TEXT: 1
  Spacemaster: Datanet
  Issue #8
  SPACEMASTER:
  Issue #8
  Table of Contents
  Introduction
  Credits
  Author: Rob Defendi
  Editing:  Tim Dugger, Heike Kubasch;
  Pagemaking & Layout: Sherry Robinson;
  Proofreading:  Tim Dugger, Heike Kubasch & Monica Wilson;
  Art: Steven Farris, Alan Fore, Jon M. Holsten, Dan Smith,
  Karl Story, Ken Wasden and other artists;
  ICE Staff
  CEO: Bruce Neidlinger;
  President: Heike Kubasch;
  Editor/Jack-of-All-Trades: Tim Dugger;
  Pagemaking: Sherry Robinson;
  Office Cats: Rajah, Phoebe, & Matsi;
  Corporate Mascot: Gandalf
  July 2007
  WARNING! All Items in this PDF should be
  considered optional and completely unofficial.
  Spacemaster: Datanet Copyright © 2007 by Aurigas Aldbaron LLC. All rights reserved. No reproductions without permission. Produced and
  distributed by Mjolnir LLC, dba Iron Crown Enterprises 112 Goodman Street, Charlottesville, Virginia 22902.
  Web: www.harphq.com and www.ironcrown.com.
  Welcome to the eighth issue of Spacemaster Datanet.
  The purpose here is to expand and improve your
  Spacemaster game, both by broadening the rules and by
  deepening the setting details, giving you a richer and
  more fulfilling game and game environment.
  This time we have a lot of little tasty bits about life
  in space, and three articles on different aspects of the
  realities of outer space. We also deal with fear and
  influence attacks, such as those doled out by powerful
  psychics. We also continue to outline three campaign
  plots for those who’d like ideas in running a Privateers
  campaign. We’ll see an NPC write up for T’clacktle, a
  xatosian psychic. Finally, we continue our exploration
  into black market technology.
  Enjoy.
   DATANET
  ™
  1.0 Fear and Influence Attacks ............................................. 2
  1.1 Role Playing Influence Attacks ................................... 2
  1.2 Mechanics Of Influence Attacks .................................. 2
  2.0 Life In Space .................................................................... 4
  2.1 Vacuum ..................................................................... 4
  2.2 Temperature .............................................................. 4
  2.3 Free Fall ..................................................................... 4
  2.4 Interstellar Dust ........................................................ 5
  2.5 Radiation ................................................................... 5
  2.6 Space Sicknessl .......................................................... 5
  3.0 Realities of Interstellar Space ......................................... 6
  3.1 Distances ................................................................... 6
  3.2 Vacuum vs. Void........................................................ 6
  4.0 Artificial Worlds .............................................................. 7
  4.1 Space Stations ........................................................... 7
  4.2 Colony Ships ............................................................. 7
  4.3 Terraforming ............................................................. 7
  4.4 Ringworlds ................................................................ 7
  4.5 Dyson Spheres........................................................... 7
  5.0 NPC: T’clacktle ............................................................... 8
  6.0 Campaign Plans .............................................................. 9
  6.1 The Military Campaign ............................................ 9
  6.2 The Privateer Campaign ........................................ 11
  6.3 The Criminal Campaign ........................................ 12
  7.0 Black Market Tech ......................................................... 12
  
  2
  Spacemaster: Datanet
  Issue #8
  1.0 FEAR AND
  INFLUENCE ATTACKS
  “To him who is in fear, everything rustles.”
  —Sophocles
  This section provides guidelines on how to handle
  various situations in which a PC is subjected to “fear” or
  other types of influencing attacks.
  1.1 ROLE PLAYING INFLUENCE ATTACKS
  There are two ways to “role play” influence attacks.
  The type you use depends upon how many creative
  resources you have available when the situation comes
  up, and how well your players can separate character
  knowledge from their own.
  SIMPLE PRESENTATION
  This method should only be used if you trust your
  players to keep player knowledge separate from character
  knowledge. Basically, you simply pull a player aside or
  slip him a note and inform him that he has been
  influenced. You then rely upon him to roleplay the
  situation appropriately.
  However, you have to remember that it is not an
  easy task for a player. For example, if a character has
  been “charmed” (via a psychic power), the player could
  play his character as a friend to the NPC in question.
  However, when not directly involved with the NPC, the
  player would constantly have to struggle to not clue the
  other players into the fact that his character is under the
  psychic’s power.
  INTENSE PRESENTATION
  This method is a lot harder to present to the
  players, but produces much more realistic results.
  When a character has been influenced by an NPC (or
  situation), the GM must present things in such a way as
  to influence  the player.
  For example, if a character has just failed his Fear
  RR, do not simply inform the player that his character is
  afraid. Portray the situation in such a way as to frighten
  the player. It really helps if you know the fears of the
  player(s) involved, as you can build them into the
  descriptions. For example, if a psychic causes fear in a
  character and the party can only see its eyes, describe
  cold, picking at the flesh of the characters (maybe having
  everyone take a point of damage, just to enforce the
  effect). Describe whispers that are barely audible and yet
  somehow enticing. Describe the barely visible spiders
  scuttling just out of the light. In the end, you will have
  the players ready to run.
  For other types of influences, you have to have intimate
  knowledge of the character’s background and goals. When
  an NPC charms a party member, have the NPC
  recount some childhood incident that connects
  them personally to the PC. This type of influence
  is harder to maintain (as player’s are usually very
  suspicious of NPCs). You may have to continually
  reinforce the influence with occasionally resurfac-
  ing memories.
  1.2 MECHANICS OF
  INFLUENCE ATTACKS
  All magical influence attacks should be
  handled through Resistance Rolls (non-psychic
  attacks should use the Static Maneuver Table in
  SM:P). To determine the exact effects of a
  successful influence attack (i.e. the victim failed
  his RR), you must know by how much the RR
  failed. Consult the most appropriate table
  below to find out the effects of the influence
  attack. The conditions generated by the charts
  below remain in effect until such a time as a
  new RR is called for. Note that some results
  indicate that another RR may be made.
  Note: As the rules currently stand, there are
  no charm attacks in Spacemaster. There are
  many ways a GM could introduce them,
  however, including technology and drugs, so a
  Charm Attack chart is included here.
  
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  Spacemaster: Datanet
  Issue #8
  FEAR / AWE ATTACK CHART
  Fail by...
  Result
  01-10
  Minor Failure: You may only operate at
  75% activity (i.e., most actions will suffer
  a -25). You may attempt another RR in
  d10 rounds.
  11-25
  Mild Failure: You may only operate at
  50% activity (i.e., most actions will suffer
  a -50). You may attempt another RR in
  d10 rounds (though this RR has a
  modification of -10).
  26-50
  Moderate Failure: You break and run
  from whatever caused the Fear RR. You
  will run for d10 rounds in a random
  direction (but always away from the
  source of the Fear RR). At the end of this
  time, you may approach the source again,
  but will suffer the same effects as the
  Mild Failure result above until a new RR
  is called for.
  51 -100
  Severe Failure: You are paralyzed with
  fear. You can perform no voluntary
  actions while in this state. Future RRs
  versus this specific attack have a modifier
  of -10 (until such a time as you make a
  successful RR versus this attack).
  101+
  Extreme Failure: You cannot handle it!
  Make another RR (versus the same attack
  that generated this one). If you fail this
  one, you suffer a heart attack. If you
  succeed, you simply pass out from the
  fright (and cannot be roused for 2d10
  rounds). Future RRs against this specific
  attack have a modifier of -50 (until such
  a time as you make a successful RR versus
  this attack). Similar types of attacks have
  a modifier of -10 (until such a time as
  you make a successful RR versus any
  similar attack).
  CHARM ATTACK CHART
  Fail by...
  Result
  01-10
  Minor Failure: You believe the source of
  the attack is a friendly person from your
  past (though you may not have known
  the person personally; e.g., a friend of
  your father, etc.). You have no reason to
  believe this person would try to hurt you
  or your allies.
  11-25
  Mild Failure: You believe the source of
  the attack is a long, lost friend. Any
  attempts to disprove this are countered
  with ease. You and he revel in tales of old.
  You may make another RR in d10 days.
  26-50
  Moderate Failure: You believe the source
  of the attack is a long, lost best friend.
  You will defend him with any abilities
  that you possess and will side with him in
  any attempts to disprove his identity. You
  may make another RR in d10 days (but
  with a modification of -10).
  51 -100
  Severe Failure: You believe the source of
  the attack is your best friend. You are so
  excited to see him that you forget about
  your current companions. You will
  recount your deepest secrets to him. You
  may make another RR in d10 weeks.
  101+
  Extreme Failure: As Severe Failure,
  except you will automatically believe
  whatever he says. You may make another
  RR in d10 weeks (but with a modifica-
  tion of -10).
  
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  Spacemaster: Datanet
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  SUGGESTION ATTACK CHART
  Fail by...
  Result
  01-10
  Minor Failure: You find the request odd,
  but have no reason to deny it. If queried
  later, you will wonder why you did not
  question it sooner.
  11-25
  Mild Failure: The request is nothing
  unusual. You will remember the request
  and the person who made it, but will
  have to be convinced that it was anything
  but normal.
  26-50
  Moderate Failure: You will perform the
  requested action, but will have no
  memory of performing it. You will
  remember the person who made the
  request, but you will not remember
  actually performing the task.
  51 -100
  Severe Failure: You will perform the
  requested action, but will have no
  recollection of doing it. In addition, you
  will not even remember why you did it!
  101+
  Extreme Failure: As Severe Failure,
  except you will perform the task and
  believe you are doing something else.
  You might even be tricked into perform-
  ing an action contradictory to your
  nature this way.
  2.0 LIFE IN SPACE
  “Of course I think spacers are better than everyone else.
  Darwin’s been weeding out the stupid ones for generations . . .”
  —Last in a long line of asteroid miners
  There are few things in the universe less hospitable
  than outer space. The harsh void. The stellar radiation.
  The lack of gravity. Meteors. Asteroids.
  It’s a testimony to the quality of our space programs
  that they haven’t lost more astronauts in our explorations.
  Outer space is brutal. It’s unforgiving. Only the sharpest,
  the quickest, and the most cautious explorers survive.
  This section is devoted to the problems of life in
  space. Many of the actual mechanics of these systems
  were described in prior Datanets.
  Note: This section may seem rules light. The
  purpose here is not to give hard and fast rules on
  all the subjects in this section (the important ones
  have already appeared in past Datanets, the
  others are better when narrated). The purpose
  here is to cover subjects most GMs don’t think
  about when running a lower tech sf game.
  2.1 VACUUM
  Vacuum is one of the greatest dangers of space
  exploration. Every spacecraft is just centimeters, if not
  millimeters, away from the hard vacuum of space. The
  slightest accident, the most minor slip, and some poor
  fool will suck vacuum. It happens every day in a space
  faring society. It’s every spacer’s job to make sure they
  don’t become that poor fool.
  2.1.1 EXPLOSIVE DECOMPRESSION
  This does not refer to the tendency of deep
  ocean sea life to burst when rising to seal level. It is a
  myth that this happens to human beings.
  Explosive decompression occurs when a ship
  loses hull integrity. When that happens, the ship tends to
  “burst” blowing damaged hull or bulkheads into the
  vacuum of space. This, naturally, exposes anything on
  the other side to the hard vacuum of space.
  Most ships are equipped with emergency life
  bubbles to save those trapped in these sections. In
  addition, ship sections should monitor for pressure. If a
  section is exposed to hard vacuum, emergency doors will
  fall and bulkheads seal, saving the atmosphere of the rest
  of the ship.
  2.2 TEMPERATURE
  Space has no temperature. The temperature of
  the background radiation, the echoes of the Big Bang, is
  4°K. In interstellar space, the thin hydrogen will settle to
  this temperature.
  Farther in-system, the heat of the system’s
  primary stellar body will heat a ship well beyond
  comfortable levels. At this proximity, dumping heat
  becomes the problem, because even farther out,
  beyond the deadly stellar radiation, it’s still difficult to
  dump heat into the thin stellar atmosphere. Vacuum is
  a tremendous insulator.
  Therefore, a ship needs to be capable of both
  heating and cooling. It needs to be able to function in
  a wide range of temperature extremes, though as a
  general rule, only specially designed ships will be able
  to sun dive.
  2.3 FREE FALL
  In some campaigns, life in space will mean life
  in free fall. Because of this, many characters require a
  special skill from the Combat Maneuvers skill category.
  Alien Environments is the skill of operating in, you
  guessed it, an alien environment. This has many possible
  sub skills (requiring that a character develop each
  separately). One of the Alien Environments sub skills,
  the one most relevant to this section, is Zero G Maneu-
  vers. The Alien Environments skill restricts all other
  combat skills. When in that alien environment, no skill
  may have more effective ranks than the player has spent
  in his Alien Environments skill (A GM may relax it in
  
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  Spacemaster: Datanet
  Issue #8
  certain situations, such as firing a gun while strapped
  securely into a chair).
  Therefore, most characters will want to develop
  this skill if they want to spend any time in space. It is
  absolutely a requirement for those who expect to fight
  in free fall.
  In addition, free fall presents many new chal-
  lenges to those use to being gravity bound. Liquids
  collect into spheres or drops. Dust and debris can
  foul circuits. Simple tasks like bathing and waste
  evacuation become a chore.
  For characters with skill in Zero G maneuvers, you
  shouldn’t barrage them with skill checks to conduct the
  basic tasks of day-to-day living, but someone without the
  skill is another matter. Every day they are in free fall,
  have them make a Zero G Maneuver. This is a Routine
  difficulty, but the characters have the penalties appropri-
  ate to having no skill. If they produce a result less than a
  Failure, have something appropriately bad happen, such
  as fouling a control or shorting a system (maybe even a
  sewage back-pressure).
  2.4 INTERSTELLAR DUST
  In the depth of interstellar space, the mean density
  of matter is one hydrogen atom per cubic centimeter.
  This may not seem like a lot, but scientists estimate that
  there is more matter in the gulf between starts than all
  the stars and planets and black holes put together.
  In addition to this hydrogen, interstellar space has
  the occasional dust particle. This doesn’t seem like much,
  until you fly into one at .5 the speed of light.
  At relativistic speeds these particles have so much
  energy that standard ship hulls no longer have the
  strength to deal with these impacts. Because of this, any
  ship traveling at this speed requires heavy screens, a
  Crysteel hull, or suitably thick steel.
  2.5 RADIATION
  Radiation is a problem in space, a problem com-
  pounded by the fact that proper shielding requires lead,
  and lead quickly puts spacecraft over their mass budget.
  Generally speaking, a craft can only afford one section in
  which the crew can hide during a solar flare.
  Even in the safety of our magnetosphere (but
  outside of the atmosphere), a person will be dosed
  without about 35 REM in a year. Space is dangerous and
  cancer-breeding.
  This severely limits flight hours until one of two
  things happens. First of all, the effective radiation
  treatments might be invented (The GM will have to
  make a judgment call based on the tech level). On the
  other hand, ships might be made with shields to protect
  versus radiation.
  2.6 SPACE SICKNESS
  Once a character is thrown into zero G, it is not
  uncommon for their bodies to rebel. Nausea and
  vomiting are not uncommon at all.
  Whenever a character enters free fall, have them
  make a resistance roll versus a level one poison attack. A
  failure means they’re space sick. They can roll every day
  until the sickness passes. Space sick characters suffer
  a  -10 penalty to all maneuvers.
  
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  Spacemaster: Datanet
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  3.0 REALITIES OF
  INTERSTELLAR SPACE
  Alone, alone, all, all alone,
  Alone on a wide wide sea!”
  —Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the
  Ancient Mariner
  Baring certain types of ftl travel, a great deal of time
  in sf games will be spent in interstellar space. The fact is,
  interstellar space is vast. It is so vast, in fact, that the odds
  of encountering anything there are pretty slim. But that’s
  all right, there’s very little there of interest in interstellar
  space to begin with.
  3.1 DISTANCES
  Interstellar distances are vast. They are so vast it’s
  difficult for the human mind to get a grasp around them.
  For example:
  The nearest star is Alpha Centauri (Proxima
  Centauri might be closer depending on when you read
  this, but since it orbits Alpha Centauri, Alpha is generally
  considered the nearest star). Alpha Centauri is 4.4 light
  years away.
  That means that Alpha Centauri is 1,606 light days
  away (4.4 x 365). That translates to 38,544 light hours
  away (1,606 x 24). Multiply that by 60 and it becomes
  2,312,640 light minutes. Multiply that by 60 and it turns
  into 138,758,400 light seconds.
  A light second is approximately 300,000 kilometers.
  That means that Alpha Centauri is approximately
  41,627,520,000,000 kilometers away.
  That’s quite a distance, but is still hard to compre-
  hend. So let’s hypothesize a ship traveling at freeway
  speeds to our nearest neighbor (it’s unlikely that we
  would be restricted by nuisances like gridlock and
  freeway construction). This vehicle will travel at 100
  kilometers per hour.
  This means that it would take 416,275,200,000
  hours to get to Alpha Centauri (41,627,520,000,000/
  100). This equates to 17,344,800,000 days
  (416,275,200,000/24). Divide this by 365 days, and the
  travel time equates 47,520,000 years.
  Quite a trip. Take this up to the speed of a jet, say 1,000
  kilometers per hour, and this trip is still 4,752,000 years.
  So space is vast. At higher speeds it does become
  possible to make it to another star in one’s lifetime, but for
  all practical purposes, these distances allow three options.
  Humanity can stay forever in the cradle of its
  birth. This means never leaving the solar system,
  never traveling to other stars, and never exploring
  brave new worlds.
  Humanity can build slow boats. These ships might
  take generations to reach other worlds. This means that
  the ship must be completely self contained, capable of
  supporting life indefinitely.
  Humanity can break the light barrier. Most
  campaigns will probably take this option. This allows
  humanity to spread out, colonize, and expand.
  Eventually, all of humanity’s eggs will no longer be in
  one basket.
  3.2 VACUUM VS. VOID
  The void of space is not a true void. That doesn’t
  matter much however, as its close enough to a true void
  that there is no practical difference.
  The mean density of the interstellar void is about
  one hydrogen atom per cubic centimeter. That’s one
  proton and one electron. Hardly any matter to speak of.
  There are most likely other objects, rogue planets,
  comets, asteroids and such. The odds of encountering
  them, however, are pretty slim.
  Picture a rock. A big rock. A rock with a volume of,
  say, one cubic kilometer. Set this rock loose in a volume
  of space equal to a cubic light year. What are the odds of
  hitting it?
  A light year is 365 light days across. This equates to
  8,760 light hours. Multiply this by 60 and get 525,600
  light minutes. Multiply that by 60 for 31,536,000 light
  seconds. Again, a light second is approximately 300,000
  kilometers. That means a light year is approximately
  9,460,800,000,000 kilometers across. Cubing that results
  in a volume of space equal to 8.47 x 10 to the 38th power.
  This means that the odds of running into that rock is 1
  in 8.47 x 1038 (that’s 847 followed by 36 zeros).
  And that’s a big rock.
  Therefore, space is vast, if not truly infinite, and all
  the matter within it is very finite. This adds up to being
  about as close to empty as man can imagine.
  This might have seemed little more than an exercise
  in numbers, but it makes an important point. It’s fun to
  envision scenes of ships racing through dangerously
  cluttered asteroid fields, but in reality, the asteroid field
  could be a million times denser than normal space and
  you still would have long odds to hit anything. If that’s
  the kind of game you’re playing, please, ignore the
  science, but if you’re striving for accuracy, keep in mind
  the true emptiness of space.
  
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  Spacemaster: Datanet
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  4.0 ARTIFICIAL WORLDS
  “That’s no moon . . . .”
  — A Crazy Old Wizard
  As humanity expands into space, it is likely they will
  not find habitable worlds. Sometimes this will mean
  building places to inhabit. Sometimes it will mean
  traveling in ships which are worlds in and of themselves.
  4.1 SPACE STATIONS
  Many systems will have value that transcends their
  lack of habitable worlds. Mining rights, strategic defense,
  recon outposts. These may very well need to be built.
  The most likely form will be that of a space station.
  A space station is a large, pressurized building.
  A space station can be constructed with many
  purposes, and these purposes will influence their designs.
  Battlestations will bristle with weapons and screens.
  Research stations will be filled with labs and scientific
  equipment. Recon stations would be filled with sensor
  and surveillance equipment.
  One of the main advantages in a space station is that
  they can be spun for gravity. This utilizes centrifugal
  effect to simulate gravity.
  Space stations become possible as soon as space
  travel is possible. This makes them tech level 15 and up.
  4.2 COLONY SHIPS
  Space is vast, and even at a constant acceleration of 1
  G, it would take decades to reach the nearest star.
  Because of this, colony ships in a pre-ftl society would
  need to be tiny worlds unto themselves.
  It’s the sheer time involvement which causes such
  trouble. Unless the passengers are frozen, it is unlikely
  that the colony ship will be able to carry enough
  consumables to sustain the crew for such a long trip.
  Therefore, colony ships would need to be fully enclosed
  ecospheres. This is necessary for two reasons. First of all,
  they must be able to support the crew. Second of all, it
  may be necessary to transfer this microcosm
  planetside when they arrive. It may be all that
  keeps them alive.
  This microcosm must be absolutely
  complete. It must contain all the topsoil, insect, and
  bacteria necessary to perpetuate crops. Rotating crops will
  probably be necessary. This technology is tech level 17 or
  better (we are just starting to truly experiment with it).
  4.3 TERRAFORMING
  Terraforming is tricky business. The fewer raw
  materials on hand, the trickier it becomes. Terraforming,
  in its earliest forms, becomes possible about tech level 17.
  Terraforming is a big subject. It is different for each
  world. To terraform a planet a battalion of scientists and an
  almost endless stream of resources are necessary. The science
  must be reinvented for each world on which it is used.
  4.4 RINGWORLDS
  This idea is owed to the sf writer Larry Niven. The
  ringworld is a less costly version of the Dyson sphere.
  In essence it is a ring the size of the orbit of the
  Earth. It is a million miles wide and a thousand miles
  thick. It is spun at tremendous speeds to simulate gravity.
  This ring is so large that the Coriolis effect would be
  almost undetectable.
  The inside of this ring is inhabited. With thousand
  mile high walls, very little air would spill over the edges.
  This is engineering on the grandest scale, the
  penultimate artificial world ever conceived (see 4.5 for
  the ultimate). It has nearly limitless land area and would
  be costly beyond human imaginings. It would require
  tech level 28 technology.
  4.5 DYSON SPHERES
  The Dyson sphere is the ultimate of all the grand
  construction projects. It is the greatest conserver of energy.
  Dyson’s idea was this: Enclose the sun in a sphere
  with the diameter of Earth’s orbit. This allows for total
  harnessing of the sun’s power and provides more land
  than the human mind can imagine.
  This is the ultimate of all space stations. It is a world
  of tremendous proportions and tremendous cost.
  The primary problem with a Dyson sphere is
  gravity. Without some form of artificial gravity, it is
  impossible to convince life to cling to the sides of this
  sphere. This project is therefore impractical until zero
  fault technology becomes possible (which is okay since
  it’s a tech level 28 construct).
  
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  Spacemaster: Datanet
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  5.0 NPC: T’CLACKTLE
  Age: 53
  Eyes: Black.
  Hair: None.
  Build: Large.
  Height: 356 cm.
  Race/Sex: Xatosian.
  Skin: Gray.
  Demeanor: Quiet, unsettling.
  Dress: Utility.
  True Attitude: Curious.
  Home: Stands the Wall.
  Hits: 57.
  Melee: –13.
  Missile: –3.
  AT(DB): 11 (30).
  Shield: None.
  MP: 71.
  Lvl: 7.
  Profession: Psychic. Stats: Ag-92(+9); Co-70 (–1); Me-
  90 (+9); Re-90(+8); SD-94(+17); Em-97(+3); In-77
  (+1); Pr-99 (+9); Qu-91 (+10); St-75(+4). AP: 65.
  Skill Bonuses: ArmH –2; ArmL –2; ArmM –2; ArtA –
  3; ArtP –11; AthB –12; AthE –7; AthG 4; AwarP 33
  (Alert 37, SenAmb 36); AwarSch 28; AwarSen 18;
  ComMan 19; Comm 23 (Species Standard Spoken 6
  Written 6, Xatosian Spoken 8 Written 4); Cra 18; DP
  49; In 14; LorA 35 (CultL 53, Hist 50, Philosophy 62,
  Sociology 56); LorG 23 (RegL 41); LorT 2; MASt –2;
  MASw –2; OutA –3; OutE 3; SciAB 2; SciAE 2; SciAM
  2; SciAS 17; SCon 43; SpecA 13; SpecD 0; SubA 11;
  SubM –5; SubS 11; TechGen 23; TechG –5;TechP 17;
  TechVeh 2; TechVoc 10; Urb –5; Weap1HE 3;
  Weap1HF –2; Weap1HM –2; Weap2HE 3; Weap2HF –
  2; Weap2HM –2; WeapMT –2; WeapS –2.
  Powers: Directed Powers OB: 94 (Kinetic Bolt). Psychic •
  Healing (18) 81: (Bio-Reg 94, Bio-Reg (Reverse) 94, Cut
  Rep 99, Cut Rep (Self) 89, Cut Rep (Reverse) 89, Disrup-
  tion 94, Organ Rep 99, Organ Rep (Self) 89, Organ Rep
  (Reverse) 89, Pain 94, Psychic Surgery 104, Psychic
  Surgery (Reverse) 94, Regen 109, Regen (Self) 89, Regen
  (Reverse) 94, Skel Rep 99, Skel Rep (Self) 108, Skel Rep
  (Reverse) 89, Stun Rel 113, Stun Rel (Self) 108, Stun Rel
  (Reverse) 103, Tissue Rep 99, Tissue Rep (Self) 89, Tissue
  Rep (Reverse) 89. Psychic • Psychokinesis (18) 77: Kin
  Bolt 96, Psycho Field 91, Psycho Shield 91, Psycho Wall 91,
  Telekinesis 96. Psychic • Telepathy (31) 84: Behavior Trig
  158, Concealment 150, Confusion 158, Control 158,
  Detection 152, Empathy 152, Illusion 152, Memory
  Alteration 158, Mind Death 158, Mind Defense 163, Mind
  Shield 163, Mind Store 149, Mind Trap 147, Paralyze 161,
  Probe 155, Sense Destruction 155, Sleep 161, Suggestion
  149, Tele-R 167, Tele-S 173, Telethesia 149.
  T’clacktle was born on Klackatackar, lost among the
  billions of other males just like him. He was unable to
  stand out among this hive or even among his brothers.
  Eventually, he realized that he would have to do some-
  thing different if he was to make his mark.
  He left Klackatackar and moved to Hassus. Then he
  joined the military. He could have joined the military on
  Klackatackar as well, but he felt that even there he would
  be lost. On Hassus, with its lower xatosian population, he
  became an instant star and rose through the ranks
  quickly. He became a military cop and while he didn’t
  use his powers to investigate, they proved more than
  enough to subdue criminals.
  When the war broke out, he moved into a combat
  unit, which served well until the second year, by which
  time he’d integrated so fully with the minds of his squad
  that they had become a new hive. When they were killed,
  leaving him the only survivor, he was shattered. For a
  year, he lay in a catatonic state, and when he finally
  crawled out with the help of a queen, the Marines gave
  him a medical discharge.
  Since then he has rejoined the war effort as a
  privateer. He’s withdrawn, now, afraid to lose another
  group. And so he drifts from crew to crew, never quite
  fitting in. He’s still searching, he just doesn’t know what
  he’s searching for.
  
  9
  Spacemaster: Datanet
  Issue #8
  6.0 CAMPAIGN PLANS
  The universe of the Privateers is a big place. Three
  issues ago, we outlined the beginning of three different
  campaign ideas for the Privateers universe. There you
  received guidance on tone, concept, and characters. You
  also read the first adventure for each of these campaigns,
  the one that sets the tone and nature of everything that
  will follow. Last issue, you saw the third adventure.
  Below, we continue these three campaigns. Each of
  these campaigns has a different focus and a different feel.
  In this issue of the Datanet, we pick up where the last left
  off, perhaps after one or two follow-up adventures you
  ran while waiting for this issue to release. We also outline
  a fourth major adventure in broad strokes and give you
  several  ideas for connecting to the next Datanet. Playing
  like that and filling in to your group’s taste, you should
  be able to run a campaign with enough material for
  months or even years.
  Each adventure below breaks down not by location,
  but by dramatic story points. We give you Setup,
  Complication, Twist, Reveal, Climax, and Falling Action.
  Run through these six points, and you’ll have a narrative
  arc.
  Setup is the beginning of the adventure, complete
  with background, inciting action, and instructions on
  how to get the PCs involved. In the complication, the
  adventure takes a painful turn, upping the threat and
  often widening the scope. In the twist, the story takes off
  in a new direction, shaking the character’s perceptions of
  the issues involved. The reveal is the epiphany which
  shows the characters what’s going on. The climax is the
  final dramatic confrontation. The falling actions deals
  with the implications of everything that’s gone before.
  One final note. These adventures begin act two of
  their overarching stories. As such, by the end of these
  adventures, the characters should be firmly on the road
  of their individual campaigns.
  6.1 THE MILITARY CAMPAIGN
  This is the most obvious type of campaign for a war
  setting, but the privateering concept of the Privateers
  universe allows for a new twist. In this campaign, the
  characters began as semi-free agents working for the
  military. While their missions and orders come down
  from on high, when they weren’t marching to the orders
  of a general, they were free of the normal strictures of
  military service. All that recently changed.
  This is the type of campaign shown in the official
  Privateers fiction.
  Note: This adventure has an unusual structure.
  It’s essentially an extended battle scene. You could
  run this as a short, one session affair. If you want
  it to last longer, you need to keep an eye on pacing
  and structure. Running four sessions of one battle
  would just be exhausting. Instead, run it as a
  series of battles, with lulls and moments of respite.
  Give the characters time to react and catch their
  breath as the fight ebbs and flows. You might
  want to watch some movies that depict extended
  battles for inspiration, such as We Were Soldiers.
  FOURTH ADVENTURE: BACK IN THE FIRE
  Setup: For the past weeks, the characters have served
  as guards for the artifact pieces. For some time, the
  artifacts haven’t caused any major issues with the
  research staff. Some think this is a coincidence. Others
  think that the artifact pieces are simply done trying to
  manipulate those around them. The final group thinks
  that it’s only the player characters that keep the danger at
  bay. Pressure mounts to release the characters to their
  former duties, but in the end, they are simply too
  important where they are.
  However, danger mounts in the space around the
  base. A probe from Jeronan forces bites deeply into ISC
  space and soon the research base itself is threatened. A
  small fleet flies into the system, but it isn’t small enough to
  ensure victory. The base’s defense forces rise into space.
  The party must follow them, should they want to survive.
  The skies above the base are already thick with enemy
  ships. The characters roar into battle, and it seems that
  this will be a straightforward fight, albeit a difficult one.
  Complication: The battle is difficult, and the party
  realizes that they have a trial ahead of them. Then, in the
  middle of the fight, the party finds their ship teleported
  to the edge of the battle, throwing their tactics into
  disarray. The characters are just getting back into things
  when they find themselves teleported again. The
  defenders fall into a bit of a disarray with this sudden
  change in the battle line and the characters find them-
  selves up against fresh opponents. They get back into the
  thick of things and just when they start to regain the
  upper hand, it happens again.
  You must use a deft hand in portraying this, and it
  takes a sense of your table to determine when to move to
  the next section. The issue here is the pattern of these
  teleports are the reveal before the climax. If the players
  make sense of it too early, it will mess with your dramatic
  arc. Once the players start throwing around the artifact
  pieces as a possible cause, move to the next section.
  Twist: Suddenly the base control contacts the party’s
  ship in a panic, demanding their status. There will
  probably be a moment or two of confusion as the
  characters assume this is about the teleporting, but it
  isn’t. Control reports that both times they lost sight of
  the party on their scopes there was a reactor surge on the
  ship (they think they just lost sight of the ship for a time,
  not that it actually teleported). Now they see a slow,
  angry build of energy and they fear the ship has a
  damaged power plant or engines. Nothing comes up on
  the ship’s damage control computers, and so they haven’t
  
  10
  Spacemaster: Datanet
  Issue #8
  noticed it (they don’t often scan themselves in the
  middle of combat). If they sweep the ship now, though,
  they find an energy spike, and it’s coming from the
  engine room, but not the engines or the reactor.
  When they investigate they find the two artifact
  pieces in a locker, humming angrily. If the party pays
  attention to such things, they seem to be reacting to the
  violence of the battle, surging and ebbing with the tides
  of the fighting. But that’s not the real issue. The real issue
  is those pieces are supposed to be back on the base. In
  fact, the base sensors show that they are still there. If
  someone on the base investigates personally, however,
  they find the pieces gone.
  Reveal: The battle continues, and at this point, the
  base orders the characters to return the artifact pieces
  immediately . . . they are far to valuable to risk in
  combat. The party might try, but the things are going
  completely nuts now, teleporting the entire ship over and
  over again. It’s easy to lose track of direction in the
  middle of the space battle, so while its easy to see they
  keep being transported to space near the edge, they only
  now see the real pattern. The artifact pieces are trying to
  move them in a single direction.
  Climax: There’s nothing for it. Every attempt to move
  back toward the planet causes the artifact to teleport them
  again. If they fight in the area where they keep appearing,
  they can at least have continuity of battle. As the defense
  fleet crumbles, the remaining attacking ships fall on them
  and now it’s a huge battle against overwhelming odds. In
  fact, the battle seems to be unwinnable, but the artifact
  pieces burn with energy now . . . they seem to be roaring out
  of control. This begins to have side effects on the ship which
  aid it in battle. Maybe the guns raise a mark for no reason.
  Maybe the shields double in effectiveness. Tailor the effects
  to the ship, but they should be just enough to make the
  battle winnable. All the while, the artifact pieces let out an
  angry shriek that strains the psyche of everyone on board,
  building and building until the last shot is fired in anger.
  Then, silence.
  Falling Action: The Artifact Pieces aren’t all powerful.
  With the end of the battle they fall completely dormant.
  The characters are able to fly back to the base and lock the
  things up again, but by now it should be obvious . . . the
  pieces want something. The technology of them is so
  beyond anything the ISC has seen, it’s hard to tell if they
  are machine intelligence or some kind of psychic residue,
  but they have a desire and so far, it hasn’t been fulfilled.
  The brass will study the Artifact Pieces while repairing
  the ship. Reinforcements arrive. Things go back to normal.
  But everyone is sure of something. They don’t have enough
  data to know where the pieces were trying to lead the party.
  But their destiny lies out there, toward Jeronan space.
  Follow Up Adventures: In the aftermath of the
  battle, the party might just end up waiting around
  (for instance, if you wish to move straight into the
  adventure outline in Datanet 9). Or they might find
  any number of adventures in their base. Maybe a half-
  crazed psychic tries to mentally contact the artifact,
  and its alien power plus his own madness combine in
  a terror that turns him into a psychic monster.
  Perhaps the thing begins to whisper into the charac-
  ters minds when they sleep, feeding on their own fears
  and making living nightmares. People in the know
  refuse to admit that the ISC has found artifacts in the
  past, but they all seem convinced that the artifact isn’t
  itself malevolent; it’s just reacting badly to the evils in
  the people it contacts. Other dreams could be more
  sedate, with characters going out into the universe,
  living interesting lives under alien suns, in bodies they
  can never quite remember. If
  you use these ideas, try to
  make the Artifact Pieces look
  like tools, neither good nor evil
  . . . just immensely powerful
  contraptions that the Seven
  Races can’t understand.
  On a more mundane vein,
  things could revolve around
  politics. The base commander
  could be suddenly removed, or
  demoted, or even blackmailed.
  There aren’t many people in the
  know about the Artifact Pieces,
  but those who are become very
  anxious to hitch their stars to
  this project. In fact, getting a
  really despicable person in
  charge of things during this
  interim might have satisfying
  fallout down the road.
  
  11
  Spacemaster: Datanet
  Issue #8
  6.2 THE PRIVATEER CAMPAIGN
  The Privateer Campaign is the default of the setting.
  Here, the characters have a ship, say a small freighter or
  stripped out gunship. The government approves their
  license and installs a mark 10 laser cannon on their ship.
  They then press out into the universe to attack Jeronan
  shipping and help the war effort.
  FOURTH ADVENTURE: CRISES POINT
  Setup: The characters have had some time to rebuild
  bridges with Llewelyn. If necessary, he got them some
  cakewalk jobs and by now they should be feeling fairly
  warm and fuzzy where he’s concerned. So when he
  comes to them with a new mission, they should be
  interested. If not, he offers enough money to make them
  interested. Presumably, he’s only made it out of a few of
  the recent scrapes due to aid from the characters.
  The mission is as simple as it is dangerous. They and
  three other privateer groups will hit a waystation
  orbiting a nearby sun. It’s a Jeronan supply outpost,
  placed in a lifeless system because ISC ships don’t recon
  lifeless systems without reason. Llewelyn only knows
  about this one because a friend of his in the DSA picked
  up a quantum comm signal originating from the station.
  According to SigInt, the place holds munitions supplies.
  Better yet, it holds captured ISC munitions supplies. This
  means that anything the privateers steal is already
  compatible with the tech in their own ships.
  The mission: hit the place, steal heavy lifters to
  move the gear, and load up. Waystations like this should
  have a good guard, put not so good as to make the
  characters’ job impossible. And what’s a pirate king
  without a tussle now and then.
  Complication: They know nothing of codes
  necessary to enter this station, so they just burn straight
  in. During their insystem transit, the base spots them
  and sends several threatening transmissions. This is to be
  expected and Llewelyn tells the ships to keep formation
  and be ready for dug-in security forces. He has a plan.
  His plan is simple. After defeating the station’s
  defense ships, the privateers scream in under full power,
  doing everything they can to get the attention of the
  station personnel. At the same time the characters and the
  other crews launch in breaching pods with high levels of
  passive EW. They manage to hit the station and latch on
  without drawing attention. The autocutters pierce the hull
  and the ships drop the characters into a maintenance bay.
  Llewelyn’s guesses based on inbound scans were correct.
  He got them right where the heavy lifters are stored.
  The party goes forward in heavy lifters, heading for
  the main supply bay. The other ships form a defensive
  line on the party’s flanks and rear. The party must shoot
  their way into the bay, gather anything that looks deadly
  and expensive, and cart it back here, where they will load
  it on several cargo breachers. He’s only sad they couldn’t
  cut straight into the main supply bay.
  As the party moves a long, they run into a few security
  forces . . . nothing difficult, just enough to get them used to
  the look of the uniforms. Then they come across an entire
  squad heading out of the armories. They’re regular imperial
  troops by their dress. When the fight is over, the characters
  should realize that there’s more than just security forces
  here. A little investigation or interrogations reveals the
  truth. This is also a waypoint for the Jeronan soldiers. There
  are hundreds of regular troops here.
  And they are all active.
  Twist: Things heat up and the characters push into
  more organized resistance. Still, they manage to reach
  the supply bay without too much trouble. For all the fury
  of these Jeronans, Llewelyn’s plan is good and he’s
  perfectly positioned the lines between the party and the
  bulk of the station defenders.
  It’s then the left flank collapses.
  Actually, it doesn’t just collapse, it vanishes completely.
  The characters have one load of gear, but as they
  push out, they hit heavy, building resistance. They can’t
  worry any more about getting out rich. Now it’s just a
  battle to get out.
  Reveal: The characters fight through line after line of
  Jeronan troops until they recognize a figure in their midst.
  It’s one of the Privateer captains, leading Jeronan troops.
  They soon realize that the man was a psychic spy, his old
  personality dead. If they don’t get it themselves, a party
  psychic might notice a difference in the man’s mind.
  The implications are clear. Maybe the Jeronans
  didn’t know about this raid, but they know about
  Llewelyn and they planted spies near him, in an attempt
  to stop him from succeeding. But for now, the party
  needs to live to fight another day.
  Climax: The climax comes as the characters crash
  into the maintenance bay. Here Llewelyn and the
  remaining crew fight a holding battle as they wait for the
  party. They could have escaped on their own, but they
  didn’t, and now they have something of an exit landing
  zone cleared and waiting.
  This battle is brutal and deadly. Equipment explodes,
  people die, and in the end, the party should be on its last legs
  as they climb into the breaching pods and close the door.
  Then release, venting that part of the station to space.
  Falling Action: The characters escape. They’re loot
  isn’t tremendous, but their cut is decent and their ship
  should get some nice upgrades. Llewelyn is worried. Now
  that one of his captains has turned on him, he doesn’t
  know who to trust. He expresses as much to the party, as
  he’s relatively certain if one of them were a spy, they
  could have ended that whole operation.
  Llewelyn will do some solo missions over the next bit
  and give the party intelligence of other locales he can’t hit.
  Still, he’s become more withdrawn. Suspicious. Paranoid.
  Follow Up Adventures: The solo missions mentioned
  above make for good follow ups. During this time, play up
  Llewelyn’s slow degeneration into darkness. Don’t make
  him mad, but show how these events wear at him.
  
  12
  Spacemaster: Datanet
  Issue #8
  6.3 THE CRIMINAL CAMPAIGN
  In the criminal campaign, we head off into different
  territory. While most games in the Privateers universe
  involve the war (it’s the biggest source of conflict, after
  all), there’s still many other things going on in a nation
  the size of the ISC.
  FOURTH ADVENTURE: FACTORY HEIST
  Setup: Much has happened since the characters last
  took on the mafia. The use of the new drug has grown
  through the city, and it’s so addictive that the death rate
  hasn’t hurt sales at all. Things become worse in the bad
  parts of the cities. Crime soars out of control, but not in
  the way that makes things easier for the characters. It’s
  dangerous out there now.
  As this adventure begins, things go from bad to
  worse. Begin with the characters on a simple job, say
  breaking into an office building to do a little corporate
  espionage. In the middle of this job, a war breaks out in
  the lobby, calling in not only the police but putting the
  PCs in danger as well. The war is a spill over from a high
  speed fight between two gangs, both strung out on the
  drug, who crashed their vehicles here and have taken up
  combat positions inside. The characters will need to
  either sneak or fight their way out. It should be clear now
  that this drug problem has to be stopped.
  Complication: The characters are approached by the
  Bureau of Criminal Investigation (a descendent of the
  modern FBI, with the same basic duties). They present the
  characters with evidence of their crimes (maybe caused by
  fallout from the shootout). They offer the PCs a choice.
  They will give the PCs immunity (from the crimes they
  know about) if the PCs will break into the factory
  suspected of making the drug and come out with proof
  the BCI can use as evidence. The immunity is post-dated,
  so the BCI will actually “catch” the characters the day after
  breaking into the factory and therefore obtain the
  evidence in a legal fashion. It’s shady, but the agents look
  harried and the news shows keep getting worse, so the
  characters should believe the agents are on the up and up.
  Note: They aren’t. In fact, they aren’t BCI Agents.
  Do nothing to let the players know. This is
  actually a hook into the next adventure.
  Twist: The characters break into the factory to get
  information. The place seems to be moving a lot of equip-
  ment around. It isn’t currently producing, but there are crates
  of the drug at the loading docks. The characters break
  through security and likely snatch samples and computer
  files. But something is wrong about all the activity here.
  Reveal: They are about ready to leave when they see
  a truck come. The factory workers load both drugs and
  equipment onto the truck. They aren’t shipping away the
  drug, they are shipping away the entire factory. If the
  party wants to stop this, they’ll have to do more than
  steal evidence. There will be no trace of these drugs here
  in the morning.
  Climax: The characters can rig the factory for a fire or
  an explosion using the chemicals there on the scene. They
  should probably be discovered, leading to a big shoot out,
  or their escape should be very complex and tense, depend-
  ing on the tastes of the players and what they find climactic.
  In the end, the factory should be all but destroyed.
  Falling Action: the BCI agents are very pleased with
  how things turned out. They hold on to the immunities,
  however, obviously to have a hold over the characters in
  the future. However, in the coming days, the drug
  problem becomes worse, not better. The destruction of
  the factory didn’t even put a dent in the operation.
  Follow Up Adventures: Fill the intervening time with
  quiet jobs while building the tension of the drug problem. If
  the characters decide to take matters into their own hands,
  let them get some victories against the drug trade and let
  them see progress, but don’t give them the opportunity for
  that big hit they need to shut things down.
  7.0 BLACK MARKET TECH
  The following data is hot off the most carefully
  concealed black market site. It is classified FOUO (For
  Office Use Only).
  ASSAULT CRAFT
  You can’t buy these through a legal venue? Then I’m
  your man, Kiddie.
  BREACHING POD
  Crew: 1
  Cargo: 30 Kiloliters (10 tons)
  Mass: 247.2 Tons
  Hits: 272
  CAT: XI
  Vacuum Power Rating: 142 (0)
  DB: 110
  Armor Belt: 10
  Defensive Screens: 50
  Evade Program: 50
  2 Decoys
  Rating 3 PD, 3 Attacks
  EW: 25/25
  Cost: $7,522,859
  Top Speed: 19.03 G’s
  Translight Capability: None
  Atmospheric Capability: Full
  Armament: Not standard
  Features: Basic Sensor Suite
  Microfrequency Comm Rig
  Tightbeam Comm Rig
  Breaching Couple
  Commentary: The breaching pod is a high-speed troop
  transport. It attaches to the side of a ship or station,
  where the couple cuts through, connecting the interior
  of the pod with the interior of the ship. This takes about
  one minute for CAT XI, two for XII, three for XIII, etc.
  The breaching pod seats 24.
  
  13
  Spacemaster: Datanet
  Issue #8
  STEALTH BREACHING POD
  Crew: 1
  Cargo: 30 Kiloliters (10 tons)
  Mass: 247.2 Tons
  Hits: 272
  CAT: XI
  Vacuum Power Rating: 142 (0)
  DB: 110
  Armor Belt: 10
  Defensive Screens: 50
  Evade Program: 50
  2 Decoys
  Rating 3 PD, 3 Attacks
  EW: 75/25
  Cost: $8,022,859
  Top Speed: 19.03 G’s
  Translight Capability: None
  Atmospheric Capability: Full
  Armament: Not standard
  Features: Basic Sensor Suite
  Microfrequency Comm Rig
  Tightbeam Comm Rig
  Breaching Couple
  Commentary: This is a stealth version of the breaching
  pod, meant to elude enemy sensors when there isn’t a
  tremendous space battle to confuse matters.
  CARGO BREACHING POD
  Crew: 1
  Cargo: 309 Kiloliters (103 tons)
  Mass: 247.2 Tons
  Hits: 272
  CAT: XI
  Vacuum Power Rating: 142 (0)
  DB: 110
  Armor Belt: 10
  Defensive Screens: 50
  Evade Program: 50
  2 Decoys
  Rating 3 PD, 3 Attacks
  EW: 75/25
  Cost: $8,010,354
  Top Speed: 19.03 G’s
  Translight Capability: None
  Atmospheric Capability: Full
  Armament: Not standard
  Features: Basic Sensor Suite
  Microfrequency Comm Rig
  Tightbeam Comm Rig
  Breaching Couple
  Commentary: This is a cargo version of the stealth
  breaching pod. The seats have been swapped out for cargo.
  HEAVY LIFTERS
  HEAVY LIFTER
  You got something big you wanna move? This is it.
  Halfway between a fork lift and a suit of armor, this baby
  really gets the job done. Hell, I don’t even need to charge
  you extra, ‘cause it’s perfectly legal. It’s pricey, though.
  You might wanna buy an actual fork lift.
  We sell those too.
  Game Mechanics: The Heavy Lifter looks like
  powered armor but protects like combat armor.
  Those inside cannot move faster than 15 meters/
  round. With gyros, actuators and stabilizers, it
  allows the person inside to lift up to 5 tons.
  Base Cost: 1 Million.
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Spacemaster/3.0 Privateers/Spacemaster Datanet/Spacemaster Datanet 08.pdf