This one starts off bloody and goes on from there. My latest playthrough of Scalphunter, a game of Solo Cold War Espionage. Scalphunter is available from Itch and DriveThruRPG, free or pay what you want.
The way the dice fell on this one it quickly became clear that this was not an officially sanctioned mission. Following on from the murder of Blair during Operation Morpheus it was very in keeping that Lawson would be seeking revenge.
Mission: Plant False Evidence (Interaction) – Complexity 8, Urgency 4
Eddie Lawson had already killed the illegal agent Gorshkov following the murder of Blair Baker, but he did not feel the scales had been balanced. Gorshkov was working under orders and it occurred to Lawson that killing Gorshkov was no more a reckoning than disposing of a murder weapon would be. He knew who the most likely case-handler for Gorshkov would be – a Soviet embassy aide named Semenov. Semenov was the lackey of the more senior officer Lazarev. Lazarev had given the order, Semenov had passed it on. That would do.
Task 1
Lawson waits until Semenov parks his anonymous hire-car outside of a house in Camden Town where he’s gone to meet another of his agents. It is the work of a few minutes to install a car-bomb. It’s a remote back-street with blind walls on either side, the chance of collateral damage is minimal.
Surgical Assassination (Action) – Stress/Oversight
Roll 5
+Progress (1) +Stress (1)
Task 2
Lawson makes an anonymous phone call to the Soviet embassy from a payphone. Knowing that Semenov had done work in West Germany in the last decade he makes an angry declaration in German that “we have long memories!”
He hangs up the phone and retires to a safe distance. Through binoculars he watches as Semenov leaves his rendezvous and gets into his car. The detonation is well contained but very effective.
Plant Disinformation (Interaction)
Roll 6
+Progress (2)
Task 3
Over the next couple of days Lawson takes extra precautions to make sure he’s not being followed by anyone – though he’s particularly worried about his own department or MI5. He takes time to shake off any potential tails.
Counter-Surveillance (Tradecraft) – Exposure/Stress
Roll 4
+Progress (3)
+Exposure (1)
Task 4
Lazarev is a harder target, particularly after the diplomatic fallout from Semenov’s death. Although that is being blamed on a fictitious group of radicals, security is tight. He pays a visit after hours to his contact Connie Yvon at her home. She understands what’s driving him and agrees to help, but says to keep her out of the rest of this messy business. The next day she provides him with a full dossier on Lazarev and his most likely plans.
Predict Enemy Action (Analysis) – Stress/Exposure
Ally roll (Connie): 5
Can’t use Connie again this mission
+Progress (4)
Task 5
Connie’s information is golden. Lazarev has taken a great risk to personally confront a long-term KGB mole working inside the Ministry of Defence. Lawson watches from a distance as the two men meet in woodland miles from anywhere. Lazarev has a couple of goons with him. The mole, Jimmy Campbell, is being roughed up and Lawson wonders if the previous connection Campbell had with German radical groups has led to him being suspected of involvement with Semenov’s death. Lawson mentally shrugs. He doesn’t really care. He’s an excellent sniper and a single shot takes care of Lazarev.
Surgical Assassination (Action) – Stress/Oversight
Roll 5
+Progress (5)
+Oversight (1)
Task 6
The two goons are quicker on their feet than Lawson had expected and he finds himself running for his life through the woods. The heavies are armed but are reluctant to shoot and draw attention to their activities here which is lucky for Lawson. An extended chase ensues as he tries to lose them.
Evasion/Escape (Action) – Harm/Stress
Roll 5
+Progress (6)
+Exposure (2)
Task 7
Lawson is in luck. As he reaches the edge of the woodland a small van is parked up. As the pursuers come in sight, he smashes the window and gets in, quickly hotwiring the van and speeding off.
Quick Force Entry (Action) – Harm/Exposure
Roll 3
+Progress (7)
+Stress (2)
Downtime – Twice!
Lawson returns home after ditching the rifle (another murder weapon disposed of, he thinks) and collapses into his armchair. The better part of a bottle of vodka later he feels… if not better, then certainly no worse.
Two lots of Downtime
+Urgency (2)
-Stress (1)
-Exposure (1)
Task 8
It’s a dirty business. Lawson makes contact with a disposable and gullible anarchist he’s been cultivating. Dylan Rhodes has proven a useless source of information. He may prove a more valuable distraction. Lawson meets up with him one last time and gives Rhodes an important job, finally admitting to Rhodes that he has been acting on behalf of a radical German anarchist group and that Rhodes has been identified as a valuable asset. He gives Rhodes an important job. He’s to fly to West Berlin and wait to be contacted. Lawson provides him with money, tickets and a packet of encrypted garbage in which reference is made to the death of Lazarev and Semenov.
Rhodes eagerly thanks his new friend for this great honour.
False-Flag Recruitment (Interaction) – Exposure/Stress
Roll 6
+Progress (8)
ENDGAME– Plant False Evidence (Interaction)
It doesn’t take much. Another anonymous call, this time to SIS in West Berlin. Rhodes will be picked up and the trail muddied. Rhodes has nothing to directly identify Lawson except the description of the bland persona Lawson always adopted when meeting with him under a false name. Any suspicion from his own Department about the deaths of Semenov and Lazarev will be diverted, at least officially, onto the red-herring Brigade.
Roll 5
Partial Success
-1 to Harm
Rhodes is picked up and Lawson avoids official censure. The Soviets chase imaginary bogeymen in Germany and Lawson tries not to think about the collateral damage from that.
Personal Costs
No increase to Burnout or Blown
Advancement
+2 EP (4)
Otherworlds 