TEXT: UMBERTO PIGNATELLI
  UMBERTO PIGNATELLI
  31047
  31047
  THE LAST JOURNEY 
  THE LAST JOURNEY 
  OF THE EXODUS
  OF THE EXODUS
  
  BY UMBERTO PIGNATELLI
  BY UMBERTO PIGNATELLI
  EDITING: SCOTT ALAN WOODARD
  EDITING: SCOTT ALAN WOODARD
  GRAPHIC DESIGN & TYPESETTING: ROBIN ELLIOTT
  GRAPHIC DESIGN & TYPESETTING: ROBIN ELLIOTT
  ART: EMPTY ROOM STUDIOS
  ART: EMPTY ROOM STUDIOS
  PLAYTESTERS: DANIELE BONETTO, LUCA COERO BORGA, MANER SAMUEL, 
  PLAYTESTERS: DANIELE BONETTO, LUCA COERO BORGA, MANER SAMUEL, 
  PAOLO BOIERO, PIERPAOLO FERRARI
  PAOLO BOIERO, PIERPAOLO FERRARI
  SPECIAL THANKS: MARTA CASTELLANO (MY WIFE) FOR SUPPORTING ME ALL 
  SPECIAL THANKS: MARTA CASTELLANO (MY WIFE) FOR SUPPORTING ME ALL 
  THE WAY AND FRANCESCA VIARENGO FOR SHE KNOWS STUFF
  THE WAY AND FRANCESCA VIARENGO FOR SHE KNOWS STUFF
  WWW.TRIPLEACEGAMES.COM
  WWW.TRIPLEACEGAMES.COM
  © 2009 Triple Ace Games. Daring Tales of the Space Lanes and all related marks and logos are trademarks of  Triple Ace Games. 
  Savage Worlds, Smiling Jack and all related marks and logos are trademarks of Pinnacle Entertainment Group. All rights reserved. 
  Used with permission. © 2009. All Rights Reserved.
  Permission is granted to print this ebook for personal use only.
  This game references the Savage Worlds game system, available from Pinnacle Entertainment Group at www.peginc.com. Savage 
  Worlds and all associated logos and trademarks are copyrights of Pinnacle Entertainment Group. Used with permission. Pinnacle makes 
  no representation or warranty as to the quality, viability, or suitability for purpose of this product.
  THE LAST JOURNEY OF 
  THE LAST JOURNEY OF 
  THE EXODUS
  THE EXODUS
  04
  04
  BY UMBERTO PIGNATELLI
  BY UMBERTO PIGNATELLI
  EDITING: SCOTT ALAN WOODARD
  EDITING: SCOTT ALAN WOODARD
  GRAPHIC DESIGN & TYPESETTING: ROBIN ELLIOTT
  GRAPHIC DESIGN & TYPESETTING: ROBIN ELLIOTT
  ART: EMPTY ROOM STUDIOS
  ART: EMPTY ROOM STUDIOS
  PLAYTESTERS: DANIELE BONETTO, LUCA COERO BORGA, MANER SAMUEL, 
  PLAYTESTERS: DANIELE BONETTO, LUCA COERO BORGA, MANER SAMUEL, 
  PAOLO BOIERO, PIERPAOLO FERRARI
  PAOLO BOIERO, PIERPAOLO FERRARI
  SPECIAL THANKS: MARTA CASTELLANO (MY WIFE) FOR SUPPORTING ME ALL 
  SPECIAL THANKS: MARTA CASTELLANO (MY WIFE) FOR SUPPORTING ME ALL 
  THE WAY AND FRANCESCA VIARENGO FOR SHE KNOWS STUFF
  THE WAY AND FRANCESCA VIARENGO FOR SHE KNOWS STUFF
  WWW.TRIPLEACEGAMES.COM
  WWW.TRIPLEACEGAMES.COM
  © 2009 Triple Ace Games. Daring Tales of the Space Lanes and all related marks and logos are trademarks of  Triple Ace Games. 
  Savage Worlds, Smiling Jack and all related marks and logos are trademarks of Pinnacle Entertainment Group. All rights reserved. 
  Used with permission. © 2009. All Rights Reserved.
  Permission is granted to print this ebook for personal use only.
  This game references the Savage Worlds game system, available from Pinnacle Entertainment Group at www.peginc.com. Savage 
  Worlds and all associated logos and trademarks are copyrights of Pinnacle Entertainment Group. Used with permission. Pinnacle makes 
  no representation or warranty as to the quality, viability, or suitability for purpose of this product.
  THE LAST JOURNEY OF 
  THE LAST JOURNEY OF 
  THE EXODUS
  THE EXODUS
  04
  04
  
  This module contains an exciting adventure based 
  around the exploits of four pregenerated, spacefaring 
  heroes.
  You can ﬁ nd the character sheets and details of their 
  spaceship, the Blazing Star, on the Triple Ace Games 
  website: www.tripleacegames.com. The heroes have no 
  deﬁ ned gender, thus the players can assign it as they 
  wish.
  The characters have all their leveling opportunities 
  mapped out in advance from Seasoned (from which they 
  start) to Legendary. Each adventure in this series earns 
  the heroes a ﬁ xed ﬁ ve Experience Points, granting them 
  advancement after every mission. The players only need 
  to tick the appropriate box on the sheet to start making 
  use of their advancements.
  This means you can use the character sheets at con-
  ventions and run adventures of any Rank without having 
  to create your own characters from scratch. It also means 
  you can run these tales as pick-up games without any 
  preparation!
  Better yet, you’ll know that when you buy one of our 
  adventures, you can guarantee the adventurers will have 
  all the skills and abilities they need to win the day!
  You will also need some gaming stone counters or 
  other markers and a copy of the Space Rules Supple-
  ment, which you can download for free from the www.
  tripleacegames.com website. 
  Finally, you’ll ﬁ nd it useful to have some extra copies 
  of the standard Savage Worlds Burst templates to repre-
  sent obstacles and terrain elements.
  BACKGROUND
  BACKGROUND
  In the age prior to hyperspace propulsion, the only 
  way to cross the vast distances between solar systems was 
  with generational ships: huge, self-sustaining environ-
  ments capable of supporting a population of thousands 
  of colonists for hundreds of years. The duration of trips, 
  in those times, was calculated in generations, and only 
  the descendants of the original crews would eventually 
  see the ﬁ nal destination. Legends speak of ten incredible 
  generational ships built by humans to colonize distant 
  solar systems, and every one of them full of precious 
  resources and lost technologies.
  Only three of these ships successfully completed their 
  trip, the others were lost. The Exodus, the seventh to be 
  launched, never ﬁ nished its journey: seriously damaged 
  by an asteroid impact, its engines shut down hundreds 
  of years ago and it is now orbiting around a remote sun. 
  Its populace, long since fallen into barbarism, knows 
  nothing of the Exodus’s mission and isn’t even aware of 
  being aboard a spaceship. Luckily, the ship’s supercom-
  puter is still operational and maintains life support and 
  other indispensable functions: the ship could survive in 
  this state for centuries, provided no external inﬂ uence 
  intervenes. 
  This is where the heroes come in…
  Characters: 40 XP
  ACT 1: ON THE TRAIL 
  ACT 1: ON THE TRAIL 
  OF THE EXODUS
  OF THE EXODUS
  The heroes are on Chandra, an agricultural planet, at-
  tending a cattle fair. Chandra has big, green landmasses 
  with windswept grasslands that sustain various species 
  of cattle, exported all over the galaxy for the quality of 
  their meat. The fair takes place twice a year in the main 
  city of Gapta. 
  The heroes are here to buy a few head of cattle to 
  export to other sectors of the galaxy, where they hope to 
  fetch a good price. 
  SCENE 1: A SINNER IN BLUE
  SCENE 1: A SINNER IN BLUE
  It is evening. The heroes have spent all day at the fair, 
  searching for a good deal, and now they only want a hot 
  THE LAST JOURNEY OF 
  THE LAST JOURNEY OF 
  THE EXODUS
  THE EXODUS
  2
  This module contains an exciting adventure based 
  around the exploits of four pregenerated, spacefaring 
  heroes.
  You can ﬁ nd the character sheets and details of their 
  spaceship, the Blazing Star, on the Triple Ace Games 
  website: www.tripleacegames.com. The heroes have no 
  deﬁ ned gender, thus the players can assign it as they 
  wish.
  The characters have all their leveling opportunities 
  mapped out in advance from Seasoned (from which they 
  start) to Legendary. Each adventure in this series earns 
  the heroes a ﬁ xed ﬁ ve Experience Points, granting them 
  advancement after every mission. The players only need 
  to tick the appropriate box on the sheet to start making 
  use of their advancements.
  This means you can use the character sheets at con-
  ventions and run adventures of any Rank without having 
  to create your own characters from scratch. It also means 
  you can run these tales as pick-up games without any 
  preparation!
  Better yet, you’ll know that when you buy one of our 
  adventures, you can guarantee the adventurers will have 
  all the skills and abilities they need to win the day!
  You will also need some gaming stone counters or 
  other markers and a copy of the Space Rules Supple-
  ment, which you can download for free from the www.
  tripleacegames.com website. 
  Finally, you’ll ﬁ nd it useful to have some extra copies 
  of the standard Savage Worlds Burst templates to repre-
  sent obstacles and terrain elements.
  BACKGROUND
  BACKGROUND
  In the age prior to hyperspace propulsion, the only 
  way to cross the vast distances between solar systems was 
  with generational ships: huge, self-sustaining environ-
  ments capable of supporting a population of thousands 
  of colonists for hundreds of years. The duration of trips, 
  in those times, was calculated in generations, and only 
  the descendants of the original crews would eventually 
  see the ﬁ nal destination. Legends speak of ten incredible 
  generational ships built by humans to colonize distant 
  solar systems, and every one of them full of precious 
  resources and lost technologies.
  Only three of these ships successfully completed their 
  trip, the others were lost. The Exodus, the seventh to be 
  launched, never ﬁ nished its journey: seriously damaged 
  by an asteroid impact, its engines shut down hundreds 
  of years ago and it is now orbiting around a remote sun. 
  Its populace, long since fallen into barbarism, knows 
  nothing of the Exodus’s mission and isn’t even aware of 
  being aboard a spaceship. Luckily, the ship’s supercom-
  puter is still operational and maintains life support and 
  other indispensable functions: the ship could survive in 
  this state for centuries, provided no external inﬂ uence 
  intervenes. 
  This is where the heroes come in…
  Characters: 40 XP
  ACT 1: ON THE TRAIL 
  ACT 1: ON THE TRAIL 
  OF THE EXODUS
  OF THE EXODUS
  The heroes are on Chandra, an agricultural planet, at-
  tending a cattle fair. Chandra has big, green landmasses 
  with windswept grasslands that sustain various species 
  of cattle, exported all over the galaxy for the quality of 
  their meat. The fair takes place twice a year in the main 
  city of Gapta. 
  The heroes are here to buy a few head of cattle to 
  export to other sectors of the galaxy, where they hope to 
  fetch a good price. 
  SCENE 1: A SINNER IN BLUE
  SCENE 1: A SINNER IN BLUE
  It is evening. The heroes have spent all day at the fair, 
  searching for a good deal, and now they only want a hot 
  THE LAST JOURNEY OF 
  THE LAST JOURNEY OF 
  THE EXODUS
  THE EXODUS
  2
  
  THE LAST JOURNEY OF THE EXODUS
  THE LAST JOURNEY OF THE EXODUS
  3
  meal and a comfortable bed, but this evening is not des-
  tined to end this way. 
  Passing near a deserted alley they hear someone 
  screaming for help. If this were not enough to motivate 
  the heroes, the pleas are spoken in Standard, the human 
  native language!
  Read or paraphrase the following passage to the players:
  When you enter the alley you ﬁ nd a gang of Cha-
  dat, local cattle riders, giving a serious beating to 
  another ﬁ gure, a fallen man in a rough-hewn vest. 
  It is not a fair ﬁ ght because the man, unarmed 
  and eating dirt, makes no attempt to defend 
  himself; he only screams in pain when struck by 
  the cattle prods the Chadat use. The cattle riders 
  stare at you with deﬁ ance and shout something 
  in an incomprehensible dialect, before drawing 
  their weapons!
  Deal action cards as usual.
  The ﬁ ght takes place in a 6” wide and 24” long alley, 
  with Dim lighting.  There are eight old crates and bar-
  rels, which can be used as Light (-1) cover and as props 
  for Tricks. The initial distance between the heroes and 
  the enemies is only 8”. The fallen man is surrounded by 
  enemies and totally helpless, so he doesn’t receive an ac-
  tion card. The Chadat ignore him during the ﬁ ght—they 
  want to teach the heroes a lesson before ﬁ nishing their 
  job. The attackers are no heroes: when at least half of 
  them fall, the rest ﬂ ee, disappearing into the darkness.
  If the heroes wish, they can follow and ﬁ nish them, 
  but this is unimportant for the rest of the adventure.
  When the combat is over and the characters help the 
  fallen man, they notice something strange: he seems hu-
  man, but his skin is totally blue! 
   Chadat (1 per hero):  see page 19    
  THE STORY OF JOGAN RAN
  THE STORY OF JOGAN RAN
  “Thanks for your help, strangers, and sorry I 
  bothered you, I’m sure those kind workers would 
  not have killed me, anyway. Let me tell you some-
  thing: I deserved every single blow received, and 
  only the natural fear of physical pain made me 
  ask for help.”
  This is what the blue man tells the heroes—a strange 
  introduction, to say the least! At the confused looks of 
  the party, he continues:
  “Sorry, I have lived for so long as a Blue Man that 
  I don’t remember good manners anymore. My 
  name is Jogan Ran. I see from your clothes you are 
  not indigenous of Chandra, neither am I. I was a 
  space sailor, a long time ago, before landing here 
  and meeting my destiny.
  “I’m sure you are asking yourselves why my skin 
  is blue and why these good and honorable men 
  punished me, so let me explain.
   “I am not a good man.
   “In the past I was a smuggler and a thief, travel-
  ing through the space lanes in search of wealth 
  and luxury, never worrying about the evil of my 
  ways. Until last year, when I came here, and, in 
  my lust, visited one of the holy prostitutes of the 
  Great Temple of Chandra. I was an evil man, as 
  I said before, so I killed her for a trivial reason, 
  adding murder to the list of my sins.
  “But no one deﬁ les a Holy Daughter of Consola-
  tion in that manner and goes unpunished. The 
  High Priests of Chandra tried and sentenced me. 
  My skin was dyed blue with an indelible substance 
  and I was forced to drink an extract of Gangoo 
  root, a plant that is slowly killing me. There is no 
  known cure.  I was then released into the streets 
  so that the local populace could recognize and 
  treat me as I deserve.”
  The heroes notice that Jogan Ran seems calm about 
  his destiny. His face is that of a man fully accepting his 
  end. If a character with a medical background asks for 
  further information about the Gangoo roots’ poison, a 
  Healing roll essentially conﬁ rms Jogan’s words: there is 
  no antidote against the lethal poison, which takes several 
  months to have an effect and is always deadly.
  Jogan Ran continues:
  “So don’t feel compassion for me, my friends, 
  because all the suffering I now endure is only a 
  small compensation for the evil I did in the past. 
  But, speaking of compensation, I own nothing, but 
  a good deed such as yours must be fully repaid to 
  maintain the universe’s balance, or so the priests 
  of Chandra taught me. 
  “I’ll tell you a story, a secret of my past life, and 
  I’m sure you’ll ﬁ nd it interesting.
  “I was a smuggler in those times, and the custom 
  house ﬂ eet of the Trader’s Guild was hot on my 
  trail. So I used an old trick to throw them off my 
  scent, I started resorting to random hyperspace 
  jumps, a very dangerous thing, but I have never 
  been a cautious person. Well, during one of those 
  mad attempts I jumped into an empty system—
  only a red sun without any planets, and there I 
  found the Exodus.
  “Yes, my friends, the Exodus: one of the Lost 
  Ships”.
  All the heroes know the legend of the Lost Ships, but 
  it was never more than a legend to them. Only three of 
  THE LAST JOURNEY OF THE EXODUS
  THE LAST JOURNEY OF THE EXODUS
  3
  meal and a comfortable bed, but this evening is not des-
  tined to end this way. 
  Passing near a deserted alley they hear someone 
  screaming for help. If this were not enough to motivate 
  the heroes, the pleas are spoken in Standard, the human 
  native language!
  Read or paraphrase the following passage to the players:
  When you enter the alley you ﬁ nd a gang of Cha-
  dat, local cattle riders, giving a serious beating to 
  another ﬁ gure, a fallen man in a rough-hewn vest. 
  It is not a fair ﬁ ght because the man, unarmed 
  and eating dirt, makes no attempt to defend 
  himself; he only screams in pain when struck by 
  the cattle prods the Chadat use. The cattle riders 
  stare at you with deﬁ ance and shout something 
  in an incomprehensible dialect, before drawing 
  their weapons!
  Deal action cards as usual.
  The ﬁ ght takes place in a 6” wide and 24” long alley, 
  with Dim lighting.  There are eight old crates and bar-
  rels, which can be used as Light (-1) cover and as props 
  for Tricks. The initial distance between the heroes and 
  the enemies is only 8”. The fallen man is surrounded by 
  enemies and totally helpless, so he doesn’t receive an ac-
  tion card. The Chadat ignore him during the ﬁ ght—they 
  want to teach the heroes a lesson before ﬁ nishing their 
  job. The attackers are no heroes: when at least half of 
  them fall, the rest ﬂ ee, disappearing into the darkness.
  If the heroes wish, they can follow and ﬁ nish them, 
  but this is unimportant for the rest of the adventure.
  When the combat is over and the characters help the 
  fallen man, they notice something strange: he seems hu-
  man, but his skin is totally blue! 
   Chadat (1 per hero):  see page 19    
  THE STORY OF JOGAN RAN
  THE STORY OF JOGAN RAN
  “Thanks for your help, strangers, and sorry I 
  bothered you, I’m sure those kind workers would 
  not have killed me, anyway. Let me tell you some-
  thing: I deserved every single blow received, and 
  only the natural fear of physical pain made me 
  ask for help.”
  This is what the blue man tells the heroes—a strange 
  introduction, to say the least! At the confused looks of 
  the party, he continues:
  “Sorry, I have lived for so long as a Blue Man that 
  I don’t remember good manners anymore. My 
  name is Jogan Ran. I see from your clothes you are 
  not indigenous of Chandra, neither am I. I was a 
  space sailor, a long time ago, before landing here 
  and meeting my destiny.
  “I’m sure you are asking yourselves why my skin 
  is blue and why these good and honorable men 
  punished me, so let me explain.
   “I am not a good man.
   “In the past I was a smuggler and a thief, travel-
  ing through the space lanes in search of wealth 
  and luxury, never worrying about the evil of my 
  ways. Until last year, when I came here, and, in 
  my lust, visited one of the holy prostitutes of the 
  Great Temple of Chandra. I was an evil man, as 
  I said before, so I killed her for a trivial reason, 
  adding murder to the list of my sins.
  “But no one deﬁ les a Holy Daughter of Consola-
  tion in that manner and goes unpunished. The 
  High Priests of Chandra tried and sentenced me. 
  My skin was dyed blue with an indelible substance 
  and I was forced to drink an extract of Gangoo 
  root, a plant that is slowly killing me. There is no 
  known cure.  I was then released into the streets 
  so that the local populace could recognize and 
  treat me as I deserve.”
  The heroes notice that Jogan Ran seems calm about 
  his destiny. His face is that of a man fully accepting his 
  end. If a character with a medical background asks for 
  further information about the Gangoo roots’ poison, a 
  Healing roll essentially conﬁ rms Jogan’s words: there is 
  no antidote against the lethal poison, which takes several 
  months to have an effect and is always deadly.
  Jogan Ran continues:
  “So don’t feel compassion for me, my friends, 
  because all the suffering I now endure is only a 
  small compensation for the evil I did in the past. 
  But, speaking of compensation, I own nothing, but 
  a good deed such as yours must be fully repaid to 
  maintain the universe’s balance, or so the priests 
  of Chandra taught me. 
  “I’ll tell you a story, a secret of my past life, and 
  I’m sure you’ll ﬁ nd it interesting.
  “I was a smuggler in those times, and the custom 
  house ﬂ eet of the Trader’s Guild was hot on my 
  trail. So I used an old trick to throw them off my 
  scent, I started resorting to random hyperspace 
  jumps, a very dangerous thing, but I have never 
  been a cautious person. Well, during one of those 
  mad attempts I jumped into an empty system—
  only a red sun without any planets, and there I 
  found the Exodus.
  “Yes, my friends, the Exodus: one of the Lost 
  Ships”.
  All the heroes know the legend of the Lost Ships, but 
  it was never more than a legend to them. Only three of 
  
  DARING TALES OF THE SPACE LANES #04
  DARING TALES OF THE SPACE LANES #04
  4
  the ten fabulous ships completed their journey success-
  fully. Nobody knows the fate of the other seven, which 
  were named the Lost Ships.
  Wild stories are told in the cantinas of every starport 
  in the galaxy on this subject, each one weirder than the 
  other. One thing is for sure; even a small fraction of the 
  resources and lost technologies hoarded in one of these 
  ancient spacecrafts would make a man rich for the rest 
  of his life…
  Jogan Ran tells the heroes that he didn’t examine the 
  Exodus very well. He immediately took another jump to 
  evade his pursuers, and then had a few strokes of bad 
  luck that cost him his ship. He wanted to return to the 
  system, but instead the forces of destiny led him here, to 
  Chandra, to meet his fate.
  The system where Jogan found the Exodus is R127, 
  ofﬁ cially unexplored. 
  Jogan is content with giving this information to the 
  heroes and doesn’t accept any further aid from them. 
  He really is a changed man now; he has repented and 
  endures his punishment with calm resignation. 
  SCENE 2: UNDER 
  SCENE 2: UNDER 
  THE EXODUS’S FIRE
  THE EXODUS’S FIRE
  Assuming the heroes decide to make for R127 (and if 
  they don’t, the adventure basically ends here), the trip is 
  uneventful unless the GM wishes to make the story lon-
  ger by adding some encounters. The system is as Jogan 
  described to the heroes: a lone red giant sun with no 
  satellites apart from the Exodus. 
  Read this description to the players when they reach 
  their destination:
  When you jump out of hyperspace, the ﬁ rst thing 
  you observe is the mass of the red giant sun, which 
  ﬁ lls the monitors of the Blazing Star. Then you see 
  it, the Exodus. The words of Jogan Ran have not 
  prepared you for such a spectacle: the Lost Ship 
  is huge, many times the size of the biggest capital 
  ship you have ever seen. But the great leviathan 
  has seen better days: it is battered and crushed, 
  and has a great crater right in the middle, prob-
  ably the result of an impact with an asteroid. 
  The ship’s engines appear to be shut down and 
  it orbits lazily around the sun. It seems dead. In 
  the less damaged part of the hull, you notice a 
  docking bay entrance, the only place safe enough 
  to dock the Blazing Star.
  The players can use the Blazing Star’s sensors to 
  scan the Exodus. This is a Notice roll (–2), which can 
  be cooperative. With a success they’ll know the ship is 
  not totally deactivated, there are traces of energy and life 
  support seems to be at least partially functional. With a 
  raise they’ll also detect some life forms within, but the 
  ship’s hull prevents a precise reading of their quantity 
  and exact nature. When the heroes come closer, some-
  thing unexpected happens. A few of the apparently dead 
  defenses suddenly come back to life and begin ﬁ ring on 
  the Blazing Star!
  “Despite your scans, something inside the dy-
  ing hull of the generational ship must be alive, 
  because, as you approach, you notice a sudden 
  energy spike in its systems. Moments later, the old 
  automated cannons and the ionic turrets rotate 
  towards the Blazing Star!
  AUTOMATED DEFENSES
  AUTOMATED DEFENSES
  The Blazing Star is under ﬁ re from the Exodus’s au-
  tomated defenses, which are programmed to eliminate 
  any possible invaders when the ship is in an emergency 
  condition.
  Before the action starts, let the heroes make a Com-
  mon Knowledge roll. Pilots and gunner character types 
  have a +2 modiﬁ er. With a success they understand that 
  the automated defenses are only effective at medium to 
  long range, so if they manage to get close enough to the 
  ship, they will be safe from attack and can dock freely.
  Handle this situation as a Chase, with the following 
  modiﬁ cations: 
  Place ten markers in a line on the tabletop. One end 
  is the current distance from the ship; the other end is the 
  safe zone outside the ship and should be of a different 
  color. The heroes’ ship starts in the ﬁ rst segment and 
  must reach the tenth to be safe. There is no real pursuer, 
  but the Blazing Star must try to cover the distance to 
  the Exodus as fast as it can, while avoiding the incoming 
  barrage!  
  The heroes can use the ship’s shields during the ac-
  tion. In the ﬁ rst round the shields are turned off unless 
  the players explicitly say otherwise. Remember that the 
  deﬂ ection and armor options last only three rounds, so 
  it is up to the heroes to decide when to use them. Pop-
  ping a shield pod is an action, so only a single pod can 
  be popped in each round.
   Don’t use the standard obstacle rules; instead, every 
  round the pilot of the ship draws a Club card as his ﬁ rst 
  initiative card, run the mini-scene correspondent to the 
  card value as per the following table.
  The value in brackets is the modiﬁ er of the Piloting 
  roll.
  Deuce (–4) Wreckage:  In a wild maneuver to avoid 
  an incoming attack, the ship is now going directly to-
  wards a large chunk of wreckage from the Exodus! The 
  pilot must roll Piloting (–4) to avoid collision with this 
  hard, stationary obstacle. As the vessel has Heavy Armor 
  5, this is added to the damage. For example, the Blazing 
  Star will suffer 6d6+5 damage, from an Extra.
  Three to Five (–2) Ionic Batteries: An battery of old 
  ionic cannons ﬁ res upon the Blazing Star. They have a 
  very high rate of ﬁ re, so the Piloting roll is –2 to avoid 
  them. A roll of 1, regardless of the Wild Die, causes 3d6 
  damage (HW, AP 6) from an Extra. 
  DARING TALES OF THE SPACE LANES #04
  DARING TALES OF THE SPACE LANES #04
  4
  the ten fabulous ships completed their journey success-
  fully. Nobody knows the fate of the other seven, which 
  were named the Lost Ships.
  Wild stories are told in the cantinas of every starport 
  in the galaxy on this subject, each one weirder than the 
  other. One thing is for sure; even a small fraction of the 
  resources and lost technologies hoarded in one of these 
  ancient spacecrafts would make a man rich for the rest 
  of his life…
  Jogan Ran tells the heroes that he didn’t examine the 
  Exodus very well. He immediately took another jump to 
  evade his pursuers, and then had a few strokes of bad 
  luck that cost him his ship. He wanted to return to the 
  system, but instead the forces of destiny led him here, to 
  Chandra, to meet his fate.
  The system where Jogan found the Exodus is R127, 
  ofﬁ cially unexplored. 
  Jogan is content with giving this information to the 
  heroes and doesn’t accept any further aid from them. 
  He really is a changed man now; he has repented and 
  endures his punishment with calm resignation. 
  SCENE 2: UNDER 
  SCENE 2: UNDER 
  THE EXODUS’S FIRE
  THE EXODUS’S FIRE
  Assuming the heroes decide to make for R127 (and if 
  they don’t, the adventure basically ends here), the trip is 
  uneventful unless the GM wishes to make the story lon-
  ger by adding some encounters. The system is as Jogan 
  described to the heroes: a lone red giant sun with no 
  satellites apart from the Exodus. 
  Read this description to the players when they reach 
  their destination:
  When you jump out of hyperspace, the ﬁ rst thing 
  you observe is the mass of the red giant sun, which 
  ﬁ lls the monitors of the Blazing Star. Then you see 
  it, the Exodus. The words of Jogan Ran have not 
  prepared you for such a spectacle: the Lost Ship 
  is huge, many times the size of the biggest capital 
  ship you have ever seen. But the great leviathan 
  has seen better days: it is battered and crushed, 
  and has a great crater right in the middle, prob-
  ably the result of an impact with an asteroid. 
  The ship’s engines appear to be shut down and 
  it orbits lazily around the sun. It seems dead. In 
  the less damaged part of the hull, you notice a 
  docking bay entrance, the only place safe enough 
  to dock the Blazing Star.
  The players can use the Blazing Star’s sensors to 
  scan the Exodus. This is a Notice roll (–2), which can 
  be cooperative. With a success they’ll know the ship is 
  not totally deactivated, there are traces of energy and life 
  support seems to be at least partially functional. With a 
  raise they’ll also detect some life forms within, but the 
  ship’s hull prevents a precise reading of their quantity 
  and exact nature. When the heroes come closer, some-
  thing unexpected happens. A few of the apparently dead 
  defenses suddenly come back to life and begin ﬁ ring on 
  the Blazing Star!
  “Despite your scans, something inside the dy-
  ing hull of the generational ship must be alive, 
  because, as you approach, you notice a sudden 
  energy spike in its systems. Moments later, the old 
  automated cannons and the ionic turrets rotate 
  towards the Blazing Star!
  AUTOMATED DEFENSES
  AUTOMATED DEFENSES
  The Blazing Star is under ﬁ re from the Exodus’s au-
  tomated defenses, which are programmed to eliminate 
  any possible invaders when the ship is in an emergency 
  condition.
  Before the action starts, let the heroes make a Com-
  mon Knowledge roll. Pilots and gunner character types 
  have a +2 modiﬁ er. With a success they understand that 
  the automated defenses are only effective at medium to 
  long range, so if they manage to get close enough to the 
  ship, they will be safe from attack and can dock freely.
  Handle this situation as a Chase, with the following 
  modiﬁ cations: 
  Place ten markers in a line on the tabletop. One end 
  is the current distance from the ship; the other end is the 
  safe zone outside the ship and should be of a different 
  color. The heroes’ ship starts in the ﬁ rst segment and 
  must reach the tenth to be safe. There is no real pursuer, 
  but the Blazing Star must try to cover the distance to 
  the Exodus as fast as it can, while avoiding the incoming 
  barrage!  
  The heroes can use the ship’s shields during the ac-
  tion. In the ﬁ rst round the shields are turned off unless 
  the players explicitly say otherwise. Remember that the 
  deﬂ ection and armor options last only three rounds, so 
  it is up to the heroes to decide when to use them. Pop-
  ping a shield pod is an action, so only a single pod can 
  be popped in each round.
   Don’t use the standard obstacle rules; instead, every 
  round the pilot of the ship draws a Club card as his ﬁ rst 
  initiative card, run the mini-scene correspondent to the 
  card value as per the following table.
  The value in brackets is the modiﬁ er of the Piloting 
  roll.
  Deuce (–4) Wreckage:  In a wild maneuver to avoid 
  an incoming attack, the ship is now going directly to-
  wards a large chunk of wreckage from the Exodus! The 
  pilot must roll Piloting (–4) to avoid collision with this 
  hard, stationary obstacle. As the vessel has Heavy Armor 
  5, this is added to the damage. For example, the Blazing 
  Star will suffer 6d6+5 damage, from an Extra.
  Three to Five (–2) Ionic Batteries: An battery of old 
  ionic cannons ﬁ res upon the Blazing Star. They have a 
  very high rate of ﬁ re, so the Piloting roll is –2 to avoid 
  them. A roll of 1, regardless of the Wild Die, causes 3d6 
  damage (HW, AP 6) from an Extra. 
  
  THE LAST JOURNEY OF THE EXODUS
  THE LAST JOURNEY OF THE EXODUS
  5
  Six to Ten (–1) Laser Batteries: A battery of old laser 
  cannons ﬁ res upon the Blazing Star. Treat as suppressive 
  ﬁ re, but the pilot has a –1 to avoid them. A roll of 1, 
  regardless of the Wild Die, causes 3d8 damage (HW, AP 
  5) from an Extra. 
  Jack (0) Locked On!: A targeting beam is directed 
  at the Blazing Star, if not evaded with a Piloting roll. It 
  has no immediate effect, but the next time the pilot is 
  under attack, he has –2 to avoid incoming attacks (from 
  everything on this table except the Wreckage) because 
  the ship is now tracked.
  Queen (0) Linked Turrets: A pair of linked turrets 
  start coordinated ﬁ re against the ship from different 
  positions. The pilot must make two Piloting rolls (with 
  no multi-action penalty) to evade the attack. If they 
  strike, they deal 2d8 damage from an Extra (HW, AP 
  8) each.
  King (0) Intelligent Torpedo: An automated, intel-
  ligent torpedo locks onto the Blazing Star. It must be 
  evaded with a Piloting roll. If the roll is successful, the 
  torpedo will continue to follow the heroes in the next 
  round, and must be avoided again (avoiding the torpedo 
  counts as an extra action for the pilot). It must be de-
  stroyed which requires a called shot (–4), at Short range. 
  The torpedo has Toughness 4, Heavy Armor 2. If the mis-
  sile strikes the Blazing Star, it deals 3d8 damage from an 
  extra (HW, AP 8).
  Ace (0) Neutronic Beams: Neutronic beams are an 
  obsolete technology because they require a tremendous 
  amount of energy to ﬁ re, but they affect living beings 
  directly, leaving equipment undamaged. The pilot must 
  evade the beam roll. If he fails, the crew suffers 2d6 dam-
  age from a Wild Card, because the beam ignores physi-
  cal barriers (the ship’s hull or spacesuits, for example) 
  damaging living tissues. The shields’ Armor power does 
  protect the heroes. 
  When the heroes reach the tenth segment, the Chase 
  ends, even if in an unexpected way. Go on to the Serious 
  Misﬁ re paragraph.
  SERIOUS MISFIRE
  SERIOUS MISFIRE
  When you are in proximity of the generational 
  ship, you suddenly discover that you aren’t out 
  of danger yet: Some of the biggest and oldest can-
  non batteries, looking far too damaged to still 
  be working, begin moving, aiming their turrets 
  towards the Blazing Star! At this distance it is 
  impossible to evade the attack, so all seems lost, 
  but the cannons, ancient and battered, suddenly 
  malfunction in a spectacular way, exploding in 
  a chain reaction that shakes the hull of the ship. 
  You safely dock after the remaining parts of the 
  turrets break away and fall into space. 
  This event, being the cause of the following Ship-
  quake, has a big impact on the story, so be sure that it is 
  noticed by the players.
  ACT 2: BOARDING
  ACT 2: BOARDING
  The heroes ﬁ nally arrive in the docking bay of the 
  Exodus. They enter through a pressurized door into the 
  depths of the old spaceship. Read the following passage 
  to the players:
  You are inside the Exodus, now. The air is breath-
  able, but has a strong odor of mechanical oil, 
  dust, and decay. Most of the corridors are en-
  gulfed in darkness, and only some rare light il-
  luminates the surrounding environment. The ship 
  is in a state of total neglect: piles of debris and 
  broken metal parts lie scattered all around. You 
  hear a constant dripping sound, like water falling 
  from broken piping. Only the steady, low hum of 
  the life support system assures you that the great 
  leviathan is not completely dead.
  Give the players a little time to explore the area sur-
  rounding the docking bay. If they search for signs of hu-
  man life, they ﬁ nd nothing. If they look for something 
  useful, they ﬁ nd only some broken tools of no use. In 
  the end, their exploration will lead them into a long cor-
  ridor, leading away from the docking bay. At this point go 
  to the next scene: Shipquake!
  SCENE 1: SHIPQUAKE!
  SCENE 1: SHIPQUAKE!
  Read the following passage to the players:      
  Suddenly the ship’s hull starts moaning and 
  groaning: the Exodus’s axis is changing, with 
  disastrous effects on the environment. The metal 
  walls of the ship crack with a distinct sound and 
  you have to hold on to something secure to avoid 
  falling down when the ﬂ oor jumps up towards the 
  ceiling. 
  A sort of earthquake, a “shipquake,” is happening, 
  but this isn’t your greatest problem—the corridor 
  in which you stand starts collapsing from the end 
  where you entered. A huge avalanche of debris 
  falls towards you; you must escape, as fast as you 
  can! 
  OUTRUNNING THE AVALANCHE
  OUTRUNNING THE AVALANCHE
  The heroes must run for it if they want to save their 
  skin! This scene is a Chase, to be run with the following 
  rules. Place ten segment markers on the table with the 
  tenth one of a different color to make it recognizable. 
  This represents the exit. When the party reaches this 
  point, they are safe and the Chase ends.
  The front of the avalanche begins on the ﬁ rst segment 
  marker and the heroes on the fourth. The avalanche 
  THE LAST JOURNEY OF THE EXODUS
  THE LAST JOURNEY OF THE EXODUS
  5
  Six to Ten (–1) Laser Batteries: A battery of old laser 
  cannons ﬁ res upon the Blazing Star. Treat as suppressive 
  ﬁ re, but the pilot has a –1 to avoid them. A roll of 1, 
  regardless of the Wild Die, causes 3d8 damage (HW, AP 
  5) from an Extra. 
  Jack (0) Locked On!: A targeting beam is directed 
  at the Blazing Star, if not evaded with a Piloting roll. It 
  has no immediate effect, but the next time the pilot is 
  under attack, he has –2 to avoid incoming attacks (from 
  everything on this table except the Wreckage) because 
  the ship is now tracked.
  Queen (0) Linked Turrets: A pair of linked turrets 
  start coordinated ﬁ re against the ship from different 
  positions. The pilot must make two Piloting rolls (with 
  no multi-action penalty) to evade the attack. If they 
  strike, they deal 2d8 damage from an Extra (HW, AP 
  8) each.
  King (0) Intelligent Torpedo: An automated, intel-
  ligent torpedo locks onto the Blazing Star. It must be 
  evaded with a Piloting roll. If the roll is successful, the 
  torpedo will continue to follow the heroes in the next 
  round, and must be avoided again (avoiding the torpedo 
  counts as an extra action for the pilot). It must be de-
  stroyed which requires a called shot (–4), at Short range. 
  The torpedo has Toughness 4, Heavy Armor 2. If the mis-
  sile strikes the Blazing Star, it deals 3d8 damage from an 
  extra (HW, AP 8).
  Ace (0) Neutronic Beams: Neutronic beams are an 
  obsolete technology because they require a tremendous 
  amount of energy to ﬁ re, but they affect living beings 
  directly, leaving equipment undamaged. The pilot must 
  evade the beam roll. If he fails, the crew suffers 2d6 dam-
  age from a Wild Card, because the beam ignores physi-
  cal barriers (the ship’s hull or spacesuits, for example) 
  damaging living tissues. The shields’ Armor power does 
  protect the heroes. 
  When the heroes reach the tenth segment, the Chase 
  ends, even if in an unexpected way. Go on to the Serious 
  Misﬁ re paragraph.
  SERIOUS MISFIRE
  SERIOUS MISFIRE
  When you are in proximity of the generational 
  ship, you suddenly discover that you aren’t out 
  of danger yet: Some of the biggest and oldest can-
  non batteries, looking far too damaged to still 
  be working, begin moving, aiming their turrets 
  towards the Blazing Star! At this distance it is 
  impossible to evade the attack, so all seems lost, 
  but the cannons, ancient and battered, suddenly 
  malfunction in a spectacular way, exploding in 
  a chain reaction that shakes the hull of the ship. 
  You safely dock after the remaining parts of the 
  turrets break away and fall into space. 
  This event, being the cause of the following Ship-
  quake, has a big impact on the story, so be sure that it is 
  noticed by the players.
  ACT 2: BOARDING
  ACT 2: BOARDING
  The heroes ﬁ nally arrive in the docking bay of the 
  Exodus. They enter through a pressurized door into the 
  depths of the old spaceship. Read the following passage 
  to the players:
  You are inside the Exodus, now. The air is breath-
  able, but has a strong odor of mechanical oil, 
  dust, and decay. Most of the corridors are en-
  gulfed in darkness, and only some rare light il-
  luminates the surrounding environment. The ship 
  is in a state of total neglect: piles of debris and 
  broken metal parts lie scattered all around. You 
  hear a constant dripping sound, like water falling 
  from broken piping. Only the steady, low hum of 
  the life support system assures you that the great 
  leviathan is not completely dead.
  Give the players a little time to explore the area sur-
  rounding the docking bay. If they search for signs of hu-
  man life, they ﬁ nd nothing. If they look for something 
  useful, they ﬁ nd only some broken tools of no use. In 
  the end, their exploration will lead them into a long cor-
  ridor, leading away from the docking bay. At this point go 
  to the next scene: Shipquake!
  SCENE 1: SHIPQUAKE!
  SCENE 1: SHIPQUAKE!
  Read the following passage to the players:      
  Suddenly the ship’s hull starts moaning and 
  groaning: the Exodus’s axis is changing, with 
  disastrous effects on the environment. The metal 
  walls of the ship crack with a distinct sound and 
  you have to hold on to something secure to avoid 
  falling down when the ﬂ oor jumps up towards the 
  ceiling. 
  A sort of earthquake, a “shipquake,” is happening, 
  but this isn’t your greatest problem—the corridor 
  in which you stand starts collapsing from the end 
  where you entered. A huge avalanche of debris 
  falls towards you; you must escape, as fast as you 
  can! 
  OUTRUNNING THE AVALANCHE
  OUTRUNNING THE AVALANCHE
  The heroes must run for it if they want to save their 
  skin! This scene is a Chase, to be run with the following 
  rules. Place ten segment markers on the table with the 
  tenth one of a different color to make it recognizable. 
  This represents the exit. When the party reaches this 
  point, they are safe and the Chase ends.
  The front of the avalanche begins on the ﬁ rst segment 
  marker and the heroes on the fourth. The avalanche 
  
  DARING TALES OF THE SPACE LANES #04
  DARING TALES OF THE SPACE LANES #04
  6
  starts slow, and then, acquiring momentum, increases in 
  speed. In the ﬁ rst round the heroes are the faster ones, 
  so they add +1 to their Agility roll. In the second and 
  third rounds they have the same speed as the avalanche, 
  and from the fourth round to the end of the Chase they 
  are slower than the avalanche, subtracting –1 from their 
  roll. The avalanche has Agility d8.
  If a hero is caught by the avalanche (being in the same 
  segment as the front of the avalanche), he suffers 2d6 
  damage from an Extra and must make an Agility roll to 
  avoid falling down. 
  If a hero is in the avalanche (the front of the avalanche 
  being ahead of him by one or two markers), things start 
  getting ugly: he suffers 3d6 damage from an Extra and 
  must make an Agility roll (–2) to avoid falling down.
  Finally, if a hero is totally engulfed by the avalanche 
  (the front being ahead of him by three or more seg-
  ments), he suffers 3d10 damage from a Wild Card, and 
  must make an Agility roll (–4) to avoid falling down.
  A fallen hero can get up on his action but it counts as 
  an extra action if he runs, as well.
  SCENE 2: IMPRISONED!
  SCENE 2: IMPRISONED!
  The heroes are safe, catching their breath in a big room 
  just beyond the collapsed corridor. The Shipquake’s rage 
  has slowed but not totally stopped: the ﬂ oor continues 
  to move and occasionally debris rains from the ceiling.
  The group suddenly realizes how dangerous the situ-
  ation is: with the continuing tremors and the corridor 
  destroyed, they are cut off from the Blazing Star. They 
  are imprisoned in the Exodus until they ﬁ nd another way 
  to get back to their ship!
  Before they start discussing the situation, one of the 
  party members hears a scream nearby.
  Under a fresh pile of rubble lies a girl. She is alive, for 
  now, but the weight of the debris will quickly kill her!
  If the heroes start removing debris from on top of her, 
  they don’t manage to totally free her, though they do 
  relieve her a bit, but, instead of calming, the woman’s 
  eyes ﬁ ll with terror. 
  The reason is simple: there are sounds of drums and 
  running footsteps drawing near!
  Read the following passage to the players:
  From a door in front of you a horde of short, 
  strongly built humans rushes in. They are dirty 
  and half naked, armed with spears, clubs and 
  other primitive weapons. A tattooed man, taller 
  than the others by a whole head, stands behind 
  the mass, holding something shiny in his left hand 
  that produces crackling sounds. He looks at the 
  heroes with wide eyes.
  DARING TALES OF THE SPACE LANES #04
  DARING TALES OF THE SPACE LANES #04
  6
  starts slow, and then, acquiring momentum, increases in 
  speed. In the ﬁ rst round the heroes are the faster ones, 
  so they add +1 to their Agility roll. In the second and 
  third rounds they have the same speed as the avalanche, 
  and from the fourth round to the end of the Chase they 
  are slower than the avalanche, subtracting –1 from their 
  roll. The avalanche has Agility d8.
  If a hero is caught by the avalanche (being in the same 
  segment as the front of the avalanche), he suffers 2d6 
  damage from an Extra and must make an Agility roll to 
  avoid falling down. 
  If a hero is in the avalanche (the front of the avalanche 
  being ahead of him by one or two markers), things start 
  getting ugly: he suffers 3d6 damage from an Extra and 
  must make an Agility roll (–2) to avoid falling down.
  Finally, if a hero is totally engulfed by the avalanche 
  (the front being ahead of him by three or more seg-
  ments), he suffers 3d10 damage from a Wild Card, and 
  must make an Agility roll (–4) to avoid falling down.
  A fallen hero can get up on his action but it counts as 
  an extra action if he runs, as well.
  SCENE 2: IMPRISONED!
  SCENE 2: IMPRISONED!
  The heroes are safe, catching their breath in a big room 
  just beyond the collapsed corridor. The Shipquake’s rage 
  has slowed but not totally stopped: the ﬂ oor continues 
  to move and occasionally debris rains from the ceiling.
  The group suddenly realizes how dangerous the situ-
  ation is: with the continuing tremors and the corridor 
  destroyed, they are cut off from the Blazing Star. They 
  are imprisoned in the Exodus until they ﬁ nd another way 
  to get back to their ship!
  Before they start discussing the situation, one of the 
  party members hears a scream nearby.
  Under a fresh pile of rubble lies a girl. She is alive, for 
  now, but the weight of the debris will quickly kill her!
  If the heroes start removing debris from on top of her, 
  they don’t manage to totally free her, though they do 
  relieve her a bit, but, instead of calming, the woman’s 
  eyes ﬁ ll with terror. 
  The reason is simple: there are sounds of drums and 
  running footsteps drawing near!
  Read the following passage to the players:
  From a door in front of you a horde of short, 
  strongly built humans rushes in. They are dirty 
  and half naked, armed with spears, clubs and 
  other primitive weapons. A tattooed man, taller 
  than the others by a whole head, stands behind 
  the mass, holding something shiny in his left hand 
  that produces crackling sounds. He looks at the 
  heroes with wide eyes.
  
  THE LAST JOURNEY OF THE EXODUS
  THE LAST JOURNEY OF THE EXODUS
  7
  At this moment the girl speaks to you for the ﬁ rst 
  time. “Please, don’t leave me in their hands.” She 
  speaks with a strong accent but she is still com-
  prehensible. 
  At these words the tattooed man raises his strange 
  amulet and roars: “Kill them all!”
  Deal action cards!
  The battleﬁ eld is a square room, 24” x 24”, with only 
  a single accessible entrance from where the enemies 
  entered (the entrance the heroes came through, was 
  blocked by the Shipquake, and is no longer available). 
  The entrance is 6” wide, placed in the middle of one 
  of the walls. Place the Beneathers near the door, and the 
  heroes within 6” of the opposing wall.  
  Place some debris piles in the room: three large piles and 
  four medium piles (see Terrain below for their effects). 
  Place one of the large piles near the party, and put the 
  girl beneath it. The heroes must accomplish two feats in 
  this battle—keep the Beneathers at bay and free the girl, 
  before she passes out due to the weight of the debris 
  (see below for instructions).
  The Beneathers’ tactic is fairly simple. Half of them 
  charge into close combat while the remaining group tar-
  gets the party with their slings. Firstofﬁ cer, their leader, 
  stays behind, using his ionic gun and boosting his troops’ 
  skills with his Leadership Edges. It is important that Fir-
  stofﬁ cer survives the combat. If necessary use the Recur-
  ring Villain rule from the Space Pulp Rules to help him 
  escape, and the Fanatically Loyal rule of his minions. If 
  the heroes are winning the ﬁ ght with ease, another party 
  of Beneathers (same number as the previous group) 
  rushes in through the same entrance.
  The ship continues to tremble, so use the Hazards Dur-
  ing the Shipquake table (see sidebar) during the ﬁ ght.
   Beneathers (3 per hero):  See page 19
   Grizzled Beneathers (1 per hero): See page 20   
   Firstofﬁ cer, Shaman of the Beneathers: See page 
  20 
  TERRAIN
  TERRAIN
  * Large Debris: The large piles of assorted debris are 
  6” high (a Climb roll is required to get on top), grant 
  Medium cover, and have Toughness 8. You can use Large 
  Burst Templates to represent them if you have no ter-
  rain elements handy. Place three large debris piles on the 
  battleﬁ eld.
  * Medium Debris: The medium piles of debris are 
  3” high, must be considered difﬁ cult ground, and offer 
  only Light cover. They have Toughness 6. You can use 
  Medium Burst Templates to represent them. Place four 
  medium debris piles on the battleﬁ eld.
  SAVING THE GIRL
  SAVING THE GIRL
  Freeing the girl requires three successful Strength (–2) 
  rolls (each raise counts as an extra success). If the heroes 
  HAZARDS DURING 
  HAZARDS DURING 
  THE SHIPQUAKE
  THE SHIPQUAKE
  Fights and other dangerous situations (such as 
  Chases) during the Shipquake can be risky things. 
  Use the following rule when the scenario explicitly 
  tells you. In other encounters you are not supposed 
  to use it, but you can always do it if you want to 
  make things a little more challenging.
  The mechanics are quite simple: When one of the 
  characters (not only the heroes, but their oppo-
  nents, as well) draws a Club card from the Action 
  Deck as their ﬁ rst card, check the following table 
  and apply the effect immediately. Some effects 
  target the whole battleﬁ eld, while others refer to 
  a speciﬁ c target—usually the character who draws 
  the card. If the card is dealt to a group of characters, 
  pick a random member of the group and consider 
  him the main target.
  Some of the effects catch an area, based on Burst 
  Templates. There is always a chance of avoiding 
  them. Place characters that successfully escape the 
  danger just outside the template.
  Deuce - Fissure: The ﬂ oor where the target is 
  standing cracks and a big ﬁ ssure opens under his 
  feet! Place a Small Burst Template centered on the 
  target to represent the ﬁ ssure size. Everyone caught 
  in the template must make an Agility roll to either 
  jump away or fall into the opening! Falling into 
  the ﬁ ssure causes 3d6 damage from an Extra and 
  a Climbing (–4) roll is required to escape. The ﬁ s-
  sure twists and contracts, so each round inside the 
  ﬁ ssure causes 2d6 damage from an Extra. This haz-
  ard is permanent, it does not get removed from the 
  tabletop, and everyone who ends up in it suffers its 
  effects.
  Three, Four – Falling Strut: A large metal strut 
  falls from the ceiling with a high chance of hitting 
  the character that has the lousy luck of being direct-
  ly under it.  If the character fails an Agility (–2) roll, 
  he suffers 2d8 damage from an Extra. Dodge and 
  Improved Dodge Edges give +1 or +2 to the roll.
  Five, Six – Live Wires: Some energy charged wires 
  are torn apart, and one of their ends falls onto the 
  target, hissing and wriggling like a living thing. Even 
  a casual touch can be deadly. This counts as a touch 
  attack (+2) with Fighting d6 that causes 2d6 dam-
  age from an Extra (AP 2). This effect is permanent 
  and must not be removed. Place a marker at the 
  point where this event happened. If a character 
  comes within 3” of the wires, he immediately suf-
  fers the attack.
  Seven, Eight - Cracks: The section of ﬂ oor where 
  the character is standing cracks and shifts, making it 
  difﬁ cult for the individual to keep his balance. The 
  target has –2 to all Agility related rolls this turn. 
  Nine, Ten – Debris Rain: A rain of small metal parts 
  THE LAST JOURNEY OF THE EXODUS
  THE LAST JOURNEY OF THE EXODUS
  7
  At this moment the girl speaks to you for the ﬁ rst 
  time. “Please, don’t leave me in their hands.” She 
  speaks with a strong accent but she is still com-
  prehensible. 
  At these words the tattooed man raises his strange 
  amulet and roars: “Kill them all!”
  Deal action cards!
  The battleﬁ eld is a square room, 24” x 24”, with only 
  a single accessible entrance from where the enemies 
  entered (the entrance the heroes came through, was 
  blocked by the Shipquake, and is no longer available). 
  The entrance is 6” wide, placed in the middle of one 
  of the walls. Place the Beneathers near the door, and the 
  heroes within 6” of the opposing wall.  
  Place some debris piles in the room: three large piles and 
  four medium piles (see Terrain below for their effects). 
  Place one of the large piles near the party, and put the 
  girl beneath it. The heroes must accomplish two feats in 
  this battle—keep the Beneathers at bay and free the girl, 
  before she passes out due to the weight of the debris 
  (see below for instructions).
  The Beneathers’ tactic is fairly simple. Half of them 
  charge into close combat while the remaining group tar-
  gets the party with their slings. Firstofﬁ cer, their leader, 
  stays behind, using his ionic gun and boosting his troops’ 
  skills with his Leadership Edges. It is important that Fir-
  stofﬁ cer survives the combat. If necessary use the Recur-
  ring Villain rule from the Space Pulp Rules to help him 
  escape, and the Fanatically Loyal rule of his minions. If 
  the heroes are winning the ﬁ ght with ease, another party 
  of Beneathers (same number as the previous group) 
  rushes in through the same entrance.
  The ship continues to tremble, so use the Hazards Dur-
  ing the Shipquake table (see sidebar) during the ﬁ ght.
   Beneathers (3 per hero):  See page 19
   Grizzled Beneathers (1 per hero): See page 20   
   Firstofﬁ cer, Shaman of the Beneathers: See page 
  20 
  TERRAIN
  TERRAIN
  * Large Debris: The large piles of assorted debris are 
  6” high (a Climb roll is required to get on top), grant 
  Medium cover, and have Toughness 8. You can use Large 
  Burst Templates to represent them if you have no ter-
  rain elements handy. Place three large debris piles on the 
  battleﬁ eld.
  * Medium Debris: The medium piles of debris are 
  3” high, must be considered difﬁ cult ground, and offer 
  only Light cover. They have Toughness 6. You can use 
  Medium Burst Templates to represent them. Place four 
  medium debris piles on the battleﬁ eld.
  SAVING THE GIRL
  SAVING THE GIRL
  Freeing the girl requires three successful Strength (–2) 
  rolls (each raise counts as an extra success). If the heroes 
  HAZARDS DURING 
  HAZARDS DURING 
  THE SHIPQUAKE
  THE SHIPQUAKE
  Fights and other dangerous situations (such as 
  Chases) during the Shipquake can be risky things. 
  Use the following rule when the scenario explicitly 
  tells you. In other encounters you are not supposed 
  to use it, but you can always do it if you want to 
  make things a little more challenging.
  The mechanics are quite simple: When one of the 
  characters (not only the heroes, but their oppo-
  nents, as well) draws a Club card from the Action 
  Deck as their ﬁ rst card, check the following table 
  and apply the effect immediately. Some effects 
  target the whole battleﬁ eld, while others refer to 
  a speciﬁ c target—usually the character who draws 
  the card. If the card is dealt to a group of characters, 
  pick a random member of the group and consider 
  him the main target.
  Some of the effects catch an area, based on Burst 
  Templates. There is always a chance of avoiding 
  them. Place characters that successfully escape the 
  danger just outside the template.
  Deuce - Fissure: The ﬂ oor where the target is 
  standing cracks and a big ﬁ ssure opens under his 
  feet! Place a Small Burst Template centered on the 
  target to represent the ﬁ ssure size. Everyone caught 
  in the template must make an Agility roll to either 
  jump away or fall into the opening! Falling into 
  the ﬁ ssure causes 3d6 damage from an Extra and 
  a Climbing (–4) roll is required to escape. The ﬁ s-
  sure twists and contracts, so each round inside the 
  ﬁ ssure causes 2d6 damage from an Extra. This haz-
  ard is permanent, it does not get removed from the 
  tabletop, and everyone who ends up in it suffers its 
  effects.
  Three, Four – Falling Strut: A large metal strut 
  falls from the ceiling with a high chance of hitting 
  the character that has the lousy luck of being direct-
  ly under it.  If the character fails an Agility (–2) roll, 
  he suffers 2d8 damage from an Extra. Dodge and 
  Improved Dodge Edges give +1 or +2 to the roll.
  Five, Six – Live Wires: Some energy charged wires 
  are torn apart, and one of their ends falls onto the 
  target, hissing and wriggling like a living thing. Even 
  a casual touch can be deadly. This counts as a touch 
  attack (+2) with Fighting d6 that causes 2d6 dam-
  age from an Extra (AP 2). This effect is permanent 
  and must not be removed. Place a marker at the 
  point where this event happened. If a character 
  comes within 3” of the wires, he immediately suf-
  fers the attack.
  Seven, Eight - Cracks: The section of ﬂ oor where 
  the character is standing cracks and shifts, making it 
  difﬁ cult for the individual to keep his balance. The 
  target has –2 to all Agility related rolls this turn. 
  Nine, Ten – Debris Rain: A rain of small metal parts 
  
  DARING TALES OF THE SPACE LANES #04
  DARING TALES OF THE SPACE LANES #04
  8
  don’t free her in ﬁ ve rounds, she passes out. She is not 
  dead, only unconscious (even if the party doesn’t know 
  it, she suffers Fatigue, not real damage) and continues to 
  moan so the heroes understand that she is still alive.
  Some groups will try to ﬁ nish the combat before free-
  ing her, even if they have very little chance of victory. If 
  you notice this attitude in your group, get the party’s 
  attention by having the girl whimper:
  “Please, free me, I know an exit from here!”
  When they free the girl, continue the combat for 
  another full round, then stop the ﬁ ght and go on with 
  Serious Breaking.
  SERIOUS BREAKING
  SERIOUS BREAKING
  Read this part to the group:
  The ﬂ oor of the room squeals as if in pain and a 
  large ﬁ ssure erupts, separating you and the girl 
  from the Beneathers. The two parts of the ﬂ oor 
  incline up towards the ceiling! You and the bar-
  barians tumble towards the walls of the room, in 
  opposite directions, screaming in terror. You must 
  ﬁ nd a way to get out of here and quickly!
  If the girl is conscious, she points at a metal ladder 
  leading to the upper ﬂ oors which, in the fury of the 
  battle, the heroes failed to notice; otherwise, the heroes 
  have to make a Notice roll to spot it. They can make a roll 
  each round. For every round they stay here, deal them 
  2d6 damage from an Extra due to the falling debris.
  SCENE 3: INTO ABOVERS’ 
  SCENE 3: INTO ABOVERS’ 
  TERRITORY
  TERRITORY
  The heroes climb the metal ladder, going up into 
  the ship. The Shipquake seems to have stopped, so the 
  characters ﬁ nally have a chance to catch their breath. The 
  girl, if unconscious, regains consciousness after a short 
  while. 
  Now the group can turn their attention to her. She is 
  tall and slender and a true beauty under her dirty rags.
  I thank you very much, strangers. I owe you my 
  life.  My name is Tala, of the Abovers. You have 
  saved me twice, from death under the debris and 
  from falling once again into the hands of the Be-
  neathers.
  She shivers at the mere thought of the cruel barbar-
  ians and tells the heroes to follow her because Firstof-
  ﬁ cer, the Beneathers’ leader, will not give up easily. They 
  will be safe only when well within the borders of Tala’s 
  clan.
  The girl leads the party upwards, where everything 
  is broken, covered in dust, and ancient, just like in the 
  areas of the ship the party has seen up until now. Several 
  times Tala is forced to go back and ﬁ nd another way 
  forward, because the Shipquake has made some areas 
  inaccessible, but she seems to know every corridor like 
  the back of her hand.
  Speaking with Tala, the heroes can piece together bits 
  of her story. She is one of the best foragers of her tribe, 
  but she carelessly went scavenging in the Beneathers’ 
  territory and ended up in their hands. Firstofﬁ cer took 
  her as his personal slave. He is a madman, as all the Be-
  neathers are. 
  Tala tells the heroes about the weird beliefs of the 
  Beneathers. They worship a strange god, called “Main-
  frame.” They are convinced it is the almighty lord of the 
  whole ship and that the Beneathers are its chosen ones. 
  There must be some truth in it, she admits, because she 
  has heard Firstofﬁ cer speaking with the god through his 
  strange amulet.
  A peculiar thing—from Tala’s words it is clear that 
  falls from the ceiling.  Place a Medium Burst Tem-
  plate centered on the target.  Treat all the characters 
  under the template as suffering a Suppressive Fire 
  attack. Rolling 1 on the Spirit die means being tem-
  porarily Blinded (per the Hindrance in the Savage 
  Worlds rules). Blinded characters can recover from 
  this condition with a Vigor (–2) roll, to be made ev-
  ery round until successful.  
  Jack – Up and Down: The ﬂ oor is shaking! Center 
  a Large Burst Template on the target. All characters 
  under the template must make a Strength (–2) roll 
  or fall prone. During this turn, running is impos-
  sible, and the whole area is considered difﬁ cult 
  ground. 
  Queen – Smoke Cloud: A refrigerant conduit 
  breaks, and a chemical fog ﬁ lls the area, making it 
  difﬁ cult to see. All the combat area is now in Dim 
  visibility conditions until the end of the ﬁ ght.
  King – Acid Pool: A pipe containing hazardous, 
  acidic chemicals breaks near the target, creating 
  a very dangerous pool of green, bubbling, slime. 
  Place a Medium Burst Template centered onto the 
  character, representing the pool. The character 
  must make an Agility roll to avoid stepping in it. If 
  he fails, he suffers 2d8 damage from an Extra. The 
  same amount of damage is dealt for each turn spent 
  in the pool. The pool is permanent, it does not get 
  removed from the tabletop, and anyone who moves 
  into it suffers its effects. 
  Ace – Plant Fire: The old plant ﬁ re system of the Ex-
  odus activates, ﬁ lling the area with gray, foul-smell-
  ing foam. Movement is difﬁ cult. Until the end of the 
  ﬁ ght, all the characters in the room suffer –2 Pace.
  HAZARDS DURING 
  HAZARDS DURING 
  THE SHIPQUAKE CONT.
  THE SHIPQUAKE CONT. 
  DARING TALES OF THE SPACE LANES #04
  DARING TALES OF THE SPACE LANES #04
  8
  don’t free her in ﬁ ve rounds, she passes out. She is not 
  dead, only unconscious (even if the party doesn’t know 
  it, she suffers Fatigue, not real damage) and continues to 
  moan so the heroes understand that she is still alive.
  Some groups will try to ﬁ nish the combat before free-
  ing her, even if they have very little chance of victory. If 
  you notice this attitude in your group, get the party’s 
  attention by having the girl whimper:
  “Please, free me, I know an exit from here!”
  When they free the girl, continue the combat for 
  another full round, then stop the ﬁ ght and go on with 
  Serious Breaking.
  SERIOUS BREAKING
  SERIOUS BREAKING
  Read this part to the group:
  The ﬂ oor of the room squeals as if in pain and a 
  large ﬁ ssure erupts, separating you and the girl 
  from the Beneathers. The two parts of the ﬂ oor 
  incline up towards the ceiling! You and the bar-
  barians tumble towards the walls of the room, in 
  opposite directions, screaming in terror. You must 
  ﬁ nd a way to get out of here and quickly!
  If the girl is conscious, she points at a metal ladder 
  leading to the upper ﬂ oors which, in the fury of the 
  battle, the heroes failed to notice; otherwise, the heroes 
  have to make a Notice roll to spot it. They can make a roll 
  each round. For every round they stay here, deal them 
  2d6 damage from an Extra due to the falling debris.
  SCENE 3: INTO ABOVERS’ 
  SCENE 3: INTO ABOVERS’ 
  TERRITORY
  TERRITORY
  The heroes climb the metal ladder, going up into 
  the ship. The Shipquake seems to have stopped, so the 
  characters ﬁ nally have a chance to catch their breath. The 
  girl, if unconscious, regains consciousness after a short 
  while. 
  Now the group can turn their attention to her. She is 
  tall and slender and a true beauty under her dirty rags.
  I thank you very much, strangers. I owe you my 
  life.  My name is Tala, of the Abovers. You have 
  saved me twice, from death under the debris and 
  from falling once again into the hands of the Be-
  neathers.
  She shivers at the mere thought of the cruel barbar-
  ians and tells the heroes to follow her because Firstof-
  ﬁ cer, the Beneathers’ leader, will not give up easily. They 
  will be safe only when well within the borders of Tala’s 
  clan.
  The girl leads the party upwards, where everything 
  is broken, covered in dust, and ancient, just like in the 
  areas of the ship the party has seen up until now. Several 
  times Tala is forced to go back and ﬁ nd another way 
  forward, because the Shipquake has made some areas 
  inaccessible, but she seems to know every corridor like 
  the back of her hand.
  Speaking with Tala, the heroes can piece together bits 
  of her story. She is one of the best foragers of her tribe, 
  but she carelessly went scavenging in the Beneathers’ 
  territory and ended up in their hands. Firstofﬁ cer took 
  her as his personal slave. He is a madman, as all the Be-
  neathers are. 
  Tala tells the heroes about the weird beliefs of the 
  Beneathers. They worship a strange god, called “Main-
  frame.” They are convinced it is the almighty lord of the 
  whole ship and that the Beneathers are its chosen ones. 
  There must be some truth in it, she admits, because she 
  has heard Firstofﬁ cer speaking with the god through his 
  strange amulet.
  A peculiar thing—from Tala’s words it is clear that 
  falls from the ceiling.  Place a Medium Burst Tem-
  plate centered on the target.  Treat all the characters 
  under the template as suffering a Suppressive Fire 
  attack. Rolling 1 on the Spirit die means being tem-
  porarily Blinded (per the Hindrance in the Savage 
  Worlds rules). Blinded characters can recover from 
  this condition with a Vigor (–2) roll, to be made ev-
  ery round until successful.  
  Jack – Up and Down: The ﬂ oor is shaking! Center 
  a Large Burst Template on the target. All characters 
  under the template must make a Strength (–2) roll 
  or fall prone. During this turn, running is impos-
  sible, and the whole area is considered difﬁ cult 
  ground. 
  Queen – Smoke Cloud: A refrigerant conduit 
  breaks, and a chemical fog ﬁ lls the area, making it 
  difﬁ cult to see. All the combat area is now in Dim 
  visibility conditions until the end of the ﬁ ght.
  King – Acid Pool: A pipe containing hazardous, 
  acidic chemicals breaks near the target, creating 
  a very dangerous pool of green, bubbling, slime. 
  Place a Medium Burst Template centered onto the 
  character, representing the pool. The character 
  must make an Agility roll to avoid stepping in it. If 
  he fails, he suffers 2d8 damage from an Extra. The 
  same amount of damage is dealt for each turn spent 
  in the pool. The pool is permanent, it does not get 
  removed from the tabletop, and anyone who moves 
  into it suffers its effects. 
  Ace – Plant Fire: The old plant ﬁ re system of the Ex-
  odus activates, ﬁ lling the area with gray, foul-smell-
  ing foam. Movement is difﬁ cult. Until the end of the 
  ﬁ ght, all the characters in the room suffer –2 Pace.
  HAZARDS DURING 
  HAZARDS DURING 
  THE SHIPQUAKE CONT.
  THE SHIPQUAKE CONT. 
  
  THE LAST JOURNEY OF THE EXODUS
  THE LAST JOURNEY OF THE EXODUS
  9
  for her, “ship” and “world” have the same meaning, i.e. 
  “place where we live”. She doesn’t have any notion of 
  what a “ship” truly is. 
  The trip continues, and the heroes notice that the further 
  they go on, the less tiring their physical efforts. Expert space-
  farers as they are, they understand that gravity is lowering 
  slightly as they move upward. Maybe the Exodus’s gravity 
  generators are not functioning at their best. 
  In the end, the party reaches the Abovers’ territory. 
  Some sentinels stop the group, spears raised, but seeing 
  Tala, they relax a bit, even if they continue staring at the 
  party with startled looks on their faces—they have never 
  seen people like them. 
  When the heroes come into the Abovers’ camp, read 
  the following passage:
  You enter a big, domed room full of light, a com-
  fort after the perpetual darkness in which you 
  have roamed until now. It’s warm, too, an even 
  stranger thing inside an abandoned spaceship. 
  The Abovers, more or less a hundred people, all 
  tall and slender, look at you with open curios-
  ity. Many women approach and embrace Tala, 
  who weeps in relief, her terrible nightmare in the 
  hands of the Beneathers ﬁ nally ended.
  Looking around you discover that the origin of the 
  warmth and light is an array of intense lamps, 
  covering the domed ceiling. Maybe the reason for 
  this impressive illumination system is found with-
  in the big pools all around the room. They are full 
  of a strange, murky liquid, where jelly-looking 
  protoplasmic formations ﬂ oat about, carefully 
  tended with long poles by a group of half-naked 
  men and women. Crude huts and canopies, 
  the houses of the Abovers, are sparsely built all 
  around, and cooking over some ﬁ res you see the 
  same strange protoplasm from the pools. 
  The main camp of the Abovers is an old, but still 
  functional, hydroponic farm. The big pools allow these 
  people to grow the mutated fungus that is the basis of 
  their diet. The heroes notice that the Abovers are all tall 
  and slender, but they don’t seem to have great physical 
  strength. Perhaps this is an effect of the lower gravity in 
  which they live. 
  The party is approached by an old man with long, 
  white hair. He speaks to the heroes, his words having a 
  peculiar accent, just like Tala’s:
  “Hail, my friends. I am Garan, elder of the 
  Abovers. I have never seen anyone like you in all 
  my life, and this surprises me, because I am very 
  old, the eldest of the whole tribe. 
  “But today is a bad day for us—you returned our 
  beloved Tala to us, and this is a good thing, but 
  the ship trembles and cries in pain, and this is a 
  very bad thing.
  I have many questions for you, and I’ll gladly 
  share the comforts of the Fungus and our ﬁ res with 
  you, but we are in trouble now. The Shipquake 
  damaged our camp, and some of my people are 
  wounded or dead. I must see to their needs ﬁ rst.   
  To give more emphasis to his words, the Shipquake 
  suddenly starts again—the whole ship’s hull inclines, 
  and low sounds of breaking metal come from the depths 
  of the Exodus. 
  The people cry out in terror. This is a totally new 
  experience in their lives—something like this has never 
  happened in all the years gone by.
  The heroes can rest a bit now. The Abovers don’t have 
  much but seem happy to share it with them. The primi-
  tive men offer the party a place to rest, only some rough 
  blankets in a corner, and a bowl of hot fungi soup, but it 
  is better than nothing.
  ACT 3: DECAYING ORBIT
  ACT 3: DECAYING ORBIT
  Assuming the party wanders a bit after supper, perhaps 
  talking and debating about what to do next, eventually 
  they ﬁ nd something unexpected—a porthole, through 
  which they can see the hot, red sun.
  SCENE 1: THE DISCOVERY
  SCENE 1: THE DISCOVERY
  Something is deﬁ nitely strange. The sun is not where 
  it is supposed to be. It is much, much closer, and its posi-
  tion is all wrong. The group understands that the Exodus 
  has deviated from its original orbit, maybe the cause be-
  ing the activation of the automatic defenses and the ﬁ nal 
  explosion of the defensive turrets.
  The Shipquake is only a side effect of the terrible 
  strain the ship’s hull is suffering, and not the most dan-
  gerous one—the Exodus has entered a decaying orbit, 
  and it is lured by the gravitational force of the sun. It 
  is only a matter of time before it will dive into the sun, 
  meeting a hot death.
  The heroes, using a wristcomputer to do the complex 
  equations, can make a Piloting (+2) roll to estimate how 
  much time they have before the Exodus is destroyed. 
  With a success they know that they have roughly 12 
  hours.
  There are two possible courses of action:The heroes 
  can try to ﬁ nd a way back to the Blazing Star and ﬂ ee, 
  abandoning all the people within the Exodus to their 
  fate. This isn’t a very heroic path, so the written scenario 
  will not consider it. If the players insist on such an option 
  the GM should arrange for some interesting encounters 
  to make the trip to the Blazing Star memorable. 
  The other, more heroic, possibility is to restore the 
  Exodus’s original orbit. Doing this requires restarting the 
  ship’s propulsion system: even a brief impulse could cor-
  rect the orbit and save the ship from the most immediate 
  danger. This information is allowable for any character 
  THE LAST JOURNEY OF THE EXODUS
  THE LAST JOURNEY OF THE EXODUS
  9
  for her, “ship” and “world” have the same meaning, i.e. 
  “place where we live”. She doesn’t have any notion of 
  what a “ship” truly is. 
  The trip continues, and the heroes notice that the further 
  they go on, the less tiring their physical efforts. Expert space-
  farers as they are, they understand that gravity is lowering 
  slightly as they move upward. Maybe the Exodus’s gravity 
  generators are not functioning at their best. 
  In the end, the party reaches the Abovers’ territory. 
  Some sentinels stop the group, spears raised, but seeing 
  Tala, they relax a bit, even if they continue staring at the 
  party with startled looks on their faces—they have never 
  seen people like them. 
  When the heroes come into the Abovers’ camp, read 
  the following passage:
  You enter a big, domed room full of light, a com-
  fort after the perpetual darkness in which you 
  have roamed until now. It’s warm, too, an even 
  stranger thing inside an abandoned spaceship. 
  The Abovers, more or less a hundred people, all 
  tall and slender, look at you with open curios-
  ity. Many women approach and embrace Tala, 
  who weeps in relief, her terrible nightmare in the 
  hands of the Beneathers ﬁ nally ended.
  Looking around you discover that the origin of the 
  warmth and light is an array of intense lamps, 
  covering the domed ceiling. Maybe the reason for 
  this impressive illumination system is found with-
  in the big pools all around the room. They are full 
  of a strange, murky liquid, where jelly-looking 
  protoplasmic formations ﬂ oat about, carefully 
  tended with long poles by a group of half-naked 
  men and women. Crude huts and canopies, 
  the houses of the Abovers, are sparsely built all 
  around, and cooking over some ﬁ res you see the 
  same strange protoplasm from the pools. 
  The main camp of the Abovers is an old, but still 
  functional, hydroponic farm. The big pools allow these 
  people to grow the mutated fungus that is the basis of 
  their diet. The heroes notice that the Abovers are all tall 
  and slender, but they don’t seem to have great physical 
  strength. Perhaps this is an effect of the lower gravity in 
  which they live. 
  The party is approached by an old man with long, 
  white hair. He speaks to the heroes, his words having a 
  peculiar accent, just like Tala’s:
  “Hail, my friends. I am Garan, elder of the 
  Abovers. I have never seen anyone like you in all 
  my life, and this surprises me, because I am very 
  old, the eldest of the whole tribe. 
  “But today is a bad day for us—you returned our 
  beloved Tala to us, and this is a good thing, but 
  the ship trembles and cries in pain, and this is a 
  very bad thing.
  I have many questions for you, and I’ll gladly 
  share the comforts of the Fungus and our ﬁ res with 
  you, but we are in trouble now. The Shipquake 
  damaged our camp, and some of my people are 
  wounded or dead. I must see to their needs ﬁ rst.   
  To give more emphasis to his words, the Shipquake 
  suddenly starts again—the whole ship’s hull inclines, 
  and low sounds of breaking metal come from the depths 
  of the Exodus. 
  The people cry out in terror. This is a totally new 
  experience in their lives—something like this has never 
  happened in all the years gone by.
  The heroes can rest a bit now. The Abovers don’t have 
  much but seem happy to share it with them. The primi-
  tive men offer the party a place to rest, only some rough 
  blankets in a corner, and a bowl of hot fungi soup, but it 
  is better than nothing.
  ACT 3: DECAYING ORBIT
  ACT 3: DECAYING ORBIT
  Assuming the party wanders a bit after supper, perhaps 
  talking and debating about what to do next, eventually 
  they ﬁ nd something unexpected—a porthole, through 
  which they can see the hot, red sun.
  SCENE 1: THE DISCOVERY
  SCENE 1: THE DISCOVERY
  Something is deﬁ nitely strange. The sun is not where 
  it is supposed to be. It is much, much closer, and its posi-
  tion is all wrong. The group understands that the Exodus 
  has deviated from its original orbit, maybe the cause be-
  ing the activation of the automatic defenses and the ﬁ nal 
  explosion of the defensive turrets.
  The Shipquake is only a side effect of the terrible 
  strain the ship’s hull is suffering, and not the most dan-
  gerous one—the Exodus has entered a decaying orbit, 
  and it is lured by the gravitational force of the sun. It 
  is only a matter of time before it will dive into the sun, 
  meeting a hot death.
  The heroes, using a wristcomputer to do the complex 
  equations, can make a Piloting (+2) roll to estimate how 
  much time they have before the Exodus is destroyed. 
  With a success they know that they have roughly 12 
  hours.
  There are two possible courses of action:The heroes 
  can try to ﬁ nd a way back to the Blazing Star and ﬂ ee, 
  abandoning all the people within the Exodus to their 
  fate. This isn’t a very heroic path, so the written scenario 
  will not consider it. If the players insist on such an option 
  the GM should arrange for some interesting encounters 
  to make the trip to the Blazing Star memorable. 
  The other, more heroic, possibility is to restore the 
  Exodus’s original orbit. Doing this requires restarting the 
  ship’s propulsion system: even a brief impulse could cor-
  rect the orbit and save the ship from the most immediate 
  danger. This information is allowable for any character 
  
  DARING TALES OF THE SPACE LANES #04
  DARING TALES OF THE SPACE LANES #04
  10
  10
  with a background in spaceship handling (if this doesn’t 
  occur to the players, the GM can suggest it to them, as 
  this would be obvious to the characters). 
  The ﬁ rst problem is ﬁ nding where the engine rooms 
  are. If the heroes ask around, no Abover seems to know 
  this information; even Galan knows nothing about it.  
  Tala, on the other hand, looks troubled, bites her lip, 
  and says nothing. The party notices this.
  The girl knows where the engine rooms are—deep in 
  the heart of the Beneathers’ territory. She is very familiar 
  with that area, having been imprisoned there for several 
  weeks. But she is terriﬁ ed by the idea of going back into 
  the wolves’ den. The heroes must persuade her—if they 
  don’t win the girl’s help, their mission is doomed to fail 
  and the Exodus is condemned to a terrible fate. 
     This is an occasion for the players do some role-
  playing. Let the group ﬁ nd good arguments to persuade 
  Tala. 
  She has just escaped a fate worse than death and now 
  the heroes want her to go back, running the same risk 
  again. The best way of winning her over is to tell her that 
  the safety of the entire ship depends on her leading the 
  party to the engine rooms, but clever players can ﬁ nd 
  other persuasive ideas.
  If you want to make this part more dramatic, you can 
  also add a little romantic interlude involving the girl and 
  one of the heroes. Maybe she has a crush on the person 
  that pulled her from the debris, or maybe the opposite, a 
  hero feels attracted to her, or, perhaps both of them are 
  attracted to each other. Don’t push this part too much, 
  because Tala is doomed to a tragic but heroic end at the 
  conclusion of this tale.
  Let the heroes make a cooperative Persuasion roll, 
  giving them a bonus (from +1 to +4) based on how 
  good their arguments and their roleplaying are.
  When Tala is ﬁ nally persuaded, she says:
  “Ok, I know a way into the territory of the Be-
  neathers. A path they don’t patrol simply because 
  it is too dangerous, only a madman would take 
  that road. Are you sure you still want to go?” 
  If the heroes accept, she takes a deep breath and goes 
  off to collect her things. After a couple of hours, the jour-
  ney begins.
  SCENE 2: TERROR ON 
  SCENE 2: TERROR ON 
  THE SUPERELEVATOR   
  THE SUPERELEVATOR   
  Tala leads the party through a series of old, dusty cor-
  ridors. The short trip ends in front of a sealed, automated 
  door. Tala looks at the heroes and says:
  “There was another passage leading to the place 
  where I want to go; we passed it before, but the 
  Shipquake blocked it, so we must go through 
  here. You must open this door if you want to con-
  tinue.” 
  The door can be opened with a Lockpicking (–2) roll 
  or bashed in. It has Toughness 10. If a hero gets a raise 
  on the Lockpicking roll, he also notices that the door 
  is not blocked because there is no power but because 
  someone willingly sealed it via its controls.
  Beyond the door there is a short corridor where 
  the group discovers a superelevator car with its doors 
  opened, but clearly out of service. Tala studies the 
  strange symbols on the control panel for some moments 
  and then says:
  “The legends of my people say that, in the past, 
  cabins like this brought people to all the decks of 
  the ship. If you can restore its magic, we can ride 
  it directly to the heart of the Beneathers’ territory, 
  without making our presence known.”
  The car is broken, but can be ﬁ xed with a Repair roll 
  and an hour of work (a raise halves the time). When it is 
  ready, the control panel illuminates, and the elevator’s 
  motor starts with a low hum. 
  The group enters the car and starts descending to the 
  lower decks.
  The trip begins calmly, the elevator goes down slowly, 
  but suddenly something strange happens, the speed in-
  creases noticeably and all the lights on the control panel 
  turn red! 
  Something is deﬁ nitely wrong! The superelevator 
  is supposed to go fast, but not this fast! 
  You hear the motor squeal, and the red lights on 
  HELP FROM THE ABOVERS
  HELP FROM THE ABOVERS
  The Abovers are decent people, but in dire need. 
  They have the bare minimum to survive and don’t 
  have much to spare for strangers. 
  If the heroes ask for aid in their mission, they must 
  make a cooperative Persuasion (–2) roll with Garan. 
  If they fail, the old man doesn’t aid the group in any 
  way, he simply cannot afford it. 
  With a standard success, he gives the heroes some 
  melee weapons, if they have none—some crude 
  war clubs (Str+d6) or a few daggers (Str+d4). 
  Most importantly, he equips each of the heroes 
  with a Fungus Light. It is a particular, biolumines-
  cent fungus that the Abovers breed because it pro-
  vides light for a very long period of time, using up 
  no combustibles. Treat it as a torch (light radius of 
  4”) that requires only a few drops of water twice a 
  week. It lives up to a year if properly nourished.
  With a raise, besides granting all of the above, Ga-
  ran reluctantly concedes the group a pair of war-
  riors to aid them in their dangerous trip.
   Abovers Warriors (2) see page 20
  DARING TALES OF THE SPACE LANES #04
  DARING TALES OF THE SPACE LANES #04
  10
  10
  with a background in spaceship handling (if this doesn’t 
  occur to the players, the GM can suggest it to them, as 
  this would be obvious to the characters). 
  The ﬁ rst problem is ﬁ nding where the engine rooms 
  are. If the heroes ask around, no Abover seems to know 
  this information; even Galan knows nothing about it.  
  Tala, on the other hand, looks troubled, bites her lip, 
  and says nothing. The party notices this.
  The girl knows where the engine rooms are—deep in 
  the heart of the Beneathers’ territory. She is very familiar 
  with that area, having been imprisoned there for several 
  weeks. But she is terriﬁ ed by the idea of going back into 
  the wolves’ den. The heroes must persuade her—if they 
  don’t win the girl’s help, their mission is doomed to fail 
  and the Exodus is condemned to a terrible fate. 
     This is an occasion for the players do some role-
  playing. Let the group ﬁ nd good arguments to persuade 
  Tala. 
  She has just escaped a fate worse than death and now 
  the heroes want her to go back, running the same risk 
  again. The best way of winning her over is to tell her that 
  the safety of the entire ship depends on her leading the 
  party to the engine rooms, but clever players can ﬁ nd 
  other persuasive ideas.
  If you want to make this part more dramatic, you can 
  also add a little romantic interlude involving the girl and 
  one of the heroes. Maybe she has a crush on the person 
  that pulled her from the debris, or maybe the opposite, a 
  hero feels attracted to her, or, perhaps both of them are 
  attracted to each other. Don’t push this part too much, 
  because Tala is doomed to a tragic but heroic end at the 
  conclusion of this tale.
  Let the heroes make a cooperative Persuasion roll, 
  giving them a bonus (from +1 to +4) based on how 
  good their arguments and their roleplaying are.
  When Tala is ﬁ nally persuaded, she says:
  “Ok, I know a way into the territory of the Be-
  neathers. A path they don’t patrol simply because 
  it is too dangerous, only a madman would take 
  that road. Are you sure you still want to go?” 
  If the heroes accept, she takes a deep breath and goes 
  off to collect her things. After a couple of hours, the jour-
  ney begins.
  SCENE 2: TERROR ON 
  SCENE 2: TERROR ON 
  THE SUPERELEVATOR   
  THE SUPERELEVATOR   
  Tala leads the party through a series of old, dusty cor-
  ridors. The short trip ends in front of a sealed, automated 
  door. Tala looks at the heroes and says:
  “There was another passage leading to the place 
  where I want to go; we passed it before, but the 
  Shipquake blocked it, so we must go through 
  here. You must open this door if you want to con-
  tinue.” 
  The door can be opened with a Lockpicking (–2) roll 
  or bashed in. It has Toughness 10. If a hero gets a raise 
  on the Lockpicking roll, he also notices that the door 
  is not blocked because there is no power but because 
  someone willingly sealed it via its controls.
  Beyond the door there is a short corridor where 
  the group discovers a superelevator car with its doors 
  opened, but clearly out of service. Tala studies the 
  strange symbols on the control panel for some moments 
  and then says:
  “The legends of my people say that, in the past, 
  cabins like this brought people to all the decks of 
  the ship. If you can restore its magic, we can ride 
  it directly to the heart of the Beneathers’ territory, 
  without making our presence known.”
  The car is broken, but can be ﬁ xed with a Repair roll 
  and an hour of work (a raise halves the time). When it is 
  ready, the control panel illuminates, and the elevator’s 
  motor starts with a low hum. 
  The group enters the car and starts descending to the 
  lower decks.
  The trip begins calmly, the elevator goes down slowly, 
  but suddenly something strange happens, the speed in-
  creases noticeably and all the lights on the control panel 
  turn red! 
  Something is deﬁ nitely wrong! The superelevator 
  is supposed to go fast, but not this fast! 
  You hear the motor squeal, and the red lights on 
  HELP FROM THE ABOVERS
  HELP FROM THE ABOVERS
  The Abovers are decent people, but in dire need. 
  They have the bare minimum to survive and don’t 
  have much to spare for strangers. 
  If the heroes ask for aid in their mission, they must 
  make a cooperative Persuasion (–2) roll with Garan. 
  If they fail, the old man doesn’t aid the group in any 
  way, he simply cannot afford it. 
  With a standard success, he gives the heroes some 
  melee weapons, if they have none—some crude 
  war clubs (Str+d6) or a few daggers (Str+d4). 
  Most importantly, he equips each of the heroes 
  with a Fungus Light. It is a particular, biolumines-
  cent fungus that the Abovers breed because it pro-
  vides light for a very long period of time, using up 
  no combustibles. Treat it as a torch (light radius of 
  4”) that requires only a few drops of water twice a 
  week. It lives up to a year if properly nourished.
  With a raise, besides granting all of the above, Ga-
  ran reluctantly concedes the group a pair of war-
  riors to aid them in their dangerous trip.
   Abovers Warriors (2) see page 20
  
  THE LAST JOURNEY OF THE EXODUS
  THE LAST JOURNEY OF THE EXODUS
  1111
  the control panel are blinking in a very alarming 
  way. It’s not a simple failure—someone or some-
  thing is deliberately pushing the motor beyond its 
  limits!  
  Mainframe, the ship’s supercomputer, recognizing the 
  heroes as intruders, has decided to kill them all by send-
  ing the superelevator crashing to the bottom of the shaft.
  The heroes have only six rounds before the car reach-
  es the abrupt and deadly end of its descent, and to save 
  their lives they must do all the following tasks in order:
    
  1. 
  Remove the cover of the control panel.  It would 
  normally be a routine job, but now the clock is 
  ticking, so it requires a Repair roll, or a Strength 
  roll to tear it away using brute force.
  2. 
  Find the remote control receiver. Now that the 
  control circuits are open, the heroes must ﬁ nd 
  the control circuits that allow an external agent, 
  in this case Mainframe, to control the elevator 
  remotely. It is a Common Knowledge roll. 
  Heroes with a background in mechanics have 
  +2 to this roll.
  3. 
  Bypass the remote control receiver. The heroes 
  now know what the remote control receiver is, 
  so they have to bypass it. It can be done with a 
  Lockpicking (–2) roll. If the situation is desper-
  ate, they can even destroy it with a blaster shot 
  (it is a Shooting roll at –2, the component has 
  Toughness 3).
  4. 
  Take direct control of the elevator. Now that the 
  external control is cut off, the party must do 
  the last, but not least important task–stop this 
  damned trap! It can be done with a Repair roll. 
  Success means that the elevator suddenly stops. 
  The heroes can control it directly from now on, 
  using the circuits.
  If the heroes manage to resolve the situation, they 
  safely reach the engine room deck, and you can proceed 
  with Scene 3.
  Otherwise, at the start of the seventh round, the su-
  perelevator crashes. The impact is so strong that it is fatal 
  to the whole party and in a few short hours the Exodus 
  will take a hot bath in the R127 system’s sun.
  SCENE 3: PREDATORS 
  SCENE 3: PREDATORS 
  IN THE DARK   
  IN THE DARK   
  Going down, you feel the force of gravity increas-
  ing slightly, becoming normal at ﬁ rst, then heavy. 
  This could explain the Beneathers’ strong phy-
  sique and sturdy frame, if it is true that they live 
  in this area. 
  Your speculations are interrupted by the superele-
  vator’s doors opening.
  You are in a big, domed hall, engulfed in darkness. 
  Tall piles of foul-smelling trash are all around; 
  ﬁ nding a passage here will not be easy. When you 
  take your ﬁ rst steps inside, you sink ankle-deep 
  into the rubbish, and something moves in the 
  dark near you.
  You immediately point the beam of your light 
  towards the source of the sound, but there is noth-
  ing there.
  Tala says:
  “Come on, we must get away from here quickly.”
  This big dome is the nest of a species of dangerous, 
  mutated creatures—Spider Rats. The sound the party 
  heard when exiting the superelevator was one of them 
  ﬂ eeing. Now, the pack is silently gathering around the 
  heroes to attack them. They are very nervous due to the 
  Shipquake, but very hungry too.
  The heroes begin crossing the dome. Ask them for a 
  Notice roll. If anyone scores a success, read the follow-
  ing:
  You see a big, strange ball of compressed rubbish 
  near you, tall as a man. You wonder who has 
  done such a strange thing. It seems to be covered 
  by a thick crusty substance.
  A strange object encased in this foul-smelling thing 
  draws your attention. It is a metal construct par-
  tially protruding from the rubbish. It must have 
  been an artifact of some type in its best times, but 
  now it is only another rusted piece of metal. You 
  see a series of batteries plugged into it and a blue, 
  shining crystal encased in the metal.
  With a Survival roll, the heroes can recognize the 
  large ball as a form of chrysalis. If a character cuts into 
  it, he’ll ﬁ nd a foetal spider rat. It is the spider rat queen 
  that shapes the balls.
  If anyone is interested in the strange, blue crystal, ask 
  them for a Common Knowledge roll. If the hero has a 
  technologically savvy background, he adds +2 to this 
  roll. With a success, the character recognizes the artifact 
  as an Ionic Condenser, one of the lost technologies the 
  party is hoping to ﬁ nd. With a raise he learns more about 
  this artifact’s construction, granting a +2 bonus to the 
  subsequent roll to remove it (see below). 
  It is rather delicate, so it requires a Repair roll to be 
  removed.
  The Ionic Condenser can be attached to any portable 
  blaster, granting the weapon a permanent +1 to damage. 
  Linking it to a weapon requires a Repair roll and a half 
  hour of work time. If the roll fails, the Condenser is not 
  properly aligned, but you can try again. Only in case of 1 
  on the Repair roll is the artifact so incorrectly connected 
  that it burns out the ﬁ rst time the weapon ﬁ res.
  THE LAST JOURNEY OF THE EXODUS
  THE LAST JOURNEY OF THE EXODUS
  1111
  the control panel are blinking in a very alarming 
  way. It’s not a simple failure—someone or some-
  thing is deliberately pushing the motor beyond its 
  limits!  
  Mainframe, the ship’s supercomputer, recognizing the 
  heroes as intruders, has decided to kill them all by send-
  ing the superelevator crashing to the bottom of the shaft.
  The heroes have only six rounds before the car reach-
  es the abrupt and deadly end of its descent, and to save 
  their lives they must do all the following tasks in order:
    
  1. 
  Remove the cover of the control panel.  It would 
  normally be a routine job, but now the clock is 
  ticking, so it requires a Repair roll, or a Strength 
  roll to tear it away using brute force.
  2. 
  Find the remote control receiver. Now that the 
  control circuits are open, the heroes must ﬁ nd 
  the control circuits that allow an external agent, 
  in this case Mainframe, to control the elevator 
  remotely. It is a Common Knowledge roll. 
  Heroes with a background in mechanics have 
  +2 to this roll.
  3. 
  Bypass the remote control receiver. The heroes 
  now know what the remote control receiver is, 
  so they have to bypass it. It can be done with a 
  Lockpicking (–2) roll. If the situation is desper-
  ate, they can even destroy it with a blaster shot 
  (it is a Shooting roll at –2, the component has 
  Toughness 3).
  4. 
  Take direct control of the elevator. Now that the 
  external control is cut off, the party must do 
  the last, but not least important task–stop this 
  damned trap! It can be done with a Repair roll. 
  Success means that the elevator suddenly stops. 
  The heroes can control it directly from now on, 
  using the circuits.
  If the heroes manage to resolve the situation, they 
  safely reach the engine room deck, and you can proceed 
  with Scene 3.
  Otherwise, at the start of the seventh round, the su-
  perelevator crashes. The impact is so strong that it is fatal 
  to the whole party and in a few short hours the Exodus 
  will take a hot bath in the R127 system’s sun.
  SCENE 3: PREDATORS 
  SCENE 3: PREDATORS 
  IN THE DARK   
  IN THE DARK   
  Going down, you feel the force of gravity increas-
  ing slightly, becoming normal at ﬁ rst, then heavy. 
  This could explain the Beneathers’ strong phy-
  sique and sturdy frame, if it is true that they live 
  in this area. 
  Your speculations are interrupted by the superele-
  vator’s doors opening.
  You are in a big, domed hall, engulfed in darkness. 
  Tall piles of foul-smelling trash are all around; 
  ﬁ nding a passage here will not be easy. When you 
  take your ﬁ rst steps inside, you sink ankle-deep 
  into the rubbish, and something moves in the 
  dark near you.
  You immediately point the beam of your light 
  towards the source of the sound, but there is noth-
  ing there.
  Tala says:
  “Come on, we must get away from here quickly.”
  This big dome is the nest of a species of dangerous, 
  mutated creatures—Spider Rats. The sound the party 
  heard when exiting the superelevator was one of them 
  ﬂ eeing. Now, the pack is silently gathering around the 
  heroes to attack them. They are very nervous due to the 
  Shipquake, but very hungry too.
  The heroes begin crossing the dome. Ask them for a 
  Notice roll. If anyone scores a success, read the follow-
  ing:
  You see a big, strange ball of compressed rubbish 
  near you, tall as a man. You wonder who has 
  done such a strange thing. It seems to be covered 
  by a thick crusty substance.
  A strange object encased in this foul-smelling thing 
  draws your attention. It is a metal construct par-
  tially protruding from the rubbish. It must have 
  been an artifact of some type in its best times, but 
  now it is only another rusted piece of metal. You 
  see a series of batteries plugged into it and a blue, 
  shining crystal encased in the metal.
  With a Survival roll, the heroes can recognize the 
  large ball as a form of chrysalis. If a character cuts into 
  it, he’ll ﬁ nd a foetal spider rat. It is the spider rat queen 
  that shapes the balls.
  If anyone is interested in the strange, blue crystal, ask 
  them for a Common Knowledge roll. If the hero has a 
  technologically savvy background, he adds +2 to this 
  roll. With a success, the character recognizes the artifact 
  as an Ionic Condenser, one of the lost technologies the 
  party is hoping to ﬁ nd. With a raise he learns more about 
  this artifact’s construction, granting a +2 bonus to the 
  subsequent roll to remove it (see below). 
  It is rather delicate, so it requires a Repair roll to be 
  removed.
  The Ionic Condenser can be attached to any portable 
  blaster, granting the weapon a permanent +1 to damage. 
  Linking it to a weapon requires a Repair roll and a half 
  hour of work time. If the roll fails, the Condenser is not 
  properly aligned, but you can try again. Only in case of 1 
  on the Repair roll is the artifact so incorrectly connected 
  that it burns out the ﬁ rst time the weapon ﬁ res.
  
  DARING TALES OF THE SPACE LANES #04
  DARING TALES OF THE SPACE LANES #04
  12
  12
  If the heroes have stopped to pick up the Ionic Con-
  denser or to open the chrysalis, the pack of spider rats 
  has had the time to surround the party, so consider this 
  when you set up the upcoming ﬁ ght. 
  Read the following part aloud:
  Suddenly you realize that there are little, shiny eyes 
  in the darkness all around you. Lots of them! You 
  hear low hisses and the sound of many feet pat-
  tering on the rubbish. You see one of the creatures. 
  It is basically a rat—though the size of a large 
  dog—but eight long, spider-like legs protrude from 
  its abdomen! Surely this is some strange mutation, 
  but you don’t have time to study it because several 
  of the beasts are attacking you!
  All the heroes must make a Notice (–2) roll to avoid 
  being surprised. The spider rats start on Hold.
  Deal action cards as usual The battle area is a square 
  24” on each side.  
  The group is marching, so let the players place their 
  characters on the table as they wish, but all within 3” of 
  a friendly character. The whole group must be more or 
  less in the middle of the battleground.
  If the pack of rats hasn’t surrounded the party, set 
  aside one spider rat per hero. These beasts will ambush 
  the party at the start of the second round of the ﬁ ght (see 
  below). Place the rest of the pack in a loose formation in 
  front of the party, 12” from the heroes. 
  If the pack of rats has surrounded the party, the situ-
  ation is a little different. Place the heroes in the middle 
  of the battleground. Set aside one spider rats per hero 
  and a single Big spider rat. The monsters have had more 
  time to prepare, so they’ll ambush at the start of the 
  ﬁ rst round. Arrange the remaining attackers in a circle 
  around the party, 8” from the heroes. 
  The ambush technique of the spider rats consists of 
  silently walking on the domed ceiling and dropping onto 
  the heads of their prey, catching them unawares. Every 
  hero not explicitly looking upward must make a Notice 
  (–4) roll, ignore this penalty if the hero has the Danger 
  Sense Edge or is deliberately looking at the ceiling. If 
  the roll fails, the spider rat attacks him with the Drop, 
  otherwise it is a normal attack. If, for any reason, the 
  attack misses, the rat falls near his victim; the beast is 
  automatically Shaken. 
  Remember that the dome is in darkness, so if the he-
  roes don’t have any sources of light, the ﬁ ght will take 
  place in a Dark (-2) condition. 
  TERRAIN
  TERRAIN
  The following terrain and props are used in the ﬁ ght.
  * Rubbish Piles: Every rubbish pile is 4” high and 
  counts as Light Cover if used for protection. It is difﬁ cult 
  ground for the heroes but not for the spider rats, which 
  are in their native environment. Use Large Burst Tem-
  plates to represent these piles. Place up to three rubbish 
  piles on the battleground.
  * Pressed Rubbish Ball: A fat ball of pressed ﬁ lth 
  (another chrysalis), seven feet tall, lies on top of one 
  of the rubbish piles. It counts as Medium Cover. With 
  a Strength roll the ball can be pushed down the pile, 
  acquiring momentum. It moves in a straight line for the 
  entire length of the slope plus 2d4+4” additional inches. 
  If someone is in the ball’s way, he must make an Agility 
  (–2) roll or suffer 2d6 damage, and be knocked to the 
  ground. Use a Small Burst Template to represent this 
  ball.
  After all the rats have been dispatched, Scene 4 starts 
  immediately. 
   Spider Rats (2 per hero) see page 20
   Giant Spider Rats (1 per hero) see page 21
  SCENE 4: SOMETIMES SMALL 
  SCENE 4: SOMETIMES SMALL 
  PUPPIES HAVE BIG MAMAS   
  PUPPIES HAVE BIG MAMAS   
  You have just dispatched the last spider rat, which 
  goes down with a ﬁ nal, raging hiss. You look 
  around, searching for some other enemy to toast 
  with your blasters, but none are left alive. You 
  become conﬁ dent, absolutely sure that no other 
  beast of this race will cross your path ever again. 
  But a loud crashing sound coming from behind a 
  big pile of trash makes you reconsider. 
  The pile is destroyed like a child’s sand castle 
  by a massive spider’s arm. In front of you, a few 
  yards away, you see the queen of the spider rats, a 
  monstrosity as big as the Blazing Star’s cargo bay. 
  Her eyes are the size of your head, and she has 
  eight of them, each trained on you with a promise 
  of death. 
  Tala shouts: 
  "Run for it! The exit is close!”  
  The spider rat queen is simply too big a danger for the 
  heroes to handle without military-grade weapons. They 
  can try to combat her, but they are doomed to fail. The 
  only reasonable thing to do in this situation is run as fast 
  as they can. 
  It is a Chase, conducted with the following rules.
  Place twelve markers representing range increments 
  with the twelfth one of a different color. The exit Tala 
  knows is represented by this marker. Place the spider rat 
  queen at the ﬁ rst increment and the heroes at the fourth, 
  within Medium range. Each increment is 5”. 
  Deal action cards as usual. 
  If the heroes start shooting at the monster, they’ll lose 
  a round (the creature has Heavy Armor so she is immune 
  to standard weapons). In this case the spider rat queen 
  will use the round to roar at the party. It is an Intimida-
  tion roll, which affects the entire group. 
  DARING TALES OF THE SPACE LANES #04
  DARING TALES OF THE SPACE LANES #04
  12
  12
  If the heroes have stopped to pick up the Ionic Con-
  denser or to open the chrysalis, the pack of spider rats 
  has had the time to surround the party, so consider this 
  when you set up the upcoming ﬁ ght. 
  Read the following part aloud:
  Suddenly you realize that there are little, shiny eyes 
  in the darkness all around you. Lots of them! You 
  hear low hisses and the sound of many feet pat-
  tering on the rubbish. You see one of the creatures. 
  It is basically a rat—though the size of a large 
  dog—but eight long, spider-like legs protrude from 
  its abdomen! Surely this is some strange mutation, 
  but you don’t have time to study it because several 
  of the beasts are attacking you!
  All the heroes must make a Notice (–2) roll to avoid 
  being surprised. The spider rats start on Hold.
  Deal action cards as usual The battle area is a square 
  24” on each side.  
  The group is marching, so let the players place their 
  characters on the table as they wish, but all within 3” of 
  a friendly character. The whole group must be more or 
  less in the middle of the battleground.
  If the pack of rats hasn’t surrounded the party, set 
  aside one spider rat per hero. These beasts will ambush 
  the party at the start of the second round of the ﬁ ght (see 
  below). Place the rest of the pack in a loose formation in 
  front of the party, 12” from the heroes. 
  If the pack of rats has surrounded the party, the situ-
  ation is a little different. Place the heroes in the middle 
  of the battleground. Set aside one spider rats per hero 
  and a single Big spider rat. The monsters have had more 
  time to prepare, so they’ll ambush at the start of the 
  ﬁ rst round. Arrange the remaining attackers in a circle 
  around the party, 8” from the heroes. 
  The ambush technique of the spider rats consists of 
  silently walking on the domed ceiling and dropping onto 
  the heads of their prey, catching them unawares. Every 
  hero not explicitly looking upward must make a Notice 
  (–4) roll, ignore this penalty if the hero has the Danger 
  Sense Edge or is deliberately looking at the ceiling. If 
  the roll fails, the spider rat attacks him with the Drop, 
  otherwise it is a normal attack. If, for any reason, the 
  attack misses, the rat falls near his victim; the beast is 
  automatically Shaken. 
  Remember that the dome is in darkness, so if the he-
  roes don’t have any sources of light, the ﬁ ght will take 
  place in a Dark (-2) condition. 
  TERRAIN
  TERRAIN
  The following terrain and props are used in the ﬁ ght.
  * Rubbish Piles: Every rubbish pile is 4” high and 
  counts as Light Cover if used for protection. It is difﬁ cult 
  ground for the heroes but not for the spider rats, which 
  are in their native environment. Use Large Burst Tem-
  plates to represent these piles. Place up to three rubbish 
  piles on the battleground.
  * Pressed Rubbish Ball: A fat ball of pressed ﬁ lth 
  (another chrysalis), seven feet tall, lies on top of one 
  of the rubbish piles. It counts as Medium Cover. With 
  a Strength roll the ball can be pushed down the pile, 
  acquiring momentum. It moves in a straight line for the 
  entire length of the slope plus 2d4+4” additional inches. 
  If someone is in the ball’s way, he must make an Agility 
  (–2) roll or suffer 2d6 damage, and be knocked to the 
  ground. Use a Small Burst Template to represent this 
  ball.
  After all the rats have been dispatched, Scene 4 starts 
  immediately. 
   Spider Rats (2 per hero) see page 20
   Giant Spider Rats (1 per hero) see page 21
  SCENE 4: SOMETIMES SMALL 
  SCENE 4: SOMETIMES SMALL 
  PUPPIES HAVE BIG MAMAS   
  PUPPIES HAVE BIG MAMAS   
  You have just dispatched the last spider rat, which 
  goes down with a ﬁ nal, raging hiss. You look 
  around, searching for some other enemy to toast 
  with your blasters, but none are left alive. You 
  become conﬁ dent, absolutely sure that no other 
  beast of this race will cross your path ever again. 
  But a loud crashing sound coming from behind a 
  big pile of trash makes you reconsider. 
  The pile is destroyed like a child’s sand castle 
  by a massive spider’s arm. In front of you, a few 
  yards away, you see the queen of the spider rats, a 
  monstrosity as big as the Blazing Star’s cargo bay. 
  Her eyes are the size of your head, and she has 
  eight of them, each trained on you with a promise 
  of death. 
  Tala shouts: 
  "Run for it! The exit is close!”  
  The spider rat queen is simply too big a danger for the 
  heroes to handle without military-grade weapons. They 
  can try to combat her, but they are doomed to fail. The 
  only reasonable thing to do in this situation is run as fast 
  as they can. 
  It is a Chase, conducted with the following rules.
  Place twelve markers representing range increments 
  with the twelfth one of a different color. The exit Tala 
  knows is represented by this marker. Place the spider rat 
  queen at the ﬁ rst increment and the heroes at the fourth, 
  within Medium range. Each increment is 5”. 
  Deal action cards as usual. 
  If the heroes start shooting at the monster, they’ll lose 
  a round (the creature has Heavy Armor so she is immune 
  to standard weapons). In this case the spider rat queen 
  will use the round to roar at the party. It is an Intimida-
  tion roll, which affects the entire group. 
  
  THE LAST JOURNEY OF THE EXODUS
  THE LAST JOURNEY OF THE EXODUS
  13
  13
  The creature will make the Intimidation attempt 
  only once, and then she begins hunting the heroes. If 
  the party wastes more time shooting, they must face the 
  consequences.
  When a hero and the spider rat queen are in the same 
  space, combat breaks out. If the beast moves into an oc-
  cupied space, her attack has the standard multi-action 
  penalty. If a hero tries to leave a segment occupied by the 
  beast, he must face a free attack. 
  The beast is too stupid to use any special maneuvers 
  in the Chase, but the heroes can gain a lot using Push.
  Don’t use the standard obstacle rules. Instead, every 
  time the heroes draw a Club as their ﬁ rst initiative card, 
  run the mini-scenes corresponding to the card value, 
  using the following table. The spider rat queen is too 
  big to be bothered by these obstacles, so she ignores the 
  table’s effects
  The value in parentheses is the modiﬁ er to the Agility 
  roll. Sometimes the mini-scene will require additional 
  rolls. If it is not explicitly told, they do not count as an 
  extra action.
  Deuce (–4) Webbed: The hero runs straight into a gi-
  ant sticky web, spun by the spider rats! The hero cannot 
  move and has –4 to all his actions until he manages to 
  break free. He can accomplish this with a Strength (–4) 
  roll or by cutting the web (Toughness 7). Other charac-
  ters can help him.
  Three (–2) Blocked Path: The hero has run into a 
  dead end! A big wall of compacted rubbish stands in 
  front of him. In this round he doesn’t use Agility for the 
  Chase roll, but Climbing (–2). Success and raises allow 
  him to gain segments as normal. 
  Four (–2) Pit: A pit hidden by a thin layer of debris 
  lies in the character’s path. He can avoid it with a Notice 
  (–2) roll. If he fails, he falls into it, suffering 2d6 dam-
  age from an Extra, and loses a segment in the Chase this 
  turn. If he succeeds with the Notice roll, he can make the 
  standard Agility roll. 
  Five (–2) Boggy Terrain: The terrain where the hero 
  stands is murky and shallow. This hinders his move-
  ments. He has –2 to Agility rolls this turn and the next.
  Six (–2) Walking Along a Narrow Walkway: The 
  character is running along a narrow, suspended, metal 
  walkway. If he fails his Agility roll, he falls, suffering only 
  1d6 damage, but he is automatically Shaken. 
  Seven (–2) Nauseating Gas: In this area the putres-
  cent refuse generates a toxic gas. Before the Agility roll, 
  the hero must make a Vigor roll. Failing it causes a level 
  of Fatigue. The hero recovers from this condition at the 
  start of the next Scene. 
  Eight (–2) Jagged Slope: The bad news is that the 
  character is running up a hill of rubbish and this slows 
  him down, so he has –2 to the Agility roll, as indicated. 
  The good news is that the next round he’ll run down the 
  other side of the hill, gaining +2 to the Agility roll. 
  Nine (0) Rubbish Moat: A large moat, full of dark, 
  foul smelling water stretches out in front of the charac-
  ter. He must jump over it! For this round, use Strength 
  instead of Agility for your Chase roll.
  Ten (0) Catapulted!: The hero is in the wrong 
  place at the wrong time. The wrong place is a long 
  metal plank, resting precariously on a large chunk 
  of metal. One of the party members unintentionally 
  makes a big ball of rubbish fall down onto the board, 
  catapulting the hero into the air! Roll a d4. The result 
  is the number of segments the hero is thrown forward. 
  He suffers 2d8 damage from an Extra and is automati-
  cally Shaken.
  Jack (0) Wrong Turn: If no one is ahead of the other 
  characters in the Chase, make a Smarts (–2) roll. With a 
  failure, the hero has taken a wrong turn and the other 
  characters have followed. Add another token between 
  the eleventh and twelfth range increments, making the 
  party’s road longer. The hero can then roll Agility as 
  usual. If the hero is not in pole position, he ignores the 
  effects of the card.
  Queen (0) Rubbish Ball: The character is near a 
  big rubbish ball which is in a favorable position. If he 
  wants, he can stop and push the ball towards the spider 
  rat queen to distract it. Consider this action a Trick—the 
  hero’s Strength versus the queen’s Smarts. The hero 
  doesn’t move this round. If the player doesn’t wish to 
  push the rubbish ball, he can perform the standard Agil-
  ity roll. 
  King (0) Surﬁ ng the Rubbish: The hero is at the top 
  of a long slope of trash. Near him there is an elongated 
  metal plank which he can use to surf down the slope! In 
  this case the hero uses d10 as Wild Dice for the Chase 
  roll of this round. If he rolls 1 on the Agility roll, regard-
  less of the Wild Die, he falls, suffering 2d8 damage from 
  an Extra. 
  Ace (0) Spider Rat-Man!: The character spies a 
  strong web ﬁ lament hanging nearby. He can choose to 
  grab it and swing down toward the exit. He must make 
  an Agility roll. For each success and raise he advances 
  one segment in the Chase (he doesn’t have the custom-
  ary limit of two segments). If he rolls 1 on the Agility roll, 
  regardless of the Wild Die, he falls onto the rubbish, and 
  becomes automatically Shaken.
  When the heroes reach the last segment, they ﬁ nd a 
  tunnel leading out of the room. The passage is too nar-
  row for the beast to enter, so they are safe.
  But other dangers await the party in Act 4! 
   Spider Rat Queen: see page 21.
  ACT 4: THE ENGINE ROOMS
  ACT 4: THE ENGINE ROOMS
  SCENE 1: OUT OF THE FRYING 
  SCENE 1: OUT OF THE FRYING 
  PAN, INTO… THE COMBUSTION 
  PAN, INTO… THE COMBUSTION 
  CHAMBER!
  CHAMBER!
  You run down the narrow passage, as fast as you 
  can. The spider rat queen roars her frustration at 
  the entrance, trying to squeeze into a space too 
  THE LAST JOURNEY OF THE EXODUS
  THE LAST JOURNEY OF THE EXODUS
  13
  13
  The creature will make the Intimidation attempt 
  only once, and then she begins hunting the heroes. If 
  the party wastes more time shooting, they must face the 
  consequences.
  When a hero and the spider rat queen are in the same 
  space, combat breaks out. If the beast moves into an oc-
  cupied space, her attack has the standard multi-action 
  penalty. If a hero tries to leave a segment occupied by the 
  beast, he must face a free attack. 
  The beast is too stupid to use any special maneuvers 
  in the Chase, but the heroes can gain a lot using Push.
  Don’t use the standard obstacle rules. Instead, every 
  time the heroes draw a Club as their ﬁ rst initiative card, 
  run the mini-scenes corresponding to the card value, 
  using the following table. The spider rat queen is too 
  big to be bothered by these obstacles, so she ignores the 
  table’s effects
  The value in parentheses is the modiﬁ er to the Agility 
  roll. Sometimes the mini-scene will require additional 
  rolls. If it is not explicitly told, they do not count as an 
  extra action.
  Deuce (–4) Webbed: The hero runs straight into a gi-
  ant sticky web, spun by the spider rats! The hero cannot 
  move and has –4 to all his actions until he manages to 
  break free. He can accomplish this with a Strength (–4) 
  roll or by cutting the web (Toughness 7). Other charac-
  ters can help him.
  Three (–2) Blocked Path: The hero has run into a 
  dead end! A big wall of compacted rubbish stands in 
  front of him. In this round he doesn’t use Agility for the 
  Chase roll, but Climbing (–2). Success and raises allow 
  him to gain segments as normal. 
  Four (–2) Pit: A pit hidden by a thin layer of debris 
  lies in the character’s path. He can avoid it with a Notice 
  (–2) roll. If he fails, he falls into it, suffering 2d6 dam-
  age from an Extra, and loses a segment in the Chase this 
  turn. If he succeeds with the Notice roll, he can make the 
  standard Agility roll. 
  Five (–2) Boggy Terrain: The terrain where the hero 
  stands is murky and shallow. This hinders his move-
  ments. He has –2 to Agility rolls this turn and the next.
  Six (–2) Walking Along a Narrow Walkway: The 
  character is running along a narrow, suspended, metal 
  walkway. If he fails his Agility roll, he falls, suffering only 
  1d6 damage, but he is automatically Shaken. 
  Seven (–2) Nauseating Gas: In this area the putres-
  cent refuse generates a toxic gas. Before the Agility roll, 
  the hero must make a Vigor roll. Failing it causes a level 
  of Fatigue. The hero recovers from this condition at the 
  start of the next Scene. 
  Eight (–2) Jagged Slope: The bad news is that the 
  character is running up a hill of rubbish and this slows 
  him down, so he has –2 to the Agility roll, as indicated. 
  The good news is that the next round he’ll run down the 
  other side of the hill, gaining +2 to the Agility roll. 
  Nine (0) Rubbish Moat: A large moat, full of dark, 
  foul smelling water stretches out in front of the charac-
  ter. He must jump over it! For this round, use Strength 
  instead of Agility for your Chase roll.
  Ten (0) Catapulted!: The hero is in the wrong 
  place at the wrong time. The wrong place is a long 
  metal plank, resting precariously on a large chunk 
  of metal. One of the party members unintentionally 
  makes a big ball of rubbish fall down onto the board, 
  catapulting the hero into the air! Roll a d4. The result 
  is the number of segments the hero is thrown forward. 
  He suffers 2d8 damage from an Extra and is automati-
  cally Shaken.
  Jack (0) Wrong Turn: If no one is ahead of the other 
  characters in the Chase, make a Smarts (–2) roll. With a 
  failure, the hero has taken a wrong turn and the other 
  characters have followed. Add another token between 
  the eleventh and twelfth range increments, making the 
  party’s road longer. The hero can then roll Agility as 
  usual. If the hero is not in pole position, he ignores the 
  effects of the card.
  Queen (0) Rubbish Ball: The character is near a 
  big rubbish ball which is in a favorable position. If he 
  wants, he can stop and push the ball towards the spider 
  rat queen to distract it. Consider this action a Trick—the 
  hero’s Strength versus the queen’s Smarts. The hero 
  doesn’t move this round. If the player doesn’t wish to 
  push the rubbish ball, he can perform the standard Agil-
  ity roll. 
  King (0) Surﬁ ng the Rubbish: The hero is at the top 
  of a long slope of trash. Near him there is an elongated 
  metal plank which he can use to surf down the slope! In 
  this case the hero uses d10 as Wild Dice for the Chase 
  roll of this round. If he rolls 1 on the Agility roll, regard-
  less of the Wild Die, he falls, suffering 2d8 damage from 
  an Extra. 
  Ace (0) Spider Rat-Man!: The character spies a 
  strong web ﬁ lament hanging nearby. He can choose to 
  grab it and swing down toward the exit. He must make 
  an Agility roll. For each success and raise he advances 
  one segment in the Chase (he doesn’t have the custom-
  ary limit of two segments). If he rolls 1 on the Agility roll, 
  regardless of the Wild Die, he falls onto the rubbish, and 
  becomes automatically Shaken.
  When the heroes reach the last segment, they ﬁ nd a 
  tunnel leading out of the room. The passage is too nar-
  row for the beast to enter, so they are safe.
  But other dangers await the party in Act 4! 
   Spider Rat Queen: see page 21.
  ACT 4: THE ENGINE ROOMS
  ACT 4: THE ENGINE ROOMS
  SCENE 1: OUT OF THE FRYING 
  SCENE 1: OUT OF THE FRYING 
  PAN, INTO… THE COMBUSTION 
  PAN, INTO… THE COMBUSTION 
  CHAMBER!
  CHAMBER!
  You run down the narrow passage, as fast as you 
  can. The spider rat queen roars her frustration at 
  the entrance, trying to squeeze into a space too 
  
  DARING TALES OF THE SPACE LANES #04
  DARING TALES OF THE SPACE LANES #04
  14
  14
  narrow for her huge size. You have faced a mortal 
  threat and survived to tell the tale!
  “That is why the Beneathers don’t patrol this 
  area!” Tala says, with wild eyes.  “Now the path is 
  clear, let us continue.”
  The passage opens into a wide and long corridor, 
  with many exits on either side. Despite the fact 
  that the lights are off and debris lies all around 
  as usual, the corridor seems more travelled than 
  the previous areas. 
   Tala goes straight on conﬁ dently, ignoring the 
  side openings and pointing towards the corridor’s 
  end, with you cautiously tailing her.
  You have almost reached the end of the corridor 
  when most of the automated doors along the 
  sides of the passage slam shut. In a moment the 
  corridor is sealed, except for the front opening 
  and two side exits.
  At this point, three bands of well-armed Beneath-
  ers come in through the three doors and surround 
  you, weapons at the ready.
  You are trapped!
  A sardonic laughter erupts from the larger group 
  of barbarians. Firstofﬁ cer, his hand on his strange 
  magic amulet, speaks to you.
  “Fools! No one can surprise the Beneathers, the 
  chosen ones of Holy Mainframe! Your actions 
  have been closely scrutinized the whole time! 
  Now lower your weapons and surrender unless 
  you wish to suffer my anger!” 
  The heroes are to be captured by the Beneathers. 
  Try to make it clear that they are outnumbered, and 
  the party’s position too precarious, to have any chance 
  of victory. If the heroes surrender, award them each a 
  benny as per the Space Pulp Rules. 
  In case the party wishes to ﬁ ght the Beneathers, the 
  corridor is 6” wide. Place the heroes in the center.
  Split the Beneathers’ forces into three 
  groups as you wish—one in front of the 
  heroes and the other two ﬂ anking on the 
  sides. The enemies are at distance of 6”. 
  The Beneathers are trying to capture them 
  alive, so they deal non-lethal damage. In the 
  very unlikely case the heroes are winning 
  the ﬁ ght, another party of equal size comes 
  in. If you want, you can use the Hazards 
  During the Shipquake table in this ﬁ ght 
  (page 7-8).
   Beneathers (4 per hero):  See page 
  19
   Grizzled Beneathers (1 per hero): 
  See page 20    
   Firstofﬁ cer, Shaman of the Be-
  neathers: See page 20 
  When the heroes ﬁ nally surrender, read 
  the following to the players:
  The Beneathers rudely bind and push 
  you to the middle of the group. Firstof-
  ﬁ cer approaches, and, looking at Tala, 
  smiles evilly. He grabs the girl’s arm 
  and pulls it roughly, making Tala cry 
  out in pain.
  “You are mine again, Tala,” the evil sha-
  man says, leading her away from you.
  CONCEALING ITEMS
  CONCEALING ITEMS
   Before binding them, the Beneathers 
  strip the heroes of all weapons and other 
  useful possessions. Remember, the bad 
  DARING TALES OF THE SPACE LANES #04
  DARING TALES OF THE SPACE LANES #04
  14
  14
  narrow for her huge size. You have faced a mortal 
  threat and survived to tell the tale!
  “That is why the Beneathers don’t patrol this 
  area!” Tala says, with wild eyes.  “Now the path is 
  clear, let us continue.”
  The passage opens into a wide and long corridor, 
  with many exits on either side. Despite the fact 
  that the lights are off and debris lies all around 
  as usual, the corridor seems more travelled than 
  the previous areas. 
   Tala goes straight on conﬁ dently, ignoring the 
  side openings and pointing towards the corridor’s 
  end, with you cautiously tailing her.
  You have almost reached the end of the corridor 
  when most of the automated doors along the 
  sides of the passage slam shut. In a moment the 
  corridor is sealed, except for the front opening 
  and two side exits.
  At this point, three bands of well-armed Beneath-
  ers come in through the three doors and surround 
  you, weapons at the ready.
  You are trapped!
  A sardonic laughter erupts from the larger group 
  of barbarians. Firstofﬁ cer, his hand on his strange 
  magic amulet, speaks to you.
  “Fools! No one can surprise the Beneathers, the 
  chosen ones of Holy Mainframe! Your actions 
  have been closely scrutinized the whole time! 
  Now lower your weapons and surrender unless 
  you wish to suffer my anger!” 
  The heroes are to be captured by the Beneathers. 
  Try to make it clear that they are outnumbered, and 
  the party’s position too precarious, to have any chance 
  of victory. If the heroes surrender, award them each a 
  benny as per the Space Pulp Rules. 
  In case the party wishes to ﬁ ght the Beneathers, the 
  corridor is 6” wide. Place the heroes in the center.
  Split the Beneathers’ forces into three 
  groups as you wish—one in front of the 
  heroes and the other two ﬂ anking on the 
  sides. The enemies are at distance of 6”. 
  The Beneathers are trying to capture them 
  alive, so they deal non-lethal damage. In the 
  very unlikely case the heroes are winning 
  the ﬁ ght, another party of equal size comes 
  in. If you want, you can use the Hazards 
  During the Shipquake table in this ﬁ ght 
  (page 7-8).
   Beneathers (4 per hero):  See page 
  19
   Grizzled Beneathers (1 per hero): 
  See page 20    
   Firstofﬁ cer, Shaman of the Be-
  neathers: See page 20 
  When the heroes ﬁ nally surrender, read 
  the following to the players:
  The Beneathers rudely bind and push 
  you to the middle of the group. Firstof-
  ﬁ cer approaches, and, looking at Tala, 
  smiles evilly. He grabs the girl’s arm 
  and pulls it roughly, making Tala cry 
  out in pain.
  “You are mine again, Tala,” the evil sha-
  man says, leading her away from you.
  CONCEALING ITEMS
  CONCEALING ITEMS
   Before binding them, the Beneathers 
  strip the heroes of all weapons and other 
  useful possessions. Remember, the bad 
  
  THE LAST JOURNEY OF THE EXODUS
  THE LAST JOURNEY OF THE EXODUS
  15
  15
  guys are very primitive and have only a vague idea of 
  what the characters’ equipment really is. While they 
  certainly conﬁ scate blasters, melee weapons (and all 
  other offensive objects the heroes used against them), 
  they don’t remove wristcomputers or similar devices as 
  these are only strange ornaments, to them. A hero can 
  try to hide one or more small items on his person. When 
  the Beneathers search the heroes, make an opposed 
  roll with the Beneathers’ Smarts (d4) versus the hero’s 
  Smarts for each object the character has tried to conceal. 
  The hero suffers –2 to all rolls for each additional object 
  concealed.
  THE BENEATHERS’ CAMP
  THE BENEATHERS’ CAMP
  You are forced to march in the center of the Be-
  neathers’ group. Many eyes survey you, none of 
  them friendly. You consider escape plans, but 
  quickly discard them. Tala watches you. In her 
  stare you read a silent plea for help, but you can 
  do nothing, for now.
  Moving on, the temperature rises, and a low, 
  humming sound is heard. For spacefarers, as you 
  are, it is the unmistakable sound of the ship’s 
  engines.
  Finally the war party reaches the village. It is 
  made up of crude huts erected among the ship’s 
  engine chambers. It is not a bad place to live as 
  it is illuminated and warm, but other problems 
  occupy your mind now.
   Small and sturdily built Beneathers of both sexes 
  stare at you with open animosity. Suddenly an-
  other Shipquake reminds you that being captured 
  is the least of your problems.
  The Beneathers scream in terror! Some of them 
  kneel down and start hitting the ground with 
  their heads, praying aloud.
  The party can try, at this point, to explain to the Be-
  neathers the real cause of the Shipquake and the possible 
  remedy. This must not happen! If a hero starts talking, he 
  is slapped across the face by a guard. Continue with the 
  following. 
  Firstofﬁ cer demands silence in his thundering 
  voice.
  Once the Beneathers have complied, the evil sha-
  man intones a prayer: “Holy Mainframe, father 
  of the Beneathers, your beloved sons offer you 
  a sacriﬁ ce to appease your omnipotence. Please 
  spare the Beneathers from your rage.” Then, four 
  guards muscle open a heavy sealed trapdoor in 
  the ﬂ oor, and you are forced to jump in. 
  You immediately realize that you have dropped 
  into one of the ship’s combustion chambers!
  SCENE 2: SPEAKING WITH MAIN-
  SCENE 2: SPEAKING WITH MAIN-
  FRAME
  FRAME
  You are in a big, cylindrical room. It is dark and 
  damp. The Beneathers close the trapdoor, sealing 
  you in the darkness.
  You look around frantically, but there is no exit. 
   A red alarm light ﬂ ashes rhythmically, and a me-
  tallic voice speaks in a deep, monotonous tone.
  “Unauthorized personnel, please abandon this 
  area. The combustion process will begin in 90 sec-
  onds. Unauthorized personnel, please abandon 
  this area. It is dangerous. The combustion process 
  will begin in 85 seconds. This is Mainframe speak-
  ing, all unauthorized crew members must evacu-
  ate this area immediately.”
  The voice is not a simple, automated recording: it is 
  Mainframe actually speaking. The combustion chamber 
  is one of the few places where it is still possible to speak 
  directly with the Exodus’s supercomputer. 
  If the heroes don’t understand this from the phrases 
  above, let them make Smarts rolls. With a success they’ll 
  notice the voice is that of a sentient being. If they fail, 
  continue speaking with Mainframe’s voice, making the 
  fact obvious to the players.
  The supercomputer is a rather primitive AI and has a 
  set of priorities:
  Priority One: Protect the ship and its crew.
  Priority Two: Obey the ofﬁ cers (recognizable by 
  badges and other ofﬁ cial designations).
  Priority Three: Protect its own existence.
  Take these priorities into account when you roleplay 
  Mainframe.
  When the party ﬁ nally recognizes that it is Mainframe 
  actually speaking, they have to quickly persuade it to 
  stop the ignition process, before it is too late. They have 
  only six rounds of time, and must do all the following 
  tasks, in order, to earn the supercomputer’s trust.
  1. 
  Inform Mainframe of the decaying orbit. The 
  heroes must convince the supercomputer of the 
  terrible plight of the Exodus. Mainframe knows 
  nothing of it because all its external sensors, 
  after the explosion of the automated defenses, 
  are malfunctioning and it is virtually blind to the 
  outside. Convincing Mainframe can be accom-
  plished with a Persuasion (–2) roll. Otherwise 
  the heroes can try to hack its communication 
  subroutines using an archaic vocal programming 
  language. It is difﬁ cult, and requires a Smarts 
  THE LAST JOURNEY OF THE EXODUS
  THE LAST JOURNEY OF THE EXODUS
  15
  15
  guys are very primitive and have only a vague idea of 
  what the characters’ equipment really is. While they 
  certainly conﬁ scate blasters, melee weapons (and all 
  other offensive objects the heroes used against them), 
  they don’t remove wristcomputers or similar devices as 
  these are only strange ornaments, to them. A hero can 
  try to hide one or more small items on his person. When 
  the Beneathers search the heroes, make an opposed 
  roll with the Beneathers’ Smarts (d4) versus the hero’s 
  Smarts for each object the character has tried to conceal. 
  The hero suffers –2 to all rolls for each additional object 
  concealed.
  THE BENEATHERS’ CAMP
  THE BENEATHERS’ CAMP
  You are forced to march in the center of the Be-
  neathers’ group. Many eyes survey you, none of 
  them friendly. You consider escape plans, but 
  quickly discard them. Tala watches you. In her 
  stare you read a silent plea for help, but you can 
  do nothing, for now.
  Moving on, the temperature rises, and a low, 
  humming sound is heard. For spacefarers, as you 
  are, it is the unmistakable sound of the ship’s 
  engines.
  Finally the war party reaches the village. It is 
  made up of crude huts erected among the ship’s 
  engine chambers. It is not a bad place to live as 
  it is illuminated and warm, but other problems 
  occupy your mind now.
   Small and sturdily built Beneathers of both sexes 
  stare at you with open animosity. Suddenly an-
  other Shipquake reminds you that being captured 
  is the least of your problems.
  The Beneathers scream in terror! Some of them 
  kneel down and start hitting the ground with 
  their heads, praying aloud.
  The party can try, at this point, to explain to the Be-
  neathers the real cause of the Shipquake and the possible 
  remedy. This must not happen! If a hero starts talking, he 
  is slapped across the face by a guard. Continue with the 
  following. 
  Firstofﬁ cer demands silence in his thundering 
  voice.
  Once the Beneathers have complied, the evil sha-
  man intones a prayer: “Holy Mainframe, father 
  of the Beneathers, your beloved sons offer you 
  a sacriﬁ ce to appease your omnipotence. Please 
  spare the Beneathers from your rage.” Then, four 
  guards muscle open a heavy sealed trapdoor in 
  the ﬂ oor, and you are forced to jump in. 
  You immediately realize that you have dropped 
  into one of the ship’s combustion chambers!
  SCENE 2: SPEAKING WITH MAIN-
  SCENE 2: SPEAKING WITH MAIN-
  FRAME
  FRAME
  You are in a big, cylindrical room. It is dark and 
  damp. The Beneathers close the trapdoor, sealing 
  you in the darkness.
  You look around frantically, but there is no exit. 
   A red alarm light ﬂ ashes rhythmically, and a me-
  tallic voice speaks in a deep, monotonous tone.
  “Unauthorized personnel, please abandon this 
  area. The combustion process will begin in 90 sec-
  onds. Unauthorized personnel, please abandon 
  this area. It is dangerous. The combustion process 
  will begin in 85 seconds. This is Mainframe speak-
  ing, all unauthorized crew members must evacu-
  ate this area immediately.”
  The voice is not a simple, automated recording: it is 
  Mainframe actually speaking. The combustion chamber 
  is one of the few places where it is still possible to speak 
  directly with the Exodus’s supercomputer. 
  If the heroes don’t understand this from the phrases 
  above, let them make Smarts rolls. With a success they’ll 
  notice the voice is that of a sentient being. If they fail, 
  continue speaking with Mainframe’s voice, making the 
  fact obvious to the players.
  The supercomputer is a rather primitive AI and has a 
  set of priorities:
  Priority One: Protect the ship and its crew.
  Priority Two: Obey the ofﬁ cers (recognizable by 
  badges and other ofﬁ cial designations).
  Priority Three: Protect its own existence.
  Take these priorities into account when you roleplay 
  Mainframe.
  When the party ﬁ nally recognizes that it is Mainframe 
  actually speaking, they have to quickly persuade it to 
  stop the ignition process, before it is too late. They have 
  only six rounds of time, and must do all the following 
  tasks, in order, to earn the supercomputer’s trust.
  1. 
  Inform Mainframe of the decaying orbit. The 
  heroes must convince the supercomputer of the 
  terrible plight of the Exodus. Mainframe knows 
  nothing of it because all its external sensors, 
  after the explosion of the automated defenses, 
  are malfunctioning and it is virtually blind to the 
  outside. Convincing Mainframe can be accom-
  plished with a Persuasion (–2) roll. Otherwise 
  the heroes can try to hack its communication 
  subroutines using an archaic vocal programming 
  language. It is difﬁ cult, and requires a Smarts 
  
  DARING TALES OF THE SPACE LANES #04
  DARING TALES OF THE SPACE LANES #04
  16
  16
  (–4) roll, but a success gives +2 to the fourth 
  step.
  2. 
  Fix Mainframe’s communications jack. 
  Mainframe is a machine, so it doesn’t believe 
  anything that is not supported by empirical data. 
  It asks the heroes to repair the communications 
  jack in this room, so it can acquire data from the 
  heroes’ wristcomputers. This must be accom-
  plished with a Repair roll. 
  3. 
  Connect a wristcomputer to Mainframe. 
  Using the now functioning communications 
  jack, Mainframe asks the heroes to connect the 
  wristcomputer that the heroes used to do all the 
  calculations on the Exodus’orbit (in Act 3). This 
  requires an Agility roll because it must be done 
  in a hurry.   
  4. 
  Gain Mainframe’s trust. When the super-
  computer has all the data, the heroes must 
  make a last effort to persuade Mainframe of 
  the accuracy of their theory. It is a Piloting roll, 
  inﬂ uenced by their Charisma modiﬁ er. If the 
  characters successfully hacked Mainframe’s 
  communication subroutines in the ﬁ rst step, 
  they add +2 to this roll.
  If, at the start of the seventh round, the heroes haven’t 
  yet gained Mainframe’s trust, the fuel injectors open to 
  pump in fuel, but nothing ﬂ ows from the tanks—all the 
  combustible liquid was exhausted ages ago!
  There is no ﬁ re, but the terrible residual odors from 
  the conduits causes a level of Fatigue to the heroes. This 
  effect lasts until the scenario ends, but they can recover 
  from this condition with a Healing (–2) roll.
  The heroes may again try to persuade Mainframe, 
  until they succeed.
  When the supercomputer is ﬁ nally convinced, it says:
  “This artiﬁ cial intelligence ﬁ nds your theory cor-
  rect. The Exodus will be destroyed if not moved 
  from its current orbit. The systems status is as 
  follows: power plant efﬁ ciency at 40%, propel-
  lers efﬁ ciency at 47%. Moving a short distance 
  is theoretically possible. But there is a problem; 
  the energy connection between the power plant 
  and the propellers is interrupted. Until the energy 
  connection is restored it is impossible to move the 
  Exodus from its current orbit.”   
  The heroes can now converse freely with Mainframe. 
  Here are some of the questions the party might ask and 
  Mainframe’s answers.   
  Q: “If we promise to repair the energy connection, 
  will you free us from this room?”
  A: “Yes, this artiﬁ cial intelligence will free you 
  from Combustion Chamber Number 27 and give 
  you directions to the energy connection area,but 
  access to that area, for security reasons, is con-
  trolled by another, independent computer. You 
  will need an ofﬁ cer’s badge to gain access to that 
  area.”
  Q : “Where can we ﬁ nd an ofﬁ cer’s badge?”
  A: “The only known location of an ofﬁ cer’s badge 
  is on the individual known as Firstofﬁ cer, highest 
  ranking ofﬁ cer of this ship.”
  Q: “Can you lead us unnoticed to Firstofﬁ cer’s 
  current position?”
  A: “Yes, this artiﬁ cial intelligence can accomplish 
  this task.”
  Q: “Firstofﬁ cer and the Beneathers consider you 
  a god.  Can you order Firstofﬁ cer to give us the 
  badge?”
  A: “No, this artiﬁ cial intelligence must obey ofﬁ -
  cers’ orders, not give them. The most this artiﬁ cial 
  intelligence can do is ignore a direct order from 
  an ofﬁ cer if it puts the ship’s safety in danger.” 
  Q: “Can you grant us access to the energy connec-
  tion area without the ofﬁ cer’s badge?”
  A: “No, this artiﬁ cial intelligence cannot accom-
  plish this task. The computer monitoring the en-
  ergy connection area is physically separated from 
  Mainframe.”
  SCENE 3: TALA’S SACRIFICE
  SCENE 3: TALA’S SACRIFICE
  When the heroes are ready, Mainframe opens a main-
  tenance hatch allowing the party to leave the room. The 
  conduit joins with the ventilation system, from which 
  reaching Firstofﬁ cer’s quarters is relatively easy. The 
  players may want to do other things before confronting 
  Firstofﬁ cer such as arming themselves (see the Improvis-
  ing a Weapon sidebar).  
  After all is settled, read the following passage:
  Mainframe opens a maintenance hatch that al-
  lows you to leave the combustion chamber. You 
  then follow the conduit until it joins with the ven-
  tilation system. You walk along some old, dusty 
  corridors; the path is easy because a little light 
  ﬁ lters from vents placed at regular intervals.
  After ﬁ fteen minutes, following the supercomput-
  er’s directions, you reach a speciﬁ c vent. Putting 
  your face up to the grating you can see Firstofﬁ -
  cer’s quarters. The evil shaman is asleep on a big 
  bed. Around his neck is the ofﬁ cer’s badge. It is so 
  near but just out of your reach!
  But, wait a moment! Tala is on the bed too, 
  DARING TALES OF THE SPACE LANES #04
  DARING TALES OF THE SPACE LANES #04
  16
  16
  (–4) roll, but a success gives +2 to the fourth 
  step.
  2. 
  Fix Mainframe’s communications jack. 
  Mainframe is a machine, so it doesn’t believe 
  anything that is not supported by empirical data. 
  It asks the heroes to repair the communications 
  jack in this room, so it can acquire data from the 
  heroes’ wristcomputers. This must be accom-
  plished with a Repair roll. 
  3. 
  Connect a wristcomputer to Mainframe. 
  Using the now functioning communications 
  jack, Mainframe asks the heroes to connect the 
  wristcomputer that the heroes used to do all the 
  calculations on the Exodus’orbit (in Act 3). This 
  requires an Agility roll because it must be done 
  in a hurry.   
  4. 
  Gain Mainframe’s trust. When the super-
  computer has all the data, the heroes must 
  make a last effort to persuade Mainframe of 
  the accuracy of their theory. It is a Piloting roll, 
  inﬂ uenced by their Charisma modiﬁ er. If the 
  characters successfully hacked Mainframe’s 
  communication subroutines in the ﬁ rst step, 
  they add +2 to this roll.
  If, at the start of the seventh round, the heroes haven’t 
  yet gained Mainframe’s trust, the fuel injectors open to 
  pump in fuel, but nothing ﬂ ows from the tanks—all the 
  combustible liquid was exhausted ages ago!
  There is no ﬁ re, but the terrible residual odors from 
  the conduits causes a level of Fatigue to the heroes. This 
  effect lasts until the scenario ends, but they can recover 
  from this condition with a Healing (–2) roll.
  The heroes may again try to persuade Mainframe, 
  until they succeed.
  When the supercomputer is ﬁ nally convinced, it says:
  “This artiﬁ cial intelligence ﬁ nds your theory cor-
  rect. The Exodus will be destroyed if not moved 
  from its current orbit. The systems status is as 
  follows: power plant efﬁ ciency at 40%, propel-
  lers efﬁ ciency at 47%. Moving a short distance 
  is theoretically possible. But there is a problem; 
  the energy connection between the power plant 
  and the propellers is interrupted. Until the energy 
  connection is restored it is impossible to move the 
  Exodus from its current orbit.”   
  The heroes can now converse freely with Mainframe. 
  Here are some of the questions the party might ask and 
  Mainframe’s answers.   
  Q: “If we promise to repair the energy connection, 
  will you free us from this room?”
  A: “Yes, this artiﬁ cial intelligence will free you 
  from Combustion Chamber Number 27 and give 
  you directions to the energy connection area,but 
  access to that area, for security reasons, is con-
  trolled by another, independent computer. You 
  will need an ofﬁ cer’s badge to gain access to that 
  area.”
  Q : “Where can we ﬁ nd an ofﬁ cer’s badge?”
  A: “The only known location of an ofﬁ cer’s badge 
  is on the individual known as Firstofﬁ cer, highest 
  ranking ofﬁ cer of this ship.”
  Q: “Can you lead us unnoticed to Firstofﬁ cer’s 
  current position?”
  A: “Yes, this artiﬁ cial intelligence can accomplish 
  this task.”
  Q: “Firstofﬁ cer and the Beneathers consider you 
  a god.  Can you order Firstofﬁ cer to give us the 
  badge?”
  A: “No, this artiﬁ cial intelligence must obey ofﬁ -
  cers’ orders, not give them. The most this artiﬁ cial 
  intelligence can do is ignore a direct order from 
  an ofﬁ cer if it puts the ship’s safety in danger.” 
  Q: “Can you grant us access to the energy connec-
  tion area without the ofﬁ cer’s badge?”
  A: “No, this artiﬁ cial intelligence cannot accom-
  plish this task. The computer monitoring the en-
  ergy connection area is physically separated from 
  Mainframe.”
  SCENE 3: TALA’S SACRIFICE
  SCENE 3: TALA’S SACRIFICE
  When the heroes are ready, Mainframe opens a main-
  tenance hatch allowing the party to leave the room. The 
  conduit joins with the ventilation system, from which 
  reaching Firstofﬁ cer’s quarters is relatively easy. The 
  players may want to do other things before confronting 
  Firstofﬁ cer such as arming themselves (see the Improvis-
  ing a Weapon sidebar).  
  After all is settled, read the following passage:
  Mainframe opens a maintenance hatch that al-
  lows you to leave the combustion chamber. You 
  then follow the conduit until it joins with the ven-
  tilation system. You walk along some old, dusty 
  corridors; the path is easy because a little light 
  ﬁ lters from vents placed at regular intervals.
  After ﬁ fteen minutes, following the supercomput-
  er’s directions, you reach a speciﬁ c vent. Putting 
  your face up to the grating you can see Firstofﬁ -
  cer’s quarters. The evil shaman is asleep on a big 
  bed. Around his neck is the ofﬁ cer’s badge. It is so 
  near but just out of your reach!
  But, wait a moment! Tala is on the bed too, 
  
  THE LAST JOURNEY OF THE EXODUS
  THE LAST JOURNEY OF THE EXODUS
  17
  17
  chained near him, quietly weeping. Your position 
  doesn’t allow you to see very much of the room, 
  but on the ﬂ oor you see the shadows cast by a 
  couple of guards standing nearby, so you must 
  proceed with caution!
  The  grating is too ﬁ rmly ﬁ xed to the wall to be re-
  moved, and even if the party found a way, it would be a 
  noisy process. In gaming terms it will require three suc-
  cesses or raises from Strength (–2) rolls. Each attempt 
  requires a round and draws the guards into the room.
  The best thing the heroes can do is to attract Tala’s 
  attention. It requires a Stealth roll.
  When the girl becomes aware of the heroes, she 
  sneaks near the vent where they can talk. Every round 
  of speaking requires a Stealth roll by the heroes. After 
  each failure, Firstofficer moves in his sleep and mur-
  murs some words. After three failures the evil shaman 
  wakes up. If the heroes haven’t obtained the officer’s 
  badge yet, he shouts for the guards. Continue to 
  Scene 4, but the party doesn’t have the badge and 
  Tala is still alive. In this case they have to kill First-
  officer and then repair the energy connection (see 
  below).
  If the party manages to speak to Tala, they must per-
  suade her to steal the badge from the sleeping Firstof-
  ﬁ cer and hand it to the heroes through the grating.
  Tala automatically steals the badge (no roll required), 
  and hands it to the party, but at that moment Firstofﬁ cer 
  awakens.
  “Stupid slave! What have you done?” thunders the 
  shaman’s voice, his face distorted by both rage 
  and fear.
  But it is too late. The badge is ﬁ nally in your 
  hands!
  “Guards! Guards!” Firstofﬁ cer shouts, his hands 
  clutch Tala’s soft skin.
  The girl stares at the Beneathers’ leader, with grim 
  deﬁ ance in her eyes. 
  “You… fool!” Firstofﬁ cer clasps her thin neck in 
  his big hands, and the poor, courageous girl, col-
  lapses. She seems asleep, but you know Tala is 
  dead.
  In the meantime, the guards have arrived. Shots 
  ﬁ red from your conﬁ scated blasters strike the 
  grating, so you are forced to retreat.
  Mainframe speaks to you through the badge “You 
  must go now. I will lead you to the energy connec-
  tion chamber.”
  You start running along the conduit. Tala’s death 
  ill not be in vain. 
  SCENE 4: BATTLE FOR 
  SCENE 4: BATTLE FOR 
  THE ENERGY CONNECTION
  THE ENERGY CONNECTION
  Mainframe’s voice comes out mixed with interfer-
  ence from the old ofﬁ cer’s badge. You are running 
  along narrow, hot corridors, guided only by the 
  artiﬁ cial intelligence’s directions.
  You are sweating. The ship’s air is becoming hotter, 
  and this is not a good sign. It means the Exodus is 
  closer to the sun, and the ship’s shielding systems 
  are failing. You must hurry, or all will be lost!
  You ﬁ nally leave the maze of corridors. You are in 
  IMPROVISING A WEAPON
  IMPROVISING A WEAPON
  From the beginning of Act 4, the party is unarmed. 
  The players will certainly try to arm themselves in 
  some manner. The ship has plenty of debris, broken 
  parts and components, so ﬁ nding improvised weap-
  ons will not be difﬁ cult. When searching for an im-
  provised weapon, let the heroes make a Notice roll. 
  Every roll takes ﬁ ve minutes. If the heroes try to do 
  this during combat, they can do it in a single round 
  (this is pulp, after all!) but with –4 to the roll.
  Failure: The hero ﬁ nds a jagged piece of metal. It 
  is an improvised weapon; it deals Str+d4 damage, 
  -2 to Fighting rolls, but breaks on 1 on the Fighting 
  die.
  Success: The hero ﬁ nds a short club or something 
  similar. It is not a true weapon, but it is better than 
  the previous entry. It deals Str+d6 damage, -1 to 
  Fighting rolls and breaks on 1 on the Fighting die.
  Raise: The hero ﬁ nds a balanced metal bar or some-
  thing equivalent. It is considered a true weapon, 
  even if not very reliable. The player can choose one 
  of the following options. First option, the weapon 
  deals Str+d6 damage and gives no penalty to Fight-
  ing rolls. Second option, the weapon deals Str+d8 
  damage but causes -1 to Fighting rolls.
  Both versions break on 1 on the Fighting die
  THE MACGYVER EDGE
  THE MACGYVER EDGE
  This is a VERY useful Edge to have in a situation 
  like this. It confers +2 on the previous table roll, 
  and allows the character to create something more 
  complex with a raise (like a sling, quarterstaff, 
  spear, or small shield). If a hero ﬁ nds something 
  explosive, he can also create a crude bomb (range: 
  3/6/12, SMT, 2d6 damage). And with electronic 
  components, a crude blaster (range: 12/24/48, 2d6 
  damage, 2d4 shots, -1 Shooting) can be assembled. 
  These are only examples, let the players be creative 
  and reward them for good ideas.
  THE LAST JOURNEY OF THE EXODUS
  THE LAST JOURNEY OF THE EXODUS
  17
  17
  chained near him, quietly weeping. Your position 
  doesn’t allow you to see very much of the room, 
  but on the ﬂ oor you see the shadows cast by a 
  couple of guards standing nearby, so you must 
  proceed with caution!
  The  grating is too ﬁ rmly ﬁ xed to the wall to be re-
  moved, and even if the party found a way, it would be a 
  noisy process. In gaming terms it will require three suc-
  cesses or raises from Strength (–2) rolls. Each attempt 
  requires a round and draws the guards into the room.
  The best thing the heroes can do is to attract Tala’s 
  attention. It requires a Stealth roll.
  When the girl becomes aware of the heroes, she 
  sneaks near the vent where they can talk. Every round 
  of speaking requires a Stealth roll by the heroes. After 
  each failure, Firstofficer moves in his sleep and mur-
  murs some words. After three failures the evil shaman 
  wakes up. If the heroes haven’t obtained the officer’s 
  badge yet, he shouts for the guards. Continue to 
  Scene 4, but the party doesn’t have the badge and 
  Tala is still alive. In this case they have to kill First-
  officer and then repair the energy connection (see 
  below).
  If the party manages to speak to Tala, they must per-
  suade her to steal the badge from the sleeping Firstof-
  ﬁ cer and hand it to the heroes through the grating.
  Tala automatically steals the badge (no roll required), 
  and hands it to the party, but at that moment Firstofﬁ cer 
  awakens.
  “Stupid slave! What have you done?” thunders the 
  shaman’s voice, his face distorted by both rage 
  and fear.
  But it is too late. The badge is ﬁ nally in your 
  hands!
  “Guards! Guards!” Firstofﬁ cer shouts, his hands 
  clutch Tala’s soft skin.
  The girl stares at the Beneathers’ leader, with grim 
  deﬁ ance in her eyes. 
  “You… fool!” Firstofﬁ cer clasps her thin neck in 
  his big hands, and the poor, courageous girl, col-
  lapses. She seems asleep, but you know Tala is 
  dead.
  In the meantime, the guards have arrived. Shots 
  ﬁ red from your conﬁ scated blasters strike the 
  grating, so you are forced to retreat.
  Mainframe speaks to you through the badge “You 
  must go now. I will lead you to the energy connec-
  tion chamber.”
  You start running along the conduit. Tala’s death 
  ill not be in vain. 
  SCENE 4: BATTLE FOR 
  SCENE 4: BATTLE FOR 
  THE ENERGY CONNECTION
  THE ENERGY CONNECTION
  Mainframe’s voice comes out mixed with interfer-
  ence from the old ofﬁ cer’s badge. You are running 
  along narrow, hot corridors, guided only by the 
  artiﬁ cial intelligence’s directions.
  You are sweating. The ship’s air is becoming hotter, 
  and this is not a good sign. It means the Exodus is 
  closer to the sun, and the ship’s shielding systems 
  are failing. You must hurry, or all will be lost!
  You ﬁ nally leave the maze of corridors. You are in 
  IMPROVISING A WEAPON
  IMPROVISING A WEAPON
  From the beginning of Act 4, the party is unarmed. 
  The players will certainly try to arm themselves in 
  some manner. The ship has plenty of debris, broken 
  parts and components, so ﬁ nding improvised weap-
  ons will not be difﬁ cult. When searching for an im-
  provised weapon, let the heroes make a Notice roll. 
  Every roll takes ﬁ ve minutes. If the heroes try to do 
  this during combat, they can do it in a single round 
  (this is pulp, after all!) but with –4 to the roll.
  Failure: The hero ﬁ nds a jagged piece of metal. It 
  is an improvised weapon; it deals Str+d4 damage, 
  -2 to Fighting rolls, but breaks on 1 on the Fighting 
  die.
  Success: The hero ﬁ nds a short club or something 
  similar. It is not a true weapon, but it is better than 
  the previous entry. It deals Str+d6 damage, -1 to 
  Fighting rolls and breaks on 1 on the Fighting die.
  Raise: The hero ﬁ nds a balanced metal bar or some-
  thing equivalent. It is considered a true weapon, 
  even if not very reliable. The player can choose one 
  of the following options. First option, the weapon 
  deals Str+d6 damage and gives no penalty to Fight-
  ing rolls. Second option, the weapon deals Str+d8 
  damage but causes -1 to Fighting rolls.
  Both versions break on 1 on the Fighting die
  THE MACGYVER EDGE
  THE MACGYVER EDGE
  This is a VERY useful Edge to have in a situation 
  like this. It confers +2 on the previous table roll, 
  and allows the character to create something more 
  complex with a raise (like a sling, quarterstaff, 
  spear, or small shield). If a hero ﬁ nds something 
  explosive, he can also create a crude bomb (range: 
  3/6/12, SMT, 2d6 damage). And with electronic 
  components, a crude blaster (range: 12/24/48, 2d6 
  damage, 2d4 shots, -1 Shooting) can be assembled. 
  These are only examples, let the players be creative 
  and reward them for good ideas.
  
  DARING TALES OF THE SPACE LANES #04
  DARING TALES OF THE SPACE LANES #04
  18
  18
  a big shaft now, hundreds of feet deep, ringed by 
  a catwalk. 
  In the middle of the shaft there is a platform, built 
  around a big vertical tube. On the tube there is a 
  small, sealed door. This must be the entrance to 
  the energy connection!
  You quickly take one of the three suspended 
  catwalks leading to the platform and reach the 
  sealed door. 
  Just then Firsofﬁ cer and a group of Beneathers 
  come in through the same corridor from which 
  you arrived. The evil shaman shouts his rage and 
  orders his men to attack. A terrible sound of shak-
  ing metal and debris falling from the ceiling tells 
  you the Shipquake is starting again!
  This is the ﬁ nal battle of the scenario. The heroes 
  must divide their attention on two fronts—one or more 
  of them must open the energy connection, ﬁ nd the inter-
  ruption and repair it. In the meantime, the others must 
  defend the platform from the hordes of Beneathers. 
  When the energy connection is restored, go to The End 
  (see Fixing the Energy Connection for more details).
  Deal action cards as normal.
  The combat is staged in a circular area 24” in diameter; 
  this is the shaft’s perimeter. There is only one entrance 
  to the shaft from where the heroes and the Beneathers 
  came in. It is 4” wide and, looking at the combat area 
  clockwise, it is located at 12 o’clock. 
  The Beneathers enter the combat area through this 
  opening in the ﬁ rst round.
  Around the shaft’s perimeter there is a 2” wide cat-
  walk, protected by a railing.
  In the middle of the shaft there is the platform where 
  the players are. Use a large burst template to represent 
  it. There are three catwalks leading from the shaft’s pas-
  sageway to the platform. Each catwalk is 2” wide. Look-
  ing at the combat area clockwise they must be placed at 
  12, 4, and 8 o’clock.
  Place the energy connection entrance in the middle 
  of the platform. It can be represented by a Small Burst 
  Template. It has a sealed door, at 12 o’clock (see Fixing 
  the Energy Connection for more details).
  The Beneathers’ tactic is straightforward—charge, 
  charge, and charge again, trying to gain access to the 
  platform. Even Firstofﬁ cer will get up close and person-
  al this time. The fanatics want to recover the ofﬁ cer’s 
  badge at any cost. They are ready to sacriﬁ ce their lives, 
  but not to lose their relic. A Beneather will not attack a 
  hero if doing this threatens the integrity of the ofﬁ cer’s 
  badge.
  Heroes’ Weapons. The heroes’ weapons are now 
  in the hands of the Beneathers. They are not very good 
  at using them (–2 to Shooting rolls due the All Thumbs 
  Hindrance), but if the party can recover them, they’ll 
  have quite an advantage in the ﬁ ght. When the Beneath-
  ers enter the shaft, randomly pick which of them has the 
  heroes’ weapons and mark them so that the players can 
  recognize who is brandishing which weapon.
  Shipquake! The shipquake starts again during the 
  ﬁ ght, so you must use the Hazards During the Shipquake 
  table on page 7-8.
   Beneathers (2 per hero):  See page 19
   Grizzled Beneathers (1 per hero): See page 
  20   
   
  Firstofﬁ cer, Shaman of the Beneathers: See 
  page 20 
  TERRAIN AND PROPS
  TERRAIN AND PROPS
  The heroes will likely be poorly armed (or Unarmed) 
  in this ﬁ ght, so great attention must be paid to terrain 
  and prop use to make this combat a real pulp battle.
  Metal Barrels. The platform where the heroes stand 
  has nine metal barrels stored on it. Let the heroes place 
  them where they want on the platform. They are rather 
  heavy, but cylindrical, so they can be easily rolled. They 
  grant Light cover for a standing person and Medium 
  cover for a prone one. They have Toughness 7. A single 
  barrel takes 1” on the gaming table. You can use gaming 
  markers to represent them.
  Fire Extinguisher’s Hose. Place a marker (different 
  from those used to represent the barrels) on the plat-
  form to represent a ﬁ re extinguisher box. Inside the box 
  there is a hose. The hose is 12” long and can be used to 
  spray enemies with chilling, ﬁ re retardant foam. Treat it 
  as the Burst power, with a cold trapping. Use Shooting as 
  the arcane skill. The apparatus contains enough charges 
  for three uses.
  Metal Railing. The catwalks and the platform perim-
  eter are protected by a metal railing that prevents falling 
  into the void. The railing can be removed with a Strength 
  roll (the removed metal bar counts as a success on the 
  Improvising a Weapon table, see page 17).
  The Void. Beyond the metal railing, the shaft is hun-
  dreds of feet deep. Falling in means automatic death for 
  an Extra. A Wild Card pushed beyond the metal railing 
  clings to the edge and must make a Strength (–4) roll to 
  climb up (this can be cooperative).
  FIXING THE ENERGY CONNECTION
  FIXING THE ENERGY CONNECTION
  One or more heroes must perform the following steps, 
  in the order given, to repair the energy connection:
  1. 
  Insert the ofﬁ cer’s badge into the door’s 
  security lock. The sealed door has no standard 
  lock, but instead a communications jack where 
  an ofﬁ cer’s badge can be inserted. Inserting 
  Firstofﬁ cer’s badge, letting the computer accept 
  it, and opening the door requires a full round.
  2. 
  Find the interruption. Inside the tube there 
  is a very thick crystalline ﬁ lament running 
  from top to bottom. The ﬁ lament is the energy 
  conductor, and it is broken somewhere close. It 
  requires a Notice (–2) roll to spot the damage. 
  DARING TALES OF THE SPACE LANES #04
  DARING TALES OF THE SPACE LANES #04
  18
  18
  a big shaft now, hundreds of feet deep, ringed by 
  a catwalk. 
  In the middle of the shaft there is a platform, built 
  around a big vertical tube. On the tube there is a 
  small, sealed door. This must be the entrance to 
  the energy connection!
  You quickly take one of the three suspended 
  catwalks leading to the platform and reach the 
  sealed door. 
  Just then Firsofﬁ cer and a group of Beneathers 
  come in through the same corridor from which 
  you arrived. The evil shaman shouts his rage and 
  orders his men to attack. A terrible sound of shak-
  ing metal and debris falling from the ceiling tells 
  you the Shipquake is starting again!
  This is the ﬁ nal battle of the scenario. The heroes 
  must divide their attention on two fronts—one or more 
  of them must open the energy connection, ﬁ nd the inter-
  ruption and repair it. In the meantime, the others must 
  defend the platform from the hordes of Beneathers. 
  When the energy connection is restored, go to The End 
  (see Fixing the Energy Connection for more details).
  Deal action cards as normal.
  The combat is staged in a circular area 24” in diameter; 
  this is the shaft’s perimeter. There is only one entrance 
  to the shaft from where the heroes and the Beneathers 
  came in. It is 4” wide and, looking at the combat area 
  clockwise, it is located at 12 o’clock. 
  The Beneathers enter the combat area through this 
  opening in the ﬁ rst round.
  Around the shaft’s perimeter there is a 2” wide cat-
  walk, protected by a railing.
  In the middle of the shaft there is the platform where 
  the players are. Use a large burst template to represent 
  it. There are three catwalks leading from the shaft’s pas-
  sageway to the platform. Each catwalk is 2” wide. Look-
  ing at the combat area clockwise they must be placed at 
  12, 4, and 8 o’clock.
  Place the energy connection entrance in the middle 
  of the platform. It can be represented by a Small Burst 
  Template. It has a sealed door, at 12 o’clock (see Fixing 
  the Energy Connection for more details).
  The Beneathers’ tactic is straightforward—charge, 
  charge, and charge again, trying to gain access to the 
  platform. Even Firstofﬁ cer will get up close and person-
  al this time. The fanatics want to recover the ofﬁ cer’s 
  badge at any cost. They are ready to sacriﬁ ce their lives, 
  but not to lose their relic. A Beneather will not attack a 
  hero if doing this threatens the integrity of the ofﬁ cer’s 
  badge.
  Heroes’ Weapons. The heroes’ weapons are now 
  in the hands of the Beneathers. They are not very good 
  at using them (–2 to Shooting rolls due the All Thumbs 
  Hindrance), but if the party can recover them, they’ll 
  have quite an advantage in the ﬁ ght. When the Beneath-
  ers enter the shaft, randomly pick which of them has the 
  heroes’ weapons and mark them so that the players can 
  recognize who is brandishing which weapon.
  Shipquake! The shipquake starts again during the 
  ﬁ ght, so you must use the Hazards During the Shipquake 
  table on page 7-8.
   Beneathers (2 per hero):  See page 19
   Grizzled Beneathers (1 per hero): See page 
  20   
   
  Firstofﬁ cer, Shaman of the Beneathers: See 
  page 20 
  TERRAIN AND PROPS
  TERRAIN AND PROPS
  The heroes will likely be poorly armed (or Unarmed) 
  in this ﬁ ght, so great attention must be paid to terrain 
  and prop use to make this combat a real pulp battle.
  Metal Barrels. The platform where the heroes stand 
  has nine metal barrels stored on it. Let the heroes place 
  them where they want on the platform. They are rather 
  heavy, but cylindrical, so they can be easily rolled. They 
  grant Light cover for a standing person and Medium 
  cover for a prone one. They have Toughness 7. A single 
  barrel takes 1” on the gaming table. You can use gaming 
  markers to represent them.
  Fire Extinguisher’s Hose. Place a marker (different 
  from those used to represent the barrels) on the plat-
  form to represent a ﬁ re extinguisher box. Inside the box 
  there is a hose. The hose is 12” long and can be used to 
  spray enemies with chilling, ﬁ re retardant foam. Treat it 
  as the Burst power, with a cold trapping. Use Shooting as 
  the arcane skill. The apparatus contains enough charges 
  for three uses.
  Metal Railing. The catwalks and the platform perim-
  eter are protected by a metal railing that prevents falling 
  into the void. The railing can be removed with a Strength 
  roll (the removed metal bar counts as a success on the 
  Improvising a Weapon table, see page 17).
  The Void. Beyond the metal railing, the shaft is hun-
  dreds of feet deep. Falling in means automatic death for 
  an Extra. A Wild Card pushed beyond the metal railing 
  clings to the edge and must make a Strength (–4) roll to 
  climb up (this can be cooperative).
  FIXING THE ENERGY CONNECTION
  FIXING THE ENERGY CONNECTION
  One or more heroes must perform the following steps, 
  in the order given, to repair the energy connection:
  1. 
  Insert the ofﬁ cer’s badge into the door’s 
  security lock. The sealed door has no standard 
  lock, but instead a communications jack where 
  an ofﬁ cer’s badge can be inserted. Inserting 
  Firstofﬁ cer’s badge, letting the computer accept 
  it, and opening the door requires a full round.
  2. 
  Find the interruption. Inside the tube there 
  is a very thick crystalline ﬁ lament running 
  from top to bottom. The ﬁ lament is the energy 
  conductor, and it is broken somewhere close. It 
  requires a Notice (–2) roll to spot the damage. 
  
  THE LAST JOURNEY OF THE EXODUS
  THE LAST JOURNEY OF THE EXODUS
  19
  19
  This action normally requires a full round, but 
  with a raise on the Notice roll it is a free action.
  3. 
  Climb up the tube. The interruption is a few 
  yards above the hero’s current position, so 
  he needs to climb up a metal ladder to reach 
  it. Normally it would be a routine action, but 
  now the character is in a real hurry, and the 
  Shipquake is increasing in intensity, so he must 
  perform three successful Climbing rolls to reach 
  the location, every raise scored counts as an 
  extra success.  Each Climbing attempt requires a 
  round.
  4. 
  Fix the ﬁ lament. The ﬁ lament is not seriously 
  broken, so the two severed parts can be linked 
  together with little effort. It requires three suc-
  cessful Repair rolls, every raise scored counts as 
  an extra success. Each Repair attempt requires a 
  round. 
  It’s working! When the ﬁ lament is ﬁ nally ﬁ xed, the 
  energy can ﬂ ow through it. Now you can go to The End.
  THE END
  THE END
  “The energy ﬂ ows through the now repaired ﬁ la-
  ment, which shines with intense blue light. You 
  hear the ship’s propellers humming and activat-
  ing again after hundreds of years! 
  The ship starts moving, with a cataclysmic effect 
  on the environment! 
  The Beneathers, terriﬁ ed by this, ﬂ ee in all directions. 
  Firstofﬁ cer tries everything in his power to stop them, 
  but it is impossible. In their fear the barbarians 
  trample him and he stumbles over the railing. 
  The last thing you experience from the evil shaman 
  is his scream as he plummets to meet his doom.
  After some minutes the ship stabilizes. Mainframe 
  tells you the Shipquake has ended in all the areas 
  of the Exodus under its control, and the tempera-
  ture is normalizing. You have saved your own 
  lives, and that of the Exodus as well.”    
  With the ofﬁ cer’s badge and the ability to commu-
  nicate with Mainframe, the heroes manage to return to 
  the Abovers’s camp and then the Blazing Star with little 
  difﬁ culty.
  If Tala was killed, the party recovers her body–the Be-
  neathers abandon this area forever, migrating to other, 
  safer zones. This day will be the last of their supremacy 
  aboard the ship.
  Tala will be buried as the customs of her tribe dic-
  tate—her body will be placed in one of the hydroponic 
  pools, so that her living force and spirit will live on for-
  ever within the tribe.
  Her name and the names of the heroes will never be 
  forgotten.
  Galan, the Abovers’s leader, wants to rewards the he-
  roes, but he has nothing of value to offer them.
  Eventually the party makes a casual ﬁ nd shortly after 
  Tala’s burial—a crate full of old, but still functional, ho-
  lographic cubes abandoned in a corner of the Abovers’s 
  village. The primitive men were unable to activate or ﬁ nd 
  an alternative use for them, but they are certainly valu-
  able to the heroes. 
  The cubes contain visual records from the distant past! 
  They have quite some value in the hands of the right 
  people. The party can easily sell them for 3000 Credits.
  If they wish, they may continue to explore the Exo-
  dus. Surely other strange beings and items can be found 
  within its abandoned decks, but in this case remember 
  that Mainframe cannot always help them. In many areas 
  of the ship its sensor network has been destroyed, so the 
  supercomputer is virtually blind.
  In the end the heroes will leave the ship. They must 
  decide what to do with this amazing discovery—keep 
  it secret, so that this peculiar microcosm will continue, 
  communicate the amazing news to the authorities (who 
  will take possession of the Exodus), or something else?
  Only the heroes know the answer. 
  THE CAST
  THE CAST
  CHADAT
  CHADAT
  The Chadat are a particular and important caste of the 
  Chandra society, the cattleriders. They spend a great deal 
  of their lives in the grasslands, tending the herds. They 
  wear long, leather robes, masks, and gauntlets when not 
  in the grasslands with their herds because they fear ”con-
  tamination” by the world beyond the grassland, and they 
  don’t want to bring contagions to the cattle. They are a 
  very religious bunch. 
  Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d4, Spirit d6, Strength d6, 
  Vigor d8
  Skills: Fighting d6, Notice d4, Riding d8, Shooting d4, 
  Survival d6.
  Charisma: +0; Pace: 6; Parry: 5; Toughness: 7(1)
  Hindrances: Delusional – Avoid contamination from the 
  world beyond the grassland (Minor).
  Gear: Cattleprod (Str+d6), leather vests (+1), one of 
  them wields a Blaster pistol (Range: 12/24/48, Damage: 
  2d6, semi-auto).
  Special Abilities:
  * Low Light Vision: Chadat ignore the penalty for Dim 
  and Dark lighting.
  BENEATHERS
  BENEATHERS
  The warriors of the tribe, they are skilled hunters and 
  THE LAST JOURNEY OF THE EXODUS
  THE LAST JOURNEY OF THE EXODUS
  19
  19
  This action normally requires a full round, but 
  with a raise on the Notice roll it is a free action.
  3. 
  Climb up the tube. The interruption is a few 
  yards above the hero’s current position, so 
  he needs to climb up a metal ladder to reach 
  it. Normally it would be a routine action, but 
  now the character is in a real hurry, and the 
  Shipquake is increasing in intensity, so he must 
  perform three successful Climbing rolls to reach 
  the location, every raise scored counts as an 
  extra success.  Each Climbing attempt requires a 
  round.
  4. 
  Fix the ﬁ lament. The ﬁ lament is not seriously 
  broken, so the two severed parts can be linked 
  together with little effort. It requires three suc-
  cessful Repair rolls, every raise scored counts as 
  an extra success. Each Repair attempt requires a 
  round. 
  It’s working! When the ﬁ lament is ﬁ nally ﬁ xed, the 
  energy can ﬂ ow through it. Now you can go to The End.
  THE END
  THE END
  “The energy ﬂ ows through the now repaired ﬁ la-
  ment, which shines with intense blue light. You 
  hear the ship’s propellers humming and activat-
  ing again after hundreds of years! 
  The ship starts moving, with a cataclysmic effect 
  on the environment! 
  The Beneathers, terriﬁ ed by this, ﬂ ee in all directions. 
  Firstofﬁ cer tries everything in his power to stop them, 
  but it is impossible. In their fear the barbarians 
  trample him and he stumbles over the railing. 
  The last thing you experience from the evil shaman 
  is his scream as he plummets to meet his doom.
  After some minutes the ship stabilizes. Mainframe 
  tells you the Shipquake has ended in all the areas 
  of the Exodus under its control, and the tempera-
  ture is normalizing. You have saved your own 
  lives, and that of the Exodus as well.”    
  With the ofﬁ cer’s badge and the ability to commu-
  nicate with Mainframe, the heroes manage to return to 
  the Abovers’s camp and then the Blazing Star with little 
  difﬁ culty.
  If Tala was killed, the party recovers her body–the Be-
  neathers abandon this area forever, migrating to other, 
  safer zones. This day will be the last of their supremacy 
  aboard the ship.
  Tala will be buried as the customs of her tribe dic-
  tate—her body will be placed in one of the hydroponic 
  pools, so that her living force and spirit will live on for-
  ever within the tribe.
  Her name and the names of the heroes will never be 
  forgotten.
  Galan, the Abovers’s leader, wants to rewards the he-
  roes, but he has nothing of value to offer them.
  Eventually the party makes a casual ﬁ nd shortly after 
  Tala’s burial—a crate full of old, but still functional, ho-
  lographic cubes abandoned in a corner of the Abovers’s 
  village. The primitive men were unable to activate or ﬁ nd 
  an alternative use for them, but they are certainly valu-
  able to the heroes. 
  The cubes contain visual records from the distant past! 
  They have quite some value in the hands of the right 
  people. The party can easily sell them for 3000 Credits.
  If they wish, they may continue to explore the Exo-
  dus. Surely other strange beings and items can be found 
  within its abandoned decks, but in this case remember 
  that Mainframe cannot always help them. In many areas 
  of the ship its sensor network has been destroyed, so the 
  supercomputer is virtually blind.
  In the end the heroes will leave the ship. They must 
  decide what to do with this amazing discovery—keep 
  it secret, so that this peculiar microcosm will continue, 
  communicate the amazing news to the authorities (who 
  will take possession of the Exodus), or something else?
  Only the heroes know the answer. 
  THE CAST
  THE CAST
  CHADAT
  CHADAT
  The Chadat are a particular and important caste of the 
  Chandra society, the cattleriders. They spend a great deal 
  of their lives in the grasslands, tending the herds. They 
  wear long, leather robes, masks, and gauntlets when not 
  in the grasslands with their herds because they fear ”con-
  tamination” by the world beyond the grassland, and they 
  don’t want to bring contagions to the cattle. They are a 
  very religious bunch. 
  Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d4, Spirit d6, Strength d6, 
  Vigor d8
  Skills: Fighting d6, Notice d4, Riding d8, Shooting d4, 
  Survival d6.
  Charisma: +0; Pace: 6; Parry: 5; Toughness: 7(1)
  Hindrances: Delusional – Avoid contamination from the 
  world beyond the grassland (Minor).
  Gear: Cattleprod (Str+d6), leather vests (+1), one of 
  them wields a Blaster pistol (Range: 12/24/48, Damage: 
  2d6, semi-auto).
  Special Abilities:
  * Low Light Vision: Chadat ignore the penalty for Dim 
  and Dark lighting.
  BENEATHERS
  BENEATHERS
  The warriors of the tribe, they are skilled hunters and 
  
  DARING TALES OF THE SPACE LANES #04
  DARING TALES OF THE SPACE LANES #04
  20
  20
  scavengers. Fanatically loyal to their master, Firstofﬁ cer, 
  they would give their life to save him. They are recogniz-
  able by the horrible war paint on their naked bodies. 
  Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d4, Spirit d6, Strength d8, 
  Vigor d8
  Skills: Fighting d8, Intimidation d6, Notice d6, Shooting 
  d6, Stealth d6, Survival d6.
  Charisma: +0; Pace: 6; Parry: 6; Toughness: 6
  Hindrances: All Thumbs, Loyal.
  Gear: Short Spear (Str+d6), knife (Str+d4), Sling 
  (Str+d4, range: 4/8/16).
  Special Abilities: 
  * Fanatically Loyal when within 1” of Firstofﬁ cer, they 
  can offer their life to avoid any damage to the evil sha-
  man, interposing their bodies to protect him. The Be-
  neathers suffer the damage instead of their master. 
  GRIZZLED BENEATHERS
  GRIZZLED BENEATHERS
  The strongest among the Beneathers warriors, these 
  burly individuals are recognizable by the numerous scars 
  on their painted bodies. They are Firstofﬁ cer’s personal 
  guards. 
  Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d6, Spirit d8, Strength d10, 
  Vigor d8
  Skills: Fighting d10, Intimidation d8, Notice d6, Shoot-
  ing d8, Stealth d6, Survival d6.
  Charisma: +0; Pace: 6; Parry: 8(1); Toughness: 6
  Edges: Combat Reﬂ exes, Frenzy
  Hindrances: All Thumbs, Loyal.
  Gear: War club (Str+d8), knife (Str+d4), small shield 
  (+1 Parry), throwing javelin (Str+d6, 3/6/12).
  Special Abilities: 
  * Fanatically Loyal: when within 1” of Firstofﬁ cer, they 
  can offer their life to avoid any damage to the evil sha-
  man, interposing their bodies to protect him. The Be-
  neathers suffer the damage instead of their master.
   FIRSTOFFICER, SHAMAN 
   FIRSTOFFICER, SHAMAN 
  OF THE BENEATHERS
  OF THE BENEATHERS
  Firstofﬁ cer is more a title than a proper ﬁ rst name. 
  Firstofﬁ cers have been, since times untold, the Carriers 
  of the Sacred Amulet, and the Voices of Mainframe, god 
  of the Beneathers.
  The current Firstofﬁ cer is a bald and tall man, who 
  radiates a strong charismatic aura. His followers worship 
  him; his enemies fear him. Ruthless and cruel, he will 
  not hesitate to sacriﬁ ce his men to achieve his goals. 
  Sacred Amulet: In truth it is an ofﬁ cer’s badge with 
  which Firstofﬁ cer can communicate with Mainframe. It 
  has a tremendous effect on the morale of the Beneath-
  ers. While wearing it, Firstofﬁ cer has the range of his 
  Leadership Edges tripled (15”), but this applies only to 
  the Beneathers.
  Old plasma pistol: Firstofﬁ cer carries a device scav-
  enged from somewhere, an old plasma pistol. In gaming 
  terms he has a Power. Use his Shooting to activate it. 
  Firstofﬁ cer has no Power Points, instead his pistol has a 
  set number of uses in each scene.
  Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d10, Spirit d8, Strength 
  d10, Vigor d10
  Skills: Fighting d10, Intimidation d10, Notice d8, Per-
  suasion d12, Shooting d8, Taunt d8.
  Charisma: +2; Pace: 6; Parry: 7; Toughness: 8
  Edges: Brawny, Charisma, Command, Fervor, Hold the 
  Line!, Improved Dodge, Strong Willed
  Hindrances: Vengeful (Major)
  Gizmo: 3 x Burst (damage 3d6, Medium Burst Template; 
  old plasma pistol)
  Gear: War staff (Str+d8), ofﬁ cer’s badge. 
  ABOVERS WARRIORS
  ABOVERS WARRIORS
  These tall, pale men are the best warriors of the 
  Abovers’s tribe. Not as strong as their ancestral enemies, 
  the Beneathers, they compensate by being more agile 
  and smart.  
  Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d6, Spirit d6, Strength d6, 
  Vigor d6
  Skills: Fighting d8, Notice d8, Shooting d6, Stealth d8, 
  Survival d6.
  Charisma: +0; Pace: 6; Parry: 6; Toughness: 5
  Hindrances: All Thumbs, Loyal.
  Gear: War club (Str+d6), knife (Str+d4).
  TALA
  TALA
  This beautiful, Abovers woman is a skilled forager 
  and a daring explorer. She knows many remote areas of 
  the Exodus well. She was captured by the Beneathers 
  and became the slave of their leader, but in the end she 
  managed to ﬂ ee and swore never to return to the land of 
  those raving madmen. 
  She also knows that sometimes the necessity of many 
  must prevail over the fears of one, so she will sacriﬁ ce 
  her life to save the whole ship.
  She is considered a Henchman (see Pulp Rules) for 
  the duration of the scenario. 
  Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d8, Spirit d8, Strength d4, 
  Vigor d6
  Skills: Fighting d6, Knowledge (Area: Exodus’s decks) 
  d8, Notice d8, Shooting d6, Stealth d8, Survival d10.
  Charisma: +2; Pace: 6; Parry: 5; Toughness: 5
  Edges: Attractive, Woodsman (apply this in all the ship’s 
  areas outside the camps and other “civilized zones”)
  Hindrances: Heroic
  Gear: Knife (Str+d4), Sling (Str+d4, range: 4/8/16).
  SPIDER RATS
  SPIDER RATS
  These dangerous beasts are mutated mammal-arach-
  nid hybrids, adapted to the peculiar environmental 
  DARING TALES OF THE SPACE LANES #04
  DARING TALES OF THE SPACE LANES #04
  20
  20
  scavengers. Fanatically loyal to their master, Firstofﬁ cer, 
  they would give their life to save him. They are recogniz-
  able by the horrible war paint on their naked bodies. 
  Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d4, Spirit d6, Strength d8, 
  Vigor d8
  Skills: Fighting d8, Intimidation d6, Notice d6, Shooting 
  d6, Stealth d6, Survival d6.
  Charisma: +0; Pace: 6; Parry: 6; Toughness: 6
  Hindrances: All Thumbs, Loyal.
  Gear: Short Spear (Str+d6), knife (Str+d4), Sling 
  (Str+d4, range: 4/8/16).
  Special Abilities: 
  * Fanatically Loyal when within 1” of Firstofﬁ cer, they 
  can offer their life to avoid any damage to the evil sha-
  man, interposing their bodies to protect him. The Be-
  neathers suffer the damage instead of their master. 
  GRIZZLED BENEATHERS
  GRIZZLED BENEATHERS
  The strongest among the Beneathers warriors, these 
  burly individuals are recognizable by the numerous scars 
  on their painted bodies. They are Firstofﬁ cer’s personal 
  guards. 
  Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d6, Spirit d8, Strength d10, 
  Vigor d8
  Skills: Fighting d10, Intimidation d8, Notice d6, Shoot-
  ing d8, Stealth d6, Survival d6.
  Charisma: +0; Pace: 6; Parry: 8(1); Toughness: 6
  Edges: Combat Reﬂ exes, Frenzy
  Hindrances: All Thumbs, Loyal.
  Gear: War club (Str+d8), knife (Str+d4), small shield 
  (+1 Parry), throwing javelin (Str+d6, 3/6/12).
  Special Abilities: 
  * Fanatically Loyal: when within 1” of Firstofﬁ cer, they 
  can offer their life to avoid any damage to the evil sha-
  man, interposing their bodies to protect him. The Be-
  neathers suffer the damage instead of their master.
   FIRSTOFFICER, SHAMAN 
   FIRSTOFFICER, SHAMAN 
  OF THE BENEATHERS
  OF THE BENEATHERS
  Firstofﬁ cer is more a title than a proper ﬁ rst name. 
  Firstofﬁ cers have been, since times untold, the Carriers 
  of the Sacred Amulet, and the Voices of Mainframe, god 
  of the Beneathers.
  The current Firstofﬁ cer is a bald and tall man, who 
  radiates a strong charismatic aura. His followers worship 
  him; his enemies fear him. Ruthless and cruel, he will 
  not hesitate to sacriﬁ ce his men to achieve his goals. 
  Sacred Amulet: In truth it is an ofﬁ cer’s badge with 
  which Firstofﬁ cer can communicate with Mainframe. It 
  has a tremendous effect on the morale of the Beneath-
  ers. While wearing it, Firstofﬁ cer has the range of his 
  Leadership Edges tripled (15”), but this applies only to 
  the Beneathers.
  Old plasma pistol: Firstofﬁ cer carries a device scav-
  enged from somewhere, an old plasma pistol. In gaming 
  terms he has a Power. Use his Shooting to activate it. 
  Firstofﬁ cer has no Power Points, instead his pistol has a 
  set number of uses in each scene.
  Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d10, Spirit d8, Strength 
  d10, Vigor d10
  Skills: Fighting d10, Intimidation d10, Notice d8, Per-
  suasion d12, Shooting d8, Taunt d8.
  Charisma: +2; Pace: 6; Parry: 7; Toughness: 8
  Edges: Brawny, Charisma, Command, Fervor, Hold the 
  Line!, Improved Dodge, Strong Willed
  Hindrances: Vengeful (Major)
  Gizmo: 3 x Burst (damage 3d6, Medium Burst Template; 
  old plasma pistol)
  Gear: War staff (Str+d8), ofﬁ cer’s badge. 
  ABOVERS WARRIORS
  ABOVERS WARRIORS
  These tall, pale men are the best warriors of the 
  Abovers’s tribe. Not as strong as their ancestral enemies, 
  the Beneathers, they compensate by being more agile 
  and smart.  
  Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d6, Spirit d6, Strength d6, 
  Vigor d6
  Skills: Fighting d8, Notice d8, Shooting d6, Stealth d8, 
  Survival d6.
  Charisma: +0; Pace: 6; Parry: 6; Toughness: 5
  Hindrances: All Thumbs, Loyal.
  Gear: War club (Str+d6), knife (Str+d4).
  TALA
  TALA
  This beautiful, Abovers woman is a skilled forager 
  and a daring explorer. She knows many remote areas of 
  the Exodus well. She was captured by the Beneathers 
  and became the slave of their leader, but in the end she 
  managed to ﬂ ee and swore never to return to the land of 
  those raving madmen. 
  She also knows that sometimes the necessity of many 
  must prevail over the fears of one, so she will sacriﬁ ce 
  her life to save the whole ship.
  She is considered a Henchman (see Pulp Rules) for 
  the duration of the scenario. 
  Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d8, Spirit d8, Strength d4, 
  Vigor d6
  Skills: Fighting d6, Knowledge (Area: Exodus’s decks) 
  d8, Notice d8, Shooting d6, Stealth d8, Survival d10.
  Charisma: +2; Pace: 6; Parry: 5; Toughness: 5
  Edges: Attractive, Woodsman (apply this in all the ship’s 
  areas outside the camps and other “civilized zones”)
  Hindrances: Heroic
  Gear: Knife (Str+d4), Sling (Str+d4, range: 4/8/16).
  SPIDER RATS
  SPIDER RATS
  These dangerous beasts are mutated mammal-arach-
  nid hybrids, adapted to the peculiar environmental 
  
  THE LAST JOURNEY OF THE EXODUS
  THE LAST JOURNEY OF THE EXODUS
  21
  21
  conditions of the Exodus. As big as dogs, they have the 
  body frame of a rat and eight, long claws that protrude 
  out of the ribcage. They have four eyes, and mouth ﬁ lled 
  with poisonous teeth. They are omnivores, but with a 
  fondness for meat. 
  Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d6 (A), Spirit d8, Strength 
  d6, Vigor d6
  Skills: Fighting d6, Guts d6, Intimidation d6, Notice d6, 
  Stealth d8.
  Charisma: +0; Pace: 6; Parry: 5; Toughness: 4
  Special Abilities:
  * Bite: Str+d4
  * Size –1: Spider rats are the same size as dogs.
  * Thermal vision: Spider rats see body heat, so they 
  ignore the light’s modiﬁ er to notice living targets.
  * Wall Crawler Thanks to their spider claws, spider 
  rats can walk on vertical or inverted surfaces at their 
  standard Pace.
  * Weak poison: A target successfully wounded or Shak-
  en by a spider rat must make a Vigor +2 roll or suf-
  fer the effects of mild paralyzing venom. The victim 
  suffers a level of Fatigue. This condition lasts for an 
  hour.
  GIANT SPIDER RATS
  GIANT SPIDER RATS
  A bigger breed of spider rats, they are the size of a 
  man. These beasts are a true danger even for a well-
  armed ﬁ ghter. 
  Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d6 (A), Spirit d8, Strength 
  d8, Vigor d6
  Skills: Fighting d6, Guts d6, Intimidation d6, Notice d6, 
  Stealth d6.
  Charisma: +0; Pace: 8; Parry: 5; Toughness: 5
  Special abilities:
  * Bite: Str+d4
  * Poison: A target successfully wounded or Shaken by a 
  spider rat must make a Vigor roll or suffer the effects 
  of paralyzing venom. The victim suffers a level of Fa-
  tigue. This condition lasts for three hours.
  * Thermal vision: Spider rats see body heat, so they 
  ignore the light’s modiﬁ er to notice living targets.
  * Wall Crawler: Thanks to their spider claws, spider 
  rats can walk on vertical or inverted surfaces at their 
  standard Pace.
  SPIDER RAT QUEEN
  SPIDER RAT QUEEN
  This enormous monster is the queen of the spider 
  rats’ nest. She is an exceptional creature, unique in her 
  race. She has eight spider-like claws, each the size of a 
  tree trunk, and her mouth is big enough to swallow a 
  man whole.
  Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d6 (A), Spirit d8, Strength 
  d12+5, Vigor d10
  Skills: Fighting d8, Guts d6, Intimidation d8, Notice d6.
  Charisma: +0; Pace: 6; Parry: 6; Toughness: 17 (4) 
  Special Abilities:
  * Armor+4:  She has very thick skin.
  * Bite: Str+d10 AP 2
  * Claws: Str+d8. The spider rat queen’s claws have 
  reach 3.
  * Heavy Armor: The spider rat queen can only be dam-
  aged by Heavy Weapons.
  * Large: Attackers gain +2 to Shooting and Fighting 
  roll against the spider rat queen due to her enormous 
  size.
  * Improved Sweep: The claw attack of the spider rat 
  queen affects all the opponents in the area.
  * Size+6: The spider rat queen is roughly the size of a 
  bull elephant.
  * Thermal vision: The spider rat queen sees body 
  heat, so she ignores the light’s modiﬁ er to notice liv-
  ing targets.
  THE LAST JOURNEY OF THE EXODUS
  THE LAST JOURNEY OF THE EXODUS
  21
  21
  conditions of the Exodus. As big as dogs, they have the 
  body frame of a rat and eight, long claws that protrude 
  out of the ribcage. They have four eyes, and mouth ﬁ lled 
  with poisonous teeth. They are omnivores, but with a 
  fondness for meat. 
  Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d6 (A), Spirit d8, Strength 
  d6, Vigor d6
  Skills: Fighting d6, Guts d6, Intimidation d6, Notice d6, 
  Stealth d8.
  Charisma: +0; Pace: 6; Parry: 5; Toughness: 4
  Special Abilities:
  * Bite: Str+d4
  * Size –1: Spider rats are the same size as dogs.
  * Thermal vision: Spider rats see body heat, so they 
  ignore the light’s modiﬁ er to notice living targets.
  * Wall Crawler Thanks to their spider claws, spider 
  rats can walk on vertical or inverted surfaces at their 
  standard Pace.
  * Weak poison: A target successfully wounded or Shak-
  en by a spider rat must make a Vigor +2 roll or suf-
  fer the effects of mild paralyzing venom. The victim 
  suffers a level of Fatigue. This condition lasts for an 
  hour.
  GIANT SPIDER RATS
  GIANT SPIDER RATS
  A bigger breed of spider rats, they are the size of a 
  man. These beasts are a true danger even for a well-
  armed ﬁ ghter. 
  Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d6 (A), Spirit d8, Strength 
  d8, Vigor d6
  Skills: Fighting d6, Guts d6, Intimidation d6, Notice d6, 
  Stealth d6.
  Charisma: +0; Pace: 8; Parry: 5; Toughness: 5
  Special abilities:
  * Bite: Str+d4
  * Poison: A target successfully wounded or Shaken by a 
  spider rat must make a Vigor roll or suffer the effects 
  of paralyzing venom. The victim suffers a level of Fa-
  tigue. This condition lasts for three hours.
  * Thermal vision: Spider rats see body heat, so they 
  ignore the light’s modiﬁ er to notice living targets.
  * Wall Crawler: Thanks to their spider claws, spider 
  rats can walk on vertical or inverted surfaces at their 
  standard Pace.
  SPIDER RAT QUEEN
  SPIDER RAT QUEEN
  This enormous monster is the queen of the spider 
  rats’ nest. She is an exceptional creature, unique in her 
  race. She has eight spider-like claws, each the size of a 
  tree trunk, and her mouth is big enough to swallow a 
  man whole.
  Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d6 (A), Spirit d8, Strength 
  d12+5, Vigor d10
  Skills: Fighting d8, Guts d6, Intimidation d8, Notice d6.
  Charisma: +0; Pace: 6; Parry: 6; Toughness: 17 (4) 
  Special Abilities:
  * Armor+4:  She has very thick skin.
  * Bite: Str+d10 AP 2
  * Claws: Str+d8. The spider rat queen’s claws have 
  reach 3.
  * Heavy Armor: The spider rat queen can only be dam-
  aged by Heavy Weapons.
  * Large: Attackers gain +2 to Shooting and Fighting 
  roll against the spider rat queen due to her enormous 
  size.
  * Improved Sweep: The claw attack of the spider rat 
  queen affects all the opponents in the area.
  * Size+6: The spider rat queen is roughly the size of a 
  bull elephant.
  * Thermal vision: The spider rat queen sees body 
  heat, so she ignores the light’s modiﬁ er to notice liv-
  ing targets.
  
  © 2009 Triple Ace Games. Daring Tales of the Space Lanes and all related marks and logos are trademarks of  Triple Ace Games. Savage Worlds, Smiling Jack
  and all related marks and logos are trademarks of Pinnacle Entertainment Group. All rights reserved. Used with permission.  © 2009. All Rights Reserved.
  www.tripleacegames.com
  www.tripleacegames.com
  31047
  31047
  $7.50
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  Triple Ace Games’ line of high-octane, two-ﬁ sted tales that launch the heroes 
  into space, where ﬁ ghting evil crime lords, evading bounty hunters, and 
  dodging asteroids (while blasting away at enemy ﬁ ghters) is all in a day’s 
  work!
  This issue contains a single, stand-alone adventure.
  The Last Journey of the Exodus: A man condemned to a terrible fate for 
  his crimes possesses a long forgotten secret: to repay the heroes for an 
  act of kindness, he reveals to them the location of the Exodus, one of the 
  legendary “Lost Ships” with which the Human race began the colonization of 
  the universe thousands of years ago.
  But strange things, a ruthless madman, and a race against time await the 
  heroes within the hull of the ancient ship.
  STRAP IN AND PREPARE FOR LIFT OFF, 
  STRAP IN AND PREPARE FOR LIFT OFF, 
  WITH THE FOURTH ISSUE OF 
  WITH THE FOURTH ISSUE OF 
  DARING TALES OF THE SPACE LANES!
  DARING TALES OF THE SPACE LANES!
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Savage Worlds/Pulp/Daring Tales of the Space Lanes/TAG30013 - Compendium #1 [split]/TAG31047 Daring Tales of the Space Lanes 04 - The Last Journey of the Exodus.pdf