CLASSIFIED: TERMINUS - Session 1

Okay, let's jump in here. For legibility, Mythic-specific text looks like this, and system game play rolls look like this.

Scene 1:

Theme: Action Adventure
Chaos factor: 5

Set-up: L5 Agent Jamie Spectra is at a party hosted by Hölger Braun. Braun is suspected of selling cutting-edge microchip technology to hostile forces, but L5 doesn't know who. Agent Spectra is to infiltrate the party, and find out who Braun is doing business with. (8) Scene Unaltered

Cue Gun Barrel Sequence.

Just add Jamie Spectra silhouette. Not right now, though, that's a GIMP project and I'm tired.

DÜSSELDORF, GERMANY - 1985

It’s a misty April evening in Düsseldorf, when Agent Spectra rolls up in her red Lamborghini Countach to the home of tech millionaire Hölger Braun. She parks out front, among several other late-model cars, and steps out of the vehicle -- tall, dressed in a two-piece something or other with big shoulders, because it’s 1985. She makes her way to the front door, where  a stocky blond man, played by Benny “The Jet” Urquidez, is playing doorman. She cooly hands him her (stolen) invitation, which identifies her as Marta Harker, an acquaintance of Braun’s.

“Does the doorman have a reason to doubt her identity?” (50/50 vs 5: 50%) Roll 42: Yes

He challenges her with a bit of small talk. “Guten Abend, Fraulein Harker. Nice to see you again.” Good thing that Jamie is good at Disguise. Her Base Chance is 20, with a Difficulty Factor of 5:

1d100 (77) = 77

Oof. That was close. It’s only a Fair (4) success, so he needs to make a PER check at DF 4 to detect the disguise. Let’s say his rolls on the Henchmen table are 7/6 (for later reference, if we need his stats), andt that his rank is Criminal (the NPC equal of hers). That makes his PER 6; he now has a Success Chance of 24:

1d100 (24) = 24

...whoops. That was REALLY close. She has 6 Hero Points...time to spend one. That turns his Success into a Failure. He squints at her, figures she’s just stuck up, and lets her in.

*     *     *

It’s a slightly gaudy mansion, with a marble floor, a big double staircase, some Greek statues...the whole thing. There are about two dozen fancy 80s people in the foyer/hall alone; a waitress clicks by on her high heels, carrying a tray with flutes of wine. Jamie grabs one of the flutes, and watches appreciatively as the girl continues. [Hey, maybe Jamie goes both ways. I dunno, let’s just go with it.] Classical music plays on the stereo, because as much as I want to say it’s Propaganda’s A Secret Wish album, that just doesn’t feel quite right.

“Is Hölger Braun about to stand on the top of the stairs to greet his guests?” (Very Likely vs 5: 85%) Roll 71: Yes

TINK-TINK-TINK “Ladies and Gentlemen…” Here’s Braun, standing on the stairs, and he’s played by Rutger Hauer. [Vale, good man.] He’s flanked by a couple of just-this-side-of-Eurotrash women, and he’s doing the whole “Welcome to my humble abode, enjoy the party” thing that bad guys in these movies often do.
The stage is set. Now, it’s just up to Jamie to determine how she’s gonna get her intel. Does she-

• Go mack on Braun, to get him to talk?;
• Look around for someone seedy enough to be the buyer for all these microchips?; or
• Sneak off into Braun’s personal quarters to look for clues?

Hmm. Maybe she just sneaks off. That one feels right to me. Hey, what’s the security around here like?

“Is Braun's security kind of at a DF of 5? ?” (Somewhat Likely vs 5: 65%) Roll 53: Yes

That probably wasn’t the right way to do that, but...whatever. It works for now. Jamie starts to move around through rooms, eventually finding her way upstairs…

“Considering she's Gorgeous, does some horndog party guest try to mack on her before she gets upstairs?” (Very Likely vs 5: 85%) Roll 37: Yes

An oily-looking dude of indeterminate nationality but with an open shirt and a big gold chain zeroes in on her and starts his pickup lines. She needs to get rid of him! Maybe a Charisma check will convince him that she’s not interested. Her Charisma is 11, vs. a DF of 4 (he’s persistent!):

1d100 (78) = 78

...no.  I’m gonna call him Mateo, and I hereby declare that he’s going to follow Jamie around, making a pest of himself:

“I am surprised you are not here with anyone. I would think that a woman like you would be taken.” “I would love the chance to show you what I consider to be a good time.” “My name is Mateo. If you’re lucky, you’ll be screaming it later.”

Mateo presents a problem for Agent Spectra. A violent dismissal could draw attention, but she can’t have him following her around. He’s apparently too self-absorbed and persistent to be persuaded. But, wait -- isn’t she a secret agent? And don’t secret agents have gadgets with them, like probably knockout gas or pills or something?

“Don’t secret agents have gadgets with them, like probably knockout gas or pills or something?” (Has To Be vs 5: 95%) Roll 94: Yes

Okay, that…? That was distressingly close.

So she smiles coquettishly at him, and leads him toward an alcove...where, once out of sight, she sprays knockout gas in his face, dispensed from her big 80s bracelet. Mateo slumps forward, and she catches him.

“Shouldn't someone come around the corner right about now?” (Very Likely vs 5: 85%) Roll 1: Exceptional Yes

Someone does, indeed, come around the corner -- Hölger Braun and his lady friends! He catches Jamie in the act of holding Mateo up as her ‘host’ and his ‘host’ register surprise. “That’s the problem,” she says. “Guys are always falling for me.”

“Is Mateo someone important in Braun's organization?” (50/50 vs 5: 50%) Roll 96: Exceptional No

“I do not recognize this man, is he with you?” Braun asks, and then -- “Ah! Marta!” But -- is he fooled by her disguise? Let’s handle this with Classified’s rules! Braun hereby gets some stats: rolling on the Foils NPC chart (p. 106), he gets 5 for his Characteristics and 10 for his Skills. He’s Punk level, by the way -- we’re still in the Action Prologue, here, so he’s not that important in the larger scheme of things. That means his PER is...2. Her disguise has a Quality of 4. So...with an 8% chance of success, he’s not likely to see through it.

1d100 (26) = 26

Nope. Idiot.

Well, here’s Jamie’s opportunity to at least persuade him into letting her into his office. That’ll be her plan for now. “So good to see you, Hölger! It has been too long. Say, not to be demanding, but I wonder if you and I could discuss something...private?”

According to p. 59, we start with a Charisma check. The rules don’t specify a Difficulty Factor, so let’s assume it’s 5; considering that Braun is Friendly towards “Marta”, the DF is modified by +1, for a total DF of 6. Jamie’s Charisma is 11, so her base Success Chance is 66. Roll them bones!

1d100 (22) = 22

Nice! That gives her a Success Quality (or whatever) of Good (3). There’s a chart where you cross-reference that with the target’s WIL, which for this dork, is 2; chart says he falls for it!

“Of course…! Ladies, if you’ll excuse us…?” The women glare at Jamie, and Braun offers her his arm, thereafter walking her to his office.

They go into the office, where he begins to pour drinks. “The last time I saw you was...it was at Wimbledon, yes?” Small talk. “Yes, I believe it was…”she replies. While his back is turned, she walks up behind him; when he turns, she gives him a faceful of halothane gas. [I could compare their Speed scores to see if she has initiative, but there’s no WAY his Speed is even a 1, let alone a 2, the same as hers.] He has a SC of 12 to resist:

1d100 (24) = 24

Nope! He crumples like a sack of potatoes [wait, what?!], and Jamie catches him and drops him in a chair. Next, she gets to work raiding his office. She goes through his desk, looking for a ledger or something that points to his mysterious buyer. That clue is here on the scene; the question is --

“Does Jamie find the clue before Benny "The Jet" bursts into the room, looking for his boss?” (Unlikely vs 5: 35%) Roll 32: Yes

Well, that was lucky…! She takes photos of the ledger with her microfilm camera, click click click; she puts the ledger back where she found it, kicks the whiskey glasses under a side table, and rolls the hell out of here, into the hallway…

...where, only 15’ away, she sees the doorman (Benny “The Jet”) coming down the hall, right in her direction.

Yup. Sans eyebrows, even.

What happens next?

That’ll have to wait for the next session. It’s late, man.