Work In Progress

Act I Events¶

Overview¶

Act I begins with the crew waking from hypersleep on a failing ship, The Poruka. The opening is about immediate confusion and triage: failed pods, hypersleep sickness, fractured memories, A-shift missing, and the ship running on emergency reserve.

The middle of the act gives the crew room to explore the Poruka and understand the shape of the crisis. Every useful answer should raise another question: the bridge is locked, MU/TH/UR appears to have been factory reset, the Affiance reactor feed is unavailable, and the SI/ST/ER hardline to Affiance MU/TH/UR is dead meaning The Poruka has no visibility of or access to the Affiance systems.

By the end of Act I, the crew should have a clear job. Payton (and perhaps other NPCs) stay behind to work on Poruka MU/TH/UR and the bridge lockdown while the PCs cross into the Affiance to repair the hardline break. The act ends when the Poruka airlock opens: humid warmth fogs their visors, the smell of rot rolls in from the dark ship beyond, and the crew steps toward what still feels like a simple repair job.

Mandatory Events¶

A Rude Awakening¶

A Rude Awakening

Event Trigger

This mandatory event takes place in the Poruka Cryo Bay as the opener for Act I.

Description

B-shift awakens abruptly from hypersleep. Something is wrong.

Their pods are still closed, but unlatched. The slow, gentle wake-up procedure typical of hypersleep has not taken place. An emergency wake cycle has been triggered.

Each PC rolls 2D6 to determine the severity of their hypersleep sickness. Do not allow players to view this chart. Players should believe they could have died upon waking, just like any NPC who does not survive the emergency wake cycle.

Result	Hypersleep Sickness
2	Serious Complications: suffer 2 points of damage.
3	Nerve Shock: cannot push rolls for 1 shift.
4	Starvation.
5	Freezing.
6	Weak: all Strength and Agility rolls suffer -1 modification for 1 shift.
7	Rough Wake: no lasting mechanical effect, but the character wakes choking and shaking
8	Confused: all Wits and Empathy rolls suffer -1 modification for 1 shift.
9	Exhausted: counts as 3 days without sleep.
10	Dehydration.
11	Uneasy: gain 2 stress die.
12	Minor Complications: suffer 1 point of damage.

These conditions can be found starting on page 106 of the core rulebook.

Then, make a faux roll behind your GM screen for each unused B-shift NPC. Regardless of what you roll, choose one of the following outcomes for each NPC. A mix of all three options works best. Payton should wake with only minor hypersleep issues; he is a key story NPC and must survive.

The NPC dies abruptly from shock or heart failure.
The NPC's pod remains latched. They were unaffected by the emergency wake and stay asleep. They can be woken as needed later in the scenario.
The NPC wakes with any complication you choose (or roll for) from the hypersleep sickness table above.

If any NPCs die, all PCs receive 1 stress die.

If the players want to wake any sleeping NPCs immediately, Payton or another awake NPC stops them. The wake system is unstable, the ship is on emergency reserve, and the survivors have just seen what a bad wake cycle can do. If the players press the issue, Payton issues a direct order: leave the sleepers under until power is restored.

Now awake, the survivors find they cannot remember much of anything. Their skills, instincts, and training are intact, but their memories of the ship, their past lives, and even their names and ranks are missing or uncertain. The only clear answers are the pod displays: each survivor assumes the name and rank listed on the pod they woke inside.

GM Context

The person referred to as Payton throughout this scenario is actually Victor Gallo, A-shift's Company agent. He believes he is Payton simply because that's the pod he woke up in, just like our players. He too is suffering from extreme memory loss.

For the full backstory, see How Did This All Go Wrong?.

I'll Keep It Warm For You¶

I'll Keep It Warm For You

Event Trigger

Trigger this mandatory event when the crew gathers at the Affiance Umbilical Airlock and is ready to leave the Poruka for the Affiance.

Description

The airlock answers from the Poruka side with an old mechanical groan. Beyond it, the umbilical waits: pressurized, dim, and warmer than the frozen ship behind them. Humidity fogs the visors of any characters wearing space suits.

As the players begin to cross into the Affiance, Payton stops at the airlock threshold. He is still weak from hypersleep, and his hands shake on the hatch controls, but his voice has the clipped steadiness of an officer making a hard call.

Use or paraphrase:

"This isn't going to work."

One hand braces against the hatch frame.

"I can barely walk. Over there, I'm a liability. Here, I can still do my job."

He looks past the crew into the warm dark of the umbilical.

"This hatch needs someone on it. If it becomes your only way back, it has to open."

He taps the comm unit.

"I can keep the channel open, talk you through what I remember, and make sure the Poruka is still here when you come back."

If a sick NPC is present, he points to them and adds, "You. Back to cryo. Keep an eye on the sleepers. I'm going to see if I can get anything useful out of MU/TH/UR."

Then he points to the hardline running along the umbilical ceiling. "Follow that to the Affiance MU/TH/UR. Find out what killed the link, find out why the reactor feed is dead, and get us a restart path."

If the players protest, use or paraphrase:

"You don't understand. This isn't a suggestion."

His voice hardens, and he points to the First Officer stripes on his uniform.

"It's an order. You proceed into the Affiance, inspect the fault, and report back. I will hold the Poruka."

If the players accept, Payton gives them the best smile he can manage as he seals the hatch from his side.

"I'll keep your seats warm."

If things get messy enough that Payton is forced onto the Affiance, he returns to the Poruka at the first opportunity. Once he is back aboard, he locks the airlock behind him and repeats his reasons for staying over comms.

GM Context

Payton needs to remain on the Poruka so he can function as the crew's guide in Act I, an unreliable voice in Act II, and an enemy in Act III.

Optional Events¶

A Scream In The Dark¶

A Scream In The Dark

Event Trigger

Trigger this optional event after the crew has left the Cryo Bay and found a calm place to catch their breath or relieve stress. This works best after they have found at least one useful weapon or tool.

This event can only happen if the GM left at least one unused B-shift NPC asleep in cryo during A Rude Awakening.

Description

A scream cuts through the Poruka.

It comes from the cryo bay: muffled by pod glass, but unmistakably human. If the crew ignores it, the scream gets louder and more ragged as the pod alarm joins in. Eventually both stop.

If the crew investigates, one of the sleeping NPCs has woken inside their pod, but the pod has not unlatched. Use an NPC the table has already noticed if possible. The display flashes red through condensation. Warning tones stack over each other. The pod's service collar spits sparks, then smoke, then a thin line of fire as the emergency wake cycle cooks itself to death.

All PCs who return to cryo to help gain 1 stress die when they see the failing pod.

The trapped NPC is conscious, panicking, and suffocating. The crew can save them with quick intervention:

A character with a suitable tool can pry the pod open with enough time and help.
A successful Formidable Comtech Roll stops the malfunction and buys time, but the NPC will still eventually suffocate unless the pod is opened.
A successful Formidable Heavy Machinery Roll forces the pod open before the NPC dies.

If the crew leaves the NPC to die, every PC who heard the screaming gains 1 stress die when it finally stops.

If the crew saves the NPC, they wake with a hypersleep complication of the GM's choice and becomes another frightened survivor, potential helper, or backup PC.

The Frozen Interlock¶

The Frozen Interlock

Event Trigger

Trigger this optional event when the crew first tries to access either the Storage Hold pressure door system or the Affiance Umbilical Airlock.

Description

The airlock controls answer with a hard mechanical clunk somewhere inside the Poruka's aft hull. The panel lights remain red. A second attempt gets the same answer: the command reaches the door, but something heavy and physical refuses to let it move.

The local panel displays the same warning at every pressure-door control:

AFT PRESSURE DOOR INTERLOCK: ENGAGED
MECHANICAL SEQUENCER: FROZEN
PRESSURE DOOR MOTION AUTHORITY: UNAVAILABLE
MANUAL SERVICE REQUIRED

The aft airlock interlock machinery can be reached from the Poruka vent network. One character must crawl into the service void between decks and heat the frozen valve housing with a Cutting Torch, suit heater, improvised warming pack, or another suitable tool. The crawlspace is narrow, dark, and rimed with ice. Old pressure lines run close enough to scrape a helmet or shoulder.

The character in the crawlspace must make a Heavy Machinery Roll. A character at an airlock control panel or the Engineering Station can help with a Comtech Roll, reading pressure drift and warning them when the valve starts to move.

On success, the valve releases with a deep metal knock that carries through the hull. The aft pressure-door panels click from red to amber, and the doors can now be cycled one at a time.

If the repair roll fails, or if the other PCs carelessly cycle one of the pressure doors before the repairing character is clear, roll 1d6 on the following table:

Result	Complication
1	The valve arm snaps loose and slams into the character. They take 1 damage.
2	A burst of freezing pressure knocks one held item out of the character's hand. It slides deeper into the service void.
3	The sequencer lurches hard enough to almost crush the character against the crawlspace wall. They gain 1 stress die.
4	The sequencer pins the character in place. They cannot free themselves. Another character must enter the service void and pull them loose; no roll is required.
5	The valve assembly catches the character badly. They suffer a random critical injury.
6	Roll again on this table. If the second roll is also a 6, the sequencer crushes the character and they die. All other PCs receive a stress die.

Clues

When the airlock panel reports the frozen mechanical sequencer, one player unlocks the following memory:

You remember pressure-door training before cryo.

A shipyard instructor stood under the aft deck plating with one hand on a cutaway model of the Poruka's pressure-door interlock. The lesson was simple: computers lie, switches fail, people panic. Heavy metal tells the truth.

The Storage Hold doors, the exterior cargo door, and the Affiance Umbilical Airlock doors were tied through a mechanical sequencer. Only one pressure door could move at a time, no matter what MU/TH/UR thought it wanted.

If that sequencer froze, every aft pressure door would stay locked until someone reached the machinery between decks and freed the valve by hand.
If the crew cycles a pressure door too quickly and injures the repairing character, the same character as above unlocks the following memory:

The same instructor slapped a red lockout tag against the model's service hatch.

"Use the tag. Every time. You do not want to be down there when these doors start moving."