 January 19, 2017 - 2:21pm | Most people have heard of the urban myth concerning the USS Eldridge and the Philadelphia Experiment. I just happen to consult Wikipedia on it and spotted that it was a Cannon Class Destroyer Escort which got me thinking immediately about SF. There is a lot there to mine for the game setting. A KHs destroyer called the Cannon Class would be expected to pack more than the normal number of cannon weapons unless Cannon class is named after a being named Cannon in which case it could be a destroyer escort with lots of smaller weapons. This disconnect with the name and lack of heavy weapons could be an interesting feature. Then there is the Philadelphia Experiment. Experiments in cloaking? Phasing the Eldritch (also nicknamed the Wizard by crew) in and out of reality- possibly into Void space? The Prengular Experiment was an adaption of stasis field technology that was hoped it would prove to be an effective cloaking field for Space Fleet vessels. The experiment took place near the Space Fortress orbiting Morgaine's World. The ship shimmered and vanished but when it reappeared some life boats and escape pods were jettisoned before the Eldritch rephrased out of existence never to be seen again... When the lifeboats and escape pods were recovered crew were found fused with chairs and bulkheads. Perhaps even limbs sticking through into space. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
January 19, 2017 - 2:53pm | Adventure hook: Capellan Free Merchant located a decades old escape pod from the Eldritch complete with mummified remains fused with the control console. This escape pod was overlooked by SAR operations after the Prengular Experiment because the crewman's foot phased with the emergency beacon knocking it out thus the pod drifted for decades. The CFM being the merchant he is wants to sell it for profit. Knowing the stories of crew beings fused with bulkheads he has not opened it and is offering it for sale unopened. In side is the mummified remains of the ships engineer. And on his body is a file computer that was functioning as a data telemetry backup for the engineer. Enter the PCs and the file computer, once it's repaired and powered up could provide clues as to where to find the Eldritch all these years later. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
January 19, 2017 - 4:21pm | This adventure would be an investigation into the myth legend and cover up if the Prengular Experiment. When the ship is found it becomes a dungeon crawl through the ship. Weirdness and creepiness should be the order of the day. Maybe weird extra demensional aliens trapped on the Eldritch as a result of the experiment and trying to escape, possibly by a means that will blow up the Eldritch. Note there was a Star Trek TNG episode based on the Philadelphia Experiment season 7 "The Pegasus" the crux of the plot is a conflict between Riker and a Star Fleet admiral who desires to perpetuate the cover up. Edit: the only angle I can see for a conflict with a space fleet admiral would be if he was a sathar agent looking to perpetuate the "lost" status of the Eldritch in order to turn it over to the worms. There have been ghostly sightings of the Eldritch over the years. Plotting these sightings and their locations is the key to boarding the ship when it's briefly in normal space time. The brief phasing with the SF universe is cyclical on a timer and the ships' position is drifting either in a straight line or one affected my the gravity wells within the Prengular system. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 January 19, 2017 - 4:33pm | Ah, I love ripping off old movies. Joe Cabadas |
January 19, 2017 - 4:47pm | Assuming gravity reaches into the demensional space where the Eldritch is. This is why early theories on the cyclical pattern didn't predict the proper location for the reappearances of the Eldritch. Once gravity is factored and new RPG hand waving math is applied the next appearance is easily predicted and the PCs can board the Eldritch. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
January 19, 2017 - 4:50pm | Ah, I love ripping off old movies.
Thanks for calling it an old movie makes me feel old. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
January 19, 2017 - 5:06pm | Admiral/Sathar agent playing and manipulating PCs Extra demensional aliens- what the hell let's make them aggressive elongated grey aliens. Captain of the Eldritch who has gone quite mad - why not give the PC with psych-social skill a chance at some skill checks. Extra demensional spider creatures not quite in phase with the rest of the ship. This should be plenty of scope for danger in this adventure I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
January 19, 2017 - 5:26pm | Maybe the X-D gray alien's ship just happened to be in the wrong spot and when the Eldritch phased into their demension the two ships became fused together. The greys are fighting a battle with the X-D spiders. They do have a beam style weapon that can drive off the spider creatures off. Might be interesting to have one of the grays fused with a wall. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
January 19, 2017 - 6:02pm | Ah, I love ripping off old movies.
Thanks for calling it an old movie makes me feel old. At least I didn't call it a classic movie. Boy, I'd feel old too since I saw it first run. Joe Cabadas |
 January 20, 2017 - 4:38pm | Now here's the case to drag the Operation Cthulhu stuff in... the USS Eldritch touches the Dark Void - an anti-void that brings back mythos monsters, turns into the Event Horizon plot, etc... |
January 20, 2017 - 5:01pm | I was wondering about using mind flayers. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 January 22, 2017 - 8:08am | I like the dark void idea. I often think along the lines of Alan Dean Foster's space plus and space minus. I'm not much of a Cthulhu fan. I'd spin for something new for SF but creepy because real space is very energizing for things from the dark void and they would get into uncontrolled frenzies easily. I also think of ghe greys as over used. -iggy |
 January 30, 2017 - 1:45am | Wasn't there a short story in one of the issues of SF or FE about a similar situation? |
 February 11, 2017 - 6:05pm | This is good and creepy and mind flares and phase spiders along with other critters perfect. One idea also is that experiment may have also crested an open rift between dimensions that is allowing other unwanted creepy things in (the fog) maybe this is history repeating it's self... think of an area of space with dimensional potholes that can destroy ships or warp them, cause people to fuse with ship and so on too, not to mention fog cloud hazards and creatures, communication or energy null spots and more. Getting away from the drifting experiment ship in the mist could be a real problem. Maybe the tech involved here is what caused the collapse of a few ancient civilizations, maybe the Sathar know that and want to keep this tech lost for self preservation. "Never fire a laser at a mirror." |
February 11, 2017 - 6:56pm | This is good and creepy and mind flares and phase spiders along with other critters perfect. One idea also is that experiment may have also crested an open rift between dimensions that is allowing other unwanted creepy things in (the fog) maybe this is history repeating it's self... think of an area of space with dimensional potholes that can destroy ships or warp them, cause people to fuse with ship and so on too, not to mention fog cloud hazards and creatures, communication or energy null spots and more. Getting away from the drifting experiment ship in the mist could be a real problem. Maybe the tech involved here is what caused the collapse of a few ancient civilizations, maybe the Sathar know that and want to keep this tech lost for self preservation. yES, yes and yes I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
