TEXT: During July,in the Future: Datastream, I final-
  ly came up with a usable format for an idea that
  had been bouncing around in my head for several
  months: starship sensor contacts. The basic idea
  was simply to write a series of adventure seeds for
  use while the players’ characters are traveling the
  stars. I wanted something a little more than just
  brief paragraph suggestions, though, and knocked
  around a few ideas before I settled on the format
  used in these pages.
  I hope that you can find a way to use some (or
  all!) of these sensor contacts in your campaign. As
  with the other starship-related releases that Ronin
  Arts has published in the Future series this PDF
  makes some assumptions about your campaign;
  the sensor contacts in this series will be most use-
  ful in campaigns in which the following statements
  are true:
  I The campaign is not a “hard”science setting.
  Campaigns 
  that 
  are 
  more 
  space
  opera/adventure movie are the intended
  target for this PDF.
  I Starships are not rare or unusual. Everything
  that I’ve written in this PDF assumes that
  space travel is a standard and common occur-
  rence – individuals either fly their own ships
  or ride on passenger ships. Starships and
  space travel are as common for characters as a
  plane ride is for people of our reality.
  I Space combat is not uncommon. It’s just
  another exciting adventure when the player
  characters have to engage the enemy while
  fleeing from some world or other.
  I The campaign is packed with action. If
  things aren’t exploding, how much fun can
  the game really be?
  WHAT’S REQUIRED TO
  USE THIS PDF?
  In order to use Future: 6 Free Sensor Contacts
  you will need the D20 Modern roleplaying game,
  published by Wizards of the Coast,Inc.,and the offi-
  cial future supplement, also published by Wizards
  of the Coast,Inc..You can find both at your favorite
  Copyright © 2005 Philip Reed.You may not distribute this document without permission of the publisher.Some portions of this document are present-
  ed as open game content,see p.2 and the Open Game License at the end of this document for more information.
  Ronin Arts and the Ronin Arts logo are trademarks of Philip Reed and Christopher Shy.For more information on Ronin Arts,and Ronin Arts’sister com-
  pany,Studio Ronin,please visit www.roninarts.com and www.studioronin.com.
  'd20 System' and the 'd20 System' logo are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast,Inc.and are used according to the terms of the d20 System License ver-
  sion 6.0. A copy of this License can be found at www.wizards.com/d20.
  d20 Modern and Wizards of the Coast are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast,Inc.in the United States and other countries and is used with permission.
  Requires the use of the d20 Modern Roleplaying Game, published by Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
  SIX Free 
  Sensor contacts
  by philip Reed
  
  local game store or online at any number of role-
  playing game vendors. No other Ronin Arts prod-
  ucts are required to use this PDF.
  FUTURE: DATASTREAM
  As of the time of publication, Ronin Arts’
  Future: Datastream subscription service is run-
  ning, introducing new material for futuristic cam-
  paigns five times each week.For more information
  on the Future: Datastream, including subscrip-
  tion information, please visit the official forums at
  www.d20projects.com.
  OPEN GAME CONTENT
  All of the text of this PDF is presented as open
  game content. While this means absolutely noth-
  ing to your campaign it does give other publishers
  permission to use this material as long as they fol-
  low the open game license (see the end of this
  PDF).
  ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  Philip Reed has been working professionally in
  the roleplaying game industry since 1995. In that
  time he has worked for such companies as West
  End Games, Privateer Press, and Steve Jackson
  Games.Today Philip spends his days at home run-
  ning Ronin Arts,writing and designing new games,
  and reading whatever books interest him at the
  time.To learn more about Philip Reed – and Ronin
  Arts – please visit www.philipjreed.com/php
  and www.roninarts.com.
  2
  I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
  INTRoduction
  I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
  CORPSEPOD (PL 6)
  As the player characters’ ship drops out of light-
  speed (or whatever form of FTL travel is appropriate
  to your campaign) on the edge of a system their sen-
  sors sound contact.An unidentified object below the
  system’s elliptic plane is just beyond their visual
  range. A single Computer Use check reveals the fol-
  lowing (the players learn all of the information up to
  the highest result of the check):
  10: Metallic object. Contact shows no obvious
  signs of activity.
  15: The object is quite small, just slightly larger
  than a tall human,and sensors indicate that it
  is hollow with something inside it.
  20: The object is a corpsepod,a coffin-like cylinder
  used for burials at space. This particular
  corpsepod registers as less than one-year old.
  25: The body inside the corpsepod is that of a
  male human. Other, non-organic objects are
  also inside the cylinder but the computer can’t
  quite identify them through the corpsepod’s
  shell.
  30: The pod is transmitting a beacon on a fre-
  quency that is reserved by the military.A suc-
  cessful Computer Use check (DC 20) decodes
  the transmission – the cylinder is broadcast-
  ing the corpse’s name,rank,and serial number
  (Dima 
  Vasilev,
  Praporshchik,
  SN008383278483321a-7).
  If the player characters maneuver to overtake the
  cylinder (it’s moving away from them at a tactical
  speed of 1,000-ft.) they should have no problems
  capturing the corpsepod with their grappling sys-
  tems (unless their engines are damaged or their ship
  is agonizingly slow,in which case all they’ll be able to
  do is watch as the cylinder disappears off of their sen-
  sors).Opening the corpsepod reveals the almost-per-
  fectly preserved body of a human male roughly 6’tall
  with black hair, a uniform, and a sidearm. Scattered
  throughout the coffin are numerous photos and trin-
  kets – gifts from the dead soldier’s friends.
  sensor contacts
  Sensor contacts
  
  DECOY DRONE (PL 6)
  Anywhere along a heavily traveled route the
  player characters’ starship sensors detect a nearby
  object,large,that the computer suggests may be a
  starship. A single Computer Use check reveals the
  following (the players learn all of the information
  up to the highest result of the check):
  10: Metallic object. High energy and lifeform
  readings,definitely an active contact.
  15: The object is a light freighter, Marco Polo’s
  Star, that’s moving away from the player
  characters’starship.
  20: The object is actually a decoy drone and not
  a starship.How a single decoy drone came to
  be moving through this section of space is
  unknown, though it’s very likely that the
  ship that launched it took advantage of the
  decoy to make their escape.
  If the player characters choose to capture the
  decoy drone – it’s moving away from them at a tac-
  tical speed of 1,500-ft. – they could choose to
  either reconfigure the drone to work with their
  decoy drone launcher (if they have one), or sell it
  (the drone has a sale value of 23).
  EMERGENCY LIFEPOD (PL 7)
  A distant beacon interrupts an otherwise dull
  trip, the ships’sensors detecting a physical contact
  within seconds of the beacon’s sound coming
  through over the ship’s comm. system. A single
  Computer Use check reveals the following (the
  players learn all of the information up to the high-
  est result of the check):
  10: Metallic object.Contact shows faint signs of
  life.
  15: The object is a lifepod – also known as an
  escape pod or lifeboat – 25-ft.long and with
  minimal engines and maneuverability.
  20: Sensors indicate two lifefroms onboard the
  lifepod.It is difficult to distinguish the exact
  size or species of the lifeforms.
  25: The lifepod has suffered damage and is
  slowly losing oxygen and fuel.The computer
  suggests that the lifepod has only enough
  oxygen inside to sustain two medium-sized
  lifeforms for thirty more minutes.
  30: The lifepod is carrying two human females.
  Readings indicate that one is injured and
  unconscious. A second Computer Use check
  (DC 20), if successful, reveals that the life-
  pod’s comm. system is damaged and locked
  to transmit the universal call for help.
  Unfortunately, the lifepod has suffered so
  much damage that the assistance beacon is
  faulty and transmitting only a fraction of the
  full message – which is why the ship didn’t
  automatically flag the lifepod as a ship in
  distress.
  If the player characters elect to rescue the life-
  pod and its two inhabitants the women [human
  female, smart 2, one with 8 hit points and the
  other with 1 hit point] will be very grateful. Lia
  and Sancia Napoli are the sole survivors of
  Executioner’s Delight,a family-run merchant vessel.
  If asked the women will tell a tale of the ship’s cap-
  ture at the hand of pirates.Their lifepod computers
  have the last known coordinates of the
  Executioner’s Delight and the women promise that
  the player characters will be well rewarded if
  they’ll rescue the womens’family.
  What the player characters choose to do could
  or could not lead to further adventure.
  GARBLED TRANSMISSION (PL 7)
  The starships communications system suddenly
  springs to life, emitting a broken transmission in
  English:
  “ . . . seventeen more . . . ire is still burnin . .
  . ward cargo hold. We’re forced to seek shel . . .
  oon of the ...the system.It’s un ...vive but the
  . . . seal is still intact.”
  The message repeats over and over, sometimes
  less understandable but the above is the most the
  player characters will be able to understand.A sin-
  gle Computer Use check reveals the following (the
  players learn all of the information up to the high-
  est result of the check):
  I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
  3
  I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
  SENSOR CONTACTS
  
  10: The transmission is coming from somewhere
  in the same system that the player charac-
  ters are currently in.
  15: The transmission is coming from the fourth
  moon of the system’s sole gas giant.
  20: The computer dates the accent used by the
  speaker of the transmission as coming from
  a long-destroyed colony in an outer rim sys-
  tem.Combining that information with tech-
  nical information on the transmission’s
  wavelength and frequency the computer
  proposes – with a 75% certainty – that the
  transmission is approximately 175 years old.
  If the players land on the moon (light gravity,
  thick atmosphere) to investigate they’ll find a crash
  site but no survivors. Anything of value that the
  ship was carrying has long since been salvaged.
  Others that have passed through this system
  before the player characters cleaned the site of
  almost everything and all that remains is the rust-
  ing shell of a Fusion Age starship.
  If the GM wants to make the encounter more
  memorable he could replace the barren crash site
  with any number of possible encounters,including:
  I A single survivor, mad from loneliness and
  kept alive by experimental drugs the ship
  was transporting, has turned the crashed
  ship into his own fortified home. How will
  this “Robinson Crusoe” of the stars react to
  the player characters?
  I A combat robot the starship was transport-
  ing has broken free and is defending the
  crash site.The robot’s programming is faulty
  and the only way to stop it is to destroy it.
  I A group of survivors have multiplied on the
  moon and there are now at least twenty
  inhabitants – of all ages – living in and
  around the crash site.
  ILLEGAL MINING
  OPERATION (PL 7)
  While passing near a system that’s marked as
  devoid of life (the computer indicates that the sys-
  tem is a registered stellar preserve) the player char-
  acters’starship sounds a contact alert.Somewhere
  deep in the system’s asteroid belt something is giv-
  ing off a powerful energy signature. A single
  Computer Use check reveals the following (the
  players learn all of the information up to the high-
  est result of the check):
  10: The object is massive and moving very, very
  slowly.
  15: The object appears to be a superheavy star-
  ship with dozens of ultralight ships swarm-
  ing around it.The smaller ships are moving
  back and forth between the asteroids and
  the larger ship.
  20: Sensors indicate that the superheavy ship is
  a star freighter (use the superheavy star
  freighter design in the future SRD) and the
  ultralight ships are fast freighters (also from
  the future SRD).There are a total of 33 fast
  freighters.
  25: The fast freighters have been modified with
  mining rippers (see box) and are strip-min-
  ing the asteroids in the belt and then trans-
  porting the raw materials to the star
  freighter. Galactic law prohibits mining
  operations in this system – it’s a stellar pre-
  serve – so the player characters will likely be
  shocked by the mining operation.
  30: Concealed by the activity around the star
  freighter, the sensors pick up two squads of
  assault fighters (use the PL 7 assault fighter
  4
  I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
  MINING RIPPERS (PL 7)
  In place of three weapons, a starship may
  be equipped with mining rippers – drills and
  scoops that eat through a planet or asteroid’s
  surface and extract valuable materials.
  Mining rippers can extract two tons of mate-
  rial each round though the ship must be mov-
  ing at only 1 square per round for the device
  to work – any faster and the mining rippers
  are torn off and are completely destroyed.
  The device instantly feeds the mined
  materials directly into a designated cargo
  hold on the ship.
  Purchase DC: 30.
  Restriction: Licensed (+1).
  Sensor contacts
  I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
  
  in the future SRD) moving in
  on the player characters’
  ships, all twelve fighters
  moving at their top tactical
  speed.
  Unless the players’ characters
  have an awesome starship they’re
  out-gunned.The smart thing to do
  is to run as soon as they detect the
  incoming fighters – if the initial
  Computer Use check isn’t high
  enough to detect the fighters at
  first the assault fighters will close
  to 10,000 feet at which point regu-
  lar combat rounds can start – is to
  turn and run for it. If the fighters
  are detected immediately the play-
  ers may choose to try and commu-
  nicate with the fighters, perhaps
  going so far as to attempt to make
  a deal.
  How the illegal mining outfit
  responds to any offers of partner-
  ship – or any threats – is com-
  pletely the GM’s call. Some possi-
  bilities include:
  I False acceptance. Within a
  few hours of “friendly”
  negotiations the fighters
  strike suddenly, attempting
  to destroy the players’ ship
  and characters before they
  can leave the system.
  I Open conflict. The leader of
  the 
  mining 
  operations
  laughs at the players and
  demands that they hand
  over their ship or face his
  fighters. If the players agree
  then they’ll be cast adrift in
  a broken shuttle.Arguments
  between the characters
  could lead to an interesting
  finale to a campaign as each
  character works to ensure
  his own survival.
  I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
  5
  POSSIBLE CARGOS
  If you need ideas for just what sort of cargo could be found
  floating in space,the following should get your engine started.
  If you need even more ideas you can try Future: 13 Starship
  Cargos or the Future: Datastream.
  10 CHE (CONVENTIONAL
  HIGH-EXPLOSIVE) MISSILES (PL 7)
  This thick,armored case is constructed of vanadium.Divided
  into ten 2-foot by 5-foot by 5 foot compartments, each locked,
  the case takes up a 10-foot by 10-foot by 5-foot area. Inside
  each separate compartment is a single CHA missile for use by
  Fusion Age starships.Breaking into each compartment requires
  a separate Disable Device check (DC 40) for each electronic lock.
  If the case is breached (hit points reduced to 0) there is a
  40% chance that the missiles will go off (+20% if the damage
  is caused by fire).If the missiles are accidentally detonated the
  case is completely destroyed and all characters and creatures
  within 25 feet of the case suffer 6d6 points of fire damage (a
  successful DC 15 Reflex save reduces the damage to 3d6)..
  Case Hardness/Hit Points: 10/110.
  Cargo Space Requirements: 10-feet square, 5-feet tall,
  1,800 lb.
  Cargo Value/Purchase DC: 32 (as separate components
  the case has a purchase DC of 23 and the missiles have a pur-
  chase DC of 23 each).
  Restriction: Military (+3).
  CASE OF AUTODYN
  HOVERTRUCK PARTS (PL 7)
  This 10-foot square metal case features one heavy,electron-
  ically locked door on one side. Opening the case requires the
  proper access code (or successful DC 30 Disable Device check).
  Inside the case are spare parts for the autodyne hovertruck,
  including new power couplings, rotator chips, and direct-to-
  drive linkages.
  Case Hardness/Hit Points: 8/80.
  Cargo Space Requirements: 10-foot square,1,900 lb.
  Cargo Value/Purchase DC: 25 (as separate components
  the case has a purchase DC of 23 and the parts have a purchase
  23).
  Restriction: Military (+3).
  I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
  SENSOR CONTACTS
  
  I Loose partnership. The miners look to the
  player characters as a potential distributor
  for some of the mined materials. The more
  they can spread out sale of the materials the
  less likely it is that the leader and his follow-
  ers will be identified as the source of the
  materials.
  JETTISONED CARGO (PL 7)
  Along any heavily traveled merchant lane the
  player characters come across a distant contact.The
  computer appears confused as it sounds multiple
  contact alerts and then revises its finding to display
  only one contact. A single Computer Use check
  reveals the following (the players learn all of the
  information up to the highest result of the check):
  10: Multiple metallic contacts. Revision: one
  metallic contact. Revision: multiple metallic
  contacts.Revision:one ...
  15: Several small metallic objects roughly
  20,000-ft. from the player characters’ star-
  ship.The system is having serious difficulties
  with reading this contact.
  20: The contacts appear to be shipping contain-
  ers of various makes and sizes. The GM
  should set an exact number containers (or
  randomly generate the number of cargo
  containers by rolling 1d4+1). The contents
  of each container are up to the GM (see box
  for examples).
  25:The system has managed to isolate each ship-
  ping container. A successful Computer Use
  check (DC 15) made for each individual con-
  tainer reveals the contents.
  As long as the player characters’starship has the
  cargo space, the group may very well have stum-
  bled upon a goldmine of valuables.
  6
  I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
  Sensor contacts
  I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
  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.
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  15 COPYRIGHT NOTICE
  Open Game License v 1.0 Copyright 2000,Wizards of the Coast,Inc.
  Modern System Reference Document Copyright 2002-2004,Wizards of
  the Coast,Inc.;Authors Bill Slavicsek,Jeff Grubb,Rich Redman,Charles Ryan,Eric
  Cagle, David Noonan, Stan!, Christopher Perkins, Rodney Thompson, and JD
  Wiker, based on material by Jonathan Tweet,Monte Cook,Skip Williams,Richard
  Baker,Peter Adkison,Bruce R.Cordell,John Tynes,Andy Collins,and JD Wiker.
  Future:6 Free Sensor Contacts,copyright 2005 Philip Reed.Published by
  Ronin Arts www.roninarts.com.
  open game license
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