A Bounty On Death

Cover page and place holder text.

Adventure Writing Worksheet

Taken from Alpha Dawn Expanded Game Rules pages 56-57.

1. Theme

Choose a Theme or basic story and the goal for the adventureThis includes not just places but animals, robots, guards in those places. What can be learned and or accomplished at each setting?

• What is the setting’s purpose? When during the adventure will the character’s arrive there? What information are the characters suppose to find there? 
• What does the setting look like? What are the most important features: where are trees, streams, doors and furniture?
• What types of creatures, characters and events will the characters meet there? 
• Are there any important plants or weather conditions, alarms or robots? These are not necessarily challenges to the players. They can be used to identify the area. 
• Are there any important features about the setting? 
• Does it limit movement in some way or hide things from sight? 
• Does it have obstacles the characters must overcome? 

3. Events

Record all information needed for the NPCs and creatures to be encountered. Determine the purpose of each NPC and creature in the adventure, making sure the purpose fits the adventure. Equip NPCs with what they need.

5. Special Rules

Record everything you need to know or share with the players for an event.

• A description of what the characters can see. 
• A description of what happens when the characters enter the setting, including NPC and creature reactions. 
• Ability scores for any NPCs or creatures that will be encountered in the area. 
• Any special rules for the event. 
• Random event probabilities. 
• Notes about what the characters can discover from the event. 
• Notes on what should happen if the characters succeed, if they fail, or take some other course of action. 

Read your script several times putting yourself in the position of a player trying to move through the adventure. Check to see if challenges are too easy or to hard, try different choices but make sure the events will challenge the PCs.

7. Maps 

• Guide maps show the area of the adventure in small scale. They don’t show all the details. 1 to 20 km per hex. 
• Combat maps are for encounters. 2 to 10 m per square.
• Player’s maps are generally the same as the referee’s map but lacking the referee’s notations about the events.

Biostat Chips Gone Bad

Colonists are run through their final medical exam and given a does of antibiotics. Inside are tiny nanites that use material ingested (dirt and stuff) to assemble a chip that attaches to the cordial stem and builds neronets through the brain.  These chips are used to monitor the populations health. 

Caught between a rock and a laser

This adventure assumes the players have been caught and forced to fight in the arena or volunteered to fight for a cause. In either case the adventure should run the same.

Cerebral Imprint

Document Controller: w00t 

Computer, let us go.

While on a scientific research mission far away from civilization a ships void capabilities are damaged and all communications with the frontier has been severed. To far to travel the crew rigs a cryo-stasis chamber, points the ship towards the nearest frontier world and instructs the ship to accelerate until all fuel is exhausted. 

Cyber Gorge

Document Controller: w00t  

Cyber Wipe

 Bill:  Imagine a planet where a biological disease wiped out humans (or aliens, or whatever) and all that remains is robots with AI

 me:  happens all the time

 Bill:  lol

 me:  Imagine a planet where a cyber disease wiped out all the robots and AI and all that remains are biologicals

 Bill:  lol

nice

it all started with a virus written by a hacker

and every attempt to remove it infected the computers and technology of the technologist trying to fix it

and thus began the cyber epidemic

as technologists tried to solve it, it absorbed the software on their computers and robots and vehicles and adapted, creating new virus strains

soon, man was reduced to bicycles and police had to use old-fashioned projectile pistols

CYOA - Child of Kurabanda

Background

Early Frontier (w00t)

This document cover the early Frontier during the Age of Colonozation and before Sathar War I. Inspiration is largley taken from TomV's  Frontier Timeline, Issue #16-p34

Fist Full of Air or Deep Pockets

This planets high gravitational pull has lead to deep pockets dotting the surface that retain breathable air produced by a fungus. On the surface of the planet, air is scarce, a character not in a vacsuit could run out in a hurry. 

Forbidden Moon

Security Chief Muldoon rubbed his eye spots and stretched his three arms and three legs while arching his torso against the computer chair in his cabin. He let the chair snap upright, grimaced, and then straightened his Medical Services Organization uniform.

The white uniform bothered him as it was a great way to stand out in the wrong environment. If he was honest with himself the truth was he missed his Royal Marine uniform. After all, where they were headed, Station Romeo Alpha 047, was on a frozen moon and white was excellent camouflage. He supposed it was the stupid short sleeves of the MSO uniform that really bothered him; as they clearly revealed the implanted holo tattoo of a lion holding the Royal Marine crest with the motto “Obviam Nox Noctis” seemingly floating on his skin. The tattoo tended to constantly draw his attention since his retirement as well the attention of everyone else around him. With the ship being a MSO rescue scout he could easily get the holo tattoo implant removed in minutes but that would be an admission that the tattoo was really a problem and beside he was too proud of his former career to do that.

The rest of the crew could suck vacuum if they didn’t like his tattoo. After all this was a civilian organization and despite the prig’s of a captain’s delusions of still being in Space Fleet, no one stood on formality anyway. Plus he hadn’t been chosen as security chief for nothing and there was no doubt he was the single most dangerous individual on board, retired marine or not. Frag headed former Space Fleet captains didn’t even count let alone the rest of the civilians. He nodded to himself deciding that maybe he should get two more holo tattoos on his other arms and spit in anyone’s eye who complained.

Muldoon rubbed his eye spots again to re-focused on his computer screen. He’d let his thoughts wander and it wasn’t any wonder since he reviewed all available data on this mission for the infinite time and still drawn a blank. The original call for medical re-supply and possible med-evac was all too brief and vague and every other sub space communication over the intervening two weeks had maddeningly gone into too little detail. So they really had little idea about what was really wrong and that worried the master chief in him. It also didn’t set well with him to be told by Mr Space Fleet that his job was only to keep the ship safe and secure. What did Captain McAllister think asking questions about a possible threat was? idle chit chat?

Muldoon sighed and keyed the play back on the original message with the sound muted, studying the expressions of the face on the screen. Like all dralasites he was able to detect lying due to physiological changes in the skin and face of the one lying but it didn’t work so well with recorded images. Still, his gut told him the director of Science Station Romeo Alpha 047 was not being completely honest or at least he was failing to tell everything that he knew. Muldoon shook himself, he wasn’t getting any answers staring at the video logs yet again.

He pushed up from his chair and decided to quietly sneak onto the bridge and take his station at the laser battery controls before Mr. Space Fleet made a point of calling general quarters just before dropping out of void. No up tight Space Fleet puke who had captained a desk for eight years prior to getting this gig was going to school him on protocol. None of the medical staff paid any attention to the fuss over military protocol and he suspected they were half amused by the pissing contest between the captain and the security officer. All in all Muldoon had the honor of the Royal Marines to uphold and everyone knew Space Fleet sucked vacuum compared to the Royal Marines of Clarion.

Muldoon was irritated. They had transited into system Xiu 55618 without event. He had taken immense pleasure at rattling the Captain when McAllister had idly suggested to the astrogator that they should sound the GQ alarm for void transit and Muldoon purposely misinterpreted that as an order to do it himself. Mr. Space Fleet had failed to notice him at his station for nearly forty minutes or even that he had brought the astrogator a cup of coffee. Captain McAllister had jumped clear out of his chair at the blare of the alarm with a distinct look of panic that caused Muldoon to suspect that the captain’s prior combat experience had required the changing of his shorts after it was over.

Now the science station had fobbed them off, claiming the need to button up as the moon passed behind its gas giant for the projected storms during that event. Yet it was clear that they had nearly two hours before they lost communication and that time could be put to good use finding out what was going on. Yet the captain being heated over his embarrassment had gone along with the station’s excuse and denied Muldoon his opportunity to ask questions. Muldoon knew both of them were being petty now but he didn’t care. The panic on the captain’s face had been too precious and beside, now the captain had a taste of what he’d been doing to the civilian crew.

For once the captain decided to forgo the GQ alarm and simply use the intercom to warn the crew of the orbital insertion maneuvers. Muldoon smirked at that while setting up his gunnery station’s tie-in to the radar and scanners using Royal Marine procedures. It wasn’t so much of a snub against Space Fleet as it was comforting to follow the procedures he could have done in his sleep after doing them for twenty years.

The captain executed the final deceleration burn putting them into orbit and zero gravity. Muldoon didn’t relax with him and the astrogator preferring to stick to marine procedure and confirm their orbital proximity was clear. The captain had left his chair to fetch a squeeze bulb of coffee when Muldoon spotted the first object. He queried his targeting computer and swore as its answer came back. The object was starting to move and it was on a collision course with the ship.

His fist smashed the GQ alarm causing the captain to squeeze coffee all over his white uniform. Muldoon ignored the captain’s swearing, focusing on what were now two mysterious objects on a collision course with the ship with plumes of escaping gas jetting out behind them. It was going to be tight to target and shoot both bogies. The laser battery responded crisply and his first shot scored resulting in a bright explosion. Muldoon had the battery training on the second bogie when the astrogator had finally shaken off his surprise and updated the tactical plot revealing yet a third bogie. Muldoon’s second shot went home resulting in a second bright explosion. He could tell he wouldn’t get the third bogie in time but still tried.

Somehow the captain had found his chair and activated the all hands frequency warning the crew of imminent impact. Muldoon rushed the final shot not waiting for a solid targeting solution preferring to shoot by eye spot rather than not get any shot at all. The laser beams missed and seconds latter the ship was rocked by an impact.

Muldoon knew instantly something was off. He had been in ships hit by weapons, asteroids and even other ships and this impact was not like any of those occurrences. He was wondering to himself what was next when the computer announced the orbit was decaying.

Later...
The bridge was crowded with the addition of the ships engineer, chief medical officer and the xeno biologist. A feed from the external cameras was on the main view screen. It showed a blob like throbbing organism that was sticking to the hull like a lump of wet clay.

“Facinating!” exclaimed Mason, the xeno biologist.

Muldoon wished he had actual eyeballs to roll since this was the twentieth time Mason had said that. Why was he the only one concerned that an organism had attached itself to the ship and then angled its gas bladder to push the ship into the atmosphere? He could think of a number of things to call it like alarming, concerning or downright scary but not fascinating. Any minute now Mason would be asking, yet again, if it really tried to use its gas jet to force the ship toward the moon.

Lucky for them Muldoon had shot down two out of three. With the way the captain had struggled to regain control and return to a stable orbit it was positively frightening to think what would have happened if more than one of those things has struck the ship.

Ghost Station

In search of the sathar beyond known space

To find a way to defeat the Sathar's growing presence within Federation space, the UPF is seeking experienced crews to survey and map star systems adjacent to the Frontier in hopes of finding bases, operations, hits of Sathar presence or the Sathar home worlds themselves.

Under the guise of the Planetary Survey Administration, UPF Special Forces has captured an abandoned Satharian ship which has given the location to several stars systems beyond the borders of known Frontier space. The special forces unit was only able to recover three star system before the ship's databases became corrupted beyond repair by a self-destructing virus.

Could it be a trap...?

System 1
aka Alpha Star
CYbernetic saTHAR
http://starfrontiers.us/node/1876
PCs arrive and find "dead" ship orbiting one of the planets. If the ship is revived in anyway the Cythar come to life.


System 2
aka Delta Star
In this system there is an abandoned Satharian lab with left over databases (uncorrupted) and experiements. There is no trace as to where the experiments have been moved or are they missing?


System 3
aka Gamma Star
Old military garrison (not sathar) is under a Satharian expeditionary force with all of the bells and whistles.

Mooks without Number

Location: Port Loren, Gran Quivera, Prengular

Net Relay Notice #9947-43219
Hiring: Skilled Spacers and Cargo Handlers
Enquire at Dinza's Antiques.

The adventure begins: Shipmaster Kleevor Gin is using the front business of another Capellan Free Merchant to interview prospective crew. His former crew, two humma and a human were involved in a bar fight where weapons were drawn. They were arrested then charged with a variety of crimes including attempted murder. Kleevor paid for a lawyer and has done his best to support them but the legal proceedings will drag out for months. His discretionary cash is running short and he is forced to take a job now. While interviewing prospective crew one question he will ask is if they are prone to getting into fights in bars among the usual that you'd expect in an interview for these sorts of positions.

The new crew and Shipmaster Kleevor will load several crates (player characters with Military PSA will suspect they look like weapons crates just by size and shape though there is no outward sign) aboard Kleevor's shuttle. If asked, Kleevor will simply say its supplies for farmers on Lossend. Once aboard the freighter in orbit, Kleevor will detail the PCs to take care of some routine maitenance that has been left undone. They'll have to stow the freight, complete maintenance, and orient themselves to the ship even as the ship accelerates toward jump speed.

The crew will be kept busy with work and cleaning while the ship makes the trip to Timeon. However once a 20 hour day Kleevor will have a dinner for the whole crew to sit down together. It's and opportunity to talk and socialize. Once the ship is underway He will reveal that their job is to deliver some weapons to a farming settlement in exchange for twice the value in ag goods as well as the promise to purchase more at cost. He's not sure why the settlement needs the weapons but his contacts on Gran Quivera suggested that reports of pirates extorting from small outposts may be behind it. Therefore the crew will take the shuttle down, rent a cargo copter and deliver the weapons. They will have a credit draft to purchase enough ag goods to fill the ship's hold. Kleevor will watch the shuttle. Everyone is to be armed with at least a side arm; rifles or heavier weapons should be ready to hand.

New Jack Frontier

Introduction

Crew of the heavy cruiser, Prenglar's Pride are in the thick of it during an engagement of the Second Sathar War. The ship is heavily damage cut off from the rest of the fleet, surrounded by a sathar carrier and several destroyers. Their fate is sealed and they will not survive. The commander gives the order to ram the sathar carrier, its a gamble but its also the last measure of duty they can perform for the UPF, taking out a significant sathar asset with their own death. Their suicidal move catches the sathar flat footed and as the cruiser is about to hit the carrier a the destroyers fire a massive salvo in an attempt to stop the UPF ship. Just as the engineer overloads his remaining atomic drives and the ship is rocked by the first explosions from the sathar's weapons, the entire crew vanishes. The Prenglar's Pride takes out the sathar carrier and her crew are lauded for their sacrifice because the battle ends as a UPF win.

The vanished crew experience a rush through an energy vortex and meterialize in a massive ships hold. There is a UPF flag hanging on the bulkhead and a noise like a generator winding down. Once the noise subsides a massive air lock style door opens and four humans enter; one is a UPF admiral and the rest appear to be his aides. The UPF uniforms of the newcomers are recognizable for the insignias but the cut, style and color is different. The admiral appologizes for the method of bringing them aboard and tells them that they will all be fully briefed after they have been processed.

Processing starts with collection of all side arms and weapons, a full medical scan and treatment of injuries (it becomes obvious that the medical treatment is far in advanced of UPF tech used during the SW2). The briefings are separate for officers and enlisted in two different auditoriums.

They learn that the ship they are on is a Space fleet vessel from 200 years in the future and that a mutated version of the Blue Plague has very nearly wiped out the population of the Frontier and that Frontier civilization has reached the point of unsustainability. Fortunately the new Frontier has tech that allows for time travel and the UPF dispatched ships to travel back in time and bring forward fresh population stock for the salvation of mankind. [The use of the word mankind is a fruedian slip but we'll get into that more latter]. The time travellers cannot risk their present by taking just anyone so they use their historic records of history and travel to points where large casualties occur and teleport them out at the moment of death. Thus their past is still preserved and they obtain fresh population stock. They then tell the "jacked" UPF crew that their suicidal sacrifice took out the sathar carrier and turned the tide of the battle, winning it through their sacrifice. The UPF admiral informs them that they were all posthumously awarded medals and that he is proud to finally be able to present those awards to them.

He understands that they never expected this but the need of the UPF is so great in the future he hopes that they will agree to come forward and help save the new Frontier. Anyone who does not can be transported back to the exact moment they left their ship.

A few individuals dont want to go to the future and ask to be transported back (one of which is a human). The rest sign on to the proposed new life in the future, are assinged quarters, issued new jumpsuits and briefed on the differences in basic machinery and safety equipment.

Meanwhile a vrusk disappears mysteriously, they discover they dont have full run of the ship, and one of the enlisted crew, a yazirian, asserts that the UPF admiral is none other than Admiral Morgaine. He's cerain of it because his clan has the distinciton of having the only statue on Hentz that memorializes a human in their garden of rememberance. That statue is of Admiral Morgaine and Admiral Harsvoort, two of the heros of the First Sathar War. Any yazirian of his clan would recognize that human face having grown up on the stories of the friendship forged between the human and yazirian admirals.

Plague World Beta: Archangel

This outline is intended to familiarize the Referee and Players with this previously unknown part of frontier space.  A basic scenario is outlined herein to get things started, but once started there are several avenues that can be considered for future play and it is up to the Referee to develop them further to fit into their universe.  Since the timeline presented in Zeb's as a whole is discombobulated (imo) and patchy (to me at least - either that or I'm just dense), I only follow it loosely.  I prefer to come up with my own ideas about the plague worlds and therefore, have come up with this possible alternative to what is mentioned in Zeb's timeline.  It has been my intention to do write-ups like this for all the plague systems to use as an alternative to the spotty Zeb's timeline.

This is not the final draft and may get some fairly drastic changes before it is completed.

Royal Marines Youth Academy

Rumors of Volturnus

The following document will cover setting details, NPCs, and related information to assist the game referee in running a campaign centered on a group of adventurer scientists working for a major museum/research institute in the Frontier. Inspiration for this campaign is taken from action packed thrillers like Indiana Jones, Tomb Raider, and The Mummy.

Background
Triad Institute of Technology (TIT) was established by decree of the Council of Worlds to be a research center independent of mega corp control. Its idyllic campus includes a beautiful mall and gardens spread over several city blocks in New Hope, the capitol of Triad. Triadians are immensely proud that Triad won out over Gran Quivera for the location of the institute.

The mandate that TIT is to be free of direct mega corp influence is aimed at the issue of control. Mega corporations direct research according to what is considered profitable. The institute, officially at least, directs research based on academic considerations. Being federally funded, TIT often must invest resources toward research for the benefit of Star Law, Space Fleet and Land Fleet. The upside is that the institute can occasionally call on these and other federal organizations for assistance in the pursuit of its aims.

Note: TIT gaining help from other federal organizations is not the same as a Star Law marshal commandeering a space ship in the pursuit of a criminal. The cross agency assistance usually requires written requests, bureaucratic review and time consuming coordination with said agency.

The fact that the institute is independent of the mega corps does not mean that the mega corps are not involved. Traid is the headquarters for Cassidine Development Corporation (CDC) and Nesmith Enterprises of Triad (NET), both with heavy investments in the high tech field. Surprisingly many mega corps have established grants and endowments, for the university, recognizing that highly trained researchers and scientist graduating yearly is a benefit to their research programs. CDC, NET, and even Streel have become significant patrons of the institute. Pan Galactic Corporation, which supported the bid for Gran Quivera to host the institute has not. In fact PGC's Artifact Research and Development Team has become a significant competitor of the Acquisition Service.

The Acquisition Service works directly for the museum portion of the Institute. They acquire and authenticate artifacts as well as negotiate for collections in private hands to be loaned to the institutes's museum. The service is made up of scientist, technicians, adventurers and what one might even call mercenaries. Their duties range from the mundane; investigating counterfeiters, to the exciting; discovering alien artifacts on strange new worlds.

The service has at its disposal the research capabilities of the institute as well as a modest inventory of equipment. For most assignments it contracts for interstellar transport on commercial vessels. If a mission is believed to be of significant importance a chartered vessel maybe provided. Rather than transport vehicles from Triad the service relies on locally rented vehicles unless travelling beyond the known Frontier.

Members of the Acquisition Service have the benefit of free training at the institute if its a skill that the referee rules is taught there. For example laser weapons marksmanship would not be while computer sciences would. In addition the service provides its teams with a credit line to cover mission expenses. Team members who are qualified (ie they have weapons skills) have a federally issued gun permit allowing them to possess and transport most pistols and rifles on interstellar transports. They still need to follow local laws and check proscribed weapons, like rifles on planets like Clarion. While it would be frowned upon for the team to walk around armed for razor tooths in settled areas it is recognized that security precautions need to be taken in wilderness and unexplored areas.

Salvage Operations

Document Controller: w00t - Please do not edit this document, use the forums for discussion.

Solo Adventure - Pirate Attack

I wrote a solo adventure tonight, it's a wip but please let me know what you think.

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Weapons Locker

It takes 4 turns to get into the locker, check weapon clips and fill the backpack.

• Doze grenade (x5)
• Smoke grenade (x5)
• Tangler grenade (x5)
• Backpack
• Gas Mask
• Space suit
• Laser pistol (x2) w/ 5 clips
• Gyrojet rifle w/ 5 clips
• Vibroknife (x2)
• Needler pistol (x2) w/ sleep ammo
• Electrostunner w/ 2 clips
• Skiensuit

Boarding Party

• There are 1d5+2 human pirates in the access tube.
• They will enter the airlock on deck 10

Pirate Ship

• There are 3 pirates on the ship in the locations marked on the ship.

Your Character

Roll up an Alpha Dawn Basic character or use the one provided below.

Self-Destruct

Solo Adventures

Discussion here. 

The Intruder

Pawnd from Stargate Atlantis

The Probe

Background

The probe is ancient. The surface has been protected from scarring by the asteroid.

The Sentient AI

The Toy Operation

Smith Jansen has been working in the toy robotic factory for many years. Year after year he has been passed up for promotion. He wants whats coming to him. 

Trouble at Thanos Research Station

A Star Frontiers Alpha Dawn adventure. 

REFEREE'S BACKGROUND MATERIAL

PLAYER'S BACKGROUND REPORT

• Handouts, briefing reports, pregens, new gear, etc.

Two pups to go, please

Westride

A old west settlement on a farm rich planet is the backdrop for this adventure. It's intended to help flesh out some ideas in the Colonization Workshop project. 

wip

opinions please and make suggestions of corrections and excuse my english errors 

Zoological Breakout!

THE DWARTZERT: The dwartzert is native to Thesesus. It looks like a cross between a lion and a serpent. Periodically it goes through a molting period where it sheds skin from its tail region. 

Earlier in the day, an older dwartzert fought with a young cub, the zoo handler tried to move the cub to a new pen using a sonic prod to keep the elder at bay. This enraged the beast; it gave an ear-splitting call causing the pride to stampede. The handler was taken to the hospital to receive care of a broken arm.