Wretched Space/Matrix Spiel Solo Session 2

     Hope everyone is doing well.  Work and real life have derailed any face-to-face gaming for the time being, however, when I get a little quiet time, I continue to have fun with the tools that The Lizard Man Diaries blog has made available. I'm still in a Sci Fi mood after running my recent 5E Campaign, and I'd like to run a Wretched Space face to face game at some point., So, by using the Matrix Spiel Solo rules, with Wretched Space as a framework, I can play around in my own little OSR Sci Fi Sandbox and do some fun campaign development at the same time. 

     Last session the outlaw Absolom Wroth, in his hubris, had over-estimated his gang's abilities (The Relentless Bastards) and had seen his entire gang wiped out by the remnants of a group of Red Reign Mercenaries.  Absolom, fled into the ruins to lick his wounds. I've decided to pick up with the story here, I'm curious to see what happens to Absolom Wroth...will he survive to become a more significant character, or will he meet his end on the ruined world of Charund? 

                                           Absolom Wroth

Absolom's Problem List

His gang was wiped out by Red Reign Mercenaries

Absolom is alone in the ruins of a dangerous city on a ruined planet.

He must get to his ship before the Red Reign find it. 

Turn 1:

Can Absolom get back to his gang's ship before the Red Reign find it or him? 

Results: Failure, Catastrophic negative outcome to attempter.

Absolom learns the hard way that the mercenaries are not to be trifled with!  They locate his gang's ship and blow the entire craft to pieces, before departing Charund.  

 

                  Don't mess around with The Order of the Red Reign

 

Things just got way worse for our Outlaw!  He is potentially stranded on Charund, with no allies or even shelter. He has some weapons and gear but not much...

Turn 2:

Absolom needs to find shelter, resources, night will be falling soon, and the ruins are even more dangerous after dark.  Can Absolom avoid danger and find some means to improve his situation?

Result: Success, Desired outcome is just barely, and temporarily, achieved.

Absolom manages to avoid the dangers of the ruins (for now) and he finds something to help his situation.  Referring to the Matrix Solo rules, this will generate a new entity and at least one new problem...  

Lizard Man Diaries recommends using the https://scryfall.com/random generator as inspiration. Using this method for random inspiration I got the result of Isolated Chapel.  Playing around with the card text as inspiration and an AI art generator I get this visual result! 

 (New Entity Created- Isolated Chapel) 

The blue glow in the image makes me wonder what is within the ruined chapel? 

What is the blue glow?  I'll generate another random card and get... Turbulent Dreams...  "Laquatus dreams of seizing control." So within the "Chapel" is a dormant A.I..  It calls itself Laquatus X. If it can be "released" it wants to seize control.. I imagine dotted across Charund and in orbit above the planet are a variety of military defense installations, satellites, in various states of disrepair.. Laquatus X if freed of it's current state wants to seize any available assets and take over!   Absolom's presence within the building has triggered something that enables Laquatus to start to overcome the mechanisms and programs keeping it dormant!!!  Can the Chapel regain control and keep the rogue AI in its slumber state?  

Turn 3

Absolom has entered the ruined chapel, drawn to the eerie blue glow emanating from the structure.  Machinery gives off a low hum, he fumbles around with the consoles hoping to find some means to get a way off of Charund.  Inadvertently he triggers something.  Machinery starts powering up, something is coming online!!

Isolated Chapel Problem List

• Dangerous Dormant AI is starting to "wake up"
  
• AI "dreams" of taking over
• Defense mechanism keeping AI dormant are old and unstable

Action: Can the Isolated Chapel's apparatus stop the countdown and keep the AI in check? 

Result: Failure, An embarrassing minor set back. 

Oh no! Laquatus X is starting to wake up! But there is still time!! A countdown begins, Laquatus X is starting to awaken!  The A.I. isn't fully active yet, but continued failure in reigning in the A.I. could lead to disaster!

 

Turn 4

Absolom Problem List

• Alone and trapped on a ruined world
• Can he (or will he) stop the dangerous AI from coming online?
  

 Isolated Chapel Problem List

• Laquatus X is about to wake up and wants to seize control
• Absolom is within the chapel, messing with devices that must not be disturbed

Absolom's Action:  Can he figure out the devices and broadcast a signal for help or will he fully awaken Laquatus X and all that entails???

 

Result: Failure, An immediately dangerous negative outcome. 

 

Laquatus X is now online!! Absolom has no idea what he has just unleashed!  

Isolated Chapel Action: One last "Hail Mary" to shut down Laquatus, can the Chapel devices safety protocols muster up enough spark to force Laquatus X back into a dormant state or are the safety protocols too old and broken to be effective??!!  

Result: Failure, Catastrophic negative outcome to attempter. 

 

LAQUATUS X IS ONLINE!!!! ....WE ARE LAQUATUS X..............

 

Absolom's bumbling actions not only awakened the rogue A.I. but enabled it to establish a satellite uplink!

Long dormant military satellites activate in orbit around Charund!

Deep installations begin to come online!

Missile silos come online!

Absolom stands around slack jawed not sure what the hell is going on or what he has done! 

Summary:  Oh boy!  I didn't see that one coming.  Charund just became an even more dangerous place!  I wonder how much actual control Laquatus X will be able to seize?  How much infrastructure is left in place for the A.I. to utilize and control?  Could the dangerous A.I. seize control of all of Charund? Could it become a danger beyond the planet's orbit?  Interesting questions.. and what will happen to Absolom now?  Last session this all was ultimately triggered by Lord Eldrake's quest for the Scrolls of Seraphasma, now as a result, a long dormant dangerous A.I. has activated and is trying to seize control of any remaining military/industrial assets still functioning within the ruins of Charund.

Matrix Spiel Solo meets Wretched Space

     I'm a big fan of The Lizard Man Diaries blog.  He recently posted about his Matrix Spiel system that allows for solo play.  I had some downtime today and thought I would take the rules for a spin to see what would happen.  Most of the art I created using various A.I. art generators (except Order of Red Reign skull picture).  The NPC's and factions were in my notes for a "maybe one day" Campaign using the Wretched Space rules.  I've had Wretched Space for a short while, but haven't talked about it yet. "Wretched Space is an old-school role-playing game designed to play anti-hero characters in a cinematic setting. In Wretched Space, the genre is space opera. But unlike most other space operas, this one isn’t about heroic characters whose actions have significant consequences for the future of civilization. Here you are meant to play on a smaller scale, and the higher purpose your character serves is his own self-interest. That doesn't imply you're playing a villain. You can still traverse the galaxy, enjoying extraordinary adventures and possibly even helping others. The characters will most likely commit crimes and exhibit contempt for other people's rights and well being, but perhaps they will wind up saving the day after all."

     Using Wretched Space as a source of inspiration for a setting/backdrop, I used the Matrix Spiel Solo rules to see what would develop. References to Actions, Problem Lists, Results, and Turns are all from the Matrix Spiel Solo rules. Please refer to that excellent product for further information.  I decided to accept whatever outcomes resulted and will make these happenings a part of the backstory of my eventual Wretched Space Campaign. So, let's get down to it shall we?

The Setting: Charund- Once a technologically advanced world, now a vast ruined wasteland, with lost tech, horrific dangers and death lurking within its forgotten vaults and ruins.

Initial Problem List:

·         Various warring factions vie for control of the ruined world, wanting to loot the lost tech for themselves.

·         Dangerous mutants, rogue robots and other monstrous beasts lurk within the ruins preying on explorers, scavengers and each other, making the ruins quite deadly to scavengers and explorers.

 Turn 1: 

Lord Eldrake

Action:  Lord Eldrake desires the Scrolls of Seraphasma, he has gained a tip that the scrolls may be located within a ruined data archive located deep within the ruined city of Malac on the planet Charund.  He hires a band of adventurers to investigate the ruined archives and recover the scrolls or anything about them that they can find. Result: Failure, A potentially dangerous negative outcome. New Problem: The adventurers have betrayed Lord Eldrake, they were captured by a gang of outlaws (The Relentless Bastards) and have traded the location of the lost data archives to the gang leader in order to spare their lives. The gang leader murdered the adventurers after he had gotten all he could out of them. The outlaws now know the location of the ruined data archives and the adventurers Lord Eldrake hired are dead (bodies tossed out of an airlock).

The Scrolls of Seraphasma- What secrets do they hold? and Why does Lord Eldrake want them so badly?

Turn 2:

Action: Thanks to his agents and informants, Lord Eldrake knows the adventurers he hired are likely dead and that others know of the location of the data archives. (The Relentless Bastards, have big mouths and like to brag).  Lord Eldrake must act quickly to get another group onsite before others take the Scrolls for themselves (if the scrolls are even there...).  Result: Success, Desired outcome is just barely, and temporarily, achieved. - By dipping heavily into his contacts and assets, Lord Eldrake is able to hire skilled mercenaries, members of the infamous Order of the Red Reign, that get to the site before The Relentless Bastards do, however, the mercenaries get there just barely before the outlaws do and are still exploring within the ruined archives, when the gang arrives.

                                     Order of the Red Reign

Absolom Wroth

New Entity Created: Absolom Wroth leader of The Relentless Bastards. Wroth sees these mercenaries as enemies within "his" territory, and he wants whatever loot is within the data archives for himself.

Absolom Wroth's Problem List

·         Absolom only recently seized control of The Relentless Bastards. Absolom challenged the previous leader, to a duel and killed him in combat.  Absolom needs a big score to prove he has what it takes to lead this band.

·         Absolom , is a bit "off his rocker" to say the least, he is obsessed with blades, and enjoys inflicting pain. He even talks to his favorite knife, this puts his followers ill at ease, his bizarre behavior could lead to him being overthrown.

Turn 3:

Action: The Red Reign Mercenaries search the Data Archives, looking for the Scrolls of Seraphasma, or information about them...

                                       Red Reign Mercenary

Result: Failure, An immediately dangerous negative outcome.  The Red Reign Mercenaries, unintentionally activate/awaken the formerly dormant defense A.I. of the facility. The Data Archives, were for military applications and thus had far more advanced and dangerous defense measures than anticipated.  All hell breaks loose!  Advanced wardroids attack the mercenaries hard, if not for the skills of the mercs and advanced age and poor condition of the machines, the mercenaries would have been totally annihilated.  

                                      WarDroid

The surviving mercenaries retreat from the ruined facility. The scrolls were never within this archive and whatever data regarding their location that may have been there is now destroyed in the aftermath of the fight with the machines.

Red Reign Mercenary Problem List:

·         Badly injured by wardroids, low on ammo and numbers

·         Still have to get past The Relentless Bastards and back to their ship

Action: The Relentless Bastards attack the remnants of the Red Reign Mercenaries

Result: Success, Desired outcome is confidently achieved.- The Relentless Bastards annihilate the remnants of the Red Reign Mercenaries. New Entity: prior to being destroyed, the Red Reign Mercenary leader broadcast their status and the face of Absolom Wroth to his ship.  

Absolom Wroth

The Relentless Bastards seize what is left of the mercenaries gear, including the location of their craft. This action proves, at least for now, Absolom is a worthy leader of The Relentless Bastards.

Problem: Hated by The Red Reign Mercenary Order

Lord Eldrake

Problem: Lost his only lead on the possible location of the Scrolls of Seraphasma

Spent a ton of money on the Red Reign Mercenaries only for them to have failed, and the Order may hold Lord Eldrake responsible for their losses.

Turn 4:

Absolom leads The Relentless Bastards to seize the Red Reign's ship.

Result: Failure, Catastrophic negative outcome to attempter.  The Red Reign skeleton crew left on the Mercenary's ship and alerted by the now deceased main group, sets a trap for Absolom and his gang, Absolom's gang is obliterated and only Absolom escapes, vowing revenge!

Turn 5: 

Absolom flees and goes into hiding, licking his wounds to fight another day. 

The Red Reign sends Lord Eldrake a hefty bill

Lord Eldrake is no closer to finding the Scrolls of Seraphasma and poorer for his efforts.

For sake of time, I will wrap up here and proceed to a summary of my thoughts and findings. 

     Summary:   I had a lot of fun doing this, being able to use some of the campaign draft notes I had for a potential Wretched Space Campaign, allowed me to "play" in my campaign in a way that I otherwise wouldn't have been able to do.  Letting the Matrix Spiel solo rules decide on the outcomes of key actions made things surprising and interesting for me as the GM.  The above happenings give me a more solid background of events that occurred prior to the actual start of the game.  Giving it a stronger sense of history than if I had just arbitrarily decided that a particular thing happened.

Thanks for reading my post.  

-Good Gaming  B.B.