TEXT: -  -
  TRAVELLER
  Special Supplement 4
  One Crowded Hour –
  A Generic Adventure
  Avenger Enterprises 
  in association with 
  Comstar Media LLC
  
  Special Supplement 4: One Crowded Hour - a Generic 
  Adventure
  Traveller - SCienCe FiCtiOn Adventure in tHe FAr Future
  Based on the award-winning Traveller game system and universe by Marc Miller
  Avenger Enterprises is the private venture of Martin J Dougherty. Avenger adventures and supplements are compatible 
  with T20 (Traveller for the d20 system) and Classic Traveller, and are published under license through ComStar 
  Games. 
  Special Supplement 4: One Crowded Hour is a generic adventure, in that is can be placed in any star system, in any 
  period of the Traveller universe. It is entirely self-contained for ease of use. 
  Avenger Enterprises can be contacted by email at: mjd@avengerenterprises.co.uk
  CreditS
  Crash test dummy
  Martin J. Dougherty 
  Chief Pilots
  William Andersen 
  Michael Taylor
  Cartographer-General
  Shane MacLean
  Damage Control Officer
  Michael Wightman
  Human resources Advisors
  Grahame Mulliss
  Jason “Flynn” Kemp
  Michael Taylor
  Copyright ©2006 Avenger Enterprises in association with Comstar Media LLC. All rights reserved.
  Traveller is a trademark of Far Future Enterprises and is used under license.
  The Subsidized Liner deckplan is courtesy Far Future Enterprises.
  ‘d20 System’ and the d20 System logo are Trademarks owned by Wizards of the Coast and are used with 
  permission.
   2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
  
  COntentS
  4  
  About this Book
  4  
  What You Need To Play
  4  
  The Epic Adventure System
  4  
  Character Types and Skills
  6  
  Referee’s Information
  6  
  Overview 
  6  
  Background
  6  
  Belter Communities
  6  
  Shipping Lines
  7  
  Maxos Shipping
  7  
  Locating The Adventure
  7  
  Involving the Characters
  7  
  World Data: SV-2802
  8  
  Playing out the Adventure
  8  
  Push, Pull, Enigma and Gimmick
    
  Plot and Episodes
  0 
  ACT : TRAVELLING IN STYLE
  0 
   
  Scene : Six Days out (Key Scene)
  2  
  ACT 2: IN THE UNLIKELY EVENT OF EMERGENCY…
  2 
   
  Scene : In the Lap of Luxury (Key Scene)
  2 
    
  Scene 2: Please Remain Calm (Key Scene)
  3 
   
  Scene 3: Follow Emergency Procedures As Directed…
  4 
   
  Scene 4: In The Event Of Cabin Pressure Failure…
  5 
   
  Scene 5: Taking Stock
  6 
  ACT 3: SAVE THE SHIP!
  6 
   
  Scene : Into The Fray (Key Scene)
  6 
   
  Scene 2: Waking the dead
  8 
   
  Scene 3: Damage Control
  9 
   
  Scene 4: Information at Last! (Key Scene)
  9 
   
  Scene 5: Preparations (Key scene) 
   
  20 
  ACT 4: HEROIC MEASURES
  20 
   
  Scene : An Almighty Crash (Key Scene)
  2 
   
  Scene 2: The Bridge
  2 
   
  Scene 3: Crisis In The Dining Hall
  2 
   
  Scene 4: A Short Walk And A Long Fall
  23 
   
  Scene 5: Revelations (Key scene)
  24 
  ACT 5: THE WRECK OF THE DUCHeSS SeleNe
  24 
   
  Scene : Sauve Qui Peut! (Key Scene)
  24 
   
  Scene 2: Never Say Die (Key Scene)
  26 
   
  Scene 3: With His Hand On The Throttle…
  27 
  EPILOGUE: THE CHARITY OF STRANGERS
  27 
   
  Scene : Rescue!
  28 
  EPIC Adventure Checklist 
  29 
  The Cast of Characters
  29 
   
  The Crew
  36 
   
  The High Passengers
  39 
   
  The Low Passengers
  4 
   
  The Liner Duchess Selene
   
  
  - 4 -
  ABOut tHiS BOOK
  This book contains a fully detailed adventure for Traveller. 
  It follows the general style of the original ‘Little Black Books’ 
  (or LBBs) published as part of the Classic Traveller product 
  line and contains sufficient general and specific background 
  to allow it to be used without reference to any other setting or 
  adventure book. The adventure is presented in the standard 
  ‘EPIC’ format developed by Marc Miller, creator of the 
  Traveller game. It can be played straight out of the book or 
  adapted to fit into an ongoing campaign. 
  This adventure is designed to be dropped into any 
  Traveller game or to be played as a one-off scenario. It 
  would be equally at home in the 0 or 993 eras, or even 
  248, Milieu 0 or whatever setting is being played. Indeed, 
  with very little tweaking this adventure could be used with 
  any SF game setting.
  Stats are given for NPCs and creatures using both CT 
  (Classic Traveller) and T20 rules. Conversion to other 
  Traveller rulesets is a simple matter.  
  WHAt YOu need tO PlAY
  Please note that this is not a standalone game. It 
  requires that you have access to a set of traveller rules. 
  The adventure was created for use with the T20 rules 
  system from QlI, or the original Classic Traveller rules, 
  but can easily be converted to other versions of the 
  game or even other rules systems. 
  tHe ePiC Adventure SYSteM
  This adventure uses the EPIC adventure system created 
  by Marc Miller. The EPIC system is a way around one of 
  the commonest problems with many RPG adventures; the 
  fact that they are very ‘linear’ in design. In far too many 
  adventures, encounter one typically leads to encounter two, 
  which inevitably leads to encounter three, ad-nauseum. This 
  has several problems. Firstly, the players may not notice a 
  critical fact and thus be left in limbo with no clue how to find 
  the next plot element. Railroading them is sometimes the 
  only solution, and in general railroading is a common feature 
  of this kind of linear adventure. This can lead to player 
  frustration, since there is little worse than not being captain 
  of your own fate. 
  Reducing the amount of leading-by-the-nose is fine until 
  one of those gaming groups comes along, who insist on doing 
  everything in the wrong order and generally do violence to 
  the plot of an otherwise great adventure. The Epic Adventure 
  System provides a way to design and organize adventures, 
  that incorporates enough flexibility that the player characters 
  have the ‘freedom to roam’ without causing the Referee 
  nightmares. Asides, delays and additional adventures can 
  easily be slotted into an Epic Adventure.
  An Epic Adventure is broken down into 6 parts:
  the Cast of Characters – A description of major 
  characters encountered in the course of the adventure, 
  possibly including pregenerated player-characters.
  the Background – The background provides the Referee 
  with the information needed to prepare himself, and lays the 
  groundwork for introducing this adventure to the players. 
  Minor incidents and encounters – Referred to as Minor 
  Scenes or just Scenes, are encounters or events that involve 
  the player characters in some form. Many are directly related 
  to the adventure, and may provide clues, equipment, or other 
  information and materials needed to eventually complete 
  the adventure. Others are merely to provide diversion and 
  amusement. Scenes, unless noted in their descriptions, do 
  not need to be played in any particular order, and may be 
  sprung upon the player characters when the Referee deems 
  appropriate.
  Critical Plot elements  – Referred to as Plot Keys, Key 
  Scenes or simply Keys, make up the heart of the storyline 
  for the adventure. They contain vital pieces to the plot that 
  must be played for the adventure to make any sense to the 
  players in the end. You may play any number of Scenes 
  before and after each Plot Keys, but all of the Plot Keys 
  should eventually be completed in their proper order.
  Chapters – A Chapter or Act is made up of one of more 
  Plot Keys. They outline the plot to the Referee, and provide 
  tips and information for playing the Scenes and Plot Keys 
  that are contained in the Chapter. In order to complete 
  a Chapter, each Plot Key within must be completed. 
  Each Chapter must be completed, and played in order to 
  successfully run the adventure. Due to the ‘cinematic’ nature 
  of an EPIC adventure, it is easy for the Referee to allow 
  the player characters to temporarily deviate from the current 
  adventure storyline to follow a false lead or pursue another 
  short adventure that has interested them. When you are 
  ready to return the player characters back to this adventure 
  plot line, simply pick up with the next Scene.
  Adventure Checklist – The Adventure Checklist provides 
  the Referees with a recommended guideline of the order 
  in which various Scenes and Plot Keys in this adventure 
  should be presented to the players. As the player characters 
  complete each Scene or Plot Key, the Referee simply checks 
  it off the list. When every Plot Key in a Chapter has been 
  played, that Chapter has been completed the Referee may 
  begin the first Scene in the next Chapter. 
  CHArACter tYPeS And SKillS
  It is not the practice of Avenger Enterprises to detail the 
  skills a team of travellers will need in order to complete any 
  given adventure (though skills required to get hired for the 
  job might be listed). This is because Traveller is an open-
  
  - 5 -
  ended game, and there are a great many possible paths 
  to success. Almost any group, of any level, with any set of 
  skills, can complete this or any other Traveller adventure 
  if they are able to think creatively and maximize their 
  strengths. There are no encounters or challenges in this 
  adventure aimed at any type or class of character. Different 
  characters will use different approaches and may struggle 
  in some circumstances, but adventuring is not about having 
  the right weapons, skills or equipment to deal with any given 
  challenge; it is about meeting what the universe throws at 
  you with what you have and finding a way to win – or at least 
  survive.
  This adventure makes use of vac suits and some technical 
  and medical skills. Weapons skills and Brawling may also 
  be useful, though this is not a combat-heavy adventure. 
  Interpersonal skills are likely to see the most use during 
  this adventure. Note that characters will not have access to 
  most of their personal equipment since the adventure starts 
  suddenly in a manner likely to deprive them of these items. 
  It will be up to the players to come up with inventive ways to 
  make the best of what they have available.
   
     
  
  - 6 -
  reFeree’S inFOrMAtiOn
  The following information is intended for the Referee’s use 
  in running the adventure. How much of it is made available to 
  the players, and in what format, is for the Referee to decide. 
  Much of this information is commonly available through any 
  library terminal aboard a ship or in an installation, and indeed 
  much is common knowledge. Characters whose background 
  indicates that they would know about such things (e.g. an 
  ex-merchant would know about merchant lines) should have 
  full access to the relevant information. 
  OvervieW
  This adventure takes place over the course of one hour of 
  game time. It begins with the emergence from Jump of the 
  Subsidized Liner Duchess Selene and the discovery that 
  an error by the Captain has placed the ship on a collision 
  course with a gas giant planet. With the drive dead and the 
  ship depressurizing, the Travellers have one hour to save 
  themselves and the ship.
  BACKGrOund
  This adventure is assumed to take place in a quiet 
  ‘backwater’ star system. Since it does not involve the 
  mainworld of the system, which is several hours or even 
  days away, it can be dropped into almost any region. Since 
  some assumptions are necessary, we will assume that the 
  adventure takes place within the territory of the human-
  dominated Third Imperium.
  The Third Imperium is an empire of some ,000 star 
  systems. It is not a vast, monolithic structure. The time lag 
  inherent in interstellar communications makes this impossible. 
  Instead, the Imperium resembles a vast federation of worlds 
  that agree to certain common practices, and allow the 
  Emperor and his subordinates to deal with foreign policy, 
  military affairs and similar multi-world considerations while 
  maintaining control of their internal affairs. 
  The lack of faster-than-light communications and relatively 
  slow speed of intrasystem movement in the Traveller 
  universe means that whatever is going on at the mainworld 
  of the system, vessels in that vicinity will not be able to offer 
  assistance for at least a few days. This is an important factor 
  in this adventure. 
  Belter COMMunitieS
  ‘Belters’ are prospectors, miners and the people who 
  support their communities. Although the term refers to 
  people who live and work in planetoid belts, Belters will go 
  wherever there are valuable minerals to be found. They 
  can be encountered at planetoid clusters, on outsystem 
  planets and on moons throughout Charted Space. Belter 
  groups range from itinerant prospectors working alone from 
  a small starship to quite large populations with permanent 
  settlements. They are not usually considered to be part of a 
  system population, even if they are permanent residents of 
  a region in the system.
  Even in a permanent community, individuals come and 
  go as their quest for fortune takes them elsewhere. News 
  gets about on a grapevine of prospectors coming in for a 
  little downtime or maintenance, and an individual from one 
  community will normally be welcome anywhere, so long as 
  the grapevine does not bring news of misdeeds elsewhere. 
  Belters are a tough bunch, with a hard and dangerous life. 
  Some strike it rich and become very wealthy; most eke out 
  a tenuous existence as best they can. Generally speaking, 
  Belters have little regard for those who do not share their 
  lifestyle, though this is more likely to take the form of avoiding 
  contact that actual hostility. Some Belters are criminals, and 
  engage in smuggling or even piracy whenever the opportunity 
  arises. Most are honest enough, however.  
  Many Belters are prospectors, who survey for likely sites 
  and take samples, then register the claim and sell the mining 
  rights to a corporation or private mining outfit. Some are 
  miners rather than prospectors, and spend years in one 
  place working a claim they have found or bought from a 
  prospector. 
  The average Belter is tough, resourceful and hardworking, 
  with more than a little condescension for ‘soft’ planet-dwellers 
  or ‘snooty’ naval or merchant ship operators. Their gear is 
  old and much-repaired but reliable enough – they stake their 
  lives on that daily – and if their methods are rough and ready, 
  they do get results. Since being claim-jumped is frequently 
  fatal, most Belters develop a healthy paranoia and have a 
  weapon or two handy, just in case. 
  SHiPPinG lineS
  Many shipping lines exist in the Imperium and throughout 
  Charted Space. Some are single-ship outfits owned 
  and operated by the vessel’s crew, whilst some are vast 
  Megacorporations that own other assets such as ports, 
  shipyards and unrelated business assets like publishing 
  houses. Somewhere in between are the midsized lines, which 
  own and operate a few small to medium sized freighters, 
  liners and freightliners along fixed routes. These lines often 
  serve less populous regions where it is not profitable to 
  operate the vast corporate freighters. 
  Except in the most civilized (and well-patrolled) regions, 
  merchant vessels are frequently armed for self-defense. 
  This does not enable them to take on a real warship, but 
  an armed liner should be able to see off the typical corsair 
  vessel or at least put up such a stiff fight that the pirates 
  would lose their profit in repairs to their vessel – self-defense 
  by mutually assured destruction. 
  The ships of the reputable shipping lines are usually smart 
  and well-maintained, crewed by experienced professional 
  
  - 7 -
  spacers and captained by competent people. However, even 
  in the best-run vessel, sometimes things can go wrong. 
  MAxOS SHiPPinG
  A fairly typical ‘Interface’ shipping line, Maxos operates a 
  handful of small courier vessels, two Subsidized Merchants 
  and four six hundred displacement ton Subsidized Liners. 
  The larger vessels are all assigned to regular runs, hauling 
  passengers, mail and cargo between fixed destination points. 
  Personnel are often recruited from among ex-Navy spacers 
  or those who have left the larger shipping lines. Typically, 
  Maxos’ captains are ex-corporate First Officers who have 
  left the big shipping lines to take up their command much 
  sooner than they otherwise would. This does not mean they 
  are incompetent; far from it. Maxos only recruits the best 
  personnel available, headhunting high fliers and giving them 
  an opportunity to show what they can do. 
  Maxos also maintains a strict command review policy, 
  whereby captains are rotated into ‘shore’ administrative 
  posts to allow regular retraining. As an officer gets older, 
  he or she can expect a promotion to ‘Line Commodore’ and 
  a few years in an administrative job before departing for 
  a very comfortable retirement. As rotation time comes up, 
  competition can be fierce as each captain tries to ensure 
  that he or she gets another command. This has led to some 
  undignified internal politics at times, but Maxos’ policies are 
  strictly honest and based on a rigorous and fair evaluation 
  – the best officers get to keep their jobs. Everyone else goes 
  into admin or retraining until they once again qualify as one 
  of the best. 
  duCHeSS Selene
  The Duchess Selene is one of Maxos’ liners. A standard 
  600dt Type M design, she is by no means new but is in 
  excellent condition. Her fittings are as smart as the uniforms 
  of her crew and her cuisine has received very favorable 
  reviews in all the appropriate journals. In short, traveling on 
  the Duchess Selene is a pleasure and a privilege. 
  The nominal crew of a liner if this type is eight; a pilot 
  and an astrogator, two engineers, a medical officer and 
  three stewards. However, Duchess Selene also carries 
  three gunners to operate her weapons (and fill in as extra 
  technicians and stewards), plus the captain. Normally the 
  captain takes either the pilot or astrogator slot, but not 
  aboard Maxos ships! Here the captain is available to ensure 
  the safety and comfort of all passengers, and will not be 
  distracted with mundane duties best left to a dedicated crew 
  member. The crew mostly share staterooms, with only the 
  captain and the first officer (the astrogator) having a cabin to 
  themselves. Thus the crew takes up seven of the ship’s 2 
  staterooms.
  The liner mounts three dual turrets, one equipped with a 
  pair of missile racks, one with beam lasers and one with a 
  pair of sandcasters. This is more than enough armament to 
  see off an opportunist pirate, and since the ship operates 
  on a regular run with naval patrols, nothing more is needed. 
  The threat of hijack is taken seriously, however, and suitable 
  precautions are taken. 
  First, all passengers and luggage coming aboard are 
  thoroughly screened for weapons, and all weaponry is 
  stowed in the ship’s locker until planetfall. Heavy bulkheads 
  are secured by a sophisticated anti-hijack program run by 
  the ship’s central computer, restricting access to sensitive 
  areas of the ship. The crew do have weapons available in 
  case of a serious incident. These include snub pistols and 
  batons for the most part and are located in the ship’s locker, 
  the bridge and engineering. No weapons are stored in the 
  passenger sections. 
  Maxos has never lost a ship or a cargo to piracy, privateering 
  or hijack, and intends to keep things that way. Thus while 
  the crew are friendly and accommodating, they are always 
  watchful and never compromise the safety of the ship. 
  lOCAtinG tHe Adventure
  This adventure can take place virtually anywhere. Since 
  it begins as the liner emerges from a Misjump, and the 
  destination is not a mainworld, the Referee is free to locate 
  the adventure as necessary. The outsystem of any world 
  with a Class C, D or E port would be acceptable, though 
  somewhere off the main shipping lanes is better. The 
  adventure assumes that SV-2802 is a moon of a gas giant, 
  so obviously a system with gas giants makes sense. 
  invOlvinG tHe CHArACterS
  How the characters come to be traveling aboard the 
  Duchess Selene does not much matter to the adventure. 
  They may be recently mustered-out personnel traveling 
  home on a High or Middle Passage ticket, mercenaries being 
  repatriated on Low berths (though in this case they will miss 
  some of the opening scenes), troubleshooters being sent to 
  deal with a problem somewhere and traveling in comfort… 
  anyone with a reason to go somewhere might be aboard a 
  liner like this one. Perhaps each character has a different 
  reason for being aboard, which would make this adventure 
  an ideal way for an adventurer group to meet up. 
  The passenger manifest has sufficient gaps to allow 
  an adventurer group to be aboard the liner. If additional 
  staterooms are needed, the Referee can drop one or more 
  of the NPCs from the adventure.
   
  WOrld dAtA: Sv-2802
  The rocky body designated SV-2802 is a moon of the small 
  gas giant Thensall. Thensall has several largish moons and a 
  collection of smaller bodies, some of them in highly eccentric 
  orbits. It has an extensive ring system, making navigation 
  in the local region somewhat problematical. Thensall is also 
  prone to bursts of radio-frequency static, which can block 
  
  - 8 -
  radio communications or greatly reduce their range.
  SV-2802 itself is large enough to be a planet in its own 
  right, and even has a tiny envelope of atmospheric gas. 
  This trace atmosphere is not enough for humans to breathe, 
  but its does mean that a suit puncture is unlikely to be 
  immediately fatal. The moon receives a little warmth from 
  Thensall, in the form of radioactivity, but not enough to allow 
  liquid water. The result is a frozen wasteland of twisted rock 
  bathed in radiation. The radioactivity is sufficient to make 
  the place unhealthy for humans, though limited exposure in 
  a suit should not be hazardous. As if that were not enough, 
  SV-2802 has been disturbed in its orbit at some point and 
  is spiraling into a new orbit. This is causing considerable 
  tidal stresses which in turn result in some impressive 
  ‘moonquakes’. 
  The moon has been the site of occasional mining claims, 
  mostly of short duration and limited profits, but is currently 
  listed as uninhabited.
  uWP data:   Sv-2802:  x110000-0
  reFeree’S OvervieW
  The opening scenes of this adventure involve emergence 
  from a dramatic Misjump and the chaos that ensues when 
  the panicked passengers are caught in a holed compartment. 
  How the characters react to this crisis will determine their 
  relationship with the crew, but over the course of the 
  adventure the Travellers are likely to find themselves working 
  alongside the crew to try to save the ship. 
  At first this seems feasible but eventually it becomes 
  apparent that the Duchess Selene is doomed and the 
  only hope is to try to save as many of the people aboard 
  as possible. The Travellers find themselves up against 
  difficult passengers and tensions between crewmembers 
  as they deal with fires, medical emergencies and technical 
  challenges, plus a dangerous mission outside the ship to 
  rescue injured crewmembers. 
  Finally, the characters assist the Captain in crashlanding 
  the liner on a desolate rockball, risking death in a variety of 
  unpleasant ways to do so.
  PlAYinG Out tHe Adventure
  This adventure can be plot-driven, character-driven or a 
  mix of both. It is up to the Referee whether to focus on the 
  interplay between the characters or to deliver a fast-moving 
  ‘disaster movie’ story. Perhaps the ideal style lies somewhere 
  in between these two extremes. In any case, the Referee 
  should play for tension and drama as things start off bad 
  and get rapidly worse. In particular, lengthy debates about 
  what to do for the best should be cut short by events; either 
  scripted ones from the plot or additional problems ranging 
  from a fire through injured passengers and lost babies to 
  confrontations between characters desperately seeking a 
  way off the ship. 
  The characters are going to have to get moving and think 
  on their feet rather than stand around trying to come up with 
  the perfect solution. They have, after all, one hour of game 
  time (though the adventure will likely take longer to play out 
  than this) to save themselves.
  One interesting variant might be to have the players take 
  on the roles of the passengers and crew detailed here, and 
  play out the adventure from that perspective. The motivations 
  of the various people aboard are different enough to make 
  for some interesting role-playing.
  PuSH, Pull, eniGMA And GiMMiCK
  Four elements of the typical adventure story are push, 
  pull, enigma and gimmick. One Crowded Hour contains all 
  four:
  Push: The characters are ‘pushed’ to move on from their 
  present location by impending disaster; if they stand still 
  they will die.
  
  - 9 -
  Pull: The main pull in this adventure is survival, though 
  the characters may be ‘pulled’ by curiosity about why this is 
  all happening, or by a desire to save a friend or lover (or to 
  heroically win someone over by saving their life).
  enigma: The big question is: why did this happen? Other 
  enigmas might present themselves, such as: where is the 
  ship now? Why are certain characters aboard acting as they 
  are?
  Gimmick: A gimmick is something special the characters 
  get out of the adventure. In the last Act, the characters 
  will make contact with a Belter community and may make 
  friends (to whom they owe a big favor) who may feature in 
  later adventures. There is also the potential to be associated 
  with a spacers’ tale: ”the wreck of the Duchess Selene? Oh 
  yes, I was there…” Characters may be able to dine out on 
  the story for months to come…
  
  - 0 -
  One CrOWded HOur: PlOt 
  And ePiSOdeS
  ACt 1: trAvellinG in StYle
  The 
  characters 
  get 
  used 
  to 
  their 
  pleasant 
  surroundings. 
  SCene 1: Six dAYS Out (KeY SCene)
  Six days out of port, the Maxos Shipping Liner Duchess 
  Selene coasts through Jumpspace. She has made this run 
  many times before, but every time is different. Different 
  passengers, different crewmembers; there is always 
  something to make each voyage special and memorable. 
  The Travellers have been aboard for six days and have 
  got to know the crew and their fellow passengers at least 
  vaguely:
  the Crew:
  •	
  Captain John Warner: Gray-bearded and charming, 
  the Captain wears Imperial Navy insignia alongside 
  his Merchant ones. He runs his ship efficiently but 
  quietly and seems to genuinely care about the 
  welfare of his passengers.
  •	
  First Officer Andrea Tarkei: a rather matronly 40-
  something, the First Officer looks more like a 
  head chef than a merchant officer but seems very 
  efficient. She also serves as Astrogator and holds 
  a full Master’s ticket. She and the captain have 
  served together for a while now and make a very 
  good team. 
  •	
  Chief Engineer Karghazz Sezrhk: Despite his Vargr 
  name, Karghazz is a late-20s human. He fills the 
  Second Officer slot as well as running the drives. 
  He can be a little arrogant with the junior ranks but 
  seems to get along well with the Captain. He seems 
  overly concerned with what the Captain would or 
  wouldn’t like. 
  •	
  Gunnery Officer Bar Gurlphen: A late-30s human 
  woman who walks with a limp and occasionally 
  swears like a trooper, Bar serves as Third Officer 
  and head of security. She works out regularly in the 
  ship’s gym and will do personal-trainer work with 
  passengers who request it. 
  •	
  Chief Pilot Paul Vauban-Tanderholtz: In his early 
  30s, Paul just has to be an ex-Scout. Even his formal 
  dress rig looks a bit scruffy on him. He seems to be 
  obsessed with shutting, dogging-down or otherwise 
  securing anything that can be opened, and has 
  some odd eating habits. 
  •	
  Medical Officer Hargz Enver: Hargz is a middle-
  aged, rather tubby Vargr who comes over as more 
  than a little lazy. He is quite likable but prefers not to 
  explain where he got his scars, including an obvious 
  gunshot wound on his upper arm.
  •	
  Chief Steward Kim Feldermann: An extremely 
  attractive young woman in her mid 20s, Kim serves 
  as the ship’s purser and chief steward. She has 
  been serving aboard the ship since leaving Merchant 
  Academy, and seems to think she owns it. There is 
  obvious tension between Kim and Karghazz.
  •	
  Assistant Engineer Eugenie Midraasciaa: A very 
  young 20-something, Eugenie has little contact with 
  the passengers. She seems to be very much in 
  Karghazz’ shadow.
  •	
  Head Chef Janice Collins: A very attractive redhead 
  in her late 30s, Janice is a talented chef who 
  apparently worked in some very prodigious hotels 
  before signing with Maxos shipping. She seems 
  very well-read, especially in the field of politics. This 
  is sometimes overlooked since she tends to flirt with 
  all the male passengers, distracting them from her 
  intellectual qualities.
  •	
  Steward Ohtorm Taisuui: In his late 30s, Ohtorm is a 
  chef and Shumgili (i.e. a master of traditional Vilani 
  cooking), but has yet to be awarded a position as 
  head chef aboard a ship. He obviously thinks he is 
  ready and tends to argue with Janice when he thinks 
  nobody is listening. He is a little arrogant even with 
  the passengers. 
  •	
  Gunner Simon Tasker: The ship’s defensive gunner, 
  Simon operates the sandcasters at need and spends 
  the rest of the time acting as Cargomaster and an 
  additional steward. He is about 25 and seems to 
  get along with everyone, though his well-meaning 
  assistance sometimes just gets in the way.
  •	
  Gunner Silven Uutami: In her early 20s, Silven is a 
  bundle of energy who just can’t sit still. In addition 
  to operating the main armament, she acts as the 
  Captain’s bodyguard and escort at need. She 
  volunteers for everything that requires physical effort 
  and tends to wear people out just by being nearby. 
   
  the High Passengers:
  •	
  Granzh Jen’Gourrh: Some kind of corporate buyer 
  or clerk with an impressive title, Granzh is full of 
  tales of how to succeed in business and is either 
  pally or condescending depending on his view of the 
  individual’s status. He is also inordinately proud of 
  his wife and cubs.
  •	
  Linvargh Jen’Gourrh: Granzh’s gorgeous young 
  Vargr wife is obviously devoted to him and their twin 
  cubs. She doesn’t say much, even when Granzh 
  quietly nitpicks her manners or speech habits. It may 
  be that she was not born to such polite society but is 
  doing her best to fit in. 
  •	
  Gargh and Jazgh: These twin Vargr cubs are 
  adorable. They can be a bit of a nuisance: they can 
  crawl pretty fast, chew things and howl when they’re 
  hungry. Their parents have big plans for them: 
  businessmen perhaps, or a career in the diplomatic 
  corps…
  
  -  -
  so forth are stowed in the ship’s locker. Checks were pretty 
  thorough but if a player states at this point that they want 
  weapons, they should be allowed to explain how they tried 
  to get weaponry aboard. Chances are slim that they would 
  succeed, however, and discovery will sour relations with the 
  crew – perhaps to the point that the character in question has 
  been put in a Low berth for the trip and only just awakened 
  for the Last Meal!
  •	
  Orlando Iovine: A very, very overweight young man 
  who works in real estate, Orlando is a friendly sort 
  who gets along with everyone except Granzh, who 
  treats him like an underling. Orlando has said some 
  rather pointed things to Granzh at times, mainly to 
  the effect that Granzh is a champion brown-noser 
  who owes his position to weaseling rather than 
  talent.  
  •	
  Chrysa Endinelli: Chrysa has just left the merchant 
  service and clearly keeps wanting to pitch in and 
  help out the crew. She is a bit of a tech-nerd with 
  little interesting to say. 
  •	
  Kaspar Handro: An old man who has been through 
  the mill –probably more than once. He is troubled by 
  old injuries and failing health, and seems determined 
  to enjoy every remaining breath. He flirts with all the 
  women aboard – of all species – and makes witty, if 
  rather sarcastic, observations about everything and 
  everyone.  
  •	
  May Cambra Slein: This young woman has spent 
  most of the trip in her cabin and is sullen on the 
  occasions she ventures out. She might be quite 
  attractive if she smiled occasionally, but there is little 
  chance of finding out. 
  •	
  Renee Philip: Another recluse, Renee is a mousy 
  8-year-old on her way to take up a university 
  scholarship. She has gained enough confidence to 
  talk to people this past day or so, but she is clearly 
  uncomfortable at being away from home. 
  •	
  Keven Umali-Dupree: Keven is slightly famous as 
  an entertainer. His act is a crass mix of offensive 
  racist jokes and blatant sexuality, or a hilarious 
  parody of Imperial life delivered by a very attractive 
  young man, depending on your perspective. He has 
  spent a lot of time in the gym this trip and probably 
  did not sleep in his own cabin every night. 
  The voyage so far has been absolutely first-class. The 
  cuisine is excellent and the crew are very professional, even if 
  there are tensions between some of them. Jump Emergence 
  is scheduled for about 2-6 hours’ time, so tonight will be the 
  traditional ‘last meal’ aboard the ship. Given the excellence 
  of the cuisine so far, this special meal is likely to be quite 
  memorable. By tradition, everyone is expected to attend 
  (other than crewmembers with jobs elsewhere), so this may 
  be the first and last time the passengers are assembled in 
  one place. 
  However, the Last Meal is still a few hours off, so the 
  characters have a last opportunity to enjoy the ship and her 
  facilities. 
  referee:
  Let the characters have a few hours to do as they please, 
  and to familiarize themselves with any or all of their fellow-
  travellers. It has been assumed that the characters complied 
  with the ship’s weapons policy, i.e. that all guns, blades and 
  
  - 2 -
  ACt 2: in tHe unliKelY 
  event OF eMerGenCY…
  The characters’ pleasant voyage is rudely interrupted 
  by a disaster.
  SCene 1: in tHe lAP OF luxurY (KeY 
  SCene)
  It is dinner time, and most of the High passengers are 
  assembled in the liner’s dining room; a young Vargr couple 
  with their new cubs, a retired merchant officer, a battered 
  old guy determined to enjoy his remaining years… each 
  of the passengers has a story. Most are rather mundane, 
  certainly more so than the tales the characters could tell 
  about their adventures, but there is still a lot to learn about 
  one another. Over the soft music and clink of wine glasses, 
  the passengers chat as they share what will probably be 
  their last dinner together. The Last Dinner is always a time 
  for slight sadness, since most of those present will never 
  meet again. To most of the passengers this is nothing, but for 
  some brief friendships have blossomed during the journey, 
  and in such a huge universe the chances of staying in touch 
  are slim at best.
  As always the Captain is present at dinner, presiding 
  over the top table with a host of anecdotes about life as a 
  spacer yet encouraging others to speak as they wish to. 
  Immaculately-uniformed stewards move among the tables 
  serving excellent food and fine wine. The meal goes on as 
  each before it has;  polite, civilized, a world away from the 
  rough adventuring life most of the characters are used to.
  referee: 
  Play out the meal and general chat for as long as seems 
  appropriate. There is absolutely no indication that anything 
  is wrong. Even the Captain, who knows how tight his plot 
  was and also has worries about his next evaluation, shows 
  no sign that anything is amiss. 
  Obviously, characters who are in Low berths or other parts 
  of the ship for some reason will miss the meal. They will be 
  about their normal business (or oblivious to events in their 
  Low berths) until the disaster strikes. 
   
  SCene 2: PleASe reMAin CAlM (KeY 
  SCene)
  Suddenly, the convivial atmosphere is shattered by one 
  of the passengers being violently sick. There is no warning, 
  and for a moment everyone is stunned as thoughts of food 
  poisoning or even murder by poison flash through the 
  minds of those present. Some guests sit frozen, some look 
  embarrassed, and some half-stand as if to offer assistance. 
  Then, suddenly, others begin to feel queasy or to actually 
  vomit. In some cases this is accompanied by a blinding 
  headache. The cubs are suddenly distressed for no 
  reason anyone can explain, and then every spacer in the 
  room instinctively knows the reason. The ship is about to 
  precipitate out of Jumpspace, and it is going to be a very bad 
  emergence. The more paranoid or experienced among the 
  spacers present already know the truth; Duchess Selene 
  has Misjumped!
  Captain Warner stands, supporting himself on the table, 
  and struggles to speak. He asks the passengers to please 
  remain calm and to make their way to their quarters. His 
  crew will deal with the situation, he says. Stewards move 
  to assist the more distressed passengers, though some of 
  them show visible signs of Jump Sickness too. Warner goes 
  For’ard, headed for the bridge, as the ship begins to shudder 
  and a siren somewhere starts to emit a ghastly wail. Any 
  spacer knows that sound; it is a decompression alarm. For 
  a ship to suddenly suffer decompression in Jumpspace can 
  mean only one thing; the Jump field is failing and Jumpspace 
  is intruding into the ship. Things could not, it seems, be much 
  worse. 
   The headache and sickness grows steadily worse. 
  Referees may wish to ask characters trying to act to make 
  a DC0 Fortitude save (T20) or throw 8+, DM + if END 8+, 
  +2 if END B+. Otherwise they spend the next few minutes 
  projectile vomiting and/or rolling around the floor in a fetal 
  position. 
  Then, just as suddenly as it began, the feeling is gone. 
  A moment of light-headed relief blinds everyone to what is 
  happening as the Duchess Selene precipitates out of Jump 
  and more damage alarms begin to wail. The lights flicker 
  and go out for a moment, then come back on, albeit with the 
  odd sudden dimming. Spacers will know that Emergence is 
  completed. Although there does seem to still be a problem, 
  at least they aren’t going to die in Jumpspace…
  The crew want to implement emergency measures, which 
  amounts to getting the passengers in their staterooms and 
  wearing emergency softsuits or at least inside rescue balls. 
  They will also don their own suits as quickly as possible. 
  Clearly the situation is very serious but there is no more 
  information available at this point.
  Characters who want to help will find themselves ushered 
  towards their staterooms by harassed crewmembers, who 
  really want to get the passengers squared away and don their 
  own suits. Convincing a crewmember to allow the characters 
  to do something other than comply with the standard 
  emergency drills will require some hurried persuasion, 
  intimidation or perhaps even violence. Note that emergency 
  procedures allow for crewmembers to arm themselves and 
  even use weapons to subdue difficult passengers. This is 
  most likely to be the threat of a baton or snub pistol, or a 
  snub pistol Tranq round, but it could turn nasty.
  
  - 3 -
  will protect against depressurization for at least a couple of 
  minutes – long enough to get a suit on or enter a rescue ball. 
  Of course, this requires that the door can  be shut against 
  the press of others trying to get in, that there are enough 
  suits in the room, and that they can be donned while others 
  fight for them.
  The characters have good reason to suspect an imminent 
  hull breach in their area. They have several options, and the 
  Referee should demand an instant statement of intentions 
  – what are you doing in the next five seconds?
  nothing at all:
  A player who ums and ahs, or cannot clearly explain 
  an instant action, is in effect saying that their character is 
  hesitating and wondering what to do, or freezing in panic. 
  They do not act immediately but can resume their actions 
  after the initial hesitation.
  dive into a nearby stateroom:
  Staterooms have one softsuit pre occupant, plus one 
  rescue ball per occupant. With everyone fighting to get into 
  the nearest staterooms, there simply will not be enough for 
  everyone. Characters will have to fight their way through the 
  press and will literally have to force the door shut in the face 
  of others equally desperate. A Strength check vs. DC5 (CT: 
  roll 9+, DM + if STR 9+) is required to gain access to a 
  room and get the door shut. The Referee should roll d3+ 
  for the number of other occupants, and decide who it is or 
  determine randomly. A character who wishes to be the sole 
  occupant of a room will have to prevent others gaining entry. 
  The DC of the check becomes 20 (CT: roll +), and a failed 
  check will result in a fight in the doorway if the other party 
  is equally desperate. The Referee should resolve combat 
  normally.
  Characters who resort to cowardly survival measures 
  like this will be hated and resented by others afterward, 
  assuming anyone else survives. It is possible that some of 
  the other passengers may scrabble in this manner, but most 
  are not desperate enough yet. They don’t know about how 
  bad depressurization is, for one thing, though they are VERY 
  scared.
  Push someone else into a nearby stateroom:
  A far more heroic option sees the characters bundling 
  passengers into the nearest safe rooms, grabbing children 
  and flinging them after their parents, and generally behaving 
  in a self-sacrificial manner. This is still a struggle, but any 
  character who wishes to be a hero at this time will succeed 
  in saving one passenger automatically. If they try for more, 
  a DC5 strength check is needed for the second (CT: roll 
  9+, DM + if STR 9+), increasing by DC5 (CT: DM –2 on the 
  dice) per additional passenger until a check is failed.
  While the ‘deck’ crew are running around dealing with 
  the passengers, the flight and engineering personnel 
  are trying to establish what is happening. In the first few 
  minutes after emergence, the crew are able to establish 
  some very frightening facts. These are not made known to 
  the passengers immediately, but will gradually ‘leak’ to any 
  characters involved in helping the crew. Other passengers 
  are simply (and repeatedly) told that the ship has suffered 
  an accident and the crew are taking care of the situation. 
  Everything will be all right if everyone just keeps calm.
  Unfortunately, that is very far from the truth.
  referee:
  The characters will no doubt want information, but their 
  demands will largely just get in the way of the people trying 
  to obtain that information! They will be ushered towards the 
  staterooms by increasingly agitated crewmembers. The other 
  passengers (and indeed, the crew) will respond according to 
  their personality. The scene should be as chaotic as possible 
  with lights flickering, the ship vibrating and people running 
  around in a panic. The characters can be most helpful by 
  helping get the other passengers to their rooms and under 
  control, though this may mean evading or convincing the 
  crew to let them.
  It may be that some characters do not follow the 
  emergency drills. If so, they will end up somewhere else in 
  the ship, perhaps trying to help the crew or other misplaced 
  passengers. The crew will keep trying to get the passengers 
  to their cabins however. 
  SCene 
  3: 
  FOllOW 
  eMerGenCY 
  PrOCedureS AS direCted…
  The drill is fairly simple: all passengers are expected to 
  return to their staterooms and don softsuits or enter rescue 
  balls, then await further instructions from the crew. However, 
  this is easier said than done. The ship is lurching alarmingly, 
  vibrating and suffering intermittent power loss. On top of that 
  there are alarms wailing everywhere, with passengers and 
  babies adding to the general noise. 
  As the gaggle of passengers moves towards the staterooms, 
  Karghazz (the chief engineer) comes racing the other way, 
  half in and half out of his vac suit, clutching an emergency 
  equipment case that any experienced spacers recognize as 
  a hull patch/weld kit. Thrusting his way into the mob he dives 
  to the floor and begins ripping paneling up. The penny drops 
  after a second – Karghazz is trying to access an area of the 
  hull that he can’t get to from elsewhere… there must be a 
  breach somewhere nearby!
  The passengers begin to panic, beyond the ability of the 
  stewards to control. Some run blindly away, some cower, 
  some demand to know why this is happening. The more 
  sensible ones dive into the nearest stateroom and shut the 
  door. Stateroom doors are not permanently airtight, but they 
  
  - 4 -
  Characters still in the passenger area might run out - 
  the iris valves are closing but it may be possible to make 
  it through them (roll as above, but add 0 to the DC of the 
  Reflex save (CT: Roll 12+) – or try to get into a room now that 
  the crush has subsided. There will still be odd passengers 
  milling around who will need to be directed to safety. If a 
  suit can be found, i.e. in a cabin not occupied by others, it 
  will take characters 2d6 rounds to properly don it. Rescue 
  balls take d6 rounds to enter. Doors, if closed, will hold out 
  for 0+2d6 rounds after full decompression, then fail on a 
  straight check at DC6. (CT: doors fail on a roll of 9+ per 
  round, no modifiers).
  Alternatively, heroes might enter the crawlspace with no 
  suit, or stay there helping Karghazz. If anyone follows him 
  into the crawlspace, Karghazz looks up and snaps, “Idiot!” 
  but accepts their help. He needs to get a patch on the section 
  and weld it down, but it’s a difficult job and the air is going 
  fast.
  Karghazz will not stop trying to patch the hole, not even to 
  fasten his suit, until he loses consciousness or dies. He can 
  be very stubborn at times and right now he’s the only chance 
  for the passengers and he knows it. He needs to get a light 
  plastic patch over the hole, fix it and brace it with bits of the 
  access panel welded over it to prevent vibration from ripping 
  it loose. This is a tough job with air rushing out. There are 
  three distinct tasks: find the hole, patch the hole, brace the 
  patch. If all three are not completed, the whole thing will fail 
  and the panel will blow out. Anyone in the crawlspace will get 
  a good close look at nearby space before they die.
   
  Finding the Hole
  Make a Perception check at DC20 to find the hole. Make a 
  single check for everyone in the crawlspace, but add +2 per 
  additional person searching, and +2 per round after the first. 
  (CT: Roll 9+ to find the hole, +1 per person, +1 per round).
  Patching the Hole
  Make a T/Mechanical check at DC5 to get the patch into 
  place. Helpers may add their Strength or Dexterity bonus 
  (or a minimum of + per person) to the roll. Attempts can be 
  made each round. Use Karghazz’ skill for this check unless 
  he is incapacitated. 
  Bracing the Patch
  This requires a Strength check at DC 5 to hold the brace 
  in place (DC 0 if someone other than the welder holds the 
  brace) and a T/Mechanical check at DC0 made in the same 
  round that the Strength check is successful. (CT: Roll 9+, 
  DM + if Str 7+, DM +2 if Str A+ to hold the patch and 8+ DM 
  Mechanical skill) to weld the brace.
  If the patch is emplaced in time, it will hold, more or less, 
  for the foreseeable future. Karghazz sits down heavily and 
  breathes deep of the thin but nonetheless wonderful air, then 
  emits a horrific howl that anyone familiar with Vargr should 
  Head for a more distant room, or drag others towards 
  one:
  Anyone who keeps their head can find a stateroom that isn’t 
  already full on a Wisdom check at DC0 (CT: roll 7+, DM+ if 
  INT 8+), and can direct another person there. This will likely 
  be a matter of dragging, shoving, pointing and pushing a 
  terrified individual in the right direction). The Referee may 
  ask for Leader or other similar checks to get the message 
  through to the victim. 
  As they say in the Scout Service, ‘give it legs’…
  A character who just runs out of the endangered area can 
  make it to the other side of a bulkhead quite quickly – there 
  are others doing the same! However, the iris valves will 
  begun to close as soon as decompression is detected. To 
  get through in time, make a Reflex save at DC10, or at a DC 
  of +3 per other person the character wants to drag to safety. 
  (CT: roll 8+ to get through in time, DM+ if DEX 6+, DM- per 
  other person saved). Success indicates that the character 
  has passed the valve before it closed. 
  Of course, there is no guarantee that the new area is any 
  safer, and the suits are back in the passenger area...
  Help Karghazz:
  This is very risky; the hull could fail at any second. 
  Karghazz doesn’t even look up to see who’s come to help; 
  he just starts giving instructions. He needs to get into the 
  crawlspace and get a patch on the damaged section of hull 
  before it rips completely. As he pulls the panels off, air starts 
  bleeding out into the punctured crawlspace. Not much at 
  first but enough that within seconds the iris valves around 
  the passenger compartment begin to auto-close… the area 
  is slowly depressurizing, and nobody has a suit on. Even 
  Karghazz has just his legs and one arm in his, with the 
  torso section flapping behind him and no helmet in sight. 
  Nevertheless, he wriggles into the crawlspace and starts 
  looking for the hole… 
  SCene 4: in tHe event OF CABin 
  PreSSure FAilure…
  It has been just seconds. The area is decompressing. 
  Not everyone has reached safety. Some characters (and 
  passengers) may be milling about in the corridor. Karghazz 
  is shouting out a litany of, “get out, get out, get out!” from the 
  crawlspace but shows no sign of leaving himself. 
  In d3+2 rounds, air pressure will have dropped to the point 
  where characters in the crawlspace start to take damage 
  from decompression. d6 rounds after that, characters in the 
  passenger area who are not in suits or staterooms start to 
  take decompression damage. 2d6 rounds after that, the hull 
  segment blows out if it is not patched in time. The passenger 
  section will explosively decompress seconds later, and 
  stateroom doors will only hold for a couple of minutes against 
  vacuum. Anyone not in a suit or a ball at that point will die 
  horribly. 
  
  - 5 -
  recognize as a celebration of victory over imminent death. 
  It sounds pretty weird coming from a human throat but it’s 
  easy to se where Karghazz is coming from. He bestows 
  hugs on anyone who helped him, then scrambles out of the 
  crawlspace to get on with his other urgent tasks. From here 
  on, anyone who helped Karghazz is a close friend of his, to 
  be respected and looked out for. 
  SCene 5: tAKinG StOCK
  With the immediate crisis in the passenger area dealt with 
  and everyone in rescue balls or (presumably, in the case of 
  characters), softsuits, there is an opportunity to figure out 
  what is going on. 
  The situation aboard the Duchess Selene is dire. She has 
  suffered a Jumpspace Intrusion, which has caused a couple 
  of minor hull breaches and more importantly damaged some 
  power pathways. Most power systems are erratic, and her 
  drives are totally dead. She is also on a high-speed course 
  almost directly into the atmosphere of a gas giant planet 
  (Thensall). Unless she can regain power to her drives, 
  Duchess Selene will dive right into the methane soup and 
  be destroyed. 
  Captain Warner makes some quick decisions and comes 
  up with the best plan he can under the circumstances. 
  Although he suspects that the Misjump is his fault, his vast 
  professional pride (arrogance, some might call it) prevents 
  him from believing that ha can have made any mistake. He 
  does know that his is the sole responsibility for the safety of 
  the ship and everyone aboard; he will not shirk this duty. 
  Things are about as bad as they can get, and desperate 
  measures are required. A summary of the situation is available 
  to the captain and will eventually reach the characters in 
  some form.
  referee: 
  The situation is as follows: The ship has emerged from 
  Jumpspace in the vicinity of the gas giant Thensall and 
  has serious hull and systems damage due to Jumpspace 
  intrusion and secondary systems failures.
  There are certain specific problems:
  the ship is headed directly into a gas giant at high 
  speed: The approach vector is oblique, not quite aimed at 
  the planet. However, the Duchess Selene will dive into the 
  atmosphere and be destroyed even if she misses the planet 
  itself. Matters are made worse by the vast amounts of debris 
  – dust, rocks, ice and the odd moon – in the region. 
  A distress signal has been sent, but it is unlikely that 
  it will be received: The gas giant Thensall gives out a lot 
  of radio-frequency interference which is effectively jamming 
  the Duchess Selene’s GK signal. Only a ship close by would 
  pick up the signal, and it is unlikely that there will be one so 
  far outsystem. 
  the ship is not answering the helm: In fact, the drive 
  is completely inert. It appears that some important power 
  control circuits, or perhaps the conduits themselves, have 
  been disrupted. There is no power to the drive, and without 
  it the ship is doomed. 
  there are some minor hull breaches: As yet, these are 
  not very serious and have in places already been patched by 
  the engineers. However, collisions with debris and a general 
  weakening of the ship’s structure may lead to more serious 
  damage. 
  the low Berths are failing: Unless the Low passengers 
  are crash-woken immediately they will die. Sparing personnel 
  to look after them is a tough decision, but the captain decides 
  to do it. 
  There is little chance that Duchess Selene can survive 
  this situation, but her captain and crew will give it all they 
  have. A quick glance through the passenger manifest shows 
  that some of the passengers may have skills that can help. 
  Reluctantly, Captain Warner orders his first officer to speak 
  to the characters and ask them for help, though he does not 
  want to give out too many details just yet for fear of causing 
  a panic. 
  
  - 6 -
  ACt 3: SAve tHe SHiP!
   
  The characters join the battle to save the ship and her 
  passengers. 
  SCene 1: intO tHe FrAY (KeY SCene)
  First Officer Andrea Taskaii asks to speak privately with 
  the characters, away from the other passengers. She will 
  include Chrysa in the discussion since the ex-Merchant has 
  relevant experience. Andrea’s explanation is short and to the 
  point, covering some of the details mentioned in Act 2/Scene 
  5 above. She will avoid saying too much about just how bad 
  things are if she can get away with it. 
   
  Andrea’s potted version is as follows:
  •	
  The Duchess Selene has suffered a very bad 
  Emergence from Jumpspace, with some hull and 
  systems damage.
  •	
  If pressed, she admits that the ship has Misjumped 
  and has yet to adequately establish its position (this 
  is a half-truth and evasion in one…)
  •	
  The crew are working to control the hull damage and 
  prevent further decompression, but it’ll take a while 
  to get properly under control. 
  •	
  Additionally, there has been some damage to the Low 
  berths. Some have failed entirely and the rest are 
  going. The Low passengers need to be awakened 
  immediately. 
  Andrea asks for medical or first-aid trained characters 
  to help with the crash-wake process, while anyone with 
  technical skills can join a damage-control party and try to 
  deal with the hull damage. The characters will be provided 
  with a vac suit from the ship’s stores. This will be a proper 
  suit, not an emergency softsuit. Or they could use their own 
  suits. 
  Andrea has little time to argue with anyone; either they 
  agree to help or she’ll leave them in their cabins with the 
  other passengers. Anyone quibbling about refunds and 
  compensation will get to experience Andrea’s bite as she 
  loses her patience. 
  Astute characters (Sense Motive or similar skills) may 
  notice that Andrea is controlling herself  well but is very, very 
  worried about something. What she has outlined is surely 
  enough to account for that, but the characters may wonder 
  what else is going on. 
  Andrea will not agree to release weapons to the characters 
  at this point.  
  nPC Activities
  Andrea is with the characters of course. Once she has 
  directed them to their tasks, she will report back to the 
  Bridge.
  At this point, the Captain and Paul (the Pilot) are on the 
  Bridge, which is sealed up, trying to get the drives to respond 
  and to punch a GK signal through the radiation-induced 
  interference in the region. The Bridge doors are guarded by 
  Bar, dressed in a Combat Environment Suit and armed with 
  two snub revolvers. One contains a blank ‘warning shot’ round 
  and five Tranq rounds, the other with six rounds of highly 
  lethal HEAP ammunition. She also has a cutlass, mainly for 
  intimidation value. Bar will not allow anyone access to the 
  bridge (other than crew), and will use whatever level of force 
  seems appropriate at the time to prevent a forced entry. 
  Karghazz is in Engineering, which has some quite serious 
  damage. He is trying to restore power to the drives, assisted 
  by Simon (the gunner). 
  Eugenie is single-handedly trying to repair hull breaches 
  while Silven scrambles about looking for more holes and 
  making an assessment of damage. She can be encountered 
  anywhere in the ship, usually emerging from a tight space 
  somewhere and disappearing into an inspection hatch 
  across the corridor from it. 
  Hargz is in the Low Berth room, struggling to get his 
  equipment to work so he can crash-wake the two surviving 
  Low passengers.
  The stewards (Kim, Janice and Ohtorm) are assigned to 
  the passenger accommodation and are trying to keep the 
  passengers calm, or may be roaming the ship looking for 
  passengers who ran off and are hiding somewhere. Their 
  task is to calm the passengers, keep them out of the way and 
  get them into suits. They are harassed but thus far remaining 
  professional. 
  The passengers are mostly in their cabins, though some 
  may have wandered off. The more self-important (especially 
  Granzh) are giving the stewards a hard time, others are 
  bickering in that way that only really frightened, out of their 
  depth people can manage. The cubs are howling, people 
  are demanding information… in short, the passenger 
  accommodation is bedlam. Volunteering to help might be a 
  good way to get clear of the madness.
   
  SCene 2: WAKinG tHe deAd
  Characters who volunteered to help Hargz are sent or 
  escorted to the Low Berths room. It is a mess; a power surge 
  has damaged much of the equipment and disabled the rest. 
  Three Low berths show solid red telltale panels – the sign 
  of a dead occupant – while the others are amber. The three 
  ‘dead’ berths are open. The bodies of the occupants are 
  still within two of them. The other is on the floor connected 
  to a makeshift emergency kit. Hargz has clearly tried to 
  resuscitate the young man, without success.
  
  - 7 -
  Bits of equipment lie partially dismantled about the floor 
  as the Vargr medical officer tries to cobble together what 
  he needs to salvage the other Low berths. He seems calm, 
  detached, and is clearly not disturbed by the corpse he has 
  to keep stepping over. This is not the fat, lazy and good-
  natured Hargz who can’t even be bothered to reach for a 
  clean spoon at dessert…
  Hargz glances at the characters and says, “Help or get 
  out. Techies, I need to know if these berths can be saved or 
  if we need to crash-wake. Medicos, prepare me somewhere 
  to work. And somebody fix this!” He shoves the dismantled 
  innards of several instruments across the floor at the nearest 
  character before adding, “And get on with it! It’s just a corpse 
  for all the gods’ sake!”
  Without waiting to see what anyone does, Hargz goes 
  back to trying to fix his equipment. 
  the low Berths
  A character with both Electronics and Medical skill who 
  takes a minute or so can determine the status of each Low 
  berth. It’s not good; both are running on backups and will fail 
  very soon. Characters with only one of those skills can come 
  to the same conclusion but take longer. It is obvious that the 
  occupants need to be woken immediately.
   
  Fixing equipment
  A character with Electronics skill can probably salvage 
  enough bits and pieces to assemble the diagnostic and life-
  support equipment Hargz needs. There is little time, however, 
  so it is a matter of what can be brought into play in time. 
  To determine what equipment is available:
  t20:
  Make a T/Electronics check for the character doing the work, 
  with the following modifiers:
  If the character also has T/Medical skill at any level: +2
  For Hargz’ assistance: +5
  Per character who assists, with either T/Medical or T/
  Electronics skill: +2
  Per character who assists, with both T/Medical or T/
  Electronics skill: +4
  Result: 
  Less than 9: No equipment can be salvaged
  0-4: Minimal equipment
  5-9: Basic equipment
  20-24: Adequate equipment
  25+: Almost a full set of equipment is available
  Ct:
  Roll 2d6, DM Electronics skill, with the following modifiers:
  If the character also has Medical skill at any level: +
  For Hargz’ assistance: +3
  Per character who assists, with either T/Medical or T/
  Electronics skill: +
  Per character who assists, with both T/Medical or T/
  Electronics skill: +2
   
  Result: 
  Less than 5: No equipment can be salvaged
  6-8: Minimal equipment
  9-: Basic equipment
  2-4: Adequate equipment
  5+: Almost a full set of equipment is available
  Preparing a working area:
  This is an important but fairly simple job; mainly a matter 
  of clearing some bench space and moving equipment over 
  to the area. It’s important but can be done by anyone. 
  Crash-wake procedure
  There is nothing for it; the two surviving Low berth 
  occupants need to be revived immediately. Since their berths 
  are malfunctioning, they have to be unhooked, moved to the 
  bench and the process carried out manually. This involves 
  chemicals flushed through the bloodstream, defibrillation 
  and other messy and rather disturbing procedures. The 
  Referee might want to ask for Fortitude saves or END rolls 
  to avoid losing lunch whilst witnessing the work.
  Both berths are failing at once, so the procedure becomes 
  a mad scramble to save both occupants. Hargz can only 
  work on one at a time (though he can shout instructions and 
  flit back and forth). A character must perform at least some of 
  the wakeup procedures. To save each Low berth occupant, 
  the following procedure must be performed:
  Chemical flush and warm blood:
  Attaching the appropriate tubes and needles is simple 
  enough for anyone with Medical skill or training. Otherwise 
  the Referee should ask for DEX-based rolls to avoid 
  screwing up with potentially fatal consequences. If no 
  medically trained person is available, the process is slowed 
  and a penalty applies to all attempts from here on. 
  The chemical flush/blood warming process takes just a 
  couple of minutes, during which time the patients are still in 
  hibernation. However, once it has started the process must 
  not be interrupted or the patient will die. 
  Wakeup:
  The patient’s nervous system must be stimulated to restore 
  normal respiratory and heart functions. This is normally done 
  automatically by the berth itself but can be done manually, 
  even with makeshift equipment. 
  The Referee should roll d6 (D) for each patient. This is 
  the number of attempts that can be made to get the nervous 
  system working on its own. It takes 2 successes to actually 
  complete the process. If the patient runs out of ‘attempts’ and 
  the process is incomplete, there is one last chance to save 
  
  - 8 -
  them – see below. If no successes have been made, there is 
  no hope and the patient will soon die as brain functions have 
  not been properly restored.
  To determine success in each stage of the process: Make a 
  T/Medical skill check at DC5 (CT: Roll 9+, DM Medical skill) 
  to carry out this procedure, with the following modifiers:
   
   
   
   
   
  t20: Ct: 
  Flush process delayed:  
  -4 
  -2
  No Equipment 
   
  -0 -5
  Minimal Equipment  
  -6 
  -3
  Basic Equipment 
   
  -3 
  -
  Adequate Equipment 
  - 
  -
  Full Equipment 
   
  +2 
  +
  Hargz Advising* 
   
  +3 
  +2
   * Hargz can advise others (two at once if necessary) OR 
  work on one patient himself
  last Chance
  If brain functions have been restored but the organs don’t 
  want to comply (i.e. one success has been made when 
  time runs out) then Hargz knows (as any low-berth trained 
  medic does) that the heart can be manually restarted by a 
  combination of physical massage, direct introduction of drugs 
  and electrical stimulus of the requisite nerve bundles. This 
  means artificially ventilating the patient while someone cuts 
  into the chest, opens the rib cage and engages in desperate 
  open-heart surgery. The prospects are not good.
  Make a T/Medical check at DC 0 (CT: roll 7+, DM medical 
  skill) to ventilate the patient. 
  Hargz (or whoever does the surgery) needs to make a 
  DC30 T/Medical check (CT: Roll 5+, DM Medical skill, + if 
  DEX A+) to save the patient. 
  Even if all goes well the Low berth occupants will be 
  semi-conscious for some hours. Anyone undergoing major 
  emergency surgery like this will probably succumb to shock 
  or die of other causes but might just survive if properly looked 
  after. The casualties will have to be moved to the sick bay 
  and constantly monitored from here on. 
  SCene 3: dAMAGe COntrOl
  While others are trying to save lives in the Low berth room, 
  characters with appropriate skills (Mechanical, Engineering), 
  are assigned to damage control. Their task is to assess the 
  damage, report location and severity of problems, and to 
  tackle those problems in order of danger to the ship. Silven 
  has already compiled a partial list of problems, but there 
  are plenty to go around. The characters are likely to end 
  up scattered all over the ship since there are several things 
  needing immediate attention. One problem is that the ship’s 
  intercom is not working very well, and personal comms 
  are never much use inside a big metal box like a starship. 
  Information may be slow to get around.
  Tools, vac suits and so on are issued to anyone who needs 
  them, though there are not infinite supplies. No weapons will 
  be issued, though of course large wrenches and lengths of 
  pipe can be obtained.
  Damage-control duties are assigned by Andrea, who then 
  heads back to the Bridge for a short while. She says she will 
  come back with an update as soon as she’s reported to the 
  Captain. Meantime there are several tasks to attend to.
  The Referee should assign tasks according to skills where 
  possible, but in a pinch anyone will do. The characters should 
  ideally be split up. Tasks include:
  •	
  Check out the power relays in an awkward corner 
  of the ship: They turn out to be burned out but 
  repairable in a couple of hours, providing spares 
  are available (they are). Karghazz or Andrea insists 
  that the character get to it as a matter of urgency. 
  Engineering skill may allow the character to realize 
  that these are drive-control power routes; if enough 
  of them are dead then the ship cannot maneuver. 
  •	
  Firefighting: There are minor fires all over the 
  place due to power systems damage. The auto-
  suppression equipment is malfunctioning, so manual 
  measures need to be taken. Anyone can fight a fire, 
  though a routine extinguisher job may become more 
  difficult if some of the passengers are on the loose 
  and trapped or panicked by the flames.
  •	
  Check out the status of a depressurized (holed) area 
  of the ship: The Captain and engineer need to know 
  if the area’s bulkheads are sound, which means 
  taking measurements with strain gauges and multi-
  spectrum goggles. Anyone with technical skills can 
  do this. 
  •	
  Hull check: This is a dangerous assignment. It will 
  be necessary to enter the various crawlspaces and 
  check the integrity of the hull (as above) if they are 
  not depressurized. If an area has been breached, 
  the hole must be found and checked to see if it is 
  spreading. 
  •	
  Shoring of existing hull patches: Much in the 
  manner of Karghazz’ first repair, it is necessary to 
  weld panels over the temporary patches scattered 
  around the ship, since vibrations are shaking some 
  of them loose and enlarging the holes.
  •	
  Control pathway tests: the characters are asked to 
  faultfind along a series of control pathways, opening 
  up access panels as they go. Some of the pathways 
  are dead and will need repair. 
  •	
  Check out the ship’s launch and ensure it is ready 
  for flight (see below)
  While all this is going on, characters may wonder why the 
  chief engineer is not out and about dealing with these matters. 
  What is so urgent that he has to stay in engineering?  
  While the characters are split up and busy, various events 
  
  - 9 -
  occur. The Referee should assign them randomly or decide 
  who gets to deal with what on the basis of sadism and making 
  characters suffer…
  A Hideous Crunch
  A character working near the hull hears something collide 
  with the ship, sending shockwaves through the vessel. The 
  hullplate nearby is visibly buckled. What has just hit the ship? 
  Is it under attack?
  Panic!  
  A passenger rushes up (or tries to climb into the crawlspace, 
  or whatever), wide-eyed and terrified. He or she clutches at 
  the character, demanding information, salvation or just an 
  explanation of why this is happening. The panicked passenger 
  (maybe May or Keven) will not go away. A harassed steward 
  or another passenger may eventually show up to try to round 
  up the stray, but it will be a tough job to get them back to the 
  passenger quarters. 
  Medical emergency!
  One of the passengers or crew has been hurt nearby, 
  perhaps trying to fight fires or on a jagged hull repair, or even 
  by live cables in an open access way. With the medical officer 
  busy, assistance must be rendered by anyone handy.
  Conspiracy
  A fellow-traveler (Granzh, Kaspar or Ohtorm), sidles up to 
  the character and suggests that there is something sinister 
  going on here. The crew aren’t telling the passengers 
  everything and it’s obvious that the ship is in big trouble. 
  They suggest that it might be worth checking out the ship’s 
  launch in case it has to be used as a lifeboat. 
  At the launch
  The characters or characters assigned to the launch find 
  that it is intact, though powered down as is normal in flight. 
  It will take just a few minutes to preflight it, and the character 
  has the codes. However, the launch bay doors seem to be 
  jammed. They are buckled as if something has collided with 
  them (which is true). Fanciful characters might get the idea 
  that something was trying to get in through the doors.
  The character preflighting the launch receives a personal 
  visit from Andrea, who asks for a situation update and 
  conducts a check of the launch’s stores, especially its life 
  support gear. She tries to avoid answering questions, just 
  saying that the Captain wants to be sure the launch can fly, 
  just in case a transfer to a rescue ship is necessary. 
  However, before Andrea finishes her checks and the 
  character preflights the launch, other events intervene (see 
  Scene 5, below). 
  SCene 4: inFOrMAtiOn At lASt! (KeY 
  SCene)
  About 20 minutes have passed since Jump emergence, 
  but events have become sufficiently  serious that the Captain 
  decides to level with the crew and passengers. He asks 
  everyone to assemble in the dining hall and, flanked by Bar 
  and Silven (who are now holding shotguns), he explains the 
  situation. 
  The short version is that the ship is not answering the 
  helm and is crashing through the ring system of a gas giant 
  world at some speed. The vibration and collisions are small 
  fragments of ice and rock striking the hull. A GK (distress) 
  signal has been sent but radio interference is strong in the 
  area. Captain Warner thinks a reply was received but it was 
  too broken up to make any sense of. 
  The real problem is that the ship will skim the atmosphere 
  of the gas giant on its present course, which will lead to 
  destruction. The only chance is to change vector, but the 
  ship is not answering the helm. The engineer thinks that the 
  main control pathways for the drive have been severed and 
  access to the backups is blocked by a warped bulkhead. 
  There isn’t time (nor equipment) to repair it, so the only 
  answer is to send a crew out on the hull to gain access 
  that way. This is extremely risky, but Karghazz has already 
  volunteered. Captain Warner has requested Silven and 
  Eugenie to go with him, despite the risk to the ship’s entire 
  engineering crew inherent in the plan.
  As a backup in case power cannot be restored, the Captain 
  wants to try to free the launch bay doors so that at least 
  some of the passengers can escape. Since not everyone 
  can get into the launch, the Captain feels it only fair to warn 
  the passengers that the crew will be armed from now, and 
  will shoot if they must. He will not permit a mad scramble for 
  the boat to destroy their remaining chance for salvation.
  If everyone remains calm, there is still a chance – however 
  desperate. 
  SCene 5: PrePArAtiOnS (KeY SCene)
  At this point, anyone who has helped so far is more or less 
  assumed to be part of the crew, though weapons are not 
  issued to anyone but the original crew members. 
  Bar and Simon are detailed to guard the launch. Both are 
  armed with shotguns, and Bar has a cutlass. Their orders are 
  to prevent anyone from stealing it. The launch will not carry 
  everyone aboard and Captain Warner (rightly) suspects that 
  some of the passengers or even crew may panic and try to 
  escape before it is necessary, depriving the others of any 
  chance to escape. 
  Captain Warner and Paul (both now sporting the snub 
  revolvers that Bar previously carried) will preflight the launch 
  then return to the bridge to do what they can, whilst Andrea 
  
  - 20 -
  (also with a Snub pistol) readies the engineering team. 
  Hargz is busy with the Low berth patients. Kim, Ohtorm 
  and Janice (unarmed) are keeping an eye on the passengers 
  and striving to keep them calm. The passengers themselves 
  are becoming increasingly difficult. Some of them want to 
  leave their quarters, go to the launch ready for escape, and 
  so forth. At present the stewards are keeping the lid on, but 
  it is becoming difficult.
   
  The travellers and Chrysa have earned the trust of the 
  crew; there are still many jobs to be done aboard ship, 
  starting with the jammed launch bay door. Chrysa volunteers 
  and hints that the others should too if they want to get out of 
  this alive. 
  As the characters head up to the launch bay, Karghazz 
  appears for a moment from where he was tooling up for his 
  mission outside. He has assembled a selection of engineering 
  tools for the characters to use  ‘just in case something 
  happens’ and passes it over to whichever character has most 
  impressed him before disappearing back into his sickbay. 
  Hidden in the bottom of the bag is the only other weapon 
  aboard, a snub revolver – there were four snub pistols and 
  two shotguns – which he was issued as Second Officer. He 
  feels that others may need it more. It holds six rounds of 
  HEAP and no reloads. 
   
  referee: 
  If the travellers want to do something else, there is no real 
  reason not to assist Hargz in sickbay or do other important 
  work. They may even decide to accompany the engineers 
  outside the hull, in which case they will witness the disaster 
  outside at first hand.
  However, it is most likely that they will be involved in 
  the freeing of the launch bay doors, which is a tough job. 
  They are buckled, which has in turn damaged the opening 
  mechanism. Freeing them involves a lot of hard labor directed 
  by someone with at least marginal Mechanical skill; there is 
  plenty here to keep everyone busy. 
  ACt 4: HerOiC MeASureS
  Despite the best efforts of the travellers and the crew, 
  everything goes wrong. 
  SCene 1: An AlMiGHtY CrASH (KeY 
  SCene)
  While the travellers are fighting with the launch bay 
  doors, everything goes wrong with the Captain’s plan. The 
  characters will have to help deal with some or all of the crises 
  as they develop. The trouble begins when the Duchess 
  Selene clips a fair-sized fragment of ice, which impacts 
  close to the Bridge. 
  The first the Travellers know about this is when the ship 
  lurches sickeningly and begins to spin. The spin is not fast 
  but it is in three dimensions, and there is no sign that the pilot 
  or the ship’s automatic alignment system is counteracting the 
  movement. The deck gravity plates more or less compensate 
  for the forces involved, but there is still enough corkscrewing 
  movement to make people queasy and unsteady on their 
  feet. 
  The launch bay doors still need to be freed, but there is 
  also a requirement to find out what is happening in the rest 
  of the ship. Things are bad, and just how dire will become 
  apparent as a series of crises break. 
  Even if the characters elect not to investigate, Andrea will 
  rush into the launch bay with news a minute or two after the 
  collision. She has guessed that the ship has hit something but 
  at this point knows only the information presented below:
  •	
  There is a garbled distress call from the Engineers 
  out on the hull
  •	
  The Bridge intercom has gone down completely and 
  the impact seemed to have occurred forward – in 
  the vicinity of the Bridge
  •	
  Kim is calling for help from the passenger area.
  Andrea has some tough decisions to make. The only 
  people likely to be any use are in this room. She will listen 
  to any quick plans the characters can come up with, but the 
  only option is to split up and deal with the various crises 
  whilst leaving someone to free the doors. 
  Andrea would ideally like Chrysa to work on the doors 
  with Simon to help and guard her. That leaves Bar and the 
  Travellers, plus Andrea, to play out the following scenes. 
  These occur simultaneously, so individual characters will 
  be present at one but not the others; some scenes may be 
  played out by NPCs only, in which case the Referee should 
  decide on an outcome and allow the characters to find out 
  what happened later. 
  
  - 2 -
  During the chaos, Kaspar tries to slip away. He has made 
  a deal with some of the others to try to get to the launch 
  and set it up for an escape, and will make his way there 
  as stealthily as his age and infirmity allows. If intercepted, 
  he may even try to fight, creating a sordid scene where 
  characters are forced to subdue an old man.
  referee:
  This scene can play out in many ways. No ‘solution’ will 
  keep the passengers pacified for long. Even something as 
  clever as giving them jobs to do may backfire. Accusations fly 
  that favorite passengers are being taken to the launch under 
  the guise of assisting, while the less scrupulous passengers 
  will attempt to do just that; sneaking off as soon as they are 
  out of sight. 
  There are no good solutions, but a workable one based 
  on reason, emotive leadership, force, or a combination of all 
  three, will allow the stewards to control the passengers for 
  a little longer. 
  SCene 4: A SHOrt WAlK And A lOnG 
  FAll
  The Engineers were faced with a tough job. They had to 
  crawl across the hull and enter a breach in order to reconnect 
  the damaged power circuits. With debris from the ship and a 
  lot more in the form of ice and rock fragments flying around, 
  even the transit was a risky business. Nobody should have 
  been surprised when it went wrong…
  Karghazz, Silven and Eugenie had made some good 
  progress before the collision. In fact, if the bridge were 
  not smashed, it would now be possible to con the ship. 
  However, there is a more immediate problem. Karghazz 
  was struck in the back of the head by a fragment of debris, 
  all but decapitating him. As his body fell free from the hull, 
  Eugenie made a suicidal jump to grab it (maybe she didn’t 
  know he was already dead), and was dragged the length of 
  the hull before coming to rest (still clutching the engineer’s 
  dead body) against the aft stabilizers. Silven was hit by a 
  fragment but despite a suit breach and shattered right arm 
  has managed to reach a working communicator point and 
  call for assistance. She is still at the site of the damaged 
  power conduits, wired into a hull communication circuit. 
  Once she detaches, contact will be lost.
  Anyone reaching the airlock can talk to Silven, who thinks 
  she can make it in under her own power and is even willing 
  to try to rescue Eugenie if there is nobody else available. 
  This would be ridiculously dangerous in her condition, but it 
  is entirely in character for her. 
  There are two Rescue Suits in the airlock locker. These 
  are heavy-duty suits (too bulky to do engineering work in) 
  with a range of rescue tools, line attachments and other 
  emergency equipment. They offer the best chance to reach 
  and rescue the engineering crew. 
  SCene 2: tHe BridGe
  Approaching the Bridge, it is obvious that the ship has 
  taken a nearly head-on impact. There is some crumpling 
  in the lesser structural members, though behind the Bridge 
  bulkhead, hull integrity has not been severely threatened. 
  According to the iris valve readouts, the Bridge area is 
  depressurized. 
  It will be necessary to fix an emergency airlock to the 
  valve before forcing it open, to avoid depressurizing the next 
  segment of the ship. 
  On the bridge, the sight that greets the characters is 
  terrifying. A chunk of ice and rock has clipped the bridge 
  section and smashed in the front of the ship. Paul died 
  instantly, crushed at his post. He had the panels off his 
  console and was apparently faultfinding at the time of the 
  impact. The controls are wrecked; the ship will never be 
  conned from this room again. 
  Captain Warner is alive, though he has a couple of broken 
  ribs and was badly stunned by the impact. He was under the 
  Astrogator’s console at the time of impact and was partially 
  protected. He is unconscious at the time the characters arrive 
  but revives as they investigate. This is the first moment when 
  Captain Warner begins to consider that he is to blame for the 
  disaster. It will be difficult to see his reactions through his vac 
  suit. Both officers were suited and the Captain apparently 
  remained conscious long enough to close his helmet.
  Through the ripped front bulkhead of the liner, the gas 
  giant and its deadly ring system can be seen. It is very big 
  and very close. 
   
  referee:
  Captain Warner can be patched up by Hargz or another 
  medic, at least well enough to try to salvage something from 
  the situation. 
  SCene 3: CriSiS in tHe dininG HAll
  Whichever characters go to Kim’s assistance find an ugly 
  scene in the passenger quarters. Led by Granzh, May and 
  Keven, the passengers are becoming difficult to control. It is 
  possible that violence may be necessary, but a good leader 
  who can present a strong case for cooperation might be able 
  to head off the problem. Such a character will find an ally in 
  Orlando, who urges calm and cooperation despite Granzh 
  pouring scorn on everything he says. 
  It is obvious that there are deep divisions among the 
  passengers now. Some are scared but cooperative, some 
  want to help the crew but don’t know how, and some 
  are mutinous. Matters are not helped by the fact that the 
  passengers keep arguing among themselves as well as 
  blustering, threatening, harassing and making demands of 
  the increasingly frightened stewards.
  
  - 22 -
  If no-one is willing to go outside and try to bring in the 
  engineering crew in, Silven makes a brave try, actually 
  reaching Eugenie before her strength gives out. Both young 
  women cling to the hull for a while before falling away to their 
  deaths. 
   
  On the Hull
  Anyone who goes outside is taking a huge chance. 
  Fragments of rock and ice are becoming ever more common, 
  and there is a real risk of being knocked off the hull or injured 
  by a penetrating fragment. 
  In order to get anywhere it is necessary to crawl across 
  the hull, running the risk of being hit by debris. This requires 
  great care, which can become very tiring, so in order to 
  make any progress it is necessary to make a DC10 Reflex 
  save (CT: Roll 7+, DM + if DEX 7+, Vac suit skill) each 
  ‘round’ of movement. The following number of successes 
  are required:
   Airlock to Repair Site:  
  3
   Airlock to Aft 
   
  6
   Repair Site to Aft 
  5
  After every 4 checks, the DC increases by 3 unless the 
  character makes a DC5 Fortitude save to avoid tiring. (CT: 
  every 4th check, apply a DM of – to all rolls thereafter unless 
  the character can avoid fatigue. Determine this by rolling 9+, 
  DM +2 if END 9+). A character whose fatigue is so great that 
  they cannot make any further progress is stuck and must be 
  rescued in turn. 
  The same number of checks will be required to get back 
  again. Each check represents about 30 seconds of activity. 
  Each time a check is made, roll d6 (D). If a 6 comes up, the 
  character has encountered a hazard of some kind – roll on 
  the Hazard table below to determine what has happened.
  the repair Site
  Silven is here, her suit patched and cradling an obviously 
  broken arm. She needs assistance back to the airlock but 
  will go willingly enough with anyone who comes to help. 
  She can inform the characters that she thinks the repair was 
  sufficiently completed to allow power to the drives.
  In order to make any progress back towards the airlock 
  whilst supporting Silven, the base DC of each Reflex check 
  is raised to 5. (CT: roll is now 9+).
  Aft
  Eugenie is clinging to an antenna near the aft stabilizers. 
  Her other arm is wrapped around Karghazz’ corpse in a 
  death-grip. She is frightened, exhausted and in shock, and 
  her strength is giving out. Referee should roll d6+6 (D+6) 
  for the number of 30-second periods that remain before 
  Eugenie starts to risk slipping and falling away. After this 
  time, roll d6 (D) every round. On a 5 or 6, Eugenie is lost 
  forever along with the corpse of the Chief Engineer.
  Having reached Eugenie, it will be necessary to persuade 
  her to let go of Karghazz’ corpse and make her way to the 
  airlock. Coaxing, intimidation or force might be used. In the 
  latter case, moving becomes a matter of physical power as 
  the character must physically drag Eugenie along with him. 
  A Strength check replaces the Reflex check at this point. 
  (CT: Roll 8+, DM +2 if STR 9+, Vac suit skill). Otherwise, 
  Reflex checks are as normal but for the mounting exhaustion 
  penalty. Eugenie can be coaxed along every time the 
  character makes a successful check of their own. She will 
  not move independently.
  Hazards:
  Roll on this table to determine the nature of any hazard 
  that befalls a character outside the ship. 
   2d6 (2d) roll: 
  Hazard
   2 
   
  Grisly Debris
   3 
   
  Suit Tear
   4 
   
  Penetrating Impact (minor)
   5 
   
  Large debris
   6 
   
  Slip!
   7 
   
  Close Call
   8 
   
  Close Call
   9 
   
  Non-Penetrating Impact
   0  
  Suit Tear
     
  Penetrating Impact (major)
   2  
  Collision
  Grisly debris: The character encounters about half of 
  Kharghazz’ head floating close to the ship. This can only 
  happen once
  Suit tear: A ragged section of hull threatens to tear the 
  character’s suit. Roll d6 (D). On a 4-6 the suit has been 
  torn and must be patched (this takes 30 seconds per attempt 
  and requires a Reflex save at DC10 (CT: Roll 7+, DM Vac 
  suit skill). Every round the character has an unpatched suit, 
  decompression damage is taken. A rescue suit is holed only 
  on a 5-6.
  Penetrating impact: The character is struck by a small 
  piece of fast-moving debris, which is treated as a Body Pistol 
  hit. If any damage gets through the suit, it is punctured as 
  above.
  large debris: A large piece of debris skims close to the 
  hull. To avoid being hit, make a Reflex save at DC15 (CT: 
  Roll 9+. DM + if DEX 8+). If the character is hit, treat as a 
  shotgun hit but no chance of puncturing the suit. In addition, 
  a character who is struck might be torn free of the hull. Make 
  a Strength check at DC0 to avoid (CT: Roll 7+, DM + if 
  STR 8+). If torn free, see Slip! below.
  Slip!: The character slips and starts to fall away from 
  the hull. Make a DC15 Reflex save to grab something (CT: 
  Roll 9+, DM +2 is DEX 8+). Another character can grab the 
  
  - 23 -
  loose traveler and pull him back to the ship. This requires a 
  Strength check at DC5 and takes  30-second period to 
  accomplish (CT: roll 9+, DM +2 of Str 9+).
   non-penetrating impact: The character is struck by a 
  small piece of fairly slow-moving debris, which causes no 
  damage but may scare the character.
  Penetrating impact (major): The character is struck by a 
  piece of fast-moving debris, which is treated as an Autopistol 
  hit. If any damage gets through the suit, it is punctured as 
  above.
  Collision: The ship collides with another piece of large 
  debris. Anyone on the hull may be shaken off. Make a DC5 
  Reflex save (CT: Roll9+, DM +2 if DEX 8+, Vac suit skill) to 
  avoid falling away from the hull. Characters detached from 
  the hull may try to grab something as per Slip!, above.
  Getting Back in
  Other, more inventive, solutions to the problem of getting 
  back in might be tried. The most obvious is to use a winch 
  attached to the rescue suit’s cable clips. This is very 
  hazardous since it will cause the character to scrape along 
  the hull or to fly about on the end of a cable in a debris field… 
  The Referee should determine how long it takes to winch 
  a character in (say d6 rounds) and roll for a hazard each 
  round, applying one on a 5-6 rather than the usual 6.
  Once inside (however they get there, medical treatment is 
  available as Captain Warner explains what he wants to do 
  next. 
   
  SCene 5: revelAtiOnS (KeY SCene)
  Captain Warner, though rather pale and weary due to the 
  medication he has been given, still has a plan that might 
  work. The ship can be conned from the emergency position 
  in Engineering. This is not an ideal way to do it, but it should 
  suffice. With Paul dead, any pilots among the travellers 
  would be very useful if they will agree to help the Captain. 
  Engineers would be useful too. 
  The Captain leads the way to Engineering and begins 
  to configure an emergency helm setup. Just minutes later 
  the ship’s tumble begins to correct; then comes the familiar 
  tug of powered maneuver. There is an anxious moment as 
  something strikes the hull, causing it to ring like a colossal 
  and very misshapen bell, but the engines do not falter. 
  Cheering breaks out and a crewmember rushes off to inform 
  the others. 
  But through it all the terrible truth becomes apparent from 
  the astrogational displays; Duchess Selene has too high a 
  vector, and too little power available. She cannot miss the 
  edge of the atmosphere and in her present state diving into 
  the methane soup up ahead will be like running into a wall. 
  There is no chance to save the ship after all, and the launch 
  will not hold everyone. 
  As the chilly revelation sinks in, Captain Warner finally 
  confronts the truth: he has caused this disaster through his 
  pride and desperation. He shaved the odds just a little too 
  close and now everyone aboard is going to pay for his folly. 
  He quickly explains why this has come to pass and why he’s 
  going to have to ask his crew to volunteer to stay behind 
  while someone gets the passengers away in the launch. 
  There’s simply no other way.
  Unless…
  Captain Warner’s idea
  The innermost moon of Thensall, SV-2802 according to 
  the charts, might just be within reach. Perhaps it might be 
  possible to put the Duchess Selene down on SV-2802. It 
  will require a high-speed powered approach and a crash-
  landing, and it’ll take more engine power than is currently 
  available, but it’s a chance.  
  Captain Warner asks Andrea to select randomly among 
  the passengers and crew to see who gets the launch berths 
  – it can carry 0 passengers and 2 crew – suggesting that 
  the rest take their chances. He wants any engineers among 
  the travellers to disconnect the safety systems on the ship’s 
  drives and give him as much power as they can, whatever 
  the risk. He’ll con the ship down in person; he’s a pretty good 
  pilot. Everyone else can find themselves a suitable place 
  and brace for the crash. It’s better than nothing…
  referee:
  Eugenie is virtually useless from here on. She is in deep 
  shock at the death of Karghazz. She can be coaxed into 
  activity for a few half-hearted minutes but soon lapses into 
  crying or just listlessly staring into space. Silven is also quite 
  badly hurt and limited in what she can achieve.
  
  - 24 -
  ACt 5: tHe WreCK OF tHe 
  DUCHeSS SeleNe
  Desperate measures have failed; but there is a chance 
  to save some of the passengers
  SCene 1: SAuve qui Peut! (KeY SCene)
  The time has come to launch the lifeboat.  The launch can 
  carry 2 crew and 0 passengers; it could manage more but 
  that would require the cargo area to be unloaded. There is 
  simply not the time to empty the cargo area in the middle of 
  the present crisis. 
  Exactly who is chosen to go aboard the launch, and how 
  they are to be chosen, is up to the Referee. It is likely that the 
  Low berth casualties will be given a place and Hargz sent 
  to care for them. Silven and Eugenie, wounded in body and 
  mind respectively, are good candidates, as are the cubs and 
  their mother, Linvargh. This makes 6 adults. The 4 remaining 
  places (and two crew posts) can be allocated at random or 
  selected. 
  However, before an orderly evacuation can be carried out, 
  mutiny erupts!
  the Mutiny
  Some of the passengers have figured out that things are 
  very bad indeed. Under the leadership of Granzh and Kaspar, 
  they have decided to take the launch and escape. Kaspar is 
  a good pilot, but additional flight personnel (coming along 
  voluntarily or under duress) might be useful. It is possible that 
  one or more crewmembers might have joined the mutineers. 
  This is at the Referee’s discretion; these are desperate times 
  and people sometimes behave in unexpected ways when 
  they are in a tight corner. 
  There are no guns available to the mutineers unless a 
  crewmember has thrown in his or her lot with them, but the 
  passengers have managed to arm themselves with makeshift 
  clubs. Their main asset is Ohtorm, who has decided to 
  join them and broken into the kitchen to grab a couple of 
  cleavers. 
  The ringleaders of the escape plan (Granzh, Kaspar and 
  Ohtorm) are desperate enough to fight anyone who gets in 
  the way. They have been joined by others (Linvargh, the 
  cubs, Renee and Keven). May would have gone with them 
  but was not party to the secretive discussions. Orlando tried 
  to dissuade them and was bundled aside, as was Janice who 
  tried to help him. The mutineers are headed for the launch. 
  The characters may hear of the mutiny in several ways, 
  perhaps when a breathless crewmember comes racing up 
  the corridor, bringing a warning that becomes superfluous 
  as the mutineers enter the corridor behind him or her. 
  Alternatively they might find themselves suddenly under 
  attack, or confronted with the mob whilst preparing the boat 
  for launch. They might be approached with a proposition 
  – help steal the boat and get a place on it. Or, it may be 
  the travellers who decide to steal the boat and escape, in 
  which case they will be confronted by the crew and armed 
  passengers.
  However it plays out, this scene is likely to present some 
  interesting problems. 
  dealing With the Mutiny
  There are no weapons as such in the launch, but characters 
  may be able to improvise something. They may even be able 
  to talk the mutineers down, but that is unlikely. They are not 
  even dissuaded by things like a jammed bay door – they 
  are desperate and will threaten anyone who gets in the way. 
  Tensions may escalate into violence and that in turn may 
  lead to more lethal force being used. 
  This scene may be a standoff or a brawl. The mutineers 
  may in fact gain control of the launch, though they will not be 
  able to deploy it. If violence has been used, this will present 
  a new problem for the crew to deal with – what to do with 
  the survivors of a mutiny? Do they still get a place on the 
  lifeboat?
  referee:
  Unless the players initiate violence, tension will build 
  steadily during the standoff. The arrival of reinforcements, 
  possibly armed, may defuse the situation before anything 
  serious happens, though already two people have been 
  (mildly) assaulted. Alternatively, dealing violently with 
  one of the mutineers may dissuade the others from trying 
  anything.
  SCene 2: never SAY die (KeY SCene)
  Having dealt with the mutiny and loaded the lifeboat up, it 
  is now possible to launch it. This is not by any means a safe 
  procedure, since the boat must exit into a debris field. Anyone 
  aboard the boat may have to deal with piloting emergencies, 
  collisions with debris and panic among the passengers, but 
  at least they are clear of the liner and now have a chance 
  to escape.
  For those aboard, things are pretty grim. All that it is 
  possible to do is to try to milk the powerplant and the jury-
  rigged drives for all the power they can deliver and try to 
  change vector enough to crashland on SV-2802. There is no 
  reason to be anywhere other than engineering at this point, 
  unless there are still casualties aboard in which case some 
  characters may be tending to them elsewhere (probably sick 
  bay). 
  The Referee should ask for Pilot and Engineering skill rolls 
  from the characters handling these tasks, but the result will 
  be much the same in either case. There is still not enough 
  thrust; either the Duchess Selene will race past SV-2802 
  
  - 25 -
  and fall into Thensall’s atmosphere, or else she will plow 
  straight into the moon at a speed nobody can survive. The 
  pilot has that choice but no others – unless yet more power 
  can be found. 
  It would be possible to rip out all the safety cutouts and let 
  the drive run wild, but that is virtually certain to blow the drive 
  coolant pipes, sending killing-hot vapor howling through the 
  engineering spaces and probably much of the rest of the 
  ship. However, there is no other way. Someone will have 
  to remain in Engineering and con the ship, though they are 
  unlikely to survive long enough to make a landing. 
  Captain Warner has already decided to do this. He asks 
  any engineers or technical people left aboard to rig the drive 
  then get to some other part of the ship. If an engineer or 
  another pilot insists on staying to help, the Captain warns 
  them that they probably won’t survive but allows them to 
  remain. He will not permit anyone to remove him from 
  engineering; this is his ship and he will do what he can to 
  save it, no matter what.
  rigging the drive 
  This is a simple enough task, being a matter of 
  disconnecting all the normal safety interlocks. Any character 
  with Engineering skill can do it, though the moon just minutes 
  away now adds a new urgency to the task. An engineer can 
  tell that if someone remains on station, it might be possible 
  to nurse the drives a little longer before the coolant blows its 
  pipes, but it is an insane risk.
  Making the landing
  The ship is now just four minutes from impact with SV-
  2082.  Each minute, the pilot must make a Pilot check; each 
  success reduces the severity of the crash by one level. If 
  more than one pilot is present, skills may be combined. 
  Each minute, there is a chance that the coolant pipes blow 
  unless the engineer (if any) manages to prevent it. 
   
  The coolant pipes will not necessarily burst if the engineer 
  fails to control the flow, but it is increasingly likely. In the 
  round that the pipes crack, superheated drive coolant starts 
  to spray about the room. Anyone not in a sealed suit will be 
  killed instantly. Suited characters take 3d6 Stamina damage 
  per minute (CT: 2D damage). Armor does not protect against 
  this damage. 
  Each minute after the pipes go, the Referee should roll 
  to see if a second failure occurs. If this is the case then the 
  system fails catastrophically. The room is filled with coolant 
  vapor, killing everyone inside. If the iris valve is open, the 
  rest of the ship may also be flooded with vapor.  If the second 
  failure does not occur, the pilot may keep on trying to fly the 
  ship but the engineer is now redundant and should probably 
  flee – Captain Warner will certainly urge them to! Characters 
  with Engineering skill will know that they have to get out 
  NOW, since the pipes are about to go completely.
  Note that a stage  failure automatically happens in the 
  last minute before landing; if the pipes have not already 
  cracked then travellers in the engineering space may 
  survive, but if the pipes are already leaking it is certain death 
  for everyone!
  In any case, when the pipes go in round 4, Captain Warner 
  takes a full blast and is killed. He will probably be at the 
  emergency conning position to the end, trying to line up his 
  dying ship for a landing. Such is his determination that he 
  is permitted to make the last Pilot roll even if he is dying, 
  and sentimental Referees may decide that this Pilot check 
  is an automatic success. In that case it is as if the ship has 
  forgiven him and seems to level herself out, for surely no 
  pilot could be alive in that cloud of metallic steam…
  It may be that, even if the pipes went early the ship seems 
  to be under control right to the end. The Referee may allow an 
  extra Pilot check to be counted as made, perhaps creating a 
  spooky legend of a ghost Captain still trying to save his ship 
  and earn a measure of redemption for his earlier folly.
  Whatever happens, Duchess Selene goes into the 
  ground, and hard!
  Check  
  Pilot dC(t20)/  
  Coolant Spill 
   
  engineer dC(t20)/
   
   
   
  target number(Ct) 
  (1d6) 
   
   
  target number(Ct)
   
   
   
  0/7+ 
   
   
  4-6 
   
   
  5/9+
  2 
   
   
  5/9+ 
   
   
  3-6 
   
   
  20/+
  3 
   
   
  5/9+ 
   
   
  2-6 
   
   
  25/3+
  4 
   
   
  20/+ 
   
   
  (Automatic) 
   
  No Chance
  For CT Pilot checks, DM is Pilot skill. For Engineering checks, DM is Engineering skill. 
  
  - 26 -
  SCene 3: WitH HiS HAnd On tHe 
  tHrOttle…
  The severity of the crash depends upon how many Pilot 
  checks were made:
   number of Checks 
  Crash Severity
   0 
   
   
  Catastrophic
   1 
   
   
  Devastating
   2 
   
   
  Severe
   3 
   
   
  Serious
   4 
   
   
  Crashlanding
  Catastrophic impact: 
  Everyone aboard is killed; the ship is nothing more than a 
  scattering of debris around SV-2802’s newest crater.
  devastating: 
  The ship goes in at a steep angle and crumples like a 
  discarded drinks can. Survival is highly unlikely. Everyone 
  aboard takes 6d6 Lifeblood damage (CT: 0D damage)
  Severe:
  The ship goes in flat, skips a couple of times, and wraps 
  herself around a rock outcrop. Everyone aboard takes 4d6 
  Lifeblood damage (CT: 7D)
  Serious:
  The ship slams down hard and fetches up against a crater 
  wall. Everyone aboard takes 4d6 Stamina and 2d6 Lifeblood 
  damage (CT: 4D)
  Crashlanding:
  Amazingly, the ship skids in almost under control. She is a 
  structural write-off but actually has some sound compartments 
  capable of holding air. All occupants take d6 Lifeblood and 
  3d6 Stamina damage (CT: 2D)
  On the Ground
  The Duchess Selene comes to rest just  hour, 2 minutes 
  and 23 seconds after Jump emergence. The characters have 
  truly lived through ‘one crowded hour of glorious life’.  
  The situation they find themselves in is not at all good. 
  The ship is down on an inhospitable moon, and is badly 
  wrecked (at best). Everyone aboard is injured, and it is likely 
  that several characters are dead or in a critical condition. 
  The survivors will have to find a way to survive and send a 
  distress signal; not an easy task given how smashed-up the 
  ship is. 
  However, at least some of them are alive, which is more 
  than can be said for Captain John Warner. Characters 
  checking out the remains of the engineering area find him 
  dead in his suit, killed by the escaping coolant vapor as he 
  lined the ship up for landing. He probably was killed well 
  before the crash, yet the ship seemed to be under control 
  right to the end. There is no sensible explanation for this. 
  However, the travellers have some urgent problems to deal 
  with rather than ponder this, such as the need for power, 
  air and water. Soon after the crash, the launch comes in to 
  land since it has nowhere else to go; it does not have the 
  endurance to reach the system’s Mainworld. 
  Now all the travellers have to do is to survive until help 
  arrives, if it ever does.
  
  - 27 -
  ePilOGue: tHe CHAritY OF 
  StrAnGerS
  The survivors are rescued by members of a local 
  belter community
  SCene 1: reSCue!
  Mere hours after the crash, a ship arrives overhead. It 
  is a battered old Type J Seeker belonging to prospectors 
  working this system. They picked up the GK signal but their 
  reply was not received. Following them is an ore shuttle that 
  has been hurriedly dumped out and sent off to the rescue. 
  The Belters land nearby and cautiously approach the 
  wreck. Getting inside, removing casualties and similar tasks 
  might present something of a problem if the Referee feels 
  that the characters have not suffered enough already!
  The Belters have a very rough-and-ready settlement just 
  a few hours’ flight away, and will take the survivors there. 
  Depending on where the Referee decides to locate the 
  adventure, this may be the only settlement in the system, 
  or there may be a bustling major port just a few days’ transit 
  away, with rescue tugs already en route. 
  Alternatively, the Duchess Selene  may have Misjumped 
  much further than anyone suspected. She might be very 
  far from familiar space, or have spent weeks, months, even 
  years in Jump without her crew realizing. Perhaps this 
  adventure might lead to a long voyage homeward or an 
  attempt to make a new life far from Imperial space (in which 
  case the Belters are likely to be aliens of some kind). Perhaps 
  the ship took a one-way trip into the future, so to speak. If 
  so, this adventure could be a gateway to adventures in an 
  entirely different era.
  What happens next is very much another story….
   
    
   
   
  
  - 28 -
  ePiC Adventure CHeCKliSt
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  KeY?
  ACt 1: trAvellinG in StYle
  Scene : Six Days out (Key Scene) 
   
   
  Y
  ACt 2: in tHe unliKelY event OF eMerGenCY…
  Scene : In the Lap of Luxury (Key Scene) 
   
   
  Y
  Scene 2: Please Remain Calm (Key Scene) 
   
   
  Y
  Scene 3: Follow emergency procedures as directed…
  Scene 4: in the event of cabin pressure failure…
  Scene 5: Taking Stock
    
  ACt 3: SAve tHe SHiP!
  Scene : Into The Fray (Key Scene) 
   
   
  Y
  Scene 2: Waking the Dead
  Scene 3: Damage Control
  Scene 4: Information at Last! (Key Scene) 
   
   
  Y
  Scene 5: Preparations (Key Scene) 
   
   
  Y
  ACt 4: HerOiC MeASureS
  Scene : An Almighty Crash (Key Scene)
  Scene 2: The Bridge
  Scene 3: Crisis In The Dining Hall
  Scene 4: A Short Walk And A Long Fall
  Scene 5: Revelations (Key Scene)  
   
   
  Y
  ACt 5: tHe WreCK OF tHe DUCHeSS SeleNe
  Scene : Sauve Qui Peut! (Key Scene) 
   
   
  Y
  Scene 2: Never Say Die (Key Scene) 
   
   
  Y
  Scene 3: With His Hand On The Throttle…
  ePilOGue: tHe CHAritY OF StrAnGerS
  Scene : Rescue!
   
  
  - 29 -
  tHe CASt OF CHArACterS
  tHe CreW OF tHe DUCHeSS 
  SeleNe
  CAPtAin JOHn WArner
  The captain of the Duchess Selene is well known as an 
  efficient and skilful ship’s master. After a 20-year career in 
  the Imperial Navy, he left with the rank of Commander and 
  more than one decoration for valor, and hired on with Tukera 
  Lines. A few years later he was headhunted by Maxos and 
  offered command of a subsidized merchant. Since then he 
  has held a series of commands, most of them prestigious 
  liners. Warner has never served an administrative stint, 
  though he has been through the usual transfer-of-command 
  period of retraining several times. He usually has taught 
  others rather than been taught himself during these periods, 
  and is very highly respected. 
  Warner is the model of a seasoned merchant captain. At 
  62, he is tall and slim, with a ready smile and a word of 
  encouragement to the crew. His gray hair and beard are 
  always neatly trimmed and his uniform would pass any 
  naval inspection. Warner drinks the odd social glass of 
  wine with the passengers, and exchanges amusing stories 
  of his adventures on the spaceways with them, but never 
  quite loses his polite reserve. Even when enthusiastically 
  denouncing the antics of an old shipmate or a particularly 
  idiotic free trader captain, there is always a part of captain 
  Warner that is elsewhere, watching over his precious ship 
  and her crew. 
  referee
  Warner is everything he seems to be: charming, competent 
  and caring. However, he has a problem. He knows that a 
  personnel review is coming up and that most captains of his 
  age are already flying desks or living comfortably as retired 
  Line Commodores. The severance deal and pension that 
  Warner will receive is enormous, but the thought of accepting 
  it frightens him to his soul. He knows that sooner or later he 
  will lose his command, and  that he will not get another one, 
  not with so many talented young officers – some of whom 
  he trained and mentored – coming through the system. If 
  he loses his command he will be on the slippery slope to 
  retirement and oblivion. Thus Walker is desperate to pass 
  this evaluation with higher marks than everyone else, so that 
  Maxos cannot possibly beach him. He would, quite literally, 
  die rather than relinquish this ship. This has led to some 
  rather questionable decisions.
  Captain Warner has a reputation for getting his ship from 
  place to place with greater speed and efficiency than anyone 
  else. Anyone, that is, except captain Alice Rohaii of the 
  courier Tonnere. Rohaii has been knocking hours and even 
  days off her run times for the past few months, and Warner 
  knows she is bucking for command of a liner. He is afraid 
  that she will get his.
  As it happened, Tonnere left the Duchess Selene’s last 
  port of call just ahead of her, carrying mail on the same run. 
  Despite his better judgment, Warner could not resist the 
  challenge. He would show the Personnel Board what he was 
  still capable of by making up time on the courier. She might 
  be faster out to the Jump point, but there are ways to shave 
  hours off a transit. Risky ways, true, but after forty years 
  aboard starships, John Warner knows his business. 
  And so, unknown to the passengers, their ship is involved 
  in a deadly race, and the captain has taken one risk too many. 
  Over-ruling the astrogator, he plotted the Jump himself. It 
  is a masterpiece that will shave hours off the transit. After 
  clearing the Jump Limit by the barest margin, and at full 
  acceleration, the Duchess Selene entered Jump on a vector 
  that will bring her out equally close to her destination, with 
  a perfect least-time approach vector set up. All that remains 
  to do is to decelerate and dock – and accept the grudging 
  admiration of Warner’s rivals. 
  The Jump plot was every bit as tight as Warner thought, 
  and it was almost as perfect as he wanted. However, he 
  missed something. In an effort to shave a few minutes off the 
  port-to-Jump leg, Duchess Selene redlined her drives all 
  the way. There was only a slight risk in doing so, and in the 
  event nothing went wrong. Nothing, that is, except for a tiny 
  fluctuation in the ship’s powerplant output as the maneuver 
  drive was cut at the last possible second and the Jump drive 
  activated. 
  Normally, the power dip would have no effect. It was barely 
  enough to register on instruments, let alone be felt by the crew. 
  But it was just enough to disturb the abnormally tight Jump 
  Plot by a tiny amount. With no margin for error whatsoever, 
  the slightest error could have only one outcome. 
  Duchess Selene has Misjumped – ever so slightly, but 
  with disastrous results.
  Captain John Warner
  (navy level 6/Merchant level 3) tl14 Medium Human
  Stamina 20, Lifeblood 8 Init +0 Speed 6m (4 Squares)
  Armor Class  (+2 Vac Suit - Dex) Armor Rating 2 (Vac 
  Suit)
  Str 7 Dex 8 Con 8 Int 0 Wis 4 Cha 0 Edu 2 Soc 2
  Sv Fort +3 Ref +2 Will +9
  BAB +3
  Skills: P/Admin +, T/Astrogation +0 (+2 with Skill 
  Focus Feat), T/Sensors +0, Leader +9 (+ with Natural 
  Born Leader Feat), Pilot +8, Recruiting +7 (+8 with Natural 
  Born Leader Feat), T/Computer +7, T/Communications +7, 
  Liaison +5 (+7 with Trustworthy Feat), Gather Information 
  
  - 30 -
  +3 (+7 with Carousing Feat and Trustworthy Feat +9 with 
  Connections Feat), K/Interstellar Law +5, T/Mechanical +5, 
  T/Electronics +5 
  Feats: Armor Proficiency (Light, Vac Suit) Weapon 
  Proficiency (Marksman, Laser), Vessel (Starship, Ships Boat, 
  Grav), Natural Born Leader, Ships Tactics, Carousing, Fleet 
  Tactics, Zero G/Low Gravity Adaptation, Barter, Connections 
  (Naval), Skill Focus (T/Astrogation), Trustworthy
  AttACKS:
  Weapon
  Hit
  Dmge
  Rng
  Crit
  ROF
  Rnds
  Snub Pistol
  +2
  D0
  8
  20
  
  6
  Snub Revolver
  +2
  D0
  30
  20
  
  6
  Shotgun
  +2
  3D6/
  2D6/
  D6
  3
  20
  
  6
  Fist
  +2
  D3-2
  20
  CT: John Warner  566788 Human  age 62   terms
  Admin-2, Navigation-3, Leader-2, Pilot-2, Recruiting-2, 
  Computer-2, Liaison-2,  Mechanical-, Electronics-, Vac 
  Suit-, Grav Vehicle-, Ship Tactics-, Laser Weapons-, 
  Pistol-, Shotgun-, Carousing-, Fleet Tactics-, Zero-G 
  Combat-, Streetwise-2.
  FirSt OFFiCer AndreA tASKAii
  A career merchant-service officer with a full master’s ticket, 
  Andrea serves as astrogator and first officer. She has not 
  yet commanded a vessel but is overdue for a captain’s slot. 
  Aged 4, she is a rather matronly looking woman who might 
  be mistaken for a cheerful ship’s head chef at first glance. 
  However, Andrea has 20 years’ experience as a merchant 
  officer, some of it aboard freighters serving roughneck 
  frontier outposts. She prefers to lead with quiet words and 
  clear instructions, but if that fails, she can bite.
  It is an open secret that Andrea is at the top of a very short 
  list to be the next commander of the Duchess Selene. Indeed, 
  Captain Warner has recommended her for a command three 
  years running. Despite his own worries about not getting 
  another ship, he is a fair man who recognizes talent and has 
  always tried to further the career of skilled subordinates. This 
  is one reason why Andrea, who knows the captain about as 
  well as anyone else, thinks so highly of him.
   
  referee
  Andrea’s respect for the captain goes a little too deep; 
  almost to the point of hero-worship. She disagreed with some 
  of his decisions on the run out, but could not bring herself 
  to protest his extremely tight Jump plot. This was partly 
  because she did not want to admit that her mentor could 
  possibly be flawed in his judgment and partly because she 
  wanted to let him show what he could do; she wants Captain 
  Warner to get another command as much as he does. 
  Andrea has another problem too. Her career has finally 
  placed too much strain on her marriage, resulting in a messy 
  divorce and estrangement from her two young-teenage 
  children. This distraction may have been a factor in her 
  misjudgment of Warner’s’ decisions, though in fairness the 
  whole arrangement was within safety margins – just – and 
  the Misjump was simply a matter of bad luck.
  First Officer Andrea Taskaii
  (Merchant level 6) tl14 Medium Human
  Stamina 26, Lifeblood 0, Init +0, Speed 6m (4 Squares)
  Armor Class 2 (+2 Vac Suit), Armor Rating 2 (Vac Suit) 
  Str 0 Dex 0 Con 0 Int 2 Wis  Char 0 Edu 2 Soc 
  0
  Sv Fort+3 Ref+2 Will+3
  BAB +
  Skills: Pilot +0, T/Astrogation +0 (+2 with Skill Focus 
  Feat), T/Computer +0, T/Sensor +0, K/Interstellar Law 
  +0, P/Admin +9, Appraise +9, Gather Information +9 (+ 
  with Carousing Feat or Connections Feat), Liaison +9
  Feats: Armor Proficiency (Vac Suit, Light), Weapon 
  Proficiency (Marksman), Barter, Vessel (Starship, Ships Boat, 
  Grav), Carousing, Skill Focus (Astrogation), Ships Tactics, 
  Connections (Merchants), ZeroG/Low Grav Adaptation
  AttACKS:
  Weapon
  Hit
  Dmge
  Rng
  Crit
  ROF
  Rnds
  Snub Pistol
  +
  D0
  8
  20
  
  6
  Snub Revolver
  +
  D0
  30
  20
  
  6
  Shotgun
  +
  3D6/2D6/
  D6
  3
  20
  
  6
  Fist
  +
  D3
  20
  CT: Andrea Taskaii  777887 Human  age 4  6 terms
  Pilot-2, Navigation-3, Computer-2, Admin-2, Carousing-2, 
  Liaison-2, Vac Suit-, Pistol-0, Shotgun-0, Grav Vehicle-, 
  Ship Tactics-, Zero-G Combat-0, Streetwise-2.
  CHieF enGineer KArGHAzz SezrHK
  Despite the obviously Vargr name, Karghazz is a human 
  from a thoroughly intermixed human-vargr society. At 28 he 
  is rather young for his post, especially since he also fills the 
  Second Officer slot aboard Duchess Selene. He is, however, 
  well qualified and thus far has lived up to his impressive 
  references. Karghazz is extremely ambitious, planning to 
  make First Officer by 30 and Captain within 5 years after 
  that. Judging by his career so far, he might indeed manage 
  it.
  Karghazz takes care to appear the model merchant officer, 
  deliberately styling himself after the captain. His oft-repeated 
  phrase ‘the Captain wouldn’t like that’ is sometimes parodied 
  by other crewmembers, since when trying to ape the grave 
  
  - 3 -
  dignity of a 40-year merchant officer he sometimes comes 
  over as a little hysterical. 
  Karghazz is not that well liked aboard Duchess Selene. 
  This is his first cruise and he has made several pointless 
  changes just to show who’s boss in his department. He also 
  tends to lord it over the ‘lower orders’ (the gunners) and to 
  be a little mean to the deck personnel (stewards and medic) 
  since they are just glorified restaurateurs, not real spacers. 
  Despite his arrogance and a measure of overconfidence, 
  Karghazz is actually very good at what he does. The captain 
  rather likes him, and is quietly trying to show the young 
  engineer a better way to behave towards his peers without the 
  embarrassment of a good talking-to. Of course, the captain 
  doesn’t have to work with him every day… those who do find 
  themselves wishing Karghazz would be summoned to the 
  captain’s office for a thunderbolt on a pretty regular basis. 
  referee:
  Karghazz is pretty much as presented here. He was not 
  the least bit dismayed at the captain’s decisions; he relished 
  the chance to show what he could do and will not hear a 
  word of criticism about what happened  directed at himself 
  or the captain. The pilot may be at fault, or the astrogator, 
  but nobody else…
  Chief engineer Karghazz Sezrhk
  (Merchant level 6) tl14 Medium Human
  Stamina 24, Lifeblood 0, Init+0, Speed 6m (4 Squares)
  Armor Class 2 (+2 Vac Suit), Armor Rating 2 (Vac Suit)
  Str 0 Dex 0 Con 0 Int  Wis  Char 0 Edu 2 Soc 
  0
  Sv Fort+3 Ref+2 Will+3
  BAB +
  Skills: T/Engineering +0, T/Mechanical +0 (+2 with 
  Gearhead Feat), T/Electronics +0 (+2 with Gearhead 
  Feat), T/Gravitics +0, T/Computer +0, P/Engineer +9, 
  K/Starship Construction +6, Astrogation +6, Pilot +5, K/
  Interstellar Law +4, 
  Feats: Armor Proficiency (Vac, Suit, Light), Weapon 
  Proficiency (Marksman), Barter, Vessel (Grav), Gearhead, 
  Jury Rig, Miracle Worker, Connections (Engineers), Zero 
  G/ Low Grav Adaptation, Improved Zero G/ Low Grav 
  Adaptation, Naval Architect
  AttACKS:
  Weapon
  Hit
  Damage
  Rng
  Crit
  ROF
  Rnds
  Snub Pistol
  +
  D0
  8
  20
  
  6
  Snub Revolver
  +
  D0
  30
  20
  
  6
  Shotgun
  +
  3D6/2D6/
  D6
  3
  20
  
  6
  Fist
  +
  20
  CT: Karghazz Sezrhk  777787 Human  age 28  3 terms
  Engineering-2, Mechanical-3, Electronics-3, Gravitics-
  2, Computer-2, Navigation-, Pilot-, Vac Suit-, Pistol-0, 
  Shotgun-0, Grav Vehicle-0, Zero-G Combat-0.
  GunnerY OFFiCer BAr GurlPHen
  An ex-Imperial Marine sergeant aged 38, Bar is acutely 
  embarrassed that her first name is actually ‘Barbie’; she 
  never admits to this unless she has to. Bar served with 
  some distinction for 6 years in the Imperial Marine Corps 
  before mustering-out just ahead of an investigation into an 
  inappropriate relationship with one of her section leaders, 
  to whom she is now married. Injured in action on more than 
  one occasion, Bar walks with a slight limp and sometimes 
  explodes into soldierly swearing if she catches her left ankle 
  on something. This is just one of several tender or damaged 
  spots that she bears as badges or honor. 
  As well as gunnery officer, Bar is responsible for shipboard 
  security in her capacity as Third Officer. She, the Captain 
  and the First Officer have access keys to all weapons lockers 
  aboard ship, and to the ship’s locker. Bar takes her duties 
  seriously but enjoys life aboard ship to the full. She works 
  out hard to avoid putting on weight thanks to the excellent 
  cuisine, and is developing quite a palate for fine wine. She 
  disapproves of Karghazz but tolerates him as best she can. 
  referee:
  Whilst Bar is willing to put up with abuse directed at herself, 
  she does not like Karghazz picking on her subordinates. 
  Several ‘quiet words’ have failed to sort this problem out 
  and, chain of command or no, she secretly wants to teach 
  him some respect, Marine Corps style. If Karghazz pushes 
  matters too far, Bar will lose her temper with him sooner or 
  later and beat him to a bloody pulp.
  Gunnery Officer Bar Gurlphen
  (Marine level 5) tl12 Medium Human
  Stamina 43, Lifeblood 3, Init +, Speed 6m (4 Squares)
  Armor Class 8 (+7 Combat Environment Suit + Dex), 
  Armor Rating 7 (Combat Environment Suit)
  Str 2 Dex 2 Con 2 Int 0 Wis  Cha 0 Edu 0 Soc 
  0
  Sv Fort +5 Ref +2 Will +3
  BAB +5
  Skills: Gunnery +8, Demolitions +6, Forward Observer +4, 
  Spot +4, Survival +3, Pilot +0
  Feats: Armor Proficiency (Light, Medium, Vac Suit), 
  Weapon 
  Proficiency 
  (Marksman, 
  Combat 
  Rifleman, 
  Swordsman, Ships Weapons) Weapon Focus (Cutlass, 
  Shotgun), Weapon Specialisation (Shotgun), Toughness, 
  Brawling, Zero G Combat, Vessel (Grav)
  
  - 32 -
  AttACKS:
  Weapon
  Hit
  Damage
  Rng
  Crit
  ROF
  Rnds
  Snub Pistol
  +6
  D0
  8
  20
  
  6
  Snub Revolver
  +6
  D0
  30
  20
  
  6
  Shotgun
  +7
  3D6+2/
  2D6/D6
  3
  20
  
  6
  Cutlass
  +7
  D8+
  8x2
  Fist
  +6
  D4+
  20
  CT: Bar Gurlphen  888777 Human  age 38  5 terms
  Gunnery-2, Demolitions-, Forward Observer-, Survival-
  1, Pilot-0, Vac Suit-1, Pistol-2, Combat Rifleman-2, Cutlass-
  2, Brawling-, Zero-G Combat-, Grav Vehicle-.
  CHieF 
  PilOt 
  PAul 
  vAuBAn-
  tAnderHOltz
  Despite his rather impressive name, Paul hails from a 
  poor family and has done well for himself in finding such 
  a prestigious career. He learned his trade as a pilot in the 
  Scout Service, serving 2 years with Communications 
  Branch. Paul did his share of stints as an Xboat pilot and 
  acquired some habits he has never shaken. Some are 
  unpleasantly personal, such as rarely changing his socks 
  and picking his nose in public, so the captain generally tries 
  to keep Paul away from passengers. Despite five years 
  in service to Maxos, Paul has never quite got the hang of 
  formal uniform. He manages to make even his dress uniform 
  look a bit scruffy, and constantly loses his hat.
  Paul cannot stand an open door. Or jar, or closet, or 
  anything else that can be shut, secured or dogged down. 
  His obsession with closing things can be annoying. He 
  also insists on eating all the food of one type on his plate 
  before moving on to the next; for example, peas then meat, 
  potatoes then broccoli. He sleeps with the light on, too, but 
  will not explain why.
  Despite all this Paul is a very fine pilot with an excellent 
  record, and is well respected among the crew. 
  referee:
  Paul spent a little too much time alone in Jumpspace with 
  an over-active imagination. He suffers from nightmares from 
  time to time and is seriously afraid of the dark, though the 
  black of space does not bother him. By no means a ‘flake’, 
  Paul is just an ordinary individual with a few little quirks.  
  Chief Pilot Paul vauban-tanderholtz
  (Scout level 6) tl14 Medium Human
  Stamina 33, Lifeblood 0, Init +, Speed 6m (4 Squares)
  Armor Class 3 (+2 Vac Suit + Dex), Armor Rating 2 (Vac 
  Suit)
  Str 0 Dex 2 Con  Int  Wis 0 Cha 9 Edu 0 Soc 0
  Sv Fort +2 Ref +4 Will +3
  BAB +4
  Skills: Pilot +0 (+2 with Skill Focus Feat), T/Sensor +9, T/
  Communications +9, P/Survey +8, Gunnery +5, Survival+5
  Feats: Armor Proficiency (Vac Suit, Light), Weapon 
  Proficiency (Marksman, Ships Weapons), Vessel (Starship, 
  Ships Boat, Grav), ZeroG/Low Grav Adaptation, Brawling, 
  JoT, Skill Focus (Pilot)
  AttACKS:
  Weapon
  Hit
  Dmge
  Rng
  Crit
  ROF
  Rnds
  Snub Pistol
  +5
  D0
  8
  20
  
  6
  Snub Revolver
  +5
  D0
  30
  20
  
  6
  Shotgun
  +5
  3D6/2D6/
  D6
  3
  20
  
  6
  Fist
  +6
  D4
  20
  CT: Paul Vauban-Tanderholtz  787777 Human  age 35  4 
  terms
  Pilot-3, Commo-2, Gunnery-, Survival-, Vac Suit-, 
  Pistol-, Shotgun-, Grav- Vehicle-, Brawling-, Jot-, 
  Zero-G Combat-0.
  MediCAl OFFiCer HArGz enver
  Hargz is a Vargr with a complex and convoluted 
  career history. After a stint in the corporate sector as an 
  administrator, he attended University and obtained a degree 
  in Medical Administration, which led first to a job in a hospital 
  and later to volunteer work with an aid agency. Five years 
  in the refugee camps and disaster-rescue trauma centers 
  were enough for him, so he took a series of jobs aboard free 
  traders, leading eventually to better berths aboard vessels 
  like Duchess Selene. As a result Hargz, who has no place 
  in the chain of command, is the member of the crew best 
  suited to dealing with a disaster like the one going on around 
  them. 
  Hargz is approaching middle age rather rapidly. Along with 
  the graying muzzle and a few obvious old injuries (including 
  one time when he was accidentally shot), he is rather tubby 
  and normally appears a bit slow to get going. That changes 
  as the crisis deepens, but by nature Hargz is easygoing 
  and extremely laid back. He is also a champion gold-bricker 
  when nothing serious is going on, and tends to try to get 
  others to do his work for him. This will go against him when 
  he issues orders. 
  referee: 
  Hargz is as presented; a middle-aged, lazy but good-
  natured Vargr whose long experience as a trauma medic 
  will gradually come to the surface as the situation goes on. 
  Hargz may be destined for a hero’s role if anyone can be 
  persuaded to take him seriously.
  
  - 33 -
  Medical Officer Hargz Enver
  (Professional level 6) tl12 Medium vargr
  Stamina 26, Lifeblood 0, Init +0, Speed 6m (4 Squares)
  Armor Class 2 (+2 Vac Suit), Armor Rating 2 (Vac Suit)
  Str 0 Dex  Con 0 Int  Wis 2 Cha  Edu 2 Soc 
  0
  Sv Fort +2 Ref +2 Will +5
  BAB +
  Skills: T/Medical +0 (+2 with Skill Focus Feat), K/Low 
  Berth Revival Procedures +0, K/Trauma Diagnosis +0, K/
  Trauma Care +0, P/Medic +0, P/Admin +0, T/Computer 
  +0, Drive +6, Liaison +6 (+8 with Trustworthy Feat), Pilot 
  +0
  Feats: Armor Proficiency (Light, Vac Suit), Weapon 
  Proficiency (Swordsman), Professional Speciality (T/
  Medical), Skill Focus (T/Medical), Trustworthy, Connections 
  (Aid Agency), Surgery, Vessel (Wheeled, Grav)
  AttACKS:
  Weapon
  Hit
  Dmge
  Rng
  Crit
  ROF
  Rnds
  Snub Pistol
  +
  D0
  8
  20
  
  6
  Snub Revolver
  +
  D0
  30
  20
  
  6
  Shotgun
  +
  3D6/
  2D6/D6
  3
  20
  
  6
  Cutlass
  +
  D8
  8x2
  Fist
  +
  D3
  20
  CT: Hargz Enver  777787 Vargr  age 35  4 terms
  Medical-3, Admin-2, Computer-2, Liaison-2, Vac Suit-0, 
  Cutlass-0, Pistol-0, Shotgun-0, Whelled Vehicle-0, Grav 
  Vehicle-0
  CHieF SteWArd/PurSer KiM 
  FelderMAnn
  Kim Feldermann is a 27-year-old career steward. She 
  is one of the best, though some people assume that she 
  was hired for her looks. She has been aboard the Duchess 
  Selene longer than any other crewmember; 6 years in total, 
  having come aboard virtually out of merchant academy. This 
  can lead to a rather possessive attitude towards ‘her’ ship. 
  She can also be rather fussy about disruptions and mess, but 
  is realistic enough to go along with whatever is necessary to 
  preserve the safety of the passengers and the ship.
  Kim hates Karghazz with a passion, though she is just 
  about able to remain professional in his presence. 
  referee:
  Kim is scared as hell; this kind of thing doesn’t happen 
  aboard nice ships like Duchess Selene. However, she knows 
  her duty is to the passengers and will do her best for them. 
  Although she knows what to do, she is no leader and will 
  probably not be much use in keeping people calm or getting 
  them to do whatever is necessary. She may become angry 
  or frustrated when a passenger cannot manage Rescue Ball 
  Drill, even though she taught them it properly, right out of 
  the manual. Kim’s increasingly determined efforts to help will 
  probably be a nuisance to those who actually know what to 
  do, but her heart is in the right place. 
  If Kim discovers that the captain endangered the crew and 
  passengers by his actions, she will become insanely angry 
  and may even attack him.
  Chief Steward/Purser Kim Feldermann
  (Merchant level 3) tl12 Medium Human
  Stamina 2, Lifeblood 0 Init +0 Speed 6m (4 Squares)
  Armour Class 2 (+2 Vac Suit), Armor Rating 2 (Vac Suit)
  Str 9 Dex 0 Con 0 Int 2 Wis 0 Cha 4 Edu  Soc 0
  Sv Fort +2 Ref + Will +2
  BAB +0
  Skills: Gather Information +8 (+0 with Carousing Feat), 
  Broker +8 (+0 with Barter Feat) K/Interstellar Law +8, 
  Liaison +8, Bluff +8, Bribery +8, T/Computer +6, Appraise 
  +5, P/Admin +3, Pilot +0
  Feats: Armor Proficiency (Light, Vac Suit), Weapon 
  Proficiency (Marksman), Barter, Steward, Chief Steward, 
  Carousing, Vessel (Grav)
  AttACKS:
  Weapon
  Hit
  Damage
  Rng
  Crit
  ROF
  Rnds
  Snub Pistol
  +0
  D0
  8
  20
  
  6
  Snub 
  Revolver
  +0
  D0
  30
  20
  
  6
  Shotgun
  +0
  3D6/2D6/
  D6
  3
  20
  
  6
  Fist
  +0
  D3-
  20
  CT: Kim Feldermann  677877 Human  age 27  2 terms
  Streetwise-2, Steward-2, Bribery-2, Computer-, Admin-, 
  Vac Suit-0, Pistol-0, Shotgun-0, Carousing-, Grav Vehicle-
  0.
  ASSiStAnt 
  enGineer 
  euGenie 
  MidrAASCiAA
  Eugenie is a recent Maxos hiring. She is 22, just out of 
  university with a shiny new degree in Starship Engineering 
  and Applied Gravitics, and is painfully aware of her lack of 
  experience. She is a good theoretical engineer but has yet 
  to develop the almost reflexive habits of an experienced 
  officer; she can get the job done but in a by-the-book, 
  unsure-of-herself sort of way. Karghazz has not helped this 
  much, spending more time showing her how clever he is 
  than actually helping her become good at the job. Despite 
  this, or perhaps because of it, Eugenie has a crush on her 
  superior and follows his lead with complete faith.
  referee:
  Eugenie is skilled and dedicated, but young and easily led. 
  
  - 34 -
  She will do her best at all times and, if she can be persuaded 
  to see the sense of what someone is saying, may even go 
  against Khargaz’ opinion. 
  Assistant engineer eugenie Midraasciaa
  (Professional level 3) tl12 Medium Human
  Stamina 4, Lifeblood 0, Init +0, Speed 6m (4 Squares)
  Armour Class 2 (+2 Vac Suit), Armor Rating 2 (Vac Suit)
  Str 9 Dex 0 Con 0 Int  Wis 0 Cha 0 Edu 2 Soc 0
  Sv Fort + Ref + Will +3
  BAB +0
  Skills: T/Engineering +7, T/Mechanical +7 (+9 with 
  Gearhead Feat), T/Electronics +7 (+9 with Gearhead Feat), 
  T/Gravitics +7, T/Computer +7, K/Applied Gravitics +5, T/
  Communications +5, P/Engineer +4 Gambling +3, Pilot +3
  Feats: Armor Proficiency (Light, Vac Suit), Professional 
  Speciality (T/Engineering) Gearhead, Jury Rig, Zero G/Low 
  Grav Adaptation, Vessel (Grav)  
  AttACKS:
  Weapon
  Hit
  Damage
  Rng
  Crit
  ROF
  Rnds
  Snub Pistol
  -4
  D0
  8
  20
  
  6
  Snub 
  Revolver
  -4
  D0
  30
  20
  
  6
  Shotgun
  -4
  3D6/2D6/
  D6
  3
  20
  
  6
  Fist
  +0
  D3-
  20
  CT: Eugenie Midraasciaa  677787 Human  age 22   term
  Engineering-, Mechanical-2, Electronics-2, Computer-, 
  Gambling-, Vac Suit-0, Grav Vehicle-0, Pistol-0, Shotgun-
  0.
  HeAd CHeF JAniCe COllinS
  Janice Collins was once a senior chef at the Dukh Imperial 
  Hotel, but moved on after becoming rather bored with the 
  post. She found the life of a liner chef much more to her 
  liking, and now commands a top salary as the main reason 
  Maxos Shipping has such a good reputation for cuisine. 
  Most stewards serve a period aboard whichever ship she is 
  assigned to as part of their ongoing training. 
  One of Janice’s talents is the ability to make healthy food 
  and even special diet items taste like little slices of heaven. 
  Perhaps this is how she manages to remain slim despite 
  eating her own food in fairly large quantities. An extremely 
  attractive redhead of 39, she mingles with the passengers 
  and either flirts politely or discusses Imperial Politics, a 
  personal interest of hers.
  referee:
  Janice left her old job after then end of an affair with one 
  of the hotel’s senior managers; the fallout made things 
  awkward. She likes the liner life for many reasons, not least 
  because it allows her to have a series of no-strings liaisons 
  then move on without messing up her life again. She would 
  not consider an affair with another crewmember, having had 
  her fingers burned before, but passengers are fair game. 
  Janice does not really like Ohtorm very much, but respects 
  his abilities enough to learn from him even as she teaches 
  him her skills.
   
  Head Chef Janice Collins
  (Professional level 2) tl12 Medium Human
  Stamina 0, Lifeblood 0 Init +0 Speed 6m (4 Squares)
  Armor Class 0 (No Armor)
  Str 0 Dex 0 Con 0 Int  Wis 0 Cha 4 Edu  Soc 
  2
  Sv Fort +0 Ref +0 Will +3 
  BAB +0
  Skills: Liaison +7 (+9 with Trustworthy Feat), P/Chef +5 
  (+7 with Skill Focus Feat), K/Cookery +5, K/Dietary Needs 
  +5, K/Imperial Politics +5 Gather Information +2 (+4 with 
  Trustworthy Feat), Sense Motive +2, K/Dukh Imperial Hotels 
  +2, Pilot +0
  Feats: Armor Proficiency (Light), Professional Speciality 
  (P/Chef), Skill Focus (P/Chef), Credit Line, Trustworthy, 
  Vessel (Grav)
  AttACKS:
  Weapon
  Hit
  Damage
  Rng
  Crit
  ROF
  Rnds
  Snub Pistol
  -4
  D0
  8
  20
  
  6
  Snub Revolver
  -4
  D0
  30
  20
  
  6
  Shotgun
  -4
  3D6/2D6/
  D6
  3
  20
  
  6
  Fist
  +0
  D3
  20
  CT: Janice Collins   Human  age 39  5 terms
  Liaison-2, Steward-2, Streetwise-, Grav Vehicle-, 
  Carousing-2, Pistol-0, Shotgun-0.
  SteWArd OHtOrM tAiSuui
  Ohtorm is actually rather old to be a ‘mere’ steward. He is a 
  fully qualified Shumgili (Traditional Vilani chef) with 15 years 
  of experience. His next assignment, assuming he receives 
  a favorable report from Janice, will probably be as a head 
  chef in his own right. He is adept at cooking conventional as 
  well as traditional Vilani dishes, and while he has learned a 
  lot from Janice he is still rather too sure that the cruise was a 
  formality and that the senior job is his by right. His arrogance 
  is not much appreciated by Janice nor by Karghazz, who 
  sees him as a jumped-up plate-passer. 
  referee:
  Ohtorm is not a bad sort really, but he is a bit too impressed 
  with his Shumgili qualifications. He has no real idea what to 
  do in a crisis and will look after his own safety first.
  
  - 35 -
  Steward Ohtorm taisuui
  (Professional level 2) tl12 Medium Human
  Stamina , Lifeblood 0 Init +0 Speed 6m (4 Squares)
  Armor Class 0 (No Armor)
  Str 9 Dex 0 Con 0 Int 0 Wis 2 Cha 9 Edu 0 Soc 
  Sv Fort+0 Ref +0 Will +4
  BAB +0
  Skills P/Chef +6, P/Shumgili +6 (+8 with Skill Focus Feat), 
  K/Cookery +5, K/Dietary Needs +5, K/Vilani History +5 , K/
  Herbalist +5, Gambling +4 (+5 with Dumb Luck Feat), Gather 
  Information +2 (+4 with Research Feat or Connections Feat), 
  Pilot +0
  Feats: Armor Proficiency (Light), Professional Speciality 
  (P/Shumgili), Connections (Shumgili Chefs), Research, 
  Dumb Luck, First Aid, Vessel (Grav)
  AttACKS:
  Weapon
  Hit
  Damage
  Rng
  Crit
  Rnds
  Snub Pistol
  -4
  D0
  8
  20
  
  6
  Snub Revolver
  -4
  D0
  30
  20
  
  6
  Shotgun
  -4
  3D6/2D6/
  D6
  3
  20
  
  6
  Fist
  +0
  D3-
  20
  CT: Ohtorm Taisuui  677777 Human  age 33  4 terms
  Steward-2, Gambling-, Streetwise-, Medical-, Grav 
  Vehicle-0, Pistol-0, Shotgun-0.
  Gunner SiMOn tASKer
  Simon is the ship’s defensive gunner; an expert with 
  sandcasters though he can operate other weapons too. 
  He is 26, and signed on with Maxos after a 4-year term in 
  the Imperial Navy. Simon’s service was undistinguished, as 
  that of a sandcaster gunner aboard a tanker is likely to be. 
  However, he is competent and well liked by the captain. There 
  are so many reasons there for Karghazz to hate Simon, but 
  in fact of all the ‘lower orders’, Simon is the one with whom 
  the chief engineer has the least friction. 
  Simon is a rather boisterous young man who tends to talk 
  too fast and too loudly when he is excited about something, 
  which is most of the time. He has difficulty sitting still, and 
  the concept of having to wait and see about anything is 
  sheer agony to him. In addition to his gunnery duties, Simon 
  is the ship’s designated Cargomaster. This means he is 
  responsible for stowing and securing all cargo,  and for 
  supervising the loading ‘bots in port. 
  referee:
  Simon has no major secrets. He likes and respects the 
  captain and is strongly attracted to both Janice and Kim, 
  though it has been made fairly clear to him that he has 
  no chance with either of them. In a crisis he tends to rush 
  around a lot but achieve little unless he has clear orders 
  from someone. He is probably the easiest of the crew to 
  obtain cooperation from since he is grateful to have a clear 
  task to perform.
  Gunner Simon tasker
  (navy level 3) tl14 Medium Human
  Stamina 5, Lifeblood 0, Init +0 Speed 6m (4 Squares)
  Armor Class 2 (+2 Vac Suit) Armor Rating 2 (Vac Suit)
  Str  Dex 0 Con 0 Int  Wis  Cha 0 Edu  Soc 
  
  Sv Fort + Ref + Will +3
  BAB +
  Skills: Gunnery +6 (+8 with Skill Focus Feat), T/Sensors 
  +6, Forward Observer +6, P/Admin +6, T/Computer +6, T/
  Electronics +6, Liaison +3, T/Communications +3, Pilot +0
  Feats: Armor Proficiency (Light, Vac Suit), Weapon 
  Proficiency (Marksman, Laser Ships Weapons), Skill 
  Focus (Gunnery), Damage Control, (Zero G/Low Gravity 
  Adaptation, Zero G Combat, Vessel (Grav)
  AttACKS:
  Weapon
  Hit
  Damage
  Rng
  Crit
  ROF
  Rnds
  Snub Pistol
  +
  D0
  8
  20
  
  6
  Snub Revolver
  +
  D0
  30
  20
  
  6
  Shotgun
  +
  3D6/2D6/
  D6
  3
  20
  
  6
  Fist
  +
  D3
  20
  CT: Simon Tasker  777777 Human  age 26  2 terms
  Gunnery-2, Forward Observer-, Admin-, Electronics-, 
  Liaison-, Vac Suit-, Pistol-0, Shotgun-0, Zero-G Combat-
  0, Grav Vehicle-0.
  Gunner Silven uutAMi
  Silven is a human of almost totally pure Vilani blood, 
  but culturally she is an Imperial citizen first and a Vilani 
  second. She comes from a well-off but not noble family in 
  Core sector, and joined the merchant service right out of 
  school. Now, at 23 she is not only a gunner but also the 
  ship’s unofficial Master-at-Arms. This essentially means 
  she gets to clean and look after the security weapons; not 
  a great honor. However, Silven is also the captain’s escort 
  when necessary for security or just to impress people. She is 
  also responsible for dealing with ‘difficult’ passengers using 
  techniques ranging from restraint holds, Tranq rounds from 
  a snub pistol and the application of a shock baton up to (in 
  theory) lethal force if the safety of the ship is compromised.
  Silven is ‘determinedly athletic’. That is to say, on a ship 
  like Duchess Selene it can be difficult to keep in shape so 
  she not only makes time to work out in the ship’s tiny gym but 
  also finds ways to train during the day. If there is something 
  heavy to be moved, Silven wants in. She will go over a 
  cargo crate rather than round it, just for the extra physical 
  effort. She is no longer permitted to climb the cargo-handling 
  
  - 36 -
  chains after a near-accident some months ago, but she will 
  find every other excuse to climb, swing, scramble, lift and 
  push everything in sight. The exercise is not only good for 
  her; she loves it. To most observers she is a manic bundle of 
  energy without much brain power; someone who finds hard 
  ways to do easy things. Those that know her just accept 
  that’s how she is. 
  referee:
  As a result of her willingness to volunteer for every job that 
  requires scrambling into a high or awkward place, Silven 
  knows all the little corners of the ship and can get in and 
  out of even the most inaccessible corners of the ventilation 
  and fuel-feed system. She does tend to take a head-on 
  approach to problems unless redirected, assuming that 
  muscle and guts can overcome any difficulty. She does not 
  know the meaning of the words ‘give up’, ‘hopeless’, or ‘take 
  a breather’.
  Gunner Silven uutami
  (Merchant level 3) tl14 Medium Human
  Stamina 6, Lifeblood 2 Init +2 Speed 6m (4 Squares)
  Armor Class 5 (+2 Vac Suit +2 Dex + Dodge Feat) Armor 
  Rating 2 (Vac Suit)
  Str 2 Dex 4 Con 2 Int 9 Wis  Cha 0 Edu 0 Soc 
  Sv Fort +3 Ref +3 Will +2
  BAB +0
  Skills: T/Sensors +6, K/Shipboard Security +6, Liaison 
  +6, Bluff +6, P/Personal Security +6, K/Interstellar Law +6, 
  Gunnery +3, Survival +3, Pilot +0
  Feats: Armor Proficiency (Light, Vac Suit) Weapon 
  Proficiency (Marksman, Ships Weapons), Barter, Brawling, 
  Dodge, Zero G/Low Gravity Adaptation, Zero G Combat, 
  Vessel (Grav)
  AttACKS:
  Weapon
  Hit
  Damage
  Rng
  Crit
  ROF
  Rnds
  Snub Pistol
  +2
  D0
  8
  20
  
  6
  Snub 
  Revolver
  +2
  D0
  30
  20
  
  6
  Shotgun
  +2
  3D6/2D6/
  D6
  3
  20
  
  6
  Fist
  +3
  D4+
  20
  CT: Silven Uutami  898677 Human  age 23   term
  Gunnery-, Liaison-, Survival-, Vac Suit-0, Pistol-, 
  Shotgun-, Brawling-, Zero-G combat-.
  tHe HiGH PASSenGerS
  Duchess Selene is carrying passengers in seven 
  staterooms; six individuals and a couple with their young 
  family. By the time of the Jump emergence, all the passengers 
  will at least be vaguely familiar to one another. 
  tHe Jen’GOurrH FAMilY
  A young Vargr couple and their two new cubs, traveling 
  to visit relatives before relocating to new jobs with a large 
  corporation. 
  GrAnzH Jen’GOurrH
  A 29-year-old Vargr, Granzh is a career penpusher with 
  few aspirations beyond climbing the corporate ladder. He is 
  rather too impressed with his own achievements, including 
  his recent promotion, his beautiful young wife and their two 
  gorgeous cubs. Granzh is all too willing to tell tales of his 
  success at climbing the corporate ladder, knowing when 
  to switch from Squash to Golf, and other anecdotes laced 
  with advice on how to get ahead in the harsh world of office 
  cubicles and cut-throat staff meetings. 
   
  Granzh is condescending towards the crew and respectful 
  to the captain. The officers are treated as buddies and equals 
  until Granzh can get one over on them. Fellow passengers 
  are subject to the same categories; those that might be 
  useful are cultivated as buddies, the rest are kept in their 
  place. 
  referee:
  Granzh is very much what he seems to be; a corporate 
  weasel of the worst kind. If it came to it, he would put his 
  own safety ahead even his family’s. Once things start to 
  happen he will re-evaluate who can be useful to him and 
  latch onto them – until they make a mistake. 
  t20: Granz Jen’gourrh
  tl12 Medium vargr
  Stamina 2, Lifeblood 9; Init +; Speed 2m (8 squares);
  Armor Class:  (+ dex), Armor Rating: 0
  Str 8, Dex 3, Con 9, Int 0, Wis , Cha 0, Edu 2, Soc 
  , Prestige 8
  SV Fort +0; Ref +2; Will +4;
  AttACKS:
  Weapon
  Hit
  Damage
  Rng
  Crit
  ROF
  Rnds
  Claw
  +3
  d4-
  --
  20/x2
  --
  --
  Bite
  +3
  d6+2
  --
  20/x2
  --
  --
  Skills: Bluff +4, E/sportsman +4, Gather Info +4, K/corporate 
  Culture +8, P/administration +0, Pilot +5, Recruiting +4, T/
  computer +8.
  Feats: Armor Proficiency (Light), Vessel (Grav), Carousing, 
  Connections (Corporate), Dumb Luck, Professional Specialty 
  (P/Administration), Research/Corporate, Skill Focus (P/
  Administration).
  
  - 37 -
  Equipment: 
  Personal 
  Hand 
  Computer, 
  Personal 
  Communicator, Several Expensive Business Suits.
  CT: Granz Jen’gourrh  596787 Vargr  age 29  2.75 terms
  Admin-2, Carousing-2, Computer-, Grav Vehicle-0, 
  Blade-0, Pistol-0
  linvArGH Jen’GOurrH
  Linvargh is 22, and (to other Vargr at least), absolutely 
  gorgeous. She comes from a fairly low-status family and 
  knows how lucky she was to find an excellent match like 
  Granzh – this has been made clear to her many times by her 
  family and her new husband. She has bought into this – and 
  is sufficiently impressed with Granzh –  to the extent that she 
  is constantly delighted at her good fortune, and is completely 
  besotted with her husband. 
  Linvargh’s two cubs are the final blessing as far as she 
  is concerned; things couldn’t be any better. She owes it all 
  to her corporate knight, who took her from low status and 
  gave her this wonderful life. She will not believe a word said 
  against him.
  referee:
  Linvargh is as presented. Her husband feels his status 
  would suffer if people knew how lowly his wife’s background 
  actually was, so he is educating her in how to be a perfect 
  ‘society’ wife. He is almost always gentle and considerate 
  rather than critical in tone, giving her no reason to resent 
  his constant corrections. She still has a long way to go, 
  however, so Granzh discourages his wife from having too 
  much contact with others. 
  t20: linvargh Jen’gourrh
  (Professional 3) tl12 Medium vargr
  Stamina 7, Lifeblood 8; Init +2; Speed 2m (8 squares);
  Armor Class: 2 (+2 dex), Armor Rating: 0
  Str 7, Dex 4, Con 8, Int 0, Wis 9, Cha 5, Edu 0, Soc 
  8, Prestige 6
  SV Fort +0; Ref +3; Will +2;
  AttACKS:
  Weapon
  Hit
  Damage
  Rng
  Crit
  ROF
  Rnds
  Claw
  +2
  d4-2
  --
  20/x2
  --
  --
  Bite
  +2
  d6+
  --
  20/x2
  --
  --
  Skills: Appraise +6, C/Cooking +6, E/Nursery Rhymes +8, 
  Listen +4, Pilot +5, P/Housewife +7, Search +3, T/Medical 
  +3.
  Feats: Armor Proficiency (Light), Vessel (Grav), Carousing, 
  First Aid, Professional Specialty (P/Housewife), Skill Focus 
  (P/Housewife), Trustworthy.
  Equipment: Personal Communicator, Several Expensive 
  Dresses, Diaper Bag, Several Changes Of Clothing For 
  Cubs.
  CT: Linvargh Jen’gourrh  595775 Vargr  age 22   term
  Medical-, Steward-2, Computer-0, Grav Vehicle-0
  GArGH And JAzGH
  A pair of adorable -month old cubs, Gargh and Jazgh are 
  much like babies everywhere; they can crawl pretty fast and 
  can sort of toddle a bit – just far enough to fall on something. 
  They also tend to chew things, as might be expected. 
  referee:
  Gargh and Jazgh are babies. Interactions with them will 
  mainly be confined to clearing up vomit.
  OrlAndO iOvine
  Orlando is a seriously overweight young man who dresses 
  in expensive and fashionable business suits. He says he 
  works in real estate, which is half the truth. In fact he is a 
  materials surveyor for an important local noble, whose family 
  business is construction. Orlando is very well paid because 
  he is extremely good at what he does; namely obtaining the 
  best materials for any given job at cut-throat prices. He holds 
  a Bachelor’s degree in materials science and a Masters in 
  business administration. More importantly, he knows his 
  job.
  Orlando is a likeable sort who feels no need to place 
  himself above others – except in business negotiations. He 
  dislikes Granzh as a symbol of everything that can go wrong 
  with a person in his line of work, while Granzh thinks Orlando 
  is a nobody to be despised and openly insults him. Orlando 
  finds this secretly amusing, and sometimes even provokes 
  the Vargr, just out of devilment.
  referee:
  Orlando is as he seems; quietly friendly and thoroughly 
  professional, but an excellent negotiator. He is not a ‘doer’ 
  by inclination and will try to stay out of the crew’s way as 
  best he can, but if he thinks he needs to he will try to assume 
  command of the passengers. Orlando will do this only if he 
  feels it is necessary to get their cooperation for whatever the 
  crew is doing. 
  t20: Orlando iovine
  (Merchant 5) tl12 Medium Human
  Stamina 2, Lifeblood 9; Init +0; Speed 9m (6 squares);
  Armor Class: 0, Armor Rating: 0
  Str 9, Dex 0, Con 9, Int 2, Wis , Cha 2, Edu 4, Soc 
  4
  SV Fort +2; Ref +; Will +3;
  
  - 38 -
  AttACKS:
  Weapon
  Hit
  Damage
  Rng
  Crit
  ROF
  Rnds
  Fist
  +
  d3-
  --
  20/x2
  --
  --
  Skills: Bluff +9, Broker +0, Gather Information +9, Liaison 
  +, K/Material Sciences +6, Pilot +5, P/Administration +0, 
  Recruiting +5, Sense Motive +4, Trader +0.
  Feats: Armor Proficiency (Light, Vac Suit), Vessel (Grav, 
  Ship’s Boat), Weapon Proficiency (Marksman), Barter, 
  Carousing, Connections (Merchants, Nobles), Market Analyst, 
  Skill Focus (P/Administration), Skill Focus (Liaison).
  Equipment: Personal Communicator, Personal Hand 
  Computer, Several Expensive Business Suits.
  CT: Orlando Iovine  676899 Human  age 26  2 terms
  Admin-2, Broker-2, Liaison-2, Computer-0, Grav Vehicle-
  0, Pistol-0, Vacc-0
  CHrYSA endinelli
  Chrysa is a 34-year-old ex-Merchant heading home at 
  the end of her hitch. Her skills are mainly light technical 
  (computer, electronics and so forth) since she spent more 
  time working on portside support crews than aboard actual 
  starships. Nevertheless, she is familiar with shipboard 
  operations and feels a little awkward allowing the crew to 
  get on with their jobs without offering a hand. 
  referee:
  Chrysa will probably want to dive right in to any problem the 
  ship encounters, and she has the technical skills to be useful. 
  However, she will probably not consider the big picture and 
  may waste time fixing up a perfect control link to the drives 
  before there is any power to run it. With suitable direction, 
  she is probably the most useful of the passengers. 
  t20: Chrysa endinelli
  (Merchant 6) tl12 Medium Human
  Stamina 2, Lifeblood 0; Init +; Speed 9m (6 squares);
  Armor Class: 3 (+ dex, +2 vac suit), Armor Rating: 2
  Str 0, Dex 2, Con 0, Int 2, Wis 8, Cha 0, Edu 4, 
  Soc 8
  SV Fort +3; Ref +3; Will +2;
  AttACKS:
  Weapon
  Hit
  Damage
  Rng
  Crit
  ROF
  Rnds
  Fist
  +2
  d3
  --
  20/x2
  --
  --
  Lead Pipe
  +2
  d6
  --
  20/x2
  --
  --
  Skills: Broker +7, K/Interstellar Law +5, Pilot +6, P/
  Administration +4, T/Astrogation +7, T/Communications 
  +, T/Computer +, T/Electronics +3, T/Engineering +3, 
  T/Mechanical +2, T/Sensors +, Trader +7.
  Feats: Armor Proficiency (Light, Vac Suit), Vessel (Grav), 
  Weapon Proficiency (Marksman), Barter, Gearhead, Jury 
  Rig, Miracle Worker, Skill Focus (T/Engineering), Skill Focus 
  (T/Electronics), Skill Focus (T/Mechanical).
  Equipment: Personal Communicator, Personal Hand 
  Computer, Several Old Uniforms, Tailored Vac Suit TL-4.
  CT: Chrysa Endinelli  787895 Human  age 34  4 terms
  Electronics-2, Engineering-2, Mechanical-2, Broker-, 
  Computer-0, Grav Vehicle-0, Pistol-0, Vacc-0
  KASPAr HAndrO
  Kaspar is an elderly gentleman who has clearly had a 
  rough life. In fact, he has been a Belter, a commercial pilot, 
  and an independent courier at various times. He is too old for 
  adventures now, and spends his lifetime’s accrued savings 
  (quite a bit) traveling around enjoying himself. Kaspar is an 
  incorrigible flirt, and finds virtually everything amusing. In 
  short, he is having a good time while he can.
  referee:
  Kaspar’s eyesight is going, along with his health. He 
  finds it increasingly difficult to get around these days, which 
  adds a desperate streak to his enjoyment of life. He is also 
  something of a thief, and will try to steal valuables even amid 
  a crisis if he thinks he can get away with it. This is an old, old 
  habit; Kaspar has no guilt or self-consciousness about his 
  thievery, which by now has become quite normal to him.
  t20: Kaspar Handro
  (Belter 5/rogue 4) tl12 Medium Human
  Stamina 7, Lifeblood 7; Init +0; Speed 9m (6 squares);
  Armor Class: 0, Armor Rating: 0
  Str 8, Dex , Con 7, Int , Wis 8, Cha 2, Edu 2, Soc 
  0
  SV Fort +0; Ref +5; Will +4;
  AttACKS:
  Weapon
  Hit
  Damage
  Rng
  Crit
  ROF
  Rnds
  Fist
  +6
  d4
  --
  20/x2
  --
  --
  Skills: Bluff +7, Gambling +6, Gunnery +3, Hide +6, 
  Innuendo +5, K/Interstellar Law +5, Move Silently +6, Pilot 
  +8, P/Prospecting +9, T/Astrogation +9, T/Engineering +9, 
  T/Sensors +9.
  Feats: Armor Proficiency (Light, Medium, Vac Suit), 
  Vessel (Grav, Ship’s Boat, Starships), Weapon Proficiency 
  (Marksman, Swordsman), Brawling, Carousing, Credit Line, 
  Fast Talk, Midas Touch, Skill Focus (P/Prospecting), Stealthy, 
  Zero-G/low Gravity Adaptation.
  Equipment: Personal Communicator, Lockpick Set, 
  Several Changes Of Clothes, Several Empty Wallets And 
  Credit Chips.
  CT: Kaspar Handro  575787 Human  age 50  9 terms
  Admin-2, Brawl-, Computer-, Engineering-, Gambling-
  2, Legal-2, Mechanical-, Navigation-, Pilot-3, Prospecting-
  3, Ship’s Boat-3, Vacc-, Blade-0, Grav Vehicle-0, Pistol-0
  
  - 39 -
  MAY CAMBrA Slein
  May is 22, fairly attractive, and unapproachable at 
  present. She is returning home after failing an audition with 
  a prestigious ballet company. She was good enough for an 
  expenses-paid trip both ways, but not quite up the standard 
  to achieve her lifetime dream. Still somewhat numb with the 
  disappointment of it all, she is very much just going through 
  the motions and always seems distracted when talking to 
  others. 
  If May figures out that Renee is on a scholarship to 
  university, she will take an instant dislike to Renee and take 
  pains to antagonize her.
   
  referee: 
  May is not all that good under pressure (one reason for 
  the failed audition). Once it penetrates that she might die 
  as a result of the disaster, panic sets in along with a deep 
  anger at the unfairness of it all. May will then start looking 
  for people to blame and generally get in the way demanding 
  explanations rather than letting people do their jobs.
  t20: May Cambra Slein
  (Professional 2) tl12 Medium Human
  Stamina 9, Lifeblood 2; Init +; Speed 9m (6 squares);
  Armor Class:  (+ dex), Armor Rating: 0
  Str 0, Dex 3, Con 2, Int 2, Wis 9, Cha 2, Edu 2, 
  Soc 0
  SV Fort +; Ref +; Will +2;
  AttACKS:
  Weapon
  Hit
  Damage
  Rng
  Crit
  ROF
  Rnds
  Fist
  +
  d3
  --
  20/x2
  --
  --
  Skills: Balance +6, Climb +7, E/Ballet +8, E/Ballroom 
  Dancing +6, Jump +5, K/Dance Techniques +4, Pilot +4, 
  Swim +2, T/computer +6.
  Feats: Armor Proficiency (Light), Vessel (Grav), Athletic, 
  Carousing, Endurance, Skill Focus (E/Ballet).
  Equipment: Personal Communicator, Several Changes Of 
  Clothes, A Tear-smeared Rejection Letter.
  CT: May Cambra Slein  798887 Human  age 22   term
  Ballet-2, Computer-0, Grav Vehicle-0
  renee PHiliP
  Renee is the youngest passenger aboard, at 8. She is 
  headed for one of the high-population worlds to take up a 
  scholarship at a prestigious university, studying history. This 
  is her first time away from home and she is not very sure 
  of herself at all. By the last couple of days of the voyage 
  she has gained enough confidence to talk to people, but she 
  really has no friends aboard and is becoming homesick. 
  referee:
  Renee will be utterly useless in a crisis. All she wants to 
  do is hide and wait for someone else to take care of the 
  problem. Betting on whether Renee or May goes to pieces 
  first would be good fun for gambling types. 
  t20: renee Philip
  (Academic 1) tl12 Medium Human
  Stamina 2, Lifeblood 8; Init +0; Speed 9m (6 squares);
  Armor Class: 0, Armor Rating: 0
  Str 9, Dex , Con 8, Int 3, Wis 0, Cha 0, Edu 2, Soc 
  0
  SV Fort -; Ref +; Will +;
  AttACKS:
  Weapon
  Hit
  Damage
  Rng
  Crit
  ROF
  Rnds
  Fist
  +0
  d3-
  --
  20/x2
  --
  --
  Skills: C/Dioramas +5, Decipher Script +5, Gather 
  Information +4, K/History +8, Pilot +, P/Administration +3, 
  P/Librarian Assistant +4, P/Tutor +4, Speak Language (4 
  Additional Languages), T/Computer +5.
  Feats: Vessel (Grav), Advanced Knowledge/History, 
  Advanced Research, Research/History, Skill Focus (K/
  History).
  Equipment: Personal Communicator, Several Changes Of 
  Clothes, Holograms Of Family Back Home, Several Battered 
  History Texts.
  CT: Renee Philip  675987 Human  age 8  0 terms
  History-, Linguistics-, Computer-0, Grav Vehicle-0
  Keven uMAlii-duPree
  Keven is a handsome, personable young man with a 
  great physique, which he spends a lot of time working on 
  in the ship’s gym. He makes his living as an entertainer on 
  the starport circuit with a mix of standup comedy, amusing 
  parody songs and what amounts almost to stripping. His act 
  is in extremely bad taste and would be considered deeply 
  offensive by anyone not rolling in the aisles or goggling at his 
  pecs. Keven has not been asked to perform on this trip, but 
  would probably decline anyway.
  referee:
  Keven is a hard-nosed survivor, which has allowed him 
  to claw his way up to a reasonable level of success. He is 
  charming and friendly with everyone on the off chance they 
  might be useful, but tries not to become attached to people 
  once they have outlived their usefulness. However, he is 
  not a bad sort at heart and sometimes feels bad about the 
  people he climbed over to succeed. It is possible that one of 
  his occasional moments of remorse might strike just after he 
  has cynically abandoned a fellow passenger, driving Keven 
  to stupid heroics in an effort to make amends. 
  
  - 40 -
  t20: Keven umalii-dupree
  (Professional 3) tl12 Medium Human
  Stamina 2, Lifeblood 3; Init +2; Speed 9m (6 squares);
  Armor Class: 2 (+2 dex), Armor Rating: 0
  Str 3, Dex 5, Con 3, Int 0, Wis 8, Cha 4, Edu 0, 
  Soc 0
  SV Fort +2; Ref +3; Will +2;
  AttACKS:
  Weapon
  Hit
  Damage
  Rng
  Crit
  ROF
  Rnds
  Fist
  +3
  d4+2
  --
  20/x2
  --
  --
  Skills: Climb +6, C/parody +6, Balance +7, E/comedy +8, 
  Jump +6, P/entertainer +5, Swim +6, Tumble +7.
  Feats: Armor Proficiency (Light), Vessel (Grav), Acrobatic, 
  Athletic, Brawling, Carousing, Professional Specialty (E/
  comedy).
  Equipment: Personal Communicator, Several Changes Of 
  Clothes, Workout Attire, Various Props.
  CT: Keven Umalii-dupree  9A9777 Human  age 24  .5 
  terms
  Athletics-, Carousing-, Performance-2, Computer-0, 
  Grav Vehicle-0
  tHe lOW PASSenGerS
  There are five low passengers. Three are mercenary 
  soldiers; two returning to their unit after a furlough and the 
  third a new recruit. They have personal self-defense weapons 
  in their baggage but no military weaponry. Two of these 
  soldiers are killed by the disaster. The other two passengers 
  are civilians. One is a student returning to college and the 
  other gave no reason for his purchase of a low berth ticket 
  beyond ‘business’. He too dies in the disaster.
  None of the Low passengers are likely to be a factor in this 
  adventure as the time frame is too short for them to become 
  active even if they are successfully awakened. 
   Corporal Alice Richeter, Marlowe’s Rifles: Deceased
   Rifleman 
  Ymail 
  Rurikaani, 
  Marlowe’s 
  Rifles: 
  Deceased
   Rifleman-Recruit Ray Jarness: Age 9, just out of a 
  Basic Training camp. 
   talia Avange: Age 22, returning to University to study 
  for a Masters Degree in Architecture
   ‘Mr J.l. loftmann’: Age mid 40s, middle-class clothing, 
  traveling on ‘business’ with little cash and just a single bag. 
  Deceased.
  Mr Loftmann’s story is not relevant to this adventure, 
  though he may serve as a plot hook for later on, or as a red 
  herring in determining what has happened to the ship and 
  shy. Perhaps he is merely looking for a job, perhaps leaving 
  behind a messy divorce. Or perhaps the Referee will prefer 
  to reveal a deeper secret that will lead to new adventures. 
  
  - 4 -
  Subsidized liner Duchess Selene
  Class: Starship, Type M
  eP Output: 8 (0 extra) 
  double turret: Beam 
  Laser (x2), Attack 
  Bonus +2 (+2 USP), 
  Damage 2d8.
  double turret: 
  Sandcaster (x2), 
  Defense Bonus +3 (+3 
  USP).
  double turret: Missile 
  Rack (x2), Attack 
  Bonus + (+ USP), 
  Damage d6. (2 Factor 
   Batteries but both 
  cannot fire in the same 
  round)
  tech level: 2
  Agility:  (+ EP)
  Size: Medium (600dt)
  initiative: +
  Streamlining: Streamlined 
  – Cylinder
  AC:  (+ agility)
  Jump range: 3
  repulsors: None
  Acceleration: 
  nuclear dampers: None
  Fuel: 98
  Meson Screens: None
  duration: 4 weeks
  Black Globes: None
  Crew: 8
  Ar: 0
  Staterooms: 2
  Si: 75
  Small Cabins: 0
  Main Computer: Model/3
  Bunks: 0
  Sensor range:  Medium (Model/3)
  Couches: 0
  Comm. range: Medium (Model/3)
  low Berths: 20
  Cargo Space: 202.4
  Cost: MCr243.386 (New)
  Atmospheric Speeds:           NoE =  875kph
  Cruising = 2625kph 
  Maximum = 3500kph
  Other equipment: 20 ton Launch.
  tAS Form 3.1 (Condensed)
  Ship’s data (Commercial)
  KeY tO deCKPlAn
    
  Reception Area
  2  
  Lift Shaft
  3  
  Ramp
  4  
  Luxury Stateroom (High Passage)
  5  
  Luxury Stateroom (High Passage)
  6  
  Passenger Stateroom
  7  
  Passenger Stateroom
  8  
  Passenger Stateroom
  9  
  Passenger Stateroom
  0 
  Passenger Stateroom
   
  Passenger Stateroom
  2 
  Passenger Stateroom
  3 
  Luxury Stateroom (High Passage)
  4 
  Aft Port Passageway
  5 
  Mid Port Passageway
  6 
  Fore Port Passageway
  7 
  Aft Starboard Passageway
  8 
  Mid Starboard Passageway
  9 
  Fore Port Passageway
  20 
  Luxury Stateroom (High Passage)
  2 
  Luxury Stateroom (High Passage)
  22 
  Passenger Stateroom
  23 
  Passenger Stateroom
  24 
  Passenger Stateroom
  25 
  Passenger Stateroom
  26 
  Passenger Stateroom
  27 
  Passenger Stateroom
  28 
  Passenger Stateroom
  29 
  Luxury Stateroom (High Passage)
  30 
  Model/3 Computer
  3 
  Avionics
  32 
  Bridge
  33 
  Crew Stateroom
  34 
  Crew Stateroom
  35 
  Crew Stateroom
  36 
  Crew Stateroom
  37 
  Crew Stateroom
  38 
  Crew Stateroom
  39 
  Crew Lounge
  40 
  Crew Stateroom
  4 
  Crew Stateroom
  42 
  Crew Stateroom
  43 
  Passenger Stateroom
  44 
  Low Berths
  45 
  Common Area
  46 
  Engineering Space - powerplant (E) and maneuver  
   
   
  drives (E2 and E3))
  47 
  Forward Hold
  48 
  Midships Hold
  49 
  Aft Hold
  50 
  Aft Turrets (Double Sand and Double Missile)
  5 
  Lounge
  52 
  Galley
  53 
  Storage
  54 
  Port Engineering Airlock
  55 
  Starboard Engineering Airlock
  56 
  Upper Engineering Space - Fuel Pre-processor (E4)  
   
   
  and Jump Drive (E5)
  57 
  Forward Turret (Double Beam laser)
  58 
  Transfer Deck
  59 
  Airlock
  60 
  Maintenance Airlock
  6 
  Launch Bridge
  62 
  Launch Airlock
  63 
  Launch Fresher
  64 
  Launch Passenger Compartment
  tHe MAxOS SHiPPinG liner DUCHeSS SeleNe
  
  - 42 -
  duCHeSS Selene
  duCHeSS Selene
  JOinS 
  tO B
  B
  
  - 43 -
  Open Gaming Information
  OPen GAMe COntent
  The only Open Game Content found in this book is specified 
  below. All other material is considered either closed content, 
  Product Identity (see below and section e of the OGL) or
  Trademarks (see below and section f of the OGL).
  • All game mechanics derived from the System Reference 
    Document or the Traveller’s Handbook.
  T20 statistics for the Sudsidized Liner (p4).
  T20 statistics for NPCs (pp29-40)
  OPen GAMe liCenSe
  OPen GAMe liCenSe version 1.0a
  The following text is the property of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and is Copyright 2000 
  Wizards of the Coast, Inc (“Wizards”). All Rights Reserved.
  1. Definitions: (a)”Contributors” means the copyright and/or trademark owners who 
  have contributed Open Game Content; (b)”Derivative Material” means copyrighted material 
  including derivative works and translations (including into other computer languages), 
  potation, modification, correction, addition, extension, upgrade, improvement, compilation, 
  abridgment or other form in which an existing work may be recast, transformed or adapted; 
  (c) “Distribute” means to reproduce, license, rent, lease, sell, broadcast, publicly display, 
  transmit or otherwise distribute; (d)”Open Game Content” means the game mechanic and 
  includes the methods, procedures, processes and routines to the extent such content does 
  not embody the Product Identity and is an enhancement over the prior art and any additional 
  content clearly identified as Open Game Content by the Contributor, and means any work 
  covered by this License, including translations and derivative works under copyright law, but 
  specifically excludes Product Identity. (e) “Product Identity” means product and product line 
  names, logos and identifying marks including trade dress; artifacts; creatures characters; 
  stories, storylines, plots, thematic elements, dialogue, incidents, language, artwork, symbols, 
  designs, depictions, likenesses, formats, poses, concepts, themes and graphic, photographic 
  and other visual or audio representations; names and descriptions of characters, spells, 
  enchantments, personalities, teams, personas, likenesses and special abilities; places, 
  locations, environments, creatures, equipment, magical or supernatural abilities or effects, 
  logos, symbols, or graphic designs; and any other trademark or registered trademark clearly 
  identified as Product identity by the owner of the Product Identity, and which specifically 
  excludes the Open Game Content; (f) “Trademark” means the logos, names, mark, sign, 
  motto, designs that are used by a Contributor to identify itself or its products or the associated 
  products contributed to the Open Game License by the Contributor (g) “Use”, “Used” or 
  “Using” means to use, Distribute, copy, edit, format, modify, translate and otherwise create 
  Derivative Material of Open Game Content. (h) “You” or “Your” means the licensee in terms 
  of this agreement.
  2. The License: This License applies to any Open Game Content that contains a notice 
  indicating that the Open Game Content may only be Used under and in terms of this License. 
  You must affix such a notice to any Open Game Content that you Use. No terms may be 
  added to or subtracted from this License except as described by the License itself. No 
  other terms or conditions may be applied to any Open Game Content distributed using this 
  License.
  3.Offer and Acceptance: By Using the Open Game Content You indicate Your acceptance 
  of the terms of this License.
  4. Grant and Consideration: In consideration for agreeing to use this License, the 
  Contributors grant You a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license with the 
  exact terms of this License to Use, the Open Game Content.
  5.Representation of Authority to Contribute: If You are contributing original material as 
  Open Game Content, You represent that Your Contributions are Your original creation and/or 
  You have sufficient rights to grant the rights conveyed by this License.
  6.Notice of License Copyright: You must update the COPYRIGHT NOTICE portion of this 
  License to include the exact text of the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any Open Game Content 
  You are copying, modifying or distributing, and You must add the title, the copyright date, 
  and the copyright holder’s name to the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any original Open Game 
  Content you Distribute.
  7. Use of Product Identity: You agree not to Use any Product Identity, including as an 
  indication as to compatibility, except as expressly licensed in another, independent Agreement 
  with the owner of each element of that Product Identity. You agree not to indicate compatibility 
  or co-adaptability with any Trademark or Registered Trademark in conjunction with a work 
  containing Open Game Content except as expressly licensed in another, independent 
  Agreement with the owner of such Trademark or Registered Trademark. The use of any 
  Product Identity in Open Game Content does not constitute a challenge to the ownership of 
  that Product Identity. The owner of any Product Identity used in Open Game Content shall 
  retain all rights, title and interest in and to that Product Identity.
  8. Identification: If you distribute Open Game Content You must clearly indicate which 
  portions of the work that you are distributing are Open Game Content.
  9. Updating the License: Wizards or its designated Agents may publish updated versions 
  of this License. You may use any authorized version of this License to copy, modify and 
  distribute any Open Game Content originally distributed under any version of this License.
  0 Copy of this License: You MUST include a copy of this License with every copy of the 
  Open Game Content You Distribute.
  . Use of Contributor Credits: You may not market or advertise the Open Game Content 
  using the name of any Contributor unless You have written permission from the Contributor 
  to do so.
  2 Inability to Comply: If it is impossible for You to comply with any of the terms of this 
  License with respect to some or all of the Open Game Content due to statute, judicial order, 
  or governmental regulation then You may not Use any Open Game Material so affected.
  3 Termination: This License will terminate automatically if You fail to comply with all terms 
  herein and fail to cure such breach within 30 days of becoming aware of the breach. All 
  sublicenses shall survive the termination of this License.
  4 Reformation: If any provision of this License is held to be unenforceable, such provision 
  shall be reformed only to the extent necessary to make it enforceable.
  5 COPYRIGHT NOTICE
  Open Game License v .0 Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
  System Reference Document, Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors 
  Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax 
  and Dave Arneson.
  T20 – The Traveller’s Handbook Copyright 2002, QuikLink Interactive, Inc. Traveller is a 
  trademark of Far Future Enterprises and is used under license
  Special Supplement 4: One Crowded Hour - A Generic Adventure – Copyright ©2006 
  Avenger Enterprises in association with Comstar Media LLC.
  
  - 44 -
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SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Traveller/Traveller d20/CSRT0023 Special Supplement 4 - One Crowded Hour.pdf