TTRPG-a-Week - Week 7

Part 2 of the system. Redid Cargo items. Made rules for how to create your ship. And expanded on Adventure Idea.

Cargo Slots

The cargo bay can also be damaged, and cargo can be destroyed.

• Passengers: 1 slot. Holds 2 passengers and their supplies.
• Extra Ammo: 1 slot. Holds extra ammo for a ship weapon.
• Extra gear: 1 slot. Holds a few pieces of extra equipment for the crew members to bring with them on away missions.
• Shuttle Craft: 3 slots. A shuttle craft. Landed in the cargo bay.
• Trade Goods: 1 slot. Trade goods to sell or barter.
• Extra Crew: 2 slots. Increase max crew by 2. Their living quarters and work spaces.
• Med Bay: 1 slot. Holds a med bay for 1 patient.
• Extra Fuel: 2 slots. Holds extra fuel for very long distance travel.
• Travel Room: 1 slot. Holds 8 people temporarily, such as moving them from a planet surface to a station in orbit. It would be terrible for a long flight.

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Creating a Ship

1. Choose a ship class and record the details.
2. Name your ship and Captain.
3. Hire 5 crew into your ship’s departments.
4. Choose 2 things for your cargo bay.
5. The group of players need to decide who gets the free shuttlecraft that the group has. (But you can still take an extra one in your cargo bay choices.

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Ship Sheet

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Adventure Idea

An alien artifact of unknown origin has been uncovered on the surface of a remote moon. Before the research team could safely extract or study it, a criminal fleet moved in, seized the station, and turned the discovery into a flashpoint.

The corporate sponsor wants control. The criminals want leverage and profit. Local governments want the situation ended quietly and quietly. And they want the artifact secured before it destabilizes the region.

Enter the players: a flotilla of independent ships hired because they’re deniable, flexible, and willing to take risks, and without the red-tape of the navy.

The Moon

• Low gravity, jagged terrain, long shadows.
• Thin atmosphere with enough electrostatic dust for occasional storms that interfere with sensors and comms.
• Ancient alien ruins partially embedded beneath the research complex.
• Criminals control the surface and atmosphere.
• Corporation is maintaining a legal perimeter around area. Threatening lawsuits, sanctions, and “accidental” missile test.
• Neutral traffic drifts around the edges. Salvagers, media drones, opportunists.

The Artifact

Not just valuable, it is also active and unstable. It is a key of sorts. No one knows yet what it opens, but it is constantly broadcasting a signal out into space looking for its lock.

The criminals don’t understand it. The corporation knows it is valuable. The government fears what it unlocks.

The Factions

Criminal Fleet

• Loose alliance of pirate captains, smugglers, and guns-for-hire.
• Internally divided, some want to sell the artifact, others want to use it.
• The research station is held together by intimidation and jury-rigged defenses.

Tension Hook: If pushed too hard, the criminals may try to destroy the artifact out of desperation.

Corporation

• Legally owns the station but wants to avoid liability for anything currently happening there.
• Has lawyers and mercenaries nearby, but hesitant to make the first move.
• Will betray the players to gain sole ownership of the artifact.

Tension Hook: They might offer the flotilla a better deal mid-mission.

Government Alliance

• Multiple small powers pooling their resources.
• Don’t fully trust each other.

• Care more about stability than profit or knowledge.

• Mission Goals:*

• Artifact secured or neutralized.
• Criminal fleet scattered.
• Corporate escalation avoided.
• Avoid headlines.

Part 1 - Recon

Players arrive and can get a feel for the situation.

• Scan patrol routes, identify weak points in the criminal sensor net.
• Try to land an away mission planet-side or on one of the space stations or ships.
• Social engineering: posing as smugglers, journalists, or corporate agents.
• A Stealth ship can run the blockade.
• A Social ship can open negotiations.
• A Engineering ship can probe the artifact’s energy signatures.

Part 2 - Split the Party?

• Distract of disable criminal patrols
• Interfere with corporate security
• Hack or hijack comms
• Infiltrate research station
• Fight criminals on the ground
• Rescue researchers
• Discover more about the Artifact

A Twist

• A rival team of problems solvers arrives.
• The artifact becomes more unstable.
• Disaster happens at research base.

Conclusion?

Up to you how the story ends.

• Clean Resolution: Governments stabilize the region & the players gain influence.
• Profit Play: Players sell the artifact and become powerful, but gain powerful enemies.
• Artifact destroyed: ancient alien systems elsewhere may awaken.
• Secret Keepers: The players hide the artifact, setting up a campaign arc.