A double treat for me this week: I actually got to play a game (rolling dice and everything!), and I got to do it with Curt (of AHPC fame) who very kindly hosted me to a remote game using Discord. I had a complete Blast!
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| Into a derelict ship...what could go wrong? |
The Scrapjacks rules are fun, immersive and narrative with a creeping sense of anxiety, and great homage to so many classic and favourite SciFi movies and shows. Behind that was Curt's clever setup with multiple cameras and most importantly his thoughtful approach to running a remote game. He made it very easy and I felt that by turn 2, I was looking past all the remote aspects and just playing like I was in the room with him. Very cool.
So Scrapjacks, what is it? a Low tech themed SciFi salvage operation in which a crew of 4 is played solo or cooperatively against the system. Achieve the mission objectives set by "The Company" (a classically heartless Megacorporation who naturally prioritises profit over employees), grab what salvage you can and try to survive each mission. BTW the company is charging you for expenses so you better get enough salvage to cover your costs at least...
One of the interesting mechanisms is the "AirCharge" - a combination of O2 supplies, power, life support - which is a pooled resource for the team, and acts as a time clock for the game. Stressful events burn it quicker and while more might be found and salvaged during the mission, its no guarantee. Its a neat critical resource mechanic you want to husband and use judiciously.
This is how my mission went:
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Primary Objectives are:
- Access platform control tower and configure the station's navigation computer to conduct a station-keeping burn.
- Access engineering compartment and bring main propulsion back online to enable the burn.
Secondary Objective: Collect any recoverables aboard the platform, of which the Company will take 20% for enabling services and registered scrap rights. Naturally.
Mission Log
Entry in Progress..... Access achieved.
The Yard-dog (weapons specialist) led the team in with Riot Gun up and ready to cover any threats. He headed directly to the sentry gun control panel and deactivated it before it could track and engage the entering team. A good start.
The rest of the team spread out through the entry compartment, investigating likely recoverables while the Rigger (think Hacker & Mechanic) climbed the tower to access the computer and navigation subsystems. Every compartment looked half-disassembled already, as though the station had been slowly eaten for parts long before we arrived. Cable bundles hung from open wall panels, old pry marks scarred the bulkheads, and stripped conduit runs disappeared into darkness overhead.
The Torch (salvager and forcible-access expert) dug around and broke open an emergency aid cabinet, obtaining an array of med supplies and decent scrap. He also liberated an intact emergency respirator still in factory wrap - worth good money planetside. A good start to the mission.
The team spreads out in search of salvage
As this was happening, Doc (our medic) moved over to investigate the strange organic-looking blooms on the far side of the computer tower. Were they some kind of mutant Earth fungus or something extra-terrestrial?
As he came around the corner he found two suited individuals, clearly dead and tangled in the floral growths. Morbidly, both corpses wore Company patches identical to ours, so we clearly were not the first crew dispatched here.
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| Quite reminiscent of this scene from The Expanse" |
Needless to say, the mission brief made no mention of missing contractors, and there is no paycheck associated with heroics. Discretion was the better part of valour: we beat a hasty retreat without any further investigation and certainly no touching. Naturally there was also no mention of the Company bio-weapons division or the clause voiding hazard pay in the event of “unregistered xenobiological contamination.”
At this point the Rigger finished his climb to the top of the control tower.
Objective 1 achieved: NavComp reset
Proceeding to Engineering Compartment. Team morale high.
That was when the mission started going south, of course.
With the NavComp reset but the main engines still offline, the station-keeping thrusters immediately went into overtime trying to execute the burn at rates they were never designed for. The idiots at the Company had not thought of that, and suddenly the whole station began to shake like a scrapyard crusher ready to tear itself apart.
Most of the team stayed on their feet — except the Rigger, still at the top of the tower, who lost his footing and fell hard against a support rail. By the time he patched himself up with a medkit, the rest of us were preparing to cycle through the airlock into Engineering.
Probably reacting to the vibrations, the station activated four autonomous maintenance rigs, which immediately attempted to use their arc welders on us. Two started climbing toward the injured Rigger while another rushed the Torch from behind, its welding tip spraying molten sparks across the deck plating.
Torch gets caught by a Maintenance!
The Yard-dog’s riot gun barked twice and the machine collapsed in a shower of glowing fragments. Torch was delighted and immediately started stripping it for servo cores, copper windings and usable parts while the rest of us shouted at him to move.
Encouraged by equal parts team spirit and violent threats, the Rigger sprinted across the swaying platform, slid down the ladderway and dashed through the engineering airlock moments before it slammed shut behind us, cutting the remaining rigs off.
We paused long enough to redistribute equipment, double-check the schematics and secure our remaining AirCharge tanks. Someone had spray-painted CLAIM JUMPERS DIE TIRED across the engineering hatch decades ago. Seemed promising.
Then we opened the hatch.
Entering Engineering Compartment. Zero Gravity in effect.
Well. This would be interesting.
The lack of gravity gave us incredible mobility, but also meant every loose object in the compartment drifted like a guided missile waiting for an excuse. Frozen coolant globules floated through the air beside loose tools, insulation fragments and chunks of old plating.
And Doc, to his irritation, absolutely hates zero-G. The man is a danger to himself under normal gravity. In freefall he becomes an industrial accident waiting to happen. He stayed in the airlock while we sorted things out.
On the other hand, what better way to reach the top of the engineering tower quickly before the robots broke through or something worse arrived?
Buzz the Rigger launched himself from the airlock in a long graceful arc that would have been impossible under gravity. It seemed to take forever, but his aim was perfect: he caught a support strut beside the engineering terminal one-handed and flashed us a cocky thumbs-up before pulling himself in.
A genuinely cinematic move that moved us to acclaim with an almost soundless golf clap in the thin atmo.
Buzz logs in at the top of the Control Tower
Within moments he was working the controls, trying to coax the dormant propulsion system back to life while avoiding drifting debris and overloaded wiring bundles.
Good teamwork all around.
Then the deep rumble of the main drive rolled through the station.
Objective 2 achieved: Platform propulsion system activated
Proceeding to Extraction point.
That was when the mission got considerably worse.
The propulsion system immediately obeyed the updated NavComp instructions and initiated the corrective burn without warning. Naturally, nobody had secured themselves.
Most of us grabbed onto something solid. Buzz, unfortunately, was still high atop the engineering tower. The sudden acceleration threw him sideways; he rolled off the upper platform and slammed into a lower gantry hard enough to stop what would otherwise have been a very long and probably fatal tumble.
If only that had been the worst part.
The station was ancient and badly cannibalised already, so it should not have surprised us when several corroded pipes ruptured under pressure. Toxic vapour blasted through the compartment in thick clouds while alarms screamed from every direction. Somewhere in the walls, old bearings shrieked awake and bulkheads groaned like dying animals.
Then the panic started.
With multiple team members burning through AirCharge and barely keeping control, extraction became the only thing that mattered. In our haste to escape we lost tools, medkits and equipment while sprinting for the shuttle docked at the rear engineering airlock.
Rookie mistake.
Still, any mission where you achieve the primary objectives and everybody walks away alive counts as a win in this business. The Company got its station back, we got paid, and nobody ended up burning up in atmosphere attached to a falling scrap-can.
Could have been worse. Usually is.
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So the team walked away with 16 Salvage. After 'The Company' extracts its mandatory share, that puts 12,000 Credits in the bank. Not great, but not a bad start for a rookie crew.
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I found the Scrapjack rules were pretty intuitive once we got going and by turn 3 I was able to run the team of 4 crew pretty confidently with Curt more of a DM/narrator and rules guide, which speaks volumes for the system. I really enjoyed the game and it's theme (which evoked elements of Alien, Firefly, and The Expanse in particular) and the many decision points it offered.
A risk/reward style of 'push your luck' game with lots of decisions to be made, and always fighting the AirCharge "time clock mechanic", which I found to be clever and always forefront of mind.
Thanks very much to Curt for the great adventure and fun, which I really appreciated. You can see from these pic just how great the view point was on "Curt-Cam" - added to the camera looking down onto his table for an overhead view, delivered a very clear appreciation of what was going on spatially.
I'm sure Curt would make remote Monopoly exciting too, but his selection of game was well on point.
Cheers mate, I hope we can play again soon!
