wommlemer

pull can be dangerous to spacecraft. Ifunable to break free of the gravitationalfield, the vessel will be pulled to thecenter of the bubble (where the field ismuch stronger) and shattered by the ex-treme forces there.

Following is additional backgroundmaterial for the gamemaster's eyesonly, which he will need to run the ad-venture.THE CYBERMEN

In addition to the information foundon pp. 20-21 of the DOCTOR WHO RPGSourcebook For Field Agents, consultthe Target Books novelisations for anyof the following Doctor Who televisionepisodes in which the Cybermen haveappeared.First Doctor

"The Tenth Planet" (1966)Second Doctor

"The Moonbase" (1967)"The Tomb of the Cybermen"

(19671"The Wheel in Space" (1968)"The Invasion" (1968)

Fourth Doctor"Revenge of the Cybermen" (19751

Fifth Doctor"Earthshock" (1982)"The Five Doctors" (1983)

Sixth Doctor"Attack of the Cybermen" (1985)

Skills And AttributesOver the years, there have been

many different models of Cybermen.The Cybermen featured in Countdownare of the Model VI variety (the sameas appear in "Earthshock" and "Attackof the Cybermen"(. Model VI Cybermenare depicted in the photographs on p.21 of the Sourcebook For Field Agents.Statistics and information on othermodels of Cybermen will appear in theCybermen supplement forthcomingfrom FASA.

Countdown 45

ROLE PLAYING GAME

appeared to be viable, it was given pro-vince status and allowed a representa-tive in the Senate. The Senate was pre-sided over by an Emperor, who wouldbe elected by the full Senate. His termlasted either until his death or until amajority of Senators voted him out.Earth was the capitol of the Empire,where the Emperor resided and theSenate met.

The first major test of the newly-formed Empire was to defeat the Cyber-men in the Galactic Cyberwars of 2400A.D. Fortunately, the Empire was ableto strike an alliance with Voga, theplanet of gold, and use its resourcesagainst the Cybermen, defeating them.Later, the Empire would battle theDraconians, Daleks, and Ice Warriors.They would encounter races as diverseas the Macra, the Wirrn, the Sensorites,and the Exxilons.

Around 3100 A.D., the Empire hadgrown to be not only very powerful butalso corrupt. Many colonies started torevolt against the injustices perpetratedby the Senators (who were now con-cerned more with their own welfarethan that of the planets they rep-resented) and the Emperor. The Galac-tic Revolution of 3120 A.D. eventuallyoverthrew the Imperial System, and re-placed it with a new, more democraticgovernment. Many of the Earth prov-inces became independent politicalstates. In another 80 years, Earth andthe provinces remaining under itsdominion helped to form the GalacticFederation to defend the galaxy fromoutside invasion.

THE

■■1114,q11

Name: MODEL VI CYBERMANAttributesSTR -VI

CHA -IEND -VI

MNT -VDEX ITN -II

Combat Statistics:AP:

6Armed Combat, Blaster Rifle: VUnarmed Combat, Brawling:

IV

Significant Skills

LevelMilitary Science

Ordinance Construction/Repair IV

Small Unit Tactics

IVTechnology

Cybernetics V

Combat Abilities And Statistics:In combat, the Cybermen usually

try to fire heavily first, and then advanceto do hand-to-hand combat with thesurvivors. All Cybermen are armed witha weapon that is the equivalent of aBlaster rifle. As long as it is in the handsof a Cyberman, the weapon can fire in-definitely before needing a recharge (itdraws power from the Cyberman him-self). If someone else uses the weapon,it will only be able to fire three shotsbefore needing to be recharged. TheCybermen's tough metallic skin givesthem 5D6 of armor! Against their ownweapons, however, they only have 3D6of armor.

Cyberleader Vorak is one of thenew Type VII Cybermen. Treat himexactly as a Type VI Cyberman exceptthat he is able to absorb power fromhis environment and does not need torecharge. Thus, the Chronic Rift willhave no effect on Vorak for quite sometime.EARTH EMPIREHistory

The Earth Empire began around theyear 2400 A.D. For several hundredyears before this time, mankind wasusing its newly-developed interstellartechnology to spread throughout thegalaxy, leaving colonists nearlyeverywhere they went. The populationand political power of many of thesecolonies eventually grew to rival that ofthe Earth itself. Many of the colonieswere tired of being ruled directly byEarth and were starting to call for theirindependence.

In the year 2388 A.D., the Confer-ence of Althos was organized todevelop a new system of government,giving all the colonies a more equalshare. Representatives from all theEarth colonies attended the conferenceand devised what was known as the Im-perial System. Under the Imperial Sys-tem, the chief ruling body of Earth andthe colonies was a Senate made up ofone representative (usually the gover-nor or president) from each of the exist-ing colonies, now known as provinces.Provisions were made for new coloniesto be added. A new colony had to gothrough a seven-year colonial period.If, at the end of this time, the colony

Crewmen And CenturionsThe representatives of the Earth

Empire who appear in Countdown arethe Leander crewmen and the ImperialCenturions. (For their game statistics,see Cast of Characters.)Leander Crew

The Leander crewmen dress inknee-length white tunics. The officers'tunics are trimmed in purple, and theenlisted tunics have no trim. All rankswear a gold-colored belt and headband,and a pair of plastic sandals. The cap-tain of the ship wears a headbandsimulating an olive wreath. Rank is dis-played by a series of stripes on the beltbuckle.Imperial Centurions

Centurions wear a bronzebreastplate (giving them 1 D6 armor, notusable against energy weapons) andgrieves under a short toga. Officers'togas have purple trim; enlisted togashave no trim. Each Centurion wears ahelmet that is a kind of futuristic versionof those worn by the ancient Romans.Combat Abilities And Tactics

Centurions are highly-trained sol-diers and they behave accordingly.Leander crewmen, though not specifi-cally trained for combat, will haveabove-average fighting ability. All Earthforces in Countdown are armed withthe Mark VII Blaster, the standard-issueweapon. Centurions carry their Blas-ters, holstered, everywhere they go.Leander crewmen will not carry Blas-ters, but will be armed with them inemergencies. The Blaster is as large asa normal pistol. Following are its statis-tics:

The Mark VII Blaster has two set-tings. On the first, it fires for normaltype A damage. On the second, it actsas a stun pistol and does 40 points oftemporary damage. A small switch onthe pistol controls the setting. (An Oper-ate Familiar Device action is needed tochange settings in combat.) TheBlaster can fire 15 shots before itspower pack is drained. Power packs aresmall, rectangular plastic boxes about5 cm long.

In addition to carrying a Mark VIIBlaster, every Centurion carries threeextra power packs and one Fusion IIGrenade. The Fusion II Grenade is alow-powered, lightweight grenade thatresembles a small black plastic ball. Fu-sion Grenades are thrown using thesame range modifiers as rocks. They dotype A damage to everything withinthree meters of their target.

Weapon Type Damage DDF PtBlnk Shrt Med Long ExtrMark VII Blaster A,40(T) —1 1 5 12 25 45

46 Countdown

CHAMNT — IIIITN —III

7

IVIV

IV

THE VEGANSHistory

Vega XII, the home planet of a.zard-like race of beings, was colonizedoy the Earth Empire early in its history.The Vegans, a relatively primitive race,did not take very kindly to the intrusion,and destroyed the entire colony.Reevaluating the colonization potentialof Vega XII, the Empire decided not toreturn. From the remnants of the Earthcolony, the Vegans managed to learnthe basic secrets of space travel, andimproved their technology greatly.

Around 2500 A.D., the Draconiansnoticed the Vegans' hatred of Earthlingsand began providing them withweapons and technology. The Dracon-ians saw the Vegans' primitive societyas an excellent tool to use against theEarth. The Vegans used the Draconianweapons to attack Earth shipping, andthe majority of the race became piratesor smugglers. Even after the Dracon-ians no longer took an interest in theVegans and their planet was sur-rounded on all sides by the borders ofthe Empire, the Vegans continued theirpirate activities, now relying on cap-tured weapons and technology.Skills And Abilities

The statistics for Captain Kalik areincluded in the Cast of Characters chap-ter. For the rest of the Vegans, the fol-lowing statistics apply:

Name: TYPICAL VEGAN PIRATEAttributesSTR —VIEND —VDEX —IV

Combat Statistics:AP:Armed Combat:

Short SwordBlaster

Unarmed Combat:Brawling

Significant SkillsEnvironmental Suit OperationSecurity Procedures, StealthCarousingGamblingAny Shipboard Specialty

Appearance:The Vegans are a race of overdeveloped

lizards. On each arm, they have a hand with fourfingers and an opposable thumb, but their feetconsist of three claw-like digits. They also havea powerful tail and sharp teeth, though theseare never used in combat. Essentially, Veganslook like a cross between a human and a Tyran-nosaurus Rex.

Combat Abilities And Tactics:Vegans are powerful fighters, but

are very undisciplined. They have awide assortment of captured Earthweapons at their disposal (every Veganwill be armed with a Mark VII Blaster),but they prefer to close short range anduse their cutlasses (treat as STR-basedshort swords) and fists. The Vegans'tough hide gives them the equivalentof 1D6 armor.

Because the Vegans are cold-blooded, cut their AP in half and reducetheir STR and END scores by one level ifthey are ever in an environment whosetemperature is less than 60 degreesFahrenheit.

THE

ROLE PLAYING GAME

TIME LINE

The following time line shouldprove useful in running the adventure.Bear in mind that the given times areonly suggestions, so that the gamemas-ter may speed up or slow down thecourse of the adventure, depending onhow easy or difficult a time the playersare having. Gamemasters may alsowish to alter the timing of variousevents in order to increase their dramat-impact.—2 Days Ago

The Gravity Bubble (Chronic Rift)forms in the area in which this adven-ture will take place.—Day 0

The adventure begins when theplayers' TARDIS is trapped in theChronic Rift and must materializeaboard the TSS Leander.—Day 1 + 25 min.

The Leander picks up the false dis-tress signal from the Cybership.—Day 1 + 45 min.

The Leander comes into dockingposition and docks with the disguisedCybership. The Cyber-androids boardand begin to fight their way to thebridge.—Day 1 + 75 min.

The Cyber-androids bring the cap-tured players and NPCs to the bridge.The Cybermen arrive, and Vorak deliv-ers his speech.—Day 1 + 90 min.

The power drain effects of theChronic Rift become noticeable aboardthe Leander.— Day 1 + 2 hours

The signal from the Vegan piratesis received aboard the Leander.—Day 1 + 130 min.

The Vegans board the Leander andare ambushed by the Cybermen.— Day 1 + 160 min.

The power-drain effects of theChronic Rift should begin to affect theCybermen.—Day 1 + 200 min.

Cyberleader Vorak delivers his ul-timatum and shuts down the life sup-port. If a captured player was takenaboard the Cybership and has not beenrescued yet, it is probably too late atthis point.—Day 1 + 320 min.

The life support will become unableto sustain life if not restored by thistime.—Day 1 + 500 min.

The effects of the power-drain onthe Leander will become fatal to allaboard unless stopped by this time.

Countdown 47

M CI[1 01 ❑

INCREASINGSKILLS

114

As mentioned on p. 37 of the GameOperations Manual, the players willhave a chance to increase their Skill Rat-ings through play. Before beginning theadventure, the gamemaster should de-termine which of the two increase sys-tems he will be using in the campaign.If using the first system, the players willincrease their skills at the end of everyplay session, whether or not they havecompleted the adventure. In the secondsystem, players are only given the op-portunity for skill increase at the end ofthe session that completes an adven-ture. Both systems work equally well,so choose whichever one seems morecomfortable. The gamemaster may alsowish to give one or two bonus skill pointincreases to any players who playedtheir characters particularly well orwere unusually clever during play.

Ii'IBEYOND THERVENTURE

After the Cybermen have been de-feated, the rift sealed, and CaptainKalik's plans thwarted, the players willhave successfully completed the adven-ture. If Kalik and his men were captured,they will be taken custody by the Lean-der crew and held until they can beturned over to the proper officials. TheLeandercrew will also clean up the rem-nants of the battle with the Cybermenand perform the minor repairs neces-sary to get underway once again. Theplayers may now feel free to leave. Ifthey wish, the gamemaster may pro-vide them with an opportunity to slipaway unobserved (as The Doctor usu-ally does).

Alternately, the players may wishto stay aboard the Leander for awhileto make sure the serum is delivered ontime. The crew of the Leander will cer-tainly have no objection to this. If theplayers choose this option, thegamemaster may choose to designanother adventure that takes place enroute to Ionia. After all, there are manydifferent alien races and groups thatwould like to see the Earth mission fail.

If the players failed to complete theadventure successfully, the gamemas-ter should discuss with them wherethey went wrong and what other op-tions they might have chosen. Encour-age them to create new characters (iftheir original characters were killed)and try again. If they failed to stop theCybermen, the gamemaster can havetheir new characters adventure onIonia, their 'new' home planet. Or, theplayers can be given the chance to makeup for their failure by thwarting theforthcoming Cyber-invasion of Earth ordestroying Ionia altogether. The pos-sibilities are limitless.

BUILDINGCAMPAIGNS

If Countdown is the gamemaster'sfirst effort at running an adventure, heshould start thinking about taking on afull-blown campaign once this adven-ture is completed. Campaigns are a lotof work for the gamemaster, but areeven more fun than merely playing un-related adventures. Take it slowly atfirst, however. Run short, simple adven-tures, gradually building up to morecomplex, detailed ones.

One thing the gamemaster shouldstrive for in campaign-play is con-tinuity. As often as possible, he shouldtry to bring back characters, races, andsituations the players have encoun-tered earlier. This tends to connect theadventures in the players' minds andmake them seem a lot more realistic.At the end of every adventure, make upan index card or note page for everycharacter or alien race that might returnlater and file it for future use. Be sureto record anything special that hap-pened to any characters in question andgenerally how they felt about theplayer-characters. This prevents thegamemaster from making mistakessuch as bringing back a character withfull sight who was supposed to havebeen blinded earlier. At the end ofCountdown, for instance, thegamemaster should probably makenotes on the Cybermen, the Vegans,and the Earth Empire of the period. Allof these could very easily be incorpo-rated into further adventures. Also,make notes on any characters whomight be brought back later. For exam-ple, the players would probably be de-lighted to encounter their old friendCaptain Fleming in a later adventure.

Just as it's a good idea to take noteson any characters or races that mightreturn later, take notes also on the basichappenings of any adventure. If theplanet Hydrax is destroyed during oneadventure, the gamemaster does notwant to plan any further adventures onthat planet (unless they take place in atime BEFORE the planet was de-stroyed.) After playing the campaign forawhile, the gamemaster will begin tobuild up a basic history of the campaignuniverse through the outcomes of themany adventures the players have com-pleted. At this point, adventure ideaswill seem to suggest themselves, andit will be as if the campaign has takenon a life of its own. This is what beinga good gamemaster and running agood campaign is all about.

ROLE PLAYING GAME

48 Countdown

34057 H 09203ISBN 0-931787-95-5 FFISR700

9

The sudden appearance of a dangerous gravity bubblecauses the TRRDIS to dematerialize aboard a shfp.of the EarthEmpire on an emergency mission to deliver vital serum to aplave-ridden world. Before the adventure is over, The Doctorand tlis Companions must contend not only with the death-dealing gravity bubble, but with the ship's paranoid computer.space pirates and an attack by androids at wet,

This adventure contains the deck plans of the courier shipand extehMve notes to help the beginning gememaster run arole playing adventure scenario.

Doctor Whom 1985 BBC TV.Game design° 1985 FASA Corporation.

•