TAR y-NeoWi=laieie| ai) ModuleSTAR FRONTIERS™ Adventure Module SF 1: Volturnus, Planet of Mystery by Mark Acres and Tom Moldvay ‘Marooned on Volturnus, your party must have luck and intelligence to survive. The Kurabancde might know how to find the fost explorers you seek, bus this planet of mystery is hazardous for even the best of adventurers, Are you equal to the challenge? This module is the second in the Volturnus series of modules for the STAR FRONTIERS" game. It can-be played separately or as a sequel fo CRASH ON VOLTURNUS. For the best in adventure gaming products, look for the TSR logo on games, modules. and playing aids. Obtebuted tothe book ade oe House of Canada ‘his maduler ra us ote PRINTED INUS.A, ISBN 0-035686.75-x 394-52593-0TSRO55O 7801ALPHA SECTION: INTRODUCTION ‘This isthe second in o theee part series of adventure modules for STAR FRONTIERS™ science-fiction role-playing game. ‘This module continues the adventure begun in the module CRASH ON VOLTURNUS included in the STAR FRONTIERS. boxed set. To play ths module, you must have one set of the rules for STAR FRONTIERS role-playing game. It is strongly recommended that CRASH ON VOLTURNUS be played before this module is played STOP! Ii you are going 10 be a player in this module, do not read any further. The rest of the information in this booklet is, ALPHA SUBSECTION 1: REFEREE’S NOTES Betore beginning play, the referee should read this module thoroughly, becoming familiar with the overall outline of the adventure end the details concerning the intelligent races, fencountared. The referee should spend extra time reacingthe "STAR FRONTIERS Briafing Update"’so thathe orshecan fully play the parts of the alien NPCs the player cheracters will meet During the play of this adventure, the counters and maps included in the STAR FRONTIERS game. as well as the large ‘map of Voltutnus ineludod in SFO, will be used, ‘This modules dasigned tobe played by four to eight charactors. Itt all possible, these should be the same characters used by ‘the players in the module CRASH ON VOLTURNUS. ‘Twosectionsof the module have been bound intothecenter of the booklet as special pull-out sections, These sections can be removed by gently bending back the staples inthocenterofthe booklet, removing the sections, and reclosing the staples. The ‘Alien Creature Update File” is 2 complete listing of all creatures introduced in this module. The "STAR FRONTIERS Brieting Update’ contains a sunimary of new intelligent alien faces encountered in the module. This summary is @ ‘supplement to the data in the STAR FRONTIERS System Brit in module SFO: CRASH ON VOLTURNUS. The rules in ALPHA SECTION of SFO concerning survival and movement on Yolturnus are used throughout this module. ALPHA SUBSECTION 2: PLAYERS’ BACKGROUND. 1f your players have not played modute SFO. read them this background section Some months ago, you were contracted by the government of Truane's Star to journey to Volturnus, ‘2 newly claimed planet in the Zebulon star system. Your mission wastwo-fold; to explorethepianet, and, If possible, to rescue the original exploration team, which had disappeared shortly after entering the Zebulon system. Since then, your lives have been anything but dull ‘Your starliner was hijacked by space piratas ee soon as itenteredthe Zebulon sysiem. You barely managed, {to escape with your lives by boarding a lifeboat and. Fiding in 0 Volturnus. Volturnus isa hot, inhospitable ‘world, and your IMeboat crash-landed in the barren, Volturian desert You wandered through the desert for days, nearly dying of hunger and thirst, before a band of Ul-Mor found you. (An Ul-Mor resembles an octopus with | nine tentacies. The Ul-Mor are an intelligant race of {desert nomads who ride a dinosaur called the loper.) ‘After a brief, cfficult atiemotat verbal communication, the Ul-Mor domonstratad their primary means of ‘communication, An Ul-Mor inserted its ninth tentacle into the base-f your spine, and you found yourself in, diroct mind link with © member of an alion race! ‘The Ul-Mot explained that although you and your people were obviously starving, tribal law prohibits the sharing ol food and water with those who are not tribe members, However, if you were willing to undergo the Ritual of Manhood and become tribe members, they would save you. You azcopted their offer, and journeyed across the desert into the vast Forbidden Caverns. Shortly after entering the caverns, a cave-in separated you from the UlMor. After a perilous Journey thraugh the ‘caverns you escaped and found the UI-Mor camped. ‘nearby, waiting for you. ‘After allowing you te rest and rocuporate for soveral | Gays, the UrMor led you to The Place of True Warriors, where you would undergo the Ritual of Manhood. Though they did not take your woapons, the Ul-Mor gave each of you a spear and a siraw ‘dummy, then retreated to a safe distance towatch the ritual. Not long after, @ tiger-sized creature moving at ineredible speedapproached you. Thiscreaturewas a quickdoath. k had a long neck ending in a hideous hhead with four eyes mounted on stalks. Three small tentacles with suction cups hung from each side, and its whole body was covered with a natural reflective armor. Even as you studied the creature, It stacked you. “The creature wae 9 terrible opponent, moving and strikingwith incredible speed andviciousness. Despite the quickdeath’s ferocity, you killed it and were ‘accepted ae members of the Ul-Mor tribe. “The Ul-Mor then told you that they have seen people like yourselves living with the Kurabanda, @ foolish trea-dwelling race. The Ul-Mor offerad to guideyou to the home of the Kurabenda,BETA SECTION: THE KURABANDA This part of the module concerns the party's meeting and ‘adventures with the Kurabanda, a tree- dwelling race living in the bachanda foresis of Volturnus. BETA SUBSECTION J. THE SHARD GRASS PLAINS. The journey to the Kurabands village will be made in three stages. The Ul-Morwillascort the party from The Place of True Warriors to the fertile area (oasis) on the south side of the Burning Lands. The party will be guided through the caverns beneath the Burning Lands, 2s well as through the Burning Lands, but they will have no encounters on this part of the journey, which will tke 12 days. ‘The Ul-Mor will escort the party on the second stage of the journey from the oasis to the edge of the shard grass plains The route goes seven hexes southeast {rom the oasis, then straight eastfor sx hexes, then northeast for four hexes to the ‘9dge of tho chard grassplains. This parto! the journey will ake eight andone-nalf days, During this pertof the journey, normal random encounter checks should bs made. The third stage of the journey requires crossing the shard grass plains in the directions indicated by the Ul-Mor. The Ul-Mor will not accompany the party on this part of the Journey, and the party will have to choose its own direction across the plain BETA SUBSECTION 2: RANDOM ENCOUNTERS During the journey from the ossis to the shardgrass plain, roll lonea each day andoneeeach night forarandem encounter. AN encounter is indicated by a roll of 1 on 1410. When an encounter is indicated, use the Random Encounter Table for the desert included in the module CRASH ON VOLTURNUS to, determine the exact type of encounter. PETA SUBSECTION 3: PLANNED ENCOUNTERS The following are the planned encounters for the shard grass plains. Should your playor charactore take a complotoly different route or do something completely unexpected, use Your own judgment to handle the situations that arise. 1.) INTO THE SHARD GRASS ‘Athru and his Ul-Mor have led you to the edge of a great plain covered with @ strange-looking grass. Athru now tells you that he and his followers are noeded alsewhore. He says thet the Kurabanda can be found by travelling across the plain in an east- northeast direction. He wishes you luck and bids you. farewell. Player characters who question Athru about the Kurabanda willlearn that the Kuratondaarean apparently intelligentrace ‘whom the U-Mor dislike. The Ul-Mor say that the Kurabanda are frivolous, wasteful, arrogant and ugly. The shard grass grows to @ height of 1-1.5 meters and has a 26-like choath around the main stalk. Thie sheath is razor sharp, and cheracters who attempt to walk through the shard grass will automatically take 1410 points of damage for every day'stravel (aight hours, or fraction thereof) thatthey spend in lt, The referee may decide that the characters take less damage If they carefully clear a trail or take precautions against getting cut. Cheracters who fall ito or on the share ‘aress.willtake 1410 points of damage immediately. Characters ‘wearing skein suits will ako half camago, The shard orass is extremely dense, Movement through it ‘even if party mombers use knives or improvised machetes to ‘cut a path, fs at the rate of one-half hex per day. 2.) AROLLER PATH Eventually the party will find a roller path in the shard grass, When they do, use the following encounter and begin by ‘reading this description, {AS you push aside and work through the next stands of the shard grass, you see a clearing before you. The ‘shard grass has been completely flattened, asf by @ huge weight. There are broken shards all over the ground, and 9 fow stalks as well. This clearing is ‘about 6 meters wide, and extends in two directions |__ like a corridor through the shard crass. ‘Movement along a roller path is at the rate of three hexes por day. No damage is sutfered for moving along such paths. Note thet the map shows the general location of existing roller paths; the paths themselves are not perfectly siraight; they in, fact are several tile paths that wander through the grass in the general direction shown on the map. H the party travels along any roller path for more than hatf a day, they will encounter a small hard of 15 rollers (MV Fast IM/RS 4/38; STA 300, ATT 80; DM 8410, SA Seo below; SO See below). If a party member comes within 20 meters, the rollers will panic and stampede toward the party Any character hit by a rollar must make @ Reaction Speed check. Success means that the character has avoided the attack: failure ‘means that the character suffers normal damage, ithe party attempts to follow the rollers trom a distance, they will move through the shard grass in 2 random iraction at a rate of one hex per day. SA: Canexpel shards.as ranged weapon to defend hindquarters (ATT 60; DM 1410; Range 5/10/13/20/30) SD: Immune toneeilers; half damage romprojectile weapans) 3.) A SPITTER HERD ‘One day after first encountering the rollers, the party will encounter a herd of 50 spitters (MV Medium: IM/RS 7/65; STA 120; ATT 20; DM 1d10; SA See balow: SD None). The Spitters are grazing in a lerge clearing. The ground of the clearing is covered with the acid used by spitters to dissolve the shards on shard grass. The spitters will graze peacefully and not attack unless.one or moreaf the party comes within 10, ‘meters or makes any loud or frightening noise, I the spitters attack, 10 will fight whilo the remeindor attompt to run sway through the shard grass, ‘SA: Spits acid (ATT 80; DM 2d10; Range 2/5/10/15/20)4) FIGHT IN THE TREES ‘This encounter willtake placein the first forest hex reached by the party ‘Atlast you ean seebofore you the dense forest spoken fof by the U-Mor as the home of the Kurabanda. The trees are huge, often 50 meters tall. The trees hat broad, flat limbs from which sprout tendrils and smaller roots that anchor the trees to the ground far below. At ground level the roots and tendrils of the trees are 80 tangled together that itis impossible to pass between the trees, ‘As you work your way through the last patches of shardarass barring your wayto the edge of he forest, ‘you 960 the searing blast of a laser pistol and hear a Screamof agony! Immediately the ai i filled with the soundsof battle coming from the trees directly ahead ‘of you, As you look around, high in the trees you see ‘the body of what appears to be a mankey fall framone of the trees to tho groundtar below Among the many shouts and screams, you hear @ deep voice resping, “Take that, You furry Itt creep.” The voice cames from a Human who ig standing high in the trees near the spot where the monkey fell. Even atthis distence, [about 10 meters} you can see that the Human bears the unmistakable red tattoo which indicates membership in the Star Devil’s band of space pirates! The partyhasjust stumbled onto a raging battle between tenof the Star Devi’s men and the Kurabanda. Five Kurabanda are ofending part of the large forest from space pirates who are ‘ut on @ destructive raid ‘The forest here is compesed mainly of bachanda trees. The forest floor is impassable; to enter the fight the player characters will ave to climb the trees, using some of the humerous vines and tendrils which are hanging from all the tees near them, This encounter uses the color forestmap included on the large mapsheet in your STAR FRONTIERS game set. The map scale Ig 10 meters per square. The elevation shown for each tree is the highest elevation from which someone in the tree can shoot Tree elevations aro 10, 20, 30 and 40 meters. At the Start of the encounter theKurabanda are all huddledin the tall tree adjacent to the right (east) edge of the forest map. Place the Kurabande counters in this tree, one por equaro. Place ten pirates atany location in the forest except the Kurabanda tree, fone par square, Be sure to spread the pirates among saverai trees, The party will enter the map from the right (east) edge after climbing the vines which hang down from the trees on tho right edge, ifthe party goes immediately o the aid of the Kurabenda, they will reach the trees without being spotted by the pirates. if he erty does not gat into the fight the pirates will spot them and pen fire on them as the party ties to get away of hide in the shard grass plain, The shard grass does not provide effective over against fire from a higher elevation. ‘character in trees can mave one square or climb up or down ‘9 distance of 10 meters porturn, He cannot move andeclimb in the same turn. A Kurabenda can move three squares in one turn and climb up or down 10 meters. A character may move from one tree to a direcily adjacent trae Hf tho difference in pelomonsds 30/50 48/25 45/45 80/80 2 3 23:23 Molossnu 95/65 46/28 38/35 60/50 2 3 23 23 Kurmanase 20/40 50/50 36/35 1 3 3030 sJuramana 50/70 40/80 40/40 3 5 33:33 Ermovads 30/50 0/80 80/80 2 6 38 3B elevation is ne more than 10 maters. Climbing the vines into the tees takes one turn per 10 meters vertical distance climbed and requires @ Dexterity check each turn, feilure means that the charactor has fallen. More than one character Canbe inasquare, but thereisa 1O%chance per turnfor each counter after the first that the branch the characters are standing on will brook, dropping the characters to the forest floor. Characters who fell suffer 1-8 points of damage, plus ‘one point per meter of distance fallan A target must be sighted betore it can be shot at, Acnaracter cansightany character in an adjacent square. Acharacter can Sight characters at greater ranges es long as the line of sight does not pass through an empty square filledwitha green tree color. Al characters in the trees are considered to have sott cover. During the battie the nine pirates will fire at the party with, laser pistols set at 4 SEU while the officer moves closer to use the sonie disruptor at point blank rango. BETAS.1- THE PIRATES. Name STR/STA DEX/AS INT/L.OG PER/LOR PS IM AW M "Suagfesten 40/86 70/60 85/95 60/70 4 5 35.35 Skil: Beam Weapons, Sd Level; Gyroje: Weapons, 1st Level; ‘Weapons and Defenses: Sonic disruptor, fragmentation grenade, ‘angler grenade, albedo screen, pawer belipack. Pirate 2 25/50 36/38 §5/65 45/45 2 4 28 20 Pirate 3 50/85 40/20 35/35 55/85 3 2 2030 Pirate 4 36/80 40/20 §0/60 70/70 2 2 2020 Pirate 5 26/50 B5/AS 30/20 85/85 2 5 33.33 Prote6Y 18/95 456/25 60/80 85/85 1 3 23.23 Prate7V 20/40. 50/30 70/70 40740 1 3 2525 ProteSB 58/75 86/45 45/65 35/0 3 5 33.33 Pirate 9 20/48 30/30 50/60 45/45 1 3 15 15 Prats 10 «30/88 8E/AB 40/40 60/60 2 5 32.93 ‘Suis: Beam Weapons, 2nd Level: Melee Weapons 1st Level Weapons and Defensa’ Laser pstol one powereln NOTES: Y= Yaziion: V = Vrusk: D= Drolasito BETA 3.2: THE KURABANDA ‘Skills Projecile Weapons, 2nd Level \ieapons ana Detense: Bow, 20 arrow, knite (Ge sure to add the +20 to their AW score when caleulating thelr change to hit when firing arrows.) Ermovads is the leader of Kurabanda group. He is the son of Momarade, ona aftho local village augers. Itthe party is in serious danger of being defeatedby the pirates, ‘you may have 20 Kurabanda enter from the east edge of the ep as reinforcements. These Kurabanda will also appear if the original Kurabanda fighting the pirates are allkilled. These Kurabanda have the same statistics andweapons as Lomonada, ‘The Kurabandawill fight to the death. They seem tobe insome sort of battle franzy, and aro fillod with hatred for the pirates. ‘The pirates had come to raid the Kurabanda and kill some of them for sport; the pirates will fight until five pirates are dead, ‘and then attempt to floe through the forest. Any piratos who {get off the edge of tne map opposite the edge entered by the Player characters have succaeded in getting away, even ifpursued by the player characters. Tell the player characters they have lost sight of the pirates in the dense forest, The pirates will not allow themselves to be captured alive, as they know the Kurabanda would torturethem todeath Any pirates who elude pursuit will got away in an explorer that lies camoutlaged nearby. (Wf ll the pirates are killed, the party will ‘not find the explorer, regardless of how hard they search.) (Once the battie is over the Kurabanda will be busy tending their wounds and wondering who the strange new beings might be. 5.) MEETING THE KURABANDA ‘The fight is over, The surviving Kurabanda apprcach the party cautiously, with weapons at the ready. You S00 that they are monkey-like folk with furry torsos, who stand 1.5 meters tall. Each of them is wearing Some type of amulet or necklaca, They are extremely Cautious, but not hostile The Kurabanda will stare in stony silence st the party for several minutes, studying their appearance and equipment, but without touching anything Finally one of them will speak If Ermorada is still alive, ne willbe the speaker. Int, any of the ‘other Kurabenda may be the speaker. The party will probably be surprised to find that the Kurabands speaker acdresees them ine simple form of Pan Galactic. He will ask questions Such as “Who you? Why you come? Where you come from? After 3 few questions, ho will ask tho party to come with him to the village, None of the Kurabanda yrill answer questions ‘about themselves or their people. if tha referee has not used the 20 Kurabanda reinforcements in the battle with the pirates. they will arrive now and take positions in the surrounding trees. They will not show ‘themselves unless the party refuses to come t0 the village, The Kurabenda village is located two hexes northeast of the northeasternmost exiension of the shard grass plein. The village hex contains an unusustly tall tres and bordore the desert, The village iiself is builtin the treetops, It consists of about 50 huts, open buildings of various types, and one “tong house’” where the men of the tribe spend much of thair timo working on weapons and telling stories about great hunts or battles of the past The party will be taken to-a special hut, one with several bow-armed Kurabanda staying outside to “protect” thom. These guards will waich the player characters carefully until they can bepresentedto the Kurabanda chief The party willbe Kept here for sbout five hours: They will be given water and some roasted meat, and if wounded they will receive a visit from @ Kurabanda shaman whowili performvarious ineffective magical ceremonies te heal them. Otherwise, no one will speck with the party Any escape attampt will bo dealt with harshly. Thera are over 100 Kurabanda warriors in he village, end all would immediately pursue the party with the intention of killing them, 6.) THE KURABANDA CHIEF platform, buil on several bachanda branches. You See that there are several hundred Kurabanda gathered in almost silent attention in two large {roups, one on each side of the platform. Many are. warriors, bur thera are also women andchildren, You areled by two guards through the center of tis crowd toward a large chair in the front center of the: platform. Seated on this chair is an obvicualy old Kurabanda. He is resplendent inaheaddress made of hundreds of colored feathers, andhis chestis covered with at loast a dozon amulets, pendants and other pieces of jewelry, His chair has numerous little | wooden idois carved in the sides and at the top. Around him are a zen female Kurabanda Alter a five-hour wait, you are taken to # large open This is Auramatia, Chief of the Kurabanda He is chief only of this village, butthe players have noway of knowing that atthis time, In the past few hours hehas consulted the warriors who broughtthepartyto the village, his elders andtheshaman He is nowready to speak with theparty members anddecide what to do with them, In very broken Pan Galactic, he will ask the party members who thoy are, what they are doingin the forest, where they come from, what they are afier, etc. He will ask ‘why they fight the “Demons from the Sky,” which is what the Kurabanda call the epace pirates The referee will have to improvise much of this conversation baced upon the anawers given by the players to Auramada's, first questions. Remember that Auramada will be favorably impressed already, after all, the party did help hie warriors fight the pirates. However, he will not give out any useful information until he 1s completely convinced that the perty is trustworthy. Read the information on The Kurabanda in the pull-out section for more details on how Kurabanda willreact to various statements and actions by player characters. Also remember that Auramada is in public in front ofall his peopla, ‘This will make eny insult, intentional or not, muchworse inhis eyes. Finally, the referee must decide whether Auramada is favorably impressed by the party and trusts them or not ‘Aurarnada’s next actions can be dexermined by consulting the following chart and picking the action which seems most ‘appropriate under the circumstances: 1. Complete trust: Auramada will order @ large feast to be given in honor ofthe party. He will present party members with small gifts (large gifts would-be considered insulting) and will give them the freedom of the village. Ho will leo reveal that there were two other people like the pariy ‘members, who once stayed with the Kurabanda but were captured inaraid several weeks ago by the "Demonsfrom the Sky.” (The others are two members of the original exploration party.) Auramada will tell the party that the. ‘two athers are being held prisonerin 2 ’Demon’’ outpost, and willoffer the party 8 guide to take them tothe outpost should thay wish to rescue their friend S$.2. Partial rust: Auramada wants to know more about the party before giving them any information. He will invite the party ojoin him ina hunt Use the oncounter “Huntin the Air’ at this time. 3. insulted: Auramada will offer the party msry, many gifts offurs, arrows, and wives, The marriages must take place immediately. the party mombere refuse, Auramada wil have them tortured to death, 4. Greatiyinsulted: Auramada will have the pleyercharacters tortured to death. 5. Distrustful: Auramada will have the player characters killed immediately by his warriors 6.) HUNT IN THE AIR, ‘This encounter is used if Auramads wants to test the ‘trustworthiness of the party. It may also be modified and used ‘as an additional interesting encounter at anytime the party is, with the Kurabanda In this encounter the Kurabande, with Auremada leading ‘them, will taka the party to the adge of the forest by the shard ‘grass plains. They will have the party climb to a height of 40 eters ina large bachanda tree, and then will ask the pertyto Join them as they huntrollors with bows and arrows from their hang giidersi The Kurabenda will have prepared special hang cliders for any Human or Yazirian party members. Vrusk and Dralasites will bo expocted to holp work the safety nets the Kurabanda have set up inthe treesto caich any persons using ‘hang alidars who ‘"miss” when they attempt to land in the bachanda branches. Player characters are supposed 19 land in the lower branches ofthe bachanda trees near the edge of theshard orass plain. In order toland successfully, acharacter mustmake a succossful Dexterity cheek. Yezirianshave.a+1Omodifier totneir Dexterity due to their gliding abilty. If the roll is unsuccessful, the ‘character must make @ Reaction Speed check to see if he is able to grab a vine or tree limb and avoid falling. i whi roll is Glso unsuccessful, the character will fall. There is 3 75% chanee the character will land safely in the Kurabands safety nets Characters who do not land if the neis will fallin the shard grass et the edge of tho trace, The Kurabanda hang glider is similar to an unpowered gljet Characters will take off from an altitude of 40m. Each turn they will normally glide 50m andlose 10m of altitude. Each turn, @ lider can make one 45 degree turn There ie a 80% chance parturn thatthepartywill hitan updraft ‘or downdrait (equal chance for either), If tis an updratt, the party will immediately gain 50m of altitude, The maximum Bititude possible is 500 meters, if they hit adowndraftthey will immeciately lose 10m of altitude. If anyone is forced 10 the ‘Ground, treat this as a normal lending with no safety nats and no Reaction Speed chock. Charactors who fail the Doxtarity check when landing will suffer 4410 points of damage. Yazirians have a +10 modifier ta their Dexterity score, dua to their gliding ability. Characters who make @ deliberate or forced landing on the Follet path will suffer no damage. While airborna, characters will sight @ herd of 50 rollers (MV Fast; IM/RS 4/38; STA 300, ATT 80; DM 6x10, SA See below. ‘SD See below), Airborne characters may fire weapons as they ppass above the hers. If the rollers are fired upon, they will Siampede away from the direction of fire. Characters who tash in front of the herd will be trampled unless other ‘cheracters land and drive the rollers away with theit weapons, SA Fires shards as ranged wespon (ATT 60; DM 1410, Range 5/10/15/20/30) SD: Immune toneediers, half damage from projectile weapons ithe party memberskill a rolleron thishunt, Auramada will be ‘most impressed ond will rustthem completely. fthey fail, but teat even the most serious accidents as at least partly funny (th Kurabands will find the crashes and falls of the player characters hilarious), Auramada will be favorably impressed by their sense of humor and will trust them. If Auramada decides to trust the party, he will give them the feast and Information described in the previous encounter BETA SUBSECTION 4: EXPERIENCE POINTS Characters who dié extremely well inthis partot the adventure receive three experience points. Charactors who were active in the adventure receive two points. Characters whe did not contribute much te the adventure recelve one point- GAMMA SECTION: RAID ON THE PIRATE OUTPOST This adventure consists of a journey to the pirate outpost (rod location ton the color map in the module CRASH ON VOLTURNUS), araidby the partyon the pirateoutpost, andthe party's return to the Kurabands village GAMMA SUBSECTION 1. JOURNEY THROUGH THE FOREST A Kursbanda guide (Ermorads, if he is still alive) hes been ‘assigned to guide the party to the pirate outpost. The guide will lead the party three hexos east through the bachanda forest ‘Movement is at the rate of one hex per day. GAMMA SUBSECTION 2: FOREST RANDOM ENCOUNTERS. During the journey, rall for randam encounters once each day ‘and once each night. Arandom encounter occurson 8 oll of oF 2 on 1410. When 2 random encounter happens, use the following tabla to datermine the type of encounter: GANIMA 2.1: BACHANDA FOREST RANDOM ENCOUNTERS Die Roll Enscuntor 1-9 1-10 soracks attack the party 46 2-20srangler chutes begin grazing in the treetop area ‘cccunied by the party 7.9 7-8 queaquogs attack the party 10. The party's walking on « bachanda branch infested with holowers. 1) Scraaks (MV Medium; IM/RS 7/88; STA 40, ATT 75; DM. 2010, SA 10m vertical leap, screech; SD None}. These fightlass birds will loap from troos upon the party and sttack with beck and claws. 2) Strangler Chutas (MV Slow; IM/RS 3/25; STA 160; ATT None; DM 3 points ‘turn; SA Accidental attack: SD electrified tentacles). Everyone in the party will take damage each turn from acid. Everyone must alsomakea Reaction Speedcheck or ~ be stunned for 1410 turns. 3) Quaequeg (MV Fast; IM/RS 6/60; STA 180; ATT 50: OM. 310, SA harpoon can strike at 5m distance; SD Treat ‘exoskoloton as sksinsuit), The queequeg pulls victims to its mouth once the harpoon hits. Characters take 2d10 peints of damage per turn from bite 4) Hollowers (MV None; ATT None; SA Causes fall from tree; ‘SD None). The infested branch cracks when the first player character steps on it The character must make a Reaction Speed check or else fall, suffering 165 points of damage, plus ‘one point per meter fallen. Each encounter on the table can occur only once. if an encounters indicated twice, re-rolluntila differantancounter is obtainos. GAMMA SUBSECTION 3: JOURNEY TO THE OUTPOST ‘The party's guide has ledthem toa place where theforest and desert meet at the shore of the large lake. The guide oxplains that heean gono further with the party, Hesays that the pirate ‘outpost is about two days’ journey in a southeasterly ciraction, ‘along the shore of the lake. Ifthe party tries to foree the Kurabanda quide to accompany them, he will explain that Kurabande hate to travel in the desert and that their ection will cause Auramada to be very angry with them. if they still insist on forcing the guide to ‘accompany them, hewill gowith them, but will runaway if he The party can reach the outpost by travelling overland, or by water, after building a raft or boat from forest materials. Both, ‘mothods of travel are datailed below. TRAVEL BY DESERT The referee handles the desert journey as in the standard fules. Water from the lake appears to be normal, but actually hae a high patrcloum cantont. Any character who drinks the lake water will become mildly ill. Treat the lake water asa mild poison (S2/7). AAs the party follows the lakeshore, they will eventually reach, the dry eanal, Caraful inspection will reveal that itis probably ot @ naturel phenomenon. The canal is too large and too reauiar in structure to have been made naturally by the action of flowing water. The canal is about § kilometers wide. TRAVEL BY WATER Travel on the lake by raft or boat is atthe rate of two hexes per day. Near the shore, submerged rocks and debris make sailing to9 hazardous; the party must stey at least 100 meters ‘rom shoreto be safe. Havethe party specify at alltimes the distance thay are staying from the shore, GAMMA SUBSECTION 4: JOURNEY RANDOM ENCOUNTERS INTHE DESERT ‘The referee should roll for random encounters once each day andonceeach night, A random encounter occurs on a roll of ‘on 1410, Use the Desert Random Encounter Table from the module CRASH ON VOLTURNUS. ON THE LAKE ‘The raferoe chould roll for a random encounter once in each Jake hex the party enters, An encounter occurson arollof 1-3, ‘on 1410. Each encounter will oceur only once. Use the following table to determine each encounterGAMIAA 4.1: BLACK LAKE RANDOM ENCOUNTERS. Encounter 2 Whirlpool ‘4 Storm and Fire 'S _Floger Lesches: 10-200 floppa lenchas wil bagin ‘Sunrming aboerd the party 8 Jawbsn. The party wil bea 10 Winged Rippers: The party wil be attacked by 4-80 winged rippers 1.) Whiripoot There is 2 50% chance thatthe craftwill capsize and sink: Wit stays afloat, the craft willbe dragged off-course one hex in a random direction. . 2) Storm and Fire Thereis « 25%chance thatthe crattwill be blown two hexes toward the center of the lake. At some time during the storm, the petroleum on the lake will be ignited by lightning. The referse must decide how lengthelake willburn, andtheamount of damage suffered by hecraft andpessengers The storm will last eight hours. 3) Flopper Leaches (MV Slow, IM/RS §/45; STA 5; ATT 40, DM 1d5;SA Attachment: SD None}. A leech attachas itself 10 its victim, Damage is automatic until the leech is killed. 4) Jawsish (MV Fast; IM/RS 5/50: STA 100, ATT 80: [DM 310; SA None; SD Soft cover while in water) '5) Winged Rippors (MV Fast; IM/RS 6/55; STA 30; ATT 60: OM 1d5. SA None, SD None}. If mare than one-tenth of the flock is killed, the rast will flee. [Note thet the water in the Black Lake is slightly poisonous (S2/T5), due to the natural petroleum in the water. GAMMA SUBSECTION 5: PLANNED ENCOUNTERS: ‘The pirate outpost is located inland two kilometers from the Black Lake. Its surrounded by desert terrain. “The outpostis agroup of cheap modular construction uniteput together to form a single structure, The outposts surrounded bya high fence topped with barbed wire. There is one gate, located in the northeast side of the fence. OUTPOST PERSONNEL ‘The outpost is inhabitedbby four Human space pirates andtwo robots, The pirates have been specially selected by the Star Devil to do secret research on the Edestekai and on the resources of Volturnus. GAMMA 5 1: OUTPOST PIRATES ‘Name: Willy “Whiz Kid Malone Outpost Leader SSTR/STA DEX/AS INT/LOG PER/LORPS IM RW M ‘B/S 55/85 50/70 50/70 2 6 2828 Skils: Seam Weapons, 2nd levet: Computer Sin ievel Weapons and Defenses: Soniestunner. two 20-SEU powercips, arti- shook implant, albedo cult. Name: Kurt Sandovar STA/STA DEX/S INT/LOG PER/LORPS IM EW M 85/60 50/30 70/70 55/35 9 3 26 28 Shils Environmental, Sth level: Medical, 34 lavel |Weanens end Defenses: Sonedarupter, one 50-SEU power beitpsok: albedo sereen, ant-shock mplont 8 Name: Joay "The Wrench Witson ‘STR/STA DEK/RS INT/LOG PER/LDA PS IM RIV M. 45/20 50/30 45/45 25/45 3 3 23.23 ‘Skills: Robotics, 4th level, Technician, 4th Love Woncone and Oeensts: Laser stl one 8OSEU power tatpack gave serean, ant-shock implant ‘Name: Wally “Red Eva" Jones STR/STA DEVAS INT/LOG PER/LOR PS IM RW M ‘40/68 60/40 30/30 36/35 2 4 9090 ‘Skile: Beam Weapons, rc level: Thrown Weapons, 3rd Level: Melee Weapons, 2nd level Weapons and Delenses: Laser pistol, one 50-SEUpower beltpack, one hag grenade, 1 doze grenade, miltary skeinsul, Sone screen. ‘The robots ate 4th level combat robots with Attack/Defense snd Search and Destroy programs. Their missions andfunctions re qiven inthe encounter key. Therobots are armed with laser fifles and each has 50 SEU belt powerpack. Each robot normally moves 30 meters (15 squares) per turn, but canmove at up to double this speed. ‘Combat Robot (MV Slow: IM/RS 7/70; STA 100, ATT 70: DM 2010; SA Laser rifle, SD None) SECURITY DEVICES, “The security devices that protect the outpost aro shown on the releree’s map, Technicians who are searching for security Govises can spot them with the Detect Alarms/Detenses SUubskill. All of these devices are explained in detail below. ‘Those listed as “obviously visible do not needto be detected thoy ean be seenby anyone looking at thearea where they are located, ELECTRIFIED FENCE (Obviously Visible. Level 1): This fence jPpeers to be a typical strong chain-link fence 3 meters high ‘and topped with barbed wire. Any character touching the fencotakos 4d10 paints of damage. Techniciancharacterscan deactivate the fence by successfully using the Deactive ‘Alarms/ Defenses subskill when working on the small control box located on the northeast corner post of the fence, CONTACT RECOGNITION LOCK (Obviously Visible, Level 8) A lockthat willopenonly whenone of the four pirates or the Star Devil places his right thumb on @ scannor panel onthe front of the door or qate. Ifan unauthorized thumbprint is presented, a warning appears on the computer screen in the Computer Room inside the outpost. Technician characters have a chance to deactivate the lock without setting off the warning. Doors ‘with contact recognition lozks are noted on the raferea’s map. DOOR LOCKS (Obviously Visible, Level 3)- Each door in the complex without a contact recognition tock fittea with one of these, Locked doore are noted on the reforse’s map. VISUAL SCANNERS (Obviously Visible, Level 4): The visual seanners are cameras that continuously transmit television- type pictures to whoaverigon duty inthe Computer Room. The Cemere.can “see” everything between the two arrows marking its location, out to a maximum distance of 20 meters. Each Cemere is protected by a jury-rigged albedo serean with 10 ‘SEUs of power. Any damage not blocked by the albedo screen will destroy the camera. ————INFRA-RED SCANNER (Level 3): This is an “electric eye”, a beam of infra-red light whieh setsoff an alarm inthe Computer Room if itis crossed or broken. The system is not ebviously Visible, There is @ hidden control panel for this device in the north wall of the Garage, Use of this panel allows the device to be turned off for two turns. ARMED SCANNERS (Obviously Visible, Level 5): These are ‘cameras with lasor rifles mounted on swivels, The cameras ‘identical to the VISUAL SCANNERS described above, The ser rifles fire twice per turn at any intruder seen by the camere. The lasor rifles hit on a rell of 60 or less and cause 5410 points of damage. Their IM is 6. The lasers are powered by the main powerplant and have unlimited SEUs available, PRESSURE PLATES (Lovel 2): Thase are hidden in the floor. They respond to any weight of 1 kg or greater by sounding a warning in the Computer Room. INTERCOMS (Obviously Visible, Lovel 3): An intercom system ‘makes it possible to teik to any other location in the outpost. ‘Voices over the intercom can be clearly heard at a distance of Lup to 10 meters (5 squares) Individual intarcom units can be turned off by a svritch on the unit. REACTIONS TO INTRUDERS One of the combat robots is always on duty in the Computer Room while the second robot patrols the hallways and the ‘Outside perimeter of the outpost. Regardless of when the party ‘approaches the outpast, the patrolling robot willbe exiting the door 10 the garage and moving outside to patrol. The patrolling robot's mission is to guard the complex and repel ali intruders. Guard the complex is defined as a Continuous eycle of two clockwise patrols of the exterior of the ‘complex, followed by two patrols of the interior corridors. Ropelis definedas coundingan alarmby intercom {if inside the building) and then shooting to kill. nruders ere defined 23 anyone without a visibie Star Devils tattoo o insignia. “Whiz Kid” Malone will be on duty in the Computer Room Upon receiving any alarm regarding intruders, he will sendthe second robot to attack and use theintercom system toalertthe thar three pirates. Kurt Sandovar and “Red Eye” Jones will be in the Common Room (Room 3), while “The Wrench” Wilson will be working in the Radio Room (Room 8). If any of the pirates are encountered bofore any alarm is counded, those pirates will attempt 10 defend themselves, kill the Intruders, and alert the ather pirates via the intercom system, Inany fight, the pirates wil a all ests defend tho lab (Roem 6) ‘andthe omputerroom (Room 7). They will auemps 1 foros the intruders 10 fight as many of the automated defenses as possible None of the four pirates will surrandar. If captured, thay will not give the party any information andwill not cooperatein any way, regardless of the threats the party may make. Ifthe party keeps prisoners the Kurabanda will, upon learning ofthis, aske to have the prisoners turned ever to them for torture and execution. OUTPOST ENCOUNTER KEY This section contains detailed descriptions of eachroom in the outpost. These descriptions include the presence of pirates and robots; it is assumed that the party Ras made it to each room without previously setting off any alerms. Ifthe party {does set off alarms and the piratesare aware of theirpresence, thereferee should kaep track of what the pirates aredoing and modify the room descriptions according to the pirates’ and robots’ movements. a 1.) GARAGE ‘As you look into this area, you see a jetcopter in the ‘middle of the garage area. You notice that the ceiling is hinged; obviously it can be opened to allow the copter totakeoff There are numerous tools andparis from the jetcopter seattered about the room, and there is a work bench aiong the north wall. There isan, intercom mounted over the workbench The tools gre standard tools from a techkit. There is also a fobcom kit on the workbench, The jetcopter can be flown if 3 Technician character successfully completes some minor repairs. The copter’s parabattery has just been recharged Using the facilities in the garage. Tho jetcopter haz 150 structure points. The jetcopter is not outfitted with a radio. 2.) STORAGE ROOM ‘This area conteins shelves along both the north and ‘south walls, and several small tables scattered about the center of the room. There are many large crates ‘on the shelves and several smaller boxes and crates on the tables, Most of the crates contain food. However, the smaller boxes ‘contain common supplies or valuable equipment. For each 5 turns the party spends searching tha room they may find one itemof valuable equipment from the following list, Thespecific items found are jeft to the referee's discretion 20 powerclips 5 ropes (18 meters es) 1 power beipack sungogales 1d frag orerades 3 all waathar blanket 12. dowe gronad 2 vials sohaway incendiary grenedes 4 bottles vitsolt pills 5 chargesottornagium 0-19 7 medi [Dams ea) 1 enwvirokit 9.) COMMON ROOM You see a couch, a small stove, three chairs, a large: round table with cups, glasses, a dock of eards anda, pair of dice on it. Two pirates are in the room, one is Seated facing the dear: the har is ving onthecouch. As you enier, they swear and ttack you. ‘The two pirates are Kurt Sandovar and “Red Eye” Jones They will try to alert the other piratos via tho intercom system a8 quickly as possible. Ifthe fight seems to begoing against them, these pirates will retreat toward Room 6 by the shortest possible routs, There is nothing here of particular value to the party, 4.) LIVING QUARTERS ‘There ere four unmade bunksin this room, There are numerousbeverage cans and books scattered around fon the floor. There are two chests of drawers against the north wall. This room is the pirates’ living quarters. The drawers contain clothing and personal items of no real value SS5.) RADIO ROOM You s00 a desk with a radiophone on it against the north wall of this room. There are three chairs in the foam. A man with @ techkit is repairing the partially dismantled radiophone His backs toward youas you enter. ‘The man is Joey "The Wrench” Wilson. There is a chance he vill be surprised by the party. If he ts not surprised, he will immediately turn on his gauss screan, attack the party, and try to reach the intercom 10 cal for help, This rooms used only for radio communications between the ‘outpost andthe pirate mining town far off tothe northeast, The Tadiophone is obviously not working, Characters who inspect the log book will find that one transmission is mede every day at sunset from the outpost fo someplace called “Slave City One.” The last log entry reads, “Problems with primary radio circultry—will repair tomorrow. Star Devil pleased with latest experimental surgery results.” 6.) [AB AND SURGERY [As you enter this rom you £86 in front of you a surgical table with lights, instrumenttrays, and other ‘medical paraphernalia. Lying on the suroical table is the strangest creature you have yot soenion Volturnus. Ithas a human-sized peanut-shaped body covered with a hard shell, rather like a lobster. From the lower fendof the body three shell-encasad limbs with thee Joints extend, ending in temtacies apparently useful for grasping. The canter of the creature's shell has. been cracked, just above the large eve near the middie of the body. The cresture is not moving Inthe northern neifo! the room you see saveral tables ‘covered with laboratory apparatus, notebooks. and a ‘computer terminal, There are a large number of ecks ‘of various kinds on the work tables. The room also Contains sanitary and washing facilities The creature is an Edestekai who has died while undergoing ‘experimental train surgery. The rocks on the work tables are geological samples which the pirates are analyzing. After studying the notebooks for 15 minutes, characters will earn that the pirates appear to hove found good deposits of vibrilium and tomarium, precious rare minerels, somewhere 10 fn Volturnus. Charactare with Computer skis can use the computer terminal io gain mote information, this information i$ detailed in the Computer Room description. There is @ complete onvirokit on one: of the work tables. Note that entrance to this room is possible only through one door with a sentaet recognition lock F 7.) COMPUTER ROOM | Asyou step in the door you see alarge table with a | Computer about the sizeof a large suitcase, a computer terminal, anda printing machine. Along the north wall are a file cabinet and several shelves with ‘Various books. Seated behing tne computer termina} facing the door, is a Human space pirate. Standing irectly bebind the pirate is @ combat robot Tho pirate is Willy “Whiz Kid” Malone. Malone will immediately order the robot to attack, then alert the other pirate by intercom. ‘The robot's mission is wo attack intrudersion commend. Attack is defined as going to a spacified location and shooting to kill the intruders, Intruders ie defined as persons designated as hostile by the pirate directing the robot. On command is dofined as after raceiving verbal instructions from the pirate ‘on duty in the Computer Room. The robot will not attack if the pirate is Killed before he has a chance to give itits orders. In addition, it will notattack anyone with a Star Devilstation or insignia unless spectically ordered to-do 90 by the pirate in the Computer Room ‘The computer is level 3 model with the following programs: Computer Seourity, Installation Security and Information ‘Storage, all level 3; Life Support, level 1, and Analysis, level 5, Characters with Computer skills who successfully attempt to {get information from the computer can learn that the pirates ave discovered rich deposits of viprllium and tomarillium in thehille of Volturnus, They have discovered an ntelligentrace, the Edestekai, living in the hills and have token edvantago of theirreligiousbelietsto enslave them. They accomplish this by capturing priests, planting radio receivers in thelr brains, and Convincing them that the voices they then hear are the voices (of the gods. OF coursa, the voices are the pirates, telling them that they must serve and obey the Star Devil and his men. The computer also contains information on the fate of the ‘original expecition to Volturnus. Their shipwas hijacked bythe ‘space pirates, and all passengers aboard were killed or enslaved, excopt for Lt Col, Jameson and Grod, the Dralasite. ‘They escaped and lived for a time with the Kurabarda. They were captured by pirates during a raid on the Kurabanda Village, and are currently held prisoner at the pirate mining {town inthe hills, The computer contains e mepand instructions for reaching the mining town. 8.) POWER GENERATOR ROOM This room contains 8 type 1 power generator and a small reactor which powvers the generator itself, GAMAIA SUBSECTION 6: EXPERIENCE POINTS: . Characters who did extremely well in this parto! the adventure receive three experience points. Characters who were active in the adventure receive two points. Characters who did not contribute much receive one point.DELTA SECTION: ASSAULT ON THE PIRATES This section of the adventure covers the actions of the characters from the time they finish their raid on the pirate ‘outpostte the (probable) destruction of the pirate mining town known as “Slave City One. DELTA SUBSECTION 1. JOURNEY TO THE EDESTEKAI VILLAGE Atter repairing the jetcopter, the party may either go to the pirate city using the information in the outpost computer, or fetuen to the Kurabanda village to gather more information. If they retumnto the village, there isa clearing neerby where they ‘cantand. The party will beweicome to stay withthe Kurabanda for several days, during which the referes can improvise adventures using Kurabanda hunts and feasting rituals, During their visit, Chief Auramada will tal the party about the Edestekai, a strange intelligent rece with a settlement to the sast-northeast. The Edestakai have a strange raligion and worship many gods and demons, Recontly, this sattloment ‘was enslaved by Demons from the Sky, who force them to work in tunnels underground DELTA SUBSECTION 2: RANDOM ENCOUNTERS \Wthe characters journey on foot, use the Random Encounter Tables provided in this module for the forest and shard grass plains coctions of their journey. The jetcopter has a maximum speed of 580 meters per turn, Tho jetcoptor carries fuel for approximately 1,000 kilometers of fight at this top speed DELTA SUBSECTION 3: PLANNED ENCOUNTERS. Characters travelling by jetcopter will have the following two 1.) ATTACK OF THE AIR WHALE (MV Stow; IM/AS 5/50; STA 500; ATT 50 (as laser), 45 (10 tentacles), DM 18010 2s laser, 2410 per tentacle; SA See below. SD See below) ‘As your jetcopter mekes godspeed over the hachanca forest and you gaze at the terrain ahead, you notice far ahead and slightly below youwhat appearsto bea ‘mass of vegetation floating in the sir! It is moving slowly, and se you draw closer, it maintains aposition below and in front of you ‘The‘’massot vegetation’ is anairwhale. The party will spot it ata distance of § kilometers (9 turns of flight ifthe jetcopter is at top speed). ifthe party travels toward the air whale, it wil close with them and try to remain below them, The air whale wil fire » single “laser” type attack as the jetcopter passes aboveit. Note thatin this case, the air whale will always use all potential damage as @ single shot. twill fire ones por turn as Jong as the jetcopier is in range, Each time the jetcopter takes damage from the laser, the referee should roll on the Flying Vehicle Damage Table for damage to the copter. In addition. ifthe copter’s 18Ostructure points are reduced to zera the copter crashes, Ifthe jeteoptar should crash ag a rasult of this encounter, the rash site picked by the referee should be any hex in the bachanda forest adjacent to the rocky barrens and north or northass! of the Black Lake, {the party meneuversthe jetcopter to avoid their whale, the ‘Greater speed of the jetcopter will keep it safely ahead of the whale SA: Canfire 1-6 laser shotsperturn attargets sbove: ATT 50: DM 18010, divided among all attacks; Range 5/20/60/ 400/200, SD; +1010 be hit, duc to cizo, 2) HAILSTORM. Aftor the encounter with the air whale, the partywill encounter ‘aviclent etecirical storm with hail and exiremely high winds, ‘The exact location of the starm ig left to the discretion of the rafarea. Tho étorm will cover two hoxes {16 kilometers) inthe ‘iraction of the partys flight. Fiying time through the storm at ‘top spaed will be 28 turns or 28 minutes. While in the storm, the pilot of the jetcopter must make @ Reaction Speed check once every 8 turns to retain control of the copter in the high winds. Failure of the the check indicates {oss of control and oss of di 00 meters of altitude. Also, there is 18% chance every Bturns that the copter will suffer 10410 points of damage from hailstones. DELTA SUBSECTION 4; SLAVE CITY ONE ‘Thore are two separate but related installations in the hex containing the pirate mining town. The first is the town itself, referred to as Slave City One by the pirates. The second is 8 mall Edesteksi village about 600 moters nerthwest of Slave City One. Both willbe visible to perty approaching by air from a distance of 4 hoxes (32 kilometers). Tell the party that they see arses where the jetcopter can land safely near both the village and Slave City One. Allow them to choose which they will go to first, ‘The party may either visit the Edestekai village to learn Information and gain allies for anattack on te pirates, or try to assault Slave City One immediately. A party that visits the Edestekai iret will havea much oasier time fighting the piratos provided they can make the Edesiekai understand that they have been tricked and enslaved. The refaree may choose to give theparty hints along thisline. Thepartycan expost troubl from the Edestekai if they attack the pirates. while the Edostekai are still loyal to the Star DevilDELTA SUBSECTION 5: PLANNED ENCOUNTERS: ‘THE EDESTEKAI VILLAGE ‘The following encounters wil ta to the Edestekai village, place ifthe party goos first 1.) THE RITUAL OF WELCOMING ‘As you step out of your jetcopter, you see about 20 Edesiekal, armedwith spears, forming a ring around your party. They sre not attacking or making any hostile gestures, One stops forward from tho group, This Edesiekai is wearing a red, purple and white ‘scarf wrapped in a complicated way around the upper ppart ofits body, It throws a haneful of grain at your feet. Theremaining Edestekai Deginchanting, clicking their limbs together, and apparently dancing in a ‘complex pattern around you. This is the Edestekai ritual for greeting strangers. The ritual dance end chanting lasts for about 10 minutes. At the end of this time the Edestekai with tne scarf (a priest) will lead the Edestekal toward the center of the village, The other Edesteksi will form a column with the perty in the center. Tell the party that it is obvious to them that the Edestekai want them to go somewhere, The columa will march to thetemple in the centor of the village. 2) THE EDESTEKA! TEMPLE The Edestekat temple is @ three-sided pyramid about 10 ‘motors tall. There are no solid walls; the sides are all made of columns of crystal and rock, leaving the entire building open to the air. As the procession approaches the temple. another searved figure appears in tho top story and waves the procession off toward a small dwelling carved into the nearby hillside. The party is taken here and given some bread, a dish that locks something like spinach, water, and straw pallats covered with linen-like cloth Apriestwill remain withthe party and attempt to communicate with them. After ashorttime, the party's polyvoxwill translate Edestoka) speach, The priest will give the party brief in- stiuctions on proper conduct among the Edestekai. He explains that this is done forall strangers, so that they will not offend the gods or the Servant of the Gods (their name for the Star Devil) At this point, the referee should give the party the information about the Edestekai contained in the Briefing Update. The referee must be careful to present this information a if the Edestokai priest were telling it to the characters, ifthe perty questions the priest about the Star Devil,thepriest will explain that many of the priests in the village nave hac True Visions concerning the Star Devil, and have heard the voices of the gods ordering the Edestekai to serve the Star Devil anc obey him and his followers. The oriest will add that this is vory puzzling to tha Edesteksi, for they are the chosen people, nottheraces whoarewith ihe Star Devil. Furthermore, the Star Devils very eruel. He forces the Edestekai to perorm, hard labor removing worthlose dirt from doop inside the oarth Many Edestekai have died from the bad treatment he gives them Furthermore, tha crops are failing asall thaseable todo hard labor are dragged off to the minos evory day. The prioet ‘will conclude that the gods must be testing their chosen ones, and thet some day this torment will end REVEALING THE PIRATES’ TRICK ‘The party will probably try to convince the priest that the Star Devil has tricked the Edesteka’ into slavery. This will not be ‘acy, bosause the Edostokai havo no knowledge of electricity, radio or electronics, and almost no knowledge of surgery, However, a persistent party should be able to slowly convince the Edestokai prieste using demonstrations of how radio Works, and perhaps even a demorsiration of minor surgery, The party may also think to fly some Edestekai to the pirate the evidence of surgery on Edesteksi was not by the fighting there. The party must snow thatthe True Visions regarding the Star Devil are false without insulting Edesteksi religious beliefs or the belief in True Visions. The party will be seized and imprisoned if they mock the Edestekat religion. Hftheparty successfully revealsthe Ster Devil's plotto enslave the Edesieksi, the priests will denounce the pirates os blasphemers and devils, and will sentence them to death. The priests will ofer to mobilize the village in an affort to destroy thepirates, i ihe party willlead he attack. Armedwith spears, for whatever weapons the party provides, 100 enraged Edestekai fertilizers will join the attack to exterminate the pirates, 'STR/STA DEWRS INT/LOG PER/LOR PS IMR M Eestekai 50/50 -75/05 70/80 40/40 3 7 3638 SPECIAL NOTES FOR THE REFEREE 1. Thepartymay try to do exactly what the pirates have dona: usetechnologyto take advantageo! the Edestekai religious, beliefs and gain control over the society, Should the party atiempt to do this, the Eorne will intervene to prevent it The Eorna are willing to let the pirates da what they are doing for a time, its a test of the strength of Edastekat civilization. However, two conflicting seis of faked True ions could cause the total collapse of Edestekai culture, The Eorna will use their hypnotic powers to prevont the party from exploiting the Edestekai, An Eorna group will Suddenly arrive, instantly and successfully hypnotize the party either individually or as a group (depending on licumstances) and plant in she mind of each character @ total repugnance to the idea of exploiting the Edestekei The hypnotized characters will awaken fooling very refreshed, but will have no meinory of what happened. Simply tell the characters that they find themsalves: ‘waking up and that they suddenly find that they simply ‘cannot bring themselves 10 abuse the Edestekal in the manner planned. 2. Insome cases the party may come tothe Edastekaivillago only after fighting the pirates at Slave Cily One. The Edestekal will be very confused if the party has won the. Battie. Thoy will stil bolieve that the Ster Devil is the ‘Servant of the Gods. Ifthe party is losing the fight, the Edestekai will reluctantly help the Star Devil's men capture or kil the party, 3. Therotereemayimprevise ether encounters.er adventures among the Edestekai using the information provided in the Briefing Update to provide ideas,ALIEN CREATURE UPDATE FILE Air Whale TPE. Giant Omnivore, partal plant NUMBER. 1 MOVE Slow IM/RS. 5/50 STAMINA: 500 ATTACK, 50 RANGE: As 8 lasor pietol DAMAGE: 3010-18010 focused suntight ATTACK, 48 DAMAGE: 2410 tontasle SPECIAL ATTACK: See below ‘SPECIAL DEFENSE: None NATIVE WORLD: — Volturnus — anywhere in the air. Crystal:based life forms have.a symbiotic relationship with the ait whale, These erystats focus sunlight into beam, much like @ laser. The crystals can fire up to sx shotsper turn, with damage divided as desired among the attacks, The damage alloted to coe shot must be decided before the combat result is rolled. The crystals also store solar energy, and can lire twoehors onan dens funlight js not available. An albedo scream or albedo suit will reduce damage sufered by all From thebotiom! the creature herg /hundreds of razor-sharg tentacles 10 metersiong. Their whale can make 1Oattacks por turn with tentacles, Tentacle atackenney be rolled separately. Note thet the air whale hes tyro different attack forms depending on whether the victim ls above of belay pe Mordax Tyee ‘Small Omnivore NUMBER: 2.20 MOVE Medium IM/RS. 1/65 STAMINA: 10 ATTACK: 45 DAMAGE 162:sting SPECIAL ATTACK: $5775 poison SPECIAL DEFENSE: None NATIVE WORLD: — Volturnus — anywhere DESCRIPTION: Mordax are terge flying insects about 10 em long. Theie sting is poisonous to all player character end NPC races. ‘Mardiax may be found anywhere on tha planet Volturnus, but are particularly attracted to the flowers of tangior ines Volturien Baboon TYPE Medium Omnivore NUMBER: MOVE: IM/RS. STAMINA ATTACK: DAMAGE: 2410 SPECIAL ATTACK: None SPECIAL DEFENSE: None NATIVE WORLD: Voturnus—al terrrains DESCRIPTION: The Volturnian baboon is a shaggy, semi-intelligent primate found in various habitats on Volturnus. ts fur varies in Coles trom dark reddish brown to sandy tan. These primates organize themselves intoprimitive societies bosed upon battle prowess and display of ferocity. Thay will ofton engage aven the most ferocicus creatures because all baboons in the packwantto prove thew ferocity, When hunting, they will often drive prey into some dead end, where dozens.al haboons wait with rocks xe alata lrg 8Korrvarr TPE Large Omnivore NUMBER, 15 MOVE: Siow IM/AS 5/45 STAMINA: 150 ATTACK: 50 DAMAGE: 4d10 claw/bite ‘SPECIAL ATTACK: None SPECIAL DEFENSE: None NATIVE WORLD: Vokurnus — caverns and ruins DESCRIPTION: Kerrvarr are burrowing animals about 2 meters long, Thay look something like a weasel with a mole-like snout. Korrvar live in underground burrows, often linked to existing caverns. Korrvarr hunt prey underground, or aboveground at night ‘hoy are nocturnal and are -1Oto hit in full daviight. They often huntby surrounding their prey. especially by using interconnected tunnel systems. Roller Type Large Herbivore NUMER, 5-50 MOVE Fast IM/AS 4738 STAMINA: 300 ATTACK. 80 DAMAGE 8410 rollor ATTACK: 60 DAMAGE 1d10 shard grass missiles RANGE. 8/10/15/20/30 SPECIAL ATTACK: None SPECIAL DEFENSE: Hide cannot be panetrated by neacllers Projectile weapons cause half damage NATIVE WORLD: Volturnus — shard grass plains DESCRIPTION: A roller is @ large herbivore named for its unusual “steam roller type organ. This organ is actually @ huge, ¢ylindrical, hide-covered mass of bone and cartilage attached to two frontal limbs by ball and socket joints. The organ is used to crush the shard gress on which the creature feads. The mouth of the roller is located on its underside. The crushed shards and shoots of shard gress are sucked up into this mouth, Internal organs of the creature separate the glass-like shards {rom the digestible shoots of grass. The undigestible shards are then stored inaspecial organ andused.as missile weapons or the creature's ‘ear defense. The roller has four normal limbs used fer lacamation, The two oyes of the creature are located on the head near the large ears. The head does not have a mouth. A roller has a thick hide that protects it from being cut by shard grass Rollersare generally docile creatures, and will notattack unless (rightenedor ettacksd themselves. They are usually found grazing ‘on the grassy plains of Volturnus in herds of § to 50, if @ roller scores a successful hit upon a character, the victim must roll his Recetion Speed or loss. Ifthe roll le successful, the roller attack is avoided: f not the unfortunate character suffers 8-80 points of damage. (Note: if avoiding the roller means flinging oneself into the shardgress, the usual 1-10 points of damage will be taken.) Slavebot (Sather Attack Monster) TRE cybernetic NUMBER: +5 MOVE: Medium IM/RS, 1/65 STAMINA: 80 ATTACK: 50 DAMAGE By weapon type SPECIAL ATTACK: Punching score = 10 SPECIAL DEFENSE: Nono NATIVE WORLD: — Yolturnus —The Artifact DESCRIPTION: Slavehots were created to guard Sathar installations. Slavebots are cybernetic combinations of living beings and. machines. The biological part of the sfavebot is the remains of a captured enemy. Most of the brain has beon replaced by a Cybernetic implant The slavebot is controlled by a disembodied Sathar brain kent in a special liquid solution. The brain isalmost immortal since there areno other body perts toage. The Sathar brain is linkedito a radio tranemittar that sends coded signals These are thenrecaivedby the slavebot so that direct control is possible. The stavebots on Voliurnus are Zorne captured inthe battle that ‘aoarly wiped out the Eoma race. A supply of captured victims is kept in cryogenic storage to provide replacements for worn-out slavebots 14STAR FRONTIERS™ BRIEFING UPDATE THE KURABANDA PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION A Kurabanda stands 1.2 meters tall and looks Somewhat like a tarsier monkey. It has large round eyes and large pointed movable ears. Itcan swivel iis head around and ook behind its back. A Kurabanda’s hands and feet have Special pads for bettar grasping. These pade are filled with blood storage vessels, and permit more blood to be kept in the fingers and toes, allowing for a better grip than any Human could manago, cinco the muscles reless subjecttofatigue. A Kurabande’s tal is prehensile. In the course of evolution, Kurabanda have lost some of the heavy fur which originally covered theirbodies. A Kurabanca's torsos covered with fur, but its heed, hands, feet and tail are ‘aro. Its arms andloge are covered withfine hairthat looks like soft down, CULTURE Kurabanda hold physical prowess and the glory of dangerous exploits esideals, Their value system isbased ontheperceived Image of Nonor. A respected Kurabanda is ona who is a good hunter, 3 good fighter, and an individual whe upholds the honor of the family. A Kurabanda who dees not hold to these ‘deals or who doss not take revenge for an insult is disgraced in the eyos of his family and his clan, In Kurabanda society, if one Kurabanda is harmed, his or her entire family is considered to hava been insulted. Bload feuds ‘are not common, but do occur. To avoid feuds it is usually Necessary to pay compensation to the injured parties. Cian blood feuds can also be avoided by 2 systom of ritualized vengeance. The vengeance is eimed et forcing the victim to lose presti Kurabanda constantly tty t9 outdo ach other with showy displays of wealth, A family will put on an incredibly lavish feast to honor its ancestors and show its neighbors how suczessfulthe familys, Occasionally, the feast may be part of ritualized vengeance. Aquest of honor may actually be mocked tell the difference between mocking a guest of honor end honoring the guest, but Kurabanda always know. An insulted guest can take revenge at the feast by presenting thohost with, ‘even more lavish gifts. A blood feud can also be declared at a later time, Kuratanda.re also natural prectical jokers. Practical jokes are common, usually played on non-treedwelling guests. Some ‘ypical practical jokes are: 1) The Fake Vine. Joke: Non. Kurabandaguestsaregiven evinewhich willbreakwhen used to'swing from lim® to limb, Hidden below the area is a Safety nettoeatch the victim. 2) Snipe Hunting: Guests are invited to hhunt some mythical creature. They willbe told wo remainin one spot while the Kurabande drive the ereature ito the trap Tha Kurabandawill thon go back tothe, goodiough ‘while the victim waits in vain, 3) The Fire Joke: A group ot Kurabanda will wave phosphorescent tarches simulating fire. They wil yell that the forests on fire and will lead guests on @ harrowing escape which circies around only to end back sttheoriginal village 4) Flea Joke: Kurabanda put smallbting insects in the guest’ bed s0 they can watch the victim itch, 15 ‘The Kurabanda live in the bachanda tree forest. They hunt not ‘only in the forest, but also in the adjacent dry plains and rocky barrens, Kurabande often hunt in large packs and surround ‘their prey. They also hunt with various types of traps, or by hhiding at froquonted spots, such as weterholes, and waiting for game toarrive. The Kurabanda increased the range of their hhunt by inventing @ type of hang glider Kurabanda live in trea-top villages. The villages consist of a ‘number of large houses made of branches, leaves, end vines, Each nouse is that of a different extended family. Also in the village are the men’s hut and women's hut, which are epecial buildings for one or the other sex. These two huts are something like club houses or each sex. and servaas places of relaxation outside the house, Each clan also maintains @ specie! hut. Kurabanda society is basedon the family andkinship. Without understanding the importance of family tles, one cannot understand Kurabanda society. An individual's family rela tionship also dofinos that individual's rights end duties. Kin 1ermsare exact. Instead of “cousin’” a Kurabanda has Father's Brother's Sons, Mother's Brother's Daughtars, ete. Each relationship is somewhat differen. For example, o men could ‘count on his Father's Brother's Sons tostand by him in battle but he could only count on his Mother's Brother's Sons for 0 small emount of financial support in times of exireme emergency. ‘The basickin group is the extended family. Anextended family wouldinelude a patriarch andhiskin. A patriarch isusually the ‘oldest married inale, Living with him would be his wives, thelr ‘adult sons, the sons’ wives, the adult grandsons, the grandson's, ‘wives, all unmarried adult daughters, and all tho children of the various marriages. An extended family averages 20-40 people, but couldrange from Oto 100individuals. Apatriarch an order the femily iobe dividedif the number of peopieliving in his household becomes too large. ‘The next most important group is the clan. A clan is all the extended families with the same lastname. All members of the clan are descendants of the the ono who gave his name to the Clan. The actual descent is sometimes hard to trace since the clan founder is sometimes 3 mythical individual directly related 10 the gods. All Kurabanda families who live in one forest form a tribe: ‘The final organization isthat ofthe Kurabanda people, whoare all descended from Kursbanda, “The First Ancester. Kurabanda have a strong sense of territoriality. The hunting ‘area belongs to the tribe and other tribes may not trespass Each clan anc extended family alsohavetheirsmaller hunting territoriesinside the Tribe's territory. One of the most provaiont types of cases in court is a suit involving boundaries between, hunting territories, Kurabanda (race their descent through the mate line and all, children have their fathers’ last names. Married sons remain in the household of thoir fathor while married daughters join the households of their husbands’ fathers. It is illegal for SEE