FL1: Panhandle of the Lost

DM: Alright, so tonight’s module is a solo thing, but you’ll meet up with other characters later. What are you playing?
Player: I’ve got this Grad Student/Game Designer. Oh, and he just took a level of Web Designer for the extra income score.
DM: That’ll come in handy for this one. OK, so: “You’ve been invited to a wedding far to the south by your friend, The Martian. You’ve managed to get away from your other duties for a few days and arrange transportation. Your objective is to simply arrive at the wedding intact, but you will receive extra rewards depending on how nicely you dress.”
Player: Sounds good. My character has a nice suit that he’s worn to weddings before, so I’ll bring that along. Also enough clothes to last me that are appropriate for the warm summer climate. I’ll bring along my Laptop +1, and school books to study for my next level of Grad Student.
DM: Write it down on your sheet, then. It is Friday, and you arrive at the airport thanks to your System of Navigation. You have several choices for parking: the hourly lot, the standard lot, and the economy lot.
Player: How much time do I have left?
DM: Over an hour and a half before the plane departs.
Player: Plenty of time. I’ll need to save my money for the trip. I park in Economy.

DM: Fine. You pull into the Economy lot, and it takes you a while to find a spot. You’re parked at the very edge of the blue lot.
Player: Blue lot, got it. I grab my bags, including the System of Navigation and head outside. What do I see?
DM: Cars sprawl in all directions on this early Friday morning. An SUV contained an Asian-looking businessman pulls up in one of the last remaining spaces nearby. You spot the waiting area for the shuttle bus that takes you to the airport. You head over there with your bags. And wait. And wait. And wait. It’s a half an hour before the shuttle bus arrives. You pile in with several other passengers.
Player: How’s my time doing?
DM: If there are no more stops, you’ll have plenty of time. (rolls dice) But unfortunately for you, there are 5 more stops. Afterwards, the shuttle heads towards the airport. Make a Listen check.
Player: (rolls) 15.
DM: You hear some kind of magic mouth in the shuttle say that your airline is at the second stop.
Player: What else does it say?
DM: It lists a bunch of international airlines with it.
Player: That’s odd, I don’t have an international flight.
DM: The shuttles arrives at the first stop. What do you do?
Player: Damn, that doesn’t sound right… but I’ll trust the shuttle.
DM: OK, the shuttle moves on to the second stop. You grab your bags and exit into the airport, jumping up before the other elderly passengers have a chance to react. You have about 40 minutes until the plane departs.
Player: I look around the terminal. Do I see my airline check in station?
DM: (rolls) Nope. The airport branches off in both directions, and ahead of you. There are many other people here, making movement slow and difficult. The front row of stations are all international airports, some of which you’ve never heard of.
Player: Damn! Well, I think the shuttle came in from the right, so I head that way. Double-time.
DM: You head to the right for a ways, and finally find the domestic flights. Pressing on at double-time, you eventually find your airline… way on the other end. You have a half an hour before the flight leaves, and are starting to get tired.
Player: I approach the counter, hand him my itinerary, and put my bag up to be checked.
DM: “Woah!” the counter guy says, “Your flight is leaving too soon to check your bags. You’ll have to bring it with you. The gate is way over that way, you’ll have to hurry to make it.”
Player: I grab my bags and begin to run that way.
DM: You’re stopped early on in your run to face… THE SECURITY LINE!
Player: Crap! I activate a luck point!
DM: (rolls) A security officer opens up a new line right in front of you.
Player: Excellent! I use my one rank in Tumble to remove my bags and shoes quickly and put them in the boxes, and head on through as quick as I can.
DM: A security guard stops you. He informs you that you have liquids in your bag that he’ll have to confiscate. Specifically, your toothpaste, deodorant, and shampoo. They let you keep your half bottle of mouthwash.
Player: I was hoping to avoid that rule by checking my bags.
DM: Do you want to argue with the security guard? You have about 20 minutes left.
Player: No, no time, I let him throw it away, and grab my stuff as quick as I can, and run on to the gate.
DM: That’s a fort save… which you make. OK, you arrive at the gate, and they let you on. Sweat is pouring down your forehead, and you are completely out of breath from the run.
Player: That’s fine, I head in to the airplane.
DM: A man in a ground crew reflective jacket stops you. “Hey, that bag is to big to go onto the plane. You’ll have to check it here.”
Player: “But I have a connecting flight, what do I do?”
DM: “Just go to baggage claim at the next airport to get it, then bring it on to your next flight.” Roll a Sense Motive.
Player: (sighs) 4.
DM: You’re not sure about this guy, but you’re too tired to argue. You hand over your bag and board the aircraft. The plane takes another 30 minutes to actually take off, but is uneventful.
Player: How does this impact my connecting flight?
DM: You have only 30 minutes before you have to get on the next flight. You arrive at the connecting station. What do you do?
Player: I guess I believe the gate guy, and head down to baggage claim.
DM: You search (rolls) for a while, but your baggage never arrives. You search until you’re out of time, forgoing any chance to pick up lunch. You must head back now.
Player: I go to the connecting flight’s gate, and ask there what to do about my bags, using my Diplomacy. (rolls)
DM: “I’m sorry, but there’s nothing I can do for you. When you arrive at your final stop, see if your bags made it. If not, you’ll have to file a claim.” You board the plane, and again, the flight is uneventful. You arrive at your destination. At the airport, you meet up with your friend The Martian, who was waiting for you at the airport bar.
Player: Excellent. I explain to her that I don’t think my bags made it.
DM: She sympathizes, but recommends waiting to see if there’s an off-chance that the bags do arrive on the baggage claim.
Players: Sounds good, since now we have plenty of time.
DM: Indeed. You wait, and as expected, the bags never arrive. The bored-looking baggage specialist seems to expect your arrival as you walk in.
Player: “Hi, my bags are lost. I’m pretty sure they’re in Charlotte.” I explain the situation.
DM: “Oh no,” she says, “That person told you wrong about the baggage claim. There’s a separate claim area for gate checked baggage. I’ll send out a message to the airports you’ve traveled through to keep an eye out for it.” Go ahead and erase the equipment in that bag from your character sheet. While she’s working on that, The Martian suggests that you stop somewhere to do some shopping in the meantime.
Player: Good idea. Ooh! I have a good idea. I call my mother, and get her to use my “Discounted Fedex Account” ability.
DM: I thought you lost that ability when you take a level of Web Designer.
Player: Nope, there’s no rule that says I do.
DM: OK, you reach her, and it turns out, there’s a meeting she wants to get out of. You give her the number, and the information of where you will be staying.
Player: I describe where my backup suit is, along with some other clothes.
DM: It’s done, and as you’re finishing, the baggage claim specialist gives you a printout of the lost luggage claim. Your INT is high enough to notice it contains a lot of spelling errors.
Player: That’s not a good sign. Oh well, no choice. I pick up my rental car.
DM: They have trouble finding your reservation.
Player: Aha! I use my smartphone to retrieve my reservation number.
DM: Good, with that, they’re able to find it and use your discount. The salesman then tries to use his Bluff skill to tell you about how awesome the full size car is instead of the intermediate you planned on rented. (rolls) 19- you’re pretty convinced.
Player: “$5 a day more sounds great! I’ll take it.” And I get the insurance, the way this trip is going.
DM: Deduct it from your income. Now what?
Player: I set up the System of Navigation, and punch it our next destination- I believe we have a concert to attend that night. (rolls)
DM: Not with that roll you won’t.
Player: I ask the Martian to do it.
DM: Success! She points out that you had to tell it the state you’re in, and that it won’t register until you leave the parking garage.
Player: I do so. Along the way, I keep an eye out for some stores where I can replace some clothes and liquids… oh, and some dress shoes, since those were in the bag with my suit and I don’t have a backup pair.
DM: Make, oh, a Gather Information check. The Martian assists.
Player: Natural 20!
DM: You find a shopping center right on the way with a Target, Payless Shoes, and a Sushi Restaurant. The Target has an aisle right up front for travel sized toiletries.
Player: Excellent, I shop for some replacements to keep me at least clothed for the next day or two until the package arrives. Then we eat sushi.
DM: Indeed you do, deduct from your income appropriately. You also lose some income from the package shipment, even at a discount.
Player: Yeah, yeah… once we’re done, we head onto the concert.
DM: Thanks to the System of Navigation, you find the venue easily. There’s even a lot of places nearby to shop and explore, and a great view of the beach.
Player: We play around in the area for a bit, then make sure to get to the concert early. I don’t want anything else to go wrong.
DM: (rolls) The concert is excellent! You have great seats, and they play some old favorites. Make a Will save.
Player: (rolls) Very low. I fail, I’m sure.
DM: You cannot resist buying more merchandise from the band, and the CD of the opening act.
Player: OK, fine, at least I have a concert t-shirt to wear tomorrow! We get on the road to our hotel for the night.
DM: Turns out it’s a few hours away. You might have trouble staying awake for that time.
Player: No problem. We stop to eat and get coffee along the way.
DM: Sure. However, the only thing you can find it a Waffle house. Make a Save vs. Local Color.
Player: Succeed, barely.
DM: The antics of a redneck carrying around his friend who needs a wheelchair and who demands syrup constantly aren’t enough to distract you from your meal and coffee, even if it does take some extra time.
Player: Coffee and waffles give me a bonus to my long term driving check, which is already pretty high. We go the rest of the way.
DM: You arrive safely at the hotel, and checking in is easy, though you have to park pretty far from the hotel. The two of you bring your stuff up, which is considerably easier since most of it is gone!
Player: Sure, rub it in.
DM: You crash for the night, but are awoken early by the Martian’s mother needing a ride to rehearsal.
Player: Fine, we roll out of bed and meet up with her. I check with the front desk to see if my package has arrived.
DM: It has! A large box of clothes is waiting for you. It’s full of outfits you wouldn’t have picked, but that your mom has picked out for you, including your rainbow socks.
Player: Heh, I can live with that. OK, we go to the rehearsal. Once we get there, I engage the customer help line for the airline.
DM: The battle rages on and off the entire day. At first, they don’t have any new information. Then they use the “False Hope” ability posessed by customer service lines to get your hopes up about having found it, then claim that’s not true during a later phone call. They explain that they have found about 40 bags that match your description, and it will take time to determine which one (if any) is yours.
Player: I counter with my “Experience as Tech Support” skills, and charge up my “Let Me Talk to your Supervisor.”
DM: The battle takes most the day, though you do gain some Sympathy Points by telling the story to others. Eventually, at 10 that night, they assure you that they have found the bag, and they’ll put it on the next flight to your location, then a courier will bring it to your hotel.
Player: Good, I verify the address of the hotel with them. Do they have an estimate of when it will arrive?
DM: They say before midnight.
Player: I try to stay up.
DM: Fortitude save. Nope, sorry, you’re not able to stay awake, especially with penalties from lack of sleep the night before. Then, at 1 AM, the phone rings. The front desk has your luggage.
Player: I go retrieve it immediately!
DM: Success! You have regained your luggage, and your nice suit is intact, along with what appear to be all the clothes you have packed. Some stuff is missing from there, however, as presumably it fell out while being searched. But all the important parts of your suit are accounted for.
Player: Good, I hang it up to try a little bit of dewrinkling, then go back to bed.
DM: While you are tired the next day for the wedding, you do wear your nice suit. You arrive at the wedding with the Martian, both in your nice outfits. The wedding is held at outdoor gardens, and the weather is just perfect for the day, though you are a bit warm in your suit.
Player: When stylishly appropriate, I remove my coat.
DM: Congratulations, you have beaten FL1: Panhandle of the Lost. Gain 1703 XP. And maybe next week, you can tackle the sequel FL2: Allergens of the Wedding Gods.