Random Encounters: Occupied Honolulu

When secret Japanese superweapons caught the American carriers unprepared at sea just after Pearl Harbor, the Pacific was defenseless. Imperial Marines landed on Oahu a few weeks later and the Rising Sun flag now flies over Hawaii. America's still in the fight, but it will take time to rebuild the fleet. The people of Honolulu aren't sure if they can endure that long.

ENCOUNTERS IN OCCUPIED HONOLULU

Roll 1d20 for players moving around the city and environs, 1d10 if they're holed up in Honolulu.

1. Roll twice and combine.
2. Plot-advancing encounter: someone or something connected to whatever mission the player-characters are trying to accomplish in occupied Honolulu.
3. Air raid! American carrier-based planes make a night attack, trying to hit the airfield and Japanese ships in the harbor. But bombs sometimes go astray.
4. Black marketeer: he's got cans of genuine Spam, cigarettes from Ecuador, Japanese rifles that fell off a truck . . . and he knows a guy who has anything else you might need. For a price. A steep price.
5. Downed pilot: his reconnaissance plane had to fly low because of cloud cover, and anti-aircraft guns brought it down. The rest of the crew were killed but he parachuted to safety. If the Japanese catch him he's doomed.
6. Historical figure: any real-history person who might have been in the Pacific during World War II. What they're doing in Honolulu is probably a very interesting story.
7. Kenpeitai investigators: 1d6 officers of the Japanese internal-security police force, looking for spies and subversives. They carry pistols and are very persistent.
8. Phantom Eagle: a mysterious figure in a red-white-and-blue costume who stalks the rooftops and back streets of Honolulu, battling crime and the Kenpeitai with fists and super-science. But who is under that mask?
9. Raid! 1d4 truckloads of Japanese soldiers (8 men per truck) armed with rifles, led by a Major and some junior officers. They're here to round everyone up and shoot anyone trying to escape.
10. Typhoon! For the next 2d10 hours, the whole island is lashed by heavy rain and 100-mph winds. The power is out and everyone including the Japanese garrison are indoors waiting for the storm to pass.
11. Gangsters: 1d6 crooks who value money above anything else. (Roll 1d6 — 1-2: Yakuza moving in, 3-5: Pre-war Honolulu syndicate, 6: Shanghai Triads.)
12. German sailors: 2d8 German U-boat crewmen, having a ball on shore leave in Paradise and in no hurry to leave.
13. Giant Robot (Dai-Tetsujin): a menacing armored giant 30 feet tall, armed with 37-millimeter autocannons on each forearm.
14. Gill-men: 1d6 scaly amphibious humanoids fighting for the Emperor. Some say they're the product of bizarre experiments, others claim the Japanese made contact with them on a remote island. Whatever they are, they're very strong and seem to view all humans as prey.
15. Japanese soldiers: 2d6 soldiers armed with rifles and bayonets, led by a junior officer wearing a sword. They are hostile to just about anyone not in an Imperial Army uniform.
16. Labor detail: 3d10 prisoners doing repair work under the eyes of 1d6 Japanese guards carrying submachine guns. The prisoners are a mix of American POWs, civilians arrested on vague charges, and petty crooks from the jails.
17. Marine commandos: 1d6 U.S. Marine commandos who have slipped ashore from a sub in a rubber dinghy to gather intelligence and make contact with the Resistance. They are armed with submachine guns and pistols.
18. Neutral sailors: civilian seamen off of an Argentine-flagged freighter, though none of them have ever set foot in Argentina. Are they spies, smugglers, or something stranger?
19. Resistance cell: a dedicated group of 2d6 people doing intelligence-gathering, sabotage, and assassination while they prepare for the day the Marines hit the beach. (Roll 1d6 — 1: Communist Party of Hawai'i, 2-4: U.S. Loyalists, 5: Mormon Underground, 6: Hawai'ian Monarchists.)
20. Tracks/aftermath: reroll to see what passed recently.

SITUATIONS IN OCCUPIED HONOLULU

Roll 1d6 for each situation, and use the table above to determine who is involved.

1. A desires B
2. A wants to capture B
3. A wants B dead
4. A wants to go somewhere
5. A wants to solve a mystery
6. A wants X

 

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