1. Referee Background and Notes
2. Introducing the Myth and Mystery of Sargasso to the Player Characters
3. Arrival
4. A Stranded Ship
5. A Lost Ship
6. The Ruins
7. The Obelisk
8. The Empire of the Dead and the Escape from Pavor
9. Epilogue and Continuing Adventures
Playing In Search of Sargasso & Referee Notes
Module FormatSargasso is very much a story driven module but it is possible to play the middle parts (A Stranded Ship, A Lost Ship, and The Ruins) in any order. ESince the inspiration module was sandbox in format there are several avenues that could set the Player Characters on the path to Sargasso. If they do their due dilligence and investigate the legends surrounding Sargasso the other items of evidence for the system can be used as the fruits of their investigation.
The original inspiration for In Search of Sargasso is a 30 year old fantasy genre module that was laid out in sand box format. Sargasso is very much a story driven module with the twist that parts of it can be run in sand box mode. The intro has a table of rumors and several different lines of evidence leading to the system. This serves three functions, one it lets a referee tailor the start of the module to his campaign and group, two it's and opertunity for the player's to exercise choice and investigate the legend and three if they get hooked with one piece of evidence the rest becomes the fruit of their investigations. This middle parts of the module, A Stranded Ship, A Lost Ship, and The Ruins, are designed to be run in any order. Each only tells a small piece of the story.
Of NPCs and MooksThroughout the module there are key non player characters that have been fleshed. The stats, descriptions and backgrounds for these can be found in Appendix A. The bulk of the NPCs follow the mook rule. The mook rule is the idea that 'Thug #3' doesn't need a full set of stats. Mooks are largely opposition and figuring out all the various statistics about them is often wasted time for a referee. Instead they have one statistic based on their assigned level.
Forexample a level 1 mook has a value of 35%. This means that any ability or skill check will be tested at 35%. If he enters combat and his Endurance is required then it is 35%. If a referee judges that opposition needs to be tougher then he can modify the assigned level and the single statistic (see table below). Only the most significant idems of equipment for a mook will be listed and he can be considered to carry anything the referee decides he needs for his job. So if a mook is listed as carrying tangler grenades then he also is likely to be carrying solvaway capsules too. A mook will have the skill neccessary for his job and weapons so generally skills are not listed for a mook they are simply assumed to be there.
Example:
Pirate #2 Level 2, 40%; skein suit, sonic stunner & 2 clips
Mook Level
| Statistic |
| 1 | 35 |
| 2 | 40 |
| 3 | 45 |
| 4 | 50 |
| 5 | 55 |
| 6 | 60 |
Sargasso's Location The Sargasso system can be placed anywhere. The legends and rumors surrounding it focus on it being lost and place from which ships never return. Of course, if the player characters are hearing rumors about it, then someone return!
If it is to be a mystery the question of why it hasn't become common knowledge yet should be answered. To this end we planned to make it a dim star with a nebula between it and the Frontier systems and 13 light years from the nearest known system. None of those factors make it lost or impossible to visit but rather easy to overlook.
Ships have visited the system because of miss jumps and some have returned. For one reason or another the jump route was never properly mapped and most people discount the rummors of the system as space myth.
Player Intro
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