Explorers 2

RESOURCE SURVEY FIELD GUIDE / SECTIONS 1.1 – 5.
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RESOURCE SURVEY FIELD GUIDE / SECTIONS 1.1 – 5.6 [DE-CLASSIFIED]
Explorers, Zozer Games 2021

Visit Zozer Games at www.paulelliottbooks.com
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Explorers is a science-fiction roleplaying supplement for the Cepheus Engine

– and for Zozer Games’ Hostile setting.
Author
Paul Elliott
Cover Image
Tithi Luadthong
Ship Design
Algol
Many Thanks to Janne Puonti for impromptu edits
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All rights reserved. Reproduction of this work by any means is expressly forbidden. This
book is fully compatible with the Cepheus Engine roleplaying game, a Classic-Era
Science Fiction 2D6-Based Open Gaming System. Cepheus Engine and Samardan Press
are the trademarks of Jason "Flynn" Kemp,” and Zozer Games is in no way affiliated
with either Jason "Flynn" Kemp or Samardan Press™.
A Note on Characteristic Rolls

The standard characteristic roll is Average and will often be simply given as ‘make a
Strength (or whatever) roll’. Some are listed with difficulty modifiers that must be
applied.
2
INTRODUCTION 4
UPSTREAM MAGAZINE 6
ARMADILLO ATV 13
MODULAR BASES 17
space SUIT DESIGN 24
HOW TO EXPLORE 34
SURVEY SHIP 59
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INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
We penetrated deeper and deeper

into the heart of darkness
Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness
It was in 2150 that the first humans broke free from the confines of the solar system
on a voyage of exploration. Their starship was the Deep Space Vehicle Solaris and was
the first ever constructed. The crew, led by captain ‘Sunny’ Chun Lan, had left Marco
Polo High Port on 9 June 2150 and travelled through hyperspace towards Alpha
Centauri. Solaris was the culmination of five decade’s work to develop the hyperspace
drive following milestone flights within the solar system using the Red Shift series of
prototypes. Solaris was not a prototype, not a test vehicle, it had a crew and a mission
– to reach Alpha Centauri and study what was there, before returning. The Earth Union,
which served as the world government of the day, was an experiment in globalist
political unity that would later break apart catastrophically during the First Recession of
2166. Its space agency, the Earth Space Development Agency (ESDA), initiated the
Solaris project with major funding from China and the United States and with
engineering contracts awarded to Eurodyne, Voroncovo and Tharsis.
Astronomers on Earth had already picked out various survey targets that the Solaris
might investigate: Candidate 1 was a gas giant, whilst Candidates 2 and 3 were
terrestrial worlds. Candidate 2 was located within Alpha Centauri’s habitable zone and
was to be the target of choice. The International Astronomical Union had given this
planet the name Ixion after the ignominious king of Greek myth, cursed by Zeus for
trying to seduce his wife. He was punished by being bound to a wheel which rolled
endlessly across the heavens. The cursed son of Ixion was Centaurus, after whom the
Centauri constellation was named.
Upon arrival, the crew of the Solaris confirmed the theories of those astronomers back
on Earth – Candidate 2 was not habitable, but was in fact a toxic hellhole. Yet it was
Mankind’s first close look at an exoplanet and the team made the most thorough survey
of the world as they could in the four weeks allocated to them. Equipped with surface
suits and a single rover especially designed to cope with the acidic environment, the
crew struggled to carry out their scientific mission. With seas of liquid sulfur, surface
temperatures of 150ºC and clouds of acidic hydrogen sulfide, crew fatalities were
inevitable. Both the chief scientist, Clarissa Cook and the assistant engineer, Oscar J.
Diem, were killed on the surface in unrelated accidents. The great find of the
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expedition, however, was alien life – silicone-based life of all kinds that was found to be
occupying several ecological niches on the surface of the small world.
After the Solaris made a successful return to Earth on 5 September 2150, it became
clear that Ixion was not going to make a suitable colony world, but it had proven the
concept of a crewed exploratory starship, and had confirmed the presence of alien life
on another world. Ixion soon became a footnote in the history of space exploration but
it had served its purpose, firstly as a test-bed and secondly as the spur for an explosion
of interstellar colonisation and exploration that has still not abated to this day.
It is still possible to see the DSV Solaris. She is preserved at the Schaeffer Museum of
Space Exploration located at the L4 colony of Unity (the Luna torus formerly named
‘Sword of Damocles’), and remains in remarkably good shape despite being seventy-five
years of age. The two crewmen who lost their lives on that first mission are
commemorated on Ixion as the Cook Research Station and as the Diem-A and Diem-B
Erebus mineral ore extraction mines.
Explorers is a supplement for Cepheus Engine and for the gritty HOSTILE science
fiction setting. It provides all of the tools the resource explorer needs to tackle dangers
and exotic encounters on remote worlds. Included within the book is a fully detailed
survey ship, the USCS Castle Bravo; an in-depth look at both the Tharsis Armadillo All-
Terrain Vehicle as well as the explorer’s habitat of choice: the Leyland-Okuda modular
base series. The space suits of the HOSTILE universe are also featured, with a set of
customisable options. Finally, survey and exploration procedures are explained with
advice and rules provided which will allow the referee to create a tense, unpredictable
and (hopefully!) dangerous survey mission.
We also present an article from Upstream (recently merged with Off-World Oil Monthly),
the best-selling interstellar resource extraction magazine in the American Sector. This
article is from the July 2226 issue.
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6
SURVEYING
NEW WORLDS
Upstream Reporter – Murphy Bryant
It’s the reason we punched our way out of the Solar System back in 2150 – raw
materials, resources – the essential materials that humans would need if they were to
survive on Earth. Overpopulation and environmental crisis, coupled with Earth’s
dwindling resources, made reaching distant stars an absolute imperative and not just
some abstract scientific research project. Today, in mid-2226, after a century of
interstellar exploration and development we can be proud of our achievements. Crops
grown on alien worlds are shipped back to Earth’s hungry population; oil flows from
Earth’s orbit down the incredible trans-atmospheric petroleum pipeline; vast bulk
carriers cross the interstellar depths; and millions of hard-working miners, loggers,
farmers, scientists and other colonists toil relentlessly to provide for Earth’s needs.
Although the incredible feats of Off-World engineering and colonial development are
celebrated by our industry and well-known amongst the public, little recognition is given
to the initial surveyors and explorers who located these valuable resources in the first
place. Even amongst miners and colony administrators, the dangerous job of the
planetary explorer is little understood or acknowledged. Recently, the editor of
Upstream asked me to rectify that with an article that introduced the work of these
brave and resourceful teams.
HYPERSPACE PROBES
With faster-than-light travel, one might think that interstellar exploration is now both
fast and easy. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case. Faster-than-light travel is made
possible by the discovery of hyperspace – a pseudo-dimension possessing natural laws
that are vastly different and, for the most part, void of scientific understanding. It can
be entered and exited in a ship fitted with a hyperdrive only at a pre-surveyed
hyperspace point. The ship’s computer carries details of all of these surveyed
hyperspace points. Plotting a hyperspace run into the unknown, no matter how exacting
the preliminary astronomical data, is incredibly dangerous and costly. A survey ship
jumping out into uncharted space will irrevocably come to a sticky end.
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And so, the first stage of opening up any new star system is to dispatch a faster-than-
light probe which will explore, map and then return with the data with which future
hyperspace co-ordinates are plotted. Dozens of these missions are required - a single
star system may be ready for exploration after a year or two of these advanced robotic
missions. All starship navigators use routes surveyed and established by these
hyperspace probes, even those first brave explorers to visit the new star system.
Navigators must base their calculations on those pre-surveyed routes but must of
course take into account current celestial movements.
The current model of hyperspace probes are the Secutor type, an adaptation of the
successful Kronos gas mining drones. These 100-ton Secutor probes are launched from
a forward station, typically a 5-man Pioneer Science Station (see the Zozer supplement
Pioneer Class Station for more information on these platforms). The probe Secutor 5
has just this month completed its survey of hyperspace points within the 25 Arietis star
system (a type F dwarf star in the Cetus constellation). This is part of a survey
campaign to open up star systems throughout the unexplored zone known as The
Aleutians, adjacent to Extraction Zone 9. Take a look at the companion article in this
issue of Upstream.
THE SPONSORS
The process of exploring a new star system in order to search for exploitable resources
is a lengthy one. Teams of resource scouts are employed by all the conglomerates to
explore new or unlicensed star systems in the search for viable resources, be they
timber, chemicals, minerals, petroleum, farmland, etc. Once a moon or planet has been
identified as a potential location for a colony or outpost, follow-up teams will arrive to
carry out a more detailed survey. Much of this is done with as little fanfare as possible,
no corporation wants to see a rival jump in and apply for a license first.
CORPORATE SCIENCE DIVISIONS

Each of the large interstellar conglomerates are made up of diverse subsidiaries and
partner companies, these companies typically engage in aerospace and electronics
production, power generation, banking and transport. Each also operates its own
starline. The starline includes a science division which like the meteorological
department of an air force or commercial airport, provides valuable, crucial and life-
saving information for crews about stellar bodies, astronomical phenomena, hyperspace
fluctuations and about the environmental dangers to be encountered on surveyed or
colonized worlds. The division also co-ordinates the survey of moons and planets for
exploitable resources.
Science divisions operate offices on all class A and B starports as well as every Mining
Regulatory Agency Base. The MRA is an official interstellar mining and exploration
regulation agency, handling claims, licenses and disputes. There will also be science
division research stations on Earth and maybe one or two based on corporate-owned
colonies.
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MINING REGULATION AGENCY

Established by the United Corporate Combine, the MRA serves the
interstellar mining, logging, drilling, salvage and extraction industry
just as the ICO serves the commercial transportation sector. It co-
ordinates prospecting claims, issues restricted licenses, adjudicates
salvage claims and assists in coordinating the activities of dozens
of mining corps and independent drilling operations in the Outer
Rim and beyond. The MRA runs offices on key planets that enable
exploration crews to find new employers and vice versa; they are
meeting points for personnel, mining, exploration and salvage crews and employers.
These bases include cheap accommodations, laboratories, warehouses, cafeterias and
repair workshops. The bases are often the starting point for many corporate exploration
teams. MRA shuttles can be seen in systems that contain an agency base, but the
organization also operates a small number of starships operating throughout the Outer
Rim.
THE CREW
Resource exploration crews do not have the same work cycle as freight haulers, who
tend to spend much of their time out amongst the stars, punctuated with only brief
periods of R&R. The survey business requires a large amount of planning, and explorers
will be involved in that planning, rather than simply be handed a destination and told to
get on with it. A star system newly opened by a hyperspace probe operation will come
up for consideration and a crew will be allocated to the survey mission. This crew will
undoubtedly have worked together before, spending weeks away from a higher
authority, cooped up on a starship and having to rely on one another for their very lives
– they must know and trust their fellow crewmen.
The crew itself will be made up of a variety of professions. The crew operating the
survey ship are not just point-and-drive spacers, they are all cross-trained as field
explorers, able to conduct in-depth surveys as needed when the ship is in orbit, or
landed on the planet’s surface. Each is a qualified pilot. In HOSTILE these explorers
come from the Survey Scout career. The science team may be composed of pure
Scientists, specialists in their field. Also on the team might be a Roughneck, who can
supply specialist drilling and geological survey expertise, as well as one or two survival
and security personnel. These guys can be drawn from the HOSTILE career called
Ranger. The inclusion of purely military or paramilitary personnel is rare on initial survey
missions, simply because if there is no physical threat from predators, those personnel
have no skills with which they can assist the scientists or resource scouts. Rangers, on
the other hand, are often competent marksmen and drivers as well as (first-and-
foremost) planetary survival experts.
There are nominally two people with command responsibility on every exploration team,
the first is the starship commander (the captain) while the second is the chief scientist,
who is usually the most experienced or qualified scientist on the mission. The captain
has authority over the starship, its safety, course and mission. The chief scientist has
final authority to decide which three planetary surface targets should be surveyed, as
well as responsibility for the safety and success of those survey missions. Together the
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chief scientist and captain make up a command team that can decide between
themselves what to do, where to survey and what to do in a crisis. They are expected
to work together in support of each other’s mission aims and will rarely over-rule the
other.
In a player group of explorers, all of that can of course go out of the window. No-one
wants to have another player at the table who can boss everyone else around and who
always has the final say on decisions. Within a group of player characters, the role of
captain and chief scientist are simply fancy titles, but all decisions during the game are
made by the players involved in the specific situation, or, depending of the context, by a
group decision.
Players decide which three targets to survey and decide what order they should survey
them (since all player characters should go to all the survey sites to maximise their
skills, manpower and resources). The players themselves decide what equipment to
take and how to deal with survey problems. This is why we roleplay after all, to be
thrown into hazardous situations far from help and to overcome the problems and
dangers using our own wits.
To that end, the player character explorers ‘muck in’ with each survey; the ranger, the
roughneck, the scientist, the ship’s engineer and medic – everyone, all haul equipment,
set up drill rigs, take soil samples, look for freshwater sources … career or skill
designations don’t mean much when everyone is pulling together to get the work done.
No geologist or roughneck sits on his hands during the survey of a forest suitable for
colonial logging, everyone on the team, whether suitably skilled or not for that type of
survey, is a pair of willing hands. Remember that in the HOSTILE setting, skills
represent well-trained practical abilities and education represents knowledge and
academic qualifications. But every character, whatever skills they have, are still well-
rounded and useful crewmembers.
ORBITAL AND SURFACE SURVEYS

Once in orbit around the target, the crew will spend 1-3 days conducting a sensor scan
of the surface, assessing its geological and chemical composition, analysing its
atmosphere, calculating its rotation, axial tilt and other factors. These scans will also
produce survey data that the scientists will use to select three planetary survey sites
that can be explored on foot and by ATV. Scans use the on board sensors of the survey
ship, everything from ground mapping radar, to thermal imagery, multi-spectral
chemical analysis, telescopes, lidar, magnetometers, gravimeters, meteorological sensor
and so on. They provide a good general overview of the planet in a short period of time
from low planetary orbit (200-1200 km).
The referee does not need to provide detailed tasks for everyone during this period, just
let the players use the two or three days to plan out which sites they want to survey
and what equipment they will need for each. Don’t let the players split up to survey the
sites simultaneously – that goes against company policy and if they do this the crew will
forfeit their bonuses.
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How do players select their three targets? It may be a case of providing them with a
broad description of the planet and then a quick overview of the landscape and terrain.
If the referee is using one of the suggested worlds from the list later in this book, then
he can point out possible resource sites such as mineral hotspots identified by the
orbital survey, forests, large grassy plains, volcanic regions, and so on. A detailed world
map is not necessary, simply suggest a list of five or six possible landing sites, each
different in its own way. The players will be selecting three from that shortlist of sites.
Roleplaying works because players make their own decisions, so the referee must give
them a choice of sites and not simply hand them three locations and tell them to get on
with it.
Modern survey ships are almost universally equipped to enter an atmosphere and land
on the planet’s surface, supplying the crew with a base, power, life support, equipment
and resources, as well as a means of escape. Earlier survey ships (such as the
venerable DSV Solaris) remained in orbit whilst the explorers descended to the surface
in shuttles. This practice is now quite rare. Due to the incredible technical effort in
relighting the drives and moving to another site to make a descent and landing at a
second or third survey site, starships generally remain in one place. The risk of
damaging or crashing the ship in one of these ‘jaunts’ is often too high. Instead, the
crew will travel to the three survey sites via ATV, QuadTrack and other ground or air
vehicles, carrying their equipment with them.
All three surveys will be located within a single regional hex (see the Regional Hex Map,
later in this book). The referee is encouraged to use this blank map, adding mountains,
rivers, dune fields, forests, glaciers or whatever features are appropriate to the world.
Of course he will also mark on the location of the three target sites, located in map
locations that correspond to the descriptions he gave the players whilst they were in
orbit. The reason for asking the players to travel over the surface of the world should be
obvious – this is where the adventure is; events, encounters, travel problems, obstacles
and detours all add up to frustrate and challenge the players. They are there
experiencing the world first hand, not helicoptering in to each survey site before taking
off and flying, aloof and protected, to the next one. Adventure is had by encountering
risks and challenges and overcoming them. For a detailed, hex by hex encounter
system, the referee might want to pick up Dirtside, a wilderness survival supplement
by Zozer Games that serves as a useful companion to this book.
THE MODERN SURVEY SHIPS

Two designs dominate the field of planetary exploration and as already mentioned, both
follow the popular trend, they are relatively small, streamlined and capable of planetary
landings. The two popular designs are the 300-ton Castle Bravo class, with a total crew
of thirteen, and the larger 2,000-ton Pandora class, with a total crew of nineteen.
CASTLE BRAVO CLASS RESOURCE EXPLORATION VESSEL 300 TONS

The Voroncovo Castle Bravo is a deep space survey ship designed to carry out short,
preliminary assessments of potential colony sites. Using a 300-ton streamlined, self-
sealing hull (Hull 6, Structure 6) the Castle Bravo mounts a Tharsis 12B hyperdrive
allowing a cruise speed of 2 parsecs per week, a Terratech TX200 2 Gigawatt fusion
reactor and a Tharsis Vector 341 3-G reaction drive (capable of vectored thrust for
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planetary landings). The drive provides an acceleration in a vacuum of 30 metres per

second². Fuel tankage comprising 96 tons is used by the reaction drive and can provide
coolant for the fusion reactor for up to 12 months of continuous operation. Adjacent to
the bridge is a Level-4 Hosaka M7K computer mainframe and an advanced sensor array.
The survey ship carries six expedition members, a mix of scientists, technicians and
security personnel, as well as seven crew members who operate the starship (one of
which is an android who serves as the loadmaster and technician). In practice things
are not so cleanly cut, and most crews on-board a Castle Bravo are cross-trained as
scientists and resource scouts. The full mission crew is comprised of a captain, pilot,
navigator, sensor operator, engineer, ship’s doctor and an android engineer/loadmaster,
as well as six scientists and other expedition members. Twelve hyperspace pods are
provided for crew use in-transit as well as twelve single staterooms. The Castle Bravo is
equipped with landing gear for planetary landings; internal features include fuel scoops
and processors that can refine 100 tons of liquid hydrogen each day, a medbay, office,
briefing room, workshop and two laboratories. A bay containing 10 survey probes is
attached to the lab section of the ship. The 60-ton cargo hold includes a large drop
down rear ramp and holds an Armadillo ATV, two QuadTracks, a forklift and Coyote off-
road vehicle. The ship requires a crew of thirteen and costs $243.5M.
PANDORA CLASS RESOURCE EXPLORATION VESSEL 2,000 TONS

The Voroncovo Pandora is an exploration ship, equipped to survey planets and moons in
its hunt for exploitable resources. It carries a small team of experts who are able to
conduct speedy and accurate surveys amidst hostile and challenging conditions. Using a
2,000-ton streamlined and self-sealing standard hull (Hull 30, Structure 30) the Pandora
mounts a Tharsis 12B Hyperdrive allowing a cruise speed of 2 parsecs per week; a
Terratech TX200 2 Gigawatt Fusion Reactor and a Gulfstar Meridian LCA 2-G reaction
drive (capable of vectored thrust for planetary landings). The reaction drives provide an
acceleration of 20 meters per second². Fuel tankage comprising 440 tons of liquid
hydrogen is used by the reaction drive and can provide coolant to the fusion reactor for
12 months of continuous operation. Adjacent to the bridge is a level-4 Hosaka M7K
computer mainframe and a basic civilian sensor package with a full survey sensor suite.
There are eighteen hypersleep pods for crew use in-transit and eighteen staterooms
provided for orbital lay-overs. A cargo deck of 500 tons carries supplies and technical
spares. The Pandora is equipped with landing gear for planetary landings. Internal
features include fuel processors that can create up to 100 tons of liquid hydrogen each
day, a medbay, briefing room, office, five laboratories, a technical workshop, extendable
ore conveyor and both an ore processor system and petroleum refining system. A
hangar with drop down access ramp holds two ATVs, four QuadTracks and a Chevrolet
Bucketloader. The ship is also fitted with a set of 5 probe drones, two sets of mining
drones and an Exoframes Workloader for handling equipment and supplies on the cargo
deck. The Pandora carries nineteen Individual Crew Escape Pods, one for every
crewman.
The ship requires a crew of nineteen: commanding officer, android technician, pilot,
navigator, medic, sensor operator, chief engineer and an assistant engineer, a four-man
security team, chief scientist and six scientists. A spare hypersleep pod and stateroom is
included to allow for a Company official to join the mission. The USCS Pandora costs
$559.2M.
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ARMADILLO ATV
ARMADILLO ATV
The Tharsis Armadillo GT800 is an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) used throughout the
American Sector. It is a sizable vehicle capable of carrying up to eight people and their
equipment up to 1,200 km, perfect for scientific expeditions, prospecting or repair
missions. It is a rugged go anywhere wheeled transport, built to negotiate desert sands,
rough terrain and ice.
The Tharsis Armadillo is used when conditions are extreme, an all-terrain vehicle
capable of carrying a team of explorers across a harsh environment and within a deadly
atmosphere. Armadillos are used on alien worlds as trucks, personnel transports and
expeditionary ‘camper vans’. Each is fully enclosed and capable of sustaining eight
people for one month in a vacuum, high or low temperature environment or in
unbreathable atmospheres. It provides some protection from radiation, but cannot
survive the crushing pressures and metal-melting temperatures of a corrosive or
insidious atmosphere (types B and C). A compact kitchen is built-in, along with a
chemical toilet, air and water recycling system and eight fold-away sleeping cots.
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It boasts a 6x6 wheeled layout, with each powered wheel unit connected to the hull by
a swing arm suspension unit. These arms are cantilevered as they meet the chassis
mount and sprung internally on a series of torsion bars. Suspension over rough terrain
is dampened by hydro-pneumatic rams. These rams are controlled directly via an on-
board CPU that alters the arm configuration to match the ride configuration.
Power is provided by a 1000 kw hydrogen fuel cell, which transmits power to an electric
motor that is mounted behind each wheel. An on-board fuel processor is mounted inside
the vehicle which is able to turn water or ice into hydrogen, filling the tank after three
hours of preparation and processing. Roof-mounted solar panels also provide power,
allowing the vehicle to travel at 60 kph in bright sunny conditions, and at 20 kph in
duller or more overcast conditions. The panels provide enough energy to power the fuel
processor, should the Armadillo be completely out of hydrogen fuel. The combination of
fuel cell, solar panels and fuel processor means that the vehicle has virtually unlimited
range on a wide range of planetary surfaces.
THARSIS ARMADILLO ATV GT800

SPECIFICATIONS
Type dTon Armour Hull/Struc Cost ($)
ATV 10 4 10/10 50,000
Max.Speed (kph) Range (km) Agility Cargo (kg) Crew/Passengers
100 600 +1 1000 1/7
ARMAMENTS
Weapon Damage RoF Range Ammo
- - - - -
Off-Road Speeds: Easy 90 kph/Hard 50 kph/Slow 25 kph
Length: 8.5m Height: 3.6m Cabin Width: 3.75m Total Width: 4.25m
 Maximum Road Speed 100 kph

 Maximum Off-Road Speed (easy going) 90 kph
 Maximum Off-Road Speed (hard going) 50 kph
 Maximum Off-Road Speed (slow going) 25 kph
 Fast cruising speed on easy going terrain 90 kph.
 Range is 600 km at 90-100 kph or 1200 km at a more sedate 50 kph.
 Fuel Cell Endurance is 6 hours at 90 kph on easy going terrain.
 Fuel Cell Endurance is 24 hours at 50 kph on easy going terrain.
The Armadillo’s hull is built in two parts, with a forward cockpit and a rear central cabin.
Entrance to the vehicle is made via either an airlock door on the cockpit’s starboard
side, or a single (non-pressure) door on the cockpit’s port side. The cockpit itself is
cramped, but seats three, with the driver’s station mounted forward of the other two for
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visibility and access to the single set of controls. All three seats have computer Model/0
terminals for access to the Model/1 computer on-board and can serve as workstations
when the Armadillo is parked. The rear cabin can be entered either from a rear cargo
hatch, or more routinely, from the cockpit area. An open area is flanked to port by a
row of equipment lockers and to starboard by passenger seating, five travel seats with
five-point crash harnesses. Behind this first half of the rear cabin is a dining table and
bench seating, with a mini-galley opposite on the starboard wall. Moving rearwards
brings the explorer into a small cargo area with more equipment lockers on the
starboard hull wall, a rear cargo hatch and, on the port side, a fresher
(toilet/shower/sink combination).
When parked up and in use as a base of operations, a 4m x 4m Yoshiko Fast-Tarp can

be attached to the port side exterior and supported by telescopic poles and Ryco
bungee cord. This serves as a sun or rain shelter for activities outside. The cockpit
computer stations can serve as workstations, and the dining area and passenger seating
will serve as a rec area. The dining table might instead be used for map-work or other
scientific activities. At night, when sleep is required, the passenger seating folds down
and two double bunks fold down from the roof-space. Likewise, above the dining area,
two double bunks drop down from the roof-space. In this way, eight people can be
‘comfortably’ berthed. More typically, just the bunks above the passenger seating are
used and the crew of eight sleep and work in two separate shifts.
Intercoms are mounted on the cabin wall to allow communication with the cockpit. The
cockpit itself is fitted with manual controls, a Model/1 computer, long distance 200 km
range radio (with Video-Fone screen) and an inertial nav system. The radio can pick up
signals from any navigation beacons up to 150 km (depending on terrain) and will send
out a repeated distress signal, should the alarm be triggered by someone in the cockpit.
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Tharsis Armadillo GT800 ATV

Interior Layout
1 Airlock
2 Cockpit
3 Portside Access Door (Unpressurised)
4 Forward Cabin Space
5 Equipment Lockers
6 Passenger Seating for 5
7 Dining Area With Table
8 Galley & Food Store
9 Rear Cabin Space
10 Cargo Locker
11 Fresher
12 Rear Access Hatch (Unpressurised)
13 Life Support System
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MODULAR BASES
MODULAR BASES
Modular bases were pioneered by Leyland-Okuda. They are self-contained living

quarters that can be shipped across interstellar distances and unloaded on a moon or
planet to provide a team of engineers, explorers or soldiers with instant
accommodation. There is a short set-up time, but no major construction is required. The
modular habs can be joined together to create ever-growing outposts. The habs are
expensive however, and not cost efficient for any type of permanent settlement. They
are best used as an instant but temporary arrangement. Engineers building a new start-
up colony might live in these whilst they get the first dozen habs completed, then move
into those to complete the project, whilst the modular bases are shipped Off-World for
some other purpose.
The bases are made up of a steel outer surface backed by a composite layer for heat
retention and structural strength.
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There are two main types of modular base, the 130 (unpressurized) and the 230
(pressurized). The external construction of these general accommodation bases is the
same, it has a rectangular floorplan, rounded at either end. A central access door is built
into the middle of one of the long sides. There are four sets of small windows on each
‘corner’ of the building, and a set of integral ladders to allow access to the roof. The
roof contains air conditioning, temperature control and water recycling machinery. It
also houses pylons that mount floodlights and a radio transmitter. A periscope assembly
is also mounted on the roof to provide people within the base a 360 degree view of the
local area, complete with low-light capability, some magnification and a video camera
system. The radio tower is used for surface communications only, out to 150 km
(depending on terrain). It cannot contact ships in orbit, a mobile uplink transmitter
would be required for that. An auxiliary door is fitted to the starboard tip of each
module (in the ‘rec room’, location 6). These are only used to connect modules
together, and only ever used at other times as an emergency exit.
Standard Modular Base 130: This base provides unpressurised living quarters for up
to 6 people. It has no airlock and so must be erected only on worlds with breathable
atmospheres. They do not require connecting by Module Links, since the inhabitants can
walk freely from one to another. The building can withstanding light to severe winds
and it offers excellent shelter from precipitation, storms, and temperatures as low as
-10ºC and as high as 40ºC. For more extreme temperatures, toxic atmospheres or
vacuum, the Advanced Modular Base 230 is, instead, required. Requires 8 man-hours to
erect or dismantle. Dismantled and ready for shipment, the cabin masses 4 tons. Cost
$10,000.
Advanced Modular Base 230: This base is used as living quarters for up to six
people. It is designed for use in hostile environments and includes an external airlock as
well as an exterior life support pod. Both of these additions increase the cost, weight
and set-up time. The 230 is rated for vacuum as well as Atmosphere types from 1 to 11.
Insidious atmospheres (type 12) will defeat the skin or pressure seals of a 230 within 2-
12 days. The base is sturdy and can withstand anything less than hurricane force winds.
It offers excellent shelter from precipitation and all but the most extreme of
temperature ranges. Requires 12 man-hours to erect or dismantle. Dismantled and
ready for shipment, the advanced base masses 6 tons. The cost includes life-support for
six people for 7 days. Cost $50,000.
Modular Link 80: The Modular Link 80 is required if two or more bases are to be
connected together. Links are composed of a telescoping corridor 4.5m long, ending in
a four-way connector. The connector can join up other Links or other Modules.
Dismantled and ready for shipment, the Modular Link weighs 0.5 ton. Each Modular Link
costs $2,000.
Advanced bases require basic life support supplies (waste reclamation chemicals, water
purification, oxygen supply, CO2 scrubbers, etc.) necessary to support one person for
one month in its enclosed, pressurized environment. The Kinako TigerPak leads the way
in this area, costing $100 and weighing 2 kg.
18
The Leyland-Okuda designs are termed ‘modular’ because there are various types that
can be connected together in order to create a small, temporary outpost tailor-made for
the mission. The full list (as of July 2226) follows:
Standard Open Base 100 ($8,000)

An empty cargo space, or area suitable for customization.
Standard Modular Base 130 ($10,000)

An accommodation area, with six bunks and a rec room.
Standard Operations Base 140 ($14,000)

A comms and control centre, with a Model/2 computer, set of terminals and offices.
Standard Lab Base 145 ($14,000)

This science module features one large laboratory and two offices.
Standard Hydroponics Base 150 ($10,000)

Devoted to a 15 sq.m hydroponic autofarm producing 10 food units/day.
Standard Recreation Base 160 ($10,000)

A kitchen, dining area for twelve people and a recreation lounge
Standard Technical Base 170 ($11,000)

This includes a machine fabrication workshop, a repair bay and tool and parts
lockers.
Modular Link 80 ($2,000)

A 4.5m-long tunnel ending in a 4-way (1.5m-long) connector. Used only in hostile
conditions, serving as protective corridors between Advanced Modules.
Advanced Modular Base 230 ($50,000)

Pressurized and hardened version of the 130. It includes an airlock with suit racks to
either side. It also includes an external life support pack. Advanced versions of all of
the Standard Modules exist and these cost five times that of the Standard Modules.
The volume of an erected modular base is 14 displacement tons, with the Advanced
Base massing an additional 2 tons due to its airlock and life support pod. Packed away,
for shipment, each base is less than half that size. Once unloaded from a starship by a
reachstacker, forklift, workloader or crane, the module is assembled in-place, from three
separate sections – the roof assembly and two halves of the main structure. Furniture
and other fittings are integral to the module and transported with the base in its packed
state. A minimum of two people can assemble a module, and these require a
mechanical tool kit and a forklift, reachstacker or workloader in order to mount the roof
assembly.
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Standard Open Base 100

1 Fuel-cell powerplant
2 Open deck for cargo or customisation
Standard Modular Base 130
2 Equipment locker
3 Hallway
4 6-man bunk room
5 Storage
6 Rec room with computer terminal
Standard Operations Base 140
2 Equipment locker
3 Office
4 Storage
5 Control room
Standard Lab Base 145
2 Equipment locker
3 Office
4 Configurable open lab space
Standard Hydroponics Base 150
2 Hydroponics autofarm
3 Raised beds with frame-mounted agri-bot
4 Central raised bed
5 Tool and supply store
6 Steel workbench
Standard Recreation Base 160
2 Main dining area/lounge
3 Self-service dispensers
4 Small dining area/lounge
5 Kitchen with serving hatch
Standard Technical Base 170
2 Steel workbench
3 Office
4 Repair bay/tool room
5 Equipment & spares lockers
6 Machine fabrication workshop
Modular Link 80
1 Pressurised corridor
2 Pressurised four-way module connector
Advanced Modular Base 230
2 Equipment locker
3 Hallway with suit racks
4 6-man bunk room
5 Storage
6 Rec room with computer terminal
7 Life support unit
8 Airlock (with integral decontamination unit)
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23
SPACE SUIT DESIGN

SPACE SUIT DESIGN
The space suit is more important to you than any mere piece of clothing. You spend
hours in it every week and some people spend most of their working day inside a suit.
Your suit is personal, customised to the way you work. Colloquially they are known as
vacc suits (from their common use in the ‘vacuum’ of outer space), but these suits are
able to operate almost anywhere, from dusty, rocky surfaces within poisonous toxic
atmospheres to frozen moons with icy methane atmospheres … and in many other
hostile places besides.
Vacc suits are complex. Each is a self-contained space vehicle in its own right, with a
breathable atmosphere, pressure regulation, heating and cooling controls, drinking
water, 10 km radio and TV camera communications, a 5m range flashlight, limited
micrometeoroid and radiation protection and the ability to do all that in a low pressure
environment that threatens to turn your suit into a balloon.
These rules offer customizable suits for the hard-working spacer who has exacting
needs. Players can design their own suits, or the referee can customise suits for a
particular corporation or activity.
VACC SUITS & ACTION PENALTIES

Suits are bulky and constraining. All suits begin with a basic penalty to all physical actions
taken while in the suit. Added extras further increase general encumbrance, and can further
increase this action penalty. Training and experience counts for a lot, though. The wearer’s
Vacc Suit skill will of course negate these penalty DMs if it is of a high enough level.
WHAT’S IN A SUIT?
Radio (10 km range)

Headset
Drinking Water (1-2 litres)
TV Camera
Worklight (5m range)
Loops and carabiners for equipment
Suit repair kit (for one large breach)
PLSS recharge connector
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The four main suit types in the HOSTILE setting are the soft suit, mining suit, hard
suit and hostile environment suit (HES).
SOFT SUIT
This can be used in a vacuum, but to prevent ballooning, the air pressure must be reduced
and this requires wearers to have spent some hours prior to the EVA pre-breathing oxygen.
Because of this, hard suits are instead routinely used for work in a vacuum or near vacuum.
Soft suits are better suited for use on planetary surfaces for protection against low
pressures, radiation (decreasing exposure by up to 20 rads/hr), cold temperatures and
unbreathable atmospheres. The suit has a duration of six hours. Cost $6,000. Weight 12 kg.
Armour Rating 4, Action Penalty -1.
MINING SUIT
Used by miners or others working in hazardous conditions, the suit is a customised semi-
hard suit with a rigid torso and includes armoured protection against accidental impacts,
tears and punctures. It is well-designed for hard, physical labour and includes advanced
temperature control, climbing harness, flashlights and rad counter. The suit can be used in a
vacuum, just like soft suits, but to prevent ballooning, the air pressure must be reduced. This
requires wearers to have spent some hours prior to the EVA pre-breathing oxygen. The suit
has a duration of six hours. Cost $9,650. Weight 9 kg. Armour Rating 6. Action Penalty -1.
HARD SUIT
The hard vacc suit is the spacer's best friend, providing life support and protection when in
space. The suit provides a breathable atmosphere and protection from the extremes of
temperature, low pressure and radiation typically found in a hard vacuum (decreasing
exposure by up to 40 rads/hr), for six hours. Hard suits are rigid and have segmented joints
for freedom of movement, they can operate at high pressures which means wearers do not
need to pre-breathe oxygen before use. Six hour duration. Cost $9,000. Weight 9 kg.
Armour Rating 6. Action Penalty -2.
HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT SUIT

Hostile environment suits are designed for conditions where a normal vacc suit would be
insufficient, such as deep underwater, worlds shrouded in toxic or corrosive gases,
extremes of radiation or temperature, or other locales that offer serious physical danger as
well as the lack of a breathable atmosphere. HES suits provide all the life support offered by
a normal vacc suit (for six hours) but are also impervious to flames, intense radiation such
as that found at nuclear blast sites (decreasing radiation exposure by 90 rads/hr), and high
pressure environments like undersea trenches. Includes a radiation and toxic gas analyser.
Cost $18,000. Weight 40 kg. Armour Rating 8. Action Penalty -3.
25
Manufacturers offer custom suits, base models that includ featured add-ons to provide
tailored utility for the buyer. A custom suit will be more expensive than a basic model,
but the player character gets what they want. Hostile Environment Suits cannot be
made to order, but there are variants and other manufacturers which add on various
pieces of equipment for particular markets.
Base Type
To build a custom suit, select a suit design, select a PLSS and then choose up to three
options that make your suit unique. Total the weight, the cost and make a note of any
penalty assigned to any actions taken when in the suit. A suit is made up of several
components: a torso assembly, a helmet and limbs. Select the basic suit design from
the table below.
Base Description Action Mass Cost Armour

Design Penalty (kg) ($) Rating
Soft Suit Soft, flexible suit -1 12 $3,000 4
Semi Hard Suit Hard shell torso with flexible -1 9 $6,000 6
arms and legs
Full Hard Suit Hard shell suit with rotating -2 9 $6,000 6
joints
HES Hard shell powered suit -3 40 $15,000 8
Life Support System

Next, select the type of Personal Life Support System (PLSS) that will be worn with the
suit. The PLSS includes oxygen, pressure and temperature regulation systems, as well
as a heating/cooling system. Systems in 2225 dump wasted carbon dioxide every few
minutes, rather than collect it within lithium hydroxide/metal oxide scrubbers, a method
used by the old 20th century suits. Who wants to have to constantly replace those CO2
scrubbers?
PLSS Duration (hrs) Mass (kg) Cost ($)

A 6 - 3,000
B 8 +2 5,000
C 10 +3 8,000
Custom Features
All suits may have 3 customizable features, select up to three from the table below.
Once chosen add the combined weights, this total may adversely affect the suit’s action
penalty: if 4kg+ then apply a DM of -1 to the action penalty, if 7kg+ then apply a DM of
-2 to the action penalty and if 10kg then apply a DM of -3 to the action penalty. Note
that not all suit types can accept every feature. Check the table for details.
S = Soft Suit, H = Hard Suit and X = Hostile Environment Suit.

Semi-Hard suits count as soft suits.
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Suit Feature Suit Description Cost Mass

Type ($) (kg)
Ablative Outer Layer HX Armour Rating 10, from lasers only 1200 2
Atmosphere Tester SHX Provides detailed chemical analyses 500 1
Binoculars SHX Fold-down vision aids, with laser range finder 800 1
Climbing Harness SH Integral harness with rings and attachment 250 -
points for rope climbing and rappelling
Collapsible Helmet SH Helmet folds back and slots into hard torso 500 -
shell.
Comms, Long Range SHX Extends radio range out to 50km 250 -
Crampons SHX Extending boot spikes for stability on icy 200 1
terrain
Extended Life Support SH Extend PLSS Type C duration to 16 hours 2000 +2
Flashlights SHX Twin helmet-mounted flashlights, illuminating 200 -
up to 20m
Flare Damper HX Magnetic field that protects against all solar 1000 3
flares, it saps power from the PLSS at 10
minutes of power per hour’s use
Heads-Up-Display SHX Suit data is fed to the suit’s faceplate 1000 -
Inertial Locator HX Indicates direction and distance travelled 1200 1.5
from a starting location
Mag Boots H Allow walking on metal hulls and deck plates 200 2
in zero-G
Power Pack HX Extra power source with cables, for running 1000 2
equipment etc. as an emergency back-up
Radiation Counter SH Provides warnings of radiation threats 200 -
Resistant Outer Layer SH adds +2 to suit Armour Rating 1000 3
Zero-G Tool-Belt SHX With zero-G tools attached 500 2
Spotlight SHX Powerful helmet-mounted spotlight, 1000 1
illuminating up to 50m
Thruster Unit H PLSS-mounted thrusters providing limited 1000 4
movement in zero-G or underwater for a total
of 60 minutes
Wrist-Mounted Computer SHX as computer Model/1 1000 1
Most vacc suits are able to cope with vacuum and temperatures from 120°C down to
-180°C. There are more hostile environments: the Jovian moons are bathed in radiation,
Mercury’s dayside surface is a boiling 427°C and on Venus a visitor suffers the heat of
Mercury with the added peril of being crushed by 92 atmospheres! The Tharsis H200
(HES) is an armoured and powered exo-suit with heat-shielding and advanced radiation
protection. The visor can screen out UV radiation and allow vision even on near-star
worlds. Finally, the suit is resistant to flame and extremely toxic atmospheres. Unlike
the other suits it includes a radiation and toxic gas analyser as well as a thruster pack
for manoeuvring in zero-G or underwater. It is built to withstand tremendous pressure
from either alien atmospheres or ocean depths. Underwater, imagine the HES as a high-
tech, powered version of the ‘atmospheric diving suits’ used today by salvors, rig divers
and explorers, such as the Newtsuit, ADS2000 and the WASP suit. Since it is able to
maintain an Earth-like internal atmosphere, there is never any need for decompression.
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PRE-BREATHING (Hard Science Option!)

IDENTIFICATION To work effectively in a vacuum within a soft
Early on, explorers soon discovered that suit, pressure must be reduced to stop it
they needed to identify each other whilst ballooning. However, with less air comes
out on the surface and wearing heavy less oxygen and the wearer will need to
pressure suits. A form of identification was switch the air to 100% oxygen, or risk
created; the back of the suit's helmet blacking out. The downside is that such
became a place to put a personal logo or
partial pressures will usually result in
custom paint job, this large space could be
seen from a distance and instantly identify decompression sickness (‘the bends’) where
the wearer. Since most designs wrap nitrogen in the blood is no longer
around the top and sides too, identification constrained by pressure and bubbles out
is often possible from the sides and front into muscles and vital organs. To prevent
also. Designs might be chequered this the space-walker must pre-breathe pure
patterns, solid colours, geometric shapes, oxygen for 3 hours before he begins the
coloured letters, pictures, logos or EVA in his partial-pressure soft suit, purging
anything else that is colourful and nitrogen from his bloodstream. An EVA is
recognizable from a distance. It's not just
almost an inverse of an ocean dive – the
scientists and explorers that practice this
custom, but miners, engineers, diver comes up from high water pressure to
construction workers - almost everyone! the low pressure of the surface. The
Passengers, visitors and temporary crew- spacewalker leaves the high pressure of the
members hire or borrow soft suits that spacecraft for the low pressure of space.
have blank helmet backs with simple The spacewalker risks the ‘bends’ as soon
stencilled numbers for ID. The players with as the EVA begins, not after.
customised suits might want to create their
own custom logo (just draw round a coin Avoid the Bends: Endurance, DM-1 per hour
and grab some colouring pens or pencils..).
of spacewalk (roll every hour)*
Teams or personnel grades are usually
identified with coloured arm-bands. For * Assumes being in a vacuum in a soft suit
example, on a construction site, managers with no time to pre-breath oxygen (ie.an
or visitors have yellow arm-bands, miners emergency decompression or urgent rescue
orange, technicians blue, drivers and EVA).
equipment operators wear red armbands
and scientists wear green armbands. The Bends: Symptoms of the bends (deep
Stencilled numbers on these armbands pain, confusion, fatigue) occur 1D6 hours
denote the wearer's actual site ID number.
after the start of the spacewalk. The spacer
There are variations on this, based on
particular corporation or the use of overall
makes an End roll, and if successful suffers
suit colours, for example. 2D6 damage. If unsuccessful, the bends are
almost certainly fatal (6D6 damage). Quick
LIFE INSIDE THE SUIT medical care with oxygen mask and medkit,
It goes without saying that a vacc suit can can reduce damage by 8 points.
be bulky and uncomfortable, but there are
some comforts. A full-body garment is Treat the Bends: Medic, 1-6 hours, Average
worn beneath the suit that includes a
28
water-cooled layer, but warm water can instead be sent through the system as the suit
detects a change in the outside temperature. Drinking water, typically a litre or two, is
included and a drinking tube is fixed close to the wearer’s mouth. He or she can also
mount a food stick into a nearby housing, giving the wearer a chance to eat something
if in the suit for several hours. Urine is processed in thigh pockets and sent to the PLSS
for recycling as drinking water. And if you need to defecate, then the suit holds it in
place, that’s all it can do. Even the best units can’t reprocess that stuff. Go before you
put the suit on.
Most suits include gauges on wrists

BREACH!
and chest that allow the wearer to
check battery life, pressure, Once a suit is breached (perhaps from colliding
temperature, air and the PLSS with a piece of sharp debris while the wearer is
system. Some designs integrate repairing a drive) it takes 1-3 turns (roll 1D3) for
these into a Heads Up Display that the suit itself to self-repair the tear. In the first
appears on the wearer’s faceplate. turn the wearer suffers 1 pt of damage, in the
Comms are all voice activated, with a second turn he suffers 2 pts of damage and in
wrist mounted manual control as a the third and subsequent turns he suffers 4 pts.
back-up. Controls for the PLSS are
also mounted on the same wrist
For larger breaches, the damage is instant and
controller. It is standard practice to
switch on the helmet camera when often fatal, depending on the environment. Lack
working, it means you aren’t alone, of oxygen might cause suffocation, toxic gases
comrades inside the base or ship can cause injury and extreme high or low breach
give you guidance and advice, and temperatures inflict damage (for details see the
everything you see is recorded for Hostile main book or Dirtside).
later analysis. A small light
illuminates the wearer’s immediate To repair a major breach: Vacc Suit, 1D3+1
working area. rounds, Difficult (-2), or Very Difficult (-4) if
repairing one’s own suit. All suits include a suit
The PLSS can be recharged (air,
water and electricity) at dedicated repair kit.
connectors within most airlocks.
Other places, such as mining facilities, may have large banks of connectors in an EVA
prep hall for many users to top up their PLSS at once. Every acceleration couch in a
spacecraft includes an umbilical allowing the wearer to take-off the PLSS (it gets in the
way when laying in the couch) and rely on air from the vehicle if needed.
GETTING IT ON
It is possible to climb inside a vacc suit whilst wearing normal clothes, but they’d better
be tight fitting, the urine connections won’t work and without the water-cooled full body
garment any movement becomes hot and sweaty. Increase the action penalty by -1
after 2 hours. Putting on a suit properly requires 5 minutes if help is available, 10
minutes if it isn’t. Taking the suit off takes 2 minutes. It is possible to do either of these
a lot faster in an emergency! To speed up the process use the tasks below (do not
factor in the suit’s action penalty).
Putting on a vacc suit while under stress: Vacc Suit, 3 rounds, Difficult (-2)
Taking off a vacc suit while under stress: Vacc Suit, 2 rounds, Difficult (-2)
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HOW TO EXPLORE
HOW TO EXPLORE
These rules provide a framework that the referee can build a scenario upon. In the
depths of deep space, without the usual RPG plot elements of non-player characters,
corporate rivals, patrons, random colonists, guerrilla wars, espionage and subterfuge,
much of the plot and action comes either from the terrain and elements, or the actions
of the player characters themselves. In this plot vacuum, the framework here is a basic
plot structure that the player characters can follow. It runs through the mundane tasks
of conducting a resource survey, but throws in some hazards and complications. The
referee may want to add further complications via the agendas of any non-player
characters that are part of the team.
Essentially, there are THREE complication events the referee can impose:
1 - The Environmental Killer: The key event is one or more natural hazards waiting
for the PCs on the planet. The hazard can disrupt travel, disrupt the survey, cause
mechanical breakdown or damage and maybe injury to an explorer too. Think of an
avalanche in a mountainous area or a dust storm in a desert. Overcoming this challenge
whilst still producing some decent survey results is the aim of the adventure. The
incentive is provided by ‘survey points’ which measure the intangible results of their
work and which get rewarded with hard cash once they return to base. A referee might
want to have the event put the PCs in a very difficult, or perhaps even an impossible-
seeming position. This is the black goo or the sand storm in Prometheus, or the tidal
wave on Miller’s Planet in Interstellar.
2 – The Survey Problem: Whether the PCs are surveying a glowing fungus, an
extensive cave complex or an ore deposit underground, there will always be a problem
– always. Nothing runs smoothly, and this additional problem can add more things for
the PCs to think about and deal with. These are delays, repairs, accidents etc.
3 – The Game Changer: This is an optional and dramatic plot element, a ‘wildcard’
event that has little to do with the goals of the survey, but which forces the PCs to fight
for their survival against an unexpected force. This is the encounter with Captain
Pinbacker in the movie Sunshine, the Nostromo’s crew discovering alien eggs, Dark
Star’s crew facing off against a bomb that refuses to drop, or the malfunctioning combat
robot ‘AMEE’ in Red Planet. Typically, the use of a game changer brings a sudden halt
to the survey as the PCs have much bigger things to worry about. If the scenario was a
movie – the game changer would be the main plot…
34
The survey rules here can be used as a method for generating a scenario and events for
a group of player characters. The referee can expand on and embellish the results to
provide a dangerous and exciting backdrop for the PCs to experience. The next chapter
details a suitable ship, this chapter provides the procedure and a number of random
tables that the referee can use to create incidents, obstacles and opportunities for the
player characters who participate in a prospecting campaign. Use it as an excuse to get
PCs out into the depths of space, alone and far from help – give them goals to achieve,
obstacles to overcome, then throw the real scenario at them and let them struggle
heroically to survive.
The referee (or perhaps the players themselves) should identify a suitable star system
for their mission. To increase the chance of discovering a valuable ore body unknown to
science, the target system should not be within the Near Earth Zone. The star system
may be uninhabited or may already have a colonized main world. Either way, both types
of star systems have vast areas of unsurveyed and unexplored real estate just waiting
for the PCs to investigate. There are many potential target locations within a single star
system. The greatest prizes, though, are new colonial ventures on unexplored planets
beyond the American Sector. Zones of space adjacent to the American Sector are
untraveled and unsurveyed, and once new hyperspace routes are mapped they are
open for business! These new zones are off of the main star map – although each is
named on the zone’s furthest edge. Typically, the survey ship will travel to the target
star system through hyperspace, before conducting a more detailed scan once it has
arrived and the crew have woken up from hypersleep.
Characters must travel to the mainworld, that planet within the habitable zone where a
likely colonial establishment might be made. Its distance from the hyperspace point
must be rolled randomly.
Calculate a trajectory to the target: Navigation, 1 hour, Average (0).
The distance to be travelled is: 1D6 x 1D6 x 20 Million kilometres (MKM). Failure to
make the Navigation roll adds 20 MKM to that distance. Calculate travel times by using
the ‘Distance per Day in MKM’ given under the Drives section of the HOSTILE main
rulebook. Ships emerge from hyperspace within the target star system on a pre-planned
trajectory to take them directly to the mainworld location (saving fuel). However, 4
Burns of fuel is then required to decelerate and enter orbit around it.
Once the survey ship has entered orbit around the mainworld and the crew are ready to
begin work, the survey sensors scan the target for a suitable landing site – perhaps the
location of a rich mineral vein, forests, oil, suitable cropland and so on … any of which
might be worth millions of dollars to a corporation. This is where the referee imparts
some information about the geography and climate of the planet or moon. But don’t
give away any of the dangers … not yet …
Locate a suitable target location: Navigation, 1-3 days, Average (0)
35
Touching down on a planet or moon requires a deorbit burn and controlled descent.
Descending to a moon’s surface costs 1 Burn; descending to a planet’s surface costs 2
Burns (standard or streamlined ship) or 1 Burn (lifting body starship).
Note that ships struggle to find a decent landing site, they are more used to nav
beacons, landing lights and concrete pads. Finding ground large enough, stable enough
and strong enough to carry the weight of a multi-kilotonne hunk of metal is tough. This
means there will be some travel in the ATV or QuadTracks involved to get to the
identified survey locations. Travel means adventure, means danger!
Asteroids are rendezvoused with, not landed upon – no Burns required. Most dedicated
mining vehicles, such as drilling rigs, have heavy duty landing suspension, pitons,
harpoons or rock drills that are needed to anchor the vehicle and prevent it from drifting
away in an asteroid’s pathetic gravity field. QuadTracks cannot be used on asteroids
and teams must move on foot or using EVA thruster packs. Mining drones use both
tracks and thrusters and are able to operate on the low-G surface of an asteroid
successfully.
The target world occupies the habitable zone, this is the most favourable place for the
concerted colonisation effort that will be needed to exploit any resources discovered.
However, the world that occupies that spot in the star system is under no compunction
to make itself habitable. It may well be an airless rock or a toxic hellhole. What is the
target world like? What hazards and resources does it possess? The referee can either
select a world from the Target Worlds table or roll randomly for one. Each entry
contains the following information:
Title – A short descriptive title for the world.

UWP – The Universal World Profile.
Description – A short paragraph describing the important aspects of the world and
some of its dangers.
Resources – A short list of possible resources to be discovered on the world. The
resources form the treasure that the PCs will be hunting for.
Events – A list of ‘environmental killers’ that will upset the survey, create complications
and perhaps endanger the player characters. The events will form the central obstacles
for the PCs within the scenario.
As an example here is entry 11:
Lava Moon X210000

A tiny planet or the moon of some other world, in near vacuum with a desolate
cratered surface, alternating with extensive flat plains of bare volcanic rock. There
are volcanoes here, molten geysers, and liquid pools of precious minerals. The trace
atmosphere is a thin veil of sulfur.
Resources: Lava Tubes (as dwellings), Precious Metals, Ore, Gems.
Events: Ash Cloud, Dust Pool, Metal Vapour Vent, Meteor Storm, Pyroclastic Cloud.
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TARGET WORLDS
D66 World UWP
11 Lava Moon X210000
12 Mega World X787000
13 Eyeball X366000
14 Dust Moon X200000
15 Desert World XA51000
16 Wet World X778000
21 Fire Land X665000
22 Riverworld X553000
23 The Rock X000000
24 Forest Moon X487000
25 Crawler World X887000
26 Blasted Wasteland X777000
31 White Hot X350000
32 Icy Oasis X677000
33 Orogenic Planet X755000
34 Tinderbox X6A4000
35 Archipelago X78A000
36 Acid World X6B7000
41 Summerland X654000
42 Plateau X483000
43 Ice Ball X210000
44 Black & White X320000
45 Cold Desert X640000
46 The Swamp X988000
51 Burning Forest XB78000
52 Labyrinth X571000
53 Black Smokers X649000
54 Primordial Rock X440000
55 Wandering Islands X86A000
56 Daylight X662000
61 Husk X662000
62 Windswept Steppe X7A5000
63 Fungi World X598000
64 Tendrils of Terror X8A8000
65 The Dry Eyeball X550000
66 Tomb World X310000
37
[11] Lava Moon X210000

A tiny planet or the moon of some other world, in near vacuum with a desolate cratered
surface, alternating with extensive flat plains of bare volcanic rock. There are volcanoes
here, molten geysers, and liquid pools of precious minerals. The trace atmosphere is a
thin veil of sulfur.
Resources: Lava Tubes (as dwellings), Precious Metals, Ore, Gems.
Events: Ash Cloud, Metal Vapour Vent, Meteor Storm, Pyroclastic Cloud.
[12] Mega World X787000

A world covered with vast savannah grasslands, as well as extensive swamps and
jungles. This world is dominated by mega fauna, huge scaly herbivores, bristling with
armour plates, horns and spikes. But what are they defending against?
Resources: Animal Products, Timber, Cropland, Oil.
Events: Predators, Poisonous Pests, Prairie Fire, High Winds, Stampede
[13] Eyeball X366000

A small world tidally locked to its star, with a storm-shrouded ocean facing the sun, and
a vast ice wilderness covering the dark-side. With the sun stationary in the sky, trees
can only compete by finding better locations and so can walk and attack other trees
before re-rooting themselves.
Resources: Timber, Oil, Ore, Biopolymers.
Events: Tropical Storm, Mudslide, Marsh, Swarm, Flare.
[14] Dust Moon X200000

An airless small planet or moon with wide plains interspersed with deep dust seas. Dust
sticks to everything, a great danger in itself. The danger of getting stuck in pockets of
dust, or dust getting into electronics is great.
Resources: Ore, Precious Metals, Gems.
Events: Dust Pool, Micro-Dust, Meteor Storm, Quakes.
[15] Desert World XA51000

A high-gravity (1.5G) desert world, with mountains, badlands and dune seas. There is a
small sea, and extensive caves and canyons. Trees are pyramid-shaped cage-structures
that defy gravity up to 50m in height.
Resources: Timber, Ore, Gems, Oil.
Events: Sandstorm, Swarm, Fumaroles, Predators.
[16] Wet World X778000

A garden world with oceans and fertile continents. There are mangrove swamps on the
coasts, and extensive swamplands, rivers and lakes. A common herbivore is a tall,
giraffe-like tripod, hunted by a six-legged camouflaged predator.
Resources: Animal Products, Oil, Timber, Gems, Cropland.
Events: Flood, Marsh, Predators, Mudflats, Fog, Quicksand, Tropical Storm.
[21] Fire Land X665000

A pleasant garden world of temperate grasslands, mountains and forests. There is
potential for faming here, but fire will be a problem. The atmosphere is oxygen rich, and
many of the tree species propagate through fire, their oily leaves are extremely
38
flammable and leaf litter very dry. Spontaneous forest fires are common, with fresh
buds coming out within hours.
Resources: Timber, Cropland, Animal Products.
Events: Prairie Fire, Marsh, Spores, Swarm, Windstorm.
[22] Riverworld X553000

A small dry and dusty moon or planet, with a thin, tainted atmosphere. It is notable for
several large salt-water lakes, and for the two great rivers which wind through desolate
desert to the largest of these. The marshy banks of both rivers are fertile and rich,
although they flood extensively twice a year when rains fall on the mountains at their
head.
Resources: Cropland, Oil, Gems, Ore, Animal Products.
Events: Marsh, Quicksand, Mudflats, Sandstorm, Floods
[23] The Rock X000000

A nickel-iron asteroid around 170 km in diameter, that sits within an asteroid belt of
many smaller rocks. It is mineral rich and stable, pock-marked with craters and hills.
Resources: Ore, Gems, Caves, Precious Metals.
Events: Flare, Meteor Storm, Quakes, Rockslide
[24] Forest Moon X487000

A moon or small planet with low gravity and dense, humid atmosphere conducive to the
growth of mega trees. These purple and black monsters grow in forests around
mountain lakes.
Resources: Timber, Ore, Oil, Cropland.
Events: Predators, Tropical Storm, Marsh.
[25] Crawler World X887000

A warm, humid and fertile world of jungles and tropical forests, interspersed by
mountain ranges. The jungle is vast, horrific and oppressive, filled with man-eating
plants. It grows into any cleared space within hours. Its poison ivy-like tendrils are
resistant to fire and herbicides. It grows over everything and consumes all it
encounters. Local wildlife is in a constant battle for survival.
Resources: Timber, Gems, Precious Metals, Ore, Biopolymers
Events: Marsh, Spores, Predators, Tropical Storm, Poisonous Pests
[26] Blasted Wasteland X777000

A frozen planet, with great oceans covered with ice sheets and with continents clad in
ice, snow and glaciers. Some of the warmest land areas are tundra and contain pockets
of hardy vegetation and animal life. There are freezing winds and ice so ancient it turns
blue and turquoise from the incredible pressure it is under. The lower levels of oxygen
and increased carbon dioxide requires the use of survival masks or suits.
Resources: Gems, Precious Metals
Events: High Winds, Blizzard, Concealed Gulley
[31] White Hot X350000

A small planet close in to the star – blistering hot during the day (‘Inferno’
temperatures) and freezing at night. The landscape is covered with smoking pits, glass-
melted plains, crumbling cliffs and falling ash. Volcanism is present due to tidal forces
39
from its proximity to the star. The heat haze bends light into a psychedelic bizarro-
illusion as the sun begins to rise, cooking everything in its path. This planet miraculously
has clung on to a breathable atmosphere.
Resources: Gems, Precious Metals, Ore, Lava Tubes
Events: Sunrise (use Pyroclastic Cloud), Metal Vapour Vent, Ash Cloud, Dust Pool
[32] Icy Oasis X677000

A planet dominated by cold, windswept steppes. It is icy and wind-blown, with tundra
towards the poles, and scattered mountains. It has no seasons, however when a local
area enjoys temperatures over 0ºC for two days, an ephemeral glade suddenly springs
to life, but turning brown and decaying within hours when the temperature plummets
below 0ºC a few days later. It is geologically active with hot springs.
Resources: Ore
Events: Blizzard, Geothermal Springs, Fumaroles, High Winds
[33] Orogenic Planet X755000

This cold world has a recent tectonic past that has created vast connected mountain
chains across the surface, split only by narrow seas and high altitude wind-blown
plateaus. The world is locked in an ice age, the mountains covered in snow and glaciers,
the seas and plateaus covered by ice sheets.
Resources: Ore, Oil
Events: Blizzards, High Winds, Rockslide, Avalanche
[34] Tinderbox X6A4000

A large cool world that has a dense methane-ammonia atmosphere. The environment is
hostile, with any oxygen leakage potentially resulting in a catastrophic explosion. There
is methane based life here and within the bizarre forests are centipede and trilobite-like
alien creatures.
Resources: Industrial Gasses, Industrial Chemicals, Biopolymers
Events: Predator, Tropical Storm
[35] Archipelago X78A000

A waterworld with mineral wealth in the shape of trillions of seabed nodules that are
made up of nickel, manganese and other precious metals. There are vast coral reefs on
this world, creating some scattered island chains. The atmosphere is humid and thick.
Sea life is dominated by various polypods, many of which are tiny and seem to have
collective intelligence, able to communicate through mass colour change. Polypods are
edible to humans, and are hunted by voracious predators.
Resources: Ore, Animal Products, Oil
Events: Sea Storm, Fog, Predators
[36] Acid World X6B7000

A toxic world wreathed in a nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere, with seas and rivers of
corrosive nitric acid. The rocky landscape is being sculpted by river and acid erosion
processes. Peculiar life exists on this world, in the shape of small, fierce, armoured
creatures.
Resources: Industrial Gasses, Industrial Chemicals, Ore
Events: Poisonous Pests, Rockslide, Tropical Storm
40
[41] Summerland X654000

A dry world with fertile areas clustered around several small seas. The landscape is
divided between tropical grasslands ranging into deserts, and mountainous and bad-
land territories. Summerland has a pronounced axial tilt leading to seasonal variations.
The summers are pleasant with plenty of growth and animal life, the winters are very
hostile, seas freezing over and snow covering the land. Most animal life hibernates. The
world is prone to meteor strikes
Resources: Ore, Animal Products, Biopolymers, Cropland
Events: Winter – Blizzards, High Winds, Meteor Storm
Summer – Prairie Fire, Stampede, Meteor Storm
[42] Plateau X483000

The world has a dense unbreathable atmosphere and large areas faulted, broken or
uplifted by tectonic activity. A high plateau similar to Tibet has a breathable pressure.
Some deep canyons have air at very dense deadly pressures. Those deep canyons
contain great mineral wealth, but vacc suits must be worn within them. Great waterfalls
cascade a mile down the plateau’s sides.
Resources: Ore, Oil
Events: Quakes, Rockslide, Predators, High Winds, Tropical Storm
[43] Ice Ball X210000

A small world composed of ices of frozen gasses around a rocky core, incredibly rich in
precious minerals. The surface is heavily cratered and features a network of brightly
coloured rainbow cliffs of ice, fault-banded ice canyons and geological faults. There are
also extensive ice plains.
Resources: Industrial Gasses, Precious Metals, Gems
Events: Concealed Gulley, Fog, Quakes, Flare
[44] Black & White X320000

This small, frozen world is mostly dense rock, covered in a surface layer of ice. Large
regions are coal-black, others are bright white. The dark regions are the result of
eruptions of hydrocarbon mist which has settled over some areas of the icy surface.
These hydrocarbons contain exploitable minerals.
Resources: Ore, Oil
Events: Ash Cloud, Fog, Dust Pool, Geothermal Springs, Quakes, Concealed Gulley
[45] Cold Desert X640000

A bone-dry desert world with a thin atmosphere mainly composed of carbon dioxide.
Temperature hovers around -5ºC. There are cratered plains, mountains and deep
canyons, as well as rugged uplands and vast, chilly dune fields. Tremendous sandstorms
blast this world, often accompanied by wild electrical discharges created by static
between the ultra-fine dust particles.
Resources: Ore, Lava Tubes, Precious Metal
Events: Rockslide, Sandstorm, High Winds, Dust Pool, Micro-Dust
[46] The Swamp X988000

A warm, tropical world with deserts and mountains, but dominated by swathes of jungle
and swamp. These fertile areas are made possible by the hundreds of thousands of
lakes of all sizes which cover those regions. Many are linked by rivers and streams,
41
creating almost one vast equatorial swamp, rich in life. Unfortunately carbon dioxide
saturates these lakes at lower levels, and the frequent tremors release the gas in a
fountain of bubbles which asphyxiates wildlife for several kilometres around the stricken
lake.
Resources: Animal Products, Timber, Oil, Ore, Biopolymers
Events: Quakes, Outgassing (as Fumaroles), Predators, Poisonous Pests, Swarm,
Tropical Storm
[51] Burning Forest XB78000

This garden world is deceptive, its forests are highly flammable. There should be
obvious signs of burnt-out forest and from orbit hundreds if not thousands of forest
fires raging at once. The leaves of the trees contain a combustible oil and forest leaf
litter is incredibly dry and filled with phenolics. This self-ignition and localized forest fire
is part of the tree’s lifecycle, destroying competition from fast-growing undergrowth,
whilst activating heat-triggered thermally-protected seed pods. Regrowth is remarkable,
beginning within minutes of the fire going out.
Resources: Biopolymers, Timber, Animal Products, Cropland, Ore
Events: Forest Fire (see Prairie Fire), High Winds, Swarm, Smoke (see Fog)
[52] Labyrinth X571000

A small, dry desert world smashed and torn by violent tectonic action. There are great
rift valleys, uplifted escarpments and extinct volcanoes. Lava plains are dusty and black,
dune fields spread for hundreds of kilometres. There is a small sea. Great mineral
wealth has been exposed at the base of the canyons and along some of the
escarpments. A predator, waiting for the cooler, wetter, winter season is laying in
hibernation beneath the sands. And the winter rains are on their way …
Resources: Ore, Precious Metals, Lava Tubes
Events: Predators, Sandstorm, Rockslide
[53] Black Smokers X649000

A small world dominated by a vast shallow ocean that is covered mainly by ice sheets.
There is open water at the equator, and a mountainous, snow-covered island. The
winds and blizzards are fierce and relentless. The only respite is off the coast, where
geothermal vents on the seabed raise the water temperature and allow animal and
plant life to thrive, even under some of the ice sheets. There are extensive seabed
mineral deposits around these ‘black smokers’.
Resources: Precious Metals, Ore, Animal Products, Biopolymers
Events: Blizzards, Concealed Gulley, High Winds, Predators (underwater)
[54] Primordial Rock X440000

A primordial rock, with howling winds, electrical storms, low temperatures and a rocky,
ancient volcanic terrain that is mountainous and unforgiving. The air is tainted with
dangerous levels of nitrogen. Subterranean pouncers live on this world.
Resources: none
Events: Predators, High Winds, Quakes, Flare, Meteor Storm
[55] Wandering Islands X86A000

A large waterworld, with seven mountain peaks serving as a scattered archipelago of
islands. There are also hundreds of thousands of large, city-sized floating islands made
42
up of vegetation. Looking barren on the surface, these islands support an entire

ecosystem beneath them – much like an inverted Terran reef. Vicious triphibian flying
creatures that feed on sea creatures swimming close to the surface, use the islands to
rest and to build their burrows. There is a whale-like analogue.
Resources: Animal Products, Biopolymers
Events: Sea Storm, Predators, Fog
[56] Daylight X662000

A dry world, with a chemical taint in the atmosphere that requires the use of survival
masks. It orbits a gas giant within a trinary star system. It is perpetual daylight on this
world. Every few months the gas giant provides 25 hours of shade from all of the suns,
during which time voracious, photophobic bat-like predators come out of hibernation to
feed on the skinny six-legged herbivores that live in the mountains. The planet is due a
bit of darkness any day now …
Resources: Ore, Industrial Gasses
Events: Predators, Sandstorm
[61] Husk X662000

A dry world, once fertile but now due to an orbital catastrophe, burnt out and dried up,
with dried sea beds and rivers and a barren landmass. There is rainfall every few years,
and vegetation in the region of the northern polar sea. Plants take their moisture from
the air and are heavily defended with spikes, poison and other more bizarre defences.
Small but tough animals have evolved to take moisture from these plants. There is very
little metal in this world’s crust, making it almost valueless.
Resources: Biopolymers
Events: Sandstorm, Dust Pool, Geothermal Springs
[62] Windswept Steppe X7A5000

Volcanic world, with mountain chains, forests and cool grassy steppes. The air has a
moderate sulfur content requiring an oxygen supply. Flora and fauna have evolved to
thrive on sulfur compounds, and so look incredibly alien. The seas are mildly acidic.
Resources: Ore, Gems, Precious Metals, Timber, Biopolymers
Events: Pyroclastic Flow, Fumaroles, Ash Cloud, Prairie Fire, Stampede, Geothermal
Springs
[63] Fungi World X598000

A world with a thick, dense atmosphere filled with airborne phytoplankton, eaten by
manta ray-like omnivores. It orbits a dim brown dwarf star, and the surface is
perpetually dim. The landscape is dominated by a fungi-like vegetation of many
different types which acquire their food by absorbing dissolved molecules, typically by
secreting digestive enzymes into their environment. They do not need to
photosynthesize.
Resources: Biopolymers, Animal Products, Ore, Oil
Events: Predators, Spores, Floods, Tropical Storm, High Winds
[64] Tendrils of Terror X8A8000

A large world that is rich in flora and fauna, that is sentient, manipulative and clever.
Different plants have different IQ levels, forming a hierarchy or ecosystem. The highest
are capable of mind control. The world has a chlorine taint. Many plants employ savage
43
defence mechanisms, including traps, toxins and squirted venom. It may be possible to
somehow pit one species of local plants against another. How? That’s the players’ job!
Resources: Biopolymers, Oil, Ore, Timber, Industrial Gasses
Events: Spores, Poisonous Pests (plants), Predators (plants), Tropical Storm, Marsh,
Fog (green chlorine)
[65] The Dry Eyeball X550000

A tidally locked world, with one, burnt, desiccated desert-filled hemisphere always
facing the star, and the other an ice-covered wilderness forever dark. There is a very
narrow, barren twilight zone between the two with a perpetual sunset.
Resources: Ore
Events: Bright Face – Prairie Fire, Meteor Storm, Fumaroles, High Winds
Dark Face – Blizzards, High Winds, Meteor Storm, Concealed Gulley
[66] Tomb World X310000

A small frozen world with a surface of methane ice and nitrogen ice, complete with
canyon systems, ice plains, ice mountains. Cryo-volcanoes erupt ash clouds of dirty ice
particles frequently, that rain down hydrocarbons onto the surface, which itself varies in
colour from black, brown, red, orange and white. There are also craters and even dune
fields – not of sand grains, but of frozen methane micro-particles. The PCs may soon
detect glimpses of life, shadowy movement, hard to see and not registering on thermal
imaging. These enigmatic man-sized amoebas are actually blobs of helium-2, moving
around the landscape much like a tumbleweed, but instead pulled by small variations in
temperature. They exist well below -200ºC and may be attracted to a suited character
with potentially catastrophe results should it come into contact with the suit or other
equipment. Although not actually ‘alive’ they appear as the ‘predators’ in the list of
Events.
Resources: Oil (hydrocarbons)
Events: Predators, Concealed Gulley, Quakes, Ash Cloud, Fog, Dust Pool
The referee will have some idea of the resources the world holds, but they may be of
poor quality or worth a corporate fortune, no-one knows until the survey is carried out.
Some resources will be obvious, even from orbit (such as vast swathes of forest –
exploitable as timber for Earth), but others will not be noticeable, even after stepping
out of the starship hatch (such as deeply-buried ore bodies or polymer fibres growing
amongst the vegetation). The referee needs to give the PCs an immediate resource to
investigate, and often this will be a series of soil samples (for agricultural use), timber,
or minerals or oil buried in rock strata. More exotic resources, perhaps of the referee’s
own devising, can be saved as an event later on in the scenario.
With the ship landed and powered down, the crew will need to decide what needs to be
surveyed or explored, and which characters will do those jobs. What equipment will be
needed? There will certainly be survey sites all across the surrounding area and the
ship’s on-board vehicles, ATVs and QuadTracks, will be put to use ferrying characters
around to these sites. Since the cost in fuel to take-off and reposition is immense (as
much as it was to land from orbit), survey ships generally remain static and the
explorers instead travel by land to carry out their missions. A survey mission might last
44
a week or more, depending on how many resource sites there are to be surveyed and
what kind of complications arise.
A Regional Hex Map is provided for the referee’s use to mark on the landing site (in the
centre Local Hex) as well as any terrain features, types of vegetation and possible
resource sites as identified from the orbital survey. The aim is to give the players some
options, giving them decisions to make about who goes where and with what
equipment.
An ‘eyeball’
world
Resources are the ‘pull’ of the adventure. Why are we here? What are we looking for?
There are scientific expeditions in the HOSTILE setting – but our resource scouts are
only interested in saleable commodities. The Target World listing provides a few ideas
for suitable resources, but the referee will have to expand on those to give player
characters something to discover, measure, survey and prospect. The team will need to:
1. Locate the resource using sensors, drilling or field expeditions

2. Take samples
3. Analyse samples back at the ship
4. Locate other resources
5. Investigate any anomalies on the planet
6. Find a location suitable for a human colony (to eventually extract the resource)
45
LIST OF RESOURCES
Animal Products – Alien wildlife is an exploitable resource, it might be their unusual

pelts, or the fact that they taste good and carry plenty of meat for shipping back to
Earth. Ranchers will be needed to domesticate the creatures and breed them at
purpose-built ranching stations, or they might be fished.
Biopolymers – Biopolymers are natural polymers produced by the cells of living
organisms; Terran examples include collagen, rubber, chitosan, enzymes, starch and
silicone. Biological analysis of alien plants and animals will be required to detect a
biopolymer that might be useful in an industrial capacity.
Cropland – Expansive, flat and well-watered soil – fertile and perfect for the growth of
Terran crops. Cropland will require preparing and farming by colonist homesteaders or
corporate farming concerns.
Gems – Gemstones used in fashion, industry or technology have been located, they
may be various coloured diamonds, rubies, jadeite, emeralds and gems unique to alien
worlds. Gems will be exploited by mining concerns and small-time mining outfits.
Industrial Chemicals – Growing harder to secure or manufacture on earth, industrial
chemicals can be shipped to Earth for a profit. They include (but are not limited to)
sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, sodium hydroxide, natural ethylene, styrene,
acrylonitrile, phenol, nitrogen dioxide, butadiene , and so on.
Industrial Gasses – As with industrial chemicals, some hell worlds (atmospheres 10-
12) may be wreathed in atmospheres filled with gases that could be used for industrial
purposes back on Earth. Such a project would involve a large atmospheric extraction
plant (costing around $3M and massing 100 dtons).
Lava Tubes – Ancient lava tunnels, now cold and empty, exist on the Moon, Mars and
Earth. On a colony world they might make a good basis for an underground colony as a
pre-dug tunnel system. Then again, they might be in totally the wrong location!
Oil – Still in incredible demand on a world obsessed with plastics and petroleum, oil can
be found in certain rock strata on worlds with a fossil history. Explorers will need to set
up an exploratory drill rig. Oil will be extracted by mining concerns and also by small-
time mining outfits.
Ore – Ore is king, minerals are the primary reason many colonies are founded in the
first place. Valuable minerals include uranium, tungsten, lead, iron, bauxite, copper, tin,
zinc, nickel, titanium, cobalt and mercury. Explorers typically make wide-ranging surface
samples. Roughnecks will follow up later with deep drilling expeditions. A mine and
refinery will form the core of any future colony. Open cast is cheaper and preferred, but
expensive deep shaft mines will be established if the ore is too far down for an open
cast mine.
Precious Metals – Some metals have great value, even in small amounts; investment
and industrial uses are some significant sources of the demand for precious metals.
Metals such as gold, silver, beryllium, bismuth, gallium, tellurium and the platinum
metals (iridium, platinum, palladium and others) are of great value in high-end
electronics and component technologies. A mine and refinery will form the core of any
future colony. Precious metals are generally extracted using deep shaft mines.
Timber – The world may be home to some form of ‘point producer’ - a tree of some
description. There is no rule that says an alien ‘tree’ must resemble a sequoia or an oak
… but nevertheless, it may hold value and produce useful timber products for shipment
back to Earth. Extraction of timber will be managed by logging teams from a colony.
46
Events are the obstacles within the adventure, those incidents, encounters and
catastrophes that make life ‘interesting’ and provide all of the danger and drama
surrounding the mission. Since the player characters will be far from human civilisation
or any trade route, they will be alone and the referee will be unable to throw in the
more traditional hostile human encounters. The environment (and Fate) will prove to be
the bad guy out here. The two types of events the referee has at his disposal are the
Environmental Killer (something specific to that world) and the Survey Problem (more
generic survey problems). Used together they can push player characters to the limit
and test their skills, ingenuity and bravery.
THE ENVIRONMENTAL KILLER

A number of events are listed within each target world entry and these provide
dangerous and challenging incidents suited to that planet’s environment. The Lava
Moon entry, for example, lists five possible events: Quakes, Unstable Ground, Molten
Geysers, Meteor Storm and Flare. The referee can use one or more of these to create a
challenge for the player characters.
What could a referee do with the Lava Moon events? How about the ship getting hit
with a molten geyser as it comes into land, damaging the drives and possibly the
landing gear? A forced landing must be made, trapping them there until these
components can be fixed. Or, during surveys of the lava tubes, a surface team disturbs
swarms of sulfur-based spider crabs which try to eat through suits and equipment
cables and hoses. The tension could be increased by having the team stuck in the tubes
after radiation from a solar flare reaches the moon, trapping them there.
LIST OF ENVIRONMENTAL EVENTS
Ash Cloud: A nearby volcano or volcanic vent is spewing out a vast cloud of ash (made
up of tiny particles of rock), that blocks vision and covers the ground. If inside a vehicle,
speed is reduced by half as visibility and traction are both reduced. For those on foot,
they must make a Routine (+2) Dexterity roll to get out of the cloud’s way or find
natural shelter; apply a DM of -1 if carrying Medium Load, -2 if Heavy Load. Loads can
be dropped if that will help. If trapped outside in the cloud, movement must stop and
the character suffers 2D6 damage. Visibility is reduced to a metre or two – and anyone
moving anywhere after the ash cloud hits, is a prime candidate for getting totally lost
and disorientated.
Avalanche: A large expanse of fallen snow moves suddenly down a nearby slope and
threatens to engulf the characters. The driver of an ATV must make a Difficult (-2) drive
roll or have the vehicle buried. It takes 3D x 20 minutes to free the vehicle, less if the
work is shared. If the result is 200 minutes or more, the ATV also suffers a
malfunction. Hikers must make a successful Dex or Int roll to react quickly and get into
a position of safety; failure results in suffering 3D6 – Endurance points of damage and
being buried.
Blizzard: A storm hits which subjects the characters to high winds and heavy snow fall.
Travel must stop for the duration of the blizzard (1D6 days). ATVs cannot travel and
hikers must find suitable shelter.
47
Concealed Gulley: Snow has drifted

over a crevasse, concealing a USING DIRTSIDE
dangerous drop of 2D6 metres. A
Routine (+2) driving roll is needed to A few of the travel and survival rules in this book
prevent the ATV from tipping into the have already been featured in the Zozer
crevasse and requiring 3D6 x 8 man- supplement called Dirtside. This forms a good
hours of work to free. Success companion book for Explorers as it provides
indicates that the ATV is disabled detailed guidance on playing out extended
with a malfunction. Lead hikers must
cross-country expeditions, complete with
make an Average Survival roll to
detect the gulley (necessitating a 1-6
detailed encounter and event tables.
hour detour), failure indicates the
lead hiker falls to the bottom of the crevasse.
Dust Pool: A large area ahead of the characters is made up of fine dust. It can be
forded or waded, but is dangerous. The referee rolls 2D6 which indicates the likelihood
of the ATV being submerged and getting caught up on rocks beneath the dust. The
driver must roll that target number or greater (adding the relevant vehicle and Survival
skill) to avoid submerging the vehicle, thus requiring considerable effort to return it to a
shallow area. If walking, the lead hiker should make a Survival roll to check for the dust
pool’s depth; if he fails to roll equal to or over the referee’s initial 2D6 throw then
everyone in the group must make a Routine Strength roll. If there is more than one
failed roll, the lowest result indicates that character has been submerged. Treat as
drowning, using the rules in Chapter 11 of Cepheus Engine.
Flare: A solar flare hits the planet and lasts for 1-6 hours. A minor flare inflicts 25 rads
per hour on characters, whilst a major flare inflicts 50 rads per hour on characters. The
referee decides how severe the flare is. If the crew left a probe in orbit or their starship
is in orbit, then they may get 1D6+4 minutes warning of the flare’s imminent arrival.
Floods: Water inundates the local area, perhaps a river floods, there is a tsunami or
fierce tides flood the land for many kilometres. Swimming, or clambering inside the ATV
(which is amphibian), is required. On a 2D6 roll, a result of 8+ indicates a malfunction
of a vital ATV component (probably the motor). All aboard the ATV in a flood must
make an Endurance roll or suffer 1D6 damage.
Fog: A fog descends on the area, bringing most activity and all travel to a stop for its
duration (2D6 x 3 hours). Visibility is reduced to a metre or two – and anyone moving
anywhere after the fog descends, is a prime candidate for getting totally lost and
disorientated.
Fumaroles: An area of poison gas vents caused by subterranean volcanic activity.
Smoke can be seen rising into the sky from numerous vents and small cones. If they
continue, the group is in danger of a carbon-dioxide outgassing, invisible to the eye,
which can be fatal. They can detour around, doubling their travel time this travel period,
or risk CO₂ exposure. Roll 9+ for a CO₂ cloud in the area they are passing through
(usually in a shallow depression or valley bottom), anyone not wearing an oxygen-
supplied mask must make a throw against the gas as a poison. Use the Poison rules in
Cepheus Engine, with a DM of 0 and a damage of 1D6, with unconsciousness if a
further Endurance check is failed. A further 1D6 damage is inflicted every 10 minutes
while unconscious. Since CO₂ sinks, survivability is increased by finding higher ground.
Animal victims of the gas may provide an early warning clue to the existence of the gas
pocket. The cloud will last 2D6 x 10 minutes.
48
Geothermal Springs: Steam vents and pools of warm water dot this area. Some of
the water is boiling. No effect on travel.
High Winds: Travel is made both difficult and dangerous for 2D6 hours by a windstorm
that fills the air with wind-blown debris. Aircraft are stranded and ATVs are in danger of
being tipped over. Hikers must find shelter immediately or be subjected to 1D6 points of
damage (make a Strength roll to avoid). Further checks might be demanded by the
referee should characters insist on moving about unprotected. In mountain terrain,
there is no debris, but a failed roll will result in being swept off a precipice or cliff
(falling 2D6 x 1D6 metres). In polar terrain, there is no debris, but a failed roll will result
in being affected by debilitating wind chill, causing an additional 1D3 pts of damage that
day.
Marsh: Water-soaked and partially flooded landscape with almost impenetrable tangles
of undergrowth and cloying, sucking expanses of mud. This is hell to drive through, and
even worse to hike through. Either backtrack or reduce progress to half speed.
Metal Vapour Vent: A very long, 2m-wide fissure crosses the explorer’s path, and
sporadic clouds of vapour can be seen being ejected from it. Crossing the fissure is
done easily in an ATV, although hikers may have to jump and should take precautions.
The alternative is a 4 hour detour. For anyone crossing, the referee rolls 2D6 and on a
11+, a blast of metal vapour will be ejected up at them. A vehicle will suffer superficial
damage, but hikers will be hit by 4D6 points of damage.
Meteor Storm: A shower of micro-meteorites peppers the local area. The chance of a
character being hit is tiny (roll a 2 on 2D6 for an NPC to be hit). Much more likely are
strikes on equipment or strikes on the landscape that have unwanted repercussions
(such as meteors striking sea ice that the player characters are currently camped on …).
Micro-Dust: This is micro-fine dust that gets into electronics, through door seals and
will always get brought into habitats and airlocks. It gets everywhere, sticks with static
electricity and can cause short circuits and equipment malfunctions. Difficult to remove
– requires detailed and laborious cleaning with a vacuum tool.
Mudflats: Large expanses of soft, waterlogged mud and vegetation ahead reduce
travel to slow going. An ATV driver must make an Average (0) drive roll or get the
vehicle mired in the mud. See Quicksand event for details of being mired.
Mudslide: The slope above the travellers collapses and slides downhill, sweeping
everything before it. Make an Average (0) vehicle roll to avoid being carried away.
Failure indicates the ATV is mired in mud or suffers a malfunction. All occupants make a
Strength roll or suffer 1D6 damage. See Quicksand event for details of being mired.
Hikers will all have to make Strength rolls to avoid being carried away, suffering 2D
damage and getting stuck.
Poisonous Pests: Small, poisonous creatures infest this area and are attracted to the
explorers and their camp, or vehicle, if any. They may climb into tents, boots, sleeping
bags, etc. and strike randomly when a traveller comes into contact with them. The
poison does 1D6 damage initially, with symptoms of sickness, fatigue and fever; failure
of an Endurance roll means it does another 1D6 damage one hour later.
Prairie Fire: A grass fire sweeps across the plain, threatening to cut the player
characters off. If driving, the ATV will outmanoeuvre the fire with a Routine (+2) driving
roll. If on foot, the group will need to find a cave, stream, rocky outcrop or other natural
shelter, or try to create a fire-break. Difficulty should be assessed by the player’s
response, with an Average Survival roll proving typical; failure indicates burning damage
of 2D6.
49
Predators: one of more large and dangerous predators will begin to hunt the player
characters.
Pyroclastic Cloud: A dense cloud of super-heated gas and ash rushes down from a
nearby slope toward the characters. If inside a vehicle, the vehicle catches fire and is
disabled and everyone on-board takes 1D6 damage. For those on foot, they must make
a Routine (+2) Dexterity roll to get out of its way (natural shelter of any kind is
useless), apply a DM of -1 if carrying Medium Load, -2 if Heavy Load. Loads can be
dropped if that will help. Failure indicates the character suffers 4D6 damage.
Quakes: Earthquakes and tremors may seriously damage equipment, maybe even the
ATV and starship. More devastating might be the impact on the local environment,
bringing down trees, causing avalanches or rock slides, etc.
Quicksand: Without warning, the vehicle becomes entrapped in sticky, cloying mud
and it partially sinks. It will take 2D6 hours and a Difficult drive roll to free the ATV, +1
if 3 or more people get out and help, +2 if 6 or more get out and help. Anyone helping
may themselves get trapped unless roped together, etc. So can hikers, who may
stumble into quicksand and get trapped before they realise the danger. Each character
must make an Average Survival roll not to get trapped, if failed that victim has only 4
minutes until sucked under to die by suffocation. Make an Endurance roll each minute
to get free, +2 if ditching all carried equipment, +1 if a bystander use a rope or tree
branch to haul the character out (double that if the bystander is assisted by another
rescuer).
Rockslide: The rocky slope above the travellers collapses and tumbles downhill,
sweeping everything before it. Make an Average (0) vehicle roll to avoid being carried
away. Failure indicates the ATV is disabled. All occupants make a Strength roll or suffer
1D6 damage. Hikers will all have to make Strength rolls to avoid being hit by debris, and
suffering 2D6 damage.
Sandstorm: Up ahead is a vast brown cloud, stretching across the horizon, it will reach
the player characters within ten or twenty minutes. This storm will last for 1D6 x 8
hours and make travel virtually impossible. Hikers must find a way to protect
themselves from the choking, blinding sand or suffer 1D6 damage. Visibility is reduced
to a metre or two – and anyone moving anywhere after the sandstorm hits, is a prime
candidate for getting totally lost and disorientated.
Sea Storm: A strong ocean storm hits the location and lasts for 1D6 x 8 hours, lashing
the player characters with high winds, torrential rain and high waves. An ATV or boat is
tossed by the winds and makes no progress for the duration of the storm. On a 2D6
roll, a result of 8+ indicates damage to the vehicle. All aboard must make a Routine
(+2) Endurance roll to avoid debilitating sea-sickness for the storm’s duration plus
another 6 hours.
Stampede: The party is caught up in the stampede of hundreds of large, local
herbivores (roll for animal Size as normal, with a 1-11 result indicating Large, 12+
indicating mega). A Routine (+2) drive roll will be required to avoid the stampede, and
those on foot must make a Routine (+2) Dexterity roll or suffer 2D6 damage.
Spores: The pollen of a local plant is a dangerous irritant to humans, and those
unprotected (included those within an ATV who are not explicitly operating a sealed
environment) will be affected. Use the Poison rules in Cepheus Engine, with a DM of 0
and a damage of 1D6, with unconsciousness or hallucinations if a further Endurance
check is failed.
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Swarm: Hikers are surprised by a swarm of flying micro-fauna, tens of thousands in

number. The creatures enter orifices, equipment and everything else, and they are
equipped with stingers. To avoid 2D6 damage, each character must make a Difficult
(-2) Dexterity roll. Sealed vacc suits are immune, whilst survival suits reduce damage by
4 points.
Tall Grass: Tall grasses cut visibility to only a few metres, slowing progress and making
the group or ATV vulnerable to any kind of ambush. Either backtrack or reduce progress
to half speed.
Tropical Storm: Torrential rain and localized flooding. Drive at half speed, or continue
at current rate, risking getting caught up on unseen vegetation. Make an Average (0)
vehicle control roll to avoid getting stranded in flood water, waiting a full day for the
water to subside. Unless they take shelter, hikers must make a Difficult (-2) Survival roll
or get stranded by floodwater and risk drowning.
The survey, or surveys, can begin. Get across to the players that three surveys or more
are required to establish what kind of resources are available. Figure on a drilling
survey, perhaps a survey of animal or plant life, and a third survey that might involve
atmospheric or water sampling, or another bio or geo survey much further away from
the landing site. Characters are at their most vulnerable when isolated form all the
resources of their ship. Strongly discourage using the starship as a helicopter, flying the
team around. It uses tremendous amounts of fuel and requires several hours of
maintenance after each landing. Once de-orbited, the starship will rarely be able to land
directly over a suspected ore body or right next to those enigmatic trees. Some surface
travel should be necessary, mainly because it is dangerous and it has the potential to be
fraught with challenges! How long will an individual resource survey take? The referee
can choose from a few hours to 1 day, 2 days, 3 days or a week, or simply roll the dice:
Planned Time to Survey Target

1D6 Time Required
1 12 hours
2 24 hours
3 2 days
4 3 days
5 4 days
6 5 days
8 days
At each survey site, roll once on the Survey Problem table (or the referee may
choose). This provides a problem that must be overcome – referee and players should
roleplay through these problems as part of the scenario. A column marked ‘Skill’
provides a possible (Average) skill roll that might be made to resolve the problem, but
roleplaying is always preferred. If no-one present has the required skill, then maybe
another skill might be used (at a slight -1 penalty) or the roll will have to be made at a -
3 penalty for being unskilled. Problems occur all the time on field trips, TV nature
documentaries, scientific expeditions and so on. It’s life. The table can be consulted to
determine what the nature of that problem was. The problems are fairly generic, since
they must be applicable to icy moons, Venusian hell-worlds, Earth-like planets, and
51
everything in-between. Because of this, the referee will have to use his imagination to
interpret the result, factoring in the team, the environment and the nature of the survey
target. For example, how exactly did a person become seriously injured? We are
investigating tides on the coast – how does a team member become lost? Where are
they? Have fun with these problems, they are intended to be entertaining, and food for
adventure, not a pain.
A skill or roleplaying failure to address the problem indicates that the survey was
impeded or held-up. Look at the Planned Time to Survey Target Table, and use the time
increment below the one that was initially rolled. So if the survey was due to last 2
days, a failed skill roll will extend that to 3 days.
SURVEY PROBLEMS
D66 Problem Skill
11- Radios or sensor malfunction; or a complex sensor sweep is Comms
12 required.
13- Survey equipment malfunctions or suffers damage either from the Mechanical/
16 environment or from use. Electronics
21 Elusive wildlife must be carefully tracked. Recon
22 Power systems at the survey site malfunction. Engineering
23 Explosive charges are needed for seismic study, or to cut a hole in Demolitions
ice or rock.
24- The area is difficult to map or to locate. Navigation
25
26 An NPC goes missing at the survey site or near to it. 10+ to find
31- An NPC is injured at the survey site, or falls ill. Medical
33
34- Difficult travelling conditions (in the vehicle used by the explorers) Vehicle
36
41- Computer problems whilst setting up equipment, or when Computer
42 processing survey data.
43- Machinery or vehicle malfunction Mechanical/
44 Electronics
45- Some of the survey gear needs to be shifted by sheer brute force; Strength
46 there’s no way around it. Requires total Strength of 1D6+16.
51- Wildlife poses a deadly hazard. Gun Cbt or
52 Blade Cbt
53- A scientific puzzle, either geological, chemical or biological Education
54 (depending on the planetary environment) must be solved before
the survey can be completed.
55- A crucial vehicle malfunctions or is badly damaged. Mechanical/
56 Electronics
61- Survey equipment or machinery is destroyed or lost. 9+ to avoid
63
64 Death of an NPC. 8+ to avoid
65- If sampling for ore or oil, the drill or drones hit a geological snag. Mining
66 Use your mining knowledge to overcome the problem.
52
The game changer is a plot revelation that dramatically alters the plot, turning into a life
and death struggle against all the odds. The referee can select one of these prior to
planning the scenario and decide how and why the new game changing plot comes to
pass.
Rogue Android
The ship's synthetic malfunctions and causes mayhem and destruction. It may initially
just begin to act oddly, but its behaviour becomes more and more irrational. Perhaps it
has some ulterior motive to sabotage the mission, or to push the team to investigate
some suspected alien predator, even if this means the total destruction of the crew. An
android will plan well ahead, thinking carefully of what the PCs might do to stop it, and
put in place various defences, ship protocols and even traps to thwart his crazed
actions. The Alien movies, as well as Westworld and Saturn 3 all exploited this trope,
with the 2000 movie Red Planet instead using a rogue special operations combat robot,
rather than an android.
The Perfect Organism

Predators are listed as a hazard to be encountered on some of the sample worlds listed
in this chapter, but these predators can be killed - their Terran analogues include lions,
Tyrannosaurs, sharks and crocodiles. The perfect organism, however, is not just a
tenacious killer that is tremendously difficult to kill, it will have shocking abilities of
stealth, camouflage, speed, transformation and so on. These organisms are true horrors
that are described at length in the HOSTILE Setting book as 'exomorphs', together with
a long list of suggested abilities and attributes.
The Ship of Death

Similar to the Rogue Android game changer, this involves the ship's mainframe
computer trying to kill the player characters. It may have faulty programming, a secret
agenda or come under the control of some unknown force. Obviously the computer's
power is limited to the ship itself and so this game changer works best when the player
characters are still en route to the target planet and after dropping out of hyperspace. If
the computer wanted the crew dead, then of course it could have killed them all as they
slept in hypersleep, and so it may be triggered by some kind of hyperspace anomaly, or
it needs the crew to perform a set of actions when they reach the destination world
before it disposes of them, or if they try to refuse its requests. This game changer is
inspired by countless SF movies such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, Colossus: The Forbin
Project and Dark Star.
Are You Crazy?

This game changer involves one or more of the crew becoming psychotic and trying to
kill the others. It works best when there are plenty of NPC crewmen available who can
serve as these crazed, savage, cannibal humans. Obviously a nice twist is to have the
psychosis spread, like a contagion, either through direct contact from touch or a bite, or
from the mysterious source of the original contagion. Another twist might be that the
victims revert back to their normal persona as if cured, but this might only be temporary
and the cycle soon begins again. Crazed crewmen litter SF movies, from Sunshine to
Pandorum, Serenity to Doom, the Ghosts of Mars to Event Horizon. The reasons for the
53
psychosis are many: in Event Horizon the crew have visited Hell while in hyperspace; in
Pandorum the crew have become cannibalistic monsters after contact with a
terraforming enzyme; in both Doom and Ghosts of Mars the victims come into contact
with ancient Martian DNA which infects and takes them over; in Serenity the murderous
Reavers are the result an experimental pacification drug; whilst Pinbacker in Sunshine
was driven insane by exposure to the unfiltered power of the Sun.
The Enigma
The orbital and surface survey is forgotten as the world reveals itself to harbour an
incredible secret, a mystery or enigma that might defy logic. This becomes the new
focus of the story and it must be solved before the PCs can escape and return to Earth
in safety. Classic Star Trek episodes are a great source of inspiration for this kind of
game changer. There are already colonists on the planet, how did they get here, and
when? There may be alien ruins on the world that must be explored and a puzzle
solved. Perhaps there is a crashed ship on the world and it is an exact copy of their own
Castle Bravo - the ship's log indicates an exact duplicate of the PC's crew escaped the
crash and is surviving on the world somewhere. The world is Earth millions of years in
the past, or millions of years in the future - weirdly displaced and dropped into this
remote star system. The world could be a vast computer experiment, or a hollow world
that contains some kind of vast alien complex (think of Magrathea or Altair IV from
Forbidden Planet). There are also those worlds where powerful alien forces conspire to
create an illusion of something which does not exist, granting unbidden wishes based
on the psychic probes of those aliens, or even psychic horrors from the crew's own
subconscious (themes that are explored in both the aforementioned movies, Forbidden
Planet and Event Horizon).
Did the explorers find useful minerals or precious metals or anything else of value? We
simply don’t know – but the player characters do. Players must use scientific method to
survey the site and between them must make one Investigate, one Navigation and (if
relevant to the resource) one Mining skill roll. Nominate PCs on-site who will make each
of those rolls.
Every survey, once begun, will produce survey data and we record this as Survey Points
that are added to any Survey Points already gained. After three surveys, the team
should have a decent Survey Point score. It is an abstracted measure of the success of
their voyage. Exactly what did they find out? How high can they get this score before
they return to their base? A decent haul of Survey Points for a planet surveyed in a
single game is 30. This will be converted to crew monetary shares at the end of the
scenario. To determine the success of an individual survey, the referee adds up various
factors and then adds those to a 2D6 roll. These factors are:
 One successful Investigate skill roll +1

 One successful Mining skill roll +1
 One successful Navigation skill roll +1
 Great roleplaying ideas +1 or +2
 Unresolved Survey Problem - 1D6
54
Example: A team is in a forest to survey the trees as possible timber resources for
Earth. The Planned Time to Survey Target is rolled as ‘2 days’ and the Survey Problem
is rolled as ‘Elusive wildlife must be carefully tracked. Recon roll’. The Average Recon
roll is failed (alternatively the group’s roleplaying response fails …), leaving the problem
unresolved and forcing the survey to take 3 days instead of 2. The Navigation roll is
failed and the Mining roll is inappropriate, but the Investigate roll is made. The referee
awards the players +1 point for some clever ideas on sampling the seed pods of the
incredibly tall trees. Altogether the Survey Point roll is 2D6 - 1D6 + 1 +1 = 11.
Refuelling
Once the survey is completed, the crew may decide that the ship requires refuelling
before it enters hyperspace. If there is a water source on the planet, then the starship
can land adjacent to it and pump water on-board as unrefined fuel. Alternatively the
ship can skim fuel from gas giants. A typical randomized distance to the nearest suitable
icy body is 1D6 x 1D6 x 20 MKM. It takes the Castle Bravo one full day to refine that
water into liquid hydrogen (refined fuel).
Returning to Civilisation
After conducting three on-planet surveys and refuelling (if needed), the ship must head
out to the nearest Hyperspace Point for the trip to an MRA base or to Earth. Standard or
streamlined hull ships (such as the Castle Bravo) require 2 Burns to lift off and enter
orbit (or just 1 Burn if from a moon or Size 0 planet). Then it’s a 4 Burn ride out to the
nearest Hyperspace Point, some 2D6 x 10 MKM away. Back at the origin star system,
the starship can coast in toward the mainworld without the need to expend any Burns.
Landing at a starport will require a final 2 Burn descent.
Getting Paid
Once the survey is over and the survey ship has journeyed back to an MRA base, the
players can relax and wait for their payment from the company. What does the crew
receive? To begin with, each crewmember receives a monthly wage of $1,000 ($4,000
for the captain). Survey ships like the Castle Bravo usually carry out one mission each
month, with a full month in dock for maintenance and mission debrief (as well as some
well-deserved leave for the crew).
Of course the crews also get a bonus share for the data from their three planetary
surveys. The referee should take the players’ Survey Point total and then multiply this
value by $2,000. This is the value of their share bonuses paid out by their employer
after it has assessed the quality and potential of the survey data that they have
collected. If the crew’s Survey Point total was 30, then the share bonus would be worth
$60,000. In a roleplaying group, these shares can be divided equally amongst all of the
PC and NPC crewmembers. In reality, the captain and chief scientist would be entitled
to more shares (perhaps equal to 2 or 3 crewmembers). In the example above, the
$60,000 bonus would be divided equally between the 12 crewmembers of the Castle
Bravo, giving them $5,000 each, which is added to their monthly salary. A typical
explorer on that trip would therefore receive $1,000 + $5,000 for a total payment that
month of $6,000. For an incredibly successful survey (netting 45 Survey Points), the
bonus would be $7,500 – giving a typical crewman a $8,500 payment that month.
55
56
57
World Size Local Hex (km) World Size Local Hex (km)
0 7 9 130
1 13 10 145
2 30 11 160
3 45 12 170
4 55 13 190
5 70 14 200
6 85 15 215
7 100 16 230
8 120
The Regional Hex Map shows one hex from the world map (see World
Map on the previous page). Each small hex on the map is a Local Hex.
58
SURVEY SHIP
SURVEY SHIP
The Castle Bravo survey vessel was introduced around a decade ago to compensate for
the inadequacies of its predecessor, the North Star long range scout. Whereas bulk
carriers and cargo transports have gotten even larger, the Castle Bravo went in the
opposite direction. Voroncovo Aerospace moved to a tiny 300-ton hull after noting that
the size of the older North Star ships was often a problem when landing on unprepared
planetary surfaces. The North Star’s remedy was to utilise a stable of Miranda class
expedition landers, but repeated orbital transfers slowed the pace of the surveys
significantly. Voroncovo’s proposal did away with shuttles and landers, and used the
ship itself as the expedition craft and fixed scientific base. The Castle Bravo had a more
limited science team, but that was outweighed by the fact that there were savings in
fuel, maintenance and upkeep costs. Voroncovo’s Castle Bravo has been a success, slow
to find acceptance at first, but with increasing sales to the science divisions of some of
the bigger conglomerates.
DATA SHEET
VORONCOVO CASTLE BRAVO RSV
Role Research Vessel
Tonnage 300-ton (Hull 6 / Structure 6)
Fusion Reactor 2 GW, 12 months
Reaction Drive 3G
Hyperdrive 2 parsecs per week
Fuel 6 tons coolant; 90 tons LH2
Avionics Computer Model/4, Advanced Sensors
Crew 13
Accomodation 12 Hypersleep Pods; 12 staterooms
Cargo 60 tons
Other Fittings Landing Gear, Medbay, Office, Briefing
Room, Workshop, 2 x Laboratories, Fuel
Scoops & Processors (100 tons/day)
Ship’s Vehicles Forklift, 2 x QuadTracks, Armadillo ATV,
Coyote Off-Roader, 10 Survey Probes
Cost $243.5M
Dimension-wise, the ship is 65m in length and, including wings, is 44m wide. It masses
300 dtons and weighs around 1,500 metric tonnes.
59
The Voroncovo Castle Bravo is a deep space survey ship designed to carry out short,
preliminary assessments of potential colony sites. Using a 300-ton streamlined, self-
sealing hull (Hull 6, Structure 6) the Castle Bravo mounts a Tharsis 12B hyperdrive
allowing a cruise speed of 2 parsecs per week, a Terratech TX200 2 Gigawatt fusion
reactor and a Tharsis Vector 341 3-G reaction drive (capable of vectored thrust for
planetary landings). The drive provides an acceleration in a vacuum of 30 metres per
second². Fuel tankage comprising 96 tons is used by the reaction drive and can provide
coolant for the fusion reactor for up to 12 months of continuous operation. Adjacent to
the bridge is a Level-4 Hosaka M7K computer mainframe and an advanced sensor array.
The survey ship carries six expedition members, a mix of scientists, technicians and
security personnel, as well as seven crew members who operate the starship (one of
which is an android who serves as the loadmaster and technician). In practice things
are not so cleanly cut, and most crews on-board a Castle Bravo are cross-trained as
scientists and resource scouts. The full mission crew is comprised of a captain, pilot,
navigator, sensor operator, engineer, ship’s doctor and an android engineer/loadmaster,
as well as six scientists and other expedition members. Twelve hyperspace pods are
provided for crew use in-transit as well as twelve single staterooms. The Castle Bravo is
equipped with landing gear for planetary landings; internal features include fuel scoops
and processors that can refine 100 tons of liquid hydrogen each day, a medbay, office,
briefing room, workshop and two laboratories. A bay containing 10 survey probes is
attached to the lab section of the ship. The 60-ton cargo hold includes a large drop
down rear ramp and holds an Armadillo ATV, two QuadTracks, a forklift and Coyote off-
road vehicle. The ship requires a crew of thirteen and costs $243.5M.
60
61
The Castle Bravo is formed of two main sections, the forward crew section and the
larger, rear cargo and drives section. On the ground, access is typically via the wide fold
down ramp at the rear of the cargo deck.
Lower Cargo Deck

The lower cargo deck has a single wide ramp that allows expedition vehicles that are
stored here, to drive directly onto the planet’s surface. A 3-ton cargo lift provides
access to an upper cargo level, and allows cargoes to be loaded via the ramp, then
stored in the upper cargo hold. Behind the lower cargo hold are a couple of staterooms,
the ship’s life support unit and the expedition equipment room.
Main Deck
An elevator provides crew access from the lower cargo section up to the main deck.
While the rear compartment of this main deck is dedicated to power and propulsion,
along with liquid hydrogen fuel tanks and associated fuel processing machinery, there is
also the upper cargo hold as well as a couple of crew staterooms, an engineering
workshop and the ship’s 12-berth hypersleep chamber. Crewmen can walk forward from
here into the narrow neck of the ship – the forward crew section.
Forward Crew Section

This narrow forward section leads ultimately to the bridge, in the bow of the ship. The
central access corridor has various facilities adjacent to it, including the captain’s
stateroom, the medbay, briefing room, galley and crew lounge. Beyond a pair of
scientific observation blisters to port and starboard, the forward part of this section is
taken up with crew staterooms and an office, usually used by the science team. The
bridge, equipped with stations for seven crew-members (the flight crew plus a couple of
scientists) sits at the bow of the ship, and includes access to the ship’s avionics bay.
Lower Crew Section

Below the bridge is the crew accommodation section, reached via a companionway to
starboard. This section actually juts forward of the bridge, and for this reason also
includes the main EVA and docking airlock. The crew section includes a laundry room.
Lower Science Section

Below the neck of the ship, just beneath the science blisters, is a pair of configurable
laboratories along with the storage and launch area for ten survey probes. From here
the scientists can program the drones directly as well as perform maintenance or
customisation. The science section is reached via a companionway adjacent to the
briefing room.
Upper Comms Bay

A comms array is mounted above the forward crew section, and its internal equipment
can be reached via a companionway in the central corridor. An emergency exit hatch
exists in the roof of this coms bay.
62
Access
On the ground, access is generally made via the rear ramp in the lower cargo hold. The
forward airlock in the accommodation section can also be used to reach the ground –
particularly useful when the crew do not want to expose the lower cargo deck and its
vehicles to some hostile atmosphere. A hatch in the comms bay allows access to the
upper surface of the ship’s hull, with the bay itself capable of serving as an airlock if
used in a vacuum or within a dangerous atmosphere. On the main deck, the main EVA
airlock can be used to access the ship, this is situated just forward of the drive
compartment, and includes an adjacent locker packed with suits and critical EVA
equipment. Finally, an upper hatch is located just outside of the entrance to the drive
compartment. It cannot be used as an airlock.
63
CASTLE BRAVO
300-ton SURVEY VESSEL
Seattle Office - 2601 Elliott Ave, Seattle WA 98121, USA
64
Main Deck
65
Lower Cargo Deck
Seattle Office - 2601 Elliott Ave, Seattle WA 98121, USA
66
67
1 Avionics & Sensors

2 Bridge
3 Fresher
4 Office
5 Stateroom
6 Observation Blister
7 Briefing Room
8 Crew Lounge
9 Galley
10 Captain’s Stateroom & Office
11 Medbay
12 Equipment Locker
13 Laundry
14 Laboratory
15 Probe Drone Bay
16 Communications Array
17 Hypersleep Chamber
18 Workshop
19 Upper Cargo Hold
20 Fuel Processor
21 Open Space with Upper Hatch
22 Airlock
23 Drive Compartment
24 Life Support Machinery
25 Equipment Storage
26 Lower Cargo Hold
68
Legal Information
The Cepheus Engine Compatibility-Statement License (CSL)
You must state on the first page where you mention Cepheus Engine that “Cepheus
Engine and Samardan Press are the trademarks of Jason "Flynn" Kemp,” and that you
are not affiliated with Jason "Flynn" Kemp or Samardan Press™.
If you’re using the license to commit legal fraud, you forfeit the right to continue using
the license: specifically, if you are claiming compatibility with the rules of Cepheus
Engine, the claim must not constitute legal fraud, or fraud in the inducement, under the
laws of the State of Texas. Note that this requirement is almost impossible to violate
unintentionally—it’s largely intended to keep me out of trouble, not to restrict legitimate
statements of compatibility.
You must comply with the terms of the OGL if the terms apply.
Your cover must include the words “House Rules” or “Variant Rules” or "Alternate
Cepheus Engine Universe" near the title if the document is a full, free-standing game
that includes modifications. Feel free to contact the author if you wish to use a different
form of disclaimer.
Selling a full version of this game with your house rules incorporated into it is perfectly
permissible, but you may not sell an effectively unchanged copy of the rules for money.
If your document is a private house rules document, not being sold for profit or general
use, you may scan and use artwork (including the cover) from the printed version,
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If you have questions about the license, feel free to contact the author.
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
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Product Identity. (e) ‘Product Identity’ means product and product line names, logos
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2. The License: This License applies to any Open Game Content that contains a notice
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15. COPYRIGHT NOTICE
Open Game License v 1.0a Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
High Guard System Reference Document Copyright © 2008, Mongoose Publishing.
Mercenary System Reference Document Copyright © 2008, Mongoose Publishing.
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.
Swords & Wizardry Core Rules, Copyright 2008, Matthew J. Finch
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.
Traveller System Reference Document Copyright © 2008, Mongoose Publishing.
Traveller is © 2008 Mongoose Publishing. Traveller and related logos, character, names,
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Cepheus Engine System Reference Document, Copyright © 2016 Samardan Press;
Author Jason "Flynn" Kemp
16. EXPLORERS is OGL. Product Identity constitutes the history and the names of
organisations, starships, vehicles, corporations and NPCs as well as details of the Castle
Bravo ship and Armadillo ATV. These are not OGL, cannot be reproduced or reused and
are protected by copyright as identified in section 1. Copyright © 2020 Zozer Games;
Author Paul Elliott.
PHOTO CREDITS
NASA/JPL, ESO, Pixabay, Shutterstock, iStock
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RESOURCE SURVEY FIELD GUIDE / SECTIONS 1.1 – 5.

Explorers, Zozer Games 2021

Explorers is a science-fiction roleplaying supplement for the Cepheus Engine

Many Thanks to Janne Puonti for impromptu edits

A Note on Characteristic Rolls

space SUIT DESIGN 24

We penetrated deeper and deeper

Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness

CORPORATE SCIENCE DIVISIONS

MINING REGULATION AGENCY

ORBITAL AND SURFACE SURVEYS

THE MODERN SURVEY SHIPS

CASTLE BRAVO CLASS RESOURCE EXPLORATION VESSEL 300 TONS

planetary landings). The drive provides an acceleration in a vacuum of 30 metres per

PANDORA CLASS RESOURCE EXPLORATION VESSEL 2,000 TONS

THARSIS ARMADILLO ATV GT800

 Maximum Road Speed 100 kph

When parked up and in use as a base of operations, a 4m x 4m Yoshiko Fast-Tarp can

Tharsis Armadillo GT800 ATV

Modular bases were pioneered by Leyland-Okuda. They are self-contained living

Standard Open Base 100 ($8,000)

Standard Modular Base 130 ($10,000)

Standard Operations Base 140 ($14,000)

Standard Lab Base 145 ($14,000)

Standard Hydroponics Base 150 ($10,000)

Standard Recreation Base 160 ($10,000)

Standard Technical Base 170 ($11,000)

Modular Link 80 ($2,000)

Advanced Modular Base 230 ($50,000)

Standard Open Base 100

SPACE SUIT DESIGN

VACC SUITS & ACTION PENALTIES

Radio (10 km range)

HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT SUIT

Base Description Action Mass Cost Armour

Life Support System

PLSS Duration (hrs) Mass (kg) Cost ($)

S = Soft Suit, H = Hard Suit and X = Hostile Environment Suit.

Suit Feature Suit Description Cost Mass

PRE-BREATHING (Hard Science Option!)

Most suits include gauges on wrists

Calculate a trajectory to the target: Navigation, 1 hour, Average (0).

Locate a suitable target location: Navigation, 1-3 days, Average (0)

Title – A short descriptive title for the world.

As an example here is entry 11:

Lava Moon X210000

[11] Lava Moon X210000

[12] Mega World X787000

[13] Eyeball X366000

[14] Dust Moon X200000

[15] Desert World XA51000

[16] Wet World X778000

[21] Fire Land X665000

[22] Riverworld X553000

[23] The Rock X000000

[24] Forest Moon X487000

[25] Crawler World X887000

[26] Blasted Wasteland X777000

[31] White Hot X350000

[32] Icy Oasis X677000