Zeitgeist: The Gears of Revolution/Taskforce

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Goal

Dismantle Kell’s guild and force him into the open, then take him down. To do this, send the 50 police officers of your task force on missions to acquire leads, take out Kell’s support, and eventually attack his strongholds.

Kell’s seat of power is the Theater of Scoundrels, in the district Parity Lake. He’s known to have three lesser strongholds: a fancy tower called Grand Suites, and a mansion dubbed Casa de Kell, both in Parity Lake; and a gated compound called Machete Hill in The Nettles.

The guild has affairs in other districts. The districts of Flint include Bosum Strand, Central, North Shore, Parity Lake, Pine Island, Stray River, The Ayres, and The Nettles.

Mechanics

Each officer can perform one mission per day, and you have four days, from Spring 9 to Spring 12. You can call in favors for additional aid, and can go on missions yourself, but each mission you join takes 4 hours of your time, and there are other matters that need attending.

For each mission, choose how many men to send and which district to send them to, then roll the officers’ skill check (use a default +10 bonus). If you accompany, use your skill modifier instead. This check determines success or failure.

The GM may call for an additional check to avoid a mishap. For instance, the Scout mission requires Perception to see how many thugs are at a location. The GM might ask for a Stealth check to keep the thugs from spotting the surveillance officers and attacking.

Each mission has a Minimum Officer entry and an Optimal Officer entry. Take a –5 penalty to the check for less than optimal, or –10 for less than minimum.

Successful missions can acquire Task Force Tokens (TFTs) and Strikes. TFTs help on later missions, and Strikes erode the guild’s cohesion. Failure wastes time and might cause casualties.

The ultimate goal is to acquire eight strikes.

Targets

  • Front. Guild-affiliated business. Low resistance.
  • Den of Thieves. Guild hang-out. Medium resistance.
  • Illicit Transaction. Major scheduled crime. Medium resistance.
  • Stronghold. One of three well-defended compounds within the city. High resistance.
  • Theater of Scoundrels. The guild’s seat of power in eastern Parity Lake. Very high resistance.

Missions

For the purpose of missions, PCs count as an extra eight officers. Task Force Tokens can be spent to add +2 to a roll, after the roll has been done.

  • Case a District. Diplomacy or Streetwise. Look for fronts, dens, and transactions in one district. Success reveals 1 or more items of interest. Minimum officers 2. Optimal 6.
  • Scout. Perception. Choose a known location and find out about it, including number of defenders. Minimum officers 1. Optimal 3.
  • Bust Up a Joint. Intimidate. Go into a Front or a Den of Thieves to look for information. Success earns 1 TFT at a front, or 2 TFTs at a den of thieves. Minimum officers is equal to number of defenders. Optimal is three times that many.
  • Sting. Intimidate. Swoop in during an Illicit Transaction. Success earns 1 Strike and 1 TFT. As above, you want three times number of defenders, but you cannot scout for a sting, so be careful.
  • Assault. Intimidate. Attack a stronghold to earn 1 Strike. Attack the Theater of Scoundrels to earn 3 Strikes. These assaults will typically be covered in more detail.

Favors

The party might use their Risur Prestige to call in favors and get some military additions, or to get some officers to work even longer through the miracles of overtime pay. For example, it’s a Level 2 favor to get 1 extra officer for a few hours (long enough to send them on another mission), Level 3 for 4 officers, Level 4 for 12 officers, and Level 5 for 50 officers. For military, it’s a Level 3 favor to get 1 soldier for a mission, Level 4 for 4 soldiers, and Level 5 for 12 soldiers.

For the purpose of this mission, soldiers just count as one half of a regular office for the missions Case a District and Scout, but count as 3 officers each in other missions. See the Zeitgeist Player’s Guide for more information on Prestige.

Chart

Task Force Tracking
Skill Spring 9 Spring 10 Spring 11 Spring 12 Final
Available
Officers 50
Additional Resources
Total Manpower
Deployed
Case a Distrct
Scout
Bust up a Joint
Sting
Assault
Result
TFTs Acquired 2
TFTs Expended
TFTs Remaining
Strikes Acquired
Casualties
Remaining Officers
Strikes Total 0