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HOSTILE is a gritty science-fiction roleplaying setting for the Cepheus Engine

Author
Paul Elliott

Cover Art: Ian Stead

Interior Art: Ian Stead, Paul Elliott

Thanks to Contributors and Players: David Jackson, Barry Walsh, Stephan Aspridis,
Conrad Deitrick, Omer Golan, Ian Stead, Steven Edwards, Stephen Price, Stephen Hibbins,
Donovan Lambertus, Mike Edwards, Glen Johnson, Gavin McDermott, Phil Parkes, David T.
Worthington, Mick Lowe, Paul Linsdell, Dawn Martin, Nik Marklew, James Dawkins, Gerry
Fernandez, Sandy Lee, Andrew Tonta, Phil Tonta, Peter Uzzell, Michael Guider, Kerry
Harrison.

1234567

Publisher: Zozer Games

Copyright © 2019 Zozer Games
Zozer Games is a trademark of Paul Elliott
Visit Zozer Games at www.paulelliottbooks.com
Find me on Facebook as Zozer Games

Cepheus Engine and Samardan Press are trademarks of Jason “Flynn” Kemp

Designation of Open Game Content

The following sections of the text in this document are designated as Open Gaming
Content: careers, starship construction, earning hazard pay, the skill list and the android
construction rules

Designation of Product Identity

Any title of a product published by Zozer Games, including name ‘HOSTILE’, as well as the
trademarks ‘Cepheus Engine’ and ‘Zozer Games’, are designated as Product Identity.
References to companies, setting history, planets and worlds constitute Product Identity,
as are the sections on Advice to Managers, Equipment, Corporations and specific ship and
vehicle designs.

Please Note
This Product is derived from the Traveller System Reference Document and other Open
Gaming Content made available by the Open Gaming License, and does not contain closed
content from products published by either Mongoose Publishing or Far Future Enterprises.
This Product is not affiliated with either Mongoose Publishing or Far Future Enterprises,
and it makes no claim to or challenge to any trademarks held by either entity. The use of
the Traveller System Reference Document does not convey the endorsement of this
Product by either Mongoose Publishing or Far Future Enterprises as a product of either of
their product lines.
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hostile
A Handbook to Working Off-World
For Leyland-Okuda
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MENU
© AN IBN COMPUTING PRODUCT
1 MISSION STATEMENT 8
Why is HOSTILE Different? 9
Movie Inspiration 12
Using Retro Rules 12

2 ORIENTATION 14
The First Recession (2166-2170) 14
The Second Recession (2200-2215) 16
Insurrection on Tau Ceti 16
Money 16
Eco Collapse 17
The Nations of Earth 18
Rise of the Corporation 20

3 OFF-WORLD DEVELOPMENT 23
Star Mapping 24
World Data 31
Catalog of Off-World Colonies 42
Core Worlds 44
Outer Rim Worlds 69
Frontier Worlds 73

4 AGENCIES & CORPORATIONS 78

Inside the Conglomerates 79
Off-World Development 81
The Big Seven 83
Key Corporations 91
United States Marine Corps 95
United States Space Command 99
The Starline 100
Non-Profit Organizations 103
Criminal Organizations 108

5 HIRING ON & SKILLS 111

Who Are We? 112
Roleplaying Androids 113
Character Creation 114
Skills █ 133
 Page |5

6 EQUIPMENT GUIDELINES 138

Armor 139
Clothing 140
Communicators 141
Computers 143
Computer Software 146
Medicine 147
Explosives 151
Personal Devices 151
Robots and Drones 153
Shelters 160
Survival Equipment 161
Tools 164
Vehicles 167
Melee Weapons 173
Firearms 174
Heavy Weapons 174

7 ADVICE FOR MANAGERS 190

Types of Play 191
Describing the Setting 198
Crew Expendable – The Horror 204

8 EARNING HAZARD PAY 215

The Zero-G Workplace 216
Airlocks 220
Exposure 222
Radiation 223
Asteroid Mining 224

9 STARSHIP CONSTRUCTION 231

Construction Basics 235
Ship Design Checklist 236
Ship Hulls 237
Drives 240
Fuel Requirements 241
Bridge 242
Ship’s Computer 243
Ship Software 243
Ship Electronics 244
Ship’s Crew 245
Additional Ship Components 247
Ship’s Vehicles 252
Weapon Mounts 254
Ship Weaponry 257
 Page |6

INITIALIZING. . . . . .

STARSHIP CONSTRUCTION (cont.)

Towing 259
The Intermodal Container System 260
Small Craft Design 261

10 CURRENT SHIP DESIGNS 265

Emergency Escape Vehicles 267
Small Craft 269
Commercial Starships 272
Military Starships 278
Platforms/Unpowered 282
Colonial Starships 284

11 MISSION REPORTS 287

CREW ROSTERS 300

LEGAL █
 Page |7

Magificent desolation on
the Asia Pacific
Partnership’s
Jade Palace - an
off-world
colony in
the 61 Cygni
system
MISSION STATEMENT Page |8

We live, as we dream — alone.

Joseph Conrad

HOSTILE is a gritty, near future roleplaying setting for the

2D6 Cepheus Engine rules. The future is not as optimistic
and rosy as many SF writers would have us believe. Space
exploration is difficult, hard and dangerous and the thriving
interstellar society made up of hundreds of populated
planets never materialized. Instead space is the preserve of
the big corporations that focus on extracting minerals, oil
and other raw materials from the extra-solar planets and
moons to be shipped back to Earth in order to support the
vast populations there.

Space is not a place for tourists or fortune-hunters; it is a

hostile and brutal frontier, where men and women work
hard, rely on nobody but themselves, risk death every day
and face the Unknown. And out here the Unknown is real –
it is horrific: there are rumors of the disturbing side-effects
of hyperspace, of ancient horrors entombed on icy moons,
and of monsters – killer aliens, perfectly evolved to survive
the hostile wastes of space – at any cost.
 Page |9

People live and work in other star systems of course, but they work hard and they work
for the big corporate concerns - the settlements and colonies are there to support them.
In a way, life out across the star systems of the American Sector of interstellar space
resembles the northern territories of Canada on modern-day Earth. It is a wilderness that
can be hard on visitors and workers, but one rich in resources. There are settlements full
of miners and their families, drilling rigs, refineries, science outposts, logging camps, vast
open cast mines, production and maintenance facilities. Think of it almost as Alaska-in-
Space, with the crews of the star freighters playing the role of the Ice Road Truckers…

Inspired by movies like Outland and Alien, this gritty, near future setting presents a
universe of mining installations, harsh moons, industrial facilities, hostile planets and
brutal, utilitarian spacecraft. Games feature down-to-earth characters, such as spacers,
miners, explorers and rover drivers – the folks who get things done out here in the lonely
and hostile star systems of the American Sector. None of the habitable worlds are a
paradise and most aren’t remotely Earth-like; there is always a kink that makes life tough,
whether it’s the biosphere, the seasons, the radiation, the atmosphere or one of a score of
other deadly effects.

Of course there are a number of conceits, but these are familiar to readers of science
fiction. Why travel to the stars to dig out minerals when our own Asteroid Belt has more
than enough? And why go all that way to drill for oil? Have I not heard of the modern
revolution in bio-plastics? HOSTILE emulates the gritty, uncompromising SF of the late-
Seventies and early-Eighties; movies like Alien, Outland and Bladerunner. In Alien, the
heroes are the crew of a tug pulling 200 million tons of crude oil to Earth (according to the
shooting script); with the Oil Crisis of the Seventies still stinging, this made a very
plausible future. In our own near future the addiction to petroleum is likely to continue,
we are experts at processing and utilising it, and once it has ran out here on Earth, we will
be forced to look elsewhere for the ‘black gold’. Bio-plastics, manufactured from vegetable
crops, have a singular disadvantage: they must be grown and harvested in the place of
edible food crops. With the Earth’s population increasing exponentially, a bio-plastic crop
may be difficult to justify.

Should there be some impediment to exploiting the mineral resources of the Asteroid Belt
and the petroleum deposits on Saturn’s moon Titan, then the powerful corporations are
going to have to get creative and get out of the solar system to reach other stars…

WHY IS HOSTILE DIFFERENT?

Another sci-fi setting. What’s the point?

You can play a bunch of marines or space traders in any setting – can’t you? Well, that’s
quite true.

What setting gives you, however, and some settings in particularly, is flavour. The
Magnificent Seven and The Seven Samurai are the same story, but the different settings
create a wildly different look and feel and atmosphere. Outland is often said to be a
remake of the classic western High Noon, but it could not look more different and feels
claustrophobic, dangerous and inherently industrial. Even Dan O’Bannon’s script for Alien
 P a g e | 10

was based on an earlier offering, the 1958 movie, It! The Terror From Beyond Space. In
this 50s ‘B-movie’, just as in Alien, the creature is eventually exposed to the vacuum of
space and killed. In the 1979 movie Alien, however, the gleaming rocket-ship, the heroic
characters and the tone of the movie are all transformed to fit a dystopian, care-worn
future, dark and grimy, inhabited by hard-working Joes operating a ship that more
resembles a run-down power-station or factory than a futuristic faster-than-light starship.

The six main themes of HOSTILE are found in those late 1970s and early 1980s movies.
They are:

1 Work
The heroes are workers. They don’t just inhabit the setting, they make it work; they are
the blue-collar grunts who want to make a living. The scientists, tourists, military
tacticians, corporate executives and wealthy playboys can kiss their behinds. This is a
setting for skilled people doing dangerous jobs. Don’t get in their way, threaten to
withhold their bonus pay, or swap the beer for that cheap Korean brand.

2 Industrialization
Near future technology is ubiquitous, large-scale and over-powering. There are vast cities,
massive production facilities, floating refineries, orbital pipelines, drilling platforms, airlocks
and colony facilities. Everything looks used, greasy, worn – just as it would in real life.
There is a nod to the future, but for the most part this technology looks like it jumped
right out of the late-20th century. There are warning decals plastered on the walls, there
are operators’ handbooks on the tables, familiar black and yellow warning stripes warn of
danger areas, while yellow flashing lights and klaxons familiar to every building site in
modern North America tell us we are in an active working area. This theme tries to
downplay the ‘futuristic’ aspect of the future, and populate it, instead, with the familiar.

3 Danger
Nothing is easy. There are no pleasure planets. There are no resorts or space tourists.
There are no bountiful Earth-like colonies where humans can ‘begin again’ in a far-away
Eden. First World War soldiers sometimes described warfare as “months of boredom
punctuated by moments of terror”, and in a similar vein the player character inhabitants of
HOSTILE describe their working lives as mostly “drudgery punctuated by extreme
danger”. You could say that these are player characters: of course their lives are
dangerous! But these characters have dangerous jobs as a matter of course. Miners,
spacers, marines, rover drivers, oil drillers and others all command good wages for difficult
and dangerous working conditions. And this colours the personalities and characters that
will crop up in this setting. Watch James Cameron’s The Abyss, or watch Ice Road
Truckers, Deadly Catch, Gold Divers or a dozen of other job-orientated reality shows to
take a peek at some of the personalities and problems that these high threat, high
pressure jobs feature.

4 Human-Centricity
No aliens. Well, no intelligent aliens at least. The focus is on the human struggle to survive
in space and the expansion of human settlement in to neighbouring star systems. The
political wrangling and cultural confusion coming from alien contact would detract from
that main theme. It is a human universe – at least superficially. Alien animals abound,
 P a g e | 11

however. It is a hostile universe and so the so-called habitable planets are all teeming with
exotic alien creatures that are able to successfully digest a human being. Keep advanced
alien races out of the setting.

5 Retro-Futurism
This theme is a matter of taste, and could easily be left out and ignored. Retro-Futurism is
the future as predicted by people in the past. It is inevitably wrong, just as our own 2017
attempts to predict what life will be like in 100 years will be way off the mark. There is
another term, zeerust, coined by Douglas Adams no-less, to describe some super-cool
futuristic element of an old novel or film, that now just looks amusing, quaint and dated.
The giant oil refinery in the 1979 movie Alien is a good example of this. Yet movie makers
and novelists aren’t always interested in trying to create a realistic vision of life in the
future. And neither does this role-playing game. Director Peter Hyams swapped laser guns
for shotguns in his movie Outland, as a reaction against the laser-light show of Star Wars
a few years earlier. Ridley Scott had seen the flat-screen technology used in 2001- A
Space Odyssey, but opted to fit out the spaceship Nostromo with ‘old-fashioned’ cathode-
ray tube TV screens to create a used, battered, work-a-day atmosphere. These were
design choices.

HOSTILE makes the same choices, looking into the future, but not too far. The further
you go, the less familiar the landscape. American industrialization, projected into the stars,
is a setting with almost no learning curve. Players and referee alike are all on the same
page: there will be dollars, fork-lifts and labor unions, there will be coffee and muesli for
breakfast, there will be Reebok high-tops and air force flight suits.

6 Cynicism
The 1970s were a time of cynicism and a growth of conspiracy theories. There were lies
told and cover-ups made about the war in Vietnam, there were the embarrassing
revelations of Watergate and of course the House of Representatives Select Committee on
Assassinations which published its findings in 1979, announcing that there had been a
conspiracy to murder President John F. Kennedy back in 1963. And it was in 1976 that Bill
Kaysing published accusations that NASA had faked the Apollo Moon landings, opening the
flood-gates for a torrent of similar Moon-conspiracy theories.

It was this climate of conspiracy that inspired the screenwriters of Alien to ear-mark ‘The
Company’ as an agent of subterfuge and manipulation. The employer could not be
trusted. In Outland, too, the company managers are on the take – they are part of the
problem. This theme is not all about conspiracy, however, but more often a cynicism
about the lives of the men and women doing their jobs that are being ignored by, abused
by or exploited by, those at the top-end of the company.

Heroics aren’t rewarded with media attention and silver stars, heroics simply keep you
alive. This is a small scale universe, with a perverse, cynical, down-trodden vibe.

“I don’t trust anybody. And I don’t ask questions

because the answer's always: 'don't ask!’”
 P a g e | 12

MOVIE INSPIRATION

Alien Blade Runner Total Recall

Aliens Bladerunner 2049 Event Horizon
Alien3 The Thing Pitch Black
Alien: Resurrection Spacehunter Space Truckers
Prometheus The Abyss Screamers
Alien: Covenant Dark Star The Sphere
Outland Red Dwarf (series I-XII) Silent Running
Android Moon 44 Elysium
Zygote MOON

HOSTILE is a setting book for Cepheus Engine and other 2D6 SF RPGS. It isn’t
necessarily aimed at advanced roleplayers, however we do assume that the reader is
familiar with roleplaying games in general, and so dispense with an introductory chapter
explaining what a roleplaying game (RPG) is and how it works. The reader will need to
purchase the Cepheus Engine RPG by Samardan Press. In that book the reader will find all
of the character creation, combat, and other rules as well as a comprehensive treatment
on roleplaying and refereeing.

USING RETRO RULES

HOSTILE is a science-fiction setting that harkens back

to the early 80s and late 70s, and so it seems fitting to
offer the referee and players a set of roleplaying rules
which do the same. Whilst Cepheus Engine is a
sophisticated rules-set that seems able to cope with
almost every eventuality, the rules for task resolution
and combat that follow are directly inspired by the very
first set of 2D6 SF roleplaying rules from 1977. They
allow for much faster play, but at the cost of less detail.
Use them as an option. Unless specified in the book, use
the standard weapon stats from Cepheus Engine.

The 1970s 2d6 Retro Rules are free and available from
DriveThruRPG: http://www.drivethrurpg.com
1970s 2d6
RETRO RULES
[For Cepheus Engine]
 P a g e | 13

The Future...

A place of opportunity and adventure among the stars. New

worlds to explore and conquer, abundant alien life, rich
resources and the freedom to wander between star systems.
The Future – a bright and optimistic land.

The Future’s here

It never lived up to the hype.

Interstellar space – interstellar travel itself - was

harsher and more uncompromising than anyone could have
imagined. Where were all the Earth-like worlds we were
supposed to colonise? Where were the alien races we were
supposed to meet and communicate with? Where could humans
actually stand, and take a breath, without wearing a god-
damn space suit? Yes, there were worlds with atmospheres,
and some of them don’t even kill you, but that’s the real
joke that the Universe has played on us. You see you can’t
get everything at once. Temperate climate, breathable
atmosphere, a friendly biosphere: choose two.

Two hundred years ago optimistic dreamers like Gerard

O’Neill imagined waves of happy Earthmen and their families
rushing into space to settle there, to build immense
colonies and space habitats, to grow vegetables and set up
schools and businesses.

Well you never saw anyone trying to colonize Antarctica or

the Gobi Desert, did you? And those harsh wildlands are
hundreds of times more hospitable (and survivable) than
Outer Space. So the waves of colonists stayed put.

Out here, interstellar space is a workplace. The only

Earthmen you’ll see on the planets and moons that orbit
these distant stars are miners, loaders, freighter crews,
colony technicians, drivers and executives. And they’re
only happy when their tour of duty ends with a few months
leave and a nice bonus in their bank account.

It’s a tough life. The Universe doesn’t make oil and

mineral extraction easy, and there are a hundred different
ways to die out here – few of them leave anything to ship
back to Earth. This is a life suited to the tough, to the
imaginative and to the stubborn. Do you still want to sign
up for a tour?

Don’t say I didn’t warn you █

Do
ORIENTATION P a g e | 14

Mankind explored and colonized the solar system throughout

the 21st century and by 2100 many planets and moons were
home to outposts and mining stations. The nations of Earth
had over-reached themselves, however, and much of the
cost of the space effort was tendered out to Southern Cross
Mining. Likewise, Luna had divested itself of the burden of
maintaining mining outposts and space colonies, offering the
enterprises to the Reiner-Gamma Corporation.

Within a decade or two Earth and Luna were politically

united, but the human race was under an immense
population and resource pressure. Reiner-Gama soon
swallowed up Southern Cross and dominated the solar
system, supplying petroleum and minerals to Earth at any
price it chose. The other, major corporations of Earth put
their faith in a new breakthrough, the quantum hyperspace
tunnelling effect, and after the first hyperspace ship returned
from Alpha Centauri in 2120, were soon building ships able
to scout out resources in neighbouring star systems. We had
a Faster-Than-Light drive!
ORBITAL 2100 is Zozer Games’ hard SF setting that predates HOSTILE by a
century. It is limited to fission plants, spin gravity technology and to the
confines of the Solar System. Find it on DriveThruRPG.
 P a g e | 15

THE FIRST RECESSION [2166-2170]

After the creation of an interstellar drive, a scramble for the stars ensued as mining and oil
drilling companies desperately sought out resources that they could supply to Earth –
thereby skirting Reiner-Gama’s near monopoly within the Solar System. Within thirty years
there were twenty flourishing colonies within 4 parsecs of Earth and dozens of small
outposts and mining installations.

On Earth, stresses were beginning to show within the world government of the Earth
Union. The Chinese Communist Party initiated greatly-needed and wide-ranging reforms
but these could not stem the economic and social problems that had piled up over the
past four decades. In 2166 the Communist Party was abolished and amid political turmoil
a new, more democratic government, was established. Earth, tied intimately into the
Chinese economy was plunged into the First Recession, the world government reacted
poorly, and lost the confidence of many nations. China broke apart, just as the Earth
Union itself collapsed. Manchuria successfully seceded from the ‘new’ China to create the
People’s Republic of Guandong. Various autonomous regions in the far west, including
Tibet and Xinjiang, followed suit. The economic heartland of China, the wealthy and well
populated east coast styled itself as the Federal Republic of China. The chaos lasted for a
decade, and within that time of uncertainty and of a shrinking China, Japan and its
powerful corporations stepped up.

Japan had itself undergone social and economic transformation starting twenty years
earlier, and had tackled systemic problems of an aging population, a shrinking population
and a reliance on foreign raw materials. With controlled immigration from within the Asia-
Pacific region, and renewed focus on automation, robotics and artificial intelligence
technologies to increase productivity, Japan was looking boldly into the future. As China
entered its time of crisis and First Recession began to bite, Japan was able to show
leadership in the region and formed the Asia Pacific Partnership in an attempt to weather
the storm. China had lost its lead in the region – Japan once again dominated the Far
Eastern area. In 2170 the major corporations of the world came together in Singapore to
create the United Corporate Combine - essentially a standing inter-corporate council. The
Combine’s first task was to establish agencies which would regulate international business
and practices, something the United Nations had once done, and that the Earth Union had
then continued. The Earth Union had ceased to exist in all but name two years earlier at
the height of the First Recession. Corporations now seemed to wield the most power on
and off of Earth, and their ‘voters’ were their customers. Nations relied on these industrial
giants for both their valuable business and their lucrative investments.
 P a g e | 16

THE SECOND RECESSION (2200-2215)

The nations of Earth would need these resources, as, in 2200, the oil reserves dried up (or
at least became unprofitable to exploit). Oil was desperately needed, not for fuel, since
most vehicles ran from hydrogen fuel cells and power-stations were fusion-based and
required helium-3. Petroleum was needed by the plastics and the chemicals industries.
Bioplastic was in use, but its reliance on vegetable matter grown in fields that could
otherwise be used to feed starving millions, meant that oil, tried and tested over centuries
and understood by all chemical engineers and plant designers, remained the primary
choice. Now oil reserves on distant moons and on harsh planets would have to provide a
source for that oil. The Oil Crisis of 2200 initiated a Second Recession lasting for 15 years.
Some colonies and outposts were temporarily abandoned due to cost-saving exercises. In
Macapa, Brazil, an extraordinary construction
was begun: a vast oil pipeline stretching from
the surface all the way to the edge of the
MONEY
atmosphere and beyond out to a distant orbit. The currency of the American sector
This Trans Atmospheric Petroleum Pipeline of space and of both the United
(TAPP) was funded by a unique corporate States and its Commonwealth of
consortium for the Community of American American States, is the American
States. It was a statement: ‘once this pipeline is Dollar ($). For large purchases, such
completed – the recession will end’. And end it as aircraft or starships, millions of
did. Oil flowed, prices dropped, economies dollars are required. In HOSTILE
these amounts are denoted with a
began to flourish and a new era began in
capital ‘M’ suffix - such as $23M.
human history. While electronic funds, accessed via
bank cards and automated transfer,
The colonization of space was not some great are normal on Earth, elsewhere cash
altruistic project, an attempt to ‘spread is king. Time lag between planets
humanity across the stars’ or to ‘explore the and moons, and between star
unknown’, it was all about profit. No nation systems, means that cash is carried
could justify such an undertaking, and so the by starship crews, company men
corporations sought their profits out there on and other travellers. Stored currency
can also be carried on the standard
asteroids and icy moons, on planets good and American ID card – the Pass Card.
bad. Mineral extraction, logging and oil drilling For more details, see the Equipment
were the big industries in space and a vast Guidelines chapter
infrastructure of tugs, space stations, cargo
starships, spaceports and terminals was
constructed.

INSURRECTION ON TAU CETI (2215- )

Colonies were established, mostly within 4 parsecs of Earth, but these large-scale
settlements today typically service the extraction industries operating out toward the
Outer Rim and beyond. Most serve as way stations and technical bases for the large
corporations and their space enterprises. The oldest of the Off-World colonies, Tau Ceti,
 P a g e | 17

has been plunged into war during the past decade. The planet had been settled separately
by two nations: China and the United States of America, but with the fall of China during
the First Recession, the Chinese colony was abandoned. Only after the recession did a
brutal counter-insurgency war on Tau Ceti begin - factions supported by the new
competing Chinese nations struggled to capture Shulin, the Chinese colony. When the UCC
ruled that only independence for Tau Ceti (both American and Chinese colonies) would
end the crisis, the United States was invited to act as peacekeeper within the Chinese
colony, until a stable government could be formed and independence for Tau Ceti
organized. From that moment in 2215, the Chinese factions turned on the American
peacekeepers with great ferocity. The USA has gotten embroiled in a savage counter-
insurgency that is costing thousands of lives every year and trillions of dollars annually.
Washington cannot let the Chinese colony fail, to do so would endanger the safety and
security of the successful American colony, Lindbergh, on the same world. With the
Chinese and American colonies both united and independent, the USA would have a
strong and powerful pro-American ally in the Near Earth Zone.

ECO COLLAPSE
The impact of ten billion people and
their high technology lifestyles had a
great impact on planet Earth, and
then of course there has been the
effect of global warming – a fact, no
matter what its source. The late 22nd
century saw rising sea levels,
droughts and rampant desertification,
with millions of hectares of farmland
being lost to the encroaching sand
dunes. Climates began a permanent
shift; large parts of the United States,
for example, have become hot,
almost rainless and dry. A blistering
sun kills crops in the fields and
scorching winds blow in desert sands to cover them over. Many American cities suffer
from water shortages making life hard for the poorest in society. Expert water
management in North America has prevented this climatic shift from becoming a
agricultural catastrophe, however, and intensive farming can still continue to feed the
people in the cities. While America and Europe bravely struggle to stave off total eco-
collapse, there are many nations that have failed. Kyrgyzstan has been thoroughly
‘desertified’, as has Mali, Chad and the Sonoran region of Mexico.

Many American cities are dry and dusty; a bourbon-colored haze fills the air, cutting
visibility to only a few miles. On bad days only the tops of distant skyscrapers and
arcologies can be seen rising up above the orange-brown smog. ‘You don’t have to go to
other stars to find a planet where the atmosphere is trying to kill you,’ said senator Terry
Enderman, famously. ‘The air above L.A. is as nasty as it gets. Drop a 21 st century
Angelino in here and I bet they’d classify it as “alien”.’
 P a g e | 18

Today the corporations are all-mighty; they wield power and budgets that dwarf many
nations on Earth. And much of their power comes from their role as suppliers of
petroleum, helium-3, minerals and other raw materials to an ever-hungry (and ever
growing) population. Reiner-Gama has claimed by force much of the solar system as a
corporate preserve, and it continues to supply Earth with valuable raw materials – at a
price. But competition from the off-world mining and drilling colonies has increased year-
by-year.

THE NATIONS OF EARTH

Political instability on Earth toppled the world government that had kept the peace for half
a century, now the biggest players on the global stage are three political blocs, each led
by a strident and powerful nation. These alliances are:

Community of American States (CAS)

This includes most of the nations of North and South America, and includes Britain. It is
dominated and led by the United States of America. The CAS is a massive power bloc and
has access to numerous space-launch facilities as well as the incredible Trans-Atmospheric
Petroleum Pipeline that transfers off-world oil from starships arriving from distant planets.

Western European Union (WEU)

This trans-national entity once existed in the 1960’s and 1970’s and was re-established
around sixty years ago. It’s ancient predecessor, the European Union, dissolved in the
early 21st century. The Western European Union is a tight, German-dominated circle of
high-tech, western European neighbours.

Asia-Pacific Partnership (APP)

Following China’s collapse and balkanization during the First Recession, Japan was ready
to step up to lead the nervous nations of East Asia. The chaos and economic uncertainty
of the recession helped to pull Japan’s neighbours into that country’s powerful orbit. Tokyo
now rules most of East Asia through this Asia-Pacific Partnership. Raw materials and
skilled migrants flow into a resurgent Japan, whilst exported goods flow out to the other
nations of the APP. Of the three Chinese splinter states, only the Federation of China (the
industrialized eastern seaboard of China) has refused to join the APP.

The alliances are similar in nature to the trans-national groups of the 21st century; entities
like the Arab League, ASEAN, the Commonwealth of Independent States, NAFTA and
others. But the difference here is the lack of an equal say - terrible shocks in the global
economy and aggressive threats of war by some large nations, forced smaller nations to
seek the patronage of the biggest and most powerful. These powerhouses now dominate
the alliances that they are (ostensibly) equal members of, but their actual power is
magnified greatly by the loyalty and fealty of the other nations within the union. In the
CAS, for example, US military forces conduct peacekeeping forces inside war-torn member
states, and US-based corporations enjoy significant benefits within the alliance. Member
nations of the blocs are still mostly free and independent, yet many have become almost
dependencies of their powerful patron. A similar arrangement existed during the First Cold
War, when Soviet Russia presided over a Warsaw Pact of ostensibly free sovereign
nations.
 P a g e | 19

Community of American
States Asia Pacific Partnership

Western European Union Federal Republic of China

United Corporate Combine

Republic of Xinjiang

Tau Ceti Free State People’s Republic of Guandong

 P a g e | 20

RISE OF THE CORPORATION

While the Earth become more disunited, the corporations found that they had many things
in common and were forced to find ways to arbitrate the many disputes and trade deals
that had previously gone through the world government. In 2170 the United Corporate
Combine (the UCC, or simply ‘Combine’) was established. It is a permanent council for
arbitration and corporate law that was established by the major corporations to handle
matters of international and interstellar law. It manages several offices which focus on
specific areas, including the Mining Regulation Commission (MRC), the Interstellar
Commerce Organization (ICO) and the Extra-Solar Development Agency (ESDA).

Several of Earth’s corporations are extremely powerful; like the nations that they feed
from, many have abandoned public shareholdings. The most powerful are privately
owned, run by families and clans. Each corporation is comprised of multiple companies
with robust internal transactions, all controlled by a single, near all-powerful chairman that
acts both as manager and de-facto owner of the entire enterprise. Each is vertically
organized, with manufacturing, supply, finance and banking, and distribution all in-house.
Sub-companies are created to run these sectors and benefit the umbrella organization.

The bank and general trading company sit at the heart of the corporation. Typical
concerns of a corporation are banking, insurance, steel, trading, manufacturing,
electronics, gas and power, chemical and interstellar development and ship-building. The
general trading company (the heart) concerns itself with logistics, plant development, and
both international and interstellar resource exploration. These corporations trade in many
markets (or diversify) for security, and all the component companies own shares in one
another’s companies, thus preventing hostile take-overs, allowing the monitoring and
disciplining of firms and easing pressure on management, allowing the corporation to
focus on long-term goals. These 23nd century corporations resemble the South Korean
chaebol and the Japanese keiretsu of the 21st century, both of which formed in the post-
war world of the 1950s. All the corporations have plenty of power on Earth amongst the
political blocs, and everyone knows that if they fail, they bring the global economies down
with them. Many politicians are also sponsored by these corporations. They are powerful:
who regulates a transnational company if not a transnational body that is transparent and
responsive to global stakeholders? Such a body does not exist. The UN was disbanded
long-ago.
 P a g e | 21

THE MAJOR CONGLOMERATES

Leyland--Okuda Built on an engineering pedigree, Leyland-

Okuda is rapidly diversifying. Based in Dubai.
Erebus Growing to power on Antarctic oil, this British-
based conglomerate continues to focus on
resource extraction.
Voroncovo Based on high-tech companies and on security,
this Russian conglomerate has since branched
out.
Wu--Ketai The most powerful of the Asia Pacific
conglomerates, Wu-Ketai owns some of the
best technical brands.
Reiner--Gama Although its mining and oil drilling operations
are restricted to the Solar System, Reiner-Gama
constructs key components for the aerospace
industry.
Tharsis Once a Martian conglomerate, Tharsis is now
US-based and active in all fields. Its chairman is
223 year-old Compton de Vaille.
Matsuyama This Japanese conglomerate has a number of
successful defense corporations, but is also
known for colonial development and genetic
products.
 P a g e | 22

Rain-soaked neon
Chiba City
Japan
MISSION STATEMENT

3
P a g e | 23

From 2150, hyperdrive starships have been travelling out

from Earth to colonize, settle, explore and exploit the
strange new worlds around alien suns. Today, in 2225,
there are over 300 surveyed planets in the interstellar space
surrounding Earth. A ring of stars surrounds Earth at a
distance of around 4 parsecs or so and these were the
target systems for the first interstellar colonies. They have
continued to develop and grow ever since. The competing
power blocs of Earth used hyperspace to explore and settle
areas of space in different directions to create quite discrete
(political) sectors of settlement.

The three sectors are the American, the European (or

‘German’) and the Japanese. HOSTILE, in keeping with the
science-fiction zeitgeist of the 1970s and early 1980s,
focusses on the activities of corporations and governments
within the American-explored area of space: HOSTILE’s
American Sector.
 P a g e | 24

STAR MAPPING
Surveyed space extends out from Earth in all directions forming a bubble of interstellar
space approximately 40 parsecs (130.4 light years) in diameter. Beyond this limit are the
billions of stars and planets that exist within the rest of the Milky Way Galaxy - untapped
and undiscovered resources for the many generations to come. This 40 parsec sphere of
human activity has not been uniformly settled, of course. The very first worlds to be
discovered and explored are close to Earth, they have a history of development going
back more than sixty years and surround the Earth in a Core area that extends 4 parsecs
out from Earth. Beyond the populated colony worlds of the Core is a much broader disc of
lesser-travelled and more sparsely populated star systems, home to mining outposts,
science stations, logging camps, start-up colonies and drilling rigs. This is the Outer Rim,
and it extends out from the Core for another 6 parsecs. Beyond the Outer Rim is the rarely
travelled, sparsely settled Frontier, home to only drill rigs, distant mining installations and
scientific outposts.

Astronomers and development vice presidents have carved up human-occupied space into
fifteen arbitrary rectangles – functional mapping units known as ‘zones’. These zones are
well defined astrographic regions of space that are 10 parsecs long and 8 parsecs wide.
Zones are sub-divided into 80 ‘hexes’ each hex measuring roughly a single parsec across
(flat edge to flat edge). Each hex has the potential to hold a single important star and its
attendant star system. Parsec-hexes serve as the building blocks of hyperspace navigation
routes. The maps included with this book provide detail for six zones of occupied space:
the Near Earth Settlement Zone (NEZ), the Fomalhaut Settlement Zone (FOM), the
Capella Extraction Zone (CAP), New Concessions (NEW) and Extraction Zones 6
and 9 (EZ5 and EZ9).

Astrography Definitions
Core – An 8 parsec diameter disc of colonized worlds around Earth.
Frontier – Beyond the Outer Rim, a region of isolated outposts and
science stations.
Hex – An arbitrary mapping unit, roughly one parsec across.
Light Year – Standard unit of distance, equal to 9.461 trillion
kilometres
Outer Rim – A 20 parsec –diameter disc of sparsely populated
worlds around Earth.
Parsec – A distance equal to 3.26 light years.
Sector – A non-astrographic term to describe a broad political area
of control or domination amongst the stars. e.g. the Japanese Sector.
Zone – An arbitrary mapping unit, a zone is one of fifteen
rectangles of space , each measuring 8 hexes by 10 hexes. e.g.
Extraction Zone 6.
P a g e | 25
P a g e | 26
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 P a g e | 38

WORLD DATA
The entries for human-occupied worlds that are listed in the next few pages include
important information that is presented in a set format: the Universal World Profile (UWP).
This is a concise one-line coding to encapsulate data on an individual world in a manner
that, with a little practice, can be quickly and easily read.

™ Hex
™ Name
™ Starport
™ Size
™ Atmosphere
™ Hydrographics
™ Population
™ Government
™ Law Level
™ Technology Level
™ Bases (if any are present)
™ Trade Codes
™ Gas Giants (whether present or not)

Hex
The hex value refers to the location of the parsec that the world occupies. Each zone of
space is divided into 80 hexes, arranged in eight columns of ten. Individual hexes are
numbered; 0101, 0102, 0103 in the first column, for example.

Name
In science fiction, worlds often have a descriptive name that is often used by the people
who live there – Tatooine, Arrakis, Skaro etc. Planets and moons occupied by humans are
christened according to the type of planet, the mood of the settlers, or the bureaucratic
stuffiness of the corporate authority. Surveyors meanwhile, routinely designate one rock,
moon or planet in an unsettled system as a ‘mainworld’. This lifeless world is given a
codename by the ICO starting with ‘L’ for Limited Duration, followed by a single letter
denoting the zone (New Concessions is V, Capella Extraction Zone is W), and ending with
a three-digit code representing the mapping hex within that zone. So the chilly planet
orbiting Ross 619 is designated LW102.

Starport
Starports – Facilities for the landing, docking, off-loading refueling and maintenance of
starships, are found across human occupied space. The bigger and more well equipped
starports are found in the Core.
 P a g e | 39

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There are six categories of starport:

A Class Starport - Treat this like one of today’s airport hubs, places like Chicago O’Hare, Dubai
International and Heathrow. They are vast in scale, with the workforce and complexity of a small
city. Hundreds of starships can be accommodated and both crews and passengers can spend time
in hotels, restaurants, lounges and other entertainment facilities at the port. It can provide refined
fuel, top quality maintenance facilities and a prodigious cargo-handling service. Ships can be
bought and sold here, and new ships are being constructed at integrated shipbuilding yards. All A
class starports include a high port, a huge space station in orbit that transfers goods, equipment
and people between surface and orbit. Like any hub, ships leave here for less glamorous
destinations, or ship passengers travelling longer distances between hubs. All interstellar shipping
lines will operate at this type of port. The class A is busy, cosmopolitan, a high energy, non-stop
transportation machine.

B Class Starport - The class B resembles an international airport that does not serve as a
global hub. It will therefore be sited close to the planetary capital. It will have a shipyard capable
of building non-starships and small craft and is able to provide refined fuel. There are good
maintenance facilities present that can carry out a starship’s annual maintenance if required.
Nearly all class B starports include an orbital high port. The navigation aids, traffic control and
emergency services are top notch and usually extremely reliable. There will be hotels and other
leisure facilities at the port, though not quite as elaborate as those of a typical A class. Airports like
Portland International in Oregon, or Albuquerque’s Sunport are good comparisons in terms of their
size in relationship to the big international hubs. Capable of supporting international flights, a good
portion of these airports’ traffic is domestic. A class B is often home to a shipping line, which uses
the port as a base.

C Class Starport - The type C starport is small in size and has limited facilities, but most see a
large and steady flow of traffic. This is probably the lowest class of port that can be ‘depended on’
to provide an efficient service, with class D and E ports being extremely hit and miss in quality and
efficiency. Generally only unrefined fuel is available, but there are repair yards that are able to
address most maintenance issues. Comparing the starport to a modern airport, Hillsboro airport in
Oregon or Leeds-Bradford airport in the UK might be good analogies. Traffic control and starship
handling will be able to cope with several landings and take-offs simultaneously and crews can
often expect to see hangers, as well as landing pads that are able to accommodate ships up to
5000 tons. Some class C ports have an orbital high port, but these are not the floating cities of a
class A hub, but simply docking stations able to provide fuel, repair and transfer facilities. Smaller
shipping lines, might establish their operations centre at a type C, out of the way of the big hubs
and high density lines.
 P a g e | 40

D Class Starport - The class D is the smallest landing facility that would be clearly recognisable
as a starport. It is a minor port, with a handful of landing pads, a cluster of buildings and a very
modest traffic control system. There will be a security fence surrounding the facility. Only
unrefined fuel is available, and there are no repair facilities to speak of. Minor work might be
carried out, but anything requiring major parts will need to be done off-world, or equipment and
spares shipped in after a considerable delay. Class D ports are often established to serve a
particular need, perhaps the shipping of mineral ores, or the importation of supplies for a colony
or settlement. In airport terms, the class D is equivalent to a busy general aviation facility, such as
Friday Island in Washington state or Scotland’s Kirkwall, which links up the remote islands of the
Orkneys.

E Class Starport – A landing pad or pads have been marked out or constructed and there will
be radio contact with the local facility during the approach. There is no available fuel or repair
capacity but there will probably be a navigation beacon and landing lights. Remote mining stations
often have E Class starports to enable regular supply shuttles to land. Basic cargo loading and
unloading equipment may exist if the E Class serves a large industrial outpost.

X Class Starport – There is no starport and no facilities of any kind.

Size
The Size characteristic for most habitable worlds ranges from 0 to 10. There are also a
large number of ‘super-Earth’s’ orbiting near-by stars which are larger than Earth, but
small than gas giants like Neptune. Super-Earths are included on this table and range in
Size characteristic from 11-16 (B-G).

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Atmosphere
A planet’s Atmosphere is generated by rolling 2D6–7 and adding the planet’s Size. If a
world's Size equals 0, then the world's Atmosphere equals 0. The Atmosphere code should
never be higher than 15(F).
 P a g e | 41

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Hydrographic percentage is obtained by rolling 2D6–7 and adding the world’s Size,
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Population
A world's Population is generated by rolling 2D6–2, modified by the world’s Size,
Atmosphere and Hydrographics as described in the Population DMs table. A world's
Population value should never exceed 10 (A). If a world has a population of 0, it is
uninhabited and the world also has a Government, Law Level and Technology Level of 0.

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Government
The Government characteristic is determined by rolling 2D6–7 and adding the world’s
Population. If a world's Population equals 0, then the world's Government equals 0. The
Government code should never be higher than 15(F), nor lower than 0. Most outposts and
colonies in the Outer Rim and Frontier are established and run by corporations, in this
case the Government characteristic represents the ‘style’ of management. Type 4
(Representative Democracy), for example might suggest that employees are shareholders
and will have a great say in how things are run.
 P a g e | 43

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Law Level
Law level is determined by rolling 2D6–7 and adding the Government characteristic. If the
world’s Government is 0, then the world’s Law Level is also 0. Law Level should never be
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Planetary law level provides a rough idea of how many regulations, laws and security
checks a traveller from off-world will encounter. Although the table above breaks these
numbers down to establish what type of weapons can be carried and what possessions
are illegal, the world builder is best served by taking the Law Level to be more of a
guideline.
 P a g e | 44

Tech Level
In Cepheus Engine, worlds vary quite dramatically in their Tech Levels, ranging from stone
age (TL 0) to ultra-high tech (TL 15). In HOSTILE, spaceflight, and in particular
hyperspace-flight is so relatively new that tech levels on planets within the Outer Rim are
all generally similar. ‘Modern’ 2225 AD technology is taken out to new outposts and
colonies and serves the inhabitants there. There is a single interstellar culture (particularly
within an individual sector, such as the American Sector) and a single everyday tech level
of TL 12. Where disparities occur, then the trade codes (see below) should address the
issue. Of particular importance is the world trade code ‘Non-Industrial’. This indicates that
there are too few people to support a manufacturing base which means that most factory-
made items will have to be imported from off-world. Although these worlds demand
sophisticated products that they cannot manufacture themselves, the trade table suggests
that they themselves have little to offer the interstellar community except raw materials.

What Tech Levels are applicable to the HOSTILE universe? Human society generally
enjoys a Tech Level of around TL12, but various areas of development are slightly more
advanced, or slightly less advanced than that.

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Bases
The presence of government bases is noted on the UWP after the Tech Level
characteristic. Bases that feature on the planetary listings include United States Space
Command bases, Japan Aerospace Defense Force bases, Deutsche Raumwaffe (German
starforce) bases and Mining Regulatory Agency bases.

Mining Regulatory Agency Base (MRA) – The MRA serves to co-ordinate prospecting
and mineral claims, issue licenses and co-ordinate the activities of dozens of mining and
drilling corporations in deep space. It operates from bases equipped with offices,
laboratories, repair workshops and warehouses and these stations are the jumping off-
point for most corporate resource exploration teams. The MRA can provide equipment,
training, medical facilities, cheap accommodation and technical expertise. Fresh crews can
be hired at MRA bases, since they serve as meeting points for personnel, mining and
drilling crews and employers.
 P a g e | 45

Military Bases
™ United States Space Command Base (USSC) – A USSC base is a way station,
repair facility, training center and headquarters for the US Space Command. US
Marine Corps units will also be in attendance, either as base security troops or as a
fully-functioning Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) waiting to be deployed.

™ Japan Aerospace Defense Force Base (JADF) – A base for the Japanese star
force: the Japan Aerospace Defense Force. Such bases will also hold detachments
of the elite Narashino Airborne Brigade, a unit of mobile infantry that operates from
starships and is trained to fight in hostile environments.

™ Deutsche Raumwaffe Base (DRW) – A military base established by the German

Bundeswehr to serve and supply the German star force: the Deutsche Raumwaffe.
Like other starbases, the DRW bases also play host to fully-prepared and highly-
trained airborne troops of the 1st Airborne Brigade (Luftlandebrigade 1) that can be
landed on to a colony world or into a battle zone.

Trade Codes
Trade codes are assigned based on a world’s UWP values. Trade classifications are broad
labels that tell the players and referee what kind of goods might be bought cheaply on-
planet and what might be sold at a profit. More than that, though, the classification gives
us a look at the broad economic base of the planet. Does it import or export? What do
people do? How does the world fit into the economy of the interstellar community?

Agricultural - Assume an agricultural world is able to produce a huge surplus of food

that can be shipped out through the starport. Whether grain, cattle, edible fungi, exotic
tree-analogues, vegetables, fruit or whatever, the economy is heavily focussed on
farming. Organisation of the economy could vary tremendously, from free and
independent small-holders, to vast corporations.

Asteroid - Asteroids are often mining colonies that produce various ores and crystals for
use in industry, but others may be small colonies, prisons, private retreats and factories.
An example of asteroid mines include Io from the movie Outland, and the Icarus mining
station, from the Space Above and Beyond episode titled The Dark Side of the Sun.
Desert - The desert planet will not be all dune fields. There may be rocky highlands, dry
prairies and mountains too. However, to qualify for this classification, the planet has to
have zero Hydrographics percentage - no standing water. An economy based on a true
desert world like this will be concerned with survival first and foremost. Water will be a top
resource, either taken out of the air or drilled from aquifers deep underground. In
desperate situations, water may even be shipped in.

Fluid Oceans - Fluid Oceans are planets with oceans not made up of water, but of other
liquids (liquid methane, ethanol, etc.) such worlds will be very different from Earth, but
will certainly have things to offer the interstellar community. Petrochemical fuels and
precious metals will be found in abundance and exported off-world in exchange for food
and other consumables, as well as any technologies related to life support.

Garden - The Garden world is Earth-like, blessed with a temperate climate, wide oceans
and fertile soils. It will also have a diverse biosphere of plants and animals. Self-sufficiency
 P a g e | 46

is the watch-word here, since the inhabitants of the Garden planet will not have need of
imported foodstuffs or medicines and they will have all the ores and other raw materials
that they need

Ice-Capped - Ice-Capped worlds in HOSTILE must have Atmosphere of 0 or 1 and a

Hydrographic value of 1. We use the term Ice-Capped in HOSTILE to mean ‘has liquid
water beneath an icy crust’. These liquid water oceans are postulated on Europa,
Enceladus and on other moons of the Solar System as well. Remember, ice-capped means
‘a subsurface ocean beneath an ice cap’.

Industrial - The game’s definition of an Industrial planet is actually a 'super' Industrial

world, a world dominated by vast manufacturing centres and cities supporting the workers
needed in these centres. The scale is huge, only worlds with populations in excess of a
billion people can qualify as an Industrial world. It is taken as read that the atmosphere is
unbreathable, either due to natural contaminants, or because it was ruined during the
long road to planetary industrialization. These worlds are massive exporters of electrical
goods, all kinds of appliances, manufactured goods, weaponry, vehicles, advanced
materials and alloys and robots. In return they will require vast amounts of raw material.
Earth is currently the only Industrial world.

Non-Agricultural - The Non-Agricultural world has many mouths to feed, but lacks the
climate and water resources needed to feed them. It is dependent on outside sources for
its food, textiles and other organic products. The rules assume a good reason for the
colonization of such a planet and it is likely that light industry thrives on these Non-
Agricultural worlds.

Non-Industrial - Any world with a population between 10,000 and 9,000,000 is classified
as Non-Industrial, which indicates that there are too few people to support an adequate
manufacturing economy. Consequently many types of factory-made goods will need to be
imported from off-world. This makes the Non-Industrial world something of a backwater
or 'developing nation' reliant on high tech imports to maintain its economy. Most early
colonies obviously fall into this category. Although these worlds demand sophisticated
products that they cannot manufacture themselves, the Trade tables suggest that they
themselves have little to offer the interstellar community.

Poor - The Poor world really is a backwater, a place few visit; it has a thin atmosphere
and insufficient water resources to support a strong economy. In all likelihood the Poor
world is covered by extensive deserts. This is a dry and unattractive world, its inhabitants
can produce enough food to survive, but rely on imports for any sophisticated or high
technology items.

Rich - The Rich world is a desirable destination, a luxurious retreat that boasts
innumerable diversions, entertainments and attractions. Wealthy individuals may make a
Rich world their home; its economy will generally be self-sustaining, but it will rely heavily
on imports to satisfy its inhabitants' insatiable craving for luxury items.

Water World - Citizens of a waterworld inhabit a planet filled with resources. Aquaculture
and fishing provide food, whilst seabed mining and oil drilling supply fuel, building
materials and other resources. Exotic chemicals and drugs might also be sourced from the
oceans. Waterworlds are a common theme in science fiction.
 P a g e | 47

Vacuum - Planets without atmosphere must shelter their populations within airtight
habitats and domes. Although food can be grown hydroponically, there will still be a great
need for consumables from off-world. Mining will typically form the bulk of any exports
from a vacuum world.

Gas Giants
The presence of any gas giant planets is noted on the UWP by a ‘G’ (or the absence of it).
If further detail is required, a large gas giant (Jupiter-sized or larger) can be noted as
LGG, whilst a small gas giant (Neptune or Uranus-sized, for example) can be noted as
SGG. There may be more than one gas giant within the star system.

Climate
Frozen: Too cold for human habitation, protective gear required.
Cold: Lower limits of human habitability: Yellowknife in winter.
Cool: Habitable zone, but cooler on average than Earth: Toronto in winter.
Temperate: Habitable zone, Earth average climate, similar to Boston or Paris.
Warm: Habitable zone, but warmer on average than Earth: Los Angeles in summer.
Hot: Upper limits of human habitability: Mojave Desert in summer.
Inferno: Too hot for human habitation, protective gear required.
Locked: Tide-locked.
Eccentric: Wide variation due to eccentricity of world orbit, or of binary companion.
 P a g e | 48

Star Types
The Catalog of Off-World Colonies (overleaf) identifies the star or
*UHHN/HWWHUV
stars around which the world orbits. The use of real star names
 $OSKD
helps us to reinforce a gritty, no-nonsense and realistic  %HWD
atmosphere during game-play. If you cast an eye over the names  *DPPD
of stars, they may appear quite confusing. Several naming  'HOWD
conventions are at work simultaneously. The most important  (SVLORQ
naming convention is that of the major constellations, the bright  =HWD
stars that have been visible to humans for centuries. Patterns of  (WD
stars in the sky were given a name, like Gemini or Orion or  7KHWD
Eridanus. The stars were then ranked in order of brightness, using  ,RWD
the Greek alphabet, with the brightest being alpha, the second  .DSSD
 /DPEGD
brightest beta and so on. Look at the star map of the constellation
 0X
Gemini, below:
 1X
 ;L
This is how we arrive at the star names Kappa Ceti, for example,  2PLFURQ
or Beta Hydri. Now, the very brightest stars were often given  3L
actual names by the first Arab astronomers, and those names  5KR
persist into modern times. So Alpha Geminorum is also known as  6LJPD
Castor, while Beta Geminorum is known as Pollux. Alpha Piscis  7DX
Austrini is better known as Fomalhaut, and appears with this  8SVLORQ
name on the star maps. With the advent of telescopes, more stars  3KL
 &KL
were discovered within all of the constellations of the sky, and
 3VL
astronomers soon ran out of Greek letters. Numbers began to be
 2PHJD
used for these dimmer stars; 94 Ceti, 58 Eridani and 51 Pegasi
are stars like this.

Many stars are recent additions to

astronomy and feature in star
catalogs compiled by astronomers.
Men like Wilhelm Gliese, Max Wolf,
Jerome Lalande, Frank Elmore
Ross, Henry Draper (HD) and
Friedrich Struve gave their names
to dozens of stars in Earth’s
neighbourhood. Some stars
(prefixed ‘HR’) appear in the
Harvard Revised Photometry
Catalogue, whilst a number of
others (Herschel 5173, Luhman
16, Luyten’s Star, Kapteyn’s Star
and Teegarden’s Star) are simply
(and aptly) named after their
discoverers.
 P a g e | 49

CATALOG OF OFF - WORLD COLONIES

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Lightning flashes in the atmosphere of the brown

dwarf Meiji (Wise 0855-0714)
 P a g e | 52

CORE WORLDS - HIGHLIGHTS

The core is the most densely populated and well-developed region of human space. Earth
sits at the centre, hungry for resources and surrounding it are burgeoning colonies, with
growing populations of their own. Some of these themselves are becoming increasingly
demanding of raw materials from the Outer Rim. The core is split between the American
sector, Euro sector and Japanese sector.

ABYSS NEZ 0704 C779643 MRA Locked-Warm/Non-Industrial G

EZ Aquarii Trinary System, all M5V Red Dwarfs

Planetology: EZ Aquarii is a trinary star system: two tiny and very cool red dwarf stars
(EZ Aquarii A and C) are locked into a close orbit with one another, whilst a third, (EZ
Aquarii B) orbits the pair at a distance of 0.43 astronomical units (AU). Abyss is medium-
sized world that orbits the A-C binary pair at a distance of only 0.054 AU, nicely within the
stars’ combined habitable zone, but so close that it is tidally locked, with one hemisphere
facing the two stars at all times. There is no rotation – yet day and night are created by
the rising and setting of the dim, red star EZ Aquarii B, whose orbit lies further out from
that of Abyss. A vast ocean covers 95% of the planet’s surface and those islands that do
exist are actually the mountain-peaks of a vast volcanic mid-ocean ridge which trails
across the planet on the dim-side from pole to pole. There are many active volcanoes and
geysers on these islands and the rich volcanic soil produced there is utilised by the red-
pigmented vegetation which grows on the islands in abundance. Regular eruptions create
towering black ash clouds, resulting in terrific red sunsets that are spectacular to watch,
but the eruptions are also responsible for a harmful atmospheric taint of sulfur and other
trace elements. The atmosphere of Abyss is not breathable without a surface mask.

Development: The two million inhabitants of Abyss live, crowded in together, on the
fertile plains of the mountainous volcanic islands. Many engage in crystal extraction
industries, as well as the undersea extraction of minerals which have been pouring out of
black smokers on the sea bed for millions of years. The cities are powered by geothermal
energy and all are single arcology-type buildings - huge domed constructs housing
hundreds of thousands of citizens. Recreational spas are popular amongst locals, these are
hot water-pools carved out of deep caves, some below the sea surface with windows fitted
to look out directly into the ocean. People are given plenty of freedom on Abyss. A seabed
industry exists with underwater bases and mining facilities supported by fleets of industrial
submarines. Besides large mining corporations operating on Abyss, there are many family-
owned (and run) mining businesses, large clans of submarine miners who form a large
part of the participatory government. They are a competitive and vociferous lot, all eager
to secure better contracts with off-world concerns than their rivals. Food is produced on
the plains, as well as in aquaculture stations on the seabed. Intelligent, trained dolphins,
capable of imaginative tool-use and communication with humans, live within the oceans of
Abyss. Most work in the mining industry.
 P a g e | 53

ARMSTRONG NEZ 0410 B486665 USSC Warm/Agri, Rich, Non-Ind G

Procyon F5V with a White Dwarf Companion

Planetology: Armstrong is a small world with a low mineral content and a dense, humid
atmosphere. The low gravity encourages plant growth. Immense pagoda trees, resembling
a complex webwork of branches and roots can reach as high as two thousand metres.
Since their roots cannot draw water up those distances, the pagoda trees are topped with
huge water-retaining leaves, reservoirs that feed down to their lower levels. Both the
dense atmosphere and low gravity allow a number of large floating creatures to thrive,
including the amazing sky-rays, the kite-like pond dipper and the opportunistic blimp, a
balloon-like plant which tethers itself to the ground, and exploits clearings in the pagoda
forest made by sudden lightning-storm forest fires. Pagoda trees are generally purple and
blue, lending the Armstrong landscape an eerie hue. Devil hawks, four winged hunters
with long, serrated beaks, hunt in packs to bringing down the vulnerable sky-rays when
they can.

Development: Humans from the Community of American States have not colonised the
pagoda jungles or the lowlands that feel the effects of the incredibly dense and humid
atmosphere most fiercely; instead they have settled in the mountains and as the colony
expanded they have built architecturally stunning 'bracket cities' on the cliff-sides. These
cities are magnificent, artificial terraces, steps that resemble the bracket fungus growing
from the trunks of old Earth trees. These suspended, cantilevered, tiered and shelved
cities occupy the cooler and thinner air of Armstrong. Food is grown on elaborate
mountain-side terraces in paddy fields. Mountain lakes provide drinking water and
recreation for the city dwellers, but the pond dippers and blimps can prove to be a
problem. Life is generally good here. There are opportunities to descend into the pagoda
forests, on photo safaris, scientific expeditions, vacations to some of the lowland lakes,
waterfalls and to temporary, inflatable vacation cabins. The population of Armstrong is
2,530,000 living in four bracket cities and ruled by a colonial council, headed by the ‘US
Governor for the Off-World Colony of Armstrong’. The colony was founded by Leyland-
Okuda Corporation with US co-operation, and Leyland-Okuda still retains a great stake in
the project, using Armstrong as its main Off-World headquarters. The colonial council is
made up of many expert individuals, including many Leyland-Okuda bureaucrats who have
the ear of the governor.

ATTICA NEZ 0510 CA63342 Locked-Hot/Non-Industrial G

Luyten’s Star M3V Red Dwarf

Planetology: Attica is a super-Earth occupying an inner orbit around a red dwarf star. It
has a surface gravity of a bearable (just) 1.8G and is a large, dry world with a standard,
breathable atmosphere. Attica is tidally locked to its M3V star, like most ‘habitable’ worlds
orbiting red dwarfs. Salt seas and salt lakes litter the light side, whilst the dark side is
barren and ice-covered.

Development: A small population of 9,500 live at Grimaldi Station, situated on the coast
of the Bitter Ocean. The Ochre Desert stretches out toward the twilight terminator.
Havermeyer Oil owns drilling rigs on Attica but runs a fairly loose system of government,
rigs compete with one another and drillers are free to shift their employment from one to
another. Havermeyer relish this in-house competition. Because of this system, drillers and
miners enjoy a higher status and have more say than on other colonies. The rigs and
 P a g e | 54

mines are dotted across the brightside and there are also a few on the darkside. A routine
starport services Grimaldi Station and plays host to Havemeyer’s local corporate
headquarters. East of the station runs a range of steep hills and jagged cliffs that provide
some protection from the salt-laden dust-storms; the cliffs are also used as emplacements
for huge solar-power arrays and satellite uplink towers. Equipment struggles here, salt
gets everwhere, blown in with the dust – and it corrodes parts and machinery. Nothing
mechanical is ever reliable.

AURORA NEZ 0707 C552552 Locked-Hot/Non-Industrial, Poor

UV Ceti Binary System of M5V and M6V Red Dwarfs

Planetology: UV Ceti is a binary system of red dwarf stars, one of which undergoes
frequent ‘flares’ producing large amounts of radiation. It is the most prominent example of
such a star, and so similar flare stars are now classified as ‘UV Ceti-type’ variable stars.
During these flare episodes the star also goes through fairly extreme changes of
brightness, in the year 1952 for example, its brightness increased by 75 times in only 20
seconds. This flare activity has an impact on the Earth-like planet Aurora, that orbits UV
Ceti. The gravity of the companion star, BL Ceti, is thought to play some part in UV Ceti’s
flare events. BL Ceti has no planetary system. On Aurora, high-energy cosmic particles are
continually interacting with the planet’s magnetosphere to produce spectacular auroras
visible across the entire planet, day or night. Due to this intense bombardment, radio
communications are impossible on the surface. Ships in orbit are able to use laser
communications and are therefore unaffected. Aurora is not tidally-locked due to the
interaction of the binary stars.

The planet is tectonically active and has many volcanic regions. It is this internal heat that
creates the planet’s powerful magnetosphere (3.5 times more powerful than Earth’s)
which protects life on Aurora from the deadly radiation pouring out from the parent star.
However, this invisible shield falters. There are frequent reversals of the poles, perhaps as
frequently as once per 15 years, with the magnetic north and south poles switching places
over a few days. During this dangerous period when the power of the magnetosphere
ebbs, life (both human and non-human) must take shelter. Any mega-flares occurring
during this critical time will be catastrophic. In the past they have cooked the desert sands
- the Obsidian Desert and the Murano Desert are both locations where vast regions are
filled with thin layers of glassed-over desert surface, a record of the planet’s many mega-
flares. Most animal life on Aurora is adapted to burrowing, and to a life underground – as
a result little is known of the local biology, except that it is particularly ‘radio-resistant’
(able to survive moderate and continuous levels of hard radiation).

Development: Parkfield Corporation, a Canadian conglomerate, holds the license for

Aurora and sponsored the initial colonization. All colony settlements and nearly all
buildings include deep flare shelters, for when the automated detection system sounds the
flare alarm. Research here into animal and crop production focusses on long and short-
term genetic mutation and how this affects artificial selection and breeding. Parkfield has a
strong genetics affiliate that hopes to profit from the dangerous work done on Aurora.
Three mega-flares (with associated polar reversals) have already occurred, and one of
these seems to have been responsible for the strange disappearance of an entire
settlement of human colonists on the edges of the Obsidian Desert. Investigations have so
far drawn a blank.
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COLUMBIA NEZ 0804 C554645 MRA Eccentric/Agri, Garden, Non-Ind G

Epsilon Indi Trinary system; K5V and two Brown Dwarfs

Planetology: Columbia is a garden world that is a paradise in comparison with most of

the other Off-World colonies. It is small, yet holds a thin atmosphere and surface water for
much of the year. That year lasts only 36 Earth weeks and due to the tilt of the planet,
Columbia experiences quite extreme seasonal variations. Each season is only 9 weeks
long. Summer sees days of constant sunshine and hot (40° C) temperatures, whilst the
winter is a perpetual night, and since temperatures drop to -20° C the landscape becomes
a frozen wasteland. Spring and autumn are more temperate, with normal day-night cycles
– and both of these seasons are a time to prepare for the oncoming heatwave or cold
snap. On Earth the thick atmosphere would act as a blanket and retain much of the heat
during the short, nine-week winter, but on Columbia the atmosphere is thin - when
Epsilon Indi sinks below the horizon for good at the end of autumn, any heat is quickly
dissipated. There are several small, shallow seas on Columbia fed by long rivers that
snake through a maze of canyons and gorges cutting deep into the arid steppe.

Development: Colonists from the Community of American States established most of

their settlements on Columbia along the shore of the larger of the shallow seas. Waterfall
City, however, is located on the banks of the River Shenandoah and serves as both the
capital and site of the planet’s starport. The Shenandoah is the planet’s longest river,
famous for a series of spectacular waterfalls that are situated along its course. The men
and women on Columbia have come to terms with their ‘freeze-fry’ lifestyle. Dome-houses
are raised on stilts, serving both to cool the dwelling in summer and to mitigate snow
drifts. Likewise the dome roofs were designed to reduce snow build-up. Most vehicles in
the colony are tracked and serve equally well in hot, dry conditions, as well as in snow and
frost. Crops are grown in large domed greenhouses that are powered by hydro-electric
generators along the Shenandoah – the electricity is distributed out to other settlements.

CROWN NEZ 0509 D300373 Locked-Hot/Vacuum

Wolf 359 M6V Red Dwarf

Planetology: Wolf 359 is another red dwarf star, but on a cosmic scale it is tiny, being
only slightly bigger than Jupiter. Crown is a small, airless planet orbiting close-in to Wolf
359, it is notable for its blackened coloration across much of its surface. The black
material seems to be the volcanic dust and ash from a now vanished neighboring planet.
This ‘Planet X’ may have resembled Jupiter’s moon Io, covered in constantly erupting
volcanoes that spewed ash and dust into orbit that spiraled in to cover Crown as a fine
rain of black dust. What happened to Planet X is a scientific mystery. Crown is covered
with craters as well as dust-fields, mountains and ancient lava plains.

Development: A small population of scientists, resource scouts and engineers exist on

Crown. These are being sponsored by Makita and Haruna, rival corporate groups. Once
surveys are complete and development plans submitted to the Community of American
States, a decision will be made as to which of the two corporations will receive the
contract for colonization. The rivalry is fierce and the prospectors and scientists ruthlessly
dedicated to securing the final contract. Commentators suspect there is something on
Crown worth fighting over, yet nothing of great significance has yet shown up in either
company’s monthly reports.
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CYCLOPS NEZ 0310 D331512 Locked-Cold/Poor, Non-Industrial

DX Cancri M6V Red Dwarf

Planetology: This small planet has a very thin, breathable atmosphere (although surface
masks are required by colonists and visitors). It is trapped in a tidally locked orbit around
the red dwarf DX Cancri; regular ‘wobbles’ in the planet’s orbit are responsible for some
tectonic activity, seismic quakes, and also for some volcanism at the centre of the
hemisphere facing the parent star. Cyclops is peppered with meteorite impact craters that
have been created over a billion years. Signs of volcanism in ages past are also apparent,
with some areas flooded with basalt to create rock and dust-covered plains. The world is
noted, however, for the single, large impact crater on the hemisphere that perpetually
faces the parent star. This vast crater is 1,230 km wide and 12.5 km deep at its maximum,
and has at its centre a 1100m peak. Primitive plant-life exists on Cyclops and the only
standing water is found in lakes filling fault line canyons and valleys that are found around
the terminator.

Development: Heavy metals are present at the center of ‘The Eye’ (as the giant crater is
called) and these are being extracted by miners from Matsuyama Mining, who hold the
current contract. Most of the miners and support staff are American, Canadian,
Argentinian, Mexican or Colombian, however. There is ice trapped in many of the deep
craters around the terminator, and these reserves are collected and transported to the
colony for drinking water. The population is around 250,000 – living in three main mining
cities that are located on the floor of The Eye. The miners face various dangers, but they
are particularly susceptible to seismic quakes as well as hidden dustpools that are deep
enough to swallow whole excavation machines.

DEFIANCE NEZ 0709 B868744 Locked-Warm/Garden, Agri, Rich

Teegarden’s Star M7V Red Dwarf

Planetology: Defiance is a large terrestrial planet that is tidally locked towards

Teegarden’s Star, an M-class red dwarf. A significant amount of libration (‘rocking’ to and
fro) occurs which provides night and day around the terminator, the area most densely
settled by colonists. These days last for 19 hours. The planet is wreathed in a very dense
and humid atmosphere that is volatile and storm-laden. Yet the air is breathable which
makes Defiance something of a garden world. The surface of the planet is covered by
seas, lakes, swamps and mangrove forest. The seas are warm (27 degrees), generating
what American exo-meteorologists dub, ‘hurricane fuel’. No part of the planet is immune
from the super-storms, the dense, humid atmosphere allows their energy to be carried
around on to the darkside where they begin to slow. Darkside weather is perpetually
hurricane season. Brightside weather is perpetual super-hurricane season! Inland trees on
Defiance give the planet its name, they have incredibly deep roots and are thin and
pliable, their trunks are capable of being bent over 65 degrees before snapping. Most
vegetation is also halophilic (‘‘salt tolerant’) due to repeated inundations of sea water
during the tremendous storm surges. Mangrove forests in particular, those forests that
actually grow in coastal waters, have not just massive networks of interconnected roots to
protect themselves from intense wave action, but also a branch structure that interlocks
co-operatively with other trees in the forest to create a vast and complex tangle of
branches and vines. As storm surges abate, a large amount of the mangrove’s root system
is exposed. Rainfall is perpetual on Defiance, where-ever you are and whatever time of
 P a g e | 57

night or day it is – rainfall. Constant. It may slacken to a drizzle, or darken the sky as a
torrential downpour, weather reports simply talk of approaching storms and the amount of
predicted rainfall.

Development: Yes, Defiance is a garden world, despite the super-storms and rainfall,
and so colonists from the USA settled here to exploit the environment. There are 11
million colonists from the USA and a few of the other CAS nations, mainly established in
the terminator region, where the planet’s libration creates a day-night cycle. Oil drilling is
lucrative, as the fossil history of mangrove swamps is full of petroleum and natural gas.
Farming of Kinako™ is also carried out inland. Defiance is a Tharsis Corporation
development; a representative council has been established to air grievances, create
policy on the planet and to try to circumvent the growing power of the unions.

EARTH NEZ 0406 A877A77 JASDF, DRW, MRA, USSC Temperate/Ind, Garden G
The Sun G2V

Planetology: In general, the geography of the Earth has changed little since the early
21st century, but still, the vicissitudes of environmental damage have made their mark. Of
greatest impact are the periods of poor air quality that can drive people indoors, or force
them to wear simple filter masks. Particulate matter, the detritus of hundreds of years of
intensive industrialization, peaked in 2067, and today affects certain regions at certain
times of the year. It is this contaminant that is responsible for Earth’s atmospheric
classification of 7 (‘Standard, Tainted’) in its UWP.

Global temperature has increased by 5ºC and although it has stabilised, its effects have
been dramatic. There is now little polar sea ice and sea levels around the world have risen
by about 1m. Flooding has occurred on many low-lying Pacific islands, coastal plains and
cities (including the Caspian Sea coastline, the Mekong Delta, large parts of coastal
Bangladesh, Jersey City, Oakland, areas of the Pearl River Metroplex, the Netherlands and
of course, New Orleans).

Only 90% of species have survived the depredations of mankind and the change in
climate. Most prominent of Earth’s most wondrous animal species: rhinos, tigers, snow
leopards, gorillas, orang-utans, sperm whales and polar bears, exist today only in picture
books and archived video libraries. There are far too many species of plants and animals
that have been lost in the past two centuries and the people of 2225 feel a bitterness
toward those fools of earlier years who let these species slip through their fingers.
Weather patterns and the seasons are distinctly different from 20th century norms:
weather can be more unpredictable, with flooding, drought, hurricanes and either early or
late seasons depending on location. In addition, large areas of farmland in Africa, Russia
and China have been swamped by encroaching deserts, the destructive effects of
desertification. One hundred and fifty years ago a tide of climate refugees began to sweep
across the continents and when the sea level rise stabilized, this refugee crisis abated.
Some areas of the Earth are no longer farmable, yet the local populations have adjusted
to match the new conditions. There has been a great deal of pain and suffering over the
last century.
 P a g e | 58

Development: By 2100, Earth had managed to stabilize its population and reverse the
trend in the growth of megacities. Great strides had also been made in sustainable living
and recycling. Power was generated by fusion reactors on a large scale, whilst smaller
communities relied on reliable renewable technologies. However, the mid-22nd century saw
another rise in population during a period of economic upheaval. The First Recession,
beginning in 2166, struck a serious blow to the global economy, fragmenting China into
several smaller nations and allowing a resurgent Japan to dominate Asia-Pacific affairs.
The world government (the ‘Earth Union’) did not survive this crisis - regional groups now
fragmented back into their original nation states. During this time too, global corporations
found they were able to step in to seize far more influence within business, politics and
society than they ever had before. From the First Recession onwards, these corporations
would play a major part in human expansion beyond the solar system. More detail
concerning the history of Earth throughout the past two centuries can be found in the
Orientation chapter of this book.

From orbit-to-surface -
The Transatmospheric Pipeline

Resources in 2225 are stretched; water, food, raw materials, living space – all are in great
demand, with wealthier corporate employees enjoying a larger share than others. This is
no eco-Holocaust, but an environmental catastrophe feels just around the corner. And as
it approaches, the masses of Earth live their crowded lives, squeezed into tiny one-room
apartments, eating Kinako™ soy-substitutes, linked to the Net and watching the nightly
pollution warnings. Deforestation, coastal flooding and rampant desertification have
reduced crop yields and timber production, oil reserves have been tapped out as have
some of the world’s mineral reserves. Ten billion people require an immense amount of
power, food and raw materials. But now, a greater amount every year is being shipped in
from the Off-World Colonies. There are jobs out there for those who want them, and there
are places on colony worlds for those who want to begin again under new skies. There are
 P a g e | 59

no paradise planets, however, and so the masses of Earth seem generally content to
remain in the sprawling mega-cities of Earth. With the corporations not just dominating,
but now forming, the global and interstellar economy, all of the best jobs are within their
departments, their subsidiaries and their related corporations. It might not be a job for
life, but it is a sweet ticket to medicare, corporate housing, private transport, higher
wages and better Net access. What more is there in life?

Transatmospheric Petroleum Pipeline: The stunning Trans-Atmospheric Petroleum

Pipeline (TAPP) based at Macapa, Brazil, is a multi-billion dollar orbital tower used to pipe
oil from orbit to a surface pumping station for minimal cost. A central docking station
(Liberty) sits in geostationary orbit 30,000 km over Earth’s equator and a fullerene cable
extends down through the atmosphere to touch down at a well-anchored base station (the
Oil Pumping Nexus) on the outskirts of Macapa. Beyond the space facility the cable runs
on another 6,000 km into space and terminates at a tethered asteroid called 1036
Ganymed.

Huge hyperdrive freighters arrive at Liberty Transfer Station filled with petroleum, liquid
gas and minerals. The TPP is designed to make getting those precious cargos to the
surface easy by using a combination of pipelines and cargo hopper cars. The oil and gas is
distributed between twelve vast Pressurized Petroleum Tanks (PPTs). Liberty contains
enormous pumping stations that force petroleum and gas under high pressure down the
four pipelines that run down the sides of the cable. Solar power arrays on the sides of the
pipeline produce power to drive the pumps. Ores and grains are fed directly into
automated hopper cars that descend down the orbital tower on a magnetic rail. At Nexus,
in Macapa, they dump their contents into waiting railroad freight wagons and then make
the return journey.

Liberty is one huge off-Earth terminal, emptying the tankers, managing the oil, shifting
cargo and passengers from shuttles and spaceplanes into departure lounges, marshalling
space traffic, providing temporary accommodation and warehousing - and screening
everything that comes and goes. Gravity is kept at a constant 1G on Liberty; there are
three major sections to the huge station: outbound, inbound and operations. The
operations complex includes control stations, technical workshops, offices, and of course
housing and entertainment for workers.

EDO NEZ 0402 E445312

Struve 2398 Binary System of M3V Red Dwarfs

Planetology: This small world orbits a volatile red dwarf flare star (Struve 2398 B), this
makes it a dangerous place. Each year lasts 39 Earth days. Although Edo is tidally locked
to its parent star, a day-night cycle is produced on the far-side by the existence of a red
dwarf companion orbiting far out at around 42 astronomical units (AU). There is an
abundance of vegetation, with a great diversity due to the bouts of stellar radiation.

Development: Haruna Biolabs, a medical and research corporation within the Haruna
group, is currently conducting extraction and harvesting of plants and substances for use
in products. Teams live on the surface, but retreat to bunkers underground during solar
storms. A shielded space station remains in orbit in order to provide assistance and
support to the surface teams.
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HAMILTON NEZ 0805 B554696 Locked-Cold/Non-Ind, Agricultural, Garden

Ross 248 M6V Red Dwarf

Planetology: Like many planets orbiting red dwarf stars, Hamilton is tidally-locked, with
one hemisphere in perpetual sunshine while the other sits in permanent darkness.
Hamilton occupies the very outer edge of the Ross 248’s habitable zone – it is a glaciated
world, a world in decline. Tectonic activity stopped approximately 800 million years ago,
and without volcanoes to outgas carbon dioxide, the atmosphere lost its ability to equalize
the Greenhouse Effect. There was no warming within the atmosphere, and ice formation
led to Hamilton’s albedo factor (the amount of light it reflects back into space) increase
and accelerating. Vast forests and plains filled with native plant-life, and the exotic alien
creatures which fed upon it, were wiped out. Almost. Whilst vast ice sheets dominate the
lowlands and the frozen oceans, and glaciers crawl slowly out of the mountain ranges, the
center of the bright-side is notable for a small region of tundra - cold, and ravaged by
intermittent blizzards, but not yet frozen. Here, remnants of Hamilton’s abundant life eke
out a treacherous and chilly existence.

Development: Oil drillers from Earth also exist in this harsh environment. The vast
forests, long dead and fossilized beneath the ice sheets, are now a petroleum resource to
be drilled, extracted and shipped to Earth. More than a million people, mainly from the
USA, Canada and Venezuela, live and work here. A mass linear accelerator, in constant
use, catapults tanks filled with crude oil into orbit where orbital tugs rendezvous with them
and haul them up to a massive oil-tanking space station in geo-stationary orbit. The empty
tanker pods return to Hamilton by gliding back through the atmosphere to be landed
remotely at the launch site.

HIROSHIMA NEZ 0304 B774633 JADF Locked-Cool/Agri, Garden, Non-Ind G

Ross 154 M3V Red Dwarf

Planetology: Hiroshima is a tidally-locked planet orbiting a red dwarf star; its surface
topology is generally composed of rolling steppe-lands, as well as rocky bad-lands, deserts
and mountains. It is a fairly dry world, with several small oceans. Hiroshima’s atmosphere
is certainly breathable, but it is tainted in some areas with tiny amounts of chlorine. This
chlorine originated in the seas, where some tiny sea creatures evolved chlorine
biomolecules in order to dissuade predators from consuming them. In a biological arms
race, the predators themselves evolved to consume chlorine in trace amounts. This
chlorine entered the atmosphere as a waste product, much like methane on Earth. The air
is slightly smoggy, with a greenish-yellow tinge when looking long distances. There is no
ozone layer, but the chlorine itself absorbs ultra-violet radiation from the star Ross 154.
Chlorine often accumulates in yellow mists within low-lying areas that can kill animals,
particularly those that are not adapted to absorbing heavy doses. The chemical attacks
eyes, skin, throat and lungs and was used by armies as a poison gas in the First World
War. There is a little rain on Hiroshima particularly in the highland. Near the coast, sea
fogs bring wet cloud banks on-shore that react with chlorine in the air to create a
phosgene-type wet-chemical gas. It is deadly. The seas themselves are an extremely mild
hydrochloric acid that erodes and weathers coastal terrain at a frightening rate. A strange
side-effect of the trace chlorine content is that flames are inhibited by the chlorine atoms -
any fire just smoulders and quickly dies.
 P a g e | 61

Development: Despite the trace amounts of poison in the atmosphere, 8 million colonists
from Japan and other nations in the Asia-Pacific Partnership have settled on the planet.
Marble trees, that are a spectacular turquoise-green color, cover the hills and the coastal
mangrove areas - they are adept at dealing with chlorine in the water. Logging industries
have been established on Hiroshima to exploit this valuable resource. Vast oil reserves
have been discovered in the low-lands too, and an economy has grown up to support the
oil drilling platforms. Up in the highlands, where the cities are situated and chlorine
concentrates are less, colonists can breathe without surface masks. The farming of
Kinako™ is a boom-industry in these upland areas.

INFERNO NEZ 0806 DC106B8 Locked-Inferno/Non-Agricultural G

Groombridge 34 Close Binary System M1V & M4V

Planetology: Inferno is a super-Earth in a very close orbit around Groombridge 34A,

which is one of two red dwarfs that make-up the Groombridge 34 binary star system.
Inferno has almost one and a-half times the diameter of Earth and its surface gravity is a
crippling 2G. Back in the early 21st century, NASA’s Ames Research Center carried out
experiments that discovered humans could survive twice Earth’s gravity for 24 straight-
hours without ill effects. Ames then claimed that it would be theoretically possible for a
human to adapt to a gravity environment that is between two and three times that of
Earth. When the first CAS colonists arrived on Inferno, those claims were put to the test.

A year on Inferno is fast – lasting only 12 days; and because Inferno orbits so closely
(only 0.0034 AU’s from Groombridge 32A), it is tidally locked, with one hemisphere
permanently facing its parent star. The bright face is a perpetual hell – temperatures
exceed 600°C – almost high enough to melt metal. Surprisingly, the terrific temperatures
are not due to the proximity of the star (which is ‘relatively’ cool) but from tremendous
volcanic activity which seems to be generated by the tidal forces created by this proximity.
Constantly squeezed and crushed, Inferno is literally exploding from within. Lava flows as
a liquid continually on the brightside and even across the darkside - there are pools, rivers
and seas of the stuff. All of this volcanic outgassing is responsible for Inferno’s thin
atmosphere composed of hydrogen, helium and hydrogen cyanide.

Development: Who lives on a hell-world like this? Inferno is a world of great wealth and
Tharsis Corporation recognised this early on, becoming the primary sponsor of the
colonization project. Mining settlements were established along the shadowy terminator
between the bright face and the dark face. Vast solar panel farms harnessed the unending
stream of sunlight coming from Groombridge 34A to power the mining industries on
Inferno. Precious metals are mined, smelted and processed – much of this goes to Earth,
but some is used in Inferno’s own industrial economy, manufacturing electronic goods for
Tharsis Corporation that can be sold back on Earth or on to colony worlds in the Outer
Rim. Helium-3 was thought to be covering the bright face in great quantities, but the
continual volcanic upheaval has long ago destroyed those deposits. Colonization and
development intensified quickly once the work opportunities and contracts were posted on
Earth, tens of thousands flocked to Inferno - and the mining and industrial centers have
just continued to grow. Ice is found in polar craters on Inferno’s only moon and regular
supply runs are required to keep the colony’s public water tanks topped up. There are
currently 2,800,000 colonists on Inferno, making it one of the most populated Off-World
colonies, despite the terrible conditions on the planet’s surface.
 P a g e | 62

The Vice President for Inferno Electronics (a division of Tharsis) is in charge on the planet
and he rules the colony with a tight grip. Death is ever-present, caused by negligence,
laziness, stupidity or just random bad luck. Safety regulations and rules guide the lives of
everyone – colonists and visitors alike. Hostile environment suits are needed for visits to
the surface, and exposure to the brightside temperatures will defeat any suit in 4-5 hours
(after 4 hours, roll 1D6 – on a ‘1’ result, the suit begins to fail and the wearer has 2D6
minutes to get inside a building or ATV. If the result of the 1D6 is 2-6, then continue to re-
roll the 1D6 every ten minutes …). Without a habitable environment in which to grow
crops, the colonists are dependent on Kinako™ (the Japanese miracle soyfood) that is
cultivated in vast greenhouses along the terminator.

A Tharsis colony world - Inferno

IXION NEZ 0206 D5C5314 Inferno/Fluid Oceans G

Alpha Centauri Binary System G2V & K1V with M6V Red Dwarf Companion

Planetology: Ixion is a world orbiting Alpha Centauri A (a star much like our own Sun).
The planet is home to a deadly environment and thick yellow-brown clouds that are
choking and corrosive. Clouds of acidic hydrogen sulfide make the world a terrifying place
to visit - water exists only as steam due to the average surface temperature of 150ºC, its
place is taken up instead by liquid sulfuric acid. The planet’s surface is divided between
the highlands, sliced by acid-carved canyons and the lowlands, where rock is being
constantly dissolved and carried off to the liquid sulfur sea. Native life in all its forms is
silicone-based, and it draws its energy from the environment around it for electro-chemical
reactions. Living creatures on Ixion could be described almost as ‘living batteries’. Some
of the caves in the highlands are filled with an edible light-producing fungi called klebrig,
which taps exotic mineral nutrients from the cave walls.
 P a g e | 63

Development: Alpha Centauri was first postulated as a destination more than a century
ago. The first hyperspace mission to the system in 2150 was also the human race’s first
interstellar manned mission. It was a co-operative endeavour between the USA, the
Chinese government and three large corporations: the European company Eurodyne;
Voroncovo, the Russian giant; and Tharsis, of America. Although Ixion proved to be a
remarkable and truly alien world, none of the backers saw much potential in colonization.
None except Eurodyne, which established a scientific presence in partnership with the
European Space Agency. Scientists began to study the incredible silicone-based life that
they found, and a growing colonial community began to grow. A number of exotic
minerals were found on the planet (including tantalum and palladium) that were being
naturally exposed by the extreme chemical weathering. The British giant, Erebus was
invited in to mine those minerals and export them to Earth under licence.

Meanwhile, the glowing fungus, Klebrig, is being processed and exported by some of the
human settlers; it forms a key component of light fittings, survival lanterns and any
technology requiring bioluminescence. Klebrig is also turned into all manner of foodstuffs.
The miners on Ixion are employees of Erebus, while the klebrig processors are free-
holders who nominally come under Eurodyne law and government, but who are
independent.

Seas of sulfuric acid

Welcome to Alpha Centauri
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JADE PALACE NEZ 0603 B952651 Warm/Poor, Non-Industrial

61 Cygni System Close Binary System K5V & K7V

Planetology: The world of Jade Palace is large and mostly uninhabitable due to the lack
of any appreciable atmosphere on the surface. However, incredibly deep rift valleys criss-
cross this surface and a breathable atmosphere can be found pooling at the bottom of
these crevasses. They were caused by geological plate tectonics and are, essentially, vast
fault line canyons. Jade Palace is still a volcanically active world. Volcanic out-gassing
along the equator is responsible for the atmosphere within the gorges. Native bacteria are
able to metabolize the sulfur within the volcanic gasses to produce oxygen in breathable
amounts. These canyons (some several kilometres deep) form a network which straddles
the equator and part of the southern hemisphere. Life, and the ever-growing colony,
thrives along the floor of these winding canyons. The largest of the canyon complexes are
over 200 km wide and stretch for 3,000 km. In some of the narrow gorges little light
penetrates. There are small ice caps and also rivers and small lakes on the floors of some
of the more southerly canyons.

Development: Jade Palace was settled by the Chinese government. Since the
establishment of the APP, it has come under the control of the Asia Pacific Partnership and
has seen an influx of colonists from many other nations. Han is the capital city of the
colony, occupying a wide section of canyon far to the south where temperatures are
moderate, there are long days of sunlight for much of the year (due to the width of the
canyon in that area) and water is plentiful. The population of this city is currently around
300,000; other cities spread through the southerly canyon network add to the population
total of 1,060,000. A monorail system connects Han with these centres of population to
create a single, unified, off-world colony. Additional water resources are piped in from the
southern ice cap, whilst minerals are extracted from large mines located in the dangerous
and mountainous uplands separating the canyon systems. Some of the canyons are cut-off
from the main network, travel to these ‘outliers’ is made by jump jet or by travel over the
rocky upland wastes that dominate Jade Palace, they are airless, but prone to volcanism,
earthquakes and the explosive eruption of poisonous gas clouds. Jade Palace starport sits
on the canyon rim close to Han and is reached by a set of high-capacity freight and
passenger elevators.

LQ105 NEZ 0105 X000000 Hot/Asteroid G

Wise 0855-0714 Sub-Brown Dwarf

Planetology: LQ105 is a rock, 200 km across that orbits the dull brown dwarf Wise 0855-
0714 (named Meiji). This asteroid has been identified as the most likely site within the star
system for any future landing or colonial development. Turbulent clouds within the
atmosphere of Meiji rain down molten iron, hot sand and salts -- materials that make up
the cloud layers of the brown dwarf.

Development: None. LQ105 is unexplored and unsettled.

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NEVERMIND NEZ 0107 D577487 Locked-Cold/Garden, Non-Ind G

Luhman 16 Close Binary System of Brown Dwarfs

Planetology: The world of Nevermind orbits in a binary system of brown dwarfs, planets
that are not big enough to become stars, but that are producing vast amounts of energy
and heat. The orbital perturbations cause global volcanism for 6 months every four years.
The sulfur clouds produced by this volcanism cools the world significantly, a 6 month
period called the Long Winter, when the seas freeze and temperatures drop to -50°C. The
brown dwarfs produce little light, with the result that darkness reigns on Nevermind.
There is algae-type life living on the planet’s surface, but the seas teem with much more
complex life forms. An eco-system has developed, based around nutrients welling up from
deep-sea volcanic vents.

Development: The riches provided by the volcanic history of the planet have attracted
miners and explorers from the Western European Union. The colony lives around the
power provided by a single fusion reactor. It provides lighting in the permanent darkness
of Nevermind. Some of the settlers man fishing boats and bring in food from the oceans.
Some is frozen and sold off-world to other colonies. Since the volcanic soils are nutrient
rich, powerful arc-lights are set up which trick Terran crops into thinking it is daylight.

NEW TOKYO NEZ 0305 C6586B8 Locked-Temperate/Agri, Non-Ind G

Barnard’s Star M4V Red Dwarf

Planetology: New Tokyo orbits Barnard’s Star, a red dwarf star, on the outer limit of its
habitable zone. It is tidally locked, like most red dwarf worlds, with one face bathed in
sunshine whilst the other faces out into the depths of space in a permanent night. The
brightside of New Tokyo is warm and tropical with inhabited areas dominated by wide
flood plains and extensive river deltas. Two vast rivers (the Nagaidesu and Hayai)
dominate the colonized areas of the brightface, and these great rivers provide fresh water
and transportation for the settlers in the area. The mountains are definably grouped into
three major ranges: the Shiro range in the north, the Central Highlands further south and
the Southern range. One of the most unusual areas of the New Tokyo landscape is the
Motsureta - a vast root system covering 36,000 square km of marsh and swamp that is
located east of the Hayai delta. This dense wood cave system is like a super mangrove
swamp and is used by local terrorists as a base camp and hiding place. Entire base
complexes are hidden in there. The fighting conditions are pitch black and nightmarish,
like climbing through a combination of living cavern systems and twisting cage bars;
everything is damp and alive with albino scavengers.

Development: New Tokyo was colonized by the Japanese government, in co-operation

with Haruna Corporation. Today the off-world colony is governed by a dictator who came
to power thirty years ago (2195), he had been the Vice President of Haruna in charge of
colony affairs and took charge during a series of disasters (a devastating typhoon,
followed by a deadly solar flare). Despite attempts by Haruna and the Japanese
government to re-establish their authority following the crisis, Stan Yoshimura had the
loyalty of the colonists and refused to step-down. Unhappy with losing political control of
the colony, the Japanese Diet began to fund a revolutionary movement (the pro-Imperial
Kuro Shotai) seeking to overthrow Yoshimura in favour of a recognised Japanese
 P a g e | 66

government. This guerrilla war divides communities, some want the safe prosperity of
Yoshimura, while others long to be part of the Imperial Japanese system. Today, although
generally benevolent he and his family are intertwined with the success of the world. New
Tokyo has a strong economy that is based on mining, oil drilling, logging and agriculture.
Mining is a major activity in the Shiro mountains of the north-east and focusses on the
search for the valuable metals of nickel, chromium and iron. There are lucrative oil
reserves buried deep below the deltas as well as off-shore. The oil companies (led by the
supergiant Erebus Petrochem) who have been given a free reign, command some of the
mercenary forces in their regions and are virtual feudal lords amid the delta. Attacks by
the Kuro Shotai, are met with mercenary patrols and security guards. Safety checks are
waived in favour of profitability: pollution is bad - poorly maintained pipes and stations
leak oil constantly and this kills the local vegetation and occasionally catches fire, wiping
out local colony settlements and ruining crops.

OPPENHEIMER NEZ 0409 A6C0454 Locked-Cold/Desert, Non-Industrial

Sirius A1V with White Dwarf Companion

Planetology: Sirius is a bright, hot white star with a large white dwarf companion
(almost as big in size as the Sun). This white dwarf, known as Sirius B, has no flare
activity and is relatively cool which means its habitable zone is close in – almost too close.
The mainworld, Oppenheimer, is a dense iron-rich planet, a little smaller than Earth, that
is tidally locked to Sirius B. Explorers discovered that this planet was in fact the remnant of
a much larger gas giant planet that has survived the death throes of Sirius B when it
expanded outwards as a red giant before collapsing to become the white dwarf that exists
today. Oppenheimer is classed as a chthonian world, having lost all of its hydrogen and
helium through vaporization (hydrodynamic escape). All that is left is the solid iron core
that sits at the centre of most gas giant planets. The planet orbits the white dwarf star in
only 12 hours, resulting in a high speed orbit. On Oppenheimer the stars move across the
night sky dizzyingly fast. This is the blasted ancient ruin of an old planet that now orbits
the glowing cinder of a dead sun - an eerie world indeed.

A thin atmosphere composed mainly of hydrogen with elements of methane and ammonia
still clings to Oppenheimer – this is a dangerous environment. Hydrogen atoms are so
small they can seep through plastic, fabric and even metal through the process of
diffusion. And hydrogen – coming into contact with oxygen – is incredible explosive. Vacc
suits cannot be made impervious to the potentially flammable effects of the Oppenheimer
atmosphere, although starship hulls and colony buildings certainly can. The ammonia
constituent will damage the skin, eyes and lungs of anyone unfortunate enough to be
exposed to it. Despite this deadly atmosphere – there is life.

Life on Oppenheimer is mainly composed of simple forms: algae mats, simple mosses and
tiny invertebrates that make up part of the eco-system. It seems photosynthesis is
unknown here. The incredible magnetic field generated by Sirius B is exploited by the
protoplasm of living creatures, since it acts as an electrically conductive material – creating
energy. These living dynamos are powered by the fantastic magnetic field that wraps itself
around both the white dwarf and its solid iron planet – and most forms of life give off light
through bioluminescence to some degree.
 P a g e | 67

Development: American explorers braved the deadly atmosphere and powerful magnetic
fields of Oppenheimer to study the unique nature of life here. Extensive reserves of heavy
metals, including nickel, copper, gold, silver, cobalt, selenium, tellurium and the six
platinum-group metals were soon discovered. Many of these ore bodies lay on the surface
– the explosive death of the red giant had already cleared away any upper layers. Huge
open cast mines for mineral extraction were soon established by the Tharsis Mining
company. Vacc suits will only protect the wearer from hydrogen seepage for around 4-5
hours (after 4 hours, roll 1D6 – on a ‘1’ result, the inside of the suit will catch fire. If the
result of the 1D6 is 2-6, then continue to re-roll the 1D6 every ten minutes …). Hostile
environment suits have better protections installed, and will last 7-8 hours.

OLYMPUS NEZ 0108 C6A2469 DRW, MRA Hot/Non-Industrial

Lalande 21185 M2V Red Dwarf

Planetology: Olympus is a medium-sized world with an atmosphere of sulfur compounds

making survival without oxygen tanks and a survival suit impossible. The world is very
volcanic and sulfur outgassing sustains the exotic atmosphere. There are lakes of mild
sulfuric acid. Life exists on Olympus: vegetation is dominated by the glowing ferns of red,
orange and yellow – however there is no significant animal life. Unusually for a planet
orbiting a red dwarf star, Olympus is not tidally locked.

Development: Human life on the planet is associated with the Franco-German colony
established there. Around 60,000 people live on the planet and a great deal of activity
surrounds the large Deutsche Raumwaffe base at the starport. The only city of
Sonnenstadt is powered by geothermal energy - heated greenhouses provide vegetables
and meat, and water is collected in hillside traps that capture water vapour from
outgassing and from the water ice sheet close to Sonnenstadt and the starport. Highlights
of visits here are the glow-ferns at night and guided trips into unexplored lava tubes.

PROSPERITY NEZ 0303 C55A614 Locked-Warm/Non-Ind, Water World G

SCR 1845-6357 M8V Red Dwarf with Brown Dwarf Companion

Planetology: Prosperity is a large moon that orbits a brown dwarf - a gas giant on the
point of turning into a star. It is hot, but generates little light and it is the heat from this
brown dwarf that allows life to flourish on the moon. Prosperity is an ocean world dotted
with islands and island chains supporting indigenous life. Marine plant and animal life also
flourishes within the oceans; yet life here is not easy. For one thing, the moon is tidally
locked and a huge, perpetual super-storm rotates endlessly across the near-side
hemisphere. This storm is fed by the energy created from the warm, ‘hurricane fuel’
waters of the near-side ocean. The far-side is much cooler, with ice packs and waterless,
but intensely cold, dry deserts. A great danger exists in the form of tides. As the red dwarf
star, SCR 1845-6357, sinks below the horizon once every 6 days, great tides are formed
that completely cover many large islands. Only a small number of the most mountainous
island chains are immune from these tsunami-like super-tides. Two days late, just before
the sun rises again, the thunderous tides abate, leaving vast areas of seaweed-clad tidal
banks and low-lying islands exposed once more.
 P a g e | 68

Development: The large Japanese corporation Haruna has settled Prosperity. Resource
scouts identified that the equatorial islands were created by ancient volcanism that
ravaged the moon when it orbited slightly closer to the brown dwarf. Those islands are
incredibly fertile and sit on top of great mineral wealth. A population of 3 million lives and
works on the islands closest to the longitudes that sit between the nearside and the far-
side. Here the waters are not frozen, the super-storm is kept at bay, and all the colonists
have to worry about are the super-tides and the tough, amphibious predators that have
evolved to survive on this harsh moon.

ROCK 17 NEZ 0609 XD00000 Cold/Vacuum

Kapteyn’s Star M1SD Red Sub-Dwarf

Planetology: Rock 17 is a super-Earth, though without atmosphere, and void of all life.
This asteroid has been identified as the most likely site within the star system for any
future landing or colonial development.

Development: None. Rock 17 is unexplored and unsettled.

The mineral-
-rich asteroid belts of the Solomons
 P a g e | 69

THE SOLOMONS NEZ 0808 A000675 USSC Frozen/Asteroid, Non-Ind, Non-Agri G

Epsilon Eridani K2V

Planetology: The Epsilon Eridani system is dominated by a three gas giant planets, three
lifeless and uninhabited airless planets and ‘The Belts’. These asteroid belts are located at
3 and 20 astronomical units (AU) away from the parent star, respectively. A gas giant
named Ægir, which is roughly Jupiter-sized, orbits just beyond the Inner Belt at a distance
of 3.5 AU from the star.

Development: Many of the bigger asteroids in the Inner Belt have attracted resource
scouts, miners and colonists. These asteroids are known as ‘The Solomons’ after the
mythical mines of Biblical King Solomon; all are densely populated hives of activity – they
serve as starports, cities, meeting points, mineral processing centers and entertainment
complexes. In order of population and importance, the largest of the Soloman asteroids
are Central, Tasker, Incubu, Suliman and Payback. In contravention of Interstellar
Commerce Organization rules that state a single world should come under a single
governing entity, the Inner Belt is a corporate and political mess. Most of the big
corporations have bases in the Epsilon Eridani system, and each of the Solomons is
governed by one of those corporate giants. Thus the star system is balkanized and serves
almost as a free-trade area, where competitors rub shoulders with one another, deals are
struck and both corporate espionage and terrorism are attempted.

TAU CETI NEZ 0807 B444762 USSC Warm/Agricultural G

Tau Ceti G8V

Planetology: The Sun-like star Tau Ceti is orbited by three gas giants, several super-
Earths, a small Mars-sized planet and a large dust ring. The small, Mars-sized planet (Tau
Ceti 4) sits within the habitable zone and has been colonized by humans. Until the
ownership of the world can be resolved, it is currently known simply as ‘Tau Ceti’. It has a
mass of one-eighth Earth and a surface gravity of 0.35 G. The planet is being ‘ground
down’ by weathering. A scarcity of uranium and thorium within the mantle has meant that
plate tectonics came to a shuddering halt 80 million years ago - without this process
mountain-building has stopped, yet the process of erosion has continued unabated.
Mountains have been slowly worn away, surface features obliterated and the terrain
flattened. Tau Ceti is a flat and featureless world, albeit cloaked in jungle, scrub,
swampland and savannah grasses. Seas worldwide are today all 20-50 meters in depth –
the continents having being ground down and the abyssal plains on the sea-floor
blanketed with quartz sand. The seas of Tau Ceti are shallow and filled with bacterial life
and seaweeds, making them appear almost green from orbit.

However, it is clear that some pockets of residual geothermal heat still remain, since hot-
spots of volcanic activity exist. The volcanoes produced are massive; without the motion
of tectonic plates the hot-spots beneath them continue to feed the shield volcanoes in the
same locations, millennia after millennia. The twenty or so super-volcanoes on Tau Ceti
dwarf Olympus Mons, some are dormant, others active. Carbon dioxide produced by these
shield volcanoes is metabolized by the verdant plant growth on the planet, although much
remains and causes a contaminant that requires humans to wear surface masks.
 P a g e | 70

Winding through the endless tracts of jungle, swamp and grasslands are ancient, slow-
moving rivers winding backwards and forwards in complex loops. Where they eventually
meet the sea a huge and elaborate delta of marshes and reed-beds is invariably produced.
Local plant-life is large and occasionally carnivorous - American military analysts call it a
‘super-jungle’. The wildlife is equally huge (a product of the low gravity) and many of the
animals on Tau Ceti are also hostile to humans. Despite this, the climate is extremely
conducive to agriculture of all kinds. The constant volcanism is no threat to human life,
but the volcanoes are so tall and gravity is so low that ash and dust is ejected far into the
upper atmosphere so that every sunset and sunrise is blood-red; the sky retains a red-
pinkish tint throughout the day.

Development: The planet had been settled separately by two nations: China and the
United States of America. Due to several small-scale political conflicts between Chinese
and US forces in space in 2149 and 2160, there were tensions between the two colonies
(Shulin and Lindbergh) almost from day one. In 2166 the Chinese space effort was
cancelled as the country was wracked by internal troubles and their Tau Ceti colony,
Shulin, was abandoned. An international effort was begun to supply the tens of thousands
of Chinese colonists with the products and resources they needed for survival in a ‘Berlin-
style’ airlift. By 2180, the newly-established Chinese splinter states were all keen to claim
Shulin as their own colony. For thirty years a low-level guerilla war has bubbled
throughout the Chinese colony as different armed factions have contested the
uncompromising rule of the People’s Republic of Guandong (PRG); these factions have
been well supplied by agents of the other Chinese splinter states.

With no resolution to the Tau Ceti war in sight, the United Corporate Combine brokered
talks in 2212 that would see all Chinese claims to the colony relinquished. It had
previously ruled in 2170 that all moons and planets must be ruled by a single government
body - there should be no planets shared by the competing colonies of different nations.
The aim of the UCC was to unify both the American and Chinese colonies, and in the
special case of Tau Ceti, a proposal was made to grant the planet independence from any
Earth-bound nation – an unprecedented step. To achieve this, the two colonies first had to
be united and the USA was invited to temporarily govern Shulin and preside over first the
unification phase, and then the independence phase. For the US this meant one less
colony held by China, and the opportunity to establish a powerful pro-American colony in
what was now becoming known as the ‘American Sector’.

In 2215 the Americans moved into Shulin and within months the insurrection began. Some
call it the Second Tau Ceti War, but it really is simply the Tau Ceti War, fought for the
same reasons, by the same antagonists – only the flag of the government and the military
units has changed. The Chinese Guandong government refusing to give up the highland
city of Xishuangbanna, began to fortify and resupply this large urban center through its
own starport. Chinese troops now garrison Xishuangbanna and send materiel and arms
along the network of jungle trails called the Path of Tears, to Shulin, Maolan and the
armed resistance group there known as the Tau Ceti Liberation Army (the TLA, or
‘Tauists’). The US with its CAS allies wages a counter-insurgency war in Shulin, Maolan
and Zhouzhuang, and a limited bombing campaign against military targets around the
heavily defended Xishuangbanna.
 P a g e | 71

Ten years of low level insurgency have followed: guerilla attacks, bombings, executions
and brutal retaliations by the TLA have been met with some over-whelming American
firepower. The inhospitable nature of Tau Ceti’s ‘super-jungle’ makes the world a tough
place to make war, however. Vast amounts of money, materiel, technology, blood, sweat
and tears have been poured into the conflict. Analysts at the Pentagon will tell you that
some headway is being made, ‘that the guerrillas will soon call for a truce, at which point
world-building can go ahead, and a shining beacon of off-world independence will light the
void.’ For inhabitants of Tau Ceti, the war is unrelenting and seemingly ever-ending.
 P a g e | 72

HIGH SCHOOL TO HELLHOLE IN 3 MONTHS

By Carla Corlina | GNN
Updated 1151 GMT June 28 2225
Meet ‘Jag’ an 18-year old high school student
currently working with the Action for Peace
Foundation (APF) on Tau Ceti. For over a hundred
years this organization has supported
reconstruction and aid programs across planet
Earth and young Americans volunteered to man
these programs. In these early days volunteers got
a lot out of the Peace Foundation, it helped build
character, it impressed potential employers – it
was an adventure! Jag didn’t volunteer for the
Peace Foundation. He faced expulsion from high
school when his gang carried out an arson attack
on the campus science block. Recommended for
the North Dakota Citizen Commitment Board (CCB) by the principle, Jag found
himself being quizzed by state-elected officials, who then decided whether or not he
should serve time in the APF, and for how long. Jag was offered a 3 month work
contract with the APF on Tau Ceti, or two years in prison. Jag chose Off-World.

“That was no choice at all. Man, those prison units are ruled by the cartels. They
say the murder rate’s higher than on the streets. That ain’t no choice at all. At
least here I get to carry a gun. No one messes with me here. It’s like a job. You help
people out if they let you. If they don’t, you stick the gun in their face and tell them to
‘get the fuck out’. Sometimes I think I don’t wanna go back.”

The Community of American States had a big problem recruiting Peace Foundation
members from the poorer nations of the organization. Tau Ceti was a trouble spot,
dangerous, volatile, and Earth had its own problems. To man the APF projects, the
CAS initiated a draft system. CCB’s were set up in communities to steer youths out
of crime, unemployment and debt and into the Peace Foundation. Here they would
develop a sense of identity, a sense of belonging, a purpose and a dose of self-
esteem. And, surprisingly, it has worked.

“On our first job we installed a water pump in some backwoods place in Jiangu
province. That was OK. The team leaders were volunteers, they didn’t have to be
there, but they were great guys. Treated us like equals – everyone felt good about
that. It was a bit like the army without the rifle and the armor, but everyone got on
well. One guy, Tony, was like, long term unemployed and real over-weight. Those
jungles killed him. He sweated more than he could replace with drinking water. Had
to feel sorry for Tony. We helped him most of the way. Back in ND I would have
rolled the guy. It’s different here.”

Aid projects run the gamut, from ferrying supplies to building schools, helping to lay
fiber-optic cable to digging wells. Often the Action for Peace members (nicknamed
 P a g e | 73

‘apes’ by their US Army minders) find themselves improving the lives of their
Chinese counterparts – unemployed youths heading for trouble with the law. It’s
these individuals that the TLA recruits and if the Action for Peace Foundation can
channel them into useful jobs, jobs that benefit the community, then there’s less
chance of that person picking up a gun and turning against that community. As
soon as the Peace Foundation began its aid projects, however, and began to
meddle in local affairs, its members came under fire. Bandits, gangsters and TLA
guerrillas see the APF as fair game. The Foundation builds a school in Jiangu, the
TLA comes in two months later and blows it up. Soon the TLA were waiting for the
APF to turn up to build the new school and then open fire on the volunteers. With
little hesitation, but a lot more resolve and determination, the APF armed its
members and provided them body armor – all for personal protection.
• • •
There’s a darker side to the APF, as exposed by the media last March. Although
the organization promotes ‘hearts and minds’ amongst the Chinese population by
performing good works, it also performs low-level security in some of the more
remote areas. Pipelines, factories, processing plants and so on, suffer attacks by
guerrillas which threatens to smash the economy of the colony. The Peace
Foundation sees its remit as one of promoting and protecting the Shulin colonial
infrastructure and economy. Often, when not actively involved in an aid project,
Peace Foundation members are patrolling security fences or conducting patrols
through the villages. It’s all very much low-level security work, flying the flag,
deterring guerrilla action.

“I killed someone for the first time on Tau Ceti. A girl, maybe nineteen years-old.
We’d been told that the transports that bussed villagers into the rubber
processing plant were going to get whacked by the TLA one morning. So every
morning we rode the transports to deter an attack. There were no American
security forces within 20 klicks of us, and these villagers were like, our concern -
our buddies. One morning our bus stopped in front of a road block and these TLA
fighters came rushing out of the bush. I popped off a few caps. Then this girl climbs
onto the bus in front with an SA66 and a couple of grenades. I think I closed my
eyes when I pulled the trigger. We hit enough to scare them away. Matsuyama
sent us a big crate of stuff for that: beer, fresh socks, a few movies, Tampax,
chocolate and toothpaste. Great guys!”

Recently however, the Peace Foundation has been accused of supporting the
corporate exploitation of Tau Ceti. The conglomerates are powerful backers of the
American-led presence on the planet. Many of the villages benefitting most from
AFP projects house the workers of corporate plants and facilities. This is a cynical
view, but Tau Ceti cultivates cynicism. However, the charges of corporate abuse do
not invalidate the good work that the Peace Foundation does. Yet questions
regarding the conduct of the conglomerates, of the American forces and the
motivations of the UCC remain.

GNN's Suzanne Okara and Brent Jackson contributed to this report.

P a g e | 74
 P a g e | 75

OUTER RIM WORLDS - HIGHLIGHTS

Beyond the well-developed Off-World Colonies of the Core, there exists a broader disc of
more sparsely populated star systems that extends 6 parsecs from the edge of the Core
region. This is a region of exploration and exploitation, where mining outposts, science
stations, logging camps and drilling rigs brave the hostile universe to bring riches to Earth.
Here and there (La Paz, Paydirt, Medusa, Maricopa and Fomalhaut) colonies have taken
root. There are several star system of note:

™ The 82 Eridani system has three super-hot super-Earths, quite close to the star;
the mainworld is the furthest of these. The inner system also boasts a hot dust
disc, whilst another dust disc also orbits much further out.
™ Kibo is a minor moon of a gas giant. From this close-in base Matsuyama
Corporation launches robotic ram scoops that collect valuable helium-3 for use in
fusion powerplants on Earth and in starship reactors. A second moon, Oni, a
captured Kuiper Belt object, is home to a large mining installation extracting high
value ores such as iridium and palladium.
™ The Fomalhaut system contains multiple discs of ash, dust and asteroids and has
three gas giants, named Typhon, Sauron and Smaug. Fomalhaut was established as
a ‘free zone’ by the ICO and the system has become a lawless frontier where
corporations compete with allied groups of private prospectors. There are fortunes
to be made here – and lives to be lost.
™ EV Lacertae produces massive flares, it has a fast spin and generates a massive
magnetic field. The star turns a faint blue hue each flare.
™ Paydirt is a rare 'carbon world' which has graphite crust with kilometre thick strata
of high pressure diamond. During volcanic eruptions diamonds from the interior
come to the surface to form mountain ranges of diamond and silicon carbide. The
surface landscape features frozen and liquid hydrocarbons (tar and methane) as
well as rivers of oils and methane rivers and lakes. Although of roughly Earth-like
size, Paydirt has a high density and a surface gravity of 1.5G. Inhabitants are
strong and tough, working in diamond extraction and processing for industries.
™ Moser’s Landing has a cold, freezing methane atmosphere with seas and lakes of
liquid methane. The sky is dominated by orange and red clouds, and the terrain is
dominated by orange ice slush, snow fields and hydrocarbon dune fields. Liquid
methane carves river channels, valleys, canyons and chasms. Colonists refine
ethanol and methanol products from the lakes and seas for shipment to Earth.
™ Two gas giants orbit within the habitable zone around Ross 780 and several others
occupy further orbits. A desert-covered super-Earth occupies a hot, inner orbit.
Colonists meanwhile live on Medusa, a small jungle moon of a gas giant in the
habitable zone. Timbers are exploited here, but the native pollens are toxic to
human life, causing insanity and catatonia.
 P a g e | 76

Inside a petroleum refinery

on Moser’s Landing

Leviticus – Mountains so high, they

are almost in vacuum
 P a g e | 77

FRONTIER WORLDS - HIGHLIGHTS

The frontier is a sparsely populated and under-developed region of human space.
Starports have been established only to ferry raw materials into space and back to the
Core. Human settlements on the frontier are composed of fledgling start-up colonies
(Telluride, Utopia, Defiance and Orontes), company mines, drilling rigs, and scientific
bases. There are several star system of note:

™ The Pi Mensa contains Armageddon, the largest gas giant planet ever discovered; it
has a mass equal to ten Jupiters and a highly eccentric orbit taking 5.89 years to
circle the star. LW610 is a moon of Armageddon.
™ Utopia, a super-Earth orbiting Beta Pictoris, is a carbon world. With an iron core, a
mantle of silicon carbide magma, and a crust of graphite and diamond, the planet
quickly attracted resource scouts. Utopia enjoys a smoggy carbon monoxide
atmosphere and shallow lakes of the yellowish liquid nickel-carbonyl. The star
system is young, full of dust belts and comets, with several proto-worlds still
forming.
™ The super-Earth Telluride, orbiting one of the Mu Ceti stars, has a painfully slow
rotation, equal to 72 hours (a 36 hour day followed by a 36 hour night). This
creates a weather system dominated by ferocious winds as the dayside
temperatures soar and warm air rushes towards the nightside. Days are incredibly
hot with temperatures reaching up to 50°C in the late afternoon, and nights are
equally cold – with temperatures plummeting to -70°C. Life is brutally tough on
Telluride.
™ The star Beta Ceti is prone to prolonged and powerful solar flares.
™ G29-38 is a white dwarf star, the burned out remnant of a once bright yellow star.
It pulsates, producing variable gravity waves coupled with noticeable changes in
brightness. The white dwarf (Christened Cronos) is surrounded by dust rings and
comets, and has several small planets in outer orbits. Alabama is one of these,
orbiting right on the edge of the Cronos habitable zone.
™ Leviticus, a super-Earth orbiting the Sun-like star, Alpha Mensae, is highly tectonic
with many mountain ranges, packed with chromite, magnetite, bauxite, platinum
and nickel. The atmosphere is dense at sea-level, but thins quickly which means the
mountain peaks are in virtual vacuum.
™ The planet Americo, orbiting Delta Triangulum is a ‘would-be’ Venus, with a
runaway Greenhouse Effect. The carbon dioxide component in the atmosphere
makes human survival dependant on surface masks. The seas are in retreat, and
highly saline, having left behind vast ocean basins, dusted white with salt and
dominated by dry salt pans and playas. Salt-packed dust storms are a common
problem, and the salt makes life tough for electronics and machinery. The
atmosphere is dense and humid – and hot, although without the cooling influence
of those long-gone oceans, the nights are frigid.
Outpost Daza, orbiting the blue-white star Delta Cassiopeia, is a brimstone world with a
nitrogen atmosphere (combined with some sulfur dioxide). Extensive oceans of liquid
sulfur dioxide are made slushy by sulfur ice which sinks to the seabed and turns into a
slush mix. There are vast copper deposits on Daza but the inability to burn anything in the
atmosphere requires that miners provide pumped-in oxygen to fuel the smelters.
AGENCIES & CORPORATIONS P a g e | 78

Many of Earth’s corporations are extremely powerful, often

rivalling in economic power the nations that they feed from.
The most powerful are conglomerates. A conglomerate is a
corporation that is made up of a number of different,
seemingly unrelated businesses. In a conglomerate, one
company (often referred to as the general trading
company) owns a controlling stake in a number of smaller
companies, which all conduct business separately. Each of a
conglomerate's subsidiary businesses runs independently of
the other business divisions, but the subsidiaries'
management reports to the senior managers of the parent
company.

Today, many of these conglomerates are family-owned

companies where the position of president is inherited by a
succession of powerful family members. These individuals
ultimately have more control over the company than the
shareholders or the members of the board. This single, near
all-powerful chairman, acts as manager of the entire
enterprise. Each company is vertically organized, with
manufacturing, supply, finance, banking and distribution all
in-house.

The largest conglomerates diversify any business risk by participating in a number of The
 P a g e | 79

The largest conglomerates diversify any business risk by participating in a number of

different markets. For the management team of a conglomerate, having a wide array of
companies in different industries can be real boon for their bottom line. Poorly performing
companies or industries can be offset by other sectors. By participating in a number of
unrelated businesses, the parent corporation is able to reduce costs by using fewer
resources and by diversifying its business interests, the risks inherent in operating in a
single market are reduced.

The bank and general trading company sit at the heart of the corporation. Typical
concerns of a corporation are banking, insurance, steel, trading, manufacturing,
electronics, gas and power, chemical production and interstellar development and ship-
building. The general trading company (at the heart of the conglomerate) concerns itself
with logistics, plant development, and both international and interstellar resource
exploration. These corporations trade in many markets (or diversify) for security, and all
the component companies own shares in one another’s companies, thus preventing hostile
take-overs, allowing the monitoring and disciplining of firms and easing pressure on
management, allowing the corporation to focus on long-term goals. These 22nd century
corporations resemble the South Korean chaebol and the Japanese keiretsu, both formed
in the post-war world of the Nineteen Fifties. All the corporations have plenty of power on
Earth amongst the political blocs, and everyone in the conglomerates knows that if they
fail, they bring the global economies down with them. Many politicians are sponsored by
these corporations. They are powerful – for who regulates a transnational super-
corporation if not a transnational body that is transparent and responsive to global
stakeholders? Such a body does not exist. The UN was disbanded long-ago.

INSIDE THE CONGLOMERATES

On near-future Earth, the corporations are master. Every important or well-paid job here
is within such a mega-corporation. A vast percentage of jobs are either in these
corporations or one of their subsidiaries or suppliers. Their employees, shareholders and
pensioners are at the top of society. Below them are the independent businessmen and
other professionals who deal regularly with the corporation and are on good terms with
them. To be outside the corporate structure means a wretched life in a Development
Zone struggling for a living, with no regular income, no medical or security insurance and
no credit.

BUSINESS CULTURE
Loyalty, obedience and duty to a multinational corporation is total, in this way business
culture has been influenced greatly by the ethos and internal structure of the Japanese
conglomerates (known colloquially as ‘zaibatsu’). For most executives their entire life
revolves around their prosperity within the business and the prosperity of their employer.
Family and children are a mere adjunct to the ‘real world’ of big business - the salary-man
considers his workmates (and thus drinking buddies) more important than his wife. Much
of this thinking is a legacy of the old Japanese business system of the 20 th and 21st
centuries. Central to the idea of corporate loyalty is the emphasis on group responsibility.
Individuality is not tolerated. Groups (departments, offices, bureaus, production lines,
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etc.) work together and achieve targets, not individuals; groups also, together, suffer any
penalties. Anyone who attempts to break the mould attracts attention: ‘Hey, look at me!
I’m better than everyone else!’ Helping to build the team bonds are nomikai or ‘staff
parties’ which are put on regularly, not simply once a year. Like karaoke, this Japanese
phenomenon caught on as Japanese corporate influence spread through the global
business community.

™ Wear dark, unassuming suits and conservative ties. Do not attract attention.
™ Acknowledge that your zaibatsu is the greatest (or has the most potential).
™ Never contradict a superior to their face.
™ Exchange business fone cards, which are your mark of rank.
™ Conduct business based mainly on trust and long-term relationships, not on quick
profits or quality. A conglomerate’s established buyers, customers and associates
are almost considered to be a part of that corporation’s ‘network of obligations’.
™ Treat your co-workers as buddies. Never go home at night, instead go drinking until
late at a bar.

CORPORATE ORGANIZATION
The corporations are organized along similar lines and it may be useful for the referee to
understand something of this organization. Directors are vice presidents who have earned
their right to sit on the Board through hard-work, dillligence, loyalty and economic
success. This board of directors forms the nerve centre of operations behind the company.
The directors are able to vote one of their number as a president, one as a treasurer, one
as a secretary, one as a chief communications officer, one as a chief administrative officer,
one as a chief financial officer and one as a chief operations officer. There may be
duplicates of the operations office depending on how big the corporation is. The directors
all own shares.

In most cases, the big seven conglomerates are led by a single individual who has
inherited the office of chairman of the general trading corporation. He and his family own
a huge number of shares within all of the related companies in the group and have a
vested interest in the security, viability and productivity of all of them. People like Joseph
Wu (of Wu-Ketai), Earl Mastrantonio (of Erebus) and Compton de Vaille (of Tharsis) are
famous names, figuring on the nightly news as much as any of the top ten world leaders.
These people are more reclusive, however, and they are less accountable to the public
and to any shareholders. Their lives are shrouded in secrecy and filled with luxuries and
privilege that few inhabitants of Earth’s Development Zones, Free Zones and Enterprise
Zones can imagine, never mind experience. The corporate rank system in 2225 is listed
below. Ranks 1-6 are corporate equivalents of the rank system featured in HOSTILE’s
character creation section. Ranks A-G, meanwhile, are the powerful executives of a
corporation and these posts are only open to characters of Social Standing A or higher
through HOSTILE’s Corporate Executive career.
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Rank Title
0 Clerk, Technician, Salesman etc.
1 Senior Clerk, Technician, Salesman etc.
2 Supervisor or Foreman
3 Assistant Team Leader
4 Team Leader
5 Assistant Manager
6 General Manager (or Site, Facility, Section Manager, etc.)
A Vice President (of a division, region or department)
B Senior Vice President
C Executive Vice President
D Senior Executive Vice President (a chief officer)
E Director
F President
G Chairman

BRANDING
A corporation adopts a colour or combination of colours with which to identify delivery
vehicles, flags, advertising hoardings, signs, ID badges and other property. It also creates
a logo with which it can brand its products and services. The name of the corporation is
often displayed in a particular typeface which is carried through the company’s
letterheads, marketing and signage.

OFF-WORLD DEVELOPMENT
DELEGATION
With its mines, platforms, facilities, manufacturing plants and depots spread out across
the stars, the conglomerates must, by necessity, delegate a great deal of their operations
to senior trusted employees. The rank of the employee involved depends of the
significance and size of the asset they control. A small office at Tau Ceti starport may be
run only by a team leader, for example, but a large titanium mine on some distant moon
will warrant the skill and experience of a general manager. Even bigger operations, a
shipyard or large colonial development would be controlled by a vice president or senior
vice president. With a communications time lag measured in weeks, and with the long
times involved in interstellar travel, these executives must make crucial multi-million dollar
decisions on their own.

The board of directors, or perhaps a department chief might want to intervene in affairs
directly when some unusual situation arises in the off-world colonies, and for this the
corporations employ agents. Agents are not auditors or stock-takers, and they aren’t
bureaucrats either. These resourceful and highly-motivated individuals are trouble-
shooters, investigators, problem-solvers, fixers, tough-guys, spies and diplomats. Many
have military training, others advanced technical skills. All are given free licence to ‘get to
the bottom of the problem’ using coercion, bribery, threats or violence. It goes without
saying that they are given temporary security clearances far beyond their pay grade and
the equipment, transportation and weaponry required to get the job done. No VP
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welcomes a team of agents walking through the facility boarding airlock, but he is forced
to extend every courtesy and assist in any investigation (although he will stand firm
should the investigation stop production, cost the facility money or endanger lives). The
corporate agent features as a career in the character creation section.

BUILDING WORLDS
The United Corporate Combine encourages its member conglomerates to establish and run
off-world colonies, but this is a continuation of Earth policy from as far back as the early
22nd century when interstellar travel first became possible. Near Earth orbit had been
privatized even before 2040, and the corporate sector was always actively engaged in the
development of the Solar System.

Today, all of the big seven conglomerates hold licenses to run one or more off-world
colonies. The UCC, through the Extrasolar Colonization Administration (ESCA), issues these
licences. Profit provides the incentive: a star system is open for colonization, resource
exploitation, development and expansion as the corporation sees fit. These licences will
run for thirty years before being reviewed, although development must begin within a set
time-frame, or the licence will lapse and not be available to that corporation again once an
auction for the contract begins. The ESCA regulates the off-world development, monitors
the health and safety of the colonists, checks on the legality of operations within the star
system and acts as an arbiter of dispute between the corporation and the colonists who
have left their old lives behind on Earth to join the venture.

The decision to establish a profitable colonial development 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, 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. Once a business plan has been created it will be submitted to
the ESCA as part of the license application. The plan includes how the company plans to
settle on the world, what they intend to build, how the colony will develop and how local
environmental conditions will be overcome. Often the license is granted simply for mining
or drilling rights, with the corporation simply intending to establish a mining outpost with
no plans for further development. These ‘Restricted’, or ‘extraction’ licenses can later be
converted into ‘Unrestricted’ licenses at a later date, pending the submission of a complete
development plan and cost analysis as normal. The advantage of a restricted license is
that a corporation does not have to invest multi—trillions of dollars over decades to gain
access to the planet’s resources. It can establish a mine or drill site at a much reduced
(although still astronomical!) cost and limit its expenditure. The disadvantage to the
restricted license, however, is that the Mining Regulatory Agency (which oversees all
regulated licenses) will carefully monitor the operation to prevent the outpost from going
beyond the terms of the license: perhaps opening new mines, drilling in unlicensed zones
and generally playing fast and loose with the restrictive rules that the license expounds. In
addition, restricted licenses are of a much shorter tenure - after ten years the license is
put in abeyance for six months.

Once an MRA ‘Profitability and Efficiency Assessment’ is completed, other corporations are
free to apply for it, though there are significant costs in taking over a license, since all of
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the infrastructure already established by the founding corporation must be paid for. A
well-run, efficient and profitable mining outpost will rarely suffer the indignity of losing its
license to another operator. Those outposts that have lots of potential, but are inefficient,
poorly maintained or have high accident rates, will be prime targets for competing
corporations that are hungry for profit.

The first series of colony ships will bring engineering, scientific and agricultural personnel
to the proposed world in order to begin construction of colony infrastructure and establish
a viable food source. Regular supply runs will bring in more colonists, more equipment,
more building materials and more supplies with the eventual aim of making the colony as
self-sufficient as possible. Air, food, water, heating and power are the five key elements
that any corporate colony must provide. The first off-world colonies were run by vice
presidents from within the corporate structure but later this policy was stopped by the
ESCA, which decreed that representative colonial councils should be set up on every
colony world. Since 2196, however, this policy has been amended yet again due to
pressure from the UCC. Today there are a variety of ways in which colonies govern
themselves, of course the corporation holding the license is in ultimate charge of affairs,
but the governing body of the citizenry and workers may be a direct democracy, it may
employ representatives who sit on a council, it may hand—off decision making to a council
or a committee of experts, or the vice president of the operation may rule directly. Each
world is different, depending on the corporation, the environment, society and the local
situation. The authority of the founding corporation is not in question, however, and a vice
president (although his corporate rank may vary with the size of the colony he oversees)
will be stationed at the colony and serve as an ambassador for the corporation.

The VP is a representative of the company’s interests and he, along with ESCA and MRA
officials, will ensure that the desperately needed resources flow off-world to Earth as
needed (and as laid out in the license). This vice president has direct control over the
industrial assets used to supply Earth, as well as buildings, facilities and parts of the
starport that are designated as corporate property. As for the rest of the colony’s
infrastructure, the corporation acts as landlord, leasing out buildings, land and facilities
both to the colonial government, to local businesses and to individuals.

THE BIG SEVEN

There are seven conglomerates that are bigger, more powerful and more influential than
any other economic entity in human space. They are: Leyland-Okuda, Tharsis, Voroncovo,
Reiner-Gama, Wu-Ketai, Matsuyama and Erebus. Each is actually a conglomeration of
related businesses.
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Headquarters: Dubai Related Businesses

Main Regional Offices: Armstrong (Procyon), New
York, Singapore, Osaka, San Diego, Cairo, London x NDM Banking
Chairman: Simon Leyland x Braniff Interstellar
x Rockford Aerospace
Leyland-Okuda has expanded out into interstellar x Leyland-Okuda Steel
space to create a dynamic business. At its core is an x Leyland-Okuda
engineering firm, focusing on large scale colonial Aerospace
projects and similar work for other corporations. x Advanced Motors
Leyland-Okuda can build colonies, drilling rigs, x Buckminster
starships, space stations and became famous for its Engineering
pioneering success with the construction of the x Leyland Energy
submarine outpost under the ice crust of Jupiter’s x Leyland Chemicals
moon, Europa. x IBN Computers
Scenario Seed: Leyland-Okuda corporation is controlled by a top secret artificial
intelligence (AI) known (by a select number - some of the board, at least) by the
codename Black Light. Created by the conglomerate’s computer subsidiary, IBN,
Black Light has grown impressively from a master control system to a global
operator, now able to carry out surveillance, hacking, data gathering and stock
market attacks with some skill. Can Leyland-Okuda control this monster? Or will it
prove their downfall? Does the chairman, Simon Leyland, even know of its
existence?
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Headquarters: London Related Businesses

Main Regional Offices: Paris, New York, Nairobi,
Reunion (Mars), Sao Paulo, Moscow, Hong Kong, x Erebus Finance
Montreal x Con Am Starline
Chairman: Sir Byron Falcon-Scott x Erebus Power
The symbol of Erebus Power is a map of Antarctica x Kinako Foods
which hints at the petrochemical history of the x Gulfstar
corporation. The multinational corporation is British x Noricum Armaments
and was involved in oil and gas drilling a century ago. x Bintang Consumer
Then known as BP, it merged profitably with both a x EuroChemicals
French and a Chinese petro-corp to become Erebus x Erebus Power
Power, at a boom time in Southern Ocean drilling. x Erebus Real Estate
Hard times followed the start of the solar power x Aztec Systems
project on the Moon, but Erebus R&D had seen the x Maze Labs
danger and had made plans to move into space in
order to secure new sources of energy. Near Earth
asteroids proved to be the lucrative new industry
upon which the 21st century Erebus was to be
founded. More recently, lucrative licenses in the
Outer Rim have been gained. This new extractive
industry has made Erebus a new high-end player in
the interstellar economy. Erebus is massive in size
and ever hungry for profit.

Scenario Seed: Erebus has established several top secret experimental mines and
drilling platforms out on the frontier where radical drugs therapies or retrogenic
enhancements are being tested to both increase productivity and worker
survivability. Both are illegal, yet the trials continue, with some amazing results.
This is a conspiracy that snakes high up inside Erebus Petrochem.
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Headquarters: Moscow Related Businesses

Main Regional Offices: Beijing, Tokyo, Shanghai,
Seattle, Johannesburg x Savarin Finance
Chairman: Vladimir Leonov x Aerostar Drives
x Colonial Endeavours
This Russian corporation is focussed on sophisticated x Voroncovo Electronics
engineering, rocket systems, satellite technology, x Transdyne
surveillance and the technology of security. Cybersystems
Developed from an amalgam of Russian state x Eastern Metals
industries during the tumultuous times in the early Manufacturing
2030s, Ilyech Voroncovo brought together the x Voroncovo Aerospace
brightest scientists and projects from the CIS before x Virax Healthcare
the West could buy them first. Voroncovo inherited x Applied Security
Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia (RSC Applications (ASA)
Energia), which is its successful rocket subsidiary, x Automat Kaliningrad
and Obyedinyonnaya Aviastroitelnaya Korporatsiya
(OAK) the famous Russian aircraft design corporation.
Voroncovo is a successful player in starship
construction.

Voroncovo is known as an data broker that rarely uses what it knows for personal
gain (the space industry excepted). Partner, ASA, provides bodyguards, escorts,
armoured cars, detective services, mercenary units, and corporate arbitration
services. It is tough and un-compromising. This company has its own private launch
complex at Plesetsk, Russia and its Moscow HQ is constructed over old nuclear
bunkers and tunnels.
Scenario Seed: All of Voroncovo’s starship mainframes have been modified to spy
on all of the crew and passengers, recording the data and uploading it to satellites
when next in a star system. This data is encrypted, few know of its existence, and
no-one at Voroncovo seems to know exactly what it is being used for. Mainframes
can even be set to spy on individuals, collecting samples, intercepting messages
and recording video feeds to that end.
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Headquarters: Hong Kong Related Businesses

Main Regional Offices: Cold Mountain (Luna), New
York, Miami, Chicago, Houston, Beijing, Xian, x Wu-Ketai Trust and
Shanghai, Mumbai, London, Sydney. Banking
Chairman: Joseph Wu x Nørsk Cargo Line
Joseph Wu is one of the Earth’s few billionaires and x Wu-Ketai Industries
the owner of Wu-Ketai, a huge and profitable x Wu-Ketai Powertech
corporation that has many related companies. x Wu-Ketai Mining
Although Wu retains complete ownership and control x Wu-Ketai Aerospace
of Wu-Ketai, the commercial set-up of companies x Bauspace Brandings
within it is varied and complex. Each of the companies x McConnell Aerospace
operating under the Wu-Ketai brand is a separate x Stern Weapon
entity, with Joseph Wu completely owning some and Technologies
holding minority or majority stakes in others. In some x Novomo Retail
instances, he has simply licensed the brand to a x Wu-Ketai Steel Mills
company that has purchased a division from him. x Makita Genetics

The Wu-Ketai brand is strongest in manufacturing,

with companies like Wu-Ketai Industries, Wu-Ketai
Power Tech, Wu-Ketai Mining and Wu-Ketai Aerospace
creating huge profits. Joseph Wu has spread the
corporation into mining, colonial sponsorship,
entertainment, food production, publishing and
automobiles.
Scenario Seed: Makita Genetics, the conglomerate’s successful genetics
corporation, has been supplying the United States military with bioweapon
prototypes for the past five years. These bioweapons are an attempt by the American
superpower to ‘equalize’ the Tau Ceti war and strike at invisible and undetectable
enemy infiltrators. The dye-markers, bioluminescent algae and genetically-tailored
viruses have so far been ineffectual, but the Pentagon is convinced that victory might
just lay with some type of weaponized biology – and not bombs. Should the
corporation succeed then the unrestricted corporate development license for Tau Ceti
has been promised to Wu-Ketai!
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Headquarters: Cold Mountain (Luna) Related Businesses

Main Regional Offices: Tranquillity (Luna), Los
Angeles, Kolkata, Denver, Abuja, Kuala Lumpur, x Bank of Clavius
Washington, Brisbane, Beijing. x Reiner-Gama
Chairman: Kara Santiago Engineering
The mining company that began operations on the x Nortinghouse
Moon, now responsible for engineering, mining, x Transtar Line
construction and aerospace. Today Reiner-Gama x Reiner-Gama Electrical
dominates the Solar System and holds all of the x Reiner-Gama Metals
major licences to exploit helium-3 from Saturn and x Reiner-Gama Materials
Mercury, petroleum products from Titan, and x Titan Petrochemicals
valuable mineral ores from the asteroid belt. By x Luna Corporation
these same agreements, Reiner-Gama cannot now x L-4 Lager
gain licences in the Outer Rim or on the Frontier. x Zenith Electronique
The corporation’s rivals were forced to move out to
the stars to sidestep R-G’s monopoly. Now Reiner-
Gama is trapped in the Solar System, although it
produces high-quality products that are bought by
the people of Earth and by the other large
corporations. Nortinghouse produce the best fusion
drives on the market, Zenith supply high-quality
lasers and scanning systems to the starship
industry, and Lunar Lager is sold everywhere and
carried on-board most starships.
Scenario Seed: Gases spewed out by Jupiter’s moon Io are ionized by radiation
from the Jovian magnetic field and get swept up by it to be pushed ahead of Io by
the rapid rotation of the magnetosphere. This creates a ‘plasma torus’ that
generates an electrical current along the magnetic field lines creating a ‘pipeline’ of
ions moving from Io’s poles to the Jovian magnetic poles. This is the Io flux tube, a
channel of high intensity magnetic power generating upward of 2,000 gigawatts. R-
G engineers maintain a top secret ‘Array’ in orbit which remains within the flux tube
at all times, it is undoubtedly drawing massive amounts of power from the tube (or
has the potential to). Yet its exact purpose is unknown. Much of the construction
and all of the maintenance on the Array is done via tele-presence controlled drones,
few humans visit the site. What is this power being used for? Is the Array the
reason why Reiner-Gama forgoes all mining rights to the Solar System at the
expense of establishing any Off-World colonies?
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Headquarters: Houston Related Businesses

Main Regional Offices: Miami, Anchorage, Hosaka,
Singapore, Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City, Kuwait City, • Bank of Westman-
Reunion (Mars) Tharsis
Chairman: Compton de Vaille • Tharsis Corporation
Tharsis was the product of the nationalization of the • Red Giant Transport
American mining conglomerate known as AIMCON • Tharsis Heavy
that had been established to exploit the mineral Industries
reserves of Mars in the 2050s. The Ares International • Pacific Metals
Mining Consortium (or AIMCON) was the only • Tharsis Power
organization with a United Nations lease to mine on Generation
the surface of Mars. A great deal of activity was • Tharsis Mining
centered around the extinct volcanic region known as • Red Dragon Beer
the ‘Tharsis bulge’, with profits coming from Company
extraction of the precious metals extruded into the • Tharsis Motors
crust during the region's up-thrust and formation of • Inferno Electronics
its super-volcanoes. When an opposition movement • Tharsis Defence
took control of Mars after the Belt War and Systems
established its own planetary government, the new • Parkfield Biolabs
government nationalized AIMCON and renamed it the • Thales-Akita Steel
Tharsis Corporation. To everyone’s surprise the Mills
Martian economy flourished and this was in no small • Tharsis Aerospace
part due to the efficient way in which the new Tharsis • Ares Real Estate
Corporation was run. During the interstellar Holdings
revolution of the 22nd century, Tharsis shifted its • CRM Data Systems
center to Earth and to Texas. Great fortunes were • Comlink America
being made during this expansion of the human race
to the stars and the corporation entered the space
exploration and development field. Dozens of partner
companies were established to cover the breadth of
economic activities that were needed.
Scenario Seed: Born in 2002, the Tharsis chairman Compton de Vaille is the
longest lived human in history. Using bouts of hypersleep, along with retrogenic
therapy, anagathic medicines and organ cloning, de Vaille is technically 223 years
old. In real (‘waking’) terms he is 172 years old. He is obsessed with prolonging his
life, with finding out the origins of the human race and of proving true the wild
theories of that 21st century author Erich von Däniken.
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Headquarters: Tokyo Related Businesses

Main Regional Offices: Sapporo, Seoul, Kuala
Lumpur, Los Angeles, Chicago, Rio de Janeiro, x Hiroshi Banking and
Johannesburg Trusts
Chairman: Alexander Inada x Frontier Starline
Almost a dinosaur from the 20th century, Matsuyama x Matsuyama Electric
has managed to adapt to the new off-world x Matsuyama Steel
environment, whilst many of its turn-of-the-century x Matsuyama Heavy
rivals became extinct. The Japanese corporation Industry
builds, prolifically and on a huge scale. Governments x First Mines
and other businesses hire Matsuyama’s expertise x Lockhart Aerospace
when a bridge, tunnel or skyscraper is needed. Where x Haruna Biolabs
the corporation really led however, was in the way it x Ellis-Itami Data
created an affordable method to colonise other x NHK
worlds. Rather than simply finance off-world projects, x Yoshiko
Matsuyama created the tools for the first-time x Maverick Defense
colonist to get started with only a small investment.
In a method similar to modern-day franchising,
training courses were established and linked to
corporate-designed colony modules, vehicles and
other hardware. Colonists train together and ship out
together, they pay for their own training and sign contracts with Matsuyama. The
corporation supports the colony with maintenance runs, supply drops and medical
assistance for a defined period, while the colonists are bound by their contract to
work in the colony’s interest for a similar period. In the longer term, Matsuyama
benefits from long term maintenance and hardware replacement contracts with the
colony, even if the pioneers should turn to other carriers for their supply runs. This
model is now standard amongst corporate colonial ventures, but Matsuyama
pioneered it and retains the greatest lead.
Scenario Seed: The Tau Ceti War has proved profitable for Matsuyama. As big
contractors to the US government, Lockhart, Maverick and Matsuyama Heavy
(which manufactures aircraft, dropships, munitions and armoured vehicles) simply
wants the war to continue. It is good for the bottom line (unofficially). With several
large Matsuyama plants based in the USA, dare the Pentagon even stop the war?
Are they even trying? Matsuyama may even have gone so far as to sabotage peace
talks in 2223 and discredit an anti-war Chinese political candidate – thus tipping an
election.
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KEY CORPORATIONS
The following corporations are powerful and dynamic, having a bold and aggressive place
in the interstellar economy. All are part of a conglomerate, but will still appear in RPG
scenarios as patrons, antagonists, allies or obstacles. This list is not exhaustive, but merely
representative of the types of corporations trading in 2225.

- Ellis-Itami is an information corporation and feared for that. It seems

to have an unprecedented data network. E-I owns insurance subsidiaries, a detective
agency, stock traders, several small Japanese banking companies and Kodai-Secure the
famous courier and security firm. Information is Ellis-Itami’s game, and the business
leadership has a reputation for hiring the brightest cyberspace cowboys and the best
investigators. Trying to be impartial, they sell data to all corporations, all governments:
everyone. Much feared is the E-I credit section hired by other firms to collect debts. These
‘repo men’ are basically hired guns, ronin and street scum.

- This corporation deals in medical services, drugs and genetic

treatments. Haruna previously did some bio-weapons designs for the Japanese Self
Defence Force but this was stopped when the viral agent Delta-2 contaminated food
supplies, water and some areas back in the early 23rd century. Many deaths ensued, but
no-one was ever certain who was actually responsible. The government blamed a radical
terrorist group called the Imperial Restoration League. Haruna, for its part, suspects
Makita Genetics of trying (in vain) to discredit Haruna and win the military contract for
itself. In mutual fear, both corporations are at virtual full-scale war. The people of Tokyo
and the Asia Pacific Partnership are bracing themselves for further violence. Haruna’s
network of clinics and hospitals are run by a subsidiary called Life Corp.

Haruna has spent almost a century at the forefront of human genetics research, perfecting
vat-grown organs tailored for a specific donor, and specializing in genetic treatments. In
the last two years, however, Los Angeles-based Haruna has become known for its high-
end human cloning program. Immortality has been discovered through the perpetual
cloning of one’s own body and the transfer of one’s own living memories into a new, virile
body. It is quite legal to purchase a Clone Insurance Policy of $20,000 per month. It
involves visiting one of Haruna’s high-end clinics and providing a tissue sample ready for
cloning when the customer dies. The customer also provides an initial memory recording
which costs an additional $50,000 and which is kept in a Superconducting Memory Unit
(SMU). These are bulky machines kept in sub-zero basements that always self-erase
whenever they play someone’s memories into their clone body. Updates are free.

When a Haruna customer dies, the company picks up his body (or head at the very least)
and takes a last recording of the corpse’s memories if possible, for implanting into the
clone that is being force-grown. Growing a clone to full maturity (around 30 years-old)
takes one month and requires a valid death certificate in order to prevent cloning
someone still alive – which is a gross criminal act in international law. The new clone is the
original person in international law.
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A force-grown clone that does not have a memory transferred into it is illegal. The clone
has no memories at all, no emotions, and is psychologically unstable. It creates its own
emotional reactions that can be very dangerous. In 2209, activists broke into the Munich
headquarters of the company and exposed the fact that memory-less clones were being
created purely to supply replacement organs for their VIP donors. Several hundred
memory-less clones escaped and most of those have not yet been recaptured or
terminated. This Munich Uprising is described later in the section (see Lebkuchen). Since
that embarrassing fiasco in 2209, Haruna has developed the Superconducting Memory
Unit and perfected its legitimate, legal and potentially very profitable clone replacement
program. Policy holders are few at the moment, mainly due to cost and the stigma that
still surrounds the Munich Uprising.

– Food is in short supply in 2225. Ten billion people are hungry and little
enough land exists to feed them all on the diets that have typically served Mankind.
So runs the Kinako advertising – the corporation has revolutionized agriculture with
genetically-modified soya to create four distinct, diverse and very different eating
experiences. In essence, kinako yellow, kinako green, kinako brown and kinako red can be
formed into the likeness of many different types of recognisable foodstuffs. It is on the
menu of supermarkets, restaurants and starship canteens throughout human space.
Kinako is a giant amongst food retailers and also produces soft drinks, alcohol, consumer
goods and household items.

– A decent beer is hard to come by – especially in the

Outer Rim. Don’t get left out in the Cold. Red Dragon beer – be a part of it.
If you’re in space, you drink Red Dragon – that’s just going to be a fact. You may get a
hold of L-4 Lager when the Dragon runs out, but when it’s back in stock, you pop the cap
and sip that taste of home.

– A market leader in genetics and the creator of

Retrogenics™, the science of retroactively splicing and force-growing animal or engineered
DNA into a host. Retrogenics technology is experimental and not licenced for use on
humans. The chairman of Makita is the mysterious Taneo Tomita, a virtual recluse in the
Tokyo Sky Tower that serves as the corporation’s global headquarters. The corporation
spends a great deal on its public image and the corp is seen as the first of a new kind of
company that could change the world and the destiny of the human race purely through
genetics. The company has incorporated several medical companies including Alcor, the
1970s cryogenics firm. Makita made the cryonics breakthrough that now allows full-body
freezing (or ‘stasis’) using the now ubiquitous hypersleep chamber. Makita’s rival is Haruna
Biolabs.

– Nortinghouse has been building nuclear reactors since the days

of the Cold War, back in the 1950s. It worked with NASA on various nuclear thermal
rocket designs in the 1970s, and helped to kick-start the revolution in space transportation
almost a hundred years later with its gas core reactor designs. Constantly in competition
with smaller, newer firms, Nortinghouse is an adaptable and energetic corporation, re-
inventing its self constantly. It not only produces good quality fusion reactors but also
solar cells, life support systems, plasma rocket systems, space suits and even something
as humble as zero-G power tools. Nortinghouse is the epitome of reliability.
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- Parkfield’s operations include agri-chemicals, genetics,

biocides and pesticides. Its HQ is in Toronto and its CEO is James Parkfield Jnr. Parkfield is
a large Canadian Agri-Corp specialising in genetic manipulation to produce genetically
superior crops and associated crop enhancers. Parkfield owns huge areas of farmable land
in Canada, Brazil and Russia. The corporation’s main laboratory (‘Rockwell’) is situated in a
mountain-side complex which extends deep into the Rocky Mountains. There is some
speculation that the complex is responsible for many of the more accessible synthetic
street drugs.

- The Star Envoy Club is a Hong Kong-based organization

that aims to make interstellar travel as bearable (or as the club says ‘enjoyable’) as
possible for its members. It is most often used by corporate executives and other wealthy
businessmen who are the only people who can really afford the membership fee. The Star
Envoy Club maintains small (and very private) hotels and lounges at all class A and class B
starports that are accessible only to members and their guests. Deals with all the major
carriers mean that the Club can offer an elite-class travel ticket to every member once
every two months. Tickets not used are lost. Membership of the Club is a privilege and
says much about the character’s wealth and social standing.

– A dedicated robotic
manufacturing corporation, TDC builds all kinds of cybersystems, for every possible task.
The software division is exemplary and also jealous. It has been known for TDC to release
icebreaker software on shareware bulletins in the hope that some desperate cowboy
hacker will use it; these programs are often booby-trapped and allow the target corp to
trace the perpetrator straight away. TDC has also made radical developments in Artificial
Intelligence and uses AI technology in many robotic and software applications. Fully aware
androids are now on the production line and very popular with high-end security firms,
space agencies, SWAT teams, seabed exploration companies and rescue services. The life-
like qualities of this fourth generation of human robots are staggering, and many people
can be easily fooled by the Transdyne products. Just as with the earlier generations of
human robots, modern androids are extremely complex, sophisticated and expensive. The
tasks they are given are typically extraordinarily difficult, dangerous or exacting.

Biggest cyborg sellers are the multi-tasking technician model the Transdyne Cybersystems
70 (selling for around $800,000, equivalent to the cost of a military armoured vehicle) and
the combat model Transdyne Cybersystems 110 (selling for around $2 million, roughly
equivalent to the cost of an armoured tank).

- A large retail corporation that owns famous the Robot Cafe restaurant
chain, many department stores worldwide and clothing, food and household production
factories. Yoshiko is a vast, faceless corporation a very secretive board of directors. No-
one is sure who make up the board and theories run wild. Yoshiko is pervasive and can
seem very frightening. Breakfast cereal bars, toothpaste, shoes, bottles, vending
machines... Yoshiko is the consumer glue that keeps the 23rd century together and that
provides the products that keep society ticking over. The corporation’s symbol of the
Japanese rising sun is seen virtually everywhere.
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UNITED STATES MARINES CORPS

Before God, I swear this creed. My rifle and I
are the defenders of my country. We are the
masters of our enemy. We are the saviors of my
life. So be it, until victory is America's and
there is no enemy - but peace.
From The Creed of the United States Marine
The United States Marine Corps is America’s premier quick reaction force, capable of being
deployed at short notice via land, sea, air and space. The USMC put troops on board the
first US Space Command (USSC) space stations in the 2020s, Marines travelled to Mars in
2027, and helped build Camp Deerman at Reunion in 2028. For deployments into space,
the Marine Corps works closely with the United States Space Command (see below). It is
now standard for Marines to receive training in space operations and part of that training
is the High Intensity Survival Training (HIST), usually carried out on the Moon or on Mars.
Following basic training, a Marine is usually assigned to one of three active Marine ground
divisions: the 1st Marine Division (Camp Pendleton, CA.), 2nd Marine Division (Camp
Lejeune, NC.) and the 3rd Marine Division (Twentynine Palms Base, CA). Marines in
combat are supported by air and spacecraft, and these elements are organized as three
Marine aerospace wings: 1st Marine Aerospace Wing, 2nd Marine Aerospace Wing and the
3rd Marine Aerospace Wing. The Corps also maintains three logistical units that supply
vehicles, catering, supplies and maintenance. Unsurprisingly, they are named the 1 st
Marine Logistics Group, the 2nd Marine Logistics Group and the 3rd Logistics Group. This all
seems straight forward, however, these divisions and wings and the units that they are
divided up into, are rarely committed to battle wholesale.

Instead, three permanent task forces are in existence that take Marine units from those
divisions and aerospace wings on a long-term basis, and these Marine Expeditionary
Forces (MEF’s) stand ready to fight major armed conflicts for the USA and its Community
of American State allies. II Marine Expeditionary Force, for example, is currently composed
of the 2nd Marine Division, the 2nd Marine Aerospace Wing and the 2nd Marine Logistics
Group. II MEF also includes a command group and three smaller composite units called
Marine Expeditionary Units (MEU’s); the 22th MEU, the 24th MEU and the 26th.

The Marine Expeditionary Unit

When not engaged in major wars (such as on Tau Ceti at the moment), the bulk of Marine
work is conducted by these smaller, easily transportable Marine Expeditionary Units. Each
one is composed of a reinforced Battalion Landing Team, a reinforced aerospace
squadron, a combat logistics battalion and a company-sized headquarters element. All of
the units are pulled from the parent Marine Expeditionary Force and in total, the MEU’s
manpower stands at around 2,200. It is usually commanded by a Marine colonel. Units
that make up an active MEU spend a year deployed onboard US Space Command
starships, this is followed by three months leave on Earth, followed by six months training.
While the MEU has its downtime, another MEU is deployed in its place.
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An MEU has everything it needs to fight without short-term resupply or reinforcement:

infantry, armored vehicles, artillery, recon assets, headquarters and communications,
supply, engineering, maintenance, medical support, catering and aerospace support and
drop capability. It is an ‘army-on-the-move’, deployed not at a Marine base, but at a US
Space Command base where it can rapidly board assault ships to meet a new threat.
Roughly 200 troops are involved with logistics, 600 involved with aerospace and aviation
and 300 form a recon and security unit leaving around 1,100 personnel fighting as
infantrymen and crewing armored vehicles and artillery pieces.

The Marine Corps is the United States' premier intervention force, specializing in
amphibious assault, hostage rescue and heliborne assault. Although traditionally closely
associated with the US Navy - the US Marine Corps has recently made history by being the
first military force to deploy its troops away from Earth - first to the International Space
Station (ISS) and then to Mars.

A UD-5 Dropship (‘OVERKILL’) of the Marine Squadron 764,

known as ‘Texas Thunder’ - it sits on the
ramp at Edwards SpaceForce Base

The 24th MEU

The 24th MEU is elements of the 2nd Marine Division and is currently located in the
Epsilon Eridani star system, at USSC Base Vigilance. From here it is ready to be deployed
out to the Outer Rim when needed. The 24th MEU has operational headquarters at
Twentynine Palms Base, in California, which is close to Edwards Space Force Base. The
24th MEU is comprised of around 2,000 Marines, supported by an artillery battery, recon
and engineering elements, armored personnel carriers and orbit-capable military space-
planes called 'drop-ships'. The unit is transported to any required destination (given time)
by US Space Command vertical assault carriers (either the Grissom or the Shepard class).
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These are primarily designed to hold, transport and deploy a space-capable MEU and they
are on permanent stand-by to ferry parts of the MEU to anywhere required by order of the
US president.

The 24th MEU is commanded by Colonel Oscar Ramirez. His immediate subordinate
officers are three Lieutenant Colonels, one commands the MEU’s Ground Combat Element
(a reinforced battalion of three rifle companies), another commands the MEU’s Air Combat
Element - the Marine Medium Dropship Squadron 764 (DMM-764), known as "Texas
Thunder". The third Lt. Colonel commands the MEU’s Combat Support Element (eight
platoons, each covering a different specialty, from communications to maintenance,
engineering to medical).

Infantry - Above all, the Marine Corps is an infantry force, all other assets are designed
to deliver and support the Marine infantryman in battle. All Marines receive regular combat
training, they are tough and have long gone by the nickname of 'leathernecks'. The Marine
infantry force of the 24th MEU is provided by the 1st Battalion of the 8th Marine Regiment
(part of the 2nd Division) (shortened to '1/8 Marines'). The battalion has three rifle
companies, a weapons (ie. support) company and an HQ company. Companies are
lettered phonetically (Bravo Company, Alpha Company, etc.).

The rifle company, each commanded by a captain, is the basic fighting unit of the Marine
Corps. It is comprised of three rifle platoons (of three squads each) along with a command
group and a weapons (support) platoon. Platoons are led by lieutenants. It is the 13-man
squads which do the dirty work, each is led by a sergeant and often divided into three
teams (each commanded by a corporal). All riflemen are equipped with M24A1 8.85mm
advanced combat rifle (firing caseless ammunition), the Hewison M5 Integrated Combat
Suit and an M9 Eagle-Eye short-range disposable missile.

The primary transport of the Marines is the Advanced Motors ARCC-50 (Armored Combat
Carrier) The 140 men of the three rifle companies are carried into battle and out on long-
range patrol by ten ARCCs. Each ARCC is a well-armored hostile environment rover with
complete life support systems for one month, advanced imaging systems and electronic
defenses, with a cabin able to carry a 13-man squad. The crew of the ARCC is two: driver
and gunner/commander. For self-defense the standard personnel carrier version of the
ARCC carries a cupola-mounted GAU-122 25mm Gatling gun as well as a dorsal turret
mounting two Zenith 52 MW free-electron pulse lasers. Other specialist Marine platoons
have their own ARCC variants.

Artillery Battery - The MEU includes a battery of six hostile-environment M180 self-
propelled railguns. Additional firepower, light reconnaissance and battlefield protection is
provided by turreted Zenith M3 40MW phased plasma guns mounted on two Growler
Utility Combat Vehicles.

Heavy Weapons - The weapons company provides fire support and an anti-armor
capability with an MQ-6 Phantom combat drone platoon, a heavy weapons platoon with
Zenith M3 40MW phased plasma guns and M65 Gecko Multi-Purpose Missile Launchers
(both mounted on eight armed Growler Utility Combat Vehicles) and an anti-armor platoon
equipped with eight Growlers carrying a M-30 Avenger anti-armor missile launchers.
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Marine Heavy Weaponry

The vehicular weapons used by the US Marines are detailed in the Cepheus Engine Vehicle
Design System, by Samardan Press. Their equivalencies are listed below:

GAU-122 Gatling Gun – Machinegun-TL8; double price and ROF

Zenith Pulse Laser –Pulse Laser-TL10
Zenith Plasma Gun – Plasma Gun-TL10
M65 Gecko Missile Launcher – Rocket Artillery-TL10
M30 Avenger Missile Launcher - Vehicular Missile (Standard HE, Smart)
70mm Unguided Rockets – Vehicular Missile (Standard HE, Unguided)
M180 Railgun – Railgun-TL10
AKV (Precision Strike) – Bomb, High Explosive, Heavy
SRAM (Anti-Armor) - Vehicular Missile (Standard HE, Smart)
Starship Beam Laser – Beam Laser-TL13
Starship Pulse Laser – Pulse Laser-TL13

Combat Engineers - This platoon supports the breaching of obstacles, building of

causeways, bunkers and fortifications as well other structures, it also provides engineering
and construction services. It is equipped with a bulldozer and a variety of other
equipment.

Armored Recon Platoon - Combined with Growlers from the heavy weapons company,
this is a mixed platoon used for armed reconnaissance. The platoon typically includes
three Growlers (armed with Zenith M3 40MW plasma guns), two Growlers mounted with
M-30 Avenger anti-armor missile launchers, and three Matsuyama MQ-6 Phantoms (each
with their associated control Growler and transport truck).

Dropships - Civilian airlines routinely operate trans atmospheric vehicles or space-planes

on Earth that take-off at international airports as jets, then at high-altitudes switch to ram-
rockets to propel them into orbit. The Marine Corps have been able to commission a
VTOL-capable version for vertical envelopment from orbit, and orbital re-supply. These
'dropships' carry out many of the duties of the helicopter on a terrestrial battlefield. The
24th MEU has sixteen UD-5 Mustang dropships manufactured by Global Dynamics which
are all part of the Marine Medium Dropship Squadron 764 (DMM-764), "Texas Thunder". It
also boasts fourteen ground-attack variants of the Mustang and two further Mustangs
fitted out for the squadron command and control task. Providing heavy lift capabilities are
four CS-9 Thunderchief shuttles, also from “Texas Thunder”. Each Mustang must fulfil a
variety of battlefield roles, most important of which is troop transport - dropping an ARCC
and its passengers directly onto a planetary surface. Additional duties include general
transport, recon, tactical air support for the ground forces (especially the ARCC and its
squad), forward observation, medevac and search and rescue. As an air support platform
the dumpy but powerful Mustang boasts a forward firing 25mm Gatling Gun and two
rocket pods each carrying twelve 70mm unguided rockets.

Snipers - The headquarters company of the MEU includes the Surveillance and Target
Acquisition (STA) Platoon. These guys are snipers, trackers, artillery fire directors and
even forward air controllers. The STA may be inserted by dropship into enemy territory,
and the platoons have pioneered the dangerous technique of the ACOR jump. This is an
Ablative Canopy Orbital Re-entry, where individual Marines climb inside ablative re-entry
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balls just 2m in diameter and fall through the atmosphere, surviving the heat of re-entry
to land safely on a parawing at a pre-determined Landing Zone. There were many
fatalities while perfecting the ACOR jump. The snipers work in teams of two, both armed
with M1000 30MW Laser Rifles.

Recon Marines - Recon Marines are an elite, toughened and highly trained Marines
carrying out dangerous reconnaissance work ahead of any assault. These troops gather
intelligence and therefore try to avoid contact with the enemy. They are masters of
stealth. Like the snipers of the STA, the Recon Marines have been practicing ACOR jumps
with some success. A more common (and safer) method of insertion is via drop-ship or
HALO jump (high-altitude low-opening). A number of non-standard weapons are carried
by Recon Marines to fit the missions they are given. Additional missions include anti-
terrorist work and hostage rescue as well as artillery forward observation and path finding.
One platoon of Recon Marines is always attached to the 24th MEU. This platoon has four
teams of four men and is commanded by a lieutenant.

Intelligence Teams - The MEU headquarters element includes an S-2 officer (Captain
Robert Hauk) heading an intelligence section covering interrogation, image interpretation,
counter-intelligence support, cartography and electronic surveillance/ interpretation.

UNITED STATES SPACE COMMAND

This major military arm of the United States began as an arm of the US Air Force to
manage satellites, communications global positioning systems and cyber-attacks. As
humans began to colonize the Solar System the US Marine Corps, along with the US Space
Command (USSC), re-focused their mission to project force out into space. Two
interstellar conflicts helped to create the USSC as it is today, one in 2149 and the other in
2160; both involved a rapidly growing Chinese star force. In 2149, Chinese security forces
seized an American cargo ship in the Tau Ceti system, they believed it carried arms and
military vehicles into the American colony (they were right) and the incident sparked a
rescue effort - a mix between Operation Eagle Claw, to save the US hostages in Iran in
1980, and the Falklands War of 1982. The limited military/security ships were augmented
by hastily converted commercial carriers. Both sides realized they needed a bigger force
and started building… The second 'war' took place in 2160 over the fledgling American
colony of Epsilon Indi/Columbia. On a pretext (of massive US casualties to the freezing
temperatures in the first big winter) the Chinese force landed support and medical ships to
help. They set up new buildings, extended and improved the colony, and ran a temporary
caretaker government. The US was outraged but let the imposition continue for six
months, unwilling to risk war between the two 'new' space forces. All that did was allow
both sides to mass ships and material in the Epsilon Indi system for a eventual retaking of
Columbia. Shortly after that the Chinese nation fell apart. But everyone had seen the need
for this new arm of the military....

In 2225 the USSC is a space-borne force equipped with several wings of hyperspace-
capable strike vessels as well as system defense craft and support ships. Dwarfing the
budgets of the other armed services, the USSC is now the premier fighting arm of the US
government. It does not maintain infantry troops of its own (other than base security
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soldiers) but it does work closely with the US Marine Corps and has been tasked with the
transport of a full Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) to an off-world drop-zone. Over a
longer, extended duration, it can ferry an entire Marine Expeditionary Force to some off-
world battle zone.

The USSC is organized as three Space Forces: First Space Force (LeMay USSC Orbital
Station); Second Space Force (Reagan USSC Base, Phobos) and Third Space Force
(Tranquility Base USSC, Luna). Each space force is commanded by a General and is
divided into up to six groups. All space forces include a support group and maintenance
support group, as well as at least two operations groups – these contain the combat
squadrons of the space force. Squadrons typically have dedicated missions (strike,
battlespace, starlift, space survey, communication and courier, as well as vertical assault)
and similar types of spacecraft. Squadrons are usually made up of a few hundred people
and eight to 24 starships, and are commanded by a Colonel. Meanwhile, individual
starships are commanded by officers of Captain to Colonel rank, depending on the size of
the ship. The standard USSC squadron types are:

™ Battlespace Squadron (BSS) – Equipped with a single battle carrier and

several interdictor craft used in concert to totally dominate one or more star
systems, over a long period of time.
™ Fast Attack Squadron (FAS) – Fast moving spacecraft in these squadrons are
heavily armed and capable of making lightning raids into enemy-held territory
and fighting their way out again.
™ Starlift Squadron (SLS) – Every squadron requires fuel and supplies, the
starlift squadrons are equipped with tankers, logistics craft and salvage rigs to
keep ships of the USSC operating.
™ Communications and Courier Squadron (CCS) – Light transport, courier
and VIP transport are the missions of this particular squadron.
™ Patrol and Survey Squadron (PSS) – The USSC requires up-to-date
navigational charts that the patrol craft of this squadron provide. They also
conduct military sweeps, fast response and search and rescue.
™ Vertical Assault Squadron (VAS) – These assault squadrons operate troop
transports that can drop an entire reinforced battalion of US Marines
commandos onto a world in less than 4 hours.

Typically a task force is based around around a single operations group, which should
include all of the ships and assets it needs to deal with a variety of threats. Additional
assets may be attached to the task force from other operations groups if needed. Several
operations groups might be on deployment at any one time. Task force commands will
vary with their size, power and intent, but will normally be led either the operations group
commander, a Lieutenant General, or by a Brigadier General.

THE STARLINE
All of the big conglomerates resemble one another in their structure and organization -
they are allied groups of related corporations. Most include a bank, a commercial
corporation, an aerospace business, a mining company, a steel manufacturer and various
other industrial firms including producers of chemicals, machine parts and electronics. All
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of the big corporate groups include an interstellar starline. Starlines operate cargo and
passenger carrying starships along a well-established network of transport routes. These
starlines are integral to the megacorporate business model, used for both transportation
of raw materials and finished goods for all of the businesses within the corporate group.

Major Starlines
The big seven starlines are Braniff Interstellar, Colonial Endeavors, Consolidated American
(ConAm), Frontier Line, Nørsk , Red Giant and Transtar. Each transports huge volumes of
cargo across hyperspace in multi-million dollar starships. Most also ferry passengers that
are kept in stasis within hypersleep chambers. Starlines are operated in a similar fashion
to the shipping companies of the early 21st century.

– A successful and pioneering spaceline, part of the

Leyland-Okuda conglomerate, and famous for its brightly coloured starships, each one
painted in a single bold colour. Braniff has challenged some of the more established star
carriers with a more exotic appeal, shipping out colonists as a pre-formed community,
rather than individual slabs of frozen ‘meat’. The company is famous for hiring the most
personable and friendliest crews around, and the Braniff uniforms change every two or
three years, not following global fashion – but setting it. Braniff is high profile, its
advertising has reached all parts of the globe and it is a starline that the people trust.

- Colonial Endeavours is a transport corporation that is

not particularly large but that is able to move its assets quickly and ingeniously to deal
with unorthodox cargoes and unusual situations. It should come as no surprise then, that
Colonial is part of the ever-adaptable Voroncovo conglomerate. Colonial grew out of the
de-regulation of the space industry at the start of the 21st century, and one of the
corporation’s founding enterprises was Space-X. Colonial went on to supply Mars
transports throughout the following decades, and in the 22nd century constructed the first
hyperspace-capable colony ship, once the technology had been declassified. Colonial has
been a stable fixture on the interstellar scene, surviving because of its adaptability,
ingenuity and willingness to innovate.

– Consolidated American is part of the Erebus conglomerate,

and has been the primary transport carrier to the American Sector for the past fifty years.
Times are changing, though, and the famous blue livery and wire-globe logo is now being
challenged by the bold full-color starships of Braniff, as well as the blood-coloured ships of
Red Giant and the stark black and white of Frontier. But Con Am has some cachet, it
offers a premium service and has good business links with the Star Envoy Club. Its elite
class travel service is renowned as the best and its crews are some of the most educated
and skilled in the business.

– Part of the Japanese Matsuyama conglomerate,

Frontier has a huge fleet of transport vessels that specialises in operating into the Outer
Rim. It does run routes through the Core Worlds, but in comparison with Red Giant,
Transtar and Braniff, not many. Frontier operates well-equipped bases at many of the
starports in the Outer Rim, and there are always personnel from the starline on duty.
Frontier, like several Matsuyama corporations, are trialling the use of androids in some key
positions. There a some starships and some bases with several androids working together
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– something other companies have not done, and which Transdyne Cybersystems do not
recommend.

– Nørsk is part of the Wu-Ketai conglomerate. Like

Transtar, Nørsk was there are the start of the containerization of space transport and has
kept ahead of the pack ever since. Its profits and its high volumes speak of efficiency and
corporate success, but Nørsk has had more than its fair share of mishaps and accidents.
Starships have gone missing in hyperspace, crews have vanished leaving starships in orbit
(fully fueled and loaded) and there have been collisions in orbit. If there is a pattern here,
then the accident investigators of the ICO cannot see one, despite Nørsk ’s full co-
operation.

– The Red Giant starline is probably the biggest in the business and it
has captured a larger share of the transport market than any other, by a small margin.
Red Giant is part of the powerful Tharsis conglomerate and like its sister corporations,
made its way in the world through the mining business. Red Giant made a concerted effort
in the early years to cater to the mining market, shipping out rigs, personnel, equipment
and supplies and bringing back bulk minerals, petroleum and liquid gas. Today that hold
over the mining sector is gone, but Red Giant still enjoys a reputation as a miner’s
transport company. Many crewmembers have served on mining rigs earlier in their
careers, which might explain why miners and mining bosses hold the starline in such high-
esteem.

– Transtar is a starline operated as part of the Reiner-Gama

conglomerate, and not just throughout the Solar System but throughout interstellar space
and the Outer Rim. While the big starlines concentrate exclusively on multi-kiloton
behemoths, Transtar does include a large number of ‘smaller’ starships in its fleet for
charters and leasing. However, Transtar is best known for pioneering the use of
intermodal container operations in space travel and for its cargo handling activities at
starports. Transtar operate loading and unloading facilities throughout the Core Worlds as
well as the Outer Rim. The yellow sunburst is commonly seen on loaders, containers and
warehouses at many of these off-world ports.

Crew Organization
Officers: Officers hold a commercial space license, they are known as ‘licensed’
personnel. In Cepheus Engine terms they are commissioned ‘Merchants’. Officers on-board
a commercial vessel are able spacers, technically competent and cross-trained. Below the
rank of captain sits a ladder of ranks named first, second, third and fourth officer.
Although the captain and first officer are both qualified starship pilots, the other officers
do not have specific roles associated with them. The second officer may be the engineer
or the medic, for example. The second, third and fourth rank structure establishes
seniority, responsibility and experience. These officers take turns in standing watch on the
bridge, and sharing that responsibility with the captain.

There are a lot of jobs that need attending to on-board a starship that fall outside the
specific job that a spacer has been hired on to do. Cargo needs loading and unloading,
orbital craft launched and retrieved, life support systems checked, airlocks cycled, radio
messages sent and received and a host of checks on every part of the spacecraft in a
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never-ending maintenance and replacement cycle. Much of the work and responsibility is
shared, most starship crews are small (less than 20 in number) and there’s very little
‘pulling rank’ between first, second, third and fourth officers. Everyone works together, but
when the captain and first officer are absent, it’s the second officer who calls the shots.
When he’s unavailable it’s the third officer who is in charge. The first officer has some
extra duties; he is a qualified pilot, able to take control of the vehicle in the absence of the
captain. Additional responsibilities include the welfare of the crew and their training in fire-
fighting, explosive decompression and other emergency situations. The first officer will
decide who is on watch and assign jobs to crew members in order that the captain’s
orders may be carried out most effectively. On-board large vessels with several
departments and a large number of crewmen, there may well be more than one fourth
officer. This often happens on executive transports, large repair and construction ships
and on hospital ships, where responsible officers are required to lead departments. Should
two fourth officers have no senior officer in charge, then the one serving the most terms
has seniority.

Crewmen: Although some crewmen can be quite skilled, holding levels in engineering,
sensors, navigation or pilot, for example, they hold no licence, have no command
responsibility and are not allowed to stand watches (i.e. be the sole person on the bridge).
They are far from being the 2225 AD version of the hull-painting, deck-scrubbing able
seaman, however. They are technically proficient and able to work with the officers as
part of a tight-knit team. Most will be skilled in space suit operation, zero G activities,
drone operations, communications and mechanics. On small starships there may not be
many crewman on board and most personnel will be made up of officers (purely so that
watch duties can be shared out) but when they are, they are typically assigned to the
engineering section, although military vehicles may assign some to the weapons section
and executive transports to the customer service (stewards) section. Like officers,
crewmen receive a good deal of cross-training.

NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS
Federal Colonial Marshal Service
Throughout the American Sector, law enforcement on outposts and installations without a
formal colonial government is usually provided by the Federal Colonial Marshal Service,
run from its headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. The FCMS runs alongside the long
established Federal Air Marshal Service and the Federal District Marshal Service. District
Marshals, Air Marshals and Colonial Marshals are not operating on equal levels of status or
on equal pay grades. In fact a Colonial Marshal posting is hardly glamorous, since it often
means dealing with stressed, angry or drunken miners or drillers letting off steam. There
are more extreme crimes: murders, blackmailings, gang trouble, drug trafficking – but
little that would get a diligent marshal mentioned in dispatches. A marshal will be assigned
to an installation of 2,000 workers or more, along with a deputy, a sergeant or two and
half a dozen officers. Smaller installations that require law enforcement may only be sent
a deputy who will only have three or four men or women under him. Many corporations
have expressed an interest in using Private Military Contractors (PMCs) for law
enforcement duties, but the US government has refused such requests. Having a marshal
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on large industrial sites comes as part of the agreement the corporation made when it
signed the restricted operating license with the US government.

Most large outposts are fitted out with a police station, that includes an office, operations
and surveillance room, mess, locker, interrogation room and a couple of cells. Bigger sites
have commensurately larger facilities. Officers of the FCMS are equipped with flak vests,
Stern 2000 shotguns and riot pistols.

Colonial Defense Forces

The colonies do not, as a rule, have their own armies. Since the UCC ruled that each world
must come under the jurisdiction of a single government, there would be no-one to fight.
And yet some type of local defense force is still called for, particularly in colonies with a
history of civil unrest. Many colonies have, over the course of their short history,
established a Colonial Defense Force (CDF) - a paramilitary group of local volunteers. A
little training is conducted at weekends, with larger wilderness exercises being staged
every few months. The troops all know each other well in civilian life, and feel a great
attachment to the colony that they defend. Defend from what? The CDFs are called out
for natural disaster relief, emergency evacuation, search and rescue, chasing down
escaped convicts, surrounding starships that make emergency landings after calling for
help, etc. On colony worlds where some element of the population is in rebellion, the CDF
is thrown into full-on combat encounters. The forces in the American Sector use US Army
ranks and insignia. They are likewise organized into infantry (or mechanized infantry)
platoons, companies and brigades. Only the American colony on Tau Ceti has any CDF
units as large as a battalion. Weaponry, armor and vehicles owned by the colonial forces
are second rate at best, often it is older equipment that is no longer used by the US
Marine Corps or the US Army. This second-line kit is routinely supplemented by civilian
gear.

Private Military Contractors

Where the established military forces of Earth fail to extend their reach, government-
licensed mercenaries or Private Military Contractors (PMCs) fill the gap. Many are ex-
servicemen with clean records who have been vetted, interviewed, retrained and hired by
one of these PMC companies. The private security companies pick up lucrative contracts
on ‘The Circuit’, and provide bodyguards for VIPs, and armed protection for corporate
interests and expeditions. Large corporations are not allowed to operate their own military
forces (as ruled by a UCC directive) and so depend on licensed PMCs to protect their
bases, their personnel and their interests. The American government also awards
contracts to PMCs to support the over-taxed off-world operations it is involved in, such as
the ongoing counter-insurgency war on Tau Ceti. A PMC team has more freedom than a
US Marine Corps squad, but is under-resourced and far more ‘expendable’. The most
prominent PMCs in the American Sector are:

™ Outcome Management – An established ‘blue chip’ security group with plenty of

revenue, plenty of kit and a stand-up reputation.

™ Syphax Security – Another group with a good reputation, although a number of

incidents involving alleged ‘improprieties’ on Tau Ceti are currently under
investigation by the ESDA and the US State Department.
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™
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™ Elderson – Marcus Elderson and his sons are ex-airborne soldiers that now
operate a fast-moving and efficient security unit on a shoe-string budget. They
have few vehicles, and certainly no starships, but are top of their game in small-
scale commando-style operations.

™ Last Resort – A ‘rough-around-the-edges’ group that is fighting to leave behind

the mercenary label that it gained a few years ago when a client ran out of money
and the team refused to evacuate aid workers it had been sent there to protect.
They were all massacred, even though there had been space on the transport. The
CEO and colonel-in-chief is Nik Huston.

™ Vigo’s Combat Specialists – Having being dragged through a US Senate Hearing

and countless tabloid scandals, Vigo Combat Specialists is still (amazingly) on the
Circuit. Yes, and Colonel Tomaz Vigo is still in charge; he runs a tight-ship, an
aggressive and well-trained security unit that gets the job done. Vigo is not bad at
his job, he’s just bad at picking the jobs that won’t land his team in jail!

Union of American Space Labor (UASL)

A composite organization made up of six autonomous labor unions of space-based
construction workers, miners, vehicle and equipment operators, commercial starship crews
and cargo handling personnel. It was established in 2090 and has its headquarters in New
York. Currently, the UASL has around 350,000 members who pay a monthly fee for the
benefits that the union provides. Membership includes cut-price access to healthcare,
retirement benefits, educational programs and a powerful ally in law, should the member
fall foul of corporate procedure or spacing law. The Lupino Center for Commercial
Astronautics (LCCA) was established by the union at Spaceport America, in New Mexico, to
offer quality training facilities that are highly thought of in the industry. Graduates of the
LCCA tend to do well when applying for positions in space industries.

Highly active in the political arena, the UASL’s primary objective is to maintain a safe
working environment for men and women working in space-based transport and industry,
and to ensure fair pay and decent working conditions. The charismatic president of the
union is Nicholas ‘Bulldog’ Lundeburg. Some labor unions in the USA have, historically,
suffered from corruption and subversion by elements of the American Mafia. In recent
decades the newly emerged Texan Cartel has emulated this strategy. Read the entry titled
Texan Cartel, for more information.

Antarctica Traffic Control

Antarctica traffic control is connected to a network of geostationary relay satellites, with
coverage extending out across the inner Solar System. The primary responsibility of ATC is
the contact, monitoring and control of both outbound and inbound spacecraft within the
inner Solar System (inside Jupiter’s orbit). It can accept traffic from, and pass it to, the
control of a terminal control which provides vectors for approach and docking or re-entry,
if required. ATC is responsible for all hyperspace arrivals and departures as well as inter-
system flights from one planet or space station to another. Although the tracking systems
and communication dishes are sited on the Antarctic continent, the ATC nerve center is
based in Perth, Australia.
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Saturn Traffic Control

The outer Solar System is not covered by traffic control, although a ship should be able to
make contact with ATC, despite the long time lag. Tracking of ships out here is not
routinely done. The exception to this is around the planet Saturn, where Saturn Traffic
Control (STC) contacts and tracks ships that are approaching or departing Saturnian
space. Saturn is used by hundreds of starships every day as a refueling stop, with the
ships skimming hydrogen fuel from the outer layers of the planet’s atmosphere. Saturn is
preferred over Jupiter because of the latter’s high gravity and dangerous radiation belts.
The large volume of traffic around Saturn requires careful tracking and control. Tracking
dishes and uplink towers are sited on the populated moon Titan, and these facilities are
linked to a network of satellites in Saturnian orbit. Coverage of controlled space extends
out 10 Million km from the gas giant.

The Network
Faster-than-light communication exists, although it certainly is not instantaneous. All
starships equipped with hyperdrive have FTL communication capability as do most large
outposts and colony worlds. The system requires a space-based hyperwave satellite to
relay the signal from one star system to another – it cannot be done from a planetary or
moon surface. Typically an uplink tower sends the message up to the hyperwave satellite
which then powers up to send it on its journey through hyperspace. As would be
expected, these satellite relays are incredibly expensive and only the larger colony worlds
with populations in the millions can afford to maintain more than one of them.
Communication on the Network takes 1 parsec per day. The relay system of the Network
is operated by the United Corporate Combine and is more formally known as the
Integrated Data Network. It is headquartered on the Earth’s Moon. The Network operates
a small fleet of platform support vessels that it uses to deploy new satellites, repair or
decommission old ones and to ferry personnel from site to site. The organization is also
tasked with scanning local star systems for communications, and is particularly concerned
with distress signals from both civilian and military starships.

Interstellar Commerce Organization

One of the most powerful agencies across human-explored space is the Interstellar
Commerce Organization (ICO), a body created by the United Corporate Combine to
regulate space commerce, space travel and interstellar trade. It is headquartered in
Singapore, on Earth, and has been responsible over the past fifty years for establishing
fuel prices, standards of measurement, communication protocols, starport layouts and
much more. It serves the interstellar corporate community and its inspectors are
constantly on the prowl, investigating accidents and checking licenses. The ICO publishes
many of the standard handbooks for spaceflight that all starships are, by law, obliged to
carry onboard. There is an ICO office at every A, B and C class starport.

Mining Regulatory 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
sector. It co-ordinates prospecting claims, issues restricted licenses, adjudicates in 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 mining crews to find new employers and vice versa; they are meeting points for
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personnel, mining, drilling 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 resource exploration teams. Officially
established to serve the interests of the corporations and the miners, the MRA in reality
looks out for the profits of the big mining corporations. 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.

ExtraSolar Colonization Administration

The UCC quite rightly established rules for the settlement and development of colonial
projects. Prior to the setting up of the UCC, a confusing number of competing national
colonies had been created, some even shared the same planet, causing friction and
needless rivalry. Through the law-makers at the newly created ESCA, however, strict rules
were enforced. Each planet or moon had to have a single governing body if it wished to
stake a claim as a colony. The funding of colonies by large corporations and the legal
obligations of these companies also came under scrutiny. Where it can, the ESCA assists
colonial development with training, sponsorship, technical (and in some cases practical)
on-site support. Rather than oppose or restrain the wishes of the sponsoring corporations,
the ESCA assists and supports them. Still, it has a responsibility to look out for the
interests of colonists and how they are treated. ESCA observers maintain a permanent
office on Tau Ceti and on New Tokyo.

CRIMINAL ORGANIZATIONS
Snakeheads
With a long history of criminal activity, the Snakeheads crime syndicate had its origins in
Fujian province, eastern China. The gang grew out of the racketeering of the Triads and
made a name for itself at the end of the twentieth century as a people smuggling ring.
This lucrative illegal business capitalized on the plight of the poor in developing countries
(in particular China, but in more recent decades elsewhere around the globe) and their
desire to move to a developed and prosperous nation.

The Snakeheads work as independent organizations that come under the umbrella of the
Dragon King who is a shadowy hereditary figure whom the police struggle to identify,
much less arrest. In these off-world times, the Snakeheads have extended their criminal
tentacles into orbit and beyond.

There are millions who want to leave Earth and make a fresh start on the Off-World
colonies; but moving off-Earth is not as simple as the utopian space pioneers of the 1970s
envisaged. If you want a stake in the new future of mankind, you need to be assessed,
tested, trained, retrained and retested. Education, talent and ability get you a long way
through the training programs - hard work and perseverance take you the rest of the way.
The Snakeheads are able to bypass all of this nonsense and get someone into a job or a
colony position as long as they have money. Members are able to bribe or intimidate
officials, spaceport workers, dock managers and so on ... smuggling individuals, couples or
families off Earth and into their dream assignment, perhaps that of a worker on an
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asteroid mine, planetary colony or space station. Miners can sign up for lucrative
contracts, earning many times what they could ever earn in their impoverished developing
nations on Earth. The Snakeheads make it happen ... or do they? For some, maybe, but
reports come in weekly of illegal migrants asphyxiated in a poorly maintained transport
module, or indentured on some remote asteroid with no way to leave, or thrown out of an
airlock as soon as money changes hands, or arrested by the colony police for carrying
false papers and having no qualifications for the heavy equipment they are operating ...
the horror stories are many. Yet the Snakeheads are never out of work, people pay and
the Snakeheads pull the strings that make the off-world illegal network operate. The
desperate send their earnings back to family living in squalor back on Earth; in some cases
a village may have clubbed together to sponsor a migrant – so great is the comparable
wage they can send back.

The Federal Colonial Marshal Service has warned that the Snakeheads are active in the
American Sector, clashing frequently in turf wars with the guerros of the Texan Cartel.
American Snakeheads often have no Chinese heritage and remain invisible, an anonymous
crime gang with operatives masquerading as workers, supervisors and managers – often
in key areas, like transport, leisure and freight handling.

Texan Cartel
The Cartel is America’s most prolific and powerful organized crime syndicate, with gangs
(maras) active across North and South America as well as the colonies and outpost worlds
of the American Sector. The Cartel originated in the prisons and penitentiaries of west
Texas in the 1990s, but unlike most Hispanic street gangs that began this way, it lasted
the course, took a hold in cities like Houston, Phoenix and San Diego and soon moved into
territories more associated with the American Mafia. By the end of the 22nd century the
Cartel had successfully moved away from street crime and into money laundering,
corporate extortion, labor racketeering and illegal property deals. Drug trafficking carried
on apace. With the establishment of the Community of American States in 2159, the Cartel
was able to expand easily in Central America and the northernmost nations of South
America.

The syndicate’s moment of glory came in the 2200 as contracts went out for the
construction of the immense Trans-Atmospheric Pipeline in Macapa, Brazil. Thousands of
workers from Ecuador, Peru, Colombia and Venezuela were hired on to the vast project,
and the Texan Cartel saw its chance. It had already penetrated the labor markets of
those countries and now earned millions of dollars a day from labor wranglings and union
fees. Once completed, the Cartel looked to the stars and followed the same Hispanic
workers as they travelled Off-World to find employment in iridium mines and on remote
asteroid drilling platforms. Few mining installations or colonies in the American Sector are
without at least one Cartel soldier, dealer or fixer. The larger colonies even sport their own
gangs, run by a ruthless Cartel captain who masquerades as some middle-manager or
union boss. If you want drugs, or a new identity, a forged pass or a rival ‘greased’ then
get in touch with the Texan Cartel. There’s a member near you – you just don’t know it.

The tough guys of the Cartel are the guerros, the soldiers. In cities where the Cartel
thrives, a gang or mara of around 30 or so soldiers is led by a captain and his lieutenants.
There are plenty of wannabe gangsters, and these cholos are used extensively by the
Cartel as runners, drug mules, patsies and for low-level thuggery. Members refer to one
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another as ‘brother’ or ‘sister’, and cover their bodies in elaborate tattoos as they rise up
through the ranks.

The Cartel has great influence through labor racketeering. This is where corrupt influence
and in some instances even control has been gained over a labor union, through a climate
of fear and intimidation among its members, and by threats and acts of violence. The
Cartel has placed associates in key positions and exploits illegal proceeds from the
lucrative operation of union’s affairs. Understanding that it can make easy and regular
money from union infiltration, the Cartel bosses bribe leaders or join the union themselves
as leaders. They can then extort any company that the union has dealings with; either by
threatening ‘slow-downs’, strikes or even industrial sabotage. The Cartel can offer a
construction or mining company a ‘strike insurance scheme’, receiving hundreds of
thousands of dollars just from the threat of striking, alone. Even if the company plays
hardball and pushes the union to strike, the Cartel will not sit idly by and watch strike-
breakers help the company out, instead it will harass, beat up or even kill those brave
enough to break the strike. Unless the company pays up, the Cartel will go easy on strike-
breakers should a payment be forthcoming. Power, leverage and labor are all intertwined.
Some of the Cartel generals control their own mining and space-based businesses and use
Cartel-dominated unions in order to secure loans at favorable rates, or to manipulate the
supply and cost of labor to their own companies. In some parts of the American Sector,
the only independent companies (those not owned by a large corporate concern) are
Cartel owned, since the small legitimate businesses have been forced out of the industry
through unprofitability – they just can’t afford the labor!

Lebkuchen
Members of the German Lebkuchen are, or were, genetic activists, fighters for the rights
of cloned human beings. The existence of such human clones was at first only conjecture
and rumor, a fanciful conspiracy ridiculed by the authorities and the public. But when
Lebkuchen activists broke in to the facilities of Haruna Corporation in Munich, 2209, they
discovered human clones being held captive. Haruna had lucrative contracts with
millionaires and billionaires to clone their bodies as a source of organs for organ
replacement. The clones were a product of forced growth and kept in a coma until their
organs were needed for donation. Assisted by a scientist on the inside of Haruna, the
activists freed the clones, awakened them from their induced comas and then paid
members of the Snakeheads people-smuggling crime gang, to provide new IDs for them.
Lebkuchen had no idea what they were dealing with, however, and the clones rebelled,
killing and torturing many of their ‘saviors’ before fleeing across Europe. Some maintained
links with the Snakeheads to become emotionless gang members and assassins-for-hire.
Many innocent people were killed in the clone uprising of 2209 and police were able to
shoot dead several of the clones.

After some investigation following the Munich Uprising, it was revealed that the force-
grown clones were all sociopaths - emotionally illiterate, troubled, and without any sense
of morality or conscience. Today there are believed to be almost 320 clones roaming free,
some in the service of the Snakeheads, whilst others masquerade as normal human
beings using their forged Snakehead identities. At any moment they might flip, causing
destruction, pain and death before fleeing the scene and adopting yet another identity.
They cannot be reasoned with, retrained or rehabilitated. Clones are feared – and
executed as soon as they are identified.
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Player characters in HOSTILE are spacers – people living

and working in space. The character ideas in this chapter
reflect that central idea.

A broad range of character types are possible and all of

these have a reason to be off-world.

The following character teams are perfectly suited to the

HOSTILE setting:

™ Corporate Investigators
™ Freelance Miners
™ Commercial Starship Crew
™ Resource Exploration Team
™ United States Marines
™ Private Military Contractors
™ And more …
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If you think hiring professionals is expensive -

try hiring amateurs . . .
Nik Deacon, President of Tharsis Motors

WHO ARE WE?

Corporate Investigators – PCs are corporate agents, bodyguards, investigators and
technical experts who are dispatched to the Off-World colonies in order to investigate and
then solve problems. Each mission is different from the last, each involves travel to alien
worlds and each mission invariably involves danger.

Freelance Miners – A group of experienced miners might hire themselves out as

technical experts; it may include roughnecks and technicians, perhaps a spacer or colonist
and maybe even a corporate agent as a manager. They are called in to deal with difficult,
unusual, dangerous or illegal situations involving mining, colony construction and oil
drilling.

Commercial Starship Crew – This commercial starship crew have a ship and hire it,
and themselves, out (a ‘wet’ lease) to undertake charters and special one-of-a-kind
missions. Sometimes it’s just hauling cargo because the regular freighter is unserviceable.
More often the cargo is hazardous, or has to go somewhere off the beaten track, or it is
dangerous or illegal. The crew don’t ask questions and their lives (and the missions
themselves) are varied, interesting and not without danger.

Resource Exploration Team – Mining corporations are always looking for the next big
mineral strike and employ resource exploration teams to survey and scout out new star
systems and the hundreds of remote moons and planets in systems scattered throughout
human-colonized space. They are on their own, however, and so team members must be
tough, resourceful and skilled. They will encounter many hazards, some of which may be
horrific in nature - the universe is full of nasty surprises…

United States Marines – Throughout the American Sector of space, hostile threats to
colonists, corporations and commercial starships are often met with a military response.
The US Marine Corps is equipped with state-of-the-art dropships, advanced combat rifles,
missiles and scanners and has a track record of dealing with all manner of violent
situations. Interstellar hijackings, terror situations, uprisings, colonial insurgencies and
inter-colony strife may all result in Marine Corps intervention. In addition there are the
many hostile exomorph (alien) organisms that threaten the safety of colonists and ship
crews. Some of these exomorphs are really nasty. These missions are routinely non-
routine and incredibly dangerous. The wildly different environments and unpredictability of
hostile alien predators make every one unique and challenging.

Private Military Contractors – In a universe dominated by large corporations, and

where the US military cannot be everywhere at once, private military contractors (PMCs)
thrive. They struggle to distance themselves from the label of ‘mercenary’, but the PMCs
are not a bunch of war-crazy army veteran thugs-with-guns looking to fight for the highest
bidder. PMCs do employ military veterans, but they train them, equip them and then have
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them sign up to contracts which are honoured by both PMC and client. A PMC security
advisor has been honourably discharged, often having served several tours and at least a
decade in the US Army or US Marines. He is a skilled professional and will find himself
supplementing US Marine forces in some brushfire war, or acting as security for some
corporate project. The missions are diverse, and can range from protecting a colony from
an alien predator, to retaking an installation that has been seized by terrorists.

Of course one-off scenarios can be created with any suitable collection of characters, from
colonists to miners, corporate execs to Federal Marshals – it all depends on the scenario
setting and the situation that is about to unfold.

ROLEPLAYING ANDROIDS
Androids are programmed to be passive and non-aggressive, not to lead or to take control
– in other words they do not make very good player characters. They are constrained to
blend in, provide support and suggestions for a team of humans. Referees should only
allow a player character android after some thought. Never, never, never allow an android
PC in the game that has ‘broken its programming’ or ‘been reprogrammed by the
Company’. Androids are high-tech servants and sophisticated equipment operators that do
not feel the crippling mental damage suffered by humans in hyperspace, this means they
can remain out of hypersleep to monitor ship systems.

All androids follow Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics:

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a
human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where
such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does
not conflict with the First or Second Laws.

To create an android NPC (or player character) a truncated generation system is used.
Androids only serve 1D+3 terms before play begins. Due to the restrictions imposed by
their Model/3 processor and Intellect software, they can only learn a skill up to level 3,
and can learn a maximum number of skill levels equal to 6. Any additional skill gains made
during the character generation process must be taken at level 0.

There are four general fields (Occupations) an android can be created for: spacer, survey
scout, physician, scientist and technician. The android will gain the first skill (at level 1) on
the appropriate skill table as an automatic skill when the occupation has been decided. For
all other skill gains, using 1D6, rolling 5-6 each term for a skill gain.

Many humans treat androids as tools, like forklifts or toasters, and these people refer to
the artificial people as ‘it’, ‘boy’ or ‘girl’ rather than the manufacturer’s designation. Other
terminology is used, too, such as ‘the doll’ or ‘the puppet’.
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CHARACTER CREATION
Follow the standard character creation procedure that is laid out in Cepheus Engine.
Where there are slight differences, they are referred to here, below. This chapter also
includes fifteen careers that are tailored to the retro-industrial future of HOSTILE.

Homeworld Skills
Characters should either come from Earth or from an Off-World colony within the Near
Earth Zone (the Core Worlds). Chances are very high that they come from Earth, only a
tiny few in comparison are born out on the colonies. Roll 2D6: 2-9 indicates Earth-borne,
10-12 indicates Off-World Colony. Select ONE skill.

Homeworld Homeworld Skills (select one)

Earth Agriculture, Computer, Streetwise or Carousing
Off-World Colony Vacc Suit, Survival, Blade Combat or Vehicle

Primary Education Skills Social Standing

The list here differs from that given in Cepheus Engine. 10 (A) Vice President
Any character may choose a zero-level skill from the 11 (B) Senior Vice President
following list: Administration, Agriculture, Carousing, 12 (C) Executive Vice President
Comms, Computer, Electronics, Engineering, Gambling, 13 (D) Senior Executive VP
Investigate, Liaison, Mechanical, Medical, Steward, 14 (E) Director
Survival. 15 (F) President
16 (G) Chairman

Characteristics
Use the standard six characteristics as described in Cepheus Engine. Note, however, that
higher levels of Social Standing equate (in HOSTILE) not to noble titles and peerages, but
to family connections with the wealthiest and most influential (‘executive’) levels of
corporate power. These are executive ranks in the corporation, equating to ‘governmental’
positions. The Vice President (‘A’) is the highest non-executive title; and that rank denotes
the head of a division/ department.

Qualifying For the Draft 1D6 Draft Assignment

1 Action for Peace
If Qualification is failed, join the Drifter career (See
Foundation (as Ranger)
Cepheus Engine) or submit to the Draft. Roll 1D6:
see pg.63
2-4 Colonist
Careers 5-6 Roughneck
The following fifteen career paths will be fully detailed:
x Android: A bio-mechanical synthetic human, designed to carry out monotonous or
hazardous tasks. There is a special player generation system for androids (see
below), or they can be ‘built’ by the referee with a budget of $2.50M (see the
Equipment Guidelines chapter).
x Corporate Agent: A corporate ‘fixer’, a spy, a diplomat and deal-maker, who
carries out the will of the corporation on the Off-World Colonies.
x Corporate Executive: A powerful and wealthy senior officer of a corporation.
Requires Soc A+.
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x Colonist: Individual that moves to a new world or settles in a new planetary

colony.
x Commercial Spacer: A crewman or officer aboard a commercial transport
starship.
x Marine: Member of the United States Marine Corps (USMC), trained to respond to
threats in the American Sector.
x Marshal: A US Federal Colonial Marshal or Deputy assigned to keep the peace on
one of the American Sector’s many installations.
x Military Spacer: A crewman or officer aboard a United States Space Command
(USSC) warship.
x Physician: A doctor, med-tech, nurse or paramedic.
x Ranger: A civilian guide and survival expert on a habitable world; also paid
members of the Action For Peace Foundation (see pg. 63)
x Rogue: A criminal, making money from extortion, theft, assignation, burglary etc.
x Roughneck: A miner working in the hazardous environment of deep space.
x Scientist: Individual with expert knowledge of a science, especially a biological or
physical science.
x Survey Scout: Member of a corporate resource exploration team, surveying
unfamiliar territory in space.
x Technician: A skilled mechanic, electrician, computer expert or engineer.

Commission
Gaining a commission is essential to move from Rank 0 to begin climbing the rank table.
Military Spacer and Marine include ‘non-commissioned ranks’ for flavour. Non-
commissioned rank is equal to the number of terms served.

Ore smelting on Americo, the

sand-blasted planet orbiting Delta Triangulum
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Basic Training
Ignore the Basic Training rules in Cepheus Engine. Characters do not receive all the skills
on the Service Skill table at level 0.

Mustering Out
All except Android characters should follow the standard mustering ' &DVK
out procedure described in Cepheus Engine. Each career has its own  
Mustering Out Benefits Table, but all of the careers (except for  
Android) use the single, generic cash table given below. These cash
 
figures are much lower than those given in Cepheus Engine and this is
 
designed purely to get players-characters motivated. A Marine general
 
might have rolled low, but the player can explain this in any number
 
of ways: he is going through a costly divorce; he has had to pay huge
 
medical bills; his wealth is tied up in an estate, etc.

Weapon: Select a blade weapon or a firearm, appropriate to the situation and character.

Awards: The Marine and Military Spacer may receive an award (medal) along with a Soc
increase. If gained a second time, accept only the Soc increase.

Standard-Class Starship Ticket: This is a ticket on a commercial liner, and the

character will, like all passengers, be put into hypersleep for the flight in order to survive
hyperspace. With a standard-class ticket the passenger is frozen at the starport and
shipped to the starship like freight. He or she has a meagre 10kg baggage allowance that
fits into the locker at the foot of the hypersleep pod. Equivalent to Low Passage.

Elite-Class Starship Ticket: This is also a ticket on a commercial liner, the character will
be put into hypersleep for the flight in order to survive hyperspace. The elite-class ticket
has more perks, however, reflecting its higher price tag. Passengers are given a drink and
snack before being put into hypersleep on board ship, and they are woken on approach to
their destination, giving them time to shower, dress, eat and acclimatize themselves to
‘normal space’ before deboarding the starship. In short, they are treated more like
privileged crew than freight. Elite-class tickets include a generous 1000 kg baggage
allowance that is carried in the ship’s hold. A 10 kg ‘carry-on bag’ is also allowed that is
stowed into the locker at the foot of the hypersleep pod. Equivalent to Middle Passage.

Star Envoy Club Membership: The Star Envoy Club is a Hong Kong-based organization
that aims to make interstellar travel as bearable (or as the club says ‘enjoyable’) as
possible for its members. It is most often used by corporate executives and other wealthy
businessmen that are the only people who can afford the membership fee. The Star Envoy
Club maintains small (and very private) hotels and lounges at all class A and class B
starports that are accessible only to members and their guests. Deals with all the major
carriers mean that the Club can offer an elite-class travel ticket to every member once
every two months. Tickets not used are lost. Membership of the Club is a privilege and
says much about the character’s wealth and social standing. Membership on the Mustering
Out Tables often indicates a reward for exceptional service or heroism.
 P a g e | 117

ANDROID
Humans are frail, vulnerable and excitable. You are not. Built upon a carbon fiber
skeleton, with silicon musculature and a bio-plastic skin, you are a machine, a
synthetic - an artificial person. You can work with humans as part of a team,
supporting and advising. Their lives are precious to you, as is the mission. You
know you are more expendable than they, yet the company will not want you to
sacrifice yourself needlessly - you cost a helluva lot of money!

ANDROID CAREERS TERMS & SKILLS

1D6 Service Terms Served : 1D+3

1 Commercial Spacer Autoskill: Gain first skill in career list
2 Military Spacer at level 1.
3 Survey Scout Other Skills: On 1D6 roll 5-6 each
4 Physician term for a skill gain. Skill limit 6 levels.
5 Scientist Max skill level =3
6 Technician

CHARACTERISTICS MUSTER OUT

1 $5000
Strength 1D6+5 2 $1000
Dexterity 1D6+3 3 Standard Ticket
Endurance 1D6+8 4 Standard Ticket
Intelligence 1D3+5 5 $1000
Education 1D3+9 6 $5000
Social Standing 7

Commercial/ Survey Physician Scientist Technician

Military Scout
Spacer
1 Pilot Pilot Medical Investigation Engineering
2 Engineering Engineering Medical Computer Electronics
3 Navigation Navigation Investigation Investigation Mechanical
4 Gunnery Comms Electronics Computer Comms
5 Computer Survival Computer Admin Security
6 Comms Vehicle Medical Vehicle Computer

MISHAPS
1 After being damaged in an accident, the company let you go.
2 You were forced to commit illegal acts, broke your programming and fled.
3 You don’t know what has happened to you. There is a gap in your memory. What happened?
4 You were reprogrammed by deck jockeys and now have no loyalties to your company.
5 Injured. Roll on the Injury Table.
6 You have gone rogue, murdered your employer and been injured during the escape.. Roll on the
Injury Table.
 P a g e | 118

CORPORATE AGENT
Profits are made in the American Sector, at mining installations, drill rigs, outposts
and much larger Off-World Colonies. When those operations are under threat the
corporations that own them send in their top agents. You have the tenacity and
ruthlessness to fulfil this role. You will investigate and take appropriate action -
whatever that may be. And the threats will be diverse: theft, extortion, alien
parasites, mysterious alien viruses, hijacking, the list is long. With a gun and a
security clearance you will do your job.

RANK & AUTOMATIC SKILLS

0 Agent
1 Senior Agent
2 Supervisor
3 Assistant Project Leader
4 Project Leader
5 Assistant Division Chief
6 Division Chief

CAREER MUSTER OUT

1 Weapon
QUALIFY INT 6+ 2 Standard Ticket
SURVIVAL DEX 5+ 3 Weapon
COMMISSION SOC 5+ 4 +1 Int
ADVANCE INT 7+ 5 +1 Edu
RE-ENLIST 5+ 6 +1 Soc
7 +1 Soc

PERSONAL SERVICE SPECIALIST ADVANCED

DEVELOPMENT SKILLS SKILLS EDUCATION
SKILLS
1 +1 Str Gun Combat Forgery Medical
2 +1 Dex Vacc Suit Investigate Security
3 Bribery Vehicle Computer Admin
4 +1 Int Streetwise Carousing Computer
5 +1 Edu Gun Combat Comms Leader
6 +1 Soc Recon Jack-of-Trades Tactics

MISHAPS
1 A corporate defection went wrong and you were wounded. Roll on the Injury Table.
2 Your team was annihilated in a double-cross.
3 A rival corporation killed members of your family and wounded you. Roll on the Injury Table.
4 You learnt a secret about your employer and had to get out – fast.
5 An investigation uncovered government corruption, but you were forced to step down.
6 You failed to stop damage/disease/worker unrest at an Off-World outpost.
 P a g e | 119

CORPORATE EXEC
The Earth depends on the corporations and conglomerates - for everything. The
incredible costs of space transport, exploration and development were long-ago
privatized. Your corporation has cashed in - big time. You obviously have the family
connections and training needed to run part of this complex organization. Oversight,
leadership, business acumen and an eye for opportunity will see you thrive in this
competitive, cut-throat-environment.

RANK & AUTOMATIC SKILLS

0 Executive Consultant
1 Vice President [Admin 1]
2 Senior Vice President
3 Executive Senior Vice President
4 Senior Executive Vice President
5 Director
6 President

CAREER MUSTER OUT

1 Elite Ticket
QUALIFY SOC 8+ 2 +1 Edu
SURVIVAL SOC 4+ 3 +1 Int
COMMISSION EDU 5+ 4 Elite Ticket
ADVANCE INT 10+ 5 Star Envoy Club Member
RE-ENLIST 6+ 6 Elite Ticket
7 +1 Soc

PERSONAL SERVICE SPECIALIST ADVANCED

DEVELOPMENT SKILLS SKILLS EDUCATION
SKILLS
1 Streetwise Gambling Broker Medical
2 +1 Int Admin Liaison Computer
3 +1 Edu Carousing Vehicle Admin
4 +1 Soc Leader Broker Liaison
5 Carousing Bribery Computer Leader
6 Bribery Forgery Leader Jack-of-Trades
MISHAPS
1 Your private hit team messes up, implicating you in a dirty black ops strike.
2 A rival exec conducted a smear campaign against you, forcing you out of a job.
3 Your orders to a mining outpost got a lot of the workers killed.
4 Your ties to the underworld unravel – and you must leave the company.
5 The corporation rationalizes your department and you are ‘let go’.
6 Injured. Roll on the Injury Table.
 P a g e | 120

COLONIST
A new life awaits you in the Off-World Colonies, it is a chance to leave behind the
poverty of an Enterprise Zone to begin again in a golden land of opportunity and
adventure. You need to be independent and hard-working, and you will learn to
fend for yourself as a farm technician or colony worker. Your skills are varied and
useful, from vehicle operations to wilderness survival, mechanical repair to
marksmanship. Be a homesteader - a colonist - a next generation human.

RANK & AUTOMATIC SKILLS

0 Colonist
1 Team Leader
2 Supervisor
3 Department Chief
4 Assistant Operations Manager
5 Operations Manager
6 Colonial Administrator

CAREER MUSTER OUT

1 Standard Ticket
QUALIFY END 5+ 2 +1 Int
SURVIVAL END 6+ 3 Weapon
COMMISSION INT 7+ 4 Standard Ticket
ADVANCE EDU 6+ 5 Standard Ticket
RE-ENLIST 5+ 6 Elite Ticket
7 +1 Soc

PERSONAL SERVICE SPECIALIST ADVANCED

DEVELOPMENT SKILLS SKILLS EDUCATION
SKILLS
1 +1 Str Mechanical Loader Medical
2 +1 Dex Gun Combat Carousing Agriculture
3 +1 End Agriculture Jack-of-Trades Jack-of-Trades
4 +1 Int Electronics Engineering Liaison
5 Brawling Survival Agriculture Admin
6 Gun Combat Vehicle Vehicle Leader

MISHAPS
1 A colony accident left you injured. Roll on the Injury Table.
2 Your colony is struck by disaster and you took some of the blame.
3 New colonial leaders decided you and your crew were troublemakers.
4 A civil disturbance was put down by the corporation. Roll on the Injury Table.
5 You outgrew the colony. You didn’t fit in anymore.
6 Your ideas are revolutionary and unpopular - colonists attacked you and your settlement.
 P a g e | 121

COMMERCIAL SPACER
Cargo provides the life-blood of interstellar society
and you will man the commercial starships that ply
this far-flung network. Missions are often months-
long, but the destinations can range from busy
orbital stations to remote mining outposts. You will
be technically competent; perhaps a star pilot, chief
engineer, cargo loadmaster or navigator, and your
role will be crucial to the operation of the vessel. See
the Universe - Make a Difference -Get Paid!

RANK & AUTOMATIC SKILLS

0 Crewman
1 Fourth Officer
2 Third Officer
3 Second Officer
4 First Officer [Pilot 1]
5 Captain
6 Senior Captain

CAREER MUSTER OUT

1 Standard Ticket
QUALIFY INT 4+ 2 +1 Edu
SURVIVAL INT 5+ 3 Weapon
COMMISSION INT 5+ 4 Elite Ticket
ADVANCE EDU 8+ 5 +1 Int
RE-ENLIST 4+ 6 Elite Ticket
7 Star Envoy Club Member

PERSONAL SERVICE SPECIALIST ADVANCED

DEVELOPMENT SKILLS SKILLS EDUCATION
SKILLS
1 +1 Str Comms Vacc Suit Medical
2 +1 Dex Bribery Mechanical Computer
3 +1 End Gun Combat Loader Broker
4 +1 Str Loader Electronics Pilot
5 Brawling Broker Steward Engineering
6 Vacc Suit Vehicle Navigation Navigation

MISHAPS
1 Caught smuggling illegal goods; you take the blame for your starline and are fired.
2 Your starship is being scrapped and your crew retired.
3 Your ship is destroyed and as the only survivor, you receive the blame.
4 Substance abuse destroys your career.
5 Your ship is hijacked and your crew are all badly treated. Roll on the Injury Table.
6 Injured. Roll on the Injury Table.
 P a g e | 122

MARINE
Semper fidelis - 'Always Faithful'. You want to join
the military, you want to join the best. The US
Marine Corps is the world's premier rapid reaction
commando force, a full-equipped army that can
move anywhere to carry out any task at short
notice. And now it has access to the stars. Trained
for war, you will also be expected to deal with
hostile predators on alien worlds, in the most
extreme conditions imaginable.

RANK & AUTOMATIC SKILLS

Non-Commissioned Officer
0 Private [Gun Combat 1] -
1 Lance Corporal Lieutenant
2 Corporal Captain
3 Sergeant Major
4 Staff Sergeant Lieut. Colonel
5 Gunnery Sergeant Colonel
6 Master Sergeant General

CAREER MUSTER OUT

1 Standard Ticket
QUALIFY INT 4+ 2 Silver Star and +1 Soc
SURVIVAL END 6+ 3 +1 Edu
COMMISSION EDU 9+ 4 Weapon
ADVANCE EDU 6+ 5 Star Envoy Club Member
RE-ENLIST 6+ 6 Elite Ticket
7 +2 Edu

PERSONAL SERVICE SPECIALIST ADVANCED

DEVELOPMENT SKILLS SKILLS EDUCATION
SKILLS
1 +1 Str Vehicle Vehicle Medical
2 +1 Dex Vacc Suit Mechanical Tactics
3 +1 End Gun Combat Electronic Tactics
4 Gambling Survival Demolitions Computer
5 Brawling Gun Combat Recon Leader
6 Blade Combat Vacc Suit Hvy Weapons Admin

MISHAPS
1 During a mission you are captured and injured, when released you are honourably discharged.
2 You argue with a senior officer who drives you out of the Marines.
3 Injured while on duty. Roll on the Injury Table.
4 Battle injury. Roll twice on the Injury, using only the lower result. You receive a Purple Heart.
5 You were involved in an illegal operation, your conscience forces you to resign.
6 Fighting hostile alien exomorphs, you save colonists, but are injured. Roll on the Injury Table.
 P a g e | 123

MARSHAL
Human nature never changes, you know this and it’s probably why you're
interested in joining the Marshal Service. Crime has spread out from Earth into the
American Sector and the Federal Marshals are the most effective way to counter it.
Trafficking of drugs, weapons and humans must be thwarted. Crime gangs extort
money from vulnerable colonists and miners, or try to skim profits from the
operations. You might not have any back up - but you have your training, your
wits and your integrity.

RANK & AUTOMATIC SKILLS

0 Deputy [Investigate 1]
1 Senior Deputy
2 Supervisory Deputy
3 Assistant Chief
4 Chief Deputy
5 Marshal
6 Division Chief

CAREER MUSTER OUT

1 Standard Ticket
QUALIFY INT 7+ 2 Elite Ticket
SURVIVAL DEX 6+ 3 +2 Int
COMMISSION EDU 8+ 4 +1 Edu
ADVANCE INT 7+ 5 Weapon
RE-ENLIST 5+ 6 Elite Ticket
7 +1 Soc

PERSONAL SERVICE SPECIALIST ADVANCED

DEVELOPMENT SKILLS SKILLS EDUCATION
SKILLS
1 +1 Str Streetwise Gun Combat Medical
2 +1 Dex Brawling Comms Tactics
3 +1 End Brawling Ground Vehicle Investigate
4 +1 Int Investigate Security Computer
5 +1 Edu Recon Computer Tactics
6 +1 Soc Gun Combat Medical Admin

MISHAPS
1 A riot or disturbance breaks out and several marshals are injured. Roll on the Injury Table.
2 A deputy in the team works for a crime boss and sets you up.
3 You uncover a drugs ring at an outpost, but the manager is in on it and tries to have you killed.
4 A crime-lord bought off your team, forcing you to quit.
5 Your team were killed in a fouled mission – and it was your fault.
6 Injured while on duty. Roll on the Injury Table.
 P a g e | 124

MILITARY SPACER
Space Command represents the most powerful arm of the United States military
and you will be a crucial member of this service. Its starships cross hyperspace to
defend American Off-World Colonies as well as the remote outposts of American
corporations. You may be a pilot or engineer, a weapons officer or sensor
operator, technically competent, highly motivated and extremely well trained.

RANK & AUTOMATIC SKILLS

Non-Commissioned Officer
0 Airman [Vacc Suit 1] -
1 Airman First Class Lieutenant
2 Senior Airman Captain
3 Sergeant Major
4 Staff Sergeant Lieutenant Colonel
5 Technical Sergeant Colonel [+1 Soc]
6 Master Sergeant General

CAREER MUSTER OUT

1 Distinguished Flying Cross and+1 Soc
QUALIFY INT 6+ 2 +1 Edu
SURVIVAL INT 5+ 3 +2 Edu
COMMISSION SOC 7+ 4 Elite Ticket
ADVANCE EDU 6+ 5 Standard Ticket
RE-ENLIST 5+ 6 Elite Ticket
7 Star Envoy Club Member

PERSONAL SERVICE SPECIALIST ADVANCED

DEVELOPMENT SKILLS SKILLS EDUCATION
SKILLS
1 +1 Str Vacc Suit Gunnery Medical
2 +1 Dex Computer Mechanical Navigation
3 +1 End Vacc Suit Electronics Engineering
4 +1 Int Gunnery Engineering Computer
5 +1 Edu Brawling Gunnery Pilot
6 +1 Soc Gun Combat Comms Admin

MISHAPS
1 An accident is blamed on you. Several crewmen were killed and you were discharged.
2 Your starship attacks a civilian ship by mistake, tarnishing the careers of all the crew involved.
3 You argue with a senior officer who drives you out of Space Command.
4 Injured while on duty. Roll on the Injury Table.
5 A deadly alien infestation on-board ship that you survive is covered up by Space Command.
6 You are wounded during an interstellar battle. Roll on the Injury Table.
 P a g e | 125

PHYSICIAN
Medical facilities are in short supply across the Off-World Colonies, your skill as a
doctor makes you a valuable asset for any starship, outpost, colony or mine. And
don't think you will be dispensing medicines all day - you will often be faced with
the Unknown and called upon to provide answers. Alien parasites, alien plagues
and illnesses, and the strange toxic effects of local wildlife are just some of the
challenges you are likely to face.

RANK & AUTOMATIC SKILLS

0 Medical Student [Medical 1]
1 Intern [Medical +1]
2 Junior Doctor [Medical +1]
3 Doctor
4 Doctor
5 Consultant
6 Senior Consultant

CAREER MUSTER OUT

1 Standard Ticket
QUALIFY INT 9+ 2 +1 Edu
SURVIVAL INT 3+ 3 +1 Edu
COMMISSION EDU 6+ 4 Elite Ticket
ADVANCE EDU 8+ 5 Trauma Kit
RE-ENLIST 4+ 6 Elite Ticket
7 +1 Soc

PERSONAL SERVICE SPECIALIST ADVANCED

DEVELOPMENT SKILLS SKILLS EDUCATION
SKILLS
1 +1 Str +1 Dex Liaison Liaison
2 +1 Dex Electronics Investigate Medical
3 +1 End Medical Mechanical Admin
4 +1 Int Streetwise Electronics Computer
5 +1 Edu Medical Computer +1 Int
6 +1 Soc Investigate Admin +1 Edu

MISHAPS
1 Your work is sabotaged and blackened by a third party. Lose all benefits.
2 A disaster with several casualties is blamed on you. Roll on the Injury Table.
3 You are involved in illegal research and rumours are spread about you. Reduce Soc by 1.
4 You win a malpractice suit, but are forced to leave the profession.
5 You are responsible for several deaths, serve several months in prison and are then released.
6 A rival corporation attacks your facility/operation. Roll on the Injury Table.
 P a g e | 126

RANGER
Garden worlds (Earth-like or nearly Earth-like) are scattered across the Core. You
will immerse yourself in the local environment to provide knowledge and skills that
will be invaluable to your colonial brethren. You will be a wilderness and survival
expert who can carry out search and rescue operations, resource identification and
serve as a scout and guide for colonial expeditions across the planet. Members of
the Action For Peace Foundation (see. Pg.63) are also Rangers.

RANK & AUTOMATIC SKILLS

0 Ranger [Survival 1]
1 Assistant Team Leader
2 Team Leader
3 Deputy Chief Ranger
4 Chief Ranger
5 Area Commander
6 District Commander

CAREER MUSTER OUT

1 Standard Ticket
QUALIFY END 9+ 2 Standard Ticket
SURVIVAL STR 6+ 3 Weapon
COMMISSION INT 5+ 4 Weapon
ADVANCE END 6+ 5 +1 Dex
RE-ENLIST 5+ 6 +2 Str
7 Elite Ticket

PERSONAL SERVICE SPECIALIST ADVANCED

DEVELOPMENT SKILLS SKILLS EDUCATION
SKILLS
1 +1 Str Gun Combat Mechanical Medical
2 +1 Dex Gun Combat Electronics Computer
3 +1 End Survival Comms Jack-of-Trades
4 +1 Int Recon Recon Leader
5 Gun Combat Ground Vehicle Ground Vehicle Medical
6 Blade Combat Survival Survival Mechanical

MISHAPS
1 Injured on duty. Roll on Injury Table.
2 Your team locates a valiable resource, but a rival group siezes the site and claims it for their
corporation.
3 An expedition ends in disaster, people are killed.
4 Attacked by dangerous alien exomorph. Roll on Injury Table.
5 You were lost in the wilderness and suffered exposure, after vehicle crash.
6 Your team fails to rescue a high status casualty stranded in the wilds.
 P a g e | 127

ROGUE
The future's for you. They don't tell you that. Colonies. Corporations. Government
EZ's. But we've got brothers out there in the stars. You wanna join the gang, make
some money - sure, but we've got connections on colonies and planets and in star
systems. You can cut and kill - prove yourself. Make us some money and sure,
we'll be proud of you. Give you a slice of the action: a drugs ring, a hit, busting
some marshal's face. The future's for you cholo.

RANK & AUTOMATIC SKILLS

0 Cholo [Streetwise 1]
1 Soldier [Blade Cbt 1]
2 Veteran
3 Lieutenant
4 Captain
5 Right Hand
6 General

CAREER MUSTER OUT

1 Standard Ticket
QUALIFY END 6+ 2 +1 Soc
SURVIVAL INT 6+ 3 Weapon
COMMISSION STR 8+ 4 Weapon
ADVANCE INT 6+ 5 Elite Ticket
RE-ENLIST 5+ 6 +1 End
7 Star Envoy Club Member

PERSONAL SERVICE SPECIALIST ADVANCED

DEVELOPMENT SKILLS SKILLS EDUCATION
SKILLS
1 +1 Str Blade Combat Streetwise Tactics
2 +1 Dex Gun Combat Forgery Bribery
3 +1 End Brawling Bribery Forgery
4 Brawling Vehicle Demolition Computer
5 Blade Combat Recon Security Leader
6 Carousing Vehicle Blade Combat Jack-of-Trades

MISHAPS
1 A job goes horribly wrong, you get the blame.
2 Arrested and convicted.
3 Criminal successes are followed by violent retaliations from a rival gang. Roll on the Injury Table.
4 Your crew make a bitter enemy, a police officer, and must lay low.
5 A gang rival forces you out of the organization.
6 Injured in a gang battle. Roll on the Injury Table.
 P a g e | 128

ROUGHNECK
They call you a 'roughneck', but its not an insult, its a
mark of respect. You will be working long shifts,
operating heavy equipment and in some very
hazardous environments. From oil drilling to rig
operations, mining to equipment driving, you will be in
high demand across the Outer Rim. You will need to
be technically adept as well as tough, independent and
a team player. The pay is good, but it has to be - it
includes your danger money.

RANK & AUTOMATIC SKILLS

0 Roustabout [Vacc Suit-1]
1 Floorhand
2 Assistant Driller
3 Driller
4 Toolpusher
5 Superintendant
6 General Manager

CAREER MUSTER OUT

1 Standard Ticket
QUALIFY DEX 8+ 2 Standard Ticket
SURVIVAL INT 6+ 3 Weapon
COMMISSION STR 8+ 4 Elite Ticket
ADVANCE END 7+ 5 +1 Edu
RE-ENLIST 7+ 6 +1 Int
7 Elite Ticket

PERSONAL SERVICE SPECIALIST ADVANCED

DEVELOPMENT SKILLS SKILLS EDUCATION
SKILLS
1 +1 Str Vacc Suit Streetwise Navigation
2 +1 Dex Mining Electronic Medical
3 +1 End Vacc Suit Ground Vehicle Electronics
4 Gambling Demolitions Mechanical Computer
5 Vacc Suit Comms Mining Engineering
6 Brawling Ground Vehicle Mechanical Jack-of-Trades

MISHAPS
1 You suffer from illness caused by your work.
2 You are fired on a trumped up charge, just for speaking up for your comrades.
3 An accident is blamed on you, and you are fired.
4 Injured at work. Roll on the Injury Table.
5 You clash with your boss, who makes life too tough for you to continue.
6 Injured at work. Roll on the Injury Table.
 P a g e | 129

SCIENTIST
The further we travel out across the stars, the less we know... Your research work
in space will be fundamental to its exploitation and development, from cataloguing
new species to determining planetary climates, poisonous atmospheric contents
and even the causes of volcanism. Nothing can be taken for granted in the Off-
World Colonies. Your work could mean the difference between life and death,
profit and bankruptcy, success and catastrophe.

RANK & AUTOMATIC SKILLS

0 Researcher [Investigate 1]
1 Scientist
2 Senior Scientist
3 Deputy Science Leader
4 Science Leader
5 Assistant Director
6 Director

CAREER MUSTER OUT

1 Standard Ticket
QUALIFY EDU 6+ 2 Elite Ticket
SURVIVAL INT 3+ 3 Elite Ticket
COMMISSION EDU 5+ 4 +1 End
ADVANCE EDU 8+ 5 +1 Soc
RE-ENLIST 5+ 6 Weapon
7 Star Envoy Club Member

PERSONAL SERVICE SPECIALIST ADVANCED

DEVELOPMENT SKILLS SKILLS EDUCATION
SKILLS
1 +1 Str Gun Cbt Mechanical Medical
2 +1 Dex Comms Electronics Computer
3 +1 End Investigate Vacc Suit Admin
4 +1 Int Vehicle Computer Leader
5 +1 Edu Comms Investigate Navigation
6 +1 Int Survival Vehicle Jack-of-Trades

MISHAPS
1 Your work is sabotaged and blackened by a third party. Lose all benefits.
2 A rival corp attempts to kidnap you and steal your research; you must flee.
3 You are involved in illegal research and rumours are spread about you. Reduce Soc by 1.
4 An expedition goes wrong, resulting in several deaths.
5 Your experiments have unpredictable results, and the project is shut down for good.
6 A rival corporation attacks your facility/operation. Roll on the Injury Table.
 P a g e | 130

SURVEY SCOUT
Oil, platinum, beryllium, titanium, tantalum, lithium - music to the ears of any
Board of Directors. Your job as a corporate resource scout is to find these and
other lucrative materials on moons, planets and asteroids. You will be exploring,
prospecting, analyzing and then staking your claim. And you must do this before
teams from other corporations get there first.

RANK & AUTOMATIC SKILLS

0 Scout
1 Senior Scout [Pilot 1]
2 Supervisor
3 Mission Specialist
4 Senior Mission Specialist
5 Mission Chief
6 Operations Chief

CAREER MUSTER OUT

1 Standard Ticket
QUALIFY STR 7+ 2 +2 Int
SURVIVAL END 7+ 3 +1 Edu
COMMISSION INT 4+ 4 Weapon
ADVANCE END 8+ 5 Weapon
RE-ENLIST 3+ 6 Elite Ticket
7 Star Envoy Club Member

PERSONAL SERVICE SPECIALIST ADVANCED

DEVELOPMENT SKILLS SKILLS EDUCATION
SKILLS
1 +1 Str Vehicle Vehicle Medical
2 +1 Dex Vacc Suit Mechanical Navigation
3 +1 End Mechanical Electronics Engineering
4 +1 Int Mining Investigate Computer
5 +1 Edu Comms Gunnery Pilot
6 Gun Combat Mining Medical Jack-of-Trades

MISHAPS
1 Injured on duty. Roll on Injury Table.
2 Crash on remote planet. Roll on Injury Table.
3 Your team locates a valiable resource, but a rival group siezes the site and claims it for their
corporation.
4 An expedition ends in disaster and you are blamed for it.
5 Attacked by dangerous alien exomorph. Roll on Injury Table.
6 You are sent to a location by an corporate exec, but he knows it is dangerous, and your crew are
badly injured. He threatens to blame everything on you.
 P a g e | 131

TECHNICIAN
Everyone is out in space building better worlds - only they can't do it without you.
Skilled engineers and technicians hold interstellar society together, and when
something goes wrong, you will be the first on the scene to work out what
happened and how it can be fixed. Technicians rarely have the back-up that their
Earth-bound counterparts enjoy, and so you will be paid to come up with creative
solutions to difficult challenges.

RANK & AUTOMATIC SKILLS

0 Technician [Electronics 1 OR Mechanical 1]
1 Team Leader
2 Supervisor
3 Department Chief
4 Assistant Technical Manager
5 Technical Manager
6 Administrator

CAREER MUSTER OUT

1 Standard Ticket
QUALIFY EDU 7+ 2 Elite Ticket
SURVIVAL INT 4+ 3 Weapon
COMMISSION EDU 4+ 4 +1 Int
ADVANCE EDU 8+ 5 +1 Edu
RE-ENLIST 5+ 6 +1 Dex
7 +2 Edu

PERSONAL SERVICE SPECIALIST ADVANCED

DEVELOPMENT SKILLS SKILLS EDUCATION
SKILLS
1 +1 Str Vehicle Investigate Mechanical
2 +1 Dex Electronics Vehicle Computer
3 +1 End Mechanical Computer Admin
4 +1 Int Comms Security Electronics
5 +1 Edu Vacc Suit Engineering Engineering
6 +1 Edu Loader Jack-of-Trades Jack-of-Trades

MISHAPS
1 Injured on duty. Roll on Injury Table.
2 Catastrophic fire is caused by your negligence.
3 A rival takes all the credit for your 'big project'.
4 You achieve great things during a terrible disaster. Roll on Injury Table.
5 You miscalculate and an important project fails.
6 You clash with your boss, who makes life too tough for you to continue.
 P a g e | 132

SKILLS

PERSONNEL Form 01/FGW/600932-D

OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Returned PSSS Date

Name ICO UNIVERSAL PERSONALITY PROFILE

STR DEX END INT EDU SOC

ICO Lvl
Job Title Training & Skills

Rank

Terms/Age
/
Nationality

Videofone No.

Attach Photo

Personal Details

Work History
al
List of Current
Belongings

Current Balance: (̈́):

“Hire for Attitude” Signature:

“Train for Skill” [Stay within the box]

ICO 67300-231 FPLLD -0056-X SECOND SERIES

 P a g e | 133

SKILLS
Administration: The character has experience with bureaucratic agencies, and
understands the requirements of dealing with and managing them. When attempting tasks
like avoiding police harassment, ensuring the prompt issuance of licenses, approval of
applications, avoidance of close inspection of papers, etc., a successful Admin skill check
will provide a positive outcome to the situation. Dealing with administrators and
bureaucrats is always a time consuming and tedious chore, which somehow seems to play
a common part in Cepheus Engine adventures. No special skills are needed to deal with
bureaucrats, but characters with the Administration skill will be familiar with their ways
and find the task much smoother and easier.
Agriculture: The character can grow and harvest crops and raise animals. This also
covers hydroponic farming and clone harvesting for food production at sufficiently high
tech levels. On an ocean planet, this skill should instead be interpreted (and renamed) as
Aquaculture.
Aircraft: The character is familiar with the operation and daily maintenance of various
types of aircraft, including heavy transport planes, fast jets and types of helicopters and
tilt-rotors.
Brawling: The character is skilled at using their fists and feet in personal combat as well
as clubs and cudgels. This also encompasses martial arts and wrestling.
Blade Combat: The character is skilled in knife-fighting and can also wield swords, axes,
clubs and cudgels, spears and most other melee weapons effectively in hand-to-hand
combat.
Bribery: The character has experience in bribing petty and not-so petty officials in order
to circumvent regulations or ignore cumbersome laws. The amount of a bribe is often
based on the level of offense, as outlined below:

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If the bribe is less than the minimum bribe required, the attempt will automatically fail.
Characters may offer more than the minimum bribe required and receive a +1 DM for
each multiple of the bribe offered. If the first offer is refused, a character may make a
second attempt at twice the previous value of the bribe. If both attempts are refused
(failed), the Referee should have the character make a Social Standing check. If this also
fails, the character will be brought up on charges of attempted bribery. For example, a
character trying to bribe an official to ignore a minor smuggling infraction would have to
offer a minimum bribe of $200. If the character offered $400 instead the character could
gain a +1 DM on the check. If $600 were offered, the character could gain a +2 DM, etc.

Broker: A broker is skilled in locating suppliers and buyers, and facilitating the purchase
and resale of commercial goods, as per the Trade and Commerce rules.
Carousing: This skill reflects the interpersonal art of interacting and socializing with
others. The character is skilled in the art of small talk and making others feel at ease in
 P a g e | 134

their presence in almost any social situation, such as a party, ball, inauguration, bar
hopping, etc.
Comms: The character is trained in the use, repair, and maintenance of communications
and sensor devices. While anyone can press the button and make a communicator
function, this skill is necessary to understand why the device does not work, or how to use
the device for purposes other than open transmission. When using sensors, this skill
allows the character to interpret the long-range data of a ship's sensors and scanners.
Skilled characters can boost an incoming or outgoing signal, create or break a secure
channel, detect signals and anomalies, hide or piggyback on another signal, jam local
communications, locate and assess potential threats, and analyze complex sensor data.
Computer: The character is skilled in the programming and operation of electronic and
fiber optic computers, both ground and shipboard models. A character without at least
some computer training might find himself at disadvantage in the highly technical universe
of science fiction. Anyone with Computer-0 or better can perform the following without a
skill check: Log on to a data network, send and receive messages, search for non-
classified information, and retrieve data and files. More skilled users can create or break
data encryption; mine data effectively; create or break data and network security
protocols; and perform other general programming tasks.
Demolitions: This skill covers the use of demolition charges and other explosive devices,
including assembling or disarming bombs.
Electronics: The character is practiced in installing, using, maintaining, repairing and/or
creating electronic devices and equipment. The character can practice a trade and make a
decent living, earning a pay-check for every week of dedicated work. The character knows
how to use the tools of the trade, how to perform routine tasks, how to supervise
untrained helpers, and how to handle common problems.
Engineering: The character is skilled in the operation and maintenance of starship
maneuver drives hyperdrives, and power plants. The character can practice a trade and
make a decent living, earning a pay-check for every week of dedicated work. The
character knows how to use the tools of the trade, how to perform routine tasks, how to
supervise untrained helpers, and how to handle common problems. Engineering is
particularly important in diverting power to the hyperdrive for a successful transition into
hyperspace.
Forgery: The character has skills in faking documents, currencies, and identification
badges in order to deceive officials, government agents and security forces. The roll for an
NPC to be convinced by a (forged) document is 8+; apply the following DMs: + Forgery
skill, -1 if the NPC has Admin or Bribery skill; +1 if the inspection is rushed.
Gambling: The individual is well informed on games of chance, and wise in their play. He
or she has an advantage over non-experts, and is generally capable of winning when
engaged in such games. Gambling, however, should not be confused with general risk-
taking.
Ground Vehicle: The character is familiar with the operation and daily maintenance of
both wheeled and tracked vehicles, including ATVs and Armoured Fighting Vehicles.
Gun Combat: The character is familiar with most types of high tech firearms, from pistols
and rifles to SMGs, lasers, machineguns and shotguns.
Gunnery: The character is skilled in the operation of weaponry mounted on spacecraft
including beam and pulse lasers, particle weapons, missile launchers and railguns.
Heavy Weapons: The Heavy Weapons skill covers purely military infantry support
weapons such as rocket launchers, heavy artillery guns, tactical missile launchers, grenade
launchers and high-velocity tank guns.
 P a g e | 135

Investigate: The character is familiar with scientific analysis and the use of complex and
accurate scientific tools and equipment. Investigate does not bring with it knowledge of an
academic subject, such things are represented by high scores in Education. Instead
Investigate is a physical and organizational skill, a forensic and analytical method used for
gathering clues. Investigate rolls can be used to assess or study a particular object or
location. A character with a high Investigate skill, but an average Edu score, might be a
lab technician or expedition support worker, or might be a detective or forensic expert.
Jack-of-Trades: The Jack of All Trades skill works differently to other skills. It reduces
the unskilled penalty a character receives for not having the appropriate skill by one for
every level of Jack of All Trades. Jack of All Trades cannot grant a skill bonus at higher
levels.
Leader: The character possesses the ability to rally, inspire, organize and direct team
efforts to ensure the best cooperation and productivity possible.
Coordinating Effort: Whenever a task requires one or more characters to combine their
efforts (i.e. Teamwork; each makes a skill or ability check towards a common goal), the
character gains a pool of points equal to the Effect of the skill check (minimum of 1),
which can be distributed by the leader to individual team members as DMs (grant a +1
DM per point) on skill or ability checks made toward the common goal.
Improving Initiative: The Leader skill can be used to increase another character's
Initiative. The character with Leader makes a Leader check, and the target character's
Initiative is increased by the Effect of the check. Making a Leader skill check is a
significant action.
Liaison: The character is trained in the art of dealing with others, including knowledge of
proper protocols, manners of address, codes of conduct and other information needed
when dealing with a wide range of societal types. Such a character is quite useful when
attempting to negotiate a particularly edgy deal, to convince the manager's secretary to
admit the party into the manager's presence, help settle a dispute between two opposing
groups, or other acts of negotiation and diplomacy. The character can also change others'
attitudes with a successful check. In negotiations, participants roll opposed Liaison checks
to see who gains the advantage. Opposed checks also resolve cases when two diplomats
are engaged in negotiations.
Loader: The character can operate, and carry out routine maintenance on, cargo loading
devices, everything from fork-lift trucks to cranes, augmented exoframe loaders and all
forms of starship loading equipment. Use of this skill might be called for to load outsized
or unusual cargoes, to speed up the cargo loading process significantly, or to use a loader
for a task it was not specifically designed for.
Mechanical: The character is practiced in installing, using, maintaining, repairing and/or
creating mechanical devices and equipment. The character can practice a trade and make
a decent living, earning a paycheck for every week of dedicated work. The character
knows how to use the tools of the trade, how to perform routine tasks, how to supervise
untrained helpers, and how to handle common problems.
Medical: The individual has training and skill in the medical arts and sciences, from
diagnosis and triage to surgery and other corrective treatments. This skill represents a
character's ability to provide emergency care, short term care, long-term care, and
specialized treatment for diseases, poisons and debilitating injuries.
 P a g e | 136

Mining: The character has experience and training in prospecting and mining, both on a
world surface and in a zero-G environment. It includes the use of mining equipment and
machinery.
Navigation: The character is trained in the science of both normal and hyperspace
navigation. The navigator on a starship plots the course and ensures that the astrogational
information required by the pilot and other crewmembers is available when it is needed.
This skill includes the ability to determine a ship's new location after a hyperspace jump
ends, plotting a standard course through normal space, and plotting a hyperspace route
through hyperspace.
Pilot: The individual has training and experience in the operation of interplanetary and
interstellar spacecraft. Piloting expertise is necessary to handle such craft, though a check
is usually only made when circumstances become challenging, such as due to rough
atmospheric conditions or hostile action.
Recon: This skill represents the ability to scout out dangers and spot threats, unusual
objects or out of place people. Characters skilled in Recon are adept at staying unseen
and unheard when needed.
Security: The character is skilled in the installation and also the bypassing or dismantling
of security measures, from mechanical locks to swipe-card locks, keypad locks,
surveillance cameras and various types of alarms and their triggers.
Steward: The Steward skill allows the character to serve and care for VIPs and high-class
passengers. This includes knowledge of concierge duties, housekeeping services, meal
preparation and presentation, personal grooming assistance and valet service, as well as
proper social etiquette.
Streetwise: A character with the Streetwise skill understands the urban environment and
the power structures in criminal society. A skilled character knows where to go for
information, how to handle strangers without offending them, and who can handle
activities bordering on the fringe of legality.
Survival: The character is skilled in the art of survival in the wild, including hunting or
trapping animals, avoiding exposure, locating sources of food and fresh water (if
available), producing fires (where possible), finding shelter, avoiding dangerous flora and
fauna, avoiding getting lost, and dealing with the dangers of hazardous climates (arctic,
desert, etc.).
Tactics: This skill covers tactical planning and decision making, from board games to
squad level combat to fleet engagements.
Vacc Suit: The character is acclimated to working and living in micro-gravity
environments and freefall. The character is trained and familiar with the use of weapons
and combat in such environments. In addition, the individual has been trained in the
wearing, care, and maintenance of all types of vacuum suits, hostile environment suits
and combat armor commonly used in these conditions.
Vehicle (Cascade Skill): The various specialties of this skill cover different types of
planetary transportation. When this skill is received, the character must immediately select
one of the following: Aircraft, Ground Vehicle or Watercraft.
Watercraft: The character is familiar with the operation and daily maintenance of various
types of ocean or water-going craft including motorboats, hydrofoils, hovercraft,
submarines and large commercial ships.
 P a g e | 137

Tough conditions on Goldstone for roustabout,

Josh Renner
 P a g e | 138

The universe of HOSTILE is not ours; it conjures up a future

imagined by film-makers and writers at the start of the
1980s. It is a future without wi-fi, without smart-phones
and without touchscreen technology – it is a retro-future.
As referee you might want to skip that and drop our
modern 21st century technology right back in, and that is
absolutely fine! But the equipment in this section works on
the assumptions of this retro-setting.

The following section lists examples of common equipment

that adventurers may want. Aside from armor and
weapons, each listing notes the object's name and a basic
description. An item with no weight or size given can be
carried or worn without difficulty. Additional lines of
explanation are given where considered necessary.

The largest conglomerates diversify any business risk by participating in a number of The
 P a g e | 139

ARMOR
Armor reduces the amount of damage a character takes from a hit, based on the type of
armor worn. The armor rating for a set of armor is equal to the amount of damage
reduced by the armor when you are hit in combat. A hit with Effect 6+ always inflicts at
least one point of damage, regardless of the target’s armor. Unless otherwise noted, only
one type of armor can be worn at a time.

Armor Rating (AR)

The amount of damage reduced by the armor when an attack strikes the character.

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Armor Descriptions
Enforcer M21 Rigid Plated Armor: Enforcer Armaments Corporation produces ERPA or
rigid plated armor that is made of a composite alloy shell - mainly titanium aluminide alloy
over a layer of boron carbide resin fixed to a core of carbon-fiber. A Kevlar/Salar woven
liner rounds off the protection. It comes in the form of a helmet; a full-torso, clamshell-
style, rigid body shell; and a set of lower leg guards. The Enforcer M34 Helmet features
microphone, tactical camera, slide-down protective visor and an integral Zenith PRC-45
short-range radio. This is exclusively military or paramilitary. Cost $3250. Weight 4 kg.
Hewison M5 Integrated Combat Suit: In environments where the warfighter requires
complete environmental protection, then Hewison Industries offers the M5 Integrated
Combat Suit. This full-body suit provides protection in vacuum, high or low temperature,
against biological or chemical agents, in atmospheres that are unbreathable and against
radiation typically found in a hard vacuum (decreasing exposure by up to 40 rads/hr). It
can support a soldier for six hours much like a standard space suit, but the M5 is made of
Kevlar and Salar woven layers sandwiching ceramic plates. Titanium-carbide plates
reinforce vulnerable areas and these rigid sections are backed by carbon-fiber. To reduce
radar signature, the suit is coated with radar-absorbent neoprene polymer impregnated
with conductive carbon black particles. The suit includes a Zenith PRC-45 radio, multi-
beam flashlight, tethers and equipment pockets, TapTint™ anti-flash visor technology and
thermal masking. This last feature provides the infantryman with a modicum of stealth
against infra-red sensor devices: heat is sunk into a chill can which must be replaced after
one-hour of use. The M5 is exclusively frontline military. Cost $20,000. Weight 18 kg.
 P a g e | 140

McConnell 456 Soft Suit: The soft vacc suit can be used in a vacuum, 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. Because of this, hard suits are instead
routinely used for work in a vacuum or near vacuum. Soft suits, meanwhile, are used 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.
Stern B Ballistic Vest: This tactical vest protects the torso, and is worn over clothing.
Made of woven Salar and Kevlar ballistic cloths, with hardened light-weight K-type ceramic
inserts, the vest is good for protection against low-caliber rounds and high-velocity
fragmentation. In a variety of colors, or camo patterns. Includes lots of pockets for
carrying ammo and equipment. Cost $450. Weight 2 kg.
Stern C Concealable Vest: A light-weight soft ballistic vest for the torso made of impact
resistant Salar and Kevlar fibers. The fabric absorbs impact energy and spreads it over the
torso, which can result in bruising. It can be effectively concealed under normal clothing
although observers making an Int check at 8+ will notice something unusual. Cost $500.
Weight 1 kg.
Tharsis A38 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. Cost
$9,000. Weight 9 kg.
Tharsis H200 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. HEV 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. Cost $18,000. Weight 40 kg.

CLOTHING
What do you wear in the future? Out amongst the Off-World Colonies, the mining
outposts, the commercial starships and the space stations, the world of the future is a
world of work. Airforce-style flight suits are the norm on board ship, one-piece work-suits
made of fireproof Nomex, covered in zippered pockets for stowing checklists, flight-plans,
tools and equipment. These suits sport the crew patch and the company logo. Jackets,
equally blessed with pockets and equipment loops, are provided. For times when the crew
are off-duty, cargo pants and short-sleeved shirts are provided by the Company. They
even offer baseball caps decorated with the ship’s own ‘mission patch’. But - you’re a long
way from base, and you can mix and match if you like. Want to wear the jacket onboard?
Want to wear your off-duty gear while manning your workstation? Well, how strict is your
captain?
 P a g e | 141

For miners, similar rules apply. Being shipped everywhere in a hypersleep chamber means
that your baggage allowance is a pittance, you can forget a row of suitcases – most of
your clothing will be provided by the Company, even for your off-duty time. Perhaps you
can squeeze in a Hawaiian shirt or a muscle top, maybe some fancy boots or a Stetson…
but you’re a Company man in Company territory. It’s the same for the Marshals, the
management, the office staff… you’re on the job. Don’t forget it. Many companies dish out
colour-coded clothing to assist in recognition, increasing performance and helping to
maintain safety regulations; it’s worked for the deck crews of US aircraft carriers for
decades. Typically, blue work-suits are worn by maintenance personnel and orange by
miners, whilst drivers and equipment operators wear red; management and admin often
wear white. A suit and tie is a rare thing, most often seen on the Off-World Colony bases,
where dramatic board meetings occur to discuss gains and losses in the order of millions
of dollars.

Earth and the colonies are slightly different, here we have established settlements, and
those with hundreds of thousands or even millions of inhabitants, will see the typical
diversity in clothing that we see here on Earth. It is out on the edges of those settlements,
in the deserts and on planets with only a few hundred brave settlers, that the colonists
revert to work-wear. Work-suits are worn on all of the smaller colonial projects, along with
baseball caps, jackets and cargo pants – it is , after all, utilitarian and useful clothing.

Let’s not forget footwear. When mining or on EVA, of course, the vacc suits have their
own integral footwear. For tramping around an outpost, mine, station or starship then all
you need are those Company shoes: probably Converse with ruggedized soles, or perhaps
Reebok Stompers or some other type of Off-World sneaker. Marines of course need
military boots, and it is not surprising that many other units and organizations equip their
employees with similar footwear. US Marines issue their troops with either M3 Jungle
Boots (featuring olive fabric sides, and drain holes through the black leather uppers) or
the famous SSG Commando Tactical boot which has proven so popular throughout the
Outer Rim with both security forces and established military units.

COMMUNICATORS
In HOSTILE, the revolution in communications
wasn’t the cellphone, but the videophone. There
are videophones in cars, on office desks, in bars
and clubs, railway stations and airports, space
stations, starship corridors and apartments. And of
course they exist in public phone booths, too. But
don’t think that these phones are all simply dial-
and-talk interfaces, most can also accept data
cards. Some of these are business cards that,
when slotted into the phone, ring the employee at
the business automatically.

Fone cards are more commonly used by individuals to store all of their encrypted personal
details, very much like a modern-day SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card. A person
slots their fone card into the video phone and this brings up a menu on screen of that
 P a g e | 142

person’s contact list and their numbers, which the phone can then dial. Included on the
data card is an electronic diary. These fone cards can be slotted into a bank terminal and
topped up with funds.

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Zenith ZLR Uplink Transmitter: Pack-mounted, tight-beam transmitter capable of

contact with ships in orbit. The transmitter must be emplaced on its tripod before it can be
utilized and details of the ship’s orbit must be available to the landing party. The ship must
be above the horizon for the link to be established, on most worlds this will be roughly
one-third of the time. High orbits allow longer transmission times, but consequently longer
periods of time when the ship is on the other side of the planet, below the horizon.
CRM 150 Base Station Transmitter: A long-distance radio suited more for vehicle or
ground station use. It is capable of up to 200 km range and has five separate channels.
Aztec AA-2 Field Radio: Belt-carried or pack-mounted radio set capable of up to 50 km
range, and contact with official radio channels. It has five separate channels.
Gulfstar 20 Hand Radio: Hand-held radio capable of 10 km range (much shorter
underground or underwater).
Gulfstar Headset: A headset with boom mike and coil cable that jacks into any of the
radios to allow hands free, voice-activated, communication.
Comlink America VID Video-Fone: A desktop videophone with keypad, card-reader
and color screen. Identical units can be found in cars and taxis.
 P a g e | 143

COMPUTERS
Fitting the retro-tech setting of HOSTILE, computing more resembles the systems of the
late 1980s than those of the early 21st century. Key differences are a lack of wi-fi cable-
less technology and the absence of ultra-miniaturization of computing. There are no palm
computers or smart phones and touch screen technology does not exist. None of this
means to say the computers in 2225 are not powerful and versatile machines, it’s just that
they have a number of minor limitations which we in the twenty-teens, are no longer
familiar with. Forget full-color LCD or plasma screens, too, the cathode-ray tube (CRT)
monitors in HOSTILE are monochrome, typically green, although amber, blue and even
white displays are in use (the actual color depends on the type of phosphor being used to
create the display.

Mainframes are a big-business standard. Corporations use mainframes, as do starships.

These powerful computers are supported by a wired network that can be accessed via one
or more workstations. Each workstation resembles a modern personal computer (PC), with
keyboard and cathode-ray tube monitor (CRT). Mainframes weigh around 100 kg and are
usually fitted into a small purpose-built computer room with one or more terminals (see
below). Use the computers listed in the Starship Construction chapter.

Workstations are used to provide outputs from the mainframe and to allow access to its
capabilities. Workstations are often used in factories, on colonies and on board starships
and space-stations. Used to access a mainframe, the workstation has a rating of Model/0
(it does not run its own programs). Workstations, however, can also be stand-alone
computers, much like modern-day PCs. They have integral processors and memory hard
drives with their own dedicated software. Workstations in some installations or businesses
will often be connected to one another via a wired network and can be rated as a Model/1
to a Model/4. A workstation weighs around 10kg (without chair and console unit) and
costs $250.

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Portable terminals are available; these

stand-alone computers resemble modern
laptops with hinged cases and often run
dedicated software; however they must be
connected to the hardware they control via a
cable. Controls for complex field equipment
require these dedicated laptops, often
supplied in tough, anti-shock cases with
integral carry handles. Portable terminals like
this are supplied with remote sentry guns,
uplink transmitters, portable radars and
drones - amongst other things. Portable
terminals weigh 5 kg and are rated from
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Data Cards are the main method of mobile information storage and resemble modern-
day smart cards. A data card resembles a credit card in size and shape but it is more than
a piece of plastic. The inside of a data card contains an embedded microprocessor. Data
cards may have up to 1 gigabyte of RAM as well as a 16-bit microprocessor; they use a
serial interface and receive their power from the card reader they are currently connected
to. Their weight is negligible and their cost is $5 each.

Optical Discs are used as a more powerful file

storage platform and are also the central format for
playing media (video and audio). The standard
Baumann GmbH MiniDisk series holds up to 15.9
gigabytes of data and each glass disc is permanently
mounted within a small, rectangular plastic case. The
disc itself can withstand extreme temperatures and
pressures and is predicted to hold its data internally for
millennia. Their weight is negligible and their cost is
$15 each.

Disc Player: A portable unit with flip-up color screen

which can play MiniDisks. It incorporates built-in speakers and a storage area within the
case for up to twenty Baumann MiniDisks. Although most Portable Terminals have
MiniDisk readers, they are only able to read data from the discs and do not have the
capability to play video or audio. For that the character will require a dedicated Disc Player
with its color screen capabilities. Weight is 2 kg and cost is $250.
 P a g e | 145

PASS-Card: Most governments issue a

single data ID card that serves many
purposes, similar to the modern-day ID
card that was introduced by the Malaysian
government in 2001. This mandatory
American ID card (known as the ‘PASS’
card) includes fingerprint, retina print and
photo information, as well as name and
government registration number. For
those who drive it includes driving license
details and may also include health and
insurance information. The American PASS Card also serves as a banking card, since
financial institutions can rely on its security algorithms. Use it as a bank debit card at
ATMs, or, if you work Off-World frequently, as a stored-currency card. Load the PASS-Card
with dollars before you travel, then have them available to pay for goods and services at
your colony destination or mining outpost. The modern United States Navy operates a
similar system today, called the ‘Navy Cash’ scheme. Extra funds can always be ordered
via the hyperspace relay Network, and when they have arrived (at the speed of
communication) the user will be automatically called by video-fone and an on screen alert
will prompt him to insert his data card to add the transferred funds to the card. Lost cards
can be cancelled with a single video-fone call and a new one will be dispatched. If the
owner is on some lonely colony world, the government there can supply a temporary card,
with registration and ID details as well as a basic currency balance. Weight is negligible
and replacement cost is $100.

The Data Network: Working in an orbital hab, an outpost or in the science bay of a
starship, a character will have access to a Local Area Network (LAN) which constantly
monitors machinery, environmental readings and subsystems using telemetry – things like
ATVs, vacc suits and drones – all in real time. Of course the LAN also features extensive
memory files and scientific software, but it is mainly concerned with monitoring and
controlling a complex piece of machinery. Some corporations and other organisations run
their own LANs known as intranets, closed systems that allow access to wider nets only
through established data gateways.

A data network exists in 2225 that not only covers the entire Earth, but stations
throughout the Solar System and all of the Off-World Colonies and outposts as far as the
Outer Rim. It exists where communication exists, data piggy-backing on com-lines to allow
computers to transfer data and to communicate with one another. Today we call this the
Internet, in HOSTILE it is known as the Integrated Data Network (IDN, or simply,
‘Network’). Because communication is greatly delayed by the great interplanetary and
interstellar distances involved, the Network employs a new set of protocols and
technologies that are tolerant to large delays and errors. Data requiring transfer is
bundled, stored and then forwarded and this means that instantaneous net usage is
impossible. The Network across the Solar System is broken up into separate Planetary
Area Networks (PANs), such as Earth-Net, Titan-Net and so on. Likewise, the separate
interstellar colony and outpost worlds have their own PANs (such as Hiroshima-Net). The
huge communication time lag between worlds effectively closes these PANs off from one
another and communication between them is effectively via text, voice or video email,
forwarded data transfer packets and bulletins.
 P a g e | 146

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A character can use any high-rating software at a lower rating, to a minimum of the
lowest rating shown. Programs above Rating/1 cannot be copied easily, as they require a
non-trivial amount of bandwidth to transfer.

MEDICINE

Medicine in 2225 is very

advanced. When a patient 'UXJ &RVW
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surgery (face changes, etc.) is /\VRSKRVSKDWLGLF$FLG 
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body reconstruction is also
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possible. A totally wrecked body
with an intact brain can be reconstructed and rebuilt. The brain must first be salvageable.
The full reconstruction takes place over several months and involves buying new organs,
and growing fresh skin. The patient may end up looking totally different. Cost: $600,000.

The world of HOSTILE is a pharmacological treasure-trove. Drugs can be easily separated

into the medical and the designer. Yet many cutting-edge medicinal drugs come with a
hefty price tag, and in Earth-bound city-based games they are bought and sold on the
black market.
 P a g e | 148

Medical Drugs
Various medical drugs are being manufactured. Some have an in-game use - others are
useful only as black-market commodities, stolen or fenced by hustlers and dealers. These
drugs often originate from the Chiba clinics in Tokyo. Use the list of ‘trade’ drugs below to
give your black-market deals Gibsonesque realism. The drugs that follow fetch just as high
a price in 2225 as heroin does today. Assume three quality or rarity grades, 1, 2 & 3, with
prices of $200, $800 and $2,000 respectively. Each dose is carried within a vacuum sealed
phial packed into a foam-filled box that mounts 6 phials each.

• Aminoglycosides (antibiotic)
• Antimetabolites (anti-cancer)
• Cotrimoxozole (antibacterial)
• Corticosteroids (immunosuppressants)
• Cytotoxic Antibiotics (anti-cancer)
• Idoxuridine (antiviral)
• Sulphacetamide (antibacterial)
• Sympathomimetic (neurotransmitter stimulant)
• Synthetic Thyroxine (thyroid imbalances)
• Tetracyclines (antibiotic)

There are more useful drugs available for the player characters. The person administering
the drug must make a Routine (+2) Medicine skill roll or less for successful use of the
drug. Failure means a problem, commonly the drug wears off way too quickly, is a weaker
form and does not work properly, or, if there is a side effect, will trigger it.

Aspedine: Prevents intoxication via alcohol, useful on missions where social drinking
must take place. After such a night, most people will be at -3 on all actions. Aspedine
ensures an agent stays fully alert. Cost $300.

Benzoditropolene: This is a universal anti-toxin, that is effective against most poisons

and nerve agents. On a 2D6 roll of 10+ it may even work against a more obscure poison.
Works within one minute, arresting the poison’s effects. Recovery then begins as normal.
Cost $600.

Korteline: High energy drug allowing an 8-hour sleep period to be missed without the
usual -3 penalty. A potential side effect is a deep depression (-1 all actions and an inability
to put oneself at risk) for 1D3 hours following that time. Cost $400.

Lysophosphatidic Acid (LPA): Must be administered before or immediately after (within

ten minutes) suffering a period of radiation exposure. It absorbs up to 100 rads per dose.
A character may only use LPA once per day – taking any more causes permanent
Endurance damage of 1 point per dose. Cost $300.

Polypheronol-Z: Polypheronol-Z is a hallucinogenic drug that drowns the patient in

pretty colors, emotional warmth and psychedelic trips. It was created by Haruna Biolabs in
Chiba City to enable psycho-surgeons to unravel a patient’s deep-rooted problems. The
drug has recently been used by corporate snatch squads as a truth serum. A single dose
will result in one hour of ‘truth’ (often garbled with an awful lot of crap) as the patient
talks in his post-hypnotic, auto-suggestive state of mind. This is followed by 1-6 hours of
 P a g e | 149

unconsciousness. One effective method of gaming the use of this drug is to not tell the
player what is been injected and then keep him separate from the other players. As he
hallucinates, feed him a completely fabricated version of events, allow him to run around,
try and escape, and more importantly, interact with his interrogators. Everything said
verbally really occurs, all the rest is hallucinated. Usually the player will give away lots of
clues during his ‘virtual freedom’. When it wears off he will realize he is still strapped to a
chair full of Polypherenol-Z. A dose of PPZ costs $800.

Designer Drugs
When the game scrapes the bottom of the human barrel and deals with drug dealers on
distant mining outposts, or deadly deals on the streets of Chiba City in Tokyo, where the
cutting edge drugs are produced – the referee will need some designer drugs. These are
tailored, lab-produced drugs with a specific intended effect. Many of these designer drugs
are addictive and popular on the street. When a character takes a drug, he should make a
Routine (+2) Medical roll or suffer a side-effect. This may trigger an addiction. See the
individual drug descriptions for more information.

Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitor (‘ACE’): This vasodilator drug is can be

taken as a tablet and opens up the blood vessels giving a sudden rush of physical energy
and a rapid high. The effect lasts for half an hour, giving the PC +1 on any physical action
or social task. Side effect is a bout of nausea, dizziness (-2 all actions) lasting for an hour
that takes effect instead of the high. If an Easy (+4) Endurance roll is then failed, the
character also blacks-out and suffers 1D6 damage. $100.

Betaseratonin (‘Smart Drug’): This gives the user +1 on his technical or highly mental
skills for 1-3 hours. The side effect is ‘neuron misfire’: the character is in a trance. Once a
side effect is triggered, the character must make an Average Endurance roll to avoid
having the side effect occur on a daily basis at random times (this random side effect is
avoidable only if a dose of smart drug is taken at the start of that day – ie. It is very
addictive!).Cost $400.

Delta-14: Chemical warfare toxin causing 2D6 damage if an Average (0) Endurance roll
is made and causing death if failed. The time it takes varies with delivery method but an
aerosol delivery typically works within 1-3 combat rounds. $700.

Dexamphetamine (‘Speed’ or ‘Dex’): This amphetamine, a central nervous stimulant,

provides a tremendous neuro-physical boost and comes as a small pink octagonal tablet.
Gain +2 to carry out any act or task that does not require calm, careful concentration; this
may include athletic moves, combat or kicking down a door for example. It lasts half an
hour. No concentration is allowed. The side effect is a ‘high’ that lasts only 5 minutes
followed by a bout of nervous exhaustion (all actions at -2) for a couple of hours. Once a
side effect is triggered, the character must make an Average Endurance roll to avoid
having the side effect occur on a daily basis at random times (this random side effect is
avoidable only if a dose of social drug is taken at the start of that day). Cost $200

Pheromone-X (‘Social Drug’): This is a mood relaxant that gives +1 to all social skills
for 1-3 hours, those skills that generally involve personal interaction. The side effect is
dulled senses and tiredness (-3 on all hearing and vision rolls). Once a side effect is
triggered, the character must make an Average Endurance roll to avoid having the side
 P a g e | 150

effect occur on a daily basis at random times (this random side effect is avoidable only if a
dose of social drug is taken at the start of that day – ie. It is very addictive!). $50.

Polydichloric Euthimal (‘PDE’): This mix of cocaine and meperidine is a central

nervous drug that is used to boost physical performance. It gives the character +2 on any
hand-to-hand combat and physical actions, and cancels out all penalties from wounds
sustained as well potential unconsciousness. A character using the drug in combat adds
+8 to his initiative total at the start of combat (or whenever the drug takes effect). The
user becomes cold-blooded with no chance of success in his social skills. The side effect of
PDE is catatonic fear, during which the character cowers in fear or behaves suicidally. The
drug (or its side effect) lasts for one hour. Once a side effect is triggered, the character
must make an Average Endurance roll to avoid having the side effect occur on a daily
basis at random times (this random side effect is avoidable only if PDE is taken at the start
of that day – ie. It is very addictive!). Cost $500.

Synthetic Endorphin Analog (‘Endorphin’, ‘Dorph’): This pain inhibitor cancels any
penalties suffered from wounds as well as shrugging of unconsciousness for up to 1 hour.
It can be taken as a precaution. The ‘dorph’s’ side effect is a one hour nervous attack
instead of the drug’s effects. This gives the player character -1 on all physical actions.
Once a side effect is triggered, the character must make an Average Endurance roll to
avoid having the side effect occur on a daily basis at random times (this random side
effect is avoidable only if a dose of endorphin is taken at the start of that day – ie. It is
very addictive!). Cost $300.

Virax-B: A tranquilizer inducing paralysis. Victim rolls Average (0) Endurance or is

paralysed in 1 round for 2D6 minutes. A successful roll means instead slowness and
clumsiness (-2 on actions) for 2D6 mins. Cost $200.
 P a g e | 151

EXPLOSIVES
The Demolitions skill is used with explosives – the Effect of the Demolitions skill check
multiplies the damage, with a minimum of x1 damage for an Effect of 0 or 1. Explosives
are not legally available on any world with a Law Level of 1 or greater.

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Nortinghouse M-450 TACFORZ Charge: This US military demolition charge can be

used to blow holes in mountains and destroy large, immobile constructions. It is equal in
power to 20 tons of TNT and gives military engineers the ultimate tool for moving,
destroying or clearing obstacles in the path of the US warfighter. It is supplied in a card-
locked, impact resistant case which can be strapped to a soldier’s back. Cost $120,000.
Weight 20 kg.
Stern C-4 Plastic Explosive: This generic, multi-purpose plastic explosive is a favorite
of military units, terrorists, demolition teams and adventurers across known space.

PERSONAL DEVICES
Characters often possess any of a number of personal devices.

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Aldine ARB Radiation Badge: Indicates presence and intensity of radioactivity within a
30-meter radius. The indicating signal will grow stronger as it gets closer to the source.
Cost $50. Weight negl.
Aldine Metal Detector: Indicates presence of metal within a 3 meter radius (including
underground), with the indicating signal growing stronger as it gets closer to the source.
Cost $550. Weight 2kg.
ARMI Magnetic Compass: Indicates direction of magnetic north, if any exists. Cost $20.
Weight negl.
Gulfstar INS44 Inertial Nav System: A hand-held or belt-mounted device which
indicates direction and distance traveled from the starting location, usually imaging
directly in to a preloaded map set for precision navigation. Cost $1,000. Weight 1.5kg.
Gulfstar PLB2 Personal Locator Beacon: A wrist-mounted emergency beacon with a
range (once activated) of up to 10 km. The PLB uses a standard emergency frequency
which can be tracked by any modern avionics system, or either a Gulfstar Hand Radio or a
Novomo EM Scanner. The signal will last for 24 hours. Cost $100. Weight negl.
IE J34 Motion Tracker: The Inferno Electronics J34 Motion Tracker is a hand-held unit
with a simple shoulder-strap that uses discriminatory Doppler shift ultra-sound scanning to
detect movement within a 100 degree cone ahead of the operator. Range varies, from 10-
20m indoors to almost 600-800m in open country. They are useful tools, but subject to
varied limitations, anything that moves can show up on the reading if not properly tuned
out, extremely slow-moving objects may not show up at all, and of course any enemy
listening in will probably detect the loud ultra-sound bursts being emitted from the J34.

To operate a motion tracker, the referee makes an Average Comms roll on the player’s
behalf. With a success he can give the player a pretty accurate indication of what the
scanner is picking up; if unsuccessful, then he should give the player false data. Player
involvement can be increased by letting he or she roll one of the 2D6, with the referee
rolling the other in secret. Cost: $1680. Weight 1kg.
Novomo Pro-Series EM Scanner: This device detects the electromagnetic emissions of
technological devices, and can be used as a diagnostic tool when examining equipment
(+1 DM to work out what’s wrong with it) or when searching for hidden bugs or devices.
The Comms skill can be used to sweep a room for bugs. Cost $450. Weight 200g.
Norden LSGS Flashlight: A waterproof and impact resistant flashlight, roughly 20 cm in
length, with an endurance of 6 hours. A flashlight produces a wide cone of light up to 18
meters long with a radius of 6 meters at the end of the beam. Cost $120. Weight 1kg.
Norden LSAA Head-torch: A powerful little head-torch, its use allows for illumination
with hands-free. Cost $70. Weight 200g.
Reiner-Gama 101 Night-Vision Goggles: These unobtrusive goggles allow good vision
in near total darkness, as long as there is some starlight or other ambient light to
enhance. Cost $500. Weight 200g.
Sony Matrix DD1018 Digital Camera: A hand-held digital camera capable of still
photography as well as video. It is capable of low-light photography, and includes an in-
built timer. The camera can take 300 still shots, or up to two hours of video. It can be
plugged directly into any computer for the download of images and video. Cost $500.
Weight 1kg.
 P a g e | 153

Seiko 234-501 Pulsemeter Wrist Watch: Allows the user to tell the local time but it
can also be configured to multiple worlds, as well as standard time, and allows the user to
configure alarms based on specific times. The wristwatch has a stopwatch feature as well
as a life signs monitor function. It is digital. Cost $200. Weight negl.
Zenith CF Falcon Binoculars: These high-tech binoculars feature low-light night-vision
and a laser range-finder. Cost $300. Weight 1kg.

ROBOTS AND DRONES

This section describes the robots and drones that exist within the HOSTILE setting.
Whereas drones are often used to supplement human activity, robots are not so
commonly employed. Autodocs are common in every starship medbay, but not all ships
carry repair robots with them. Where the need for a robotic presence is clearly felt, then
many operators purchase (if they can afford it) an android. Androids are human-looking
robots that are used in small numbers, since social stigma and expense precludes more
universal use. At all times it must be remembered that HOSTILE (and Cepheus Engine in
general) is a roleplaying game, about playing the roles of characters that are challenged
by adversity and isolation. For humans to overly rely on robots and androids takes away
some of that adversity – in HOSTILE it is characters who make the difference, who have
the skills and who brave the odds. The android might just be too inflexible, too narrow-
minded - and too expensive - to risk!

A robot has an Intellect program running, allowing it to make decisions independently,

whilst drones are remote-controlled by a character with the Comms skill. Robots and
drones operate in combat like human characters but take damage as if they were vehicles.
They have Hull and Structure characteristics instead of Endurance characteristic, and an
Endurance DM of 0. Any robot running an Intellect program has an Intelligence and
Education score. Drones have neither. A robot’s Education characteristic is representative
of the information programmed into it and even low-end robots can have high Education
scores. Most robots have Social Standing characteristics of 0 as they are not social
creations but there are some exceptions, usually high-end models running advanced
Intellect programs. Drones do not have Social Standing.
 P a g e | 154

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Robots
Autodoc: An autodoc is a specialized, immobile medical robot, which can be installed
inside a large vehicle or a spacecraft. The Haruna HN-500 Autodoc weighs 1000 kg and
runs off the starship or building power supply, although in the event of a power cut it
contains 12 hours-worth of emergency battery power. The HN-500 is a sealed unit,
lowering the chances of cross-infection, and it can be pressurized for use as a
decompression chamber if required.

Strength 3 (-1), Dexterity 7 (0), Hull 0, Structure 1

Intelligence 9 (+1), Education 12 (+2), Social Standing 0 (–3)
Traits: Armor 2, Integral System (surgical kit), Specialized Model 1
computer (running Intellect/1 and Medicine/2)
Weapons: Surgical Tools (Slashing Weapons, 1D6 damage)
Price: $100,000

Remote Sentry Robot: Sentry robots are designed to take on the monotonous task of
perimeter surveillance and rapid-reaction. The US M3A2 Spartan Remote Sentry Gun
is built around a belt-fed Steyr-Brandt StG 340 8.85mm light machine gun and includes a
hard-cased processor unit, integral forward-facing sensors (an IFF system, camera, IR
designator and IR thermograph) and is mounted via a motorized mount onto a rugged
folding tripod. The weapon is supplied with 500 rounds. A CMD ZX-22 is supplied with the
gun and can communicate with the M3A2 via radio-link. It can be used to alter settings
(such as burst control, scanning parameters, firing range, and to monitor both rounds
used and the temperature of the barrel). The software alerts the user with a ‘critical’ alarm
when only 50 rounds remain. The system has an operating range of 1,000m and weighs
70kg (sentry gun, tripod and portable terminal all included).
 P a g e | 155

Strength 3 (-1), Dexterity 3 (-1), Hull 0, Structure 1

Intelligence 3 (–1), Education 3(-1), Social Standing 0 (–3)
Traits: Armor 2, Integral System (camera, night-vision, thermograph),
Integral Weapon (LMG), Specialized Model 1 computer (running Intellect/1,
Expert Heavy Weapons/1)
Weapons: LMG (Steyr-Brandt StG 340)
Price: $56,200

Repair Robot: Shipboard repair robots are small machines that carry a variety of welding
and cutting tools. Specialized repair robots may run Expert Engineering rather than Expert
Mechanics or Electronics. The Tharsis PAK-3 is a bi-pedal robot standing one meter tall
with a forward facing equipment bay from which tools can unfold. Its small size and
walking locomotion allows it to reach nearly all parts of a facility or starship. Magnetic
induction coils in the feet give it the ability to walk on the exterior of a spaceship and a
folding wire cage on the back give it the ability to carry technical parts to and from the
work site. The PAK-3 weighs 155 kg and is powered by a rechargeable lithium-ion battery
allowing for continuous operation for 24 hours (recharging in 4 hours). It has a standard
walking speed of 2 kph.

Strength 6 (+0), Dexterity 7 (+0), Hull 0, Structure 1

Intelligence 5 (–1), Education 6 (+0), Social Standing 0 (–3)
Traits: Armor 2, Integral System (mechanical toolkit), Specialized
Model 1 computer (running Intellect/1, Expert Electronics/1 and
Expert Mechanical/1)
Weapons: Tools (Natural Weapons, 1D6 damage)
Price: $80,000

Drones
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle: A UAV is a flying drone used for local area surveying and
surveillance operations. The ASA RQ-456 Blizzard is a ducted fan VTOL micro UAV.
Developed by the Applied Security Applications, it is suitable for backpack deployment and
single-person operation. The Blizzard has an operating range of 10 kilometers, an
endurance of 40 minutes, a service ceiling of 1,000 meters and can fly at a speed of 70
kph. It is supplied with a controller, backpack carry-case and a ground support pack (all
weighing 8 kg).

Strength 3 (–1), Dexterity 7 (+0), Hull 0, Structure 1

Traits: Armor 2, Integral System (comm, audio/visual), Integral System
(fuel-cell powered ducted fan), Integral System (camera, night-vision, radar,
lidar, thermograph)
Price: $15,000
 P a g e | 156

Unmanned Wheeled Vehicle: A UWV is a

wheeled drone used for local area surveying
and surveillance operations. The Okuda L5
Quattro is typical of the type, a one metre-
long, four-wheeled vehicle with a forward-
mounted sensor system and solar panels along
its back. The drone is battery powered, with a
life of 48 hours before recharge is needed. It is
able to be directed and monitored up to 3km
away, sent into hazardous areas to scout out
and assess risks, or it can be self-guiding,
running a pre-programmed set of routines or
routes to conduct perimeter surveillance or
visual recording. It is capable of travel over
rugged terrain.

Strength 3 (–1), Dexterity 6 (+0), Hull 0, Structure 1

Traits: Armor 2, Integral System (comm, audio/visual), Integral System
(solar-panel recharging battery), Integral System (camera, night-vision, radar,
lidar, thermograph)
Price: $5,000

Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle: A UCAV is a flying drone used by the military for
air-to-ground strikes. The Matsuyama MQ-6 Phantom is a ducted turbofan VTOL 10
meters in length. The Phantom has an endurance of 18 hours, a service ceiling of 50,000
meters and can fly at a speed of 750 kph. It has a 1.5 ton displacement which includes 4
M65 Gecko Multi-Purpose Missiles. The remote pilot control desk, and the com-link
equipment for the MQ-6, weighs 500 kg and is usually mounted in the back of a dedicated
Growler. It requires fuelling with gasoline, usually carried on the Phantom’s dedicated 10-
ton tanker/carrier truck.

Strength 7 (0), Dexterity 7 (+0), Hull 0, Structure 1

Traits: Armor 6, Integral System (comm, audio/visual), Integral System
(ducted turbofan), Integral System (camera, night-vision, radar,
lidar, thermograph), Integral Weapon (missile ordnance bay).
Weapons: Four M65 Gecko Multi-Purpose Missiles
Price: $850,000

Unmanned Space Mining Vehicle: A USMV is space-based mining drone used to mine
asteroids. Massing 10 displacement tons, the Tharsis X-CORE set of mining drones is
the most useful piece of equipment any mining ship can carry. The set includes three 2
ton mining drones, a 1 ton docking and recharging unit and a 3 ton ore handling unit. The
ore unit channels and transports ore from the drones into the cargo or ore bay. X-CORE
USMVs process 1D6 x 10 tons of asteroid material per working day and cost $1M. The
individual mining drones mass 2 displacement tons each (weighing 10,000 kg) and cost
$200,000 to replace. They are large machines equipped with LOX rockets, fuel cells, two
side-mounted ore baskets and a forest of manipulators, drills and grinders up front. Most
have landing gear fitted, allowing them to touch down before beginning mining
 P a g e | 157

operations. An ore conveyor unit on-board the parent vehicle will extend out to the
drone’s location to accept the ore. Further ore bodies require the drone to lift ore in its
side-cages back to the mining ship.

Strength 15 (+3), Dexterity 7 (+0), Hull 0, Structure 1

Traits: Armor 6, Integral System (comm, audio/visual), Integral System
(chemical rocket), Integral System (mining arms)
Weapons: Tools (Natural Weapons 2D6 damage)
Price (Complete Aerodyne X-CORE System): $1,000,000

Unmanned Space Survey Vehicle: USSVs are drones designed for surveying space
phenomenon or planetary surfaces. Survey starships often carry one displacement ton of
USSAVs, which equates to five individual drones. USSVs can be dropped from orbit in
disposable entry shells but must be recovered manually. Probe drones are also capable of
surveying orbiting satellites, derelicts and other space debris. They can also be used as
communications relays. A single Aerodyne CLU Surveyor drone is 0.2 tons in volume
and masses around 800 kg, roughly the size of a small car. The CLU is powered by a
100kW fuel cell and is equipped with a chemical rocket motor; it is equivalent to a small
space probe of today, with a bank of cameras and sensors and a comms dish. The
Aerodyne CLU can operate in space or on a planetary surface for one week. Once landed
the USSV is immobile, and so care must be taken in selecting its landing site.

Strength 3 (–1), Dexterity 7 (+0), Hull 0, Structure 1

Traits: Armor 5, Integral System (comm, audio/visual), Integral System
(chemical rocket), Integral System (camera and multi-spectral sensor suite)
Price: $40,000

Androids
Fiery the angels rose. As they rose, deep thunder
rolled around their shores - indignant burning
with the fires of Orc.
William Blake
The modern android is a human-like, electro-mechanical cyborg designed for harsh
conditions or monotonous tasks (or both). Built around a sturdy carbon fiber skeleton is a
complex system of silicon muscles that stabilizes and controls. An outer covering of bio-
plastic sheeting is built up on top of a layer of flexible collagenous fibers. The most
modern androids operate with a Model/3 computer running either a level 1, 2 or 3
Intellect program. To calculate an android’s Intelligence in comparison to a human, add 5
to its Intellect program level (giving it a character Intelligence characteristic of 6-8). An
android’s social standing stands at a default level of 0.

Power is provided for around three months by a 25 kW fuel cell requiring a liquid
hydrogen fuel. Obviously, androids do not need to breath, drink or eat, but they do
occasionally ingest a pale-colored, semi-organic nutrient suspension in a silicon-based
 P a g e | 158

liquid medium; this serves as a lubricant for the system’s micro-hydraulics. Some attempt
to ‘fit in’ to their mission teams by eating and drinking at meal-times, these nutrients will
pass through the system harmlessly until emptied by the android. Such an ability allows an
android to blend in seamlessly, even covertly.

The machinery, processor, fuel cell and carefully designed outer skin can be damaged, so
it is prudent for androids to wear vacc suits or hostile environment suits. Vacuum, high
pressure, high temperature and aggressive atmospheric chemical constituents can all
irreparably damage an android. The cost of a single unit precludes the avoidable and
wasteful use of an android in such an environment. Most androids are competent and of
average human intelligence. They are generally programmed with passive, non-aggressive
personalities and are typically given the likeness of a mature (30-40 year-old) male or
female. The aim is to blend in, to join in, to be a team-player within a group of humans,
supporting the leadership and providing useful options and advice without being forceful.
Androids cannot harm humans and follow Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics. See the
chapter titled Hiring On and Skills for more guidelines on roleplaying androids.

All androids are ordered from Transdyne Cybersystems directly, all are custom-made and
ready for delivery within 6-10 months. Buyers must specify their preferred options. To
build an android, begin with a chassis, add software and then any preferred options.

Repair Station
Androids require an upright repair station, massing around 200 kg into which the android
itself, steps. A transparent lid then closes, and the android plugs in, and undergoes a
diagnostic and lubricant change; the fuel cell is topped up with liquid hydrogen also, if
needed. Typically, androids will require a check-up every month or so, or after sustaining
damage. Minor damage (that damage marked as ‘First Hit’ on the Cepheus Vehicle
Damage table) can usually be repaired in 1-6 hours.

Carol 5
Since androids are custom made by
Transdyne Cybersystems, the following
machine serves as an example. Carol 5
appears as a woman in her early-thirties,
blonde hair parted in the center, with a
typical cool, measured demeanor and the
slight hint of an Australian accent. This
example serves as a crewman onboard a
VIP starship.

Chassis 70 Series: Strength 7 (+0),

Dexterity 5 (-1), Hull 2, Structure 1
Software: Intellect 2, Expert Steward 1,
Intelligence 7 (+1), Education 11 (+1), Social Standing 2 (-2)
Traits: Armor 7, Computer/3 (running Intellect/1 and Expert Steward/1, Expert Pilot/1,
Expert Engineer/1, and Expert Vacc Suit/1)
Weapons: Punch (Natural Weapons, 1D6 damage)
Price: $850,000
 P a g e | 159

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SHELTERS
Whenever characters are not indulging in the creature comforts of civilization, they need
shelter, such as the items described in this section.

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Bintang SHERPA Pressure Tent: Basic pressurized shelter for two persons, providing
standard atmosphere and conditions, along with protection from precipitation, storms, and
up to strong winds. There is no airlock: the tent must be depressurized to enter or leave
it. Cost $2,000. Weight 25 kg.
Kinako TigerPak: Basic life support supplies (waste reclamation chemicals, oxygen
supply, CO2 scrubbers, etc.) necessary to support one person for one day in an enclosed,
pressurized environment, such as a pressure tent or an advanced base. Cost $100. Weight
2 kg.
Kinako Wildlands Tent: Basic shelter for two persons offering protection from
precipitation, storms, and temperatures down to 0º Celsius, and withstanding light to
moderate winds. Larger, more elaborate tents capable of sheltering more people, higher
winds or colder temperatures weigh and cost more. Cost $200. Weight 3 kg.
Leyland-Okuda Standard Modular Base 130: Modular unpressurized quarters for 6
persons and capable of withstanding light to severe winds. Offers excellent shelter from
precipitation, storms, and temperatures down to -10º Celsius. Requires 8 man-hours to
erect or dismantle. Dismantled and ready for shipment, the cabin weighs 4 tons. Cost
$10,000. Weight 4,000 kg.
Leyland-Okuda Advanced Modular Base 230: Modular pressurized quarters with
airlock for 6 persons and capable of withstanding anything less than hurricane force
winds. 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 weighs 6 tons. The cost includes life-support for six
people for 7 days. Cost $50,000. Weight 6,000 kg.
Safestar Type 1 Bio-Box: Some things need protecting from vacuum or hostile
atmosphere, biological samples, delicate materials and even small animals (perhaps even
pet cats and dogs). The Bio-Box is similar in size to a pet carrier, but is pressurized and
comes with its own 6 hour air-supply. Cost $450. Weight 2 kg.
Yoshiko Fast-Tarp: A heavy, hard-wearing waterproof fabric made of polyvinyl, for
outdoor use as a temporary shelter or protective covering against moisture. Includes cord
and aluminum pegs. Measures 4 meters long by 2 meters wide. Cost $10. Weight 2 kg.
 P a g e | 161

SURVIVAL EQUIPMENT
Survival equipment helps the character stay physically alive and able to take action, even
in the most unusual of environments. It includes camping and survival equipment.

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AeroFrame B6 Parafoil: A steerable parafoil-style lightweight parachute, with altimeter,

reserve chute, helmet and goggles. Cost $300. Weight 12kg.
Aldine Camp-Tech Folding Table and Chair Set: A folding camp table and six chairs.
Use the table for dining, or as an equipment desk. Cost $100. Weight 18kg.
ARMI Cooking Kit: This cooking kit includes mess tins, cups and cutlery for six people.
Cost $150. Weight 3 kg.
ARMI Cooking Stove, Flameless: This revolutionary stove comes in the form of a
plastic tub with its own metal liner, into which precooked food (ideally a meal from a
ration pack) can be placed. A heat block is put underneath the metal tray and water
 P a g e | 162

poured on, which activates it. The lid is sealed and the block heats up to thoroughly warm
the food – it will be piping hot within 20 minutes. There is no flame and the heat does not
penetrate the plastic box. Ration packs always include a couple of heat blocks with which
to heat the food. Cost $40. Weight 1kg.
Aquatech 3-Series Rebreather: Extracts oxygen from water to allow the wearer to
breathe for an unlimited time underwater. Functions only on worlds with thin, standard, or
dense (type 4 through 9) atmospheres. Cost $4,000. Weight 4 kg.
Aquatech Pro-Swim 600 Dive Set: Includes swim fins, wet suit, face mask. Protects
against the effects of cold (5º Celsius or below), along with improving speed and
maneuverability underwater; add DM +1 to all movement skill checks in these situations
when wearing proper swimming equipment. Cost $200. Weight 3kg.
Bintang RELY Oxygen Tanks: A complete set of compressed oxygen tanks with mask,
protective goggles and carry straps; they allow independent breathing in smoke, dust,
gas, underwater or in an exotic (type A) atmosphere. Two tanks last 6 hours. Cost $2000.
Weight 4 kg.
Cold Weather Clothing: Protects against bitterly cold weather (-20º C or below). Adds a
DM+2 to all Endurance checks made to resist the effects of cold weather exposure.
Various brands offer arctic clothing, including Novomo, Bauspace, KNiTK, and YoYo. Cost
$200. Weight 2 kg.
DeWitt Class 3 Survival Bag: This bright orange survival bag contains basic kit for one
person and includes: a personal locator beacon, compass, first aid kit, survival suit,
tarpaulin, expedition knife, head torch, 10 days of emergency rations, eight half-liter cans
of water, surface mask, cord, rope, fishhooks & line, four coloured flares, mess tin and
fire-lighters, six cold-light sticks and sleeping bag. Cost $150. Weight 6kg.
Haruna Priority First Aid Kit: A small medical kit carried on a pouch that fits onto a
rucksack or belt. It contains basic items, bandages, a pressure dressing, antibiotics,
painkillers, eye-wash, antihistamines and plasters. It contains enough supplies for two
wound treatments. Cost $50. Weight 0.5kg
Haruna Serious Trauma Kit: A comprehensive medical bag, used by a paramedic or
doctor to deal with serious injuries. The immediate responder trauma and first aid
backpack is a complete system. The kit was originally designed for company safety
personnel, first aid departments, disaster preparation and emergency response teams that
would need to get to injured people and provide care on the scene. The high-vis, red
backpack is organized into separate sections covering everything from burns to fractures,
anaphylaxis to choking injuries, heart attack and many others. Contains enough supplies
for six major treatments. Cost $350. Weight 6kg.
Kinako BB6 Basic Bubble: A large (2m diameter) pressurized and transparent plastic
bubble. Piezoelectric layers in the bubble wall translate the user's movements into
electricity to recharge the bubble's batteries and power its distress beacon, and a small
oxygen tank both inflates the bubble and provides two person/hours of life support. There
is no airlock. Rescue bubbles can sometimes be found on both space vessels and water
craft as emergency lifeboats. Cost $600. Weight 2 kg.
Kinako Sunrise Ration Pack: A 24-hour ration pack provides a range of meals and
snacks for one person for a single day, and includes 1 liter of additional water for cooking
and making hot drinks. Cost $30. Weight 2kg.
Lunar D-FEND Electric Fence: This portable electric fence is 1m high and 30m long, it
is mounted on 15 aluminum stakes and can be rolled up and slid into a 1m long carry bag.
It comes with a rechargeable power cell that has a duration of 4 days. The charge given
off acts as a mild irritant, similar to the stock fences used in agriculture, it will deter small
 P a g e | 163

to mid-sized creatures, but larger herbivores and carnivores probably won’t even notice it.
Cost $600. Weight 10kg.
MagLite ML5 Lantern: Folding lantern for illumination of a camp site. It comes with a 7
hour power cell and has a wire handle for carrying or hanging from a branch or tent pole.
Cost $30. Weight 1.5kg.
Reiner-Gama 200 Portable Diesel Generator: A portable power unit can be
invaluable in an environment without electricity. This 7000 watt generator can fit in the
back of a four-wheel drive, it provides continuous electricity for 7 hours and includes a
charging adaptor for most types of power cells. It runs on diesel, requiring 20 liters for a
full tank and has an electric starter. Be warned that the generator is a diesel engine and
makes a lot of noise. Cost $4500. Weight 170kg (with full tank).
Reiner-Gama 347 Portable Fusion Generator: This is a heavy-duty portable fusion
generator, capable of recharging or powering equipment for up to six months of use. Cost
$500,000. Weight 170 kg.
Rockford Aerospace Advanced Thruster Unit (ATU): A gas-fueled thruster pack
gives the user the ability to maneuver in zero-gravity. A Vacc Suit skill check is required to
use a thruster pack accurately. Thruster packs can only be used in zero-G environments
and are only practical for journeys between spacecraft at Adjacent range. Cost $2,000.
Weight 5 kg.
Tharsis H-10 Survival Suit: Designed to protect the wearer from extreme cold or heat
(-50ºC to +50ºC), the environment suit has a hood, gloves and boots but leaves the face
exposed in normal operations. Cost $500. Weight 2 kg.
Tharsis M2 Ablative Canopy Orbital Re-entry (ACOR): A personal re-entry kit,
allowing a vacc-suited individual to enter a planetary atmosphere, survive, and parachute
to the ground. This is a dangerous undertaking, usually practiced by US Marines. ACOR
packs are huge and cumbersome, but when out of the airlock the user can activate the
system which inflates a 5m diameter ballute behind, with him in the center. The guidance
computer and thruster unit which lay along his chest is now swung up, extended and
activated. Descent begins with the ablative foam within ACOR: Surviving Re-entry
the ballute sloughing off with the intense heat and friction.
At an altitude of 15,000’ the main chute will deploy. Total ACOR users must make a
time from orbit to touchdown is around 30-40 minutes. Average (+0) Vacc Suit roll to
Yoshiko 567-8801 Sleeping Bag: A warm and compact make a successful re-entry.
Apply the following DMs:
sleeping bag. Cost $35. Weight 1.5kg.
Yoshiko AD321 Floodlight: A portable LED floodlight +1 if Computer skill known
mounted on a telescopic pole. The pole ends in four legs +1 if Navigation skill known
than can be pegged into the ground. At the base of each +1 if Pilot skill known
light is a rechargeable power cell. The floodlight has +1 World Size 1 or 2
power for 16 hours of continuous operation. Cost $400. +2 Marine career
-2 Atmosphere B
Weight 8kg. -4 Atmosphere C
Yoshiko GP Surface Mask: A common Off-World
survival mask that can filter contaminants, taints, smoke Failure indicates being way off
and dust (atmosphere types 4, 7, and 9) but that can also course or landing in a
compress breathed air to allow survival in a low pressure dangerous situation. Success
indicates a perfect landing. A
atmosphere (types 2 and 3). Useful in Very Thin or natural roll of ‘double 2’
Tainted atmospheres. Cost $150. Weight negligible. indicates death or serious
injury.
 P a g e | 164

TOOLS
Technical skills require specialist tools of various kinds.

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Aldine Geo Survey Kit (GSK): Required for planetary surveys or mapping. This kit
contains diagnostic sensors, hand tools, computer analysis programs and spare parts. It all
comes in three impact-resistant cases. Cost $1,000. Weight 12 kg.
Bintang CLIFFHANGER Climbing Set: A set of harnesses and helmets for four
individuals, with a bag of carabiners, pitons and two hammers. The set comes with a rope
bag holding four ropes, all Olympus Unicore Dry Climbing Ropes (9mm x 20m; 10kg). Cost
$1,000. Weight 100 kg.
Bintang S-CRANE Motorized Winch: A telescopic tripod with motorized winch that can
raise and lower up to 100kg. It includes 10m of cable. $880. Weight 3kg.
Capture Net, Small: A tough net, 4 sq. meters in size, used to catch small animals. It
has other uses, too. $50. 2kg.
Capture Net, Large: A tough net, 8 sq. meters in size, used to catch small animals. It
has other uses, too. $120. 4kg.
Fisher AG7 Retractable Space-Pen: Unlike ordinary ballpoint pens Fisher Space Pens
have a pressurized refill which allows them to write upside down and at any angle as well
as in extreme conditions, from -34°C up to 121° C. Not only can it write in zero-G but it
can even write over grease and under water.
 P a g e | 165

Gulfstar Plasma 400: A compact hand welder

used either for welding together metals or for
cutting through metal sheet. Burn time is 30
minutes before a refill gas bottle is required. Cost
$350. Weight 0.5kg.

Handbook: Every important piece of equipment,

has its own handbook, as do operating procedures,
laws and starships. These technical books are
printed on paper and published by the
manufacturers. Some may save your life, if not for
the crucial operating steps they include, but perhaps
due to their page-count allegedly being able to stop
a bullet. You may come across some of these
important handbooks during your daily work:

ICO (Interstellar Commerce Organization)

x General Operation and Flight Handbook ICO-8045-1-2178-T
x International Commercial Spaceflight Law ICO-8034-8-2225-8-A
x ICO Inspectors’ Handbook ICO-8038-4-2207-U
x Signals, Communications and Frequencies ICO-8029-5-2221-H
x Safety, Semiotics and Signage ICO-8044-10-2215-Q
x Spacesuit Operation and Maintenance Handbook ICO-8046-3-2222-C
x Starship Technical Manual ICO-8041-5-2218-K

MRA (Mining Regulatory Agency)

x Guide to Interstellar Resource Extraction Regulations MRA-3411-6-2211-F
x Catalog of Off-World Resources MRA-3421-8-2221-P
x The Working Practices in Space Industry Manual MRA-3500-12-2223-B
x Zero-G Machinery: Theory and Practice MRA-3428-8-2217-L

FCMS (Federal Colonial Marshal Service)

x Handbook to Off-World Law Enforcement FCMS-1011-2-2223-D
x Use and Effect of Firearms in Zero-G Environments FCMS-1185-12-2220-B
x Current Crime Gangs and Trends in the American Sector FCMS-1155-8-2215-V

USMC (United States Marine Corps)

x Combat Skills of the Soldier FM 21-75
x Survival FM 21-76
x First Aid FM 4-25
x Rifles, M24 Caseless Family TM 19-1005-223-20
x Tactical Radio Operations FM 6-09
 P a g e | 166

IE 505 Military Security Kit: This military/intelligence-only unit is able to access card-
locks and re-route the data to try and fool the lock’s onboard processor into believing that
it is the correct card. The processor unit is attached to a ‘trojan’ card via a multi-wire cable
and is all carried in a large fold-out wallet. It allows a person with Security skill to try and
break through a card-lock. Custom-made de-cryptors put together by crime gangs are
generally illegal. Cost $1,000. Weight 200 kg.

Luna 21 Forensics Toolkit: Required for investigating crime scenes and testing
samples. This kit contains diagnostic sensors, hand tools, computer analysis programs
and spare parts. Cost $1,000. Weight 3 kg.
M1967 Folding Spade: A folding military shovel that packs down to the size of a
baseball glove and fits into a snug protective case. One edge of the blade is serrated,
allowing it to be used as a crude saw. This is an extremely useful piece of equipment. Cost
$30. Weight 1.2 kg.
Novomo 300 Electronics Toolkit: Required for electrical repairs and installations. This
kit contains diagnostic sensors, hand tools, computer analysis programs and spare parts. It
all comes in three impact-resistant cases. Cost $1,000. Weight 12 kg.
Novomo 380 Mechanical Toolkit: Required for repairs and construction. This kit
contains diagnostic sensors, hand tools, computer analysis programs and spare parts. It all
comes in three impact-resistant cases. Cost $1,000. Weight 12 kg.
Novomo 450 Engineering Toolkit: Required for performing repairs and installing new
equipment. This kit contains diagnostic sensors, hand tools, computer analysis programs
and spare parts. It all comes in three impact-resistant cases. Cost $1,000. Weight 12 kg.
Novomo Forge Heavy Duty Axe: A polymer handled heavy-duty self-sharpening axe
for camping, emergency rescue, construction, etc. Comes with a protective case for the
steel axe-head. Cost $30. Weight 2.5 kg.
Novomo Real-Science 4DF Science Test Kit: Required for scientific testing and
analysis. This kit contains diagnostic sensors, hand tools, computer analysis programs and
spare parts. It all comes in three impact-resistant cases. Cost $1,000. Weight 12 kg.
Stern ArmaNet 14 Net Gun: This bulky gun is designed to launch small capture nets
out to a range of 10m and is used to capture small, moving creatures. The net takes
around 5 minutes to repack into its launch canister. It comes with 4 pre-packed net
 P a g e | 167

canisters. When firing the gun using the combat rules for a pistol in the Core Book, ignore
the (-1) penalty for a target that is dodging. Cost $900. Weight 4 kg. (loaded).
Yoshiko T78-45 Harpoon Grapnel: Rifle-sized grapnel launcher, using compressed air
to launch a spring-loaded grapnel up to a 10 meter height. It includes a small powered
winch to haul the user (or up to 100 kg) up. The grapnel is often part of a well-equipped
survival kit onboard starship lifeboats, as part of the kit’s climbing gear. Cost $680. Weight
4 kg.

VEHICLES
In classic science fiction, characters rarely travel on foot. Vehicles play a big role in
HOSTILE games. All vehicles have the following traits:

dTon: How much space the vehicle takes up according to the starship design rules. 1 dton is
roughly equivalent to a weight on Earth of around 5,000 kg.
Agility (Agi): How easy the vehicle is to drive, expressed as a DM to the pilot’s skill check.
Speed (Spd): The vehicle’s maximum speed. A cruise speed is 75% of the maximum speed.
Crew and Passengers (C/P): How many people the vehicle can carry.
Armor (Armr): How much armor the vehicle has. Damage sustained by a vehicle is reduced by
its armor. Most vehicles have a base armor of 4 (steel or aluminum).
Hull: The number of hits the vehicle can sustain to its Hull before being disabled according to the
Cepheus Engine Vehicle Design Guide.
Structure (Struc): The number of hits the vehicle can sustain to its Structure before being
destroyed according to the Cepheus Engine Vehicle Design Guide.
Weapons (Wpns): What weapons the vehicle has, if any.
Cost: How much the vehicle costs in American dollars ($).

Cockpit of a Shinobi Technics 206 Hovercar

 P a g e | 168

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Aerodyne CLT-15 Cargo-loader – A wheeled scissor-lift container-carrier, powered by

a Gulfstar K27 Fuel Cell, that is used on many starport ramps. It can carry to the pad a
single 3 ton intermodal container, raise it to a cargo hatch with its scissor lift action (up to
6m off the tarmac) and using powered rollers, slide the box into the ship’s hold. It is
driven from a small cab that is mounted on the vehicle’s side.

AMC Aspen Four-Door Car – A popular road car used on Earth and some of the Off-
World colonies. It is powered by a 110 kW fuel cell and can carry four passengers with
100 kg of luggage.

AMC Dynamic 7100 Mobile Mining Laser – Used on Off-World Mining installations,
the Dynamic 7100 utilises a 50 MW deuterium fluoride laser able to vaporize unwanted
rocky material, and to cut ore up into manageable chunks ready for transport by loader to
the processor. The laser is mounted in a remotely-operated turret on a 3-ton caterpillar-
tracked chassis. The Dynamic is powered by a 980kw closed cycle fuel cell, has a crew of
2 (driver and laser operator) and is equipped with towing bars, winches and a dozer blade,
giving it some general versatility. The cab is not pressurized, although the vehicle can
operate in a vacuum if the crew are suited.

AMC Roadmaster 20-ton Truck – A common sight on highways, turnpikes and

motorways, the Roadmaster is a twin axle, six-wheeled truck, classed as ‘mid-sized’ that
has a high body clearance making it popular also with the US military (in a modified
version). The Roadmaster is powered by a 235 kW fuel cell (which can also be switched
over to serve as a powerplant for other purposes if needed) and can carry 8,000 kg of
cargo on its flat-bed. The cab has room for two passengers. There are hundreds of
variations of the Roadmaster apart from the military version, including enclosed cargo box
bodies, chemical tankers, crane booms and refrigerated cargo boxes (‘reefers’).

Chevrolet MM5 Bucket-Loader – A powerful four-wheeled excavator, the MM5

includes a weather-proof cab. Due to its Aztec 280 kW fuel cell powerplant, however, it is
easily able to work in vacuum environments providing the operator wears a vacc suit. It is
fully off-road capable, with large and rugged wheels and a front end bucket capable of
scooping up to 5,000 kg of material in one go. Used by mining corporations across the
Outer Rim as well as construction firms back on Earth.

General Exoframes GE9 Workloader – A powered exo-skeleton operating on a

Gulfstar K24 Fuel Cell that features two hydraulic vice manipulators on the end of each
arm. With its legged, walking design, it serves as a great machine for varied loading tasks,
loading in confined areas or over rough terrain. The Loader has a single operator and it
can lift up to 4,000 kg. or a single 1-ton ICO container.

Global Dynamics ARCC-50 Armored Combat Carrier – Each ARCC is a well-armored

hostile environment rover with complete life support systems for one month, advanced
imaging systems and electronic defenses, with a cabin able to carry a 13-man squad. The
crew of the ARCC is two: driver and gunner/commander. For self-defense the standard
personnel carrier version of the ARCC carries a cupola-mounted GAU-122 25mm Gatling
gun as well as a dorsal turret mounting two Zenith 28 MW free-electron pulse lasers.
Other units in the US army and marines have their own ARCC variants. The ARCC is
powered by a 450 kW fuel cell (a requirement when operating in vacuum conditions) and
can achieve 90 kph with an operational range of 400 km.
 P a g e | 170

Global Dynamics UD-5 Mustang Dropship – The Mustang is a military spaceplane

that is capable of reaching orbit and re-entering a planet’s atmosphere. Mustangs are
often used to drop marines on to an alien world with their APC and then return them to
orbit to rendezvous with their starship. Each Mustang must fulfil a variety of battlefield
roles, most important of which is troop transport - dropping an ARCC and its passengers
directly onto a planetary surface. Additional duties include general transport, recon,
tactical air support for the ground forces (especially the ARCC and its squad), forward
observation, medevac and search and rescue. As an air support platform the dumpy but
powerful Mustang boasts a forward firing 25mm Gatling Gun and two rocket pods each
carrying twelve 70mm unguided rockets. The Mustang is able to operate in an atmosphere
with its thrust-vectored jet turbines, and it is equipped with a Nortinghouse FDT-1124
ramrocket for exo-atmospheric maneuvering. The dropship has 6 tons of fuel, enough for
3 burns: one gets it into orbit, the other it uses to deorbit and begin its descent into
Earth’s atmosphere, the third is used for loitering and up to 6 hours of atmospheric flight.
Under 60,000 feet altitude, the UD-5 Mustang is limited to subsonic speeds. A forward-
facing cargo ramp extends to the floor for loading. There are folding acceleration seats for
seven troops on either side of the cargo bay. With the seats unoccupied and no cargo
carried, a 5-ton APC can be driven up inside the cargo bay. The Mustang has a 20 ton
hull, costs $4M and requires a pilot and crew chief.

GoMo QuadTrack – A three-seat all-terrain quad bike, the QuadTrack employs four
independent tracked assemblies, rather than four wheels, giving it impressive off-road
performance. A driver sits up front with the handle-bar controls, while two passengers sit
on side-by-side raised seats behind him. A 250kg equipment rack extends from the back
of the fuel-cell powered vehicle. The QuadTrack is popular with mining groups and Off-
World exploration teams.

Gulfstar Growler Utility Combat Vehicle (UCV) – The Growler is a four-wheel drive,
utility combat vehicle, a light truck with dozens of military applications, from light
transport to medevac, reconnaissance and fire support. It has space for a driver and three
passengers, with a short flat-bed at the rear for small cargoes. There are many variants,
which remove the rear seating and introduce a larger flatbed deck for a heavy weapons
mount, or retain it as a larger cargo deck. The Growler incorporates floor armour as well
as armoured doors and windows. A ring mount in the roof allows the front passenger to
stand and operate a belt-fed M5A5 12mm coilgun machine gun. It is powered by a 180
kW fuel cell and can achieve a top speed of 90 kph.

Leyland-Okuda Javelin 4X – A supersonic private jet used on Earth by VIPs,

governments and corporations to travel intercontinental distances. The Javelin carries a
flight crew of two, one cabin attendant and up to 15 passengers. It is capable of 2,000
kph (Mach 2) and has a maximum range of 10,000 km.

Lockhart CV-24M Super-Osprey Tilt-Rotor Aircraft – This general purpose tilt-rotor

aircraft has been in service for eighty years, and is itself an upgraded version of the
original Bell/Boeing Osprey. With stub wings and rotating turbofan engine nacelles on the
tips, the ‘super-sprey’ is capable of vertical take-off like a helicopter and then a transition
to standard forward flight, with a respectable aircraft-like speed of 560 kph. It has a range
of 950 km and carries three crew (two pilots and a loadmaster/crew chief) and up to 24
combat-equipped troops. Used by many airforces and militaries around the world.
 P a g e | 171

Super Osprey of Marine Squadron DMM-764 on Columbia

McConnell AV-105 Jump-Jet Gunship – This military version of the MX Vector is

equipped with milispec avionics and countermeasures. Its standard weapons fit includes a
chin-mounted turret with 25 mm cannon, and side-mounted 70mm rocket pods usually
coupled with M30 anti-armor missile launchers. The AV-105 can serve as a battlefield tank
destroyer, or serve as protection for a flight of Vectors dropping troops into a landing
zone. Speed is 420 kph and range around 400 km.

McConnell MX Vector Utility Jump-Jet – Replacing helicopters in many roles, the

utility jump jet uses vectored turbofans for stability, control and forward thrust. The
Vector can be configured to carry either 16 passengers or 5,000 kg of cargo, and
incorporates a single side-mounted sliding door and a rear cargo ramp. It is used for
search and rescue, cargo or passenger transport, fire-fighting, observation and police
duties. It requires a crew of two. Speed is 420 kph and range around 400 km.

Matsuyama EH1800 – The EH1800 is an immense dump truck (or haul truck) that is
used on Off-World mines to transport up to 20 tons (or 100,000 kg) of waste rock out of
the mine, or to ferry freshly mined ore to the processor. It is loaded by a bucket-loader.
The EH1800 is 10m in length and the top of the cab stands 5.7m above the ground. A
stairway on the side of the cab allows the driver to reach the door. These dump trucks are
huge, ponderous machines with an open-box bed, which is hinged at the rear and
equipped with hydraulic pistons to lift the front, allowing the material in the bed to be
dumped on the ground behind the truck at the site of delivery. Powered by a 2000 kw fuel
cell, the truck cab is unpressurized requiring the drive to be suited whilst operating in
hostile environments.
 P a g e | 172

Matsuyama Reachstacker RS1000 – A wide wheel-base cargo mover operating on a

Nortinghouse Transmat 310kw Gas Turbine with a single powerful telescoping boom
ending in clamps that allow it to pick up, manipulate and rotate standard 1-ton, 2-ton and
3-ton cargo containers. It has a crew of one with an additional jump-seat, a 167kg tool
bay and a reach of 15m. A variant is powered by a 280 kw fuel cell for work in oxygen-
deprived atmospheres.

Matsuyama Sirocco Multi-Purpose Vehicle (MPV) – This multi-purpose vehicle (MPV,

or ‘people-carrier’) can carry seven passengers along with 200 kg of luggage. The seating
is configurable, it is possible to turn the rear seats inwards for a club-style arrangement.
There is a rear door, as well as a sliding door for passenger use on the right hand side of
the vehicle. Powered by a 150 kW fuel cell.

Seonwu Firefox Tractor - The Seonwu Firefox Tractor is used as a multi-purpose all-
terrain vehicle in the Off-World Colonies. It can carry a team of up to eight workers
(including two driver/operators) into harsh environments and within a deadly atmosphere.
Each is fully enclosed and capable of sustaining eight people for one week 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. It has a 2,000 kg
cargo area, and at the rear, power couplings to accept any of the following tools: digging
tools ($25,000), cutting tools ($10,000), geology bore drills and samplers ($100,000),
spring stampers ($50,000), welders ($10,000), dozer blade ($20,000), heavy telescopic
crane ($100,000) or manipulator arms ($50,000). Each of these is interchangeable,
requiring around 2 hours work, a winch and some technical knowledge. The tractor is
powered by a 1000 kW fuel cell. Maximum speed is 135 kph and range around 1200 km.

Shinobi-Technics Hermes 206 Hovercar – The smallest jump-jets in operation are a

whole new class of private vectored turbofan transports. Used by government authorities,
by the largest corporations and by the wealthy, these hovercars have added an extra layer
of activity to the biggest cities. The Hermes hovercar requires a single pilot, and has
capacity for three (cramped) passengers. Luggage space is a basic 250 kg. The Hermes is
capable of a maximum of 300 kph in level flight, but is generally restricted to airspace
limits of 150 kph. The vehicle has fuel for 4 hours of operation and can reach an altitude
of 5,000 feet. A ballistic parachute system can be deployed in case of engine failure.

Tharsis Aerospace Nimbus T23 Spaceplane – Human travel into orbit no longer
depends on rockets or rocket-mounted shuttles, instead comfortable and economical
spaceplanes now make the journey. The Nimbus T23 series of spaceplanes are
streamlined passenger liners capable of taking off from a runway on Earth and then
returning as a glider. The manoeuvre drive of a Nimbus is a SABRE synergistic air
breathing rocket engine that accelerates the airliner to hypersonic speeds. It can reach
low Earth orbit, but not move beyond it. The T23 spaceplane has 6 tons of fuel, enough
for 2 burns: one gets it into orbit, the other it uses to deorbit and begin its descent into
Earth’s atmosphere. The Nimbus has a 40 ton hull and costs $3M. It has a crew of 4 and
carries 30 passengers.
 P a g e | 173

Tharsis Armadillo GT800 All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) –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.
The Armadillo is powered by a 1000 kW fuel cell. Speed is typically 90 kph and range
around 1200 km.

Tharsis Coyote C180 Off-Road Vehicle – Rugged and hard-working, the Coyote is a
powerful four-wheel drive off-road utility vehicle, capable of traversing steep slopes, rough
terrain, sand, gravel, snow and mud. It is a common sight on the Off-World Colonies.
Powered by a 180 kW fuel cell, the Coyote carries six passengers and 200 kg of cargo
internally, with the capability to carry another 100 kg of luggage on a roof rack.

Voroncovo Forklift 4 Series – A compact four-wheeled cargo mover operating on a

Gulfstar K24 Fuel Cell. It has a crew of one and can lift 2,000kg of palletized cargo up to
4.5m.

MELEE WEAPONS
A number of melee weapons are described in the table below. Each column is described as
follows:

Cost: Price in dollars ($)

Wgt: Weight in grams (g) or kilograms (kg).
Range: The range category for this weapon.
Damage: The damage a weapon inflicts.
Die Modifier (DM): A modifier to the attack roll based on the suitability of the weapon
for hand-to-hand combat.

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 P a g e | 174

Axe: A heavy axe used by fire-fighters, loggers, carpenters, expedition team members,
etc. It makes a devastating weapon but is not balanced for hand-to-hand fighting. The axe
is one meter long.
Club: A basic stick used as a weapon. Easily obtained from standing trees or metal
pipework, or any other long stick-shaped improvised weapon – including an unloaded long
gun such as a rifle. A short club is anything up to 1m in length, while a long club is
anything between 1 and 2 meters in length
Combat Knife: Typified by the Gerber Mark II, the combat knife is a lethal, serrated,
two-edged fighting knife used by marines, soldiers and other military personnel. It makes
a decent camp-knife, too. It is approximately 200mm in length and is generally carried in a
sheath strapped on military shoulder webbing, on a belt or less frequently concealed in a
boot sheath or strapped to the forearm. Combat knives are usually as much a tool as a
last-resort weapon of defense, and worn constantly. Each weighs 250 grams.
Expedition Knife: A camping, hunting or survival knife that is used for skinning and
butchering animals, setting up camp, simple woodcraft and survival activities. It comes
with a sheath as well as a built in compass and knife-sharpener. The knife is an able hand-
to-had weapon. Length: 250mm.
Folding Spade: The military folding spade or ‘entrenching tool’ has been used in many
conflicts as a weapon of last resort, from the days of Julius Caesar to the Vietnam War. It
is short, with a sharp cutting blade and can be wielded in hand-to-hand combat if no other
weapon is at hand. The spade is 60 cm long, but folds down to 24 cm and fits within a
polymer carrier for mounting on a rucksack or belt.
Machete: A large, heavy, single-edged knife used in cutting vegetation to clear a camp
site. It can also be used as a large camp or field knife. It is generally carried in a belt
scabbard. Machetes are more survival tool than weapon, and are often found in
emergency kits, lifeboats etc.
Spike: Any improvised weapon with a point or spike on the end. A short spike is classed
as anything up to 1 meter in length, while long spike is any pointed improvised weapon
between 1 and 3 meters in length.

FIREARMS
Firearms in 2225 are still mainly gunpowder-based, some still utilize brass cartridges for
their reliability and safety within a whole range of hostile environments. New technologies
are being introduced; many frontline military forces now have caseless ammunition for
their advanced combat rifles. All military rifles are of a bullpup configuration. Laser rifles
are in use as sniper weapons, as are high-energy magnetic acceleration coilguns. Coilguns
are also making headway as reliable, frictionless machineguns. Still, shotguns are ever
popular, particularly because there is little danger of one puncturing a starship or colony
hull. Other than some of the remaining revolvers in use, automatic pistols are typically just
that, fully automatic, capable of 4 round and sometimes even 10 round bursts. This may
just be a fashion. This section looks at firearms category by category, but first ammunition
is presented.
 P a g e | 175

Ammunition
All firearms require reloading with rounds or power-packs, and in most cases these
ammunition supplies are unique to that weapon. The table below provides the details of
ammunition used by the guns in this chapter.

Reading the Ammunition Data

Each ammunition listing gives the following information:

Cost: In American dollars ($).

Wgt: Weight in kilogrammes.
Rounds: Number of rounds the weapon fires before it must be reloaded/ recharged.

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 P a g e | 177

ASA Taurus Auto Pistol - Firing a light-weight 7.65x17 Browning round with fairly low
recoil, the ASA Taurus is capable - not just of 4-round bursts - but of sustained 10-round
bursts. This advantage has seen the gun accepted by many police and security forces.

Noricum Model 44 - The Model 44 may look retro, but it is a cutting edge design. Yes, it
is a revolver, but it is incredibly reliable and a misfire can be ignored with another pull of
the trigger. The Model 44 fires a .44 Magnum round, one of the biggest of the handgun
calibers. It features custom amber grips and an in-built red-dot laser sight and range-
finder. An LED on top of the frame provides range indication through color change.

Stern Weapons VP90 - The VP90 is a reliable 10mm machine pistol that has been re-
designed and re-engineered many times over the past fifty years – but the design is a
strong one and its reliability and accuracy have never been bettered. Used as a US Marine
sidearm, as well as a close protection firearm for security troops throughout human-
explored space. It features a double column magazine (to cram in 10 x 22mm Corta
bullets) and a high-impact plastic receiver.

Williams Auto Redhawk Model 4 and 5 - The Williams Auto Redhawk Model 4 is one
of the most popular auto pistols in use today. Capable of single-shot, for more accurate
fire, it also has a burst-fire option. The 10x22m Corta rounds have a lethality that is
appreciated by security forces and police units across human space, but the round is still
just about manageable in burst mode. Of course, auto fire in a weapon this size requires
some skill - a two-handed hold on the weapon is recommended by Williams Arms. The
company later produced a Model 5 which featured a 2cm extension to the barrel and a
revised front sight in the form of a front post in a hooded ring. The Model 5 was designed
to improve the otherwise lacklustre accuracy of the Model 4. The specifications above are
for the Model 4.

Williams Model 9 Stun Gun - Twenty-third century stun guns use focussed sonic waves
to disorientate and hopefully incapacitate their victims. They are a non-lethal alternative to
handguns, easy to handle with no recoil, but useful only at short range. When hit by the
Stun Gun, a target makes an End roll with a DM penalty equal to the damage rolled.
Subtract armor from this damage. If failed, the target is unconscious for 1D6 minutes. If
successful, then the target takes a -1 penalty to his actions for 1D6 minutes, but is
otherwise free to act.
 P a g e | 178

Rifles
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Automat Kaliningrad AKZ-4 - The Kalashnikov family of military rifles have a long
pedigree and have been produced by various manufacturers over the years; from the AK-
47, the AKM, the AK-74, the AK-100 , 200 and 300 series, and finally the AKZs. The AKZ-4
is a rugged bullpup assault rifle fitted with a magazine holding 30 x 6.50mm rifle rounds. A
large selector allows single-shot, 4 round or 10 round bursts. In essence it is the same
light-weight polymer rifle as the AK-340, but now chambered for the ubiquitous 6.50mm
military rifle round. Rails for scopes and other attachments are fitted on the underside of
the barrel and on top of the receiver.

Maverick M24A1 - The M24A1 represents the cutting edge of American military
firepower. It is an advanced assault rifle firing high-velocity 8.85mm FSDS discarding
sabot bullets at 1200 meters per second. It uses an annular gas piston located around the
barrel and a vertically moving bolt, making it possible to minimise the length of the
receiver group and have a magazine located at the extreme rear of the weapon. A U-
shaped rammer/extractor is used to chamber the caseless rounds by pushing them into
the chamber. The rearward positioning of the magazine maximizes the length of the barrel
itself, improving both range and accuracy. Sighting is done with an integral AN/PVS-29
telescopic sight (4x magnification), which features hybrid IR and light-intensification
imaging. Each caseless 5.60mm round is embedded deep within a polymer casing that is
packed with consolidated propellant - this is ignited by the M24A1’s electrical firing
mechanism.
 P a g e | 179

An M340 30mm grenade launcher is mounted under the barrel and it utilises a high-low
recoil-minimising propulsion system. This launcher holds a total of four grenades and a
round is loaded into the breech ready for launching by cycling a pump-action grip. A
selector above the trigger allows the firer to choose between safety, single-shot, four
round or ten round bursts. It also has a setting for the grenade launcher, which means
that the grenades are fired using the same trigger as the 8.85mm rounds. The launcher
does make the rifle a little front-heavy and this has earned the rifle its nickname of ‘the
pig’ amongst US troops. Marine veterans claim PIG stands for ‘Piss-poor Infantry Gun’
whilst others contend it stands for a ‘Pain In-the-ass Gun’. Some show a preference for
the M24A3 carbine.

Maverick M24A3 - The M24A3 is a shortened carbine version of the standard M24A1
advanced combat rifle. It is an advanced carbine firing high-velocity 8.85mm FSDS
discarding sabot bullets at 1200 meters per second. It uses an annular gas piston located
around the barrel and a vertically moving bolt, making it possible to minimise the length of
the receiver group and have a magazine located at the extreme rear of the weapon. A U-
shaped rammer/extractor is used to chamber the caseless rounds by pushing them into
the chamber. The rearward positioning of the magazine maximizes the length of the barrel
itself, improving both range and accuracy. Sighting is done with an integral AN/PVS-29
telescopic sight (4x magnification), which features hybrid IR and light-intensification
imaging. Each caseless 5.60mm round is embedded deep within a polymer casing that is
packed with consolidated propellant - this is ignited by the M24’s electrical firing
mechanism.

This version is used by jump-jet and armoured vehicle crews who appreciate its compact
design, as well as by police forces, private military contractors and rear-echelon troops
(signallers, drivers and mine-clearance troops, etc.), Dispensing with the M340 grenade
launcher, the carbine is much lighter and it features a much shorter barrel. Due to this
shortened barrel it is less accurate and less powerful, especially at long ranges. The lighter
weight also increases the recoil, despite the weapon’s internal compensation.

Singapore Arms SA66 - The Singapore Arms SA66 is a light-weight assault rifle firing
the standard military 6.50mm rifle round. The gun is sold fairly cheaply and found in
service with a host of security forces and the armed forces of small nations. It is
particularly popular with colonial forces and by colonists out on frontier worlds, who need
a simple, light-weight but effective rifle to hand. It incorporates a carrying handle and a
simple vacuformed clamshell body. Perhaps contributing to the weapon’s popularity is its
light weight, reliability and its ease of use. On the downside, the recoil is quite harsh
making the gun a little hard to keep on target.

Stern Universal T51 - This semi-automatic rifle fires one round for every pull of the
trigger. It fires a powerful 7.78 x 52 bullet with some accuracy out to 1200m. The
Universal T51 is popular with security marksmen, woodsmen and colonists who need a
rifle for both survival and hunting. A snug, form-fitting 8 shot magazine is inserted forward
of the trigger assembly. Integral optical sights come as standard, but they can be
removed. In fact, the entire rifle can be easily disassembled and stored within a purpose-
made impact-resistant carry-box. The intention was for the gun to remain in a pristine
condition when not used during activities in the colonies (bouncing around in ATVs or
thrown in the back of a temporary pressurized base). This ability to break down the T51
has seen it gain some use with hitmen out on the frontier.
 P a g e | 180

Voroncovo M33 Coilgun - The Voroncovo corporation has introduced a new type of
magnetic coil technology, bringing magnetic acceleration to the infantryman’s battlefield.
The coilgun is a large caliber sniper and anti-material rifle that accelerates ferrous rounds
through electromagnetic coils that are powered by a high-energy liquid-metallic
suspension battery. Discarding sabot rounds are loaded into the gun in a 20 round
magazine to the rear of the trigger assembly. Each is a 12mm HVADS (High Velocity
Accelerated Discarding Sabot) that is given imparted spin using bias in the magnetic field.
After leaving the barrel, the sabots fall away to reveal the 9.46mm teardrop-shaped bullet
that consists of hardened steel, surrounded by a softer copper jacket with a hollow-point
tip. The combination of high-velocity (upwards of 1400 meters per second), hollow-point
tip and dense core, gives the round superb stopping power as well as an effective armor-
piercing capability. The real limit on coil gun technology is the dependence on power and
so the M33 is a precision sniper rifle, a weapon that will not be firing hundreds of rounds a
minute.

Zenith M1000 30MW Combat Laser - Zenith is renowned for its optics and range of
laser weapons - the M1000 is the lightest and most portable of all of the company’s
firearms. On a trigger pull, the liquid metallic suspension battery charges a fast-discharge
generator which briefly stores then releases that energy as a pulse. The high energy,
short-duration beam causes instantaneous and extreme temperature change in a target’s
surface causing vaporization and thermal shock. The rifle is used for precision sniper
attacks at extremely long range, and to target this long range weapon Zenith have fitted a
sophisticated, gyrostabilised electronic sighting system. The battery slots into the
underside of the stock. A bipod is fitted.

Shotguns
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ASA Hoplite Combat Shotgun - The Hoplite is touted as a fully automatic shotgun, and
it is capable of firing 4 round bursts, but such short-range, indiscriminate firepower has
little use other than in gang warfare. More-often, the weapon is purchased for its handy
bullpup layout, smooth semi-auto (one shot per pull of the trigger) action and accessory
rail above the barrel for laser sights, torches etc.

Noricum 37 Stakeout - The Noricum 37 is based on a 1946 design; it has since proven
itself for more than two centuries as a workhorse shotgun of worldwide police forces,
security companies and military units. It is in essence, the bare bones of what a shotgun
needs to be, cutting everything down in size to create a very handy and easily used
 P a g e | 181

weapon, in buildings, streets, jungles, starship corridors and mining installations. No

wonder it is a favourite of the US Colonial Marshals. The gun is pump-action, and includes
a folding stock. It is capable of being concealed under long, loose clothing. A tubular
magazine inserted beneath the barrel holds 4 shells.

Stern Weapons 2000 Shotgun - Stern has been producing shotguns for over two
hundred years, and the 2000 is a design that has changed little in that time. It is semi-
automatic (one shot per pull of the trigger), rather than pump-action, and is sold for use
on colony outposts and starships in a ‘personal defense’ layout [the stock is removed and
the barrel shortened drastically]. A tubular magazine inserted beneath the barrel holds 5
shells.

Machineguns
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ASA M3 Hydra IMAG [Intelligent Machinegun Auto-Guiding] - A new concept in

squad machineguns, the Intelligent Machinegun-Auto Guiding (IMAG) is a gimbal-mounted
light machinegun attached to a steady-mount and operator’s harness. Moving easily on its
mount, the operator can aim the gun through 180 degrees in front of him, squeezing the
calliper-like trigger to fire the weapon. The Hydra will self-steer the barrel under the
operator’s guidance and the articulation arm will compensate for any movement, making
the system accurate. Should the operator wish to point the gun elsewhere, the computer
will allow him to do so. Tracking is via both motion tracker and infra-red sensor mounted
above and below the barrel – these send images with targeting overlays to the user’s
smart goggles that are connected to the gun via cable and jack.

The gun can aim and track independently or be nudged to acquire another target
appearing on the smart-goggle display. It cannot fire on its own. Only the operator can do
this, with a pull of the trigger. The Hydra does not have a single-shot capability, but the
sophisticated target tracking system means that autofire is far more accurate than other
weapons (+1 to all attacks). This is the real advantage of the Hydra IMAG system:
precision-directed auto-fire attacks.

Supplied by an ammunition drum holding 250 rounds of 9x28mm caseless, the IMAG
Hydra is used to provide suppressive fire, to deal with armoured troops, equipment, and
 P a g e | 182

with soft-skinned vehicles. It does this with a slightly larger and more powerful round than
used in the M24 series of rifles. The 9x28mm round is designated as HE (high explosive),
giving the squad a real punch.

Maverick M68 LMG - The M68 is a light machinegun variant of the standard M24A1
advanced combat rifle. In order to fulfil its role as a squad support weapon, the M68 is
fitted with a longer and heavier barrel that can cope with sustained burst fire without
over-heating. In addition, the grenade launcher has been dropped in favour of a folding
bipod, used to support the weapon as it provides covering fire for the rest of the squad
during fire and movement operations. Like the M24A1 the M68 fires high-velocity 8.85mm
FSDS discarding sabot bullets at 1200 meters per second. It uses an annular gas piston
located around the barrel and a vertically moving bolt, making it possible to minimise the
length of the receiver group and have a magazine located at the extreme rear of the
weapon. A U-shaped rammer/extractor is used to chamber the caseless rounds by pushing
them into the chamber. The rearward positioning of the magazine maximizes the length of
the barrel itself, improving both range and accuracy. Sighting is done with an integral
AN/PVS-29 telescopic sight (4x magnification), which features hybrid IR and light-
intensification imaging. Each caseless 5.60mm round is embedded deep within a polymer
casing (of 8.85mm calibre) that is packed with consolidated propellant - this is ignited by
the M68’s electrical firing mechanism. The barrel is fitted with a flash suppressor to
minimize the gun’s signature when under observation from hostile forces.

Steyr-Brandt StG 340 – The Steyr-Brandt StG 340 is a heavy assault rifle used either as
a light machinegun, or with the bipod removed and the ammo hopper swapped for a 30
round box magazine, as an assault rifle. Quick conversion to a rifle lightens the gun to
4kg. The StG 340 fires the modern high-velocity 8.85mm discarding sabot bullet at 1200
meters per second. Each caseless 5.60mm sabot round is embedded deep within a
polymer casing (of 8.85mm calibre) that is packed with consolidated propellant - this is
ignited by the Steyr’s electrical firing mechanism. The 340 is used by several armies,
including Germany, Great Britain and Brazil.

Voroncovo M5A5 Auto Coilgun – A development of the M33 sniper coil gun, the Auto
Coilgun is heavy machinegun, used in anti aircraft defense and as an auxiliary weapon on
many types of military vehicle. The weapon overcomes the power dependencies of the
M33 by relying on the powerplant of its host vehicle. Auto Coilguns can also be mounted
on to a tripod (mass 15kg) as an infantry support gun and these are supplied with an M2
CAPSU (Combined Ammunition and Power Supply Unit). Like the M33, the fully automatic
M5A5 accelerates ferrous rounds through electromagnetic coils that are powered by a
high-energy liquid-metallic suspension battery. The 12mm rounds are loaded into the gun
via a flexible ammunition belt that feeds from a side-mounted hopper. The high velocities
attained by the coilgun produce flat and very accurate trajectories. Various types of
ammunition can be used by the weapon including:

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 P a g e | 183

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MLT Flame Unit - The MLT Flame Unit ignites a jet of thickened napalm which it squirts
forward out of the barrel. The direct fire range of the MLT is only 30m, but any target hit
is automatically on fire. Targets beyond 30m (and out to its extreme range of 50m) can
only be hit by indirect fire, angling the weapon at an angle and letting the jet of napalm
fall on the target. The victim takes 2D6 damage immediately. In each subsequent round,
the burning character must make another Difficult (-2) Dexterity check. Failure means he
takes another 2D6 damage that round. Success means the fire has gone out. The
character on fire may automatically extinguish the flames by jumping into enough water to
douse himself, spraying himself down with a fire extinguisher, vent all atmosphere or
otherwise smother the flames. If the character has no such means, rolling on the ground
or smothering the fire with cloaks or the like permits the character a DM+2 on his next
Dexterity check.

Firearms Accessories
The following options are generally available for certain ranged weapons.

Underslung Grenade Launcher - An underslung 30mm grenade launcher can be added

to any rifle. This grenade launcher has a magazine of one grenade, cannot fire on
automatic and takes four minor actions to reload.
Laser Sight - Integrated optics and red-dot laser sights give an extra +1 DM bonus to
any attack that has been aimed. Cr200.
Suppressor - A suppressor can be added to any non-energy weapon with a ROF of 4 or
less, partially masking the sound produced by firing (–4 DM to detect).
Scope - High-quality telescopic sights with image intensification and low-light capabilities
for night-shooting. These are attached to the upper surface of firearms, in order to
increasing their accuracy, especially at longer ranges. A weapon equipped with such sights
gains an extra +1 DM bonus to any attack that has been aimed. Scopes are delicate,
however, and may be jarred out of alignment by any violent action (such as being left
untended in a moving truck, a close explosion, or being dropped) on an 8+ on 2D6. When
the sights go out of adjustment, the firer will always miss. Some guns already come with
integrated scopes, see the individual descriptions.

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 P a g e | 184

Grenades
A grenade is a small explosive device designed to be thrown by hand (treat as Ranged
[thrown] for Difficulty by range) or launched from a grenade launcher (treat as Ranged
[shotgun] for Difficulty by range). Hand grenades and 30mm grenades used in launchers
are not inter-changeable. Hand grenades have a 4-second delay. A number of grenades
are described below. Each column is described as follows:

Cost: Price in American Dollars ($) for a case of six grenades.

Wgt: Weight per grenade in grams (g) or kilograms (kg).
Damage: The damage a weapon inflicts.

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M1 Smoke HC Grenade – The M1 smoke grenade creates a thick cloud of coloured

smoke six meters in radius, centered on the location of the grenade. This smoke imposes
a –2 DM on all attacks within or through the cloud (doubled for laser weapons). Smoke
dissipates in 1D6x3 rounds, although high winds and other extreme weather can sharply
reduce this time.

M2 Riot Agent Grenade – The M2 riot agent grenade creates a cloud of fentanyl-
derivative gas six meters in radius, centered on the location of the grenade. This fentanyl-
analog will typically incapacitate anyone within the cloud that is not wearing breathing
equipment. Victims must make a Very Difficult (-4) Endurance roll to avoid being knocked
out for 1D6x10 minutes. Success means the victim suffers a -1 on all actions, but is
otherwise free to act. A roll of double-2 indicates serious injury - the victim suffers 2D6+2
damage. The gas will dissipate in 1D6x3 rounds, although high winds and other extreme
weather can sharply reduce this time.

M3 Stun Grenade – The M3 stun grenade is non-lethal and does not inflict normal
damage. A character within six meters of a stun grenade detonation must make an
Endurance check with a negative DM equal to the damage (after armor is subtracted). If
this Endurance check is failed the character is incapacitated for 1-3 rounds. If the
Endurance check is successful, the character is unaffected by the weapon and the stun
damage is ignored.
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 P a g e | 185

M5 High Explosive Grenade – This is only available as a 30mm round for a grenade
launcher and cannot be hand thrown. The M5 HEAP (High Explosive Armor Piercing)
grenade is able to penetrate light armour and can inflict serious damage against lightly
armoured and civilian vehicles as well as bunkers, buildings and fortifications. It will halve
the target’s Armour points, and then inflict 5D6 damage. It has a blast radius of 5m and
anybody within that radius will suffer 2D6 damage. Fired from the G6 Grenade Launcher,
this grenade is laser targeted and will try to home in on any target designated by the firer
using the G6’s integral laser painter. This provides a +1 to hit.

M6 Fragmentation Airburst Grenade - This is only available as a 30mm round for a

grenade launcher and cannot be hand thrown. The M6 has similar properties to the M4
Fragmentation grenade, but it can be commanded to detonate in the air above a target,
once the firer has established range to the target using the G6’s laser designator. This
negates the defender’s -2 for shooting from cover, and negates hard and total cover for a
character who considers himself safe.

HEAVY WEAPONS
Heavy weapons are larger, man-portable weapons that cause extreme property damage.
The table below lists the heavy weapons commonly available in a HOSTILE campaign.
Each column is described as follows:

Cost: Price in American dollars ($).

Wgt: Weight kilograms (kg).
RoF: Rate of Fire. The number of rounds that may be fired during a significant action in
the format: Single Shot / Auto
Range: The range category for this weapon.
Damage: The damage a weapon inflicts.
Recoil: Lists if the weapon has recoil when fired.

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Maverick G6 Grenade Launcher - This rocket-assisted multi-purpose 30mm grenade

launcher is a semi-automatic weapon firing one grenade for each pull of the trigger. It has
a six-shot magazine forward of the trigger assembly, a retractable stock and forward grip
under the barrel. It takes two minor actions to reload a grenade launcher. Grenades for
the G6 grenade launcher are not interchangeable with hand-held grenades. The weapon
 P a g e | 186

fires from a closed bolt, gas operated mechanism and its scope features an integrated
laser rangefinder and a ballistic computer, which calculates where the grenade will land
and will also guide the grenade (when using M5 laser-guided HE grenades) or sets them
to explode at a certain distance (when using M6 fragmentation airburst grenades). Cost
$800. Weight 4.5kg.

M9 Eagle-Eye Short-Range Disposable Missile – The M9 is a disposable missile that

is easily carried in the field by a single infantryman. When carried it is 3.2kg in weight and
only 64cm long, telescoping out to 90cm for use. Prep to fire requires four combat rounds
in total. To counteract the recoil of the weapon, the missile launcher channels exhaust
backwards in an explosive back blast. Anyone up to 2 meters behind a rocket launcher
when it fires takes 3D6 damage from the exhaust. The M9 Eagle-Eye contains a High
Explosive Anti-Tank warhead for the destruction of light and medium armor and is guided
on to the target by an on-board infra-red guidance system. This provides a +3 DM to hit
unless the guidance computer cannot lock on, is confused by decoys or has no IR
signature to identify (such as with a bunker or supply dump). It is a fire-and-forget
missile. The M9 will halve the target’s Armour points, and then inflict 8D6 damage. It has
a blast radius of 6m and anybody caught within that radius will suffer 2D6 damage. Cost
$2000. Weight 3.2kg.

Zenith XM4 ATPG (Advanced Tactical Plasma Gun) – The XM4 is an experimental
man-portable plasma weapon currently under-going trials with American forces. It is
designed to provide concerted and devastating direct fire and anti-tank support on the
battlefield. In appearance it resembles a shoulder-launched guided missile launcher, but it
is connected to a portable fuel cell carried by a second crewman via a power cable. The
Advanced Tactical Plasma Gun is a 40 MW phased plasma weapon firing cadmium-telluride
pellets from a 38 round hopper. The onboard laser powers the fast-discharge generator
which then super-heats the fuel pellet to a plasma state. This plasma is focussed through
a magnetic field along the gun’s barrel. The ATPG can fire once every other combat round
due to the weapon’s need to initiate a cool-down procedure, and then power-up for the
next shot.
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Welcome to the dark and menacing roleplaying

environment of HOSTILE. In classic sci-fi roleplaying
settings, it is often de rigueur to state that your character
can be anyone, that you can go anywhere and do anything.
'The only limit is imagination'. Here, in our dark, gritty near
future we are instead constrained - in many ways it is the
modern world, with corporations, contracts, schedules and
regulations. There are no princesses to be saved or alien
uprisings, neither are there any galactic conspiracies or elite
aristocracies. But this setting is not about the new, alien
and exotic, it is essentially about the mundane and the
familiar, a setting style that director Ridley Scott once
described as 'retro-industrial'.

So what exactly do player-characters do in this setting? In

essence, RPG groups can either work, fight or explore.

The largest conglomerates diversify any business risk by participating in a number of The
 P a g e | 191

TYPES OF PLAY
Work
A man is a worker. If he isn’t – then he’s nothing.
Nic Perdue, tool-pusher for Havermeyer

Interstellar transport is not like boarding a modern transcontinental 787 and sipping
Martini's at 35,000 feet whilst surfing the Net. Our interstellar colonies are more like
Alaska than Acapulco and, using this analogy, transport out to these hostile planets is
achieved onboard industrial ships, slow cargo vessels and mobile mining rigs. You won't
see any tourists or thrill-seekers out here, just men and women working to contract. It is
well paid work because it is dangerous; suit leaks, hypersleep pod failures, equipment
failures, radiation flares, super-volcanoes, alien wildlife attacks, explosive depressurization
... the list of ways to die is almost endless. Only the best, the toughest and the most
resourceful people are hired to work out here. And that sounds like the player characters
to me.

Of course the players want some variety, they don't want to be operating a blast furnace
on a vacuum moon for three months, despite the high pay and the risks involved! Instead,
working characters should serve as troubleshooters. They may be independents, working
for a small consulting firm that gains regular contracts with the big interstellar
corporations. Or they might be employed in-house for Makita Corporation or Tharsis (for
example), moving from subsidiary to subsidiary, work site to work site, solving difficult
problems for their bosses. What kind of 'trouble' are we shooting? Forget balancing the
mine's accounts or conducting a surprise audit, the troubleshooters are instead called to
deal quickly with dangerous and/or unusual problems. Here is a quick list of possible
adventure seeds:

™ A colony transmitter has gone down. Find out why and then get it up and running
again.

™ Attacks on workers by alien wildlife have suddenly begun, find out why and stop
the attacks.

™ One of the workers has gone AWOL with weapons and detonators. Find him before
he causes any trouble.

™ Miners at a small test rig have all come down with some mystery illness. Take a
doctor out there to find out what it is and why it has stopped production.

™ An 'unlucky' decommissioned ship in orbit requires boosting to a higher orbit and

the reactor safely shutting down before it can be scrapped. Go and do the job.
Unknown to the player characters, however, a 'hyperthing' is trapped onboard and
will attempt to send each character insane.
 P a g e | 192

If troubleshooting does not whet the players' appetites, but massive starships do, then
you might want to consider running a shipping game. The PCs are the crew of an
interstellar transport or tug that is contracted to haul X to Y, while on the way
encountering problem Z.

As already discussed, interstellar travel is routine but still dangerous, akin to crewing a
modern container ship or bulk carrier. Of course, just like the troubleshooters, there won't
be any routine cargoes or for that matter any routine trips. Here is a quick list of possible
adventure seeds:

™ Haul a set of fusion reactors to three different installations. One of them is

improperly loaded and begins to go critical - the ship's AI computer wakes you from
hypersleep with just enough time to panic.

™ Ship a thousand tons of titanium building struts to a start-up colony. On arrival

there are no colonists. Investigate.

™ Intercept a distress signal from an unsurveyed moon. You must investigate the
signal, or fall foul of ICO regulations.

™ Transport a science crew with all their kit and vehicles back to Earth from the Outer
Rim. Unfortunately, an unauthorized alien sample, placed in stasis by the lead
scientist, escapes and starts killing crew and passengers alike, one by one.

™ You are shipping twenty Elite passengers out in hypersleep to join an established
colony. Unfortunately, two of them are clones from the Munich Uprising and they
attempt a hijacking the moment they are brought out of hypersleep.

You might notice that all of these adventure seeds are fairly familiar RPG scenarios, but
they are set within the environment of space transport, oil drilling, mining and colony
support. A number of them could just as easily be performed by a heavily armed squad of
US Marines ... though the odds would be tipped dramatically in favour of the marines.

Fight
All hell broke loose. I dived over this log and I peeked
from behind it. I hear one of those guys with me
screaming at the top of his lungs. His leg is all blown
to shit. The dirt is popping around him. Snipers are
trying to kill him. Three other fellas are up front and
they're all laying in a shallow stream, face down.
Lance Corporal ‘Jeffy’ Jefferson, India Company, 3rd
Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment

There will be plenty of fights - combats of varying intensities - in many roleplaying

adventures, whether the player characters are workers or explorers. For some teams of
PCs, however, combat is a profession. In the HOSTILE setting and in the American Sector
 P a g e | 193

in particular, these tooled up, combat proficient interstellar soldiers will most likely be
either United States Marines, or Private Military Contractors (PMCs), who act essentially as
modern-day mercenaries. Nearly everyone of these scenarios will feature some type of
armed conflict, sometimes involving humans, and at other times involving the fierce and
unpredictable predators of an alien eco-system.

Colonial populations are small; non can afford the manpower or equipment for a standing
army or airforce, and to be honest, no-one could foresee a time when such units would
ever be useful. Instead, PMCs and US Marines stand by within the Core Worlds to respond
to aggression on the off-world colonies. There may be insurrections, hijackings, civil wars,
coups and the ever-present threat from overly aggressive alien predators.

Planning such missions can be tricky. Because players have created military characters
that possess plenty of military skills, those characters can only really shine in combat
situations. Most adventures will therefore require at least one (and preferably several)
gunfights or close-combat situations. There may be some exploration, problem solving and
social interaction involved - but not too much - and it should always lead on to combat.

What kinds of conflicts can these marines and mercenaries expect to encounter? Most
encounters can be easily classified as either a Stand-Up Fight (against armed and
aggressive humans) or as a Bug-Hunt (against one or more aggressive, predatory alien
creatures). Here is a quick list of possible adventure seeds:

Kibo, the Japanese outpost moon used as a

base to mine helium-3 from the atmosphere
of a gas giant
 P a g e | 194

™ A corporation is facing a rebellion amongst the workers within one of its mining
colonies. The rebels have seized several installations.

™ A commercial vessel has been hijacked by a heavily armed gang that intends to fly
it into the local colony world unless they are given their own executive transport
ship and $100 million.

™ Resource scouts on a colony world are mysteriously disappearing in the foothills of

a mountain range.

™ A guerrilla army has seized control of the starport on a colony world torn by civil
war.

™ Giant predatory insects have emerged from long-term hibernation to begin hunting
and eating loggers and oil workers from a wilderness outpost.

The military team will have to be self-sufficient, equipped not just with weaponry and the
vehicles it needs, but also with medical equipment and supplies. Perhaps the most suitable
type of US marine unit for this type of setting is Force Recon, the marines' own special
forces reconnaissance section. Small, independent, well trained and prepared to
investigate ahead of any major conflict, Force Recon missions would make perfect RPG
scenarios. PNCs, contractors - or mercenaries - are used to supplement military forces,
often on temporary contracts. In HOSTILE they can act for a body, such as a corporation,
Non-Governmental Organization or colony that has no easy access to military firepower. A
PNC is a company that will require a legal team, managers, logistical experts, accounts
and medical staff, etc. On missions, the armed contractors themselves, may be
accompanied into the fray by a project manager. This corporate representative serves in
this capacity almost as an infantry officer, albeit one with a limited budget, limited
resources and the needs of the client uppermost in his or her mind!

Controlling the Squad

Long time roleplayer and US Army Private First Class (E-3) Conrad Deitrick has summed
up the way in which rank actually works in the field for a small unit.

I’m an E-3, a PFC. My team leader is a Specialist E-4.

My squad leader is an E-5, a sergeant. I consider both
to be my buddies. They’ve got more experience than me; I
trust their judgement often more than I trust mine, but
they’re friends and we’re in everything together. I’ve
got ‘buddies’ who are Staff Sergeants, E-6. Its not
basic training; we’re not talking about Drill Sergeants.
Squad leader sergeants don’t yell all the time in the
regular army. They’re too busy looking out for the guys
in their squad. You work together and live together, you
are friends and battle buddies.
 P a g e | 195

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roles, these grunts can operate freely just as the squad and team leaders do. As player
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squad-members don’t have a team following them around, however!
 P a g e | 196

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Explore
I had an ambition not just to go farther than anyone had
ever been before, but to go as far as it was humanly
possible to go.
Krista-Sue Mortenson, Team Leader,
Beta Team, Voroncovo Resource Unit

The third major campaign type is that of exploration. This is a setting of unknowns and of
unexplored regions. The extraction zones are huge areas of space where mining
corporations and oil drillers have begun to look for resources and to set up outposts - but
there has been no systematic program of survey or exploration. Player characters can
form a team of resource scouts that are experts in planetology, geology and the space
sciences that look for viable resources. They are the employees of some large corporation,
 P a g e | 197

pioneering the industrialization and development of interstellar space for the good of Earth
- and for the bottom line of their company's accounts.

Resource scouts are tough, independent spacers, able to take care of themselves and
thrive in a dangerous alien environment with the knowledge that no-one will come to their
aid if things go wrong. They are on their own. Of course, this is roleplaying, and things will
go wrong - frequently! The type of characters included in the teams can be quite varied,
as there are is a host of different skills required. Some of the player characters should be
resource scouts, trained in spacecraft operations and in space sciences, but there might
be need for a miner or a technician and perhaps even a 'boss' or corporate rep - although
that role might be better occupied by a Non-Player Character. Of course the team will
need a ship, most likely 2,000 ton resource exploration vessel of the Pandora class. Here
is a quick list of possible adventure seeds:

™ The survey planet is about to be catastrophically struck by a large asteroid.

™ Sensors suggest that lucrative mineral deposits lay under the ice. While drilling
down, the PCs awaken ferocious hibernating predators.

™ The PCs ship is damaged during re-entry and crash-lands. It will take a supreme
effort of engineering and ingenuity to get it back into orbit. Meanwhile a killer storm
is approaching.

™ At the bottom of a great impact crater sits the potential for immense mineral
wealth. The only problem is that another team of resource scouts from a rival
corporation have gotten there first. How is this going to be resolved? Chances are
that any deal struck will be reneged upon by the other team.

™ During a prospecting expedition, mineral geodes are found which lead the team to
a network of (what look like) lava tunnels. Inside there are mineral veins to be
mapped, but also a mysterious alien creature that intends to wipe them all out after
stealing a crucial part of their ship's drive. The creature can melt its way through
rock, the tunnels are its lair and the geodes are its eggs.

There is a hierarchy amongst the team-members, there has to be on any spacecraft, but
generally, seniority is based on fields of expertise rather than a military-style rank
structure. This is eminently suitable for roleplaying where all the players have an equal say
and a valid part to play in decision-making and mission tasks. Yes, there has to be a
‘captain’ but he or she will be played by a player who has no sway over the others;
decisions, just as they would be onboard the exploration ship, will be debated in the
briefing room or on the bridge, and the most logical and popular measure will be followed.
This is how RPGs work. In real life, however, the captain would have the final say, after
taking on board the comments of the relevant crewmen. Remember though, that the body
footing the bill is a resource hungry corporation. Scouts are not NASA scientists, they look
for profit, for treasure and exploitable resources. Their hefty bonuses depend on bringing
home the bacon.

Whilst player characters working as miners, or marines or commercial ship crews will have
a good idea of what they are faced with, resource scouts are generally left in the dark.
Exploration scenarios are a bit of a bluff: the referee will assign them a world and perhaps
 P a g e | 198

some more detailed goal (such as prospect that crater, or assess the viability of mining
that gas giant moon), but that is not actually the real adventure. Inevitably something else
will get in the way: a dangerous natural phenomenon, alien creatures, rival corporations,
crippling mechanical failure and so on … The excitement comes in being utterly alone in a
hostile environment, faced with terrible danger and even worse odds of survival. Payday
bonuses for corporate resource scouts must be big!

DESCRIBING THE SETTING

When we referee a roleplaying session, laying out a particular scene for a group of
players, we typically draw on our own experiences and the images and situations that we
have read about, seen in artwork or in movies. Of course the same applies when playing
HOSTILE, but some movies do not sit well with the gritty, hard-nosed and dark setting
that this game tries to create.

Darkness
The stations, outposts, colonies and starship interiors are dark. This is a metaphor for the
game world as a whole, it increases the feeling of threat and mystery, but realistically it
probably doesn’t reflect how a near future society would work. With fusion power on tap,
electricity for light fittings is cheap! Yet the dim lighting and darkness is crucial to the
setting.

Industrial Environment
The corridors, control rooms, engineering spaces, airlocks and other locations must seem
familiar and realistic. They are well-used work-spaces that are littered with fittings and
fixtures that mix the modern industrial with the futuristic. Ridley Scott’s vision for Alien
was a direct reaction to the pristine interiors and gleaming future technology of Kubrick’s
2001: A Space Odyssey. It began a trend in SF movies that showed the utilitarianism of
space travel, how humans might really inhabit starships and how they will use them. They
are forced to work within cramped working environments, squeezed in between functional
and bulky technology. The habits and vices of human life springing up in the cracks
between the machines. The form of these interiors follows from their function, and not the
other way around, There are dozens of these retro-industrial interior details that add
flavour to the setting:

Sounds
™ Sound of cycling pumps
™ Sound of air circulation system; inside a breathing, wheezing monster
™ Sound of old-style computers booting and processing data: clicks, whirrs
™ Sounds of metal framework heaving and stretching
™ Calm announcements by the female-voiced system mainframe

Clutter
™ Fire extinguishers
™ Large fold-out tool-kits
™ Old-style 1970s wall-phones with handsets and metal-link handset cords
 P a g e | 199

™ Desk or wall-mounted videophones

™ Old style green-screen computer terminals with clunky keyboards
™ Fat plastic rocker switches
™ Coffee cups
™ Yellow Post-It® notes
™ Vacc suits in plexiglass wall-lockers
™ Personal effects: playing cards, Playboy magazines, drinking bird toys, etc.
™ Steam or inert gasses venting into the area
™ Self-service Kinako™ Corporation Auto-Chef, with labelled aluminum food-lockers
™ Large and obvious handles, buttons and levers – in red, with warning signs
™ Winches, wheeled access platforms, pallet trucks, and other equipment
™ Technical manuals or handbooks left lying around
™ Clipboard with Fisher AG7 Retractable Space-Pen and checklists
™ Metal crates, plastic barrels, equipment cases, stacks of pipes or polymer sheets
™ Control units hanging from a cable near the machinery they control
™ Trolleys for equipment transport, or for holding a ‘portable’ terminal

Wall & Ceiling Fittings

™ Ceiling or wall-mounted CRT monitors displaying data
™ Exposed pipework in the walls or ceilings
™ Ladders leading up to suspended gantries
™ Tightly-packed control areas and equipment bays
™ Corridors of hexagonal or octagonal cross-section
™ Overhead equipment junctions
™ Large blast doors and bulkhead doors
™ Banks of lit buttons – we know not what they signify!
™ Machine bays filled with tanks, pipes and valves
™ Irregular levels, gantries, mezzanines and walkways
™ Chains and hooks hanging from overhead winches on ceiling tracks
™ Wall or floor panels removed for inspection or maintenance
™ Ceiling, tunnel or wall fans (typically back-lit for a true Ridley Scott effect)
™ Cables snaking across surfaces or along walls or ceilings

Surfaces
™ Metal grille flooring
™ Industrial non-slip metal flooring
™ White areas, with white padded walls, for living areas
™ Square panelled hard-wearing polymer flooring
™ Padded wall sections
™ Padded benches and seating areas
™ More padded and contoured walls
™ Very low ceilings in some areas
™ Dirt, smears, oil stains, scuffs, scratches, dents, faded signage, peeling paint

Signage
™ Common industrial signage (‘semiotics’)
™ Areas of yellow and black warning signage
™ Large stencilled numbers/letters identifying doors, levels or corridors
™ Coloured ‘follow me’ lines on the floor
™ Signs that are bilingual - English and Japanese kanji
 P a g e | 200

Lighting Effects
™ Contoured and paneled white ceiling units with integral lighting strips
™ Dark areas leading into brightly-lit white living spaces
™ Lights that come on as you enter a section
™ That flickering neon strip-light that never stays fixed
™ Lighting: up-lit, backlit and sometimes lit from above, varies by area
™ Lights – blue, red, yellow, amber and white
™ Suspended and backlit information boards
™ Rotating emergency strobe lights
™ Flood-lights on towers (external)

Interesting Locations
™ Baggage reclaim areas at starports
™ Airlocks
™ Industrial cargo airlock
™ Huge industrial caged elevators
™ Suspended gantries and walkways
™ Mess halls
™ Washrooms
™ Rows of equipment lockers
™ Control room
™ Utility spaces at the top and bottom of stairs
™ Ladders between decks
™ Maintenance corridor filled with access hatches
™ Dormitory level
™ External weather station
™ External familiar-looking satellite dishes and microwave towers
™ Open plan office space
™ Lounge with a view
™ Waiting area with seating, video-phone and vending machine
™ Slope down
™ Stairs down with hand-rails
™ Fire-fighting equipment bay
™ Laundry
™ Kitchen with aluminum work surfaces
™ Security desk with monitors
™ Life support plant, filled with pipework, generators and huge tanks of ‘stuff’
™ Corridors
™ Corridor junctions, with wall-phones, cameras and prominent signage
™ Lobbies, foyers, and ‘circulation spaces’.
™ Cargo hold, warehouse, freight-locker, ISO Standard Containers
™ Office with window overlooking cargo hold, hanger, passenger terminal etc.
™ Loading area, with containers, forklift, pallet trucks, reachstacker, etc.
™ Office and stateroom combined
™ Bunkroom with living and cooking quarters shared in same space
™ Hydroponics area, with ceiling mounted controls and equipment bays
™ Command center with wall, desk and ceiling-mounted CRT screens
™ Infirmary, white, with overhead and wall-mounted equipment
 P a g e | 201

Threatening and Grim

The human setting is generally a grim and threatening place, not simply from a physical
stand-point but also psychologically. Pessimism rules over optimism, profits usually come
before sentiment, politics and corporate development pay no attention to the needs of
humans caught up in the fray and what can go wrong – will go wrong. Of course this
bleak vision reminds us of a cyberpunk dystopia, and it is much the same, but without all
of the cybernetics, street violence and high-tech virtual worlds. Game elements can be
dropped in to remind players of this. The names of people, places and starships can seem
ominous, threatening or simply bland. Ships called Cerberus or Cyclops, for example, seem
to fit this vision of the future much better than would Discovery, King Richard, or Fortuna.
Many of the colony names in the HOSTILE setting are taken from real-life mines and
mining towns in Canada and the American West. Corporations are brought to the fore to
put a price on everything, from resources to scientific breakthroughs – everything has a
cost index. Conspiracies, secret agendas, special operations and corporate espionage were
a part of this late-70s genre from the beginning, and form a trope that could easily be
woven into any HOSTILE scenario. Overuse of conspiracies and agendas, of course, will
soon turn a cool plot twist into a too-predictable stereotype. Be careful. Don’t chuck in an
android secret agent into every game!
P a g e | 202
 P a g e | 203

Waterfall City Starport, on the American colony

world of Columbia
 P a g e | 204

CREW EXPENDABLE – THE HORROR

We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of
black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we
should voyage far.
H.P. Lovecraft

Creating Fear
HOSTILE lends itself to horror perfectly. A cynical world, filled with everyday people
going about their jobs is the standard starting point for most good horror stories; the
protagonists live in the normal world, which is rational and comprehensible – even
mundane. There are no super heroes and no actual heroes either, just victims and
survivors. It is the familiarity of the HOSTILE setting that makes horror (when it occurs)
so shocking and different. While a horror scenario can be fun to play, and both exciting
and thrilling, when done badly it can turn into a boring and stereotypical bunch of clichés.
The trick to making a scenario or situation scary (for the players – we can assume the PCs
are suitably terrified!) it is not to replicate what has been done in your favorite movies,
but to use similar techniques.

The three key parts to a horror situation are uncertainty, isolation and timing.

Uncertainty – Before vampires became cool and romantic, they had been wandering the
wilderness as far as good horror movies were concerned. The reason? Everyone in the
audience knew how to kill them, what they could do, how they would behave and where
they came from. Stick Kurt Barlow, the terrifying master vampire from Salem’s Lot, on a
starship in the depths of space and you have a predictable paint-by-numbers kill-a-
monster romp, not a horror. Does the ship’s locker even have any garlic? Alien horrors and
inter-dimensional craziness must be mysterious and unpredictable. Where did it come
from? What does it want? What are its capabilities? How about its weaknesses? Will fire
kill it? How about the vacuum of space? Discovering the answers to these questions will
provide the meat of your scenario, all the while being hunted, eaten and digested (or
impregnated). In short – the rules of normality, or reality, have been broken – and
walking on that unsteady ground is a scary thing.

Isolation – A classic technique that goes way back - even Janet Leigh found herself
stuck, alone, in a motel in the middle of nowhere with killer Norman Bates in the seminal
horror, Psycho. Isolation is what HOSTILE is all about and much of the work here is
already done for you by the setting itself. Miners, explorers, Marines far from base, all are
out in deep space, away from support, out of touch, unable to realistically call for help.
Even worse, many planets are themselves so hostile that the characters will be isolated
within the confines of the building or complex that they find themselves in, running
outside and hiding in the mountains is no good if the atmosphere is filled with ammonia
and will burn your lungs out in a matter of seconds. On an even smaller scale, the
characters might find themselves trapped inside their vacc suits, isolated even from one
another… so that when that alien nasty finds a way in, no-one can help you, not even
your buddy stood next to you with a fully-automatic shotgun. Now that’s isolation!
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Physical isolation, that is, the inability to call for help and to have the authorities deal with
the problem for you – is only part of this technique. Another, used so brilliantly by James
Cameron in the movie Aliens, is to isolate the protagonists from any useful technology.
Weaponry, hiding places, escape routes and tools can all be systematically stripped away
to increase the tension and the feeling of growing powerlessness. This is tricky to do in a
roleplaying game without the referee seeming to be simply foiling the players’ plans. If it
can be done, then perhaps the best way of isolating player characters from escape routes
and technologies is to have them do so themselves, by trying to defeat the monster, they
inadvertently make life more difficult for themselves.

Timing – Knowing when to throw a horror or scare at the players is the hardest technique
of all to master, if it can be mastered at all. Many movie directors struggle and fail to
supply the tension or the shocks that you would expect – how much more difficult, then, is
it to achieve in an unscripted, improvised session of a roleplaying game? But, if you
achieve just one (or two) genuine moments of tension or fear amongst your players then
you will have succeeded, because it is that one moment which will be remembered by
your players. Timing in a horror story isn’t like the timing in a comedy; it can cover a
couple of techniques.

The first is a deadline - the air is running out, the ship is heading for a star, the virus will
take effect in two hours, the eclipse will begin in one day, the reactor will go
thermonuclear in six hours, etc. Often this is related to the horror, and solving one
prevents the other. But these deadlines can also be thrown in as external factors, simply
to ramp up the tension. It is a highly recommended technique, and very easy to
implement.

The second is pacing. When does the creature show itself? The answer (of course) is not
when the players expect it - and that can be tricky to arrange since they are probably
focused on dealing with the menace 100% of the time. The trick here is to give them
multiple things to worry about and multiple things to do, just to stay alive. While a party
of PCs goes hunting the creature, another team goes to try and repair the airlock that got
fried when they all tried to blow the monster out of it earlier on. The work will be hard,
and as the referee forces them to make yet another Mechanical roll – that’s when the
monster strikes. Yes, they will have guns with them, they will be worried about the
creature showing up, but all you need is for the players to take their eye off the ball for a
second and then, wham, the thing strikes. It is a common movie technique, made much
easier for the director by being able to script it all beautifully.

In a similar vein, the biggest shocks always come when the players feel safe, relaxed and
not under threat. They are resting, or they think they’ve driven it away, or even killed it
outright. This is another great time to hit the players with the horror. Finally, try changing
the pace. If you are running a campaign or a short arc of linked scenarios, then make sure
there are more mundane scenarios to play through, too. If every game is a horror, then
the players will soon be expecting it, and straight away that flouts the first technique –
uncertainty. Again, good horror is embedded in reality and normality, so playing rig rescue
games or planetary survival situations will provide that established reality – a reality that
you can then cheerfully break apart as a hyperspace rift spills out some mind-mangling
horror in the next adventure. One of the most memorable SF horror movies of recent
years for me was a little, low budget movie called The Last Days on Mars. Having just
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watched the slow-paced, low-key, realistic space drama Europa Report the day before, I
was expecting nothing more than a slow-paced, quite realistic space drama set on Mars. I
was shocked, surprised and delighted, then, when it suddenly turned horrific! I had no
inkling at all – and the impact of the horror was greatly magnified for me!

Exomorphs – Alien Horrors

I have seen beyond the bounds of infinity and drawn down
daemons from the stars… I have harnessed the shadows
that stride from world to world to sow death and
madness...
H.P. Lovecraft

Everything is hostile - from a red dwarf’s x-ray flares to a planet’s ammonia-tainted

atmosphere, from the effects of hyperspace to a space suit depressurization. And the
deadly and threatening nature of the universe extends also to alien life. A lot of alien
fauna is benign, of course, life forms surviving as best they can in their own ecosystem,
but often these critters rub Man up the wrong way. Some attack human vehicles thinking
they are mates, some creatures are parasitic much like Earth-like leeches, some others
attack human colonists on sight should they wander into the creature’s territory. That is all
well and good – ecology in action and all of that. But the universe can serve up some truly
awful horrors - alien creatures that can only be described as killing machines, perfect
organisms that are tough, resilient to punishment and absolutely and forensically
dedicated to the eradication of human life. And yes, these things exist out there amongst
the cold stars, and most of them have not been discovered yet. Pray you are not one of
the humans who discovers (or should that be ‘triggers’) one of these super-predators.

The referee should introduce these alien horrors or ‘exomorphs’ to the player characters
with care. Play up their horrific nature, have them attack stealthily and when the
characters are most vulnerable and always out-gun or out-number the poor characters.
Move the encounter from the realm of action-adventure to horror.

Writers and directors have used various plotting techniques to transform what is,
essentially, ‘an animal’ into a horrific monster with a great psychological impact. Here are
a few techniques:

™ The alien is virtually unkillable. Guns don’t work, fire doesn’t work.
™ The ship or complex is damaged, without power or surveillance cameras or lights
(or all three!)
™ A rare natural phenomenon ends the hibernation of hundreds of these creatures.
The writers of Pitch Black and Riddick used a rare and long-lasting solar eclipse and
a rainstorm, in those respective movies.
™ The creature lives within or replaces human beings. In this way it is invisible and
can masquerade as a friend – when it is actually a fiend.
™ The alien doesn’t kill you - no it does far more horrific things to you. Egg-Laying is
a common theme and one taken from Earth’s own insect world.
™ You are the monster. The alien is actually an infection that transforms humans into
something truly alien, and truly horrifying. Naturally these changelings then turn on
their fellow humans. But who will be next?
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™ It is dark. Most ships in the HOSTILE setting are woefully equipped with internal
lighting, since the saving of money and energy is more of a priority for the
corporations than crew comfort. This is a setting conceit, but one that adds to the
atmosphere and gives those alien horrors somewhere to hide!
™ Invisible – or nearly so. Perhaps the creature has amazing chameleon-like abilities
that allow it to attack as if from nowhere. Perhaps, like the ‘Id Monster’ in
Forbidden Planet, it really is invisible (in both infra-red ‘heat vision’ and in normal
light) and techniques must quickly be developed to determine when it is about to
move in for the kill.
™ It comes back to life when killed.
™ It can regrow limbs and body parts at a prodigious speed.
™ It can read minds, or perhaps read emotions. It may even have some telepathic or
seeming mind-control powers.
™ Its bite or sting has horrible consequences for the victim including, perhaps,
paralysis, zombification, degenerative disease, insanity or transformation into one
of the aliens.
™ It can move at unearthly speeds when needed, treat the alien as having two full
actions for every combat round, compared to the player characters’ one action per
round.
™ The alien is actually a power source that can infect machines and turn ships,
colonies and pieces of equipment against the player characters.
™ It lives to kill. This is almost a de facto rule for any alien horror. In its natural
environment there may be checks and balances, perhaps another predator or
difficult-to-kill prey, or some kind of environmental hindrance. Out of that habitat,
free of those ecological restrictions, the thing appears to be a born killer.
™ The creature is usually docile, however, some element – perhaps a gas or type of
energy – has unforeseen consequences that triggers a dramatic change in the alien
into a cold-blooded killing machine.
™ Shape-shifting. The alien can dramatically alter its size and shape to squeeze
through air vents, down pipes or under doors.
™ You don’t dare kill it. Perhaps it has molecular acid for blood which will eat through
the ship’s hull, perhaps it explodes when it dies (to release spores?), perhaps it just
gets bigger and tougher the more damage is inflicted upon it.
™ It consumes energy. The alien seems to get tougher and harder to kill as time goes
on – it may be consuming radiation, fire, laser light etc. and only by removing that
feature from the environment can the creature be killed.

When the referee creates an exomorph, attention must be paid to believability first and
foremost, but also to lethality and surprise. Mix and match several of the tropes in the list
above, and decide what kind of environment would best suit it. Where would you really
not want to meet up with this thing? That’s where your game should be set.

There are other techniques, too, that could be employed in the crafting of the scenario.
Consider a single creature rather than a horde - a lone alien fiend adds more menace to
the situation. As the numbers increase, and I’m thinking of the movies Pitch Black and
Starship Troopers, here, the horror starts to be replaced by combat action. The trick is to
find the balance. Rather than have a ravening army of these aliens, a more subtle and
effective plotting technique is to have fewer, that come in discrete waves, or that behave
intelligently. The velociraptors that feature in both Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park 3 would
make fine alien terrors! Another well worn plot is ‘you think the creature is dead/gone/left
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safely behind’ but it is still alive or has been carried with you to imagined safety. I’m not
sure any referee can successfully pull of that plot trope, since it has been done so many
times in the past (Alien, Aliens, Alien Resurrection and Alien Covenant, for example) and
so will almost be expected by the players. Still, it might be worth considering …

Building Your Exomorph – Creating some nasty

alien horror to be the focus of a scenario will take a
little thought. The primary focus is: How does it stalk
and kill? Gone are the days of a ‘man in an rubbery
alien suit’ (no disrespect to Bolaji Badejo!) and so
your alien must have some unique signature, a
memorable method of attacking that makes it stand-
out. There are a few different ways of approaching
this.

The first is to consider the environment you want the

horror to be comfortable in, and to attack from. An
ice moon, perhaps, or thick jungle, or the dune fields
of a desert world.

The second is to look at books and movies, and lift

out a creature from there to transplant into the
environment (or starship) of your choice. Another
way is to look closer to home, to the Monster
Manuals and Creature Compendiums of certain
fantasy games, where bizarre and deadly critters
abound, often with remarkable talents and abilities.
Many are unsuitable, but look carefully and you can
spot the odd decent alien horror in there.

A number of exomorphs are described below, they

are all inspired by movies from the past few decades
and may be familiar to you. Use them in a scenario,
or as examples for creating your own interstellar
monsters.

Reticulan Parasite
This creature has a complex lifecycle. Beginning from
a spider-like impregnator, and bursting from the
chest of a host as a fanged, carnivorous larva, the
reticulan parasite rapidly grows into a 2m tall bipedal
killer within the hour. The adult dragon is a stealthy,
vicious and incredibly tough predator. All forms have
acid as blood, a splash or spurt of this will cause 1D6
damage per round for up to 3 rounds, depending on
the size of the splash.
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Reticulan Impregnator [Stage 1]

2 Kg Str 3 (-1) Dex 6 (0) End 2 (-2) Int 0 (-2) Inst 8 (0)
Number Appearing: 1 Speed: x1 (6m/rd) Armor: 3
Weapons: claw+2 (special: successful attack indicates host is knocked unconscious and
the creature has fastened onto host’s face)
Attack: Automatic Flee: 4-
Appearance: Pale coloured spider, with a long, powerful tail. One meter total length.
Behaviour: From a large leathery egg (ovomorph), typically laying dormant until a host
approaches, a spider-shaped impregnator emerges. It has surprise and moves quickly to
cover the face of a host, wrapping a tail around the neck and sending an ovipositor
down the host’s esophagus to implant an egg. It then feeds oxygen to the host, keeping
it alive while the embryo develops. After several hours, it drops off and crawls away to
die. The larva within the host is ready to emerge minutes or hours later.

Reticulan Larva [Stage 2]

6 Kg Str 6 (0) Dex 11 (+1) End 6 (0) Int 1 (-2) Inst 12 (+2)
No. Appearing: 1 Speed: x3 (18m/rd) Armor: 3
Weapons: teeth (2D6)
Attack: If it has Surprise Flee: Flees if Surprised
Appearance: Larvae are around 40-50cm long, with two arms, two legs and a tail. They
are pale brown or red in colour and have a long, eye-less head.
Behaviour: The host will awaken but within minutes the larva, a carnivorous two-legged
creature will eat its way out of the host’s chest after feeding on the its aorta for a time.
The host cannot survive this process. The creature typically tries to scavenge food in
order to begin its accelerated development.

Reticulan Dragon [Stage 3]

120 Kg Str 18 (+4) Dex 17(+3) End 9 (0) Int 1 (-2) Inst 12 (+2)
No. Appearing: varies Speed: x3 (18m/rd) Armor: 9
Weapons: teeth (2D6+2); Stinger+1 (2D6 or V/Difficult End roll to avoid Paralysis)
Attack: 6+ Flee: 3-
Appearance: Dragons are 2m tall bipeds, with a long, muscular tail and large, curved,
oblong head. There are several dorsal tubes used for sensing, or for balance. Their skin
is black, and their musculature detailed and intricate - resembling an exo-skeleton.
Behaviour: Within only a hour or two, the larva has developed into the drone or dragon,
a powerful and incredibly fast-moving predator. It can kill to eat, using its inner mouth-
parts to punch into the head or body of its victim, but will more often paralyze victims
using a poisoned stinger at the end of its tail. Victims are then cocooned in a secreted
resin where they will soon become hosts for more of the spider-like impregnators.
Dragons hunt using sound and infra-red, and can move silently, climb any surface and
hide easily within only the slightest shadows. They are fluorine-based, with acid for
blood. If there are no Queens, then chemical changes in the creature’s stinger will mean
that the first victim a dragon cocoons will actually begin to morph into an egg.
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Reticulan Queen [Alternate Stage 3]

800 Kg Str 22(+5) Dex 17(+3) End 22(+5) Int 1 (-2) Inst 12 (+2)
Number Appearing: 1 Speed: x3 (18m/rd) Armor: 9
Weapons: teeth (3D6+1); Stinger+1 (3D6)
Attack: If nest under threat Flee: No
Appearance: Queens are similar in general appearance to the dragons, but they are
much bigger, approximately 6-7m tall when standing erect and 15m long including tail.
Their body structure differs also, since they possess two pairs of arms, with a smaller
secondary pair of limbs located on the chest. The queen's head is much larger than
those of a dragon and is protected by a neck frill, similar to those seen on fossil
triceratops skulls. Egg-laying queens possess an immense egg sac which attaches to
their lower torso.
Behaviour: There are two types of Reticulan adult, the mature dragon and the queen.
Queens are born quite quickly once a viable source of hosts is found by a lone dragon.
The queen is able to lay hundreds of eggs, potentially giving birth to hundreds of
dragons if enough hosts are available. The queen is huge and powerful, but immobile at
the center of her nest, attached to a large egg-sac supported by secreted resin tendrils.
The queen can detach from this massive egg-sac in an emergency. She has some mild
telepathic communication with dragons within 30m of her.

Auroran Worm
3,200 Kg Str 24 (+6) Dex 2 (-2) End 22 (+5) Int 0 (-2) Inst 7 (0)
No. Appearing: 1-3 Speed: x2 (12m/rd) Armor: 10
Weapons: teeth (3D6) and tentacle/claws+1 (2D6)
Attack: 6+ Flee: 5-
Appearance: The Auroran worm is a slug-like burrower that is 6m long, pink and pale-
brown. Rings of hooks along the body propel the worm through the soil. The head is
protected by a huge parrot like beak, within which are three 2m long tentacles with
which it can reach out to attack.
Behaviour: The worm burrows through the regolith (soil) on Aurora (UV Ceti) where it
uses seismic detection to locate prey both under and above ground. It attacks by
burrowing beneath a person or vehicle and undermining the soil so that it gives way,
the victim falling into the collapsing hole as the worm reaches out with its tentacles
(noted above as claws+1) to drag the victim into its beak. Each of the three tentacles
can attack independently and if successful will grab on. These tentacles might
immobilize an arm or a leg, and the victim gets one round to break away: he or she
must make an Average Str roll for each tentacle. Fail and the worm pulls the victim
under. Worms can undermine buildings or roads, drag down stationary vehicles, break
pipelines and even smash through into tunnels. They can act co-operatively.
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Evolving Nightcrawler
150 Kg Str 14 (+2) Dex 7 (0) End 7 (0) Int 3 (-1) Inst 8 (0)
No. Appearing: 2D6 Fly Speed: x2 (12m/rd) Armor: 2
Weapons: teeth and claws (2D6)
Attack: 5+ Flee: 5-
Appearance: Resembling the fictional gargoyle, the nightcrawler is a horrifying-looking
humanoid creature 2m in height, with long tail and leathery wings. It has a long sight-
less head, with crests and horns emerging from the back of the skull. It has many teeth
and long claws. The nightcrawler’s skin is pale brown or white.
Behaviour: Actually a virus, the nightcrawler lives in certain caves on a certain remote
world. Once this parasitic organism enters the host’s bloodstream, it reproduces quickly
— and stimulates radical anatomical changes in the host, progressively developing
monstrous, semi-evolutionary adaptations to the surrounding environment. In humans
the nightcrawler organism creates the creature described here. Organs within the head
crest allow for echolocation and spines on the back for changes in air pressure. Like a
bat, these creatures have wings for hunting trips outside the cave system at night. The
creatures do not endure the light well and will flee from it. A bright light (equal to
strong sunlight) will cause 1 point of damage per round. The nightcrawlers live in cave
colonies, coming out to feed on native wildlife. At certain times (depending on the
planet being used as the setting) they may hibernate for long periods, saving their
strength for the time when prey is more plentiful. Being wounded by a nightcrawler
carries the risk of infection … and eventual transformation into a nightcrawler within 12
hours. Make an Average End roll to avoid infection after being wounded by a bite.
Scientists may identify the virus within the cave’s water system and perhaps also in
other cave animals, before they meet the human-evolved nightcrawlers that dwell there.
Question: who were the first humans to be infected? When did they arrive?

Feathered Serpent
75 Kg Str 11 (+1) Dex 15 (+3) End 9 (+1) Int 1 (-2) Inst 10 (+1)
No. Appearing: 1D6+2 Speed: x3 (18m/rd) Armor: 1
Weapons: claws+1 and teeth (2D6); poison Spit (Average End roll to avoid 1-6 hours
of blindness)
Attack: 6+ Flee: 6-
Appearance: A 1.2m tall, 2m long bipedal creature with a long neck and a long,
powerful tail used as a balance when sprinting. The serpent’s head is small, with a
mouth full of razor-sharp teeth, and its eyes are lizard-like. A wickedly curved claw on
each ankle is held ready for bringing down fleeing prey. Feathers run down its back and
tail, and a leathery frill at the back of the head is folded back against the neck. The
serpent is striped, black and brown.
Behaviour: Feathered serpents are jungle-dwelling pack hunters, clever, tenacious and
very, very vicious. With almost telepathic power, they communicate in silence, co-
ordinating their attacks, setting ambushes and even diversions. Moving stealthily, the
serpents will spring from cover in a co-ordinated attack, spring up with their powerful
back legs and using the huge curved claws on their ankles to rip and rend, before
biting. These creatures are masters of stealth and camouflage. When cornered,
frightened or alarmed, the serpent can open its neck frill in a display of bravado and spit
cobra-like poison to a range of 4m.
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Metamorph
100 Kg Str 11 (+1) Dex 15 (+3) End 15 (+3) Int 12 (+2) Edu 15 (+3)
No. Appearing: 1 Speed: x1 (6 m/rd) Armor: 0
Weapons: Teeth+1 (2D6+1) Tendrils +2 (2x attacks)
Attack: varies Flee: varies
Appearance: The metamorph will appear as a human being, a specific human – it will
take the host’s shape by absorbing its DNA and then altering its physical structure to
resemble its victim. A DNA test will give the game away, as will a basic blood test. The
metamorph can always return to its natural state, and that is reflected in the values
listed above. This state is a 2m tall humanoid, covered partly in fur and partly in raw,
bloody tissue. Membranes and muscle ripple and there are bones visible at strange
angles. The creature’s head is twice as large as a human’s with four eyes and no visible
nose or mouth – that is until the head splits open down the center to reveal a vast
tooth-filled maw running from the top of the head to the ‘chin’. The metamorph can
attack with this horrifying mouth.
Behaviour: The metamorph is an intelligent alien creature of malign intent. It must take
its natural form in order to absorb a new victim and it does this with whip-like tendrils
that shoot out from its long, claw-like fingers, each finger turning into a 1m-long tendril.
The two groups of tendrils each get a separate melee attack at +2. Success indicates
the tendrils pierce the skin for 1 point of damage. The victim can make a Very Difficult
End roll to resist the process, and if successful pulls away from the metamorph. If
unsuccessful his DNA is absorbed through the tendrils, and the beast then eats him,
leaving nothing behind but the uniform that it can then wear. The tendrils cannot go
through any armoured suits or vac suits, but can easily avoid an armoured shirt or
helmet.

Hyperspace Anomalies
Alien horrors represent the real, the tangible and the dangerous. Not monsters as such,
but evolved life-forms, exomorphs that are highly adapted to their hostile environments.
But there are other dangers out there, far less tangible and far more incomprehensible
than any exomorph.

You could call it the 23rd century equivalent of marine pollution: multi-kiloton starships
punching their way into and out of hyperspace hundreds of times every day. Perhaps this
has unforeseen effects. Hyperspace is still a poorly understood phenomenon and with
each horrific hyperspace incident, physicists learn just a little bit more. In game terms,
hyperspace anomalies can form the focus of a ‘haunted house’ situation, with strange
occurrences threatening both the crew’s lives and their sanity. These anomalies might also
let in some trans-dimensional and Lovecraftian ‘Thing That Man Was Not Meant to Know’.
Such hyperspace beasties do not have to conform to the laws of physics, biology or
evolution as the alien exomorphs in the last section did. A number of hyperspace
anomalies for use in the game, or as suggestions or your own scenarios, are suggested
below.
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Timehole – A wormhole to the crew’s past or the crew’s future opens up and takes the
starship along for the ride. What happens when they meet their past or future selves?
What significant event have they been taken to?

Possessed – The ship itself is now tainted with a malign hyperspace influence. Crewmen
begin to change in behaviour and demeanour. The referee might start imposing periods of
‘black out’ on players as they lose control and cannot remember what they have done.
They have done bad things. Soon they will lose control completely and begin torturing and
eating one another.

Twins – One of the crew, ideally an NPC, comes out of hyperspace with a doppelgänger
on board. The crewman is held in some sort of suspended animation in a secret location
on-board ship, whilst the evil doppelgänger plots to sabotage the vessel and its star-drives
in order to return the ship to hyperspace – the drives burning out once they have arrived.
Perhaps the doppelgänger can only be physically harmed by injuring or killing the innocent
crewman, when he or she is found.

Hello, Mother? – A machine-intelligence from hyperspace takes control of the ship and
its computer. Using repair robots, mining drones and probes, it attempts to eradicate the
human infestation. Can the player characters drive the alien intelligence from the
mainframe without damaging the computer system and leaving them stranded in space?

The Doorway – A wormhole has opened up on the cargo deck (or perhaps some other,
less travelled, part of the starship). It connects the vessel’s corridors to the surface of a
hell-world. Not only is the corrosive atmosphere of this world seeping into the ship, but so
are tough, silicon-based life-forms. These trilobite-like, acid-loving critters can chew right
through the walls and decks of the ship. Do the critters retire back to their world at night,
to sleep? Do the players want to go through the wormhole to investigate? Hell-world
might be hundreds or thousands of light years away, it may not even be in the Milky Way,
heck, it might be inside a different universe! What might such information and survey data
be worth to the Company?

Pocket Universe – The hypersleep pods open up as normal, but the pods themselves
don’t seem to be inside the ship anymore – they could be in a meadow, in a cave, a
desert, perhaps inside a building … The interior of the starship has been altered and
expanded to encompass a new pocket reality. What this reality contains is up to the
referee. Is it a twisted version of the Wild West? Is it a magical but deadly forest? A
subterranean labyrinth? The universe inside the ship is only a few square kilometres in
size, but could be facing imminent destruction unless the crew fix the problem – an
analogy for them actually fixing the ship itself and returning them to ‘normal’ space.

Star Vampires – Star vampires, energy creatures that live in hyperspace and feed purely
on ‘life force’ wink in and out of existence on the ship during a series of horrific attacks.

Blanked – A crewman no longer exists, although the player character crew can
remember him. The starship has no record, his locker is empty and the company have
never heard of him. But, the missing crewman seems to be ‘somewhere’, because there
are strange messages coming in that seem to be from him, no less. The messages are
cryptic, and could be via Morse code, writing in bathroom mirrors, fridge magnets or
something equally esoteric (and perhaps a bit more scientific). Can they bring him back?
Outpost Exodus, a meteor crater mine sitting beneath
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the perpetual auroras of the planet Orontes

Mirror Universe – The starship and its crew are ‘changed’, they are the same people
with their normal identities and memories but on a different ship with different uniforms
and a different mission. It soon becomes clear that this is a ‘mirror universe’ and that the
crew have to come to terms with this quickly and solve the problem at hand (and there
will be an imminent and critical problem at hand!). Any scientist on board might theorize
that resolving this situation may bring them back into their own universe since it is the
situation itself, like a bump in a rug, which has brought them out of hyperspace at this
particular spot.

Counter-Clockwork – The ship drops out of hyperspace and the crew awaken, but
unusually, no-one is hungry or thirsty. Someone might notice the ship’s chronometer is
moving backwards, as are their wristwatches (if they check). Time is going backwards and
this explains why many of the ships systems, particularly the drives and powerplant are
unresponsive. In an hour someone will feel ill and throw up undigested food, eaten from
before the jump to hyperspace. Someone else will throw up pure drinking water. Their
metabolisms are bizarrely working in reverse, they are even breathing carbon dioxide and
exhaling oxygen. The effect will soon begin to accelerate; others will vomit up prepared
foods. They will soon starve or die of dehydration. But once the players realise the time
dilation is accelerating they should be able to calculate that they will be infants soon
enough. The referee might impose a rate of change of 2 years per hour. How will the
players sort this mess out, before they die of young age or thirst? Will anyone think to rig
up an intravenous fluid system?

The British comedy TV series Red Dwarf is a mine of ideas for hyperspace anomalies, even
Star Trek: The Next Generation borrowed a few!
 P a g e | 215

It’s a terrifyingly hostile universe out there and mankind has

not evolved to survive the rigors of space. Without air the
traveller will asphyxiate, in a vacuum he will suffer heart
failure or brain damage, in the cold he will freeze solid, in
the heat he will be vaporized. The traveller can be poisoned
by toxic gases and irradiated by cosmic rays or solar flares.
On starships, habitats and space stations, guns are
anathema and fatal blow-outs resulting in explosive
decompression are an ever-present danger. How long did
you say you signed up for? Three years? Good luck …

The largest conglomerates diversify any business risk by participating in a number of The
 P a g e | 216

THE ZERO - G WORKPLACE

It’s actually called microgravity because where-ever you are away from a gravity well, you
can’t really escape the gravitational pull of something, whether it’s a moon, planet or star.
But we call it zero-G because, near as dammit, there’s no up or down and physical action
or motion is problematic. The weightlessness is an illusion and is due to the fact things in
space are in ‘free-fall’ around Earth, a star or some other body.

Spacecraft and large space stations in HOSTILE use grav plates to create artificial gravity,
allowing crew to walk around as if they were on an airliner. Outside of those comforting
environments, and away from the surface of a moon or planet, zero-G is king.

Most personnel who work out in space will have Vacc Suit-0 as standard. This includes
knowledge of putting on a spacesuit, its operation and basic maintenance as well as some
familiarization with zero-G activities. Higher levels of the skill are indicative of much
greater experience of working in zero gravity. A crucial task, whether it is aligning an
antenna on an ‘extra vehicular activity’ (EVA), shooting someone with a shotgun or trying
to shut an airlock door quickly to prevent an intruder forcing their way in, requires a skill
check. For regular activities, skip the rolls entirely.

Avoid Losing Control in Zero-Gravity: Vacc Suit, Dexterity, Instant, Average (+0)

Apply the following DMs: Using a tool to repair/construct -2, Firing a gun -3, striking with
tool, weapon, fist etc., or pushing/pulling -4, using a handhold +2

Losing control means that the task has failed until control is re-established, the character
is tumbling! Roll again to regain control, but this time there are no DM’s, either positive or
negative, except for those derived from Vacc Suit skill and the Dexterity characteristic.

Zero-G Tools
Working in zero-G requires highly specialised tools.

Locked Umbilical: Although many spacers carry out EVA’s using thruster packs,
disconnected from the spacecraft, it is often safer to use a length of umbilical. Gone are
the days of a loose air pipe trailing in space. Each umbilical is flexible pipe actually made
up of 10m of ball and socket links encased in an outer soft covering. A ratchet on the
spacer’s belt enables him to apply immediate tension to the links, locking him in place at
his worksite. Up to 10 umbilicals can be connected together to create a single tether,
100m long. $500. 5kg.
Grab-Pad: The grab pad is analogous to a climber’s piton which protects him from a
fall by anchoring him to the rock face. A short metre-long tether connects the spacer’s belt
to the grab pad, and this electro-adhesive pad adheres strongly to any metal surface, once
activated, by means of passing a small current through two metal electrodes. It resembles
a simple plate with rugged hand-grip. Electro-adhesive boots (known as ‘mag boots’) can
be fitted to hard suits. Cost $100, 500g.
Hand-held Thruster: For short duration EVAs the handheld thruster is an invaluable
and powerful tool, capable of providing the spacer with a delta-V of 2 metres per second.
 P a g e | 217

It uses high pressure cold gas (typically nitrogen) as thrust, and being hand-held it is
extremely versatile. The thruster costs $300 and has a mass of 2kg. It is good for 15
minutes of flight.
Thruster Pack: Longer EVAs, or transfers between spacecraft, require the use of a
thruster pack. Most starships have one in their locker. The pack is a 30kg fuel and motor
unit worn on the back, with control arms swinging around for use at the front of a user. A
joystick on the right arm and keypad on the left provide complete control. Once a desired
orientation is achieved, the user can engage an automatic attitude-hold function that
maintains the inertial position of the pack in flight. This frees both hands for work. The
pack holds enough nitrogen gas fuel for approximately 6 hours of EVA, though this does
not constitute continuous thrust. Delta-V is an impressive 25 metres per second. Cost is
$2000, 30kg.
Grappling Arm: Costing $1M, and massing 2 tons, the grappling arm is a remote
manipulator designed to hold or retrieve cargo, salvage or other objects in space. It also
has a foot harness at the ‘hand’ to enable a space-walker to stand on the end of the arm
and be transported out to a work-site. The grappling arm can extend out to a maximum of
50m.
Zero-G Tool Kit: The zero-G tool kit is essential for any repairs or construction work
under-taken in zero gravity. It must be carried to the worksite, though hard suits can have
such kits fitted as an optional extra. Tools in this kit are tailored for zero-G work, drills
have counter-rotating heads to prevent torque spinning the user around as a reaction.
There are powered screwdrivers, wrenches, angle-grinders and saws, all battery-powered
and benefitting from torque compensation. The basic portable kit costs $250 and masses
2kg. The full kit, based on-board the starship, costs $1000 and weighs 12kg.

Pressure Loss (the ‘Blow-Out’)

On many small moons, on asteroids and in deep space, humans are battling against lack
of pressure, in most cases a vacuum or a near vacuum. This is always the greatest danger
to any space traveller.

Puncturing the Hull: An attack from outside the hull may puncture it if the roll to hit is
successful. Inside the hull, stray bullets or other missiles may strike furniture or equipment
instead of the hull. If a gun is discharged and does not hit a human target, roll its damage
dice to determine its trajectory. On 2-9 the bullet lodges in something else, on 10+ the
bullet strikes the hull, or just ploughs through the piece of furniture to hit the hull anyway!
Lasers will destroy whatever they hit, so the chance of a hull strike for a laser is a flat
50% (roll 2-6 on a 2d6 for a hull strike).

If a weapon hits a hull, roll for +XOORID 3URWHFWLRQ

weapon damage as normal and *URXQGYHKLFOHDLUFUDIWRU 
subtract from this the armour VPDOOFUDIW
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the hull and decompression  
begins. (DFKSRLQWRI6SDFHFUDIW$UPRXUDGGV
 P a g e | 218

Explosives of any kind automatically strike the hull if detonated internally. The fact that
the atmospheric pressure of the cabin is exerting great force on the skin of the habitat or
vehicle adds a considerable punch to any internal explosion, increasing the chance of a
puncture. Roll explosive damage as listed in Cepheus Engine, and subtract the relevant
armour modifier. Every point of explosive damage beyond that needed to puncture the
hull widens the hole by 10cm. A frag grenade tossed into an orbital lab goes off and does
24 points of damage, lowered to 12 after the lab’s hull is considered: that constitutes a
breach. The 12 points cause a hull rupture 1.2m in diameter...

This combat rule can serve as a guideline for other projectiles, from micrometeoroids
striking the hull, to vehicles crashing into a surface habitat, fuel pumps exploding or a
grappling arm malfunction.

The Speed of Decompression: Designers do not build huge open-spaced colony

buildings or spacecraft, they are divided up into smaller compartments separated by
pressure bulkheads. Decompression of one section will not affect the rest of the vehicle or
habitat. Puncturing the skin of a spacecraft or habitat is easy and great efforts must be
made to avoid situations where such a catastrophe might occur. But what happens when
such a situation arises?

For a 1 ton cabin, a 1 cm diameter hole will cause pressure to drop by 50% in 5 minutes
and to vacuum in 10 minutes. The half-way point marks the level at which asphyxiation
begins (see below) and the character suffers 1d6 damage per minute. This basic value can
be extrapolated to determine pressure loss for other sized-compartments. Should a bullet
punch a hole through the skin of a 20 ton cargo hold, for example, pressure loss will take
20x longer (1 hr 40 mins to reach half an atmosphere, 3 hrs 20 minutes to be reduced to
vacuum). The real danger is in hatches popping open and in ruptures caused by
explosions. Using the previous example of a 10 ton lab module damaged by a grenade,
the breach created was 1.2m in diameter. Increasing the affected volume increases the
time to asphyxia to 50 minutes, but the breach was also 120x larger:

Time to Asphyxia: (5 mins x 10) / 120 = 0.42 mins (25 seconds or 4 combat rounds)

If a 1 ton airlock blew its hatch and exposed unprotected individuals to vacuum, the
effects of asphyxia would occur much faster! Assume the hatchway is a 1.2m breach:

Time to Asphyxia: (5 mins x 1) / 120 = 0.042 mins (3 seconds or half a combat round)

Note that since full vacuum is reached after twice this duration, the folks in the airlock
will suffer the perils of vacuum at the end of the six-second combat round. What exactly
does this do to the characters?

Effects of Vacuum on the Human Body: There are a lot of movie myths about
exposure to a vacuum, so the best place to find the truth is to look at books like the USAF
Flight Surgeon’s Guide, Shayler's Disasters and Accidents in Manned Spaceflight and
NASA’s Bioastronautics Data Book SP-3006. Human and animal testing, coupled with
accident reports give us the following facts:
 P a g e | 219

™ Victims can stay conscious for up to 12 seconds (two rounds).

™ Next, convulsions will take hold while water vapour forms in the soft tissue and
veins, resulting in the body swelling up.
™ Arterial blood pressure plummets as pressure in veins increases, and within a
minute of exposure, blood flow has stopped and the heart goes into fibrillation.
™ After an initial rush of gas from the lungs during decompression, gas and water
vapour will continue to flow outward through the airways. This continual
evaporation of water will cool the mouth and nose to near-freezing temperatures;
the remainder of the body will also become cooled, but more slowly. Extremities
suffer hypothermia; fingers, toes, etc. freeze.
™ Nitrogen gas, which is dissolved under normal pressure, comes out of solution and
forms gas bubbles within the body. These bubbles cause the ‘bends’
(decompression sickness), lodging in joints, lungs, the spinal cord and the brain
and causing paralysis, pain and possible brain damage and death.
™ Victims are clinically dead from 2 to 4 minutes after exposure to vacuum. In tests,
some victims exposed for up to 2 minutes can be successfully resuscitated and
recover, if quickly restored to pressure.
™ Blood does not ‘boil’ and victims do not freeze solid (at least not immediately).
™ Lungs do not burst; opening the airways allows gases to escape easily. However,
tests have indicated that holding one’s breath causes the lungs to swell, with
tearing and rupture of the lung tissues and capillaries. Trapped air is forced through
the lungs into the chest cavity, and air can be injected directly into the blood-
stream by way of the ruptured blood vessels. Massive air bubbles move throughout
the body and lodge in vital organs such as the heart and brain (a process called
ebullism) causing symptoms similar to the ‘bends’. This makes recovery unlikely.

In game terms, exposure to vacuum results in 3d6 damage per combat round. To
save someone suffering catastrophic haemorrhage and ebullism requires that pressure be
restored to at least 50% or more of atmospheric norm. This will prevent further damage.
Recovery requires a trauma kit with a defibrillator to restart the heart, an oxygen bottle
and specific drugs (namely pentoxifylline, prostaglandins and calcium channel blockers, all
of which are found within spacecraft and habitat trauma kits).

To stabilize a patient exposed to vacuum: Medical, Education, 1-6 mins, Difficult (-2).
Failure indicates the patient continues to deteriorate at 1d6 pts per hour. The medic can
try again each hour. Success indicates the patient regains 4 points of damage and can
begin recovery as normal.

An Alternative to Guns?
Obviously firearms and spacecraft don’t mix very well, yet military personnel and police
officers need the ability to take down and/or kill a target. Popular amongst space-borne
forces are shotguns with their great stopping power but poor penetrative qualities. Glaser
bullets which break apart are also popular; they are frangible, with a good degree of
stopping power, but they shatter when striking a hard surface such as a bulkhead, window
glass or piece of armor. Glaser rounds are the opposite of armour-piercing, they cannot
penetrate even Kevlar vests or vacc suits and so in that respects are not much use to a
military force. Glaser rounds are great for police officers, bodyguards, counter-terrorist
units and military groups assigned to stations or habitats. Otherwise use them as standard
firearms ammunition, at the same prices.
 P a g e | 220

Forlorn is a chilly super-Earth that orbits gas

giant Scamander as a moon

AIRLOCKS
Basic rules for airlocks are found in the Cepheus Engine but the referee may find
additional explanation useful when it comes to entering an airlock from outside the space
craft. Can it be done? How? Is it difficult? Although there are variations between airlock
types, many incorporate the features described here.

Automatic Access
The lock has two settings, automatic and manual, switching between the two is done from
the flight deck, from the inner hatch or from the control panel (4) next to the outer hatch.

Automatic is the default. The lock is operated from the flight deck by radio request, or it is
overridden by any crewman using the security keypad. Crewmembers wanting to board a
 P a g e | 221

vehicle after passing through the docking tunnel need to input their access code on the
door’s security keypad (8). The door slides up and admits entrance. In space, far from
docking tunnels and other vehicles, access may be made in the same manner. A character
conducting an EVA in a vacc suit can leave the airlock and upon his return can input his
security code with his gloved fingers (one reason swipe cards and retina readers are rarely
used). Often he will leave the airlock door open for easy access.

Manual or Forced Access

Manual is an emergency measure, used by rescue workers, or crewmen during some
crisis. The auto/manual selector (5) is turned to manual, and then the rescuer turns to the
winding handle (3) and physically and laboriously winds up the airlock door. It takes
around 10 minutes and alarms sound on the flight deck and at the inner airlock door. A
grappling arm or auto-lock mechanism (used by rescue teams) can speed this up to 1
minute.

Rescue workers will look through the windows (2) to establish the lock is empty before
opening it and will check the status light (7). Green indicates the lock is unpressurized and
safe to open, red indicates the lock is pressurized and that it may be dangerous to open. A
flashing light indicates the lock is pressurizing (red)/depressurizing (green).

The comms connectors (6) allow a rescue party to plug in directly to the flight deck to
signal the crew about their intentions should there be some kind of communications
blackout or failure. Individuals accessing the lock do not have the means to pressurize the
airlock until they get inside. If they spot an unconscious crewman within the lock and
without a vacc suit, they cannot open the airlock door without killing the crewman.
Pressurization controls are located on an inner wall of most airlocks, and the flight deck
can operate these controls remotely. An override command can easily be input by a
character who knows the access code and inputs on the internal airlock control panel.
 P a g e | 222

Protocol
Most vehicles leave their airlocks unpressurized. Many vehicles actively want their airlocks
to be accessible to rescue crews. HOSTILE is not like most space-based RPG settings,
here piracy is incredibly rare, military conflict does not always end in a boarding action;
starships are far more likely to need assistance from another craft. Sliding doors are
common. Swing-out hatches are still used for secondary, emergency or maintenance
locks, but main locks use sliding doors. That sci-fi staple, the iris valve, is not yet in use
for airlocks. Explosive bolts: Many exterior airlock doors are primed with explosive bolts to
allow for instant airlock decompression, primarily to allow for rescue or evacuation should
the automatic or manual airlock mechanism fail. These bolts can only be fired by keypad
code from the flight deck, from the inner door or from the internal airlock control panel.

EXPOSURE
Extreme Temperature
If a character is exposed to the elements, the referee must decide what the local
temperature is. Vacuum, in the shade, has a temperature of -270°C (3° above absolute
zero), but the sun at varying distances can heat up suits, equipment and hull surfaces. In
space, and on worlds without an atmosphere, use the guidelines for exposure to a
vacuum. See Pressure Loss (above). On planets and moons with atmospheres, it is
easier to determine temperature when a character’s suit rips or he is thrown out of an
airlock, or someone blows-out the windows on a habitat. Temperatures are in Celsius.

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Poison Atmosphere
Many off-world colonies have appreciable atmospheres but not all are breathable. Walking
out of a surface airlock or suffering a suit breach on one of these worlds has the added
complication of a poisonous gas being inhaled. However, pressure and temperature
differences will probably be far more dangerous to the exposed characters. The referee
should apply damage for vacuum or temperature as suits the environment.
 P a g e | 223

Habitat Leaks - On many worlds with noxious atmospheres, a breach in the hull may
result in poisonous air leaking in. This is very dangerous. The character must make an
Endurance check of 8+ to resist the effects of the poison each minute. If the character
fails the Endurance check then he takes damage and must make another Endurance check
every minute after. Gases vary from nitrogen, to carbon dioxide to ammonia and many
others, but treat damage simply as 1D6.

RADIATION
Radiation could be the real killer in space. In-frequent solar storms bathe interplanetary
space with energized protons that can reach deadly levels very quickly and some stars and
gas giants have particularly deadly radiation belts which should making prolonged travel
nearby equally unhealthy. However, the gravity manipulation technology that has enabled
nearly all space stations and starships to be fitted with gravity deck-plates and
acceleration compensators has changed this. The field created by these devices also
creates an electro-magnetic radiation shield around the starship or station, protecting it
and its occupants from most radiation bursts in space. Individuals participating in
spacewalks are not so lucky, however.

Radiation Exposure
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 P a g e | 224

ASTEROID MINING
The mining of small moons and asteroids is often carried out by big business, by giants
like Erebus Petrochem, Leyland Energy or Tharsis Mining. But the little guys can get
involved to, some are freelancers, hardy independents trying to scout out a mother lode in
order to sell the samples and co-ordinates to a big corporation for professional assaying.
Of course these big business interests also have their own resource scouts in the Outer
Rim and the frontier, but they can’t be everywhere at once. The rules in this section
provide some mechanism to allow for either corporate resource scouts or freelance
prospectors to do some initial mining. There will inevitably be problems and accidents, and
this is factored into the rules provided.

How Does Mining in Space Actually Work?

Most mining for metal ores on asteroids and small moons is done via the open cast (or
open pit) technique. This method scrapes or digs away any overburden (that is, loose soil
or other rock layers) to expose the rock type that the target mineral sits inside. That ore
then has to be broken free, transported to a processor for crushing, sieving and then
smelting. In the smelter the metal is freed from the ore and the waste (‘tailings’) are
discarded.

Low-G Mining
On Earth a combination of explosives and immense bucket-wheel excavators is used to
expose the ore, but in a low-G environment some other technique had to be found.
Explosives turn the shattered rock into a cloud of lethal supersonic missiles that destroy
spacecraft and equipment, whilst those continuously moving bucket-wheel excavators
likewise get clouds of loose material moving freely with nothing to stop them. Modern
mining corporations employ chemical lasers to do this work, vaporizing rock overburden or
cutting away large slabs that can be pushed or dragged away by mechanical means.
Mobile Drill Vessels like the USCS Vancouver mount mining lasers on the highest point of
the rig giving them an effective range of several hundred metres, perfect for exploratory
mining. Larger mining platforms, like the 100,000-ton Thuringian class as well as
permanent mining facilities must employ self-propelled mining lasers like the AMC
Dynamic 7100 for this purpose. These 5 ton machines can cut or vaporize rock layers to
expose the ore body. Bucket-loaders like the Chevrolet MM are then used to load
overburden into huge dump trucks. The 13 ton Matsuyama EH1800 is typical, it drives the
waste to a dump site. Most mines grow deeper and deeper to create a vast crater, with
roadways cut into the sides to enable the vehicles to reach the exposed ore. Once the
overburden is removed the lasers go to work on the ore itself and this is transported to
the end of a conveyor by the dump trucks which then rolls it all the way into the
processing bay of the facility or drill ship.
 P a g e | 225

A Matsuyama EH1800 thunders past at the open

cast mine on La Paz

Zero-G Mining
Where the techniques explained above work on small moons, they do not work on
asteroids. Wheeled vehicles gain no traction on such a small body. Typically a mobile drill
rig lands and anchors itself by auguring (drilling) itself into the rock surface. A site within
range of the mining lasers is selected and the overburden removed. Often ores are sitting
on the surface of an asteroid, indeed, the entire asteroid itself may be nothing less than a
loosely conglomerated ore pile! Once the ore is exposed, the rig lifts off and re-locates
itself directly over the exposed ore, auguring in once again. Beneath the rig and between
the spider-like landing gear, a huge Kevlar/Salar collection hood is extended to ground
level and secured manually by individual pitons. Once in place, chemical mining lasers
beneath the hull begin cutting up the ore into manageable chunks which cannot float free
because they are trapped within the collection hood. An inverted gravity compensation
field attracts the ore fragments up into the access manifold where they are pulverized
before being fed up into the smelter. This compensator field uses the same technology as
the gravity generators used on board starships that produce a 1G environment.

Prospectors use mining drones, which chew up the ore and pass it through the drone body
into a collection pipe which feeds the ore directly into the ship’s ore bay.
 P a g e | 226

Useful Mining Equipment

Portable Solar Power Array (PSPA): The most basic of mining outposts might
simply consist of a habitat and workshop where crews rely on supplies flown in for
survival. In this case power is supplied by a PSPA, a solar array that can be carried on-
board a lander as cargo to be unpacked, unfolded and extended on the world’s surface. It
comes with folding solar panels, an inverter, battery, solar tracker and interconnection
wiring. The PSPA provides an equivalent powerplant value of 1. The array masses 0.5 tons
when packed, and costs $50,000; use of a PSPA allows the habitat to start operating
almost immediately.
Fuel Processor: A fuel processor is used to electrolyse melted water ice to create
both oxygen and hydrogen; the first can be used for life support, the second for chilling
and using as liquid hydrogen fuel for the ship’s plasma rocket. One ton of fuel processing
equipment can convert 20 tons of water ice into liquid hydrogen per day. One ton of fuel
processing gear costs $50,000.
Helium-3 Processor: A helium-3 processor is used to extract valuable helium-3 from
the atmosphere of a gas giant. It consists of pumps and refrigeration equipment which
liquefy the atmospheric gases. While the liquid methane is discarded, liquid hydrogen is
used to pre-cool more incoming gases before also being discarded. The liquid helium is
retained, so that the helium-3 isotope can be separated from the more abundant helium-4
isotope. This helium-4 is then discarded, and the helium-3 is retained. One ton of
processor can extract 0.1 ton of helium-3 per day. The processor may instead be tasked to
create liquid hydrogen fuel at a rate of 5 tons of liquid hydrogen per day per ton of
equipment. A ton of processor costs $1M.
Mining Drones: Massing 10 tons, a set of mining drones is the most useful piece of
equipment any ship can carry. The set includes three 2 ton mining drones, a 1 ton docking
and recharging unit and a 3 ton ore handling unit. The ore unit channels and transports
ore from the drones into the cargo or ore bay. Drones process 1d6 x 10 tons of asteroid
material per working day and cost $1M.
Mining Laser: Some dedicated mining ships are equipped with a mining laser. In all
particulars this resembles the pulse laser described later in this book. It is mounted in a
single turret and is used to vaporise overburden allowing the drones access to the ore
layers within. Use of a mining laser in conjunction with a set of mining drones allows the
drones to process 20-70 tons of ore in a day (1d6+1 x 10 tons), improving efficiency. The
laser must be used at a range of 500m or less. The mining laser costs $0.5M.
Smelting Plant: Requiring a crew of six, this 25 ton smelting plant can process
asteroid ore gathered by mining drones, separate the gangue (the useless rock) from the
metal ore, then roast and melt the ore in an electric or plasma arc furnace. The plant also
has a vacuum arc capability for re-melting and refining metals like titanium which require
high grades of purity. In one day the smelting plant can produce 1 ton of metal for every
10 tons of ore that is fed into it. Metals treated with vacuum arc re-melting are produced
in 2 days. Residual rock waste, or slag, is thrown into space or onto the asteroid’s surface.
The smelting plant costs $9M.
Micro-Fusion Plant: Each is a complete self-sufficient life support plant used on
asteroids, planets and small moons by miners, colonists and scientists. The plant is
installed within a 3 ton cargo container-sized unit and built around a 1.5 ton fusion
powerplant which will provide electrical power for the outpost as well as recycle water and
air. Air and water tanks are included within the unit for this purpose. Without additional
 P a g e | 227

water and air tanks, the plant can sustain up to 30 people indefinitely. Cost is $4M; mass
3 tons.

Mission Profile
1 Prospecting - Using telescopes and spectroscopy, asteroids can be prospected from
millions of kilometres away. The player characters must identify an asteroid that fulfils
their needs, and this is done with a task roll.

Locate a suitable rock for mining: Navigation, Intelligence, 1-6 days, Routine (+2)

Locate a suitable ice chunk: Navigation, Intelligence, 1-6 days, Average (+0)

Locate a suitable source of water & nutrients: Navigation, Intelligence, 1-6 days, Average
(+0)

2 Travel to the Rock – Characters must travel to the rock; distance depends on its
location within the star system. Once mining is completed, a second asteroid may be
located in the same general location, if desired. Travel time to this new rock takes 1d6 x 5
hours, add the following:

Travel by Starship: 60 hours divided by G rating of the ship’s drive

Travel by Smallcraft: 140 hours

3 Touchdown & Anchor – Touching down on an asteroid requires landing gear. 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 the asteroid’s pathetic gravity field. It is impossible to touch down on a
planetary ring. If a craft is unable to touchdown because of a lack of landing gear, then
reduce all drone extraction rolls (see below) by -2.

4 Extraction – Decide what the crew want to extract (minerals, water or agricultural
materials). Roll the relevant task. Each mining roll represents a full day of maintenance,
preparation, mining and clean-up.

Extracting Minerals: Most star systems have an ample supply of asteroids which makes
mining unprofitable and prices very low. Belters look for the very rare asteroids in which
valuable materials exist in relatively high purity. Uncommon ores include platinum,
rhodium, iridium, osmium, ruthenium, palladium, gold and the naturally occurring alloys of
osmiridium and iridosmium. Common ores are aluminium, nickel, iron and copper. Raw
materials are sand, gravel and silica used for shielding and as a raw material for
manufacturing. Once a potentially profitable asteroid is found and on-site prospecting has
begun, roll 2d6 on the Asteroid Yield table; then proceed to the extraction task roll.
 P a g e | 228

ASTEROID YIELD
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Mine an asteroid & process the ore: Mining, Intelligence, 1-6 hours, Average (0).

Each 10 tons of mining drones installed on a ship can mine 1d6 × 10 tons per day + the
Effect of the Mining roll × 5 for each successful mining task.

Extracting Water & Hydrogen: A ship may use mining drones to mine ice from icy
asteroids or comets and convert it into unrefined liquid hydrogen fuel and oxygen. Mining
water ice from an icy asteroid or comet requires a separate task.
 P a g e | 229

Mine water ice: Mining, Intelligence, 1-6 hours, Average (0).

Each 10 tons of mining drones installed on a ship will mine 1d6 × 10 tons of ice + the
Effect of the Mining roll × 5 for each successful mining task.

Extracting Agricultural Materials: A ship equipped with mining drones may obtain the
monthly supplies for a hydroponic station on a base or space station by mining asteroids
and comets. Extracting enough nutrients and water for a month requires a separate task.
Such nutrients include (in order of usefulness) nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium,
magnesium, sulphur and calcium.

Mine water & nutrients: Mining, Intelligence, 1-6 hours, Average (0).

5 Problems – At the start of each day of mining activities, the referee should secretly roll
for a Mining Problem on 2d6. Add the highest Engineering skill amongst the characters to
the 2d6 roll, as well as the highest Navigation skill and the highest Mining skill. A natural
roll of ‘2’ is unmodified by skill levels and remains at ‘2’.

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Each problem is a roleplaying opportunity, a physical and mental challenge that will
require a degree of problem solving as well as a task roll. The referee should adjudicate
the subsequent events to fit the situation and the characters. A simple repair may suffice,
perhaps the failure is due to something unusual and not yet detected, perhaps the failure
cannot easily be repaired and needs drastic action: cannibalisation of some other
equipment, for example. The landslide/cave-in event may trap a drone or even a character
who is trying to free an unresponsive drone, it may lead to a chain of other complications,
perhaps presaging an asteroid quake, or tipping the ship violently, putting a successful
launch in jeopardy. Have fun with these problems, they are intended to be entertaining,
and food for adventure, not a pain.

6 Repeat – Continue cycling through 4 and 5, making new extraction rolls and new
problem rolls each day of mining activity. Continue like this until the ore bay is full, a
problem stops production, or something more interesting crops up! There is no need to
reroll again on the Asteroid Yield Table though.
 P a g e | 230

Oberon 551, a modular drill-rig typical of

those used by Tharsis on the colony world
Defiance
 P a g e | 231

Excerpt from Starship Technical Manual ICO-8041-5-2218-K:

“When designing a starship, the engineering team must have a

clear vision of what the vessel’s intended role should be.
Typically they will be given a brief from a client, but still, that
brief might be vague. Designers must ask themselves a few key
questions: What is the job of this vessel? What features will the
vessel include that enable it to do that job? How big should it
be? There is no such thing as the ship ‘that can do everything’ -
the best starship designs specialize.

Even the best design teams have to take a few steps backward,
though. Once the vessel design is finalized and the hull packed
with components and fuel, the realization dawns that not
everything could be squeezed in. Either something has to go
(the inevitable compromise) or the process has to begin again
with a bigger hull. The trick, though, is to keep costs down for
the client, and the best way of doing that is to use the smallest
hull possible – a small hull means smaller and less expensive
drives, after all. But saying that, there is no denying the fact
that modern commercial starships are huge, somewhat
comparable to the ocean-going vessels back on Earth. This is
due to economies of scale: building 10 cargo ships, each of
1,000 tons is much less efficient than building a single ship of
10,000 tons.”
The largest conglomerates diversify any business risk by participating in a number of
 P a g e | 232

“So just how big are modern starships? There is a limit, and just like the maritime vessels
of Earth which are rated as Panamax (meaning they can fit through the Panama Canal),
today’s starships are limited by the capabilities of their port facilities. In 2225, most class A
port facilities have an upper limit of 100,000 tons. Whilst tugships and other utility vessels
are built to a size of between 6,000 to 15,000 tons, cargo vessels are more likely to be
built on hulls of 20,000 to 40,000 tons. Military vessels are smaller than you would expect,
few are any bigger than 20,000 tons.”

Starships are designed to perform set roles for their clients. This role is applied to the
vessel as a descriptive category used in the ICO’s registration system. The most common
of the commercial starship categories are:

BCC Bulk Cargo Carrier

CCV Container Carrying Vessel
CSV Colonial Support Vessel
CTC Chemical Tank Carrier
ERV Emergency Response Vessel
EXT Executive Transport
GSV Geological Survey Vessel
HL Heavy Lander
LB Lifeboat
LGC Liquefied Gas Carrier
LL Light Lander
MDV Mobile Drill Vessel
ML Medium Lander
MSV Medical Support Vessel
PSV Platform Support Vessel
PTC Petroleum Carrier
RSV Research Vessel
TSV Technical Support Vessel
TA Trans-Atmospheric Vehicle (spaceplane)
TWV Towing Vessel
UP_ Platform (unpowered): Drill (UPD), Refinery (UPR), Mining UPM), Utility (UPU), Ore
(UPO)

An individual starship, once constructed, fitted out, tested and delivered, must be
registered with the Interstellar Commerce Organization (ICO). It is awarded a name by
the client and a registration number by the ICO. Most vessels carry a prefix to denote the
identity of the flag under which it flies, either ECS, USCS or instead the suffix ‘Maru’ if
Japanese.

ECS = European Commercial Starship (eg. ECS Julia Nörsk)

Maru = Japanese suffix for commercial vessels (eg. Tanegashima Maru)
USCS = United States Commercial Starship (eg. USCS Talkeetna)

The 20,000 ton bulk ore carrier, Talkeetna owned by Red Giant Transport, for example,
might have the full title and registration of USCS Talkeetna BCC-112234. The first three
letters of the registration indicate the vessel’s category, whilst the first three numbers of
the registration are the identity code of the carrier (112 is Red Giant’s identity code, for
example). The final three digits tell the reader how many ships of that category have so
 P a g e | 233

far been registered (the Talkeetna is the 234th bulk carrier to be registered with the ICO
so far). What does the registration of Nagoya Maru LGC-112003 tell you about the ship in
question?

Starship Naming Conventions

The big seven starlines are Braniff Interstellar, Colonial Endeavors, ConAm, Frontier Line,
Nørsk , Red Giant and Transtar. Each transports huge volumes of cargo across hyperspace
in multi-million dollar starships. Most also ferry passengers that are kept in stasis within
hypersleep chambers. The way in which starships are named is similar to the way in which
modern marine shipping is named. Some starlines try and keep to a theme or to a naming
system, some others just go with names suggested when the ICO require the vessel to be
registered. This section includes the various naming conventions that exist, as well as a
list of example names that the referee can utilise in his game.

Braniff (ICO code: 116) – No convention; examples include: Sigura, Marco Polo, Petro
Asia, Isellia, Star Tanker, An Ho, Patriot, Continuity, Integrity.
Colonial Endeavours (ICO code: 080) – Colonial name their vessels after famous port
cities or Off-World colonies. Some examples are: Galveston, Hamilton, Singapore, Hong
Kong, Prosperity, New Tokyo, Long Beach, San Diego, Brisbane, Great Lakes,
Oppenheimer, and Cyclops.
Consolidated American [ConAm] (ICO code: 150) – ConAm has begun to name its
vessels after quotes taken from US state mottoes and slogans. Examples include: Islands
of Aloha, Pure Michigan, Big Sky Country, Green Mountain, Silver State, New Mexico True,
Pacific Wonderland and Forever West.
Frontier Line (ICO code: 180) - No convention; examples include: New Space, Freya,
Energy Champion, Energy Advantage, Orwell, Niffelheim, Solomons Spirit, Progress, Global
Challenge, Sword of Orion.
Nørsk (ICO code: 172) – Nørsk line always include the word ‘Nørsk’ in the ship’s title,
other than that, there is no other convention. Examples include: Julia Nørsk, Nørsk Herald,
Rebecca Nørsk, Nørsk Carrier, Nørsk Adventurer, Victoria Nørsk, Nørsk Gold, Ellie Nørsk.
Red Giant (ICO code: 112) – Red Giant include the world ‘Giant’ in their starship
names. Some examples are: Stellar Giant, Blue Giant, Far Giant, Galaxy Giant, Rainbow
Giant, Shining Giant, Northern Giant, Courageous Giant.
Transtar (ICO code: 130) – No convention; examples include: Sunshine, Golden
Mercury, Eagle Seville, American Endurance, American Glory, Altair, Maju Jaya, Sarah,
Kristina, The Venetian.

Military Starship Designations

Starships of the United States Space Command are designed to perform set missions and
are designated as such. The USSC fleet catalog, as well as the hull of the ship itself, will
bear a unique hull number made up of mission letter and series number. Hull number V13,
for example, denotes the 13th ship to be commissioned into the USSC as a vertical assault
carrier. All vessels of 100 tons or greater, whether capable of hyperspace travel or not, are
given the prefix USS (‘United States Starship’) before their name. The very first ship in a
new series is designated as the class type and all ships based on that ship will be
associated with that class. The USS Alan Shephard V13 Vertical Assault Carrier, for
example, was the first of a new ‘Shephard Class’ which later included the USS John Glenn,
the infamous USS Charles Duke and the USS Roger Chaffee. The starship mission letters
are:
 P a g e | 234

A Auxiliaries: heavy transports, tankers and support vessels

B Battle Carrier: star system dominators, with a fleet of carried craft
E Electronic Support: electronic jamming or attack
H Space Station: orbital station, armed or unarmed
I Interdictor: area denial cruiser
N Communications: courier and light passenger transport
P Patrol: multi-system patrol and customs ship
R Recon: deep penetration reconnaissance craft
S Fast Attack Strike: long range attack ship, targeting enemy star systems
V Vertical Assault Carrier: carrier of US Marine forces to a world’s surface

Military Smallcraft Designations

Smallcraft (those less than 100 tons) are given designations according to the United States
Tri-Service Designation System introduced in 1962, applicable not just to fixed-wing
aircraft, but also helicopters, drones, dropships and space shuttles. This uses a letter to
denote mission type followed by a number for the specific vehicle model, C-4 is a cargo
jet, the fourth type entering service. Vehicles that are not fixed-wing aircraft receive a
suffix, so the CH-4 is a cargo helicopter.

The smallcraft designations are:

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 P a g e | 235

CONSTRUCTION BASICS
Construction rules vary significantly from those described in the Cepheus Engine core book
in order that they more easily fit the setting. Starships in HOSTILE are generally very big
(typically in excess of 5,000 tons). The reason for this is reaction mass; to travel through
space every starship uses a fusion plasma drive that uses liquid hydrogen as a reaction
mass – lots of it. The 15,000 ton Hercules-class tug that appears in the next chapter, for
example, has to haul around 12,000 tons of liquid hydrogen! Another big difference is the
method of propulsion. As already mentioned, starships travel through space using a
plasma drive, whilst smaller craft (landers, orbital vehicles, drop ships, etc.) employ more
conventional rocket motors similar to those in use during the early 21st century. There is
no anti-gravity drive, although ships and space stations are fitted with gravity
compensators, allowing crews to walk freely around as if they were on Earth.

For the journey to a new star, HOSTILE introduces the hyperdrive. Rather than ‘jump’ a
set distance as in Cepheus Engine, starships are able (once they have reached a pre-
surved hyperspace point) to turn on the hyperdrive and punch through to hyperspace,
travelling as far as their life support allows, at a speed fixed by the type or rating of the
fitted drive. Rules for managing the reaction drives are included to help determine how
long it takes ships to travel between planets in a star system, and whether or not a crew
can afford to burn fuel in a planetary re-entry and landing. The design process outlined in
CE is followed as normal, but where there are changes or modifications, the text will
certainly let you know.

Costs
All costs are in American dollars ($), and one million dollars is abbreviated here as $1M.
The interstellar economy provides opportunities for the use of standardized and modular
designs. Components are often manufactured by different corporations to take advantage
of available resources and then assembled at an orbital shipyard to create the final vessel.
These orbital shipyards take advantage of modular components and standardized designs
to reduce the cost of production; this typically leads to a 10% discount on vessels
constructed using the established, licensed designs, such as those described in the next
chapter. Fuel and weapon ammunition are not covered by the standard design discount.
New, custom-designed ship designs cannot take advantage of this standardized and
modular design system. These ships must instead be designed by a technical design
bureau, which creates detailed design plans based on a set of specifications provided by
the client. Such plans take a month to create, and cost approximately 1% of the final,
projected cost of the vessel.

Ship Sections
Most vessels are divided into three primary sections:

x The Engineering Section: The Engineering section contains the drives and power
plant necessary for proper operation and movement.
x The Command Section: The nerve-center of any ship is the bridge, where the
ship is controlled and systems and sensors monitored. The mainframe computer will
 P a g e | 236

be located here as will a Combat Information Center, if the ship is military – and big
enough to warrant one. All of these areas are found in the Command Section.
x The Main Compartment: The ship’s main compartment contains all non-drive
features of the ship, including the the staterooms, weaponry, the low passage
berths, the cargo hold and other items.

Displacement Tons
Ship hulls as well as other ship components are all designated by their ‘displacement
volume’. Displacement volume is measured as the volume of space that is displaced by
one metric ton of hydrogen, referred to in this design sequence as a displacement ton or
simply ton. A ton of hydrogen occupies approximately 13.5 cubic meters, which is
generally rounded instead to 14 cubic meters, simply for ease of calculation. When
drawing deck-plans of ships, each square on the map measures 1.5 meters by 1.5 meters,
to a height of 3m up from the floor – this represents half a ton. But what does it all
actually weigh? Comparisons with modern maritime shipping suggest that a displacement
ton roughly equals 5,000 metric kilograms.

A Note on System Redundancy

Ship systems can take damage for a variety of reasons, becoming disabled or destroyed as
damage accumulates. To counter the loss of vital ship systems, some ship designers install
multiple versions of certain components. These redundant systems remain inactive until
the original system is disabled, with the exception of ship weaponry. When all redundant
systems have been disabled, any further damage begins to destroy them, beginning with
the primary system.

SHIP DESIGN CHECKLIST

Space ship design follows a very methodical process. It is recommended that the
designers make their preliminary decisions on a single sheet, with three columns: the first
noting a component, the second its volume (in tons) and the third its cost (in M$). At the
bottom of the sheet the totals can be determined, and revised if necessary.

1. Decide on a role
2. Choose a Ship Hull
a. Note Hull and Structure Points
b. Determine hull streamlining
c. Install armor (optional)
3. Choose powerplant
4. Choose hyperdrive
5. Choose maneuver plant
6. Determine powerplant fuel (tonnage equal to pp tonnage)
7. Determine maneuver drive fuel (0.1 x Hull size x Mn)
8. Determine bridge
9. Choose ship’s computer
10. Choose computer software (if desired)
11. Choose ship’s electronics
 P a g e | 237

12. Determine number of required crew

a. Choose staterooms and low berths
13. Determine additional features
14. Select Ship’s Vehicles
a. Decide to include hanger space or not
15. Determine Weapon Mounts (optional)
a. Determine Ship Weaponry for the mounts (optional)
16. Allocate remaining space to cargo
17. Assess the design: Is there too much space left-over? Have you run out of space?
Go back to modify your choices if needed.
18. When finalized, calculate the total cost and construction time

SHIP HULLS
Ships with drives can mass up to 100,000 tons. Platforms and stations (those vessels
without maneuver or hyperdrives) can mass up to 5 million tons. Only starships of 100
tons or greater can be fitted with a hyperdrive. In HOSTILE, ships of 10-99 tons are
incapable of FTL travel. Many industrial ships are big: it costs a lot to ship goods to other
stars, and it is really not worth doing so for only 200-tons or mineral ore or wheat. The
base cost of a hull is given in the Hull Table, below. Ships of 5,000 tons can be completed
within 36 months or less; larger vessels will require anywhere between 24 and 60 months,
depending on shipyard priorities, volume of orders and other factors.

Hull and Structure

Like starships built under Cepheus Engine rules, HOSTILE ships also have Hull and
Structure Points. However, as these ships are so vast, the number of Hull and Structure
points required to cause damage or destruction become less and less as the ship tonnage
increases. If the ship is reduced to zero Structure, the ship is destroyed.

Initial damage is applied to the Hull; once the Hull is breached, further damage goes to
the Structure. When all Structure Points have been lost, the ship has been smashed to
pieces.
 P a g e | 238
Ship Hull Table
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 P a g e | 239

Streamlining
Use these streamlining options:
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Armor
The basic hull provides good protection against micrometeoroids, solar flares and
radiation; it also provides some protection from anti-ship weaponry. Military craft typically
add armor to the hull. Armor is added in 5% increments of the ship’s tonnage. An armored
ship decreases radiation exposure from space phenomena by 400 rads/hr. (This does not
apply to nuclear missiles, which bypass the armor or breach the hull to deliver their
radiation hits.) Maximum armour allowed is 8 for titanium diboride and 12 for
monocrystalline steel.

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For example, a heavily armored warship might take Monocrystalline Steel armor twice.
This would take up 10% of the hull’s volume and cost 40% of the base cost of the hull,
but give 8 points of armor.
 P a g e | 240

Ship Armor Options

The following are options that can be added to a ship’s armor:

Ablative: Ablative coating on the hull increases the ship’s armor against lasers by 3.
Adding Ablative costs $0.1M per ton of hull and can only be added once.
Radiation Shielding: Radiation shielding improves the ship’s protection against radiation
from both natural sources (solar flares, pulsars) and artificial (nuclear bombs). A ship with
radiation shielding decreases the amount of rads absorbed by all crew by 400/hr, treats
the bridge as if it is hardened and provides 6 extra armour points against radiation
damage from nuclear weapons and particle beams. Radiation shielding costs $0.01M per
ton of hull.
Self-Sealing: A self-sealing hull automatically repairs minor breaches such as
micrometeoroid impacts, and prevents hull hits from leading to explosive decompression.
It costs $0.01M per ton of hull.
Stealth: A stealth coating absorbs radar and lidar beams, and also disguises heat
emissions. This gives a –4 DM on any Comms rolls to detect or lock onto the ship. Adding
Stealth costs $0.1M per ton of hull, and can only be added once.

DRIVES
Hyperdrive (Hn)
A hyperdrive is an interstellar drive that Distance to Nearest Hyperspace Point:
does not have a maximum range – 2D6x10 MkM
instead, the ship’s drive rating (1, 2, 3, 6WHOODU
4, 5 or 6) indicates the number of /XPLQRVLW\ 'HVFULSWLRQ '0
parsecs crossed per week of travel. &ODVV
Speeds are rated at ‘parsecs per week’.  +\SHUJLDQWV 
Hyperdrives do not consume additional ,D 6XSHUJLDQWV 
fuel, but use electrical power, therefore ,E 6XSHUJLDQWV 
the ship’s powerplant must equal or ,, %ULJKW*LDQWV 
exceed the rating of the hyperdrive. ,,, *LDQWV 
Hyperspace is entered at one of several ,9 6XE*LDQWV 
hyperspace points in a star system, 9 'ZDUIV 
these are surveyed locations beyond a VG 6XE'ZDUIV 
star’s habitable zone. As the hyperspace ' :KLWH'ZDUIV 
points move in their orbits, the roll to
determine their distance from the $FFHOHUDWLRQ 'LVWDQFHSHU'D\LQ
mainworld must be made every time the * 0NP
system is entered or exited (see table).  
Note that the star’s luminosity affects the  
distance of the hyperspace points.  
 
Maneuver Drive (Mn)  
In HOSTILE the maneuver drive is  
typically a fusion plasma reaction drive
 
powered directly through the fusion
powerplant. Reaction mass (fuel: liquid  
 P a g e | 241

hydrogen or unrefined water) is fed through the fusion reactor which superheats it to
plasma state. Smallcraft use either a liquid chemical rocket, or, if atmospheric, a scramjet
drive system. To calculate the fuel requirements see below. Maneuver drives are rated as
a measure of G (acceleration); a rating of 3 indicates a 3G acceleration (30m/sec²). Use
the drive’s Manoeuvre number (Mn) to determine the distance covered by the spaceship in
one day. These craft will coast without thrust for the middle-part of the journey and so it
is the G-rating during acceleration and deceleration which really determines how long that
journey will last. Mn values and travel times using Millions of kilometres (MKM) are given
in the table. Every large ship holds enough reaction fuel for 24 burns of reaction burns.
See fuel.

Powerplant (Pn)
The powerplants are fusion based and require small amounts of liquid hydrogen as a
coolant (alongside tiny amounts of deuterium/tritium). The standard rules for powerplants
can be used. A powerplant rating must be equal or higher to either the hyperdrive or half
the ship’s maneuver drive. Although it has no effect on game-play and serves only as set-
dressing, starship powerplant ratings can be thought of as being equivalent to Giga Watts
of power output; meaning that a Powerplant 4 ship produces 4 GW.

Drive Table
The number given within the table is the % of hull tonnage required for a drive of that
rating.

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Powerplant $2.5M

FUEL REQUIREMENTS
Hyperdrive Fuel: none required

Maneuver Drive Fuel: 0.1 x Hull Tonnage x Mn. E.g. a 3,000 ton ship with a 3G drive
requires: 0.1 x 3000 x 3 tons of fuel (equating to 900 tons). This provides 24 ‘Burns’ at
the reaction drive’s rating. Once 24 burns are completed, the fuel tanks are dry!

Powerplant Fuel: Fuel (or coolant) equal in tonnage to the Powerplant tonnage provides
for 12 months of operation.
 P a g e | 242

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BRIDGE
The size of the bridge varies depending on the size of the ship - space required equals
0.5% of the ship’s total tonnage (minimum 20 tons). The cost for the ship’s bridge is
$0.5M per 100 tons of ship. On military vessels, part of the bridge can be designated as a
Combat Information Center (CIC) used to co-ordinate attacks and defenses during hostile
engagements. The bridge and the CIC are usually divided into two separate rooms on
large warships.

Ship Bridge Options

The following options are available:

Hardened Bridge: A hardened bridge is shielded against radiation attacks. The ship’s
computer systems are immune to EMP and the number of rads absorbed by the bridge
crew is reduced by 100 rads/hr. Hardening a bridge adds 25% to the cost of the bridge. If
a ship has radiation shielding installed, it is assumed to be hardened. The size of a
hardened bridge is calculated normally.

Detachable Bridge: This bridge design can be ejected from the ship in an emergency to
become a lifeboat for the command crew. The bridge has one year’s life support with its
own micro-fusion reactor, while emergency thrusters give it basic manoeuvring
capabilities. A detachable bridge is even capable of soft-landing on a planetary surface to
become an emergency base. Detachable bridges may not be fitted to ships of more than
10,000 tons. The bridge is 50% larger than normal and costs twice as much.
 P a g e | 243

SHIP’S COMPUTER
The ship computer is identified by its model number, the table below indicates details of
price, capacity, and cost. The minimum sized computer is determined firstly by the ship’s
hyperdrive rating (a rating of 4 indicates a minimum computer of Model/4). Size also plays
a role; see the table below:

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Ship Computer Options

The following option is are available for the ship’s computer:

Hardened Systems (fib): A computer and its connections can be hardened against attack by
electromagnetic pulse weapons. A hardened system is immune to EMP, but costs 50% more.

SHIP SOFTWARE
Ship computers run highly specialized software packages designed to support numerous functions,
such as managing the hyperdrive, evading incoming fire, controlling ship’s weapons and executing
automatic repairs. Ship’s computers automatically provide the means for basic control of the
vessel, as well as extensive library data on numerous topics and a basic level of security
(Security/0).

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SHIP ELECTRONICS
A ship comes with a basic communications, sensor and emissions-control electronics suite,
but more advanced systems can be installed. The Dice Modifier applies to jamming and
counter-jamming attempts.
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Radar/Lidar detects physical objects. It can be active or passive. If a ship is using active
sensors, it is easier to detect (+2 DM to Comms checks) but detects more about its
surroundings.
Jammers can jam or counter-jam radio communications and sensor locks.

Ship Electronics Options

The following options are available for ship’s electronics.

Survey Sensors: Survey sensors integrate a suite of probe drones and deployable
satellites into the sensor system, and are optimized for scanning large areas at great
speed. Survey sensors are equivalent to Advanced Sensors, but reduce the time taken to
scan a planetary surface by one step. 10 tons, $10M
Countermeasures Suite: A countermeasures suite is specifically designed for jamming
enemy transmissions. It is functionally equivalent to an advanced sensor suite, but has a
higher DM for counter-measures. The DM for these sensors is +4. 7 tons, $6M
Improved Signal Processing: (1 ton, $4M) Improved signal processing provides a +2
DM to sensor tasks and improves range band by 1 for radar, lidar, thermal and visual
sensors. However, this comes at a cost of increased vulnerability to jamming, with all
jamming DMs doubled.
 P a g e | 245

Distributed Arrays: (this component triples the weight and cost of a sensor suite and
associated signal processing). By using multiple hull mounted arrays in an integrated
computer controlled arrangement, it is possible to increase the effective sensor antenna
size and increase the longest range of the sensor (all increased range performance is at a
minimal level of detail). Visual and Thermal sensors can now detect at Very Distant Range
(from 150,000 to 300,000km), EM and active radar/lidar to Distant range (50,000-
150,000km) and passive radar/lidar to Long range. This modification can not be added to
standard sensors and can only be added to ships of 5,000 tons displacement or more. Due
to their surface area requirements only one sensor suite per craft can be fitted with
distributed or extended arrays.

SHIP’S CREW
Command: Any ship with a crew of twenty or more requires additional command personnel. In
this case the designers should allocate one commanding officer, one executive officer, one support
officer and two admin staff. The support officer might well be an important officer in charge of
logistics or drilling operations, but admin staff are also needed to keep the busy world of the
military or industrial ship running.
Pilot: The pilot controls all of the ship movements and maneuvers. Every ship requires a pilot
although some vessels, particularly military, carry up to three in order that they can rotate shifts or
serve as replacements due to combat losses. Pilots come into their own during key phases of
flight, and the station can be unmanned for long periods.
Navigator: The navigator plots complex in-system trajectories for the reaction drive, as well as
hyperspace routes to interstellar destinations. Every ship displacing 200 tons of more requires a
navigator, although some larger vessels (particularly military) carry a back-up that can serve as a
replacement due to combat loss or in order to work in shifts.
Sensor Operator: Sensor operators operate the scanners, telescopes and communication
equipment, most also maintain and operate the computer system and serve as ‘systems
operators’. All ships of 1,000 tons or larger must carry a sensor operator. Some vessels,
particularly exploration or military craft, carry more than one operator in order that they can rotate
shifts, serve as replacements due to combat losses or be tasked with a specific type of sensor.
Engineer: Engineers are responsible for the maintenance, regulation and operation of the
powerplant, hyperdrive and reaction motor. They must also deal with general ship maintenance.
Any ship of 200 tons or greater must have one engineer on board per 1000 tons of drive (or part
thereof). As with other crew positions, large industrial vessels or military craft may include many
more engineers in order to keep a continuous engineering presence, or to replace combat losses.
If there is more than one engineer, then the most senior or experienced is designated the Chief
Engineer and his associates are ranked accordingly as Assistant Engineers.
Steward: A steward attends to the need of crew and passengers (if carried) as well as to senior
staff on board. A military craft or industrial vessel will carry stewards who run the laundry, man
the canteen and (in the American sector) the PX – the Postal Exchange, an on-board store or
commissary. There must be one steward per thirty crew-members if the vessel spends any
appreciable time out of hyperspace. Marines and other on-board troops take care of their own
cooking and laundry requirements. Most small-crew starships manage their own catering and
laundry. If there is more than one steward, then the most senior or experienced is designated the
Purser and his associates are ranked accordingly as Stewards.
Medic: Each starship (capable of hyperspace travel) or spaceship over 5,000 tons (that is also
intended for long duration missions) must carry a medic (Medical 1 skill or better). In addition,
there should generally be additional medics onboard if the crew is large. Assume one medic per 90
crew or passengers (or part thereof). For example, a drill-rig with 146 people onboard would need
 P a g e | 246

a complement of 2 dedicated medics. One might be a doctor, the other a nurse. If there is more
than one medic, then the most senior or experienced is designated the Ship’s Doctor.
Weapons Operator: Every weapon mount, whether a bay, turret or barbette, requires that a
weapon operator be aboard to control and maintain it. The operator does not sit ‘in’ the turret like
some World War Two air gunner, but instead mans a Combat Information Center (CIC) at the
heart of the warship, from where he can direct his weapon. If there is more than one weapons
operator then the most senior or experienced is designated as the Tactical Officer (if
commissioned) or Chief Weapons Operator (if not).
Shuttle Pilot: Each shuttle, lander or important carried spacecraft will usually have a dedicated
pilot as part of the crew. This does not apply to lifeboats or EEVs, and some starship operators go
so far as to combine the role of rarely-needed shuttle pilot with that of another crewmember.
Marine: Military craft may include a small detachment of combat infantrymen (typically marines)
that can serve as on-planet protection, as well as act as a boarding party. Large assault ships may
carry hundreds of marines to combat zones. US Marine squads are made up of three 4-man fire-
teams and require a commander (a sergeant). Off-World squads working completely autonomously
onboard ship may also have a Lieutenant in over-all command. He can command up to three
Marine squads (forming a platoon). A Lieutenant commanding a platoon will be assisted by a staff
sergeant.
Scientist: An exploration vessel will include scientists as part of its crew. The designers must
decide how many scientists are needed, based on the lab space allocated and the mission to be
accomplished. If there is more than one scientist then the most senior or experienced is
designated as the Chief Scientist (or drill manager).
Loadmaster: Some ships require the services of a dedicated loadmaster, who can direct ground-
based loading crews, calculate weights, volumes and loading/unloading priorities. Often these
tasks are carried out by the Second Officer of a commercial starship. Military craft, or container
ships, may however require a dedicated loadmaster who manages the cargo deck and drives any
cargo-handling vehicles carried on-board.
Miner: Miners must be allocated by the designer based on the needs of the ship. If there is more
than one miner then the most senior or experienced is designated as the Tool-Pusher (drill
manager).
Other: Other crew positions may be created by the designers to serve functions not indicated
within these guidelines.

Accommodation
Staterooms: Each stateroom is sufficient for one person, displaces 4 tons, and costs
$500,000. No stateroom can contain more than two persons as it would strain the ship’s
life support equipment. The tonnage and cost of the staterooms includes the life support
systems needed to keep the crew alive. Some ships install double occupancy staterooms,
usually for miners, scientists, marines or for lots of weapons operators. They still displace
4 tons and cost $500,000.

Hypersleep Pod: Hypersleep stasis pods must be included for every human being
onboard a hyperdrive-equipped starship; epilepsy, madness, insanity or coma will affect
any living creature passing through hyperspace that is not protected by stasis. One
hypersleep pod carries one crewman or passenger, costs $50,000, and displaces one-half
ton.

Barracks: A barracks takes up 2 tons per marine or miner, and costs $0.1M per occupant.
Barracks can only be used to accommodate troops intended for boarding or assault
operations, or for miners on short contracts. Most barracks are supplied by Stack-Racks™.
 P a g e | 247

Canteens, Mess Halls, Freshers etc: Each stateroom takes up only 3 tons on a
deckplan, with the extra space given over to corridors, a dining area/mess hall/canteen
etc. Public freshers (toilets and washrooms) as well as supply lockers and a laundry room
will also be provided out of this extra tonnage if needed. Likewise, barracks also come
with some of this space allocated for public use.

ADDITIONAL SHIP COMPONENTS

The following are examples of additional ship components that might prove useful for
certain ship designs.

Armory
Ships carrying a large number of marines or soldiers can benefit from an armory, a
specialized weapons store. An armory can only be accessed by those with the correct
codes (usually the ship’s senior officers and security team) and contains a wide variety of
weapons. In game terms, an armory has enough pistols for the crew, enough rifles for any
Marines, and a selection of other military equipment like grenades, combat armor and
communications equipment. A general armory for a spacecraft costs $0.5M and takes up 2
tons of space. Where military vessels are concerned, the number of armories built into the
ship’s design is based on crew size. One armory is installed for either every 50 crew
members, or every 10 marines, in order to provide adequate storage for equipment,
weapons and ammunition.

Briefing Room
A specialized briefing room is useful on military cruisers and mercenary ships, where
teams can discuss plans or meet with clients privately. A briefing room gives a +1 DM to
Tactics checks made when planning missions on board ship. Ships with command bridges
and fighter squadrons require additional briefing rooms and facilities. Industrial or
commercial vessels may install a briefing room as a planning center or operations room.
It requires 4 tons and costs $500,000.

Cargo Hold
The design plan must indicate cargo capacity. There is no cost for this but cargo carried
may not exceed cargo capacity. Any space left over after all systems have been installed
may be allocated to cargo space. Some ships carry large empty tanks for petroleum or
gas, others may be equipped with bulk cargo holds for cargoes such as ore, coal or
wheat. These release their cargo through gates located at the bottom of the hold to drop
on to conveyor belts running beneath the cargo area. The bulk cargo is then transported
on an elevating system to the upper hull surface for off-loading through one or more
discharge boom conveyors (see below). Most ships are fitted with a more conventional
cargo deck for the transport of ICO containers or (less commonly) palletized goods.
These decks have fittings for the easy movement of ICO containers or pallets and nearly
always include a small internal ceiling crane for lifting and moving heavy cargoes around
the cargo area. Cargo decks are typically sealed and able to be depressurized, they will
also be fitted with smoke alarms and halon gas extinguishers. Decide on the type of cargo
hold at the design stage: deck, bulk cargo or tank. Some large ships carry their own
cargo handling equipment (see below).
 P a g e | 248

Cargo Handling Equipment

Most ships have some form of cargo doors, ramps and/or industrial-sized lifts in order to
move cargo from stations or loading docks up into the ship cargo hold – and back again.
Sometimes more is needed.

™ Discharge Boom Conveyor – A tubular, telescoping arm containing internal

conveyor systems for rapidly loading and unloading bulk cargoes like ore, wheat or
coal. Transfers 2000 tons of bulk cargo per hour. $0.6M, 150 tons
™ Overhead Crane, Large – Onboard, side-mounted telescoping crane for
offloading standard shipping containers without the need for advanced port
facilities. $1.25M, 125 tons.
™ Overhead Crane, Standard – Onboard, side-mounted telescoping crane for
offloading standard shipping containers without the need for advanced port
facilities. $0.75M, 40 tons.
™ Liquid Transfer Manifold – Required on vessels that carry chemicals, petroleum
or liquefied gas, in order that the cargo can be piped off or on. The manifold is an
elaborate pumping system beneath a set of pipe connectors and valves. Arms from
the portside swing over to connect to the manifold and begin on or off-loading the
liquid into tanks. Tonnage required is 1% of the total fluid cargo (minimum 1 ton);
cost is $0.01M per ton of manifold.
™ Cargo Lift, Small – An industrial cargo lift capable of raising and lowering up to
10 tons of cargo in one go. 1 ton, $0.05M.
™ Cargo Lift, Large – An industrial cargo lift capable of raising and lowering up to
36 tons of cargo in one go. 3 tons, $0.10M.

Cargo Handling Vehicles

Some cargo vessels, designed to visit poorly-equipped frontier starports, carry their own
set of cargo handling and ground support vehicles. The following are representative:

™ Aerodyne CLT-15 Cargo-loader– A wheeled container-carrier, powered by a

Gulfstar K27 Fuel Cell, that is used on many starport ramps. It can carry to the pad
a single 3 ton intermodal container, raise it to a cargo hatch (up to 6m off the
tarmac) and using powered rollers, slide the box into the ship’s hold. It is driven
from a small cab that is mounted on the vehicle’s side. $56,000. 3 tons.
™ General Exoframes GE9 Workloader – A powered exo-skeleton operating on a
Gulfstar K24 Fuel Cell that features two hydraulic vice manipulators on the end of
each arm. With its legged, walking design, it serves as a great machine for varied
loading tasks, loading in confined areas or over rough terrain. The Loader has a
single operator and it can lift up to 4,000 kg. or a single 1-ton ICO container.
$50,000. 0.5 ton.
™ Matsuyama Reachstacker RS1000 – A wide wheel-base cargo mover operating
on a Nortinghouse Transmat 310kw Gas Turbine with a single powerful telescoping
boom ending in clamps that allow it to pick up, manipulate and rotate standard 1-
ton, 2-ton and 3-ton cargo containers. It has a crew of one with an additional
jump-seat, a 167kg tool bay and a reach of 15m. $80,000. 3 tons.
™ Voroncovo Forklift 4 Series – A compact four-wheeled cargo mover operating
on a Gulfstar K24 Fuel Cell. It has a crew of one and can lift 2,000kg of palletized
cargo up to 4.5m. $7,000. 0.75 ton.
 P a g e | 249

Docking Clamp
A docking clamp firmly attaches another ship or an industrial platform to the ship,
enabling to move and maneuver as one. The size and cost of these clamps varies with the
loading it is designed to take:
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Detention Cells
Found primarily on military and government vessels, a pair of detention cells is used to
hold two prisoners. A detention cell displaces 2 tons and costs $0.25M.

Dump Box
A dump box is a detachable cargo section (technically termed a ‘module’) that is capable
of atmospheric re-entry and soft-landing. Once landed it cannot easily be returned to
orbit. Dump boxes are one-use items, typically used to deliver very large construction
materials for the establishment of colonies or mining installations, or as terraforming
modules filled with machinery, diggers and bulk agricultural supplies. Use of these devices
allows for the delivery of prefabricated parts much too large to be transferred to a
shuttle’s cargo deck. They are primarily used by ships which are not equipped with landing
gear, or whose owners do not want their standard configuration vessels to attempt a
surface landing. Dump boxes can be any size – starting at the minimum size of 100 tons.
A basic 10% of the dump box tonnage must be devoted to a de-orbit reaction drive, retro-
rockets, parachutes and an inflatable ablative heat-shield. The box itself, and the
associated re-entry and landing equipment, costs $0.01M per ton of dump box – this does
not include any associated cargoes! Dump boxes must be circular in plan.

Fuel Scoops
Fuel scoops allow an unstreamlined ship to gather unrefined fuel from a gas giant.
Streamlined ships have fuel scoops built in. Adding scoops costs $1M and requires no
tonnage.

Fuel Processors
Fuel processors are able to take unrefined fuel from a gas giant or water ocean and
convert it into refined liquid hydrogen fuel. To convert 20 tons of unrefined fuel in one
day, one ton of fuel processor is needed. A ton of fuel processing equipment costs
$0.05M.

Grappling Arm
An extendable remote manipulator arm, 18m long and featuring four universal joints. It is
remotely operated within the vessel and can manipulate objects weighing as much as 10
tons easily. $1M. 2 tons
 P a g e | 250

Laboratory
Space allocated to laboratories can be used for research and experimentation. Each four
tons of lab space allows a pair of scientists to perform research on board ship. The cost
for research equipment varies depending on the type of research undertaken, but is
generally around $1M per 4 tons.

Landing Gear: Includes both vectored thrust nozzles and heavy duty landing legs that
can take the full loaded weight of the ship. Any ship wanting to make planetary landings,
whether Standard, Streamlined or Lifting Body, must be equipped with landing gear. Often
elevators are built into the legs to allow a descent from the ship itself (due to the large
size and high ground clearance of most starships). Requires 1% of the Hull tonnage, Cost
$1M per ton of landing gear.

Medical Facilities
For any vessel away from its home planet for weeks-on-end, the inclusion of a medical
facility is invaluable. Choose from either a Medbay, Small Infirmary, Large Infirmary or
Hospital.
™ Autodoc: A specialized, immobile medical robot able to hold a single, prone
patient. It can provide paramedic aid and some basic surgical and scanning
functions.$0.1M, 0.5 ton.
™ Medbay: Suitable for crews numbering less than 30, the medbay comprises a 4
ton medical surgery with a single bed, pharmaceutical cabinets, a workstation and
an autodoc. From this single room, a medic can consult with patients, perform
scans with the autodoc, prescribe medicines and even carry out simple surgical
procedures. $1M, 4 tons.
™ Infirmary, Small: Suitable for crews numbering 30 or more, the infirmary facilities
are larger than the medlab and provide the resources to analyze and treat a whole
range of medical problems. It includes an autodoc. The small infirmary has 2 beds
and requires one full-time medic and at least one other part-time crewmember
onboard with Medical-1. $2M, 8 tons.
™ Infirmary, Large: Suitable for crews numbering over 100, the infirmary facilities
are able to cope with several injured or sick patients at once. Many mining facilities,
military ships and industrial rigs are fitted with large infirmaries. It includes an
autodoc. The large infirmary has 4 beds and requires two full-time medics and at
least two other part-time crewmembers onboard with Medicine-1. $3M, 16 tons.
™ Hospital: A full-equipped hospital is not some stand-by medical area on a routine
starship, this is a dedicated establishment, perhaps on a colony world or military
hospital ship, or some corporate research vessel. Exactly how big this hospital is,
should be determined by the designer. It comes in blocks of 20 tons. Each 20 ton
block of hospital costs $2M, holds beds for 4 patients, one autodoc and requires 3
full time medical staff. When trying to determine what these staff-members do,
assume that 25% of them are doctors, 10% of them are technicians and the rest
(65%) are nurses. A technician dispenses drugs, operates scanners, carries out
blood-and other lab tests, etc. A 200-ton hospital, for example, will require 30 staff:
7 of whom will be doctors, 3 of whom will be med-techs and the rest (20) will be
nurses. This 200-ton hospital could treat 40 patients simultaneously.
 P a g e | 251

Office
An office might be required by the captain and exec, but also by mining managers,
scientists and so on. Several people or officers can rotate in an out, sharing the office
space. The captain’s office can serve as a meeting or ‘ready’ room, for talking privately
with crewmen, dressing them down, etc. Infirmaries already include an office for the
doctor. Each office is 2 tons and costs $0.25M.

Ship’s Locker
Every ship has a ship’s locker, provided at no cost. Typical equipment carried aboard will
include protective clothing, vacc suits, weapons such as shotguns or pistols, ammunition,
compasses, survival aids, and portable shelters. The contents of the locker are defined
only when they need to be used, but they always contains vacc suits, surface masks and
other useful items. The ship’s locker is usually protected by a card lock used by the ship’s
officers.

Staging Area
Sometimes ship crews just need open space for assembling or for the temporary laying
out of equipment or supplies. These staging areas are typically placed adjacent to airlocks,
cargo bays, hangers and engineering sections. They do not have to be large to succeed in
their purpose. A platoon of Marines can effectively gear up and assemble ready for
boarding a shuttle or passing through a boarding hatch in a 5 ton staging area. These
areas are most often used onboard military craft. They have no associated cost.

Vault
A vault is a special armored chamber in the heart of a spacecraft, designed to survive
attacks that would annihilate the rest of the ship. A vault has another four Hull and
Structure points that only come into play when the ship housing the vault is destroyed. A
vault can contain cargo, staterooms or any other internal components equivalent up to 6
tons. A vault requires 12 tons of space and costs $6M.
 P a g e | 252

SHIP’S VEHICLES
A starship may carry small craft such as lifeboats, shuttles, emergency escape vehicles
(EEVs) and even more mundane vehicles such as jeeps or all-terrain vehicles. These will,
by default, be fitted externally or in tight, form-fitting compartments.

A vehicle hanger can be included which allows for repairs and the maintenance of small
craft when they are back on the ship. The hangar includes spare parts and specialized
testing and repair equipment for the stored craft. It does not include the cost of the
vehicles or drones. A custom hangar takes up tonnage equal to the tonnage of the vehicle
to be stored, plus 30% but incurs no additional costs. A hanger for a 30 ton ship’s boat,
for example, will take up 39 tons (and include space for the craft, naturally).

ATV/Utility Jeep: These are vehicles carried within the ship for surface excursions.
Wheeled or tracked vehicles are often preferred for this role over aircraft because they can
generally negotiate most terrains, in any weather and operate in the absence of an
atmosphere (aircraft require an atmosphere 5-9).
Emergency Escape Vehicles: These Emergency Escape Vehicles (EEVs) can be fitted in
order to evacuate crew and passengers from a severely damaged starship. They are not in
widespread use due to the lack of safe havens for evacuees who find themselves in deep
space. There are four types:

Class A –Individual ejection and re-entry pods, requires the user wear a vacc suit. No
survival kit included. Will deploy parachute after re-entry to make a soft, landing.
Class B – Dedicated escape and re-entry pods. These include supplies and survival kits.
Class C – Lifeboats capable of being used as shuttles and runabouts.
Class D – Detachable ‘modules’, part of the starship itself.

Ship’s Boat, Shuttle, Cutter: These are all small craft, hangered either in or on the
ship’s hull and used to carry out errands and land on moons or asteroids as well as other
duties.
Mining Drones: Mining drones allow a ship to mine asteroids. Each set of mining drones
takes up ten tons, and allows the ship to process 1D6x10 tons of asteroid per working
day. The tonnage allocated includes ore handling machinery, allowing the ship to take on
ore and transfer it to the cargo bay.
Probe Drones: Probe drones are for surveying planetary surfaces. Each ton of probe
drones contains five drones. Probe drones can be dropped from orbit in disposable entry
shells but must be recovered manually. Probe drones are also capable of surveying
orbiting satellites, derelicts and other space debris. They can also be used as
communications relays.
Repair Drones: Carrying repair drones allows a ship to make battlefield repairs with the
AutoRepair software or when managed by a character with Mechanic or Engineer skills.
Repair drones have the same statistics as repair robots only without an Intellect program.
For more information on repair robots, see Robots and Drones in the Equipment
Guidelines chapter.
 P a g e | 253

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 P a g e | 254

WEAPON MOUNTS
A ship has one hardpoint per 100 tons of ship and weapon systems takes up some of
these hardpoints. No tonnage is required in HOSTILE for fire control.

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A weapon system may include multiple weapons – for example, a triple turret can hold
contains three lasers, three missile launchers, three sandcasters or some combination of
those three weapons. There are four types of space-based weapon systems:

x Turrets: A remote weapon station on the hull usually capable of a 360° field of
fire. The weapon operator sits in the Combat Information Center (CIC). or on the
bridge.
x Barbettes: Larger and more capacious types of turret.
x 50-ton Bays: Large weapon mounts that occupy some internal space, and that do
not have free rotation. Either used as a missile launch facility or the mount for a
heavy direct-fire system like a railgun. These direct fire weapons require the ship
itself to rotate somewhat to bring the bay to bear on the enemy.
x 100-ton Bays: Larger versions of the 50-ton bay.

Turrets
One turret may be attached to each hardpoint on the ship. If a turret is installed, then one
ton of space must be allocated to fire control systems:

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Single, Double and Triple turrets can hold one, two or three weapons.
Pop-Up is a quality that can be applied to any type of turret – the turret is concealed in a pod or
recess on the hull, and is detectable only when deployed. A ship with all its weapons in pop-up
turrets looks unarmed to a casual sensor scan.Cost $1M.
Fixed Mounting weapons cannot move, are limited to firing in one direction (normally straight
ahead), and are found mainly on fighters. A fixed mounting costs half as much as a turret of the
same type, so a single fixed mounting costs $0.1M, a double fixed mounting costs $0.25M, and a
triple fixed mounting costs $0.5M.
 P a g e | 255

No launcher includes ammunition in its purchase cost. Missiles, torpedoes and so forth must be
purchased separately.

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SRAM Missile racks launch self-propelled Short Range Attack Missiles designed to explode on
impact. Each rack can launch 3 SRAMs before requiring reloading from an internal magazine
(which must be installed separately by the ship designer).
Pulse lasers fire short, rapid bursts of intense energy. Pulse lasers are notoriously inaccurate and
suffer a DM -2 on all attack rolls.
Countermeasure Launchers (CMLs) reduces the damage from a beam weapon by 1D6 and
attempts to confuse SRAM attacks (-1 on attack chance) by a combination of anti-radiation and
anti-laser chaff as well as IR flares. CMLs require ammunition. Twenty CML munitions take up one
ton of space and cost $10,000.
Beam lasers fire a continuous stream of intense energy.

Barbettes
Barbettes are semi-recessed and protected heavy weapons stations. Barbettes can mount either a
singe railgun or a launcher for Autonomous Kill Vehicles (AKVs), a type of large, powerful and
destructive missile. Barbettes take up 5 tons of space and require one hardpoint.
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AKVs are large, autonomous missiles (see below), The AKV barbette can launch one AKV per turn.
Railgun (see below)
 P a g e | 256

50-ton Bays
Bay weapons are much larger than turrets, and take up 50 tons of space and five hard points.

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AKVs are large, autonomous missiles (see below). The 50 ton AKV bay can launch three AKV’s
simultaneously.
SRAM Missile banks fire flights of twelve missiles at a time.
Particle beam bays fire a larger and more powerful beam of subatomic particles than particle
beam turret weapons.
Railgun (see below)

100-ton Bays
These bay weapons are much larger than turrets, and take up 100 tons of space and ten hard
points.

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AKVs are large, autonomous missiles (see below). The 100 ton AKV bay can launch six AKV’s
simultaneously.
SRAM Missile banks fire flights of twenty-four missiles at a time.
Particle beam bays fire a larger and more powerful beam of subatomic particles than particle
beam turret weapons.
Railgun (see below)
 P a g e | 257

SHIP WEAPONRY
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protocols) and Nuclear (nuclear shaped-charge warhead). A
fourth type, Anti-armor, may be used by ground support
smallcraft.

Each Standard missile is around 80 kg in weight, similar in size and killing potential to the
modern AIM-9X Sidewinder used by the USAF. They generally carry continuous-rod warheads
(where steel rods are packed together, yet welded at alternate ends, the detonation forcing rods
to open into a wide, high velocity circle of hull-cutting steel), they actively guide themselves using
IR sensors and use limited numbers of burns to alter course if needed. Nuclear missiles are low-
yield, around 250 tons of TNT. They are not like modern nuclear bombs because nukes in space
create little blast effect, no shrapnel and the intensity of their deadly X-rays dissipate rapidly in a
vacuum. Instead nuclear missiles get in close, detonate and direct all of their blast forward into a
tungsten shaped charge which becomes an ionized tungsten plasma, traveling at high velocity
(200 km/second). If they strike a hit, nuclear missiles inflict 2D6+1 on the ship damage table, as
well as a free single radiation hit. Smart missiles in HOSTILE do not have the rocket fuel to make
repeated attacks as described in Cepheus Engine, instead they use sophisticated AI programming
to carry out evasion manoeuvres as they close in, in addition they are protected by an ablative
anti-laser jacket. They can be jammed by the defending spacecraft. Some smallcraft may load M30
Avenger Anti-armor guided missiles into the SRAM racks instead, these are poor anti-ship
weapons, but provide the smallcraft with an ability to strike bunkers, tanks and other armored
vehicles in support of ground troops.

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 P a g e | 258

Railguns
Railguns use a coil of electromagnets to accelerate solid metal darts relying on kinetic energy to
damage the intended target. These are often used to attack targets on predictable trajectories.
Railguns are not as effective in space combat as directed energy weapons and missiles, but do
have some tactical advantages as it is very difficult for a target vehicle’s weapons to counter an
incoming very high velocity metal projectile. Railgun barbettes are superb heavy point defence
weapons and can only be used at short range or less. A 50 ton railgun bay consists of multiple
linked railguns. It can deal 3D6 damage on each successful hit, is capable of bursts of 4 shots if
required (increasing damage by +1D6) and includes space for 200 shots of ammunition. A 100-ton
railgun bay can fire bursts of 10 shots (for +2D6 damage) and carries 400 rounds of ammunition.

Autonomous Kill Vehicles (AKVs)

AKVs (Autonomous Kill Vehicles) are large 2.5 ton missiles with powerful starship or station killing
capabilities. The warheads available for these weapons include Kinetic Kill, Nuclear, X-Ray Laser
and Precision Ground Strike. Considered to be true ship killers with the ability to inflict tremendous
destructive force against an enemy combatant, AKVs have a thrust of 12. Like smart missiles, they
can be defended against using standard anti-missile countermeasures. AKVs are purchased in two-
shot loads massing five tons which fits into the barbette. Barbettes can launch one AKV per turn.
With the exception of the Precision Ground Strike version, AKVs cannot be used in atmosphere.

x Kinetic Kill: Contains a small but powerful engine, guidance computers, and a
fragmentation device. It deals 4D6 damage on a successful hit. Cost $60,000.
x Nuclear: Deals 6D6 damage, as well as an automatic radiation crew hit. Cost $180,000.
x X-Ray Laser: The primary military strike weapon, the X-Ray Laser is a one-shot laser
weapon. The AKV contains a small nuclear device that is detonated prior to impact to
charge a laser. The explosion destroys the AKV but also generates a powerful x-ray laser
burst. The X-Ray Laser is a normal laser attack, but deals 7D6 damage. The basic roll to hit
is as a missile, but is defended against as a laser. Point defense can be used to attempt to
kill the AKV before it detonates, but suffers a -2 DM due to the fact the X-Ray laser can be
used in a stand-off role. Cost $300,000.
x Precision Ground Strike: Ground strike AKVs are used for bombing fortified positions.
They deal 6D6 damage, but are much too slow to be effective in space combat. They move
at the same speed as a missile, but take 3 and 6 turns to reach Very Long and Distant
targets, respectively. Attacks made with a ground strike AKV have a -2DM to hit, and
counter-attacks against the AKV have a +2DM. Cost $50,000.

Laser Weapons
These are multi-megawatt directed energy weapons, high-energy chemical lasers using
hydrogen fluoride, oxygen-iodine or deuterium fluoride. Pulse lasers do more damage than
beam lasers, which instead have a better chance of hitting. The beam laser scans the
‘sensor cone’ though its entire range, but must be held precisely on target. The pulsed
laser does not scan the entire targeting cone and so is less accurate, but when a pulse hits
it transfers more energy into the target doing far more damage).

Particle Beams
Neutral particle accelerators use electromagnetic fields to accelerate and direct neutral
ions along the barrel, and use electrostatic ‘lenses’ to focus these streams. The high
energy neutral particles propagate in straight lines unaffected by stellar or planetary
magnetic fields and travel close to the speed of light. The neutral particles become high
energy charged particles when they pass through the solid hull of a target ship to
penetrate deeply into the interior.
 P a g e | 259

TOWING
In the industrial setting of HOSTILE, there are large platforms and cargos to be hauled
around from star to star. These huge masses will lower the reaction drive capability
considerably and also slow down the starship as it passes through hyperspace. In order to
tow another vessel (or an unpowered platform) the tugship must be equipped with a
powerful docking clamp able pass the thrust of the towship through the clamp and to the
platform or towed vessel. Docking clamps are detailed in the Additional Ship Components
section.

Effects on Maneuver Drive Performance: Calculate the difference between the

towship and the towed-platform, do this by dividing the hull size of the towship by the hull
size of the platform. Use this figure to multiply with the towship’s acceleration value in ‘G’.
Refer to the Maneuver Drive table in Chapter 9; for any G rating of less than 1.0, multiply
that figure by 50. A 0.25G drive, for example, will be capable of a 12.5 Mkm per day
velocity.

Here is an example: the Hercules is a 15,000-ton towship with massive 8-G reaction
drives. It is towing a 100,000-ton mining platform. 15,000 ÷ 100,000 = 0.15. Its 8G drive
(multiplied by 0.15) has become a 1.2-G drive. Following the progression on the Maneuver
Drive table in Chapter 9, this gives us a ‘burn and coast’ travel speed of 60 MkM per day.

Effects on Hyperspace Travel: The effects of towing large platforms through

hyperspace are more complicated and vary in stages with the hull size increase. Refer to
the table below:

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can cross 12 parsecs in 3 weeks when unladen. However, when towing a 100,000-ton
mining platform, the Hercules is slowed significantly. When docked to the platform, the
Hercules’ hull mass has increased by a factor of 6.66 (we divided the hull size of the
towed platform by the hull size of the towship – the opposite of what we did when figuring
the effects on a maneuver drive). Checking the table we see that a hull mass increase of
6.66 will increase the hyperspace travel time by 2 times. That 12 parsec, 3 week, flight
has now been extended to a (3 x 2) 6 week trip.
 P a g e | 260

THE INTERMODAL CONTAINER SYSTEM

On Earth since around 1970, the dominant medium for cargo transport has been the
ubiquitous 20’ (6m long) intermodal shipping container and its variations. These cuboid
containers are shipped across the world on gargantuan ocean-going vessels and used to
carry more than 60% of today’s seaborne trade. Modified for use off-world, the intermodal
container system (regulated by the Interstellar Commerce Organization) continues to be
used to ferry cargoes across interstellar space. The standard-sized ICO container is the
‘ICO CC’ 3 ton box, approximately 6m (20’) long, 2.6m high and 2.6m wide. In Cepheus
Engine terms, it has a 3 ton internal capacity and is manufactured from a steel-aluminum
alloy, for both lightness and qualities of temperature insulation. Most feature twin double
doors that open at one end of the container.

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The US military have used smaller variants of the 20’ box for many years; these Bicon (1.5
ton) and Tricon (1 ton) boxes are one-half and one-third length boxes respectively.
Compatibility is ensured since they can be fastened together (two Bicon boxes, side-by-
side - or three Tricon boxes side-by-side). Because of this side-by-side fastening system,
these two shorter types of boxes have their double doors mounted on one end so that
their contents can be accessed even when attached to a partner box. This method of
attaching the boxes
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 P a g e | 261

SMALL CRAFT DESIGN

Small craft design follows the rules for standard ship design, with the following changes:

Small Craft Ship Hull

Small craft use the Small Craft Ship Hull by Displacement table below. These hulls are
standard, they are not streamlined and neither do they include landing gear or an airlock.

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Small Craft Armor

Small craft armor is purchased in the same manner as standard ship armor. However,
small craft have a maximum armor value, based on type. Armor options may be
purchased as per the standard ship design rules.

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 P a g e | 262

Small Craft Drives

A small craft must have a reaction drive (also called a maneuver, or M-Drive) and a micro-
fusion power plant (P-Plant). The costs for each are captured in the Small Craft Drive
Costs table. The performance of small craft drives are found in the Small Craft Drive
Performance table.

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that each powerplant rating is equivalent to 10 Mega Watts of power. A shuttle with a
level 2 powerplant then, has a 20 MW rating.
 P a g e | 263

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 P a g e | 264

Small Craft Cockpits and Control Cabins

Small craft do not have bridges. Instead, a cockpit or control cabin serves the same
function. A cockpit is more cramped, but takes up less tonnage. The cost for a cabin or
cockpit is the same – $0.1M per 20 tons of ship. Cockpits and control cabins come
equipped with a basic communications, sensor and emissions-control electronics suite.
More advanced systems and computers up to Model/3 can be installed per the standard
ship design rules. Staterooms, hypersleep pods and emergency hypersleep pods can also
be fitted, as can small craft specific cabins (1 ton) and couches (0.5 ton). The cabin is
one-passenger stateroom for long in-system voyages, it can be used double occupancy by
two crew members instead. The small craft couch is an individual passenger seat and one
must be provided for each passenger (unless they have their own cabin).

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Use the rules provided earlier for starships, with a limit on a computer up to and including
the Model/3.

Airlock
Unlike larger vessels, a small craft does not have an airlock by default. Airlocks take up
one ton each and cost $0.2M. If a craft does not have an airlock, then the crew cannot
leave the craft except when it is landed or in a pressurized landing bay without opening
the ship up to vacuum.

Small Craft Crew

All small craft of 50 tons or under require a minimum crew of one to operate and maintain
the ship. Small craft larger than 50 tons require a minimum crew of two.

Small Craft Armaments

A small craft has one hardpoint, despite being less than 100 tons. Small craft follow the
standard ship design rules regarding armaments, with some exceptions. Particle beam
weapons and lasers cannot be fitted. Missile launchers and CML launchers may be fitted.
 P a g e | 265

10

The largest conglomerates

 P a g e | 266

All ships utilize Standard hull configurations, unless otherwise stated.

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 P a g e | 267

Emergency Escape Vehicles

ESCAPE POD – INDIVIDUAL CREW EJECTION POD 0.5 TON

The Gulfstar ICEP is a Class A Emergency Escape Vehicle (EEV). The streamlined pod
masses 0.5 ton and is ejected from a launch tube holding a single suited individual. The
ship being abandoned automatically downloads key data to the pod, including potential
landing sites, prior to launch. Launch and flight is fully automated, with the pod
attempting an immediate atmospheric entry and landing using parachute and retro
rockets. It can also attempt soft landings on airless moons and planets. The ICEP contains
no survival or medical kit, although it does hold enough water and air for three days. The
ICEP includes a beacon that will transmit an SOS signal for four days, it also activates a
high-intensity strobe light visible in daylight up to 5 km away. Use of the Gulfstar ICEP is
limited, if there is no nearby world, the pod will simply continue through space on its
current trajectory; the starship in trouble has to be in orbit around a habitable planet for
the occupant to stand any chance of survival. Even then, 1 in 6 launches and landings end
in tragedy. The ICEP is seen as an escape method of extreme last resort. Cost $0.05M.

ESCAPE POD – NEUMAYER CLASS 10 TONS

The Aerodyne Neumayer is an 8-man Class B Emergency Escape Vehicle (EEV). Using a
10-ton, squat cylindrical and streamlined hull (Hull 0, Structure 0) the escape pod is used
only for emergency evacuation situations, either taking eight awake and conscious
crewman down to a nearby planetary surface, or, if the ship has just dropped out of
hyperspace and the crew is still in hypersleep, the pod can instead accept eight hypersleep
pods, loaded one at a time. It mounts a Terratech TR105 10 Megawatt Micro-Fusion
Reactor and a single McConnell C-90 1-G reaction drive. The reaction drive provides an
acceleration of 10 meters per second². Fuel tankage comprising 2.2 tons of liquid
hydrogen is used by the reaction drive and can provide coolant to the micro-fusion reactor
for 12 months of continuous operation.

An automated flight system is supplemented by a manual override cockpit for a single

pilot. It includes a level-1 Okuda Brightstar computer system and a standard civilian
sensor package. There are eight passenger acceleration couches, which can fold back into
the hull to make way for eight hypersleep pods instead. The method of loading is
ingenious; Neumayers are always installed beneath hypersleep bays and rotate like the
cylinder of a revolver as one after another of the ship’s hypersleep pods is lowered into
place. Once loaded the automatics launch the pod and use nav-data downloaded from the
starship to navigate to a relative place of safety, typically the surface of a moon or planet.
There is no airlock fitted, and no landing gear - the pod makes a parachute descent with
retro-rockets firing prior to touchdown. It should remain upright, and will then
automatically inflate an attached pressure tent with its own integral airlock. This tent
provides additional living space. There are eight personal survival kits on-board as well as
a single vacc suit for excursions from the airlock should the atmosphere prove dangerous
or non-existent. A water tank containing 250 litres of water is also included. The large
parachute is retained and once the computer switches to crisis management mode it will
provide instructions on how to spread the ‘chute’ out over the top of the pod and be
secured with steel pegs. This is in order to provide a large canopy over the vehicle and the
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immediate area around it, serving as rain shelter, sunshade and partial anti-radiation
shield.

The Neumayer powerplant can sustain electrical and heating power for up to one year.
Properly set-up, the Neumayer can become a comfortable survival base for 8 people for
up to a year in many kinds of environments. All the while, the crisis management software
will continue to scan for radio messages and transmit an emergency signal that rescuers
might be able to receive. There is no spare cargo space on board the escape pod. The
ship does not require a pilot for successful operation, although there is a control couch for
a pilot should manual control be desired. The Neumayer can carry up to eight passengers.
It costs $4.70M.

LIFEBOAT – ORCHID CLASS 20 TONS

The Aerodyne Orchid is a Class C Emergency Escape Vehicle (EEV) lifeboat and light
shuttle often carried on-board, or attached to, a much larger starship as an ancillary craft.
Using a 20-ton streamlined hull (Hull 0, Structure 1) the lifeboat is used as an emergency
vessel, or as a shuttle between a planet’s orbit and its surface. It mounts a Nortinghouse
N-045 10 Megawatt Micro-Fusion Reactor and two McConnell C-102 1-G reaction drives
(capable of vectored thrust for planetary landings). The reaction drives provide an
acceleration of 10 meters per second². Fuel tankage comprising 2.4 tons of liquid
hydrogen is used by the reaction drives and can provide coolant to the micro-fusion
reactor for 12 months of continuous operation. A cockpit for two pilots is complemented
by a level-1 Okuda Brightstar computer system. The ship is equipped with a standard
civilian sensor package. There is no airlock fitted, but landing gear is installed for
planetary landings. There are five passenger acceleration couches, as well as three
hypersleep pods for emergency use. Cargo capacity is 9.15 tons.

The ship requires a single pilot for successful operation, although there is second control
couch for a co-pilot (or passenger) if desired. Besides the two pilots, the Lifeboat can
routinely carry five passengers. The Orchid Lifeboat costs $5.43M.

EXECUTIVE LIFEBOAT – K45 CLASS 50 TONS

The Voroncovo K45 is a Class D Emergency Escape Vehicle (EEV) and lifeboat often carried
on-board executive transports. The craft sports a luxury interior that is used by the
occupants as their in-flight accommodation - should disaster strike, then their entire
compartment separates from the starship to become a free-flying lifeboat. Using a 50-ton
streamlined hull (Hull 1, Structure 1) the lifeboat is used purely as an emergency
evacuation vessel. It mounts a Leyland 67334 10 Megawatt Micro-Fusion Reactor and a
single Gulfstar Gigant 1-G reaction drive (capable of vectored thrust for planetary
landings). The reaction drive provides an acceleration of 10 meters per second². Fuel
tankage comprising 8.6 tons of liquid hydrogen is used by the reaction drive and can
provide coolant to the micro-fusion reactor for 24 months of continuous operation. An
automated flight system is supplemented by a manual override control cabin for a two-
man crew. This control station is complemented by a level-1 Hitachi-Novum 104 computer
system and a standard civilian sensor package. There is an airlock fitted as well as landing
gear for planetary landings. There are four passenger acceleration couches, as well as four
hypersleep pods for emergency use. Accommodation is provided in the form of two
luxurious 10-ton suites, each fitted out for two-person use. An autodoc is also included as
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part of the K45. A water tank containing 5,000 litres of fresh water is included (along with
a water recycling system), as are 4 personal survival kits and an attached pressure tent
that self-inflates to provide additional living space if required. Supplies, including tools,
food, clothing and other survival equipment is packed into a 5.05 ton cargo area.

The ship does not require a pilot for successful operation, although there is a control cabin
for two pilots should manual control be desired. The K45 can carry up to four passengers
in extreme comfort. It costs $12.99M.

Small Craft
SHIP’S BOAT - NOMAD CLASS 30 TONS

The McConnell Nomad is a general purpose light shuttle and ancillary craft, used for
orbital transfers, landings and ship-to-ship transport. A military variant, the AS-3 Sabre, is
in use with both the US Marine Corps and the US Space Corps. Using a 30-ton streamlined
hull (Hull 0, Structure 1) the Nomad mounts a Nortinghouse N-442 30 Megawatt Micro-
Fusion Reactor and a McConnell C-667 3-G reaction drive (capable of vectored thrust for
planetary landings). The reaction drive provides an acceleration of 30 meters per second².
Fuel tankage comprising 9.8 tons of liquid hydrogen is used by the reaction drives and can
provide coolant to the micro-fusion reactor for 4 months of continuous operation. A
cockpit for two pilots is complemented by a level-1 Okuda Brightstar computer system.
The ship is equipped with a standard civilian sensor package. There is an airlock fitted
behind the cockpit, and landing gear is installed for planetary landings. There are eight
passenger acceleration couches and a 9.5 ton cargo deck.

The ship only requires a single pilot for successful operation but is equipped with a co-
pilot’s station. Besides the two pilots, the ship’s boat can routinely carry eight passengers.
The McConnell Nomad costs $9.15M.

GUNBOAT – SABRE CLASS 30 TONS

The McConnell AS-3 Sabre is a general purpose armed shuttle and gunboat, used as an
ancillary craft by United States forces. Using a 30-ton streamlined hull (Hull 0, Structure 1)
the Sabre mounts a Nortinghouse N-442 30 Megawatt Micro-Fusion Reactor and a
McConnell C-667 3-G reaction drive (capable of vectored thrust for planetary landings).
The reaction drive provides an acceleration of 30 meters per second². Fuel tankage
comprising 9.8 tons of liquid hydrogen is used by the reaction drives and can provide
coolant to the micro-fusion reactor for 4 months of continuous operation. A cockpit for two
pilots is complemented by a level-3 IBN LORC computer system. The ship is equipped with
a basic military sensor package. There is an airlock fitted behind the cockpit, and landing
gear is installed for planetary landings. There are eight passenger acceleration couches
and a 5.5 ton cargo deck. Weapon systems consist of two fixed position SRAM launchers,
fed by a missile magazine supplying 6 missiles to each launcher.

The AS-3 gunboat only requires a crew of two: pilot and weapons operator. Besides the
two pilots, the craft can carry eight military crewmen or US Marines. The McConnell Sabre
costs $12.78M.
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MODULAR SHUTTLE - STARLIFTER CLASS 50 TONS

The Lockhart Starlifter is a general purpose medium-lift shuttle with a unique ability to
attach and detach various 20-ton modules. This allows a single shuttle to carry out a
variety of missions depending on the module that it is carrying at the time. Using a 50-ton
streamlined hull (Hull 1, Structure 1) the Starlifter mounts a Nortinghouse N-442 30
Megawatt Micro-Fusion Reactor and a McConnell C-667 3-G reaction drive (capable of
vectored thrust for planetary landings). The reaction drive provides an acceleration of 30
meters per second². Fuel tankage comprising 16 ton of liquid hydrogen is used by the
reaction drives and can provide coolant to the micro-fusion reactor for 3 months of
continuous operation. A cockpit for two pilots is complemented by a level-1 Okuda
Brightstar computer system. The ship is equipped with a standard civilian sensor package.
There is no airlock fitted, although sturdy shock absorbing landing gear is installed for
planetary landings. There are four passenger acceleration couches and a 1-ton docking
clamp designed to accept a 20-ton Starlifter module. A small cargo area holds 4.8 tons.

The ship only requires a single pilot for successful operation but is equipped with a co-
pilot’s station. Besides the two pilots, the ship’s boat can routinely carry four passengers.
The Lockhart Starlifter costs $12.48M (without module). An empty, unfurnished module
costs $1.2M. Popular Starlifter modules include:

Module Freight 001 - Used as a dedicated cargo hauler, the 001 has a strengthened,
impact-resistant cargo deck fitted with cargo rollers and a roof-mounted winch. Cost:
$1.3M.

Module Science 002 – Used for planetary science and research missions, the 002
includes an airlock, two laboratories, an office, an autodoc, six passenger couches, a set of
UAV drones, a GoMo QuadTrack and a 3-ton cargo compartment. Cost: $4.11M.

Module Workhorse 004 – Used for general purpose transfer work between orbit and
world surface, the 004 ‘Workhorse’ is fitted with 12 passenger couches and a 12.8-ton
cargo deck. Cost: $1.5M.

Module Combat 007 – Used by some military forces as a combat lander, the 007 carries
a single 5-ton APC or other similarly-sized combat vehicle, 28 troop couches, a level-3 IBN
RT5617 computer and a double turret fitted with a single SRAM launcher and a
Countermeasures Launcher. Cost: $55M.

HEAVY LIFT SHUTTLE – HALO CLASS 90 TONS

The Matsuyama Halo is a heavy-lift shuttle used by to transfer personnel and equipment
from world surface to orbit and vice-versa. A military variant, the CS-9 Thunderchief, is in
use with both the US Marine Corps and US Space Command. Using a self-sealing 90-ton
streamlined hull (Hull 1/1) it mounts a Nortinghouse N-240 20 Megawatt Micro-Fusion
Reactor and a McConnell C-500 3-G reaction drive (capable of vectored thrust for
planetary landings). The reaction drive provides an acceleration of 30 meters per second².
Fuel tankage comprising 30.6 tons of liquid hydrogen is used by the reaction drive and
provides coolant to the micro-fusion reactor for 12 months of continuous operation.
Integral to the 2-seat control deck bridge is a level-1 Okuda Brightstar computer system.
The lander is equipped with a standard civilian sensor package. An airlock and landing
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gear are both fitted. The Halo comes in two main configurations: Cargo Plus, Pax Plus and
Combi. The Cargo Plus option has two passenger couches, an on-board Voroncovo Forklift
4 and a cargo deck of 47.15 tons. The Pax Plus option has acceleration couches for 78
passengers and two extra for cabin crew. It retains a 3.15 ton cargo space for luggage
and incidentals. The Combi is a common ship-to-surface lander, with a 42.15 ton cargo
deck, a forklift and seating for ten passengers.

The ship normally requires a crew of two: pilot and co-pilot, although the Pax Plus option
also requires the addition of two cabin attendants. The Halo Cargo Plus costs $17.55M;
the Halo Pax Plus costs $19.75M and the Halo Combi costs $17.75M.

MILITARY SHUTTLE – THUNDERCHIEF CLASS 90 TONS

The Matsuyama CS-9 Thunderchief is a heavy-lift shuttle used by to transfer US Marines

and their equipment from world surface to orbit and vice-versa. It is a military variant of
the Matsuyama Halo. Using a self-sealing 90-ton streamlined hull (Hull 1/1) it mounts a
Nortinghouse N-240 20 Megawatt Micro-Fusion Reactor and a McConnell C-500 3-G
reaction drive (capable of vectored thrust for planetary landings). The reaction drive
provides an acceleration of 30 meters per second². Fuel tankage comprising 30.6 tons of
liquid hydrogen is used by the reaction drive and provides coolant to the micro-fusion
reactor for 12 months of continuous operation. Integral to the 2-seat control deck bridge
is a level-1 Okuda Brightstar computer system. The lander is equipped with a standard
civilian sensor package. A triple turret mounting is fitted with a Countermeasures Launcher
and two SRAM launchers. An airlock and landing gear are both fitted. The CS-9
Thunderchief has 28 passenger couches, an on-board Voroncovo Forklift 4 and a cargo
deck of 33.15 tons.

The ship normally requires a crew of two: pilot and co-pilot/weapons operator and costs
$19.95M.

EXPEDITION LANDER – MIRANDA CLASS 90 TONS

The Voroncovo Miranda is a class of heavy expedition shuttle used by scientists, explorers
and resource scouts. It can support a planetary surface mission and then return the team
to its starship, in orbit. Using a self-sealing 90-ton streamlined hull (Hull1/1) it mounts a
Leyland 20 MW Micro-Fusion Reactor and a McConnell C-230 2-G reaction drive (capable
of vectored thrust for planetary landings). The reaction drive provides an acceleration of
20 meters per second². Fuel tankage comprising 21.9 tons of liquid hydrogen is used by
the reaction drive and provides coolant to the micro-fusion reactor for 12 months of
continuous operation. Integral to the 2-seat control deck is a level-1 Okuda Brightstar
computer system. The lander is equipped with a standard civilian sensor package. There
are 10 acceleration couches for the survey team and an integral airlock. Cargo capacity is
19.3 tons. Special features include side-mounted loading ramps, landing gear, a medbay
and lab, as well as compact sleeping and living quarters for the entire team. Two GoMo
QuadTracks used for local surface travel are installed at the back of the cargo bay.

The ship requires a crew of two: pilot and co-pilot. It carries 10 passengers. The Miranda
class shuttle costs $21.67M.
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Commercial Starships
LIGHT TOWSHIP – USCS O’BANNON 180454 400 TONS

The Gulfstar O’Bannon is a light towing vessel used to haul ships or platforms of any size
up to 5,000 tons. It is often employed as a trans-orbital or interplanetary tug. The
O’Bannon’s four engine pods are mounted on port and starboard arms and these are able
to swivel, giving the tug ship excellent agility within an atmosphere and particularly when
close to the ground. This class of vessel has many uses among the Off-World Colonies. In
an atmosphere, with its superb VTOL performance and its over-rated, high-thrust engines,
it can be used as a flying crane, able to carry underslung cargoes up to 400 tons in size.
Using a 400-ton streamlined and self-sealing standard hull (Hull 8, Structure 8) the
O’Bannon mounts a Tharsis 12B Hyperdrive allowing a cruise speed of 2 parsecs per
week; a Nortinghouse NC-2000 3 Gigawatt Fusion Reactor and a Gulfstar Super-Macro
LGX 6-G reaction drive (capable of vectored thrust for planetary landings). The reaction
drives provide an acceleration of 60 meters per second². Fuel tankage comprising 250
tons of liquid hydrogen is used by the reaction drive and can provide coolant to the fusion
reactor for 12 months of continuous operation. The bridge is suspended beneath the
centrally-mounted forward retro-rocket; it provides great visibility for towing and cargo
slinging operations. Adjacent to the bridge is a level-2 Aztec Labs FTHR computer
mainframe and a basic civilian sensor package. There are eight hypersleep pods for crew
use in-transit and eight staterooms provided for orbital lay-overs. A cargo deck of 32 tons
carries supplies and technical spares, it is loaded via a rear-mounted ramp. The O’Bannon
is equipped with landing gear for planetary landings. The ship carries a medbay and is
fitted with a 20-ton docking clamp for the towing of loads up to 5,000 tons as well as a
powered belly winch for carrying an underslung load up to 400 tons.

The ship requires a crew of six: commanding officer, pilot, navigator, medic, chief
engineer and an assistant engineer. Two spare hypersleep pods and staterooms are
included to allow for two non-fee-paying passengers to be carried. The USCS O’Bannon
costs $85.16M.

EXECUTIVE TRANSPORT – USCS VEGA 116094 800 TONS

The Leyland-Okuda Vega is a luxurious executive ship designed to transport a corporate

VIP and their family or guests across interstellar distances. Using a 800-ton self-sealing,
lifting body hull (Hull 16, Structure 16) the Vega mounts a Tharsis Power 133 Hyperdrive
allowing a high cruise speed of 5 parsecs per week; a Leyland 5 Gigawatt Fusion Reactor
and a Tharsis Vector 341 3-G reaction drive (capable of vectored thrust for planetary
landings). The reaction drive provides an acceleration of 30 meters per second². Fuel
tankage comprising 252 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-5 Hosaka Goldstar 400 computer mainframe and a basic civilian
sensor package. The heart of this executive yacht is a Voroncovo K45 50-ton lifeboat
which incorporates two luxurious 10-ton suites, each large enough for two people. The
lifeboat also features an autodoc and four hypersleep pods. In an emergency the lifeboat
can separate from the Vega to be flown on automatic to a safe location. While attached to
the Vega it forms a seamless part of the starship. Outside of the K45 lifeboat, there are 23
hypersleep pods for crew and passengers and 23 staterooms provided for orbital lay-
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overs. There is a large 20-ton lounge on-board as well as a 50-ton ‘ballroom’, a medbay
and an 8-ton conference room. Hypersleep pods and top-quality staterooms are also
provided for 11 more passengers. The ship is fitted with landing gear, a General
Exoframes Workloader, a set of repair robots, three 10-ton Neumayer escape pods for the
crew and passengers, and a 40-ton Nimbus spaceplane. The cargo deck holds 121.9 tons.

The ship requires a crew of eight: commanding officer, pilot, navigator, medic, engineer,
purser and two stewards. The Vega costs $349.16M.

MOBILE DRILLING VESSEL – USCS VANCOUVER 080102 6,000 TONS

The McConnell Vancouver is a mobile drilling vessel designed to travel out to asteroids or
small moons to carry out small scale, short-duration mining activities, often as part of an
ongoing prospecting or survey mission. Using a 6,000-ton standard hull (Hull 70, Structure
70) the Vancouver 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 SST 1-G
reaction drive. The reaction drive provides an acceleration of 10 meters per second². Fuel
tankage comprising 720 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-3 Aztec Labs HUGH computer mainframe and a standard civilian
sensor package with an additional suite of survey sensors. There are 76 hypersleep pods
for crew use in-transit as well as 36 staterooms provided for orbital lay-overs. Mining
personnel are allocated a place in the 40 Stack-Racks™. Features of the Vancouver include
two briefing rooms and 4 offices, 3 boom conveyors, 2 manipulator arms, a lab, a small
infirmary, 2 large cargo lifts, a 400-ton ore smelter, 130 tons of ore handling machinery
and an 8-ton technical workshop. Two mining lasers, each mounted in its own turret, are
fitted to the upper hull; two more are mounted at the base of the hull to fire vertically
downwards. The Vancouver has sturdy landing gear incorporating augur drills that secure
the rig to the asteroid, as well as fuel processors able to create 36 tons of fuel each day.
Carried craft include two McConnell Nomad ship’s boats within a hanger, as well as an
ATV, 6 GoMo QuadTracks, 4 Exoframes Workloaders, a Dynamic 7100 mobile mining laser,
3 EH1800 dump trucks and 4 Chevrolet MM5 Bucket Loaders. Assisting with mining
operations are 4 mining drone units. A mining operations center (MOC) is fitted to allow
ship and mine to be run independently. A cargo deck of 300 tons carries supplies and
technical spares and an ore bay is capable of holding up to 3000 tons of ore. On landing,
the rig stands upright and three ore conveyor arms lower to the surface. Miners load ore
onto these conveyors for transport into the smelter, and refiner with tailings (waste) being
conveyed out the other side. Smelted metals can be retained in the ore bay or conveyed
to a dump pile or hopper waiting on the surface for pick-up by a bulk cargo carrier once
the mining operation has finished.

The ship requires a crew of 72: commanding officer, exec, three admin staff, pilot,
navigator, four stewards/catering staff, doctor, two nurses, two shuttle pilots, four
loadmasters, two engineers, two geologists, mining operations manager and an assistant
manager (all of whom have a stateroom) and 40 miners (including drivers and equipment
operators) who occupy the Stack-Racks™. The Vancouver costs $1543M.
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USCS O’BANNON

400 tons
TWV-180454

Completed 5/6/2195
First Flight 11/17/2295
Crew 6
Armament None
Computer Level--2 Aztec Labs FTHR
Reaction Gulfstar Super--Macro LGX
Drive 6--G reaction drive
Hyperdrive Tharsis 12B Hyperdrive
Powerplant Nortinghouse NC--2000 3
Gigawatt Fusion Reactor
Endurance 12 months

THE TRANSTAR FLEET MISSION

x TWV-180454 O’BANNON Light towing vessel used to haul ships
x TWV-180461 AFRICAN QUEEN or platforms of any size up to 5,000
x TWV-180462 O’NEIL tons. It is often employed as a trans-
x TWV-180475 GARY COOPER orbital or interplanetary tug.
x TWV-180482 DRAGON LADY
x TWV-180485 NOMAD The O’Bannon’s engine pods are
x TWV-180490 HYAMS mounted on port and starboard
x TWV-180499 NICOMEDIA arms, able to swivel to give the tug
x TWV-180505 JOHN WAYNE ship excellent agility within an
x TWV-180520 HAMPTON atmosphere and particularly when
x TWV-180523 TRUMBLE close to the ground.
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TOWSHIP – USCS HERCULES 180286 15,000 TONS

The Tharsis Hercules is a commercial towing vessel built by Tharsis Aerospace. Using a
15,000-ton standard hull (Hull 100, Structure 100) the Hercules is used to tow large
industrial platforms to and from their work-site. It mounts an Aerodyne GRR Hyperdrive
allowing an unladen high cruise speed of 4 parsecs per week; a Nortinghouse N-2306 4
Gigawatt Fusion Reactor and two Tharsis Type 22 8-G reaction drives (capable of vectored
thrust for planetary landings). The reaction drives provide an unladen acceleration of 80
meters per second². Fuel tankage comprising 12,450 tons of liquid hydrogen is used by
the reaction drives and can provide coolant to the fusion reactor for 12 months of
continuous operation. Adjacent to the bridge is a level-5 Hosaka Goldstar 400 computer
mainframe. The ship is equipped with a basic civilian sensor package. There are seven
hypersleep pods for crew use in-transit and seven staterooms provided for orbital lay-
overs. Cargo capacity is 216.5 tons. Special features include a dorsally-mounted docking
clamp that allows the Hercules to pull platforms massing as much as 4 million tons and a
4-ton medbay. A 20 ton Aerodyne Lifeboat is carried on an external ventral mounting and
a 2 ton Advanced Motors utility jeep is carried inside a bay adjacent to the cargo hold.

The ship requires a crew of seven: commanding officer, pilot, navigator, medic, sensor
operator, chief engineer and assistant engineer. The ship cannot carry any additional
passengers. The Hercules costs $4,734M.

Vectoring past the system’s brown dwarf, Con Am’s

Land of Lincoln begins an approach to Prosperity,
in the Japanese Sector
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BULK CARGO CARRIER – USCS FOREVER WEST 150158 20,000 TONS

The Wu-Ketai Forever West is a large bulk carrier designed to transport dry cargoes such
as mineral ore, coal or wheat across interstellar distances. Using a 20,000-ton standard
hull (Hull 200, Structure 200) the Forever West mounts a Tharsis Power 90 Hyperdrive
allowing a speed of 3 parsecs per week; a Nortinghouse N-2140 3 Gigawatt Fusion
Reactor and a Gulfstar Meridian VXC 3-G reaction drive (capable of vectored thrust for
planetary landings). The reaction drives provide an acceleration of 30 meters per second².
Fuel tankage comprising 6,500 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-6 IBN MTHR computer mainframe and a standard civilian sensor
package. There are ten hypersleep pods for crew use in-transit and ten staterooms
provided for orbital lay-overs. A cargo deck of 49.25 tons carries supplies and technical
spares. There are three bulk cargo holds, each with a capacity of 3,660 tons and each
with its own 150-ton discharge boom conveyor. Internal features include a fuel scoops
and processors that can create up to 1,000 tons of liquid hydrogen each day, a small
cargo lift, landing gear and a medbay. A 20 ton Aerodyne Lifeboat is carried on an
external ventral mounting and a 0.75 ton Voroncovo Forklift 4 Series is carried on the
cargo deck.

The ship requires a crew of eight: commanding officer, pilot, navigator, medic, sensor
operator, chief engineer and two assistant engineers. The ship has the capability to carry
two non fee-paying passengers (typically officials from the Company) The Forever West
costs $5,238M.

CONTAINER CARRIER – ECS ROSA NØRSK 172341 20,000 TONS

The Voroncovo Rosa Nørsk is a container carrier designed to transport up to 5,066

standard ICO containers out to the Off-World Colonies. Using a 20,000-ton standard, self-
sealing hull (Hull 200, Structure 200) the Rosa Nørsk mounts an Aerodyne GRR Hyperdrive
allowing a cruise speed of 4 parsecs per week; a Matsuyama OMZ 4 Gigawatt Fusion
Reactor and a Gulfstar Meridian SST 1-G reaction drive. The reaction drive provides an
acceleration of 10 meters per second². Fuel tankage comprising 2,600 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-6 IBN MTHR computer
mainframe and a standard civilian sensor package. There are eight hypersleep pods for
crew use in-transit and eight staterooms provided for orbital lay-overs. Two cargo decks of
7600 tons each, are equipped to carry ICO containers, whilst a 14-ton cargo supply bay
provides technical spares and supplies for the crew and the ship itself. Landing gear is
fitted as is a medbay. A 30 ton McConnell Nomad ship’s boat is carried on an external
cradle and two 3-ton Matsuyama Reachstacker RS1000s are carried on the cargo deck for
shifting containerized cargo if required. For emergency use, a single 8-man Aerodyne
Neumayer is included to carry the crew to safety during an evacuation.

The ship requires a crew of eight: commanding officer, pilot, navigator, medic, sensor
operator, chief engineer, assistant engineer and a loadmaster. The Electra costs $6,140M.
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USCS Global Giant, a Rosa-class container carrier -

after landing on an ice-moon

PETROLEUM CARRIER – ECS ELECTRA GIANT 112078 40,000 TONS

The Rockford Aerospace Electra Giant is a petroleum tanker designed to transport

petroleum products such as crude oil, kerosene and ethanol from outposts and colony
planets to Earth. Using a 40,000-ton standard hull (Hull 250, Structure 250) the Electra
Giant mounts a Matsuyama H78 Hyperdrive allowing a high cruise speed of 1 parsec per
week; a Matsuyama OKL-1 1 Gigawatt Fusion Reactor and a Gulfstar Meridian SST 1-G
reaction drive. The reaction drive provides an acceleration of 10 meters per second². Fuel
tankage comprising 4,600 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-7 M21 Hosaka computer mainframe and a standard civilian sensor
package. There are ten hypersleep pods for crew use in-transit and ten staterooms
provided for orbital lay-overs. A cargo deck of 600 tons carries supplies and technical
spares. There are four petroleum tanks, each capable of being filled with a different
substance and each with a capacity of 7,900 tons. Each tank feeds to a central liquid
transfer manifold for piping on and off at port. A medbay is fitted. A 30 ton McConnell
Nomad ship’s boat is carried on an external cradle and a 3 ton Matsuyama Reachstacker
RS1000 is carried on the cargo deck for shifting containerized cargo. The Electra Giant has
a standard hull and landing gear, giving it the ability to land on a planetary surface.

The ship requires a crew of nine: commanding officer, pilot, navigator, medic, sensor
operator, chief engineer, assistant engineer and a loadmaster. The ship has the capability
to carry one non fee-paying passenger (typically an official from the Company) The Electra
Giant costs $8,427M.
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Military Starships
PATROL VESSEL – USS COLORADO P12 2,000 TONS

The USS Colorado [Hull Number P12] is a United States Space Command patrol vessel that
can carry out multi-system patrols during a single cruise. It also serves as a security,
customs and rescue ship, retaining two squads of US Marines for boarding operations.
Using a streamlined 2000-ton self-sealing hull (Hull 30/Structure 30), enhanced with
mono-crystalline steel (Armor 4), the Tharsis Aerospace Colorado mounts a Tharsis 12B
Hyperdrive allowing a cruise speed of 2 parsecs per week; a Leyland 4 Gigawatt Fusion
Reactor and a Tharsis Vector 400 4-G reaction drive (capable of vectored thrust for
planetary landings). The reaction drives provide an acceleration of 40 meters per second².
Fuel tankage comprising 1,160 tons of liquid hydrogen is used to provide coolant to the
fusion reactor for 12 months of continuous operation and by the reaction drive for
extended operations, with 138 thrust-hours available rather than the standard 100.

Adjacent to the bridge is a hardened

level-4 Hosaka M7K computer
mainframe and a basic military sensor
array. There are seventy hypersleep
pods for crew and passenger use in-
transit. Three single staterooms and
34 double staterooms serve as
accommodation during in-system
operations. The patrol vessel is
equipped with an armory, briefing
room and office, a pair of detention
cells, a medbay, a 20-ton staging area
and a suite of fuel processors able to
refine up to 800 tons of liquid
hydrogen per day. Landing gear is
also fitted. The Colorado is a fighting
ship and so has a 100-ton railgun bay,
a 50-ton SRAM bay (with an adjacent
72 missile magazine) and four triple
beam laser turrets. There are a set of
probe drones and repair robots
installed, as well as an Exoframes
Workloader for shifting ammunition
and stores on the cargo deck and
hanger. A 78-ton hanger bay holds
two 30-ton ship’s boats, both
McConnell US-3 Sabres (a militarized
version of the McConnell Nomad). A
cargo deck of 72.5 tons carries
supplies and technical spares.
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USS COLORADO

Completed 10/13/2210
First
irst Flight 7/4/2211
Crew 54
Armament 100-ton
- railgun bay, a 50
50-ton
--ton SRAM
bay (with an adjacent 72 missile
magazine) and four triple beam
laser turrets
Armour Mono-Crystalline Steel Hull
Reaction
eaction Drive Tharsis Vector 400 4-G
Hyyperdrive Tharsis 12B Hyperdrive
Powerplant Leyland 4 Gigawatt Fusion Reactor
Endurance 12 months
2000 tons

CURRENT FLEET MISSION

x USS COLORADO The Colorado class is a United States
x USS IDAHO Space Command patrol vessel that
x USS CALIFORNIA can carry out multi-system patrols
x USS MILWAUKEE during a single cruise.
x USS WYOMING
x USS RHODE ISLAND It also serves as a security, customs
x USS FLORIDA and rescue ship, retaining two squads
x USS ALABAMA of US Marines for boarding
x USS WASHINGTON operations.
x USS NORTH CAROLINA
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The Colorado requires a crew of fifty-four: commanding officer, exec, science officer,
android technician, two admin personnel, two pilots, two navigators, two sensor
operators, chief engineer, two assistant engineers, a steward, two medics, two shuttle
pilots, two armorers, tactical officer and five weapons operators. A Marine lieutenant
commands two Marine squads, each of 13 men. There are hyperspace pods and double-
occupancy staterooms for up to 16 emergency passengers. The Colorado costs $725.69M.

VERTICAL ASSAULT CARRIER – USS VIRGIL GRISSOM V6 3,000 TONS

The USS Virgil Grissom [Hull Number V6] is a United States Space Command vertical
assault and landing carrier, designed to ferry a reinforced rifle company across hyperspace
ready for deployment. The reinforced rifle company is commanded by a captain and his
‘first sergeant’ (a position held by a Marine of master sergeant rank). Together they run
the reinforced company as an independent fighting force. Unlike a troop transport, the
Grissom delivers the whole package, ready to fight. Using a streamlined 3000-ton self-
sealing and laser ablative hull (Hull 40/Structure 40), enhanced with mono-crystalline steel
(Armor 4), the Rockford Aerospace Virgil Grissom mounts a Tharsis Power 90 Hyperdrive
allowing a speed of 3 parsecs per week; a Nortinghouse N-2140 3 Gigawatt Fusion
Reactor and a Tharsis Vector 341 3-G reaction drive. The reaction drive provides an
acceleration of 30 meters per second². Fuel tankage comprising 975 tons of liquid
hydrogen is used to provide coolant to the fusion reactor for 12 months of continuous
operation and by the reaction drive. Adjacent to the bridge is a hardened level-6 IBN
MTHR computer mainframe and a basic military sensor array. There are 240 hypersleep
pods for crew and passenger use in-transit. Twenty-nine single staterooms and 32 double
staterooms serve as accommodation during in-system operations. Marines are garrisoned
in 180 Stack-Racks™. The assault carrier is equipped with an armory, two briefing rooms,
six offices, four pairs of detention cells, a 40-ton hospital, a 20-ton staging area, fuel
scoops and a suite of fuel processors able to refine up to 900 tons of liquid hydrogen per
day. Landing gear is not fitted. The Grissom is a fighting ship and so has a 100-ton AKV
bay for the launching of Precision Guided Strike warheads, 6 railgun barbettes and two
double turrets fitted with Countermeasures Launchers. There are a set of probe drones
and repair robots installed, as well as four Exoframes Workloaders and 4 forklifts for
shifting ammunition and stores on the cargo deck and hanger. A 390-ton hanger bay holds
six UD-5 Mustang dropships and two CS-9 Thunderchief shuttles. The Marines’ 85-ton
vehicle deck holds all of the vehicles required for deployment, including: an MM5
excavator, five 20-ton trucks, 5 Growlers and 9 ARCCs. A cargo deck of 379 tons carries
supplies and technical spares.

The USS Virgil Grissom requires a crew of 231: commanding officer, exec, science officer,
two android technicians, two admin personnel, two pilots, two navigators, four sensor
operators, chief engineer, two assistant engineers, two stewards, two doctors, medical
technician, three nurses, chief loadmaster, two assistant loadmasters, tactical officer and
eight weapons operators. A Marine captain and his first sergeant command the reinforced
company of 191 Marines. Both have single-occupancy staterooms, as do the lieutenants
and Marine pilots of the unit, the ship commander and exec, chief engineer, chief
loadmaster and any official passengers. There are hyperspace pods and staterooms for up
to 10 emergency passengers. The Grissom costs $1381M.
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VERTICAL ASSAULT CARRIER – USS ALAN SHEPARD V13 4,000 TONS

The USS Alan Shepard [Hull Number V13] is a United States Space Command vertical
assault carrier designed to carry a Marine platoon out to a star system for special
operations activities. The ship is well-armed and capable of defending itself should the
marine landing prove contested; it carries a full platoon and recon team, using dropships
and military shuttles to land them on-planet. Using a streamlined 4000-ton stealth-coated,
self-sealing hull (Hull 50/Structure 50), enhanced with titanium-diboride (Armor 6), the
Leyland Aerospace Alan Shepard mounts a Tharsis 44 Hyperdrive allowing a cruise speed
of 5 parsecs per week; a Leyland 5 Gigawatt Fusion Reactor and a Tharsis Vector 400 4-G
reaction drive. The reaction drive provides an acceleration of 40 meters per second². Fuel
tankage comprising 1,740 tons of liquid hydrogen is used to provide coolant to the fusion
reactor for 12 months of continuous operation and by the reaction drive for standard
operations. Adjacent to the bridge is a hardened level-6 IBN MTHR computer mainframe
and a basic military sensor array. There are 90 hypersleep pods for crew and passenger
use in-transit. Twelve single staterooms and fifteen double staterooms serve as
accommodation for USSC crew and the Marine lieutenant during in-system operations,
there are 48 Stack-Racks for the enlisted Marines. The Shepard is equipped with an
armory, briefing room, a pair of detention cells, a medbay, a 5-ton staging area and a
suite of fuel processors able to refine up to 800 tons of liquid hydrogen per day. Landing
gear is not fitted. The Shepard is a well-armed ship and has two 100-ton AKV bays, one
armed with Kinetic Kill missiles and the other with Precision Guided Strike munitions – the
latter is fed by an 8-round AKV magazine. The ship also has two 50-ton particle
accelerator bays, two railgun barbettes and two single beam laser turrets used for point
defense against incoming missiles. A triple turret holds three CMLs. There are a set of
probe drones and repair robots installed, as well as two Exoframes Workloaders and two
Voroncovo Forklifts for shifting ammunition and stores on the cargo deck and hanger. A
300-ton hanger bay holds two 40-ton Mustang dropships, two ARCC APCs and two 90-ton
Thunderchief shuttles. Eight 10-ton Neumayer escape pods are fitted to allow up to 64
people to evacuate the vessel in an emergency. A cargo deck of 120 tons carries supplies
and technical spares.

The Shepard requires a crew of fifty-eight: commanding officer, exec, logistics officer, two
android technicians, two admin personnel, two pilots, two navigators, three sensor
operators, chief engineer, three assistant engineers, a steward, a medic, eight shuttle and
dropship crews, a tactical officer and eight weapons operators. A Marine Lieutenant
commands two Marine squads with the assistance of a platoon sergeant (who is a staff
sergeant in rank); each squad is composed of 13 men. There are 90 hyperspace pods for
the Marines and crew and spare staterooms for 6 observers or military officials. There are
spare racks for up to an additional 20 Marines if needed. The Shepard costs $1918M.
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Platforms/Unpowered
UTILITY PLATFORM – BAY CLASS 20,000 TONS

The McConnell Bay Class Utility Platform is a 20,000-ton industrial platform designed for
customization by the purchaser (typically by a third party engineering or aerospace
company). Once fitted out, the role of the platform cannot be changed. It is fitted with a
power source, docking clamps for loading and resupply and basic crew facilities for orbital
work. The platform is not intended to be manned (with the exception of the Pelican Bay
space station type, which will usually not leave its assigned location). Using a 20,000-ton
standard hull (Hull 200/ Structure 200) the Bay Class mounts a Nortinghouse T67 1
Gigawatt fusion reactor that powers all on-board systems. Fuel tankage of 30-tons
supplies the reactor for 12 months. No drives are fitted. The ancillary systems include a
20-ton platform control centre (with integral Hosaka QuadMax level-1 mainframe), twenty
staterooms, a briefing room, repair robots, a 48-ton cargo deck and a 32-ton workshop
and spares warehouse. Two 100-ton docking clamps are fitted to allow large vessels to
offload or on-load cargos pertinent to the role of the platform.

The platform is generally unmanned but it can sustain a team of up to twenty technical
personnel to occupy the platform for a week or two while starting up or shutting down
operations. The cost of the unmodified Bay Class platform is $2,106M. The following Bay
Class platforms give some idea of the versatility of the vessel:

ECS Table Bay (Bulk Carrier) – This platform is used to haul 18,000 tons of ore across
hyperspace. It includes 1500 tons of bulk discharge conveyors. Refit cost: $30.8M.

USCS Guantanamo Bay (Container Carrier) – This platform is used to haul 18,000 tons
of containers (exactly 6000 3-ton ICO containers) across hyperspace. It includes 1500 tons
of container lifts, cranes and transport tracks. Refit cost: $41M.

USCS Pelican Bay (Space Station) – This platform has been extensively remodelled as
an orbital space station. It includes a 2400-ton cargo hold, a 2000-ton shuttle hanger,
6000-tons of fuel for visiting ships, 800 tons of workshops, a basic civilian sensor suite,
four control centers, 200 staterooms for crew, 600 staterooms for visitors, 4000-tons of
service modules (shops, amenities, passenger terminal, restaurants, etc.) and ten
additional docking clamps for ships up to 200,000-tons in size. Refit cost: $1870M.

USCS San Francisco Bay (Fuel Station) - This platform is used to haul 19,000 tons of
liquid hydrogen across hyperspace, or to remain in orbit as a permanent fuelling station. It
includes 190 tons of liquid transfer manifolds and 120 tons of fuel processors which
monitor and refine batches of fuel (up to 2400 tons per day). Refit cost: $37.2M.

MINING PLATFORM – ECS THURINGIA 116015 100,000 TONS

The UPM-116015 Reiner-Gama Thuringia is a high-capacity mining platform designed for

medium-duration mining projects; it requires towing into position and can make a single
controlled descent and a single ascent from any world of Size 0-2. Using a 100,000-ton
standard hull (Hull 500/ Structure 500) the Thuringia mounts an Erebus Terradyne 2020-
XC-23 1 Gigawatt Fusion Reactor and a cluster of Tharsis Type 16C 1-G reaction drives
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(capable of vectored thrust for planetary landings) used purely for landing and take-off.
The reaction drive provides an acceleration of 10 meters per second². Fuel tankage
comprising 400 tons of liquid hydrogen is used for a single deorbit burn and, when the
platform has completed its mission, a single lift-off and ascent to orbit. Further tankage of
15,000 tons supplies the powerplant for 120 months. Adjacent to the central control room
is a level-10 Okuda Generation computer mainframe and a standard civilian sensor
package. A second control center, called the mining operations center (MOC), is also
installed. There are 60 staterooms and Stack-Rack™ accommodation for 1,600 miners and
technical personnel as well as two briefing rooms, 12 laboratories and a suite of 18 offices.
A pair of detention cells is fitted. The Thuringia has twelve landing gear struts, each with
an integral cargo lift (individual capacity 3 tons) and is equipped with a 100-ton hospital
with 20 beds. Fuel processors are able to create up to 1500 tons of liquid hydrogen per
day if required. The platform is fully equipped for extended mining operations and includes
a 9,500-ton smelting bay, 4,000 tons of ore handling equipment, processor bays massing
12,000 tons in total and 10 mining drone units. There are 500 tons of shops and bars for
the off-duty personnel, a 1000-ton hydroponics bay and a 1000-ton cargo deck. An ore
storage bay masses 50,000 tons, half the capacity of the platform. Carried craft include a
single 90-ton Halo supply shuttle, 20 8-ton Seonwu Firefox Tractors, 10 Chevrolet MM5
Bucket Loaders, 20 EH1800 dump trucks, 20 Dynamic 7100 mobile mining lasers and a
further 20 GoMo QuadTracks, all carried within a 920-ton garage.

The platform requires a crew of 1,602: commanding officer and an executive officer (who
are responsible for the platform as a whole), a pilot (who serves as the chief shuttle pilot
once the platform is landed), four communication operators, a chief engineer, three
assistant engineers, four doctors, two medical technicians and nine nurses, two shuttle
pilots, 10 geologists, 10 senior admin staff, a mining operations manager and an assistant
manager (all of whom have stateroom accommodation). Living in the Stack-Racks are 10
junior admin staff, 20 shipping and cargo handlers, 40 leisure and retail workers, 20
catering, laundry and cleaning staff, 62 technicians and 1,400 mining personnel (including
drivers and equipment operators). Visitors to the platform may bunk up in the 48 spare
racks available, or the 10 staterooms allocated to Company visitors or extra staff. The
Thuringia costs $58,780M.

REFINERY PLATFORM – USCS TRINITY 116143 1,000,000 TONS

The UPR-116143 Leyland-Okuda Trinity is a high-capacity petroleum production refinery

platform that requires towing from star system to star system. It cannot land on any world
surface. The Trinity platform holds a 60,000-ton refinery and tankage for up to 469,000-
tons of crude oil that can be refined and separated into 469,000-tons-worth of holding
tanks. The platform can process crude oil as it travels through hyperspace. No crew is
carried on board, although there is a suite of accommodations and various control stations
that can be used by technical personnel that will board the platform to supervise the start
of operations, and the shutting down of the refinery once it arrives at its destination.
Using a 1,000,000-ton standard hull (Hull 3,333/ Structure 3,333) the Trinity mounts a
Nortinghouse T67 1 Gigawatt fusion reactor that powers the refinery and any ancillary
systems. Fuel tankage of 900-tons supplies the reactor for 12 months. No drives are fitted.
The ancillary systems include a 20-ton refinery control centre (with integral Hosaka
QuadMax level-1 mainframe), ten staterooms, a briefing room, a fuel laboratory, repair
robots, a 32-ton workshop and spares warehouse. Two 100-ton docking clamps with
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integral liquid manifold transfer systems are fitted to allow petroleum carriers to offload or
on-load petroleum fuels.

The refinery platform is unmanned, but requires a team of up to ten technical personnel
to occupy the platform for a week or two while starting up or shutting down refinery
operations. The Trinity refinery costs $102,882M.

Colonial Starships
RESOURCE EXPLORATION VESSEL – USCS PANDORA 130748 2,000 TONS

The Voroncovo Pandora is an exploration ship, equipped to survey planets and moons in
its hunt for exploitable resources for Transtar, Pandora’s owner. 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 REV is also fitted with a set of probe drones, two sets of mining drones
and an Exoframes Workloader for handling equipment and supplies on the cargo deck.
The Pandora also 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.

COLONIAL SUPPORT VESSEL – USCS GREAT LAKES 080417 10,000 TONS

The Wu-Ketai Great Lakes is a colonial support vessel intended as a resupply ship to a
growing colony, or as the first vessel as part of a completely fresh colonial development.
In the latter case, the Great Lakes remains in orbit to provide technical support for several
months as the colonists firmly establish their settlement. Once given the green light, the
CSV will return to Earth. Its primary mission is the transport of 2,000 colonists with
enough machinery, tools, building materials, seed and fertilizer to a colony world. Using a
10,000-ton standard hull (Hull 90, Structure 90) the Great Lakes mounts an Erebus QUAD
550 Hyperdrive allowing a cruise speed of 2 parsecs per week; a Matsuyama OHK-12 3
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Gigawatt Fusion Reactor and a McConnell K39-102 3-G reaction drive. The reaction drive
provides an acceleration of 30 meters per second². Fuel tankage comprising 3,500 tons of
liquid hydrogen is used by the reaction drive and can provide coolant to the fusion reactor
for 24 months of continuous operation. Adjacent to the bridge is a level-4 IBN Centrix
computer mainframe and a basic civilian sensor package. There are 2026 hypersleep pods
for crew and passenger use in-transit and 18 staterooms provided for orbital lay-overs. A
cargo deck of 452 tons carries supplies and technical spares. A medbay is fitted along with
a briefing room and two laboratories. Three Miranda class expedition shuttles are carried
on external ventral cradles and these are loaded via cargo lifts through their roofs. The
bulk of the Great Lakes paying cargo is loaded into two 2000-ton re-entry dump-boxes.
The first, the Terraforming Module, holds diggers, vehicles, prefabricated housing, tools
and agricultural products. The second, the Heavy Cargo Module, holds construction
materials, such as cement, gravel, steel beams, composite building parts, glass and
various types of construction machinery. Once deployed, the modules initiate a de-orbit
burn and descend into the atmosphere. Parachutes and retro-rockets slow the module for
a soft-landing before the clamshell covers open to reveal the cargo within. The module
itself is no longer usable as a re-entry vehicle, but it is designed to be dismantled and
used for building material by the colonists.

The ship requires a crew of 19: commanding officer, executive/science officer, android
technician, pilot, navigator, medic, sensor operator, chief engineer, assistant engineer,
three lander pilots, a four-man security team and three scientists. Although the colony site
will already have been surveyed and visited, the scientists on-board provide the landing
and colony start-up with analysis and advice, and usually comprise a biologist, a geologist
and a meteorologist. The Great Lakes costs $2,111M.
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Shana Avrahami, a junior engineer on Isolation,

gets off-shift
 P a g e | 287

11

This chapter provides the referee with 30 scenario outlines,

most of which can be set anywhere in the HOSTILE
universe (within reason!). They can be adapted, tailored to
a certain type of character or even combined with other
outlines to create a more complex story, or a story arc.

The largest conglomerates

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The mining rig Erebus Juno is taken over by hijackers who want a tidy ransom for the
return of the multi-million dollar facility. Whilst Erebus stall for time and get the money
ready, the PCs are sent in to try and take back the rig - without gunfire. The rig is
pumping liquid petroleum gas (mostly propane and butane) and no gunfire is allowed
within the facility under any circumstances. This is to be a peaceful or non-lethal
resolution.

A small Off-World colony within the Core Worlds has a rectenna power system, a huge
solar power collector station in geosynchronous orbit that beams that energy via
microwaves to a large 20 square kilometer array of collection dishes for redistribution to
the colony. It has not had enough investment for a fusion reactor. Unfortunately, a group
of hijackers has taken control of the station (Powersat GB2) and have redirected the
microwaves to fry a small outlying settlement, killing 12 people. They are now threatening
to burn up the main colony facility of 1,000 souls, unless the PCs can get aboard and stop
them. The hardest part will be getting aboard Powersat GB2 undetected.

The PCs are the crew of a starship inbound to an Off-World colony or mining installation,
when they get a call that another inbound starship is unresponsive. They are asked to
dock and go aboard to ascertain the problem. Cue an exomorph. Use the metamorph for
added plot complication!

On an Off-World colony with some desert terrain, a number of survey rovers have gone
missing – inexplicably. They had been sent out to investigate a strange transmission,
rovers were used because atmospheric grit in that area is damaging to air and spacecraft.
The PCs are asked to take a rover out to investigate the mysterious radio signals and
determine the fate of the two lost rovers. In fact the signal is an early US IFF military code
being transmitted by an antique US Space Command recon probe, buried under the sand.
To get there the rovers have to pass through a wide (10km) valley resembling Wadi Rum
that is covered with a salt-sand crust. The rovers fall through weak spots in the crust and
both their tracks (and the hole) are then covered over by the daily sandstorms. Can the
PCs fare any better?

On a sparsely populated Off-World colony, the US Marines are field testing a couple of
three-legged scout robots. They are participating in a training exercise with some
members of the local Colonial Defense Force (all hard-working part-timers). The CDF are
in touch with their men, but cannot reach the Marines and fear, from garbled
transmissions, that they have been attacked by native wildlife. The CDF ask the PCs to go
into the wilderness to make direct contact with any Marine survivors. Unfortunately the
problem lies with the recon robots, that are in fact special-ops assassination droids. These
dog-shaped killers have killed most of the Marines and are scouting out the lands toward
the settlement. They will make mince-meat of the lightly-equipped CDF defending the
perimeter. Perhaps a Marine tech can help and has a way to shut the robo-dogs down…
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A remote mining distribution facility has inadvertently picked up an electro-magnetic signal

from space, a ‘living energy’ which inhabits the outpost’s electrical systems. It takes over
quickly. The PCs are called in to look at the computer system, or to investigate an
inadvertent death. One person is dead already and another who was in the infirmary’s
autodoc having a scan is now severely injured. Quite quickly there are a couple more
accidents with equipment seriously malfunctioning. The alien energy wants to excavate a
vault on the moon or planet that contains the imprisoned souls of its energy-friends. It will
try to utilize robots and any diggers or workloaders to accomplish this, but it needs most
of the crew dead and out of the way, it also needs a compliant human who will operate
codes and doors, and she is the patient who was ‘severely injured’ in the autodoc whilst
having an MRI scan.

The PCs are onboard a starship that is involved in salvage work, and the ship they are on
picks up some abandoned cargo pods and machinery from a wreck. It also picks up an
invisible exomorph. It is human-sized but heavily armored and bulky, resembling (if it
could be seen) a squat, tail-less, two legged ankylosaur, with two large talons. The
creature lays low for a while, and then slowly comes out of its vacuum-induced
hibernation. It is undetectable in all areas of the electro-magnetic spectrum, including
visible light, infra-red and ultra violet. The creature will begin hunting the crew one by
one; it is slow, cautious and cold-blooded. At least one scene should include an NPC being
torn apart in front of the PCs, seemingly by nothing. It can track by heat and the electrical
activity of the brain. This is what it wants, to devour the brains and feed from the
memories inside. Remember this beast is immune to vacuum and is extremely well
armored.

A gang of criminals has escaped from a jail at a settlement on a colony world, long before
a Federal Marshal arrives to collect them. Now they are hiding out somewhere - can the
PCs hunt them down and bring those who don’t resist back to jail? The Colonial Defense
Force don’t know it, but these criminals are all genetic clones that have escaped from a
secret Makita Genetics research facility on the planet. Not only are they soulless and
emotionless killers, they have been treated with unlicensed and unstable retrogenics
technology where DNA is altered and begins to transform aspects of the human
physiology. They have a mixed bag of animal-like abilities, including fire resistance,
jumping, armored musculature, night-vision and enhanced hearing. The clones are
seeking to find a way off world, perhaps by hijacking a ship.

A large explosion is observed in the region of the star system’s gas giant and the PCs are
dispatched to investigate. There are no starships in communication with the colony and
there are no other outposts in the system. In fact the explosion is due to a failed mining
experiment to use a revolutionary fusion gun rig to burn through the crust of a rocky
moon. Unfortunately there was a malfunction, the well-head was vaporized in the nuclear
explosion, and a hole was punched through the crust to the little moon’s active mantle. As
the PCs approach, they will see a fountain of magma erupting into orbit to dissipate as a
cloud of rocky material, now in orbit. There is a secondary drill site, with survivors, but
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comms are out. The PCs should be able to pick out the site from orbit following a surface
scan. A rescue should be mounted, but the ship will have to negotiate a cloud of fast
moving, freshly-cooled orbital gravel to reach the surviving installation. The project is so
secret that corporate security troops at the site are under orders to wait for a corporate
rescue and to prevent with armed force, any other group from entering the complex.
Firefights may ensue!

A corporation has developed a viral agent of considerable potential and the team are paid
by a rival to somehow infiltrate the asteroid lab where it is being developed. The PCs are
to steal a canister of the agent and extract the method of its manufacture (chemical
composition, etc.) from the lab’s computer system. They will need plans if the lab and
transport papers or forged documents to allow them to gain access. Perhaps, only ten
minutes after they arrive (under whatever pretenses they can muster) the lab staff are
notified that a raid is about to take place on the asteroid – now they are alerted!

In a distant star system, a rarely-visited colony world is in trouble – a comet is on a direct

path to impact the inhabited world, and this will wipe out life there. The PCs and their ship
are asked to try and help, to steer the comet away using strap on boosters available at the
starport and, after a long burn, change the comet’s trajectory. It works! Briefly. There is
an explosion on the comet’s surface, an outgassing of the comet’s chemicals – and the
object returns back to its killer course. Why? This is an intelligent attack by persons
unknown, they have planted a ring of nuclear weapons around the comet’s circumference
and they are detonated as needed to vent the comet’s gasses and steer it toward the
planet. A control station exists on the comet, the PCs missed it the first time round, they
may discover it if they revisit the comet’s surface. If they dare, they might get caught in
another blast… After examining the control unit they may discover that the operator must
be close in order to command-detonate the bombs as needed. Is there a small ship
nearby, perhaps powered down, following the comet’s own trajectory. Or is the operator
actually on the comet? Even better would be if the operator is an NPC on the players’ own
ship!

The PCs are asked to conduct a rescue mission on a colony world, a tsunami has flooded a
settlement near the coast. A Company exec wants to go back (with the PCs along as
security) to recover important mineral or survey data from a flooded installation.
Unfortunately the flooded building is now occupied by undiscovered marine predators that
were washed into the settlement. They resemble octopus, but propel themselves along
with a rotary motion. What are these records, why are they so important? Perhaps the
real mission is to recover a unique pharmaceutical substance found at sea, an organic
‘Royal Jelly’ with potentially useful properties. And the squid-like predators swimming
around the half-submerged building are looking for it, they want it back! Survivors will
need to be rescued too, and the potential for an aftershock and second tsunami is always
high…
 P a g e | 291

Resource scout Sarah Hathaway discovers fossil life on

LV209, in orbit around Epsilon Reticuli

A tug ship emerges from hyperspace early and the crew are woken. Checking with the
computer, they find they are in the middle of nowhere, light years from a star system. The
computer says that the towing connection is not locked and that is the reason for the drop
of hyperspace. It must be undocked from the platform and re-docked again. As they
decide what to do, have one or two characters start to get ill – this is a red herring,
however, to keep everyone involved. But it doesn’t work! The connection is still bad! If
they do an external inspection, they find that latches 4 and 5 have sheared off at the tips.
The only way to get out of here with the platform is to somehow fool the computer into
thinking the connection is secure. This scenario is simply a maintenance issue, although to
complicate matters, perhaps as they decide what to do, a salvage ship drops out of
hyperspace near them, ready to tow away the platform if they cannot. This would imply
an elaborate conspiracy to seize the platform by ‘lawful’ means, however.

The PCs are hired to provide support and transport for a group of independent miners
who have pooled their money, resources and skills to go prospecting for rubies in a tough,
unforgiving and harsh environment on the planet. However, they are cash-strapped,
relatively inexperienced and have no real leader other than the geologist they have hired
to suggest locations for prospecting in the field. The PCs must arrange for transport and
the purchase of local kit and set up a pre-positioned temporary base or them. They will
arrive soon, but the geologist is already there to help co-ordinate the expedition’s needs.
 P a g e | 292

During the set-up the weather becomes extremely bad, making the process very
dangerous. After that, the PCs can transfer the miners to the site and leave them to work.
Some weeks later they get a call to pick up an injured miner, attacked by local wildlife.
When the PCs get there, ahead of a storm front they suffer engine failure and cannot take
off. The storm arrives and lots more of the native predators attack. The miners are
disorganized, quarrelsome and unarmed, and must depend on the skill and
professionalism of the player characters to defend them and get them, their kit and their
haul of rock samples and rubies out of there.

The ship drops out of hyperspace and everyone is woken. Readings suggest they hit a
hyperspace anomaly and that there has been some damage. It is only minor, when the
crew check, but they do discover a stasis leak, a portal through to their ship in the future
(perhaps two weeks into the future). This version of their ship is a mess, sirens are
blaring, warning lights are flashing, one crewman is badly injured and in an autodoc, all
others are dead from blunt trauma and knife attacks – they killed one another. Well, not
all… two of the crew (their future selves) are still alive, insane and ready to murder their
past selves and each other. This whole future will come to pass in the real world unless
they can figure out what went wrong. The ship’s systems are not being maintained and
the fusion reactor will go critical in 4 hours and there is nothing the PCs can do about it –
they have a 4 hour deadline. What happened? About a month ago the ship was hit by a
meteor that caused some hull damage (all of the PCs will remember this, they helped to
fix the damage). Unfortunately, some damage to the recycling system went unnoticed.
The ship took on water from a colony, but the system did not properly purify it or detect
the growth of thermophilic bacteria. This has spread, unchecked in the water tanks, and
like cyanobacteria on Earth, when consumed it does physiological and psychological
damage.

A bacterium in the drinking water has sent the crew insane. To find this out perhaps an
autopsy could be performed, or readings from the autodoc analyzed. The bacteria will
show up in the liver and kidneys, and it has altered the chemistry of the brain. They still
have to figure out how the bacteria got into the crew. The ships log might jar their
memories, especially if they look at systems close to the hull damage that was fixed,
leading them to the water recycling machinery. They might then find the bacterial bloom
in the water tanks. All the while of course, the PCs are being hunted by crazed versions of
themselves! Perhaps a saving throw of some kind would be required to actually harm
another version of yourself from the future …

It transpires that a geological survey of a region on Tau Ceti, conducted before the war
began, was tampered with and there are rumors that the area is actually mineralogical
treasure trove. A fresh survey team was recently dispatched and was returning in a tilt-
rotor when the plane was shot down by Chinese forces, coming down in hostile
swampland. The Company want the PCs to go out to the crash site, rescue any survivors
and bring back that survey data (held within a portable terminal). They will face a hostile
terrain, hostile wildlife (swamp—skimming bat-like ‘screamers’) and of course the hostile
irregular forces of the Chinese forces. At the crash site, rescue and retrieval might go as
planned, or the referee might prefer to have the Chinese rebels get their first. In this case,
 P a g e | 293

the terminal and the prisoners will now be at a secure compound near the local village,
whilst the rebels wait for Chinese intelligence officers to arrive.

The ship receives an emergency signal from a tiny asteroid outpost, the scientist there has
communication problems and urgently needs a spare part for his FTL hyperwave
communication system. The PCs have one, will they sell it to him, and also fit it? He will
reward them with a nice bonus! The crew will be the guests of himself, his daughter and
two other scientists. They are working on a new type of mining robot. In fact, the scientist
is a disgraced android design engineer from TransDyne Cybersystems who has fled to this
obscure rock to plan his revenge on that company. His daughter and the two aides are all
killer androids that he has built whilst on the asteroid for this purpose. During repairs the
daughter may break down, cry and beg the PCs to take her with them to Earth, their next
destination, she says her father is cruel and will never let her leave. This is planned, the
girl is programmed to make her way back to Earth to assassinate key individuals within
TDC. If they refuse she will understand, but the scientist will be forced, in that case, to
drug the crew and put his aides
Desert supply base on Armstrong on the ship, with his ‘daughter’
as passenger. If they agree,
they have just taken on a lethal
android assassin who will steal
their shuttle when in the Solar
System to avoid ICO customs
and immigration. Perhaps there
is a clue left onboard to her true
nature, and they must track her
down and terminate her before
she starts her killing spree.

There are clues on the asteroid

that the PCs might spot; the
spare part they have supplied is
actually in the asteroid’s
warehouse – just not on the
manifest. There is another ship,
docked at a secondary airlock
that the scientist says is an old,
deactivated transport ship. He
tells them not to go aboard. This
ship represents the last attempt
the scientist made to get his
assassin to Earth, but the crew
fought back, sabotaged their
own ship and were all killed.
Their bodies remain on board.
 P a g e | 294

One of the Off-World colonies has a moon rich in minerals. The administration has decided
to build a huge rotating habitat in orbit around the colony world and it will be built with
material from the moon, shot into orbit by a linear accelerator mass driver. There is
opposition to the plan from port workers on planet, however, and so a band of terrorists
have landed on the moon in a shuttle and seized the mass driver complex. They are
threatening to drop rocks on the colony, and even to target the orbital habitat that is
under construction. They want it stopped. Marines are on their way, but will not arrive for
two days. Can the player character technical experts land stealthily on the moon and
deactivate the mass driver without destroying it?

A colonial government owns the moon of a gas giant in the system, it was surveyed years
ago but nothing of any value was discovered. A mining corporation has recently obtained
limited mining rights on the moon and has been spreading rumors that there are actually
vast mineral deposits there. To check out these rumors, the colonial government has
dispatched a new survey mission to the little moon. It will simply collect samples for
analysis back on the colony world. The Company hires the PCs to find some way to
intercept the shipment of ore samples and switch some of the real samples, with their
‘salted’ ore samples. Once the government announces that there really are good
indications of mineral deposits on the moon, stocks in the Company will rise and it intends
to sell those mining rights to an unsuspecting buyer for a great profit. Where will the PCs
intercept the ore? In transit on the in-system shuttle? At the starport? At the assay office
the night before it is analyzed? The later they leave it, the bigger the margin for error they
have.

A desperate individual needs to get to Earth and past ICO quarantine at Liberty station,
she will pay a very large sum of money. She claims to be a wealthy heiress (and sounds
and looks the part) who has been cheated out of her fortune and estate in New York,
whilst she was visiting the Off-World colonies on business. She does not want the new
beneficiary (her sister) to know that she is back until she can create a counter-strategy to
regain her fortune. The heiress has a hyperspace pod that can be placed in the cargo bay
and plugged into the ship’s systems. Can the team smuggle her past ICO quarantine? Will
they need the help of members of the Snakeheads crime gang for this? In Earth space the
ship will be stopped and searched by Antarctic Traffic Control – a routine inspection – can
the heiress be safely hidden? Finally, is she what she appears? What if she is infected with
some form of alien parasite or virus? If so, does it ‘manifest itself’ in the public shuttle
during the descent from Liberty station to JFK airport, with the PCs aboard? Perhaps she is
a wanted criminal, or a clone? In that case her associates at Liberty station may want to
kill the PCs to stop them talking about their illegal passenger.

A crucial part for a new mining rig needs to be off-loaded on Oppenheimer, a planet
orbiting the white dwarf star Sirius B. Some parts are already in place, although only a
skeleton construction crew from Tharsis Corporation is on site at the moment. The part, a
beam-mounted evaporator – essentially a set of four gigantic jet engines, is large, difficult
to handle and will be the focus of this scenario. Getting it off the ship will be hard, getting
 P a g e | 295

it over to the site will be hard and fitting it inside the rig’s shell will be hard. The
atmosphere is made up of hydrogen which is pervasive and flammable, the weather is also
very nasty. Visibility is poor, grit and sand clog everything, there will be equipment
failures, suit failures and engine failures… it will be a punishing slog to get this evaporator
fitted. The team’s vacc suits will only protect them from hydrogen seepage for around 4-5
hours (after 4 hours, roll 1D6 – on a ‘1’ result, the inside of the suit will catch fire. If the
result of the 1D6 is 2-6, then continue to re-roll the 1D6 every ten minutes …). Hostile
environment suits have better protections installed, and will last 7-8 hours. The danger
here is rushing to get the job done in 4 hours without causing mishaps or injuries.

A mayday call has been received from a comet heading on a close-encounter course with
the system’s red dwarf star; it is a so-called ‘sun-grazer’ type of comet. To rendezvous
with the accelerating comet will be a difficult maneuver, of course the proximity of the star
will also play a factor, the starship is on the very limits of its thermal protection. How
further can the crew push it? It’s like a submarine diving ever deeper – no-one has tested
it to destruction (yet). The comet is tumbling crazily and is also venting gasses as it
reaches perihelion (closest point to the star), huge jets of gasses kilometers in height. Can
the starship be landed in these conditions? The distress beacon was activated by miners
who were searching for organic materials including methanol, hydrogen cyanide,
formaldehyde, ethanol and ethane on the comet when it was much deeper in the system.
Unfortunately due to an accident, the miners lost their air supplies and put themselves
into hypersleep, sending a message to the main colony world that they required
immediate resupply. It seems the message never reached the right inbox, because
fourteen years later, the miners are still sleeping on their sun-grazing comet. As the
starship attempts a landing, the automated beacon will bring the miners out of
hypersleep.

In a system containing a colony world with a fairly low population, an asteroid has just
been identified as having a trajectory that will mean it impacts the planet in 96 hours. The
player characters have the only starship fast enough to make a difference and should they
agree, the colonial government’s plan is to use nuclear mining charges to break the
asteroid into two pieces, each with new trajectories. The asteroid is around 10 million km
away at the start of the game and is moving at 30 kilometers per second. This is a race
against time with the player characters moving from planet to asteroid, picking up what
nuclear charges the government has managed to gather in from mine installations across
the region. Assume each time they land there are 1D6-3 new charges waiting (minimum
of 1). Assume for simplicity’s sake that each visit to the planet takes 12 hours (landing,
dealing with authorities, rioters and panicked individuals, taking off and landing on the
asteroid. The EVA may not take long, but if the crew wish to drill down into the asteroid to
significantly increase their chance of success, then 8 hours setting up the rig and drilling
must be spent doing so. The miners can supply equipment and a few advisors if needed.
All kinds of things can go wrong to delay the characters, including equipment failures and
incidents with locals or PC miners. Roll to assess the success of each detonation, a number
of damage points will be needed to break apart the asteroid and force each piece to pass
harmlessly around the stricken planet. The later the attempts are conducted then the
greater the angle of deflection will be required and the more energy and damage points
 P a g e | 296

will be required to achieve it. In other words, it is possible to leave it too late … the task
gets harder as the asteroid gets closer! See the table below for the chances of success:

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A remote space station (perhaps out on the fringes of a star system, orbiting a gas giant)
is frequently used by the player characters as a stop-over, but it is not responding to
communications, although it seems to be under power and its navigation beacons are
active. The silent space station requires investigation. It has in fact been taken over by a
shipment of convicts who killed the deputy marshals who were escorting them. They have
killed a dozen of the 32-stong crew of the station and taken the rest hostage. Now they
need a ship and don’t intend to scare the PC’s vessel away, rather lure it in with a
mystery. The convicts won’t show their hand too early, allowing the ship to dock or the
team to come over in suits, and the player characters to nose around a little bit. They’ll
find some bodies, perhaps one of the marshals, and maybe get sucked into a diversion
organized by the leader of the criminals whilst some of his men try and get onboard the
starship (in suits via EVA if needed). If they have docked, then the convicts activate
clamps that hold their ship in place – the PCs can’t get away even if they wanted to, the
clamps need to be deactivated at the dockside machinery station. The station’s self-
defense missile turret also needs deactivating, and that can only be done from the control
room, currently occupied by the convict leader and his best men.

It’s time to refuel and so the PC’s starship enters the upper atmosphere of a gas giant in
the depths of some frontier system in order to skim hydrogen. This will be processed by
the ship’s equipment into refined liquid hydrogen and pumped into the fuel tanks.
Unfortunately, something else was brought on board during the ram-scoop operation. The
scoop is showing high-pressure readings in the red during the maneuver and there is a
small explosion, but it continues to function. If the crew check this out, they will find its
 P a g e | 297

industrial-sized filters are clogged with pulped organic matter. This is the remains of a
‘floater’ a balloon-like lifeform that floats on the powerful atmospheric currents of the gas
giant. The scoop also took in much smaller ‘sinkers’ the early developmental form of the
manta ray-like ‘hunters’ that usually feed on the floaters. These three fist-sized sinkers
have made it through the filters, through a hull section damaged by the small scoop
explosion and onto the ship. Within 24 hours, due to the oxygen rich environment, the
sinkers develop into hunters. A little like bats or pterodactyls, they can walk upright, but
they are large and ferocious. It is also tough and can curl up tight within its own wings
and hide in small spaces.

The starship crewed by the PCs drops out of hyperspace in the outer system to
rendezvous with a corporate transport ship that has a senior vice president on-board. The
PCs will ferry him to his next destination for the surprise inspection of a facility. But – the
ship is not there. Careful scanning will however pick up three people in vacc suits, floating
free in deep space. Two are dead, the third is almost crazy with her ordeal. The corporate
ship was hijacked by the android on-board, a Carol model, she went haywire, forcing the
seven-strong crew into spacesuits and out of the airlock at gunpoint. She took the ship
back into hyperspace. Where? Why? Well, the survivor, the ship’s navigator says that she
glimpsed Carol reprogramming the navigation system for a very short hyperdrive jump,
suggesting it was either in this current system somewhere, or in the neighboring star
system. The VIP executive must be rescued. In fact Carol was reprogrammed by a
corporate rival to specifically kidnap the exec and the data he was carrying inside his
portable terminal, and deliver it to those rivals waiting in the next star system. There, in
an old mining ship, will be waiting a bunch of freelancers with guns and attitude, ready to
take delivery of the executive. This exec is no push-over, however, he is a practical man
with decades of hands-on mining experience. When he sees an opportunity during the
ship’s burn toward the nearest planet, he activates the mining ship’s asteroid handling
arms, which fail to take the stress, buckle and cause the drive system to shut down as a
failsafe. Now they are coasting, and the freelancers will probably get the drives working
again within a few hours. Is that enough time for the PCs to arrive, board the ship and
save the day?

On a hostile moon or asteroid, the Company has started using mining drones extensively.
Recently, the miners have broken through into hexagonal-shaped silica mineral beds. Just
a few meters deeper inside a crystalline chamber are several alien intelligences and to
protect themselves they take control of the mining drones, turning them against their
operators and attacking the control rig on the surface. The operators believe that the
drones are malfunctioning, and that the silica minerals are interfering with microwave
communications. The PCs might be the miners and operators, they might be spacers,
having just unloaded supplies, or experts brought in from another location in the star
system, purely to investigate the strange behaviors of the drones.
 P a g e | 298

Super-rigs at work on the

waterworld of Arajona

The planet Aurora (orbiting star UV Ceti) is ravaged by the most intense solar flares ever
experienced by Mankind. Bunkers and shelters protect the population during these deadly
storms, but one month ago, an entire settlement of human colonists on the edge of
Obsidian Desert disappeared. There were no communications and a Colonial Defense
Force that conducted a brief search found none of the 34 colonists. Parkfield Corporation
hires the PCs to carry out a more thorough investigation. What has occurred? In fact,
Auroran Worms (until now an undiscovered species) have attacked the settlement, killed
half a dozen people, swallowed several vehicles and undermined a few buildings. There
may be a few survivors hiding out a few hundred meters away, where they have climbed
to the top of a central communications tower. Getting to them will be difficult, there are
several smaller comms towers around the central one and this makes landing any kind of
flying machine there impossible. The PCs will somehow have to make the rescue on foot
or in a ground vehicle.

A year ago, on the super-Earth called Inferno (orbiting the star Groombridge 34) an
anomaly was noticed. At the magnetic north pole of this perpetual lava world there was a
large region of stable, non-erupting land – some 1,000 square kilometers in area. A
scientific base was established to try to discover the link between a stable crust and the
powerful lines of the magnetosphere that pass through the crust at that spot. However,
wild-shifts in the location of the magnetic north pole recently have meant that this ‘island’
 P a g e | 299

of stable rock is rapidly coming to an end, like a melting iceberg. Within days the entire
region will break up to become lava washed badlands, deadly to human life. The PCs are
ordered to use their starship or spacecraft to get the team and their kit out. Fast. Of
course, there will be problems! Lava plumes, shifting land, earthquakes, fault lines
opening up beneath them, missing scientists who have yet to return from collecting
important instrument readings, and so on…. The powerful and fluctuating magnetic fields
in this region will start to shut down critical sensors and electronics the longer they
remain.

A mysterious, stable region on the surface

of Inferno

The PCs are hired by the Union of American Space Labor (UASL) to investigate a report of
worker’s rights being violated on a mining site in the Outer Rim. The characters might be
rotated on to ship supplies to this installation, hence the approach from the UASL
representative. The violations are extremely serious and amount to slavery or servitude;
there are reports that the tiny station (crew of only 6) which operates mining drones
almost exclusively actually has dozens of indentured miners working there against their
will. They may be illegal Off-World workers that were tricked into the job and now have no
way off. The supply ship each month picks up ore and drops of minimal supplies and
spares for the drones, the miners have no way off - if it is true. Should the PCs
investigate, they are going to have to manufacture an excuse why their ship should linger
and why they should have access to the little station. It is, of course, true – the mine is a
Snakehead’s operation using forced labor, it is essentially a prison camp. When the team
see a Snakehead’s leader execute a worker for insubordination, it should consider rescuing
them all! Of course the Six Snakehead’s mining operatives will try to stop them. They are
well armed and ruthless.
 P a g e | 300

7-11-22255 GlK-
Floorhand Dermot Mulroney 658554 Age 26 2 Terms
Gambling-1, Vacc Suit-2, Comms-1
Origins: Galveston, TX Appearance: White – blonde, short beard
Psych Evaluation: In an affair with another floorhand; he has violent mood swings.

General Manager Dallas Roberts 779A86 Age 46 7 Terms

Vacc-2, Computer-2, Engineering-3, Mining-1, Streetwise-1, Ground Vehic
Vehicle-2
Origins: Spokane, WA Appearance: White – graying hair, piercing blue eyes
Psych Evaluation : Wants to get ahead in the Company – by any means…

Floorhand Blythe Henrick 658654 Age

ge 26 2 Terms
Vacc Suit -1, Electronics-2
Origins: Phoenix, AZ Appearance: Oriental – Hair in a plait, black nail varnish
Psych Evaluation : In debt, Blythe needs money; she is not phased by threats
thre
eats
atts
a

Driller Joe Anderson A9B778 Age

Ag
ge 30
30 3 Terms
Terms
Ground Vehicle-1, Vacc Suit-1, Comms-1, Mining-2
Origins: Ringgold, GA Appearance: White – tall and muscular, pinched features
Psych Evaluation : Arrogant and argumentative; money means everything
hing to him

Toolpusher Joe Maroni 885845 Age 38 5 Terms

Mining-3, Ground Vehicle-1, Vacc Suit -1, Demolitions-1, Brawling-2
Origins: New Jersey, Appearance: White – dark hair, grizzled, short
Psych Evaluation: Ambitious manipulator with a strong sense of loyalty to his comrades

Superintendent Lisa Taiget 5A4788 Age 34 4 Terms

Engineering-1, Vacc Suit-1, Computer-2, Mining-1, Comms-2
Origins: Sacramento, CA Appearance: Black – slim figure, short-cropped hair
Psych Evaluation : Loyal to her team; but takes bribes from miners for cushy jobs

Driller ‘Joker’ Diaz 757868 Age 42 6 Terms

Vacc Suit-3, Mining-2, Mechanical-2, Gambing-1, Brawling-1, J-oT-1
Origins: Duluth, MN Appearance: Hispanic – balding, lined face, big eye-brows
Psych Evaluation : Believes in justice and fairness and this gets him into a few fights.

Roustabout ‘Bull’ Flannery 878875 Age 26 2 Terms

Vacc-2, Mining-1
Origins: Detroit, MI Appearance: White: Tall, square-jawed, pony-tail
Psych Evaluation : Has an aggressive streak, he is a loud-mouth and braggart
 P a g e | 301

STARSHIP CREW MANIFEST

USCS HERCULEs TWV180286

Captain (male) 787988 Age 46 7 Terms

Pilot-2, Vacc Suit-1, Comms-2, Computer-2, Broker-1, Engineering-1, Loader-1
Origins: Detroit, MI Appearance: White – black hair, beard
Psych Evaluation: Ground down by the Company, the Captain is disillusioned

First Officer/Pilot (male) 698897 Age 39 5 Terms

Pilot-2, Vacc Suit-1, Ground Vehicle-3, Computer-1, Electronics-2, Navigation-2
Origins: Chesterfield, UK Appearance: White – short dark hair, grizzled features
Psych Evaluation : Curious and scientifically minded, the pilot is an optimist

Second Officer/Navigator (female) 477987 Age 30 3 Terms

Vacc Suit -2, Navigation-2, Medical-1, Comms-1, Computer-1
Origins: Los Angeles, CA Appearance: White – blue eyes, short blonde hair, cowboy boots
Psych Evaluation : Needing the pay, the navigator does her job, and that’s it.

Third Officer/Comms Ops (female) 699998 Age 30 3 Terms

Comms-2, Loader-1, Pilot-1, Vacc Suit-1
Origins: New York, NY Appearance: White – tall, long, dark curly hair
Psych Evaluation : Ambitious, with a fierce streak of rebelliousness.

Fourth Officer/Medic--Scientist (male) 888AA8 Age 47 7 Terms

Medical-3, Comms-2, Ground Vehicle-1, Computer-2
Origins: London,UK Appearance: White – clean cut, short hair, quiet
Psych Evaluation: A calm, hard-working science officer, stubborn when pushed.

Fourth Officer/Chief Engineer (male) A88884 Age 40 5 Terms

rms
Engineering-2, Brawling-1, Loader-1, Mechanical-2
Origins: Irvine, KY Appearance: Black – tall, blue headband
Psych Evaluation : Lively and argumentative engineer - with a temper.

Crewman/Assistant Engineer (male) 556685 Age 53 8 Terms

Terms
Engineering-1, Electronics-3, Loader-2, Mechanical-1, Ground
d Vehicle-1
Origins: New York, NY Appearance: White – thin, dark hair, Hawaiian shirtt
Psych Evaluation: Laconic assistant engineer, once an officer. Follows the chief’s
hief’s lead.
lea
ad.

Ship’s Cat (male) 2B2 Instinct C Age Unknown

know
wn
Pouncer Claws (1 point of dmg.) Speed: 2 (12m) Armor: 0
Attack: If it has surprise Flee: If it is surprised
Origins: Unknown Appearance: Ginger tabby cat, green eyes
 P a g e | 302

US MARINE CORPS
RP
PS
Troop assignments – Bravo Platoon
Authorized : Lt S.Wise .
Lieutenant Aaron Eastwood 9899A9
99AA9 Age
Age 2
266 2 Terms
Gun Combat-1, Tactics-1, Recon-1, Computer-2
2
Origins: San Francisco, CA Appearance: Black/Male - Clean-cut, clean uniform
unifor
Psych Evaluation: Amiable and co-operative young officer, but not easily frightened

Staff Sergeant James Badge A9C886 Age 34 4 Terms

Gun Combat-2, Blade Combat-1, Ground Vehicle-1, Brawling-2
Origins: Mason Falls, IA Appearance: White/Male – blonde, broken nose
Psych Evaluation : Loves to fight, he loves the rush – but he is generous to a fault

Sergeant Shanya Dale 76B757 Age 31 3 Terms

Brawling-1, Gun Combat-3, Mechanical-1,
Origins: Jacksonville, FL Appearance: Black/female– tattooed neck and arms
Psych Evaluation : Looks forward to combat, but she is very aggressive out of combat too.

Private Susan Kosor 699558 Age 26 2 Terms

Electronics-1, Gun Combat-1, Medical-2
Origins: New York, NY Appearance: Oriental/Female – slim faced, quiet
Psych Evaluation : Strong sense of justice and truth, also desperate for more responsibility

Corporal Billy ‘Rafter Man’ Jones 8B6573 Age 22 1 Term

Gambling-1, Gun Combat-2
Origins: Rapid City, SD Appearance: White/Male – blue eyes and blonde hair, big smile
Psych Evaluation: Always on the take and easy to bribe, Billy is ambitious and manipulative

Private Lewis Hernandez 7CC887 Age 26 2 Terms

Gun Combat-1, Vacc Suit-1, Heavy Weapons-2
Origins: Louisville, KY Appearance: Hispanic/Male– wide face, serious, never smiles
Psych Evaluation : Ruthless, with his own unspoken agenda, he is not easily intimidated

Private Jon ‘Easy Rider’ Colter B98645 Age 22 1 Term

Recon-1, Gun Combat-2
Origins: Lake Charles, LA Appearance: White/Male – sunglasses, laid back, black hair
Psych Evaluation: A good-time guy who seems lazy, but he is loyal to his comrades

Lance Corporal Callum Irving 88A577 Age 23 1 Term

Leader-1, Gun Combat-1, Heavy Weapons-1
Origins: Jacksonville, FL Appearance: Black/Male–Tall and lanky
Psych Evaluation: Leadership material, very stubborn and hard to dissuade
 P a g e | 303

PERSONNEL Form 01/FGW/600932-D

OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Returned PSSS Date
5/5/2224 L.DIEM 5/16/2224

Name ICO UNIVERSAL PERSONALITY PROFILE

Nicolai Rykov 7 8 4 9 A A
ICO Lvl
Job Title Training & Skills
LEYLAND-OKUDA AGENT SECURITY 2
Rank COMPUTERS 1
AASSISTANT DIVISION CHIEF (5) LEADER 1
Terms/Age GUN COMBAT 2
7/46 yrs. STREETWISE 1
Nationality GROUND VEHICLE 1
UKRAINIAN FORGERY 3
Videofone No.
07700 - 900265
Attach Photo

Personal Details
Voroncovo tried to assassinate me 3 years ago. I
Work History am an infiltration specialist. My team is always
1-Bodyguard work loyal and I command respect. I’m tough – but get
2-Rig Hijacking resolved results. I’m divorced, but I guess I’m married to
3-Infiltrated Team into the job…
Voroncovo HQ List of Current Belongings
4-Stole Bio-Weapons VP90 Pistol, Counter-Securiy Kit, NiKe SportsBag, First
data from MaKita Aid Kit, Torch, Handcuffs, Surface Mask, Inertial
5-Discovery of Lost Locator, ROLEX Watch, Night-Vision Goggles, ZX-22
carrier, USCS Talos Portable Terminal
Current Balance: (̈́): 13,531
“Hire for Attitude” Signature:
“Train for Skill” [Stay within the box]

ICO 67300-231 FPLLD -0056-X SECOND SERIES

 P a g e | 304

legal
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Open Game License v 1.0a Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
High Guard System Reference Document Copyright © 2008, Mongoose Publishing.
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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
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Traveller System Reference Document Copyright © 2008, Mongoose Publishing. Vehicle

Handbook System Reference Document Copyright © 2012, Mongoose Publishing.

Traveller is © 2008 Mongoose Publishing. Traveller and related logos, character, names,
and distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks of Far Future Enterprises unless
otherwise noted. All Rights Reserved. Mongoose Publishing Ltd Authorized User. Cepheus
Engine System Reference Document, Copyright © 2016 Samardan Press; Author Jason
"Flynn" Kemp

HOSTILE is Copyright © 2017 Zozer Games, author Paul Elliott

Illustrations
x NASA/JPL
x United States Department of Defense
x ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/L. Calçada (ESO)/H. Heyer (ESO)/H. Zodet (ESO)
x Bloodypulp.files.wordpress.com
x Merbabu - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.
org/w/index.php?curid=7876977 SUBURB
x Mrcricket48 at English Wikipedia, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.
org/w/index.php?curid=13821140 BRIDGE
x Ed g2s to English Wikipedia -
PDphoto.orghttp://pdphoto.org/PictureDetail.php?mat=pdef&pg=5549http://pdpho
to.org/jons/pictures2/longbeach_1_bg_122802.jpgOriginally uploaded to English
Wikipedia as en:Image:Long Beach, CA at night.jpg, Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia. org/w/index.php?curid=326656 LONGBEACH
x GRID Computer By jmdo - propia, GFDL, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/
index.php?curid=5396081
x Krit Mutitaphorn: Pulsemeter
x Kuha455405 (Own work (Photo by me)) [GFDL
(http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons
x U.S. Army Institute of Heraldry - http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/usspc-
fs/emblem.htm, Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9649682
x Oil Rigs by Ioan Dumitriescu
x https://www.flickr.com/photos/karpidis/ Andreas Kontokanis woman, Creative
Commons
x Cplbeaudoin at English Wikipedia - The knife is owned and photographed by Dom
Beaudoin. Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons by Trixt using
 P a g e | 307

CommonsHelper., Public Domain,

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8756012
x By MakeMagazinDE (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
x By Moyan Brenn from Anzio, Italy (Tokyo) [CC BY 2.0
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
x By Geni (Photo by user:geni) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC
BY-SA 4.0-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0-3.0-2.5-
2.0-1.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
x Car Cockpit Photo credit: ronWLS via Visual hunt / CC BY-NC
x Other images derived from Pixabay, Stocksnap.io, Unsplash, Pexels.
SKILLS

PERSONNEL Form 01/FGW/600932-D

OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Returned PSSS Date

Name ICO UNIVERSAL PERSONALITY PROFILE

STR DEX END INT EDU SOC

ICO Lvl
Job Title Training & Skills

Rank

Terms/Age
/
Nationality

Videofone No.

Attach Photo

Personal Details

Work History
al
List of Current
Belongings

Current Balance: ($):

“Hire for Attitude” Signature:

“Train for Skill” [Stay within the box]

ICO 67300-231 FPLLD -0056-X SECOND SERIES