DAY 15 – MAY 2nd 2000
SW of LUBLINIEC, POLAND – NIGHT
PHASE 14
LED is quick to get back to ground floor, signal at BIANKA to follow him, get back upstairs and show the woman the door of the cell, where ALEX is picking the lock.
“Sprawdź w środku” says ALEX, nodding at the door.
LOCKPICKING [click to expand]
As previously noted in the Battle of Wanda Chotomska school, in Praszka, the Player’s Manual indicates that lockpicks are used to open a locked door with a TECH roll, without giving information about the time needed to perform such action.
I am therefore house-ruling this basic lock will take thirty seconds to open after a successful TECH roll, and each extra success on the roll will reduce the time by one round (6-10 seconds).
ALEX rolls with a +1 for his Locksmith specialty:
- ALEX rolls TECH [D12+D10] = 0 SUCCESSES (rolled 1 and 4)
He can desist, and maybe have LED try, or he can push it, but that would damage the picks (because of the 1 rolled which he cannot re-roll).
ALEX’s hands are trembling from the adrenaline shock of the fight, and the compounding feelings about how he let his comrade down by failing his attack entirely.
He turns to LED and whispers “I’m having troubles”
LED grabs the lockpicks “look for the key” he adds.
Meanwhile, BIANKA peeks inside the metal door “Roman?” she calls quietly in the dim light.
“BIANKA?” comes the surprised response from the cell.
“To ja, wyciągniemy cię”
A hand comes out of the slit and BIANKA grab it with hers.
LED has taken the battery-powered lamp, and taken it next to the door. He looks at BIANKA, taps the lock with a finger and mimics the act of opening it with a key, then points a finger around the room. “Poczekaj chwilę” she says before moving to check the scaffolding, while ALEX searches the desk.
WITH the EYES of the REFEREE [click to expand]
We’ve got two things going on: the lockpicking and the search for the key.
First, LED is trying to pick the lock on the door. Same deal as with ALEX, but LED has no skill level in TECH:
- LED rolls TECH [D10] = 0 SUCCESSES (rolled 4)
There’s no time to waste, so he pushes the roll:
- LED push-rolls TECH [D10] = 0 SUCCESSES (rolled 4)
No luck…
At the same time, ALEX and BIANKA are looking for the key (and it being here makes sense). I’m rolling dice left and right, so I’ll house-rule this: ALEX and BIANKA will make an INT roll every round, adding up the successes. The first who gets to 2 successes finds the key. BIANKA rolls with -1 on account of the poor light in the room:
First round of searching:
- ALEX rolls INT [D10] = 1 SUCCESS (rolled 9)
- BIANKA rolls INT [D8] = 0 SUCCESSES (rolled 2)
Second round, I’ll give LED a 50-50 chance of trying to pick again the lock, or joining the search:
- Roll [D100] = 13 -> he is committed to lockpicking
He rolls TECH, same as before:
- LED rolls TECH [D10] = 1 SUCCESS (rolled 9)
Thirty seconds to open the lock, let’s say 4 rounds including this one.
Round two of the search for the key:
- ALEX rolls INT [D10] = 0 SUCCESSES (rolled 2)
- BIANKA rolls INT [D8] = 1 SUCCESS (rolled 8)
Three rounds left to pick the lock. Round three of the search:
- ALEX rolls INT [D10] = 1 SUCCESS (rolled 6)
- BIANKA rolls INT [D8] = 0 SUCCESSES (rolled 1)
ALEX finds the key.
I know I could have just progressed the narration without this many rolls, but knowing how much time each action takes helps me track the patrol checking the fence outside. They have just passed the half point, and are now getting closer with each round.
It takes twenty seconds of searching before ALEX finds the key, gets back to the door, opens the lock and disengages the bolt.
The door opens and Captain ROMAN WALICH emerges from it, advancing cautiously in the dim light. A man in his late twenties, short-haired, thin, wearing old fatigue pants and a worn-out sweater. He has clearly suffered some deprivations, but seems to be holding up.
CAPTAIN WALICH [click to expand]
Captain WALICH has been captive for two weeks. I’m assuming he hasn’t been beaten or tortured, but starved to a degree, and because of it he has lost 1D3 = 2 hit points, and suffers a -2 penalty on all STAMINA rolls for enduring fatigue, and MOBILITY rolls for running.
He and BIANKA hug and exchange a few words before being interrupted by LED.
“We have little time, you speak English?”
“Yes, I do” says WALICH speaking good English “and thank you”
“Are you hurt? Can you move?”
“If you can get me out of here, I will follow”
ALEX hands thee captain an AK-74 and two mags taken from the deserters’ armory “weż to” he says “and do as we say”
LED puts the battery-powered lamp back in its original place. Finally, he gets the radio, memorizes the frequency it is set to, and puts it in a corner of the cell. He closes the metal door, locks the bolt, places the lock, then throws the lock key through the slit into the cell. It will take them a while to operate the radio again.
He looks around one last time. “Let’s get the f**k out of here” he whispers.
The PATROL [click to expand]
Roll for the patrol:
- Roll[D10] = 1 -> the patrol is checking something, halting its advance for 15-20 seconds
PHASE 15
The group descends the stairs back to ground floor and LED turns right leading them to the windows on the back of the building. He peeks out into the darkness: all clear.
In front of one window is a pile of debris, so LED points at the other two.
WITH the EYES of the REFEREE [click to expand]
I wasn’t sure about yet another MOBILITY roll just to get out of the building, especially with now four members of the group; but I felt a roll for keeping silent was still in order. So I split the difference: two members of the group will go out first (one through each window) with a MOBILITY roll; they will then help the other two to get out (no MOBILITY roll for them).
- LED (right window) rolls MOBILITY [D10+D6] = 1 SUCCESS (rolled 8 and 3)
- BIANKA (central window) rolls MOBILITY [D10+D8] = 1 SUCCESS (rolled 3 and 7)
They get out, then help their comrades. Like feathers landing on a mattress.
He and BIANKA exit first, one from each window, carefully and silently. LED then helps ALEX getting out, and BIANKA assists her husband.
ALEX nudges LED and points at the roof of the barracks. LED knows what his comrade is thinking: if they get back the same way they came, there’s no way to know where the roof guard is, and they could risk crossing the open area next to the main gate when he is watching that way.
But LED is prepared, and had already planned an alternative. He nods, and moves for the opposite way, signaling the others to follow him.
They move around the office building, past the SW corner, and all the way around the appendix of the building that extends SE. To their right they can see the rubbles of what used to be the radar station, destroyed as marked on BIANKA’s map.
On the ground they see the two thick cables ALEX spotted when checking the BTR: they are coming down the roof of the appendix along the eastern wall, and snaking through the grass towards the depot.
WITH the EYES of the REFEREE [click to expand]
The group is outside of the visual range of the sentinel in the South guard tower, and the office building blocks the view from the barrack’s roof. The stretch between their current position and the depot is however within visual range of the guard on the roof.
The PATROL [click to expand]
Roll for the patrol:
- Roll[D10] = 1 -> again, the patrol is checking something and won’t proceed for 15-20 seconds
