Let’s pick up Jack Cross and do something with him to test-drive the Alternity system. I’ve been enjoying re-reading the Player’s Handbook and a little of the Gamemaster Guide too, and I remember how much I loved this game. Does it stand up after 26 years?

Here’s the Hero Concept for Jack Cross again:

“I’m imagining a tough no-nonsense cop on a near-future space station or colony. He’s a detective and his job is to track down perps, bringing them to justice. He’s a cross between Alex Cross and Jack Reacher – I really seem to like the physical types. He lost his wife to a seemingly random shooting back on Earth some year or two back and shipped out to serve somewhere else. He’s a bit of a loner at the beginning, shying away from making connections. That said, he’s educated and has a specialism in criminal psychology. Yeah, what the heck – let’s call him Jack Cross.”

Let’s use the Mythic Deck. Setting Chaos Factor 5. Let’s use the GM SF Apprentice Deck for ideas too. As usual, I’ll post rules stuff as italic text between the descriptive stuff. I’m going to record the mechanism stuff because I am learning the system.

Is Jack going to a Space Station? 50/50. Yes.
Let’s call it Diligence Station. I have an idea for an opening dialogue, so I’m going to start with that.

Arriving at Diligence Station

“You can’t bring THAT on here, Mr Cross, you’ll blow a hole in the station hull if you discharge it.”
She is pointing at my .38 revolver which I just placed in the tray before I pass through the security sensor, alongside my Identcard and Nightstick.
“What do you suggest?”
“You’re a cop? I’ll notify the Police Captain you’re here but you’ll need to leave it with us until it gets cleared.”
“Name’s Detective Cross, and I’ll stash it in my safe in my quarters, if that makes you feel safer, but either way this piece is coming with me. It’s a classic and I ain’t trusting it to no security guard.”

---

This is turning into what Alternity calls an Encounter Scene – an interaction. I need to work out how strong the security guard’s WIL is and the simplest method (from the GM Guide) is to roll 2D6+2 = 10, giving the guard zero Resistance Modifier. Cross only has the Interaction Broad Skill so his attempt to Intimidate with authority is only as good as that, picking up a +d4 penalty. So, it’s 1d20+1d4 needing to roll under his skill of 8… rolled 11 to fail.

---

“Look, DETECTIVE Cross, I don’t know what the rules are back down on Liberty but up here no-one is allowed to carry a projectile piece. No matter that you’ve got a badge, mister, you have to leave the gun with me.”
I grunt, look down at the .38 and look back up into her eyes.
“If that goes AWOL, I’m gonna come for you to replace it. Capeesh?”

---

Chaos Factor +1 = 6 because Cross feels less in control now. Expected Scene: Entering Captain’s Office to report for duty. Altered.

---

I walk through he scanner and barely have time to pick up my stuff, watch the .38 get put in a lock box and taken back into the secure area when Captain Mabon approaches with a face like thunder. She’s a tall black woman with short cut hair and a bulky shape inside her smart police uniform.
“You Cross?”
I nod the affirmative and try to raise a smile, which never seems to work.
“We got a murder and you’re my new Detective so you better get started.”
She notes my small carry-on bag and a flicker of a smile traces across her face.
“I guess you can stash that bag in your quarters and then get your ass over to Denny’s. That’s a saloon on the main concourse. I want to close this case real quick.”
With that, Mabon turns and walks away briskly. I pull one of those “well, ok then” faces and head towards the crew quarters. There’s an elevator to that floor across the concourse from Security, so I head for that. No gun and already on a case, shit.

---

Expected Scene: Entering my quarters on B Deck. Expected.

---

I key my Identcard to the door sensor and the light goes green. The doors swooshes open and I step into my room. It’s a small affair, just a narrow room with a bunk and a small table with chair. There’s a comfy chair over by the porthole which looks out over the curve of the Earth below. Diligence Station is in high orbit and stands as a transport hub for traffic between Earth and Luna Station on the surface of the Moon. There’s a shower cubicle through a small sliding door to the right and there’s also a sink in there. Nice to have artificial gravity at least.
I drop my bag on the bed and check myself in the mirror – a full length job – in the shower cubicle. My crumpled old suit doesn’t look too bad in the light of the station’s glowing ceiling panels. My battle vest over the shirt bulks out my upper torso and tries to look, unconvincingly, like a waistcoat – it’s too high for that as it comes up over my breastbone. Oh, well.
With a shrug to no-one in particular I head back out, nightstick on my belt, to get to Denny’s.

---

Expected Scene: Crossing the police tape into Denny’s Saloon. Expected. Is the Captain there? Seems likely… Exceptional Yes. I’ll interpret that as her impatiently waiting plus some forensics guys on site.

---

Denny’s Saloon

Denny’s is a pretty rough-looking spacer’s saloon. There’s a bar along the left wall and a load of round tables bolted to the ground with chairs around them. As I duck under the tape, there’s a deputy standing watch and a small crowd of displaced patrons watching from nearby. I flash my badge to the deputy as I pass.
Inside the Captain is standing at the bar with an impatient look. She checks her watch and stalks over.
“You took your time, Cross.”
“Didn’t even stop for a pee,” I say.
“Whatever. Forensics are gathering evidence. Looks like a straight-forward saloon fight gone bad. Should wrap this up before dinnertime.”
She walks away, back out of the joint.
I turn to look at the two techs working the corpse. There’s an older-looking guy and a young twenty-something female. The body is a male, maybe thirties, with two gunshot wounds in his chest. No frickin’ firearms on station, eh? Feck.
“His name’s Bale.”
I look up into the face of the older male tech.
“I mean his name is Bale. Mine’s Shiro, the ME up here.”
“Good to meet you, Shiro. Looks like the GSWs got him, right?”
Shiro nods, “Yes, estimated time of death is maybe nine, nine-thirty. Abby will process the scene and get you more details.
“Abby?”
Shiro points at the other younger tech, “Abby Creed. She’s the best forensics tech this side of Liberty, Mr Cross.”
“Witnesses?”
“Just the bar tender, Denny, at present. The other witnesses all bailed when shots got fired.”
“Thanks, Shiro.”

I walk over to the bar tender who is sitting on a stool at the far end of the room.
“Name’s Detective Cross,” I say brandishing my badge.
He stares up at me and shakes his head.
“Third feckin’ De-tec-tive in a year, shit,” says Denny.
“You see the shooter?”

Seems likely to me… Yes.

“Of course I saw the feckin’ shooter. Big lad by the name of Burley. Pulled a .45 Auto and loaded ol’ Bale with lead before walking out front, proud as punch. Got it all on the cameras.”
Denny points to the desktop computer on the desk inside an office at the back of the saloon. I nod.
“Make sure Abby downloads that data, will ya?”
Denny smiles, “You ain’t met her yet, have ya? She’ll be taking all the data alright. No problem. I’m happy to help. Gotta catch that fecker Burley ‘cause no-one should be packin’ bullets on a station.”
“Thanks. I’ll come back if I need more.”
I walk away and head for the deputy.
“Where can I get a firearm, deputy? Gonna need to pack something before I track down the bastard who did this.”

---

Expected Scene: Police Station, drawing a firearm from the Quartermaster. Altered.

It’s worth noting that I have decided this setting is late Progress Level 5, meaning it’s early in Humanity’s exploration of the solar system. The background I wrote for the 2154 setting (playing the Cypher System) includes a World War III and consequent recovery, so progress was stunted.

---

I step out of Denny’s and am met by a rather attractive woman in a very smart suit with a battle vest over the top, like mine. She’s got a holster on her belt alongside the cuffs and nightstick. She smiles, flashes up another badge that reads, ‘Indira’.
“You’ll be wanting a piece, Detective Cross. I’m Detective Indira and, lucky you, I’m your new partner. Shall we go fetch Burley?”
I smile despite myself. She’s handing across my .38.
“What happened to ‘Can’t use that here ‘cause you’ll hole the hull?’”
“Standard bullshit,” she says, smiling, “I pulled it from Security for you. Pretty nice, if a little old.”
Taking the .38, I clip the holster it’s in to my belt.
“Family heirloom.”
“Right. Well, Burley’s on the roster for the next flight to Luna – he’s got a work contract there. We better go intercept him.”

---

Feels like I should stop and work up Indira as an NPC but I don’t want to interrupt the flow. The GM Guide has a whole load of advice on that, so I’ll worry about it if/when we get into a tough enough situation. For now, she’s a Combat Spec Law Enforcer, carries a 9mm, and is pretty attractive.

Expected Scene: Docking Bay 4, where the Bastion Spaceship ‘Colony Blue’ is loading. Expected.

---

Docking Bay 4

The passenger access area for Docking Bay 4 is fairly busy, with the spaceship due to depart within the hour. If Burley is going to get off station, this is his best bet even if it is a bit obvious. Does he really think he can murder a guy and then walk off?
I walk over to the crew member who is standing with a tablet checking Identcards and the ship’s boarding manifest. As I approach, he looks up and tries to smile through his obvious nervousness.
“Can I help?”
I show him my badge.
“I’m Detective Cross and this is Detective Indira. We’re looking for a suspect named Burley, Simon.”
The guy glances down at the tablet and scrolls down the manifest.

Is Burley already onboard? 50/50. Exceptional Yes.

“Yeah, Mr Burley boarded about 8 minutes ago. He’s in the passenger cabin, seat F14.”
“Thanks,” I say, “Ok if we go arrest him?”
I walk past him anyway.

---

Expected Scene: Passenger Cabin to arrest Burley. Expected.
Is Burley still packing heat? Seems Very Likely. Yes. I’m going to assume he’s Hostile.

---

Arresting Burley

I walk onto the spaceship and turn into the passenger cabin bold as brass, eyes searching for Row F – logically 6 rows back – and running along from left to right for seat 14. There’s three columns of five chairs, so Burley’s seat is the second from the window on the right.

Is Burley in his seat? Seem likely. Yes.

He’s just sitting there, cool as a cucumber. Indira moves to my left and walks past him to cover the rear. I step right, into the aisle leading to Burley, and draw my revolver slowly.

Does Burley notice the gun? 50/50. Yes.
Better make the Action Checks!
First, I need to grab stats for Burley. The GM Guide has a bunch of Supporting Cast templates, so let’s use the Ordinary Spacehand and give him the .45 pistol and a combat knife.
I can make life easier for myself my making Indira an Ordinary Law Enforcer too – nice!
Cross rolls… 20. Crit Fail means I’m Marginal with Bad Luck.
Indira rolls… 9 Ordinary Success.
Burley rolls, with a +d4 penalty for being off guard… 15 Marginal.
For clarity – Indira acts in the Ordinary Phase, then all three of us act in the Marginal Phase. Rounds are 12 seconds, Phases are about 3 seconds.

---

“Police, everyone stay down!”
Indira’s voice echoes through the cabin. Nobody screams – the TV shows always get that wrong – but they do all freeze. She’s behind Burley across in the other aisle. Now I think of it, it doesn’t seem the best position but she was heading for the rear so… anyway, she’s pointing her 9mm at him and the lady in-between is bending forward to get out of sight.

Burley pulls his .45 out of his pocket and points it at me.
I pull the trigger – not messing around – but the hammer just clicks ineffectually as I realise the chamber’s empty. The feckin’ security guard must have emptied the pistol of rounds and I forget to check. Shit!

Does Indira shoot? Seems she’s more likely to tell him to put the gun down, so Unlikely. Yes, nonetheless.
She is 12/6/3 with the Pistol. Target sitting +1, Light cover (seats) +1, Short range -1. Rolling +d4… 11 = Ordinary Success: d4+1w… 5 is 5 wounds, 2 stun.

Indira’s 9mil sounds loud in the confined cabin. The round punches through Burley’s jumpsuit and blood erupts from his chest. The big man grunts with the impact as a red stain spreads across his chest.

The rules are unclear (on my first reading anyway) on whether Action Checks are rolled every round so because I don’t much like rolling every round, I opt to maintain the current order for quickness. Using the optional Dazed rule, Burley take a +1 step penalty for losing half his Wounds points.

Indira fires again! The gun roars!

8 rolled = Ordinary… rolls 2 wounds 1 stun.

A second round blams out of her pistol and thuds into Burley’s chest, just a few centimeters left of the other one. Blood oozes out of the second wound and spreads across his overalls.

When checking to see who goes first in a Phase when it really matters – the answer is in order of Action Check rolls, highest first but because I rolled Crit Fail I go last – I also notice the sentence, “Every character involved in a fight is entitled to an action check each round”. Damn it. Oh, well.

Burley shoots the pistol at me. The discharge flashes as I stare down the barrel, my own empty gun in my hand. Time seems to slow as the bullet exits the barrel.

Burley shoots with the Broad Skill only which is 10/5/2. +1 step for Dazed, -1 Short range, +1 Light cover. Rolling +d4… 8 = Ordinary success = D4+1w… 3 Wounds, 1 Stun. I have a Battle Vest which protects for D6-2 versus High Impact (HI) damage… 6 rolled, 4 Wounds blocked, but I still take the Stun because secondary damage always affects the target.

The round smashes into my chest but the battle vest takes the impact, winding me a little.
I duck down behind the nearest seat and fish some bullets out of my pocket to begin reloading the .38. Good job I always keep 6 rounds handy in my pocket and the security guard didn’t care enough to take ‘em.
“Give it up, Burley! Drop the gun!”

Round 3 Action Checks: I rolled a 1! Amazing success! Indira is Ordinary, Burley is Marginal.
I judge you can re-load a bullet per second, so it’ll take another action to reload the revolver.

I finish reloading the revolver and decide to press for Burley to surrender.
“Come on, man, drop the cannon and put your hands-up. We got you surrounded.”

Roll to Intimidate. He’s Hostile, +2. He is surrounded, -1. Check +d4… 13 fails. He becomes Combative. Figures.

He’s still sitting there. I decide to wait and see what he does.

Burley’s reaction is insane: he turns the gun on Indira, who he can see. He shoots.

He starts +d4 for Broad Skill, -1 for Short range, +1 Light cover, +1 Dazed. Rolling +d6… 20 on the Control, 23 total. Crit Fail!

Burley’s weapon jams! There’s a faint click as the mechanism freezes up and a look of horror and then resignation appears on his face. The folks around are all still and quiet. You can hear the dull empty click as the weapon fails to shoot. Bad luck for Burley.
I stand up and shoot my .38 at the big dumb ass of a man.

Short range -1, Light cover +1, Target sitting +1, rolling +d4… 10 is an Ordinary Success. D4w = 3w, 1s.

The round slams into Burley’s body and exits through him into the seat he’s sitting in. Blood spurts from the third hole in his chest. His body rocks with the impact as he drops into unconsciousness.
“That’s three in the chest, motherfecker,” I say.
Indira drops her gun arm and pulls out her mobile. She presses to dial.
“Yeah, Detective Indira. We got Burley. Shots fired on board Colony Blue, Docking Bay 4, send medics. No rush.”

Session ends.

Loved it! Cool little scenario to test the rules.

About the only thing I don’t like is the Action Check every round and I am tempted to change it, but I think it’s best to play as-written for a while before judging a rule worthy of changing. The fresh roll every round does change the dynamic of play. Heck, it made it possible to take Burley down quickly.

Let’s give Cross an Achievement Point for the session and dig further into the rules.

Game on!