[IW] 'Sleepout' Exercise - running it accurately, realistically

[Qoltar]

Alright my first game session with this group I'm having them play out that exercise. (page 10 IW)

In the text it says they have 5 minutes to grab equipment.
Realistically - What actually be near their cots or bunks that they could grab quickly?

In my notes for this I blended together or combined the standard gear lists for both the Intervention and Penetration services.

Here is what I got:

From Ed's notes :
2-4 grenades (gas, smoke, flash-bang, etc.) (IS)

10mm pistol and spare magazine (PS)
20 yards of manila rope with braided aramid cable inside (supports 1 ton) (PS)
30 ampoules of Eraser and a spray hypo injector (IS & PS)

Climbing gear and 50 yards of rope (IS)
Compass (PS)
Cufftape (IS)

Firebox (flint and steel, supplemental with safety matches) (PS)
Flashlight (IS)

Helmet with night vision and zoom optics, disguised as local helmet if possible (IS)
Hideout radio (IS & PS)

Leather pack and boots (PS)
Leather waterskin (with microfiltration and decontamination in inner surface) (PS)

M-23 rifle and several spare magazines (grenade launcher if mission profile allows) (IS)
Mini-binoculars with night vision setting (PS)

Nanobugs (keyed to hideout radio and palmtop screen) (PS)
Neutral-color dark cloak and cap (PS)

Palmlight (PS)
Palmtop with digital camera setting (PS)

Silver ingots, 1 oz (PS)
Steel knife or survival tool (PS)
Suitable clothing for the worldline, including gloves, lined with ballistic cloth if possible (IS)
Survival tool (IS)

TL9 first aid kit in local disguise (IS)
TL9 first aid kit in TL4 disguise (PS)

Of course IS refers to Intervention Service and PS refers to Penetration Service.

Oh yeah - what would the typical age range of the majority of the trainees?


- Ed Charlton

[Langy]

Do the trainees know about the Sleepout exercise (not necessarily when it's going to happen, but that it does happen and that they'll need to grab their gear quickly)?

If the players are unfamiliar with Infinite Worlds and the sleepout exercise in particular, I'd start the game a few days/weeks before Sleepout and roleplay a few boot camp experiences, including instructions to keep a go-bag prepared at all times.

[shadowjack]

By that point in training, the trainees would have been through many surprise alerts—in the middle of the night, in the middle of the day, all sorts of strange stuff. If they haven't learned by Sleepout that they should always have their kit ready for action at a moment's notice, they've probably been bounced from the program. I think it's safe to assume that they've got their normal pack, personal items, and boots standing by. Five minutes is just enough time to suit up, tie their boots, take a leak, and check their kit, but not enough for them to start causing trouble before they get hustled out the door.

[Qoltar]

Okay ....since that OP I have now run my version of "sleepout".

The player characters survived it - they wound up killing a Mammoth both for food and warmth. Oh yeah they also made a sailing snowcraft out of the wreck of a Centrum conveyor that they found.


Thinking of either having my players do their "Spring Break" on Johnson's Rome this Sunday - or send them on their first official mission for Infinity.

Anyone have suggestions?

What other timelines would the Academy possibly choose for the "Spring Break" test besides Johnson's Rome?


- Ed Charlton

[Xenarthral]

Sidetrack:
The "Spring Break" test is one I can't quite figure out.
The weeding out the "can't adjust to other cultural mores, treat outtimers
with contempt or condescension etc." candidates makes sense, but the
impression given is that it (and thus Infinity) favours the party animals (well,
those who don't fall into any of the weeding-out categories" and weed out
people who could actually infiltrate a society at the other end of the
spectrum.
(Never mind that the quiet non-partying guy stands out less in a
freewheeling society than the boisterous one does in a strongly regimented
one.)

I know that's not the case, but still...

[Frost]

Originally Posted by Xenarthral

Sidetrack:
The "Spring Break" test is one I can't quite figure out.
The weeding out the "can't adjust to other cultural mores, treat outtimers
with contempt or condescension etc." candidates makes sense, but the
impression given is that it (and thus Infinity) favours the party animals (well,
those who don't fall into any of the weeding-out categories" and weed out
people who could actually infiltrate a society at the other end of the
spectrum.

I had always assumed that the 'freewheeling low TL' requirement for destination worlds was at least in part a safety feature rather than a flaw with the excercise. While these societies offer plenty of ways to get into trouble very few of them will cause long term trouble for infinity by leaking the secret or creating a panic about infiltration or subversion from the default point of oridgin for infinity aliuses.

Added to this I don't realy see that the excersise does favour the party animal types. From what we are given it favours people who can function in out time societies it dosen't realy set any conditions as to how they do it. As long as you are interacting with local society keeping you head down is as valid a stratergy as any other.