TEXT: The Modern Dispatch
  more�Starship�Sensor�Contacts
  Page 1
  Content�Manager:�
  phil�reed,�chris�davis
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  Chris�Davis
  Requires the use of the d20 Modern Roleplaying 
  Game, published by Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
  d20 Modern and Wizards of the Coast are 
  trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. in the 
  United States and other countries and are used 
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  com/d20.
  #80
  More Starship Sensor Contacts
  by Phil Reed
  In going over feedback and sales I found that last 
  year’s Starship Sensor Contacts issue of the Modern 
  Dispatch has proven quite popular, out-selling most 
  other Ronin Arts releases in the Dispatch series. Not 
  wanting to ignore the evidence, I’ve put together a 
  new selection of sensor contacts. First introduced in 
  the Future: Datastream, and then reﬁned in Future: 
  6 Free Sensor Contacts (a free PDF available at 
  RPGNow), starship sensor contacts are a special type 
  of adventure seed designed speciﬁcally for use when 
  the players’ characters are onboard their starship and 
  exploring the galaxy.
  I hope that you can ﬁnd a way to use some (or all!) 
  of these sensor contacts in your campaign. As with 
  the other starship-related releases that Ronin Arts has 
  published this PDF makes some assumptions about 
  your campaign; the sensor contacts in this PDF will 
  be most useful in campaigns in which the following 
  statements are true:
  The campaign is not a “hard” science setting. 
  Campaigns that are more space opera/adventure 
  movie are the intended target for this PDF.
  Starships are not rare or unusual. Everything that 
  I’ve written in this PDF assumes that space travel is a 
  standard and common occurrence – individuals 
  either ﬂy their own ships or ride on passenger 
  ships. Starships and space travel are as common for 
  characters as a plane ride is for people of our reality.
  Space combat is not uncommon. It’s just another 
  exciting adventure when the players’ characters have 
  to engage the enemy while ﬂeeing from some world 
  or other. 
  The campaign is packed with action. If things aren’t 
  exploding, how much fun can the game really be?
  What’s Required to Use this PDF?
  In order to use this Modern Dispatch issue you will 
  need the D20 Modern roleplaying game, published 
  by Wizards of the Coast, Inc., and the ofﬁcial future 
  supplement, also published by Wizards of the Coast, 
  Inc.. You can ﬁnd both at your favorite local game 
  store or online at any number of roleplaying game 
  vendors. Though some products are suggested in the 
  text, no other products are required to use this PDF. 
  Future: Datastream
  During 2005 Ronin Arts ran the Future: Datastream, 
  a subscription service for players using the future 
  SRD. That material has been recently collected into 
  a 170+ page PDF packed with new starships, mecha, 
  optional rules, and also some sensor contacts. You 
  can ﬁnd this collection for only $20 at www.rpgnow.
  com.
  Open Game Content
  All of the text of this PDF is presented as open game 
  content. While this means absolutely nothing to your 
  campaign it does give other publishers permission 
  to use this material as long as they follow the open 
  game license (see the end of this PDF).
  
  The Modern Dispatch
  more�Starship�Sensor�Contacts
  Page 2
  About the Author
  Philip Reed has been working professionally in the 
  roleplaying game industry since 1995. In that time 
  he has worked for such companies as West End 
  Games, Privateer Press, and Steve Jackson Games. 
  Today Philip spends his days at home running Ronin 
  Arts, writing and designing new games, and reading 
  whatever books interest him at the time. To learn 
  more about Philip Reed – and Ronin Arts – please 
  visit www.philipjreed.com/php and www.roninarts.
  com.
  The Sensor Contacts
  Gas Collector (PL 7)
  As the player characters’ ship drops out of lightspeed 
  (or whatever form of FTL travel is appropriate to 
  your campaign) on the edge of a star system with at 
  least a single gas giant, their sensors sound multiple 
  contacts. A small station is in orbit around a gas 
  giant while on the other side of the world, out of 
  the station’s sensor range but clearly visible to the 
  player characters’ starship, are a trio of ultralight 
  craft moving at high speed. A single Computer Use 
  check reveals the following (give the players all of 
  the information up to and including the highest result 
  of the check):
  10: The station is skimming the planet’s surface 
  and most likely completely blinded by the intense 
  radiation being released by the world. The exact type 
  of the small craft cannot be identiﬁed.
  15: The computer identiﬁes the smaller craft as 
  escorts (see the future SRD) but their identiﬁcation 
  transponders are switched off.
  20: The station is a gas collection platform, a 
  specialized device that gathers valuable gasses from 
  gas giants. The computer calculates a 75% chance 
  that the escorts are pirate vessels on an intercept 
  course.
  25: The computer zooms in on and identiﬁes a 
  symbol painted on the escorts – they’re ﬂying the 
  colors of the Arc Ring, a pirate vessel rumored to 
  have been responsible for the destruction of over one 
  hundred starships in the last decade.
  How the player characters deal with this situation 
  will say a lot about their personalities. If they hang 
  back and do nothing then the pirate vessels close in 
  and dock with the station within 2d6+10 rounds. Two 
  minutes after they dock the pirates will have overrun 
  the station, killing all crew and assuming control 
  of the gas collector. Unfortunately for the player 
  characters, that’s also about the time that the Arc Ring 
  (a stock destroyer, see the future SRD) drops out of 
  lightspeed. The Arc Ring and two of the escorts will 
  pursue the player characters’ starship and attempt to 
  capture or destroy it – they don’t want any witnesses 
  talking about this event.
  If the players act as heroes and move in to intercept 
  the escorts then the pirates immediately break-off 
  and jump to lightspeed – they didn’t plan on any 
  resistance and they can’t afford to waste time in 
  a space battle at this time. The escorts contact the 
  Arc Ring and notify the destroyer of the chance; the 
  destroyer turns back and will not arrive in-system.
  The station will thank the heroes and reward them as 
  best they can, most likely with an offer to refuel the 
  characters’ starship and perform any minor repairs. 
  The crew onboard the station will be very thankful 
  and will attempt to assist the heroes in any small way 
  that they can, such as sharing rumors or pointing the 
  heroes toward possible jobs on nearby worlds.
  Graveyard (PL 7)
  After the player characters’ starship is damaged 
  and jumps to lightspeed (or whatever form of FTL 
  travel is appropriate to your campaign) they’re 
  forced to drop into an unknown system when their 
  FTL travel device fails. Their sensors immediately 
  sound multiple contacts and for as far as their visual 
  recorders can register the characters see a mass of 
  battered starships. A single Computer Use check 
  reveals the following (give the players all of the 
  information up to and including the highest result of 
  the check):
  10: There are 1,245 individual starships ﬂoating 
  before them, each one exhibiting no energy or life 
  signs.
  15: The computer does a quick star scan and cannot 
  identify the player characters’ current position.
  20: Most of the ships are horribly disﬁgured and open 
  to the vacuum of space but a few, less than a dozen, 
  appear to be intact.
  25: The ships are ﬂoating aimlessly and, at times, 
  ramming into each other. There is just enough room 
  for the player characters’ starship to maneuver 
  between the wrecks, though.
  A successful Knowledge (History) check (DC 25) is 
  required to identify the area as the Hadrian’s Cloud, 
  a massive starship graveyard – all that remains of 
  an ancient galactic war. While the wrecks have been 
  gone over by pirates, scavengers, scoundrels, and 
  other spacers, there are enough starships here that the 
  player characters should be able to ﬁnd something 
  of value. Maneuvering between the wrecks requires 
  a successful Pilot check (DC 25) each round – for 
  each point by which a Pilot check fails the player 
  characters’ starship suffers 1d10 points of damage as 
  it scrapes against a wreck.
  It takes the ship’s computers over a week to properly 
  determine their current position (maneuvering out 
  
  The Modern Dispatch
  more�Starship�Sensor�Contacts
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  of the debris ﬁeld drops that time to 5 minutes – the 
  computer is having a hard time getting a clear star 
  scan with all of the wreckage nearby). 
  The GM can use this opportunity to strand the player 
  characters in a desolate graveyard where they have 
  to deal with scavengers and pirates that look on the 
  player characters’ starship as just another item to strip 
  parts from.  
  Temporal Storm (PL 7)
  As the player characters’ ship drops out of lightspeed 
  (or whatever form of FTL travel is appropriate to 
  your campaign) on the edge of any star system their 
  sensors pick up an unusual energy cloud directly in 
  their path. The cloud shimmers a bright, glowing 
  green and constantly twists and turns. Flashes of 
  brilliant light illuminate the cloud, revealing dark 
  shapes every few seconds. A single Computer Use 
  check reveals the following (give the players all of 
  the information up to and including the highest result 
  of the check):
  10: The cloud is electrical in nature and covers a 
  total area of 50 tactical squares. Every round the 
  cloud moves one square toward the player characters’ 
  starship.
  15: The shapes within the cloud register as starships, 
  but the computer is having an extremely difﬁcult time 
  identifying the ships’ exact types.
  20: The cloud is growing larger, increasing by 10% 
  each round.
  25: The cloud is a temporal storm and anyone within 
  the cloud will be thrust violently through time, 
  possibly traveling to a random point in time.
  30: A central ship within the storm appears to be the 
  center of the disturbance. Sensor scans of the ship are 
  unable to identify its exact type but the timestream 
  disturbance deﬁnitely emanates from the ship.
  Futuristic Timeship (PL 9)
  Type: Ultralight
  Subtype: Escort
  Defense: 7
  Flat-footed Defense: 5
  Autopilot Defense: 5
  Hardness: 50
  Hit Dice: 30d20 (600 hp)
  Initiative Modiﬁer: +6
  Pilot’s Class Bonus: +3
  Pilot’s Dex Modiﬁer: +2
  Gunner’s Attack Bonus: +2
  Size: Colossal (–8 size)
  Tactical Speed: 3,500 ft. (7 sq.)
  Length: 180 feet
  Weight: 900 tons
  Targeting System Bonus: +3
  Crew: 8 (trained +4)
  Passenger Capacity: 24
  Cargo Capacity: 30 tons
  Grapple Modiﬁer: +16
  Base Purchase DC: 52
  Restriction: Military (+3)
  Attack: 2 ﬁre-linked heavy neutron guns –3 ranged (15d8), 2 ﬁre-linked rail cannons –8 ranged (9d12), 2
  ﬁre-linked quantum cannons +1 ranged (24d8/20), and CHE missile –8 ranged (6d12/19–20)
  Attack of Opportunity: Point-defense system +3 ranged (1d12 x10)
  Standard PL 9 Design Specs
  Engines: Spatial compressor, temporal drive generator.
  Armor: Nanoﬂudic.
  Defense Systems: Damage control system (1d10), magnetic ﬁeld, point-defense system, radiation 
  shielding, sensor
  jammer.
  Sensors: Class V sensor array, targeting system.
  Communications: Drive transceiver, ansible.
  
  The Modern Dispatch
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  A timeship from the future (see box) is having severe 
  difﬁculty with their temporal drive generator (see 
  the future SRD). The device has been infected by a 
  temporal virus and is now breaking apart, releasing 
  uncontrolled temporal waves that are capturing any 
  ships that enter the affected area. 
  If the player characters’ starship enters a tactical 
  square covered by the cloud they must make a 
  successful Pilot check (DC 30) in order to escape to a 
  clear square. If this check fails the starship is trapped 
  in the temporal event – roll on the following table:
  D6
  Result
  1
  The starship is instantly thrown back in time 
  1d4+1 progress levels. It remains in the exact 
  same location in space but is in the past. There is a 
  20% chance that they still cannot escape the cloud 
  when they arrive at the new time and that the ship 
  will be further affected by the temporal storm (roll 
  on Table: No Escape!). If they manage to escape 
  the temporal cloud they’ll have to ﬁnd their own 
  way home.
  2
  As above, but the starship is thrown back 1d4-1 
  (minimum of 1) progress levels and the chance 
  that they will be unable to escape the cloud’s 
  effects is increased to 35%.
  3
  The ship does not move through time but is stuck 
  in the cloud (roll on Table: No Escape!).
  4
  The starship is instantly thrown forward in time 
  1d3 progress levels. It remains in the exact same 
  location in space but is in the future. There is a 
  20% chance that they still cannot escape the cloud 
  when they arrive at the new time and that the ship 
  will be further affected by the temporal storm (roll 
  on Table: No Escape!). If they manage to escape 
  the temporal cloud they’ll have to ﬁnd their own 
  way home.
  5
  As above, but the starship is thrown forward only 
  1 progress level and the chance that they will be 
  unable to escape the cloud’s effects is increased to 
  35%.
  6
  The temporal event has no effect on the player 
  characters’ starship (from their point of view). 
  Unfortunately, the storm taps into an alternate 
  universe and draws an opposing (most likely evil) 
  version of the ship and the player characters into 
  their own world. If the player characters’ starship 
  remains in the cloud roll again on this table.
  NOTE: If GMs wish, any result that would leave 
  the player characters’ starship in a progress level 
  before the Stone Age (PL 0) actually takes them to an 
  advanced civilization that existed before time as they 
  know it. This can prove difﬁcult for GMs to properly 
  execute but if done right it can make for a very fun 
  distraction from the current campaign events. How 
  will the heroes react to this unusual, new universe? 
  What will they do when an unstoppable cataclysmic 
  event threatens to destroy this new universe (so 
  that their own can be born)? This can also be an 
  excellent way to introduce new aliens, equipment, 
  and organizations to the regular campaign. (After all, 
  if the heroes manage to return to their own universe 
  why can’t some elements of the pre-time universe 
  follow them?)
  Unidentiﬁed Military Prototype (PL 7)
  As the player characters’ ship drops out of lightspeed 
  (or whatever form of FTL travel is appropriate to 
  your campaign) on the edge of any star system their 
  sensors sound contact. A starship just above the 
  elliptic plane vanishes almost as quickly as their 
  Table: No Escape!
  D6
  Result
  1
  10 minutes after arriving in the new time the ship is thrown through time again, arriving at a 
  point in time 2 progress levels before their current time. There is a 10% chance that they still 
  cannot escape the cloud when they arrive at the new time and that the ship will be further 
  affected by the temporal storm (roll again on this table). If they manage to escape the temporal 
  cloud they’ll have to ﬁnd their own way home.
  2
  As above, except that they move forward in time two progress levels.
  3
  The starship suffers 4d10 points of damage and is immediately affected by the storm again (roll 
  again on this table).
  4
  As above but the starship suffers 8d10 points of damage.
  5
  The ship shudders and shakes as the temporal forces tear at it. The starship immediately suffers 
  10d8 points of damage and is shaken for 3d4 rounds. Each round that the ship is shaken it suffers 
  another 2d6 points of damage. There is a 10% chance that they still cannot escape the cloud and 
  that 30 rounds after the shaken effect ends the ship is further affected by the temporal storm (roll 
  again on this table). If they manage to escape the temporal cloud they’ll have to ﬁnd their own 
  way home.
  6
  The ship is battered so violently by the storm that it is breaking apart – reduce the ship’s hit 
  points to –1. 
  
  The Modern Dispatch
  more�Starship�Sensor�Contacts
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  sensors detect it. A single Computer Use check 
  reveals the following (give the players all of the 
  information up to and including the highest result of 
  the check):
  10: There was no contact, the system suffered a 
  temporary electronic glitch.
  15: The computer indicates that there is a 50% 
  chance an ultralight starship was jumping out of 
  system at the exact second that the player characters’ 
  starship was arriving in-system.
  20: The contact was real and seems to still be in the 
  immediate area of the player characters’ starship.
  25: The contact is still there. The sensors detected it 
  again and continue to pick up faint sensor shadow 
  every few seconds.
  30: The contact is a ﬁghter equipped with some sort 
  of cloaking device.
  Experimental Cloaking Screen 
  (PL 7)
  This Gravity Age starship device is near-
  identical to the PL 8 Cloaking Screen (see the 
  future SRD) except that the device has a limited 
  effective duration and cannot be used for more 
  than 15 rounds at a time. At the end of 15 rounds 
  the system automatically shuts down and cannot 
  be reactivated for 5 rounds (during which time 
  the device is recharging – if the starship has 
  no operational engines then the system cannot 
  recharge).
  Purchase DC: 15 + one-half the base purchase 
  DC of the starship.
  Restriction: Military (+3).
  An assault ﬁghter equipped with an experimental 
  cloaking device (see box) was in the midst of a 
  test ﬂight when the arrival of the player characters’ 
  starship interrupted the test. If the characters’ ship 
  is legal and transmitting the proper identiﬁcation 
  signals then the ﬁghter will do a single ﬂy-by and 
  then jump out of system so that it may continue its 
  test run elsewhere. If anything at all strikes the pilot 
  as questionable, though, the pilot will hang back and 
  trail the characters’ starship as it calls in a patrol craft 
  to deal with the situation. A successful Computer 
  Use check (DC 30) is required to detect the pilot’s 
  transmission. Once the pilot has called in support 
  it will take 4d6 rounds for the patrol craft to reach 
  the maximum sensor effectiveness of the characters’ 
  starship.
  
  The Modern Dispatch
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  OPEN GAME LICENSE
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  15 COPYRIGHT NOTICE
  Open Game License v 1.0 Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
  Modern System Reference Document Copyright 2002, Wizards of 
  the Coast, Inc.; Authors Bill Slavicsek, Jeff Grubb, Rich Redman, 
  Charles Ryan, based on material by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip 
  Williams, Richard Baker, Peter Adkison, Bruce R. Cordell, John Tynes, 
  Andy Collins, and JD Wiker.
  System Reference Document Copyright 2000-2004, Wizards of the 
  Coast, Inc.: Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, 
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  Dave Arneson. 
  Sci-Fi Seeds II, Copyright 2004, Expeditious Retreat Press, Authors: 
  William Curtis, Chris Field, Rhian
  Hunt, Matthew Lane, Khaver Siddiqi
  Modern Dispatch #80 2005, Ronin Arts; Author Phil Reed
  OPEN GAMING CONTENT
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